The four companions all eyed the fallen automaton, each of them silent and dealing with it in their own way. All four of them had some experience with them, even Daring Do and Rainbow Dash, but Vinyl and Tarnish had extensive knowledge. Deadly, magic resistant, able to punch through a unicorn’s shields, and those horrible grabby fingers.

Tarnish and Vinyl had encountered automatons driven mad by Grogar’s influence. Daring Do and Rainbow Dash, along with Tarnish and Vinyl, had encountered them again when they accidently stumbled across a centaur installation. Those automatons had been ordered to keep the vault sealed and let nothing out. Upon their entry, Tarnish, the boneheaded one, had thrown himself down the sacrificial chute, and they ran afoul of the manic mechanoids that followed their directives in a mindless, mechanical way, wanting to keep them so they could be processed.

The four of them had killed the mindless mechanoids, and then destroyed the terrible tin god that was accepting equine sacrifices from some backwards jungle tribe, puréeing their brains, and using the collected neuron goop to extend its own failing processes. They never even found out what the odd bio-mechanoid was doing, or what its purpose was.

The tribe, having discovered that its beloved god was dead, had immediately tried to kill the companions.

There was nothing quite so deadly or as terrifying as centaur automatons. Tarnish kicked it with his booted hoof just to make sure that it had ceased to function. The sun began to dip down below the peaks and clouds were rolling in from the north, big fluffy dull grey clouds, born on a strong wind.

“Skyreach isn’t the city of the ancient pegasus ponies,” Daring Do said to her companions, and her voice cracked from strain. She appeared to retreat into her heavy parka, shrinking in, and her rose coloured eyes glimmered with fear. “Okay, that’s enough rubbernecking, we need to get to our shelter and get settled in for the night. We’ll need to cover the opening and keep all lights to a minimum. I’m glad we have Flamingo.”

“We don’t know what Skyreach is yet.” Tarnish kicked the downed automaton again and then he backed away from it, never taking his eyes off of it. “We’ll do better if we don’t make assumptions. For now, let’s just go with what we know. There are murderous mechanoids that are being reassembled and repaired. We’re in a tight spot, but we have each other. We have some supplies, and each one of us is a known and proven survivor.”

“Yeah, we have each other and that counts for a lot.” Rainbow Dash drew herself up to her full height, which wasn’t much, and she sneered in contempt at the downed automaton. “Let’s go get the shelter set up. It’ll be fun to camp out!”

Tarnish grinned, but Daring Do did not. Vinyl stood staring at the fallen mechanoid. She pulled out a pair of glasses, the same pair of glasses that Tarnish had looted from the chambers where Grogar’s Crown of Corruption had been stored, and pulled the glasses she was wearing off of her face. She replaced them with the ancient spectacles, and began studying the brass murder machine.

“Vinyl,” Tarnish said to her in a gentle voice, “we don’t have time. Look, I’ll toss it on the sledge and you can study it when we get settled in.”

Sighing, Vinyl gave up, pulled off the ancient, ugly spectacles, and put her own dark shades back on to protect her eyes from the dazzling white snow. Turning about, she trudged away from the junked mechanoid and made ready to tie Rainbow Dash and Daring Do back into their harnesses so they could haul the sledge once more.

Inside the small cave, Vinyl superheated a rock until it almost seemed to glow and the companions’ new home was flooded with comfortable, life-giving heat. The small opening was covered over with a sheet of heavy-duty waxed canvas and a bit of illusion magic. The sledge was buried in the snow. What supplies they had brought with them were now stacked in the back of the cave.

A few small insulated mats were laid down, to keep the ground from leaching away their body heat, and two salvaged mattresses were laid down on top of the mats. With the cave warm and everypony settled in, Vinyl retreated into her study and began to disassemble the downed automaton.

Tarnish watched her, for lack of anything else to do, and thought about Princess Celestia. What Vinyl was doing right now, Princess Celestia wasn’t too keen on. It wasn’t that Princess Celestia didn’t trust Vinyl, she did, and very much so. But information, knowledge, thoughts, these things could be stolen, drawn out, taken, and the dangerous knowledge of the ancient centaur technology could cause all manner of disasters.

What Vinyl wanted was a better storage medium for music and she was convinced that centaur mechanoids would help her find this. They stored information somehow, and it wasn’t entirely magic. Vinyl had determined that through trial and error. Vinyl, a brilliant sound engineer, was also an engineer, a fact that was easy to forget sometimes, and she was as smart as the day was long.

