"If you tremble with indignation at every injustice,
then you are a comrade of mine."
-Che Guevara.

"What's going on?" I asked as we got to our hooves. "I thought you said this place wasn't attacked."

"Not attacked by the Raiders or the Society, but there is a group that doesn't seem willing to respect that," Neivi said as we headed for the door. "We don't really know what they're called, but they've been attacking us on and off for awhile."

I blinked in surprise for a moment as we headed out of the eating area. Storm Wrangler took to the skies and headed off towards a building not far away while Lemon trotted off towards some civilians as they headed into a structure off to the side.

"So, what am I supposed to do? I can't exactly just go anywhere," I said as I looked over at Neivi. "I mean, you're supposed to be keeping an eye on me so..."

Neivi sighed a little and turned and headed back towards the clinic. "Do you have any medical training?"

"Yeah, sure we're all given basic medical training for use in the field in case one of us gets injured," I said and looked at her for a moment. "Wait, you want me to help in the clinic?"

"Most of my nurses and field medics are out in the town, I need somepony who knows at least something about medicine to help," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "I know its a big request, but I need your help Firelight. Do you think you can do it?"

"I'll, try," I said. I was a bit surprised actually, she had no reason to trust me given everything I had heard about how ponies thought about me, but Neivi was different, I could tell that much. I nodded a little and followed her back to the clinic.

"Alright, like I said most of the staff is in the field running battlefield triage, they'll treat what they can out there and send the worst of the wounded this way," Neivi said as she started taking medical supplies out of the cabinets and set them down before she looked at me. "I know the mayor's not going to like this, but I need to take this ring off you. Can I trust you not to do anything?"

I paused a moment and looked at her, she looked like she was more worried about what was going on outside than anything I would do. "Don't worry Neivi, I'm not going to abandon you," I said with a soft smile as I bowed my head a little and she used her hooves to pull the ring off.

"You're going to need a weapon, I'm a medic, I don't like fighting but if anypony gets in here..." she said and let that thought trail off for a moment before she opened a cabinet and took out a strange rifle that I hadn't ever seen before that had Zebra markings on it and several cartridges and clips. "Its got a kick to it, but its what I've got, if anypony comes in who doesn't look injured or are with the injured, don't hesitate."

I nodded as I levitated the rifle up and secured it before I looked at the medical supplies. They were different from the ones I had been trained on, but that made sense I guess, she was a Zebra and she probably had different healing techniques than I knew.

But I figured I could probably help out as best I could with what knowledge I had. I gave her a nod and a confident smile as she started laying out the supplies as the sound of gunfire could be heard in the distance.

The battle for Nightingale was on.

"You're going to be okay, I promise," I said, trying to sound reassuring as I looked at the Earth Pony colt who's leg I was healing. He hadn't been part of the fighting, but he had been caught in some of the crossfire, I shook my head and sighed a little. "What's your name?"

"Kiwi," he said nervously as he looked up at me. "You're not going to take me away are you?"

"No, don't be silly," I said with a reassuring smile as I kept working on his leg. "I'm just here to try and help keep you guys alive. Where's your family? How did you get hurt?"

"They made it to one of the shelters, I was at the General Store when they attacked," Kiwi said with a shake of his head. "I nearly got killed, if it wasn't for Storm Wrangler and her Pegasi..."

I smiled a little and nodded, I was starting to understand why Storm Wrangler had her cocky attitude, maybe she really was as good as he claimed. I gave him a smile and brushed his mane back as I finished wrapping up his leg.

"Don't worry, you're going to be just fine," I said with a nod as he hobbled to his hooves and headed over towards one of the guards who escorted him out of the clinic and towards one of the shelters.

"You've got a great bedside manner," Neivi commented as she looked at me with a smile. "Are you sure you're not really a doctor or something?"

"No, I just had the most basic of training like I said," I said with a shake of my head as I went to work on the next patient, this one was a Pegasus guard who's wing had been badly mangled by a bullet. I flinched a little, that was not a wound I was sure I could treat easily with only my basic knowledge of medicine. "What happened?"

"Blasted Unicorn snuck up on me," the Pegasus said with a shake of her head as I started to work on it as best I could. "Whoever these guys are, they're good, we almost missed them before they got here."

"Well, I'm glad you caught them," I said as I cleaned the wound a little and started to take out the bandages. The Pegasus was watching me carefully as if she was afraid that I was going to do something. "Look, I know I'm not exactly the most popular pony in town right now..."

"Yah think?" the guard asked with a roll of her eyes.

"But I'm trying to help you out right now, I'm not going to hurt you or teleport you away or whatever," I said with a roll of my eyes as I kept working. "Trust me on this one, I'm just here to help heal you and your friends."

The Pegasus groaned and shrugged as she let me get back to work on her wound. I looked over at Neivi who was working hard on getting everything else worked on, it wasn't easy with just the two of us but we were managing, and my Alicorn magic was certainly helping.

When I finished the Pegasus slipped off without so much as a thank you. I sighed and took a deep breath as I looked back at Neivi and then at the door as it opened. For a moment I thought nothing was there, and then a figure rushed in and I drew the rifle and aimed it at them as best I could.

They were moving fast as if spurred on by some strange unnatural force. They smirked wickedly as they drew a knife and looked at me.

"Monster, heathen, false goddess!" The pony said with a hiss. "You will burn in Tartarus, you monster!"

I didn't like the sound of that, but I didn't hesitate either as I lifter the rifle and aimed for the figure's head and pulled the trigger. The invading pony screamed for a moment before collapsing into a heap on the ground, I lowered my rifle and released a breath I didn't realize I had been holding as I fell to my hooves.

I had shot before, I had even killed before, but I had never killed another pony before. Before now I had only needed to kill monsters, animals, things that weren't, well, like that. I had actually killed a pony, even if they were trying to hurt me and the patients, I still couldn't get over that feeling as I felt my heart beating a mile a minute.

Goddess, what had I done?

