“… Knight Enforcer? Knight Enforcer, are you listening to me?”

'I am, Anna. Forgive my inattention.'

“I’m sorry. I was distracted," Caed turned away from the tray of bloodied tissues resting on the table. He had coughed up a lot. The pain was distant now, aside from a dull numbness that throbbed between his lungs. If he concentrated, it was almost hypnotic. "What were you saying?”

Anna clutched the clipboard in her hands tightly, frowning. “Knight Enforcer, I can’t imagine what you’re going through. I know how close you and Eiswhel were…”

'He was like a father to me, and I brushed him off because I didn’t want to hear what he had to say. What were his last thoughts of? Eiswhel, I hope you have found peace in death.'

“And I… I’m…” Anna hugged the clipboard against her chest, her face crumpling. “I’m so sorry.”

Caed forced a smile, even though he knew there wasn't much to smile about; he had to seem confident and sure, as a leader. “Anna, dry your tears. You know I cannot abide to see a woman cry. You did the right thing by protecting that child," He went to clap her on the shoulder comradely. "It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay!” Anna cried, pulling away. Her eyes were beginning to water. “Nothing is okay!”

Caed looked at his hand and lowered it. In hindsight, perhaps a hearty clap on the shoulder that he often gave his fellow knights wouldn't go over well with a frail person like Anna. At the thought of his fallen knights, never to draw breath again, he felt a lump in his throat, but he ignored it and tried to think of another way to comfort her.

He never got the chance - she spoke again, in a low whisper.

“I hate what we’re doing to those ponies. I wanted you to stop, but I would never wish something like this!” Anna hid her face with her hand and shook her head. “I just…”

'I know you didn’t, Anna. You’re a good person.'

Caed laughed. “If wishes came true, then we’d be on Earth by now. What a cruel world to only make pessimistic wishes come true.”

Still no smile; he had to try something else.

"Fortunately, there are people like you to brighten it up."

"Knight Enforcer..."

"Any place benefits greatly from a healer such as yourself. It-"

Anna took a step forwards and touched his arm. It was like an electric shock. He started, blinked slowly, and went quiet, trying not to shiver at her bare skin. He never felt right being touched without his armor on.

“It’s getting worse, Knight Enforcer,” Anna whispered, looking at him with such pity and concern that he had to stop himself from avoiding eye contact. He hated that kind of look. “All that cold air you inhaled further damaged your lungs. Fighting so hard for so long didn’t do any good either. Knight… Caed… If you keep fighting like this, the infection will take over. It’ll take over and you’ll die and you’ll become…” She trailed off.

“An Irregular?" The thought was terrifying, but Caed smirked through his fear to comfort her. "So, our long-dead enemy would have finally bestowed their vengeance upon me when I lose all that I am and turn raving and feral? Well, they're dead, so who will laugh? In any case, I will still be flesh and bone when that happens, Anna," He gently removed her hand and patted it reassuringly. "There are no more factories for my corrupted body to be converted into a suit of armor. If I turn – not that I will because I have all of you to look after – then my body shouldn’t be too hard to destroy.”

She sniffed miserably. “I don’t think any of us could strike you down if that happened.”

'Just make her feel better. Just keep smiling.'

“Then it’s fortunate that I will not perish until you are all safe in our new home, isn’t it?” He retorted with a wink.

A small twitch of her lips. “You can’t promise a thing like that.”

“I can and I will. I swear to you, I will not rest until there is no longer a single human that is forced to survive in this decaying city.”

Anna flinched. "Caed, that's not what-"

The room shuddered as the door swung in and hit the wall.

Caed turned and got in front of Anna, his arm stretching out to flash a glaive that wasn't there. Fortunately, he was reminded of where he was when he recognized the two women that came through the doorway.

Oh, they looked angry. And he with just a pair of pants to preserve his modesty.

“You led her to us!” Natalia snarled, throwing her hand out accusingly.

Caed sighed; he hated infighting. “Nightmare Moon would have killed Amelie if Anna hadn’t done as she asked,” He expected this confrontation; it was part of the reason he came to Anna almost immediately after getting back home. That, and the coughing up blood; that was also concerning. “She is blameless.”

