I had no idea where the door would exit us out too. Fortunately, we ended back out into the outer Las Pegasus. And when we did, me and Lilac Rose were suddenly surrounded by RCE elites. Two of the elites stepped aside to let in a giant metallic elite in what looked to be power armor. The power armored elite took the helmet off to reveal it to be a mare. One who looked strangely familiar.

“Been a damn long time since I’ve seen the kind of work you and your friends have done. Hell, if you were all in the RCE, we would have the best damn generals to walk the Equestrian Wasteland.” The mare said with a smile. I frowned.

“By work, you mean going around and burning everything instead of saving helpless slaves?” I retorted. “Lucky for us, we don’t have anything to do with you and your system.” The mare chuckled.

“I understand completely by what you mean. Sure, we don’t have the best reputation, but when we get things done, we get it done. Ain’t that right, boys?” the elites saluted in unison while saying.

“For the Republic!” I arched a brow.

“For the republic. Not the ponies in dire need of help.” I said in a way of reiterating their “motto”. The mare continued to smile.

“So, I take it you dislike the RCE?” she asked. I wished I had my duster. My habit of pulling down my hood was driving me crazy. I sighed.

“Dislike is a strong word for me. I’m more ‘I have my own general opinion of the Republic’.” The mare nodded.

“I see. Well, despite all that is said or what you think of us, we can guarantee you that we have the situation under control now. The slaves that were lucky enough to survive are under protection. The Fiends are being executed as we speak.” She said. I shook my head.

“There are other methods in dealing with ponies like the Fiends.” The mare cocked her head.

“Oh? But remind me, I’ve heard reports of a certain courier that took it upon herself to end the Fiend’s leader as well as the Fiend’s most dangerous general. I take it you had nothing to do with it?” she said. I studied the armored mare.

“Cooker and Motor Head got what was coming to them. I just went for a dress that a friend of mine had, but was taken by them.” I said. The mare gave me an amused smirk.

“What started out as a simple retrieval of a dress became a full on blood bath that one courier took on and lived to tell the tale.” She rubbed her chin. “And even more interesting. Reports from previous weeks to months, even a year or so back had strange incidents that involved a certain courier. Destruction of The Pride’s casino. Stopping a gang war on Route 15 from Bullhorn and Feather Heads. Stopped a corrupted mayor from selling out the townsfolk to raiders. Defeated a colossal insect pony single-hoofed.” She studied me. “Etcetera, etcetera.”

“Your point?” I asked in a cold manner.

“You’ve been making quite a name for yourself. A simple courier becoming a savior to The Strip and The Empire. Don’t tell me you were hoping that you would go unnoticed?” the mare waited for me to reply. I glanced quickly around us. These were elites. No grunts or soldiers. The top dogs of the RCE were here.

“I wish that were the case, but seeing how I am being outnumbered by elites and a heavy trooper, I guess I can say I’ve done more than make a name for myself.” I shook my head, chuckling slightly. “So, are you here for the bounty or recruitment?” The mare rubbed her chin.

“Depends. While you remain a valuable asset to the Republic, you are also a very dangerous pony.” She said. I snorted in disgust and looked at the elites.

“You are probably going to need a bigger army than this. I have no intention of giving myself up to any faction or let greedy bounty hunters have my head.” I must have said something funny, because the heavy trooper laughed.

“Courier? What’s going on?” Lilac Rose asked. Her monotone voice made it hard for me to depict if she was concerned or not. “I’m sensing that these ponies aren’t here to chat.” I smirked.

“You’re right, Lilac. They saw our fight. Now they want compensation.” I said. Lilac shifted slightly.

“Shiva.” She said. I put a hoof on her shoulder.

“Not yet.” I looked at the heavy trooper. “No wonder you seem familiar. You’re that elite that was stationed at the border. I thought the Enclave dismissed you lot?” even though it was a bluff, I knew full well that the Enclave and the RCE have bad blood between each other. I’m not the only one they are concerned about. The Enclave is taking on more than they can handle. Two rouge FEVs, a courier that has shamed them. And the runner up in politics is none other than President Campbell of the RCE. The trooper smiled.

“Ah, so you do remember.” Then her smile changed to a frown. “I, unfortunately, was called away when the Enclave took over the border. Fortunately, they only took one part of it. Route 2.” I arched a brow.

“Yet, you did nothing to even save those of your own republic.” The mare sighed.

“I wasn’t given a choice. Either risk my promotion to general, or continue to be stationed at the border and live the rest of my life as a border patrol unit.” She said. It was my turn to sigh.

“And this is where my opinion stand of the RCE. If you can’t even stick with your own integrity, then you have no rights to call yourself a soldier for the helpless.” I said. The mare again studied me. I don’t know why she was thinking I was trying to weasel my way out. Actually, that sounds fun, but really I’m exhausted and sore. Lilac certainly did a number on me.

“Interesting… now then, one last thing before we wrap things up here. What are your thoughts on other groups, such as the Legion or Mr. House?” I arched a brow.

