ACT 2: Family

Chapter 13: Night Mares

 “If you think you’re free there is no escape Possible.” The World spun and spun around Dawn. Or maybe she was spinning around it. It didn’t matter. She seen visions of different locales and landscapes whirl past her. Until finally she landed with a thump. she felt lighter than she had in days, all her gear felt like it had been stripped of her.

Definite blackness all around her, she was conscious but to what extent she had no idea. A small whispering could be heard from behind her. She awoke to a staunchly familiar sight.

“Not here.”

“Please Celestia, I was out of here. Imposssible.”

She was home.

Dry Town.

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The Figure remained seated thinking to himself.

“Miss Black Dawn I don’t know what to say.”

Dawn just sat across from him, she remembers this part so well. That hell, her face was tense. She was on the precipice of breaking down, all it would take was one small nudge to set her off.

“Then shut up and listen instead.”

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Dawn lay there on that cold floor she was so accustomed to. Above her was that old rusted tin roof that had holes the size of a head in it. Light flooding through it. She liked this spot because of the early morning light. Dawn stayed rigid everything around her down to minuet detail. To the hardness of the floor to the disintegration of the roof.

An impossibility. This was insane.

Dawn heard the hauntingly familiar noise of drunken hoof steps on the cracked cement of the shack’s floor. This shit hole had one room. She knew her favourite corner. And she knew ‘He’ was coming.

Dear old dad.

A Blue pony with a filthy stained yellow mane and red eyes stood over her. A ribbon of saliva hanging from his bloody lip.

“Get out bitch.” His breath stunk of cheap liquor and anti freeze.

He slapped her in the face with a hoof. Dawn was in denial, she escaped. She worked so fucking hard! To escape. All to be thrown back into her face.

Her drunken filthy father was enraged by her disobedience. He snarled and slapped her again this time harder. “Bitch Out!” he snapped. Dawn remembered his voice, his always angry voice.

She crawled, her body wouldn’t allow her to stand the weight of the circumstance pinned her down. She crawled on her stomach along the wall of her nearly empty house.

Her father watched her as she slithered towards the door. They called it a door it was some plywood they took on or off, no hinges. It was just a cover.

He busted her lip the bastard, but she came to expect it. She trotted outside to the same familiar sight. Her town was in the shape of a square. A concrete square in the centre was a park of sorts where you went to buy cheap drugs or booze. But the park was encircled by a ring of concrete houses sealing it off from the rest of the town.

Dawn stepped outside into her old isolation. She lived on the right angle of the square. To her right another street ending in another right angle and in front of her another street ending in a right angle. Same sight everywhere. There was something terrible about that. Like no matter where you went you couldn’t escape it. Just more and more right angles.

On the street in front of her was some thugs just talking for now, one eyeing her up for weakness, but everypony at the 600th beating sort of figured she had no money. But that only lessened them slightly. She was the town freak, whipping pole. A sad act with not a friend in the world. She ducked her head low. How could this be happening? Trouble. Where the fuck is Trouble?

She knew what she had to do. Her town was joined up to the wall of the NCR. A large 20 foot high barricade spanning its length. No pony gets in or out without the right documents.

She found a soft spot, and for weeks dug at it, trying to tunnel under the wall. It was just behind her house. Her house was one of the few shacks in the town. There was a small congregation of them on each corner. Shanty homes, their former neighbours froze to death last winter. Her father made her steal their blankets or else she was sleeping outside. She got them alright but she never was given a chance to use them. Her father used them for awhile but when the debt collectors came knocking. That was the night she cried her eyes out, the shame and cold bearing into her and she woke with her cutie mark.

Dawn walked the concrete that lead to behind her house, she heard her father inside. Clopping. He usually did that regardless of her presence.

She found where she had picked at for all those days for all those weeks. The rough loose soil was now solid concrete. Her muscles locked, her breathing intensified.

“FUCK!” Dawn screamed at the wall. She pounded her hoof against it. The metal reverberating hurting her hoof with each connection. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes. she was alone again. The Ranger, Trouble they were gone.

This noise gained Dawn some attention. The thug who was eyeing her up earlier had come to pay her a visit. A small orange coated stallion with a black mane and a baseball bat as a cutie mark came close to her. He wielded a saliva covered metal baseball bat like the one on his flank.

Dawn didn’t know his name, he likely didn’t know hers. He stood there looking at her, Dawn refused to take her eyes off the wall. He approached her, the saliva trickling off his bat onto his hooves, but he didn’t seem to mind.

He was side by side with her, he spoke through the bat.

