“You really didn’t have to be here for this, your part in this is over.”

I was startled back to the present by the sound of that deep voice, returned from my troubled inner thoughts. My ears swiveled towards its owner yet my eyes remained fixed upon the scene playing out in front of me. There was so much more going on than I’d have suspected for something that had been supposedly kept so quiet. Then again, it wasn’t everyday somepony simply vanished from armed royal guards.

As I stood there silently watching the spectacle before me, I realized I’d yet to answer him. Instead, our silence remained as we watched dozens of armored and armed ponies moving about hurriedly. I’d not often seen so many military ponies up close… well, sleeping with an officer might count as close. Shaking my head, I pushed thoughts of my ex-coltfriend out of my already troubled mind and looked away from the olive drag armored soldiers to the side of the loading platform. There, held back by the local police, stood the press from a number of papers and radio stations. Most were local, while a few were from other cities. Those few with cameras were snapping pictures of the open and empty box car sitting upon the tracks of San Ponsisco’s freight station while others furiously scribbled notes upon their pads.

I looked away from the crowds forming behind the line and sighed, looking back to the empty box car. He was right of course. I wasn’t needed here... I should have been with the other survivors of our squad, getting debriefed before we were sent home. Noctensis normally was right about a lot of things, which was going to cause problems since it was supposed to be the mare who were always right in the relationship. Of course he was wrong, too.

I wasn’t really expected to be here, not officially anyway. I was just supposed to be the civilian adviser for this trip. An expert in rocks and stonework. Princess Luna had made that very clear during our meeting in Canterlot. I was just here to inspect the prisoner the few rare times he was moved from the train car to someplace more secure. It hadn’t happened often, only twice really and of those two times I’d been unable to once. When I was injured between Tombstone and Appleoosa, Berry had been forced to step in to do the inspection. Honestly, anypony could have done it… I wasn’t anypony special after all.

My job for this mission was over the second the report of his escape had been sent by Midnight. We were all expected to at least show up at the station for a short time, then depart for the army base located near the port. However, I hadn’t left as the others had. Berry Punch and the others had been escorted through the growing crowds of curious onlookers and arriving reporters to board a sky chariot. Meanwhile, I had stayed beside Noctensis for this final act. I had to stay… for those who hadn’t made it this far, I had to stay and see this to the end.

I had to know, this wasn’t all in vain...

I was snapped from my grim thoughts by a sudden blast of scalding hot steam escaping the idling and battered engine, thick black smoke still rising from its funnel into the late morning sky. The overworked locomotive had steadily been groaning for the past ten minutes, so much so I’d managed to block it from my mind and ignore it. It had good reason to be so worn down, as the trip from Tombstone to San Ponsisco normally lasted several hours, a good portion of that spent going up into the high mountain ranges. The engineer had grudgingly pushed her machine under direct orders from a member of the Royal Guard. Officially, it was to alert the authorities of the prisoner break out.

“Captain Noctensis,” a lighter voice called out from somewhere just behind me. This time I did look towards the voice since I didn’t recognize it as anypony I knew. I found its owner walking slowly up towards us after having just exited a wooden and steel warehouse the authorities were using as a command post.

The stranger wore armor similar to the stallion beside me, with two major differences. Firstly it was made for a mare, smaller and with more curves along the flanks. Second, it lacked holes for the wings. Instead, there was a single hole in the helm for her spiraling horn. While it wasn’t uncommon to see unicorns and earth ponies in the Solar Guard, they were far rarer in the Lunar Guard. I didn’t bother looking much beyond her armor as she bore the same coloration as Nocty thanks to the enchantments woven into the suit. Her cutie mark was also obscured from sight by the plate covering her flanks.

For some reason, I immediately didn’t like her. Call it a mare’s intuition, but I got the feeling she was staring at Nocty more than just casually. If asked, I’d have blamed the hormones. As she neared, she paused and saluted her fellow Guard before offering me a slight nod in greeting, which I returned.

“Lieutenant Ebony Rose,” Noctensis responded, returning the salute with one of his own. “You're here for the debriefing then?” he asked, glancing past the armored mare to the boxcar.

“I am. The Princesses are very interested to hear how a prisoner in the possession of the Royal Guard managed to escape, especially given his... unique condition,” she said, swishing her tail a bit as she finished her sentence. Her gaze shifted to her left for just a moment before returning to the two of us. Unless one had been paying attention, they would have missed the subtle look.

From the corner of my eyes, I noticed what had earned her interest. Our group seemed to have gained the attention of a number of the reports still being held back from the scene. Not really surprising since covering an empty train car wasn’t exciting news, even with a supposed prisoner escaping from inside it. Without knowing who it was, nopony would really give it much attention. After all, zebra prisoners were transported around all the time and rarely a few even escaped.

However, an empty train car lacking any prisoner or their identity and two members of Princess Luna’s Royal Guards along with a civilian who’d apparently been aboard said train for unknown reasons was another matter entirely. Ponies were a curious bunch, myself included, and the Lunar Guard were not yet very well known by the public at large. While their gold armored counterparts’ exploits were somewhat well known, most of the Lunar Guards missions happened off the official records with little fanfare… at least according to Nocty. Clearly this was something big, and any reporter who could find a lead to the identity of the missing mystery prisoner might make it big.

“Of course Lieutenant, we’ll follow you.” Noctensis broke the short moment of silence and waved a hoof for the mare to take the lead. She hesitated a moment, looking between the two of us and he noticed. This hadn’t been part of the plan I supposed. I was supposed to be gone with the others. When she seemed about to ask a question, he motioned over towards me before explaining, “She’ll be coming with us, as she was present when the prisoner... escaped.” A leathery wing settled across my back which earned a silent cheer from me. That’s right, he’s all mine, sister.

The sudden flurry of photos being taken curtailed my victory a bit… well fuck...

“Of course…” Despite the words, she was clearly unsure of this sudden change in plans, but quickly recovered.

Without any noticeable hesitation, she passed us and began trotting along the loading platform, down a couple of steps and out into a flat concrete lot used to stack unloaded cargo from trains. Rather than boxes and shipping containers, the space had been opened up to allow a sleek black armored sky chariot to park. When it had arrived I couldn’t say, I’d been lost in my own thoughts for a while after we’d arrived at the station. It sat quietly awaiting us, painted in the dark colors of the Lunar Guard. As we neared it, my ears folded back and my tail tucked itself a bit closer to me.

A sky chariot… oh… goody...

Noctensis glanced over to me and I looked his way, catching a hint of worry in his golden eyes before I offered him a weak smile. He likely remembered my last trip in one of those… how I’d spent almost the entire ride hurling my guts out into an airsickness bag. His wing was still across my back and, gently, Noctensis guided me after the mare towards the chariot. Thankfully the impending barf fest was forgotten as the noise from behind us reached a fever pitch.

I supposed the fact the only three ponies who had been aboard the train were apparently about to make an exit from the station had gotten the attention of the reports. I could hear the police ponies telling them to get back, and the reporters’ voices raising as they defended the right for freedom of the press. When it was clear they wouldn’t reach us in time, they changed tactics and began shouting their questions while those with cameras began taking more pictures. My ears twitched from the jumble of questions being hurled towards our retreating backsides. Nocty’s, being far more sensitive, had laid flat against his head.

“Who was the prisoner that escaped!?”

I snorted softly to myself, but kept walking. Good luck figuring that one out, guys...

“Why was the Equestria Army working with the Royal Guard and why is a civilian wearing combat armor?”

“How’d a train full of Royal Guards allow this to happen?”

My right ear flicked to the side as I caught that last question before somepony else began yelling. Full of Royal Guards? I glanced up to the stallion trotting beside me. Nocty was impressive in a fight, but I don’t know if even he would say he’d qualify as counting as a full squad. No, we’d been a mix of army, Royal Guard, and volunteers.

“Were the zebras involved with this escape?”

“Does your sister know you're working for her new boss?”

I stumbled over my hooves from that question. Thankfully Nocty steadied me with his wing and I managed to keep pace with him. I must admit, that question caught me off guard and both my ears folded back against my head. I hadn’t spoken with either of my sisters in months. At least, not for any great length of time which was… depressing.

We’d always been so close, our whole family had been. Tears formed at the corner of my eyes as I recalled the last time I’d seen either of them. Both had been drugged out of their minds in an effort to help them… and only one of them had a good reason to be. I ignored whatever else they were shouting, instead focusing on the mare ahead of us and the chariot we were approaching. Anything to keep from thinking of my sisters...

It looked fairly new. At least as far as I could tell, I hadn’t exactly been keeping up on the latest improvements in military hardware. I was just a simple rock farmer after all, even if I been going to college to learn more than just that. Granted, I’d learned a thing or two about self defense since coming on this trip. As well as how far a pony could go when they pushed themselves.

This machine was much more heavily armed and armored than the one I’d ridden in back in Canterlot. For one, I noticed the two ponies in the flight harness had bucky steel armor and the harness’ themselves appeared larger with sheets of metal to give extra protection to ponies’ vital areas. The hull itself was more angled, with sharp edges and a bit of flare near the back that reminded me of a bat pony’s wings. Just behind the pilots and on either side of the hull were a pair of short stubby wings, also shaped like those of a batpony. At first, I couldn’t figure out what they could be for until I noticed the tubes tucked beneath them with a pair of rockets beside them. That wasn’t all, as there was also a pair of machine guns mounted upon the side doors. I would guess this was for the ponies riding inside to use when landing in a fight.

The chariot was painted in the colors of the Lunar Guard which likely meant it was brand new, as the Royal Guards would likely get the best and latest equipment… at least I’d assume so. The majority of its hull was a matte purple with bits of silver and dark blue here or there. Beyond a few numbers and letters along the side, the serial number I would assume, it bore the mark of Princess Luna upon the back, just behind the door. A white crescent moon, similar to the cutie mark of said princess.

Beside the two pulling it, another bat pony stepped out from within the passenger compartment. He was wearing more modern looking armor than either of the two Lunar Guards I was walking with, although his was colored in a similar style. Unlike Nocty’s however, this stallion’s armor seemed to lack the enchantment to mask his appearance. Stepping to one side of the door, he offered the pair a salute as they approached. As he did, I noticed his mane was a wild mess of spiky light blue which matched his tail. Lowering his foreleg back down, I saw a pair of flight goggles upon his forehead, pushing some of his wild mane away from his face. His eyes were a golden orange color, and slitted like most bat ponies. Leathery wings quivered at his sides, as if they couldn’t wait to spring open and tear into the sky above. Unlike the pilots, he was armed with a common enough weapon for most winged ponies, a battle saddle. While they seemed to come in a wide array of armaments, his had twin machine guns with belts leading back into a pair of armored saddlebags just behind them, which also hid his cutie mark. His armored shoulder pad had a white stylized crescent moon across it with a serrated black bladed dagger beside it. There was also a small number thirteen in one corner.

Lieutenant Ebony Rose stepped towards the stallion and returned his salute before asking, “How’s the old girl doing, Corporal Rapid? She looks a lot better since the last time I saw her.” As she spoke, her attention wandered from the pony to the chariot beside him, lifting a hoof up to run slowly across the chariot’s armored hull.

“The Raven’s in good shape, ma’am,” he hurriedly responded as he stood aside and allowed the Lieutenant to inspect the machine. “The techies did a good job putting her back together after our last mission went fubar. As ya can see, she got a few new features added since she was due for a refit. The twins haven’t complained once since we left base, so I’m assuming she’s as stable as ever.”

I had trouble following what he was saying as his words were spilling out from his mouth in a rush in a similar manner to the rounds from his battle saddle I’d think. Thankfully I’d had experience with ponies talking a mile a minute, although mostly due to sugar overdosing. I snorted softly as I found myself thinking of my sister again. I returned my attention to the jittery pony standing at loose attention before us, his wings were still twitching as his tail and ears twitched about. I also noticed that even after he started moving about the chariot to point out new armor bits and weapons that every movement he made was equally as quick as his words. I realized that he very likely lived up to his name of Rapid very well.

“Oh?” Ebony Rose paused in her inspection of the chariot to glance back up towards the front and the two stallions standing in the flight harnesses. “The twins are behaving for once? That is unexpected.” A warm smile split across her face as she turned back to looking over the chariot. Upon being mentioned, the pair of pilots glanced back towards those speaking about them.

At first I’d simply assumed they had similar armor to that of Nocty and Ebony, making their appearance the same. However, I now saw they instead wore armor similar to Rapid’s, just a bit more of it. Both had similar coat colors, charcoal grey and their mane styles was that of most military ponies, close cut. Like their coats, the deep purple color of their mane was the same. They even had matching turquoise slitted eyes which shifted from the mare to Nocty and myself. Twins indeed...

“So, I take it we’ve got another passenger?” Rapid asked as he noticed the twins attention seemed fixed upon me. The fidgety stallion pulled the door fully back. Locking the door into place, Rapid stepped back to reveal the inside of the chariot. Unlike the outside, it looked similar to the other I had flown in. There were a pair of seats within sight from the door, one on either side of a narrow walkway to the front. Above and behind them were overhead storage compartments for packs, weapons or whatever else a soldier might need. The door on the opposite side of us remained shut. I suspected this would continue towards the front of the chariot.

“So it seems,” Ebony responded softly, earning my attention once more. I pulled my inspection of the entry of the chariot to the mare standing in front of me. She neither sounded happy or upset by the fact I was coming along. We locked eyes for a moment, noticing she seemed simply curious about me. I arched a brow and she simply smiled before a bit louder she said, “Well, let's get everypony aboard, don’t wanna keep the Princesses waiting.” My eyes narrowed as I watched her climb inside. She’d said that a bit louder than strictly necessary.

The reporters had clearly heard her as behind us there was a renewed frenzy of shouted questions about secret meetings with the Princesses and if anypony was going to be sent to the moon for this failure. The mare responsible grinned back at us from within the chariot. Wondering if she’d planned this, I noticed Nocty was standing beside me. He looked towards the reporters, the corners of his mouth turned down in a slight frown.

“Very subtle, Ebony…” was all he muttered before looking back to me. “Come on, let’s see this finished.” He motioned with his head towards the chariot door before waiting for me to get in first. My stallion, always the gentlecolt...

“Alright,” was all I said, glancing once more to the reporters before climbing in after Ebony. The inside was dimly lit, with the only light coming from the open door behind me and two orange lights in the ceiling towards the front. That was where Ebony had taken a seat, the mare’s horn lighting up in a soft purple hue as she pulled a pair of earphones off a hook beside her on the ceiling. She’d removed her helmet as well. While I didn’t have time to look closer, her coloring wasn’t much different than with the enchantment. Behind me I could hear Nocty stepping inside, so I hurriedly found myself a seat on the opposite side from Ebony. Surprisingly, Rapid didn’t follow us inside.

“Alright folks, get settled in, we’ll be leaving in just a few minutes. Remember to leave your seats in their upright position and in case of a water landing, you’re mostly fucked,” Rapid said with a smile while pulling the door closed behind Nocty. As the door clicked shut and the outside lighting was cut off, a row of floor lighting sprang to life making it only slightly less dark than it would have been.

I ignored the water landing comment. After all, I had learned military ponies had an… odd sense of humor. Nocty stood for a moment in the walkway between seats, checking the shut door by tugging on the handle before finally seeming satisfied and turning back to the two of us at the front. His eyes lingered on me for a moment before they turned to the other mare who seemed fixed upon something displayed on the console beside her seat.

“Before you ask, I already checked just in case anypony back at the repair yard missed anything, the Raven’s clean.” Nocty had just opened his mouth when she’d begun speaking. He shut it quickly and snorted as she finally turned towards him. “No bugs, mechanical or otherwise. I also checked the sound proofing wards that I’d cast before landing this morning, we’re free to speak openly.” A mischievous look crossed her face as she eyed the stallion. “Do ya wanna know HOW I checked those wards?” Nocty’s response was to simply roll his eyes before walking between the seats.

“Did you really have to tease the newsponies, Eb?” Noctensis finally asked, ignoring her question entirely. He dropped heavily into the seat beside me while reaching up to pull his helmet free before dropping it into the empty seat to his right. With the enchantment fading from my coltfriend, he swiveled his seat around to help me secure the restraining straps for take off. Oh yeah… those might be useful...

“Oh please, this was supposed to be a very public display and you know it. I just made it a bit more public. Ya know how I like doing stuff in public,” she answered with a wide grin before shifting her gaze from Nocty to the softly glowing green screen in front of her. Reaching a hoof up, she pressed something upon the side of her headset and spoke again, “Alright, you goons, try not to scratch the paint job on my baby while getting us airborne. We wouldn’t want to take away the chance from the stripes.”

“No promises, boss lady,” came a muffled response from behind me, causing me to jump a little in surprise and my ears to swivel around. Turning my head to follow them, I spotted another pair of headphones dangling from a hook just above me. A second after I spotted them, the voice I’d heard came again from the earpiece. "But we'll see what we can do." Looked like everypony riding inside got a pair of them.

Wait… he’d called her Eb. So they must have known one another fairly well.

Just then before my hormones could fully kick in and I snap into protective marefriend mode, the entire chariot lurched gently to one side and I steadied myself with my forehooves on the seat. At the same time, my stomach told me we were rising into the air, which was confirmed when I saw the headsets resting above the empty seats begin to sway. My stomach, however, wanted to stay on the ground. Honestly, so did my hooves. I was an earth pony after all, we much preferred the nice solid ground, where we were meant to be. Not hundreds of feet up in the sky, at the mercy of weather and the soundness of a hoof built machine.

