It had been roughly three days since I killed Lamentation. The three of us hadn’t conversed much since. Not that I blamed them. What was there to say? Mirage supported my killing him, but she continued to give me awkward stares. Packrat seemed to be avoiding me. The two of them weren’t talking to each other either. Everything was just quiet. For once, I really hated that.

The only nugget of conversation had come from Mirage a couple of days ago. “I really appreciate you guys helping me. On my honor as an NCR soldier, I’ll make sure you return to Boulder Springs.” Then she had glared at me. “Just don’t get any ideas, Savage. I’m not sticking around so I can spend more time with you.”

That was oddly specific. Until she had said that, I took her statement on face value. Nevertheless, I didn’t confront or tease her about her statement. So, Mirage continued to follow Packrat and me into the Wasteland.

Packrat had taken point; Mirage was in the air. I walked a few paces behind both of them. It was too awkward to be around either of them, so I wanted to keep my distance. Savage and the grenades also worked better while fighting from a distance. If an enemy got too close, I had Memento and the hellhound tooth. I knew the latter worked exceptionally well in close-quarters.

And then there was Glimmer. I had found it in my bag on the day we left the cave. I had decided I wasn’t going to use it unless I felt I needed it. Since everypony survived and was intact, thanks to hydra, I didn’t regret not using Glimmer. But it was generally difficult to use a last resort if I forgot it was in my possession. To make sure I never forgot Glimmer, I added the silver bullet to my necklace of grenades.

I heard a sharp whistle. Packrat was crouched on her belly. She didn’t look behind her, but she was motioning with her hoof. Mirage swooped beside her; I trotted towards them. Packrat held a hoof to her lips. She then pointed to her PipBuck. Three large red dots were visible on her screen. “We need to be careful.”

Did we really? We didn’t know what we were fighting, but the odds weren’t against us. After destroying the vulpa hive, three enemies didn’t sound terribly dangerous. I didn’t want to fight per say. But I wouldn’t go so far as to say that we needed to be careful.

“Sis! Big bro! I found some ponies!”

So much for being careful. I stood up and pointed Savage in the direction of the voice. Good Goddess not above. It was a zebra. Standing atop a rocky hill was a lone zebra. He looked young, probably about my age. His mane was disheveled, but there was no malice in his eyes. He almost looked sad, but he also looked happy. Weird. His stripes were also weird. I had read zebras were white and black. However, this zebra was white and dark purple.

I also noticed he wasn’t armed. The closest thing he had to a weapon on him was a bottle. I doubted he considered it to be a weapon, since he was busy drinking from it. I lowered Savage. He didn’t seem like he was a monster, and he wasn’t threatening me.

Then a bullet struck the ground in front of my hooves. I swiveled and aimed Savage at a pair of zebras standing on a separate hill. One of them had red stripes; the other blue. Red held a sword in his mouth, and there was a rifle attached to his shoulder. Blue had two gauntlets on her front hooves. Each gauntlet had a large knife emerging from it. There was no firearm attached to her shoulder or back, but she did have a metal helmet with a pair of arrows attached to it. I didn’t know if those could be fired or not. I didn’t want to find out.

Blue nodded to Purple. “Good work, Dionysus.”

Red said something, but I couldn’t understand him through his sword. It seemed not all equines could talk with objects in their mouth. Blue rolled her eyes. “He says lower your weapons and die.”

Mirage scowled. “Doesn’t he mean ‘or?’”

Blue shook her head. “No. He’s an idiot like that.” Red shot her a glare, but Blue glared right back. Red stepped back, but he didn’t look happy. Blue returned her gaze to us. “I, on the other hoof, do mean or. Please, lower your weapons. Zebras and ponies have been fighting for over two centuries. We really don’t need to continue.”

“Oh yeah?” Mirage cocked her shotgun and aimed it at Red and Blue. “And why shouldn’t you lower your weapons? Three of us against two of you doesn’t sound too bad.”

Purple waved his bottle around. “I’m here too.”

Mirage looked at him and looked back at the others. “Like I said. Three against two doesn’t sound so bad.”

“No, Mirage. It’s two against one.”

“Hmm?” Mirage cast a confused glance at Packrat. I did the same.

She was standing away from us with her saddlebags discarded. She was sitting on her haunches with her front hooves raised. “I’m not going to fight them. I have one rule. I don’t attack other equines, pony or zebra, unless I’m defending myself or someone else.”

“It is self-defense. They’re going to capture us.”

Packrat shrugged. “That might not be such a bad thing if they let us go after.”

“But what if they just want to kill us?”

Packrat didn’t look at Mirage when she answered. Instead she looked at me. “Because they wouldn’t have missed Savage. That was a warning shot. Even if it was just a bad shot, I doubt they’d be talking to us if they wanted to kill us. I trust them, Mirage.”

That wasn’t it. Or, at the very least, that wasn’t the whole story. I could see it in her eyes. There was something Packrat wasn’t telling us. What was going on in that head of hers?

Mirage snorted. “Fine, whatever. Even if you don’t fight, I don’t see how that makes it one against two.”

Packrat chuckled. “I could be wrong. But, um, I’m pretty sure Savage won’t fight them if I don’t.”

I didn’t know what irritated me more. Packrat thinking her inaction had any sway over me, or that she was right. My job was to protect her until we returned to Boulder Springs. Joining a fight she wanted no part in would put her in undue danger. I sighed and removed my battle saddle.

“What?!”

I gave Mirage a shrug and took my place beside Packrat.

Mirage groaned loudly and muttered something to herself. I know I heard the word “fuck” in there somewhere. She tossed her shotgun onto the ground and kicked it aside. She continued muttering as she removed her hoof claws. She slammed them on the ground and glared at the zebras. “Satisfied?”

Blue nodded her head. “Quite.” She tapped the left side of her helmet. The attached arrow zoomed forward and struck Mirage in the chest.

Mirage threw her head back and screamed. Her scream lasted only a few moments. She hunched over and mumbled something completely incoherent. Then she fell face first onto the ground. I rushed to her side. At least, I attempted to. A second arrow tore through the air and found its way into my side. The impact knocked me over. I was truly growing to hate being struck by arrows. The tip of the arrow felt wet. It was more than just my blood; there was a chemical on the tip of the arrow. I wasn’t hallucinating, so it wasn’t vulpa venom. It…-was…-some….

I awoke in a jail cell. I supposed it was better than waking up inside a chamber pot. I quickly scanned my surroundings. Our jail cell was part of a much larger room. There was very little on the other side of the room. I noticed a wooden chair and a small lantern. Our side of the room was almost as barren. Packrat was sleeping with her back to me, while Mirage was on the ground wrapped in her wing cocoon. I also noticed my saddlebag next to me. I fished through it. I couldn’t find any weapons, or my grenade necklace for that matter, but everything else seemed like it was there.

That included the Daring Do story. Hmmm. Since there was nopony else around, I decided to indulge myself. Tell me, Ms. Do, what have you been up to?

