“Our enemy is motivated by hatred and will not stop planning more plots against until they are ultimately defeated. Today was an important and necessary victory in the war, but there is a long road ahead. We must remain committed if we are to succeed and protect our free will.”

The next thing that I could remember after that blast, was that the world was a mass of spinning colors and confusing noises.

“Come on, leave her!” Jack Knife yelled out.

“No, she got us this far. I’m not leaving her.” Cheap Shot answered him as darkness flooded the blurred world around me. I think I must have passed out again. The sounds that met my ears next were calmer, and less full of screams. When I opened my eyes, some pony was slapping my cheek.

“Come on, Storm. Wake up.” Cheap Shot held me up as he tapped on me. “You have to stay awake for me, alright? As long as you can at least.” As he held me, I could hear somepony crying in the distance. Everything was still so confusing, and it was overwhelming. I don’t know how long I’d managed to stay up, but all I know is that eventually I slipped back into darkness.

-----

The soft hum of a battery powered lamp made me moan out. Dad always left them on when he went on a run. That was fine though, he always left it in hoofs reach for me. I reached out to turn it off, but found nothing in place of the lantern. Then a sharp pain shot up my side that made me writhe.

When I opened my eyes, an odd scene sat before me. I was on a cot in a tent. An old military tent to be precise. A single lantern illuminated the olive drab canvas, and lit up a crudely painted symbol on the back wall. I rubbed at my eyes to try to clear my vision. I had no idea where I was, or who it was that kept me here. When I adjusted my eyes, I didn’t like the answer.

The hastily painted Steel Ranger symbol sent chills up my spine. Were these his rangers? I looked down to my hoof to find that my pipbuck was still attached. Even if these were normal rangers, odds were, they weren’t going to let me leave on my own. I had to get back to Harmony and Predious. I groaned and rolled myself off the cot. My legs were still too weak to hold me, and I collapsed to the floor. I heard the hoofsteps coming, but couldn’t do anything before they opened the tentflap.

“She’s awake. Go get Diesel.” The stallion in front of me said with more volume than I thought was necessary. I still couldn’t push myself up, but I still found myself being lifted. The magical aura of the stallion set me back up onto the cot as I felt light headed again. “Stay put and don’t strain yourself. Your injuries might be gone, but your body still needs rest.”

“Like hell I will.” I growled. My body may be bruised and broken, but I didn’t just get blown up for nothing. I’m so close to getting to my friends, I just needed to fight a little longer. Once again, I rolled myself off the cot.

“I don’t want to restrain you in your condition, but I will if you don’t stop.” The stallion said sternly as he caught me in his magic. “I know you are confused, but you are safe here.” He pressed me back into the cot and let me go again. “Diesel will answer any questions you may have, but until then I need you to stop. Alright?”

“Fine.” I answered. At the very least, he sounded sincere.

The stallion left me to my thoughts after that. What had happened after that bomb went off? How did I make it out of there? If I truly was in a safe place, this Diesel pony better have some goddess damned good answers for me.

“How is she?” Another stallion spoke up from outside. The tent flap pushed open, and a large green stallion lumbered in. The black tinting on the end of his muzzle made his grimace all the more menacing, but he didn’t look tense. The machine grease streaked brown mane and dirtied up patches of his coat meant that he probably lived up to his name at least.

“Don’t ignore me Diesel!” The shrill whine of a mare bled through the tent. Diesel tensed up and cringed as she shouted. “I can’t fix a toaster out here without more parts, let alone a Mk.IV turret.”

“Then take them from that damn robot of yours.” He shouted back to her. His voice definitely carried the air of authority, but once again, it was spoken too loud for my liking. He waited for a response for a moment, but none came. He breathed out a sigh and looked like he relaxed a bit. “Sorry about that.” He sat down next to the bed and looked over me. “Am I correct in assuming that your name is Storm Rider?”

“I’m not answering any questions until you tell me how the fuck I got here, who the hell you ponies are, and what happened to the others. Oh, and you can give me back my gear.” I’ve never been too good at the whole idea of negotiation, but even I knew I was asking for too much there.

“Look, if you aren’t the mare in question, then once you’re well enough, you can go.” He shook his head in annoyance. “But if you are, then you can relax. Your friend Harmony is the one who put in the search request back in Manehatten.”

“Fine, I’m Storm.” I grumbled. “I still want my answers and my gear.”

