There was many things I thought I knew about life. I thought I knew how dangerous the world was, and where I was safe. Among the Angel Hunters, I felt like I finally belong somewhere. I felt safe for the first time in my entire life. Now, however, I wasn’t sure what was safe or what I knew. The Angel Hunters headquarter, the only place I had felt safe, was gone, and my belief about my mother being dead was wiped from existence. Not only that, but I had a sister; I have a sibling that was still alive.

Saying that word, sister, to a unicorn like Dead Hooves would have immediately expelled me from the Enclave. I could understand why my dad had kept it a secret. The fact that my mom was a zebra, it was something they never would have been okay with. Now, sitting with both my mom and Dead Hooves, it felt weird. My father had remarried some years after Yeilta had left him, and my brother was born only seven years ago. Not that I missed my father and step-mother, I was always treated like an outcast among those in the Enclave. Now, I can understand why.

Of course, that didn’t stop the silence that followed after Dead Hooves and I learned the truth. I lost track of time, sitting on the floor of what had been our Raptors infirmary. Yeilta had left the two of us to talk, and after how she acted in front of us I could see why she didn’t want to be in the room. Dead Hooves was staring at the ground, shock still very present in her eyes. I could understand how my sister felt, the overall shock of this was so sudden it felt hard to believe.

“Dead Hooves?” I finally managed to say, looking to my sister as she looked to me. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m… fine,” She said, the look on her face contradicting what she was saying. “Just… knowing my mom is alive after all this time, how do you deal with something like that?”

“Yeah, stuff like this is why I’ve started drinking recently,” As my brain registered what I had just said, I mentally looked to Dead Hooves who was now staring at me with wide eyes. “Um… I can explain. Rocket has a secret compartment of alcohol on here and I’ve needed a mental break as of recently because of Breaker. You see-”

“Does he have any cider?”

Dead Hooves question caught me off guard. It had been at least a week since I last had a bottle of alcohol in any form. Not that I’ve honestly needed it, for all I know Breaker probably died like most of the Angel Hunters did. He was the one pony I honestly didn’t care died, he was an asshole.

“He probably does,” I reply. “Been some time since I last had a drink, but considering the overall situation the last thing we need is to be drinking.”

“Oh,” Silence fell back over us for a few seconds before Dead Hooves spoke up again. “It’s hard to believe, isn’t it? I mean, the fact that we're sisters. You're a pegasus, and I’m a unicorns.”

“Yeah,” I replied. “And our mom is a crazy, cannibalistic zebra with the power to control somepony with a kiss. You're not the only one who’s unsure of the entire situation.”

“Now the fact of how weird it is that scares me, but how much she knows about the two of us,” Dead Hooves looked away as she spoke, I could see tears starting to form again. “I regret so many things, but my father... he’s dead because of me. The must of been a way I could have saved him.”

“You couldn’t have known,” I tried to say, walking over to give her a hug. “Emotions are quicker than thoughts, and reactions are even quicker. Sometimes, you react at the worst times, and your emotions can overwhelm you to do things that aren’t always so smart.”

“But that doesn’t make up for what I did.”

I tightened my hug around her. I couldn’t understand what she was going through, I had never lost family before. That didn’t mean I didn’t wanted to make her feel better, and I knew that if anyone was going to help her it had to be her sister. I looked into Dead Hooves eyes, tears falling down her face.

“There are many things we can’t fix,” I told her. “Life isn’t a rainbow in a field of flowers. Life… really has no true form. We can only accomplish as much as we know, and even then life isn’t always fair. As much as it pains ponies, sometimes you have to accept what seems unacceptable, and go in knowing that you have no true path. We have no destiny, no fate, no anything, and remember that hope doesn’t show in black and white,” I let my front hooves rest on my sisters shoulders, recounting everything I’ve learned from my time as a member of the enclave. “Hope, like every other emotion, is gray. I know we can’t bring your father back to life, but that is what the world is like. Don’t forget him, or forget what you did, but use it as your reason to bring hope.”

As I finished, Dead Hooves eyes got even more watery. As she began to cry, I was knocked over as Dead Hooves embraced me in a tight hug. Tears flowed from her face, and I started to wonder if what I had said to her was really right. In some ways, I knew what I said was correct, but I also felt like I had been emotionally wrong. However, that didn’t keep me from returning the hug. I knew that as her sister I had to be there for her.

“What’s your real name Nav?” Dead Hooves asked me through her tears. “If we’re sisters, I would like to call you by your real name.”

My real name, it has been so long since anypony has even asked me what it was. Yet, I knew it was wrong to keep it from my sister, so I told her.

“My real name is Star Chart, but most pegasi just called me Star,” I told her. It felt so weird saying my real name after so long. “That was part of the reason for my code name being Nav.”

“Do you know any songs Star?” She asked me. “I… I haven’t sung to myself in a long time, and I want to hear something different. Something happier, something that won’t remind me of my father.”

A song, how long has it been since I’ve ever sung anything? The enclave doesn’t really teach you to sing, and as it is most pegasi don’t seem to care for it. However, I do remember songs my dad sang to me when I was little, when he still seemed to care for me. I could only remember the lyrics to a few of them, but I knew enough sing on.

“I was so happy when you smile.
Your smile breaks through the clouds of gray.
Far from the sunny days that lie in sleep.

Waiting in patience for the spring.
When the flowers will bloom, renewed again
Knowing there's more beyond the pain of today.

Although the scars of yesterday remain.
You can go on living as much as your heart believes.
You can’t be born again, although you can be changed.
Let’s stay together always.”

