The battle was practically over by the time Packrat entered. Not that she singlehoofedly ended it. It seemed to have already been waning. It turned out the real trump card had been Mirage. She wasn’t the only flyer; the others apparently had a griffon with them. But the griffon’s weapons weren’t in the best condition. Meanwhile, Mirage was almost a walking armory. After taking out the griffon, without killing her, Mirage had been able to shout orders to the zebras. When Zeus started listening to her, the rest of the Grecos followed suit. The raiders retreated. All in all, the battle lasted about ten minutes or so.

Luckily, there were no casualties on either side. Truth be told, I couldn’t care less about the Grecos and their enemies. I was just glad my three friends all survived. It would have been incredibly ironic to go through all this trouble of wanting to save Carbine just to see him die.

I gazed down at my saddlebag. Packrat had scoured the battlefield for any trinkets the raiders left behind. She had discovered a few knickknacks: a matchbox, scratch paper, chalk, an empty cereal box. There was one that caught my eye. She had found a plastic ray gun. Owlowicious.

She had no qualms about me taking it. I think part of her wanted to repay me for not letting her commit suicide. She owed me nothing for that. I almost didn’t take Owlowicious to prove that point. But I had to take it. Just like Memento, it was, well, a memento of my past in the Crystal Wasteland. I also wanted to have it with me if I ever saw Carbine again.

I may have lost all religious leanings, but I still prayed for that crazy son of a bitch.

“Hey, Savage.” Mirage swooped towards the ground and landed beside me. “Do you like apples?”

They were okay but not my favorite by any means. I shrugged.

“I fucked up an entire squad of attackers and saved our flanks from execution.” She raised her head and puffed out her chest. “How do you like dem apples?”

Really? She was going to be that juvenile? I walked away from her without offering a response.

She groaned loudly behind me. “’Wow, Mirage, that is really impressive,’” she said in a deeper voice; I assumed she was supposed to be mimicking what she thought I would sound like. She was relatively close. “Oh, it’s no problem, at all, Savage.’ Is that too much to ask?”

I turned my head so she could see my scar. I pointed to it with my hoof. Yes, Mirage. Asking me to speak was too much to ask.

Mirage snorted. “Yeah, so what? Just because you can’t talk doesn’t mean you have to be an asshole.”

Wow. That wasn’t the normal reaction. Most people expressed sympathy. At the very least they would regret their choice of words. Mirage didn’t back down; she doubled down. I couldn’t help but respect that. I bowed to her and kissed the tip of her hoof.

“Ugh!” She ripped her hoof away. Her lips curled in a grimace; her nose wrinkled. She took a few steps backwards. “I said don’t be an asshole. You don’t have to be all formal, you goddamn weirdo.” Everypony’s a critic. Her grimace melted into a sneer. “How’s it going, Red?”

I followed her eyes to find Ares walking by us. He stopped to glare at the two of us, although he was mostly focusing on Mirage. “My father is looking for you. He wants the three of you in his tent. He has….” He kicked at the dirt, as he averted his eyes. “A proposal for you.”

“Proposal?” Mirage and I exchanged befuddled glances. “Um, sorry to burst his bubble, but I’m not interested in older stallions.”

“Not with him, you idiot!” There was the Ares I knew and disliked. His eyes flashed as he glared at Mirage. “One of his children.”

“Like you?”

“As if.” He flushed and turned away. “He’d never marry me off to some rat with wings.”

Mirage nudged me and whispered in my ear. “You know, I almost miss Lamentation. At least he was sometimes creative with his racism.”

“What are you two talking about?”

“Never you mind, Red.”

“My name is—”

“Ares!” Hephaestus grabbed his brother from behind and hugged him. “I’m so happy to know you’re safe. I was worried about you.” He winked at us and titled his head to the side. I assumed that was the direction of his father’s tent. Much obliged.

Mirage and I found the tent easily. It was the big one. The others that encircled it weren’t small by any means. They looked comfortable. This tent was the size of the building I had been confined in for the past day and a half. Rather than a flap in the front, this tent had an actual metal door. Lightning bolts had been engraved into the metal, and the knocker resembled a thundercloud. I assumed Hephaestus had forged it. I couldn’t help but admire his craftsmanship.

I used the knocker twice.

“Come in.”

I did; Mirage followed. I gasped. Goddess not above. Zeus’ tent was a treasure trove. The carpet in his tent was an opulent assortment of orange and green. He had incense burning with a fragrance that made my nose sing. His walls were decorated with horns, bones, and masks. I had expected him to have a throne, but the chair he sat on was modest. The table he sat at was also lacking in grandeur, although it was quite large.

Packrat sat opposite him. She waved at us to come join her. Mirage and I shared a shrug, and we took our places.

Zeus nodded. He gestured to the walls and his assortment of treasures. “After you helped us today, I refuse to view you as my prisoners. Today, I welcome you into my home as my friends.”

“Thanks, it’s….” Mirage looked around the tent with a distinct lack of enthusiasm. “Nice?”

“Ohhhh, yeehehehes it is.” Packrat, on the other hoof, was practically drooling over Zeus’ collection.

“You approve of my collection?” Zeus shook his head. “This is not the half of it. I told you of my brother Hades. I use his tent to keep the rest of my collection.”

Packrat jumped up and slammed her hooves on the table. “Can we go see it?”

“Perhaps in time.” Zeus reached under the table and produced four silver goblets. Why didn’t he have those out already? Was it just for dramatic effect? It wasn’t even all that dramatic. So strange. He approached a shelf stocked with bottles and pulled one. “Any whiskey drinkers among you?”

Mirage perked up. “Now you’re speaking my language.”

Zeus smiled and returned to the table with the bottle. He poured whiskey into every goblet. “In my culture, we conduct business after we drink.”

That wasn’t suspicious at all. Still, he was our host, and we were surrounded by his family. If Zeus wanted to kill us, we would likely already be dead or fighting. There probably wasn’t too much harm in drinking with him. Even though I still hated alcohol, I raised my glass and touched it against the others. Cheers.

I was standing alone with Packrat outside the building we had been confined in. Wait, what happened to Zeus? Where was Mirage? I looked about for a clue as to what was happening. My only hints were the clothes she and I were wearing. I was still wearing the CDF barding, but it looked pristine. One of the Grecos must have patched it for me. It was a good thing too. It had held out well so far, but I couldn’t count on it forever without it getting repaired.

Packrat wasn’t wearing her usual attire. She was in a dress. Her dress was an orange-brown color with tinges of green throughout. The veil she wore was dark red—a veil? I hadn’t gotten married, had I?!

She chuckled. She wrapped a hoof around one of mine. “Looks like you’ve come back to join us.”

I rubbed my head in an effort to show my confusion.

“I’ll fill you in later. But, um, don’t worry. We didn’t get married.”

I let go of a breath I wasn’t aware I was holding. That was a relief. I cared for Packrat, but I had no interest in marrying her. Maybe kissing her again, but even that was a stretch.

“Nope. But you’re about to give me away.”

I was giving her away? Who was the groom? Were there two brides? She wasn’t marrying Mirage was sh—wait a moment. Something Ares said clicked. Zeus had a proposal for us. He must have offered one of his children to us in marriage. Packrat must have said yes. I shook my head with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, I guess I can tell you now. Um, Zeus said he wanted to apologize for keeping us prisoner and stuff. He offered to give each of us one of his children in marriage. He wanted to make it up to us and.” She cleared her throat. This was probably a direct quote. “To blaze a new era in which pony and zebra can live in harmony.” She chuckled again and rubbed the back of her head. “Um, or something like that.”

For a moment, I saw something in Packrat’s eyes I rarely did: melancholy. It wasn’t quite the despair I saw when she attempted to kill herself. Even still, I didn’t like that look on her at all. “Mirage told him she wasn’t going to be with us much longer. She’d take us back to Boulder Springs, but then it was off to Vanhoover. And you told him you didn’t want to be in a relationship.”

Then a smile returned to her face. It wasn’t the smile I was used to from her, but after the look I had just seen, I’d happily accept it. “So then I volunteered. I’ve never been married before, and I think it would be a lot of fun. Toothpick’ll probably hate having another person in the house, but I, um, I think he can handle it. And I know it would make Mom happy to see ponies and zebras at peace. And…-no, that’s about it.”

I didn’t like this. She was giving herself away to a zebra she didn’t know, because she thought it would make other people happy. But I couldn’t just stop it. What would I do? Kiss her again? No. That would tell her not to go through with it because I wanted her, which just wasn’t true. I just wanted her to be sure she was doing this because she wanted to. I could accept it if that was the case. I pointed to her and started to fidget.

