I hope this drone finds you, boss. He’s not one of the smartest but he has good eye for dwarf marks.

We’ve reached and successfully explored the first western site under White Tail Woods. Old dwarf records were accurate, there is a city here, or at least used to be. From what the engineers could identify, they assume it underwent a similar self-destruct method that we used to sink Brauheim. Now, the lost Silversmith designs are a lot more durable than what the dwarves built after the war with the Twisted so it was possible to dig under certain areas and gain access to several otherwise isolated vaults.

Good news - we have a bunch of records the dwarves are currently busy deciphering and translating. Even better news - we have three more Silversmith mechs. They are the standard equine kind we found inactive in the old dark priest prison living quarters, not war machines like Stompy, but they are still equipped with beam weapons and rather strong. You know the classic specs.

So far, morale and supply situation is absolutely fine. Granted, we had to use the air filters and masks several times already to get here, but the air vents survived in a much better state than the city itself so we’re breathing just fine and refilling our air tanks. I’ve been exploring the vents myself and, while some are unstable, I should have a working path to the surface.

That, however, brings me to a certain… issue. Ever since we got here, Seven has been acting strange. I took a peek into his head and it feels as if he’s been having headaches the source of which I don’t understand. but he thinks it’s on the surface. Thank holes he’s such a poor infiltrator that even I can get into his head unnoticed when he’s distracted. I’m not sure how to proceed… specifically whether to confront him about it and figure out whatever is causing it together or whether to just support him in anything he tries to do. Anyway, you won’t be here to help so consider this just a report.

As for Six and myself, we’re doing okay. Six is tempted to stay here with the dwarves who have decided to make this place a permanent outpost. As I said, some infrastructure survived the self-destruction, the mechs we found seem to know their way around, and while the power grid is gone, we have enough generators to start mining and rebuilding. I’m not leaving Six on his own. Sorry, boss. So if Seven intends to lead the part of the expedition of those who want to keep going west and explore and Six decides to stay, we won’t be coming with him.

We all hope your trip south is going at least as well as ours, and if Two hasn’t reported back yet, tell her messenger that we wish her luck too when she sends one.

Five.

Without any ceremony, the gate to the Crystal Empire castle throne room swings open, letting in a white unicorn with a fiery mane of build dwarfing Shining Armor and slightly taller than even princess Cadance sitting on the distant throne.

Prominence isn’t walking alone, as proven by the thudding of sets of hoofsteps resonating through the throne room, the heavy combat horseshoes being less than gentle on the smooth floor. Princess Cadance looks up as the entrance interrupts a crystal pony currently busy presenting his request to her. Even in the current state of the world, the job of the imperial couple isn’t spared of daily issues.

Cadance stands up, proclaiming:

“Today’s court session is over!” she notes the pony whom she’s been talking to sighing in disappointment, “I will instruct the guards to let you in tomorrow as soon as you arrive and we’ll finish our business. This, however, cannot wait,” she nods towards Prominence and the three guards behind her, each representing one branch of Equestrian peacekeepers.

With mumbled complaints, the court attendees leave the throne room. No one makes any trouble, though. Not just because of Crystal Guards stationed by the windows but also because they know Cadance wouldn’t disperse the court proceedings frivolously. After all civilians leave, Cadance walks up to Prominence with a serious expression.

“So?” she asks simply.

“Empress, we scoured the prison and you were right - Gem, Harriet, Magpie, and the changelings are gone. The vast majority of the wardens are dead as well as around a third of the inmates.”

Cadance gasps.

“I understand the escape but why would the changelings kill so many? I mean, even if the plan to escape stealthily failed, I would have never thought king Beard’s changelings to go get Gem and others out through violence.”

Prominence shakes her head.

“Empress, don’t take this as a jab at the competence of your forces, but if Gem wanted to escape quietly, she would have. Also, judging from the wounds on the corpses, mostly cuts and common bullets, whoever blew up the prison wall from the outside definitely didn’t belong to king Beard’s changelings. I know Gem well and I’ve seen a small part of their hive as well as the dwarven city. The marks of the escape operation point neither to the infiltration skill of the involved party nor any advanced technology we would expect from Gem’s hive.”