Daring and the Shadowbolts continued to make their way through the jungle. The Shadowbolts had been careful to abide by Daring’s rules. None of them had so much as muttered a profane word. More importantly, nopony had fired a shot.

“Holy shi—ship! Not any other word that starts with shi.”

Prism’s ensuing sigh was more of a groan. “Found something, Clover?”

“Uh, yeah.” Clover stepped aside, as Daring and the other Shadowbolts caught up. “The pyramid.”

Technically it’s an octahedron, but I’ll let it slide. A large octahedron was standing in the heart of Hollow Shades. The face positioned towards Daring was painted red. The side on the right appeared to be yellow, while the side on the right appeared to be green. The octahedron looked to be constructed of stone. Since the bog didn’t reach the base of the octahedron, it didn’t sink into the ground.

Daring retrieved her binoculars from her bag to get a better look.

“See anything, Ms. Do?” Prism asked.

“Nothing yet.” But Daring had learned throughout her adventures that her eyes were far from the most useful sense. She lifted her head and sniffed the air. “But I do smell something familiar. It smells like…-cat!” Right on cue, she saw it. Ahuizotl’s small white cat had walked onto the red side from the green side. It looked like it was patrolling. That one has the sharpest eyes and ears of the bunch. If we distract it, we might be able to sneak in. Above the cat, Daring noticed a small hole in the octahedron. That’s our way in.

Daring tossed her binoculars towards Prism. “There’s a skylight nearby we can use as an entrance. Unfortunately, it’s being patrolled by one of Ahuizotl’s guards.”

“You mean the thing I can kill from this distance?”

Daring gasped. Partly in shock that Prism would suggest a thing. On the other hoof: “You can kill it from this far out?”

“Want to see me try?”

Daring quickly shook her head. “No. It’s too risky.”

“Risky?” X scoffed. “What’s the risk?”

“The risk is the other cats will track us down. They’re not as slow as the cragadiles. Trust me, I know. Besides, that’s his favorite cat. There’s no telling what he’s capable of if we make him too angry.”

“We could always just shoot Ahuizotl.” Daring shot Twin a dirty look. “What? That would make this whole mission easier. It would make your life easier too.”

“Yeah, but….” But what? She’s right. I’d never have to worry about stopping Ahuizotl ever again if I stopped him once and for all. Something about that just feels wrong though. Killing is too final. Even for him.

Prism returned the binoculars to Daring. “X, can I borrow your weapon?”

“Yes, Ma’am.” X tossed his weapon to Prism. She caught it in her mouth and fired two shots into the ground.

Daring nearly jumped out of her skin. “Why the fuck did you do that?”

Daring could feel Prism’s grin. “Language, Ms. Do.” She gave the weapon back to X. “That got their attention. I need you to be a decoy. Lure them away from us as long as you can.”

“What about not revealing ourselves?”

Prism shook her head. “I’ll deal with the Princess. You deal with getting the guards off our collective asses. Now go!”

X saluted and sailed into the air. He circled above the others twice before darting away. Daring watched the white cat’s hackles raise. It pointed in the direction X went, and a host of other cats began the chase.

“Twin, you take point. Clover and I will flank Ms. Do.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

The Shadowbolts took their positions and began their trek towards the octahedron. Aside from the cats, Daring couldn’t detect any other guards. Ahuizotl’s getting sloppy. She grimaced. Either that or I’m waltzing into another trap.

They had reached the base of the structure in only a few minutes. Twin had been the first to fly inside the hole. She poked her head out of the hole after a few seconds. “Clear.”

Prism motioned to Daring. “Go ahead, Ms. Do.”

Daring nodded and soared into the opening. Twin was already standing on the tiled ground. She waved at Daring, but Daring hesitated. I’ve seen this trap enough times. There were five different symbols on the tiles: a snowflake, a waterfall, a cloud, a lightning bolt, and a tornado Daring noticed Twin was standing on a tornado tile. Okay, that one is safe. So, what’s the pattern? What does a tornado have in common wi—a-ha! Daring gently fluttered onto one of the lightning bolt tiles. Nothing happened. Just as I thought. The tiles all represent aspects of weather except for the waterfall. That one triggers the trap.

“Are you okay, Ms. Do?” Twin took a step forward. She was about to step on a waterfall tile.

“Don’t!”

Twin froze in place. “What? What am I doing?”

Daring pointed at the tile. “The waterfall tiles will trigger traps. We’ll have to be careful when we walk.

She heard a snort behind her. Daring turned her head and saw Prism and Clover hovering near the entrance. “Or we can stay in the air. We are pegasi, you know?”

Daring shook her head. “That usually doesn’t work. There’s usually some sort of sentry. A score of arrows, a motion sensing bomb. Dungeons have rules.”

Prism scoffed. “Fine. We’ll do it your way then.” She dove towards the ground. Towards a waterfall tile.

“Wait!”

Daring’s warning came a fraction of a second too late. Prism’s hooves touched the tile. The tile immediately opened and formed a small crevice. Daring lunged and extended her hoof. Prism fell into the crevice, and the tile closed before Daring could reach her. In the blink of an eye, Prism had disappeared beneath them. The Shadowbolts gasped. Daring simply removed her hat and hung her head. I hope to Celestia there aren’t any spikes down there. She put her hat back on and proceeded to navigate her way across the floor.

“Come on, Twin. We have to follow her.”

“But Prism just…-we can’t just leave her.”

“That’s exactly what we have to do. It’s what she would have wanted. Besides, you know her. It’ll take a lot more than an ancient death trap to kill that bitch.”

Twin sniffled. “Yeah, I guess you’re ri—don’t step there. Avoid the waterfalls.”

“Right, thanks. How’re we looking, Ms. Do?”

Daring was barely listening. She had reached the end of the room and was in the midst of solving a puzzle. The door in front of her had seven slots etched into its face. Before her were seven blocks, each of them had a letter. S, E, E, A, H, V, N. Hmm. I probably only have one chance before I active another trap. I need to be sure. Let’s see. Venhees. No, that’s not a word. Sehnave. Ugh, come on, Daring. It’s not a random word. There has to be a hint in this room.

Daring looked at the tiles. Cloud? No, that’s too short. Lightning? No, too long. Weather? No, there’s no W here. I’m here for the meteorite? How about meteor? No! She paused and took a deep breath. I know those all have something in common. Clouds are in the sky. Weather comes from the sky. Meteors come from the sky. They come from the stars. Sky and stars. What’s another word for sky and stars….

Daring put the blocks together and spelled a word. HEAVENS. She heard a loud clunk, and the door swung open. She grinned and tipped her hat. “Another day, another dungeon.”

“She said it!” Twin hopped into the air. Daring didn’t know for sure, but she’d bet good money that Twin had a goofy smile on her face.

“Yes, she did.”

Oh no. Daring knew that voice. It sent a sense of dread throughout her. Though, if she were being honest, the dread was more like irritation. “Ahuizotl.”

