In the shuttle to Byzuntam, Starlight locked her gaze into her purple book. “Encyclopedia Sadismus” was the title, a glittery silver cursive embossed on the hard front cover to match the polished scale bindings. The pages within were thick like paint canvases – certainly not what she was used to in any academic work, or indeed, any work of writing at all. And there were many hundreds of these pages. The result was a sturdy, but unnecessarily large and cumbersome, book. In contrast, however, the text was a fair bit smaller than she was used to, so it took a bit of getting used to on Starlight's part, and it did strain her eyes more quickly than the print on all the other books she'd read, especially when browsing the meticulous index and table of contents. But it was not all bad. There were plenty of vivid and detailed illustrations that served as companions for the written pages. Unwieldiness aside, it couldn't be said that these pages were ill-equipped to handle some truly remarkable imagery, perhaps even worthy of Canterlot art galleries were it not for the fact that they depicted unimaginably violent and cruel acts that would probably have made Starlight keel over in revulsion were she as weak in mental fortitude as everyone else in Equestria. Overall, she was happy. She hadn't had a chance to curl up to a good read since she left her personal library behind in Our Town, so the bookworm in her was ecstatic just to have a pile of paper with words written on it, let alone something of such fine craftsmanship.

“Is fine book you are reading there, young lady,” said an unexpected Ruusonian voice behind her.

Starlight snapped her head in the voice's direction and slammed her book shut. “Oh! Um… thanks. It was a gift from a friend.” She gave a toothy grin to that brown pegasus stallion who'd snuck up on her.

“I don't think that is material you are of allowing to read. You must have interesting friends, no?”

“No, he's just your average guy like everyone else.”

“There is nothing of average about Imperial who gives gift to Equestrian.”

Starlight's grin shrunk as nervousness started to set in. “Did I say he was an Imperial?”

The stallion leaned his head to her ear to whisper. “Do not be of trying to fool me. We have eyes everywhere. We are of knowing who you are, Starlight Glimmer, mayor of Our Town.”

The shrunken grin curled into a scowl; the faux-joyful eyes narrowed to sternness. “Who are you, and what do you want with me?”

“I am humble emissary of secret club. We mean you no harm. Not to your friend, either. Our goals are, how you say, aligned. I will explain further later.”

“You can explain now, can't you?”

“You must understand. We are not only ones who are having eyes in far places. Besides, mare walking around alone will be getting wrongful attention.”

“No offense, but I'm sceptical.”

“Sceptical is good thing to be. Necessary for the surviving. But this picture on your flank, and this name of sky and shiny thing; you are of status, and great magic strength and knowledge, yes?”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“It would be terrible waste to try to drag you to alley and mug you. Would also be suicidal. No, we have bigger goals, and smarter heads.”

“So where are you taking me, exactly?”

“Clubhouse for top-secret fan club. Very exclusive. Invitation only.”

“Hmm… alright, I'll see what you have to say. But if I smell anything even remotely fishy, I'm out.”

“Is what I'd hoped you would say. Even part with fish.” He paused. “Byzuntam is of close. We have ration to keep you fed and bed for sleep.”

“Is it any good?”

“Am afraid is not excellent, sorry. I know you like to live the lavish. But is not terrible either, and free of charge.”

Starlight rolled her eyes. “I'm sure my dear old friend would just love that last part,” she mumbled.

The Ruusonian paid the shuttle driver as he and Starlight disembarked outside the city. She could only stare in awe at the city wall, a brilliant blue marble fortification whose imposing height was almost as humbling to the soul as the beauty of its intricate engravings of flowers, mermaids, and all manner of sea creatures. The gatehouse held a wooden gate covered in the shimmering scaly silver hide of a saber-toothed lizard. Above the wall, she could see a grand white marble palace sitting atop a hill in the distance, adorned with two crisp waterfalls to the sides of a vast minaret made of solid gold which glistened in the Wasteland sun like a midnight star. Not even in her Canterlot days had she been so impressed by a city's aesthetic wonder, and she had yet to even enter it.

“Does this city get a lot of tourists?” she asked the Ruusonian.

“Tourist? No.”

“Well, why not? This is just utterly gorgeous!”

“Empire is not of wanting Federation to get income from tourist. This is just for show anyway. Is political statement for other city-state.”

“What, do they want all the tourists for themselves?”

The Ruusonian smiled, chuckling to himself. “Empire? Tourist? Is funny joke. Even their capitol looks like shit, and Imperials are very rude bunch. Only decent-looking city of Empire is Brustworth, and that is only because merchants wouldn't be caught dead there if it was of looking like all their other city.”

