It appalls her to see such a thing on her face. Dark circles. Nine years has passed since they've shown themselves. Moonlight stares at herself in the bathroom, disheartened by what the mirror replies with.

No matter how she goes about it, no matter what she does, she couldn't and still can't stop thinking about him. A slow burn that has been simmering to a boil. It's been a month and a half. He's out there somewhere, living his life far away from her. What he's doing now, she couldn't know, but an undying fear constantly looms above her: he's in danger. He's constantly in danger, time and again, a harrowing thought that never maroons.

The only saving component to her muse was the news she received by a reliable source, who informed her that he's made a full recovery. Though, that doesn't necessarily mean he's in good condition right at this time. From the two weeks it took him to recover, to the month that he's been gone, he could be dire. It is never something she wants to think about but it's impossible for her not to.

"Mumu?"

Moonlight turns her head to the button voice of a little foal barely rising from sleep. Taking a step back from the mirror, she looks past the doorframe to her bed to see Furi sitting up, rubbing her tiny emerald eyes. "In the bathroom, sweetie," she hums to the comfort of the filly.

Even though Furi still rubs her eyes, just hearing the singing of that motherly voice makes her smile.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Okay," Furi simply replies.

"No nightmares?"

"Mm-mm," she shakes her head and blinks twice.

"I'm happy to hear that. Cereal?"

"Mm!" Furi gleefully nods.

Together they descend the staircase to the first floor. Furi skips over to a beanbag next to the base of the stairs, where a small library-like reading area is based. The little filly quickly scrounges up the cartoon book she was almost finished with the night before and continues it with gusto.

Moonlight moves to the pantry on the opposite side from the base of the stairs, magically opening the thin metal door with metal mesh that runs down the center of it. She takes a box of honey-flavored puffball cereal and the milk from the fridge inside.

It isn't long before the little filly sets down her book to take the bowl from Moonlight's magic. Furi happily snacks down on it, a little faster than she should even after Moonlight has scolded her before, at fault to her desire of wanting to return to reading.

Moonlight's eyelids fall halfway at the innocence before her. The way Furi rocks left and right, mumbling and humming to herself with an unconditional smile.

Even though it saddens her to know that she really has no family left, and the distant relatives that are alive don't care about her, she still gives silent thanks that she's able to spend time with Furi. Even if it is only on weekends, where the rest of the week is spent at the Canterlot orphanage, this time spent together is well worth it. It's a shame that today is already Saturday, they'll want her back tomorrow morning.

It's been over a month since this little psudo mother-daughter chemistry began, after Moonlight was notified of the family situation. She has heavily debated adopting her for her own, but... as much joy as that would bring the both of them, she'd prefer that Furi is taken in by a complete and stable family instead. It might be difficult and tedious to wait, but it's ultimately what's best.

"Finished with your cereal?" the words flow out of Moonlight without even thinking about them, so naturally as Furi lifts her big green eyes.

"Mm!"

Moonlight levitates the bowl and takes it to be washed. Furi returns to her book, deeply immersed in the fate of the pink alligator and its friend, the bird.

Knock, knock, knock

While Moonlight is drying the bowl, a hoof raps against her front door. Both Moonlight and Furi turn to each other.

...

Moonlight doesn't want to answer it. She almost doesn't. Maintaining a happy face is becoming all but impossible now, if only for Furi. She thought she could stave off the depression as long as Magnifying visited her, but it took less than the first week of his visits to stomp out that belief. Still, she can't bring herself to outright shut him out, especially since...

... since he confessed his feelings to her. The weight of that day, a Monday almost two weeks ago, did nothing but add to the aching. Awkward, fumbling, Moonlight knew not what to say to Magnifying's, "I love you, Moonlight. I've always loved you! E-Ever since... that day... when I asked you to dance at our very first Royal Ball together. It was your first year, remember? Barely even a Scribe out of training... I loved you ever since..."

The more Magnifying spoke of older times, an age that has certainly come and gone, she felt progressively worse. Memories repressed resurfaced - she was blind to his affection, veiled by the snake that tended to her and made her feel special - one lowly janitor. She's tried hard to forget the past, and recently, it was working. She finally found something that would aid her in letting go; a man that gave her wings to breeze over everything she was slogging through emotionally. Then that very same man left her desolate, resigned to a hospital bed as a ragged corpse that had almost no hope of waking up again.

Knock, knock, knock, knock

A second set of rapping against her heavy doors, harder, less trepid, breaks her out of her mental deluge for a second time. She figures she should finally go answer the door and... get it over with.

