I awoke in the comfy, quiet darkness I was grateful to be familiar with. The deep thrum of turbines, whirling behind steel and concrete, reached my ears and kept my room from being unbearably silent. Distant hums joined the machine symphony as the lights within the stable began to flicker to life. The light on my ceiling began to glow, softly illuminating my room. I lied in bed, not wanting to leave its warm embrace.

My Pipbuck chimed, playing a musical tone to wake me up. I instantly pressed the snooze button spurn my magic almost reflexively and began leaving my bed, slowly shaking off the lethargy. The mirror I looked in revealed the mess of a mane on top my head. It folded down over my horn and covered some of my left eye. I used my magic to shape my mane to its usual form; nice and spiky, looking at myself making sure nothing was out of place. My stripes wrapped around my body like a second rib cage and looked like thin cuts along my legs. The marks on my face swept across my cheek and swirled to a small crest on my neck, while a drooping star shape sat at the base of my horn. Everything looked alright besides my own tired expression, so I turned to my closet and began to slip into my stable barding.

The usual routine began again as I went into the living room and sat down for a bit. The table sparsely adorned with old Sparkle-Cola bottles and a plate from last night. The rest of the room, looking rather empty, save for the old mementos of a pained past. Looking at them I could feel the tears begin to well up. I turned away not wanting to replay the painfully happy memories I once shared with the family in those pictures. Checking my Pipbuck, I turned on the stable radio hoping to drown out the my inner voice. Maybe even Zaria would be doing the morning announcements.

“Good morning everyone, I hope you all got enough sleep.” The Griffin Overseer, Galemore, said through my Pipbuck. “Today marks March twenty-seventh, twenty-two fifty-three. Today's morning schedule is as follows.” He said then cleared his throat. “At seven-thirty, there will be a first come-first served special in the cafeteria. Not telling what it is, you're just gonna have to find out.” The griffin teased. “Also at nine-o’clock, there will be a Sprinter's Competition held in the recreational room. Further rules and regulations will,be given at the event.” He informed ever so casually. “As for other news, there has been reports of scratching on the lower floors; these are being checked on by the utility team. Probably just an old fan two years over warranty, so no need to worry. That is all of our morning announcements, Zarya will give the midday update at twelve o’clock. And I Hope everyone has a wonderful day.” Galemore finished and my Pipbuck began to play the usual stable tunes.

I sighed, not knowing what to do today; a regular thing, unless I had something planned. So I did what I usually did in this situation, played Pipbuck games, until i could find what that something was. I pulled the “Daring Do and the Ruby Ruins” holotape out of one of my pockets, pressing it into the slot on my pipbuck and began to play.

I smiled as the evil Ahuizotl lay defeated. After weeks of playing, I had finally beaten that game. The credits rolled and I took a moment to relax. Looking back to my Pipbuck, the screen had gone back to the main menu; but instead the New Game option read New Game+. “New game plus, huh?” I read aloud. I selected it and quickly murmured the description that followed, “*mumbling* new adventure, *mumbling* keep your items and level, harder enemies and bosses, *mumbling* secret ending?” I paused and looked at the screen, the highlighted CONTINUEstaring back. I thought for a moment then said to myself, “Sure, why not?” and selected the option. The screen began to static and went dark, reappearing with the beginning of the game. A large gear shaped hole grew across the scene and hoofsteps could be heard. The screen went white and the outside of whatever room I was in. The original Pre-Plus version was set on a jungle island, tons of trees animal sounds and overall...lively. Post-Plus was… a complete overhaul. The usual lush forests now resembled a deadened forest with much less vegetation. I tried to move but the screen remained still. A wind blew and dust swirled across the ground. A repeated short tone was played to mimic speech,

“I can’t believe we made it out of there!” a higher *bop* tone sounded.

“Me neither, but I don’t think staying here is a good idea. We need to keep moving before…” A deeper *doon* tone was interrupted by a loud screeching. The screen turned away from the landscape and back towards the exit of the room. Two large pincer-like appendages appeared from the darkness of the room and before it could completely reveal itself, the screen turned back to the wasteland and the galloping sounds continued at a much faster pace.

