The length of one life is, in the grand scheme, quite fleeting. The thing that makes civilization possible is the stacked work of hundreds or thousands of those fleeting lives. When a thousand drops of water come together they make a rain storm, and when a hundred thousand million ponies come together they create something like this. The Crystal Empire. I felt the weight of those lives as I walked toward the baleful city of crystal. The stacked lives of incalculable numbers of crystal ponies rising up before us. This place was ancient, and before it I felt as insignificant as a single rain drop before an ocean.

“We’ll be hitting the rad zone soon.” Scout said, his voice crackling over the suit radio.

“Right, keep an eye on your radar.” I responded, fighting to keep the quaver from my voice. “We don’t know what is in there.”

“Many of the crystal ponies evacuated with the apocalypse.” Clarity said. “But some could have been left behind.”

“How did any of them survive in the first place?” Clouds asked. “Was there a Stable?”

“The Crystal Princess blessed the Empire with her magic, protecting us from the bombs.” She explained. “But she was alone, and could not keep the radiation from tainting the Crystal Heart with only her power. When the bombing stopped, the crystal ponies had no choice but to run until they couldn’t feel the Heart anymore.”

I swallowed hard, unable to imagine the horror that must had induced. It was a small miracle any of them survived, but I also knew what any dead ones implied. “So, you’re thinking ghouls?”

She didn’t respond and I didn’t blame her. “Alright.” Scout said in the dreadful silence. “We’re starting to get hot.”

A quiet, steady click-click-click began to play in my ear. My chest grew a little tighter with each click, feeling nausea well up within me, a ghost of my time in Heaven’s Point. My eyes obsessively went to the rad counter in the corner. The little bar wasn’t moving, testament to the radiation reducing effects of the suit. But this was just the outskirts, things would get worse the further we went.

We soon came upon the very edge of the urban sprawl that spread out from the great castle. The buildings looked completely unscathed, barely suffering burns let alone being turned to rubble. They looked to be closer to hollowed out natural crystal structures as opposed to homes built by pony hooves and shone in a variety of pastel colors. The one mar that they all shared was a slight tinge of green light, hardly enough to stain the crystal different colors, but collectively it made the air look sick.

“Should we check these places for supplies?” Clouds asked, head swiveling left and right as we walked down a shining diamond street. “The crystal ponies couldn’t have taken everything with them.”

“It’s probably heavily irradiated.” Scout answered. “It could cost more to clean everything we found than however much we’d get selling it.”

“Besides, we really don’t want to stay here longer than we have to.” I commented, checking my rad meter again, a little red “+1 per sec” had appeared, making my coat stand on end. “These suits are keeping us from cooking right now, but it will only get worse the further we go in.”

I was just thankful that the Empire seemed to be primarily composed of long thoroughfares that led straight to the castle. We had a straight shot to the massive sword structure that was growing steadily bigger as we moved closer. In fact, it almost seemed to be growing taller as we approached. I squinted at the top, faintly seeing something poking out of the sword tip, though it was obscured by the cloud cover.

Actually, the whole thing seemed to be growing hazier, as if the clouds were coming to us. I blinked, reached up through my suit’s sleeve and rubbed my eyes, but that fixed nothing. Everything looked washed out, like it was losing its color. “Do you all see that?” I asked.

“See what?” Clouds responded.

“That…just…” I vaguely waved my hoof at the world. “That! Everything is getting hazy.”

“Yeah…” She said, looking around. “Yeah, you’re right, what’s going on?”

“I don’t know, but…” It was then that I noticed something missing. I glanced at the radar on my HUD and felt a chill run down my back. “Clouds…” I said slowly. “Where is everypony?”

The radar only showed two dots, SG and SC.

I spun rapidly on the spot, but the only other pony I could see was Clouds who looked equally bewildered. “What’s going on!?” She yelled. She sidled closer to me, as if scared that I’d vanish too. “They were right here with us!”

“I don’t know, but stay close! I don’t want us to get separated as well.” She pressed close, looking around blindly in the fog. “Scout!” I yelled into the radio. “Clarity! Arterial!”

Only static responded.

“Goddesses damnit, no!” I hissed. “This is not happening now, I’m not losing them now! Scout!”

kzzzzzSl…chhhhhzzzzzzteeetzzzzzt

I heard something, and though it sounded warped and distorted it made my heart leap hopefully. “Scout? Scout is that you?”

KtttteehhhhhhhhSleechhhhhhhzzzzzzz

“Scout, hold on! We’ll find you!” I put a hoof on Cloud’s shoulder and tugged her along. “C’mon, let’s go!”

“Go where?” Clouds asked. “We don’t know where that transmission is coming from. For all we know, whatever separated us is messing with your radio! Besides, it’s getting harder to see.”

