“What was that?” I asked Check as Shadowbuck noticed me standing in the doorway and raised a hoof in return.

“That was a hoof wave. It usually means, ‘Hey, come on over and sit with me.’ Let’s go,” Check explained while rolling her eyes and pulling me towards the Brotherhood of Steel’s table.

But that wasn’t what I was asking. That colt’s voice couldn’t have come from inside the bar, everypony here was at least in their mid-to-late teens, and I was suddenly aware of the fact that I had heard that voice once before. I had thought it was just my brain firing off some random crap as I was drowning in the Trottingham River, but that time it was a lot clearer and I wasn’t on Death’s doorstep.

“Does Death have a house? She’d have to have one to have a doorstep. Or at least an apartment. Everypony says that somepony is on Death’s doorstep when they’re dying. But ponies also say that there’s a Sandmare, but I know he’s a Sandstallion. Maybe-”

“I think she’s stuck in her head again? What are you thinking about now, Aria?” Shadowbuck said with a sad smile. That was when I realized that we were standing in front of their table. When had I walked over?

“I call’em ‘Aria Moments.’ Ya really need to loosen up and get outta your head more often, Fire Flanks,” Check laughed before nudging me towards an open seat next to Shadowbuck while she took the seat on my other side.

“Does she do that often?” Backdraft asked after downing his mug of beer.

“Every now and then,” Check replied.

“You do realize I’m right standing right here?” I asked as I sat down.

“No, now you’re sitting,” Boom joked. I can let you know right now that he got the glare and it still worked. I think my hypothesis about it only working on stallions was true. “Sorry.”

“What were you thinking about now, Aria?” Shadowbuck asked before taking a sip of his beer.

“Oh...” I had to think fast. I couldn’t tell them that I was thinking about a strange voice in my head.

“Don’t you mean ‘another strange voice?’”

“Bulletstorm...” I blurted before looking down at the table, ashamed. I couldn’t believe that I had said that. I was lying through my muzzle about something so sensitive to Shadow and the other Brotherhood members just to cover up my steadily increasing insanity.

“I understand. You feel guilty that you couldn’t save him and the other knights and scribes, but you shouldn’t. You and your friends were in an impossible situation and you still brought Shadowbuck, Melody, and Compass back alive and completed your mission,” Star Paladin Buzzsaw replied. I looked up and everypony was giving me small smiles and nods of respect that I didn’t deserve. I felt a hoof on my shoulder and realized Shadow had taken me into a half bodied hug.

“You saved me and almost died . I’m sorry for what I said, and I’m sorry we couldn’t save Tar Hoof. You have nothing to be sorry for, Aria,” Shadow said solemnly. I would have been blushing intensely, but curiosity overwhelmed my social anxieties.

“Tar Hoof?”

“That was Bulletstorm’s real name. Like I said, we Brotherhood members honor our dead with their real names when they die honorably in combat.” He then lifted his half empty glass to the rest of the table. “To Paladin Tar Hoof, the best little brother we could ever have!”

“Here here!” Buzzsaw and the others shouted before completing the toast and downing their beers.

“Do you want some wine, Aria?” Shadow asked, his eyes dilated and his words slurring slightly. He also wasn’t taking his hoof off my shoulder.

“Are you drunk?”

“If you can get drunk after being thrown through time, I can get drunk after losing my brother,” he snapped. “So do you want some wine or not?”

“Thrown through time?” Check asked.

“Um, I, uh...” I stuttered, but, by the grace of my aunts, a voice interrupted over the speakers set up around the room.

“Alright everypony, we got a special treat for ya. Mando wants to play a song to honor Bulletstorm and the Steel Rangers who were lost so would you kindly shut your traps?” a gruff male voice ordered as an earth pony stallion with an orange mane and yellow coat walked out onto the stage at the front of the bar. To my surprise, the rowdy room full of drunk Steel Rangers, Wastelanders, and even the odd Queen’s Courtpony fell dead silent before this unassuming pony with the guitar on his back.

“Hi guys,” Mando said into the microphone as he unslung his guitar and put a shoe with a guitar pic on his right hoof. As I watched him, I couldn’t help be reminded of the little filly in Philharmonica Instruments; this stallion and Keynote even had similar guitar themed cutie marks. “I remembered that Bulletstorm always said this song reminded him of his dad and Shadowbuck’s mom so I figured I’d play it since it was one of his favorites. Check, would you join me for the female vocals?”

“Oh yeah, sure!” Check said excitedly and rushed onto the stage, completely forgetting about her question.

“Alright, you all know this song guys so sing along if you want to. This is 'A Long Way From Equestria,' Mando said into the microphone.

A few of the patrons gave clops of applause or a hoot of appreciation, but all fell silent as the pic on his right hoof plucked that first string. An arpeggio of lovely notes flowed from his guitar and, like magic, every face in the crowd took on a sad smile. I marvelled at the musical skill of the earth pony and the effect his music had on the hardened citizens of the Trottingham Ruins, but I was overwhelmed by the emotion pouring out of him as he began to sing.

“No,” I thought, shaking my head.

On that last line, Check joined in, adding her own melodious voice to his, and before I knew what was happening, the crowd began singing along.

As their voices lifted up those four simple lines, I could already feel the tears beginning to fall. This world, the Equestrian Wasteland, was such a long way from the Equestria I had known as a child. It was even too far flung from the wartime Equestria I had left only a few days ago. This world was horrible and violent and more like the decaying corpse of a once beautiful and magical land than the shadow that some would call it.

I felt Shadow’s foreleg around my shoulder and began to appreciate its weight and embrace as I felt bittersweet memories of my lost homeland flowing out of me through my tears. Playing with Golden Star when he had leave to visit or reading a book under a shady tree in the castle gardens where no pony could find me. Or of that fateful night with Princess Luna. I leaned into Shadowbuck as he sang along, his voice strong though he was crying just like me. I could imagine thoughts of his mother and of Bulletstorm being brought to the surface by this song of loss and hope.

The second verse began with Check leading the vocals, her voice strong and beautiful. She looked natural on stage; it was as if she were born to be adored by cheering fans. Watching the flirtatious demolitions expert up there now, I wished she had been born in my time. Back in my Equestria, a pony as charming, funny, and talented as her would have been a star like Sapphire Shores or Sweetie Belle and she would have found the love she so desperately needed. But as the song said, we were a long way from Equestria.

This was the Trottingham Ruins, but here in Moorheart’s Tavern we were singing against the darkness the Wasteland brought to it.

The chorus renewed and there were very few dry eyes or closed lips in the room. Even I was singing, my horrible voice and tone deafness thankfully drowned out by the choir of Wastelanders as they impersonated angels for this one song. Before they were mourners, scavengers, and ruffians and afterwards they would probably return to that way of life, but for this one song they were a choir of hope and love.

I remembered Golden Star’s words and his promise of a day of sunshine and rainbows to come. The way he said for me to keep on fighting resonated with the words of this one song and I couldn’t stop crying. Shadow held me and the Brotherhood of Steel continued their ode to their fallen brother. I even saw Melody and Compass walk up, a look of worry on my friends’ faces, but as the song came to a close and Melody moved over to check on me, another pony stepped in between us.

“It really is you isn’t it, Aria Star?” he asked, and Melody gasped. My eyes widened at the sight of him, his pale skin was tight and rotting at some points while his left eye was surrounded by a dark brown spot while an eyepatch covered his right. He was wearing a sailor’s jacket and a red bandana around his almost non-existent brown mane.

“Who are you? How do you know our last name?” Melody asked, her left wing slowly moving closer to her holster.
“A friend. Everyone calls me Howling Buck,” he said with the same gravelly voice that had just spoken over the loudspeakers.

“The DJ?” Compass asked, but his question was immediately drowned out the laughter coming from the Steel Rangers.

“Buck, you old son of a bitch! What are you doing down from your ivory tower?” Star Paladin Buzzsaw asked drunkenly, jumping to his hooves and slapping the ghoul on the back. “I know you don’t drink, but join us for a round!”

“I’ll pass, Buzzsaw. I’m down from the broadcast tower to meet the Nightmare Knight. It seems my hunch was correct,” Howling Buck replied with a sly grin.

“And what hunch would that be?” Shadowbuck asked, finally releasing my shoulder to sit up straight and look as tough as a stallion who had just finished crying could appear.

“That-”

“Hell yeah! Howling Buck’s here!” Check cheered as she jumped off the stage and threw her hooves around Shadowbuck and my shoulders. “Ya saw me singing with Mando right? Ya gotta admit we’re good enough for DJ-Pon3’s show with that song. Ya gotta introduce us to him, Buck.”

“Will do once the mirelurks are sorted out and stop sinking every ship that tries to leave the harbor,” Buck said simply, but his gaze never left mine.

“What do you want with Aria?” Melody said, finally flittering over the ghoul and landing beside Check.

“Wow... You look the spitting image of Silver Storm. Except for those eyes. Those look exactly like Golden Star’s did,” he said upon seeing Melody and both our jaws dropped.

“How?”

“How do I know either of them? I’m over two hundred years old, girls. I’ve seen things and met ponies you wouldn’t believe. I trick-or-treated with Princess Luna, fought in the battle of Terra Heights, and that was before I got hit by a balefire bomb and ended up like this.” His smile grew and his eye watched me knowingly. “Although you appear to have gotten the better end of the balefire bomb, didn’t you, Princess Aria Star?”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Why, it’s your name, isn’t it? You are Princess Melody Star’s aunt, right? Descendants of Prince Golden Star and Page Turner, if I’m not mistaken.”

“How do you know us?” Melody asked, putting a hoof on mine as I growled under my breath. I wasn’t a princess, but I also wasn’t Starshine’s daughter either. Even if through some fluke of genetics I actually was my brother’s full biological sister, I was not that stallion’s daughter.

“I have my sources, little miss. The Queen’s Court is all abuzz about two more princesses in Trottingham and are already planning for Queen Cadence’s party to be the biggest yet,” he spat, although it seemed more for show as not a drop of saliva passed his dry and cracked lips. “Starving their slaves to pamper their masters. It’s sickening, isn’t it, Princess Aria Star.”

“Stop calling me that!” I shouted as I jumped to my hooves, killing the music and turning every head in the bar in my direction.

“A temper when it comes to calling her a princess. Brown coat, blue stripe, violet eyes with emerald flecks. A talent for combat magic and Lunar Guard armor.” He then looked at my flanks and his smile grew even larger. “And cutie marks aren’t genetic or hand-me-downs. My crazy hunch keeps seeming less and less crazy every minute.”

“What do you want from me, Howling Buck?” I snarled, feeling the dark influence of the Nightmare beginning to weave its shadowy tendrils across my mind.

“Just kill this prick and get back to Shadowbuck.”

“Just to talk, I swear,” he said calmly, lifting his hooves as if he were surrendering himself to me. “I’m unarmed and I mean you no harm. Disk Jockey’s honor.”

“Do disc jockeys have an honor code?” Check asked.

“Not that I know of, but I do know that Howling Buck’s a good guy, Aria. If he just wants some time to talk, maybe you should just give him a few minutes,” Shadowbuck said, seeming to be a little less on edge now and a lot more sober than he was a few minutes ago.

Biting the inside of my cheek, I looked the ghoul known as Howling Buck in the eye, trying to sense any kind of dishonesty or animosity in him, but I couldn’t read nothing. Sighing, I nodded.

“Okay, we can talk.”

“Good. How about we get out of this rowdy bar and get some air? The balcony upstairs is nice this time of day,” Howling Buck replied with a rotten toothed grin that made my stomach turn.

“Please don’t smile like that anymore.”

“Noted. If you would follow me, Miss Nightmare Knight.”

The bar watched us as we left the Brotherhood of Steel’s table, a multitude of eyes followed us across the base of the stage, up the stairs, and didn’t stop staring at us until Howling Buck had opened the door to let me walk out onto the balcony. Overlooking the town square, which I could see was still roped off with whatever warning tape or spare electrical cables they could find, the balcony was made of warped, swollen wood and sheet metal that creaked and shuddered underneath my hooves, but seemed to hold under our weight as Howling Buck followed me out.

“So what do you want from me, Howling Buck?”

“I wanted to meet the hero from Stable Sixty-Three wearing the armor and shield of two war heroes and taking it to the Royal Flush Raiders. I heard about your appearance and your shield and I remembered Golden Star’s theory about his sister’s coloration being a genetic throwback so I thought you might be his granddaughter.”

“But?” I asked, sensing the conjunction coming from two hundred years away.

“But then I heard about your eyes. That greenish coloration is pretty unique.”

“Maybe I’m just unique.”

“And your cutie mark is the exact same.”

“Maybe I take after my aunt,” I tried to deflect.

“You can’t hide it from me, Aria. I don’t know how you’re here, but I think you somehow survived that bombing and now you are here,” he replied, leaning against the balcony railing and giving me a sly smile, although he thankfully kept his molted lips closed.

“And how would you explain that I’m still alive, Howling Buck?”

“I was thinking you were the prettiest ghoul I ever met, but no... I don’t know how you survived, but I know without a shadow of a doubt that you’re Aria Star, Golden Star’s sister.”

My eyes narrowed, but Buck just chuckled and shook his head.

“Don’t try giving me a look, Aria. My sister was one of the best with giving a death stare. Tavi could look down her nose at a fifty foot dragon.”

Tavi? As in Octavia? If this ghoul was Octavia’s brother and Da Capo made it into Stable Sixty-Three, then that would mean... What was her younger brother’s name again? Only one came back from the war and...

“Was it Littlepip? Does that sound right?”

“Don’t ask me. I wasn’t paying attention to Golden Star’s useless memory,” the Nightmare scoffed, but I knew she was lying; I remember her face when Golden Star appeared to us.

“And why are you so sure I’m a two hundred year old Lunar Guard?” I asked, wracking my brain for the answer told to Golden Star so many years ago.

“Because of the bracer you were wearing when Shadowbuck carried you back into Gigaton. The Star Sapphire, a one of a kind gift from a loving grandmother to her beloved grandchildren, was on your foreleg. I saw a picture somepony took of you, your grandmother, and Golden Star during your graduation. That gem you were wearing when you arrived is the Star Sapphire,” he said, pointing at my bare wrist.

“That’s quite a bit of detective work for a disk jockey,” I chuckled. He just smiled and poked at his bandana.

“I’m a pony who has worn many hats in my long life. Right now I just relay info from the radio tower back to DJ-Pon3 in Manehatten. The cameras on the tower still work, but only the audio connects across the ocean.” He stopped, shook his head, and let out a raspy chuckle. ”But I’m rambling, aren’t I? Was I right about your decay-free ghoulification? We’re you the lucky girl that got the immortality without the little bits falling off from time to time?”

“No,” I sighed, turning towards the depressing view of the city, watching the clouds roll across the sky and the sky beneath getting a little more orange along the horizon.

“You miss the sky, don’t you?” Howling Buck asked sadly.

