Trains, for some reason I really felt like I hated trains, and it wasn't just because I was back from a long day of welding train cars and lifting heavy girders. Goddesses I hated trains, and heavy labor. Especially working for anypony that considered affiliating with slavers anything other than morally reprehensible, no matter the benefits. Nevertheless, I had little in the way of choices. I was beginning to grasp an understanding of what Mom had once told me. If I was to provide a home for myself and my foal then I had to work, even if the employment wasn't always the most honest.

Still, I was always glad for the end of the day. I levitated my saddle bags down onto a wooden workbench beside the door as I entered the converted train car that was our makeshift home. It was an odd reminder of where I'd once spent my time with Mom, yet that memory felt like a lifetime ago. I was just eighteen years old and I already had a home, a job, and so many responsibilities my younger self would have probably disowned me for if she knew this was her future. Even so, as good as life went in the post-apocalyptic wasteland it wasn't that bad. I also wasn't alone.

"Teal!" I called out. There was nothing ahead but benches, the radio, and stairs to the train car stacked above. I sighed. "Teal Blitz, I swear you better get out here!"

I grumbled to myself as I trotted forward, limbs aching. I reached the bottom of the stairs before the sound of hoof steps met my ears and I paused, eyes narrowing."You know what happens to colts that don't do as they're told, don't you?" I mused.

There was another scurrying of hoof steps before all of a sudden a green-ish blur assaulted me from atop a shelf to the left.

"Rawww!" Teal cried before landing atop my back, wings buzzing. I let myself go limp, falling to the floor as if slain as the pegasus let out a fit of giggles. "Yeah, they get gobbled up by dragons!" he laughed, battling with his hooves as he created a monstrous impersonation.

I laughed, rolling over as he assaulted my stomach. "Yeah, and I'm the worst dragon of them all!" I wrapped him in my forehooves and pretended to gobble him up, laughing all the while. Teal screamed playfully, his wings buzzing as he fought to escape.

"No, I'm the worst!" he countered, darting back as I released him. I slouched back onto my front and stood, eyes locked on the colt as he continued to prowl like a draconic creature.

"Yeah, but it's in my name," I added, pointing a hoof to my chest. Teal paused, thinking for a moment before his face scrunched.

"Awww, you always use that one! You get a name like Dragonfire and I get my stupid name," he grumbled, crossing his forehooves before falling back on his hunches.

I gave another light chuckle, trotting by him. "Your name's not stupid," I assured, but he just shook his head.

"No way, my name's boring." His wings buzzed as he hovered up to the workbench beside me, bringing us to eye level.

"Hey, you got your wings, all I've got is a cool name and a dumb horn." I tapped the protrusion in question. "I can't fly," I added, motioning to the buzzing limbs at his sides.

He sighed, giving them another flap. "Yeah, I know. All the other foals think they're really cool. But dragons have wings, I wanna be a dragon!" he exclaimed proudly.

I raised a hoof to his muzzle, shushing him. He shied away slightly, but my smile coaxed him back. "Hey, there's no way I'm fighting a real dragon. They're nowhere near as cute as you are," I told him before doubt could manifest into anything greater.

"Hey, I'm not cute!" Okay, so his shyness was definitely short-lived too.

My eyes narrowed. "Yes you are, you're adorable," I teased.

"No fair, Mom," The colt frowned, sticking his tongue out at me before falling back on his rump.

I turned back to the table, upon which was a dismantled energy rifle and an equally disassembled Zap-Zap. I sighed as I saw the vast arrangement of parts, gems, and a copy of Applied Gemstones. Ditzy had given me a good price on it all, yet all I saw now were wasted caps.

Damn it Dragonfire, if you survived this long, you can build a gun, you needed a new one anyway! My mind chastised, reminding me that I'd been taking care of Zap-Zap for years.

Regardless, my horn flared and levitated out the notes I'd been making on this particular project. A far stronger modification to the laser rifle.

"You're reading that one again?" Teal asked, pointing a hoof at the tattered sheet of paper. "I can't even understand all your scribbles."

I paused, looking back at the pegasus sitting atop the leftmost workbench, eyes continually glancing at the dismantled weaponry.

"That's because you still need to learn to read, silly," I responded, even if I knew I was procrastinating.

Even so, after a hard day of work, I wasn't in the mood for doing even more. If it weren't for Teal I wouldn't even be back here, I'd be getting drunk over at Turnpike Tavern or something.

With that thought of partaking in one of my favorite vices, I moved away, my walk slow. How long can I really keep this life up?

"Say, where's Candi?" I asked and Teal shrugged.

"She left a few hours ago, somepony got shot up real bad so she's gone over to the clinic, said she'd be back later," he explained, hovering up from the desk and to my side. "Why, you two gonna make me stay down here while you have another party upstairs?"

I froze by the stairs, blushing hard and rounding on the teal colt. My cheeks and ears burned and I was incredibly glad he was not old enough to understand why.

"Teal! That's for big ponies and..." I faulted as he frowned. Then I swallowed, shouting wasn't my thing.

I don't shout, I'm a good mom, right? My mind continued to race as Teal looked at me with confusion.

I sighed, nudging his drooped chin with a forehoof. "Hey... I'm sorry it's just..." I faltered once more.

I'm a good mom, right? I've done her proud. Saved him the pain? Teal looked up at me, eyes shimmering and teary.

"I... I just don't like being left out. I feel so different from everyone." He buzzed his wings, using a tone that leached the truth from me faster than any kind of chem.

I nodded, then shrugged. "Ponies would not survive if everypony was the same, the world needs difference. There's no shame in being special,” I stated.

I'd like to think that was really true. Even I was different, mainly due to my pyrotechnic magic, but nopony else could weld as well as I could without a torch. He was a pegasus, one of the greatest rarities in the wasteland. Yet in truth, that only made me worry about him even more.

Suddenly there was a loud clatter and the door swung open as a white earth pony mare with candy-colored mane trotted in. Her saddlebags hung lazily over her back as did her yellow uniform. Not to mention the weary bags under her eyes.

"Urg, they could warm me before dragging my flank there on such short notice," Candi grumbled, shrugging off her saddlebags beside my own.

The moment she looked up at me her expression lightened. "Oh, hey, Dragonfire, good day over at the train yard?"

I glanced down at Teal knowingly. Now he had a card to play against me any time he wished. "Yeah, about as good as a day there can be," I replied trotting over.

Candi smiled as she approached before wrapping her hooves around me in a hug. "Well, it's a good thing ah'm here to give you a prescription," she purred.

"Yeah, but colts need to be in bed first," I retorted, our lidded eyes meeting.

She gave a foolish giggle before releasing me. "Yeah, but in the meantime..." She bumped my rump with hers.

"Ewwww! Filly cooties! Don’t give me your filly cooties!" Teal blurted, jumping in the air with a buzz.

Both of us froze, wide eyes locked shamefully on the colt as we blushed heavily. He beat his wings spitting out his tongue in disgust. I glanced at her, and she at me as we both shook our heads and finally regarded the young colt.

"Well, at least there's no chance of us getting another," I mused quietly.

Candi smiled. "The way you go I wouldn't be so sure. Not to mention there are some pretty good-looking stallions coming in to see me these days. Oh, what I would not give for a handsome pegasus fella," she added with an equally whimsical grin.

I cocked an eyebrow. "Is that so? Well looks like I'll just have to up my game."

The pair of us laughed as Teal just frowned in confusion.

Consciousness stirred in the darkness as my senses came back to me less than smoothly. First came the light against my closed eyes, then the warmness of a bed, and finally all the horrid pains, aches, and illnesses that revolved around life in the wasteland. My eyes flashed open, glimpsing the dull metal of a ceiling. Faint lights flickered behind the slowly rotating blades of a ceiling fan. The buzzing of a radio met my ears as they twitched, as well as a faint beeping sound. Looking over myself I saw a worn sheet, glancing to my right I saw a scrap wall and a bed. Ochre slept soundly under the covers, a whole host of medical equipment accompanying her. Above the sleeping mare, a yellowed glass window allowed the dreary light to bleed into the room.

Well, at least the storm stopped. I thought as I looked to my left.

There was a medical drip at my bedside too, as well as a rusty table supporting several doses of radaway, med-x, and medical equipment. I shuddered at the sight of more needles, I really wanted to just kick them away, throw the sheet off and see what way I'd been cut open this time. But my body lacked the strength to move me more than a few inches. All I could think was that if Ochre was here and she was still alive, then I must at least be somewhere safe. One thing was for sure, this was no pre-war lab. Only one closed door allowed access to the shabby room, flanked on either side by several lockers. None of those things really struck me as sinister, yet none of that mattered as I saw somepony sleeping with her head on my bedside.

