Chapter 11: VDNKh

The figure wasn’t having it “Bullshit, an old mare’s tale, The Pony with the Harmonica! Death’s emissary!” The Figure. Now waltzing flamboyantly around throwing his hooves into the air for emphasis.

Dawn was getting angry that he was calling her out on it. She didn’t take to kindly to be called a liar, especially when she was what she considered blessed, well blessed would have no doubt been the way she saw it.

All her life she felt like a shit stain on the world, another mindless ant waiting to be crushed by the hate of the world she inhabited.

She thought she was nothing special, no part to play in this world.

That was until she met Trouble he gave her hope, and then by divine coincidence one of the three emissaries of death paid her a visit she had learned about the emissaries in Trouble’s journal. She was never sure what to believe from a foal she had no guidance.

She doesn’t not believe in anything. Only she hasn’t made up her final verdict, luck or destiny call it what you will.

“Death’s emissary visited me, and I don’t give a Fuck! About what you have to otherwise say…” she really didn’t like being called a liar especially by some fucking spook in a suit acting the tough pony.

The Figure laughed to himself or maybe sharing a joke with his invisible audience Dawn to be honest didn’t give a fuck either way.

“Miss Black, you have no idea how many reports we get suggesting a pony emerged from the desert sands, killing ponies with beautiful music. You and your party broke down from noxious desert fumes and dehydration. You say Trouble and the Ranger were acting strange?” the figure challengingly said.

“Yeah Trouble only after he saw the emissary did he start to act strange, and then Night Light, she was just pissed off for Luna’s sake.” She defended.

“Don’t call your hallucinations an emissary that’s like calling a pile of Brahmin shit a masterpiece for fucks sake!” he roared at her “They don’ exist Miss Black Dawn never did, all made up by some bard hoping to squeeze a few caps from the gullible.” The figure began to calm down he cleared his throat he went down to pacing around on all fours.

Black couldn’t care less about what he had to say. He condemns what he does not understand. “You’ll see, soon enough you’ll see…” Dawn muttered beneath her breath.

The figure was tired of this time wasting “Enough bickering! What happened next, when you awoke, where next?” the figure asked.

Dawn thought hard it had escaped the front of her mind during their mini argument. “Eh, VDNKh.” She quickly said, Dawn didn’t want to dive too deep into it.

“I could have guessed that, then where?” The Figure snidely said.

Dawn replied, “South finally, that wasn’t any easier than the road to Marizona Springs.”

The figure finally stood still “ What kind of shit did you met?”

Dawn smiled and looked the Figure where she suspected his eyes were and laughed “The hellish kind of shit.” She felt smart ass remarks were the best way to handle this asshole.

The Figure took offence for her time wasting “For Fucks sake, what happened?” he shook his exoskeletons fingers at her. Fingers unlike the talons Trouble had fashioned his into.

Dawn smiled enjoying that she was making him lose his cool “Alicorns, six if I remember correct.”

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Dawn awoke it was late afternoon, she had lost track how many times she had been rendered unconscious since she met Trouble, six maybe more.

She awoke rose onto her side from flat on her back the sun was setting. Sand had swept over her companions but not her. The sand was perfectly at the edge of her silhouette.

As she became more awake her vision sharpened around her everything came from an indistinct blur to a sharp pristine picture.

She looked down beside her. There was a small statuette of sorts little more than 3inches in height. The craftsmanship was amazing. The creator went into minuet detail showing pride in their work.

It was a purple earth pony wearing a black leather eye patch over his left eye, leaving one amber one staring at Dawn. He had a bright green mane scorched in places leaving many chunks burned black and embedded to his skull this rather sinister looking pony was clad in a black cape with a brace on his right hind leg

Underneath the cape were what Dawn guessed was sticks of explosives and grenades all held in a large vest, there were enough explosives on his person to level Dead Water twice.

At the base of the statuette it read “Not one step back.” and above that it read “Trumpet.” Dawn wondered as to why it read Trumpet she guessed Not one step back was this pony’s motto, maybe this pony was Trumpet.

Dawn wrapped the statuette around in a magical field. As her magic touched it, a echoing somewhere in her head was a feminine and affectionate voice. “Good ol’ Trumpet, he was the greatest mind of his generation.” She gently placed the statuette into her saddlebags a voice whirled around her head echoing the quote afterwards in a masculine rough voice “Not one step Back!” from the statuette. Once officially registered as in her PipBuck’s Inventory Manager an electric jolt shot through her body causing her muscles to contract.

Dawn felt a buzzing sensation shoot through her head, the feeling of watching her first mass explosion at EverBright came to the fore front of her mind. Now it wasn’t a loud bright bang that hurt her ears and made her head spin but, a glorious purifying light that incinerated all the horrors that lay inside. All the grim history evaporated leaving only a blank canvas to re sculpt in time maybe. The memory flared behind her closed eyes it felt satisfying, nostalgic she remembered Trouble’s face. He was delighted at the blast and know she understood why. Maybe explosions mean different things to different ponies but to her in that circumstance it was beautiful. Poetic Justice in motion.

