“A long time ago, at the dawn of existence before time was counted, it was said that from the great void of nothingness there sprouted a single seed. From which grew the infinite Cosmic Flower, the very foundation of existence. Each great petal of the Cosmic Flower was theorized to hold dominion over a fundamental aspect of creation. Light, dark, life, death, time, entropy, harmony, chaos, and much more. Our world rests in the center of this flower, at the singular convergence where the petals of creation meet. But one day the Cosmic Flower will wilt and die, ejecting our world into the blackness outside as existence as we know it falls down around us. Our world would then become a Star Seed and, as existence fades to nothing, sprout into the next Cosmic Flower and begin the cycle again.” Pumpkin finished, closing the book she’d been reading from with mock severity.

“Wow.” Aurora whispered, the expression on her face close to reverence. “Is all that true?”

I hid my smile with a hoof. The book Pumpkin had been reading from was the same book Aurora picked up at the Bloomberg space center. In all this time had she really not read the whole thing? Then again, as I thought about it, the life we led didn’t really leave room for a lot of downtime.

“Well, no, not really.” Pumpkin said, using her magic to float the book back to Aurora. “Science has come a long way since this old legend. Magical science especially.” She said, waving a hoof around herself.

“I’ll say.” I said, letting my eyes wander down to her-

“Sentinel Silvershine, this is the Bastion.” An unfamiliar voice boomed from the radio in my bags. “Elder Lions has requested your presence for a mission of the upmost importance. Please respond.”

With a mental sigh I dug the radio out and held it towards my mouth. “Acknowledged Bastion. En route.”

“Affirmative Sentinel, see you when we see you. Bastion out.”

After a little more than a day and a half after we left Boulder, we’d decided to stop at what was quickly becoming our hang out, Books and Bridles. Judging by the similar hoofprints and lack thereof of new ones, we had been the only ones to stop here in recent days. Charlotte and Ray had set up a decent distance from the rest of us where they were roasting a chunk of the chimaera meat on a spit. I had to admit the smells were enticing and I’d even caught my mouth watering as I fantasized what it tasted like. Sunny had her guitar and, like she promised, was teaching me to play it. It was significantly harder with one leg but being a unicorn definitely made up for it. We were about to practice another chord or two when Pumpkin had launched into her story.

“Here you go.” Ray said, plopping down beside me with two steaming skewers of meat chunks, offering me one.

“Oh no thanks Ray I don’t-”

“Come on, just a piece. If you don’t like it then I’ll eat it.” I tried to protest again but my words vanished as the gentle breeze blew more of the delicious aroma in my face.

“C’mon Boss.” Charlotte said as she threw her claws over my shoulders, her own skewer dangerously close to my mouth. “Just give it a try.” She said sweetly.

“I-I really-” I stammered, failing to keep myself from salivating.

“You know you want to.” Charlotte whispered in my ear, her voice husky and seductive. “But first.” I watched, almost mesmerized, as she reached behind her where I couldn’t see and came back with a pinch of salt that she sprinkled over the skewer. She then hooked a talon through the first piece of meat and pulled it off slowly.

I watched with eager curiosity as the meat slid off the skewer, leaving hot juices in its wake.

“Open up Boss~” Charlotte held the meat tauntingly over my head, trying to feed it to me like I was the Caesar of Roam. I felt my dwindling resistance finally cave and I opened my mouth.

“Sparks no!” Pumpkin rushed to say. “Ponies aren’t supposed to eat-”

Her warning came too late as Charlotte dropped it into my mouth and I began to chew. The taste was…different. Salty, Savory, and a little smokey, with an irony flavor reminiscent of blood. It was alien, it was unnatural…and it was delicious. I chewed to completion and swallowed with an honest smile on my face. Pumpkin was eyeing me now but the look in her eyes wasn’t concern or disgust. It was curiosity.

“W-well? How was it?” She asked, studying my elated expression.

“Wanna find out?” Charlotte said. She slowly, and with deliberate theatrics, pulled another piece off her skewer and offered it to Pumpkin. Pumpkin looked at it carefully, gave it a few cursory sniffs before prodding it once with her tongue.

“I…I’m good, thank you.” Pumpkin said with clear reluctance.

“Are you sure?” Charlotte said, keeping the pressure on.

“I…I…” Pumpkin was fighting herself the whole way but hesitated too long and lost out in the end.

“I wanna try! I wanna try!” Aurora said, trotting in place with anticipatory glee.

“Hey alright.” Charlotte said with good cheer. “Heads up little sister.” Charlotte shot the piece of meat out of her claw like a marble, though she’d angled it high enough to lob it into Aurora’s mouth. She chewed at it slower than I had, taking her time to sample and savor every part of it. The look on Pumpkin’s face was priceless as she watched another pony eat meat with a satisfied smile.

“It’s really good!” She said, giving it a final chew on both sides of her mouth before swallowing.

“I-Is that so?” Pumpkin asked, trying her best to keep her eyes off the skewers.

“If you want a piece all you gotta do is ask.” Ray added, swapping one of his full skewers for Charlotte’s.

“Yo.” Grim said casually, sliding past us with grace to bite three pieces of meat of the skewer, leaving it with only three left.

“If you worried about long term health problems you shouldn’t.” 87 said, coming up behind Pumpkin. “A small bite or two shouldn’t negatively impact your health in any meaningful way.”

“I know that 87.” Pumpkin said with strained patience.

“Then why not indulge?”

“That’s enough 87.” Sunny said from across camp, leveling the unicorn with a stern glare.

“Oh.” He said, looking puzzled. “I apologize if I offended you Pumpkin, it was not my intent.”

“I know.” She said, the corners of her eyes glistening.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, it’s just…” Without warning she started to cry, trying and failing to hide her face from us as she sobbed quietly into her hooves.

I was on my hooves faster than I could blink and was about to send a withering glare of my own at 87 but an upraised hoof from Pumpkin stopped me in my tracks.

“I’m okay.” She said, an obvious hitch in her voice as she sniffled. “I was just thinking about my family.” She continued, her voice more under control. “We were a family of bakers.” She finished, wiping the last of the tears from her face whilst pointing back towards the spit.

“Oh.” Charlotte said, sounding guilty. “Shit. I’m so sorry Pumpkin.”

