“Keep yer eyes on yer EFS, we don’t want anypony sneakin’ up on us,” Storm said as we made our way through the jungle once more away from Nightingale.

“Where are we going?” I asked as I ducked under a branch that nearly hit me in the face. “We can’t exactly get back to Soia and the others from out here.”

“That’s not a problem,” Neivi said and paused a moment as she checked her EFS and looked around before speaking quieter. “With how the underground is spread out we have multiple entrances, the one in Nightingale is just the one that is the most direct, and least dangerous one around.”

I really, really did not like the way she worded that.

“The bad news is that the nearest entrance is close to a Thunderbird nest,” Lemon said with a snort and a shake of her head. “And they’re incredibly territorial especially this time of year, if we get found out by them, well it’s not going to go well.”
“A Thunder-what?” Moonlight said, her fear obvious in her voice. “That doesn’t sound like a good thing…”

“Giant bird, looks somethin’ like an old world Eagle or some other large bird of prey, only much bigger and much nastier,” Storm said with a shake of her head. “We call ‘em Thunderbirds because their calls are as loud as thunder, and even more terrifyin’.”

“Basically, they’re the top of the food chain around here,” Neivi said with a shake of her head. “Not the kind of thing you want on your bad side.”

“But, it’s just a bird, right? I mean, Sure… a bird of prey, it probably thinks ponies look pretty tasty… but, old world ponies took care of creatures like bears and such and had no problems.” Moonlight said, fear turning to curiosity. “Maybe it just needs a tender loving touch?”

“Sure, if we had Fluttershy with us maybe,” Lemon said with a snort. “But last I heard she lives up in Ponyville.”

“Trust me, Ah’ve tangled with Thunderbirds before,” Storm said with a shake of her head. “They’re fierce, nasty, and can outmatch a Pegasus in tha air. And we’re talkin’ about gettin’ close to their nest when its hatchin’ season, they’re gonna be defensive and present a major threat ta us if we’re not careful.”

“I see… perhaps if we offer them some food or something? Something that they like more than ponies?” Moonlight said with a sigh. “I don’t feel like being bird food, if you don’t mind”

“That’s doable, but we don’t exactly have any of that with us,” Neivi said and adjusted her glasses a little. “Our best bet would probably be a Radstag, there are a few herds in the jungle and they’re usually the prey for Thunderbirds.”

“Radstag? What’s that?” Moonlight said, looking at Neivi. “Some sort of… mutated deer or something?”

“Pretty much yeah, they’re the Deer version of Ghouls,” Lemon said with a shake of her head. “There’s some decent ones out there, I’ve heard of some out east near Terra Nova, but most of them you’ll encounter are completely mindless and run on instinct alone like Feral Ghouls.”

“Unless you’ve got several Stealthbucks or Zebra Invisibility Cloak, that might be our only option,” Neivi said with a shake of her head.

“Stealth...bucks?...” Moonlight said, rubbing at her head. “You guys are gunna bring me up to speed eventually, right?”

“Don’t look at me, I’m as lost as you are,” I said with a shrug. “So, what’s the plan then?”

“Okay then, we just need to either get some meat or…” Neivi said and then looked at me curiously for a moment. “Hmm, I wonder…”

“Don’t look at me, I don’t know any invisibility magic,” I said.

“No, but you do know some illusion magic don’t you?” She asked and I nodded a little.

“What are you thinking?” Lemon asked.

“If you can distract the Thunderbird long enough with an illusion spell of say, another Thunderbird encroaching on its territory…” Neivi said.

“That would keep its attention away so we can make it into the Underground,” I finished and Neivi nodded. “That could work, but I don’t know how long I can maintain the illusion or if it’ll hold up.”

“It’s just an illusion, if it tries to attack it wouldn’t it find out right quick that it wasn’t really there?” Moonlight questioned. “I mean, if it knows ponies can use that kind of magic, and it was tricked using it, it might only make it angrier towards us, or may make it attack Nightingale or another settlement.”

“Good point,” I said and sighed a little. “Guess we’re back to distracting it with food then.”

“Well, it is a bird of prey, would it stalk and such a prey item?” Moonlight said, clearly thinking out loud. “Maybe if we could make it think something that it’d like to eat more than anything was around, it might leave us alone and get so distracted hunting that when the illusion is gone it’ll just think it got away rather then it being tricked…”

“Now that I could definitely do,” I said with a nod. “I just need to know what to create and what it looks like.”

“No problem,” Storm said with a nod. “I can provide that easily.”

I nodded and we stopped in a clearing to plan just how we were going to do this. To make it work, I was going to have to be the last one in the hole, and if I messed up, the whole thing was going to fall apart.

But hey, no pressure right?

00000

I gulped when we reached the clearing in question and I could see the bird. It was perched on a tree above the clearing along with a nest, and it was MASSIVE. Storm Wrangler hadn’t been exaggerating when she described it, it looked like a huge eagle like I had seen in books from before the bombs fell.

I looked back at Neivi who gave me a nod. We had already agreed to the plan so there wasn’t much point in talking, mostly because doing so may attract the bird’s attention, so I gulped and after I was certain that it wouldn’t see me, my horn started to glow orange as I formed our distraction.

The mutated deer was as accurate to life as I could make it given that I’ve never actually seen one. I looked at Storm and Neivi who gave me a nod of approval, and I started to move it forward into the clearing.

The Thunderbird’s head shot up and it let out a thundering screech, they hadn’t been kidding about how loud that was and I nearly lost my concentration. Thankfully it just made the illusion freeze for a moment before I made it dart off into the jungle, holding my concentration as best I could.

And then the massive bird spread its wings and I saw the Thunderbird in all its glory. Its wings were massive, like nothing I had ever seen before and as it took off after the illusion of the Radstag I had created.

