This metro station was not like the others. It was no mere commercial or residential transportation hub. There was no sign of any magazine racks, or counters for transactions, or anything that one might find in a typical metro station. No, this was a place of purpose, a destination for a select few. Everything here was made of cool blue steel, and almost all of it was in rather good condition, save for the door that had blown right off of its hinges.

Hoofprints could be seen in the dust.

A massive statue dominated the room, an alicorn that Tarnish immediately recognised. It was Princess Celestia in all of her glory, wearing heavy articulated armor. When Tarnish moved closer to have a better look, he saw that the dust on Celestia’s helmet had been disturbed, as if somepony had touched it. With all of the danger, darkness, and direness, this was touching, and as he stood staring at it, a hard lump got caught in the back of his throat.

Rainbow Dash must have noticed as well, because she now stood looking at it.

“You’re bleeding,” Daring Do said to Tarnish. “The bandage on your leg is spotty, Tarnish. I feel bad. We haven’t been taking very good care of you. You are carrying way to much gear and you’ve done so without complaint. I’m not even certain how you go into battle, encumbered as you are. You’ve just been picking up things a little at a time and stuffing them into your saddlebags.” She turned to face her fellow pegasus and added, “Rainbow, you and I are much, much stronger than Tarnish. We have an obligation to do better.”

“But I have no more room.” Rainbow’s whiny tone caused Daring Do’s ears to pivot forwards. She cringed, but did not turn away from Daring. “Maybe we could rig something up with some straps and a blanket, or something.”

Vinyl, still clinging to Tarnish’s neck, began sniffling a bit, which was perhaps a sign that she was pulling herself together. Tarnish watched as his two pegasus companions shared some manner of unspoken communication with one another, a language of ruffled feathers, pricked ears, and facial expressions.

Then, tilting his head, Tarnish could not help but get the feeling that Princess Celestia’s statue was watching him. Normally, he would dismiss this as hooey, but this was Skyreach, and there had been problematic statues in his recent past. Wickering, he took a step back, chuffing as he did so, and then let out a rather coltish whinny that left him feeling embarrassed.

“Tarnish, what’s wrong?” Daring Do asked.

“This statue, that’s what wrong.”

Daring Do’s hackles suffered an immediate reaction and she too, moved a step away. “If it makes so much as a creak, you give it a good whack with that wrench. That’s an order.”

“Yeah, we don’t want a repeat of the Collie Ma statue incident.” Rainbow Dash was now in a defensive crouch. “Those fingers”—the rainbow maned pegasus shook her head while whimpering—“I was almost statutory raped.”

“Rainbow…” Daring Do groaned out her fellow pegasus’ name and winced, visibly in pain. “That’s appalling. Apologise right now.”

“Never.” Defiant, Rainbow stood her ground. “That statue is watching me.”

“No, it’s watching me.” Tarnish took another step backwards and then sidestepped to the left. “At least it doesn’t have fingers.”

Rolling her eyes, Daring Do unfurled her wings while huffing from exasperation.

Sentenced to guard duty, Rainbow Dash patrolled between the two doors, one leading up, and one leading down. The door leading up was a relatively normal door, made of steel, and it had been opened. As for the door leading down, it was more like a vault door, and it had been torn from its hinges. Rainbow said nothing about being assigned guard duty, and she did it in much the same way she did everything else: with as much swagger as the lithe little mare could muster.

Daring Do was rummaging around in their packs, trying to shuffle around and organise gear. She seemed irritated, out of sorts, and there could be hundreds of reasons as to why. Tarnish chalked it up to Skyreach being the cause, and that worked. That was good enough for him. While she poked her head down into his saddlebags, he tended to the bite on his leg.

It wasn’t too bad, the bite. Of course, it looked much worse than it was, and all of his walking and excessive movement wasn’t helping. He wouldn’t need to stitch it, but he would need to be a bit more careful, if that were somehow possible. Out of sorts, he cast a sidelong wary glance at the statue of Princess Celestia, not liking it one bit. Princess Celestia was supposed to be a comforting sight, reassuring. This one? Not so much.

Quite without warning, Vinyl held up her slate right in front of his face, and he was stuck looking at the words she had scribbled in chalk.

I cast a spell on you to make you better at combat. It might have made you more fatigued than I expected. I’m sorry. So sorry.

Deep furrows appeared in his brow, and Tarnish pushed the slate aside with his hoof so that he might have a better look at his mute companion. She looked guilty. Pained. Out of sorts. Exhausted from using so much magic. Before he had a chance to say anything, she wiped her slate clean and began hastily scratching out more words.

