“How’s the construction coming along?” I sat up in bed still a little sore.

“The turrets have all been placed around the walls and two of the minefields are getting finished today.” Harmony kissed me.

“Good to hear. I suppose it’s about time I got out of bed and went for a walk.” I crawled over to the edge of our bed.

Harmony nodded. “Probably for the best. Your bones have had enough time to heal properly.”

I slid out of bed and stood on my own. “Everything feels like it should. Any word on the new screen for my Pipbuck?”

My armor whirred to life as Aurora woke up. “No. Not many ponies still have access to such technology. Your best bet would be to find the headquarters of Stable-tec.”

I yawned and took a few steps. “Any idea where that is?” I kept moving testing my legs.

“Not a clue. Probably got destroyed during the war. Nopony wanted that information to get out.” Aurora opened my armor for me.

“Let Midnight walk on her own for a while. She needs a little while to readjust after all that trauma.” Harmony trotted over closing my armor.

“I’m not to eager to get back in that suit after my encounter with death.” I shied away from the armor.

“It’s the reason you survived that fall.” The helmet of my armor lit up. “But I can’t force you to wear it.”

I opened the door to the rest of the house. “Give me a day or two and I’ll think about it.”

Harmony ushered me out the door. “Let’s go for a walk. I’d like to just take some time to talk.”

I smiled turning to face Harmony. “Of course. Shall we?” I held a hoof towards the door downstairs.

Harmony grabbed my hoof. “Let’s go.”

The front door opened as we reached the bottom of the stairs. “What are you two doing?”

“We’re going for a walk.” I pushed past Silver.

“Alright. I was just coming to check and see if you were feeling better. Seeing as you're walking around I suppose you are.” Silver trotted along with us.

“Yes. I’m feeling much better. Now if you don’t mind I want to take a walk with my wife.” I kept moving forward.

Silver took to the air. “Alright. I’ll come find you two later. Rose wants to talk.”

“Yeah, yeah. We’ll talk later.” Harmony waved Silver away.

I waited until Silver had left. “So what did you want to talk about?”

“Well for one I just wanted to see how you felt. I hoped you were ready to get back on your hooves. It’s been really boring not having you to talk to during the day.” Harmony brushed up against me.

“I’m feeling a lot better after that couple days rest. I feel as strong as ever.” I hopped a few times.

Harmony giggled slightly at me. “Well I’m glad to hear that. Now I have another question for you.”

“Sure shoot.” I smiled keeping my hooves on the ground.

“I was wondering where you wanted to live for the rest of our lives. I know it’s a big decision but I’m starting to like living in this town. Now that everypony is more or less over their drug addictions they’re actually quite friendly.” Harmony waved at a couple as we trotted.

I took a few seconds to contemplate this question. “Well I don’t think we’ve got too many choices. Tenpony would be the next best place, but I don’t really like the tower. Something feels off about that place.”

“Ok so that’s one less place to choose from. That leaves Ponyville or some place out there where we can build our own home.” Harmony pulled me over to a bench.

I sat down thankful to get off my hooves. “Ponyville is out of the question. I hated being there for the short time we stayed. And while building our own house does sound appealing I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

“That settles it. We’ll live here for the time being. If it gets safe enough out in the wasteland I think we should consider building a place for ourselves.” Harmony rested her head on my shoulder.

I ran a hoof through her mane. “I’ll keep that in mind. For now I’m perfectly fine with spending my days with you here.” I kissed Harmony’s horn.

Harmony let out a small giggle. “I love you.” She returned my kiss with one on my lips.

I didn’t pull away and just let the kiss last. We held the kiss for minutes before Harmony broke away and laid her head on my lap.

I played with Harmony’s mane for a while appreciating our time alone. Ponies past us by smiling and waving at Harmony.

“Looks like you’ve made some new friends while I’ve been laid up.” I took my hoof off Harmony.

“Yeah. We’ve made a reputation for ourselves around here. The ponies here are thankful for all the things we’ve done to protect this city.” Harmony sat up.

“They look up to us that much. We’ve done barely anything.” I kept a hoof around Harmony.

“We’ve done enough for this city. Time and time again we’ve saved this place from destruction.” Harmony waved at another stallion as he trotted by.

I shrugged. “I mean I’m fine with that. I was just wondering.”

Silver landed on the ground beside us. “Hello.”

“Hi Silver. I guess Rose wants to talk to us.” Harmony got to her hooves.

Silver nodded. “Mmhm.”

