“Lily! He’s doing it again!”

Lily looked past the single wingblade she was using as an improvised mirror to find me staring at the squirrel sitting on her ear. Grumpy’s beady little eyes, as black as night and twice as cold, were giving me a stare straight from the depths of Tartarus. It would have been one thing if my first acquaintance from the spirit-realm had been, say, a friendly ghost. That I could have managed. But Grumpy… Grumpy put even my sister’s abrasiveness to shame.

Lily snorted in mirth and flicked her ear. Grumpy was flung into the air, tumbling head over paws and shedding little waves of pale-blue vapor in his wake as he scrambled to grab hold of the bone poking through Lily’s ear. Clutching his old femur like a drowning pony might clasp hold of a life-preserver, he shook his paw and squeaked out a vicious little tirade that made me very glad I didn’t understand Squirrel.

Lily chuckled and shrugged, then resumed carefully applying her black face paint with another stroke of her removed blades. “Don’t worry, babe. He does that with everyone.” Raising an eyebrow, she stared at her odd pet out of one stern, blood-red eye. “Be nice, Grumps. I like this one.” Crossing his little phantasmal arms, Grumpy reluctantly chirped out his acquiescence. But just as soon as Lily went back to touching up the swooping pattern on her left cheek, Grumpy stared straight at me, raised two tiny fingers to his eyes, and then pointed menacingly in my direction.

I cleared my throat, shook my head, and tried in vain to concentrate on the assortment of herbs sitting on the countertop in front of me. As I’m sure you can imagine, this was not the easiest task for me to accomplish when I had a little squirrel-demon constantly giving me dirty looks over the top of my workspace. And my vexation was only exacerbated when I realized that Grumpy had probably been on Lily’s ear all along, judging me and everyone else in a furious, squeaky tongue that only Lily could hear and comprehend.

No doubt Grumpy had thoroughly enjoyed my frustration when Lily and I tested the grenades I assembled from scratch. The simplest explosives worked without a hitch, detonating in wonderfully satisfactory concussions that rattled my teeth, left a musical ringing in my ears, and completely shattered the glass dome labeled “Whitetail Wood.” But alas, none of my more interesting creations worked at all! I had been so enthusiastic about combining alchemy’s more lethal applications with my budding interest in explosives! Sadly, my poison gas bombs were not meant to be. It seemed that I would have to be more diligent and precise with my calculations if I wanted to create something so extravagant.

“Thanks again, Candy.” Lily’s voice caught my attention. I looked up to find her putting the cap on the rest of the paint. “It’s Thunderhooves tradition to never go into battle without your rank and role marked on your face.”

“That’s…” I paused, not wanting to upset her, but not wanting to hide how I felt either. I decided to go for the middle ground. “Well, I want to say that’s somewhat odd but…” I trailed off with a shrug, and hoped my grin would let her know I hadn’t meant any offense.

Luckily she wasn’t offended in the least, and even chuckled as she agreed with me. “Yeah, it can get kinda silly before a raid when you have a dozen pegasi wondering who’s hogging all the red paint.” With reverence, Lily gently wiped her blades clean and replaced them on her feathers. “And believe me,” she continued, “the zebras never make enough of the yellow and pink stuff for the medics.” Grinning and shaking her head, she reminisced, “I can hear old Wind Shear now. ‘We don’t need more medicine mares! You turkeys need to get shot less!’ “ Licking her lips, she pulled out a cigarette and lit up. “Heh, good times.”

Curious to hear more about her past, I abandoned alphabetising my herbs in lieu of a more interesting option, “So, if you don’t mind my asking, what does your black face paint signify?”

Without missing a beat, she matter-of-factly declared, “Mostly that I’m a badass.” Flipping her mane behind her shoulders she leaned over the table and winked at me. At my unimpressed expression, she raised an eyebrow and smiled slyly in my direction. “Come on, babe, that’s an awfully personal question.”

“Oh!” I was quick to apologize. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”

“Eh, I guess you got a right to know.” Her cocky grin was enough to let me understand that she was teasing me again, and I felt myself smile in relief as she added, “Just don’t get mad if I don’t share all the gory details, okay?”

“You mean to say there are things you won’t share, even with me?” I asked, flashing my most innocent smile.

“Hate to break it to you, sweetheart,” she lied through her smug teeth, “but I’m kind of a big deal. This is a position only held by one pony at a time, so I gotta be careful.” Her eyes never left mine as she blew a plume of smoke off to the side. “I’ve got the hopes and dreams of a whole tribe resting on my shoulders. Kinda like you with your stable. Would you go around blabbing about all of that to just anypony?”

“Well, not just anypony,” I countered, placing a hoof on the table and grinning. “It would have to be somepony I trust.”

That did the trick. Lily licked her lips again, sizing me up with that smirk she always wore, and nodded. A moment later she took one last drag off her cigarette and snuffed it out on the table, then lost the smirk and spoke in a low whisper. “You remember how I said I got my cutie mark by putting ponies in the ground?”

My eyebrows and my ears shot straight up. The conversation had just taken an abrupt turn down a road I wasn’t expecting in the least. Furrowing my brow with worry, I nodded. “Yes.”

Sighing heavily, Lily leaned against the table and whispered, “Those ponies,” she paused to scowl, “were my parents.”

My jaw dropped. “You…”

“And about two-thirds of the entire Thunderhooves tribe,” she continued.

That… was preposterous. Incredulously, and with revulsion wrinkling my brow, I shook my head, “You killed two thirds of your own tribe?”

Lily recoiled in shock and disgust, as if I had spit in her face. “What? No! Fuck no! Shit,” she paused, shaking her head between her hooves. “I really need to work on how I phrase things.”

Huffing, I thought of all her incredibly odd word choices and nodded. “Yes. Yes you do! Very much so.”

Lily licked her lips and tried again. “A long time ago when I was really little, my tribe—”

Grumpy sprung to life, err… so to speak, and cut Lily off with a series of alarmed chirps. As his misty little tail shook excitedly against Lily’s mane, Grumpy used whatever ghostly strength he still possessed to yank on Lily’s pierced ear until it perked up in the direction he was staring. Lily’s mouth was still open when her eyes narrowed in comprehension.

“Fuck, story time’s gonna have to wait.” Lily’s wings unfurled at her sides as she smoothly dropped to the floor. “We’re not alone,” she whispered. “Pack everything up. Quietly. We gotta go.”

I nodded and lit my horn, then shed my new lab coat and used it to help dull the sound of clinking glass as I gathered all of my new potions into my packs. Lily waited patiently for me, guarding the room’s entrance like a cat parked outside a mousehole. A minute later I was in my leather armor with my packs cinched tightly against my sides and a fresh energy pack in my pistol.

I joined Lily at the doorway and hissed under my breath. “What’s out there? Another pod-zebra?”

Lily shook her head, and quietly breathed out one word. “Voices.”

I winced. Voices meant ponies. And ponies probably meant guns. Lily was certainly able to hold her own in close quarters combat, but if we wound up in a firefight when she didn’t have her rifle or pistol… I wasn’t so sure how we would fare.

Turning back to me, Lily smirked at my nervous expression. Lightly flicking my shoulder with her tail, she boasted, “Don’t worry, babe. You’re with the best of the best here, remember?” She could say whatever she wanted. It wasn’t going to keep me from worrying.

It did make me feel a little better, though.

Grumpy let out a few squeaks before ducking underneath Lily’s hat to take refuge in her mane. I had no idea what he said, but Lily was quick to translate. “Whoever they are, it sounds like they’re moving further away.” She popped a mintal before telling me, “Okay, here’s the plan. We need to stay quick, quiet, and invisible. Don’t use any magic, and stay glued to my ass. No talking unless I say something first. If you need to get my attention, tap me on the shoulder or something, okay?”

I nodded. “Mhmm. Lead the way.”

We slipped outside and made a beeline for the nearest dome using the overgrown foliage and computer terminals to conceal our movements. Lily’s hoofsteps weren’t quite as silent as my sister’s, but neither were they anywhere near as loud as my own. Luckily, none of the plants in the domes seemed perturbed by our less-than-stealthy passing.

Snaking our way deeper into the facility, we eventually came to the far wall of the cavernous room. Leaving the cover of the domes, we sprinted to the leaf-covered wall and huddled between two roughly cylindrical objects smothered with moss, vines, and colorful mushrooms. Lily crouched low and held her ear to the ground, listening for the other group of ponies. In the meantime, I took the opportunity to catch my breath and examine our surroundings.

I recognized the mushrooms as dangerous, and knew better than to bother them, but the objects they were growing out of were too lumpy to be pipes or other artificial constructs. Prying aside some of the vines, I was shocked to discover that we were crouching beside the exposed portions of two incredibly massive tree roots. Goddess, they must have been nearly the same circumference as my stable’s main door! Chancing a glance over the roots, I realized that there were dozens of them stretching out through the walls of the facility. Through the brute force of their expansive growth, they had penetrated and warped the walls of the facility before sinking deep into the earth below us.

I had just enough time to ponder what manner of tree could possibly grow to such an enormous size before Lily tapped me on the shoulder to get my attention. Pointing further down the wall to a rectangular patch made visible by its relative lack of moss and leaves, she whispered, “That’s our door. Stay sharp.”

I nodded again, feeling all too eager to explore more of the facility. Despite whatever dangers might await us, I knew that there were also untold wonders waiting around every leafy corner, and perhaps further insights into the magic of Mother’s people. But it wasn’t until Lily and I gingerly tiptoed around the roots and slinked our way forward that I realized how close we were to discovering something special.

I first felt it near my side, pulsating with a low rhythm in tune to my heartbeat. With every step toward the door, it grew in intensity and speed, matching my own excitement. By the time Lily and I found ourselves at the door frame, I had realized that it was coming from my packs.

Lily was poking her head around the corner when I reached into my bags to find the source of all the commotion. As I flipped open the leather flap to peek inside, the sound of all my potion bottles rattling against each other filled the room, and Lily turned back to find me holding the little black orb that I had taken from my stable. I now knew for absolute certain that it was not a memory orb.

Rather than the placid sphere of darkness that I was used to, the orb was pulsating with a life all its own. Its outer edge of glass thrummed with energy, rattling against the rims of my hooves as I held it up to my face. Its black center swelled up and then fell away before rising to the glass surface again and again, all the while swirling around a focal point in the middle of the sphere. It was as if I held a tiny, spinning storm system in my very hooves.

I was completely entranced by the mist-like contents of the orb, and could have stared into their spiralling depths for hours. Lily, however, had the presence of mind to chide me for getting lost in the moment. “Okay, I’ll admit,” she winked salaciously. “That’s the coolest looking vibrator I’ve ever seen, but now’s not really the time, babe.”

“This isn’t a—” I felt heat flood my face as I huffed and gave her a stern look. “I have no idea what this orb actually is,” I admitted, “but the Pyro’s gang was trying to take it from a statue of Luna in my stable!” Returning my gaze to the swirling storm in my hooves, I continued, “But it’s never done anything like this before. It was calm and still until just now.”

Grumpy skittered around the perimeter of Lily’s hat, chittering and barking before flinging himself back in her mane. Lily nodded. “Yeah, I think I can guess why, Candy.” At my puzzled expression, she simply tilted her head in the direction of the door. “Grumpy says you’re gonna want to take a look in the other room.”

Holding the orb in one hoof, I walked to the doorway and looked inside to find a large, roughly circular room completely reclaimed by nature. It was so beautiful that I utterly failed to stifle a gasp as I took in the sights. There were enormous trees inside, with thick trunks covered in lichens and lush branches criss-crossing over each other just underneath the ruined ceiling three floors above my head. The floor was a solid carpet of green shrubs, ferns, and grasses. Thorny bushes with plump, dark berries lined the outer rim of the room, and dozens of brightly painted mushrooms grew underneath the protection of their sprawling nettles. Flowers of every imaginable color grew wherever they could find room to sprout and bloom. But not even all of the wonderful sights and fragrances could distract me from the most impressive image I had seen thus far.

Directly in the middle of this explosion of life stood a monolithic reddish-brown spire: a single tree with a knobby trunk so wide that the saloon in Mareon could have easily fit inside its base. It had risen above all of its peers, crashing through the ceiling and every floor above as it raced toward the heavens. Lifting my eyes skyward I was just able to spot the dark clouds hanging in the sky, just out of reach of the tree’s grasping boughs. This tree hadn’t been content to wait patiently for sunlight that would never come. Like a living example of all the tenacity of life itself, it had risen up and made every attempt to claim the light for itself.

Lily sidled up alongside me, pointing a hoof toward the gnarled base of the tree. “See that?”

Following her hoof with my eyes, I spotted a faint white light shining through all the foliage. Glancing at each other, we both nodded and made our way into the room. The closer we came to the light, the more excited the storm in my little sphere became, twisting and convulsing as if it wanted to see the light as badly as I did.

Pushing our way through one last set of broad leaves that looked more at home in the tropics than in the desert, we finally arrived at the source of the light. Nestled within a wedge formed by the sprawling roots of the gigantic tree was a low, circular stone dais. The slab of rock was nearly twice the size of my stable’s door, and overrun with vines and electrical cables. And on top of the dais was a cracked and worn stone altar with a bowl-shaped basin carved into its top. All along the altar’s surface were dozens and dozens of zebra runes, each of them glowing like pink, green, or purple neon signs.

Thick power cables that still hummed with energy ran from the center of the bowl out to the sides of the altar, connecting to clusters of terminals giving numerical readouts. The quick glance I spared the terminals told me that they were measuring some sort of energy output, but the numbers being reported were so absurdly high that I wrote them off as malfunctioning. Besides, the terminals were just computers. They weren’t anywhere near as enthralling as the soft light beckoning me to peer inside the basin.

I was struggling to hold onto my orb with my left hoof. It seemed almost magnetized, pulling itself—and me along with it—toward the light, and its vibrations had become so severe that I was beginning to wonder if it would jump straight out of my hoof to fly toward the altar. However, I could hardly blame it for its eagerness; I too felt an almost instinctual urge to move toward that shimmering light. It was eerily beautiful, and wanting to move closer to it felt as natural as slipping into bed after an exhausting day.

Lily stood guard close by with Grumpy perched on her ear, and the both of them took turns staring quizzically at me while the other kept a sharp lookout for trouble. I gave Lily one last look, and at her encouraging nod I swallowed down the last meager shred of my trepidation and stepped up on the dais. As I placed my hoof down between the natural vines and the pony-made power cables, I felt the fur on my legs stand on end and my heart-rate spike from adrenaline.

At the precise moment that my right hoof made contact with the stone platform, my orb’s frenzy reached its apex, and I felt a blazing stream of heat sear its way down my up-turned left leg to light an inferno in my chest. At the same time, and in stark contrast, a breath-taking chill raced up my right leg to seize my heart in its icy grip. I scarcely had time to gasp in surprise before the two sensations coalesced in my breast, consumed one another, and vanished completely. The only thing they left behind was the familiar electric tingle of magic, hovering in the air like smoke after an explosion.

I turned back to Lily, eyes wide, and gasped, “Did you feel that?”

“I think so?” she replied with a raised eyebrow. She flapped one of her wings twice before licking her hoof and holding it up to the air. “Felt like the air pressure just dropped.” Shaking her head, she pointed at the altar. “You better do whatever it is you’re gonna do. I’m starting to feel like we need to get the fuck out of here. And fast.”

“Right,” I nodded. Glancing at my black orb, I found its center once more tranquil and its shell as immobile as usual. With Lily’s worry expediting my actions, I raised myself up on the edge of the altar with my free hoof and examined the contents of the basin.

I wasn’t really sure what I expected to find. My best guess was something between a stockpile of gems and a super-powered Sparkle reactor. Neither of those estimations had been anywhere near the mark.

Inside the shallow depression I found a nest-like bed of power cables and circuitry, and lying peacefully inside the nest was a small glass sphere glowing with a soft white light. The Selenist in me—the filly who had been raised to hate the light and fear the sun—reacted accordingly to such a sight: mild apprehension tinged with an almost begrudging curiosity. But there was something else, something deep within my core, that pleaded for me to recognize this tiny object for what it truly was: beautiful.

That second look was enough for me to recognize that this orb bore the exact same dimensions as the sphere from my stable. If not for their contents, they would have been precisely the same. Their only difference was that one was white, and one was black. Combined with the strange reaction they had shared earlier—with my own body acting as the conduit for said reaction, no less—I knew there was some connection between them. And if that was the case, then I had as much claim to this little white trinket as anyone could possibly proclaim.

I had just reached into the basin to retrieve the white orb when Lily’s anxious voice met my ears. “Candy, can you hurry up already? I’m starting to get a really bad fee—”

She was abruptly cut off by multiple bright flashes of colored lights and the tell-tale sounds of magic. Both the lights and the noises danced through the vegetation and bounced off of dozens of tree trunks. Behind me Grumpy squeaked furiously, belting out a warning that needed no translation. We were no longer alone.
“I would be ever so appreciative if you left that orb in its proper place.” That… That wasn’t Lily. That voice was male: a soothing baritone graced by the barest hint of a gentle rural drawl, like sweetened tea flavored with just a drop of lemon. I turned around just in time to see a group of seven white-coated ponies stepping out from behind the trees and fanning out as they trotted forward.

Lily was in front of me in an instant, with her wings spread wide and her stance low. I quickly shoved the black orb back inside my packs and gripped my pistol on my leg, already dreading what was coming next. Even I knew that Lily and I were easy targets while we stood completely exposed on the raised and illuminated dais. To make matters even worse, the colossal tree trunk joined with its massive roots just behind us, effectively creating a dead end with only one practical exit. An exit which was now being blocked by the approaching ponies. Our only saving grace was that, at least for the moment, they appeared calm. I gulped, and decided it was best if I kept my pistol in its holster for the time being.

The first four to break off from the main group made sure to keep their distance from Lily and me, charging magic in their horns even as their faces betrayed their own apprehension. One of them, a petite mare with a mint-green mane done up in a loose bun, went so far as to cower within the low branches of a pine tree, too afraid to even peek her dark-chocolate eyes out and glance in our direction. The other three were slightly braver than the small mare shivering against the pine needles, but they still looked like this was the last place in The Wasteland that they wanted to be. However, the next three ponies in the group strolled forward as if this were any normal Tuesday.

Oddly enough the next mare and stallion wore a hodgepodge assortment of sports equipment in lieu of armor, complete with tattered jerseys from Equestrian sports teams. The big mare on the right had her short crimson ponytail poking through the back of a batter’s helmet, and wore a set of roller-derby shinguards over her legs. Her barbed-wire bat made a whooshing noise every time she swung it through the empty air. She never took her wickedly smirking eyes off of me, not even when she was blowing loud and obnoxious bubbles with the pink gum she was chewing. She seemed to take a perverse joy every time her bubble-snapping got my attention, and repeatedly used the opportunity to wink or blow kisses in my direction.

The confidence of the sports-mare on the right made me feel like this particular game was stacked in the other group’s favor, but the the stallion on the left was in a different league entirely. He was the lone earth pony in the whole herd, and he was easily the largest creature in the room. Wearing a crimson-striped hockey mask over his face and metal-spiked hoofball pads over his broad chest and shoulders, he made the large mare at his side look like a filly in comparison. Behind his mask were wide, psychotic eyes that never seemed to blink, and every time they glanced in my direction I felt a shiver run down my spine.

I couldn’t imagine that pre-war sports equipment would do anything at all when it came to stopping bullets, but the weapons those two wielded looked more than adequate for a fight. Both of the sports-fan ponies were armed to the teeth, bearing an assortment of pistols, rifles, and sawed-off shotguns that they had strapped around their powerful bodies. These two lead the way until they were nearly at the dais, and then stepped to the side to allow one final stallion to casually stroll between them.

This pony wore no armor or clothing to speak of, and bore no weapon save for the disarmingly cavalier grin set across his face. Of course, none of that mattered; I knew exactly how dangerous he was. I had already seen him defend his gang from the alicorns in the street, and now that he was this close, there was no mistaking him for anypony else. This was the pony we had been hunting since we set out from Mareon. The pony who would have the answers about my caravan. The pony that Psyker wanted us to kill. After all the trials and tribulations to get here, I had finally come face to face with The Bard. And it was only then that I realized what a disastrous mistake it was to talk to him up close.

He was… gorgeous.

“You see,” he continued in that wonderful voice, “the object before you happens to be a zebra artifact of incredible power and great import. And it is not to be disturbed until—” He stopped just short of the dais as his gaze swept past Lily’s wings and locked with mine, and then his wary expression turned to one of quizzical amusement. “Ah. My apologies, Ms. Stripes,” he paused to hold a hoof to his heart and bow his head in a perfect imitation of the same gesture I had seen Mother and Half-Moon use. Glancing at the room all around us, he explained, “As you can plainly see by the mess, I wasn’t expecting to be graced by your presence quite so soon.”

Despite my expectations about what a raider-gang’s leader should look like, The Bard was the single most devastatingly handsome stallion I had ever seen. He had intense jade eyes, a perfectly coiffed jet-black mane, and a jawline that looked like it had been sculpted from marble. On his ivory flank were a pair of theatre masks: one frowning in heart-wrenching sorrow, the other wholly consumed with elated laughter. Every word he spoke came with a flourish of exaggerated passion, as if the sheer force of his charisma simply wouldn’t allow him to be the slightest bit mundane. I wasn’t sure if he was putting on an act with his cool confidence, but… Oh, Goddess… He played the part excruciatingly well.

Lily’s wings dipped slightly as she took a step backward, and then they extended to their full length right in front of me. She let out the breath that she had been holding, managing to make a throaty sound somewhere between a groan, a whisper, and a sigh. “Oh fuck me, he’s hot.”

The Bard chuckled to himself, raised his hoof in a placating gesture toward Lily, and announced, “All in due time, Ms. Belle.”

Lily finally managed to fold her wings at her sides, giving me a clear view of her reddened face. I have to admit that seeing Lily blush was a rather novel experience…

I lifted a hoof to Lily’s shoulder, and warily eyed the mare on the right as I whispered, “Lily? I thought you said The Bards weren’t skilled fighters?” The sports-mare grinned and blew another bubble.

Lily snorted in response, and pawed the ground with a hoof while staring at the two sports-fan ponies flanking The Bard. “They’re not, Candy. These two idiots are just putting on a show.”

The mare in front of us rested her bat against her neck and grinned. “Oh darlin’ , don’t you wish!” I have to admit that I wasn’t expecting her to speak with such a noticeable rural twang in her accent. She swished her bat through the air as easily as I might have swung a pen, and chewed her gum while taunting Lily. “Ya’ll don’t fret now. As long as ya’ll play nice I won’t have to whoop up on ya none.” Inclining her head toward Lily, she lifted her bat beside her face and cooed dangerously, “ ‘Course, if ya’ll try to start something, then I know just where I’ll be putting this.” Just to drive her point home, she wiggled the bat and smiled viciously.

“Really, Ms. Header,” The Bard raised a calming hoof to the sports-mare at his side, “I assure you that there is no need for such an aggressive posture. We are here to have a civil discussion, after all.” The barest flicker of emerald magic lit at the tip of his horn, like a burning match. The sports-mare pursed her lips, but nodded in agreement.

Lily glared silently at the mare, but I gulped and took a reflexive step backward. Not one to miss an opportunity, the sports-mare quickly winked in my direction and giggled around her gum, “Don’t you worry, sugarcube. I’ll go real gentle on you.” Anxiety furrowed my brow before she looked to the side and whispered, “But he won’t.” Following her eyes with my own, I noticed that the hockey-buck was staring at me like a starving pony eyeing a buffet table.