“That Wall, Big Scary.” He said slowly. Dawn slowly turned her head towards him. In the 16 years of her existence not once did a pony try and make conversation with her. Not fucking one time. Dawn looked at his brown eyes, or tried to. He was wall eyed and gave off the impression of being very slow.

Dawn didn’t know what to say, what could she say. “Who are you?” She asked, her social skills were too underdeveloped for this.

The small stallion replied “Me.”

Dawn wiped the tears from her eyes, and decided to try again.

“What’s your name?”

The wall eyed stallion was still staring at the wall, or at least Dawn thought so.

“Home Run, Who You?” He slowly replied.

Dawn licked her lips not sure what she was going to do next. But she did, like she did before. Escape.

“I’m Black Dawn.” she said back to him, his eyes never left the wall.

“Home Run, do you... like it, here?”

Home Run shook his head.

Dawn took an easy approach with him, especially with that Baseball bat he had.

“Would you like to leave?”

Home Run turned his head to face her, he nodded slowly.

“Would you like to get out of here with me?” Dawn asked optimistically.

Home Run nodded his head.

“Then I’m going to need your help.”

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The world Flashed White around Dawn and everything dissipated from in front of her. It reappeared, it was midday in the desert somewhere.

She was a spectator now, a spectator to Trouble.

Trouble still had his gear or most of it at least unlike Dawn who was striped bear. In front of him was a small group of NCR soldiers. wearing their distinct army green clothing and helmets. They fired at Trouble with their rifles, the bullets fell harmlessly off him as he thundered towards them.

Trouble growled like Dawn had never heard him do so before. It was feral, deranged.

He reached for a weapon Dawn never seen him use before; a pump action shotgun. 

He cocked it in a fluid motion and fired, the pellets tearing through one of the soldier’s thin armour. He fired twice more in less than a second downing the other two, he tossed the shotgun at the remaining soldier who was busy reloading.

The impact stunned him, Trouble darted over ripped the semi automatic rifle from his grip bashed him in the stomach with the stock backed up from him and fired into him. Three shots rang out “Pow-Pow-Pow!” hitting the pony in the chest as he collapsed Trouble took the one spare magazine from one of the other dead soldiers and broke back into a sprint. Charging towards somewhere, over a gradient. Trouble looked over his shoulder.

A trail of bodies littered the road. Gray bodies. Gray lifeless, colorless, inanimate husks.

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The world flashed again Dawn returned to herself. Wondering what had just happened. she looked around her, Home Run was nowhere to be seen. She looked behind her scratched on the back of her house in bold was a message.

 “PARK”

“ESCAPE”

Dawn wasn’t sure where it came from but the message was fresh she knew every inch of her shack. She obeyed. As she walked past her house once more, she heard nothing that either meant her father was out drinking or had feel asleep.

Dawn came back to the right angle and began to trot with her head down. There was one rule with all the gangs in this town; don’t make eye contact. Dawn swung right at her house and trudged down the cracked cement. This way was the safest the ponies guarding the entrance to the NCR were under orders to scare off hoodlums but not to abandon their posts.

Dawn walked on the same side of the road as the wall, it cast a long shadow over the street but she preferred the darkness. A group of thugs across the street spotted her, 3 of them. all of them gray coated and maned. One tall scrawny one, an average sized one and a short stocky one. All stallions. All earth ponies. They just stood there and gawked at her. Dawn didn’t dare move her head an inch. It was considered a challenge to stare back.

She kept moving, the time came to cross the street. As she did the gang closed in on her in silence, no joshing no joking no talking. They drew closer and closer. Dawn picked up her own pace feeling them draw near. The alley way into the park was not much further.

Dawn got to the alley way, the thugs followed her in. Staying in formation they spoke not one word, each building momentum without breaking into a sprint. Dawn knew what was coming, what always came. She moved into the dark waste filled alley into the park. She remembered the Park clearly in her head it was just some weeds poking out of some malnourished soil and all the waste and trash was stacked in the corners. The gangs were always duking it out for the park.

Dawn let out a huge sigh, Home Run was here the only one here curiously and the gang was breathing down Dawn’s back. He stood there plodding around aimlessly with his bat. He seen Dawn or at least she seen him. He moved towards her, his face blank.

Dawn broke into a gallop towards him.

“HELP!” Dawn cried out.

Home Run’s curious face and blank face formed a snarl.

Home Run moved in towards the gang growling. Dawn hid behind him as he moved in. He swung his bat with speed Dawn couldn’t believe possible for such a small stallion. His bat “Dinked” off the skull of the middle pony, dropping him instantly.

Dawn watched as Home Run beat down the thugs. Home Run swung again at the tall skinny one of the group, he dodged and bucked him in retaliation. The buck winded Home Run causing him to stagger. The stocky short one from the group reared up and bucked Home Run in the chest recoiling him further knocking the wind out of him.