“It’s not your fault.” She stood up, composed herself, and made the rest of the trip to me. I leaned down slightly to let her nuzzle her cheek to mine. “I’m sorry every…everyone. I didn’t mean to spoil your fun.”

“Yeah? Well, if you’re so sorry, prove it.” Ray said, his voice low and his tone friendly.

A ghost of a smile flickered across Pumpkin’s face as she pointed her nose in the air and let out an indignant huff.

Ray was starting to frown when a tug on his skewer made him look down to see the last piece slide off and float itself into Pumpkin’s waiting mouth. She chewed once and grimaced. I thought she might spit it out or maybe even puke, but she chewed again. Then a third time and her eyebrows went up in surprise as she finished chewing and swallowed.

“It’s…not bad.” She said appreciatively. “I don’t think I’ll be adding it to my repertoire but it was good. Thank you, Ray.” She gave him a friendly smile of her own and I thought I could see a bit of color under his feathers.

“Yeah, uh don’t mention it.” Ray said, averting his gaze as he absentmindedly bit at his own food.

Tuning out the rest of the world, I looked her in the eye and gave her all my attention.

“You okay Pumpkin?” I asked, quiet enough that only she heard me.

“I’m fine Sparks, it’s just still fresh for me you know? I’ll be okay.”

I sensed there was more to it than she’d said but, as was my M.O. I left the matter alone.

Night was beginning to fall and as the light began to fade, we began to inch closer and closer until the light was gone and we were all huddled together over a cozy fire. Between the griffin’s ability to cover a lot of ground fast and Pumpkin’s expertise with magic we hadn’t gone without a fire since they joined us. A tactical blunder? Perhaps but with a group as large as ours I felt the risks beat out freezing in the cold of night. With Pumpkin to my left, Aurora between us, and Sunny to my right I felt as at ease as I ever had. A thought that was soured very quickly by my attempt to lay my hoof across Pumpkin’s withers. I doubted it would be difficult for Quillwright to reattach my leg but I didn’t like how it made me feel. Crippled, incomplete, weak. Not physically weak, though that was certainly part of it, but mentally and emotionally weak. Thinking about losing my leg put me back in the mindset of being freshly dismembered, which in turn made me relive what had happened to Azura and what had happened in the swamp. Erebus’ eyes suddenly flashed before mine and I jerked as the fear rose and dissipated in the span of a second, leaving some eyes on me as the adrenaline began to spread.

“What’s the matter Sparks?” Grim said, his eyes, of course, missing nothing.

“I…” I struggled to conjure a suitable lie so I did what I should have always done. I told the truth. “Intrusive thoughts.” I answered instead, vague but accurate. Grim accepted the answer with a nod but didn’t let it go right away.

“Want to talk about it?” He offered, motioning with his claws to encompass all of us.

“Honestly, no I don’t.” I still didn’t know very much myself and group speculation was just as helpful as solo speculation.

“Have it your way.” He shrugged.

“If you insist.” A new voice said in the zebra language. My eyes widened in shock as a thin blade pierced through Grim’s neck from behind. Grim opened his beak and choked on the words he tried to form, blood splattering down his chest plumage. Pumpkin reacted first and cast a spell that sent a deluge of dirt into the air, raining pebbles and dust on all of us. As the pulverized dirt returned to the ground it allowed us to see the outline of Grim’s invisible attacker…plus two others. The blade vanished from Grim’s neck and he toppled forward. His attacker leapt over the fallen griffin but never made it to their hooves as Noodles speared through the air like a rocket to slam into them, sending the both of them to the ground in a tangle of wings and cloaks. The second moved on Ray, hitting him hard once in the gut whilst snatching the skewer from his claw. As Ray doubled over, his attacker drove the skewer into his back where his wings met an inch or two before it broke. Charlotte was quick to defend her brother, vaulting over him to drive her talons into his attacker. Blood seeped from invisible wounds as Charlotte screeched and wrenched her talons hard in opposite directions, leaving ragged tears of shredded flesh in their wake. The third attacker kicked through our fire, sending a cascade of glowing hot embers towards us. Pumpkin stopped them all with a shield, compacted them into a rough sphere, and tossed them back where they came from. Using the coals to pinpoint their rough location I heaved Starfall from my back and sent it spiraling towards them. With a spark and the clang of metal on metal, Starfall was knocked off course and flung out into the darkness of the deepening night. Aurora fired two shots into the spot where my sword had been deflected, opening two blossoms of blood somewhere on their body. 87 stood, vanished in a flash of red, and reappeared at the edge of the firelight near where Noodles had landed. Sunny had seen Aurora’s shots land and so she moved to their approximate location and successfully wrapped her front hooves around…something. Charlotte had apparently killed the one who attacked Ray. Noodles and 87 were stomping on something I couldn’t see, though a particularly vicious looking move from 87 broke or stopped whatever had been keeping them invisible.

Then I felt my face fall in a frown. The dead one near Ray was, in fact, a pony. So was the one Noodles and 87 beat down. Sunny was still holding fast to her captive as I approached and pulled the cloak off. Or at least that was what I thought would happen. The very second they became visible, the gem in the cloak’s clasp exploded. The blast easily knocked me off my three hooves, Pumpkin and Sunny were also thrown to the ground. The ringing in my ears was all I could hear as I opened my eyes and saw Aurora standing above me, her mouth moving in silence. My eyes refused to focus and I felt the familiar trappings of panic begin to speed up my heart. Aurora did her best to haul me to my hooves and damn near succeeded, her growing earth pony strength making itself known. With her help I was able to get the rest of the way up and the hazy veil over my perception began to fade. The voices around me still sounded muffled and an itch on my neck alerted me to the line of blood trickling from under my ear all the way down to drip off my leg mounting. As I walked on shaky hooves, I saw similar wounds on Pumpkin and Sunny, little beads of blood welling up from the same peppering of tiny improvised shrapnel wounds. The third attacker was gone and when I moved to get a closer look at where they’d been, Aurora slammed into my hind legs. I wobbled and nearly went down again. I craned my head to look and I saw what Aurora had wanted me to see. Grim had sat himself up or had been propped up and Aurora had started inexpertly wrapping his neck with our last roll of bandages. The wound bled through the bandages almost as soon as they were applied. I quickly dug through my bags hoping to find a potion, remembering too late that I’d already used the meds that survived the fight with Belua. Transitioning to Grim’s own bags, I started to dig when I felt a frail claw placed on my shoulder. When I looked up I saw Grim shake his head. His eyes were unfocused and glassy, his breathing steady but weak. He almost seemed to smile; his eyes distant as if looking at something far away.

