“Forgiveness is not always easy. At times, it feels more painful than the wound we suffered, to forgive the one that inflicted it. And yet, there is no peace without forgiveness.”

“Don’t kick yourself, Gallant.” I sighed, patting him on his shoulder. “I know it must be a lot to process, waking up to find the world this way, but you’ve done the best you can. Besides, this place had already been scavenged to hell in the last century.”

He rolled his eyes and shrugged away my hoof. “Save your pity. I will overcome this challenge of understanding like every other before it.” With a huff, he pushed himself to his hooves. “I must only try harder.”

“So, when is Harmony supposed to arrive?” Predious spoke up. Most of the day had passed quickly enough for us. We’d run out of fodder for the fire an hour ago, and Gallant had given up his search for anything useful about then as well. It had been a fight against the creeping boredom that filled the room.

“Shortly after grumpy gets here!” Pai chimed up. In response, Gauge scrunched up her muzzle in confusion.

“Grumpy’s coming?” She asked, looking down at her pipleg.

“Yup!” Pai said, sounding like a filly on her birthday. “You’re mother spent a lot of time secretly upgrading him for you over the last few days!” Pai paused with a nervous laugh. “And I wasn’t supposed to tell you that! Haha...” She trailed off while Gauge tried to comprehend her words.

“Upgrades? Why!?” Gauge sputtered. “What did she do to him?” Hell, I didn’t care what Frosty did, so long as Grumpy is even more useful than he’d been already. Makes me glad that we didn’t bring him along on this little excursion!

“Well, she’d rebooted his core combat functions that you’d been locked out from, for starters.” Pai chirped with an uptune note about her voice. “Then there was the siege armor that she’d been wanting to bolt on.”

“Siege what!?” Gauge flailed her forelegs about.

“Oh! And let’s not forget the locator beacon!” Pai gasped. “At anytime you want, your pipbuck can emit an audible ping out, and Grumpy will return one so you know how far from you he is!” That seemed semi-useful, I guess. “Here, we’ll give it a shot!”

A moment later, Gauge’s pipbuck let out a short and shrill whistle. “Wait for the return ping…” Pai said as we all perked our ears and did our best to listen to… well, any noise we could hear I guess.

Without warning, the wall to the interrogation room exploded. Most of us tried to move out of the way, and scrambled to get our weapons out. Through the newly made hole, floated a deep black cylindrical robot with three articulated red eyes. Grumpy’s new shape was now closer to that of an old, round trash bin. If he was one, it was one of the most secure trash bin’s I’d ever seen. Inch thick black steel plates encompassed his outer form, forming a solid cylinder. With a hiss, the plates split, articulating in three distinct sections with his robotic limbs. As we coughed and hacked the dust from our lungs, Pai let out a disappointed sigh.

“Sorry it didn’t work. I was sure we’d get a response back.” She said sadly, making my head hurt.

“Nonsense, Mrs. Pai.” The very well mannered voice of a stallion came from the floating archanotech machine. “I would however suggest to use the signal at ranges further than ten feet.” Grumpy’s red eyes flashed as he spoke, all three of them looking down to Gauge as he extended one of his limbs. “Sorry for the rough entry, Miss Gauge. However, I can confirm that it has in no way affected my structural integrity.” One of his eyes turned and swung around on it’s stalk, looking at the rest of us. “A pleasure to see you and your friends again.”

“You can… talk?” Gauge asked the question that was on all of our minds. She brushed herself off and looked over Grumpy in disbelief. “How can you when your speech motivator was fried?”

“Why yes, it most certainly was!” He sounded happy as he spoke. It wasn’t the same kind of happy that Pai had, more forced, but it still sat odd with me. “Your mother managed to barter for an old speech matrix of an inferior model of my class and install it. While I don’t particularly enjoy the experience of having the voice and vocabulary of a Mr. Handy, I do enjoy finally being able to express my exuberance and profound thanks for the work you have performed on my systems over the years.”

All of us simply stood there in awe of what we’d just seen. I was having a hard time processing the fact that Grumpy had been up armored, let alone had the ability to talk now. Thankfully, the hearty thrumming of a familiar archano-engine coming from outside set my train of thought back onto it’s rails.

“If we are all in agreeance,” Grumpy broke the pregnant silence that had filled the room, “might we continue this conversation in the vehicle now waiting outside?”

“Yeah, sure.” Gauge said slowly. “I just need a minute to process all this.”

“I would advise that we begin our travel soon.” Grumpy tilted back, hovering back out through the hole he’d made. “The weather may not hold much longer, and if I am to understand, we do have a long journey.”