Home Run grunted in pain and charged the short one. He cracked down on his skull with a hard downward swipe. Splitting his skull as he fell. The tall one took this opportunity and stomped Home Run’s right Hindleg. Bending it to an impossible angle.

Home Run let out a cry of agonized pain through his bat and swung, limping towards the tall quick one. He hit the grey pony in the ribs, like the others he made no sound. The tall one of the grey gang keeled over. He collapsed to the ground. The tall one unlike the others was breathing his chest heaved up and down. Home Run raised his bat over his head and surged downwards.

The bat broke the tall one’s neck. The three lay there either incapacitated or dead. Home Run moaned in pain, breathing hard through his blood covered bat clenched in his teeth. His knee raised trying to keep the weight off it.

Home Run stood there for awhile stoic until Dawn realised what he was staring at. The flanks of the gang members were blank. Those gray inanimate stallions were all blank flanks.

 He looked over to Dawn and began to limp towards her.

“You fix?” He asked dangling his broken limb outwards.

Dawn felt a pang of guilt shoot through her heart. This was her fault. Home Run had an innocence about him Dawn didn’t want to see corrupted.

“No, I can’t.” she said remorse filling her lungs.

“I’m sorry.” She said guilt coursing through her. She felt terrible, not being able to help. she was always in one sense or another helpless. Yet this pony she had only known for what half an hour came to her rescue, and got his knee smashed to pieces for her. And not to mention saved her from a gang.

He limped over to her in jumps. He dropped his saliva covered bat onto the ground. Dawn seen his teeth. They were short and bent in some places. They developed with the Bat’s grooves and curves. Short in some places overgrowing and crooked in others.

Saliva dribbled from his mouth as he came nearer to Dawn.

He came in close to her, he slung his fore hooves around her and hugged her, he was very strong for such a small pony. Dawn hugged him back, she felt he was just misunderstood, Unwanted.

Like her.

Dawn felt his breath on her, his head rested on her shoulder as saliva trailed from his mouth. Dawn didn’t mind.

****************************************************************************

Trouble was moving forward, bullets flew over his ear as he charged onwards.

He slid on the ground turning around he fired his rifle into his attackers.

Behind him was another group of soldiers all in identical uniforms. All gray.

Four of them, Trouble fired and fired. His semi automatic rifle jumped in his grip. the bullets slicing through the flimsy NCR armour. His rifle ran dry. One was still alive covering his stomach wound as he bled to death.

Trouble leaped from the ground and charged the gray soldier. He knocked him flat on the ground with a kick. He reached for the soldier’s hip stealing his small 9mm side arm. Jamming it against his muzzle he screamed at him hate welling inside of him.

“Remember me?! Remember me?! REMEMBER ME!?!”

He punched the soldier hard in the side of the head, flurrying his face with a barrage of metal strikes to the head.

Dawn couldn’t see the soldier’s face anymore only the streaks of blood flying from his head after every lightning strike.

Trouble finished pummeling the soldier’s face to a pulp, he levelled the pistol with the soldier’s gray eye and squeezed. He blew the pony’s eye out killing him instantly all without a sound from the soldier.

Trouble climbed off of him and resumed his sprint. Thundering towards where ever he had to go.

*****************************************************************************

Dawn came back to her reality. It was night time. Darkness had crept over the park, the dealers were out wearing their usual hoodies. Home Run was no where to be found.

Dawn swallowed hard, the gray blank flank thug ponies were no longer there.

she turned to exit the park when she spotted something between the stacked garbage bags.

Another message etched into the wall.

“DOWN HERE”

Dawn filtered through the bags, drawing the gazes of many ponies as she rummaged through them, and levitated others out of her way. she dug through them eager to find what lay beneath.

She got to the bottom of the heap, there lay a small familiar briefcase.

She opened it up, It was a miracle. Dawn had someone up above looking out for her it seemed. It was.

Amigo.

Just as she had found him before, like in EverBright. His beautiful chrome and silver body work. Two sapphires embedded on the grip one for each side, and along the slide of the gun etched into it in Cursive font was Amigo. Next to him lay 3 loaded magazines. Significantly less ammo than what she originally found him with.

Her PipBuck wasn’t there either, nor those two orbs Trouble took with him. But two of the healing potions were. Dawn was excited now, she had  a large grin on her face despite being up to her waste in filth.

One of the dealers took notice of her and approached. Taking it maybe as a hidden stash.

“What’cha got there sweetheart?” He asked menacingly. His hoodie concealing most of his face only showing his greedy yellow smile.

Dawn’s face fell, she looked up preparing to face this pony when she seen the rest of the note.

