The sound of gunfire woke me from my sleep. I shifted uncomfortably, my bed seemed to be made of broken sticks and metal. Wait, that isn't right, right? Opening my eyes, I became acutely aware of an overwhelming throbbing in my head. Rubbing my skull made me gasp in pain, bringing my hoof back I saw blood gleaming in the moonlight. Moonlight?

Through the haze of the headache, my blurry vision slowly took in my surroundings. I was laying on a pile of rubble, there was a small hole in a wooden wall I was resting in. It seemed I was in a small town, two of the structures ahead of me, on the opposite side of the road were on fire. The crescent half-moon was low in the sky, meaning it was a few hours before dawn.

My haze cleared to alarm, my back and sides were on fire with pain, there were welts and bruises forming under my coat, everywhere. I didn't know how I got here, or what's going on, but it was clear I was in big trouble.

I rubbed my head again, the last thing I remembered was looking out over the sea, regretting leaving my island. I seem to be suffering temporary memory loss that accompanies a hard blow to ones head. I found the experience educational, and fear inducing, what had I missed that led to this moment?

Hearing gunfire again, I tried to find its source, my EFS telling me that a red and green bar were close together past the buildings in front of me. If I was in trouble, my friends must be too! I was in no condition to help, but the moon was out, so I started humming to heal my wounds and tried to separate myself from the pile of rubble. Without any potions, I had to rely on the power Destiny Labs had born into me.

I pulled Trust out from my bags and slowly got on my hooves, as my note played out, I heard another join in my chorus, a silent voice that nopony else could hear. I felt the bruises melt away, the headache lessening with each passing moment. Looking to my EFS, I went to where I heard the gunfire, passing one of the burning buildings. Had that been Tabben's doing? Panning around, I saw one red bar next to a green far to the right, the red and green I was heading towards, and two green moving rapidly against a single red.

Reaching the other side of the wall of buildings, I saw Mek, she was fighting a minotaur, no, Rock-Horns. He was sporting heavy looking armor that didn't seem to impede him at all. It became clear to me now, we made it to Tide-Hop, and were ambushed in the night. It looked as though Mek was out of ammo for her battlesaddle her armor sported a lot of new dents, and her opponent looked to be in the same condition. As I moved to help her, something hit me, causing my song to falter.

Looking around, I saw nothing. I was hit again, being knocked on my side, forcing the wind from me. Wind-Whisp was attacking me! I needed to find a way around that invisibility. However, till then, I could use my one advantage against my invisible foe. Continuing my song, I ran, I zipped away from where I just was and then arced around to Mek. Even though Whisp was invisible, it didn't mean anything if they couldn't catch me.

As I got close to Rock, I saw an empty dash inhaler appear in the air a few feet ahead of me. By the light of Celestia, this was going to hurt. I went into SATS, I didn't aim at anything in particular, I was literally shooting in the dark, I lined up four shots in spots I suspected the pony would attack me from. Leaving SATS, I got off two shots before I was bucked in the side of my head, making my headache redouble. As Trust hit the ground, a third shot fired from it, I saw blood spray the ground nearby. I was glad that my gun was looking out for me, but it caused my attacker to redouble their efforts on me.

The barrage of attacks was brutal, I wasn't allowed back on my hooves, it was all I could do to protect myself as Whisp hit and jabbed me with their hooves. As I felt myself start to slip away, a blue pulse of light showered itself over the battle, a tingle crawling up my mane. A spark grenade? The attacks stopped, I saw my attacker standing over me, confused that her invisibility came to an end. She was a lime green mare covered in a concealing cloak, and turned around to see where the grenade came from. Seeing the green bar on my EFS, I saw Golden hovering a few feet behind Whisp, a grenade pin in her mouth. When did we replenish our spark grenades?

“Found you~ Now you have to count to one hundred before you can go find-” She said, before being interrupted by something orange and gray being thrown into her! Golden managed to get out from under Mek before they both hit the ground, she groaned in pain as Golden looked back in alarm. In her moment of distraction, Whisp moved to attack her. Mek coughed out an alarm to Golden.

I started singing again, I needed to save my friends, we needed to get through this. Wildcard wanted me, but she would kill them, I needed to save my crew! I crawled to Trust as fast as I could, popping it open, I hastily shoved three bullets in as Golden flew away from Whisp, just dodging the ponies jabs. I saw that Whisp had been hit in the knee of her left forward leg, it had slowed her down enough to spare Golden. Rock was running towards me, seeing me get Trust. I saw my target, and waited at the last moment to go into SATS.

SATS ended, and four shots filled the night air. I watched as each bullet found its mark, one, two, three, four. Each shot worked at destroying Rocks right hoof, the first two destroyed the armor, the last two destroyed the limb, causing him to tumble from his charge. I rolled to the side as he crashed past me. As I turned to reload in preparation for Whisp, I heard Mek join my note. The song became stronger, and the fresh beating Whisp had dealt me was fading fast.

I saw Rock moving towards me, and I hopped on my hooves, adrenaline helping me ignore the pain. Whisp turned to me and was approaching me as I went into SATS- I felt Trust being forced from my mouth before I completely entered SATS. Leaving SATS I saw that somepony had grabbed it with blue magic and tossed it away from me! I brought out my harpoon as I quickly glanced around. There was a unicorn with a dark blue coat and matching hair staring at us, her horn glowed and I saw Whisp's wound recover before my eyes! She was healing as fast as I had been from my song, but the unicorns magic compounded the process!

She caught up to me and we exchanged blows. Her blows were fast, keeping me on the defense. I'd deter her attacks by lining my harpoon to cut her hooves if she pressed her luck. I needed distance, the harpoon was too long, her jabs and kicks were well inside my weapons reach. I couldn't jab her, and my swings would be too wide and leave me open to counter attack. I needed a distraction. Our wounds were recovering faster then we were being wounded, it would take an outside force to break our stalemate. I hoped my friends could manage with the time I was buying them, my note still singing through the bout.