"Firelight, calm down," a soft voice said and I looked up to see the face of Neivi looking at me in the eye. She had a kindness in her eyes that relaxed me a moment, but it didn't change the fact that I had just killed somepony.

"What... why did I do that?" I finally managed to choke out after a moment.

"You did it because there was no other option," Neivi said as she hugged me gently. "You saved the ponies in here, don't focus on the life you took, focus on the lives you saved. Please, for me?"

I looked into her eyes for a long moment and then smiled and nodded a little. She was right of course, these were ponies that couldn't defend themselves and I had done what was necessary.
But it didn't help that I knew I was going to have to do it again someday. I shook my head and hugged the Zebra back, gently wrapping my wings around her for a moment before I blushed and released it.

"Sorry... I didn't mean to do that..." I said softly as I looked away from her for a moment. "I just... felt like I needed to do that, you know?"

"In Pegasi, its a sign of wanting to protect somepony you care about," Neivi said with a chuckle as she released the hug. "I'll try not to read too much into that if you don't want me to. Now come on, lets get the rest of these ponies healed, okay?"

I nodded as we started working on the other ponies that were still coming in. I sighed a moment, I knew that nothing I did would change the fact that I had taken a life, but I was going to do everything I could to make sure that I saved more lives today than I took.

I looked at Neivi who adjusted her glasses again and continued to work as she gave me a reassuring smile. That was all I needed to know to know that I had done the right thing.

A few hours later the fighting had ended and I found myself once more confined with the magic negation ring on my horn as we had all gathered at the Town Hall where a meeting had been called of the town council. Neivi as the town doctor was on the council and was currently giving a report to the rest of them.

I sighed and looked over at Storm Wrangler who was waiting for her turn to give a report on the battle. The purple Pegasus was seated there with her hat lowered down over her face, she didn't seem to care about what was being talked about, I just shook my head and looked back at Neivi who had just finished reading the autopsy report.

They were going to decide what to do with me next, I just hoped that my actions during the battle had managed to sway the council's decision a little.

"So, from everything I could tell based on my autopsy of the only enemy combatant that we were able to kill, they were perfectly healthy at the time of death," Neivi said as she passed the papers around the table where the council was seated and they looked them over.

"Apart from being dead you mean," an Earth Pony mare dressed in a fancier version of Storm Wrangler's guard uniform asked as she looked up at Neivi.

"I mean they were in perfect health, and that confuses me a little," Neivi said as she leaned forward. "Ever since the bombs fell, we've been slowly soaking up radiation. Now anyone who is sane counters that with Radaway and Rad-X, but there's always a little bit of radiation damage to our bodies. Its not been until the most recent generation thanks to the Day of Sunshine and Rainbows that this has no longer been a factor."

"Right, but your report here says that the subject was at least 20 years of age," Mayor Steel said as he picked up the file and flipped through it. "Is it possible you missed something Doctor Neivi?"

"Impossible, I did a very thorough autopsy of the deceased," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "The only conclusion I can reach is that the deceased has had no contact with radiation in their entire life."

"So, what they're from a Stable?" The Guard commander asked as she looked between Neivi and the Mayor for a moment. "We know there's at least one stable out there, could they be from Stable 27?"

"Based on the files we've found on Stable 27, that is highly unlikely," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "Actually, if I had to guess this pony only recently entered Equestria from somewhere beyond the reach of the radiation. I think, and the evidence supports this, that whoever this is, is from a society of ponies that have had absolutely no contact with radioactive materials or Megaspells. If you'll look at page 6 of my report, he does have the signs of a disease that usually strikes during foalhood, which would be completely unknown in a Stable environment."

She let that thought linger for a moment as the rest of the council talked amongst themselves. I looked between them and they looked nervous about this revelation, I didn't blame them, this was something I hadn't expected to learn either.

If these ponies were untouched by radiation, it meant that they could only be from outside of Equestria. And if they were from outside of Equestria, we didn't know anything about them, or what they were doing here.

"Was there anything of note in his effects?" Mayor Steel asked at the guard commander who paused a moment. "Commander Twist, this is the first real clue we have to the identity of the attackers that dare try and assault Nightingale, we need all the information we can get on them."

"Mayor, we found some information, but we're not quite sure what to make of it," Commander Twist said as she brushed her mane back for a moment. She reached into her bags and laid out a piece of cloth, I adjusted myself so I could see above the table and see what it was, even Storm Wrangler seemed curious all of a sudden. "This was folded up in his bags, we thing its an insignia, and... well, you can see for yourself."

The cloth looked like it came from robes or armor similar to what was worn by the Nightmare Society. I narrowed my eyes at the sight of it, instead of the dark robes it was golden and white with a single image of an orange sun. The symbol of Celestia, who had locked our Goddess away over 1200 years ago.

"Is that what I think it is?" Neivi asked as she adjusted her glasses for a moment and stared at it. "I thought the rumors of a Celestia worshiping sect were unfounded."

"Apparently not," Twist said as she looked at Neivi and then at Mayor Steel. "Its not a lot to go on, they didn't have a lot on them other than this and some papers that seem to be encoded and we're looking into that now. The fact of the matter is, we have to consider the possibility that we have a new threat to the city."

"Great," Steel said as he leaned back and rubbed his temples. "Raiders, Cultists, and now these things, and at least the first two are leaving us alone for now. What's the worst case scenario here?"

"Worst case scenario, they have a large enough force to breach the wall," Twist said with a shake of her head. "That's the only reason we've held out this long, the walls of the city are strong but they're not impenetrable. My guard force can only do so much to protect the city Mayor, we have to consider other options."

"If we sent word to Canterbury, I'm sure they'd..." Neivi started to say before Steel slammed his hooves down on the table and we all jumped.

"We don't need Canterbury's help, we'll manage on our own," he said with a scowl. "Ever since that, what was it called, Viatorem showed up there they've been less than helpful in their aid."

"They've had their own problems, they don't have all the advantages we do," Neivi said with a frown. "If we were to accept their offer of a mutual defense pact then we might be able to drive off any future attackers."