         “DOWN HERE”

        “KILL THEM ALL”

          “ESCAPE”        

Dawn’s eye twitched, she sucked in a breath and as incognito as she could manage Hovered Amigo from his case and slotted a magazine into him. She pulled back the large metal slide chambering a monster sized bullet.

The dealer took a step closer hearing the strange sound.

This only enticed him further.

“Got something you want to show me?” he said indignantly.

Dawn laughed to herself, the amount of times she wanted to this before but always lacked the means, but now with the opportunity before her she wasn’t entirely sure what to do.

“Yeah.” she said back coldly.

Dawn rose her head still having Amigo head beneath all the refuse. she turned to face the pony his head hung low.

“Well, lets see what you got.”

Dawn raised Amigo from his case as fast as she could manage and rested his front sights eye level with the dealer.

“Woah! Woah! Woah! Easy!”

Dawn snarled as the dealer cringed in fear.

“This is what I Fucking Got!” She screamed at him.

She tensed around the trigger.

Before the bullet left the barrel the world flashed once more.

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Trouble was hidden inside a small jagged crevice of a canyon. He was still in his full combat gear but lacking his signature weapons. in his hooves he had cradled a small sub machine gun with a grip on the front and lacking a stock.

There was gun fire raging all around him, but not at him. Two parties were duking it out Trouble merely waiting.

He stood on his hind hooves waiting. The battle ended outside with a large explosion. Hand grenade. The noise only amplified in this crevice. The gunfire ceased. Trouble sprinted to the other side of the canyon. He shimmied along the edge until he came to the end of it.

Trouble peered around and seen 3 corpses. Dawn immediately recognized them, they were the band of raiders she encountered on her first night out here. Right before Watcher told her to run. He was in Ever Bright canyon, Dry Town wasn’t 20 minutes away.

Trouble burst from the canyon wall spotting the band of raiders that attacked them. he fired a three round burst at the large one in the centre with the bulky automatic rifle. The one Dawn remembered referred to her as “That fine piece of flank” all those days ago.

The two other raiders still standing opened fired, missing widely of their target. Trouble fired two more 3 round bursts cutting them down. He speedily made a mag swap, loading in a fresh load. He resumed his sprint his body sagging slightly getting tired.

He was coming for her.

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Dawn was back in her own body. It was still night time pitch black all around her.

 She was carrying Home Run on her shoulder dragging him along. She had no idea how she got here, for some reason she was down by the river that’s used as the town’s toilet.

One sip of that water and you’re good as dead. Or if your lucky your insides will only have third degree burns. Dawn herself was covered in cuts and scratches, Home Run on her side was suffering from a gunshot wound to the stomach yet still carrying his baseball bat, his blood spattered baseball bat. Dawn was crying she hadn’t the faintest idea why, everything was cutting out too fast.

Dawn swung Home Run to the ground, he was moaning in pain Dawn still was carrying around that briefcase. She opened it up sweating and crying. Home Run lay dying on the ground blood staying his coat as he lay there in agony.

“Come on please Please! Don’t let him die! Please!”

 She fumbled out the last  healing potion the other vanished. In the darkness it was hard to see the bottle, Dawn levitated close to her relying solely on her horn’s glow. she began to unscrew the cap.

“BANG!” A shot rang out through the darkness shattering the bottle into a thousand pieces. The healing liquid falling onto the useless contaminated soil.

Dawn looked up a gray pony was advancing on her pumping a shell into the chamber of a shotgun. she raised Amigo and let two shots ring out.

“POW POW” Both hitting home killing the gray thug instantly. Her strength left her. She looked down. Half a dozen small holes littered her torso. Blood trickled from the holes in her body pouring out like water.

She fell backwards leaving Home Run writhing in pain. Her body began to roll towards the river.

Her thought stream stopped, her muscles grew lax and she became drowsy. Her vision while rolling was: Ground. Sky. Ground. Sky. Ground. Sky. Pony.

Some Pony had stopped her rolling towards the toxic river.

Trouble.

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Dawn was Trouble once more, looking through his eyes at least. In front of her was the wall. that unnecessarily high, poorly manned wall. There was 2 gray sentries guarding the gateway with those semi automatic NCR military rifles.

Trouble was outside laying in a ditch not 75 metres out, panting. He looked down to his sub machine gun and exhaled. His ears pricked up. Gunshots rang out from behind the wall. the two gray sentries remained stationary.

Trouble snarled and gritted his teeth. He broke from cover spraying wildly at the sentries.

Before either of them had time to react they were mowed down by a pelting of bullets.

Numerous small holes littered their corpses. He only stopped firing after the gun was empty.

