Lightning Dust snapped awake, still in a foggy haze from the sedatives she'd been hit with. Every thought felt like it was swimming in a sea of cotton, and her stomach was quietly and slowly trying to twist itself into a knot. It was halfway between a really bad hangover and an awful dream.

The room didn't help her feel any better. It was the kind of sterile room you only found in a hospital, painted all in pastels and - given the growing soreness in her hips and wings - it had the same awful beds as an army barracks.

"Couldn't even put me on my side," Lightning Dust mumbled, trying to shake feeling back into her wings. Between the stiff mattress and having her weight on them for Celestia knew how long, she could barely move them.

As she stood, she felt a tug on her chest. She looked down. Bandages had been wrapped around her barrel where a few of her ribs had snapped, and a cautious sniff indicated some kind of poultice had been applied.

"Great. But I don't think I'm gonna stick around to hit on the nurse." She walked to the door and tested the handle. Locked. She looked at the door. Steel security door, probably an inch thick, with a tiny shatterproof window at eye level. She couldn't just break it down. Even an earth pony couldn't dent it.

Given enough time she could probably figure something out, but she wasn't planning on spending the night.

Dust tapped the wall next to the door with a hoof.

"What's she doing?" Sunburst asked, looking over Doctor Sparkle's shoulder. They were watching Lightning Dust on a monitor, the enchanted pane of glass connected to a small spell token up near the center of Dust's hospital room and enchanted with a scrying spell.

"She should have been out for three days," Doctor Sparkle noted, smiling faintly. “She fought it off in a few hours. Impressive. Maybe I should have doubled the dose.”

"Captain Armor is still waiting in the lounge," Sunburst said. "Should we have Moondancer get rid of him?"

"Asking him to leave will only make him more suspicious," Sparkle muttered. "Besides, he's my brother. Just make sure he stays out of the restricted areas."

On the screen, Lightning Dust punched through the wall, breaking through to the other side in seconds and escaping into the hallway.

"What?" Sunburst narrowed his eyes.

"We didn't reinforce the interior walls," Doctor Sparkle said. "It took Miss Dust seconds to figure out that weakness. Most ponies would focus on the door, but she ignored it when she realized it was locked."

"I suppose that's good, but causing that much damage..."

"Is irrelevant. I don't want a pony too afraid of breaking things and causing a mess to get the job done."

"She certainly did cause a mess," Sunburst agreed.

"This is why I rejected so many of Moondancer's candidates. She sent me sheep - strong sheep, but sheep nonetheless. I need a wolf. Somepony who can swallow the sun."

Dust burst through the plaster and, somewhat ironically, coughed as dust filled her throat, looking both ways in the hallway she'd ended up in. No alarms yet, and no guards on her room. She couldn't trust that luck to hold for long. Avoiding the door bypassed any alarms on opening it, but the second anypony walked into the hallway and saw a hole in the wall they'd know something was wrong.

She quietly trotted around the next corner. The more distance she had, the better. From ahead of her, she heard running hooves. Dust swore under her breath and ducked into the first doorway, silently closing the door behind her.

"What the hay?" She whispered, looking around. She'd expected another hospital room, maybe an office if she was lucky. This was something else. The room was somewhere between a lab and a storage area, with strange shapes floating in sample jars and bigger things hidden under tarps. She walked in, breath clouding the air. It was freezing cold. Not a problem for a pegasus, but surprising. Air conditioning was expensive, and not something most ponies could afford on a scale larger than the inside of an enchanted icebox.

"Maybe there's a weapon in here somewhere..." Lightning Dust whispered. She wasn't expecting a wingblade or anything, but a wrench or screwdriver would go a long way to evening the odds if she ran into more armed ponies.

She started rummaging through drawers, and slipped on a patch of ice. On instinct she grabbed for something to steady herself. The tarp fell down with her, coming free instead of catching her.

Her eyes went wide when she saw what it had been concealing. Dark eyes glared into her own from a face equal parts scale, armor, and black crystal. Fangs glistened in the half-light. Lightning Dust grabbed for the first thing at hoof and held up a book, ready to throw it at the apparition.

"It's already dead," said a voice from the doorway. The lights in the room flickered on to full strength.

Lightning Dust turned to look at Doctor Sparkle. The unicorn glared at her from the doorway and nodded to the shape, motioning for her to look again.

