“Firelight, what tha Hell did yah do?” The familiar sound of Storm’s accented voice asked as I snapped out of it. “Where is Moonlight.”

“Storm, you need to hear us out before…” Neivi said as the Pegasus shot her a look before she stormed up to me, fire in her eyes.

“WHERE IS MOONLIGHT FIRELIGHT?” She screamed at me. “Ah’m not gonna take any of your bullcrap, tell me what yah did with mah marefriend!”

“She was dying, I didn’t have a choice,” I said softly as tears started to stream down my face even more now. “The only way to save her was to…”

I let that trail off for a moment, I didn’t want to make Storm mad at me. She was going to be furious when we told her what I had done, and I didn’t blame her. If someone had sent Neivi away I would be furious too, and I had no idea what I should tell her.

“Was ta do what?” Storm asked, her eyes narrowing. “Where did yah send her?”

“We had to send her to the Society,” Neivi said with a sigh as she bowed her head a little. “We didn’t have time to find the antidote and they were the best way to save her life.”

“YA’LL DID WHAT?” Storm demanded as she looked at me, the fire in her eyes were getting stronger. “They’ve been wantin’ her fer fates know what reason and yah just gave her ta them?”

“It was that or let her die,” I said.

“Did yah ever think that what they might be plannin’ would be worse than death ta Moonlight?” Storm pointed out though she seemed resigned to the fact that we didn’t have a choice. “Do yah think yah can get her back?”

“My teleportation doesn’t work like that, I have to know exactly where the other pony is before I can teleport that, and usually that requires line of sight,” I said and Storm looked like she was about to say something before I interrupted. “And yes I could just teleport to where I sent her, but if I did that I would probably be caught too.”

“Ah understand,” Storm said with a sigh. “But Ah don’t like it, it ain’t right what happened ta her and Ah think we need a plan ta rescue her.”

“We’re not going to leave her like this,” Neivi said as she placed her hoof gently on Storm’s shoulder. “Storm, I promise, she’s going to be fine and we’ll get her out of there somehow. Or she might get out on her own, she’s strong and she still has her memories unlike other ponies in the society. If there’s anypony who can get out of there, it’s her, but I agree we need to come up with a plan to save her.”

“I really am sorry Storm,” I said and gave the purple pegasus a light hug, I was surprised to feel tears falling onto my shoulder as I pulled her in closer. “Are you going to be okay?”

“Ah don’t know,” Storm admitted with a shake of her head. “Ah was lucky ta find her yah know? Ah love her more than anythin’ and she’s been wonderful, neither of us really had much in tha way of relationships before. Now, she’s gone and Ah don’t know if Ah’ll ever see her again.”

“You will see her again,” I said definitely. “I will make sure of it, we all will. I promise that we will do everything in our power to make sure that she makes it out of the Temple okay, right Neivi.”

“Right,” Neivi said with a smile as she joined the hug. “Come on, let’s go find Lemon and the fillies and maybe we can figure something out if we put our heads together. But we are definitely going to figure this out.”

Storm smiled and nodded a little as she hugged us both and gave me a nod. “Alright, thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” I said as we released the hug and we headed out of the clinic together.

“Where’s Ms. Moonlight?” Blueberry asked as I headed into the house that we were all sharing while we were in Canterbury. The three fillies were looking up at me while Neivi and Storm were talking to Lemon.

“She…” I said as I looked between the three fillies who just looked at me confused. “It’s… complicated. She might not be around for awhile, but she’ll be back, we’re going to make sure of it.”

“Umm, okay?” Dawn asked as she looked at me confused. “Why do I get the feeling that there’s something you aren’t telling us.”

I flinched a little at that, how was I supposed to explain what had happened to them? They had lost their families to the Society, how would they take finding out that we had to send Moonlight to them?

I sighed a little and wrapped my wings gently around the fillies which surprised them a little but they hugged me back. I looked down at each of them in turn, this wasn’t going to be easy, but for now I didn’t want to scare them.

“We’re going to do everything we can to make sure she’s safe,” I finally said as I ruffled their manes a little. “How about we go get some lunch? My treat, it’ll be nice.”

“Okay,” Dawn said as she looked at me concerned for a moment as we headed into the kitchen and they took a seat at the table. “What are we going to eat?”

I went through the cabinets. This house had been set aside for visiting dignitaries from other settlements so it was fully furnished and stocked with food and drink. I took out a few vegetables and started putting them together while I pulled out some purified water and other things.

I made a lunch for them as I looked back over at the three fillies and smiled a little. I couldn’t hear what they were talking about because they were whispering, but I could see that even Wind Chime was talking. She had gotten used to having me around and after finding out I was from Pearl too she was more comfortable with me there.

I just kept making the food as I turned my attention away from the fillies for a moment to get some more things out. I hummed a light tune to myself, one that I didn’t really know or remember, but just something that came to my mind as I worked.

“Umm, what song is that?” A soft voice asked and I looked up to see Wind Chime looking at me.

“I, honestly don’t know,” I said with a shrug. “It’s just something that came to me I guess, I don’t even remember where I heard it.”

Wind Chime paused a moment and looked down at her hooves as if she was embarrassed that she spoke up. I sighed a little and trotted over to her.