“You’re right, not just about the sky, but about me. I am Golden Star’s sister, but I’m not a ghoul and I’m pretty sure I’m not immortal.”

“Yet we’re not really in the habit of dying when we drown,” the Nightmare taunted.

“Shut up...” I whispered.

“What was that?”

“Nothing.” I lied as I continued to watch the horizon change colors.

“So if you’re not a ghoul and you’re not immortal, how are you here, Aria?” Howling Buck asked.

“That’s the sixty-four thousand bit question, isn’t it?”

“Well, then how do you think you got here?”

“I... I think I fell through time. I don’t know how or why, but there was this big blue tunnel and I fell for hours. Then I heard Melody praying for help in Stable Sixty-Three and I fell into the Stable just before the raiders attacked,” I confessed, closing my eyes and picturing that swirling vortex again. It was almost... maddening to even think about. The fact that I was still sane after that seemed more and more like a miracle.

“Are we really sane anymore?”

“What makes you so sure you fell through time?”

“I don’t know,” I replied as that nagging feeling that perhaps this wasn’t real and that I might really be dead crept back into my mind.

“It starts with Pip... Pipbuck? No...”

Howling Buck shrugged.

“Best explanation I’ve heard. Whatever reason you’re still alive for, I’m glad. Golden Star spoke very highly of you and I can see why. Trottingham needs a hero to save us from ourselves.” He grinned at me, but there was warmth mixed into his nasty smile. “I think your brother would be proud of you.”

“I’m not a hero, Pipsqueak,” I replied, eliciting a shocked look from the ghoulie. “Looks like I remembered correctly.”

“How’d you know my real name, girl?” Pipsqueak asked, the ridges where his eyebrows had once been wrinkling the tight, dead flesh of his forehead.

“I watched one of Golden Star’s memories. Page Turner mentioned that only one of Da Capo’s brothers made it back from the war. His name was Pipsqueak. And you said you were Tavi’s brother, which is what Da Capo called his sister, Octavia, in his last message to her.”

“Smart girl. You should be a disk jockey too with those deductive skills. I could see you looking at one of Golden Star’s memory orbs, but how did you find a message between my brother and sister?” he asked, leaning away from the railing to face me.

“When we were leaving the Ministry hub, we hunkered down in Philharmonica Instruments when we realized that the Queen’s Court badge no longer worked after Brass Bugle died. The voidowls were already flocking to us so we had to take cover.” It seemed for the best to leave out the Enclave and my ‘episode.’

“You found my old family home?” he asked, a sadness penetrating the glossy film over his ‘good’ eye. “I would have gone back years ago, but there was always a brahmintaur hanging around and there was no way past him without a good chance of me getting gored.”

“Melody and I killed him,” I answered. I paused for a moment before adding, “I also buried your father under the dead tree in the back yard. He died in the basement holding pictures of his family.”

“Thank you,” he sniffed and wiped his face with the back of his hoof even though tears were not coming from his dead tear ducts. “I didn’t know that dad didn’t go to Stable Sixty-Three. I had a security job at Sixty-Two and had to rush over there. Sometimes I wish I had taken Golden Star’s offer for a transfer to Sixty-Three.”

“Why didn’t you?” I asked. Howling Buck tensed up and looked away from me nervously. “Oh come on! You’re a disk jockey, you talk for a living so don’t shut up on me now, Pip.”

“Okay... There was this girl...”

“Do tell?” I asked, giving the ghoul who had been my brother’s friend a playful grin.

“Oh yeah. Sunrise Dream. Prettiest earth pony you’d ever seen. You’d swear she was a princess, but she was just a waitress at a sandwich shop. We had gone on a few dates and she was so excited that she got into Stable Sixty-Two with me... That was kind of my doing, but I never told her. Then...”

“Then the bomb dropped right on the Stable.”

“Yeah... Stable-Tec said their doors could withstand a balefire bomb going off right next to the entrance ninety-seven percent of the time or some crap like that.” He sighed. “Guess they were grossly overestimating their own technological prowess. Otherwise we were that unlucky three percent or whatever.”

“And I’m guessing Sunrise Dream didn’t become a ghoul like you?”

“No. Out of three hundred ponies, only Mayor Canterot, Foxglow, and I made it out of the Stable as close to alive as a pony hit by a balefire bomb could be... Well, until you of course.”

“Of course,” I replied half-heartedly.

For a while, we just stood there, watching the sun dip beneath the cloud blanket, bathing the sky in an orange fire tinged with purple and red, before it set beneath the horizon and the world fell into darkness once again. Howls and snarls could be heard from all around and the turrets were already beginning to pick off Voidowls as they attempted to swarm the town yet again.

“It’s starting already?” I said, finally breaking our silent watch.

“They do that every night, but the turrets have targetting talismans so the Voidowls rarely get through,” Buck explained.

“If they have targeting talismans, then why do they have gunners as well?” I asked, watching a mottled green mare laugh as her turret blasted a grouping of airborne shadow out of the sky.

“Because they’re anti-air talismans. They’re programmed to shoot anything that moves through the sky except for Ditsy Doo when she flies in with more supplies for Brownstone. It was a close call that first time she flew in and some idiot had forgotten to program her into his turret’s Friend or Foe matrix.”

“We’re going to have to get Melody programmed in their system too,” I said. He nodded.

“Yeah. It’s pretty rare for anything that can fly to hold any good will to us ground bound ponies,” he said before taking out a cigar. I cocked an eyebrow at him.

“Really?”

“It’s one of the few things I can taste anymore. Tekash’s little sister grows the tobacco for me,” he said holding the wrapped tobacco up and offering one to me.

“No thanks,” I replied, waving it away. “I didn’t know Tekash had a sister.”

“You’ve met Tekash?” he asked as he pulled out a lighter engraved with a series of musical notes and began trying to light the cigar.

“We’ve met,” I said bitterly. I watched him continue to click the lighter, but it didn’t seem to be working. Pipsqueak seemed to catch the look in my eye and automatically deciphered its meaning.

“Oh no! Don’t you dare light my cigar with some unicorn magic. Magic makes the cigar taste funny!” Pipsqueak growled at me before striking his lighter so hard it went flying out of his hooves and off the balcony.

“I got it!” I shouted, poking my head over the railing and catching the lighter in my magic. That’s when I felt the bullet whizz by my head and the soft squelch as it ripped through dead flesh and shattered brittle bones.

In the center of Pipsqueak’s forehead, where my head had been only half a second before, was a bit sized hole. His good eye stared at me with the lifeless gaze of a real corpse and the cigar fell from his mouth. Before I could react, his legs gave out and Pipsqueak fell to the balcony floor, hitting the ground at the same time as his unlit cigar.

The world snapped back into focus. I turned towards the door and felt pain explode through my right shoulder. I stumbled backwards, crashing through the railing, and I saw the steeple of a church overlooking the town as I fell. I knew immediately what has just happened.

I had been shot.

Again.

And a good pony had been killed instead of me.

Again!

WHAM!

“Augh!” I screamed as I slammed into the ground. I writhed in pain as my shoulder felt like it might explode. Then the pain in my shoulder disappeared as a new fire screamed through my nervous system. I’d been shot again! Blood poured out of the bit sized hole in my left thigh and I felt agonizingly sick. I tried rolling away, but the ground was already turning to mud as my own blood lubricated the soil beneath me.

“Let me help us, Aria!” the Nightmare shouted. I was serious tempted to take up her offer as the agony wracking my body started making it hard to move or even think. I finally rolled in some random direction just as another bullet buried itself into the ground next to my head.

Over and over I rolled, unable to stop myself. I realized that I was on the incline down the street to the town square. I was tumbling down towards a bomb, my body convulsing and burning each time my leg or shoulder hit the dirt and stone of the broken road, as bullets nearly missed me time after time.

Then I crashed into a low barricade. My body felt like it was going to shatter as I hit the stack of rebar somepony had used to quarantine off the irradiated town square. Shaking and crying as darkness started to creep across my vision, I gasped for breath and tried not to vomit. Lying on my back, one thought crossed my pain addled mind; “Why did the sniper stop shooting?”

“Hold on, Miss Nightmare Knight. I’ll help you,” I heard a female voice call out to me before a pony in a radiation suit galloped over to my side. In the early twilight with my mind and vision fogging over, I couldn’t see her face through the plastic visor, but I was so grateful for her to be here. “Here, drink this.”

I greedily and sloppily drank the purple potion that my suited savior brought to my lips and I quickly felt much better. This potion wasn’t a normal healing potion, I had felt this kind of magic before. When my body had been broken by the brahmintaur’s charge, I remembered the potent Super Restoration Potion Melody had given me mending my wounds in a very similar way to this potion.

I drained the potion and gasped for air before another potion bottle was offered to me.

“Thank you,” I nodded before I started to drink again. The mare turned her head back towards the walls of Gigaton.

“No, thank you for saving our town.”

“Why did the sniper stop shooting? Did they find her?” I asked after downing the second healing potion.

“I do not know. I just know that my brother’s totem has been shielding you from radiation and possibly any more bullets.”

“Your brother?”

“Mmhmm,” she hummed, peaking around the four foot tall pillar of symbols. I recognized them as zebra runes, their brush strokes giving off a faint silvery glow while the carved face at the top seemed to be in an eternal state of mid-sneeze. The girl who was my savior turned back to me and gave me a smile as her face finally came into view behind her visor.

Stripes.

She had stripes. This zebra girl who had to be only a few years younger than me gave me such a friendly and kind look with her striking green eyes, the corner of her eyes covered by her pure white mane. I had been saved by a zebra, but not just any zebra. My life had been saved by Tekash’s little sister.

“You’re a zebra?” I asked stupidly, and she giggled.

“Of course I am. My name’s Kaiari, Miss Nightmare Knight.”

“Please don’t call me that,” I said. She just laughed.

“Then what’s your name and I’ll call you by that name.”

“Aria,” I said as I slowly got up to my hooves.

“Then I am Kaiari, Aria, but I already told you that, didn't I?”

“So what do you think is going on?” I asked, making sure to stay hidden behind the radiation absorbing totem.

“Another sniper in Celestia’s Church,” she said simply.

“Celestia’s Church?”

“Yes. There’s an old church the ponies use to worship Celestia and Nightmare Moon.”

“Princess Luna,” I said flatly, trying to hold back the anger that wanted to drip past my lips.

“Yes, well, every now and then the Royal Flush Raiders use the steeple as a sniper’s nest. It’s tall enough to see into the town with limited cover,” she continued, seeming to ignore my offense.

“What!? Why wouldn’t Iron Will demolish the church? Or at least the steeple?” I asked, appalled that a town that focused so hard on security would allow such a weakness to be exploited over and over again.

“Because ponies are a superstitious and silly lot.”

“A zebra is one to talk,” I scoffed. All she did was smile.

“That may be, but the sheriff wanted the steeple torn down after the last Ace used to it kill Elder Litwick and Paladin Shadowbuck’s father. The ponies of Gigaton wouldn’t allow it.”

“What!?” I screamed. This was unacceptable! I was immediately compelled to action, my horn igniting as I magically summoned my armor and Golden Star’s Aegis to me as I had in Stable Sixty-Three. My helmet didn’t come, indicating that it had probably been washed out to sea and well out of the range of my summoning spell. Kaiari watched me, awed by my display of magical ability.

“Wow.”

“Stay here. I’ll take care of this sniper,” I told her, and she nodded emphatically. Maybe there was something to being a ‘hero.’ Focusing again, I disappeared in a flash of light blue magical energy and appeared back on the balcony next to Howling Buck. Looking down at the pony who had once been my brother’s friend, I felt sorrow and an even stronger determination to get whoever this sniper was. “I’m sorry, Pipsqueak,” I whispered before teleporting again behind the motionless turret pointing towards the church, a bullet whizzing by a split second after I disappeared.

“What the heck’s going on here!? Why aren’t you shooting?” I shouted at the unicorn stallion in the gunner’s seat as I ducked behind the magical energy cannon for protection.

“I can’t!” he shouted back.

“Can’t, or won’t!” I retorted. That really got his goat; no offense to goats intended.

“But it’s Celestia’s Church! If I shoot it then Celestia will damn us all!” he argued. Sweet Celestia surrounded by bananas! Kaiari was right! These ponies were a bunch of superstitious foals.

“Move out of that chair or I’ll throw you out,” I growled. The stallion seemed shaken, but didn’t move.

“I can’t let you do this, miss. I’m not moving.”

“Then I’m moving you!” I shouted, ripping his safety harness free and tossing him to the side as I jumped into the gunner’s seat. I had no idea how to fire this thing, but how hard could it be. Looking at the small, black and white display near the steering stick until I lined up a shot as best I could, I pressed the button on top of the joystick and opened fire.

I missed. The green bolt of energy fired wide and missed the top of the steeple by almost twenty yards. Firing again and again, I unloaded blast after blast on the church, but every shot missed, some whizzing by while most blew large chunks into the walls and roof of the old white church.

“All those shots and I missed! I can barely hit the broadside of a church... Literally!”

SMACK!

I tumbled out of the gunner’s chair as the stallion I had tossed aside up bucked me in the face and out of his seat.

“You bitch! What kind of hero desecrates a temple to the Princesses!” he shouted. I glared up at him, rubbing my jaw. Thank goodness he was a unicorn and not an earth pony or that buck would have hurt a lot more than it did.

“Aunt Celestia wouldn’t have wanted ponies dying to honor her, you moron! She didn’t even like ponies worshipping her like a god!” I shouted back, and he seemed appalled at my statement of an obvious fact.

“You fucking atheists are all alike! Show some fucking respect for the Princesses, you bitch!”

“Look!” another gunner shouted.

Swooping down from the cloud cover, a winged reptile flew down next to the steeple and a pony leapt from her sniper’s perch, taking position on Jack’s back. Grabbing a pair of binoculars off the side of the turret, I looked through them and saw a pink unicorn with a sniper rifle slung over her shoulder, her wicked grin illuminated by an orange glow. She was riding Jack bareback and was laughing as the ghoulified dragon began flapping hard and gaining altitude. Ace had somehow survived her fall from over one thousand feet in the air.

“Shoot them!” I screamed, but the gunners all seemed frozen in fear. I watched as Jack and Ace flew off into the darkness, but it was when my tunnel vision had finally eased that I noticed the flames consuming the roof and steeple of the church. The gunners all watched in horror as orange and yellow fire crawled quickly across the building, consuming the ancient wooden structure as greedily as a starving pony who had found a box of Sugar Apple Bombs. “Oh.”

“You cunt!” the stallion screamed, launching himself at me with his hooves outstretched in an attempt to crush my skull. I rolled away and onto my hooves before grabbing him with my telekinesis. With a flick of head, I tossed him into the air and held him in place, his hooves kicking uselessly above my head.

“Calm down! What the hell’s going on here?” Sheriff Iron Will boomed as he ascended the stairs to the ramparts.

