It suddenly struck me.

I had never really considered it before; I never had a reason to. It was such a small and inconsequential thing. A something that rarely happened in our modern world. Maybe because few ponies had enough around them who gave a shit. Maybe because most saw it as a waste of time. A figment of the old world, a tradition that died with everything else that used to be, before the megaspells put an end to it all. And yet, here I was. And now that I was here, helping Altrix pay her respects and final farewells, I had to ask: Why?

Why had I never seen a funeral before?

We had brought Matercula outside at Altrix’s insistence. I think she wanted her mother to be buried under the sky the changelings had long thought they’d never see. Using both our magic and some recovered tools, we’d dug a deep hole just outside of the hive’s entrance that would serve as a sufficient resting place. We had all been quiet throughout, Altrix didn’t even have it in her to cry anymore. I could feel my own unease be shared by the others, all directed at Altrix’s soul-crushing despair. But we were there for her, what else were we to do?

I had never buried my own parents. Thinking back on it now, after seeing this display, I can’t help but feel some shame towards that fact. I mean, yeah, we didn’t exactly get along. I never heard the words ‘I love you’ or ‘we’re proud of you’. I was a piece of equipment, after all, an extra horn to add to their next expedition. I had a reason for coming into existence, and paternal affection wasn’t anywhere amongst that reason.

But, at the end of the day, they were my parents. I’d left their bloodied bodies out in the Equestrian Wasteland after the raider attack claimed them, liable to then be picked on by birds and other wild animals. It was the same tired old story probably told by most scavengers out there today, my existence before my friends likely would have also ended somewhere in the same vein. I never would have gotten that home I’d always dreamed of, but rather been cursed to the same daily routine again and again until something finally put an end to me.

Would I have brought a child to the world just to facilitate that unreachable goal? Would I have left them as embittered about their memory as I had been about my own mother and father? What could have been different? And, in the end, did they really deserve being left to the elements?

But funerals scarcely existed anymore.

I was glad Matercula got the exception.

I stood close to Xena as we watched Altrix crouch down by her mother, whispering things unheard to us before the changeling mare’s still features were finally fully covered by the blanket that she’d been wrapped up in.

Altrix’s horn lit up, the green glow taking around the obscured body and shakily started to lift her. She didn’t go far, Altrix visibly starting to shake again as her breaths started to deepen.

I lit my horn, letting my pale aura join her own. Cobalt was a short distance behind, our three magics intertwining as we helped her lift Matercula through the air and lower her gently down into the grave. From there, we all helped as we started to refill the grave with the dirt that we had previously removed from it, keeping the work up until Matercula’s body was fully concealed and the grave was filled.

The last task left was the headstone. It was a basic smoothed out rock that Cobalt had spent the last few hours before now working on with his magic, also ensuring to etch Matercula’s name and dates into it.

And then, with the stone put into place, Matercula had been placed at rest.

Altrix sniffed. “She… would like being out here. The first changeling to be buried in a long time, we… we had to cremate Dad, like the others…”

The curse of being in a fallout shelter for two centuries.

“She appreciates the sentiment, I know it to be true,” Xena comforted the mare with a side hug. “You have done her justice, and more than earned her pride.

“I hope so…”

“We’ll get the rest of them back,” I then assured my friend. “You know I’m not going to let Kronos get away with this.”

“We just need a plan as to how we’re getting in,” Cobalt pointed out.

“You’re the smart one, I’m hoping you’ll have a couple of ideas,” I said back at him. “I’m all for killing every one of those bastards in sight, but I’m hoping for one a little more survivable.”

“Aw…” Moon Blossom complained.

“I have a couple of brainstorms,” Cobalt confirmed. “We can talk about it later, I’m going to go and rattle around some plans in the meantime. Come join me in the Overmare’s office when you want to figure this out.”

With that, Cobalt turned and started to make his way back into the hive.

“Do you really think we have a chance of getting in without the hive’s help?” Altrix asked.