Whisp jumped back, and I saw her reach into her bags to get something. I used the opening and lunged forward with my harpoon. She was surprised to not find what she was looking for as I ran through her front leg. Having her leg pierced, I abandoned the fight with her and quickly appraised the area.

Golden was behind the blue unicorn, who was too distracted to notice the filly going through her saddlebags! I probably wouldn't have noticed either if EFS didn't show me where Golden's green bar was. Mek was keeping Rock at bay, since the beast was missing a leg, it evened the field between the two. I assumed Solar or Tabben was the one tackling the other red bar that was nearby, it looked like those bars were getting closer.

I eyed the unicorn, she saw the look I was giving her. She was Tabben's sister, the colors didn't match, but the way her mane was striped did, and she used healing magic like Tabben said. Her horn glowed, then her eyes widened as she realized somepony had taken all her weapons. A moment later, from the corner of my eye I saw Trust rise from her magic. Oh goddesses, please don't try to shoot me with Trust, Trust has not been nice to ponies that try to shoot me with it!

Deciding to deprive her the chance, I turned to my gun, now aimed at me, and pounced at it, to her surprise. She fired Trust unexpectedly, being caught off guard by my change in tact, she missed. Trust's shot went past me, towards her. Before I could look to see the results of the shot, the magic holding Trust died. I dived to the gun, but I wouldn't reach it before hitting the ground.

“Please, stop!” I yelled at the gun, fearing it would go off when it hit the dirt. To my relief, it didn't fire. I swiped it up, saw that Whisp was on her side, unconscious. I guess Mek took a swing at her when I wasn't-

Not important! I turned back to the blue unicorn and rushed to her side. There was a hole in her throat, she was bleeding out and would be dead quickly from blood lose. She was chocking on her own blood. Another pony I didn't want to die was near death, and I wasn't going to let her die. I did not let my healing song falter. She looked at me, fear written in her eyes. I had no potions, but I did have bandages. I expertly extracted the bullet before she could so much as flinch, I then wrapped the wound, putting a hoof below the vein to lower blood loss. I could see her wound healing from my song. I was certain she would make it. She looked at me, confusion on her face as she passed out. After sealing the wound, I cleared her throat by pressing her lungs, forcing her to cough.

I heard an explosion occur nearby, my eyes drawn to see that Solar was running from a wall of flames. He had a singed wing, clearly, he was grounded at the moment. Tabben came out from behind a nearby building close to Solar, noticed Water laying on the ground next to me, saw the look I gave him, and he ran towards me.

Something hit me in the side, my song died in my throat as I was knocked to the ground. My right side was fletched by shotgun pellets, my barding had kept most of them from penetrating, but it didn't change the fact that I was shot in the side by a shotgun. Looking towards the source, I saw Rock had a new gun, a red bar on my EFS quickly fleeing from him. He turned it towards Mek and feinted shooting her as she charged him. He grabbed her by the throat and swung around, smashing Golden, who was trying to steal his ammo. They both slumped into the ground, neither moved as I stared in horror. This bull was a beast, throwing around Mek like she was a toy!

Looking back to Tabben and Solar, I saw behind them an armored pony with large weapons strapped to either side of his back. One of them let out a slow traveling projectile that hit the ground behind Solar, sending him flying and crumpling into the ground with a sick thud. Oh, so that's what a missile looks like. Solar was out of commission, my crew was dwindling fast, and we still had two opponents left to handle! Tabben looked behind him as the armored pony threw a grenade at him.

“No Fire-Bomb! You idiot don't use that shit on Tabben-” Rock said as Tabben was enveloped in a fiery explosion. Tabben stood in the fire, unharmed, he looked at Fire-Bomb, and all the fire was sucked into my companion. Heat absorption, killing anypony suffering thermal sickness is a easy affair, they die to bullets just easily as a normal pony. Trying to kill one with fire however, is folly. Tabben charged the armored pony, the pony took a step back, not sure what to do. Fire-Bomb fired a missile at him, it blew up immediately after leaving his weapon as Tabben's magic flared briefly. Tabben ran through the fire the missile spawned, absorbing it as he went. Bomb decided now was a good time to run. Tabben stopped, casting a cone of fire towards the fleeing pony. He was washed in fire, and Fire-Bomb burned to death, her screams making me wince in apology. Mek had told me Tabben was good at handling heavily armed ponies, I suspect Fire-Bomb never had a chance.

“Dammit, why do I have to keep replacing our fire-pony,” the minotaur said, standing over me, surprising me. I was so distracted with Tabben's chase I had failed to notice the leader of Wildcard's goons limp to me. Before I could get away, he grabbed me with his powerful arms and had me locked in his grip. “Cause me any more trouble and I'll start breaking your bones, got it?” He warned me.

We saw Tabben heading back our way, he noticed me caught in Rock's grasp, but continued forward. Rock took his shot-gun and lay the barrel on Water's head, making Tabben pause. As best I could, I looked to my crew, Tabben looked fine, everypony else however, did not. Mek and Solar aren't in imminent danger, but they still needed medical attention, I couldn't make out what condition Golden was in, I couldn't see her with Mek crumpled on her. They needed my help, so I started singing again-

Rock squeezed me against my side, I cried out in pain as I felt several of my ribs break. My vision went white from the pain as I momentarily lost track of what was going on.  As my senses returned to taking in my surroundings, I saw that Rock's eyes were still on Tabben, his gun never moved. I was out of commission, it hurt to breath, I doubted I could sing the note even if I wanted to now.

“Now Tabben, this is how it's going to go down. I take her with me, and you get to keep the rest. Otherwise,” he said, pushing his gun into Water's neck as she started to stir, “Ponies start dying, and it's on your hooves.” Tabben was looking between me and his sister. I wouldn't blame him for choosing kin over me, and he could save the others once Rock took me away. But there was a fire in his eyes. He was about to put us at risk, and I wasn't sure how I felt about that.

