A tiny spark wandered lost in the darkness. Hello? Where am I? Is someone here?

Come to me…

Who are you?

Come to me…Come home…

Home? Where is home? I’m lost…

Come to me…Come home…

Where?! Where is home? The little spark flits back and forth, unsure of where it is. Hello? Help me, please! Help!

Come to me…

The first thing I felt as I returned to life was an awful burning in my chest. My eyes snapped open, blinded temporarily by the light. Something was pressing against my lips and I felt a rush of air that only made the burning worse. I lashed a hoof out, pushed whoever was on top of me away so I could roll over and start coughing my lungs out.

“Oh, thank the Goddesses!” A voice said. “I was so worried!”

I couldn’t respond, only continuing to cough and hack. Dribbles of water splashed out of my mouth, running onto the glittering floor like dying waterfalls. Eventually, I was able to force enough air into my body to gag out a few words. “Fuck.” I coughed. “How many times will I drown before it takes?”

“Wait…” The voice asked worriedly. I looked over my shoulder to see Clouds sitting nearby, frowning in thought. “Do you want it to take?”

“No, no.” I said, flopping back down and staring at the ceiling. I didn’t recognize the room I was in until I tilted my head and saw the pile of ash from the what-ever-it-was I killed. We were in the sauna room. “It’s just that almost drowning and coming back sucks enough once.”

“Well, I mean, technically it did take this time.” She said slowly, tapping her hooves nervously.

I snapped my head to the side, eyes wide. “What?!”

“You were…clinically…dead.” She said slowly. “But I managed to resuscitate you.” It was about now that I was feeling the chill settling over my chest. I looked down and saw that my suit had been rolled down to the waist. A pair of small, black burn marks sat parallel over my heart. “I know a defib spell.” Clouds said, noting my surprise. Her horn buzzed with magic and electricity sparked off of the tip. “I needed to get the suit away from your heart for it to work though. The plastic was getting in the way.”

I remembered feeling something pressing against my lips. “Did you do anything else?” I tried not to sound accusatory.

She blinked for a second before it hit her. “Oh, CPR. You know, breathing and compressions.” She mimicked pressing her hooves down in a rapid motion. “Your chest might hurt a little. I tried not to bruise your sternum, and I don’t think I did, but I was a little panicked, you know?”

I rubbed a hoof absently mindedly over my chest. “Yeah, yeah no I think I’m fine.” Clinically dead. Those words kept playing in my head. Clinically dead. Clinically dead. Clinically dead. I had been dead. Ceased. Ended. For the span of time it took Clouds to bring my lifeless body back to working condition, Sleet Gray had been no more.

I wanted to throw up again.

Silence reigned as I lay there, staring at the ceiling. The only sound was our breathing, Clouds and I. Wait, only Clouds and I? I suddenly sat bolt upright, looking around the empty lobby. “Where is Scout?” I asked frightfully.

“I’m right here.” He said, trotting into the room. “I was keeping an eye out for that…” He glanced nervously back over his shoulder. “That whatever it was that attacked you.”

“How did you get it off of me?” I asked. I could still feel that horrendous pressure of the thing bearing down on my chest. Since it was amorphous water there was no way he could have lifted it off of me, and Clouds couldn’t have used any magic that wouldn’t have harmed me in the process.

“Well, I kinda, jumped in after you.” Clouds muttered.

“Wait, what?!” I yelled, sitting up instantly.

“I heard the yelling and splashing and it woke me up. I came into the spa and saw what was going on. Scout wasn’t going in, so I just…acted.”

“I didn’t go in because it attacked me!” Scout protested. “I was getting ready to try and shoot the damned thing, but she just charged in front of me! I nearly put another hole in her!”

“Why the Hell would you do that?” I snapped at her.

“Because you were dying!” She shot back. “What was I supposed to do, just let it happen?”

“You’re supposed to do something other than just jump in the haunted water with the amorphous monster! What if it grabbed you too? What if it killed both of us? What good would that have done?” The yelling was straining my water-logged lungs. A fit of coughing cut my rant short.

“I…I couldn’t just let you die…” She said, her voice choked.

I swallowed hard, getting the coughing under control. “I know, and I’m thankful you saved me, really I am.” I assured her. “But you can’t act so compulsively. The last time I did I killed most of my family.”

“I’m sorry…” She sounded close to tears. My recently restarted heart ached.

