I’d decided to lay low for a while, let them think that the attack on Mel was nothing more than retribution for one of his numerous sexual ‘liaisons’, a jealous coltfriend, that sort of thing. It didn’t really matter, Velvet would continue his nefarious trade, his scum like Gates, raping and murdering at their bosses whim. And behind it all was the one really pulling the strings, the puppet master…the Commissioner. She’d have her day of reckoning and then…well, we’d see.

Food was actually quite easy to come by, so long as you enjoyed dumpster diving for leftovers. Goddesses knew what it was doing to my insides, but at least it kept me alive. I was desperately low on auntie’s preserves too, and rats didn’t quite have much in them to keep me going. Their tiny spirits were little more than a spoonful of what I required. The night I killed Mel, I could have taken his strength within me, but the mere thought of absorbing that scums energy made me retch. I had done a good thing, I’d removed a little piece of corruption from the city that was still my home, as much as it ever had been. Fuck Celestia and her damned banishment.

I avoided the daylight. Wandering around in a cloak here in the city would bring more attention than I needed right now and raiding shops for clothes would surely give me away to anypony looking for me. The old gramophone I’d found was my link to life down here in the dank tunnels. Playing music was a risk, certainly, but one I needed. The old time music hall numbers were so familiar to me now that I knew all the lyrics, every bar, every chord. I swung out with my scythe, cutting through the air, singing in concert with the scratchy music…

“…It must be time to say goodbye, to all the girls along the way. Our dreams may dim our lives grow old, but your kiss will stay and love will never lie…”

Sentimental. The lyrics felt like they were directed at me, about me, but it was all a dream…just a dream. Meadow, Shadow, Tingles, my little Sparrow…all gone now. I’d never be allowed into the eternal herd, not now. Not because of my wendigo nature, but the deaths of numerous ponies. Scum they may have been, but ponies none the less. Even if by some miracle, they allowed me in, I could never face Meadow again. How could I? It was so laughable, how I’d been tricked! How they’d all made fools of me…you had to laugh!

I allowed myself to indulge in the dance, swinging the scythe in a deadly ark, “Shall we dance my darling?”, I laughed, kissing the scythe shaft, “Why yes, I do believe I am a ‘cut above the rest’”, the scythe sliced through the air, “Oh darling! How drole!”.

I whirled around and eventually, the music came to a stop and I flopped into the chair. Ah! This was more like it…just what a tired pony needs. A half eaten hayburger and fries, delicious! And the soda, orange…still slightly carbonated. Like a gift from the goddesses; one of them anyway.

I was in a buoyant mood. Today was the day I’d be meeting Gates after such a long time. He must have been missing me, his old playmate. I could certainly have done with a little more life energy, but what the hay…

“Need one of these?” the blue pony asked tossing me a flask.

I caught it in my telekinesis and looked inside, “nice!” I smiled. Since the ghost was being so generous, I saw not harm in downing the stuff. It was the real deal too, the life energy coursing through me filling the emptiness and sating the wendigo part of my being.

“Hey, dead pony, come to have a laugh at me? Oh, Luna, I must be really fucking gone”, I sat back in my chair and stretched out chuckling to myself.

“Never thought I’d see you reduced to this Fairlight, but after what you’ve been through, I suppose I should be surprised you’re alive at all”, the apparition said gruffly.

“Yeah, well, being dead’s a pain in the arse. I’ve tried it, mostly, but you’d know all about that wouldn’t you. How is the afterlife then, Chief? Treating you well?”

The huge blue pony stepped toward me from the dim tunnel, “Don’t know boy, you’re the one who looks like a ghost to me. I’m just a plain old pony who should have been put out to pasture years ago”.

Something in his voice, his mannerism, his smell?

“Ch…Chief? What…?”

“Hello, Fairlight, been a long time boy.”

I reached out and touched him, felt the rough blue fur, his eyes, ears, muzzle, it was all as I remembered. Quickly, I ran my hooves across his chest and…yes, there was a scar, a big one too like a zip; a surgery scar.

“Mitre? How the hell?”

“…Am I alive?” he chuckled dryly, “Yeah, well, like you it looks like the herd wasn’t ready for me.”

“Oh goddesses! Chief!” I flung my forelegs around him and hugged him, my old friend and mentor…still alive! For the first time in ages I felt tears sting my eyes and I moved away, brushing my face with a foreleg.

“But, how Chief?” I pulled him up a barrel, the best I could offer down here.

He took it warily, “Could do with a few mod cons down here, like chairs for example.” he harrumphed, “Never mind…So! Where to begin…”

He rubbed a hoof along his stubbly chin and went on, “After the agency found me, they took me, and you it seems, to their facility and magically altered two of the dead ponies we took out, to look like us. Very clever stuff if you ask me.”

“So where’ve you been?”

“Working for Luna. Equus business, lad. Nopony knew about me in the agency except a few, Luna of course and Brandy.”