“My opinion of the Legion stands with every other pony. As for Mr. House? The megalomaniac ruler of Las Pegasus is biased. I could care less what Mr. House thinks I have done or what he does. If he sees it fit to put a bounty on me, then let him. He should know, however, that I am not just any pony to be reckoned with. I’m a courier.” I said.

“I see. I thank you for your cooperation.” The mare motioned with a hoof and the elites marched in a row down the street in the opposite direction. Before the heavy trooper can follow them, I had one last thing to say.

“Give my regards to President Campbell. I’m sure he would be excited to hear that his trump card would even notice him.” I said with a smirk. The heavy trooper gave me a challenging look before marching down with the rest of the elites. Lilac cocked her head.

“The hostility is gone.” She said. I gave a sigh of relief.

“Good. Now to rest my muscles.” I said. I let myself plop to the ground on my stomach, groaning. My head hurt and my body ached. Never in my life have I’ve been so tired. Being a courier, I’ve walked a lot of long roads. Some that took a week or so without stopping. My stamina can last me until I feel like I need to rest. And right now, I’ve reached my limit. I opened my eyes tiredly to see my friends, battered and bruised but thankfully unharmed, stand over me. Rex licked me with his bark like tongue, which scratched against me like sand paper. I smiled and tiredly pat the timberwolf’s head.

“So... Did you find her?” I asked. We looked to Brick and he remained stoic as he spoke.

“Courier. What you did today, I am not proud of.” He said. I winced. Okay, I must have done something really stupid for Brick to say that. “But, I’ve seen you do more things I wish you hadn’t done. And as your friend, I will continue to stick by you.” I sighed and looked at him.

“So… that’s a no?” I buried my head into the concrete when I saw his expression look grim. “Sorry…” I felt a hoof on my back and I peeked out from underneath me. Lilac continued to face ahead as she patted my back.

“Courier. If it wasn’t for you, I probably would have done a lot more to these ponies.” She sighed and faced my friends. I saw Iris narrow her eyes at her. “I’m sorry, everypony.” Iris rubbed the back of her head, gritting her teeth.

“Bah! Why is it that everypony we meet has some sort of good to them?” she asked with a grin. Lilac cocked her head.

“You. You’re that silver one.” She faced Iris now. “I apologize if I didn’t hold back. You came at a bad moment.” She smiled and faced me. “But thanks to Courier, I can be more of myself.” Iris sat down and stroked my mane (which felt nice despite my tiredness).

“Yeah, well. Next time, go a bit easier on the swings.” She said. Goldenlee trotted over to Lilac and examined her.

“Dear, forgive me for asking, but I am curious. How do you know Iris is silver when you are blind?” she asked. Lilac shifted slightly.

“Shiva. She describes everything around me. She makes me more sensitive to other’s presence, so I know exactly where they are.” She frowned. “For at least a certain amount of distance.” I could see the excited look in Goldenlee’s eyes. I sighed and put a hoof to my muzzle, rubbing it.

“You okay, babe?” Iris asked. I winced slightly.

“Other than Lilac sending me dead on head first into concrete and crashing through buildings. I’m good.” I said. Iris didn’t even seem to take my joke. She looked sadly at me.

“I’m sorry, Courier. I should have rushed in when I had the chance. I saw you in that arena and I wanted so desperately to just dive in and stop it.” She bowed her head. “But… knowing you, you would have probably gotten out of it one way or another. So, I focused with Goldenlee on making sure we took care of Lavender Violet and her cyber dogs.” I looked worriedly at her.

Iris gave a small laugh and held up her hoof with her power hoof. Now that I had room to think about other things like my friends, I saw how badly Iris actually looked. There were some bullet holes in her armor, her power hoof was chewed beyond recognition and the cloth on her armor looked like they were clawed off, leaving a nasty wound. By the looks of it, she had to take a lot more health potions than I probably would have.

“The gift from you and my ancestor. This Shadowbolt armor has seen its’ fair share of fights. I’m surprised that the old thing even held up for this long.” I watched as Iris locked a hoof around the chewed power hoof and crushed it slightly before pulling it off. It hissed and sparked. I felt bad. This was Cloudchaser’s armor from two centuries ago. Iris’s ancestor. Even her ancestor’s power hoof. Iris let the hoof drop to the ground and sighed before smiling at me.

“Guess you made it out okay though. That’s the important thing.” She said. I stood up slowly, feeling the soreness take over as I wrapped her in a hug. I couldn’t say anything to help her feel better. What had happened to her ancestor’s gear must be real tough on her.

“Maybe we can get it patched up?" I reassured her. Iris smiled and shook her head.

“The material used to patching this thing up isn’t on the markets in the Wastelands. This old thing was made straight from pegasus hooves. If Cloudsdale was still around, then maybe it can be saved. Listen, I’m not upset that my ancestor’s armor is ruined. We all know whose fault is that.” She said. I looked her squarely in the eyes.

“Why did you do it then? Lilac was corrupted through dark magic and using Shiva’s power at the same time. Why didn’t you flee?” I asked. Iris bowed her head and rubbed her foreleg.