I curled my tail around my armored flank and scooted a little bit closer to Lily’s side. Feeling my trembling side against her own, Lily stepped forward, blocking my view of the hockey-buck as she addressed the bat-wielding bully. “Lemme guess. You’re Switch Hit’s sister?”

Rather than answer Lily, the sports-mare stared at me and purred, “Why don’t you ditch this dying quail so we can go round the bases?” With a final wink, she added, “I’ll show you why I’m called Double Header.”

The terms she was using might have flown well over my head, but the lascivious grin made it perfectly clear that Double was speaking in innuendo. Unsure of what else to do, I wrapped a leg around Lily’s hoof and scowled at Double’s smirking face.

With her voice nearly a growl, Lily went straight for the proverbial throat. “You know Switch Hit is dead, right?”

“Ha!” Much to my surprise, Double took the news of her brother’s demise with sadistic glee. She doubled over, smacking the hilt of her bat against the floor as she guffawed. “Ha ha! Really? Did my fool brother finally strike out for good? That’s what he gets for goin’ to bat for the other team!” Beside her, The Bard frowned and flared the green magic at the tip of his horn. But whatever his intent, his magic was having no apparent effect on the appalling pony at his side.

My jaw dropped as I watched the mare giggle. “How?” My trembling lips had mouthed the question before I even realized I was speaking. Those same lips then curled back into a sneer as I asked the question that was burning a hole through my mind. “How can you say something so cruel?” I unwrapped my hoof from Lily’s leg and took a step forward, glaring at Double for all I was worth.

“Uh… Candy…” Lily reached out and tugged at my leg, holding me in place. Directly into my ear, she whispered a harsh warning. “There are more of them than just Double, babe.”

Double spun her bat through the air like a baton, and grinned wickedly. “Oh sweetie-pie, you don’t know nothin ‘bout havin’ a low-down, no-good, Outcast for a brother!” Banging her bat against the floor with a loud thunk, her cocky grin turned to a sour grimace. “Why don’t you hush up while yer face is still pretty?”

There was an inferno in my chest, and the flames were rising to char the logic and reason in my mind. A deep-red light washed over the room as I charged magic in my horn. “I know enough! I know that he was still your family!” This was completely unacceptable! How could she be so callous!? Taking a step forward, I stomped on the stone dais and yelled, “I would go to the ends of Equestria simply to see my sister smile! But you… you… You’re laughing at news of your kin’s death!” I snapped my tail behind me, and fired off my best volley of insults. “What kind of rotten, vile, disgusting, soulless, dim-witted, degenerate filth are you!?”

The room was nearly silent after my outburst, save for the gentle tinkle of Lily’s wingblades rising up at her sides. I spared her a glance just long enough to see the impressed expression on her face as she stared at me, but my fury would not be abated by a simple look of admiration. I huffed and returned my gaze to Double, and found her calmly blowing and popping a bubble as she glared at me.

Rolling her gum to the other side of her mouth, she turned to the handsome stallion at her side and inquired in a peeved voice, “Master? May I?”

The Bard’s answer was stern and hard. “No, Double. We are here to speak with them, nothing more.” He glanced in my direction with an apologetic expression, and then turned back to his colleague before reprimanding her further in a lower tone. “And I believe that you have spoken quite enough. You and Puck should wait with the others.”

Double’s mouth dropped, and for a split second I believed she would argue, but in the end she obeyed without a fight. Casting her gaze to the ground at her hooves, she deflated just like her popped bubbles, and nodded solemnly. “Yes, Master. As you wish.” Double turned and made her way back to the rest of the gang, dragging her bat along the floor behind her. The hockey-buck turned to follow her without a word, and I was extraordinarily grateful for it.

As the two sports-ponies plodded back to the unicorns waiting by the trees, I felt a weight being lifted from my chest. My anger didn’t just ebb and fade. It was sucked away, almost as if somepony had activated a vacuum to clean up every little trace of outrage. The sudden mood-whiplash left me reeling and strangely dizzy, but The Bard’s genteel demeanor and soothing voice gently coaxed me down from my emotional high.

He took a cautious step forward, and humbly bowed. “My deepest apologies for the less-than-warm welcome from my little ponies. My troupe and I have all been a bit on-edge as of late due to the presence of alicorns in the city.” Shaking his head, he shrugged and added, “No matter how I protest to the opposite, some of them simply insist that I require protection, and they are oftentimes willing to take drastic measures to keep me in good health.”

With every silken word that caressed my ears, I felt a gentle tugging at the corners of my mouth. I wasn’t sure if it was the kind warmth pouring from his eyes, or the cool confidence exuding from the rest of him, but it was proving very difficult to be angry with The Bard. Tilting my head to the side, I replied, “You certainly look healthy enough.” Out of the corner of my vision, I caught Lily raising an eyebrow and staring at me as her wings dropped.

The Bard accepted my compliment with a silent grin and nod. After a moment, he went on to explain, “I am quite moved by the devotion of my troupe, even if I occasionally wish that they were not so enthusiastic in their attempts to keep me out of harm’s way.” Lifting a perfectly pedicured hoof in our direction, he asked, “I imagine that you can sympathize, can you not? Ms. Belle’s protection does not come cheap unless she is wholly devoted to another’s cause. And word is already spreading of how fiercely protective your sister is with you.”

I nodded, remembering the advice Lily had given me at the Sparkle Station. “Something that Nohta and I have in common,” I admitted.

Tenting his hooves together in front of himself, The Bard grinned sagely and nodded. “A wiser stallion than I once said, ‘If you love something, then you must set it free.’ “ When his grin turned melancholy, he added, “A hard lesson, and one that has taken me years to truly comprehend. This desert is not kind to any of us, is it, Ms. Stripes?”

“Stop wasting time, asshole! Either say what you’ve got to say or fuck off!” Lily’s vehement outburst drew a gasp out of me, and an inquisitively raised eyebrow out of The Bard. It also gave me time to realize that her assessment of the stallion’s actions was uncomfortably close to the truth.

I couldn’t help but wonder if The Bard was stalling for time. The gang of raiders standing behind him might have been few in number, but what if he had reinforcements coming? Realizing that I should probably get a move on, I decided to speed things up a bit.

I lifted a calming hoof to Lily’s shoulder as I stepped forward beside her, and then brushed my mane out of my eyes as I addressed the stallion before us. “You said you were expecting us?”

The Bard’s eyes lit up with excitement. “But of course! Years ago, Psyker informed me that—” The Bard caught himself, grinned bashfully, and shook his head. “Where are my manners? Please forgive me. I have been eagerly awaiting this meeting for so long that I overlooked a crucial detail.” Taking a step closer, he looked me dead in the eyes and laid on the charm, “You and I still haven’t been properly introduced.”

Why was I blushing? And why was Lily looking at me like that!? I didn’t even do anything! I mean, I may have giggled into my hoof a tiny bit. And swished my tail to show it off. And batted my lashes just a teensy amount. But dear Goddess, who wouldn’t when a stallion like that is… Er… Ahem, my apologies.

Clearing my throat and taking a moment to collect myself, I stood a little straighter and made a conscious effort to maintain a more business-like composure. “You are The Bard, are you not?” It was a valiant effort on my part, if I do say so myself, but in the end I simply couldn’t help myself. Grinning ever so slightly, I asked in a more cordial tone, “Your name is Elegy?”

A harsh rap on my leather-clad shoulder shocked me out of the stupor I was in. Turning to my left, I saw Lily’s scowling face. “Stop that!” she hissed. Dangling from her ear, Grumpy agreed with an irate little paw-shake.

Utterly confused, I rubbed my shoulder and asked, “Stop what?”

Lily rolled her eyes and groaned at the same time that Grumpy held a ghostly palm to his face. Wrapping a hoof around my shoulders, she pulled me in close and lifted a wing to hide our faces from the raider gang. In a hushed and severe whisper, she explained, “Giving bedroom-eyes to the son of a bitch we may need to kill, that’s what!”

A million thoughts raced through my head all at once, but none of them was more prominent than the fact I had just realised that Lily was jealous. The most promiscuous mare I had ever met was jealous because I was getting all the attention from… No. No, wait. Lying next to all the creases of anger around her eyes was the slight wrinkling of worry and sorrow. She wasn’t jealous of the attention I was getting, but rather of the attention I was giving.

As the faint light of the white orb behind us shimmered off the blades on her outstretched wing, something in my head clicked into place with a booming, dull thud, finally making me aware of something that was painfully obvious to everypony else in the room. I was flirting. And I was enjoying it. A lot.

As I’m sure you are already well aware: this was a problem. Not only did my behavior imply a stunning lack of self-awareness on my part, it also called into question my own perception of nearly every conversation I had been a part of since coming to the surface. Not to mention how dreadfully embarrassing it was to realize that Nohta and Lily’s assertions about how I behaved around other ponies had been true all along…

Those issues were bad enough, but what really caused every cog in my head to lock up all at once was suddenly remembering the promise I had made to Lily, and then understanding that I was already blushing and batting my lashes at the first stallion I came across. That simply wouldn’t do! Even if the stallion in question was absolutely dreamy…

Oh, hush. One look in his gorgeous jade eyes and you’d be weak in the knees too.

I blinked several times as I came out of the stupor, and then felt my ears droop against my mane as I realized what an utter mule I was being. With all the sincerity I could muster, I looked up into Lily’s questioning gaze and whispered back. “I’m sorry. This is all so new to me. I’ll stop.”

Lily grimaced and snorted, but lowered her wing all the same. Turning her glare on The Bard, she barked out, “We already know who you are, asshole. There’s no need for this shit.”

Elegy flashed his cavalier grin, shrugged his shoulders, and motioned to the ponies behind him. Two mares—one with a streak of ruby through her sapphire mane and tail, and the other her mirror opposite—sauntered up to his side. “I’m afraid that I really must insist,” Elegy chuckled. “Despite the havoc that Psyker can wreak on who exactly knows who, and in spite of the abysmally untidy state of our environs, we should at least exercise a modicum of proper decorum for such a momentous occasion as this, don’t you think?”

Somewhere in the back of my mind, a giddy little unicorn mare in a lacy negligee was busy checking off a list on a chalkboard. Good mannered? Yes. Well spoken? Absolutely. Good looking? The chalk was snapped in two by her magic as she sighed and bit her bottom lip. That was a definite yes.

Seconds later another little unicorn mare in a prim, no-nonsense business suit walked up behind the first and whacked her on the head with a ruler. I rubbed a hoof across my burning cheek before closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. I had never needed a cold shower so badly in all my life.

When I felt I had regained my senses, I opened my eyes. Unfortunately, that was when the entire world went mad. The two mares that had slinked up to Elegy’s side were now staring in my direction with expressions that I hadn’t seen since entering the bordello with Lily. Only… Now I found that I didn’t quite mind the way their eyes roamed over my body.

Elegy gently traced his hoof down the spine of the mare on his left, bringing a sultry purring noise out of her throat before she turned to flash a salacious grin in his direction. Elegy matched and held her gaze while he began to speak, but eventually shifted his eyes to me when he stepped closer to the dais. “As a stallion who is intimately familiar with all the various,” He paused long enough to gently nudge the other mare’s chin with his hoof, bringing her amorous face within inches of his own, “and lovely forms of vice and ecstasy…” The mare’s longing face was tinged with disappointment when Elegy turned from her to step closer to Lily and me. Moments later he continued, “Let me assure you that I have a keen understanding of the equine appetite.”

He stopped just short of the dais, and held his hooves wide open, “I am well aware that our desires can come in many forms.” Landing back on all fours, he tilted his head and explained, “And for most, those desires can be as difficult to satisfy as they are varied in nature.

“But that, my dear guests,” Elegy held a hoof to his chest as he smirked, “is where I excel.”

He stepped up on the stone platform, and confidently strolled right up to both Lily and I. Lily’s wings had spread wide again, and her posture made it apparent that she was ready to pounce and slice the unicorn to ribbons in an instant, but the expression on her face was troubled, confused, and pained. I might have inquired as to whether or not she was having a migraine, if I wasn’t so preoccupied with the gorgeous stallion grinning in my direction.

His jade eyes bore into my soul as he stood right in front of me, and I felt my heart skip a beat when his silky-smooth voice asked me, “Are you possessed of a hunger for knowledge?” Turning to Lily, he tilted his head and inquired, “Could it be that you long for adventure?” Allowing his eyes to squint threateningly, he raised a single eyebrow and insinuated, “Or perhaps you have acquired a thirst for blood?” Lily snorted and pawed at the ground like a bull ready to charge, but otherwise did nothing.

Facing me again, Elegy tilted his head and ran his eyes down the length of my body. “Or,” he suggested, snapping his eyes from my flank back to my face, “do you simply wish to experience something… new?”

I gulped, unable to take my eyes away from his. Heat was flooding my body and muddling my thoughts. I lost myself in his eyes, paralyzed by his smirk and entranced by his words. I hung on his every syllable, just like I had once listened to Moonglow in the temple of my stable.

Turning around, Elegy began walking back to the two unicorn mares he had left behind. I had to stop myself from reaching out with a hoof to delay his retreat. Talking over his shoulder, he stated, “If you have a hunger, I can help you sate it.” Lifting his hoof in the air dramatically, he declared, “If you are athirst, then I will lead you to water!” Positioning himself between the two mares, he continued. “And if you find yourself craving… something more…” he paused as one of the mares nibbled playfully at his neck, but never took his eyes off of me. With a lascivious grin he continued, “Then rest assured; for in my company you will never find yourself wanting again.

“I am The Bard,” he stated, bowing low. When the tip of his horn was inches from the floor, he turned his face up to flash a wickedly salacious grin in my direction. With one final, stunning wink, he finished his performance, “and the pleasure is all mine.”

A gentle heat had welled up in my body, only it wasn’t anything at all like the anger I had felt earlier. It suffused my entire being, gentle but insistent, and slowly squeezed every last drop of logic or reason out of my mind like juice from a fruit. In the end all that I had left was pulpy emotion.

Inside my mind, the mare in the negligee was busy melting into a puddle as she swooned. The business-mare was blushing beet-red, and looked incredibly distracted as she gazed in the same direction. Her sharp raps with the ruler had devolved into half-hearted and poorly aimed taps as she stared forward, prim and proper but entranced all the same.

Elegy flashed the tip of his horn just a little brighter, allowing the green light to illuminate the gorgeous features of his handsome face. Dear Goddess, that jawline… And those eyes… I gulped and licked my lips as a swarm of bloat sprites buzzed happily in my belly. I couldn’t keep my gaze from wandering over his body, giggling and blushing as I admired his physique.

An enraged voice abruptly shouted at my side. “Okay, fuck this!” Lily stepped forward, planting herself firmly between The Bard and me. Flaring her wings wide and stomping her hoof on the stone dais, she barked out a warning. “Stop flirting with her! She’s mine!”

I wasn’t really prepared for Lily to be so possessive. That sort of uncultivated behavior is just barbaric! It is completely uncivilised! Anypony with any amount of logic, reason, or refinement should be able to refrain from such ill-mannered acts!

Every last shred of decency and sophistication I had in my body told me it was wrong, told me it was demeaning, told me that I should be annoyed or that I should scold her for not letting me handle the situation on my own. But, I couldn’t ignore how alluring it was to know that my friend had been driven to such impulsive avarice on my account. Lily was ready to fight, and quite possibly die right here to keep me for her own.

No… Lily’s behavior wasn’t cultured. It was… Primal. It was wild and savage and full of raw, unrepentant emotion just like Lily herself. Born of a desire for me…

That ardor, that passion, that lust… Whatever it was that drove Lily onward, it woke something within me. As if I were a sleeping beast that had finally risen from years of underground hibernation, and now that I was on the verge of starvation I was all too eager to devour the first prey I came across. As luck would have it, there was a blue-feathered feast just outside my den.

Lily had used her wings to shade me from the perils of The Wasteland yet again, but now I couldn’t stop staring at her. In the span of a single heartbeat The Bard’s magnificent jawline and intense eyes faded from memory, overshadowed by the graceful figure standing before me.

I was mesmerized! It was if I had never truly seen Lily at all! The stunningly gorgeous silver-white mane, the beautiful dark-indigo coat, the taut and lithe athletic figure, the sleek and streamlined tail, and… Dear Goddess… her wings… More than anything else, her wings held my attention and robbed me of my senses. I licked my lips as my eyes lingered on her bladed feathers. I wanted nothing more than to feel those powerful appendages wrap around me, holding me tight against Lily’s chest as she pressed her lips against—

My eyes widened as I drew in a sharp breath. Dear Goddess, what was going on!? This wasn’t me! The heat spreading through my body kicked up a notch, leaving me panting for breath. A sound somewhere between a longing moan and a pained grunt escaped my lips. Shutting my eyes tight, I shook my head between my hooves and tried to make sense of my emotions.

My mouth opened, and I felt a dark and husky whisper leave my throat, “Lily…”

Goddess, I wanted her so badly…

She turned, raising an eyebrow at my tone of voice. Her magnificent wings followed suit as soon as she saw the state I was in. When we locked eyes I knew I was done. She wouldn’t stop staring, and her gaze left my mind in utter disarray. Goddess, why did her eyes have to be so pretty? I could have gathered my thoughts if she had looked away for just a moment…

I needed to feel her body against mine…

My breath felt warm as it rushed over my open lips. I took a slow, tentative step in Lily’s direction, scared to death to approach her, but even more frightened at the prospect of not being beside her. My heart thundered within my chest, and pulled me in her direction.

Every movement made me ache with desire, and every thought was dull and fuzzy. My vision narrowed until she was all I could see. My hoof reached out to hold her cheek, and I stared into her wide, surprised eyes. I only needed to remove her hat, and then I could finally close the distance between our lips…

When my hoof pulled her stetson down the back of her neck, she whispered worriedly. “Candy? Are those… hearts in your eyes?” She was understandably confused, of course. I had been so cold earlier… But not anymore. There wasn’t any time to waste when every second was precious. My gaze lingered on her exposed mane, and I was abruptly stricken with an all-consuming realization…

I… I really liked her mane.

My eyes shot open. The epiphany hit me like a bucket of ice water, which was coincidentally exactly what I needed. I finally understood what was going on, and it sent an icy chill down the back of my neck.

My horn burst to life and enveloped my body in a thick cloud of crimson. Sure enough, I felt the resistance of another spell’s aura rubbing up against my own, directly where my heart lay. I forced my gaze back to Elegy, and saw the little spark of magic fade from the tip of his horn, but the other spell still clung to my heart like moss on a stone. I gasped and shut my eyes tight, too afraid to look at anypony.

“Lily…” I moaned through the amorous haze of my mind, “somepony… cast a spell on…” As soon as the words left my lips so too did the spell evaporate from my body. Once again, it was like a switch had been flipped. In an instant the fog lifted, the burning heat died down to a simmer, the aching desire numbed itself. I was left feeling dizzy and lightheaded, and had to rub my temples to keep an oncoming headache at bay.

After a moment filled with Grumpy’s excited chittering, Lily’s enraged voice shouted right next to me. “Who’s doing that!? Who the fuck is messing with her head!?”

Behind us a bright, high-pitched voice let out a frightened “Eeep!” Soon after, I heard hooves scrambling across the wood of the tree roots at our sides. By the time I opened my eyes, I saw a little mare with green hair and dark-brown eyes fleeing back toward the relative safety of the two sports-ponies behind Elegy. The tiny mare dove for cover behind the hockey-buck and peeked out with wide, terrified eyes while Double Header grinned and patted her on the head.

The Bard chuckled at all the commotion, and shook his head before gesturing to Lily with an upturned hoof. “Ms. Belle, you claim that Ms. Stripes is yours, but from my position, it seems much more appropriate to say that you are hers.” Shrugging, he added, “I must confess that I am positively beside myself with curiosity. I wonder, which one of you is carrying the detonator for those garish little bomb collars?”

Lily stomped on the stone platform and yelled, “That shit won’t work on me, asshole! Go fuck yourself!”

Elegy’s lips curled back in a conceited grin. It was rather alarming to notice how little I cared for his appearance after the spell had been dropped. With a self-satisfied nod, he replied, “Yes, I assumed that Ms. Stripes would be the one to take possession of such a device.” My jaw dropped as my eyes shot open. How had he figured that out!?

The mare on the left of Elegy, the one with the most red in her mane, giggled excitedly. “Did you see that, Firn? Master tricked them easily!”

Rolling her eyes, the other mare groaned in a bored voice. “Why are you always pointing out the obvious, Flare?”

I felt myself step backwards as every unicorn in the room turned their heads to stare at my packs, and bumped up against the altar behind me. A rainbow of colors danced across all the tree branches and shrubs as The Bards lit their horns in unison. My heart plummeted as I understood what was about to happen.

I fumbled with the pistol in my holster, hindered by another field of magic blocking my grip. “Lily!” I shrieked, “We can’t let them cast any magic! They’re trying to find the detonator!”

Just as Lily’s eyes and wings flared open, the small mare with the green mane approached Elegy and held her hoof out to him. Before I could wrench my pistol free, and before Lily could dash forward, The Bard asked condescendingly, “Are you referring, by chance, to this detonator?” His emerald cloud of magic floated the little device up to his eyes, and he mockingly appraised it like a jeweler might assess a gem.

Lily halted mid-lunge, staggering forward and flapping her wings to keep her balance. Her eyes were as wide as dinner plates as her glance switched between the detonator and my packs. Confused and desperate for an answer, she bellowed, “What!? How!?”

“Simple,” The Bard replied. “A certain member of my troupe has a staggering aptitude for magic involving the manipulation of emotions. It is, after all,” he grinned slyly, “how she has kept herself fed all these years.”

The tiny mare that had hoofed over the detonator blushed furiously, unable to look Elegy in the eyes. “M-Master, please…”

Elegy lifted his hoof to cup the little mare’s cheek and praised her warmly. “Really Thin Mint, you should revel in your abilities. You just made certain that our meeting will proceed peacefully.”

Lily was still glancing back and forth between my shocked face and the detonator. With wide eyes set in disbelief and anger, she sputtered, “I… What!?” At Lily’s outburst Thin Mint squeaked and dove behind Elegy.

Elegy groaned and rolled his eyes. “Ms. Belle, there’s really no reason to explain this to you. I sincerely doubt that you are capable of comprehending the subtle nuances of the spells involved.”

Goddess, the way he was talking down to Lily was infuriating! I turned to Lily and explained to her what happened, even if I had to do so through lips trembling with fear. “She cast a Want it, Need it spell on me.” Swallowing the lump in my throat, I added, “And then The Bard altered it.”

Lily cocked her head and raised an eyebrow. “He what? Unicorns can do that?”

I bit my lip and winced. Pointing to Elegy, I answered, “He can. Remember the shielded alicorn in the street?” Lily’s eyes wandered off to the side as she recollected. When she returned her gaze to me and nodded, I elaborated for her. “He can manipulate other spells after they’ve been cast. Instead of everypony in the room, ah…” I tapped my hooves together timidly, “…w-wanting me, I-I… um… ” I trailed off, unable to bring myself to verbally admit that I had been in such a state.

The Bard chuckled before he explained further, “That was perhaps a bit more distraction than was needed for Thin Mint to pickpocket the detonator from Ms. Stripes’ packs.” He paused for a moment to examine the detonator before grinning at us again. “But it is certainly better to be safe than sorry when dealing with… volatile matters, wouldn’t you agree?”