Dawn after a moment’s pause rose onto her hooves and froze eyes fixated. Trouble’s diary lying opened on the desert sand, a page lay open inviting her. It was like some voice from above saying “Here have some temptation.”

Trouble was out cold. His head buried against the ground. Dawn’s EFS told her he was alive same with Night Light.

The sun was setting only a few red rays of light lingered Dawn levitated the book over to her face. With combined rays of dwindling sunlight and the soft glow of her horn being just enough for her to be able to read the writing.

Her eyes widened when she saw the heading for the log.

Emissaries: there are these stories out there of emissaries of, I’m not sure of what though, Death some say. They appear to those deemed worthy of the honour, esteemed ponies, not something you can earn but a birthright. Those born into hardship thrown into a world of isolation they’re said to be the ones Death itself or herself as she’s often referred to takes pity on.

Hardship. Shit the Death Dealers was nothing but hardship spent most of my Colthood training make Ma proud ya know? No if you’re reading this it means you’re educated so you probably don’t know to some pissy degree anyway. Not that you’d understand it.

In the south there are 2 emissaries but there are more elsewhere they say all with their own unique traits or so the legends go.

 The Pony with the Harmonica identified by tatty clothes sandy coat and a grey mane.

He existed a long time ago just after the invention of the first “modern” firearm the revolver; he was for his time the epitome of fear and death they say. He wielded the ability to paralyse with little more than a rusted old harmonica.

He levelled towns all in some mad hunt for revenge no pony knew his name all they knew was where ever that music was played death was sure to follow. Entire towns emptied all the bodies found in ditches days later. After of course, the town was looted this was before automatic weaponry was even conceived.

Revenge is hell of a thing, this obsession with finding this pony he was after, wiping out towns he suspected to be associated with him, that music rendering ponies harmless until he executes them. No good can come of such an obsession.

This emissary can be found in the southern provinces in and around Marizona-Ponave area.

Maybe he can be found, that is if death deems you worthy enough or unlucky enough, the story goes every time a pony is killed by him they’re usually found on the road frozen rigid wide-eyed, holes in their heads and harmonicas sown to their lips with rusted razor wire.

Next on the list is probably the latest one, the Puppet Pony, classic story of shit going tragically wrong. This is no myth, there is this stable around where VDNKh is. Stable 44 I think it was. So when the bombs fell every pony who had passes for the stables fled for them, same thing happened here even though most of Marizona wasn’t even targeted. So this one pony. No Name. goes to his stable only there is no pony else there.

He figures they must all be inside or something and wanders in a proximity sensor on the door trips and locks him inside.

Alone.

on the inside was an entrance lobby.

There was a crate, a note, a Pipbuck and some barding inside waiting for him the note said (since it was scavenged that and security footage)

“We at Stable-Tec apologize mister XXXXX but this is for the betterment of pony kind. We have seen to it that your every biological need has been met: Water talisman, a thousand years worth of food etc. p.s look in the crate.” His name was blacked off the paper probably done by him at some stage. Or maybe Stable-Tec were trying to cover their tracks.

At first he broke down crying, 3 weeks he spent wallowing in self-pity and all the while he heard the rumblings off the outside world being destroyed. While he was trapped in his cage, he seen on security monitors outside ponies breaking their hooves pounding on the huge door. All this came from camera's hooked up to Stable Tec.

The damn thing was so strong the only way you could hear the pounding it was if you put a stethoscope against it. He tried drowning himself, didn’t work the water never built up in any place not even in the toilets. There was no medicine here but then again there was no way to get sick everything was sanitized so he couldn’t OD.

He tried strangulation wrapping a blanket around his neck; Stable Tec thought ahead Elastic Blankets. When he began to lose strength with lack of air the blankets would snap back into their original form. Bastards. Even while burning in hell they wouldn't let him end it all.

The only glass there wasn’t even glass. It was thin plastic he couldn’t slit his throat with it not sharp enough. No cutlery either it was all dispensed apples. The worst part though was everything was padded the walls, the floor everything.

I'd rather be burned alive then suffer in that hell for the rest of my life.

Stable-Tec predicted he might take his own life by any means necessary. He eventually after months of crying, grieving and failing to end his own life, he opened the crate which was made from cardboard in the entrance lobby. Inside was a small cardboard box with a note on it saying “1 Stable-Tec Puppet Ration.”

He carried it into the main lobby sat down and opened it, inside were 4 hoof puppets.

There was A King puppet, A Hound puppet, A Granny puppet and finally A Stable-Colt puppet.

He decided since there was fuck all else to do. So he started playing with them. They had names too. The king was simply referred to as The King, the hound puppet was named Reverend Hound, the granny was called Granny Smith and the stable colt puppet never had a name.

I fucking hate those Stable Colt pictures, that stupid smile unnerves me and being locked in an underground cage with one as company should be viewed as torture.

Those Stables were never supposed to save any pony.

I wonder if they knew what they were signing up for would they still do it?

Would they rather take their chances in those mechanical cages for the rest of their lives or burn?

If I had to wake up to face the same wall and put up with the same shit I'd fucking decorate the walls with my brains.