“Dammit, Knight Enforcer, stop protecting her!” Natalia threw her arms into the air, back down to her sides, and stomped her foot. Esther just crossed her arms behind her, fuming silently. “She was always against our plans from the very start!" She made an ugly, jeering face and flapped her hands beside her head. "More concerned with the 'poor, widdle ponies' than her own kind!" Quick as a whip, she went back to pointing accusingly. "Besides, how can you trust someone who used to work for the enemy?”

Esther nodded, her unmoving form a stark contrast to Natalia's wild gesturing. “She has a point, Caed.”

He went to respond, to calm them down, but Anna stepped past him, scowling. “I left them. I risked my life to leave them.”

Caed nodded and moved to stand beside her again. He didn't trust the other two to not do something drastic in their anger. “I trust Anna. Have you forgotten that it was her information that allowed us to strike a decisive blow against our former enemy?” Natalia pouted with no response, and Esther winced, briefly ashamed. “I know you two are hurting. I feel their losses just as greatly as you do,” He was meant to protect them, after all. He ached terribly over it, but he couldn't let it show. “But turning your anger on Anna won’t solve anything.”

Natalia folded her arms, pink with rage, like a frustrated child. One with, what Caed considered to be, an imposingly high intellect. "Could've fought back. I'm no knight, but even I was able to stun Nightmare Moon for a few seconds."

Caed kept quiet about the gun. He would talk to her about it later.

“Well…” Esther balled her hands into fists and glared at the floor. “That’s just fucking great because nothing is getting solved now!” She turned and punched the wall. “We lost all our unicorns and our Synth Station is beyond repair!”

'Esther…'

She gave a despairing whimper and turned to slide down to the floor, desperately rubbing her palms into her eyes. “God… damn it…”

Caed swallowed hard. Esther was his closest friend, something of an anchor, too. She was strong-willed, powerful, and loyal; to see her in such a state hurt worse than his chest. And he knew it was his fault that she felt like this.

“We are not done yet,” Natalia suddenly said, uncrossing her arms to rub her hands together, anxious to... do something. Caed had trouble telling her intentions half the time - she moved so eratically and switched moods at the drop of a sword. Right now, she looked excited. “Knight Enforcer, permission to speak freely.”

"Don't," Anna interrupted, looking at Caed in concern. "I don't trust that face she's making."

Caed had to admit that it was a rather manic one. Even so...

"Anna, that's rude. You know everyone has the right to speak their mind," Anna sighed, unhappy but relenting to his words. She understood the value of such a thing. "Go ahead, Natalia."

'You and Eiswhel practically run the Spectrum Shifter by yourselves. Although, now it's just you.'

Natalia took a deep breath, grinning toothily, and held her hands apart. “One last trip into the pony’s world. One last trip that will allow us to get every unicorn we need to power the Spectrum Shifter enough to open a powerful enough Fracture to allow everyone here to go through safely.”

Esther looked up and frowned, wiping at her eyes. “But we’re in no condition to go again. It’s only been a few hours since we retreated."

Natalia held up an index finger in her direction. “Hang on. Knight Enforcer, we lost sixty-one lives in the explosion caused when the ponies closed that big portal and another twenty-two with this disaster of an invasion. This sounds bad, but there is a silver lining to all of this.”

“And that is?” Caed asked.

“We won’t need as much power to transport all of us to the other world,” Natalia started pacing back and forth, lightly punching her fist into the open palm of the other. “Initially, we needed forty-seven unicorns to transport us all, but taking into account how much power the Spectrum Shifter has left and how many of us there are now, I estimate that we need just twenty-three… no…” She paused, scrunched her brow together, and then shook her head. “No, twenty-two! We just need twenty-two more unicorns to make this happen.”

“That’s all well and good…” Esther murmured sullenly. “But we’re in no shape to launch another attack so soon.”

“She’s right, Natalia," Caed lightly placed his palm against his chest. "I am... more affected than I may seem.”

“With all due respect, you look like shit, sir.” Esther retorted.

“Ah, so I do appear as affected as I feel.”

“This is serious!” Natalia cried, throwing her arms into the air. “I know you’re all in bad shape, but you know what the problem truly is? We weren’t prepared to do whatever it took to save everyone!”

'That… is a weighty accusation.'

Caed couldn't help a disapproving frown. “Natalia-”

“Knight Enforcer…” Natalia stepped forward, ignoring Esther and Natalia's irate glares. She put her hands together with a desperate look. “I’ve been keeping a secret from you.”