We were going higher. My stomach and the passenger tucked away near it continued to protest the movements so that was one thing my foal and I had in common. Shutting my eyes tightly, I pressed my head back against the padded seat back and swallowed the rising nasua. I was determined not to spend this ride with my head in a… barf bag as a pegasus had called it. I’d never really been scared of heights before… but then I’d never ridden in a chariot before being summoned to Canterlot. Nor had I been pregnant before...

"You going to be alright?" Nocty’s soft voice cut through the rising panic in my head. A second later I felt a warm, strong hoof touch my shoulder.

Opening my eyes, I turned my head to look at him, seeing a kind if not a bit lopsided smile on his square muzzle. I focused on his face and slowly nodded my head while reaching up to grasp his hoof with one of my own. His smile grew and I couldn’t help mirroring it a bit.

“So, this is the filly you stole from that army officer, eh?” Ebony’s sudden question caused us both to freeze and blink in surprise which only made the mare laugh. We looked from one another to the tittering mare who was grinning ear from ear. “Ah, young love,” she added through her snickering. I’m sure I was turning several shades of red, but I quickly recovered.

“How’d you know about that?” I asked, narrowing my eyes. Her response was not what I was expecting as her giggles slowed and she looked from me to the stallion sitting beside me with a reproachful glare.

“You never mentioned me?” She lifted a hoof up to her armored chest, splaying her ears out to either side of her head and pouting. “Not even once? Not even to your fillyfriend? Why big brother… I’m hurt.” She sat back in her seat with her head tilted back.

Wait… brother? The look on my face must have been humorous given the snort that broke through Ebony’s pout before she began laughing again. I glanced away from the mare as she looked about ready to fall from her seat and back over to Nocty who merely rolled his eyes at Ebony’s antics while scowling at her.

“No, Ebony, I never mentioned you… we’d only just meet a few months before Princess Luna sent us on this damned mission to transport some lawn ornament.” His tone was low and his words almost growled out. I’d not seen him angry often. In fact, before today I could have counted the times on all four hooves. Two of those times had been on this trip, but this was the first time I’d heard it directed at the Princess and not the zebras. Ebony seemed to notice it too, as her laughter quickly died down, giving her brother a sympathetic look.

“I know, Batty, I know.” She sighed and shook her head before slumping back into her seat, ears remaining downcast. “You know I’d be the first to admit… some of the orders we get from Their Highnesses don’t make a damn bit of sense.” Her eyes fell to the smooth purple armored plates of her armor before adding, “At least not to us. But they know stuff we don’t… stuff that either hasn’t happened or is about to happen.”

“Didn’t help prevent this war…,” I found myself saying, although I sort of regretted it the second the words had left my mouth. Perhaps they did know about things before they happened… but it seemed likely they didn’t know everything.

“I’d drink to that if I had any booze on me,” Ebony quickly said, looking away from her brother to me. “Fucking hell, they’ve been alive for longer than our entire family, you’d think if they were going to foresee something happening it’d been this damned war. Still… Luna must have had her reasons for ordering this transfer, even if we lowly mortals can’t see it now.” She looked back to Noctensis and offered him a hopeful smile. “Don’t tell me ol’ Drill Sergeant Iron plot’s lectures on duty and obedience have been knocked from your head.”

“Hardly… he was a sadistic pony who took his job very seriously and did a damn fine job of it,” he grunted, completely unresponsive to the attempt at humor by his sister. “Our duty is not to question why the Princesses do what they do, it’s just to follow their orders to the best of our abilities,” he added, sounding as if he was quoting somepony else. He suddenly looked very tired and very unlike the strong, confident stallion who’d led us across Equestria. He rubbed one steel covered hoof across his face tiredly and fell into silence.

Silence quickly descended upon the rest of us, leaving each to their own inner thoughts. My thoughts turned to the past few days and what we’d been through. While he said it wasn’t a soldier's role to question orders, I was a civilian and I had a damn many questions. Questions that I wanted answers to. Questions that I should have asked upon first being asked to go along on this mission. However, I’d been awed by Her Royal Highness’ presence and although I’d hesitated, I’d still accepted her request that I go. Now however… after everything I’d seen and done… I wanted to ask those questions and I wanted answers. It was the second reason for making this final leg of our journey.

Shaking my head a bit, I looked back to my traveling companions. Ebony had turned away and was focused on the screen beside her, the mare's ears laid back as she read something. More bad news I imagined. Sighing, I glanced to Nocty, but found the stallion tiredly slumped in his seat. Wiggling a bit in my restraint, I leaned over to lay my head upon Nocty’s armored shoulder guard, lightly brushing the tip of my muzzle along the side of his cheek as I did. His large tufted ears perked upright as he glanced over to me, a small smile forming across his muzzle. A second later a leathery wing rose up to wrap around me and I shut my eyes at the embrace. Smiling, I shut my eyes and began drifting off to sleep.

The sound from our hoofsteps was the only noise that filled the dimly lit stone hallway. Each step echoed like a gunshot among the many stone pillars that rose up into the darkness of the ceiling. Beyond the flickering torch light that cast shadows among those pillars lining our path was the large arched windows, whose dark blue curtains had been pulled back to allow moonlight to fall upon the floor. Despite knowing where I was, I still found myself uneasy. I supposed my recent ‘adventure’ could be to blame for my nerves. Or it could have been the feeling of being watched. A feeling backed up by the occasional glance of movement from the corner of my eye.

Every so often as we passed between towering pillars, I was sure I’d seen moonlight or torch light reflecting from golden eyes. The first time it’d happened I’d convinced myself it was just my imagination working over time, but after the fourth time I found I couldn’t ignore it. Whenever I attempted to turn my head towards the unsettling glow, they would disappear back into the shadows… if they’d even been there at all. I couldn’t honestly be sure anymore. After a while, I simply gave up trying to catch sight of our unseen escort and instead focused upon the two ponies walking in front of me.

Nocty hadn’t said much since we’d arrived, sharing a few quiet words with the stallions who had flown us here. Of Rapidfire, I’d seen no sign. I assumed the young batpony had departed before we exited the chariot. Four batpony guards had greeted us upon leaving the landing pad, but again few words were spoken between them and those I’d arrived with. Those few words they’d shared had been little more than what to me sounded like chittering and screeching sounds. Nocty had tried teaching me his native language once, but it seemed I lacked the vocal cords to get some of the higher tones correct. I still had him try, mostly because I found the sounds he made somewhat adorable.

Despite the brief happy thought, I still found myself within the dark hallway. Swallowing, I quickened my pace to keep up with my two companions. I attempted to remind myself that neither Nocty nor his sister were troubled that we were, quite literally, being shadowed, or they simply weren’t showing it. They didn’t have nightmares about the ponies we’d lost… seeing them killed. They didn’t hesitate upon entering an unfamiliar room, wondering if zebras were going to leap out at them. They were trained soldiers, Royal Guards in fact. They didn’t need professional help. I supposed showing fear wasn’t something they did. Not even when those zebra assassins had struck us aboard the train…

My hurried gait was slowed as I stumbled a step or two. Shaking my head, I attempted to put such troubling thoughts from my mind, but that was easier said than done. We were in Canterlot, there wasn’t a safer place in all of Equestria after all. It seemed highly unlikely that a zebra stealth team could get so far into the Equestrian Capital, let alone into the Lunar Wing of the castle. So… why was I still jumping at shadows? And why was my face wet?

“It’ll be okay,” a voice whispered from my right, causing me to jump in surprise and reach for a weapon that wasn’t there. I was stopped when a large grey hoof reached up to take hold of mine, still grasping for my pistol. Nocty stood there beside me, a concerned look upon his face. “You can’t keep saying you're fine when you're not. You need to see somepony about this, Issie,” he said before kissing my ear, “Please.” Behind him, I saw his sister attempting to give us as much privacy as she could in a large empty hallway and a set of double doors.

I hurriedly wiped my face with one foreleg as I suddenly became aware that we’d reached our destination while I’d been having a mini breakdown following them. The dark wood doors before us would lead us into one of the Princess’ meeting rooms where the Lunar Alicorn herself would be waiting. Yet here I was… crying. Shaking my head to clear the wave of despair that had suddenly washed over me, I glanced back up to Nocty. I nodded my head slowly before I spoke up barely above a whisper.

“I promise… after we finish here, I’ll go speak with somepony about it.” He offered me another of his kind smiles that always put me at ease before gently nuzzling my cheek. He was about to respond when his ears suddenly perked upright sharply and he swiveled his head back towards the door. I saw his sister who had moved back towards us turn her attention fully upon the door, her own ears standing at attention. It seemed they shared the same sensitive ears, but not the wings. I followed their gaze to the doors, as I’d learned long ago to trust my coltfriend’s hearing.

After a few seconds of listening, I noticed the door handle rattling and the aged wood creaking as it was pulled backwards. Somepony was coming out into the hallway with us. Had the Princess heard us speaking and was coming out to see what was taking us so long, or was somepony leaving their own meeting with the Princess? As it turned out, it was the later… although I wished it’d been the Princess instead, or even zebras as I could at least have shot them. Upon seeing the familiar looking unicorn stallion who stepped out, my fears were quickly forgotten and replaced with anger that I’d thought had been put aside… if not forgiven.

As the golden furred stallion turned from the door to the hallway, his orange eyes stopped upon the pair of ponies who had likely seemed to just suddenly appear behind him. He seemed to quickly recover from his start and was getting ready to speak to the two when he noticed a third pony in the hallway: me. The look upon his face when he spotted me was one of shock and noticed his short cut red tail stiffened. He appeared to freeze up at seeing me, thus giving me a moment to gather my thoughts. The source of my ire wore his familiar looking Equestrian Army uniform with Lieutenant bars reflecting the light from the torches beside the doorway. Guess he never got that promotion. The 105th Equestrian Cavalry logo was still upon his sleeve as well. In short, he looked every bit the same stallion he had been when he’d walked out on me.

“Issie… I… wasn’t expecting to see you so soon,” Heartfire said with a characteristic stutter. His eyes shifted back to the door he’d just stepped through before falling upon me and then my belly.

That caused me to snap.

“I honestly never expected to ever see you again at all, Heartfire, you made it fairly clear when we broke up. And my name is Isabelle, only my family or my friends call me Issie,” I quickly added with a growl, “But it's Miss Pie to you.” The venom in my voice caused the stallion to take a couple steps back until his hindquarters impacted the doors. I noticed something fall from his back onto the stone floor, but it was quickly forgotten as my focus was upon the deadbeat father of my foal.

“Of course…,” he finally managed to mutter, ears wilting and a pained expression crossing his face. His eyes lowered from my narrowed gaze. Only for a moment though, before the hardened soldier he was took back over and his expression changed back to neutral. Clearing his throat, he looked back to me and said evenly, “I apologize, Miss Pie.”

Luckily for him, Nocty placed a hoof upon my shoulder as it was starting to come up for a swing at that damned stallion. I was fairly sure I could break that rugged muzzle of his with one good punch… Celestia knew I’d demolished a number of Dad’s waste stone blocks back on the farm...

“What are you doing here, Lieutenant? Last time I checked Canterlot is a long way from the front lines,” I snapped back instead of pounding him into a pulp.

“I didn’t plan this if that is what your thinking. I’d imagine I was here for the same reason as you, responding to a Royal summons,” he answered neutrally. His orange eyes shifted from my face to the hoof grinding into the stone flooring.

“Unless you have any business with Miss Pie, Lieutenant, I believe you should be on your way,” Nocty spoke up, releasing my hoof as he stepped between us. “As you said, we have business ourselves with the Princess and it doesn’t do to keep one of the rulers of the country waiting.”

“Of course, Captain Noctensis.” came an almost automatic response from Heartfire to the batpony, who he quickly saluted with a forehoof sharply. “I apologize for delaying you all.” With a nod and returned salute, the two stallions began to go their separate ways when Ebony chose that moment to speak up.

“Excuse me, Lieutenant, but you seemed to have dropped something.” The dark armored mare’s horn lit and the item Heartfire had dropped earlier rose from the floor. At the sight of it, my brain seemed to skip the tracks it was on and careen down the hillside.

“A lunch box…?” I asked with a slight snort of laughter before my brain could right itself and remind me I hated this stallion.

“Not just any lunch box, a Stable Tec lunchbox,” Ebony said with a grin, ears perked upright at my small laugh. “Having a lunch date with the Princess, are we?” The blue and yellow trimmed metal box rattled about as it floated in front of the stallion’s face. It was suddenly surrounded by a brighter orange glow that managed to pull it away from Ebony’s own magical grip and floated over to Heartfire.

“Hardly, Lieutenant,” he responded, staring pointedly at the mare before placing the case atop his back. “It was a gift from the Princess for seeing to a personal matter for her.”

“Oh? A matter she didn’t ask one of her guards to do for her? That’s surprising…” Nocty added, looking more closely at the Lieutenant.

“It’s been happening a lot lately I hear.” Heartfire looked between the two guards to me, before looking back to Nocty. However, his attention was pulled back to Ebony when she spoke up next.

“Besides, it’s hardly just a simple lunch box, despite its appearance.” The mare nodded her horned head towards the blue and yellow box with the image of a smiling earthpony wearing a jumpsuit of some sort upon its side. “From what I’ve heard in the news lately, those are being given out to ponies chosen to enter a Stable. Supposed to have all the things needed to ensure you get into your assigned Stable. I’ve heard of ponies selling them for a ton of bits.”

“Ponies are scared, and ponies do strange and silly things when they are scared. However, the Lieutenant’s personal possessions are not our concern, we’ve kept the princess waiting long enough.” Nocty shook his head slowly before taking a step past Heartfire to reach up for the door handle. “Ladies?” he asked pulling the door back.

Ebony trotted past with one last look at the lunchbox and the stallion carrying it before stepping inside. I hesitated following her inside, for what reason I’m not sure. My feelings towards Heartfire and what he did to me were fairly plain to all. At least, I thought they were before I’d seen him again. All those wonderful times we’d spent together had started coming back to me as we’d stood talking. Well, the others had talked, I had silently fumed… or remembered. Shaking my head I glanced back towards the stallion only to find him already half way down the hall, turning a corner and disappearing out of sight.

So, for the second time, he left quietly with not even so much as a goodbye. I snorted softly, wondering what else I should have expected of the pony. I suppose… I’d expected better.

“Come on, Issie, let’s see this done,” Nocty said from the doorway, barely above a whisper.

With a nod of my head, I trotted forward through the door and into the meeting room.

With a tired grunt escaping my lips, I groggily shifted upon the soft surface I was laying on and opened my eyes. I was half expecting to see the dark inside of the royal meeting room I’d just been entering moments ago… or at least it’d felt like moments. I also half expected to be waking up as that other pony, the one I’d just been dreaming about, being told we’d fallen asleep in front of the Princess. A quick check however indicated I still had all my boy parts and no lady parts. Honestly, after so many dreams about her and her bat winged coltfriend, you’d think it’d become second nature to wake up somewhere other than where I’d just been. Still it would have been interesting to meet Princess Luna even if it had only been just a dream. Also, those two new ponies seemed familiar… Ebony for obvious reasons, but Heartfire also. I know I’ve heard that name before… but where?

Ugh, it was too damned early, late or whatever time it was to be confused about my current whereabouts and gender or why I was having these… whatever they were or about ponies names who likely never existed. At this point, I was sure they weren’t dreams… not after everything that had been happening as of late.

With the memories of that other life and place slowly fading into the background of my waking mind, I took stock of my surroundings. I realized I had once more woken up in a hospital, or rather the Janesville clinic. I really should get credit for the number of times I’d spent in a medical facility. Careful to avoid waking any other patients there that might have been around me, I pushed myself up into a slight sitting position and quickly scanned the room. Sure enough, a number of them still held ponies in varying states of health. All seemed to either be resting or still asleep at the moment. Shifting my head away from the beds, I looked instead to a nearby window. Despite thick white curtains pulled across it, traces of dim light forced its way into the room.

Seeing it was devoid of any medical personal, I decided to see what the damages to myself had been this time. Lifting up my sheets, I looked myself over and was surprised at what little I saw mangled, which was nothing. A pair of bandages were wrapped across my chest and over my left shoulder, thankfully lacking any signs of blood loss. Either they’d been replaced just recently or my injuries weren’t as bad as I’d expected them to be. Rubbing a hoof across my neck and face turned up only a few small scratches, one of which had warranted stitches. So, I’d gotten off easily this trip it seemed. That was a fact my Pipbuck agreed to, indicating I was 95% fit. Well, that was 90% more than I was expecting.

With my curiosity sated, I rested my head back down atop the rather flat pillow and attempted to get a bit more sleep before a doctor or nurse came in to check on their patients or just to poke and prod at me. I’d just barely shut my eyes when the image of a mismatched face popped up into my mind and I shivered despite the warmth of the bed and room. It seemed my mind was set on thinking about the unsettling events that led to my current stay in a medical facility. Shaking my head, I rolled over onto my side and attempted to put off remembering anything about last night when another thought popped up into my head. Perhaps it hadn’t been last night… for all I knew I could have been knocked out for a couple days. Stone and Wild could have already returned and Carrion maybe free. That’d be awesome.