“What about?” I got off the bench with a small grunt.

“She said mostly just about our next move. Shouldn’t be anything super drastic.” Silver flared his wings and started hovering.

I nodded and started trotting for town hall. We were about a minutes trot at most.

Harmony trotted up next to me. “Well looks like our time off is over.”

I sighed. “Yeah. Right back into the fire where we live.”

“Our time will come to be done with this. We’ll make it through.” Harmony kissed my cheek.

I blushed and smiled. “Yeah I know we will. Thank you.”

“Anything for the mare I love.” Harmony whipped my plot with her tail.

I turned to whisper in Harmony’s ear. “Wait until we get home. Then you can do that all you want.”

Silver rolled his eyes at us. “Calm down you two. We’ve still got some work to do before the day is over.”

I tossed a small stone at Silver. “You’re no fun. Seriously lighten up. Not everything has to be as serious as you want it to be.”

Silver gave me a death glare before shaking his head. “Can’t do that.” He shook his head again. “Sorry. I’ve just got a lot on my mind.”

I pulled Silver down to the ground. “I understand. You’ve got a lot to worry about with Rose around here. For you everything is a life and death matter.”

Silver sighed. “Not quite everything is that serious but when it comes to stuff like this.” He paused. “Yeah.”

I lightly tapped Silver’s shoulder. “It’s fine. We’ll do what we can.”

A slight smile crossed Silver’s face. “Thanks.”

“What are friends for?” I smiled and pushed open the door to town hall.

Rose and Stone were sitting there waiting for us. “There you two are. Midnight how are you feeling?”

I trotted over to Rose. “I’m feeling fine. Everything feels like it healed properly. Maybe a little bit weaker than before the fall but other than that I’m great.”

Stone butted in. “Good to hear. Unfortunately that means you’ll need to get back to work.”

I sighed. “What’s next?”

“New Appleloosa has been threatened by many ponies over the course of these past few weeks. Now we’ve got bigger problems than that.” Stone searched around in a his saddlebags.

“Bigger problems than raiders looking to use our entrails as decorations? Sounds like kind of a stretch.” Harmony pulled a chair over for me.

I graciously took the chair. “Thanks.”

Harmony pulled over a second chair for herself. “No problem.”

Stone laid out a map on the floor. “Recon shows we’ve got raider groups trying to make new outposts. This is a problem but I think if Silver takes Demo and Onyx they should be able to kill them all before they get any traction.”

Rose trotted over and looked at the map. “Our teams have also shown that the Enclave has been setting up shop wherever they can.”

“The Enclave?” I scooched closer to the map.

“Think the Brotherhood but a little bit more sinister. Bigger guns, better armor, and a thirst for blood. Generally not the nicest ponies to come across in the wasteland.” Rose rolled the map away.

“So what do they want?” Silver trotted over and put a wing over Rose.

Rose smiled. “They want to take New Appleloosa as their own.”

“Anyway to convince them not to take this place?” I looked down to my Pipbuck.

“Not unless you’ve got a place for them to call their own. They’re looking to conquer the wasteland and put it under their own rules. So anyplace that might have influence is on their hitlist.” Rose brushed Silver’s wing off.

I had a devilish thought. “I might have a place to send them.”

“We’re not sending them to Tenpony.” Harmony put a hoof on me. “You don’t hate everypony in that tower.”

“No I just want to see PON3’s world burn.” I blinked my eyes a few times. “That was weird.”

“Agreed.” Harmony ran her hoof down my back. “Now what do you Midnight and I to do?”

“Simply put we want you to destroy everything the raiders and enclave are working towards. Anything they call theirs we want destroyed or brought back to us as fuel to defend this city.” Stone kicked the map to the corner of the room.

I purred quietly as Harmony kept running her hoof down my back. “Kill all the raiders? Sounds like a plan.”

“Then we have a plan. As soon as you’re ready go out there and get to work.” Stone trotted upstairs.

“Alright. You heard the stallion. We’ve got work to do. Let’s go.” Silver trotted out of the building.

Rose trotted over to me. “Midnight are you feeling alright? You didn’t seem like yourself.”

I shrugged. “I’m feeling fine. I can’t tell you what happened.”

Aurora appeared on my cracked screen. “Multiple personality disorder most likely.”

I jumped a little as Aurora spoke. “Hi Aurora you scared me. Now what did you just say?”

Aurora sighed. “Multiple personality disorder. A piece of your brain has made itself it’s own entity. Completely aware of everything that goes on.”