I would have continued the game but someone was buzzing my door. So I closed out the holotape and went towards the speaker button; pressing it, “Salve, hello?” I said.

“Hey Xye, open up, veni foras.” a familiar accented voice responded. I opened the door revealing one of my life-long friends, Isu, one of our taller zebra residents. He out-sizes most everyone in the stable, except for the Shires.

“Te somnia,” he joked, knowing I usually just layed in bed all day. “Want to go get something to eat?” he asked as we began to walk alongside the railing.

“Sure, why not?” I responded after playfully jabbing him in the shoulder.

The walk to the cafeteria from the third floor was lively, but mostly uneventful. There was a race between two flyers; a Griffin named Grim, and a grey Pegasus I didn't know too well. Grim came really close to winning but got passed around the last corner. Another sight was the Expedition team walking through the hall leading to the cafeteria. They had a camo painted, Mr. Handy, named Oscar, hovering alongside them.

Expedition members used to wear yellow radiation suits with thick glass helmets, but soon learned about the spreading jungle outside. So they changed over from the Rad suits to a more agility based, plated leather. I’ve always dreamed of becoming a Expedition member ever since I heard stories from one of my friends, whose dad was a former member. They’re the only ones who get to leave the stable; going on missions to trade with the outside villages and towns and gathering stuff we can't produce down in the here.

While I was zoned out thinking about it all Isu waved a hoof in front of my face. “Hello, earth to Xileel, you in there,”

I blinked a few times, realizing how dried out my eyes were. “Hmm? Yea,”

“Geez you zone out way too often, it's gunna get you into trouble; maybe you'll even walk off a balcony.” He wondered.

I chuckled a bit, “Yea, sure.” I said dismissively.

We reached the crowded cafeteria, every conversation meshing together, into a monotone orchestra. The only other audible noise were the jukeboxes, but even their music couldn't overpower the shouting. We walked over to one of the lines; about ten or so other residents in front of us before we could get our own food.

“So, you got any plans today Isu?” I asked.

“Well now that you mention it, some of the others were going to check in with the night-guard to see if we could play a little Hide-N-Seek in the atrium with the lights out. Sounds fun right?” He explained as we moved.

“That actually does to be honest,” then I thought, “but do you really think the guards will allow it?”

“Of course, nos tacare. And besides, the walls are already thick enough to block out the sound of all the pre-schoolers racing back to their rooms, so it should be fine.” Isu affirmed. “And besides, everyone will be trying to be silent.” By the time he had finished telling me about tonight, we only had two more ponies ahead of us.

“Alright, what time?”

“Around 7:30, that should give us enough time to get a few rounds in. At least fourteen others will be joining as well and were meeting in the atrium park.” Isu told me as we neared the food windows.

We grabbed some trays, got our food and began to make our way to the second floor. The balcony in the cafeteria circled the room and bridged through the center. We sat along the wall just around the corner from the stairs.

Sadly, we were followed, “Well well well, look at these two mares.” Gnash spat, followed by two other griffins; his brother Gnar, and one of his friends, Skycutter.

“Why are you always calling us girls, Gnash? Do you secretly wanna bang us?” said Isu. I sat dumbfounded at Isu’s retort. We were in trouble and nothing good comes from poking bears.

“You calling me a queer, Isu? ‘Cause I don’t think I heard you right. It sounded like…” Isu cut him off, “I said ‘you like boys’ because I did!”

“Get up!” Gnash growled, pawing at Isu’s shoulder.

“Oh, you're really asking for it Isu!” Gnar said from the side.

“Yes… yes I am.” Isu lept from his seat into the air, spun around furiously and landing a powerful kick right into Gnash’s head, knocking him clean off the balcony.

I grabbed a tray with my telekinesis before the others could react and slammed it into Skycutters beak; food scraps flew as he faltered, and I sent the tray back towards Gnar. He saw it coming and caught it in his claw. Smirking he threw the tray over the railing; most definitely hitting someone, and flared his wings, taking off into the air. Gnash had also begun to fly and joined up with Gnar. Skycutter flew up last rubbing his beak.

