“How is she?” I asked, glancing over Coconut’s shoulder. She had been tending to Starry for what had felt like ages after she had passed out.

“She’s unconscious still, but breathing. As best as I can tell her body went into shock, which caused her to pass out,” Coconut replied with a sigh.

“But she’s going to be alright, right?”

“Lightning…”

“She’s going to be alright, right?” I insisted.

“I don’t know,” Coconut said. “This could just be temporary, or it could be prolonged. There’s no telling how extensive the damage is to her psyche alone.”

I glanced down at my hooves. “Sorry. I just…”

“It’s alright,” Coconut said. “We’re just going to have to make do with what we have right now. But we can’t move her, not yet. We’ve gotta give her a chance to pull through on her own.”

I nodded, turning away from the makeshift tent that Coconut had put up to place my sister under. I wasn’t totally sure what to do. I was lost. Starry had always been the planner, the real brains. I was just… the joker. I knew that much deep down. I was the lazy one, the one who never really amounted to anything.

And here I was, trying to make things right. To get my sister back, to save her. How could I do that? How was a screwup like me supposed to help her?

“Lightning.”

I glanced up, seeing Rocky standing there. I realized I’d been walking without purpose, without reason. The minotaur’s shrewd yellow eyes regarded me curiously.

“What is it?”

“There is something you need to see,” he said, motioning for me to follow him.

I nodded and fell into a steady trot behind him. We walked for a short distance, back towards where Xerves body lay. We hadn’t yet decided whether we would bury him or not. I didn’t know if I even could stomach it. Rocky loped past the body into the ruined stone building a few paces down away from it. The building was caved in mostly, but not in as bad of a shape as the rest of the buildings in this strange place.

“I was doing some recon,” Rocky said quietly. “And I came across this place. Most of the buildings around here are destroyed, but this one has a door that goes downward.”

“Downward?” I asked, cocking my ears to one side. “That means there’s some sort of secret bunker?”

“That’s the only thing I can think of,” Rocky replied. “I wanted you to see it before we talked to the others.”

“Why?”

“Miss Coconut is tending to your sister, leaving only Velvet and the robot to defend them. It makes logical sense in this environment. Besides, I believe you and I should be more than capable of dealing with whatever is down there,” Rocky explained.

I grimaced. “You have a point there. Well, let’s get on with it then.”

Rocky nodded and motioned for me to follow him through the abandoned building. We made our way to a room in the back, where inset into the floor was a metal covering. It was very clearly a door leading to a cellar of some kind. It looked like it had once been covered by the floor tile, but it had long deteriorated.

“Is there a lever or something that opens it?” I asked.

“I looked around, but couldn’t find anything. I’m certain that this doorway must have been remotely accessible. It’s emitting a signal,” Rocky replied.

“Can you open it that way?”

“My cybernetics aren’t that advanced,” Rocky said. “I’m going to have to do this the old fashioned way.”

The minotaur brandished his claws and stepped forward, reaching down towards the lip of the door. The metal protested Rocky’s attempt to rend it from where it lay with loud, cacophonous screech. With a guttural roar he lifted up the two halves of the door and tossed them across the room. I stepped up next to him and peered down into the stairwell. Darkness filled all available space, making it difficult to see what was down there.

“Well,” I said, flicking on my PipBuck’s light. “Let’s see what’s down there.”

I started down the cold metal steps, hearing nothing but my own breathing and the clanking of both Rocky and I as we made our way down. The stairwell extended far below before we saw the first inkling of light. Several emergency lights, still working after all this time, lined the stairwell about halfway down, illuminating our path to the bottom.

The landing at the bottom of the stairs extended into a large bunker filled with junk. Neatly organized rows of dollies and foal’s toys covered the floor, leaving only a narrow path. At the far end sat an empty bed, the mattress and everything intact. Along the wall near the bed was a desk with a terminal. It appeared to still be operational.

“Look at all this stuff,” I said as I made my way through the rows of junk. “It looks like it’s all from up above.”

“Someone took great care to save these items,” Rocky uttered. “Dolls, pieces of artwork. These must have belonged to the ponies that lived in this place.”

I made my way across the room towards the terminal. I hoped there would be something there that would give any kind of idea what was going on here. I clicked a few of the keys, but there seemed to be nothing more than a few image files and an audio recording. The images were of ponies around a town. It seemed to be the town that we were in. I grimaced and downloaded the audio file to my PipBuck and set it to play aloud. Static emitted from my PipBuck’s speaker before the voice of a mare started to speak.

“Idiots, blasted idiots, the lot of them! They didn’t listen to my warnings, and now the unthinkable is happening. Maybe coming all the way out here was a mistake. It seems like no matter where I go, nothing but pain follows.

The raiders are coming, for sure. There’s no stopping them this time. No bargaining will save this town. It’ll be levelled to the ground. I’ve been… collecting things from the townsponies surreptitiously. Saving what I can in my bunker below my office. Perhaps… perhaps somepony will find it someday and can make some sense of all this shit.