She reels at herself.

Get it over with? She seriously thought that. Why? Magnifying has done nothing but be supportive of her, gave her a shoulder to cry on ever since Crimson was set afar. She scolds herself for being so insensitive. But why does the nagging persist?

Silence comes upon the room. Furi takes her book and runs for the stairs, back up to the bed. Moonlight makes pace to the door, and with her magic, she opens it up to present a widely-grinning stallion dressed in his Scribe robe with a bag of take-out in his aura. "Hello, Magnifying," she says with a wry smile.

Magnifying's plastic grin quickly fades into a worried frown. "... Hi... Moonlight." He bites his lower lip before speaking up against the ensuing silence between them. "... Are... are you okay? You look... tired."

Even if she was already aware of this fact, she can't but show her timidity at someone else pointing it out. "I'm okay."

Tilting his head slightly to the left and huffing a sigh from his mouth, he delivers a very disappointed gaze. "Is that the case?" He knows full well she's not telling him the truth.

Moonlight nods twice. After another dense silence, she lights in realization. "O-Oh, um, I'm--I'm sorry. I should have invited you... in." She sheepishly simpers and steps back, offering silence for his entrance.

With an unsure smile of his own, he walks in and makes way to his usual stool, the one that he's been sitting at since the first dinner they had together. He sets the food down and begins spreading it out for the both of them, a buffet of deep fried veggies and noodles.

Moonlight takes her usual seat as well, sitting across and quietly watching him present the spread. It looks good, it smells good, but the tied knot in her gut makes her at a loss for an appetite.

Magnifying shoots his gaze upwards, past the railings of the second floor. He spots the tiny figure ogling him from above. With a smile and a wave, he calls, "Hi there, Furi! It's good to see you again!"

The little filly says nothing and retreats, followed by the sound of the bathroom door closing.

With a disappointed sigh, he returns his attention to Moonlight. "I thought she'd warm up to me by now..."

"I'm very sorry, Magnifying. I-I'm not sure why she always acts like this, I've tried asking her..."

Noting the oppressive air that is forming, Magnifying shakes his head and chuckles, "Aw, no need to worry about it, Moonlight! Maybe soon she'll come around! Well, let's dig in!"

She forces herself to take a paper plate and sling some noodles onto it. The room dips into silence as they eat - or more appropriately, Magnifying eats. Moonlight hardly touches her food even if she didn't serve herself a lot, and Magnifying has noticed it since the beginning. Though, it takes him nearly five minutes before setting his fork down and giving Moonlight an unsteady glare.

"Not... hungry?" he mutters.

Moonlight simply shakes her head. "I... had a big breakfast. I'll probably get... h-hungry... soon."

The conversation drowns out before it even starts. Biting his lower lip in worry, he tries to think of something, anything, to talk about so it isn't awkward between them. He's noticed this too, how after he confessed his love to her, she's become slightly more isolated. That slightness gradually expanded to what it is now, simply talking with her is becoming challenging.

He almost regrets telling her how he felt, even if it was the truth, but there's a glimmer of hope. Others have tried visiting her room but she's turned down all of them, except him. There's a reason she lets him into her room, maybe, just maybe, she needs a little bit of time to collect herself before taking the next step. He's willing to wait. He's already waited nearly ten years, the final stretch must be nigh.

"Oh!" Magnifying recalls something that'll surely get her talking. This pique gives Moonlight her own and she glances up to him curiously. "..." ... But on second thought... he actually doesn't want to talk about this. It's a subject he wants to actively avoid and completely forget about.

"Oh?" Moonlight echoes with the furrowing of her brows.

"Uh, eeeh," the stallion stammers as he mentally bungles. Her attention is already grasped and the last thing he's able to do under the scrutiny of those pink eyes is think of another topic. "G-Guess who, I, uh... guess who I saw the other day!"

A little bit of life twinkles in her orbs, her brows raise up slightly. "Crimson?" she asks without hesitation.

Magnifying's face sours. "Wuh-err... yes. How, uh... how did you know?"

"L-Lucky guess, ehehehe..." she twiddles with a lock of her mane, unable to hide a slight pinkening of her cheeks.

He can feel his face flustering slightly as well, not because of embarrassment, but rather... "Very lucky, indeed." He can't help but accidentally lather some sharpness onto his tone.

"W-Where did you see him?"

"I, eerm... I saw him in Las Pegasus. In the research labs."

