“It’s...Zenith.” I croaked out, voice barely above a whisper. The consciousness had abruptly shrunk away from mine at the end of the memory, leaving me feeling even weaker after having my mind virtually raped.  Mentally, I checked the stores of my amulet. After several years of slowly packing energy away, less than half of it remained after the fight. There was still plenty of magic left in the amulet, but my body and horn couldn’t take the stress any longer.

The dragon shook its maw, a deep laugh echoing from inside of its throat. Smoke rumbled from its depths and the temperature dramatically increased around me. I half expected it to toast me right there. “You...you lie! Zenith died more than a century ago.” He growled out, incredulity obvious. The dragon breathed deeply, smoke billowing out to cover me.

“No.. Really. You.. saw the memory. Spike, you were Twilight’s apprentice, you know that memories can’t be altered.” I explained, barely able to keep my eyes open. Without the adrenaline pumping through my veins, the aches and pains had started to catch up with me. I felt like every single burn on my body intensified to a burning heat.

This caused the dragon to actually think, and I allowed myself to hope it was him. “Twilight never told me what exactly happened to little Zenith. But...how?” I was a little happy I had already been trapped onto the ground. Didn’t need to struggle to keep standing. Limbs felt like jelly.

“Twilight’s vortex. Trying... time spells. I got sucked in.” I rasped out. My head had started to feel light from the absence of magic and I could feel the world slipping away.

“No way.” Spike whispered. This was him without a doubt. Somehow still alive after all this time and through all the strife. My tired mind couldn’t express the relief I felt. I wasn’t going to die. At least, not now. Maybe I’d even have time for a little rest.

“Hey Spike? I think I- I think I need a bit of a nap. The last spell... kinda wore me-” I started before abruptly losing consciousness.

____________________________________________________________________________

When I woke up, I didn’t have any idea where I was. Used to this by now, I took a quick look around, trying to get a good feel for my surroundings. I was off the ground a bit, on a scaly bed. My entire body was covered in painful burns. The previous hours fighting came back to me though and I groaned loudly, the pain and soreness making me wish I had actually died, instead of awoken once again to this. Spike took notice of my stirring and looked back for a second, making sure I was awake.

“Your ‘friend’ is over there. He kept shooting at me with that cute little gun of his, so I figured it might be more expedient to tie him up. Less shooting this way, more peaceful. But... it might work a bit better if you talk to him a while, and get him to calm down.” Spike explained. I glanced down over his side and could see a tell-tale fire in the midst of some rubble, with a struggling pony near it. Night had finally crested while I was asleep, putting the land into darkness.

“Alright... ugh... Just give me a second alright? I’ll stop him.” I replied. I groaned from the burns. Shield would have something for it; he had to. Oddly enough, fresh, soft scales had already started to replace those that Spike had lost. “How long was I out?” I asked, confused his recovery. He had been just as beat up as I had.

“Just a few hours. Dragons heal quite quickly.” He said dismissively. He crouched down low, making it easier for me to dismount.

“Ready for round three?!” I heard Shield yell followed by an increased amount of struggling. I had to stifle a giggle.

“Shield stop! It’s ok, he’s friendly!” I tried to assure Shield. I slip off the side of Spike’s back as smoothly as I could and trotted to Shield’s side. Shield’s horn was glowing brightly as he flug everything he could see at Spike. He didn’t even notice me until I was close enough to shake his shoulders.

For the first time, I got a good look at Shield. One of the horns of his armor had actually been twisted around, the first sign of real damage I had seen on it.The rest was relatively intact, with just a collection of scratches. I really needed to ask what it was made out of.

“Zenith? The hell you doin’ filly? I thought you were dead!” His magic flickered out and he abruptly stopped struggling as I came into view.

“Just... meeting an old friend. If I tell him to let you out, you can’t fight alright? He’s on our side, I promise.” I said, smiling a little. I gradually made my way to him, each step a world of pain, sending a wave of hurt through my pony. I swear even my hooves were burned and I couldn’t even feel them. I motioned for Spike to come closer and he cut through the ropes with one of his forward claws.  