Ahuizotl stood before her.

“You’re awake.”

I was also reading. Just as the story was getting good too. It seemed our captors didn’t care about interrupting me. I put down the pages and faced the zebra. This one…-wow. There was something wrong with his face. I didn’t know what made a person's face. I had always liked to think Cadance took effort to sculpt every face with her own hooves and magic. For the sake of metaphor, I would continue to think that. In this zebra’s case, Cadance sculpted his face by smashing into it with a hammer at odd angles. Judging from the way his back leg dangled, she must have hit that as well.

He smiled and turned away from me. “Sorry. Is that better?”

Guilt pierced me like an arrow. I sighed. I put a hoof on my chest and made a circle. Just in case he knew hoof language.

“You don’t have to apologize. I know how I look.” He reached one of his hooves through the bars. Despite his stripes being auburn, the hoof was blackened. By the smell, I guessed it was from soot. “Hephaestus.”

I touched my hoof to his.

“What were you reading?”

I shrugged.

“Oh, right. You’re the one with the scar. I’m sorry for being so talkative.”

I shook my head and waved my hoof. There wasn’t a need to apologize.

Hephaestus stood and began to pace around his side of the room. “I’m sure you’re sick of my apologizing, but I truly am sorry for what my sister did. If it makes you feel better, she was protecting you. Our brother would have been far worse.”

I snorted.

He smiled apologetically. “Right. You are in the Wasteland, after all. You likely could have protected yourselves.” He sat back in the chair. Moonlight dappled Hephaestus’ pelt and disfigured face. He was still smiling, but it was far from happy. “My family has been…-threatened as of late. We mean you and your friends no ill will. We just want to make sure you’re not with our enemies before we let you go.”

That was comforting. At least they didn’t want to kill us.

“Are you?” Hmmm? I locked eyes with Hephaestus. The smile was gone from his face. His blue eyes glowed under the sunlight. “Are you in league with my uncle Hades?”

Who in the fuck was Hades? There was that word again. Fuck. Now I was using it outside of high pressure situations. I was becoming a regular member of Wasteland society. I shook my head.

Hephaestus relaxed. “I’m glad to hear it. It would be a shame to have to kill such a pretty mare.”

Did he just refer to me as a pretty mare? I considered that for a moment until I noticed he was no longer looking at me. Hephaestus’ eyes were focused on Packrat. I instinctively stepped in-between them.

He shrank back and turned away. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you two were together. Please forgive me.”

Why did ponies keep thinking that? I wanted to protect my friend from predators. Hephaestus didn’t seem the type. That was the problem; they never did. After what happened with Lamentation, I didn’t want to take chances. Granted, I had no weapon. If Hephaestus wanted to harm Packrat, there wasn’t much I could do to stop him. But I wanted to make one thing perfectly clear. I would stop at nothing to protect my friend from him if necessary.

“Speaking of pretty mares.”

The smell of flowers and spices filled the air. A zebra with pink stripes slinked her way into the room. Wow. I had never seen eyes like that. They were as green as the lushest meadow. Not that I had seen very many lush meadows, but that was the shade I imagined they would be. She flipped her well-groomed mane and wrapped her hooves around Hephaestus. She gently kissed him on the cheek. “Hey, hubby. How’re you?”

Hephaestus shrugged. “I’m okay. How’re you?”

Pink pouted. “Well, since you asked.” She walked around Hephaestus. As she walked around him, our eyes met. To my surprise, her eyes were as sharp as broken glass. She was practically snarling at me. Yet the second she was looking at Hephaestus, she was pouting again.

“I just miss you. You’ve been so busy the past few days, and now you’re over here. Will I get to see you tonight?”

Hephaestus shook his head. “I’m sorry, Aphrodite. I’m going to be here all night.”

Aphrodite hung her head. “Fine. I’ll see you soon.” She kissed him on the cheek and turned towards me. “I hope you’re happy that you’re taking my husband from me.” She stormed out of the cell. Maybe it was me, but I could have sworn I saw her smirking as she left. Odd.

Hephaestus sat in the chair and rubbed his face. He turned towards the door and shook his head. “Don’t feel too sorry for her. My brother will happily keep her company while I’m here.”

That explained the smirk on her face. Wow.

Hephaestus raised his head and smiled. “Good morning.”

Good morning? I turned around to see who had awoken. Mirage was clutching her head and groaning loudly. “Where am I?” She nodded when she saw me. “Oh, hey, Savage.” Then she saw Hephaestus. “Who ar—you!” She dashed towards the bars and wrapped her hooves around them. “You’re one of those piece of shit bastards that locked me in here. What the fuck is wrong with you? If you don’t let me out of here I’m gonna….”

I tuned her out. I’d rather not listen to Mirage’s blazing profanity. I picked up the pages so I could return to the Daring Do story.

“And as for you!”

Hmmm? The pages were slapped out of my hooves by Mirage’s tail. She pointed her wing at me and narrowed her eyes. “I saw the way you were looking at that zebra. Don’t do that again.”

My only response was to blink at her. Mirage had no right to slap my book out of my hooves. She also had no right to demand I not look at another mare. It wasn’t her business who I ogled. She sneered at me. “Because…-just because, okay?”

No. Not okay. Again, it wasn’t her business. I blinked a second time.

“Ugh!” She threw her hooves into the air. She paced in a circle, twice, before retreating to a corner of the cell. She slammed her body onto the ground with her back towards me. “Ow….”

Served her right for being stupid. Now back to the story….

“I guess it’s about time I told you my history.”

Damnit all! Fine. The story could wait. Mirage turned around and draped her body against the bars. I sat on the ground and looked at her.

“Where to start? Well, I was born in the hive.”

Hive? I cocked an eyebrow.

She narrowed her eyes right back. “Yes, Notci call their homes hives. Yes, it’s weird. But we’re not birds, so it’s not a nest.” You’re not bugs either. Although Lamentation might have disagreed with me on that. “Anyways, I was born. My family had all been soldiers for the NCR an—what is it now?”

I had raised one of my hooves. Her face had scrunched up the instant I did it. Don’t blame me, Mirage. I was content to read, but somepony felt compelled to tell their life story. It wasn’t my fault if nopony had explained to me what the NCR was. I mouthed the three letters to Mirage.

Mirage’s brow furrowed, and she shook her head. “What?”

I mouthed the letters a second time, much slower than I had previously.

“Oh. You don’t know what the NCR is.” The second the words were out of her mouth, her expression turned to one of confusion. “You don’t know what the NCR is? Did you crawl out of a Stable or something?” I didn’t bother replying. She rolled her eyes and grunted. “Okay, fine. The NCR is the Northern Canterlot Republic. Because, ya know, we’re north of Canterlot.” Just like how the Cemetery was a cemetery. Great names.

“I don’t exactly know when the NCR first came about, but we’ve been situated in Vanhoover. You know what that is?” Vaguely. That was Lysandra’s old territory. I remembered she had mentioned the NCR and Steel Rangers, whoever they were, had taken the city from her. Other than that, I didn’t know much. But I figured that was enough to understand Mirage’s story. So, I nodded.