“What’s wrong Wind?” I asked.

“It, umm… I remember it, my mom, she sang it for me every night before I went to bed,” she said as she played with her mane a little. “She said it was special to her because it reminded her that we’d always be together. I…”

She started to cry as she remembered what had happened to Pearl. I gently picked her up with my magic and levitated her close to my chest as I hugged her and wrapped my wings around the crying filly.

“She, saw them being turned into Alicorns,” Dawn said sadly. “They tried to resist and had IMP used on them right there during the attack. My mom got her to safety with the two of us before she went back to try and fight them off.”

Wind Chime nodded sadly as I kept her close to me. I couldn’t remember the words, but I hummed the tune all the same as I held the terrified filly close to me. She finally seemed to calm down as I did this, I smiled as I held her for a little while longer.

“It’s going to be okay Wind Chime,” I said softly. “I’m going to be here to protect you, I promise.”

“Thank you,” Wind Chime said softly as she buried her muzzle into my chest. I smiled a little and held her close as she did.

Out of all of us, she had been through the worst. I was going to make sure that she was really going to be okay.

“You’re welcome,” I said as I stroked her mane gently. “Hey, do you want to help me make lunch?”

“Sure,” she said with a gentle smile as we headed back over to the kitchen area to work on lunch together.

I smiled a little as I watched Wind Chime working to cut up some of the vegetables as carefully as she could. The small Pegasus looked up at me with a soft smile as we worked together on the meal.

“Owww,” Wind Chime said and I looked down to see she had cut herself a little bit with the knife she had been using to cut.

“Here, let’s see if I can help with that,” I said and looked around the kitchen for a moment. I found an old first aid kit that was yellow with three pink butterflies painted on it, I opened it up and found some bandages and potions as well as some antiseptic. “Okay, this might sting a little.”

Thankfully she hadn’t cut too deep and I bandaged her hoof up with relative ease. I smiled as I secured it and gave her a quick hug.

“There you go, all better,” I said and gave her a nod as Neivi, Storm, and Lemon came into the kitchen. “Hey you three, Wind Chime was just helping me with lunch.”

“What’s cooking?” Neivi asked as she walked into the kitchen area while Storm and Lemon took a seat at the table.

“Nothing special, just some veggies and whatever else we can find around the place,” I said with a smile as we finished cutting up the vegetables and got them ready. “Other than a little incident with the knife we’re fine.”

“Are yah helpin’ Firelight out then kiddo?” Storm asked with a smile that hid her sadness, Wind Chime gave her a small nod and smiled a little. “Well that’s good.”

“Better be careful Neivi or you might wind up with a kid before the two of you even get married,” Lemon said with a chuckle.

I blinked a little at that as I looked down at Wind Chime who smiled back up at me. I hadn't ever really thought about that very much. Sure we were taking care of the fillies, but was that going to be temporary or would we maybe make it permanent?

I really had no idea what to think about that. I had no real experience raising foals, the fillies in the Nightmare Society were looked after by the caretakers unless they were assigned to a specific mare or mares similar to the High Priestess and Starshine.

Could I actually take care of a filly? Especially one that was suffering from trauma like Wind Chime was? I, honestly had no idea, it was not something I was sure I would ever be ready for.

“I don’t really know about that,” Neivi said with a nervous chuckle as she helped us get the food ready. “We’ve barely even been together for three days, I think it might be a little early to even think about foals.”

“Yeah,” I said with a shake of my head and added with a chuckle. “If we ever do though, I hope they’re as nice as Wind Chime, and as good in the kitchen.”

Wind Chime giggled a little as we finished making the food and set them out on plates and carried them over to the table. I set them out for everypony as I took a seat between Wind Chime and Neivi.

I looked between all the ponies that we had gathered together for a long moment. These were my friends, but in a way I guess they were also my family. I was lucky to have them, luckier than I had ever thought I would be, so what still bothered me?

Maybe it was because no matter what we did here, we would still have a member of that family missing. Moonlight was gone because I had to send her away. I hated myself for that, even if I knew it was necessary I was going to have to live with that mistake.

Neivi looked over at me and gave me a reassuring smile as she placed her hoof on mine. I smiled back and gave her a nod. We were going to get Moonlight back one way or another, I was sure of it.

After all, we were always going to be stronger together. I was just glad that I had a family to rely on, and soon we’d be able to be a complete family once more.

After lunch I headed back out into Canterbury on my own. Neivi had to go to the town security office to talk to them about what had happened while Storm and Lemon watched the fillies, I had a lot on my mind right now and I just wanted to figure out what to do next.

So, here I was alone in a town filled with Zebras and the occasional pony. I kind of towered over the rest of the crowd so it was hard to even try not to blend in, which just made me more self conscious about the whole thing.

I looked down at the Stable barding I was wearing and sighed a little. It had been a gift from Moonlight so my robes wouldn’t make me more visible. Not that it did much good, sometimes I wondered if maybe I really should just use illusion magic to hide myself away from prying eyes.

“You’re one of those Alicorns from this morning aren’t you?” A stallion’s voice said from behind me and I paused a moment. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you.”

