“Fran! Fran!” I screamed, peering desperately down into the bottomless crater, dust and grit stinging my eyes. “Foxglove! Where are you.”

I could see nothing, just a haze of thick dirt hanging in the stagnant air. Vague shapes, little more than shadows, filled the space, defined by a single weak source of light too distant to identify. I paced round the edge of the hole, looking for a way down, until an ominous creak sent me scuttling back from the edge.

“Fran!” I yelled again, my voice pained. “Where are you!” Desperate to see what was down in the deep dark chasm, I crept back to the edge

“Helix. Where are they? Where are Fran and Foxglove.”

I needed to get into that hole.

“Helix!”

I stopped, my hooves half over the edge.

“Helix?” Seafire’s voice calm, her tone cautious. “ What are you doing?”

Her voice barely registered. I inched forward as far as I dared. “Fran!” My voice was swallowed by the void. “Foxglove!”

“Helix? Where are they? Wait… no.” She muttered in disbelief, her voice hollow. “They’re not.”

I leaned forwards a fraction more, trying to see my love down below. They’d fallen from the floor as Foxglove tried to pull her to safety, slipping out of sight in a shower of splinters and debris. “Fran!” I yelled again, my voice breaking and straining. “Fran!

“Keep back from the edge.” Mantis barked as he and Smoking cautiously approached the hole. “Helix get back” When I didn't move Tun grabbed my tail and dragged me backwards, it hurt but I didn't care.

With Tun still holding me back, Smoking rummaged in his bags and pulled out a trio of the Stable’s emergency glow sticks. Cracking the glass vial between his teeth, he tossed them one-by-one into the hole. The first clattered on a metal floor and went skittering into a corner. The second bounced off a piece of rubble and stopped on the edge of some kind of pit. The third dropped into the pit vanishing into an abyss.

“Where did it go?” I looked wide eyed into the blackness. No one replied. “Maybe… maybe it went under something…”

“We need to get down there.” Mantis shook his head, muttering to himself. “All these years and I’ve never seen this before.”

“You mean this isn’t the cellar where you got the coal?”

Mantis shook his head. “No. It seems to be on the same level, but that cellar is tiny.” Kneeling he examined what little we could see of the room below. “The steps down to the cellar are just behind us. It may have a hidden door or something like that.” He gave the floor a gentle prod. “Make sure you keep back, We don’t want anyone else disappearing.”

“Couldn't one of us be lowered down?” Seafire suggested.

Mantis grimaced “Foxglove still had my rope.”

“Hey.” Tun appeared in the doorway, his saddle bags bulging. “These guys had loads of good gear on them and the mini-gun is still in good condition. Fran might be able to fix it. Why are you all standing around that hole? Wait? Where are Fran and Foxglove?”

We all looked at him. It was heart wrenching to see the realisation appear on his face.

We went straight to work. The coal cellar was dank and filthy. Within minutes we were all covered in coal dust, jet black streaking our coats, manes and tails, knotting into thick clumps as we worked and strained. I searched and searched, through the coal, the barrels of oil, stacks of discarded machinery, but there was nothing here, no secret switch or hidden button, just junk. Only Seafire stayed back, keeping guard at the top of the steps, combat shotgun and Blackhawk at the ready.

I couldn’t take it any more, it was too much. Without thinking I snatched a hunk of scrap metal and began slamming it against the brickwork. Over and over and over again, I beat the wall as hard as I could, tears streaming down my face. Only after Tungsten took me firmly in his hooves and dragged me away up the stairs did I realise how much of a wreck I must look.

“Stay here.” Tun whispered, taking a cloth to my muzzle. “You’re no good like this. Try and calm yourself, take control. Ok?” He wiped away the streak marks around my eyes. “There that's better.” A quick peck to the top of my head and he disappeared from my sight.

Slowly, I began to clean myself. The spell was designed to quickly sterilise a pony’s mane and coat, not clean off deeply ingrained soot and mud, making it slow going. In time, I was able to curl up against the wall, tail pulled between my legs as I hugged it tight. I vaguely noted how I wouldn't have been able to do this a few weeks ago. My mane and tail were far longer than they ever were in Stable Seventeen. Part of me liked it. The rest just saw it as yet another sign of how far from home I really was.

“It’s not here.” I heard Mantis sigh. “There must be another way in.” He and Smoking slumped against the wall next to Seafire. “Maybe we should just lower one of us in.”

“We could break down the wall?” Tun suggested.

“Let’s mark that as plan ‘Z’.” Mantis countered.

“I’ll go have another look inside.” Smoking tried to wipe the worst of the dirt off his coat with a scrap of fabric that looked like it came from somepony’s armour. “Any suggestions, Mantis?”

“Not really.”

“Can I ask… do most of you think this tunnel links straight to the stable?” Seafire asked, staring down into the cellar.

“That would be my guess.” Mantis looked at her curiously. “Why?”

“Then why would there be controls on the outside?” My ears picked up. “Everything back home was controlled from inside the stable. Exits and all.”

“So?” My brother didn’t sound remotely convinced.

“So, we may be looking for something that doesn't exist,” Seafire reasoned. “Tun is right, it may be easier to break down the wall. Or maybe we could purposely collapse the floor so we can get down, away from the hole.” Smoking and Mantis exchanged a nervous glance. “What? I know its not exactly safe but what other options do we have?”

A short while later all us retreated back found the hostels far corner, away from the coal cellar. Mantis and Smoking had rigged an old copper pan from the kitchen against the wall with a tube of wonder-glue they had found in one of the cupboards. Strapped to that was a bag of liquid explosive Mantis concocted from some of typhoons explosive rounds mixed with the oil in the barrels.

To direct the blast we had packed as much rubble and planks of wood behind it as we could. Mantis had described the setup as a shape charge: when detonated the copper would liquify cut through any metal in the wall as a molten jet,he packing ensured we blew out the wall and not the cellar.

Mantis squatted at the end of the line, a sensor module in his mouth. He gave us a quick nod and bit down the the module. The explosives detonated with a sharp crack, the ground shaking briefly with dirt dropping off the wall above our heads.

“Stay here until I give the all clear.” Mantis cautiously snuck around the corner. There was a lengthy pause before, “Celestia fucking damn it!” Then the sound of a plank of wood being kicked. “Its safe, cos nothing happened.”

I felt my heart sink as I approached the cellar, well what was left of it. The wooden roof had been blasted off, the shrapnel still burning up to ten metres away. The outer walls had concaved into the dirt making the small room look like it was bloated. The wall that we had mounted the copper pan too had been reduced to a pile of rubble but it still wasn't down.

“I don’t know who built this place but whoever they were did damn good.” Mantis moved into examine the metal wall that had been concealed behind the single layer of bricks. “The copper has done absolutely nothing.” Looking closer I could see what he meant. The copper had just splatted against the alloy like a blob of solder. It didn't seem to have made any kind impression at all.

Next to me, Tungsten grunted as if to say ‘on to plan Z’ before disappearing inside the hostel.