“You’ve really fucked up this time Isu, meet me in the Recreation room tomorrow at twelve.” Gnash looked to Skycutter and Gnar, whispered something and they flew off. “I’ll be waiting.” He growled then flew off.

“Isu… please tell me you’ve got this under control.” I asked realizing how fast my heart was pumping.

Isu brushed his mane back up, “Of course I do, non forsit.” he said casually. “Nice job by the way, I would have been in trouble if it was just me up here.” Isu said with a smile.

“Isu, i’ll never understand how you can treat serious situations with such disdain.” Looking around I saw the everyone’s heads turned toward us. “Let’s get out of here before Security shows up”

“Agreed.”

Of course I threw away the only food I’d have for the next five hours.

Time passed and not much else happened after the fight. Security showed up, cleaned up the mess, questioned bystanders, and ruled it trivial to investigate further. Even though that was most situations around here.

There was one time a few Pony racists tried to incite a riot against the Zebra inhabitants. They were shown no mercy and were locked away in the lower levels for three years. The Overseers really try to uphold the equality for all races, and made sure to keep that message instilled in everyone.

“Something on your mind?” Isu asked catching me off-guard.

“Hmm? What?” I stuttered.

“Of course, always zoning out. You should probably get that checked out, malum in salutem.

“I’m pretty sure working out your brain is a good thing.”

“Is that what your calling it now?” He laughed. “What do you even think about half the time?”

“Hmm, usually just really detailed imagery, almost like watching a movie. That or just random stuff I like to pick apart and analyze.”

Isu face hoofed, “Can't you just like, I don't know watch an actual movie?”

“Well what's the fun in watching a movie I've seen ten times already. Besides I wouldn't zone out so much if I wasn't always booored.” I groaned. “Well it's not my fault, were literally doing the most boring thing right now; walking.”

“Well walking can be interesting if there was something to talk about.

“Technically yes, but… what's the point of talking to you if you're zoned out and can't even hear me?!”

I laughed, “You have a point there,” I concluded. Isu, let out a triumphant winnie.

We made it back into the atrium and began crossing the center bridge leading to the other wing of the stable. There wasn’t a lot of adults about since it was working hours, there were however a few kids hanging around. I didn’t know many of them, but a few did stick out to me; Xythe and Zerra, two zebra foals, were splashing around in the fountain on the lowest level. A few young griffins were on a bench chatting away carefree. The cry of a foal caused me to scan the room for the source and I saw a mother caring for her daughter, trying to keep her quiet with a bottle of milk. I began thinking of my own mother, who was nowhere to be found.

Why did it have to be me, why, WHY, WHY!

Stop, thinking this way, it’s only hurting you. Calm down, it's okay.

I fought back the tears welling behind my eyes. I hated crying, even though everyone said it helps you feel better. Isu had already noticed my dead-eyed look and had nudged me.

“Thinking about her again?” He asked, keeping his head forward. I nodded. “Bene tibi erit. Let me know if you need anything I nodded again, and we kept walking. Even though it had been roughly a year since she died, I still felt the void inside; it would never be filled and it would follow me to my grave. I’d probably have a dream about her tonight and wake up with tears in my eyes, but that's ok. As long as i didn’t cry now. “Well I’ll see you later, we’ll meet up in the usual spot.” Isu said as he turned heading for his classroom. I gave a slight wave and we went our separate ways.

Class was as boring as it usually was. I picked up a few interesting facts, but I ended up falling asleep. I only woke up after I heard all the hoofsteps as everyone left the room. I lifted my journal, which only contained pages worth of week old notes and drawings, and floated it into my bag. Most of the class had already left and I was almost last to leave, until something tapped the back of my head. Looking down, I saw a piece of chalk quickly bounce away. Turning back I saw the red-orange earth pony professor sitting at her desk whistling a tune.

