“Helloooo, Equestrian Wasteland! It is I, DJ Pon3, bringin’ you all the news your little heart’s desire. Now, not too long ago I was graced with the first bit of good news to come from the far side of the Foal Mountains in almost twenty years. That’s right listeners, I’m talking bout the stallion that took down that madpony Red Asphalt and his merry band of marauding maniacs from monument stadium. For the first time in decades the outskirts of the drowning city of Baltimare are now safe to travel. From Black Town to Red Sands, from Griffin Rock to the Corral, no longer will you have to worry about your caravans disappearing or your loved ones being foalnapped. And it’s all thanks to that brave stallion, that Harbinger of hope, yeah that’s a good one, who cleared a path for your future. Now I know what you’re thinkin’ ‘DJ Pon3 how could one stallion take down the whole operation?’ Well I’m glad you asked cause good ol’ DJ Pon3’s got a story for ya. Early yesterday morning after infiltrating the stadium the Harbinger somehow got word to a group of ponies called The Regulators and convinced them to attack the stadium head on while simultaneously freeing the captive slaves and arming them, hitting Red Asphalt with a fight on two sides. It was in that fight listeners, that the Harbinger struck down Red Asphalt himself and to that we say good riddance. Now I have it on good authority from an eyewitness that he is in Black Town as I speak. So if you see the Harbinger of Hope be sure to give him your thanks and a big hug from yours truly. That’s all for now listeners, until next time this has been DJ Pon3 bringing you the truth, no matter how bad it hurts. Now here’s Sweetie Belle with…”

I pulled the ear-bloom out and put it back in my PipBuck. It was all happening so fast. I had no idea that there was a pony reporting on occurrences across the wasteland. I assumed that what had transpired would stay… I don’t know, a secret? I didn’t like hearing about my exploits, especially since they weren’t really mine. Sure some of what was reported was true but the event that elevated me high enough to deserve some kind of heroic moniker was false. Sure I’m glad that I helped so many ponies even if indirectly but did I really deserve the credit I was receiving? If what he said was true about nothing good coming out if this area in decades then maybe it would be worth taking responsibility. Regardless if I liked it or not I was like a role model to these ponies.

The mayor told me, with great reservations, that the most obvious ponies who could help me get into a stable was a faction he called the Steel Rangers. He said that they had their base of operations northeast of the city on the north peninsula of the bay in what was left of the Equestrian Naval Academy. I didn’t know if they would help me or not, at the very least without doing something for them. As I was quick to learn, nothing was free in the wasteland. I tried to go by Dusty’s but he was nowhere to be seen. Then I fell back on something Watcher had said to me when we last spoke. He wanted me to go to the sky lounge to meet somepony. Since Dusty wasn’t around I figured it couldn’t hurt to see if whoever I was supposed to meet was still there. I walked back into the sky lounge with Downpour following behind me, slinking off to the side as she did. Being everypony’s hero wasn’t like it was in old comic books or holotapes. I wasn’t being lifted into the air by a mob of excited ponies but even so Downpour didn’t like the attention we were getting. Everywhere we went talk and gossip wasn’t far behind. Several townsponies even came up to me and thanked me directly. I accepted the idea of being a hero even if my body didn’t, I knew I had done a good thing but the internal dissonance made the attention uncomfortable. Doubly so now that I knew some radio character had broadcast my encounter to the whole of the wastes. Thinking about the whole thing made me anxious. I crept up to the bar where Corkscrew was standing, trying my best to not stand out.

“Excuse me? Corkscrew?” I tapped on the bar to get his attention and when he turned around it looked like he would need surgery to get rid of his smile.

“Hey! Look who it is! Let me get you something kid, on the house. In fact free round for everpony courtesy of the Harbinger of Hope!” He shouted, not at me but at the whole lounge. A veritable cacophony of cheers broke out and suddenly I was the center of attention. I tried to avert my eyes but there was no use trying to hide.

“Please don’t call me that.” I mumbled under my breath. Corkscrew was diligently concocting some kind of drink when I tried again. “Corkscrew, I really appreciate this but can you help me with something?” His eyes never left his creation.

“Sure, anything for the stallion who killed Red Asphalt.”