“Where do you think he’s going?” Seafire muttered.

“To do something stupid probably,” I remarked dryly. My ears pricked a mechanical click. “What was…”

We both ducked impulsively at the sound of mini-gun fire and the obliteration of wood. The building creaked and groaned. Only when the tinkling of spent rounds ceased did we lift our heads.

“What the hell did he…” I began but I was cut off by an all mighty crash and more dust spilling out the door. “... do?” I finished slowly.

My brother swaggered out the door, mini-gun smoking at his side. “I think I broke the gun, but at least you have a way down.”

Following him back inside it was clear that he had simply shot the floor at close range in a line. The floor beams had been ripped apart by so many rounds the floor had collapsed again, forming a gentle if rickety ramp down into the darkness.

“What the hell did you do that for?” Mantis asked as he and Smoking joined us, staring at Tungsten angrily. “Anything could have happened. You could have brought down the whole building.”

“Yes, but I’d had enough.” Tun replied firmly. “If it makes you feel any better I’ll go down first.” He dropped the still smoking mini-gun unceremoniously on the ground with a heavy clunk. “Unless somepony else wants to go?”

Silence.

“Fine.” My brother slowly approached the ramp, gingerly transferring his weight onto it. A few tense moments passed as he jiggled and then jumped up and down. The wood groaned under him but didn't move. “Seems fine to me.” Turning, he descended into the room below.

Dust and dirt still lingered thick in the air. I spluttered as I inhaled a mouthful, coughing to clear my lungs as I descended into the gloom.

“Fran?” I lit my horn, walking cautiously forwards. “Foxglove?”

The room was sparse. Light from the hole above picked out a computer in one corner, a few rusted cabinets in another. A pile of boxes and barrels were stacked against the far wall. There was a hole in the middle of the floor, too, next to a console, perhaps for pumps like in the warehouse outside Stable Seventeen.

“I can’t believe there was a whole room down here.” Mantis was muttering to himself as he followed behind me. “All this time, right under our hooves.”

I moved closer to the hole in the middle of the room, illuminated from above, and spotted a body impaled through the neck by a shaft of wood. The silhouette was definably a large male. Peering into the hole I tried to see what was inside, edging closer and closer until I could look straight down.

I jumped at a harsh clang. A stone arched off the wall and struck the ceiling, only to fall into the hole, and fall, and fall...

“What the hell did you do that for!” I rounded on Tungsten, livid in an instant. “They are down there you idiot! What the hell are you doing kicking stuff down on top of them? You could have killed them!” I stopped, muzzle-to-muzzle with him.

“Helix.” I snapped to look at Seafire. She cowered at my expression but continued regardless, ”I don’t think it’s reached the bottom.”

It hit me. It was like I’d just dropped down the hole. The light at the end of the tunnel swallowed by a greater darkness. It couldn't end here. It just couldn't. She couldn't be gone. We had our stable to save. Our stable to fix. We had family to care for. She couldn't leave me to do it all on my own.

My rump bumped into the wall, and I slid to the floor as far away from the hole as I could get. Please no. It can’t be true. It just can’t be.

“Helix?” Seafire placed a hoof on my shoulder. “I…” She began but she couldn't continue.

“I had something to tell her… She can’t be gone.”

It was strange. I wasn't angry, or sad, or scared. I wasn't anything. I was just… numb. I couldn't feel anything. My love, my Fran was gone. And so was I. The only thing I could feel was a sickness and nausea growing inside me, but I was getting used to it by now. After a moment it faded to nothing more than a dull ache, leaving me numb once more.

The others milled around, pointing and talking and making noise. I wanted it all to go away. For them to leave me be. For the walls to disappear and the ground to fall from beneath me so I could be alone with nothing to worry me or bother me. Nothing to distract me from remembering my beautiful Francium. The touch of her lips, the scent of her coat, the way her eyes rolled… all of it… lost forever.

And Foxglove. She was gone too. Swallowed by darkness. That poor young mare, her life torn apart in mere moments. The loss of her mother, her brothers and sisters and now…

“Helix?” It was Seafire again. I couldn't work out if she had gone away and come back or if all those thoughts had taken place in mere fractions of a second. Her eyes were shimmering with tears that she fought to contain. “We are going to move upstairs. Take my hoof.”

She pulled me to my hooves and guided my body up into the morning light. She steered me, lowering me onto the dilapidated sofa. My body just toppled and crumpled when she let go. I was uncomfortable, but I didn't care.

“Perhaps we could rappel down the hole?”

Hopeful.

“We could but that thing is so deep we can’t even see the bottom. I never heard that rock hit the ground.”

Despondent.

“We can’t just leave them down there.”

Desperate.

“What would you suggest. That thing could drop to the bottom of the mountain for all we know.”

Angry.

“Then maybe there’s a way in at the bottom.”

Optimistic.

“Perhaps but we would only be going in there to retrieve their bo… oh who am I kidding there would be nothing left after a five thousand foot drop.”

Broken.

I just lay there thinking about… stuff. Nothing in particular came to mind. Thoughts came and went so quickly I never knew what they were. It was like my mind had given up trying to function and was half heartedly tossing memories to the surface. It didn’t care.

I didn't care.

I followed.

That’s all.

I placed my hooves in the muddy tracks left by the others as I trailed along behind. So long as I didn't have to think, I was ok. One hoof in front of the other, again and again.

It had been decided there was nothing we could do. No way to go down. No way to see them. We had all tried our Pipbucks but no reply on any frequency. We had left the door open so that if they did make it back up they could easily make their way out.

As much as I hated it, I couldn't help but dwell on those last moments before she vanished. Foxglove trying desperately to save her. Was there anything I could have done? I couldn't think of a real way out. I couldn't have stopped it. The mini-gun, which Tun had insisted that we keep and was now slung over his back, had torn up the floor so badly that if it hadn't been Fran landing on it, then it could easily have been somepony else.

My mind had made one choice though. That if they did make it back up they would need a guide, directions. Hidden from the others I had cut off a short length of the special rope before painstakingly tying it into a heart shape and ensuring that its colour matched my coat perfectly. The rope hung from the point of a rock just within sight of the hostel, next to the path we had taken. I was sure that my Francium, with her brilliant mind, could work out what it meant.

While I had been comatose, curled up on the sofa, it seemed the others had looked more closely at the hole. As they packed up, Seafire filled me in on what they had decided and why. It seemed Francium and Foxglove had one chance. Mantis believed, from the console and the racks built into the sides, that the hole was actually a lift that dropped deep into the mountain side. If that was the case then there would be safety measures in place to stop a fatal fall. They may not be able to get back up, but he reasoned that Fran and Foxglove could be alive. Just trapped.

Our only hope, it seemed, was to go to the bottom and see what we could find. So that’s what we were doing.

“At last.”

I looked up slowly to see why Mantis was so relieved.

“If all of this is intact then we should be at the bottom by tonight.”