“This bitch shot up Celestia’s Church!” the unicorn stallion screamed.

“Only because you wouldn’t fire on Ace and Jack!”

“We’re not at war with the Royal Flush Raiders!” he shouted back.

“They killed Elder Litwick and Shadow’s dad from that church, they tried to kill me, and now they just killed Howling Buck, you insufferable ignoramus!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, drawing gasps from the crowd already gathered in the streets below us. The look on the idiot in wrapped up in my magic would have been priceless if the price hadn’t already been Pipsqueak’s life.

“What!?” Iron Will and Steel Bill roared, both head’s eyes turning a dark red. The brahmintaur lawman stomped over to the stallion floating over my head and looked him dead in the eyes. “You had a shot on Jack and Ace while they were firing on guests and citizens of my town and you didn’t blast their asses into next week!?”

“I-I might have hit the church and... and anyway, we’re not at war with them, the Steel Rangers and this bitch are.”

“Call me a bitch one more time!” I screamed, drawing gleeful giggling from the Nightmare.

“Oh! You said a naughty word! I’m going to tell grandmother on you.”

“We are now! I didn’t want to drag Gigaton into any more fighting, but the Royal Flush has gone too far! Shoot any Flushers on sight, you got it?” Iron Will ordered. Most of the gunners along the wall nodded in agreement. All except the one floating just in line to be gored by the angry two-headed bull creature. “You got a problem with that, bucko?”

“Yeah. I didn’t sign up to fight other ponies and I especially didn’t sign up to protect this ‘Nightmare Knight’ bitch,” ‘Bucko’ spat.

“That’s it!” I shouted, before tossing him down into a rain barrel on the streets. The stallion plummeted into the barrel with a mighty splash and immediately came up sputtering. “I told you not to call me that again!”

“But, Sheriff, what about the church? We’ve got to put out the fire!” an earth pony mare shouted from the crowd below. Will sighed and slumped his shoulders, but it was Bill that spoke up.

“Yes, well, do try to save the church, but if we do, we have to take down the Steeple. Howling Buck was not a part of the Steel Rangers, but the Royal Flush killed him anyways. This is an act of war against our fair town and we must protect ourselves. Do you understand?”

“And what about the bitch who burned it down?” another stallion shouted, and my anti-stallion glare returned.

“The Nightmare Knight was protecting herself and this town, ya bunch of ingrates! If we hear you idiots call her a bitch one more time, we’re throwing ya in the pokey for a night. Got it?” Iron Will declared, getting quite a few angry grumbles from the crowd below and some nervous looks from the Brotherhood of Steel and my friends standing near Moorheart’s Tavern’s entrance.

“Thank you,” I said calmly to Iron Will before teleporting down to my friends. However, this display of magic seemed to draw many angry eyes my direction as the citizens of Gigaton who hadn’t left to fight the fire watched me with contempt.

“Aria, are you alright? We heard you were shot,” Compass asked, poking and prodding me to give me a quick examination through my armor. “You didn’t magically learn medical spells, did you?”

“That would be the way to learn magic, wouldn’t it?” Check joked. “Watch out, Compass. Aria might put you out of a job.”

“He’d never be out of a job with me!” Melody said confidently, hugging her coltfriend close.

“No, I still don’t know any medical spells. Tekash’s sister, Kaiari, saved me,” I said, a tinge of regret on my voice. She seemed a nice girl, but why did I have to be saved by a stupid zebra, much less Tekash’s sister.

“That Kaiari’s a good kid,” Shadowbuck said. He stepped closer to me and smiled. “I’m glad you’re okay, Aria.”

“Thanks, Shadow. I just wish Howling Buck didn’t have to die because of me,” I said, my gaze dropping to the ground. There at my hooves was a note marked lighter, half sunken in the mud and barely noticeable. I quickly scooped it up with my magic and looked at it. “This is the only reason I’m still alive and he’s dead.”

“Then you should keep it,” Shadowbuck said while lifting my chin with a hoof.

“Oh, we better give them some room guys,” Backdraft said before ushering the others away to leave us standing in the doorway. Melody and Check smiled at me while the Brotherhood of Steel grinned at Shadowbuck. As I looked into Shadow’s steel gray eyes, it was as if we were the only ones standing outside Moorheart’s Tavern.

His smile made me feel warm inside instead of hating him, and I couldn’t feel the glares or hear the muttering of the townsfolk dispersing around us. It was just the two of us in this crazy world where getting shot and almost killed was an everyday occurrence.

“Aria,” he whispered.

“Yes?” I asked as his face drew closer to mine.

“I just wanted to say th-”

“Paladin Shadowbuck!” Knight Crumpets shouted, snapping us both out of the kiss that even I knew was coming. Turning towards her, the Knight was clad yet again in her full Steel Ranger armor with her shotguns mounted and ready at her sides.

“What is it, Knight Crumpets? Can’t you see we’re busy here!” Shadow snapped at his younger cousin.

“Elder Cherry Scones has ordered us to move out immediately. The memorial service is over and if she’s not welcome in Gigaton, then no one else in the Steel Rangers should be either. We’re leaving for Big Buck right now,” she ordered.

“But-”

“Mother, I mean, Elder Cherry Scones said for me to tell every member that if they are not at the docks in ten minutes, then they would get latrine duty for a week, regardless of rank or station. It has been six minutes already,” she said before turning to leave.

“Great...” I mumbled, realizing that Cherry Scones had just kiss blocked me through her daughter. I turned my attention back to Shadowbuck just in time to receive a quick peck on the cheek.

“Stay safe, Aria. You have a lot of ponies that care about you,” he said with a small crook of the left side of his mouth that was just the perfect little grin.

“Including you?” I asked, still feeling the tingle of his lips on my cheek.

“What do you think?” he asked while trotting backwards to follow Crumpets. “We’ll see each other again, Nightmare Knight Aria. We can start off where we left off then.”

“I’ll hold you to that, Paladin Shadowbuck!” I shouted back, a goofy smile spreading across my face as I waved back at him until he turned the corner and was out of sight. I touched my cheek and I couldn’t stop grinning.

“Just let him plow us and get it over with already!”

“Shut up,” I whispered, and began my gleeful trot back to my new home in Gigaton.

Sleep didn’t come very easy. Actually, it was more of a nap since I woke up two hours later covered in sweat and panting from a nightmare I couldn’t remember. I had the strangest feeling it had something to do with breaking bones and death, but it had vanished from my mind the moment I opened my eyes. Sighing, I pulled out Star Swirl’s Journal and tried my usual remedy for insomnia, trying to decipher the last page of the book.

It was a single, incomplete spell that made absolutely no sense. It didn’t rhyme and had absolutely no reason, but it still fascinated me to no end. What kind of spell was Star Swirl the Bearded trying to create? What was it meant to do? And why didn’t Star Swirl even try to make it rhyme since rhyming was usually the cornerstone of a spell’s framework until it was mastered and only required thought?

Like always, no magical insight came me and I just stared at the two lines of arcane text for over an hour. I was tempted to recite the spell outloud to see what would happen, but even as a filly I knew that would be dangerous and a very stupid idea. What self respecting unicorn would recite an unknown, incomplete spell out loud? I mean, really?

Sighing, I realized that my usual sleep aid was working about as well as a cup of coffee. My mind was racing faster and faster and I was more wound up then when I had awoken from the haze of my lost nightmare. Speaking of nightmares, at least she was quiet for now. Will small wonders never cease?

Glancing at Toffee Biscuit’s Pipbuck, I decided to slip it on and confirmed that I had only been asleep for a grand total of two hours and twelve minutes.

“I’ve met the god of dreams and yet I cannot sleep. There's some serious irony to that,” I mumbled before queuing up Golden Star’s journal. “Maybe some reading will let me get back to sleep.”

Most of the following entries in Golden Star’s journal discussed day to day things or would say ‘Nothing happened today.’ Every detail of dates with Page Turner brought a smile to my face while every entry about sharing a beer or going to a hoofball match with Pipsqueak and Da Capo wiped it away.

Toffee Biscuits. Brass Bugle. Pipsqueak.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered before closing the ‘Notes’ section. Everywhere I turned seemed to be another reminder of my failures. If I hadn’t been blow up and thrown into the future, I doubt I could have stopped the destruction that ponies and zebra wrought upon the world, but I still felt responsible somehow.

Golden Star, Grandmother, Aunt Luna. Everypony was gone. Now they were all just memories that only I carried in my heart, but there was no one to share them with. The one pony I had met who knew Golden Star was taken from me by a sniper’s bullet meant to end my life, not his. Now, he too was just a memory..

“Memories,” I said under my breath as I started digging through my saddlebags in search of the memory orb we had found in Starshine’s safe. Memory orbs put a pony into a sort of sleep state and they were very similar to dreams. If I couldn’t sleep, maybe the next best thing would do.

Before I found the memory orb, I blanched at the sight of the Ripper in my bag. Even in its holster I could still see the brahminatuar’s blood caked on the handle. Shuddering, I opened the desk next to my bed and tossed the brutal weapon in before slamming the drawer shut. It was an effective weapon, but my skin crawled at the thought of being covered in blood and gore again. If I needed to cut something, I’d use the Sword of Everfree. It was a more elegant weapon from a much more elegant age after all.

“There you are,” I whispered as I lifted the orb out of my saddlebag. A unicorn had to be careful when levitating a memory orb with their magic as not to accidentally make a connection when they weren’t ready. It wasn’t hard, it just took knowledge and finesse. Only a complete magical ameteur would connect to a memory orb just by lifting it.

“Let’s see what Golden Star’s father was hiding,” I said to myself.

“And maybe our father,” the Nightmare replied as I made my connection and the world around me was replaced by the world I had once known.

I was back in Starshine’s office, standing in the corner next to the window. There were many hints that something was very different about this memory. While I appreciated the sunlight coming through the glass and the attention my host was paying to the portrait of my brother’s family on the wall, (My word, my mother was beautiful) I noticed that this pony was a mare, she was wearing sunglasses indoors, she was exceptionally tall, and Starshine did not seem to pay her any mind.

My brother’s father was sitting at his desk, furiously typing something out, an urgent memo I’m guessing, before sending it and jumping to his hooves.

“Damn them! Pinkie Pie’s gestapo is ruining everything! They weren’t supposed to act until tomorrow!” he growled before rushing out the door. The mare I was inhabiting just shook her head and sighed until the sound of movement above her drew her attention.

A tile in the ceiling above Starshine’s desk opened up and an orange stallion in a black suit and tie slowly descended towards the terminal below.

“Alright, Pony Joe, you can do this. Pinkie Pie believes you’re an awesome super spy and it’s time to prove her right and get paid,” he muttered to himself as he lowered himself inch by inch. “Once I get her the proof that Four Stars is working with the zebras, I’ll have enough money to stop my stores from going und- Woah!”

Suddenly, the sound of sirens ripped through the air, blanketing Trottingham in a horrible wail that I knew meant the bombs were coming. Pony Joe (The donut and coffee shop guy?) let out a surprised yelp, losing his grip on the rope, and fell, cracking the back of his head on the edge of the desk.

As my host watched Pony Joe bleed out on the hardwood floor, not even attempting to help the injured stallion, I was shocked to see Pony Joe standing over Pony Joe.

“What? What happened?” Pony Joe asked as he looked down at his own body. “What’s going on?”

“I’m sorry,” a calm, rather cute voice apologized. Pony Joe looked up and his eyes almost bulged right out of his skull.

“Who... No. I can’t...” he tried to argue, but the words weren’t coming out right. My host sighed again as the sirens continued to roar in the background.

“I’m sorry, I really am, but I need to usher you to the other side within the next hour. I’m going to be very busy for a very long time,” she replied, spreading her wings and igniting her horn, and the memory faded away as a pegasus mare opened the door to the office and gasped at the sight of Pony Joe’s corpse.

“What?” I asked, staring at the bed where the memory orb had been resting when I went into it, but it was gone when I had awoken. Memory orbs don’t just disappear, especially when somepony was connected with them. Also, what kind of memory orb was that? It was so short and just showed a pony dying. Why would a memory orb like that be in Starshine’s safe? And how did it even get in his safe if the bombs were dropping right after the memory was taken? “What?”

“Miss Aria!” Check said as she rushed into my room clad in leather armor and carrying her saddlebags on her back. I started, surprised by her sudden intrusion, and almost fell out of my bed.

“Check? What’s are you doing here?” I asked, gripping the mattress and pulling myself back onto the bed.

“Oh! I’m not Check. It’s me, Psyche!” Check said, bouncing around excitedly.

“What?” I asked for the third time.

“I’m the Mistress of the Mind. I just possessed Check’s body so I could come talk to you!” she giggled. “Don’t worry, it’s not hurting her and I don’t do it that often, but it’s important that I talk to you.”

“Then why didn’t you just pull me into Void Between Worlds like before?”

“Oh... Oh yeah! Dad said I had to get Check ready and over to you before it was too late.” She then started dancing in place. “I forgot how good a body feels, although her butt’s a little itchy,” Psyche remarked, wiggling her flanks at me until a concerned look crossed her face. “Oh. Those are some bad memories. I’m really sorry, Miss Check.”

“What are you talking about? You have a body. I saw it in the Void. It was odd, but you caught me,” I said. Psyche just giggled again.

“No silly. That was my astral form. I can only touch anypony if I’m possessing somepony or we’re in the Void Between Worlds. It’s magical that way,” Psyche explained before jumping onto the bed next to me. “Can I get a hug, Miss Aria?”

“Um, sure,” I said, taking Psyche/Check into my arms as she nuzzled my chest affectionately. Not romantically, but more like a child hugging their mother... Or grandmother in my instance.

“You miss hugs most of all,” she whispered somberly. I began to feel my chest getting damp and could feel Psyche shuttering as tears began to stream out of Check’s eyes. “I missed this so much, Miss Aria.”

“Hugs do feel good,” I said simply. reflexively stroking her mane. I barely knew this pony, but my heart really went out to her. “Why don’t you have a body, Psyche?”

“Because...”

“Because why?”

“Because... because when dad, and Aunt Wi-Er-Death, and I and the others got hit with the big blue light and fell back in time, I lost my body. The blue tunnel tore me apart. It hurt so bad,” she sobbed, recalling memories that I wish I hadn’t dug up. “I’m more like a ghostie than a pony... Like mommy.”

“What happened to your mother?” I asked, compelled to ask even though it probably would cause more her more anguish. “I’m sorry. You don’t have to answer.”

“No. It’s alright. Before the blue light, mommy was attacked by some bad dogs and she didn’t make it. She died, Miss Aria.” She stopped, consumed by sobs, and for an indeterminate amount of time she just sobbed into my chest. I stroked her mane, which was actually Check’s hair, and rocked her back and forth.

There was something about holding the goddess in the body of my friend that made a maternal switch go off inside me. Maybe it was because she too had fallen through time and lost everything. Or maybe it was because she lost her mother just like me even though Psyche had known her mother while I hadn’t. My heart ached for the girl possessing my friend’s body and using her eyes to shed the tears that she herself could not.