“I’m looking for somepony. They came through at least three days ago maybe more. Name was…” I tapped my chin in thought trying to remember what Watcher had said the name was. “The name was Grim? Yes, Grim.” Now it was corkscrew’s turn to ponder for a moment as he slid his creation over to me.

“Hmmm, I seem to recall somepony with that name passing through. You talkin’ bout that griffin?” he said pointing to a booth towards the back. “He’s been here a couple days now. If it aint him your lookin’ for then maybe HE saw the one you’re after.” I steeled myself and slammed back whatever mixture he had given to me and nodded to him my thanks. I approached the griffin in the booth and sat down across from him.

“I’m sorry to bother you but are you-” The griffin looked up from his drink and chuckled softly.

“Ha. It’s really you isn’t it? The pony from the radio? The Harbinger? I wondered what all that cheering was.” He was a head taller than me with light grey fur on his body and darker grey feathers on his wings, head and chest with black fringe.

“How do you know that? The radio pony didn’t say what I looked like.” I could explain why the townsponies recognized me after that impromptu ceremony earlier but from my understanding this griffin wasn't a local and I certainly didn't see him during the ceremony.

“The one earlier didn’t but the one yesterday did.” I had no choice but to believe that as I hadn’t caught the first broadcast. “So what can I do for you Harbinger?” I closed my eyes and shook my head.

“Please don’t call me that, Sparks is just fine.” He nodded and leaned back resting his claws behind his head, encouraging me to continue. “Is your name Grim by chance?”

“Grimgrin Talonrend is my name, just Grim for short. How is it you know me?”

“A…um…” I was hesitant to call Watcher a friend and I wasn’t sure how to classify him…it. “A certain talking spritebot told me.” Grim dropped from his relaxed state and leaned in close.

“You’ve met Watcher too? What did he tell you?” I followed his example and leaned in.

“He told me to try to make friends as ridiculous as that sounds and to come here although he wouldn’t tell me why at first.” Grim’s talons clicked on the table.

“Funny he told me something similar.” I nodded and continued.

“Then, when I talked to him the second time he asked about the friends I made and mentioned you by name.”

“That’s weird… what do you think that’s supposed to mean?”

“Well I think because he gave us similar tasks to go ‘make friends’ that he might have been trying to pair us together.” Grim leaned back and his seat and looked away, deep in thought. “And that’s why I’m here Grim. Watcher thinks we’d get along and I wouldn’t object to some help getting to the Naval Academy.”

“Naval Academy? What could possess you to seek out the Steel Rangers?” If Watcher was to be trusted and after he helped me it’s only fair to give his idea a shot. So I told Grim of my story of leaving the stable, meeting Sunny and my plan to get back in and that my best lead to getting through a stable door was the Steel Rangers.

“I don’t know about this plan of yours Sparks. The Rangers aren’t exactly the most helpful sort. They are far more interested in technology than helping ponies, you sure about letting them know there is an un-pillaged Stable out there?"

“I have to try. Maybe I could just get whatever equipment I need from them and circumvent their involvement entirely.”

“I don’t know, it still sounds pretty risky to me. But seeing as I am a Doctor and you seem deadest on getting yourself shot full of holes it would be against my principles to let you harm yourself.” My ears perked up in surprise.

“Does that mean you will come with us?” He nodded.

“Watcher seems to have seen something in you and from what I’ve seen,” He said motioning to all the jovial ponies around the lounge, “You are heading in the right direction.” A gentle smile graced his beak. “We still have plenty of daylight, should we get a move on?” he said pointing over his shoulder at the exit.

“Alright then, let’s go.” We started heading towards the exit and I beckoned at Downpour who was still waiting off in a corner to follow.

“Hey stable-colt, what’s with the birdbrain?”

“Ah and you must be miss Sunny Smiles.” I closed my eyes and prepared for what I was certain would be a verbal bloodbath. Grim had lifted his claw to give a hoof…er clawshake in his case. Downpour didn’t return the gesture.

“Look here birdbrain, we aren’t brothers in arms and we aren’t friends so keep your claws to yourself and keep your distance. You might be with the stable-colt here but that doesn’t mean I have to give a shit.” Grim pulled his claw back slowly, his face showing an expression of incredulity.