The creature, whatever it was, was only half-complete. Something had cut it in half, and Lightning Dust could see a twist of organs and spine where the body abruptly ended.

"What in Tartarus is that?" Lightning Dust demanded. "And who are you?"

"It's one of Sombra's creations," Doctor Sparkle said, walking closer. "It's called a Linnorm. I wanted to call them Crystalsaurii, but the Princess hated that name." She huffed. "Baby dragons will grow very quickly when exposed to enough magic, you see. He uses dark magic to force eggs to hatch and grow around weapons and armor. The crystals are attached directly to their leylines and serve as a control method."

"I've never seen one of these," Lightning Dust frowned. "And I've been in the war."

"He hasn't used many yet," Doctor Sparkle said. She walked over to a shelf and pulled one of the jars down. Dust noted that she was using her hooves, despite being a unicorn. She opened the jar and pulled out a talon, the longest claw replaced by a scythe blade. "This was recovered from Lunavale. I'm sure you've heard of the massacre."

"One hundred ponies dead overnight, way behind friendly lines."

"They fought back. It didn't help much. There was also the attack on our shipping at Manehattan. A supply train carrying battle plans. The airship Millennium. In every case, no sign of Sombra's army. But!" Doctor Sparkle gestured to the room at large. "He left us signs of what he was doing."

"Horse apples. Now you're gonna tell me how to get the buck outta here--" Lightning Dust's threat was drowned out by a blaring siren.

"What do you mean, a monster in the woods?" Shining Armor demanded.

"It's true, sir," Private Orb said. "We formed a perimeter according to regulations about officers in an unsecured location. Private Blue alerted us. We think there are two or three targets. It's hard to tell with the woods and darkness. He took a shot with his crossbow to no effect, then we pulled back and I came to inform you."

"Have everypony get to defensive positions," Captain Armor ordered, his horn glowing as he projected a shield around the lab.

"I thought we'd have more time," Sparkle muttered.

"More time for what?!"

"Use your brain. I know you have one." Doctor Sparkle glared. "Sombra is attacking. One of his creatures has been watching the lab for days. The damned thing got my scent and tracked me across half a country. If I'd just been a little more compatible with the Unity armor I could have finished it off, but I just ended up making it angry." She opened the door. "Come on. It's not complete, but maybe we can do something."

"What's not complete?"

"A weapon. The only weapon that can end this war for good." Sparkle walked out of the room, not even looking to see if Lightning Dust was following. The pegasus looked at the things around her, the monstrous forms suspended in glass, trying to imagine them living and on the battlefield.

Lightning Dust stepped out into the hallway and stumbled as the entire building shook. Doctor Sparkle stopped and looked up, like she was seeing through the walls.

"What was that?" Dust asked, catching up with her.

"Structural damage. They've broken Shining Armor's barrier," Doctor Sparkle said. "I expected him to last longer. Cadance is always bragging about his stamina." She pushed open a heavy door with her head and kept going. Lightning Dust heard something shatter in the distance.

"Look, if Sombra's attacking this place we need to run," Lightning Dust said. She'd followed Twilight into a lab space the size of a cloudball pitch, with tables and crates all arranged in a rough circle and an area cordoned off with heavy barriers, the walls beyond it scorched and blackened.

"There's a thaumautic pulse gun on the bench over there." Twilight pointed, ignoring Lightning Dust's comment. "Take it and hold off anything trying to get through the door. I need to get the suit switched over to use condenser tanks. Sunburst! Get the tanks from experiment delta-five! I'm preparing the prototype."

"A what now?" Lightning Dust asked. Twilight pointed again. She walked over and found something like a series of tubes bolted onto a crossbow mechanism, ending in two flat rails of silver. A gem pulsed at the heart of the machine, held in place with a clamp.

"Point it at the target and pull the trigger," Doctor Sparkle said. "I'm sure you can manage it." She rolled a ponyquin over to where her assistant was working and started stripping cables from the unpainted armor.

"Are you sure it'll work without the Engine?" Sunburst asked.

"You saw the results we got in the test. It will work. For a few minutes, then the condenser will be spent." Doctor Sparkle struggled with one of the cables. "Detach this." She pointed, and Sunburst freed it with a telekinetic twist.