I looked around and sure enough there was a fog pouring in. Colorless mist began to obscure everything, making it impossible to see anything more than a leg’s length away. “You’re right.” I said, taking a step away from her. I spread my wings, feeling the latex suit stretch with me. “Hold on, I’ll see if I can move it.” I closed my eyes and gently pushed with my mind, flapping my wings and picturing the fog dispersing. But, to my surprise, I felt something pushing back. I opened my eyes and looked around, but could see nothing in the colorless fog. Pressing a little harder, I could faintly hear the sound of…wind? Was that wind? No, there was something off about, something not quite right.

I should have stopped there, but I didn’t. Something made me try again, fighting hard against the opposing force. The second I pressed with full force, my head split in two. I was falling, falling where or why I did not know. I felt pain, agony, fear, uncertainty, a deep seeded desire to help, helplessness. And the screaming! The screaming, screaming, screaming! Screaming was all there was, no color, no light, no feeling, just the screaming, screaming, screaming…

Somepony was shaking me and screaming my name again and again. I came jolting back to reality, throwing out a hoof to stop Clouds from jostling me. “I’m okay, I’m okay, I’m…” I froze mid-sentence as my stomach heaved. Headless of the danger, I tore off my helmet and vomited. My legs were folded under me as I gagged over the pool of sick, unable to move for the longest time.

“Sleet, what’s wrong? What happened?” Clouds asked, her voice laden with concern.

“I don’t know.” I muttered before vomiting again. “Something….something magic made this. And it didn’t like me trying to...” I had to clench my stomach and swallow hard to stop from throwing up again. “To move it…”

Eventually the nausea stopped and I was able to stand. I wanted nothing more than to rinse the horrible acidic taste from my mouth, but I couldn’t leave my suit compromised like this, even if I couldn’t hear the rad meter that didn’t mean I wasn’t cooking. Wiping my lips off and reapplying the helmet, I centered myself and stood. My magic wouldn’t help me here.

“So what do we do now?” Clouds asked, looking around fruitlessly in the fog.

“We find a safe place and try to contact the others.” I said with more confidence than I felt. “Our radios are still working, so it only stands to reason that theirs are too.” We started walking, though I had to lean on Clouds slightly for support. My head was still spinning, and I could swear that damned screaming was echoing in my ears.

We moved until we hit the edge of the boulevard and found a building. Clouds gently lowered me into a sitting position within viewing distance of the doorway. “Wait here, I’ll check if we can get inside.” She said before cantering over and examining the door.

I took the time to breathe deeply, eyes closed as I focused my mind. I’d never tried meditating before, maybe I should start. I should ask Clarity if the Confessors had any techniques she could show me…

Thinking about the Confessors joggled something in my head. I furrowed my brow, eyes still closed as I tried to focus in on the half-a-memory. It had something to do with…Facet? Was that red colored blob Clarity’s mother or something else? I couldn’t remember, no matter how deeply I dug into my thoughts.

And I didn’t get the chance to continue thinking about it when something bumped into my back. Yelping in surprise, I jumped and whirled around, wishing desperately that I somehow had Black Powder on the outside of the suit. As if reading my mind, the suit made a pinging noise and a small crosshair appeared in my vision. Glancing to my right, Black Powder appeared, held in an aura of nondescript magical motes. A minor telekinetic field built into the suit’s mainframe? I didn’t think about it too hard, mentally pointing my gun at the thing that bumped me.

A statue of an extremely portly pony sat before me. Its entire lower body was a globe of crystal, ending only in a relatively normal-sized torso. The forelegs of the statue rested on the globe, the feminine features of the face invoking images of a hideously mutated pregnant mare. But the thing didn’t move, just sitting there, motionlessly. Its eyes were glazed over with diamond, like expensive cataracts, which when coupled with its gaping mouth gave it a vacant look.

Though it was more creepy than threatening, I kept my pistol on it. This thing hadn’t been here before, and I wasn’t going to let my guard down now. “Clouds?” I called out. “How is that door coming?”

“I got it open!” She called back. “I scanned the room for hostiles, but it looks abandoned. You can come in!”

I started backing up slowly, keeping my aim trained on the statue. It was just…staring. Though my instincts screamed at me to pull the trigger, I hesitated. What did it want? How did it get there? It was a statue; there was no way it could walk…

I was so distracted by the one in front of me, that I didn’t hear the sound of grinding behind me until it was too late. “Look out!” Clouds screamed as she tackled me from the side. I flopped down hard onto the crystal street, grunting in pain. I barely had time to look up and question why the fuck she just did that before I got my answer. Another statue had somehow appeared behind me. It was leaning forward, mouth wide open and spewing sick, green fire that sent my rad meter into overdrive.

Clouds was pressing down on top of me, practically crushing me with how tense she was. Her goggles had slipped down enough to show that her eyes were squeezed tightly shut in fear. My head was pinned to the street since she was pressing her helmet into mine. From my pinned position I scanned for Black Powder, spotting the gun several feet away. I focused on it, but the telekinesis was apparently very limited and it only twitched. Fear shot through my heart as the monster recovered from its attack, turning towards us with the first one. “Clouds, move.” I said. Their stomachs started to glow with baleful light. “Clouds, move! Move now!” I screamed, finally snapping her out of it. She looked over her shoulder, let out an “eep!” and rolled off of me

I lunged for Black Powder, finally catching it in the telekinetic grip. Rolling onto my back, I found myself under and between the two monsters. I started pumping shots into the face of one of them, the heat of the magical energy melting its head. The light in its gut died down and the body changed from clear to black.

The other one, however, was just fine. I curled into a ball and threw my wings over my face, closing my eyes so I wouldn’t see my death. But the heat I was expecting never came. I looked up and saw the monster floating several inches off of the ground, enveloped in electric blue light. Clouds was standing tall, her horn blazing with light and face contorted in effort. I stood up and leveled my pistol at its head, firing at will.

Only when the thing’s head was slag did Clouds drop it. She collapsed along with her magic and I galloped over to her. “H-holy crap.” She gasped. “That…took a lot more than I thought it would…”

“C’mon, get up. There might be more of them.” I gently encouraged, getting her to her shaking hooves. “And that was awesome! Did you get the door open?” She nodded tiredly, face flushed red.

I guided her along with a wing, getting her inside the door and following close behind with a sigh of relief. But it was short lived as I heard a slight grinding noise behind me. Looking over my shoulder, I saw two more statues had appeared behind me and were drawing their torsos back, mouths closed and globe-bodies glowing green. Cursing, I leapt inside building and slammed the door shut. Just in time, the sound of roaring fire came from the other side, green light glowing under the cracks of the door and my rad meter spiking back into action.

“What the Hell are they?” Clouds gasped.

“I don’t know, but barricade the door!” I screamed.

The tell-tale buzz of magic was quickly cut off and she slumped with a groan. “I can’t, too tired…”

. “Goddesses damnit!” I swore grabbing and table and, with some help from the telekinetic field, stuck it under the doorknob. Backing away from the door, I asked. “What the fuck were those?”

“I don’t know, but I think we’re safe in here.” Clouds said, getting her breath back. “It doesn’t look like the fog is in here.”

I turned around and sure enough could see clearly once again. Other than the coffee table I’d displaced, the room was like a picture of a Wartime Equestrian home. A couch sat in the center with an arm chair in the corner and several tables near each. Shelves lined the back wall, covered in equal parts books and toys, a family room. The only difference between it and pictures I had seen in my history books was the fact that everything was crystalline.

“C’mon.” I said, storing away Black Powder. I wasn’t exactly sure how it was getting between the rad-suit and my greatcoat, but I didn’t question it. “If we find some stairs I may be able to fly us out a window.”

“Wait, I need water.” She said, and to my dropping heart’s fear she took off her helmet.

“Wait! What are you doing!? What about the radiation?”

“There isn’t any in here.” She said matter-of-factly. “The suit’s meter isn’t reacting.” With a tiny magical field that barely left the tip of her horn, she pulled out a canteen and took a long swig. “You should probably have some,” she said, offering it to me. I hesitated, not wanting to remove any protecting in the toxic environment. “Come on, trust me, it’s safe.” She insisted. “Besides, your teeth will rot out if you don’t rinse your mouth after…what happened.”

Blushing a little, I relented and pulled off the helmet, accepting the canteen. Holding it above my head and opening my mouth, I poured out a measure and started swilling it around. “I’m not sick, you know.” Clouds joked. “You can actually drink from it.”

I looked at her out the corner of my eye, still swishing water between my teeth. She had recovered pretty quickly from that battle, and was even smiling easily as she waited for the canteen back. You’re thinking about this too much, Sleet…

Spitting out the water, I handed the canteen back to her. “We need to keep moving.” I said. “Like I said, let’s find an upper floor and jump. I can take care of the rest.”

“You can fly while carrying me?” She asked, getting to her hooves and furrowing her brow.

“Well, more like have a really controlled fall. I’ve done it with Scout before and it’ll help us get some distance on those globe things. Besides, if we can somehow spot somepony from there it’ll let us get to them quicker.”

“Alright.” She said, though she still shuffled nervously.

“Hey, don’t worry.” I said soothingly. “I may not be the strongest flyer, but I promise not to drop you!”

“No, it’s not that.” She said. “I’m just curious. If whatever created this fog is strong enough to separate us all so easily, why did it leave you and me together?”

I furrowed my brow, mulling it over. Why was that? What purpose did it serve? “I don’t know.” I said slowly. “But it did, so let’s make the most of it.” I mustered as wide a smile as I could. “Remember what you said in the bunker? The two of us together can solve any problem!”

She smiled brilliantly at that and nodded. “You’re right. C’mon, let’s find those stairs!” She put her helmet back on and cantered deeper into the house excitedly.

My smile faded as soon as she rounded the corner. How cute. A little voice whispered to me. I shook my head hard, slipped on my own helmet and galloped after her. After poking around for a bit, we found a staircase and cantered up it, eager to get the Hell out of this place. The silence had returned, and though I was happy the radiation was gone, the deafening quiet clawed at my mind. Coming all the way up to a third floor, there was only one door at the end of the hall. I galloped toward it full tilt, until the radar pinged.

Skidding to a halt, I whipped out a wing to halt Clouds. Drawing Black Powder, I froze just in front of the door. The red dot on the radar moved slowly back and forth, moving in time with a soft clip clop on the other side of the door. Swallowing hard, I held a hoof in a shushing motion to Clouds and reached out with a hoof, nudging open the door. Black Powder leveled inside, ready to blast whatever was on the other side to ash.

I had been expecting a ghoul, and by some definitions I was probably right. The once-crystal pony didn’t have the fried-meat look of other ghouls. In fact, it simply looked malnourished, the body skeletal with hunger. It teetered back and forth, wearing a hole in the attic floor as it paced endlessly. The thing that gave me pause was the fact that its body was pitch black, a light consuming void in the vague shape of a pony. The color was so intense it blotted out the Cutie Mark.

It took the thing a long second to realize I was there, by which point I had regained my sense and was leveling Black Powder towards it. I wasn’t going to be consumed by fear, not now. Its eyes were just as black as the rest of it, sending a chill rushing down my spine as it started to lunge towards me, groaning.

CRACK! The super-heated orange blast tore open the air between the ghoul-thing and me, instantly igniting its body. The thing froze, seemingly entranced by the fire eating its body. I fired twice more, bringing it down for good. “Holy shit.” I heard Clouds whisper. I turned to her, her goggles had slipped down her nose in shock, showing the whites of her eyes over them. Her mouth hung slightly agape, frozen as she stared at the burning body. “Sleet, you just…”

“You okay?” I asked, lightly tapping her shoulder to jolt her from it.

“Y-yeah.” She stammered. “I’ve just…well I’ve never actually…you know…watched something die before. I mean there were those monsters, you know, but they were monsters killing us! This thing looked like a pony and was, you know, on fire!"

“Yeah, it’s kinda…” I was blanking on something to say, watching the body smolder on the ground. “Unpleasant.” I flapped my wings and sent a cold wind over it, putting out the fires burning on it.

“What do you think it was?” She asked, walking over to the corpse. “It didn’t look like any ghoul I’ve ever seen.”

It may not have looked like one, but I had zero doubt that it was some kind of ghoul. Even after the time spent with Jackpot, my dreams were still haunted by the screams of the feral horde that chased me my first night on the surface. That same soul-searing terror had ripped through me as the thing lunged at me. Only the sureness of my aim with Black Powder had kept me from freaking out.

Clouds was still examining the body. “It has no traces of a Cutie Mark, yet it’s a fully grown pony body.”

“Maybe it was just burned off.” I commented, trotting over to the lone window in the attic. It would take some tricky positioning, but I’d be able to squeeze both of us out of it at the same time.

“Not enough of the body was consumed for that. The fire spread from the chest area. Even if it would be scarred by the burns, a Mark should still be there.”

“Wait, so no Mark? Like, at all?” Now my curiosity was whetted, I had no choice but to trot over and join the impromptu autopsy. “How is that possible? What could take a Cutie Mark?”

“I don’t know.” She muttered, igniting her horn with light. She directed the light on the corpse’s flank, where the Cutie Mark should be. The light simply passed through the body, clear as glass to the floor on the other side.

“It’s like a shadow.” I said, brow furrowed. I reached out to poke it, to confirm its solidity. But when my hoof impacted it, I felt a cold like deep space. I jerked my hoof back, watching in fear stricken awe as the body disintegrated, a faint white light glowing around the edges before it vanished into nothingness.

Clouds and I looked at each other in shock, both of us unable to speak. Eventually, I was able to choke out a few words. “But that’s impossible…I shot it…”

“Maybe…maybe…maybe held together by some sort of magic? Maybe a spell or potion or ritual or something, you know? There’s got to be a reason!” Clouds stammered.

“Whatever the reason, we’re not going to figure it out standing here.” I said, getting back on track. “C’mon we have to keep moving.” Not bothering to check if she was following, I trotted over to the window, until I noted something out the corner of my eye. I turned and saw, to my leaping heart’s delight, a terminal!

But my excitement was tinged with bitterness. We didn’t have time for this, we had to move and find the others. I turned to the window and paused. We were above the fog, as I’d hoped, but I could see the colorless sea blotting out the world below. The screaming started to echo in the back of my mind and I turned to the terminal. “Actually, hold on. I’m going to crack this. Maybe we can learn something.”

I sat at the keyboard, pleased to see an extensive encryption. Whoever that thing had once been must have been important, or been hiding something quite dirty. It was a ten-character password with a lengthy list of possibilities and next to no shortcuts in the code. “Are you sure you should be doing this?” Clouds asked, walking up behind me.

“Oh, don’t worry. This won’t take long.” I said, confidently setting to work. I started my search, checking every bracket for a shortcut, every line for a hint. I ran the numbers in my head as the program told me which ones were duds and what letters were right. But it was not going to reveal these secrets easily. By the time I found everything, I had only eliminated three duds and gotten a few extra chances.

It took quite a bit of doing, and a whole lot of mental math to come up with the final answer. I had gotten down to two possibilities with only a single chance left. Normally a fifty-fifty chance, but by running the characters in my final answer against what the code told me with the duds I was about seventy-five percent sure I was right. Obfuscator.

The terminal pinged happily. >Exact match! “Yes!” I crowed, pumping a hoof in the air.

“Wow, that was your first try! No reset or anything!” Clouds said, eyes wide.

I smiled at the praise as the terminal opened up before me, displaying all the data for the world to see. “Alright, what do we have here?”

There were a number of logs recorded in the computer, most of which were audio. I had no idea if I could download logs to the suit, so instead I opened one of the text documents.
>Things are getting out of hoof. The Prince’s forces have been patrolling the streets non-stop over the past few days. They keep talking about how they’re “protecting from foreign threats”, but it’s impossible that the zebras could be here! The Empire may technically be a dominion of Equestria, but we aren’t a part of this war, damnit! Princess Cadence never declared war, even when Luna threatened her to do so. I’m thankful every day that she stood strong, but I’m starting to think that it wasn’t worth it. After all, how “out of this” are we when half the royalty is blood with a Ministry Mare?

“Who is this ‘Prince’?” Clouds asked. “I don’t remember Clarity making mention of one.”

“Yeah, me neither. Do you think he was just forgotten over time?”

“Or maybe wiped out…” She muttered.

I was about to open the next file when the sound of muffle gunfire rang out. Both of us jolted to awareness, turning to the window. I galloped over, throwing it wide and straining my ears.

BANG! BANG!

Yes! There, in the distance! I could hear it, just barely. “That might be one of the others, let’s go!” I jumped back into the attic and hurriedly gestured for Clouds to climb out the window. “Wait,” she asked cautiously, putting one hoof on the sill “how is this going to work?”

“I have an idea, hold on.” I climbed out the window and flapped my wings so I was hovering over it. “Alright, now start climbing out and I’ll grab you.” She did, getting about half way out before I told her to stop and wrapped my arms around her chest. “You alright?”

“Yeah, totally fine.” She said breathlessly. I prayed that it was the fearful height doing that.

“Okay, on three you’re going to kick off of the window sill, got it?” She nodded rapidly. “Alright, one, two, THREE!” I kicked off the building at the same time she kicked off the sill, propelling us a good distance over the fog before gravity caught on. I spread my wings, catching a gust of wind that drastically slowed our descent.

“Okay, alright, okay, alright.” Clouds repeated those two words again and again as we glided. I could feel how tense she was, which was mildly surprising at first until I remembered she spent her entire life underground. I did my best to follow the sound of the gunshots, but feared that we’d dip below the fog and get lost before we found them. “Uh, Sleet? Can we go a little higher?” Clouds asked fearfully.

I glanced down and saw that her hooves were skimming the top of the fog. “Sorry.” I said through grit teeth. “But I’m not exactly the strongest flyer. Two grown ponies’ worth of lift in restrictive suits is a bit…beyond…me!” I started flapping my wings as hard as I could, but to no avail. We were dropping rapidly, soon Clouds’ hooves were dipping below the fog point. Fortunately, I was starting to see flashes of green in the fog coupled with louder gunshots. Whatever we were looking for, it was getting closer!

Which was good, because now Clouds was up to her chin in fog. “Don’t worry! We’re almost there!” I shouted.

“Good, because I’m…” She was suddenly cut off, screaming in agony as our momentum was suddenly arrested. I was thrown head over hooves, losing my grip on Clouds and crashed to the street. I scrambled to my hooves as quickly as I could, whirling around as I called her name. “Clouds! Clouds, what happened?”

Static filled my radio as the fog cut off the transmission, though faintly I could hear the ghost of my name being said. But I was surrounded by colorless nothing, unable to see more than a wing’s length away from me. I stumbled about, screaming Clouds name with increasing desperation, my chest feeling like it was collapsing more and more with each passing second. After a tense stretch, I finally saw a shadow emerging from the fog.

An amorphous…thing rising up before me. It was pitch black, looking like tar or, given the horror of this place, congealed blood. It was holding a shield emblazoned with a picture of what I could only assume was the Crystal Heart. It was a cool blue and looked like something off a Hearts and Hooves Day card, wrapped in a golden ribbon that curled up on either side. Extending from it was a long spear, held up at a severe angle. Blood dripped from the spear, splashing on the shield and the road below. I looked up to the source of the blood and felt my heart seize.

It was Clouds, dangling from the end of the spear and completely motionless.

I stared at her body, my mind becoming as blank and featureless as the fog around me. I only snapped out of it when the creature moved, shaking the spear until Clouds fell off the end. I didn’t see her fall, Hell I barely heard the thump of her body hitting the road. All I could see was the endless stream of orange light as I thoughtlessly pumped shot after shot from Black Powder at the thing.

I didn’t remember drawing the gun, but that didn’t matter. I walked towards the monster, shooting again and again and again and again and again. The shield took each shot, but was starting to heat up. The metal was melting, the picture of the Heart twisting and blackening under the withering barrage. A hole was finally burnt through the shield right as the spark pack ran dry. I ejected the spent pack and slammed a new one home in one smooth mental motion. By this point I was face-to-shield with the monster. It was desperately trying to stab me, but I was too far inside the weapon’s reach to be in any danger.

I stuck Black Powder’s barrel in the glowing slag of the hole and started pulling the trigger. I didn’t stop at the goo burst into flames. I didn’t stop as an unnatural, high pitched shriek of untold pain rang through my head. I didn’t stop when the thing collapsed, the shield and spear dropping uselessly. I didn’t even stop when the pack ran long dry, pulling the trigger on an empty gun a thousand times as tears blurred my vision.

The only thing that made me stop was when a something yellow moved in the corner of my vision. I turned to look at Clouds, my eyes growing wide as she twisted onto her front and struggled to her hooves. I galloped over as she collapsed on her left hoof, falling to my knees next to her. “Clouds!”

“Ow…” She whispered, eyes scrunched closed in pain. She was holding her left leg tight to her side, blood leaking from her shoulder.

“Come here.” I said, getting under her and pushing her up onto the good leg. “Don’t worry, you’ll be alright.”

“It hurts.” She whimpered. “It hurts. I don’t like adventuring. It hurts…”

“Yeah, I know, don’t worry.” I said, trying to sound light. “We’ll get you somewhere safe and bind that right up. You’ll be fine.” I started walking, gently guiding her along with a wing. I picked up Black Powder as we passed the corpse of the blob thing. As we moved through the fog silence began to envelope us. The gunshots from earlier were gone, meaning either the person we were seeking was dead or had won their fight. Either way, I didn’t like the odds of us finding them.

A slight grinding was my only warning. I twitched to the right just in time to see one of the globe monsters rearing back, its stomach glowing a sickly green. I raised up Black Powder and pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. I had forgotten to reload after killing that blob! “Fuck…” I whispered. There was no way we’d get out of the way in time. I turned my back to it and spread my wings, hoping that by dispersing the balefire across the rad resistant suit that I avoid getting cooked.

Thankfully, it didn’t come to that. A loud crack of gunfire rang out followed closely by the sound of shattering crystal. My rad meter started spiking as I looked over my shoulder to see the left half of the monster’s head cracked open and spitting globs of green fire. The light was growing brighter and brighter and the cracks were spreading out. “Crap, look out!” I yelled

I shoved Clouds down as the monster exploded, feeling the heat sing my back and the rad meter shoot to +50 a second for an instant. My stomach heaved as the rads shot through my system and I had to bite back the urge to vomit. When the blast died down and rads returned to normal levels, I rolled off of Clouds and flopped onto my back, breathing heavily.

Clouds raised her head up, staring at me wide-eyed. “Why did you take that?”

“Your…suit…is breached.” I gasped. “If I didn’t…block it…the balefire…would have gotten you directly.” I swallowed hard, finally getting my breath under control as the sound of galloping hooves approached.

“Sleet?!” A wonderfully familiar voice asked.

I let my head flop to the side to see Scout running up to us. “Hi Scout.” I said weakly. “Do you have somewhere we can hold up? Clouds is hurt.”

“You both look hurt.” He said, holding out a hoof to help me up.

“I might have minor rad sickness.” I grunted, standing up. The little bar indicating my rad levels had passed the first marker, and my body was feeling it. My stomach bubbled nauseatingly and my skin was crawling in a way that gave me flashbacks to Heaven’s Point. “But Clouds is worse off, her suit is breached.”

“Damnit.” He hissed, cantering over to her with me close behind. We helped her to her hooves, which revealed how almost the entire left leg of her suit was red with blood.

“Oh look, that’s all mine isn’t it?” She said airily. “That’s a lot, you know?” Her breathing was shallow and quick with her eyes refusing to focus. “I’m probably…going into…shock…” She slumped, with Scout and I barely able to catch her before she hit the ground.

“Shit!” I cursed. “Tell me you have somewhere safe where we can bind this!” I begged Scout.