Though the descending cloud I could see that we had reached a road. An actual road. A road with a safety barrier, signs, markings, and abandoned vehicles. I felt a chill run down my spine. The rusted carcasses seemed to leer at me, their headlamps following me wherever I stood. The blistered and peeling paint made scared faces and terrifying expressions appear across bonnets and boot lids. I slowly walked between the vehicles to the far barrier and looked down.

The skree littered cliff face dropped away sharply. The bottom obscured by a cloud moving in rapidly around us. I stepped firmly away from the edge. I didn’t want to fall all that way. Then again, maybe I did. I would be with Fran so much sooner, and it would be quick once I hit the bottom. Not painless but a better way to go than many of my friends had experienced.

“Helix,” A voice said sharply. I turned to see all of my companions staring at me wide eyed. I looked down to see bit my front hooves resting on the concrete barrier, ready to mount it and topple over the other side.

“Sorry,” I stuttered. “Just investigating the route down. Can’t see anything though.”

They all gave me a curious and worried look. Maybe they knew what I had been considering. I followed again.

Every car was at an angle like it had been stopped in a hurry, a few seemed to have had minor collisions with the vehicle in front. Whole busses and trucks had been left across three lanes. Their windows dust and payloads spilled out across the crumbling tarmac like gutted animals. There were some personal items inside but apparently nothing worth stealing.

“Keep your weapons close.” Mantis drew his long rifle and held it in his mouth. “Great cover for an ambush,” He said around the trigger.

We all silently drew our weapons. Tun checked his Blackhawk before swinging the Mini-gun down. I wasn't sure if it still worked, but it would make an incredible deterrent. I really hoped it worked as advertised. I didn't want to be getting into two fights in one day.

Hour after hour, we walked between the rusty relics, slowly descending the side of the mountain ridge. Some of the more expensive looking vehicles, like a great sweeping saloons with fractured and blistered blue paint, had suitcases and luggage strewn across their interiors. It seemed that, after the cars had been abandoned, ponies had come back and quickly sorted through what was left to find anything of value.

“Why are their no bodies?” Seafire muttered nervously. “They can’t all have just vanished. They would have no where to go.”

“I’ve always wondered the same thing,” Mantis replied, peering briefly into the back of an old truck. “It looks no different from the last time I was here.”

“When was that?” Smoking muttered.

“About two years ago.”

Smoking holstered his Blackhawk and pulled out Seafires shotgun, seemingly for a change of position. “How many different towns have you been to? You were born in New Appleloosa and eventually moved to Viewpoint, and you visit High-Voltage from time to time. Where else have you been?”

“Quite a few places in my time. Tiny settlements like Arbu, some rough places like R-7, even went to Tenpony Tower in Manehatten once on a job. That was a long old haul, and I was flying.”

“Do you have any favourite places?” I asked quietly.

“Yeah, Viewpoint.” Mantis shrugged. “Some places are nice enough. Arbu was tiny and homely with friendly company. Tenpony tower was well kept, but it was just too uptight and upper class. I bet most of the residents thought I was a janitor when I went there.

“Viewpoint is quiet, relatively safe, strong and stable buildings, and at times can be very pretty.”

“So, where are the bodies then?” Seafire asked again, her tone unchanged.

“I don’t know. They could have got out and walked somewhere, thrown themselves off the cliff, been dragged away, been rescued.” Mantis shook his head vigorously. “it doesn’t matter now. Focus on the present. On staying alive. That’s how I live. One day at a time.” He kicked a stone hard with his hoof and it clattered down the road bouncing off two cars and then a truck.

The shockwave rocked the nearby cars as pieces of the truck flew through the air. I instinctively dropped to the ground, curling into a ball as a wave of raw heat and smoke raced between the cars and up into the sky. My mane rippled in the backwash from the explosion.

I could hear nothing but a high ringing tone that seemed to be everywhere. Adrenaline chilled my veins, my heart going like a sledgehammer. Seafire’s frantic waving stretched in my vision. The stallions’ gunfire rippled the air as bullets screamed towards our attackers. Their gleeful faces bursting from the wall of smoke and fire as they charged.

I scrambled forwards, keeping low as I reached Seafire’s side. She primed my Blackhawk for me and I took it from her, pressing my back against the wheel of the vehicle we were hiding behind. Sharp ting’s and snaps of sound began to make their way through the ringing tone. In the glass of a broken wing mirror, I could see the raiders approaching.

There were four of them. Then three as a round from Mantis’ long rifle made one of their heads implode, a shower of blood and grey matter were artfully scattered onto the bonnet of a nearby pick-up.

Tun had abandoned the mini-gun in favour of the shotgun, but Mantis was readying a grenade.

I barely made out ‘Fire in the hole’ on his lips before he pulled the pin, counted one, and tossed the grenade over the car with both fore hooves. The grenade exploded in mid-air right between the remaining raiders, slamming their bodies brutally against vehicles, now pot marked with tiny holes from the fragmented casing. Smoking and Tun moved in rapidly and ended it with three bullets to the head at close range.

My ears continued to ring.

“Where the hell did they come from?” Tun kicked over the carcass of the pony he’d just decapitated, looking at the cuts all over his muzzle and neck. “Damn, do you think he did this to himself?”

“They were smart. Well, slightly smart.” Mantis knelt to examine the other two. “They stayed back out of your EFS range. Then a concussive blast to stun us and they move in to make an easy kill. Probably wanted to eat us.” He shuddered. “Good job I kicked that rock.” He let out a long sigh. “Come on, take anything that looks useful and let’s keep moving.”

“All these weapons are junk.” Tun drop kicked the 9mm Pistol off the edge of the cliff. “Why do they even bother.”

Mantis just shrugged again. “It just seems like the way of the wastes. Some can take it, some can’t.”

“Helix?” Seafire nudged me. “Are you ok? Are you hurt?” I’d been staring at the wing mirror and hadn't even realised.

I shook my head still curled up protectively, my tail in my forehooves. “I’m good. Just a little shocked.” I nodded reassuringly at Seafire. She gave my shoulder a little pat before helping me to my hooves.

A minute or so later we set off again, the burning truck still billowing black smoke into the darkening sky.

Evening came, along with yet another storm. I used my magic to clean my hooves before I stepped inside the tent. The large gap between mine and Seafires bedrolls sending yet another stab of pain straight to my heart. I was trying to be strong like Fran had been. Yes, she had been stupid and yes, it was perhaps for the wrong reasons, but she had also shown bravery that I didn't know she was capable of. I was so proud of her. I slid myself down into my sleeping bag, shifting slightly closer to Seafire to avoid a rock that was sticking into my rump. That was the problem with pitching your tent on a crumbling road; it wasn't very flat.

I gazed up at the sweep of canvas above me, listening to the rain driven hard against the side of our shelter. I felt it coming. I could recognise it. That in itself was upsetting, but nothing compared to what was coming. I was restless, tossing and turning, trying to stop the feeling from building. I lay motionless, my body tensed, trying to keep myself from reacting to the building wave inside me.

I heard Seafire enter the tent and I opened my eyes to look right up into her beautiful muzzle, her eyes quivering as she looked down at my cowering form.

