“Steel Rangers, attention!” Elder Marble Cake called out. Two rows of earth ponies clad in power armor snapped their hooves together and turned towards the Four of a Kind as it pulled up to the makeshift dock near Big Buck. At the end of the row, the Elder formally known as Buzzsaw stood in a formal uniform with Head Scribe Scrambles at his side. The smaller unicorn looked nervous, but Buzzsaw was all smiles the moment he saw Crumpets standing next to me on deck.

“Are you sure about this, Aria?” Check asked as two scribes began tying our boat to the moorings.

“No, but I’ve got to do it,” I said before giving a visibly nervous Crumpets a reassuring smile that was more a mask of my own fears than a genuine display of my confidence. “Don’t worry. I won’t let him hurt you.”

“I’m trusting you, Aria,” she said. Turning her attention to the twelve power armor wearing ponies on land, she sighed, “Really trusting you.”

Shadowbuck pushed the gangplank out to the dock and walked down to dry land. Melody fluttered down while Compass followed Shadow. Looking to Check, she nodded in agreement, but I could see genuine fear in her eyes as her sunglasses slid down the bridge of her nose. Stepping forward, I made sure to keep Crumpets between me and the Steel Rangers. While I didn’t raise my shield or try to cast any spells, my horn was tingling as I readied myself to defend Trottingham’s newest DJ. I had promised her and this time I would not fail.

“Lieutenant Aria,” Buzzsaw said with a smugness that made my skin crawl. The way he said my official rank while wearing those clothes reminded me far too much of my first encounter with his predecessor. “Thank you for bringing back our wayward sister for trial. Maybe I should take it from here.”

“No,” I said coldly, although my heart was pounding in my ears and I was surprised the Steel Rangers couldn’t hear it smashing into my breastplate.

“Oh? I thought that you wouldn’t want to see the execution since you didn’t want to attend the others,” Buzzsaw said, somehow trying to sound courteous and make killing other ponies sound like a day of tennis that I had turned down.

“Execution?” Crumpets squeaked.

“She doesn’t get a trial?” Compass asked, looking to Crumpets to make sure she wasn’t on the verge of passing out.

“Cherry Scones had her own court martial and her co-conspirators had a group trial. Crumpets was a co-conspirator,” Scrambles tried to explain. I wasn’t having any of it.

“Horseapples!” I growled, stepping forward and immediately setting the dozen ponies armored and armed from head to hoof on edge. “Crumpets is innocent!”

“What the hell are you talking about? She helped Cherry Scones get a balefire egg,” Buzzsaw asked, more surprised than angry that I would even dare to question him.

“So did you,” I said sternly, taking another step forward. My legs were on the verge of giving out and keeping my composure was a test of will that I didn’t know I had the strength to pass, but deep down I felt something surge up inside me. A confidence and composure that I didn’t know I had.

“But she’s a traitor,” he tried to argue.

“So were you. If I hadn’t helped you win, then you’d be the dead one, not Cherry Scones or the others that you put to death,” I said.

A calm steadiness had come to my voice that I knew too well. I was speaking with the poise my grandmother always carried herself with and, as I felt the presence of my mother and brother standing next to me, I knew Elegant Rose had as well. They were lending me their strength through their statuettes. I was continuing to fight, just like how Golden Star had wanted, but I was using my words like my family always did. Was this the true power of a princess?

“But-”

“In fact, before I had come along with Shadow, you were just disobeying your superior officer because you failed to get her to step down. In fact, you just lucked out that I had saved your flank at all. I don’t like you, Buzzsaw. Even before Cherry Scones had snapped, you just stood there as she ravaged my mind. You saw me in pain and did nothing. In fact,” I said, putting much more emphasis on that last ‘in fact’ as I reached Buzzsaw and poked my hoof into his chest. “You just fought a civil war on a whim without any real reasonable cause besides the fact that she sent you on a mission where your subordinates died. Crumpets was following her mother and elder’s orders until she found out the truth. The moment she did she tried to reason with her and then fought and almost gave her life to save this city. In truth, she’s a hero and you’re the traitor.”

You could hear a radroach scurry across cobblestone as a dead silence descended upon the pathway leading to the Steel Ranger base. I say this because a radroach literally scurried across the street nearby looking for its next meal and its chitinous legs scratched out across the riverfront like a chorus of sandpaper winged angels. Rangers and friends stared in shocked awe as I stood, staring up only inches away from Buzzsaw’s stunned face. I could see his upper lip curl as surprise was beginning to be replaced by anger, but another idea floated into my brain.

“You’re going to give Crumpets an honorable discharge so she can become Trottingham’s new DJ,” I whispered so that only Buzzsaw and Scrambles could hear.

“And why the fuck would I do that?” Buzzsaw snarled under his breath.

“Because, as I’m sure Scrambles can vouch since he’s an upstanding Head Scribe now, I outrank you twice over and I’m ordering you to do it.”

“What? How?” he asked angrily, glancing over at Scrambles. The robed unicorn just stared back at us.

“I am a Lieutenant of the Lunar Guard. I answered only to the Head of the Lunar Guard who answered only to Princess Luna. You are an elder of the Steel Rangers. Elders answered to the High Elder who answered to Ministry Mare Applejack who answered to Princess Luna.” Sudden realization and a touch of fear crossed both Buzzsaw’s and Scrambles’ face. “That by itself put me at a higher ranking within the military than you. But also, my mother was a princess of the Equestrian Court and, even if you declare that connection invalid because of the matters of my birth, Melody is a true blooded granddaughter of Prince Golden Star. She could order you to do this too. So what’s it going to be?”

“So what if you two order me? Why would I have to listen?” Buzzsaw asked, the growl no longer in his voice as much of his vibrato had faded.

“Because of the chain of command, sir,” Scrambles said softly, but Buzzsaw scoffed.

“Your point? I don’t know if you noticed, girl, but Equestria and the Princesses are gone.”

“Well, I’m still here and do you really think you and your soldiers can beat me?”

“There are fourteen Steel Rangers here along with Scrambles and his scribes. What would you do?” he asked, confidence slowly returning to his voice. He grinned down at me as he believed he had won, but I just smirked back at him.

“Firstly, I’d could just do what I did to kill King and a wing of Enclave soldiers with such ease that it was hardly worth the effort.” That got his attention. “Ask Shadow, who, by the way, is on my side here. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.”

“Do we get to make him burn?” The Nightmare giggled.

“Not yet.”

“Even if you did, your friends would be caught in the crossfire,” he argued, but now it was time to show him the winning hand I had yet to reveal.

“No they won’t,” I said simply. Buzzsaw raised an eyebrow.

“Oh? How do you figure that?”

“Because I’m not wearing my Pipbuck,” I said, lifting my right hoof to show him that my fetlock was bare. Buzzsaw scrunched his face up and scowled at me.

“And why should I be afraid of you not wearing an advance piece of pre-war technology?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know who is?” I said, casting my eyes up to a window on the second floor of the tower. Buzzsaw turned, following my gaze up until he saw what I was looking at and froze. Floating above us was a small mass of greenish-black fire contained in a hoofball sized egg. “That egg is being held up by Check. She used one of the rechargeable Stealthbucks in Shadow’s armor and my Pipbuck to sneak into your base and set everything up. At a moment’s notice I can teleport myself, Crumpets, and my friends back to Gigaton, the egg will drop, and you and your little guard will become nothing but ash. Or ghouls if you’re lucky.”

“You couldn’t teleport all the way to Gigaton with that many ponies. You’d have to be extremely skilled in magic to pull that off. Add to that the fact that you’d have to have perfectly memorized a location in Gigaton to teleport without line of sight to your destination and that’s nearly impossible,” Scrambles countered frantically.

“Yeah, what he said,” Buzzsaw said, confused and worried, yet still trying to put up a confident front. I chuckled under my breath, feeling almost invincible as I had moved my bishop in behind him, while my knight stood by my side, and I could feel the presence of a queen, my mother, within me.

“I’m the niece of Celestia and Luna, I learned magic back when Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic, was leader of magical research for all of Equestria as Ministry Mare of the Ministry of Arcane Sciences, and my talent in combat magic,” I said cooly. “And I can tell you, teleportation is a great way to turn a fight in your favor. My brother taught me that.”

“But the memorization? You didn’t go back to Gigaton before coming here so you couldn’t have memorized a location to teleport back to before now,” Scrambles said, looking very concerned as he kept glancing up at the deadly weapon floating over our heads. Thankfully the soldiers flanking our position hadn’t noticed the deadly weapon above us.

“Ask your new elder if I have a location memorized,” I said, a grim determination suddenly overtaking my demeanor and setting the two stallions on edge.

“Aria?” Crumpets asked worriedly. I glanced back, giving her a quick look to try to tell her I had everything under control. From the terror in her eyes, I think she just saw death in my own.

“What the hell are… Oh…” Buzzsaw mumbled before his eyes went wide. He stared down at me with new realization and I knew this war of words was over. His bravado shattered before me and I could see something akin to shame in his eyes now. I had almost won, I could feel my mother’s hoof on my shoulder as if she were telling me I had done enough and my duty was complete, but I had to make sure Scrambles knew that I had outmaneuvered them both. I couldn’t have him calling my bluff when I had a four of a kind.

“I’ve had that room where you let your former leader violate my mind memorized. It’s been burned into my brain, Buzzsaw. I am not letting you hurt Crumpets and I am not bluffing. Stand down or I will kill all of you.”

I should have heard the panic as the Steel Rangers noticed the egg. I should have heard the guns all turned on me. I should have at least noticed Shadow or Melody calling out to me, but all I heard was the blood rushing through my ears like a crimson hurricane and my heart on the verge of exploding. My eyes locked on Buzzsaw’s. Our words had been a dance of death far more perilous than my duel with King and we were finally at its end. I readied myself and mentally took count of all my friends. In order to save an innocent life, I would have to become a villain and kill Equestrian troops who were just following orders. I didn’t want to do this, but Buzzsaw had left me no choice.

“Gwah ha ha!”

Buzzsaw was… laughing? It wasn’t a mad laughter or even a terrified chortle. He was giving a genuine belly laugh that shattered the life or death tension and left everypony in the square dazed and confused.

“Sweet Celestia! You’ve got balls of steel, girl! If my troops had half your stones and a quarter of your smarts, we’d have beaten the Flushers and Queen Cadence years ago!” he bellowed. Still confused, the Rangers kept their guns trained on us, but Buzzsaw quickly waved them down. “Put those away, you idiots. The Nightmare Knight and I were just having a little debate on how we should reward Knight Crumpets for her service before we send her off. I think we should crack out the beer and have a going away party, don’t you?”

It took a few moments for the shock to fade from his loyal soldiers, but they were quick to change their tune and began cheering and praising their Elder. One even came forward, took Crumpets into a hug, and congratulated her. My friends glanced around just as confused as I was, trying to figure out just what was happening. Were the rank and file of the Steel Rangers ponies or sheep?

“What’s with that face, Lieutenant Aria?” Buzzsaw laughed. “Call off your girl and let’s get Crumpets her honorable discharge. What was that about being a DJ, Knight Crumpets?”

“DJ Pon-3 is having me take over for Howling Buck. You’re looking at Trottingham’s new radio jockey, DJ Clear Skies, sir,” she said, giving the Elder a nervous smile.

“I like it! Steel Rangers, roll out!” he barked, turning on a bit and marching back into the tower as his entourage of soldiers cheered and followed their leader back into Big Buck.

“Call it off, Check. We won,” Shadow said over the radio. I watched as the egg slowly and deliberately floated back through the open window and disappeared beneath Check’s Stealthbuck’s illusory field.

