Later that day I looked up from the book I was reading that had been brought to me from the Nightingale Library as ponies dressed in guard uniforms lead by Commander Twist came into the clinic and held their weapons pointed right at me.

"Firelight, by authority of the Council I'm here to place you under arrest for the kidnapping of three fillies from the Nightingale Orphanage and collusion with the enemies of the Council," Commander Twist said as I sighed and set the book down for a moment and looked at her. "Will you come quietly?"

"I'm not coming with you at all," I said with a shake of my head. "Your intel is wrong, the fillies haven't left the city and are under our protection."

"I see no evidence of this, the Orphanage Matron said that they were taken away from their beds last night," Twist said with a sneer as she looked at me and nodded to her guards. "You're the most likely suspect at this point, and we're taking you into custody."

"Hold it," Neivi said as she came out of an adjoining room.

"Councilmare Neivi, you are on thin ice because of your support of this, thing," Twist said as she narrowed her eyes at the Zebra. "If you don't want to be thrown into jail with her, I would suggest not interfering."

"You're charging her for no reason," Neivi said and nodded as the three fillies came to the door and Twist frowned a little as she saw them.

"Clearly a ploy to avoid getting in trouble," she said with a snort. "You really expect me to believe that she wasn't involved in the kidnapping attempt?"

"She saved us from the foalnapper!" Blueberry protested as her two friends nodded in agreement. "We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Miss. Firelight."

"The actual foalnapper is in a secure location until we can be sure that he doesn't pose a threat to the town," Neivi said and adjusted her glasses a little. "You know what I think? I think you and the Mayor were just looking for an excuse to get Firelight locked away, and I have to wonder why."

Twist looked nervous for a moment and her guards lowered their weapons a little before looking at her. "What do we do Commander?"

"Well, unless you have actual proof that Firelight has committed a crime against the town, then you don't have a lot of options now do you?" Neivi said with a nod. "I can assure you that she is no threat to these fillies or to anypony else. I would suggest leaving my clinic before I decide to bring this to the rest of the Council."

"You win this round, but this isn't over," Twist said with a growl as she pulled away and headed out along with the rest of her guards and slammed the door behind them.

"They're getting more and more paranoid," I said with a shake of my head as I looked down at the fillies for a long moment and then back at Neivi. "I'm starting to suspect this conspiracy goes higher than we thought."

"So am I," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "Twist shouldn't have even known about this, we reported to the Matron before going into the Underground. If you ask me, I think Twist knows more than she's letting on, and I don't like it."

"Or it could be an informant," Lemon Lime pointed out as she came in with Storm Wrangler close behind. "There's been more than a few cases of ponies "informing" on their neighbors to the Guard from what I've heard."

"And why haven't we heard about this?" Storm Wrangler asked as she looked at Lemon Lime.

"Because you're a guard and the doc here is on the council, they don't trust you," Lemon Lime said with a shake of her head. "But me? I'm just your local handymare or whatever, they say things around me that they wouldn't say around the rest of you. Trust me, the rumor mill in this town is running rampant and I've heard 'em all."

"Ah see," Storm Wrangler said, it actually made more sense than anything else right now, though that was what worried me the most. "Ah know yah ain't part of this Neivi, but if they're pushin' this enemies of tha council thing..."

"More like enemies of the state, its the Great War all over again," Lemon said with a shake of her head. "We're going to have to be careful if we don't want to wind up in a worse situation."

"So, who would benefit most from making a deal with the Society?" Neivi asked as we all looked at her and paused a moment, none of us were really sure how to answer that question.

"They said that the deal protects Nightingale right?" Lemon asked as she looked at me and I nodded. "I see, maybe that's a part of it."

"If you make a deal with the Society so they don't attack you mean," I said with a nod. "But the Society required something in return, something that Nightingale has in abundance. New ponies to be converted, so a few ponies that nopony will miss go missing and the town isn't attacked."

"Its clever, but it doesn't make it right," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "The needs of the many do not outweigh the needs of the few after all. We're dealing with a group that doesn't care about pony lives, who's to say they won't just attack the town anyway one of these days?"

We paused a moment as we realized she was right, there wasn't anything stopping the Society from just attacking other than the town's defenses. This deal benefited the Society and guaranteed that they kept Nightingale weakened and in a state of fear because of the disappearances.

Whoever was behind these disappearances was playing right into the High Priestess' hooves and they didn't even know it.
"So, what do we do now?" I asked as I looked between them. "We can't just let everything keep going like this, we need information and we need to figure out who's behind this."

"I'll keep an ear out for any information," Lemon Lime said with a nod. "One advantage to being a worker in this town, they only notice you to make you work harder or to give you a job. I'm not about to give up on this, and I know that I can get more information through them."

"Good," Neivi said with a nod. "I'll also talk with Soia, but we need to have two ponies with the fillies at all times. We're looking at a real threat to them and if they go missing..."

"Then Twist and whoever she's working with can point their hooves at me and say I did it," I said with a shake of my head.

"Yeah, this is a problem, a big problem," Neivi said with a shake of her head as she rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "It means we have to be a lot more careful with the fillies though."

"Yeah, I just hope that they're going to be okay," I said with a sigh as I looked back at the fillies worriedly for a long moment. "Fillies shouldn't have to live in fear of being taken away like this."

"Welcome ta life in tha Wasteland," Storm Wrangler said as she adjusted her hat a little. "Tha fact is that we've got a lot of threats out there, and frankly Ah'm afraid that there are a lot bigger problems out there than just tha Society."

"Yes, but they're the ones that are the most pressing threat right now," Lemon Lime said with a shake of her head. "I've heard rumors of the Enclave's activities up North, and there's always the issue of Raider gangs and Slavers but they've been on the decline in most areas lately."

I shook my head a little, it was disturbing how many things ponies could do to each other in this world. I sighed and shook my head a little, sometimes with what I heard it almost felt like the High Priestess was right, but that still didn't excuse everything that she did to us.

"Are, we going to be okay?" Blueberry Muffin asked as she looked up at us, the three fillies looked scared, I didn't blame them. "They're not going to come back for us are they?"

"No, you're going to be just fine," I said with a soft smile as I ruffled the Earth Pony's mane gently and gave her a reassuring smile. "We're going to make sure nothing happens to you, I promise. After all, you've got a big strong Alicorn on your side, nothing can happen to you that way."