“No. We work tit-for-tat. An answer for an answer.” The stallion cracked the faintest hint of a smile. “Harmony had said you were last seen with a mare named Pallet Jack in Dodge. Where did you two go to from there?”

Hearing her name again felt like taking a sledgehammer to the skull. Only, it didn’t knock me out, rather it put everything into sharper focus than ever. Pallet was gone, and Harmony still didn’t know.

“I was taken to the prison they called Summer Camp.” It was hard to form the words, but I managed to eek out the rest of the answer. “Pallet... didn’t make it out of Dodge.”

“That would explain the absence of forces up here.” Diesel muttered to himself. “How was it that you escaped?”

The fact that he was so calm about all of this was unsettling. I know he didn’t know Pallet like I did, but he could at the very least show some respect for her. This stallion was really starting to piss me off.

“No, you said tit-for-fucking-tat.” I snapped and sat up. For a moment, I became light headed, but I was resolute in this. “Tell me who the fuck you ponies are.”

“We’re part of the Manehatten Steel Rangers. Delta contingent was sent south west to provide support and to investigate the cause for the sudden influx of southern Equestrian refugees.” He sounded like he’d repeated that statement more than he’d care to admit. “Now, how did you escape?”

“I…” I paused. Everything was out of place after that blast, but I’m sure I heard voices. “I worked with a group from inside. There was a riot, and I was caught in an explosion. They dragged me out... I think.” A spike of pain shot through my head. “Where… where are they?”

“They are outside, but we’ve detained them.” He shrugged. “We assumed them slavers, and when I saw you, I didn’t want to take any chances.” He eyed me curiously. “It’s also odd. They keep referring to you as ‘Hope’.”

“That prison wasn’t just filled with innocent ponies. There were more than a few bad seeds in there that would have rather seen me dead.” I didn’t know what painkiller they’d given me here, but whatever it was had started to wear off. I could feel pain ebbing along my forelegs and my back more an more. Whatever sedative was in it though was losing strength as well. I felt confident that my hooves could hold me up now.

“As I still haven’t asked a question, why did they kill every other pony down south, but take you?” There was a bit of resentment in his voice. I wasn’t sure why, but I didn’t like that tone.

“How the fuck should I know?” I knew exactly why, but I wasn’t about to tell him anything about who I really was. “He just sees me as somepony special. Don’t know why, don’t care either.”

“He?” Diesel cocked an eyebrow at that.

“No, my turn.” I said. “Where the hell am I?” With any luck, I wouldn’t be too far behind him. I don’t know what he wants off the coast, but I intend to find him and kill him before he gets it.

“An outpost just outside of the settlement of Futura. Our only remaining outpost this far south to be honest. Whatever you managed to pull off at the prison, pulled back some of his forces. We might as well be able to keep this damn position for a little longer.” Diesel didn’t sound too hopeful for that, and it made me wonder just how bad things really were. “Where do you plan on going from here?”

“Manehatten. I have to go to Harmony.” I moved to get up, but ended up painfully tumbling down to the floor again. Turns out that even without the sedative, my legs still didn’t want to move right.

“Not with those injuries you aren’t.” He lifted his hoof and pushed me back into the cot. “No, you are out of this fight. You’ve done enough, so leave it to us now.”

“You don’t understand.” I knocked his hoof off of me and glared at him. “If I don’t get to Manehatten…” I stopped when the tent flap lifted behind Diesel, and a young unicorn mare stepped in. She was mostly hidden under a set of red steel rangers robes, but a bit of her orange mane and purple horn jutted out from it’s hood.

“Brother, Bandpass has HQ for you on his radio. They say it’s urgent.” She sounded young, but the mechanical whine that came when she turned around and walked out peaked some sense of curiosity in me.

“I’m going to cut this short, but I can tell you know something you aren’t telling me.” He sat there and looked at me for a moment. “If it’s something that can help us in this fight, please, don’t hesitate. Whatever it is, I’ll get word of it to those who can best use the information.”

It was right on the tip of my tongue. I wanted to say it, but I hesitated. The necromancer had gotten to the southern Steel Rangers and corrupted them. As much as I need the help, I can’t trust that these rangers will be any more resistant than the others were. It’s best to only tell Harmony.

“I see.” Diesel sighed heavily and got to his hooves. “I want you to know something though. The meds we used to fix you up were fairly hard to come by, and they might have proved useful in another fight.” He turned around and walked to the tent flap. He stopped and gazed back for a moment. “I’d hate to be ill prepared for another fight if I can help it. You want to talk about it later, fine. Just come find me. Until then, get some rest.”