“Psyche.”

“Mmhmm?”

“How old were you when you fell through the blue tunnel?” I asked.

“Eight,” she sniffed.

“And how long has it been since you fell out of the tunnel?”

“Two thousand, four hundred, and three years, I think,” she answered.

Two thousand years and she still acted like a child. But how could I blame her? Psyche had lost everything, including her body. Anypony would want to stay carefree and innocent if they could. After two thousand years, Psyche, the goddess who had the power to know all when it came to the minds of all living things, was still just a child at heart. She had millennia of knowledge and power, but that one traumatic event left her raw, immature, and an even bigger mess than me. “My grandma used to hold me like this. When dad was away after mom died, grandma was there for me.”

“Really? My grandmother held me like this when I was a foal.”

“Uh huh. She was a teacher. She ran the big school near the valley and my mom was one of her students. That’s how dad met her. Grandma said that dad fell in love with my mom the moment he saw her, but he was too afraid to do anything except introduce himself. Took him forever and a day to ask her out. Grandma said he took way too much after her,” she said, a smile growing slowly across Check’s face as the tears began to dry.

“Your grandmother sounds like a good mare,” I told her. I gave her one more squeeze before she giggled and sat up again.

“Oh! I’ve gotta tell you what Death and dad told me to tell you!” Psyche said excitedly.

“And what’s that?”

“That a bunch of ponies are mad at you for burning down that church and they’re coming to get you. You and your friends should run to Stableton. You’ll be safe there.”

“A mob of angry ponies is coming?” I asked, feeling my blood run cold at the thought of what a bunch of ponies whipped up into a religious fervor would do to Melody, Compass, and me.

“Yup! That’s why I packed all Check’s stuff, came over here, and sent Melody and Compass to get supplies at the store and meet us at the gate,” she explained, jumping back to her hooves and prancing in place. “We gotta hurry. They’re saying some real nasty things about you at the tavern.”

“Right.”

I nodded and quickly donned my armor, shield, and sword before shrugging my saddlebags onto my back. I had been planning on leaving my books and strawberry preserves behind, but I had a sinking feeling that an angry mob might just burn down the house to get their revenge.

“Ready.”

“Kay. I’ll just jump over to Brownstone and see how Melody and Compass are doing.”

“Wait! Can you just possess anypony you want?” I asked, feeling a little unnerved by the ease Psyche was invading ponies’ minds.

“Pretty much. I can’t possess you or anyone else like us,” she explained.

“Like us?”

“Yeah, time travellers. The one’s who stay in the time they arrived in instead of being ported back a minute later, that is. That old grump, Star Swirl, only figured out how to make temporary trips and you couldn’t change anything,” she pouted.

“Is there any way to stop a pony from taking over another pony’s mind?” I asked, hoping that there was since the idea of being possessed really creeped me out.

“Of course, silly. You just picture something or someone really important to you and never stop thinking about them. The stronger the emotional tie, the harder it is to break down those barriers,” Psyche explained. I nodded.

“That’s good to know. Thanks for telling me, Psyche,” I replied. Psyche smiled at me brightly.

“No problemo, Miss Aria! You’re important to all of us.”

“Thank you, Psyche,” I said, pausing before adding. “You’re a good friend.”

“I-I’m your friend?” she asked, dumbstruck by my simple admission of friendship.

“Of course. You seem to be honestly trying to help me and I appreciated it,” I said with a smile that Psyche mimicked.

“You’re my friend too, Miss Aria!” she cried happily, taking me into another hug that I returned.

“I guess you better go check on Melody and Compass,” I said softly, and I felt her nod.

“Yeah.” She paused. “Miss Aria?”

“Yes?”

“Cherry Blossom.”

“Huh?”

“Cherry Blossom. It’s my real name,” she whispered.

“Your name isn’t Psyche?”

“Of course not, silly. Did you think that Death’s name was really Death? We took new names when the zebras started calling us gods and junk. Dad says names have power to them,” she told me after breaking the hug. “But I trust you, so take good care of my name. You should protect your name too. Titles like Nightmare Knight or Headmistress are good to have. Not everypony should know who you really are.” She then leaned in close and whispered in my ear, “There are some bad ponies out there.”

“I’ve noticed. Thank you, Cherry Blossom.”

“Shh! You never know who’s listening,” Psyche said with a hoofed pressed to Check’s lips. “Check’s a good pony though, a real good luck charm. She’s just been through a lot, okay? When you get the time, ask her about Fillydelphia and Kena. Anyway, good luck, Miss Aria. We’re all counting on you!”

“Bye, Psyche,” I replied. She blinked up at me.

“Psyche? Who’s Psyche? Why am I here and not at my new house?” Check asked, her face twisted in confusion. “And why do I feel like I’ve been crying? Celestia damn it, I had such a weird ass dream. Did I sleep walk?”

“It’s a long story. You might not believe it, but I’ll tell you on the way. Right now we’ve got to go.”

“The mob?” she asked as she followed me out of my room and towards the door.

“Yeah. How’d you know?”

“I remember something from my dream about a mob and cherries. And... like somepony else was just here,” Check stopped as I opened the front door and shouts could be heard in the distance. “That wasn’t a dream, was it?”

“Nope.”

“Is this normal for you?” she asked, and I smiled.

“Welcome to Crazy Town. Population? Me.”

“So you’re telling me that you’re from the past,” Check asked for the fifth time in the past five minutes.

“Yes. I was born before the war and got blown up and thrown into the future, or, er, present, I guess,” I replied as we approached the main gate. “Now let’s be quiet. We don’t know if the guards are on the mob’s side or ours, okay?”

“And there are these gods that are visiting you and possessing your friends to talk to you?” she asked.

“Yes. No. Yes,” I said before letting out an exasperated sigh. “The possession thing is new for Psyche. Usually they just harass me in my dreams. I’m sorry they brought you into this, Check,” I replied. I was honestly feeling guilty about Psyche taking Check’s body out for a test drive, but it couldn’t be helped. “These Eternals seem to have some plan for me or something.”

“Do Melody, Compass, and Shadowbuck know about these Eternal ponies?”

“No. I thought I was just going nuts and didn’t want to worry anypony, but now that you’ve seen them, I’m not so sure,” I said, feeling a little relieved.

“Yeah, well, your nuts seem to be contagious, Fire Flanks,” she said before chuckling to herself. “Wow! That didn’t sound wrong!”

“Hey!” Melody shouted as she zipped down the streets towards us, Compass hot on her heels. “You were right, Check. Brownstone was a little confused, but she helped stock us up as best she could.”

“We’ve got some food and ammo, but we’re pretty light on potions, bandages, and radiation medicine,” Compass said before turning back towards the town square and the rest of Gigaton. The chanting noises and orange glow of torches could be seen marching through the streets as the mob moved closer and closer to my new home.

“North to Stableton. We’ll be safer there for the time being, and we can check with Stable Sixty-One to see if they have something that can fix Stable Sixty-Three’s door,” I explained.

“Sounds like a plan,” Check said with a mischievous grin.

“What are you smiling about?” Melody asked.

“Stableton is a practical sin city. Gambling, sex, and booze. This oughta be fun!”

“Really?” Melody asked while Compass swallowed nervously behind her.

“Are we ready to go? The sun should be rising any moment,” a stallion asked in a thick Cockneigh accent, emerging from the shadow of the wall.

A tall unicorn covered from head to hoof in a black cloak, the hood drawn up to his horn, walked up to us with a limping gait. As he approached, his amber eyes watched us appraisingly. His horn and the fur around his eyes told me he had a golden coat, but I couldn’t make out any other details about this mysterious unicorn.

“Who are you?” I asked, my horn vibrating with my suspicious need to draw my shield and sword.

“This is Light Change. Brownstone asked us to escort him to Stableton in exchange for some supplies. He’s a merchant,” Compass explained.

“Right,” Light Change said with a small nod. “And business is good for a travelling merchant in Trottingham right now.”

“An escort?” Check asked, giving me a nervous look. “You’re not gonna cap us in the back for that reward, are ya?”

“And leave myself without guards? I’m a merchant, girlie, not a fighter. I paid for those potions and ammo so I’d be losing money in the exchange if I killed ya,” he said, waving a hoof dismissively. “I don’t even have a gun that I ain’t selling, and those ain’t loaded.”

“You didn’t mention the Royal Flush’s reward,” I said, narrowing my eyes and trying to sell him my best glare, but the clandestine salespony wasn’t buying it.

“Don’t do business with the Flushers. Killing in self defense I’m okay with, but killing just to kill or steal, that rubs me the wrong way, Miss Nighty Knight,” he said with a chuckle.

“I think we should trust him. Brownstone said he was a good guy and I trust her,” Melody giggled. “Plus, Nighty Knight is kind of funny.”

“Fine,” I sighed. “We leave at daybreak.” I looked back to the light of the torches weaving their way through the streets below. I could hear Iron Will and Steel Bill shouting in the distance; hopefully this was a good sign that perhaps the rule of law would be able to temper the flames of hatred boiling the blood of the citizens of Gigaton.

“Would you look at that. Daybreak,” Light Change said sarcastically. Turning to the east, I could see the sky brightening as rays of sunshine began to peek over the horizon. As the sun started to rise, I could already hear the steady blasts from the energy turrets start to lessen and see the voidowls flee for their daytime roosts. I turned back to the gate just as the guards on the walls began to open it.

“Thank goodness they’re not with the guards near the church,” I thought, giving the guards a nod as I led the way out of Gigaton. As we exited the gates, I could hear the telltale bellow of Iron Will followed by silence from the chanting and shouting mob. I guess even an angry mob knew one simple truth.

Unless you’ve got a lot of firepower, a Ripper, and a little luck, you should probably let the brahmintaur win.

“So then I said to ole Ditsy, ‘I know ya can’t talk no more, but I know you know what went wrong!’” Light Change laughed as we approached the Four Star station near Stableton. He had just capped off his fourteenth story about his many travels as a trader with his own uproarious laughter. None of us found it all that amusing. “Oh, come on! That’s comedy gold! Ya had to be there, I guess.”

The merchant had been quite right in his assessment that the Union Jack line would be the safest route for us to take during the day. With the exception of having to sneak past another manticore on the streets below and having to squash a few radroaches here and there, the four and a half hour walk down the raised train tracks was actually pretty nice.

“She was different. Chose the lovely every time,” Melody sang to herself as she balanced on the third rail again. Check gave an impressed whistle.

“Damn, Melody! You’ve got an amazing voice! Maybe the next time Mando plays that, ya should sing the mare part instead of me,” Check said with an encouraging grin.

“Thank you. I mean, no thank you. I don’t want to step on your hooves. It’s just a really pretty song. You sang very well yourself,” Melody said bashfully.

“I think you should give it a try,” Compass said meekly, looking up at Melody through his orange bangs.

“Really? What do you think, Aria?”

“If you want to, go for it. I think you have a lovely singing voice. It got me out of that museum in Stable Sixty-Three,” I replied. Check crooked an eyebrow at me while Light Change just stared at me. “Long story.”

“Well, if you’re not going to laugh at my long story, then I’m not going to care about your long story,” Light Change said dismissively. Check chuckled and pointed a hoof over her shoulder at our new ‘companion.’

“I like this guy. He’s a funny old stick in the mud.”

“I am not an old stick in the mud,” Light Change grumbled. For the next five hundred yards to the station, we walked in near silence, the occasional grumble from Light Change or humming from Melody being the only break in the serenity of the peaceful Trottingham morning. That is, until we stepped off the tracks and into the Four Star station.

“Halt! In the name of Queen Cadence, present your rail passes!” a forest green earth pony stallion shouted before leveling an energy lance in my face, its bright green energy crackling only inches from my muzzle. He was wearing the regalia of the Queen’s Court, but was not wearing a bomb collar like the slaves, er, indentured servants.

“What in the hoof?” I asked, stepping back and drawing my shield.

“Woah! Aria! It’s alright! We just gotta pay the toll or show off our passes,” Check said, wrapping her hooves around my neck and pulling out a golden card with Queen Cadence’s image printed on it. “See. I got a pass,”

“We have to pay to walk the rails? We didn’t have to pay anything to get to Gigaton,” Melody asked, looking just as confused as I was angry.

“Get that lance out of my face!” I growled, feeling the Nightmare practically vibrating with glee in the back of my mind.

“Not until you pay up, madam. The Queen’s Court has control over all railways in Trottingham North and East of Gigaton,” the other guard, a mare with short green hair and red coat, declared as she flourished a sword she somehow held around her right hoof.

“Maybe we should just pay them?” Compass asked, looking at the lance nervously. “Energy weapons are a lot harder to heal and we are short on medical supplies.”

I just narrowed my eyes at the guards as I started to reach for my Pipbuck so I could get the caps.

“Do we get a princess discount?” Melody asked, and inspiration shot through my brain like lightning.

“Huh?” the mare asked, lowering her sword ever so slightly.

“That’s right. Melody and I are descendants of Princess Elegant Star of Canterlot. We are the queen’s cousins. She even invited us to her big ball at the end of the week,” I said, stepping forward and batting aside the energy lance with Golden Star’s Aegis.

“Yeah right,” the stallion said dismissively around his lance.

“You don’t believe me?” I asked, chuckling as I stepped up to him. For some strange reason, I felt powerful. I had never had a position of authority before, but now that I did, flaunting it sent a chill down my spine. “The Queen was just in Gigaton while we defused the bomb. I’m pretty sure Cadence wouldn’t want to hear that you charged her family and friends for passage.”

“How do I know you’re even telling the truth. Who are you anyway?” he asked, the lance starting to tremble in his teeth. I smiled, the corner of my mouth curling up and showing him my fang.

“Maybe we should show him who we really are?” the Nightmare giggled as I felt her tendrils of power start to snake across my mind.

“Aria?” Check asked as I came face to face with the nervous stallion who had completely forgotten about the weapon in his mouth.

“Who? Me?” I asked, feeling strength start to flow behind my words. For a brief moment, my vision turned green again and I could feel the Nightmare trying to take control, but I wouldn’t let her. Lording over this Queen’s Court guard gave me quite the thrill and I didn’t want her ruining it. “I’m the Nightmare Knight. Who are you?”

“Ni-Nightmare Knight!” the guard stammered as his viridian coat somehow got much more pale. He was afraid of me? This was exhilarating!

“You’re the Nightmare Knight?” the mare asked, lowering her sword as I turned my gaze on her. For once, my glare seemed to work on somepony of the same gender as she immediately sheathed her weapon and looked away. “Well, um, I guess the Queen would want you to have passes. I’ll get you each a month’s pass. Queen Cadence can set something else up for you at the party.”

“That would be great,” I practically purred as I watched her scamper off into an old ticket booth.

“Aria,” Melody said as she put a hoof on my shoulder.