“I saw you go into the building. Lilac would have found you through an opening on one of the corners if I hadn’t come in. I don’t know if you saw, but she pretty much intended to break me.” She said. I smiled and kissed her.

“Well, the important thing is that you are okay. That all of you are.” I said, turning to my friends. Lilac shifted slightly.

“Even… even after all that? We are… friends?” she asked. I smiled.

“As long as you don’t go looking for dark magic to use against us.” Lilac Rose smiled.

“Don’t worry. Magic such as that is a disgrace.” She bowed her head and rubbed her foreleg. “I… I don’t know why I was tricked into using it…” I frowned.

“I’m not one to see Sombra as the charismatic type. But… I’ll take a wild guess.” I rubbed my chin, studying her. “When my brother awoke Shiva inside you, do you remember what happened after that?” Lilac rubbed her temple.

“I recall… darkness. It wasn’t so dark before Shiva awoke. I remember hearing her voice. Introducing herself. Then… his voice came next. He sounded… troubled. I remember them talking, but I was too confused as to what was going on to listen in. After the talk, his voice asked me to wear a blindfold.” She frowned. “It seemed… pointless at first. But he insisted I should. I remember him telling me. ‘Your eyes cannot lie’.” Me and my friends exchanged glances. Shining Star perked up.

“Wait… where are you from?” he asked. Lilac Rose cocked her head in confusion.

“The far east. Why?” she asked. Her monotone voice was making it really difficult to get a grasp on her. But I stayed quiet, listening intently when Shining Star asked. Shining Star rubbed his chin.

“Far east… far east… Neighpon?” he asked. Lilac gave a small smile.

“A little farther east from Neighpon.” She said. I gapped.

“You’re from Roam?” I said, my jaw dropping. Lilac nodded. What is a mare like her doing all the way out in northern Equestria? Roam… the very place where the zebra lived. Well, a tribe of zebras calling themselves the Legion live there now. But I’ve heard that Roam was mainly populated by zebra. Lilac continued.

“I was born in Roam. Unfortunately, I was born blind.” She bowed her head. “It was… difficult to even think about continuing on. That was until I met my mentor. Salasha, my mentor, took me in as his student and trained my senses. I was happy. I awoke early in the morning every day and trained, cleaned and worked around the temple.” Her expression darkened. “Then… the next thing I knew it, I heard screaming. What sounded like swords cutting flesh. Salasha did his best to protect me. He snuck me on a ship that was heading to Equestria.” She turned her head behind her.

“After fleeing my home, I found myself all alone. I wondered the land for a while before I ended up being caught by slavers. I had no idea what I was getting into, but I was bought out by raiders and they sent me into the arena. For years, I fought, being forced to use the techniques my mentor taught me. Then one day, your brother came to me and awoke Shiva. After she was awake, I felt… almost happy. Like I had made a friend in this cold and poisoned place.” I gave a small hum in thought.

“So that’s how you got tricked. It’s not because you were blind. It’s because you felt you needed companionship. And Sombra took advantage of that.” I said. Lilac shifted more, looking surprised.

“I… is that why? So… it wasn’t because I am… blind?” she waved a hoof in front of her sight. I nodded.

“You don’t need to necessarily see to know from right from wrong. Sombra is just a sly devil and he convinced you in your vulnerable state to take control of Shiva.” I frowned. It still doesn’t explain why Lyon wanted Lilac to wear the blindfold. When she removed it, her eyes were white and galzed. What was the point of the blindfold? The next time I see Lyon, I’m going to have a nice long chat with him. Sanity trotted over to Lilac, looking somewhat nervous.

“Erm… Lilac. Do you… are you afraid of Shiva?” she asked. I arched a brow while Lilac faced Sanity.

“Afraid?” she took a moment, bowing her head slightly in thought. “I guess… a little. I don’t know what she looks like. She makes it hard for me to sense her, but I can feel her deep in my mind.” Sanity cleared her throat.

“Any… particular fear of her?” she asked. Lilac rubbed her chin.

“Hmm… oh.” She faced back to Sanity. “Shiva says that it shouldn’t concern Gaia.” Sanity blinked. I found it interesting. Shiva just out right told Lilac to tell Sanity not to worry about it. I caught her look and shrugged.

“I guess there isn’t much we can do yet. Now that there are three of us here, one that is in a coma somewhere and the other two back in Las Pegasus, which leaves only one more maiden.” I said. My ears twitched at the sound of something humming behind us. We looked to see a rotating rune. I dropped everything I was going to say and focused on my brother who had stepped out of the rune.

“Courier.” He said. I sighed.

“You need to be better on your greetings, brother.” I said. I saw Lyon give me a small smile before peeking out from under his hat and looking at us.

“You are progressing better than we had anticipated.” He said. I blinked.

“We?” Lyon tipped the tattered straw hat.

“The tides have changed, Courier.” He looked squarely at me. “Your time is limited. I know I’ve tasked you with finding the maidens. And you have done extremely well.” I snorted.

“Do you realize how much trouble it’s caused me?” I asked him. Lyon nodded slightly.