She lowered her head. “Yeah, a little. Like I said, I’ve never been married before.” She took a deep breath and straightened up. “But I’m ready for a new experience. And even if Mirage goes back to the NCR, I know I’ve still got you with me. And Mom. And Toothpick. And probably Shadow too. I want to try this out. And if it really does, um, what was it again? ‘Blaze a new era’ and all that, that’ll be good too.”

That was good enough for me. I kissed the top of her head. She giggled. “Kissing a mare on her wedding day? You really are a savage.”

I smiled at that and opened the door. For the most part, the building looked nicer. The cell was still there, but the Grecos had added chairs, a few tables off to the side with drinks, and a pulpit. An elder mare with vibrant orange stripes stood behind the pulpit. Ares stood on her right. He shot dirty looks at the mare on the left of the pulpit, which was Mirage. Like me, Mirage was wearing a nicer version of her armor. Her wings fidgeted behind her. Her lip curled inward, but she seemed more uncomfortable than upset. She seemed more nervous than Packrat did.

There was one more zebra standing near the pulpit. He was facing the elder mare, so I couldn’t see his face. The suit he was wearing obscured his stripes. Damn. The suspense was killing me. I looked around the room to discover his identity via process of elimination. Ares was up there. I saw Zeus, and the fast zebra was sitting behind him. I remembered him from his damaged ear. Aside from those two, I couldn’t tell the other zebras apart by looking at their backs. I hoped it was Hephaestus up there. I didn’t know him very well, but he had treated us well. Please, let Packrat end up with a zebra like that.

Mirage scowled when I opened the door. “’Bout fucking time you two show up. Do you have any idea how long we were waiting?”

The Grecos turned around to see the bride. That included Hephaestus and the mare beside him. Aphrodite. Right. I had forgotten he was already married. I didn’t have long to contemplate who was left when the groom turned around. I recognized him immediately. There was no mistaking those purple stripes. This was the first Greco we encountered. The drunk! This was to be Packrat’s husband? Apologize and a new era my flank. They were just trying to pawn off the family fuck up! No, that was too harsh. I didn’t know this stallion. He might not have been a fuck up. What was his name again? Dinosaurus? Perhaps Dinosaurus would be good for Packrat.

His eyes widened when he saw her. “I get to marry a mare that pretty?” He raised his front hoof in the air with gusto. “Wa-hoo! What joy! What happiness! What frabjousness!” He started hopping up and down.

He just. Kept. Going. Praise to whomever deserved it that he was never charged as our guard. I wouldn’t have been able to take it. I hoped to high heaven he had an off switch. I didn’t even believe in a high heaven anymore! That’s how annoying he was in these past ten seconds.
Finally, Zeus stood up. “Dionysus!” Dionysus pressed his front hooves over his mouth and lowered his head. “Thank you.”
Dionysus nodded. He lowered his hooves and thankfully didn’t start talking. He did keep bouncing in place.

Packrat leaned towards me. “He’s perfect.”

Perfect? I glanced at her with a quizzical expression. But she wasn’t looking at me. She had only eyes for her husband to be. She looked at him like he was the Junk Jet. No, not quite that extreme. I doubted she would ever look at anything the way she did the Junk Jet. I couldn’t deny the excitement in her eyes. It was more than just lust. While I may have suffered through those ten seconds, Packrat must have experienced paradise. At least she’d be happy.

One of the zebras started playing a tune on his harp. He looked at me and titled his head towards the altar. That was my cue. I nudged Packrat lightly. The two of us walked down the aisle. A large zebra with light blue stripes held a trident. Each tip of the trident was ablaze. Incense flowed from the trident into the air. I personally didn’t care for the scent, but Packrat was smiling.

I reached the altar with Packrat. I bowed to her. She giggled and bowed back. I then walked behind her and stood beside Mirage. I had no idea where I was supposed to go; this way I’d at least be next to a person I knew.

“You are so jealous,” she whispered.

I gave her a look. A “don’t be stupid,” kind of look.

She sneered at me. “Yep. You’re so jealous right now.” The sneer was short lived. It formed into a confused frown quite quickly. “But I’m not sure why. It’s not because you like her. It’s something else. I just can’t put my hoof on it.”

She started muttering to herself, and I thought it would be more prudent to focus on the nuptials. I knew where my jealousy stemmed from. The last thing I wanted was to fantasize about a wedding Lyra and I would never have. What do you want, Symphony? I wanted….

Packrat and Dionysus touched their front hooves together. “Miss Packrat.”

Packrat giggled and blew her mane out of her face. “It’s, um, Packrat. Just Packrat.”

Dionysus giggled too. “Packrat.” His, already high pitched voice, jumped a couple octaves when he said her name. “I vow to be the best husband I can possibly be. I will do everything in my power to keep you happy and protected for all the days of my life.”

“And I vow to consider sharing most of my vast amounts of crap with you for as long as we both shall live.” That actually meant a lot coming from Packrat. “I also vow to rock your world every few nights.”

The elder zebra mare cleared her throat. I noticed more than a few of the other zebras, Ares included, were blushing. “We Grecos have a special word for marriage: γάμος. It means equally yoked. You might have come from different places, but you are now one. Neither of you is higher than the other. The wife submits to the husband, just as the husband submits to the wife.

“But your union is more than a marriage. It is a symbol for generations to come. We Grecos are now equally yoked to the ponies of Boulder Springs. Marriage is about endless forgiveness and endless compromise. Both sides did horrible things during the war. We hope this marriage can be steps taken towards forgiveness and compromise between our races.”

She produced a silver goblet from behind the altar. She passed it to Dionysus, and he drank. She passed it to Packrat, and she did the same. “The handmaiden Packrat is joined to the son of Zeus. The son of Zeus is joined to the handmaiden Packrat.” She leaned forward and kissed the tops of their heads. “You are now husband and wife.”

The zebras clopped their hooves. Most of them looked utterly unenthusiastic about it. Hephaestus was the sole exception. His smile could have outshone the sun. Though I supposed that wasn’t too difficult with the cloud cover.

Zeus stood on all fours and slowly approached the altar. A large bag hung by his side. “Dionysus, my son.”
Dionysus turned to face his father. He flinched at the strength of Zeus’ tone. Once Packrat touched his shoulder, Dionysus held his head high. “Father.”

“As my sister said, this marriage exists to forge a relationship between our villages. Between our races.” He reached his son, and the two of them locked eyes. “Go forth, my son. Carry out the great legacy with the Grecos. And live a life worth your calling.”

Dionysus’ eyes twinkled in sheer delight. “I will, Father!”

Zeus nodded. He removed the bag and dropped it in front of his son. “Athena and Hermes took the liberty of gathering your things. Be on your way, son. Your new life starts now.”

Dionysus threw his hooves around his father. “Thank you, Father. I swear I’ll make you proud.” He was crying on his father’s shoulder. Packrat was crying too.

I smirked when I saw Mirage sniffle. “What?” She wiped her eye and sniffled again. “It’s kinda touching.”

No it wasn’t. This was a well-played tactic masked in eloquence. Zeus really was pawning Dionysus off on us. Why else would he have a bag packed and be sending him off? It was his wedding night. Tonight was a night for feasting and celebration. Defeating the raiders had been cause for celebration. The happiest day of Dionysus’ life was an afterthought at best. At worst, Zeus was right. It was the start of his new life. A life which would annoy me to no conceivable end.

Dionysus wrapped his hooves around his waist. “Brrr. It’s really chilly. Do we have any blankets?”

“Oh, yeah, plenty.” Mirage rolled her eyes. “We also have a sofa, two cushions, and a portable backscratcher.”

“Wow, really?” Dionysus’ eyes sparkled like freshly poured wine. “You ponies sure know how to travel. Wait till I tell Ares I got to use a portable backscratcher.”

Mirage slapped her face with her hoof. “That’s it. I’m in hell. I have to be.” She pointed towards Dionysus with one of her wings. “This dipshit can’t be real otherwise.”

Packrat leaned next to her husband. “Sorry, Dionysus, she’s being sarcastic.” She pecked his cheek and hugged him tightly. “But we can warm up together.”

I could tell from her tone she wasn’t trying to be sultry. She was married and had endless opportunity to be her usual perverted self, but she didn’t have it in her anymore. Lamentation may have died, but he was far from gone. Bastard.

