When I heard her voice, my heart skipped a beat. I turned to see her standing at the base of the stairs with Grim. My own voice was nowhere to be found. I shuffled towards her with an absent look on my face, unable to process the emotions I was feeling. Azura’s body was wrapped in many layers of bandages and she looked beyond tired, even though she had been resting the last two days.

“W-what’s the matter Sparks?” Azura noticed my absent look and took a step back, her brow furrowing in worry. I still couldn’t get my words to come out so I opted for the next best thing that would still tell her how I was feeling. I carefully pulled her into a gentle hug, she resisted at first until she understood my intentions and relaxed into my hold.

“I’m so glad you’re okay.” I whispered to her, squeezing her just a little tighter. Azura rested her head on my shoulder and sighed, like this was exactly what she needed which was probably not far off. She loosened her hold so I released her from mine. Her smile slowly faded into a confused stare.

“What… what happened to your fur?” She asked, poking the bare spot on my chest.

“It’s a long story, one I’ll share with you later. How do you feel? Are you alright?”

“I certainly feel better than I did hanging on the wall if that’s what you’re asking.” She smiled wryly, her words dripping with sarcasm.

“You know what I mean. Are you good to move? To…to fight?” I was almost ashamed to ask that of her, especially considering the injuries she had just woken from. Despite that I needed all the help I could get and Azura as a flier was more valuable in this fight than somepony like me.

“I wouldn’t recommend it.” Grim answered for her. “She’s gonna be sore for a while and flying will only exacerbate that.”

“Fuck…” I muttered under my breath. “Okay…that’s fine. We’ll…we’ll just find someplace safe for you to stay while we-”

“Sparks…” Azura stopped me cold. “Do you still want to do this? We don’t have to fight, we can just go back to Baltimare and put this city behind us.”

The sincerity in her voice almost made me reconsider what I was about to do. Almost. We’d already come too far to back out now, not while I was this close to claiming what was under the theatre, not while these weapons sat unused, not while Dusk had what was mine.

“No…no I can’t. I’m so close Azura, so close to getting some answers.” I realized that justification would be lost on her. Sunny and I were the only ones who knew about the soul jar I carried with me. “I need you to be on my side Azura. I need to hear that no matter what you’re behind me.” I placed my hooves on her shoulders and made her look me in the eyes. I didn’t need her to fight, I didn’t even need her to be with me. What I needed was for her to say it, to say that even if she had doubts that she supported me.

“I…I’m with you.” She leaned forward and touched her forehead to mine. If I had any reservations before, that banished them from my mind.

“Thank you…Now let’s clean this place out.” I returned to Sunny and Aurora who had patiently waited for me in the doorway of the armory. The expressions they wore told me how happy they were to see Azura awake again. It took some time but we all sauntered around the armory and stockpiled the many weapons and resupplied our own from the generous store of ammunition. I decided to replace my shotgun with a new one and for the first time in a while I had ammo for my rifle. Sunny also had something I hadn’t seen since the day I met her. She loaded the incendiary ammunition into her battle saddle and kicked the loading lever, ensuring her next shot would ignite her target. Once we had taken care of ourselves, we loaded up what remained, numerous small arms and ammo, also several heavy weapons among them missile launchers and chain guns with their corresponding ammunition types plus the battle saddle mounts they would need. Sunny, Grim and I loaded up the bulk of the weapons and let Azura and Aurora carry the ammunition for the death dealing machines. I never deviated far from Azura’s side, making sure she was okay and that we weren’t asking too much of her. She insisted she was fine and appreciated the doting I was attempting to do.

“I’ll be alright Sparks. I might be sore but I’m not helpless.” Azura rolled her eyes, getting slightly annoyed at my attention.

“Sorry, sorry…I just want to make sure you’re alright.” I backed away, realizing that she wanted to be treated as she had been, not as a delicate flower that needed protecting.

“Don’t worry about it…just don’t give me special treatment because I’m hurt.”

“I understand.” I accepted her wishes and backed off.

We made our way back with the weapons and one robot in our possession. By midnight we had returned to the theatre and dumped what weapons we had onto the floor in front of Steelwing, telling him that the armory was open and that his talons should have an easy time retrieving what we couldn’t carry.

“Ya know… I should be surprised but I’m not. What was the secret?” Steelwing was eager to hear how we managed to get into a vault that stood for centuries.

“It actually wasn’t that tough. Getting where you were supposed to go was the hard part.” Though I really couldn’t assume everypony who tried to claim it saw the notice about the camp in the swamp.

“Is that what happened to you? Get a face full of hard part?” Steelwing chuckled at the patches I was missing from my fur.

“…You’re welcome.” I walked past him and made for the theatre. It was getting late and I was very tired. Everyone followed behind me except for Grim who hung back to talk to his father. I made for the room I knew had a bed in it, the room where Azura and I…the room with a bed in it. I removed and placed all my weapons by the door and slumped onto the bed, ready to fall asleep as soon as I closed my eyes. Before I could get far, I felt something tapping on my hoof.

“Here dad.” I heard Aurora say. I cracked an eye to see that she had placed my pistol on the bed beside me.

“Thank you, Aurora.” I picked it up with my magic and floated it right back into her hooves. “But you should keep it. You’ll need something to protect yourself with.”

She looked at it in her hooves and gave me an incredulous look. “B-but don’t you need it?”

“Nope.”

“But it’s YOUR pistol.”

“Not anymore. I don’t need it any longer, you do so it’s yours now.” I rolled over to get away from her expression.

“He’s had that gun since the day I met him you should be proud that he wants you to have it. Your dad loved that gun.” Sunny said from the other side of the room, in her motherly voice. I wasn’t exactly that sentimental about it but she was right, I wouldn’t just give it to anypony.

“We should get some rest. If Steelwing keeps his end of the deal then we’ll be attacking the Hell Diver base soon.” I leaned up to see that Azura was having a hard time trying to get on the bed. I hopped down and leaned into her, letting her use my head as something to push off of and get into the bed.

“Must suck to be short, especially if you can’t use your wings.” I smirked at her, getting just the right kind of rise out of her.

“Fuck you.” She smirked back as she slipped under the sheets.

I joined Sunny on the other side of the room and let Azura drift off to sleep. As much as I’d liked to have joined her, I just knew that as soon as I did I would be interrupted by something.

“How are you holding up Sunny? You did most of the work back there.” Sunny was probably the most valuable member of our team and I asked a lot of her back in the swamp.

“I’ll be alright. So far it looks like I’m the only one who hasn’t got hurt.”

“And Luna did it fucking hurt.” I poked at my own bald spots, remembering the excruciating pain the burns and radiation had brought, recoiling at remembering the taste of my blood.

“You might be one of the only ponies to feel the wrath of balefire and not die, you should count yourself lucky that Aurora and I didn’t have to drag your charred skeleton out of that swamp.”

“Jeez Aunt Sunny, I don’t want to hear talk like that!” Aurora chided, not wishing to re-experience that memory again.

“I could stand to hear a little more.” Steelwing said from our doorway, Grim standing just behind him. “Anyway, it shouldn’t take too long for my boys to get what’s left in Trotton and I imagine none of you are in any shape to fight in the dark or at all tonight.”

“What was your first clue?” I waved a hoof across the room, displaying the lot of us and the conditions we were in.

“Simmer down Sparks, I may have bargained for my help but for what it’s worth I do appreciate what you did for us.” Steelwing and Grim entered into the room. “Don’t forget that Dusk Diver is my enemy too.”

“I trust you have something to tell me?” I would rather he didn’t stretch this out any longer than it needed to be. I really didn’t have anything to say anyway, all I needed was their help. Help that I had more than earned.

“Yeah, once we get the rest of the weapons, we’re going to mobilize and attack Dusk.”

“I figured that much. Anything I need to know specifically?”

“We are gonna do our best to get you and your team up to her hideout and from there it’ll be your team that takes out Dusk Diver. Me and my Talons will engage the rest of the Hell Divers and get you as much time as we can. As it stands right now, once Dusk is dead or captured or whatever, our plan is to blast the whole thing away from where it’s wedged and send it plummeting.”

“So, we’re your ground team then? So to speak.”

“Yes, the Hell Divers are mostly fliers so while we engage them in the sky you’ll take it to the rest of them inside.”

“What makes you think Dusk will even be there?”

“Her forces are not in a good spot right now strategically; she lacks the numbers so she’ll stay in known ground. Also, Grim tells me you and her are after the same thing and that she has something you need. She wouldn’t risk exposing herself if she still has it and she couldn’t go far if she needs whatever you have.”

“I see.” So they expected that even once we attacked that Dusk wouldn’t join the fight. As odd as that may have sounded to me, I couldn’t deny that it made some sense. Cutter betrayed me almost instantly the moment he learned I had a key to the elevator, I could only imagine Dusk felt the same way about it. She wouldn’t risk her life and her key, she wanted to survive even if it meant the death of every single Hell Diver. Though something about the plan had me concerned.

“How will you know when Dusk is dealt with? To keep you from dropping the place while I’m still in it?”

“That’s what this is for.” Steelwing took a bright red plastic gun from his bag and held it out to me. “Once you’re done, fire off a flare and we’ll send someone to extract you. After that we’ll know it’s clear to take the place down.”

“Do you really think it’ll be that easy?” Sunny asked, moving to a standing position.

“With what you’ve brought us, yes I do. Between the fighting here and at Mareiucci there can’t be many of them left. Sure, there may be factors we aren’t aware of but we have the advantage in almost every other way.”

“I don’t know about this Sparks. It sounds good but a lot could go wrong.” Sunny’s fears were reasonable but what choice did we have? The only way we could get to Dusk without the talons help would be to scale one of the skyscrapers where they would see us easily and make quick work of us. With Steelwing’s way we would have the element of surprise and most of their guns would be on the talons, not us.

“I’m not too sure about it either but I don’t see any other way to get up there reliably. This is our best hope.”

“Alright. I’ll be behind you either way.” Sunny relaxed her posture and sat back down. “If that’s everything Steelwing I think we’d like to get some sleep.”

“I understand. Don’t worry about sleeping in, we’ll wake you before we move out.” Steelwing made to leave but stopped in the doorway and placed a claw on Grim’s shoulder, giving him a look that I would describe as proud reluctance. With that he was gone. His expression was one I could understand; no parent wants to put their child in danger on purpose. Which brought me to something I had hoped to avoid but if I stayed silent that would be impossible.

“Aurora…I’m going to need you to stay with Azura.” My gaze fell to the sleeping form of Azura, deliberately evading the look of resentment I’m sure Aurora was giving me.

“Okay.”

“I know I promised…did you say okay?” I was certain that was going to lead to a debate with her. What was going on in her head?

“Yeah. Somepony needs to stay with her and I make the most sense. I understand that I shouldn’t be up in the air.”

“You aren’t worried about me?” Not too long ago she would have done everything in her power to accompany me no matter where I was going. This was an oddly pragmatic side of her that I rarely saw before…before coming to Whinnyapolis. We had been in this city far longer than I expected to be and a lot had happened since then. Aurora had changed and grown so much since we arrived. She revealed to me some of the darker parts of her past and was forced to kill her first pony…by me. I lamented the fact that she was forced to suffer so much in her young life and yet I did that to her? Hypocrisy doesn’t even begin to describe what I did to her…yet I wouldn’t change a thing. She was becoming something better, something better than me.

“Of course I’m worried but…I don’t want you to get hurt again because of me. You won’t have to worry about me if I don’t go.” Aurora was still battling herself because of what happened in the swamp. Confliction was putting it mildly. I’m sure she still didn’t like not going with me but after the swamp she wasn’t sure that going with me would mitigate her fears any better.

“I know you’ll be okay without me. You wouldn’t do anything that would hurt me…right?”

“Never.” She knew that I would do everything I could to live, even if only for her sake.

“So, it’ll just be us three.” Grim said, leaning against the doorway with a wistful smile. “Just like old times.”

“Old times? You’re gone a month and you get all sentimental on us.” If I rolled my eyes any harder, they’d have popped out of my skull.

“So you’re saying you don’t want my help?”

“Don’t get sassy on us now bird boy. We’re gonna storm that building tomorrow with or without you. Though with you would be preferable.” That was as close as we could get to Sunny saying she wanted him to come. A desire that wasn’t lost on any of us.

“Then in that case I’ll see you guys in the morning.” Grim nodded his head and made his leave to wherever he was going to spend the night. A heavy silence lingered in the room once he was gone. Aurora wasn’t pleased with the way things turned out but the thoughts in her mind wouldn’t allow her to participate either way. Though at least this way there would be somepony to look after Azura while we were gone. It was almost time. Provided things went well tomorrow I might finally get some answers. Though after everything we’ve been through, everything we’ve…lost I didn’t know if it would be worth it.