The fillies actually smiled at that, even Wind Chime managed to crack a smile and gave me a soft nod. I looked down at the grey and red filly and sighed a little, I hoped that I was going to be able to keep that promise, for all their sakes.

00000

"You're not going to win, you know that right?" A stallion's voice said from behind me as I was getting food at the cafeteria. I turned and frowned to see Mayor Steel standing there as he popped the cap off a bottle and took a drink.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked as I started walking away from him. "You're the one who's causing problems here, I'm just trying to get dinner for me and my friends."

"You took those fillies and you're trying to pin the blame on innocent civilians of my town," he said with a growl as I rolled my eyes a little. "You won't get away with this, we've been fighting the Society for too long to give up to you now."

"You know, the High Priestess calls you savages," I said with a shake of my head. "She says that you all need to be converted for your own good. If I was really a threat to "your town," don't you think I'd have done something other than spend time in the clinic?"

"You're just digging a deeper grave for yourself every time you do something, and its only a matter of time now," Steel said with a shake of his head. "You're going to slip up, I can see through your lies, I know you're here to take us all away."

"Right, that's why I saved three fillies from being taken away, because that totally makes sense," I said with a roll of my eyes as I started out the door only to have it slammed on me. "Are you going to stop me from leaving Mayor? I thought this was a free society, I'm not here to cause trouble any more than you are here to act like a decent politician in front of your townsponies."

He paused for a moment at that, it was true the little incident had drawn the attention of several ponies around the cafe area and they looked at the Mayor surprised. I smiled a little and shook my head at him.

"And next time you want me arrested, make sure your goon squad has the proper evidence," I said and lit my horn up and then picked him up with my telekinesis and set him off to the side. "I'm not in the mood for you right now Mayor Steel, so unless you're going to accuse me of something that can stick, I'm going back to the clinic."

The Mayor just snorted a little as I walked off, I could barely hear him muttering something like "Zebra loving Alicorn freak."
I shook my head as I headed along the bridges towards where the clinic was. Nightingale was like nothing else I had ever seen before, it was a beautiful town in the trees but that beauty covered up a secret underbelly that I was just now starting to really understand.

As I went past more ponies looked at me nervously, they probably had heard of the attempted foalnapping of the fillies by now. I had thwarted it, but something told me that bit of information hadn't gotten out, which was just like the Mayor, misinformation at its finest.

I was surprised to see Storm Wrangler standing outside the clinic when I arrived, she tipped her hat at me and gave me a small nod. "Howdy Firelight."

"Storm Wrangler, I thought you'd be back in the barracks right now," I said.

"Ah was, but Ah convinced tha Commander that Ah should be there in order ta help "protect tha town from tha Alicorn menace," she ate it right up," Storm said with a shake of her head. "Ah don't think she likes yah very much."

"Really Captain obvious, I wouldn't have guessed," I said with a shrug. "So what are you doing out here?"

"Neivi's got a guest inside, she's tha head reporter, well tha only reporter really, fer Tha Voice," Storm said with a light chuckle. "She's here ta try and get more information out of tha Doc on what's been goin' on."

"Tha... I mean The Voice?" I asked, I was still getting used to the Pegasus' strange accent and mannerisms, but I think I got the right idea.

"Local newspaper, very much about the facts and truth, which means that the Mayor doesn't really like it," Storm said with a shake of her head. "Of course it doesn't help that every so often she likes ta write articles about him. Ah think she just does it ta get under his skin honestly, but she might want ta talk ta yah."

"Alright," I said with a nod as I opened the door to the clinic and headed inside.

00000

Inside the clinic, Neivi was talking with a Unicorn mare dressed in a red coat with black fur and a shock of red mane. She was jotting down notes on a notepad and not paying attention as we came in.

"Thank you Doctor, this is a lot of good information," the reporter said with a smile as she finished the last of her notes. "I have to say I would enjoy meeting this, Firelight pony you mentioned. Is she around here anywhere?"

"Oh, yeah she's not too far," Neivi said with a chuckle before pointing behind the Unicorn who jumped and turned to see me standing there. "Hey Firelight, sorry, was just talking to Pan here about everything."

"Oh, you must be Firelight," Pan said with a smile as she offered me a hoof. "Pan Pipe's the name, I'm here for a piece on the recent attempted foalnappings."

"I had nothing to do with those..." I said as I looked at her confused for a moment and she just facehooved.

"I know you had nothing to do with them, I've got witnesses that say you saved those fillies from the foalnapper," Pan said with a roll of her eyes. "You really shouldn't jump to conclusions like that."

"Sorry, I've just had a lot of issues lately with the mayor and Commander Twist," I said with a shake of my head.

"Don't worry about it, I've had my fair share of trouble from those two," Pan said with a shake of her head. "I just wanted to ask you a few questions. I thought, maybe everyone should get to know our new resident Alicorn, get your side of the story and everything."

I blinked in surprise, I certainly hadn't expected her to say that. I looked over at Neivi who just gave me a smile and a nod, had she set this up? "Well, umm... I have to admit I wasn't expecting this."

"Its alright, we'll take it slow," she said with a nod.

"Do you mind if I ask you a few questions? I wouldn't want to inconvenience you," Pan said as she flipped to a clean page on her notebook.

"No, go ahead," I said and finally smiled a little. There was something about this mare, an energy to her that I kind of envied, she wanted to get to the bottom of this story and I wasn't going to let her down.

"Alright, so the Doc here said you were found in the Jungle," Pan said as she looked up at me. "What were you doing out there if I may ask?"

"I was on a mission with my Wing and the High Priestess' daughter," I said as I looked her up and down for a moment. "We were sent to scout out an area for the Society when we were attacked by a Sabretooth. I got them to safety but I didn't have a chance to protect myself and was attacked before I could kill the beast."

"Interesting, interesting," Pan said as she continued to write. "So, what do you think of Nightingale so far? I imagine its not like anything you've ever been to before."

"No, its certainly not," I said with a chuckle. "I've never really been in the jungle before this, and I certainly wasn't expecting a city in the trees like this place. I like it though, its got a strange feeling to it, almost like I want to call it home because I've found friends here. Real friends that I've gotten close to and bonded with."

"So, you would say you didn't really have any friends in the Society?"

"Well, that's one way to put it, we were all just kind of there," I said with a shake of my head. "I know it sounds crazy, I had my Wing sure and they were sort of friends. But we were always just kind of put together instead of really connecting with one another. I can't really explain it, but I never really felt a connection to them like I do to my friends here."