“Alright.” Predious spoke up from beside me. I would have been surprised by it, but I think he’d worn that reflex out of my body with how often he’d done it. It really wasn’t so much of a shock, and to tell the truth, I didn’t really mind it anymore. “If I might suggest, we perhaps might find some more items of use in Dodge.” Pred’s suggestion was a great idea, one that roused a grunt of annoyance from Gallant. “I don’t think that Filius would have been one to scour the town, so we are likely to find more to use.”

“And if the weather does take a turn for the worse, we would at the very least have better shelter than this.” I nodded in agreement. “Alright everypony, let’s get moving.”

Hopefully we’ll have better luck with the weather and make it to Dodge quickly. I didn’t know how long we had before Filius’s little ritual was complete, but I had a feeling that we still had a day or two before the rest of the fighters from Manehatten even made it down there. Regardless, we’d been making good time, and like Pred said, I’m fairly certain that Filius would have passed up on Dodge. Should be a simply task to find somethings that might prove useful.

Easy as pie.

Short Staff’s motorwagen was… different than I remembered.

“Why does it feel like I’m riding in a tank?” Predious again spoke before I could. He’d leaned over and knocked his hoof on the steel plate that had been welded over the window next to him.

“Well, Short Staff up an took his family west ta get away from all this mess.” Harmony sighed and relaxed, keeping her attentions focused through the slatted steel that sat over the windshield. “Told me I could use tha Marauder here, figured that she could use a touch-o upgradin’!” She shrugged and smiled as she looked back to him. “Mah father had a bit a trouble with adverse weather back in the day, so at least tha increased weight makes gittin’ through tha snow easier.”

“And thank the goddesses for that.” I grunted, sitting back against the seat as well. “We’d have been screwed if you hadn’t shown up.”

“Yeah, about that...” Harmony cocked her eyebrow and looked over at me. “Y’all find whatever yah were lookin for?”

“Yes.” I said with a nod. “From where I sit, I don’t even know it had been worth the cost we paid.” I didn’t want to talk about it anymore. We still don’t know if it’ll be enough to stop Filius, and I didn’t know what having it meant for the safety of those around me.

“Is it some sorta weapon or somethin’?” She quickly pressed for more info.

“Just…” I held my hoof up to her. “Let’s not talk about it.”

Harmony looked over at me. I could see that she was confused about everything, and I would tell her my thoughts in time. For now however, I didn’t feel that it was something she needed to know. The more she stared, the more I could see her expression softening with understanding.

“Excuse me, Miss Harmony?” Ficha chimed up in a semi-panicked voice from the back seat. “Can I drive?”

“What? No!” She snapped at him.

“Then would you?” He retorted, pointing dead ahead of us. From out of the blinding snowfall, the towering form of a set of rusting lampposts apperated ahead of us.

“Shit!” Harmony gripped the wheel and spun it hard, jerking the car off to the side. We almost avoided the old generator that the lamps were connected to, scraping against it with a metallic screech. Ficha let out a loud whine and scrambled to grab ahold of anything he could, latching on tightly to an annoyed looking Gallant. Seriously, what was Ficha’s problem? Gallant hadn’t ever seen something like this before, and even he was more comfortable riding in it. I didn’t think I’d ever understand that zebra. Without much issue, Harmony quickly corrected our course to get back on the road.

The heavy thump on the roof startled me, but before I could react, the dark eyes of Shadow’s helmet peered over the top of the windshield.

“Hey, the weather up ahead is clearing.” Shadow’s amplified voice easily cut through the noise of the engine and the whistling wind outside. “I can see the city from the air, and from what I could tell, it’s occupied.”

“What do y’all mean, ‘occupied’?” Harmony sounded just as alarmed as I felt. Did Filius know we’d be headed there? Had that Enclave bitch set up some advanced forces to go against us?

“There’s some fires burning in the city.” Shadow answered fairly quickly. Fires were a good thing. Ponies in power armor and Filius’s undead didn’t need the heat, so it couldn’t be them. “Looks like a small group, want me to fly ahead and get a better look?”

“No.” This time, it was me who’d answered quickly. “We don’t know who they are, or if they pose a threat at all.” I looked over to Harmony, who simply glanced back at me with a shrug. “I say that we wait to see if they’re hostile.”

“Grumpy?” Gauge called out from the back seat. “Can you pull back into follow mode?” She’d looked down at her pipbuck when I turned around. “If they do turn out to not be friendly, I want you to outflank them, alright?”