"Like I said, we'll be fine," Mayor Steel said with a shake of his head. "Commander Twist, I want guard on the wall doubled and more patrols in the streets and bridges until we're sure that they aren't coming back. I don't want this city to be breached, do you understand me?"

"I, understand," Twist said but she frowned a little at that order. "I'll get right on it sir."

"The townsfolk aren't going to like that," the fourth member of the council commented, speaking up for the first time. He was an older Pegasus stallion with a dark blue coat and short white mane with a streak of blue in it "You're putting the town under martial law just in case of an attack that may never come. I agree that we need to put guards on the walls, but in the streets?"

"If it keeps the town safe, then its what needs to be done," Mayor Steel said with a scowl as he looked at the stallion. "You're not growing soft are you Rising Sun? The last thing we need is for you to go soft when we're on the verge of the biggest threat to Nightingale in years."

"Of course not," Rising Sun said with a shake of his head. "I'm just saying that we can't risk alienating the population without a reason. You should know that Mayor, the last thing we need is a riot in the city streets."

I liked Rising Sun, he seemed to know what he was talking about a lot more than Steel did. I looked over at Storm Wrangler who smiled a little as she pushed her hat up and gave me a nod.

"Alright, we'll put it to a vote, all in favor of putting guards in the streets in addition to the walls, raise your hoof," Steel said and raised his hoof, Twist did the same. "All opposed?"

Rising sun and Neivi raised their hooves and the council looked at the fifth member who had just been listening for the longest time. They weren't a pony, they were actually a Griffon who was dressed in wartime clothing and looked between the four of them for a moment.

"You asked me to sit on this council to help deal with things that arose in the matter of economics and bringing in outside help," the Griffon said with a shake of her head. "Look, I don't pretend to know everything about this town or what's going on beyond these walls in the jungle. But I do know one thing, you start turning this town into a prison and the inhabitants will riot."

She raised her claw after a moment and gave Rising Sun and Neivi a small nod and they smiled.

"The vote passes 3 to 2," Neivi said with a nod. "There will only be an increase of guards along the perimeter wall."

"Fine, lets move on to other business," Steel said as he took out his papers and looked around and then finally saw me sitting there. "Alicorn..."

"Firelight Mr. Mayor," Neivi said as she rolled her eyes a little.

"Whatever," he said with a shake of his head. "You were brought here from the jungle outside and considering you have made no effort to hide your affiliation with the Nightmare Society, we are having a hard time deciding what to do with you."

I gulped a little and looked at the council for a long moment. This was going to take a lot of explaining, I just had to hope that the help I had provided during the attack by, whoever it was that attacked us, would help convince them otherwise. I looked at Neivi who gave me a reassuring smile as she looked back at the other council members.

"Mayor, fellow councilors, the fact of the matter is that we wouldn't even have the information we do if it wasn't for Firelight," the Zebra said with a soft smile. "She also helped heal both civilians and guardsponies that were brought to the clinic and the fact that she killed the enemy agent cannot be ignored. If she poses any sort of threat to Nightingale, then she's doing a very good job of covering it up."

Mayor Steel looked at me for a long moment before looking back at Neivi. "Does the Alicorn Firelight have anything to say about this?"

"Well, uh..." I said and flinched a little, this felt like being called on by the High Priestess to speak in front of the entire congregation. "Look, you don't have any reason to trust me, I don't know what the others have done to settlements around here, but if I wanted to do anything to hurt you I'd have done it already. I just want to get back home and maybe I can convince the others to stop with these raids on settlements, I mean you no harm, I promise. I just ask for a chance to prove it."

The council looked between each other. The Griffon leaned in and whispered something to Rising Sun for a moment who gave her a nod before looking back at me.

"Alicorns have had a spotty record in Equestria," Rising Sun said with a shake of his head. "Unity, the Crimson Empire's Experiments, and now the Nightmare Society. We don't have a lot of reasons to trust what you say to be honest, and I don't know what I can say to convince you that there is a real threat from your group. You've seen Nightingale by now, have you not?"

"I have," I said with a nod.

"And does it match up with what your High Priestess claims?" He asked as he looked at me inquisitively.

"Well, no," I said with a shake of my head. "She made a lot of claims about the outside world that just don't make sense, but that's why I want to get back to the Temple, we need to know what's going on out here."

"Doctor Neivi, would you say this Alicorn is fit to leave?" Rising Sun asked as he looked over at Neivi. "And would she pose a threat to Nightingale?"

"In my professional opinion? She still needs to stay under my care for two more days," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "But other than that she's not a threat to us or the others in Nightingale, I'll personally see to it."

"And Ah'll help her with that," Storm Wrangler said as she pushed her hat up a little and looked at the council. "Tha Nightingale Guard ain't gonna just let a guest go around when she might be a danger, or in danger."

She put an extra emphasis on the last of that as she shot a look over at Mayor Steel who glowered a little. He nodded to Commander Twist who looked at Storm Wrangler. I could tell that she wasn't happy about this decision either, but I wasn't about to question it.

"Alright, if that's how you want to play it, she's free to leave the clinic as long as she has an escort," Steel said with a shake of his head. "She is however to keep her magic negation ring on at all times unless in the event of an extreme emergency, is that understood?"

"Understood," Neivi said as she shot me an apologetic look, but frankly it was better than we could have hoped for right now.

"When she is healed up, she can leave Nightingale if she wishes, as long as she agrees to not tell her fellow Alicorns about any strengths or weaknesses of our town," Steel said as he shot me a look. "We've gone this long without a full assault by the Society, the last thing we need is for the walls to fall because of a simple mistake we made."

"Understood," I said with a nod as I looked at Neivi who gave me a smile. "I won't breathe a word about them to anypony outside these walls."

"Good, good," Steel said with a nod as he looked over at Storm Wrangler. "Guardspony Storm Wrangler, I believe you have a report to give on the status of the guard after the battle with this new group as well as on the actions during the battle itself. Lets hear what you have to say."

I moved back to my seat as Storm Wrangler walked forward and started to talk to the council.