*sigh*

I’m tired. I’m tired of trying to help ponies. Even with my special brand of magic, it seems like all it ever does is cause me pain. I guess I should be used to it, heartmending after all is a very rare and unique talent, but it’s finally catching up with me.

I’m done. After the raiders clear this town, they won’t find me, because I’ll be long gone. I don’t even know why I’m recording this. If you’re listening to this recording, it’ll mean that I’ve been gone so long that somepony finally found this place. Maybe there’s hope out there, I don’t know, but I’m going to keep heading back west until I find it.

Signing off for the last time here, this is Heartshine.”

My eyes widened as they locked gaze with Rocky. The Heartmender had been here. Not only that, she had a name. She was a real pony.

“How is this even possible?” I said aloud. “The Heartmender. She was here.”

“Is there a date on the recording?” Rocky asked. “Perhaps it could give us some information on when she was here.”

I grimaced, checking the details of the recording in my PipBuck. No date was listed. Just the name of the file Signing Off. I shook my head.

“No, but she said she was headed west. I wonder if she left any indication around here as to where she was going,” I said, opening the desk drawers and rummaging through them while Rocky began to investigate the rest of the room.

There wasn’t much, a few gum wrappers and a Guns & Bullets magazine. Slotted inside the magazine was a photograph. I pulled it out and inspected it. It was faded, but I could clearly make out a few ponies on it. Centered in the middle was a young looking lime green pegasus with a multicolored mane. She appeared to be smiling. On each side of her were two other ponies, a unicorn and an earth pony to be exact. I flipped over the photo, noticing some writing on the back of it.

Hope Junction

We’ll never forget you, Heartshine!

“Hope Junction,” I said aloud. “Was that what this place was called?”

“Did you find anything?” Rocky asked.

“Just an old photograph,” I said, showing it to the minotaur. “Do you think that Hope Junction was the name of this place?”

“Unsure, I can’t find anything with that name,” Rocky replied. “Maybe that’s where she was heading back to?”

“She did say something about looking for ‘hope’,” I said. I pocketed the photograph in my side pocket. “We should get back to the others. I don’t think we’re going to find anything else here.”

“Agreed, lead the way.”

Darkness. Floating darkness. It surrounded me, permeated every inch of my awareness. I was motionless, hanging there in the void. I struggled to look down at myself, but found that I could not see even myself.

What is this place? I thought. Am I… dead?

Memories came rushing back at me. My friends coming to try and save me. Xerves taunting me. His death… no… his execution. The crazed look on my face as I cut off his head. And then… darkness. What had I done? What had I become?

“Where am I?!” I shouted at the void. There was nothing, not even an echo. No sound existed here. Nothing existed. “Please… I just… I just want to go back…”

“This is the border,” a soft voice said from beside me. “The border between this life and the next.”

My neck craned to the side to get a look at the source of the voice. A stallion stood beside me. His deep gray coat emerged from the darkness, and somehow the glimmer of his spiky black mane could be seen. I glanced down and realized I could see myself again. I looked back up at the stallion. He looked so familiar, like I’d seen him before.

“Who…?” I started to ask.

“Starry…” the stallion said. “You already know who I am.”

My eyes widened. Memories that I knew I hadn’t had started flooding into my mind. I remembered him like it was yesterday and yet… I shouldn’t have. I shouldn’t know him, because he died before I was born. He had died, so that I could live.

“D-D-Daddy?” I whimpered, sniffling like a little foal. “Is it… is it really you?”

The stallion smiled coyly. “You look as beautiful as ever, Starry Night. It’s unfortunate that we had to meet again like this, but things are not as they were.”

I didn’t say anything as he walked over and pulled me close. I felt the tears overflow as I sobbed into my father’s neck, overjoyed to see him. I couldn’t believe it was him. I had to have been dreaming, right? Was this even real?

“I’m real,” Steeljack whispered, almost as if he had read my mind.

“How? How... are you even here?” I managed to say as I pulled back from him.

Steeljack smiled. “This place, it exists in between the physical world and the spiritual one. The barrier here is thinnest during our dreams. As it stands, you are asleep.”

“I passed out after…” I said. My face reddened as I remembered what I’d done. I turned away. “You must be disappointed in me.”

“What came to pass is not your fault, my daughter. Your mind had become twisted, imbalanced by forces that sought to use you,” Steeljack replied. “I regret not being able to approach you sooner, but that force kept me from reaching you in time.”

I looked down at my hooves and sighed. What I had done to Xerves, it was deplorable, no matter what he had done he had not deserved the punishment I meted out upon him. I knew that I would never be the same again after what I had done. I felt my father’s hooves close around me once more, pulling me into an embrace that felt all too familiar, and yet so distant at the same time.

“Dad?” I asked softly. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” he said.

“Why… why do I remember you? I feel like we’ve done this before, many times, but you… you died before I was born, so how do I remember this?” I asked hesitantly.