He began talking to them; sooner or later they started talking back though. In his mind his sub conscious had created a small community each puppet had it’s role to play, messed up. He started sub consciously smearing messages on the walls with his own shit. Like "Get Out!" or "HELL" in the master bedroom he slept in over his cot he write "KILL ME!"

I'd beg for it too mate.

All those Stables they were just underground covert Cluster Fucks I think I heard of 4 that turned out okay out of all I dunno 300 or so?

This next part in the story proves what I have been saying. There is no inherent goodness in ponies only the morality drilled into you as a foal, at it’s most basic level the pony mind wills for all else but to survive. That’s where greed comes from, ambition, bullying all for your own advancement. Your mind doing it's best to secure your dominance inducing feelings of power a reward mechanism. Angel Eyes was right war doesn't bring out the worst in ponies. It brings out the reality of ponies.

So anyway. The Stable Colt puppet killed the king puppet one night or at least that’s how it goes.

Reverend hound begins the search the sorry son of a bitch locked down. There had finally lost all of his marbles. He confronts the Stable Tec puppet, he admits it but not before suggesting he was an accomplice, the stable dweller eats it up.

They decide to escape but how? The puppet claims to know a way, the plan was hatched. They’d leave that night the puppet would cross the wires short out the door and a fail-safe protocol will force it open. He went in registered as 18 years of age.

The door reopened 34 years after this, according to the logs. All those years I feel he was unconsciously his mind was formulating a plot. He was merely a victim of his own mind.

He spent more time alone in an underground prison than he did outside, that’s enough to send any pony insane. He got out, the fires of the world were burning out, ghouls and mutated creatures were everywhere. Some small bands of pony kind still lingered but they were slavers or raiders and all cannibals. All old world morals disappeared with the rest of Pony Kind either ash in the wind or hidden deep underground cowering. Living in a bubble.

He emerged, his head still had some sense of morality though. His sub conscious was fucked. To himself he seemed alright. He wandered for a long while, he was insane not stupid though he took as much provisions along with him as he could carry. Water, food stuffed into his stable 44 barding.

Outside he met a companion a mutated dog, half way to mongrel hellhound, the dog was supposed to be nearly twice his size. The dog became his loyal mode of transport, he wandered the wastes. He remembered some buildings from the past, which were worth looting.

The radiation at that time was mildly settling but could kill you over years but chances are by the end of your life it would have twisted your genetics up real bad, but not have gone far enough to kill you. And all the while the puppet on his hoof spoke to him giving advice. Just acting as company.

He was roving with his dog across the wastes when a slaver party hit, killed his dog with a hail of rounds and took him alive. The slavers where debating about whether they should eat him or sell him. He was begging them to save themselves the puppet was whispering into his ear that he was going to butcher them. The stable dweller being a good little pony tried to warn them. Who the fuck would believe him?

I don’t know he done it but he managed to slip the ropes they bound him in and massacre heavily armed slavers a band of 4 except one that is. The surviving slaver fled back to the rest. What happened next is how we know it’s not bullshit. See them slavers had a ghoul captive, tied up in the room with them.

the surviving slaver bursts in drenched in blood babbling to his comrades about the puppet pony.

"He killed the others".

"He’s coming for us."

"He let me live."

"He’s coming for us."

“We’re dead.”

“He’s coming for us.”

then that's when the ghoul heard it, 3 knocks on the door to their little building, outside was heavily guarded. Every pony froze the ghoul says he felt the warmth drain from the room.

the survivor pony was paralyzed the others had their guns strained on the door. The ghoul said next he blacked out he said every pony did, he was there with 3 others.

when he awoke the walls were smeared in blood, the corpses of 10 slavers laid in a big mound in the centre of the room stacked high. On the top was a weeping pony in stable barding a large 44 printed on his back. Weeping, cradling the smiling blood spattered puppet asking it, “Why?” Why did you have to kill them?

The stable pony climbed off the small hill of cadavers and freed the few captives, the ghoul had asked him his story, and now we have it. that ghoul only died recently or re-died. The puppet pony disappeared back into the wastes after that, with that puppet. The fucked up part was I think he thought he was the puppet’s sidekick. That he got roped into it over the fucking puppet. He had no choice. He was only along for the ride.

I often heard stories about a puppeteer out in the wastes in stable barding, I shiver every time. these emissaries are only those in the south, there are the rumoured ones in the north, I’ll talk about them more later. right now though the two of the south will suffice.

There are no emissaries in mid land Equestria they say.

If my money is right (Which it usually is.) I say there will be pretty soon. There is this toaster repair pony raising hell, justice killing for what she believes in. Hate and anger for this burned world trying to fix it, a losing battle. DJ Pon3 never stops going on about her, The Buck himself I know for a fact shares Intel reports with DJ Pon3 and he talks about her from time to time too.

An obsession all to similar to that of all the other emissaries, but she is something special. She unlike the others choose this path out of goodness from her own heart. Death must be in love with her. Such fanatical love and devotion to the mistress we must all visit, she choose the others or made deals with them. That toaster repair pony is her apostle.