“Yes?” I asked with a grin until I saw the concern and fear in her bright blue eyes. Golden Star’s eyes. It was as if an inky film had been lifted from my mind and I blinked repeatedly to try to push it farther away from me.
“Are you alright?”

“Yeah... yeah...” I muttered, trying to get my bearings.

“Don’t be such a tight ass, Aria. We work really well together,” the Nightmare complained. I shook my head, trying to shake her loose, but I could still feel her back there, waiting to wrap her hooves around me again. To let me feel the touch of the power she offered. All that strength, all that power. It...

“Are you sure? You look a little pale,” Check asked, stepping forward to put his hoof on my forehead.

“I’m okay,” I said curtly, shrugging off his hoof and staring at the stallion for a moment. “I’m just tired.”

“Right.” Check added, a bite of sarcasm and disbelief evident in her voice. Light Change just stood in the doorway silently, his amber eyes watching me with a strange intensity.

“Look, how about we just drop it, okay?” I said.

“You’re not having a nightmare, are you?” Melody whispered.

“I’m okay.”

“Alright. Just remember to stay calm,” she added before turning back to Compass. Meanwhile, the mare was returning with a set of golden cards to match Check’s.

“Here you go, princess. One for you and your consort,” she said nervously as she handed them each a card. Check snickered and Compass’ eyes widened as a dark blush crossed his face.

“He’s my coltfriend,” Melody said simply, but the mare’s eyes widened to match Compass’ in size, took one glance at me, and dropped to her knees before Melody.

“Please forgive me, your highness! Don’t send me to the cells! Please!” she cried, taking everypony in the room by surprise. Actually, the stallion seemed unfazed by the sudden outburst.

“Um, it’s not a big deal,” Compass said. For someone who blushed at the drop of a hat, he was really calm about being called a consort.

“No! I have defamed your loved one, princess! Please forgive me! Don’t send me to be whipped!” she cried, falling to her knees.

“Whipped?” I asked, feeling my nose twitch as an anger grew within me again.

“You’re forgiven! You’re forgiven!” Melody shouted, trying to calm down the hysterical mare.

“Thank you, princess. You’re such a kind princess. Such a wonderful, beautiful princess,” she grovelled, lunging forward and trying to kiss Melody’s hooves.

“Eep!” Melody squeaked, jumping into the air and fluttering above the grateful earth pony.

“Hey! How about we cut this junk out and get moving? Time is money for me, after all?” Light Change shouted, finally snapping the Queen’s Court ponies out of their extreme states of mind.

“Right!” the stallion said, finally waking from his silent stupor.

“Yes,” the mare sniffed, wiping her eyes. “Here you are,” she added, hoofing over a pass to Light Change and myself, although she was bowing extra low for me. “I’m sorry, Princess Nightmare Knight.”

“Uh, thank you. You’re... forgiven,” I said, feeling horrible as I walked past her. I was beginning to think Shadowbuck might be right about the Queen’s Court’s practices. A former indentured servant does not act like that, but a slave sure would.

This really did not bode well for my cousin when next we met.

“A free one month rail pass? It’s the beginning of the month too. I can sell this at a discount and make a pretty cap, Nighty,” Light Change told me as we entered the outer limits of Stableton, well out of earshot from the Queen’s Court ponies.

The town of Stableton was the polar opposite of Gigaton. While there was a wall around Stableton, it was only a few feet higher than a normal pony and lacked any form of rampart for a guard patrol to walk. It was also longer than Gigaton’s wall since the town stretched out almost fifteen city blocks and was threatening to consumed the Five Star station we had just left.

“That wall’s not very big,” Melody said, pretty much reading my mind.

“And I don’t see any turrets,” Compass added.

“That’s cause Stableton doesn’t need them. Voidowls are a southern and eastern Trottingham problem, they leave meat out to keep the manticores happy, they give booze to the semi sane brahminatuar to get the beasties to leave them alone, and bloodwings don’t like the light the town’s always giving off. They mostly have to worry about mirelurks from the river and they have Stable Sixty-One’s arc cutters to handle those bad boys,” Light Change explained.

“Arc cutters?” I asked.

“Yeah. Their these weird magical welding torches, but they can cut through anything,” Check said, slicing the air with her hoof. “And I mean anything! That’s how they cut the door off their stable and put it on display at the town square.”

“They cut off their stable’s door? Why would they do that?” Melody asked, looking quite shocked while Compass looked almost appalled. Check simply shrugged.

“Cause they’re an all or nothing kind of folk. Comes with generations of gambling everything away and then working their way back up the ranks. If they were leaving the Stable, they might as well have made it impossible for them to go back.”

“You sure do have a lot of stories for a buck that doesn’t look that old,” Check said suspiciously.

“Who said I wasn’t that old?”

“You move around too well to be an old fogie and you sure don’t smell like a ghoul, that’s for sure,” Check surmised.

“This is the wasteland, hun. You can be born yesterday and see a whole lot of shit,” Light Change said curtly. Check blinked.

“You got me there,” she said, dropping the entire subject.

“Aria, are you sure you’re okay?” Melody asked me, having noticed how quiet I had been.

“Yeah. Just thinking,” I replied. I wasn’t lying, it was just more of a half truth.

The Nightmare was constantly whispering now, no longer content with just an occasional quip or jab. That moment where she had almost taken control of me seemed to have emboldened her. It was taking most of my concentration and willpower just to keep her at bay.

“Come on now, Aria. We work well together. We belong together. Why do you keep pushing us apart?” the Nightmare purred in the back of my mind.

“Because I’m not you! You’re not me! I don’t want what you’re offering!” I screamed at her mentally.

“What is it ponies always say about a river in the zebra lands?” she mocked.

“Shut up!” I thought back, focusing hard on Golden Star. I remembered what Psyche had said about defending against mental attacks and prayed this would work. My love and memories of my brother would have to be my mind’s shield just as Golden Star’s Aegis protected my body. As an image of my brother, standing tall and strong in my defense, formed in my mind, I could feel the Nightmare inching away from him as if she were ashamed. It was like in my dream; she didn’t want Golden Star, even an imaginary one, to see her. I was starting to win, feeling her influence ebb as she shrunk back into the recesses of my mind, until something else spoke up.

“Mama? Where are you? Mama! It burns! Everything burns!” the colt screamed in my mind, shattering my defenses as if I had been staked in the back of the skull and causing me to stumble.

“What the fuck was that?” the Nightmare shouted as I clenched my eyes shut, trying to rebuild Golden Star. But as quickly as the child’s agony had entered my mind, it had vanished.

“Aria! You’re not okay. What’s the matter?” Melody asked as she tried to hold me up. My legs felt weak and my head had already started to throb.

“I’m okay. I’m just tired, that’s all. Maybe just a mild migraine,” I lied, trying to put on my most reassuring smile.

“I have some aspirin and some water, if that will help. Maybe some of food will help you too,” Compass said as he started pulling bottles of water and pills out of his medical bag.

“Thank you,” I said appreciatively. I took the water and aspirin from Compass and gulped them both down.

“Does she get like this often?” Light Change asked, cocking an eyebrow that was lost underneath the shadow of his hood.

“She almost drowned yesterday! Cut her some slack!” Melody snapped.

“Easy now, Feathers. I gotcha. Sorry ‘bout that,” he apologized.

“I’ll be okay. Let’s just finish this escort and get to looking for something for Stable Sixty-Three. Maybe these arc cutters can act as welders too?” I said, taking a deep breath and pushing away from Melody.

“Are ya sure?” Check asked, putting a worried hoof on my shoulder.

“I’m fine!” I shouted, pulling away from her.

“Just tell us if your headaches get worse. There could be complications due to lack of oxygen to your brain when you almost drowned, Aria,” Compass instructed.

“Sure thing, Compass.”

As we passed through the open gates to Stableton, I could already see why Check called this place a sin city. Beer bottles, cigarette butts, and even ponies littered the gutters of the little town. I couldn’t cast my eye anywhere without seeing the refuse of last night’s debauchery. I also couldn’t help but notice that almost every house, building, and business was closed even though it was almost eleven in the morning. Besides the ponies passed out in the street and the guards angrily patrolling near the wall, I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of another sober soul.

“What happened here?” I asked.

“Tuesday night? Somepony probably had a birthday or something. Wait until you see this place on a weekend or holiday! These ponies almost burn the town down every Hearts and Hooves Day,” Check said, getting slightly appalled looks from the stable ponies and myself.

“Good thing I stocked up on water before leaving. I can flip it and double my profit on all the cotton mouthed ponies here,” Light Change remarked. His amber gaze regarded each unconscious stallion or mare as a potential cash cow instead of a pony with a problem.

“This place is horrible,” I remarked, getting a snort out of Check.

“You sound like an old grandma, Fire Flanks. You really are old timey.”

“Well folks, this is where I bid you all a fond farewell. Take care of yourselves and don’t use up all those supplies I bought ya in one place. Or do if it’ll save your asses,” Light Change said before giving us a nod and barging into a shop. “Hey Carousel, I’m back! Get the tea brewing!”

“That was some thank you,” I grumbled.

“He paid for our services by paying off our bill at Brownstone’s,” Melody said, placing a wing comfortingly around my shoulder. Even though I didn’t want to be touched, something about the gesture still felt good to me. Hugs really were magical. “If he hadn’t stepped up and offered to pay in return for an escort, I would have had to sell off the Enclave armor I’ve been working on figuring out.”

“I really wish you’d just get rid of that armor, Melody. After what those ponies did to you, I don’t know why you’re so insistent on figuring out how that armor works,” Compass said, glancing sadly at the bandages taped to Melody’s right flank..

“Because this armor is the same type used by the Shadowbolts during the war. It... It’s like there’s a piece of Rainbow Dash, a piece of my heritage as a pegasus, in this armor. I don’t care that some bad ponies wore it. I can try to, I don’t know, redeem it?” Melody explained, her voice shaky, yet determined.

“Rock on, Melody! That’s the spirit!” Check cheered, drawing a smile out of my niece.

“This is great and all, but why don’t we see if we can talk to somepony about finding something to fix Stable Sixty-Three’s door, alright?” I said, not realizing until I had already said it that I sounded really bitchy.

“Somepony’s a little cranky,” Check joked.

“And what if I am?” I snapped.

“You tell her!”

“Aria. Why don’t we get you a room to take a nap and we’ll look for info? Then we’ll get to work on fixing Stable Sixty-Three, okay?” Melody said comfortingly.

“Perhaps some more sleep will do you some good,” Compass added.

“There’s an inn just down the street. Don’t worry, Aria. We’ll take care of everything while you get some rest,” Check said with a comforting smile.

“No! We don’t need sleep! Fuck them!”

“Yeah. Maybe I just need some sleep,” I sighed as they led me down the street to a nearby inn.

The Silver Pegasus Inn was a pre-war hotel that was missing all but the bottom three floors and converted into a post apocalyptic inn. The mare at the front desk, nursing a hangover that probably rivalled my migraine, ushered us up to a room with four beds that had just opened up due to the previous occupant dying of alcohol poisoning the night before.

“Don’t worry. He died in the bathtub, not the beds,” she said flippantly before leaving us so she could go get a little more of the hair of the dog that bit her.

“Great,” I muttered as Melody helped me into the nearest sweat stained bed. The mattress was yellowed and I really hoped it was just due to sweat. “Even better. What about the Royal Flush? They could attack me in my sleep.”

“Don’t worry about anything, Aria. We’ll take care of things while you’re asleep. Just get some rest. Compass will stay with you to make sure you don’t get worse, okay?” Melody said in a motherly tone as I reluctantly let myself lay down in the bed. For a disgusting looking bundle of feathers and ripped mattress, this bed wasn’t half bad. “Won’t you, Compass?”

“Of course he will!” Check said with a smile. “We need the Nightmare Knight up and running ASAP!” Compass simply nodded while giving me a weak smile.

“See. Now just get some sleep. I’m not going to hear another word of it,” Melody said, her lips pursed with faux anger and determination that her eyes betrayed. She gently pulled the off color bed sheet up to my chin and smiled.

“Don’t tell me you’re weak enough to just fall asleep because you’re feeling a little crappy,” the Nightmare mocked.

But you know what? I was. Before I was able to say any more, my eyes closed and I drifted off into Dream’s embrace.

“This is new,” I said as I opened my eyes to a very familiar, yet very different scene. The ground beneath me was still made of the nothingness of the Void Between Worlds that I had visited before, but above and around me was a hall of cut stone that led into a multitude of hallways. Sconces of blue, swirling fire lined the walls, illuminating the golden placards above each hallway in an eerie light. Looking up at one of the golden plates at the top of an archway which simply said ‘Celestia.’

Spinning around the room, numerous names were engraved on numerous placards. Celestia, Luna, Star Swirl, Eclipsa, Cadence, Twilight Sparkle. Every one of them held the names of some of the most important ponies in history. I was so tempted to see what was down the Luna hallway until one more name caught my eye.

Littlepip, the Lightbringer.

“The Lightbringer?” I muttered, feeling drawn down the hall. After everything Golden Star had said about this ‘Lightbringer’ bringing about a day of sunshine and rainbows, I had to investigate the hall. Passing a few doors, I decided at random to open the door on my right. Approaching it, I carefully opened the door with my magic and was consumed by a blinding blue light.

I blinked and realized I was in a Stable. The gray walls illuminated by incandescent light and covered in motivational posters were a dead give away for a Stable. I was in a living room where a mare, her mane disheveled and her stable uniform half undone, was sitting in a chair with a bottle of apple whiskey held in the crook of her hoof. Next to the chair was a little unicorn filly, trying her hardest to get her mother’s attention.

“Mom,” she said as the mare continued to chug straight from the bottle. Walking closer to them, I realized my hooves made no sound on the metallic floors, nor did the ponies occupying this room seem to notice me.

They were both wearing Stable barding, the number two on their collars signifying that this must be Stable Two. If I remembered correctly, weren’t they building that one down in Ponyville? Stable One was in Canterlot to save all the noble ponies so it made sense. I wonder if grandmother made it to Stable One? After seeing that horrible pink cloud descending upon Canterlot in that vision, I sure hope she was safe inside the Stable.

“Mom!” she shouted, pulling me back into this false reality and out of my own head. Her mother stopped drinking, but I knew she was probably close to being black out drunk as she didn’t seem to notice the little filly.

“Mom! I need to talk to you about something important!”

“Huh? When did you get here, Littlepip?” her mother slurred.

“Mom! I saw Velvet Remedy at a party today,” she started to say, but her mother started to wave her away.

“That’s nice, baby. Mommy needs some me time,” she replied, filling me with so much anger I wanted to strangle the drunken whore. I had never known my mother, but this mare didn’t seem to care much for being one and that infuriated me for a reason I couldn’t really explain.

“But I think I’m in love with her, mom!” she proclaimed, taking me aback while just bringing a drunken smile to the filly’s mother’s face. Wow. She was taking this well. “I need your advice.”