My beleaguered knees finally gave out. I sat, hard, on the stone dais as my jaw trembled and my ears fell to the sides of my head. Goddess, the weight of our situation hit me like a ton of bricks… It was all over. Lily and I were completely at Elegy’s mercy. I shook my head, feeling the hot sting of tears welling up in my eyes. How had we allowed ourselves to fall for such a simple ruse!? Nohta would have kept an eye out! She would have easily noticed how my emotions weren’t my own! She would have never allowed this to come to pass!

Oh Goddess… Nohta… Would I ever see her again? My breath hitched in my throat as I tried, and failed, to hold back the tears. All I wanted at that moment, more than anything else in the world, was simply to have my sister at my side.

Mistaking the cause for my despair, Elegy taunted me. “Come now, Ms. Stripes. Surely you didn’t walk into the den of the greatest spymaster Equestria has ever known expecting that he wouldn’t know how to, shall we say…” Elegy’s gaze lifted skyward, and he tapped his chin in fake contemplation before he asked, “…push your buttons?” Most of The Bards only chuckled at their leader’s little joke, but the raucous guffaws of Flare and Double Header echoed off the tree trunks for an uncomfortably long time.

Their laughter had little effect on me. I was too busy imagining all the fantastically extravagant ways that Nohta would have dealt with these miscreants long before they had been able to steal the detonating device for my bomb collar. My tired, tear-filled eyes roamed around the room as I imagined my sister crushing windpipes, breaking jaws, and kicking gun barrels aside before firing her own pistol point-blank into ponies’ barely-protected bodies. She would have moved amidst these unicorns like a living whirlwind of carnage, but… What could I do?

I glanced at Lily. If she had any Dash under her hat then… No. She’d still be too slow to stop Elegy from pressing the killswitch. My eyes returned to Elegy as I lightly bit the inside of my cheek, contemplating my options. I brushed my magic at the bit of my pistol, but thought better of opening fire. I wasn’t accurate enough to fell him before he could react. I briefly considered the explosives in my packs, but realized that the fuses were too long for a surprise attack. It wasn’t long before I realized that my only hope of ever seeing Nohta again was to acquiesce.

My sister needed me as much as I needed her. I grit my teeth, allowed the magic in my horn to evaporate, and scowled at Elegy. Resolve gave me the strength to speak, but only just barely. I tried to inject as much venom as I could into my words, but my voice came out hollow and broken insead. “What do you want?”

Elegy grinned, and sauntered slowly in my direction. Every heavy-hoofed step he took felt like another nail in my coffin. When he reached Lily, he glanced smugly into her eyes without saying a word. Lily’s face twisted into a conflicted snarl, and I could only imagine that she was trying to decide whether to attack now or stand aside to let Elegy pass.

I watched, helpless, as my life teetered on a razor’s edge. Elegy floated the detonator up to his face, allowing it to bob up and down in his magic. Lily’s muscles tensed, and her eyes twitched with rage. For just a moment I was absolutely convinced that she was going to dive forward to plunge her blades deep into Elegy’s chest, ignoring the fact that she and I would certainly die in the process. But then her eyes turned in my direction, and I witnessed her fury ebb and fade. With a final downtrodden grimace, she lowered her wings and stood down. I was only able to catch a glimpse of her face before she turned away, but I could feel my heart break at the look of utter defeat she wore.

The Bard strode confidently toward me. “Ms. Stripes,” He began, holding the detonator in his magic.
As I looked past the tears streaming down my scowling face and up into his gorgeous green eyes, Elegy grinned warmly and held the detonator out for me to take it. Confused, I furrowed my brow and glanced between the device and his comforting smile. “I assure you,” he continued, “I only wish to talk.”

Time stood still. My jaw slowly dipped downwards as I stared, stunned and uncomprehending at Elegy’s encouraging grin. After I finally regained my senses, I lit my horn and reached out for the detonator. Elegy’s magic gently yielded to my own as the device traded owners once more.

The Bard had thoroughly beaten us—and without a fight, no less. For a few terrifying minutes my mind had wandered to the most horrible places it could imagine as I pondered exactly what awful things I would be forced to do as a slave. But just as quickly as it had been ripped away from me, my freedom had been restored in full. I couldn’t even begin to form words capable of conveying all that I was feeling. Instead, my mouth worked silently as I shook my head and clutched the detonator to my chest.

“W-What?” Lily’s confused stammer broke the silence. “But…”

Elegy and I looked to Lily’s bewildered expression as she trailed off. Elegy chuckled and addressed Lily directly. “Is mercy really such a foreign concept to you, Ms. Belle?” Shrugging he added, “Sometimes we all just need to be shown a little kindness.”

In a contemplative tone, Elegy asked, “Perhaps you believe that we are enemies?” Shaking his head and gesturing to both Lily and himself with a hoof, he stated, “Hardly my dear. Personally, I would see us become the closest of allies. Although, that decision is entirely up to you.” Craning his neck back to wink at me, he continued, “We would all be so much happier if we were to make love instead of war, don’t you think?” I shrank away from his flirtation, rubbing my leg with a hoof and feeling entirely too objectified.

Still grinning, he sat down and held his hooves to his chest before stating. “But of course, I am only one stallion. And, forgive me for being so bold, I think that this task requires a mare’s touch.” One of his expertly pedicured hooves pointed in my direction as he cocked his head and raised his eyebrows. “Specifically, it needs your touch, Ms. Stripes.”

I cleared my throat, but couldn’t think of how to respond to such brazen advances. It didn’t help that I could feel an unwanted blush creeping back into my cheeks…

Elegy didn’t allow me any time to compose myself. With a wicked smirk he inquired, “Psyker informed me that you were, shall we say, inexperienced?” As heat bloomed in my face, I averted my eyes from his salacious grin. But even with my gaze elsewhere, I could still hear the grin on his lips as he affirmed, “Yes, I can see that is most certainly the case.” Several of his cohorts snickered into their hooves at that. I huffed and pursed my lips in distaste, wondering if anypony in the room possessed even an inkling as to how a proper lady was supposed to behave. Suspecting not, I snapped my tail angrily and tried my best to not focus on my burning face. I had certainly endured enough of his double entendres and innuendo for one evening. So much for Elegy being a gentlecolt…

The teasing laughter died down just before Elegy addressed Lily directly. “Ms. Belle I implore you, do better to keep her safe.” My brow wrinkled at that, and I looked up to better understand his meaning. Turning once more to me, Elegy smiled and simply stated, “There are very intricate plans for Ms. Stripes that are already in motion. Please do not allow her to come to harm.”

My ears perked up at that, but before I could ask what in Equestria he could possibly mean, Elegy sighed in relief and brought his hooves together in front of his chest. “Ah, finally!” he cheered. “We have arrived at the heart of the matter!” Green magic coalesced in the tip of his horn before three bright purple pillows popped into existence at our hooves. Gesturing to the cushions, Elegy offered, “Please make yourselves comfortable. I have quite a lot to tell you.”

After a moment’s hesitation, and after I had safely secured the detonator in the bottom of my packs, I sat down and waited for Elegy to continue. I had no idea what it was that he wished to say, and my curiosity was begging for some answers. I could only surmise that Lily was nowhere near as intrigued as I was, for as soon as I sat down I witnessed Lily’s pillow zip past Elegy’s head and smack Double Header squarely in the face mid bubble-blow. Elegy rolled his eyes and sighed as the surprised sports-mare yelled obscenities and tried to scrape her gum out of the fur on her muzzle. Lily walked to my side, but remained standing and at the ready. A small grin spread across my face as I looked up at my vengeful protector, and it widened a bit further when I noticed Grumpy jeering at Double Header from the brim of Lily’s hat.

“If we’re all done being silly,” Elegy sighed, “this is really rather important.” Taking his seat, Elegy held up a hoof and stared directly at me. I redirected my attention to The Bard as he announced, “First and most importantly, know that the zebra orb resting upon the altar is yours for the taking.” Holding up his hooves in a supplicating manner, he continued, “But I implore you, do not remove it from its perch until you are ready to leave this place forever.”

He was just going to let me take it? That was more generous than I had expected. Wondering about his stipulation, I wrinkled my brow and cocked my head, “Why shouldn’t I claim the orb right now?”

“Look all around us,” he responded. Flinging his forehooves wide open, he gestured to all the magnificent flora of the room. “The plants here are flourishing, even without sunlight!” I have to admit that I was surprised to hear him remark about the exact same enigma that had puzzled me earlier. Inclining his head in my direction, Elegy inquired, “You know, don’t you? You know what the ponies here were trying to do?”

I sat up a little straighter. “They were studying zebra magic.”

He nodded. “Indeed. And these plants bear the very literal fruit of their labor. They grow because of that artifact. Because of the misunderstood magics of a maligned people.” Casting a nervous glance at the treetops, Elegy whispered conspiratorially, “To put it rather bluntly, there is simply no telling what might happen once you take the orb from its altar. I, for one, would rather not be here to find out.” Several of his gang nodded their heads in agreement. Lily and I shared a curious glance with each other, but I quickly turned back to Elegy when he resumed speaking.

“But that isn’t to say that you should leave the orb here!” he declared. “Imagine what could be done in this desert if you were to tap into and harness this magic! What wonders might you bring to this land if you were to unleash the raw power of life itself!?” His hooves nearly shook with the passion of his plea, and in his eyes I recognized a zealous optimism I hadn’t seen in far too long.

Trying my best to not be swayed by the faint hope he had already enkindled within me, I asked, “You seem to have plenty of magical aptitude yourself, and that’s not even considering your followers or Psyker. So why would you need me?”

Elegy smiled and leaned forward on one hoof, completely engrossed in our discussion. I had the feeling that I had been lead down the exact path of conversation he had hoped I would follow. “It is a zebra artifact,” he explained, “and only an individual with zebra blood may use it properly. Regrettably,” he added as he sat up straight on his pillow, “there are only four such individuals left in this desert.”

Elegy glanced to his right as thin beams of light shot out of his horn and projected a silent, moving image of a familiar zebra huddled over a cauldron in a smoke-filled hut. Elegy waved his hoof at the image, speaking like a young colt giving a presentation in class. “Half-Moon is, unfortunately, not interested in this idea.” Half-Moon looked up from his brew and turned in our direction, frowned, and shook his head before Elegy continued. “No matter the offer I made, whether it was a mountain of caps, a never-ending river of wine and chems, or a veritable herd of pleasurable company… he always refused. For whatever reason, he believes that he has another purpose in this life.” Reaching into a dried-gourd at his side, Half-Moon produced a pinch of glittering, green powder. With a quick breath, he blew the sparkling dust straight at us, and Elegy’s magical image rippled like a disturbed pool of water before splashing to the ground like paint. Elegy turned in my direction, rubbing his temple as if he had just acquired a headache. “I have met very few ponies that I could not convince to see things my way, but zebras are another matter entirely. Half-Moon simply cannot be swayed.”

Another image shot out of Elegy’s horn, this one of a zebra buck who didn’t look much older than me. The zebra stood alone on a rooftop overlooking the desert. His body was covered in thick, plated barding, and a dangerous looking striped and scoped rifle rested against his scarred neck. Elegy huffed and pursed his lips before introducing the unknown zebra. “Adamant’s zebra, Scas, is…” The Bard paused to groan before he continued with scorn and disgust in his voice, “He is Adamant’s zebra.” Scas turned toward us and gave a cocky grin before flexing a bicep and puffing out his chest. A second later, he pantomimed aiming his rifle in our direction and firing, then fell over on his side laughing soundlessly. Elegy held a hoof to his face as he grumbled and allowed the image to fade away. Placing that hoof back on his pillow, Elegy explained, “Scas is fiercely loyal to his captain, and would turn the orb over to him without a moment’s hesitation.” With no small amount of venom in his voice, Elegy spat out, “I would sooner trust this artifact to a mule than see it fall into The Outcasts’ possession.”

The magical window opened once more, and I nearly jumped out of my seat. On the other side was Nohta, engaged in a brutal melee with a dozen ghouls in a dimly-lit hallway lined with lockers. She was already covered in cuts, bruises, and caked-on gore, but a fire burned in her eyes as she lashed out again and again at the small undead herd rushing toward her.

“Your sister, on the other hoof,” Elegy explained, seemingly oblivious to the distress on my face, “is an excellent example of all the martial and physical prowess of your mother’s people, and should you not wish to pursue this path, she should prove a viable alternative.” Nohta had caved in three ghoul heads with Mother’s horseshoes by the time Elegy had finished his sentence, and was sweeping the legs out from under another by the time he spoke again. “But ask yourself this, Ms. Stripes: between the two of you, which one possesses the best chance to utilize this orb to its full potential?” Nohta ducked underneath a lunging tackle from a fifth ghoul before drawing her pistol. From my perspective she seemed to hesitate, standing still for a fraction of a second before placing four perfectly accurate rounds through four rotten skulls. Watching my sister use S.A.T.S. in the middle of combat was both terrifying and awe-inspiring. Elegy tried to reclaim my attention by asking, “Does Nohta have the raw, unbridled arcane talent that you do?”

Nohta made several more unaided shots with The Worm, blowing huge grey-red chunks out of another of the remaining ghouls. The final few didn’t last long after that, and all had their brains splattered across the dirty linoleum floor or the rusted mauve lockers. Nohta was left standing amidst a pile of decomposing bodies, breathing heavily from her exertions.

Lily snorted at my side, chuckling. “Damn. Nice moves, kid.”

My sister tried to wipe the gore off her face, but halfway through smearing red across her cheek she paused and turned in our direction. With a puzzled glance, she walked toward whatever Elegy was using to spy on her, and inspected it. My hoof reached out toward her, hoping that she might be able to see me as I could see her, but she only snarled and jabbed sharply toward the window. Elegy’s projected image exploded in a starburst pattern. I closed my eyes, still holding my hoof out to my sister’s silent image.

It was bittersweet, but it was relief all the same. Yes, Nohta was injured and probably fighting for her life, but she was still alive. The indomitable determination in her eyes was enough to convince me that this city wouldn’t stop her. One way or another, we would be reunited.

I felt a hoof on my shoulder, and opened my eyes to see Lily nodding encouragingly. “We’re gonna get her back.”

I responded in kind. “I know.”

Elegy addressed me directly once more. “Candy Stripes, you are our best hope.” Now that I knew Nohta was relatively okay, he had the bulk of my attention again. With wide sweeping gestures of his hooves, he laid out his plans. “From a desert, you can create an oasis. Ponies and zebras and griffins and buffalo and everyone else will flock to this land! And you will provide for them something that they have never known before.” With a grin he paused, and with both Lily and I hanging on his every word I couldn’t help but feel he did it solely for dramatic effect.

Spreading his hooves wide, he gestured once more to the abundant plant life all around us. “Plenty,” he finished.

I had to mentally rewind our conversation for a moment in order to remember what he had said while Nohta was fighting the ghouls. His plan seemed rather… grand, to say the least. But was it possible? And if so, could I actually pull it off?

Elegy called out to me across the expanse of my mental wanderings. The mirth and excitement in his voice were nearly overwhelming, as if he were an investigator that had finally solved the greatest mystery in all the world. Beaming, he asked, “Did Psyker not tell you that together, we would save countless lives?” Furrowing his brow, he shook his head and exclaimed, “How many ponies die everyday because their bodies are not properly nourished? How many more ponies grow so hungry that they are driven to murder over a mere mouthful of bread?”

Was… Was it really that bad out here? I hadn’t seen any evidence of widespread malnutrition since coming to the surface. There was my own bout of hunger when my sister and I left for Coltsville, true, but that seemed to be an isolated case brought on by equal parts ignorance and recklessness.

I shook my head, realizing that I didn’t have enough information to make any proper assumptions. But I knew somepony that did. If anypony in the room might know about fighting over basic necessities, it would be the raider standing at my side. Looking to Lily for answers, I caught her staring pensively at her hooves.

The look on her face told me everything I needed to know. It was like a piece of her puzzle had fallen into place. “Lily?” I asked in a shaky voice, “Have you ever…” I caught myself, and amended my question. “Do ponies really kill each other for food?”

She clenched her jaw, but wouldn’t meet my eyes when she answered. “We’ve all done things we regret.”

Hunger is a powerful motivator. And just as Elegy had claimed, it comes in many forms. When we really, truly, believe that we need something, we will go to nearly any lengths to claim it. But then, you and I already know that, don’t we?

“I see…” I bit my lip. It was certainly no time to sate my curiosity on such a matter. With a slight tremble in my voice, I added, “I’m sorry.”

Elegy didn’t give her time to respond. With a warm and hopeful smile, he pleaded with me. “Imagine my dear, what it would be like to have your name cheered in the streets. Imagine the smiles on their faces and the joy in their hearts as ponies from all walks of life bless the ground upon which you walk! The very ground that you have made fertile and rich with your magic!” Jabbing a hoof in my direction, he spoke slowly to emphasize his next words. “You. Candy Stripes. The Life Giver.”

My eyes widened. For one fleeting moment I could actually see them. An entire town, perhaps even a city, replete with lush greenery and thousands of well-fed and cheery inhabitants. An oasis in The Wasteland where my sister and I wouldn’t just be tolerated, but loved. Was this… Was this actually possible? Was this really what Psyker had meant when she claimed we would be saving lives?

Elegy continued his persuasive assault with a devastating one-two buck. “This world is in dire need of heroes, Ms. Stripes. But you could be one. And you wouldn’t have to harm a single soul in the process.”

Oh Goddess… His words were striking every chink in my armor. I couldn’t help but wonder if this was actually possible! What if I could do this? I didn’t know the first thing about agriculture, but… I certainly knew alchemy! And if I could just learn a bit more about the magic of Mother’s people then who knew what I could accomplish!?

I blinked, stunned, and shook my head as my thoughts raced. “This… This is…”

Lily put her hoof down, striking the stone dais hard. ”This is too good to be true,” she declared. “You’re not telling us something, Elegy.”

The Bard shrugged. “I confess that I know next to nothing about this artifact. But look around us! The evidence of its power is plain to see!” He stared straight at me, lifting his hooves to beg. “Even if you spent a lifetime studying this orb and only managed to grow a few paltry pear trees, it would be a life well spent in the pursuit of a good and noble cause! Building upon that knowledge, we could revive the plant life of this entire desert! In time, maybe even all of Equestria!” Spreading his hooves wide, he looked around the room and boldly asked, “What do any of us have to offer that could possibly be too much to give in order to turn this bleak and barren wasteland into a beautiful and bountiful Equestria once more?”

Returning his gaze to me, he nodded and tapped the floor in front of him to emphasize his argument. “This is the turning point. This is where we change the world for the better, Ms. Stripes.” Leaning back, he offered an embarrassed smile. “I hope now that you can forgive my earlier eagerness, and my unsavory methods. Even a stallion such as myself is hard-pressed to maintain his composure when he knows that he is on the precipice of witnessing history in the making.”

A wide and bewildered grin had spread across my face. I turned to Lily and placed a hoof on her shoulder as I tried to explain. “Lily, this is…” I started, unsure of how to make her see. Shaking my head, I smiled and simply stated, “It makes sense!”

Lily huffed and extended a bladed wing at The Bard. “Candy, nopony can lie like this motherfucker. He could be feeding us a load of brahmin-shit and we’d never be able to tell until it was too late!”

It was my turn to plead. I stood up, and asked her, “But what if he’s telling the truth?”

Lily scowled and raised her voice. “He has to be lying! It’s what he does!” She turned to Elegy and pointed an accusatory hoof in his direction. “Just look at him! You see any guns? Any knives? No, you don’t! That’s because words are his fucking weapons!” With every word she was becoming more and more irate. Slamming her hoof down again, she yelled, “What do you get out of this, Elegy? I know you’re playing an angle here, so what is it?”

The Bard dismissed her claim with a casual wave of his hoof. “This is no ruse, Ms. Belle. I benefit from this no more or less than anypony else.”

“I’m not buying it,” Lily growled. “Either tell us the truth or shut the fuck up.”

The Bard raised his eyebrows, but otherwise adopted an almost hopeless, bored expression. “What can I possibly say to convince you?”

Lily’s wings flared as she stomped her forehooves on the ground and yelled, “I’m not fucking around, Elegy!”

“Of that, I am quite certain,” Elegy nodded, “but my question remains the same.”

Lily’s eyes narrowed, and her ears slowly laid flat against her mane as her voice grew low. “Are you willing to die for this?”

Most of The Bard’s gang flinched at Lily’s words, pulling weapons and lighting magic in their horns. They were still checking to make sure their guns were loaded when The Bard stood up straight and replied, “As a matter of fact, I am.” Turning back to his gang, Elegy calmed them down with a wave of his hoof before responding to Lily. “But I already know that I won’t. Not here. Psyker has informed me that my passing will come surrounded by friends, and that her loving embrace will be the last thing I feel before I accept my death.” With a small grin, he shook his head. “I cannot imagine a more peaceful and fulfilling way to die.”

He believed her with all his heart; I could hear it in his voice. He had no idea what Psyker had asked me to do.

Raising a stern eyebrow, Elegy berated Lily a little further. “So you may make your threats if you wish, Ms. Belle, but you should understand that they ring hollow in my ears. I am not intimidated in the slightest.” Lily snorted, and I laid a hoof on her shoulder to try and keep her calm. She never stopped glaring at Elegy or clenching her jaw, but she did fold her wings.

Before I could speak to her, The Bard addressed me once more. “But what about you, Ms. Stripes? Do you believe that I am telling the truth?”

I hesitated when I met his eyes, unsure of how to respond. Psyker had said that he wouldn’t lie to me, after all. But still, Lily was right beside me and her eyes were begging for an answer from me even more than Elegy. I took a deep breath, and a moment later finally gave my response. “I… I trust Lily.” Out of the corner of my eye, I could just catch Lily’s face shift into her familiar smirk. That smile of hers was becoming rather infectious, I couldn’t help but give her a quick glance and a grin of my own.

Elegy chuckled to himself, and shook his head in light-hearted defeat. “Hmm. Of course you do.” Setting me with a look that was all business, he raised a hoof to his chest and explained, “I have information that you desperately desire. As a gesture of goodwill and as a token of my faith in you, I will volunteer that information freely.” At my questioning gaze, Elegy asked, “What do you wish to know about the attacks on your caravan and stable?”

My jaw dropped, and I stood up from the pillow, too engaged in the sudden turn of conversation to allow myself to sit. I craved answers, and this stallion had just rung the dinner bell. My voice echoed that voracious hunger when I boldly replied, “Everything.”

Elegy nodded, and turned back to his gang. “Thin Mint, come here, please.” The little mare with green hair and brown eyes that had previously stolen my detonator squeaked in surprise, and cautiously walked forward one frightened hoofstep at a time. She was visibly shaking when she reached The Bard’s side, staring at my eyes as if she expected me to turn into a manticore and rip her throat out.

“A little over a year ago, Thin Mint was contacted by a member of Stable 76,” Elegy revealed as he gestured at Thin with a hoof. “Go on, dear,” he prompted her. “Tell them all that you know.”

So Lily’s theory had been correct after all, and this mare had been a crucial link in that chain of events. I took a step closer, glaring at the tiny pony in front of me. She gulped, and tried her best to hide behind her mane while she sputtered, “I-I-I don’t really kn-know all that m-m-much. H-He was t-t-t-tall. B-b-big. And he had a r-r-rough v-voice.”

I made no effort to soften my voice as I demanded, “What else?”

She squeaked again, covering her eyes with her hooves. “I n-never saw his f-f-face!” she admitted. “He always w-w-wore a hooded c-cloak.”

