I lurched awake with a start, throwing the thin sheet that had been covering me to the floor. Where was I? What happened? After a moment the memories steadily came back to me. Grim leaving us, the spores and the destruction of project Outlast.

“He’s awake.” I heard a voice call out. What happened to Pumpkin? All at once I was surrounded by faces I recognized. Aurora and Sunny, Quillwright and Freesia.

“Sometimes I think you have a death wish.” Sunny said, her expression stony and unmoving.

“Try not to sound so happy would ya?” I said, sitting up slightly to see that I was in the same room I had gotten my leg replaced in at the Bastion. A blur of movement from the far side of the room caught my attention but when I shifted my gaze to investigate it was gone.

“What’s wrong dad? See a ghost like in your dreams?” Aurora asked, turning to follow my stare. Dreams? Why would she say that? I never told anypony about the dreams I had. “Because I know how you think.” She answered my unspoken questions. I shrank back in my bed slightly, pulling the sheet a little higher.

“Aurora how did y-” Another flicker of movement stole my thoughts away as I identified the thing. It was a zebra; his golden eyes and braided mane were unmistakable. The Author. He flashed me a wicked smile and then, as if his role was done, he disappeared the next time I blinked.

“You sure you’re gonna get through this?” Freesia asked, the expression on her face was unreadable like it was all expressions at once.

“You should get more rest. Everypony out.” Quillwright said sternly. Accepting his judgment, I rolled over to lay on my side as I listened the sound of hooves disappear from the room. The sound of jostling fabric made me open my eyes to see the sharp teeth of the Author exposed in a grin too large for his face, his fierce eyes burning with a covetous gleam.

“We shall go together.”

“AAAHHHHH!” I screamed in terror, rolling out of the bed backwards and landing headfirst on the cold concrete. I screamed again as I shuffled as far away from the bed as I could. Eventually my scream became a gurgle as the blood that had been pooling in my lungs finally found its escape. Heavy, hacking coughs echoed through the room, the bright red flecks of my blood standing out on the white gown I was wearing. I had been dreaming, an awful, terrible dream.

~My dream~ The Author hissed. A glow from across the room in the shadows got my attention as a pair of floating, golden eyes appeared. They were flat, without pupils and streaming out of the corners were wispy streaks of pink smoke.

“How are you doing this?” I asked aloud, looking anywhere but into his eyes.

~I’m not. You are. The more you use my power the greater our unification becomes and my ability to manifest to you becomes greater. Don’t you see Starborn, you and I complete each other. Without you, I’d still be stuck at the mercy of those faithless degenerates in the swamp. Without me, you and those you love would be dead. We both want the same thing~

“And what might that be?” I sneered.

~Control. You wish to control the world around you, see to it that things play out according to your design. I simply wish to have control over myself again~

“That’s not true…” I wanted to yell but it came out a whisper. “That’s not what I want…”

~I’ve told you before it’s pointless to lie to me. You may not know it’s a lie but I know you. I know your deepest desires. Protest all you like; in the end it changes nothing~

“Ponykind must find its own way.” I said, the volume returning to my voice.

~You don’t believe that. Do you truly think that the chaos of this world can be undone by those that inhabit it now? All they want is to survive. Without control, without direction, they are content to be nothing more than they are~

“You’re wrong.” I said, meeting his burning golden eyes. “There’s always another option.”

~It won’t do to indulge yourself in such fantasies Starborn. One look around will tell you that-~

“You are all I see!” My scornful words dripped with spite as my magic aura flared to life. “If what I seek is impossible then I will make it possible!” The crackling of electric energy began to build up around my horn, small streaks of lightning flashing in the air around me. “If what the world needs is fantasy then I will make it a reality! I will keep the future of this land away from people like you and let the world decide its own fate!”

~You would condemn them to death? You would die for them?~

“I will do whatever it takes…now…GET OUT OF MY HEAD!”

KRACKOOOM!!!

The magic I had been gathering the whole conversation was unleashed with a thunderous boom. A single bolt of violet lightning struck the floor where the Author’s presence had been, obliterating him, the bed I had been resting in, and a good portion of the concrete floor. The freshly ionized air made my fur stand up and everything electronic flicker. The effort left me feeling like I had just woken up with the world’s worst hangover. My eyes began to grow heavy as the sound of hooves and voices became audible. The hard crashing of a door being thrown open signaled to me that help had arrived. Sunny and Aurora were at my side in an instant.

“What happened? Sparks?” Sunny’s voice was barely a distant warble, sounds I was just able to identify as words. It was like I was underwater. My vision began to blur and my head began to throb. I opened my mouth to say something only for my lungs to reject the notion. The strain from battling the Author had sent me into another coughing fit, robbing me of the last of my energy. Sunny used her duster to block most of it and Aurora barely flinched as specks of my blood hit her snowy coat, turning her into a crimson dapple. I felt somepony lift me off the floor before I lost consciousness.

When I awoke next it was to a much nicer scene. Curled up in a blanket on the floor was Sunny and Aurora. As I sat up to wake them a firm hoof shoved me back down.

“Not so fast. There’ll be no incident this time.” Scribe Quillwright said, adjusting his glasses, his eyes darting over a clipboard held in his other hoof.

“What happened?” I managed to croak out through my painfully dry throat.

“That is precisely what I’d like to know.” His eyes never left his clipboard as he held out a glass of water for me. I gingerly took it and took a divinely wet sip. A sip that transitioned into gulps and before I knew it the glass was empty.

“Where’s Pumpkin?” I asked, noticing that this was a different room than the one I’d previously been in.

“Pumpkin? You must mean the mare you brought back with you from Project Outlast.” Quillwright walked from one side of my bed to the other where a curtain divider I’d not noticed before separated me from another. “She is alive and well, though she is resting. Quite a bit more effectively than you I might add.”

“Will she be alright?”

“That remains to be seen.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll answer no more question until you answer mine.” Sunny and Aurora began to stir from their sleep, rising to their hooves. “What happened in the surgery room?”

“It sounded like you were speaking to somepony.” Sunny added while wiping the sleep from her eyes, showing that she too was curious. Aurora however didn’t say a word. I noticed she had a bandage wrapped around her head from a wound she must have received from the fight with Pumpkin’s specter.

“It was nothing.” I lied. “I was talking to myself.” I half lied.

“Interesting. And what about the spell? I assume you cast it?”

“T-that’s right.”

“That’s one hell of a spell you got there. I shudder to think what would have happened if it had hit a living creature.”

It didn’t take a genius to see that I was being scolded as if I were some kind of foal in magic kindergarten.

“One could only imagine.” I said back in his scolding tone, mocking him.

“Mhmm. Why then, if you were talking to yourself, did you cast a spell at all?”

“I don’t know.” I lied again. “It just sort of happened.”

“Hmm, I suppose that’s possible. Raw magic exposure can do odd things to those who are receptive to it.” Quillwright seemed to be satisfied by what was said as he turned and made his way from the room, his eyes still glued to the clipboard.

“Who were you really talking to?” Sunny demanded as soon as Quillwright was out of earshot.

“Who do you think?” I said exasperatedly. “It’s getting worse. I don’t just hear him in my head anymore. I…I saw him.”

“And that’s why you cast a spell?”

“Yes…what happened?” I suddenly felt out of breath, just how tired was I?

“You mean with Outlast? Once the magic was released it raged out of control. You were sucked into the vortex and we found you after it had dissipated. Applejack carried you back here as fast as she could. Aurora and I stayed behind to get Pumpkin out of the pod and…well…” Sunny took a step back and pulled the curtain to the side, revealing a butter yellow mare with ginger mane. Her eyes were closed and her chest rose and fell slowly. “She’s alive but it doesn’t look good.”

“What do you mean?” I tilted my head in confusion. She looked fine to me.