“You point a gun at my sister, threaten to kill the pony who's been healing your sorry ass for the last four years, and expect me to just roll over? You expect me to just let you go after this?” Tabben said calmly, just as calmly as when I accidentally set him off earlier. Water was looking at Tabben, and at Rock, she was definitely confused by these events. “Or do you honestly think that Wildcard will let you do anything with her after putting down her favorite child? Such as living?”

“Cht- I don't work for her and you know it, my employer only needs one of her children alive, your sister is just a better pawn than you are. Be that as-” Tabben's horn flared and sputtered briefly, and Rock let out a scream of pain. He dropped me as he clutched his eyes, they were on fire. I heard the shotgun he still held against Water's head click, it didn't fire. Golden was standing over me, I saw several shotgun clips in her mouth. This filly certainly knew how to earn her keep! Thank the goddesses she was alright! She pulled me away from the minotaur, and after I managed to get some distance from him, she went back for Water at my request. She helped the unicorn, still confused, on her hooves and over to me as Rock rolled on the ground, clutching his face. Tabben was walking up to Rock, the look in his eyes sent a child down my mane.

“Tabben, don't.” I said weakly, limping around Rock to get between the two. Tabben regarded me coldly. Rock had betrayed his sister, threatened to kill her, and harmed Mek.

“You are a selfish pony Rain, so am I, and you can't have everything. I'll spare the next one.” He said to me, I tried to stop him, I jumped at him, knocking him over, his eyes never left me as his horn flared. Momentarily stunned by the pain slamming him brought on, I managed to look behind me and saw Rock's head become swallowed by fire, before his screams could redouble, he disappeared in a flash of white light.

Everypony looked at where Rock was a moment before, stunned. He was gone. Some form of magic saved him from Tabben's wrath. Tabben stared with his mouth hung open, not quite sure how to react to that. Despite the strange circumstances, I knew what needed to happen. I told Water to look at Solar's wounds while I checked out Mek. She looked like she was about to object, I cut her off and told her to help the ponies that saved her, and she begrudgingly did so.

I was upset, and I was in a great deal of pain. Solar and Mek needed help, we had almost bought it there, and Tabben still tried to kill Rock despite my wishes. Wait, where's Whisp? I saw my harpoon laying on the ground, a pull of blood under it, but the mare was nowhere to be seen. Great, another problem to add to the list. Count the good. We're all alive, and this is bound to be a big setback for Wildcard, it might even brew some animosity with her employer once she finds out Rock intended to kill her daughter.

Reaching Mek, I found she looked worse that she actually was. None of her bones were broken, so my song should be enough to heal her up. I started singing again. Tabben was still staring at the spot Rock had been, now with a considering look on his face. He then walked over to Mek, his gaze met mine, we glared at each other. He smiled at me!

“You know, I can't take your glare seriously while you're humming like that. I assume she's going to be fine, since you seem to have the room to be angry with me?” He asked, popping my angry balloon. Tabben is a spiteful pony who shows no mercy to those who harms the ones he cares for. I guess it means something that he apologized to me before trying to kill Rock. At least I think that was his form of an apology. I stopped my humming, wondering if my healing worked like a potion, I needed to check my crew for any broken bones before I continue mending them. My own ribs needed to be reset before I could get us healed anyway, and resetting ribs was not going to be a fun, or easy task.

“She'll be fine,” I painfully replied, I looked over at Solar, Water was wrapping his wings in bandages, I guess he was going to be grounded for a bit. “Lets get back to Shelter and leave as soon as possible. This is Tide-Hop right?” I asked, he nodded, confused that I asked. “Where are the townsponies?”

“They left shortly before the attack began, they'll return soon enough I suppose.” He replied. Two of their buildings were rubble now, and I'm sure that was Fire-Bomb's doing.

“Lets leave our extra supplies here as an apology then.” I said, “I don't want to stay on this island any longer than we need to, It's clear now that Ruby was nothing more than a trap for us to fall into.” I was missing about half a days worth of memory, but I think I got the most important details down. When we are safely on our ship I can get a better recount of events. “Do you want us to bring her?” I asked, nodding to his sister. Before he could answer, I noticed a pair of red bars slipping past on my EFS, looking around I heard something whoosh above us. Eyes to the sky, I saw the sky carriage we had supposedly disabled the other day. I briefly wondered if the pegasus flying that had been the pony that gave Rock-Horns the shotgun.

“Looks like the rest of them have fled, are you going after them Water-Barrier?” I asked the dark blue unicorn as she was helping Solar to his hooves. She gave me a hard look, I could tell she was about to refuse. She rubbed her bandaged neck and her look softened. She looked at me, then at Tabben.

“Don't look at me, you're old enough to make your own decisions,” Tabben scoffed. She frowned at him, looking like she wanted to take him down a peg. She started yelling at-

Her lips were moving, her expression matched yelling, but her voice didn't come out. She looked shocked as she felt her throat again, fear etched her features as she tried to say something, anything. All she could get out was depressing exhaling noises. There's only so much healing potions, and now I assume, my song are capable of. They can only heal wounds that anypony could recover from over time. Losing your eyes, like Penny, losing your leg, like Rock-Horn, or your voice, would require something as powerful as a healing talisman to recover from.

Water-Barrier stood there, dumbfounded. I thought she was going to cry, instead, she got angry. She yelled soundlessly at everything and everypony, tears of rage in her eyes. I saw to my alarm the bandage around her neck started to stain with blood, she was opening her wound up.

I went over to stop her, Tabben put his hoof on me, making me wait for Water's rage to end. Solar surprised both of us by tackling the mare!

“Calm down!” He yelled at her confused expression, “You're making yourself worse, you think that's going to help anypony here? Those two saved you, so stop, and calm down.” Okay, had something happened earlier that made Solar more assertive? He quickly moved away from the mare, Solar's words calming her into a less 'shouting' state. Solar was blushing, he clearly hadn't intended to do that.