“I’ve told you this before, Littlepip. Velvet Remedy’s barn door doesn’t swing that way,” she laughed, tousling Littlepip’s mane. “Mommy’s friends are coming over so you be good.”

“What does that even mean?” Littlepip asked, her voice pleading her mother for an answer that probably didn’t come because the door to the living quarters opened wide and two mares strode through, but with them came the same blinding blue light. I diverted my eyes and when I opened them I was staring at a closed door.

“That was weird? What was the point of that?” I asked myself and was surprised to not hear a snarky response from the Nightmare. In fact, I couldn’t feel her lurking in the back of my mind at all. Maybe another door would tell me more about the coming hero of the wasteland. “Let’s see what’s behind door number two.”

Trotting across the hall, I looked at the oaken door, shrugged, and opened it. What I had learned about this ‘Lightbringer’ was pretty mundane, except for the fact that she liked mares, but maybe one of these doors would tell me what was so spectacular about this mare that made Death and Golden Star think so highly of her. The light enveloped me, and the world was replaced again.

“Oh Goddesses!” Littlepip screamed while in the throes of an amazingly powerful orgasm. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped as I saw the other mare, a gray unicorn with a shock of blue mane, with her rump in the air as she buried her face into Littlepip’s-

“Nope!” I shouted, turning away just as Littlepip finished screaming. My face was burning as I heard the mare crawl up the bed to Littlepip’s side and, upon glancing back, noticed she had pulled up the covers around them. Letting out a sigh of relief, I turned to watch again, feeling more like a peeping tom than a silent observer of an important event.

Was this mare with Littlepip the Velvet Remedy she loved so much as a child? I didn’t know. I did know that Littlepip was thankfully a fully grown mare, if not smaller than most. How was such a small pony supposed to be this amazing savior of Equestria?

“Oh thank goodness,” I muttered, still feeling extremely uncomfortable as I stood in the middle of their bedroom, as silent and invisible as a ghost. Thank whoever set this hallway up for the miracle of anonymity because if they could actually see me I probably would have died of embarrassment. Wherever this was, it sure wasn’t Stable Two anymore. I glanced out the window, noticing the destroyed skyline and the imposing figure of the Statue of Friendship so I was easily able to figure out that we were in Manehatten. How did Littlepip get from Stable Two in Ponyville to Manehatten was anypony’s guess.

“I do believe that was twenty-one times already,” the gray mare said with a grin before kissing Littlepip on the cheek. Twenty-one times? Total for their relationship or twenty-one time tonight?

“No! Stop thinking about such things. Look away and stop thinking about the fact that I’d really like Shadowbuck to... Stop it!” I scolded myself, trying my hardest to think of the princesses, hoofball, and Equestria.

“Wow,” was all Littlepip could say as she panted in the mare’s embrace.

“I love how sensitive my little toaster repair pony is,” the mare cooed, rubbing her hoof on Littlepip’s chest.

“You just love calling me by nicknames and titles, don’t you, DJ-Pon3?” Littlepip retorted with a small grin as her breathing started to slow.

“DJ what now?” I asked, blinking repeatedly as my mind tried to process that bit of info.
When was this happening? The future? It would have to be since the current DJ-Pon3 was a stallion, not a mare. Although, now that I think about it, this mare did vaguely resemble Vinyl Scratch. Were DJ-Pon3’s titles passed down from parent to child? Was this mare the daughter of the current DJ in Manehatten and this was a vision of the future?

But if this was the future, then when was it? Golden Star said the day of sunshine and rainbows was right around the corner and Littlepip would be the one to usher it in. How could that be coming unless...

“Time isn’t really important to dead ponies,” I moaned. How long was I going to live in this hellhole before Littlepip saved Equestria?

“You know not to call me that anywhere else besides this bedroom, don’t you, Littlepip?” the gray mare purred while Littlepip chuckled.

“I know, Homage. I know,” she said before rolling over to look the mare, who I now knew was named Homage, and looked at her nervously, her face as red as mine felt. “So, um, would you like me to return the favor.”

“So generous,” Homage said before throwing the sheets back and taking a position at the head of the bed. Meanwhile, Littlepip was slowly making her way down Homage towards a place I really don’t want to talk about and I was scrambling.

“Where’s the exit? I don’t need to be seeing this! Let me out!” I shouted, spinning around towards the door behind me.

“There you are!” a stern voice proclaimed as I spun and realized I was now standing face to chest with a rather tall alicorn mare. Her coat was a bright blue and her short cut mane was made of the same swirling blue light as the tunnel. For a brief moment I thought she was Princess Luna, but her ethereal wings and glowing blue eyes were a dead giveaway that this was not my aunt, but one of the mysterious Eternals come to mess with my head again.

“Who?” I asked, before she shook her head.

“Not here. Come with me,” she said, wrapping us in the same blue energy that made up her mane, tail, and wings, and teleported us away.

We appeared on a stone balcony overlooking a massive ocean of shimmering blue energy. On occasion I could hear voices wafting on a forgotten wind or images sparkling across the surface that disappeared whenever I tried to look at them. My host, the alicorn whose body seemed to be partially made of this strange energy, strode out to a table and chairs set up near the railing of the balcony and beckoned for me to follow.

“Thank Celestia! Thank you! I thought I was going to be stuck in that room with those ponies... doing it,” I cried.

“Really?” the goddess asked with a smirk. “You’re afraid of sex? My goodness you are so young,” she said condescendingly.

“I’m not young! Well, I guess I am compared to you, but I’m not some pervert who wants to watch two mares... Nevermind!” I shouted. The goddess just smiled.

“I told Death our interference might change the future. I just don’t see how it could happen,” she said.

“What? What are you talking about? Who are you?” I asked, slowly approaching the table.

“My assumed name is Timestream. I am not as trusting as Psyche as to give you my real name, Aria. Do sit though,” she said, gesturing to the seat across the table from her as a pitcher of lemonade appeared before us. I sat down as Timestream poured us each a glass that materialized out of thin air and smiled. “Lemonade?”

“Thank you,” I said, taking the drink cautiously and giving it a sip.

“I know you like strawberry lemonade the best, but I’ve never been a fan,” she said.

“How did you know I like strawberries?”

“Because, Aria, I know a good deal about you. I am the goddess of time. I see a lot things in my line of work. Numerous possibilities for you. I’ve seen time bubbles where you grew old with Brightlight, blissfully unaware of his cheating ways. I’ve seen a you where you fall to your darker tendencies. And, of course, I’ve seen the future that Death and Dream believe is your true destiny.”

“My true destiny? You know my future?” I asked, setting down the bitter sweet drink.

“Possibly. Possibly not. You see, Dream and Death have a very childish view of time,” she said as streams of blue energy started to form between us, forking and merging like rivers and streams. “They see time as a river, flowing towards the same goal. Occasionally it would split off into a new stream with new possibilities, but for the most part time flows in the same directions. We are merely the droplets that make up the flow of time, forced by an unchanging destiny towards an unchangeable end.”

“Seems logical, if not a little depressing,” I said, intently watching the light show between us.

“Yes, but logical is the exact opposite of what time truly is. It’s chaotic, uncaring, and directionless. It is as you see it,” Timestream said, sweeping an ethereal wing across the sea of energy beneath us. “This is what I call the Vantage Point. From here, I can see all of time. It is a tumultuous sea of chaos that somehow has an order. It’s like the universe itself, beautiful, yet maddening,” she said before turning her attention back to me. “Time mixes in upon itself. One bubble shows the war, another shows your present, and a third, only inches away, shows medieval Equestria. There is no direction to it or path to be seen. Anything can happen due to the whims of ponies and the gentle nudge of chaos.”

“But what about Dream? He said he can see the future through the dreams of ponykind,” I asked, drawing a chuckle from my divine host.

“Dream is a fool. There is nothing prophetic about our dreams. They are just our brain firing signals to organize our thoughts and experiences from the previous day and make them into memories,” she scoffed before taking a long sip of her lemonade. “Tell me, Aria, if there is destiny, then where are the paths within the sea of time? Look out at it and tell me.”

Taking her advice, I stared out at churning sea of time. Looking out at tumultuous surface as images popped and simmered on the surface, I couldn’t help by think of the swirling tunnel. The path I fell down to arrive in Stable Sixty-Three. How was that not fated? How was that not planned. How could an ocean have a path unless...

“Currents.”

“What?”

“An ocean has currents that direct the flow of the sea. Time must work in a similar way. Every droplet’s path seems chaotic, but its directed by an undersea current much like a river,” I said before taking a sip of my lemonade. “I fell through one and maybe Melody’s bubble and my current connected so I could fall out.”

“That’s... that’s right,” Timestream said, watching me closely with a strange revenance. “The jewels on your bracers are connected, they were drawn to each other. Perhaps... perhaps you are her.”

“Who?” I asked, setting down my half-empty glass.

“Nevermind. It’s true there are currents, but to determine what the ultimate destination or goal of the flow of time is nigh impossible. Destiny is not real. We all have choices.”

“But what about our cutie marks? Aren’t those indicators of our destiny?”

“Not really. They’re more of a display of a talent we have honed our entire lives or some natural ability that genetics has gifted us with. You honestly don’t think that the brutal cutie marks of raider ponies are planned by some cosmic force, do you? Your friend Check has a pretty nasty cutie mark as well. Is brutality her destiny?

“She doesn’t seem like a bad pony,” I mumbled while suddenly getting the urge for the very first time to want to take a look at Check’s flanks.

“Right. I’ve seen so many ‘destinies’ it’s not even funny, Aria. I’ve seen a timeline where the war ends with Equestria’s victory, another with the zebra. I’ve seen one where no pony survives and monkeys evolve to dominate the new world.”

“Monkeys?”

“Yes, monkeys. But that’s just some of the possibilities. I’ve seen a world without you or us. I’ve seen a world where Littlepip joins Red Eye. I’ve even seen a world where the war never happens and Twilight Sparkle ascends to become an alicorn princess,” she said before draining her lemonade and refilling it.

“That timeline sounds amazing,” I mumbled over my glass, taking another sip. To a thirsty soul, even dirty water is the most refreshing of beverages. If that’s true, then this lemonade is liquid gold.

“It does. However, that is a world where you, nor my husband, nor I never existed.”

“So... the war was your fault?” I asked, suddenly feeling a little bit angry.

“Maybe. Maybe not. I tried to guide the timestream, change it so the war would never come. I tried to save lives, but I still failed. The current of time was just too strong.” I watched her suddenly look away, ashamed. For a while, she just stared at the table, her glowing eyes seeming to dim with her mood while I silently sipped the last of my drink. “I did something horrible, Aria. I tried to save someone precious to me and I wronged so many in the process. I’m so sorry.”

“What did you do, Timestream?”

“I just tried to save him, Aria. Please,” she plead, lifting her eyes to look in mine. “It’s up to you to save him. I know I’ve wronged you, but you have to save my husband.”

“What did you do, Timestream,” I asked again. She closed her eyes, unable to look at me, and took a deep breath.

“I made a terrible mistake. I changed one pony’s destiny. He said Lightspeed wouldn’t die if I did. I set him up to fail and fall to the darkness within him.”

“What are you talking about? What does this have to do with me?”

“Because I changed your father’s destiny, Aria. I’m the reason you were born a bastard.”

“Timestream!” I screamed, lunging forward and grabbing her throat between my hooves. I snarled as I tried my damndest to choke the life out of her and get my revenge. That bitch had just admitted that every pain, every heartache I had endured because of the circumstances of my birth was her fault. She deserved to-

“Aria!” Melody screamed. I was suddenly aware that I had my hooves around Check’s throat, not Timestream’s.

“Oh my goodness! I’m sorry, Check!” I apologized, letting go of her throat. Check doubled over on my chest, coughing, sputtering, and wheezing as she held her throat and tried to suck air back into her lungs. “I’m so sorry.”

“Here!” Compass shouted, offering her a potion and I pulled my new friend into a hug as I helped Compass administer the healing brew.

“What was that?” Melody asked, staring at me with a mix of confusion and fear. What should I tell her? That a goddess pulled me out of a sex scene starring the prophesied Equestrian messiah and then told me she was responsible for everything horrible in my life? Could I really just admit that to Melody? Would she believe me or think I was crazy?

“That must have been some nightmare, Fire Flanks?” Check coughed while resting her chin on my chest . “A hug’s good, but maybe we should kiss and make up.”

“And you’re fine,” I said, pushing her off me. Check laughed.

“Come on! I don’t even get an ‘I’m sorry’ kiss?” she joked before letting out a few more coughs, these I was more sure were fake.

“I’m sorry, okay. I-I just had a nightmare,” I said, getting worried looks from my friends. “That’s it. A really intense nightmare.”

“But not a Nightmare nightmare, right?” Melody asked.

“Huh?” Check asked.

“No. Not a Nightmare nightmare. So why did you guys wake me? Did we get any news on the arc cutters?”

“Yep! They’re called arc torches actually. Check got us in to see the mayor and he said they can cut and weld metal. One of those could fix Stable Sixty-Three’s door,” Melody explained.

“Yeah. He showed us that they accidentally cut too much off the Stable Sixty-One door when they cut it off its hinges and welded the piece back on,” Check added.

“I could barely see a scar even when I flew up close to it. An arc torch could be just what we need to fix up the door!” Melody said. She gave Compass a bright smile and he actually had one in return for her. It felt good to see my stable dwelling friends smiling so much.

“But there’s one catch,” Check added.

“There’s always a catch,” I groaned, falling back onto the bed and putting my hooves over my face. Huh? I had slept in my armor. I was going to be feeling that later.

“Mayor Crapshoot,” Check started to say, but was interrupted by Melody giggling. Check shook her head, sighed, and rolled her eyes. “Yeah Melody, it’s a funny name. We get it. Anyway, the mayor said he’d give us one, but only if we did him a favor.”

“What kind of favor?” I asked, not taking my hooves away from my eyes.

“Well, you see, we kind of told him that the Nightmare Knight wanted it so he said that a pony as amazing as her would be able to get what he wanted no sweat.”

“Great! That name just backfired on us, didn’t it?” I moaned.

“Actually, he wasn’t even going to cut us a deal until we said that,” Melody answered.

“That’s good,” Compass added.

“So what’s this favor we’ve got to do for him?” I asked, dreading the answer. Kill some super monster? Fight a billion ghouls that threatened the town? Go swim with the mirelurks again?

“He wants us to go into the University of Trottingham and get him the Dean’s golden poker chip set,” Melody answered.

“What?” I asked, rolling over to look at my friends again with my worst possible glare. “Who would make a set of poker chips made out of gold? That thing has to weigh a ton!”

“That’s not the worst part. There are only two ways into the university. Either by the river or through the sewer system under the Ministry buildings across the river,” Check continued. I groaned.

“So we just hire a boat to take us there.”