With that, he slipped out of the tent. With a heavy sigh of my own, I flopped back and stared at the old fabric of the ceiling. Rest. How was is supposed to do that when every second we were letting him get closer to whatever he’s looking for? I’d already wasted enough time in that prison with little to show for it. He considers me enough of a threat to lock me away, so for now, he still underestimates me.

I ran my hoof along the tent fabric in thought. Just what was the plan for when I caught up to him? Could Harmony and I really expect to take him down? Predious might know something though. He’s a ghoul who’s presumably been around for awhile, so maybe there’s something more he’s holding out on me with. If I’m left with no other choice, I’ll go to the Steel Rangers for help. As it is, I’m not out of options yet.

From out of nowhere, I felt something stab into my side. I let out a yelp and jumped off the cot. My legs immediately folded under me and I collapsed to the floor. The world began to spin again, and my eyes grew heavier. Soon, I was back in my world of slumber.

-----

I was really getting tired of waking up somewhere new all the time. More than that, I was tired of being tapped on the muzzle by somepony. With a groan, I bat their hoof away. In return, I was rewarded with another stabbing sensation in my side.

“Oh, cut it out. It’s just Med-X.” A mare said from above me. It was the voice of the mare from earlier.

I writhed on the ground for a moment, pressing myself back into the cold dirt. I blinked in the darkness and found that it did little to help. It seemed I was out of the camp now, and that it was the middle of the night. The warm numbing of Med-X took hold over my sore body, and shortly I found I could stand.

“Sorry about the sedative, but I couldn’t have you giving me away.” The mare spoke up. A small light flickered from a foot in front of my muzzle. From it’s glow, I could make out the horn and red mane of the mare. With a mechanical whine, she reached a hoof up and pushed back her robe. She brightened the light her horn gave off, and I found that we’d holed up in some burnt out structure the wasteland had reclaimed.

“Who the fuck are you?” I took a step back. Once again, I was at a disadvantage and didn’t have my gear. “What do you want?” Why couldn’t I just get one break? As if to answer my call, my vision flashed pink. Pai popped into my vision as she always did.

“Don’t worry, she’s a friend!” She remarked cheerfully.

“I overheard your conversation with my brother.” The mare spoke. “You know what the big bad guy wants, don’t you?” Here green eyes glowed in the light of her horn, and a smirk fell across her face when I hesitated to answer. “I thought so. Like I always told him, I’m the brains, he’s the brawn.” She smiled and held out a metallic hoof to me. “The name’s Gauge by the way.”

“And Grumpy face is somewhere around here!” Pai exclaimed loudly enough to even make the new mare cringe. “He’s pretty neat for an adaptive AI. I’m sure Iron Will would have loved to talk with him.”

“No, everypony just chill the fuck out for a moment.” I snapped. This was all too easy, and too fast. “First of all, I want my gear. Second of all, I want to know why you helped me. Third, I want to get to my friends. Fourth of all, I want to kill that necromancing son of a bitch.” I glared at the new mare. “Do you understand all this?”

“Come on sis, take it easy!” Pai childed me. She put her hoof up to her muzzle and dropped her voice to a forced whisper. “Don’t worry, Gauge. She’s just a big grumpy pants sometimes.”

“Pai.” I grunted. “Not in the mood.”

With a heavy whump, my jacket was tossed into the dirt in front of my hooves. She floated my rifle toward me enveloped in her magic’s green glow. With little hesitation, I hoofed on my jacket and reclaimed my rifle. As I checked it for ammo, Gauge dropped my satchel around my neck and sat down. I was happy to find that there was at least one round in the gun.

“Okay, you all good now? Do you want anything else off me? My leg perhaps? Then will you calm the fuck down?” She sassed at me. She held out her hoof, which in the light I could now tell wasn’t armored. Rather, it was cybernetic. It looked like it had seen better days, but other than the soft electric whine, it was as fluid as flesh and bone.

“Nopey mopey!” Pai exclaimed. “All of her gear has been double-triple checked and is accounted for!”

“Now.” I hoofed at my rifle and pointed it at her. “Why are you helping me?”

“My reasons are two fold.” She lowered her hoof and canted her head. “Like I mentioned, my brother isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. Working under him is always so routine and boring. Uhg.” She made a disgusted face for a moment before shaking it off. “Plus, this whole thing has got a stick so far up his ass...” She paused. “Am I rambling? I’m rambling. Anyway, that is neither here nor there.” A smile crept across her muzzle as she said that, which gave me more than just a hint of arrogance from her.

