We weren’t going to make camp that night. I wouldn’t have been able to sleep anyway. I had given my last potion to Blood Orange, hopefully I’d find more as I picked through the belongings of the many dead bodies we left in our wake. A nice collection of caps and ammo later I was annoyed to see that nopony here carried any medicine, only chems which I took anyway. Sunny didn’t say a word to me as we looted the buildings, I could understand why. While I may have held myself back enough to not brutalize Blood Orange to death, I was still visibly seething in anger. Angry at her for helping Chestnut, angry at Sunny for patronizing me and angry at myself for holding back. She didn’t deserve a merciful death. So why had I given her one? I was still the good pony here…I had to be…so why didn’t I feel like one? As we made our way back outside I remembered why. Siting under the legs of the sentinel was the sniffling form of Aurora, silently crying to herself. What must she think of me now I wondered. I moved to comfort her, to say anything but I couldn’t find the words. Worst of all she pulled away from my touch. I couldn’t blame her. I had told myself she was the most important pony to me and look what I did to her. Would she have seen me any different if I had let her watch the ordeal with Blood Orange? It did me no good to wonder about it now, I had made my decision. Now I would have to live with it or work hard to make up for it. The sentinel rotated its torso and faced me.

“COMMANDER, AMMO RESERVES DOWN TO FORTY PERCENT.” It informed me.

If I was to still deliver these robots back to the Crater I would have to return them now. I couldn’t use them for my vendetta if they were to be of any use to Jack. Maybe it was time to return home for now. Aurora probably didn’t want to speak to me anyway. With the spoils from the raiders here we had enough food and water to make it back to the Crater through the desert. With all of our PipBuck lights and the sentinel’s floodlights combined we could make our way through the dark of night. Hopefully the robots would be enough of a deterrent to whatever lurked in the darkness. I could see the pale light of the moon behind the curtain of clouds, saddening me that I would never experience its beauty. Speaking of which…

“Aurora…about what you saw…about what I did.” I started, looking behind me to face her. “I’m sorry you had to see that.” My own words sounded strange to me. I wasn’t sorry that I did it I realized, rather I was sorry I had been seen.

Aurora wouldn’t look me in the eye, her gaze cemented to the ground in her path.

“I understand if you don’t want to talk to me or if you’re mad at me…but…” I couldn’t find the right words. They probably didn’t exist.

Sunny had been staring at me from the corner of her eye since I started talking, the obvious disdain in her expression only made me feel worse.

“I…” Was all I got out after that. I wanted to say I was sorry but truth is…I just wasn’t and I was going to do something like it again. I loved Aurora with all my heart and I would do anything for her sake. I wanted her to understand that, deep down I think she did. Maybe that’s what she was afraid of. I almost didn’t even notice the sun start to rise as I stewed in my thoughts. Aurora had fallen asleep in the metal arms of the sentinel, preferring the warmth of a cold metal killing machine as opposed to mine. Sunny had walked with me through the night and didn’t look any worse for wear. She was made of much hardier stuff than me. I didn’t know if I deserved her as a friend anymore. I had to try and make things right between us.

“Sunny.” I started, getting her attention. “I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate you helping me like this. I know that I allowed myself to get carried away with Blood Orange but even then you stayed by my side. I don’t want to lose your friendship. There’s no Silvershine Sparkshower without Sunny Smiles.”

Sunny didn’t say anything back for several long, excruciating minutes.

“You’re name is Silvershine Sparkshower?” She finally said, her voice cracking as she stifled a giggle.

“Well yeah.” I realized this was the first time I’d told her my full name. In fact it may have been the first time I’d said it out loud in years. “Mother picked out Silvershine and Sparkshower was my father’s surname. Sparks was what my father called me before he died and it just stuck I guess.”

“I think I’m gonna stick with Sparks if it’s all the same to you.” Sunny’s sly smile lingered a moment more then faded away. She lowered her head and took a deep breath.

“And you don’t have to apologize Sparks.” She finally said, hiding her eyes under the brim of her hat. “I understand what it’s like to lose your family. I was like you once. An angry pony on a quest for vengeance. It’s why I was so hard on you back there. I don’t want to see you make the same mistakes I did. It was so hard for me to come back after I almost gave myself over to the Wasteland. It can give you strength when you are weak and all it costs is a bit of your soul, bit by bit until you no longer exist, just an empty puppet at the mercy of this vengeful land.”

Even though she was hiding her eyes, I could still see the tears rolling down her face.

“You still have your child Sparks.” She lifted her head, looking at me with her golden, teary eyes. “Don’t lose yourself hunting for revenge. I wasn’t there for my son, you can still be there for her.”

I looked back to Aurora sleeping peacefully in the robots cradle.

“She needs you, just as you need her.”

I didn’t know what to say to her. I was expecting everything but this. Sunny was finally opening her heart to me, a heart that I now knew was broken. She wasn’t just pushing me to be the best parent I could be, but the parent she couldn’t be. Before I could even think of saying anything back I felt tears of my own welling in my eyes. I always looked at Sunny to be my pillar of strength, a slightly stoic rock of a pony. That was not the case. Under the hardened survivor guise was a pony who had lost everything. Thinking on it made me realize that after the destruction of the Regulators I was the only pony left in her life. She was carrying so much pain with her and I still asked her to help me with mine. I didn’t even know what pain was compared to her.

“Sunny…I…I didn’t know. I…” My voice caught in my throat. She was a far stronger mare than I gave her credit for and I already thought highly of her. I could never express what her friendship meant to me. Words wouldn’t do it justice.

Sunny surprised me by stopping and pulling me into a gentle hug. “I’ve been holding it in for so long. I’ve only trusted a pony like you once before. I just want you to be the best pony you can be. Better than me, better than the Wasteland. If we have to kill Chestnut to remove the barriers in your way then I will help you, just don’t get lost along the way, okay?”

I wanted to be better, I wanted to be free from the pain in my heart. Killing Chestnut wouldn’t bring Winter back but I couldn’t sleep at night knowing that her killer still lived. The longer he was out there unchecked, the more families he could destroy like he did mine. If I could save anypony from the pain I felt or the pain Sunny felt, then I would without hesitation. I would stop him not just for me but for everypony. He had a new base of operations and I could only wonder how much his army had grown. With my spirit reinvigorated, I released the hug and wiped my tears away with a smile.

“Thank you for everything Sunny. I’m so happy I met you.”

Sunny smiled back, readjusting the hat on her head. “I’ll always be here for you if I can Sparks. You’re like family to me, I hope you know that.”