“Helix?”

I couldn't take it any longer. I wrenched my body over and began to bawl into the soft pillow as if I was trying to scream out my heart as to never feel this pain again. I retched and sobbed and wailed, I grabbed the nearest hoof and clutched it tight to my neck. I felt another slide under my barrel and lift me up into a warm embrace. I curled up like a baby, letting this pony hold me as I emptied my heart.

I clutched at my tummy again. I had to stay safe. I had to stay strong. But how could I when my love was gone from my life. No. I wouldn't believe she was gone until I saw her again. Only when I was clutching her body in my hooves would my mind accept her loss. But if this was the excruciating pain I felt when she was lost to me with a chance she would live, then how I could survive confirmation of her death.

And so the pain redoubled. My wailing renewed, my eyes stinging as they ran themselves dry and my hair becoming a knot as I ran my hooves desperately across my body, trying to find somewhere I didn't hurt.

“Helix?”

I stirred and stretched at the sound of my name. I opened my eyes and looked up at Seafire once more, her eyes were red and swollen like she had been crying. I looked round me. Seafire had pulled me from the tangle of my bedroll and was cradling me in her hooves. The darkness was broken only by light from Seafire’s horn. It must have been hours since the sun had set when I was stepping inside the tent.

‘Seafire,” I muttered, my voice hoarse and brittle. “Are you ok?”

The angelic mare smiled down at me nodding slowly, her lips quivering and her eyes shining again with fresh tears. I lifted my hoof and stroked her cheek. She shuddered at my touch and nuzzled close to me.

“How long was I crying?”

“About an hour.” Seafire sniffed, wiping back a tear. “Then you just lay in my hooves, staring into space before you slowly dropped off to sleep.”

“Oh...” I was both surprised and grateful that she had stayed up specially to make sure I could rest in peace. I nuzzled into her chest, grateful for her in so many ways. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Her tight hug eventually relaxed. She gently lowered me to the ground before lying down on top of her bedroll exhausted, her breath shuddering.

“Do you need anything,” I offered, trying not to let my voice waver.

“No.” she said, her voice uncertain.

“Are you sure?”

“No, I mean yes. I am sure.” She turned her back too me, roughly pulling her pillow close to her. “I’m fine.”

“Seafire, you’re...”

“No!” Her bite was cold. “Just leave me alone.”

For a moment I didn't know what to do, maybe she was fine and I was just annoying her, but something felt wrong. She was like Fran when she was trying to hide something. A feeling, or a worry, or a mistake that she didn't want to burden me with. So I did what I would do to Fran.

“No!” I hadn't even touched her but she had felt it coming. Seafire knocked my caring hoof away with a vicious swipe of her own. “I just… don’t worry about me. I’m fine.”

I reeled back. “Seafire, I just…”

“Just what? Of course I am not fine. Of course I am in need” She spat. “But I can’t have it from you so go away.”

“What do you mean… what do you want.”

“Helix. Please just leave it.”

“I’m just trying to h…”

“I don’t need help. Now leave it.”

I clamoured for the right words. “But… you're not fine, I know you're not. What do need? What do you want. Please,” I held her gaze imploringly. “Let me help.”

Seafire gulped. I could see fear and panic mixed in with her anger, but her wide eyes seemed desperate.

“I want to stop feeling so awful for wishing that you didn't have Fran because then I wouldn't feel so horribly alone every time I see you look at each other. I want to stop wishing that you won’t find her so I don’t have to endure watching you love and care for each other. I want some pony to look at me like I am the only thing in the world that means a damn to them. I want to wake up with somepony next to me, feel their warmth, feel safe with them, feel love!”

Seafire rolled to look at me, her eyes streaming silently with more tears than I thought possible. Her anger slipped away as she saw the fear and shock in my eyes. She backed away up against the far wall. She looked, broken. There was no other word for it.

“Please… please don't hate me.” She begged. “Please.”

My heart twisted again. A poor mare, forced to be alone, forced to fear what ponies needed to be truly happy: love and affection.

Seafire was right, she was alone. I may have been jealous of her good looks; ‘And still are’ I reminded myself, and how Fran had a thing for her, even after all these years, but that was exactly her problem. It was also still mine. I knew Seafire would never actively try and take Fran from me but that wasn't to say that she wouldn't take her chances if a gap started to emerge. ‘But she has never show anything beyond flirting’ I argued back, ‘Its been like that for years.’ And as a result it wouldn't look weird of she began to slide her tail little further up Fran’s…

No!

I couldn't afford to think like that. Not now. We had to stay together. I would be able to deal with any worries I had when we had got this crisis out of the way. ‘Which one?’ my inner self added flatly.

For the love of Luna.

I swallowed hard, looking back up into Seafire’s eyes. She was right, I couldn't give her what she needed. But I could let her know that I was here for her and that I could look after her. I couldn't drive her away, not only because I couldn't hurt her like that but because I am sure she could never take the pain. This time, I would let her in.

“Come.” I opened my forehooves and beckoned to the beautiful mare.

Slowly, she slid into my grasp, as if unsure if she was allowed to be there. I wrapped my hooves slowly around her, laying that doubt to rest. I felt her heart beat slow and her breathing relax until the two of us drifted off to sleep.

Light from the hidden sun woke me early the next morning. I snuggled close to Seafire, her body warmth taking the edge off the sharp coolness of the brisk morning air. I let myself enjoy her touch for a minute or two before gently sliding away, making sure not to wake the sleeping mare. Unzipping the tent as carefully as I could, I slipped outside. It was even colder outside the tent and I quickly donned my barding to add an extra layer against the cold.

“Morning.” Mantis approached me with a bowl of thin soup balanced on his back. “Eat quickly, I want to be moving before six. Is Seafire still asleep?”

“Yeah, she had a rough night, I think.” I took the bowl and gave it a sniff. It was watery but had lots of chunks in it. I wasn't sure what they were, but I am sure Mantis knew what was good to eat in these parts. “I can rouse her if you like.”

“Please.” He turned back to Smoking and Tun who were already packing up the cooking equipment and stowing it once more in their saddlebags. They had been using the tailgate of a truck to get a flat working surface.

Placing my breakfast on a suitably flat part of a nearby car, I poked my head into the tent. Seafire was still asleep. She looked so content and peaceful that I didn't want to bring her back to this ravaged world, but we had to keep moving.

“Seafire?’ I muttered, gently tugging on her bedroll with my magic. “Seafire, we need to get moving.” She stirred and rolled over. “Are you okay with that?” The white mare rolled over to look at me, her rich orange mane spilling like fire across her face and eyes.

“Morning.” She yawned cutely, her sleepy eyes and bed-mane exaggerating the look. “I’ll be okay. Just give me a minute.”

“Sure thing. Mantis has some soup for breakfast. He wants to be moving by six which is in,” I checked my PipBuck. “Fifteen minutes.” Seafire just nodded.

I downed my soup as quickly as I could and began to pack up my things.