The morning came far too quickly as I was jostled awake by Sunny. On our way out we woke Aurora and made sure she was ready to stay and make sure Azura was okay. She took the job with as much enthusiasm as she could muster which is to say the bare minimum. Once we got topside, we were met with a relatively large force of moderately and heavily armed Talons awaiting the order to move out. Grim spotted us rather quickly and motioned for us to join him and his father as he addressed his forces.

“Today is the day that we end the war with the Hell Divers. With the weapons supplied to us by our new allies we are in prime position to wipe them out once and for all. We are going to send a team in to kill or capture Dusk Diver and once we receive their signal, we’re going to drop their whole base out of the sky! Now, who are we!?”

“STEELWING’S TALONS!” The crowd roared.

“And what the fuck do we want!?”

“VICTORY!” They cried, following after Steelwing who had leapt into the air, signaling that now was the time to attack. Two other griffins dropped next to us and grabbed Sunny and I, taking us into the air for the final fight against Dusk and her ‘divers’. I spotted the robot we had appropriated and called for it to follow my PipBuck tag. It would be late to the party and I didn’t know if it would even help but why not use everything at my disposal? Grim took the lead in front of us and soon the city below was passing in a blur. Sunny looked just as uneasy as I did, neither of us used to being this high. Soon the two towers came into sight and the wedge between them that held the final obstacle to my time in Whinnyapolis. As the Talons neared, the sounds of heavy automatic gunfire came from the wedge, the Hell Divers noticing our approach and retaliating. My stomach flipped as my chaperone banked and dove to avoid the incoming fire. Soon we were under the wedge and our fliers flew us in through a shattered window.

“Good luck ground team.” One of them said before leaping back out the window to meet the Hell Divers I could see taking to the sky. The heavy gunfire was still present coming from somewhere inside this place. We needed to buy the Talons as much time as we could and taking out those gun nests would be a good start.

“Let’s end this.” I levitated out my shotgun and attempted to navigate us towards the nearest gun encampment. It was clear that they hadn’t been expecting a strike team like us when the majority of the Talons were still fighting in the air. The bulk of the Hell Divers were outside leaving us to wander their base with little resistance. Or at least that’s what I thought. As we neared the first gun encampment a group of four griffins rounded the corner and spotted us. An instinctual reaction from me floored one of them with a shot from my shotgun and from there it devolved into madness. Sunny sidestepped into some cover and kicked a lever on her battle saddle, loading a shot that hit her target and immolated them in flames. Unfortunately for us our cover didn’t mean much to combatants who could bring verticality to the fight. I was flushed out of cover by a volley of automatic small arms fire from a submachine gun, forcing me to dive through a sideways doorway which led to an empty elevator shaft. From here there were a series of doorways that led to Luna knows where. These empty horizontal shafts were likely how they navigated the bulk of this broken tower. As soon as that thought occurred to me another Hell Diver stuck their head out of the next floor’s opening where it was promptly blown to bits by my shotgun. The number of red dots on my EFS told me that it was likely that floor held one of the gun encampments. Grim flew into the shaft behind me with Sunny right behind him, having cleared out the last two from the patrol. Unfortunately, I had given our position away when that griffin stuck his head out and a second wave of Hell Divers gradually swooped into the shaft. Regretfully I had lost my armor in the swamp and there was nowhere in the elevator shaft to take cover so I had no choice but to throw up the hood of my cloak and vanish. Grim was on the most even playing field, being able to fly to dodge the attackers. Sunny however was the most vulnerable but made up for it by having the most firepower. Grim engaged in an air duel with one diver while Sunny just unloaded on another to the point that he couldn’t even counter attack. A third who was lining up a shot on the others was mine. I stood below him and jumped to reach him, plunging my knife into his chest, wrenching him from the air. With the momentum from my body weight my knife carved a deep cut from his chest down through his stomach and glanced off the hip bone, spilling a copious amount of blood along with his entrails onto the metal of the elevator shaft. Once the second wave was dealt with, I looked in through the door they came through and saw our target. Unfortunately, we were outnumbered and would be out maneuvered if we tried to rush in to take it out. However, I had an idea, one that played on one of our greatest assets.

“Do either of you have any grenades?” I asked hurriedly, holding my hooves out expectantly.

“Three.” Sunny stated, giving me the bundle of explosives.

“Great, I’m gonna go take out that gun. Think you guys can hold this position without me?” From the corner of my eye I could see more Hell Divers approaching the doorway to follow the others we’d already killed.

“Maybe if we can funnel them through this doorway, don’t worry about us just go!” Sunny knew what I was planning and lifted my hood over my head, shoving me towards the room to get through before the fighting kicked back up. I dove through the doorway and just barely missed bumping into a griffin by rolling to the side. Near the center of the room was one of the large caliber mounted machine guns that was being operated by a team of three, unleashing a storm of bullets into Steelwing’s flock. I crept towards it as the sounds of gunfire sounded from the elevator shaft behind me. I had to hurry; I didn’t know how much time they could buy me. Luckily with my stealth cloak, taking out the gun was as easy as pulling a pin on the belt of grenades and throwing it towards the encampment and running. Once the grenades left my grasp, they became visible again and due to the gunfire they didn’t hear the metal balls land at their claws. In an instant the gun was engulfed in fire and shrapnel, shredding its operators to bloody tatters and reducing the gun itself into a worthless pile of scrap. My ears were ringing from the explosion and I almost gave away my position with a cough from the cloud of concrete dust and gunpowder. Thankfully the wind from being this high cleared out the detritus relatively fast which gave me the time I needed to engage the remaining, dazed occupants of the room. One to the right of where the gun had been was struggling to stand up and would never do so again as I brought down my shotgun on their head. Whether they were dead or unconscious I didn’t care and simply removed them from the equation by kicking their body off the ledge to plummet to the ground below. The other two survivors were quick to notice someone was in the room with them and opened fire on my general location. A few lucky bullets grazed my body, drawing thin lines of blood in my flesh. With my advantage gone I dropped my head and nailed one of them with a charged lightning bolt, paralyzing them as they attempted to take off, giving me a free shot from my shotgun, blowing them off the edge to join their comrade in death. The last survivor rushed me and raked her claws down my right leg, knocking me off balance and sending me to the cold, dusty floor. They went to retrieve their weapon and execute me but in her arrogance of perceived victory, neglected the glow around my horn and received a chunk of rubble to the back of her head. Once she hit the floor, I brought the chunk to my hoof and bashed it into her head again and again until all that remained was brain paste, beak and bone fragments. I was momentarily repulsed by my own brutality, barely choking back a mouthful of bile. The gunfire from the elevator shaft had also stopped, worrying me momentarily before Grim and Sunny entered through the sideways door to join me.

“That should give my father some breathing room.” Grim said, pulling a roll of bandages out of his bags and setting himself to work patching up my minor wounds. I shook the dust from my mane and let out another cough, surveying the damage I did to this room.

“If they didn’t know we were here before they will now.” I pointed out, wondering how long before we were set upon.

“I doubt they’ll come look, not while their base is being attacked.” Sunny had a very good point, who was to say what happened here wasn’t a result of the battle outside? Though I guessed that Dusk knew exactly what was happening and that I was coming for her.

“There, that should hold you for a bit.” Grim gave me an assuring slap on the back.

“I bet you really regret not getting replacement armor now don’t ya.” Sunny jabbed me playfully in the barrel.

“Yeah not the smartest decision I’ve ever made.” I looked off to the side sheepishly, mentally berating myself for my own stupidity. I had let my eagerness in getting Dusk overshadow my cautiousness.

“Well it might be an awkward fit but this should do for now.” Grim dumped the headless body of the griffin I beat to death at my hooves, giving it a kick in the chest to show its mostly undamaged armor.

“Are…are you serious?” I scrunched my face at the thought of throwing the still warm, blood spattered armor of a corpse on my body.

“If you want to get shot then be our guest but how am I gonna explain that to Aurora hmm?” Sunny knew exactly what to say to coerce me into such a revolting action. I reluctantly stripped the armor off the dead griffin and grimaced as I slid it over myself. I let out a semi relieved sigh once the deed was done and waved to the others that it was time to move one. With one gun nest taken care of, the number of Hell Divers outside had increased to keep the Talons from getting an advantage. However, that didn’t mean our path was clear. As much as I would have liked to have taken my time and meticulously cleared the place out, the number of deaths happening outside in an attempt to buy us more time made it so that wasn’t an option. Though that sense of urgency begot some recklessness on our part forcing us to move through the structure more aggressively. In our search we had located the sleeping area, the cooking area and several others. Resistance was light and maybe even token like Dusk was baiting us into a false sense of security. The reality of them not expecting non flying invaders was much easier to believe even if other options existed.

“Where the fuck is the other gun?” I cursed, stomping a hoof in frustration.

“Keep a lid on it Sparks, we got to keep our wits about us.” Grim scolded, eliciting a sneer from me.

“For who? All these well-trained griffins protecting ther-” As we went around a corner, I was cut off by a pipe striking me in the face just above my nose. I fell backward, throwing my hooves up reflexively to defend myself but another attack never came. I slowly lowered my guard to see that Sunny and Grim had their weapons drawn on my attacker. I slowly sat myself to see that my assailant was a small, demure looking griffin girl, clutching the pipe tightly to her chest as her eyes widened in fear.

“P-please don’t hurt me!” She cried, discarding the pipe as if it were on fire. She shrunk into herself and hid behind her wings, trembling in fear. After a moment of silence, she peeked out from behind her feathery shield. “Please…I…I’ll do anything.” She forced an expression that she probably thought looked sexy but to me it was revolting. It seemed that no matter where I traveled mercenaries and raiders took advantage of young mares and the like. She took a submissive step towards us and made sure that she never made eye contact with any of us. “Y-you can use me…however you want. I-I’ll make you feel g-good.” The thought of how the griffins here treated her, bent her to their whim to the point that this was how she pleaded for her life made my skin crawl and my heart burn with rage. I stood up and had a difficult time hiding my angry expression. Now that I got a look at her, I saw that she had white fur and feathers, accentuated by dark patches around her eyes and at the tips of her wings, wings that I now saw were clipped so she couldn’t fly. Against the white of her body the dark metal bomb collar around her neck stood out, unconsciously causing me to touch the one stuck around my own neck. She seemed to notice my reaction and stopped her clumsy attempt at seduction.

“A-are you a slave too?” She asked with a confused expression.

“No kid…I’m not. Not anymore.” I withdrew my hoof in disgust at the memories the collar represented.

“What’s your name sweetie?” Sunny asked in her best maternal voice.

“They d-don’t like me to say…”

“Then what do they call you?” Grim took a step forward and the girl either didn’t care or didn’t notice.

“Slave, little s-slut, f-fuck…toy.” She was on the verge of tears as soon as she started listing and by the end, she had broken down into bawling her eyes out. Her confession told me what I had already suspected. She wasn’t just a slave, she was a slave to the carnal wants of the mercenaries who we were here to kill. She continued to cry and I did the first thing that came to mind. Her crying was momentarily halted by surprise when I gave the poor thing an affectionate hug. I knew how she had suffered. Aurora had once shared a similar fate and so did I briefly. I might not have understood the exact scope of how much they put her through but I knew enough to know what she needed. She needed somepony to treat her like she was a person, not some piece of meat to be tossed around. A bit of compassion could go a long way in helping her shattered spirit and that, at least to me, she had value beyond what the bastards here used her for. She had initially stiffened at my contact, perhaps fearing I would take advantage of her as so many others had, but after a moment of platonic physical contact she did something I didn’t expect and hugged me back, resuming her crying. She used me for support and let out all her pain, all the tears she was likely never allowed to show around her captors. It took several minutes before she slowed down and eventually loosened her hold, telling me to also let go.

“Feel better?” I asked, leaning down slightly to look her in the eyes.

“Y-yeah…” She wiped the excess moisture from her eyes, looking at us with renewed hope. “You’re with them, aren’t you? The Talons?”

“That’s right.” I was suddenly very aware of the battle that still raged outside. “So, I’m going to ask you again, what’s your name kid?”

“Adria… Adria Longfeather.” She answered as if she herself had almost forgotten.

“Would you like to come with us Adria?” The words escaped my mouth before I even realized what I’d said. It wasn’t the words themselves but rather how quickly I had formed them. Even in the midst of the battle I was letting the suffering of others keep me from my goal. Waste precious minutes on a single griffin child while Talons and Hell Divers alike were gunned down in the skies outside. Even then I didn’t regret a thing.

“W-what?” She couldn’t believe what she was being offered. For as long as she could remember she was simply property, did what she was commanded even if it fractured her spirit. Then we came along, killed her captors and offered her an escape. We weren’t claiming her as a spoil of war or even taking her for her value as a slave. I just wanted to help her, free her. Which reminded me.

