We spend some time in the woods. We talk a bit more, but it became evident that we were both dreading going back home. But she needs her rest. And there is too much at stake to just sit here and ignore the world. No matter how tempting the thought is.

Shadow put everything into fighting Corpus. So I have to carry her back home. She tried to protest, but when she couldn't even stand she accepted it. She's a stubborn one, that's for sure. Probably learned it from me to be honest. Hopefully I taught her more than to just dig her heels in.

I try to mentally prepare myself for Mooseden. I know what's there. And everything in my body is telling me to be ready for a fight. I know I should be ready for a fight! Those monsters have invaded my home for a second time! I can't let them take over. Not again. Never again!

Don't be so bold to assume with such absolution.

I stop and look around when I hear a woman's voice. It sounded... familiar. Comforting almost. I take another look around before cautiously continuing on. I go for a distance waiting for them to speak again. I even try to lead certain thoughts to see if I can trigger it again. But... they they don't say anything.

If there's something I need to know... please tell me... mother...

Of course, nothing is said. There isn't anything to be said really. I'm going to be the first human to have communications with the Unfamiliar that doesn't involve combat. What advice could anyone give me? This is uncharted territory for Terradisia. Well... as far as I'm aware of.

It takes some time to travel back to the outskirts of Mooseden. Shadow had teleported us as far as she could. She did really good back there. I'm proud of her ability. But I don't know how I'll ever shake this feeling of shame for even fighting her in the first place. But enough of that for tonight. I only have one goal right now. Get Shadow into bed.

The walk back home took long enough for the sun to set. Shadow passed out pretty early on so it was a quiet walk. It worries me a little that I was gone this long, but at least nothing is on fire. So that's a start. I'm more amazed that nothing tried to bother us on the travel back here. But I'm not going to question whatever good fortune I have today.

As I enter town I feel my heart start to race. I know they're over there. I can practically feel them stealing glances at us as we enter. My brain is telling me that they're trying to keep out of sight of me. But my gut is yelling at me that they are plotting to attack. To watch my six and anticipate an attack. I can't let them get the drop on me... I can't lower my guard...

I double my pace to E'Claire's and Butterscotches home. I just need to focus on getting Shadow home. Nothing is going to happen... We're safe here... Nothing is going to happen...

I turn a corner and freeze in place when I see an Unfamiliar standing before me. She looks just as shocked as I am. She's wearing a simple tunic and trouser set that are deep purple with gold trimmings. Her long white hair reaches just far enough to hide her shoulders. But her eyes...

The rest of her could pass for normal. In Terradisia at least. But her eyes... Those pitch black eyes will never be human to me. Even with the shock and fear set within them, they're the eyes that are set out to kill me.

With Shadow in my hands I hesitate to act. I felt my arm twitch to get my pistol, I with my hands already occupied it was just a twitch. The woman sees this and start to back away. She says something, but it was too quiet to hear. An apology maybe?

Another Unfamiliar comes out from the other side of the building. It's a man who is similarly dressed in the purple and golds. He grabs the woman and drags her beyond the building.

I have to stay still. I can't even think of moving right now. Everything is telling me to get to cover and wait for an attack. To call out for support and attack! Glancing around town I notice that the streets are practically empty. But all of the street lights are on. Some of the shops and restaurants are lit up as well. Something must have happened. Why else would everything be fully opened?

I take a few steps towards the town center. I don't know what's happening right now, but for some reason I feel as if I'll get answers over there. I almost forget that I have Shadow in my hands as I do this. But if something has happened then it would be best to keep her close. I'll hold onto her, just in case.

Town center is usually the heart of the town, especially at this time of night. There's a large opening where we've put of tables and seating underneath hanging lights. It sits just in front of town hall but also sits at the ends of the vendors buildings and most of the housing in town. With a population of a couple hundred, everything is close by. People use the space to wind down from the day, eat, socialize, maybe even do some shopping nearby. People meet up with friends and do work here. It should be bustling with life right now. Why is it empty?

I walk though the various table and benches and try to garner any information I can. There isn't any left over food or upturned table. So I don't think people left in a hurry. Most of the stalls are left as if they were conducting business as usual, but grills and heaters were turned off. So they had time to think things through. Nothing here is telling me that something bad happened. It's almost as if everyone just agreed to get up and leave at the same time.