“Have you been to the Imperial capitol?”

“Wenn? Yes, I have been. Is like giant barracks. Everyone is live in big, gray block apartment. Not a tree or piece of artwork in sight. Only things not dark gray are Amphitheater and Palace; they are slightly lighter shade of gray. Is of making your Our Town look fun and lively by comparison.”

Starlight's eyes first widened in surprise at him knowing enough about Our Town to make comparisons to it, then narrowed down in a snarling rage as she became indignant at the insinuation that Our Town was not fun and lively. “Who do you think you are talking that way about Our Town!?” she shouted.

The Ruusonian stepped back, visibly shocked by such a sudden change in her tone. “Woah. Double Diamond was not exaggerate when he mention your mood swing. Am very, very sorry. Did not mean to offend. Our Town inhabitants are very nice bunch.”

“Ugh. I told that idiot 'no outsiders'. Just what the hell were you doing there, anyway?”

“I hope you are not of minding, but I was task with doing, how you say, research, on you. Your friend as well, but information on him is very hard to come by. We don't even know his name.”

Starlight sighed. “He doesn't even know his name.”

“Is very common for disgraced Imperial to have little to no surviving record of him. Empire is destroy any record they can of him. 'Arsön von Mumoree', they call it. 'Burning of Memory.' Is happen to anyone they deem traitor, which is usually deserter from battlefield.”

“Hold on, is that some ancient runic language that I never heard of?”

“Oh. Right. I forget to tell you. Empire has own invented language. 'Reichschpeak.' Is not ancient by any means, and is only meant to keep conversation between Imperial secret to so-called 'barbarian'. Your friend more than likely is of speaking it.”

“Yeah, I always wondered why they call everyone else 'barbarians' when they go out of their way to be complete savages.”

“That word is different to Empire than is to Equestria. They believe all non-Imperial are stupid, thus never have intelligent thing to say. They call non-Imperial 'barbarian' because, to them, anything non-Imperial is say is like bleating of goat. 'Baa, baa.' They also are believe that they are chosen of their god, thus worth more in his eyes than anyone else.”

“Well, are Imperials smarter than everyone else?”

“On average, no. They are conniving, xenophobic brute. That your friend has not tried to kill you by now must be meaning he is either very patient, or very fond of you.”

“Well,” she boasted, “I do have a natural ability to get others to like me.”

“We are guessing he has practical reason to keep you around as well, which is why I am of speaking to you now. There is someone else who wants to talk to you.”

“We're going now?”

“Yes, we're going now. Stay with me as close as you can. If I lose you, I will not look for you.”

Upon walking through the silver gates, Starlight was greeted with the touch of a cool mist of water, from the glimmering marble fountain on which a golden whale, surrounded by six golden dolphins, spat crystal clear water into the bowl which did not contain even a single rusty coin. She was instantly drawn to the water, which was cleaner than anything she'd seen since she left Canterlot so long ago. Ever so slowly, as if hypnotized, she walked to the water.

“Fountain water is strictly off limits,” barked a city guard who suddenly blocked her path. Starlight walked back some to get a better look at him. The first thing she noticed was his helmet, eerily similar to the helmets of the Equestrian Royal Guard back in Canterlot, even down to the bronze cheek pieces and plume. But such similarity stopped at the neck; his torso was covered by a white, hard leather cuirass, soft enough to be mistaken for fine linen, and shining like the fountain that its wearer protected.

“But why?” she asked.

“If we let any old pauper near it, then all the hoi polloi will flood in here and make this part of the city as squalid as all the others.”

“Starlight,” the Ruusonian interjected, “this is set piece. Is for show. No-one lives here.” He paused. “Look at the windows, Starlight. Look closely.”

Her eyes stared deeply into one of the windows of a nearby building. It looked like a selection of fine dresses from a clothing store, but it was completely still, lacking any movement. The building, like all the others encircling the fountain, was built from flawless marble, and engraved with images of majestic sea creatures. But they were as silent as corpses. There was nobody walking these marble-paved roads except the city guards, who seemed to be dressed to compliment the city aesthetic. Shiny gold, and shiny marble. She finally saw what was wrong in the window. It was a painting. All these buildings' windows had paintings hiding their true contents, which were likely nothing at all.

“Why would they go through all the trouble of making all this if nobody's around to see it?” Starlight asked the Ruusonian.