“They could be just trying to throw us off guard,” comments Shining Armor with a frown.

“That is a possibility,” Prominence nods, “although not one I would entertain. After all, what could you do if you found out it was them? They’re gone. Even Three and Thirteen were sent here knowing the risk of it being a one-way trip. None of them know where to return.”

“And you believe them...” Shining Armor rolls his eyes.

“I do, actually,” Prominence locks her eyes with Shining in a staring contest which the stallion loses. Old wounds can only carry his anger so far against Prominence’s genuine belief gained through experience.

“And what about the other real prisoners underground?” Cadance steps in before Shining says something he might regret. The answer becomes clear just from the short pause Prominence takes before speaking up.

“The contingency maze spells seem to have contained almost all of the prisoners within their cells. Gem and Harriet had help from the outside, so that doesn’t count. However, the terrorbeast has been killed by a blunt trauma with added electrical burns. I suspect Magpie had his talons in that.”

“The terrorbeast?!” Cadance gasps and even Shining Armor blinks several times, “B- But how-?”

Prominence smirks.

“From what you briefed me about, the beast itself wasn’t particularly physically threatening to anyone with real combat experience. Its power lay in the ability to paralyze targets en masse with fear. Of course, Magpie and spine-chilling horror don’t go well together. That griffon is very simple in certain ways.”

“I don’t believe anypony is fearless,” says Shining Armor, “I’m a guard even when I sit on this throne.”

“He doesn’t fear his own death, he’s been through horrific torture that makes my stomach turn when I recall his stories, and he doesn’t have anyone close to him to be afraid for. You can’t scare him with pain, loss, or suffering, which is what the terrorbeast does- well, did,” Prominence look at the ceiling in thought for a second, “I’m pretty sure he’d be more scared of a creature trying to be friends with him for no visible benefit, or at least really confused. Nevermind, I got sidetracked, I apologize,” Prominence shakes her head, “The terrorbeast is dead. The problem is that the earthpony blood mage you were worried about the most was neither inside his cell nor anywhere in the complex.”

Cadance’s hind legs fold underneath her, leaving the alicorn gasping for breath.

“Why now…?” she whispers.

“Caddy?” Shining Armor immediately jumps towards her, “What’s wrong?”

She ignores him, glaring at Prominence instead.

“Find him and, if it’s still even possible, kill him.”

“I’m going to need more information, because this isn’t the reaction I was expecting. Blood mages are a pain in the plot but I practiced against Bound Tome and he’s supposed to be top-notch.”

Shaking her head, Cadance stands up with Shining Armor ineffectively trying to help. She’s an alicorn, after all. While she wouldn’t say or show it in front of him unless it was absolutely necessary, she’s stronger, faster, and a lot more durable than even the best-trained unicorn warrior like her husband.

“Guards!” she calls out in a tone not allowing any disobedience, “Leave us! Alicorn business.”

Prominence nods towards the throne room door.

“You too, guys.”

With a quick nod, her three heavily armored companions leave last and close the door behind themselves.

“So?” Prominence raises an eyebrow.

“That earthpony is not just a blood mage,” Cadance sighs, walks over to her throne, and slumps down on it, “Several years ago, shortly after Twilight and Nightshade liberated Manehattan from the griffons and rescued Celestia from The Barrier, Twilight resumed an old research project into the divine power of alicorns in depths no one other than Magnus himself had ever done. Originally, it was to help Celestia avoid turning into a Corrupted. Equestria was barely recovering at the time, and news about the legendary princess being not right in the head and heavily tainted wasn’t something Twilight could afford,” she nods towards Prominence, “You are one of the fruits of the research, albeit an accidental one. I assume Celestia told you about your origins, right?”

Prominence nods.

“I used to think that being a split off part of someone else’s mind in a body forged from a mix of divine power and corruption was unique until I tried to kill the unicorn whom Celestia was trying to imitate. It didn’t go well...”