"The labs? What was he doing there?"

"He, uuuh..." his eyes dart left and right very small distances, "... he was there, I think, looking for Lightheart. Something about, um..." He stops for a moment. Moonlight is utterly captivated by what will follow. He'll need to choose his next words wisely... "... S-Something about a date. That they were having."

Moonlight's ears flop to her head as she fails terribly to hide her dismay. "A date!?" she cries a bit louder than she intended, even flinching back at her own voice.

Magnifying too recoils at the outburst. "Woah, Moonlight. Is there a problem with that?"

"Well, I-- T-There's no-- ... He..." She can't seem to form the words she wants to say, her breathing is picking up in her anxiousness.

"Calm down, Moonlight, please. This is nothing to fuss over, right? Or is there... something you want to talk about?"

Her pupils tremble, her heart beats in her ears, but she has no choice but to stuff it all down... for right now. Regaining control of her breaths, she clears her throat and sighs deeply. "... I'm... just a little... um... shocked. I suppose. Y-You see, he... never really liked, or um... how should I say this." She pieces together the phrasing before continuing. "According to what I've known, and what he has told me, he doesn't see ponykind in a... r-romantic... light. So, he-hearing this... that he and Lightheart..."

Magnifying's eyes pry open, both in relief at this revelation and in worry. "I-Is that so? He actually doesn't find a romantic attraction to ponies?"

She despondently nods. "His own words. ... B-But it does make sense. I still remember... one night..." Before continuing, her cheeks flush with blood and give them a brighter glisten than usual. "D-Do you promise not to tell anypony? T-This is... a secret."

"Not a soul!" He grins wildly, fluttering with happiness that she's entrusting him with 'sensitive information.'

"Crimson... he told me, after he came back from his first visit to Las Pegasus... he met the other researchers there. The first thing he told me about them was that him and Lightheart 'hit it off pretty good.' So, maybe he... I-I guess he..."

"... Are you upset that he is seeing Lightheart, Moonlight?" Magnifying asks brazenly as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

The twisting in her stomach is worsening - though she only puts up a leaden smile and shakes her head. "... I-I'm... I'm happy for him. If seeing Lightheart makes him happy, t-then... I'm happy."

A sour taste envelops Magnifying's tongue. Everything that she's saying, it's obvious what she means. He grits his teeth quietly and purses his lips to try and stave off the wave that is rushing him.

"D-Did... he, um... at least say hello? T-To me?" Moonlight's voice is barely above a whisper, her smile, though, seems to become more genuine at the prospect of him possibly giving his greetings to her from afar.

"No," Magnifying bluntly states. "He didn't."

"Aah!?" Her jaw hits the ground and her pupils dilate to pen pricks.

"It was kind of sad, too. I even told him, 'hey, Crimson, Moonlight told me to say hello if I ever saw you!' And all he said was, 'Alright.'" He even attempts to mimic the deep timbre of the man's voice. "Then I tried to ask him, 'Should I say hello back for you?' And then he said, 'Don't matter.' Honestly, I was shocked. I didn't say anything to him, but I thought to myself... wow. Now that's insensitive." He returns his monologuing stare to the mare who's very nearly about to cry.

"D-Doesn't..." her lips quiver desperately, "... matter?"

"That is what he said, unfortunately... it even made me feel a bit solemn. From the way it looked, he's got it all figured out. He's out there living his own life, and well... like many ponies, he might just be trying to move on. It's one of life's grim truths..."

"Doesn't..." a tear runs down her cheek, quickly followed by two more, "... care." She chokes on that final word, huffing her despair in breaths again and again.

"Ooh, Moonlight..." Upon witnessing her broken self, the sadness is rubbing onto him. He doesn't want to see her cry... but it's a necessary step. Hiding his grin, he rises from his barstool to kick up one next to her, coming onto it and embracing Moonlight with a hug. She melds into his embrace effortlessly, pressing her head against his chest and wrapping her arms around him. The warmth of her body, wry strains of her unkempt mane tickling his chin, the scent of her shampoo touching his nose. It's bliss.

The final stretch is nigh.

‎

---

‎

BAM!

"EH-SHIT!"

The pack of five druggies shoot eyes to the door of their hideout being kicked in, a conspicuous shack amongst the many in the Slums. Coming in with a stomp, a tall man and a rugged stallion shoot indifferent stares at everyone in the room.

"AXEL, HOH SHIT, YA' SCARED US!" a griffon shouts at an unnecessarily high volume. Probably partially deaf.