Harmony tapped my Pipbuck. “And there’s nothing we can really do about that, unfortunately.”

“So what? I’ve got a second pony living in my head? Is there any way to trigger that part of my brain?” I stood up.

“Well it’s seems when every PON3 is mentioned you have a miniature period of time where the other personality is in control.” Rose put a hoof on my shoulder.

Just hearing his name set me off a little. “That might be it. I really bucking hate him.”

“I would bet what little bit of my equinity I’ve got left on saying that’s probably what triggers it.” Aurora shut my Pipbuck off.

Harmony kissed me. “Let’s not worry about it too much. Come on we’ve still got some time left in the day. Rose we’ll be taking today off.”

Rose nodded. “Understood. I’ll make sure Silver is ready when you two are.”

I waved goodbye and trotted outside. “Alright my lovely wife. What do you want to do for the rest of the day?”

Harmony corrected my course towards home. “Relax at home with the mare of my dreams wrapped in my hooves.”

I smiled happily. “I’d like that.”
______________________________________________________________________________

“Hello me.”

I was standing in a dark room unable to see anything. “Hello?”

A small beacon of red light shone through the darkness. “Good to see you again.”

“Oh it’s you.” I was pissed to see her again.

“Yeah it’s me.” This mare did look very similar to me with a few key differences. Scars riddled her sides and large portions of her fur had been burnt away. She was one ugly motherbucker

I took one step towards her. “Why don’t you just buck off? I thought I told you that I’m in control not your bitch ass.”

Her smile faded and she pulled out a dagger. “I can’t do that. I’m just as much a part of you as you are. I’m your anger, your hatred, your sociopathic tendencies. I allow you to survive in the wasteland. You need me.”

I tore the dagger away and hurled it into the distance. “I need you as much as anypony needs a bullet to the skull. All you do is make me look like a dumbass.”

She shrunk back searching for something. “Lots of ponies need bullets to the skull. We both know all raiders deserve death. Not a swift death either. A slow and excruciatingly painful one. Just give in to me and I can make sure it happens.”

I considered her words as I trotted forward pushing her ever deeper into my mind. “It’s a tempting offer, but I think I’ll decline and save myself from becoming what I hate most.”

She lunged forward at me with a dagger in her grasp. “There’s one thing you hate more than raiders. You hate PON3 so much more. We can bring him to his knees and make him pay.”

I smashed a hoof into her jaw. “Listen to me you little shit. I’m the one who makes the decisions around her. If you don’t like it I’ll find a way to eradicate you from existence.”

The mare before me staggered back putting a hoof up to her jaw. “You know I’m useful. You know you need me to keep what little sanity you have left. Without me you have to face all of the consequences of your decisions.”

I charged forward slamming another hoof into her nose. “I’ve faced the consequences of my decisions. I’ve died before for the life I’ve chosen.”

The blood started pooling on the floor. “You’ll never learn will you? I’ve kept you alive this entire time. Every time you pulled the trigger I was there calling the shot. You couldn’t even manage to pull the trigger when I put my head to the gun. How could you do it elsewhere?”

My horn light up holding the other me in place. “I can do as I want. You are just a piece of me. A piece that I can’t change.” I rammed her to the ground.

“Do it. Bucking kill me.” She spat at me. “Come on. End this and prove you’ve got it in you to kill somepony without me.”

I glared down at the mare. All my feelings of anger dissipated. “What the buck?”

“That’s who you are without me. A weak, pathetic excuse of a pony.” She fought against my magic.

I held her down. “No.” One swift movement had her puking on the ground. “You only control my anger and hatred of PON3. I’ve still got the rest of my anger at my own will.”

Through the blood and puke the other me managed to speak. “You only have control of it because I let you.” Another wave of blood puke. “Do it again.”

“What are you?” A took a few small steps backwards.

“I like pain. Whether it’s caused to myself or others. I love it. Hit me again and let me feel that ecstasy.” Her eyes started to bleed.

I lifted her off the ground. “No. The more I do what you want the more I let you have control. I’d like to propose a deal.”

“I won’t agree. I want to see you suffer.” She spat blood in my face.

I calmed myself down not letting her take control. “I’ll let you live on if you agree to let me have control.”

“Why would I do that? I love watching the suffering of others. That reminds me.” She grabbed the dagger and shoved it up her own plot. “Oooh.”

I shook my head. “Listen we’ve got work left to do in the wasteland. There will be plenty of pain we cause to other ponies. You just have to let me stay in control.”