I felt Dead Hooves body suddenly grow heavy, and I looked to see that she had suddenly fallen asleep on me. Her crying had stopped, and her breath had calmed down greatly. It was like she was a foal instead of a full grown mare. Her recklessness, her courage to prove herself, the way her emotions show, she was like me when I was a foal. Yet she was twenty years old, a full grown mare. I was only eighteen, but I felt so much older than her for some strange reason.

“Her father may have been brave, but he was no teacher,” I looked up to see that Yeilta (she had told us to call her by her real name and not mom) had reentered the room, a grin upon her face (of course that’s nothing new at this point). “Cider Hooves, as nice of a stallion as he was, had a sense of pride that seemed to make his ego bigger than most ponies. In many ways, he had only taught Dead Hooves so much from my help. He was the one stallion that I never took control of, the only one who saw me as not a monster but as another being. Even then, there are still many things she has never even heard of before.”

“So why did you leave him?” I asked.

She laughed in that same twisted way that she told us was sympathy. I didn’t care what it really meant, that laugh was still creepy as hell. “I was no mother, and both me and Cider Hooves knew that I could only go for so long before the need to eat somepony overwhelms me. I was a danger to her, and with her disability I knew we wouldn’t be going anywhere. I couldn’t keep myself from her forever, and for as long as possible I tried to keep myself from the overwhelm urge of blood that came everywhere. When Scythe destroyed your headquarters, what little resistance I had was gone.” She looked to Dead Hooves, fast asleep in front of us. “She takes after her father, ignorant and reckless. I tried to tell her it wasn’t safe, but in the end all I did was give her more courage to prove herself.”

“Why work with Twister then?” I said, a small amount of anger building within me. “The stallion almost killed us, why didn’t you do anything?”

“Oh, I had my reasons,” Yeilta said, “Trust me darling, I would have turned feral like most of the other zebra’s they experimented on if it wasn’t for him. He was a bitch, no doubt, but working for him gave me so much tasty ponies to eat,” At that point Yeilta licked her lips, and her face seemed to light up. “Their bones feel lovely against my teeth, their juicy muscles as lovely as ice cream, and the taste of their blood was like freshly squeezed orange juice from the ripest oranges. Oh, just thinking about it makes me want to rip apart that delicious looking pegasus you call Rocket and eat him.”

“Wait what did you say about becoming feral?” I asked. Out of everything she had said, that had proved to be the most concerning to me.

“Oh, don’t worry deary,” She said. “I keep myself well fed with dumb raiders and those kinds of ponies, never anyone ever worth keeping alive. Still, if we don’t eat meat and drink blood, we start going more and more crazy. That's what was starting to happen when I fought Scythe with Dead Hooves,” I looked down to unicorn, that’s what she had been so scared about. “Eating the meat of creatures and ponies keeps us from losing our sanity, and if we go too long the changes start becoming irreversible. You go for too long without the sweet taste of flesh in your teeth and you become a wild animal, foraging for food,” She let out a sigh, giggling. “Me and my friends found out the hard way, but no way any of us could deny just how delicious a zebra tasted. Much more rich than any unicorn, earth pony, and pegasi. Oh you pegasi, even the roundest of you, would never make a good meal.”

She licked her lips, but I could tell her thoughts were stuck to what she was seeing in her head. She stared out past me at something, but it was invisible to my eyes. I won’t lie, the fact that I had just learn my mother had to eat other things to stay at least somewhat sane was terrifying. To a griffon, smart hellhound, or other carnivore it would have made since, but this was a zebra. A zebra, just like us ponies, would never eat meat! We are vegetarians! Yet my mom had that crazed look in her eyes that I saw in hellhounds that had lost all normal instincts. That scared more than I wanted it to, coming from a mother of all ponies.

“Excuse me, Na-” The door opened again, this time Rocket coming on inside. The look on his face was full of shock, his eyes looking at Yeilta with great astonishment. “Um… well I just came here to tell you that the Watcher pony wanted to talk to you and… can somepony explain to me what’s going on, and why Zoey is looking at me like that?”

Oh crap, I completely forgot that they didn’t see what happened. Neither Rocket or Grease, the latter of which had disappeared into the engine room, had come out into the hallway at all since the last time we checked on Dead Hooves. I was about to explain before Yeilta put a hoof to my mouth, and shook her head. She got up and walked over to walk, standing next to him and putting a hoof around his shoulders.

“Rocket, good sir,” She said in a rather flirty tone, as she began forcefully pushing him out of my view. “I would love to explain to you everything, but let's do it somewhere more private. Besides, I’m sure my daughter could find her way to the bridge with little problem.”

Before Rocket could ask what was going on he vanished, and I was left with Dead Hooves sleeping in front of me. I went to go pick up Dead Hooves, only for Silver Gunner to come up and do it for me. With the way he acted when Yeilta helped me into the room, I had to wonder if Silver knew what was going on from the beginning. He softly placed Dead Hooves down on the bed before turning back to me.

“I would see it as wise to go talk to Watcher,” Silver Gunner stated, as if I hadn’t realized it already. “I apologize for not interfering with Yeilta earlier, but I could tell that she is of no threat to you or Miss Dead Hooves. I am still calculating the threat to Enclave soldiers Rocket and Grease.”

I thanked him quickly before heading down the hall of the raptor and up to the bridge. I saw the blinking light of the radio on the controls, and pressed the button next to it to reply. He knew, Watcher had to know something about Yeilta when he told me to keep an eye on her. I had to know what he knew, and it had to be right now.

“This is Nav, does anyone read me?” I said over the com.

“Good, I finally got a hold of you.” I heard the voice of Watcher over the speaker as soon as I had replied. “I know you probably didn’t expect to hear from me again, but I fear I’ve left to much unsaid to you. No doubt you... probably already know half of it.”