“You don’t have to decide right now but here.” I beckoned her closer. “Let me get that thing off you.” I waved for Sunny and Grim to go scout ahead while I pulled out my tools and psyched myself up to remove the bomb collar from Adria’s neck. She backed away at first with an apprehensive stare.

“N-no you can’t touch it. It’ll explode.” She protested, parroting what the Divers had likely told her. She almost looked like she was going to break and run, choosing to continue the life she had been living rather than die.

“Here Adria, look at mine.” I lifted my chin and let her see the deactivated collar on my neck. “I disabled it myself.” I took a moment to feel some pride in my accomplishment, even though I had made a mistake in removing it and ended up destroying the locking mechanism, rewarding me with a fashionable hunk of metal around my throat. “I can help you Adria, if you’ll let me. I can take you away from this place and make sure no one forces themselves on you ever again.” I couldn’t guarantee what would happen once she was released from our care but while she was, I could make sure that she wouldn’t have to fuck anyone just to survive.

Adria sat with pained look on her face, weighing her options. She would be gambling with her life in more ways than one but if she chose to stay then her death was all but assured. I had no doubt in my mind that I could get her collar off but she didn’t know me and was forced to choose between the kindness I offered or the conditioning the Divers had likely beaten into her. Several minutes had passed and I closed my eyes and slumped forward. I couldn’t wait any longer, I had to find Dusk before she got away. I opened my eyes to stand up but was stopped by Adria looking up into my eyes hopefully.

“P-please…” She practically whispered. “Help me…please take me with you.” Her whispers betrayed the tears she was struggling to hold back, careful not to wiggle too much as I levitated my tools to me.

“Adria I’m going to need you to look at me.” She lifted her head and did as I asked. “Good…everything’s gonna be alright, just keep looking at me.” I levitated the tools just beyond the edges of her vision and started working. I had finally pried a panel open to disarm the bomb when an explosion rocked the structure, knocking loose dust and other obscuring particles. If it had come just a few seconds later I likely would have killed us both. For now, I thanked the goddesses and steeled my concentration to render the collar harmless.

“You’re doing great kid.” I assured her. I needed to hurry, that explosion came from the outside. The Talons were either losing ground or losing patience. Either way I was running out of time and I certainly didn’t want to be in this hunk of building when it came down. With several more meticulous adjustments with my tools, I was rewarded when the low red light of her collar winked off. I released the breath I’d been holding for who knows how long. I wiped the sweat from my brow, still getting used to the feeling of my hooves on the bare skin of my face. I let out a relieved chuckle and patted Adria on the head.

“Way to go kid, that took courage.” I thought what I’d have done in her place, I probably wouldn’t have let a stranger tamper with an explosive around my neck. I was suddenly thankful again for the skills I had learned in the Stable. “I’m Sparks…I guess I’m your savior.”

Adria’s expression fell to something I couldn’t recognize once she heard the click of the collar open and drop to the floor. She stared at it like she couldn’t even comprehend what it was, the hold such a simple tool had held over her life and now she was free from it. Without breaking her gaze on the collar, I saw tears welling up in her eyes. Her body shook and her quiet sobs reached my ears. She looked up from the object of her suffering and with tears now running down her face she smiled. She smiled a genuine, beautiful smile, something that likely eluded her for years until now. Adria took two steps forward and this time she hugged me by her own volition, squeezing with what strength she had left.

“Thank you.” She whispered, barely audible. I released her as I picked up the sounds of Grim and Sunny returning.

“I think we found the next gun, c’mon we have to hurry.” Grim waved a wing for me to follow in the other direction.

“What do we do with the girl?” Sunny asked, recognizing the burden of escorting a griffin child who couldn’t fly.

“Adria, do you want to come with us?” I asked, hoping for the right reply. Adria looked again as if she were battling herself for an answer, unable to reach a decision that her mind would accept. Since she couldn’t find her voice, she managed a reluctant nod.

“Great. Go back the way we came and head down the tower to the ground. Once we’re done here, we’ll come get you.”

“I can’t. They collapsed the stairways in both towers. The only way down is to fly, that’s why they clipped my wings.” Adria pointed out.

“Can you glide?” Sunny asked, getting that glint of an idea in her head.

“Um…m-maybe. They always caught me before I got far, it’s just not fast enough.” Adria protested with a slight tremble.

“Well then today’s you’re lucky day. The last thing they’ll be looking for is you when their lives are on the line. Head back that way and glide down to the bottom of the tower. We’ll come for you, I promise.” Sunny’s maternal voice and assurance did wonders on Adria as I saw the flame of hope spark behind her eyes.

“P-promise?” She asked, looking upon us with a kind of longing I will never forget.

“Promise.” I affirmed. Once her fears were assuaged, she trepidatiously began her quest to the bottom of the tower. She looked back like if she lost sight of us, we would disappear like it was all some kind of dream. “We’ll see you soon Adria.” I waved to her, assuring her that we would come for her. She nodded and with renewed determination, she vanished around the corner we came from.

“Alright, let’s get that last gun.” I waved for the others to lead the way. Grim led us to a wide-open area that had been built upon from its irregular, sideways layout. We ascended some old hastily built wooden stairs to a wide platform reinforced with wooden pillars, supporting several picnic tables, a pool table and a bar. There were spilled bottles on the floor, likely dropped when we launched our attack. Sunny pointed down to the other side of the platform to a doorway that had been smashed down to resemble a normally oriented door. I nodded and took one step when I heard something that made a chill run down my spine.

“I knew you’d come for me.” A familiar voice came from above. Standing above us on a wooden balcony overlooking the bar stood Dusk Diver, flanked by three other griffins. “Tell me, my brother, is he dead?”

“What do you care? You were going to kill him anyway.” I spat back at her, refusing to let her take a moral high ground.

“I’ll take that as a yes then, seeing as you’re here now.” Her eyes bored into mine and I knew we were going to continue our fight from the clinic. “Where did you put the stones? I’ll not have your death deny me my birthright.”

I instinctually took a step back from her, putting my body between her and my bags.

“You brought them with you? Good, that’ll save me a scavenger hunt. Kill them.” She ordered the three griffins behind her. “Kill them all, no survivors.” All four of them leapt from the balcony and the battle was on. Sunny let out a battle cry and did the last thing one of the griffins expected, she kicked off the railing of the platform and met one in the air, taking them both down and out of my sight. The rest moved too quickly for me to get a shot off, forcing me to protect myself with a shield. To my left Grim had a similar problem and had to dive out of the way to avoid being tackled. Dusk bounced off my shield and recovered midair, spinning her body and unloading her rifle into it. There was little cover on the platform so I was stuck in the middle with nowhere to go as they peppered my shield with bullets. I was outnumbered and outmatched, fighting two fliers myself. While I had difficulty fighting anyone who could fly, they had an equally difficult time fighting a magic user. With my shield up the glow of my horn was conveniently masked while I focused some magic to the nearby pool table. I seized the billiard balls and launched them at my opponents with all my magical potency. Dusk was struck twice in the chest and once above her left eye, taking away some of her awareness. Her partner wasn’t as lucky as two balls smashed into his face in rapid succession, knocking him unconscious and dropping him to the floor. He hit at such an angle that there was an audible snap and once he came to rest his neck was bent at an unnatural slant. Now it was three on three. Though before I could take joy in an even playing field all three of them gathered in the air before me, flying high till they touched the ceiling and then dove towards me. If I dropped the shield then they would hit me with enough force to break bone and from there I’d be helpless. I could do little more than pump more magic into the shield and hope that it held. When the first griffin hit, it felt as if a nail was being driven into my brain from the base of my horn. The second hit and a crack appeared in my shield, almost splitting it in half. When Dusk hit, I couldn’t hold it any longer. My shield shattered like glass and dissipated. Dusk’s momentum had slowed but not enough to prevent her from hitting me and throwing me off my hooves to the edge of the platform. If there was anything positive I could have taken away from losing my shield, it was that the two of them looked to have hurt themselves in some way. Dusk however had broken through without much resistance, a feat she reminded me of when she recovered and delivered a heavy kick to my gut, sending me over the edge of the platform. The fall to the floor wasn’t a far one but a painful one nonetheless. Now that there was some distance between us, I got back on my hooves and prepared for the next attack. Above me I could still hear the sounds of fighting and I knew if they were smart that Grim would be in trouble. Thankfully I knew Dusk would come for me and from the corner of my eye I could see Sunny galloping back up the stairs to back up Grim. Leaving me and Dusk to duel underneath the platform amidst a maze of supports. She found me before I found her, using the speed she showed in the clinic to hit me in the back of the head. I was thrown forward and caught my face on one of the hard wooden supports. I almost lost my balance as black spots danced across my vision. I glimpsed a blur of motion and awkwardly threw myself to the floor just in time to avoid Dusk driving her rear hooves into the wood where my head had been.

“It’s one on one now pal, my brother isn’t here to help you and I suppose you have yourself to thank for that.” She craned her head in an effort to find me but she would have a hard time as I had thrown my hood up as soon as I hit the floor.

“Your brother was going to shoot me in the back, I simply out maneuvered him.” As if to illustrate my invisible point, I pulled out the very knife I had killed him with.

“It doesn’t matter, once I’m done with you and the Talons retaking the theatre will be little more than a formality and what’s inside will finally be mine.”

Dusk’s obsession had evolved beyond simple greed. Her every action, her every goal only served to further her own agenda towards the treasure that waited inside. Her fixation had perverted her being so much that I had no doubt in my mind that she would have killed her brother had I not intervened. Nothing or no one meant anything to her anymore. They only held value as tools to take her closer to her ultimate goal. The inherent hypocrisy was not lost on me, my own greed regarding the treasure came to mind. I could have simply disarmed Cutter back in the clinic but I had chosen to kill him. I stole and murdered my way into his family’s legacy and yet I don’t regret a thing. Inside that facility were answers I needed, answers that would explain what Rarity’s secret project was and how it tied to the fragment of a soul I carried with me. Simply put I had more to gain and Dusk and her gang were a menace to Whinnyapolis.

I lunged from the shadows and drove my knife into her side. I had been aiming for the base of her wing but in my haste I missed my target. Dusk roared in pain, lashing out with a lucky buck that caught me in the side of the head. Her kick knocked off my hood and revealed me while simultaneously exposing my greatest advantage.

“So that’s your game you sneaky fuck.” Dusk pulled my knife out of her side and held it in her mouth. I tried to hurry back to my hooves but wasn’t fast enough to avoid my own knife being plunged into my flank, just missing my cutie mark. My first instinct was to try and get away but with her wings Dusk would always catch me. So in response I yanked my body around with enough force to pull the knife from her mouth and put myself in position to slam a hoof across her face, laying her out on the floor. Her reaction told me that she’d also expected me to try and run.

“Nopony is getting away this time.” I had to really focus to keep my voice from hitching, my body reacting to the sharp pain in my head and flank. She gave her wings a mighty flap and propelled herself through the air towards me at a speed that caught me off guard. With some last second thinking I reached out with magic and seized her wings and pulled them down sharply, directing all of her momentum into the floor near my hooves. Before she slid to a rest, I galloped up to meet her and kicked her in the face, the force of which brought her to a violent stop. She flapped her wings again but this time only to get to her hooves faster. She turned and spat out a mouthful of blood and a few teeth, cursing under her breath.

“You will not take this from me!” Her every word dripped with murderous intent.

I could feel the trickle of my own blood running down my hind leg and my ears were still ringing from the back to back blows to the head. Neither one of us had the power to intimidate the other and we were both heading towards ruin. Dusk spat another mouthful of blood in my direction in defiance and kicked off to attack me. The two of us had forgotten our weapons and as I met her charge, I realized she had the clear advantage in hoof to hoof combat. I felt three rapid blows connect with my face and by the time I shoved her away my vision began to blur. My left eye was beginning to swell shut which would only make it easier for her. A fact that she too had noticed as she jumped a few meters back and gave a grisly semi toothless grin, her remaining teeth tinted red with blood.

“Looks like this fight is about over.” Her grin never faltered, even as the body of one of her griffins crashed to the floor behind her. “Give me your gems and I just might let you live.”

“Would you take that offer if you were in my position?” I took several slow steps towards her, showing that I wasn’t going to back down, even with the clear disadvantage. Her silence told me all that I needed to hear. She curled her lip in disgust and launched herself into the air to come at me again. This time before her hoof hit my face, I angled my head slightly to the left and instead of hitting me she impaled her leg on my horn. Her cries of anguish gave me a sick kind of thrill. I had her at my mercy now and instead of just ending it, I chose to draw out her suffering. I thrashed my head back and forth, tearing the flesh of her leg and surprising myself with the sound of my own laughter. I was suddenly thankful for the swelling as it prevented the gouts of blood spurting out of her leg from getting in my eye. With a final heave I managed to throw her of my horn. She flew up and away from my reach, clutching her mangled leg with tears running down her face. I smirked as her still warm blood ran down my face.