Mirage tossed another stick onto the fire. “You’re being quiet, Savage. You alright?”

I would’ve glared at her, but there wasn’t a point. Mirage didn’t care if she offended me by bringing up my disability. I simply nodded. I raised my head to gaze at the night sky. The damn cloud cover made the view less than stellar. Literally. Still, it was better than the alternative of watching Packrat and Dionysus. I didn’t need vulpa venom to be reminded of how much I missed Lyra Heartstrings XIII. I supposed I was happy for my friend in finding love, assuming the two of them would fall in love. I couldn’t help but be reminded of what I had lost. Whom I had lost. These thoughts had first appeared in my head at the wedding, and they weren’t leaving.

I felt something brush against me. I flicked my eyes to my left. Mirage had moved beside me. She blocked Packrat and Dionysus with her wing and whispered to me. “I think I’m going to gag if I have to watch these two any longer. I’m going on a walk. Want to come?”

A walk? In the Wasteland? This was a bad idea for so many reasons. Mirage knew that; she had to. There was something else on her mind she wasn’t telling me. I raised my eyebrow.

She scowled at me. “If you want to watch these two be my guest.” She grabbed her shotgun and started to trot away.

Great. She would be alone if I didn’t follow after her. I had to admit, Mirage had grown on me lately. I didn’t want anything to happen to her out there. I groaned inwardly and made preparations to follow her. I didn’t want to take the battle saddle. It was uncomfortable. I doubted we’d be walking very far. I had a grenade necklace, a hellhound tooth, and a magic revolver. If I couldn’t survive with those, I doubted the battle saddle would do me much good. I made sure to grab the tooth and Glimmer before following after Mirage.

It was her turn to raise an eyebrow at me. “You’re bringing a pistol over your battle saddle?”

I had forgotten Mirage wasn’t with me when I used Glimmer the first time. My only response was to nod. Hopefully I wouldn’t have to use Glimmer. But if I did, Mirage would understand.

“Alright,” she said loudly. “Dumbass,” she muttered. She waved to the newlyweds. “Later, PR. Dinosaurus.”

“Dionysus!” he whined.

Packrat didn’t say anything. She waved emphatically with a huge smile. I returned the gesture and walked off with Mirage. It was about five minutes before she said anything substantial. She had groaned, complained about the weather, and then she said it was a nice night. Then she dropped a megaspell.

“After you lot get back to Boulder Springs, I’m going back to the NCR. And I want you to come with me.”

I stopped walking. I didn’t expect that. I…-what?

Mirage seemed to sense my confusion. She was scowling at me, but there was also a mild blush on her face. “Do…-don’t get the wrong idea or anything. I’m not asking you to be my stallion or anything like that. I just….” She averted her eyes and chewed on her lower lip. “I.” She started bleeding. She closed her eyes and sighed. “I told you I lost my unit. I’ll be honest, I don’t really miss ‘em. I’m not happy they died, but I wasn’t particularly close to them. But I actually like you and Packrat. I get that she’s happy in Boulder Springs. But if you’re not, I thought I’d ask if you wanted to come with me. It’d be nice to have a familiar face when I went back.”

She paused, which gave me time to contemplate the situation. My goal for most of my time in the Wasteland had been to save Carbine. Now I knew he was okay, so he wasn’t a factor. I could join him and his renegades, but I didn’t want to be a raider. As for Packrat, she had Dionysus now. Staying with her would make me a third wheel. Aside from Packrat, I had no ties to Boulder Springs. The other people had been nice to me, Toothpick notwithstanding, but I wasn’t sure I was content to spend my life as a mercenary. I didn’t mind the idea of fighting for a living. I just didn’t like being a weapon for hire.

Being an NCR soldier sounded worse. The last thing I wanted was to spend my life fighting for a cause I didn’t believe in. Even if I did care about the NCR’s goals, the whole thing sounded too much like CDF to me. An army united under the goal of bringing stability to a region or whatever the actual mission statements were. At least Boulder Springs was neutral and would allow me to support the town in non-combat ways.

Maybe my best options weren’t to be a mercenary or soldier. I could always be a bodyguard. I could travel with the Caravan and keep them safe. I would have to fight, but I wouldn’t be a soldier. I could do that. I would probably make good pay. It would also let me travel. I could actually see the world. I’d probably get to visit Packrat on occasion. I could also meet a new mare somewhere and settle down with her.

Speaking of mares, there was also Lysandra. She expressed interest in hiring me to work alongside her. I refused her out of disgust, but maybe I should have considered her. Lysandra was callous, but she wasn’t evil. Well, she might have been evil. But she wasn’t sadistic. She wasn’t the type who would decorate her walls with the bodies of dead children. Maybe the mare Packrat had killed was telling the truth when she said the décor had been there when they arrived. It made me more comfortable with the idea of working with Lysandra. She could also kiss like nopony’s business.

Of all the ponies I had met thus far in the Wasteland, she was the one most like me. She was a mare who had lost everything from save for her desire to live. She had no attachments, so she and I could build our new lives together. Besides, I knew I would rather be Lysandra’s ally than her enemy.

What do you want, Symphony? I want….

“Also.” Oh, there was more. She scratched her cheek with her hoof. “There’s what happened with Lamentation. I was scared at first. Well, in a way. I knew I could take you if you tried anything against me. But I thought the venom made you lose your damn mind. But you did it for Packrat. You were willing to kill for her. That kind of dedication is—ugh.” She leaned her head back and covered her forehead with her foreleg. “Do I really have to say it?” She groaned. “I guess it’s kind of attractive.” She straightened up and pointed her wings and hoof at me. “Like I said, that doesn’t mean I want you to be my stallion or anything. I just thought you should know that I approved.”

“’Approved?’ Hear that, Sparkles? It looks like you’ve made a new friend.”

Shadow? I turned to the side. I recognized the familiar Shadowbolt barding. Shadow marched towards us with what appeared to be a leash. At the other end of the leash was a stallion. The stallion was rather large. With the exception of his light green face, his body was clad in metal armor. He had no horn, and I could see no wings, so I assumed he was an earth pony. To my surprise, I also didn’t notice any weapons attached to his armor. I supposed it wasn’t too surprising, seeing as how he was Shadow’s prisoner. But it seemed odd to have a pony in armor without so much as a knife.

Mirage had her shotgun trained on Shadow. “Who the fuck are you?”
“The last pony you ever want to aim a gun at, Wings.” Shadow’s voice was like ice. I had never heard her speak like that before. Even when addressing slavers. Mirage flinched and lowered her gun a hair. She turned towards me, and I nodded my head. She frowned but put her weapon away.

Shadow reared her head back and laughed. “I’m just fuckin’ with ya, Wings.” She trotted towards me, and the stallion was forced to follow. She punched my shoulder. Ow. “How’s it going, Sparkles? How’s Squirt doing? She keeping well? And what about the Tart?”

“Tart?” Mirage gave me a look that was somewhere in-between bemused and sardonic.

I ignored Mirage and shrugged at Shadow. I wasn’t really how to communicate wat happened to each without differentiating. I supposed I could mouth the words, but I decided against it. I doubted Packrat would want me to spoil the surprise.

Speaking of surprises, I was in the dark as to Shadow’s companion. I pointed to him.

“Oh, him? When I got back to Boulder Springs, I was given a job. He’s the job.” She whistled and titled her head. “Come ‘ere, Shephard.” He silently approached Shadow’s side.

Despite being dragged along like a dog, he held his head high. I was surprised to find a lack of hostility in his gaze. There wasn’t fear or sadness either. If anything, his eyes indicated he was in a state of tranquility. Lucky bastard.

“This handsome devil is ex-Star Paladin Templar of the Vanhoover Steel Rangers. Known by many as the head of the Failed Wish slave ranch. Currently known as the prisoner of yours truly. I miss anything?”

“Failed Wish is not a slave ranch. It’s a community where ponies of all backgrounds can live in harmony as equals, as was prophesized in the Light.”

Shadow clicked her tongue. “That’s what I was forgetting. He’s also a self-righteous cunt.”

I noticed Mirage flinched. I also noticed Templar’s eyes flare for a brief moment. “Please don’t use that word, Miss Shadow. It’s disgusting.”

She shrugged. “Fine, fine. I guess I owe you that much for being so damn cooperative.”

Mirage tilted her head and frowned at Templar. “What are you dragging him around for anyway?”

“Funny you should ask me that, Wings.” Shadow tapped me on the shoulder. “Sparkles, if you would be so kind to take us to the rest of your group. I have a proposition for ya.”