“That’s not the point,” the corner of Cadance’s mouth twitches, “What Twilight’s research led to, however, was a much greater understanding of how alicorns are made.”

“Considering your daughter, I thought it was the good old ‘birds and bees’ thing,” Prominence tilts her head.

“From what Celestia and Luna showed me, it used to be the case. Many millennia ago, alicorns used to be a society. Not numerous albeit prosperous. All of them were tied to aspects of the world, even though due to their numbers most of them were barely more powerful than unicorns. That changed when Faust, the primal alicorn of Life, was killed by Void, the primal alicorn of Death.”

“Empress,” Prominence interrupts her, “You are throwing a lot of names at me. While I have some of Celestia’s general or even deeper knowledge, I am my own pony and I don’t have her full memories.”

Cadance nods.

“I’ll skip the history lesson then. Faust’s death started the decline of alicorn society and eventually all but the individually most powerful alicorns or those tied to the most significant forces of reality remained. If such an alicorn dies, these forces, as it turns out, will always either create of infuse a new avatar. Nowhere does it say that these forces have to be the powers of good.”

“Ooooh...” it finally clicks to Prominence, “Twilight figured out a way to find candidates for divinity, right? The earthpony is a potential host for something really nasty and he must be stopped before it finds him.”

“Celestia did that to Twilight first, to be accurate,” says Cadance, making Prominence give her a raised eyebrow, “She groomed one unicorn shut-in into the alicorn Magic and Friendship. Unfortunately, and don’t tell Celestia I said this, the friendships Twilight lost due to her immortality were something she never managed to replace. Her rule… hasn’t been easy by far. Eventually, Twilight noticed she was losing the divinity she understood was tied to Friendship while she was gaining more and more magic power to protect her subjects. She was originally trying to find the best candidate for the alicorn of Friendship but couldn’t. In the world rotten to the core by corruption, she only found the best candidate for the alicorn of Pain and Suffering. An insane sadistic murderer.”

“So you imprisoned him,” Prominence nods.

“The light of the Crystal Heart as well as the magic and technology were supposed to be able to hold him even in the case he truly became an alicorn.”

“Then why not execute him there and then?”

“And then have to keep looking for the next one? No. He was the best candidate and he was being detained. If we managed to hold him, there would be no other alicorn of Pain running around. Unfortunately, who could have guessed that some idiot would destroy the damn universe, leave only this planet plunged into darkness, and ponies would be terrified, starving, and all that fueling power of the potentially most powerful enemy of life the world has ever seen other than Void himself. Well, here we are.”

“I’ll have to inform the princesses.”

“Do so. Use anything you deem worthwhile to find and kill him. Under these conditions, we can’t bet on holding him again,” Cadance nods.

“Am I correct in assuming that I won’t have any pony power to waste trying to find Gem and the rest?” Prominence smirks.

“Of course,” Cadance returns the knowing smirk, “Still, if you by any chance manage to contact them, tell them that the Crystal Heart doesn’t discriminate if they get hungry. We can’t afford to make more enemies in these days. I just wish Celestia would see it that way.”

“Then I have to hunt down at least one major annoyance causing her a headache,” Prominence nods.

“Be careful, Prominence. In this dark hour, his power will be growing with each desperate thought. If you need help, don’t hesitate to call on me or the princesses. Better to go for a massive overkill than be too late to stop him.”

Prominence salutes and leaves.

Thirteen finds herself examining Gem’s striped backside in close detail as she follows her and Magpie through the black wilderness. She’s not being creepy or anything, rather she’s admiring something she could easily call the perfect transformation. Her mother’s idea of a good form to catch the eye of a target and then take their love and lust was... too much of everything. Gem, on the other hole…

Thirteen sighs.

Maybe if she was the one to teach me infiltration, I might not be as much of a screw-up as I am.

“My butt doesn’t always make others sigh but when it does, it’s generally not in such depressed fashion,” comments Gem in a hushed tone.