Lightning Dust hefted the odd weapon in her hooves, rearing up and balancing with her wings. "Okay, so, how many soldiers are coming? Are we talking like a platoon, or--"

She shut up when the heavy security door bent inwards under a blow that sounded like a volcano erupting.

"Linnorm," Twilight said. "I only expected one, but from the sound of things we warranted special attention."

"And you didn’t tell anypony?" Sunburst asked, surprised. "Why didn't you tell the Princess while she was here?!"

"We don't need her help," Doctor Sparkle said.

"But they're--"

"They're exactly what this is designed to fight!" Doctor Sparkle snapped, slapping her hoof against the armored suit. She glanced over at Lightning Dust and glared. "Keep your eyes on the door!"

"Look, I-" Lightning Dust started. The door popped out of its frame. Something huge and awful stepped through a cloud of rising dust from shattered plaster and concrete, and Dust pulled the trigger. The gun shook in her hooves, vibrating and heating up, and for a moment she didn't think it was working at all. The tip sparked, and there was a burst of arcane energy as a spellbolt was thrown into the Linnorm, the force of the blast slamming it back.

"Woah!" Lightning Dust yelled. "This is awesome!"

Doctor Sparkle smiled grimly. "You haven't seen anything yet."

A roar sounded from just outside the door.

"That shot didn't kill it?" Dust asked, surprised.

"A Linnorm is part dragon, part construct," Doctor Sparkle said. "They're very difficult to put down permanently. It's why we only have partial remains. As long as enough of it is intact, it will keep moving."

"Got it," Lightning Dust said, holding the gun higher. "So aim for the head?"

"Sometimes even that isn't enough," Doctor Sparkle grumbled, struggling with one of the tanks until Sunburst helped her attach it to the armor.

The floor shook as the Linnorm crawled into the room. Lightning Dust could see it clearly now. It was a bizarre creature, pale skin pulled so tight over its bones that it looked like little more than a dragon's skeleton. Huge steel scythes extended from the back of its skull like horns, the edges honed and shining. Hateful eyes glimmered from deep-set, dark sockets, and it limped closer, bleeding from a chest wound that dripped half-clotted blood. Lightning Dust could see the shine of steel and glowing crystals inside the wound, buried in its body.

Lightning Dust took aim and fired. The bolt of energy tore through the monster's head, one of the blades clattering to the ground. The air filled with the stink of burning flesh. The weapon in her hooves flared with heat, and Lightning Dust dropped it in surprise.

"What the hay?!" She hissed, waving a hoof in the air.

"It gets hot," Doctor Sparkle warned, far too late to help. "Make sure it's dead, then get over here."

"How do I know?" Lightning Dust asked, walking over to the prone figure.

"Be creative!" Sparkle snapped.

Lightning Dust rolled her eyes and grabbed a stool from one of the lab tables, holding it like a club as she flew closer. The thing's skull was exposed all along the left side of its head, the flesh torn and steaming around the wound.

"I'm pretty sure-" The monster roared and jerked up, trying to impale Lightning Dust with its remaining horn-scythe. "Never mind!" She tried to parry it with the stool, and the blade slashed through the wood, barely even slowing down. Lightning Dust tucked her wings, letting gravity carry her away from the deadly attack, and grabbed for the first decent weapon she spotted, the blade that had torn free from the monster. It was bigger than she was, made of solid steel, and she was barely able to lift it off the ground. She swung, and the weight of it carried her around in a full circle, meeting only a slight resistance as it caught the Linnorm in the neck, tearing down at an angle into the chest, cutting through bone and thin, tough flesh.

The monster's roar turned into a gurgle and it collapsed, the light from inside it sputtering and going out as it went limp.

Lightning Dust panted with exertion, almost turned away, then thought better of it and swung the huge blade again, nearly cutting the monster in half. She left the weapon buried there, too tired to lift it again.

"Clumsy, but effective," Doctor Sparkle noted. "If you're done, get over here and put this on."

"I don't think armor would help much against a monster like that," Lightning Dust panted.

"Not normal armor, no," Doctor Sparkle agreed. "This isn't normal armor. This is the future." She smiled, showing teeth that for a moment looked more like fangs.

"What is it?" Lightning Dust asked, as Sunburst pushed her closer to the armor and started unstrapping it from the ponyquin. It was almost similar to the armor that Special Forces units wore, a underlayer that covered the whole body and hardened plates over it protecting vulnerable spots.