Cherry must have really been getting sick of sitting around while I recovered from beating myself up. Nevertheless, as I saw her chest rise and fall with steady breaths, I felt a swell of relief.

I'd saved her, the ponies on the train... Suddenly my mind raced and the memories of what had happened came flooding back. Then came the realization that I knew should have been instantaneous

I had to make sure everypony made it out of Crimson Springs! With all the strength I could muster I kicked off the sheets, but once again the sight presented me with nothing more than my bruised white coat.

Wait, something's off. Is it just me or do I look a little pudgier than usual? I'd no time to think about how I may have let myself go, however, as I tried to sit up, only for my muscles to spasm and utterly fail me.

I paused, leaning back against the pillow as I shook all of my hooves in turn. They were stiff, trembling, and sour, but did not feel broken. The same could not be said for my aching gut or throbbing headache, both just reminders of my imminent demise. My mind insisted that I should be dead already, and after the trick I'd pulled in Crimson Springs I was hard-pressed to disagree. Nevertheless, I'd saved Cherry, Ochre, and assumingly the others. I looked at the mare sleeping on the side of my bed and many things suddenly revolved in my head.

Why was she here? Why was I here? Where was here? I raised a hoof to her head, placing it atop her dark pink-red mane.

She looked so peaceful, so innocent. The sight of the muddy mare standing firm in the rain, her golden rifle aimed at deadly griffins came to mind, but I moved the thought along. That had been the good pony, not a merciless killer or desperate survivor. I knew that for sure because those griffins had not been good by a long stretch, nor was the group they worked for. Transcendence, that monstrous rabble of ponies…

I felt a little relief that Vertigo had died at the hands of one of their lesser creations before being handed to the likes of Carnage, even if I wished I could strangle him myself. At that, my mind suddenly clicked, and I promptly realized that without him I was back at square one.

Seriously, wasteland! He was my only ticket to figuring this mess out! I mentally screamed, a little envious that I'd never get to see that handsome face again either. ‘Grr… Shut up brain!’

Staring up at the ceiling as the fan blades slowly rotated I finally noticed one last thing. My Pipbuck's display was gone. Sure enough, as I placed my left hoof on the mattress I saw that the arcane device was no longer attached to my foreleg. I felt a swell; two parts spite, one part dread at the revelation, wincing as I felt a painful jab in my gut.

I fucking hate waking up and not knowing what's going on! I mentally grumbled. Awww, come on, it's not like you're not used to it. My mind retorted and I growled through gritted teeth.

Yet with my body refusing to cooperate properly, I could only stuff my head into my pillow. After several moments of sulking, I finally sighed, then brushed a forelimb through Cherry's mane again. She was about the only comfort I had. It felt as if I'd seized defeat from the jaws of victory.

Then there's nothing left to do now but keep running and hope those ponies don't catch you. My mind added.

I sighed rubbing my left hoof across my gurgling stomach gently. The aching muscles gave a nipping cramp and I shifted, ignoring it. Looking back at Cherry I finally made the decision to end what appeared to be the first decent sleep she'd achieved in days. The pink mare gave a reluctant moan.

"No... Sis, no... I don't wanna go today... I..." she moaned to herself before lifting a lazy hoof to my own.

Then she stopped, her limb grasping mine as her eyes opened and she glanced up slowly. "Dragonfire?"

"Who else were you expecting?" I asked with a slight smile.

Her eyes grew wider as she raised her head. "You pulled through? Oh, thank Luna!" For some reason that didn't sound so good.

I paused, my smile fading as I lowered my forehoof. "Yeah, I'm fine. What about you, are you okay?"

I felt like I was nearly dead, though I could worry about my well-being later. She leaned back onto a stool she must have been sitting on before falling asleep.

"I'm fine... A bit shaken, but fine. Bit better with a rifle too, I'd say," she stated that last part with a faint smile, her previous relief still holding most of her expression.

I leaned back against the pillow, forehooves crossing over my midsection. Cherry watched me closely and I really tried not to look at the bandaged stump of her ear as it twitched.

"What about you? Sky said it would be a miracle if you woke up, so how do you feel?" she asked skeptically.

Her question, and how it was so cautiously voiced, once again set off alarms in my mind.

I took a deep breath, my forehooves rubbing nervously against my aching stomach. "I'm okay, but please just tell me what happened?"

Cherry did not look too fond of the fact I was throwing my well-being out of the window and that only made me feel a little more guilty. But my mind was demanding information I only trusted her to give.

"Sky and I managed to get at least twenty of the slaves on the train. Clip and Ochre are fine too, but some ponies..." She trailed off.

My breath caught in my throat. Death? It's just another normal thing in the wasteland.

It had not been what I was expecting however, she was a good pony she could have saved them she… This is the wasteland, Dragonfire. My mind insisted, reminding me about the irritatingly logical entity.

Cherry sniffed, taking a deep breath. I glanced down, away from her eyes. "The rest wouldn't come, kept saying the screams and the rage would get them if they ran. Going on about some kind of paradise?" she admitted before I could respond.

'Paradise?' Mister Green's last words flashed through my mind. I had no doubt who was filling everypony's head with that religious ideal, but even hopeless slaves? Maybe they'd just overheard? Maybe the Rage rotted their minds too?

I sighed, placing a hoof on her shoulder. "You saved as many as you could, you were the better pony," I assured her kindly.

'Be kind'. I recalled the statuette that I assumed my companion was still carrying in her saddlebags.

She gave a half-hearted sigh, rubbing a hoof over her face before nodding. "I knew the wasteland wouldn't make it so easy, just hoped I could have done more," she stated before looking back at me.

No, the wasteland certainly won't. That posh entity whispered into my mind. I swiftly suppressed that thought.

"Are they all safe now?" I asked in an attempt to steer her mind toward what good she'd achieved.

She nodded. "By the time the train stopped, we'd lost the griffins in the storm. A buck who found you at the side of the track led us here. Said you knew him," she explained and I felt my mind come to a sudden stop.

Vertigo, he's alive? He'd been shot and fallen off a speeding train! How in Equestria could anypony survive that? I exclaimed as much.

"All he said was that you helped him in Crimson Springs, and I think he may have taken your Pipbuck," Cherry informed me and I felt the urge to face hoof.

So he's alive, and he's gotten exactly what he wants! So much for trust!

"But how'd you get off the train?" Cherry continued, drawing my attention back.

I opened my muzzle to answer but felt the words die in my throat. "I have no idea, I think somepony flew me off."

Her face appeared as confused as I felt, but we both knew at least some part of it must be true or I'd be dead.

"Vertigo, where is he now?" I asked, nodding to my Pipbuck-deprived leg. Cherry seemed slightly amused by that, and despite everything, her smile was a welcome sight as she answered.

"I don't know, said he'd come by with flowers when you woke up. He seems like a good stallion." She waved her hoof about in the air slowly.

"Did he happen to mention why he needed my Pipbuck?" I grumbled.

"Not exactly, he just said that he needed it. At the time I was kinda afraid he'd just leave us all to die on the tracks if I didn't let him take it," she admitted.

Putting the safety of everypony before my own interests? It was good to see that her heart was still in the right place even if I was unsure as to whether I'd have been so trusting in her position.

"He also said something about taking you out for dinner but there were..."

"No options?" I finished for her and she nodded.

That certainly sounded like Vertigo. Goddesses, that buck is either tougher than an Alicorn or the luckiest pony in the whole damn wasteland.

Regardless, I was not about to let him escape me any longer, I needed answers and he was going to take me to them. My aching body it seemed had different ideas and as I tried to get up from the bed my strength failed me. My muscles felt like jelly and my stomach rolled as if some pony were kicking it around like a ball.

My head felt about the same. Is somepony playing drums in there or something?

"Hey, you better not be trying to get up. I'll sedate your sorry butt in a second again if you are." The sound of Sky's firm voice made me tense, then I remembered that if anypony was going to try and kill me right now it was her.

I slipped back onto the bed, Cherry's hooves catching me before I could fall back too far. The moment she did it, however, she pulled back, blushing hard. It would have been mind-bogglingly cute if Skylark had not marched up behind her, stern eyes fixed on me. Cherry's hooves gone I slipped back down in the bed, my midsection churning.

"I'd tell you you're lucky to be alive, but I don't think that would stop you from doing something like that again. Strolling through Crimson Springs, stopping a damn train with your magic, you really are insane!" she declared, pointing a clipboard at me with her telekinesis.