“Certainly, Miss Gauge.” Grumpies voice emanated through the air from the rear frame of the motorwagen. “I shall be most pleased to pacify them mercilessly should the situation unfortunately arrive at such a conclusion!” It might have just been me, but the happy tone he was displaying felt far too laid back for combat. “Blast this soft and dandy vocabulary!”

“I’ll see about adding a few obscenities to it later, Grumpy.” Gauge snorted as she tapped at her Pipbuck again. “How about this,” A smile widened across her muzzle, “if the ponies ahead are raiders, I’ll add ten new obscenities for every one of them you take out.” Still, I knew Grumpy was efficient, and I trusted that Gauge knew what she was doing. “Sound good?”

“My pleasure, Miss Gauge.” Grumpy let out a joyous laugh. The rear of the car shook, and we lurched forward slightly as Grumpy removed himself from the rear frame of the car. My attentions were pulled back as an odd sensation gripped at my chest. In Predious’s magical grip, Bon Appetite floated up and towards him.

“What the hell are you doing?” I asked, hoofing at the revolver. No matter how much I tried, he twisted, twirled, and floated the gun just out of my hooves grasp. “That’s mine, use your minigun.”

“If you would recall, it’s out of ammo.” He retorted in the same smug way as he always had. “Besides, what would you rather have me use? This, or your rifle?”

I could feel his magic envelope around my lever action, and instinctively I grabbed it. “Fine.” I seethed. He’d proven good enough with guns that I guess I didn’t mind him using my revolver in the fight. However, he seriously needed to look into another gun than that ammo hog of a minigun. “but you’re paying for the ammo you use.”

“Fair enough.” He nodded with a smirk and let go of my rifle.

“Eeyup, Ah can see tha fires.” Harmony sighed, squinting through the slowly lightening sheet of white snowfall in front of us. Everypony in the car turned their attention ahead, watching as the dark ruinous remains of Dodge loomed closer. Small parts of the city were dimly aglow with what looked to be campfire light.

A deep feeling of sadness welled up in me at the sight. Even with the flickering lights, the city looked dead. Memories of the assault flooded back, and I desperately shoved them back out of my mind. Like any loved one, it was hard to see their corpse again before the burial. Seeing it wasn’t the worst part about it. The worst part was looking over at Harmony and seeing the pain she felt.

“Wait…” Harmony said as she squinted. As she did, she took her hoof off the accelerator and slowed us down, letting the car wade through the snowy drifts. “That t’ain’t sposed tah be there…”

With a thunderous crack, the night lit up. The lightly falling snow just off to the left of the car seemed to jump out of the way of a bright red projectile as it whistled past us. The caucoughinous blast left a momentary ringing in my ears, leaving me confused as to what Harmony was shouting at us all.

“...cannon! Get the FUCK out!” She screamed, bucking her own door open and spilling out into the snow. While the rest of us scrambled from the car, quick pops and bursts of gunfire erupted from the ruins ahead. The impacts against the armored car sounded like lethal rain to me, and sparks lit up the hood as the rounds bounced off of it. Keeping my head down, I reached for my own door and kicked at it.

It refused to open.

“Shit!” I shouted.

“Come on!” Predious shouted back as he spilled out Harmony’s open door. “This way!” His horn glowed brightly as his magic wrapped around my waist, tugging and pulling me as I forced my stiff legs to move for the first time in hours of driving.

Turns out, stiff and cold legs don’t generally like snow. As I dove from the car, the cannon in the town fired again. I pulled my hooves over my head before a horrendous metallic squelch filled the air. Scrambling forward through the snow, I looked forward for any sort of cover against the onslaught.

Ahead, I saw that both Pred and Harmony had taken cover behind a larger than average snowdrift. Between the soft pops of gunfire from the town, I was happy to hear the whine of Shadow’s magical energy weapon getting to work. His distraction lessened the fire coming in at us, and I took that chance to get over to the others.

“Where the fuck is Gauge’s robot?” Harmony muttered as she struggled to pull out her boxy black shotgun from her saddlebags.

“Am I the only one here glad that it's just raiders?” Pred said with such a relaxed tone that I had to smack him on the shoulder.

“Yes!” Harmony shouted before she stood up and popped the shotgun into her muzzle. Without any hesitation, she fired three shots off toward the town. None of them warranted any screams, so I’d assumed that they’d missed their mark. The return fire poured in, sending wispy trails through the falling snows. Another set of sparks and whistles from the Marauder meant that they weren’t done shooting at it. “Quit putting holes in my car!” She shouted as she flipped the shotgun over and hoofed out a bunch of shells from her bag.