“Yeah. No pony goes there. It’s on the edge of the Noble’s District and swarming with feral ghouls. It doesn’t matter how much money you offer a captain, no seadog’s gonna bring us to the University Docks.”

“So we’ve gotta go through the sewers?” I asked, my heart sinking in my chest.

“I offered to fly in, grab the chips, and fly out, but Check says it’s not a good idea,” Melody moped.

“And I’m not letting you go anywhere else without me,” Compass argued.

“I won’t. I can barely carry you or Aria when she’s not wearing her armor. I doubt I could carry the chips out anyway,” Melody said with an apologetic smile.

“So the sewers it is then,” I said, rolling out of bed.

“There is one more option,” Check said while giving me a sheepish smile.

“What is it?” I said with as much blasé as I could muster.

“Well, I was talking this over with Compass and Melody before we woke you up and it might be a good idea.”

“Spit it out, Check. You’re not one to be so tongue tied,” I said, suddenly feeling very suspicious.

“Okay, you see, there’s a big poker tournament that starts at three. There’s a five thousand cap buy-in, but the winner gets a newly built schooner and...”

“And you want to enter the tournament?”

“Exactly! But we don’t really have the money, even when we pile all our resources together, so I suggested putting up one of y’all’s Pipbucks as our buy in and letting lucky ole me give it a shot,” Check said, giving me that you-know-what eating grin.

“No,” I said flatly, causing Check to deflate and Melody and Compass to let out a sigh of relief. “These Pipbucks have sensitive information on them and might put Stable Sixty-Three at risk,:

“That’s exactly what I said,” Compass replied.

“Why would we even need a boat? We can just use the sewers,” I asked.

“The sewers are pretty dangerous. Some colt went missing in those same sewers just yesterday. Who knows what’s down there besides the Mirelurks. Plus there’s the fact that some of the tunnels have collapsed down there. We don’t know if there is even a path through the sewers to the university. It’s just a hunch from looking at old maps,” Check answered.

“There’s also the bonus of having a boat. The river is the fastest mode of travel in Trottingham, and a wind powered boat like that would also make it the safest since mirelurks only attack motorized boats and voidowls and bloodwings don’t usually hunt over water.”

I sighed.

“So the sewers are a maybe and the boat is a big gamble, but the safest bet?” I asked.

“Literally,” Compass muttered.

“Yup,” Check replied. “So who’s going to wipe their Pipbuck and let me put it up for collateral?”

I looked down at Toffee Biscuit’s Pipbuck, the little arcano device that held so much important information within it. It held the megaspell data. It held Golden Star’s journal. It held the prophecy the Eternals left to me. Hell! It even held Toffee Biscuit’s signature recipe within it! I couldn’t bring myself to part with it, but I knew I couldn’t make Melody or Compass part with theirs. Everything was too much of a risk.

“I know how we can minimize the risk,” I said as inspiration broke through the sleep induced fog over my mind, snapping me awake. “Melody.”

“Not my Pipbuck!” she shouted, hugging her foreleg to her chest.

“Nope. Not your Pipbuck. We’re going to put up your Enclave armor.”

“What?”

“You said it yourself. It’s the same type of armor that Rainbow Dash used in the Shadowbolts and it’s one of a kind outside the Enclave. Check can sell it, probably get more than the five thousand buy-in, and get into the tournament,” I said with a smile. Melody pouted.

“But I don’t want to give up my armor,” she complained. Compass stepped up next and took her into a hug.

“Melody. That armor’s not for you. You’re too good of a pony to ever wear that armor. Rainbow Dash might have worn something like that, but those Enclave ponies wear it now and you’re not like them,” he said softly. Melody seemed lost and dejected as she tried to listen and contemplate his words, the sadness in her blue eyes was like a knife in my heart. She had Golden Star’s eyes and I had made them look like that.

“Okay,” Melody said suddenly. “I wasn’t just going to get rid of the armor, but if it could help us, then I will.” Looking over at the large bulge in her saddlebags, she sighed before adding, “You can take it, Check.”

“Alright! I won’t let y’all down, guys. I’m sure to win now!” Check cheered. “But what are y’all gonna do while I’m playing?”

“We’re going to go scout out the sewers just in case you don’t win,” I said with a cocky grin that Check mirrored.

“Come on, Fire Flanks. I’m definitely going to win.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“You know the old saying ‘Lucky at cards, unlucky at love?’ Well, I’m the most unlucky at love mare any of y’all could ever meet, so the reverse has to work too,” Check joked, and gave me a wink over the rim of her sunglasses.

“I could have sworn that was us,” the Nightmare laughed, finally re-emerging from the recesses of my mind.

Why did I suddenly have a very bad feeling about all this?

Six thousand caps. We got six thousand caps for the Enclave armor. Not only did this give us enough money for the tournament, but it also was enough for us to stock up on medicine and healing potions we would needed. It felt pretty good for all of us to have emergency potions and RadAway in our saddlebags. After signing up for the tournament, Check escorted us to the docks just south of the riverboat casino.

“Miss Nightmare Knight!” a mare shouted as she galloped up behind us. Turning, a light yellow earth pony with a pink and blond striped mane came running up to us.

“Can we help you?” I asked.

“Oh my! The royal ‘we.’ You really are Queen Cadence’s cousin,” the mare said as she bowed before me.

“What? No! Don’t bow. I said we because my friends and I are here,” I replied, but she still hadn’t stood up. “Please don’t bow.”

“If it pleases you, my lady,” she said reverently before standing.

“So how can we help you?” Melody asked as well. The mare spied her wings and immediately dropped back to her knees again.

“Oh my! The pegasus princess! I’m sorry. I should have bowed to you as well!”

“What? I-Um... Well...” Melody stammered.

“You don’t need to bow to any of us, miss. How can we, as a group, help you since you came running up to us, the group?” I asked while lifting her back to her hooves with my telekinesis.

“Hey, this kind of respect is pretty rare out here in the wasteland, Aria. Don’t y'all go looking a gift pony in the mouth,” she said with a grin. I returned it with a glare. “Or whatever.”

“I’m sorry to intrude, it’s just that my son, Spelunker, went across the river and into the sewers yesterday morning and he’s still not back. He’s always so good at finding pre-war technology and items down there and he’s special. The mirelurks never seem to notice him. He’s never been gone this long and I’m worried he might be hurt. The mayor said you were going down there to find a path to the university and I was wondering if you could maybe take the time, if it’s not too much trouble for you, Princess Nightmare Knight, to look for him.” Celestia with a side of butter my titles were getting longer and longer! “I do not mean to offend you or waste your time, Miss Princess Nightmare Knight.”

“Just Nightmare Knight.” (Why was that so much more palatable than princess?) “And it would be no trouble at all. We’ll keep an eye out for you son.”

“Really? Thank you!” she cried. She dropped to her knees again and trying to kiss my horse shoes, but I stepped back.

“It’s alright, it’s not a problem. We’ll do our best to find him.”

“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,” she cried. I smiled at her and Check led us to an old riverboat captain who would take us across the river for cheap. His bushy white mustache and eyebrows hid most of his face, and with his tri-corner hat I couldn’t even see his eyes, but the old stallion in the rain slicker seemed to know his way around a boat. Taking our caps in his magic, the crusty unicorn nodded and gestured to the floor of the twelve foot lifeboat while taking us a set of oars.

“Well, good luck to y’all,” Check said after we climbed in.

“You too.”

“Honey, Lady Luck and I go way back,” she joked as the captain pushed away from the shore.

“Bye, Check! Break a leg!” Melody shouted back while waving at our future poker star.

“I think you only say that to somepony who’s about to perform on stage, Melody,” Compass whispered.

“Oh? Sorry! Good luck then!”

I’m pretty sure Check was laughing, but I couldn’t hear it over the sound of cheering coming from the riverboat. Looking back towards the casino, Check broke out in a gallop and we watched as she sprinted down the gangplank and into the three story boat.

Check’s Battle for the Boat had begun. Our battle, on the other hoof, was about to begin.

____________________________

The captain dropped us off a few blocks up river from the wreckage of the Steel Ranger boat. I stared at the sight of Bulletstorm’s murder from a distance and that familiar emptiness descended upon my heart again.

“I’m sorry, Bullet- I mean, Tar Hoof. Rest in peace,” I silently prayed.

“Thank you,” Melody said as the captain started to row away from the shore. He just nodded and went about his way. “He seemed nice.”

“Yeah,” I mumbled before turning back down the street. “Do you have Check’s directions to the nearest ponyhole cover?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, Compass has them!” Melody said.

“Follow me, I guess,” Compass said with a shrug before leading us down the street with a makeshift map out in front of him.

We followed Compass down the lonesome road that was almost identical to the road we had travelled yesterday morning. Before I had been feeling confident. We had found the megaspell data, had taken control of an entire Ministry building, and were about to be heroes.

But now I was on edge. I felt like Jack or Ace could emerge from the shadows at any moment and kill me or another one of my friends. If this feeling was just nerves or a well placed sense of dread, I didn’t know, but as we approached the ponyhole in the center of the second intersection I felt a strange tingle in the back of my mind.

A very familiar tingle.

Whipping around, I saw her. Standing in a window above on the third floor of a building behind us, a familiar launcher with a very familiar glowing egg sitting at the ready, a pink unicorn sneered at me. Ace mouthed one word, “Boom,” before pulling the trigger.

“Run!” I shouted, erecting my magical energy shield as the balefire egg left the launcher, Melody and Compass barely had time to start running as the necrotic weapon struck my shield and ripped it to shreads. The backlash and shockwave that hit us was intense. Our Pipbuck’s screamed as the radioactive force at the edge of the explosion sent us sprawling.

“Ow,” I moaned, lying on my side as Toffee Biscuit’s Pipbuck continued to tick away, my EFS displaying that I was already almost at five hundred Rads and slowly climbing. If we hadn’t had the shield and been near the edge of the explosion, I was damned sure we’d have been vaporized on the spot.
Blinking away the stars in my vision, I spied Melody and Compass already stirring about fifty feet farther down the road. I didn’t want to move, but I knew the leftover radiation in the area would kill us if Ace didn’t.

“Wait... Where is Ace?” I asked myself as I rolled over and looked back at the building she had fired from and my mouth dropped. The entire face of the brownstone was gutted, green flames licking at the rest of the building and the neighboring apartments. Pulling out a healing potion and drinking it down, I started to push myself to my hooves. I was feeling sick to my stomach and would probably need one of the two RadAway’s in my bags. Then I heard a lurching sound above me and my stomach almost dropped right out of my body.

A whine was followed by a crunch as a broken beam scattered underneath the third floor and everything started to shake. Beneath my hooves, the ground rumbled and a cluster of cobblestone collapsed underneath my hoof.

“Hey Aria!” Ace screamed from the collapsing building. Looking up, the mad mare launched herself off the second floor just as the floor above started to fall around her. I tried to roll away, but a telekinetic sheath wrapped around her and carried her the extra three feet before letting herself go directly above me.

“Oof!” I grunted as her weight slammed into me and the building next to us roared as it collapsed. The ground shook and then I felt the familiar sensation of weightlessness as the ground beneath us broke open and we fell into the sewers below.

I felt Ace’s hoof slam into my face as we hit the ground and I tried to roll her off me, but she wasn’t getting bucked that easily. We started to roll at just the right time as a wave of rubble rushed to fill in the hole we fell through and slammed into the both of us, throwing us farther down into the sewers.

Buffeted and battered by an avalanche of wood and stone, we came to a rest in some unknown tunnel and I was suddenly very thankful for the heavy metal armor Golden Star saved in Stable Sixty-Three. Forcing open my already swollen right eye, I could see Ace prone on the ground a few feet behind me, illuminated by the clumps of glowing green mushrooms growing along the walls. Drawing my sword, I slowly lifted it over my head. One slash was all I needed to finish her off.

“Not today, Aria,” Ace sung as she wrapped me in her telekinesis and flung me down the hall, my sword clattering to the ground at her hooves. Rolling over and giving me a smirk, Ace flung the Sword of Everfree directly at my chest. Drawing Aegis, my sword clashed against my shield and spun past my head. “Not gonna be that easy, little girl.”

Hurrying to my hooves, Ace was already up and drawing a shotgun. Leveling my shield, Aegis took the brunt of the blast, but Ace was already in mid charge, aiming for my kneecaps. Jumping back, the buckshot ricocheting off the stone floor and stinging my forelegs, I scooped up my sword and swung it at her head.

Steel met steel as Ace threw her shotgun up to block my attack. She was grinning wildly, blood dripping from her mouth and out of the gap where her front teeth had previously been. I stared back, my right eye almost swollen shut, as we crossed weapons in the subterranean battlefield.

“It’s not going to be that simple to beat me, Aria,” she laughed.

“Really?” I asked before bringing my shield around and slamming it into the side of her face. As Ace stumbled into the wall, I continued my advance. Lifting my sword, I was stopped by a wall of magic that wrapped around me and flung me away from her. Landing hard on my tailbone, I hissed and rolled around a corner into a more open room. There were large piles of bones in this chamber, most likely the remains of ponies that tried to hide in the sewers in a vain attempt to survive the balefire radiation.

Trying not to vomit, I pulled out another healing potion and a RadAway before guzzling them both down in a dry heave inducing cocktail of curative nastiness. As I drained the last of my medical items, I could hear Ace slowly limping down the tunnel towards me, the mushrooms in this room casting odd shadows.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” Ace sang before drinking down a healing potion of her own and peaking her shotgun around the corner. “Where are you?”

Like I was going to just come out and yell, ‘I’m behind the pile of bones to your left. Shoot me!’

“You know, Aria, I’ve gotta thank you for something. I wouldn’t be the mare I am today without you. I wouldn’t be one of the big five of the Royal Flush if you hadn’t stepped in and killed Ace. I should thank you really,” she called out. Suddenly she burst out laughing before abruptly stopping. “But I’m not because you’re the fucking bastard bitch who killed my coltfriend, you cunt!”

Her coltfriend?

“That’s right you little slut spawn, Ace was my boy toy and you killed him!” she screamed. “But what would a little pony who’s such a prude she’s afraid to have sex know about coltfriends?”

“Huh?” I asked, drawing a blast a few feet to my right.

“That’s right. King told me all about you. He told me you’re some bitch from the past that got blown up during the war, but didn’t have the good sense to stay dead. He told me you were a prude who wouldn’t fuck her coltfriend until he just up and left ya for another mare that would put out. He even told me that you should have been a princess, but your mother fucked another stallion and you’re just some little bastard,” she mocked. Gritting my teeth, it took all my willpower not to leap out from behind cover and launch myself at her, sword and shield ready to take off her head. However, I stayed in my hiding place knowing that if I did, she’d have the advantage as I tried to close the gap. She had cover around that corner and a much more powerful weapon that had a longer range.