“So you did know?” I bit my lip at this. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Would you have believed me?” He asked, clearly rhetorical. “Who would believe that there mom was a cannibalistic zebra from before the war? What’s good is that you know, and now I need you to take Dead Hooves somewhere. Grease and Rocket already know there part in the plan, but Dead Hooves is the only pony that can still access the Ministry of Magic without setting of alarms. As far as I know of at least.”

“The Ministry of Magic?” I asked, tilting my head even though he couldn’t clearly see it. Only a few days ago Watcher had said to bring Dead Hooves to where he had set up camp. “Did something happen?”

“No, everything is still fine,” I let out a sigh at this news. “I still need to talk to Dead Hooves, but there’s a pony in Ponyville looking for her and I can’t have her dying. The Steel Rangers are looking for you, or more correctly Twister is.”

I bit my lip even harder as I heard that name. Twister, it was because of that unicorn we were stuck out here, that we almost died for no reason other then he wanted us to be. If that wasn’t enough bad news, The Steel Rangers name was more than enough to do it. Any Enclave soldier would tell you why that name was bad news. To put it simply it’s those assholes faults, just like it is Celestia and Luna’s, that the world is like this. If what they were like before the war wasn’t enough, then how they acted after is surely is. They claimed to protect ponies, to help those in need. In truth, all they care about is knowledge and old spare parts. While ponies are dying they send scouts out to collect little pieces of machinery that they do who knows what with. We’ve offered help plenty of times, but the answer is always the same ‘no’.

“What the hell do they want?” I asked, not hiding the anger building inside of me. “Why do the Steel Ranger want us dead?”

“That’s a rather complicated story, but it’s the reason Dead Hooves father isn’t one of them anymore,” Watcher started. “Dead Hooves father, Cider Hooves, use to be friends with Twister. Surprising, but it was true. I don’t know much about what really happened, but apparently Twister was doing some research into a forbidden topic. When Cider Hooves brought this to the Steel Ranger’s elder, Nightshade, he was exiled. I don’t know exactly what happened, but it turns out that whatever Twister is planning, Nightshade is helping him.”

I guess that somewhat explains why Cider Hooves was kicked out of the Steel Rangers, but that didn’t make since. As much as the Steel Rangers are assholes, they don’t turn there backs on somepony because of talking to the elder. I could tell what Watcher was hinting at, and he didn’t need to say anything for me to know. Whatever Twister was planning, it’s not good. Attacking the Angel Hunters, keeping the rest of the Enclave in the clouds, you don’t do things like that unless you have a bigger plan.

“So what are we going to do?” I asked.

“You’ll be descending into the outskirts of Ponyville shortly,” Watcher explained “And when you get out I need you to regroup with Sharpshot in town. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but kill the Steel Rangers. Once you regroup head to Manehattan and do whatever it takes to figure out what Twister is planning. As for the Steel Rangers… do something to get them on your side. I don’t know what but we can’t have them trying to shoot anypony. Is that clear?”

I nodded, even though Watcher couldn’t see it. “Yes.”

With that the transmission stopped, and I looked out the window on the bridge to see that we were slowly dropping in altitude. I could see the edge of a town in the distance, and it didn’t take long for me to know exactly where we were. After three days, we had finally arrived in Ponyville. I couldn’t see much of the town as it fell below the tree lines, but I’ve heard of what this place use to be. The home of the ministers and the heads of stable-tech, all of the lived here before the great war, before the destruction of the once beautiful world. I switch the coms to play over the speaker.

“Attention all passengers,” I announced “Gather your things and prepare to disembark from the Raptor. Gather any weapons, ammo, and supplies you need as we won’t likely be coming back. Once you're ready meet me by the entrance. Welcome to Ponyville.”

I turned comms off and made my way to my quarters on the raptor. The thought of leaving this machine behind hurt, as it was the only time I ever felt slightly useful. However, if there was ever a time I was to prove myself as a leader, it had to be now. Bleak had faith in me, I just need to have that same faith in myself. As I arrived at my quarters, I quickly grab my Novasurge rifle as well as a few cells and a knife. It wasn’t much, but it was all I had considering that the only pony in this Raptor at the moment who could cook was Rocket. Most of our medical supplies had been used up to heal Dead Hooves and Yeilta (which I am somewhat regretting considering what I’ve learned). To say the least, the first goal in my mind was to scavenge anything nearby for supplies.

As I made my way down, I was joined by Yeilta and Dead Hooves, the former having apparently woken up the latter. After a quick exchange of words that could be simplified to both carrying what’s left of the medical supplies, we started our way down to the Raptors exit. We arrived not long after Rocket, Silver Gunner, and Grease did, and I counted up what supplies we had. At least two days worth of food was counted up (considering some of it didn’t rot before hand). Weapons included three Novasurge rifles, a carbine that was owned by Yeilta, and the double barreled shotgun Dead Hooves called Remembrance. Medical supplies were incredibly low, being a single healing potion as well as some other things I didn’t real know about.

“So,” I said, everything looking to me as I spoke. “First things first, finding supplies. We are currently outside of Ponyville but it shouldn’t take us long to get inside. Once we are there, if we don’t immediately see Sharpshot and the others we search for anything that hasn’t spoiled. Food, medicine, anything that can possibly keep us alive out there,” I let out a sigh before continuing, looking to Dead Hooves. I knew exactly how she was going to respond to this next part. “Second, there are Steel Rangers in Ponyville looking for us, and they are not friendly. If you see them kill on sight.”

“What?” Dead Hooves asked, her mouth hanging open. “I thought the Steel Rangers were good guys. If anything should we be-”

“Miss Dead Hooves,” Silver Gunner cut of my sister, “You are a wanted criminal for a crime you didn’t commit. The Steel Rangers hunt down threats to pony society, which marks us as targets. Your father was exiled, you can expect them to open fire upon sight of you.”