“SHADOW!” Packrat raced towards Shadow, but the ghoul stepped aside at the last moment. Packrat faceplanted into dirt. She groaned loudly. “Aw. You do that almost every time.”

“Almost.” Shadow patted Packrat’s head and helped her to her hooves. “How ya been, Squirt?”

“Married!”

Shadow paused. If only she weren’t wearing her mask. I wished I had the opportunity to see her expression. “Come again?”

Packrat giggled. She skipped backwards until she was standing next to Dionysus. She wrapped a hoof around her husband’s neck and kissed his cheek. “Dionysus, this is Shadow. One of my, um, favorite mares in the whole world. Shadow, this is, um, Dionysus. My husband.”

Dionysus bowed to her. “It’s an honor to meet you, Miss Shadow.”

Shadow tiled her head up and down. I assumed she was inspecting Dionysus. “είσαι παιδί του Δία?”

What? I shot a glance at Mirage. She looked at me with equal confusion. The two of us shared shrugs.

Dionysus gasped. “Μπορείτε μιλούν τη γλώσσα μου?!” He paused for a second before gasping a second time. “Ξέρετε ο πατέρας μου?!”

Shadow nodded. “Γνώριζα τον παππού σου, τον Κρόνο, πολύ καιρό πριν. Εάν είστε κάτι σαν αυτόν, είμαι βέβαιος ότι θα είστε καλός σύζυγος για τον Packrat."

“Ooh!” Packrat perked up. “I, um, think I heard my name in that one.”

Shadow chuckled. “Yes, you did, Squirt.” She motioned to Dionysus with her hoof. “I was just exchanging pleasantries with Dionysus. I knew his grandpa way back when.”

Mirage leaned close to me. “Just how old is she?” she whispered. If Ms. Do’s adventures were anything to go by, I’d say at least two hundred years. I scrawled the number 200 into the dirt with my hoof. Mirage’s jaw dropped. “Damn, that’s one old bird.”

“But my hearing’s sharp as ever.”

Shadow chuckled again. “I think I like this one, Squirt. And she doesn’t give me the same uneasiness Tart did.”

Mirage shot a glare and a frown my way. “You still haven’t told me who that is.”

“She also hasn’t explained her proposition.”

I actually jumped. I had forgotten Templar was there; his words caught me off guard. He noticed and offered me a small smile. “Don’t worry about me, friend. My days of combat are far behind me. Just ask her.” He titled his head towards Shadow.

She nodded and waved her hoof. “Yeah, yeah. We get it. You’re a self-righteous pacifist now. Hate to break your heart, but that doesn’t change what you did to that mare in Vanhoover. No matter how hard you try to become a better pony, that shit just weighs on you and never lets up. Way I see it, you’ve got two options. You let that shit consume you and drive you nuts. Or you make sure you never do it again and keep living your life.”

Interesting philosophy. I wasn’t sure about the “make sure you never do it again part,” but the “‘keep living your life” sounded like Carbine’s life philosophy. I also wanted it to be mine. Granted, I didn’t have many choices that I regretted. I didn’t regret killing Joab anymore, and every life I had taken since had felt justified. I was thankful my list of regrets wasn’t extensive. Hopefully I could keep it that way for the rest of my life.

“And how long have you been able to live with yourself after making your mistakes?” he countered.

Shadow scoffed. “Longer than you’ve been alive, kiddo. And speaking of your life.” Shadow reached into her saddlebag and retrieved a scroll. She tossed it to Mirage. “Wings, mind reading this aloud for the class?”

Mirage caught it with her mouth. She dropped it into her hooves and unfurled it. “Wanted. Star Paladin Templar. Alive or Dead. 10,000 caps. Vanhoover Steel Rangers.”

Shadow retrieved another scroll and tossed it. Mirage caught this one and also read from it. “Wanted. Slaughter. Alive. 20,000 caps. Fairchild Casino.” She raised her head. “Who’s Slaughter?”

“I can answer that.” Templar stepped forward. “Once a month I play cards at the casino in Vanhoover with four other ponies. Two of them buy slaves; two of them sell. Slaughter is one of the sellers.”

I assumed from the name the slaves weren’t treated very well. I looked at the picture on the wanted poster. Slaughter was a white unicorn with a curly red mane. She was also a mare; actually, I wasn’t sure if she could even be called a mare. She was so small she was practically a filly. Despite her size, I could feel the authority in her eyes. Even as a drawing, Slaughter’s amber eyes held an unusual amount of animosity. It wasn’t the same amount I had seen in my sister’s, but it was a close second.

“Anything else you can tell me about her?” All of Packrat’s earlier giddiness was gone. The glint had returned to her eye. I wasn’t sure if she was determined by the large bounty or the prospect of killing a slaver. After what happened in Greco Village, maybe she was just excited at the prospect of having something to keep her occupied.

“Sure. She’s foul mouthed. Sadistic. I’ve never seen her carry a weapon, but we’re not allowed to have weapons in the meeting room.”

“And her magic?” Packrat asked. “Any specialties?”

He shrugged. “I’ve seen her use basic levitation but not much else. Although.” He paused. I couldn’t tell if he was struggling to find the apt words or if he had a flair for the dramatic. “She has few guards. Not many ponies would work for a mare like Slaughter. I hear she pays them well. But not well enough to keep her affairs quiet. From what I’ve heard, Slaughter specializes in…-puppetry.”

Puppetry? Judging from my companion’s faces, I could tell I wasn’t the only one bothered by that word.

Dionysus wrapped his hooves around his shoulders and shuddered. “What do you mean by puppetry?”

Templar shook his head. “Slaughter’s ponies know better than to talk too much. I’ve only heard them mention it in passing. But it sounds like she can control a pony’s body with her magic.”

Shadow chuckled. “Well ain’t that the most fucked up shit you’ve ever heard?”

She could say that again. A sadistic pony with complete control over others. That was a recipe for disaster if there ever was one. Suddenly, that bounty on her head didn’t sound as enticing. Not that I cared much for money anyway.

“One last question for you, Templar. If you don’t mind.”

“Yes, Miss Packrat?”

“Does the name Passion mean anything to you?”

Oh. So much had happened since we found Passion that she completely slipped my mind. She had told us before dying she was from Failed Wish. Packrat and I had assumed she had been killed by slavers in an escape attempt. This was Packrat’s chance to learn the truth. If she were right about Passion’s death, would she kill Templar right here? I supposed it wouldn’t matter since the reward didn’t specify if he should be delivered alive or dead. But it would be wrong to kill a stallion in chains. Wouldn’t it?

Templar quickly stood to his hooves. Shadow quickly tugged on the chain, and Templar slipped. Though he did catch himself before he feel completely over. “Forgive me. I’m just so surprised that you know her. Please, tell me how she’s doing.”

The glint in Packrat’s eyes disappeared when she blinked. “Um, how she’s doing?”

“Well, yes.” He slowly stood up. “If you’re mentioning her name to me, I assume you met her. She told me her dream was to see Equestria, even in its current state. So I provided her with provisions, and she left.” He shot a glare at Shadow. “Failed Wish is a community. Not a ranch.”

Shadow raised her hooves in submission. “Whatever you say, Tin Soldier.”

Templar returned his gaze on Packrat. He was no longer glaring, but his gaze retained its intensity. “Please. Tell me about Passion.”

“Um, she, well…-the thing is. Um….” She didn’t look him in the eye. She couldn’t.

But I could. I stepped in-between them. I ran a hoof across my throat. She died.

“I see.” Templar closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “She never made it Canterlot. Poor girl. She will be missed.” He opened his eyes. He didn’t smile, but there was a twinge of warmth in his gaze now. “Thank you for letting me know.”

I replied with a curt nod. You’re welcome.

“I’m sorry.”

Templar gave Packrat a quizzical look. “Whatever for?”

She titled her head towards me. “Savage and I found her a few days ago. We were with her when she died. She said she had been bought by a Mr. Templar from somewhere called Failed Wish. I thought she had escaped. That you had killed her instead of just letting her go free. I’m sorry for getting the wrong idea.”

“It’s no trouble, Miss Packrat. I would have thought the same thing in your position.”

Mirage whispered into my ear. “I think we’re getting a bit off topic.” She cocked her shotgun to gain everypony’s attention. “Back to this Slaughter bitch. How are we going to deal with her?”

“Hate to break your heart, Wings, but this isn’t exactly a we problem.”