“Wh-What just happened?” I asked no pony in particular.

“Heh. That’s Marble Cake for you. He’s got a moral compass that’s straight as an arrow, but also can go a little overboard when pursuing what he considers the just and right thing to do. Once you point out that he’s not doing the right thing, he’s usually quick to realize it and change his course,” Shadow explained, giving me an affectionate hip bump. “You were really amazing there.”

“Really? Cause I was pretty sure that was going to end with me declaring war on the Steel Rangers again,” I sighed.

“Yeah, well, I think the moment you reminded him about what Cherry Scones did to you he was able to realize that his pursuit of justice had become one of revenge. It’s a fine line so they say.”

“I noticed that. He kind of just… deflated,” I said, grasping at the only word I could think of at the time that would properly describe what had happened. “You think that was it?”

“Of course. Aria. You’re a lot more important than you think. What Cherry Scones did to you really hit Marble Cake hard. Losing Backdraft and Boom were just the last straws, you know?” he said grimly while putting a foreleg around my shoulder. “You were just the spark that started the fire. You seem to incite the flames of passion and heroism in a lot of ponies.”

“Now that just sounds cheesy,” I chuckled before leaning into his embrace.

“It’s true,” he said before giving me a kiss on the horn. “I’m proof of it.”

“Oi! You two lovebirds better get in here or you're gonna miss my party!” Crumpets called back out the door leading into Big Buck. “The scribes are bringing up the hard cider we found last month!”

“Be right there,” Shadow said calmly.

“I just can’t believe we saved her without having to fight.”

“Maybe there’s hope for this world yet,” Shadow joked. “Maybe you’re just the pony this world needs to save it and remind us about how Equestria use to be.”

I knew there was hope for this world. I don’t know why I trusted Death and Dream, but I believed they might be right that Equestria would soon be saved. But I wasn’t that hero, I was an anomaly. Littlepip was destined to be the pony who would bring about the day of sunshine and rainbows.

“Maybe,” I said, giving him a sad smile and a quick nuzzle. Removing his leg from my shoulder, he started walking towards the entrance.

“Come on, Miss Nightmare Knight. DJ Clear Skies is waiting.”

“Okay,” I said, following him inside. My heart wasn’t really in the partying mood, it was still trying to recover from almost bursting, but I would try to at least put on the appearance of having fun for Crumpets’ sake. I owed her that much.

After all, if Timestream were to be trusted, I had drastically altered her fate.

The ‘Grand Hall’ of Big Buck, which was just an open floor about three floors up that the Steel Rangers had filled with scavenged tables and chairs, was buzzing with life. Steel Rangers and scribes, having peeled off their bulky power armor and cumbersome robes, were dancing to the same old songs that DJ-Pon3 always played and downing pints of hard apple cider. Seeing these hardened soldiers letting loose and having fun like how we used to back in my time made me smile. Even the scribes, who had the coordination of dry toast for the most part, were hitting the dance floor with their comrades and reveling in the fact that they had some reason to celebrate.

Melody had dragged Compass out onto the dance floor almost immediately after she got a few ciders in her. Meanwhile Check was singing along with every song that came over the radio, although her words were getting more and more slurred as the night went on. Seeing my friends happy actually filled me with a joy of my own. Compass’ awkward movements, Melody’s inability to stay on the ground for more than one song, and the way Check swayed with the music was just perfect. I loved just watching them while staying on the sidelines, however I couldn’t do that for long.

Shadow and I sat at the main table near Buzzsaw, Scrambles, and Crumpets. This would have been awkward enough if we didn’t also have a constant flow of fans and congratulatory well wishers coming by between sips of flat cider. With Shadow being the new Star Paladin, Crumpets about to don the mantle of DJ Clear Skies, and myself being the famous, or infamous depending on who you asked, Nightmare Knight, we were practically the closest thing to celebrities at this little shindig. Don’t roll your eyes at me, I can say shindig all I want. Shindig, shindig, shindig!

“So you two are an item?” a mare named Mincemeat Pie asked Shadow.

“Yeah,” he replied simply, taking a sip of his old coffee mug full of cider.

“That’s gotta be interesting. A Star Paladin and a badass hero,” she said with a smirk. “So who wears the saddle in the relationship?”

“Guh.” Shadow almost choked on his drink while I shook my head.

“It’s just that, a relationship. There’s supposed to be some give and take, right?” I said calmly, trying to deflect the question. Mincemeat was not having any of that.

“I mean who does the giving and who does the taking? Do you like riding Shadow’s meat train or do you prefer being the passenger?” she asked bluntly. My eyes went wide and my face felt like it was going to melt at the very thought of ‘riding Shadow’s meat train,’ but thankfully Shadow had recovered from almost breathing in alcoholic apple juice and gave the knight a stern look.

“Your permission to speak freely has been revoked, Knight Mincemeat Pie.” His gray eyes pierced through the young mare and she immediately stiffened up under its gaze. She quietly gave a salute and left us as fast as she could. Letting out a deep breath, I smiled appreciatively at Shadow.

“Thank you for that.”

“No problem. I know you’re not comfortable with that kind of stuff,” he said, giving me a little wink that made my tensions melt a bit. “Melody told me about your last coltfriend and what he did. I’m not going to rush you. Hell, I’m not in that big of a rush either.”

“Really?”

“I know it’s hard to believe, but yeah. Ever since my first time, all of my relationships started with sex almost immediately. Maybe it’ll do me good to take it slow like you olden ponies used to do,” he said, giving me a little smirk when he said ‘olden.’

“Hey! I’m younger than you!” I growled under my breath, although it was more playful than angry.

“I’m pretty sure there’s a birth certificate in Canterlot that says otherwise, sweetie,” he said sarcastically. I froze at the word ‘sweetie,’ realizing that he was trying to give me a pet name. He also noticed my apprehension and quickly added, “You don't like being called sweetie, do you?”

“Not really,” I said honestly. “It feels forced. I know you’re trying to be sweet, no pun intended, but you don’t have to force things. Sweetie just doesn’t feel natural to me.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” he said over his drink before taking another sip. We sat in silence, or as close to silence you could get to in the middle of a party. A minute or so later, he could have knocked me out of my seat with what he said next. “What if I call you Rose? It’s your family name, right?”

“I-I-” I stammered. ‘My Rose’ had been what Starshine had called my mother, and I remembered my grandmother saying that my grandfather had always called her ‘my little Rose.’ For some reason, the thought of my special somepony calling me Rose, even though I had only recently found out that it was part of my name, held so much weight. It was a special connection I could have with both Shadow and my mother and grandmother, however tenuous and unintentional.

“Crap. You don’t like that either, do you?” he said, grimacing as his mind went back to work trying to find something I would like.

“No,” I said softly, my words barely reaching his ears over the sound of the music. Throwing my forelegs around his neck, I gave him a kiss before burying my head in the crook of his neck. “I love it.”

“Grub’s on,” an old grizzled cook pony called out as he brought a platter of various old world items along with various food stuffs that had been cooked or fried in a multitude of ways. Turning, I was actually impressed that some snacks like Fancy Buck cakes and Sugar Apple Bombs had lasted this long. The old chef had told me when I ordered some strawberry flavored snack cakes that some preservative called Flux had been created towards the end of the war that is responsible for pre-war food’s longevity.

“Oh! Is that fried radigator?” Shadow asked, reaching out and scooping the plate up with his hoof with a big smile on his face. I, however, stared down at the plate with horror and disgust.

“Cookie, you’ve outdone yourself. This squirrel kabob is amazing,” Check said, trotting up with a half eaten stick of meat in her mouth.

“I do what I do,” the bald earth pony said simply and placed a few warmed snack cakes before me. Looking up at my disgusted face, he rolled his eyes. “What? You don’t like my cooking? You haven’t even tried it.”

“It’s meat!” I gasped.

“Yeah? And?”

“Ponies don’t eat meat! We’re vegetarians!”

“But what about Cram? That’s old world food and it’s meat,” Shadow asked after swallowing a strip of gator meat.

“Cram?” I asked.

“Yeah, Cram,” he said, looking to his left and grabbing a can of the cooked meat product. “Y’all used to eat this, right?”

I looked down on the can, seeing a familiar cartoon dog smiling back at me, and cocked an eyebrow. Taking a cautionary sniff, I recoiled at the pungent smell, but it was a smell I recognized even two hundred years later. Part of my work as a cadet was to take care of the guard dogs and I knew exactly what Cram was.

“Shadow. Cram is dog food. It even has a dog on the label.”

“What?” he asked, a strip of radigator meat falling out of his mouth. “You mean…”

“Yeah. Ponies shouldn’t be eating meat,” I said, looking over to Check on the other side of the table. Shrugging, she took another bite of her squirrel kabob.

“You’re one to talk, Aria. You really liked that chicken soup I gave you.”

“What?” I gasped, shaking my head. “You never gave me chicken soup.”

“Yeah, I did. Back after you almost drowned, I gave you a bowl of soup after you woke up.”

The world started spinning and my appetite vanished. She had given me a bowl of soup and I had gulped it down happily. I hadn’t even thought to ask what kind of soup it had been. I stared down at my Fancy Buck cakes, unable to focus on anything else. Fruit flavored cakes weren’t going to get the horrid taste of bile that was rising into my mouth. I had eaten the flesh of another living being and I had enjoyed it.

“You okay, Aria?” Shadow asked, putting a comforting hoof on my shoulder, but I didn’t respond.

“I’m a monster,” I thought.

“The first step is admitting it,” The Nightmare cooed, a sick delight underlying her attempt at comforting me.

“Aria?” Shadow asked again, but I wasn’t answering. I couldn’t. I was so disgusted with myself and what I had put in my body that it was if everything inside me but my conscious mind had shut down. Getting up and helping me, Shadow grunted as he lifted me onto his back. “I think the day’s really gotten to her, Cookie. Fighting Cherry Scones and King in just twenty-four hours, ya know? I’ll take her upstairs to get some rest.”

“I’ll help ya, Shadow,” Check added as she and my coltfriend carried me out of the main hall. Compass and Melody noticed our exit and hurried over, asking questions and looking me over, but all I could do was stare at the ground as it moved beneath me. With my friends literally carrying me away as a room full of Steel Rangers staring at my invalidity, I would say I had reached a new low, but could anything be a lowest point when you were a monster like me?

Sleep actually came upon me like a stalking tiger. The moment Shadow shrugged me off into the comfort of a slightly disheveled bed, it pounced and I was off to dreamland faster than my neurotic mind could respond with the sufficient amount of anxiety and guilt to keep me awake. It was a mostly dreamless sleep, a few blurry forms and strange sounds like the cracking of frozen tree branches and the rustling of feathers were there, but just beyond true recollection. A few hours later, I awoke to the sound of somepony knocking on a door.

“Guh,” I moaned, opening my eyes and staring at the wall. I heard the door open behind me and flopped in bed as I tried to roll over.

“You feeling any better, Rose?” Shadow asked as he came to my bedside.

“No,” I mumbled, putting a foreleg over my eyes. “How can you even look at me, Shadow. I’m a monster.”

“You’re not a monster. Almost every pony in the Wasteland eats meat now. We have to. Vegetation doesn’t grow anymore. We don’t have the luxury of being strictly vegetarians,” he told me, pulling my leg away to look at me with a sympathetic smile.

“But what about The Nightmare?” I whimpered.

“That’s not you, Aria. That’s just a mutation and you can control it,” Shadow said calmly, holding my hoof. “What can I do to get your mind off this?”

“My mind just doesn’t get off things,” I replied.

“Boy, do I know it,” Shadow laughed. He left me for a moment and trotted over to the pile of armor and bags that I knew were mine.