Rainbow Dash pulled out a book and snuggled up next to Vinyl to take advantage of her horn light. Much to Tarnish’s amusement, it was Daring Do and the Ring of Destiny. Even while having an adventure, Rainbow Dash was obsessed with adventure.

Sighing, Tarnish knew this happy moment would be brief. He cleared his throat and in a soft voice he said, “I’m going out scouting tonight.”

“No.” Daring Do’s tone was the firm, harsh voice of a schoolmarm.

“The dark gives me an advantage and allows me to be stealthy.”

“Tarnish, it’ll be fifty degrees below zero out there when its dark. There is a snowstorm blowing in. No.”

“I’m going out.” Tarnish’s voice was quiet, but hard. “And I’m going out alone. I’ll leave Flamingo here so you’ll have a guard while you sleep. I’m not going far, but I am going to check out that crashed ship that isn’t too far from here. It looks fresh and it hasn’t been covered with much snow yet. I also plan to get a feel for the land and see if there are any resources we can tap.”

“Tarnish, please don’t.”

“I’m going.”

“Fine,” Daring Do spat. “But you’re going to carry a couple of chemical warmers with you and I want your word that you will not be out all night. You have three mares that need you and want you to come home to them.” The pegasus mare’s eyebrow raised, and there was no trace of humour in her words. “I am not about to sit in this cave all night, worrying about you. I need you here with me… I need to know that you are okay. You are my dear friend… and I cannot bear the thought of something happening to you.”

“I could come with you,” Rainbow offered from behind her book.

“No, Rainbow. Your legs are too short and the snow is too deep.” Tarnish sounded a little apologetic, but now was the time for brutal, unflinching honesty. “You’d just slow me down. Rainbow, you’re a flier, not a walker, and I plan to be sneaky and quiet.”

“I understand.” Rainbow looked up from her book and her eyes shimmered with concern. “When you get back, I’ll be here to help you warm up and I don’t mean that in a pervy way. It’s going to be colder than the Ice Queen Clone’s teats out there.”

“I know.” Tarnish nodded his head. “I’m going to catch some shuteye for a while, so I’ll be in good shape tonight. Somepony wake me when it’s good and dark.”

“Okay.” Rainbow’s face disappeared behind her book once more.

Sprawling out, Tarnish made the surprising move of cuddling up against his boss. She didn’t say anything, but she did look at him with a curious, almost annoyed stare. After a drawn out moment, she relented, let out a nicker, and snuggled up against Tarnish so he would be comfortable.

“Oh, before I forget, there’s hard boiled eggs… I was gonna make egg salad before all the excitement happened. I suppose I still can fix some dinner before I nap.” Warm and comfortable, Tarnish saw no need to move while he began preparing some dinner. It took him a moment to find the eggs, to touch them with his mind, and then he began to pull out the other ingredients needed.

He paused when he pulled out the bright pink plastic mixing bowl. Staring, Tarnish found it difficult to breathe and the growing tightness in his barrel was almost unbearable. His emotions had come upon him in a sudden, unexpected assault. Three little mares that needed him. Daring Do’s words sank in and there was a heavy, crushing sensation in his gut.

Would they live out whatever was left of their lives in this cave?

Were there other castaways trapped here that had somehow survived the automatons?

How long would they survive here, hoping to return home, before accepting their lot in life and settling in? If they settled in for a long stay, then what? What came next? How long would they cling to the hope of returning home and what would happen once that hope died? Feeling guilty and hating himself just a little bit, Tarnish began to think of practical, carnal concerns. It galled him, and he felt ashamed for even letting it into his mind, but he was young and he had needs.

The thought made his soul shrivel up a bit, because Tarnish prided himself on being a good pony that didn’t think of his female friends in that way. He was careful not to let his mind wander, yet here he was, thinking about a future of being trapped in this cave for years and years and years with these three mares, his friends, friends that he loved a great deal.

How long before those at home gave up hope and accepted loss? What would Maud do? His mother, Pinny? How long would they cling to hope, refusing to give up, and torturing themselves as each day passed? What would Maud tell Pebble?

The pink bowl trembled in his telekinesis and it took all of Tarnish’s concentration not to sob. He almost bit his lip, but that would reveal that something was wrong, and Tarnish no longer had the luxury of weakness. Swallowing, he sorted himself out, or tried to, and he forced himself to go through the task of making dinner, all while looking like there was absolutely nothing wrong.

Everything had gone wrong.

Author's Notes:

Next chapter: the frozen dark.