“What did he want!?” I only realized that I was yelling after the words had already left my throat. Thin fell prone on the floor, shutting her eyes tight and holding her hooves over her head as if a bomb was about to go off. But I had neither the time nor the inclination to care for how this pony felt. Slamming my hoof against the dais, I shouted again. “Tell me!”

Elegy reached out to the little mare, and rubbed his hoof against her shoulder. “It’s okay, Thin.” With his reassurance, Thin found the strength to open her tear-filled eyes and stand to her hooves. Elegy nodded encouragingly, and gestured in my direction with a tilt of his head. “Tell her.”

Thin rubbed the wetness out of her eyes and took a deep breath. She began speaking slowly, and carefully, but with every word she grew more assured and less afraid. “He… knew that I was in Master’s troupe. He asked me to be the courier for a contract with Garrote’s mercenary gang.”

Lily perked up, standing beside me with a look of shock on her face. “It was Garrote’s crew?” she asked before flaring her wings and snarling. “Arrgh! That son of a bitch has gone too far this time! I’ll tear that bastard’s beak off and shove it up his—”

“No!” Thin mint interjected. “No, he… He wanted me to contact Garrote. But…” Thin paused, glancing up at Elegy as if she wasn’t sure what to say. When Elegy calmly nodded Thin turned back to us and disclosed, “Psyker and Master told me to give the contract to somepony else.” Tapping her hooves together timidly, Thin Mint bowed her head and whispered, “My sister. Sweet Pea.”

I looked away from Thin for a moment, and asked my friend, “Lily, does that name sound familiar to you?”

Lily clenched her jaw and nodded. “Yeah, I flew with Sweet Pea’s crew on a few jobs up in Manehattan. Mostly clearing bloodwings and manticores out of buildings so ponies could live in ‘em.” Glaring skeptically at Thin Mint, Lily challenged her. “But Sweet Pea never mentioned that she had a sister.”

Thin Mint’s lips quivered as she admitted, “We… we didn’t really grow up together.”

Elegy shot Lily an annoyed look, and rubbed Thin’s shoulder again. “Keep going, dear.”

Thin continued a moment later, emboldened by Elegy’s presence. “The pony that gave me the contract was very specific about what he wanted done. Two mares were supposed to be allowed to escape the ambush, and then two stallions were to be left unharmed by the fighting. But everypony else in the caravan…” She trailed off, and I found my mind racing. She had already given me much to consider, but I needed specific details! Not frustratingly vague descriptions!

Furrowing my brow, I prodded for more information. “Two stallions? Who were they?”

When Thin Mint cowered at my question, Elegy took it upon himself to answer. “I would wager that the mares in question were your sister and yourself, Ms. Stripes. But as for the identity of the stallions, your guess is every bit as good as mine.”

Lily’s voice, a little gruffer than usual, sounded off at my side. “How were the griffins supposed to know who to let live?”

Thin Mint grimaced, and pointed a hoof at my PipBuck. “The cloaked stallion gave me a slip of paper with the instructions on it. There was something about radio signals?” She shook her head before continuing. “I-I didn’t understand all the technical details. But I know it had something to do with your PipBucks.”

Lily scowled at Thin and demanded more answers. ”Griffins don’t do anything for free. What was the payment?” Lily was proving to be an extraordinarily beneficial font of insight into the nature of mercenaries.

Thin winced and turned her cautious gaze in my direction. “The location of your stable, to be given after the caravan was dealt with.”

Elegy rubbed his hoof reassuringly across Thin’s shivering back as he elucidated. ”The slave wagons were already well on their way to your stable when the mercenaries attacked your traveling companions. By now, they will have traveled beyond Ghastly Gorge and be closing in on their destination.” With an apologetic frown, he stated, “Your stablemates are being taken to Fillydelphia.”

I recognized the name, but only vaguely. However, Lily seemed very familiar with it.

“Fuck…” she sighed and shook her head.

I looked to her for answers again. “Fillydelphia? But that’s…”

”Red Eye,” she spat. “The same asshole that has the slaver army tearing shit up out there. And the alicorns.”

Elegy was quick to provide his own opinion of this mysterious pony. ”Red Eye is actually quite amicable once you get to know him. And even if I don’t entirely agree with his methods, or his choice in allies, I do believe that he has Equestria’s best interests at heart.”

Lily’s wings sprung from her sides just as violently as her outraged voice erupted from her throat. ”He’s a fucking slaver!”

Elegy raised an eyebrow, and pointed a hoof at Lily. ”And you are a Thunderhooves, Ms. Belle. Those in glass houses shouldn't cast stones.”

Lily pointed a hoof back at him. ”Oh, you can fuck right off with that shit!” Snarling, she added, “The only reason this hasn’t gotten bloody yet is because of the note Psyker left Candy the other day!”

With an amused grin, Elegy raised his eyebrows and gazed in my direction. ”Oh? Psyker has left many messages across this desert. Most of them for you.” I felt my own eyebrows raise at that. Latching onto my curiosity, Elegy quickly continued. “This one in particular must have contained quite the interesting piece of information to stay your companion’s hoof.”

I had to be careful, that much was certain. If I just came out with the truth then the whole gang was liable to attack us all at once. Instead, I tried to redirect the conversation down an alternate yet related path. Furrowing my brow, I asked, “Why would Psyker allow The Outcasts to hunt you?”

The Bard folded his forehooves across his chest, snorting contemptuously. ”Hmmph. ‘Allow.’ As if anypony can truly control Adamant.” Rolling his jade eyes, Elegy added, “I’ll give that fool one thing, he certainly lives up to his name. Not even mules are as stubborn.”

Lily inclined her head like a bull ready to charge, and hissed through her clenched teeth. ”Adamant has more honor in his nose hairs than you do in your whole body.”

Sighing, Elegy dismissed Lily’s claim with a wave of his hoof. ”Adamant’s antiquated notions of justice are, much like the pony himself, relics of a bygone age.” He took a deep, calming breath before looking back to me. “His only redeeming quality is that he is unyieldingly loyal to Psyker, and that makes him useful to her.” Elegy shook his head and shrugged. “As for why Psyker would not at least discourage this harassment? I can only assume that she wishes to drive me from this desert by resorting to means which she knows fully well that I despise.”

Something wasn’t adding up. I cocked my head to the side, and asked, ”Why would she do that? I was under the impression that you were her top pony?”

”I was, once.” Elegy nodded, pausing with a pensive expression on his face. His voice just barely a whisper, he added, “A lifetime ago.” A heavy sigh preceded a slump in his shoulders as a weary look overtook his face. Pain was etched into his features as he explained all at once, “Now she ignores my counsel, casts me aside in favor of others, strips me of the ponies I once called brothers and sisters, conscripts them into her fighting force, sends them to raid the very town from which I derive my livelihood, and edges ever closer to ushering in the total annihilation of this desert and all of its inhabitants.”

I shook my head, confused. In a flustered voice, I spat out, “ ‘Total annihilation?’ I thought you said that she wanted to save lives, not end them? Why would she do that?”

Lily stepped closer to me, and demanded an answer for her own question. ”And if this isn’t all just a bunch of brahmin-shit and you do actually disagree with what she’s doing, then why the fuck aren’t you taking the fight to her doorstop?” I pursed my lips and nodded in agreement. Even if Lily’s word-choice was a bit odd, I knew perfectly well what she meant.

Elegy grinned, but the smile on his lips couldn’t possibly have been any further from an expression of joy. In a slow even voice he confessed: “Because I love her.” I… I hadn’t been expecting that. I felt my eyes widen as I took in the sight of Elegy, who was now nervously tugging at the edge of his pillow. Even if it was possible that everything else he had said thus far had been utter rubbish, I knew in my heart that what he had just admitted was true.

With his eyes glancing between Lily and I, he went on, “I know Psyker better than anyone else could ever hope to. She truly believes that her actions are completely necessary. And she is willing to do absolutely anything to achieve her goal.” He closed his eyes and shook his head for a moment in quiet contemplation, and then opened them to the altar at my back. “But I believe that she is underestimating the power of that orb. And her actions will usher Mareon into a war that we cannot possibly win.

”I apologize,” he sighed again before continuing. “What I am about to ask of you is difficult to say. And you do not yet have the proper context to understand my request. Allow me to rectify that.”

The Bard glanced back to the bulk of his gang, and in unison they all strode forward to stand at his side. I took a reflexive step back as Lily placed herself between the gang and me. For a moment I wasn’t entirely sure what was about to transpire, but when Firn pulled a worn but beautiful acoustic guitar out of her packs and placed it at Elegy’s hooves I reclaimed my spot at Lily’s side, growing more curious by the second. In the back of my mind, I remembered that this guitar was the item we needed to claim The Bard’s bounty…

What followed was one of those moments that is at once absurd, beautiful, and overwhelming. For a time, it even succeeded in making me completely forget about the bounty. With the rest of the room enveloped in an all-encompassing silence The Bard closed his eyes, lifted his face, and began to sing.

“I was fleeing through the desert pale,
From all of the ghouls hot on my trail,
When the clouds parted and I saw the moon.

With my body spent and ammo gone,
I wanted to leave this world a song.
With these six strings I played myself a tune.”

The stallion levitated his guitar to his hooves and began strumming, seemingly lost in his own music. Lily began tapping her hoof on the floor, and leaned in to whisper in my ear, “This guy may be an asshole, but he’s got a hell of a voice, huh?” When I nodded in response she continued, “You know, I usually go for metal or dubstep but this country stuff ain’t so bad either.”

My brow furrowed as I whispered back, “What in Equestria is dubstep?”

Unfortunately, I wasn’t going to get my answer that day. The Bard, still playing his guitar with practiced and comfortable precision, chose that moment to light his horn and suffuse his song with all the power of his magic. His impassioned singing became as clear as crystal, and his guitar’s notes rang through the room with an ethereal beauty. I realized then that what we were hearing was special. It was his real voice. His singing voice.

The resultant weakness in my knees left little doubt in my mind as to exactly why he had such a large troupe at his beck and call. It didn’t matter to me what Elegy was singing about, so long as he kept singing! By The Goddess, I was forced to hang onto Lily’s hoof for support! Fortunately she also had a wing to wrap around my shoulders as we listened, rapt, to The Bard’s tale.

“Seeing those ghouls in that soft, white light,
Was enough to give me quite a fright,
And I thought for sure that my time was through!

“But right before my own bloodshot eyes,
Each one of those ghouls was crystallized!
Locked forever inside magenta tombs!

“Now there wasn’t time for me think,
Barely long enough for me to blink,
But I was certain that I had to move,

“When my savior appeared before me,
radiant in all of her glory.
Shining bright, standing bold, and singing true.

“And she sang,

“ ‘Boy! You’ve got to lay down your rifle!
Don’t you ever, pick up ‘nother gun.
Boy! You’ve got to lay down your rifle!
Now lift up your voice and sing me a tune!’

“She told me that her name was Psyker,
And I already knew I liked her.
My perfect angel, in ivory hue.

“I followed her as long as I could,
I followed her ‘til I understood,
My angel was a devil with a feud.

“Oh my fair lass she was a raider!
And there weren’t none that could escape her!
Those ponies all tried, but none made it through.

“And each time her grisly deeds were done,
She’d laugh and sing, ‘Hah! Now, that was fun!’
But one day I snapped, and sang her a tune.

“And I sang,

“ ‘Girl! You’ve got to lay down your rifle!
I can’t stand the sight of what you’ve done.
Girl! You’ve got to lay down your rifle!
Or else all I’ll be singing is the blues.’

“The smell of blood was thick in the air,
when she dropped her gun and turned to stare,
And her eyes, well, they pierced me right on through!

“But here I am, still alive and well.
Our love won out, and kept me from hell.
And then I heard her say, ‘Only for you.’

“Before the clock had struck the hour,
By our passions we were devoured,
Deep in the heart of Tower 52.

“My angel’s love had kept me alive,
But the devil inside had claimed her prize,
When she cried, ‘I can’t be in love with you.’

“And we sang,

“ ‘Oh! You’ve got to lay down your rifle!
Damn this heart and all it’s put me through.
Oh! You’ve got to lay down your rifle!
Before somepony lays it down for you.’

“Throughout the years I had come to know,
In spite of the pain her visions showed,
She never spoke words if they were not true.

“So when she asked me for one last thing,
I bit my tongue until it did sting,
And agreed to play my part in her ruse.

“She said, ‘No one can know my true aims,
To unite this land and bring the rains.
They must think me the villain, through and through.

“ ‘But I am sorry, my dearest friend,
It does no good for us to pretend.
I just can not see myself loving you.’

“And so I sing…”

The Bard paused for a moment, savoring the silence in the room before he played his music softer than before. When he continued, the pain in his voice nearly brought me to tears.

“Oh! You’ve got to lay down your rifle!
There’s nothing in this world worth fighting for!
Oh! You’ve got to lay down your rifle!
Nothing’s fair in either love or war!”

With a final stroke of the guitar strings the melody softly faded to silence, and Lily and I shared a pained expression. The last line of The Bard’s song had struck a rather awkward chord between the two of us, and its effects were already resonating through my heart. I unwrapped my hoof from Lily’s leg and winced as I tried to keep tears from welling in my eyes. A moment later she removed her wing from my shoulder.

Elegy’s forlorn eyes opened to stare directly at me. I felt my lips tremble as I realized that I wasn’t the only one trying not to cry. Allowing the light in his horn to fade, he made an impassioned plea in a nearly broken voice. “I do not have the will to harm Psyker. So I must beg you…” He paused just long enough to wipe his eyes and swallow the lump in his throat before turning back to me. “Stop her. Stop her before she kills us all.” Taking a deep breath, he finally revealed Psyker’s plan. “Psyker is going to activate S.P.P. Tower 52, and bring rain and sunlight to this desert. And in so doing, she will call down the wrath of a storm the likes of which The Wasteland has never seen.”

To my side, I heard Grumpy squeak frantically. A second later, Lily gasped and whispered, ”The Enclave…”

Elegy nodded before placing his guitar back in the care of Firn. ”Correct, Ms. Belle. Psyker believes that the coming farmland will need more natural means of sustenance.”

He took one final moment to regain his composure, and then explained. “Conventional wisdom in this desert is that Tower 52 is malfunctioning. I confess that I may have had a hoof in spreading that rumor. It is actually Psyker’s tampering with the inner workings of the tower that causes the clouds to split open in the sky. She is learning how to control the weather in this desert, even as we speak.”

Gesturing to his eyes, Elegy continued, “Due to her sight, she also understands that her tinkerings are small, easily ignored, and always mistaken by the pegasi for legitimate mechanical malfunctions. But as soon as Psyker fully enacts her plans, The Enclave will realize what is going on and be forced to action.” Goddess… This was all so much more than I had imagined. My thoughts raced as I tried to piece it all together.

Elegy grimaced and shook his head before saying, “By organizing the raider gangs and then staging attacks on Mareon, she hopes to force Mareon to fortify its defenses in preparation for the real war. But I have to wonder how anypony can properly prepare for the coming force of hundreds, or possibly thousands, of power-armor clad pegasi.”

Furrowing his brow, he lifted his hooves in an entreating gesture as he asked, ”She may see things beyond our comprehension, but how can a simple coalition of scavengers and traders, fighting side-by-side with raiders they do not trust, possibly hope to stand against the crushing might of this world’s greatest military force?” Lowering his hooves, Elegy pleaded with us. “Psker’s actions will end with this desert bathed in a downpour not of rain, but of death. And I fear that The Enclave will not be content to stop there.”

Shaking his head, Elegy shrugged helplessly. ”I love her. I can not bring myself to stop her. But neither can I stand idly by while she ruins our best chance to save our home.”

In a voice rife with pain, he held a hoof to his heart and finally begged, ”Please. Help me. And if you can find it in your heart…” Elegy paused to take a deep breath just before he made his most difficult request. “Spare her life,” he asked. “She is a good mare. She just needs to be reminded of that.”

Elegy’s gang stood still behind him, as silent as the grave and looking just as mournful. Their pained expressions perfectly conveyed how familiar they all were with this tragedy. They had doubtless heard it hundreds of times previously, and were surely prepared to stand with The Bard until the very end.

The silence after his plea stretched for ages. In that time I traded nervous and confused glances with Lily more than once, unsure of what to do. I tried to remember all the pertinent details. I tried to untangle the web of lies and deceit. I tried to see where I lay in the middle of all this. But in the end all I could do was latch onto the last falsehood I had been offered.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, and steeled my nerves. “No,” I objected. “No, she’s not.” All eyes in the room turned to me. “She’s not a good mare. And neither are you a good pony.”

I set Elegy’s puzzled face with a stern glare. “By your own admission, the both of you helped organize the murder and enslavement of all the members of my stable, including my father. I can’t possibly forgive you for that.”

I glanced at Lily, and at my look she licked her lips and dropped low, ready to pounce on my command. I pursed my lips and shook my head, feeling heat rising into my neck and face as I struggled to contain my emotions. “But,” I continued, fuming, “I can also recognize which of you is the greater threat.” Lily craned her neck around to face me, and I caught her confused expression.

I gently laid my hoof on Lily’s shoulder and turned back to Elegy before declaring loudly, “Psyker asked me to kill you.”

Elegy balked at that, allowing his jaw to drop as his expression turned sour. He was quick to cover up his distress, but that one little moment was the chink in his armor that I needed. His cadre of ponies were even more alarmed, unholstering guns and charging magic in their horns while they traded nervous glances. Shaking his head, The Bard tried to laugh it off. “I’m sure that you misunderstood. Psyker has never lied to—”

“Psyker said that you were the only pony that could stop us,” I cut him off. “And that you would attempt to do so if I left you alive.” Lily had already pulled an inhaler of Dash out of her mane, and was holding it in her clenched teeth. She and the sports-fan ponies were ready to turn this into a bloodbath! I had to choose my next words very carefully.

“She also informed me that you would speak nothing but truth during this meeting.” Lily glanced at me, eyes wide and confused while I divulged another little secret that Psyker had confided in me. The Bard nodded, and listened intently. “So now, I’m left with a logic problem. And the only answers I can see are that either you both are lying, or you are both telling the truth.” I stepped up beside Lily, and tuned out the rest of the ponies in the room as I glared at the gorgeous stallion in front of me. “With all of the aid she has given me thus far, I have much more reason to trust Psyker than I do you. But that doesn’t particularly mean that I want to be her lackey.”

You could have heard a pin drop in that room, even if it fell on the grass or leaves. A rainbow of magical auras pointed weapons in my direction. Lily pawed at the ground beside me, licking her lips while her wings twitched in anticipation.

“That’s why I’m going to let you leave here alive.” I placed as much emphasis on that word as I could, emboldened by Psyker’s prediction. I felt the tension in the room ebb just before it was replaced by a thick cloud of confusion. Still glaring at Elegy, I declared, “You are going to live, and you are going to do everything in your power to help us stop her.” Glancing back at Lily’s confused face, I whispered, “The enemy of my enemy…”

While everypony in the room was still stunned into silence, I turned back to the altar and scooped up the little white orb in my hoof. The moss-covered monitors near the altar flashed warning signs as their readings took a sharp nosedive, and the colorful zebra runes blinked out one by one. Beneath my hooves, I felt a low rumble. Assuming it was just another distant explosion from outside, I stuffed the white orb into my packs alongside the black one, and resumed scowling at The Bard.

“But with Luna as my witness, Elegy,” I hissed. It was finally time to unleash all that hatred that had welled up inside my breast. “If I ever see you again after that, I will kill you myself.”

“That…” Elegy frowned, and glanced back to the anxious faces of his gang. “Will you allow my troupe to leave this desert unscathed?” I have to give the devil his due, as much as I despised that handsome stallion, he did care for his ponies.

I swished my tail and pursed my lips. “As long as they leave tonight, then I don’t see why that should be an issue.” Lily may have grumbled a bit under her breath at that, but even if she wanted revenge for Margarita’s liquor still, she had to realize that we were outnumbered.

Sighing, Elegy turned back to me and nodded. “Then I accept.”

Emboldened by how easily I had managed to take charge of the situation, I declared, “Good. Now I have several questions I wish to ask, and I expect honest answers.” Poking a hoof toward Thin, I added, “And no more of these emotional games! I’ve had quite enough of that!” Thin’s eyes widened as she squeaked in terror and darted behind Elegy.

As The Bard gestured for me to continue, I narrowed my eyes and asked, “I understand how the griffins were to be compensated for their part in all this, but what exactly did you get out of it?”

“Absolutely nothing,” Elegy replied in an emotionless, business-like demeanor.

“Brahmin-shit,” Lily piped up. “You’re not the kind of pony to do anything for free.”

“I didn’t receive any compensation for this other than knowing that Ms. Stripes and her sister would remain within these lands long enough to play their parts in Psyker’s plan,” Elegy countered. Behind him, Thin was visibly shaking.

After a moment filled with high-pitched squeaks coming from atop Lily’s ear, Lily growled and pointed at the quaking little mare. “Then what’d she get?”

Elegy winced. I shot a quick, appreciative glance at Lily for the backup just before Elegy encouraged Thin to step forward again. The little mare stared at the ground while she explained, “I d-didn’t get a-anything, but Psyker…” she paused, looking up at Elegy with frightened eyes. Gently placing his hoof on her back again, he nodded silently. Just like before, Thin took a deep breath and spoke clearly. “Psyker promised that my sister would never go hungry again.”

A fleeting moment passed where I almost found myself sympathizing with the wretched little creature before me. Hearing her concern for her sibling’s well-being was like looking through blurry, stained, and cracked glass to see a beautiful statue on the other side. I wasn’t quite able to look past how much I loathed the pony that had been the linchpin of my life’s upheaval, but I could at least recognize that under different circumstances I might be inclined to do something similar for Nohta. Come to think of it… It wasn’t that dissimilar to what Nohta had already done for me.

Of course, the thoughts stirring in my head were largely moot. My moment of reflection was shattered when Lily challenged Thin’s reasoning. “Sweet Pea makes more caps in a week than most ponies see their whole lives. How the fuck is she gonna go hungry?”

Thin recoiled, lifting a hoof up to her chest and taking a quick step backward as if she were about to run. Her silence allowed Elegy the chance to answer for her. “Hunger comes in many forms, Ms. Belle.”

Lily snorted, and snapped her tail behind her like a whip. “The fuck is that supposed to mean?”

Thin Mint gasped and stared directly at Elegy, pleading with those wide brown eyes of hers as she violently shook her head back and forth. “Master, please!”

Elegy turned back to us, his eyes a little harder than before, and stated flatly, “I’m not going to tell you.”

While Thin was busy letting out a titanic sigh of relief, I was busy raising my eyebrow. “And why not?” I asked.

Elegy straightened up, and looked me directly in the eye. “Due to the stipulations of our agreement, I am almost completely certain that my life will soon be forfeit. As such, I no longer have any desire to bargain for my own well being. But I will not betray the few brothers and sisters that I have left, or the trust they have placed in me.” Thin wrapped a hoof around Elegy’s leg, brushing her tear-streaked cheek up against his shoulder as she thanked him.

Lily pursed her lips and nodded. “Well at least you’ve got more backbone than Ballad did.” Contrary to what I would have expected, Lily’s tone bore a begrudging admiration. Of course, that was tempered by the cutting remark involving the gang member that had sold out her companion. I was certain that Lily meant it as a reminder of the members of Elegy’s gang that she had already killed in Mareon.

Elegy’s face was like a stone, but his silence belied the seething hatred that I was sure he felt at that moment. He maintained that emotionless expression until the ground rumbled insistently underneath of us. I couldn’t remember hearing the explosion, but I had to surmise that the fighting outside was getting closer.