Steeljack grimaced. “I had hoped to not have to explain that, but I guess I can’t put anything past you. You got your mother’s smarts, I’ll give you that,” he said. “The reason you can remember me is because the reality you live in right now is different than the one you and I shared.”

“What? I don’t understand…”

“In your timeline, I died defending your mother from an irradiated dragon. In my timeline, well… Violet took my place. I helped usher you and your brother into life on that mountaintop.”

“Wait, timeline? Are you saying that time changed or something? Aunt Violet didn’t die, she and Auntie Star visit all the time,” I said, trying to wrap my head around what he was saying.

“Yes… Star took Violet’s death hard. In that version of the timeline, she killed Spark and Twilight, so angry about the journey that claimed her love from her. She went into hiding after that. I don’t think she ever forgave herself for what she had done. Your mother and I, we took you to Theater, where we tried to live on,” Steeljack explained.

I couldn’t believe it. Time had changed? Not only that, it had changed drastically enough that my father had perished instead of Aunt Violet? I couldn’t quite grasp it, but deep down I knew it was right.

“How…? How did it all change?” I asked. “None of this makes any sense, but somehow… I know you’re telling the truth.”

Steeljack sighed. “Dusk. He was a friend of ours during our time at Theater. Something, something happened. Something big. I can’t quite explain what, because it happens in the future, and the possibility of it happening again… I can’t even fathom,” he said. He paused for a moment to collect himself. “Regardless, Dusk went back in time. A megaspell he told me, one that allowed a pony to exist outside of time. It was incredible power, perhaps too much for anypony to bear, but Dusk aimed to use it for good. He went back and inserted himself into our timeline, using his knowledge of the future to try and prevent what was to come to pass.”

“But in doing so… you died instead of Aunt Violet?” I asked.

My father nodded solemnly. “I knew that I would never get the chance to hold you and your brother in my hooves, but if there was even the chance that Star’s presence in the upcoming future would prevent it from happening, I gladly gave my life to do so. Dusk ensured that your mother had all the skills to raise you, finding her after she moved back to Theater and teaching her all he knew so that she could pass those teachings onto you and Lightning.”

“How do you… do you know these things if you died?” I asked. “How could you even know that Dusk was telling the truth in the first place?”

“Because I witnessed the future that was to come to be,” Steeljack said calmly. “Dusk took me there. He showed me what would happen if we didn’t try to change things. Star was the focal point. She needed to be present or else everything that we had ever worked for was lost. You… were lost.”

My eyes widened as I came to a realization. “You didn’t do it for him… you did it for us. Lightning and I.”

My father grimaced, but nodded all the same. “Unfortunately, time is not something one can just play with like a child’s toy. It has a way of self-correcting, forcing certain events to occur but in different order, or causing different events entirely.”

“Hoofwich. The knife,” I said. “I was never supposed to have found that thing.”

“Or it was supposed to happen and hadn’t yet in Dusk’s timeline, I’m still a little fuzzy on some of those details,” Steeljack said with a grin before frowning once more. “Regardless, that thing has accelerated the chain of events that led you to the here and now. And it’s not over, not by a long shot.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“The presence inside that thing. It calls itself All’z’reth. It’s here, and it’s waiting for you,” my father replied. “It wants to destroy you, make you into its puppet to reap chaos and destruction wherever it goes.”

I looked down at my hooves once more. “And I nearly let it have complete control,” I whispered.

“Yes, but you showed something that it fears. You showed guilt, understanding that what you did erased a life from this world,” Steeljack said. “You showed remorse. This creature, it doesn’t understand that concept. All it knows is power. It fears that you are strong enough to beat it, to remove it from your body.”

“How can I? I don’t even know if I have that kind of strength,” I said.

“I know you can,” Steeljack said, pulling me close into an embrace once more. “Because you’re my daughter, and you can beat this thing. Besides, you won’t be alone.”

“I won’t?”

“Of course not. Do you really think I’d let my own daughter face an extraplanar evil entity all by herself?” my father said with a wry grin.

I chuckled, finding myself wishing we had more time like this to laugh instead of cry. Somewhere deep down I knew this was the last time I would be seeing my father for good. Before I could say anything, I heard it. The pounding and beating of a drum heralding the arrival of the mighty All’z’reth.

“It’s near.”

I found Velvet and Click standing guard at the edge of our camp’s perimeter, both robot and changeling scanning the skies and ground for any possible enemy. Velvet had assumed the form of a griffon, using the race’s keen eyesight to keep an eye out.

“Velvet, have you eaten?” I asked softly.

The brutish looking griffon glanced down at me and in a flash of green light became the mare known as Velvet Kiss again. She grimaced. “I’ve… been nibbling a little on the emotions running through the air,” she said. “I should be alright. Is… is Starry awake yet?”

“Not yet. She’s still resting,” I said. “Coconut is looking after her.”

“How much longer do we have to wait? I don’t like this place,” Velvet asked. “It feels… off.”

“CLICK.”