“Medically speaking there is nothing wrong with her.” A sudden voice from behind me made me jump. Turning I met the green eyes of a mare in a lab coat. Her dark red mane was tied into a tight ponytail, the end of which hung over her left shoulder, standing out against the drab light brown of her fur. “For reasons I can’t determine she simply won’t wake.”

“Sparks this is-” Sunny tried to say.

“Dr. Parish.” Dr. Parish interrupted, cutting Sunny off. “And I’d thank you not to make this a regular occurrence. Medical supplies are scarce enough without having to treat outsiders.”

“She won’t wake? What does that mean?” I pressed, ignoring her offhoof stab at my standing with the Steel Rangers.

“It means just as I said. We treated her when your companions arrived with her three days ago and so far have found no success.” Dr. Parish’s stony expression never changed and her eyes maintained a disinterested, tired stare.

“Three days? I was out for three days?” How much longer before I’d have spent more time recovering than living?

“The goddesses must favor you.” Parish continued, bringing my attention back where it should have been. “Anypony else would have died. You over exhausted your body and your magical reserves. It should have given up on you but it didn’t, not to mention the magic poisoning.”

“Magic poisoning?” I’d never heard of such a thing.

“Yes. Raw, unfocused magic can be lethal without proper precautions for any unicorn other than the one it came from.”

Was that why the spell I cast earlier felt so different? Did Pumpkin’s wild magic resonate with mine?

“When can I go?” I didn’t know what I was going to do once I was up but I had to do something.

“You can go whenever you wish. Now that you’re awake I’m confident the magic poisoning hasn’t done any serious damage.”

“And what about her?” I motioned my head towards Pumpkin’s sleeping form.

“I’m afraid there’s nothing further we can do. Like I said, medically she is fine but she must wake on her own until then she will remain here under our protection.”

“How…how can I help?” I looked back over Pumpkin’s unmoving form. Her soft expression, her gentle breathing…she looked so delicate.

“Don’t trouble yourself. Now that you’ve cleared us a path, Elder Lions sent a team to the remains of Project Outlast to see if there is anything there that can help.”

“…Thank you, Dr. Parish.” I said after a moment’s reflection.

“Oh…um.” Dr. Parish’s expression finally changed to one of surprise. “Y-you’re welcome.” She gave me one last evaluating look then made her leave.

“Are you okay dad?” Aurora spoke, touching a hoof to mine.

“I…I don’t know Aurora. I think so.” It was the easiest truth I could deal with. I had no idea what to do, what I was supposed to be doing. I vowed to protect the ponies of the wasteland when I spoke to the Author but I had no idea what that really meant. Did I really think I could take on that kind of burden? I didn’t even know what I was anymore. Was I somepony to look up to? Did I truly represent the image I had worked so hard to cultivate? Did it even matter? No matter how hard I tried to envision myself as a knight in shining armor all I saw was me. Me standing over Blood Orange, her bleeding, tortured form before I ended her life. Me wreathed in tendrils of powerful magic that killed indiscriminately. Me exactly as I was, everything I stood in opposition against.

Be Strong!

Be Awesome!

What did that say of me? I wanted peace but I was a killer. I wanted to help others but death followed me wherever I went. I was a walking contradiction. I was the villain of the piece and its hero. Two beings in the same body, opposite in every way simultaneously. Except I was no hero but that wasn’t my fault. I had allowed something inside me, something that was altering my course. How much longer before I wouldn’t be able to distinguish my thoughts from his? My actions? My very existence? A freezing shiver ran down my spine at the thought.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Aurora must have seen the confliction on my face. I never was any good at keeping things from her.

“No.” I answered a few seconds later. “No I’m not.” I was tired of crying. Tired of carrying the burden that was the Author in my head. “It’s getting worse.” I said again. “Remember Sunny, you promised me that-”

“I know Sparks.” She placed a hoof on my shoulder. For a fraction of a second I swore I saw tears glistening under her hat. “I know.”

I held Aurora’s hoof a bit longer and waited for Sunny to withdraw hers before I stood up. The gown I’d been wearing was still speckled in my blood. I shed it as quickly as I could to retrieve my own belongings.

“Sunny.” I said, getting her attention. “I want you to take the lead.” I reequipped my armor and was as ready to go as I could be.

“What?” Her genuine look of confusion almost threw me off.

“Grim was right.” I was starting to put the pieces together and see myself from his perspective. “I don’t have what it takes to be a good leader. I didn’t consider what either of you wanted. I led us to Project Outlast on purpose, to sate my curiosity. Does that sound like a good leader to you? We have a goal and I deviated from it to satisfy my own selfishness. Where we go and what we do to get to that boat should be up to you. Lead and I’ll follow you…anywhere.” I bowed my head to her, relinquishing leadership to her. She had the most to gain…and lose. It was only right that she decide the best course of action. I…I didn’t want to lose my other friend. I hoped I was doing the right thing.

“Sparks…I-”

“Good morning!” An enthusiastic greeting cut her off before she could say more. “I’m glad I caught you before you left.” Elder Lions approached us with a tired smile.

“Yes Elder?” I asked, hoping whatever he had to say wouldn’t take long.

“I have a task for you if you think you’re up for it.”

“Can it wait? We’re trying to find a way onto that boat in the bay.”

“Then you’ll be delighted to know that we are working towards the same goal.”

“How so?” Sunny chimed in.

“After the brazen attack on the Bastion we began investigating. Nopony should have been able to land forces on our shore without us noticing. With your help we know that the battle was a distraction to allow thieves to make off with our technology. When cornered they teleported away. It stands to reason that they teleported their forces here before the wall was breached.”

“And?”

“And my dear, we’ve determined the identity of our attackers. They call themselves Lunologists. It turns out the rumors about that boat are true.”

“S-so you’re saying that-”

“That a group of ponies occupy the vessel with the numbers and zeal to attack even the Steel Rangers.”

Cobalt had already confirmed that the group Stormy belonged to were the ponies on the boat. Now we had a name.

“What does that have to do with us?” I asked, uncertain how our goals aligned.

“I have the scribes putting together something that can carry an attack force to the ship and destroy it. With your help we can speed up the process significantly.”

“Destroy it!?” Sunny shouted. “Y-you can’t do that Elder my…my son is on that ship.” She said, her voice getting so quiet that I barely heard. I was amazed that she would put her trust about her son in somepony like Elder Lions.

“Your son?” Elder Lions looked completely baffled. “How long have you known?”

“Since the attack. I…I saw him but he didn’t recognize me. Please, give us-” Sunny waved her hoof to me and Aurora. “- a chance to go in quietly and extract him before the counter attack.”

“Do you have a plan? How will you accomplish this?”

“I…I don’t know yet. P-please Elder…” Sunny had never looked more vulnerable to me. Her teary eyes hid great fear as well as great need. She looked to be on the verge of crying but contrary to what I expected, she removed her hat entirely instead of hiding her feelings under it. “Please.” Her last word a pleading whisper.

“Hmm.” Elder Lions looked away, deep in thought, his hoof idly stroking his beard. “I will…take this into consideration. Either way you will need a way to get to the ship and we’ll need your help to get it done quickly.”

“Of course Elder.” Sunny bowed her head. “How can we help?”

“I’m sending you to Griffin Rock. I want you to be on guard at all times, this is where we lost contact with Knight Flint some time ago.”

“What are we looking for?”

“Intelligence suggests that there is a cache of technology hidden in the mines. Your mission is to locate and retrieve the cache, if it exists. We would also be grateful if you can learn anything about the fate of Knight Flint.”

“This thing you’re having the scribes cook up, what is it?” The Steel Rangers had quite a bit of technology at their disposal, some I couldn’t even begin to speculate about. Just what did the Elder have in mind?

“Aquatic troop transport. The Naval Academy wasn’t completely looted when we arrived.” The Elder smirked wryly. “But we don’t have the necessary parts to make it operational. That’s where you come in. Until the group I sent to Project Outlast returns we’re relying on you to spearhead the search for the parts we need.”

