The world grew dark and the tribesmares danced across the bonfire. The snow fell the same way it did every other night. And the tribe celebrated the arrival of The One Who Becomes Red with roast winterfang. Embers faintly flaked away from the bottom of the harsh inferno. They were a dying breed. An elderly and sickly relative to the healthy faggots charring to a black, midnight crisp. Lilith was entranced in the fire. It was where she belonged. In her heart, she could only feel one thing: the will to burn. To burn wood to comfort Phoenix Heart. To burn the world in loving flame. It washed her restless mind with thoughts of making Equestria whole again.

Would they be better off with tribe... or civilization?

That was the question. To suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or by opposing, end them.

A quiet nudge jolted her shoulder awake. Lilith took her eyes off the fire and focused on Featherlite, who'd done the deed.

"Sir. We should be finding something useful, shouldn't we? Food. Tech. Maybe some medicine?" The pegasus stated, fiddling around with the wristbelle that she'd borrowed from Silent Hill.

"You're... you're right. I should be looking for those things. But I'm still enjoying this. They think I'm a god. And they don't try to kill me for it or even shun me away for being... different. What place is this, Featherlite. Because I don't remember the wasteland feeling so safe."

Lilith rested her chin atop her child's scalp. Phoenix Heart still had a broken horn. And she could barely talk. But what little they'd heard were snippets of english and some other tribal tongue mixed together. Bits of snow and ash fell around them and dotted her coat. When drums began booming from the biggest tent, her eyelashes flickered with the flames. The wind whistled with the voices of many tribesemares, only serving to wake her more. Phoneix Heart opened her eyes and the roast winterfang was passed around. Legs to the daughters and sisters for swift hooves. Ribs and hearts for the elders to keep their teeth sharp and hearts strong. And the men ate the stomach flesh and insides, to keep their restless bodies at peace. The One Who Becomes Red had the tongue and liver, along with the eyes and powdered teeth over bits of rib and heart. The elders agreed that the battle yesterday showed she would need to reach the land and speak to it. And that took perception, endurance and charisma.

It was salted with rock salt from someplace far away, along with spices and herbs from near the same place. When Featherlite asked where they learned to cook it, Peacemaker, which was actually the translator pony's name, replied herself. The four of them sat facing the fire, inspired to stay warm by it's radiance.

"We learned this way from the New Canines. Once, they found us by the Great Lake Born Again, where the water is so pure and clean, drinking enough cures one's sickness. We were ambushed by the great white sky gods and their golden sun magic. They cursed us by bathing some of our kin in green and black poison. They grew monstrous. They were chindi." Said Peacemaker, resuming after she chewed on spare wolf haunch.

"We knew the waters of Great Lake Born Again could cure them. So we traveled. Days passed and the men grew tired. The women grew light with starvation. And the elders passed in their sleep. But then they traveled into us, like great ancestors. They taught us how to use ancestor metal tents to make better spears. And how to turn ash into food. They gave us ways to fight the other tribes. The Canines taught us mercy and peace through their sky god. And that is why we are still here... the New Canines showed us to be one with the wasteland."

The bleeding one nodded in response. Shifting about in her seat kicked one of her knees. Hour old bandages layered her body and left her snug in some form of blanket by the flame. They were thin, but sturdy enough to shelter her ointment-licked scabs from getting cold and frigid. Lilith retold herself the tale and tilted her head in realization.

"Other tribes...? How many? And do you fight with these other tribes...?" She asked, unsure and softspoken beneath the noise of jingling bone music.

"Seven. And mostly, we do. But we aren't winning. I do my best to convince the others that we need to relocate. But they're stubborn. Because we are the oldest, they want us to be the last. But war does not work that way. Our main enemy... they have no mercy. They take children and force them to fight. The strongest one becomes their own." Explained Peacemaker, turning her head to Phoenix Heart as lightning streaked the sky.

Thunder gave way to rain. And the soft drizzle felt good over scabbed burns. Against her bandages so dry and wispy. It felt like rebirth. At first, Peacemaker seemed to enjoy Phoenix Heart's sleeping beauty. But, by the minute, Lilith found the mare staring at her.

"Is something wrong...?"

"... No. It's just that the Broken Horns have lost a child sometime ago. And I can't help but notice her broken horn. It's an omen to see the child of an enemy, Red One." She stated, rising up and gesturing her to follow, only her, since Featherlite was never alerted.