“We’ve made it this far,” I said encouragingly. “A solid plan and making sure we stick together, that’s all we need.”

“And Insidiis will probably kick that bird’s kneecaps in when we spring her,” Moon Blossom said with a laugh.

“I am more concerned with what was mentioned about the ‘mother’,” Xena said in reference to the conversation between the Goddess and Kronos. “From what we understand about Stable 84’s history, it would suggest-”

“I know,” I tersely replied. “We’ll come to that if it’s what we’re thinking it might mean. But until we know for sure, the changelings are our priority.”

“Well, then I’d say let’s just get on with figuring out how we’re going to do all that,” Moon Blossom suggested. “As smart as Cobalt claims he is, I’d like to be there when he makes these plans. You know, to make sure it doesn’t go to shit.”

“And I’m sure your insight will be most valuable,” Xena said only half-sarcastically.

“You know it!” she said, oblivious to Xena’s tone. But, out of the blue, the pegasus’ cocky smile seemed to collapse into one of uncertainty. “But seriously… If we do this, it’ll make it all worth it, right? I mean…”

I nodded. “It will. Or, at least, I hope it will.”

“Whether we fail or not, it is ultimately the right thing to do,” Xena stated.

Moon Blossom nodded back, remaining silent for a moment as she bit her lip. She looked away from us, looking up at the sky with a distant expression. A little bout of concerned started to bubble in me at her sudden change in demeanour, but it was eventually broken by her sigh.

“It’s all I’ve wanted to do, you know? Do good. I... actually am starting to feel like it’s more than pretending, too.”

I frowned. “You felt like you were pretending?”

“I was a raider, Scrapper. Born that way. I guess a part of me believed there was no way I could ever leave that life. But now… I know I talk a lot of shit, do a lot of shit. But… I just want to be a good pony.”

“You’re not pretending,” Altrix said, walking up to and standing alongside her. “I know how much you’ve been wanting to change. We all do. And… I think you’re a good pony…”

Moon Blossom gave her a smile. “That means a lot, Kiddo. Eh, come on. Let’s see what the Egghead is up to.”

The duo turned, following Cobalt’s hoofsteps back into the cave.

This left only me and Xena.

“I used to hate her,” Xena said, somewhat to my bemusement. “Do you recall that stunt she pulled?”

“When she tried to get me into a bed?” I deadpanned. “Kinda hard to forget. It was what? Two weeks ago?”

“Thirteen days.”

Close enough.

“And yet, despite her grating attitude, she’s grown on me. As have they all…” she said, her face falling. “I do not wish to lose any of them.”

“What makes you think we will?”

“It is a miracle we have not,” she retorted. “And for what we have already been through, tomorrow is a new mystery. And Haven may be the most dangerous place of all we have traversed.”

“Slaver central…” I quietly agreed. “Remember how we met?”

“I do believe I rendered you unconscious.”

I blushed. “Uh, yes. That. Still, seems forever ago, right?”

She hummed. “That it does. And yet, it also feels like we’re approaching an ending.”

I knew what she meant. Everything we had been through seemed to have been shepherding us towards this point, and now…

“We’ll get out of this,” I decided. “I don’t want this to be our last night alive.”

“And what if it is destined to be?”

“You believe in destiny?”

“It is something many zebras would confirm. Myself? Usually, no. But sometimes… I do fear, Scrap.”

I sighed, my gut tightening as I saw flashes of all the many ways that I could get my friends killed in the next day or so. But I also knew all the things we had to live for. Cobalt going back to Tenpony and making the mistakes of his organisation right. Altrix helping her people lead their new lives. Moon Blossom proving to the Equestrian Wasteland just how far from a simple raider she had evolved.

And then there was Xena and I…

“I want to come back,” I finally said to her. “All of us. Me and you, in this hive. A future… maybe a foal someday?”

She laughed. “You speak of far off things… But one day, perhaps.”