Mek stirred as Water got on her hooves. I told my crew to return to Shelter, and, following Mek and Golden, we all returned to the ship. I looked to Water, her wounded neck pinning my attention. Trust seemed to attract situations where somepony other than myself fired it. Was it coincidence, or was the gun actually begging to be fired by others? I wasn't sure if the gun was working to protect me, or simply being vengeful. For the first time, I was afraid of Trust, it had almost killed somepony I didn't want to kill, I didn't want to repeat that risk in the future. Now I was torn, the gun saved me twice on its own accord, it was beyond valuable to me. I wish I knew its story. Ruby was dead, Wildcard used his name to lure me here, and I fell for it. Looking back to Water, I felt I owed her an apology. It was easy to blame her wound on my gun, but I was the guns owner, I was responsible for her now being mute.

“Tabben, is Water-Barrier her real name?” I asked, she was following us, and I guessed our ship was going to have an additional pony shortly. I wanted to be sure I was referring to her by her actual name, and not some name given to her by Rock to fit some sort of elemental motif. Tabben looked back at his sister, and seeing her nod, he informed us of her name.

“Steam, a pony with a short temper who blows a lot of hot air. She won't burn you, but knows how to make you feel uncomfortable. However, she's good to have around when the cold realities of the wasteland come crashing down around you.” He explained, Steam didn't seem bothered in the least by his description, I guess she saw the truth in it, or has heard this from Tabben before. He turned to her.

“Steam, if you intend to join my merry band of ponies, you should know that Wildcard has us wrapped up in some stupid old world conspiracy. I know you're no stranger to danger, so this is my only warning. You cannot complain about what happens if you join us.” He then gave her a sour smirk, “Not like you could if you wanted to.”

She glared at him, then charged him. Nopony got in her way as she tackled Tabben. They both ended up exchanging blows, Steam out of bitter frustration and anger, Tabben out of pride and annoyance. I felt as though the fight was missing some sort of verbal component, considering Steam couldn't talk, and Tabben was keeping silent through the bout. I was in no condition to break them apart, and everypony else seemed content to let them fight.

“We're just gonna let them fight?” I asked, getting a look from the other three.

“I ain't gonna break up a family squabble,” Mek informed me, “I reckon Solar understands as well as I do that it's something best left to themselves.” Solar nodded in agreement, I wasn't aware if Mek had siblings, but I knew Solar did. I suddenly felt like I didn't belong, I was an only child who only had her mother most of her life. I didn't understand what it meant to have a sister or brother. If the two in front of me was suppose to be an example, I guessed that siblings fighting was a common occurrence.

The two unicorns were panting at each other, neither suited for physical combat. Their manes were a mess, their coats ruffled. As they stared at each other, I got the feeling that some old pent up animosity had been vented.

“Guess that means your joining,” Tabben panted out, “Let's get on the ship, and set sail. After leaving our 'apology' to Tide-Hop.” Tabben proceeded back to the ship. Steam watched him trot off, she wanted to say something, but couldn't. Feeling something slump next to me, I saw Golden leaning on me, she looked ready to pass out. Despite being slammed by Mek twice, she looked the least injured out of all of us. But she was also the most tired, the sun would rise in a few hours, it was late, or I guess at this point, early. I wanted to carry her to Shelter, but my broken ribs would probably make me pass out from the effort. I had Mek carry our youngest member to the ship, and after reaching the dock, we boarded.

Somehow, we ended up with another pony on our ship. Steam had been betrayed by the leader of her group, and abandoned by the rest when they fled. It would be nice if I could converse with her, but we had no tools on the ship to facilitate the desire. Until we could find a healing talisman or somepony with one, she was mute, which means communicating with her would be complicated. Maybe we had some usable paper mixed in our cargo, I know Solar has some writing equipment, as he's constantly adding to his map. Though she couldn't talk, somepony else I knew could. Catching up to Tabben in the ships cargo hold, I asked him about his sister.

“Can we trust her on our ship? What if she sells us out to Wildcard?”

“She won't, she knows what she's doing by joining us, she's well aware of my stance on betrayal. She probably will only stay for as long as it's convenient for her, but she won't sell us out. Unless Wildcard visits us in person anyways, but that isn't likely to happen. You sure you want to leave so soon, we didn't have a chance to look for Ruby.” I looked at him confused.

“Ruby is dead, this was a trap set by Wildcard.” Now he was looking at me confused. Mek had joined us in the cargo hold and was getting things together as Tabben clarified for me.

“No, it wasn't, Wildcard's goons were surprised to find us here, they were looking for Ruby. Did you forget that before Rock threw you into the building?” he asked, okay, I think that concussion is now in need of some filling in.

“Um, I can't remember anything before waking up in the side of that building, the last thing I remembered before that was us changing course for Tide-Hop.” I admitted, getting a look of concern from Mek and Tabben. Tabben look shifted from concern, to a mischievous smile.

“Oh, so you don't remember us talking about sex yesterday?” As his words registered to me, I felt my face flush. As Mek walked over to Tabben, his words had triggered a storm of memories to surfaced up as I found myself caught in a flashback of recent events.

As we got closer to Tide-Hop, I started to second guess myself. The extra cargo I intended to give to the needy was burning a hole in the bottom of the ship. At least, that's how I saw it. I imagined something happening should we run into Ruby that makes all that cargo burst on fire, or get lost in some sort of manner.

Deciding I needed a distraction from my own doubts, I went back to the mess hall. Those last two memory orbs weren't going to watch themselves. Selecting the one I assumed was from the locker room of the robot factory, I noticed it was a buck's memory about twenty minutes long and dived into the lobby.

As the lobby filled in, I found myself in a small room with a low amount of light in it. There were two ponies on a large bed in the corner of the room. They seemed to be doing something that immediately drew my attention, my stomach fluttered a little as I took in what they were doing.

Oh.

By the Goddesses!

Are those two copulating?!

The location no longer mattered, the smells were distracting, and the noises they were making! I did not want to see, smell, or hear this memory, and I tried to leave.