“Understood.” I said, standing up a little straighter. Despite the fortuitousness of our goals aligning something still felt odd about the whole thing. “Elder, if I may ask, if the cache is there how do we know anything in it will help us with the transport?”

“We don’t. All the intelligence from the area came from Knight Flint before we lost contact with him. He wouldn’t have broken radio silence if he thought there was nothing of value.”

“So you chose us in case it turns out to be a bust?” Sunny asked, her enthusiasm from earlier waning.

“I have considered that possibility, yes. Even if that turns out to be the case, I’d still like you to investigate Knight Flint’s disappearance.”

“I see. We’ll prepare to leave immediately. Where’s AJ?”

“I sent her with the others to salvage what we can from Project Outlast and protect the scribes. Don’t forget to keep in contact.” Elder Lions patted a pocket sewn onto his robes, likely holding the radio we used to communicate before retreating back to the Keep.

“I have something to take care of real quick Sunny, will you and Aurora be alright for a few minutes?” I asked, half turning back towards the way we came. Sunny gave me a curious look but ultimately relented.

“Sure, once you’re ready meet us by the gate.”

I nodded and made my way back towards the infirmary. I saw neither Scribe Quillwright nor Dr. Parish once I was inside so my path was clear. A minute later I found myself in a chair sitting beside Pumpkin’s hospital bed.

“Hey.” I said to her sleeping form. Now that I was here I didn’t know what to say. What could I say? I guess I had to start with the truth. “I always knew I’d come back for you. No matter where I went or what I faced, my desire to find the truth never left my mind. When I learned you were still alive I made saving you a priority…I guess I’m your savior.” I paused a moment and let the word hang in the air. “But I don’t feel like it. I don’t feel like much of anything anymore. I don’t know if we’re meant to be friends or not but I hope we can try. I have so many questions to ask you.” I paused again, my gaze drifting to the floor. “Maybe it’d be best if we weren’t friends. I haven’t exactly had the best track record. You’d be better off with a hellhound for a friend.” I gave a weak chuckle at my own joke. “But if there is any way I can help…I’ll do whatever it takes. Even if that means I won’t come back.” I stood and magically pulled up her sheets and tucked her in. A pointless gesture? Perhaps but doing good, even if nopony else knows, was just as worthwhile. “I guess I’ll see you later…Pumpkin.”

Once I left the infirmary, I double-checked my gear and joined the others at the gate. I nodded and motioned for Sunny to lead the way. Once again, we found ourselves staring out at the expanse of the Equestrian Wasteland.

“Griffin Rock…that’s where the raider clans gathered before the attack on Black Town.” I said, memories of the attack springing forth from my mind.

“It was little more than a few support buildings and a cave. Only in the last few decades has it become dangerous.” Sunny added, giving us an idea what to expect.

“How so?” Aurora asked, trotting to the front of the group to be seen.

“The cave was used to dump waste until a worker discovered coal hidden within during the war. Insignificant when compared to the needs of the nation as a whole. But to us survivors it was just enough to keep things operating, if only for a bit.”

“And? What happened?” I jumped in; my curiosity eager for an answer.

“A mining accident. The veins of coal that crisscrossed through the land were ignited. The entire operation was incinerated in a matter of minutes, fires burned unchecked, reducing everypony and everything they brought to ash. Fires that still burn to this day.”

“What Flint found suggests that the M.A.S built a processing facility in the cave to help remove the waste to protect the miners. That’s probably where this cache is supposed to be.” A fourth, slightly reverberated voice said from behind us.

“Freesia?” I said, trying and failing to keep a sudden smile hidden.

“Hail.” She said, bowing her metal clad head in deference to us. “I was the one who received Flint’s broadcast. I- uh was ordered to go along with you. Provide backup.” Freesia’s tone was flat, almost robotic and it wasn’t because of the helmet. Even through her metal shell I could see that she was nervous. Flint had been her partner and she had been troubled ever since she told me he was presumed KIA. Her relationship with Flint, her uneasy demeanor…She was certainly not ordered to accompany us…but I had no intention of calling her on it. She had every right to be here to search for the truth, more than I did, more than any of us. I didn’t know how serious an offense disobeying orders ranked in the Steel Rangers but surly they could be lenient in this case, no matter how it turned out. At least that was what I hoped, for my sake and especially Freesia’s.

“Well, we’re glad to have you along.” I said with a smile.

“J-just like that?” She said with a tilt of her head. Had she expected me refuse? To send her away? She probably did since she was here against orders but as far as she knew, I didn’t.

“Sure, we’re friends aren’t we?” I stopped and looked into the eye slits of Freesia’s helmet. She stopped to return the gesture. Oh the caps I’d give to see her expression. Despite the bulk of her armor, she couldn’t hide her fidgeting from me.

“Y-yeah.” She affirmed, standing a little straighter.

“Are you sure you’re okay with that?” I asked, taking a step closer.

“W-why wouldn’t I?” She took a step back.

“You know where most of my friends are?” I asked, my voice dropping low. Freesia shook her head. “The ground.” I finished, turning around and following after Sunny and Aurora. Freesia stood there a moment; her expression hidden behind her helmet as well as from me. Friendship didn’t happen so naturally around me. Don’t get me wrong the idea was and still is appealing to me but even you can’t deny that it comes with risks. Ribbon Dancer, Sid, and Fancy Pants. I wouldn’t call them friends but they had been more than my enemies. All of them dead because of me. Slipknot, Cutter, Winter and Azura. Some might have been friends, some were much much more. They all had one thing in common. They met me. Ponies…people who deserved better than me. People who didn’t have to die. In the end, I lived and they didn’t. One should be happy to be alive, not regretful. Survivor’s guilt indeed.

~I didn’t take you for a fatalist, it simply won’t do. We act in defiance of fate, you understand? Our very nature stands in opposition to fate. Who needs fate when you can dictate it yourself~

I told you that’s not what I want.

~I sense your heart isn’t in your words. If you can’t convince yourself how are you ever going to convince me? Do as you like but one day you will understand and your recalcitrance will end~

Hope you’re ready for a long ride then.

~You have no idea. I’m patient, I can wait. Eventually you will have need of me and I will get what I want. One way or another~

Guilt was all I had. Greater than my hate, greater than my love was my guilt and I knew there would never be anything I could do to make it right for anyone, least of all myself. I didn’t deserve it anyway. It was all my fault to begin with. I didn’t deserve forgiveness. I didn’t want it. All I could do was live and try to be better so it wouldn’t happen again.

“Don’t punish yourself for things beyond your control.” Freesia said calmly.

“What?” I stopped in my tracks, the words ringing in my ear. “What did you say?”

“That’s what you said to me weeks ago, back at Rainboom Robotics. I was ready to sacrifice myself for the soldiers and scribes who died under my command. I never thought I’d have to throw your own words back in your face but it seems you have forgotten them.” Freesia sat on her armored haunches and removed her helmet. Her sweat-matted bright red mane clung tightly to her head, her soft magenta eyes boring into me with an intensity that frightened me more than any armor. “I’m not afraid to die. Every ranger puts their life on the line every time they leave the Bastion. Ponies die, sometimes they die because of a choice you made. Sometimes it is preventable, other times it is unavoidable. That is the reality that all Steel Rangers have to accept, the reality you helped me to see. So take your own advice and stop beating yourself up over something you can’t change. I’m not asking you to get over your loss but as your friend I’m telling you that you’ll get through it and I will help you if I can.” Freesia secured her helmet over her head and stood, marching past me to catch up to the others, leaving me to bring up the rear.

“Hmm…friend…right.” I nodded to myself and felt the turmoil in my heart lessen.

“What happened to Starfall?” I asked the next afternoon.