“What are you doing?” I moaned, too out of it to really stop him from rummaging through my stuff.

“Getting you out of your head,” he said. Tossing me a book, I stared down at my copy of Prophecies and Predictions while he trotted over to the bed with my copy of Zebra Infiltration Tactics. As he climbed into the bed, book in his mouth, I slowly pushed myself up against the pillows behind me. Sitting next to me, he smiled. “A little reading will make my little bookworm happy.”

“I’m surprised that’s not the pet name you went with,” I said, my voice heavy with fatigue.

“Who said I can only have one,” he said, giving me a kiss before cracking his book open and blinking at the folded slip of paper inside. “Hey. This is where I left off last time. What’s this?”

“A bookmark,” I told him before opening my own book.

“Why didn’t you just fold the corner of the page over?”

“Dog ear a page?” I growled, turning a glare darker than the Wasteland at night upon my ill informed coltfriend. His grin wilted into a nervous parting of his lips. “That damages the book! How do you think my copy of Starswirl’s journal has survived so long? Because ponies took care of it and didn’t dog ear pages!”

“Sorry,” he apologized. I glared at him for a few more moments before turning back to my book.

“Apology accepted,” I grumbled. I started rereading the opening paragraph when I felt Shadow put his foreleg around me and pull me a little closer. I tensed up and so did he.

“If I’m making you feel uncomfortable, tell me.” I looked up at him, seeing what appeared to be genuine concern in his eyes, and let myself relax a bit.

“No funny business,” I added before leaning my head against his chest and returning my focus to the words of A.K. Yearling.

With the return of Princess Luna, everypony in Equestria has given full credence to Clover the Clever’s prophecy of the return of Nightmare Moon. For so long, her words had been considered a simple old mare’s tale, but now her visions of a future far beyond her own lifetime in Equestria have been validated. However, I ask, what if the great student of Starswirl the Bearded was actually not the only one to foretell of Nightmare Moon’s return, and perhaps this is the reason for the current tensions between the Zebra Empire and Equestria. I ask that we turn our attentions to the prophecy of the shaman, Karoket.

“When the summer solstice of the tenth century of her imprisonment arises the Maiden of the Stars will free the darkness held within the moon and eternal night shall fall. The Maidens of Harmony will stay the Nightmare, but only for a short time will the shadows be kept at bay. When the Maiden returns and the dark virtues are fed, balefire and death will come to consume the world. Only the Guardian, released from the darkest of prisons and path made clear, will save all the lands we tread.”

While some may find it strange that the prophecy does not rhyme, as is the custom for zebra shamans, that is only because I translated Karoket’s verses into Equestrian. I would like you to really give his words some deep thought. The Maiden of the Stars, to which many zebra consider Nightmare Moon and, vicariously, Princess Luna is said to be released on the summer solstice of the tenth century. This parallel can be seen with Clover the Clever’s prophecy and the phrase, “On the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape.” Interestingly enough, beside the fact that Clover and Karoket were not alive at the same time and pony and zebra kind would not first encounter each other for another two hundred years at the colony of Trottingham, was the fact that Karoket even foresaw Twilight Sparkle and her friends, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy, using the Elements of Harmony to return Princess Luna to her natural state and expelling the Nightmare Force that possessed her.

We can see that the prophecy continues beyond the events of three years ago, stating that the Maiden would return and ‘bring balefire and death to consume the world.’ This, I believe, is where the current political tensions over Princess Luna’s return to sharing the throne with Princess Celestia arises. They fear the return of Nightmare Moon and the destruction eternal night in Equestria would bring to the zebra lands. For if the land of the ponies is forever watched by the moon, then the land of the zebras must undoubtedly be scorched by the sun as it had threatened one thousand years ago.

But there is hope. In Karoket’s prophetic visions, he saw the emergence of a Guardian. This savior, who was to escape the darkest of prisons, was the only one who could save the world. This seems of little use to us at the moment, but I would like to inform you of one other set of prophecies by another zebra shaman. This shaman, whose name has been lost to time, wrote a pair of mysterious prophecies on the walls of an ancient temple in the Summersand Isles. In these quatrains, written almost two thousand years ago, the nameless zebra christened these prophetic poems ‘The Guardian’s Prophecy.’

The conclusion to that paragraph jarred me back out of my book and forced me to stare down at my Pipbuck. Could it really be the same prophecy that currently resided as a text file in my ‘Notes’ section. Was Dream’s little poem about a future that might or might not be also a two thousand year old bit of foresight from a long dead zebra? Or had Dream given the same prophecy to him as well?

“What’s the matter?” Shadow asked.

“Nothing. I, um, just needed to think about a passage. It’s some pretty heady ideas in it.”

“Smart pony stuff, got it,” he said, rolling his eyes and smiling. “You know, for being the guys who destroyed the world in the flashiest way possible, these zebra sure knew how to be sneaky.”

“Yes. Yes they did,” I said, feeling a little uncomfortable praising the zebra people for anything. Turning the page, my jaw locked and my mouth went dry impossibly fast as I saw the first four sentences lying before me on the page.

That was when I lost myself to the pursuit of knowledge. I don’t remembered stopping to go to the bathroom, noticing that Shadow had fallen asleep next to me, or even turning the pages. I even found it difficult to breathe at some points, but I had to know more. Somewhere in this book had to be the answers that I sought. As I turned the last page and was greeted to the smiling face of a very familiar looking mare, my whole body began to shake.

By the time I had finished the book, I was no closer to finding the truth than I had been a few hours earlier at the midway point of the third chapter. Nervous energy rushed out of me and a wave of fatigue overcame my mind, pushing me towards unconsciousness. My head lolled as the muscles in my neck became weaker. Leaning to the side, I came to rest against Shadow’s sleeping form and drifted off into a lost dream that I could never quite remember.

Shadow and I awoke to the sound of what I had thought was thunder crashing over and over nearby, but I noticed two details that forced me to instantly reconsider my initial hypothesis. The first was the lack of rain pounding against Big Buck. The second, and most disconcerting, was that eerie tugging in my chest similar to the one I had felt before Ace had launched her balefire egg at us. To be honest, I’m pretty sure I had felt that same sensation before Cherry Scones had fallen on her egg, but the adrenaline rush of combat seemed to have drowned out the feeling. Although this time it was different.

“What the fuck was that?” Shadow exclaimed before we both realized that we had fallen asleep on each other. Moving away, I ran to the window and what I saw made my hooves feel like they had transformed into concrete.

In the distance, just northeast of us and across the Trottingham River, was a glowing green mushroom cloud illuminating a massive breach in Gigaton’s southern wall. The radioactive glow of what could only have been a volley of balefire eggs filled the night sky just along the horizon. Another drum solo of blasts crashed through the night as three more eggs exploded against the north wall, vaporizing it and the guard ponies along its ramparts. By the fading light of the radioactive fire, I could see swarms of pony shaped figures flooding through the southern hole and could only imagine the same occurring to the north.

“Holy shit,” Shadow cursed as he joined me at the window. “The Flushers are attacking Gigaton. Why?”

“That’s why,” I said, pointing to the winged shadow swooping down from just beneath the cloud cover and unleashing a torrent of green flame upon a section of housing, lighting the sleeping residents of Gigaton’s homes ablaze.

“Jack,” Shadow hissed. I nodded before teleporting my armor and weapons into place. “Get dressed. I’ll get the others.”

“You’re pretty quick to help a group of ponies who tried to lynch you on a zebra’s word just the other day. You sure about this? I mean, the Rangers are definitely going to help, but-”

“It’s the right thing to do. I just have to show them I’m not the monster they think I am,” I told him as I marched towards the door. “Get ready. I’ll be teleporting us in five minutes.”

“Wait, you weren’t bluffing about that? You can actually get us back to Gigaton from here?” Shadow asked as he already started shrugging on his armor.

“Would I say we were teleporting to Gigaton now if I were bluffing?” I said coolly before swinging the door open with my magic and storming out.

“Show them we aren’t the monster they think we are? Too bad that’s a lie, huh?” The Nightmare teased. I responded with a mental kick to her flank that sent her careening back into my mental Stable and I slammed the door behind her.

Gathering up my friends was relatively easy. Getting Melody into her gear only took a minute with the help of my magic and Check was ready and raring to go by the time I knocked on her door. Years of living in the Wasteland and being in constant fear of a slave hunter finding her must make getting ready fast a priority and a necessary skill for survival. Shadow met us at the elevator where he was already discussing battle strategies with Elder Marble Cake.

“Cherry Scones trashed the skiff’s sails. It’ll be slow going if we’re gonna try to attack from the river,” Elder Marble Cake commented.

“You can take Check’s boat and the rest of your troops can cross the Trottingham Bridge,” I said as authoritatively as I could.

“Woah! Wait! No no no! No way am I letting anypony else captain my ship but me!” Check protested, shooting me a stern look over the bridge of her shades.

“Ponies are dying in Gigaton, Check. We’re going to teleport to your place so we don’t need it.”

“But-”

“The faster we get hooves on the ground in Gigaton, the faster we can be there to save it,” Marble Cake pointed out. “We need your boat, captain.”

Check gave a defeated sigh before looking up at the Steel Ranger Leader.

“If I see one scratch on my baby, you’re paying to get her fixed!” Check growled before turning back to me. “Let’s get this porting over with, Fire Flanks. I am not letting those Flusher’s burn my fucking house down.”

“We won’t let that happen,” I assured her. Turning to Marble Cake, I added, “Send the rest of your troops across the bridge and tell Cadence and her ponies to help. I don’t think she would want to lose a trade settlement like Gigaton or the support of the princes and princesses in Stable Sixty-Three.”

“Sounds like a plan, Nightmare Knight. Good luck,” Marble Cake said, giving me a nod and a salute.

“But Starshine, my mom, and I are the only ponies directly descended from Grandpa Golden Star,” Melody said. I smiled.

“She doesn’t know that,” I laughed before igniting my horn and focusing my thoughts on the room burned into my mind. “Brace yourselves.”

“Damn it. I hate this,” Shadow moaned before we vanished from Big Buck and appeared in a flash of mystical energy on the bed in the center of the room. The rusted frame creaked and the mattress buckled before the entire bed frame collapsed, depositing us unceremoniously on the floor.

As I lay on the sweat stained mattress, staring up at the ceiling, the sound of screams, explosions, and gunshots permeated the night. This wasn’t the sound of a fight, or even the day to day violence of the wasteland. What was going on outside was something my generation and the generation before me released from Pandora’s Box to scour the lands and bring death and destruction. These were the sounds of war.

“Sorry. Didn’t expect that to happen,” I said as I hopped back to my hooves and helped a slightly disoriented Shadow to his. I was ready to charge out into battle to save innocent lives, but first I needed to make sure my friends were all in one piece after such a long distance arcane displacement. “You going to be okay?”

“Yeah. It’s not as bad this time. Everypony good?”

“I think so,” Compass said as he touched Melody’s shoulder reassuringly. She nodded.

“Woo!” Check cried out, thrusting her hooves into the air. “You have got to teach me how to do that, Aria! Teleporting is such a rush!”

“Later,” I ordered, helping her up. A draconic roar pierced through the sounds of violence and a stereoscopic bellow followed that I knew had to be Iron Will and Steel Bill. Rushing down the stairs two at a time, I stopped at the door and raised my shield and sword. Somewhere out among the carnage, my friends were fighting for their lives. I needed to get to them as soon as possible. “Check, you’re on demolition duty.”

“Duh,” she said, rolling her eyes over her sunglasses before flashing an apple grenade to her side. “It’s what I do.”