“Yes, Ms. Reign?” I said feigning innocence, knowing full well I was in trouble .

She gave me a look, “So it takes seven chalk sticks to get your attention.”

Wait how many had she thrown already?

“You know I don't like it when students don't pay attention in class. I'm sure you know what usually happens, right?” She asked casually balancing a chalk on her hoof.

“You know as well as I do how many times you've asked me this.”

About twenty-five now if I recalled correctly.

“Twenty-four times now, and I can make it twenty-five, if you'd like,” she said flipping the chalk into the air, her hoof quickly rearing back.

Oh SHIT!

The light reflected off her eyes and her hoof launched the chalk at mach two. I ducked instinctively, hearing a cracking noise above me. I looked up to the wall to see the chalk embedded into it. “You know, eventually you'll mess up and that's gunna hit some-AGH!” Chalk nailing me right underneath my horn, stopped me from finishing my quip and knocked me onto my haunches.

“Oh is that right, huh, I never would have guessed.” She said sarcastically, pushing her silver mane away from her face.

After lying on the ground, letting my brain register the pain in my skull, I sat up, “GAHH! THAT FUCKING STINGS!” I could almost feel the hairline fractures in my skull.

“So Xileel, what have we once again learned today?” She questioned, rolling yet another chalk stick on her desk.

“Not to sleep in class, and not to get on your bad side,” I answered rubbing my forehead.

“Precisely, dismissed.” She waved me out of her room before continuing to write something.

Leaving the room I met back up with Isu, who immediately noticed the mark on my forehead. “I'm really happy I don't have her as a professor.” He looked closer at my forehead, “is that your stripes or did she push a cigarette into your head?”

He tried to touch the mark, but I slapped his hoof away, “Don't touch it, it still stings! I swear one day that mad-mares going to kill me.”

Time passes and tonight's planned event drew near. According to Isu; the guards already knew and were willing to allow us to play as long as we remained quiet, but I couldn't shake the feeling as if something felt off about tonight.

Maybe no-one will show up.

Maybe…

Maybe it's because you know
something will go wrong.

Maybe…

Maybe everything will turn out okay.

“Whatcha thinkin bout?” I heard a voice ask. Coming out of my daze I looked around to find no one stopped and facing me, as ponies, zebra and griffins walked by. “Up here,” the voice called. Looking up I saw a grey pegasus… standing on the ceiling? He simply smiled and waved when I looked at him.

“What the… how…?” I sat in awe.

“Simple, I just kinda fly upside down. Also I'm a Pegasus so screw gravity!” He explained.

“Okaaay... wait, how long have you been up there?” I asked, was he just silently staring at me the whole time?

“Not too long, was kinda, just walking along and saw you lookin spaced out. You do that often?”

“I've been told I do, but I don't feel like I zone out that much.” I told him.

“How would you know if you’re zoned out all the time?” He chuckled a bit.

“I, umm…”

I guess he's right.

“You got me there.” I admitted. “What's your name anyway, and can you get down, my necks starting to ache.”

The Pegasus spun over and landed effortlessly on the floor. When he landed I noticed he was just barely shorter than me. He flipped his black and white mane out if his face, “Chaser,” he said extending his hoof, “and you?”

“Xileel, with a silent ‘L’ at the end,” I answered meeting my hoof to his. “You're that pegasus who won the race against Grim earlier, am I right?”

“Oh you saw that? Yea, that was me. He's pretty fast, but just not quite as fast as me.” He lightly boasted.

“Well, depending on how fast you are on the ground, you might have a good chance of not getting tagged during the night game planned tonight. You coming?” I asked.

“Really?! That sounds cool, what time does it start?” Chaser enthusiastically asked.

“Around 7:30, should give everyone enough time to show up.” I answered.

Chaser looked around and spotted a clock hanging off the wall reading 4:57, “Alright bet.”

“Bet what?” I asked very confused.

“No, it's just like, well.. how do I word this? It's like saying you can put bits on me being there, but figuratively.” He explained.

“Ahhh, ok, mirabile!”

Ponies never ceased to amaze me in their strange ways.