With a slight hope, I lifted my right foreleg up to my face and checked the clock on my Pipbuck. The hope was swiftly dashed upon sharp radioactive rocks as the time indicated it’d only been six, maybe seven and a half hours since I’d met with Spirit last night. Give or take an hour, I mean, I did slam into that wall pretty hard after the…

Sitting up so suddenly nearly resulted in me falling out of bed. Spirit, she’d been with me last night in the room. Shit… she’d been sitting closer to the stove than I had, right in front of the damned thing in fact. From my unsteady position on the edge of my bed, I began frantically scanning the nearby beds for any sign of my large buffalo friend. It shouldn’t have been hard, she’d stand out like a sore hoof among the town’s dominantly pony population. However, with each empty or pony filled bed, my concern for her well being only grew. Had she been more severely injured than I’d first thought? That… nightmarish creature had made it clear his intentions on seeing my friends and I dead sooner or later… perhaps he’d started early…

It wasn’t until I turned my nervous attention further from my corner of the room that I finally spotted the unmistakable form of Spirit laying upon a bed near the door. The buffalo lay upon her side with her back to me and covered as best she could be with white sheets. She appeared largely whole, at least what of her I could see that wasn’t covered, which honestly wasn’t much. Her head had a number of white bandages wrapped around it and between her small horns. I worried how much more of her body had been struck by shards of hot metal, but she appeared well enough, her sides rising and falling as she slept. I suppose we’d both been lucky all things considered, as it’d happened in the clinic. With so many ponies in the building, we’d likely been found within a couple seconds of the explosion and treated very soon after.

With my fears for Spirit’s well being eased somewhat, I laid back on my side and stared across the space to the empty bed next to mine. This time I didn’t even attempt to shut my eyes and get some rest, as I was sure it’d once more elude me. My mind was already wandering back to those crazy events from last night. What had happened… or more exactly, what the flying fuck had happened? Had any of it been real? Part of me said no, of course not. It couldn’t have possibly been real… it was too unbelievable to have been real. If anypony else had told me something so fantastic, I’d assume they needed professional help.

Another part of me though, the part that had told me what I’d seen in Second Sight’s tent had been real, that the voices in my head were something more than insanity brought on by the wasteland. That the dreams were not just dreams, but something else I was supposed to know, that I was meant to be more than just a gardener as my cutie mark had seemed to indicate.

That I had a purpose in the future of Equestria...

That part of me told me that last night had been real, and that I should take heed of everything I’d been told. It was a frightening thought. Everything that creature… Disharmony, had shown me could turn out to be true. That my friends and I would end up very dead, and everything we’d done would have been for nothing. The empty bed across from me suddenly seemed less so, as I imagined the bodies of my friends laid out upon it… limbs broken… blood running from their wounds. Just as I’d seen them last night. Blinking away tears, I rolled over onto my other side, staring at the cracked wall rather than the empty bed, gripping the corner of my sheets in between my forelegs. Did we really have no control over our own lives, all this was… fated to happen? Was this all just some damned game for some omnipotent beings?

With my thoughts spiraling deeper into darkness, I likely would have remained there for a longer time than was healthy if I hadn’t been pulled away from the edge of despair. The life line came in the sound of a familiar and welcome voice calling out my name from directly behind me. Rubbing my cheeks (I wasn’t crying… nope), I rolled onto my back and leaned up a bit to get a better look looked at the doorway of the ward room.

“Ya know, if’n ya’ll wanted some alone time, ya could’a just asked us to wander off fore this whole mess started,” Stonehoof said with a cheerful grin as he trotted between the row of beds towards me. None of the other patients seemed to give the stallion a second look as he passed. “Ah’d be a might sore with ya as Ah didn’t take Spirit in th’ bettin’ pool.” Despite the darkness of my earlier thoughts, I couldn’t help a chuckle as I responded.

“I think she’s got another stallion in mind for that sorta activity back in San Ponsisco, Stone.” I sat up fully this time and pushed the sheets back from my body. “You're sounding more and more like Wild every day, Stone, that mare’s a bad influence on you,” I added with a chuckle.

“Ah reckon so, but then all mares are bad influences on stallions,” he said while covering the last few steps up to my bed. Stone noticed my bandages and chuckled before making the understatement of the year, “Don’t seem we can leave ya alone without ya hurtin’ yerself in someway despite lackin’ others shottin’ at ya.” I snorted at that before he went on. “So Spirit’s got herself a stallion back in Ponsisco, does she?” he asked while reaching back into his ever present saddlebags for something.

"She does according to the rumor mill in my apartment building, but then Bluebell had always been a bit of a gossip even back in the Stable. If you asked her, I was the father of a number of foals.” All the moving around I’d been doing seemed to catch up with me as all four limbs ached from their sudden use. Wincing, I rubbed a hoof along my shoulder and attempted to roll it a bit when movement from Stone caught my attention once again.

“Here ya go,” my friend said as he turned back towards me, tossing something from his mouth upon the bed.

Lowering my hoof from my shoulder, I shuffled the cloth aside to reveal the number 45 sewed upon the collar of my old jumpsuit. It looked surprisingly clean given everything that’d happened to us over the past few days. As I lifted it up, I noticed it hadn’t just been cleaned, but patched up as well. All the new holes from knives, bullets and many, many falls had been repaired to the point I almost couldn’t tell they’d been there in the first place. Seeing my inspection and no doubt confused expression, Stone spoke up with the answer.

“After they got done patchin’ ya up, they tossed yer stuff in with th’ other dirty laundry. Ah’ saw it waitin’ fer ya when we got back this mornin’ and decided ta patch it up fer ya while Wild was busy patchin’ up th’ chariot.” My ears perked up at the mention of damage to our ride, but more at the thought of either Wild or Stone being hurt. “Don’t worry none, lightnin’ just clipped us on th’ way out. Chipped th’ paint a bit and blew a couple of th’ lights inside. Nopony was hurt, just a bit shook up. Oh, and fair warnin’, expect ta be teased th’ next time ya see Wild. She heard a mare stripped ya down ta yer coat. Ah might also tell ’er ya slept with half yer Stable too.”

“Of course she will,” I groaned and hid my face into my jumpsuit while he chuckled. “And of course you will. Why are we friends again?” Folding my ears back, I lifted my head back up and looked over at my friend. “So cooking, sewing, and a sharp shooter… is there anything you can’t do? It’s no wonder Wild chases off any mare that gets close to you,” I said while starting to straighten out my clothing. “She’d look like a vagrant if you ran off with somepony else.” He snorted, but didn’t argue my point.

“Wasteland’s a good teacher of skills ya need ta survive it, been learnin’ them since Ah was a colt, he said at first with a smile. For a moment I thought that’d be it, but as I shuffled the jumpsuit about to get it on he spoke again, he switched to a topic I wasn’t thrilled about. “So, Doc Bandaid said there was an explosion, in th’ clinic of all places?” He sat down across from me on the empty bed.

“It was hardly a real explosion, Stone,” I began, ignoring the questioning look he gave me by focusing on getting my hind legs through the legs of my jumpsuit. “Spirit’s camping stove just decided to suddenly stop working… violently. How long was I out for anyway?” I asked, already knowing the answer but hoping it’d be the end of the subject about what happened last night. However, I knew it wouldn’t be.

“About six or seven hours at most Ah’ imagine, nopony said what time ya tried ta blow yerselfs up. Wild and Ah’ actually heard about it while th’ lawpony and his assistants were gettin’ settled in, th’ mayor mentioned what happened ta ya. Figured Ah’d best get over here and check on ya again, see if’n ya woke up and needed yer things,” my large, grey friend explained while I wiggled my hindquarters into the suit.

“Wild go catch up on her sleep?” I asked while fighting with my tail. It seemed uninterested in threading through the hole in my suit this morning, or maybe I was just having trouble focusing on getting it in. Glancing up to my friend, I saw him sitting just inches from where I’d seen an image… maybe a vision of his broken body lying across the bed. Thoughts of the others, dead, entered my mind once again, seemingly burned into my memory. With an angered snort, I finally managed to thread my tail into place and I began pushing my forelegs through their sleeves.

“Not yet, she went ta check on Carrion while Ah came ta give ya some adult supervision.” He gave a half hearted chuckle before once more going silent. I wasn’t certain, but I think he didn’t fully believe my hurried explanation. His next question indicated I wasn’t wrong. “Ah’ gotta admit, still not sure how ya two managed to get so hurt from a simple campin’ stove blowin’ up. Ah’ could see it if it’d been th’ one Ah’ use, it runs off some volatile stuff, but Spirit’s wasn’t that heavy duty. Did ya turn it up too high or use th’ wrong fuel tank on it?”

My left forehoof froze midway to the end of the suit’s sleeve as images of a grinning Disharmony flashed into my mind seconds before the stove had exploded. Shaking, I focused on getting my jumpsuit back on and wondered how I was suppose to answer his question. How had we managed to blow ourselves up using nothing but a simple camping stove? I couldn’t tell him the truth, could I? Not when I still struggled to believe it myself.

Nope… wasn’t anything like that Stone. Spirit thinks I’m haunted by Wasteland spirits so we went and tried to talk to them. Instead we seemed to accidentally summon an ancient evil demi god from Tartarus into a dream world. He looked like a patchwork quilt of different things and was prattling on about how we were all just pieces for a game being played between higher powers. He also showed me our future where we all die messily and needlessly for nothing. Oh, and I think there were tortured spirits on the walls of the exam room while we had our little chat… how bout that, eh?

“To be honest, I’m not sure, Stone,” I said instead, not ready to be tossed into the nut house. Although I doubt anyplace still had them, given the everyday insanity that ran rampant across the world. “Why don’t we ask Spirit, she might have some idea what happened.” Yep, I just threw Spirit under the bus… way to go, tough guy. Reaching down between my hind legs, I nabbed the zipper to my suit and pulled it forward, careful not to catch anything as I did.

“That’ll be a might hard, seein’ how she an’t woke up yet,” he answered, glancing across his shoulder towards the door and Spirit’s bed.

“She hasn’t?” My ears perked upright in alarm and my eyes shot over to the still form of Spirit. “Is she alright?” I asked, leaving the suit half way closed as I began standing up from my bed, intent on quickly going to check on her. A grey hoof held me back, however, and I returned my attention to Stone.

“Doc said she’s fine, got th’ worst of th’ blast it seems and just needs a bit more rest.” Somehow, I got the feeling he didn’t believe that anymore than he believed my half assed story about the stove just blowing up. His hoof pushed me back down on the bed which I reluctantly sat down upon. “Doc Bandaid also said ya wasn’t ta go leavin’ th’ clinic or runnin’ around on yer own till he gets a chance ta check ya over. He caught me comin’ in a few mintues ago while speakin’ with his staff.”

“Fine, fine…” I muttered (not sounding like a foal at all mind you) before settling back upon my hindquarters, running a hoof through my messy mane and focusing on Stone. “How’s Carrion doing?”

“As far as Ah know, Carrion’s doin’ well. As well as anypony can be in this sorta mess. Wild said he seemed ta have given up… ta be honest, Ah rightly don’t know,” he added that last bit with a shake of his head, looking from me to the window beside my bed.

“Oh?” I hadn’t exactly noticed any problem between the two, but when I thought about it, I haven’t noticed them talking much either. I decided not to press the issue, if there even was one. Honestly his answer about Carrion was much more of a surprise than finding a pony who wasn’t in some way (even a small one) distrustful of ghouls. I had been half expecting ponies to form a lynch mob outside the Confederate barracks at any time, complete with pitchforks and torches (odd… I hadn’t seen a raider using a pitch fork). After all, he and Fleethoof had been accused of murder.

As I mulled over the lack of mobs, something I’d noticed from earlier caught my attention again and I glanced back to the other side of the room. I spotted the bed where Jackhammer had been laying since we’d arrived. The stallion was still lying motionless. At the foot of his bed, I saw the orange coat of his granddaughter, Tinkerbelle, sitting slumped in her seat. The young mare had apparently fallen asleep in her chair sometime during the night with her front half laying across the bed. What I didn’t see, was the only other near constant presence in that part of the ward, Balefire. I turned back to Stone and asked about the brash, young stallion.

“That’s somethin’ Ah reckon we need ta talk about. We weren’t th’ only ones arrivin’ in town this mornin’ and ya might wanna be aware of her ‘fore she corners ya,” Stone began and with that he had my full attention. However, the door to the ward room chose that moment to light up with a magical aura and open.

The first pony to enter was the aforementioned Doctor Bandaid. The short, middle aged unicorn stallion trotted lightly into the room, attempting not to wake anypony still asleep. As he approached, he was scanning his patients with a critical eye before stopping on me. Ears perking up, he nodded once towards me before turning to those following him. Behind the brown coated doctor came a pair of unicorn nurses, one was pushing a metal cart with a wide array of bottles, small cups, and a couple of needle tipped syringes. The other floated a clipboard and a number of files beside her in her light blue magic. After speaking with the two mares, the doctor floated something from the cart and began walking towards me with it floating along behind him.

“Well, I see you're finally awake,” he said as he neared my corner of the room. The object he’d been holding in his magic floated over to me. I held out a hoof and he lowered the small plastic cup into it. Peering inside, I saw two off white medicine tablets. Well, more like lumps really, they’d obviously been made by hoof like so many things in the wasteland. “So, how are you feeling this morning?” he asked. The glow of his horn began lighting up once again as he pulled out a stethoscope from his white lab coat before draping it across his neck.

“Not bad, all things considered, Doc,” I answered before lifting the cup to my mouth and tossing both pills in. I ignored the odd taste they left on my tongue before swallowing them dry. I stuck my tongue out as I felt the oddly shaped lumps slide down my throat… ugh, what was wrong with perfectly good health potions to fix yourself up? “Stone said you needed to do a check up before I left, is something wrong?”

“No, nothing really,” Bandaid said while he began checking my bandaged cuts. The stallion’s fore hooves prodded this and that across my body before seeming satisfied with the lack of blood or yelps of pain (although there were plenty of whinces at a few sore spots.) “We just found a rather odd magical signature in the fragments of metal we had to remove from both yourself and Spirit,” he added before pulling the stethoscope up to his ears. “And I wanted to do a follow up once you woke up.”

“Odd? Odd how?” I asked, wondering if it had anything to do with my unusual visitor last night. I yelped as something cold was pressed to my side, glancing over to see the cold metal tip of the stethoscope pushing against my black coat. The doctor gave a thoughtful hum as he listened to my heartbeat and lungs for a moment before finally withdrawing the warmth sucking metal disk. Honestly, was it an unwritten law that those things had to be ice cold?

“To be honest with you, I really don’t know,” he began, sitting back upon his haunches. He took the empty cup from my hoof and floated it across the walkway to a nurse as she moved to pass out medicine to another pony. “We had a terrible time simply getting them removed from you two. They seemed almost resistant to our magic, which is the normal method of extracting bits of shrapnel by unicorn doctors. Simply levitating them out from the wound is much cleaner than using scalpels and tweezers. It wouldn’t work though despite using a number of different spells.” He reached up and pulled his glasses from his muzzle, taking the end of his coat with the other to rub the lenses as he continued, “We were forced to do things the old fashion way."

“Ain’t nothin’ wrong with that,” Stone pointed out. It was, after all, how earth pony doctors would have worked.

“No, there isn’t, but it leaves the patient more chances to develop infections due to more foreign objects being shoved into their body. It’s simply another risk for a pony whose odds of surviving out here are pretty long,” Bandaid said honestly, looking to Stone while I winced. Goddesses know I’d had enough foreign objects shoved into my body… wait… oh shit, fucking Wild’s twisted since of humor…

“We also noticed both of your natural magical signatures seemed to be in a state of chaos. Magical scans turned up unusual traces of foreign magic mixed in with your own,” the doctor added a moment later. He slipped his glasses back upon his muzzle and saved me from thinking any further along the lines of one sick minded pegasus.

“Well… that sounds bad.” That was all I could really find to say. Magic wasn’t my strong suit, despite growing up with a unicorn sister and niece. I knew just a bit more than the average earth pony who had had any schooling.

“Yes, it is bad, very very bad and it's also very unusual giving the circumstances of your injury. Normally this sort of thing is from having a unicorn casting an offensive spell upon yourself, or a magical weapon of some type being used upon you. However, this would still only leave small traces of the foreign magic mixed in with your own given how rapidly those sort of spells are meant to work. While it could be credited to some oddity of the surrounding countryside, there hasn’t been a single case similar to this within Janesville as far back as I can remember. So it’s very likely it couldn’t have been caused by anything naturally occurring.”

“What’d this foreign magic even do to us?” I asked, glancing past the doctor to Spirit. “I don’t feel any different really.”

“Beyond slowing our treatment of your wounds, we also believe this foreign magic is why it took you so long to wake up and why Spirit is still unconscious. The force of the stove exploding wasn’t enough to cause any permanent injury to your head… which in itself is unusual, but I’ll explain that in a moment. As near as we can tell, it was the stove exploding that implanted this foreign magic into you both.”

“And you're sure it came from the stove?” I asked, to which the doctor nodded.

“That don’t make a lick of sense. Th’ most magical thin’ in it shoulda been th’ flint used ta light th’ wick,” Stone added, glancing from me to the doctor. The stallion sounded unsure what to make of it all. “Ah’ve used one similar ta it years ago, and Ah’ve seen ’em fer sell in Crossroads and San Ponsisco. If what yer sayin’ is true, then there shoulda been more cases of somethin’ like this happenin’ fore.”

“You're very correct Stonehoof. As common as this type of stove is in the Confederacy there should be some records of this happening before, even if it was just hearsay. However, what is even more troubling is the fact we couldn’t find anything special about the remains of the stove we recovered from the blast site. Nothing about it that would explain how it seemingly infected you both with this unusual magic.”

“Alright… you mentioned something else about my injuries?” I asked.

“Yes, or rather a lack of them. Judging both by the sound and force at which you two were struck by the shards, the room should have looked like a number of grenades had gone off right in front of you. Though, beyond the smoking remains of the stove, there wasn’t any other damage.” Sighing, he glanced back towards Spirit. “It just doesn't make any sense…” he muttered before returning to examine me.

What's the fun in making sense...