"I'll be back." Lilith said, tapping Featherlite's shoulder and following their tribal friend.

A wide area of tipis and shacks stayed dormant as they slipped through it. Skeletal remains of rusted homes and ruined houses kept her hands ready. Though Lilith couldn't fight, the place was too quiet for comfort. Sauerkraut, whose sign wasn't missing a letter where she walked, seemed entirely haunted. Everypony else was at the towering bonfire, basking in it's glow. But they left behind everything else, down to the way an apple was half-eaten, or a pencil by its paper. Chirping crickets and stray firebugs dotted her path. And Peacemaker finally stumbled over the last pile of rubble in town. They reached a wide, open-mouthed cavern. It's maw, for the most part, gaped monstrously and threatened to swallow them whole with it's many teeth. Stalagmites and stalagtites littered the expanse, some just inches over Lilith's scalp. Peacemaker turned her head back and explained it was their medicine mare's cave.

"Coming Storm settles here when she has her visions. And one day, on a night where light split the sky, she fell and shook on the ground. We were in a circle. I tried to go in but the others stopped me. Her shaking scared us. It was strong shaking. It looked like her legs would break. But, we prayed the sky gods were giving her a vision. And when she stopped, Coming Storm woke up to tell us... the sky people would return. A spirit with hair like blood would come to us holding a child. The child would be ours to care for. And the Red One would fight with us against the Broken Horns..."

Peacemaker's hooves had brushed along the mouth of the cave. It was there, she coated it with ash from a pouch at her waist. On the jagged stone, uneven and cracked in certain places, the ash formed a cross.

"Are you Christian...?" Lilith asked, not knowing how taboo it was to mention an entirely human belief.

"... I don't know what a krischeeyan is, but I follow the New Canines. They say there is one sky god that protects us. She watches over us and is the reason the New Canines had the feeling to stop by The Great Lake Born Again. This is Her sign, the holy mother's."

So there was a God being in Equestria. Just not a widespread belief in one. She agreed that the Christian God seemed to work miracles time to time. And his subjects were as faithful as they came. Just, her devotion to her own Father paid it's own dues. Even hungry, beaten and fallen, he lead her to Peacemaker. He lead her to tribe. So Lilith nodded and agreed with her. It was good to have faith. The two left Coming Storm Cavern and returned to camp. Of the fire once great and once ferocious, only ashes and embers remained. They shuffled about only to see Phoenix Heart risen. With her eyes opened, lime green, toxic magic illuminated her eyes. Her irises were a ring of crimson over slit-like pupils.

"Qhov twést yog ma niaere...?" Her tiny voice rasped, like a thousand knives sliding across stone.

Peacemaker took a step backward. And another. And another. Her foreleg brushed Lilith's ribs as she told her the omen was true. An evil spirit had found the child during the rainstorm. They should run, she urged, ready to jolt away for miles on end.

"Hn... You speak mountain horse and fantaisie?" Lilith hushed, advancing toward her in baby steps.

With open arms, she held her. It dimmed Phoenix Heart's eyes. Lower and lower, her lids sunk, till only wisps of hate magic leaked away. A small embrace compared to months of pain calmed her heart. An honest heart kissed her own asleep and laid it to rest. Phoenix held her back as tightly as she could, barely able from extended periods of starvation. Stray, wandering winds blew their way, embracing them with ash and snow.

The white winter stained Lilith's bandages. They were damp and dotted with ash. When she let go, she was shocked to find her wraps bloody. To find her scars reopened and pried open. But what was it, she wondered, trying to erase the red from Phoenix' snout. No matter how much she cleaned, the stain stayed deep.

"Peacemaker. I need some more wraps. Hand me some leftover winterfang, too... I need to feed my daughter." Lilith murmured, holding close her bundle of joy.

They rose from the ashes and sat together to watch the bonfire. Phoenix Heart nuzzled into her chest and licked at salt on her bandages. Her tiny muzzle took a few, short sniffs and she whispered into Lilith, her lips to her heart.

"Yog kuv tiagvrais yog vraimlist...?"

Lilith kissed her broken horn and kept her child pressed against her chest.

"Yes. You are. I promise... kuv tsis quitter kojs."