“I know, I don’t like it either. Something happened here, something more than just a raider attack like the recording said,” I said.

“Recording?” Velvet replied. Her eyes flashed with curiosity.

“Rocky and I found a bunker hidden underneath one of the buildings. There was a recording on a working terminal there. Something about a raider attack, but here’s the real kicker… the pony recording it was the Heartmender,” I said.

“Wait, what? The Heartmender actually exists? They were here?” Velvet said, eyes wide.

“She,” I corrected her. “It was a mare. Her name was Heartshine. She said something about going back west. That raiders were attacking this town.”

“Hmm…” Velvet said. “But you’re right. This looks like it’s a lot more than just your run of the mill raider attack. Where are the bodies? We haven’t even seen a single skeleton. It’s just… empty.”

I grimaced and nodded. “The further we get from this place, the better I think. But until Starry is up and awake, I don’t know how far we’ll get out beyond it,” I said. “I’m going to go check on her now--”

“Lightning! Hurry!” I heard Coconut’s voice shout. “It’s Starry!”

I turned on the spot, digging my hooves into the blasted landscape and charged in the direction of Coconut’s voice. I stopped at the makeshift tent, eyes wide.

“What is it? Is she awake?” I asked frantically.

“No, she’s… she’s convulsing. I don’t know what to do! I need help!” Coconut shouted.

I glanced down beneath my friend. Starry’s body was shaking uncontrollably, jerking back and forth like she was having some sort of seizure. I dropped to her side and held onto her as best as I could while Coconut rooted through our medical supplies.

“I found a sedative, but I don’t know if it will work!” Coconut said panickedly. “I can’t tell if she’s having a reaction or what’s going on!”

“We have to do something!” I called back to her. “Give me the sedative!”

Coconut nodded, handing the vial of the sedative to me. She moved to Starry’s other side and did her best to hold her down while I held the vial to her lips. I poured it down her mouth and held it shut. Within a few slow seconds, Starry’s body stopped convulsing.

“What are we going to do, Lightning?” Coconut asked, her eyes teary.

I had no answer.

I steeled myself, holding fast as the beast neared. My father stood silently next to me, a cold grimace on his face. I did not know how long we had together, but the ominous feeling in the air told me that it wasn’t long. The pounding around us had gotten louder, increasing my anxiety.

All’z’reth was coming. Whatever it was, it was timeless and evil. It wanted me to turn against my friends, my family, my home. It wanted me only because I was untainted by its sickness.

And then it appeared, not as I expected but as I knew it would. A much larger, brutishly featured version of myself appeared before myself and Dad. Its eyes glowed red and it cracked a wicked smile.

“So we meet at last, Starry Night,” it said, its voice echoing into the void.

“Leave me alone,” I said calmly. “I don’t want anything to do with you any longer!”

“You think that you can challenge me? That even with the help of your father, that you have any capability of defeating me here? I am All’z’reth! I am a God, Starry Night! I am the only true power here!” the creature shouted. It lifted a hoof and its horn glowed, sending shockwaves throughout the void.

I could feel my body, back in the real world and wracked with the pain, the magic causing it to convulse and writhe in the presence of my friends. I could see everything within my mind’s eye. I didn’t know how to make it stop. I screamed, sinking to my knees.

Suddenly I felt a hoof on my shoulder. I glanced up at my father, who calmly reassured me with his eyes. I felt the convulsions begin to slow. I growled under my breath as I stood and faced the monster.

“Get out of my head! Get out of my body!” I roared.

“You cannot defeat me. I will claim your body for my own, giving rise to a new era in Equestria! The era of All’z’reth!” the creature said, taking a step forward. “I am the beginning and the end, and you will bow before my greatness!”

The creature lunged forward unnaturally, it’s legs stretching and moving in strange ways as another set of extra appendages protruded from its sides. The beast’s maw opened, revealing rows upon rows of sharp teeth. Any resemblance it had to me at all began to slowly disappear. I jumped backwards as a slimy tentacle slapped the nothingness in front of me, barely missing. I growled, trying to access my magic as I closed my eyes. I felt the power inside of me begin to shape and give form, but nothing happened when I tried to call on it.

“Starry, look out!” Steeljack shouted.

My eyes popped open to see a tentacle lashing towards my face. My vision filled with a blur of gray as my father lunged in front of me to deflect it with a strike from his power armored hoof. The creature roared in retaliation. I grabbed ahold of Steeljack’s hoof as he brought me to my hooves.

“Thanks,” I said.

“We need a plan. This thing is too powerful for either one of us to face it alone. I’m not even sure if we can beat it together,” my father said.

“What should we do?” I asked.

“There is nothing that you can do. Once I am in complete control of your mind and soul, you will be powerless as you watch me kill your little friends and your brother. I think I’ll save him for last, and make it slow… and painful…” All’z’reth crowed.

My friends. My friends! That was it! If there was some way… somehow I could reach my friends they could help me. Together, we could beat All’z’reth!

“Dad… what if… what if we could send a message to the others? Is that possible?”