“Not the…blaze of glory…I was hoping for.” He said, his voice barely a whisper.

“Look at me! We’re not done yet Grim! Do you hear me!? Look at me!” I shouted, nudging him as if to keep him awake. He smiled again, closed his eyes, and his head fell forward as it went limp.

I just stood there, looking at him with an odd sense of unreality. I felt somepony slide past me and saw that it was Pumpkin, a kit of medical supplies I didn’t know she had floating beside her. She removed a small polished metal cylinder from her kit and held it close to Grim’s face. It was faint but from my position I could see the cylinder’s polished surface cloud with Grim’s breath.

“He’s still breathing.” Pumpkin cast a spell I didn’t recognize and removed the soiled bandages from around his neck.

“What are you doing!?” Aurora squealed, catching the fallen bandages before they hit the ground. She looked like she was going to try and replace them but a conjured shield wall stopped her before she could get any closer.

“It’s alright sweetie.” Pumpkin said, though her eyes remained on Grim. “I stabilized him, see?” She gestured towards the wound and we could see that it had stopped bleeding, though she wrapped his neck with clean bandages anyway. “Charlotte, Ray, I need you to carefully bring him to Gunny back at Eclipse.”

Charlotte hesitated and threw a glance at me, the look in her eyes asking the silent question. I nodded and she nodded back.

“Why do you need both of us?” Ray asked, twiddling the bloody skewer from his back between his talons.

“Look.” Pumpkin said, pointing to the moist earth under Grim. “He’s already lost a lot of blood. I need you both to go to check if either of you are compatible blood donors. He’s stable now but you’ll still need to be careful, otherwise he-”

“I know the drill.” Charlotte said, waving Pumpkin away as Ray carefully lifted Grim and secured him on his sister’s back. “We’ll see everyone there. Oh, and Boss?”

“Y-yeah?” I said distractedly, failing to notice for a second that I was the one being spoken to.

“Don’t be a hero.” She winked and slowly rose into the air, with Ray flying vanguard in front of her.

I watched them fly into the night air until I lost sight of them. Pumpkin came up beside me and leaned against me, and I leaned back.

“Thank you.” It was difficult for my voice to get around the frog in my throat, sounding tight and a little hoarse. If she hadn’t been here Grim would have died, so might have Ray or Aurora or any of us.

“Don’t mention it. I’m not a trained peace medic by any means but I know a few tricks.” Her aura sprung to life around her horn and from it shot little blue sparkles of energy that exploded into equally small blue starbursts. I couldn’t see her face from our position but I could imagine her smile as I felt some of the tension leave her body.

“I take it he survived then. That’s good news.” 87 said as he and Noodles returned to the scattered embers of what was left of our fire. Between the two of them they had dragged the other pony with them, flopping them unceremoniously to the dirt at my hooves. “This one is still breathing.” He continued, his eyes falling to the prone pony.

“Good, tie them up. We’ll interrogate them on the road tomorrow.” I fought back a powerful urge to spit on their unconscious body. A silent scowl would have to do.

As I ran the encounter back in my head, a couple of glaring questions made themselves known. The first being that this pony had been the one who spoke and stabbed Grim. Why then did this pony speak using the zebra language? The dead one had also been a pony…could the same then be said of the third who’d gotten away? If so then what did that mean?

“They wanted us to believe the assassins were zebra.” 87 said, his voice taking on the same ponderous sound as my thoughts. “Otherwise, there was no reason to announce their presence before they attacked.”

“I think you’re right.” But if that were true then what did that imply? I felt my stomach twist up in a painful knot. No, surely it couldn’t be. How would he have known? I couldn’t think of anypony else who sought my death. How then did he know the zebra had sent assassins after me before? Then, like a brick, it hit me.

“The sprite-bots.” I whispered aloud. The little goddess-damned bots that I had thought under Watcher’s control until recently. “Red Eye.” It was bad enough I was in his sights at all and now he was sending hit squads after us? Hit squads that tried to pass themselves off as zebra…why? How did that benefit him?

“Red Eye?” Pumpkin and Sunny said simultaneously, exchanging brief glances.

“I think so.” I said. Was Red Eye afraid of reprisals? That didn’t make any sense.

“Let us take a moment and summarize what we know.” 87 said, waving for us all to come closer. We huddled up around him and waited for him to continue.

“First.” 87 began. “We know that someone most likely hired these ponies to kill us. Second, we know that barring a select few individuals, most of whom are with us now, that no one should have knowledge of your encounter with the zebra assassin who attacked you in Stable 54. Third, Red Eye is interested in your death and is capable of using the Sprite-bots as both cameras and radio transceivers. Making it likely that with a bit of effort he knew where we’d be going and placed his assassins accordingly. The final uncertainty is why they were instructed to reveal themselves before the attack, and in the zebra language no less.”

“You mean you don’t have any ideas?” I asked, simultaneously impressed by his assessment and disappointed that he seemed stuck on the same question I was.

“I have…” 87 hesitated. “Some.” He said, his voice lacking its normal confidence. “At this point it is purely speculation.”

“If that’s all you got I’ll take it.”

“Very well. One possibility is that it was solely for our benefit.”

“What do you mean?” Aurora asked, shoving her way to the center of the huddle.

“I mean that they did so explicitly to make us believe they were zebra and therefore it would be the zebra on the receiving end of our ire.”

“You mean Red Eye wanted to pin the blame on the zebra? Why?”

“I don’t know. As I said, speculation.”

“That only makes sense if Red Eye expected them to die.” Sunny interjected. “In my experience you don’t hire assassins knowing they will fail.”

“That observation supports both our arguments.” 87 said. “It could be that it was simply a freak accident that we survived and their use of the language was purely coincidental. I still believe it was meant for us.”

“I see the logic 87 but it still doesn’t answer how he also knew the zebra were hunting us. Almost everypony who was there is here, and the one who isn’t is at the Bastion.”

I twitched as she said that, memories of Father and Teller coming to mind. 87 noticed, as did Sunny, both their eyes studying me.

“There are more.” 87 said, his voice grim.

“Y-yes.” I said. “Well, there were more.”