That comment echoed within my head while Doctor Bandaid went back to poking and prodding at whatever he needed. I only half noticed whenever he touched something sore. My mind was elsewhere, attempting to make sense of what was likely pure madness. This was yet more evidence that what had happened last night had been real… very physical evidence I might add.

Once again my thoughts turned to the game board he’d made appear beneath my hooves, with miniatures of the different factions within the wasteland and markers for towns and settlements. If I believed everything I’d seen and heard thus far, then whatever Disharmony was up to was bad news for anypony involved. That much was almost completely crystal clear. So, what was I supposed to do about it? At first, I thought everything Second Sight had said was just about me going out into the wasteland and making life better for other ponies. Now that I thought about it though, her words made it sound as if I had some destiny to play in the coming events, in this chess game of the gods. She had mentioned another pony who was important to this game...

I glanced across the unicorn stallion’s shoulder, as he turned to answer a question from Stone, and looked to Spirit. The second nurse was attempting to wake the sleeping buffalo, with little success by the looks of it. After one more gentle nudge, she shook her head and floated the cup of medicine from her tray and onto the table beside Spirit’s bed before turning and moving to another patent. Had Disharmony done something to us by way of the exploding stove? Spirit was the only one of my friends who had heard Disharmony speaking to me during the riot yesterday morning. She’d just been attempting to help me learn what it was. Was that why Spirit still hadn’t awoken? Because she could help me with this?

Bandaid had said the pieces had not acted normally. If that was true, what other powers did this creature have? What could anyone hope to do against someone who could warp reality to their will? Before I could continue down that worrying path, I was snapped back to the present by a bright light shining directly into my eye.

“Sonofabitch!” I swore, jerking my head away from that blinding light. I heard Stone chuckle.

“Got ta thinkin’ again, Ah take it?” my friend asked while I rubbed a hoof against my eye. “Ya always get distracted when yer thinkin’ hard bout somethin’.”

“Yeah, yeah…” I muttered, turning my attention on Doctor Bandaid and noticing at once his worried expression. “Uh… something wrong, Doc?”

“Yes, your right eye has gotten worse. It would seem blunt force trauma to the head didn’t do you any favors,” he said while levitating a small flash light back to one of his coat pockets. “You didn’t react more then a slight twitch when I flashed the light into your right eye, you reacted more when it was shown into your left.”

“Spirit told us it was gonna get worse,” Stone spoke up from the doctor’s left where he’d slipped from the empty bed to stand closer to the foot of my bed.

How bad had it gotten since yesterday? Deciding to check for myself I lifted my right foreleg up and waved my hoof across my face. Worryingly, it seemed to disappear a lot sooner than I’d expected. Now that I was paying attention, I noticed just how much less of the entire room I was seeing. Stone looked on with concern as I closed my left eye completely. I was shocked to see just how bad my vision was in my right eye. A mass of darkness had seemed to settle across my vision, covering almost the entire right half of my sight. Shifting my eye to the left and right, the blob of shadows moved along with my eye.

“I’m sorry there’s not anything we can do for you, Marshall,” Doctor Bandaid said as I opened my left eye and focused on him. He looked unhappy as if this was somehow all his fault and not the raider I’d fought in the forest or the radiation that had made it worse. “I suspect you’ll be completely blind in your right eye before the end of the week.”

After that, we all fell into silence. Nopony seemed interested in saying much and Doctor Bandaid quickly finished his check up. After another ten minutes or so, he informed me that I was good to go with no signs of anything else wrong with me, but that I should take it easy for the next couple of days. Spirit, however, was another matter. Until she woke up, there wasn’t much anypony could really do for her except change her bandages and see to her body’s personal needs. He wasn’t sure when she’d wake up and although he didn’t say it, I could see he was worried that the buffalo might not ever wake. I wanted to ask him about Jackhammer, but one of the nurses had called his name to help her with a pony further down the line from my bed.

Leaving the doctor to his other patients, I thanked him and stood up. Together with Stone, I approached Spirit’s bed to better see how she was doing. Upon closer inspection, I could see how many more bandages she had across her chest, neck and head than I. It wasn’t surprising seeing how she’d been closer to the explosion. Like mine, however, her’s showed no sign of blood so her wounds must have been healing quickly enough. The only sign she was still alive was the rise and fall of her side as she lay upon the bed, eyes closed. If it wasn’t for the location or the bandages it looked as if she was simply sleeping. Would she wake up? Somehow, I thought she would. Dying in your sleep didn’t seem to suit Disharmony’s style… but then I’d only just met the insane creature.

“Ah’m sure she’ll be up and about in a day or so,” Stone said beside me, perhaps picking up on my troubling thoughts.

“She’s in good hooves here,” I agreed, nodding to my friend. With little else either of us could do for her, we left Spirit in the care of the clinic and walked through the doorway into the waiting room. It was empty save for the receptionist sitting behind the front desk. The mare offered us a smile and a farewell before returning to her work. From there, we left the clinic and started back towards the saloon where we’d been staying. The plan at the moment was to regroup with Wild, find out where Balefire was, and try and figure out what was going on with Carrion. I also had to try and piece together what Disharmony had spoken of last night, something I’d have to do on my own for the time being…

A dark grey overcast sky greeted us as we stepped out of the clinic, the same as always if a bit darker from last night's storm. Judging by the distant rumble of thunder, we were likely due another downpour, or the earlier storm had just ended a while ago. The paved streets were pock marked with puddles of dark water, and the air smelled of damp earth and the odd scent of rain I’d still yet to grow accustomed too.

There seemed to be fewer ponies this far north of the town’s center, or they were staying indoors still. Either way, I suppose that would explain why I hadn’t noticed the change in the town since yesterday. Once we were a block away from the clinic, however, you began to notice the little things around you more. You’d be mistaken assuming just by a quick glance that despite everything that had happened the day before, nothing seemed to have really changed in Janesville. A few houses away from the clinic, we began to see a few ponies going about their daily lives, but if you really looked… you could see the change.

Ponies were coming from their homes along the edge of the street, and while the greeting wasn’t the warmest it was still an acknowledgement of our existence. Most appeared to be heading in the same direction as us, towards the town's center, while others passed us on their way home or to a friends. The rumble of wood on stone and the occasional splash of a puddle to our left announced the passing of a wagon on the street. A glance in that direction revealed two earth ponies pulling the patchwork transport while another rode upon the back, another pair following behind it. All were armed like wastelanders. They were probably one of the families from beyond the town's walls, getting ready to set back out from gathering their monthly supplies.

The trend of normalcy continued as homes turned to stores once we reached the center of town, and the area where the horrors of the previous morning had been on display. Many of those shops had their doors pushed open, allowing the slight morning breeze to enter their stuffy and cramped room fronts and cool the shoppers and workers within the buildings. It also allowed me to peek inside them as we walked past them, seeing normal business going on. Store owners were either haggling prices with shoppers or simply talking with their neighbors or friends. A pair of ponies entered a shop ahead of us, giving Stone and myself a simple polite nod of greeting but little else.

“Ya see it too, Ah take it?” Stone asked, breaking the silence that had settled across us since we’d left the clinic. I nodded to my friend, keeping my eyes on the ponies around us.

“Yes. They’re afraid.” That was all I said, nodding politely to a stallion as he exited the barber shop across the road from us. Despite what appeared to be a normal day, at least what would pass as one, in a normal town in the wasteland, there was a heaviness to the air. It wasn’t from the recent storm, nor was it caused by the oppressive overcast sky or the near constant reminder of surrounding radiation from my lightly clicking Pipbuck. The locals were far from relaxed, all you had to do was look. Really look.

An errant ear twitch there or a sudden turn of the neck there towards an unknown sound in an alleyway between buildings they passed. Smiles or polite greetings that just two days ago were genuine now didn’t seem to reach the owner's eyes or voices. While anypony in the wasteland was normally armed, the ponies around us seemed… extra so. Ready for trouble at a moment's notice. Not even the arrival of so many feral ghouls the day before had warranted a turnout of firearms and other weapons like this.

There was also a noticeable lack of young foals running about the sidewalks or empty lots playing while their parents shopped or worked nearby. While I hadn’t seen a school house since I’d arrived, I suppose they might have been there, but I doubted it. Not all small towns in the wasteland seemed to value a full education, focusing more on the needs of survival. Though I couldn’t honestly blame them for that, I still hadn’t used much more than simple addition and such. Those few I did see as we trotted through town stuck close to their parent’s side, despite longing looks towards friends and playmates as they passed. The young ponies looked to want to be anywhere else at the moment than staying close to the adults.

“Not surprisin’ really given what's happened,” Stone said quietly as we slowed our pace, as just down the street was the saloon. Despite the hour, it seemed busy enough with a half dozen ponies standing out front and the unmistakeable form of Wildfire among them. The orange coated, red maned mare stood out among the olive drab dressed strangers. Stone was about to add something else when he noticed Wild and the group outside our destination and suddenly went silent.

Thinking perhaps he was about to call out to his mare friend, I glanced over to my right and was confused to see a worried look upon his face. His ears were swiveled back against the brim of his cowpony hat and his eyes remained fixed not upon Wildfire, but the group of armored ponies ahead of us. Something was off here… Stone didn’t spook easily. I turned my attention forward and took in the appearance of this small group.

They were a mix of stallions and mares, all dressed in similar olive green armor. They most likely belonged to the Confederate Army in some manner. Odd, I would have suspected Lieutenant Swift would have most of her soldiers stationed around the town given she was under strengthen. Looking closer, I noticed they all carried rifles of a type similar to Stone’s hunting rifle. Most appeared to even be bolt action weapons, while a few had small boxy magazines. One, however, had a battle saddle across her back with what looked like a light machine gun on one side while the other held a large olive colored ammo box. A stallion standing beside her had extra packs across his sides, likely the mare’s loader. It was the group's leader who surprised me and who made it clear these were not Lieutenant Swift’s ponies. The mare seemed far less surprised to see me when her turquoise blue eyes locked on me. Without a word, she began trotting towards us, the rest of her squad following behind while Wild lept up and flew past the group.

I’d seen her twice before back in San Ponsisco, both times only briefly and at the time she’d been wearing a cloth uniform. Now, however, the bright yellow coated mare was wearing a lot more than a simple uniform. Olive green combat armor covered most of her now, fitting snuggly with what I remembered was a slender, shapely figure. As the distance between us shorted, I could make out the C.S.E. patch on the shoulder guard of the group's armor, the twin alicorns surrounded by stars for each Stable in the Confederacy as well as the unit patch just below it. A deep red circle with twin black assault rifles crossed atop one another over which a white pony skull sat between them. Written above this all was ‘1st Rangers’ and below the emblem was the motto, ‘Paving the Way for Harmony, in blood’.

Her helmet was tucked beneath her right wing, the single silver bar of a First Lieutenant sitting in the center of it made it clear who was in charge of this group. Without the helmet, her purple mane was left largely free with the majority of its length tied back into a long ponytail with green bands. Like her fellow soldiers, she wore tan colored saddlebags across her flanks with ‘C.S.E.’ displayed on the flaps in yellow thread. Hanging upon the bags was an assortment of smaller packs and bits of kit. Upon her chest armor was a smaller number of pouches, but also a holstered pistol and a knife upon her left foreleg. This was a feature they all seemed to share. Across her back was an impressive looking sniper rifle, the weapon was as long as its owner and looked well cared for. I could see the stock was made of some type of dark brown wood while the rest was matte black in color. The barrel was quite large as was the muzzle and magazine. It looked more like a gun you’d fire at a tank or one of those power armored ponies. I had a feeling anypony hit by it would be losing large parts of their bodies.

“Hey, you’re up! Doc Bandaid wasn’t sure how long it’d take either of you two to come around… this mean Spirit’s back up as well?” Wild asked as she landed lightly beside Stone and myself. I hadn’t even noticed my friend taking off from where she’d been a moment before.

“No, Spirit’s still down, the doctor wasn’t sure when she’d wake up actually. I’m sure she won’t be long behind me though. To be honest, I just woke up an hour ago myself,” I explained, glancing from the nervous looking Wildfire to the Confederate Rangers quickly approaching us. While being confronted by a bunch of heavily armed and skilled ponies normally might seem a worrying prospect, I’d already faced my fair share of them over the past few two months. Also, I didn’t get the feeling this group was going to be shooting at me anytime soon. After all, we were all on the same side here. They also looked far too calm for ponies about to start something, with the exception of the mare leading them. She seemed downright intent on speaking with me. Perhaps with that fancy rifle of hers...

“Oh? That’s too bad… maybe we should go back and see how she’s doing, eh?” I arched a brow at the odd way Wild had said this and looked over to see her making odd jerking motions with her head. “Like maybe right now?” she added with a innocent smile, waving back down the road Stone and I had just come… away from the Rangers. I wasn’t so dense that I didn’t understand what she was attempting to suggest, but I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why.

“I see your friend isn’t as injured as the doctor feared,” Sunburst said to Wild as she and her fellow soldiers caught up with the winged, orange mare.

“Yeeeeeah…,” was all my friend could really manage to say, glancing between the two of us while her wings fluttered in a way that I’d come to figure out meant she was nervous.

“Lieutenant Sunburst, it’s a pleasure to see you again,” I began, offering nods to the ponies behind her before focusing solely upon the mare standing before me. She was Balefire’s adopted sister, and daughter to the President of the Confederate Stables of Equestria. Despite all that, and a brief meeting in the market with Sugar to buy groceries and during Nightmare Night when she’d arrived to calm a group of ponies upset over the radio broadcast from Old Oaks, I hardly knew the mare. Still, I could easily see she was upset, and suddenly I recalled what Wildfire had mentioned only a couple days ago… I suppose I could be forgiven for not remembering sooner. After all, I’d been tossed into a wall recently.

“I’m sure… I’ve heard my brother talk almost non stop about you. Marshall Shadow, was it?” she asked, purple eyes locked upon me. I nodded to her question and she frowned. “While I’ll freely admit what you’ve managed to do for the ponies of Old Oaks is amazing, I have to wonder why you did it.” Her eyes narrowed while her ears laid back, a hoof rose up to poke me hard in the chest. “And I wonder if you even realize just how much trouble you’ve gotten my brother into, dragging his ass all the way out here?” I winced every time her hoof poked into a sore spot on my still bandaged chest. She wasn’t wrong, however...

“You're right,” I began, ears drooping. “At the time my focus was on reaching the ponies trapped in Old Oaks. The fact all of my friends arrived to help me caught me completely by surprise, and I admit that I didn’t stop to think if any of them had duties keeping them in San Ponsisco. Have you seen Balefire yet?” I asked before movement off to the side caught my attention. I glanced over to see a franticly jestering Wildfire waving her forelegs while shaking her head no, another harder jab struck my chest bringing my focus back to Sunburst.

“Have I seen my idiot brother? Of course I’ve seen him… I had to lock him up with that ghoul of your’s in the brig!” she growled out, making me rethink the possibility of getting into a firefight in the middle of town. The ponies behind her glanced at one another worriedly. “My brother’s done nothing but talk about you like a damned hero. It’s not surprising that he went AWOL to follow you off on some damned crusade.” She stepped towards me, tail lashing behind her. “But I’ve seen enough so called heroes in the wasteland… they're nothing more than mercenaries getting ponies hopes up by driving off a couple small raider groups before disappearing with their caps ‘earned’ from helping while leaving the locals to face reprisals by those same raiders who’ve since banded together. You're no better.”

The pure anger in her voice made it clear she believed every word of what she said and caused me to take a step back. I began to wonder just how much of what I’d been doing between my former home and San Ponsisco could have been mistaken for what she was claiming I was. Most ponies I’d encountered along my journey had seemed confused why I was helping them and not taking their caps, very few had genuinely believed what I was doing.

While I’d never heard of it happening to anypony myself, that didn’t mean it couldn’t have happened sometime in the past… or even while I’d been blazing across the wasteland to San Ponsisco. In fact, it seemed altogether possible that someone would use the misery and hopelessness of others to make a profit for themselves. The wasteland was a very harsh and unforgiving place, filled by those willing to do whatever it takes to survive and who only look out for themselves.

“Hey!” Wild snarled from the side before hurriedly moving up between me and Sunburst. My friend’s ears were also laid back as she spoke. “Shadow’s never once asked a thing from anypony he’s saved! He’s risked his life more times than I can count on all my flight feathers just to save complete strangers. Hell, Balefire wouldn’t even be here to have gone AWOL if it wasn’t for Shadow!” she added that last part by jabbing the other pegasus in her armored chest with an orange hoof angrily.

“So you say…”

“Ah reckon so says Three Horns and th’ ponies he’s helped,” Stone chipped in. “Yer brother included. Yer right, the young buck does idolize Shadow a might at times, ‘specially when he’s tellin’ others stories about him, but yer brother made up his own mind ta come along with us ta Old Oaks. Shadow was plannin’ on leavin’ on his own that night, he didn’t ask none of us ta come with’em.”

“I’m well aware of what he did to save my brother, but as I recall he was doing it to save his friends, not my brother,” Sunburst began, swatting Wild’s foreleg away with her own while glaring at my two friends. “Three Horns has been wrong before about ponies, the Steel Rangers are proof of that.”

“You're right,” I said, cutting off Wild who was just opening her mouth. I had to defuse this situation before it spiraled anymore out of control and somepony threw a punch. “That was the only reason I went after the raiders’ train and, honestly, if Stone hadn’t been aboard it I might not have tried despite knowing there were prisoners aboard it.” I glanced to Stone and Wild before focusing back upon Sunburst. “I don’t have anything to hide about that fact, we were all worn out from radiation poisoning and a near continuous running battle with raiders or ghouls. We were low on medicine and ammo and were hardly in any shape to mount a rescue of anyone.”