Steeljack pondered for a brief moment before replying. “It may be possible, but how would you intend to reach them? What could they even do?”

“You said this place is where the barriers are thin. If I can reach Velvet, maybe her empathic magic as a changeling could link with mine and bring everyone here,” I said. “I’m just throwing out ideas here, I don’t know if this will actually work or not.”

“What do you need me to do?” Steeljack said.

“Can you maybe keep ugly face busy for a few moments? I need to concentrate,” I said.

Steeljack grinned. “Of course. I got your back, kid,” he said. He turned to face All’z’reth. “Hey, ugly! You want her, you gotta get through me!”

“Gladly.”

Steeljack rushed forward as I closed my eyes and started focusing my magic. I thought only of Velvet Kiss.

I watched Lightning leave and turned back to the robot. I hadn’t told him that I was actually starving. The emotions were running high in the air, but they weren’t really emotions I liked to feel. Fear didn’t exactly taste good to changelings.

“Thanks for not saying anything,” I said.

“You’re welcome,” came the voice of the unicorn Dusk. His image appeared in Click’s monitor. “Thank you for not telling Lightning I was still around.”

“You’re really worried about Starry, aren’t you? I mean, I can’t feel those emotions because you’re behind that screen, but I can just tell,” I asked.

“I… I am. I’m worried that something bad is going to happen to her,” Dusk replied. “Tell me. Why haven’t you fed?”

“It’s complicated. There’s love in the air for sure, but it’s tinged with fear. Fear is… icky. Like, have you ever eaten Cram?” I said.

“No, that’s not a delicacy I’m familiar with,” Dusk said.

“Well, alright. Cram I guess was supposed to be a dog food of some kind. Ponies eat it because well, it’s better than nothing. Not me though. Shit’s gross,” I said. “It’s the same with fear. Fear does… weird stuff to changeling physiology. Makes us paranoid, shit like that.”

“I see. And you’re afraid that might happen to you if you decide to intake any,” Dusk said.

“I’m afraid that it will happen,” I said. “Fear makes me crazy, power-hungry. I know because that’s all I fed on while I worked for the Hellraisers. Since I’ve been with you… I haven’t had a single drop.”

Velvet!

My eyes widened. I looked up at Dusk. “Did you… just say anything?”

“No? I was listening to your story,” Dusk replied.

“That’s… alright. I must be tired from the hunger exhaustion, is all,” I said, turning to watch our perimeter once more.

Velvet! You have to listen to me!

I yelped as I fell over from the shock of the voice in my head. I knew that voice!

“S-S-Starry?!” I said aloud.

“What are you talking about?” Dusk said. “Are you alright? Should I go get the others?”

I waved him off as I tried to listen for her voice again. When it didn’t come I considered the fact that maybe I was going crazy anyways.

Velvet, it is me! It’s Starry! I got through to you!

I blinked. The voice echoed in my head. It was her. Starry was talking to me in my head!

What’s going on? Where are you? How are you even doing this? I thought back to the voice.

Velvet, listen to me very carefully. I need you to round up the others. What’s happening right now, it’s very bad. I can’t… I can’t do it without all of your help. Bring them to me. I’ll… I’ll figure out the rest once you do that.

I grimaced, but nodded even though I knew she couldn’t see it. I looked up at Dusk.

“We need to go get the others. We may be the only ones that can save Starry,” I said, running back from the perimeter towards our camp.

Dusk clattered behind me quietly as we reached the tent. I lifted up the flap and stepped inside, seeing Coconut and Lightning sitting quietly next to Starry’s body. A broken vial lay on the ground next to Lightning. Beyond them, Rocky stood, watching over them.

“I just talked to Starry. We need to save her!” I shouted, breaking them out of their concentration.

“I just talked to Starry. We need to save her!”

I jumped at Velvet’s voice and glanced up at her. She had talked to Starry? How was that even possible? I looked past her at the robot, seeing Dusk’s face inside the monitor.

“What do you mean you talked to her?” I asked. “And what’s Dusk doing back?”

“He was keeping me company on the perimeter,” Velvet said. “That’s not important, though. The important thing is that Starry, she contacted me somehow. She told me I needed to get us all together here, that we needed to help her.”

I grimaced. “Velvet, Coconut is doing the best she can to keep Starry calm while we try to figure out what to do. She’s getting help.”

Velvet grimaced and then suddenly seemed to space out for a brief moment. Her eyes glazed over and she shook her head. “No. Starry says we have to help her defeat it. She says she can’t do it alone.”

“Defeat it?” Rocky rumbled. “What does that mean?”

“Velvet, have you actually eaten? You look like watered down hell,” I said. “Or is this something that Dusk put you up to? One of his little plans.”

“I assure you I am just as confused about this as you are, Lightning,” Dusk interjected. “I’m only here to ensure that Starry is alright.”

I growled under my breath. “Starry’s going to be alright. We’ve got her stabilized for now. We should be able to move her soon.”