“Same to you Sunny.” I gave Aurora’s sleeping face one last grateful look before turning my attention back to the path ahead. “Let’s see if we can get back before morning.”

Sunny nodded and we continued on our way, with new appreciation for each other. This time I wouldn’t leave a silence between us. I just hoped I wouldn’t upset her.

“What was his name?” I asked carefully.

“What?” She said, lifting her head in surprise.

“Your son. What was his name? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to talk about it.” Suddenly I was regretting opening my mouth. She had just opened her heart to me and here I was pulling memories back to the surface.

“His name was Stormy, Stormy Smiles.” She said without missing a beat. She cracked a small smile as she recalled fond memories of the past. “He would have been a bit younger than you this year.”

“Are you sure you’re okay talking about him?”

“Never. No parent should outlive their child. I’ve had years to come to terms with what happened but not a day goes by that he isn’t in my thoughts. Even more so since I met you. You remind me so much of him.”

“I’m sorry.” I said, my ears fell against my head. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to make friends with someone who would remind me of Winter every time I looked at them. So why did she?

“If I remind you of him, why would you stay with me? Why would you torture yourself like that?”

“I…I’m not sure.” She looked off into the distance. “I just felt like it was what I was supposed to do. I suppose, in my mind, helping and protecting you was like making up for what I couldn’t do for my son.”

I was a constant reminder of her failure, so in her own way she was trying to make up for her mistakes. It was admirable to say the least. It would have to take a strong heart to force yourself to stand by a living embodiment of your personal failures, doing whatever you could to make things right. Would that be enough?

“Do you think by helping me this will in some way alleviate your pain?” I asked, placing a hoof on her shoulder. “Sunny…what am I to you?”

“You are my chance to make things right. I don’t think anything will alleviate my pain until my soul finds its resting place. Because the sad truth is time doesn’t heal all wounds. The wounds remain. In time the mind, protecting its own sanity, covers them in scar tissue and the pain lessens. But it is never gone.”

I knew what she meant. As much as I didn’t want to admit it to myself, I knew my quest for vengeance was for me and nopony else. It was my attempt to lessen my own pain. But Sunny was right, the pain would never go away. I gently touched Winter's necklace that I wore around my neck, eager for a time that looking at it would remind me of her rather than Chestnut.

Without stopping to sleep through the night, we made it back to the Crater just as the sun rose into the sky. I gently nudged Aurora awake as we neared the gates. She rubbed her eyes sleepily and let out a little yawn. Once she saw the walls of the Crater though she snapped to full alertness, hopping out of the sentinels metal arms. Just before we crossed the threshold I stopped and turned to the robots.

“Alright you two, wait here outside the gate and wait for further instructions. A griffin named Jack will come collect you, follow his orders as if they were mine, barring the number one rule.”

“Understood Commander!” The gung-ho Mister Gutsy saluted. “It was a privilege to serve under you, we got those stripes good eh?”

The sentinel however, made no verbal communication. Rather it just went into standby mode until Jack came to collect them. Sunny offered to take the bulk of the gear we collected on our excursion to the market to sell them and refresh our own supplies. An offer I accepted because I had a certain griffin to talk to. Sunny seemed to know what I intended to do and took Aurora with her. She didn’t say anything and followed after Sunny in silence. I wondered how long it would be before she would speak to me again. I didn’t think she was upset at me for torturing and killing Blood Orange. Rather she was upset because I forced her to leave me alone. She was just worried about me and I pushed her away after I told her I wouldn’t. She wasn’t afraid of what I was going to do to Blood Orange but what I’d do to myself. She knew me better than I knew myself sometimes. She might have been a filly but she was no foal. She probably knew more than I gave her credit for, perhaps even more than me. It occurred to me that even though we celebrated her birthday last week I didn’t actually know how old she was. Some parent I was.

I certainly wasn’t in a good mood as I walked into the tower that sat in the bottom of the Crater.

“Sparks! Where have you been!?” My mother called from the desk she sat behind. “Aurora disappeared! I haven’t seen her in-”

“It’s alright Mom. I’ve got her.” I lied. “Is Jack upstairs? I need to talk to him.”

She had yet to come to terms about what I had said, still shaken by my casual response about what she thought was my ‘missing’ daughter.

“Err…well yes he is. But can it wait? I would like to talk to you about what happened.”

“It’ll have to wait Mom. What I have to say to him is very important.” I was already halfway up the stairs before I finished speaking, not giving her a chance to interject or protest.

Jack’s office was furnished about as lavishly as I expected it to be. A fairly pristine red carpet lay on the floor flanked by two fake plants. The far wall was mostly glass, allowing an almost panoramic view of the Crater. Dominating the room wasn’t a traditional desk, rather it looked to be along the lines of a control board. Like something pulled right out of the space center we just came from. The connection didn’t seem strange any more now that I knew the kind of company Jack kept. Siting in a faded brown leather chair was Jack, looking over several papers.

“Ah Sparks you’re back! I trust everything went well? Did you find the mare you were looking for?” He asked hopefully, like I wasn’t about to tear into him for sending me to a place he knew was occupied by raiders.

“You knew Sid was a raider didn’t you?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

Jack sighed and leaned forward, folding his claws on the desk. “Sid is an old friend of mine who's just had a train of bad luck. Yes I knew he was…involved in less than honest shit. Frankly I’m surprised you didn’t figure it out after you knew they had associated with the mare you were looking for.”

“And just what did you expect to happen by not telling me? Did you think I wouldn’t go?”

“I wanted to protect Sid, If you knew they were raiders would have spared any of them?”

Truth be told if I had known beforehoof things might have been different but deceiving me had gotten Sid killed anyway.

“They kept me hostage for days Jack, do you know what I had to do to get everypony out of there?”

“What does it matter? You got the mare you wanted didn’t you? And the robots we needed. Isn’t that enough for you?”

“You’ll have to ask yourself the same question.” I said flatly.

“What do you mean?” Jack narrowed his eyes.

“Sid was killed trying to help me escape. You sent me into a den of raiders and in order to keep everypony alive I had to make a few decisions I didn’t like. One of them led to Sid’s death.”

“Get out of my office.” Jack’s voice dripped with barely contained anger. Or perhaps it was sadness.

“You’ll find your robots just outside the gate. The next time you deceive me I wouldn’t be surprised what it costs you.” I turned to take my leave and descended down to the ground floor. I doubt that even had he told me the truth Sid would have survived. But I had to make him know what his actions cost him, even if he had the best of intentions. Some of the worst things imaginable had been done with the best of intentions in mind and what I knew from history only corroborated that fact.

“Perhaps now you have a moment to spare for your mother.”

