The water was cold, though that was to be expected from a lake. Despite the chill, though, it was not wholly unpleasant.

Blue hadn't realised that she'd gotten so filthy, her fur matted with grime. The blood which stained her was stubborn; when she climbed out from the water she was still slightly off-coloured around her wounds. Nevertheless, it was nice to at least feel somewhat cleaner.

She shook herself off as she clambered out of the water. Then fluffing up her feathers for warmth as the sudden chill struck her, Blue was more than happy to get moving. But one thing that the lake had not managed to do was to heal her; she trotted lamely after the earth mare, her teeth gritted. Despite her efforts, she gave a few quiet yelps whenever she placed too much pressure on her rear hoof. But she managed to keep up, at least.

That was, until she laid eyes upon some sort of trap door and stopped, a frown on her face as she looked down at it. Cu quickly turned to see what was up, then smiling thinly as she saw what the mare was looking at.

"Oh, you don't know about how this town works, do you R—ah—Blue?" Cu's smile became even more forced as she bent down and pressed her ear up against the wood. "That's used to be some old cellar, I think, but when the village was first founded it got changed into a holding area. For all the foals, when they get infected."

"What? You just... leave them down there?" Blue cringed at the thought.

"We don't have any choice." Cu gave a drawn out sigh and flattened her ears, eyes dull. "We can't tell how a foal will react to the plague when they go into the coma; we can only guess. So we keep them down here until they wake up, and then assess them. We can't have mad'uns running around—they'd k-kill us. Family or not, they can't be allowed to live in our village."

Blue recoiled slightly; bile rose in her throat. "So you... You kill your own foals?"

Cu gave a choked gasp and nodded slightly. "What else would you have us do? Half of our foals die right out when they get infected; of the survivors, half end up insane. And more will become insane from mutations. So few of our number survive as it is; we can't afford any challenge to our safety."

Blue shivered as she moaned and hastened to trot away from the trap door. It was a horrid thought; there were foals down there, simply in limbo as their families waited for 'judgement day'. But, she supposed, it was really the only viable solution. There was no cure for the plague, no vaccine; it was for the greater good.

"You... You start getting used to it, after a while," Cu followed up with, glancing down at the trap door before tearing her gaze away. "Each mare who lives here has to have foals, and we all know that. But the chance of a foal surviving is so low, you kind of get used to them dying after a while. That's not to say it doesn't hurt, but... Well, it's easier to get over it."

Blue cringed, the thought alone horrible. The village didn't seem to have so much charm anymore.

"I've had six foals, myself," Cu continued, her voice growing weaker and weaker. "I'm a mutant. Most mares only have one foal—or, at most, twins. But I had five my first time. Tiny things, they were, but they all grew up strong—and then the plague took them all from me. Four died right out; the other went mad. Now, I've only got one, from my second pregnancy. He's only two, the poor thing, and he... He's down there. He was unlucky, got infected so early on."

Blue stiffened. "You... You have a son down there?"

Cu nodded as her eyes slipped shut. "Yeah. But I'm not holding out hope for him; why should I?" Then plastering a smile back on her face, she tried her best to look chipper as she heaved her ears forwards and struggled to unclamp her tail. "Hey, this moping won't... It won't get us anywhere." She laughed dryly and turned away, trotting stiffly. "Come on—it's lunchtime, and you're gonna need feeding up before you go out on your mission tonight."

Blue nodded as she followed after the mare slowly. But, for once, she didn't feel all that hungry. Rather, she felt sickened—and, more than ever before, determined that there had to be a way to solve this epidemic. She knew nothing about medicine or disease, other than the fact that it was utterly unforgiving, but she felt confident that someday, whether their methods were evil or not, the facilities would pull through.

They would find a cure one day. They had to—before the entire world's population died.

Blue looked around quietly as she stood all alone in the middle of the village. Cu had left her there, promising to come back in a few minutes—but she had never honoured that vow. RipEar and Coalburst were nowhere to be seen, either. In fact, the whole village appeared deserted, almost as if it had been evacuated.