“Ah yes, Father.” 87 nodded. I winced at the mention of his name and hoped with all my heart that the others wouldn’t connect the dots.

“And Teller!” I added quickly, hoping to shift attention away from Father.

“No.” 87 said with a slow shake of his head.

“No? What do you mean no?” I asked with a frown.

“I mean it wasn’t him. At least not on purpose.”

“How can you possibly know that?”

“Because that is exactly what he told us. We met him briefly on our way to Wayfinder’s Landing. It wasn’t enough for me to get a complete profile but enough to know that his intentions are neutral at best and indifferent at worst.”

I mulled that over in my head and accepted his answer. I hadn’t sensed anything malicious in Teller at the time when we spoke and I knew he had friendly relations with the Bastion. With how secretive and distrusting they were of outsiders that had to count for something. I decided to give Teller the benefit of the doubt and wondered if he’d ever know what a rare honor that was from me.

“So where does that leave us?” Pumpkin said. She stood up a little taller but I could still see the faintest shiver run through her. “R-red Eye?”

“I believe so, yes.” 87 closed his eyes and nodded gravely. “It is not a stretch of the mind to say that everything he learned he did so himself. No other scenario makes much sense, though I am hesitant to declare it fact.”

“Maybe we’ll get an answer in the morning.” Sunny shrugged with a casualness I know she didn’t feel as she pretended not to notice the pony at my hooves and ‘accidentally’ kicked them as she passed. “C’mon, let’s get this fire going. I refuse to be curious and cold.”

The Bastion had undergone significant repairs since I last saw it. The damage to the Keep and its antenna array had been mostly fixed with the leftover damage being mostly aesthetic. Unfortunately we had learned nothing from our captive. We tried to rouse him awake only to learn that at some point during the journey he’d swallowed something and killed himself. We left his corpse somewhere near the sinking suburbs, at least he wouldn’t go to waste. Yeah, it was a little morbid but at the time he was literally dead weight. Our welcome wasn’t as nice as the one prior, in fact there wasn’t one at all, and everypony looked worked up as they busily and dutifully went about their tasks. I was about to flag one of them down to demand what was going on when I spotted Freesia in the crowd giving orders to a group of lightly armored knights. Aurora tapped me on the side and pointed to where she’d done her training and I nodded in response. She broke from the group and I lost sight of her in the crowd.

“Freesia!” I called as I approached her.

“That’s Paladin Freesia.” She nodded in greeting and allowed herself a half smile. “Sir.”

“What’s the situation? I got called back for an important mission.” I said, looking to and fro for some kind of hint.

“Then you’re just in time.” She nodded back towards the Keep. “Shall we?” She began to ascend the steps and we followed behind her. “Did you lose your leg again?” She asked, her voice carrying a hint of amusement.

“Ask me again sometime, it’s an interesting story.”

“I’ll hold you to it.” She pushed the doors open and allowed us to enter first. Though not as busy as outside, the ponies in the Keep were still moving about in a flurry of activity. It almost looked like they were gearing up for something. Had they reconsidered their attack of the Lunar Liner? Once inside we were quickly ushered to Elder Lions’ office, though only Freesia and I were actually allowed to enter. Lions was seated at his desk and he gave a surreptitious look at my missing leg, though he said nothing.

“Sentinel, Paladin.” He greeted us coolly, nodding to each of us in turn. “Thank you for your prompt return.” His eyes looked as heavy as they had the last time. He had something very important, grave, or both to tell us. “I…I’m afraid something has been brought to my attention. Something that I cannot allow. One of our scribes discovered a shipping manifest hidden in the archives. On the Last Day, an experimental starmetal impeller was due to be shipped here from…from Sparkle-World. We didn’t find it here and I’ve sent some scouts to search along the old roads between here and there, though I don’t expect them to find anything.”

“Why?” I asked. Lions made a face that spoke greater than words could, a grave and slightly worried look. “Because you think that’s why Red Eye set his sights on Sparkle-World.” I said as another piece of the puzzle made itself known.

“I think so, yes.” Lions said. “It doesn’t answer all the questions but I know I would have done the same if I had his resources.”

“What exactly is this…starmetal impeller?” I asked, my thoughts drifting to the starmetal sword on my back.

“I don’t know the specifics.” Lions opened a drawer and removed a few papers. “These documents we found with the manifest tell that it was designed to generate substantial amounts of energy.”

Something about his choice of words made my eyes narrow in suspicion.

“And I cannot allow Red Eye to take possession of it if it is within my power to stop him.” Lions continued. “Freesia, I need you to gather the pride as well as squads seven, eight, and thirteen. They will accompany you on your mission.”

“Which is?” I asked, breathing a silent sigh.

“Retrieve the impeller from Sparkle-World.” Lions’ expression became uncomfortable as he jostled in his chair. “I…I must confess something only three other ponies know. It was no accident that we found this place. No, I selected this location with great care. Using information gathered and compiled by the Ministry of Technology during the war, I learned that there was something of immense value hidden here. Something I have expended a great deal of my effort to keep hidden. With the impeller in hoof, I believe we can finally make use of it and complete the mission I led all of us here for.”

I had never seen this side of Lions before. The more he spoke the more desperate he started to sound. His eyes grew wild, his speech became faster and his mane seemed to frizz out in all directions.

“It is absolutely imperative that we recover it before Red Eye or his army.” Lions finished, his voice a throaty whisper.

“The dry dock.” I said aloud, recalling a memory. “That’s where you’re keeping it aren’t you?”

“What?” Freesia said with a look of confusion. “There’s nothing special in the dry dock…is there?” She turned her eyes to Lions who forced a reluctant nod.

“It is complicated.” He said wearily. “The…item is not currently put together. It wasn’t exactly in good working condition when we found it. Thus, we disassembled the parts we could and put the scribes to work with repairs and trying to solve what we thought at the time were simply problems with its power distribution systems. That was before we knew it required the starmetal impeller. None but myself, Star Paladin Sapphire, Head Paladin Cross and High Scribe Quillwright know the truth.”

“How long were you going to keep this secret? Is that why you really can’t send more rangers out to help the nearby settlements? To protect it?” I asked, trying to contain myself. Then another thought struck me. “What did those ponies who breached the wall almost steal?”

“One of the focusing lens from its primary weapon. I will say no more.”