It was not the first time I'd heard somepony tell me that, and it was not the first time I knew somepony telling me I was stupid was right. I said as much and she frowned, then sighed.

"The worst part is, I'm still glad you did it all. Maybe not the whole creeping off thing, but you got us out of there and..." She glanced over at Ochre and her face softened. "Saved the love of my life."

"So she's going to be okay?" I asked and Sky offered me a solemn look.

"She will live, maybe never walk straight again, but she'll live," she elaborated before I pressed on.

"How about Clip, is he okay too?" She rolled her eyes, then nodded.

"Yes, yes, he's fine. One good healing potion fixed his legs, he's almost up and about already." I felt a wave of relief wash through me, then saw the sight of her sharp eyes again and gulped.

"You on the other hoof, I have no idea what really happened to you. Not even my father can figure it out!" She jabbed the clipboard at me again.

I glanced at Cherry shamefully, really feeling the weight of the fact. I came so close to leaving the pink mare with nopony while trying to do what was right. It had been a stupid plan from the start, and yet I knew I'd at least partially done it for her.

Sky didn't seem to accuse Cherry, however, her eyes were focused on me as if I were a spectacle for more than my looks. Dragonfire, she has a marefriend damn it!

Cherry leaned back on her stool as Sky trotted over and looked at the set of screens beside her. Tapping on them as her face scrunched into a whole manner of puzzled expressions. Then she glanced at Cherry and the pair exchanged unsure looks.

"What is it, do you two know something?" I asked, peering from mare to mare. Sky placed her clipboard down on the medical table, her eyes fixed on the screens.

"I know that you really should be dead, that's one thing," she stated, tapping one of the screens.

I sighed, my hooves flopping down at my sides. Great, they are keeping things from me.

"You at least gonna tell me when I can stand up?" I asked, wobbling my limp legs.

Sky glanced at me with a disapproving glare. "I'd say about a day or two before you can walk properly. Father thinks a little longer, but that's probably just because he wants to prove me wrong," she confessed.

"And which of you is usually the right one?" I pressed and she frowned.

"The one who saved your sorry plot, then again he helped so I can't really say that... Grr, the point is you messed yourself up, Dragonfire!" she berated, before taking a deep breath.

"So you're saying I'm stuck here for a whole two days? That's great, you at least going to tell me what I did to fuck myself up so bad then?" I asked, hitting my hooves on the bed as hard as I could. Which was to say, not very hard.

"Exhaustion mostly. You were drained when I patched you up the first time and the recklessness you've shown is almost suicidal. Plus, don't even think about using magic for a while, you completely burned it out," she explained, pointing at the reading on the screen, then my horn.

I raised a hoof to the spire atop my forehead, feeling it ache as I tapped it. Magical burnout? It wasn't a first for me. Then again, I'd never tried to do something like stop a train car before, never mind three.

"You also had several pieces of shrapnel dangerously close to some major arteries, major bruising, your shoulder was half severed, and then there was the radiation poisoning." She faced-hoofed. "Goddesses, you really would have been dead if we hadn't got you here," she concluded as if ticking a mental checklist.

I glanced at the vast amounts of radaway on the medical trolley, yet I'd had radiation poisoning before and I couldn't feel anything. Usually, I'd be stuck on a mattress, puking and shitting my guts out by now.

"How long was I out?" I asked, my eyes narrowing. She once again glanced at Cherry.

"It's been about three days," the pink mare informed me, rubbing one of my forehooves.

"A stressful three days at that, between you Ochre, and the slaves half my family's been in here. Thank Celestia for Flare," she stated, glancing at her sleeping marefriend.

"Are all your sisters doctors?" I asked, but she shook her head.

"Mostly just myself and Wing Flare. Sidewinder, my only brother ran off a long time ago. My younger sister, Heatstroke, is more focused on helping father take over the town than medical training, and the twins help where they can," she informed me.

"Taking over the town?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Skylark's head drooped as she responded. "Yep, turns out a lot's happened while I've been gone. Sun Spot, the town's previous mayor apparently died in the raider attack, and ponies have been vying to take her place since. Looks like it's going to Pear Pudding though, not that my father's happy about it."

"I thought you said they're still trying, the positions not been taken yet?" Cherry interjected, but Sky shrugged.

"Folks don't take kindly to somepony just rushing into the position of somepony who just died. They're biding their time to look respectful. Though Pear will get what he wants, fat slob always does," she retorted, spitting out the latter part with disgust.

"Still, you're on your deathbed and you're asking me about my family? Yeah, we have a big influence here, but you sure you don't have bigger things to think about?" Sky asked, her firm demeanor snapping back.

I recoiled, raising my forehooves. "Okay, okay, I was just curious. I just assumed that one of your sisters must have been really good with radiation poisoning. I know that much... It should have killed me, like you said," I admitted, really hoping that I didn't frustrate her even more.

Instead, Sky almost seemed to choke on her words. "Yeah, about that. It should still be killing you right now... But..."

My eyes narrowed more, I had a really bad feeling about this. Then again I really should have a bad feeling about almost everything in my life right now.

"Well?" I pressed, and she glanced back to the screen, then at Cherry.

"Well, that's the problem. The radiation didn't seem to mutate or even affect any of your cells, it was just absorbed," she stated, somewhat amazed.

I paused, my expression falling as I cocked my head. Absorbed? My cells can harmlessly absorb radiation. Since when?

I asked as much, but both mares just exchanged glances again. Cherry merely seemed timid, her ear and bandaged stump folding back. Skylark seemed more worried. That didn't bode well with me at all.

"Well, it wasn't exactly that your body did away with the radiation. In fact, if this weren't the case then you'd both most certainly be dead." I looked at her questioningly.

Both?

She merely looked back at the screens. "I tested your blood and found increasing levels of gonadotropins, oestrone sulfate. Father found some other stuff too, said it was like nothing he'd ever seen."

Okay, those were science words I didn't understand. I thought as Cherry gripped my forehoof tightly.

"You absorbed all the radiation," she informed me clearly.

"That's good, right? But who else are you talking about?" I looked right at Cherry. "You?"

The pink mare froze at my response, looking a little pale under that bright coat as she strengthened her grip on my hoof, before she finally smiled.

"Dragonfire, she's not talking about me," she stammered weakly.

My confusion only grew as I looked back at Sky, yet she too just had that same, happy kind of look. My mind was turning and turning, attempting to find every possible explanation as I tried to put this whole mess together.

Skylark gave a light-hearted chuckle. "You know with your track record this doesn't surprise me, but congratulations, Dragonfire, you're pregnant."

Oh hi, darkness, didn't expect to see you again so soon.

The world was dark save for the pillars of firelight cast by the brazers within their narrow coves. Like luminescent sentinels, they lit my path as I trotted down the long, sandstone passageway. My hooves hit the dusty floor with the softest of motions, not even scattering small clusters of rats and Shardroaches as I passed by. I could feel my breath in the cool air, the small puff of vapor the only thing to betray my invisible form. Even so, the orange light of my eyes shone against the underside of the invisibility hood, a perfect reminder that only I could see. The rest of the stealth cloak shimmered over my back like liquid night as I glided through the silent temple halls.

I moved with a swift and set purpose, only glancing away from my path to see other corridors branching off from the first. The sandy-colored walls were mute in the gloom as I rounded one corner and caught a glimpse of two zebras standing just ahead. Noting their positions I shrank back around the edge, pressing my back to the wall. Across from me, etched into the stone, were numerous carvings and murals. Equine figures beset from above by coiling tendrils of fiery wrath and one great eye looking over them. Directly below it sat a pair of cloaked zebras, raised above the rest upon a hill of stone zebra faces.

"Too forsaken," I muttered in zebrican, lining my forehooves vertically against my muzzle as I closed my eyes and bowed my head.

Then I sprung, moving with the swiftness of the wind and stoic vigor of the earth as I bolted down the corridor and right into the first of the two zebras. He was taken completely by surprise as I wrapped my hooves around his neck and wrenched it around. His spine gave with a pop, and he fell twitching to the floor. The second equine spun around to face me, orange eyes glinting in the firelight. I took one look at the tattooed zebra as he drew a curved silver blade and leaped aside. He may not be able to see me, but a true huntress never tested her pray's skill, especially when it came to her own tribe.