“Oh, is seen,” the Ruusonian replied, “is seen by foreign emissary and merchant. Especially from other city-state. Is basically way of saying, 'look how much more rich and power we are than you. We own you.'” He turned to the guard. “Isn't that right, my good sir?”

The guard shrugged. “Yeah, that's pretty much it. Hell, not even us guards live here. We live in brick apartments. Still better off than most, though.”

“What does the rest of the city look like?” Starlight asked the guard.

“About the same as the rest of the Federation.”

“Of course.” She turned to the Ruusonian. “Let's keep going.”

“Alright.”

The city after that set piece was, indeed, very much the same as in Cordelphi. Murder, theft, burglary, drug peddling, and all the rest of it were rampant. Drug peddling especially. The Russonian explained the Byzuntonian drug trade to her on their way to this "fan club" of theirs.

Byzuntam was not just the capitol of the Federation, but also the capitol of the “glowing rock” trade. A red crystal-like substance, the glowing rock was administered into the body by first melting it into liquid form, then injecting it into the bloodstream via syringe. It could also be ground into powder and administered through the nostrils. Most glowing rock users were criminals, and most criminals were glowing rock users. There were a few reasons for this: Firstly, there were the direct short-term effects of the drug: increased physical strength, dulled pain, relaxed muscles, and increased irritability and aggressiveness – psychotic rage, in extreme doses. These effects were normally only attractive to criminals anyway, since the mental effects were only really useful for those plotting to commit some murder or assault, while even those in very physical lines of work wouldn't consider it a decent trade-off to risk execution for murdering their bosses just so their muscles would be less sore on the job. Secondly, it was highly addictive; even a few ounces could spark a physical dependence on it even if it was the user's very first dose. Because of this addictiveness, and the body's natural tendency to build up tolerance to chemical substances, the user would go into a life of crime because the cost of regular dosages would rise above what he could afford with his paltry legitimate income. Thirdly, more than a few of the Byzuntonian crime syndicates required new recruits to go through a hazing ritual that included glowing rock usage, so that the recruit would have a much harder time leaving once crime started losing its appeal. Glowing rock was pretty much exclusively a Byzuntonian phenomenon; Ruusonians didn't care much for it because they preferred to keep cool and collected in their shady business, and Imperials scoffed at the “barbaric” idea of depending on external aids to be good at committing violence. Glowing rock peddlers were always laughed out of town in Ruusonia. They were also laughed at in the Empire… then nailed to crosses… while still being laughed at. But these peddlers were tolerated in Byzuntonia to the point where they could sell openly, some even setting up shops for different strains of the drug and related paraphernalia. In fact, the Ruusonian had just taken Starlight to one of these shops.

The first thing that hit Starlight upon entering the shop was the searing of her nostrils with each breath she took, as if the air was full of acid. Great mounds of glowing rock was stacked in termite-bitten shelves in this termite-bitten building. There was a lantern on the shopkeeper's bench, filled with cobwebs because the massive hole on the roof gave the shop about as much light as it needed. The shopkeeper, himself, was so dirty that the strands of hair on his beard were stuck together by food and dried booze, and his mane was so greasy that if it were wrung over a cooking skillet, there'd be enough oil to fry an egg.

“Hello there, friends!” the shopkeeper greeted, “how may I serve you today?”

“Ah, yes, comrade,” the Ruusonian replied, “there is certain kind I'd like from you. Is in secret stash, yes?”

“That depends. What kind were you looking for?”

“Am looking for 'Serov Special'.”

“I see. And is this the mare I've heard about? Our… new employee?”

“Yes.” He turned to Starlight. “You are eager to start work here, yes?”

“I am,” she replied.

“Okay,” the shopkeeper chirped, “just lift up this lantern here, then the Moskov Special will open up to you on your left.”

The Ruusonian walked up to the lantern, clutched it by the handle with his teeth, then lifted it off the ground, showing a vertical steel rod as it ascended and letting out a hissing stream of air. The wall to the left side sunk down into the floor, revealing a steel floor hatch behind it, sealed with a combination lock. After turning the numbered dials to the correct three-digit combination, the Ruusonian undid the lock, then opened the hatch.

“Down here, Starlight,” he said, motioning to the dark opening below. They walked down, with Starlight illuminating her horn to light the path down the underground chamber.

After some time of walking, Starlight saw some lanterns hanging from the ceiling, then a sign nailed to the wall in front of her. “The Brotherhood of the Sun welcomes you,” it read.

“Can you tell me what that is?” Starlight asked, pointing to the sign.

“Is a sign,” he replied.