The other me consider this will twisting the dagger around inside of her. “I’ll do it only if I can have my fun once in awhile.”

“Deal, but I get to decide when you can have your fun.” I released her.

She smiled tearing the dagger out and stabbing herself in the chest. “Deal.”

I relaxed. “Good.”

She jumped at me pulling the dagger out. “I couldn’t agree more.”

I rammed my hooves into her stomach throwing her into the distance. “Buck off.”

I awoke from my dream being shaken. “Huh wait what?”

Harmony was shaking me holding a knife at bay. “Please stop.”

I overpowered the magic on the knife sending it hurtling into the hallway. “What happened?”

Harmony rolled over and kissed me. “I woke up to you talking in your sleep. I hadn’t caught much of the conversation but it sounded serious. After a few seconds you pulled a knife out of your saddlebags and tried to stab yourself in the throat.”

“That bitch! I agreed to let her live and she tried to kill me.” I sat bolt upright.

“Who are you talking about?” Harmony sat up with me.

“That stupid alternate me. We talked about her getting to live and then she tries to kill me. What the buck!?” I hammered on my head twice with my right hoof.

Harmony restrained my limbs from moving. “Midnight please.” A few tears rolled down her cheeks. “Please stop this.”

All my anger faded in that moment. I felt like I was more in control of my body than I had been in weeks. My voice shifted and took on a sensitive tone. “Harmony It’s me.” Everything in my body started to hurt.

Harmony looked into my eyes. “Stare into my eyes and tell me that you’re not going to try and kill yourself.”

“The thought of doing that makes me sick. Why would I ever want to do that and leave you behind?” I stared deep into Harmony’s eyes.

“OW! Son of a bitch! Why is there a bucking dagger in the middle of the floor!?” Onyx trotted in.

“Hi Onyx. Sorry about the dagger. Midnight here just finished giving me the scare of my life.” Harmony let me loose from her magic.

“What happened?” Onyx trotted over and put a hoof on my shoulder.

All over my body the pain became excruciating. “The other me got control. She likes pain.” I laid back down.

Onyx was shaking his head to make sure he heard that right. “What?”

“I have a separate personality and she really likes pain. It was sickening some of the stuff she did to herself in my dream.” I rolled over throwing up onto the floor.

Onyx jumped onto the bed and patted my back. “Harmony can we do anything about this?”

Harmony stayed quiet for a few seconds. “If we found somepony who knows a lot about magic we might be able to get this under control. The doctor here in town might know something about this. What time is it?”

I looked at my Pipbuck. “Just past five.” I threw up again.

“Onyx help me to get her down to the doctor. We might be able to get a temporary fix for this.” Harmony jumped off the bed carrying me in her magic.

Onyx held a trashcan in front of my face. “Don’t be afraid to throw up if you have to.”

I waited no longer than a second before throwing up yet again. “Thanks.”

“What’s going on he..?” Silver stepped out of the way.

“Not now Silver. We’re taking Midnight to the hospital.” Onyx left the trashcan to me.

I couldn’t catch the rest of the conversation as Harmony started galloping forward. It took only a few seconds for Silver and Onyx to burst out of the door galloping behind us.

Harmony held me a few paces behind her as she went.

She took a quick turn causing me to puke again. “This sucks.”

“Hang on Midnight. The doctors office is just up ahead.” Harmony got quiet as the sound of splintering wood filled my ears.

I came to rest on a table. I sat there not moving. I really didn’t want to puke again.

“What seems to be the problem?” An old stallion trotted over giving me the once over.

“Her split personality tried to kill her.” Harmony panted as she sat down next to me.

I noticed a few splinters sticking through her coat. I reached out with my magic and removed a few of them.

Harmony smiled at me with concerned eyes. “Can you do anything?”

The stallion trotted into a different room and started searching for something. “Where is it?” Papers were moved around as he searched for something very important. “There it is.” He returned holding a small orb.

“What is this?” Harmony grasped at the orb with her magic.

The doctor shook his head and put a hoof to Harmony’s horn. “It’s a memory orb. While an unconventional thing to do we can have her transfer that little bit of her mind into this.”

“And that’ll stop her from trying to kill herself?” Harmony looked at me with deep concern in her eyes.

The stallion nodded with a cringe on his face. “It should allow her to control that portion of her brain. Maybe not eliminate it entirely but at least give her control over it. I just need her to channel that magic into the orb.”