The striped stallion didn't say a word, he didn't call out or taunt. He just trotted forward, eyes darting to every shadow as he burnished the shimmering blade. I crept behind him, kicking a small pebble aside. Instinct caught the stallion and he swiveled, ears standing tall as he saw the small stone. I kicked up, leaping right over him in a fluent arch. One hoof lashed out, striking his spine and in seconds he folded like paper, curling up on the floor. I hit the ground behind him with a gentle whoosh of dust, then finished him off with a snap of his neck.

"May the spirits have mercy upon your souls," I stated, making the same motion with my forehooves as I bowed to the fallen victims and trotted on.

I had to dispatch four more guards before the corridors finally led me out into something that wasn't just another dark hall. The base of the large, cavernous pit was filled with a grove of thick vegetation and boasted a tranquil lake at its center. Dragonflies and firebugs darted around the thick canopy, and waterfalls poured down from the mossy walls that stretched far above. Looking up, I had to steady myself against vertigo as I glimpsed the shimmering sea of stars at the very rim of the sinkhole.

I'd lived underground my whole life. I'd died without seeing the sky that I was told to worship so reverently. Now that I saw it, barely a smear against the dark brim of the deep pit, I felt both a swell of pride and a cold dread. Those stars, those innocent, twinkling little lights so distant in the midst of their void. I'd seen the real fire in those stars and I knew that it was anything but small and innocent. I looked back down to see that the tunnel had deposited me on a small ledge of grassy rock that ran the circumference of the pit.

Checking for more guards, I carefully crept my way down the damp wall of stone and into the forest grove. Thick tree trunks rose on either side of me, their narrow roots forming a maze under my hooves as they impacted the soft mud. Ferns, grasses, and luminescent flowers sprang up around them in the hundreds, bustling with more nocturnal insects. The fresh smell of the undergrowth met my nostrils as I inhaled, and it was hard not to become distracted by just how beautiful it felt. Life, in all of its forms, felt good. To see it strong and flourishing was almost filling. Of course, that was when one of life's more obnoxious features presented itself.

As I reached the opposite side of the grove I came upon a leaf-littered pathway, the trotting of hooves caught my raised ears. I peeked to see a familiar zebra stallion approaching.

Xundia held his head high as he passed by, silver-scaled cloak billowing as his fiery tattoos glowed. The light that radiated from the serrated, orbital markings marred into his aged, striped hide was like a curse upon the living grove. I could feel the anger of the trees as it passed over them, their spirits uneasy. Unseen, I slipped out of the undergrowth and followed the stallion until he came upon the edge of the small pool. A narrow shore of pale sand ran around the water's edge and at the end of the path a gazebo of silver metal had been erected. The pillar supporting a pyramid roof above a raised platform, upon which, her belly swollen with new life, stood Xepheriah.

"An ancestors blessed night, is it not, my precious?" Xundia asked as he trotted up to the pregnant zebra's side.

She glanced over her shoulder at him, then snorted. "Do not attempt to berate me with idol talk, husband. My mood is most opposed upon this night," she growled as I crept up to the base of the gazebo and pressed my back against it.

"My apologies." Xundia bowed as he brushed close to her side. "Your time grows near, does it not?" he asked, and she shot him another frustrated look.

"You have seen me with foal a thousand times, I think you can tell," she huffed, and he nodded, looking out over the pool.

"Then what is it that troubles you, if not the foal?" he asked, and her eyes went to looking across the pool along with his.

"It is the foal, not the bringing of them into this world, but its departure. The last scion was not the same, I fear the Great Master may be displeased and forsake us because of our daughter's resistance," she elaborated, and my jaw clenched.

"I see, you should not fear, my precious. Our daughter will have found the truth in the Great Master's embrace no matter her resistance," Xundia admitted.

"Yet it is not the Master's wrath upon them that I fear. If this scion turns out to be the same, then there will surely be consequences. What did the stone tell you about this?" she responded, and right there and then I felt like snapping both their necks.

How could they talk about such things so dismissively, how could they care more about their own belief than their offspring's well-being!?

"The tablet does not reveal to me what it is you fear, the Master must wish it to be shrouded from us," Xundia told her, and she let out a hissing breath.

"Only so that they may strike us when the time comes. Put the tablet in the temple for reconditioning. The souls of a few weaklings should prove to satisfy its hunger," she spat, stamping a hoof.

"Do not worry, my precious, I have already seen to that. You are not the only one who knows what must be done, the tablet will be satisfied by morning," he assured her and my ears perked.

"Good," she stated as I peered up onto the platform.

The two of them just stood there in the starlight, right on the edge of the lake. I could do it now, kill them both and send them back to their Great Master. Yet if he was right then so many innocent zebras were about to lose their lives. I glanced back along the path into the trees, then at the evil pair I'd once called mother and father. I knew what had to be done, and I knew what was right. That distinction had set me apart from the rest of my tribe and at that, I bolted back into the woods. I ran through the brush, past torches, and patrolling zebras until I finally came upon a structure built into the pit's wall. Four carving-etched pillars supported the large entryway into the earth, the glow of torches flickering within. Two zebra guards, wooden spears tipped with silver metal in their forehooves stood at either side of the grand entrance.

I took both of them out from the shadows in mere seconds before leaving a trail of twitching bodies behind me as I stalked into the temple. Zebras fell like flies to my hooves, then I finally came upon a large chamber at the core of the temple, once again supported by four pillars. Unlike the stone that surrounded them, these pillars were formed from silver metal. A glowing orange pattern marked the surface of each and at the sight, horrid images flashed through my mind forcing me to recoil. Then I saw the middle of the room, where the floor dropped a few steps onto a large, square platform. A shallow mote of water ran around its edge, and purple mats covered most of the flat stone. Crouched upon them, blindfolded, gagged and hooves bound by rope were twelve zebras. One from each tribe, almost.

I did not make any effort to distinguish between them, however. Instead, my attention was drawn to the far side of the chamber. The back wall was lit up by a pit of fire, the light of which shone up onto a mural of two cloaked Zebras standing under the gaze of a great eye. The tribe's elders, Xundia and Xepheriah, mother and father. Before the image, across the shallow stream, stood a stone plinth, upon which, held by a silver frame, was a gray stone tablet. Inscribed into it was the image of the two zebras and their cosmic lord looking down a tower of faces onto a battlefield of equine figures wielding spears and axes. Sitting before that was a long table that sat horizontally to the tablet. A long, silver blade rested upon it, a scythe-like glaive crafted from the same silver metal as the imposing pillars.

One other zebra occupied the room, his face covered by a mask crafted from the same metal and made to imitate the shape of some kind of demonic skull. The faceless stallion dawned a silver cloak and necklace like the elders. I watched him pace before the tablet, muttering rhythmically to himself as some of the captive zebras before him fidgeted and even wept. I crept forwards, hopping over the stream and to the bound zebras. The stallion stopped, as did I. Then he rose up onto his hind legs and hefted the silver scythe in his forehooves. The words that seeped from his mouth were alien and strange. Once I'd failed to understand them, but as I saw one zebra before him go as stiff as stone I knew exactly what those words were. He was turning the mare's blood to ice, just like mine.

I sprang up, wrapping my forehooves around his neck and twisting. The stallion fell forwards, hooves hitting the mat hard. In an instant, he reared back up and tried to buck me off. I kicked up, lashing out to strike his spine but not before he spun and swung the blade right across my outstretched limb, severing it in a flash. I landed on my hind hooves as a numbed pain shot through me, like a shock from touching warm metal. The bloody stump that was once my leg glowed red hot as the invisibility field around me faded. The masked stallion reared up, then dove to plunge the blade right into my chest. I kicked up again, landing atop the blade's edge with my hind hooves, darting along its length, and gripping his head with my one remaining forehoof.

The stallion squirmed as I pressed my head close to his and through the mask our eyes locked, my bright orange spheres burning into his mildly glowing ones. He started to scream, kicking and thrashing as his eyes began to burn, then his face, then his whole body. I took one step back, taking his blade as the orange fire spread over him, turning his hide to the same shimmering silver metal as the pillars around us until he was nothing but a petrified statue. I fell back to all fours, my severed limb flickering as silver metal began to grow in its place. A coat of striped fur marked by glowing tattoos once again bloomed across it until nopony would have believed it had ever been severed.

I looked to the closest of the bound zebras, the one that had been frozen only seconds ago, and moved to untie her. The mare shivered as I remained silent, then she suddenly gasped through her gag. All I noticed was a black smear pool under her coat where her heart should be before she spasmed and fell to the floor, dead.

Heart attack curse, cursed dark magic! I took one step back as the long shadow of a stallion was cast across the room, then I finally glanced up at the entrance.