She didn't have to wait long, though, until she was finally rescued from her solitude. It was an ageing green pegasus who found her; the one who had lent a hoof earlier on with the boulder. She approached somewhat cautiously, but soon seemed to perk up when Blue made no movements to attack.

"My, my, it's been a while," the mare said. She looked Blue over with perceptive eyes. "You have changed rather a lot, haven't you?"

"Huh? D'you mean my coat?" The green pegasus nodded and Blue gave a small blush. "Well, I suppose so. I wouldn't really know, though, but if you say so then I'll take your word for it."

"Oh, you had a pretty coat, dear. But, to be honest, I think you look nicer as you are now. That blue mane of yours goes better with grey. You're lucky you've still got it, actually—but I see that you haven't got your mark back yet." The older mare narrowed her eyes slightly. "You really ought to try. It's important to know your strengths and weaknesses out here, child."

Blue shrunk a little at the mare's displeased tone. "I... I've only been out of my facility for a few days," she began, but never had the chance to finish and the mare cut her off.

"Pish posh. There's no reason you couldn't have found your talent while you were in there, now, is there?" She rolled her eyes and then turned around, but she did smile at Blue all the same. She was sweet—in a snappish, somewhat judgemental way. "Come on, you're missing lunch. That stupid sister of mine is even worse at forgetting things than you."

Blue opened her mouth to speak, about to retort that she had a fairly decent memory and didn't tend to forget things too easily. She caught herself, though, when she realised that the old mare was referring to her amnesia, not in day-to-day terms. "Oh. Thank you, uh-"

"Tourmaline. We're all named after rocks," the mare interjected, laughing a little. "Makes sense, given the surroundings. On which note, what do you go by now?"

"What do you mean, now?"

The mare rolled her eyes once again. "You know, now. Today. Ever since you forgot who you were, and your name with it."

Blue was stunned momentarily. "I... I had a different name?" she began, looking away for a second as she tried to puzzle it out. It seemed crazy; she couldn't imagine her name being anything but Bleu Celeste. Still, she soon snapped to attention at the mare's impatient cough. "Oh, it's Blue."

"Blue..." The mare trailed off for a minute before she laughed and snorted a little. "Ha. How uninventive. But, eh, that isn't a problem." She turned and began to walk off, still chortling a little. Blue could only hasten to keep up as she hobbled forwards with gritted teeth. She soon abandoned that endeavour—the aging mare was surprisingly quick—and then took to the air unsteadily. She wobbled forwards; her damp and bent feathers did not allow for finesse. But she could at least move faster this way.

As Tourmaline stopped at the largest house, moving the leather aside for the younger mare, her eyes softened a little when she noticed Blue's hesitance. She then flew up so that she was positioned behind Blue and gently pushed her forwards. "C'mon, it's okay. We only tried to kill you earlier because we didn't recognise you, child." She gave a short laugh and then nudged Blue a little harder, urging her past the leather.

It was smoky and hot inside the hut, but the atmosphere was okay. The ponies all seated inside, cramped together, seemed quite content to just chat among each other, not a single pair bickering. It was easily a friendlier place than the facility, despite the dangers and hardships of living out here.

The moment the ponies noticed her, however, they quietened. A few seconds passed before they then erupted in gentle applause and beamed at the little grey pegasus. As she cowered a little, Blue fluttered quietly down next to where RipEar was sat, munching on some hay with Cu at his side. Trying to cover up her displeasure, much more determined to simply get away, Blue made no fuss about the mare.

The stallion, however, gave her a huge grin as he threw a small hay net her way. He winked quickly and whispered, "Look who's the centre of attention now!" He laughed for a second, his eyes alight; a moment later he recoiled, looking away as his eyes dulled and his back hunched up. He refocused his attention on his hay—it was coarse, dusty and, to be frank, rather unpleasant stuff—and then took a great deal of care in chewing. His gaze never once left the floor.

"RipEar-"

"Coalburst's happy, too," he butted in as he snapped his head up and looked around wildly. Still his eyes never quite landed on Blue's—though they hovered just above her shoulder. "She says its nice to have other ponies to play with. That's nice for her, isn't it?"