Okay, the location does matter, I'm closed inside the small room, the door won't open. My face was flushed, they were going at it like I wasn't there. Oh right, memory orb. I felt my chest ache from embarrassment of being so close to the act. These damn orbs need some sort of content warning!

And this was going to be twenty minutes long!? I tried to distract myself from what was going on a couple paces away. Who would make a memory orb for this? And leave it in a robot factory!?

Curse my curiosity, before long I found myself staring like a shameless spectator. The mare sounded like she was enjoying it, and the buck seemed to give her everything he had. Oh dear, if I had been in first person mode...

I wanted to shake the thought from my head, but with the buck right there near me it was very hard to. I was no stranger to sex.

Scratch that.

I was no stranger to copulating, my mothers notes had very detailed information on ponies mating and the birthing process. Reading notes was nothing compared to this. I now saw several incidents that have occurred over the last week with new clarity.

Why those pirates wanted to violate me, what Knave had intended to do with me, and why Tabben had kept me from seeing the townsponies before lighting the funeral pyre. It was all in reference to sex. The pirates wanted to dominate me, and Tabben wanted to spare me from seeing what the pirates had done to the mares of SaddleSands.

And despite that realization, despite my desire to not be here, I wanted to know what it felt like. Curse my Celestia damned cursable curiosity.

Coming out of the memory orb, I was surprised to find myself in the engine room. I didn't feel clean, there was a sweet smell in the air that made me blush, and I desperately wanted to dive into the ocean. Mek was nearby and she noticed me stirring.

“So, find a less then decent memory orb? Were you the mare, or the buck?” She asked, smiling at me knowingly, causing me to blush harder.

“The buck” I said in a small, shameful voice. She almost wanted to laugh, I could see it on her face. Shaking her head, she tried to help me out.

“Ya might want to clean up sweetie, mind leaving that with me while you do so?” She asked, I didn't even give her an answer, I left the orb in the room and quickly went top side. I wanted to separate myself from that conversation with as much distance as I could on this small ship.

Grabbing a bucket on my way up, I passed Golden in the mess hall fiddling with her pipbuck, slipped past Solar, filled the bucket and dowsed myself in irradiated sea water. Thankfully, it was cold, just what I needed! Not satisfied with that, I repeated the salty shower until I was completely rid of the mood my body had been in after finishing that orb.

“So,” Tabben started, making me jump in surprise, “you and Mek lock yourselves in the engine room for fifteen minutes, and the first thing you do when you get out is clean up?” Turning to him, I felt my blush returning as his sly grin bore into me. “Did somepony finally become a mare today?” I tried to tell him off, But looking at Tabben brought up the buck in the memory orb, causing me to stutter out gibberish. I looked away from him, he walked closer to me!

“I didn't think her barn door swung both ways, that Mek sure is an amazing mare, but I'm sure you know that now-” He said, causing me to trip words out of my throat.

“It wasa memoryorb, Mek had no partinit!” I spat out, he blinked, and his smile grew. How was that even possible!?

“I have to say, you're being pretty approachable right now. You're not brooding or thinking or staring off in the distance or giving me a headache or asking for foolish things. Maybe what you've really needed this whole time was a good-” Tabben was interrupted by a memory orb hitting him the face. He picked it up with his hoof and rested it on his robe before appraising Mek. “And just the mare you need to give you a good time!” Tabben shouted as he started running, Mek chasing after him furiously. Had he just complimented me? Why did that make me blush harder!? Oh goddesses, I could feel a headache coming on from all the blood occupying my head. Mek chased Tabben for a minute before giving up. She returned to my side, and Tabben cautiously approached us. Tabben was the first to speak.

“Honestly though, it's great at relieving stress-” Tabben started, ensuring my blush didn't weaken as Mek interrupted him.

“Oh like you would know Tabben, I know a lot of mares fancy ya, but I also know you can't put out!” Tabben winced at Mek's retort. She winced in return, letting something slip she hadn't meant to.

“Just because I don't 'put out' doesn't mean I don't know how to please a mare, thank you very much!” He responded, almost indignantly. I wasn't quite following what he meant by that, but I could guess why he didn't put out. I suspected ponies suffering from thermal sickness did not make the best sexual partners. Mek looked skeptical at his claim. “I wouldn't mind giving you a demonstration-” And she bopped him into the deck. “Offer is open to either of you.” he slipped out as he got back on his hooves, “Yes that includes you Rain,” he said, making me take a few steps back. Once again those two ponies going at it in the memory orb played in my head, then my brain imposed me and Tabben as the two ponies!

I went to the side of the control desk and bashed my head into it repeatedly. Surprising Solar, who was blushing with his nose in his maps, clearly overhearing everything. After my head was clear of crude thoughts, I looked back at the two unicorns, Mek was looking at Tabben with a sad look on her face as Tabben was watching me, pure amusement carried in his expression.

“You know Tabben, she said it was a bucks memory, maybe you should look into it, get to know what it's actually like?” She suggested, there was pity in her eyes, Tabben stared at her, contemplating how to respond to that. He took the memory orb out of his robe, eyed it momentarily, and tossed it towards me! I caught it, but I didn't want to keep it.

“I'll pass, it's a buck that isn't me, with a mare I don't know. Both died a long time, I have no need for their happiness. Besides, I'll probably just think about how the buck is doing everything wrong, and the fact that the buck is inferior to me for not being me.” Mek looked sad at his reply, but his words had power over me. He didn't want to indulge in the memory because it wasn't his, he didn't own it, so he had no interest in it. Mek stood there thinking for a bit before she started to blush.

“So, you said you know how to please mares, you wouldn't happen to use your horn to do that, would you?” She asked, then I immediately saw regret grow on her face as her coat started to match her mane. Tabben looked at her in surprise.

“You mean you've never used your magic during-” and before he could finish, she bopped him into the deck.