“No! You can’t move her!” Velvet shouted. “Ugh… why won’t you listen to me! Starry is telepathically communicating with me! Why is that so hard for you to believe?!”

“Lightning, maybe she’s telling the truth,” Coconut said, placing a hoof on my shoulder. “Let’s hear her out.”

I sighed, nodding my assent. “Fine. Sit down. What does Starry want us to do?”

“She just keeps repeating that she needs our help to defeat it,” Velvet said as she took a seat next to my sister. “She says that I should be able to… empathically connect our minds to hers.”

“Is that something changelings can even do?” Rocky rumbled.

“Theoretically, yes,” Dusk interjected. “A strong intense burst of emotion should allow Velvet’s empathic centers to connect to your minds, but that emotion must be positive in nature and directed at Starry.”

“How do you even know that? Are you some sort of expert on changelings now?” I asked angrily.

“No, but I do know something about magic,” Dusk replied briskly. “Perhaps wherever Starry is, trapped deep within her own mind, is a place where that magic is most receptive. That would be the only way that something of this nature would even work.”

“How do we do this?” Coconut asked. “We have to help her.”

“Agreed,” Rocky stated.

Velvet grimaced as her eyes glazed over for another moment. When she came to, she began to speak. “We should gather around her. Dusk, unfortunately you’re not going to be able to come with us. I can’t pick up on your emotions, so… you need to stand guard.”

“Understood.”

“Everyone else, I need you to direct your thoughts to Starry. Think of the most positive memory you can of her. It needs to be strong or I don’t even think I could begin to do this,” Velvet said. “Close your eyes and think only of her.”

I breathed in deeply, closing my eyes and started thinking of nothing but Starry. It was easy. I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her since all of this had began. I pushed past what had happened in the now and focused on the Starry I knew and loved. My sister, the one who had always been there to protect me, love me, and be my friend.

I felt it suddenly. Her presence. It was all around us. It flowed through and connected each of us to it. The surge of magical energy roared around us, and I knew that something big was happening here.

When I opened my eyes, I was in a different place. A void of nothing. Standing on each side of me were the others. Across from us stood Starry and a stallion in gleaming power armor. Beyond them, a thing of incomprehensible definition. I looked to my sister and grimaced.

“Starry?”

“Starry?”

I turned, opening my eyes. I had felt the connection from the others as soon as Velvet had initiated the spell. I hadn’t even really known if that was going to work, or if Velvet could even do it in the first place. But it had worked, and they were here.

“Starry? What’s going on? Where is this place?” Lightning asked as he took a few steps forward. “I don’t understand.”

“We don’t have much time for explanations,” I said calmly. “I called out to Velvet because I need your help.”

“The thing that was inside the knife,” Velvet uttered, her eyes wide with realization. “That’s what you meant about defeating it.”

I grimaced and nodded. “I only had so much time while Steeljack holds it off. So I was kind of urgent. Forgive me if I sounded too harsh.”

“Starry!” Steeljack called back to me as he dodged another tentacle attack from All’z’reth. “If you’ve got a plan, now would be a great time to put it into play!”

Lightning’s eyes widened. I knew he recognized Dad too as soon as I saw it. I placed a hoof on his shoulder.

“Not right now,” I said calmly. “After. We need to stop All’z’reth first.”

“All’z’reth?” Rocky rumbled.

“That’s what it calls itself. It wants to control me to bring its magic back into our world. I… I’m not strong enough to defeat it myself. I need your help. I realize that this is… that I fucked up, that I let this thing get into me and I used it to hurt you, that you had to watch as I murdered someone…” I trailed off.

I felt Velvet’s hoof on my shoulder. She smiled widely. Out of all the ponies, I hadn’t thought she would be the one who would approach me first. Perhaps it had something to do with the empathic nature of her race, I wasn’t sure.

“Starry. It’s not your fault,” she said. “I admit… I wasn’t the best of myself. I even kidnapped you. But if there’s anything you’ve taught me, it’s that having friends makes you better than you can ever be. I’ll help you. Let’s make this fucker pay for what it’s done.”

“Pssh, I’m your best friend,” Coconut said with a grin. “No matter what, through thick and thin. We don’t give up on each other.”

“Rocky?” I asked. “You’ve been unusually quiet.”

The cybernetic minotaur’s eyes narrowed at me. I half expected him to storm off or something else, but instead he lifted his claws and placed them on my shoulder.

“After this is all over, we will speak, but for this, I am with you. I will help you,” he said.

Lightning smiled softly. “You know I’m with you.”

“Starry!” Steeljack called out. “I can’t keep this up much longer!”

I turned around and stared at All’z’reth. The creature roared in challenge as we made our way next to Steeljack. The stallion huffed and panted, but appeared to otherwise be okay.

“Are you alright?” I asked.

“I’m fine. Held out long enough,” he said with a chuckle. “I see that you were able to contact your friends.”

I nodded, turning to the creature. “You won’t win,” I said. “We’ll beat you. No matter what. I will not become your vessel of evil.”