I cleared my throat to regain The Bard’s attention, and then asked another question. Remembering Lily’s outbursts whenever Psyker’s name popped up in conversation, I asked, ”Can you give us any information regarding how we might stop Psyker?”

“I can only speculate, Ms. Stripes, and I would very much prefer if you attempted to reason with her,” Elegy shrugged. “But whatever action you take, I urge you to not engage her in combat. Psyker is by far the most powerful unicorn I have ever seen. If my memory serves me correctly, I seem to recall her once attributing her prowess to exposure to I.M.P.”

I furrowed my brow. “I.M.P. ? What is that?”

“I am not sure,” Elegy admitted. “All that I know for certain is that it was a potion created by one Ms. Twilight Sparkle. Beyond that, I can only speculate.”

My ears perked up as I recognized the name of the mare and remembered the potion she had brewed: the same potion that Psyker had instructed me to imbibe earlier. Perhaps the I.M.P. and the F.A.E.R.I.E. were related? There was no way to tell for sure, but given Psyker’s reputation for magical ability and a possible link between the two potions, the possibility that I might have gained more than I realized was tantalizing, to say the least. And more than a little unsettling.

I had one last question for Elegy after that. It was more an idle curiosity than anything direly important, but still, I needed to know. Wrinkling my brow, I asked, “How is it even possible for Psyker to see the future?”

“That, my dear, is for me to know, and for you to find out.” Elegy gave an apologetic shrug before continuing. “Psyker explicitly forbade me from answering that query long ago. Instead, she insisted that I memorize her idea of an appropriate response, just for you.”

Elegy made air quotes with his hooves and recited in a taunting, haughty voice, “ ‘If you want to understand my magic, girl, then first you need to learn yours.’ “

I snapped my tail behind myself in frustration. Sighing at his non-answer, I tried to reason with Elegy one more time. “Have you already forgotten what I told you? Psyker wishes for me to kill you. Why in the wide world of Equestria would you still do her bidding?”

I never got my answer. Instead the ground rumbled beneath our hooves once more, and for far longer than any of the other explosions. As I adjusted my balance, I accidentally stepped on one of the vines lying atop the stone dais. It was pulverized under the weight of my hoof, crushed into a dry powdery dust as if it had been subjected to centuries of unrelenting heat without the barest drop of moisture to sustain it.

In retrospect, I probably should have taken that as a warning sign…

“Perhaps we should continue this conversation elsewhere?” The Bard asked, gesturing to a doorway near the back of the room. “I’d really rather avoid whatever calamity is coming our way.”

Lily stepped closer to me, and whispered into my ear. “Uh, not to sound like I’m siding with this asshole but I actually kinda agree with him.”

Noting the anxiety in her voice, I turned to face her. “Lily?”

Wincing, she tapped her forehooves together and glanced toward the ceiling. “If the ground starts shaking again, I’d really like to not have tons of concrete over my head.” She did seem to have a fair point on that matter.

Nodding, I turned back to The Bard and hastily restated my demands. “You are free to play your part to counter whatever infernal games Psyker is engaged in right now, but after that you will leave this area. Forever.”

Elegy clenched his jaw and obstinately stated, “You do understand that under no circumstances will I even entertain the notion of harming Psyker, correct?”

I pursed my lips and stared him down, hoping to find the right thing to say. Elegy might have been the most persuasive pony in the whole desert, but with just that one look I knew that no amount of words would ever cover up the truth in his eyes. He really did love Psyker. He would do anything for her. Even if he knew that she would never love him back.

He was a desperate creature clinging to the only strand of hope he still possessed. In the back of my mind, part of me wondered if he and I weren’t so dissimilar in that regard. After all, it hadn’t been that long since I had screamed myself hoarse in the orchard, begging Luna for a sign.

My hard glare softened, and I let out a breathy sigh as I shook my head. I don’t know if it was sympathy or pity that moved me to speak more kindly to him. “If everything that you have told me is true,” I began, “and Psyker really does wish to transform this arid desert into fertile farmland, then please inform her that I am willing to play my part.” Lily coughed loudly behind me. I glanced back at her to see a doubtful expression staring back.

I raised a hoof to her shoulder, and gave a gentle nod of my head before turning back to Elegy and laying down my terms. “Perhaps we can come to some sort of an agreement, if she ceases with her devious schemes and desists from inciting violence amongst the residents of The San Palomino. But sooner or later, Psyker will have to answer for her crimes.”

By my side, Lily let out a soft chuckle. “I knew there was a reason I liked you, babe.”

The Bard hung his head for a moment before lifting his hooves in defeat and suggesting, “Then at least I will have time to convince you otherwise.”

”Fuck no, you won’t!” Lily blurted out with a stomp of her hoof. “We’re leaving right now! And you assholes can find your own way outta here!” I scarcely had time to agree with her before Lily’s hooves were coaxing me off of the dais and toward the aforementioned exit.

The Bard lifted a pleading hoof just as we were trotting past him. ”Wait! I… I would like to give you one last thing before we part.” Despite Lily’s protests, I slowed down and raised an eyebrow as I stood before Elegy.

Glancing behind himself, Elegy called to his gang. “Carte Blanche?”

The last unknown unicorn in the group stepped forward but remained silent. He was a rather plain-looking stallion; to be perfectly honest the only remarkable thing about him was the fact that he was wearing a PipBuck on his right leg.

Elegy explained himself as Carte approached. “My troupe and I have been using the subway tunnels stretching between Fancy Lick and Spursburg to evade Adamant’s ruffians for years now. I hope that they might keep you safe as well.” Gesturing to my own PipBuck, he asked, “May I?”

I pursed my lips and raised a doubtful eyebrow, but eventually offered up my hoof. Elegy’s horn lit bright green, and connected a thin wire between Carte’s PipBuck and my own. A moment later, the names of a few dozen underground locations had popped up in my field of vision. When Elegy removed the wire, I silently held my PipBuck to my face and eyed the map he had given me.

“Consider it a parting gift,” Elegy whispered with a pained smile.

Lily snorted, “Right. Like we even need to worry about Adamant’s gang. I’ll take the surface route.”

Ignoring Lily, Elegy grimaced and held a hoof to his heart. “And for what little it is worth, Candy, know that I am sorry for what I have done to you. I know that it wasn’t right, but neither Psyker nor I knew of any other way to keep you in this desert long enough for you to save it.”

I felt the sincerity in his words, and I couldn’t help but hope they were true. Part of me wanted to believe that he was sorry, and that he might actually be a good pony if he could just turn his life around. However, the rest of me couldn’t forget that these past few weeks of hardship in my own life were his fault. That part of me wanted to draw my weapons and start firing as quickly as I could pull the triggers.

In the end, I didn’t respond to him at all. I simply glanced back to Lily, nodded, and then the two of us continued past The Bard and his gang without a word. Drying grass and withering ferns crunched underneath our hooves as we trampled toward the door in the back of the room.

Above us, several of the trees had traded in their lush green leaves for a beautiful mixture of yellows, oranges, reds, and browns. The oppressive green of the room was slowly receding as the plants shriveled and died before our eyes. I could only surmise that since I had removed the white orb from the altar, the plants and fungi were no longer receiving whatever magical nourishment had sustained them. If nothing else, it did mesh rather well with Elegy’s theory that the orb had some sort of power to stimulate plant growth.

When we were just a few hoofsteps from the doorway I paused to take one last look around the room. Witnessing the results of my actions on all the magnificent flora around me brought a pang of guilt to my heart. It reminded me of the tragic outcome that had resulted from my misplaced shot in my stable’s library. I shook my head and turned back toward the door, trying to convince myself that I was not doomed to leave a trail of destruction in my wake. As it turned out my ponderings were somewhat apt. That precise moment, as my sister might have put it, is when all hell broke loose.

A thundering crash sounded just behind me, sending shockwaves that rumbled through my very bones as the room was flooded with light. All the vibrant hues in the room were obliterated in an instant, painted over with a uniform ivory coat. Before I could glance behind me a surge of magic slammed into my side with all the concussive force of a bomb blast, forming a thick layer of purple crystal all around my body. I blinked, stunned, and felt my eyelashes scrape against the hard magenta surface just in front of my face.

Lily was faster than I was, and spun around just as the crystal enveloped my body. Through a purple filter, I watched her blood-red eyes go wide in abject horror before her wings flared at her sides. Turning back to stare at whatever was taking place behind me, Lily mouthed a single word that aptly summed up the entire situation. “Fuck!”

Elegy’s alarmed voice was the next to sound off, uttering a single word as the bright white light in the room dimmed to a cool glow. “Psyker?”

That same tired, throaty voice I had heard in her audio recordings sighed in response. “Elegy…”

Oh Goddess! Psyker was here!? If I had been able to move my jaw would have dropped, but the crystal prison did nothing to keep my heart rate down. I was straining my eyes to see behind me, but saw nothing more than a pale aura of light. With dread, I realized it was nothing more than the titanic glow of Psyker’s horn as she powered down her magic. Elegy hadn’t been lying about her! I hadn’t even realized a unicorn could hold that much power!

Heavy hoofsteps fell on the ground behind me, coming closer. Lily gasped, then sneered and dashed past the edge of my vision. Another cacophonous explosion of sound and light later, and Lily was hurled into the wall in front of me. She shrieked in anger and surprise, kicking her legs and flapping her wings wildly as she struggled against the ivory cloud snaking around her limbs. Pysker’s magic dragged Lily several feet above the floor and pinned her in place against the wall before splaying Lily’s wings open like a butterfly in an insect collection.

Lily was still cursing in pain and rage when Psyker growled, “Wait your turn, bitch.”

The hoofsteps resumed, slowly plodding in my direction as I watched the shadows on the walls flee before Pysker’s advance. When the only shadow left was my own Psyker stopped and stood still, just outside my field of vision. In a cold, dead voice she whispered, “You disobeyed me.”

Even if I had known what to say I couldn’t breathe, let alone speak! Psyker continued a second later, speaking so softly that only I could hear her. “You were supposed to do this yourself, girl. Now I have to rectify your failure.”

A second set of hoofsteps galloped toward us, and Elegy asked in a panicked voice, “Psyker? What is all this? I’ve already convinced them to lend us their aid!” Behind him, the rest of his gang’s confused cries of shock echoed his concerns.

For a moment all was silent save for Lily’s strained grunts as she tried to escape the magic holding her in place. Then Elegy’s voice called out again. “Psyker?”

What I heard next defied every expectation. Close behind me, just over my shoulder, I could hear quiet sobbing. In a broken voice Psyker murmured, “It’s the only way.”

There were more hoofsteps behind me, approaching slowly and cautiously over the dried grass. “Psyker, it’s okay. I’m here, Love.”

The sobbing continued, growing louder as Elegy tried to reassure her. “Shh… It’s okay. We’ll figure this out.”

A deathly silence fell over the room as Psyker’s weeping ceased. Lily even stopped struggling against the magic, staring wide-eyed over her shoulder at whatever was taking place behind me. A fleeting glimmer of hope, like a solitary moonbeam shining down through a pale cloudy sky, danced through my mind.

Psyker whimpered out a heartbroken apology. “I’m sorry. It’s the only way.”

I watched in horror as the white cloud over Lily’s left wing condensed and tightened. I listened as Lily’s agonized scream curdled my blood. There was nothing either of us could do. Psyker’s magic ripped a bladed feather from Lily’s wing, snapping the chains and bolts holding it in place as if they were little more than frayed twine and dried twigs. The blade zipped past my face, whistling through the air before plunging into flesh.

Elegy grunted and coughed, and I heard blood splatter against the floor before he choked out, “P-Psyker?”

A chorus of ponies shouted in unison, “MASTER!”

One tired voice sobbed, “You would have stopped me.” Psyker’s voice devolved into quiet murmurs as she repeated, “You would have stopped me… This was the only way.”

Elegy’s voice, wet and thick with what I could only assume was his own blood, whispered, “L-Love?”

“I never wanted to hurt you!” Psyker cried out. Her voice was manic, desperate. Every word came out a little louder and more shrill than the last. “Why didn’t you listen to me? Why doesn’t anypony ever listen to me!?”

Elegy’s weakening voice, still warm and caring, spoke in a soothing whisper. “Psyker… This is—” Elegy coughed, straining to eke out just a few more raspy words. “—just the way… you said…” He never finished what he was going to say. The last thing I heard from him was his body slumping to the floor.

The silence was near-absolute, broken only by the anguished sobbing of one immensely powerful unicorn standing just behind me. In front of me, Lily was staring unblinking and slack-jawed at what had just transpired. Amidst it all my oxygen-deprived mind was racing, trying to make sense of it all and failing in spectacular fashion.

Before I could piece everything together, one of the remaining gang members shouted in shock and anger, “You killed him!”

Psyker kept sobbing. “Why doesn’t anypony ever fucking listen to me?” Shouting at the top of her lungs in my direction, she cried, “This is your fucking fault! This is all your fucking fault!”

Her shrieking echoed off the walls and the trees, and a blazing light colored everything in the room bright white. The tipping point had been reached; her sorrow had boiled over into rage. A booming scream filled with anguish erupted out of Psyker as her magic filled the air. “I see EVERYTHING! You want to know what the future holds if you don’t listen to me!? IT LOOKS LIKE THIS!”

That was all the warning anypony got. Psyker screamed in suffering and fury, and I felt a colossal amount of energy rip and tear its way through the air. Not even a second later a titanic shockwave rippled through the ground, jarring my brain and rattling my teeth together as I watched the blowback scatter tree branches, terminals, and bits of rubble into my field of vision.

“She just killed Firn and Flare!” I heard Double Header scream. “She’s lost it! Put her down!”

I… I almost don’t want to imagine what took place behind me after that. The wall in front of me lit up like a theater screen, awash with a dazzling display of prismatic lights as spells and bullets hurtled through the air. The shadows of unicorns and trees were silhouetted against the wall, offering fleeting glimpses of the carnage playing out behind me. What I saw, what little I could see, chills me to this day.

I could hear bones and tree branches snapping, ponies shrieking in agony, bullets plinking uselessly off of magical shields, arcane flame, frost, and lightning being flung in every direction, more teleportation spells than I could count, and beams of energy melting through wood, flesh, stone, and metal alike. Something heavy smacked against a tree trunk with a wet splat, crashing through leafy branches before impacting what I could only imagine was a bank of terminals. The ground shook as the trees splintered and fell, cracking stone beneath their weight. And all the while, ponies were screaming in terror and begging for their lives.

Lily, seemingly forgotten by Psyker, tumbled to the floor in a heap. Still nursing her bloody wing, she darted to the front of my crystal and slammed her hooves into my prison. “Candy!” she screamed, “We’ve got to get the fuck out of here!” Grumpy leapt to and fro along her ear, barking out a warning just before a hail of bullets slammed into the hard crystal behind me. As Lily ducked behind my purple prison a volley of lead whipped past her hat and impacted the wall next to us. With a wide-eyed look of terror, she yelled, “Come on! Help me break this!”

With manic desperation, Lily pounded her hooves into the crystal above my chest over and over again, but never even managed a single crack. I charged as much magic into my horn as I had at my disposal, but with the corners of my vision already going dark, I barely managed a spark. Neither Lily nor I were able to make any headway with the crystal at all! Distracted by my exertions, I never even noticed that the room had fallen silent once more.

A blinding ivory light shone from a source just behind me, and I heard Thin Mint plead in a panicked shriek, “No! Please! I did everything you asked!”

Psyker paused long enough to ask, “Who are you loyal to?” At Thin Mint’s pathetic sobbing, Psyker repeated the question, but louder. “WHO ARE YOU LOYAL TO!?”

The sobbing stopped, and a brief flash of green light preceded an entirely different voice—one much harsher and more raspy than the timid mare—that yelled proudly, “Long live the Que—” A sound somewhere between snapping bones and crushing eggshells cut the voice off just before a blue-green liquid I couldn’t identify splashed against the floor at my hooves.

Lily looked up as the liquid nearly splattered across her hooves, and her wings flared wide just as the cloud of white magic returned to coil around her body and slam her against the floor. She gasped as the wind was knocked out of her, and squirmed futilely against the force crushing her against the ground. I watched in horror as the magic tightened around her left wing and jerked it upwards, directly in front of my face.

Psyker’s anguished voice spoke right beside me. “You made me do this…” She stepped close enough that I could just see the edge of her mane, which was a purple so ghostly-white that I had trouble believing it could exist. The tip of her horn was real enough though, and the light shining from its edge was more intense than even the magic of the alicorns. Whispering again, she stated plainly, “I could crush the life out of her with just a thought. Is that what you want? Do you think that would be fair?”

My eyes went wide. I struggled against the crystal, fighting to move, to cast a spell, to scream, but nothing worked. My limbs were too weak, my magic not potent enough, and my throat only managed a terrified and muffled murmur.

“You made me kill my only friend.” Psyker was growing manic, with every word coming out a little more unhinged than the last. “You made me kill the only stallion I…” Psyker trailed off, her breath hitching in her throat as she fought to control her breathing.

Psyker tightened her magical grip on Lily’s wounded wing, and slowly began bending it in the wrong direction. Lily screamed in pain as the joint teetered on the breaking point. Goddess, I couldn’t do anything but watch! And I couldn’t bear to look!

The tell-tale sound of magic played right beside my ear, and the ivory cloud gripping Lily’s wing abruptly vanished. Lily folded her wing against her body, rubbing it with a hoof while glaring daggers at Psyker. In a hushed whisper, Psyker stated, “No. No, you still need her. I can see that. And I can see a much better way to repay you than this.”

A second later, the bloody blade was flung carelessly in Lily’s direction, clanging against the floor and clattering to a stop just in front of her face. She snatched it up and hugged it to her chest while Pyker maintained the telekinetic grip pinning her against the ground.

Agonizingly slowly, and just when I was sure that I would pass out from asphyxiation, Psyker whispered in a voice that sent shivers down my spine and lined my heart with frost. “I will never forgive you for this. There is no revenge you could ever conceive of that will come close to what I will exact upon you one day, Candy Stripes.”

Pulling back from my ear, Psyker released her magical hold on Lily and growled, “See you in 85.” And with those last cryptic words, the crystal shattered into a thousand tiny shards all around me. My burning lungs filled with air as I gasped and choked, but before I could speak a single word or even turn to see her face, a torrent of magic flooded the air beside me, and Psyker disappeared in a deafening crash of thunder.

My mane fluttered with the force of her magical exit, and I reflexively shut my eyes tight from the booming magical explosion at my side. When I opened them and lowered my hoof, I could see the absolute devastation that Psyker had wrought upon the remnants of The Bards. Broken and bloody bodies, some charred from fire or lightning, some bludgeoned with clubs or hooves, and others ripped apart by pure magic, lay scattered around the room. Limbs and entrails hung from the burning branches overhead. Flecks of skull had been pasted to tree trunks, glued in place by the smeared brains they once encased.

I shook my head and gasped at the devastation, turning back to find Lily lying on the floor grimacing. As the smell of smoke reached my nostrils, memories of burning books resurfaced in my mind, and I knew that we needed to move quickly. I raced to Lily’s side and helped her get back on her hooves. “Lily, are you okay!?”

She winced as I held her hoof. “A little dinged up, but I’ll live. You?”

I nodded, and rummaged through my packs for a jar of Sweet Water, holding it out to Lily with my magic. “I’m fine! Drink this, quickly! That fire is about to spread!”

As she threw her head back to chug the jar of purple liquid, I turned my attention back to the carnage that had been wrought upon the room. Deep channels had been melted into the walls; evidence of an exceedingly powerful magic beam. The tops of most of the trees had been shorn off, and most of the plant life had either been reduced to ash, or was still burning. Even the monolithic tree in the room’s center had been blackened, with a gigantic, scorched impact crater splintering its bark and exposing the wood underneath to the flames feeding off its neighboring flora. Not even the stone dais and altar had been spared; both of them were shattered, reduced to a pile of rubble, power cables, and dust.

Just when I thought the devastation couldn’t have possibly been any worse, a colossal cracking noise echoed through the room all around us. I watched as one of the nearby vines growing up the wall withered and died, turning grey and drying out in the span of seconds. That… That was much faster than the previous rate of desiccation I had witnessed…

As Lily finished her potion, I watched a wave of gray-brown death radiate outward from the stone altar as all the last remnants of beautiful green life in the room shriveled up and expired. The tree branches, roots, and the vines clinging to them gnarled and twisted in on themselves. Where the largest roots came into contact with the walls and floors, they crumbled and buckled the concrete under the force of their constriction before crumbling into a fine powder and spilling out of the holes they had bored through the structure. As the horrific realization of what was coming next washed over me, a tiny piece of the ceiling bounced off the dying floor right in front of Lily, and I saw her ears lay flat against the sides of her head.

Lily’s jaw dropped, and the bottle slipped from her grasp to shatter against the floor. She gazed through the rising smoke and whispered, “Oh, fuck me…” The creak of several tons of loosening material above our heads answered her, and in response she grabbed me by the hoof and bolted in the direction of the door, all the while screaming at the top of her lungs, “THIS IS WHY I FUCKING HATE OLD RUINS!” Yanking at my hoof, she darted toward the door as fast as her legs could carry her.

At first, I struggled to keep up with her as she raced through the halls. But as the facility’s structural integrity deteriorated ever further, and a deep rumbling and crashing sound grew behind us, I found that I could run just a little bit faster. The plants that would have blocked our passage just minutes ago were now nothing more than brittle husks and stems, and Lily’s blades carved through them like butter as she blazed a trail for me to follow. Behind us, the caving ceiling crashed to the floor one massive chunk at a time, kicking up dust and debris that flew past my head and obscured my vision.

In her haste, Lily blitzed right past the stairs leading to the subway tunnels. I came to an abrupt stop and shouted as loud as I could, “Lily! This way!”

She skidded to a halt, and glanced between me and the stairs. With frantic motions, she screamed back at me, “The tunnels!? Are you fucking kidding me!?”

The collapsing ceiling was seconds from overtaking us. I screamed at my best friend, “We can’t outrun it! We have to take cover!” Turning down the steps, I paused one last time and turned to plead with her. “Hurry!” I saw the panic in her eyes, that one little moment of hesitation as she weighed my reason against her fear, and then I saw her sprint back in my direction before I leapt down the steps three and four at a time.

Just underneath the shaking ceiling, I could see a rusty metal train that had derailed in the subway channel, leaving a small opening between itself and the tiled platform. The ground quaked and the walls rattled as I recognized that opening as our only chance of survival. I heard Lily’s hooves clatter against the steps behind me just before the rumble reached a crescendo and a wave of force exploded in our direction. The sound was absolutely deafening, like being trapped underneath a steel bell while raiders pelted it with bullets from all angles. I lost my balance and almost tumbled down the stairs, but a strong set of hooves caught me mid-fall, and Lily was able to keep the both of us aloft just long enough for us to reach the flat platform at the bottom. She pulled up with all her might at the last second, but only managed to keep us from slamming headfirst into the dirty tile floor. Instead, we skipped along the tiles like a pair of stones on water, and with a tumultuous crash we slammed into the train and slipped down the opening to land just beside the tracks.

I landed on my back, slamming my head against the ground. I could already feel lightheadedness overtaking me before Lily landed like a sack of very unconscious potatoes on my chest, knocking whatever was left of my breath out in a pained “Oof!” A wave of dust, glass shards, and debris blew over the platform and covered the ground all around us. All was still and quiet save for the low rumble I felt as the ministry building collapsed around us.