“That’s Downpour, Grim…it’s complicated.” Complicated was definitely an appropriate description of Downpour. I hadn’t found the courage to inquire her about her ‘sister’ or what exactly had happened in the stadium. All the answers would come with time, or so I hoped but enough of Sunny was there to stand with me so I thankful for that. As we walked through the gates of Black Town heading north I thought I’d ask a question of my companions.

“You both heard the radio broadcast about me right? How did the DJ know about what happened so quickly?” I heard the unexpected sound of Downpour giggle.

“Oh yeah, I told him.”

“You did what?”

“I told him when we got back to Requari. You should have seen the look on your face when they pulled you up on that stage.”

I didn’t understand.

“At least that explains how he knew what I looked like and where I was today.” I said trying my best to cast Downpour an intimidating glare. She just giggled again.

“Well even if she didn’t have the best of intentions I say that the telling of your deed was a good thing. Baltimare has gone too long without something to look up to, something to believe in.” There it was again, that feeling of uneasiness in my gut. I had to ignore it because for now I had a role to play, whether I was the right one to play it or not. Both Downpour and Grim advised that we go around the outskirts of Baltimare rather than through the ruins and that was an idea I could get behind. After the stadium I had my fill of excitement for the near future. I didn’t want to run into anymore raiders or worse, bleeders.

“So birdbrain.” Downpour started. “It’s unusual to see a griffin who isn’t a merc or somepony’s muscle. How’d you get tricked into being a medic?”

“No tricks Miss Downpour.”

“Don’t call me Miss.” She warned, giving Grim an icy glare.

“Right. I opted for the trade on my own accord. I wanted to help people and that’s simply not what being a Talon was all about.”

“So you used to be a Talon?”

“I may be a doctor in practice but that doesn’t mean I can’t fight.”

“We’ll see about that.” For what it was worth at least they were talking. We continued on in silence for some time before coming to a stop at what looked like an old hardware store.

“This looks like a good place to stay for the night.” I said looking over my EFS to make sure it was clear. I might have seen a lot of twisted things since I left the stable and yet I couldn’t even begin to explain the feelings I was having as I watched Downpour fling two pony skeletons out of their bed. They had died in each other’s embrace, accepting their deaths. Now they had been casually thrown to the floor in a heap.

“Aren’t you even going to say anything?” I said expectantly. Downpour cast me a dismissive glance.

“Yeah, quit being a pussy. Or would you rather sleep on the floor with them?”

“That’s a little harsh don’t you think?” Grim asked as he ascended the stairs.

“Are you sure you were a Talon? How many ponies have you killed?” Grim looked away, as if he were ashamed to answer. “Thought so, and what about you stable-colt?” I couldn’t meet her stare.

“Seven…” I answered meekly. It was really the first time I’d thought about it. With that first raider it was kill or be killed which made it easier to cope with I suppose. Then I thought about the others. I had executed Granite and I had liked it. Ribbon Dancer was dead by my hooves because I had more to live for. I had taken his life out of some selfish sense of entitlement. It all made me feel sick to my stomach again. A reaction that Downpour must have noticed. She turned her head and scoffed.

“I appreciate what you tried to do for my sister in that slave pen, but I don’t think you’re capable of protecting her. So before we keep going let me give you something to think about, if you can’t take a life to save a life then you are going to die out here.” My ears fell back against my head and I felt a claw on my shoulder.

“C’mon Sparks, let’s just give her some space for now.” Downpour ignored us as we made our way down the stairs, hopping in the bed as we left. After several minutes of moving old shelves and display stands we had made a sort of camp behind the counter.

“So, now seems like a good time to tell me what the hell all this Downpour shit is about.” He seemed taken aback by his own words. He coughed into his claw and nervously smoothed out the feathers on his chest. “Sorry, but she isn’t like you said.”

“She started acting like that after I freed the slaves from their pen in the stadium. It’s like she’s a completely different pony.” Grim held a claw up to his beak, clearly deep in thought.

“Perhaps because she is.” That caused my ears to perk up.

“What do you mean?”

“Do you know anything about her past?” I thought on it and despite the fact that I called Sunny a friend I really didn’t know much about her.

“No I don’t.”

“Hmm I think it might be Dissociative identity disorder.”