“But ya still did,” Stone said. “Ya risked yer life ta save me and in the process, saved a whole heap of other ponies, griffins, and zebras from a grim fate.” The earth pony turned to look at Sunburst. “Whether he meant ta or not, he still saved ’em and what he did after should tell ya what kind of pony he is. He coulda just left ’em behind on th’ side of th’ tracks ta fend for themselves and face th’ reprisals from th’ raiders. We had th’ sky chariot, could’a made a faster escape aboard it than on a train.”

“He never asked a cap from any of them,” Wild added, stepping towards Sunburst. “Shadow’s done more for the ponies of the wasteland in the past month than the Confederacy has in the last two.” She was almost nose to nose with the other mare and I was beginning to wonder if they wouldn’t come to blows after all. Neither seemed willing to back down and I was just about to speak up again when somepony else beat me to it.

“Excuse me ladies, but I couldn’t help but overhear your… conversation from across the town. I trust we’re not having any problems here?” Both mares broke their ‘death glare’ long enough to see who had been so bold as to attempt to break them up.

The speaker was a light tan earth pony stallion with a short cut brown mane and tail. He trotted from directly behind Sunburst’s soldiers and seemed little troubled by the heavily armored ponies as he walked between them. A single silver six shooter was holstered upon his right foreleg, similar to my own pistol, while across his back was a repeating rifle close in appearance to the one I’d used back in Old Oaks. Beyond the firearms, he had a knife and a number of pouches and a canteen strapped around his body. A worn and slightly dusty black vest was worn beneath the belts and a white cowpony hat sat perched atop his head.

The pony didn’t wait for an answer from the two mares, instead imposing himself between the two before they could continue to stare one another down. It was quite clear just who this stallion was by the silver star pinned to his black vest which with even my bad eye I could see the word ‘Sheriff’ written across it. Upon seeing this, both mares relaxed their ruffled wings… if only a little.

“No, Sheriff, we were just having… a difference of opinion,” Sunburst said from between gritted teeth as she glared at Wildfire across the stallion’s shoulder, her ears still laid back.

“Difference of opinion, my plot.” My ears twitched as I heard Wild’s low muttered growl, which hadn’t gone unnoticed by the lawpony. The stallion's head swiveled around to stare at the fiery mare. Unsurprisingly, she didn’t look away and instead locked eyes with the earth pony’s blue-grey orbs as if daring him to say a word about it. The Sheriff didn’t seem to rise to the bait, although a slight grin spread across his muzzle before he finally broke eye contact with Wild and glanced back over to Sunburst. A thoughtful expression settled across his face.

“Lieutenant, last time I saw you I thought you were heading for the western gate to relieve Lieutenant Swift’s soldiers for the rest of the day.”

“We were just on the way there, Sheriff, when we ran into this pegasus.” The pegasus in question snorted, but Sunburst went on. “I was curious about the whereabouts of the Marshall.”

“Well, you seem to have found him, but I reckon those colts and fillies up at the guard station would like to be relieved after standing watch for the past ten hours.”

“Of course, Sheriff…” she said after a moment's hesitation before waving a fore hoof towards her soldiers, then fowards. At the signal, the group began filing past us and the lawpony. The heavy tread of armored ponies with the jingle of equipment was the only sound for a moment before Sunburst started after her ponies. She stopped beside me, eyes fixed on her squad. “Stay away from my brother, Marshall. You’ve done enough harm to him.” Without waiting for a response, she hurriedly trotted off.

“Ain’t she a charmer,” Stone said from beside Wild. The stallion had moved up to either soothe the mare’s ruffled feathers or to keep her from leaping after Balefire’s sister.

“Bitch is more like it,” Wild growled, tail lashing about behind her while her ears remained lowered. “Got a stick shoved so far up her plot…” She shook her head and looked to me. “Don’t believe a word she said, Shadow.”

“I’m afraid she takes after her father more than her mother,” the lawpony said with a slight chuckle. He stepped up beside us and watched as she and her soldiers turned a corner in the street and disappeared behind a row of homes. “Course that wasn’t always the case,” he added a second later with a sigh and a shake of his head before turning his full attention on us. “Name’s Ranger, Sheriff of Sutter’s Mill. Pleasure to meet you, Marshall.” He extended a hoof towards me and I took it, shaking it firmly.

“I hear you’re a fair and honest lawpony, Sheriff Ranger. I’m glad you're hear to get to the bottom of this whole mess my friends are in,” I said, remembering what both the Mayor and Lieutenant Swift had said of the stallion. He simply nodded his head with a kind smile before I asked, “Is there anything we can do to help in anyway?”

“As a matter of fact, I was just on my way to ask you and your friends a few questions about the two suspects in this case. Fleetfoot and Carrion I believe are their names? And I’m happy to help anypony in need, Marshall, regardless of appearance or race.”

“Fleethoof’s her name actually, no relation to the Wonderbolt,” I corrected, which earned me a slightly confused look from the Sheriff and an odd look from my friends. I suppose it wasn’t exactly relevant information to the problem at hoof, but it was something of the ghoul mare that linked her with everypony else in the wasteland: personality. Despite how they might look, they still had them... most were just burred under years of mental anguish. Seeing nopony had yet to say anything else, I nodded my head towards the saloon Stone and I had been heading to before becoming side tracked and asked, “Perhaps we could head inside and talk?”

“Of course, wouldn’t mind speaking over a late breakfast to be honest. I had to leave home a mite early this morning and that didn’t sit too well with the wife none,” Ranger answered with a smile and followed me up the steps of the saloon’s porch, my friends behind him.

“What about Balefire?” Wild asked as she followed us through the saloon’s double doors and into the main room. It was largely empty, save for a hoof full of ponies in one corner of the room finishing up their meal. They spared us a glance before going back to their conversion or meals as we made our way to an empty table.

“Ain’t much we can do for th’ poor buck, Ah reckon. Despite her attitude, his sister is in th’ right.” Stone sounded hardly happy about that fact, but sadly I couldn’t disagree with his assessment despite wanting to go get the young stallion out of jail. Stone pulled a chair out to offer to Wild who deposited her rump into the seat with a huff.

“I hate it when you’re right,” the mare grumbled before crossing her forelegs on the table and leaning forward. Her coltfriend sat down beside her, his hat pulled from his head to sit upon her head, earning a snort from the mare.

“I wouldn’t worry too much for your friend. While the Confederate Army does frown on their soldiers going AWOL, it’s hardly an executionable offense anymore,” Ranger added while waving one of the waitresses in the room to our table. He deposited his own hat down upon the table and slung his rifle off his back. “At most it’s a few years in the small military prison down south and even then I doubt he’ll have to finish even a single year. It’s not as if he ran off to escape the military or killed a pony. Besides, I doubt his mother would allow him to come to any serious harm,” he added while running a hoof through his messy brown mane.

“I suppose helping ponies isn’t the same as what one thinks of when a soldier goes AWOL,” I said while removing my own head gear and mulling over the last part he’d said.

Toying with the worn brim of Pipsqueak’s hat, I glanced over to Ranger and wondered about his familiarity with Balefire and Sunburst’s family. While it could have just been an officer respecting a lawpony, the mare had quickly backed down from our argument when it clearly upset her so deeply. Laying the hat down upon the back of my seat, I decided to sate my curiosity before we delve into a conversation about Carrion and Fleethoof. That was a subject I was dreading, given the possibilities.

“It sounds like you know the President and her family as more than just a local lawpony, Sheriff,” I began, which earned a chuckle from him. Before he could respond to the unasked question, however, a mare trotted up to our table, the same one he had waved to a few minutes ago.

“A good mornin’ ta ya, what can Ah get ya folks taday?” she asked, a note pad floating out from an apron tied around her neck as she awaited our orders.

All conversation stopped as we gave the waitress our orders. Unsurprisingly, Wild ordered a little bit of everything, but then I suspected pulling an armored chariot through a storm laided sky took a lot out of a pony. I’d heard it said that pegasi tended to eat more than your average pony, even a pony as large as Stonehoof. It had something to do with their higher metabolism. The Sheriff, Stone, and myself ordered simple meals of eggs, toast, and some fried vegetables while my large friend added bacon to his. I’d tried it once… it wasn’t bad, but I’d noticed my rad count had jumped quite a bit. With the food still cooking and a round of drinks delivered and sitting before us, Ranger finally answered my question.

“I suppose I do know her and her family a bit more than most around the Confederacy,” he began while adding a bit of sugar to his coffee. “As I’m sure you're all aware, you get to know a pony after traveling through the wasteland with them, fighting off raiders and the local wildlife. It was quite by chance that I happened upon her after she was kicked out of her Stable.” That comment earned a few odd glances from my friends.

“Kicked out? Ah thought President Starsong left her Stable ta come ta San Ponsisco and help with th’ rebuildin’,” Stone replied. I had to admit, I was a bit curious myself. After all, that was the most common version of that story for how the former Stable 52 mare had come to the city. Ebony and I had talked about it once while listening to Three Horns on the radio.

“In a way, I guess both stories are true,” Ranger answered, leaning back in his chair with a chuckle. “She wasn’t originally heading for San Ponsisco though. In fact, she didn’t have much of a plan at all beyond finding shelter. I was a scavenger at the time, looting anything that anypony else hadn’t already or hadn’t discovered. She literally ran into me while being chased by a pair of radscorpions. How we managed to both climb the stairs up to the fifth floor without collapsing the entire thing is still beyond me.” This got a chuckle from my friends. Judging by the looks I was getting, it was likely at my expense.

“What is it with Stable ponies and radscorpions?” Wild asked, flashing me a genuine smile, ears perked upright. I rolled my eyes which got another laugh from the mare and myself.

“Ah’m still wonderin’ if all Stable ponies are as reckless as this one,” Stone piped up, jabbing me with a hoof as he did so.

“I’d wager they are. Speaking from personal experience, Starsong managed to trip over or alert about everything hostile in the apartment building she found me in,” Ranger answered before our food arrived.

Thanking the waitress, we began digging into our respective meals. While we ate, my friends and Ranger shared stories about their adventures in foalsitting Stable ponies. I took it all in stride, even adding my own two bits in when either Stone or Wild missed one of our more humorous encounters. As each of us finished their plate, our conversation turned to what had originally brought us into the saloon in the first place. Carrion, or rather what we knew of him. While Wild and Stone spoke, I slowly began to notice a rather depressing trend… for being friends with him, we didn’t really know a lot about the old ghoul.

We knew the basics. We knew he had been an officer in the Equestrian Army during the war and had ‘died’ when the bombs dropped on Kanter City. We knew that despite surviving the massive burst of radiation from the mega spell bombs, he had stayed behind in the city to search for his missing soldiers. We also knew that while he hadn’t helped many, he had saved Wildfire from a dark fate by the hooves of the raiders who took over the city. While he wasn’t the friendliest pony to be around, he wasn’t the sort to lie or go back on his word. He was a trained soldier and survivor of countless fights in the sewers of Kanter City. He could and would kill if necessary, but none of us believed he could or would kill a pony in cold blood. In self defense? Yes, and without hesitation.

However, beyond that… we didn’t really know who the stallion had been. Had he been married? Had foals? Brothers or sisters in the army? Where had he been born? Did he have any hobbies before the end of the world? Did anypony he know survive the radiation and become a ghoul like him? Hell, neither Stone or Wild knew his real name. While I’d seen it on his uniform once, I hadn’t really bothered to remember it since he always went by Carrion. It made me and perhaps the others realize that despite all we’d been through, we’d never really gotten to know the stallion behind the ghoul. While he’d never been the easiest pony to be around, it was no excuse in simply ignoring someone I was calling a friend.

Wow… some friends we had been. Shaking my head sadly, I reached for my mug of coffee before downing the remaining dark liquid. I’d have to see about righting this wrong I’d done to a pony who had gone out of his way to help a group of strangers and who had followed them back out into the wasteland. My thoughts of how to get the ghoul to open up were interrupted when the mare returned to ask if we needed anything else. Satisfied with our answers, she refilled our drinks and cleared away the empty dishes. Once she had trotted back to the bar, Ranger picked up his fresh drink and looked across the table at the three of us. He sipped the steaming cup while mulling something over in his head, until finally he spoke.

“Despite what Sunny might think of you, Shadow, I don’t believe you're some simple con artist trying to make caps off the citizens of the Confederacy. You honestly seem like a good pony, which is a rarity these days as I’m sure you're aware.” He set the mug back down beside him and leaned forwards in his seat. “So, I’ll level with you all right here about what I’ve found while investigating this crime.” This caught me by surprise. Doing this went against every rule in the book… well, at least those used by Stable Security.

“Ah’m no lawpony, but ain’t that illegal?” Stone asked, earning an elbow to the gut from Wild who likely was no stranger to breaking laws.

“Normally it is,” Ranger began. “However in this case, I’m simply talking with a fellow lawpony,” he added with a smile.

“Somehow, I doubt Stable Security ponies rate highly among the local law enforcement. I believe one police pony back in San Ponsico referred to us as gloried foal sitters.” To this, I couldn’t really argue with that mare. Compared to what the lawponies of the wasteland had to deal with, Stable Security got off light. However, this comment earned me a quick and painful kick to my hind legs and a wince as a sore spot from my short flight into a wall last night was hit.

“Don’t sell yourself short, kid. What you did while traveling from Crossroads to Tombstone earned you a lot of respect. Even if half of it was made up bullshit from Three Horns, that still leaves a lot.” Folding his forelegs across his chest, he leaned back in his seat, eyeing me. “You're close enough to a true Equestrian Marshall for me, and I’d wager that a lot of folks would agree with me.”

“Ya know where Wild and Ah stand on that thinkin’, Shadow,” Stone added. “Ain’t just any pony we’d follow willin’ly inta th’ wasteland.”

“More like there isn’t a pony stupid enough to take us while going up against hopeless odds.” Wild flashed a grin before swiveling her head away from me to the sheriff. “You said you’d spill your guts about what you’ve learned so far… so… spill ’em. What's the scoop with Carrion and Fleethoof?” she asked, getting us back on track. The sheriff snorted and arched a brow to the mare before speaking.

“I said I’d tell the Marshall, I don’t recall inviting you.” He chuckled as Wild gave him a withering stare. He ignored the look though and leaned forwards to place his forelegs back upon the table, glancing to Stone as he did. “I feel sorry for you, she’s got the same death stare as my wife whenever I've done something wrong.”

This got a chuckle from the stallion in question. He leaned forwards himself and pulled the pegasus back into her seat, wrapping a foreleg around her shoulders. Wild’s ears laid back, but beyond that she didn't seem to mind the new position much.

“But to answer the question, there isn’t a whole lot to really tell,” Ranger said, looking between the three of us.

“Wait… what?” Wild’s ears had quickly perked up before flopping to the sides in confusion.

“We only began investigating this a little over four hours ago. That’s not exactly a lot of time to build a case for or against anypony,” he began again, reaching for his cup of coffee as he went on. “That said, while we haven’t found a lot of evidence either way, what we have found isn’t good for your friend.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, forgetting my early concerns with the legality of it. “If you haven’t found much either way, why does it look bad for them?”

“There’s just enough evidence to send your friends to the gallows if this was to go before a jury,” he answered bluntly. Before anyone could protest Carrion’s innocence in this, the Sheriff quickly added, “Both of them, despite the fact there’s little to no evidence that Carrion was involved in the murder. The fact he was in the room at the time and is a ghoul is more than enough in most ponies’ eyes.”

“That’s complete bullshit…,” Wild snarled, wings attempting to flare open in rage despite the fact Stone was pressing in on her from one side and his hoof was around the other.

“I won’t argue that fact,” Ranger continued with a sigh, “Despite everything the Confederacy has attempted to stand for in its short life, equality isn’t always something it gets right.” Sipping the cooling drink, he set the mug back down and pressed on. “The capital is home to all manner of people- ponies, zebras, griffons, even a few minotaurs- yet each and everyone of them has carved out their own little niche within the city walls to stay among their own.”

“I noticed, the ghouls live underground for the most part, zebras in their own quarter of town and so forth,” I said, having noticed it myself a few days after arriving in the city. It wasn’t just ponies who were distrustful of others… they all were, equally.

“Ghouls have always gotten the shorter end of the stick, more so than zebras sometimes,” Ranger grunted and shook his head. “You’d think they’d be more prone to show kindness to the victims of the war rather than the descendants of those who started it. But back to the investigation… while nopony actually witnessed the murder happening, there was a pony next door who heard either the beginning or the end of it. There were only your two friends inside the shop at the time when the town guard arrived and one of them was covered in the murdered mare’s blood. The other was attempting to keep the guards from arresting her.” He quickly waved a hoof when Wild snorted. “And I’m well aware of what those guards did to earn his wrath and if I’d been in his shoes I might’a done the samething. That, however, doesn’t change the fact that he assaulted the town guards.”

“So, what you're saying is, the odds are stacked heavily against them.” He looked from his drink to me before nodding his head once in answer. “Will a jury and judge from outside town really make much of a difference then?” I asked. He didn’t answer right away, seeming to mull the question over a bit before sitting his cup back down.

“Somewhat, but it all depends on what else we uncover between now and when the case goes to court.” He began looking over each of us. “I still have to get statements from your friends, as well as the guards who were the first to arrive along with the guard who allowed Fleethoof to leave with Carrion. You're right though, the odds are very much against them both.” The mood around the table once more dropped before he continued, “While in the end this will all be in the hooves of the jury, the judge being sent is at least fair and prone not to allow bullshit in her court. I know all this isn’t what you wanted to hear though.”