I smiled between my once again red cheeks. “Well… it’s a thought. But, if this is it…”

She leant her head into mine. And there we stayed, locked together, just us. My heartbeat seemed to steady, and my nerves evaporating, if for the moment. Here, now, this is what I wanted. This is what I had to come back to. It just felt… right.

And if this was going to be our last night, then we may as well make it one to cherish.

Xena shared my small, happy smile as we made our way up to the Overmare’s office sometime later. The others had probably been working the whole time, and we could hardly slink off forever. No matter how much we had wanted to stay by each other’s side, nuzzling up to one another peacefully after having our fun.

It had honestly been even better the second time, less awkward and with more certainty perhaps. I don’t know, but it had been the best I’d felt in a while.

But, with a quick shower and a change back into our gear, we knew our friends needed us.

Stepping up and into the office, we found the Cobalt busy typing away on Insidiis’ terminal with a rather determined look on his face. Altrix was nearby, distracting herself from whatever she was feeling by writing down notes and sharing the occasional word with the unicorn. Moon Blossom, meanwhile, seemed to be sitting in her corner rather idly. She looked to be lost in her own thoughts, absentmindedly sharpening her knife as her eyes looked to be elsewhere.

“Anything good?” I asked aloud, catching all of their attention.

“Nice of you two to join us,” Cobalt remarked. “To answer your question, ‘good’ might be a stretch, but our ideas are at least serviceable on paper.”

“I’ll take it. I don’t suppose just walking in is on the agenda?”

“Not unless you want to be picked off and have Site B sealed up before we can get inside.”

“We have infiltrated their ranks before,” Xena pointed out.

“It had occurred to me,” Cobalt responded. “But after last time, Kronos will probably have taken steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again. Altrix would obviously have the best chance, but I guarantee the rest of us will be recognised far more easily now.”

“Alright…” I started. “I’ll bite, what’s the alternative?”

“Well, we were thinking…” Altrix began to answer for him. “Do you guys remember the subway?”

Ah, right.

“We used it to get back to Haven before, to escape Kronos the first time,” I recalled. “You think we could use it again?”

“I’m not saying it won’t be guarded, but it’s a safer bet than trying to go in on hoof or, Celestia forbid, the air.”

“I hate to admit it, but he’s right. The Sky Bandit will probably get ripped to shreds if it gets too close,” Moon Blossom supported. “We had a close shave when the Steel Rangers and stripes took pot shots at us. It’ll be that times a million.”

“But we can probably take it to Prosperity, under the assumption that it’s less guarded,” Cobalt concluded.

I didn’t see the slavers having much of an interest in that place, but still… “We should probably park a little ways away from the town, just to be safe.”

Cobalt nodded. “I agree. But from Prosperity, we can take the next day moving through the metro system back up to Haven. We’d have to carefully clear any patrols that might be hypothetically in there before they raise the alarm, but it’s plausible.”

“From there I would assume sneaking into the facility will be required?” Xena inquired.

“Pretty much. Insanely risky, I know. But without any support to back us up in a fight, it’s the best we’ve got.

“But we can free my hive when we’re in. I think they can help us as well…”

A swarm of pissed off changelings? I bet.

“Kronos mentioned packing them into a warehouse. Probably shielded to keep them in, I doubt any slaver even enters,” Cobalt observed. “They probably use those purple alicorns to teleport food in and teleport any changeling out.”

“But if we can open it up, the hive can swarm out into Site B,” I noted.

“That is the idea, it will be sufficiently hard for any slaver or Talon to contain. I’m not saying there won’t be casualties, but most of the hive could probably rush them and get out before they really knew what was going on. Especially with Insidiis there.”

“But then we need to make Kronos go boom,” Moon Blossom saw fit to add in, having seemingly returned to her usual upbeat and confident attitude. “So, I suggested ‘what about those big exploding things that everypony back when thought it was such a good idea to use for power’?”