I looked over to where I had left her. She stared crossly back at me before abandoning her seat and approaching me. “I believe you owe me an explanation.”

I owed her that much, but not here not now.

“I suppose I do, but can it wait till this evening? I owe a certain filly an apology and I haven’t slept in a long time.”

“What did you do to Aurora?”

“I’ll tell you later. Come by the house when you can and I’ll tell you everything. I promise.”

She didn’t look pleased but she was appeased at the very least. Her dour expression melted away and she closed her eyes in reflection.

“I’m going to hold you to it. Don’t think you will escape me a second time. Go get some rest son, I’ll see you this evening.”

“Thanks mom, I love you.”

“I love you too Sparks, now get going. If you have a daughter to take care of don’t let me keep you.”

I nodded and smiled at her. If anypony knew about what I was going through with a child it was her. I hurriedly made my way through the scrap metal jungle of the Crater to find Aurora and Sunny, doing my best to dodge anypony that would want to talk to me. Yeah I know all two of them but I had no time to waste. While I was just barely running on fumes everypony else was just starting their days. The Crater was bustling with the many ponies that called it home, spending their caps, making some caps. All of it making my job harder. After ten minutes of searching I was suddenly very thankful for Sunny’s bright coloration as I spotted her in the crowd. She had just walked into the resident weapon shop called ‘Lock, Stock & Barrel’. It took me a moment to weave my way past the gathered ponies to slip inside the LSB.

Once inside I spotted Sunny at the counter laying out what weapons we took but Aurora was nowhere to be seen. I trotted up next to her as she started haggling with the older stallion who ran the place.

“A lot of these weapons look like they ain’t gonna work much longer. I hope you’re not expecting anything grand in return. No matter how much trash you bring me it’s still trash.”

“True but they can be stripped for parts. Ponies are always in need of stuff to patch up their gear.”

The old stallion seemed to consider her words carefully, wondering if there was room for profit in the deal. While he thought to himself I coughed to get Sunny’s attention.

“Where did Aurora go?”

“She said she wanted to go home so I let her. Unlike the two of us she got some sleep last night. So I didn’t see the harm in letting her go.”

“Ok Sunny. I’ll see you later. I need to go find her.”

“I understand.” She nodded, knowing what I was going to do. “Go to her and remember what I said. No matter what happens, she needs you.”

“Thanks Sunny.” And in a blink I was back into the crowd, heading to the upper levels to my home. I had no idea what I was going to say to her. I was just hoping she’d be talking to me by the end of the day and then I’d take it from there. When I made it to my front door I just stood there. I went over every scenario I could imagine and tried to formulate what to say for each one. I lost track of how many times I reached for the door only to pull back, adding more worries to my tired mind. If I let this continue much longer I would never go inside. So I sucked in a deep breath and opened the door, ready to take the issue head on.

Before I could even get two steps inside a plastic cup hit me in the muzzle.

“You big stupid jerk!” Was all I heard from somewhere while I continued to be pelted by an assortment of objects. I lifted my left leg, using my PipBuck to shield my face. I tried to peek out from behind my shield whenever I could. Piecing together what I saw from several second long glances, I saw that Aurora had made a…fort out of furniture and whatever she could get her hooves on.

“You promised me!” She shouted as the objects she was throwing got bigger and heavier. I tried to lower my leg to try and say something when her whole backpack thumped me in the head, staggering me a bit.

“You said you’d never be alone again! You liar!”

“But…” Was all I got out before a pillow shut me up.

“Sunny doesn’t count!” She yelled, knowing what I was going to say.

Enough was enough. I let her go on for too long. I had something to say and she was going to listen to me. I focused my magic into a white wall of protection in front of me and started moving forwards. Aurora kept on hurling whatever she could find at me regardless of the futility.

“Aurora…” I said softly.

“No! I don’t want to talk to you!”

“Princess…please…”

“Y-you promised me…” I heard her angry tone falter as she choked up a bit, barely holding back tears.

I finally got a glimpse of her from inside her hiding spot and grabbed her in a levitation field. She tried to scramble away but I had her now. That still didn’t stop her from trying, leaving her running in place in a field of white magic. I turned her around to face me, increasing the power of the spell to prevent her from looking away.

“I would never do anything to hurt you Aurora. You’re the most important pony in the world to me.”

“T-then why did you make me leave? You aren’t supposed to be alone…last time…” She swallowed the frog in her throat, recalling traumatizing memories from when she saw me at my lowest.

“I know…I know. But I’ve learned something since then. Something I should have known from the start.”

Aurora couldn’t move her hooves to wipe away her tears. I was confident she wouldn’t run away so I lowered her to the floor and released her from my hold. She sniffled loudly and wiped her eyes with a hoof, looking at me curiously.

“You need me Aurora. Because of that I will never, ever think about killing myself ever again. You cared about my life more than I did then and when I realized what that would do to you if I went through with it…”

“What?”

“I realized I need you too. If it wasn’t for you I’d have given up. You make me want to be a better pony. I’m not your father Aurora…but I’m glad to be your dad. I love you princess, with all my heart. I want you to know that.”

Despite having just wiped her tears away new ones were quick to replace them. Her lip started to quiver as she closed her eyes and trotted up to me. I lowered myself down to her level as she threw her hooves around me, crying into my chest for the second time in her life.

“I love you too dad!” She blubbered into my fur. What a pair we were. I remembered the day we met, saving her life from a maniac molded by time. It was an interesting comparison. Without me she’d most certainly be dead and without her I’d have shot myself. Sunny was absolutely right, we needed each other, father and daughter. “I never knew my real dad.” She managed to squeak out between sobs. “You’re the only dad I’ve had.” She tightened her grip and nuzzled into my chest.

Now came one of the moments I was dreading, not just as her caretaker but as her dad too. If she was to come with us she had to know how to protect herself and that meant I’d have to teach her how to fight, how to kill. It was one thing to shoot bottles or kill a ghoul but to kill a pony, in defense or otherwise is a difficult hurdle to jump, even for an adult.

I held her for a long while until she stopped crying, though she didn’t let go for a bit longer. She picked up her backpack from the floor and looked around the house with a frown.

“Sorry about the mess dad.” She kicked a bit of trash across the floor glumly.

“It shouldn’t take too long to clean up. If I have some help that is…” I gently booped her on the nose. She smiled softly at that, understanding my meaning. Magic certainly makes cleaning up go a bit faster and in a flash it was like a small angry tornado hadn’t blown through the room. Though the exertion did finally push me over the edge. If I didn’t get some sleep soon I’d fall asleep standing up. After everything we’d been through today I think we deserved a little rest. Aurora left to go see her friends in town while I flumped unceremoniously into my bed, falling asleep almost as soon as I hit the mattress.