"Interesting," Pan said and raised an eyebrow a little as she looked at me and then back at Neivi. "Do you mind if I ask you a little bit about your time in the Society? I think it would help if citizens got some sort of insight into what life in that cult... I mean group is like."

"Sure, ask away," I said and gave her a smile. "I'd be happy to answer any questions you have if you think it would help."

"Alright, so lets start with how you joined..." Pan said and started asking me more questions.

She spent awhile peppering me with questions about the Society, asking if I remembered anything about my life before, asking what things were like in the Temple. I answered all of them as best I could, but a lot of them I just didn't know the answers to so I had to say no to a lot of them, especially about my life before obviously.

That seemed to interest her, since it didn't seem like I was born into the Society that likely meant that I had come from somewhere outside of it. She tried to get more answers from me about it, but she realized quickly that I wasn't able to answer them and moved on.

"Alright, I think I've got just about everything," she said and adjusted her hat a little before she gave me a smile. "I'd like to wrap things up just with a general quote. You know, something you'd like to say to the readers in Nightingale, maybe a message of hope or a pithy quote, you know, that kind of thing."

I paused a moment and thought about it for a moment. Finally I smiled and nodded a little. "I'd just like to say that just because times seem dark right now it doesn't mean that it will stay dark. As long as I'm in this town I'm going to do everything I can to help out, I'm not the enemy here, and I'm only interested in keeping ponies safe. That's a promise to all of you."

"Well said," she said with a nod as she put her pen behind her ear and put the notebook away. "I should get back to the Voice so we can get this printed. It was nice talking with you Firelight, I'm glad I got to meet you."

She offered me a hoof and I smiled a little as I shook it this time. She seemed nice enough, I just hoped that I wasn't going to get her into trouble because of this.

"Stay safe Pan, we don't want to lose you too," Neivi said.

"Don't worry Doc, the mayor would be stupid to silence the Voice," Pan said with a chuckle. "If we go silent, then the people know that there's trouble. Free press is a cornerstone of a free society after all."

I nodded and Pan headed out after that as she shut the door.

"So, did you get the food?" Neivi asked and I just chuckled a little as I set out all the food for everypony as the fillies came in and we started eating.

"So, what did yah think of Pan?" Storm Wrangler asked as she looked over at me.

"I don't know honestly, she's got a lot of energy that's for sure," I said as I took a bite of my sandwich. "I'm not really sure what to think of her, though it seems like she really wants to get to the bottom of things at least."

"Yeah, lets just hope she doesn't get hurt in the meantime," Lemon Lime said with a shake of her head.

"I wouldn't worry about her, she's good at keeping her head down when she needs to," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "The problem is she likes rattling cages a bit too much sometimes, especially the Mayor's. Her heart is in the right place, but she's not exactly helping the Union with that sometimes."

"I see," I said with a shake of my head as I looked back at the others. "So, what are we supposed to do now? We don't have a lot of options left open to us and the Mayor confronted me in the cafe."

"Wait, he actually talked to you?" Neivi asked as she looked up surprised.

"Yeah, he basically said he wants me out of town," I said as I took another bite of his sandwich. "I'm worried about what might happen if we're not careful. What if we have to leave town for some reason? What happens then?"

"We'll get the fillies into the Underground," Lemon Lime said with a shake of her head. "We need to keep an ear out for any sort of Society activity anyway."

"Right," I said with a nod. "They may have some sort of deal about Nightingale but I doubt they're going to just stay clear of this area."

"Right," Neivi said with a sigh as she brushed her mane back. "We've got a lot to consider right now, and I'll bet anything the foalnappers are going to be even more careful now. Last night was a fluke since you happened to be in the right spot, they won't make that mistake again."

I knew she was right, but I didn't have to like it.

00000

"Can you put on Vox Populi's radio Miss. Firelight?" Dawn Star asked as I tucked the three fillies in gently.

"Oh, you like listening to Vox huh?" I asked with a smile as I looked down at the fillies who all nodded. "Alright then, lets hear what he has to say tonight shall we?"

My horn glowed as I turned the radio on and the sound of music played for a moment before the stallion's voice came back over the radio.

"Hey out there, this is Vox Populi coming at you again with the news. Our top story tonight is still the recent thwarted foalnapping in Nightingale, a friend of the station reported that three fillies were nearly taken away by agents working for the Nightmare Society. They also say that the pony who rescued them was none other than an Alicorn who burned with magical flames like none they had ever seen before. I must say I wasn't expecting an Alicorn to be those foals' hero, but my hat's off to you little miss Firebrand. The last thing we need is ponies thinking they can get away with taking away our foals.

In other news, the recent elections in Canterbury have had the unprecedented result of electing the Starkatteri mare Diala to the Leadership council. The mare who ran on a platform of reform and spreading out to try and help more settlements in need beyond the already established borders was considered something of a dark horse candidate if you'll mind the pun, but she'll be taking her spot with the other Council members sometime next week. This marks the first time in Canterbury's history that a Starkatteri has sat on the leadership council.

Now, lets turn it over to some music."

I smiled a little as the music started to play again and the fillies slowly drifted off to sleep. I walked back over to where Neivi was seated and working on something while Storm Wrangler was fast asleep with her hat pulled down over her eyes and Lemon Lime was sleeping in another bed.

"Are they off to dreamland then?" Neivi asked with a chuckle as she looked up at me.

"Yeah, they're going to be fine, I hope," I said with a soft smile as I looked back at the fillies. "I don't like this, it feels like we're just standing around waiting for something to happen instead of dealing with the problem."

"I know, I don't like it either," Neivi said with a sigh as she brushed her mane back a little. "There are good ponies in this town that are willing to fight back, but they're not even aware we need to do so. If they start by just kicking out Alicorns, Ghouls, and Zebras..."

"Then how long before they start cracking down on anypony who disagrees with them?" I asked and she nodded a little. "We have to stop this before it goes too far."

"But we can't do anything without proof that the Society was involved and who is involved with them," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "Until we have that proof, all we have is hearsay and that's not going to convince anypony."

"I know," I said with a sigh as I shook my head a little. "What about Canterbury, can't they send us any help?"

"Not really, the Mayor won't let them, at least not any official help," she said with a shake of her head. "A few Zebras can come through the Underground but we don't have a lot of friends here in town. I just hope that we'll be able to stop this before we have to go too far."