He tossed it in his stride. The gate was only a few more metres from him, inside the gunfire intensifying. Trouble threw his shoulder against the gate into Dry Town. He reached down and claimed the rifle and ammunition of one of the soldiers.

All in all he had 60 bullets.

Trouble’s breathing steadied. He braced for the door, not having his helmet to tell him what lay behind. He kicked it with all his force thrusting himself inwards scanning for all threats. The only thing Trouble seen as he entered was a wall eyed stallion pummeling a gray stallion.

He paid no attention to that. His mind was set on something else. He scanned the streets side to side peering down his rifle. Black Dawn came into view, darting out of an alley way. Letting off shots.

“KID!” Trouble cried out, his voice hoarse.

Dawn ceased fire and shot a glance over to Trouble who was waving her in. Dawn galloped over to Trouble.

“Thank fuck!” Trouble cried out as she drew in close.

 Dawn charged into him teary eyed, she wrapped her fore hooves around him as Amigo fell to the floor.

“Trouble! I thought- I thought,” He didn’t give her a chance to finish her thought. Her voice was cracking and weeping

“Kid, we gotta tie up loose ends if we wanna get outta here. Now listen I need you to be somewhere else. I’ll hold them off you see to business.” Trouble said brushing her off

“Trouble wait I don’t understand wha,” Dawn stopped talking behind Trouble scrawled onto the gate was.

“TIE UP LOOSE ENDS”

“SETTLE ACCOUNTS”

      “ ESCAPE.”

Dawn knew what she had to do. She silently reclaimed Amigo. Home Run was finished brutalising a gray thug and he rejoined her his leg fully healed. Trouble was headed onto the wall.

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Trouble grabbed Dawn ceasing her rolling downwards into the river. Trouble cradled her in his arms.

“C’mon Kid! Not now! If you die we’re both dead!” Trouble said desperation in his eyes as he rocked her limp body.

He dropped her swinging around with his rifle in tow. Another gray soldier appeared, Trouble fired four shots into him. The soldier cascaded down another two taking his place, Trouble let out a war cry and then.

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Dawn ebbed closer to her house, Home Run at her side.

“What we do here?” Home Run asked in his slow way. Dawn didn’t devalue him for it, she just seen him as being bad with words. It was actually a little cute.

“Easy Home Run, We tie up all loose ends.” Dawn replied she was no longer levitating Amigo around with her, instead she carried him in her mouth. he was weighty and she never fired a weapon like this before but it had more of a personal touch to it.

“I love you.” Home Run mumbled through his baseball bat. Dawn stopped. A chord pulled tight in her chest, everything slowed around her.

“What?” Dawn asked, she knew what he said but she didn’t know what to say. never in her life had anypony said those words to her.

“I love you. We leave?”He said, he probably hadn’t the faintest idea of the gravity those words had.

Dawn shot a weak smile back, there was still business to settle. Her heart fluttered slightly and on an impulse she replied.

“I love you too, let’s get out of here.” She didn’t know why but this was the happiest she’s been in her life. Home Run and Black Dawn. Dawn liked the sound of that. He was a unique pony in many ways, and the first friend she ever made in this town. If you could call him a friend she knew for a grand total of a few hours. Dawn deeply doubted he meant it as she interpreted it as.

She seen Home Run’s face he was positively beaming beneath that baseball bat, quietly laughing to himself. Dawn thought it was adorable.

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Trouble was engaged on all fronts he was completely erect returning fire on the combined efforts of the gray thugs and soldiers. Trouble was deadly accurate with his scavenged rifle popping head shots mortally wounding those who weren’t instantly killed.

Trouble took one to the knee.

“GAAAAHHHHH!!!” He swung his body round as he fell onto one knee. And he triple tapped his trigger at the pony who fired the shot. Bullets echoed all around them. Trouble threw himself over Dawn acting as a shield, he grabbed her by the shoulder and began to drag her along.

Firing his rifle at the Gray ponies. All coloured ponies seemed to have just vanished.

Trouble’s rifle ran out. “Click. Click.” He ejected the magazine, before the empty box hit the ground a bullet hit Trouble square in the chest, Dawn seen the round leave his back.

“OWWW FUCK!” Trouble roared. He fitted another magazine into the gun and pulled back the bolt of his rifle. Taking aim once more inching Dawn up the bank towards Home Run.

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Dawn was at her shack, the plywood cover was up. Her face growing hard with hatred, this was long overdue.

“Home Run, smash that.” Dawn ordered to her infatuated companion.

Home Run swung with all his force against the plywood sheet shattering it. Inside was Dawn’s father cowering his back against the wall. His hindlegs stained with his own semen.