I awoke to the sound of an alarm clock blaring. I rolled over in my bed and hit the button on the clock, prompting it to let me sleep for a few more minutes.

“C’mon Sparks get up, we’re going to be late.” Whispered a soothing voice. I opened my eyes to the white furred, blue maned face of my marefriend.

“So it’s finally happened, I died in my sleep and the angels are taking me.”

“Sweet talk won’t get you out of this one. Get up. I’m not going to miss my father’s funeral because you slept in.” Winter swiftly yanked the blanket off of me, hitting me with the pillow for good measure.

“Alright. Alright I’m up.” It took only a moment or two for me to slip into my stable barding and make myself look presentable. We walked out into the stable’s halls together, heading for the incinerator. The halls were unusually empty this morning, although deaths in the stable weren’t usually given so much ceremony they were still days of mourning. Summer and Winter insisted on at least having a small vigil when their father’s body was incinerated. There weren’t many ponies when we arrived at the incinerator room. It was just Winter, Summer, myself and the Overmare. Without a word, Summer nodded to the Overmare and she hit the button on the wall. Through a small window of glass we saw the flames consume his body, soon to be returned to the orchard for the next generation. Suddenly I could hear flames flickering in the room. I turned around to see that the whole room was on fire. All around me were burnt or burning corpses, smoke making my eyes water and choking the air from my lungs.

“Winter!?” I yelled into the cloud of smoke. A hole opened in the smoke, giving me tunnel vision to Winter standing on a ledge. I could see her mouth move but I couldn’t hear her. My own thoughts were drowned out by a gunshot. Gore and bone shot out of Winter’s left temple and she plummeted off the ledge into the void. The flames continued to rage, burning away all my surroundings until it was just me standing alone in the darkness. The putrid smell of burnt flesh wafted in my direction as another gunshot sounded. I turned around for the source of the sound only to find myself face to face with an almost skeletal pony with a deeply charred hide, blood slowly running through cracked and warped skin, stretched beyond its breaking point. Its voice reflected its appearance, coming out in a raspy, guttural growl.

“This is…your fault.” It croaked, pointing to its head. I followed its hoof to its head to see the exit wound of a gunshot. “Could…have prevented this.”

Behind her, the black flowed with color and painted a scene out for me. It showed me talking Sunny out of killing Chestnut. It then twisted into itself, showing me what could have been. I saw Chestnut dead at our hooves, the raider army break apart after the death of its leader and Black Town standing as it was the day I first saw it. I saw an older version of myself, Winter and Aurora. A fourth pony ran around the three of us that was surrounded in a veil of shadow. The child I would never know.

“That could…have been us.” The specter of Winter turned to face the images in the dark. “Your mercy… cost you your future…and cost me everything.” As if to exemplify its point, time seemed to reverse, returning Winter to how she looked before her death only to show me her death again. A scene I saw endlessly in my nightmares.

“You just can’t stop letting ponies close to you die can you?” from the darkness walked a form with brown fur and a yellow mane.

“Why do you torment me Ribbon Dancer?” I tried to walk away into the emptiness but without having to move their hooves my demons followed me.

“We are all here because of you.”

“You could have died anytime in that pen Ribbon Dancer, don’t put that on me.”

“Perhaps but can you say that with certainty? I did die directly at your hooves after all.”

“He’s not wrong kid.” From the darkness another form coalesced, this one a bit more of a weight on my mind.

“You too Slipknot?” I asked, turning to face the new ghost.

“Call me devil’s advocate I guess. I’m not agreeing with the fella but you did kill him. I on the other hoof died trying to help you and that was a choice I made. I’m on your side Sparks but you can’t deny that I’d still be alive if I never met you.”

When I thought about it, he had a point. I left bodies in my wake no matter where I went, at my hooves or otherwise. Even when I tried to do good, I did it through killing. Could I justify it as a byproduct of the world we live in or was I a murderer?

“Do you remember what I told you before the end? That no matter how you justified it, you ARE a murder Sparks.” Voices kept coming at me from the limit of my vision. Shadows swirled around my hooves, flowing back and forth until they took shape in front of me. Red Asphalt smiled smugly at me as his body was formed from the shadows.

“You left me no choice.” I took a few steps back, away from the apparition of the deceased raider boss.

“I recall offering you a place in my home, it was your own choice to reject us and burn it to the ground.” He practically spat the words at me, his anger leaking through.

“Not everypony is ready to give themselves up to the wasteland! I wasn’t going to start killing innocent ponies because it was easier than talking to them or helping them.”

“Nopony is ‘innocent’ Sparks. You don’t survive in this world if you’re innocent. Everypony is guilty of something, some just accept their new identity more fervently than others.”

“That still doesn’t make you right.”

“When order is decided by who has the biggest gun, what is right when chaos is a hair-trigger away?”

“It’s not about forcing your will on others, it’s about standing by them and building them up.”

“All this time and you still understand nothing. You didn’t know the first thing about me Sparks. It was easier for you to vilify me to suit your own ends, to justify murder as ‘the right thing’”

I wasn’t wrong about what I did. Even if he was suggesting that he was evil with good intentions that still didn’t justify his actions.

“The ends justify the means.” I remembered hearing that the day I was supposed to be harvested, the day I left the stable. Overmare Rose Thorn truly believed that saying, using it to make herself the good guy even though her actions bordered on atrocities. Was Red Asphalt any different? Just as I was beginning to second guess everything I knew, two balls of energy shot out of the void and blasted everypony with blinding light. Everypony was reduced to cinders in seconds. In the blink of an eye they were gone. Before I could even react to what had happened, the world around me vanished and I plummeted into the darkness. For a fraction of a second I was able to see a spherical shape illuminated below me.

With a jerk I awoke, thrashing in the air as my head hit the floor. I was breathing heavily and my coat was soaked in a cold sweat. I lifted my PipBuck to see what time it was. I was shocked to see that I had slept for twenty hours. A fact that I was reminded of by the hunger pains and dry mouth. I stumbled my way into the main room of my home and greedily sucked up some water from the sink, ignoring the ticking my PipBuck was making. I kept on chugging until I noticed the two ponies siting at the dining table. Aurora sat with my mother watching me make an animal out of myself. I shut the faucet off and turned to face them.

“Um…thirsty.” Was all that came to mind. Mom just stared at me, looking rather annoyed. “Did I miss your visit mom?” I asked sheepishly.

“Don’t worry dad. I told her what happened.” Aurora said through a mouthful of pre-war Chocolate Frosted Sugar Apple Bombs cereal.