I reeled back, the pain in my chest coming to my attention first, then my face being flushed with blood, and finally Mek standing over Tabben, who was just knocked into the floor of the cargo hold. I staggered, almost falling over. The emotions from the returned memories washed over into me, and after muttering a small apology, I left the cargo hold. I went top side to find Steam, and hoped she could help me get my ribs back in order. I silently thanked Rock for the injury, it was perfect for sparing myself from a repeat of the conversation I had with those two yesterday.

Climbing to the second floor, I heard the engine come alive, walking pass the mess hall I saw Golden and Steam. Steam was looking over the filly, healing her bruises before she took notice of me. Golden was torn between nodding off and approaching me. She chose to approach me, my hoof stopped her, I thanked her, but she needed rest. I asked her to get some sleep, and I approached Steam.

“I've got four broken ribs, can you help me set them?” I asked, she didn't hesitate, she went to work. He horn glowed and I felt the pain disappear, I hadn't been healed, but the pain had been cut off, to my relief. Then I felt my ribs shift under my skin. It didn't hurt, but is felt weird, I had to resist the nauseating sensation building in my gut. After she finished, I felt the pain return, it wasn't as bad as earlier, feeling closer to falling on my side rather than having my side smashed to pieces. I thanked her and asked if she was okay with sailing with us. She tried to answer verbally, frowned, shook her head then let out a sigh, giving me an indifferent shrug.

“Well Steam, you don't need to stay if you don't want to. You're here because you've chosen to, and we'll look after you as long as you look after us, sound fair?” I asked, I was the captain, if she was joining us, she needed to know the score. We look after each other, even Solar had helped during the ambush, as long as she was on our ship, she would contribute, she would earn her keep. She stared at me, the look wasn't hard, but thoughtful. She nodded to me, and let out a small smile.

I didn't want to lose any of my crew, having another pony on board that could take care of our wounds would be a big step towards that. I don't know how long Steam will stay with us, but I'll make sure everypony is better off with her, and maybe she'll find us worth her company.

“How long till Solar will be able to fly again?” I asked, since she was the one that treated him. He had crashed into the ground when the missile hit near him, breaking his left wing. She thought for a moment before tapping the table twice. “Two days?” She shook her head, “Weeks?” she shook her head again, “Months?” she nodded. How would it take two- “His wings are broken, and you don't know how to set them?” She confirmed my suspicions. My medical notes didn't have details on a pegasai's bone structure, with a broken wing, I'd be unable to set the bones, at least not without knowing-

“I think we can work something out,” I said with an idea forming. “Meet me on the deck with Solar, have his bandages removed.” I ordered as I went below deck to get Golden before she passed out. After rounding the four of us on the deck, I asked Steam to use her painkiller spell while I had Golden spread her wings out for me.

Though she was younger, the bone structures should be identical, using Golden's wings as a blueprint, I would set Solar's broken wing. Using my medical knowledge and with creative use of several splints, I was able to work his broken wing into a thick cast. With his bones held in place, I let my song do the mending. Steam was surprised at the song I was letting out. Solar thanked us as Steam ended her spell. I didn't know how long it would take for my song to heal his wing, so I continued while the others sat and listened.

Before long, Tabben and Mek came topside carrying some of the cargo. When Mek heard my song, she put down her load and stood next to me, and she joined in as well. As she did, I heard another voice, unheard by the others, join in. Then two others joined as well, I had no idea where these three unseen singers came from, but I welcomed them all the same.

Golden and Solar tried to match the note, it took a little bit of offer for them but they managed to harmonize with the rest of us. Steam was content with simply hearing, her face filled with peace. The only pony that didn't seem to care for it was Tabben. He looked at the lot of us, as if separated by some unseen wall, and it made my heart ache. Why couldn't he be touched by the sound? I wanted him to join us, So I got up, and offered my hoof to him. He looked at me, as if he was going to strike me down. Instead, he simply put my hoof down. He then gave me a weak smile, as if apologizing, and went to the bow of the ship, his back to us. My song couldn't reach him. Was it because of Assignment 11? It had to be, I have yet to meet a pony that wasn't affected by the golden note.

I sang until the sun rose, I was the last to stop. Half my crew was asleep around me, looking at them, it almost made me cry out of joy. Mek, Golden, and Solar were curled around me, a small smile on each of them. They were my crew, and I healed them, and made them happy. It made my chest hurt, these ponies were important to me, and now I knew, I was important to them. They trusted me enough to sleep on the deck of the ship, with me as their guardian. I swore to myself, at that moment, to never betray that trust. They gave me their trust, and now I knew, I would sooner die than betray it.

Steam had gone below deck, to sleep in the quarters. Only Tabben was still awake, his gaze east to the soon rising sun. Taking the few steps there were between me and him, I sat next to him. I was never fond of the sun, but I admit that sunrises were an exception to my dislike. The buck said nothing, and I returned his silence in kind. We watched the sky be bathed in all shades of purple, red and orange as the sun blossomed out from the horizon, making me squint at its brilliance as the sky turned from dark blue to a shade closer to my coat. Staring at the sky that shared our colors, Tabben broke the silence.

“I wish I could hear it,” the buck said, “It's so obvious that the others can, but all I hear is noise, I bet Destiny Labs has something to do with that.” He finished bitterly. He looked down at the ocean before casting his gaze at the sun, glaring defiantly at it.

“I'd like it if you could hear it as well.” I whispered, he looked at me and I felt myself blush. Why did I blush?

“Tsk, Silly mare, it's not about what you want, it's-” He started to say.

“Tabben, just stop, I'm not going to fall for it, so please, let's just watch the sun rise in silence, okay?” I asked. He was about to push me away, so I pushed back. He pushed away anypony that got too close, and he was trying to do the same to me. Did he care about me? Or was I simply being a delusional fool? He didn't reply to my outburst, he simply stared at me, considering me.