Dawn took difficult aim with amigo in her mouth when her father began talking his voice trembling.

“Woah. Easy, Easy. Please don’t. I-I’m your father. C’mon now put down the gun. I-I Love you don’t do thi- POW-POW-POW” First time the bastard ever said it in his life and he didn’t even has the courtesy to make the lie a convincing one.

Home Run stood there looking at Dawn’s grim face, thinking of how little such a hard look didn’t suit such a soft delicate mare like her.

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Dawn came back to the present. Trouble was dragging her by the hair now, ripping out locks of her shaggy frizzy golden mane as he tugged her along. Trouble swung the rifle round behind his hip and blind fired, as he did another bullet came. Striking at his side sailing right through his armour. “Fucking Wankers!” he screamed out at the horde of the colourless silent bastards.

He dropped Dawn and fired back at his assailants. Dawn’s vision was nearly completely faded.

All she could hear was Trouble firing away and... and Home Run’s shallow breathing.

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Trouble was on the infamous wall of the NCR in front of him massing hordes of Gray raiders and soldiers. He scavenged some more magazines from the dead. He rested the rifle on the edge of the wall and took aim, this was going to be hell of a fight.

Home Run and Dawn were leaving the building. Dawn stepped outside, the air tasted sweeter than it had in years. Tied up loose ends. A gray military pony sprang from the alley way with a rifle. Dawn raised Amigo to fire  when squeezed  the trigger.

“Click.”

Dawn spat out Amigo and ejected the magazine with her magic before she had time to reload the pony got a shot off hitting Home Run in the stomach, he collapsed wailing in pain, his baseball bat falling out from his mouth. Dawn loaded a fresh magazine in a fast and fluid motion and took aim within a split second she had the sights of Amigo level with the military ponies helmet.

“POW!” The Gray pony’s head exploded his body crumbled to the ground. Dawn crouched down next to Home Run. He was trying to get his lips back around his baseball bat. Dawn nudged it closer to him he chomped down on the handle with his teeth and Dawn hoisted him up. Carrying him on her shoulder. He was bleeding bad.

Dawn looked over towards the dead soldier on the concrete wall next to him was etched.

R

I

V

E

R

“River.” Dawn repeated struggling to support the heavier Home Run.

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Trouble was going down, too many hits. He was leaking blood left right and centre. Too exposed down by the river. His torso was perforated if it weren’t for his armour slowing the rounds he would be dead. His reflexes were becoming slower his usual speedy movements and motions were growing sluggish.

He raised the rifle with one hoof and fired, another Gray one dropped. His head hung low.

His grip was slicing through Dawn’s golden mane, her vision was hardly on. Her body had hardly any strength she could hear her own heart beat in her ear slowing, steadily slowing.

Trouble dumped her next Home Run. His eye was twitching slightly, his baseball bat was rocking back and forth in a pool of his own blood.

Dawn felt a pang in her heart, this was her fault. She got him roped into this. His mind easily warped to her all because he was attracted to her. His eyes fell unto hers. His mouth muscles slowly formed a smile. She felt terrible, manipulative she lied to him she told him that she loved him back. He didn’t understand, maybe now he didn’t understand that he was dying. Trouble swapped magazines once more Dawn broke eye contact with Home Run, she looked up at Trouble his pistol belt had something lodged in it.

Amigo.

Trouble Slapped the fresh magazine into his rifle just as he did a final bullet whizzed by and struck him in the chest. He collapsed onto his face.

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Trouble was on the wall exchanging fire with the advancing Gray bastards. His head was ducked low. The one thing he was going by was just him peeping down the rear sight towards them. The rest of his body taking refuge behind the weird composition of scavenged wall materials.

He was dropping them easily enough one shot one kill. Plenty of time to aim. Bullets whizzed by. One of the Gray soldiers stood onto his hindlegs blasting away in frustration. Trouble dropped a single round through his throat. Dropping him like soap. Trouble looked to his right That pony he seen pummeling one of the gray ones was with her, he was bashing in a door.

Trouble stopped to observe him ducking his head low. An epiphany dawned on him, he looked at the ground beneath him a message was etched onto it.

“KILL THEM ALL”

“ESCAPE”

Trouble bolted down from the wall after Dawn she had to be the one to settle accounts. Or then they went into a darker place. Trouble would have done anything to stay out of there.

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Trouble crawled on his stomach towards Home Run. Amigo in his hoof. He climbed on top of Home Run, Trouble’s body still taking a barrage numerous holes in his armour.

 He jammed it into Home Run’s mouth.

Dawn’s heart sank.

“NOOOOOO!” Dawn screamed out. It couldn’t be all for nothing. It couldn’t end like this.