“Indeed she did.” Mother confirmed, standing up from her seat. “And if I’m not mistaken, you intend to leave again to chase somepony?”

“Well…” I rubbed the back of my head, unsure how to approach this conversation.

“Don’t you think this hunt has gone on long enough? Is this what you think she’d want for you? To endanger yourself and Aurora in a wild goose chase?”

“Winter is dead. She doesn’t want anything anymore. I need to do this. I need to get these ghosts out of my head. I can’t let this happen to anypony else and now I know where he is…” I paused to take a breath, unaware of how loud my voice had gotten. “I can end him…end him for good.”

Mother took a few steps back, like she didn’t believe the words coming out of my mouth.

“This isn’t who you are Sparks. You don’t have to do this. You aren’t a murderer.”

“No…I’m an avenger.” I had been robbed of everything I fought for since leaving the Stable by Chestnut. He was going to pay for his crimes. He had to die by my hooves. “I’m sorry mom, but I have to do this…for myself.”

“…I understand. Just…just be careful out there darling. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“I will mom, it won’t be much of a relief if I die.” She clearly didn’t appreciate my attempt at a joke.

“Don’t worry Nana, I’ll make sure he doesn’t get in too much trouble.” Aurora said, slamming her bowl down with a confident smirk.

“Well at least one of you is responsible.” She said, holding her head up high and looking down her nose at me, a knowing smile plastered on her face. “I leave him in your care Aurora.” She turned to let herself out, giving me a final look that told me everything I needed to know. It was a pleading look, one that begged for my safe return. Behind her expression I could see how worried she was. Worried that I’d never come back, in more ways than one but I knew what was at stake and I would not fail. I brought up my PipBuck to check the map one last time. There were a few map markers that had been added since we left for the space center and only one that we had been to. That however was not what I was interested in today. Rather I was looking at the marker for ‘Moletown’ which was set in the dead center of North Baltimare. This would mark the second time we ventured that far into the ruins. Normally we were content to skirt the city limits or walk the perimeter. There were no pleasant memories of our first foray into Baltimare. We had barely made it a hundred feet before we were almost killed by bloodwings. Those fears would not stop me from going. It was time to put my mind to rest and bury my heart at Stable 63. We weren’t going to leave right away though. Rather, we took a couple days to put Aurora through proper combat training…well as proper as Sunny and I could give…ok it was mostly Sunny considering she taught me the same lessons. No matter how different the world out here was to me, some part of me would never let go of how things were supposed to be. Even though I knew it was kill or be killed out here, it broke a piece of my heart to teach my daughter to be a killer. In the days we took to prepare, Aurora had gotten quite good at using the silenced pistol I gave her. It was small, sleek and best of all, silent. It was a perfect weapon for her. Thinking on what we might need for our journey, I remembered a promise I made to a certain Steel Ranger. Part of me wanted to take a detour away from Moletown to try and convince their Elder to let me borrow the Applejack-bot to help deal with Chestnut. As much as the idea appealed to me and the more I thought about it the more tempting it became, I couldn’t risk Chestnut getting away. He was priority number one, everything else would have to wait.

Then the day came that we would head out. On the way out of town we stopped at Lock, Stock & Barrel and bought some ammunition for Aurora as well as some ballistic fiber we had to jury rig into a vest that fit her. In what seemed like minutes the Crater was already a barely visible dot in the distance. Ahead of us loomed the skyline of the Baltimare Ruins. I had shared my map marker with Sunny and Aurora so they had an idea of where we were going. Despite all its innovations and arcano-tech prowess, it was still annoying that the device did not recognize verticality. I doubted that a place called Moletown was on the surface, especially since Blood Orange had said the Eclipse Complex was an ‘underground’ fort.

“I wish Grim was still here.” Aurora said, kicking a rock as she did.

“Yeah, aerial recon would be pretty helpful right about now.” I agreed. Maybe once we dealt with Chestnut it would be time to go find him. I don’t remember if I ever said it to his face but I considered him a friend. He stuck by me when he had no reason to. He saw potential in me but grew disillusioned when I lost hope in myself and gave up. ‘Try and find yourself out there’ Watcher had said. He was responsible for Grim and I meeting, so he too must have seen something in me. The difference now was that I was ready to find it, ready to move on. Just one more obstacle blocked my path. My list of things to do grew more and more, though the precedence of some were less stressful. Truthfully the majority of them were to sate my own curiosity like what was behind the bypass shield we encountered or what secrets lay hidden in the Dome. Only two weighed on my mind though, finding Grim and meeting with the Steel Rangers.

We walked for a few hours before making it into the ruined streets of Baltimare. Segments of concrete as large as city blocks had collapsed into the ground and into the sewers, leaving watery grave pits of homes and buildings. Which made traversing the area difficult. Many of the sinkholes had become homes and breeding grounds for wasteland creatures. Large and mutated bugs flew around the bogs and in others were large four legged creatures with dark chitinous armor that disappeared under the water at our approach.

“What are those things?” Aurora whispered.

“Those are boglurks, they are very dangerous creatures. They aren’t trying to kill us so they must have fed already. Let’s keep our distance, if any of these pits are nests…”

“They’ll try to defend them.” I finished. It would be best to avoid them for now. I don’t think any of us had weapons powerful enough to pierce their armor except maybe Sunny’s shotguns and my sniper rifle. Though the sound it would make would draw Luna knows what our way so that wasn’t an option. We carefully crept our way out of the collapsed portion of the city, thankful for avoiding any trouble so far. Though we faced no lack of irritation at having to walk around the collapsed section to get back on track. It was still eerie just how silent the ruins could be. Even now after seeing life with my own eyes I could hardly believe it. We were maybe half a mile from our destination when Sunny jerked her head to the side.

“Did you hear that?” Sunny asked in a hushed tone. Sticking out her leg to stop us.

Aurora and I stopped and carefully scrutinized our surroundings, swiveling our ears looking for the sound. After a moment I could hear the slight sound of dirt crunching under hooves…right behind us. I felt a hoof push against my head, slamming Sunny’s head and mine together. In front of us a form materialized from the air in the shape of a pony. A pony wearing light, black armor with an equally black hooded cloak. A black mask hid the face of our attacker.

“Leave this place.” It had the voice of a mare but spoke in a strange accent. “You are not wanted here.”

“I have business here. Get out of my way.” I growled. The mare in front of us sighed and took a more aggressive stance.

“I will do what I must.”