“Right, but focus on blowing away Flusher cover or ferreting them out so they can be taken down by Shadow, Melody, and Compass. Speaking of Compass, you know what to do right?”

“Tend to the wounded?” he asked timidly. I nodded and he seemed to relax a bit.

“Get any of Gigaton’s fighting citizens or deputies back into the fight and save anyone you can, got it?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said before pulling five potions out of his medical bag with his telekinesis. “I know it’s not much, but here’s a Super Restoration Potion for everypony in case we get separated.”

“Good thinking. Melody, you find out if Will entered you into the anti-air system as a friendly and, if it’s clear, take to the skies and rain down laser hell,” I said with a smirk.

“I checked last time. He did,” Melody said. She then giggled and added, “You know ‘hell’ is almost a curse word, Aria.”

“But it’s not,” I said. Finally, I turned to Shadow who just shook his head and smiled.

“I know what to do. I didn’t make Star Paladin by being stupid,” he said, cutting me off while giving me a patented smirk.

“No, you go there because your boss got a promotion,” I fired back. Melody giggled with a hoof over her mouth and Check out right laughed. “You guys ready?”

“Ready,” they all responded. Melody and Compass pulled their weapons while Shadow melted away into a Stealthbuck fueled blur.

“Let’s do this,” I said, throwing open the door and charging out into the streets.

In retrospect, I’m pretty sure I was a walking cliche at that point, but I was just trying to cope with what was about to happen. I had joined the Lunar Guard so I could help Princess Luna win the war, but I thought I would be protecting her at home. Now, two hundred years in the future and in the husk of what had once been Trottingham, I was on foreign soil fighting in a different war. This one did not determine the fate of the world, however every moment that passed meant another life was lost to the battlefield’s unending thirst for blood. The Battle for Gigaton had begun.

“Check! Take out their cover!” I screamed over the din of combat.

“Can’t! The balcony’s blocking a clear shot and I can’t port a grenade out in this gunfire. Somepony’s gotta stop them from shooting for a few seconds!” she called back from her hiding place behind an ancient and badly battered bumper car.

The Flushers had taken Moorheart’s almost immediately and used it as their main base. With only two privately employed guards and the owner himself who weren’t sloshed and able to fight, the tavern fell almost immediately. Now they had tables on the front porch and balcony set up as makeshift bulwarks and had made their new base almost impenetrable.

“Shadow?” I said into my newly installed Broadcaster. Melody had placed it on my Pipbuck for Check to use while getting into position for our blink and blast plan back at Big Buck.

“Getting into position. I can see the square. Will and Jack are-Shit!” he cursed under his breath. I heard something that sounded like a baseball bat shattering followed by radio silence.

“Shadow,” I said, a sinking feeling entering the pit of my stomach.

“It’s Ace. She’s got me pinned down. Can’t help now. Looks like I’m in an old fashion sniper showdown,” he said before going silent. Looking up, the worry obvious in my eyes, Melody, Compass, and the two deputies who we were helping retake Moorheart’s stared back with concern.

“He’ll be okay. We need to focus on getting through those doors and into the Tavern,” Melody said, trying to sound optimistic, but even I could see she was just as afraid as I was.

“Darn it. We don’t have time for this. Check!”

“Hu-wha?” Check grunted, confused as she stared over her glasses at me.

“Get next to me,” I said.

“Um.”

“Get next to me!”

“Right!” she cried, sprinting across the gap between our respective covers, a hail of bullets following behind her as the Flushers popped up to try to pick her off. Similarly, our deputy friends and Melody took a few shots, Melody using SATS to strike a raider in the forehead and he crumpled, falling out of sight. Tucking and rolling next to me, Check stared up, wide eyed and breathing heavily. “You better have a damn good plan, Fire Flanks.”

“We’re charging,” I said bluntly.

“You’re nuts.”

“I have a magic shield that’s nearly unbreakable. Stick behind me and get ready to drop a grenade that can take them and their cover out,” I explained. Slowly, her demeanor changed from fear to cautious optimism.

“I still think you’re nuts, but let’s do this,” she said, rolling into a bent over position as she waited for me to leave.

“Are you sure about this, Aria?” Melody asked. I looked around me for a moment before smiling at her.

“None of you move, okay,” I said, jumping out from my cover, shield raised to protect all but my hooves and fetlocks, and charged forward.

Check followed my lead, practically burying her face in my tail as we ran, while a storm of metal was unleashed upon us. My shield sang with the chaotic rhythm of the bullets and the ground before me spat up gouts of dirt as ponies aiming for my legs came up short. Suddenly, the doors to the balcony burst open and two more raiders took up positions above us. Thinking fast, I raised my shield spell around us just in time for it to be peppered with lead from on high.

“Shit!” Check screamed.

“Get ready,” I growled as I strained to keep up the shield.

A single blast like a balefire egg or grenade was one thing, but with this hail of red hot pinpricks trying the burst my arcane bubble it was a lot harder to for me to maintain shield integrity. I pushed on, my horn ablaze with a blue fire that had become my magical aura and another layer of overburn burst forth. My legs cried out in agony and sweat beaded down my face, but I pushed myself even harder and slammed through the barricade with every Newton of force I could muster.

“Now!” I screamed, dropping the shield and casting another spell. Check, meanwhile, took the half a second I gave her to pull the pin on the green banded plasma grenade. Before the Flushers could react or turn their guns on us, we disappeared.

The explosion decimated the Flusher barricade and the front porch of Moorheart’s Tavern as green magical plasma vaporized everything caught in its blast radius. Meanwhile, Check and I were safely back behind our original cover positions, she and I both near convulsions as the adrenaline of our suicidal gambit already began wearing off. The balcony gave off a loud crack as its supports finally gave way. The raiders in their makeshift gun nests screamed before they fell into the burning rubble and we silenced. Death would be busy tonight, I was just hoping she’d be picking up more raider souls than townsfolk. I figured sending evil souls to Tartarus was a lot easier than having to console good ponies murdered before their time before sending them to the afterlife.

“You are fucking nuts, you know that, Fire Flanks,” Check cursed at me. She was quick to shoot me a smile though and added, “But there is that fine line between insanity and genius, right?”

“Right,” I said breathily as I tried to calm myself. Another roar pierced the battlefield followed by a bellow of rage and pain that could have only been the sheriff. Glancing around quickly to make sure everything seemed clear, I hopped back up and lifted my sword and shield. “Will and Bill are in trouble. You guys go help any survivors in there, I’m going on ahead.”

“You shouldn’t go alone,” Melody said worriedly.

“Alright. You, Compass and the deputies help the survivors in there. Check-”

“I’m coming with you,” Melody said bluntly, cutting me off.

“You sure?” I asked, looking from her to Compass. I didn’t want to separate them, especially after what happened the last time we did. I didn’t want another Enclave incident.

“I’m sure. I can give you air support. I can’t really do that inside.”

“Are we settled then, cause I think there’s still some raiders in there,” Check pointed out as she lobbed another apple grenade through the hole we blasted through the front of Moorheart’s. A bang was followed by a scream before she rushed in with a stick of dynamite floating in a telekinetic bubble by her side. “Let’s go, doc!”

“Right. Um, stay safe, Melody. You too, Aria,” Compass said cautiously before drawing his pistol and carefully following behind Check and the deputies.

“Alright, let’s go!” I ordered, charging down the street towards the town square, Melody taking to the air and following from high above. The deputies had been so gracious to have informed us that Iron Will had updated the turrets to not fire on Melody so there was little to no chance of her being shot down by friendly fire. This gave our side the extra advantage of air support as long as Will kept Jack out of the skies.

As we sprinted down the war torn streets of Gigaton, the sounds of nearby screams and gunshots rang out from all directions. In the street was the half decapitated body of a stallion that couldn’t have been much younger than me while a mare laid dead only a few feet away, reaching towards him with her last breath. War. War was never worth this. Ever.

“Aria! Get to cover!” Shadow shouted over the radio. Seeing as how I was in the middle of the street, I had to make my own, raising a magical bubble around Melody and myself just before a sniper’s bullet slammed hard against it, sending a shockwave rippling across the surface before my eyes. If Shadow hadn’t warned me…

“Get outta here, you two. I’ll handle Ace,” Shadow ordered. “Will’s still fighting and Brownstone’s under siege.”

“You sure?” I asked over the broadcaster before Shadow returned fire. A small chunk of siding to the building across the street exploded, forcing Ace to dive back into hiding and move to another vantage point she could fire from.

“Fuck yeah, I’m sure. Go!” Shadow ordered, and we continued down the way towards the center of town. This was a sniper’s duel, a dance of death that Shadow was prepared to tango. While I was reluctant to leave him, the ponies of Gigaton needed me more than he did. Especially since a gout of flame burst through the windows to Absolutely Everything Too the moment we turned the corner.

“Brownstone’s in trouble!” Melody screamed.

“Gigaton, this is Elder Marble Cake of the Trottingham Steel Rangers. We’ve arrived at the docks with reinforcements. Here we come to save the fucking day,” Marble Cake called over the radio as Melody and I dashed through the gaping wound left in the store front, the smoke stinging our eyes and momentarily blinding us to what lay within AE2 until we were on the other side and in the line of fire.

Or should I say not even noticed. As we charged through the smoke and debris, the culprit didn’t even notice us. A dark green earth pony stallion stood over Brownstone as she huddled in the far corner of the room. A small trail of black ichor lead up to her, seeping from the gash on her back where her other wing had used to be, while the stallion laughed and pulled out an apple grenade with a green band.

“The Royal Flush Raiders will be taking your shit! Before you die, just know you had the honor of being blown away by the new Ten of the Royal Flush,” he bragged, balancing the grenade on a hoof. I could see fear in Brownstone’s glossy, ghoulish eyes, but as hers met mine it melted away and she gave a content smile. “What the fuck are you smiling about, cunt? You’re about to die in the most glorious explosion to ever grace your pathetic life!”

“Them,” Brownstone said confidently and nodded towards us. Spinning around, Ten froze at the sight of Melody and me, my shield and sword drawn and her laser pistol leveled at him. “Shit…”

“You talk too much,” I bluntly stated before slamming my shield into his face, his muzzle shattering and giving off a very satisfying, yet sickening crunch. Then he slumped to the ground, either unconscious or dead, I couldn’t tell. All I knew was that the red blip on my EFS had disappeared. Satisfied that the new Ten had gone down even faster than his predecessor, I immediately turned my attention to the injured shopkeep. “Brownstone, are you okay? Of course, you’re not okay. Your wing…”

“Oh? Lefty? It’s alright. Maybe ponies will stop staring at me so much and think I’m just an earth pony ghoul,” Brownstone said weakly, yet cheerfully while attempting fruitlessly to stand. As she fell, Melody rushed over to her, propping her up while staring at the merchant’s back with tears in her eyes.

“But they’re your wings. They’re what allow you to fly. Losing them… That’s the most horrible thing I can imagine,” she said tearfully.

“I haven’t been able to fly for two hundred years, deary. I’m just glad you two came along and saved me. Life’s more precious than some silly wing,” she said with a pained smile. “Although I think I’m losing too much blood. I haven’t felt this bad since I became a ghoul and Righty fell off.”

“Oh no! We need to get her to some radiation! Where are we going to find radiation?” Melody cried, looking to me for answers.

“Fly her to the river. Buzzsaw and his rangers just arrived at the docks so it should be secure to give her a dunk in the water. I’ll go on and help Will and Bill.”

“Wouldn’t it be faster if you teleported us there?” Melody asked.

“Can’t. The walls block my view of the river from here and I don’t clearly remember the docks enough to teleport without line of sight,” I explained while moving towards the hole in the wall. “Hurry. I don’t want you to be too late to save her.”