“Ah?” Thirteen blushes immediately and clamps a hoof over her mouth, “Sorry. I was just admiring your transformation. My shapeshifting isn’t… great.”

“It’s more a minor upgrade than a fake body,” Gem slows down to keep pace with Thirteen and heavily breathing Three who clearly isn’t used to their pace as well as the length of everyone else’s legs, “And if we have time, I might give you a tip or two. Mom isn’t known for her subtlety in regards to infiltration.”

“I’d like to look like you, Gem,” Thirteen gives her a nervous smile.

“That’s going to take some hard work at the gym, Thirteen.”

“Can’t I just shapeshift?”

“Even if you could copy the details but you wouldn’t be able to sustain that for long.”

“Yeah,” Thirteen nods, “I can’t hold too much love. Mom put me through some physical training to improve my capacity but it worked only a little bit.”

“It’s not about that,” Gem shakes her head, “I can’t hold any crazy amount of love either. Mom and dad are experts at that. It’s all about efficiency.”

“And I gain that at the gym how?”

“The more you naturally look like your transformation, the easier it will be for your body to maintain some finishing touches,” Gem’s tail slaps her butt which jiggles a little, “Other than the stripes, all natural. With some improved distribution of fat, of course.”

“So… I have to build up my body first by working out and only afterwards can I improve it by shapeshifting?”

“That’s the efficient way, yes. Of course, you can shapeshift into whatever you want if you have the discipline and love. The longer you stay like that, the easier it will be too,” Gem smiles, “So, for all intents and purposes, this is my real body, not a transformation.”

“Can you teach me some things I could be doing while we’re walking to stop being so… plain?”

“You’re not plain, Thir- ahh?!” Three, who has been up until now focusing solely on walking, trips and faceplants into the squishy ground.

Judging by the watch around Gem’s foreleg, it’s past midnight. In the dark world, there’s no other way to tell time.

“I think we’ve gotten far enough away for today,” whispers Gem, “Proper sleep will do us good.”

No one argues. Three slumps down where he stands, nuzzling the oily tainted grass.

“Soooft...” he breathes out, “...hug the ground...”.

“Don’t worry, I’ll build the tent right around you,” Thirteen walks up to Three hugging his own backpack.

Thirteen immediately takes her backpack off and pulls out a smaller bag that clanks a little when she shakes it. With optimism, she empties the contents of the bag, revealing a bundle of cloth, a bunch of metal poles, and a selection of screws in small pouches.

“Uhhh...” her ears droop as she shoves her head into the small bag, “Are there instructions anywhere?”

“I’ll help you, don’t worry,” says Harriet whose back tentacles are extended and wibbling in the air. Behind her, a tent is already set up. Magpie, working by the light of a headband lamp, is almost done as well and Gem hasn’t even started. Three is still clutching his backpack and has added snoring to his repertoire.

From his half-built tent, Magpie gives Three an annoyed glance announced by the cone of light from his forehead.

“Can’t we let him sleep outside until he learns to take care of hims-”

“Quiet, catbird!” hisses Gem, sitting cross-legged on the ground with her eyes closed.

This time, however, Thirteen walks up to Magpie, scowling.

“What’s your problem?!”

“Do you want a list?” the griffon gives her an unimpressed stare.

“Thirteen, go learn to raise a tent,” says Gem calmly, “Magpie, you’re not done either.”

The authority in that quiet statement is something Thirteen has only heard from her dad. Not even her mom, the warrior of warriors, had ever said anything in such way. No arguing is allowed. Granted, mom tended to yell or growl a lot instead… at least until she gave up on Thirteen completely.

Still, Thirteen can’t stop herself from turning away with an irritated huff before returning to Harriet currently holding ten metal poles at once and making it a clear how she managed to raise her tent so quickly.

“Six back tentacles, three mouth tentacles, and forelegs with claws,” Thirteen blinks, “You’re scary in the really cool way.”

“Thank you,” Harriet snickers, tossing three of the hollow poles towards Thirteen, “I’ll do these for you, but you should learn how they work.”