“What’s wrong Dusk? I thought this was almost over?” I taunted, reveling in the pain I’d inflicted on her.

“Sparks! Duck!” I heard somepony call out. I turned to identify who yelled just in time to see the last griffin slam into my side. We tumbled across the floor but the griffin’s superior agility allowed him to untangle himself from me just before I collided with one of the support pillars. Pain jolted down my spine as my back took the brunt of the hit causing more black spots to cloud my vision, this time with enough intensity to nearly blind me. Dusk and the last griffin advanced on me and I was completely helpless before them. It was a struggle just to keep my eyes open but I managed just enough to see a grey splotch of color smash into the last griffin the same as had been done to me. It had to have been Grim but the sounds fell on my ears as a distant thrumming sound. My limbs wouldn’t obey me and the best I managed was a weak crawl in the opposite direction. Dusk followed behind me, matching my pace like a predator toying with its prey.

“Remember that I gave you a way out. As much as I’d like to watch you crawl, I do have a siege to repel. Goodbye Sparks.” Dusk had decided that the fight was over and, in an instant, had Hearts Promise in her teeth. Ironic.

I was just beginning to regain my strength and managed to sit up just in time to see my end approach. She reared back to plunge the blade into my heart but I refused to cower, resigning to meet my death with open eyes…eye. Then out of nowhere, a green glowing blast of energy struck the handle of Hearts Promise, glancing off of Dusk’s face. The look of horror on her face brought a smile to mine. Half of her face had been melted off, bits of her cheek still dripping away revealing the rest of her teeth and jaw bone beneath.

“Sorry I’m late Sir!” Shouted the dirty military green Sergeant Gutsy as it fired another bolt of magical green flame into Dusk’s ribs. Dusk shrieked as more of her flesh dissolved into a thick red paste. Another shot like that and she’d be reduced to a puddle of bloody slurry and bones. Suddenly my robot was target number one. Several bullets pinged off its metal chassis and all attention was directed towards it, which gave me the time to recover. Sunny landed with a crash next to me and helped me to my hooves. Off to the left, suspended in midair, Grim losing ground to the last griffin. However, in response to a call from Dusk he shoved Grim away and engaged the Gutsy.

Sunny was breathing hard and had a shallow claw slash on her cheek welling up with blood. “Let’s end this.” I nodded and summoned what remained of my strength, flanked by Sunny and Grim. Up ahead the last griffin, while serving as a distraction, was in the process of being sawed in half by the Gutsy. That gave Dusk the opportunity to pull the pin of a grenade and jam it between the panels of the Gutsy’s eyestalks. The resulting explosion killed the last griffin and severely crippled my Gutsy. Dusk was laying on the floor a bit away from the carnage but the look in her eyes still radiated defiance. She just couldn’t understand that she had lost. I had no words for her and drove my hoof into her ribs where her flesh had been stripped away. The wails of her suffering was like music to my ears. I kicked her again and again until it looked like she was going to pass out from shock.

“Where is the gem!?” I asked, stomping my hoof on her wound and grinding on it so hard I could feel her bones. The screech she let out was so loud it hurt my ears. “Where! Is! My! Gem!” I asked again, letting off of her briefly before reapplying force enough that I might as well have been drilling through her ribcage. This time her scream was even louder. I almost went for a third round when Grim pulled me away.

“No more…She’ll die.” I followed his gaze to Dusk’s eyes to see them beginning to glaze over. If I wasn’t careful, I could kill her before I got my prize.

“P-please…no more.” Dusk’s voice was hoarse from screaming and just above a whisper. “Gem…is with me.” And to think she scoffed at me for carrying my gems on me. I seized her bags and yanked them toward me violently, rolling Dusk over with a moan. In the air dancing before me in my magical grasp was the third gem. Finally, I had what I needed. All my adventures and suffering since we came to Whinnyapolis were about to pay off, to have been worth something. I’m still a little sick to recall that the whole reason we came to Whinnyapolis was to get Grim back, yet that in itself wasn’t worth it in my mind. Some friend I was.

“What do we do with her?” Grim was looking down on Dusk with pity.

“Leave her, let’s get out of here.” My eyes never left the gem until I stowed it with the others. Sunny held out her leg and stopped me, giving me a cautioning look.

“Are you sure about that?” Sunny was no doubt referring to Salted Chestnut who I had foolishly left alive and it had almost cost me everything.

“We’ll be bringing this place down in a few moments. Let her have what time she has left. She’ll fall with the rest." I turned my back on Dusk and began looking for a way to what constituted a roof in this broken tower.

“WARNING: THRUSTER NOT RESPONDING. WARNING: SPARK BATTERY DAMAGED. WARNING: SHUT DOWN IMMINENT.” The robot that saved my life began reciting with mechanical severity. I slowed my pace as I heard it, feeling a pang of regret. I turned back to look and saw that none of its arms remained and only one eyestalk was mobile. “I DIE FOR EQUESTRIA.” It got out before its chassis gave a violent shudder and its last eyestalk went limp. It took all my power to turn my back on the robot and escape to the roof with Sunny and Grim in tow. Once we were outside, we could truly see the scope of the battle. The skies were blotted with the silhouettes of Talons and Hell Divers alike, especially visible against the drab gray cloud cover. Even with one of the gun nests still functional the Hell Divers were obviously on the losing side. Their numbers were dwindling against the Talons and now it was time to stamp them out for good. I retrieved the flare gun from my bags and fired it into the air. The red ball of light streaked into the sky above and painted the battle in the soft glow of blood. In less than a minute, a group of Talons flew down and hauled Sunny and I into the air. From this height I could see the massive crater where the balefire bomb hit the north-east part of the city. Green flames still burned the edges of the crater and in patches all around it in a grim reminder of the influence they had left on our world. Once we were clear of the building, one of our escorts drew a flare gun and fired a second flare into the sky. That must have been the signal to bring it down. From the skies around the towers came a salvo of missiles, striking the wedged piece of tower on opposite sides until the towers themselves could no longer support it. The whole thing toppled forward and fell from its prison. Now the two towers stood with only each other for company, the bridge between them sailing towards the ground below. I craned my head and watched as the gigantic chunk of building hit the ground with a thunderous impact. Large plumes of dust and bits of concrete were thrown into the air. The shouts of the victorious Talons and devastated Hell Divers were almost drowned out by the incredible groan of the metal supports collapsing. I had no doubt that half of the city heard what had just happened, many others likely felt it as well. I was astonished at the capacity of destruction we were capable of, I hoped Adria had made it out alright.

ADRIA!? My mind began racing a mile a minute and I almost accidently killed myself by wiggling in the grasp of the Talon carrying me.

“Down! TAKE ME DOWN NOW!” I screamed, yanking on my ride’s vest and pointing to the base of one of the towers.

“Alright! ALRIGHT! Jeez buddy the hell’s the matter with you?” He tucked into a dive and turned back towards where I told him to go. Sunny and her Talon escort noticed my outburst and followed behind us. As we approached the ground I was able to see the greater scope of the destruction we had just been responsible for. Layer upon layer of concrete floors lay shattered and still supported by the warped metal frame. Half of the piece of tower had fully collapsed into a pile of debris, no more distinguishable from the similar remains that dotted the city. The bases of the two standing towers didn’t seem to suffer much damage from the impact but it wasn’t the buildings I was worried about. The force of such a mass hitting the ground couldn’t have been good for a pony anywhere nearby, let alone a child. I could feel my panic level starting to spike and I still couldn’t see out of one eye. Sunny tried to say something reassuring but I didn’t hear her. I was just about to dash into base of the first tower when I heard a voice call out from above me.

“Mister Sparks!” Adria called my name, slowly drifting down through the air until she landed a bit away from Sunny and I. “I saw the whole thing drop and crash! It…it looked so much smaller from the sky…” Adria no doubt had many feelings about seeing what was her prison destroyed against the ground. I followed her gaze to the wreck and frowned. I did this. I killed everyone inside. I may not have fired the killing shots on all of them but it’s because of me their base was destroyed, reduced to a heap of concrete, metal and crushed corpses. All of this for what? Suddenly the gems in my bag felt heavy. What was once a curiosity was nearing obsession, one I paid for with the blood of others.

A fluttering of wings drew my attention away from the ruins. “Were you able to capture Dusk? Where is she?” Steelwing asked, searching for her in our company.

“She didn’t make it father.” Grim added. “She was too injured to be moved and she was inside when it dropped.”

“Shame, I would have liked to execute her myself. We have fully routed the Divers now. It’ll be a long time before they’re a threat again. If they ever recover that is.” Steelwing flashed a cruel smile, taking in the destruction with satisfaction. “Without a nest the brood will surely die.”

I saw my own cruelty in Steelwing’s eyes and it disgusted me. The last time I felt the way I did with Dusk was when I had tortured and killed Blood Orange. The thought brought my fears to the surface, I had vowed that the Wasteland wouldn’t change me but my behavior here took my progress and threw it back in my face like the Wasteland was daring me to do better. I staggered backwards, my thoughts sapping the strength from my legs. As I fell back on my rump I felt that certain tickle in the back of my mind, the ghostly voice promising me a freedom from weakness and the power to conquer the Wasteland. I gripped the sides of my head, trying to protect myself from the rush of feelings and memories I was subjecting myself to in some kind of accidental self-inflicted punishment.

“Sparks are you alright?” Sunny asked, her concern evident in her tone.

I sat up and let out a pained growl, shoving everything I was feeling down deep inside me. “I don’t want to be here anymore. Take us back to the theatre.” I turned and addressed the last part directly to Steelwing. It was neither request nor demand, more akin to something in the middle. Without question Steelwing and his cadre of griffins grabbed us and prepared to take off. We made it ten feet in the air when I heard the terrified sniveling of the young griffin still on the ground.

“Wait!” I called out, stopping our flight. “That girl there. She’s with me.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? She’s one of their slaves. I’ll be damned if I’m packing that trash back to the theatre.” My host said, turning away to try and ascend. I indignantly unslung my shotgun from my back and jabbed the barrel sharply into my host’s belly.

“I wasn’t asking.”

“You wouldn’t, not while we’re up this high.” Our ascent continued steadily so I pushed the shotgun harder into his belly, making him freeze midair.

“Try me. Don’t forget the theatre is under MY control. Make an enemy of me and the defenses will chew you up like they did to the others.” It wasn’t the best bluff though the chances of this griffin knowing I simply deactivated the security measures instead of reprogramming them were incredibly slim.

“ENOUGH!” Steelwing called out. Damn. He knew the truth of what I did, how could I have been so stupid? “Without him there would have been no assault. Without him we wouldn’t have the weapons we needed to destroy the Hell Divers once and for all. If he wants you to carry that child then you do it. Understand?” Steelwing gave the griffin holding me a glare like he was trying to eviscerate him with just his eyes. He couldn’t manage a response, just a slow descent to the ground where I helped load Adria onto his back. The rest of the return to the theatre passed in silence.

“What’s inside dad?” Aurora asked. We stood in front of the dark blue metal shaft that I truly hoped led to some answers that would make our time in Whinnyapolis worth something.

“I don’t know.” There was no point in lying to her or putting words to my hopes. To my side stood Azura, whose strength had returned enough to accompany us.

“We’ll make it worth something.” The way she looked into my eyes almost made me believe her. I smiled back at her sanguinity and sucked in a lungful of air.

“Here goes nothing.” I levitated the three gems out of my bags and slowly inserted them into the three slots they belonged in. There was little sound to indicate that anything was happening, leaving us standing in front of the elevator door anxiously. After several seconds that felt like hours the door opened and we all piled in like we wouldn’t get another chance.

“I don’t think this elevator was meant to have this many occupants.” Grim noted, his face pressed up against one of the walls.

“Yeah maybe we shouldn’t have all dove in here at once.” I agreed, getting jostled between Sunny and Azura.