They say she kills hell hounds in the dozens saves entire settlements without pay, I say she’s doomed, she doesn’t understand how could she? She is reported to have grown up in a stable.

Maybe this hell I call home hit her too hard all at once, it’s a rare thing for me to say I’m scared of some pony but her, she’s not a saviour.

She’s a cleverly disguised psychopath, a liability, an inevitability she’s gonna go off one day. But one of the finest the wastes has to offer that’s why she scares me, she’s going to do something massive. The likes of which even I may have a hard time amounting to. If I get a contract for her. shit I think I might refuse, only way I could take her is in close quarters especially since she’s got her entourage.

No good can come out of such an obsession.

But what about me? What about this tired old stallion who’s seen too much?

What of my obsessions? That wall, which plagues my dreams? This obsession with laughter and saving what isn’t there to save. No good can come of it but I’m a victim of my own fate, this was only ever going to end one way.

All I ever wanted was to go down in applause.

Black once more peered deep into Trouble’s mind. As it just so happens on the very page that gave an explanation of what just happened. She was visited by an emissary of death.

who graced her with gifts, the first of which being a small statuette she already received it.

there was something else though, something the emissary placed or rather embedded into her subconscious. She wasn’t entirely sure what it was but some part of her reassured her in time it would come.

The sand had settled over Trouble encasing him in a blanket Night Light was only lightly covered mainly because she was tossing in her current state.

Night Light shook more and more violently and Dawn watched her.

Until finally Night Light shot up with a gasp, she shot a look at Dawn, she was just making sure she was alright. Night Light although it was hard to tell Dawn was sure she was covered in cold sweat.

Night Light took one look at Trouble her face fell from alerted to desperate. She charged over to his body and flung her fore hooves around him cradling his body.

Dawn had no clue as to why she was acting so weird. Night Light Flipped Trouble onto his back that’s when Dawn remembered. Remembered what the music did to him.

There was streams of dried up blood from his eyes hard to distinguish against his scarlet coat if it weren’t for the sand matted to his face. There was blood from his ears too but significantly less than what came from his eyes. Night Light’s horn shimmered brightly and a canteen of water hovered from her saddlebags, she dunked the clear liquid over his face as fast as she could. The liquid liberating his face from the sand.

Dawn went to speak “Uh...”

Night Light replied “So your just going to fucking stand there?”

Dawn was taken back by this “Healing Potion now!” Night Light barked as she went back to cradling Trouble. Black went to put it in Trouble’s terminology “Buck fuck wild” looking for her 3 potions she swore she had.

She found them levitated one out from her bag and dashed over to Trouble and Night Light.

Dawn undid the cap nervously and tipped the bottle into Trouble’s mouth Night Light muttered under her breath “good...good.” after the last few drips of the liquid reluctantly left the bottle Trouble burst into a coughing fit Night Light’s face burst into a smile.

She lunged towards him wrapping her fore hooves around his wide shoulders Trouble dumbstruck merely hugged back.

“The Fuck happened?” Trouble vulgarly asked fondling inside his jacket looking for his flask and lighter. Night Light broke their embrace and sat on her rump in front of him as he took a swig. “Trouble, that was an emissary of death.” He spat the brown fluid out and looked at her like she just slapped the ice cream out of his hooves.

“Ya, don’t say...” his voice trailed off as he took half a pack of smokes out from his duster and lit one. he continued “Buh wah happened exactly?”

Dawn feeling isolated from the group spoke up “You went crazy, Night Light went crazy and I was knocked unconscious.” she felt that summed it up.

“Last thing I remember was seeing that damn pony, from the nothingness.” Night Light pitched in.

Trouble rose onto his hind hooves and Night Light got off the ground too and he said “I remember the kid sayin sumfink, then the world flashed red and Boom!” he stomped the ground for emphasis “Lights out.”

Trouble gazed at the sun and spoke once more “We can hit VDNKh in an hour or so, lets head.” and with that they were back on the move. Trouble was the voice of authority in the group but then Dawn remembered something.

“Eh, Trouble?” she sheepishly asked again getting annoyed at herself with her lack of social skills. Trouble turned to face her. “What?” his face went blank Dawn’s hoof was gesturing towards his diary.

He without a word briskly marched over to it scooped it up and hide it somewhere in his duster and said to Dawn “Atta girl...”

Dawn piping up some courage asked him something before he turned away “Trouble, I got to ask you something.” she readied herself to cough it up.

he spoke first though “Kid, It’s gone to havta wait til we’re at the strip.” he turned and assumed the head of the column Dawn was a little disappointed she had to ask him about the statuette. As Trouble took the lead Night Light ran up to his side Dawn scowled she was getting tired of her doing that. Condemning her to trail behind Night Light and Trouble where she belonged.

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The sun had set, there was no moon tonight even through the clouds it lit the road in front of you. But tonight it was solid darkness, the only thing Black Dawn could see was the soft neon glow of the VDNKh sign. Night Light who was talking to Trouble all the way had grown silent as they drew nearer to the settlement.