“What, the gun? I admit that I'm disappointed you didn’t hand it in for-”

“Worse than that,” She shook her head. “I’ve been hiding a Medusa Shrieker.”

'I’ve never wanted to hear those words again. Not after what it did to you, Sybil.'

Anna's eyes widened and she took a step back, covering her mouth. Esther stared at Natalia's back, shocked and affronted.

Caed inhaled slowly. He let it out just as carefully. “Why would you do that, Natalia?” He wasn't really 'angry', but something close to it.

“It was just to remind myself about our victory over the New Diarchy,” Natalia paused and rubbed the knuckles of her right with the left hand. She looked genuinely ashamed. “It was a dud. I took it apart so it couldn’t trigger accidentally, but kept the parts safe,” Natalia took a deep breath. Shame, but unwavering conviction, also. “When we went to war with the ponies, I started trying to put it back together. I thought our need justifies using it.”

“Those things killed so many people.” Anna whispered.

Natalia ignored her. “Knight Enforcer, I didn't know how to approach you on this. That's why I worked on it in secret, waiting for the right chance, just in case the method we were using to obtain unicorns proved to be too inefficient. It’s taken me this long to work on it; it's so complicated and I needed to find time in my schedule without anyone getting..." She trailed off and shook her head. "I’m almost done; I just need several more days and I’m done. Less if I can get the others to help. I know you're tempted to say no," She held her hands out imploringly. "But this is it. This is our way of getting those unicorns.”

'God, there must be something else.'

“We go back to Canterlot…” Natalia said firmly, and Caed had to massage his temples as she spoke. His head felt heavy. “We activate the Medusa Shrieker, we go in and we grab the unicorns we need when it’s done. I’ve studied their bodies; they're not that different from us. I know that the Medusa Shrieker will work on them.”

“It’ll kill them,” Anna said. "Are you insane? Medusa Shriekers kill!"

“Just the ones closest to it. Everything else that’s not at point-blank range will just be subdued for several hours.”

"Why is it always Canterlot?" Esther demanded with a tired groan. "Why not one of the other settlements?"

"Canterlot has the highest concentration of unicorns per square mile," Natalia answered, briefly looking at her. "We know the layout better than any other place. I know exactly where to place the Medusa Shrieker for the best results."

'Is there really nothing else? No… Natalia is highly intelligent. If she thinks this is our best chance, then… it likely is. But…'

"This will work," Natalia insisted with feverish enthusiasm. "I'll stake my life on it. If we can just get in..."

Caed shook his head slowly. “But how can I use something like that? We swore never to use…”

“We’re far past playing fair,” Natalia said darkly, clenching her hands. “There are innocent lives on the line. The lives of children," Her dark gaze snapped to the right. "Isn’t that right, Anna?”

“Don’t bring her into this.” Anna growled.

“No, I’m not going to beat around the bush,” Natalia stepped forwards, glaring hatefully. “Everyone, including Amelie, will starve to death if we don’t do something now.”

Anna’s face turned white.

'… I see now.'

Caed lowered his hands and nodded sullenly. “Natalia… what do you need?”

Esther, quiet and morose and shocked throughout all this, blinked and turned to stare. “Caed…”

“It’s too late to go back. It’s too late for talking. The ponies won’t listen after what we’ve done,” Caed knew for a fact that Nightmare Moon wouldn't. And Celestia and Luna weren't really in any position to help. "And we are running out of time."

'Forgive me, Sybil. Forgive me, Eiswhel. You're dead and gone, and I still have lives to think about. You want for nothing, but they do.'

“But that’s fine. As your leader, all our sins fall on my shoulders. My knights, my people – I promised to provide you a place to survive and rebuild and I will ensure that you get it, even if I must blacken my heart with the blood of others. So long as I take all the blame, you can all live without guilt nor worry.”

'I can’t stop now. I chose to seek vengeance over forgiveness and I must live with the consequences of that.'

“Oh, bullshit!"

Caed flinched - yes, he admitted it - and stepped back from Anna and her furious glare. She hardly ever swore. Natalia put her hands on her hips, ready to argue, but was shut down when Anna made an angry, wordless yell. Natalia flinched with wide eyes; she was likely more surprised by it than anything.