That was where the similarities ended. There were strips of some kind of flexible material like thick silk or spiderweb stitched into the surface of the underlayer, which was itself treated and rubberized in a way Lightning Dust hadn't seen before. The armored plates were set with crystal plates that revealed complex mechanisms and etchings.

Doctor Sparkle started strapping it to her, her hooves fumbling with the catches.

"Wouldn't that be easier with magic?" Lightning Dust asked.

"Yes, it would be," Doctor Sparkle mumbled. The tanks that they'd been working with before were a heavy weight between her wings, and after a moment of consideration, Doctor Sparkle grabbed another belt from a bench and strapped them down tighter.

"That should keep them from moving too much while you're flying," She explained.

"What is all this?" Lightning Dust asked.

"Do you know how magic works?" Sparkle asked, tersely.

"Basically. Travels along leylines, and the shape determines what the magic does."

"Mm. The leylines in your body let you walk on clouds, manipulate the weather, and fly." Sparkle checked a few connections, making displeased noises. "Hopefully this will last long enough. The suit you're wearing is a prototype. It has artificial leylines in it that mimic earth pony magic, running from the condenser tanks on your back. They hold a slurry of powdered crystal and alchemical reagents that serve as a magical battery. Traditional enchantments aren't enough to make the leylines work."

"Okay... so what does it do?" Lightning Dust asked.

"While the suit is working, you'll be as strong and tough as an Earth Pony. It's a stopgap measure - the actual project will only use the suit as a booster, and the artificial leylines will be generated by that." She pointed to a complicated piece of machinery the size of a grapefruit, like a squat prism of glass capped with metal hemispheres studded with lenses.

"What is it? Better battery?"

"It's called an Engine Heart. I want to put it in your chest."

"What?!" Lightning Dust recoiled.

"It would provide a permanent power source, like an artifical wellspring. I need test subjects who can handle the stress. We can discuss this later. There's still another Linnorm loose in this facility."

"Fine. But I don't like the idea of you doing weird surgery on me." Lightning Dust asked.

"We need to find out if you're even compatible with the equipment. If your body can't manage the thaumatic pressure it causes internal damage, similar to the Bends that divers experience if they return to the surface too quickly."

"That sounds incredibly painful."

"Mm. My personal experience was bad enough to put me off trying again. Even if it works, with this setup you'll only have a few minutes of runtime with it. Get the thaumatic pulse gun and we'll find the enemy. We can't afford to waste any of the time you'll have."

She looked back to her assistant.

"Sunburst, keep this lab secure. Equestria depends on it."

Lightning Dust struggled with the armor as she limped down the corridor on three legs, holding the pulse gun with one forehoof and using her wings to keep her balance. The metal and polymer strapped to her probably weighed more than she did.

"So you really can't use magic?" Lightning Dust asked.

"This is not the time," Doctor Sparkle growled.

"Let me guess, horn rot?" Lightning Dust smirked. "I hear that happens when a unicorn rubs it too much."

"What we should be discussing is your suit," Doctor Sparkle snapped. "There's a switch on the belt going around your waist. Hit it, and the tanks will start dumping their thaumatic load into the suit. The leylines should form in your body and you'll feel the effects immediately."

"And I have what, a couple minutes before it runs out?" Dust asked.

"Don't waste it," Sparkle said. "And make sure not to break anything. I'll want the data from this test run."

"You sound more worried about the suit than about-"

Lightning Dust was going to say 'me' (and she would have been correct), but she was cut off by the timely arrival of an explosion, which saved Doctor Sparkle the trouble of explaining things - not that it would have helped.

A billowing dust cloud filled the hallway ahead of them as another Linnorm smashed through a door. Even if it had been polite enough to use a door, this one was too large to fit through a normal doorframe. It was taller than Celestia, with two heads with dripping maws, long necks, and a single cyclopean eye on each, glowing with baleful light. The body was shaped almost like a pony's, but plated with metal and ending in a single, powerful leg with bladed talons sticking out of it at odd angles.

"Hey, ugly!" Lightning Dust yelled, and pulled the trigger on the pulse gun. It immediately bloomed with heat, the frame glowing red-hot like a stovetop before she dropped it, hissing in pain.