"Me too," I said with a sigh and a shake of my head. "I didn't come here to fight, I just want to try and help ponies, you know? Everyone really, the fact is that we're just doing what the Society wants probably, if we're at each other's throats then we're proving them right."

"I know," Neivi said with a sigh as she looked back up at me, I chuckled a little, here glasses were a little askew on her face and I levitated them up and put them on neatly. "Thanks. I don't even know why I wear these things, I could just brew a potion that helps my vision."

"You should keep them, they make you look cute," I said with a chuckle and then blushed when I realized what I said. "I mean, ummm... in a friend way."

"Yeah, totally," Neivi said with a shake of her head. "So, umm, what do you want to do? We've still got a few hours before we have to wake those two up."

"Yeah," I said as I looked back at our sleeping friends for a moment and checked my rifle just in case. "I'm still a bit worried though, we don't know if they will try anything or even who might be behind this. We need to be careful and make sure that everything will be okay. I just, don't want anything to happen to them."

"None of us do FIrelight," Neivi said as she gave me a light hug, I smiled at her and nodded a little. "I'm glad we brought you back when we did. You've done a lot of good for Nightingale and you've helped give us hope that everything is going to be okay, I just hope that everything really will be okay..."

"It will," I said with a soft smile. "I'm just an Alicorn who happened to be at the right place at the right time, I'm really nothing special. I, don't really know why everypony makes a big deal about me."

Neivi rubbed her chin thoughtfully as she looked at me. "I don't know, maybe its because of all the ponies we know of in the Society you're the only one that seems to care about what happens to anypony outside of it."

She was probably right, at least from what I was starting to realize that more and more. There were a lot of problems that this town faced and the fact was that the disappearing ponies was a big one, and if the Society really was behind it then it was going to be trouble.

I sighed a little as Neivi went back to her book after a moment. There was a long moment of tension as we waited for anything to happen, there was something about this that just felt, off, like there was something waiting for us in the darkness that was ready to jump out at any moment.

So I nearly jumped out of my skin when there was a sudden rapping on the door. Neivi made a motion for me to stay quiet as I held the gun close as she quietly walked over to the door and pushed it open. "Can I help you?"

"I need to talk to Storm Wrangler," a mare's voice I didn't recognize said on the other side of the door. "Its important."
Storm Wrangler opened her eyes and adjusted her hat a little as she headed to the door with Lemon Lime waking up and looking at her confused. "What's goin' on? Hazel, is that yah?"

"Yeah Storm, listen I need to come in, we've got a big problem," she said and Neivi looked at Storm.

"What do you think?"

"She's one of tha guards on our side, we can trust her," Storm said with a nod as Neivi opened the door after checking to make sure there was nopony else and Hazel came in. "What's goin' on?"

"Okay, so I'm on the night shift on the..." Hazel said and stopped in mid sentence when she saw me standing there, she gulped a little and backed away. "I, didn't know she was going to be in here."

"Its okay, she ain't gonna hurt yah," Storm Wrangler said and looked at me. "Right Firelight? Smile, show yer friendly."

I smiled as best I could but I think it looked a little forced. Hazel seemed relieved for a moment as she looked at me and then back at the others.

"Okay, so I was standing watch on the wall as I normally do," Hazel said. "And while I was looking out into the jungle through my scope, I saw a group of Alicorns nearby."

Okay, that definitely caught our attention and Storm Wrangler was suddenly fully awake. She looked at her hard for a moment, suddenly Hazel looked more worried than anything else.

"Are you sure?" Neivi asked. "They don't normally just pass this close to the town."

"I'm positive, I don't know why they're here, but they're here," Hazel said with a shake of her head. "You have to believe me, I saw what I saw."

"I believe you," I said with a sigh. "This is a problem, it might mean they're getting bolder and are coming to take more ponies away."

"So, what do we do?" Neivi asked.

I looked between them for a moment and then back at Storm Wrangler. "Storm, lets go see if we can find out what's going on. You two stay with the fillies, if its safe, get them down to the Underground, okay?"

"Okay," Neivi and Lemon said with a nod.

"Come on, lets roll out," Storm said as she slid into her battle saddle she had brought with her and I secured my rifle.

We had to get out there and see what was going on, before it was too late.

00000

The jungle at night was completely different from the jungle during the day. It was more active, as if all the wildlife that called it home were more active. We could hear rustling overhead as animals made their way across it, and as I noticed seemed to be heading in the opposite direction of where we were heading.

Storm Wrangler was ahead of me, she knew where we were going better than I did really, but I could see in the dark better than the Pegasus. This whole thing made me uneasy, why would the Society be coming this close to Nightingale? They had to know that the town was on high alert so they’d be dumb to move into the city now.

Unless, there was some other reason to be out in the jungle.

“Hey Storm, what’s out this way?” I whispered to the Pegasus as we moved through the underbrush.

“Not much, jungle mostly, tha River is a few miles this way but ain’t much more,” Storm Wrangler said with a shake of her head. “Some say there might be a Stable a ways ta tha southeast from here, but frankly this area is pretty much devoid of anythin’ other than tha local wildlife.”

“I see,” I said and shook my head a little, I went quiet as we pushed into the jungle deeper as we headed towards where Hazel had said the Alicorns were.

As we saw nothing even with my night vision, I was starting to think that it was all a wild goose chase when suddenly we heard a mare’s scream from somewhere up ahead. We exchanged a look as I drew my rifle and nodded to Storm as we ran forward towards the source of the scream.

As we got closer the screams grew louder until finally we heard words being screamed out.

“STOP IT!”

“LET HER GO!”

Just as we were nearing a clearing however, there was a sound of breaking glass. And then the screaming picked up again, one out of pain, and one out of horror.

I don’t know why, but for a moment something clicked in my brain. I felt like I knew that scream, and for a moment I could see flashes of a world of liquid around me, a liquid that seemed unnatural as it permeated every inch of my body. My wings and legs screaming out in pain from the memory as my horn began to glow and flames danced around the edges of my vision once more.

“Sparks…” I said, I didn’t know why I said it, but the name felt familiar to me as we burst out of the jungle and into the clearing, the illusion magic flaring around me once more.

In the clearing was a group of ponies that looked at us wide eyed as they held another mare down. Laying off to the side was a Unicorn mare who was unconscious in the grass, but I didn’t care, my attention was focused solely on the ones holding the struggling mare.

“Let her go!” I said louder than I meant to, the fire dancing around me as I levitated the rifle up at the nearest pony, no Alicorn. “You’re not going to take another one.”

“It’s too late, she’s already ours,” one of them said but I raised my rifle at her and pulled the trigger and sent a bullet right into the surprised Alicorn.

What surprised me more was what happened to her when the bullet impacted. She caught fire, the bullet alone didn’t kill her but we all watched in shock as the Alicorn burned alive, I was running on pure adrenaline, I wasn’t going to stop until they surrendered or were all dead.

“LET. HER. GO.” I repeated and the Alicorns backed off, releasing her from their grip as the mare laid rigid on the ground. I could make her out now, she was a white color with a light blue mane and golden eyes that seemed to stare unblinkingly for the moment.

And she was an Alicorn, I could see the wings and Horn plainly, we had been too late. But I wasn’t going to let the Society get this one.

“Firelight…” Storm said as she looked at me worriedly for a moment.

“Go, all of you, tell the High Priestess you won’t be taking any ponies from this part of the Jungle anymore,” I said and the Alicorns quickly retreated into the darkness and I let out a breath as what I had done started to sink in.

I had killed again, and this time it wasn’t some faceless cultist, I had killed another Alicorn. I had broken one of the cardinal rules of the Society and killed a sister. The magical flames around me dissipated as I dropped the rifle onto the ground as Storm went to check on the two ponies, but I didn’t seem to notice.

What was I becoming? Was I really so willing to throw away everything I had ever known for ponies I had barely known for a few days? I had KILLED an Alicorn instead of letting her take the pony away, what would the Society think of me?

What did I think of myself? What was I going to do now?

“Who am I…” The white alicorn said, sitting herself up and looking to the approaching Pegasus. “Who are you?...” Her voice, soft, gentle almost innocent seemingly having a effect on that unicorn, making her stir and jump to her hooves. “What’s going on…”

“Moonlight!” The Unicorn said as she rushed over to her newly transformed friend and looked at her worriedly. “Goddesses, what did they do to you…”

My ears perked up a little at that as I lifted my head and looked at the sight before me. The Unicorn raised her hoof and placed it on the newborn Alicorn’s muzzle and looked her in the eyes, as if hoping to see something of the pony who she knew was in there.

“Please… talk to me,” she said softly. “I still love you no matter what those, things did to you…”

“Moon...Light?...” The white alicorn said, staring at the unicorn before she turned her attention to me. As if noticing my own state she got to her hooves and walked over. “Sister… do not be afraid.”

“Sister?” I asked softly as I looked up at the newly formed Alicorn’s golden eyes before I looked back at the burned corpse of the Alicorn. “I’m… I’m no sister to anypony anymore, I lost that privilege when I took her life.”

“You did what you felt was right, no pony could ever ask anything more of you.” She said, giving a soft smile. “I do not know who I am, or who that pony was to you, but she was a threat, and you handled her.”

“I don’t know,” I said softly as I looked at her. “I, just wanted to protect you, but I was too late.”

“Too late for what?” She said, sitting and taking a moment to look over herself. “I have been this way for as long as I can remember… given that is a very short period..”

“You, don’t remember anything before?” The Unicorn asked as she trotted up to us with Storm close behind. “You, don’t remember me?”

Turning her attention to that unicorn, shaking her head before sighing “I do not know any of you.”

“Moonlight…” She said softly as tears started to stream down her face a little. “Darn it, your name is Moonlight Lullaby! You’re a mare from Stable 27 who I’ve loved ever since we were fillies, we left the Stable together after that Stable-Tec pony showed up… I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you and… I… I…”

She just broke down crying after that as she looked down at the ground. I was starting to realize that Moonlight was right, and that as much as I hated it, I had done the right thing.

But that didn’t mean I didn’t regret it.

“Citrus?..” Moonlight said, her eyes starting to light up before she clutched at her head. “Ugh.. why does my head hurt so much… feels like I just sprouted a horn or something..”

Citrus hugged her tight as she cried more. “Oh thank the Goddesses you were still in there somewhere… I don’t know what I’d do… what, we’d do without you.”

“We?” I asked as my ears perked up a little at that comment and looked between the two mares curiously. Wait, they were from Stable 27, the same Stable that we had been sent to before, okay, now things were getting interesting.

“Look, Ah’m glad ya’ll are back together again but with those Alicorns headin’ away from us, they’re gonna start drivin’ tha wildlife back our way,” Storm Wrangler said, finally speaking up again. “We need ta get back ta Nightingale and get ya’ll checked out by tha Doc.”

Moonlight looked at Citrus and then to Storm then to me before she sighed. “I can’t go back to the stable, but Citrus needs to. I’ll come back to this… Nightingale, I feel going back to the stable would be a poor choice on my part... “
“Moonlight, I love you, I don’t want to leave you behind to go back…” Citrus said as she looked in the Alicorn’s eyes. “I’m willing to stay out here if I have to, I don’t want to lose you… not again.”

“Citrus, trust me please, you need to go back to the stable, it’s what’s best for you. When have I ever steered you wrong?” Moonlight said with a smile. “Plus, don’t want you to be out here with precious cargo after all.”

Citrus paused a moment as she placed her hoof on her stomach and looked back up at Moonlight and sighed. “Alright, but promise me you’ll come back, I want our daughter to know you.”

“By the time she is here, I have a feeling it will be safe for you to come out of the stable, and we’ll have a real home, not concrete walls and fluorescent lights.” Moonlight said with a smile before she turned to us. “We need to get her into the stable before I’ll come peacefully.”

“No problem, but last Ah heard it’s quite a ways from here,” Storm said with a tip of her hat. “Should get ya’ll there by dawn unless yah know a faster way.”

“The stable isn’t too far from here, maybe one of the other entrances, though none of us have actually seen or been in them” Moonlight said to storm, before turning to Citrus. “Lets get you home.” She said before she took the lead, giving a groan every now and then from the pain in her joints from the sudden growth spurt.

“Okay,” Citrus said with a nod as she followed close to her and me and Storm followed close behind.

“So, umm, what’s it like in Stable 27?” I asked as I looked at the two mares curiously for a moment.

“Yeah.” Moonlight said with a smile. “It’s really nice down there, if you don’t mind concrete and hoof made industrialized construction.”

“Plenty of cute mares though,” Citrus said with a giggle as she leaned up and kissed Moonlight on the cheek. “None as cute as this one though.”

I smiled a little at that, though I wondered why Moonlight was remembering things. I still couldn’t remember anything, but I pushed it aside for the moment and gave them a nod. “Well, it doesn’t sound that bad, can’t be worse than where I used to live.”