"Stop trying to martyr yourself like this is some noble cause!" Anna cried, turning on him. "I'm sick of everyone trying to dress this all up! We're kidnapping innocent unicorns and harvesting their bodies to power our machines!"

She lifted her arm and pointed accusingly at Esther, who had gotten to her feet, preparing to say something.

"And don't even throw that excuse at me! Yes, they indirectly caused an explosion that killed some of our people, but that's it: indirectly and certainly without meaning to! I miss our friends as much as you all, but two wrongs don't make a right!"

The words hit Caed like a lance. He knew that. He knew a little ways after their first invasion, after seeing the first unicorn - Dew - killed and subsequently harvested of her magic. He knew that this was wrong, but he justified it to himself by thinking solely of his people, of how many he needed to save.

The ponies may not have all been guilty, but that was the same for those that lived in this dying city. The children, especially. How could he look them in the eyes and tell them that he had done everything he could to give them a better life when he hadn't? He was bloodying his hands in the process, but it was a process that could work.

"I've always been against this and you've ignored me," Anna crossed her arms and firmly planted her feet on the floor. "But I won't stand for this. A Medusa Shrieker? No, this is too much. I'll tell the others."

“Please do so, Anna.”

She faltered. "Wh-what?"

"Please go and tell as many as you can. If they have concerns or questions, tell them to come speak to me personally. They deserve to know what is happening and they deserve the right to decide whether or not they wish to be a part of this," Caed felt drained, but he pressed on. It was the only thing he could do at this point. He was already too far in. "While you do that, Natalia can... show me the Medusa Shrieker. Inform me of her plan."

Natalia laughed and bounced on her toes. “We can do this, Knight Enforcer!” She said with a manic grin. “We’ll carve our path ahead; I’m sure of it.”

Esther blinked, looking like she wanted to say something… but she swallowed and nodded, falling in line. “I’m with you to the end, Caed. No matter what.”

'I don’t deserve your loyalty, Esther, but I’ll do everything I can to make sure it’s not in vain.'

“What...? Caed...” Anna's stance wavered; she hadn't expected his reply. “Stop this.”

He strengthened his resolve and ignored her. "Thank you for everything you have done, Anna. I am grateful to have met you. Please, when the time comes... if it comes... and we open the Fracture that will take us to our new home, put aside your disdain and take care of Amelie. She deserves a happy life."

Anna blinked, stunned. "Caed, think about what you're doing."

'I already have, Anna.'

He knew there was no going back now. He was tired of fighting, but he could not rest until he knew his people had a chance of surviving. It wouldn't be in this world, so it had to be in another.

Caed turned away from her. “Let's go, Natalia. Time is of the essence.”

Author's Notes:

Note 1: "We finally managed to get Caed to sit still long enough to put him under for a proper medical exam. For a grown man that regularly faces entire armies and crazed machines, he has a ridiculous fear of needles.

"We’re lucky to have Sybil here to calm him down.

"As we initially suspected, the implants were overclocked and heated, causing minor damage to the muscle tissue and strain on the parts of the bone where osseointegration has taken place. This was easily treated with 15 milligrams of Nyxopharmincus. As of now, Caed is resting – I hope – and recovering; we expect him to be back on his feet in about four hours.

"However, I must discuss a serious matter with you.

"I won’t go into hard medical terms on paper, but put simply, Caed cannot engage in another battle like this without rest. Caed is a fluke; the extensive gene therapy performed on him – as an infant nonetheless – and the amount of nano-based implants in his body would kill anyone else; the fact that he can even walk and talk, much less perform the incredible feats of fitness he does, is nothing short of a miracle. However, it comes at a price. Caed’s lifespan is very short compared to ours – he’ll be lucky to live another ten years, and before that he will endure an excruciating process where his cells will degrade at an alarming rate.

"And that’s just long-term – we can't ignore the immediate danger Caed poses as a survivor of the Medusa Shrieker that hit New Eden. He's better off than Sybil, the poor girl, but any intense and prolonged activity runs the risk of triggering the reaction that leads to the first phase of becoming an Irregular. We don't know what the New Diarchy does to keep the Irregulars in check, but until we figure out a cure, Caed is a danger. I'll leave him to you, but just be warned about his condition.

"Please, speak with him. Meanwhile, we'll do what we can for Sybil." - Private Letter to Dr. Eiswhel found in his personal folder, unsigned. Wrinkled and creased, as if folded and opened many times.