“The sword? We…uh couldn’t find it. Applejack was only interested in digging you out of the rubble and once she bolted, the kid and I had to dig out Pumpkin’s pod. We’ll have to hope the rangers find it otherwise we’re going to have to go back and look.” Sunny said, an anxious tinge to her voice. The sword was our leverage for getting Stormy back and its absence understandably put her on edge.

Call to me

What?

Call to me and I will come

I recognized the voice. It was the glowing mare that led us to Moondancer’s safe room.

“Umm…Starfall?” I said aloud. I turned my head every which way, my eyes scanning for…something.

“When did you name it?” Aurora asked, leveling me a strange look.

“I didn’t. PipBuck did.” Once the words were out I felt something pull on my mind, the same way the Author had in Whinnyapolis.

Not like that, use magic

I started to do as I was told but hesitated. Another voice that could reach me from great distance gave me pause… But it had saved me before. The sword would have survived unscathed had I died from the spores or been incinerated. So it wasn’t merely self-preservation.

You are my wielder; it was you who awakened me. My light is yours. Call to me

I mentally prepared myself and began to channel magic into my horn. I closed my eyes and called a picture of the blade to the forefront of my mind. Then I felt it. It was reacting to my magic, homing in on it like a guided missile. The same synergy I felt in the halls of Project Outlast resonated through my being as I called to the sword. My sword.

“What are you doing?” Freesia asked from beside me. I didn’t have time to give her an answer as the sound of something carving through the air stole our attention. I opened my eyes and saw the gleaming silver blade spinning towards us only to come up short and imbed itself blade first into the ground before me.

“There it is.” I said with a casual smile, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. I plucked it from the ground and placed it in the sling I’d made for it on my back.

“How did you do that?” Sunny asked. She knew best of all my magical capabilities, at least what I could do on my own, and what she saw wasn’t one of them.

“I did what Cobalt couldn’t. I told you before that I awakened this blade’s true form. The Sword of Nightmare Moon – Starfall.” I unslung it from my back and at my utterance of its name it revealed itself. No longer was it an old, chipped and tarnished blade. Its true form was something else entirely, something of beauty. The blade was twice as wide as it had been and it constantly bled off a pale blue glow from its blade of captured starlight. The surface of the blade shifted as if the night sky was captured within. Its sharp edges flickered slightly as if there were alight with pale fire. Then, at my will, it returned to its ragged and damaged state leaving everypony stunned by the display. “I don’t really know how it happened.” I confessed, returning it to its sling yet again. “But without it I’d be dead, another charred skeleton getting crushed to splinters under the power armored hooves of Steel Rangers. I owe this weapon my life.” Pumpkin does too come to think of it.

“You make it sound like it chose to save you.” Freesia said, leaning in to get a better look at the sword strapped to my back. As best I could recall that’s sort of exactly what happened but I wasn’t about to say that out loud.

“Hmm…C’mon we’re almost there.” Sunny said, taking charge and steering us back towards our goal. She had been right. I smelled the smoke well before I saw it. As we trotted into what was left of the hastily constructed shantytown, I could see fire burning up from the ground in places near the mine, tinging the sky and air around us with a dull red. Beyond the skeletal, black, remains of the town there was nothing left for the fires to devour save the coal in the ground and any foolish enough to venture inside. Us in other words…except maybe Freesia.

“We have to go inside?” Aurora asked, pausing afterward to let out a hacking cough. The acrid black smoke that lingered in the area like a dark shroud sat heavy in my lungs, which quickly began to burn in protest. I was forced to stop and cough into my hoof, a single bead of blood escaped the corner of my mouth and trickled down my chin.

“I didn’t think this through.” I said, wiping the blood away.

“Well then this is yer lucky day fren!” An elderly, deeply wrinkled and withered old stallion said from beside the mouth of the cave. He stood on shaky legs that I was surprised could hold his weight and approached us. “Name’s Boji, an’ this here is my ol’ pal Rudy.” He paused and motioned to a severed unicorn horn that hung from a necklace. “And this feller ne’er would tell me his name but he called himself King.” He said, fishing out a clean white skull from his bags. “Not s’ royal now are ya, yer majesty.” He said with a toothless smile, bowing so deep that he dropped ‘King’.

“How so?” I asked, trying my hardest to act like the scene didn’t disturb me.

“Environment suits!” He shouted happily. “Ah can supply ya sum…fer a price o’ course.”

“Of course.” Sunny said sardonically. “Well, what’s your price then?”

“Oh Ah ain’t lookin’ t’ take yer caps.” His smile was absent of mirth this time. “There is somethin’ in there Ah desire. If ya’ll promise t’ git it fer me then ya can have the suits.”

“What is it you’re after?”

“Minin’ robots.” He said, licking his lips. “There’s a whole mess o’ them inside. Ah want you t’ find their mainframe an’ give control o’ them t’ me.”

“What for?” Sunny asked, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.

“That’s not part o’ the deal now is it lil mare. ‘Course ya could always decline and take yer chances goin’ in unprotected.”

“Or I could kill you and take them.” Sunny growled, taking an aggressive step forward.

“Ah suppose ya could, if’n I were a fool. Gun me down and you’ll never get your hooves on them suits. Ah’m offerin’ ya a mutually beneficial agreement so save yer threats.”

Sunny held her angry expression for a moment longer before backing down. “Well?” She asked over her shoulder, looking for our input.

“Do it.” I said, barely holding in another copper-tinged cough.

“Then we have a deal!” Boji exclaimed with excitement. “Take this.” He added, holding out something in his hoof.

Sunny hesitated a moment and gave it a suspicious look. “What is it?” She asked, refusing to take it.

“It’s a data shard. Piece o’ tech that should override anythin’ it’s slotted into.” Boji stuck his hoof out a little farther, insisting we take it. At the very least it’d save us the trouble of trying to breach ministry encryption. “Use it wisely, it’s a one and done kind o’ deal.” Boji finished, sticking his hoof out just a little farther

“Where…did you get this?” Freesia asked, muscling in beside Sunny.

“Funny you should ask Ranger, Ah got it from one o’ yours.”

“Give it to me…now.” Freesia spread her legs slightly, a gesture I’d seen other rangers use to anchor themselves before they fired their massive guns.

“Now don’t git yer panties, metaphorical or otherwise, all twisted up. Ah didn’t kill yer fellow. Quite the opposite in fact.”

Freesia’s stance relaxed, though only barely. “How so?”

“Rudy an’ Ah have been squattin’ here since the accident, mining or salvaging what we could from the upper levels o’ the cave. When yer friend arrived we thought he was lookin’ t’ trade. Rudy asked him t’ disarm t’ conduct business an’…well this is what was left.” He looked down at the horn around his neck. “Shard was his way of apologizin’ Ah reckon. Didn’t have any use fer it…’til now that is.” He tossed the shard into the air where I caught it with magic.

“What about King?” Aurora asked, staring at the skull that was still where it had been dropped.

“Funny thing that, Ah’ve no clue. King got this idea in his head that he’d go down and corner your ranger. Git revenge for Rudy or something, not sure what he was thinkin’. After a few days neither one of them come out. Ah went in to look for King and this was how Ah found him.” Boji nodded towards the skull lying on the ground. “His whole skeleton picked clean like he fell into a vat o’ acid or somethin’”

“How can you be sure that’s even him?” I asked, staring into the empty eye sockets of ‘King’s’ clean white skull.

“Oh Ah can tell. He had a gold tooth where that gap is.”

“Had?”

“Had.” Boji said, shoving a hoof in his pocket and pulling it out for us to see. “Now that the air is clear lemme fetch them suits fer ya.” Boji scampered off somewhere into the remains of the burnt town, leaving us to ourselves for the moment.

“Freesia?” I carefully approached her from the side as she was taking her helmet off.

“I’m alright Sparks.” She said without looking at me.

“A-are you sure?”

“Well…no. Flint was my squad mate, my partner. I convinced myself there was a chance he could still be alive…now it looks like we’ll be retrieving his body, or what’s left of it. I just don’t know if I’m ready for that.”