"So you came back?" Xundia asked as he stood alone in the entryway, orange eyes fixed on me as I backed right up to the tablet.

"I have no words for you, Father!" I spat, holding the blade horizontally across my chest.

"Not even questions, daughter? Or do you already know that you can't stop the world's destiny?" he asked, and my eyes narrowed.

"No, I thought you would know that after what you put me through I would have seen everything." I spun on my hind hooves, holding the blade high. "I know that saving these zebras will not stop you from sacrificing anymore."

"Wait, Majeaph, my daughter, what are you doing?" he called, reaching out for me.

"What you always taught me, father. What must be done," I declared as I brought the blade down upon the tablet.

"Dragonfire, Dragonfire!" The sound of somepony's voice by my ear shook me from the gloom.

"Cherry, will you please stop that? It's not going to make things any better!" Is that Cherry? Wait, no, that sounds like Sky. "Flare, will you help me with this?"

"How long has she been out?" Okay, I'd no idea who that voice belonged to.

"About half an hour, she passed out and with all the stuff that's going on inside her I really have no idea what's going on!" Sky exclaimed, her voice drawing me closer to consciousness.

That was when I realized I was literally shaking. I opened my eyes to see Cherry looking down at me with a worried expression, forehooves shaking me awake. I shook my head, letting a long breath escape my muzzle.

Cherry sighed in relief as she let me go and fell back onto her stool. "Thank Luna," she breathed.

"Urg, what happened?" I asked, raising a hoof to my aching forehead.

The pink mare looked at me with a slight smile, yet she was paler than the laboratory walls as I asked the question.

I peered to my right to see Skylark standing patiently by the medical terminals, and next to her was another mare. She was an orange unicorn with a creamy red mane wearing a yellow lab coat boasting a trio of butterflies and adorned with a pair of large glasses. With just one look at her, it wasn't hard to assume it was one of Sky's sisters. Colors aside, the pair looked alike, right down to their disapproving scowls. I looked between the two doctors, then memories came back to me. My head felt light and I had to fight hard not to pass out again.

"Are you sure you know what you gave her, sis? She really doesn't look that great," the orange mare asked and Sky let out a weary sigh.

"You know, Wing Flare, if you think so then why don't you just take over the whole thing for me?" Sky retorted and Wing Flare rolled her eyes.

"Not even a trip into Crimson can break your mean streak, huh?" she asked, and Sky snorted. Then her eyes passed over me.

"You know all of the stress isn't good for my patient, Flare," she stated, glancing back at the screens.

"Yeah, but she saved your life, so you owe it to her to make her better," Flare retorted, prodding a hoof at her sister's side. The orange mare then looked at me. "Thanks for that by the way, I don't know where we'd be without the grump of the family."

"Keep it up and you'll find out just how grumpy I can get. Now stop bugging her, don't you know how to treat an expectant mare?" I took a deep breath. What she'd told me? I'm really…

Pregnant? But that's impossible. I'd fucked every buck and mare from here to Manehatten and I'd never been able to conceive.

Bone Marrow had told me that it was impossible for me to have a foal, and yet I'd tried and tried until I'd eventually ground the hope into dust. That was exactly what I blurted to Sky in the next five seconds, but both she and her sister shrugged.

"I'm no counselor, but you're pregnant, no doubt about it. About three months along, give or take a week," she explained, pointing to one of the screens.

I had about as much an idea as to what the information on it meant as I did as to how in Equestria I was knocked up!

"Well, at least you found out now and not later. Morning sickness can be a real bitch if you're stuck out in the middle of nowhere and have no idea why you're sick," Flare assured me, and Sky shot her an odd look.

"And how would you even know that?" Flare frowned at her sister in an instant.

"Not for the reason you think, Sky. You know I've helped plenty of mothers here, I'd even help your sorry flank if you ever ended up pregnant." The orange mare plopped her butt on a stool and crossed her forelegs.

"Ha, like that'll ever happen," Sky laughed as her sister kicked back, the wheels of the stool carrying her away as she smirked.

"Well, some of those mothers had a backward barn door too. Life still finds a way when you're not looking." Sky went redder than I'd thought possible, I didn't even think Ochre could make her blush like that.

Still, their sibling bickering seemed muffled by my thoughts as it entered my ears. I simply looked past the pair and Cherry to the wall of corrugated metal on the opposite side of the room.

Three months? But... How did I not notice sooner? Who's the father? Goddesses, I don't know! Is it Star or just one of the many other stallions I've slept with in an attempt to fulfill this futile dream? I swallowed hard, my eyes drooping until they fell upon my pudgy midsection.

No, this is impossible, this is a joke. I mentally declared, chasing the thoughts away.

"No, there's no way I'm even a month pregnant, let alone three!" I exclaimed, locking eyes with the medical siblings. Flare appeared like she had seen this whole debacle before and Sky simply looked at me disapprovingly, as always.

"Look, if it were under traditional circumstances then the test may provide inaccurate results, but given the situation and evidence there's undoubtedly something inside you," she explained and her sister nodded.

"Trust me, as odd as my sister can be, she's not wrong. I saw your results, it can't really be a tumor or anything else. You should be glad for that because from where I'm sitting if that lump was a mutation then it would be a lot worse for you," Flare added, making a window with her forehooves as she regarded my stomach.

I glanced down at the small bump. The aching almost didn't feel bad anymore, it felt warm and each light cramp felt like a new spark of life flashing into existence. Even so, everything in my mind told me it was impossible. I was infertile, barren. I'd never been able to have a foal, a fact that had ruined most of my life.

"So, there's no way you could be wrong?" I asked with both hope and dread.

"Sky? Yeah, definitely she could be wrong. Me? No way am I wrong about this kinda stuff, you're going to be a mom for sure," Flare assured me, pressing a hoof to her chest before Sky could even open her mouth. Instead, the pale blue mare scowled, grumbling to herself.

"I'll have you know I'm never wrong. But haven't you been listening, the fetus saved your life from the radiation, it's still not exactly a normal foal," she added before Flare could interrupt again?

Despite her silence, I felt Cherry shiver. She glanced away and an equally firm shudder passed down my spine. Not normal? Goddesses, is it okay, the foal, my foal!? I can't lose it! The thoughts raced through my mind as no others had before.

My breath and heart raced as the many impossibilities gave way to only one thing. I was pregnant and it was no joke. I'd seen mothers before. I'd seen mares go from prostitutes to maternal, and I'd seen far too many die in the process. But they had always been somepony else, never me. I'd never had to endure that which I'd so blindly wished for.

"Whoa, Dragonfire, calm down, it's okay." Cherry swiftly placed a hoof on my shoulder as the machines started to beep faster.

I felt myself shiver against her grip and couldn't stop. The worrying thoughts just continued to pour on until they made me feel sick.

"Sky, isn't there anything you can do? Can't you calm her down?" Cherry had never sounded so committed, a far stretch from the timid thing I'd found in the factory.

Sky just looked at her hopelessly, then she glanced at her sister, and Flare stood up, marched over, and pointed a hoof at me. "Hey, now listen! You're going to be a mom and there's nothing you can do about it. It doesn't matter how, where, when, or why it happened, but it has. I've seen your tests, your foal's an odd one but it's fine. Now, stop panicking and buck up because it's not all about you anymore!"

Her voice was like a hoof blow to the face. Maybe it was the way she looked at me with her emerald green eyes or the amount of conviction in her tone, but Flare's words hit me harder than a bullet.

"Wow, a little harsh don't you think? She's only just found out?" Sky stated, but Flare shrugged.

"And that's why you deal with your patients when most of them are out cold. She's a mercenary, Sky, she'd want it how it is." Flare wiped her hooves off the matter as she sat back on her stool

I took a deep breath and swallowed hard, giving a snotty sniff. She is right, I can't do this, it's not all about me and this stress can't be good for the foal. I'd seen it all, the horror, the fear, and the cruelty of the wasteland and it was no place to raise a foal, let alone carry one.

Yet this is not a normal foal. My mind added in a futile attempt to reassure me. If not, then what was it? Am I pregnant with some sort of monster pony, like Carnage or Locust...? A literal monster with teeth, tentacles, and talons? Monsters, it's okay to kill... No!

I shuddered, falling back against the metal headboard of the medical bed. Cherry's hoof clutched my own tightly, holding me back before my head could hit the cold steel.

"Dragonfire, stop, it's okay," she exclaimed urgently before she did the most unexpected thing I could have imagined at such a time.