“Abandoning your family isn’t winning you any points, kid.” I muttered and held my rifle steady. I didn’t want to shoot her, but I had to be sure I could trust her.

“Yeah yeah. I’m not abandoning him. More like… giving him a few days without having to deal with his annoying younger sister.” She rolled her eyes. “Anyway. Secondly, is that my parents totally used to be best friends with Harmony’s mom when she was a ranger back in the day. I figure, if anypony is friend’s with them, they have to at least be somepony interesting to meet.” She pointed at me and giggled. “I’ve needed a little adventure in my life, and so far, I haven’t been disappointed.”

I dropped my aim and cocked an eyebrow. I’m not sure if she was just retarded or if she seriously didn’t understand the gravity of what’s transpired the last few days. However, she said she knew Harmony’s mother was a ranger, and that was something. Longbow never talked about those days anymore. She was reluctant enough to tell me a few years ago even. Didn’t look like Gauge’s parents took her privacy into consideration.

“So, Storm was it?” Gauge smiled and sat down. “Tell me, what is it exactly that you were hiding? Is it really something that could help win this war?”

“War? You know nothing of it, kid.” I nearly spat. War was something stupid ponykind participated in a century and a half ago. This was nothing like that. “It’s not war. This is genocide. The Necromancer want’s the wastes wiped clean. Unless we stop him, he’ll do it.”

“This adventure just keeps getting better all the time!” She squeaked and clopped her forehooves together giddily. I wanted to facehoof, but I was far too annoyed to even waste the effort on it.

“Tell me, what will happen to Cheap Shot and the others who brought me to your camp?” If she wasn’t going to leave right away, at the very least I could get something out of her.

“Well, you already cleared them, so they’ll be free to leave I guess.” She shrugged and rolled her eyes. Dropping her voice to a grumble, she continued. “Unlike myself…”

“Well then...” I said as I got to my hooves. The med-X worked like a charm, and my hooves were once again rock solid under me. “Thank you for getting me out of there. I’ll give Harmony and her mother your regards.”

“Woah there.” She nearly shouted as she got to her hooves. “I didn’t set this up just to get you out. I’m going with you.” She eyed me in annoyance as she stepped around in front of me. “And before you go objecting, you need me.”

“Oh, and why is that?” I sighed. Just what I needed, another pony getting on my nerves as I travel. Granted though, Predious was at least useful for the annoyance he gave.

“For starters, you aren’t in any condition to travel alone.” She hesitated as she said that. It really just was the med-X, but I felt good enough to handle anything thrown at me, and I think she knew it. “That, and my brother is going to notice you are missing eventually. When that happens, you are going to need me to keep them running in circles trying to find you.”

“I’ve been a bounty hunter for most of my life.” I said as I looked down at the compass in my vision. “I’m pretty good at staying hidden when I don’t want to be found.” I turned until I was facing north east and started up at a trot.

“Except you’ve never tried hiding from Steel Rangers before, have you?” She said as she started after me. Her shorter stature meant she needed to work harder to keep up, and I aimed to just wear her down. “Every ranger suit has a tracking talisman in it, just like the ones they use in pipbucks. As long as they get close enough, you can’t hide from them.”

“While true, I can get into places they couldn’t go.” I stopped and held up my pipbuck. “The range on this thing doesn’t seem to be amazing, and all it would take is for me to find an old sewer line or rainwater pipe and they’d never find or get to me.” As she finally caught up, I started to trot again.

“But if I’m around, you wouldn’t have to!” Undeterred, she stuck her metal leg out as she talked. “The one wired into my leg here can emit a jamming signal!” She hobbled her fastest, and surprisingly she kept up with me. If nothing else, this kid is at least determined.

“Fine.” I said as I came to an abrupt stop. It was so abrupt in fact that she tried to match it. With three legs, she ended up face down with a muzzle full of dirt. “You want to go with me? Be my guest.” She smiled from the ground and hopped up like she hadn’t just made a fool of herself. “But when we get there, you turn around and head back home.”

“Hell yeah!” She shouted out into the night. “Come on! Let’s go on an adventure!” She paused for a moment and gasped. “Oh yeah, can’t leave big ole grump behind!”