“Which is why I am here speaking to you all. Courier, your notoriety has reached far to the east and west. What took LittlePip months to be recognized for her doings only took you weeks. And already, both RCE and Legion plan on finding you.” He said. I nodded.

“I’m not surprised. Just had a nice chat with the elites and a heavy trooper. It also doesn’t help that Mr. House put a bounty on me too. So, not only are the east and west going to try to get me on their side, but a mass group of bounty hunters are sure to be looking for my head.” I said. Lyon nodded.

“As to why your time is now limited. The Legion and the Republic are heading to Equestria as we speak.” He said. My friends gave small gasps of surprises.

“Well, this is terrible!” Goldenlee said. “At this rate, there will be an all-out war. Just for you, Courier.” She said. I frowned.

“That. That is the reason why I wanted to remain anonymous.” I said. “Lyon, our family lineage is also in danger of exposure. If they find out that we are related to Starswirl the Bearded…” Lyon nodded.

“I know. So I ask that you make haste. We are going to give you no more than a week to save your friend.” He said. I growled.

“I don’t know who this ‘we’ is about, but you don’t tell me how long it takes to save our friend. We’ll do it on our own pace.” I retorted. Lyon pulled his hat down slightly.

“We aren’t giving a choice, Courier. You’ll understand once you are done. But when a week is up, I’ll come and personally settle it.” He said. I arched a brow when he looked over his shoulder to the rune. “I’ve opened a path that’ll take you straight to the place where your friend is.” Wow, whoever is telling Lyon to tell me to hurry my ass up, they were really desperate.

“What about finding the maidens?” I asked. Lyon nodded.

“You needn’t worry about that task. I’ll handle it from here.” He said. I looked back to Sanity and Lilac. Sanity looked worriedly at me.

“Courier?” she asked. I grit my teeth. Dammit, what the hell am I supposed to do? I certainly don’t want the east and west raging an all-out war to get me to side with one or the other. I also didn’t want my head on a platter and being served to Mr. House. But, I really, really, really didn’t want to give two of my friends over to Lyon.

Sure, he’s my brother. I look up to him. But lately, I’ve been realizing that my friend’s needs were being pushed aside by me. I wanted to help them. Courier, think about it. The east and west are vying for you. If you get caught up in this, then there is a guarantee that your friends will be caught up in it too. I glanced quickly at the winged pony on my shoulder.

I say we just fuck both factions and Mr. House and take them out in one fell swoop. I frowned at the horned pony. I don’t want to be taking on all three at the same time. And Sanity still has yet to grasp her own power while Lilac seems a bit more experienced in tapping into Shiva’s power. My friends waited anxiously for me to decide. Why me? Why do I have to be the decider?

Because you are the Savior. Your courage that you display give others that chance to fight on. To live another day. I bit my lip. Then gave a defeated sigh.

“Alright… fine.” I said. My friends shifted slightly while Sanity huddled a little close to a confused Lilac. Lyon walked over to the two.

“Sanity. Lilac Rose. I’ll be taking you to a place where it’s safe.” He said. Sanity shook her head.

“I’m not going with you.” She said. We looked at her. “They are my friends too. I want to help them!” Lyon bowed his head slightly in thought.

“I see. Then forgive me.” I gapped when Lyon’s horn suddenly glowed and Lilac and Sanity crumpled to the ground.

“Lyon, what did you do!?” I growled. Lyon tossed Sanity’s body over his back.

“I’ve only put them to sleep.” He said as he put Lilac next to Sanity on his back.

“If she wanted to help, then let her!” I retorted. Lyon looked at me.

“We are running out of time, Courier.” He said. “I’m sorry. If it were up to me, I would give you more time. But they insist that you not waste any more of it.”

“Says who!? Who the fuck thinks they can order me around!?” I snapped. Lyon just looked at me before bowing his head and walking past me. “Lyon!!” But Lyon didn’t respond to me. He walked into another rune he summoned, vanishing like mist with Sanity and Lilac on his back before the rune vanished. I grit my teeth in frustration, rubbing my face. “Dammit. I go through all the trouble of finding him, only to get him to tell me to find the maidens. Then, next thing I know, he comes in and takes up the task.” I turned to my friends. “I don’t know about you, but I sure as hell want to beat whoever thought they could tell us to hurry up!”

“So, what’s the plan now?” Star asked. I groaned in frustration.

“I don’t know! I don’t know. I wanted to at least plan out a rescue attempt for Comp. Goddesses only know what we might face when we try to save him.” I growled.

“Well, we know one thing for sure.” Star said. “We are going to be facing changelings. And I mean a lot of changelings if where we are going is where I think we are."

“And knowing that they can shapeshift into somepony we know, they might try something to ruin us.” I said. Iris rubbed her chin, then beamed happily at a thought. She reached back into her saddle bags and pulled out… buttons. These buttons had some sort of a cutie mark design on it.

“What are those?” Goldenlee asked.

“I found these one day in a pocket of my armor. I think my ancestor collected them for… I don’t know what, but my plan is that we keep these on our person, then we will know who is and who isn’t a changeling.” She said. I rubbed the back of my head.