I turned to see a Unicorn stallion standing there. He looked to be somewhere in his 40s or 50s and was dressed in the typical ratty clothing of a Wastelander. He had a brown coat and a grey mane, I noticed that his cutie mark was of a mask with a gear on it.

“Yeah, I’m one of them,” I said with a sigh as I looked him over for a moment. “You were there when, the other one was attacked?”

“It was my daughter who attacked her,” the stallion said, regret was clear in his voice but even so anger started to well up inside me, and I could see the flames starting to appear in my vision.

I shook my head and tried to dismiss the anger, but it wasn’t easy. If he had created the robot that attacked Moonlight, he bore some of the blame for what had happened. He backed off as I realized that the same illusionary flames were forming around me.

“Look, I don’t mean you or your friend any harm, it was an accident!” He said, he was even more scared than before but he seemed genuine. “Please, I wouldn’t want to hurt you or your friend I just… it's a long story.”

I realized that there was a sadness in his eyes that looked familiar, felt familiar to me, I had seen it in the fillies. I had even seen it in my own reflection. Something about this was hard for him to talk about.

Then something clicked in my mind about what he said and I looked at him confused for a moment.

“She’s a robot, what do you mean she’s your daughter?” I asked. “Did you build her or something?”

“It’s, a long story,” he said sadly as he looked down at his hooves and then back up at me. “I have every reason to want to hate the Nightmare Society, but I wouldn’t kill you. You and your friend, you don’t seem like the others, like the ones who took her away from me.”

I looked around for a moment before I spotted a place to sit in front of what looked like some sort of restaurant or a cafeteria like back in Nightingale. I nodded to it and gave him a sympathetic smile.

“Let’s sit down and talk about this,” I said as we headed over to the table and sat down in the chairs. I was keeping my anger under control, I didn’t want to risk setting off and attacking the stallion. “What’s your name?”

“Masquerade,” he said as he took a seat and I sat down across from him. “I know you don’t have any reason to believe me, but I really did not mean for your friend to get hurt. What happened to her?”

“She’s…” I said as the thought of what had happened pained me for a moment and I looked away from him. “She’s fine, I hope.”

“Me too,” Masquerade said with a sad smile. “I made a lot of mistakes in my life, but I wanted to make sure that I made this right. I don’t want to have that mare’s blood on my hooves, not right now.”

“You said you wanted to explain what happened,” I said as I looked at him. “That robot, it called itself Luna Umbra. Is there any connection to the Princess?”

“Moon Shadow, or Shadow Moon, it’s Zebra,” Masquerade said with a sigh. “I should have known when I found her that she was trouble, but I wanted her back so badly that I didn’t care.”

“Okay, why don’t you start from the beginning?” I asked with a soft smile, I was trying to make him feel better but I don’t think it was doing much good. “Look, I’m not mad anymore, I just want to hear your side of the story about what happened, okay?”

“I don’t know if it’ll make sense but I’ve never really been one for settlement life,” Masquerade said with a sigh. “When I was a younger stallion I did a lot to chart out the jungle, I even helped found new settlements here and there. But I never really settled down anywhere, until I met her.”

“Her?” I asked as I looked at him curiously.

“Her name was Night Sky, she was one of those, what do you call them… Dashites, a Pegasus who left the Enclave,” he said with a grin. “She was the prettiest mare I had ever laid eyes on, apparently she had left a nearby Enclave city, this was back in the days before that particular city started being more open with the Wasteland you see.”

“Yeah, I remember hearing about that,” I said. “My marefriend and one of my other friends I guess knew each other from those interactions or something.”

“Yeah, it’s not that unusual these days, but back then it was unheard of,” Masquerade said. “But anyway, for the first time in my life I actually felt an urge to settle down and spend the rest of my life with this beautiful and smart Pegasus mare. We were working together on founding a new settlement somewhere along the river and, well I asked her if she wanted to live there with me.”

“And what did she say?” I asked with a chuckle.

“She said no, but she then asked me to come with her,” Masquerade said with a laugh as he remembered that. “I was smitten with her but turned out she had the same feelings, but we both had work to do out in the Jungle so we traveled together and eventually we got married, settled down in this farm once our job felt like it was done.”

“It sounds wonderful,” I said.

“Yeah, well the good times weren’t going to last,” Masquerade said as his face fell a little. “When she got pregnant it just got worse. She was just, not in the best shape for some reason, I don’t think she wanted to talk about it. But, the Mendi said that there was a chance that she wouldn’t survive childbirth.”

My face fell a little at that bit of information, this was not going to have a happy ending no matter how much I wanted it to. Welcome to the Wasteland Firelight, not everything gets the fairy tale ending that you always read about.

“She lived long enough to hold our daughter in her hooves,” Masquerade said sadly as he looked at me with tears in his eyes. “She named her Sunlight, because she told me that as long as she was in my life she would be a light when I needed it.”

“I wish I had known her, she sounds like a strong mare,” I said sadly. “I just wish that I could be as strong sometimes. I made a mistake today, and that may cost a good friend of mine a lot more than just her life, I don’t know if I can ever forgive myself for that.”