“Right, crazy cult temple can’t be fun ta live in,” Storm said with a shake of her head and I flinched a little at that.

“You don’t remember your life before?” Moonlight said, looking back to me. “I guess I’m lucky, though I have a feeling if not for Citrus, I might not remember either.”

“No, I can’t remember anything before joining, well, the Society,” I said with a shake of my head. “The first thing I can remember was coming face to face with the High Priestess and then being taken to meet the rest of the sisters. I, don’t really know how I got there or what happened to me before.”

“Wow… I’m really glad that didn’t happen to you,” Citrus said before she looked back at me. “Hey, maybe Moonlight can help you with that, she’s got some cool tricks that’s helped a lot around the Stable.”

“Oh?” I asked and even Storm looked curious.

“Oh come now Citrus, the dreamscape is not a trick.” Moonlight said with a laugh. “But yeah, I have a unique ability only known to exist for one pony before. I have the ability to walk the dreamscape, and come to ponies in their dreams.”

“Wait… the only pony that could do that was Luna,” I said and blinked in surprise. Was this why she was targeted by the Society or had it just been a coincidence.

“Yeah, Ah mean Ah’ve heard stories about a mare up in Neigh Orleans that can do somethin’ kinda similar, but its just rumors,” Storm Wrangler said with a shake of her head. “What was her name again… some gemstone Ah think.”

“Really? Another who can walk the dreamscape? I’ve seen one in my time - but she seems… scared of me, and keeps her distance, as though if we touched it could destroy us both.” Moonlight said, shifting her gaze forward. “We are almost to the stable, I feel this is as far as we can take you Citrus, I will watch you to make sure you get inside safely, and do take care.”

Citrus kissed Moonlight one last time and wrapped her forelegs around the taller mare a little. “I don’t want to say goodbye…”

“Do not think of it as a goodbye my love, but as a see you again.” Moonlight said with a soft smile, giving that unicorn a soft kiss to the nose. “However, I have one favor to ask of you. It would appear my barding and Pipbuck did not survive my transformation, I’d like if you could bring me another, and perhaps, a few more for our new friends.”

Citrus smiled a little and nodded as she looked between the two of us. “Sure, I can do that,” she said with a soft smile. “I think we’ve got a few extras lying around somewhere, just two more?”

“Four if possible,” Storm said. “Or any extras ya’ll can spare, we could always use tha help.”

“I’ll, see what I can do,” Citrus said with a nod.

“Could you please expedite the barding, I feel quite… exposed, without it.” Moonlight said with a soft chuckle and light blush. “Please and thank you, darling”

“Yah realize ponies don’t normally wear clothes right?” Storm Wrangler asked with a chuckle.

“Says the mare who wears a hat to bed,” I said with a laugh.

Storm Wrangler just rolled her eyes as Citrus gave Moonlight one more kiss before heading off towards the Stable. She turned around just before she vanished and flicked her tail a little in Moonlight’s direction before vanishing into the darkness.

“Yer a lucky pony Moonlight,” Storm Wrangler said with a shake of her head. “Yah got a good mare there, better not let her get away from yah.”

“Unfortunately with me leaving the stable, she will be expected to find a new mare, however I have a feeling if she does, she’ll always have a place for me in her heart.” Moonlight said, staring at the entrance to the stable.

“You never know… I hope you two get back together,” I said with a sigh and shook my head a little. I was still figuring a lot of things out, including if I even could fall in love right now, in a way I envied Moonlight because she didn’t have to figure this kind of thing out.

I just hoped that I was going to be able to figure things out. Maybe there was somepony out there for me still.

After a little while, Citrus returned with the barding as she gave it to Moonlight. “Sorry, I had to find some that would fit your new body. I, still don’t really like leaving you alone out here, maybe if I talk to the Overmare...”

“Well, from where I stand, I am not alone.” Moonlight said, taking the barding in her hooves and looking back to me and Storm. “They seem to know what’s going on at least to some extent - I feel going back into the Stable is just dangerous to you and everypony else. For the time being I’d like for you to wait here, I will return, that is a promise.”

“I’m holding you to that, and don’t let yourself get seduced by those wild Wasteland mares,” Citrus said with a giggle as she kissed Moonlight again. “I’ll be waiting for you to come back home, we both will.”

Moonlight smiled, and leaned in and gave Citrus a kiss and ushered her back to the entrance of the stable before turning back to us. “Let us get going, I fear these… creatures, you spoke of that could be coming this way.”

“Not a good place ta be out at night,” Storm Wrangler said with a nod. “Come on, let’s get goin’ back ta town.”

Citrus took one last look back at Moonlight before vanishing into the cave. I sighed a little, I hoped she was going to be okay as we headed back towards Nightingale.

00000

Getting back into Nightingale took some talking, but thankfully another one of Storm’s friends was at the gate and managed to get us through. Storm leaned over and whispered to me, “Tha Council ain’t gonna like this, they had a hard enough time with one Alicorn in town.”

“It’s this or put her and her home at risk,” I whispered back with a shake of my head. “We’ll think of something, I hope.”

“Or Neivi will,” Storm Wrangler said with a shake of her head. “Come on, lets get her back ta tha clinic so Neivi can check her over.”

I nodded as we started up the stairs that lead higher in the town towards the clinic. I looked back at Moonlight curiously for a moment as I took another step, wondering what was going through the mare’s mind right now.

“Everything okay back there Moonlight?” I asked.

“Just, thinking to myself is all. Up until just a few hours ago, all I had known was the walls of the stable, the teachings of the overmare - and now, all that seems so small, so distant” Moonlight said with a sigh. “Though, I admit, I am excited for this - A whole new adventure, a new chapter into my life.”

I smiled a little and nodded. “Yeah, I know exactly how you feel, well, welcome to Nightingale, for now we just have to get you to the clinic so the local Doc can check you over.”

“Understood.” Moonlight said with a nod “So, this pony doctor, are they any good? I mean - I would expect the stable to have much higher medical standards than what you could have up here.”

Me and Storm exchanged a look and just laughed a little at that question. “Don’t worry, she’s the best,” I said with a chuckle as we started across the bridge towards the clinic.

“I will take your word for it.” Moonlight said with a smile, taking a look out across Nightingale “It is amazing, this town you have made. It must of been a major undertaking”

“Yeah, it was, or so Ah hear,” Storm said with a shake of her head. “Ah just came down this way a few years back mahself, way Ah hear it tha town’s been here fer years. But yeah, its quite tha feat of engineerin’.”