“Zenith, there ain’t no such thing as a friendly dragon, no matter what he told you! Now get behind me, filly!” Shield snapped. Now freed, he reached into his saddlebag. A single steel container came back out, wrapped in his magic. He kept glancing over at Spike, fear in his eyes. He probably expected him to pounce at any moment. If I didn’t know him, I’m sure I would’ve felt the same way.

“No Shield, he’s a friend. This is Spike, Twilight Sparkle’s former assistant. His eyes grew wide and then narrowed in renewed suspicion.

“How do you...” He started before I cut him off.

“I know him, from before. Now stop acting like a foal and help me stay conscious instead.” I finished. My knees finally gave out from the dizziness.” Shield sighed and unscrewed the top of the container. Cool, aloe cream filled the interior.

“Your barding is wrecked, it’s just gonna stick on if we leave it there. This is gonna hurt, but you’re gonna need to help me here.” He slowly helped me out of the burnt and ripped barding, each piece feeling like fire as it was half scraped and half oiled off. Finally, we managed to get it all off, along with probably half of my coat.

“Down,” Shield commanded. I collapsed onto my stomach with an oomph, glad to be off my hooves again. Shield dipped his hoof into the cream and actually started to apply it to my back. Not expected of Shield, but did I care? Hell no. I glanced over at Spike, seeing him holding back a laugh. I sent him a glare which only made him giggle more, smoke going through his nostrils.

“Thanks...Shield.” I muttered between sighs of contentment. The cooling sensation felt amazing against my scorching coat.

“So who’s this buddy of yours?” Shield asked, trying to sound as casual as possible. He sounded so awkward. More a mixture of anxiety and careful suspicion.

“His name is Spike and he used to be Twilight’s assistant before me, back before I was even born. I met him at a party when he came back to town one year and we became really good friends off that. He’s the one who gave me my amulet.”

“I can talk you know.” Spike interjected in his deep, rumbling voice. Shield jumped in shock and I couldn’t help but giggle.

“Right sorry, uh, Spike.” Shield said, stuttering slightly. I turned my head to glance back at Shield. Instead, his hooves moved by his side, looking for the gun that no longer hung there.

“Why’d you stop?” I asked, trying to give my best puppy dog eyes.

“You know, just a little disconcerted with the damn dragon standing five feet away from us.” Shield practically hissed, but at least he was back to the cream.

“Relax, Spike’s a good guy. Just a little bigger and scarier than us. Why’d you attack us anyways?” I asked, suddenly curious. Sure, dragons were protective but that had been a bit over the top. It wasn’t like we were in his hoard or something, that I could totally understand.

“Oh yea, about that.” Spike started to answer, sounding hesitant. “There’s important pre-war tech around here as well as some other stuff I can’t really talk about right now, but needless to say it’d be pretty bad if anypony else got a hold of it. So I may be a little overzealous in my defense, but it’s a necessity.” He finished, sounding more confident. Maybe this would’ve convinced someone who didn’t know him as well as I did, but to me it was clear that Spike was lying.

“You know I’ll want to see it.” I replied, smirking. “Can you fly us New Filly tomorrow? Be a hell of a lot easier and quicker than walking. Besides, you owe us.”

“It was half your fault!” Spike retorted in disbelief. I waved a hoof like it was no big deal. “Fine. But I want a full explanation of how you’re here. I see you kept that amulet I gave you. It’s more important now than it ever was.”

“Oh?” It had saved me earlier. I always knew that it was more powerful than he let on but such solid protective spells were hard to come by.

“It’s come to mean something a bit more. Before the war ended, Twilight and Luna started a plan- No it’d actually be easier to show you. Stay here.” Spike thrust off with his hind legs and took off into the air, flying towards who knows where. Where the hell did he expect I was going to go?

I sighed, watching him disappear into the night sky. It was such a relief to see someone I knew again. This place was such a shithole, having someone from home would actually be quite the help. Spike especially, I had always gotten along with him quite well. He also knew what the old world was like, giving me a bit more relatability. He might be able to help me get to Canterlot to find those old scrolls.