She mustered her strength, she stole Trouble’s abandoned rifle with her magic levitated the barrel behind his head. She gritted her teeth cursing the bastard. Time slowed everything hinged on this.

“POW!”

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The world shattered.

 Dawn was transported to a different place. A quieter place.

 She opened her eyes her wounds were sealed, she was fully recuperated.

She found her hooves and forced herself up when she opened her eyes. She was shell shocked. Struck in awe.

There was nothing. A blank canvas lay indefinitely before her. She was standing on it moving on it. The ground was the ceiling the horizon everything around her. She turned around.

“Sweet fucking Celestia.”

A large cinder block wall 100 feet high towered above her, Every inch of it graffitied over with messages or murals. It didn’t cast a shadow, It was just there. Blocking whatever lay behind it.

Dawn’s sense of curiosity was sparked by this wall. Everything around her was blank, nothing was definite except this wall. The wall expanding into the horizon going as far as the eye could see and further than that still.

Dawn stood there staring at the wall, what she failed to notice was the pony sitting at it’s base.

A forlorn pony his head hanging limp, he looked defeated.

It was Trouble.

Dawn approached him. He lay with his head in his knees, depressed. He must have heard her drawing closer, even standing on nothing her hooves made a noise.

“Why did it have to be so high?” He asked his voice cracking.

Dawn never thought she would see Trouble like this. He was usually the strong one. The pillar of strength to lean on.

Dawn kept silent. Speechless.

“The Wall. WHY IS IT SO HIGH!!!” He screamed. He burst from his ball slapping his hooves against the concrete. He thrust his head backwards and slammed it against the hard concrete.

He tumbled backwards unto his flank.

He sniffed and returned to his former position, his forehead bleeding. The more she looked at the Wall the dizzier she became. She remembered something.

“Trouble, why did you kill him?” She asked her feelings of pity for Trouble leaving her. After she remembered him killing Home Run.

“Who?” He asked back, he voice not it’s usual assertive and knowing way not it was broken, depression over came it.

“The pony you shot, Remember? Yellow! Black Mane! Brown Eyes! YOU FUCKING SHOT HIM!” Dawn was shaking, if she still had a gun she would turn it on him. But looking at Trouble now, it seems it would release him from this, his own torment.

“Kid, you were told. Tie Up Loose ends.” He said.

“He wasn’t a loose end! He wasn’t anything to do with this! This is your fault, if you didn’t come shooting the place up we would have made it out. We would have escaped. HE FUCKING LOVED ME!” Dawn was furious at him, all this time she thought she could trust him, that he’d pull through for her. Instead she shot her only other friend. and if it weren’t for him maybe more than a friend. All her live she was alone. Was it too much to ask.

Trouble rested his hoof against his head wound and spoke in a grave tone.

“Look around. Does this look like Equestria?”

That hadn’t even crossed Dawn’s mind, she was just so... Tired.

He continued.

“Those messages all those gray ponies, you think it was all coincidence? It was all in your head Black none of this was ever real. Home Run, whoever else you met. We’re trapped now, because I was the one who settled the accounts not you.”

Dawn was confused. “What is this? What do you mean inside my head? Where are we?”

“This is my mind now more specifically my own hell,” He said, He laughed to himself and continued. “It wasn’t always like this, Usually there are others here, usually I’m not so alone and not in such good condition. Maybe because you are here. But they probably will come soon.”

“Trouble, what the fuck are you talking about? Who’s coming? What kind of hell is this? How are we here? How do we get out?” Dawn’s rage was replaced with panic.

“Ghosts are coming kid, to haunt me. And this hell is The Wall. It’s been here for as long as I can remember. As a colt I suffered from frequent nightmares The Wall was always there. I used to be able to find my way out, but ever since they broke me I’m trapped. The only way out is through this wall. I’ve been trying and trying and trying but... We’re stuck.” Dawn seen his face. He was trying to be strong, trying to think of a way out of here for her, but he was defeated.

Dawn licked her lips she still had questions and now was the time to ask.

“How did we get here?”

“Since I killed Home Run instead of you, if you killed him we would be free. But since I killed him the game changed now we are here inside my head. The catch is: If we die in here, we die in reality.”

Dawn gulped, she came dangerously close to death then, as did Trouble all on her account.

“What about Home Run was he ever real and how did we even get here in this situation?”

“Home Run? Imaginary, created by your sub conscious as a self defense mechanism, S for you leaving yourself messages and getting a gun into here, that was something new. I’ve had training for this sort of stuff, the must I could ever get in was my combat gear. To escape you need to figure out how the Night Mare has set up, which are it’s routers. Now you don’t know what that means but I do, your mind somehow knew to leave you tasks telling you that certain ponies were the routers. Sometimes it’s objects, others ponies. You could be in here days at a time. And during that period the Night Mare throws you against a wall and bombards you with opposition. Your mind somehow however re routed all the Gray opposition you were supposed to be facing to me. It even left me a message. Help.”