“She was, and something tells me that you’re a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for,” Masquerade said as he gently placed his hoof on my shoulder. “Look, I don’t pretend to know a lot about what’s going on here in town or anywhere else in the jungle. But I do know one thing, you’ve got a good soul, and are strong enough to take on anything that gets in your way.”

“What, you’ve heard about me somehow?” I asked with a chuckle.

“Well, there’s only so many Alicorns hanging around that aren’t working for the Society,” he said with a chuckle. “That and I’ve always been good at reading ponies. If I was a younger stallion I’d take those skills up to New Pegasus, but that’s for another time.”

“So, what happened with Sunlight?” I asked sadly. “I mean, you wouldn’t have a robot for a daughter if, you know…”

“She grew up strong, doing everything she could to help around the farm, especially when my health started to deteriorate,” Masquerade continued. “She was my everything, she was what kept me going every day no matter what the world threw at me. I, just wish that I had told her that more often before…”

He was quiet for a moment and I paused. There was something about this story that was starting to add up. He said before that he had every reason to hate the Society, which probably only meant one thing.

“The Society got to her didn’t they?” I asked softly and he nodded sadly.

“She was out on a scouting mission looking for any predators and checking our traps,” Masquerade said sadly. “I heard her screams and ran as fast as I could into the jungle to try and find her, but when I got there she was gone. A few weeks later I was out checking the traps when I stumbled across a, what do you call them… you know, a group of Alicorns.”

“Wing of Alicorns?” I asked and he nodded a little.

“Yeah, a Wing, four Alicorns,” Masquerade said sadly as he started to cry even harder at the memory of what had happened. “One of them, dressed like the others and carrying a weapon… she looked so much like Sunlight. There was no doubt in my mind that it was her, I had lost my daughter to those, things!”

He started to get angry now, his hoof slamming down on the table as I backed off a little. He was furious and I didn’t blame him one bit, I’d probably have felt the same way if it was my daughter that was taken.

“But she didn’t remember you?” I asked sadly and he nodded.

“I tried to call out to her and she looked at me right in the face and laughed,” he said as he kept crying. “My own daughter didn’t even recognize me anymore, that was, 5 years ago now and I haven’t seen her since then…”

I saw the pain in his eyes, he didn't want to talk about this. I couldn’t imagine what it had to be like pouring his heart out to a pony who looked like the same Alicorns that had taken his daughter away. I was honestly amazed he didn’t hate me for that, but he was definitely not happy about it.

There was still something about this that was left unanswered. I hated to have to keep pressing him for information but I wanted to know where that machine had come from that had nearly killed Moonlight.

“And, Luna Umbra?” I asked sadly. “How did you get her?”

“By total accident actually,” Masquerade said. “I was clearing out some jungle on the coast… okay I was drunk and wanted to be as far away from that farm and my memories of my daughter as I could.”

I frowned a little at that, but I didn’t blame him for that. Though I made a mental note to try and stay far away from alcohol.

“It didn’t help did it?” I asked.

“No, alcohol doesn’t wash away the memories, it just hides them for a little bit if you’re lucky,” he said with a sigh. “I stumbled across this old facility, I think it was a Zebra facility based on the use of what I later learned was Zebra glyphs. I found this old robot lying in a heap in the base and I couldn’t just leave her there.”

“So, you made her into your daughter,” I said.

“Yeah, I found this top notch robotics expert who works for Applejack’s Rangers, I think her name was Positronic Brain, odd pony really,” Masquerade said with a sigh. “She helped me get the robot up and running and reprogrammed to… well be Sunlight. She even had disguise functions so she could look like her.”

“And, you didn’t know anything about the robot?” I asked.

“No, a Zebra I knew translated the notes, it’s called Luna Umbra, a robot built for one purpose,” he said. “To kill princess Luna, apparently it was some wartime project they had tried to make but it never was complete for some reason.”

“And, something in Moonlight triggered that old programming,” I said in realization and he nodded a little.

“I didn’t know that would happen, we were in town getting supplies and I didn’t even know you were here,” Masquerade said. “She attacked because of programming we couldn’t override. She nearly killed your friend and I’m sorry, I wish I could go back and change what happened.”

That answered a lot of questions actually. But something still bugged me, why had she attacked Moonlight? Moonlight only had one thing in common with Luna right? And for that matter why hadn’t she attacked me? That meant she wasn’t just indiscriminately attacking Alicorns.

She had attacked Moonlight for a very specific reason, and deep down I was afraid that it had something to do with why the Society wanted her, and more than anything else that terrified me.

It meant that I had given them exactly what they had wanted. I had already been afraid of that possibility, but this just confirmed it.

“Goddess, what have I done…” I said quietly as all of that sunk in.

“Is everything okay?” Masquerade asked.

“I honestly don’t know,” I admitted as I bowed my head a little. “I made a big mistake, and I don’t know if there’s anything I can do to fix it.”

“Is it fixable?” Masquerade asked.

“Maybe, but it’s not going to be easy,” I said with a sigh.

“Did it involve one of your friends?”

“Yes.”

“Then it’s worth what you’re going to have to do to make up for it,” Masquerade said with a soft smile. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned in all my years, it’s that friends are worth fighting for. Especially the really good ones, so do what you think is necessary and fix your mistake.”