“I mean,” Predious spoke up again. My eye twitched in annoyance as he levitated Bon Appetit and twirled it. “it’s more in the fact that with so many horrible things out there…”

That’s it. “Pred?” I said as I shoved my hoof forcefully against his muzzle. “You're a dear friend. I'd hate to have to shoot you before you jinx us.” From the guy who spent so long to convince me that in a fight that he’d be usefull, he’s surprisingly lazy in this one. “Maybe you could do me a favor and shoot at somepony for once?” Letting go of his muzzle, he seemed to think on it.

“Fair enough.” He rolled his eyes and tilted his head up. Bon Appetit floated up above the snowy ridge and hung there. Quicker than I could have, Predious worked the trigger, shooting all six rounds wildly towards the town.

“That was the worst shooting. Of all time.” I said, really wanting to facehoof, but his poorly aimed barrage drew another round of return fire at us. A set of heavy thumps just behind Pred followed the last few shots. Harmony took notice of them and used her hoof to brush away a bit of the snow from our side of the mound. The thick stump of the dead tree buried under the snow looked to be frozen solid, a single lucky break in my otherwise unlucky life.

“Of course it was!” Pred’s voice was so exasperated that I could almost feel the weight of his ego on my shoulders. “Don’t you get it? They aren’t raiders.”

“What? Of course they are!” I shouted, hoofing for my gun… which wasn’t there. “What!” Franticly, I twisted and looked over myself for my rifle. Where had it gone? Last I remember, I had it in my hooves in… the… car. Looking up, sure enough, there it was on the seat. “Son of a…”

My words died in my throat when I looked at the rest of the car. The roof itself looked as if a hellhound had used it as a chew toy. It had been torn and twisted apart right down the middle, each side of it splaying back like the petals of a flower.

The heavy beat of wings ahead pulled my attention up to Shadow, who swooped down out of the night towards us.

“Storm!” His amplified voice easily called out to us. “I don’t think these ponies are raiders! They’ve got foals and elderly huddled up in town!”

“Told you.” Predious muttered under his breath. If I had the time, I’d shove my gun so far up his… “It’s a classic mistake, you see. They think we’re raiders, we think they’re raiders.” He nodded to himself as the idea ran through my mind like an infection. I don’t know if I was just tired of fighting after the last month, or if the flames inside me gave me the answer, but I wanted to believe him.

“Y’all think that’s gonna change anythin’ now?” Harmony shouted, popping back up over the snowdrift. “They broke mah car!” Again, she popped the shotgun into her muzzle and fired. Again and again she blasted the night away, firing until she was empty.

A round sparked off of Shadow’s armor, rousing a gasp from me. I knew that power armor was tough, but I didn’t want to risk him. With another few heavy thumps against the frozen log, I knew that I didn’t want to risk any of us.

“Tell them we surrender.” I spoke up at Shadow. “You’re armor means that you’re the only one who can resolve this peacefully.”

The oddly faceted eyes on Shadows bug like armor simply stared at me for a moment before he nodded. He spread his wings out and took off into the night again. I hoped to Celestia that Pred was right and this would work.

“Fuck surrenderin’.” Harmony grunted as she shoved shell after shell into her shotgun.

“Harmony.” I said, starting to shiver as the cold started to sink back into me over the adrenalin. “Stop.”

She let out a deep sigh and hung her head. “Ah understand yah want ta be trustin’ these ponies, but Y’all remember how they were the ones who fired on us?” She looked over at me with the same pain in her eyes from earlier.

“I know you want to get home, but please,” I tried to offer her a comforting smile as the return fire at us died down. “there has to be a better way.”

“If Yer way gets me killed…” Harmony grumbled as she flopped down in the snow. “Ah swear Ah’ll torture yah in tha afterlife.”

“Heh, torture in the afterlife.” Predious let out a poorly timed laugh. “You ponies and your strange beliefs in fairy tales.”

“It’s not a fairy tail.” Both harmony and I shot back at him in unison. We looked at each other for a moment, and for a split second, I could see a small smirk on Harmony’s muzzle.

“Besides.” I said as I perked my ears. The odd silence that a snowy night brings was deafening in my ears, only the sound of Predious and Harmony’s breathing greeting them. “Looks like it worked.”

“Now what?” Harmony sighed again, looking over at her torn up car longingly.

“Now, we wait.” Predious said, folding his forehooves behind his head like he were simply on vacation. “Somepony will be along shortly to collect us.”