The meeting went on for awhile longer and I had to sit in silence as they went over the day to day details of running a town this large. I tried not to fall asleep at least, but it was pretty boring so I'm going to leave it out of this account.

"Well, that went better than I expected," I said as I brushed my wild mane back with my hoof a little. I hadn't had my usual chance to groom myself so my mane had grown longer and more wild than it had ever been. "I thought for sure I was doomed going into that."

"Don't worry about it, yah have friends on tha council who ain't gonna let them toss yah ta tha wolves," Storm Wrangler said as we headed out of the council building together. "Look, Ah know Ah was a bit... apprehensive about havin' yah around before..."

"Don't worry, I understand," I said with a shake of my head. "I showed up out of nowhere, I'd feel the same way if one of you guys showed up in the Temple."

"Well, still Ah wanted ta say Ah'm sorry," Storm Wrangler said with a smile. "Yer alright fer an Alicorn, and Ah should've given yah more of a chance before."

"I have to admit I kind of understand where you're coming from," I said with a sigh as I looked back at her. "If it means anything, I've never attacked any settlements. I've only recently been deemed old enough to even be part of missions."

"Ah see," the Pegasus said as she brushed her mane back a little. "But Ah'm gonna tell yah this Firelight, Neivi trusts yah, probably more than anypony else in this town. She's got a good heart and a good head on her shoulders, and if yah betray her, Ah'm gonna deal with yah personally. Do Ah make mahself clear?"

The threat hung in the air a little as I looked at the Pegasus for a long moment. She was deadly serious with what she said, I don't know if it was because she had a crush on the Zebra or if it was because they were friends, but I knew there was no way I could ignore it.

"Transparently," I said as I looked at the mare for a long moment and she nodded. "What's earned such loyalty from you if I may ask?"

"Like Ah said, she's got a good heart," Storm Wrangler said with a shake of her head. "If Mornin' Star herself came into town she'd give the old Alicorn a bed and a hot meal. Ah can respect that, yah don't always see that sort of kindness in this town."

"Sounds to me like you more than respect her," I said with a chuckle which caused a blush to spread over the Pegasus mare's face.

"Ah ain't gonna lie, she's a beautiful mare, yah know, fer a Zebra, and Ah wouldn't mind gettin' under that tail," Storm said with a shake of her head. "But it wouldn't last, she wants somethin' more than what Ah can give her right now. She wants a pony that will be there by her side no matter what. Ah'm not that pony and Ah know it."

"So, why do you keep pursuing her?" I asked curiously, I wanted to get to know this strange Pegasus mare a little better.

"Because she's lonely, she ain't got anypony she's with or anythin', and maybe if Ah work hard enough Ah'll become tha mare she needs," Storm Wrangler said with a shake of her head. "Listen ta me, Ah'm openin' up ta an Alicorn Ah just met earlier today. Yer quite tha interestin' pony Firelight."

"I've got that effect on ponies," I said with a shake of my head as I looked at her. "I promise, I won't do anything to hurt Neivi, you have my word."

"Good," the Pegasus said with a smirk as she tipped her hat to me a little. "If Ah didn't know any better, Ah'd think yah had a bit of a thing fer her yerself."

"What? No, no, no..." I said and blushed heavily as I shook my head. "I'm only going to be here a few more days at most. I'm not in much of a position to pursue anything with her if I was interested."

"Yeah, we'll see Ah guess," Storm Wrangler said with a chuckle before the door to the council chambers opened again and Neivi trotted out looking a little tired. "Hey Neivi, everythin' okay?"

"Oh, you know how these council meetings are," the Zebra said with a shake of her head. "Mayor Steel is always trying to push for what he thinks is best and everyone seems to have their own agenda. We're lucky when we can actually set aside everything and agree on something. Today was at least pretty decent given that we managed to settle the issues with very little debate."

She shook her head and looked at me with a smile as she reached up and removed the ring from around my horn. She brushed my wild mane back a little and gave me a nod. "You know, that looks good on you, maybe you should keep it like that."

I blushed a little at the Zebra's touch but I brushed it off and shrugged a little. "I'll think about it, but normally we keep our manes neat."

"So, lets go meet up with Lemon Lime for dinner, I could use something to eat after that," Neivi said as we headed back out of the town hall and into Nightingale again.

I looked out over the strange town that had been built into the jungle. There were ponies working to repair the damage from the attack, but at the same time I could see ponies moving around as if the attack hadn't happened, they were just living their lives day by day.

I smiled a little when I saw three fillies playing together. A Unicorn levitated a ball up and tried to keep it away from her Pegasus friend who dove and flew after the ball along with a second one that was being bounced around by an Earth Pony filly.

They were having fun despite everything that was going on around them, everything that could potentially kill them or drag them off to slavery or whatever. They were just three little fillies enjoying themselves. I could remember...

Wait, no I couldn't. I couldn't remember playing with friends and having fun, all I could remember looking back was the Society. I couldn't remember being a small filly playing with my friends as if there was not a care in the world, and it saddened me more than anything.

What had happened to me? Why couldn't I remember my own foalhood?

"So Commander Twist comes into her office and looks around and finds it completely empty," Storm Wrangler said as we ate at the same dining area we had met up for lunch. "She is of course confused and runs off ta find her secretary, but when they get back the entire office is back."

"How did you manage that?" Lemon Lime asked as she looked at the Pegasus confused for a moment.

"Ah know a Unicorn that specializes in illusion magic," Storm Wrangler said as she took a long drink of her soda. "Ya'll would be surprised at how useful it is in prankin' yer boss. We used it a few more times that week in different variations like once we put it on the ceilin', or another time we had it all look pink."

"That was you?" Neivi asked with a laugh as she looked at Storm. "I remember that week, Twist thought she was going crazy, she must've come by my clinic 20 times."

The other mares let out a chuckle that I had to admit was a bit infectious. I hadn't ever really thought about that kind of thing before, honestly I was really only half paying attention to the conversation since I was more focused on thinking about what was going on.

I glanced at Lemon Lime, the old Ghoul shot me a look for a moment before returning to her meal. I had to wonder exactly what brought her here, she acted like she was searching for something, or somepony but she was keeping it to herself. Or, at least she didn't want to tell me about it.

And then there was the question of what all was going on around here. The Council had briefly mentioned Stable 27, that just added to the questions I already had about that place. Whatever was in there had been important enough for the High Priestess to send her daughter and one of her best wings to investigate it.

So, what did the ponies of Nightingale know about Stable 27? Something about it was bugging me and I didn't like it.

"So, what do you have on your mind Firelight?" Neivi asked as she looked at me concerned for a moment. "You seem to be deep in thought about something."

"Just thinking about everything is all," I said with a shake of my head. "Something about this town, well it doesn't feel off to me but it makes me wonder..."

I trailed off for a second as the other three mares exchanged a look and then looked back at me. "What's wrong?"

"I don't remember where I came from, I don't remember my foalhood, all I remember is life in the Society," I said with a sigh and a shake of my head. "I never really realized it until now, but it feels... wrong somehow."

"You're opening your eyes to a wider world," Neivi said with a nod. "That's something that's going to get to you Firelight, I think you should really sit down and think about what you really want to do with your life. If going back to the Society is really right for you, or if maybe you should think about making a new home for yourself."

"I don't know, maybe," I said with a sigh. "I've got friends back in the Society, good ponies that are probably worried sick about me or mourning me while I'm sitting here eating whatever this stuff is."

"I think its a salad made from local plants or something," Lemon Lime said.

"You know what I mean," I said with a sigh and a shake of my head. "I don't know if my home is back in the Society or if its here or what."

"Look, Ah ain't gonna lie Ah used ta live above tha clouds," Storm Wrangler said as she adjusted her hat a little. "Back when tha Enclave was just startin' ta get out in tha Wasteland. When tha Lightbringer did her thing and Ah saw tha Wasteland below and started ta see what kind of world was down here, Ah knew Ah couldn't stay and listen ta tha lies told by tha government. A lot of us did, there's a lot of good down here, and a lot of ponies wantin' ta help protect it, and we wanted ta help them out. Ah know it ain't quite tha same thing, but Ah'm kinda in tha same boat as yah, and Ah know that we need ta do more than just use a bunch of fancy words ta help."

"Something that not everypony understands," Neivi said quietly into her mug of coffee. "But there's a lot of ponies here in Nightingale that agree with us and want to see things be done differently. If you'd like, we could introduce you to them, maybe they'll be willing to accept you more."

"Lets hope," I said with a sigh and a shake of my head. "I don't like this, it feels like the longer I'm in Nightingale the more I put you all at risk."

"We're already at risk, we got attacked earlier and that's not even going into all the disappearances there have been," Lemon Lime said with a snort. "If you ask me, having an Alicorn around isn't going to make things any more or less dangerous."

"But it might at least prove a catalyst for change," Neivi pointed out and her friends went silent for a moment. "We have to consider everything right now, and the truth is that not everything in Nightingale is as it seems. If there's a chance that somepony is getting into the city and taking ponies it means..."

She let that thought trail off for a moment. We all knew what she meant, it would likely mean that there was somepony in Nightingale itself who was helping them. I didn't like it, and neither did the others, so the question now became who was doing it?

"If there's somepony in town doin' this, we'll hunt 'em down," Storm Wrangler said with a tone of finality in her voice. "We're supposed ta be helpin' ponies, so why don't we help stop whoever's doin' this?"

"Agreed, no more missing foals," Neivi said and looked over at me and Lemon Lime. "What about you two, are you in too?"

"I'm in, but I don't know how much help I'll be," I said with a shake of my head and gave her a nod. "You helped me out when I needed it, so its the least I can do."

"Yeah, I guess I'm in too," Lemon Lime said with a shrug. "This town's been good to me and I might as well do something to pay it back. But still, we don't know who we're looking for or what they're doing so we need to be careful."

"I know," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "But I also know that Mayor Steel isn't doing anything to stop these and Commander Twist is basically in his pocket. We have to approach this with caution and hope that we can figure out who's behind this before its too late."

I nodded a little and looked between the three Wasteland ponies for a moment. I smiled, these were three beings from completely different walks of life and yet they were able to come together as friends and work towards a common cause, that's something we never really had in the Society.

Maybe, just maybe I should stay around a little longer and see what kind of place this really was. If I could bring back more than just words to the Society, I could make it a better place too.

I smiled and levitated up a bottle of soda and took a swig of it before setting it back down and looking at Neivi for a long moment and then at the others. I still had a lot to understand about the outside world, but I had a lot to think about right now, and not all of it was good.

I just hoped that I could make the right decision before it was too late.

"And that was Octavia playing Luna's Determination," a stallion's voice said over the radio that Neivi had set up in the clinic. "For those just joining us, this is Vox Populi for Equestrian Freedom Radio coming at you with the late night news for you night owls out there in the Equestrian Jungle. We've gotten a report from Nightingale of another attempted attack on the city, but of course it was driven back by the brave ponies of the Nightingale Guard. Apparently one managed to breach the walls, but was stopped by a mysterious pony before he could do any more damage. Whoever you are out there, I tip my hat to you mystery pony, here's hoping we get some valuable information because of your help. Now, lets switch it over to something a bit more metal with Welcome to..."

Neivi reached over and turned off the radio as a song started to play. "He likes playing that song way too much, I think its a bit too on the nose myself," she said with a chuckle as she spun her chair around and gave me a nod as I rubbed my horn a little. "How's it going? Not having any problems from when you couldn't use your magic I hope."

"No, everything's fine," I said with a shake of my head. "So, who's this Vox Populi pony anyway?"

"He lives somewhere out west, I'm not sure exactly where," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "He pretty much provides music for the entire jungle though so he's pretty popular. I've never met him personally though."

"Huh, I see," I said, I had to admit I hadn't really heard him before but that was because the only radio that we listened to in the Society was Society music or the High Priestess' sermons. "So, you said you wanted me to meet some ponies earlier?"