“Well yea, I'll see ya then Xileel.” He waved goodbye, then flew off down the hallway.

I waved as well, but he was long gone. I turned on the stable radio and made my way back home.

“In other news, the Expedition team returned with zero casualties, and have recently discovered a suitable area for everyone to relocate to. After just a few years of their founding they have done so much for us. Let's give them a round of applause shall we.” The Pony Overmare congratulated. The entire stable rumbled as the residents cheered My own was the smacking of my hoof against my Pipbuck because I hadn't taken my eyes off the screen for a few minutes. Why I did it, I'll never know, because it works fine. All this idling wasn't helping either. I finally stopped looking at my Pipbuck and realized I was very hungry, so I went over to my refrigerator.

Hmm let's see, uhhhh nothing.

I closed the fridge and looked in the pantry.

Whooole lot of nothing, OH, wait!

Some orange noodle packets sat at the back of the shelf. I floated them passed everything else and silently celebrated. One quick cooking session later and I was sitting on the sofa watching very old reruns of the Unbeatables, some sort of heroes that went around and defeated bad guys. I only watched the episodes before the war since during the war the antagonists in the series became zebras. I did however like the Witchdoctor episode, where an evil zebra shaman was trying to create a large zombie army to take over the world.

Why am I telling you this, It's not like you really care about some dead tv show. So I'll just skip ahead, because I watched for awhile.

After a long binge of the Unbeatables until 6:27, I finally decided I was bored of watching the same reruns for the seven-thousandth time. I really needed to find something else to…

Oh yea! I've still got that game on my Pipbuck.

I started up the holotape and pressed Continue. The screen becoming static, and the cutscene from before played again. “Oh come on! I can't skip this?!” I yelled in frustration. I begrudgingly watched the same cutscene all the way up until the two characters ran off into the wasteland. Turns out, there was a bit more afterwards, since the screen reappeared with a dilapidated town; cracked roads overgrown shrubbery and vines, and broken down carts.

“*panting* I think we got away.” The familiar light tone sounded.

“I hope so, but where did we get away to? Hic locus est ignotum.” The deeper tone sounded.

Oh hey they're zebras.

“The sun won't stay up for long, we should look around and see if we can find anything useful.” The deeper tone said.

“Yea, I'll check out this place over here.Yell if you need help or something.”

I really should assign names to these characters. Let's have the lighter tone be… uhh Light and the deeper tone Deep. Boom! Ten out of ten imagination.

The screen changed over to the 2.5-D top-down perspective.

At least that stayed the same.

My character, Light as I'd recently called, wasn’t definitely a zebra, but no one I recognized from the Pre-Plus version of the game and definitely not Daring Do. His dirty teal mane hanging off one side of his stone grey head and sporting a small beard. A dark green bandana hung around his neck. Reinforced leather barding adorned his body and made his otherwise small frame a bit bulkier. Light also had a slightly broken, Mouth-grip 10mm SMG, with about a clip and a half of ammo.I moved into the doorway and slowly opened the door, not knowing anything about Post-Plus; I had to be careful. The door creaked and revealed a slightly dusty living room, the remains of a long gone pony leaned peacefully along the arm of a couch. The breeze outside wafted in through an open window, from which torn curtains hung. The building was dead silent, aside from Light's hoofsteps. A quick search of the room warranted very little; a few assorted bullets, some scrap metal and an old note I'd read later.

I won't bore you with mundane gameplay, so let's just hop skip and jump right on ahead shall we?

I finally decided to read the note after wandering around the house for a few minutes looking for anything else of use. It read as follows;

Surprise!

P.S. Put your, hooves/talons/whatever the fuck kinda appendages you have, in the air if you wanna keep your, horn/beak/ whatever the fuck you have
on your face, actually on your face. Thanks : )

Well fuck…

...popped up on the screen, as well as a thought bubble. “Sounds like two guys, but there's no way to tell for certain, unless I wanna lose my face. I can't believe they left a goddess damned note!” Light thought.