Dead Hooves didn’t respond, instead she just stared there, taking in everything. I saw a tear fall down her face, which she wiped away. As much as I hated the Steel Rangers, I could only began to understand what Dead Hooves must be thinking. Her father was a paladin, a high ranking member of the Steel Rangers. It hurt to know somepony like that was exiled over something so simply as the truth, but for you to become an enemy of that same organization, it seemed unthinkable. She nodded her head, and looked back to me.

“I... understand,” She said, even though the hesitation in her words said otherwise. “Star… continue.”

“Star?” Rocket asked, tilting his head.

“That’s my real name,” I told him. “I know it will be a bit of a change, but I would prefer it if you called me by it now. If my sister is going to call me it, then you can start calling me by me real name as well. You know, to not get confused,” I cleared my throat. “Anyways, the Steel Rangers are not allies. They shoot you, you shoot them back. Understand?” Everyone nodded in agreement, but I could see Dead Hooves take a little longer than the others. “Grease, open the door.”

Greased nodded, walking over to the Raptors entrance and pulling a lever. As the door opened, I could gradually see more and more green outside. I could see that we were in a clearing, and as the door finally hit the ground I saw an old trail going through the woods at the edge of it. We left the Raptor, and for the first time in about three days I felt the sensation of grass under my hooves. Everypony was silent as we made our way to the middle of the clearing. I could feel the slight tug of wind, but most of it was blocked by the trees that surrounded us.

“Looks like this Watcher pony knew where to land us,” Rocket told us, pointing to the left of the trail. I spotted an old looking cottage up not far from where we had landed. “Must know the area rather well. Either that or it was just dumb luck.”

“You’d be surprised, sweetheart,” Yeilta replied. “Our little friend here knows more than any of us.”

“Please don’t call me sweetheart,” Rocket, for one of only a few times, was actually shaking in fear. Yeilta’s response was to smile sadistically, before heading off to the small cottage. Rocket came up to me, a look of concern on his face. “How in Luna’s name is that your mother?”

“Hey, I don’t get to choose who made me,” I whispered to him, “Neither does Dead Hooves, and she’s taken everything right now much harder than I am. Just… be careful talking about her parents or the Steel Ranger around her.”

Rocket nodded his head, looking at the cottage at the top of the hill. I motioned for everypony to follow me up to it, and as we reached the top of the hill we were met with fear at what we had seen. What stood around us was the remains of animals, and not just one or two, but dozens. I could see the bones of Squirrels and other smaller animals scattered around the house. There was chicken coup not far from the cottage, and I didn’t dare look inside at what I knew would be skeletons. This cottage… Watcher didn’t just drop us off outside of town. I looked to Dead Hooves, who was looking at the bones of the animals with terror. She didn’t know, nopony had told her according to Sharpshot.

“Star,” I looked to Grease, who was actually praying. Then again, he was more religious than the rest of us. “This place, you know just as much as I do what it really is. Would it really feel right to, not matter what we think, to ransack it.”

I nodded my head in agreement. I knew just as much as he did that it would have been wrong to do such a thing. This cottage was the home of Fluttershy, the element of kindness and head of the ministry of peace. These were her animals, the ones that she had cared for her entire life until she vanished into the Everfree. I looked to see that Yeilta, even with her insanity, was actually chanting something that I didn’t understand. She was trying to keep her composure around us, but I could tell even she didn’t like what she had seen.

“What… what did all this?” I turned to Dead Hooves, who was sitting in disbelief at what was going on around her. Right in front of her stood the skeleton of what I assumed was a bird “Did Equestria really do something like this to harmless animals? I-is this really what we did?” I walked over to my sister and sat down next to her, the tears flowing from her face. “I once believed the world could be better, that we could fix it. How am I supposed to fix this?!”

Before she had a chance to cry, I embraced her in another hug. She had seemed so strong before today, before she had learned everything. She had seen an entire city in ruins, but this was what in the end scared her. The sky was no longer red from the constant ash that fell over Las Pegasus, but now an eerie green from the radiation that had traveled here after the mega spells dropped. Somehow, that only made this feel more depressing than it already did. There was something about this that made Dead Hooves feel the way she did.

“Daughters,” Dead Hooves and I looked to Yeilta, who was looking at us with a smile. “We zebra’s have our own regrets for the war, just as much as you do. We had only realized till after the war what we have done, and it is for that reason that I apologize. I know it may be to much to ask for, but would you join me for a small lesson in zebra culture?”

Dead Hooves and I looked at each other, Dead Hooves giving a nod to me. She tried her best to wipe the tears out of her eyes with her hoof, and nodded when she had finished. From the look in her eyes, she was trying to show she was strong. Considering her reaction only moments before, it helped me understand how she really felt. That face, her courage and hope, it was all to keep her from the fact that she had been less able than the rest of us. No, she still was less able than the rest of us! That back leg, the only one that hadn’t been replace by a metallic one, it was still of sign of what she is. Not even her ability to walk without that power armor could hide it.

“What do you say sis?” Dead Hooves asked me with a courageous smile on her face. I looked to our mother, then back to her.

“Sure,” I replied, returning Dead Hooves’ smile with one of my own. Unlike hers, however, mine was out of sympathy.

I helped her up, seeing that shock still resided in her eyes from what she had seen. She nodded to me one last time before we made our way over to Yeilta. I saw her staring at the ground, smiling as she made a circle in the dirt. I sat down on the right of her, while Dead Hooves sat on her left, both of us looking at what she had in front of her. Inside the circle on the ground was a small, yellow orb and a statuette of Fluttershy. I looked to Yeilta, who was looking at me the way that now seemed normal. It was as if that smile had turned from unsettling to caring.