We quickly headed for the barely visible hole in the ground that would take us into the Underground. With my concentration on the illusion, I had to make sure that I followed the others in front of me so I didn’t miss it.

And that’s when it all fell apart.

Just as we reached about the halfway point I felt something hitting me from behind, which broke my concentration as the Radstag faded away. I looked up just as the Thunderbird let out an ear splitting screech and realized that Moonlight had tripped and hit me.

“Darn it Moonlight!” I said as we scrambled to get to the hole just as the massive bird was turning around and flying right back at us.

“I’m Sorry!” Moonlight cried out, as she scrambled to her hooves and tried to help me stand. “I just.. That was so good! I’ve never seen something so lifelike!”

“Yeah, it was very impressive, but we’re about ta die if we don’t hurry!” Storm said as she fired at the Thunderbird and I got to my hooves with Moonlight’s help. “Get yer flanks in that hole both of yah!”

Neivi and Lemon had already made it to the destination and jumped through it. I nodded to Moonlight and we ran for the hole. I levitated my rifle out of its holster and fired at the Thunderbird as I did.

The bird flew down right at Storm who just barely got out of the way of the bird’s talons. She cursed loudly as we reached the hole. “Moonlight, get in there, we’ll be right behind you,” I said to the other Alicorn.

Moonlight was frozen with fear as she looked up at the massive bird that was now circling and preparing to attack her. I was about to say something when a bright blue glow surrounded Moonlight and it flared upwards hitting the Thunderbird and sending it crashing to the ground unconscious.

“What the heck was that?” I commented out loud as I looked at Moonlight.

“I… I don’t know?” Moonlight said, looking at the bird and then back to me. “I just… got so scared, I don’t know what happened!”

“Come on, let’s get down there before that thing wakes up,” I said and gave her a nod. “Don’t worry, it’ll be okay.”

The group disappearing into the tunnel, Moonlight keeping her eyes on the now out cold Thunderbird until she was fully into the safety of the underground. She still seemed panicked and scared, maybe more about herself then the threat of the bird at this point.

“The longer I stay like this, the more I think this was a terrible idea” Moonlight said to herself, shaking her head. “What is happening to me..”

“You’re…” I started to say and then realized I didn’t know either. The only frame of reference I had was the strange flame illusion I kept conjuring up whenever I was angry. “Moonlight, I wish I could tell you, I don’t know myself. But I do know that it doesn’t change who you are as a pony, just work on controlling it and you’ll be okay. I’ll help as best I can.”

“I know you will… I trust you, but I don’t really know if all this is going to end up working out in the end.” Moonlight said, looking to me with tears in her eyes. “I gave up my life in the stable, I got… transformed into this, and now I’m having power surges that can make massive predatory birds collapse on the ground unconscious… what if that was you, or Neivi, or anypony else, what could it do to you guys.”

We all paused for a moment as we weren’t really sure what to say. She was right of course, she could hurt any one of us, but then again so could I. I was as powerful if not more than Moonlight, and if something went wrong I could hurt ponies too.

“Moonlight,” Storm finally said as Neivi and Lemon arrived and Neivi started checking us over. “We’re all dangerous in our own way, and Ah trust yah with mah life. Ah believe that yah wouldn’t do anythin’ ta purposely hurt any of us, and that’s good enough fer me.”

“Really?” Moonlight said, showing a slight smile. “You all barely know me, and you’d trust me that much? That… really means alot.”

“We all agree,” Neivi said as she finished checking me over. “Just be more careful in the future okay?”

“Yeah.. I’ll definitely try atleast” Moonlight said with a sigh, before smiling at me. “I suppose I could of bumped into worse things.” Her tone playful and giving me a wink.

I blushed deeply at that and shook my head, the last thing I needed was more conflicting feelings right now. “So how far is it to the base?”

“Not far,” Neivi said as she finished checking us over.

“Think you were thorough enough on me Neivi?” Storm said with a flirty wink which just made the Zebra roll her eyes as we started down the tunnel.

“I don’t know, I think she missed a few spots on Firelight.” Moonlight said, smirking at both me and Neivi.

Me and Neivi both blushed heavily. “Umm… err…” I said with a shake of my head. “She’s, uh…”

“I checked her over very thoroughly I assure you,” Neivi said though she was trying to hide her own embarrassment as she adjusted her glasses a little. “You’re all fine, which is fortunate for an encounter with a Thunderbird.”

“I hope the Thunderbird is fine, sure it wanted to attack us, and probably eat us, but I didn’t want to hurt it.” Moonlight said, looking back up the way we had came.

“Ah’m sure its fine, its a tough bird,” Storm said with a shake of her head. “Its hatchin’ season so its just protectin’ its young, would be better not ta kill it.”

We walked on for awhile down the tunnel. None of it really looked familiar, but then again we were underground and the only frame of reference I had was the tunnels under Nightingale, so I really wasn’t the expert on this kind of thing.

I was getting tired, when I checked my PipBuck it was getting late but we had to get to our destination soon.

“So, do you think the Mayor is sleeping yet?” Moonlight said as she trotted up next to me. “I think I have a plan that we can use to freak him out some or maybe make some of his own turn against him.”

“I’m listening,” I said as I looked over at the other Alicorn curiously.

“Dreams are powerful tools, and I could really easily tie our three dreams together, mine yours and his, and if he’s scared of the Society, you can use your affiliation to make him do something really stupid.” Moonlight said with a smile. “And with the two of us, it might really be convincing, especially hijacking his dream like that.”

“That might work,” I said thoughtfully. “But we should get back to the base first before we do anything like that since we’d have to be asleep.”

“Not necessarily, I’ve been thinking about what I did earlier with the Thunderbird… It was sleep magic.” Moonlight said “Similar to my ability to influence and walk the dreamscape.”
“Hmm, interesting,” Neivi said. “Do you think it might work? We shouldn’t really risk something right now, we do need to get back to Soia and the others.”