“You are a fool, Starry Night. You do not know what you have done. Now that your friends are connected to you, I can kill them here and now! You have doomed them and Equestria!” All’z’reth crowed.

My eyes widened. Was that true? In my haste to bring my friends to me, I hadn’t considered the impacts that act would have. Did I just hand All’z’reth what it wanted on a silver platter? It wasn’t possible. I was doing what I thought was right…

“Hey, ugly! I’d like to see you try and kill me! I’m going to make you pay for what you did to my friend!” I heard Velvet shout.

“Yeah! I’m not backing down until you’re gone from my sister’s mind!” Lightning called out.

Rocky roared in retaliation. Coconut shouted as well. They were all here, regardless of the danger, regardless of what may happen. They were all here… for me. My heart swelled as I thought of each of them. I stepped forward from amongst them.

“No, All’z’reth. You’re wrong. You won’t get the chance to kill my friends, because my friends are a part of what makes me strong!” I shouted. “They are what define me as a pony! They give me their strength and loves, but most of all they give me their friendship! A stronger force than even you could even begin to comprehend!”

“You will bow before my greatness! All of you will bow! I am the mighty All’z’reth, the One that has Come! Kneel and submit to my power!” All’zr’reth roared in reply.

I stomped my hoof, hitting solid ground. The force of the magic that erupted in response shook this world to its very foundations. The power washed over the eldritch being as it shrieked and shrank back. I realized what my father had told me was right. All’z’reth was afraid of me. It was afraid that I would find my strength, that I would be able to shake off its influence.

It was afraid of my friends, and of the power they gave me. It must have known that they were the key to defeating it, forcing it away back into the object that contained it. I conjured it in my mind’s eye. The knife. It floated in the air in front of the abomination.

“This was your prison, wasn’t it? In using it to kill Xerves, I let you into my body,” I proclaimed. “I’m going to put you back into it and then I’m going to bury you here where nobody else will ever be able to find you!”

My magic exploded, seeking the amorphous form of the eldritch creature. It writhed and shrieked as it tried to escape. As my friends stood by my side, I could feel their emotions channeling through me. I could feel the power they lent me. With one final flick, I unleashed that power.

All’z’reth vanished in a swirling vortext, howling and screaming all the way. In a blink of an eye, all that was left was the knife, floating endlessly in the void. With a swish of my horn, I dispelled it. I stood there for several long moments, taking in what had just occurred. All’z’reth felt… gone. I could no longer feel its presence, its evil infecting me. I had managed to do it. I turned around, glancing at the others. Steeljack stood just behind them. He looked… forlorn. I saw him turn to walk off.

“Wait!” I shouted, startling my friends as I ran past them. “Dad!”

Lightning was at my side just as quickly. Steeljack stopped and sighed loudly.

“I don’t have a whole lot of time left you two,” he said. “My purpose here was to help Starry. Now I’ve gotta head on back.”

“Back to where?” Lightning said, his eyes wide with awe.

“Back to the other side,” Steeljack said. “I’m sorry that you had to see me this way, Lightning, but Starry can explain everything. I’m just glad to know that my son has turned into a fine young pony, and a hell of a stallion.”

“I… Thanks… Dad,” Lightning said.

“Starry, you take care of each other. There’s a lot more coming your way, and you need to be prepared for it,” Steeljack replied, glancing over at me. “I don’t think we’ll be seeing each other again, until… well, you know…”

I nodded, before lunging forward to embrace him. Lightning joined too. We stayed there for several long moments, embracing the father we barely knew. I wanted that moment to last forever. Alas, it was not meant to be.

“I must be going, and you must be waking up,” Steeljack said. “Remember, take care of each other. You’re all you have out here.”

I looked at Lightning and smiled brightly. His grin back told me all I needed to know. I glanced back at Steeljack, who had turned and was walking off into the void. He began to fade from view, finally dissipating into nothingness.

“Lightning?”

“Yeah?”

“Let’s get out of this place. I’m ready to wake up now.”

“You got it, Sis.”

My eyes shot open and I began to cough, the shocks wracking my body as tears streamed from my eyes. All around me, my friends began to come out of their own trance. Coconut was the first to come out, wasting no time in pulling out a canteen to offer me some water. I gratefully took it and began to drink as the others emerged.

“That was… unique,” Coconut said. “We didn’t even really do much, did we?”

“We mostly just stood there,” Lightning pondered.

“No… you did a lot more than you think,” I said, my voice still feeling rather raspy. “You helped me defeat that thing. I can’t feel it anymore.”

“Neither can I,” Velvet said, closing her eyes. “In fact, I feel… wow I feel great. That thing, it must have been casting a pall over this place with its strong emotions. But now… now that weight has lifted.”

“How are you feeling?” Rocky rumbled.

I turned and met his eyes. I felt my cheeks go crimson and I looked down. “I’m… I’m fine,” I stammered. “I…”

“Later. Alone. Please,” Rocky said simply.