I didn't really have many options, being upstairs meant I could escape through a window if I really had to, but I also didn't know what I was up against.

The screen pulled away from Light and showed a levitated sawn-off shotgun point blank against his head. “So ya wanna put up them hooves, or do you wanna lose your face?” A *kree* tone sounded.

“Well AIN’T THIS JUST fucking dandy?!” Light said. “So fellas, what can ol’ Mossy help you gentlecolts with?” Light, now Mossy, asked sitting down and raising his hooves.

“Drop ya caps and you can keep ya face.” Kree demanded.

“Well with pleasure, just allow me to reach for em, and I'll hand em over right quick.” Mossy began to reach for his saddlebags and slowly pulled out a small pouch of caps. “She? No pro’rum.” He said around a mouthful of caps.

Kree’s magic floated the pouch from Mossy’s mouth and over to hire comrade. “Count em.” He ordered.

“...”

A smirk slowly crept across Mossy’s muzzle.

The screen then switched over to Deep, who had just choked out Kree's friend without making a sound, and was now creeping up behind Kree. “Dammit are ya…” Kree stopped mid-sentence after turning his head to see Deep standing much to close for him to react at all. Deep wasted no time knocking Kree out with a single swift kick. Kree’s shotgun clattered to the ground akin to his unconscious body.

“And here I was thinking I might actually lose those caps.”

“Oh please,” Deep said rolling his eyes, “when have you ever lost anything with me at your side?”

“Oh I can name a few.” Mossy grinned.

“Quia caritas… YOUR V-CARD DOESN'T COUNT!”

“But you said ‘anything’ so it SO does!” Mossy laughed.

“I hate you.” Deep sighed.

“Oh but you couldn't live without me, Zurrie.”

Yes new names!

“Oh you think so? Says the pony who got mugged by some kids!”

‘I swear to Celestia there were twenty of them!”

“Awww, is the big bad merc’s weakness foam darts?”

“Yea whatever, laugh it up. But I swear they had a rocket launcher.”

The cutscene ended with me in control of Zurrie, who according to the game, played differently than Mossy. But I didn't read to much into it because looking at the actual time and reading 7:26. So unfortunately I had to cease my play and go outside.

Oh nooo, sweating!

My door buzzer ended my pre-groan to getting off the couch, so instead… “Who is it?” I groaned loudly.

“Chaser,” a familiar voice called out. “Isu told me to make sure you weren’t zoned out again.”

Wooow really…

“Yea, I'll be out in a minute.” I yelled back.

But really though?

After finally getting downstairs, and apparently being the last to show up, Isu began stating the rules of our night time game. “Alright now that everyone is here, we can begin momentarily, but first some ground rules; one, no flying, makes it unfair for those of us without wings. Two, you can go anywhere you want as long as it's permitted within stable rules, no hiding,in rooms and locking doors either. Three, if you are IT, it takes two hooves, slash, talons, slash whatever you call appendages, to officially Out some…

There were quite a few rules… montage time!

“... does anyone have any questions?” Isu asked four minutes later.

“What are the rules again?” Someone asked.

“Can somebody,” a quick smack was heard somewhere in the crowd. “Thank you. Any other real questions?”

Silence.

“Alright I'll be IT first unless someone else volunteers, eleven minute rounds set your Pipbuck timeeeers, NOW! One, two, three, four…” Isu began as everyone panicked and scattered to their own respective hiding spots.

I ran as fast as I could to one of many possible hiding spots, the Atrium playground, only to realize there were already three players hiding. So I high tailed it to the cafeteria.

“Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen…”

The lower lounge area looked pretty empty so I hopped into the corner by the end table and shimmied my way into a snug spot. The couches blocking most sightlines to me and the end table providing moderate top coverage.

The almost perfect hiding spot.

“So you found this spot too huh?” A mares,voice whispered, causing my heart to skip.

Looking around I could barely make out an electric blue highlight of a mane and eyes. “OH, my fuck you scared me.” I said trying to calm my rapid heartbeat. “How long have you been here?”