“What?”

“You can learn a lot from old world books.” He smirked. “In laymen’s terms, I think she has a split personality.”

I supposed that made sense, or did it? I had no reference to back up anything I could add to this conversation. It put more of a burden on my mind that I was supposed to be the ponies’ hero. “Think about it, she’s going by another name, she seems to be aware of her ‘sister’ and she’s very hostile. All of which are symptoms of the disorder. Sunny must have suffered some kind of intense trauma early in her life and in order for her mind to cope, she may have created a second mind to ‘share the load’ as it were.”

“We can’t exactly just ask her about it.”

“I’m not saying we should, But if I’m right then sooner or later Sunny’s personality will come back to the surface.” It wasn’t much of a comfort but it was all I had. I laid down on the floor and rolled over when something fell out of my bags.

“What’s this little box?” Grim asked pointing a claw to the little memento box Sunny got from the safe back in the clinic.

“Oh…I don’t know. We pulled that out of a safe before we were captured by Red Asphalt.” Grim picked up the little box and jammed a talon into the keyhole.

“I’m pretty handy with a lock. I should be able to…think I got something and…got it!” With an audible click the top of the box flipped open. Revealing only a small bit of paper and some kind of glass orb. Grim picked up the paper and began reading.

“One of the mares we recovered from the Cataclysm seemed to be holding a dangerous secret. We had been treating her for amnesia but once we began combing her memories we found something damning. It’s a good thing that these patients were sent to me for care. I will do my best to cover this up, the zebra deserve that much but by the time the Ministy of Morale completes its investigation I’m afraid it’ll be too late.”

I sat up and took the orb out of the box. “What do you suppose is in it?”

Grim shrugged indifferently. “I don’t think it really matters.” He made a motion with his arm as if he were showing off the state of the store. “Pre-war secrets don’t have too much value these days.”

“You aren’t the least bit curious?” He tapped a talon to his forehead.

“I know you don’t have any medical experience but perhaps you’ve noticed the lack of a horn on my head.”

“Alright alright. I’ve never seen a memory orb in person. All I know is from what I’ve read in books in the stable. Do you think you could watch my body if I decide to check it out?”

“I suppose so if you are so inclined.”

I rubbed my hooves together in excitement. I don’t know why I was so interested in the orbs contents. Perhaps it was simply my own curiosity. After all, the note claimed that whatever was on it could have had serious consequences if wartime Equestria knew about it. I picked up the orb and carefully touched my horn to it, focusing a little bit of magic as I did. I was filled with the sensation of falling as the world around me twisted into itself until it shattered only to be replaced by whole new one.

I was sitting at a terminal…wait no it wasn’t me. It was the pony whose memories I was riding. I was seeing out of her eyes and feeling a cool breeze blowing through my…what were those on my back? I felt my body stretch out and flex its wings. It was a whole different sensation to have whatever magic I had located on my back. As a unicorn it was almost unbearable. I was filled with the desire to reach back and touch my wings but couldn’t. Whoever I was didn’t find her wings as interesting as I did. On the terminal before us was a huge list of names and numbers that were undecipherable to my untrained eyes. The room around me was blurry as my host was focused solely on whatever work she was doing. After several moments of that we switched to reading a news article.

Suddenly I felt a violent shaking as the room adjacent to where I was sitting exploded into bits of splintered wood and flames. I immediately flipped the table I had been working at and hid behind it for several seconds before a loud siren began blaring followed by an announcement over a speaker system.

“All agents to arms! The facility is under attack by Changeling insurgents!” I jumped to my hooves and ran to a nearby hallway that branched off into another hallway already filled with other ponies. My host didn’t pay attention to anypony, her focus solely devoted to getting herself ready for combat as soon as possible. I quickly slipped on some light armor followed by a magical energy battle saddle. I turned to run out the door when I was stopped by a well-dressed dark green stallion. He handed me a slip of paper with some kind of writing I didn’t recognize on it. I saluted and bolted out the door. Instantly as I stormed out onto a balcony the sounds of gunfire and shouting was all I could hear. With a mighty flap of my wings I was launched into the air. I wanted to scream as the feeling of gliding through the sky was too much for me to handle. As I flew I noticed the glowing warmth of the sun on my coat and the cool rush of air through my mane. It was a stark contrast to the mountainous crags I could see in the distance and the small fires dotted around the barren landscape. I dove in low for a strafing run and gunned down several black creatures with black carapaces, small horns on their heads, solid blue eyes, insect-like wings and fangs. The pink beams of energy from my battle saddle reducing them to glowing piles of ash. But then three of them on the ground erupted into flashes of green, all of them now sharing the appearance of a pegasus mare.