“I just hope I can,” I said with a sigh. “And that she’s not going to hate me for what happened.”

We sat in silence for a little while as I thought it over. I had no idea what I was going to do now, I didn’t even have a plan for how to get Moonlight out of there if that was what we had to do. There were just too many variables that had to be considered.

I just hoped that I was going to be able to figure out how, and that it wasn’t already too late to save her.

“What’s going to happen to Luna Umbra, or, Sunlight I guess now?” I asked as I looked at Masquerade worriedly for a moment.

“She’s with the guards right now, but…” Masquerade said and sighed. “She’s not exactly functioning right now. She shut off not long after she shot your friend, and well I don’t know if she’ll even wake up or if she’ll be a risk again if she does.”

“I understand, but, maybe there’s enough of your programming left in her that if she can be reactivated that will take priority or something,” I said with a sigh, I wasn’t a robotics expert so I just hoped that made sense.

“Yeah, maybe,” Masquerade said. “I really am sorry about your friend, I hope that she’s going to be okay.”

“Me too,” I said with a sigh as I looked away from him for a long moment. “Me too.”

“I know you’re lying about what happened to Moonlight,” a voice said from next to me and I looked up from the book I was reading to see Dawn standing there.

“What makes you say that?” I asked as I looked at the Unicorn filly confused for a moment. “Why would I lie to you about that?”

“I don’t know, but I’ve figured out how to tell when adults are lying to me,” Dawn said with a shake of her head. “What happened to her? I heard a rumor that somepony may have attacked her.”

I sighed a little and brushed my mane back. How was I supposed to explain this to her without scaring her? With everything that had happened, with the Society trying to grab her and her friends, how could I possibly explain this without terrifying her?

“Yeah, unfortunately she got attacked, but she survived,” I said. “She’s going to be okay, right now she’s just somewhere where she’s getting medical help. She’s going to be okay, I promise.”

It wasn’t entirely a lie, but it hid enough of the truth to not worry her. I was scared that I might terrify her. Dawn just looked up at me sadly for a moment as I ruffled her mane a little.

Dawn paused a moment and looked up at me with a shake of her head. “Can, you do something for me?” She finally asked changing the subject.

“What’s that?” I asked with a soft smile.

“I’ve, never really been very good with my magic,” she admitted as she looked up at her horn. “I mean I know a few things, but I honestly would like somepony to help me learn more about magic. If, you don’t mind, could you be my magic teacher?”

I blinked in surprise at that, I hadn’t expected her to ask me that. I wasn’t much of a teacher, heck I hadn’t even really gotten the chance to try. I wasn’t really sure what I should tell her, but she looked up at me with this cute pleading face that made it hard for me to resist.

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to try and teach her how to use her magic. She was young and I could tell that she had a lot of potential with her magic, so maybe I should at least try and teach her how to use her magic to the best of my ability.

“Well, I can’t promise I’ll be the best teacher,” I said with a soft smile as I pulled her in for a hug. “But I’m going to do the best I can to help you learn your magic.”

“Really? You’ll do that?” Dawn asked as her ears perked up.

“I might have to go to the library to get some books on magic,” I said with a chuckle as I levitated her up onto my back. “I’ve never really been a teacher before though. Like I said, I can’t promise that I’ll be able to be the best teacher.”

“Yeah, I know, but…” Dawn said and paused a moment. “You’ve done a lot for me and my friends. More than anypony ever has really, they’ve always kind of seen us as just there at best. We have no family and nopony wanted to adopt us. Until you and the others came along, we only had each other, and, well I wanted to thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” I said with a soft smile as I hugged her a little. “I don’t know why nopony wanted to adopt you, you’re three of the nicest ponies I’ve ever met.”

“Well, I don’t know either, but maybe because we wanted to stick together,” Dawn said with a shrug. “Adoption is rare in Nightingale, usually its ponies that come through on caravans or whatever so if we were adopted we’d likely never see each other again. And, well, I can’t abandon Wind Chime and Blueberry, she’s just too good a friend.”

“Yeah, I know exactly what you mean,” I said as I thought about my own friends. “You’re lucky you know? You’ve got two really good friends, me I wasn’t so lucky at your age. At least, not that I remember, I didn’t really have much in the way of friends or even family until I came to Nightingale.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Dawn said and paused a moment. “Then why did you send Moonlight to the Society?”

“Wait… what? How did you know about that?” I asked, my eyes wide and my voice trembling a little bit.

“I heard Neivi and Storm talking about it,” Dawn said with a sigh and shook her head a little. “I had hoped you would be honest about it when I asked you. I, really don’t like being lied to Firelight.”

I sighed a little and looked down at her as I tried to think about what to say. Lying probably wouldn’t do me any good at this point, she already knew the truth.

“You’re right, I’m sorry I should’ve been more honest,” I said with a sigh as I looked away for a moment. “I’ve been lied to, deceived, and used by ponies that I thought I could trust, I should’ve been more considerate about how you’d feel about it.”

“Why’d you do it though?” Dawn asked. “I mean, the Society are the bad guys, they tried to kidnap me and my friends and who knows how many other ponies. You, just sent her into the lion’s den.”

“I know!” I said as I tried not to break down crying. “At the time it felt like the best option. She’s already an Alicorn, they can’t take away her memories or anything anymore, if she can get out of there or we can get her out of there, she’ll be fine.”

“Do you really believe that?”

I paused a moment, I didn’t know how to answer that question and it scared me a little. I had to be honest though.

“Honestly?I don’t quite know yet,” I said. “But I do know that we’re going to do everything we can to make sure that she is saved. I don’t know how yet, but I promise you that I will save Moonlight from the Society one way or another.”

“Okay, I believe you,” Dawn said and gave me a nod. “I’m sorry, after everything that’s happened I don’t like being lied to.”

“Heh, maybe you should join the guard when you’re older,” I suggested and she shrugged a little. “Come on, you still want to learn how to use your magic right? Let’s go see if we can find any spellbooks or something in the town library.”

“Okay,” Dawn said as we headed down the stairs together.

I gave Dawn a small smile as we walked together. I didn’t actually think that I’d have to be honest to her about what had happened with Moonlight. I still felt a lot of guilt about what had happened, but I knew that if I wanted to keep my word to Dawn I’d have to make sure that she made it out of Haythens safely.

I was going to make sure that Dawn and her friends were safe from the Society too. We had brought them here to do that and so far that had worked out. I just hoped that everything really was going to work out.

But for now, I just had to try and not be a terrible teacher to this little Unicorn.

“So, Dawn actually asked you to teach her magic?” Neivi asked as the two of us headed for the radio station again that evening.

“Yeah, she’s actually improving a lot,” I said with a soft smile. “She had some difficulty with telekinesis when we started but she’s gotten a good grasp of it. She’s now working on illumination and some other tricks.”

“Well that’s good,” Neivi said with a nod. “And how are you doing as a teacher? You’re not too nervous are you?”

“A little honestly,” I said as we started up a stairway that would bring us closer to the radio station. I was a little surprised to see the sight of several lights in the darkness not too far away from us. “I’ve never tried to teach anypony before. I just hope that I’m going to be able to teach her well.”

“I know you will,” Neivi said as she leaned up and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “You’re a strong mare and I have nothing but faith in your ability to teach her.”

“Thanks,” I said with a soft smile. “But, she knew about what happened to Moonlight, she overheard you and Storm talking about it earlier. I, honestly don’t know what to do about that, should we tell the other two about what happened?”

“Only if they ask, and assuming that Dawn doesn’t tell them about it,” Neivi said with a sigh as she gave me a nod. “You know how they are, they probably tell each other everything. I wonder how she figured out we weren’t telling the truth.”

“She’s more observant than I thought,” I said with a chuckle. “Smart kid, she figured out how to tell when adults are lying. Maybe we should get her a job with the Town Guard when we go back to Nightingale.”

“Not funny Firelight, we don’t want to put her in that kind of position,” Neivi said with a roll of her eyes. “Come on, let’s get this talk with Vox over with and hope we don’t get interrupted again.”

“What did the Guard say about the robot that attacked Moonlight?” I asked, my tone turning somber again for a moment.

“They’re not sure what to do with it honestly,” Neivi said with a sigh. “They don’t even know how to turn it back on to interrogate. It’s like nothing any of them has ever seen before.”

“I talked to the pony that brought her here,” I said with a shake of my head. “He said it was built by the Zebras during the war to kill Princess Luna.”

Neivi’s eyes went wide at that as she looked at me surprised for a moment. “I thought that name sounded familiar. My ancestor mentioned some rumors about a project like that in one of her journals from when she was getting ready to infiltrate the Zebras before… well that’s not important.”

“What happened to her?” I asked softly.

“She was killed, by somepony close to a pony she trusted,” Neivi said with a sigh. “Back then there was a lot of paranoia about Zebras, and to help her cover she was getting close to one of the Ministry Mares before she was discovered.”

“Oh, wow…” I said.

“That was over 200 years ago,” Neivi said with a soft smile. “I guess I’m just lucky that I don’t have to face that sort of fear, at least not as much these days. There are still some ponies who don’t trust me just because I have stripes but usually when somepony needs a doctor even they’ll point them in my direction because I’m the best in town.”

I smiled a little and nuzzled her gently as we reached the part of town where the radio station was. There were beings coming in and out, many of which were carrying candles. Vox was standing off to the side as we approached.

“Hey Vox,” I said softly as the red and yellow Unicorn stallion looked over at us and gave us a smile.

“Hey, if it isn’t Firelight and Neivi,” he said with a nod.

“What’s going on here?” I asked curiously as I looked at the gathered crowd and then back at Vox.

“It’s for your friend, an old tradition called a candlelight vigil,” he said with a sad nod of his head. “I’m sorry our meeting was cut short by that. But everyone feels terrible about what happened to Moonlight and they’re here to pay their respects and hope that she somehow pulls through.”

“Thank you, I’m sure she’d appreciate that,” I said with a sigh and then looked back at Neivi. “Should we come back later? I’m sure if right now’s not the best time…”

“No, no, just come inside with me and we can talk in private if it’s that important,” Vox said as he gestured towards the radio station.