She closed the distance between us almost instantly, driving a hoof into my chin, knocking me off my hooves. She pivoted on her hooves and moved with the grace and precision of somepony who had done this her whole life. She flipped over her front hooves, using her body’s forward momentum to amplify the force of her hind leg that she aimed for my head. I flinched and instinctively conjured a shield to protect myself. Her hoof deflected off, throwing her off balance enough to lose her momentum and let Sunny get a kick in to her ribs. Our attacker grunted in pain and recoiled away from us for a moment, giving me enough time to get back up. She reached into the dark of her cloak and came back with two glowing devices strapped to her hooves.

“This should stop you magic user.” She spoke in a low, threatening tone. She rushed me again, turning broadside and hit my shield with her body. Then she brought her hoof around, the device attached to it was glowing now and when she hit it against my shield an explosive shockwave blew through it, cracking it in many places and sending strong feedback into my horn. She had some kind of energy gauntlets on and my shield wouldn’t protect me for much longer. I dropped the shield and did the only thing I could at this range. I reared back and drove my head into her muzzle. I could feel the warmth of blood on my face followed by an ear piercing wail. The cloaked mare held a hoof to her face, covering her right eye, a stream of blood escaping past her hoof. I must have gotten a lucky stab with my horn. With her other hoof she raised the hood of her cloak over her head and she vanished. Everypony was prepared for a sneak attack at any moment. Every few seconds I could see where a drop of her blood had hit the ground, giving me an idea of her location. An idea that I didn’t have time to take advantage of as her hoof weapon hit me right in the jaw, the shockwave blowing me off my hooves, leaving me on the ground with the loudest ringing in my ears. Sunny didn’t last much longer either as the mare reappeared behind her and kicked her in the back of the leg, causing her to crouch low to the ground where the mare slammed the hoof weapon into the back of Sunny’s head. The force of the blow pushed Sunny’s head into the ground, knocking her unconscious. She disappeared again then reappeared in front of Aurora. Aurora had been hiding behind a rock since the fight started, an action the mare obviously noticed.

“Come with me puella, I will take you to safety.” The mare held out a hoof towards Aurora. I don’t think she expected Aurora to have a gun judging by how wide her eye got when she was suddenly looking down the barrel of Aurora’s pistol. Aurora fired three shots in rapid succession. One tore through the mare’s ear, the second hit one of her hind legs and the third hit her in the chest. She staggered back in shock, flipped her hood back up and disappeared for a final time. I had a hard time getting to my hooves, the hit to my face throwing off my balance. I waved for Aurora to come to me and help me wake up Sunny. It took an amount of doing to wake her up and get her back on all fours.

“Who the hell was that?” Sunny asked, dizzily holding a hoof to her head.

“Somepony who doesn’t like us.” Was the best answer I had for now.

“Those displacer hooves really pack a wallop.” Sunny said, shaking the last of her dizziness away.

“D-do you…think I killed her?” Aurora asked, an unsure inflection in her tone.

“I don’t think so. I feel like we’ll be seeing her again.” I wasn’t entirely sure but she didn’t show up on EFS so it was pretty likely she got away. If the shot had been fatal then there should have been more blood on the ground.

“Maybe somepony in Moletown will know something about her.” Sunny shrugged and continued towards the city in question. We were almost there and I felt like we had passed the last obstacle in our way. As we came around the corner of a destroyed train station we saw what must have been the entrance to Moletown. A wall of metal and concrete blocked up most of the entrance to a metro tunnel with a hole in the center barely large enough to allow a cart to fit through. There were no signs to speak of but after a cursory glance I noticed a couple crudely painted arrows painted on the sidewalk and the sides of nearby buildings, all pointing to the tunnel’s entrance. There were no guards stationed around, making me think there was a secondary entrance in the tunnel itself. Or perhaps they though the location secure enough without needing to post a watch. We walked out into the open and slowly made our way into the tunnel. Once inside almost all light vanished, the only bastions of illumination provided by two metal barrels with fires burning in them. Down the center of the tunnel traveled the metal rails of train tracks, on either side of them were broken bits of concrete from the crumbling foundation of the tunnel. The slope of the tunnel inclined downwards, taking us deeper underground. The dank smell of the tunnel alongside the moist air and scattered debris gave us a sense of dread. It made me wonder what pony in their right mind would wander in here and think this would be the best place for a community. After a few moments of walking and, with the aid of our PipBuck lights, we saw a split in the tunnel. There was a path that continued straight and two that branched off on the right and left. At the mouth of the right split were two guard posts made from scrap metal and wood. Each guard post held two occupants. Three ponies and one griffin altogether. The griffin noticed us before the rest, flying over and landing in front of us.

“Bout time we saw a few more guns in here.” She said. “The left tunnel will take you lot to the town proper, so long as you keep your guns holstered the guards at the door shouldn’t bother you.”

“I think you’ve mistaken us for somepony else.” I said, looking at her inquisitively. She was a bit smaller than other griffins I’d seen, her plumage was the most unique I’d seen so far. The feathers on her wings were brown matching with the fur on the rest of her body and the feathers on her face were white. For all intents and purposes she was a normal colored griffin but that wasn’t what was unique. On her head was an incredible deep blue fringe hanging just in front of her face. It was honestly stunning, if not a bit distracting at first. I had to take a step back because I found myself staring. Aurora however just kept staring.

“Your feathers are pretty.” She said, peeking out from behind me.

“Well... thanks kid.” She looked down at Aurora with a smile. “Sorry about the mix up then, you two look like mercs so I thought you were here to join up with the expedition. The little one should have given away that you weren’t here for that.”

“Expedition?” Sunny asked, taking a step forward, getting the griffins attention.

“Yeah, the leadership of Moletown want to expand further down in one of the tunnels. The few scouts they’ve sent down haven’t returned so they planned a big expedition to go clear out the tunnel. There’s a payment of caps for participating and you can keep whatever you find in terms of salvage and whatnot.”

“Interesting we may check that out after all.” I said, rubbing my chin. We had to find the tunnel that led to the train that would take us to the Eclipse complex anyway. “Can I ask your name miss?”

“Please don't call me 'miss'. My name is Azura.”

“Will you be joining the expedition?”

“I’ve thought about it but I don’t think it’s for me. More than half of the ones who’ve come are in it for the chance to salvage and honestly that’d be what I’d be after. It’s too much competition, most of them came in groups and I’m not up for that kind of race. I’m only one bird after all.”

“You could come with us.” I offered without thinking. I took an instinctive step back, confused at my own words.

“Really? You’d let me come with you?” Her expression brightened for the briefest flicker before doubt crept in to replace it. “What’s the catch?”

“No catch, I-I just think it’d be helpful to have a local show us around while we’re here.” Why couldn’t I stop talking? We could have found our way around without a guide, we weren’t foals.