“Good thing we didn’t bring Adria.” Aurora probably had the most room but even she would have been cramped had we brought the young griffin as she clearly observed. I had left her with Steelwing to get taken care of. I still wasn’t sure if I trusted Steelwing but he understood my contributions to the war with the Hell Divers had earned what I asked of him and more. Aurora’s tone had me worried though. Her comment may have seemed light hearted but below I could sense her animosity. It would be a bridge we’d have to cross when we were done here, the thought leaving my mind as the door opened to our destination. The room before us was so pristine that one could hardly tell the apocalypse was two hundred years ago, the only hint was the layer of dust that betrayed its age. We entered into a circular room with a mostly round desk in the center, around the desk were several filing cabinets filled with who knows what and atop the desk among assorted knickknacks was Rarity’s terminal. Inside it were the answers I sought. Branching off of the main room were three others, one across from the elevator and two off to either side. We immediately split up to investigate. Soon the others each disappeared into the adjacent rooms, leaving me alone in the main circular room, slowly approaching the desk and terminal. The chair was made of dark leather, cracked with age, and surrounded by light blue and gold stitching in the seams. Despite its condition it was still remarkably comfortable. I had to shake myself back to reality. I was letting myself get distracted from what waited inside the terminal and for good reason. What if what I sought wasn’t there? What if what was there wasn’t worth it after everything I did to get here? I had paved the road to this room with blood and for what? I didn’t know and that fear made my hooves tremble. It wasn’t until I laid my eyes on a framed picture beside the terminal that I found a measure of strength. Inside a gold and silver leaf frame were six ponies, all wearing dirty, ragged yet elegant dresses. They were seated around a round table that appeared to bear the crumbly remains of old-world confectionaries. I recognized most of them, some of them I carried with me in statuette form. Applejack and Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Twilight Sparkle and lastly Pinkie Pie and a final pony I recognized as Fluttershy. Sometimes I’m thankful I received a Stable education, though it only prepares you for life underground, a life that seemed so far away from me now.

That meant the picture was of the Mares of the Ministries of wartime Equestria. They looked so young that if I had to guess I’d say it was taken before the ministries were formed, before the war even. There was a baby dragon in the picture as well, standing a little away from the rest but looking no less happy. Their expressions were so full of joy, so innocent that I found myself longing for what life must have been like for them then. A thin crack ran through the glass that acted to split the happy group; Pinkie and Fluttershy from Twilight and Rainbow Dash. Ironic that such a picture, one meant to remind its owner of the better times, could make me feel so sad. I felt a familiar warm tickle in the back of my mind that pushed away my heartache and before I knew it, I had carefully placed the picture in my saddlebags. Now, thanks to the picture, I had the courage to dive forth into whatever waited for me inside the terminal. Considering what it took to get here, it was unsurprising to see the terminal had no security. There were abundant notices on the screen about an excess of varying projects and reports from other hubs. Two hundred years dead they meant nothing to me. I needed to know what I was looking for so I set myself to find some kind of record of what occurred in this specific facility. What I required took longer to find than any terminal I had encountered so far. Though this wasn’t simply a terminal used for business or record keeping, it belonged to one of the most powerful mares in Equestria and the amount of data proved it. Eventually my persistence won out and my search was over. I had found some of Rarity’s personal log.

Rarity had come into possession of some kind of ‘dark tome’ as she called it, filled with unknown spells. Where had she acquired it? Where did it come from? Where was it now? Was it even still intact after all this time? All I’d found so far were more questions so I moved to the next log entry, that was dated three months after the first.

I think I had an idea to the contents of the book she had discovered. In the upper levels of the facility I had found data on a spell that captured an imprint of the soul of any who crossed it. Though the entry that mentioned the spell said Rarity’s project here was deemed a failure. So the project here failed, then in response the soul capture spell was developed, from information derived from that book but for what purpose? Perhaps Rarity had moved on and tried again. Suddenly I remembered one of the memory orbs I had taken from Fancy Pants that showed a meeting with Rarity about funding for her personal projects. She also mentioned that she possessed a ‘unique resource’. It was seeming more likely that she merely took her failures and used them to improve on her project, whatever it was. The entry that followed was four months after the previous.

After that entry there were supplementary documents that described the cover ups for the experiments, silencing relatives of subjects and the disposing or relocation of the indestructible soul orbs and other soul imbued items. Now I had some of the answers I sought. Fancy Pants helped Rarity fund these experiments or something related to them. It wasn’t so farfetched to learn that he may have known the spells involved. So, everything he had told me must be true. It would explain why the horn seemed immune to damage but more questions arose from the answers I found. How did he place his soul in the knife without dying? There had to be more to what happened here or elsewhere. My theory from before was seeming more likely the more I thought about it. Rarity failed in her endeavors here and to save face, shut down the project. That way if she chose to pursue it again, she wouldn’t have to involve her own ministry. Thus, she approached Fancy Pants for funding to continue the project in secret. As her benefactor he must have been privy to the details once she had completed the project or made significant progress. There was still much I didn’t know about the whole thing. I still didn’t know what purpose the project served or what she was trying to accomplish, only that she possessed a mysterious black book that held dark and sinister magics within its pages that allowed her to separate a soul from a body and perhaps more. Deeper in the files of data was a follow-up to the last, dated one year after Project Forever was shut down.

That meant there would be little more to find here. Canterlot held the rest of this story and I had no way to get there, I didn’t even know if it was still there. Still I had what I came for. I had an object imbued with the soul of Fancy Pants. Or perhaps a piece of it? How was he able to communicate with me? Maybe I didn’t have all that I came for but I had enough. I looked up from the terminal to see what the others had found. Sunny by far had the strangest item. Of all the things I expected to find here, the guitar she carried was not one of them. Without saying a word, she sat on her haunches and began playing a somber melody.

“I didn’t know you could play the guitar.” I said, getting her attention. Sunny looked up at me and never missed a string.

“Mine burned up with Requari.” She let her simple answer hang in the air. To me it answered most follow up questions I could have asked. I decided to shut up and let her play in peace, Goddesses know she could use something to calm her mind. Azura was next with a find of hers. She approached the desk and threw a suit of medium, black armor on it.

“Seems the only gifts I give you are clothes.” She said with a wry smile. I had been lacking in armor since the balefire geyser ate my ballistic vest in the swamp. All I had on now was my ragged stable barding and the stealth cloak she had given me before.

“Sometimes clothes are a fine gift.” I lifted the suit off the desk with magic and got a good look at it. It was mostly all black except for a blue and white design inlaid on the chest above the heart. A design I was very familiar with at that point. Rarity’s cutie mark. I wondered if it was made by her or for her or both, either way I bet a great deal of ponies would kill for a suit of ministry armor. I took the time to take off my cloak, put the armor on over my barding and reequip the cloak. I felt pretty dashing if I had to say so myself. The armor was sleek, dark and deceptively comfortable. The whole thing was made of Kevlar and was reinforced with ceramic plates to further protect vital areas. I would dare say that this armor was one of a kind. Once I had it all on, I circled the desk and gifted Azura a gentle kiss as my thanks. She giggled to herself when we separated.

“Looks good on you.” She affirmed with a thump on the shoulder. Grim and Aurora came back with a large, heavy looking white pistol that looked like plastic.

“Who wants a laser gun!?” Aurora said, holding it out triumphantly. Looking around I saw that, besides Sunny who would never use anything but her battle saddle, I was the only one without a side arm. I wrapped it in my magic and pulled it from her grasp.

“Yoink.” I said with a teasing smile, watching as her victorious expression deflated into surprise.

“Hey!” She cried as she watched it float into my hooves. Once I had it, I saw that what had initially looked like plastic was in fact a layer of smooth enameled white metal. The surface was decorated with ornate gold etchings that covered most of the barrel. Now that I had given it a thorough inspection there were two things of interest to note. One; there didn’t seem to be a way to reload it, though I admit my expertise with magical energy weapons was next to nothing. Two; there was a large, red, almost heart shaped gem mounted where the receiver would be on a normal gun. The gem was quite large and the metal felt warm to the touch despite its centuries in an underground bunker. Around the gem on both side of the ‘reciever’ was a circle of twelve softly glowing dots. What they indicated I could only guess. When I placed it in my bags and activated my PipBuck’s sorting spell I saw that it had labeled the pistol Dragons Kiss.

“Thanks princess.” I said, giving Aurora another teasing look. She flipped her sunglasses down over her eyes like it would hide her and stuck her tongue out at me. I returned my attention to the terminal and wondered if one of the files had any information on the pistol. I tried a few keywords and managed to get a couple of results. The one I viewed happened to be penned by Rarity herself as well.

There wasn’t much left to find after that but just to be safe I downloaded what I could onto my PipBuck. In the corner was a chest that Grim had picked open and inside was a beautiful light blue dress with white trimming. While it held little value to me personally, I felt compelled to take it anyway. Once it was in my bags, I was left with my thoughts about what it took to get here and while I got the answers I wanted, what did I really get? A fancy gun? Some new armor? Was it all worth what it cost to get here? I looked around at everypony in the room and saw the tolls this city had taken on them. Two of us almost died here and the rest had suffered in some way or another. I could feel the disapproving stares from Grim and Sunny, who had just finished her mournful tune, strapping the guitar to her back and making her way back to the elevator.

I didn’t know what to say to them, though after a thoughtful moment, I settled on something neutral. “Let’s go home.”

We stood at the edge of Mareiucci, freshly resupplied and ready to make the part of the trip home I feared the most; the Balefire Swamp. The great beast known as Belua was in there somewhere and it wanted me dead for unknown reasons beyond simple animal ones. Elsewhere in the swamp was the entity I called the void pony who had been gnawing on my psyche since we arrived in Whinnyapolis. It called to me and beckoned me to drink of its power, a temptation I had already succumbed to once and feared I would again. It was my wish to avoid it if I could, except that I hadn’t a fucking clue where in the swamp it was. Then there was the swamp itself I feared. In the dark behind the tree line I could see the sickly rainbow sheened gouts of green flames that gave the swamp its name. Every flash of light made the places I’d been burned ache with a reminder that I had been bested by the swamp in almost every way. I fought to hide a slight tremble in my body, if I kept going like that it wouldn’t have been a long shot to see Azura carrying ME above the swamp. It was a simple fact. I was scared. Of everyone with me it was Adria who’d noticed first.

“Mr. Sparks?” She tapped me on the shoulder. “Is everything alright?” I didn’t know what to tell her. I wiped a bead off sweat off my face and tried to force myself to smile. My burns ached and the dull throbbing in my shoulder where Belua had bitten me smothered my every attempt.

“No…I don’t know if I can…” I hadn’t told anyone about the void pony, it was better that way. They didn’t need to waste their energy worrying about me. I did need them though; I wasn’t sure I would be able to resist if it tried to influence me at this proximity.

“I’ve never seen you like this Sparks, what happened to you in there?” Grim, now that I thought about it, hadn’t gone with us into the swamp until now.

“Dad?” Aurora looked up at me, the look on her face one of confused disbelief. “What’s wrong?” Her tone told me that her concern was genuine. She was the only one who saw what happened to me when I tasted the power of the void pony, if anypony had cause to be suspicious of my fear it was her.

“He wants to go see the Zebra.” Sunny offered from the back of the pack. I didn’t know if she was also suspicious or if she genuinely thought that was what I wanted. In a way it was what I wanted for many reasons. I pulled out the map we were given and studied it. I did want to go see the zebra, that much was true and they had to have some kind of reason to trust me with this map. I knew how superstitious they were by the way they treated the ‘graveyard’ at the training facility so the odds of their camp being nowhere near the entity in my head seemed good. And finally, they knew the swamp better than anypony so once we found their camp and finished our business, they could lead us the rest of the way out fast and safe. I latched on to that idea as it was the only one that offered any kind of hope for me.

“Is that what you’re anxious about? No need to fret so much about it, I don’t object.” Grim offered, relaxing his posture and giving me a comforting smile.

“We’re going to the zebra village?” Azura perked up, obvious excitement shimmering in her eyes. “What for?”

“Because we were invited.” I half lied. I honestly had no clue what they wanted from me or if they even wanted anything at all but I owed it them to make an appearance, especially since they trusted me with the location of their village. Something that’s safe to guess they would very rarely do. Everyone seemed to buy it so with a destination set, we began our approach of the Balefire Swamp.

Just as we reached the tree line, I spotted a marker on the edge of my E.F.S. It was coming from behind us but it wasn’t marked as hostile. My curiosity won out in the end and I turned to see a lone sprite-bot watching us from where we had just been. It stared at me and I stared back, each daring each other to make the first move. Though to my surprise the bot made a static-filled pop and floated away.

What did I even know about Watcher? I knew that whatever it was had an interest in leading ponies to make friends but for what reason? I refused to believe that whatever Watcher was, who had the means to hack into sprite-bots, was just a nice person. Watcher was one of the mysteries of the Equestrian Wasteland. One I intended to get to the bottom of once Whinnyapolis was behind me.