The shot smashed into the beast, but her aim was off, the overheating weapon throwing her shot into the thing's chest instead of a neck. The bolt dented it, the metal crumpling, but the Linnorm was more annoyed than injured.

"Focus!" Doctor Sparkle yelled, as Lightning Dust rubbed her burned hoof. She looked up and dodged to the side, armor making an awful rattle when she rolled on the floor as the Linnorm fired its own beam of energy from one of those glowing eyes, the thin stream of heat dancing wildly through the air like it could only barely aim it.

"Feathering monsters..." Lightning Dust grunted, picking herself off the ground only to see the second head turning to face her.

She braced herself for pain, until a pink shield suddenly erupted in front of her like a wall, blocking the attack.

"Wha?" Lightning Dust looked back at Doctor Sparkle. There wasn't an aura around her horn.

"Kept you waiting, huh?" Shining Armor said, as he circled around from the monster's other side. "Sorry. I was trying to get a message to the Royal Guard to get more troops. The ones I brought weren't ready for this kind of fight so I sent them back before they could get hurt."

"They won't help," Doctor Sparkle said.

"What are you talking about?" Shining Armor frowned. "Of course they'll help. We're right outside Canterlot!"

"You're right. I should have said that they're useless," Sparkle noted, flatly. "Lightning Dust, take care of this."

"But the gun--" Dust started

"Use the suit! You're trained in hoof-to-hoof combat!" Doctor Sparkle snapped.

Lightning Dust rolled her eyes and slapped the switch. The tanks on her back started to vibrate and she braced herself. From Doctor Sparkle's explanation, she was expecting that the suit would make her stronger, but the reality was totally different.

Magic burned through her body, and her eyes went wide as the shock hit her. It wasn't at all what she'd anticipated. The world yawned beneath her, abruptly as endless and open as the sky. It was an ocean under her hooves, strata of rock like waves frozen in place. Gems stood out like lumps in a mattress. She could feel caves in the mountain next to them, like yawning voids.

"Oh buck me," Lightning Dust whispered. The suit wasn't strong. She was strong. She could feel it in every part of her body, even her wings.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Doctor Sparkle said. Lightning Dust looked back at her. She was smiling, the most genuine smile Dust had seen from her. Her eyes twinkled with joy. "That is the power that will change the world."

"It's gonna do something, that's for sure," Lightning Dust said. She looked up at the monster. She felt like she could take on the world. One Linnorm? No problem.

Shining Armor's shield dropped, and she charged, the wind blasting away from her wings. She'd always been fast, but this was completely different. She felt like she could do anything. She hit the monster right in the center of its chest, and the tackle alone was enough to make it stumble back awkwardly on its three legs, the uneven gait unsuited for quick maneuvers in a small area.

"Yes!" Doctor Sparkle yelled. "That's it! Break it apart!"

Lightning Dust planted her rear hooves on the ground and grabbed one of the Linnorm' legs. The armor plates bent under her grasp, her grip augmented with an earth pony's natural hoofstrength. With what felt like hardly any effort at all, she lifted the entire monster and spun in a circle, throwing it bodily.

"Celestia's beard..." Shining Armor swore. The creature landed with a crash, one neck snapping loudly and going limp. The other writhed as the monster spasmed, something inside it clearly rent and torn.

"Finish it before it regenerates," Sparkle ordered.

"I've got this," Shining Armor said. He stepped closer. "If they're helpless like this, you just need to destroy the main crystal control node--" Before he could explain further, the creature's intact neck wrapped around him like a constrictor, pulling him closer.

"Oh buck..." Lightning Dust whispered.

"Let go of me you--" Shining Armor swore. The beast's fangs sank into his shoulder, blood pouring down his chest. He screamed and his horn flared up, a bubble shield appearing around him and tossing him free.

Lightning Dust charged over his head, grabbing the Linnorm by the jaw and forcing it open until something snapped, thick blood pouring down. The monster warbled, and Lightning Dust punched it in the eye just as it tried to fire another beam of heat. There was a burst of energy as the magic misfired in its skull, and the entire neck exploded all the way down to the base, the monster going still.

"Damn..." Lightning Dust panted. "You said there were only two, right?" She asked.

Before Doctor Sparkle could answer, Shining Armor bucked Dust across the room.

"What in Tartarus was that for?!" She demanded, flipping back to her hooves.