“If Moonlight thinks she can do it, we should at least try,” I said and looked back at her. “What do you think, should we try it now or wait?”

“I think I can, but maybe it’d be better to wait till we know we’re under Nightingale, I’ve never had that great of a range and doing it when it’s too far might tip our hand before we’re ready.” Moonlight said with a deep breath. “How far?”

“Not far, we just have to reach a fork in the tunnel not far from here and go a little ways and we’ll get there,” Neivi said. “These tunnels were built to mine wherever they could find coal, so it’s a bit indirect route-wise.”

“I hope we get there soon, my hooves are killing me.” Moonlight said with a sigh. “I am really going to need a show…. Oh, right, you don’t have those up here…”

“We have a small waterfall that some use to bathe in in the caves, would that help?” Neivi asked with a chuckle.

“Is the water clean?” Moonlight said, “If it’s not, I think I’d rather stay as I am… No need to irradiate myself unnecessarily.”

“Actually, radiation is good for IMP Alicorns, but yes it’s clean,” Neivi said.

“Wait, what?” Moonlight said, quirking a brow and looking at me. “Is she pulling my leg, like she just wants to see what happens when one of us starts to glow or is this all for real?”

“Actually she’s not kidding, the Society often uses irradiated materials to help injured Alicorns heal faster,” I said.

“Yeah, the Doc had me come in and expose Firelight to radiation while she was healing up from a Sabretooth attack,” Lemon added.

“So… like, Radiation Vampires?” Moonlight said before she turned to Lemon with a grin. “I vant to suck your raaaads.”

I just laughed at that as we came to the fork in the tunnel and turned to the right. I still was wondering about what had happened with the Thunderbird, Moonlight was as surprised as we were so it wasn’t something she could normally do.

Was this tied to the fact that she was an Alicorn now? But that wasn’t an ability any of the other Alicorns in the Society had shown. So, what was going on here? Was there something more that we didn’t know?

I sighed and shook my head, I just wished there was something I could do or say right now that would make things make sense.

“Woah… I’m starting to feel woozy.. How about you guys?” Moonlight said, getting a little tipsy on her hooves. “What did they mine from these tunnels anyway?”

“Coal, at least before other energy sources were developed,” Neivi said as she looked at Moonlight worried for a moment. “Are you okay?”

“How close is this to the Stable?” Moonlight said, trying to get herself under control. “There were parts of the stable I couldn’t go into because of something just like this”

“Part of it is that way, I think,” Lemon said as she pointed through a wall. “The underground isn’t connected to the Stable, but we’re not that far away from it.”

“I wonder…” Moonlight said, looking around and finding a rock on the ground, levitating it in her magic her aura itself was being pulled from her horn and the rock and towards the wall. “That’s… wierd”

“Interesting,” Neivi said and looked at me. “Are you having any similar problems?”

I tried using my magic, but it didn’t seem to do anything unusual. I shrugged a little and looked at Moonlight. “We should probably get going.”

Moonlight nodded and started to lead the way, walking ahead of us despite not knowing where they were going. Clearly just wanting to put some distance between them and that spot, she kept the rock with her, levitating it along and soon her magic would stop being pulled and she got much more steady.

“We should figure out what is there and why it wants to pull me in like that” Moonlight said, a slight quiver in her voice apparently quite shaken from the experience. “It did it before I was an Alicorn, I’m sure of it, I want to know why it wants me.”

Neivi paused a moment as she looked towards where Lemon had pointed and then shook her head. The Zebra doctor suddenly looked very uneasy, as if something was worrying her “No, we need to get to the base, we can investigate it later.”

Moonlight nodded slightly and we started down the tunnel again. After walking for awhile we reached the base, though still, I had to wonder what was happening back there.

00000

While Neivi and Lemon went to talk with Soia and report in and find out what was going on, Storm said she’d show us to the bathing pool. It was a nice cave off to the side of the cave with a pool of water along with a small waterfall that poured out into it and a stream leading away from it.

I blushed a little when I realized Storm was taking off her armor, I hadn’t actually seen her outside of her armor that much. She had a cutie mark of a grey cloud with raindrops falling from it.

“Come on, tha water is fine,” Stormy said with a smile as she waved at me. “Not used ta bein’ naked around other ponies or somethin’?”

“Not, really…” I said with a shake of my head. “Except around my wing really, I, guess I’m just not used to it yet.”

“Group showers in the Stable was kind of something we did as a bonding thing.” Moonlight said, taking off her stable suit, unbuckling and removing her pipbuck and blinking a few times to adjust before she’d go over and join Storm, looking at me. “We’re all mares here, it’s not like it’s something we’ve never seen.”

I shrugged and removed my armored robes before setting them off to the side and heading into the water. I was a little surprised that it felt warm as I slid into the water, it wasn’t too bad actually.

“This isn’t so bad,” I finally said with a shrug as I relaxed a little in the water.

“Yeah, Ah sometimes like ta come down here when Ah get tha chance and just relax, though that’s not that often,” Storm said with a chuckle as she splashed me a little. “Ah don’t think Ah’ve seen yah out of yer robes either Firelight. A shame, Ah thought yah had a cute flank under there.”

I blushed and sunk deeper into the pool, trying not to think about that for a moment as I shook my head. “Real funny, I thought you had your eye on a certain Zebra.”

“Maybe, but Ah can enjoy tha view anyway,” Storm said with a laugh as she splashed me again playfully.

“Pft, Come on what are you two, a bunch of lil fillies?” Moonlight said, chuckling before she flung water at the both of us with her wing. “I could say the same to you Storm, I could tell you had a cute flank under all that armor, shame you always have to wear it.”