She raised her head proudly and pounded on her chest. “The Northern Canterlot Republic exists for the purpose of ushering in a new era of peace, prosperity, and order to the Wasteland. We have a few settlements here and there, but there’s not a whole lot outside of Vanhoover. We started in Vanhoover because it’s one of the largest cities in the north. Which means it has the most rats to exterminate.” Mirage paused to spit. “We help ponies when the others won’t. We fight the good fight. The Steel Rangers hoard technology that could help other ponies. Fairchild’s casino is a cesspool of lust and greed. And the Pearl just wanted power. No matter how many ponies she had to hurt.”

She slumped against the bars and shot me a shy grin. “Truth be told, I haven’t been on many missions. Like I said, I was born into the NCR. I spent most of my life going through training. I learned how to fly. How to shoot. The importance of stealth.” Somehow I doubted an irritable bat pony could be very stealthy. “I only got to know my unit recently. ‘Bout two weeks ago. We were assigned to each other specifically. Shimmer was a boss at infiltration. Glass was a weapons expert. That minigun we used belonged to him. His favorite thing in the world. Autumn was our corpspony. The medical supplies were all from her stash.”

Mirage shook her head. “Our first mission was to track down the Legendary Breezadore and kill it. Commander Mirror Image had watched the four of us in training and thought we could handle it. It was supposed to be simple. Find the thing; kick its ass. Keep it from hurting anypony else, right?

“Shimmer was the first to go. We went the wrong direction and were ambushed by a bunch of assholes. He got the worst of it. He didn’t even it make it to the warehouse. I wasn’t doing so hot either. Autumn was able to transport me to the warehouse, while Glass provided cover. One of his bullets ricocheted and hit him in the eye.” She chuckled. “Just bad luck. Bad luck and whole lotta bullshit.

“Autumn died not long after. Apparently we had been attacked by breezadores while I was unconscious. She refused to take any of the antivenom until she knew I was okay. She said it didn’t matter if she survived if she was all by herself. I told her the mission was what mattered. We had a duty to the NCR. Then she injected me with something and told me to get some sleep. When I came to, she was dead.”

A group of strangers came together to embark on a mission, and each one was systematically killed until one remained. That was almost very familiar. I offered her a small smile. It wasn’t much; it hardly anything. But it was a way of offering my condolences.

She chuckled dryly. “Thanks, but I’m not that beaten up about it. I mean, yeah, it sucks. But like I said, I didn’t know ‘em that well. At the end of the day, the mission was accomplished. I helped make the world a better place for ponies everywhere. That’s all that matters.”

“What about zebras?” Mirage stopped talking as Red entered the other side of the room. Hephaestus was nowhere to be found. I wondered if he had been relieved of his duty or if he was on break. “You said you ‘helped make the world a better place for ponies everywhere.’ Do you care about zebras at all?”

“Fuck no!” Mirage spat through the bars onto the floor. “Your sister shot me with an arrow. I don’t give two shits about you or your family.”

Red chuckled dryly. “Of course. Ponies never care about zebras.”

Mirage’s expression soured. She looked at me and pointed at Red. “I think he’s missing the part about me getting shot with an arrow.”

Red’s hoof flashed into his mane and returned with a small throwing knife. “Believe me, freak. I never miss anything.”

“Ares!”

Red immediately hid the knife in his mane. He turned towards the door and kneeled. “Father.”

Another zebra strutted into the room. Each step he took had an air of power and authority to it. While the other zebras had been white with colorful stripes, this zebra was black with stripes of bright gold. A brilliant scarlet robe hung from his shoulders. A staff shaped like a lightning bolt clung to his side.

Gold looked down at Ares with brilliant purple eyes. He cocked his head back. He didn’t make any further statements or actions. Ares stood up with a lowered head and slunk towards the door. Before he disappeared, he turned around and glared at Mirage and me. That would have been more ominous if I hadn’t just watched him cowering.

Gold shook his head. “Forgive my son. He is brash and arrogant.”

Mirage snorted. “At least he didn’t shoot me with an arrow.”

Gold’s eyes hardened. “I wouldn’t ask you to forgive Athena. She did what I asked of her.”

“Oh. So all this shit’s your fault?”

“Yes.”

Mirage crossed her front hooves and snorted. “Mind explaining why?”

Gold nodded his head. He grasped his scepter and held it with his hoof, as he sat on the chair. With the scepter and robe, he almost looked like a king. Pity the chair didn’t match his regality. Unless royalty preferred splinters for some inexplicable reason.

“I am Zeus. The leader of the Grecos.”

“Geckos?” Mirage cast me a confused look. “Thought you were zebras.”

“We are zebras,” he replied flatly. “Greco is the name of my tribe.” Mirage bit her lip but said nothing. So, Zeus continued. “We have no love for the Caesar. He invaded our tribe centuries ago and conquered us. We were assimilated into the Caesar’s Empire. Our ancestors fought in the Great War. After the megaspells dropped, we seized our chance. Instead of returning to the broken Empire, we made a home here. A home where we can be Grecos again.”

“And you locked us up because….”

Zeus raised his scepter high. It caught the sunlight streaming through the window. The golden staff glowed brilliantly. I tore my eyes away and covered them with my hooves. Showoff.

“I am content to spend my days residing in this village with my tribe. My brother Hades had no such desire. He’s a conqueror at heart. Our grandfather would tell us stories about the war. Hades loved them. He used to tell me he was born in the wrong era. That he would have made an excellent caesar. I don’t doubt it, but a good caesar is not a good Greco. When Hades became too violent, I banished him to the Wasteland. It was a death sentence I didn’t have the strength to carry out. Killing one’s brother is no easy task.”

I couldn’t help but think of Orchestra. She nearly killed me in our penultimate meeting. She had only spared my life because she thought it would beget more suffering than a quick death. After listening to Zeus, I couldn’t help but wonder what she had truly been thinking. Maybe she had let me go because she couldn’t go through with killing me. It would explain her lack of hostility the last time we had met. Sister….

“Still not seeing the point here, Zeus.”

His eyes shot Mirage a powerful look. “Then stop interrupting me.”

Mirage flinched and sat on the ground.

“As I was saying, I banished my brother to the Wastes. I prayed for his safety but also that I would never see him again. Alas, I have heard whispers. Whispers of a village not far off led by a zebra. From what I understand, this zebra is a conqueror. He has been raiding villages and settlements. He takes the strongest and assimilates them into his army. This has my brother’s scent all over it.

“Now I shall answer your question. I am keeping you here to see what will happen. A unicorn, a crystal pony, and a Nocti as travelling companions? Forgive me if I am suspicious. If you are my brother’s spies, he will send for you. If he does not, you are free to go. I’m giving him thirty-six hours. My brother was never patient. That’s ample time for him.”