“Rain, if you pursue the sun, you'll get burned.” He started, looking me in the eyes, locking his words into my memory. “When the sun sees your burnt husk, it will cry, and it will turn to ash. If you can tell me straight, that you're fine with that, then I won't stop you from chasing the sun.” It wasn't a warning, it wasn't a promise. It was an agreement, he was offering me a simple fact of what would likely happen if I pursued the sun. I see, the sun was Tabben, and I wanted to pursue him.

I wanted to pursue him? I haven't even known the buck for a whole week, but I couldn't deny that I was drawn to him. He was an infuriating, antagonizing, murdering, narcissistic bastard. He was also a considerate, sacrificial, loyal, enduring friend. He brought trouble, and wasn't afraid to put himself and others at risk, but he was capable, saving others from such trouble. He commanded, taught, trained, and facilitated. He cares, but he pushes. Right now, he's pushing me away. I am a selfish pony, but am I willing to be burned for my greed?

'When the sun sees your burnt husk, it will cry, and it will turn to ash.'

The second half of his agreement ran through my head as its meaning hit me. He did care. He's afraid of causing my death. Not because he considered himself weak, and not because of his enemies. I suspected the fear came from his true name. Had Wildcard given him a cruel name like 'Friend Killer'? I honestly couldn't see it, but I wanted to know. I wanted to know more about this buck, and it was clear by now that this journey heavily involved the two of us. We would get answers together, this was our endeavor.

He saw my thoughts racing behind my eyes, he was waiting for an answer. He wanted an answer. Risk the present for a better future. I may get burned, I may die, but how would that be any different if I refused? It would be less tragic if we stayed at hooves length? He was afraid of his name, whatever it was, but I would defy it! There is power in defiance, if he won't take that first step, I will.

“I'd rather the sun not cry and turn to ash, but if that's what's going to happen, then it cannot be helped. I'm fine with that, I'm Winter Rain, if anypony is going to chase the sun and get burned, it may as well be me.” He looked surprise, but he let me finish what I had to say, “Tabben, you make me mad, you frustrate me, but you have also helped me. You've helped me so many times over these last few days, all the while keeping me at hooves length. I want to help you in return, but to do that, I may need to get burned. I trust you, so please, trust me.” I finished, our eyes never separating.

“Well then Rain, I'll trust you, but don't think I'll make it easy. I'm not some sort of pony that changes after being fed compelling words like your own. You have yet to show me if your Rain heralds winter or spring, and that will easily be the deciding factor in our future. Though I'm pretty sure that if you did catch the sun you-” The rest of his words faded from my ears as I was washed by a strong sense of fatigue. I caught the glimmer of something emerald as I started to pass out, falling into Tabben's side. The last thing I thought as sleep overcame me was how warm he felt.

I was in the lobby, Shelter sailed on the sea, a cool breeze blowing through my mane. Had what transpired from the ambush really drained me so? I had passed out next to Tabben, and now I was here.

Oh, hello, didn't think you could visit me.

I looked around and saw a brown mare looking at me sheepishly, who was she?

Name's Spark-In, you would probably know me better as Fire-Bomb. Nice place you got here, I hadn't planned on staying, but the song you sang last night. It was beautiful. It made me think a lot about my life, wish I had heard it while I was still alive.

Considering the mare, I looked for the door, and was surprised to see more than one. The rusty door with the writing on it separated the deck from the lower floors. A door stood next to it, made of gold. Inspecting the new door, I saw it also had writing on it.

Only the golden note shall awaken harmony.

I'm glad that Spark-In enjoyed my song, but she doesn't belong here, she should move on. Its not the wasteland on the other side of the door, I'm sure she would be a peace there.

Well, if that's how you feel, guess I should move on, sorry for attacking you and your friends, just doing what I was told to.

She gave me a weak smile and moved to the golden door. It opened for her, and I didn't see the dark hallway beyond, there was something else past the door. Wanting to see what lay within this new door, I was surprised as the door seemed to expand and swallow the entire lobby. Everything turned to gold. The ship, the sea, the sky, the clouds. The only thing that had kept its color was me, Spark-In had taken on a golden glow as she let out a smile. I could hear the note playing through the lobby.

Slowly, the lobby was filled by more ponies. Countless ponies I did not recognize, but there were two that I caught my eye, confusion was born from seeing the first. It was Rusty, the pirate Ruby had killed. She trotted past me, giving me a short nod, but not saying anything.

Was this the ever after? Had I died in my sleep? Wait, if I've been born with the lobby, how come this is my first time seeing Rusty here? For that matter, why couldn't my mother leave the island with me if she had been with me through the lobby? Almost as if summoned by my thoughts, she appeared before me, and my heart stopped.

Mother? Oh, I have died. My story was over, but I was with her again. I felt regret for never being able to find the answered I looked for, and wondered how-

She placed her hoof on me, shaking her head.

I wasn't dead? Then this golden room, was it an extension of the lobby? She grabbed my hoof, and led to the only door in the lobby. As it opened, I saw color on the other side, and as we passed through, all the colors returned to normal. The rusty door and the golden door were still there. I was in my lobby again, but I didn't return alone.

Here, we can talk now. Its noisy in the fragment, it's hard to communicate in there.

She gave me a hug, and I returned it. In here, we could share a hug, and I cherished it. Slowly, the events that happened to me since leaving my island played out, and she comforted me through it. I had killed, been beaten and battered, been hunted, and sought answers. I found answers, well, a few anyway. I had a crew and friends now. Counting the good, she had been right. Despite what I've gone through, I was better off than were I started. And once again, it was time for answers. How was she here, where did that golden lobby come from?

It was being carried by Ruby, when he left the island, he brought me into it. We talked about you a quite bit. He hasn't changed since he taught me how to heal others. He's entrusting it to you, and hopes you'll forgive him.

Forgive him? Was here outside right now! I need to talk to him!

I'm sorry dear, he's already left. He said that if you intend to chase the sun, you'll need all the help you can get. I'm here for you, so wake up, I won't be far. Just call and I'll pull you here.