“We zebra have an interesting relationship with nature,” Yeilta told us, as she drew two diagonal lines in the dirt that were connected to the sides of the circle she had made. “In death, we return to the earth, like all others beings do. However, zebra souls carry on, searching the land as if looking for a new body,” Next, she drew two more lines, this time going up and down from the top and bottom of the circle. “If we could, we would journey to a place in my homeland called the soul tree; a sanctuary for the souls of those who have past.”

“Does it really exist?” I asked. She let out a chuckle at this.

“That’s the funny thing about things such as religion and whatnot,” She explain looking at the two diagonal lines she had drawn when we first arrived. “Truthfully, there is no right or wrong answers to the question. To those who believe it, you could find it. If you don’t, then you won’t,” She chuckled a bit more, this time loud enough to the point that I could see Rocket’s ears turn, hearing it. “It’s one of those things that you can really ask and be sure of. To some logic is the best answer, but to others they would rather believe in what is unbelievable. I guess you can call me one of those zebras.”

“So… what about this has to do with those two items and what you are drawing?” Dead Hooves asked, her voice stuffy.

“These two items hold the memory and souls of a great pegasus,” Yeilta replied, picking up the orb in her hooves, looking at it like it was photograph of a happy memory. “It is unsure what happened to the minister of peace, Fluttershy, but by now she would be no more. I can only assume, but this memory orb must be part of her, and the statuettes I’ve heard are the soul of a pony. I can only do so much, as I don’t know what the soul tree really looks like, but I can do what I can,” She put the orb back on in the circle gently, and stood up. “If she can’t find the tree, I will try to bring it to her. It’s not a huge part of our culture, but the soul tree can be found by anypony who believes it exists.”

Me and Dead Hooves stood up, looking down at the ground with our mother. To say I was intrigued would be wrong at the given moment. This soul tree, it was part of her country's history and her culture. I was to focused on her to see what she had fully drawn, but looking down I saw what looked like a tree with a hole in the middle. Looking down, I realized that this was more than just some part of zebra culture. Listening to what she had said about it, I felt sad looking down at the drawing. I couldn’t help but feel like this soul tree existed, and looking down I couldn’t imagine how many souls we had sent there. It wasn’t happy, at least not to me. The fact that so many zebras died and sent to this tree, it felt like there was a hole in my chest that couldn’t be filled knowing we had caused that.

We did that? We killed all those innocent zebras? Yeilta may be a one thing, but we are talking about thousands upon thousands of zebras and there foals dying. We started this with destroying a college, and we ended it by destroying their lives. We were suppose to be Equestria! A country of peace and harmony, who cared for one another even if they were different. We, the enclave, were the only ponies in Equestria that actually gave a shit that we had done this. Celestia and Luna started this, and they lead us to this. The zebra’s didn’t kill those Wonderbolts because of cold blood, like propaganda would have told you, it was out of revenge for the families who had lost loved ones. We know Littlehorn was an accident, but ponies made it look like they were monsters! How could we call them monsters?! How could I call my own mother that, even with the way she was?

“Mother,” I said, my voice starting to stuff up as I tried to keep myself from crying. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. We… we,” I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I ran into my mother, wrapping my hooves around her in a tight hug. I knew about this for so long, but know my mother was almost killed because of that attack on the college, it was unbearable. “HOW COULD WE! THIS ISN’T WHAT EQUESTRIA IS! WE… AREN’T WE SUPPOSED TO BE THE GOOD PONIES?! AREN’T WE SUPPOSED TO SPREAD FRIENDSHIP AND HARMONY?! DID WE REALLY DO ALL OF THIS OVER A STUPID TRADE SANCTION? I’M SORRY! I’M… I’M...”

I felt hooves brush the upper part of my back as I continue to cry, but I don’t stop. I know who they belong to, and I know everypony is watching my. I don’t care that they are watching me cry, I want them to see me crying. I’m not going to hide this, or the shame I feel in it. I want to cry, I want them to see me crying and understand. I want my mother to understand, and if it was possible the rest of Equestria to understand. Feeling my mother's hooves wrap around me in comfort, it was something Equestria needed to see. We should have been friends… we should have been, but instead two nations had to destroy each other for somepony like me to understand.

“I know you're sorry sweetie,” I heard Yeilta say through my sobs, her embrace the only thing keeping me from hyperventilating. “It isn’t your fault, nor is it Dead Hooves’. I hate the bombs as much as most ponies, no amount of crazy can change that. Besides, even with all the bad it’s done, it’s given me you and Dead Hooves. As much as I hate the bombs, I don’t want to lose you two.”

“I… I know,” I replied, tears continuing to fall down my face. “but how am I supposed to like something like this. We…. WE SHOULDN’T HAVE EVER LIVED IN A WORLD LIKE THIS! I WANT TO SEE EQUESTRIA! I’M SICK AND TIRED OF THIS CELESTIA FORSAKEN WASTELAND! I WANT TO…” I stopped my whining, knowing the truth. I just laid there on top of my mother, silent for what felt like an hour “We’re never going to have peace, we’re never going to have that place back. I… I’m not going to see the peace the Enclave promised me.”

“That’s only if sit ideally,” I looked to my mother, a goofy grin on her face. I wanted to think she didn’t understand, but I knew what that grin really meant. “I know you're unhappy deary, we all are. Dead Hooves, the other ponies in the Enclave, and maybe even the raiders even though they deny it,” She ran her front left hoof across my mane in a soothing manner. It felt myself start to calm down, but tears still fell from my face like a waterfall. “I was the same way when I woke up after what the empire did to me. That was the last day, we killed everypony in there out of rage for the monsters they turned us into. The mega spell hit mere hours before we woke up, and when we saw what the world had become…”

She stopped there the grin on her face growing into a large smile. Then I heard her let out a laugh. It grew in volume to the point where it was starting to ring in my ears. If this was any other pony, I would have seen them as insane. Yeilta on the other hoof was already insane, and she told us what the laughter really meant. What kind of messed up thing could the zebra empire had done to her to have sympathy come out as laughter? I know there are good zebras, but it’s so hard to believe when you see things like this.