Now it was Storm’s turn to blush as I laughed loudly as the Pegasus guard splashed Moonlight back. “Ah’m a guard, Ah need ta be prepared in case tha town gets attacked yah know.”

“No guard I know wears their armor all the time though, I don’t think I’ve even see you take it off to sleep,” Moonlight said with a smirk. “Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve seen either of you undress for anything, till now”

“I know it’s silly,” I said with a shake of my head. “I guess I’m not used to being around ponies outside of the Society yet. I don’t know if that really makes sense, but I was a lot more, comfortable around my Wing with this kind of thing.”

“Also yah only met us yesterday,” Storm pointed out. “And Ah slept in tha clinic last night which we were worried about bein’ targeted by tha Mayor and his goons so Ah wanted ta be ready.”

“True true, but even when there was a cave in while I was in the Stable, the rescue workers when they took their naps didn’t sleep in their rescue gear.” Moonlight said, sitting in the water and rubbing at her chin. “Guess ponies up here are loads different then down there, wonder why, can’t just be societal differences can it?”

Storm just shrugged a little. “This is a dangerous world, we need ta be ready fer anythin’,” she said and shook her head a little. “Ah never really thought about it before really, maybe Ah just got used ta it or somethin’.”

Moonlight thought for a moment or two more before she shrugged, outstretching a wing and started to gently adjust and move her feathers, getting them properly arranged. “So, what do you do up here for fun? Surely there has to be some sort of games or something you can do. Down in the stable we have terminals we can play on for recreation and entertainment.”

“Well, we do actually have a few terminals around,” Storm said with a shrug. “Though Ah don’t think we have much in tha way of games ta play on ‘em. There’s other stuff yah can do though, we have a library of what books we can find, and a few games yah can play around town. Or, at least yah could if, yah know…”

“Right, we still need to see if I can do that.” Moonlight said, folding her wing back to her side. “Well, I guess once we’ve cleaned and relaxed we can try. Kind of, the calm before the storm, right?”

“Yeah,” I said and laid back in the water a little when I noticed Storm was staring at my flanks again. “Still checking me out huh?”

“Nah, Ah was more wonderin’ about yer cutie mark,” Storm said.

“Oh, yeah,” I said as I looked at the twin marks on my flanks of a star that was surrounded by flames. “I don’t really remember how I got it, like a lot of other things really. I know its weird, I guess I never really thought that much about it. Star cutie marks aren’t that uncommon in the Society.”

“Huh, come to think of it, those Alicorns in the jungle when you came and got me, they didn’t have cutie marks from what I remember” Moonlight said, looking back to her own twin crescent moon cutie mark. “I don’t know who or what I’d be without mine.”

“Yeah, though I wish I knew what mine meant,” I said and shook my head a little. I leaned back and closed my eyes, I just wanted to enjoy the moment before we had to worry about something else.

“Hey, did you start the party without me?” A familiar voice said and there was the sound of another pony entering the pool, or Zebra as the case was.

I chuckled lightly when I opened my eyes to see Neivi joining us, and blushed a moment when I realized my eyes fell on her flanks when I opened them up and just shook my head and looked away.

“Thought you’d never join doc” Moonlight said with a smile. “We were just talking about cutie marks, You zebra, you don’t get them do you?”

“Oh sure, but we call them Glyphmarks, they look a bit different than pony cutie marks,” Neivi said as she nodded to a strange grey symbol on her flank.

Darn it Neivi, did you have to keep drawing attention to it?

“Do you have to earn yours, or are you born with it?” Moonlight said, curiously leaning in to get a better look at that glyph. “I got mine singing a lullaby to the foals in the nursery. Still don’t quite understand why.”

“Well, we typically earn them yes, but usually Glyphmarks are connected to whatever Tribe we are part of,” Neivi said with a shrug. “Since I’m Mendi, marks for medicine and potion brewing is pretty common.”

“Is that what yours is?” Moonlight said with a smile, before suddenly turning her attention to storm. “And don’t think we forgot bout you, I wanna hear your story too!”

“Mine means healer specifically, yes,” Neivi said with a nod.

“Oh mine?” Storm asked as she shrugged a little. “Its silly really, yah don’t want ta hear mah cutie mark story.”

“Oh come on, we’ve heard everypony else’s, well except for Lemon, where is she anyway?” I asked as I looked at Neivi.

“Oh, she didn’t want to irradiate the pool so she just went to bed,” Neivi said. “But yeah, come on and tell us Storm. It can’t be that silly.”

“Well, okay, yah ever heard of tha Everfree Forest? Well, tha weather there is a bit, unpredictable and hard ta control,” Storm said as she brushed her mane back a little. “Back when Ah was a filly, some of us liked ta dare each other ta try and tame tha weather there. When it was mah turn, well, it didn’t quite go accordin’ ta plan and Ah wound up bein’ nearly thrown into tha forest. Ah kept tryin’ though, never succeeded but wound up with a cutie mark about tamin’ wild weather anyway, not sure how that works.”

Moonlight giggled some and moved round, slipping behind Storm and spreading those wings “Such a big tough pegasi!” She teased “Betcha torched a few feathers trying, didn’t cha.”

“Yeah, a few,” Storm said as a blush creeped over her face as she felt the Alicorn’s touch. “Like Ah said, its kinda silly. Nopony can tame tha weather over tha Everfree Forest, its been that way even before tha bombs fell.”

“When I was in the stable, and younger, I was told of a group of ponies who tried their hardest to keep wild weather in line, never got told how successful they were, but it was always a nice story to hear.” Moonlight said, releasing those wings and giving Storm a hug. “You’re crazy, but that’s awesome.”

I chuckled and looked at Neivi. “So, uh, what’s the word from Soia, what happened up top?”