"Hey, one-"

"And then Cu here's been giving me some advice on how to take on the job, which is great!" His grin was more than a little unnatural. "She says that by attacking at night, we'll have more chance of succeeding—though I guess that was kinda obvious anyway."

"I don't even know-"

"And you'll never believe it, but some other ponies were just telling me about—"

"Rip!" Blue smashed her hoof into the stallion's muzzle, eyes narrowed as she pinned his mouth shut. Over the hubbub of the room, though, nopony around noticed. With her teeth gritted and ears flattened, she then hissed, "For Luna's sake! I'm not angry at you! Just shut up already!"

Breathing deeply, Blue backed up as she inched her hooves away from the stallion's face. He merely sat there for a moment before he lowered his gaze and opened his mouth slowly as if about to contradict her. She only snarled once more and snapped, "Don't you say a word. Don't. You. Dare. You're not letting me get a word in edgeways. I don't care if your talent's... Well, being a thief. I don't care! You're my friend and honestly, that means more to me than some picture plastered on your flank."

RipEar glanced upwards slowly, but his ears remained pressed to his neck.

"Anyway, it's not like your cutie mark... defines you. Sure, you might be a thief—and that's not a good thing, I won't lie. It's dishonest. But let's be realistic; the whole world seems dishonest these days. It just depends on how you choose to act—and you've always been there for me. I trust you, Rip. The least you can do is trust me as well."

A small spark of hope shone in the stallion's grey eyes; a ghost of confidence flickered across his face. But his lips remained thin, brow creased. "You trust ponies too easily, you foal. We've been through this." He lowered his head slowly and took another mouthful of hay, chewing with concentration.

"Well, yeah. Maybe. But that's beside the point. I can trust you, I'm certain of it." RipEar narrowed his eyes at the mare's words. "Fine. I'm ninety-nine percent certain of it!"

"How can you be sure I'm not trying to kill you? Sell you off to some slave-dealer?"

Blue winced at the harshness of the stallion's words and she momentarily pictured him dragging her into the vicious claws of some monstrous beast. But that, she knew, was ridiculous; it had to be.

"You've been through too much for me," she said finally and ruffled her feathers. She winced at the ache.

"Might've been my plan all along," RipEar said as his eyes settled firmly on Blue's. A moment later, he looked down once again. "As you say, I'm a thief; I'm dishonest."

"No. I said that being a thief is dishonest-"

"That's what I said,"

"-but you're not dishonest. Because you act better than that."

RipEar scowled as he swallowed the last of his hay and shuffled backwards. He then sighed before he spoke, his back to Blue. "But I'm still a thief," he whispered as he hung his head, "so I'm dishonest by definition—in your opinion."

"Argh! You're insufferable!" Blue hissed. She rose to her hooves and winced. Her stomach growled as she then reached down, shoulder burning, and grabbed RipEar's short, cropped mane. She then jerked backwards and hissed as pain overwhelmed her senses, her flank especially indignant at the additional strain.

RipEar squirmed as the mare began to heave him, hissing and gasping. He kicked out with his rear hooves as Blue pulled him across the ground, then felt himself drop to the floor as the ponies all around turned to watch the commotion. Yelping as he landed, he leapt to his hooves and then looked around; he snarled as his eyes landed on the mare. "Hey!"

Blue shrank under all of the attention. She stepped towards RipEar slowly and hissed through gritted teeth, "Get outside now." She then turned away and let her hoof smash against his own. Plastering a smile—of sorts—upon her face, she began to stumble forwards. RipEar, cringing as he elevated his injured hoof, hobbled after her quietly, head lowered and tail clamped.

Once they had come to a stop just outside the hut, Blue spun to face the stallion with a glare. "Now, you listen to me. I might not know much, and I might just be the biggest wuss out here as well. But one thing I'm confident of is that you are a good guy. And you can swear as much as you want that you're trying to... trade me off to some psycho-wannabe for a... a mini cannon. I'm not buying it; I know you're not that kind of stallion.