"Fuck-right you did," a stallion with dried blood on his snout mumbles. "Long time no see, ye."

Crimson remains silent, taking in the scene. Two stallions, two griffons, and a zebra, all male. One single wooden table in the middle with blankets and garbs scattered about to make up their beds. Needles, lines of powder, the scent of burning, it's everything the Slums is in one room.

Looks like these lowlifes know his comrade, which the stallion himself hardly shows reaction to their psudo-hospitality. They seem to relax only slightly at seeing Axel, but then regain their tension when they stare at Crimson.

"Who's ya' human friend?" the same stallion speaks up.

Axel looks to Crimson, who in turn looks back - eyes still shrouded by his black-as-night hair. Looking towards the pack again, Axel grins. "Just that. A friend."

The bloody-nosed stallion starts to fidget mildly, including his mates. "Herr, well... mind ma' manners, ye. C'mon, take seats, f'ya like! Fancy a line, either a-ye's? Got plenny!"

With a shake of his head, Axel refuses. "Told you before I don't do snow. Told you to keep off of it too, remember?" Blank stares from the entirety. "Heh. 'Course you don't. Matter of fact, you probably don't remember a fucking thing I've ever told you. Now it's gotten this bad and there isn't a thing in the world that can save you. The five-thousand, Bend. Where is it?"

Crimson's brows furrow from behind his shade. Five-thousand bits isn't a joke. From what he understands, one could fully pay off a modest house in Equestria with that kind of money.

"Eh, eheh-heh," the stallion coughs and grumbles, smirking wryly. "See it here, don'tcha?" He gestures to the obscene amount of plastic bags with white powder inside them tucked under the table.

Axel can't help but smile in return, coming across as something akin to pity. He shakes his head ruefully, "Tried to warn you, Bend. Tried to tell you. Matter of fact, all I ever did in the time I've known you is warn you... tell you, 'this is a bad idea.' Guess you were always hard of hearing, like Shtick over there." He throws his hoof lazily to the squinting griffon that yelled earlier.

"HUH!?" is what the griffon replies with when he notices eyes are upon him.

Axel chuckles. "Tried to tell you - all of you. But you know what was the most important thing I tried to tell you? The one thing I told you to never forget?" The blankness in their eyes slowly forms to some sort of cognition as Axel's words seep with venom. Time stops but for a moment. A distant wind blows outside the shack. Axel's grin widens a notch. "Don't fuck with Gloriosa."

"GRAAAAAH!" Collective screaming ensues from the addicts as they toss and turn to acquire their shanks.

‎

---

‎

They're heavier today - her dark circles.

Odd. She slept fine last night, exhausted and flattened from her emotional release followed by walking Furi to the orphanage, but still just now waking up. Moonlight blinks her tired eyes at the mirror as she brushes her teeth. Even though she woke up half-past noon, she doesn't feel hungry. In fact, she doesn't know what she feels. Nothing, maybe.

This might be a good thing, she thinks. If she can't feel anything, she won't be bothered by him. She'll try to do just as he is, move on.

Knock, knock, knock

Her eyes startle open slightly at the rap of her door. She figures he's here early, but then realizes that it's lunch time and Magnifying has come again to share it with her.

Strange. She doesn't feel nervous about his visit today. She usually is, a few butterflies taking residence in her stomach when they spend time with one-another. But today...

After washing her face and drying off, she meanders downstairs to meet the stallion waiting for her. She opens the door with her magic and blinks out some exhaustion.

"H-Hello, Moonlight!" Magnifying greets cheerfully.

Before she is able to reply, a open-mouth yawn escapes. "Mh, oh, excuse me."

"Hoh, that's quite alright! Tired, are we?"

She nods, "I, um... actually just woke up."

"Really? Did-Did you stay up late last night?"

She shakes her head with a groggy smile, "I fell asleep not long after you left. Didn't feel like crawling out of bed this morning, I guess."

Magnifying chuckles, "I-I definitely understand that sentiment. I, erh, I brought... food!" He levitates the plastic bag in his hold a bit closer to her. "If you'd like some..."

She glosses over the bag briefly, probably something he picked up from the Castle eatery. She still isn't hungry in the slightest but figures she might be soon. Might as well eat something for now. "That sounds good. Come on in," she hums with a slight lag in her voice, still presenting a droopy simper.