“It’s something at least,” I agreed while toying with my empty cup. I glanced over to my two friends and began wondering if we’d managed to improve our odds much above the ‘we’re screwed’ mark. Wait, something he’d just said struck me as… wrong. An alarm bell was going off inside my head, but I just couldn’t put my hoof on what was wrong. It was about statements… statements from the guards. Why was that sticking out to me all of a sudden… it had something to do with Carrion.

The other night while we’d been talking, I’d asked him for his side of the events. He’d told me how he’d gone for a walk, heard noises from the shop, and went in to investigate. Then he’d shocked me by saying that I reminded him of how he used to be back before the war… it had caught me off guard. Guard. The mayor had said that Carrion had let Fleethoof out… wait. That was it! My hoof impacted the table hard enough to rattle the remaining dishes and earn the sudden attention of my two friends and the Sheriff.

“Somethin’ ya wanna add, Shadow?” Stone asked, brow arched.

“I just remembered something important from last night. When I was speaking with Carrion, he’d said something I didn’t really catch at the time.” I looked from Stone to Ranger who was focused fully upon me. “He said he’d heard something going on inside the shop while going out for a walk, but it was only after he entered the building that he mentioned Fleethoof. He seemed surprised to find her there… which is odd given that he was ‘supposed’ to have been the one to let her out from the walled off section of town.”

“Very odd, especially given that the report I read this morning while walking to the crime scene indicated that the guard on duty outside the ghouls’ section stated twice that it was Carrion who vouched for the mare to be let out.”

“Somepony is lying,” I said, to which Ranger nodded.

“Indeed, the only question is, which one?” he asked while leaning back into his seat.

I held back my opinion on who ‘I’ thought was lying in this case, as did Stone by covering Wild’s mouth with a hoof. We both knew it was a valid question to ask. Who was lying and what did they have to gain from doing so? It was plain what anypony who didn’t know Carrion would think of why he would lie: to save his life. Even I had to admit that. The harder question was why would the guard lie? I suppose he could have just simply had it out for the ghouls and let Fleethoof out on her own to cause trouble in town. However, I didn’t buy her attacking anypony unless it was in self defense. She was far too timid around us… well, except when the raiders attacked the caravan, then she had fought as fiercely as the other ghouls. Could that be it?

“I suppose I’ll have to move questioning your friends and that guard to the top of my ‘to do’ list,” Ranger muttered, cutting off my dark thoughts.

My attention was further stolen by the sounds of heavy hoof steps coming from behind the stallion and beside the entrance into the saloon. Glancing across the table to the front door, I froze. “Spirit?” I called out, surprised to see the familiar outline of a buffalo in the dim morning light spilling in through the doorway. As my eyes adjusted and the one in question stepped inside, I quickly noticed that this buffalo was much taller than Spirit, had longer horns, was male… and… was that a dead bird sitting atop his head?

Like Spirit, this stranger’s body was covered in thick dark brown fur that was almost black in color. This made the fact he had white paint across his face so… noticeable. Two black lines on either side of his dark yellow eyes ran from his just below his disheveled mane down to his jawline. Also like Spirit, he had a number of items woven into his mane from feathers, beads, and even bits of bone. Unlike Spirit, his armor looked far more natural in appearance, made from cloth and either more bone or wood. The oddest thing about this buffalo, and the single thing that continued to draw my focus, was the black bird sitting upon his head right between his ivory curved horns. The bird’s wings were spread out wide as if in flight and it’s clawed feet seemed sewn to a faded yellow and red bandana wrapped around the buffalo’s forehead.

Sweet Celestia… Spirit had been searching for signs of her people for a couple years, and here one just walks into the saloon while she was laid up in the hospital. He must have just arrived this morning with one of the groups passing through town as I’d never seen him before. I was sure someone would have mentioned him to Spirit by now. I was just thinking of going over to ask how long he’d been in town when he seemed to focus upon our table, or rather Ranger sitting with his back to the door.

Well, that’d save me the trouble if he knew the sheriff… or wait… he had stopped and was staring at us. No, he was staring at me? I blinked and hurriedly looked across my shoulder to the table behind our own, thinking perhaps it was someone else he was looking at. Seeing nothing but empty seats, I turned back around and cocked my head in confusion.

He blinked and cocked his own head before muttering something and leaping aside to hide behind a support beam that failed miserably to hide his much larger frame. The few locals that were near the doorway glanced over to the large figure, while a stallion who had just entered behind the buffalo took one look and quickly did a one eighty before trotting back out into the way he came. To my further surprise and confusion, the strange buffalo glanced around the pillar to look at me carefully. He muttered to himself again while making odd motions with one of his forehooves and… I could have swore the bird atop his head had changed position to one of surprise with wide black eyes and opened beak.

Glancing back down to my mug of coffee, I idly wondered if whiskey or rum was used in its creation… or antifreeze seeing how I’d heard some ponies back in San Ponsisco talking about it being an ingredient in the local beer. Shaking my head, I looked back up only to see that the odd buffalo was no longer standing behind the beam… had he managed to fit completely behind it somehow? Wait… no, he had just managed to reach the far wall from me and was just inching along side it before freezing mid step upon realizing I’d spotted him. With a swift motion, he slid into an empty seat at a table across from a suddenly confused pair of stallions who were just finishing their meal. Calmly, he seemed to say something to the two that only appeared to confuse them all the more.

All the while, Stone, Wild, and Ranger continued to speak among themselves. My twitching ear caught on something to do with the trail, how long it might be or something like that. A quick check around my table confirmed that none of them seemed to have noticed the unusual behavior going on just a few dozen hoofsteps away from our table. Then again, maybe this was normal for buffalo and Spirit was the odd one. Still, I would have expected somepony to have reacted… I clearly wasn’t the only one seeing this given the locals’ reactions.

Just then, something flew past my field of vision and landed upon the floor beside our table with a light clatter. The others were still engrossed in their conversation and never noticed, nor did they seem to notice another object flying past, a bit closer to Ranger’s head this time. Following the flight path back towards the source revealed the same buffalo sitting at a now empty table, holding a small pebble in his hoof and about to launch it towards Ranger again. With a slight smile, he tossed the stone away behind him and instead swiped something from the plate of one of the previous table’s occupants and stuffed it into his mouth… only to make a face and spit it out hurriedly.

“Uh… Ranger, I think that fellow over there wants your attention,” I said while pointing a hoof over to the buffalo. He was, at the moment, frantically attempting to scrape whatever he’d just eaten off his tongue with his hoof.

“Hmm?” the stallion asked. He turned to look over his shoulder at the buffalo who was now either attempting to hide beneath the table or trying to wedge his large bulk from between it and the chair he had quickly sat in. Taking one look at the struggling form, Ranger snorted and shook his head slowly. “Well, there’s no angry mob after ’em so I suppose it isn’t all bad…” he muttered while waving a hoof towards our table.

The buffalo, upon noticing his cover was well and truly blown, wasted little time and swiftly stood up which resulted in the chair splintering rather loudly. He gave the plate a dark look and ignored the wood pile behind him, making his way towards us once again. However, he took a longer way around, weaving between a few empty tables before coming to stand beside Ranger… which I noticed had the stallion between me and himself. I also had a sinking feeling I knew why...

“Kemosabe, there seems to be a… slight problem.” Despite his size, he spoke softly. He also seemed to be trying not to look directly at me while toying with a small bag hanging from around his neck.

“Of course there is…” Ranger muttered while reaching for his hat. He turned back to us as he picked it up. “I’m sorry I don’t have better news about your friends. I promise I’ll do my best, but that goes both ways. If they’re innocent, I’ll do everything within my power to see them free. But if they’re guilty… well, that’ll be up to the judge and jury, but I won’t hold anything back.” He lifted the hat back atop his head before offering us a small smile. “For now I’d best get back to work and ensure my friends haven’t managed to kill one another.” He stood up, picked up his rifle from beside the table and swung it back across his shoulder.

“Thanks for your honesty, Ranger,” I said, earning a nod from the stallion before he focused fully upon the buffalo as he began trotting for the exit.

“What’s Silver done now, Tonto?” I heard him ask as the odd pair trotted out the door. “Tell me he hasn’t gotten into the whiskey again,” was the last I heard before the saloon doors swung back together with a quiet rattle of aged wood and metal.

For a short time, we settled into silence as the ponies around us either sat to begin their meals or departed for work or home. The odd behavior of the buffalo, Tonto, was still weighing on my mind, but the more I thought about it the more it made sense. Out of everyone I’d been around, only Spirit had heard Disharmony speaking to me, the only buffalo I’d ever met up until now. She’d once said while traveling to San Ponsisco and again while sharing a meal with her and Doctor Kindheart that her people were deeply spiritual. At least, as much as she knew and could learn of on her own. At the time I hadn’t put much stock in her comment really, the wasteland was enough to make anyone religious. Celestia knew I’d often said a few prayers before battles. But, she had heard him and even managed to… summon, I suppose for lack of a better word, the evil spirit so she could help me be rid of it. Look at what that got her… and now, this Tonto seemed to be just as capable of sensing Disharmony around me without the blasted bastard saying a word. I couldn’t blame his caution.

“We were as surprised as ya ta see another buffalo.”

The comment shook me from my thoughts and snapped my attention back to my two friends and away from the now still double doors. Neither had spoken while I’d been lost in thought, at least I don’t think they did.

“We weren’t expectin’ ta see ’em when we arrived ta pick up th’ Sheriff. Apparently they go way back ta his days as a scavenger along with another stallion we picked up, that Silver th’ buffalo mentioned,” my friend continued, picking at the remains of his meal. “They’re a… mite odd Ah’ reckon.”

“No odder than us I’d think,” Wild piped up a second later, grinning between us two stallions. “A gardener turned Marshall, a wastelander turned sharp shooter, an ex-army officer ghoul, and a hotshot buck willing to go AWOL to help ponies.”

“Let's not ferget th’ smart-mouthed mare,” Stone added.

“Oh hush, you like my mouth and you know it.” To his credit, Stone’s cheeks only turned a slight crimson under his usual grey coat. I chuckled, thankful not to be the source of Wild’s teasing for once. “Shame Spirit’s still out, I was looking forward to her reaction when we arrived with him on board,” she added, a sad smile on her face. “Well, she’ll get the chance once she wakes up I suppose.”

“Ah’d have liked ta have seen her reaction when he jumped off th’ skychariot while we was liftin’ off,” Stone added with a chuckle. “Goin’ on bout evil spirits and th’ like and wavin’ his hooves about like a mad pony...” He waved his forehooves about wildly, earning a chuckle from Wild.

I didn’t laugh however, frowning and glancing back to the doorway.

“Shadow?”

“Wha?” I shook my head and looked back to the two worried faces of my friends. “Sorry, lot on my mind and I guess still a bit tired despite my forced sleep.” Reaching a forehoof up to my face, I lightly rubbed my eyes before offering them a small smile that was probably more fake than that miracle cure I’d seen sold back in San Ponsisco’s market. What was the name of it again… well, I knew it was made by somepony called Flim Flam...

“Th’ past twenty four hours have been hectic ta put it mildly and ta be honest, we’re both runnin’ on our last leg,” Stone said while glancing to a yawning Wild. “Was a long, hard trip out ta Sutter’s Mill.” A snort escaped the mare once she’d shut her mouth.

“Longer for some of us than others, ground pounder,” the mare answered while rubbing a hoof through her, more than usual, messy red mane. “That storm was a complete bitch to fly through and I’m pretty sure I spotted an Enclave patrol following us for awhile.”

“That explains th’ sudden dive inta that cloud bank. Think Ah left my lunch and dinner in that there storm cloud.” She simply smirked and stood up from her seat while Stone continued turning back to me. “Somehow, Ah doubt it’d stop her from doin’ it again. Ah reckon we’re due for a small bit of shut eye, but ‘fore we head up stairs…” I knew what was coming and waved a hoof towards Stone before he could press on.

“I’m really fine, guys. I’ve already blown myself up for the day. Go get yourselves some sleep… actual sleep,” I added, giving Wild a look to which the mare simply grinned and ruffled her wings before sticking her tongue out at me. “They’ll be plenty of time for other things later. After all, we aren’t going anywhere for a couple days at least.” Wild’s wings drooped a bit, and she shared a look with Stone before stepping around the table to stand beside me.

“But…” I placed a hoof against her mouth to silence her complaint. It got licked for the trouble and I yanked it away. “What the hell…” Shaking my head to the grinning pegasus, I snorted and pressed on.

“No. I’ve made up my mind on that. We’re not leaving Carrion behind to face this on his own, and there’s also Balefire to think about.” Wild frowned and cocked her head to the side to look at my face, namely my eyes.

“And your eye?” A hoof lifted up and brushed my mane back from my eyes. Wow, I hadn’t noticed it getting so long before.

“Isn’t going anywhere,” I added, reaching up to take her hoof in both of mine and lower it back down to the floor. “It's not getting any worse than it already is.”

Wild glanced across her shoulder at Stone who’d stood up himself and was tossing a few caps upon the table. His ears were laid back, but when he looked back to us he simply shook his head to Wild, earning a huff from her. Rounding the table in a couple steps, he chuckled softly and nuzzled the mare gently upon the cheek.

“Ya know he’s as stubborn as Ah can be when he puts his mind ta somethin’. Reckon it’s an earthpony thin’.” This earned a snort from Wild, but she slipped up beside her coltfriend and glanced worriedly towards me.

“More likely a stallion thing,” she added with a roll of her eyes.

“Wake us if anythin’ happens, Shadow,” my large friend said before guiding Wild towards the stairs to the second floor.

“I will. Most likely the explosions will wake you before I get even half way up those stairs,” I said with a smile and earning a chuckle from the pair. “Goodnight, you two… or day I guess.” Watching them climb the stairs, I slumped back into my seat and glanced back to the doorway where the buffalo and Ranger had departed.

So… now what was I going to do? Thanks to my forced nap last night, I wasn’t overly tired… sore perhaps, but not enough to want to spend all my time in bed. I’d already patched up my gear the night we arrived so my weapons and armor was in good shape. Although I could use a few more shotgun rounds and I could always check for the ammo for the Raging Buck. Looking back around the room, I noticed a number of ponies entering the saloon, as well as a couple griffons and zebras. Judging by their uniform armor and weapons, I assumed they were from out of town. Probably mercenaries or another town’s guards here to gather supplies. The latter seemed the more likely seeing how there were a few unarmed sitting with them.

I focused back upon the ponies sitting around the room and those entering, seeing if there was anypony I knew among them. It wasn’t that surprising that I failed to see any familiar faces, but at the same time it was in a way.. After all, I had just helped guide a caravan of ponies to safety so you’d think I’d spot at least somepony I’d brought here. However, there wasn’t anyone I recognized here. With Carrion and seemingly Balefire now locked away for the time being, Wild and Stone needed their rest and Spirit...

My ears folded back as I thought of the kindhearted buffalo laying in her bed back at the clinic, a victim of simply trying to help me. Well, there was no sense in just sitting around in the saloon when I could be sitting around in the clinic if… no, when she woke up. After all, a friendly face was far better than a stranger’s when coming around. I was an expert on waking up in a strange place given my trend for getting hurt the past couple months.

“Ya need somethin’ else hon?” a voice asked from almost right beside me, causing me to jump a bit. I hadn’t heard anyone approach while I’d been thinking of my next move. A hurried look to my left relieved a young mare standing beside the table. A friendly smile was upon her muzzle while she cocked her head slightly to the side. Her short cut orange mane shifted between her perked blue ears. “Sorry, didn’t mean ta startle ya, but ya’ve been sittin’ there for an hour or so and Ah was startin’ ta worry.”

“Oh, sorry, I was just lost in thought… and, er, no thanks, I’m good.” The mare smiled and nodded her head before turning to trot off to another table. I looked away from her swaying flanks and back towards the door while checking the time in my E.F.S. Huh, it had been almost two hours since Stone and Wild had gone upstairs. I guess I did have a habit of overthinking things sometimes.

With a grunt, I rose to my hooves and tossed a few caps atop the table for the meal and a few more for the waitress. She smiled brightly upon seeing the brightly colored metal caps settling between the empty cups and quickly began making her way over. Slipping my hat back atop my head, I nodded once to the mare as she began collecting the money and the remaining dishes before heading for the door. Side stepping a pair of stallions entering, I quickly slipped outside and into a furnace.

It was actually very warm, hot even outside the saloon. The air was actually so thick that I could see it in the form of a soupy like haze settling across the street. I also noticed it was a shitty day to be a dark furred pony as I began to sweat beneath my jumpsuit and hat. Flicking my tail, I scanned the street across from the saloon and noticed a number of ponies still going about their business despite the heat wave that had seemed to settle down atop them. Reaching up, I rubbed my blue covered foreleg across my brow, brushing a few strands of white mane from my eyes as I did. It was starting to cling to my neck and forehead.

Snorting, I turned and began trotting down the sidewalk, my path taking me in the direction of the clinic and passing a few ponies as I went. Looking across the street again, I saw a pair of griffons going into one of the buildings. ‘Tool Time was the name hanging above the door and, judging by the shovels and saws hanging in the window, I guessed it was a tool shop. I chuckled at the odd sounding name and looked further up the street to a group of bored looking ponies standing beside a covered wagon. They all wore a riot of mismatched armor and gear, but at least a single piece of each was colored a dark red color. Come to think of it, those griffons’ armor had a similar colored shoulder pad back in the saloon. Likely part of the same group then.