"Now you, RipEar... You're the type to risk everything for somepony else. You saved me there in the facility, saved me with the cragodile and the mad'un, even though I only slow you down. You could've died for me—and that's proof enough to me that you're a good guy. I'm not valuable enough to make all of your efforts worthwhile."

"You'd be surprised," RipEar mumbled. "You'd really be surprised just how important you are."

Blue gave a small laugh and hopped forwards. She draped her wing over the stallion's back as she whispered, "Could you get any cheesier?" She giggled, suddenly feeling calmer, and then pulled him closer to her side; she rubbed up against him, feeling a new heat rush through her body. And, with a sudden surge of confidence, she leaned forwards and placed a peck on his cheek.

Some stallions would have been ecstatic, others somewhat unnerved—but Blue never expected the bellow which tore from the unicorn's throat. He then leapt away, eyes wide as he watched her warily.

"Cobdamnit, Blue!" he yelled as he hastened to wipe his cheek with a hoof. Throwing his head a few times and pawing at the ground, he then groaned and took a few hasty steps backwards. "Just... Damn!"

Blue, suddenly feeling her elation plummet, pouted a little and whined before she lowered herself down to the ground. If only the dirt would just swallow her whole, spare her the ache of RipEar's dismissal—but a moment later, the situation was interrupted anyway. Standing in the doorway to the food hall—that was what it seemed to serve as, at least—little Coalburst skipped outside, a small hay net held between her teeth. She thrust it at Blue and then bounced over to the stallion with a beam, smiling at some unknown joy-inducing stimulus.

She was a peculiar foal.

"Right," RipEar began; his gaze still avoided Blue. She had never imagined that he could be so shaken up, though in truth he had never been much of a social stallion. "We... We've got a big night ahead of us. So, I was thinking... Well, we ought to get a rest in now."

Stomach still growling, Blue felt unsure if sleep would come easily to her. But, not wanting to sadden RipEar anymore, she nodded as eagerly as she could and hopped to her hooves. He winced as she came nearer and looked away quickly. Covering this up with a curt nod in the direction of the hill, he then began to trot off.

Coalburst glanced up slowly and frowned at Blue. She then shrugged at the mare's disheartened expression and bounced off quickly, small sparks flying from her horn each time she landed. The pegasus could only sigh, following the two as she dragged her hooves, her hay net now held over her back.

She'd had enough of summer.

RipEar gave the earth stallion before him a thin smile and rose from his seat slowly. He was quick to thank him for his words of advice before he scuttled out, taking the elder's gift with him.

After he buried the item in his saddlebags, RipEar glanced up at the split sky and sighed. The bleakness of the world was completely unlike the warm glow of the fires inside the village's huts. But RipEar was well aware of the fact that he—and Blue and Coalburst, for that matter—could not stay inside. They were outsiders, after all; it would be foolish for the villagers to trust them too much. Especially now, what with danger right on their doorstep.

But it wasn't all dark. Over by the hill, in the same spot he had left his two mares, a small flickering light penetrated the bleak grey. It originated from some of Coalburst's flames, of course; nothing but her magical fire would burn for long in the rocky terrain without some fuel.

Wandering over, RipEar spared a hasty glance upwards at the mouth to the tunnel which passed through the hill. He then turned away and neared the gently crackling flames, their warmth incredibly strong—more so than usual.

But there were no ponies in sight.

RipEar's head shot up and he danced about on the spot. His breath spiked in his throat as he then shot forwards; his eyes shot about the landscape, his ears flicking around.

The fire's radiance, though, lulled him back into serenity. And, as he turned around, he could almost have cried out as his eyes fell on his two girls. They were concealed behind the boulder in front of which the flames had burned; their frames were silhouetted in the warm orange glow. And, as he neared, he gave a small laugh and sat down behind the two, watching them with a smirk. Lying on a rock, Blue slept soundly with a small smile on her face; draped across her back, her eyes closed lightly, Coalburst slumbered quietly.

RipEar chuckled a little more as a small bubble blew from the filly's mouth. He then crept closer, lying down quietly at the pair's side. He shuffled a little before he managed to get comfortable, he then lay his head near to Blue's wither and, with a last survey of the surroundings, let his weary eyes slide shut.