Send for us? What did that mean? Was Zeus expecting Hades to write him a letter?

“Let me get this straight. You’re saying if you don’t get attacked in thirty-six hours, we’re good. But if some random group attacks you, then we’re automatically in with them? That’s bullshit!”

Zeus shook his head. “I don’t believe in coincidences. If we are attacked, it is because you drew the attackers. Make no mistake. I showed mercy on Hades because he was, and will forever be, my brother. I share no such ties with you.” He glided off the chair and tucked the scepter underneath the robe. “Hephaestus will keep you company. He’s a good son. I know he will look after you. Until you are found to be spies, you will be treated as guests.”

Mirage scoffed and spat. “Do you always lock your guests in cages?”

Zeus smiled. Surprisingly, it seemed legitimate. “Good day.” Despite his smile’s legitimacy, he wasn’t able mount a witty retort. What a shame. Some levity would have been appreciated.

Once Zeus had left the room, Hephaestus entered. There was white sauce on his lower lip. It seemed he had taken a food break. He was also carrying a tray with three streaming bowls. Hephaestus half-smiled at us. “I see you met my father.”

Mirage snorted. “Yeah. Real nice guy.”

Hephaestus sighed. “He is strict. But he’s a good stallion. He just wants to make sure we’re safe.” He approached the cell door with the tray. He carefully slipped each bowl in-between the bars. “Be careful. It’s hot.”

Mirage’s eyes were like hot coals. “How do we know it’s not poison?”

Hephaestus took one of the bowls and drank from it. “See? It’s fine.”

Her eyes didn’t cool down, but she still snatched the bowl away and started to drink.
I nodded my thanks and took a bowl for myself. Yes, it was hot, but it wasn’t too hot. I picked it up and sipped. Carrot and mushroom soup with a stringy meat. It wasn’t bad. Even the meat was quite good, although I'd rather not know what it was. It was better than the radroach meat Packrat invoked me to try. Speaking of which.

I approached Packrat with the remaining bowl. I hadn’t seen her move since I woke up. I considered waking her up, but I decided against it. She still needed rest; she deserved rest. I laid the bowl on the ground and pushed it towards her. It would be cold, but it would be there when she awoke.

I sat down and focused on my soup. Mirage and I ate, or rather slurped, in silence. Once we had finished, we returned the bowls to Hephaestus. Packrat’s remained untouched. Hephaestus placed our bowls on the tray. Instead of taking them away, he took a seat in the chair. He stared at Mirage and me. His gaze was nowhere near as powerful as his father’s, but I could see the resemblance. “Are you sure you’re not with my uncle?”

Mirage scoffed, to the surprise of nopony. “No, Hephaestus. I’ve been working for an evil zebra overlord against my knowledge for the past entirety of my life!” Silence followed her statement. “Ugh. That was sarcasm. You know, because I’m pretty sure I’d know if I was working for an evil zebra overlord.” She slapped my side with her wing. “Savage, back me up here.”

“She’s right, Hephaestus. We’re not your enemy.”

Mirage raised her eyebrow. “That’s weird. You sound just like Pack—wow, I’m retarded.” She covered her face with her hoof and shook her head. “Hey, Packrat.”

“Hey, Mirage.” Packrat trotted in-between Mirage and I. She flashed me a hollow smile. She quickly took her focus off me and onto Hephaestus. Probably so I couldn’t ask her what was wrong. “Hey, I’m Packrat.” She slipped her hoof through the bars.

Hephaestus touched hooves with her. “Hephaestus. Pleasure to meet you.”

“I can say the same thing. You’re cute as fuck.”

He flushed and turned away. “You’re just saying that….”

Yes, she was. I didn’t think that because of Hephaestus’ deformities. I wasn’t that cruel. I could tell by her tone. Packrat usually sounded jovial when she was flirting. Possibly even a bit sultry, although sultry really wasn’t her style. This sounded forced. That didn’t sound like Packrat either. If my short time with her had taught me anything, it was that Packrat was forthright and honest. She wasn’t the type to be flirtatious as a means of getting what she wanted. She wasn’t Lysandra.

What was going on inside her head?

“Heph—can I call you Heph?” He nodded. “Heph, I’m from Boulder Springs. It’s a community not too far from here. And, um, hate to burst your bubble, but we don’t have any evil zebra overlords. We have Azreal; he’s a zebra. Some ponies might think he’s kind of evil. I don’t; I love Azreal. But he’s for sure not an overlord. The closest thing to an overlord I have is Mom.”

Hephaestus cast his eyes to the ground. “Your parent is your overlord? I know what that’s like….”

Packrat nodded. “Well, um, maybe Mom and your dad could meet each other. We don’t have to be enemies. Our town is full of mercenaries. If you, um, paid them, I’m sure they’d be willing to give you guys some protection.”

“Paying for protection? That’s extortion.”

She emphatically shook her head. “No! Not that kind of paying for protection. We won’t hurt you if you don’t pay us. Just a few extra bodies around in case shit happens.” She slumped to the ground. “Like I said to your sister and your brothers. I don’t want to hurt people.” For a moment, I saw her eyes flicker towards me. I noticed the same steely glint they had when she looked at Looker. “Not unless they hurt me or my friends first.”

I couldn’t help but flinch. What was with that look. Before I could attempt to ask her, she was looking at Hephaestus again. “How much longer are we going to be stuck in here?”

He shrugged. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know. It’s not my decision.”

“Yeah, but.” She looked to her left, and then to her right. She then leaned forward and whispered, although it wasn’t very quiet. “I have to…-ya know. I gotta go. Could you let me out for that?”

His turned even redder. “I’m sorry, but I can’t let you out. I know. I’ll get you a bucket.” He ran so quickly out of the room he almost tripped.

Now that he was gone, Packrat couldn’t ignore me. I tapped her on the shoulder. She didn’t look at me. I tapped her again. Still, she ignored me. I looked at Mirage. Her expression was as confused as mine. I shrugged. Mirage shrugged too. “Packrat?”

“Yeah? What’s up?”

“Um.” Mirage pointed towards me. “Him.”

Packrat titled her head. “Um, him who?”

“Ugh….” Mirage slapped her face again. “You know what? Fuck this.” She used her wings to turn Packrat until Packrat and I were facing each other. “There. Happy? Don’t answer. I don’t care. You two clearly have shit to work out. And I’d rather you get it done soon. ‘Cause I for one don’t want to be caught up in whatever this is any longer than I have to.” She trotted towards a corner of the cell and slammed herself down. “Ow.”

Packrat wasn’t looking at me. She was deliberately looking at the ground. I gently touched my hoof to her chin. I was about to raise her chin so I could look at her, but she slapped my hoof away. I recoiled and rubbed my hoof. That was surprisingly hard. Packrat kept her head down, and her tears splashed against the ground. “I’m not stupid.”

What?

“I’m not stupid, Savage. I might act like it sometimes, but I’m not stupid. I know what you did to my friends.”