“Right after we left and before the rest of the council could even discuss what was going on, Mayor Steel called a town meeting,” Neivi said and brushed her mane back a little with a sigh. “He basically said that the presence of Alicorns in the town was a prelude to an invasion and that we had left to get the rest of the Society or something. Then he invoked 17-B and had anypony he suspected of being a traitor confined. A few made it into the underground, but its not looking good.”

I sighed a little and leaned back as I looked up at the ceiling. “So, what are we supposed to do?”

“I, don’t know,” Neivi admitted with a shake of her head as she sat down next to me. “We’ve got some help coming from Canterbury but Nightingale’s the best protected town in this part of Equestria. It’s not going to be easy, we’re at the moment stuck waiting while we come up with a plan.”

“I see…” I said and sighed a little. “That’s just great.”

“Soia has approved the plan of going into the dreamscape though,” Neivi added. “But she wants me to go with you if possible.”

“You’d have to ask Moonlight, she knows this stuff better than I do,” I said and nodded to the other Alicorn.

“It’s complicated, I’ve only tethered dreams of two, maybe three together at once, I suppose I can do four, but it might seem off if you’re there.” Moonlight said with a sigh. “Then again, it is a dream, you can be anything you want to be, you could even appear as Nightmare Moon herself if you wanted to.”

“Or yah could dream up a mare or two ta…” Storm started to say before she was splashed hard by Neivi. “Hey, what was that fer? Ah didn’t even get ta finish!”

“You didn’t have to!” Neivi said, her face red with embarrassment. “But anyway, yes, its okay if you can’t do it, Soia just wanted me to go just in case.”

“It’s a dream, the worse that could possibly happen is some sort of shadow creature that feeds on guilt and anguish that inhabits the dream realm to find a way into our dreams in an attempt to escape into the real world.” Moonlight said with a chuckle, moving over to the falls themselves and letting the water cascade through her mane and down her back. “Plus, I’ll be there, the dream will be entirely in my control, nothing bad can ever happen.”

“Alright, well, once we’re done here lets do that then,” Neivi said as she yawned a little and looked over at me with a smile.

“Just stay out of Neivi’s dreams,” Storm said with a chuckle. “Given what she reads, Ah’ll bet they’d be fun ta visit.”

I smirked a little and used my telekinesis to hold some water and lifted it above the Pegasus’ head and dumped it on her.

“Hey, what was that fer?” Storm demanded, now even more soaked as me and Neivi just laughed.

Moonlight slipped over beside Storm and smirked. “Wanna show them that Pegasi wings are more than just show?”

“Oh, most definitely,” Storm said with an evil smirk.

Moonlight quite happily taking the lead, with a smirk a mile wide and a laugh befitting of Nightmare Moon, she’d swing her wings through the water, sending a large wave at me and Neivi.

We just laughed and retaliated as best we could. It was nice, to just play with my friends right now, it was something like I felt had always been missing from my life.

I wished it would never end.

00000

“So, how does this work?” Neivi asked as we were getting our beds ready in the temporary quarters we had set up for us.

“Well, like most magic it’s based on desire and want.” Moonlight said, taking a deep breath. “I’ve never reached out this far before, I don’t know if I can reach the mayor but I’ll try. All I have to do is Will our dreams to be combined, and it should put us all into a conscious role within the dream.”

“Good to know,” Neivi said as she took a deep breath and shook her head a little. “Sorry, I’ve never done anything like this before.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll be just fine,” I said and gave her a reassuring smile as I placed my hoof on hers gently. “I trust Moonlight, she knows what she’s doing.”

“Okay, good,” Neivi said with a soft smile as she gave us a nod.

“It’s alright, being apprehensive to this is normal, it’s me - My abilities, and I am still apprehensive how well I can hold this together.” Moonlight said, with a soft smile to us. “Keep in mind, it is a dream, you can do anything you want in it, just - don’t do anything absurd or disruptive, or I’ll fail to hold it together.”

“Got it,” I said and Neivi nodded. “We’ll keep everything as grounded in reality as you can in a dream.”

“So no summonin’ a harem of mares ta wait on yah Neivi,” Storm said with a chuckle. “Unless it’s me of course.”

“Aw, but what If i wanted to dream that up, Hmm?” Moonlight said with a smirk.

“Stop reading my books! I mean, let’s, just get this done,” Neivi said as she blushed deeply and shook her head. “You’re enjoying this way too much aren’t you Storm?”

“Yep,” The Pegasus said with a chuckle as she sat back and adjusted her hat a little. “Ah gotta have mah fun where Ah can.”

“Life’s too short to take seriously, gotta have what fun you can when you can.” Moonlight said, as she climbed up into a bed. “Take it a day at a time, and make the most of a bad situation”

“Moonlight, Ah think we’re gonna be good friends,” Storm said with a chuckle as she tilted her hat a little. “Well, ya’ll stay safe, Ah’ll see yah in tha mornin’, try not ta stumble into anythin’ too kinky.”

“You know what the say bout birds of a feather.” Moonlight said, smiling at Storm before she turned to us. “You two ready?”

“Yeah, we’re ready,” I said and Neivi nodded as we laid back on the beds.

“Alright, you two just need to lay down and try and sleep normally, You’ll know when I’ve taken control.” Moonlight said with a nervous smile. “I’m good at fabricating settings, so if you experience a sudden shift like that, it’s probably just me.”

I nodded and closed my eyes, soon after I was fast asleep.

00000

When my world came into focus I found myself sitting in a bedroom, it took me a moment to remember that it was the same one I had seen in the memory I had shared with Moonlight before, though this time it was empty other than me.

I sighed a little as I looked around, there were a few things here and there, I think I even saw an old poster or something but it was still blurry. Like even if my memories were coming back, I still couldn’t remember all the details of where I lived.

I wonder if this was what my sister was going through, how much did she remember? Why did she remember things when I couldn’t? I sighed and shook my head a little as I looked at myself in the mirror.