Everything was quiet. The sound of silence was misplaced here they were in close proximity to a town for Luna’s sake. They encroached upon the derelict unmanned wall of VDNKh the only thing to be heard was the desert wind and the humming of the lights. In front of them was a small door leading into the town built into the metallurgy of the wall.

There was no sign of violence but that only made it worse, Night Light took the lead. She gently nudged open the door and proceeded in. Dawn couldn’t believe what she saw inside.

Nothing.

Sweet fuck all lay before them. Abandoned houses, pillaged shops, no ponies. Night Light  was now panting fury building up in her.She slammed her hoof against an unseen switch and the town before them flooded with light. it was a cramped linear town only one road that had everything on it. Shops accommodations everything. But at the same time. Nothing. They were just buildings now how can it be a home if no one lives there?

The only trace of proof that there was recently ponies here was the blood trails and the small bullet holes that perforated the buildings. They moved deeper and deeper into the town at a snails pace. Trouble remained stoic muttering something under his breath, something about a wall.

Night Light was stunned, as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Her breathing was still ludicrously heavy. That’s when it struck Dawn unwillingly her horn burst with magic she had never experienced before. Her eyes shone white Trouble stopped in his tracks and watched keeping silent. Night Light never even noticed.

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Dawn was somewhere else now, without having to move. She was there, then and now.

VDNKh.

Her vision was absorbing colours that were three times as bright as they usually were.

It was midday the town was under siege, all around her Dawn seen ponies caught in nets being dragged from their homes by the Angels. At the bottom of the road they were holding executions to those who resisted. Blood ran through the hard dirt streets.

She was invisible though. No pony paid any heed to her she raised her hoof to her face. Nothing was there.

There was little opposition. The towns folk that did have firearms quickly found they lacked the force to even dent the icy Angel armour.

In front of Dawn a small green colt with a rusted tin can as a cutie mark  burst from a doorway carrying a flimsy pistol and fired into the angels who were busy subduing or killing the others. He fired six times then his weapons slide blew back and stayed back. Empty.

He ran inside. Dawn moved up to see into the house he had run into, the pony darted into a wardrobe and hoped to hide himself. A single Angel trudged through the door. The Angel took in it’s surroundings ducked it’s head low and kicked off it’s helmet. It was none other than the pony Trouble burned the face off of. His pearl white coat and blonde mane, Dawn would have found him quite attractive, well. Before Trouble burned his face off anyway. Dawn wondered how he kept moving without his helmet, he wasn’t wearing the same armour this was different. His armor now was much thinner and only had small weapons on it’s side. The other armour must have been full battle gear this was designed for light skirmish Dawn guessed.

The Angel approached to where the colt was hiding, a big grin on his face. Dawn knew exactly what the colt inside was doing. Making his peace with Celestia and Luna.

The Angel with an iron hoof bucked in the wardrobe door shattering the flimsy wood that allowed it to hang on the hinges. The colt had shrunk into the corner of the wardrobe shaking violently. The angel licked his lips and rose his left fore hoof drew it back and.

Splat. He drove it deep into the colts head smashing it against the wall. the fragmented skull painted in red and pink now crumbled around his body leaving a hollowed out head.

The worst part though was the colt’s eyes they rolled back into the top of his emptied head and his mouth hung wide. The screams and synchronized gunshots of outside drew the murderer’s attention. Dawn wondered to herself why he done it. The colt was of no threat to him or any pony. Killed him out of sheer meanness. Killed him for the sake of it. Killed him because he could.

Dawn wondered to herself who this colts parents are, were. Not to be found inside. Maybe the colt sought out retribution because his parents had been taken out and shot like so many others. Or maybe they were merely captured. Dawn found the latter unlikely.

She stood there for awhile staring at the corpse of the colt who had his life stolen from him. His body curled up in the bottom of a wardrobe in a single room building.

What a waste.

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The world flashed back to normality around her, there she was standing in the exact same room where the colt was killed she was staring at the shattered wardrobe, the blood and brains were there making that weird apparition into a staunch truth.

But there was no body or skull fragments to be found. Dawn was trapped in her own thought bubble until she noticed Trouble was standing right next to her. Dawn heard a banging noise outside.

Trouble leaned in close to her in that dark room and whispered “Wah did ya see?” he had no way of knowing what had just happened but he was experienced in the wastes.

Dawn didn’t know how to respond, the truth sounded absurd in her head and she had trouble finding the words. “What happened here...” she muttered back.

Trouble only had one more question he’d seen the blood on the way in and in the smashed wardrobe and he asked her “Where are the bodies?” Dawn shuddered Trouble took that as a cue to walk on but Dawn stopped him.

She caught him on the way out and the world flashed once more.

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Everything flashed blue around her the colours tripled their intensity once more. The town had been taken. The Angels hoarded all the bodies both dead and living into carts once used for carrying cargo.

The ponies in the carts quivering or crying, trying to keep the fluids of their dead family and friends off their coats, as they were being hauled away to an uncertain future.

The Angels had crowded around a greater Angel. This greater angel had Gothic fashioned armour unlike the simple and practical combat design of most of the Angels.