She brought her non-cyber hoof to her muzzle and whistled with it. A mechanical growl filled the air as three red lights appeared behind her. The growl tapered off into a low hum and the lights brightened up. They Illuminated what looked to be standard Mr. Macintosh security bot, but it’s shape was off. It had bits and pieces of scrap metal bolted onto it in various places, and all three of it’s limbs had softly glowing knives instead of it’s normal armaments.

“This here is Grumpy. Semi-autonomous, he’ll attack anything I tell him to. Those blades on him? Surgical steel with a spell of keen edges. He’ll slice through a one sixteenth steel plate like it’s nothing.” Gauge giggled giddily as she spoke. I was less than impressed, seeing as a bullet is just as good at killing ponies as his ‘special knives’ were. She must have seen my face, because she cleared her throat and adopted a more normal tone. “He was a Mister Macintosh prototype made back during the war, then stuck in the Manehatten museum of technology to collect dust. So I uh… repurposed him.”

“You stole him.” I replied flatly. A little part of me spoke up in the back of my head to remind me that it wasn’t a ‘him’ at all. As I walked forward again, I ignored the voice out of respect to both Pai, and Iron will. “At the very least, having another machine around should be useful.”

“Yeah. I guess.” Pai spoke up sadly. “I miss Iron Will.”

I didn’t know him for more than just a few days, and I too hated the fact that he died down in that bunker like that. Even if he was just a machine, he didn’t need to sacrifice himself like he did.

“Who was this Iron Will by the way?” Gauge asked as she trotted along side me. “Was he some sort of robot as well?”

I opened my muzzle to speak, but Pai beat me to it.

“He was my best friend.” Pai sniffled. “After the outside went dark, he was the only one left I could talk to. He never said much, but he was a great listener. He kept me company all the way until I met sis and her friends.”

“Oh, I see.” Gauge replied softly. She looked back to her own mechanization as it hovered after us. “Maybe... there’s a way to fix him?”

“No.” Pai said with a sigh. She shook her head as the whole display greyed a bit over the bright pink she normally was. “He was one of a kind.” Pai looked up to me with a distant gaze. “Unless you know another robo minotaur designed for heavy lifting and construction.”

“Well, maybe I could salvage something off…” Gauge started to say.

Pai didn’t need to hear that, and I wasn’t having any if it.

“No. You won’t be ‘repurposing’ him.” I growled. “He’s gone. We buried him and that is that. Got it?” I felt like my eyes could bore holes right through her. She nodded softly with the widest eyes I’d ever seen on anypony. I shook my head and trotted forward more than just a little annoyed at all this. “Besides, he’s all the way down south. The only way anypony is getting to him is through that necromancing douchebag and his army.”

“Well, that settles it then.” Gauge sighed and trotted forward.

“What now?” I grumbled.

“Now you have to tell me what you kept from my brother.” She smiled and canted her head back. “Grump and I won’t stand for anypony who kills a machine like Iron Will and goes unpunished!”

That was the stupidest thing I’d ever heard. Just to nail that fact in, I tripped and fell face first into the cold dirt. Even through the med-X, I could feel that the ground was freezing. It was a wake up call.

“You think this is a motherbucking game?!” I yelled. “Ponies are dying every minute that he isn’t stopped. Entire fucking towns have been turned into graveyards!” Getting back up, I strained to keep from throwing myself at her in my anger. “If your plan is to canter around like you’re the hottest shit since the war, just let me kill you now. At least then I can make it painless.”

“Jeez, calm down.” Gauge sneered. “I just wanted to help.”

“You can help by escorting me to Manehatten, then you can crawl back to whatever bunker you came from and lock yourself away.” I snapped. “I’ve lost enough ponies I know already to care about adding some stupid filly going off half cocked.”

“How the hell did you learn to survive out here without getting into the thick of it? You can’t tell me that you didn’t make mistakes, or get in over your head.” Gauge fired back. She sped up to a gallop and got in front of me. She used her magic to lift the robes off of her, and her cyberleg twisted and unhooked from her. Without either on her, all she was just a small, weak looking mare. “You may not like my attitude, but it’s all I’ve got. You don’t want me around? Fine.” She sat down and pointed her hoof at me. “But I’m going out there to fight. I’m sick of being passed over for patrols because I’m too ‘young’, or too ‘small’, or not ‘strong enough’, or too ‘handicapped’ to be usefull. I’m going to prove that I can help the steel rangers as much as the next mare can.”