Nausea hit me hard, and I nearly dropped the bowl. I desperately scrambled about inside my bags, looking for the small blue box. Founding it, I pulled it out, concealing it behind my saddlebags. I quickly opened it and removed one of the remaining three glass vials with the spring loaded needle inside.

I glanced around to ensure that the others were all occupied before firing the needle into the inside of my left foreleg. Gulping, I felt the injection begin to suppress the turbulence inside me. My heart slowed, and my short breath eased.

I couldn't conceal it much longer. I’d already exceeded the drugs usage duration by triple the standard time. With just two vials left it could be as little as two days before my body used it all up.

‘Don’t think about it.’ I told myself fiercely. ‘Find Fran first, then you can focus on this.’

Bundling everything away, I closed my eyes and breathed deep, biting back the stab of pain at the thought of my lost love. I could do it. Another day. I could make it. I could be strong and find Fran.

Seafire stumbled groggily out of the tent . She took her lukewarm bowl of soup from Mantis and downed it in one go.

I moved in to collapse the tent, knowing she would have a tough day ahead. After what happened last night, I felt I ought to stay with her. She believed that she needed to be strong, after all I had lost Fran and she’d lost nothing. ‘But she has never been loved.’ I reminded myself. ‘I have no idea which is worse. To find yourself alone, or to always be alone.’

“Ok, let’s get moving.” Mantis withered his pack and strapped it tight.

I resumed my method of the previous day, stepping in the same place that Tun did and simply following his hoofsteps. The difference was that despite the pain of losing Fran not receding, I felt more determined, more resilient and stronger than yesterday.

I couldn't explain it. Perhaps it was because I had managed to cry so hard, or that I still had a chance to find her. ‘Or perhaps you are trying to support Seafire by being strong?’ I thought to myself. ‘She is in pain too, and in a way, you caused it.’ But it’s not my fault she feels like that. ‘No, but she can’t help her feelings either. She’s clearly upset about how she feels. She doesn't want to be jealous of your pain but she can’t help it.’ So what can I do? ‘Let her know that you understand, to a point, and want to help her cope with it. But most importantly, let her know she is not alone.’

Yes, I could do that for her.

“Hold.”

I looked up just in time to avoid walking into Tungsten’s rump. He, Mantis, and Smoking had already dropped lower to the ground. Seafire and I copied, staying low.

“What’s…” Tun began but Mantis shot him a look.

Then I heard it. The clopping of multiple hooves. One light set that sounded like a pony, but they were masked by the heavier and slower strikes of something much larger.

The thick fog of the morning had yet to lift, even as we moved into the mid-afternoon. We had no visuals to go with the sound of the steps that were drawing ever closer. There was also a jangling sound, like keys or pieces of metal, which had me shivering.

I brought up my EFS. I was rubbish at interpreting the interface but it’s all I had. A single large dot was all that came up. Urgh, I needed somepony to talk me through this damn interface.

“Two dots, one large one small. Both non hostile.”

Mantis lowered his rifle but kept it by his side. “Keep it cool.”

A middle aged buck came forwards out of the gloom, one side of his battered barding dangling with all kind of items from necklaces to knives; the source of the jangling. Mounted on the other side was a pair of long barrelled shotguns with a mechanism that linked up to the left of his muzzle.

Following diligently behind him was a very large cow. Well, it looked like a cow, except it was brown all over and…

“It’s got two heads?” I heard Seafire ask herself in confusion.

Well, it wasn't the weirdest thing we’d seen in the wastes. Its skin was lumpy and misshapen, one of its heads seemed to be sleeping, the other munching on a piece of rubber tyre.

“Hello there!” The stallion called out jovially. “Who goes there? Since I’m not being shot at, I assume you’re friendly?”

“Yeah, you can say that.” Mantis slung his rifle onto his back and approached the buck and his bizarre looking pet. “Roving trader?”

“Certainly am.” He whipped off his hat and hooked it over the end of his shotguns. “What are you in need of? What are you looking to get rid of?”

“These for starters.” Tungsten tossed the guns he had picked up from yesterday’s raiders onto bonnet of a nearby car. The trader moved over to inspect them, leaving his cow to munch.

“They are junk to be honest,” Tungsten flinched as the buck gave him a friendly pat on the back, “ but I’ll take them anyway. Might be able to get some spare-parts out of them. He tossed a small bag of caps onto the bonnet and pulled the guns close to him. “Anything else?”

“Ammunition?” Mantis asked. “5.66, 10mm, 5mm. Anything really.”

The trader shook his head “Nope, all out as of yesterday. Group of stable dwellers bought everything I had. Odd looking bunch.” He scratched his muzzle.

I wanted to ask what they’d looked like but something stopped me. Besides not wanting to pry into his business, something about giving away what we were doing seemed a bad idea. Even to a trader heading in the opposite direction. The fewer ponies who knew—even vaguely—where we were going and what we wanted the better.

For a short while longer Smoking bartered for healing potions and bandages. I kept my eyes peeled as the trader rummaged through his numerous boxes, hoping to spot a vial or two but nothing remotely similar appeared. We got more food and Mantis persuaded him to part with a near pristine cooking pot: well, he was the cook of the group.

“Well, a pleasure doing business.” Donning his hat again, the trader turned and lead his Brahmin, not cow, away up the hill. “Have a good day.”

“You too.” Mantis called after him. “Watch out going over…” he stopped, staring in fear at a point just to the right of the trader between two wrecked trucks.

Whipping his rifle off his back, Mantis fired round after round down the gap. I panicked, lunging for my Blackhawk to protect myself against this sudden threat but every pony else was as confused and panic stricken as I was.

“Hold your fire hold your…” The trader yelled but to no avail.

Mantis’s rifle pinged as it ejected the empty cartridge. Then I saw it. A haze slammed into him sending him tumbling to the ground. Mantis yanked out his machete and brought it up blindly in front of him, swinging left and right.

I lumped at a massive shotgun blast and the shredding of steel. Every pony snapped to attention, turning to see the trader, a thin line of smoke rising from his shotgun, a hole ripped through the car door beside him.

“You.” He pointed coolly at Mantis. “Drop the knife.” Mantis complied. “Xyalia. Show.”

There was a pause. Then every one of us gasped.

A pony was standing over Mantis, pinning him to the ground with a hoof mounted blade against his neck. She wore no armour, only a heavy necklace adorned with a single massive green gem below a thick steel collar.Golden hoops adorned her ears and a single line of blue paint ran over her eye down the left of her face. Her mane was black and white, her body the same. Her eyes more heavily defined. She wasn't a pony she was…

“Get off me. Zebra,” Mantis hissed.

Xyalia looked back at the trader and, at a nod, carefully released Mantis. She backed off slowly, standing tall on her rear hooves to keep her hoof mounted knives pointed at us. I stared with a mix of shock and curiosity at the mysterious mare. Her mane and tail were, to my mind unnaturally short, but seemed to be much denser.

She rocked lightly on her back legs as she maintained her stance: her balance incredible. Her strength and power was as obvious as the intense glare in her eyes as she stared Mantis down. She didn't look angry or surprised that, somehow, Mantis had been able to see her. Her expression was one of focus and calm, but I suspected that was taking all her self-control.