Adria had impressed me. I thought for sure one of us would have to guide her through or carry her but she proved to be very perceptive and nimble. I couldn’t wait to see what she could do once her feathers grew back. I had hoped I followed the map correctly because if I did then that only put us a mile away from the village. If I wasn’t then…something terrible probably. Thankfully, I seemed to have put us on the right track as we began to notice totems stuck in the ground and strange skull shaped woven fetishes tied to the branches in the trees above. Was this their way or marking trails? I knew so little of zebra ethos that all I could do was speculate. From behind a tree to the left of the marking jumped a zebra stallion in a tattered red and black, what I could best describe as, battle dress. He spat the jagged spear he carried from his mouth and into the ground. He gave us all an outraged glare.

“Et non pertinent hic! Aut modo relinquere aliud!” The intensity of his shouting actually made me take a step back. The language barrier kept any explanation from helping so I held out the map we had been given as if it would explain everything. The zebra squinted his eyes when he saw the map and relaxed his posture, though not by much. “I videre. Ergo vos estis qui salvus puella. Sequere me, et vosmet sapiunt.” He turned away from us, grabbing his spear and started walking in a direction slightly off the path. He stopped and gave us another stare, one that a parent scolding a foal might use.

“I think we’re supposed to be following him.” Azura was the first to move and fall in step behind the zebra. Her tone also carried a hint of mockery like we should have figured it out sooner, though I could tell she was just being playful. And she was right which only made her jibe all the more unbearable. I snorted derisively and fell in line behind her, everyone else followed behind me.

Our chaperon guided us through the swamp through hidden paths under the foliage into a decently lit village of huts. It was a welcome sight and I was thankful for the orange glow of normal fire that illuminated the encampment. The collection of huts was organized into three lengths of homes, each ended in what looked like a store and in the center of the stores at the tip of each row of huts was a larger hut decorated with tribal masks. Several bundles of bottles of colorful liquid hung in clusters near the entrance to the center hut, clinking quietly in the foul swamp wind. Curiosity got the better of me and I found myself breaking away from our guide to explore. I managed to make it to the steps before I was stopped and given death glares from almost all the zebra around me. I could hear their whispers behind me and I couldn’t help but find that funny, we didn’t speak the same language after all. The attention froze me at the foot of the steps, my curiosity halted in its tracks by the open disdain from the onlookers. At the commotion an elderly zebra stallion with braided and beaded dreadlocks exited the hut and stood at the top of the steps. He was wearing a modest dark brown robe with white trim and a necklace made of bone hung from his neck. He either didn’t notice me or wasn’t as bothered by my presence as the others.

“Quid hic sonitus?” He said softly, looking at no one in particular. He took a slow and careful step down the steps. His eyes looked gazed over and milky. He was blind.

“Hic seniorem.” A younger zebra mare said, trotting past me up the steps to aid the elder zebra.

“Tibi gratias ago tibi puer.” A smile grew on his aged face. The young mare helping him cast a look my way and whispered into the elder’s ear.

He nodded solemnly and waved the young mare away. “I’m told there is pony folk in my village.” He said in a heavy accent. “I am Quiha.”

“My name is Sparks.” I responded, bowing my head slightly to show my respect. An action that was lost on the Elder but appreciated by the onlookers. “And these are my friends-” I started before Quiha interrupted.

“I would not ask the names of those who would not give it freely.” I sputtered briefly at his words, looking back at my companions, none of whom made a move to introduce themselves, their eyes narrowing slightly at the exchange. After a short but heavy silence Quiha snorted and shook his head. “It matters not, I only need one. Come Sparks, there is something I’d like to show you.” He finished making his way down the steps and headed towards his destination. He must have made this trip often if the blind zebra could get there unassisted.

“What of my companions?” I asked, giving them a worrying glance as they were being led elsewhere by other zebras, a similar sentiment on their faces.

“They will be fed and watched over until our business is done, you are all my guests after all.”

We walked on to wherever he wanted to take me at a slow pace giving me ample time to observe the village. Each hut and home had usually one but sometimes a cluster of frightening tribal masks on the walls next to the entrances. I wondered their significance when Quiha answered as if he was reading my thoughts.

“They are keepsakes from our native land. They say ‘hello’ and ‘welcome’.”

It occurred to me that I knew nothing of zebra culture. The only other zebras I met were wasteland zebras, no different from me other than their stripes and use of the zebra language. For them to even be in Equestria meant that they must have been descended from zebra who were Equestrian citizens before the Last Day or come from a stable. Did Stable-Tec build Stables for zebras?

“What is it you’re going to show me? And why me? I’ve been here less than five minutes.” I complained aloud, just now realizing the strangeness of the request.

“Ah yes…forgive me young one. I suppose an explanation is in order.” Quiha stopped for a moment and diverted course, taking us away from the path and towards a good-sized clearing with a table fashioned from a stump at the center. As Quiha took a seat at the stump-table I stole a look further behind him and saw something I never thought I’d see in the swamp. A farm. Two zebras were minding their crops of some strange looking brown…. fruit? With the constant spray of balefire in the swamp I’d have thought the land too poisoned to grow anything.

“The questions can wait until after I’ve explained myself.” He said, motioning me to sit opposite him at the stump-table. That was the second time I felt as if the old zebra had glimpsed my thoughts. “Our meeting was not by chance Sparks.” The elder began. “I have seen this scene many times before, playing out different ways in different places.”

I was taken aback at first. However, the faintest memory of an old mare in Stable sixty-three made me pause. Who was that?

“I am a seer. Trained in the mystic arts by my predecessor.” He continued, locking his eyes on mine as if peering into my thoughts. “I have seen something terrible coming. Something that threatens the people of my village. Something that we need your help with. That is why I’ve brought you here. To help us.”

I sat there silently, drinking in the information that was unceremoniously thrown at me. Even if I didn’t believe him, if he thought I could help then I would try.

“I…I have questions.” I stated, leaning forward on my hooves to better address him.

“Of course you do. You may ask whatever you wish.”

“You said you’ve seen our meeting before…how?” No matter how I looked at it none of it made sense to me. Could Quiha really see into the future? Or was it all an elaborate ruse?

“I have seen it in my dreams. Becoming a mystic seer was no easy task. In exchange for these visions I have given my sight. A small price to pay for the survival of this village. What I see is not always clear nor does it always come to be. I have glimpsed into the past, the future and the present. Events are always shifting, outcomes change just as frequently and erratically based on tiny variations or sometimes nothing at all. I can never be sure which vision is the truth, though in this case I have seen it enough through many outcomes that we may have a chance to prevent it. However, my power is at its limit and that’s where you come in. I have seen you and your friends come to us in our hour of need, though how you factor in is beyond my sight. It is my hope that you can help us.”

That was a lot to take in. Zebra magics were a far cry from pony magic, especially in the way they used it. With that in mind was it truly so strange to imagine that one could receive visions of the future?

“How can you be so sure that I can help?” I was giving Quiha my full attention now.

“I can’t but I’ve seen you too many times for it to be mere coincidence. You are involved in what’s to come for better or worse. Was there anything else?”

“That fruit that you’re growing…what is it? How are you getting it to grow in the radioactive soil?” At this point I wouldn’t have been surprised if they used some kind of zebra brew to cleanse the soil of radiation.

“Ah that fruit holds one of the great ironies of this world. They are the mighty punga fruit and they absorb the radiation from the ground as they grow. The fruit themselves also purge the body of radiation when consumed. It is how we have survived here since the bombs fell.”

“T-that’s amazing!” A fruit that could not only be grown in radioactive areas but feeds on the radiation itself. With something like that the wasteland could be slowly purged of radiation in a matter of decades! “Could I possibly take some seeds back with me?”

“Once the danger has passed we may discuss it. If there is nothing further please follow me and I will show you the object of our fear.” Quiha did not wait for a response, stood up and returned to the path we were one before.

“I thought the danger was coming from the outside?” I asked, still not entirely sure what my role was supposed to be.

“No, it will come from the inside. We have been in possession of an artifact since we fled into the swamp. It is from this artifact that the danger will come. Many tragedies have befallen my people these last five years and as a result have become superstitious of this artifact and will not go near it. It is my hope that you will be the one to take this object away from us. Destroy it if you can, hide it away if you cannot. Make no mistake this artifact is evil and seeks to do harm however it can. It may appear simple, perhaps even harmless to one such as you but it feeds on suffering and if it stays here it will destroy us.”

The grim seriousness of his words spoke of the sincerity of the situation. It sounded as if these zebras had good cause to be superstitious, in fact even I was feeling uneasy the more we spoke about it. In the back of my mind I was starting to regret coming to the village. Although after saving that mare and receiving the map from that other zebra I was starting to feel like I was supposed to be here. Quiha only reinforced that notion and the prospect of what might come of this frightened and excited me. I was destined to be here, there would be no escaping what waited before me. My stomach was doing flips, the gravity of what was being asked of me finally hitting me like a dive-bombing griffin.

“What is this artifact?”

“I don’t know. I am told our ancestors stole it away from a pony war base while the fires of war consumed the world. It was our only treasure after the great exodus from the camps of Whinyapolis. Only much later did we learn that it is tainted by the stars.”

“The stars?”

“Yes. The stars have sought our obliteration since time immemorial. At times in history they have chosen avatars of destruction, such as Nightmare Moon, to enforce their will. Other times they deliver us the means to destroy ourselves. The great beings lurking in the darkness beyond the moon watch our world with evil intentions.”

Nightmare Moon? The old pony’s tale? Could the pre-war zebra not tell the difference between Princess Luna and Nightmare Moon? Suddenly many facts about the war began to make sense. Hostilities didn’t escalate until Princess Celestia abdicated the throne. If the zebra saw Princess Luna as an agent of annihilation then it was no surprise that they ramped up their war effort.

Now that I had an amount of context, I recalled what I learned at the training course. I should have figured it out for myself. Quiha and his people were descended from the zebra POWs that were interred in the city. They must have escaped into the swamp in the chaos of the last day. I also believed I knew what the artifact was. In the same facility I learned of the zebra’s imprisonment, along with a document detailing an important delivery. The prototype prison orb. Something we just so happened not to find when we cleared the area. Could that be the source of his fears? The prison was a modified memory orb and shouldn’t have the ability to affect the outside world. Perhaps because the orb contained the living essence of an individual or the fact that it was a prototype was why it is capable of such things. Now I was extremely curious as to who was contained inside. Someone who’s capture was treated as if they had captured the zebra Caesar. Perhaps it was the Caesar.

As we continued, I noticed two zebra I thought I recognized. The mare we saved from Hell Divers and the stallion who gave us the map at the training facility. They both gave me a friendly nod, though no attempt to interact with me beyond that. Zebra stoicism was annoying to me but I didn’t need their acknowledgement. It was enough that they even remembered me. We neared the outskirts of the village and arrived at what could have been a shrine or an ornamental pedestal, surrounded by a grove of trees with dark, wispy vines and leaves. Quiha stopped and shielded his eyes as if proximity to the plinth in the trees was causing him pain.

“I will go no further. Upon that dais is the artifact.” Other zebra meandering outside the village soon gathered, looking on in interest but keeping their distances from whatever invisible lines they felt safe at. I wondered what the others were doing as I inched closer to the pedestal. As I neared, I began to notice a pink glow coming from the pedestal. The closer I got the more I saw that the glow was in fact a wispy pink cloud and not light. My speculation turned out to be correct as I could now make out the object resting there. The prison orb. The small sphere looked as if it were containing a raging thunderstorm made of dark pink clouds. I took one final step and felt a familiar tickle in the back of my consciousness that forced me to stop. It was him.

My body ignored my commands to move. Instead I was stuck staring at the distance remaining between me and the altar. The trees groaned and the dark monstrosity that was the void pony strode forth from my nightmares and into the real world.

“At last…” It whispered menacingly. The inky darkness that was its body started to ripple in waves like a stone hitting calm water. Then all at once its body blew away with the wind to reveal its true from. It was a zebra. His golden eyes stared at me with sick delight. Light danced off the many beads in his braided mane. Each braid was decorated either with golden beads or rings, each inlaid with gems of many colors. He wasn’t a monster after all and that scared me more than the nightmare he had been.

“Help! Somepony help me!” I couldn’t keep myself from yelling. I so desperately wanted to take a step back, to turn tail and gallop away but my body was no longer my own.

“What is happening?” Quiha asked, oblivious to what I was seeing. The zebras around the grove were murmuring amongst themselves, suspicious of my reaction but still unsure of what was happeneing.

“We are going to get to know each other very well, me in you.” His golden eyes sparkled as his form dissipated into dust and retreated back into the orb.

Goddesses no. Please help me, save me, anything but this!

The orb began to move on its own, rolling off the stone surface of its pedestal and towards me.

“SUNNY! GRIM! GET THE KIDS! RUN! GET AWAY!” I yelled as loud as I could. My body was trembling, my heart beating loudly in my chest. It is from this artifact that the danger will come Quiha had said to me. You are involved in what’s to come for better or worse. And so it was. It was through me that the danger would come. I brought doom to this village with my presence, walking right into the void pony’s trap. Everything you are will be unmade the voice I now recognized as Discord’s echoed in my head.