“Iris… that’s…” I was at a loss for words. Why didn’t I think of that? Iris just smiled and passed each button onto us. The cutie mark was a star shooting through the clouds. I was about to clip on the button when I realized I was still without my duster. Brick reached into his saddle bag and withdrew my duster. The hastily folded dark stable designed hooded duster looked unscathed. I smiled at him and put my duster on. I clipped the button on the inside of my left sleeve before turning to my friends. Their own barding were torn. Iris’s was apparently beyond repair without the proper materials.

“Well, I hope at least the changelings don’t have guns at their place.” I said with a small chuckle. Putting on my own gear, I nodded to them. “Let’s go save Comp.”

When we exited the rune, we were instantly overcome with an awful smell of sewage and something… that shouldn’t even be around and had expired for eons.

“Whoa, what?” I heard Iris exclaim. I looked back and to my surprise, I saw that my companions were… healed. Perfectly tidied up and their barding… repaired. I looked back at the shrinking rune behind them and narrowed my eyes. Lyon must have done something to add a little affect to the rune. Now that I think about it, I don’t feel sore or worn out anymore. In fact, I felt good. Really good!

The new wave of energy that coursed through me felt almost unbearable. But I was too focused to bother with it. Because when I looked back ahead, I noticed we were standing in the middle of a dark and dead forest. The snow beneath my hooves made it clear that we were either back in the Empire or were somewhere where snow was. Based on the amount of snow around us, I could safely say that it was the latter. When you stepped off the road and travel a bit out, you’ll tend to find yourself in snow that cover your entire legs.

This snow was barely even three inches. The trees around us were black and withered. Like a fire had come through the place and the snow had buried what was left of the floral in the area.

“Where are we anyway?” Goldenlee asked as she looked around. Iris took the sky and hovered just above the tree tops, scanning the area. When she came back down, she frowned.

“Not even near Equestria or the Empire, that’s for sure. I noticed something, however, to the north.” She rubbed the back of her head. “It looked like a structure.” I rubbed my chin.

“Any other locations you saw?” Iris shook her head. Glancing quickly at the compass under my EFS, I faced north and nodded. “Alright then. North it is.”

“Wait, Courier.” Star said. I looked back and saw him examining what looked like a black sludge against the tree. “Take a look at this.” I trotted over and took a closer look. It almost looked like something had torn itself out from the sludge. My PipBuck suddenly clicked and I backed away with Star. When we did, the clicking stopped.

“Don’t tell me…” he began. I nodded.

“No doubt. This is a changeling cocoon. And the radiation from it almost peeked at the yellow.” I watched the rad meter on my PipBuck slowly tip down. “How much Rad-X and Rad-Away do we have?” My companions shifted through their bags.

“I have four Rad-Aways and six Rad-X’s.” Goldenlee said.

“I have four of both.” Iris said.

“Two Rad-Xs and three Rad-Away.” Brick said.

“I’ve got three of both.” Star said. I sighed.

“Unfortunately for me, I don’t have any on me. And with the amount we have, I’d say we have a good chance of walking out of here with radiation poisoning.” I said.

“But that is where you come in dear.” Goldenlee said with a smile. “That PipBuck has a meter on it. All we have to do is avoid the irradiated areas and we will be fine.” I nodded.

“I know that. It’s just that the structure Iris mentioned. I doubt the amount we have will be enough to even set a hoof in without getting poisoned by radiation. So, let’s do our best to conserve as much as we can.” I said.

“Then lead the way, boss.” Iris said with a teasing smirk. I returned her smirk and turned to face north.

It had been just as I had expected. The farther north we went into the area towards the structure, the more I noticed the cocoons being more… greenish. Some still had, what I assumed, were preservative slime in them. The radiation that came from those cocoons made my PipBuck go wild. Fortunately, there weren’t as many areas that were too heavily irradiated. All we had to do was avoid an area that had multiple cocoons around the area. We each took a single Rad-X and a Rad-Away when we came to a clearing.

The open area seemed eerily deserted. Other than the giant black jagged structure in front of us, everything else was just barren. I almost fell onto my rump when looking up at the structure. This thing is massive! Like you could fit an entire colony in and still have room to put in an entire continent. I felt really stupid coming to that idiom, because I knew for sure that this is indeed the changeling’s kingdom.

Or… what once was. Like the forest, this place also looked dead and withered. Like everything that had thrived was because of this structure. To think that these beings can be bested through the power of love and they need that love to keep themselves alive. I bowed my head. Comp is in there. And the thought of him having to leave because he will die, the area around us doesn’t even look… suitable for a young changeling to keep himself alive.

“Well, now what?” Goldenlee asked. Rex perked up and sniffed the air.

“What is it, boy?” Iris asked. Rex sniffed more, tracing his wooden snout on the snow and following whatever scent he picked up. Iris blinked and looked at us. “I don’t know about you, but I think Rex has a lead.” We followed Rex. He took us back into the dead forest but not too far in when he stopped and whimpered. He clawed at the ground and Iris went to the spot. She picked up a piece of cloth. A part of the jacket Comp always wore as his barding. I studied it closely. Thick crimson liquid was on it too.