“Don’t you think you owe us more than that?” Freesia pressed, leaning forward intently.

“I need you to trust me.” Lions said, his eyes again taking on that wild look. “Everything I’ve said to you since we met has been the truth.” He said, his words clearly meant for me. “If I told you all of it you would doubt my words, doubt me. I need you to keep trusting me. Please.” In his eyes I saw pleading and the freshly fanned flames of hope. Through it all, the doubt, the fear, the apprehension, I could see in the deep wells of his eyes no lie.

“Orders?” I asked after a long silence.

“Thank you.” Lions said, his mane and eyes returning to normal. “Freesia will gather the squads I mentioned and follow the path we originally took over the mountains. That should put you somewhat north of Sparkle-World.”

“Yes sir.” Freesia’s voice carried a measure of hesitation. “For what purpose?”

“To wait for the Sentinel’s strike team to signal you.”

“My strike team? What strike team?” I knew full well what he was implying but I still wanted to hear it from him, at least for clarity’s sake.

“Your group of course.” He said with a smirk and a nod. “Plus AJ for fire support.”

“Understood. Why do I get the feeling there’s something you haven’t told us yet?” I said, one eyebrow raised in question.

“Not us, you.” Lions clarified, turning to face me. “If Red Eye catches even a whiff of the Steel Rangers’ involvement he’ll likely do something drastic. That’s why Paladin Freesia’s team will wait for your signal in the mountains north of Sparkle-World. We can’t have your team coming by that same road, too many questions attached, nor can we make use of the monorail. I’m afraid in order to get there with the speed and discretion we require I’m going to have to ask you to take the straightest path. Through the Long Dark.”

Another glimpse of the black wall of darkness at the mouth of the tunnel flashed behind my eyes and the tingling I’d felt in my cheek returned twofold.

“When you arrive at Sparkle-World you are to survey and assess the area, then begin your search. Best case scenario you find and recover the impeller without firing a shot but I doubt it’ll be that simple. It never is with Red Eye. That is why we’ve prepared this for you.” Lions gave me a military green satchel, inside which were three red cylinders.

“Smoke canisters.” Freesia said from beside me, labeling them for me. “I take it that’s our signal?”

“One of them.” Lions nodded.

“Signal for what exactly? Extraction?”

“Attack. Whether or not we recover the impeller we can’t let Red Eye continue to move his forces into Baltimare through Sparkle-World. Once you cross the Long Dark, you’ll radio the Bastion and from there we’ll give you seventy-two hours to find the impeller. After seventy-two hours the risk of discovery for Freesia and her team will be highest so after the time is up they will launch an assault on the park. If you should recover it before that time has elapsed, you’ll deploy the smoke and signal to begin the assault early. Target priority is the monorail, if it can’t be captured destroy it. No matter what happens, there will be a battle at Sparkle-World in the near future.”

His words hung in the air like a storm cloud churning and writhing above our heads. I’d been part of a number of large battles and smaller skirmishes but none of them could hold a candle to the size and scale of Sparkle-World.

“Are three squads going to be enough?” Despite my relatively high rank within the rangers, I recognized I still knew little of the broader and finer minutiae.

“Six ponies to a squad.” Lions answered. “Four of which will be in power armor. With three squads plus Lion’s Pride, plus your team, that should give you close to thirty steel rangers.”

At first that put me at ease until memories from our first clash with Red Eye’s forces sprung to mind, specifically the big fucking guns that could and would punch right through power armor.

“But what about-” I tried to say before an upraised hoof from Lions stopped me.

“I know what you’re going to say and don’t bother. Every ranger knows that there is no guarantee of coming home. And if it helps clear your mind, know that every one of them volunteered for this operation.”

It didn’t, not really, but it was enough.

“When do we leave?” I asked, taking everything pretty well all in all. I knew deep down that I couldn’t avoid the Long Dark forever, especially since I started seeing it in my head. At least that was what I assumed I was seeing.

“As soon as possible, though if we can we should coordinate your departure. To that end, go get your leg taken care of Sentinel, resupply and do whatever you need to before leaving. You won’t be back for a while.”

Quillwright hadn’t seemed too upset about me losing my leg again. If anything, he seemed pleased to learn how well it held up and how long it took to lose it in the fight with Belua. I guessed it was significantly easier to reattach and repair a severed cybernetic limb, especially since the mount itself was undamaged. He also gifted us some supplies of his own, mostly ammo, but best of all were the ten rolls of potion infused bandages. Star Paladin Sapphire and Head Paladin Cross too had gifts for us in the form of supplies. Sapphire gave us some fruit preserves she’d apparently made herself, from what I dared not ask, and other small sealed foodstuffs. Cross gave us a few potions and a healthy supply of chems. I tried to refuse the chems but he insisted, saying ‘these could make the difference between life and death. You don’t have to use them but you will take them’.

Once we were as supplied as we could get and I’d explained everything for everypony else, we took a few moments to gather ourselves, make our peace and give anypony who wanted to a chance to back out. Nopony did. As my gaze passed over Aurora, she must have noticed the look on my face as her eyes narrowed and took on a defiant edge.

“No. You’re not leaving me here. Don’t you trust me dad?”

“I do trust you Aurora.” I knew how much it would mean to her to hear it and truth be told I did trust her.

“Then trust me to know my own limits. I can do this…I can make you proud.”

My nose wrinkled at her choice of words. “You don’t have to prove anything to me Aurora.”

“I-I know I don’t, but I can…and I will.”

There would be no changing her mind now, she was locked in and would not deviate from her path. I was already proud of her; I hope she knew that before the end.

“Howdy Boss. Room fer one more?” Synthetic or not I would never mistake that voice.

“AJ’s coming!?” Aurora beamed, her grim expression softening.

“That’s right sugarcube.” AJ said, ruffling Aurora’s mane. “Elder said t’ tell ya’ll that Paladin Freesia’s team won’t leave fer another day or two. Wants us both t’ arrive ‘bout the same time and reckons that’ll give us enough head start.”

“Alright. I guess we’ll know for sure once we radio in. First, we go to Eclipse and get the griffins then we make for the Long Dark.”

“Okay.” Pumpkin said, fidgeting uncomfortably.

“You good?” I asked, placing a hoof on her shoulder. “You know you don’t have to go.”