“I know you are.” I said, thumping a hoof against her metal shell. “C’mon, we’ll help you get through it.”

A faint smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she stood and equipped her helmet. “Thank you…”

Boji was a stallion of his word and brought us 3 environment suits. I was surprised to see one roughly Aurora’s size but decided it best not to think about the implications. We entered the mouth of the cave and changed into our suits, deciding it better to hide our armor in here rather than leave it on the surface with Boji. Freesia on the other hoof got to enjoy the best of both worlds simultaneously inside her armor. If the rest of the Steel Rangers weren’t so ideologically divided, they probably could have united the Wasteland themselves. Instead, they chose to be reclusive isolationists, only coming out of their holes to search for valuable technology or take it from those they deemed unworthy. I wondered if any of the other elders thought like Lions did, wondered if they understood the perversion that had twisted their order.

“Freesia I want you and your head lamp up front.” Sunny called once she was fully enclosed within her suit. “Everypony else stay close and keep your guard up.”

“Got it.” Aurora saluted, got a running start, and leapt off a large rock to land of Freesia’s back. Freesia craned her head and giggled at the filly using her as mobile cover.

“You sure that’s close enough kid?”

“Not unless there’s room inside.” Aurora giggled back.

Sunny and I exchanged a quick glance and shrugged, neither of us objected to the arrangement and Freesia seemed to accept her role as armored locomotion as if she’d done it before. With a mechanical click, the lamp on Freesia’s helmet lit up and illuminated the path for us.

“Look here.” Freesia said, angling her head towards the roof of the cave. “Power lines.” She was right, they were attached to the roof in tight bundles of wires than came from the mouth of the cave and led in deeper. “I bet we’ll find the M.A.S facility if we follow these.” She said, taking a few great strides forward to follow them.

“We better keep up.” I said to Sunny before bounding after the tank mare and her little ride along. We kept pace behind Freesia for several minutes when the path we were following began to tilt downwards. Dull orange glows in the distance showed pockets of coal that still smoldered in the aftermath of the accident. Old guard rails that protected the miners from steep inclines or deep chasms were beginning to rust away, as were the scattered tools around the bones of the long deceased. It was as we passed one of the guarded chasms that I noticed something. Up ahead, half hanging over the edge was a pony skeleton. I stopped and hauled the rest of it over the cliff face with magic to get a better look. Unlike the others this skeleton was white, clean and noticeably unscathed by time.

“This must be what’s left of King.” I said, observing the skeletons lack of a skull. Fire had not taken this one, nor had any kind of physical trauma. All the other skeletons, despite their age and the manner of their death, still bore traces of what they had been before. Some had the melted remains of their suits fused to their bones, others still clung to their heads of brittle and wispy mane. It was like Boji said, it looked as if something had disintegrated the flesh from King’s bones.

“I don’t like this.” Sunny said, noticing the differences as well. “Everypony keep your eyes peeled, EFS doesn’t seem to be working.”

“That must be Flint’s jammer.” Freesia said, shining her light over the room looking for him.

“Either way I don’t think were alone, be on your guard all of you.”

“Copy that.”

“Understood.” Freesia and Aurora acknowledged the order and continued on, albeit more cautiously than before. After a while it became difficult to follow the power lines. At the end, the ever-steepening path we had been following entered into a high roofed cavern. So high that Freesia’s lamp couldn’t pierce through the darkness and we had lost the power lines. Even the smell had changed, amid the smoke and dust were new scents. Scents like sweet rot and chemical compounds. A slight ticking from our PipBucks also detected the presence of balefire radiation.

“Now what?” Aurora said a bit dejectedly.

“Now we do it the old-fashioned way.” Freesia said to her. “Split up? Teams of two?” She asked, her question directed at us.

“Sure, you take Aurora and go that way. Sparks and I will go this way.” I hadn’t seen where she had pointed, something at my hooves had me completely distracted. “Sparks?” I heard Sunny ask, a bit of worry in her voice. After I didn’t respond she followed my gaze to the empty suit on the cavern floor, the one with the massive outward rip in the side. The suit was riddled with smaller holes and gashes, each punctuated by old black bloodstains. Somepony had died in this suit, there was no denying that but then something had later torn out of it and took the body with it. I lifted my gaze from the suit and looked deeper into the cavern. One of the glows I had noticed before was gone. In fact, a majority of the glows seemed to be in places they weren’t before. Sunny took a few cautious steps forward before I yanked on her tail with magic, stopping her.

“Ow! Sparks what-”

“Shh!” I sat on the floor of the cavern and picked one of the glows and began watching. A set of flat golden eyes were watching me back from the shadows, mocking me. I did my best to ignore the Author’s stare and sure enough after several minutes of watching one of the glows began to move. They weren’t smoldering pockets of coal. Whatever they were, they were alive and there were dozens of them.

“This is bad, we have to find Freesia and Aurora.” I whispered, pulling Sunny back in the direction they had gone. We turned to head after them but froze. Three meters away from us was one of them. It was shaped vaguely like a pony, a pony made of tar. The surface of its body shimmered like an oil spill, occasional sputtering flames burst forth from its body and slid across its surface like a leaf in the water. On its head were the last vestiges of ponykind it had. Two bulbous, slightly luminescent orange eyes sat atop its head in odd places. Both eyes seemed to be able to move to anywhere on the body, theoretically giving it any range of vision it desired. Even though its eyes were squarely upon us, it kept slithering on by like we weren’t even there. Was it blind? I didn’t see any facsimiles for ears, did that mean it was deaf too? As it was passing us, I took a chance and loudly clopped my hooves together. It didn’t react. I let out a sigh of relief and stood, hauling Sunny up with me.

“I guess it’s not that bad. Now we should find Aurora and-” Before I could finish a heavy, wet mass fell on me from above. They were on the roof of the cavern! I squirmed and wriggled, trying desperately to keep myself from being absorbed into it and suffocated. Around me I could hear the wet slaps of more of them dropping from the ceiling followed by the distant scream of a mare followed by a gunshot. We had to move and we had to move now! A hissing sound momentarily spirited my attention away from freeing myself and to the stinging pain in my hind legs that were still stuck inside the tar pony. It was digesting me! Acid ate through my suit and began to eat me. With a violent burst of magic, I flung the tar pony off of me and into the darkness of the cavern. Sunny helped me to my hooves and began to lead me towards where the scream had come from. A quick glance down confirmed what had happened to me. What was left of the suit past my midsection fluttered in tatters and small patches of blood were matting the fur on my hind legs.

“Don’t let them touch you!” I yelled into the cavern, my voice echoing loudly off the high walls. As we ran, I started to see the illumination from Freesia’s lamp. Homing in on it like a moth, we galloped as hard as we could, dodging and jumping anything in our way. As we skidded to a halt beside Freesia another of the things dropped from the ceiling just above us. I planted my hooves on Freesia’s armored flanks and threw myself into the air, unslinging Starfall and using it to vertically bisect the blob. Its two halves landed with wet smacks at our hooves. It twitched for a second and then the glow of its eyes faded away. What remained of its gelatinous body liquefied into a puddle of dark slag, noxious fumes drifting up from its remains.

“What are they!?” Aurora cried, firing a few rounds into a distant tar pony to no effect.

“No idea! But don’t let them touch you!” I said again. Freesia was watching one of the things in the distance carefully as it slowly shuffled towards us.

“They’re not very fast.” Freesia said scholarly.

“They can’t hear either.” I added, hoping that Freesia was developing some kind of solution. Then I thought of something. Something Grim’s father had given me. “We can use this to find the power lines.” I said, pulling the red flare gun out of my bags.

“Good idea, it’ll also give us an idea how many there are still attached to the ceiling.” Freesia said, angling her lamp up towards the shrouded roof of the cavern. “Ready?”