“When I woke up here and I saw you, I saw them too. Duststorm kept yelling at me to kill you. She was saying I was a terrible friend for not avenging her. She said I should have done it days ago.” Packrat closed her eyes and sniffled. “But I couldn’t. You never attacked me, and I only kill in self-defense. Not only that. But you saved me from the hellhound. I couldn’t just kill you after that. And then we became friends. And then you saved me from Lamentation. I don’t want to, Savage.” She opened her teary eyes and looked at me. “Please believe me. I never wanted to kill you.

“But I just keep hearing Duststorm. And Moonscape. She keeps telling me that I need to die because I killed her. My friend is telling me to go kill myself…. Then there’s Lamentation. I keep seeing his body.” Packrat started to shake. “He looks at me. He doesn’t say anything. He just looks at me, Savage. Like I’m a piece of meat. He licks his lips. He winks and grins. And I CAN’T TAKE IT!”

Packrat turned away from me and sobbed into her hooves. “I can’t take being stuck in here! I can’t do anything besides think. I think about Dust and Spy. About Moon. And about him. And every time I think about time I just want to…-I don’t know. I used to love having sex. Now just thinking about it scares me. Will the next pony do that to me? Have other ponies done it to me before? What would he have done if I woke up? What would I have done?

“I want to get out of here. I need to get out of here.” Packrat hugged herself and began to rock back and forth. “I’m sorry, Savage. I can’t look at you right now. Not with all the ponies in my head.”

I sincerely had no idea what I should do. I had killed her friends. Packrat had every right to be angry with me. I’d rather she not hear voices calling for my demise, but I didn’t blame her for it. The venom did bizarre things to the mind. I wanted to let her know everything was okay between us, but she couldn’t even look at me right now. That made communicating incredibly difficult. I doubted hugging her would be a good idea. For all I knew, that could cause her to snap.

Hang on a moment. I still had paper. I removed a piece of paper from my bag and…-they took my pens. Damn. They must have considered it a weapon. There went that idea. I was back to having no way of talking to her. To tell her I was sorry for what happened to her friends. That killing Moonscape wasn’t her fault. The monster she killed wasn’t the friend she once knew. No matter what Lamentation did, she wasn’t just a piece of meat for him to enjoy. That I had no ill will towards her. She was my friend. I needed to let her know!

I spun around and bashed my head against the metal bars of the cage. I only did so once. The immense pain in my head prevented me from trying a second time. I landed on my rump and rubbed my head. My head wouldn’t stop ringing. Note to self: banging my head against metal was not a good way to vent my frustration.

Something clattered to the floor. I turned to see Hephaestus dropping a metal bucket. “Are you okay?”

I cast a glance towards Packrat. She still wasn’t looking at me. She was significantly more focused on her soup. At least she was eating. I gave Hephaestus a nod. My head was still angry with me, but I was okay. I supposed I was like Packrat. I just needed a bit of time. I could think of one great way to pass the time.

“You won’t get away with this, Ahuizotl!” Daring struggled, but the ropes binding her refused to loosen.

Ahuizotl laughed and petted the snow-white cat resting in his lap. He sat in an elevated chair and looked at Daring and the Shadowbolts with glee. In his tail rested the meteorite. It was roughly the size of a buckball. Maybe it was the way the sunlight struck it, but the meteorite had an unnatural glint to it. Ahuizotl tossed the meteorite into the air. He caught it with his tail and repeated the process. “Ahhh, Daring Do. I already have.”

He jinxed it. That means I’m getting out of this for sure. The question is how. Daring stopped struggling to observe her surroundings. She had been laid onto a table and tied up. Clover and X were strapped to the tables on her left, while Twin laid on her right. At the base of Daring’s table was a large pile of dynamite. The dynamite was attached to a long fuse. This side of the octahedron had a glass ceiling. The edge of the fuse was beneath a glass pane. If the sun was in the right position, it could light the fuse. And then it’s bomb voyage.

Daring leaned forward as far as she could. She tried to bite down on the rope, but she couldn’t reach far enough. She tried again and again, but each time resulted in failure. They’re usually not this tight. Ahuizotl’s really outdone himself this time.

“What do we do?”

“Don’t panic. Stay calm. There’s a way out. There’s always a way out.”

Ahuizotl caught the meteor one more time. He slipped it onto his lap, beside his cat, and began to laugh. “Not this time, Daring Do. This time you won’t survi—”

A bullet tore through Ahuizotl’s head. The cat on his lap screeched and jumped onto the ground. It scampered off, as its master’s head was struck again. And again. And again. Daring watched in horror as Ahuizotl was murdered in front of her. His body slumped and fell out of the chair. He fell onto the fuse and snuffed the recently lit flame.

“Funny. I was just about to say the same thing about you.”

Daring turned towards the speaker. A pony clothed in Shadowbolt barding emerged from behind the large chair. The pony gripped a sleek black pistol made of clouds. She unloaded a spent clip and replenished her pistol. She arched her back, which caused a loud pop. Daring noticed the 007 on the Shadowbolt’s barding. "Fuck me, it was cramped down there." She cracked her neck and turned her head towards Daring. “So that’s where you've been.” Prism turned her head and surveyed the other captives. “He captured all three of you? Do you have no pride?”

Prism grabbed the meteorite and stowed it in her saddlebag. She then flew down to the tables. She started with X and untied everypony. She left Daring for last. Even though she couldn’t see Prism’s face, Daring felt the smug expression underneath the mask. “Hello, Ms. Do. Need some help?”

“You didn’t have to kill him.”

“No? Well, forgive me if I seem rude.” Prism cut through Daring’s bonds with a large knife. “But not killing him didn’t seem to do you any favors, now did it? And, if you had killed him years ago, you could have prevented numerous possible catastrophes.”

Daring sat up. She knew she should have thanked Prism for helping her, but she was too indignant. “I prevented the catastrophes anyways.”

“That’s beside the point.” Prism placed her knife in its sheath. “The point is, keeping Ahuizotl alive for so long created a threat. He’s been a liability to Equestria since Celestia knows when. You’ve kept that liability in check for a long time. Congratulations. But what happens when you don’t? What happens when he discovers some ancient cursed artifact that causes massive floods? Or one that leads to a volcanic eruption? Or one that creates zombies?”

X shivered. “There’s a zombie artifact?”

Prism ignored him. “The point is, Ms. Do, letting your enemy live is rarely a good decision. I already told you, my job isn’t to make you feel comfortable. My job is to get the meteorite and return to Equestria.” She tapped the space in her bag where the meteorite resided. “Step one is complete. If you’d be so kind as to get that stick out of your ass, I’d be happy to start step two.”

Daring Do punched her. She punched her right in the face. Prism’s head turned with the impact. She staggered backwards a couple of steps. The other Shadowbolts braced themselves, but Prism held up a hoof. “At ease.” Prism rubbed her face. “That was a good hit. You are one tough bitch, Ms. Do.” Prism stepped forward and pressed her face close to Daring’s. “So am I. The first one is free. But I swear I will bring down the full power and authority of the Ministry of Awesome if you touch me again before we get this meteorite back home.”