Nearly bursting with joy, Magnifying strides in quickly to the lab table, setting the food and himself up. He is tailed by Moonlight who sits across from him and helps him splay the contents. As they set out the six unique trays of salad items, breads, and condiments, the stallion steals quick glances at her, noting that tiny smile that simply refuses to leave her lips. A grin of his own forms autonomously - the events of last night seem to be showing their first impressions.

"It's okay, Moonlight. I won't leave you. I'll never leave you. I'll give you all the time in the world..."

The sweet whispers to her broken state, huffing and tearing against him in the quiet of the afternoon.

"You'll get over him, time is the best healer..."

The two enjoy their lunch in a lax, lazy silence.

‎

---

‎

As the sun dips over the horizon, the Slums quickly darken. The cover of night is perfect.

"... Alright," Axel whispers in affirmation. "Give it another few minutes. They'll be asleep soon."

"Little early to be retirin', ain't it?" Crimson murmurs back quietly.

The two of them rest on the rooftop of an old plastic factory, backs against the three-foot tall wall that lines the edges. Axel has a duffle bag to his right, and Crimson sits to his left. "When the sun goes out, so do the camels. They're like that. They're probably gonna switch patrol soon, probably with a pair specifically for night duty."

"Then what of our own owl Moobs?"

"He's a special case. Lots of camels have internal clocks that make them exhausted once sunlight dies. Something about Moobs isn't right, thinking some sort of brain trauma. He doesn't get tired at night like the rest do, in fact, I'm not even sure when he sleeps. I go to bed, he tells me goodnight. I wake up, he's already there to tell me good morning."

"Sounds like the 'ol timer don't sleep at all."

Both of them share a light chuckle, still being sure to stay quiet. After their exchange, Axel quickly sits up and peers off the side of the wall, glancing at the dilapidated single-floor motel across the street two shops down. He spots two camels in the carriage lot moseying around, different from the two that were previously on patrol. The doors of every room are closed and their blinds as well.

Crimson soon joins Axel in peeking. "You were right, shift's changed. Two new guys up front. Think there're any 'round back?"

"That's what I'm worried about. This particular motel doesn't have any access from that side, so I'd like to think there'd be no reason to have a post there. If there is, they're gonna be coming back soon. No way they'd be able to walk around it in the time we last checked. I'd say... give it six seconds."

Five...

Four...

Three...

Two...

...

Crimson's brows wrinkle his forehead. With immaculate timing, the camels that were posted back appear from the right side of the motel. They pass through the rear fence gate and break off into two separate rooms, yawning and giving each other their parting words.

Axel and Crimson both return to sitting against the wall. "Perfect," Axel grins as he reaches for his bag.

"No way that was just a coincidence."

Looking at the man, his grin only widens. "It wasn't. Scouted before this. Know their routes and times, just pretended I didn't to make it look cool."

Crimson tilts his head and purses his lips in a manner that says, 'well, alright then.'

Axel returns to rummaging through the duffle bag, this time pulling out two hefty steel contraptions that awfully resemble...

"Crossbows?" Crimson lines his brows.

"Yup. Gonna need 'em to get this party started. Know how to use one?" he asks as he offers it.

Crimson reaches and gets a hold of it, pressing the stock against his shoulder and holding it with both hands. It's pretty big for a crossbow, bigger than the one he's seen Bulletpoint use - and that in itself was a sniper's crossbow. Whatever this thing is, no doubt it's for extremely high-range exchanges. "Reckon these will handle our friends in the lot," he comments as he looks down the scope. He assumes it's magnified five times, etched with compensation markers and, what he can only guess is, numbers. He doesn't need to understand the numbers to get the general idea.

"They will. Guess you're comfortable with them."

"Can say that."

"Hot damn, Sky. You and your apparently infinite skill set. Where were you two years ago when I really needed the backup?"

"Think even you might know the answer to that."

"Huh. Yeah, you're probably right. Sometimes I forget you're a wicked science project."

"Less on me and more on our friends down there. How're we gonna deal with the fellas indoors?"

"With these," Axel reaches to the bag again and takes out one of many purple jelly-like balls. "T-K bombs."

"Some sorta... magic explosive?"

"Not an explosive, a gas. T for tranquilizer, K for kill. Popping these off will cause gas to start spewing out, same stuff you find in the regular tranq potion, but notched up to the stars. Shit will have you on the ground asleep in two seconds, tranquilize. Falling asleep in this stuff will make your heart slow down until its stops. Kill."

"How're we gonna set 'em off?"

Axel stifles an oncoming mighty laugh. "Ever egged a friend's house?"