And I couldn’t afford to be too late to save Will and Bill. I wouldn’t add their names to my list.

“Okay,” Melody said softly, relenting far easier than I would have thought. “But the second I get Brownstone to safety, I’m coming to help you guys out.”

“Gotcha,” I said. Meanwhile, Brownstone rolled two metal objects my way. Scooping them up in my magic, I realized that they were two apple grenades, one with a green band and the other was bandless. A frag grenade and a plasma grenade.

“Here you go, kiddo. One from me, and one from our friend down there.”

“I’m not very good with grenades, Brownstone.”

“You don’t have to be. Just pull the pin, drop it at Jack’s feet, and get out of there. Or shove it down his scaly throat. Just go save those two big idiots, okay?” Brownstone asked, giving me a smile that’s authenticity was betrayed by the weakness in her eyes and posture. “Gigaton needs its sheriff, but he’s just too stubborn to ask for help.”

“I’ll save him,” I told her, hooking the grenades onto the plate at the waist of my armor.

“I’ll see you in a few,” Melody told me as we exited the blasted out husk that had once been Absolutely Everything Too. I watched for a moment as she repositioned Brownstone and slowly took off towards the riverfront wall. I didn’t wait for too long as another roar and bellow cut through the night and a dreadful feeling overtook me. Springing into action, I sprinted down the incline towards the center of town.

As I rounded a building, I could see them, locked in combat. Will and Bill had Jack held at bay, their many hands gripping hard by the legs and throat, but Jack’s serpentine head kept snapping at the two headed sheriff and keeping him from being able to deal the finishing blow. He needed help, and that was why I was there. The Nightmare Knight and the Sheriff of Gigaton would finish off Jack and the Royal Flush Raiders once and for all.

Teleporting ten feet above them, sword and shield drawn, I let gravity take hold of me and brought my sword to bear. Iron Will’s eyes went wide and Bill turned his head to look as I used the Sword of Everfree for the purpose only one of the knights of legend would ever use their blades. I was going to slay a dragon.

Clang!

A flash of metal and sparks erupted from Jack’s neck while the undead dragon roared in pain. Flapping his wings furiously, the bat-like appendages battered me as I fell before I crashed into his back and pushed off to one side. I hit the ground rolling, narrowly avoiding being crushed by Jack’s back legs, while Bill craned his neck again to try to spot me.

“Miss Aria!” he cried out, distracted while trying to make sure I was not hurt, and Jack took the opening. Snapping his jaws forward, aiming for the space between Will’s horns, Jack’s head shot forward lightning quick like a viper’s sting. Acting as quickly as he could, Sheriff Will roared as he forced himself to throw the teenage dragon away. Horn scraped across metal a split second before fangs clamped shut around flesh. Another instant later momentum took hold and a wet ripping sound was followed by Jack being flung nearly twenty feet through a nearby building. Colliding headlong into the structure, it collapsed on top of him with a resounding shriek of metal and the crunch of snapping timbers.

But that wasn’t important at the moment.

I lay on the ground, powerless to do anything, as Bill’s head went limp and their body spasmed and shook before Will collapsed backwards. The ground shook as he hit the pavement and he stopped moving. It took me a moment to realize that there was still a fast, labored rise and fall of his chest before I forced myself out of my stunned stupor and to his side.

“Will! Bill! Sweet Luna, let me get you a healing potion,” I said when I realized that Will’s eyes were still open and he was conscious.

“Kid…”

“Don’t worry. Compass gave me a Super Restoration Potion and I know they’re pretty good for back and neck injuries,” I said, flipping through the menus of my Pipbuck frantically as I looked for the potion hidden in my inventory tab.

“Aria…” Will said, his voice raw and weak as he looked at me out of the corner of his eye. “Save your potion. He severed Bill’s spine. He’s already dead and I’ll be following real soon after him.”

“What? No… We can save you. I’ll get Compass over here and-”

“Aria! Stop!” He snapped, and even though there wasn’t any real strength behind his words, I had to stop myself. This was a mistake because the shock was now beginning to fade and stark realization was beginning to take its place.

“But we can get you some radiation. I’ll get you to the river.”

“No amount of radiation can save me, kid. Bill’s dead, he let his guard down cause he was worried you got hurt. His brain controlled half of our organs and our spines are connected. I’m paralyzed,” he explained, obviously seeing my face contort and the tears beginning to flow. He coughed up a few flecks of blood before taking a long, haggard breath. “Don’t blame yourself, Aria. He should have known you were tough enough to take one hit. That idiot… Always so smart, but never where it counted…”

“Will… Please… Don’t…”

“Just promise me something. As my friend.”

I nodded, choking back at sob.

“I’ve done a lot of stupid things in my life, teaching ponies to be bullies and not stopping Starshine from starting the Royal Flush are pretty high up there, but I’ve done a few good things too. Gigaton is one of them. Save my town, Aria,” he said before a string of painful coughs cut him off. Dark red blood sprayed from his mouth and his body spasmed. Then he went still. I thought he had left me, but a sharp breath brought him back and he smiled up at me. “And just so you know, even though it wasn’t for long, I’m glad you were my friend. Now give that scaley bastard hell for me… for us.”

I probably would have been mad at his word choice, but as those last two word escaped Will’s lips he closed his eyes, his chest fell one last time, and he didn’t move again. I didn’t understand what he meant, Jack had been crushed by the building’s collapse, but I didn’t care. My friends were dead because of me and, even though I had promised myself I wouldn’t add another to the list, I had failed.

My somber memorial over Will and Bill’s body was cut short as a strange sucking sound reached my ears. A moment later, the debris of the collapsed building began to shift as head and shoulder of a necrotically animated murderer emerged from the rubble. Glaring at me for a moment, his clouded yellow eyes fell upon the sheriff’s body and a satisfied smile crossed his cracked lips.

“So the old heffer finally kicked it, huh? I knew I tasted some meat and marrow in that bite,” Jack’s chuckled, licking his chops as he pulled himself free of the wreckage. “But I think I’ve got a little room for some pony ala mode for dessert.”

“I can feel it in us, Aria. You know what he needs. You know what we need,” the Nightmare whispered. I knew exactly what she was talking about. It was boiling within me the moment I saw Jack’s disgusting head emerge from beneath the rubble. This monster had taken my friends from me, he had tried to take more, and I’m sure he had killed hundreds over his awful tenure in the wasteland as an undead horror. My entire body tingled before the flame even appeared in the back of my mind, flicking across my vision as I blinked.

“Give me your rage,” the flame ordered. My nose wrinkled and my lip twitched as my fury reached its peak. Letting out a roar that was more beast than pony, I drew my shield and sword as my magical aura transformed from blue to green.

“Gladly!” I screamed, charging Jack like a mare on fire. Because I was. I felt my mane and tail explode into plumes of green and blue balefire and my vision became tinged with an emerald light. Tendrils of shadow had even begun swirling around my hooves, but Jack was my only focus. The Nightmare Knight had emerged again. I had become rage personified and was ready to use the arcane power flowing through me to put Jack down with extreme prejudice.

“Gladly what?”

I didn’t answer. I roared after teleporting in front of him and slicing into his cheek. Again, my sword rang off like it was hitting armor, but this time I could see a glint of metal behind the fissure in his rotten flesh. Swinging my shield around, Jack flapped his wings and dipped his head under my strike while coiling it closer to his body. I missed my second strike, my shield only slamming into air, while my actual target’s lips curled up before releasing his viper like sting.

I leapt straight up as Jack’s razor sharp maw passed under my hooves by a hair’s breath. My hooves started pumping the moment they touched the back of Jack’s neck and I dove past him. As I did, I buried my blade into his back, just to the left of his spine and below her shoulder blades. Jack roared in pain and battered me with his wings, causing me to trip over them and roll off his back. And worse yet, as I tumbled I lost my grip on the Sword of Everfree.

Jack whipped around, his tail narrowly missing my head as I tumbled away. Kipping up to my hooves, the shadows whirling around me like ebony ribbons, Jack’s glossy eyes somehow burned with rage as he unleashed a gout of necrotically charged dragonfire that washed over me with a strange warmth and filled me with a sickly sweet energy as the emerald flames swirled around me and were absorbed into my mane and tail. The vortex subsided and Jack’s lip twitched as a low growl reverberated in his throat at the sight of me standing tall and burning bright.

“So everything Lilyrose said was true, huh? You really are a nightmare, and I’m guessing you really are that bastard kid that ruined King’s marriage,” he hissed. Striking at me, I brought my shield up and side stepped, the blow simply glancing off Golden Star’s Aegis.

“I ruined his marriage? He’s the one that killed my mother,” I spat back, flicking my blade and leaving a nice sized gash down his neck, but it again met with a layer of metal that I could now see was layered like silver scales. “What the hell?”

“Like it?” he laughed, swiping at me again, forcing me to back away, but he seemed to have been planning for that as he used his tail to force his lunge out even farther. My eyes went wide as I realized he was trying to crush me and I quickly flashed in and out of existence, appearing of the roof of the building behind him. Looking around on ground level, I watched him from above. “Only way anyone’s going to be killing me is cutting my head off, but that ain’t gonna happen. Had my neck and head plated with scale mail a few decades ago and let my skin grow back over it.”

“I have a few other ideas,” I shouted, leaping down, teleporting my sword into my grasp and bringing it down upon Jack’s tail. The Sword of Everfree cut deep and almost completely severed it, hanging on by only a few strands of sinew and skin. I followed it up with a slam using the edge of my shield, breaking through the bone and rending away the remaining flesh as Jack’s tail flopped on the ground like a fish out of water, the deadened nerves housed within clinging to a life they no longer truly had to begin with. “Let’s see you regenerate that.”

“Bitch!” Jack shrieked, whipping around to strike again with tooth and claw.

A flurry of claws bore down upon me, my shield and sword the only thing keeping them from separating my head from my shoulders. Each swipe sent a swath of air rushing past me and each parry strained my enhanced magical strength to keep my weapons within my grasp. But I had a plan, I just had to wait for Jack to fall into my trap.

Swiping at my side, my sword barely able to deflect the blow, Jack’s talons made contact with my armor and a horrible screech echoed through the night as his pinkie claw ripped into my armor, not quite reaching my flesh, but the blow still sent me staggering to the side and forced me to drop my guard to regain my balance. Seeing his opportunity, I watched Jack’s head recoil from me, making an ‘S’ shape before striking forward with the speed of a viper’s sting.

And that was just what I had be waiting for. Pulling the apple grenade off my chestplate and leaving the pin behind, I tucked and rolled while leaving the grenade floating behind me. I felt the heat and smelled the stench of Jack’s breath brush by me, his glazed eyes burning with hate and vitriol as he realized I had dodged his bite. Coming to a stop on my back, I immediately kipped up to my hooves and spun around to face him again. Jack stared at me for a moment, his eyes wide, before he swallowed hard and narrowed his eyes.

“Dumb bitch,” he chuckled, giving me a reality defying smirk.

A dull thud erupted from his stomach as Jack’s entire body spasmed. A moment later, his eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed in a heap. Brownstone’s grenade had come in handy, but it had come of use far too late. Jack was dead, but so was Iron Will and Steel Bill. The explosives may have been freely given, but the cost of their end result had been far too much. Turning back to the sheriff’s body, I started to approach to give him my final respects before returning to the battlefield so I could fulfill my promise to him.

“He’s dead, guys. Don’t worry. I’m going to kill all these raider sons of-”

That odd sucking sound cut me off, this time much louder than before, and I turned just in time to see Jack’s eyes snap open. A wave of disbelief and terror overwhelmed me as Jack shambled to his feet, smirking as he spied the fear in my emerald tinted eyes.