"So you folks were just tryin' ta pass on through here is all?" The leader of the group that had occupied Dodge was a portly yellow mare with an old Whinnyapolis accent. "Well now, don't we all just feel so silly?!" Gleaming Fields chuckled. Even her laugh had her weird accent to it.

Everything about her felt off to me. She was far too pleasant, and even though we'd killed two of them in the fight, none of them even seemed to mind. Above everything else, I couldn't stop staring at the fluffy parka she had wrapped around her. Her whole group was clad in heavy winter gear, and even though we'd been seated next to their bonfire, I still wanted to wrap myself up in one.

"Mind if I ask you where you found so many motor sleds?" Harmony called out from damn near inside the engine cowling to the old tracked crawler. “or an 88mm cannon for that fact.”

"Oh, you bet'cha.". Gleaming laughed yet again. Seriously, there is a point to where you can feel the exuberance radiating off of her. “Used ta get winters far worse than this every year back in old Whinnyapolis before the war, wouldn’t you believe?” She wore a smile across her muzzle that sent a chill running down my spine. “And the cannon was used further north to clear avalanches in the crystal range. Lotta problems with unmoderated snowfall there, don’t’cha know.”

“What?” Shadow’s voice came across the fire. With his ears perked, he leaned around and looked over at the mare. “Didn’t the pegasi limit how bad it got?”

“Sure did, and it was always supposed ta be that bad.” She nodded, and as she did, a couple others around her did so in agreement. “It always had ta be cold enough ta freeze over the lakes though. Back before arcane sciences took over, we had ta produce most of equestria’s ice for the year.”

“But these are all post arcane inventions.” Harmony called out, scratching her head as she continued to climb all over the machine.

“Correct.” Predious spoke up, pulling a surprised look from Gleaming. “But it became a tradition to still go out and cut the ice every winter.”

“Oh!” Gleaming’s eyes brightened up. “Looks like we’ve found ourselves a well learned pony, ain’t that right?” She studied over him curiously. His knowing wasn’t surprising to me, seeing as I know he’s a ghoul, but I was curious to see what conclusion she came to. Unfortunately for me, I never got a chance.

“I’ve spent more than my fair share of time in some old libraries.” Predious retorted, shooting a look over to me. “I must ask, why did you all come here? Are you refugees? Have the ruins of Whinneyapolis fallen?”

That got a good chuckle out of Gleaming, her odd laugh ending in a gigglesnort. “Oh good heavens, no.” She waved her forehoof at us dismissively. “No, we’re just down here tryin’ ta make a quick cap or two. Heard on the radio that this town had been overrun, and by the next mornin we were geared up and headed here.”

“Prospectors.” I grumbled and rolled my eyes. “You realize that the ponies who live here will be coming back, right? You can’t just take their stuff.” I paused as the words left my muzzle. Since when did I care? Stuff was replaceable, but a life is not. That’s how you have to look at the wasteland if you want to survive. Anything is free game if it’s not actively being claimed. So why did I say that? Has the flames in me changed who I am?

My words marked the first time that a troubled look crossed Gleaming’s face. “Well, we can’t go back empty hooved. We’ve got others to feed back home, this is our livelyhood.” She sighed and looked around at the others. “Best I could do is have them ignore a few buildings for you, but this place was abandoned and we claimed it.”

“Don’t touch my shop.” Harmony called out again. I whipped around to scold her, but she was quicker on the draw and shot me a glare that I’d only seen a couple of times in my life. Once when I lied to her about borrowing some ammunition, and once after Skyline’s wife Carlotta died. “Before you say anything Storm, as the only pony left to represent Dodge, I have the final word.”

“Right-o.” That’s all it took to put a smile back on Gleaming’s face. “The shop will be a big hit on our total, but ya know, we should make out alright.” She clopped her forehooves together. “Now, what do you all say in joining us for some supper? Wouldn’t be very neighborly if we didn’t let’cha join in, now would it?”

Not only was I in shock over the fact that Harmony just gave away the town, but I still couldn’t figure out why? Maybe it was because I still felt responsible for Filius. I know now that it wasn’t my fault that he started this, but I couldn’t help but feel that I’m to blame for the ponies who’ve suffered.

“Storm?” Pred put his hoof on me and I yelped, jumping up onto my hooves. Sudden movements with as much as my body’s been through didn’t help as everything started to ache again. Pred’s eyes were full of concern, and he patiently waited for me to answer. Problem is, I didn’t know what to tell him.

“I’m… I’m going to get some sleep.” Turning around, I pushed myself towards Harmony’s shop. Shadow tried to take a step forward, but stopped as I looked over to him. I must have had my thoughts written all over my face, because he simply nodded and sat down. He wasn’t wrong, I needed some time alone.

