I screamed through my clenched teeth, fighting hard not to spasm as agony ripped through me. Torment blazed in my chest like a terrible fire, forcing tears to leak from my tightly shut eyes. For a moment it stopped, leaving me gasping in pain. I allowed myself to believe it was over for a second, only to howl as it started again.

“Oh please, you’re worse than a newborn foal!” The voice of my tormentor snapped at me.

Opening my eyes, I glared at him through my tears. “You try having somepony yank around your broken fucking rib!”

“I asked you if you wanted Med-X…” The crystal medic huffed, his horn lighting up again as he continued to try and set the bone.

“Can’t, it’s addictive.” I hissed, pain making my words short. “Had too much. Can’t risk more.”

“You know addiction can be treated, right?” He said, squinting through a dirty magnifying glass attached to his face by metal rod on a headband. “Well, not by me. Never learned it. Luckily for you…” His magic jerked one last time, drawing a pained scream from me. “I can treat this. It’s my specialty.” He scanned my chest one more time through the glass and nodded in satisfaction. “There you go, back where it should be.”

I lay there, wallowing in the dull burning that permeated my ribcage. I was on my back, arms out to the side, lying with my greatcoat open so that the medic could have access to my broken chest. I stared at the rough stone ceiling of the crystal ponies’ home cave, radiating soft pastel colors from the enchanted gems drawn from the rock as the doctor wrapped my chest in a fresh set of magical bandages. When he finished, Clarity spoke to him. “Thank you, Fractal.”

“She’s fortunate it didn’t slip and pierce her lung, what with all the running around she was doing. But I’ve got it set tight, a few days rest and healing potions will have her back to normal.” Fractal prescribed. “And perhaps you could teach her to be more grateful while you’re at it.”

Turning my head to the medic, I gave my best Cat O’ Nine Tails smile. “Thanks.” Snorting, he trotted away.

“You should be nicer to the pony who is fixing you up, Sleet.” Clarity said, sitting next to me.

“Tell him to learn an anesthetic spell and I’ll think about it.” I muttered.

“We have painkillers.” She reminded me.

“Addictive painkillers.” I reiterated. “Given everything that still needs to be done, the last thing I need to worry about is having an addiction.”

“I suppose.” She said. We sat there in silence for a bit, me laying on my back staring at the ceiling while she focused on something with her magic. “Here,” she said, handing me a healing potion, slightly glowing with power.

“Thanks.” I took the vial and drank the magical concoction in one gulp. I took a long, slow breath as the magic began to knit my abused body back together. It wouldn’t finish the job, but it would go a long way. The silence between us stretched on for several seconds before I spoke up. “Is something bothering you, Clarity?”

“You mean other than watching my father nearly murder my friend?”

“I don’t blame him for reacting that way, or Looking Glass for ordering it.” I said. “I did admit that I was working with an unspeakably evil nightmare pony that they all thought was dead.” I could still feel the blade hovering mere inches from my neck. Swallowing hard, I said. “Still, it turned out for the best.”

Amidst rather vocal arguments from the other Confessors, Looking Glass had accepted my testimony. I was allowed to keep my head and stay in the crystal hideout until I was fit to travel, but the elder stallion had warned that they were not siding with me, at least not yet. “We have neither the strength, nor the resources to assist you.” He had said. “Perhaps if this foolhardy plan comes to its climax we will help you then, but not a moment before.”

I had accepted that and thanked him for believing me. It was around that point that my rib had started to pain me again, so Clarity escorted me from the Confessor’s chamber to visit the medic. Scout and Jackpot had stayed behind to face the Trial themselves. Looking Glass wanted every angle on this he could get, and I didn’t blame him. This was like an earth pony approaching the Enclave High Command and saying Rainbow Dash was coming, but they had a plan to slow her down.

I turned my head to look at the magic rocks that concealed the entrance to the Confessor’s chamber. I had wanted to witness Scout’s trial, but the demands of my broken body had taken precedence. “I hope my screaming didn’t disturb them.” I said, nodding in the direction of the chamber.

“I doubt it.” Clarity said. “The entrance to the Confession Chamber is heavily enchanted. Depending on the desires of the Confessors, sounds can’t get in or out, allowing for full privacy if they need it.”

“Fascinating,” I muttered “Is there a chamber like that in every one of your hideouts?”

“Can’t say.” Clarity said, shrugging. “This is only the second safe place I’ve been to. I know there was one in my old home, but that’s about it.”

“Was it as grandiose as that one?”

“I didn’t see much of it.”

More silence. “Clarity,” I said “There’s something else bothering you?” It was more a statement than a question.

She was quiet a little longer before saying hesitantly, “Why didn’t you just tell them what happened when Cat O’ Nine Tails caught you?”

My throat tightened a bit as I answered. “What do you mean?”

“You purposefully dodged that question.” She said. “I understand why you didn’t want to talk about the Enclave or what happened to your family, but why not answer that?”

“Why not?” I laughed humorlessly. “Why would I? After what I’d already said, what kind of impression would that leave? ‘Sleet Gray, mass murderer, slave trader’.” I snorted. “Yeah, that would have gone over well.”

“But you saw how Looking Glass reacted to what happened to your family.” She said. “Why do you think he wouldn’t accept that?”

“And how did the rest of them react, hm?” I asked. “You have the magic eyes, how did the other Confessors react when they learned I was a murderer?” Her silence was all the answer I needed. “Exactly! There’s more at stake here than the opinion of one pony, no matter how much influence he carries.” I leaned up on an elbow to face her even though it pained my chest. “Clarity, I bought you.” I hissed, keeping my voice low even though we were alone. “How do you think they’d have taken to that?”

“But you set me free!” She argued.

“It doesn’t matter!” My voice was growing more heated. She was hitting me with my own rationalizations, but rather than calm me down they were pissing me off. Coming from her, I could see the holes in them. “None if that matters! I should have known! I should have found another way!" I was slowly raising myself up as my rant grew in volume. "I should have done something different!” I was screaming by this point, leaning forward on both forehooves towards her. “I should have thought instead of panicking like some pathetic fucking foal!” I stomped a hoof, sending a jolt of agony across my rib. One of my knees buckled while I wrapped the other hoof around my chest, gasping in pain.

“Lie down.” Clarity said, her voice shockingly even, after my tirade. “You’re going to dislodge your rib again.”

Slowly, I return to my position on my back, one hoof still cradling my ribcage. “There’s no excuse for me.” I said, wheezing slightly. “If I’d done something, anything, differently…”

“Then I’d still be a slave.” She said, cutting me off. “Or Scout would be dead. Or you would be dead. Any number of other things could have happened.” She for a second her calm was shaken, but it returned with a sigh. “If you never stop second guessing yourself, then how can you expect to get anything done?” I stared at the celling silently, having no answer to give. Shaking her head, she stood and started walking toward the Confessor’s Chamber. “Get more rest. I’m going to check on the Trial.”

She stood and walked back through the magic rocks. I watched her go out the corner of my eye before returning my gaze to the ceiling. I watched the soft pastel lights, but they brought no peace to my swirling thoughts, only distracted me from the whirlwind of doubts in my heart and mind. I closed my eyes and draped my wings over my face, hoping some darkness would let me focus. But the lights didn’t go away. They shone through my eyelids, causing the veins to stand out against thin red skin. I cracked open an eye, wondering why my feathers weren’t blocking the light.

I was peering through the ghostly image of my wing.

A mixed sound of disgust, and fear caught in my throat as I instinctively twitched away from my own wings. Mutant. I lashed out with my hooves, pinning my wings to either side where I couldn’t see them. Mutant. I squeezed my eyes shut until they hurt, trying desperately to block out the light. Mutant.

“Shut up!” I screamed, throwing my hooves over my ears.

I sat like that for a minute, engulfed in darkness and silence. It would have been peaceful if I wasn’t so scared. Scared of what I’d done, what I had to do, scared of my own fucked up body. All of that lurked outside my little sphere of quiet, knowing I couldn’t hide forever.

I felt something tap my shoulder. Jolting away from the contact, I opened my eyes to see who or what touched me. An older crystal unicorn mare was giving me a worried look. She had an iridescent pink mane and ruby red coat and was wearing the robes of a Confessor. She said something, but I was still covering my ears and didn’t hear her. Shaking my head in an attempt to regain my composure, I removed my hooves and asked “I’m sorry, what?”

“I asked if you were alright.” She said, sitting next to me. “You looked so scared.”

“There’s…a lot I have to deal with.” I said, lying my arms to the side. I tried to relax my muscles but couldn’t. ”You’re a Confessor?” I asked, glancing at her.

“Yes. I wasn’t able to oversee your Trial, but I received word of the verdict.” She reached a hoof towards me. “My name is Facet.”

“Sleet Gray.” I shook her hoof, though the angle was awkward.

“It’s nice to meet you, Sleet Gray.”

“If you say so.” I said, shaking my head. “Ponies who meet me rarely benefit from it.”

“That’s awfully pessimistic.” She said. “Are you sure there is nopony who’s ever gained something from knowing you?”

I recalled what Clouds had said to me before we left Meltwater. It was nice having a pony around who actually knew what I was talking about. But she was one of how many? How much did the companionship of one eccentric pony compare to everything else I’d done? “Even if there is, it hardly balances out.”

“Perhaps you need some outside perspective. After all, it’s hard to see how balanced a scale is when you only look from one side.” I snorted in irritation. I was getting really sick of ponies trying to cheer me up. Still, she refused to quit. “Are you sure you cannot find even a little light? If you stay so pessimistic you’ll never move forward.”

“And maybe I shouldn’t!” I snapped. “Maybe I should just give up. Look at me!” I gestured at myself. “I’m a mutant freak who can barely keep herself alive and in one piece!”

“Mutant?” She asked.

“Look at these!” I screamed, thrusting my wings toward her. “You think this is normal? You think this is natural?”

“I didn’t know what to think about them.” She admitted, speaking in a soothing voice. “You are the first pegasus I’ve ever seen. I assumed they were supposed to be that way.”

“Well they’re not.” I growled, letting them drop back out of sight. “I almost wish the radiation had killed me instead…”

“You shouldn’t say that.” Facet said firmly. “No matter how bad it seems, you should always be thankful you have a life, and that it can get better. Besides, they are quite beautiful.”

That snapped something. I began to stuff my wings back in the pockets of my greatcoat. “No. They. Aren’t.” I growled. “They’re wrong, they’re mutant…” Because I was laying on the coat rather than wearing it, I was having a hard time putting them away. “They’re broken, aberrant, deviant…” My feathers started to bunch and bend. More than once I bounced them painfully off the ground. “Filthy…” My throat felt constricted. “Stupid…” Tears burned in my eyes. “Useless…” I choked out a sob and slumped in defeat. “Just like their owner…”

I hunched over my abused wings even though it pained my chest, tears of anger and frustration wetting my face. I felt Facet wrap her arms around me in a hug, which I quickly broke away from. “Just…don’t, please.” I said through my tears. “Freaks like me don’t deserve help from normal ponies like you.”

“I hardly think you look like a freak.” She said firmly. “And even if you are mutated, you’re still a pony. Everypony deserves help when they need it. Take your…um…” her forehead wrinkled as she looked for the proper words “zombie friend. Would you refuse him aid if he needed it? Even before your wings changed.”

I sniffed and wiped my eyes, feeling ashamed of breaking down in front of this stranger. I needed to stop doing that with kindly surface ponies. “I actually met Jackpot before this happened.” I explained. “I didn’t know that ponies like him could even be sane until then.” I shook my head. “Even then that hardly counts. I only helped him because we were both stuck in the same problem.” After I second I continued. “And he’s called a ghoul. Zombies are when ghouls lose their minds and attack living ponies.” I shuddered at the thought of the screaming corpses. “Jackpot is fine though, he’s got his head on right, and he’s a good pony.”

“There, you just said it.” Facet said. “’He’s a good pony’. Even though he’s a ghoul, you called him a pony. What makes you any less of a pony than him?”

“But I’m not a ghoul, and I’m not a whole pony either! I’m just something…between.”

“But you are still as much of a pony inside as he is.” She smiled encouragingly, but could tell I wasn’t buying it. Not to be deterred, she continued. “And no matter what you may think, I meant what I said earlier.” She reached out and brushed a few of the crumpled feathers. “I imagine this is what the wings of a crystal pegasus would look like.” I spasmed away from her touch, holding a hoof over the wing. She blinked in surprise at my reaction. “Did I do something wrong?”

“You don’t just touch another pony’s wings!” I said accusatorily. “What if I just poked your horn?”

“Sorry, I didn’t know.” She said, holding up her hooves in a placating manner.

Right, first pegasus. I sighed. “Never mind, its fine.” I laid back down, refusing to look at my wings. “We’ll never find out if they look crystal or not anyway. Those pegasi are all dead.”

“How did you know that?” Facet asked, surprised.

“The government I grew up in solely consisted of pegasi. They don’t care about anything that doesn’t have wings. The fact that crystal pegasi are extinct was practically the only thing I knew about the Crystal Empire before meeting Clarity, because it’s the only thing they bothered to record.”

“I understand.” She nodded. “But what is it like? Having wings, I mean.”

“Um…” I rubbed my head, thinking. This was worse than Clarity’s question about the sun. “Well…what’s it like having a horn?”

She blinked and laughed. “Alright, you got me there. I guess what I was really trying to ask is what is flying like?”

I looked up at the ceiling, imagining the blue sky so very far away. “I haven’t really flown in a long time. But if I had to describe it…” eventually the proper metaphor came to me “it’s like running through your house as fast as you can.” I continued to stare at the ceiling, thinking about the last time I flew free without fearing the Enclave. I had been soaring over Coltarado Heights as high as I could go, which admittedly wasn’t very far. Still, the city had looked like a foal’s toys below me as I’d turned in the currents of air, the sun beating down from the heavens, just barely hot enough to be uncomfortable without the cool wind.

I realized I was staring up, smiling like an idiot when Facet cleared her throat. Rapidly returning my attention to her, I felt my cheeks heat with embarrassment. “Oh, sorry!”

“It’s alright.” She said jovially. “But I’m afraid I don’t get the metaphor.

“We pegasi are born of the sky.” I said, gesturing vaguely up. “To fly is in our hearts and souls. That’s why I say it’s like being home. To fly is to run free in the place you belong.”

“That sounds marvelous!”

“It really is!” I said, smiling wide. “To ride on the wind, to feel the hot sun, to see the world so small below you…” Just as quickly as it rose though, my mood soured. “But, like I said, I haven’t flown like that in a long time.”

“Why not? Did the mutation…?”

“Oh, no, nothing like that.” I said, catching onto her implication. “They still work fine. The pegasus government, the Enclave, rules everything above the clouds. I’m…not welcome, to put it lightly.”

Facet’s shoulders slumped. “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s fine.” I said, trying to play it off. “I didn’t like it there anyway. And I can still fly down here. I just need to not get too close to the clouds.”

There was a lull in the conversation, during which something caught my eye. Tilting my head, I saw a small crystal colt duck back around a stalagmite when he noticed I saw him. “Hello?” I called.

“What was that?” Facet asked.

“I thought I saw somepony.” I raised myself up on one arm and called again. “Hello?” The colt poked his head back around the stalagmite and stared open mouthed at me. “Um…” His expression didn’t change for the longest time. I couldn’t tell if he was fascinated or terrified. His sapphire coat and teal mane glittered in the lights. From what I could tell, he didn’t have his Cutie Mark yet. “Are you okay?”

In a sudden burst of movement he rushed past Facet, who had been watching the whole stare-off in bemusement, and poked my arm. “Whoa!” He exclaimed, as if that had been the craziest thing to ever happen to him.

He continued to poke my arm before I stopped him with a hoof. “What are you doing?” I asked, arching an eyebrow.

“You’re all squishy!” He said. “It’s so weird!”

“Weird?” I couldn’t tell if I should be insulted or not. “I don’t call you weird for being made of rocks.” I muttered.

He either didn’t hear me or didn’t care, instead babbling on. “I mean, sometimes other crystal ponies get soft if they’re really really really sad, but I’ve never seen one sad enough for this! Are you super-duper sad or something?”

“Um, no, I’m always like this.”

“But how can other ponies tell if your happy or not?”

“Ever heard of a facial expression?” After my experience with Lights, I was beginning to realize I didn’t like pesky foals.

“And THESE!” Faster than I could react, he jumped onto my right wing and began poking the feather. “You have WINGS! How do they work? How do they lift you up if you’re so big?”

“Hey! Get off!” Sitting fully upright, I grabbed the little blank flank and lifted him to eye level. “Who are you and what are you doing?”

“I’m Rich Vein! Richie!”

“Okay, Richie.” I said, trying my hardest to be patient. “You didn’t answer the second part of my question.”

“I heard that fleshies were here to visit instead of being all mean and attacking! I wanted to take a look!” He gasped as, I could only assume, something occurred to him. “Hey, you’re a pegasus, right?”

“You just attacked my wings.”

“I heard pegasusus control the weather! Is that true?”

“Well, we used to. Not anymore. And the plural is ‘pegasi’.”

He looked crestfallen at the news, his crystal sheen dimming. “Aww. My friends didn’t believe me when I said pegasusus could do that. Guess they were right…”

Annoying as he had been, I kind of pained me to see the little colt disappointed, so I clarified. “Well, we can still control the weather. We just don’t anymore.”

He perked up at that, but looked at me quizzically. “Why not?”

Because the Enclave doesn’t care about the surface world. “We barely have enough time and resources keeping ourselves alive to worry about the weather.” Sighing, I put him down and pointed to my sleet-and-snow Cutie Mark. “Doesn’t stop some of us from being born good at it anyway, even if it is obsolete.”

Either Richie was so used to the crystal quality emotion meter that he didn’t notice my down mood, or he didn’t care. “Wait, so you can do weather magic?” I nodded hesitantly. “Woo hoo!” He leapt up, shining like a star. Grabbing my hoof, he tried to drag me along with him. “C’mon! You gotta show my friends!”

“Wait a second! I never said anything about giving a demonstration!”

“C’mon! You gotta! They need to see I wasn’t fibbing!” He continued to tug on my hoof to no avail.

I gave Facet a pleading look, hoping she would talk the little colt out of it. Instead she gave me a smile and a “go along with it” gesture. Suppressing a growl of annoyance, I said. “Fine.” Raising my voice to be heard over the resultant cheering, I continued. “I’ll need a fire, some water and two metal pots. Can you do that for me?”

“Sure can! Meet us at the fire pit!” With that, he sprinted off back into the cave complex.

Groaning, I laid on my back, rubbing my sore chest as Facet laughed. “I hate kids…”

After excusing myself for a few minutes to preen, Facet led me to the fire pit that Richie had spoken of. As per my instructions, there were two pots, one filled with water, and a fire going in a recessed pit. The fire was obviously magical in nature, as it gave off no smoke and I couldn’t see anything fueling it.

And gathered around the pit was a large group of fillies and colts babbling amongst themselves. There had to be at least twenty of them. I stopped in my tracks when I rounded the corner and saw them all. “The Hell?” I whispered.

Richie spotted me almost immediately and ran over. “You’re here! C’mon! Let’s get started!”

“Wait, wait, wait.” I said. “How many ponies did you bring?”

“Well, I just told Stardust and then she told her brother who told his friends who told their parents…”

“All right, I get it, news travels fast.” I said, cutting him off. Blowing out a heavy breath, I scanned the crowd of little ponies. The vast majority of them were earth ponies, with only one or two unicorns amongst them. Hardly any of them had their Cutie Marks, and the ones that did generally stuck together. “Well, I guess we may as well get started.” Richie bounced excitedly before zipping back into the crowd.

Swallowing, I stepped forward. “Hello?” A few of them turned to me and quieted down, the most didn’t notice. “Excuse me!” I said a little louder. The ground began to quiet down quicker, fillies and colts telling their fellows to pay attention. After thirty seconds or so, the whole little “class” was looking at me expectantly. “Hi, um, hello.” I gave my best smile, though I was certain it looked strained. “Uh, I’m Sleet Gray and Rich Vein told me you all want to learn about pegasus weather magic?” One of the fillies raised a hoof. “Uh, yes?” I asked.

“Are your wings real?” She asked, squinting at me.

“Um, yes.” I said, confused. “Why wouldn’t they be?”

“Because I can see through them!”

I bit my tongue to keep from snapping at her. “Trust me, they’re quite real.” I flapped my wings and hovered a few inches off the ground as proof. The little ponies gasped in awe, many with their eyes wide and jaws dropped. Feeling uncomfortable, I set back down and trotted over to the fire pit. “So, yeah, how about we get down to the demonstration?”

“Why do you need this stuff?” Another pony said. “Can’t you just use magic?”

“Magic is a part of it, but any spell needs components. Stories say that some pegasi before the war could make clouds and rain out of thin air, but none of them have been seen for hundreds of years. The average pegasus needs things to make the weather out of.” I pointed to each component in turn. “The water is the most important part, because it’s used to make the clouds and precipitation.”

“So what do you need the fire and other pot for?”

“Because if I’m going to demonstrate how weather works, I need to be able to simulate the water cycle.” Looking down at the full pot, I sheepishly asked. “Could somepony without a broken rib put this on the fire for me?” Facet’s horn lit up with red light as she levitated the pot onto the flame. “Thank you.” The magical fire was giving off heat; that much I could tell just by standing near it. However, it would still take a while for the water to boil like I wanted it to, and in the meantime an uncomfortable silence was stretching out. Clearing my throat, I asked awkwardly. “So, does anypony know why I’m doing this?”

There were a lot of shaking heads, but thankfully one of the ponies with their Cutie Mark raised their hoof. I nodded to the filly and she said “Because you need steam, right?”

I had expected something close, but that was on the dot. “Yes, actually precisely that.” It was probably better to keep them talking, so instead of explaining further, I asked. “Do you know why?”

She scratched her head, thinking. “Um, cause steam makes clouds, right?”

“Yes!” I beamed at her. “Just about every part of the weather is caused by water, and like…um…”

“Stardust!” She provided happily.

“Like Stardust said, clouds are made of steam, in a sense of the word. Water comes in three states: liquid, like we have here,” I gestured to the water “gas, like we’re trying to get,” I dipped a wing tip into the water, it was getting warm but not enough to burn “and solid.” Pulling out the wingtip, I concentrated my power on the droplets clinging to my feathers. With a crackling sound, they froze over, giving the feathers a frosted appearance. The little ponies gasped at the display, making me blush. “Yes, well, as I was saying…”

“Was that magic?” One of them interrupted loudly, leaning forward with wide eyes.

“Well, yes, technically…”

“How did you do that without a horn?” One of the unicorns piped up.

“Well, I used my wings. That’s where pegasus magic comes from.”

“Can you do more magic?”

I was about to answer no, but that wasn’t exactly true. “I guess there are a few things I could do while we wait for the water to boil…” The “class” exploded in noise and excitement at that. The sudden burst of sound grated my ears. “Alright, alright!” I yelled over them. “I’ll show you!” After way too long, they quieted down.

Huffing in annoyance, I took a second to think about what I was going to do. In a flash, an idea came to me. It was silly, but it served my purposes. Reaching into one of the pockets on my greatcoat, I pulled out a bottle of Sparkle Cola. “Even though pegasi at large don’t control the weather anymore, some of us are still born with a talent for it. I’m the only one I know about with such a talent, and mine is for manipulating snow and ice.” Popping off the bottle cap and pocketing it, I took a swig of the soda. “Now, this soda is closer to two hundred years old, so it’s pretty warm, unless I do this.” Transferring the bottle from hoof to wing, I channeled cold power through it. The glass frosted over and even started to steam slightly. Taking another drink I was shocked at how much the temperature changed the flavor. “Wow, why didn’t I think to do this before?” I muttered.

“So what, you’re a refrigerator?” One of the colts snickered.

“Hardly.” I deadpanned as the crowed giggled. “My talent can do a lot more than chill drinks. If I couldn’t do this, I’d be dead right now, eaten by a horde of slavering zombies.” That shut them up. Savoring my little victory, I noted that the water had come to a good boil and was giving off plenty of steam. “Alright, we can finally begin.”

Spreading my wings, I stepped up to the pot. Concentrating, I wrapped the steam in my power and compressed it. It was easier than I thought it would be to coalesce the vapors into a cloud, my winter manipulation certainly helped. But as it grew bigger, it got harder and harder to add on, especially with the tiny amount of steam I was working with. The pressure of perform a process I had never done and only knew because of incidental knowledge, combined with the effort of the magic itself, manifested as a slight strain behind my eyes. By the time it stopped growing at an appreciable rate, it was a little bigger than my now-pounding head. “Well, guess that’s the best I’m getting.” I gasped, pushing the little cloud out of the steam with a wing. “I know it’s not much, but we’ll have to work with it.” I looked down at the class, all of whom were staring at me wide eyed. “Um, you all okay?”

“See! I told you!” Richie yelled. “I told you she could do magic!”

“No way!” The other unicorn said, mouth agape.

“Hey! I heard you can walk on clouds! Can you for real?” I nodded hesitantly. “Show us show us show us!”

“Now you’re just being dumb, Richie.” Stardust said. “That’s impossible.” She pointed an accusatory hoof at me. “And stop lying to him so he tells more fibs!”

“I’m not lying.” I said, moving the cloud back into the steam. “We pegasi have entire cities built above the clouds. If we couldn’t walk on them, we wouldn’t have survive the apocalypse.” The boil was going faster and faster, causing more steam to be produced. It still took another five minutes to make the cloud large enough to be stood on easily.

Once I had it as large as a mattress, I pushed the cloud out of the steam again. “Now, watch this.” Flapping my wings and jumping up, I alighted easily on the cloud. When I didn’t fall through, the fillies and colts began clamoring in excitement and shock.

“No way!” I heard somepony yell. “There’s no way you’re doing that! It’s a trick!”

“No tricks here.” I said, lying down on the cloud. I smiled down at their little bewildered faces looking up at me. “It’s just what we pegasi can do.”

All at once a tide broke in the little ponies’ curiosity. A cacophonous wave of questions and demands flooded up towards me. I couldn’t keep track of who was saying what, or what even was being said. All I knew is that I was immensely grateful when Facet stepped forward and commanded their attention. “All right, little ones, that’s quite enough. It’s late and your parents are probably wondering where you are.” She said. Was it that late? There was no way to tell from inside the cave, all I had were circadian rhythms that told me I needed sleep. “All of you, go on home. I’m sure our guest needs rest as well.”

The little ponies were disappointed the demonstration was being cut short, but obeyed the Confessor. A few of them, mostly those old enough for their Cutie Marks, thanked me as they left. Richie jabbered out an extended thanks that I only half heard before scampering off with his friends.

With the last of them gone, I sighed and jumped off my cloud. “Thank Celestia that’s over.”

“Was it really so bad?” Facet asked, smiling.

“Yes! I have a headache from all their questions.” I pressed my wingtips to the sides of my head in an effort to squeeze out the pain.

“But you saw how happy you made them. Surely that’s a good thing?” I huffed in response. “Do you remember what you said about never helping ponies?” I nodded hesitantly, knowing where she was going with this. “Well, didn’t you just help Richie?”

“I guess so.” I muttered. “You’re trying to make me learn some lesson, aren’t you?”

She laughed at my cynicism. “Perhaps a little. I am a Confessor, it’s what we do.”

“And did Looking Glass put you up to teaching me something so I’d be more compatible while I’m here?”

“No, nothing like that.” She smiled easily. “It’s because I owe you.”

“What the Hell could you possibly owe me for?”

Her expression fell and her body darkened in color. “I was in a position like yours not long ago. I was lost, hurt, without recourse. I used my training as a Confessor to carry on, but no amount of wisdom could fix what was wrong.” She smiled again and lit up like the stars. “Until you came here, and brought my daughter back with you.”

It took me a second to process what she said, and another to piece together the implications. “Wait, so, you’re...”

“Clarity’s mother, yes.” She hugged me, but unlike last time I didn’t break away. “You brought my daughter back to us. I cannot thank you enough.”

I was unsure of what to say or how to respond. After everything I’d said, here was a pony who’d I’d helped without even knowing it. But that was wrong, wasn’t it? That wasn’t how things were supposed to work.

Or was I wrong for thinking that?

A little under an hour later, I was laying on the cloud I’d made just outside the Confessor’s chamber. Facet had left me alone to wait, which I had found curious at the time. “Don’t you want to see Clarity?” I had asked. “You can wait here with me.”

She had declined sadly. “I wish I could, by the Empire’s light I wish I could, but I’m afraid I can’t. There are many, many things I must see to, which is why I was unable to attend your Trial. Please though, if you could, send her to me when you see her? She’ll know where to go.”

I had agreed, too sleepy to argue. And so it went, with me drifting in and out of sleep while I waited for my friends to finish their Trails. Eventually, I heard the sound of buzzing magic and looked up. Scout, Clarity, Jackpot, Diamond Edge and Looking Glass all phased through the magical rocks. “Hello.” I greeted from my perch a couple feet off the ground.

The crystal stallions took a step back when they saw me, but quickly recovered. “Hello, Sleet Gray. Are you feeling any better?” Looking Glass asked.

“It still hurts, but significantly less, thank you.” I turned my attention to my friends, who were less impressed with my floating. “How did it go?”

“We’ve been cleared, just like you.” Scout reported.

“Where did you get that cloud?” Clarity asked.

“Some of the younger ponies didn’t believe that pegasi could work magic. I put on a little demonstration, and have this now.” I patted the cloud with a hoof.

“It’s good to hear that the children are comfortable with you being here.” Looking Glass said. “It will make everypony’s acceptance a little easier to win.”

“Are they really that unwanted?” Clarity asked.

“I know you have been with them a long time, Clarity, and see them as trustworthy friends, but they are the first ponies of flesh many of us have seen since the slaver attack.” His eyes unfocused slightly and his coat flickered with darkness. “I sense a large amount of distress in the Exiles.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll be out of your manes as quickly as I’m able to travel.” I assured him.

He simply nodded and turned back to the magical rocks. “I have many things to discuss with the other Confessors. Diamond Edge will show you where you can stay for your time here.” With that, he phased back through.

“Follow me.” Diamond Edge ordered, trotting past me.

I still wasn’t quite feeling up to walking, so instead I fluttered my wings to create a breeze that pushed me along, my ground-bound companions following below. It didn’t take long for us to reach our chambers, isolated at the end of an out-of-the-way tunnel. Diamond Edge hadn’t said a word to any of us the whole way there. Only once we were in the room did he speak. “Clarity, could you come with me?”

“Sure, but what for?” She asked.

I had been nodding off most of the way to our chambers and had nearly forgotten the thing I’d been asked to do. Diamond Edge speaking jolted my memory. “Oh! Are you going to see Facet?” I asked.

Father and daughter both gave me shocked looks at that. “How did you know that?” Diamond Edge asked warily.

“And how do you know Mother’s name?” Clarity added.

“Not long after you went back to the Trial, she came to me.” I explained. “She helped me out with the demonstration.”

“And why wasn’t she there with you earlier?”

“She said she had to do something.” I yawned and shook my head rapidly. “I don’t think she told me what, but she asked me to send you to her, Clarity. She said you’d know where to go.”

She nodded and smiled. “Alright, then I’ll go do that. You two get some sleep, I might be a while.”

“Sure thing, goodnight Clarity.” She and Diamond Edge left back the way we came.

“So.” Jackpot said as the crystal ponies turned a corner. “You’re scavengers, huh?”

I sighed, expecting this. “Look, I’m…”

“I don’t want to hear apologies. I want to hear why you lied.”

“Fine. I’m going to assume you knew at the time who the Shadow King was?” I asked.

“Of course. We always had to be careful to avoid his raiders when we went south.”

“Then would you have helped us if you knew we worked for him?”

“I’d have ordered you all dead on the spot, just to be safe.” He said, face impassive. “I’m still tempted to shoot you.”

“I wouldn’t blame you if you did, but what would that get you?” I asked. “You know my plan. Kill me and he’ll just find somepony else, maybe one who will actually do what he says. I’m risking everything to fuck over the warlord of the whole goddamn Northern Wastes, but if you want to stop me here, then I can’t say you’re wrong.” Scout looked like he wanted to punch me for saying that, but he didn’t do anything.

There was a long silence as Jackpot scrutinized me. Eventually, he shook his head and turned away. “You’re dangerous, Gray. Dangerous and stupid.”

“Be that as it may, I get results, don’t I?”

He started to walk away. “I’m going to wander. Ghouls don’t need sleep.”

“Goodnight, Jackpot.” I said sincerely. He didn’t respond.

Scout closed the makeshift wooden door behind him, plunging us into darkness. “Great, she forgot the lights.” He muttered. With a buzz, he turned on his PipBuck lantern, revealing the room in green light. It was barely furnished, with only two old mattresses serving as beds.

Good thing I’ve got this. I thought, snuggling into my cloud. Scout was rubbing his face with his hooves. “Something wrong?”

“Why do you have to tempt ponies to kill us?”

I blinked at that. “I was appealing to the fact that doing so wouldn’t sit right with him. As a ghoul, he’d have to live with something like that forever, always wondering if it was the right call.”

“And you really thought that’d work?” He snapped.

“It did though!”

“Remember what I said? About stupid risks?” Sighing, he flopped onto one of the mattresses, covering his face. “Goddesses, why bother? You don’t listen.”

“Hey, you don’t have to follow me if you don’t like my methods.” I said indignantly.

“I’m not going to leave.”

“And why not? And don’t say ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I don’t have a choice because we’re stuck’.”

“You want to know why? Cause I‘m just as marked as you, that’s why!” He pointed an accusatory hoof at me. “Traveling with you has gotten me on just as many shit lists. If I don’t stick with you and see this through, I’m fucked. Plain and simple.” Jabbing his PipBuck, he shut out the lantern. “Now sleep, I don’t want to spend a minute longer here than we have to.”

I gnashed my teeth in irritation. Rolling away from him, I pushed the cloud higher with a gust of wind and shut my eyes tight. Maybe, for once, sleep would bring me peace.

Goddesses know I needed it.
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Footnote: Experience gained!

Author's Notes:

By Celestia I posted a chapter. Miracles can happen.

Alright, so I've decided to modify the format a little bit in the hopes that I'll have fewer delays. I'm going to go full World of Warcraft, smaller and faster content. Right now my chapters are stretching overly long, and I think that's a determent to some readers as well as just making me unable to finish them in time. So, I'll be cutting back on the word count per chapter. While this might inflate the final chapter count, that is fine with me so long as it doesn't take another bleeding year to put out, like, three chapters.

Business to the side, I'd like to, as usual, thank Kkat for making Fallout: Equestria and letting writers like me play in it. Also thanks to Mobius for proofreading as usual, and all my friends for helping me get around writer's block. Hope everypony enjoys the chapter, please drop a comment telling me what you think, and I plan on seeing you all soon!