I wanted you to feel good but now I feel bad and nothing feels right.

Reaching out with his magic, he pulled Vinyl closer. She resisted, of course, but he continued his persistent, gentle tug until she relented and slid across the steel floor. He slipped one long foreleg around her, pulled her as close as he dared, and then did his best to avoid thinking about sexy, racy thoughts.

Of course, he failed, but he didn’t let his awkward feelings ruin the much-needed hug.

He clung to her, needing her in some mental way that was far, far worse than his body’s own physical needs. She squirmed a bit, struggling, but then she relented and went still. Holding her, he took slow, measured breaths, while the back of his mind tortured him by making him wonder just how smelly he might be.

“You know, friendship like yours gives me hope.” Daring Do paused for a time, thoughtful, and when she continued, she was misty-eyed. “Hope in general, I mean. Not just hope of getting out of here. Though, I suppose I have hope for that too. For a long time, I didn’t have this hope. I fear I became jaded, cynical, bitter, and pessimistic. I suppose I didn’t know how much I needed friends.” With a turn of her head, she cast her eyes in Rainbow Dash’s general direction.

Tarnish squeezed Vinyl as tight as he dared, all while trying to avoid thinking too much about having a mare this close to him in this position. Thoughts of Maud crept into the back of his mind, and he felt guilty in some weird way. Ashamed. He couldn’t stop himself from thinking about it, but that didn’t mean he had to act on it. Like everything else, it was something he was stuck dealing with.

“Steady on, I told myself.” Daring Do’s eyes became distant. “Stiff upper lip. Go at it alone and do what is necessary. Avoid unnecessary entanglements. Don’t let emotion and feeling cloud your logic and judgment. I wish… I wish I hadn’t done such a thorough job of listening to myself. Now… now everything feels so awkward. Having all of you with me. It impairs my judgment. My ability to react. I’m scared all the time in ways that I wouldn’t be if I was alone. I fear that I am constantly making emotional decisions… emotional choices that aren’t good ones, and by doing so, placing all of you in undue risk. Every time I have an emotional reaction, I feel as though I’ve failed somehow.”

Tarnish didn’t know what to say.

“I am very fond of all of you.” Daring Do chewed on her bottom lip, her eyes went from side to side, and she let heave a gusty sigh. “It feels like it falls on my back to get you out of here. Alive. And see you safely home. I don’t know how to do that. The not knowing… it has me in a bad mood. If it was just me, I could accept this. Whatever happens next. But I have all of you here. I don’t want to see you hurt. Or worse. This isn’t at all like our previous excursions.”

“I’ve been hurt worse during our previous excursions,” Tarnish said, almost murmuring. “I got shot in the ass. That left me a changed pony, let me tell you. Becoming a father? That was easy. Getting shot in the ass? That forever changed my outlook on the world.”

Daring Do burst into tears and started laughing at the same time. “Stop that at once,” she said, fighting back laughter even as tears trickled down her cheeks. “How can I be serious when you say such things?” She laughed even as the sobs wracked her body and wiped her face with her foreleg.

Even Vinyl reacted, her lips twitching, and Tarnish felt her snuggle up against him. He was still keenly aware of her touch, her closeness, and the warmth of her body. It was only when he took notice of her warmth that he realised that he was cold. This place was chilly. Cold, in a sterile sort of way. The steel floor beneath him was quite frigid, and he wondered if Vinyl was cold. She had to be. Thinking about how cold he was, realising that he was uncomfortable, he shivered.

He was exhausted, and needed sleep. If he was sleeping, then he could dream. In dreams, he could be with Maud. Yes, sleep sounded pleasant. As he sat there, his eyelids heavy, it occurred to him that Vinyl had done considerable feats of magic, including whatever spell she had cast on him. She had to be tired too, not to mention hungry. She hadn’t complained. Not one word, not that she could.

Blinking to ward away drowsiness, he found that he had a little more left to give.

He stood up, lifting Vinyl with him, and then, struggling a great deal, he somehow managed to pull his cloak out of his saddlebags. He laid it on the floor, spread it out, put Vinyl down, and then sat down beside her. At least they were no longer sitting on the cold steel floor, though the unforgiving and downright punishing hardness could still be felt.

“How about something to eat?” he asked, almost whispering into Vinyl’s ear.

She looked up at him with a slack face. A weary, exhausted face. After a moment, she nodded, and he gave her a reassuring squeeze in return. He was sitting on a few hard wrinkles that pressed into his flesh like the hard, unforgiving edge of a knife, but somehow, that didn’t matter. Like everything else, it was something he would endure.

Daring Do was still chuckling as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

Author's Notes: