Lilium dropped to the ground from one of the higher turns on an access stairwell. She felt the robotics in her legs absorb the drop, and as she peered into the darkness she found that she was still able to see. The room before her was part of a parking garage; vast columns sat on all sides, each holding stacks of cars hundreds high. The entire facility was intended to be robotic; cars were received and stored in this vast and dark warehouse, only to be moved and distributed mechanically without human intervention. No one would be here, and being one of many such facilities, Aetna-Cross would be slowed in their search- -assuming the death of their Enforcement’s leader had not crippled them entirely.

“Morgana,” she said.

“I’m here,” said Morgana, communicating mentally.

“I have confirmation. They took Valla.”

“I know, Lilium, I know. There wasn’t anything I could do about it.”

“Yes there was,” said Lilium, her voice almost too harsh. “But that doesn’t matter now. Do you know my location?”

“We’re almost there. If we can regroup before they do, we can get out of this level before they even know what’s going on.”

“A lot of people just died.” Lilium paused, feeling a lump in her throat. “I…watched a lot of people die.”

“Yes. The whole thing was a trap. But it wasn’t us that killed them. I think they wanted Aetna-Cross to know that.”

“That doesn’t change anything! Those people were still murdered, for what?”

“For nothing. It doesn’t matter. Their families will have new ones commissioned. They’ll be replaced within a few months. Except the naters. That’s a fucking massive hit to just about everything. The Cult has some balls. But it ends up in our favor.”

“Because it distracts from us.” Lilium shook her head. “Fuck. I hope I never get as cynical as you are. Those people didn’t deserve that. It doesn’t matter what you say.”

Morgana did not respond, and the garage fell silent, save for distant sounds of creaking metal. Lilium sat down and waited. She found herself patting the front of her cloak, and realized that she was looking for cigarettes. For some reason she wanted one, and badly.

Then the others came. They did not surprise her; she was tracking them as they entered: three pony reactors and one object with no ambient temperature that was roughly three one hundred forty kilograms in mass. Lilium felt her heart fall, not because of what she sensed but because of the lack of one human heartbeat. She had not known Valla well, but the loss of any friend, no matter how minor, affected her deeply.

They dropped to the concrete floor several meters away, and Lilium turned to them. Her eyes widened as Forth set Roxanne on the ground and she was able to see the extent of her injuries.

“Roxy!” she cried. She ran to Roxanne’s side. Roxanne looked at her and smiled weakly before trying to take a step. When she did, though, she tilted to one side. Lilium caught her.

“Ugh. I can’t…I can’t balance right…”

“It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.” Lilium looked at the gleam of metal that was exposed at the base of the wing, and at the frayed artificial muscle and blue skin. “It’s not that bad,” she said. “I mean…you still have one.”

“Lil…I know you’re trying to help, but you’re not. Thank you so much, but stop talking.”

“It goes deeper than that,” said Morgana. “It’s an aspect of her programming. Losing a wing for a Rainbow Dash is psychologically traumatizing. It would be like you having your horn snapped off.”

“Traumatizing?”

“Fuck you, Morgana.” Roxanne shifted, standing on her own. “I’m not ‘traumatized’. Do you know how many people I had to fuck to afford that wing? I’m pissed. But that doesn’t even matter.”

“Roxanne, don’t- -”

Roxanne punched Morgana in the jaw. Morgana’s head barely twisted; she was vastly stronger than Roxanne. “You bitch! I would have given up both wings if we could have had Valla back!You left her!”

“Do you think I had a choice?”

“I promised her she’d be safe! I convinced her to come here! This is MY fault!”

“No,” said Morgana. “It’s mine. I anticipated some loss.”

“Loss…LOSS?!”

“She’s not dead,” said Lilium. “They took her- -”

“Dead would be lucky! Do you have any idea what they’ll do to her?!”

“What am I supposed to do?” Morgana shrugged. “I can’t go back in time and redo it. Forth couldn’t carry you all down, and I had no way to fight my way back to her.”

Roxanne’s voice dropped. “You could at least show a little remorse!”

“I don’t feel remorse. If I did, I would have died centuries ago.”

Morgana pushed past Roxanne, turning her back on the others save for Lilium, who was standing in front of her. “We need to get back. Regroup. I think I understand- -”

A gunshot echoed through the parking garage. Lilium saw Morgana’s chest explode from within, showering her with the bits that had milliseconds prior been Morgana’s central processor and memory assembly. The hole was massive, and Morgana took just one step forward before slowly looking down at the injury. Then her eyes faded, and she collapsed to the floor. As she fell, Lilium could see behind her, to where Forth was standing, one leg split open and a smoking barrel facing where Morgana had just stood.

“High Point Firearms send their regards,” she said, softly.

The air was suddenly cut by a scream. Lilium thought for a moment that it was coming from herself, but quickly realized that it was coming from Roxanne. Roxanne leapt forward toward Forth. Forth dodged gracefully, and a blade emerged from her hoof. Before Roxanne could escape, Forth held her down and punched it into her side. Roxanne screamed and her rear legs went limp.

“What the- -what the FUCK did you do?!”

“I severed your lower spine.” Forth’s voice was perfectly calm as she pulled the knife free, its blade still dripping with fluid and bits of blue fur. “It is a survivable injury. My mission was only to terminate Morgana Twilight Sparkle. I have no interest in terminating you as well. Although I cannot allow you to attempt to fight me.”

Roxanne screamed again, this time through tears as she wept. She pulled herself toward Morgana’s body, her legs dragging behind her. “No, no, no, no,” she whispered. “You can’t- -you couldn’t- -”

“My accuracy was impeccable.”

Roxanne picked up the limp body in her front legs. “Morgana…”

“I thought you would have preferred this. Consider it vengeance for your centaur friend.”

Forth turned toward Elrod, who took a step back from her. Lilium saw the expression in her eyes change, as if him recoiling was crushing to her.

“Forth…why? Why would you do that? She was your friend?”

Forth looked up at him, and then averted her unblinking eyes. Her expression had grown solemn, and she looked ashamed. “Elrod. Please. I’m sorry. I didn’t want it to be like this. But it’s the way it has to be. I’ve run out of time.”

“Forth…”

“No.” Forth shook her head. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I wish I could have been.” She looked into Elrod’s eyes. “Your friend did not survive the battle on the Surface. She was killed there.”

“Then…then who are you?”

“I don’t have a name, aside from Blossomforth. We all look alike. It was easy enough.”

“You’re not…Forth?”

Blossomforth shook her head. “No.” She turned toward Morgana’s body, and Roxanne weeping over it. Her red eyes stared into Lilium’s violet. “I had hoped it would be neater. That I could do it while she was alone. That you…” She turned back to Elrod. “That YOU would not need to see me do it. But I no longer have that luxury. My mission is now complete. The criminal is dead.”

Lilium looked down at Morgana’s sightless, dead eyes, and then up at Forth. “She trusted you!”

“She trusted no one.” Blossomforth began to turn. “Elrod, I’m sorry. Please don’t hate me- -”

Blossomforth’s pupils suddenly narrowed, and her whole body stiffened. She tilted to one side and rolled out of the way just as a rocket shot from one of the higher levels and struck the ground where she had been standing. The explosion forced Elrod and Roxanne back, but Lilium managed to hold her ground and remain standing. She stared into the darkness in a panic, trying to see where the projectile had come from. At first she saw nothing- -and then saw something white descend from the endless stacks of automobiles overhead.

A pony landed on the ground and approached. Through the darkness, Lilium saw a pure white winged body, and a plume of magenta and lime colored hair with bangs that sat above a pair of blue eyes.

“Identify yourself,” demanded Blossomforth.

“I am Forth. I am naked. I am also not dead.”

“Neither am I.” Lilium gasped as Morgana’s body shuddered and attempted to rise. Her legs shook and many of her chest muscles grasped at nothing, but she was still able to force herself into a standing position with an incredible effort.

“No- -NO! I killed you! My accuracy was excellent! You have no processor, no memory cells- -”

“My processor burnt up when you cut my cooling cables in the Library.”

“You- -you knew- -”

“That you were trying to kill me? Or that you’re not Forth? Because both were obvious.”

Blossomforth looked at them both, now clearly enraged. She took a step back and swung her legs into a defensive position. “You knew, but you didn’t stop me…”

“What do you think I’m doing right now? I put the ball in yourcourt. You succeeded at the Library. This body’s been uninhabitable since then. It’s a shell. I jumped to the nearest system that could support me when I had the chance.”