Our embrace already conveying my love and gratitude, I kissed her and let go, letting the lobby slip away. She was with me again, there would be a time to for catching up, right now, I needed to talk to Ruby.

The first thing I noticed when I woke up, was that I was covered in a blanket. No, this wasn't a blanket. It was covered in soot and felt cool to the touch, this was Tabben's robe. The second thing I noticed was a small golden rod wrapped inside it. I feel like I've seen this before. Remembering the last thing to happen while I was in the lobby, I got on my hooves and looked around.

Golden and Mek were still asleep on the deck. Tabben was nowhere to be seen, the sun was halfway in the sky. As I moved to stir my crew, a note tucked in the robe rolled out and landed in front of me. Oh I was already not liking this prospect. Picking up the letter, I found its content aggravating.

'Just thought I should point out, you've only known me for less than a week. Cool off for a couple days and let me know if you still feel like chasing the sun. Ruby was in fact alive, and offered me answers. Not just for me, but for Steam as well, so we're heading off to Joint Facility 1. We can handle it, don't follow us. We'll be waiting for you at PA Lab 3 in three days.' -Tabben

That. Damn. Buck! Ruby was alive, and he and Tabben went to go raid the facility without us, why!? I had wanted us to find the answers together, and he goes and runs off instead of working together! I stirred Mek and Golden, telling them to get us ready to sail. I looked around for Solar and noticed his map laid out on the control desk, it had writing on it.

'Going with Tabben, going to make sure he returns to us. I've plotted out the course you'll need to take. Sorry, stay safe, we'll all be together again soon.' -Solar

Seeing the note from Tabben made me angry, seeing Solar's surprised me. I told myself that I would trust these ponies, so I took a deep breath, and did just that. I calmed myself down, Ruby must have a faster mode of transport than us, it would take roughly two days to reach the lab from here with Shelter, baring any interruptions. Not seeing the cargo I intended to give to the town, I assumed Tabben or Solar had taken care of it while the rest of us were asleep.

I looked at the robe Tabben left behind, it made me secure in my belief that we would meet up at Balefire Cove. Eyeing the golden rod Ruby left behind, I wondered if this was the golden fragment. It had to be, it was a lobby in of itself, there were the souls of many ponies in this small rod. Had they chosen to be in the rod? My mother had been in it, and now she was back with me. I was suppose to use this to save Equestria, but I had no idea how. Ruby had this? Did he have it when we first met? Considering he ran off with half my crew, I decided to act. Not wanting to stand still, I told Mek to cast off-

I saw the cargo we were going to donate to Tide-Hop laying on the dock. I couldn't leave it there without ensuring it made it to the proper ponies.

“Mek, get ready to cast off, I've going to find a pony in charge and make sure the town gets our apology.” She nodded and worked to get Shelter ready, I disembarked before she could ask me where the rest of the crew was.

Wandering through the town, I now thought it was strange. A good number of the buildings were made of wood. Did Broken Rocks have trees to trade to this town? Wandering to the end I saw on the outskirts a congregation of ponies who were returning to the town. I was a little apprehensive till I noticed mostly green and yellow bars from them on my EFS.

Considering I was just one unarmed pony, nopony else shot at me. I asked them for the pony in charge so I could inform them about what happened. In short order they led me to an old brown earth pony buck named Cider Wax. He had two guards that kept a close eye on me. Thinking to use my adopted title, I addressed the buck.

“Hello Cider, I'm Blue-Stripes, and I'm sorry for the mess Wildcard's goons cause to your town. I wanted to donate some of our goods to help set back the damages.” The old buck appraised me with a surprised look, he clearly hadn't been expecting that. I wondered if he had heard about me from the bounty broadcast?

Following the group back to town, I led him and a small group of ponies to the wares we left at the dock. Not trusting these ponies, and recalling what happened the last time I gave to a group of ponies, I slipped away as they rummaged through the donation. Getting back on Shelter in short order, I yelled a farewell as I got the ship moving.

“Hope you don't mind me leaving so soon, got places to be, sorry again!” We had left enough food to feed their number for a few weeks, and enough miscellaneous items to help fund the damages. Tide-Hop was getting the lions share of what had remained of SaddleSands supplies. Cider Wax looked confused that I was leaving so soon, but he smiled at me anyway. It wasn't a sly smile, but a thankful one. There were ponies without a home now in Tide-Hop, but I offered some aid, which was better than none. His smile was all I needed, I was certain what I left behind would be put to good use. My apprehension and frustration from what happened earlier dissipated. I looked out towards the horizon, energized, eager to take on the next challenge.

“Uh, aren't we missin' like, half the crew?” Mek asked me, seeing how we left with a half empty boat.

“It's just us three for now Mek, the rest will meet us and PA Labs 3 in three days. We need to get moving if we're gonna reach that deadline.” I said with a smile. I wanted to arrive early and see what we were in for at Balefire Cove.

“Tabby and Solar left us?” Golden started, “Those jerks! Let's get moving, we gotta be the first ones to get there, gonna show those bucks a thing or two about leaving us in the dust!”

“Sounds good to me, I've been wantin' to make this engine scream for a few days now.” Mek added, masking a tone of annoyance under her bravado.

My eyes were drawn back to the golden rod. It was what my ancestors had been looking for, for me to use. Ruby had it, had he gotten it from father? It's clear Ruby isn't of the mind to take me to Tenpony anymore. Still, would it not have been safer if we all had stayed together? Those four better be safe and sound when we reunite, I was looking forward to hearing an apology from each and every one of them.

Footnote: Level up. Lvl 9.

New Perk: Battle Hymn – You can now sing your song while in the midst of battle, just keep in mind that it heals your foes as well!

Quest Perk: Golden Fragment – You've gotten the golden fragment, a piece of star metal that sings the harmonic note. Who knows what it's capable of in your hooves.

Skill Note: Melee Weapons (75) Speech (25) Next Chapter: 10. Fate's Responsibility Estimated time remaining: 47 Minutes