“Blood.” I told them as I put a hoof on the crimson liquid, feeling the sticky wetness on my hooves. “And still fresh too.” My expression went from worry to panic. Oh no… I hope that this isn’t Comp’s blood. I’ve seen Comp bleed before and his blood was completely different from the radiated green blood of the changelings. As if to answer my own question, I thought I saw something shoot past my sight. I blinked confusedly and followed the direction where it had come from.

I quickly scrambled out of the way when something dark green splattered where I once stood seconds ago. It hissed and smoked, seeping into the snow. The smell was awful. Almost like the smell we had been hit by moments ago increased. Iris was suddenly on top of me as more dark green blobs shot over us.

“Eck! What are those things!?” I heard Goldenlee shriek. I looked over to see something slither around the tree she was looking at. She backed away slowly when the slithery vine opened into a gaping maw. I quickly brought out Malice, entered S.A.T.S. and with two good magnum bullets, blew the thing into green goop. The forest seemed to scream in agony when I did. Iris’s metal hook tail from her armor was fortunately still working for her as it swung down to her holster, drew out her energy pistol and fired over my head.

I crawled out from under her and me and my companions retreated behind a tree. I winced, feeling my skin itch like mad. I looked down to see that a small bit of that dark green goo had gotten on my hind leg. I quickly threw snow on it and felt the itch lessen.

“Since when do vines spit acid!?” Star asked.

“It’s the wasteland. What did you expect?” Goldenlee retorted. Star shrugged.

“Fair point." Brick loaded a grenade into his launcher and fired out from cover. A loud explosion, followed by the smell of burning wood and the screams of thousands of voices reached us. The shriek was defining. I had to drop my ears to my head and cover them with my hooves to at least drown a bit of the noise.

“Acid spitting vines. What else does this forest have?” Iris asked. I groaned.

“What forest are we in, you mean to ask.” I frowned. “I want to say the Ever Free. But this is way different than what I heard tales of the Ever Free.” I ducked back in time to avoid another shot of acid. Brick fired another incendiary out from cover before looking at us.

“Err, not to panic anyone, but we seem to have other company as well.” He said as he motioned out towards the vines. I peeked out and noticed a group of silhouettes move about the forest. The vines focused their attention to the retreating figures, leaving us time to retreat as well. Were there other ponies here? Or were they changelings? I didn’t have time to sit there and think.

“Let’s move!” I ordered. We quickly galloped away from the vines, only for me (of all ponies) to trip over something. I suddenly felt myself being dragged up into the air and coming face to face with a hissing vine. I was about to reach out with my magic for my guns when I found it hard to even move. More vines had slithered around me, forcing me to be suspended there helpless.

“Courier!” I heard Iris shout. I looked out of the corner of my eyes just in time to see Iris suddenly disappear in a blink of an eye. “Gerroff!” I heard Goldenlee scream, the sound of quick sub-machine guns fire and the sound of someone struggling. We were goners. We didn’t pay attention and had gotten ourselves caught. I heard Rex growl and snarl, trying to bite away at the vines, but only to get swatted away. I tried to break free, but these vines, whatever they are, gripped tighter.

The next thing I heard was Iris muffling and the sound of something slopping to the ground. I was in utter panic. No… we were going to be eaten alive. More muffled screams and slopping sounds.

No, no, no, no! Dammit, not here! We can’t die here! And I can’t let my friends suffer the same fate either. But I was completely restrained. The vine suddenly bulged and puked something nasty over my head. The slop hardened while more was being puked on me. Great, I get to die while vines vomit on me. Death really had it out for me. Again, I couldn’t move, let alone twitch as the slop hardened into a shell.

I quit struggling. This is hopeless. I watched helplessly as the last of the light that I could make out in the slop vanished and everything went black.

Darkness. Once again, I found myself in darkness. Funny. I was expecting to be walking on the road whenever I come across death. I suddenly felt a presence next to me. I looked and saw Din standing there.

“Din?” I slurred.

“Of course, vessel. Who else could I be?” she snorted once.

“W-wait… so… I’m not dead?” I asked. Din scoffed.

“Did you really think I would pick a vessel who gets bested by a plant? So useless. Fortunately, I am not my sister, Shiva. So whatever is happening to you, let’s hope you aren’t suffering a slow death." I arched a brow and she flapped once, her expression frowning at me. “Don’t give me that look. The death’s I’ve experienced in previous vessels weren’t pleasant.” I smiled softly at her and she shifted awkwardly.

“So… where are we exactly?” I asked. I could only see the dark abyss of everything around me. Din was my only source of light. The fiery alicorn shifted again.

“Acerbus. You can quit hiding. We know you are there.” I stiffened. Acerbus? The dark maiden? The very maiden that has picked the most unbearable mare in all of my existence for a vessel? I am in her domain!? I growled coldly. I didn’t like the fact that I was in the head of a mare I so wished to never meet again. I heard a quiet giggle and the sound of something rushing past me. A little too close for comfort too.