“Very, reminds me of books from the stable detailing Zebra construction. Though there aren’t any Zebra this far in at least - from what we’ve been taught.” Moonlight said with a smile and a nod.

“Yeah, well, you see the thing about that…” I said as I opened the door to the clinic and Neivi came up to us, looking tired and a little frazzled.

“Oh thank goodness you made it back alive… wait, who’s this?” She asked as she looked at Moonlight confused and adjusted her glasses a little.

Moonlight’s eyes went wide as she saw the zebra “Oh My Gosh! A Zebra!” She went bounding over to Neivi “What are you doing out here, so far from the homelands, You must be so scared!”

“I was born in Equestria actually, in another settlement a ways out,” she said as she looked at Moonlight confused. “Let me guess, Stable Dweller who hasn’t ever seen a Zebra before outside of history books?”

Moonlight smiled brightly and nodded, turning her head to expose the ‘27’ on the neck of her blue and gold barding. “Stable 27, and we were told and taught that Zebra never leave the homelands, or that if they did they’d never venture this far into Equestria”

“A gross exaggeration, Zebras lived in Equestria during the war, we even fought in the Equestrian army,” she said and pushed her glasses up and looked at the number before her eyes went wide. “Wait, Stable 27?”

“What’s this about Stable 27?” Lemon Lime asked as she poked her head out of the adjoining room and looked at the Alicorn.

“Yeah! I was born and raised in a all mare stable, Stable 27.” Moonlight said, and giggling to herself “Myself and my Marefriend Citrus, you two remember her, have never been anywhere else.”

Lemon Lime looked at the Alicorn for a long moment as if trying to process what she just said. The old Ghoul trotted over to Moonlight and examined the jumpsuit carefully for a moment as she sat back on her haunches, closing her eyes and letting out a sigh of relief as if a great weight had been lifted off her withers.

“They did survive… thank Celestia,” she said in her raspy voice.

“Who?” Moonlight said, looking to that ghoul before her eyes went wide “I’ve seen you before! Citrus has a picture of you on her dresser!... expect, you don’t look all… rotty.”

“It's what happens when you’re a Ghoul,” she said with a shake of her head. “I was in Manehattan when the bombs fell, it didn’t kill me, instead made me like this. If you’re from Stable 27, that means it survived, and if Citrus had my picture…”

She let that thought trail off for a moment as she reached into her pocket and took out an old picture in her trembling hoof. “My daughter, she was the first Overmare of Stable 27, Citrus must be her descendant.”

“Actually, I suppose so…” Moonlight said before she sat and thought for a second “I think, if Citrus has given me everything, she has two aunts and her mother, a sister, and she’s pregnant with our foal.”

The old ghoul started to tear up and then she hugged Moonlight unexpectedly. Tears streamed down her face as she closed her eyes, relieved more than anything to have heard this. “Thank you…”

Moonlight smiled, hugging back and even curling wings around that old ghoul. “I am proud, to have such a strong pony in the family.”

I smiled softly as I moved back next to Neivi and watched the two for the longest moment. Neivi smiled and placed her hoof on my withers. “You did a lot to help her tonight even if you didn’t know it at the time.”

“I’m glad,” I said softly as I looked down at her. “How are the filles? Has there been any problems?”

“No, its been quiet here,” Neivi said and I let out a sigh of relief. “But you do know that the Mayor’s going to have a problem with another Alicorn in town right?”

“Yeah, I know,” I said with a shake of my head. “We’re going to have to deal with this one problem at a time though.”

Moonlight, having let Lemon Lime go turned to face us, looking to Neivi. “They said I should get a checkup?”

“Yes, of course,” Neivi said with a nod as she walked over to the Alicorn and started checking her over. “So, you’re not suffering any memory loss or anything?”

“I was at first, but Citrus pulled me out of it and I got everything back.” Moonlight said with a nod “Honestly, outside of some burnt fur, I don’t think I am at all injured.”

“Interesting,” Neivi said and looked at her and then at me thoughtfully. “This implies that the IMP doesn’t actually erase memories, it suppresses them, that’s actually useful information.”

“It is?” I asked.

“Yes, it means your memories are still intact, but your brain can’t access them,” Neivi said. “And fixing that is going to be much harder than it sounds. I can’t just whip up a potion to cure this kind of thing I’m afraid.”

My heart fell a little at that, I knew it had been unlikely but I was hoping that there would at least be a little bit of a chance.

“I can remember my transformation. It was very traumatic, it is possible that the only reason I was able to remember was not that the… IMP?... suppressed the memory, but that the trauma of the transformation was fought by the love and pleading of my loved one.” Moonlight said, looking at me. “It is possible it doesn’t even affect memory, and it is your mind alone keeping you from remembering to protect you from the trauma.”

“Possibly, but why make it forget everything?” Neivi asked. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to examine you more thoroughly as soon as possible. I’ve never seen a newly transformed Alicorn before, we could learn a lot about the process from you, if that’s okay.”

“Good thing I had the presence of mind to grab this before I left.” Moonlight said, holding up a bit of a broken bottle with a few drops of a strange liquid left in it. “This, this is the bottle they threw on me - That must be this… IMP, they use”

“Oh praise the spirits, yes, just give me a moment,” Neivi said as she ran over and put some stuff on to cover her hooves and grabbed a strange container and carried it over. “This is for any biohazardous materials. Just put it in here and we’re set.”

Nodding Moonlight placed the shattered glass into the container. “And I am not doing anything and have nowhere to be, so when is a good time for you doc. Though, I might want to shower first, might still have some of that gunk on me.”

“Well, uh…” Neivi said. “We, don’t really have any showers, but I can set something up really quick to get you cleaned off.”

“No… showers?...” Moonlight said, eye twitching slightly “Maybe staying out of the stable was a bad idea.”

“Don’t worry, we have it all set up,” Neivi said. “I’ll get it all set up for you.”

Turning to look at Lemon Lime, Moonlight smiled “If you hurry, these two know where the cave is, and Citrus should be bringing up a cache for us soon, you might be able to meet her face to face.”

“I’d, like that,” Lemon Lime said with a nod. “Thank you again.”

“Ah’ll stay behind with tha fillies,” Storm Wrangler said. “Ya’ll stay safe out there okay?”