“I’ve learned to fake a frown whenever I feel sad, and hope I can keep my laughter to a minimum,” Yeita explained looking to the sky and closing her eyes. “Sometimes, I just can’t help but laugh, even if it’s that last thing I want to do, but that didn’t make me give up hope. Nothing, not even the barren land that was once me home country, has made me given up hope,” She looked to me again as I got off her. She sat up, tilted her head slightly, and gave me a much more sympathetic grin than before. “You know what? I would have already gone feral if I had given up hope.”

“What kind of hope?” I asked, my voice cracking from my crying.

“Hope that we can bring Equestria back to the way it use to be,” Yeilta said in a matter-of-fact kind of way. “It may not have been my original home, but it’s yours, the home of my two loving daughters. Your home is mine, and in one way or another we can be the reminders ponies need to remember where they came from.”

I looked to Dead Hooves who was now sitting next to me, smiling. She gave me a nod, and as I turned around I saw Grease do the same thing. They agreed with her, and I knew they were right. What worth was it giving in, not like that was going to do anything good. In fact, it would do nothing to set the wasteland on the right course. I looked to Rocket, who walked up behind Yeilta and gave her a hard slap on the back. I saw my mother flinch, and look to Rocket as she rubbed her back. Through my tears I let out an almost silent giggle. To say the least, Rocket sometimes underestimates his strength, something my mother just found out.

“Haven’t heard to many ponies these days talk about hope, not even in the Enclave,” He said with a hard, forced laugh. “That being said, I agree with you. The only problem is that we aren’t exactly in the best of possessions to do that right now.”

“Twister,” Dead Hooves spoke weakly, pausing slightly before continuing “... the Steel Rangers, they want me dead. I need to prove to them somehow I’m the wrong pony, and I don’t think Tenpony Tower is the best thing anymore.”

“Then we expose the pony behind your father's exile from the Steel Rangers,” I said, wiping the tears off my face and looking as confident as possible. “Elder Nightshade, he’s the one responsible for the decision. Whatever Twister’s planning, he knows about it. Our current objective is to meet up with the others, after that we had to Manehattan and do everything in our power to expose the plot. Is that clear!”

Grease and Rocket both gave me a salute in response to this. With that they grabbed their things and started making there way away from Fluttershy’s cottage. Silver Gunner was still waiting at the bottom of the hill, looking at me blankly. A few seconds after Grease and Rocket, Yeilta started making her way away from the cottage, motioning me to Dead Hooves. She was sitting their, looking at the ground for a reason both our mom and I understood. The thought that the Steel Rangers were the bad ponies was still registering in her brain. If that didn’t show it, then the way she had paused not long ago did. As she got up, I wrapped my front right hoof around her chest.

“I know how much they mean to you, even if they don’t mean much to the Enclave,” I told her. “I’ll do everything in my power to stop that pony, don’t you worry. Cider Hooves… he seemed like more of a father then I ever had, that’s for sure.”

“Thank you,” My sister replied with a weak smile as we started after the others. “My father wasn’t the best father, that’s for sure. I remember when I was younger how bad he was at cooking. Not to mention during that time he seemed to be a bit more woozy then others,” I giggled at this, and she looked at me with a confused expression. Her head was tilted slightly. “What about that is so funny?”

“You don’t know what getting drunk is, do you?” I asked her. She shook her head in response. “That’s what happens when ponies have a little too much alcohol, and that includes hard cider.”

Her ears went up like a dog upon hearing that, concern on her face. “Wait… I had alcohol on the day I was kidnapped, and Sharpshot gave me some one day as well!” The worry in her as she said that was rather hilarious to me. “Does… does that mean… I’M DRUNK!”

I did my best to stifle the laughter that I felt from that, but I just couldn’t hold it in. I almost fell down from that, but managed to at least stay on my hooves. Yeilta wasn’t kidding about her not knowing some things. Seriously, how do you grow up in the wasteland without out getting drunk or seeing somepony drunk at least once? While this was amusing to me, a look to Dead Hooves’ face could tell you she wasn’t. She stared at me sternly, and I did my best to stop laughing after this. After I managed to stop, I looked to her with a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of my neck.

“Sorry,” I apologized to her. “No, you are not drunk. I don’t smell any alcohol on you, and you are acting rather normal. Trust me, you’d be acting rather different if you were drunk, and considering you haven’t had any cider in the last twenty-four hours we can say you definitely aren’t.”

She exhaled a large breath she had taken, her stern expression changing to one that was more. I felt a bit bad for laughing at her for something she didn’t know, but it was too much for me to handle. She was probably the first pony I’ve ever met who didn’t know such a common thing as getting drunk. In the end, maybe it was for the better that she didn’t know. I remember using the word drunk in situations it didn’t apply to when I was younger. Those were some of those times you would say ‘years from now I’m going to look back and laugh’. Whelp, I not laughing about it, that's certain. Still not funny after all these years.

“Na- I mean Star,” Grease said, remembering that I’m no longer using my code name before I had to tell him. “Hope you don’t mind, but as the only other pony among us here who can pilot and repair the Raptor, I would like your permission to stay with it. Besides, I have something I need to take care of. My part of the plan.”

I nodded “Do what you have to,” I replied. “Watcher has promised me the chance to clear my sister’s name and I won’t let Twister get any farther in whatever plan he is operating,” I gave him a salute. “For the Enclave, and the Equestrian wasteland!”