“What about after?”

Prism responded by doing something Daring wasn’t expecting. She removed her mask. Her lips stretched into one of the widest grins Daring Do had ever seen. “If you ever want to find out which bitch is tougher, look me up. I’d love to go a few rounds with you.”

“I’d love to see that,” X muttered.

Twin leaned towards him. “My money is on Prism.”

“You’re on.”

Daring groaned and walked past Prism. “Come on. We have the meteor. Let’s just go.”

Prism laughed and put her mask back on. “Whatever you say, Ms. Do.”

That was it? It seemed I had reached the end of the pages I had. Oh well. That was fun while it lasted. Though the ending was a bit abrupt.

“How was the book?”

I turned towards Mirage. She was sitting near the cell door. Packrat was sitting in the corner. I couldn’t tell if she was feigning sleep or not. Hephaestus was nowhere to be found. The door to the other side of the room was open. Moonlight streamed through the window, and graced the room with its presence.

I shrugged. It wasn’t much of a book. Though I had enjoyed what I read. I wondered if there were more pages scattered across Equestria. Maybe some of them told the tale of Daring and Prism’s duel. I had seen Shadowbolt barding with a 007 before. I supposed I could ask Prism herself.

Actually, something just occurred to me. The meteorite had been described peculiarly. Something about it having an unnatural glint to it or the like. That was how I described Glimmer. Could Glimmer and its special bullets have been forged from the meteor? That was my current suspicion. It didn’t matter in the long run where Glimmer came from, but I would love to know more about the weapon in my possession. How many bullets were made? Where could I find them? Most importantly, how was a bullet able to take out a hellhound without puncturing its flesh?

My train of thought crashed when Mirage tapped on the bars. “While we’re talking about stories, what’s yours?”

I’m sorry?

She rolled her whole head at my silence. “I told you my story. Packrat told you about what’s going on in her head. What about you? Savage.” She seemed to relish the word. Oddly, I couldn’t tell if she was saying my new name with malice or amusement. “That sounds like a name with some history. How’d you get it?”

All things being fair, I supposed I should give her some explanation. I didn’t owe her any, but it would be nice. After what happened with Lamentation, I was sure she wanted to know more about me. Both for what I did to him and out of fear I would be just as bad. Especially with a name like Savage.

I wrapped one of my hooves around my neck and dramatized twisting my neck. It was the truth. Savage was born when I killed Joab.

Mirage’s face soured. She scratched the side of her cheek with her wing. “What’d he do? Or she, I guess?”

I trotted towards Packrat. I placed my hoof over her head to indicate her short stature. “Unicorn?” I shook my head. I placed my other front hoof around her rump. I then moved my hooves away from Packrat, but I kept them at a similar distance. “The size of Packrat…-oh, a small pon—a foal!” She sat upright and smiled for a moment. Then the realization dawned on her, and she shrank back down. “He raped a foal?”

I shook my head. I mimed aiming a rifle and shooting it.

“He killed a foal?”

I nodded.

“Your foal?”

I shook my head.

“Do you want a foal?”

I didn’t answer right away. Partly because this line of questioning was becoming a tad personal. In all actuality, it was because I didn’t really know. I had wanted a foal with Lyra. If everypony had made it across the border, I had no doubt we would have adopted Missile. I only wanted a foal so I could start a family with her. It seemed traditional. With Lyra out of the picture, I wasn’t as keen on the idea. Besides, the Equestrian Wasteland was no place to be raising a foal. Ultimately, I shook my head.

“Fair enough.” Mirage looked away, but I noticed her tail was fidgeting. Clearly this conversation wasn’t finished. “Soooooooo….” Just spit it out already. “You and Packrat. Are you two a thing?”

Not this again. The answer was still no. I doubted the answer could ever be yes since she wasn’t even looking at me right now. I shook my head. The corner of Mirage’s lip twitched into a smile. It disappeared quickly, but I knew what I saw.

“Do you have a special somepony?”

Not anymore. I shook my head again. Again, I noticed Mirage’s small smile. Although it was bigger this time. What was she so happy about? I raised my eyebrow at her. She didn’t say anything. She either didn’t notice me, or she was pretending not to. What was going on in that head of hers?

I was too distracted by clopping hooves to press the matter. Hephaestus burst into the room huffing and puffing. Goodness gracious, what was it n—oh. He was bleeding from a cut above his eye and a busted lip. A very familiar battle saddle rested upon on his back, along with a host of other familiar weapons.

Mirage’s eyes lit up. “You’re letting us out?!”

Hephaestus slumped and our weapons fell onto the ground. Thankfully none of them discharged. He clutched his chest and violently coughed. “Need help…-trust you…-please.” He produced a small white key, I could swear if was made from bone, and opened the door.

Mirage dashed out of the cell. She immediately started putting on her hoof claws. She shot me a sideways glance. “Don’t just stand there. Let’s get our stuff and go.”

Really? What was all that about the NCR fighting to make the Wasteland a better place? Raiders were the scourge of the Wastes. If the NCR wanted to make a better world, they should start be cleaning up the filth. It seemed hypocritical for her to leave them to their devices. Hephaestus notwithstanding, I had no love lost on the Grecos. They could go halfway to Tartarus as far as I was concerned. I wouldn’t mind if some of them made the full journey. But I knew Packrat wouldn’t just leave them.

I approached the stash of weapons. I had no desire to put my life on the line for the Grecos, but I could help them by providing sniper cover. If we fought for them, they would have no reason to kill us once the raiders were repelled. I knew Hephaestus would stand up for us. I removed Savage from the battle saddle. The battle saddle would just make movement awkward. Memento could sit this battle out. I walked towards the window and took my position.

There was an all-out brawl outside. The zebras’ assailants hid their faces and bodies behind long black cloaks. Their legs were visible, and I noticed all of their hooves were white with ash. One of them was wielding a hammer in his mouth. He was smaller than the rest, but I noticed he was the one barking orders and making gestures. He was the leader. If I wanted to prove to the Grecos I was on their side, that was the pony I would have to kill.

“Come on. You’re not serious, are you?” I shot Mirage a look; one that made her flinch. “You’re actually goddamn serious.” She shook her head and started muttering to herself. She grabbed her shotgun and marched outside. “If I die out here, I’m blaming you, Savage!” She took off into the air and disappeared from sight.

Back to my target. He had vanished from his previous spot. In his place, I watched Ares struggle against something much bigger than him. It was too large to be a pony. Whatever it was, it seemed to be winning. It knocked Ares to the ground. It was about to step on his head. I fired a shot at its hoof. Savage’s bullet grazed the creature’s hoof. The bullet cut a line through the ash, revealing the auburn fur beneath.