The trader tapped his hoof. “Xyalia. Follow. Do not recloak until I tell you. Understand?”

The Zebra didn't move.

“Xyalia. Follow.”

Still nothing.

“Xyalia. Last chance.”

I watched her, transfixed. What was she doing? Why was she waiting? What the hell was going on?

“I… I cannot follow you.” Xyalia’s voice was exotic. That’s all I could say. I had never heard anything like it. This didn't conceal the heavy undercurrent of worry and confusion in her words.

“Why not?”

“Because,” She pointed with a blade tip. “I must follow this one.”

Wait. Mantis? He looked like he could kill her. Like he would like nothing better than to stab her in the neck. I glanced around quickly at the others. None of us had a clue what was going on.

“I told you Zebra. I don’t want you. I never wanted you.” Mantis stood. “Now get lost.”

“No,” Xyalia replied. “My debt must be repaid. It is not my choice, but my—” Xyalia screamed, dropping to the ground, her body writhing. She gasped for air before her body went limp, her eyes wide with fear, her breath shallow.

“Hey, what the…” I looked up. The trader was holding some kind of device in his mouth. He looked meaningfully at Xyalia but the grounded mare simply shook her head. The buck shrugged and bit down on the device. Xyalia screamed once more as her body twitched and jerked. Then I realised. The collar, the button… she was a slave.

“Stop it! Stop it!” Seafire ran to Xyalia, her magic tugging futilely at the heavy collar around her neck. “Stop it you monster.”

Xyalia heaved in her first breath before coughing and spluttering in a heap on the floor.

“What the hell are you doing!” Tungsten yanked Seafire’s shotgun from her pack advancing on the trader. “Stop this. Let her go.”

“Why should I?” he replied matter-of-factly. “She is disobeying me.”

“You sick fuck.” Tungsten smashed the pony in the face with the tip of the shot gun. “You sick…”

“No!” Tungsten tumbled backwards through the air as the double barrelled shotgun hit him square in the chest. His body skidded hard across the tarmac and slammed into the husk of a vehicle.

Two seconds later the trader was desperately prodding at the hole right through his neck. He dropped to the ground blood spurting and spewing from the punctured artery. His Brahmin continued to munch.

“Tungsten! Tungsten!”

I galloped to his side. The groan told me he was alive. The coughing up of blood meant he was seriously wounded. I carefully checked his armour. The titanium-ceramic plates had done their job, shattering into a powder and absorbing most of the energy, but it hadn't been able to contain all of it. I unzipped his barding and felt across his chest. Tungsten groaned and sputtered. By the movement I could tell that his first two ribs had either snapped on both sides or become disconnected from the rest of his rib cage.

“Bandages, I need bandages now!”

My head scrambled though all my knowledge. How could I fix this. With no scanner to be able to check exactly what happened and with no way of pinning or splinting the bones I would have to rely on compression to align the ribs for the healing process. It was crude and inaccurate but it was better than leaving them free to shift.

“Here.” Seafire dropped a dozen or so clean bandages at my hooves. I ripped off the plastic packaging and began to tightly bind a pair around Tungsten’s chest. Blood was still running freely from his mouth as his head rolled from side-to-side.

“Tungsten!” I yelled, trying to get his attention. “Stay still.” I pointed at his legs and Smoking pinned his hooves to the ground. “Rejuvenation potion.” I yelled, pulling Tun’s mouth open with my magic. He coughed, spraying blood all over my muzzle. Tilting his head as far as I dared, I tried to clear his mouth of blood.

“Here.” Mantis tossed me the potion.

Catching it, I removed the seal and opened Tun’s mouth once more. “You need to hold him as still as you can. Keep the bandages tight. This is going to hurt him.” With a nod from my helpers, I poured the whole potion down Tun’s throat and slammed his mouth shut.

Tun began to groan and stress at the bandages, his legs trying to kick, his chest and neck twitching. I watched, heart pounding, his skin and muscles shifted unnaturally as the potion worked its way through his body. I heard a bone click, Tun’s eyes shot wide with a agonising yell, muffled by my magic.

Two terrifying minutes later, I collapsed exhausted. Tun lay beside me, gasping deeply, his chest moving freely. Smoking and Seafire were both panting from the effort of pinning him down. Mantis simply looked stunned. Tun coughed and looked up at me his eyes barely focusing.

“What the hell happened.”

I rolled my eyes. “You picked a fight with a shotgun and lost.” I wanted to laugh, to feel relief, to laugh off the matter as if it were nothing. But it had been too close. The wasteland had seen fit to take Fran away from me, and now it was trying to take my brother too. We needed to get out of here, back our stable and out of this hell hole.

A shifting shadow made me look up. Xyalia’s eyes were shining with tears. From the pain of her collar or the shock of what had transpired, I couldn't tell. She looked down, taking us all in, covered in dirt, blood, and sweat.

“Why did you do that?” She whispered in her strange voice.

“Do what?” I pulled myself up to face her. She was a little taller than me and much leaner, but strong muscles moved under her striped coat. I noticed the raw skin where the collar chafed and cut into her neck. It could really do with some attention.

“Stop him.” She blinked blankly. “I am not yours to protect. He is allowed to punish an uncooperative slave.”

He was what! I looked the zebra up and down incredulously.

“How is he entitled? No pony is allowed to torture another. We weren't just going to stand by and watch him electrocute you.” I looked at her like she was mad. Perhaps she was. “He doesn't own you, he can’t do that to you.”

Xyalia tilted her head curiously. “I was his property. He was well within his rights. Why shouldn't he?”

“I am more interested in why you were disobeying him in the first place.” Smoking looked from Xyalia to Mantis and back again. “She saw you and stopped, and you were trying to shoot her, but she was invisible. How did you even see her.”

Mantis looked like he was glued to the spot. All of us looked at him, waiting for a response. A pregnant pause passed before his eyes fell, and a deep sigh admitted his resignation. “Helix knows why I live in Viewpoint so she can fill you all in later,” He looked at me hopefully, I nodded to say I would let them know. “When New Apploosa was attacked by Raiders, she was with them. Not by choice but there none the less.”

“Is this true?” Xyalia flinched at my sharp tone. “You helped those raiders attack New Apploosa?” Xyalia nodded, ears down turned. “Why would you do that?”

“To save the little ones.”

Oh my…

“But what happened between you two?” Tun asked bemused. “Why must you follow him and why was it worth risking your life?”

“Because I owe it to him.” Xyalia turned to Mantis and bowed gently. “He saved my life.”

Mantis stomped angrily, all his calm gone in an instant. “I spared it! I didn't save it. There is a difference you know.”

“You had me at gunpoint, pinned by this very necklace to the wall.” Xyalia’s voice wavered, as her mind recalled the moment. “It was more effort for you not to pull the trigger and yet you turned your gun round and knocked me out. When I came too I was chained to the floor inside a train carriage, heading to Apploosa. A slave town.”