"Yeah, like I said a lot of us are worried about what's going on with the ponies going missing," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "We lost another one during the attack on the town, originally we thought she was just killed in the attack but..."

"But you never found her body or anything?" I asked and she nodded. "Well, that's definitely worth looking into then. I'll meet them and if there's anything I can do to help I will, but I can't promise a whole lot. I'm not really much of a detective or anything you know."

"I know, but it wouldn't hurt to have a fresh set of eyes," Neivi said and gave me a small smile. "Firelight, I know you're still new to this kind of life, but we take this kind of thing personally. This is our town, our home, and if anypony goes missing then we want to do everything we can to get them back safe."

"I understand," I said with a nod, I just wished I knew how I could help. "How many ponies have gone missing?"

"Almost 50," Neivi said with a sigh and my eyes went wide, that many had gone missing? "Over the past 6 years, Nightingale has a pretty decent population so it shouldn't cause any issues but we're still really worried about it. Most pony families have been touched by this and we're all very worried."

"I see..." I said with a sigh as I shook my head a little. "So, the question is who's been around long enough and is friendly enough to be able to get that many ponies to follow them and be taken away."

"I don't know," Neivi admitted with a shake of her head. "I wish I knew honestly, but there's something about this that's wrong. We have to assume that whoever it is is up to no good, but we don't know where any of them went, so we don't know what their motivations are."

"Alright, when can we go meet the others?" I asked as I looked over at her.

"In an hour when the town is at its quietest," she said with a nod. "I promise Firelight, we'll do everything we can to solve this problem. But, if there is a connection to the Society..."

"Yeah, I know, if it gets out then I'll be treated like a monster," I said with a sigh. "I don't know what I'm going to do honest, I just have to hope that we'll manage to work everything out."

Neivi nodded and gave me a hug. I smiled a little and hugged her back, feeling her soft fur against me, I wished that she would never let me go. There was something about this mare's embrace that made me feel safe, like everything was going to be okay.

I just hoped that everything really was going to be okay.

An hour passed and we made our way out of the clinic and down to the forest floor below. A few times it looked like there were guards coming close but we avoided them quickly, while there was not a lot of patrols in the street, there were still a lot of guards keeping an eye out for things.

Neivi trotted along the ground before stopping on one patch of dirt that didn't look any different than any other. I looked around confused, what was going on here? Why had she suddenly stopped?

I got my answer quickly as she used her hooves to pull up a trap door and gestured for me to enter. When I did I found myself in darkness only pierced by the dim light of the moon coming down from above. I started down a set of stairs just as Neivi entered and closed the trapdoor behind her.

"Can you give us some light?" She whispered to me and I nodded as my horn glowed and lit up the area around us.

We were in a tunnel structure that looked like it had been built centuries before. There was a set of tracks along the ground leading in both directions, but I could make out piles of rubble off to the left.

"What is this place?" I asked as I looked over at the Zebra.

"Its a mine shaft, from during the war," she said with a shake of her head as we started towards the right. "It was once one of the few places that coal could be mined in Equestria but when ponies started experimenting with magical energy it was closed up. These tunnels stretch for miles around the jungle, so we've taken them on as sort of a base."

"And nopony knows about these other than your little group?" I asked as I looked at her curiously.

"Oh sure there's old legends about this place, but nopony knows where the entrances are no," she said with a shake of her head. "This is our secret, our hiding place away from those that don't see the world the way we do, its our only hope at escaping sometimes."

"Escaping?" I asked as I looked at her confused for a moment. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, not all citizens can handle the pressure of this town, and we've surprisingly enough had Mayors worse than Steel," Nevi said and brushed here mane back a little. "But that's not important right now, right now we need to focus on getting you to where we need to... ah, here we are."

She knocked on an old door that had been made to look like the rock wall around it and a slit opened up and two eyes looked out at us. "What's the password?"

"The rights of the people rise on the three stars," Neivi said and the slit shut and the door slid open. On the other side was probably the largest stallion I had ever seen, he was dressed in armor and was muscular to the point that I was surprised he could walk.

"Neivi, I wasn't sure if you were going to make it," a mare's voice said from inside and I looked to see another Zebra, this one was dressed in wastelander gear as she looked at me with a strange look. "I have to say I didn't believe Storm Wrangler when she said that you were going to be bringing along an Alicorn."

"Firelight, this is Viatorem Soia, she's from the Homeland," Neivi said as the Zebra gave me a nod. "Sorry I was a little later than expected, we had to avoid guard patrols, even a councilmare isn't immune to scrutiny by the Guard."

"Of course," Soia said with a nod as the glow vanished from my horn now that I was sure it was well lit. I could see Lemon Lime and Storm Wrangler off to one side and Storm gave me a nod as I looked around.

This was a large cavern that had to have been built pretty close to Nightingale. Lining the walls were weapons and armor that I didn't recognize, there were other rooms off to the side and I could see more ponies and the occasional Zebra moving in and out of them, not paying any attention to us.

"What is this place?" I asked in slight awe as I looked back at Soia and Neivi.

"This is the Underground," Soia said with a shake of her head. "We're here to try and deal with the real threats to Nightingale, the ones that Mayor Steel and the Guard seem to be ignoring."

"I see," I said and sighed a little as I shook my head. "What are you preparing for down here, some sort of fight?"

"If it comes to that, yes," Soia said with a shake of her head. "But the biggest problem we have right now is the missing ponies. There doesn't seem to be much of a pattern to who vanishes other than that they're either young orphans or old and sick. This is a bigger problem than the Mayor wants to admit."

"One of our agents managed ta get a glimpse of who it was that took one of them away," Storm Wrangler said. "They didn't get much of a description but they were tall, and she couldn't get a good look at whoever was givin' her over ta them."

I sighed, tall usually meant Alicorns to me, I was actually pretty medium sized by Alicorn standards but I still pretty much towered over the rest of the ponies here. A few of them looked at me nervously, Soia herself didn't look like she was that happy to have me sitting in her cave.