“Are you sure?” I asked as I looked around. “I don’t want to interrupt what’s going on here.”

“Of course, anything for you,” he said as we headed inside together and he lead us into an office off to the side of the building.

I looked around surprised for a moment. There were pictures here and there of ponies and Zebras and other species that looked like they were taken from all around the Jungle and beyond. Vox took a seat behind a desk and gestured towards a couple of chairs as we took our seats.

“Can I get you two anything? I’m sure it’s been a long day for you both,” he said.

“No, we’re good,” I said as I leaned forward a little. I saw a picture of Vox with a Zebra mare with slightly swirled stripes, they looked happy together. “Is that of you and your wife?”

“Alvia, she and I have been together for three years now,” Vox said with a chuckle. “Not an easy task to woo a Carnllia when you’re a pony but she came around. So, I’m sure you’re not here to talk to me about my marriage, what can I do for you two?”

“It’s, complicated,” I said as I looked at Neivi. “I think it would be better for Neivi to explain it.”

“Vox, I know this might be hard to understand, but we need to talk about some of the music you play,” Neivi said with a soft sigh. “Have you ever gotten any strange music albums from anypony?”

“Yeah, sure usually what is found lying around, like any DJ really,” Vox said with a shrug as he looked at us. “Nothing really unusual to be honest. I get music all the time, some I keep, some are too badly preserved to actually be of any of use.”

“Anything that might have been recorded relatively recently?” I asked.

“Well, there’s not a lot of recording spaces that are left standing outside of Tenpony Tower and a few other areas,” Vox said. “Heck one of my predecessors had to build this place from the ground up with what materials they could find. But, now that you mention it, there was this odd set of records that came on a caravan a few months ago.”

I exchanged a look with Neivi, it looked like we had found our smoking gun. That still worried me though, something about this felt weird.

“What made them so odd?” I asked.

Vox paused a moment as he looked between us and sighed. “Look like I said I get weird stuff all the time. The music here though it was, different somehow. When I played it, something came over me, it moved me, you know?”

“Yeah, I think I know what you mean…” I said with a sigh as I looked at Neivi, how were we going to explain this to him? “Who gave you those albums?”

“Some Earth Pony, said they found them somewhere up north,” Vox said with a shrug as he looked between the two of us confused. “What’s going on here? Why are you asking me about my music?”

“Vox, we have reason to believe that you’ve been given music that’s being used by the Nightmare Society to control ponies,” I said and Vox’s eyes went wide.

“What… but… how? How could they do that? Most of my music is too old to have…” Vox said and then narrowed his eyes a little. “You’re talking about the music that pony gave me aren’t you?”

“Yeah, probably,” I said with a shake of my head. “It could’ve been any of the music really, but that seems to fit how Society music works the best. Moonlight, before we came to Canterbury, was listening to your radio show. She has the ability to enter dreams and was able to manipulate my dreams to attack me.”

We sat in silence for a long moment as Vox sat there in silence and tried to process what we were telling him. He looked like he was about to say something when the speakers in the station began playing a song.

“Now the hour has come at last

The soft and fading light

Has crossed the west horizon

And has bidden us goodnight

And what a lovely night it is

To walk a moonlit field

To see the softer shades

That are by starlight now revealed.”

“I didn’t play that,” Vox said quietly as we looked at him. “I’ve got the songs for tonight all queued up, they’re all old world music. That’s one of the songs that was given to me by that Earth Pony I mentioned.”

“Come on,” Neivi said as we headed out of the office and towards the broadcast center for the station.

Vox ran into it and started to flip switches to try and get the song changed but it just kept playing over the radio speakers. He let out a shout of frustration as he finally tried shutting it off and even though the lights on the console shut off, we could still hear the sound of music playing.

“And all will know the wonder

Of my dark and jeweled sky

When all the world is wrapped

In an eternal lullaby

So say goodnight to this,

The final setting of the sun,

Tomorrow dawns in darkness;

The nighttime has begun!”

And as the last of the music faded away finally it went silent.

“I’m sorry, I had no idea…” Vox said softly as he looked up from the console.

“What are you going to do now?” Neivi asked as she looked at him worriedly.

“Get rid of those records for one thing,” Vox said with a sigh. “This station has stood for decades as a symbol of freedom in the jungle. I can’t allow the voice of the people to be hijacked like this again.”

“Vox populi vox deam,” Neivi said with a shake of her head and he looked at her confused. “I don’t know, it just feels like what they were trying to do here. Don’t worry Vox, you’re going to be just fine, we’ll figure this out.”

“I hope so…” Vox said with a sigh. “I just, need some time to think about this you know? Hopefully next time we meet it’ll be under happier circumstances.”

“I’m glad I got to meet you though Vox,” I said with a soft smile as I offered him a hoof. “You’re still doing a lot of good for Equestria, don’t let this incident get you down.”

“Yeah, you’re right, thanks, but I still need to think about it,” Vox said as he shook my hoof and gave me a nod as we headed back outside.

“Firelight, can you tell me a story?” Blueberry asked from her spot in the bed.