I was completely thrown off when my vision suddenly changed to amber. And the fact that I noticed a… throne where a blurry figure sat. The more I looked, the more I could make out the shape. It was an alicorn alright.

“Okay, quick question.” I said with a frown. “Why a throne?” Din apparently found my question amusing for she gave a quiet smirk. The alicorn shifted, plopping her head on her hoof and looking bored.

“Rather suiting for the Queen of Darkness. Don’t you think, sister?” Acerbus asked. Din remained quiet. I could tell she so wanted to desperately retort in more ways than one. But again, we were in her domain. And the last experiences in other maiden domains weren’t, as Din would say, pleasant. The midnight black alicorn spirit with dark purple fiery eyes, looked at me and smiled. “And we finally meet. The courier I’ve heard so much from my vessel.” I snorted.

“So, she liking the fact you are in her head? Let me guess. She plans on using you to get at me.” I said. Acerbus blinked and giggled.

“Silly vessel. Why would my vessel want to harm you? All she ever wants is for you to notice her.” Acerbus shifted in her throne. “Tell me. What is it that my vessel finds so fascinating of you?” I arched a brow.

“The fact that she and I want to kill each other the very moment one of us turn our backs on one another? Or she went ahead and asked you to save her the trouble.” I said. Acerbus narrowed her eyes at me, giving me that sly smirk. I couldn’t help but imagine Viper Strike doing the exact same thing. That cocky expression made my blood boil.

“Hmmm…. I see now. That’s why she is so fond of you.” Acerbus quickly switched from the one arm to the other. “Yet, I can’t help but ponder why you, a mare of your status, would go so far as to ruin her career? Has she really done anything wrong to you? Has she murdered your family?” I narrowed my eyes at the alicorn.

“Acerbus of the Shadows. She’s the little sister of the seven of us. She may act childish, but her ways are what you expect. Dark, tricky and sly.” Din spoke through my head. “She could at this very moment have a means of eradication at our throats as we stand here. I’d say we teach her a lesson. But knowing you, you just want to talk your way out.” I smiled at her.

‘You know me so well.’ I teased. Din scoffed and adverted her head. Acerbus looked between us and smirked.

“What’s this? Affection, Din? This is… the first time I’ve seen you show affection. To your vessel no less.” Acerbus rubbed her chin. “Makes me sympathize with the other vessels you called ‘tools’ back in the years.” Din flared and was about to retort when she looked at me. She grit her teeth and adverted her gaze again. Wow, Din must have been pondering what I told her before confronting Shiva.

In a way, I felt worried that Din might have… gotten the wrong idea? Is that it? I don’t know for sure. I mean, I know maidens are evil and all that. And they make it clear they want to eradicate each other from the universe. Now, I thought differently. So, Din is actually taking my advice. Now, I felt proud of her. Me, Courier, the very first vessel to actually get Din to play strategically. And when Din failed to retort, I noticed the quick millisecond look of surprise from Acerbus. She looked at me and smiled.

“Courier… you didn’t happen to ah… ‘reform’ my sister, have you?” I shook my head.

“No, she’s still the same Din. Only with a different approach on the matter.” I said. Acerbus looked at Din and narrowed her eyes.

“Is that so? Then you wouldn’t mind telling me would you, dear sister?” Again, Din kept quiet. I was a bit taken aback by the sudden temper resistance she was having. The look on her face told me she wanted to retort so badly. I smirked and looked at Acerbus.

“Don’t worry about Din, yet. I have a couple of questions to ask you.” I said. Acerbus nodded.

“We have time. What is it you must ask, I shall answer to the best of my knowledge and abilities.” She said. Queen of the Darkness. I get now why she was being so formal. That made Gaia the “casual” of the seven.

“Question one. What’s Viper Strike up to?” I asked. Acerbus smiled.

“Awake and very… literate in her speeches. She makes it her oath to see you in… how does she call it… hell?” I stifled a snicker.

“Okay, question two. Since you are the maiden of darkness, I think it’s safe to ask that you have something lethal pointed at us?” Acerbus smirked and I felt the small brush of something sharp trace not just down my back, but on my legs and neck. Just as Din thought. Hidden lethal spell waiting for the kill. “Alright, last question.” I studied the alicorn and she studied me back. “If you really are the queen of darkness, then why is it that you have light in your domain?” Acerbus blinked confusedly at me.

“I… pardon?”

I nodded to her and Din.

“The reason Din can see you is through the light in her eyes. And probably that she knows you. If you truly are the queen of darkness. Then, you should be enshrouded completely in it.” I said. Acerbus fidgeted a bit. Gotcha! “What’s wrong? Afraid of the light? Or are you… afraid of the dark?” Hoo boy, I didn’t expect that to be her sore spot. Her eyes flared up and she bellowed loudly in our ears.

“Fear it!? I live it!! What makes you think I am frightened by my own being!? My own existence!? What a preposterous idea!! If that is all you have to say then begone with you! I have no time for petty scoundrels trespassing in my domain!!” I shook my head, smirking.