“You just figured it out, huh?”

“How the hell are you still alive? That grenade should have pureed your insides,” I said, trying to add an edge of a growl to make me seem less frightened, but my opponent’s logic defying resurrection had cooled my righteous fury and set my blood running cold.

“I’m from Canterlot. Maybe we were neighbors back in the day, huh? Can I borrow a cup of sugar. Maybe have you over for dinner?” he said mockingly before running his tongue across his lips.

“What does being from Canterlot have to do with coming back from a grenade going off inside you?” I asked, taking a step back reflexively and giving away the fear coursing through me that I was sure Jack could probably taste as he licked his chops. “I’m from Canterlot too.”

“Where the hell have you been? Everyone knows Canterlot ghouls can’t be killed unless you cut off our head.”

“Sorry I don’t know the past two hundred years of Equestrian History. I kind of got blown up stopping a balefire bomb in Canterlot and was thrown through time to the future,” I snapped back, feeling a little bit of my courage and anger returning as he mocked me.

“Huh? I figured this Nightmare mutation is what made you live this long. What the fuck were you doing tinkering with balefire bombs anyway,” Jack asked, curiosity seeming to peek out around his anger for a moment.

“I’m not wearing this armor because it’s comfy. I’m a Lunar Guard in service to Princess Luna. My duty was to protect the princesses and Equestria. I fell through time two hundred years to be here.”

The anger returned in a flash of blind fury I had not expected. Jack roared, lunging at me, trying more to crush me than to cut me to ribbons with his claws. Teleporting behind him, I had hardly a moment to react before he had spun around and was barreling down on me again. Backed into a figurative, and thankfully not literal, corner, I did the only sensible thing I could do. I ran.

“You served Luna?! You served the dumb bitch that got the only pony I ever cared about killed because she wouldn’t fucking give up her throne?” Jack shrieked as he gave chase, his clawed feet raking into the broken concrete beneath us and filling the night with an off putting sound akin to a horn raked across a chalkboard. “She took Dusk Shine from me!”

Leaping into the air, Jack came down on me like meteor crashing to earth. Teleporting again, I narrowly avoided being flattened and turned into dragon chow before rematerializing improperly and tripping, sending me flying forward and rolling to a stop in a small drainage ditch on the side of the street. Shaken and a little sore, I forced myself back up, picking up my scattered weapons and raising them in defense, and let my supernatural healing factor deal with the bruises.

“Dusk Shine?” I said under my breath, trying to figure out who he could be talking about. The name didn’t strike me as one I had heard before just now. Jack climbed out of the crater he had left in the road, only now realizing that the force of his pounce had actually collapsed the street in on itself, but something else was off.

“He was like a brother to me! I was his number one assistant and Luna let those fucking zebras turn us into this!” he screamed, holding up a ragged claw, ripped and rotten, but slowly regenerating. “King saved me from being a mindless ghoul in Canterlot, but Dusk Shine just roams the school. He’s nothing but a zombie now and it’s all because of you and your fucking princess!”

“You idiot! Starshine helped the zebra empire smuggle in the balefire bombs. He was aiding them in killing Equestria!” I screamed. I realizing all too late that I wasn’t the only one being fueled by anger in this fight.

I watched as Jack’s right claw balled into a fist and a deep growl erupted from the back of his throat. Then, much to my horror, his claws began to lengthen and his body began to swell. Jack’s dull amber eyes widened, taking on a sharpness focused by hatred and rage, as his wings stretched and grew. Sinew and flesh tore and mended itself, adding more and more to my draconic foe’s already hulking form. Rearing back onto his hind legs, Jack had grown to almost twenty feet tall and completely dwarfed me in size. Bearing his massive, sword length teeth, Jack let out a mighty, curse laden roar.

“You fucking lying stupid bitch mutant whore!”

“And we should be going,” The Nightmare said, and I couldn’t agree more. I felt her retract into my mind as my fight or flight response kicked into overdrive and overwhelmed her rage with terror. However, while most people would be bolting any which direction or frozen in place, I looked down at my Pipbuck and pulled up the local map before bolting down the street away from Jack.

“Take me home! Show me how to get home!” I shouted. In response, a map marker appeared on my EFS compass pointing me to the West and I gladly obliged. With Jack’s unnatural increase in size, he had gained power and strength beyond anything I could handle, but it also gave him a certain vulnerability. The metal plates under his skin would not have grown with him and I would have a better opening to remove his head from his shoulders.

However, as Jack came back down on all fours and gave chase, the concrete shattering beneath his mass, I knew that if I were unlucky enough to hit metal instead of flesh and bone, my sword wouldn’t cut it, literally, and I’d be open to an counterattack that would mean certain death for sure. I needed to get back to my house and get the Ripper in my desk drawer. Sure it would be messy and my house would most likely be destroyed in the process, but the barbaric weapon Buzzsaw had given me seemed to be my only chance at saving myself and Gigaton from Jack’s wrath.

Following the marker, I galloped down the street and around a corner. Jack charged after me, crashing through a building, but he seemed almost unfazed by the collision. It seemed his larger size made him less agile and he still hadn’t adjusted to the change. Thank goodness for small miracles, right? Metal wrenched and ripped as Jack tore his way back out of the house and continued chasing me.

As I turned the next corner and returned to the path my Pipbuck laid out for me, I came upon two groups, one made up of Gigaton citizens and the other obviously Flushers, in a heated fire fight on opposite sides of the street. As one, they both turned on me to fire, but were stopped when they caught sight of a nightmare in Lunar Guard armor.

“Get out of the way! Run!” I shouted as I rushed past them. However, they did not seem to listen to my words as they just watched me go by. One raider even dropped the pistol in his mouth as he stared at me, catching more flies than hints towards the impending danger bursting around the corner behind me. As the massive dragon rounded the bend, the townsfolk started to scramble for cover while the raiders cheered and hurled curses and epitaphs my way, unaware of their own impending death.

Jack let out a furious roar before unleashing a torrent of emerald flame down the street, consuming friend and foe alike while harmlessly being absorbed into my mane and tail. Infused with more necromantic power, I had more than enough magical power to effortlessly teleport to the rooftops above us on the right side. I needed to get Jack off the streets and stop him from killing innocent ponies (or even his own not-so-innocent allies).

“Bet you’ve gotten too fat to fly up here, huh?” I taunted before turning to follow my EFS marker towards my house in Gigaton. As I leapt across the narrow alleyway between buildings, Jack erupted from beneath an overhang behind me and took flight. If one was to take aerodynamics into consideration, Jack never should have been able to get off the ground, but like pegasus ponies, natural magic always trumped physics.

“Come back here, you little bitch!”

“I prefer playing hard to get,” I shouted back, eliciting an angry roar followed by the sound of heavy beating wings getting closer and closer. Levitating my shield backwards and using its polished silver surface as a rearview mirror, I saw Jack’s neck recoiling to strike as he smirked down on me from a few feet over my head. My horn flashed with an even brighter before I vanished, pulling myself out of the jaws of defeat. “Now I just need to find the victory here.”

“Just get us home and find that fucking Ripper!” The Nightmare screamed.

Wood cracked and splintered as Jack’s claws tore through the roof beneath him on take off. Using my shield as a mirror again, I watched him rip through the building before hopping to the left as a chunk of rafter was hurled my way, narrowly dodging it. The house beneath me began to groan from the impact while Jack lunged forward, swooping down to pounce upon me like a giant undead flying cat. The thought of a zombie manticore crossed my mind and I couldn’t decide which foe would be more terrifying.

Forced again to teleport a few houses forward, the constant shifting of my molecular structure starting to take a toll on me mentally, I reappeared safely a few houses over as Jack crashed through the roof I had been on only a microsecond earlier. Then without warning the entire building imploded and crashed down on him.

“Please don’t let anyone be in that building,” I said to no one in particular. I was quickly approaching the western wall and had to be getting close to my new home. Stopping, I scanned the rooftops for a house that looked remotely familiar, but there was a distinct problem with the stunted skyline laid out before me. My house had two floors, while all the buildings in the general vicinity were a single storey. “What the hay?”

Looking down at my Pipbuck, I noticed the dotted line leading me home continued past the walls of Gigaton on my Local Map. Furrowing my brow, I slowly switched over to the large world map and my heart sunk. I followed the line as it left Trottingham, continuing across the Marediterranean Sea, as it traveled back to Equestria and stopped on an empty square in the middle of my homeland marked “Canterlot.” When I had told my Pipbuck to take me home, it must have heard me say I was from Canterlot. My house in Gigaton wasn’t what the sophisticated yet stupid piece of Arcanotech considered my home.

This entire time I had been led back towards Canterlot.

A familiar sucking noise was followed almost immediately by a savage roar from within the wreckage of the demolished house. Frantically, I looked around for anything I could use to my advantage, some way for me to get to my house, or at least something that would help me fight back against my unstoppable foe. And when my eyes fell upon an enemy that had spurned my attempts to kill Jack before, a plan began to form in my mind like a thundercloud waiting for a swift kick from a weather pegasus. I smirked as the lightning strike of an actual strategy sprang to life and I teleported up to the wall.

Expecting to see an angry guard, I was instead greeted by the grisly sight of a mare, her head partially blown away by a rifle round, sitting in the chair of the plasma turret as a flock of shadowy voidowls ripped into her still warm flesh.

“Get away from her!” I snarled, charging the voidbeasts and scattering them with the mere force of my presence. Sadly, I removed the mare’s safety belt and lowered her gently to the parapet as a nearby explosion of flames told me Jack was ready for round three. Leaping into the seat, I set my plan into motion, spun the turret around, and took aim at the hulking dragon emerging from the wreckage below.

Jack caught sight of my flaming countenance almost immediately, unfurling his wings like a great demon from the pits of Tartarus and taking flight. I knew I had no chance to hit him with my current skill, however this time I had a new skill on my side. Slipping into SATS, I queued up three shots, grimacing internally at the fact that even when I was being magically aided by the most advance arcanotech of my time I could only achieve a sixty percent chance of success with each firing of the anti-air cannon.

Pulling the trigger three times, the world began to move again, speeding up at a gradual pace as filly sized globules of emerald plasma hissed across the sky towards Jack. The first shot hit home, striking Jack hard in the chest. This would have normally disintegrated just about anything short of a Raptor instantaneously, but an immortal undead dragon propelled by pure rage was something that could not be stopped by one magical blast.

Jack rolled with the hit, the next shot sailing wide, while the third struck his tail. Jack roared in pain as his tail vanished in a flash of magical energy and the other plasma bolt ate away at the flesh between his forelegs, but he wasn’t about to be stopped. As Jack crashed into the turret, I desperately held on as I was nearly bucked out of my seat. With blood red eyes glowing in the darkness, Jack used his unholy strength and ripped the muzzle clean off the anti-air gun, his razor sharp claws eviscerating the weapon with terrifying ease.

“You missed my head,” he snarled, crawling over the gun to look me in the eye with all the hate he had held inside him for over two hundred years.

“I wasn’t aiming for it,” I spat, firing a cone of ice from my horn before leaping out of my seat and off the wall. Jack tried to lunge after me, his jaws shooting towards me as I fell, but the thick layer of ice I had left around his right claw held him tight.

I slipped back in SATS for two reasons. My first reason was so I could queue up a lightning bolt to Jack’s head, hoping above all else that the metal wrapped around his skull wasn’t insulated by his dead flesh, before firing off the stunning blast with a ninety-five percent chance to hit while being magically guided. And the second reason, you may be asking? I wanted to see the look on his face when he saw the green banded apple grenade frozen to the turret console just next to his claw. And in the slowed down zen of SATS even I was able to see the pin I had pulled falling along with me.