I lit up my horn bringing the orb to touch the tip of it. “Alright.” I let the other personality through forcing it into the orb.

I could hear her screaming at me. “This won’t stop me for long you stupid bitch. I’ll find a way to be in control. Just you bucking wait.”

I forced more magic into my horn sending as much of her into the orb as I could. “GET OUT OF MY HEAD!” The orb fall as my horn cracked.

Harmony got up gently lifting my head. “Midnight?” Tears welled in her eyes.

I let out a sigh of relief. “It’s me. She’s gone.” I let a few tears escape my eyes. All the pain I had been in started to subside, other than the crack in my horn.

“Would you like something for your horn?” The stallion lifted up a small vial.

I nodded. “Yes please.”

The stallion poked the tip of my horn into the vial. The liquid slowly dripped down my horn. “Now just stay still.”

“What is this stuff?” A small drop rolled down on my muzzle.

“A special formula to speed the healing process of horn cracks. Your horn should be back to normal in a few hours time.” The stallion trotted over to a desk. “Now what’s your name?”

“I’m Midnight.” I blinked my eyes trying to get the pain to subside.

“Oh you’re the mare that works to defend this city. I’ve heard good things about you.” The stallion trotted back over a smile on his face.

“What’s this going to cost?” Silver addressed the elephant in the room.

The stallion shook his head. “Since you’ve done so much for the city this is free.”

I brought my gaze to meet the stallions. “Thank you. I really appreciate this.”

He nodded. “It’s my job to make sure the ponies of this town are healthy. It’s been my pleasure to be of service. You can stay here for as long as you need to.”

Harmony pulled a chair over to sit with me. “Are you sure everything is fine?”

I nodded sending a few drops of the liquid down my nose. “I feel a lot more at peace without her in my head.”

“So now “she” is inside that orb?” Onyx rolled the orb around on the floor.

“The portion of Midnight’s mind that was evil still lives in her head. It is just less prevalent now. She’ll still have to deal with that, but it will be much easier to do so.” The doctor was leaning back smoking a cigar.

Onyx kicked the orb into another room. “Alright then. How are you feeling Midnight?”

“My horn hurts like a bitch. Everything else is alright.” I closed my eyes for a few seconds.

“If you want I have a room made up in the back. You can stay there for the night while I keep an eye on you.” The doctor brought his hooves down to the ground.

“Let’s do that. I’m tired and I don’t want any of you to have to carry me back.” I opened my right eye for a few seconds.

The doctor waved a hoof at us trotting into the back room. “It’s not the prettiest room but it will do for a night.”

Harmony set me down gently on the bed. “Go ahead and sleep. I’ll keep an eye on her.”

“Thanks Harmony.” I slid back into dreams.

This dream was similar to the one I had just had. The other me was extremely tiny. I could have crushed her under my hoof if I hadn’t seen her.

I could barely hear her voice as she cursed at me. Her voice grew louder as I drew her closer. “You stupid bitch, I’ll bucking kill you. You hear me?! I’m going to stab daggers into your plot and let you bleed out your anus.”

“That’s enough of you.” I created a little bubble and shoved the other me into it.

Even this close to my face her voice no longer made sound. I could guess she was still cursing at me.

“Goodbye. Maybe we'll meet again someday when you aren’t such a bitch.” I blew the bubble into the distance bidding my alternate personality goodbye until she was needed again.

The room I was in lightened. Around me were the faces of ponies I had seen before. Each one of them I had put a bullet in.

I shook my head trying to dispel these dead ponies. Only a few of them disappeared. “No. I’m not the evil creature you want me to be. I did this to protect my friends.”

A bright white light surrounded me. The dead around me faded from my mind. I knew they still existed but they no longer mattered.

The voice of the other me grew loud in my head. “The dead lost to time will come back to haunt you. So much they never got to do because you killed them. You didn’t even stop to think for one second about who they were. You just killed them flatout with no questions asked.”

The white light grew brighter as I charged my magic. “Come here.”

The other me was suspended in her tiny bubble staring at me. “What are you going to do? Kill me?”

I charged my magic increasing the light to be blinding. “No I’m going to overpower you. You’re going to be part of me again. A part that I can change.”

I released the magic. The other me stared at me like I was insane. “So what? Is this supposed to do something?”

I watched as she started fading from existence. “Yeah. Yeah it is. In a few seconds your body will no longer exist in here. After that you’re just a silly little voice that means nothing.” I smiled. “Goodbye.”