And where are all of the security bots? There should always be squads of them walking around doing guard duty! What could have possibly made them leave as well!? The sheer emptiness of town is making me start to panic. It doesn't help that the only person I've seen was an Unfamiliar...

I begin to rush through the town center. I don't know where I'm going yet, but I can't just stand here and wait for something to happen. Should I take Shadow to Ponyville? Is Ponyville even safe right now? Maybe I should head there just to drop Shadow off at home. Leave her somewhere relatively safe... assuming it's still safe.

I double my pace and rush towards the mico stations. I need to see Ponyville right now. I need to see something as it should be. But before I could take the platform back someone appears before me.

He's a unicorn that appears to be Shadows age with a dark grey coat and bright white hair. He looks up to me with his bright yellow eyes and tilts his head slightly. He seems more confused than I am... why?

"You're... Miles, right?" He asks, stepping off the platform. I try to think but from all of the previous panic I'm at a lost for words. So I just nod to him. "Shadows dad?"

"... yeah. Do you-"

"Cause I've heard about you but I just haven't seen you yet." He says mater of factly. Something about the nonchalant demeanor makes me follow after him. If only to hear another person speak.

"I travel a lot... do you know what happened here? Are you a citizen?" I've never seen him before, so it's not likely. He jumps behind a vendors stall and starts to rummage through it.

"Me? No no no no! I live in Ponyville. But I frequent the town enough. Good food here an' all... where is, AHA!" He pop backs up and puts several kabobs on the still hot grill. "Want one?"

"... no... the people-"

"Right! Well, with all the Kroth here they started getting them processed at the town hall. If I'm to guess..." he leans back and takes a look at town hall. "Mmm... I'd say they probably are on the other side of the river."

He continues to cook the food as if everything's fine. I've still got a thousand and one questions, but I doubt this kid has the answers. But by his tone I'm assuming that everything is relatively fine. I go to investigate further but stop when I remember Shadow.

"You can leave Shadow with me." The kid tells me.

"You know her?" I ask skeptically. I know my daughter. I can count all of her friends with one hand. I'd know of this kid if he was a friend.

"Well... more like acquaintance. We've bumped into each other a couple of times. I think she shot me down once too. Shame really... anyway! You got stuff to do, and she needs food. I've seen bends before. A good meal will help with the impending migraine."

I eye him for a moment as I try to size him up. Most of my fatherly red flags are flaring right now. I don't want to leave my daughter with this kid. But... he's got a point. She's going to be hungry. And I need to get over the river as soon as possible. If I had some extra security around here I'd feel better about it. But with the town empty...

"Names Star Gazer. If you were wondering." He tells me, flipping the food. "I live on thirty two main street, just above the sofa and quill place."

"Doesn't the store owner live there? What's his name... uh-"

"Mr. Lounge makes his money renting. Not many ponies buying quills and sofas recently. Think he's sleeping with Mrs. Dough while her husband is off doing business in Detrot. To be fair, he's apparently sleeping with his assistant, Miss Inkwell, too. Yeah, they only got married cause they though she was pregnant. But now they're only together for-"

"If you stop talking I'll trust you to watch over my daughter." That was... way too much information.

"Sounds good! Want a kabob for the road?" He says, offering me a skewer. I stare at him for a moment before turning around and sitting Shadow at a table. I look around for anything I can drape over her. But I have to settle for moving a patio heater closer to her. That kid... is an odd one.

I move to run off, but then a thought occurs. I look back to Shadow and think about her. About what she's said. My hand trembles as I draw my weapons and lay them before her. I trust her not to lose them. But I don't trust myself to run off with them. I take one last look to Star Gazer, getting a confused look from him, before rushing towards the river

Mooseden is nestled in the basin of the nearby Appleachian mountains. The nearby river helps transport all of the timber down to the coast. The nearest body of water is just a tributary river though. If I didn't see them right away then it's most likely that they've moved down to the main river, the Novissime Pluvia. The Last Rain river.

The tributary and Novissime Pluvia have a wedge of land between them that rises above the two bodies of water. I've always eyed the land as a potential area for further development. We've just been waiting on the population to grow to that point. But, since I've talked to E'Claire about this in the past, I now suspect that she's giving the space to the Unfamiliar.

There's a moment where I want to feel betrayed about the idea. But I'm too focused on getting there to dwell on it. If they are using my ideas though, I know exactly where to go. Northeast of Mooseden there is a hill that plateaus just enough to build on. Gives a great view of the area, but is hard to travel to without modern technology. I'm betting that's where they are.