“No. I’m going.” She said with unexpected zeal. “Last time when we were separated you-”

“Okay, I understand.” I said before she could finish. She’d admitted to me how the events in Wayfinder’s Landing had upset her beyond expectation. Her adamancy didn’t surprise me at all and it did my heart good to know that she would be there beside me even when she was afraid to be. I took her hoof in mine and for a moment we just looked into each other’s eyes. She smiled, planted a small kiss on my nose, and lifted her head to meet mine as we crossed horns in the way that always made my heart flutter.

“Oh, there is one last thing I’d like to take care of.” I said, forcing myself to let her go. Lions had said we might not be back for a while and now was the best time to do it before I changed my mind. “Sunny? Could I take your guitar with me?”

“Sure…” She said with a leery look in her eyes. “Why do you need it?”

“You’ll know.” I smiled mischievously.

“You’re going alone?” Aurora said, her tone unreadable to me.

“That was my plan, yes.” I guessed I didn’t really need privacy for what I was going to do, but I wanted it all the same. “It won’t take long and I should have plenty of time to meet you at Eclipse before you leave.”

“And if you don’t? What if something happens to you?” Sunny said, surprising me with her concern.

“I’ll meet everypony at Eclipse.” I said, ignoring her question. “Don’t wait for me. I’ll see you soon.” I snuck in a quick peck on Pumpkin’s lips and bolted away before she or anypony else could say anything.

The sun was low in the sky, maybe an hour or two before dark. Having already traveled this road before, it didn’t take very long to get back to the sinking suburbs. Or more precisely, the tower. Once inside I didn’t really know what to do. With the tower blinded how would they know I was even here?

“Hello? Hom-, oops, I mean, DJ Pon3?” I tried, listening to my voice echo off the high walls. When no response came, I took the lift to the control level and began to fiddle with the controls, careful not to undo Minty’s work. I was about to give up when a little red light on the panel winked to life.

“Howdy stranger, I was just about to give the good ponies of the wasteland their news. What can good ‘ol DJ Pon3 do for you?” Came the robust, false voice of Homage.

“I have to leave Baltimare for a while. Don’t know when I’ll be back so I thought I’d give you that interview in case…you know, I don’t come back.” I had no idea what to expect on the road I had to travel, neither the Long Dark nor Sparkle-World for that matter.

“Sounds bad, I take it you can’t tell me where you’re going.”

“I don’t see why not.” I said with a sideways nod. “I’m heading for Sparkle-World.”

“The amusement park? You develop wings or something since last time?”

“No, why do you ask?” I said, guessing the answer pretty easily.

“Because otherwise you’d have to take the lonesome road through the Long Dark to get there.”

“Uh huh.” I nodded again, remembering this time that she couldn’t see me.

“No shit?” She said after a moment’s pause. “The Long Dark? Guess that’s why you don’t know if you’ll come back.”

“Yeah, sorry I interrupted by the way. I can wait till after the news if you want.”

“Thank you Sparks.”

*Ahem*

*Click*

“Stable Dweller? Wasteland crusader? Dragon? Jeez it’s starting to sound like I didn’t need to blind you. Sounds like you got your hooves full already.” I smiled at the somber yet uplifting music faintly coming through the speakers.

“Yeah well, it’s like I said, ponies love their heroes and I love them. Figuratively speaking of course and since I can’t report on the Baltimare area anymore I had to look for one closer to home. Not that I had to look that hard.”

“Wait, is this the same stable dweller who went to Appleoosa, freed the slaves, and died?” I asked, remembering the last time I listened in to DJ pon3.

“The one and the same.” She was hard to read with the voice spell going but I’d bet all my caps that she was smiling. “In fact, my sources say she’s heading towards my neck of the woods. Got a job for her.”

“Oh?” I asked, genuinely curious. “And what could the vaunted DJ Pon3 need from his humble listeners?”

“Don’t be an ass.” Through her serious tone I could hear the smile still on her face. “I just got a lead on some new music and I need somepony to check it out.”

“You know, I don’t think I can do the interview after all.” I said as a new idea occurred to me.

“What? Then why-”

“At least not yet.” I continued, talking over her. “But until then I can add one more song to your list? Maybe?” It had sounded good in my head at first but with every word I felt my confidence diminish. I had planned on doing this anyway but with the benefit of an interview first to help work through the stage fright. Sure, nopony would see my performance but the whole wasteland would hear it and that alone got my knees wobbling.

“Really? Huh, you know that might be just as good as an interview, at least if that’s all I’m getting today.”

Fuck. And just like that my course was set. Just had to see it through and to hell with the butterflies in my stomach.

“A-alright.” I said, getting a hold of my borrowed guitar. “This is a little something that I-I’ve been working on in my head for a w-while so forgive-”

“Relax Sparks, I’m just a DJ, not a music critic.”

Just a DJ? Yeah, and Nightmare Moon was just a pony. Still, even though I couldn’t explain it, it did make me feel more at ease.

“Alright.” I said with steel, willing the stutter from my voice. “I’m ready.”

“Okay. Aaaaand recording…now.” A second light on the console flashed to life and I began to play…then I began to sing.

The last light of day dipped below the horizon and we decided we’d waited long enough.

“He’ll catch up.” Sunny said reassuringly, though in my heart I knew she had her doubts. In fact, we probably all did. Though I knew, deep down, that he wouldn’t have left us when he ran the other night whether or not I had gone to him. At least that was what I told myself and for what it’s worth, I believed it. I really did.

Things hadn’t been so clear down in Eclipse. Cleanup and repairs were still ongoing and the large swaths of disturbed dirt around the barn made clear to me the freshly dug graves there. Inside Gunny had done what she could but both Grim and Pick were in bad condition. We couldn’t do anything for Pick but hope that his treated injuries weren’t as severe as they looked. Grim was still unconscious but had a successful blood transfusion courtesy of Charlotte. Gunny said his condition would improve drastically in a few hours but she wouldn’t release him for some time yet. Confident that he would survive, we gathered what supplies could be spared which was considerably more than I’d thought. Until I saw that most of it had been salvaged from the rangers who’d attacked Eclipse. In fact, it looked like three suits of power armor had been salvaged in their entirety with other damaged suits in various stages of repair and disrepair in the armory. Then we headed back up the elevator and waited an hour until it was dark.

“How will he know where we went? Does he-” I broke off as Sunny raised her leg and nodded to the PipBuck affixed to it, answering both my questions at once.