The further I got from the joyous ponies, the heavier I felt. Between coming out west and getting the gem, to losing Tasteless and surviving the shootout, this has all been a lot to process. I wish I knew what to do, or how to proceed, or to do anything without screwing it up in some way.

Approaching Harmony’s shop, I found the back door blasted off of it’s hinges. This side of the building was mostly intact, but a series of cracks ran along it. The web of cracks all ran toward the side, as if to be a giant sign reading ‘Storm got Pallet killed over here’. I wanted to feel bad about it again, but I couldn’t. Pallet was gone, I had seen to that, and I would mourn her properly once Filius was gone.

Stepping through the door, the place looked like it had been through the ringer. The stairs to the second floor had cracks in them as well, but they were firm enough to the touch that I gingerly made my way up them. This place had been my home away from home, but it was just that. A place. Maybe that’s where Harmony was coming from with what she said, and that’s how I should have seen it in the first place.

As I walked to my room, the splintered door hung halfway on it’s lower hinge. With a firm grasp, I reached out and yanked it all the way down. Inside, I found that half the roof had caved in over the exterior. At the very least, it was still a closed off room, albeit half the size it used to be. My mattress had escaped the blast by being shredded and tossed across the room, but unfortunately my bookcase was all but destroyed. All of my books were soggy and green with mold.

As my legs wobbled, I could care about the loss of my books any more than the loss of Pallet, or Sky, or Fruit, or Tasteless. My hooves pulled me as far as my bed, and dropped me onto it with a thump. A distressing groan filled the air as the building itself seemed to warp. It probably wasn’t the smartest or safest idea to flop down, but I’ve done dumber things.

My body yearned for the first real sleep since we’d left Tenpony, and I was going to let it have it. Who knows, this could be the last chance for sleep that I get before we take out Filius. Part of me wishes that I could have Shadow here with me for it, but this would be better for us both. Almost as soon as I was comfortable and still, my train of thought shut down. I couldn’t remember anything I needed to worry about, and I didn’t care. The world drifted off as it had so many nights before, and for once, I looked forward to tomorrow.

The day we would finally end Filius.

A sudden and loud ring stirred me from my sleep. I sat up straight with a snort, the sensation of plush cushion under my hooves sending my mind reeling as to what the hell happened.

“Oh, you are awake! Marvelous!” A soft, delicate mare spoke in a dulcet tone, an old but familiar accent clinging to her words. “I am terribly sorry to bring you here on such short notice, but I simply must speak with you.” As she spoke, my mind was foggy, and I rubbed at my tired eyes with my hooves. For once, my body didn’t feel like it had any aches or pains, a small blessing amidst the confusion. “You see, as the old Element of Generosity, I feel the need to give you the teeniest, tiniest piece of advice.”

Wait, generosity?

I forced my tired eyes open, finding a familiar scene playing out before me. I was back in the bright diner that I’d been in before. Aunty Carlotta was up at the bar by the kitchen, the tired looking waitress mare was adjusting her outfit, standing at the table across the aisle from where I now sat.

“Where is…” I began to say, but quickly found a magical aura wrapped around my muzzle, shutting it.

“There will be plenty of time for that later, dear.” Auntie Rarity spoke in a gentle, but stern tone. In looking over at her, I see that she did indeed look much younger than I’d remembered her as a filly. She was an absolutely stunning mare, and even in the odd fluorescent lighting of this place, her coat was spotless, and not a single hair was out of place on her decadent mane. Reaching across the table we were at, she took my forehooves in her own.

“Listen carefully dear,” She began, “there are many things that I wish to say to you, but none of them are more important that the idea of sacrifice.” She stared at me, her eyes so incredibly focused that I found it hard to look away.

Sacrifice? Is that all she wanted to bring up? “I’m willing to give anything to take Filius down, even if it’s my life.” I said with a firm nod. That roused a soft sigh from her, and I could feel her forehooves grip mine a little tighter.

“Dear, you misunderstand.” She spoke at me in a way that made me feel she was disappointed. I’d always respected her, and it hurt to hear that kind of tone. “Generosity isn’t simply about giving to others, but you must understand how to take it in kind.”

“I don’t…” I started to say, but cut myself off. Come on Storm, she was getting to that, don’t act like an idiot!

She released my hooves and brought hers back across the table. “I know how hard it must be, working so diligently to go along with a plan, only to see it crumble and those you care for suffer because of it.” Slowly, she coddled her forehoof against her chest and her vision drifted down to the table. “It’s not easy seeing so many toiling and sacrificing so much for you.” With a heavy sigh, she put her hooves down and steeled her expression. “That sacrifice is the generosity that you must learn to accept.”