Dawn was bewildered he was gradually adding everything up for her.

“Nightmare?” Dawn asked. She also suspected something about all her mind done for her sub consciously.

Before Trouble could answer Dawn heard that familiar smooth soothing feminine voice in her head, it was only a weak whisper though but it was there.

“Me and Trumpet seen to that dear, but now. Your in a different ball park and we’re as helpless as you.”

Almost as the voice finished on cue Trouble spoke again.

“Night Mares we call em, to the far north of Stalliongrad and the coltic lands there are living Night Mares. We don’t know what they are, how they breed or where their nest is. Wolf Pack is practically dedicated to their extermination. They are living embodiments of shadow they hijack your mind, from when we sat down to go to sleep we were snared. This one is remarkably gifted if it made it this far south. And very sly making Home Run a router. The only way we are getting out of here is if the Night Mare’s connection is broken before it kills us or breaks us. The one upside is the Night Mare is as vulnerable as we are in reality, in fact it has to be in close proximity to us. Days could pass in here but it would only be an hour in reality, I’m not sure on the ratio. but we can still get out of here all it takes is for some pony to break the trance. anything that would snap the Night Mare out of it’s concentration would be enough.”

Dawn couldn’t fucking believe this. But it all added up, Home Run was never real, she never seen him in all the 16 years she was in that town. She exhaled and sat next to Trouble.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” She asked, it made no sense that he withheld this information.

“Simple, the Night Mare could change scene. Things get cut out, reset. I couldn’t risk another cut out. The more cut outs you have the more time it buys The Night Mare. But here, Ha. Nobody has power.”

Dawn cradled up next to Trouble, she didn’t feel any hatred for him anymore. Now it all made sense. She landed them here though. If it weren’t for her disobedience and idiocy they would have been fine. Dawn forced Trouble’s hoof. If it weren’t for him she’d be dead over and over and over.

“I seen a message though, it said River.” Dawn objected.

“That was the Night Mare getting smart, luring you down somewhere you could easily be killed.” Dawn only now noticed his voice and hers. They were different here. They all spoke perfect Equine no accents no tones nothing. Everything here was clean. Everything except The Wall.

She rested up against his duster as he sat there his head hung low, she didn’t want the conversation to stop. It was too eerie here. Blank. Nothing. There had to be something.

“What’s written on the wall?” Dawn asked, it was cramped with text and drawings writing in blotchy runny black ink.

Trouble sighed. “Messages, all those that came here before me. Usually I’m not the only one here, there are others but a lot of them are long dead.”

Dawn was feeling glum, Trouble feared this place. More than any other horrific place he’s been too. Another thought crossed her mind.

“Where did they get the pens?”

“That’s blood.” Trouble grimly replied.

“I’ve seen others do it, nick themselves with their exoskeleton or teeth. Then smear something on The Wall. I’m yet to think of something worth saying.”

Dawn blinked. A door appeared in The Wall. Dawn’s face lit up.

“Trouble a door! A way out C’mon!” she tugged at him, he was beyond caring.

“Trouble?” she asked.

She looked over Trouble’s shoulder.

Dear Celestia.

A killing field lay behind her. Silhouettes of ponies lay flat on the ground in pools of shadow. Staining the white canvas. Their bodies secured down with chains of shadow and black ooze.

To Dawn’s right were 3 erect ponies, obscured by shadow.

Trouble slowly turned his head to face them. He grinned.

“Usually I can seen them, the dead ones I mean. the ones who are standing only reveal themselves after they’ve died. Do you know who is behind me kid? My family.”

Maybe 200 ponies lay fastened down by chains. This must have included his ancestors.

The canvas cracked beneath Dawn. The crack widened and grew shooting along the canvas leaving the Wall untouched.

Dawn shot up from the ground. Scanning the cracks. Trouble raised his head from the cracks and smiled. “Should have figured. Those desert Rats always Pull through.”

Dawn was dodging around the cracks inspecting them.

“Trouble what the fuck is going,”

“CRASSSSSHHHH!!!”

The world shattered around them like glass. Dawn was in free fall. Tumbling through the air. Trouble and the others were no where to be seen. Neither was the wall. She was barreling through the void.

She left like she entered with a Thump.

Footnote: Level Up!

New Perk: Night Pony -- As a night time Pony You are more awake when the sun goes down. Your Intelligence and Perception are improved at night, But dulled during the day.