“Yeah, I found a spot. It seems to be clear of rads for some reason. Come on.” He led me down the crystal street as we carried Clouds between us. He continually swept the fog around us, keeping a constant eye out for danger. It was a tense minute for us to reach Scout’s safe zone, but we made it without incident. We entered what appeared to be an Old World spa. The reception area had benches lining either side and a desk flanked on either side by curtains. As soon as the door closed behind us, Scout dragged one of the benches in front of it and pulled his helmet off. “I checked on the suit and my PipBuck, we’re clean in here.”

I gently laid Clouds on her uninjured side and removed my own helmet. “Good, now help me get this off of her.” Working together we managed to get her out of the suit and examine the wound. My gut flipped at the grizzly sight. The spear had impacted just under her shoulder and had torn across her chest up to the collar bone, leaving a two inch ragged tear on her left side. “Goddesses…” I muttered.

“It’s bad, but I think we can save her.” Scout said, reaching into his saddle packs and pulling out a roll of magical bandages and healing potions. “This place has to have a first aid kit somewhere with fresh water. Go find some.” He tossed me an orange sack of Rad-Away. “And drink this.”

I caught the Rad-Away and tore it open, taking a cringing sip of the extremely tart medicine. “Alright, be right back.” I slipped through one of the curtains, moving deeper into the spa. The spa area itself was made up to look like natural volcanic hot springs made of crystal. Little “craters” filled with water rose around the outskirts of the room at varying heights with soft massage beds in the open middle. A glass dome ceiling let light stream in from above. Back before the war it must have been beautiful with streams of bright sunlight illuminating the room.

Now it was still. The water had been left undisturbed for so long that it had become so still as to be mirror-like. I stepped up to one of the lower pools and stared down at myself. The first thing I thought was how much I needed a mane cut. I frowned and pushed my hair out of my face, getting a good look at myself. No real difference. Maybe my cheek bones had become more pronounced, but that may as well have been malnutrition. I sighed and rubbed the little lump at the base of my skull. Was it even working?

I was about to turn away from my reflection when I saw something odd. I opened my eyes wide and stared into them, trying to find what had caught my attention. Was that…rime frost rimming my eyes? I closed them tightly and shook my head rapidly before looking again. Nothing. “You’re losing your mind, Sleet.” I murmured, the force of my breath sending ripples through the water.

It didn’t take long to find a medical box. The familiar yellow-and-pink metal case was attached to the wall on the far side of the room next to another curtained doorway. I trotted over and tried to pry it open, but it was locked. Nothing my little trick couldn’t handle. As I was freezing the lock, I heard a groaning noise. Electricity shot up my spine, sending my mane on end. It had come from behind that curtain!

Cautiously, with Black Powder in my mouth, I edged the curtain open with a wing. Peeking inside, I found another one of those strange black ghoul creatures aimlessly wandering an old sauna. Quietly, I positioned myself inside the curtain and pointed Black Powder at my target. This time, I was loaded.

I reentered the lobby area with fresh water from the first aid kit in tow. Scout had Clouds’ would bound in magical bandages and was holding her head up so she would swallow the health potion he was pouring down her throat. She coughed up some of it, but swallowed the majority. Her eyes slowly flickered open as I entered. “What…happened?” She whispered.

“You passed out from the blood loss after that thing stabbed you.” I said, kneeling next to her and offering the water. “Don’t worry, you’re safe now.”

“That’s good…” She greedily gulped down the water, only stopping when she needed air. Her head lolled to the side and saw Scout holding her up. “Oh, look, we found Scout…”

“I don’t know how you did, but that doesn’t matter.” He said. “I’m more concerned about how we got separated.”

“Oh, she did that.” Clouds said, her voice barely audible.

“Wait, ‘she’?” I asked. “Clouds, she who? Clouds!” But she wasn’t responding, her eyes had closed again and she was breathing easily.

“I think she’ll be fine after she sleeps.” Scout said, laying her on one of the benches.

“Yeah, but who was this ‘she’ she’s talking about? She makes it sound like somepony is fucking with us!”

“I don’t know, but come on. Let’s leave her to rest.” Scout said, trotting into the spa area.

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to leave her alone?” I asked, following him. “I found a…well I’m not sure what to call it.”

“What, like one of those monster things?” Scout asked. I showed him the small pile of ash that had been left behind by the black ghoul and explained my last encounter with one. “That makes no sense. What is it, a solid ghost?”

“Please don’t talk about ghosts, this place if freaking me out enough.” I groaned, sitting down and rubbing my head. I kept stealing glances back to the curtain behind which Clouds slept, as if expecting one of those things to go after her.

“Sleet, are you okay?” Scout asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Like you’ve been acting odd around Clouds. Did something happen?”

I rested my head against the frame of the door, staring at the ceiling for a long time. I hadn’t told Scout and Clarity about Clouds’ confession to me, wanting to respect her privacy. I tried to play it off. “I’m just worried because she got stabbed. A little understandable, wouldn’t you say?”