Magically pushing myself, it only take twenty minutes to get to the location. Even with my extra speed I'm still a bit winded from the run up here. As I close the last of the run I can see the sound of large scale construction happening. Dozens of hammer thumping and saws grinding away become louder and louder as several trees are felled suddenly.

When I make it to the top of the hill I find the once forested area has been cleared. A large clearing with piles of supplies and material takes its place now. Hundreds of people and bots roam about as they work towards erecting buildings. The amount of coordination between everyone here is... surprising. I guess after years of having to deal with their petty grievances I forgot that most of these people are master craftsman's.

I start to stumble into the clearing when I notice a group of Unfamiliar moving nearby. I instinctively go for my pistol before remembering that I left it behind. I ignite my hand and watch them for a moment. They've got a log hoisted on their shoulders as they line up and a mill. They load it in and the machine begins to slowly pull it in and cut it to shape. Once it's mostly been fed in they move aside and talk to a pony for a moment. He delegates something to them before they go their separate ways.

As I look around I whiteness dozens of similar situations like that. Ponies, bots, and Unfamiliar working together. I rub my eyes and watch for a moment longer. I know I'm seeing it happen right before me, I just can't believe it. These are suppose to be the monsters that took Topaz from me. That killed my best friend and threatened to kill my unborn son. How are they also the ones working side by side with us?

"Miles!" I recoil from my thoughts as E'Claire comes running up to me. She has a few bots following after her, but everything seems... fine. "Thank goodness you're okay! Where's Shadow? Is she alright? Is she okay?"

"Um... She... uh..." I try to respond but I'm too awestruck to speak. E'Claire looks back before grabbing my hand and dragging me away. I try to protest, but I'm too dumbfounded to fight back. She takes me a few meters away before pulling me behind a large tree. With the construction zone out of view she begins to speak.

"It's okay Miles. Take a deep breath and relax. Everything is okay." She tells me as she guides me to sit against the tree.

"Shadow's okay." I tell her, too lost to think of anything else to say. She smiles back to me before sitting in front. She motions for the bots to leave and they head back up the hill.

"A lot has happened in the past few hours. And I'm sure there's a lot you want to do or say. But I need to you listen to me. I need you to listen and understand what I'm about to tell you. Because it's not going to be easy to hear. Are you ready to hear this?"

I take a deep breath and try to relax. It's easier said than done though. I give it a few more tried before nodding to her. I don't know why I'm so short on breath though. It wasn't that far of a run. Am I really that nervous? I feel as if I should know what she's about to tell me. But my brain won't let me think it through. She takes a deep breath and pulls her cream colored hair back, tying it into a loose bun. I get a look at her normally tan coat and notice all of the ink stains and kicked up mud. She's been hard at work this entire time.

"These are not the Unfamiliar. These are the Zellun. They are a faction of the Kroth that have defected. We are setting up this location for them to permanently reside in. We and by that I mean the Terradisian government, are accepting their asylum visas and are inducting them as helots of the state."

Even though I can hear what she's saying I can't stop myself from trying to take a look back at them. I can hear people shuffling around behind us. Trying to see what's going on. I hear the foreign chatter and feel my heart race. Everything in my body is telling me to go fight them. There are intruders in our home! I need to fight them!

E'Claire keeps her hooves on my shoulders and stops me from looking though. Every time I have to refocus and remember what Shadow told me. Coming here was a mistake. But I had too! How could I not! What do I do? I know I can't accept these Unfamiliar so close to home! I can't let them reside so near my family!

But I know that isn't realistic. They're surrendered! We won, at least in some small part. I know I should be giving them all of the same accommodations and rights that I gave Butterscotch and E'Claire when we took Mooseden. But... I can't.

I was raised to fear these people. To hate them even. I know what's they're capable of, I've seen it firsthand. And the thought of just turning around and walking away... it's unacceptable! It goes against everything I've ever stood for! I can't imagine doing it because there is no precedent for it happening. We were trained to fight and win our wars. But we were never trained for what came next.

I don't know if I have the capacity to be a part of this transition. Everything I've ever been taught was meant for a war to the death. Now what? We just let bygones be bygones? Help them build their homes and... and then what?

But, that's no longer my choice anymore. She said it herself. The new Terradisian government has spoken. Everyone from town is here helping apparently. Two of my strongest beliefs are in contest with each other.

My duty as a Spartan to fight the Unfamiliar.