It took me slightly longer to reach the clinic than it had to walk to the saloon this morning, largely in part to simply how busy the town had gotten in the past few hours. I was once more reminded of just how important larger towns like this were to the ponies of the wasteland by the wagons coming and going along the streets. My trip was not just slowed by the traffic, but by a few vaguely familiar ponies greeting me as I walked. I was happy to see some of the survivors I’d led here showing up, even if I didn’t know them personally. I also spotted Solar Burst and her friend, Storm Flicker, trotting the opposite direction as I saw each wearing saddlebags that looked stuffed with supplies of some sort. While the young orange pegasus stopped to greet me and seemed to want to stop and talk for a bit, her horned friend seemed inclinded to want to get back to their room at the saloon and drop off the heavy packs.

In the end, it took me a little more than an hour to cross the town to the clinic and it was well past noon by now. The heat only seemed to continue to build at this point. Upon entering the building, I removed my hat and ran a hoof through my damp mane and forehead while wishing I’d brought my canteen from my gear with me. While I fanned myself with my hat, I looked around the waiting room of the clinic and was greeted by a rather surprising sight of a dark green unicorn stallion. He was stripped of his normal equipment and gear, speaking with Doctor Bandaid.

I hadn’t expected to see this pony today. At least, not without sneaking past any guards his sister had set out for me and with bars between us. Nether stallion had noticed me yet as they continued to speak quietly with one another. Judging by the limp tail and lowered ears, I assumed it wasn’t good news. Movement from further past the two caught my attention and I looked over to the front desk to see the same mare who had been sitting behind the desk the day before. She looked up from her paperwork to greet whoever had entered the building. Upon seeing who it was, she offered me a nod and a smile before looking to the two other ponies. Clearing her throat, she got the attention of the good doctor who looked across the shoulder of the other pony he was speaking to and nodded his head in greeting. The other stallion turned to see who had walked in now. Upon seeing me, he hurriedly spun around, ears perking upright in surprise while a sheepish smile spread across his muzzle.

“Uh… hey boss… how's it going?” Balefire asked while pawing at the wooden floor with one hoof. His red eyes shifted from me to the door just behind me, looking a bit nervous, and for good reason. I imagine he expected his sister to be not too far behind me.

“Balefire…” I began while trotting up towards the pair, offering the good doctor a nod in greeting before turning back to my young, foolish friend. “Didn’t your sister lock you up this morning?” I asked, causing Doctor Bandaid to blink and look between us.

“Wait… that was his sister that came in here with those soldiers?” he asked.

Wow… soldiers coming into a clinic to arrest her own brother. That was either dedication to one’s duty or a complete hard ass. Seeing how she’d greeted me afterwards, perhaps a bit of both.

“Uh, well... you see… would you believe I... got out for good behavior?” was his hurried and stuttered response. His eyes looked everywhere but my face while his smile never wavered. He’d yet to look me in the eye. I noted it was something similar to the way Sugar avoided looking me in the eye whenever she did something she knew was wrong. He kept fidgeting from one hoof to the other as well while I stood waiting for more of an answer then that. When none seemed forthcoming, I continued.

“Somehow I doubt that very much, Balefire,” I said nodding my head slowly. “I got the distinct impression from your sister that the only way you would be getting out of that cell anytime soon was under armed escort back to San Ponsisco.” Both the Doctor and the mare behind the desk arched their brows at that and looked over to the now heavily sweating pony before me. “I also got the impression she wanted to shoot me in the face.”

“Oh, so… you already ran into Sunny?” he asked lamely while sitting down.

“Yes I did, and despite that I still have all my parts where they're supposed to be, I think that was implied by knowing you’d been locked up.” I sighed while sitting down myself in front of him.

“Marshall… what exactly is going on here?” Bandaid asked, stepping up to me before motioning one hoof to the door leading to the patient ward. “I’ve got a number of patients here who need their rest and a distinct lack of excitement if they are to get better, one in particular in fact is about all I can do for.” At that, he glanced back to Balefire who winced and looked away sadly, but remained silent. “In the past twelve hours we’ve had a lamp explode upstairs, armed soldiers storming into the clinic, and a strange buffalo visiting your friend.” I blinked at the mention of a strange buffalo, however the doctor took this to mean something beyond my confusion as he held up both forehooves. “Now, I’m not blaming anypony, but I would like to know if there’s anything else that’s going to come bursting through those doors to upset my patients.”

Balefire frowned and folded his ears back further as the doctor waited for an answer. He looked more ashamed now than he had a moment ago. I suddenly had a pretty good idea why he’d broken out of jail to come back here, the one place his sister would likely look first. Since we’d gotten here he hadn’t left the clinic or more correctly, he hadn’t left the side of a certain young mare and her grandfather. I put aside the fact that Tonto was most likely here to see Spirit and focused on one thing at a time. Sighing and shaking my head, I looked away from my friend to the aggravated stallion still waiting some type of answer.

“Excitement and trouble seem to follow us wherever we go Doctor…” I rubbed a hoof across my face. I couldn’t blame Bandaid for being upset, I could even understand where he was coming from. “It’s more my fault than anypony else's and I promise we’ll get things sorted out without bothering your patients any further.” This got the attention of Balefire who stood up suddenly and looked me in the eyes for the first time since I arrived.

“Marshall, this isn’t your fault, it’s mine. You didn’t know what I was doing at the time… you were worried about the ponies at Old Oaks...”

“Your sister believes otherwise, Balefire,” I began and hurriedly held up a hoof as he opened his mouth, seemingly ready to argue otherwise. “And she has a point, Bale. I should have known better. After all, I knew you were in the army and yes I was worried about others, but that’s no excuse for what I did. I should have made sure everyone knew what they were getting into. It’s a mess, but I believe we can get it straightened out eventually, just not out here and not right now.” His ears wilted and he sat back down with a thump. “For the time being at least, I think we should get you back to the Confederate Barracks in town,” I said, before adding quietly, “Hopefully before your sister discovers you’ve escaped and burns the town to the ground.”

Balefire frowned and glanced from me to the doctor who merely sighed and folded back his ears. He didn’t say anything, instead simply lifting his glasses off his muzzle to begin cleaning them and allowing a sudden lull to fall across the conversation. I’d noticed him doing it quite often when he either wasn't sure what to say or when he had bad news to give.

“I’m not leaving, Shadow,” Balefire said, breaking the few minutes of silence. The way he said it got my full attention. It was with a tone I hadn’t often heard from my young friend, he rarely if ever got very serious about anything. “I’m not leaving Tink to face this alone like I did.” My ears perked up at that as his red eyes lifted up from the floor to look into mine. They were filled with determination and a sadness that felt familiar to me. “She’s going to need a friend soon…”

I took note of what he said. ‘Facing this alone like he did.’ I recalled Balefire’s birth parents had been killed by raiders attacking his original home. He'd never said much about what had happened exactly. It seemed though to indicate he'd seen one if not both of his parents die before him. I glanced over to the doctor who noticed my look and nodded his head while putting his glasses back on with a sigh.

“Jackhammer likely won’t last the night I’m afraid… normally that’s not something I’d tell somepony who wasn’t family, but Miss Tinkerbelle has nopony else here in town. Not even the other ponies from Old Oaks seem able to help her and most of them have troubles of their own. Silver and Fiona just left a few minutes earlier after trying to get her to get some rest. She has, however, shown a good deal of reliance on your young friend here.” He looked between us and frowned before looking back to Balefire. “Luckily she was asleep when the soldiers took you away, and since she woke up a couple hours ago we told her that you simply had to go see to something important and would return as soon as you could. While I generally hate lying to a patient or a relative of one, sometimes it is needed in this line of work. Especially if there is nothing anyone can do to change the outcome. I’ve had a nurse watching her since.”

I looked between the two before eyeing the door into the ward room where the sick and injured ponies were resting along with one buffalo (along with one very strange buffalo.) Additionally, one of them in there who’s granddaughter was watching him die slowly. I remembered watching my own mother slowly fade away… at least I had been able to end Ebony’s pain quickly near the end. With a sigh, I glanced back to the sad yet determined face of my young (no, not so young I realized) friend. It was never going to be easy… but then, if it was easy anypony could have done this. I nodded my head and reached up with a hoof to pat him lightly on the shoulder while offering him a slight smile.

“Alright, well… seeing how your sister doesn’t agree with my title, I suppose I can’t really arrest you.” He smiled slowly in return and nodded his head a bit. I ignored the tear that ran down one cheek and looked back to the doctor while releasing Balefire’s shoulder. “It looks like I won’t be able to keep things quiet after all, Doc. Sorry.” He merely smiled.

“I never blamed you, Marshall, or anyone really. As you said, trouble does seem to follow you and as I’m sure you're also very aware, the wasteland is not known for taking it lightly upon anypony.” He stood up and straightened his white coat with a hoof before adjusting his glasses. “As for problems arising later due to Mr. Balefire being present, I believe I can argue the case to the mayor that he is providing emotional support to one of my patients. I’m fairly sure she’ll agree and if nothing else will simply order our Lieutenant to place him under house arrest inside the clinic.”

“Will that actually work?” I asked. Balefire’s sister seemed hardly the type to be deterred by what the local mayor or doctor wanted. However, the answer to my question came from Balefire.

“Yeah, actually it will…,” he trailed off for a moment as if trying to remember something before his ears perked up and he looked over to me. “If at anytime two officers of equal rank are operating within the same location, then overall command of that location falls to the officer who has been either assigned there or has been present the longest as they…” When he noticed my look, he rolled his eyes and hurriedly said, “I have read the manual despite my reputation as a awesome pony.” Both the doctor and I chuckled at the comment before the unicorn began walking towards the door.

“Well, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go speak with the mayor before anymore trouble comes looking for either of you two.” Both Balefire and I nodded our heads to the doctor and bid him goodbye. He paused at the door and called out to the pony behind the desk, telling where she could find him before he opened the door and stepped out.

“So you here to see, Spirit?” Balefire asked as the door shut behind the doctor.

“Yeah, although I hear she has another visitor at the moment,” I said as Balefire stood back up and glanced from me to the ward room door.

“He’s… an odd one,” my friend said as he took a few steps towards the door. I rose and followed him. “He seemed to know who I was somehow.”

“I’m not surprised really, Stone said it was an interesting flight here.”

“I’d imagine so…” He paused at the door, hoof raised to push it open before he lowered it back down and looked over to me. “I’m sorry for causing you any problems with my sister, Shadow… and… well, thanks for letting me stay with Tink.” I smiled back and patted him once more on the shoulder.

“Don’t sweat it, Bale. Everypony makes mistakes from time to time. We were all worried about helping those ponies in Old Oaks than we were thinking about anything else.” He nodded his horned head once. “And I’m sure they’ll take that into consideration when we head back to San Ponsisco. As for your sister, well, it’s not as if we really got to know one another that well and she’ll be one less mare for Wild to tease me about.” After a moment to think about what I just said and no doubt thinking what Wild would have to say about her, Balefire wrinkled his muzzle and stuck out his tongue turning to look at me.

“Ew… that’s my sister…” We both laughed and the tension that had built up from our talk with the doctor left us, if only for a few seconds. He pushed open the door allowing us both to enter into the ward room into what for him was likely going to be a long couple hours and for me a few aggravating ones.

As the door shut behind us, the first thing I noticed about the room was the very distinct lack of a second buffalo with a unusual hat within the room. He was neither sitting nor standing beside Spirit’s bed, which was the closest to the door, nor was he hiding behind any pillars. That was mostly due to the fact that the room lacked them completely I’d assume. It was the bed itself that held the second thing I noticed and which caused me to hurriedly rush towards it. My friend was sitting up in her bed with a calm yet slightly confused look upon her face as she held something in her fore hooves. Standing beside her bed and looking equally as confused as Spirit was one of the nurses I’d seen this morning. Both were looking towards the far wall where a pair of white curtains were fluttering in the warm breeze coming in through an open window.

“Spirit?” I asked while stepping up beside her bed, causing both buffalo and nurse to jump from the sudden sound of my voice. I cocked my head, wondering what had them on edge.

It was Spirit who recovered her wits first. Tearing her focus away from the window she looked towards Balefire and myself, her confused expression changed to one of relief upon seeing me. I also noticed something held within her hooves, although I couldn’t tell what it was. Although, it was vaguely pony shaped like a small doll. The nurse on the other hoof, after seeing who it was that had startled her, flicked her tail in annoyance (although I wasn’t sure if it was directed at us or at whatever had their attention when we’d first entered) and nodded her head to the pair of us before excusing herself and trotting off towards the open window.

“Good morning Shadow…,” she began, then stopped upon glancing to the dim sunlight entering the room. “Or afternoon…” With a shake of her horned head, she frowned slightly before settling simply on, “Hello, Shadow, Balefire. It is good to see you both well.” She still looked a bit confused, but offered us both a kind smile and a nod of her horned head. After a pause, she added a bit sheepishly, “It would appear I have overslept somewhat.” This earned her a snort from Bale and a small chuckle from myself.

“That’s one way of putting it, Spirit,” Balefire said with a smile. “So, what happened anyway? The way the doctor and nurses were fussing over you gave me the impression there was more to it than just being tired and that you wouldn’t be waking up for a few more hours or days.”

“I would hardly call being tossed into a wall ‘just being tired’, Mr Balefire,” the nurse said upon returning to us. The window across the room was now firmly shut and the curtains drawn. “And that about sums up what we all believed would happen to Miss Spirit here.”

“What?” Balefire’s red eyes widened a bit as he looked between the three of us, ears laid back in surprise.

“Wait… you didn’t know what happened?” I asked, likely looking equally as surprised as my young friend. Hadn’t he heard the explosion above his head or the panic it caused inside the clinic? I’m fairly sure my head impacting a wall made a very distinctive sound that any of my companions would know. Even the nurse seemed surprised he hadn’t noticed. “Bale… this happened last night before Stone and Wild returned right here in the clinic…”

He made an ‘O’ with his mouth as he looked to me, ears wilting to the side as a hoof rubbed along the back of his leg. He glanced from us to the back of the room. “Sorry, boss, I suppose I may have been a bit focused on someone else for a while… the doctor’s been worried about Tink, she hasn’t been sleeping or eating very much. I was trying to get her to sleep for a while last night so that explosion might’ve happened after we both fell asleep.”

“Speaking of Doctor Bandaid, does he even know you’re back… or better yet, does that rather unpleasant Lieutenant know?” the nurse asked, brow arched as she gave my friend a very unhappy look. After my run in with Sunburst, I couldn’t say I wouldn’t have a similar look on my face.

“Yes to the first and… well, not yet to the second,” he answered with a sheepish smile that quickly wilted at the glare the nurse shot at him. “I’m sure she won’t notice for a while at least…” This only seemed to increase the mare’s displeasure. He backed up a step into the door awaiting the coming tongue lashing from the nurse. She had just opened her mouth to unleash said storm when I spoke up first.

“Doctor Bandaid is taking care of it as we speak, nurse,” I said, stepping between the two to cut the mare off before she could lay into him. “He was just leaving to speak with the mayor before we came in, and I believe when he returns he’ll have everything well in hoof. As for the Lieutenant, she’ll likely be too busy to bother anyone here for a few hours… plenty of time for the good Doctor to return,” I added while laying a hoof reassuringly upon Balefire’s shoulder.

She seemed to think over what I’d just told her, a bit of indecision appearing upon her face before looking more closely at the tired form of Balefire. She finally backed down from arguing further, a frown still on her lips. With a huff, she shook her head and looked back to Spirit.

“Well, since it appears everything is being taken care of, I suppose I shall leave you in the hooves of your friends. Just call if you need anything, Spirit.” Getting only a nod from my friend, the nurse turned to regard the two of us once again before a patient further down the aisle called out for her. “I know it wasn’t your fault about last night, Mr. Balefire, but you two… behave. We’ve got ponies attempting to get well in here and we’ve had more than enough excitement this morning already what with that ill mannered buffalo sneaking in here… honestly, jumping out a window instead of using the door… who does that?” Looking to the pony who had called out, she trotted off to go check on her patient.

“Wait, he snuck in here this morning?” Bale asked as the nurse began seeing to the other pony’s needs. My friend seemed quite lost now, although he looked more bemused than upset. “Wow… I must really not have been paying attention to anything not to notice somepony the size of Spirit sneaking around the place… that shoulda been hard to miss.” The slight smirk that had begun forming upon his snout disappeared as his mood darkened a bit at the end.

“Don’t worry about it, Bale… you had other things to worry about, right?” He nodded once before I lowered my hoof from his shoulder and went on to explain, “Anyway, he arrived early this morning with the lawpony Stone and Wild brought in, Sheriff Ranger. Odd about sums up my own first encounter with Tonto,” I answered, before adding hastily, “Not that I think all buffalo are odd.”

“Do not worry yourself, Shadow. I must admit, for being the first fellow buffalo I’ve ever met I found him slightly… unusual. However, he did have some things to tell me that I found quite enlightening about something we spoke of recently,” Spirit said while looking straight at me. I had a feeling the thing he had told her had to do with Disharmony. However, before she could explain any further, hoofsteps approaching from behind us drew our attention.

“Bale?” a tired voice asked quietly.

Turning around, I found myself looking at a very worn down Tinkerbelle, the young earth pony mare looked a sad shadow of her former self. Her blue overalls were heavily crumped and her dark orange coat was disheveled, making me wonder if the oil stains I had so often seen her covered with didn’t hold the fur down. Heavy, dark rings lay beneath her light pink eyes and her ears were wilted to the sides. Her red tail hung lifelessly behind her as she walked up to Spirit’s bedside and her eyes shifted listlessly from each of us before stopping upon Bale.

“The nurses said you had to leave suddenly… is… is everything alright?” she asked. Even her voice sounded hollow, hardly the excited mare I'd met back in Old Oaks. I could understand… watching family dying took a toll on a pony.