“No, it’s more than that. When we were leaving Meltwater, you two wouldn’t even look at each other.” He tried to meet my gaze, but I averted my eyes. “C’mon Sleet, tell me. You keep talking about how we need to be more open with each other.” He looked out the glass ceiling at the colorless fog outside. “And here we can’t afford to have anything that can hurt our ability to work together.”

I started worrying my lower lip with my teeth, considering what to say. Damn him for making sense… “Scout…” I took a deep breath and spoke rapidly. “Do you think I’m pretty?”

He twitched in shock. “Wait, what? What do your looks have to do with anything?”

“Just answer the question!” I snapped.

He thought about it for a second before shrugging and saying. “Yeah, sure.”

Now it was my turn to twitch in surprise. “Really?”

“It’s not like I have a list of the prettiest mares I’ve ever met.” He said. “I’m usually a bit more concerned with not dying out in the Wasteland.” He furrowed his brow at me, eyes searching. “Is this going somewhere?”

I took a few deep breaths and started talking. I told him about how Clouds had confessed her attraction to me and how I’d shot her down. “And the worst part is I do really care about Clouds, just not the way she wants, and I feel like trash for not being able to!” I slumped, burying my head in my arms. “Goddesses, my special somepony is a mare. I’m going to be alone forever…”

“Well, how can you be so sure?” Scout asked.

I blinked once, twice, three times in surprise. “What?” I asked, brow furrowed and looking up at him.

He shrugged, not really looking at me. “How do you know it won't work?" He asked, an accusatory note sliding into his tone. "Maybe sleep with her and find out if it will work. Have you ever tried it before?”

My mouth dropped slightly open. “Oh I don’t know Scout! Have you ever tried to sleep with another colt?”

He shot me a withering glare, finally meeting my gaze. “You’re always so keen to take dumb risks on things you know won’t work. Why not now?”

“How does that have anything to do with this?!” I snapped, getting up on my forehooves and leaning towards him.

“Because it’s putting our lives at risk!” He screamed. I leaned back slightly as his angry scream echoed off of the crystal walls. “I don’t know if you’ve forgotten, Sleet, but I’m here to keep us all alive, not solve your love issues!” He got to his hooves and stormed back towards the lobby. “Now, I’m going to go make sure your little crush his stable. While I’m gone, do me a favor and forget about this before it gets us all killed!”

I watched him go in stunned silence, only getting up when his hoofsteps faded away. I shuffled over to the pools of water and fluttered to the highest one. I leaned against the rim, staring down at myself in the water as conflicting thoughts bounced around my head. Scout was right about at least one thing, I had to get myself together. The Empire had already proven incredibly dangerous with those…demon monsters. Not to mention, Clarity and Arterial were still lost in the fog, and we had no idea who this ‘she’ Clouds had referred to was. I wished I just had some answers.

Something glittered at the bottom of the water. I focused on it, curious, and leaned over the water. My gasp of surprise echoed off of the walls of the spa. It was a PipBuck! And actual, honest to the Goddesses PipBuck! It was made of brilliant diamonds and rested lazily at the bottom of the pool. I felt my heart rate skyrocket. At least! At long, long last I could have my own PipBuck! The pool wasn’t even terribly deep, it would only take a bit on leaning to get it in my hoof. And then even less time to be around my hoof! I thought excitedly.

I reached out a hoof to the water, but before I could breach it, something shoved me from behind. I barely had time to suck in a surprised gasp as I plunged into the water. It was freezing! The cold sank into my bones almost immediately, robbing me entirely of heat. I spun in the water, trying to find the surface and get free, but another force pressed into my back. I slammed down on the bottom of the pool, the diamond PipBuck bouncing from the displaced water right in front of my face. I could see my eyes, wide and scared reflected in the green screen. I managed to jerk around enough to spin on my back and get a look at my attacker.

The water had taken shape. It became a large, powerful earth pony who was pressing his forehooves to my chest. He shimmered in the water, incredibly difficult to spot, save his eyes. His eyes glowed with a disturbing blue and white light and shot through my soul. My chest screamed for air as my cheeks bulged with a repressed breath. After a long, long time I could hold it no longer. My mouth opened and an anemic stream of bubbles escaped my dying lungs. I thrashed harder than ever, my throat burning and convulsing as water poured down it.

My eyes rolled backwards into darkness and the screaming filled my head once again.

Author's Notes:

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYPONY :D

Here's my gift to you, a rather late chapter! Don't worry, I don't plan on letting this happen again. January 25th for the next one? I think so! Until then, I want to wish you all a very merry Hearth's Warming Eve, and the happiest of holidays. The fact that there are people out there, reading and enjoying my work is one of the best feelings in the world, and I can't thank you readers enough for your support.

As always, special thanks to Kkat for writing the original Fallout: Equestria, Mobius for proofreading and idea generating, and to my family for their input! Like if you did, dislike if you didn't, tell me why in the comments, and I'll see you all next time, everypony!