Mirage scowled and raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

Shadow nudged Templar. “I’m saying the Tin Soldier and I are going back to Boulder Springs. The original plan was to lug him around and capture Slaughter, but you imagine what a goddamn pain the ass that would be.”

Mirage narrowed her eyes. “We’re not your errand colts.”

Shadow scoffed. “Of course not. We’re partners. Since you lot are doing me a solid, I’m going to split Templar’s bounty with you three.”

“Four!” Packrat tapped Dionysus’ shoulder; Dionysus waved at Shadow. “You forgot my husband.”

Shadow took one look in Dionysus’ direction. “No, I didn’t.”

His mouth melted into a frown. “Why don’t I get a share?”

“You’re married, aren’t you?” The newlyweds nodded. “Then what’s hers if yours, and what’s yours is hers. Essentially, you share one of the shares.”

“Ohhhhhh.” The two of them said that at the same time in the same cadence. I found it slightly creepy.

“Let me ask you a question son of Zeus, son of Kronos.” That was quite a mouthful. I didn’t expect Shadow to sound so formal. I wondered if this Kronos and her were close. “Are you your father’s son, or your grandfather’s grandson?”

Odd question. I didn’t think those were mutually exclusive.

To my surprise, Dionysus couldn’t look Shadow in the eye. Granted, that would have been difficult with her mask. But he was actively avoiding looking at her. “My grandfather’s grandson.”

“Then raise your head,” Shadow growled.

Dionysus winced at the intensity in her voice. Packrat rested one of her hooves on his, and he seemed to calm down.

“There’s no shame in resembling Kronos. He was no warrior, but he carried himself with pride and strength. You will do the same.”

A shadow of a smile formed on Dionysus’ face. “I’ll try.”

“No. You won’t try; you’ll do. And I’ll teach you. When I take the tin can back to Boulder Springs, you’re coming back with me.”

“Wha?!” Packrat tightly hugged Dionysus by his neck. “He’s my husband. You can’t take him.” She stuck her tongue out for emphasis.

“I have seniority, Squirt. I’m taking him.”

The fight left Packrat’s eyes. She let go of Dionysus and sat on her rump with her front hooves crossed. “Stupid seniority. It gets me every time.”

A raspy chuckle escaped Shadow’s throat. “It’s getting late, everypony. We should all get some rest. I’ll take the first watch.” Packrat raised a hoof. “No, you and Dionysus can’t watch at the same time.” Packrat put her hoof down.

Mirage yawned and wrapped her body in her wings. “Don’t need to tell me twice. See you in the morning.”

I rested my body on the ground. I didn’t realize how tired I was until I sat down. Yes. See you all in the morning.

The night had passed without incident. I slept for an hour or two, took a watch, and passed my shift over to Mirage. She had muttered profanities at me for waking her up. But that was all the excitement I had the rest of the night. Our journey had been a quick one. A lone raider had taken potshots at us. Shadow had chased after him while hollering like a crazy mare. She had disappeared for a few minutes, but she returned covered in blood. Nopony asked her what she did to him. Personally, I really didn’t want to know.

Our band had reached Neighagra Falls. It was the first time in my life I had seen a waterfall. It was also the first time I had seen so much color. Cadance not above, it was gorgeous. Rainbow water cascaded into seven pools. There was a pool for each color. Packrat and Dionysus were splashing about in the purple pool, while I stood with Shadow and Mirage in the red one. Templar was tied to a post by the indigo pool.

Behind the water falling into the red pool, was the mouth of a very large cave. The cave had been hollowed into the mountain some time ago, according to Shadow. The Ministry of Awesome had used it for storage. Weapons, prisoners, and the occasional valuable artifact. I wondered if Daring Do’s meteorite had been in here too.

Shadow patted me on the shoulder. “Be careful in there, Sparkles. That place used to be boobytrapped all to hell. Anypony named Slaughter worth her name probably kept at least one.”

Mirage shot Shadow an irritated glare. “If you know the place so well, why aren’t you coming with us?”

“Already told you, I’ve got business with Stars.”

Stars? When she realized nobody understood what she was talking about, Shadow shook her head. “Templar. I’m still fiddling around with nicknames for him. And before you ask, Wings, yes. Packrat could take him back, and I could come in here. But I don’t want to. I left the Ministry of Awesome for a reason. And I’d rather not revisit that part of my life if I don’t have to.” She turned her head and whistled. “I’m headin’ out, Squirt. You and Dionysus say your goodbyes.”

Dionysus pouted. “Just five more minutes?”

“Hate to break your heart, kid, but no.” Shadow trotted towards Templar and unhitched him from the pole. “You ready to go, Pal?”

“Are you being friendly or is that short for paladin?”

Shadow shrugged. “Eh, I’m not even sure at this point. You pick.” She whistled again. “I don’t have all day, Dionysus!”

Dionysus was currently busy hugging Packrat. The two of them moved towards us, while still locked in a hug. That type of coordination was impressive. Dionysus pulled away. “I’ll miss you, my darling Packrat.”

Packrat pouted in return. “And I’ll miss you, my Dionysus.”

The two of them touched noses before Dionysus approached Shadow’s side. She patted him on the back and walked away. She raised one of her hooves in farewell. “Be careful in there, kiddos. I can’t make a profit if you end up dead.”

Mirage was scowling hard, but Packrat was smiling equally so. “Isn’t he just the best?”

Mirage rolled her eyes. “Oh, yeah, fantastic. I want him for myself.”

Packrat narrowed her eyes. She pointed one of her hooves threateningly at Mirage. “Well you can’t have him. He’s my hubby.”

Mirage looked like she was contemplating whether she should frown or smile. Before she settled on an option, Packrat was skipping into the cave. Mirage sighed loudly and followed Packrat. I brought up the rear. We walked in a straight line for a few minutes before we reached a three way fork. There were three large tunnels in front of us. One to the left, the middle, and the right.

“Hmm.” Packrat looked at the left tunnel, then the center and finally the right. “Savage, pick a number between one and ten.” I stomped four times. There was no particular reason why I picked four. It was the first number I thought of. “Four, got it.” She pointed at the left tunnel. “Bu.” She moved her hoof to the center. “Bble.” Then to the right. “Gum. Bu. Bble. Gum. In. A. Dish. How. Ma. Ny. Pie. Ces. Do. You. Wish. One. Two. Three. Four.”

When she had finished, she was pointing at the right tunnel. “We’re going that way.” Without waiting for a reply, she started marching down the tunnel.

Mirage slapped her face and groaned. “We’re storming a slave compound with no plan aside from dumb luck. Great plan, PR. What could possibly go wrong?”

I had to concur. Since I couldn't come up with a better plan off the top of my head, i decided to follow this one.

The three of us trotted down the right tunnel. The walls of the tunnel snaked, so it wasn’t a straight shot. I noticed Mirage had her back pressed along one of the walls. I raised an eyebrow at her.

“Judging by how the walls are curving, there’ll probably be a nook just before the exit of the tunnel. That nook will give us some cover. You can run straight into an ambush if you feel like it, but I don’t feel like being retarded today.”

That was more sarcastic than I needed, but she had a good point. I followed her lead; Packrat did the same. True enough, I could see light at the end of the tunnel, and there was a nook large enough for the three of us to stand in. I gave Mirage an approving nod. She grinned back.

I could hear sounds coming from the end of the tunnel. I could hear ponies chatting, the cocking of weapons, and the vague sound of darts hitting a board. It sounded jovial. Far too jovial for this to be where the slaves were being held. This must have been a guard station. They hadn’t seen us yet, which gave us an advantage. I was about to remove a grenade and throw it in there, but Packrat nudged me. “Give me a second first,” she whispered.

I doubted I really had a choice. I curtly nodded.

She winked at me and peeked her head around the corner. “Um, hi.” She paused to give the ponies on the other side a little wave. “Um, we’re here to capture Slaughter and collect a bounty. Would any of you mind telling us where we can find her?”

There was a short pause. I so badly wished I could see their faces. I doubted many ponies were audacious, or stupid, enough to pull what Packrat just did. But if peeked around, I might have gotten shot. I wrapped a hoof around Packrat’s waist and pulled her behind cover to prevent that from happening to her.

Luckily, they didn’t start shooting until she was safely behind cover. She frowned and titled her head towards them. My pleasure. I tossed my last remaining magic grenade into the room. The grenade exploded; the shooting stopped. The three of us stood in silence for a moment until Mirage broke it.