The same face, the same body, only younger and without wings. I could remember it belonging to me, but not ever being here, and that saddened me still.

I just wished there was some way to get it all back.

The world warped around me, turning to a field of flowers at first, before an ivory platform surrounded by similarly designed pillars formed under me, First Moonlight would appear before Neivi would appear beside her.

“Alright, This is usually my go-to place, peaceful, quiet, really restful, but I think it might not be suiting for what we need to do.” Moonlight said, looking to me. “Do you remember anything about the society, perhaps something more based on their beliefs or designs?”

“We usually carry out any operations at night,” I said with a nod. “The moon is obviously important as well, so maybe something to do with that… one of us could actually appear as Nightmare Moon or the High Priestess, that might help.”

“Okay, well, I don’t know what the High priestess looks or sounds like so I can’t accurately represent her” Moonlight said, giving her chin a rub. “I could pick at the memories you have of the society, and create a new area based on it, I think.”

“That would work,” I said with a nod. “Alright do it then.”

Moonlight would nod, and a few moments later the world around us would twist and change once more. This time ending with a familiar six pointed star being the centerpiece, the brickwork, the decor, it was based on the temple.

“What is this place? It’s the most prominent memory I could find.” Moonlight said looking around. “It doesn’t have a name, just, temple?”

“It’s what we call it yes, the Temple,” I said with a nod. “Or the Temple of Nightmare Moon.”

“Huh, looks like an old Ministry of Arcane Science Hub to me,” Neivi said as she looked around curiously. “The one up in Haythens I’m guessing.”

“Seems odd to call it a Temple to somepony, when that” Moonlight pointed at the six pointed star. “Is definitely not a moon shape, If anything it reminds me of Twilight, She was one of the ponies that helped make the spell for Stable 27, we’re taught all about her. ”

“I, wish I could tell you, its always kind of been there,” I said with a shake of my head.

“Well Twilight Sparkle was the head of the Ministry of Arcane Science,” Neivi said as she walked around examining it. “Yeah, I’ve heard of buildings like this and reports of a building like this in Haythens. I’d say this is definitely a M.A.S. Hub.”

“Don’t look at me, all I was ever told was that it was a repurposed pre-war building,” I said with a shrug.

“Huh, anyway, time’s a wastin’.” Moonlight said, looking around before clusters of candles started to appear and light around the room, the sky outside turning black with a full moon in clear view. “Alright, Furniture, what kind of stuff would you expect in a conference room in the Society?”

“Hmm, lets see,” I said as I looked around and then gestured around the room. “This is the gathering hall specifically, so there should be rows of wooden benches around here. Then up there on the stage there is a black throne carved out of rock. It’s supposed to be for Nightmare Moon, though the High Priestess uses it.”

“Sounds like your High Priestess thinks herself as important or on the same level as your goddess.” Moonlight said, looking around and giving a sigh. “So much black, god how do you guys not stay depressed all the time.”

“Hey, its a cult that worships Nightmare Moon, what do you expect, sunshine and rainbows?” Neivi asked and then flinched a little. “Sorry Firelight.”

“Its okay, we deserved that,” I said with a shake of my head. “And yeah, the High Priestess is a bit full of herself looking back. I don’t really have an explanation other than that.”

“Still wonder what they wanted from me.” Moonlight said, looking around as the benches and throne appeared. “What they would have me doing right now if you didn’t stop them from taking me.”

“We shouldn’t dwell on that kind of thing Moonlight,” Neivi said as she gave her a reassuring smile. “The important thing is that you’re here with us.”

“Maybe so, but my powers have only grown since they changed me, and with my control over the dream world like this. It makes me wonder just what they would have me do.” Moonlight said with a sigh, walking over to the throne and taking seat in it. “The only other pony in recorded history with this power, was Princess Luna, and well, she is what they worship, in a way. Were they going to try and turn me into Nightmare Moon?”

“Maybe… I wish I could tell you,” I said with a sigh and a shake of my head. “I was just a soldier, they didn’t really tell me these things. We just went where they sent us.”

“Maybe.” Moonlight said, shaking her head before she stood and walked back over to us. “Well, I think we’re ready, except for Neivi - If she’s seen like that, it’ll destroy the entire illusion we’re trying to create.”

“Right,” I said as I looked at Neivi. “What should we do with her?”

Neivi looked thoughtful for a moment. “Sorry, I’m messing this up aren’t I? I don’t know what I can do to help.”

“Well, it’s a dream - you can be or do anything you want to be or do.” Moonlight said, thinking for a moment. “Well, you could always just, change yourself to appear like a nondescript alicorn.”

“Wait, I have an idea,” I said. “I’ve never seen it myself, but there’s a rumor that sometimes Zebras meet with the High Priestess. I’ve heard they have kind of, circular looking stripes around their faces, or at least that’s the rumor. It might be nothing.”

“You mean like this?” Neivi asked as she closed her eyes and her stripes changed so they looked more circular. She frowned a little and narrowed her eyes as she formed a cloak over her body and pulled the hood up.. “They’re Starkatteri Zebras, Star Worshippers, I didn’t know they were in league with the Society.”

“I feel like it's unlikely they are truly in league with them, I think it's more a shaky alliance.” Moonlight said, looking around the room again. “Kind of a, you scratch my back and I scratch yours… Oh, sorry Firelight, I didn’t mean to kind of… invade some of your memories, but I do know several speeches your Priestess gave, she didn’t seem very fond of them.”

“Well, it looks like we’re ready to go,” I said and gave her a nod. “Don’t worry, it’s fine, lets just get this done.”

“Something feels like its missing, like something I’d expect in this setting isn’t here, we have the benches, the throne, candles… the time of night is right, the moon is full… what in the world am I missing here.” Moonlight said, starting to pace.

“Hmm… worshipers maybe?” I asked as I looked around trying to figure out what was missing.

“I think given what we’re trying to do, worshipers may be a bit over the top... was there banners or posters or anything like that? These walls seem really bare to me” Moonlight said, looking around.

“Oh, duh,” I said and facehooved as I quickly described the banners that were usually around.

Moonlight nodding and within moments the banners appearing before she smiled back to me. “Alright, I think we’re ready, everypony take your places. I’ll try and pull the mayor in.”

I nodded and took my place as Neivi did the same. I took a deep breath, something about this felt, weird, like there was something we were missing. Not about the dream, but as if something was nagging at the back of my mind about all of this.

I looked over at Neivi who gave me a nod before putting on a more menacing Zebra look. I just hoped we were doing the right thing.

A few moments passed before the mayor would appear in the middle of that six pointed star in the center of the room. Moonlight turning to face him, doing her best to put on a face of anger and disgust.

“Welcome to my domain, Mayor Steele” Moonlight said, before turning to look to me. “I do believe you are familiar with the both of us.”

“You have angered us and the High Priestess for your actions against the both of us,” I said with my best evil sneer. “We needed help and a place to stay and you cast us aside, and now you and your town will pay for your impudence!”

“Indeed it shall, this transgression against the Society will not go unpunished.” Moonlight said as she walked over to the Mayor. “What say you in your defense.”

“W-what? I’m sorry Priestesses, please don’t hurt me, I didn’t know!” The Mayor said as he knelt before us, tears starting to pour down his face.

“It will require more than this poor attempt at an apology to quell our rage.” Moonlight said, glaring down at him. “Such a pathetic worm, you should know your place and stick to it.”

“What are you talking about? I’ve done everything I’ve been told by the High Priestess,” the Mayor said and with that my blood ran cold. “I give her ponies for the Society and she leaves us alone! That was the deal damn it!”

“We tire of the poor offerings you have given us. The sick, the old, the unwanted.” Moonlight said with a growl to her voice. “Worthless, we require a pony of strength, one with perhaps strong combat knowledge. This, Commander Twist I’ve heard of, she seems to meet what we require.”

“What? But she’s been loyal to us the whole time, she was promised protection!” Steel protested.

“You think we care? You’re nothing to us!” I said, though I hated saying it. “You will give her to us, or you will be the next pony we take, how would you like that?”

The Mayor flinched at that as he looked down at hooves, he was trembling with fear. I hated having to do this, I was acting the part of the monster, even if it was to somepony who was in league with the Society apparently.

I just had to hope that he was more interested in his own self preservation than anything else.

“It, shall be done Priestesses,” he said, the fear evident in his voice.

“Very good.” Moonlight said, leaning down and lifting his head with her hoof. “End this lock down, and gather your guard. We shall address them personally, any semblance of resistance, and a never ending night will descend on this settlement.”

“Yes, of course, I await your arrival tomorrow,” he said still trembling a little.

“We’ll be there,” I said as I scowled at him. “And you had better keep your end of the bargain, or you know what will happen.”

“I will!” He said.

The world around us started to fade to black, till just the four of us stood there. Moonlight turning around and walking away, disappearing into the shadows that consumed the world. “May your night be pleasant, Mayor.” her voice said from the shadows, before the world itself collapsed and shocked us all awake.

00000

I found myself staring up at the rocky ceiling of the quarters that had been made for us. I just stared up at it in silence for a moment, I just stared up at the ceiling.

“You alright, Firelight?” Moonlight said, walking to the side of my bed. “Something seems to be eating at you, would you like to speak about it?”

“I, don’t know, I knew there was something off about the mayor but…” I said as I looked over at them. Neivi was rubbing her head a little and she looked as confused as I felt. “But being in league with the Society?”

“I agree, Though I can sort of understand his predicament. However he seemed more focused on himself then the safety of Nightingale.” Moonlight said, giving a sigh. “Seems that ponies in this day and age have lost morality and gained selfishness.”

“I never liked him, but I thought he was just a jerk, or a bigot at worst,” Neivi said with a groan as she rubbed her head. “We need to go talk to Soia, she needs to know what’s going on. This is bigger than we ever imagined.”

“No need to be brash, there may be more of an explanation then we know.” Moonlight said. “Even if not, it is handled, the Mayor will give up Commander Twist and she’ll most likely turn against him once she knows the safety she was promised was nothing more than a ruse, and his entire operation will collapse. You have already won, it is just time for the clean up.”

“We have bigger problems to worry about,” Neivi said as Lemon and Storm woke up and looked confused. “Yes, he’ll be ousted, and any ponies working with him will turn on him. But, the thing is that if the Society finds out…”

“Nightingale will have a big target on it,” I finished.

“It’s their modus operandi, how they’ve been handling it thus far and it’s unlikely they are to change, its more likely they will try and find another pony they can twist and turn and have be their puppet. I suggest whomever is elected as the new mayor be one that can be trusted, elsewise the Society may sway them to continue the same operation.” Moonlight said and rubbed at her head. “I don’t think I can keep doing things like last night, so let’s hope that it never becomes a common practice.”

“We’ll try not to make it common,” I said with a groan and shook my head a little. “So, then we need to get this information to Soia so we can run damage control here. And, then go out into the town and finish things up.”

“Yeah…” Neivi said with a sigh and shook her head a little. “I need to get up there to the clinic, right now our priority is getting the town back under control. Something tells me that it's not going to be as easy as it seems.”

“Well, we do have two alicorns at our discretion, I remember from the stable being told how the Princesses would magically augment their voices to be heard and obeyed.” Moonlight said, taking a seat and yawning. “Perhaps if we could do the same, we could bring the entirety of Nightingale under control in just a single moment.”

“We can also get help from Canterbury at least,” Neivi added with a nod. “I just hope that you’re right and they won’t attack us outright.”