“I got here a few seconds before you did. I'm actually surprised you got in here, so congrats.” she giggled.

“Eheh, well thanks. Who are you anyway?”

Her Pipbuck’s screen glowed a soft baby blue, just enough to illuminate here face. Her coat barely appearing as its dark purple blended with the shadows around her, “The names Solani, nice ta meetcha.” She gave a warm smile and her Pipbuck’s light faded.

Wait Solani is zebra for nightshade. But…

“Where are your stripes?”

“Oh so you know zebra?

I increased the brightness on my Pipbuck and its amber glow illuminated my face. “Well of course. The names Xileel by the way. Silent ‘L” at the end.”

“Ooooh, now it make sense.” She giggled again.

Kinda cute actually…

“So yea, about my stripes, I was raised by a nice zebra couple who adopted me when I was young. They called me Solani, or Nightshade because of my coat color, and maybe for my sometimes dangerous behavior,” she chuckled.

Interesting…

“Well that's a first in my books, and what kind of ‘dangerous behavior’ are we talking about here?”

A few panicked yells that came Atrium echoed through the halls. I assumed the players at the playground had already been found. “Well that was quick, they really shouldn't have hid so obviously. But umm, yea dangerous behavior. While they were raising me, they taught me a few things about Zebras and their culture, such as potion making. And let's just say I had a certain affinity for the poisons and volatile mixtures.” Solani quietly laughed. “I once made a potion that melted a window clean through. Sweet Celestia, was the teacher pissed.” She laughed. I had to magically close her mouth because someone was running down the hall.

“Crap that was close.” Was all the figure said before they sped past.

A few taps on my shoulder and a blue tipped hoof was pointing at a magically closed muzzle. “Oh sorry.”

“Care to explain what the heck that was?” She said, sounding slightly pissed.

“Explain what?”

“Whatever the fuck you just did to me. I couldn't open my mouth at all!” She almost yelled.

I magically closed her mouth again, “Shhhh, do you wanna get caught?” I hushed.

She tried to speak but I had kept her mouth shut and all that slid through were a few mumbles and squeaks through her nose. Then she slapped me.

“Ow, what was that for.” I asked dropping the spell.

“YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!” she growled through her teeth. She grabbed my head with both hooves and pulled it closer. “What kinda sorcery is this?” She said rummaging her hooves through my mane, finally finding my horn. “What the heck… are you half unicorn?!” She practically squealed.

“Well I would say four/tenths unicorn.” I corrected.

“OhmygoshohmygoshOhmyg…” once again, quiet. I put my hoof over my lips and shushed. “I can't believe I haven't talked to you yet, you're so lucky, what's it like, Ohmygosh I have so many questions!” She squeed.

I chuckled a bit, no pony has ever been this interested in me. Then again I did hide my horn in my mane pretty well. “Well you can learn all about me after we,”

“Fail at hiding?” Isu said from above.

“Uhhh… hi.” I said, for sure knowing what would happen next. His hoof reached down and poked me in the head.

“Boop, go to the atrium with ur Pipbuck light on. Meet with the others. I've still got a few Griffins to tag.” He said before speeding off.

“What the fuck, he didn't see you?!” Looking over to Solani, who actually wasn't there, “what the…”

“Haha he got you,” Solani’s voice teased from above.

“WHAT! How did you... but you were just... my brain hurts.”

“When your adopted father's, grandpa, was an Ex-Legion spy, you tend to learn a few things.” She smiled sheepishly. “Sorry I kinda vanished on ya, but it's okay now cuz you can tell me all about yourself.”

“Well,” I vanished in a flash of white light and appeared beside Solani, causing her jaw to drop. “let's not waste any time.”

She squealed and threw her arms around my neck, “You can teleport?!”

“Only short distances, but yea.” I said modestly.

“Will you be the father of my babies,” she whispered in my ear.

Don't get a hard on, don't get a hard on, it's not woorkinng!

I blushed furiously as I stammered for words.

“I'm just kidding,” she laughed, “come on, let's talk in the atrium.” She said wiping a tear from her eye. “Priceless.”