“So this Spike figure, what was your relationship with him anyways?” Shield asked. I let myself relax and actually enjoy the pseudo-massage from Shield. Even the soreness from walking was starting to go away.

“Really good friend. Honestly, probably my only real friend. Yea, I knew a few of the other colts and fillies of Ponyville, but they always seemed scared of me. We always played together and stuff, but I didn’t feel like I could confide in them, y’know? Spike just liked me for who I was, looking past my scary magic.” I answered, a frown tugging at the corners of my previous mirth.

“How’d you get to be friends with a damned dragon then, huh?”

“He was Twilight’s old apprentice. After a while, he outgrew the library that she lived in and had to go away. He was always her favorite too, I don’t really think she liked me that much. To be fair though, I didn’t really like her. I only started living with her when they found me after-” I started to explain before cutting myself off. The pain made me mind not quite clear and I could tell I was rambling about stuff I really didn’t want to talk about. Those were memories I didn’t really know if I wanted to share quite yet. Memories from way back on the Canterlot streets, where things were different than the main world.  

“After what?” Shield asked, curiosity evident.

“I-I’ll-Later.” I finished pathetically. “Look, it’s something deeply personal and I really don’t want to talk about it right now. I don’t like to think about it.”

“Whatever, but I expect you to tell me eventually.” Shield said, sighing.

“So since Spike’s giving us a ride tomorrow, I figured we might be able to sleep in a bit, is that ok?” I asked, really not wanting to wake up as early tomorrow. I’m not lazy, rest is good for you!

“Fine, just don’t expect us to make a habit out of it. You know, since I figure I might as well believe ya for now, what was life like before you got teleported here? Didn’t really get the chance to hear your answer.” Shield asked. At least he wasn’t calling me a damn liar, although I really didn’t want to think about home right now until I could find a suggestion of a way back.

“Well... it was a lot nicer than this place. Everyone had their little jobs to do and no one really wanted for food; at least in Ponyville. There were some poor ponies in the streets and slums of Canterlot but they were it. Weren’t many of us street rats. Violence like this? Wasn’t even considered a possibility. Ok, occasionally some kind of creature would wander in from the Everfree, but it wasn’t anything Twilight or Fluttershy couldn’t handle. To be fair, it was kind of boring. Even so, it was home, don’t really know how it got turned into something like this...” I finished, feeling a tear or two well up in my eyes.

“Err, sounds nice.” Shield replied lamely. “All done here.” He pat my back conformationally with a hoof. My burned, sore back. Dammit, that hurt!

“Ow!” I protested weakly, wincing. “Can’t you keep going anyways? That felt sooo good.” I looked back at him trying to give him my best puppy dog eyes. Unfortunately, when you look like a red-eyed demon that kind of falls flat.

”Spect that’s something you’d rather Sunrise do instead of me.” Shield teased, walking back towards his camp. I felt myself blush scarlet and the night suddenly felt very warm!

“H-Hey! That’s not true. I don’t like her like that at all!” I protested, getting to my feet and shaking myself out. I followed him to the camp, miffed at his teasing. “What are you trying to imply, huh?”

“You’re a smart girl. You really think no one else has noticed your little crush on Sunrise? Every time you look at her you get this distant look in your eye like she’s the greatest thing in Equestria.  I swear,I half expect you to just get on one knee one of these days and propose your undying love to her. It’s almost kind of cute, in a pathetic kind of way.” Shield answered, chuckling at my obvious discomfort.

“Shut up!” I felt my blush go deeper. I tried to hide myself in my mane, much like Fluttershy used to. I did not stare at Sunrise! I certainly did not like her like that and I definitely did not like fillies!

“D’aww, first crush?” Shield asked, his voice turning sickly-sweet. Thankfully, I heard a loud crash behind me as Spike finally arrived back from wherever the hell he went, leaving me with this monster.

“Spiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike. He’s being mean to me. You should kill him.” I whined, pointing over at Shield accusingly. The terrified yelp he gave was more than worth it. Spike just stared at me incredulously and buried his face into his paw.

“At least you haven’t changed. Still the same, silly Zenith. Here take a look at this, to be honest I couldn’t find the scroll I was looking for but this will help with some explanation. Twilight said it was a good preface. I’ve got a few more once you’re done with that one, so just take your time.” Spike explained, he took a single scroll from a satchel and passed it over to me.

I took it in my magic which wasn’t just flickering out of existence now. I could only concentrate enough for pretty minor stuff though, like small levitations, but it was enough to at least read a memory and move a scroll around. I pressed my horn to the page, instantly absorbed in the memory.

______________________________________________________________

Ok, definitely still a unicorn. The ever present pressure of the horn reminded me of that. I could feel the magic flowing too, so it was definitely a powerful unicorn. Whoever I was lay on a really really nice bed with midnight blue silk sheets. Swanky and comfortable. I tried to take a good look around, but I couldn’t because of the restrictions of my body.

What I could see was quite nice though. The room was decked out in varying shades of blue and purple with extravagant and way over the top furnitures filling the room. I hoped I wouldn’t have to sit here for a while, stuck in the memory just waiting. Luckily, I didn’t have to wait long for the action to start.

“Journal number seventeen. First meetings with Luna.” Twilight’s voice called out, signaling who I was inside.

A door cracked open and in stepped Princess Luna, wearing full battle regalia and appearing extremely tired. She smiled when she saw me though and levitated off the armor, dropping it onto one of the spare couches. She perked up considerably, happy to see me. “Twilight, good to see you. Sorry it has taken us- taken me- so long. There was business in the field.” She greeted me, laying down rather close. By rather close, I meant so that our sides were touching literally touching and she had wrapped a wing around my body.

“Good to see you Princess. It isn’t like we could have continued without you anyways. But now, we need to get this going as soon as possible if it’s going to work. Have you talked to the others yet?” I asked. How typical of Twilight to get right down to business, even with something as regal as Princess Luna. Luna, on the other hand was in no where near such a hurry. She snuggled up close to Twilight and let out a deep breath.

I didn’t really know Luna that well, but from what I could surmise from the few times I had met her, she appeared to be pretty stressed out right now. Her mouth had set into a scowl now, which seemed to be how it always was when I was around.  She also seemed to be finding solace in Twilight Sparkle which was... odd. Granted, I had seen a hint of this earlier in the Ponyville memory, but this was much more intimate.

“Of course I have. Applejack didn’t like it, but she agreed that it was necessary. The rest got on board instantly. Pinkie Pie especially seemed quite happy with working with her old friends. It seems like your little plan is a go.” Luna answered, opening her eyes as she finished and grinning down at myself.

“Thank Cele- I mean thank goodness. Applejack has always been the most stubborn, with her on our side, there shouldn’t be any problems. If only Fluttershy could’ve been here for this.” Twilight said, glancing over at Luna nervously. Luna gave a wing shrug, ensuring her that the near Celestia name-drop, was no big deal. And wait, what was that about Fluttershy?

Hopefully, she was just far away and not dead, like Twilight’s statement implied. “I was thinking something like this for our emblem.” Twilight continued, letting her horn glow. In the air, a purple illusion appeared in the exact shape of her cutie mark. “Opinion?”

“It’s perfect, like you.” Luna said, nuzzling Twilight again, grinning all the wider. Twilight huffed and rolled her eyes, it felt like she wanted to protest and talk more, but Luna’s stressed look quickly silenced her..

“Only for you.” She mumbled. Luna came in close and - Oh Celestia I really really didn’t want to see my mentor this way. How do I end this? The vision started to blur slightly, as Luna and Twilight did things that I definitely didn’t ever care to know about. Luckily, Twilight lost focus and the spell ended before anything too bad could happen.

_____________________________________________________________

“The fuck was that?” I yelped coming out of the vision. I shook my head violently, trying to clear away mental images that just would not go away. “Spike, that was disgusting!” I protested, shivering a little.