“We can walk hard if it’ll make you feel better.” Sunny said with a smirk. She stomped a hoof down once, leaving behind a pretty hard to miss imprint in the soft dirt.

“Ha ha you’re so funny.” I said sarcastically.

“I’ll wait for him here.” Charlotte said, surprising me.

“Are you sure?” Ray asked, a note of concern in his voice that I’d never heard before.

“Yeah, could use a breather anyway.” She said, flopping down in a sitting position. “Doc said to take it easy for a few hours.

“Since when do you listen to doctors?” Ray said with a laugh.

“You weren’t in the operating room.” Charlotte said, a noticeable shiver running through her. “She gets this look in her eyes and suddenly you can’t move or think and your blood turns to ice in your veins. I did, and will do, exactly what she told me to.”

“If you say so.” Ray shrugged, turning his back on his sister. “We good then?” He asked, turning the question to Sunny.

“He said not t’ wait fer him.” AJ answered flatly, moving past us as she took vanguard position at the front of the group.

“Well that settles it.” Ray shrugged and fell in line behind AJ with Sunny beside him. Then 87 and I followed with Noodles and Aurora bringing up the rear. The first hour passed without incident. So did the second and the third. It was deep into the night by the time of the fourth arrived and still there was no sign of Sparks.

“What do you suppose he went to do?” Sunny asked, startling me as she nudged my shoulder.

“Your guess is as good as mine.” I said, really trying my best to think of something.

“Maybe he went back to the Crater?” Aurora said. “To get something or talk to Nana Lily?”

“Maybe.” I said lamely. I couldn’t help but feel a stab of pain in my heart as my thoughts drifted to my own mother.

“Then what was the guitar for?” 87 asked, his arched eyebrow and scrunched expression of confusion making me laugh through my nose.

“I thought you were supposed to have all the answers.” Ray called over his shoulder, chuckling into his claw.

“I read people.” 87 said, his tone surprisingly defensive. “That requires time, study and patience at times. I’m not some mystic seer pulling vague answers from the aether.”

“Take it easy bud.” Ray said, coming to a stop and holding up both his claws, his talons splayed. “Just a joke.”

“A joke?” 87’s eyes flicked quickly back and forth as a little red appeared on both his cheeks. “Of course. A joke.”

Before anypony else could say anything, a low, rumbling bellow sounded from above us as a huge dark silhouette passed overhead just under the cloud cover. Sunny, Noodles, and Ray all dove forward, landed on their bellies, and covered their heads.

“Get down!” Sunny hissed, peeking around her hooves. 87 crouched low to the ground and I did the same as I cast a curious gaze to the sky. Its mighty wings stretched out as long as a hoofball field and an orange glow heralded every breath. It was enormous, it was terrifying, it was-

“A dragon!?” Aurora whispered harshly, inching her way towards AJ at the front of the group. “Did it see us?”

“No, I don’t think so.” 87 answered with confidence as he stood up. “Or if it did, we weren’t worth the stop.”

“Where did it come from? Where is it going?” Aurora asked, newfound curiosity overriding her fear.

“Anywhere we aren’t I hope.” Ray said, making a face that worked opposite his words.

“It’s gone.” AJ said, craning her head to look at us. “Ah can’t pick it up with muh sensors anymore.”

“Let’s give it another moment anyway yeah? I’d rather not risk it if we can help it.” Noodles’ harsh voice was grating on the ears but I had to agree, at least until it was out of sight. We watched it go until it couldn’t be discerned from the rest of the dark of night and then another minute on top of that.

“Have you met a dragon before?” I asked, remembering the three of us who immediately dove to the ground as it passed.

“Yeah, but the one I saw wasn’t even half and again that size.” Ray said, squinting his eyes as he stood.

“A Quinquagenarian?”

“What the fuck did you say to me?” Ray’s frown almost made me laugh but I was saved from any wrath or embarrassment by 87.

“It means someone of at least fifty years of age. A young dragon’s first metamorphosis occurs in the first ten to fifteen years as they grow their wings and learn to fly. The second occurs at roughly their thirtieth-year mark where they grow to double or triple the size of a pony, at this stage they still walk upright like a minotaur. And by the fiftieth year, sometimes earlier or later, they will grow to the size of an average two-bedroom house and their posture will begin to resemble the dragon standard.”

“And you’re sure you don’t have all the answers? Who did you read to get all that? The dragon?” Ray laughed, playfully elbowing 87 in the side.

“I see. Well, if you liked that then I have more knowledge to share. I call this lesson: shut up.”

“Ha! Now look who’s got jokes.” Ray clapped 87 on the back and to my surprise, fell back and took my spot next to him, moving me up to walk beside Sunny.

“Something’s bothering you.” Sunny said. I knew by her tone that it was more statement than question and avoiding answering would only prove her right.

“Yes.”

“Is it about Sparks?”

“Yes and no. It’s about my brother. Sparks promised me he’d help me look for him and now-”

“You’re worried he won’t keep his promise.” Sunny finished, taking the words out of my mouth. “You don’t have to worry. If he said he would then he will, even if it looks like he isn’t doing anything.”

“You sound so sure of it.” I said with a shake of my head.

“I am sure.” Sunny said, bumping me with her hip to get my attention. “Where is this doubt coming from? I thought there was some kind of understanding between you two.”

“I wouldn’t quite put it that way, but yes, there is.” Despite being tentative friends with everypony present I was hesitant to discuss it so openly.

“Then what’s eating you?”

“It’s just…We’ve been to many places and traveled far for each. Not for me or my brother but for the leftovers of Applejack’s ministry.” I could tell that my words hit home or close to it by the way she nodded. She knew as well as I did but there was something else there too. Something that kept her from turning her back on it all.

“Have you considered” Sunny said after a long silence. “That maybe he’s doing both?”

“No…I haven’t.” I said, turning away too late to hide my embarrassment.

“Me neither.” Sunny said with a wry smile. “At best I’d say it’s been accidental so far. What I said still stands though.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Simple. Faith.”