The bullet distracted the creature enough for Ares to get onto his hooves and escape. Now where was the leader? Ah, there. He was swinging his hammer around; I assumed he was building momentum. A scrawny zebra ran around him. Unlike the others, this zebra was actually black and white. Were his stripes white, or were they black? Either way, this zebra was ridiculously fast. He was a blur when he ran. That was a good thing for him, as it decreased the likelihood of being hit by the hammer. Of course, since I couldn’t see him, I risked shooting him if I fired. That wouldn’t get me into the Greco’s good graces.

New plan. Cover Mirage. I found her flying above the battlefield. She was locked in a shotgun duel with one of the assailants. I could tell this one was a unicorn since it was using levitation to hold its shotgun. The glow around the shotgun was a dull mustard-yellow. That was familiar somehow.

It was likely the color of some raider’s magic. I should just shoot him in the head….-no. I couldn’t. It wasn’t a raider. Something inside of me was sure it wasn’t a raider. Lyra’s magic was yellow, but this was a different shade. Maybe that was the connection. Shades be damned, a yellow aura brought out my sentimentality. Fine. I’d aim for the shoulder then. Mirage could get the kill.

I fired a shot into the assailant’s shoulder.

The unicorn howled in pain. The sound was familiar too. I definitely knew this pony from somewhere. The shot knocked him off balance, and he fell to the ground. He quickly got to his hooves and started hopping around. “Owww. Motherfucking fuck!”

Carbine?

No. It couldn’t be. He was supposed to be a prisoner somewhere. He was supposed to be cracking jokes while his captors taunted him. Now he had become a raider. It was almost fitting. When I had first met him, I thought him no better than a vicious raider. I knew him better than that now. He had ponies he had genuinely loved. Raiders didn’t love. I was damn sure Lysandra loved nopony but herself. I didn’t know who these assailants were, but they were more than simple raiders.

Despite my shock, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief. Whoever these white hooved ponies were, Carbine had found a place among them. I didn’t have to save him anymore. I was free to do with my life as I pleased. I was no longer resigned to following Packrat in hopes of securing a rescue party.

Wait a moment. Packrat? I hadn’t seen her on the battlefield. She wanted to get outside even more than Mirage had. I wondered if she was still asleep. I received my answer in the form of a sound.

Click.

“Damnit.”

I dropped Savage and whipped around. Packrat was sitting with her back to me. Opus was covered in green magic. It was also pressed against her head. She pulled the trigger. Click. “I’m sorry, Moon. I tried.” She shook her head. “Um, no. I don’t want to try again.” Opus fell to the floor, as she pressed her hooves against her temple. “You don’t get to talk to me like that. I did what you wanted. Why won’t you just let me go?” She violently shook her head. “Because he’s my friend, Dust! He’s my friend, and I won’t hurt him.” She flinched. Her hooves fell to her sides. “No. Not like Moon. This is different. He—”

—couldn’t listen to this nonsense anymore. I wrapped my hooves around her waist. She probably still didn’t want me touching her, but Packrat needed to know I was there. There was something else. She needed to know I was there for her. She didn’t have to face her venom hallucinations alone. If they were convincing her to commit suicide, then I wasn’t going to let her.

“Savage, please…-Dust wants me to kill you. And when I say no, Moon says I should kill myself. It’s you or me, and I don’t want to kill any of my friends. Not again.”

Then you won’t. I turned her around. Her eyes looked off in the distance, but I moved my head so she was looking at me. She tried to move her eyes again, but I moved my head a second time. She finally sighed. “Okay. You, um, you got me.”

Yes, I did. I couldn’t help but notice how warm she was. It was also hard to deny that she had very pretty eyes. I stared into Packrat’s deep brown eyes. I had so many things I wanted to say to her, and I could only think of one way to convey them all.

I kissed her. I didn’t know what else to do. I wanted her to know that I trusted her, and that I would always have her back. That she was important to me. In that vein, I needed her to know that I didn’t want her to die. She was my friend. She had saved my life. We fought and bled together. I could be honest about not enjoying my time in the Equestrian Wasteland. Lurker, Lysandra, Lamentation. I already met a hooful of ponies who were rotten to their cores. It was only a matter of time before I met another evil pony whose name started with the letter L.

Packrat, however, had been a silver lining. Her leers and occasional advances had been annoying to be sure. Her constant optimism could border on being grating. Since our escapade into the Crystal Wasteland was based solely on her desire to be a good pony, all this misfortune had been her fault. She was far more trouble than she was worth. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I broke away from her. Packrat’s eyes were closed and her cheeks were red. She stayed in that position for a few more seconds before realizing I had broken away. “Oh, um, you’re finished. Okay. Well, ummmmmmm…-yeah. So, I’m gonna go out there and shoot some ponies. Ya know. Prove that we’re not working for some evil zebra overlord so we don’t get executed and stuff. Is that, um, that okay with you?”
I nodded.

She clopped her front hooves together. “Great. That is just great. Um, tell you what. You stay here. I’ll just be going.” She took a few steps before turning her head around. I expected her to say something, but then I noticed she wasn’t looking at my eyes. I also noticed she was starting to drool.

I cleared my throat. The horrible sound snapped her out of her daze. Although she didn’t quite stop the drooling. “Um, you’re gonna swat me if I say something, right?”

I nodded.

“Hmmm. Um, well, what if I just think it? Yeah. Can’t fault me for tha—” She was interrupted when I flicked my hoof against her head. “Ohowhow!” she whined. She swatted at my hoof with one of hers. “It’s no fair for you to do that after kissing me. I mean, what else am I gonna think about?”

I didn’t respond. She didn’t either. She just trotted to the weapon stash. She loaded a few slugs into Opus and took the assault rifle with her. She had almost walked out the door when she turned around again. This time, she was looking me in the eye. “Hey, um.” She waved her hoof in a circle. “Thanks for all that. I was staring to go a little, ya know?” She twirled her hoof next to her head, crossed her eyes, and clicked her tongue a few times. “That. But, I think I’m good now.”

She jumped up and down a few times, as if that somehow proved her point. Since this was Packrat, I felt that it did. She waved to me before waddling out the door. Yeah. That was my Packrat. I was so relieved to have her back.

Footnote: Level Up!
New Perk: Social Link. You feel like you know your companions a little better now. Your companions are more willing to defend you in combat.

Author's Notes:

Hey, everyone! As always, I want to thank Kkat for the original story, other authors for contributing to the 'verse, and for my readers for sticking with this story.

As you can probably guess by the footnote, I am Excitebike for Persona 5. To make it even better, I get my copy the same week as the premieres of Better Call Saul and Friendship Is Magic. I haven't been on EQD in a good while, so I have no idea what to expect. Still excited though.

Speaking of things to expect, there is one more chapter left in Coalescence. Like last time, it will be treated as something of a season finale. Crystal Hearts will be going on a hiatus, so I can work on other projects and figure out exactly what happens in the next Movement. It's way too early to say when I think the break will end, but if I know in a month's time it'll be at the end of 2.9.

Thank you so much for sticking with the story to this point. It means a lot.