She leaped up, wrapping her hooves around me tightly. I shivered, yet didn't stiffen or shudder like before. I simply leaned my head into her shoulder and hugged her back.

"You survived that mess on the train, you got us all out of Crimson Springs alive, you can get through this too," she whispered into my ear.

Then she released me and our faces met. That look, that honest look of happiness on her face was the most precious thing I'd ever seen.

"Cherry, that... I..." I stammered as the memory of Crimson Springs cycled through my head. "Thanks," I finally admitted, letting out a long breath.

The pink mare leaned back onto her own stool, her hoof still holding mine. Then I saw Flare grinning in the background, her muzzle covered by a hoof as she regarded a rather baffled-looking Sky. My nurse was red, she was blushing, she…

Goddesses, she has a mare friend! Fortunately, it was her sister that broke her awkward stupor before I could.

"Now, now, sis. Ochre will be awake soon enough," she chuckled and Sky went from blushing to going so red she had to look away.

"Damn, I need a drink," she groaned as she covered her face with the clipboard.

"Not on the job you don't, I thought you'd kicked that habit?" Flare interjected before Sky marched over and thrust the clipboard into her hooves.

"Then consider me done for the day, she's your patient now. I'm off to find some Wild Pegasus. Come get me when Ochre wakes up," she declared, then stormed off and out of the room.

Flare looked at the clipboard, turned it the right way up, then glanced at me. "She really is glad you saved her life, not to mention Ochre's. Her gratitude's just a little unique, that's all," the orange mare admitted.

Cherry and I watched Sky leave, then Flare stood up and took her sister’s place at my bedside, looking over the clipboard before tossing it aside.

"But as grumpy as my sister may be, she's right," she stated, tilting the screens out of the way with her magic. "I really don't think you need a whole load of scientific nonsense to tell you that you're life's going to change. For the better, I hope, but if I were to tell you to do anything right now it would be rest. Whatever is inside you may have absorbed all that radiation, but it's still just as delicate as a normal foal as far as I'm concerned."

She leaned close to my face, that same strong look in her eyes that made me dare not question her unorthodox expertise. I gulped, rubbing my stomach. Cherry looked at her and nodded.

Wait, why does she look so determined to make sure I stick to Flare's instructions? I thought as the orange mare leaned back, then she sighed.

"Well, that's it, that's all I can say right now. I can't tell you what kinda foal it is, it's too early to tell without an ultrasound." She rubbed her hooves clean again.

I fought not to let fear and worry get to me again, focusing on the warm hoof grasping my own instead of the possibility there may be another Carnage growing inside me.

"What about her? Is she going to be okay too?" Cherry asked, but Flare looked anything but certain.

"Carrying a foal to term is a dangerous process, especially out here. I can't say I've not seen a lot of bad things happen, but with some rest, she should be healthy enough," she said with a shrug.

A little too healthy it seems. It's a thing, not a foal, a radioactive abomination. You should be dead, goddesses know what its done to you.’ My mind added. I forced back those dark thoughts. My foal was no 'thing', it was my future, all that I'd ever wanted.

Of course, that only left everything else that was going on in my life right now to figure out too. I still had to find Star, save him, and stop the Transcendent from coming after us. I really hoped the fact that I'd blown Mister Green into dust would make them think twice about coming down from Crimson Springs after me for now.

"Still, I'll keep an eye on you, and unless you've been bucked by a ghoul that thing's still mostly a pony," Flare reassured me.

Sleeping with ghouls? Not even I'd go far, it'd be like fucking sandpaper... Okay, that was not an image I wanted in my head. Flare looked at me over her glasses, as if to confirm that the foal's father really wasn't what she'd proposed. The look I gave her back suggested I'd be likely to shoot her if she ever brought it up again.

"Well then, I think we're all done here," she stated, then turned to the door. "You really, really, really should just get some rest though," she emphasized, glancing back.

I just nodded, before she left with a hum and a flick of her tail.

"She's pretty laid back for a nurse, huh?" Cherry asked, smiling at me.

"You didn't have her eyes glaring at you, she's just good at what she does and she knows it," I responded, pressing my head back into the pillow. "How long do I have to wait in here? I hate doing nothing," I groaned, rubbing my face.

"As long as Flare and Sky say. Besides, you won't be alone, Ochre is here and I'll come by all the time I can," Cherry stated, then she saw my concerned look and sighed. "I will be fine, Dragonfire. You've worried about me for long enough, you have a foal to think about now," she added, and at the word 'foal', I felt another twisting in my gut.

Goddesses, this really isn't a joke. But I care about Cherry, foal or not. Do I really want her to wander the town alone?

Those thoughts must have been plastered all over my expression because Cherry seemed to know exactly what I was thinking. "Dragonfire, I've lived most of my life out here, you know. There's no raiders or slavers in town."

"I know, I'm... Well, I know I'll worry about you. You really are a good pony," I admitted and despite how tough she was trying to look, Cherry blushed.

"After saving those slaves I guess I might come to believe that, but right now I'm worried about you. The first trimester can be rough, especially if this is your first time," she told me, and I knew from her face she was thinking about her sister and nephew again.

"Well, I'm not going anywhere for now, that's for sure. But as soon as I can move I'm finding Vertigo and then we're going to sort this mess out," I declared, rubbing a hoof over my stomach.

Cherry watched me, smiling like a giddy filly. "Just promise me you won't go stopping any trains this time please."

"Not a chance of that for a while, I busted my horn," I said, flicking the spire upon my forehead and wincing at the sharp buzz.

Cherry looked as about as approving of my discomfort as I felt about letting her wander around alone. Regardless, I could see that no matter how much she wanted to stay here with me there was a little part of her that wanted to go out and have some independence.

She isn't a filly, you have to let her go. My thoughts reminded me and I sighed.

"Hey, if you wanna go out there then go right ahead. You should try and sell some of our salvage, get your weapons looked at. Forget the challenge, you're now officially my head barter mare," I told her, and once again she gave me that ridiculously cute face of humility.

"I... Are you sure? I can stay with you a little longer if you want." I lifted a hoof to stop her.

"I'm sure, keeping you stuck in here with me is the last thing you want, your legs must be numb by now. Just promise to come back with plenty of caps, okay?" I told her, and she glanced at the door.

"Okay, but only as long as you promise you won't go doing anything stupid until I get back." She jabbed a hoof at my chest, before making me swear I wouldn't. Seriously, how can I say no to that face?

"Okay, okay, I promise I won't move my grounded butt from this bed, okay," I started and only then did she look mildly satisfied.

"Okay, good. I'll be back as soon as I can." She nodded once, then stood up and trotted over to the door.

I really tried not to look at her naked flanks as she did so, but after how cute she'd just been that was impossibly hard.Come on, Dragonfire, you have what you want so now you can stop trying to fuck everypony! Okay, that thought felt really odd.

"Oh, and Sky also said you shouldn't take this as an opportunity to go trudging through radioactive waste. She still has no idea what the fetus actually did with the radiation," Cherry advised before slipping out of the room.

The moment I couldn't see her anymore my eyes lingered on my midsection. I rubbed the pudgy mass gently.

I'm pregnant. Ever since I'd lost the last of my family I'd dreamed of trying again with a new one, getting a second chance. This was what I'd wished for and yet for some reason, it felt like a wish that came with a whole load of strings attached.

Of course it does, this is the wasteland. I mentally sighed, thinking only one other thing as my stomach shifted. Oh goddesses, where is the puke bucket?

This stupid hospital room was swiftly becoming the most boring place in the wasteland. All I had to watch was the dull beam of sun shifting as the day moved by outside the window. All I could listen to was the rattling swoosh of the fan above and all I could taste was throat stinging bile. I'd tried to use my magic to turn the fan off several times, but my horn could hardly produce a spark and all I got was an hour-long headache to show for it.

Goddesses, this really sucks! I slouched forwards, rubbing my aching belly as I sat there. Well, at least I'm not throwing up anymore... Oh, wait...

One heaving fit into the puke bucket I'd found under the bed later, and I lay back, throat burning as I sulked. But hey, at least you know why you're so sick now.

For some reason, that thought wasn't helpful, nor reassuring as I rolled onto my side and clutched my churning gut. Ochre was still sleeping across the room and the third bed it boasted was empty. There was nothing in the way of distractions anywhere, not even a goddesses damn clock so I knew how much time I was wasting! So I set my attention to doing the only other thing I could. Cherry had only told me to stay in bed, but she'd never said how much of my body had to actually be in the bed. Leaning over the edge and trying hard not to throw up again I peered under the bed, finding a long metal footlocker and heaving it out to where I could see. I sat back up, about to open it with my horn.