"Firelight, you're here because Neivi and Storm Wrangler vouches for you," Soia said with a shake of her head. "I don't know if I can trust you frankly, Alicorns are not something we really have to deal with in the FRA, but I've heard enough stories since I came here to know that you are a potential risk to me and my group."

"And I'm still not convinced frankly," Lemon Lime said with a shake of her head. "I've heard what you did in the clinic, but you could be lying to us."

"So, what do you have to say, Firelight?" Soia said as she looked at me, I could feel the Zebra's eyes on me and I shivered a little at the feeling. "We do not pass judgment without hearing what you have to say after all, we are not savages."

"She isn't on trial at all," Neivi said with a scowl. "I don't like the idea of passing judgment on a pony that hasn't done anything to threaten either us or Nightingale."

"Neivi, I trust your judgment but I want to hear what she has to say for myself," Soia said as she looked at me again for a long moment. "We're not going to kill her if that's what you're worried about, but I want to know more about her before she is allowed full access to the Underground. You know the virtues as well as anyone."

Neivi nodded a little and shook her head after a moment. "Firelight, go ahead."

I felt like I was back in the Council chamber with all the eyes staring at me, but this time it was more nerve wracking because I wasn't even sure who was on my side. I took a deep breath and began to speak, I just hoped that what I was saying would help.

"I'm not going to lie honestly, I am part of the Nightmare Society, I've been part of it for as long as I remember," I said with a shake of my head. "But that doesn't make me a monster or anything, I'm starting to realize that things are not as I've been told in Equestria. If the Society are the ones taking the ponies away, I had nothing to do with it, I was just a soldier working for the High Priestess and I never took any ponies away from any settlements. The truth of the matter is, I'm not sure I want to go back anymore... its not easy for me to admit this but with everything that's going on, I don't really know what I want to do anymore. I just want a chance to prove myself, and maybe try and figure these things out for myself. Neivi brought me here because she felt I needed to see this place, and I'm starting to see why. I'm still willing to help with the disappearances in any way I can. I promise that I won't do anything to expose your secrets here to either Mayor Steel or the Society."

"I see," Soia said as she looked at me for a long moment as she thought over what I had said and looked at me for a long moment before sighing and shaking her head. "Alright, I will have to accept that for now."

"Ah don't like this," Storm Wrangler said as she shook her head. "Firelight's not a bad pony from what Ah can tell."

"We put you through the same thing if you'll recall, Storm Wrangler," Soia said as she shot the Pegasus a look and she just shrugged a little. "And we were more sure of you than we are of her, the fact is that we're under constant threat while we're here from more enemies than we can count. And now you tell me there's some sort of new threat from a group associated with the sun?"

"That's tha workin' theory, yeah," Storm said with a shake of her head. "We're still tryin' ta figure out where they came from frankly. Ah ain't a doctor or a politician, Ah just point mah gun at tha bad ponies and fire."

"So, who would benefit from these ponies vanishing?" I asked as I looked between the strange group of ponies gathered in the underground cave.

"Nopony would," Lemon Lime said with a snort. "There's no common thread between them other than that they live in Nightingale."

"Well, unless we're missing something obvious," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "That's the thing isn't it? We don't really know what we're up against here, if they are working for the Nightmare Society for example, it could be as simple as a sort of twisted recruiting drive."

"And that's the best case scenario frankly," Soia said with a shake of her head. "At least that way they're still alive and can be rescued."

I really didn't like the way she said that. I had heard rumors about the jungle being home to raiders and cannibals, something told me that they weren't exaggerating when they said that.

"I doubt its them," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "They're clever but they're not the type to strike up deals with settlements like this in return for fresh meat."

Yeah, definitely were not exaggerations.

"So, then what do we do? Just wait until they go after one of us and hope we can escape in time?" Storm Wrangler asked and we paused for a moment as we thought about it.

"Frankly, I think its obvious," Lemon Lime said with a grunt as she looked at me. The old Ghoul had that same glower on her face that she always seemed to have, like it disgusted her to even be in the same room as me. "Firelight here is one of them, if she gets taken away she might lead..."

"That's out of the question," Neivi said as she got to her hooves and looked at Lemon Lime. "We need to let Firelight choose for herself what she's going to do. If we send her back it may be a death sentence if the High Priestess considers her a threat."

"So? Just one less Alicorn to threaten us," Lemon Lime said with a snort. "I don't trust her as far as I can throw her."

"Lemon Lime, this isn't the time," Soia said. "And I have to agree with Neivi on this one. One of our fundamental beliefs is that we should all be allowed to choose our own path, even if its not one that the majority would agree with. Change is coming to this part of Equestria, change for the better, and we're going to need Firelight to help us out if we're going to make it through this. Imagine what would happen if we could change the Society from the inside with her help. Change from the inside when possible, violence is only to be used as a last resort."

"Unlikely given that they're a cult of loonies, but I seem to be in the minority here," Lemon Lime said with a shake of her head. "So, what do you suggest as an alternative? I don't think we can just attach a tracking device to a pony since we don't know which ones are going to be targeted."

Soia paused for a moment, she knew that Lemon Lime was right and she sighed a little and shook her head. "There's nothing we can really do at the moment," she finally said with a shrug. "We'll pursue all the avenues of investigation we have and try and identify whoever's their contact on the inside."

"I'll see what I can do as well," Neivi said as she looked at me. "Are you sure you really want to stay in here for a few more days Firelight?"

"More than ever," I said with a smile and a nod. "This town's being threatened, and I have to know what's going on. Maybe it'll be the Society, maybe it'll be something else that's a bigger threat and we can work together to stop them. I just... I just have to know in case there is any possibility that they are behind this."

More than that, I had to re-examine my own life and I didn't think I could do that back in the Temple. There was a lot of things that could keep me from doing that, and while I was out here, I needed to make sure that I could really make a choice for myself.

"Choices are powerful things," Soia said with a nod. "We are all equal in the eyes of the world, and we are all going to do w hat we can to ensure that there is a chance to build a new world. I just hope that we're going to all be standing there when the time really comes."