Miraculously, the ceiling above us had held. I sucked in breath, thanking whatever cosmic force had decided to take pity on us. For one fleeting moment I thought that we had escaped, but the last thing I remember seeing before my eyes closed was the ceiling of the subway splitting open and plummeting toward my screaming face.

I woke to a pounding in my skull and a fire in my lungs, gasping and coughing repeatedly in quick, shallow breaths before dislodging a foul glob of sludge from my throat. An impossibly heavy weight rested on my chest and stunted my attempts to draw the stale, dusty air into my lungs. The taste of dirt and rock lingered on my tongue as simple instinct drove me to fight for air, and before I knew it I was twisting and turning against the confining weight bearing down on my body. But my squirming was futile; my movements were limited to my head and right foreleg. It was only after I realized that my struggling was useless—and calmed myself just enough to ponder how I might escape my confines—that I also realized my eyes were open.

“Dark” is simply inadequate for describing what I saw. It was not just dark. I was bearing witness to the utter absence of light. The only times I had ever experienced darkness like this had been in The Stable during a total power failure. So why was it so dark now? And why did it feel like I was trapped underneath a soft pile of incredibly heavy blankets?

Oh… Right…

I lay still, breathing in the small, shallow breaths that my pitch-black prison would allow, and slowly regained my grasp of the situation. The Bard, the orb, Psyker, the dying plants, the collapsing building, the subway tunnel, and then the cave-in… Right, right… With my PipBuck pinned against my stomach I instead lifted my right hoof and pawed clumsily at my face, hoping to brush away the pulverized rock that had gathered near my eyes and soothe the pulsating ache underneath my temples.

Wait a second…

Dear Goddess! The roof had fallen directly on top of me! I had to get out of—

The “blankets” moved. Or to be more accurate they convulsed with their own coughing fit. Lily groaned on top of me as she tried to lift her head away from my chest, but lost consciousness a second later. Her cheek slumped against my throat as she resumed sleeping, eliciting an annoyed little beep from my bomb collar while Lily’s breath rustled the fur on the underside of my chin.

Oh Goddess, I might have been terrified by these circumstances, but Lily was likely to have a heart attack if she woke up! I lifted my head, wincing as my horn scraped uncomfortably against a slab of concrete, and forced myself to calm my breathing. I had to find a way to get us out of this mess, and the sooner the better!

I lit my horn, and grimaced as I saw just how little space we had in this tiny pocket by the train tracks. Above us, there was only rock and debris. A huge slab of the tunnel’s roof had fallen on the train, caving in the passenger cars and bridging the gap between the train and the station’s platform to create a roof over the channel we now occupied. By some miracle, that slab had not split in two. Judging by the size of the debris inches from my head, that slab was the only thing that had saved our lives.

Even with that stone slab holding back the worst of the collapsed ceiling, we were still buried underneath a sizable pile of rubble. Chunks of stone as large as my head were heaped on top of Lily, and since she was on top of me, we were both trapped. Most of the debris was too heavy—or too worryingly unstable—for me to lift away, but I was able to to heft a few pieces of rubble to the side with my magic. Unfortunately, the only meaningful outcome of that endeavor was that I was finally able to extract my PipBuck from underneath the unconscious pegasus on my chest. At least she had a little more room to breathe…

A few inches to my left, the station’s platform stood like an impervious bulwark against the collapse of the tunnel. To my right, the pancaked train’s wheels bit into gravel and earth. Even if it were possible for me to squeeze through the inches-wide gap underneath the mashed metro, I wasn’t so sure that I would be brave enough to try. Looking past Lily—which was quite a feat with her flattened wide-brimmed hat in the way, mind you—only revealed an impassable mound of more rubble. But by laying my head down on the ground and twisting my neck uncomfortably I could see that most of the rubble closest to my head was more akin to gravel and sand. If nothing else, that direction certainly seemed to be our best option at the time.

I lay still for a moment and examined my options. I knew that I stood no chance of extricating us from the rubble with my hooves; my magic had always been far stronger than my limbs, and it was quite obviously inadequate for the task at hoof. I was just pondering the idea of using one of my new potions when my new phantasmal friend reared his angry little head.

Grumpy clumsily staggered out of Lily’s hat, rubbed the sleep out of his tiny see-through head with a paw, and squeaked out his displeasure. For just a moment I was left to wonder why the light being shed from his body failed to illuminate any of the surroundings, but as soon as Grumpy saw my surprised face he leaned over the brim of Lily’s hat and shook his diminutive fist in my direction. My idle curiosity withered and died in the face of Grumpy’s intimidating fusillade of furious squeaks and chirps.

I winced at the verbal assault, and tried to calm him down. “Err, Grum—” His vicious little tirade continued right through my attempts at reason. I paused for a moment, letting him continue until I sensed a lull in his chittering. “Gru—” Just as I opened my mouth, the little blue monster cut me off again! Okay, enough was enough! My eyes hardened as I hissed over his squeaking, “Do I look like I speak Squirrel!?”

Grumpy’s beady little eyes narrowed as he stopped shaking his fist and silenced himself. I took that as a sign that I at least had an opportunity to speak. “I understand that for whatever reason you and I don’t exactly see eye to eye,” I paused for breath before continuing a moment later, “but you do care for Lily, do you not?” He crossed his front paws over his chest and cocked his head. The expression on his face told me that my question was incredibly obtuse. “Okay,” I nodded, “then can you and I please set aside whatever quarrel there is between us long enough to get Lily out from underneath all this rubble?” Grumpy rubbed his whiskery chin with a pale-blue paw before I added, “I’m sorry for offending you. I need your help.”

Grumpy stared right at me, swishing his wispy whiskers from side to side for a few seconds before letting out an immaterial breath and holding up his paws in a shrugging gesture. A moment later, he was standing at full attention and twisting his head in every direction to peer all around us. I assume that his reaction translated into something along the lines of “Okay.”

Realizing that I was now asking for help from a ghost—and the ghost of a rock squirrel, at that—I rubbed my eyes and sighed. “Dear Goddess, how did my life get so strange?”

A series of short, excited squeaks prompted me to open my eyes again, and I found Grumpy pointing just over my head in the direction of the less-dense rubble. I nodded as much as I could without banging Lily on the snout with my chin, and asked, “So we should go that way?”

Without warning, the little blue devil leapt from Lily’s hat and landed directly on my nose. My eyes went wide as his icy, weightless body scampered across my face and raced past the crown of my head. After a moment spent trying to recover from the shock of his chilling touch, I twisted my neck to see where he was going.

Grumpy had placed himself between two of the larger pieces of jagged concrete, jumping up and down excitedly while he pointed at something just out of my sight. Taking his enthusiasm as a good omen, I allowed a bit of hopeful optimism to bleed into my voice as I asked, “Do you see a way out?” Grumpy nodded his affirmation, gestured to whatever he was trying to point out again, and then pantomimed tugging on a lever or bar of some sort.

Furrowing my brow, I asked, “You want me to pull something?” He answered with another nod of his blueish head. “Okay…” I replied, trying my best to keep my skepticism out of my voice. “But I can’t reach that far. And I can’t see well enough to focus my magic.” Grumpy slapped his face with the palm of his paw, wafting wispy little trails of vapor behind his head before rolling his other paw over and over in the air. I was left with the distinct impression that he was telling me to A: stop making stupid observations, and B: hurry up.

With Grumpy’s squeaks for guidance—and a lot of concentration to maintain the telekinetic field on my part—my tendril of magic slowly scooped piles of powdery debris to the side, snaked blindly through the remaining rubble, and wrapped around whatever object he had noticed previously. At his signal I gently tugged with my magic, but only felt a stubborn resistance as whatever I had grasped refused to budge. I tried again, this time putting a bit more force into it, and was rewarded by the sound of metal scraping against concrete as the rubble shifted a fraction of an inch.

I nearly lost my focus as I realized that I just might be able to dig myself out of this mess after all! Closing my eyes and gritting my teeth, I yanked on the hidden metal object with every ounce of my magical strength. One end of a rusted metal I-beam lurched out of the rubble, crushing concrete as it fell before slamming into the ground a scant few inches from my head. My ears felt as if they might start bleeding at any moment from the cacophonous shrieking of the metal beam’s reluctant departure from the rubble, but my eyes were ready to cry from joy!

I gasped as I saw dim light trickle down through the rubble, and took in a sweet breath of slightly-less stale air before lavishing the little ghost with my gratitude. “Oh my goodness, I can see a way out! The tunnel isn’t completely collapsed! Thank you, Grumpy!” Grumpy crossed his forelimbs over his chest and nodded his head, but just as soon as he had dropped back to all fours a violent rumbling shook the ground underneath my back. I heard tiles, bricks, and steel crack and clang against each other in the dimly-lit subway tunnel, and a thick cloud of dust diffused the light just before a terrifying screech filled the air.

I thought that I was doomed. I thought that I had inadvertently disturbed a delicate balance of rubble, and that the precariously piled peril perched just above my face would come toppling down at any second. I thought, for sure, that Lily and I would be entombed forever underneath a mountain of debris. What I didn’t expect, was for a slimy dark-green tentacle to slither through the tiny opening I had created, wrap itself firmly around my PipBuck, and nearly jerk my leg out of its socket.

I was screaming and kicking well before the second and third tentacle snaked down the hole. Those screams turned to muffled grunts as the other tentacles coiled tightly around my neck and shoulders. I was jerked violently forward, slipping out from underneath Lily as my body twisted and contorted to squeeze through the tightly-packed space. I crashed into jagged bits of rubble the whole way, bruising my body, busting my lower lip wide open, and rending a deep gash just above my left eye. It was pure, dumb luck that my packs caught on the rubble, but that small blessing stopped my upward movement just as my bloody face burst through the opening.

Warm blood trickled down my face as I stared in unbelieving horror at the giant, pink, fleshy maw reeling me in from across the platform. Three enormous jaws, each with a line of razor-sharp teeth running down its center, were splayed wide open where the giant creature had burst through the subway walls. My eyes were bulging from the grip of the tentacle around my neck, but as my blood dripped off my nose and onto the monster’s appendage, it released my neck. I sucked in dusty air and coughed, helpless to do anything as the disgusting thing slithered over my face like a tongue. The foul creature licked up as much blood as it could, and then retracted its tentacle back into its gargantuan mouth.

A flood of memories swept through my mind: excerpts from old biology textbooks naming this beast before me, my father remarking that such a creature was actually a distant cousin to medical leeches, and even Mother mentioning a few applications for the petals of the flower this hideous monster guarded so closely. But through the recollection of all those moments burned the agonizing memory of having a mouth-sized chunk of my shoulder ripped away and swallowed. Terrified beyond all reason I drew my laser pistol, screamed for Luna’s help at the top of my lungs, and emptied the battery cell’s charge into the tatzlwurm’s gaping maw.

My paltry light show did little to the beast. I managed to singe a few spots in its mouth, and even blacken one of its teeth, but the giant worm simply roared in anger and redoubled its efforts to reel me in. I could feel potion bottles in my packs crushing between my body and the rubble, and every time I heard glass break I slipped a little closer to all those teeth.

My pistol fell, empty, to the tiled floor of the station’s platform as I inched upward. With Lily’s lighter still underneath her hat my grenades were useless. I whipped my head around to find my shotgun wedged against a bit of rubble, and realized it was one of the only things stalling my ascent. My hind legs scrambled to find leverage, and I found enough purchase to halt my movement, but when the third tentacle whipped out of the tatzlwurm’s mouth and coiled around my right foreleg I lurched upwards once more. I knew that I would never be able to teleport with those tentacles wrapped so tightly around my shoulders and limbs. As my shoulders burst free from the rubble and into the open air of the subway tunnel I knew it was over; I had no options left. I was powerless against all that strength.

A deep, powerful roar echoed down the tunnel. The repetitive vibrations of monstrously heavy hooves thundered through the floor and rubble all around me. I turned my head just in time to see one of the most beautiful sights I have ever witnessed. He was my cadaverous savior. My necrotic hero. My knight in rotting flesh.

An enormous rambler ghoul rammed headfirst into one of the tatzlwurm’s jaws, slamming a row of teeth flat against the rest of the worm’s mouth. I was snapped forward as the abrupt tension in the tentacles pulled me closer, but all three of the slimy tendrils quickly released me as the monster shrieked and focused its attention on the rambler.

I fell back down the hole in the worst way imaginable: knocking the wind out of my lungs before sliding further down and banging my chin against the edge of the platform as I bit deep into my tongue. The taste of copper pooled in my mouth while stars exploded through my vision. My back hooves landed awkwardly on the rubble underneath me, and the tendons in my ankle let off a sound eerily close to popcorn as they stretched and snapped around bone. I felt warm liquid dribble down my chin as I groaned, coughed, and sucked in dusty air before choking on my own blood, all the while desperately fighting to keep my injured hoof from touching anything. With tears already welling in my eyes and one of my legs completely out of commission, I clambered up onto the station’s platform and charged my healing magic, but never took my eyes off the battle of titans taking place just in front of me.

As the rambler reared up in preparation to stomp down on the worm’s upper jaw, the tatzlwurm whipped its grasping tentacles around the rambler’s smaller back hooves. The worm jerked its head to the side, yanking the ghoul off its hooves and sending it crashing to the floor. The weight of the ghoul’s massive shoulder cracked the tiles of the platform when it landed, and reverberated through the ground to rattle the teeth in my jaw.

Unable to use its massive forelimbs to clobber the worm to a pulp, the rambler instead clenched its jaw down on one of the tentacles wrapped around its hoof. The tatzlwurm shrieked in agony and pulled all of its tentacles back into its mouth, dragging the rambler along with them. When the jagged teeth of the ghoul shredded the slithering appendage into ribbons, a spurting fountain of blood sprayed out of the tentacle to coat the dusty floor red.

The worm retreated back through the tunnel it had bored into the subway tunnel, but not before clamping its jaws on the rambler’s right shoulder. The gargantuan teeth in its maw sliced deep channels of oozing blackish-red through the ghoul’s impressively-large muscles as the tatzlwurm slithered back into its hole, and as those teeth reached the knee-joint I heard a sickening crunch. A moment later the tatzlwurm had disappeared down its tunnel, the escape sending cascading tremors through the earth.

As I stared in a mixture of awe, terror, confusion, and gratitude, the rambler’s imposing figure hobbled to turn in my direction. Its right foreleg was missing from the knee down, leaving the jagged remains of the cracked radius bone protruding like a spike from the receding muscle and sinew. The right side of its face had been reduced to nothing more than smooth white bone and cavity-ridden teeth, but the bloodshot eyeball twitching in its left eye-socket could have almost passed for healthy. That same scarlet-irised eye kept flitting between me and the ground at my hooves, as if the gargantuan creature didn’t quite know what to think of me.

Favoring my hind leg, I stitched my tongue back together and tried to catch my breath. As the pain in my mouth faded to memory the debilitating agony in my hoof grew even more intense. Combine that with the blood in my mouth and the vertigo from using my spell on myself, and I was lucky that I didn’t retch on the floor as I poured magic into my ankle. I’m positive that the only thing that kept me from doing exactly that was the terror of standing next to a creature that could have ground me into a smear with one hoof.

Under normal circumstances I would have turned tail and fled long ago, but with Lily still underneath the rubble, and with her bomb-collar still cinched around her neck, I didn’t have that luxury. Not to mention that it would take more than a simple healing spell to properly fix my ankle. No, there would be no more running. I would stand my ground. Even if that meant I had to stand against a creature nearly three times my height and Luna knows how many times my weight in solid muscle.

Praying that slow, deliberate movements wouldn’t provoke a reaction from the gargantuan zombie, I carefully unslung my shotgun…

The ghoul snorted, blowing out a putrid blast of breath that nearly turned my stomach. Every movement of its decomposing body was jerky and erratic. The few patches of dirty white fur that still clung to its scarred hide lay matted against strips of peeling, grayed skin.

I could feel my heart thundering in my chest as I delicately loaded a slug into the chamber…

The bulging, veiny muscles in the ghoul’s neck rippled as the rambler turned its devastated face to examine the shard of bone and limp flesh that remained on its right leg. It slumped to its haunches, grimacing as it prodded the protruding bone with its left hoof. If I hadn’t been staring directly at it, I would have mistaken the quickened, distressed breathing for more of the beast’s erratic twitching.

Gently, I lifted my shotgun to take aim at that enormous eye…

That eye rolled in its socket, staring directly at me down the length of my gun. The rambler didn’t move; it stayed perfectly still, waiting for me to pull the trigger. That was all I had to do. Just pull the trigger. Then Lily and I would be safe…

That eye was still staring at me when I lowered the barrel of my shotgun. I couldn’t do it. Not like this, and especially not to a creature so pitiful. I felt gratitude, of course, but I think that the real reason I didn’t kill that ghoul was simple pity. The rambler snorted again when I brought my hoof to my quivering lips and shook my head.

Stowing my shotgun, I swallowed the lump in my throat and absentmindedly explained to myself. “You saved my life.”

Catching me completely off-guard, a weak whisper answered. “Yeah…”

My eyes shot open. I stared unblinking at the behemoth. Lifting a hoof I stammered, “Y-You can talk?”

Another whisper. “Yeah…”

The gears in my head ground to a halt. “But… You’re a ghoul, are you not?”

The ghoul’s eye couldn’t focus on me. It kept bouncing between my face and the tiled floor as the rambler replied, “Yeah…”

“You… You’re intelligent…” Even with the evidence staring me in the face, I couldn’t believe it. This pathetic hulk had a mind. As I suddenly realized the full extent of my situation I shut my eyes tight and shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts and steel my nerves for what would come next.

With my eyes still wide as dinner plates I cautiously stepped forward, taking care to not place too much weight on my severely sprained hoof. I still remembered my, er, experimentation with the filly-ghoul, and how I hadn’t felt a single ounce of pain when I had used my spell on her, but… Something told me this was different. Completely unsure of how to proceed, I somehow managed to stumble into a passable excuse for conversation. “You… Dear Goddess, are… Are you in pain?”

The rambler’s body convulsed before it drew in a sharp breath and whispered once more. “Yeah…”

I gingerly hobbled a bit closer. “Right, ah… I’ll see what I can do.” Seeing no sign that the ghoul wanted me to stop, I lit my horn and used my spell.

Trying to adequately convey such an immense and varied sensation of pain is an exercise in futility, but for your sake I will try. The closest approximation I can hope to reach is that my insides felt as if they had been put through a blender, mixed with caustic chemicals and rusty nails, and squeezed back into place until my skin was ready to burst. Of course, that’s not even mentioning the prickly itching sensation crawling over my bones, the seizing and burning muscles trying to rip themselves free of my skeleton, the heavy weight of the thick black sludge clogging up my veins, the cracked lining of my dessicated throat and shriveled lungs, the aching hunger that somehow managed to pair itself with the overwhelming nausea in my belly, the sensation of thousands of tiny superheated shards of glass piercing every inch of my ripped and tattered skin, or the immense bomb-blast of a headache threatening to split my skull wide open like an overly ripe melon. To be completely frank, I was actually rather glad that I couldn’t feel anything at all from the creature’s right foreleg. At least that limb wasn’t bathed in a sea of agony!

Before my reeling mind could break the link between the ghoul and my own body, the relatively bright and vibrant world I inhabited turned bleak, gray, and distant. By then, I was used to the sensation of sharing another’s pain as they passed from this world. What I wasn’t expecting was for the gray to be left behind as the world plunged headfirst into pitch black. And I wasn’t prepared in the slightest when that black reverted back to vibrant color, or when my world cycled through each of these states several times in quick succession, repeating the sickening pattern for as long as I maintained the magical connection.

I gasped and released the magic as I staggered on the slick floor, clutching my belly and trying to keep from throwing up. With horror splayed across my face I glanced back to the twitching eye of the rambler ghoul, only for him to whisper once more.

“Yeah…”

I had only the wildest hare-brained hypothesis as to what was going on. And even then, it was hardly something that I could test. In the meantime, with his body so severely ravaged, I had to accept the painful realization that there was simply nothing I could do for the ghoul that had saved my life.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

“Yeah…” he replied.

“FUUUUUUUUUUCCKKKKKKK!” Another voice—this one shouting obscenities at the top of its panicked lungs—emerged from the rubble by the train. The rambler jerked and seized, locking its massive eye in the direction of Lily’s screaming, but otherwise stayed calm and still. My own eyes darted nervously between the rubble and rambler, but after seeing its relatively placid demeanor I was confident that it wouldn’t hurt me while my back was turned. Or well… Confident enough that I was willing to try my luck, at least.

Tapping my PipBuck’s light on, I hobbled toward the sound of Lily’s voice and shouted down at the pile of debris. “Lily! Lily, I’m here! Hold on!”

“C-Candy!?” Lily’s voice was shrill from her panic, and raspy from all the dust in the air. “Help!”

My magic was already rolling small chunks of ceiling out of the way. “Lily, stay calm! I’m going to get you out of here!” A layer of overglow burst to life around my horn, and I just managed to tip over a flat piece of debris a little larger than an office chair. Unfortunately, that left me panting for breath as I felt my magic waning. “Li… Lily… Give me a moment. This is going to take me some time to—”

“Yeah…”

A massive decayed hoof gently nudged me to the side. I looked up to see the rambler taking my place, leaning its ruined shoulder against the passenger car and lowering its remaining forelimb to the pile of debris. With one smooth motion of its hoof, hundreds of pounds of rubble went sailing through the air to land further down the tunnel in a tremendous crash.

Lily shrieked. “WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!?”

Oh Goddess, how in Equestria was I going to explain this? “Lily, just stay calm! I, er… I may have made a friend. He’s helping us!” Just as I finished shouting back at the pile the rambler scooped out another layer of debris, flinging dozens of chunks of concrete the size of my head as easily as a foal might scatter pebbles.

“FINE, WHATEVER! JUST GET ME THE FUCK OUT OF—” Lily never finished that sentence. As the last layer of debris over the giant slab that had saved our lives was removed, she caught a glimpse of our ghoulish savior. Her reaction was just about what I expected.

“FUUUUCKKKK!”

I leapt to the platform’s edge, and extended my hoof down to her terrified face. “LIly! Don’t panic! This ghoul is friendly!”

With her red eyes as frantic as her voice, she slapped my hoof away and screamed, “What are you doing!? Run! Go!” As her hoof struck mine, a deep growl rumbled out of the rambler’s throat. I glanced back to see a look of barely checked rage in its lone eye.

Turning back to Lily, I extended my hoof again and lit my horn to brush away some of the smaller pieces of rubble that still lay on top of her. “Lily it’s fine! He saved my life!” At her incredulous stare I added, “Come on! I need you to trust me.”

Lily’s ears were laying flat against her head as she stared in wide-eyed horror at the behemoth of undead flesh at my side. As unnerving as it was to see her completely cowed, I was sure that if I could just get her out of her confining space and up onto the station she would calm down. Unsure of what else I could do, I knelt down and rolled back into the trench to join her.

As I levitated grapefruit-sized wedges of concrete off her back, I pleaded with the crumpled hat atop her head for assistance. “Grumpy? I would be ever-so-grateful for you assistance once more, please!”

A little blue head peaked out from underneath the rim of Lily’s stetson, and then ducked back underneath to emit a long series of chirps and squeaks. I let Grumpy do the talking while I busied myself with freeing Lily from her prison. By the time she was able to stretch her wings out the look of utter terror in her eyes had died down to an expression more akin to very healthy—albeit still quite fearful—respect.