I winced at the stabbing pain. I hated not having magic! I opened the locker with my hooves to find my belongings, all except my Pipbuck. Damn it, Vertigo. You didn't even leave me any of Lucky's recordings! I cursed as I lifted my saddlebags onto the bed.

Once again I tried using my magic, yet even something as simple as pulling open the bags was far beyond the small fizzle of power my horn spat. At that, I really thought about just sitting on the bed and letting myself waste away in boredom. Well, now you know you're not going to disintegrate from within, doesn't that seem good? My mind leered.

After another minute of just sitting there, I swiftly decided to give the bags another try, this time with my forehooves. What rolled out was spark batteries and some rifle ammunition, the latter a grim reminder of what had become of my favorite weapons.

Out with the old and in with the new, I guess. I surmised, rubbing my stomach as the star-shaped music box I'd taken from Hayland's body fell out along with a trio of memory orbs and the photo.

I glanced at the image I'd taken from the highway garage. The happy parents with their two foals. After seeing the memory orbs I could tell now that at least two of them were Lucky and her mother, the former albeit a filly at the time it was taken. I swallowed hard, my throat still burning as I tried hard not to think about what had become of either of them. Sliding the photo back into the bag I took one look at the old trinket wondering if I should open it. A flash of the feeling of how Hayland had died made me shiver, however, and I set it down. Finally, I looked at each of the orbs instead.

Okay, so maybe everything isn't all that bad. Still, I didn't even have any idea if my horn was strong enough to make the connection. It can't be that hard right? It's usually easy. Two of the orbs looked identical, while one was marred by a smear of blood.

The orb from the foal's room, maybe Lucky? I recalled as I turned it in my hoof. Do I really want to see it before I at least heard all of the recordings?

In the end, the thought of that room under the labs, the mare in the tank, and the sensation of life inside me dissuaded me from the idea. Instead, I took one of the other two orbs at random and lifted it to my horn. There was a fizzle, a pop, and a sting that rippled through my head like a swarm of tiny radroaches. Then there was nothing.

"Awww, come on, please don't leave me bored over here, you stupid thing!" I cursed, tapping the thing against my horn over and over. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

My face scrunched, muzzle wrinkling as I tried so hard to focus. My horn ached as I drew back and tapped the orb against it one last time.

Goddesses, how bored do I have to be for the wasteland to drive me to... And just like that, there was a small flash, and the world fell away.

"By Celestia, the nerve of that mare, first she doesn't even have the decency to message me herself, then she can't even die right? Does she exist just to spite me?" My host declared as she banged a hoof against the office window.

Outside I could see a large room alike to the one Vertigo and I had trashed under the Oracle building. When I saw my host's reflection in the glass I knew why it was so recognizable.

Moon Dancer frowned, her tired face a mask for so much frustration. "Years of planning, weeks spent setting everything up just right, and when the moment finally arrives she stood in the completely wrong place!"

The mare cried before levitating over a newspaper detailing the events I'd seen on the security recordings days ago, proceeding to rip it to shreds with her magic. "The stupid thing is everywhere!"

She banged another hoof on the window and I noticed that without the lab coat I'd seen her wearing in the recording, I could see her reflected cutie mark. The dark shape of a crescent moon upon her flank was just visible as she watched ponies fixing the catwalks outside, sparks flying as tools growled.

"Stupid Twilight and her stupid ministry... She doesn't deserve any of it, she wouldn't even have any of it if she'd just stayed in Canterlot with me!" The pale mare hissed into the glass, staring intently at her reflection as if it were the lavender mare in question.

It was a glare so strong it almost reminded me of Wing Flare's, yet there was far more malice in my host's dark purple eyes. "She wouldn't have gotten anywhere. Then all of what she has could have been mine."

"That is a rather bold assumption, Professor Moon Dancer." The moment the mare's smooth voice sounded, Moon Dancer looked back at two other ponies as they walked in.

One was a unicorn mare with a black coat and silver mane dressed in a neat business suit of the same dark color. The other wore a brown robe with a hood that covered her pale-coated face.

"To think things could have turned out so differently had such a small detail been changed? Do you not think it would be better to remain focused on your aspirations here and now?" the black-coated mare asked.

Yet it almost sounded like some kind of trick question and Moon Dancer knew it, not that she was about to let on that she did.

"Miss Ebon Star, I... I... I thought the door was locked," she stammered, putting a name to the dark mare as she stepped back from the window.

"It was, but I thought you of all ponies should know that nowhere in Oracle is locked to me," Ebon Star said, glancing at Moon Dancer with a glare that seemed so sharp I was worried it might actually cut me all these centuries later. "Though, I must admit I've heard some interesting things about you lately. I understand that your progress with the artifact is going well?"

"Well, yes everything's going fine. The demonstration was even a success, we were able to push the genetic makeup of the subject into an advanced stage far beyond what we thought possible. The applications for Element-E are still limitless. I interfaced with the primal magic, created Neurodynes, did everything exactly as I expected."

"Element-E?" Ebon Star mused, cutting Moon Dancer off, and the mare frowned.

"Yes, I'm not calling it Ethereum or Star metal, or whatever the rabble calls it," she snapped, waving a hoof.

"As sophisticated as you are intelligent, it would seem," Ebon Star observed.

"You know my work here requires a serious frame of mind. Twilight seemed to have really taken an interest, she was going on about alicorns and all sorts of stuff, but ..."

"But I've also heard that she's still alive," Ebon Star interrupted again, peering out of the window at the repair workers.

The dark mare seemed to cast an eerily long shadow over the office even with most of the lights on, as the ominous look she gave Moon Dancer came only from her reflection. The professor looked between her and the odd pony who she'd entered with as if trying to work out something I was completely oblivious to. The pony under the hood didn't move, they didn't even look up. I had an odd reminder of the Transcendent pony that had been with Griddle in Churn. Finally, Moon Dancer stiffened, moved over to her desk, sat down, and cleared her throat.

"There were some slight complications in the plan, she wasn't stationed under the right section of the catwalk when it fell. Then security went crazy, thought there may have been some stealth zebra assassin messing with the clasps or something," she explained, and her words gave me pause.

These ponies really had been trying to kill Twilight Sparkle! As much as I really didn't like any of the ministry mares or anypony involved in any part of the government that led the world to annihilation, even I found what they were saying a little hard to process.

"Stupid, paranoid mules taking such a pathetic job so seriously," Moon Dancer went on as she slumped.

Ebon Star's ears perked at the news, yet she remained stiff and stoic for a long few seconds before tilting her head to address Moon Dancer.

"Fortunately such an assumption does well to divert attention from your actions. Hardly anypony is ready to blame anypony other than the enemy at this point, and yet I wonder why you failed so easily? I thought you said you could get it done and make it look like an accident without issue?" the dark mare asked, her calm voice unnervingly stern.

"But I have no idea why the clamps gave out before they were supposed to. The damn thing only fell on a bunch of stupid aristocrats," Moon Dancer retorted, waving a hoof in frustration.

"So it would seem, and don't forget my daughter," Ebon Star stated, and once again my thoughts ground to a halt.

Her daughter? She'd lost her daughter in an assassination attempt she'd helped plan? Or had Moon Dancer just really, really fucked up? From the way my host bristled, I assumed the latter was not the case.

"You were the one who told me to sit Milky Way right next to Twilight. She spends half her time working with the M.A.S anyway, so I just did what you said. You knew where that thing was going to fall," Moon Dancer started, yet even in the bitter mare's heart, I could feel she knew it was wrong.

"I proved your loyalty, proved you'd do anything I said to get what you want. It's a shame you can't actually be trusted to carry out tasks perfectly though," Ebon Star cooed as Moon Dancer slumped on the desk.

"What! She stood up and walked over to me, what was I supposed to do, shove her back into her seat?" she exclaimed.

Ebon Star's brows knitted together as she turned fully and trotted up to the front of Moon Dancer's desk, her heavy gaze forcing the frustrated professor to sink right back into her chair.

"Excuses are not what I want to hear, Moon Dancer. But if you are so bold as to offer them to me then they must come with how you plan to correct the same mistake next time," Ebon Star stated, her calm facade breaking only for a second.

"Next time? I'm sorry, but there's not going to be a ‘next time’, this place is finished. They're investigating the deaths and I've got health and safety from the M.O.P all over, not to mention the M.O.M snooping around. The only place that I have left to do anything major is the excavation site. But Twilight took almost complete control over that and all the assets are still here! Besides, there's no way we're ever going to get another chance like this!" she exclaimed, her frustration coming back in full force.