I looked over at her from the book I was reading, her friends had already fallen asleep and she looked like she was tired but was having a hard time getting to sleep.

“Is everything okay Blueberry?” I asked with a soft smile as I looked over at her.

“Just can’t sleep,” she said with a shake of her head as she rubbed her eyes a little. “I guess I’m just worried you know? With everything that’s going on, I’m afraid that something might happen to me…”

“Alright, I’ll tell you a story,” I said as I closed the book I had been reading and levitated it into my bag before I turned back to look at the Earth Pony filly. “Hmm, what kind of story should I tell you?”

“Hmm, how about something about a filly like me?” She said and gave me a soft smile.

I thought about it for a moment when I remembered there was a story that I had been told by a friend from the Society a few weeks before I left. She wasn’t like the others, she often traveled around Equestria to get items and information for the High Priestess. I nodded a little and smiled as I started telling the story.

“This is a story about a filly around your age that lives all the way up in the Crystal Wasteland,” I said and Blueberry’s eyes went wide at that. “Yeah, I know that’s really far away from here. It’s a land of ice and snow, and for some time had been plagued by Changelings who had been infiltrating the largest settlement there called Crystal City. This is where a young Pegasus filly lived.”

“What was she like?” Blueberry asked curiously. “Was she like Wind Chime or…”

“A little bit yeah, like you she lost her parents at a young age,” I said with a sad smile. “One day though, she met three ponies from another world. These ponies helped her come out of her shell, helped her come out of her shell. And together they fought against the Changeling invaders and their ruler Queen Chrysalis.”

“Wait, you said she was close to my age,” Blueberry said. “Isn’t she a bit too young for that kind of thing?”

“Well, yeah, but she believed that it was what needed to be done,” I said and rubbed the back of my head a little. “She and her new friends worked together to fight them. Now see my friend heard all of this from secondary sources, at least until she saw it with her own eyes. It was at a battle towards the end of the conflict during the final push towards the hive. She saw this filly help hold off an entire horde of Changelings with just her friends.”

“What happened to her?” Blueberry asked curiously, but she was starting to fall asleep.

“Well, I don’t know my friend left the Crystal Wasteland not long after,” I said with a soft smile as I levitated the covers over her gently. “But if she was as brave as you and your friends, she’s probably still out there somewhere doing what she can to help ponies.”

“Do, you think I’ll ever be like that?” Blueberry asked, a look of worry was on her face. “I, sometimes wish I could do more to help Nightingale and my friends…”

“Just keep being yourself,” I said with a soft smile. “You don’t have to fight off an army of Changelings or anything to help. Be there for your friends when they need you and help wherever you can, that’s all you need to do.”

“Okay,” Blueberry said with a yawn. “Good night Firelight.”

I smiled a little and nuzzled the filly as she gently drifted off to sleep. I stayed by their bedside for a few more minutes to make sure they didn’t wake up again, but they all seemed content. I smiled a little and walked back out, making sure to close the door quietly.

“How are they?” Lemon asked as I sat down at the kitchen table next to Neivi.

“They’re okay, they finally got to sleep,” I said as Neivi gently rest her head on my shoulder. “I’m still a bit worried about them you know? Especially with everything that’s going on with the Society.”

“They’re certainly livin’ up ta their name,” Storm said as she took a long drink from a bottle as I popped the cap off a bottle of Sparkle-Cola Harmony and took a drink. “This whole situation is one big nightmare.”

“I just hope that it’s not going to get to them,” Neivi said and I nodded in agreement. “I don’t want anything to happen to those fillies.”

“Well, ya’ll could formally adopt them,” Storm suggested just as I took a drink which made me cough and nearly spit it back out. “What?”

“I, don’t really think…” I said nervously.

“Yeah, we’re not really ready for that…” Neivi said with a blush.

“Yeah, not yet…” I finished.

“Look, you want my input, nopony is actually ready to raise a foal,” Lemon said as she took a drink. “I was terrified when I found out I was pregnant with Licorice and that was back before the cold war had even started. But, we’ve seen how Firelight is with them and I think you two would do fine.”

“Maybe, I don’t know,” I said with a sigh. “I’ll think about it, right now I just want to keep them safe and happy.”

“Do, you think we’d be good parents?” Neivi asked as she looked up at me for a moment.

“Maybe,” I said with a sigh and nuzzled her gently. “But I can’t think of anyone I’d rather try and raise fillies with than you. I love you Neivi.”

“I love you too Firelight,” Neivi said as she snuggled up against me. I smiled and gently wrapped my wing around her.

I thought back to what had happened in the radio station for a moment. Something about all of this worried me, what were we going to do? How did they even keep playing the music like that?

I didn’t like it, it felt like an omen for something worse to come. But for now, I just wanted to enjoy the rest of the evening with my friends.

I gently stroked Neivi’s mane and closed my eyes as I felt the warmth of the Zebra mare pressed against me. The sound of her heartbeat was strong, and I knew that there was no one else I wanted to spend my life with.

Now, we just had to get our friend back, one way or another.

LEVEL UP!

Perk Received: Light Step.

Details: You’ve learned how to move through the jungle quietly and without disturbing the forest. You can move quietly without disturbing the forest or setting off some traps.