“Yer kiddin’ right? Yah found out that tha mayor is a traitor or somethin’?” Storm asked as she finally figured out what was going on. “Ah never liked that snake.”

“Well, it’s either he’s a traitor, or he agreed to give the Society ponies to stop them from taking everypony.” Moonlight said with a sigh. “I personally can’t tell if he’s doing what he has to in order to protect everypony, or if he’s only interested in protecting himself.”

“If you ask me, its probably the latter,” Neivi said. “He may have hesitated at first, but he sold out Twist after we threatened him.”

“While I am not trying to defend him, I saw it too.” Moonlight said. “He cannot be sure if he did let himself be taken to protect her, if the pony that comes into office next would agree to the same deal he did. It’s still not such a clear cut case, and all down to his end game how he handles this.”

“Agreed,” I finally said and looked at the others. “I just hope we’re doing the right thing here, I don’t want to put the town in danger.”

“Yeah…” Neivi said with a shake of her head.

“Ah’ll see if Ah can get mah friends in tha guard ta help,” Storm said with a shake of her head. “As back up if ya’ll can’t get yer voice thingy workin’.”

“I honestly believe that the society doesn’t wish to attack Nightingale, just from what I’ve seen it is a hardened target, it must not be worth the risk if they have already decided to do this under the table stuff.” Moonlight said, with a soft sigh. “It’s unlikely they are going to give up however, and as I suggested, it’s more likely they will just try and get somepony on the inside to agree to help smuggle out more victims, but this should at least make them less bold.”

“Yeah,” Neivi said with a sigh. “We should go talk to Soia now so we can get ready for what’s going to happen next.”

“You go ahead, there’s some ponies I want to check on,” I said with a nod as I got to my hooves and took a deep breath. “I really hope everything is going to be okay… I feel kind of responsible for all this since it started when I came to town.”

“Believe me, this stuff was bound to boil over eventually,” Lemon said with a snort. “The problems with the mayor were bound to come to a head, you just sped up the process.”

“I’m sure what happened with me didn’t help much.” Moonlight added. “It seems just having Alicorns like us around in general causes an uneasy feeling for a lot of ponies, with what the Society has been doing, I can’t really blame them.”

“Me neither,” I said with a sigh. “And I really hope I don’t have to do something like last night very often… I don’t like acting like I’m evil.”

“Eh, I can do it if need be.” Moonlight said with a shrug. “It’s part of the job when you’re the councilor for an entire stable. Tough love.”

“Yeah, but pretending to be like that? I guess I’m just not used to the idea,” I said with a shake of my head. “Anyway, let’s get going.”

They nodded and we split up. Neivi and Lemon headed to talk to Soia again while I headed off with Storm to check on the fillies.

I just hoped they were going to be okay.

00000

“Miss. Firelight!” Blueberry Muffin and Dawn Star said as we came into the room where the three of them were while Wind Chime looked up shyly.

“What happened last night?” Dawn Star asked. “You said you’d be back, but Miss. Soia said that something happened in town.”

“It’s, complicated,” I said as I looked at Storm Wrangler. I wasn’t sure how much we really should tell them. “I went back to Pearl.”

“You went to Pearl? Why?” Blueberry Muffin asked and even Wind Chime perked her ears up curiously.

“Well, uh, it’s complicated,” I said and looked at Storm. “Do you want to cover this one Storm?”

“Firelight, yer tha one who’s gotta tell them one way or another,” Storm said with a shake of her head. “Auntie Storm ain’t gonna get involved in this.”

“Yeah, I… wait, auntie Storm?” I asked and she just chuckled a little. “I swear that mare drives me crazy.”

“Ms. Storm? She’s kinda cool,” Dawn Star said. “But you didn’t answer Blue’s question, why did you go back to Pearl?”

“I, wanted to see if it would jog any of my memories,” I said with a sigh as I brushed my mane back a little. “I found out recently, thanks to the help of that other Alicorn who was with us Moonlight, that, well, I’m from Pearl. The Society took me away, and, well, we hoped that we’d remember something.”

“Oh,” Dawn Star said and blinked a little. “Really, you’re from Pearl too?”

“Yeah,” I said with a nod. “It surprised me too since I didn’t really maintain any of my memories. I don’t know what happened to my family other than my sister who’s back with the Society and…”

I was cut off when I felt the three fillies hugging me. I looked down at them and smiled softly as I gently wrapped my wings around them protectively.

“You’re like us then,” a soft voice said and I realized that Wind Chime had spoken and I nodded a little.

“Yeah, I guess I am,” I said sadly.

We held that hug for the longest time and I just smiled softly as I looked back at Storm who gave me a nod. We had come a long way and lost a lot, but we had each other.

And that’s what really mattered.

“Hey Firelight,” Neivi said as she walked in and gave us a smile. “I’m glad to see everything’s okay here.”

“Yeah, me too,” I said with a soft smile as I looked down at the fillies. “What’s the word from Soia?”

“Canterbury is sending us back-up if we need it,” Neivi said with a sigh and a shake of her head. “I’m still worried though, this plan could go wrong if it’s not done perfectly.”

“I know, but it’s also our best chance to end this without a fight,” I said with a shake of my head.

“Alright, well, we need to go wake up Moonlight,” Neivi said. “Soia wants to talk to you both before we go topside.”

I nodded and looked down at the three fillies one last time and smiled softly. I knew that we had to do this, but I didn’t want to leave, not yet at least.

“Okay, let’s get going,” I finally said after a moment and knelt down to the three. “Don’t worry you three, we’ll be back soon, I promise.”

I hoped I wasn’t lying.

LEVEL UP!

Perk Received: Fallen Caesar Style.
Details: You've learned some extra tricks in Zebra hoof to hoof combat. You get an extra 5 points in melee.