“Yes, I didn’t shoot you but that doesn’t mean you owe me anything!” Mantis snapped back his body tensing. “I just couldn't kill a helpless mare who had no choice but to fight. Besides I was more interested in killing the bastard who had murdered my brother and father. You know, priorities and all that.”

“Xyalia?” Seafire looked her up and down slowly. “Why do you feel you need to repay him? You just said yourself that your owner,” She shuddered as she spoke the word. “had the right to do what he wanted, even kill you. Why risk it for Mantis?”

“Because he came first. If were not for him, that trader would not have been my master.” She said it so simply that I didn’t question her, though part of me knew it didn’t quite make sense. I would work that out later.

“Not to kill this conversation, but we need to get moving.” Smoking inspected the trader and his Brahmin. “He will have some good stuff on him and I have no qualms about taking from a dead slaver.”

“What about Xyalia?” Seafire asked, looking at the Zebra. “She’ll have to come with us. We can’t leave her alone out here.”

“I don’t want it following us around.” Mantis practically threw his rifle onto his back. “I don’t own it, I don’t need it.”

“Well I want her to come with us.” Seafire made a firm move to stand right beside Xyalia who looked taken aback at how defensive Seafire was being. “I am not leaving her out here to die.”

I knew where I stood too, joining on Xyalia’s other side. Mantis let out a grunt of contempt as Seafire and I stared him down. Tungsten and Smoking continued to pick through the trader’s supplies and inventory, ignoring our tense social minefield.

“If it does anything, anything suspicious at all, I am putting a bullet in its brain.” Mantis looked at us both in turn. “Got that? You want it? You can have it.” With a kick, the remote for Xyalia’s collar slid to a halt at out hooves.

I picked up the device and examined it closely. A sealed box with no seams that I could see, a dial and four buttons, one of which was covered by a latched translucent cover and was simply marked with a skull. I shuddered from head to hoof.

“Here, you take it.” I held it out to Xyalia for her to take. “You are in control now.”

Xyalia stepped back, head down. “I’m afraid I can’t. If I touch it the collar will electrocute me. A simple safeguard to stop a Slave being able to tamper with the device.”

“Can’t we just remove the collar?” Seafire asked, inspecting it. “There must be a way.”

Xyalia just shook her head sadly. “There is, I’ve seen it done, but I don’t know how.”

I carefully placed a comforting hoof on the Zebras shoulder. “Xyalia, we are looking for two of our party we lost two days ago. One of them is very skilled in engineering, mechanics, and has a good grasp of electronics. If anyone can get you out, she can.” I smiled at her, trying to give her a positive, hopeful vibe.

“Here.” Tungsten came over with the traders old saddlebags draped over his back, atop the battle saddle he had acquired from his dead body. “What, he doesn't need it any more.” He said defensively. He carefully transferred the packs onto Xyalia’s back. “You have some water and food in there and a few bandages. Since you’re a hoof fighter, we decided to keep it light.” His smile faltered as Xyalia nodded blankly.

“Let’s get a move on!” Mantis had already started walking without us and was beginning to vanish into the thick mass of cars. He would have been a fool to do so if the fog wasn't lifting.

Seafire began to lead Xyalia away, trying with difficulty to strike up a conversation with her.

“Hold up,” Smoking called. He huddled in close to my brother and I. “I am happy to have her with us, but she can’t stay forever, and I am not sure how much I trust her. Her life as a slave will have probably engrained some very strict behaviour into her but that’s not to say she isn't dangerous. Keep an eye out and be mindful. Helix, you can hold the remote.” I took it gingerly in my magic. “I think it will make her feel safer if one of the mares who defended her has it, rather than another buck.”

I just nodded my reply. Looking down at the small metal device in front of me I felt a wave of shame roll over me. How could we invent something as horrible as this...

What little sunlight was able to make its way through the dense clouds above was rapidly diminishing when we reached the thin single track road that would take us to the entrance of Stable Twenty Five. Mantis, still pointedly keeping as much distance between himself and Xyalia as possible, found an area tucked against the sheer rock face where we could pitch our tents. The only way anypony would see the light from our fire was if they were on the road above us, which was very unlikely.

However, none of us could settle. Sitting silently in a ring around the crackling flames and drinking down the soup Seafire had concocted, we kept shifting and looking at each other. All I could think about was how close to Fran I was and what could yet be in the way. If Stable Twenty Five really was some kind of Slaver or Raider base, then we could have easily come all this way for nothing. Not only would Fran and Foxglove probably be dead, but if we tried to rescue them, we would die too.

Mantis rose firmly to his hooves, slinging his rifle over his back. “I am going to take a look. See what we will face in the morning.”

“Same.” Tungsten pulled his Blackhawk from its holster.

I rose firmly. “I want to come too.”

Mantis shook his head. “No. Too many of us will be easy to spot, and you are not familiar with how to keep a low profile.”

“Can you go and check it out first? Then summon us if its safe? Please.” I just had to know what we were all up against.

He considered for a moment. “Ok, but both of you stay ten meters behind me. If I drop, you drop, only come and join me when I tell you. Oh, and bring a Blackhawk, just in case.”

Thirty minutes of cautious walking later, picking our way across shallow streams and through thick underbrush as quietly as we could, we reached a bank of earth which was backlit in a strong yellow light. Tun and I lay on our bellies as Mantis shuffled forwards to the banks apex. He carefully peeked over the brow of the bank taking a long look at what was on the other side. With a gentle wave of his hoof, he motioned Tun and I cautiously up to his side.

“Before you take a peek, there are quite a few guards on patrol, nothing major, but if they look in our direction stay perfectly still. The lighting is great when you are in it, but everything outside of it becomes one black haze. If you are still then you will be harder to spot.” Tun and I both nodded. “Ok, ears down and peek.”

As one we all raised our heads up to peer over the mound and almost instantly, I regretted it.

Razorwire topped a rugged looking fence that looked to be made from pieces of sheet metal and wood, tied, bolted or welded to form one continuous ring around the mouth of a cave about eighty meters away. The ground leading up to our mound had been flattened and was slowly patrolled by searchlights that shone down from three towers just inside the wall. A bus with extra steel panels attached to one side blocked the one entrance hole in the fence. Inside I could just make out maybe a dozen ponies with weapons who stood in groups chatting or sorting supplies.

“Take a look, back left,” Tungsten muttered.

I followed his gaze to a tanker that was parked up next to another machine that was covered in a net of some kind, probably to conceal its shape and profile from prying eyes like ours. Despite the net, it was easily as long as the tanker and twice as wide. Enough to fit another small vehicle inside. It seemed to have five distinct protrusions on it that made up the majority of its bizarre profile.

“What do you think it could be?” Tun asked dropping back down behind the mound, his hooves tapping on his Blackhawk. “Mobile artillery? Armoured truck? It could even be a light tank.”

“No, it would need to be something more mobile.” Mantis replied, still peeking over edge. “Something that could easily get to Viewpoint.”

“What makes you say that?” I asked.