“Let’s do it. Everypony move as a group, Freesia we’ll follow you.” Sunny said, inching closer to the armored ranger. I took a deep breath, trying to will the pain from my legs away as I pointed the gun straight up. With a pull of the trigger a crimson ball of light shot into the air. Within seconds Freesia had found what we were looking for and took off with Sunny and I in hot pursuit. The light of the flare had drawn the attention of the tar ponies, distracting them and giving us a mostly clear path to a narrow tunnel in the surface of the rock wall. However the flare had also revealed to us about ten more of the things hanging from the roof in our path. Having lost their primary advantage of darkness, it was relatively easy to avoid them when they dropped. The few we couldn’t were caught in a field of my magic and thrown aside. Once inside the tunnel we slowed down and gave ourselves a moment to breathe. Something which worked against me since my suit had been breached. I coughed a spray of blood into my suit’s helmet, obscuring the clear material with red. According to my PipBuck the radiation levels in the tunnel were higher than the cavern and I doubted it would get better the deeper we went.

“Fuck…” I muttered, removing my helmet and casting it further into the tunnel.

“Are you going to be okay Sparks?” Freesia asked, her eyes following the helmet as it rolled across the uneven stone floor.

I opened a bottle of RadSafe and popped two of the bitter chalky tablets into my mouth. “With any luck I should be.” I forced a smile onto my face, leaning a little closer to Sunny. “Keep an eye on me though, I won’t be much use in a fight if a fit takes me.” I whispered into her ear. She nodded and readjusted her hat.

“C’mon we know where to go now. I want to be out of this cave by dark.” Sunny said, a little louder than was probably necessary. I picked up my pace to catch up to Sunny and Freesia. As I was passing our armored companion, I felt a weight land square in the middle of my back. I moved to draw Starfall when I noticed it wasn’t that heavy nor was it wet. I looked over my shoulder to see a serious faced Aurora scanning the tunnel in all directions.

“Don’t worry dad, I got your back.” Two months ago, I’d have never imagined bringing a filly with me everywhere I went in this damnable wasteland. Now I couldn’t imagine her anywhere else. She definitely wasn’t a filly anymore. Which made me think…

“Aren’t you getting a little big to be riding on my back?”

“Maybe.” She said with an amused smirk.

“You know one of these days you might have to carry me. Think you could handle it?”

“I might be small but I’m still an earth pony. I’d carry you up Canterlot mountain if I had to.” She puffed out her chest in a display of pride. “Why?” She asked, confused at the question I’d posed to her.

“You are my legacy.” I said matter-of-factly. “Everything I’ve taught you, everything you’ve experienced with me, those experiences have made you who you are now. When I’m gone, you will be my greatest contribution to this world. You who have a kind heart and a sharp mind. In time you will become everything I never could. You have the potential to surpass me in every way and it’s my job to guide you along whatever path you choose. It’ll be you, not me who will bring change to this world. At least that is what I believe.” I had never told Aurora my hopes for her before. I was putting my faith in her to find the answers I couldn’t, to be the kind of pony I knew she could be. A real hero rather than a pretender.

“Wow…I uh…thought you were just teasing me. I’m not sure what to say…”

“You don’t have to say anything Aurora. I just wanted you to know the truth before…”

“Before what?” the panicked urgency in her voice made my heart ache.

~Before you are no longer you? Before you can’t remember her?~

Shut. Up.

“Nothing…it’s nothing.” The lie made it hurt all the worse.

“Nothing? You wouldn’t just drop that on me for nothing.” She snorted sarcastically, casting her gaze to the floor and away from me.

“Aurora…”

“I know dad. I’m sorry.” She said quietly, closing her eyes as a forlorn expression came to her features. “It’s about the orb isn’t it?”

“…” My silence might as well have been a full confession.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” She said, seeing through me as she often did. “What’s happening to you dad?”

“I…I don’t know.” That, at least, was the truth. All I had was speculation. Even the Author had claimed contradicting motives at times. It was possible that he did it intentionally, trying to throw me off from his shadowy intentions. Perhaps he was using me to achieve some greater goal. Or maybe it was none of these things and he had been, even to this moment, deceiving me. Whatever the case may be there were certain truths about him that I could not deny. First, his power was not exaggerated. Whatever the Author had been in life had controlled powerful magic. Zebra kind were said to be blind to magic, only ever able to know its power by imbuing it into items, gems and talismans or specially crafted poultices and brews. They could not wield it as I do or as any of the pony tribes could. Was it possible the Author had been an exception? It would explain how he still possessed his power which would mean that it was inherent to him. And second, every time I borrowed his power something in me on a fundamental level changed. What these changes included I could not say but the Author made it clear that it was to mold me in some way, change me into whatever he wished. Or maybe that was what he wanted me to think, to goad me into becoming what he wanted of my own volition. It was as impossible as it was inevitable. The end result? Well, I guess there are some things worse than death.

“I’m scared.” I whispered, just loud enough to be heard.

“You have to find a way to get rid of it dad.” Aurora’s voice trembled as she realized the depths of my fear.

“I…I know. I’m just not sure it’s possible.”

~One who knows nothing can understand nothing. I could teach you. I could teach you everything~

You have nothing I want!

~We both know that is not true, but first how about a show of good faith?~

As soon as he was done speaking, I began to feel a tingling sensation in my chest, one that radiated out to the rest of my body and in just a few seconds it was done.

W-what did you do?

~I improved you~

How!? What did you do!?

…

~You will see and maybe one day you’ll even thank me for it~

The oppressive cloak of the Authors presence vanished, once again leaving me to my own devices until he wished to be known again. What had he done to me? How much was he capable of without me relinquishing control? It wasn’t the first time he’d acted on his own after all.

“Think this is it.” I heard Freesia say from the front. The narrow tunnel we’d been following opened up into a smaller, better lit cavern thanks to the patches of flames burning into the veins of coal in the wall. Metal walkways built from the tunnels mouth kept us up and away from the cavern floor where the remnants of industrial pollutants and chemicals could still be seen, the surface shimmering with a rainbow sheen. At the end of the walkway were metal stairs that led up to what had to be the M.A.S facility, built high into a rocky outcropping well above the lake of toxins below. The building itself was squat and square and overall unimpressive looking. Turrets built on each corner of the roof were the only indicators that this building was of any importance. Otherwise it could have passed for any run-of-the-mill treatment facility.

“Why aren’t the turrets shooting at us?” Aurora wondered aloud.

“Remember what I said about Flint’s jammer? He probably deployed it to disable the turrets. That means we might find him nearby.” Freesia stuck her head out past the walkway’s guardrail to peer into the muck below. “At least I hope…”

“Well…shall we head inside?” I said taking a cautious step forward. When, after a moment, nothing decided to try and kill me, I took another step and another and another until we had made it to the doors. I reached for the handles with my hoof when a glint near the edge of the outcropping stopped me short.

“Guys?” Aurora said from behind us.

“Look.” I said, drowning out Aurora in the process. I levitated the glint towards us to discover that it was what remained of Flint’s helmet. Dried blood caked the inside and a deep rend ran from the forehead down to the chin through where the right eye would have been.

“Could those things have done this?” Freesia asked, taking the helmet in her hooves and inspecting it closely.

“Guys?” Aurora said again, a little louder this time.

“I doubt it, they didn’t have any claws or teeth.” I said, remembering that beyond their eyes they didn’t have any kind of noticeable facsimiles for any other part of a pony.

“Guys!” Aurora yelled this time, biting my tail and yanking hard.

“Ow! What…is it…” When I turned around, I saw that Aurora had been trying to warn us. Coming up from the lake of waste below us was a creature with a long neck that ended in a long, fang filled jaw. Unlike the other creatures this one had glowing orange eyes all over its body, giving it one hundred percent field of vision. It was watching us warily, opening its maw to let out a low hiss.

“What do we do!?” Aurora whispered bleakly, slowly backing up until she was behind Freesia’s armored legs.