My lightning bolt struck true, interrupting the signals to Jack’s brain for a few moments and making his escape from the ice in time all but impossible. Turning my attention to the ground, I focused my thoughts on the ground before teleporting there. Although I had only fallen ten feet, the acceleration I had generated continued as I reappeared, hitting the ground hard before rolling on the ground. A moment later a massive explosion ripped through Gigaton’s western wall and the concussive force of the blast knocked the wind from my lungs.

As I gasped for breath and struggled up onto my hooves, pretty sure I had sprained all of my fetlocks in the fall, I was already feeling the relief my natural healing factor was giving me as the radiation within me healed my wounds. Looking back at the green fire burning behind me, I smiled weakly as my EFS showed no blips. Jack was dead and now all I had left to do was take down Ace, rout the Flushers out of Gigaton, and hunt down Queen.

“Shit! I’m hit!” Shadow screamed over the radio, cutting my celebration short.

“Shadow! Come in! Can you hear me! Compass! Get to Shadow!” I screamed into my Broadcaster.

“I’m… I’m okay. The suit's keeping me together, but… Damn. How the fuck did she fire with her TK like that?” Shadow hissed before adding through labored breathing. “But I can sure as hell use some backup over here.

“Our ETA is three minutes! Hold on, Star Paladin Shadowbuck! I am not losing another brother to these fucking Flushers! You’re not dying on me!” Elder Marble Cake shouted over the radio.

“You okay, Aria?” Shadow asked weakly.

“Yeah. I got Jack. Blew him up by the western wall. He’s-”

I was cut off as the sound of an explosion ripped through the radio feed before all went silent. I waited a few moments, hoping beyond all hope that it would cut back on and Shadow would tell me he was alright. I’m ashamed to admit that I hoped the explosion had hit Buzzsaw and not Shadow, but when the Elder started screaming over the radio a few moments later I felt a part of me die inside.

“Shadow? Shadow… Shadow!” I screamed into my Pipbuck, tears rolling down my cheeks and evaporating half way down. My entire body shook as the flames of my sorrow and fury flared all around me, bathing the area in radiation and sending my Pipbuck into a fury of clicks that sounded more like a scream than a single repeating noise. But as I screamed at every evil being in the universe that had taken so much from me, I failed to feel the air around me stir or hear the vacuum sucking the ambient energy as a familiar dark ritual worked its disturbing magic.

“Just die already!” Jack roared as he burst out of the wreckage.

His already disturbing form was now even more mangled and disfigured. An open wound devoid of blood was exposed on his back where his left wing had been while his entire right foreleg had been disintegrated and cauterized so that hardly a stump remained. Stretched skin attempted to regrow over the metal plates beneath his neck and skull, but it was regenerating much slower than it should have with all the radiation I was outputting from my mane and tail. Propelled to life by a mixture of necromantic magic and pure hatred, Jack’s lumbering body should not have been able to move.

However, he was more than fast enough to scoop me up in his right foreclaw before I could react. My horn glowed as I tried to teleport away, but I couldn’t before he slammed me down with the force of a steam train into the concrete beneath us. My head whipped back, cracking hard against the ground, shattering my concentration and making my horn go dark again. Another quick slam almost caused me to lose consciousness, but more importantly was the fact that the Nightmare’s power suddenly left me, my mane and tail becoming simple hair again and my healing factor disappearing.

Concussed, I was barely able to feel anything as Jack lifted up onto his hind legs and took me up with him. I stared at him through half lidded eyes, his torn and broken face somehow turning up into a wicked sneer. A low chuckle rumbled in his throat as a wicked idea entered his mind. The higher functions of my own brain couldn’t even comprehend what was coming next, but that didn’t stop the rest of my body from sending a million signals like fire through my nervous system. Flexing his hand, Jack squeezed with all his draconic might as my armor bent, bones broke, and I screamed in agony.

My head lolled back as I barely clung to consciousness. If it weren’t for the fact that my stomach was doing back flips and making sleep impossible, I would slipped away without a second thought. My eyelids were barely able to stay open although the sight of Jack’s smug look of triumph was not one I wished to be seeing. A satisfied smirk caused the rage to melt from his sagging, decomposed face, but it was still just as terrifying to behold.

“You know, I should be mad that you fucked me up this bad, but I’m not. It’s been a while since I got to taste pony. Do you want to know what the best way to eat a mare is, Nightmare Knight?” he asked before squeezing again. Crying out in pure anguish, my vision went white and I lost my ability to even process sensory input through any of my senses. Convulsing in his grip, a blurred image began to form before distant words reached my brain. “Tenderized and blackened.”

As I began to focus again, I could barely make out Jack’s mouth opening wide in front of me and the dull sound of deep inhalation could be heard over my heart pounding in my ears. Then, without warning, I opened my own mouth and did the only thing my body would allow me to do. I unleashed a torrent of rainbow colored vomit, spraying Taint through both my mouth and nose, and coating the inside of Jack’s massive maw in technicolor radioactive bile.

“Gah!” he screamed, dropping me without hesitation to claw at his throat as the magical waste began eating away at him from the inside out. Even the metal plating the roof of his mouth nor the armor running down his spine were immune to the Taint’s caustic effects, flesh bubbled and burst before being eaten by the vile liquid. As Jack’s claw ripped into his neck and released some of it onto his hands, his dead eyes bulged while even more of him began to dissolve away. The screaming abruptly stopped as Jack’s voice box melted away and he collapsed to the ground next to me.

I stared at him, unable to move and barely able to breathe. He looked so pathetic and yet a part of me was smiling. Physically, I couldn’t even attempt to grin while my body pulsed with an unending pain, but I was smiling internally at the sight of Jack’s head dissolving before me until his body convulsed one last time and he went still. But the Taint wasn’t done. I continued to watch, a captive audience within my own dying body, as more and more of the undead dragon disappeared into the black goo that the Taint had become. A minute later, nothing but a foul smelling puddle remained of the once terrifying beast. Jack was dead and there was no regenerating from that.

But I wasn’t regenerating either. My Pipbuck’s diagnostics were showing massive damage for every part of my body, including a cracked skull. Four broken legs, some fractured ribs, a badly bruised tailbone and the inability to use my magic made accessing the Super Rejuvenation Potion in my saddlebags impossible. The dull thudding against my temples was almost a countdown clock to my inevitable death. As I lay on my side, staring at the remains of Gigaton’s Western Wall, I started to drift into the void beyond anguish, allowing the darkness to consume me.

“I’m coming, Shadow,” I whispered, my eyes starting to lose focus as I floated away on a cloud of pain induced numbness.

And then I saw her, descending from the heavens on ebony wings, calling my name in the most beautiful voice, came Princess Luna, bathed in a radiant glow. She seemed worried, but I knew why. She was here early. My Princess had come for me just a little too soon. “Don’t worry,” I thought. “I’ll be ready to go with you in a few moments.”

Closing my eyes, I felt her lips cool against my own as she gave me the kiss to release me from my pain. I wasn’t into mares, but if it were Princess Luna, I guess I wouldn’t mind. Then something cool ran down my throat, filling my insides with a cold infusion of magic and my eyes snapped back open. Standing above me, her eyes filled with tears and worry, was Melody, holding a bottle of Super Rejuvenation Potion to my lips.

“Aria, can you hear me?”

I nodded weakly, slightly disappointed that I really hadn’t seen Princess Luna, but also overjoyed to see my niece again.

“Thank the Goddesses,” she cried, taking me into a hug that forced a pained hiss from my raw and bloody throat. “Oh Celestia! I’m sorry. I-um-Oh goodness. I need to get Compass here, but I can’t leave you alone. I-”

“I’ll take care of her,” a sweet little girl’s voice said as somepony approached from behind me. “I have some herbal remedies that should keep her from going into shock long enough for you to get a doctor here. She shouldn’t be moved.”

“You will? You do? Thank you. I’ll be right back,” Melody told me before taking to the skies again. As she flew away from us back towards Gigaton proper, I heard her call back “Take care of her, Kaiari!”

“Kaiari?” I rasped, barely able to form the words. Turning my whiplash afflicted neck, I caught a glimpse of black and white stripes and my empty stomach turned.

“Don’t worry, Miss Nightmare Knight. Just stay still and I’ll help you,” she told me while rubbing some horrible zebra concoction onto my wounds. I would have run or fought just to keep her away from me, but my body was so broken that one of the most powerful magical potions ever concocted by the Ministry of Peace had only brought me from Death’s Apartment Door to immobilizing pain and a body full of fractures and torn ligaments.

After covering my exposed skin in the strange, mint scented salve, Kaiari started removing my armor and tearing through my underbarding to apply it to the rest of my skin. I felt violated as I clenched my eyes shut against the tears streaming down my blood and dirt covered face. Every moment the zebra filly touched me made me feel even more filthy than I already was at that moment. I was having trouble breathing and my heart felt heavy and sick, but I soon began to realize something that gave me pause.

My body felt numb. Not in that weird way when you sit for too long and your leg falls asleep and I definitely wasn’t paralyzed. I could still feel the ground beneath me, but my body wasn’t processing any pain. Whatever she had done, Kaiari’s poultice had somehow taken away my pain.

“Alright. This salve should stop your brain from processing pain and keep you from going into shock. I just hope Miss Melody brings help soon,” she said calmly.

“There won’t be any need for a doctor, Kaiari, but we might need a mortician,” Tekash said as he emerged from the darkness of the wall in front of us. Clad in what appeared to be a ceremonial armor and some type of shamanistic mask, Tekash sent painful shivers down my bruised spine that even Kaiari’s salve couldn’t cover up. As a low whimper passed from my lips, Tekash chuckled with content. “Oh how the Maiden of the Stars has fallen.”

“What do you mean, Tekash?” Kaiari asked, stepping over me far easier than a filly of her stature should have been able to achieve.

“Only that it’s time to fulfill my destiny, Kaiari. It’s time for me to be the hero I’ve always been meant to be,” he said, his voice cold and determined. “I must stop her.”

“Stop her from what? Saving us? She just killed Jack and led the Steel Rangers here. The Nightmare Knight saved us,” she replied, drawing a large blue boomerang from her back, and taking a defensive stance. The weapon was nearly as long as she was and I was quite shocked that she had the strength to wield it. “I promised Melody that I would help her. Don’t come any closer, Tekash. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“How can a little filly like you hurt me? I have a destiny I must fulfill. The Eternals have marked her as the Maiden of the Stars. If I don’t kill her, then she will bring about the end of the world,” Tekash said calmly, his voice unnaturally steady for someone talking about killing another living being. This was the barbarism I had always been taught sat hidden in the hearts of every zebra. Yet it was surreal that my protector, the only one standing between me and my murderer, was a zebra herself.

“Bullshit!” she cursed, catching me by surprise. I hadn’t expected a young girl to curse like that. “Your readings have always been fake and your spiritual affinity is barely strong enough to sense spirits. Your little card tricks aren’t divinely inspired at all.”

“I know what I saw, Kaiari! Dream gave me a clue to her true identity! He gave me my mission!” he said, finally raising his voice before pulling a machete from his side holster.

“And Lifebloom and Death gave me mine!” she shouted back, stopping him cold.

“What did you say?”

“You heard me. The Goddesses of Life and Death came to me over a month ago. They said a mare clad in the armor of the moon and bearing balefire in her eyes would come and save us. First from the bomb and again when the darkness came to destroy us all. That’s why I had all those radiation absorbing totems ready before the bomb started leaking,” she explained. “Please, Tekash, don’t do this. She has a destiny she must fulfill and…”

“And what?” he asked around the handle of his machete.