The rambler moved aside as we clambered onto the station’s platform. After we had both dusted ourselves off, I tended to our scrapes and cuts while Lily fished out a broken cigarette and lit up much faster than usual. Lily was so nervous that she was twitching almost as badly as the ghoul, clinking her wing-blades together while she stared. I don’t think she even realized that the nub she was smoking lacked a filter.

“So,” Lily started in an anxious and irritable voice. “This is a first.” Taking a quick puff of her cigarette, she nodded and added, “Like, the very fucking first.”

I was busy drinking a Mana potion, but took the time to raise an eyebrow and ask, “What do you mean?”

She kept her eyes on the ghoul as she explained, “This is The San Palomino. There’s no such thing as a non-feral ghoul here.” Her eyes glanced in my direction, but quickly switched back to the rambler before she added. “Even Ditzy Doo doesn’t like to stay here for long. This desert gives her a headache.”

As soon as Lily uttered that name, the ghoul in front of us let out a grunt. I watched in a mix of disgust and confusion as what little flesh on his face remained pulled back into a half-grin. After pausing for a moment to wonder if I was actually watching a ghoul smile, and what that could possibly mean, I pursed my lips and lifted a hoof to gesture to our rotting friend. “Well I don’t know who this ‘Ditzy Doo’ is, and I’m not as knowledgeable about these lands as you are, but this rambler seems to contradict your hypothesis.”

Grumpy launched into a squeaking fit just before Lily’s eyes narrowed in concentration. A moment later, she pointed a wing at the wretched ghoul and shook her head. “That’s not a rambler.”

Taken aback by such a ridiculous statement, I swished my tail and pointed out the very obvious. “Er, Lily? He’s massive. And he was strong enough to fight off a tatzlwurm…”

Taking a step forward, Lily shook her head and stated in a much more sympathetic tone, “No. This dude’s got wings.” My eyes followed the direction of Lily’s bladed wing to find a pair of stunted, undersized, featherless flaps of flesh and bone poking out of the ghoul’s back. I wasn’t entirely familiar with the significance of that, but Lily continued her observations before I could ask. Pointing at the ghoul’s flank, she stated, “And see this? He’s got a dumbbell for a cutie-mark. Dude must have been a bodybuilder or something.”

Still twitching his tree-trunk sized limbs, the ghoul hung his ravaged head and whispered. “Yeah…”

Looking a bit more relaxed, Lily turned back to me. “Ditzy is the only pegasus ghoul I’ve ever seen in this desert, babe. The rest are just earth ponies, unicorns, and zebras, and they’re all—” Lily was cut off as the ghoul convulsed violently and drew several raspy breaths. Lily’s expression turned dark before she admitted, “Yeah, I know what’s about to happen here.” At my questioning gaze, she elucidated. “Candy, I think he’s about to turn. We need to leave.”

Having finally caught his breath, the ghoul set me with his one bloodshot eye and nodded. “Yeah…”

My eyes darted between both Lily and the ghoul. “Wait, what?”

Lily blew one last plume of smoke to the side before spitting her cigarette out on the floor. Shaking her head, she frowned at the ghoul. “That twitching? The fact he can only say one word? Dude’s about to turn feral.”

Suddenly the alternating sensations I had experienced while attempting to heal the ghoul made much more sense. Combined with Lily’s knowledge, it added another vital clue to the formation of my budding realization. Still, it was hardly a pleasant thing to learn about a complete stranger that had just risked himself to save me. “I see…”

Lily softened her voice as she addressed the ghoul. “You know what’s about to happen to you, don’t you, big guy?”

The ghoul nodded slowly. “Yeah…”

Lily grimaced. “I feel like a fucking mule for asking this, but…” She trailed off, frowning at me before she turned back to the ghoul and timidly asking, “Do you want me to… You know… End it?”

The ghoul’s breathing sped up as he twitched and grunted, but he never said anything. Given the circumstances, we took that as a “No.”

Still speaking softly, Lily asked for confirmation. “You’re gonna fight it ‘til the end, aren’t you?”

Snorting through the one nostril he had left, the ghoul grunted out, “Yeah…”

A small smirk spread over Lily’s face. “Of course you will,” she asserted, and beat her hoof against her puffed-out chest. “You’re a pegasus!”

Before I could inquire further, Lily splayed her wings wide and nodded at the ghoul. “Thanks, big guy. You’re alright.” With renewed confidence, Lily walked right up to the ghoul and tapped his massive bicep with her hoof, then stared up at his lone eye and solemnly whispered, “Witnessed.” Oddly enough, I felt a tingling chill run down my spine as she said that word. It didn’t last long, however, and had already faded by the time Lily turned to me with a nod. “Time to leave, Candy. This guy’s got a date with Stormwalker.”

I was hopelessly lost. “Er, what?”

“I’ll explain later. Let’s go.” Hooking a hoof behind my foreleg to urge me along, Lily guided me further down the tunnel. I cast one last glance over my shoulder at the massive pegasus that had saved my life, but after nearly falling on my face due to misplacing my injured hoof on scattered bits of debris I decided it was better to watch where I was going.

A quick glance at my PipBuck later, and the maps provided by The Bard let us easily orient ourselves in the general direction of Spursburg. We picked our way past all the tripping hazards and ducked into a maintenance access tunnel running parallel to the subway proper. With the exceptions of centuries worth of dust and cobwebs, the narrow tunnel was spared from collapsing. Of course, the relatively tidy appearance of our immediate environs did little to assuage Lily’s claustrophobia—she had only tightened her grip on my leg since we had entered the passage—but we were at least able to proceed at a fairly rapid pace.

Just as I noticed the smell of oil mingling with the musty scent of mushrooms and mold, Lily spotted an open door at the end of a short hallway to our right. Tugging at my leg, she tilted her head toward the door. “C’mon. This way.”

Lily nudged the door to the side with her good wing, and the both of us stepped into a room filled with metal racks and shelves. Boxes of railroad spikes, adhesives, and various tools lined the racks while the shelves on the walls bore a small collection of dirty water bottles and boxes of pre-war food. A pair of skeletons lay in the corner next to a rusted barrel with a metal grate sitting on its top.

Lily shut the door and locked it behind us before immediately turning back to me and stating, “You’re limping.”

I winced, not wanting to slow us down. “I sprained my ankle in the rubble by the train.”

She stepped forward, wrapped a wing around me, and helped me over to the corner with the rusty barrel. Pulling my bedroll from my packs and spreading it out by the wall, she asked, “How’s your horn? Can you fix this?”

I pulled my packs off and sat down on the bedroll, resting my back against the wall and glancing worriedly at the skeletons next to me. “Moderately strained, but I drank a Mana potion. I should be able to heal myself shortly.”

“Alright, but don’t overdo it, okay? We’ll need your magic later.” Sitting beside me, she gently reached out and cradled my sprained hoof in her forelegs. “This one, right?” I nodded, and she asked, “Do you have any spare cloth? I can wrap it to keep the swelling down.”

I shook my head, “No, don’t worry about it. Any swelling will die down once I’ve used my magic.”

With a smirk, she asked, “Want me to kiss it and make it all better?”

I grinned but shook my head. “Keeping it elevated should suffice, but thank you for the offer.” Leaning my head against the wall, I stared up at the ceiling and tried to piece everything together. “I’ve witnessed some fairly strange things since I’ve come to the surface, but what just transpired has me more worried than any of them.”

“I guess Psyker really does want you alive for something,” Lily nodded. I glanced back to find her staring at the skeletons by the barrel.

“All the evidence points to that conclusion,” I nodded. “After seeing the aftermath of her wrath I think I understand now why the bounty for her is so much higher than it is for the other raiders.” I took a deep breath and rubbed my temples, trying to think. Shrugging, I admitted, “I have no idea what we could possibly do to defeat her.”

Lily raised an eyebrow, and hugged my ankle to her chest a little tighter. “Do you think The Bard was telling the truth? About her plans for Mareon?”

I paused, thinking it over. After a moment I nodded. “I do. Some of the things he said were fantastical for sure, and some of his claims were downright absurd, but… Something big is about to happen, and for better or worse we have a part to play in Psyker’s plans.”

I adjusted my leg to sit a little more comfortably, and tried to change the subject. “How was that ghoul intelligent?” Lily cocked her head to the side, prompting me to explain, “The only other ghoul that I’ve ever seen that displayed any semblance of intelligence was Bright Eyes. I didn’t think that was possible.”

Lily licked her lips and scowled, gazing at the skeletons in the corner. “Everywhere else, there are lots of ghouls that didn’t turn feral. You just never see any in this desert.” Grumpy poked his head out of Lily’s hat and slapped his ghostly paw on her forehead, prompting Lily to add, “And Bright Eyes is… weird.”

“Have you ever seen her yourself?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she nodded. “I’ve killed her a whole bunch of times with my rifle, but every time I blow her head off she just glows with magic and grows it back. Then she glares at me.” My eyes widened at that statement, belying how impressed I was. Grinning at my expression, Lily chuckled and admitted, “Hunting ghouls is a lot easier when you can fly a few hundred feet above them, babe.”

A troubling thought occurred to me. My ears lay flat against my head as I gulped and asked, “How common are pegasus ghouls?”

Seeing the worried expression on my face, Lily shook her head and chuckled reassuringly, “Don’t worry. The only ones that can fly are the intelligent ones. So that knocks it down to…” She furrowed her brow and glanced up at the ceiling, as if she were solving an incredibly difficult mathematical equation. “...About five, I think. Really, the only one I see all that often is Ditzy Doo, and she’s a total sweetheart.”

I furrowed my brow. “Why don’t the feral pegasi fly?”

“Fuck if I know,” she shrugged her wings, and answered my question with one of her own. “Why don’t the feral unicorns use magic?”

I was about to respond that magic was beyond complicated, and that I didn’t believe for a second that a creature devoid of intelligence could possibly utilize even the most basic of spells, but then I remembered my first real use of magic. My spell had activated so easily before I earned my glyph, even though I hadn’t received any training in its use whatsoever. It came to me as naturally as breathing.

Shaking my head, I admitted, “I don’t know.” Scarlet light filled the room as I focused my magic on my hoof, “But I do know that we’re wasting time. I don’t want to keep you underground any longer than absolutely necessary, and I very much want to find Nohta.”

Lily smirked and tugged on my hoof, “As much as I’ve enjoyed keeping you all to myself, I have to admit that the fighting was a lot easier when there were three of us. I kinda miss Short-stack, too.”

With a devilish grin she added, “And if I can convince her to take point, then that means I’ll get to stay in the back and admire your butt.”

“You’ll admire my sister’s hoof in your face if she catches you doing anything of the sort,” I giggled.

“And what if you catch me?” she teased.

I briefly considered reminding Lily of the can of beans with which I had assaulted her in The Mareon General Store, but after the events of the last few days a better idea came to mind. I slowly lifted my now-healed appendage out of her hooves, stood up, and with my smirking face inches from her own, whispered, “Why don’t you try it and find out?”

Her jaw nearly hit the floor! Ha! She certainly hadn’t been expecting that! I turned away from Lily’s stunned face and floated my packs back in place before walking to the door. I was lucky that I wasn’t facing her, because despite how bold—and exhilarated—I felt saying that, my face was still beet red.

While I waited for my blush to subside, I unlocked the latch on the door and checked the charge in my pistol. I turned back to find her still sitting in place exactly where I had left her, and with a small grin I asked, “Are you coming?”

She coughed and nodded, flapping her wings wildly as she hurried to join me at the door. Just as she was about to step in front of me, I held out a hoof to bar her advance. Holding up my pistol, I shook my head and grinned at her quizzical face. “I’ll take point. You watch the rear.” I stepped through the door just as her wings rocketed upward.

Goddess, I was on fire! For the first time in what felt like ages, I was positively brimming with confidence! I barely suppressed my chuckle as I walked down the hall, reactivated my PipBuck’s lamp, and ventured into the access tunnel, fully prepared to face whatever the future had in store.

Before long we were back in the main tunnel, which luckily had a cement walkway traveling along its side. The lights built into the walls of the subway were unreliable at best. After the first mile, we only came across working lights every few hundred feet. After the second mile, none of them worked at all. Lily opted to walk at my side as we found ourselves once more in pitch-black darkness and forced to navigate by the light of my PipBuck.

Leaky pipes ran the length of the tunnel above us, occasionally depositing foul-smelling water into shallow pools worn into the concrete one drip at a time. Colonies of puffy white fungal pods stood at eager attention around the pools, like trigger-happy security guards on the lookout for the slightest provocation to erupt in a cloud of spores. It might have been a trick of the light but I was certain that one or two of the pods jiggled in excited anticipation as I carefully scooped up some of the smaller specimens into a jar. Lily may have groaned and grumbled about the extra time it took to gather the pods, but a find like this was simply too good to pass up. It’s not everyday that you stumble across the main ingredient for an exceedingly potent paralytic poison, after all.

The shadows of our legs moved in jerky patterns as we plodded forward, making it appear as if we were being followed by creatures just outside the reach of the light. As if that wasn’t bad enough, we were also being subjected to echoes coming down the tunnel. Echoes that sent a shiver up my spine.

We heard them long before we could see them. In fact, we could smell them before we could see them. The fetid reek of rotting flesh oozed slowly through the confines of the tunnel, clawing its way up to invade our nostrils and clench our throats tightly as we gagged from the stench. Raspy shrieks and guttural growls bounced off the walls to assault our ears from every direction, making it hard to judge just how far away the horrid creatures were.

If there had been any other path I would have gladly taken it rather than deal with the ghouls ahead. Unfortunately Elegy’s map indicated that there were no other escape route. Our current section of tunnel was a long, narrow tube with the closest secondary tunnel nearly a mile ahead of us; leading to the outskirts of Spursburg. Lily and I steeled ourselves for what was to come, and carefully stepped forward.

As we rounded a long bend in the tunnel we came face to face with a small herd of four scarred corpses. They stood still in the dark, swaying in place over the skeletal remains of a unicorn like drunks too inebriated to do anything but stare at their unconscious friend. I had already lined up a shot and was just about to open fire when Lily gently placed a hoof on my shoulder and whispered in my ear, “Save your ammo. I got this.”

I scarcely had time to turn my head before Lily blitzed forward, running along the walkway with her good wing extended. The ghoul on the left lowered its stance to hiss and growl as she approached, but just as the ghoul’s ruined mouth opened Lily’s blade slipped between its rotten teeth. I heard the distinctive clinking sound of metal connecting with bone as the ghoul’s head—minus its lower jaw—leapt into the air and landed on the concrete with a thud. The ghoul’s body stumbled to the side blindly, its tongue waggling obscenely in the air before it tumbled into the rail channel and lay still.

One of the other ghouls immediately turned to engage Lily, throwing itself at her with reckless abandon. It dove straight at her, wrapping its hooves around her neck and sending them both toppling to the floor. Steel scraped against concrete as Lily rolled with the tackle, and both she and the ghoul rolled off the walkway and onto the train tracks. I heard a sickening crunch as the ghoul’s back broke against the rusted metal, and another as Lily took its head between her hooves and slammed it on the rail.

The third ghoul was leaping off the floor after Lily when I finally came to my senses and realized that the final ghoul was heading directly for me. By the time I activated S.A.T.S. the ghoul was already airborne. Time slowed to a crawl as I drew a sharp breath and queued my shots, and a moment later a beautiful lance of scarlet light slammed into the back of the ghoul’s gullet. Chunks of charred bone and sizzling flesh erupted out of the ghoul’s tattered mane, and its entire body split and cracked open as it glowed bright pink. The ashes that used to be the ghoul washed over me, forming two glittering piles at my sides as I stood wide-eyed and stock-still.

I had gotten lucky. Even with the stinging hot ashes of the ghoul coating my tongue and face, that particular encounter could have ended up much, much worse. Of course, at the moment I was too preoccupied with just how gross having burnt ghoul in my mouth and eyes was to focus on much else.

“Ewww! Eww, eww, eww!” I sputtered, and took a moment to rub my tongue on my armored sleeve before wiping my eyes clean. Shaking the glittering specks of ghoul out of my mane, I stamped a hoof on the concrete and whinnied, “I did not need to know what incinerated ghoul tastes like!”

Looking up, I saw Lily laughing as she fended off the final ghoul. She easily sidestepped its lunging attacks, beating her wings to hover just above the metal rails and wooden supports while the ghoul tripped and stumbled with every step. Lily turned her body in mid-air and kicked out with a hind leg, producing a loud crunching noise as the ghoul’s decayed jaw broke. It wobbled and fell to the ground, feebly squirming in an attempt to get back up just before Lily smashed her hoof through the back of its skull.

Lily turned back to me, wagging her tail like a puppy as she beamed, “That potion you gave me is fucking awesome!” She flew up out to the walkway and hovered in front of me, furrowing an eyebrow as she chuckled, “What happened to you? You’re all sparkly.”

“I’m covered in the remains of the ghoul you left behind!” I huffed. “You said you were going to take care of them all!”

She rolled her eyes. “I got three of ‘em. What more do you want?” I pursed my lips, which only made her snicker even more. Barely able to conceal her amusement, she reached over and patted me on the head. “You look like somepony dumped a truckload of glitter on your mane. Lemme get that for ya.”

I pursed my lips at her patronizing tone, but allowed her to beat her wings and blow the ashes off my body. When she landed and smiled smugly at me, I asked, “You enjoyed that, didn’t you?”

I never got my answer. Grumpy popped out of Lily’s hat, screeching and shaking his little blue paws in fright. Lily’s smile faded in an instant. She leaned to the side to look past me in the direction we had just come from, and a moment later the color drained from her face.

“Lily?” I turned, and found myself staring at a veritable wall of undead flesh stretching from one side of the tunnel to the other. My PipBuck’s light washed over twitching, decomposed faces one by one as I tried in vain to count the shuffling bodies slowly advancing through the tunnel in our direction. I gave up after realizing that there were well over twenty of them in the first few rows.

My mouth dropped, and I took a step backward before I realized the ghouls had all stopped moving. They stood still in the tunnel, hissing and snarling, but not coming any closer. I swallowed the lump in my throat, and took another step backward to stand beside my companion. “Er… Lily?”

She whispered quietly, as if she were afraid to startle the herd in front of us. “What the fuck!?”

I was just about to turn and flee when something caught my eye. The ghouls were parting, making room for another of their ilk to move forward through their lines. I stood still, captivated and confused as I witnessed a bright green light bloom and advance from the back of the tunnel.

From the back of the horde a solitary glowing zebra slowly ambled forward. My eyes widened as I realized the zebra wore a cloak nearly identical to Mother’s, save only for the dull silver bar resting upon her breast. Her eyes blazed green with a piercing light, staring straight at me from underneath the tattered remains of her black hood. Out of the countless slashes and bullet holes in her red and black cloak poured beams of emerald light that danced across the ghouls with her every movement.

I was stunned; watching her walk forward was like witnessing a nightmare take form. She looked so much like Mother and Nohta that I very nearly called out to her. I had to remind myself that these creatures, no matter how peculiar there actions at the moment, were indeed feral abominations. That notion, however, died the moment the glowing one opened her mouth.

A raspy hiss slithered out of her rotting lips. “Kutu-”

I gasped as she doubled over, coughing up irradiated phlegm that had probably been stuck in her throat for centuries. The blazing light in her eyes dimmed, exposing yellowed, bloodshot orbs that paralyzed me with their pleading gaze. She grit her teeth, groaned in pain, and tried to force the words out once again. “Kutuweka… huru.”

Lily’s hoof tugged on my shoulder, urging me to leave, but I brushed it away without a second thought. This ghoul was trying to speak to me, just like the pegasus ghoul! Desperate for answers, I called out to the glowing zebra. “I… I can’t understand you! What are you saying!?”

The ghouls behind the glowing one twitched and convulsed, snapping their jaws at each other like a pack of ravenous wolves before a tumultuous cacophony of shrieks and howls echoed from further down the tunnel. The undead zebra grimaced as if in pain, furrowed her brow, and opened her mouth once more, but at that moment the blazing green light returned to her eyes. Her posture relaxed as a blank emotionless stare overtook her features, and the light shining from her stripes glowed bright enough to cast shadows on the walls.

The herd howled and wailed as it bolted past the glowing one, rushing forward like a river that had just broken its dam. Lily yanked on my shoulder and screamed in my ear, “RUN!” Her scream was barely audible over the bloodcurdling shrieking of the dead horde on the cold walls.

I’m not sure if I’ve ever run so quickly in all my life. The walls of the tunnel flew past my terrified face in a blur of motion. My hooves thudded against concrete even harder and faster than my heart thudded in my chest. I didn’t dare look behind myself for fear of losing my balance and stumbling. Of course, I didn’t need to look back to know how much peril I was in; I could feel the rotten teeth of a ghoul nipping at the end of my tail.

My PipBuck lamp’s light bounced so erratically it was nearly useless, granting me only momentary glimpses of where to place my hooves in order to avoid slick spots and errant bits of debris. In my desperation and panic, my mind went blank. All I could do was run. I was that little filly afraid of the dark all over again. With terror gripping my heart, I threw caution to the wind and sent up a silent prayer to Celestia for aid as I charged magic in my horn.

Bright white light, so intense as to be nearly blinding in the formerly pitch-black confines of the tunnel, burst forth from my horn. I could see hundreds of feet ahead of myself. Hundreds of feet of straight, featureless tunnel, with no escape in sight…

Lily must have seen the look of despair on my face. She yelled over the noise of the stampeding herd behind us, “Keep running! There has to be an exit up ahead that we can slip through!”

“As if I needed a reminder!” I screamed in response. “That was possibly the stupidest—” I caught myself mid-sentence as Lily’s words gave me an idea. Still racing at top speed down the tunnel, I opened my packs with my magic and finished my sentence, “—most brilliant thing I’ve ever heard!”

Thank The Goddess for good organization! The potion was exactly where I expected it to be! Just as Lily’s confused expression caught my eye, I smashed a pickle-jar full of clear liquid against the ground and leapt over the rapidly spreading puddle it left behind. I chanced a look over my shoulder and was rewarded by the sight of dozens of ghouls skidding out of control as they slipped and slid wildly over the pool of magical lubricant. The ghouls shrieked in rage as they tumbled over, fell across the ground, and were subsequently trampled by their fellows.

Like a clot in an artery, the squirming pile of ghouls were stopping up the flow of the herd down the tunnel. I wasn’t sure if I had managed to put any of the undead down for good, but I had managed to buy myself a few precious seconds while the horde struggled to clamber over itself. I refocused my efforts on galloping away as quickly as I could, feeling like nothing in all the world could possibly stop me!

Nothing except for my full packs, of course. The weight of my saddlebags, recently replenished with potions and alchemical reagents, was pushing my legs to the brink of exhaustion. My muscles burned in agony as the screeching behind us grew louder and louder. Even though I knew the dead were regaining the ground they had lost, my pace slowed to just above a crawl as numbness spread through my tired limbs.

Lily’s wings had gone from a rapid, frantic beat to nothing more than a flustered flutter as she urged me forward. “Candy, come on! We don’t have time to slow down!” She reached into her hat and pulled out a familiar pill bottle, and roughly shoved a pill between my teeth. Lily ignored my feeble protest, and instead took to the air so she could gesture forward with her hoof. “There’s a maintenance tunnel up ahead! Just a little further!” Bereft of options, and without the will to argue any more, I bit down on the tablet and swallowed. Buck mixed with fear and adrenaline in my veins, and I found just enough strength to keep running a bit longer.