This greater angel’s armor had many spikes and grooves, jags and swirls. Barbs laid into the armour to give him a ferocious demeanour.

His helmet had a jagged crown around it golden filigree of leaves. He stood in the middle of the town and began to speak. The towns folk were all loaded into these carts 5 all in all.

Living mixed with the dead, the main difference being the living still had something worse to come.

The greater Angel spoke. “Friends. Today we have pushed our cause further along towards our ultimate divine goal of our former purity and glory. This is the first of many victories the goddesses have planned for us. I have the utmost faith in you. We stand on the precipice of great change and we’ll be the ones to deliver it! Heed my words. You are the ones to deliver us to the our promised glory hear the cries of the goddesses and our ponies! Kill the Vermin! This is your mother’s prayer! Kill the Vermin! This is the cry of your Equestrian earth! Do not count days! Do not count miles! Count only the number of Vermin that you have killed! Do not waver! Do not Give in! Kill!

Death to our inferiors! Death to the vermin we crush under our hooves! Long live the Pure!”

the crowd chanted back in ecstasy “Long Live The Pure! Long Live The Pure!”

the greater pony gave a nod of his head and the carts carrying the ponies were torched.

Not even they’re screams could silence the crowd with a final cheer the crowd had one last chant. “Long Live Gabriel! The Messenger of Celestia!” with that the greater pony and 3 other angels dressed in similar armour but no where near as beautiful as the greater Angel took their leave of town leaving sixty or more angels left in the town.

Dawn heard a voice whir around in her head. A smooth feminine voice “Gabriel always was a proud fool. Unlike you my dear. You have shown humility. You’ll make me proud yet dear.”

the voice soothed Dawn to relaxation with it’s maternal nature the speech of the greater pony identified as Gabriel was invigorating and exciting but this mare’s voice nullified it.

This voice came deep from within. Dawn  wasn’t entirely sure if it was real. but it felt real she had never known her mother. Or what had happened her. Dawn’s father never told her, all she knew is she wasn’t around. there was no friends of the family to tell her but every pony seemed to know. She was taunted about it, so it was known. It always bothered her not knowing who her mother was.

The voice ceased on the ground around where the angels were congregated a large shadow was cast. They looked to the heavens above. Six large winged unicorns were casting shadows over the ground beneath them.

Dawn couldn’t believe what the fuck was going on, she once seen old pictures of Celestia and Luna they were just like them sort of, except green. Dawn tried her best to compute it. The Angels burst into action getting in formation the ponies in the sky were almost 4 times the size of Trouble and he was a big son of a bitch. they banked hard turning right around to face the town.

All half a dozen goddess ponies were armed with the same kind of fire power the Angels had except bulkier. The goddesses unleashed a barrage upon the angels killing none.

The Angel’s returned fire in mass even though the column of flyer's lacked armour all the bullets fell harmlessly upon them.

the world faded away and Dawn sunk back into reality.

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Dawn broke her trance in the middle of the street where she had been standing. The bullets from the winged unicorns distinguishable from that of the Angel's she snapped her head back to what she was trying to do before her mind was hijacked.

“Trouble, there was unicorn Pegasuses,” Trouble shot back “Pegasi.”

Dawn shrugged it off now wasn't the time for grammar.

“Your missing the point here, The bodies were burned and those things attacked.” That’s what grabbed Night Light’s attention. That's what sprung her from her pit of anguish.

Night Light practically galloped over to Dawn and pinned her against the wall of the building and she hoarsely whispered to her “Where?” She was hurting Dawn. Anger and hatred welling up in her, just a mask for her sorrow. Dawn thought to make it all the more insulting was the fact the town was remarkably intact. “Easy ranger, we got bigger problems.” Trouble said casually, merely observing his surroundings scanning the sky.

“Where!?” Night Light demanded pounding her hoof just to the left of her face.

“Ranger! Nuff of that carry on righ?” Trouble was not angry at her actions only that she was disturbing his train of thought. Night Light didn’t let up. Dawn was struck dumb by this, she couldn’t find her voice wherever it was hiding. No doubt some remote corner of her mind curled up in a ball crying it's eyes out feeling sorry for itself.

Night Light slammed Dawn against the wall knocking the wind out of her and unslung her Valkyrie chambered a round and jammed it against her cheek in one fluid motion.

“I Said Where! Speak Bitch or I’ll Blow your fucking Jaw off!” Night Light’s face was tense and red, livid with anger unflattering to her natural good looks but she was serious Dawn didn’t doubt for a second she’ll kill her.

Trouble intervened he came up on her like a ghost and rose to his full height. He snatched the Valkyrie from her magical tendrils causing them to disperse. As soon as Night Light turned to face her aggressor or have time to react Trouble grasped the barrel with one hoof and the stock with the other and slammed the butt of the gun into Night Light’s temple splitting the skin, rendering her unconscious.