“Smoking mentioned that Swarf and Cheque had some kind of deal. Something that resulted in the attack on your stable but stopped an attack on Viewpoint. They were scared of something. Something that could level the town to the ground. Something that no pony could stop.” Mantis shook his head, thinking hard. “Land is out, you could travel by water but I would put my caps on air. Some kind of flying machine. It could be a Griffon Chaser MK7, that would be big enough. But those had no weapons. Unless they’ve added things to it. Skytank is bigger than that. Perhaps something the Pegasi had.”

“We can dwell on this later. But I think we need to get back and get some sleep.” He looked gravely at the both of us. “We are going to need it.”

“So. How bad is it?” Seafire relaxed as she watched the three of us return to our small clearing.

Mantis sighed heavily. “It could be worse, but it’s not great.”

“Do we even know what it is we are trying to do?” Tungsten pointed out as he unclipped his holster. “We have no idea if Fran and Foxglove are in there. How are we going to find that out?”

Mantis just shrugged. “Don’t know. That will be a problem for tomorrow. But for now we need sleep.” He nodded at us each in turn, except for Xyalia whom he ignored, before slipping into the bucks tent to join Smoking.

“I am going to turn in too.” Tun stretched out for a long moment, yawning widely. “Remember to put the fire out before you turn in.” He smiled at me before nodding politely to Seafire and Xyalia. The buzzing of a zip later and it was just the mares out in the cool night air.

I shuffled in closer to the crackling fire, its warmth helping to distract me from the dark thoughts beginning to form and grow in the back of my mind. I looked up at Seafire, watching the fire dance in her eyes. She caught my gaze and smiled. I smiled back automatically but worry and dread rose inside me. I needed to talk to Fran. I needed to know if she was alive. Normal radio communications didn't seem to work, so I needed to find another way.

I sat up and began to look through the dozens of lists on my PipBucks interface until I found one called Communications & Transmissions. Opening it, I found several basic options on sending and receiving signals as well as setting up an emergency signal and creating custom signals.

“Helix? What are you doing?” Seafire moved over to my side.

“I am going to try and set up one of those bouncing messages. The same type Fran discovered to lead us here.” I scrolled through the twenty or so settings on a custom signal. Most of them were over my head but I knew the basics. “I don’t think a PipBuck’s signal is strong enough to reach underground. If any of the ponies in that encampment have a PipBuck then perhaps I can get the signal to her by bouncing it.”

Seafire looked at my excited, hopeful expression with worry. “We have no idea where she is, or if she is even alive. And if only Foxglove survived she would never be able to reply. She doesn't know enough.” The white unicorn shook her head, sending her mane scattering like flames. “I just don’t think you should get your hopes up, I am not saying don’t try, just…” She didn't seem able to find the right words.

“This Fran. She means a lot to you doesn’t she.” Xyalia was staring into the fire, her eyes sad, ears down. “Hold onto hope, but do not cling to it, else you will find it harder to let go.” She turned away from us both, settling down onto the gravelly earth.

The firelight highlighted her toned body and strong muscles. The heavy collar around her neck looked very out of place. I hadn’t noticed while we had been walking but there were a large number of small cuts to the back her right flank, working their way down her leg and several just behind her ear and up her neck close into her cropped mane. They looked too thin to be knife cuts, a whip perhaps?

Shaking the thought from my mind, I continued to set up my signal. The final option was the message. I knew I couldn’t risk an open message. I needed something that Fran would recognise but would sound scrambled to anyone else.

A genuine smile spread across my face. I knew exactly what to send.

With a final tap the message was away. Well, I hoped so anyway.

“You going to sleep?” I just nodded to Seafire. “Good, I can put the fire out.”

Seafire scattered a mound of dirt onto the fire with her magic. In the light from our horns we picked our way over to our tent and slipped inside. I quickly unrolled my pack and settled down on top of it.

“What is Xyalia going to sleep on?” Seafire asked. “Actually, is she still outside?”

“Yeah. One moment, I will go get her.” I slipped out again and looked around. Xyalia was no where to be seen. “Xyalia?” I called out softly. I jumped a mile as she appeared out of thin air right in front of me.

“You need something?” She asked, ignoring my reaction.

“No, I just wanted to know if you were joining us or not?”

The zebra looked perplexed. “In the tent?” She asked, unsure if that was what I meant.

“Of course. You can borrow Fran’s bedroll. There is plenty of space.”

She still seemed confused. “Why are you letting me sleep inside? To keep an eye on me?”

“Of course not. It’s just going to get very cold and the tent will keep you warm and dry and…” I worked it out. “You mean that trader made you sleep out in the cold every night?” Xyalia nodded slowly, as if it were me who was being silly. “No matter the weather?”

“We zebra’s are from a place where the weather was not tamed like it was here. We are naturally more resilient and able to weather far greater extremes than ponies.”

“But surely you were not outside during those storms that we had over the last few weeks? I was soaked to the skin in minutes, even in barding and a raincoat, and the hail too.”

Xyalia nodded again. “There were occasions where it was dangerous, but I was not allowed inside, so I persevered.”

I was in disbelief. An anger and hatred was building inside me towards that supposedly friendly trader. He looked just like anypony else and yet he had made this poor mare endure night after night of horrific weather when she could easily have died from hypothermia or been attacked by wild animals. I felt a sudden rush of appreciation for our magically reinforced tents, there fabric cast with sound dampening and light filtering spells.

“Xyalia I want you to sleep in the tent. With us. Where its safe, and warm.” I found my voice stuttering. A combination of anger and shock at what the poor mare had endured. “After you.” I stepped aside and pointed to the entrance.

Xyalia seemed to take a deep breath, like she was about to break some unbreakable rule. ‘Well, it was an unbreakable rule for her earlier today.’ With cautious steps she slipped inside the tent and I followed, zipping the door up behind me.

Seafire had shuffled across to give Xyalia a larger spot. Fran’s bed roll was laid out for her. With trepidation the mare carefully stepped onto the roll, as if expecting it to explode. When it did not she turned around and slowly lowered herself onto it.

“You can get inside it.” I showed her the zip and lifted the corner.

“I am happy like this,” she replied simply.

I just nodded and slipped into my own roll. Even being able to sit on something soft was going to be a considerable improvement for her so I decided to let her do what she was comfortable with, even if I felt that she was still holding back. ‘In time. Give her time,’ I thought to myself. She will realise she can do what she likes now.

I let my horn fade and curled up in my bedroll, Savoring its plush stuffing and silky soft fabric against my skin. I twitched slightly at a touch. Seafire was lying to face me, her hoof extended. I reciprocated letting my hoof rest on hers. After last night, I could tell she still felt fragile and if this contact was what she needed to feel safe and not be alone then I would give it to her. ‘And when Fran comes back?’ I asked myself.

That was a problem for another day.

Author's Notes:

Its taken a while longer than usual, not that anypony has got used to a regular update from Ouroborous, but hay here is chapter 11!
I am considering swapping chapters 10 and 11 round so if it suddenly changes, don't worry.