“Girls…” Pai tried to interrupt, but I was far past listening.

“While those are all valid points, you will die out here.” I yelled. This mare was more aggravating than Predious and Ficha combined! I was going to end up tearing my mane out in the next hour if this kept up. “And it won’t happen because you’re too small, or too weak. That attitude alone is going to get you killed out here. So do the both of us a favor and learn to stow it now before we get into real trouble.”

“Oh, so you’re going to tell me what to do now?” Gauge gave out a haughty laugh. “Yes miss teacher. I’ll do as you ask miss teacher.” She said sarcastically. “Why would I listen to you when we had to save your ass from whatever stupid shit you did? When you wouldn’t even share the information on how we could better fight? What the fuck do you know about fighting when it sounds like you’ve lost every one you’re in?”

“Girls?” Pai spoke up again.

Gauge was digging deep into my mind and hitting all the right buttons. My heart was racing, and there was fire in my veins. This little brat needed to be taught a lesson, and I was damn sure not going to take it easy on her.

“Why?” I growled. “Why!” I stomped a hoof on the ground as I screamed. A quick wave of blue flame rolled across the dirt and dissipated. “Because I’ve been around long enough to know what ponykind lost with this kind of attitude. Because little shits like you are the reason the war happened in the first place! You want to be given a chance? Then fucking listen to these words carefully.” Gauge’s expression had flipped to one of terror at the sight of the flames, and as I took a step forward, I could see my eyes glowing bright blue as I stared into hers. “You will sit back and do as you’re fucking told, or I swear to Celestia...”

“Harmony. Stop!” Pai screamed angrily. “The both of you! Just stop it!” She cried out. Her voice snapped my mind back into focus. She sat curled in the corner sobbing in my vision. My vision had turned blue at some point in the argument, but I’d failed to notice. The light I was radiating dimmed down, and as it did, the anger I had was slowly replaced with regret.

“Pai… I’m sorry.” For as much screaming as I’d done, I could only speak in a whisper.

“What… the hell are you?” Gauge said as she struggled to get her trembling hooves under her. “How…” Her words just dropped out from under her.

“Trouble.” I simply replied. It was easy to get back to my own hooves, even though my conscience felt like it was laden with a million pounds of guilt. “Once we reach manehatten, you’d be smart to leave me alone, kid.”

“If anything, my smarts are the one thing going for me.” She said as she shook her head. “And I’m not leaving. You’re the secret you didn’t want my brother to know, aren’t you?” She flared her magic and reattached her cyberleg in only a few seconds. “I’ve seen all kinds of magic before, and I’ve never seen an earth pony cast any, let alone felt anything like that.”

While it wasn’t what I’d been hiding from her brother, my real identity was something I’d wanted hidden from everypony all the same. I should be glad that she didn’t immediately assume me some sort of monster I guess. Then again, if I let somepony get to me like that again, I may very well become one.

“I’m sorry too, Pai.” Gauge spoke as she got her robes back on. “It was a stupid argument, and I shouldn’t have lost my temper.”

“You two shouldn’t be fighting.” Pai whimpered as she uncurled. “You both have enough meany pants ponies out here looking to hurt you. Don’t you think that a few more friends would be better?”

“Ever more the voice of wisdom in my life, Pai.” I sighed and looked to Gauge. “Look, I didn’t mean to snap at you, but you have to know that this is far more serious than you can imagine.” I should have stopped there, but unfortunately I felt like I owed her for enduring my rage. “If you want to learn to survive, I might be able to teach you some basics.”

“Hell yes!” Gauge’s face lit up with a smile almost too wide for her head.

“But!” I said sharply. “Only until manehatten. I was serious about the hiding thing. The coming fight is going to be ugly.”

“Whatever you say Storm! Or is it Harmony? Hope?” She smiled and trotted to my side. She looked up to me as she folded the hood on her robe back. “Should just I call you teacher? Maybe teach?”

Once again, I wanted to facehoof, but out of the interest of friendship I held back. Dear Celestia, what have I brought upon myself? At least Pai looked up to me with a soft smile. The display had switched from it’s sad blue, to at least a dull pink. From what the clock said, we had a few hours until sunrise.

And we still had a long way to go to reach Manehatten…

--Chapter End--
“We will not be beaten. But we may be shamed and embarrassed on a needlessly long road to victory.”
Quests Finished: none
Quests Started: Storm Takes Manehatten
Levels Earned: none
Perks Earned: none