Shining Armor glared at her, gritting his teeth so hard one of them cracked. A dark aura started to pour from his eyes, and crystals grew along the edges of his wound.

Lightning Dust hesitated, and Shining Armor fired a bolt of dark magic at her, knocking her onto her back right next to the fallen Linnorm. One of the tanks on her back shattered, and the feeling of power and energy flowing through her body started to fade.

"He's been taken over!" Doctor Sparkle yelled.

"They can do that?" Dust whispered, standing. Crushed gems and something like mucus flowed down her side from where the tank had broken.

"It's how Sombra grows his army! He takes over normal ponies and turns them into crystal slaves!"

"Okay. I can handle one unicorn. No problem," Lightning Dust whispered. There was a thud, and she felt something slam into her back. There was a cold, sharp pain, a sense of wrongness that meant she was hurt so badly the shock was keeping her from feeling it yet. She coughed. Blood dripped from her lips.

"You idiot! The Linnorm wasn't dead yet!" Sparkle sounded some equal combination of annoyed and terrified.

Lightning Dust looked down at the blade jammed through her chest. The monster had kicked her, the thing's hind leg moving like a scorpion's tail, twisting in ways that would have been impossible for anything with a normal biology. It tore free, and blood drained from the wound.

"Not when we're this close!" Doctor Sparkle hissed.

Lightning Dust was still standing. She shouldn't have been. She'd never been hurt this badly before, but sometimes you just knew that you were really messed up. This was one of those times. Something was keeping her moving, though. A rapidly draining strength. It was her, but it was the suit, too. Her life was measured by how long the magic held out.

Knowing she was going to die focused her wonderfully. She'd probably be able to manage one thing, and killing a monster seemed like revenge and a good deed wrapped up all in one.

"Control node?" She coughed, spitting up blood.

"Chest. Near the heart!" Sparkle answered, understanding instantly.

Lightning Dust nodded and flew drunkenly, dodging another bolt of black magic from Shining Armor more by luck than intent, grabbing the armor plate she'd dented in before. There was a raised edge where it was trying to cover the joint of the neck on that side, and she snagged it there, pulling with all of her dwindling strength.

It was like peeling the world's biggest orange, the armor tearing free with a wet sucking sensation, the Linnorm' bare flesh and bone exposed underneath. Pulsing and glowing from within its ribs she could see a crystal sphere, not so different from the odd machine she'd seen in Doctor Sparkle's lab.

Lightning Dust grabbed a rib and tore it free before using it like a spear, jamming the broken end into the crystal sphere. The crystal cracked, and the monster shivered. Lighting Dust rammed it home again, and the entire thing split in half, the magic glow fading.

She dropped the rib, and a bolt of dark magic caught her in the back, almost right on top of where she'd been stabbed. She fell to the ground, the magic finally giving out.

Shining Armor loomed over her. His horn charged up with light. This was going to be a deathblow. Not that he needed to do much more.

A blast of energy slammed into him, and his head vanished in a rush of heat.

Lightning Dust looked to the side, and saw Doctor Sparkle holding the red-hot pulse gun, her hooves smoking. She threw the weapon aside and limped closer, wincing as she put weight on her burned forelegs.

"You see what he does to us?" Doctor Sparkle asked. "Sombra's making us fight ourselves. That's why we can't win without something new. He'd love nothing more than to make us all slaves or corpses." She pointed at Shining Armor's body. "That's the future for all of us if Celestia shuts this project down!"

Lightning Dust spat out a clot of blood, looking up at Sparkle.

"I can save you," Sparkle said. "But I can't do it with normal medicine. Do you want to live?"

Lightning Dust nodded. Everything was turning grey.

"Good. It will be a pleasure working with you."

Lightning Dust closed her eyes, the blood loss finally taking her under.

I had a dream last night.

I don't usually take note of my dreams. I always thought a dream journal was silly. Maybe I was wrong.

In my dream I knew it was far in the future in the way you can just know a thing in a dream. I was in a city. Every building was a marvel, and every pony was an alicorn. I walked along crystal streets until I came to the very edge of the world.

The road simply trailed off into the abyss. When I looked out over the edge, I saw there was nothing beyond the city except a terrible void.

I fell over the edge, and I saw the city's foundations as I tumbled.

That grand city was supported by bones, a graveyard the size of a country.