Before Azura could answer, Aurora stepped out from behind me with a smug grin. “My dad thinks you’re pretty too. He just won’t say it.” Aurora looked up at me with a smug look on her face, bumping my hind legs with her rump.

I flubbed my way through what was supposed to be an objection, instead I just made her claim look more legitimate. I could feel a small blush form on my face, I tried to look away hoping she wouldn’t notice but I kept sneaking glances at her beautiful feathers. Beautiful feathers? What?

“Oh…” The appearance of her own blush told me that she HAD noticed, or maybe the implication was enough. “W-well my shift here ends in a few hours.” She said while looking anywhere but at us. She fidgeted with her claws in front of her, using them as something to focus on. “I usually go right to the bar after my shift so…either I’ll find you or... I won’t.” With that she gave her wings a flap and sped back to her guard post.

“Smooth Sparks.” Was all Sunny said as she moved and started heading down the tunnel that led to Moletown.

Aurora hit me on the leg and smiled up at me deviously. “I got your back dad.” She then scampered off after Sunny, leaving me standing there like a lump on a log. My mind was running at a thousand miles an hour. What…what just happened!? Did Aurora just try to set me up on a date? Oh boy, I hoped I could play this off if we met up again in a few hours. I slowly followed after the other two, thinking carefully on what had just transpired. Truth be told…I did think she was pretty. I really only felt conflicted about it because I felt like I was supposed to. I was on a fucking quest to avenge Winter for Luna’s sake! The whole situation sat poorly with me, my reaction to what Aurora said probably didn’t help things either. I really hoped I could set things straight with her. Suddenly I felt very forlorn. The concept of finding somepony else made me feel…I don’t know…bad. Maybe if I had come here for different reasons I would be more open to it but as it stood it felt wrong, no matter how I actually felt.

Eventually we were able to see light at the end of the tunnel. We came up to a gate closing off a ramp that was built onto the tracks, leading up to a large subway station that Moletown had been built into. There were two armed ponies behind the gate watching our approach.

“Welcome to Moletown.” One said in greeting. They both moved to open the gate, giving us the rules as they did. “Keep your weapons holstered and there won’t be any problems. Don’t steal anything and if you kill somepony, expect to be killed in return. You don’t want to cross Mr. Coal.”

“If you’re here for the expedition, talk with Grizela at the Rusty Talon, just follow the signs and you’ll find it.”

Once they were done, the whole of Moletown was open to us. The layout of the town was rather interesting. It had multiple layers, one on the loading platforms where the bulk of the buildings were put together, another up some broken escalators that looked to hold the residences of the populace and the last above them on the pony traffic walkways that led down from the surface, where I imagined the guard barracks was and maybe the home of this Mr. Coal the gate guards mentioned. At the end of the station, way on the other side were two more tunnel entrances, both of them had also been fitted to serve a purpose for the community. As we came through the gate we had to step out of the way of a wagon loaded with scrap metal, piping and all sorts of materials one could expect to find in the metro lines. Four heavily armed guards followed the wagon, serving as its escort. That was probably what they traded to keep things running down here because I can’t imagine there was anywhere to cultivate food but what did I know? Something had to have appealed to somepony to justify building a community here. As soon as I finished the thought I discovered the answer. Along the far left wall by the end of the station platform was a burst pipeline that sprayed a constant stream of water and presumably had done so since the founding of the town. Judging by the size of the station I had to assume that this was part of the north Baltimare metro station, one of two large metro stations that had lines that both traveled through the city and out of it. On the inner wall on each platform were establishments built into the walls, some of which seemed to have built additions onto them in the form of structures in front of their entrances. Making the actual, old stores the backrooms so to speak.

As the guards stated, it was rather easy to spot a sign and immediately follow it to what was obviously the Rusty Talon. It was one of the stores that had been added on to, its length extending all the way to the end of the platform whereupon a small ramp rose to meet it. As we approached it was easy to tell it was a more rowdy establishment. The raucous laughter and yelling signaling either a good time or…a better time. We ascended the ramp and into the building. There were tables dotted across the floor, each one surrounded by an equal mix of ponies and griffins. On the left and right walls were booth seats for the more private patrons, the ones not interested in such a spirited drinking experience. Right up the middle towards the back was the bar itself, situated just in front of the original storefront where I presumed the owner made their home and stored their goods and belongings. There were two individuals operating behind the bar, a young, very attractive mare wearing a very short yet elegant black dress and an older, more grizzled griffin wearing combat armor. She was like the griffin version of Sunny. It didn’t take a genius to figure out which one was the owner. We approached the bar and sat at the stools in front.

“What’ll you have?” The griffin asked in a deeper, yet still feminine voice. The fur on her body was brown along with the feather on her wings. The feathers on her head, chest and wingtips however were white with a noticeable red tinge to them.

“A shot of Wild Pegasus if you have it.” I said, leaning forward on the bar.

“If I have it? What kind of establishment do you think I’m running here?” She turned around to the shelves behind the bar, grabbing a bottle of brown liquid in the process. She deftly retrieved a slightly dirty shot glass and poured the liquid into it.

“How ‘bout you scars?” She said, looking at Sunny.

“Same thing, make it easy for ya.” She quipped with a knowing smile.

Now that the both of us had a drink in front of us, we had to deal with Aurora.

“Can I get something dad?” She asked, looking at the many bottles on the shelves with a glitter in her eye. Now it was my turn to smile as a devious idea sprouted from the depths of my mind.

“Get her the same thing.”

The griffin raised an eyebrow at me for a second before shrugging and doing as asked.

“Better pinch your nose sweetie, it ain’t gonna be pretty.” The griffin said, sharing a smile as well.

I slammed my drink back, shuddering a little as it went down, satisfied by the sensation. “I take it this is your bar?” I asked trying to break the ice. The griffin laughed a little and lifted her right claw onto the bar. Her whole arm from just above the elbow down to her talons was made of metal. It was one thing to say one’s talons were sharp as razors, and a whole other if they were straight up razors. She clinked her metal claw on the bar, looking at it fondly.

“What gave it away?” She smirked. “Name’s Grizela and the Rusty Talon is mine. That’ll be six caps by the way.”

I fished out the required caps and set them on the counter. I saw Aurora in the corner of my eyes sniff at the glass in front of her, recoiling with a grimace. I chuckled at her expression before returning my attention to Grizela.

“I was told to talk to you about this expedition that’s supposed to happen.”

“Another mercenary looking to strike it rich huh? Well you came to the right girl. You heard right, I’m the one organizing and leading this expedition. If you’re interested I’ll take all the bodies I can get.”