“Warlock?”

“No. I don’t think the princess ever really trusted him fully. He’s become a real problem now, his hatred for you has poisoned him and he’s causing problems in the agency. He told Celestia everything about you and had a double agent planted to feed back information to him about your whereabouts and monitor your actions. Luna thought the information was coming back to her…little did she know it was going back to him and Celestia.

“He attacked the convoy, the one taking me into exile”

“I know, we found out too late to stop them attacking the guards but we still got you out of there before we lost you for good.”

“Where is he now?”

“He’s still in the agency, at the main hub. Celestia thinks the attack on the guards was conducted by ‘criminal elements’ working in league with you to ‘overthrow the legitimate government’.”

“What!? Has she lost the fucking plot completely?”

“She’s under a lot of strain at the moment, what with the royal wedding coming up and all.”

“I don’t give a toss about bollocks like that Mitre, but to believe I’m a national threat? Great goddesses, no good deed goes unpunished eh?”

“True boy, true.”

“So, what brings you here to my humble abode?”

“This”, he tossed a communicator to me, “remember that?”

“Ah…”

“Yes, ‘ah’, we save your arse and you bugger off the first chance you get. Poor Bingo thought he’d let us all down and blamed himself. The old mare was beside herself too, hit him over the head with a frying pan when he came to collect you. Feisty old gal.”

Mitre pulled out two cigars from his pack and hoofed one to me. With a flicker of magic from my horn, a small flame appeared before the old watch chief. It was like old times, the cigar smoke taking the mouldy smell out of my nostrils was most welcome. Bad for you sure, but right now, I didn’t give a damn.

“Good cigars and good company”, I sighed.

“I couldn’t agree more my young friend. Anyway, aside from telling you off for your disappearing act, theres another reason I’m here…I need you, Fairlight. I know you’ve been fucked about, and I won’t ask you again if you say no, but will you hear me out?”

The cigar smoke swirled around my mouth and smiled happily, “Yeah…I’ll hear what you have to say chief.”

“Theres an assassination plot to kill Celestia and Luna, to take over the entire government.”

“What?!” I nearly choked. I wasn’t that bothered about the white crone, but Luna?

Mitre nodded, “We know who’s behind it, but she’s well protected and connected. Any attempt by us to move without massive evidence behind us would look like a coupe by Luna. Celestia’s already paranoid because of the wedding and we don’t have that long.”

“Chief, I want to help you but I have problems of my own, Shadow is still trapped and…”

“…And your path of vengeance Fairlight?” he cut in, “I know all about that, how do you think I found you?”

“I don’t…”

“You’d think a decapitated bastard like Melon Patch wouldn’t cause that much of a stir, sooner or later his actions would have caught up with him. No, it was the little filly.” He looked up at me, his mouth curling in a grin, “How many ‘grim reaper ponies’ with glowing blue eyes and swinging a scythe do you know? I mean, a scythe? For fucks sake Fairlight, how much more dramatic could you have been?”

I couldn’t help but smile, “Still doesn’t explain how you found me down here.”

“No, but then, when was the last time you washed your tail?”

“My tail…?”

I looked back at the filthy, matted mess that passed for my once proud black and white tail. I felt about with my hooves and found what looked like a small brass beetle… the lousy the sods had bugged me!

Mitre nodded, “Sorry about that boy, but in case the agency grabbed you again, we needed to be able to find you.”

I sighed, “Okay Chief, but that scum Gates is still out there. I need to get rid of him…and his boss, before I can do anything else.”

“Gates needs putting down, Fairlight, I agree. But leave Velvet alone, we need him alive for now. We need him to help us take down the Commissioner. When the time comes, he’s yours”

I opened my mouth to protest, but Mitre held up a hoof to stall me, “Theres one other thing, I think you ought to know, that mare, Tingles? She didn’t willingly tell the royal guard or agency about your trip to fortress.”

“Bollocks!” I slammed my hoof down, “Sorry chief, but seriously, how else did they ‘magically’ appear after Tingles left? What about Warlock, he obviously knew about my being arrested, otherwise how could he have planned to intercept the prison convoy?”

“Two reasons.” he said levelly, “Firstly the trap you set off activated some archaic alarm at the palace. Nopony could work out what it was about until Celestia returned from her diplomatic mission abroad. Secondly, when she returned without you, Warlock got his hooves on her and made her tell him about what happened. He can be very…’persuasive’ that one. Not to mention he threatened to reveal her condition which…”

“Condition?” I interrupted “What condition?”

Mitre looked surprised, “Didn’t you know? Boy, Tingles is pregnant.”

Dear sweet Luna, was that my foal? Was it that things? Marocs words rang through my head, I’d chased her away from me…oh goddesses, what was I going to do?

Mitre adjusted his hat, “Fairlight, if you’re going to chase after Gates, do it soon. When you’re ready, if you want to…I’ll be waiting, you have the communicator.”