“In more eloquent terms, highly classified research facilities with such dangerous materials, such as taint, will likely have held a kill switch. A self-destruct system designed to prevent the substances from getting out. We flick that, the balefire reactor overloads and Haven goes up in a megaspell detonation.”

“Taking out any hope for the modified potion and all but annihilating Red Eye’s operations in this region,” I mused. It seemed fitting to finish those fuckers off with balefire. “I like it.”

“It’ll give that DJ something to talk about,” Moon Blossom eagerly agreed.

“But taking another page from Buckingham, maybe we could step it up,” I added in. “Assuming the big ‘IF’ of getting inside without getting shot at… Cobalt, think you could work your magic and get some of their security bots on our side?”

He shrugged. “I mean, assuming we can find the appropriate security station. And given the nature of the facility, I could do even more than that theoretically. Camera systems, for example. Doors. The options will be more substantial than in a simple factory.”

“Then, if we get that far, you can be our eyes and ears,” I decided. “If whatever place we find doesn’t have the ability to spring the changelings, we’ll also need someone to do that while the rest of us work on blowing the place up.”

“I-I can do that. I think it’ll be best, they’re my people, and some of them might be hurt…” Altrix spoke up.

I nodded. “Alright, then that’s your job if need be. Which leaves me, Stripe and Moon Blossom to go and make sure those bastards don’t do this to any other creature ever again.”

“It’s still heavily liable to not go quite as we intend,” Cobalt cautioned. “We know nothing about Site B’s overall layout, what kind of defences we can expect…”

“I know. I think we all know the risks. These are more than mere raiders, we don’t have Steel Ranger support, and the last time we faced Kronos in person…”

“Not to mention the giant evil mutant alicorn things,” Moon Blossom supplemented.

“Yeah. Those,” I deadpanned. “But we do have a plan. We found each other through random chance and circumstance, but I wouldn’t trade you as my friends for Equus itself. Fuck the odds. I know we can do this. I know we can win. If Kronos wants a rematch with me, then I’m damned happy to give him one.”

As I finished, blood pumping fast through my brains with my heart poundings in anticipation for what we were about to do with Xena already standing resolutely at my side, my other friends all glanced between one another at my declaration.

But, for which I would eternally be thankful towards them, I couldn’t spot any hesitation.

“Well, my mission from the Twilight Society was to find and recover Site B and its contents from Stable 84…” Cobalt began. “I’ll settle for making sure that Red Eye and the Goddess cannot have it. It’s what Twilight would, and I’m sure does, want me to do. If she’s still fighting them against all odds from the inside, then I’m not about to fail when I can do something from here.”

“Won’t they be mad?” Moon Blossom asked with a chuckle.

“Oh yeah. But I know more than a few who’ll support my decision. Homage, Life Bloom… I’ll be fine. What the rest think doesn’t matter.”

“Good to know! Then I won’t feel bad for wrecking their toys!” the pegasus said with a giant grin. “Let’s go save us some changelings!”

I gave them both a nod and a smile, my look finally falling upon Altrix. For once, I couldn’t see any pain in them, nor could I see her innate shyness. More than ever, I knew she was determined to come with us.

“Mum would want to help in any way she could…” the changeling stated. “I can too. The Princess trusted me to help you, and you’ve all been so nice to me. Even when it was too much, you guys were there. I am glad you are the first surface dwellers I met, it gives me hope that, one day, things might be alright again…”

Here they were. My friends. My reason for being, and the reason that Kronos didn’t stand a fucking chance.

I didn’t know how this would end. I didn’t know if I would die doing what we were about to do. I had to hope not, that as always we would escape by the skin of our teeth. That, at the end of all of this, we would stand together in a wasteland that, for all that it was worth, was slightly less broken than it had been before.

Yeah, I was scared to death.

But we would do this anyway. Because, after everything, that’s who we had become.

Not heroes. Just people doing the right thing.

To the very end.

Footnote: Loading…

Author's Notes:

The end is coming, with under ten chapters to go, the final stretch has arrived...