He returned my salute with a confident smile. “For the Enclave!”

We watched as he made his way back inside the Raptor, closing the door after we gave a final salute. With that, we started our way down the trail to Ponyville, the home of the ministry mares before the war. As we exited the clearing, I could hear the sound of the Raptor taking off behind me, taking a quick look back. For as long as I’ve been a member of the Angel Hunters, that Raptor had been my metaphorical baby. I was it’s pilot, engineer, and repair pony at many times in the past two years. I could see it’s metallic body rise from the ground and make it’s way out of my view. Watching it leave, it felt like a part of me had disappeared.

I turned around, galloping to catch up with the others still walking down the path. As I caught up to them, I looked up at the sky. The green stain the mega spells left in the sky was heartbreaking. Not even the clouds could go unscathed with the damaged done. Then again, part of me felt like we deserved everything we were getting. We may not have ended this, but we sure as hell started it. The war truly got worse because of what we did, and I couldn’t get the thought out of my head. The tree’s, while bare due to the winter whether (which was never as cold as it use to be), would probably stay that way when summer came.

“My father told me about Ponyville, though it wasn’t a lot,” Dead Hooves said, breaking the silence. “The ministry mares, they lived here. Stable-tech, the ministries, everything started here in Ponyville,” I could hear the sorrow that overtook my sister’s voice. “The Steel Rangers, they were originally stationed here before moving someplace else. I can’t help but wonder… mom, was my dad stationed here?”

“No sweetie,” Yeilta replied. “Trust me, this is one of my favorite places to grab a bite to eat. They don’t have a Steel Ranger’s base here, or at least not anymore. The town is mostly just raiders, slavers, and other unsavory ponies so delicious the only thing that makes them less satisfactory is there rotten attitude,” She let out a laugh at her own, twisted attempt of a joke. I felt a chill go down my spine at that. Seriously, how was Dead Hooves suppose to see her as a mother? “He was stationed somewhere ‘safer’. The reason I say safer is that what bad things there are in Manehattan are things you do not want to mess with, even if they are a delicacy.”

“Mom, please stop.” I requested nervously. How quickly she shift between normal and creepy was too much for me to sometimes handle. Actually, scratched that. I couldn’t handle it. No matter what I wanted to believe I just couldn’t handle it.

“If I may interject,” Silver Gunner said. “I have run a background check with what information I could about somepony by the name of Yeilta before leaving your base. The airport you had use as your base in Las Pegasus was Ministry of Awesome property. I assume that you knew that,” He nodded to him, which he seemed to register. “I can confirm your mom’s pre-war existence, as she had traveled to Equestria two years before the war as an exchange student. As such, I was able to delve deeper due to other connections, and I have some history on your mother the first few years after the war.”

“Wait, that shouldn’t be possible!” I exclaimed, taken back by this discovery. “The computers only contain flight dates, passenger information, and other things. How the hell could you find out things that wasn’t on the computer?”

“All Ministry of Awesome sites have a magic made connectors that are transparent, all of which connecting to the main computer in the Ministry of Awesome’s mane building,” Silver Gunner explained, intriguing me in this knew information. “If you are able to get back the various firewalls, you can retrieve any information you like. It would have proven useful for the Enclave’s cause, and due to such I apologize for not taken more information then I wanted.”

“So the robot knew who I was all along,” Yeilta replied, her tone of voice showed how impressed she was. “Yes, I did come here as an exchange student in high school. Only for a week, sadly, and I planned to go back as part of one the year everything went to hell. Well, you know how that story goes by now I assume,” As I made my way up next to her, I could see her roll her eyes at something. “Still, I am intrigued to see what you have found out about me. Do tell us.”

“I’m afraid that I must hold off for the moment,” Silver Gunner explained. “While it is against my programming to hold back any knowledge, there are still files being cleaned and deciphered. As a show of honesty, I will withhold my information until I can come to a clear conclusion as to why they have you in their system. I apologize for this inconvenience, but it shouldn’t take more than four hours to finish.”

I was about to open my mouth before I ran into the flank of Rocket, who had stopped at the edge of the path. Looking at him I saw a look that was a mix between shock and awe, his eyes looking straight ahead. Follow his gaze, I saw exactly what had caught his attention. Right in front of me stood an open field of grass, standing still as no breeze could be felt around me. I followed it up, and as my eyes looked onto the horizon, I saw a town in the distance.

We’ve arrived. The houses and shops had lost their luster in the years, holes in the roof from what was likely rotten wood or termites. Windows were punctured with holes from what was raiders and other sorts of unwelcoming folk. I could see the thin line of a river at the edge of the town, a slight glow and green tint to it. I didn’t need to see a recognizable landmark to know where we were, or get any confirmation from my companions. Anypony would know this town just by seeing it, as it was as recognizable as the mares who had lived here,

“Ponyville,” I said, standing in awe of the history and state of this town. “Home of the ministry mares, CEO's of Stable-tech-”

“And myself, till seventy-five years ago,” The voice of a familiar pony interrupted me, and I turned around to see a Sprite Bot. “Soon to be seventy-six when the week is over. Tomorrow would have been Heartwarming day, and the finish of a project Twilight never told me about.”

“There was many secrets the ministry mares held Spike, and we both know how good some of them were,” Yeilta replied. So that was Watcher’s real name. Wait, that was also the name of… no. It couldn’t be.

“Spike, the assistant of minister Twilight Sparkle?” I asked, surprised. “But… that can’t be right. Spike disappeared around the same time Twilight Sparkle did, and considering how long it’s been no pony save for the obvious exception,” I shoot a quick glance to my mother as I said this. “Could still be alive.”