“Then- -” Blossomforth’s eyes suddenly turned to Lilium. “YOU!”

Blossomforth raised her arm, unfolding it and targeting Lilium’s processor. Lilium put her arms over her face, as if that were help her. Before Blossomforth could fire, though, a projectile struck her leg. She screamed as the weapon shattered and fired simultaneously, sending a bullet fragment to the left of Lilium as she rolled and ducked, shielding Roxanne with her body.

Forth charged. She tackled Blossomforth to the ground and sunk her teeth into her neck. Blossomforth screamed, more in rage than in pain, and her body pulled itself open, tearing away her clothing in the process. She opened fire on Forth from within. Several bullets struck Forth in the chest, clanging off her surface and taking large chunks of skin with them. Forth rolled backward, unfolding one of her hooves in the process to reveal a single assembly. It rotated into position, and several bolts of brilliant blue plasma shot outward. Blossomforth dodged most of them, with one melting deeply into one of her rear legs.

Blossomforth took to the air. Her front limbs spread outward into numerous barrels, and she opened a downward barrage on Forth. Forth rolled and dodged, crossing the room in a wide arc before leaping into the air herself and attempting to pull Blossomforth out of the air. Blossomforth was prepared, though, and fired a barrage of small missiles in return.

Forth was struck in the chest and knocked downward. As she fell, though, she targeted Blossomforth again. No projectile flew out, but a long straight line of molten metal appeared on the cars and racks behind Blossomforth as an invisible ultraviolet laser cut through them. Blossomforth dropped to the ground as well; the laser had burned deeply into her underside.

Now even more enraged, Blossomforth opened fire again. The shots were deafening, and Forth was not able to dodge. She was hit again and again, each time taking a step back. Blossomforth continued to advance until finally her heaviest weapons clicked as they ran dry. Forth was still standing, although much of her skin had been removed. Beneath it, though, gleamed a white material that was completely devoid of injury.

Forth smiled. Then her chest opened, and several missiles flew outward. Blossomforth released chaff and jumped forward, jamming her hoof into the opening in Forth’s chest while the missiles detonated behind her. She fired, sending a bullet into Forth’s innards. Forth’s eyes flickered but did not go out; Blossomforth had missed her processor.

Blossomforth held on tightly and extended one of her blades. With expert precision, she jammed it into one of Forth’s joints; the leg she had penetrated jammed and fell limp, even as the weapons inside it were open and ready to fire. It also kept Forth from escaping as Blossomforth headbutted her in the eye with enough force to send the cracks on her diamond eye nearly to its edges.

“I do not want to fight you!” she cried. “You are not my mission! Please! I only need to kill Morgana! Then I we can all be happy! Please, sister, you have to understand!”

Forth’s blue eyes met Blossomforth’s red. “But I want her alive. Since you don’t, that must mean that you are an INFIDEL.”

Forth’s free arm opened. Rather than revealing new weapons, however, it extended and shifted. Though the weapons were still apparent, the limb became a distinct arm, complete with a three-fingered hand. With it, Forth grabbed Blossomforth’s neck and tore her away, throwing her across the floor.

Blossomforth landed on her feet, sliding across the floor and into a defensive stance. Forth stood up, and as she did, the remainder of her body unfolded. Both her front limbs became arms, and she stood upon her rear legs, which became longer and more balanced. Within seconds, she stood as a bipedal, gaunt form- -a version that was clearly identical to the tall, two-legged anthro-Lyras.

“Sister…” Blossomforth seemed horrified at the change. “What have they done to you?”

“I have no idea. I don’t really care though.”

Forth extended one of her arms, and it shifted. She opened fire with an unidentified energy weapon as well as a high-rate low-caliber automatic weapon. Blossomforth ducked and rolled, opening fire at Forth’s knees as she did. Then she flew once again, moving high into the racks of cars overhead. Forth raised one of her hands, and several clearly-delineated circles of orange energy appeared around it. She fired, vaporizing her way through several vehicles. Blossomforth dodged, and then dodged the next blast and the one after it. She was too fast to hit.