With the ghouls mere seconds from overtaking us, I followed Lily through a short concrete archway in the side of the tunnel and kept running forward. In my haste, I nearly missed the faded green paint on the wall that indicated we were nearing the first subway station within Spursburg. It was a welcome sight, especially since I wasn’t sure quite how long my exhausted legs could keep running.

Up ahead, a rusted blue door barred our passage, but Lily didn’t stop at all. With a quick flick of a wing Lily turned herself around in midair and kicked the door at full speed with both of her back hooves. All of her momentum was transferred directly into the area near the door’s lock, and it burst open with a loud crack as the deadbolt burst through the wooden frame in a small shower of splinters. The door itself was flung open against the wall with a loud metallic clang as Lily landed on her hooves and rushed inside the room with her blades at the ready.

I hurried inside after her and surveyed our surroundings as I fought to catch my breath. Strewn about the floor were several bodies in varying states of decomposition. The stench of death permeating this room was even more overwhelming than the reek that had emanated from the undead herd in the tunnel, and some of the blood splattered across the floor was still wet. I was still pondering what that meant when Lily slammed the door shut and shoved a heavy metal tool cabinet on its side to barricade the door.

“This isn’t gonna hold ‘em for long!” She explained. “We need to see if we can lose ‘em in these tunnels!”

I nodded, and did my best to ignore the bodies on the floor as I searched for an exit. We were in a dusty room filled with rusted shelves and cabinets holding all manner of tools. Along the far wall were several opened lockers containing grease-stained overalls. To our side stood a workbench with a vice and some manner of cutting saw. In the center of the room a large shop-vacuum stood like a long-forgotten sentinel, dutifully guarding the treasures of its maintenance-themed vault. But it was the last thing I noticed, standing directly opposite us, that was exactly what I had been hoping for: a long hallway with a flickering sign at its end pointing the way to the Spursburg Station.

I had just turned to point out the sign when the ghoul horde slammed into the blocked door, shrieking and hissing in rage as their advance was halted. The rusty blue barrier bowed with the weight of the snarling horde, and the overturned tool cabinet slid a few inches into the room. The sound of enraged hooves banging against the rusty metal was deafening within the tiny maintenance room, and it was soon joined by the hideous screech of metal being shoved across concrete as Lily strained to move the workbench across the room.

Just as I thought our barricade would fail, Lily shoved the heavy workbench over so that it fell on top of the tool cabinet. The slow advance of the undead herd came to a complete stop, and I found myself sighing in relief. Lily likewise paused to rest and regain her breath, but was soon shouting at the door to taunt the mindless undead.

“Get through that, you fucking freaks!” she yelled at the top of her lungs. “Try fighting me on the surface, you stupid sons-of-bitches!”

“Lily! This way! We can—” My attempt to draw her attention toward our escape was abruptly cut off as I felt a squishy, bloody hoof wrap around my rear left ankle. I lost my balance as it tugged hard on my leg, and as I fought to keep my hooves underneath me I managed to tumble directly into Lily, sending us both falling to the floor. Before Lily had the chance to question why I had seemingly tackled her to the floor, she caught sight of what was happening in the room all around us. The bodies on the floor were moving.

Nine ghouls had been lying dormant amidst the bloody bodies on the floor. The devious dead had been lying in wait to ambush anyone unlucky enough to enter this room, and as luck would have it, Lily and I had done just that. I was still scrambling to my hooves and drawing my shotgun when the first one snarled and rushed forward.

Nearly half of my S.A.T.S. charge was eaten up by loading shells into my weapon, but my first shot took the rushing ghoul’s head clean off, and the other two managed to disintegrate the front knees of another ghoul before she could stand up. The gun’s reports were deafening in the small room, and left a nasty ringing in my ears as S.A.T.S. faded. The first ghoul’s body slid across the floor, knocking me off balance again as I desperately tried to manually load the weapon. Shotgun shells scattered across the floor as Lily dove over me and flew headlong into the remaining ghouls.

It was a valiant effort, but one against seven is hardly a fair fight. Lily’s hoof caved in the skull of one undead, and her right wing decapitated another, but the trio of ghouls that dove on top of her just after was too much even for Lily. The weight of the ghouls knocked Lily into the shelves, and soon afterward the ghouls, Lily, and the shelves all came toppling down like dominoes. Tools, tin cans, and boxes of nuts and bolts scattered against the floor with a calamitous noise as the rows of shelves came crashing down, but none of those sounds pierced through the chaos quite as sharply as the pained scream coming from Lily’s mouth.

Lying prone, I couldn’t quite see what was causing Lily so much pain, but I could see one of the ghouls rear up in preparation to slam its hooves down on her. At the same time, the remaining ghouls were charging—or squirming along the floor in the case of the kneeless undead mare—directly for me. I had a choice to make: save myself, or save Lily. Knowing fully well exactly how much my sister would have disapproved of the decision, I spent what meager amount of S.A.T.S. charge I had left to put a slug through the rearing ghoul’s heart.

Congealed blood and slimy viscera erupted out of the rearing ghoul’s torso just before it was knocked over by the blast. It fell on its side at Lily’s hooves just as the two charging ghouls fell on me, kicking, scratching and biting at my barding. The memory of losing a chunk of flesh to another ghoul in Coltsville flashed through my mind, and my shotgun dropped to the floor as my concentration broke. I could feel my armor being torn to shreds as I screamed into the concrete and covered my neck with my hooves.

I was so terrified by the brutal attack that I didn’t even feel the magic charging in my horn. In a fit of pure, primal fear, I released that magic in a torrent of telekinetic force, shoving one of my assailants into the downed shelves where it landed with a clatter against the steel. I rolled over in an attempt to escape the other ghoul, but it was already on top of me. Lying on my back, I scarcely had time to slam my hooves into its chest before it was snapping its rotten teeth mere inches from my exposed throat. Furious at my stubborn refusal to be eaten, the ghoul responded by slamming its own hoof directly into my muzzle. Stars exploded in my suddenly blurry vision, and I felt my forelegs weaken as I nearly fell unconscious.

In desperation, my magic gripped my laser pistol’s trigger. I didn’t even bother to unholster my pistol; I fired directly through the leather holster into the decomposed chest of the ghoul on top of me. Blistering heat washed over my hooves as the ghoul’s body charred and turned to pink ashes that scattered in every direction as I finished rolling over and scanned the ground for my shotgun.

I had only just managed to grip the shotgun by the stock and drag it back over to myself when the ghoul I had shoved onto the shelves righted itself and dove straight for me. It was completely airborne by the time S.A.T.S. helped me put a slug directly through its gaping maw. What was left of the bottom portion of its skull and spinal column exploded outward behind the ghoul even as the rest of its decomposed body impaled itself on my shotgun. The gun, and the ghoul stuck to the end of it, slammed into my chest, bowling me over a third time as I heard potion bottles in my saddlebags crack and shatter.

With no time to mourn the loss of my potions, I extracted the shotgun and shoved the ghoul off my weapon before casting a glance at Lily. She was on her hooves again, but very obviously favoring one of her forehooves as she fended off the two ghouls trying to take her down. She was also shouting something, but over the din of the undead horde banging their hooves on the door behind me, the clattering of steel tools being kicked across the floor, and the hissing and shrieking of the remaining ghouls in the room, I couldn’t understand a word she said.

Closer to me, the kneeless mare was still shoving herself along the floor, snapping her jaws like a rabid dog as she neared my outstretched hind legs. Hope blossomed in my chest as I realized how close we were to escaping. All I had to do was take care of this last ghoul at my hooves, help Lily with the other two, and then we could finally leave this place!

I pulled my legs back underneath of me to stand up, feeling the ribbons and flaps of manticore leather that had once been my barding flop and dangle uselessly around my body. I activated S.A.T.S. just to be sure, and took aim at the dagger-like maw hissing at me from the floor. In the slow-motion distortion afforded me by my PipBuck’s targeting spell, my eyes caught Lily waving her hooves and shaking her head, but her frantic warning was completely lost on me. The kneeless ghoul gathered what was left of her front legs under herself and leapt forward, and I calmly waited until my reticule displayed that the chance to hit the abomination’s head had risen to a nice and reliable ninety-five percent before triggering my queued shot.

It happened in an instant. In slow-motion I watched, confused and horrified, as my shotgun’s barrel swelled and bloated. I was still in the trance-like state of S.A.T.S. when the barrel split open along the length, releasing the pressure of the expended ammunition in all directions. A thick chunk of congealed viscera exploded out of the shotgun’s tip, blowing a gaping hole through the crawling ghoul’s face just before I caught the shortest glimpse of something dark and metallic racing for my face.

As S.A.T.S. faded a burning, stinging pain washed over my face. I fell over screaming and dropped the destroyed shotgun to the floor. I could feel the scuffling of hooves through the floor, and the undead herd’s discordant pounding on the barricaded door. I could hear Lily shouting and slicing through dead flesh and brittle bones. I could smell the reek of the rotting bodies falling amidst the buildup of years worth of dust. But… I couldn’t see any of it.

Every time I tried to open my eyes, that burning and stinging redoubled in strength. I lay writhing in mind-numbing agony on the floor with my hooves pressed tightly over my eyes. The pain was far too great for me to even wonder what in Luna’s name had happened. I just knew that I wanted it to end!

Eventually the sounds of fighting died down, and as I writhed and kicked and howled, I felt a lone body kneel beside me. “Candy!” it shouted. “Candy! I’m here!”

“GODDESS!” I shrieked. “IT HURTS!”

Lily’s frantic voice answered back. “I know! I know! Hold on!”

I couldn’t stop kicking and wailing. I felt Lily’s weight clamber on top of me as she tried to hold me still, but honestly I couldn’t fathom what she might be doing. With the red-hot daggers that had been plunged into my eyes, I nearly didn’t notice the needle pricking the base of my neck.
Lily fell on top of me, pinning me in place with her weight and running a hoof through my mane as she cooed softly into my ear. “Shh… Shh… It’ll be okay, Candy! We can fix this!” Slowly, the pain faded. It wasn’t enough for me to feel comfortable by any means, but it was enough for me to think. It didn’t take long for me to realize that she had dosed me with Med-X, though judging by the remaining discomfort and lack of side-effects, she hadn’t used anywhere near the whole syringe.

I opened my lips and squeaked out, “Still… Still hurts.”

I could hear the sympathy in her voice as her breath brushed against my ear. “Babe I’m sorry, but you’re gonna have to tell me how to fix you. If I give you too much of this stuff then you won’t be able to think straight.” Luckily, she did have an alternative. “Which potion did you say was like a healing potion?”

I felt her rummage through my packs as I groaned out, “One of the purple ones. It’s called Sweet Water.”

A moment later the taste of grapes washed over my tongue, and the agony in my face subsided. Waves of healing energy ebbed and flowed through my body, each one bringing a little more comfort to my battered face. I breathed a sigh of relief, and removed my hooves from my eyes. I could feel Lily’s hooves at my sides as she stood over me, and I rolled over to face her while opening my eyes. “Th-thank you,” I started, but quieted when I realized we were in the dark once more. “Oh, I’m sorry. Let me turn my PipBuck lamp back on.”

“Uh… Candy?”

I fiddled with my PipBuck, but no matter what I did, the lamp wouldn’t reactivate. “Oh, don’t tell me this blasted thing is broken! They never break!” I hissed. “Fine, I’ll just use my horn.”

Worry was seeping into Lily’s voice. “Candy?”

“Lily, I’m sorry. I know how you must feel right now, but I promise that I’m not trying to upset you.” Energy pooled behind my eyes before bursting forward, but nothing seemed to change. Puzzled, I furrowed my brow and whispered, “I… I just… Why is it still dark?”

“Fuck, Candy…” Lily’s voice was weak, and thick with emotion.

“Lily?” I reached a hoof straight up, finding Lily’s scarred chest above me. “Why is it still dark?” I asked, trailing my hoof up to her damp face.

The answer came to me just before Lily stated it outright. I felt her lips quiver against my hoof as she said, “It’s not, Candy. The whole room is red.”

“I… I see.” Despite my ironic word choice, I did finally realize what the problem was. Blindly staring upward, I swallowed the rapidly forming lump in my throat and asked, “How… How bad does it look?”

I felt a hoof brush my mane away from my face before Lily shakily reassured me. “You’re still the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.”

“Well…” I blinked as the tears started to pour down my cheeks. “At least there’s that.”

The ghouls outside roared and continued pounding on the door, reminding us that we were still being chased. Lily pulled me up to a standing position, and I felt a bladed wing wrap over my shoulders before she urged me forward, “We need to go, Candy.”

“R-Right.” I nodded. The shock was beginning to wear off. Now I just had to keep myself from hyperventilating. “One… One step at a time.”

“I’m getting you out of here,” she promised. “No matter what.”

“Right,” I agreed. “Yes. That would be most appreciated.”

With the ghouls howling behind us as they tried to force themselves through the barricade, Lily lead me through the long flat hallway. On more than one occasion, she called for caution and slowly guided me around or over a tripping hazard. It was a rather… cumbersome venture, to say the least, but our slow progress, so blessedly free of any other encounters with the ghoulish residents of the dark subway tunnels, did give my mind time to wander.

I’m sure you can imagine exactly where my thoughts lingered.

“I’m blind.” I stated matter-of-factly.

Med-X was still flowing through my system, and it helped immensely as I fought to present a cool, level-headed demeanor to Lily. Inwardly I was more terrified than I had ever been, but I knew that giving in to my desire and wallowing in self-pity and terror would do neither of us any good at that moment. If either of us was going to make it out of these tunnels alive, then I needed to stay calm. Or at least appear calm, for Lily’s sake.

I felt Lily take a deep breath beside me before she pleaded, “Can’t you heal yourself with your magic?”

I blinked, and continued staring blankly at the darkness in front of me. “The equine eye is… complicated.” I explained. “Very very complicated. I have never even attempted to heal one with my magic before.” I knew that my calm demeanor might be unsettling to Lily but, Goddess help me, taking refuge in my array of medical knowledge was the only thing keeping me from breaking down into a quivering, pathetic heap at her side. The life expectancy of a blind mare in The Wasteland is brutally short, after all.

“Without being able to see the state of my own eyes,” I continued, “I can’t hope to get a good assessment of my condition, but… I have a suspicion that I may have suffered damage to the optic nerves.” Shrugging, I added, “To be completely honest, the only thing I can honestly say is that I am not a qualified optometrist. Pearl Gray was our stable’s resident eye and ear specialist, not me.”

I could feel her eyes on me, just like I felt how tense her body was beside mine. I licked my lips, and admitted, “Perhaps the most troubling aspect of all of this is that I fear I may have rendered this condition permanent by ingesting Sweet Water before extracting any foreign objects, if indeed there were any to begin with.”

Horror-stricken, she asked, “Permanent?”

“Again, without a proper assessment it is hard to say for sure what the nature of my injury is. But if the optic nerve has been damaged, or if foreign bodies are now permanently lodged within my corneas, then I can think of… of only one possible treatment.” I heard my voice crack, just like my calm facade. Memories of Mother’s sickly body resting in her deathbed flooded my mind. Nodding, I tried to offer up as unbiased an opinion as I could. “At best, it might restore a portion of my sight. Though I highly doubt I’ll ever have 20/20 vision ever again.”

“And at worst?” Lily sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

I gulped, knowing exactly what sort of consequences my actions might produce. “I would really rather not think about that.”

We kept walking, though now we did so in silence. For the longest time, Lily only spoke to inform me of how close we were to the Spursburg. But when we reached the station and Lily helped me up onto the platform, she finally broke down.

Unable to hold it in any longer, she heaved and sobbed beside me. “Candy, I… I’m sorry.” Retracting her wing, she stood in front of me and confessed her guilt. “This is my fault! I shouldn’t have charged in like that! I should stayed next to you and—”

“Shh.” I shook my head, and reached out to rub her shoulder with my hoof. “It’s not your fault, Lily.”

She recoiled from my touch before shouting, “Of course it is! How the fuck are you so calm about this!?” I heard her wingblades clinking together as she flared her wings wide. “Get angry!” She demanded, “Say you’re going to beat the shit out of me or break my neck or—”

She was silenced when I moved my hoof up her neck and pressed it firmly against her lips. I felt her ragged breath against my hoof as I continued to gently shake my head. “No, Lily. It was just an accident.” I’m sure that if it weren’t for the Med-X coursing through my veins, I would have been even more of a blubbering mess than Lily.

Her lips quivered underneath my hoof before she lowered her head. I couldn’t see to be sure, but it sounded as if she was kneeling in front of me to beg. “I fucked up! Bad! I’m sorry!”

Lowering myself to the floor so that I could speak on her level, I tilted my head and asked, “Now who is asking who for forgiveness?”

In a strained voice, she whimpered, “Fuck, Candy…”

My hoof pawed at the air until she leaned into it with her damp cheek. I took a deep breath, and nodded, “If you really feel that way, then I’m going to need you to do me a favor.”

She immediately agreed. “Yeah, of course. Anything you want.”

I scowled. “You’re not going to like it.”

I felt her hoof reach up to grab my own, holding it against her face as she replied, “Doesn’t matter. I owe you.”

I gathered my hooves underneath me and rose up to my full height. “Then as soon as we get a dose of Hydra, I’ll let you know what you have to do.”

I heard her leap to her hooves before exclaiming, “Wait… Hydra? Isn’t that—”

“SIS!?”

My jaw dropped. All pretense of keeping my composure vanished in an instant as I cried out to the darkness in desperate optimism. “N-NOHTA!?”

“CANDY!”

I heard frantic hoofsteps rushing in my direction. Lily backed away from me just before the galloping hooves reached us. I held out my own hoof, hoping to probe the darkness in front of me, but before I could feel anything an armored body crashed into my chest. I almost fell over before I righted myself, and soon after I felt the choking sobs from my sister’s throat against my thudding heart.

My hooves snaked around her shaking body, brushing against the fabric of Mother’s cloak before I squeezed my sister to my chest as tightly as I could. Through my own aching throat, I cried out, “By The Goddess, I’ve missed you so much!”

In perfect form, Nohta immediately started cursing. “Fuck! I didn’t know if I’d ever see you again!”

Our tears soaked into the fur of our necks as we held each other, sobbing like a pair of fillies. She smelled like blood, and sweat, and like she had recently been sick. She felt like solid muscle reduced to shaking emotional mush. She sounded like my sister.

Nohta pulled back from the embrace just long enough to shout in a thick voice, “Never again, you hear me!? Never a-fucking-gain!”

Still bawling my eyes out, I violently shook my head before pulling her back into the embrace. “Never! I promise!”

I had gone through quite a lot recently, but through every hardship the thought of seeing my sister’s face once more had given me the strength to pull through. Even though I may not have been able to see her, I could still feel her against my chest. We were together, as we were always meant to be, and I knew in my heart that there wasn’t a force in this world or the next that would ever separate us again.

Making no effort at all to conceal her emotion, Nohta lifted her head from my shoulder and sobbed, “You brought her back to me.” I didn’t hear Lily respond, but soon Nohta simply said, “Thank you!”

There was no telling what horrors Nohta had faced since we parted. I remembered seeing in The Bard’s scrying spell that she had been alone, so something must have separated her from the alicorn meant to protect her. But knowing my sister it was rather likely that she snuck away from it at the earliest opportunity.

The scents of blood and vomit worried me, making me wonder just how much radiation she had picked up in her time alone. But she was still strong enough to hold me in a crushing, vice-grip hug. At the moment that was all in the world that I could have possibly wanted.

I barely managed to whisper around the lump in my throat. “I love you, Nohta.”

Against all expectations, Nohta said the only thing capable of bringing a smile to my face. “Love you too, Sis.”

So by the day’s end I had lost my most powerful weapon, infuriated a homicidal maniac with the ability to foretell the future, stood by helplessly as I lost the pony that would have likely been my most useful ally against the aforementioned homicidal maniac, had a building collapse on me, was nearly eaten by a tatzlwurm, was nearly ripped apart or crushed into Candy-paste by ghouls, suffered a mild concussion when one of those ghouls slammed my head against a concrete floor, watched several hours of hard work go down the drain when multiple hoof-brewed potions broke open within my packs, suffered the mischievous antics of a group of outlaw ponies who played my emotions like a finely-tuned musical instrument, ruined my only set of manticore-leather armor, endured multiple minor contusions and lacerations when I was dragged headfirst through jagged rubble, sprained my ankle so severely that I very nearly convinced myself that it was broken, experienced an incredibly perplexing moment as a feral glowing zebra spoke to me in a language I didn’t understand, almost pushed myself to the point of magical burnout, started seeing ghosts, and blinded myself.

But on the other hoof, I got my sister back.

Overall I’d say that it was a pretty good day.

Footnote: The Party Levels Up!
Welcome to Level 10!
New Perk!

Mutate!: Something has changed you, Doctor! Whether it was the radiation from the wasteland, or just a long-forgotten zebra brew, something has swapped one of your Traits for another!

Mutating Trait….

Good Natured removed! -5 to Barter, Speech, Science, Medicine, and Repair. +5 to Firearms, Magic Energy, Explosives, Unarmed, Melee, and Battle Saddles.

Gaining new trait...:

Wild Wasteland: The most bizarre and silly elements of post-apocalyptic Equestria are unleashed upon you. Your encounters are sometimes more random or silly than normal. Hopefully you are not faint of heart, or serious of temperament.

“Wait… Where in The Goddess’ name am I? Why is everything so bright?”

Skills Note: Medicine 100
Skills Note: Survival 100

“I… What? Dear Luna, this is all so confusing!”

Nohta gains a Perk:

“Nohta gained a what?”

Super Slam: Nohta has learned how to deliver a blow that catches her opponent off guard. All of her unarmed attacks have a 15% chance to knock her opponent to the ground.

Nohta gains a Perk:

Tough Hide (Rank 1 of 2): The brutal experience of facing the Equestrian Wasteland alone has hardened Nohta. She gains +3 Damage Threshold for each rank of this perk she takes.

Lily gains a perk:

“Candy! I was wondering when you’d make it to the footnote!”

“Gah! Lily!? Where did you come from!? And the footnote? What in the blazes are you—”

“Shh! We’re still going over perks!”

How We Do It Down on the Farm: When Lily hits hard, she really hits hard! All of her critical strikes, including Sneak Attack criticals, now do extra damage. This does not increase the likelihood of her causing a critical strike.

“See? Told you.”

((I’m still confused as to how it took so long to get this out. It felt like we were right on the brink of publishing this chapter as soon as the last one came out. All I can really do now is shrug, shake my head, and vow to get the next one out faster.

On that note, I think part of the problem was this chapter’s length. Moving forward, I’m gonna try to tone the chapters down a lot. That will mean having more chapters in the story than I originally intended, but it should also mean a more steady release schedule. Wish me luck on that.

I’ve said it before, but I really can’t say it enough. Wr3nch is amazing. Nearly every day for the last two years, he’s been yelling at me to get my ass in gear so people could continue reading this story. Encouragement like that is hard to come by, even from friends and family. Wr3nch, you’re the best, man. Thanks for everything.

Stevepoppers has been, as always, a great help as well. When it finally came time to edit this monster, he was just as ready as ever. Seeing his reactions to the events of the chapter kept me motivated to finally finish it, and on top of that he was able to catch more than a few of my mistakes.

I’m positive that I have the best crew any fanfiction author could ask for. Thanks for all the covering fire, guys!

Another big thank you to KKat, for giving all of us this amazing sandbox for our imaginations. And of course, thanks to all the folks who have worked on MLP or Fallout. ))