"No? Sounds like a waste of good eggs. Why'd you do somethin' like that?"

"Damn, you live under a rock? To prank them. It's funny."

"Still a waste."

"Ch, way to miss the mark, Sky. Anyways," he grunts, "same concept. Chuck them as hard as you can, as fast as you can."

"Won't that wake 'em up?"

"Gonna have to do it fast."

Crimson doesn't find much confidence on this plan, and a drawn out silence makes him believe that this is actually going to be the course of action.

"... Playing with you," Axel snickers. Crimson presents visible relief. "Once we take care of nightwatch, we'll prop 'em up on the ground outside their doors and shoot them from afar. It's what the 5-times is for."

Crimson's brows shoot up in realization. He figured the scope's magnification was overkill for such big targets, but falls clear now. He also silently takes pride in guessing the magnification correctly.

The stallion stuffs the ball back into the duffle then takes out something else, a bolt, one where its tip is hued a faint purple color. "Gotta take the shot soon. Don't want it getting too dark on us."

Crimson takes the bolt and sets it in the slide. With a mighty pull, he gets the string back and locks it. He hears a snicker come from his partner.

"Well damn, Sky. If it was that easy for you, could you do mine?"

"T'chu mean?"

"What do you mean 't'chu mean'? This shit's hard as fuck to pull back. Give me a hoof, would ya'?"

"Done it before, haven't you?"

"Don't be like that, c'mon."

He glares sternly at the unruly stallion. With a roll of his eyes, he gives him the crossbow he already pulled back and takes the other one, getting the bolt in the slide and hauling the thick rope-for-a-string back. It marks and imprints its jagged pattern on his fingers, it certainly hurts to do.

"You're a champ, Sky. Now c'mon, haven't got much time left. And - make sure not to miss. Alright?"

"Yeah."

‎

---

‎

"That's basically the gist of it," Magnifying concludes his explanation.

"And you have until the end of the month to get this done?" Moonlight replies with mild disconcert.

"Yes, but truth be told, it's more than enough time! It's been in production for far too long now, so wrapping things up would only be natural. Do you plan on coming to the Games?"

"..." The visibly perturbed Moonlight opens her mouth to give a reply, but midway decides to discard what she was going to say and gives a different response. "I-I don't think I like the idea of having my magic being bound..."

"W-Worry not, Moonlight, my dear! It does not have lasting effects, and the headaches that I was telling you about before have ceased after I changed the manipulation property! By the time the Royal Games roll around, the nullifier ring will be completely safe for unicorns of all ages!"

Moonlight still internally debates the idea. "... It's next month, right?"

"Indeed!" he nods excitedly. The energy he feels is sapped slightly when he notes the solemnness falling on Moonlight's face. He wonders were it is suddenly coming from, if not by the question he just asked. "W-Well... I-I for one... would love to have your company during the Games. So, if... you could please, at least, consider it..."

Moonlight's wistful gaze raises to meet his. Tired, exhausted. Silence consumes the room, only briefly interrupted by, "I will consider it, Magnifying."

"Tha-Thank you... M-Moonlight."

After that, the silence continues. Their eyes do not come apart. The ticking of the clock in its rhythmic pattern is the only retrievable sound - the big hand marking over the ten while the middle hand somewhere between the forty-five and fifty.

Magnifying finds his mouth dry under Moonlight's lightless gaze. Her orbs look... empty. A certain twinkle must have recently found its expiration, leaving pink irises that surround a deeply-infinite pond of blackness. They continue to pierce his own. His throat accompanies the desert in his mouth, dry and hot.

"Magnifying..." Moonlight suddenly breaks the silence.

"Y-Yes? Moonlight?" he nearly chokes on his own breath.

"I think I'm going to lie down for a while... I'm sorry..."

Magnifying swallows another clump. "Eh-erh, I... ..." He finds himself at a complete loss for nearly five seconds. "... Of course. P-Please rest well, Moonlight... Let-Let me know if you need anything... okay?"

"I will."

This curt response commands Magnifying to rise from the table. He bothers not packing anything up, cleaning, or taking leftovers. He simply rises and takes his slow leave - his body feels like it's going numb. He gives a wry glance to see what she's doing. Moonlight's vacant gaze stays put. It shifts nowhere while the stallion opens and shuts the door behind him.

Uncounted time passes. Moonlight moves not an inch.

Next Chapter: Terminal Shipment Estimated time remaining: 14 Hours, 36 Minutes