“What?” So I was just supposed to let my friends struggle and die for me? I was just supposed to be okay with it? “You have to be joking.”

“She’s not!” The high pitched squeal of a filly pierced the air. From out of nowhere, a pink flash dropped onto the table with an ‘oof!’. The small frizzy maned Pinkie intruding didn’t even faze Aunty Rarity. “Sorry about interrupting, I just have an appointment to get to soon, so I dropped in a bit early.” With a shuffle, the pink filly wiggled and bounce off our table over across the aisle.

“The sad thing, Mrs. Storm...” Rarity began again, but her confusion in title lead me to interrupt again.

“It’s Miss.” I blandly stated.

“Didn’t I teach you that it’s rude to interrupt a lady at the table?” She cocked an eyebrow at me an looked more judgemental than my mother was when she caught me looking at a Wingboner magazine for the first time. However, her words brought up a new feeling in me, anger. Along with it, came a new realization that I could finally get some goddess damn answers for a few things.

“No, because you all locked me away in that tube when I was five.” I shouted, slamming my hoof down on the table. “You took me away from my father, and you all abandoned me, so I don’t want to hear any shit about manners, not when you put me in this position to start with.”

She recoiled with a gasp. “The nerve! We were merely doing our best to keep you out of harm’s way! The fate of Equestria was in our hooves!”

“So you just shuffled me aside? Put me into storage like some thing?” I huffed and leaned back in the plush seating. I’d been through too much, worked so hard to become the mare they’d always wanted me to me. I didn’t deserve this, least of all from her. “You want me to tell you how it felt? Being dragged into a room without being told why, strapped down to a chair by a strange stallion, then drowned in a tank of water?”

She deflated slightly at that. I’d wanted since I was just a filly to know why they abandoned me, to feel something justifiable about it. Her reaction was just what I had always wanted, and I can’t lie in saying that it felt good to see it. But, as she sat there, simply staring at the table, that joy quickly fled. In it’s place, a tremendous feeling of hollowness and sorrow seeped in.

“You’re right.” She said at almost a whisper. “I can’t imagine what it was like.” The way that she hung her head filled me with regret. I didn’t like what they did to me, but could I really be so frivolous? Sure, it was something I wanted to get off my chest, but seeing her like this? It hurt me. “But you were never just some project to us. You were a filly, one which we should have taken better care of. For that, I am truly sorry.”

“I…” Slumping, I let out a long sigh. “I forgive you.” I can’t hold a century and a half old grudge, I can’t let it affect me.

It was really that simple. With those words, I felt the anger I had drift away, and a revelation dawned on me. If anything, I should have been thankful. Without being locked away, I wouldn’t have lived my life the way I had. I’d never have known Harmony and her family. I’d never have known my Wasteland parents. Hell, I might have died along with everyone else on the final day. So how could I sit here and chastise one of those who’d helped me become the mare I was today. A stuttering scratch came across the air as the jukebox in the corner started to play. It was the same song that I’d heard playing when I appeared here the first time.

“As much as it goes against what I’m trying to tell you, your forgiveness is something that I cannot accept, darling.” Aunty Rarity sniffled and delicately wiped a tear from her eye. “My friends and I? We all have so much to atone for, so many ponies whose lives we destroyed with our Ministries.” She shook her head and glanced back up at me. “However, you have grown into a more astounding mare than we could have ever hoped for, and this is why you need to understand what I have to tell you.”

I didn’t interrupt this time. I didn’t open my muzzle at all. Instead, I gave a single, concise nod.

“Sacrifice is by it’s own nature, an act of generosity. And nowhere else is it more so prevalent than in a war.” She stiffened up as she spoke, her expression resolving back to a stern gaze. “It might not be the same war we’d wanted to prepare you for, but knowing that others might perish under your command is not something you can allow yourself to be phased by.”

“Instead, you must be sure to look upon it as a beautiful gift.” She reached her hooves out and grasped mine again. “You must understand, that there is no greater gift to give, than one’s own life.” She smiled at me, tearing up again. “Even if it saves just one other single pony, that gift is worth accepting with graciousness and dignity.”

“Why?” I felt my voice die in my throat. Images of Predious, Gauge, and Shadow all being killed flashed through my mind. Her hooves gripped tighter around mine, almost as if she could see my thoughts as well and drag me away from them. “I can’t just sit there and let them die.”