Next thing I knew the orb was floating next to me and I had turned around. Pink tendrils of telekinetic energy blossomed from my horn, snaking into the small crowd of onlookers and grabbing several of them. The screams erupted in a cacophony of terror followed quickly by the sound of bones breaking and gore hitting the ground as the tendrils tightened around their captives, shearing them in half. I took one step forward and another tendril moved to seize Quiha. His eyes widened as he was lifted into the air, a dread realization had come to him in his last seconds of life.

“Starborn…” His last word barely made it past his lips before he was thrown back towards the village center. A quick flick of my horn and Quiha exploded from the inside out into a fine red mist, bathing the heart of the village in a thin layer of red.

Memory is a curious thing. Despite the scenes that play out before us, if we don’t believe in them then they might as well have never happened. Justifications and rationalizations that completely warp the facts until they suit our individual needs. Deliberately ignoring facts until the truth becomes impossible to discern from delusion. It takes a strong person to deny what is right in front of them and when the truth is undeniable you create your own.

That was where I found myself. Flames were engulfing the village as I galloped into the swamp away from the inferno as it consumed the huts and their occupants alike. I couldn’t remember anything after the orb began to move and nothing in my being told me to slow down or look back. I couldn’t tell how much time had passed since the orb had come into my possession but I couldn’t bring myself to face the destruction I was likely responsible for. I simply ran, ran until the fires couldn’t be distinguished from the geysers of the swamp. I was breathing heavily and my body felt like lead. I sank to my knees and cried to the heavens. I had been transformed into a tool of desolation; A village no longer existed because of me. I checked my PipBuck to see that an orb had placed itself in my bags and it showed it held a power over me as it killed each and every attempt to dispose of the cursed thing. It had won. It was a part of me now, alienating me in my own body. Panic was building in my psyche. I had no idea if the others had got my warning and fled. I frantically checked the other’s ID tags and found that they were a distance away from the village in the opposite direction from me. I hoped they had had the foresight to do the same as I plotted my path around the village, intending to give it a wide berth, throwing up the hood of my cloak and vanishing from sight. We met up roughly fifteen minutes later and without explanation I lowered my hood, gave them a pleading look and ran right past them, putting as much distance between us and the village as I could. I came to a stop at the edge of a particularly large pond, waiting for the others to catch up, dreading how I was going to explain anything about what just happened. Though even as I considered those thoughts, I could feel the force of something else squashing them down and out of mind. Even if I could explain just what the fuck could I have said? At that time, I could scarcely remember anything that had transpired. I remembered the look on Quiha’s face after…something I did? After that I could only remember the faint sound of screaming and the acrid smell of smoke as flames consumed living and the dead.

“What the fuck happened back there Sparks!?” Grim yelled, taking a claw full of cloak in each talon, giving me a rough shake. “What did you do!?”

“Get off me!” I yelled back, slapping Grim’s talons away from me harder than I had wanted to. “You think I wanted any of that to happen!? You think that was my fault!?”

“There’s no way it couldn’t be, so tell me! Tell me it wasn’t your fault!”

Sunny rushed between us and shoved us both a few feet back from each other. “Stop it! This isn’t helping the situation.”

“Of course you’d take his side, you always do.” Grim said, leveling his angry glare at her instead of me.

“Tread carefully Grim.” Sunny’s voice carried an undertone of warning. “I don’t like this any more than you do. Back. Off.”

Grim scowled but resigned to do as he was told. His angry expression lessened but did not fade, occasionally stealing dirty looks my way.

“Dad?” Aurora and Adria were partially hiding behind Azura’s wings, daring a peek now that the yelling had stopped. I was extremely thankful that the others had gotten the kids to safety before…before this. I could still see the faint glow of orange as the zebra village continued to burn in the distance.

“What happened?” Azura asked, her voice soft but not soft enough to hide her fear.

“I…I don’t know.” Quick images flashed in my mind. Scenes that looked familiar but no matter how hard I thought I couldn’t make anything out of them. I remembered screaming, fire and Quiha’s expression of pure terror.

Starborn… Something surfaced from the depths of my mind. Quiha’s last word. What was he referring to? Trying to remember anything was like trying to see through the thickest smog. No matter how bad you wanted to it just couldn’t be done. I clutched at my head, a powerful headache formed at the base of my horn and rippled all throughout my brain.

“AAHH WHY CAN’T I REMEMBER!?” I screamed into the evening sky, eyes clenched shut from the pain. I angrily lashed out with my hooves, hitting the surface of the pond and splashing dirty water all over myself. My anger only built from there but I knew it was just a facade. An emotion to replace what I should have been feeling. I just didn’t know. I fell back to my rump and just stared out over the water, its surface still rippling.

“Mr. Sparks?” Adria asked, appearing beside me. “I know I just met you…but you saved me. I don’t think a person like you would do such a thing.” It was such a simple statement. One born from the sincerity in the abused griffin’s belief in me. It nearly brought a tear to my eye. I blinked the moisture away and laughed. The kind of laugh that surely frightened everyone else but a laugh I sorely needed.

“The only one with faith in me is a child we just met.” I continued to laugh though the modicum of joy I did have swiftly evaporated. “How fucked up is that?” I gave each of my friends an accusatory glare, daring them to speak their thoughts. Sunny did as she always did, sat down beside me and offered her silent support. Of all ponies Sunny was the one who could see right through me. She knew me better than I knew myself. Better than Winter, better than my own mother maybe. Sunny may not have liked what occurred but she understood. Sunny knew the truth behind Cutter’s death and even then, she supported me…a murderer. And in the end she was disappointed because I lied, nothing more. I felt I learned more about her the more I was forced to learn about myself.

Aurora was more cautious to approach me but when she saw the dejection in my eyes, she couldn’t help but give me a comforting hug. A hug I am ashamed to say I didn’t return. Aurora…was the most special pony to me. I loved her with all my heart and that made her doubt hurt all the more. I didn’t know if I had the right to feel that way. She had plenty of cause to doubt, I wasn’t exactly the best role model for her. A particular memory of what I forced her to do in this city resurfacing. I turned her into a killer. I didn’t deserve to have her as my daughter and she sure as hell deserved a better life than I could offer, a better dad than I was. In a strange way I was ashamed to be loved by her. I felt as though I had tricked her in some way, indoctrinated her to believing in me. I knew the hug she was giving me was meant to be soothing but it only made me feel guilty.

Azura was the next to come. She wormed her way between Sunny and I, draping one of her wings around my shoulders. She said nothing but the tenderness of her embrace spoke volumes. She had seen me at some of my lowest and still she wanted to be a part of my life. It didn’t matter to her if I had been involved or not, she had already decided her place was by my side. I had let her in my heart and she wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon.

That left only Grim. Grim was an interesting case. Grim didn’t follow me because he believed in me but rather for what he believed I could be. He had taken a gamble on me twice now and both times he had been let down in his eyes. He needed something to believe in and at one time that had been me, before his faith had been taken by my selfish chase for vengeance against Chestnut. My whole goal in coming to Whinnyapolis was to get him back. Because he was my friend and I had failed him again. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he left us at that moment. I waited for the sound of his wings unfurling, for him to take off into the sky, yet he stayed put on the ground. His expression lightened but he didn’t attempt to move from where he was. That was good enough for me. I doubted he forgave me, I doubted he thought I wasn’t involved but he was still willing to give me a chance. Watcher had brought the two of us together for motives that still eluded me but he seemed to have chosen wisely.

“Thank you.” I said to no one in particular. I would not learn the complete truth of what happened for some time, the memories came back slowly over time and I’ll share them as I remembered them.

We all sat around that pond for what felt like hours but was likely only minutes. Without provocation everyone began setting up a camp for the night as it wouldn’t be smart to traverse the swamp in the dark. The sun was nearing the horizon and just dipped below it as our own fire leapt to life just outside the perimeter of the mucky shores of the pond. Adria was pestering Aurora with questions and it was kinda funny watching how hard Aurora was trying to ignore her. Grim kept his stoic expression and planted himself as fire wrangler for the evening. I thought it best to let him stew with his thoughts until he had something to say. Sunny was watching the kids doing her best to appear nonchalant but her expression betrayed how much she really cared. Having children around seemed to bring out a softer side from my older friend. That left Azura and myself, sitting a distance away from camp, directly adjacent to the water.

“I can’t wait to get back to Baltimare.” I unconsciously touched the bald spots on my face. I recoiled from the touch when I remembered that they were far from the worst thing I would be taking home with me. “I am so sick of this place…what its done to us…” From our kidnapping by slavers, to my near death in the swamp, to Azura hanging off a rack of horns dying. This fucking place had only taken from us and what little we did gain answered little or nothing at all. Even Grim, the whole reason we came here, might be poisoned against me now. This place turned me into a murderer, I inserted myself into a family feud for ministry treasure and both parties had died by my hooves. How was I going to face my mother after all this?

“Hush.” Azura gently pressed a claw to my lips, silencing whatever I might have said next. “We’re all here. We’re all alive. Isn’t that worth something?”

“Of course it is…but-” I tried to continue only to have her claw silence me again.

“But nothing. Soon this will all be behind us. Now shut up and hold me you fool.” Azura trapped me with her wings, forcing me into a feathery embrace. So with no other recourse I did as I was told and pulled her against me, drinking in her presence. Just that simple act warmed my heart and assuaged my worries, at least for a time.

“Hey Azura? Thanks for believing in me. I don’t know what possessed you to throw yourself in with us…but I’m glad you did.” I squeezed her just a bit harder, causing her to stifle a giggle.

“So am I.” She looked up into my eyes and planted a gentle kiss on my lips.

“I think my mother is going to like you.” I said softly, too late to realize that I’d said it out loud.

“Oh I get to meet your mother do I? I didn’t know we were getting serious.” She smiled mischievously. “How will I ever tell her you bedded me out of wedlock?”

I felt my cheeks grow hot and a nervous smile form on my face. “Y-you know I-I don’t think that she’ll mind…please don’t say anything to her.”

“Oh I’m afraid I have to. Have you learned nothing of griffin honor? Just think how you’re going to explain it to MY parents.”

“What!?” She couldn’t possibly be serious.

“Gotcha.” She smiled. “I can’t wait to meet your mother.” She finally relented her teasing and sounded genuinely excited. We shared our embrace for a while longer when something occurred to her.

“You never did tell me what happened to your fur.” She said clearly, hoping to elicit a response from me.

“I suppose I didn’t. Well after we took you off those horns.” Her expression looked momentarily cross before it melted back to contentment. “We went into the swamp to-”

~Duck~

“What?” I said aloud, interrupting myself. I looked over my shoulder just in time to see a pony shaped shadow diving through the air towards us, a metallic gleam to its wings. Time seemed to slow down as I jumped up and tried to shove Azura out of the way. There was a stinging pain and Azura and I fell to the ground. Our attacker hit the ground just past us and skipped across the surface of the pond, landing unmoving on the other side. I had landed face down in the muck and was on my way to my legs when I opened my eyes. What I saw froze me in place, time again seemed to slow as the realization swept over me. Azura had landed a hoof’s length from me on her stomach, however her expression was leveled at me. Her expression frozen in a look of shock and terror.

Her now headless body bled heavily into the mud around me, staining the brown with red, making it appear blacker than the night sky. Grim and Sunny had shouted something after the crash but I hadn’t heard it. My eyes were locked on hers, the life completely gone from them. I made it halfway to my hooves before I fell forward again into the bloody mud. I needed to get up, I needed to go to her. Why wouldn’t my leg work!? I looked down and saw that it wasn’t just Azura’s blood that was spilling into the muck. My left foreleg was gone just below the shoulder. I could barely even think as my eyes scanned the ground and spotted the soft glow of my PipBuck under a layer of mud, warning alerts flashing on its screen. I couldn’t move, couldn’t think. Every color and sound seemed muted and dull. Leaving just me to watch Azura’s head slowly sink into the mud. I didn’t even have time to go to her, my attention stolen from the splash of movement on the other side of the pond. It was Dusk Diver. She had broken one of her legs in the crash, each of her oversized wing blades were dark with blood. Something snapped inside me. I clumsily found my three remaining hooves and limped slowly towards Dusk. I don’t know when but Azura’s heavy revolver was floating by my side as I strode up to Dusk Diver’s prone form.

“You…you took everything from me!” She wailed pathetically, rocking her body in the filth trying to block out her pain. “My brother…my legacy!” She continued to scream. “What right did y-”

BLAM!!

One shot through her head ended her life. That wasn’t enough.