I was still stuck in place concentrating on totally not dirty thoughts of myself and Solani.

Noooooooooo! STOOOP!

Solani grabbed my hoof and tugged me along through the halls.

“You're probably the most interesting zony down here.” Solani praised from beside me.

Sitting down on one of the many benches surrounding the Atrium’s walking paths, Solani and myself learned quite a bit about each other. Favorite snacks, movies, fears, dreams, likes, dislikes, all that good stuff. I learned about her numerous childhood stories and we both shared a few good laughs. Did we waste three games doing just that... yes. Yes we did.

“But wait till I tell you the what part!” I told her.

The time flew by that night and ended up being midnight before we were even close to being done.

Out of context, that sounds very wrong.

“That's so funny!” she laughed.

“Shhh!” One of the night guards shushed.

“I guess it is getting pretty late.” I stated.

“Awww, but we were having so much fun!” She whined.

“I know, I know, but just look, “ I showed her the time on my Pipbuck, 1:37, “sleepy time.”

She giggled, “okay, okay, I'll see you tomorrow… unless,”

Unless…

“I could spend the night at your place?”

Think about this, what could go wrong?

Nothing really.

Do we have enough space?

Yea, moms old room.

Smash or pass?

What?

What?

“I don't see why not” I answered with a shrug.

I guarantee, the brightest smile I'd ever seen shown on her face and she literally squealed in delight. “Lemme tell my parents really quick.” She sat down and pulled out an orange vial, pouring some of the liquid onto a hoof. She rubbed her hooves together and spread them apart in front of her face, creating a screen of orange jelly. She whispered into the screen and as she spoke a bubble slowly formed on the other side. When she was done the bubble separated from the screen and floated off somewhere. “Okay, all done.” She smiled.

“What was that?!” I asked in awe of her potion.

“Oh that, it's just a simple messenger bubble, holds a short sentence and can be told to go to a certain pony or place. Pretty neat huh?” She smiled with pride.

“Heck yea! You've gotta show me how you did that.”

We began the short trip upstairs to the second floor of the atrium and over to my home. Entering my passcode, the door hissed open and we went inside. “Wow, so spacious, anyone else live here?” She asked.

“No it's just me.”

Please don't ask…

“Why's that?”

I sighed knowing this wouldn't be easy. It was never easy. “My mother passed a long time ago. It's just been me for a little over a year now.” I said glumly.

Stay strong, you've got this.

“Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't know.” She apologized.

“It's okay, just a little hard sometimes.” My voice began to crack.

No…

The tears began to well behind my eyes. The silence in the room made it painfully obvious that this home, truly was empty. A warm feeling touched my side and spread across my shoulders, up my neck and face. Only realizing it was Solani who had pulled me into her arms. I could see her eyes glasses over and a cold wetness falling down my neck. “I'm so sorry.” She sobbed. As she held me, I too began to cry. My legs became tired and I lost the power to stand as the grief overcame me. We laid there crying into each other as the night crawled on.

The tears fell into each other and finally stopped after awhile. “We should probably get some sleep.” I said, my face soaked in tears.

Solani only nodded and I helped her to her hooves. Slowly we crept through the dark room and into my mothers. The large bed sat against the wall in the middle of the room, untouched for some time now. I levitated the blankets up and we both crawled underneath them. The distance between us lessened as Solani moved closer. I could feel the warmth of her body and reached out to it, holding her close in my arms. I had never felt this feeling and it was nice to experience it for the first time. Her warmth spread across me and in a way, made me feel better. Looking at her dark mane made me realize that she cared about me. Even only having just met her, I felt a little better knowing some pony like her was around.

Footnote: Perk added! Dearly Departed: Even though they're gone, you will always remember them. Whenever you are below 25% Health your Will to live on for them grants you 20 DT. Make them proud.
S.4 P.7 E.4 C.4 I.7 A.7 L.4

Thank you for reading the first chapter of FoE: Newshire, I hope you enjoyed it. Any and all criticism (not hate) is much appreciated.