I nodded. I knew that I had a lot to make up to the minotaur, for everything that had happened. I’d done a horrible thing in attacking him the way I had, I just hoped he didn’t resent me for it. I sighed and closed my eyes.

“I’m sorry,” I said softly. “For everything. For dragging you all out here. This was a waste of time. There is no Heartmender, and there never was one to begin with. It was just a myth. We should probably just head home, and spend what time we can with Mom.”

“Oh, I don’t think you’re going to want to head home now,” a familiar voice said. “Not just yet, at least.”

My eyes shot open and I saw Dusk inside Click’s monitor. The stallion had a smug look on his face. I narrowed my eyes at him. Knowing what I knew about him then, that he was a time traveler, I should have gotten up and walked away, but his statement intrigued me.

“What do you mean?”

“Let her listen to the recording, Lightning,” Dusk said. “The one you found inside the bunker.”

Lightning’s eyes widened. “Oh, shoot. I almost forgot about that. While you were out, we found something. Something… well… just listen.”

Lightning held out his PipBuck and played the recording. My eyes widened as it got to the part talking about heartmending, and then the pony’s name at the end.

Heartshine.

The Heartmender was real, and she had a name.

“But… how?” I asked once the recording had finished.

“Perhaps the map marker you followed to get here intended to lead you here to her bunker,” Dusk said. “Or perhaps fate thinks you are worthy enough to continue the quest.”

I gazed at him shrewdly before turning to Lightning. “So what’s the plan then?”

“At this point? Rest for one more evening, make sure that you’re doing alright, and then head west,” Lightning said. “I don’t think we’re in any immediate danger here, since we’ve seen basically nothing since we got here.”

“In that case… I’d like to see this bunker. If you don’t mind,” I said. “Dusk? Would you mind joining Lightning and I?”

“I don’t see why not,” Dusk said, his gaze narrowed at me. He knew I knew something, I could just feel it in his eyes.

Lightning nodded, helping me to my hooves. The others set about getting the rest of the camp ready for resting, while Dusk, Lightning, and I walked solemnly in the direction of the bunker. Once we were far enough out that the others wouldn’t hear, I spoke.

“Our father sends his regards,” I said simply.

Dusk’s eyes went dark. “So… you know why I am here and what I am then?”

“Dad explained everything, yes,” I said softly.

“Starry? What are you talking about? What did Dad say?” Lightning said.

“Dusk isn’t from our reality. He’s not even from our timeline. He’s a time traveler, Lightning. That’s why he knows so much about what’s going to happen. Not just a time traveler, but a time meddler,” I growled. “He had to mess with time.”

“I assure you, I had noble intentions…” Dusk started to say.

“Your meddling killed my father!” I shouted angrily at him. He went silent. “If it hadn’t been for you, Dad would still be alive, and maybe we wouldn’t even be here in the middle of fuck-all nowhere right now!”

“If I hadn’t done what I did, none of us would be here right now!” Dusk angrily retorted.

“Wait… so Dusk did something that changed time, and it caused Dad to die?” Lightning said. “But… why? How does that even happen? Time travel is… well it’s not really scientifically possible.”

“No, but it is magically possible,” Dusk said. “The spell has its side effects, but I am capable of traveling to any point in Equestria’s timeline. Unfortunately, it also means that forever more I am effectively both simultaneously a part of and not a part of every timeline in existence.”

“If that’s the case, why not go back and stop the War? Stop all this shit from ever happening in the first place?” I asked as we arrived at the building where the bunker was.

“Because there are some moments in time that we cannot change, fixed moments where time is locked. The Great War is one of those moments,” Dusk explained. “Time… time has a way of self-correcting, like I’m sure your father has already told you. The event I went back to try and change, to prevent, likely will still occur, but I have hope that it won’t.”

“Then why bother attempting to change it, if you think it will happen again?” Lightning said.

“I believed the event in question to be malleable. I didn’t think it was fixed, but too much has happened already that has made me question that belief,” Dusk replied. “I… I am very sorry about what happened to your father in this timeline, but you must understand that if Violet died instead of him, then we would be worse off in the long run.”

“Auntie Violet? What’s she got to do with this?” Lightning asked, cocking his head to the side.

“Dad died on the mountaintop, facing the dragon,” I said calmly. “In Dusk’s timeline, Violet sacrificed herself to save the others. Auntie Star took different actions. She became withdrawn. She actually used her magic to kill the Element of Magic and Princess Twilight. She severed a connection in the Elements of Harmony.”

“Yes… and in doing so she doomed us to a far worse fate!” Dusk said. “When she went into hiding…”

“The event you’re referring to… what is it?”

“A war. Catastrophic. The final war. Everything in Equestria, simply gone in an instant,” Dusk said coldly. He glanced down closing his eyes before he spoke again.

“No Stables to save anypony, no withstanding the radiation, no ghouls, nothing. Just complete and utter annihilation of every living thing on the planet.”

Author's Notes:

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