“I have an idea.” I pulled Starfall off my back and threw it with all my might. The blade spun through the air, guided by my magic towards the monster’s neck. Just before contact I willed Starfall into its awakened state and watched in delight as the sword lopped off its toothy head. After a few seconds its body also melted into a thick puddle of viscous chemicals. I called the sword back, snatching it out of the air with a hoof and slipping it back into its sling in one motion.

“How was that eh? I think I’m getting used to this thing.” I turned to face my companions to see a certain lack of mirth in their expressions. “What?” I asked, finally recognizing they weren’t looking at me. Below us from the lake of waste came the splashing sounds of something breaking the surface. Multiple somethings actually. At least eight more of the long-necked monsters rose from the sludge, angling their featureless jaws in our direction. Their bodies were little more than two powerful legs attached to a squat body from which their long necks sprung.

“Look!” Freesia called, pointing to one of the monsters on the left. Following her hoof, I did see something mechanical protruding from its side, a faint blue light emanating from it. “That’s Flint’s jammer! If we destroy it the turrets will come back on!”

“Good a plan as any.” I said, drawing Starfall yet again. “Everypony focus on that jammer!” I flung Starfall towards another of the monsters, albeit with far less control. The blade embedded itself straight into the body of the closest of them, eliciting a hiss of pain from it. Freesia on the other hoof wasted no time in launching a salvo from her grenade machine gun, loud explosions shook the cavern, dislodging some stalactites that had been hanging from the roof. Most landed harmlessly in the muck below, others were lucky enough to drive themselves through the gelatinous bodies of the monsters. The initial monster that took the barrage had been completely obliterated. I tried to call Starfall back to me only to have the spell fizzle out as the one I’d attacked first retaliated. It lunged forward, its head lashing out like a scorpion’s tail, striking the cavern floor inches from where I’d been. They were fast, if I hadn’t dodged I’d likely be dead. Not even Freesia and her mighty power armor could stand up to these things as evidenced by the likely fate of Knight Flint. Sunny and her shotguns blew tiny chunks of gelatinous mass from their gargantuan bodies, unfortunately it didn’t seem to be slowing them down. Aurora stayed near the doors to the M.A.S facility, carefully lining up shots and aiming for eyes. The monster lunged for me again, its large jaws clamping around the bubble shield I’d conjured at the last second. Muffled explosions shook the room anew as Freesia brought down another of the colossal monsters. None of us had the ammo to last much longer, we had to hit the jammer and we had to hit it now. Slowly the tinkling sound of cracking glass alerted me to the tips of the fangs that had punctured my shield and were slowly piercing through. Aware that I wouldn’t last much longer, I once again tried to call Starfall back. It rose from the stone floor and spun towards me, taking the lower jaw of the monster attacking my shield with it as it came to rest clamped between my teeth. The dislodged jaw melted into a small cloud of noxious fumes which forced me to retreat. After my suit was breached in the first cavern I was left without any kind of protection against the pollutants in the mine. Now that I had put some distance between myself and the fight, I was able to survey the situation. Sunny was little more than a distraction, nimbly dodging around the poorly choreographed attacks of the large monsters. Freesia, however, was not as agile. She was certainly the best equipped to fight and even kill the monsters but her most devastating weapons required her to stand still. A glancing blow from one of the monster’s jaws peeled open the right side of her power armor like it wasn’t even there. Freesia let out a sharp cry of pain and fell to the floor, blood welling up from the gash. We were running out of time, we had to destroy the jammer or run or something! Throwing caution to the wind I leapt to Freesia’s side and threw up a shield just in time to block the killing blow meant for her. The strain of holding back something so strong sent rippling magic feedback into my head. I gritted my teeth, pushed through the pain and tried to keep the shield up as long as I was able.

“Get away Sparks! Leave me!” Freesia yelled, trying and failing to lift herself up.

“No! I won’t leave a friend behind! No matter what!” I wasn’t going to let any more of my friends die. Not. One. Even if that meant I had to die in their stead, it was a fate I’d gladly accept. I drew Starfall, its shimmering pale light burned with a bright intensity as the flames on its edges retreated into the blade. I held it high above my head and swung it down with all my might. A vertical crescent shaped wave of crackling palefire was released from Starfall. It followed the blade’s trajectory and passed harmlessly through my shield, streaking through the air towards the jammer. It struck the monster in the side and ripped open a gash several times larger than the wave, taking the jammer out in the process. Before it could fall, palefire erupted from the gash and consumed the rest of the monster. It fell from the outcropping with a loud hiss, its body dissolving before its mass could hit the lake of filth.

“Fall back!” I shouted, dropping my shield and levitating Freesia off the ground. The sound of lasers met my ears as streaks of pink energy began targeting the monsters as well as us. Ahead of me Aurora had opened the doors and darted inside, followed closely by Sunny. Freesia and I still had some ground to cover but it seemed the turrets were pushing the monsters back, even igniting them like what had happened with Starfall. However, that meant that they would soon target us next. One of the turrets spun and aimed in our direction, its red blip on my restored EFS confirming the danger.

“Sorry Freesia!” I yelled, floating her armored body in front of me.

“Don’t you dare!” She yelled back, realizing that I intended to use her to block the lasers. Several burnings lines of pink energy bit into Freesia’s armor, hot slag melting out of the apple sized holes they left. As we neared the threshold of the doors I made sure to guide Freesia in first, stopping briefly to turn around and watch most of the monsters be killed or be driven back into the muck below. That is all except one. Easily the largest of them, the towering monster charged the building and tore one of the turrets off the roof with a single bite.

“Go now! Run!” I screamed to the others. I ran to Freesia’s side and together with Sunny we were able to get her on her hooves just in time to avoid one of the monster’s thick legs smashing through the front of the building. Immediately alarms began to sound throughout the building, prompting more turrets to descend from the ceiling. The first turret that came down just in front of the entrance barely had a chance to move before I used Starfall to cleave it from its mount. Others from further down the long entry hallway had found their targets and started filling the hallway with lead. From outside I could hear the terrible sound of rending metal as another of the outside turrets was destroyed. The whole facility shook from the monster’s rampage, leaving us caught in the middle of the base’s defenses and the beast. Freesia’s armor had lost most of its integrity and was thus unable to provide us with mobile cover, leaving the task in my hooves. I could feel beads of sweat rolling down my forehead as I closed my eyes and willed a white wall of energy in front of us. Sunny and Aurora took up positions to the left and right of my shield, popping out to take potshots at the turrets as we slowly moved forward. Freesia was bringing up the rear, making sure the carnage outside stayed there.

Even through the chaos I could hear Freesia’s ragged breathing and the wet splats of her blood hitting the floor. I couldn’t see the extent of her wound through the shadow the remains of her armor cast but we had to get her some help and soon. My own breathing began to quicken as the stress of maintaining my shield was draining what stamina I had left. Aurora rolled out from behind my shield and put a bullet through the last turrets chassis causing a large amount of sparks and bits of metal to rain down onto the floor. As soon as its blip was gone, I dropped my shield and fell to my side, sucking in huge breaths of air. EFS still showed a few red blips further into the building which meant we now had to clear out the rest of the automated defenses before we were able to claim what we came for. With one big breath I managed to roll myself to my hooves so I could help Freesia.

“I think we could use a potion or two here.” I said, getting a little closer to Freesia’s wound.

“It’s nothing.” She said, shying a few steps away from me.

“Oh? Is that why you wanted me to leave you behind? Because it was nothing? Get back here and sit down.” I pointed to a spot on the floor in front of me. It was a bit funny seeing somepony in power armor withdraw and be cowed like a foal. Freesia did as I asked and removed her helmet, looking at me with an expression I couldn’t identify.

“Here.” Sunny held out a potion for her to take, which she did with measured sips.