“No, of course not.” She smiled weakly at me. “But that is the nature of generosity. It’s not a choice, it’s just something that one pony does for another.” She relaxed again and released my hooves. With a dainty shift, she leaned herself back against the plush padded seat and gave a soft giggle. “It’s not something you might know, but it’s horribly uncouth to refuse a gift from somepony. You simply must accept it.”

“Call me stubborn, but I really don’t.” I couldn’t help but smile. “Telling me that I have to just accept the fact that ponies will die isn’t something I feel comfortable with.”

“Oh my, that must be the Applejack part of you talking.” She smiled, and for just a faint moment, I could see a look of genuine happiness across her face. “She never listens to my advice.”

“I understand what you’re saying.” I blinked and canted my head at her. “But I won’t excuse anypony for thinking they have to sacrifice themselves to finish this fight. I know that things won’t go my way, hell, every plan I’ve made has crumbled under me.” Putting my hooves down on the table, I looked down at them. “But we haven’t come so far due to any effort put forward by my own two hooves. My friends have been there every step of the way, and I know we will see this fight through to the end.”

Looking up at her, it was my turn to show resolve. “Thank you for talking with me, for enduring my outbursts, and for giving me the advice that you feel I need.” I forced myself to speak, to tell myself what I wanted to believe would happen, but I had to be realistic. “I know in all likelyhood that not everypony will make it out of this fight, but until Filius is destroyed, I will keep fighting on.”

“That’s the strong girl we’ve waited so long to see.” Aunty Rarity sniffled and smiled brightly.

“Order up!” The same small golden coated colt from before shouted across the restaurant. For a moment, I looked over to the other table as the scene I’d been involved in before caught my attention. I watched, confounded to exactly how this was ever even possible, but Equestrian magic stretched far beyond the bounds of my understanding even in the real world.

After a minute, Aunty Rarity asked something I should have remembered was coming. “However did you come by that dreadful leather coat?” She said it exactly the way she had before. “I bet that awful ‘necromancer’ fellow gave it to you, didn’t he?”

My mind was still too slow to process things, and I simply sat there for a few moments in an awkward silence. The fog in my head was ripped away as a small pink hoof tapped at the side of my head.

“Hello? Is anypony in there?” Aunty Pinkie called out into my ear. Surprisingly enough her voice echoed inside my head. “Sorry about that, but I’m afraid that it’s closing time here.”

“What?” I asked, turning to look at her. As I did, I blinked, and the bright prewar diner changed to a dark and mostly empty building. Looking back across my own booth, the seat on the other side was now empty. Aunty Rarity was gone.

“Don’t worry, you’ll see her again.” Aunty Pinkie said as she hopped down onto the table. With a nervous glance, she rubbed at her mane with her forehoof. “I know that you still have a lot of questions, but you really must be going. Is there anything you want me to tell the other girls when I see them?”

“Tell them I’m sorry, Pinkie.” I sighed, sitting back again. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be the hero you all wanted me to be back then.”

“You aren’t allowed to be Sorry.” She snorted. “Don’t be such a party pooper, Storm! Your old aunt Pinkie Pie simply won’t allow it.”

“Then tell them what I told Aunt Rarity.” I looked at her, my words bringing back a smile I hadn’t seen for a century and a half. “Tell them all that I forgive you for everything, and to wish me luck.”

“Luck?” She scrunched up her muzzle. “I thought that was your dump stat?” Without anywhere to pull it from, Pinkie produced a large paperback book. She opened it randomly a few times and skimmed the pages “No, I guess it isn’t. Says here it’s average.” She set the book down in front of her and shut it. For only a moment, I caught a glance at the brightly illustrated cover… that had my face on it. “Well, the strategy guide is never wrong!”

“But…” I started to say, but quickly found a tiny pink hoof in my muzzle.

“No no,” Pinkie giggled, “You can as me fifty six more times if you’d like, but you can’t see it. Try coming back after your adventure ends and maybe I’ll let you take a look at it then.”

Before I could say anything else, a tiny pink hoof bopped me unceremoniously on the nose and I was whisked away into darkness. Who know’s if I’d ever see the dream diner again, or my aunts for that matter. For now however, I was content. I was more than the mare they’d thought I’d be, and I wasn’t lying when I said I believed in my friends. While I had no doubt that we were going to save the whole goddess damned wasteland, the cost remained to be seen.

Even though I was hopeful that nopony would die, Rarity’s words rang through my head. I had to be strong enough for this, even if it’s my friend’s who sacrifice themselves for me. We’ve come too far to fail now, and we must take the final step to end this threat once and for all.

No matter the cost.