"Ah don't think right now is tha best time ta tell her," Storm Wrangler said in a quiet voice as my eyes fluttered open and my ears twitched a little. "She's still gettin' settled in around here, Ah don't think she needs another curveball tossed her way right now."

"She's going to have to find out eventually," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "She's already open to the possibility of the rest of Equestria being different from what she's been told and if what you told me is true..."

"It is, everythin' is movin' into place," Storm said. "If we can put pressure on tha Mayor then we might be able ta avoid a conflict when they head this way."

"I still don't like this, and Soia is a bit uneasy about it as well," Neivi said with a sigh. "Firelight needs to know if there's even a chance that she's going to be considered a problem along with the rest of the Society."

"Look, Ah'm sure Ah can talk ta..." Storm Wrangler said and then paused a moment as her ears perked up. "Hang on a second."

She looked right at me at that moment and I tried to roll over and pretend I was asleep, only to feel the blankets pulled off me as I looked over at Storm Wrangler and Neivi.

"Didn't yer momma ever teach yah it ain't polite ta eavesdrop on other ponies' conversations?" Storm Wrangler asked as she looked at me slightly annoyed. "How much did yah hear?"

"Storm, calm down, she couldn't have heard everything," Neivi said. "Right Firelight?"

"All I heard was something about something moving into place, I didn't hear anything else," I said with a shake of my head as I looked at her. "What was that about, was it about the Union or something?"

"No, its, somethin' else," Storm Wrangler said as she brushed her long mane back a little and put her hat back on. "We've all got our secrets around here Firelight, and Ah'd prefer not ta talk ta yah about them right now."

"What she's trying to say is that there are bigger events at play here than just the Union and the Society," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "I'm sorry Firelight, but for now I have to ask that you don't breathe a word of what you heard to anypony else."

"Okay, I guess I can do that," I said and sighed a little as I shook my head and looked between my two friends. "But I don't like secrets being kept from me, especially not right now. I just want to know if there's anything I can do to help."

"Fer now, no there isn't," Storm Wrangler said with a shake of her head. "Its hard ta believe but there's a lot goin' on in Equestria right now. Some of it good, some of it bad, but it all comes down ta tha fact that things need ta change. Things are gettin' better sure, but its been so slow that Ah'm afraid that by tha time we're all ready fer real change tha barbarians might already be at tha gates."

"She's a bit over dramatic, but you get the idea," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "She is right though, there's a very big picture that we have to look at or the fact is that we're going to have bigger problems than just the Society. I can only hope that Storm Wrangler and her friends know that."

"I see," I said with a sigh as I brushed my mane back a little and looked between them. "Why aren't you ready to tell me yet though? What's the problem with them and the Society?"

"The Society isn't just acting in the Jungle, they've been carrying out activities all around Equestria," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "The best we can tell is that their main base of operations is in Haythens where your Temple is, but beyond that we don't know enough about them to really do anything."

"And Ah'm not even sure we have tha capability ta take them on just yet," Storm Wrangler said. "We're gonna need help, and that's gonna require more of tha settlements around here ta join up. That ain't exactly an easy thing ta do since a lot of them don't even like each other."

"United we stand, divided we fall indeed," I said with a sigh as I shook my head. "I hope you're right though, maybe if we can get enough of the leaders to listen we can do something, but how do we do that?"

"We start by figurin' out who's behind these disappearances, that'll show the threat is potentially from tha inside too," Storm Wrangler said.

"But we need more than that," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "We need outreach, we need trade and friendly relationships with the ponies of those other settlements. Canterbury is willing to open talks with Nightingale, but the Mayor isn't willing to even entertain the possibility."

I sighed a little and shook my head. I honestly didn't know what I was going to say about this, they brought up a lot of good points, who knew that politics in Equestria were so complicated? I just hoped that I was going to be able to figure something out and fast.

Something about all of this felt weird, as if there was some piece of the puzzle we were missing and it was staring us right in the face. The Society had never attacked Nightingale according to them, but they had gone after other settlements, why was Nightingale so special?

Maybe it was because of the defenses around the settlement, or maybe there was something more to it. It felt almost like if the disappearances were tied to the Society, then that probably meant that they were some sort of, appeasement to the High Priestess.

But still, there had to be something more to that, you don't just sell out your fellow ponies for no reason.

"I'm not sure what's going on with the disappearances, but I do know that we need to look for clues," I said with a sigh as I looked at Storm Wrangler. "Do you have any suggestions on what we can do about this?"

"Sure, Ah know some other guards that are just as concerned as we are," Storm Wrangler said with a nod. "Ah can talk ta them and see if they know anythin' about what's goin' on. If we can also get ta tha other members of the council, they can start puttin' more pressure on tha mayor ta make sure that these disappearances are stopped."

"That shouldn't be that hard, at least for Rising Sun he's generally willing to hear out this kind of thing," Neivi said with a nod as she looked back at me. "Twist is going to be the real problem, she's pretty much always in agreement with Mayor Steel."

"Nothin' we can't handle," Storm Wrangler said.

"What about that Griffon, uh..." I said as I tried to search for the Griffon's name in my mind.

"Oh, yah mean Gladys?" Storm Wrangler asked as she looked at me curiously for a moment. "Yeah, she's gonna be tricky, but probably easier ta convince, Ah mean she did vote against tha Mayor yesterday."

"Yeah, but she's something of an unknown quality, and I'm not sure she's entirely on our side either," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "She's got ties to some group up north I think, she was only put on the council as a tiebreaker vote."

"I see," I said with a shake of my head, this wasn't going to make things any easier but we had to figure it out somehow. "I just hope that we'll be able to figure this out. Is there anything we can do to guarantee their support?"