I nodded, dumbfounded…Tingles…

Mitre patted me on the shoulder and dumped his heavy saddle bags next to me. As he was leaving I heard him murmer, “Goddess bless you boy”. I felt a shiver run through me. So, this was how it was all going to pan out was it? I was going to play along with the agency, with Equus, once again. Right under Celestia’s nose, did Luna even know about this? There were moves going on here which I could never fathom, or see. I was a mere pawn in a game played by invisible hooves.

Well, it didn’t matter. First things first…Gates…

The saddle bags were packed with gear, much of it…Oh, Mitre, you star! My dads pocket watch! My coat, hat, short sword…it was all here, even the picture of Meadow and my family, one of them was missing but it was a small thing. Still, I wasn’t sure how to feel about looking at the smiling mare in the picture, so left it in the pack. I didn’t deserve her and I’d pushed her away in any case…like I’d pushed away Tingles. A horrible thought flashed through my mind, was this…all my fault? Had I been the real cause of all of this, but blamed them, took my anger out on them? But, what I’d done to Tingles, Meadow backing away from me in fear. I couldn’t get that image out of my mind, yet I’d never spoken to either of them about it… I’d just assumed.

Damn it all, damn it all to bloody Hades…

I sat in the flickering lamp light worn down by my woes, what could I do? I opened my heart and my senses for the first time since I’d come here, letting the magic take me and bear my soul along in its bitter sweet caress. I thought of my daughter, Sparrow. How her little wings had buzzed! I wished I could hold her in my forelegs now and sing her a song to lull her to sleep, my precious darling daughter.

I took a deep breath and relaxed, opening my mind to the memories of my forebears, hoping it would provide some respite from the doubt and pain of my life. Down and down I swam, deep into the past, far past the barrier of the present into the uncharted waters of unknown recollection. Mum was there, her mother too. Grey pony after grey pony, back and back, further, faster into the depths of time. They were all gone now, all of them with the herd, until finally…Maroc. There he was, smiling at me next to another wendigo, a glistening white creature with a long flowing blue mane…Arathea his wife. Beside them stood another wendigo, a muscular male I didn’t recognise,

“Hello Fairlight, you’ve come at long last I see, are you well?” Marocs deep voice resounded with confidence a strong sense of self assurance.

I nodded to him respectfully, “I am, Maroc, thank you. What is this place?”

“A memory, something we can tap into when we die to help our children through the trials in their lives”, he fixed me with his burning blue gaze. Here was a stallion who could command legions. I could easily imagine him leading ponies into battle without the benefit of memories.

A lilting feminine voice floated across to me; Arathea, “Maroc explained what happened in the chamber my dear Fairlight, I am truly, truly sorry.” She looked across to her husband, “When we were alive, the chamber was a place of happiness. It was a time for joyful bonding, to help bring love and life into the tribe with the strength of the Wither world spirit’s union. I do not know this marefriend of yours, but if she is strong, she will forgive you, and love you all the more for the treasure she will bear.”

I gave her a little smile and she nodded. The third wendigo was a strong looking creature who gazed at me with timeless blue eyes…”Vela?” I asked quietly.

He grinned, showing me a lethal array of teeth, “Fairlight, I was never able to achieve the bonding in my life. Most of our people who survived, fled to the wastelands of the frozen north. So many died at the hooves of the Celestians, but Herath…he saved me. At great risk to himself, he hid us amongst our enemies, right under their very muzzles. Over time, our family grew but we were not the tribe we once were. Ponies came to accept us as simply that, ponies. And, that is what we have remained until now. You have rejoined the circle, made us whole once again, and for that, I thank you, my descendant.”

“Vela,” I asked “what of the rest of the tribe, do you know if any still survive?”

He looked at me sadly, “I cannot say. Not many would have survived the journey north and there were very few to start with. Those who stayed with us drifted away over time to meld into the new world the Celestian’s had created. Without a way to bond with the spirits of the Wither world, they could not become any more than the ponies they are now. Perhaps, it is for the best…our time has long since passed.”

Maroc stepped forward, “Fairlight, you have a good heart and are a worthy successor to the wendigo tribe. Find your own path in life and stay true to who you are. We cannot tell you what you must do, it is not our way.”

I nodded gravely, “Thank you, all of you. I hope I can be half the wendigo you were.”

Arathea smiled, “That and more, my Fairlight…go now, there is a little one who will need you soon.”

Tingles…my foal?

With a final bow, I released my grasp on the magic and the light of the waking world flooded my eyes. I was back in the sewer, and it was time to go to work.

I strapped on my black suit, the PDW and a selection of other items I’d found in the packs, including a bandolier of flash bugs. Mitre must have raided the armoury for this…there was even a set of hoof covers, excellent. My sword strapped to my flank and my scythe over my back, I covered the whole ensemble with the old cloak and smiled to myself, it was going to be a good day.