“No. The Brotherhood of the Sun. What is that?”

“They are ones who sent me to you. We are fighter for Ruusonian independence. Free our country from Empire.”

“Well, what are Ruusonian independence fighters doing in Byzuntonia?”

“You see tunnel like this, Brotherhood have vast network of them throughout Wasteland. I tell you Brotherhood have eyes everywhere, yes?”

“Yeah.”

“Think of tunnel as nerve connecting eyes to brain. Also lets us travel throughout Wasteland without Empire seeing. For centuries, we bided our time, waiting for opportunity to strike. Now that you're here, that time may be soon.”

“You… you mean the Gem. The Gem of Mount Athon.”

“Yes. Brotherhood may have eye, but muscle is weak. Mount Athon might just be of containing the muscle we need. Come, you see Elder of Brotherhood. He will be of telling you more.”

For two hours, Starlight followed the Ruusonian down the tunnel, lighting the way with her horn. The scent of black powder was ever present. Looking closely at the walls and ceiling, she could faintly make out wooden barrels sticking out of them; it just happened that the scent of powder was strongest near these barrels. The tunnels also had a great many forks and loops. There were signs at every intersection, but these signs didn't display any understandable language. They were lines of pictures – hieroglyphs – probably either some long dead language, or a code. The general theme of the pictures was rodents. Rats, weasels, moles, and the like doing things that animals like rats, weasels, and moles normally do. Despite the esoteric and very antiquated nature of this written language, the Ruusonian could read it as if it was normal writing, and he was confident that he knew where they were going. Starlight wondered what those other pathways led to, but she didn't want to find out firsthand. The stench of rotting flesh coming from those pathways was enough to tell her the gist of it.

The first indication that she'd entered the Brotherhood sanctuary was the sudden switch from the dirt floor to the wooden floor; the clip-clop of each step alerted the rest of the Brotherhood members, who looked onto her in curiosity. The second was the lanterns which hung from the ceiling to light the labyrinth that served to connect all the sanctuary's different rooms and chambers, which were closed off with shoddy wooden doors. Other than that, it was about the same as the tunnel she'd come in from.

Just like in the Byzuntonian cities, there was not a mare in this sanctuary who didn't have a stallion escort. The vast majority of mares carried at least some sort of cleaning or cooking supply; the few who didn't carried textbooks. In contrast, the majority of stallions wore a leather suit and steel cap, not terribly different from the Jackals from some time ago. The largest stallions, the sanctuary's elite guard, were draped with hooded robes of tiny steel plates knitted together with leather strings. 'He wasn't lying when he told me they were chauvinistic,' Starlight thought to herself.

Three of the elite guards, marching in lockstep side-by-side, approached Starlight and the Ruusonian. “Greetings, Comrade Bright,” the guard in the middle said to the Ruusonian, “I see your mission to the surface was a success.”

“Indeed, comrade. Mark has been very cooperative with us so far, as expected. We can only hope other mark prove just as cooperative, yes?”

“I still don't like the idea of putting our trust in an Imperial.”

“I am not like it either, but is probably our only shot for long time.”

“This could be the death of us.”

“Eh. What is point of living in rat tunnel anyway? Besides, this one have no reason to betray us.”

“I wouldn't count on that. There isn't a single Imperial who isn't sick in the head, you know. Normal minds can never really understand their motives or reasoning.”

“I am of incline to think everyone have some good in them. I mean, he's spend months travelling wastes with Equestrian. Equestrian! Population that make most Wastelander look like Tartarus demon. And by all account, their relationship is of seeming rather good.”

“It is,” Starlight interjected. “and I can attest that he's different from the other Imperials I've met so far. He's kind, caring, honest, and very polite. I don't know how we could possibly get along if he wasn't. If there was ever an Imperial you could count on to fight tyranny, it would be him.”

“Those things can be feigned,” the guard replied, “but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Equestrians do have an uncanny ability to make rotten hearts pure. But I'm just a simple infantryman. It'll be the Elder who passes final judgement.”

“You're taking me to the Elder now, right?”

“No. We're waiting until your friend gets here. Should only be a few days from now. In the meantime, you'll stay in the sanctuary's general living quarters. As a token of our good will, we'll give you anything you ask for – within reason, of course. The Elder wishes to show you his generosity.”

“You can tell your Elder that I thank him for his kindness.”

“We will. Now, come. It's almost dinnertime. We wouldn't want you missing out on rations at the mess hall.” Next Chapter: Chapter 9 Estimated time remaining: 6 Hours, 49 Minutes