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that. Twilight and her colorful friends are in danger almost every day. Applejack was almost killed in an elevator accident and Pinkie Pie is almost blown up at every one of her parties," Ebon Star elaborated and Moon Dancer's ears perked. "I still think you're going to have one more chance of achieving what you desire," the dark mare added, then looked over at the hooded pony she'd brought with her.

"Terboa, come... Tell this little pony why she failed." The moment she said that the hooded pony stepped up beside her, then moved back her hood to reveal she was not a pony at all.

She's a Zebra! In the middle of pre-war Equestria? My thoughts mirrored Moon Dancer's, then I felt an odd sensation as if I'd seen that striped mare before.

Her striking orange eyes, short mane, and scarred hide were all new to me and yet I felt like I knew her somehow. But that was impossible this memory was nearly two hundred years old.

"Yes, maiden Ebon Star, as you command, I will make it so," Terboa said in an odd accent as she reached into her robes and pulled out a stone tablet inscribed with many varying images of ponies, zebras, and what I thought were stars.

I also noticed that they looked remarkably similar to the piece of stone tablet Cherry had found in the Destiny building, right down to the way it was broken.

Maiden? If she has a daughter she's anything but a maiden. Goddesses, Zebras are strange. I thought in the back of my host's mind.

Moon Dancer meanwhile took one look at the stone, then looked up at Ebon Star with confusion. Meanwhile, Terboa closed her eyes and slowly ran her hooves along each of them, muttering something inaudible in zebrican.

"A zebra? How could you bring a damn stripe down here?" Moon Dancer muttered quietly, but Ebon Star cut her off with a glare.

"Because some among both our kinds can see things far greater than this petty war. There are grand opportunities," she said simply, before adding. "I thought you were a pony smart enough to realize that too?"

"All I want is Twilight dead and for her ministry to become mine, I know you of all ponies can do that for me," Moon Dancer retorted, and Ebon Star shook her head slowly.

"Such a disappointingly limited view," she said and Moon Dancer frowned.

"And what else would you have me do, hmm? I already left one of the most highly esteemed jobs over at her damn ministry to come here for you. I'm only working on your crazy artifact to keep it from completely falling into Twilight's stupid hooves, but I didn't come here to study that goddesses damn star metal forever!" she grumbled, then Ebon Star grinned, pure, white teeth flashing as she did so.

"And yet jealousy is only a small part of the reason you want her dead and everything she stands for to be yours?" she almost purred.

"It's because she doesn't deserve it. I looked up to her for years and she didn't even have the decency to notice me, then she runs off with a bunch of strangers and becomes one of Equestria's idols," Moon Dancer declared, her face contorting in frustration.

It was then that both my host and Ebon Star were silenced as Terboa opened her eyes and lifted her head, drawing the dark mare's attention immediately.

"So, Terboa, what does it say? Are things all still proceeding as they were?" she asked and the zebra nodded.

"Yes, maiden. Everything is still going to happen as the Great Master has foreseen… Twilight Sparkle will die in Splendid Valley exactly two months, four days, twenty-five minutes, and forty seconds from now," Terboa responded and Ebon Star stepped back to gauge Moon Dancer's response.

The pale unicorn merely stammered in confusion, so too did my thoughts become lost. Did she just see the future? How could she know that?

"Splendid Valley? Maripony?" Moon Dancer said slowly as realization dawned. "Wait, wait, wait, you can't seriously believe any of that, she's a zebra! They're expert liars," she exclaimed, pointing a hoof at Terboa.

"Your prejudice is a limitation that has befallen all too many these days, Moon Dancer. It is a restraint that holds your mind back from exploiting all possibilities, even those offered by our supposed enemies. Your potential could be far greater than even that of Twilight if you allowed it to be. All you should know is that Terboa's sight has not failed me yet," Ebon Star explained.

"Then why are you here? If that's the case then you knew Twilight wouldn't die here anyway," Moon Dancer retorted, crossing her forehoofs and leaning back.

"I came here to see if you would realize the gravity of what is really going on, to see if you were as smart as I'd hoped. I wondered if you could see the bigger picture like few others can. Even your failure has triggered events that will lead you toward your final goal," Ebon Star went on nodding at Terboa once more.

The moment she did so the zebra collected her tablets and placed them back into her robes before moving back to her position at the edge of the room, putting back up her hood.

"Oh really, and how does killing a bunch of useless nobles get me any closer to having the whole M.A.S at my disposal?" Moon Dancer asked, but received a flat look from Ebon Star.

"So short-sighted. You're forgetting that among the witnesses to those deaths was Twilight herself. Even without seeing the future, it is not hard to guess that seeing such a thing will only encourage Twilight to put more time into her precious alicorn project. A project that is currently being worked on at the Maripony facility, I might add," she said, and both I and Moon Dancer's eyes grew a little wider at what she was saying.

I at least had the decency to feel shocked, yet my host seemed to fill with corrupt ambition.

"To think that everything that happens is random and by chance is folly, the universe is too structured for things like that. In truth, you've only forced her that little bit closer to the point of her death. So now I'll ask you again, are you willing to see the bigger picture?" Ebon Star added, and Moon Dancer once again looked between her and the hooded Terboa.

"But... But, even if I could, I'm finished here. The facility is going to be under investigation for weeks! Plus, there's still the excavation to worry about, and… Well, I could never get anything done," she exclaimed, and Ebon Star grinned.

"That should not be a problem. I have made arrangements for you to move to the facility in Canterlot as soon as you are able and for all of your projects here to be re-assigned. The artifacts will be moved to Trottingham. All provided you want to take this opportunity and finally get the recognition you deserve?" she went on and Moon Dancer leaned back in the chair once again.

"Canterlot... But, I..." she stammered then cut herself off as her brow furrowed. "Okay, I'll play your pet zebra's little game if you trust her that much," she finally stated, standing up.

"Good, good, I'm glad to see you're finally starting to see things my way. Now, you should go back to your apartment immediately and get ready, I'll have a sky carriage come and pick you up in a few hours." Moon Dancer nodded, her expression that of a pony who was really hoping for the wrong things

"Good, I'm sick and tired of this dry old dust bowl anyway. Canterlot is where a pony of my talents really belongs," she proclaimed as she moved to the door, starting to mutter a whole host of new ideas to herself.

"Oh, and before you leave..." Ebon Star called as the door slid open.

Moon Dancer turned, looking back at the dark mare. "Yes, Ebon Star?"

"Be sure to remove this memory from your head as soon as you can and give it to me, wouldn't want somepony to find out what you tried to do, would we?" I felt a lump catch in my host's throat.

Moon Dancer was a smart pony, she knew what Ebon Star could do with a memory like that. But she also was smart enough to know that some ponies should not be disobeyed. Ebon Star had that feeling about her. Her black coat was as deep as the night, or at least how I imagined. It was cold and endless, yet calm and peaceful far from the bloody turmoil of the world. This mare was like an embodiment of that, and yet somehow she radiated with a bone-chilling aura that both I and my host were well aware of.

"Absolutely," Moon Dancer said with a nod, before trotting out.

I came out of the memory orb to find myself looking up at the ceiling fan. I also came out of the orb with a great many questions. Moon Dancer and Ebon Star had wanted to kill Twilight and take over the M.A.S? I couldn't fathom why, nor could I understand why one would give up the life of their daughter to do so? I rubbed a hoof over my stomach at that thought, knowing I could never do the same.

The world's always been fucked up, Dragonfire. Nowadays the chaos is just free. My mind stated as I sat up, and was met with the face of a mare.

She sat on a stool at the end of my bed, her coat a mat, sandy color, and her mane a mute orange. She was an earth pony, a little larger than me, and had a cutie mark that seemed to be a shimmering oasis. One look at her face and I had a feeling I knew who she was related to.

"Glad to see you're awake, I'm Heatstroke, the ambitious one." She jabbed a hoof at herself, then smirked. "And you've really gone and made a mess around here for me, Dragonfire."

Footnote: Level Up

New Perk Added: Mothers Glow (Level One) For better or for worse, you have got a bun in the oven. Congratulations, you better start thinking of names! Both your endurance and agility suffer a -1 penalty. However, you gain +1 to charisma and unique speech options with certain ponies.

For simplicity's sake, the AU version of Moon Dancer here and throughout this story is one that never reunites with Twilight. Keeping with the Fo:E theme of sticking to only season 1/2 canon and picking out bits to fit in after that.

Regardless, I hope you enjoyed reading!