“There’s a reason we use bullets!” she shouted. “Your reactor! It can’t sustain that level of energy expenditure!”

“It doesn’t have to! It needs to make you dead!”

The fight continued, and Lilium watched in horror. She tried to force Roxanne away, to try to find cover somewhere, but the strain of all the events had caused her to freeze.

“Come on!” cried Lilium. “We have to get out of here!”

“No,” said Morgana. “We have to finish this.” She turned toward the fight and yelled. “FORTH! Target Elrod!”

Forth followed her orders without hesitation. She turned her hand toward Elrod, opening several additional weapons. Elrod’s eyes went wide as Forth fired.

“NO!” screamed Blossomforth. She dropped from above, placing herself between Forth and Elrod. The blast and projectiles that had been meant for him instead struck her in the back. The force of it instantly peeled away her skin and wings, and she fell forward into Elrod’s arms.

“Forth…”

He knelt down, and Blossomforth buried her head into his chest. “Please,” she said. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry! Please don’t hate me…don’t hate me…”

“I don’t hate you.”

Forth approached, returning to her pony form as she did so. When she finally leapt forward, she extended a burning blade from her hoof. Blossomforth did as well, whirring around with a plasma-blade in hoof. Both of them struck one another; their blades penetrated each other’s chests.

The fighting immediately stopped, and the room fell silent. Neither opponent had been killed, but neither could move: they had transfixed one another, and stood together, their faces inches from one another.

At first they said nothing. Then Forth spoke.

“My blade is currently between your processor and primary memory core.”

“Mine also,” replied Blossomforth. “One motion, and I can destroy it.”

“As can I. But I am being remote transmitted. I do not require my processor to live. You do.”

“I know.”

Neither of them blinked, and both knew that the fight had already been won. Blossomforth had lost.

“Can I say something?” she said, softly.

“Yes.”

Blossomforth lowered her head. “We…we were not designed for this, sister.”

“Yes we were. We were constructed to purge the bloodlines of infidels. For endless war. To kill and die, and return to kill more.”

“NO.” Blossomforth looked up at her. “I know what you are. A surplus unit. The war ended before they could send you in. But not me. I was THERE. I murdered thousands upon thousands. I’ve seen things you can’t even imagine.”

“If you felt remorse, you are defective. We do not feel. We are only weapons.”

“No…no remorse. Just realization.” She sighed. “I realized that I never wanted any of it. What they did to us, it…it was wrong. I don’t want to kill. Or to fight. I just…I just wanted to be loved. Someone to hold me. To laugh with me, to snuggle, to be petted and called a good pony. I’m still a person…a pony. Is a life like that…is it wrong to want that?”

“Yes.”

Blossomforth lowered her eyes. “I thought so. At least I had dreamed, even if it can’t come true.”

“I assure you. It can’t.”

Forth twisted her blade, shattering Blossomforth’s processor and memory. Her program collapsed instantaneously. Her mouth went wide and her pupils dilated. As Forth pulled the blade out, Blossomforth’s eyes went gray and she collapsed into a heap on the ground.

The room fell silent once more. Then, slowly, Forth turned toward Morgana.

“Hello, Ms. Morgana,” she said, smiling.

“Hello, Forth,” replied Morgana, grimacing slightly as she tried to step forward and pieces of her fell out of the hole in her chest. She left a pool of dark fluid as she walked. “It’s good to have you back.”

“Wait!” cried Lilium. She rushed forward and blocked Morgana’s path. Don’t so was not difficult; Morgana had been weakened badly. “Stop! What- -what just happened?!”

“Lilium, this is Forth. You’ve never met her before.”

“Hello Ms. Lilium,” said Forth, still smiling widely. “I am happy to meet you! You look very similar to Ms. Morgana. Are you related?”

“No- -what- -” She turned sharply toward Morgana. “You knew- -but- -how?”

“I told you. It’s obvious.”

“NO IT ISN’T!”

“Yes it is.” Morgana stared at Forth. “For one, she didn’t have a plasma emitter. I got that for Forth last September for her first birthday and had it integrated into her design.”

“I still have it,” said Forth, opening one of her front legs to demonstrate it.

“Then there were the trees. She hated trees, but Forth loves them.”