“Spike isn’t a pony my dear Star,” My mother chimed in, looking to me. “He’s a dragon, and a big one considering how small you were when I visited. Funny enough he actually slept through the entire thing if I remember correctly, and some time after,” She turned back to the sprite-bot, with a warm smile on her face. “So, how goes the search for your caretaker? Found anything yet?”

“Sadly not,” Spike said, a speck of regret in his voice. “Fifteen years and I can’t find a thing, doesn’t help that I can’t access the Arcane Science hub either. That isn’t what I found you all for, however,” He turned to Dead Hooves, who looked at the Sprite-bot unsure. “The others arrived a day before you did, and they set up camp in the Golden Oak library, my old home. Dead Hooves, I know it unsettles you, but the Steel Rangers that arrived yesterday as well are not friends. They want you dead, ordered to kill you on the spot. Twister has killed most of your father's friends, but two are still alive, one you’ve already met.”

I could see the light of hope in Dead Hooves’ eyes upon hearing that. “Really! Who are they?!” She asked, the remorse that was present since we landed had vanished from her face. After a second, I saw her expression rapidly change from hope to fear. “Wait, no. The only other pony I know besides from us and the others is… Dread! How is he friends with my father?”

“Some stories are harder to tell than others,” Yeilta replied as she put a hoof on Dead Hooves, “Dread is not one of the nicest ponies, but he has guts that most ponies don’t have. Part of me doubts the earth pony has emotions, or even understands them, but it helped balance out Cider’s ego. Not to mention he is one of the last ponies you would ever want to fight against,” She let out a sigh before chuckling. “If only the pony understood how to actually show that.”

“You want to know who the Bloody Angel is, right Dead Hooves?” Spike asked, my sister giving a nod in reply. “Well, what if I told you that they were not only on your side, but you had been traveling with them ever since you left that raider camp.”

At first, Dead Hooves didn’t react to this, but as it sunk in I could see something was wrong. Her eyes were huge, her lower jaw looking for words that she couldn’t seem to find. Her tan coat was on end, and I could see her starting to shiver. One thing was clear from this, Dread was the Bloody Angel (which only made me hate the Steel Rangers even more), and that he wasn’t the only pony. It took only a second for it to make since to me, and my heart pounded as I thought back to one of the ponies Dead Hooves was traveling with in the Smokey Mountains. It seemed so impossible, yet it was the only logically idea.

“No,” I heard Dead Hooves mutter, “No. That can’t be right, that couldn’t possibly be right. Willow Wisp would do something like that. SHE COULDN’T!” Her mutter’s turned to yelling, the disbelief clear in her eyes. “WILLOW WOULD NEVER DO THAT! WHY WOULD SHE?! HOW COULD SHE KILL THOSE PONIES?! SHE WAS…” She paused, a word stuck in her throat as she looked to the ground. “She was a slave. My father would never be friends with… he wasn’t…”

“Dead Hooves,” Spike said, regret in his voice. “This isn’t Willow’s fault, she never wanted to be a part of it all,” Dead Hooves looked up to the Sprite-bot. “You have all the right to hate Dread; he was exiled because of her slavery. Willow isn’t the killer. Why do you think everypony Dread kills is buried? She did it to give rest, to make up for what she let happen,” Silence followed as Spike finished, speaking up again after a few minutes. “Dread may have been a bad pony, but there was a reason and pattern to his killing. You can kill him if you want, but at least listen to what he has to say before hand.”

Dead Hooves stared at the Sprite-bot for several seconds, her teeth showing the anger inside of her. “Okay,” She said, turning around. “Let’s go see what the son of a bitch has to say.”

With that, Dead Hooves walk towards Ponyville, no one following her. I looked to the others, Rocket motioning for me to head after her. I didn’t need words to know what I needed to do as I sprinted down into the grassy plains after Dead Hooves. As I caught up with her, she stopped walking, looking at me with rage in her eyes. I was expecting her to yell at me, but instead her response was a sigh as she started walking. Watching her movements, I could see her body was tense, her steps heavy and loud. What was going through her head was something I didn’t want to understand.

“Dead Hooves?”

“I know what you’re going to say,” She said, a low growl in her voice. “Spike’s right, he’s the only pony who has any idea what’s going on. I need to know why he’s doing this, why he killed all those ponies. I want to know how a pony such as he... could EVER KNOW MY DAD!” I could feel something different in those words. This was rage, not the recklessness our mother had told me. “My dad, even with how self-centered he was, knew how to treat a pony. How could he be friends with somepony that enslaved a pegasus like Willow Wisp. I don’t care what reason he has, it doesn’t make up for what he’s done. I’ll kill that motherfucker, he deserves it for what he’s done.”

“I wasn’t going to change your mind,” I replied. Dead Hooves stopped again and turned to me. “I signed up for a reason, and that was avenge my brother and the other Enclave members that died. My dad didn’t love me like you did; he despised me. I’m doing this to prove to him I’m worthy of being a member of the Enclave, as well as avenge my brother.”

I watched as a smile crept onto my sisters face, a mix of courage and rage on her face. I wasn’t going to hide anything from her, and I wasn’t going to abandon my mission because my target was the friend of Dead Hooves’ father. Dread, the Bloody Angel, he was a criminal to both the Enclave and the Wasteland. The lives he ended greatly outweighed any sentiment for the murderer. I wasn’t going to let him go, and I was going to find out why he killed so many. With this objective, I smiled at my sister.

Dead Hooves turned around, looking at the ruined town in front of us. “Then let's give the bastard a piece of our minds.”

Author's Notes:

There was so many ways this chapter would have gone, but I think I'm setting things up nicely for the story. If I had to choose where the first arc of Reminders ends, it would definitely be this chapter. I have so many things I want to do with this second story arc that even I am wondering how it will turn out in the end. So, please give a like, comment, or follow to support the story and I will see you all in the next chapter!