“Everybody dead?”

“No.”

Packrat cupped her mouth with her hooves. “Okay. We’re coming in to talk. Are you going to shoot us?”

“No.”

Mirage scowled. She seemed to believe him as much as I did. “Are you lying,” she growled.

There was a relatively long pause. “Yes….”

I heard something clatter to the floor. Three guns, a pistol and a pair of machine guns were kicked towards us.

“I don’t have anything else?”

Packrat cocked Opus. “Promise?”

“Yes, yes, I promise. Will you let me go?”

“Ye—”

Mirage covered Packrat’s mouth with her hoof. “Not yet.”

Packrat attempted to say something. Due to her mouth being covered, I had absolutely no way of making out what she said. With my intimate knowledge of Packrat, I assumed she was trying to ask “Why not?”

Mirage looked confused. She moved her hoof down and whispered, “What?”

“I said, ‘why not?’”

Oh, so I was right.

“Because we can’t ask him for information if we let him go.”

“Ohhhhhh.” Packrat nodded her head. “Um, what she said. Not yet. First you’ve gotta give us some info.”

“On what?”

That wasn’t a bad question. I spent a moment pondering what information I wanted to know. The first question was how many other guards were still around? I was working on the assumption we had killed all the guards in that room aside from the one currently speaking with us. I’d find out if that were the truth soon enough. If it were true, I doubted there would be many other guards, but there would be some. That prompted a secondary question of what were they armed with, and where were they stationed? The next question was which tunnel led to Slaughter; were the myths of her puppet magic true? I retrieved a pen and a scrap of paper and jotted down my questions.

“If I wanted to free the slaves, how would I do that?”

Oh. I supposed we could learn that too.

“The middle tunnel leads to the menagerie. That’s what Lady Slaughter calls the slave’s quarters. The guards work in shifts. There’s two with Lady Slaughter, four in menagerie, and the others in here. But one of our girls got killed recently, and the other two with her got…-never mind. The point is, you’ve got to deal with four ponies if you want to free the slaves. Oh! I almost forgot. Some of the slaves also have bomb collars. You’ll need to deactivate them before you get the slaves out.”

It was incredibly lucky he decided to tell us that. If I had been in his position, I would have conveniently forgotten to let my interrogators know that. Served them right for trying to blow me up. His honesty would not go unappreciated. Unless, of course, he still planned on shooting at us.

I still had some questions for him. I showed my list to Mirage. She scanned it quickly and nodded. “Few more questions. One, how do we deactivate ‘em? Two, what kind of weapons do those guards have? And three, is puppet magic bullshit or a real thing?”

“Will you let me go after I answer these three?”

My companions and I shared a look. Each of us nodded in turn.

“Okay.” Packrat dropped Opus on the ground and kicked it towards the other weapons. “I’m doing that as a show of good faith. So, um, please don’t shoot me when you leave.”

I heard our friend sigh deeply. “Thank Celestia. Okay. I don’t know how to deactivate them without the off switch; it’s sort of like an anti-detonator. Lady Slaughter keeps it with her at all times. I don’t think she trusts any of us to hold onto it.” With how liberal our friend was being with Slaughter’s information, I didn’t blame her.

“There’s a platform in the menagerie with a shack. We always have a sniper who spends his shift in the shack. The other three spend their time wherever. I think of them has the electric baton. I don’t remember what the other two have. And I’ve never been assigned to Lady Slaughter personally, so I’ve never seen her use her puppet magic. But I’ve heard stories about it.”

“Anything else you can tell us about it?”

He didn’t say anything further. I heard his hoofsteps, as he slowly made his way out of the room. He was handsome. Mostly. His mane was a disgusting dark yellow and needlessly greasy. He was also missing four teeth. His green eyes twitched with anxiety when he saw us. But once he realized we weren’t going to shoot him, he noticeably calmed down. He looked each of us in the eye and shook his head. “If you plan on fighting Lady Slaughter, you’ll know about puppet magic soon enough.”

Thanks for the cryptic warning. Really helped.

He started to walk away, but Packrat put a hoof on his shoulder. “Hey. We, um, really appreciate you telling us all that. If you need somewhere to go, look out for Boulder Springs. We’re going there once we’re done here. I can put in a good word for you.”

He flashed Packrat a smile. It would have been nicer if he had all his teeth. “I should be the one thanking you for not shooting me.” He cast a glance back at the room. “The other two weren’t so lucky.” He shook his head again. “Sorry, but I’d really rather go.” And so, he went. He galloped ahead of us towards the entrance of the cave.

Mirage looked about as happy as she usually did. “So what’s our plan now?”

“That’s easy.” Packrat’s smile stretched over her entire face. “We loot the guard room. Then we take out the guards and save the slaves. Then we—”

“Kill Slaughter?”

I heard two things in that moment. The first were the two words spoken by the distinctly female voice. The words echoed throughout the cave. How could I have been so stupid? I thought we were being smart by spending time and gathering information. But if anypony else had heard the explosion, we only gave them extra time to regroup and come after us. Fuck!

The second sound I heard was a scream—no. Screams. I listened to a stallion’s bloodcurdling screams. There was no doubt in my mind it was the stallion we had spent the past few minutes speaking with.

“You want to know about my puppet magic?” The screams ended after a sharp crack and a loud squelching noise. “Well. How about I let you play with my new toy?”

I heard footsteps. Slow, methodical footsteps. In a few moments, a stallion appeared in front of us. An ethereal white string sprouted from his back and was connected to something unseen. I assumed it was connected to Slaughter. I also assumed this was the stallion we had set free. I had to assume, because I couldn’t identify the walking corpse in front of me. In those few short moments, Slaughter had damaged him beyond recognition. There was so much blood. And was that his eye….

Mirage fired her shotgun, cocked it, and fired again. The stallion’s head turned to pulp after the first shot. His body kept walking until the second shot forced the body to collapse on itself. But it continued to crawl towards us. Mirage growled and smashed the body with her tail-spike. I turned away as she destroyed the body. I covered my mouth with my hooves. I wanted to throw up.

Packrat touched my shoulder with her hoof. She didn’t say anything. I knew better than anypony how strong nonverbal communication could be. She was there if I needed her, but I needed to be strong. And I would be. I faced the bloody broken body of the stallion. Rest in peace.

High pitched laughter filled my ears. “Hickory dickory dock. Two stupid cunts and one dumb cock. They want to come and take my flock. But I’m protective of my sheep. And if you take them, I’m going to weep.” Her mock crying echoed. “Ah, fuck rhyming. Here’s what we’re going to do. We’re gonna play a little game. A game called save the slaves. You have sixty seconds; I have the detonator to the bomb collars. You run out of time, and so do they. Any questions?”

Mirage scowled and spat on the ground. “You’d really kill your slaves just to spite us? I don’t buy that for a second.”

“Oh, ho ho ho.” Slaughter practically hissed her next sentence. “You’ll believe me in about fifty-five seconds.”

I could hear the sound of hooves scampering away. That had to be Slaughter. I clearly wasn’t the only one who heard it. Packrat snatched Opus off the ground with her magic and took off in an instant. She disappeared behind the corner in a few seconds. I caught a glimpse of her face as she started running. The glint was back. Slaughter had no idea how fucked she was.

There was a loud scream. A scream that sounded a lot like Packrat. Mirage and I shared a brief look before barreling after her. I arrived in time to see an earth pony ripping a machete from Packrat’s shoulder. She let out another scream, and she fell onto the ground. The earth pony grinned and prepared to slash at her exposed belly.

Mirage had other ideas. She rammed into his side and pinned his body against a wall. In one smooth motion, she swiveled her shotgun under his chin and fired. While Mirage was busy doing that, I rushed to Packrat. I fished a healing bandage from my saddlebag and placed it over the wound.

Packrat winced. “Ow….” She started to wiggle, but I ended that with a quick glare. Then I injected some Med-X into her. Her body relaxed, and she nodded her thanks.

“Hey, Savage,” Mirage barked. “I need to borrow a grenade.” I removed a regular grenade from the necklace and tossed it towards Mirage. She caught it with her tail. She removed the pin with her mouth, tossed the grenade into the air, and smacked it with the butt of her shotgun. She flipped her shotgun and pressed the trigger with her tongue. The grenade was hit with buckshot and exploded. She reloaded her shotgun and cocked it. When she noticed me staring she groaned and shrugged. “What? There were some puppets down there.”