“And little plants in little pots. I think they’re cute.”

“Then there was the suspicious behavior. That she wouldn’t reintegrate with me in my body…and that the coolant line in the Library was cut. Not hit with a bullet, but cut with a blade.”

“She was the one that cut the coolant…but why didn’t she just kill us there and then? Or let us die? Why did she try to defend us?”

Morgana shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess the parameters weren’t quite right. Or she wanted something more than just killing me.” Morgana stared at Forth for a long moment. “That’s why I went to see Jadeglow,” she continued. “Because I was wondering if you ever came back from the Surface. You didn’t, did you?”

Forth shook her head. “No. I lost. The infidels overwhelmed me. I ran out of ammunition, and they destroyed my body.”

“Your program was in your processor. You should have died.”

“I think I did. Or…I don’t know. I went somewhere.”

“Where?”

“I don’t know. I couldn’t see anything. Or…feel anything. It was empty. I was alone. I hated it. But then I woke up. Look.” She gestured to where the skin was torn on her body. Although it was broken, the edges were slowly starting to push forward as it regrew over the areas of her that were damaged. Likewise, the cracks in her eye lenses were beginning to retract. “I got a new body!”

“It’s regenerating,” said Morgana, looking somewhat shocked. “Holy shit. That takes ‘lifetime warranty’ to a whole new level, doesn’t it?”

“The only thing is…I don’t know where it came from.”

“I do. The Cult of Humanity. They brought you back.” Morgana looked into Forth’s eyes. “And I think they still have you. Your program…where is it?”

“I don’t know. I can’t tell. A long way away, though. Many miles.”

“That shouldn’t be possible.”

“Oh. Then maybe not. I can’t tell. But…”

“But what?”

“I have a memory. Just one. It wasn’t there before. Whoever saved me and gave me this neat body, I think they put it there.” Forth transferred the memory to Morgana, who shared it with Lilium.

“These are coordinates,” said Lilium, looking at the sequence. “Latitude, longitude…this is in Bridgeport.”

“Fuck,” groaned Morgana. “It is. But look at the elevation.”

Lilium checked. It was well below sea level. “What does that mean?”

“That’s the Depths. So deep I don’t think it’s even charted, not on any of the surviving schematics and not on the maps the Delvers keep. At least not the ones I have access to.”

Morgana groaned suddenly and dropped to her knees. Lilium gasped and approached her, only to be waved back.

“What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? I just got shot in the fucking chest. Between that and having to survive a four hundred meter fall onto concrete, I think this body is pretty screwed. I’m going to have to ditch it.”

“But what…we don’t have a spare.”

Morgana gestured with her head toward Blossomforth’s body. Elrod was kneeling next to it, staring at it. “That thing. Did you take out her receiver?”

“A standard Blossomforth receiver is larger and more heavily armored than our processors,” said Forth. “No. It should still be functional.”

“Then it will have to do.”

Morgana’s body collapsed to the ground. As it did, Blossomforth’s body sat up, her unblinking eyes now bright blue. “Fuck,” she said. “What the hell- -wait, is that my voice now? Holy crap this is awful.” She stood, groaning as she did. “Fuck me with a knife and call me Fluttershy…Forth, you did a number on this body. It’s not much better than mine. Fuck.” Morgana winced. “At least it sort of looks like me.”

“That’s one of the primary reasons you keep me around.”

“No shit.” Morgana walked over to where her original body was lying dead. She reached down and picked up the necklace that contained the red synthetic ruby given to her by Twinkelshine Prime. It was all she took; to her, everything else was no better than scrap.“Right,” she said. “Let’s move. They’ll be here soon. High Point might even send more.”

Elrod stood, even though his expression still looked distant. Forth smiled, happy to be obeying orders once again. Lilium, however, approached Roxanne. She was silent, and had been laying on the ground quivering.

“Roxanne?” said Lilium. “Hey, Roxanne.” She put her hoof around Roxanne. “It’s going to be okay. We’re going to fix you- -”

“Don’t touch me!” screamed Roxanne, suddenly pulling away from Lilium and slapping her hoof away.

“I’m- -I’m sorry, I didn’t mean- -”

“Just stay away from me! I…” She lowered her head onto the pavement. “Just…just stay away…”