“Er… yeah, I'm really sorry about leaving and not telling you, Tink. Something came up rather suddenly... and I had to go take care of it before it got any worse,” Bale explained, trying to make up a story on the fly while reaching up and pulling the sad little mare into a gentle hug. “I got it all taken care of as quickly as I could though.” She leaned into the hug and shut her eyes, nodding her head once.

“Okay, so you're back to stay, right?” The question caused Bale to freeze as he looked between us and the young mare leaning up against him. He likely knew it wasn't something he could promise with any certainty. Despite the doctor’s intentions and his own words, I doubted his sister would back down that easily. He'd also seemed troubled by the fact he'd missed so much of what was going on in town.

It was also very clear that what Doctor Bandaid had said was correct. Balefire was keeping Tink afloat during this tragic time. Despite just having met a few days ago, he was a security blanket and one that needed to stay close by as her grandfather slowly faded away. Sugar had needed me much the same way and, in truth, I had needed her even after coming to terms with Ebony’s death while traveling. Spirit and I shared a look as my young friend held the even younger mare. Clearing my throat, I gained both their attention.

“Don't worry Tink, he's gotten everything taken care of, I was just walking him back from the local Confederate guard headquarters. Some of the replacements just had a couple questions about the local threats to the town.” I offered her a kind smile and motioned towards the back of the room. “You just focus on being with your grandfather and he'll be here to help.” She returned my smile with a small one of her own before looking back to the stallion holding her who was looking unsure. “We got things under control for the time being, Bale,” I added towards him.

“Uh, if you say so, boss…” He hesitated a few seconds more before returning his attention fully to Tink, “Have you eaten anything yet this morning?” When she simply shook her head, he sighed. “I didn't think so, you didn't touch anything I brought you last night either. Come on, let's go grab something from the bakery.”

“I shouldn't leave…” she said softly, looking away from Balefire to her grandfather’s bed. “He might wake up and need me...” Her ears perked up as Spirit cleared her throat and turned back to look at her.

“Balefire is correct, Tinkerbelle, starving yourself will do nopony any good, especially your grandfather, and will simply add more work for the staff here,” Spirit added calmly while sitting up a bit more in her bed. “Getting out of the clinic to get some fresh air and stretch your legs will do you some good.”

“While I haven’t know your grandfather for very long, I would imagine he’d agree,” I added, before another voice spoke up in the conversation.

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop upon any of you, but it is a small room. However, your friends are correct,” the nurse said as she approached Spirit’s bedside once more. The pony she’d gone to look after looked to have fallen back asleep. “We could actually use a few minutes alone with your grandfather to change his bandages and clean his wounds… as you can tell, it is a bit cramped around his bed.” It was a polite way of saying, ‘Your presence is making our job difficult, please give us some room’. When Tink continued to hesitate, the nurse smiled and added, “Tell you what, why don’t we go over and check on him? Once we're sure he's stable, you and your coltfriend can go grab a quick bite to eat and be right back… okay?”

Despite the blush that colored Balefire’s cheeks, he leaned down to gently nuzzle the young mare’s own rosy cheeks. “I promise we won't be gone very long, Tink, we'll head right back.” Finally, she relented and nodded her head to the pair.

“Excellent, why don’t we go check in on him then,” the nurse suggested, stepping up beside the two. With that settled, she started off towards the other end of the room, and the prone form of Jackhammer. Guided by Balefire, Tink followed along while stepping slowly down the walkway between beds.

I was tempted to follow them. Jackhammer seemed like a good pony for the short time we'd known one another and what had happened to him was a cruel fate. However, I still had something I needed to discuss with Spirit, and she had indicated a similar desire. The sooner I could speak with someone about Disharmony the better. So, I was understandably confused when I turned back to my buffalo companion only to come face to face with a small hoof made pony doll, who was smiling happily back up at me with her tiny face.

“Uh…” was all I managed as Spirit held the pegasus figure up to me. It was a very dark blue color overall, almost black really. It had a wavy blue mane and tail, whether intentionally or simply due to how or what it was made from was hard to tell. The small figure even went so far as to have a cutie mark in the form of a black blotch with something white in the middle. The oddest thing about the small winged pony was the fact it seemed familiar somehow, but it hadn’t been recently. “What's this?” I asked while taking the figure from her outstretched hoof. It weighed next to nothing, not really surprising.

“To be honest with you, Shadow, I am unsure,” she answered as I examined the little blue pony more closely. “The buffalo I met, Tonto, said I was to give her to you. That it would help you in finding answers.” I arched a brow at that and looked up into my friend’s confused face. I hadn’t ever seen her that confused before and lowered the figure down.

“What was your impression of him, Spirit? I know you've been hoping to find another buffalo on our journey back to San Ponsisco,” I asked, genuinely curious of her take on Tonto. By what I’d gathered from what the nurse had said, it seemed likely he’d been just as odd here as the saloon.

“I must admit to some… disappointment upon finally speaking to another buffalo. He was not like I expected and I am left to wonder if they are all slightly insane as he is or if I am simply more pony than buffalo.” She cocked her head to the side, a troubled look crossing her face as she thought of something. Finally, she turned to look at me. “Tell me, Shadow, am I as… unusual to you and the others as he is?”

“No, Spirit.” I replied with a light chuckle, sitting the small pony down upon the edge of her bed. “I can honestly say you have never acted like Tonto… at least not as much. In fact, there was only one other I have ever meet that was as confusing as Tonto.” Though, I wasn’t even sure if she was real.

“I am unsure how I feel about that,” she said while looking a cross between humored and confused. “Even as a young calf I knew I was not like the other ponies of Wastefall. I did not look anything like them or my father. Ever since I was old enough to ask questions, I wanted to know where I had come from.” Her ears flicked back and she looked up towards the window across from her bed. “My adopted father told me everything he knew of the buffalo. He had known more than most ponies having actually met a couple in his travels across the wasteland. But... there was so much he didn’t know and I simply had little idea what it meant to be a buffalo.” She paused and ran her fore hooves along the plain white sheet that covered her.

“I don’t think anyone could blame you for wanting that, Spirit. I know if I had been raised by griffons or zebras, I would want to know what it meant to be an earth pony,” I said while maintaining my smile. She nodded her head once before going on.

“I spent much of my free time after father’s lessons searching his limited number of books for any more information on the buffalo. When I had scoured them, I would check those few passing traders who salvaged books from the ruins, often spending what few caps I earned from odd jobs around town on books that had only one or two lines about them.” She paused for a moment, sitting up a bit more in her bed while a faint smile appeared upon her mouth. “Somehow, I always had just enough caps to afford those books regardless of the prices. Later I learned Dad had snuck some of his own caps into my pouch.” It was the first time I’d heard her use the term ‘dad’ rather than father.

“I believe I’ve caught you doing something similar for Tanner once,” I said, taking a seat beside her.

“As you have no doubt done for Sugar.”

“Guilty as charged.” I knew she had me wrapped around her little hoof, but I hardly cared.

“All this time, I have attempted to emulate what I believed my people were like from what my father taught me and what little I have learned of them…”

“And Tonto has failed to live up to that imagine,” I said plainly to which she nodded her head. “I suppose it's impossible for anyone or anything to live up to our expectations.” To this, she frowned but didn't disagree.

“You are correct, and it is hardly fair to him, but never in my wildest dreams would I imagine a buffalo acting quite like him.”

“Well, keep in mind he is the only buffalo you've ever met,” I offered back before grinning and adding, “After all, if Wild was the only pegasus you had ever meet you would assume they are all sex crazed mad mares.”

“True, and if you were the only earth pony I had ever met, I would assume they are all recklessly lucky,” she returned with her own smile.

“Touche.” We lapsed into a comfortable silence. While I left Spirit to her own thoughts, I reached over and picked up the odd pony doll Tonto had given her. Again, I had this nagging feeling I knew who this was… or I should. It was easy to tell it was a mare, due to the shape of the muzzle and slender body. Her long wavy mane was also another give away since few stallions wore it that long. In fact… I don’t think many mare’s wore it that long. I examined her more closely, the cutie mark was still lacking in detail, just a large black splotch on it’s flank.

While I was busy staring at a toy mare’s flank and Spirit sat quietly beside me in her bed, the clinic and the ponies around us went on about their afternoon. Nurses came and went as patients were given their medicines and some even being allowed to leave. During this time, the nurse who had first spoken with us finished putting Tink’s mind at ease and they, along with Bale, passed us by on their way to the waiting room. As the door gently clicked shut behind them, Spirit finally spoke up.

“I must apologize to you, Shadow,” she began, those few words catching me off guard and I quickly looked over towards her. “My belief in my ability to contact and control spirits resulted in our injuries and could have been much worse.”

“I assume that Tonto’s visit has something to do with this change in your opinion of your ability?” I asked, already having a pretty good idea what her answer would be.

“Yes, it was what he came to speak with me about. He seemed quite troubled by your presence, or rather that of the spirit following you. Despite his unusual behavior… or perhaps because of it, Tonto has more knowledge of what we attempted to contact last night then I could have expected. What he told me was… unsettling to say the least.” She frowned and folded her ears back. “It is no lost soul as I so foolishly thought, but something much worse.” That seemed the understatement of the moment. She looked back up to me while waving a hoof towards the figure I held. “It is why he gave me that doll to give to you. He said it would provide some answers to questions you have, both about your destiny and the evil you must face.”

“Did he say anything else about Disharmony? Anything at all?” I asked to which she blinked and gave me an odd look.

“Disharmony? That is a very unusual name…” She arched a brow as her eyes locked on mine. “Where did you come up with that name…” When I hesitated a moment, her earlier confused look turned to one of worry. “Shadow… who told you that name?”

“He told me his name…” She blinked and the worry turned to fear within seconds of me answering her. “Wait, you didn’t see him?”

“No, I do not remember anything of meeting this evil spirit…”

“What do you remember?”

“Just entering the exam room, sitting down and lighting the stove before attempting to contact whatever spirit it was that haunted you. After that, nothing beyond waking up an hour ago here in this bed.” I shouldn't be that surprised. The whole time I'd been trapped in that place with him, Spirit hadn’t so much as blinked. “It would seem more happened than simply my stove exploding. What happened to us last night?”

I frowned and glanced around the clinic. Unsurprisingly, no one seemed to be paying either of us much attention. Each pony was more focused on their own problems. When I turned back to Spirit, she seemed to understand my concern and said nothing as she sat waiting patiently. So, I began to describe the events that had transpired of what I had seen and what happened to her, starting with why I believed she had no memory of the event. If it had been anyone else, Stonehoof or Wild... I would expect a healthy scepticism about being told they had been frozen in time while I seemed unaffected along with elements of the environment. It wasn’t something a… normal pony would understand. She took it in stride however, whether due to the fact she trusted me or her own experiences with the supernatural I'm not sure. I'd like to think the former, but given the craziness I’d seen and the wasteland’s own history, it was more likely the later.

She paused my story to ask of the chaotic spirit himself. Given her expression, I had a feeling Tonto had already given her a general idea of what I’d seen. It seemed I’d need to corner that buffalo and ask him a couple questions sooner or later. Putting that aside for the moment, I attempted to describe how Disharmony appeared, a mismatch of different creatures who had power over everything happening. Words faded me at times when I tried to explain how the different parts just… melded seamlessly with the other bits. Upon hearing his description, she mentioned reading a story about something similar, a ‘chimera’ is what it was called. I'd heard that name before, now that she mentioned it. Back in school I believe, it was some sort of magical creature that lived in the wilder corners of the world. So… was Disharmony a result of radiation?

When she asked what he had said to me however, it caused me to pause. I realized suddenly that I'd need to bring up things I hadn’t to anyone else yet. Everything, from my unexpected meeting with Second Sight during Nightmare Night to the unusual dreams I’ve been having since leaving Stable 45. I would need to go into details about what Second Sight had told me, of my future and that of Equestria. I would need to tell her about this twisted game it seemed Disharmony was playing with me. Thus far, Spirit had been very understanding about the craziness I found myself in… and I did not expect that to change anytime soon. Also… it would be nice to talk to someone about it.

So, taking a deep breath and giving the room another quick look... I told her. Everything I’d kept from my friends, from Sugar. From my unusual encounter with the zony in her disappearing tent, the very detailed dreams of another pony’s life, to what Disharmony had said almost word for word. The whole time Spirit sat quietly and listened, her eyes never leaving my face as I laid it all out. I only paused my tale four times, twice was when she asked a question, another was when a nurse made her rounds, and the last was when Balefire and Tink returned.

When at last I’d reached the end of my… admittedly insane story it was well into late evening and the dim lights within the room began flicking on. I sat back in my seat and ran a hoof through my mane, realizing just how good it was to get that all off my chest. Between Ebony’s death, the attack on my home, all the killing I’d seen… it was a lot to deal with. Despite what I’d told myself over and over again about not worrying about this all... I had been dwelling and worrying a lot over this. Destiny, death, the future of Equestria? Gods playing a game with the lives of hundreds? That was a lot more than just trying to survive some radiation and the killer wildlife.

“I can understand why you never mentioned this to anyone before,” she began after sitting quietly for ten minutes after I finished. “It is a lot to take in all, especially all at once like this.” She looked thoughtful as she went on, “It sounds like something from one of those Daring Do novels Tanner loves for me to read to him. If I had not seen or know the things I do or you had been anyone else telling me this, I would assume you were simply insane and think no more of it.”

“If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t believe any of it. I still find myself wondering if I’m insane,” I responded, ears folded back as I glanced to a flickering light sitting upon the wall beside us. “Evil spirits and destinies certainly wasn't what I expected to be dealing with when I set out from 45.” Picking the figure she’d given me at the start of this talk, I glanced over to the buffalo. “So… you believe everything I told you?” She simply nodded her head and I asked, “What do you think of all this? Is what Second Sight told me possible?”

“I have met many so called fortune tellers while traveling the wasteland in search for other buffalo, and again upon moving to San Ponsisco. Nearly all of them have been charlatans preying upon the fears and hopes of the people around them. While a fair number of them have been zebras, I have had the good fortune to meet several zebras who are quite gifted. I have learned that many zebra are quite similar to the stories I have heard of the buffalo, in that they have a sort of insight into the spirit world, or the natural world if you prefer.” She paused a moment as a nurse trotted past. The mare hardly gave either of us a second look as she went on about her rounds.

“I believe this Second Sight was telling you the truth, at least in so far as she knows.” My confused look caused her to pause from going on and instead to explain what she had just said. “Despite what she had to say, nothing is ever certain in this world. Visions of the future, destinies of ponies, prophecies of great evils… they are all funny things, Shadow. Often times they have either been passed down generation to generation orally or through writing. Few survive the passage of time completely intact as they had been originally told. All have had something either added, forgotten, or changed. Your own people’s ‘Mare in the Moon’ legend is a prime example.”

“So, there could be some truth to what she said, but it could also be slightly off in some way?” I asked, frowning. “Forget what I said about you not sounding like Tonto…” She snorted and I pressed her for an answer. “So, what do you believe? You are the expert here.” I inquired to which she cocked her head slightly. Once more, we settled into a short silence before she at last answered me.

“Honestly?” I nodded and she looked away to stare out the window across from her bed. For a moment, I thought she wasn’t going to answer and would instead change the subject, but a calm look settled across her features and she turned her focus back to me. “I believe what I have always believed since first meeting you. That you are a very unique pony, Shadow, and that you have done and will continue to do great things. I am unsure if a unicorn or zebra a hundred years ago foresaw you changing the world, but from where I sit, I can see it happening.”

“I’m hardly special, Spirit,” I said, a bit stunned by her words. Yeah, sure I’d heard ponies praising me before, but it was how she had said it that surprised me. “Stonehoof and Wild are just as brave and willing to help others as I am.”

“Perhaps,” was all she said as the nurse returned to us.

“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to take your friend up to one of the examination rooms.” The nurse drew to a halt at the foot of Spirit’s bed, her green eyes looking from the buffalo to me, a kind smile upon her face. “Doctor Bandaid is ready to scan her magical signature once again to ensure the foreign magic has faded and he also needs to examine her wounds.”

“It is alright, Nurse Tendercare, we had just finished our conversation and I believe he was about to leave to get some rest,” Spirit said to the cream colored pony, kind blue eyes shifting from the nurse to me and finally to the small figure I held in one hoof. “Hopefully... you will find the answers you seek soon, Shadow.”

With little else to say, I nodded to the nurse before stepping aside and allowing her to begin helping Spirit up onto her hooves. A second nurse, this one a earth pony stallion, appeared to assist the first with steadying the slightly wobbly buffalo between them. I hurriedly held the door open so they could focus on helping Spirit out into the lobby and I watched as they lead her towards the stairs. Well… I suppose it was just me and the doll. Holding the doll back up to my face, I wondered what it was suppose to do. As I sat looking at it, I noticed something unusual about it’s mane. There seemed to be something beneath it.

Reaching another hoof up, I brushed the long bits of mane from the figure’s head and saw what it was I had failed to see earlier. I also realized why the coloring of the figure seemed somewhat familiar. There on its head was a tiny horn. It wasn’t a pegasus, it was an alicorn.

It was a figure of Princess Luna...

Halfway to Lvl 23

Author's Notes:

Well... that only took an entire year to finish. Ugh... sorry about the wait but well, stuff happens. Here's hoping the next chapter won't be finished until next years Bronycon, eh?

Editor and Chief: TheGamefilmGuruman

Pre- Reader: BronyKen who has also been doing a reading of my story and can be found on his U Tube channel here.

Original Cover Art: TimeForSP

Current Cover Art: MisterMech Go. Worship his work.