“I think it's up to the doc if I’m allowed to go or not, I think Citrus would love to see me again but at the same time I’m scared she may decide to stay out of the stable if she did.” Moonlight said with a chuckle “Then again, the smaller the party to more likely you can get there and back without being seen or attacked.”

“Yeah, I’ll go with Lemon,” I said with a nod. “If you want me to tell Citrus anything for you, just let me know.”

“Let her know how valuable I am to you and others like you, the research the doc can get off me may help everypony. Who knows, maybe she can find a better use for this IMP.” Moonlight said with a smile “What’s that even stand for anyway? It’s a acronym right?”

“Impelled Metamorphosis Potion,” Storm said.

“I see, and that’s why it turned me into this?” Moonlight said, looking at herself again. “What if it got on the doc, or on Lemon lime? What would it do then?”

“The Society never takes Ghouls or Zebras, so either nothing, or something completely different, I’d rather not find out,” Neivi said with a shake of her head.

“Maybe one day, we'll find those lucky, or unlucky enough to have experienced that.” Moonlight said, smiling at all of us. “Anyway, you two go and pick up that cache, hurry hurry, Citrus works quick and if you delay she may already be inside.”

I nodded and me and Lemon headed back out of the clinic.

00000

“Why weren’t you in Stable 27?” I asked as we got closer to the Stable and I looked over at Lemon.

“I could’ve been, I worked for Stable-Tec at the time,” Lemon said with a shake of her head. “But, well, it’s complicated, me and my daughter Licorice, we had a falling out and we never really got to make-up before the bombs fell.”

“And then you wound up a Ghoul,” I said with a sigh and she nodded.

“Scootaloo, she found me up in my old office in Manehattan, she told me where she had been assigned and I came down this way,” Lemon said and sighed a little. “I’ve been chasing leads on Stable 27’s entrance ever since I got here, but nopony’s been sure where to find it.”

We stopped outside of the cave and I looked back at Lemon who had stopped just behind me. She looked at the cavern entrance for a long moment as if she was trying to decide whether or not to do this.

“What’s wrong?” I asked as I looked back at her.

“I’m a big screw up, Licorice was dating this mare that I didn’t like, it’s, silly I know,” she said with a shake of her head. “I let my little filly go just because of something dumb like that. I, just wish I could’ve seen her one last time, tell her how I felt.”

“Lemon, you’ve been alive for over 200 years with these regrets, and you wouldn’t have come all the way here if you didn’t want some sort of reconciliation,” I said softly as I placed my hoof on her. “It’s not the same as seeing your daughter again I know, but… I think you should at least try and meet Citrus. She would’ve wanted that,just give it a chance okay? Her family has kept your picture, I’d say that’s a pretty good indication that you’ve been forgiven for a long time.”

Lemon Lime paused for a moment before she looked back at the cave and then back at me for a moment. She looked like she was thinking about this still, but finally she nodded as the sound of footsteps were heard echoing through the cave as a soft voice was heard singing, but it stopped when Citrus emerged from the cave and looked at us.

“Oh, Firelight right? I wasn’t expecting to see you here,” she said and gave me a soft smile. “Is, Moonlight with you?”

“No, she had to stay back in Nightingale,” I said with a shake of my head. “But, I brought somepony who wanted to meet you.”

“Hi Citrus,” Lemon Lime said as the Unicorn looked at the Earth Pony Ghoul for a moment and blinked in surprise.

“You, you look like the mare in the photo that belonged to my ancestor,” she said softly. “Well, almost like her… but, how?”

“The bombs did this to me,” Lemon said as she looked away in shame. “I don’t die, I don’t age, and I’ve been trying to find this place for a long time. I was your ancestor’s mother, I just, wanted some sort of closure. I know it’s not the same, but I’m sorry, I let my own feelings get in the way of what was really important, my own daughter’s happiness.”

Citrus looked at her for a long moment and then smiled softly. “Lemon Lime, you were forgiven a long time ago. My ancestor had a diary that was passed down from mother to daughter and she talked about you in it. She said, you were the best mother she had ever had despite your stubbornness. She had always hoped that one day there would be a knocking on the Stable door and it would be you on the other side, just so she could see you again.”

“I would’ve been here if I had known,” Lemon said with a shake of her head. “Moonlight told me about the rest of your family. I’m proud of you, of all of you, I’m happy you made it. I’d hug you, but, uh, I doubt radiation is good for the foal.”

“Yeah…” Citrus said and then opened her bags with her magic and levitated out a book that she levitated over to Lemon. “You should have this, it was her diary. When I thought we were leaving I wanted to bring it with me.”

“No, no I couldn’t, it’s your family heirloom,” Lemon said with a shake of her head.

“You’re part of our family too,” she said with a smile. “You should have it, she’d have liked that. Just, do me a favor okay?”

“Anything,” Lemon said with a nod.

“Make sure Moonlight comes back safe,” Citrus said with a sad smile. “I’m worried about her, that’s all I ask.”

“I will,” Lemon said with a nod as she put the diary away. “Take care of yourself Citrus, I, would like to see you again someday.”

Citrus nodded and turned to me as she levitated a bag to me. “This is all the PipBucks we could spare as well as some extra gear,” she said and gave me a smile.

“Moonlight wanted me to tell you that she’s going to be valuable to helping ponies like me,” I said with a soft smile. “Our Doctor is going to be using her for research into the process and might even be able to reverse some of the mental effects with her help.”

“That’s great,” Citrus said and chuckled lightly. “That’s Moonlight for you, always doing her best to help other ponies out. Tell her I love her and I’ll see her again soon.”

“Sure I…” I said and stopped when she hugged me.

“And give her that from me too,” she said with a chuckle.

“I will,” I said with a nod as I looked back at Lemon. “We should get back to Nightingale if we’re going to get any sleep tonight.”

“Yeah,” Lemon said with a small nod as she looked at Citrus and smiled a little. “Thank you Citrus, you’ve made an old Ghoul very happy.”

“Anytime,” Citrus said with a nod. “I’ll see you around.”

We nodded and waved as she headed back down into the cave. We watched her go before we turned around and headed back towards Nightingale.

LEVEL UP!

Perk Received: Prospector.
Details: You've gained a better understanding of the pre-apocalyptic world through learning more about Stables. You get a boost to your intelligence and luck when it comes to pre-war artifacts and locations.

Author's Notes:

I'd like to thank TheLittlestofPips for joining the crew here and writing the character Moonlight Lullaby.