“It’s alright.” I said gently, sliding over to her and placing a hoof on her shoulder. “After all, it worked. I’m still breathing.”

“That’s the excuse you usually give me.” Scout muttered, turning to trot deeper into the spa. “That stunt might have reopened Clouds’ wound. Make sure she doesn’t bleed out.” He tossed me a roll of magical bandages as he walked away.

“What about you?” I asked.

“I’m going to see if there is another way around that thing.” He said as he walked away. “I don’t know what it is, but I know this much.” He glanced at me over his shoulder. “It is not happy you got away.” With that, he slipped through another curtain and disappeared.

“Great, so we can’t leave the way we came.” I muttered, holding my head in my hooves. I sat like that for a second before frowning. “Wait, can’t I just freeze it and have us all rush the exit?”

“There’s still those blob things outside.” Clouds said. “Scout said his E.F.S. was showing a whole bunch of red bars out there, like they barricaded the door.”

“Goddesses damnit!” I cursed, smacking a hoof off the ground. “I hate this place!”

“I’m sorry…” Clouds said again.

“It’s not your fault this place is cursed or haunted or whatever.” I raised my head and tried to give her a smile. “Besides, I’ve dealt with scarier ghosts.” My smile abruptly faded as I recalled the green eyes staring at us as we left Heaven’s Point Hospital. What had ever become of that Stable of unicorns? Did the geister kill them all? Or did they manage to contain the gargoyle monsters like the Overmare wanted.

Neither option was really appealing.

But this was not the time to worry about that. I stood up and trotted over to Clouds. “Come on, let’s take a look at that wound.” She was holding her injured leg tightly to her side, but pulled it away for me. The bandages were soaked in blood, obviously needing changing. “Fuck, I wish Sister was here.” I muttered as I started undoing the dressings.

“Who’s that?” Clouds asked.

“A unicorn from below the snowline.” I explained as I worked. “She’s a doctor and fixed me up when I first came to the surface.”

“Why did you come to the surface anyway?”

I stopped for a second, frowning in thought. “I never told you that?” She shook her head. I sighed and resumed working. “A little under a month ago, I found something I shouldn’t have. I was teaching myself how to hack in the hopes that maybe I could get a job with the military, make something of myself.” I clumsily wrapped the bandages around her shoulder, but managed to cover the wound. “I ended up stumbling onto a file that held secret military plans to attack the surface. They want to kill everypony down here, and retake Equestria for themselves.”

“What? Why?” She asked, eyes wide.

“I don’t know. The file said that they will be ‘eliminating threats’, but that is just the dialogue they will be telling the civilians.” I tied the dressings tight and slumped down to sit. “They really just want another apocalypse, where only they survive.”

“And you’re trying to stop them.” She said softly, placing a hoof on my shoulder.

I nodded. “That’s why I’m here, in this Goddesses forsaken Empire. I want to reactivate it, use its light to make the surface they won’t want to attack. Maybe make everypony work together again.” My eyes were fixed on the crystal floor that glimmered with a thin sheen of water, but I wasn’t looking at it. All I could see was the world burning under concentrated plasma fire. “But I don’t know if I’m even capable of it.”

“I think you are.” Clouds said simply. I looked up at her and she was smiling. “You’re one of the smartest mares I’ve ever met! That’s why I…” She stopped talking suddenly, looking down at the floor. “Was there that much water there earlier?”

I glanced down and for an instant I wasn’t sure what she was talking about. Then I noticed the warping of the light as faint ripples played over the little puddle we were sitting in. “That’s not right.” I breathed.

A liquid hoof shot from the puddle and wrapped itself around Clouds’ leg. She screamed in terror, trying to skitter backwards, but her hooves slipped in the growing puddle. She slipped, falling completely on her back, and the water acted immediately. A band of it shot up and tried to go in her mouth. Thankfully she had the presence of mind to snap it closed before the thing could get in her, but now her muzzle was engulfed in suffocating liquid.

I flapped my wings to get out of the water, hovering over Clouds and the water continued to tie her down. Now it had her hooves pinned completely, reducing her struggles to twitches and muffled screams. I had to do something, but what? If I froze it, she would freeze to and die!

Unless I was extremely precise. I landed outside the puddle and closed my eyes. Clouds had been following me with hers, and I couldn’t concentrate with that look of soul-crushing fear staring at me. I took three quick breaths, feeling my power congeal as a mist around my feathers. C’mon, please let me do this. I need to save her.

I beat my wings once, twice, three times. On the third I unleashed a wave of winter energy into the water, taking the utmost caution to hit JUST the water. A sharp crackling filled the air and I snapped my eyes open. Clouds was lying this, still trying to move but now she was bound underneath bands of ice. It had worked! She was completely unfrozen, save a bit of hoarfrost around her fetlocks.

The band covering her nose and mouth was very thin and brittle. I stood over her and gave my best sympathetic look. “Sorry, but this might hurt a bit.” Wasting no time, I pulled back a hoof and brought it down with all my strength on the band.

It cracked and shattered, the ice chips falling to the sides of her. “OW!” She yelled after sucking in a breath. “You punched me in the face!”

“If there was another way I would have taken it, but I didn’t want to risk burning you with Black Powder.” I apologized as I set about cracking the ice around her hooves.

“Why did it attack me anyway?” She asked as she used her magic to chip away at the other bonds.

“Maybe it’s mad at you for saving me.” I said. I was freeing one of her rear hooves when I noticed something shiny glittering under her. “What’s that?”

She sat up, having gotten her front hooves free, and flushed slightly. “Oh, I was going to surprise you with this…” After some awkward twisting and a lot of magical tugging, she pulled the thing free from the ice.

My eyes shot wide as I recognized the diamond PipBuck. “You…you got it?” I gasped, reaching out and tenderly taking it. It felt so light for being made of so much gemstone. “How?!”

“I noticed it at the bottom of the pool as I was pulling you away from that thing.” She said sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. “I figured that’s why you went in and brought it with me. I guess it was a little assurance, like if I could give it to you then that meant you would survive, you know?”

I stared at it in shock for a long second, trying to take it in. “This is…” I felt tears start to come to my eyes. I threw my arms around Clouds’ neck and hugged her tightly. “Thank you!”

She froze completely for a second before stuttering a “y-you’re welcome.”

I pulled away from the hug, too excited to notice how red faced Clouds had gone. “I gotta put this thing on!” I started fiddling with the clasp, trying to figure out how to get it open.

“Can we find Scout, first?” Clouds asked, bringing me back to reality. “I think the ice is starting to melt…”

I looked at the frozen shards, and sure enough water was starting to pool under them. I swore I could see it twitching, eager to recreate its form. “Yeah, let’s go.” I agreed, scrambling to my hooves and stuffing the PipBuck in my rad suit. We hurried from the room, throwing the curtain closed between us and the demon.

We found Scout in a long, thin back room that looked to be some kind of maintenance corridor. Most of the available walking space was consumed by pipes, boilers, and water regulators. It felt more like a hallway in Clouds’ super secluded bunker than part of a spa. We reported to him what happened with the water attack Clouds and our subsequent escape. “We left as soon as Clouds noticed the ice melting.” I finished, checking nervously over my shoulder. “I don’t know how far its returned to water or how well it will be able to follow us, but we have to go.”

“I’ve been trying to find a way out, but from the look of it this place has only one exit.” He said. “Though I think we may be able to get out through one of these pipes.”

“You want to go into a tightly enclosed space with even more water?” Clouds asked with a hitch in her voice.

“It’s looking like our only option.” He said, rapping a hoof against one of the larger pipes. “If we can drain the water from one of the larger ones, we can fit through it and cut our way out on the other side.”

“Cut our way out with what?” She asked.

“With this.” I said, gesturing to Black Powder. “And I can freeze a wall behind us to keep the thing out.” I tried to keep any quavering from my voice. The thought of getting in such a cramped space was uncomfortably reminding me of my time in Talon Mountain, but I we couldn’t stay with that amorphous…thing.

“Alright.” Clouds said after a few breaths. “I should be able to get the pipes clear. The system looks similar enough to the super secluded bunker. Just find me a pump control unit and I’ll be good.”

Scout led us towards the other end of the maintenance hallway where an intricate series of pipes, levers, and valves lay. Scout watched the hall while I poked around. There was another door there which I cautiously opened and, after seeing no sentient water, stepped through.

It was a small office space complete with desk, shelves, and a happily glowing terminal. I eagerly sat down at the terminal, anxious for anything to do, only to find that it had never been logged off! “Damnit.” I muttered. Still, I went through the logs, hoping I could find anything about that monster.