“We are. When is the expedition?”

“Blarggh!” Aurora almost fell off her stool, spitting out the mouthful of liquor. She stuck out her tongue and wiped it with her hooves, trying to get the taste out of her mouth.

I couldn’t suppress myself and openly laughed at the look on her face. She saw my laughter and pouted, puffing out her cheeks in barely contained anger.

“What the heck dad!?” She practically squealed.

I leaned in close and spoke her own words back to her. “Don’t worry princess, I got your back.”

I could hear Sunny behind me stifle a giggle, causing Aurora’s anger to grow even stronger.

“The expedition leaves the day after tomorrow. So you have time to get a lay of the land, get whatever you might need. Though you won’t find them to be of the highest quality. That’s the tradeoff of living in a hole in the ground.”

“Ok, so on the day of, where should we be?”

“We’ll be meeting just outside my establishment here at noon. Don’t be late, I’d hate to leave any good fighters behind.”

“I don’t know how valuable I’ll be but we’ll be there.”

“Don’t sell yourself short pal, what’s your name?”

“My name is Sparks, this is my partner Sunny and my daughter Aurora Dawn.”

“You don’t really have the disposition of a merc.” Grizela said, leaning in as close to my face as she could with the bar between us. “No…you have some kind of purpose beyond the expedition. If I had to guess I’d say it wasn’t even the expedition that brought you here.”

I couldn’t help but avert my gaze from her, inadvertently confirming her theory.

“Don’t worry I won’t pry, your reasons are your own. But if you plan to succeed, never sell yourself short. You wouldn’t be around if you were helpless.”

A number of ghostly images flashed through my mind’s eye, forcing a shiver out of me. Desperate to think about anything else I changed the subject.

“Do you know Azura?”

“The blue headed bird? Yeah she comes in almost every day. Why?”

“I think she’ll be joining us.” I said motioning to the two other ponies with me. “She said something about too much competition if she went by herself.”

“Hmm wonder what she’s after.” Grizela mumbled to herself more than anypony else.

“Know something we don’t?” Sunny asked, throwing back her drink and slamming her glass on the bar.

“Not for me to say but while you’re waiting for her…” She leaned in closer to the bar. “Wanna make a few caps before the expedition?”

“Maybe. What did you have in mind?”

“I trust you’ve heard about the pony who runs Moletown? Mr. Coal?” I nodded in response, urging her to continue. “Well, I’ve run this bar for almost a decade now and Mr. Coal was running this town well before I got here. The thing is though…nobody has ever seen him. He’s always given orders from behind the scenes. Hell he might not even exist, he may have never existed.”

“So what?” I asked, wondering just what kind of job this would become.

“I want you to…acquire something for me. Rumor has it that Mr. Coal, if he’s real, is looking for something. Something down in the tunnels. Something that he’ll do anything to get his hooves on. I want to know what this expedition really means to him. I’ll pay you eight hundred caps for the job.”

“Give us a moment.” I waved for Sunny to come with me to the other side of the room to discuss it. “What do you think Sunny?”

“I think we could use the caps.”

“Other than that.” I leaned in a little closer, my voice dropping down to a whisper. “Do you think he’s after the Eclipse Complex too?”

“It’s possible.” Sunny relented with an indifferent shrug. “Did you ever consider that the rumors surrounding Mr. Coal are just that? How can we be sure of his intentions if even the locals doubt his existence?”

In a way that kind of made sense but what if I was right? What if I was wrong? What if he was looking for something completely different? Curiosity was like a freaking virus, the more questions I asked myself the more I yearned to uncover the truth for myself, or in this case, for caps. I looked back towards the bar and an idea popped into mind.

“Aurora! Come here!” I yelled across the bar. She hopped off her stool and dashed through the crowd, making it to us in no time. If Aurora was going to be coming with us from now on, I thought I should start getting her input on things like this.

“You were listening right?”

“Yup.” She nodded.

“Well…what do you think? Should we go investigate Mr. Coal?”

“Couldn’t hurt right? I think it’ll be fun, just like the Shrouded Stallion!”

“The Shrouded Stallion huh?” I took a moment to think about it. Weigh my options and what the best course of action was. Sunny said we needed the caps and she wasn’t wrong. Our supplies barely got us back from the space center and we’d had little to trade for more when we returned. Maybe I was overthinking it all, if worse came to worse how bad could it be?

The three of us returned to the bar to face Grizela.

“We’ll do it.”

“Alrighty then. If I were you I’d start at the water shed. Folks say the old stallion there lived here before Moletown sprung up. He might have dealt with him personally.”

“It’s as good a place as any.” I said, ready to get the investigation underway. Just as I got off my stool a thought occurred to me, one about a certain cloaked figure that attacked us on the road.

“Grizela…you wouldn’t happen to know any cloak wearing…vigilantes, I guess…would you?”

“Aha, so you had a run in with her did you? I don’t know much about her other than she grew up here. She came from the gutter down below, the old water treatment facility. Where the rest of her kind dwell…”

“That would explain her hoof-to-hoof ability.” Sunny glared forward, as if she was angry she hadn’t figured it out sooner.

“I…I don’t follow.”

“She was a zebra Sparks.” Sunny stated for me, her expression hardening suddenly. “Some would say they are the best hoof-to-hoof fighters.”

“And the ones who say otherwise ain’t ever faced one. You two look pretty well off for being on the receiving end of a zebra flank-whuppin’…and you said you weren’t a good fighter.”

“Well I guess you could say that. Lucky fighter might be more accurate, I did get one of her eyes after all.”

“Then I would sleep with one eye open if I were you, if you did as you say she’ll be after you.”

I swallowed at the idea, confirming what I had already thought.

“Let’s see if we can learn anymore about her too while we’re out there.” I told Sunny and Aurora, to which they both nodded. “We’ll be back if we learn anything Grizela. If Azura shows up…” The words that were supposed to come next, I couldn’t find them.

“I’ll figure something out, now go on times a wastin’.” Grizela finished for me.

This wasn’t exactly what I had in mind when we’d come to Moletown but if the tunnels were as dangerous as they said, then waiting for the expedition would be the easiest way into the Eclipse complex, even if that meant a little competition in the form of Mr. Coal and his associates. Until then we took it upon ourselves to find the secret behind the expedition, its true motives. Though what I would learn would become bigger than I ever imagined.

Footnote: Level Up!

New Perk: Jouster – Unarmed attacks with your horn now have the armor piercing quality.

Next Chapter: Chapter Fifteen: Darkest Depths Estimated time remaining: 22 Hours, 34 Minutes