“Clever bugs.” I mumbled to myself. The three doppelgangers took to the air themselves and began chasing me through the skies. At first I found the act of flying terrifying, yet now as I traded fire with multiple pursuers I was starting to find it almost relaxing. I banked hard and flew back into one of the copies, grappling it to a standstill as we hovered midair trying to take each other down. I looked into the creatures eyes and saw my reflection in them. These creatures had copied my form. I maneuvered myself to press the barrels of my guns just under the copy’s wings and fired. The energy beams burned through where its wings met its body separating them as it started to fall. The creature’s body erupted in a green flash again returning to its original form as it fell, screaming before its body splattered against the ground in a green mess.

“One down, two to…” I was interrupted out of my victory by the sound of crackling flames. I turned around to just barely catch a glimpse of one of what I assumed were changelings dive bomb into my back wrapped in a green aura that propelled us quickly towards the ground. I flapped my wings uselessly as the surface got closer and closer. I heard a loud snap followed by blinding pain as one my wings was snapped on impact. The changeling recovered almost immediately as if he wasn’t even hurt by tackling me out of the air and blasted me in the face with a green bolt of energy. Since I was riding a memory I couldn’t tell how long I was unconscious and frankly I’m surprised it didn’t end the memory but I was no expert. When I did come to I was in a kind of prison cell, I was hardly able to open my eyes and I was able to make out the silhouettes of a changeling and a zebra. The great thing about memory orbs is that no matter how well you yourself recall a memory, the orb will show what happened perfectly. The reason that thought came to me is that while I watched the scene before me my host didn’t react at all. We must have been in a weird state of consciousness and unconsciousness to have our eyes open to look and yet we could not see. The Changeling and zebra talked about something in the zebra language which I couldn’t understand. Is that what was written on the paper from before? The zebra language? What was interesting was the map that they had displayed on a screen behind them and on it were several locations of megaspell silos. I began to stir and the zebra noticed.

“Sorry for the rough treatment.” She said in a heavily accented voice as she approached the cell. “We barely got you out of there in time. Once you recover we have a big assignment for you. A ministry official is about to go…missing and the time of our ultimate plan draws near.” I stood up and a green flash surrounded me.

“Yes Legate Misua.” I had been a changeling the entire time!

I must have fallen asleep in the real world while viewing the memory as the sun was just now slightly penetrating the cloud cover. When I awoke Grim was already up and about with a look that made it seem like he hadn’t slept at all. He noticed me jostling around, stretching my tired body; it wasn’t exactly the most restful sleep.

“Must have been quite the memory to put you out for so long.” He quipped.

I couldn’t really give him an answer. Who knew just how long the memory lasted with that stretch of darkness. My perception of time was completely gone while viewing the memory so maybe I didn’t fall asleep and was really in it for the whole night. “So was it worth it?”

I absentmindedly ran a hoof through my mane.

“I think you were right, it wasn’t all that important all things considering.” Why didn’t I tell him the truth? I was right and it didn’t matter in the grand scheme but there was no point to not sharing the finer details. Maybe it was the scientist in me that refused to share information without having it all myself, but really, what were the odds that I’d ever solve the mystery of what I saw?

“We should go wake the ‘princess’ up and get a move on.” Grim stated with the slightest bit of spite in his voice. We walked up the stairs to the bedroom that Downpour had claimed and knocked on the door. I could hear movement from behind the door and it opened. In front of me stood Downpour with an honestly cute case of bed mane.

“Oh.” She yawned. “Good morning Sparks…and…um…you there.” She gave Grim a puzzled look.

“Sunny!”

Footnote: No Level Up.

Next Chapter: Chapter Six: The Way Forward, Part Two Estimated time remaining: 29 Hours, 38 Minutes