“Oh? What was it?” Spike asked, looking all innocent and clueless. I could see through that disguise. That conniving beast. I could see right through his lies and see him attempting to corrupt my innocent little mind.

“Twilight and.... Luna and... things!” I sputtered. I couldn’t help but cringe a little. It felt like walking in on my own parents. “They were talking about some kind of plan and then they...” I trailed off suggestively.

Realization dawned in Spike and Shield’s eyes. “Ohhh! So that’s what it was!” Spike said. He started to laugh, a deep rumble in his throat, unable to contain it.

“You knew that was on there, didn’t you?” I accused Spike.

“No, no! I promise. I was just listening to what Twilight said.” Spike protested, trying to stop his laughing.

“I-I think I’ll stay out of this.” Shield put in, smiling himself. “Besides, I want to get some sleep, you two do want you want, just don’t keep me up.” Shield quickly levitated his armor off, as he usually did to sleep. He head over to the other side of the camp and lay down, next to his packs.

“You should get some rest to.” Spike lay onto his side with a bit of a thump. “You need your rest, those injuries aren’t going to heal by themselves.” He closed his eyes and relaxed his shoulders.

I fidgeted uncomfortably, still standing. “Hey Spike... D-Do you mind if I were t-to sleep like we did the first night? I could use the company.” I finished, feeling rather embarrassed. That was nearly four years ago in my life, and who knows how long for Spike?

He opened his eyes and grinned, kindly this time as opposed to the teasing grin from earlier. Well, at least as kind as a giant dragon could look. “That’s fine Zenith, it’ll be like old times.” He lifted his wing up and gestured inward with his forelimb.

I snugged up to his stomach, feeling the warmth. Nights in the wasteland had been cold so far, and the warmth Spike provided was simply wonderful.

“Thank Spike.” I mumbled. I actually felt pretty content that I hadn’t felt since I arrived here. Spike just had a sort of... comforting feeling about him. It was something I knew and trusted, something I could latch on to.

“Zenith, I really missed you and the others. It’s been.. a long time since I’ve seen even a remotely friendly face. I shouldn’t be happy to see you here...but I am.” Spike continued, talking quietly for Shield’s benefit. “What’s happened to you Zenith? Last time I saw you, you were healthy and safe, if not the happiest filly in the world.” He finished, sighing sadly.

“It hasn’t been that bad. I found Shield when I first got here so I at least had someone looking out for me. Then I met Sunrise too, and she’s... she’s just amazing. She actually wants to help the wasteland, y’know? She just isn’t standing around, watching the world burn like the rest of these ponies. She’s so pretty too, and nice, and smart, and just.. great.” I didn’t realize how bad I was gushing until I looked at it in hindsight. Damn, I was pathetic.

“Sounds like she’s quite the pony.” Spike responded, sides shaking a little with withheld laughter. “I’m glad that you’ve been able to find someponies you like at least. This place brings out the worst in all of us. Anything major happen after that?” He asked.

"Well the caravan got ambushed again by..um slavers. They got me and a few others. Then we got to Rust where Sunrise got elected sheriff.” I tried to skip over the slaver part and muttered it rather quietly. I didn’t really want Spike to make a big deal about it. Yes it sucked, yes I wouldn’t want to do it again, but talking about it wouldn’t really help it at all.

“Excuse me?” Spike interrupted me mid-story. I didn’t expect to be able to slide it past him, but it was worth a try. “What was that about slavers?” He sounded remarkably like Twilight right now.

“Look, it’s no big deal alright?” I pressed. Later. We could talk about it later. Not now though. “Can we just go to bed?” I wanted to talk more with him, but it was already late and I needed sleep for tomorrow. I was still hurting pretty bad too, sleeping should help that.  I heard Spike sigh deeply and shake his head.

“Alright Zenith, night.” He replied, albeit hesitantly.I snuggled up closer to him and closed my eyes and let myself start to drift off, warm against his stomach. The world was much different, but I wanted Spike and I to always be friends. We fell asleep once again under the night sky.