He preceded to take out the magazine and toss it into the darkness somewhere and pull back the bolt clearing the breach and dropped the gun at his hooves. He let out a sigh took out a cigarette and spoke as if nothing happened to Dawn

 “Kid you have no idea how badly I wanted to do that.” He said jovially as he blew out rings of smoke. Dawn couldn’t help but laugh it was becoming a bit of a reflex to whatever Trouble done. Trouble continued as Dawn recomposed herself “She’s been eating at me moral for awhile now, the last thing Trouble needs is a troubled mind to keep him company.”

He smiled at Dawn. She smiled back. Night Light lay on the ground with an open wound and probably a concussion. Dawn spoke in her usual awkward way “Eh, Trouble what are we going to do about Night Light?”

“Easy, She’s pissed off, understandably. She wants retribution for what happened, but retribution was already enacted. She just doesn’t want to accept it. All we gotta do is be there for her.” He made anything sound simple mainly because it was. Dawn was surprised he said "Be there for her" not Dawn's first thought after the stunt she pulled.

“I want to ask you something.” Dawn said to Trouble. He replied in a friendly tone “Fire away.” her original question seemed less important than the new one that popped into her head. “Do you know a pony named Trumpet?” his face dropped he responded in a drone voice “Yeah... what about him?”

“It’s just that I found this here,”

She was cut off by Trouble who looked to the sky and threw away his smoke and roared.

“Incoming!”

He grasped Night Light by the hair shredding her mane with his sharpened exoskeleton talons and dragged her into the building where the colt was killed Dawn followed. Just as Trouble predicted the ground outside was perforated by multiple shots and six green goddesses swooped in.

Trouble dumped Night Light’s body in the far corner took out his helmet and clipped it on.

Dawn getting a routine hovered Bad News off her back and chambered a round she was down to little more than 20 rounds.  As for Amigo less than 2 full magazines. But her scavenged machine gun had well over 400 rounds of ammo. But judging what she saw from the memory the machine gun would be worthless against these goddesses.

Trouble chambered a green drum magazine and waited at the edge of the door frame. The sound of silence reigned over the town. Until they heard a distinct flapping noise followed by a thud. They had landed. Trouble without making a noise trotted briskly over to Dawn on his hind hooves. “Ya, gotta know a few tins bout these ere’ Alicorns. One never pull the same shit twice, they learn and two they got some sort of shielding. We need to soften em’ up first. Follow my lead, don’t freeze, keep shooting.” With that he reached into Night Light’s pockets and took the last of her grenade bouquets only 2 remained. But now Dawn knew what to call them, Alicorns. Sounds smooth.

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The Alicorns began to march in sync through the town keeping their silence. Trouble was standing at the doorway Dawn behind him ready to gallop. The steady sound of his breathing through the gas filter on his helmet was eerie.

Dawn heard him give a single order through his mask that killed the emotion in his voice he said.

 “Begin.”

He rocketed forward on his hind legs duster whipping behind him The Red Queen at his hip facing the Alicorns. The eruption that Dawn was getting used to from the Red Queen nearly burst her eardrums, a sustained burst shot green sludge through the air towards the Alicorns splashing off their shields but obscuring their vision. The Alicorns fired blindly into the road. Trouble was across the road in a different house an ooze hanging from the bayonet of his shotgun.

Dawn waited in the building with Night Light’s unconscious body she bet Trouble was regretting knocking her psycho ass out now “Keeping it real, Trouble.” Dawn muttered to herself.

The sludge slid off the Alicorns invisible shield they all ceased fire and moved slowly forward. Dawn steadied her breathing mimicking Trouble floating Bad News in front of her making sure the barrel wasn’t poking out. According to Trouble the shields were focused on the front leaving the back of their heads open for attack. The plan was he’d draw them in and she’d pop their skulls open.

All six stopped a few feet before the houses Dawn and Trouble were hidden in. Instead a single Alicorn walked ahead of the others and was staring through the wall exactly where Trouble was. The Alicorn approached the doorway. Trouble was hidden somewhere inside.

The Alicorn stood outside staring blankly at the door frame not saying anything not moving. Aimlessly giving the door a thousand yard stare. Dawn hadn’t a clue what to do. If she fired, one down but she’d be compromised. If she didn’t take the shot Trouble would have to contend with those powerhouse machine guns. The more she thought about it the less and less tempted she was to pull the trigger. Finally she tensed her magic around the trigger the Alicorn spun around Dawn fired. The bullet ricocheted off the shield where the Alicorn’s forehead was and bounced back nearly taking a chunk from Dawn’s ear. The Alicorn smiled and whispered “Gotcha.”

Metallic bolts slid backwards with well oiled "Chik-Chiks" chambered fresh rounds into the Alicorn’s dual battle saddle machine guns. Time stopped Dawn’s mind cleared she slipped into the parallel universe of S.A.T.S and she targeted the head of the Alicorn before she could fire. “Bang! Bang!” Double Tap. the shots caused rippling on the invisible shield. While time was still slowed Dawn saw something from the shadows in slow motion. Trouble leaped unto the Alicorns back with Relentless trying to secure the serrated edge around the neck. The Alicorn tossed and bucked out trying to fling Trouble from it’s back. Eventually it turned to face the other Alicorns and dropped its own shields screaming “Kill It!” the other 5 Alicorns honed they’re combined firepower onto their comrade.