“And they said she would be able to remove my curse,” she said, looking down on me out of the corner of her eye. I could see a glimmer of hope residing there, but I could not understand what she meant by her curse. She seemed like a normal filly to me, aside from being a zebra that is.

“You know that is impossible, sister. You are lucky to still be alive after your foolishness with killing joke. Now step aside,” he said, waving the machete threateningly.

“I cannot. Can’t you see that this is wrong, Tekash. She is a hero, not a monster,” Kaiari tried to argue.

“Of course she is. You saw what she became,” her brother countered, giving my filly protector a moment of pause.

“I don’t know what that was, but I trust in the spirits and in the Eternal Ones. They tell me she is a hero and she is good. You know nothing but lies.”

“How can you say that? When have I ever lied to you?” Tekash snarled, hurt by her accusation.

“Not me. Check,” she spat, her words striking him like a bullet through his heart.

“I had to. She-”

“Can’t have kids? So? You broke her heart and lied to her so she wouldn’t know how awful you really are. She just wanted love and she didn’t deserve that. I…” She stopped mid sentence as if her tongue refused to work, and it might have been the concussion talking, but there was something more there. I just couldn’t put two and two together at that moment since my body was numb and my mind was still suffering from some minor internal bleeding.

“What has come over you?” he hissed, his mask no longer hiding the frustration that his voice now betrayed.

“Nothing’s come over me. I just finally have the courage to stand up for what I believe in. I’ve been too much of a doormat for far too long, but sometimes you have to show some tough love to get through to people,” she replied, standing confidently before me, my diminutive defender. “I love you, Tekash. You’re my brother. But you’re making a big mistake.”

“I’m not! I have to kill her! I have to save us all! She’s the Maiden! The Destroyer! She will bring about the darkness!” Tekash screamed, his composure finally breaking like a dam bursting under the stress of a storm. “This is not what mother and father would have wanted for us! We should be working together to destroy her! Why are you defying me!”

“Ask them,” Kaiari replied cooly, nodding behind her brother. Following her gaze, my eyes went wide as two figures materialized out of the shadows beneath the walls of Gigaton. One I knew already, carrying her scythe and wearing her signature glasses was Death, but by her side was an alicorn whose appearance and poise screamed goddess on a level that perhaps only Celestia and Luna could rival, but even that would be a stretch.

Her coat was an emerald green that glistened as if she were damp with new morning dew while her mane and tail composed of a braid of vines that writhed of their own accord between the circlets of flowers that held her ‘hair’ in place neatly over her left shoulder. Each ring of flowers was a sight to behold, red roses were followed by orange orchids and yellow tulips. It took me a moment to realize that each band made out the colors of the rainbow and added even more to her otherworldly beauty. And as she walked, untainted critters and birds flitted about around her head, nesting within the vines, while plants burst forth into being with every step she took on the broken cement.

“Lady Lifebloom. Lady Death,” Kaiari said reverently, bowing before the Goddesses of Life and Death. Lifebloom smiled softly like a mother to her child while Death gave a simple wave. Tekash, on the other hoof, was just as shocked as me.

“Yo. She gonna be okay, kid?” Death asked, looking my way, her face actually betraying a bit of worry.

“I think so. Her doctor friend is on his way and her wounds aren’t fatal anymore as long as my salve stops her brain’s ability to process pain,” Kaiari explained.

“Two…” Tekash said, trying to struggle through the shock of being in the two alicorns’ presence.

“That’s good,” Death sighed. Lifebloom look over at the puddle of dragon behind us and frowned.

“Oh no,” she said softly, approaching the radioactive goo. Looking to me, she smiled. “This will not do. Perhaps that new plant you helped create will work better here.”

Plucking a flower from her mane, it transformed in her hoof into a glowing green seed that she carefully placed within the disgusting bosom of Jack’s remains. Lifebloom stepped back, humming a little tune, as the seed’s aura began to grow, permeating the ground and spreading out from the planting site. Then, as if that one spot on the ground outside of Gigaton had been sped up while the rest of the world continued on as normal, sprouts of green grass began to burst forth while a winding sapling spiraled up towards the sky, becoming thicker and darker until it became a lone tree among the death and decay of the Trottingham Ruins.

“Given time, more of those radiation removing fruit should blossom,” Lifebloom said to Death as the white alicorn walked up by her side.

“You always had a green hoof, babe,” Death said, giving her a sad smile. The term babe should have given their relationship away to me, but that was too obvious. What I did notice was the longing in Death’s voice and the invisible barrier that seemed to exist between them. My eyes wandered back to Lifebloom and I watched her eyes take on a similar sadness while looking down at Death’s hooves. When I followed her gaze, I watched as the grass left in Lifebloom’s wake withered and died under Death’s touch.

“Two…” Tekash repeated with a snarl, clenching his teeth around his machete. “My entire life I prayed to your pantheon! My family has served for generations while you remained silent! But now you reveal yourself because of this mare? The very Maiden of the Stars! The prophesied destroyer!”

“She is not who you think, Tekash,” Lifebloom sadly coldly.

“Dream sent me a sign! A true reading! I know what she is!” he screamed at them. Kaiari stepped up, making sure to keep herself between her brother and me, what little help it would do to be honest.

“Dream didn’t send you a sign like that, you moron. My brother knows who she is and believes in her far too much to give any gypsy with a tarot deck a prophecy that would stop her. Plus, he’s all about visions and dreams, not cards and crystal balls,” Death explained, although her tone and word choice just set Tekash more on edge. Actually, there was very little passion in her words. It was almost as if she were reading a script.

“Liar! I know what I saw! I know my destiny! I will be the hero that the world will sing about and paint murals of my greatness on every wall! I will kill the Maiden of the Stars!”

Whipping back around, his eyes trained on my bare chest, he charged. Kaiari screamed for him to stop, stepping between us before hurling her boomerang at her brother. Deftly ducking under his sister’s projectile, Tekash slammed his shoulder into her face, sending the little zebra girl tumbling backwards, cutting a full flip, before landing hard on her belly. I couldn’t move, my body was broken and numb beyond any attempt to roll away or dodge, as Tekash lifted his blade and swung it down on me.

I looked to Death and saw her turn her head, her eyes clenched shut while Lifebloom looked on sadly. Sharp pain overwhelmed my mind as his machete cut through the soft tissue of my throat just below my voice box while hot blood sprayed all over my chest and already began to ooze down my windpipe and into my lungs. I tried to scream, but only a low gurgle escaped my lips while my entire body spasmed. Lifting the blood coated blade again, fierce and mad determination in his eyes, I heard Melody scream as she and Compass cleared the wall behind him.

“No!” Kaiari cried as she leapt at her brother. Pulling a bone off her back and let the cloth wrapped around its end fall away, a pretty blue flower was revealed to be dangling by a loop of coarse thread. Swinging it at Tekash with tears rolling down her face, he stopped, his face a mask of terror as the club hit him.

Letting out a blood curdling scream that almost stopped my heart, I witnessed his entire body begin to sag and morph into some sort of black and white liquid, as if he had become ink and liquid paper. Dropping his weapon, Tekash stared down on his sister with a look that I could only take as confusion over her betrayal, while his body started being pulled, piece by globular piece, towards the far wall. Bubbles of ink struck steel, painting a mural of the would be shaman, clad in golden armor and smiling down on swooning mares as he lifted a bloody sword above his head. When the final ball of Tekash’s magically warped body struck, the mural was complete, glorifying the conquering hero while he looked down on me as I drowned in my own blood.

“Aria!” Melody screamed as she landed. Compass immediately set to work, expertly telling Melody what to do and somehow stopping her from going into hysterics as I coughed and writhed on the ground.

Kaiari was not so lucky. Collapsing to the ground next to me, she wept uncontrollably as she stared up at the mural that had only moments before been her brother. Whatever zebra curse she had place on him, I don’t think this had been her intention. Melody seemed torn as she helped Compass. She obviously wanted to save my life, but a part of her did not want to see the little filly hurting and crying.

“Kaiari. We need your help. She’ll die if we can’t clear her lungs. I can intubate her, but I need someone to help her clear the blood from her wound and let her cough it up,” Compass said calmly, yet sternly while pulling a plastic tube and pump out of his doctor’s bag. Shaking and still crying, Kaiari nodded and pulled herself back up and started chanting something over me between sobs.

My breath caught, which was impressive since I had hardly any air in my lungs. The burning agony began to subside, but the sudden absence of anything in my chest replaced it. My body spasmed uncontrollably and my head began to swim. Strangely enough, the chanting actually did something that defied physics, both natural and magical, as the blood began to rise from my lungs and spill out of the gaping hole in my neck instead of running down my throat as gravity intended. Coughing and sputtering, I spat up the remaining blood before wheezing and choking for air. The oxygen my body so desperately needed was not cooperating though.

“Not exactly what I expected, but that works,” Compass said, before gently touching my lower neck with a hoof. “Just as I thought, her windpipe has almost completely collapsed,” he said before taking out a silver medical tool and opening my mouth and throat with it. Then, with almost expert precision, Compass used his magic to work the plastic tube down my throat and past the wound. “Melody, take this and pump every few seconds to give her oxygen. Kaiari, keep doing what you’re doing.”

Melody obliged, taking the pump and pushing it together slowly. As she did, I felt cool air fill my burning lungs. This kept me alive, but also had the added bonus of returning air to my brain, which mainly allowed me to focus on the immeasurable pain wracking my body. Compass swore, which was the first time I think I had ever heard him do that, as the needle he was using to stitch me up slipped when I began to shake and writhe in pain.

“Shit! She’s going into shock. We need to do something to stop her from feeling pain. I’m almost tapped out of magic so an anaesthetic spell would be… Wait! Melody! Get her memory orb!” he shouted, which surprised me even more.

“Hold your breath,” Melody told me, but I wasn’t in much of a position to oblige. Being in the middle of a pain induced seizure made simple commands impossibly difficult. The fact that I was still able to process what was going on around me was a miracle in and of itself. Pulling the orb up on my Pipbuck’s sorter, which caused another spike of pain since she moved my broken leg in the process, Melody flicked my brother’s memory orb to Compass who clumsily caught it in his telekinetic grasp. With the spark of magic he applied to my horn, the orb made contact and I slipped away into a memory of the past. As the world dissolved around me, the image of Tekash’s death mural was the last thing I saw before it all faded away.

But this time I was terrified to enter the historical scene contained within the purple orb. I didn’t know if I would survive long enough to enjoy it. I was dying, bleeding out as my friends and a zebra tried to save me. To make matters worse we were in the middle of a warzone, psychopathic raiders were all around and thirsty for vengeance and death.

But that wasn’t the thing that had me most terrified. I had one question on my mind the entire time I watched my brother’s journey to reconstruct the Dragonfire Shield with our aunts at his side. It would have set my blood to ice if I knew it wasn’t currently floating above my neck due to some sort of zebra voodoo, but it was chilling all the same.

“If you died while your mind was in a memory orb and you didn’t have a body to return to when it was done, what happened to you?”

______________________________________________________________

Footnote: Level Up
Sneak Skill: 75
New Perk: Piercing Strike: All of your Melee and Unarmed Strike now ignore 10 DT of armor. Too bad you didn’t have this perk before your fought Jack, huh?
Author’s Notes: I’m so sorry. I’ve had a lot of stuff happening in my life since May, but six months is too much. I’m so sorry again. If you want to know, what’s been happening will be posted in a blog post. I’ve already started work on “Chapter 15 - Home Again, Home Again.” I hope to have it finished next month. Thanks again to my editor, Chimpso, and all of you loyal readers. Thanks for sticking with me and continuing to read Aria’s story.