BLAM!! BLAM!! BLAM!! BLAM!! BLAM!! click

I fired until the gun was empty, reducing Dusk’s body into a bullet riddled, blood spattered, vaguely pony shaped pile of meat. Once she was dead, my mind locked back up. I just stood there. My leg stump dripping blood onto the ground to mix with Dusk’s until it pooled and trickled into the pond. I felt the faintest touch and the scenery shifted. I think I was on somepony’s back but I was deaf to the world around me. I saw Azura’s body one last time as we passed it and I screamed. I flailed wildly and threw myself into the mud, packing it into my leg stump as I tried to scramble to her side.

“NO NO! NOOO! NO!” I splashed in the mud uselessly as I was drug away from the scene by my tail. I continued to scream into the air, my anguish scattering into the foul winds of the swamp. In the depths of the black I thought I heard laughter.

Loss. Nothing, not even experiencing loss before can prepare you for it again. You can see it coming, you can play any number of scenarios in your head and even then, once it becomes reality all your carefully crafted plans mean nothing. All that is left for you is pain and grief. Despair in its purest form causing you to shut yourself away from the world. Maybe you even fall into denial. Further blocking out reality while you wallow in sorrow.

The world felt far away to me. As if I were seeing it for the first time. I wandered aimlessly through the swamp, only vaguely aware of the direction I was heading. I kept a heavy lead in front of the others, trying my best to ignore that they were even there. Sunny had Azura’s body on her back, wrapped in a blanket. Grim had done something medical and reattached her head…I think. I just kept limping forward. Geysers went off on either side of me in what felt like slow motion. Heat and flames licked at my sides and I assumed my radiation levels were going to hell but I had no way of knowing. My PipBuck was still firmly attached to my severed leg which Grim had in his possession. I held no illusion that we’d be able to reattach it. What more could I even lose at this point? My lover, my leg, my principles…my soul. What was left?

I heard Aurora calling after me as I wandered the geyser field, making no attempt to dodge or protect myself. I spared a glance back and saw that Sunny had stopped her from following me. She understood that I needed to be alone, even if it meant allowing me to walk a path of self-destruction. Time also held little meaning from the prison of my own mind I was trapped in. Without knowing when, I had lost track of the others completely. I was almost worthless without my PipBuck, sorely missing its EFS. When I looked up, I was standing before a dark chain-link fence surrounding what looked like another training facility. Without a care in the world I stumbled onto the grounds and noticed the large statue of a pony in the center that had been overtaken by moss decades ago, hiding any semblance of who it may have been. As I meandered about, I saw that the place looked more like a school than a military installation. What purpose could there have been in having a school in such a dangerous place? With extreme difficulty I shoved the doors of the main building open. Once inside I noticed the stark difference in décor. This looked more like a training facility…though the colors were off. The walls bore faded and peeling pink wallpaper and in some spots there were posters of a familiar pink mare that leered upon observers with a wide-eyed stare. Pinkie Pie. This place was operated by the Ministry of Morale. Though I couldn’t help but doubt that anything pleasant occurred within these walls. This was likely one of the locations they trained M.o.M operatives. The ones who sniffed out dissenters or zebra sympathizers and performed who knows how many other ‘peacekeeping’ operations.

Considering its remote location, I was surprised at the lack of bodies or skeletons. Though as a government site it was likely they got forewarning of the incoming bombs. Even if they were here, I was willing to bet they were far enough from Whinnyapolis to evade the worst of the effects, though eventually they’d have succumbed to fallout. I picked a random direction and started limping. Some of the more invasive plants of the swamp had forced their way through some windows and bled into the hallways. Unfortunately, that meant that most of what I found was beyond salvaging. Armor, weapons, all of it worthless. So why was I even here? Did I really want to be alone? In reality the truth was simple, I was drawn here. Something was waiting here for me in its depths. Though this time I felt no fear from what was calling me. It wasn’t malevolent, it wasn’t tempting me with promises of power…I just felt something, something that I needed to complete…something. I know it sounds odd but sometimes you just know these things. With laser like focus I pushed aside my grief and homed in on what I was meant to find. No distractions, no getting lost in the records of the past of this place, just simple purpose. Before I knew it, I was in the basement looking upon what was clearly some kind of tech lab.

Dominating the left side of the lab was a pyramid shaped device with a terminal set into its side. Behind it was a spark generator that was intact enough to be functional. I would have to pray that the terminal wasn’t secured in any way otherwise I wasn’t getting in without my PipBuck. With a single touch of a button the spark generator rocked to life, permeating the room with its soft humming and light. Two blue glowing devices on each wall flickered on and awaited some kind of command. Now that I could see the room clearly, I could see what was docked into the pyramid. Another of the statuettes. This one bearing the likeness of Pinkie Pie. She looked so much younger than she appeared on her posters. It was like she had been pulled from the picture I carried with me. Despite the pain of my recent loss I couldn’t help but want to smile, her expression radiated pure joyful energy almost as if I had a tiny version of the real Pinkie Pie. As if finally fulfilling their purpose the blue devices on the walls sparked and began to emit a pale blue light. The lights swirled on the floor for a moment before rising and becoming a three-dimensional picture. A hologram. At first it barely held the shape of a pony but then the hologram retreated into a ball and jumped up, spreading all its limbs as the sound of party horns erupted from somewhere. Out of the blank pony came poofy shapes that became a mane and tail, a style the whole country recognized, the Mare of the Ministry of Morale herself; Pinkie Pie.

“AWww! Blue!?” The Pinkie hologram frowned comically and leapt into the air, zipping up to the terminal, nearly knocking me over. Something about that seemed off to me. “This is the wrong color you overcomplicated triangle!” It turned and bucked the terminal, causing electricity to discharge from most of the devices in the room. With a rhythmic thrum the generator shook and the glow of the hologram and its emitters turned pink. The Pinkie hologram grinned ear to ear and pumped its hoof in excitement. “Much better!”

I stared on in disbelief. I was so distracted by everything that even I wasn’t prepared for the question that came out of my mouth.

“How did you do that?”

“AAHHhhh!!!” The Pinkie hologram shot into the air again and darted into a storage closet in the far corner, slamming the door behind her.

I…did I scare her? I supposed I did look pretty frightening. A three-legged unicorn with a patchy dark cloak, spattered in blood and mud. I wondered if the hologram had similar programming to the PINK-E bot from Black Town, if so then using its name should get a response from it.

“Umm…Pinkie? You can come out now.” This was so strange.

“Geez you scared the cupcakes out of me!” Pinkie stuck her head out the door and then I made the mistake of blinking. In a pink blur she had cleared the room and was in my face with a cupcake in her hoof and another in her mouth. “Want one?” She said through a mouthful of holographic cupcake. She didn’t wait for an answer and pushed me down to my haunches so she could dump the second cupcake in my good hoof. I was so baffled by what was going on. The cupcake rested in my hoof and stayed there. I…I had decent knowledge of science and arcano-tech. I was pretty sure this wasn’t how holograms were supposed to work.

“How are you doing these things?” I half mumbled in disbelief.

“Twilight may have been in charge of all the magical sciencey stuff but I had unicorns of my own you know.” Pinkie beamed proudly, her tail pointing towards the pyramid shaped machine. “I had one in particular help me with this machine. She never could refuse her auntie Pinkie. You’ll actually get to meet her soon and oh boy do you need it.”

“You…you’re not a hologram, are you?”

“Well in a way I am but not in the way you think. See me docked in the machine? Rarity thought her project was a secret but it was my job to know about these sorts of things…well…actually no it wasn’t…it was what my ministry became over time…” Pinkie deflated momentarily, possibly recalling bad memories. I couldn’t believe what she was telling me. This… could this really be the real Pinkie Pie? …No it couldn’t be…but maybe it was the realest Pinkie that existed in the wasteland.

“What was Rarity’s project?” I asked, hoping she could reveal the secrets I was missing.

“Nope. Can’t tell you. Everypony has to keep their secrets.”

“B-but you just said that-”

“Nooooooot list-en-ing!” Pinkie shoved her hooves into her ears like a stubborn foal. “You’ll know soon enough…or you won’t!” Pinkie jumped up to her hooves, stopping a moment to help me to mine and pulled me to the machine.

“I’m a projection. This is the real me.” She said pointing to the statuette. “Given form by this machine. A direct link to the real world. If we had the time…no it's too late for that.” Pinkie stopped herself from trotting down whatever line of thought she was considering.

“Why are you here?”

“To help you silly! Nopony should be alone Sparks, especially at a time like this.” I could only assume she was referring to Azura’s death. Suddenly I wasn’t so sure this was real, rather I was just imagining this, my grief-stricken mind creating hallucinations to help me cope.

“Rarity’s greatest fear was losing her friends…losing us. She gave everything to make sure that didn’t happen. I just want to remind you that you’re not alone, even when your friends aren’t around you’ll always carry them with you.” Pinkie had lived in the times before the ideals of friendship gave way to greed, selfishness and paranoia. She carried those ideals with her, even now as a projected hologram from a magic statuette.

“How can you believe that? Look around! The world was destroyed! In no small part thanks to you!” The words didn’t even feel like my own. I wanted somepony to blame. For what? Even I didn’t know.

“You’re right. All I wanted was to make ponies happy… but I had help to find the right path, help from a friend to see the truth, help from myself to see what I was and help from a pony in the mirror…I don’t think that’s happened yet but she is a lot like you actually. Somepony who doesn’t understand that ponies need to keep their secrets.”

“You couldn’t possibly understand what I’m feeling. Look at me! What do I even have left?”

“Oh, I understand, after all I’m dead. What you have is a family who loves and cares for you. And the best part is you haven’t even met them all yet! Doesn’t that give you hope? Doesn’t that make you feel excited?” Pinkie pulled out a holographic cannon and blasted the room with confetti.

“You’re not real, are you?” I doubted everything that happened here, even with my feelings from before that I was meant to be here were beginning to wane in the face of Pinkie Pie.

“Of course I’m real. You just aren’t used to talking with one of us directly.” One of us? Dead ponies? “Go ahead! Touch me!”

I reached out my hoof and booped the hologram on the nose. Pinkie went cross-eyed for a moment and looked confused.

“No not me! Me!” She said, pointing to the statuette.

“You said I haven’t met my whole family yet…what did you mean?”

“Oh you already know who I’m talking about. You just haven’t met her yet. Somepony to replace that void in your heart. Somepony to help you keep moving forward.” Pinkie pulled out an old phonograph, flipping a record dramatically and placing the spiral groove onto it. An old timey tune began to play and all at once Pinkie Pie was dancing and began singing.

“Is the girl you left behind out there tonight romancin’? Makin’ eyes at someone else and singin’, is she dancin’?”

“Only the girl you left behind you dream of when you’re sleepin’. Puts the teardrops in your eyes from secrets she is keepin’.” Immediately my temperament began to shift. I was suddenly angry at the Pinkie hologram. It almost felt as if she were taunting me somehow.

“Happy just play a tune and dance the whole night away. Hope the girl you left behind will be there for you someday.” Everything I had felt about Azura’s death returned twofold. I began to shake with rage and jumped to my hooves, staring at the pyramid with fury.

“Lonely is the wind that blows, you know you’ll always miss her. Lonely is a lover’s heart if only you could, kiss her, kiss her, kiss her.” I had finally had enough and leapt towards the pyramid. With all of my strength I used my good hoof to hit the Pinkie statuette hard enough to dislodge it from its dock and send it sailing into an old bookshelf. It hit the center shelf and broke it in half, sending a layer of books to the floor where their pages disintegrated into dust. Having used all of my momentum to hit Pinkie I had no legs left to support me and I tumbled to the floor next to the statuette. I felt tears forming in my eyes as the song brought back memories of not just Azura but Winter as well. I picked up the statuette with my magic and intended to do more damage to it but I knew it’d be a wasted effort. Instead I took it in an embrace and hugged it to my chest. Unlike the others I had found, this statuette didn’t fill me with a rush of energy when I picked it up. I couldn’t help but feel I was unworthy in its eyes, which at this point didn’t surprise me in the least. From above I could hear Sunny and the others enter the building. I took the statuette into the storage closet and closed the door, locking it behind me.

I looked down at the statuette’s happy expression and instantly felt regret for hitting it. All it wanted to do was help me. I hugged it tight and did something I’d been needing to do for a long time. I sobbed. I let out all my pain and cried into the pink mare I held in my one leg. All she wanted to do was to make ponies happy…even me. I prayed with all my heart that she could help me somehow but I knew I wasn’t worthy of her, not yet. I just held her and wept.

Footnote: Level Up!

New Perk: Pathfinder – Travel time to remote locations in the Wasteland is reduced by 25%

Quest Perk: ??? – ???

So ends act two, thanks to any and all who have stuck around this long. I will have something special available to you all soon.