“This isn’t a fucking wine tasting Freesia, you’re gonna bleed out. If you don’t take this seriously, I’ll do it for you.” I said, shoving her in the shoulder to get her attention.

“What’s your problem Sparks!?” Freesia snapped, smashing the rest of her potion on the floor. “I told you to leave me!”

“And I told you I won’t leave a friend behind!” I snapped back. If this was how she wanted to play ball then I was game. “Don’t try and make this about me because you have a death wish!”

“What did you say?” She said standing up to look down on me with narrowed eyes. Remembering my dream, I stood tall and took a firm step forward.

“You. Have. A. Death. Wish. Need me to say it a third time?” I wasn’t going to back down. There was something she needed to hear.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” She said, slamming her hoof against the floor.

“Maybe, but I know how you think Freesia. You feel responsible for Flint’s death just like you did the others. Dying here won’t bring them back.”

“You couldn’t possibly know how I think.” She hissed, swiping the air with a hoof.

“I’m the only person who knows how you think. Because I felt the same way once, in a way I still do so believe me, I get it. Don’t throw your life away just because it’s easier than trying to make things right.” I thought of all my time in the Wasteland, all the ponies who… no, all the people who had died for me or beside me and a kind of understanding dawned on me for everypony who called these desolate lands home. “We are the sum of our failures; we can use them to try and be better or we can be defined and swallowed by them.” Or, in my case, a bit of both. She needed to know that she wasn’t alone, that she was with friends who could and wanted to help her. Freesia was my friend and I was determined to keep it that way, no matter what that entailed.

Freesia’s expression softened but her eyes remained fierce. She might not forgive me right away, or at all if she wished but I knew I’d made the right choice regardless of the risks.

“Now!” I yelled catching her off guard as I seized her limbs in my magic and pinned her to the floor.

“Sparks!? What the fu-” Her shouts were stemmed by Sunny who was trying to force another potion down her throat.

“Here Aurora.” I said calmly, holding out a third potion for her to take. “Her wound is serious, pour that directly into it.”

“Got it.” She gave a little salute and bounded to Freesia’s right side, gingerly pouring the healing liquid through the tear in her armor.

“I told you I’d do it for you.” I couldn’t help but smirk at the Steel Ranger pinned to the floor. If her armor hadn’t been compromised, I probably wouldn’t have been able to hold her down for very long or at all. Eventually she stopped fighting and I released my hold on her. She sat up and wiped some potion from her muzzle, giving me an icy stare.

“Wait till the Elder hears about this.” She growled but I knew her heart wasn’t in it.

“I’m sure he’d love to hear your report.” I said, raising an eyebrow. “Especially since he’s not expecting it.”

Freesia bristled in her armor, her wide eyes betraying her thoughts. “So you knew?”

“If you were supposed to come with us Elder Lions would have told us. For what it’s worth I’m glad you came along.” If she hadn’t, I think we’d both be worse off. She helped me see myself again and I hoped I was able to help her in kind.

“Yeah…me too.” She said, hoofing a lock of her mane off her face. A thunderous crash from behind reminded us that we weren’t out of danger yet.

“Save it for when we get back to the Bastion.” Sunny said, holding Freesia’s helmet for her to take. Once it was secured in place, Freesia sifted through the scrap we’d been making out of the defense turrets and began feeding bits of metal into a slot on her armor. I watched in amazement as holes in her armor began to close, mending so completely that it could have passed for new.

“Alright, let’s move.” From this point on it was mostly clean up and making sure we kept ahead of the monster that was still tearing its way through the entrance. Every room had at least one turret, beyond that the defenses were limited. One would expect to see sentinels or other deadly robots but in lieu of a security force this site opted for the tiny treaded mining robots that Boji had mentioned. Most of the mining bots we found were powered off and resting in their charging docks. What did Boji plan to do with them? As curious as I was, I wasn’t about to go back on our deal, regardless of what I personally thought of the odd stallion. As we fanned out and began moving room to room, a disquieting silence hung in the air. The monster must have finally given up or been killed, or perhaps it was lying in wait for us outside. Either way the immediate threats had been dealt with which gave us all the time we could want to locate what we were sent here for…hopefully

In the end, the cache of technology had been little more than extra modules for the mining robots, suites like fire suppression and construction among them. Whilst the others decided to gather them up and sort them, I opted to crack the mainframe in the facility’s control room. With the data shard from Boji all it took was a few taps on the keyboard and everything within was mine. Files inside revealed that the M.A.S pulled out their personnel along with the bulk of their resources after clearing out approximately half of the toxic waste. It appeared they merely wished to perfect the arcano-tech they developed for cleansing pollutants and purifying toxins. After that the new tech was sent to several government installations, all of which had been classified. I tried to dig deeper into the terminals code, trying to coerce the information that had once been there to return and disclose to me their locations. Just I was about to execute the command I’d written a pop-up window informed me of a remote override and the terminal suddenly shut off.

“What the hell?” I said aloud, standing up to check the terminals systems. How did I get locked out? ‘Remote Override’ it had said. Somepony elsewhere had stopped me from discovering where the tech had gone. I must have been on to something to incur such retribution but why go to such lengths to stay hidden? There had to have been something of great value at one of the undisclosed locations. Something valuable indeed to somepony with a great deal of power. I cursed my misfortune and went to find the others so we could get the hell out of here.

Our return trip through the caverns was a night and day difference from before. Since the control terminal had been locked, I was forced to reprogram every mining robot manually and lead them to the surface by hoof. Once out, I transferred control of the bots to Boji who leapt with joy and offered us a sum of caps for the fire suppression and other modules. In the end the trip turned out to be a bust but only from a certain point of view. In my eyes it had been very worthwhile indeed. I’d made a new friend for life and that was worth any cache of technology.

Elder Lions wasn’t too disappointed by the news but was thankful for the retrieval of Flint’s helmet and the confirmation of his fate. Freesia and I were going to have to find time to talk but I imagined that might be difficult for the time being seeing that she had been given dry-dock duty as punishment for abandoning her responsibilities to accompany us to Griffin Rock. Once the debriefing was done Sunny took Aurora into the Keep to help her with something, leaving me alone to retreat to the med-bay to see Pumpkin.

“Hey.” I said glumly, throwing aside the curtain that separated her from the rest of the room. “I guess I made it back after all.” I forced myself to laugh, stopping short and resting my head on the edge of her bed. “Though I’d be lying if I said I didn’t try. I jumped in harm’s way to save a friend and it could have gone bad, for both of us.” I paused for a long moment, running the events of the last few days through my head. “I’m ready to die for any of my friends…I guess that includes you since…well I almost died saving you.” I found a smile creeping onto my face. “I appreciate you listening, even if I don’t know how to help you, it’s nice having somepony to talk to like this. That probably sounds strange but I know what it’s like to feel alone. I don’t want you to feel that way, even if you don’t know I’m here.”

“I don’t think it’s strange at all.” A mare’s voice said. I lifted my head and met Pumpkin’s eyes for the first time. “In fact, it’s kinda sweet. So, I have you to thank for saving me eh? I guess I owe you my life Mr.…” Her eyes narrowed slightly but an excited smirk was there to counter it.

“Oh! Its Sparks, my name is Sparks.” An unfamiliar warmth began to well up from inside me as I smiled like an idiot.

“Nice to meet you Sparks, my name is Pumpkin Cake.”

Somewhere in the background DJ Pon3 was saying something through the radio just barely on the edge of my hearing.

It wouldn’t be until later that I understood what was said but if I had known then what I know now things might have been very different for the Wasteland. Sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself. Here’s what happened next…

Footnote: No Level Up.

Quest Perk: Wild Magic – The very nature of your magic has been altered by magic poisoning. Whenever you cast a spell there is a small chance it will be cast at ten times its normal potency.

Quest Perk: Author’s Improvements – ???

Next Chapter: Chapter Thirty-One: Shroud of Shadows Estimated time remaining: 9 Hours, 37 Minutes