"So, what do I do now?" I asked as I looked between them and up at the gathered ponies and Zebras who were now staring at me in shock and awe. I wondered how many of them had seen an Alicorn before, probably not very many, but that didn't matter right now.

"Right now, return to Nightingale," Soia said with a nod as she looked back at Neivi. "We're going to have to work together on this one, and they're not going to let me into the city even if I sneak in through the tunnels. Once the time comes, you'll know what to do."

"Welcome ta tha Union, Firelight," Storm Wrangler said with a chuckle. "United we stand, or divided we fall."

"Hopefully the former," Neivi said with a nod as Lemon Lime just let out a light snort. "We're going to do everything we can to make sure that you have the choice that you weren't given before, that I promise you."

"Thank you," I said and took a deep breath as I looked between them for a long moment.
"You should get her back to the surface, the guards may check in on her," Soia said as she nodded to Neivi. "The last thing we need is to risk exposure right now."

"Agreed," Neivi said with a nod as she gave me a nod and we headed out of the chamber and down the tunnel towards the entrance together.

I stared up at the ceiling for the longest moment as I sighed a little and looked over at Neivi who had her muzzle buried in another book, probably the same one from before actually but I wasn't going to press very much.

Storm Wrangler had said that Neivi was lonely, maybe she was right, I mean she didn't have anypony in here other than the occasional patient that happened to have to stay overnight like I was. The Zebra mare didn't even have a house, she spent her nights in the clinic because she felt like she had to be there at all times for her patients.

She was a good Doctor, and a great friend, but I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her. I laid back and sighed a little as I stared up at the ceiling and thought about what I was going to do now.

I always had my Wing back in the Temple, but were they really friends or did we just have to work together because the High Priestess put us together? Sure Red Rider and Tawny were, well, together, but it was hard to tell how much of that was because of them working and living together or just because they needed somepony to be with.

I guess in a way, my life was just as lonely as Neivi's was, I just hadn't really realized it until now.

"Firelight?" Neivi asked as she looked over at me from where she was lying.

"Yes Neivi?"

"Just checking on you, you've been really quiet since we left the Underground," Neivi said and I turned my head and gave her a soft smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said with a nod. "I'm just thinking really, I've got a lot to think about right now, and you certainly gave me more to consider. Do, you really think that there's a chance that the Society is behind this?"

"Once you've eliminated the possible, whatever is left must be the truth," Neivi said with a shake of her head as she adjusted her glasses a little. "We've ruled out most possibilities here, and I'm honestly not sure what to make of it. I, just wish that I knew who was behind this so we could bring an end to this threat."

"You really care about the ponies here don't you?" I asked with a small smile as looked at her for a long moment.

"Of course, I'm a Doctor, its my job to care for them, and about them," Neivi said with a smile. "I care about everyone here and beyond. Its why Soia recruited me not long after arriving in the area, she's got a lot of good intentions, but she doesn't have the chance to be the public face for the Zebras like I do. We're just trying to survive out here you know, just like everypony else."

"She mentioned something called the FRA," I thought out loud for a moment. "Do you know what that is?"

"The Free Roam Alliance, they're a faction back in Zebrica," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "They sent Soia and other Zebras from the Zencori Tribe out to make contact with potential allies around the world. She's the one that the council mentioned as having made contact with Canterbury, Viatorem are sort of... well its kind of hard to explain but they're basically diplomats."

"Interesting, I can't say we've ever met any of them," I said with a shake of my head. "You're pretty much the first Zebra I've ever met."

"And you're the first Alicorn I've ever met," Neivi said with a chuckle. "We've got a lot going on in these jungles, so I'm not surprised that we haven't crossed paths before. Honestly, I just want to see peace come to Equestria finally, and maybe, just maybe what's going on here will help with that."

"Maybe," I said with a sigh as I laid back and stared up at the ceiling for a long moment. "I just want to know whether or not I'm doing the right thing."

"Firelight, you're a good pony who wants to try and figure out what's going on beyond what you knew before," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "I think you're a great pony, you just need a chance to make sure that you make the right choices. After all, our choices tend to make us in the end."

I nodded and laid back for a moment and was about to drift off to sleep when I heard the door to the clinic open. I automatically started to reach for the rifle with my telekinesis when I recognized the shape and hat belonging to Storm Wrangler.

"Hey Storm, trying to get into bed with me again?" Neivi asked with a chuckle as the Pegasus mare closed the door behind her and chuckled back.

"Nah, Ah just couldn't sleep and since Ah'm supposed ta be keepin' an eye on Firelight here anyway, Ah thought Ah'd come check on ya'll," Storm Wrangler said as she spotted the book that Neivi had haphazardly hidden under the covers. "Hey what's this?"

"That's private!" Neivi said with a blush as she tried to hide it away but Storm Wrangler managed to grab it and opened it to a random page.

"Tanith laid back as she felt the light tickle of the Unicorn's magic running along her front, she shivered a she felt the wonderful feeling of the mare's magical energy brushing against..." Storm said and laughed out loud as she shut the book and tossed it back on the bed. "Who knew the Doctor had a kinky side, Pony on Zebra fun, I didn't know you had it in you."

Neivi blushed a little and shook her head as if she was trying to shake it off and pretend it didn't exist. "Its, umm, research, on Pony-Zebra relations you know? Don't read too much into it."

Storm Wrangler just laughed as Neivi picked up the book and held it close to her chest for a moment. "Come on Doc, its nothing to be ashamed of. You'll find a cute mare of your own someday."

"Yeah, yeah," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "If you want to sleep here, the bed over there is free."

Storm just chuckled as she laid back on the bed and looked over at me for a moment as I turned my head. "Good night Storm Wrangler."

"Night Firelight," Storm said with a chuckle.

I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep. I had a lot to think about, but that could wait until the next day for now, I just hoped that I could make the right choice.

LEVEL UP!
Perk Received: Union Mare.
Details: You've struck a deal with the underground of the Equestrian Jungle, you have a way to go but you're starting to learn the secrets of this strange land. You gain an extra boost to your speech and barter stats.