“They’re too small to hold anything,” Thirteen grows claws as well and notices tiny screw pattern on the sides of each pole.

“Not like this,” Harriet holds up three pieces with her tentacles, puts them together, and twists until they click together. Suddenly, she’s holding a long pole that can easily serve as the central support for a tent.

“Ooooh, so that’s how it works!” Thirteen puts hers together, beaming to herself when the parts click.

“Well done,” Harriet nods, “Now let’s do the canvas.”

Within ten minutes, three dark green tents are standing in a triangle. Once Magpie has turned his headlamp off, there’s zero chance anyone would spot them even here on the flat land south of the Crystal Empire.

“I’ll take the first watch,” says the griffon.

“Watch?” asks Thirteen.

“We’ve been together for a while now and we usually split night watch into two shifts,” explains Gem, “At first, we did three but it wasn’t necessary due to all of us being… uncommon. Or in Magpie’s case - having a ton of experience.”

“I think I can take the second watch then. I’m not useful in a fight or anything, so I can at least wake you up if anything happens.”

“Don’t worry about it tonight,” says Harriet, patting Thirteen’s head with a back tentacle, “I’ll take the whole night. I’ve been cooped up in that sterile cell for far too long.”

“That’s settled then,” says Gem before Magpie or Thirteen can answer, “Everyone else go to bed. We’ll have a lot of ground to cover from now on.”

“What’s the plan, though?” asks Magpie, “Are we really straight up fleeing through Equestria to the Griffon Empire?”

“We need to stay out of sight until things cool down, and we’re not exactly an inconspicuous group thanks to you and Harriet,” Gem looks at Harriet who gives her an apologetic smile accompanied by a shrug of her back tentacles, “There are five cities in the whole Equestria and ten civilized locations overall. Before corruption, we could stay in the wild or hide but now we have to get to relative safety, or at least somewhere the alicorns can’t send an army to look for us which, with the number of pony guards in the north of Zebrica, leaves either Rift or the Griffon Empire. I’m not too keen on making things even worse for the minotaurs so Griffon Empire it is. Who knows? Maybe we’ll be able to help in some way since I doubt the automated underground farms have gotten to them yet. Three has to remember something from the blueprints, right? Three?”

The drone is fast asleep, drooling over his backpack.

“I wouldn’t wake him up,” Thirteen shuffles closer to the drone.

“Agreed,” Gem nods, “Harriet, are you really fine pulling an all-nighter?”

“No problem whatsoever, really,” the big mare stretches like a cat, which along with her quivering tentacles and tail extending into the air makes her look like a really angry bush, “I never thought I’d say it, but part of me is hoping for a little scrap with some curious Hunter,” Harriet chuckles to herself, “Good night, everyone.”

“Safe night, Harriet,” Gem nods to her and enters her tent.

“Night,” Magpie follows her.

Thirteen, standing over sleeping Three, scratches her head and whispers:

“I kinda don’t want to wake him up and it’s not like we need the tent anyway.”

“I can carry him inside,” offers Harriet, her back tentacles reaching for Three, “The more I’m getting used to these things, the more I realize how useful they are.”

Thirteen shakes her head.

“It’s my job to take care of him. I shouldn’t be standing here and staring like an idiot,” she lowers herself down, “Though I wouldn’t mind a little help with his bag, miss Harriet.”

“Just Harriet, Thirteen,” Harriet’s back tentacle scratches her head while the dragonpony herself grabs the full backpack with ease in her claws.

As soon as the bag is gone, all four of Three’s legs that had been clamped around it start reaching for anything which turns out to be Thirteen.

“That’s quite the grip,” she mutters to herself as Three latches onto her side and remains there, hanging horizontally, as she stands up, throwing her hard off-balance, “Hug bug...”

“...boss…” mumbles Three in his sleep.

“Nope, dad’s not here. It’s still only me, Thirteen,” as she carries him to her tent, she passes Harriet who starts snickering when she sees Three in tick mode.

“...filly boss...”

Thirteen rolls her eyes.

“Heh, now that’s a terrifying thought.”