“Puppets?” There was that voice again. “Those were ponies, batsy. One was a poor stallion who sold himself to slavery to save his family. There was a mare mercenary who took the wrong job. And one of them was a serial rapist. He gave me a lot of fight when he first came in. And you made it look so easy.” I could practically hear her pouting. “Yeah. It was so easy for you to just kill three ponies without a second thought. And they say I’m a crazy bitch.”

I wouldn’t say I disagreed wi—pain surged through my body. A mare with an electric baton got me from behind. I kicked out with my backleg and knocked her off balance. I ducked onto the floor to give Packrat a clear shot. She took it, and Opus hit the mare in the eye.

“First rule of slave herding, cunts. Don’t let anypony sneak up behind ya!” Then she was quiet. I hated that even more than I hated her laughter. “By the way. Any idea how long it’s been? I think it’s been a little over a minute? Don’t you?” Slaughter chuckled. “Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.”

Packrat’s eyes dilated. She jumped to her hooves and started running. “No.” She tripped and fell onto her side. “No!”

“Time’s up.”

I did not hear, so much as I felt, the explosion in the middle tunnel. The entire cave rattled. I could hear rocks falling. Thankfully there were no rocks falling close to us. I assumed most of them were in the middle tunnel. How many ponies had Slaughter just killed? As if she heard me, she started cackling. She didn’t say anything. She just laughed. This mare wasn’t real. Nopony could hate others the way she did. I never thought I’d defend the True Cadanites, but at least they had a cause they believed in. Slaughter was just evil. It was unnatural. It needed to be stopped.

I really hated that we were to bring her in alive.

Packrat tried to stand, but she was unable. She had strained herself too much, and the Med-X was starting to lose its effect. I retrieved another syringe and offered it to her. Packrat reached out for it, but I pulled it away. I pointed to the ground and gave her a stern look. The kind Orchestra used to give me if I had to earn a cookie before eating it.

“You’ll only give them to me if I wait here?”

I nodded.

Packrat smiled through her pain. “That’s the kind of thing Duststorm would’ve said.” She lay down on her belly. I assumed that meant she assented to the deal. I gave her another shot of Med-X. Packrat didn’t look at me while I gave her the shot. Her eyes were fixed on the corridor in front of us. “The horn.”

I raised an eyebrow. Just then I felt something drop into my saddlebag. I cast my eyes into my bag and saw Opus.

“Aim for her horn, Savage. If you break her horn she’ll be completely defenseless.”

I knew that all too well. I remembered Lyra struggling to open a map without the use of her magic. The thought of putting another unicorn through that was terrible. But I could do it. I would do it. Slaughter was a monster that had to be stopped. I wasn’t sure if her puppet magic could affect me while I was alive. For all I knew, any mortal pony could be subjected to her perverse magic. But I wasn’t just a normal pony. I saw something else in my saddlebag. Something I hadn’t thought of using in a long time.

I removed the vial of Goddess from my saddlebag. The vial with thorns engraved on its sides. The vial whose very design warned me of what was within.

“What is that?” Mirage whispered.

Her mouth was agape. Packrat’s eyes were twinkling. But both of them looked very afraid. I retrieved an empty syringe from my bags. I opened the vial and put a very small amount of Goddess into the syringe. I remembered what it had done to Dr. Zimri. Hopefully an amount this small wouldn’t destroy me like it did him.

“What?” Mirage shook her head. “You’re not going to drink that are you?”

No. I was going to inject it. Completely different verb. Still, I nodded my head.

Mirage was about to say something else, but Packrat touched her with a hoof. “If Savage wants to take it, then we should let him. I trust him.” She then looked at me with her steely gaze. “You promise me you know what you’re doing?”

I nodded.

Mirage looked uneasy. “I guess I can’t stop you. And I can’t go with you.” She cast a glance at Packrat. “Not with her looking like this.”

Packrat wrinkled her nose. “No way. You don’t have to look after me.” She tried to stand, but she fell onto her belly immediately. She pouted at Mirage. “I can still take care of myself. I have Opus—”

“—You just gave that to Savage.”

Packrat opened her mouth to say something, closed it, and sighed. “I said I trust you. So I’m, um, trusting you to come back okay. Okay?”

I nodded and cast a glance at Mirage. The uneasy frown remained on her face, but she nodded as well. Okay then. Here we go. I jammed the needle into my shoulder.

I expected the feeling to be instantaneous. Aside from the needle pricking my skin I didn’t feel anything. But I didn’t feel the pain of a needle, so maybe it was working. I heard sounds coming from my left. Packrat was opening her mouth; there were sounds coming out. Her speech was far too slow for me to comprehend. I remembered when Packrat had slowed down time when she killed Lurker. Goddess must have had a similar effect.

Even though I didn’t know what she was saying, I nodded. At the very least it felt reassuring to do. Then, I galloped through the cave towards Slaughter. I could feel my muscles rippling with every stride. There must have been some Buck in Goddess too. I felt something thin touch my legs as I ran. It must have been a tripwire. Seconds later my body was bombarded by a volley of spike balls. I felt the spike balls tearing through my flesh. I felt no pain as they did. I didn’t even stop running. I swept my gaze over my body. My chest was badly injured, but the damage was being repaired. I also had Med-X and hydra in me. What else was in this? What else was needed?

I finally stopped running. I had reached a grotto. In the grotto was a large bed with crimson covers. The bed was surrounded by cages. Some of the cages contained bones; others contained corpses. One of them was empty; two of them contained live ponies. I recognized them as the slavers who attacked the Caravan. Shadow had let them go as an act of mercy. If this was how Slaughter awarded failure, it was a cruel mercy indeed.

My train of thought was interrupted when something bit me. It was warm and metallic. The sensation was followed by a slow motion sound. It sounded like laughter. It could have been terrifying. It should have been terrifying. But what was the laughter of a mortal to a god?

The bullet fell from my chest onto the ground. The slow laughter gradually stopped. The sounds were louder now. Somepony must have been shouting at me. I turned towards the source of the sound. A mare about the size of a filly was staring at me from a corner in the room. Her mouth was agape, but it slowly closed. A sneer found its way onto her face. A revolver levitated beside her, and she fired it multiple times. The bullets sailed through the air at a much slower pace than I was used to.

I, however, didn’t. I weaved in-between the bullets with no problem. The mare’s brow creased. She was still shouting, likely obscenities, but I couldn’t make them out. As I drew closer to her, I began to notice something odd. A large red amulet hung from her neck. An aura of magic undulated around the amulet. Even in my heightened state, I felt a twinge of fear. The mare, who I assumed was Slaughter, could wait a moment. My priority was her amulet.

I pulled Glimmer from my saddlebag and loaded the bullet from my necklace. I didn’t know if a regular bullet could penetrate a magical aura like that. But if Glimmer could kill a hellhound while barely pricking its fur, I was certain one bullet could shatter the amulet. If I missed? Oh well. It seemed we wouldn’t be bringing her back alive after all.

I fired the bullet.

Unlike Slaughter’s, it did not move in slow motion. I was aiming for the center of the amulet. It turned out I missed. I hit the right corner instead. I watched as Glimmer’s special bullet penetrated the magic field around the amulet. The bullet slowed down, but only for a second. It still had enough power to shatter the amulet at contact. The oddly colored magic enveloped Slaughter’s body for a few moments before vanishing.

Once the magic had disappeared, Slaughter’s body lay on the ground. Aside from minor twitching and the telltale signs of breathing, she was motionless. That was anti-climactic. I had been expecting a true showdown with her, but all it took was one bullet. Such was the power of a god. I approached her body. I kicked her in the chest to wake her up.

She opened her eyes. The malice and sadism I had previously seen were gone. These eyes were innocent for a moment. She raised her head and looked around the room. Then I saw her eyes widen. The innocence was gone almost as quickly as it had arrived. She was seeing the cages. The bodies. The bones. Slaughter’s eyes lost all of their power. Now she looked vulnerable. Her lips trembled like a frightened filly’s. That seemed like an apt description. She wasn’t a monster right now. She was nothing more than a frightened filly.

The effects of Goddess were starting to wear off. Slaughters’ sounds were no longer slow motion incoherent babbling. Now it was just incoherent babbling. She was sweating hard; she tightly closed her eyes and covered her face with her hooves. I cast my eyes towards the amulet. What kind of magic had been in that thing?

“Please, don’t hurt me.”