Trouble hoisted the Alicorn onto his chest using it as a shield carrying it with his back muscles. since the Alicorn was nearly triple Trouble’s girth the bullets stopping power was massively reduced travelling through the body. Dawn seen sparks where the armour and bullets met.

He continued to back up, his Alicorn shield’s chest was turning into paste. He rested the Red Queen on the shoulder of his shield and fired wildly at them the green pellets and goo slapping off the shields the refuse that hung from the barrel fell unto the open torso of the Alicorn he had captive disintegrating and gnawing at the flesh.

Dawn all this time was keeping her head down watching Trouble in admiration. The Alicorns weren’t moving forward she was stuck in no pony’s land. Trouble found another building that had stalls outside he kicked in the door and dumped the body.

Dawn heard crackling from behind her. Trouble’s voice came through from somewhere in Night Light’s jacket. Her radio was still intact from Marizona Springs. “Kid? Ya breathing or wah?” Dawn dashed over to Night Light telekentically opening her jacket she spotted the radio and pressed the button to transmit and she spoke back to him. “Trouble, we’re fucked.” she said.

“Good ta know, Listen whatever the fuck ya do stay inside keep the radio handy, and ya might wanna cover your ears.”

Trouble made another magazine switch this time to black. He dove out of the building head first onto the ground and fired.

A Thunder rumbled not 20 feet from Dawn the entire town was illuminated in an electric blue light!

Purple tangible tongues of fuck knows what sprang from the barrel of the Red Queen every blast from the weapon covering half the town in a wall of purple inferno. The explosion that resounded from the gun sounded like grenades going off and plenty of them. Much like his Double Barrel weapon he used against the angels to carve one in half in they’re first encounter.

The spread of these shells was phenomenal. Trouble was across the road and down and some of the whatever it was, was tagging the periphery of her house with devastating results. Shattering wood, scorching it without a flame.

The Alicorns were engulfed the spray wrapping around the bubble like aura of those invisible barriers. they fired back in retaliation Trouble was laying flat on the ground head buried in the dirt making himself a small a target as he could manage.

Letting his prized shotty do the work.

The Red Queen was bouncing on the ground beneath her. The blast of her newest trick displacing it. The shells leaving the shotgun were white hot and the barrel was glowing a bright orange. Finally after what seemed like an eternity of deafening gunfire the central Alicorn’s shield shattered like glass, visible wispy shards of it fell to the ground. This unfortunate Alicorn disappeared under a sea of purple not a fraction of a second later. Until the only distinguishable feature about it besides a heap of purple flame was the hooves. The rest of the body was removed from the shins up.

The Red Queen finally went “Click.” after a deafening and devastating volley. The Alicorns ceased fire the tall building at the end of the road behind them was nearly destroyed. The purple “whatever-the-fuck-it-was” lingered on the Alicorns shields. Trouble left the Red Queen to simmer on the ground. He dislodged the magazine and steam bellowed up towards the visor of his helmet making it condensate. He spoke through the radio again. “Kid cover me.”

He whipped his revolvers out of his holster with impossible speed and held them at his hips. The Alicorns were encased they had to drop their shields or wait for the purple “whatever-the-fuck-it-is” to seep through and be incinerated by it or whatever it did.

All at once the Alicorns dropped their shields kicking up a cloud of dust around them ducking out of the way of the purple haze. An alicorn got off one shot and then “POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW!”

Trouble sent them all straight to hell. Twelve blasts from his revolvers, two smoking barrels. All in one fluid motion.

He opened up the cylinders and dumped his weirdly shaded spent casings to the ground.

One by one bullet by bullet, he reloaded not taking his eyes off where the Alicorns were.

The dust cloud around the Alicorns was fading. An Alicorn’s silhouette was visible It’s body laying flat on the ground. It’s head facing the air and it spoke “Gah! Pain!” Dawn coughed up the courage to walk outside. Trouble holstered his revolvers. He replaced them with a bouquet of grenades. he swung the strings over his head in a cyclone and lobbed them at the suffering Alicorn. The grenades “Dinked” as they struck the ground next to the Alicorn.

One, Two, Three “BANG! BANG! BANG!” A leg of an Alicorn was blown next to Dawn. She gagged and backed up from it. There was no more Alicorns in this (former) town only ground meat. Dawn looked over to Trouble who was reclaiming his prized shotgun.

Trouble Took a bow, Dawn cracked a smile and clopped her hooves together in applause.

Trouble took off his helmet Dawn seen his beaming face his smile was getting less and less disturbing every time she seen it the scar from his lip extending it up past his eye.

and the burn scars opposite that.

He approached Dawn stowing his helmet and said “As for my next trick, I’m going to scare a ranger shitless.”

he barged inside and said "Or fucking kill her."

Footnote: Level Up!

New Perk: Sniper -- Your chance to score a headshot in S.A.T.S is significantly increased by 20%

Skill Note: Guns: 50 Survival 40 Explosives: 30

Statuette Obtained 1/5 : Trumpet -- +15 Explosives; +1 Perception.