“Then what’s with the sudden outburst, your majesty?” I asked. Acerbus blinked once, as if realizing what she had done had ruined her. The youngest little sister of the seven. ‘You didn’t say that she was literally the youngest of the seven.’ Din smirked.

Yet, she tries to act like she’s the queen of everything. Childish. Young. She’s no more than a filly if she was a mere mortal.

Yup. And it wasn’t hard for me to strike that cord. Unlike the sibling fights I get in with Heart, the ones I get into with Bell are more… harmless. I know exactly what she likes and doesn’t like, then bring it up to topic and tease her about it. It’s what made her so cute. I blinked.
Oh goddesses… I didn’t think that the maiden of darkness would actually be… cute. As in filly cute. Acerbus growled.

“I sense mockery. Are you forgetting whose domain you are in!?”

I shrugged.

“Okay, okay. Jokes aside, I have one last question.” I said. Acerbus snorted.

“Good. I grow tired of this charade. Speak now, then begone with you!”

I arched a brow at her. “So… what delayed you in talking to me?” Acerbus blinked and looked at me.

“An odd question to ask as a final one. Very well. If you must know, I was sent by a rather rude pony.” She scoffed. “His attitude was far too uncouth for my liking. Reminds me of you, now that I think on this.” I cocked my head.

“A rude pony?” I asked. I know Lyon can be straight to the point and no nonsense when he wasn’t so off and about finding maidens. But, he was never rude to ponies, unless provoked. Acerbus sighed.

“I’ve answered your last question. Now leave. I grow tired of your company.”

I looked at Din and she smirked.

“Little queen needs to learn proper manners.” Din said. I gapped when Din fired into the air and a beam of light shone down on Acerbus. The dark alicorn yelped and faded from view, only to reappear like smoke next to the throne and growling.

“How dare you!?” Acerbus roared. Din stuck her tongue out before covering a wing around me and I felt myself being pulled back. When Din moved her wing from me, I found myself back into the domain of Din. Now that I think about, I looked around and noticed that out of all the domains that I’ve been too, why was Din’s the only one that hasn’t really shown her true domain? All it was was an endless dark abyss around us except for a ring of fire where Din laid on and looked at me with a studying look.

“What you see is my domain, vessel.” She said. I cocked my head.

“A-are you serious? I mean… why is it just the one spot and not… you know… fire everywhere?” I asked. Din smirked and flapped a wing.

“You need not to know or worry about what I hide from you. In fact, I enjoy the abyss. Keeps worthless trivial distractions out of my mind. The never ending quiet. The expansive abyss as far as the eye can see. Why, it’s just lovely.”

I stared at her. Something about all that didn’t add up. What is she trying to hide? I know that she wants to see the fire “dance and hear the ponies sing to the skies” is what she planned to create. But… if the abyss and the quietness keeps her mind clear… then what was the point of having to have ponies “sing”? Din shifted awkwardly.

“I do believe that you have something to take care of?” Din said. I blinked and snapped out of my thought process. Right, need to break out of whatever I was encased in, hope that my friends are still alive and then save Comp. Din was snickering uncontrollably and I growled in agitation.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

“I think that look rather suites you. Perfect for being the pest that you are. How ironic.” She said. I blinked again and looked down at myself… no… at my hooves! Sweet Celestia, what is wrong with my hooves! These aren’t my hooves! My new hooves were black and… had holes in them. I studied the rest of myself and noticed that I seemed… leathery. I tapped my horn and traced it, feeling it jag. What I also noticed was the feeling of two fangs protruding out of my mouth. I panicked, making Din laugh.

“I do believe that those plants seems to alter your physique. How charming. On the bright side, you aren’t dead.” She said.

“Dead? Dead!? If I’m not dead then why the hell do I have holes in my hooves!? Why do I have fangs!? Why do I feel all… leathery!?” I retorted. Din smirked and conjured up a wall of fire that strangely showed my reflection. Wait… that’s not my reflection. What was staring back at me was a… changeling. I squinted and noticed that my fiery mane looked like the wing of an insect. This is… not good.

“How in the hell did I become a changeling!?” I shouted.

Footnote: Level Up!

Perk Added: Curryling: You have suffered a mutation that has turned you into a changeling, giving you reduced DT by 10 and DMG by 15. Fortunately, you are immune to large amounts of radiation and move 15% faster than you normally would.

Author's Notes:

I apologize for any late uploads. A lot of preparation was going on for the now released story I have been working on and haven't found time to really go back on Lucid Dreams and Lineage.

Fortunately, I have almost completed the next chapter for Lucid Dreams and is about a few more chapters left of Lineage before I can finally focus on Apocalyptica. For those that had just started on this chapter, I must have you understand that this story was made during the time season 3 was around and the talk of season 4 being the next big talk. And this was also made during the time of when the original and Project Horizon were popular as well, but unfortunately this was a late upload due to writers block.

Expect another chapter of Lucid Dreams to come out sometime in the next couple of days.