“I can see why you’re so bent out of shape about being a bastard though. It’s a real mark of shame for a hoity toity princess wannabe like you. You know, Ace knocked me up a while back, but I really couldn’t be bothered with a foal right now. Motherhood’s not my style and fat and preggers would be horrible for my girlish figure,” she taunted, drawing a low growl deep from in my throat.

“Gut this bitch!” the Nightmare roared inside my skull, and I barely stopped myself from rushing forward to attack her.

“So you know what I did? I had some doc stick a hanger up in me and pull the little bastard out piece by piece.”

“I’m going to fucking kill you!” I screamed as I rushed out of hiding.

A blast of buckshot slammed into my shield again, but I powered through, spurred on the rage that was making me see red and causing my scalp to itch something fierce. Knocking the shotgun away, I turned the corner, my horn sparking with electricity, and I came face to face with a green banded grenade.

“Gotcha,” Ace said with a gleeful smile from down the tunnel as she pulled the pin. Wide eyed, I dropped my lightning spell and focused my magic on my previous hiding spot. As the grenade exploded in an inferno of plasma, I disappeared, reappearing behind the pile of bones just in time to get peppered by a hailstorm of pony remains that stuck into my armor and cut my face and neck. The marrow and shrapnel didn’t cut deep, but it still stung something fierce.

Crash!

Weakened further by the blast, the street above the tunnel entrance collapsed, blocking one of my exits and separating me from Ace. On the other side of the rubble, I heard her cackling.

“That was a pretty good trick, Bastard Bitch. Wish I could learn it, but I think I do pretty well with my one trick. It’s beaten you twice already,” she laughed. “We can call this a draw, but while you’ve got Jack and Ace, I’ve got Bulletstorm, all his Steel Ranger buddies, and Howling Buck under my belt. I’m still winning.” She stopped for a moment. “Hey! Maybe I’ll find my way back up top and cut off that pegasus’ wings and her boy toy’s horn? That’ll be fun.”

“No!” I screamed, rushing towards the collapsed tunnel. I hissed in pain as my hoof caught in a hole in the ground and I tumbled to the ground.

“See ya later, Aria. We’ll play again real soon!” Ace shouted back before she began cackling again, her mad laughter slowly drifting away as she walked away from the barricade dividing us.

“Leave them alone! You hear me, Ace! Leave them alone!” I cried. I could feel tears of frustration streaming down my neck. Losing to an undead dragon was one thing, but being beaten three times in a row by a unicorn that could only cast telekinesis was both humiliating and infuriating.

As I screamed at the wall of debris until my voice gave out, I curled up on the sewer floor and sobbed. I couldn’t do anything to help my friends. Ace would probably get to them before me and there was nothing I could do. I was so tempted to ask the Nightmare for help, ask her to find the flame and tell him that I’d give him whatever he wanted, but then I heard something.

“Aria!”

“Huh?”

“Aria! Can you hear us?”

“Compass?” I whispered. I could hear Compass, but from where?

“Aria! Are you okay? Say something?” Melody shouted.

“I’m here!” I screamed, my voice hoarse and scratchy.

“I hear her!” Compass called. “Aria! Where are you!”

“Down here!” I shouted, standing up, which shot a sharp pain through my sprained fetlock, and looking at the ceiling. "Where are you?”

“I can hear her over here, but I don’t see her!” Compass shouted again, this time much closer.

“Where is she?” Melody asked.

“I don’t know!”

“I’m down in the sewers!” I shouted, realizing that I was hearing them through some cracks in the street caused by the explosion.

“Are you okay? Can you get out?” Compass asked.

“I’m okay. I’m out of potions and RadAway, but I’m okay. A little queasy and shaken, but... That’s not important right now. Ace is coming back and she wants to kill you guys to get back at me!”

“You didn’t kill her?” Melody asked.

“No... She beat me... She called it a draw,” I growled. “Anyway, go get help or just get away from here. She’s got an arsenal on her and she wants to turn you both into earth ponies.”

I heard Melody eep and I could just picture Compass going pale as a ghost.

“We... we’ll go get Check. She knows about explosives. She can blast you out of there,” Compass suggested.

“But we can’t leave you here, Aria!”

“No! Fly Compass back across the river and go get Check! It’s a good plan!” I shouted. I was more worried about Ace finding them, but they’d be safer in Stableton then standing around out in the open. “I’ll try to find another way out!”

“Okay! I’ve got your Pipbuck’s tag so we can find you again. Be careful down there, Aria!” Melody called before yelling, “We’ll be right back,” a few moments later. I stood in that sewer, favoring my uninjured hooves, waiting for what seemed like an eternity, but I didn’t hear any explosions or gunshots. Looking at my Pipbuck, I sighed with relief as Compass and Melody’s tags left the area, flying slowly across the river towards Stableton.

“Mama?”

I froze. Hearing the colt whisper in the back of my mind was one thing, but I could have sworn I also heard that one word call out to me audibly too. Turning towards the other side of the underground chamber, I looked down the poorly lit passage on the other end and stared into the gloom.

“H-Hello?” I called out. For a few seconds, I heard nothing and let go of the breath I was holding.

“Hello? Mama?” a little voice whispered in my mind along while echoing down the corridor. The colt’s voice sounded scared and in pain. It could only be that mare’s son, Spelunker.

“Spelunker?” I called out weakly. “Is that you?”

“Mama? I can’t find you, mama.”

“It’s not your mom. Your mom sent me to find you,” I called out, trying to sound as comforting as possible. “My name’s Aria. I’m here to help.”

“Mama?”

“No, it’s not your mama. I’m coming to help you,” I said. Limping forward, I lit up my horn and cast the walls in a will-o-wisp glow. I was mostly hobbling, favoring three legs while avoiding putting weight on my injured hoof.

Slowly, I made my way into the darkness beneath the streets of Trottingham, the sound of my shod hooves clopping and echoing off the tunnel walls. Spelunker kept crying out in my mind, desperate for his mama, but as I made my way deeper into the sewers, I was beginning to hear his voice, harsh and garbled like his mouth was full of liquid, drifting through the darkness.

“He’s hurt!” I thought, picturing the little foal pinned beneath a fallen section of street or mound of filth and garbage from a bygone time. Hurrying forward and through the pain in my fetlock, I quickened my pace. My breathing became ragged as I tried to rush to the little colt’s side, tried to stop his crying and pain, when I turned a corner and entered another open chamber.

And what I saw absolutely horrified me.

Lying in a puddle of rainbow colored ooze that sent my Pipbuck ticking, but did not increase my Rad count, was what I assumed was Spelunker. His blue coat was already falling out, slowly being replaced by a patches of black scales, and his front two legs were nowhere to be seen. He stared up at me with one glowing green eye, his other eye socket empty except for a faint veridian glow, while a twisted, flaccid horn protruded from the center of his forehead. He flopped towards me, gasping a gurgling as a pair of half formed wings twitched on his back, and tried to smile.

“Mama,” he sighed contently, blood flowing from his mouth as rows of fangs lined his gums. I stood there in horror, unable to move, as he started to inch his way towards me. “You came for me mama.”

I could hear his voice in my head and in my ears, begging for love and for the pain to end. My eyes widened and I started crying. I couldn’t think or even move as this abomination that had once been an innocent foal flopped towards me like a half dead fish, blood and Taint trailing behind him. My eyes followed the Taint back up the wall to a small hole that must have led in from a house or business’ toilets and I wondered where the horrible mutagen had come from.
That is until I looked back down at my Pipbuck and saw the marker only ten or so yards away from me, just above me on the surface.

Philharmonica Instruments.

My gaze returned to the horrible, pathetic, mutated child before me as he desperately called out for his mother. I looking into that glowing green eye and felt a horrible realization grip me.

That mare may have been this child’s mother, but the monster he had been transformed into was mine. Birthed of the horrible Taint that I had vomited after leaving the Nightmare, an innocent foal had been twisted and corrupted by my sin. A child who neither knew me nor deserved to be touched by the horrid darkness that came from inside me.

Like my mother’s sin had cursed me, my sin had cursed Spelunker.

“Mama? Why are you crying, mama?” he asked, moving closer and closer to me. “It hurts so much, mama. It burns.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It hurts,” he whispered both in my mind and outloud. He was only a few feet away, his slug like trail of taint and blood painting a canvas of horror as he made his way to me.

“I’m so sorry,” I cried. Inch by inch, Spelunker flopped towards me, his dead eye glaring at me accusingly.

“Mama,” he coughed. His mangled, mutated horn touched my hoof and I recoiled as terror gripped my heart and revulsion wracked my soul.

“Stay away!” I screamed, backing into the wall.

“But mama, I love you,” he whispered as he kept moving towards me.

“Stay back!” I shrieked, too gripped by fear to think straight.

“Help me mama,” he plead as he flopped with a sickening squish at my forehooves. I pressed myself against the sewer wall, trying to get away in the most illogical, fear driven way possible. “Help me.”

“Go away!” I screamed. Clenching my eyes shut, I released a bolt of electricity that burned the air, filling my nostrils with ozone, and released a deafening thunderclap.

I slowly opened my eyes and saw his smoking body on the floor before me, the Taint and blood already evaporating from the heat of my blast. Looking down at his twisted little body, my overwhelming fear was immediately replaced with overwhelming despair.

“No.” I moved closer to him, inch by inch.

“No.” I picked him up and saw his lifeless eye staring back at me, the green glow replaced by a lifeless violet.

“No.” I took him into a hug and cradled his limp, mangled body in my hooves.

“No. No. No,” I muttered, tears falling faster and harder than they had ever fallen as agony and sorrow shook my body and soul. “No. No. No. No. No... No. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”

I kept repeating those words for what felt like days, but what was probably only minutes. I sat there in the dark sewers rocking back and forth and crying until I curled into a ball around the mutated little colt and couldn’t cry any more. My thoughts started to drift towards the sword in my sheath and my magic started working on its own, drawing it so I could stare at the green and blue light flickering on its surface.

No. If I’m going to be honest, I pulled that sword of my own free will.

Lifting the sword, my bloodshot eyes barely able to gaze on it, I slowly brought the blade to my neck. I felt the edge touch the sensitive skin underneath my jaw and swallowed hard.

“Just one cut, and it will be over soon,” I whispered.

Then the strangest sound I had ever heard in my life cut through the silence. It was a surreal mixture of a machine humming, a whistle blowing, and a creature breathing. Then, before my eyes, a strange blue box about as tall as the chamber materialized. It had the words ‘Police Box’ written along the sides and a sign hung from its door that I couldn’t make out at this distance or in this poor lighting. The door swung open and out of the miracle box emerged a tan earth pony stallion with dark brown hair wearing a green tie.

“Hello Aria,” he said, his voice calm, yet sad.

“How do you know my name?” I croaked, my voice rough and pained.

“I know quite a bit about you. Just like how you knew quite a bit about me when I first met you,” he said kindly before offering me his hoof. “Now put that sword away, Aria. I have a bedsheet ready for the child. Let’s get you out of here and bring him back to his mother. He deserves that much.”

“But I killed him,” I told the mysterious earth pony who spoke as if he knew me.

“I know.”

“I can’t go on.”

“Yes you can,” he said. His sad blue eyes held so much wisdom. They were eyes that were much older than the pony standing before me appeared to be, but they also held great sadness.

“How do you know?” I asked. He just gave me a smile and helped me stand.

“Trust me. I’m the Doctor.”

____________________________

I could regale you about the marvels inside the blue box. I could tell you about the magnificent console that controlled the amazing piece of vehicle. Or I could tell you about the fact that it was bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. But at that moment, I didn’t care. As the mysterious pony known only as The Doctor led me inside, I was only focused on the foal I had murdered that I was carrying in a magical cradle of blue energy.

The Doctor had a white sheet ready for me and helped me wrap Spelunker in it. After he had helped me prepare Spelunker’s body, he set about flipping switches, pulling levers, and pushing buttons on the box’s console. This caused the wonderful machine to spring to life, making that weird sound again, and the Doctor to rant about Time and Relative something or other.

To be honest, I wasn’t paying attention to any of it. I just sat on the floor, staring at the dead body in my embrace.
The body of the child I had warped and murdered.

Before I knew it, The Doctor was leading me out the door again. We were back in Stableton, in an alleyway between the inn and a bar, and he was leading me into the town square. I followed, carrying Spelunker’s wrapped corpse, as The Doctor led me towards a yellow mare that I knew to be his mother.

She was talking to everyone she could, asking if they had seen her son. Some of them looked sad, others looked annoyed, but they all said the same thing. ‘Sorry, I haven’t seen him.’

I had. I mutated him. I found him. And then I killed him.

She would kill me. That would be justice. Then I would become a ghost for Death to reap and send me straight to Tartarus with all the other evil, sinful ponies in the world. I didn’t deserve to be alive. I was no hero.

I was a monster that bred other monsters.

Starshine had been right about me.

I didn’t deserve to live.

“Miss,” The Doctor said calmly, drawing Spelunker’s mother’s attention.

“Aria!?” I heard Melody shout as she and Compass came around the riverboat, noticing me before they headed in. The look of confusion on her face mirrored that of Spelunker's mother. The mother of the child I had killed looked at me and the wrapped body before her face transformed from confusion and worry to a visage of horror and heartbreak.

“No.” she cried. Grabbing the body floating next to me, she collapsed and hugged it to her chest. “No. No. No. Please,” she plead, looking up at me as the tears started to fall down her cheeks. “Tell me it’s not true.”

“I’m sorry,” I whimpered as new tears started to flow again. I collapsed in the streets, sobbing while the mother whose name I didn’t even know held the body of her dead son while taking me into her embrace. She was comforting me, her child’s torturer and murderer.

Melody landed next to us as Compass galloped up behind her, their gaze turning from me to The Doctor and back again. They probably wanted to ask a million questions, first of which being how I got here, but they couldn’t. They couldn’t bring themselves to speak while two mares wept over the body of a murdered foal.

And the mysterious stallion stood over us in silence.

Footnote: Level Up

New Perk: Powerful Caster - Your talent for magic is greater than most. You gain +1 to your Potency.

Speech Skill: 25

Author's Footnote: Gah! So many people I’ve got to thank this chapter! First off, a VERY special thanks to Kkat for giving me permission to include Littlepip and Homage for that scene in Timestream’s domain. Next, thank you to MandoPony for giving me permission to use ‘A Long Way From Equestria’ in this chapter. The first time I heard that song, it felt to me like it was a perfect song for Fallout: Equestria and I just had to put it in my fic.
Also, another special thanks to volrathxp, the author of Fallout: Equestria: Starlight, for giving me such a glowing recommendation. Be sure to go check out his story too.

As always, a special thanks to my editor/pre-reader Chimpso for the help with editing. Let’s give a big hand to A Guardian’s Tale’s new pre-reader, Tuneout. And finally, thank y’all for reading and sticking around. My cross country trip went really well and so did my trip to Comicpalooza. I hope this chapter was good enough for yet again being late for another deadline. (I never seem to make those, do I?) Anyway, see y’all next chapter.