I looked back at Slaughter. She whimpered and turned away. She continued to shield her face, but her eyes were open and looking back at me. I sat down so we were at eye level. She was shaking. I reached a hoof towards her. She flinched and shut her eyes again. Poor girl. I couldn’t believe I was thinking that about a mare who shot me in the chest just moments ago. Not to mention the other sins she was guilty of.

But she wasn’t a monster now. She was a scared foal. For a moment, I didn’t see Slaughter. In her place was a green pegasus colt. Lysandra may have been able to hurt foals, but I doubted I ever could. I touched the top of the foal’s head and gently patted it with my hoof.

A faint gasp escaped from her lips. There was still fear in her eyes, but the rest of her face looked more confused than anything else. “You’re a nice pony?”

I nodded my head and continued to pat her head.

She smiled at me. “My name is Strings.”

Strings. It was a far better name than Slaughter. I returned her smile and placed my hoof on the ground. Strings closed her eyes again. She didn’t seem afraid anymore. It seemed she felt comfortable. Don’t worry, Strings. I won’t hurt you.

A shot rang out. A thin lime-green beam pierced the air. It sliced through Strings’ horn like a hot blade. She stiffened as her horn fell to the ground. I had seen this before. Missile had lost his wings seconds before losing his life. No. I had seen far too many dead foals to stand aside and watch another die.

I spun around and pointed Glimmer at—a demon. Where had it come from? I noticed the empty cage was gone. Wait, had the demon been the cage? I knew they had the ability to turn into ponies. Could they also transform into inanimate objects? That was beyond unfair. Damn abominations.

The demon was pointing an unusually designed rifle at me. It was similar to the one Lamentation had used against the Legendary Breezadore. “Move, pony.”

I did move. I moved so that I was shielding Strings’ body with my own. I won’t let you hurt this filly.
Bang.

I woke up in Boulder Springs. I knew that because the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was the face of Maud Pie.

“Hi.”

Hello.

I was in an unfamiliar room. It seemed well-suited to Maud. It was grey; there was a mural on the wall of a large rock. Aside from a dresser and the bed I was currently sitting in, the room was also bereft of furniture. I sat up and rested my back against the headboard. I had expected the bed to be as comfortable as a bed of rocks, which I assumed would still be more comfortable than a church pew. To my surprise, it was quite comfortable. I noticed my effects were kept in a corner of the room beside where Maud Pie was sitting.

She stood on her hooves, grunted, and walked out of the room. For a moment, I thought she was giving some privacy now that I had awoken. The next moment, Packrat burst through the door. “Savage!” She jumped onto the bed and tightly wrapped her hooves around my neck. “Oh my gosh! I was so worried about you. We heard shots. And I got scared. And then Mirage went in after you. And there more shots. And I got more scared. And then she came back with you and a crying filly. And I was kinda confused. And you weren’t moving. And I got scared again. An—”

I covered her mouth with my hoof. Not that I didn’t appreciate her concern, but she was a bit too loud at the moment. She pulled away from the hug. She had stopped talking, and she was staring at me. Not in her usual drooling kind of way. Thank goodness. Her look was far more sincere. She levitated my hoof away from her mouth. “Sorry if, um, I got too excited. I just, um, well, I’m glad you’re okay.”

I nodded my thanks. Then I pointed to her and tapped my shoulder.

“Oh, right.” She frowned and cast her eyes down at her own shoulder. “It still hurts, but I can still get around no problem. Toothpick told me to just rub some dirt in it. Shadow said it builds character. They’re just being mean. Mom kissed it better though. And, um, it feels a lot better.”

Who knew Maud Pie had magic healing powers? Jokes aside, I was glad she wasn’t too injured. If Packrat was here, where were the others? What had happened to Strings and Mirage?

“So, um, fun story. When Shadow brought Dionysus back, he got this great idea to throw a party. And you know Mom, she was on board in a second.” I found that very hard to believe. “So the whole town is having a good time outside. Since we’re taking Strings to Vanhoover, and the NCR is in Vanhoover, Mirage said she’d accompany us there. Isn’t that exciting?!”

To an extent it was. It meant that Mirage was okay. And if we were escorting Strings, it meant she was alive too. The demon didn’t get her. “And Shadow and Templar are coming too! Oh, and I can’t forget my husband. He said there was no way he was going to be left behind. Isn’t he the best?” Packrat let out a long and happy sigh. “This is going to be the best road trip ever!”

There were going to be seven of us going to Vanhoover? Wow. I hoped it wouldn’t get too overbearing. That was a lot of people to keep track of. I also doubted Dionysus would be much good in a fight. Since Templar and Strings were prisoners, there was no way they would have weapons. Which meant four of us would be responsible for protecting all seven. Fantastic.

Actually, maybe it would be fantastic. There was a bright side to this. Travelling in a large group could be fun. So long as none of my companions died, this could be a bonding experience. Until we turned over Templar and Strings, and Mirage left us. Never mind. The best possible outcome resulted in losing two potential friends and likely not seeing another for quite a while. Why couldn’t I just be happy?

“Wanna, um, come down to the party?”

I shook my head. I needed a little time to recover first. I also wanted to be alone for a while. There was something I had to do.

“Alrighty then.” She hopped off the bed and waved at me. “I’ll, um, see ya later, Savage.” She trotted out the door and shut the door behind her.

Now I was alone. Alone with the vial of Goddess. I could feel my muscles twitching. I remembered the feeling of the drug in my body. I had felt unstoppable. No, more than that. I had been unstoppable. And that was with such a small amount. Who knew what it would feel like to take more?

Doctor Zimri knew. And I knew what it did to him. I was lucky I hadn’t suffered any adverse effects apart from my craving for it. Perhaps it was safe in small amounts. But I dared not risk it. Not yet anyways.

I made my way off the bed and towards my effects. I searched through my saddlebags until I found what I was looking for. The first object was a syringe. An empty syringe to be more precise. It wasn’t Med-X that I wanted; it wasn’t Goddess either. The second object was a venom sac. It was the one I had taken from the Legendary Breezadore. This was more than a terrible idea; it was a stupid one. But I needed to see her again. I missed her so much.

I pierced the sac with the syringe. I took enough to fill roughly one tenth of the syringe. It wasn’t very much, but I doubted I’d need much. Especially since this was the Legendary Breezadore. I just hoped it wouldn’t be enough to kill me. I took the syringe and pricked my hoof. Then I let the venom flow through my veins.

“Why would you do that to yourself?”

I smiled. That was exactly the voice I wanted to hear. I turned around and saw Lyra Heartstrings XIII sitting on the bed. She looked disappointed in me. I could take that. I was just happy she was here.

“I know what I want, Lyra.” This was all in my head at this point. Of course I could speak in a hallucination.

“And what would that be, Symphony?” Her voice was colder than I was used to. But it still felt so good to hear it again.

“I want….” I approached the bed. I pressed my body against hers. I could feel her warmth. I gently kissed the nape of her neck. I could taste her. The sensation was incredible. I gently pushed her onto her back and mounted her. I gazed into her disappointed golden eyes. “I want to be happy, Lyra.”

“And will this make you happy, Savage?”

I flinched. I didn’t expect her to call me by my new name. It was almost blasphemous coming from her lips. I wondered if that was my subconscious’ way of telling me this was a bad idea. If so, I wasn’t going to listen. “Yes it will.”

Lyra sighed. “Then by all means. Be happy.”

Author's Notes:

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is Coalescence. I thought this was the perfect place to end this section of Symphony's journey. After traveling around parts of northern Equestria, a party has coalesced around him for the journey into Vanhoover. The next Movement, Appetence, will pick up from here and be about the adventures in Vanhoover. I hope you'll stay with the story for that next part. Thank you to all my readers, to Kkat for the original story, to other authors who keep the world(s) of Fallout Equestria going.

As a note, Strings' amulet is not the alicorn amulet. Minor spoilers ahead. Equestrian heathens who heard stories of the Elements of Harmony and their bearers created artifacts infused with magic. These artifacts, or totems, symbolize corrupted interpretations of each Element and warp the minds of their owner or the space around them. Te ghoul head in Severance was the Magic totem. It's corruption is twofold. One, viewing Magic on its face, it emanates dark magic that turns nearby ghouls feral. Shining Armor was unaffected due to having an unusually strong will, a strong resistance to magic, as well as a blood relationship to the real Element of Magic. The second, viewing Magic as the Spark, it attracts any creature with a violent intent in hopes of using reforming them with friendship. Shining Armor kept it at the Cemetery in hopes that most violent creatures would be out of its range. And anything that was drawn would be attacked by the feral ghouls who were already there.