And my duty to rebuild Terradisia.

I look to E'Claire and try to ask her something. Anything! But nothing comes out. I don't even have the questions to ask for this!

"It's okay Miles." E'Claire tells me in a softer tone. "Go back to Mooseden. Sleep in your bed. Speak with me at town hall tomorrow. Let us take care of of the Zellun. We can do this. All you need to do is believe in us."

"...okay." I nod to her. Truth is I do believe in them. I know they can do... whatever this is. I don't trust myself though. How am I goin go sleep when I know there are hundreds of Unfamiliar so close to home?

I slowly stand to my feet, getting a hand from E'Claire. I try to say something to her, but I can't. What else is there to say. I... I just need to go home and let them handle this. This is what I wanted when we started this town. To build Terradisia again.

I just never imagined they'd achieve so much more than we could.

I take a few steps away when I hear the whispers behind myself. My entire body shivers as I hear their language. I try to control myself, but I couldn't stop myself from slowly turning and looking.

At the top of the ridge are dozens of Unfamiliar looking down at me. Their beady black eyes staring down at me with a mixture of curiosity and fear. I freeze in place as I stare back at them. Each of us is waiting for the other to act. Waiting for... something.

I flinch when I see more appear. But these ones... these ones are children. All ages. Toddlers. Teens. Babies. Then more appear. Women. Men. Old. Young. They're... all there.

My heart drops when I see a little girl push her way to the front. She's wearing what looks like purple pajamas and a pink robe. She hugs a stuffed animal in her arms, protecting it as much as it protects her. As I look to her I feel a sharp pain in my ears as a loud ringing grows.

My visions goes hazy as my mind is filled with visions from my past. Of a little girl in pink. A loud ringing. The unbearable heat. I take another look up as I start to stagger back. The crowd blurring into a mass that's staring me down. Waiting for a moment of weakness to strike. I turn my back and run.

It was the only thing I could do. It takes me awhile to even realize I was running. All there was in my mind was the ringing in my ears... and those dark eyes looking down at me.

THUD

I trip over something and immediately scramble for cover. As if there was gunfire behind me. I check for cover before moving deeper into the woods, waiting for the crack of gunfire. My mind tells me there's bullets buzzing over head. I see a small depression between some tree roots and dive in. I practically throw myself in there.

Pressing my back to the tree I grab my chest and try to control my breathing. If I keep wheezing like this they're going to find me. I just need to breath. I can't let them find me. Just breath. Don't let them see you like this. Breath in... breath out... Don't let them see you...

Breath.

In... and out... Take in your surroundings. Don't let them get the jump on you. Up. Down. Left. Right. Combat mindset. Keep everything in order.

I try to stand, but fall back from shortness of breath. I wince and push back against the tree. The mud beneath me slips and digs me a bit deeper. I look down and notice that I've broken the nail of my index finger on my armor. I lift my shaky hand and stare at the hanging piece. Blood drips down slowly, dotting my legs. I didn't even feel this.

I take another look around and go back to my breathing. I don't think they followed me here. I just need to stay put and get control of myself. Everything is going to be okay. Everything will be okay.

"DAD!?" I flinch when I hear Shadow calling for me. I panic and try to lower myself as much as possible. I can't let her see me like this. I don't want her seeing me like this.

"Dad!? Where are you? Please, Dad, just come with me. Let's go home." I'm practically holding my breath as I wait for her to pass. It felt like an eternity, but when I was sure she was gone I let out a long sigh. I can't let her see me like. After everything we just went through... I can't.

I start to remove the warped pieces of armor. Whatever teleported me here really did a number on this set. It looks as if someone boiled the metal and took a hammer to it. When I get the last piece off I toss it before myself and freeze when I see it land at Shadows hooves.

We stare at each other for a moment, our breaths billowing up into the night air. I try to stay stoic. Try to put a strong face on for her. She just walks down, nearly slipping in the mud, and sit on my lap. She pulls my arm in for a hug and nuzzles into my embrace.

I bring a shaky hand to her hair and start to stroke it. As if I'm trying to console her. But I think she knows what's going on.

As we sit there the night sky fades away as rain clouds roll in. In a matter of seconds the cool night turns to cold rain. With the cover of the rain... I finally let go. I let the rain hide the streaks of tears rolling down my face.

I don't know how I'm going to do this.

Next Chapter: Chapter 268 Shadow of Mooseden Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 10 Minutes