"Sure, we could find evidence that the mayor's behind the disappearances," Neivi said with a chuckle. "That would be enough to get him out of office, but its not really that simple."

"Alright, well, if we don't really have any other options lets see what we can do about at least getting ponies on our side," I said with a sigh. "I wish I could find out for sure what the connection is here, something about all of this just doesn't feel right to me. I don't even know what I'll do it if it really is the Society behind all of this."

"Well, if it is, we'll be behind you all the way," Neivi said with a nod as she looked over at Storm Wrangler. "And I'm sure that Lemon Lime will come around eventually. You're not a bad pony, you've just been misugided."

"Thanks, I think," I said with a sigh and a shake of my head.

00000

Storm Wrangler had gone off to talk with some of her guard friends while me and Neivi made our way through the streets of Nightingale. The wood beneath my hooves creaked a little from time to time, so I was afraid that they might break since I was larger than your normal pony, but they held strong.

"You said that this place was built to hold back the jungle right?" I asked as I looked back down at Neivi who looked up at me and nodded a little. "I still don't quite understand what you meant by that."

"Plants are living things just like ponies and Zebras," Neivi said with a nod. "They all have their spirits, and sometimes those spirits are angered. The shamans believe that something in these jungles have angered the spirits here so they strike out against any intrusion."

"I see, and we can't just, I don't know, appease or destroy these spirits?" I asked as I looked at her confused.

"Well if we tried to destroy them the Eschatik wouldn't be happy," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "We've tried everything to appease them. Even the Eschatik are working on it, but its, not normal what's going on, Its almost like there's something out there in the Jungle stirring them up."

"I see," I said and frowned a little as I looked up at the sky. It was daylight and the inhabitants of Nightingale were already up and about. Looking down I could see ponies working the fields below and on occasion some were climbing along the trees to pick fruit from them. "But, if the Jungle is dangerous then why build inside it? Why put yourselves at risk?"

"Because while they cannot always be appeased, sometimes spirits can be convinced to leave us be," Neivi said with a shake of her head as she placed a hoof on a tree nearby and gestured to me, I trotted over and saw a blooming flower on the tree and smiled a little. "The jungle has many wonders Firelight, and not everything in here wants to kill us. The problem comes when we have to leave."

"Why do you have to leave?" I asked as I looked at her curiously, this was the first I had heard of them leaving outside of going through the Underground like we had been in the day before.

"Sometimes for trade, sometimes to pick fruit and other food out there, other times to hunt," she said with a nod. "We're not far away from the Great River as we commonly call it, it snakes through this jungle all the way to the ocean and it provides a trade route as long as you stay clear of the tributaries that go into the Deep Jungle."

"You mentioned that before, is it, really that dangerous?" I asked and she sighed a little and nodded.

"Yes, it is, nothing in there lives but the plants," she said with a sigh. "One theory is that it is where a Zebra Megaspell struck, and given the radiation that moves out from it that is one theory that may actually be true. At least, we think it may be."

"What else could it be?"

"Star Spirits, a Pony experiment gone horribly wrong, ancient magic that we don't truly understand, that kind of thing," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "The fact of the matter is that we're talking about a place that nopony dares set hoof because its that dangerous."

"I see," I said and sighed a little, I had to admit it was curious but it was hard to figure out exactly what it was that piqued my curiosity. "Well, I'll try to avoid the Deep Jungle then."

"Good idea, the last thing we need is Alicorn Plant Food, it'll probably make things worse," Neivi said with a chuckle. "Besides, I wouldn't want to lose.... such a good friend."

I smiled a little at that and gave her a nod. I hadn't really thought about it that much, but Neivi was really the best friend I had ever had right now.

Maybe I should stay here, I mean my Wing was nice and all but we were all just kind of lumped together because of the High Priestess' orders... it was certainly something to think on, but I didn't want to make a choice until I was sure that I knew the truth about what was going on.

I felt something bump against my hoof and I looked down to see a ball. A small Earth Pony filly came running up and stopped in mid-step when she saw me. After a moment I recognized her as one of the fillies that I had seen yesterday. "Is this your ball?"

"Umm, yes," she said as I levitated the ball up and over to her. "Thank you Miss. Alicorn."

"You're welcome, have fun with your friends," I said with a soft smile as I watched her head back over two her two friends. I looked back at Neivi who was giving me a smile. "What?"

"I didn't ever picture you as somepony who's good with foals," Neivi said with a chuckle.
"You don't get much of a foalhood in the Society, I just, want them to have as much of one as they can," I said with a shake of my head.

"I see, kind of a shame really with those three," Neivi said with a sigh and my ears perked up curiously. "They were in the Settlement of Pearl when they were still younger than this. They were the only survivors we could find, somepony must've hidden them away before they could be killed or taken away. They're good fillies, but, they're all they have, no family to call their own you know?"

Something about that felt, weird at the back of my mind. It was as if there was something familiar about that but I couldn't place my hoof on it. I wished I could figure out what about this felt so familiar to me, it was like I was trying to remember something but something was blocking it.

"What's wrong Firelight?" Neivi asked as she looked at me concerned for a moment as I felt a tear fall down my face.

"I, don't know," I admitted as I looked at the three fillies for a long moment. "I can't explain it, there's just... something about that that I can't put my hoof on."

"Its okay Firelight," Neivi said as she gave me a light hug. "Come on, we should get going again, I still have a few things to do around town before I get back to the clinic."

"Oh, okay," I said with a nod as we walked along the bridges again. I paused a moment as I looked back at the fillies who had continued their game from the day before and smiled lightly as I saw the Pegasus filly catch the ball in mid-air and do a twirl.

I didn't know what it was about this that bothered me, but I knew that those three fillies were going to be okay as long as they had each other.

I just hoped that I'd have the same with my own friends.

00000

Apparently more things meant climbing up the trees to get leaves, moss, and sap for potions. I tried not to look down as the tree climbing gear dug into the trunk of the large tree, but Neivi didn't seem to be phased by the experience like she had done it a million times before.

"Come on Firelight, you have wings, aren't you used to heights?" Neivi asked as I pulled myself up again.

"Yeah, but my wings are usually there to keep me safe, they're still healing right now," I said with a gulp as I looked back at my wings and gripped harder as I saw how far up we were. "Why do we have to be this high?"

"Because this is where the good stuff is," Neivi said with a chuckle as she effortlessly pulled herself up onto a thick branch that was close to the top of the tree and I did the same with a nearby one, still holding on tight as I did. "Just stay calm and take it one step at a time, you can still use your magic to secure yourself you know."

"I know," I said with a nod as she took out some equipment and started to extract the sap while I looked around for the other items, gathering up what I could find and putting it in the saddle bags I had brought with me. "Maybe I should have gone with Storm Wrangler."

"Nah, the other guards would've been a little put off by an Alicorn being there, it was better for you to come with me," Neivi said as she kept working. "Firelight, you're doing fine, you're not going to fall I promise."

"I hope you're right I said as I gathered up the last of the moss. "What do you need all of this for anyway?"

"I've been experimenting with some more advanced healing potions from a book that belonged to my ancestor," Neivi said with a nod as she started up the tree again and I nervously followed after a moment. "She was a great healer and potion maker, its... just a shame that she met the end she did."

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked as I looked over at Neivi.

"No, no, its fine," Neivi said with a soft smile as she shook her head a little. "She was a good Zebra, a lot of Ponies forget that there were Zebras living here in Equestria that had no love for the Empire or what it was doing. She was one of them, but there was a misunderstanding that lead to her death. Her daughter became one of the founders of Canterbury after the bombs fell, and, well, here I am."

I nodded a little and was surprised to find a wood platform on the top of the tree that we pulled ourselves up onto. It was secured and there was a rope off to one side. "What are we doing up here?"

"I, thought you should see this," Neivi said with a soft smile as she gestured out at the jungle scenery surrounding us.

I looked out and let out a gasp of awe. We were literally at the top of the jungle, we could see for miles around us and it was nothing but green with a shape of a river running through it. It was a stunning sight, and it was like nothing I had ever experienced before.

"This is... wow," I said in awe of what I was seeing around me. "I've never seen anything like this before."

"I know, I thought you might enjoy it, its not all bad in the jungle you know, its quite beautiful out there," Neivi said as she looked over at me with a soft smile. "I like coming up here, I come up whenever I get the chance."

"Its very nice," I said with a soft smile as Neivi leaned back and adjusted her glasses a little. "Thank you for sharing this with me Neivi."

"You're welcome Firelight," Neivi said and gave me a smile. "Do, you ever wonder where you come from? I mean, I don't think you were born an Alicorn were you? So, you had to come from somewhere."

"Sometimes, I feel like I've been wondering about it more and more since I got here," I said with a sigh as I laid back and stared up at the blue sky above. "I guess I never really questioned where I came from that much. The Society has been the only home I've ever known."

"Still, you have to wonder if you have a mom and dad out there somewhere," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "I've heard there are more Alicorns up north that were part of something called Unity. I wonder if maybe you were part of that or something."

"Maybe, but that doesn't explain why I don't remember anything," I said with a sigh as I shook my head and looked out at the jungle. "So, why is this up here?"

"Its usually a lookout spot for guard ponies, sometimes its just used to relax though," Neivi said with a shrug. "I'm glad I met you Firelight, you've been a great help so far."

I smiled softly as I looked at Neivi and gave her a nod. "I'm glad to help, I just wish there was something more I could do to figure out what I'm supposed to do around here."

I looked down at the town below us, we were higher up than I had realized but I felt more relaxed. Maybe it was because I had Neivi here with me, or maybe it was because I felt more secure up here. Either way, I was less worried about getting down than I had been before.

"So, uh, how are we going to get down from here anyway?" I asked as I looked over at Neivi who just chuckled lightly and nodded to the ropes off to the side.

"That's how, we'll ride them down to the base of the tree, we have to use climbing tools because its hard to get it precise enough to get what we need," she said with a nod. "Your wings should be healed soon though, I just need to mix up this potion and it should do the trick."

"Ya'll up here?" A familiar accented voice asked as Storm Wrangler flew up and landed on the platform next to us as she adjusted her hat a little.

"Yeah, we're just enjoying the view," I said with a smile as I gave the Pegasus a nod. "What's the word from the other Guards?"

"Ah've got some of them on our side, that's tha good news at least," Storm said as she brushed her mane back and sighed a little. "Tha bad news is that Commander Twist may be on ta us."

"What makes you think that?" Neivi asked.

"She came in while Ah was talkin' with another Guard and Ah'm afraid she overheard some of tha conversation," Storm said with a shake of her head. "She's not tha type ta disagree with tha Mayor so Ah'm afraid that she's gonna be a big problem fer us."

"Lets just hope it doesn't come to that," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "What do you suggest we do now?"

"Only thing we can do, sit and wait," Storm Wrangler said with a shake of her head. "We don't know when they're gonna strike again, but Ah've got enough friends in tha Guard ta keep an eye out fer any unusual activity."

"Good," I said with a sigh as I looked at Storm Wrangler for a moment. "Do, you think its going to be enough though? If there is any proof that there is a threat to Nightingale, then its going to be hard to get since we don't even know who's doing this."

"Then we're going to have to hope that they slip up somehow," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "We don't know who we're up against and how much authority they have in the city, so we're just going to have to play it by ear for right now."

"Lets just hope that we ain't already too late," Storm Wrangler said with a shake of her head. "We should get back ta town though, Ah don't think ponies are gonna take too kindly ta ya'll bein' up here this long."

"Alright," Neivi said with a sigh as she showed me how to secure myself to the rope using the climbing gear I had been given. "Hold onto it tight if you want to go fast, the looser the slower you'll go, okay?"

I nodded and watched as Neivi secured herself and slid down the rope towards the forest floor below us. I looked back at Storm Wrangler who gave me a nod and flew down, I took a deep breath and secured myself before I slid down the rope after the two of them.

00000

When we returned to the clinic we found Lemon Lime waiting there for us taking a drink of water as she looked up at us. "Sorry doctor, I needed some Dirty Water," she said in her raspy voice and Neivi gave her a nod.

"Hurt your leg again?" Neivi asked and the Ghoul nodded a little.

"Blasted bridges, I'd stay on the ground if I could, but I need to move around the town," she said with a shake of her head. "Its not easy to get used to living in the trees."

"Yeah, I don't blame you," Neivi said with a sigh as Lemon Lime looked up at me for a long moment while the Zebra Doctor went to start brewing a potion.

"I see you're still here," she said with a light snort.

"Where else would I be?" I asked and she just shrugged a little. "I'm here because I need to be healed first, and I don't really have anywhere else to go other than the Temple."

"Then why not go back there?" Lemon Lime said. "You're an Alicorn, the lot of you are a threat to Equestria as long as you're going after innocent ponies like you have been."

I opened my mouth to say something before I shut it again. She was right, while I wasn't a threat to anypony personally, as long as there was Alicorns that were threatening Equestria, she was right. I sighed a little and looked down at my hooves before shaking my head a little.

"I've been thinking a lot about that lately," I finally said with a shake of my head. "I don't want to go back, at least not yet. If there's a chance that they really are dangerous, then I want to know it before I even consider going back. I don't want to harm you or anypony right now, I'm just here to help."

"So you say," Lemon Lime said and sighed a little as she shook her head. "I don't really care either way. Right now, I've got my own reasons for staying in town, and once that's done I've got my own things to do."

"Lemon, I promise everything is going to be okay," Neivi said softly as she placed her hoof on the mare's shoulder gently.
"Its a big jungle out there, you'll find them and we're going to help you."

I blinked as I looked at Lemon confused for a moment. What was she looking for? She just looked away from Neivi for a moment with a pained look on her face as she looked over at me. "You better be right Neivi."

"I know I am," Neivi said with a soft smile as she gave her a nod. "If she was as strong as her mother, she made it to safety and they're still out there."

Lemon Lime sighed and walked towards the door. She paused a moment as she turned and looked at me for a moment before speaking. "I suggest dealing with whatever your business in Nightingale is soon Alicorn, this whole place is just an accident waiting to happen."

And with that the old Ghoul left the clinic and I just blinked and looked at Neivi confused. "What's she talking about?"

"She's worried about the way Nightingale is run," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "She thinks that its bound to collapse into chaos eventually, I think she's being paranoid but the current situation with the disappearing ponies isn't exactly helping my case."

"How often do they vanish?" I asked.

"Not very often, and its almost always at night, the one during the attack was a fluke really," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "Frankly, I think something about this is off, we need to get out there tonight and make sure that nothing else happens."

"What, yah don't think that tha pony who was grabbed was connected ta tha others or somethin'?" Storm Wrangler asked as she looked at Neivi confused.

"It doesn't fit the pattern at all, I think that may have been a coincidence," Neivi said. "What do you think Firelight?"

"Well, uh... if the disappearances are always at night then its certainly strange that somepony vanished during the day," I said and brushed my mane back a little. "So, then why did they vanish?"

"Who knows, maybe the foal ran away from home, or they just wandered into the underground," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "That one has been a bit of trouble lately. I don't like it either, but we have to consider all the possibilities right now. The only thing they have in common with the others is that they were an orphan."

"Agreed," I said with a nod and a sigh. "Night time makes sense if its the Society though, we're stronger at night so if they go after ponies then..."

"Then it'll be harder to stop them," Storm Wrangler said with a nod of understanding. "Ah don't like this, it feels like we've got an enemy breathin' down our necks and we don't even know tha first thing about them."

"We have Firelight though, and she knows everything about them," Neivi pointed out as she chewed on her pencil's eraser lightly. "Firelight, do you know anything about this?"

"Well, yeah, I mean there's been the occasional new member to the Society," I said with a shrug. "But the High Priestess doesn't tell us much about the process, just saying that they're a new convert and to make them feel welcome because they're now among their sisters."

"I see, I see," Neivi said as she took notes again.

"Mah question is how they got their hooves on IMP in tha first place," Storm Wrangler said and I blinked in confusion as I looked at her.

"IMP?" I asked.

"Impelled Metamorphosis Potion," Neivi said. "Its the stuff that makes Alicorns, very nasty stuff actually from what I've heard. There have been a few reports of it around Equestria, but the nearest one I can think of is in Ground Zero in Neigh Orleans."

"I see," I said, though I was still confused, I hadn't heard anything about IMP before. "I wish I could tell you, but I've never even seen this, IMP. The High Priestess says that it was a blessing from the Goddess."

"Of course yah haven't, it wouldn't help her case ta break tha dogma like that," Storm Wrangler said with a shake of her head. "Religious nuts like that are a problem, Ah've heard of this guy up north that..."

"Ahem..." Neivi said with a scowl. "We don't want to go off on another diatribe about religion now do we?"

"Oh right, sorry about that Neivi," Storm Wrangler said as she adjusted her hat a little. "Ah wasn't talkin' about Zebras and tha spirits, Ah meant, yah know, tha real wackos out there like tha Society."

"How's that hoof taste?" I asked with a chuckle as I looked between Neivi and Storm Wrangler.

"Shut up," the Pegasus said as she pulled her hat down over her eyes to try and hide her embarrassment. "But really, there ain't nothin' left of Celestia and Luna or Nightmare Moon fer that matter except what's in a computer in tha SPP Hub. Worshipin' them ain't gonna get yah anywhere."

"I think that should be up to the individual, not the whole," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "Besides, we know that Celestia exists, perhaps Luna does as well in some form. I think we should be open minded and allow those to worship as they see fit as long as it does not harm others."

"If yah say so, but Ah still find it silly," Storm Wrangler said as she shook her head a little. "Spirits are one thing, but actually worshipin' some pre-war rulers as if they were Goddesses watchin' over us? Sure they used ta control tha sun and tha moon, but that doesn't mean they're all powerful or all knowin'."

I actually laughed a little at this. These two were friends, but they were debating the merits of religion versus secularism, this was something that I had never actually experienced while living in the Society.

"What's so funny?" Neivi asked as she looked at me confused for a moment.

"Sorry, I just never really imagined friends acting like this, its always been different over in the Society," I said with a chuckle as I shook my head. "Sorry, I found it interesting is all."

"Oh, well, Ah guess its not that uncommon, at least in tha Union," Storm Wrangler said as she rubbed the back of her head a little. "We've got a lot of ponies and Zebras with different views despite havin' some common ground. It makes things interestin' at least, Ah have ta admit we have more in common than we'd really want ta admit sometimes."

"Yeah, well, she is right about one thing, religion taken too far can be bad like with the Society," Neivi said with a sigh as she shook her head a little. "I wish I could tell you that everything was going to be easy, but there's a real concern that this kind of division may make it hard for the movement to endure."

"Nah, I think you're going to do just fine," I said with a smile. "I can see that you're all working towards a common goal despite your differences. Maybe that's going to be enough, you just have to make sure that you don't lose sight of that when everything is said and done."

"Yer a smart one," Storm Wrangler said with a chuckle as she adjusted her hat a little and gave me a nod. "Hopefully we won't do that, there's a lot that still needs ta be done before everythin' is ready."

I nodded and leaned back as I looked out the clinic window and into the green jungle that surrounded it. I wondered if maybe I did have a place here, it was hard to tell since some ponies didn't entirely trust me, but I knew that I was going to do everything I could to help.

I just hoped that it was going to be enough.

00000

"You're up late," a gravelly voice said from behind me as I sat on the roof of the clinic and turned my head to see Lemon Lime standing there.

"Yeah, well, Neivi's asleep and Storm's doing her own thing," I said with a shake of my head as I looked back out at the town. "They said its okay for me to be up here as long as I don't stray too far from the clinic."

"I see," Lemon Lime said as she moved over next to me and sat down. "You're keeping yourself busy I hear."

"I'm just trying to help Nightingale as best I can," I said with a soft smile as I gave the old Ghoul a nod. "What about you? What do you do around here?"

"I do odd jobs here and there, just trying to save up enough caps right now to eventually get a ride out of here," Lemon Lime said with a shake of her head. "You should think about doing the same, our type aren't exactly welcome in places like this."

"They haven't thrown me out yet," I said with a shake of my head.

"They will eventually once the voices of reason are off the council, and that's bound to happen someday, one downside to democracy I suppose," Lemon Lime said with a snort. "The Mayor doesn't like anything that doesn't agree with him, and I don't blame him for not trusting Alicorns."

"What about you?" I asked as I looked at her. "You haven't exactly rushed to trust me either."

"Well, you know how it is," she said with a shake of her head. "I was riding with a caravan south from Neigh Orleans that was trying to open up a trade route with the settlements down here. We got attacked by you lot and the whole group was slaughtered or dragged off. Young, old, mare, stallion, it didn't matter to them, they were just..."

"Converts?" I asked and she nodded a little.

"There were good ponies in that caravan, ponies I had gotten to know ever since leaving Manehattan a few months back," Lemon Lime said with a shake of her head. "Now I don't even know what happened to them."

"And they didn't take you because you're a Ghoul," I said. "How'd you even survive?"

"Got hit with a stray bullet and played dead," Lemon said with a shake of her head. "Look, I've got nothing against you personally but your little cult of crazies hurt some good ponies back there. I'm not going to cause any problems for you, but I still despise what the Society did to my friends."

"I don't blame you," I said softly and the Ghoul's rotting ears perked up a little at that. "I'm starting to realize just how bad the Society really was you know? I'm sorry that they took away your friends Lemon, and if I knew how to get them back I would, but I don't even know what's wrong with my own head."

Lemon looked at me with a frown for a moment and then her face turned strangely sympathetic for a moment. "You're as much a victim in this as anypony else aren't you?"

"I don't know, I guess so," I said with a sigh. "All I remember is the Society, and I hate that, I wish I knew something more and could tell you what happened to your friends. I don't even know if there's anything left of them anymore if the Society was behind it."

I sighed and we sat in silence for a long moment as I looked back at Lemon Lime. I had heard that Ghouls could live virtually forever, I wondered how much she had seen in her lifetime, how many adventures she could have had.

Would I live just as long if not longer? There was no known lifespan for an Alicorn like me, so the Goddess only knew how long I was going to live. It was a strange feeling knowing that I might outlive my friends, I honestly hated the idea, but I didn't have a lot of choice in the matter either.

"Firelight, you're alright," Lemon Lime finally said and gave me a smile. "I'm sorry I treated you like I did, I just didn't see the whole picture. Do, you want to give being friends another shot?"

I was surprised to see her holding a hoof out and I smiled a little as I took her hoof and shook it. "Friends, I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Good," Lemon Lime said with a smile as we looked back out at the town. "So, I heard tell that you Society Alicorns can see well in the dark."

"Yeah, its something that we can all do," I said with a shrug. "I never really gave it much consideration, though it made some nights very awkward with two members of my Wing."

"I don't want to know..." Lemon Lime said with a shake of her head. "But, do you think you can see anything that might be suspicious out there? We're all a bit on edge and I'd just like to know, you know?"

I nodded a little and scanned the town for a long moment. There were a few ponies out and about, I could see the guards on the walls watching the jungle outside. I could see a cloaked pony leading three small ponies down a set of stairs. I could see...

Wait, what? I took another look and narrowed my eyes a little at the sight of the strange cloaked pony walking, I could just barely make out the forms of the ponies following them, they looked like they were in a trance or something, but I could recognize them as the three fillies from before.

"Wake up Neivi," I said and looked at Lemon who suddenly looked alarmed.

"What's going on?" she asked as she stood on edge.

"Just wake her up, I'm going down there," I said and got to my hooves as I jumped down from the roof of the clinic and bounded across the bridges and stairs down towards where the strange cloaked pony was with my wings outstretched and my horn glowing orange.

I don't know what was going through the pony's mind at the moment, but I tapped into the illusion magic I had been taught by the High Priestess. The pony's eyes went wide from behind the hood as a terrifying form of a flaming Alicorn slammed her forehooves into it's side, sending the strange cloaked pony sprawling.

"You just had to interfere didn't you?" The pony asked with a hiss in a male voice as he got to his hooves and levitated a knife out of his pack. "We were content to let you stay until you came to your senses, but now you have to die."

"We'll see about that," I said and crouched in a defensive position as I formed a shield bubble around the three fillies. "You're not going to take away these three fillies on my watch!"

The cloaked pony dove at me and slashed at my leg with his knife. I barely felt it as I kicked at him with my forelegs, my hoof connecting with his muzzle and drawing blood as he growled at me. He twirled his knife around and slashed at me again, I just barely avoided getting slashed at the neck as the cloaked pony didn't even flinch.

"Why do you fight back?" The cloaked stallion said. "This is for you and your Society, they need to grow and we need protection from them!"

"They're just fillies, they deserve to make a choice," I said as I looked back at them, something rose inside me as if I had done this before, I wasn't going to let the Society get their hooves on these fillies, not as long as I drew breath. "I was never given a choice, and I'm going to make sure that they are given one."

"Whatever, then you will die!" The Stallion said and ran forward at me with the knife held up as he tried to slash at me but I jumped out of the way and just as he started to turn I kicked him in the muzzle as hard as I could and sent him sprawling on his back.

"Wh-what happened?" One of the fillies asked as she rubbed her eyes, I looked over at the three of them, they were coming out of whatever trance the stallion had them in and were looking around confused. "How did we get here?"

"Its okay, you're safe now," I said with a soft smile as I stormed over to the stallion and levitated his knife out of his reach and glared at him as I let the flames flare up around me again. As he tried to crawl away I slammed my hooves down on him and glared at him intensely, my eyes glowing with fire as I did. "And just where do you think you're going?"

"Let me go, I didn't have a choice... I was told to do this..." the stallion said his bluster and confidence gone as blood dripped down his muzzle, he looked up at me terrified.

"WHO TOLD YOU?" I shouted in a tone that I didn't even realize I was capable of as the stallion let out an eep, he looked like he was about to pee himself but I didn't care at this point. He should be afraid, I wasn't about to let him go either. "TELL ME!"

"I don't know, they wore a mask and disguised their voice!" The stallion said. I pressed the blade of the knife against his neck a little and he started crying. "They were dressed in guard armor, that's all I know, I swear! Please, I have a family, don't kill me!"

I knew he couldn't be lying, there was too much fear in his face and his voice to believe otherwise. He was crying and I hesitated a moment as I looked back at the fillies.

"So did they until the monsters you're working for took them away," I said with a sneer. "What was that you were saying about the Society?"

"I don't know, I don't even remember what happened!" He said with a cry. "Please, I have black outs, I don't know why but sometimes I come out of them in different places than I remember! It started when I met those ponies, I don't know what I do!"

"Sandblaster?" Neivi said from behind me as she and Lemon Lime came up behind us. "What's going on Firelight? What happened here?"

"This pony was taking those three fillies away, and he said that he was working for the Society," I said as I pulled the knife slowly away from his throat but didn't take my eyes off of him. "I think he's been under the influence of powerful mind control magic."

"I see," Neivi said as she went to check on the three fillies. "You nearly gave me a heart attack you know that right? When Lemon Lime woke me up shouting that you had run off into the city I was afraid that..."

"That I was doing something stupid like running off?" I asked as I looked back at her and she nodded a little. "Neivi, I promised I'd stay and help. I may have a lot to figure out, but I don't go back on my word like that when I give it to a friend."

Neivi smiled softly as she finished checking the fillies over. "Alright, you three are okay but I think you should stay in the clinic tonight just to be safe," she said with a soft, reassuring smile as she looked them over. "We don't want the three of you walking off when you should be sleeping again do we?"

"No Doctor Neivi," the fillies said and yawned a little.

"Here, I'll take them," I said and gently levitated the sleepy fillies up onto my back and gave Neivi a smile. "Thanks for coming Neivi, I know I scared you with that..."

"You did the right thing Firelight," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "That's all that really counts in the end. Lemon, could you go get Storm Wrangler for me?"

"On it," Lemon Lime said as she galloped off to find the Pegasus mare.

"Come on, lets get these three fillies back to the clinic," Neivi said with a soft smile as we walked back towards the clinic with the three fillies fast asleep on my back.

00000

I watched as Neivi gently tucked the three small ponies into one of the spare beds in the clinic. Despite how late it was, I don't think either of us really felt like sleeping right now. I smiled a little at the Zebra mare who looked at me for a long moment and sighed a little.

"I don't know who would possibly try to take three fillies away like this," she said with a sigh. "The Society is our number one suspect right now honestly, and I know its hard for you to accept but the evidence is all pointing to it."

"Yeah, I see that," I said with a sigh as I looked at the three fillies for a long moment and then back at Neivi. "If I had known all of this was going on..."

"Yeah, I know, you'd have tried to stop it a long time ago, you're that kind of pony, I can tell it in your eyes," Neivi said with a soft smile as she patted my shoulder a little. "You're not at fault for what happened to those fillies Firelight, you're not like the rest of the Society. I think, if given the chance any pony with a good heart would have done the same thing you did tonight."

"I'd like to think so," I said with a sigh as I brushed my mane back a little I then looked over at the unconscious stallion, he had fainted of course. "What's going to happen to him?"

"If he's under mind control, then he'll have a lighter sentence, but its much harder to prove mind control," Neivi said with a sigh as she looked over at him. "Sandblaster isn't a bad pony, he's got a wife and three kids in one of the lower parts of the town. Its weird if you ask me, almost like they picked him at complete random instead of for a specific reason."

"Yeah, I have to agree," I said with a sigh as I looked at him. "I just hope that we'll be able to figure something out, what are we going to do with all of them?"

"We'll probably have to take them into the Underground," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "We have to hope that whoever is really behind this will be fooled into thinking they were successful, at least for a short time."

"Ah came as fast as Ah could," Storm Wrangler said as she came in. "Yah thwarted an attempt ta take away ponies?"

"Yeah, those three over there," I said and nodded to the sleeping fillies. "They were being taken away by a pony under mind control, and they were in some sort of trance."

"Is it possible that they were being controlled by the Society?" Lemon Lime asked. "You know them better than we do Firelight, do any of the Alicorns there know mind control magic?"

"Probably, but honestly I don't think it was the Society, while they were angry at me, they were quite clear that they thought it was to protect Nightingale," I said with a shake of my head. "Its as if they thought it was best for these ponies to vanish to keep it safe."

"It has always been the exploiter to wrap themselves in the cloak of patriotism to deceive and overawe the people," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "I don't like this, it feels like there's something about this that we're missing, like a puzzle that's missing a piece."

"I agree," I said with a shake of my head. "But it means we're right, the Society is definitely getting help from somewhere inside Nightingale. The question now is, who is doing it?"

None of us really had an answer to that and we let the question hang over us the rest of the night. I sighed a little and laid back on my bed as Lemon Lime and Storm Wrangler took the first watch, sleep wasn't going to come easily tonight though, my former Sisters were trying to take ponies from this town and that could only mean trouble.

I remembered what they had told me about IMP, that it was some potion that created Alicorns. Did that mean that it had been used on me? Was that why I couldn't remember anything from before I had joined the Society? I hated not having all the answers more than anything, and I knew that I wasn't going back to the Temple, not yet at least.

Talk about your puzzles missing a piece, I was missing pieces and anything that resembled a reference image.

"Firelight, are you okay?" Neivi asked as she lifted her head and looked over at me. "Can you sleep?"

"Not really..." I admitted with a sigh as I rolled over and looked at her. She had given up her bed for the fillies so she was in the one right next to me. "I don't even know what happened out there tonight, I was... something else entirely it almost felt like."

"What do you mean?" Neivi asked.

"I used illusion magic, not something I'm unfamiliar with mind you, but I used it in a way that I've never even tried before," I said with a sigh. "It was like the world around me was on fire, and I was setting it ablaze just to terrify the stallion. I hated what I did, but somehow..."

"Somehow what?" The Zebra asked me.

"Somehow it felt right, as if there was something about it that needed to be done," I said with a shake of my head. "Do you know what the High Priestess called me?"

"What's that?"

"Her Firebrand," I said with a shake of my head. "She always called me that, the earliest memory I have is of her naming me that."

"Firebrand, a pony who does things that others won't, who will do things that many consider radical and dangerous in the name of their cause," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "It sounds to me like she wanted you to become a zealot for the Society."

"Yeah, but I'm not like that at all," I said with with a shake of my head. "I'm not a bad pony, I'm not some sort of, firebrand, I just acted out against him in anger. I wanted him to suffer like the other ponies had, and I lost control of myself for a moment because of it."

"That's, not necessarily a bad thing," Neivi said with a sigh. "Firelight, you did what you did because you were disgusted by what was going to happen to those fillies. You may have acted out of anger, but you did it because some part of you was disgusted by what was going on and what they were trying to do. If you are a firebrand, its not for the Society, its for the goodness of Ponykind and the future of Equestria."

"You really think so?" I asked and looked at her surprised for a moment.

"I know so," she said with a soft smile. "I've seen you, you're not a monster, you're not a bad pony, you just got put in a difficult position with no choice in the matter. Frankly, I'd be more surprised if you weren't a little messed up because of it, but I know you're on our side."

I smiled a little, that actually made me feel better. I hoped she was right though, I didn't even know where that magic came from, it had been almost instinctive to tap into that rage and use it to terrify Sandblaster. I looked back at the fillies for a long moment, I hoped that this meant they would have a better future than I could've ever had in the Society.

And more than that, I hoped that I was going to have a good future. I had my friends, I had this town, and I knew that when it came right down to it, I would pick these ponies over the Society any day.

"Thank you Neivi," I said with a soft smile as I rolled over onto my back. "I want to help ponies as best I can, if anything that feels like my purpose. To be the firebrand doesn't mean to serve the society anymore, it means to serve ponykind. A single life is worth a million times more than anything held by the Society or other groups that would rather exploit them."

Neivi just chuckled and nodded a little. "Now you're seeing the big picture of this war," she said with a sigh. "We're not fighting for territory, we're fighting for the future. We want our foals to have a future more than anything, and that's our purpose, our reason to fight."

"You're poetic when you want to be, you know that?" I asked with a chuckle. "All you're missing is the rhymes."

"Nah, that was more my ancestor's thing," Neivi said with a chuckle as she shook her head. "I've never been very good at rhymes honestly so I never tried outside of potion brewing."

I just chuckled and laid back and closed my eyes and just enjoyed the sounds of the jungle coming in from outside.

00000

"So, you think that we're looking at some form of mind control?" Soia asked as she watched Sandblaster being taken to a holding cell just in case.

"Yeah, for the moment we need to keep him under sedation, at least that's my suggestion," Neivi said as she adjusted her glasses a little. "Until we can uncover the nature of this mind control we have to be sure that he doesn't pose a threat to the Underground."

"I agree," Soia said as she looked over at me. "Firelight, you're the one who stopped the foalnapping, did you get any information from the subject before they were snapped out of the control?"

"Just that they were getting the fillies for the Nightmare Society and that they were doing it to protect Nightingale, or at least that's the impression I got," I said with a shake of my head. "I didn't get a lot of information honestly, I don't know what to make of it other than that they didn't seem to like that I'm in town."

"That narrows it down," Lemon Lime said with a snort.

"Lemon is right, there are a lot of ponies that don't like having an Alicorn around and this certainly isn't going to help," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "So it really doesn't narrow it down at all, I'm afraid that if we don't figure out who is behind this, we might have bigger problems on our hooves."

"Agreed," Soia said with a sigh as she looked back at the three fillies who were looking around at the strange underground system in awe. "And what are we going to do with these three? This isn't exactly a daycare, we can't just take care of them."

"But we can't send them back ta tha orphanage either," Storm Wrangler pointed out. "They're in danger as long as they're on their own, they could be targeted by tha Society again. If they're down here they can't be put at risk, they're just foals after all."

"I see," Soia said and brushed her mane back a little for a moment. "You're right of course Storm Wrangler, but we can't just keep them here without putting our operation at risk if there is any lingering mind control magic."

"Isn't there anywhere else we could take them?" I asked. "We shouldn't put them at risk as long as there's a threat to Nightingale."

"We could keep them in the clinic, its certainly big enough to house all three of them along with us," Neivi suggested and looked back at me. "Do you think you can help out with that Firelight? I know you don't really know a lot about foals."

"No, I'd be glad to try and help as best I can," I said and looked back at the fillies. "I just want to make sure that they don't get taken by the Society if that's who is really behind this. In the meantime, we need to see if we can figure out what's going on around here, and who's really behind this."

"We need ta think about who might be trusted enough ta just be allowed in so they can use Mind Control magic on a subject," Storm Wrangler said with a shake of her head. "That's tha problem really, yah can't just walk into buildings in town around here unless yer part of tha Guard."

"Or have a seat on the council," Neivi added.

We just let that thought hang over us for awhile. If there was somepony that was on the Council behind this, then that was going to be a big problem. I just had to hope that we'd figure out what was going on before somepony else got taken.

00000

"You mean we can really stay here?" The Unicorn filly asked as we re-entered the clinic a little while later.

"Yeah, for a little while at least while we make sure that you're not going to be hurt," Neivi said with a smile as she set up a bed for the three of them. "You're going to have to share a bed though, we've only got so much room and we have to be ready in case something happens that requires the rest of them."

"Its okay, we're kind of used to it by now," the Earth Pony filly said as she looked up at me curiously for a moment. "You saved us from being taken away right? Last night is kind of fuzzy."

"Yeah, I did," I said with a soft smile as I looked between the three of them.

"Thank you," the Earth Pony said and surprised me a little when she hugged me and the Unicorn joined in after a moment. The Pegasus filly on the other hoof hung back and looked at me afraid for a long moment.

"Is she okay?" I asked as I looked at her.

"Wind Chime is a bit, shy," the Unicorn filly said and gestured towards her friend and gave me a nod. "She doesn't really talk much, but she's nice when she is able to open up."

Now that I could get a better look at them, the Pegasus filly was a light grey color with a long red mane that covered one of her red eyes a little. The Unicorn was a light shade of yellow with a curled light blue mane. The Earth pony finally was a dark blue color with a white mane with streaks of blue running through it.

I nodded a little and gave her a reassuring smile but I wasn't going to try and push the filly into something she didn't want to do. I offered my hoof to the other fillies. "My name is Firelight, I don't think we've met yet formally."

"I'm Dawn Star," The Unicorn said with a smile as she shook my hoof.

"Blueberry Muffin," the Earth pony said as she shook my hoof too. "You're cool, when you're not being scary I mean..."

"I try," I said with a smile as I gave them a nod and looked over at Wind Chime. "Is she going to be okay?"

Neivi took me off to the side a little and sighed a bit. "Wind Chime seems to be a selective mute, she'll talk with her friends when in private but she's afraid to talk with pretty much anypony else."

I sighed a little and looked back at the grey filly who played with a strand of her mane a little and nodded in understanding. "Okay, I'll give her space."

"Good, for now, lets just get them settled in," Neivi said with a smile as Storm Wrangler and Lemon Lime came in with the stuff they had went to get from the orphanage.

I smiled and looked at the fillies, I just hoped that they were going to be okay. I knew I was going to do everything I could to make sure that they were safe.

LEVEL UP!
Perk Received: Young at Heart.
Details: You've taken it upon yourself to help and befriend children to give them a better chance at surviving the harsh world you call home. You get an extra boost in speech when interacting with children and sometimes get special dialogue options when talking with them.