Faith…huh. I had put my faith in many things since I came of age. The princesses, the ministries, Equestria as a whole and none of them proved to have been worth it in the end. Then a thought struck me, what did I believe in? The world was destroyed, everypony, everything I knew had been reduced to ash and scattered bones. It hurt me. It hurt me bad. My brother was the last piece I had of my old life, of my family and I knew I would never be able to let them go until I found him alive…or dead. It hurt me more than I would ever say aloud but through all the pain and weight of emotion I could feel a spark of hope. Sparks had been the one to save me from the hibernation pod and was the first pony I saw after two hundred years. At first I was afraid my feelings for him were misplaced gratitude, him being my rescuer and all and me being very much a damsel in distress. It didn’t seem real and I tried to shut them out. But over time I came to understand that there was just something about him. Something I’d never felt before, something indescribable.

“Faith.” I repeated, testing the word and reeling myself back to the present. “I can do that.”

I had to admit I felt a certain rush as I played and sang for DJ Pon3. Once I had finished, we spoke for a bit and he promised not to air it, at least until he could see about sending somepony to check into the music tip he mentioned. Satisfied with the terms we parted amicably and I dashed out into the growing dark as the last fire in the sky dipped below the horizon. I knew if I hurried, I could probably catch them before they left Eclipse but the sinking suburbs were not the place for haste. I lost the better part of an hour carefully creeping around the still pools of foul-smelling water before I breached the perimeter and made for clearer ground. I didn’t quite make the time that I’d originally estimated but when I made it to Eclipse I found Charlotte waiting for be just outside the barn. I felt soft earth under my hooves in places as I covered the distance to her and lost a bit of my steam when I realized that they were fresh graves.

“Hey Boss.” Charlotte waved, her voice absent its usual cheer. “You made good time; the others can’t be more than an a few hours ahead of us.”

“Good. Everything alright?”

“Just a bit tired. Grim lost more blood than it looked so I lost some in turn.”

“Thank you, Charlotte, I don’t think I can tell you how grateful I am.”

“You just did.” Charlotte stood up and stretched her wings. “Don’t worry, you can make it up to me later.” She nudged me playfully and leapt into the air. “This way, and try to keep up.”

Before I could respond a colossal shadow passed overhead and a gust of air from its wingbeat blew Charlotte off course and nearly pushed me to the ground. Squinting against the wind, I attempted to get a good look at the thing but was taken down as Charlotte wrapped her claws around my barrel and took us both to the ground. She moved to put herself between me and the shadow, shielding me with her body. Try as I might to wiggle free, Charlotte’s claws might as well have been steel binders. Another wingbeat carved the air above us as a rumbling roar split the night sky like the clap of thunder. Charlotte’s hold persisted for a few minutes more until all trace, sight or sound, of the thing had passed.

“You alright Boss?” Charlotte asked, releasing her iron hold on me. Given the size and strength of the wingbeats I had no doubt in my mind that what passed over us had been a dragon and as much as I wanted to follow its path with my gaze, I found myself looking at Charlotte. “Why’re you looking at me like that?”

“You shielded me.” I said as I stood up. “Why?”

“It’s my job Boss, remember? I am your-”

“I remember.” I interrupted. “What part of that vow says you’d die for me? I understand that it means a lot to you Charlotte but I’m not worth your life. You’ve done right by me as a protector and…as a friend.”

“Then what would you have me do?” The look on her face held confusion and genuine hurt, like I was taking something precious away from her.

“I would have you die with me or beside me, but not for me.” I realized how hypocritical it sounded coming from me, since I had shown willingness to die for my friends and loved ones. Did that make me a bad friend? To deny another their wishes even if it was to die for someone they cared for? Perhaps but I had too many deaths on my conscious already and I couldn’t bear the thought of my friends killing themselves for my sake. “Not for me.” I repeated with a final shake of my head.

Charlotte remained quiet for the next two hours as we rushed to catch up to the others. I couldn’t blame her. I don’t know how she viewed our relationship but I honestly valued her as a friend more than a protector, Ray too for that matter. Almost like what happened with 87. I hadn’t anticipated I’d form connections with them so easily but it happened anyway and now the course was irreversible. Despite the fresh tension I could feel between us, I was grateful to have them, all of them, as my friends. Oh and Noodles too.

After the passing of the next hour, I could see a spattering of friendly blips appear on my EFS’s compass traveling west as we were. Or at least that was how it appeared. Another fifteen minutes of trotting proved my worries to be nothing as I could make out each of the beings in front of us. Charlotte flapped her wings and sped ahead of me to join the others, leaving me alone to make a dramatic entrance as I came to a stop just before them, breathing hard and kicking up a small cloud of dust.

“Told you I’d make it in time.” I said between breaths. I removed Sunny’s guitar from my back and returned it to her as Aurora dashed past the others to be the first to greet me.

“Did you see the dragon dad?”

“Sort of.” I looked past her to the others and 87 at least understood the look on my face.

“It kept moving west until we lost sight of it.” 87 said, motioning with his head in the indicated direction.

“Will it be a problem?”

“Unknown at this time.” 87 said, bowing his head slightly.

I shifted my gaze past the others to the growing mountains. Next I checked my PipBuck and saw we were about fifteen miles northwest of the Bloomberg Space Center, twenty-eight miles west and a little south from Boulder and less than ten miles from the base of the mountains.

“Nearly there.”

“Sparks? Can I…never mind. It can wait.” Pumpkin started to say. Sunny’s brow furrowed at her choice of words and I was left wondering just what exactly I had missed while I was gone.

“Pumpkin if you have something to tell me-” I started to say.

“It can wait, this…isn’t the place for it.” She didn’t sound upset or irritated so what did she want to talk about?

“Everything alright?” I pressed.

“It will be.” This time, at least, she smiled which did a lot to ease my mind.

“Should we find camp tonight or press on?” Ray asked, his head moving to survey the area around us.

“We should keep going.” I said. “We can make camp just inside when we get there. Everyone ready for the last leg?” A round of affirmatives followed and with a nod AJ took off at a light gallop and the rest of us followed. Well, the rest of the flightless that is. At our pace it took another hour and a half to reach the mountains and once we arrived my PipBuck chimed and marked the ragged opening of the tunnel as ‘The Long Dark’

Now that I was here, I was certain that it was what I’d been seeing in my head the last few days. Courtesy of the Alicorn Society. Even thinking about her made my cheek tingle and I knew that we would see each other again somewhere inside. With that in mind on top of everything else, I took a deep, shuddery breath and, with my friends and loved ones beside me, crossed the black threshold into the Long Dark.

Footnote: No level up.