Like most terminals in businesses I’d run across, it consisted mainly of boring files, invoices, and what not. The only mildly interesting thing was an audio editing program that seemed to have been used to make radio commercials back before the end. I was about to deem the information unhelpful before one thing caught my eye. A folder titled “Royal Appointments”. Opening it, I found a long backlog of dates spaced each about a month apart. It seemed that the Crystal Princess, or at least a member of her house, was quite fond of the spa.

What was especially interesting was the fact that the final appointment was on the day of the apocalypse.

I pulled the diamond PipBuck out of my rad suit, staring at the screen. “What do you know about this, hm?” I asked it, experimentally pressing a button. To my absolute delight, it lit up! “Hah! Even two hundred years soaking in living water can’t bust one of these!”

The status screen was blank, no indication of the previous owner was left on it. I had a good guess of who it could be, but I wanted to check all the data to make sure. After a little fiddling, I found the notes and audio logs. I couldn’t stop myself from giggling like a schoolfilly at the wonderful little device. So much data, so much technology, all at my hooves! I picked one of the logs at random and scrolled through the text.

>I was assigned a new group of bodyguards today. I told Shining that he should be focusing on defending the crystal ponies, not me, but he wouldn’t listen. He said they were pulled from outside the Empire, so he wasn’t weakening our own forces just for me. I guess I’ll take some solace in that. The ponies are nice enough, but they all have something a little…off about them. I can’t quite put my hoof on it but it’s like they’re too polite, even when they are being mulishly stubborn about their “duty”. They obey every order I give, except the ones where I ask for a bit of privacy. Not to mention, not one of them cracked a smile or frown all day. Maybe I’m just being paranoid, but I have a bad feeling something isn’t right in Equestria if this is what the soldiers coming from there are like. I should really call Twilight and see what she knows…

Twilight, where had I heard that name before? I swear I knew it from somewhere, some old factoid I’d picked up in school or something, but now it wouldn’t come to me. And who was Shining? Was he the “Prince”? I wanted some solid answers, damnit!

I picked an audio log next, curious as to how it would play. Through an unseen speaker came the slightly fuzzy voices of two mares. It sounded like they were singing some kind of…nursery rhyme?

“Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!”

I paused the log, frowning. That was the last thing I expected. In this cursed Empire of misery, darkness, and fear the cheerful little song felt wrong. I glanced over my shoulder to see if the others had heard it, but the sound of Clouds clanking around with the pipes had masked it.

Resuming play, the mares giggled as they walked, if they sound of clopping hooves was anything to go by. “I’m glad we finally got away from the guards. Every time they’re around I feel like I’m not standing up straight enough!” The first one to speak had a light, kindly voice that immediately endeared me to her.

“Tell me about it. When I’m in Canterlot I feel like I’m on lockdown, 24/7. I can’t imagine how bad it must be as a Princess!” Aha! I knew this voice! Now it was clicking into place, that was Twilight Sparkle, head of the Ministry of Arcane Sciences! Since she was a unicorn she was rarely discussed in the Enclave, but she still received a bit of note in our schooling since she had played a large role in developing the advanced technology and weaponry that the Enclave used. I’d heard at least one audio log of her during my schooling, it was her discussions on the M.A.S. and scientific advancement that got me into hacking in the first place.

So I guess it’s kind of her fault I’m here, isn’t it?

I shook the stupid thought from my head and kept listening. “That is part of the reason I called you here. The ponies we just left are new, and they aren’t from the Empire.”

“Is something wrong with them?”

“No…yes…I don’t know. There’s something off about them, you saw it didn’t you? They’re so…soulless.” There was a long pause before the other mare spoke up again. “Twilight?”

“What? Oh, sorry, I was just thinking.” She cleared her throat and continued. “This war is wearing on the whole nation, especially those who do the actual fighting. These ponies already have a big job protecting the Princess of the Crystal Empire, but I have no doubt Shining Armor really pressured the importance of it on them.”

The other mare sighed, sounding dejected. “Maybe you should talk to him, he’s been so distant lately. I think he’s mad at me for not joining Equestria in declaring war.”

“I can’t even imagine such a thing, but I’ll give it a shot. It’s been too long since he and I talked anyway.”

“Thank you, Twilight.” There was a quiet moment between the two before Twilight spoke up again.

“Cadence, is your PipBuck recording?”

“Is it?” There was a flurry of motion and Cadence groaning. “Sorry, Twilight. I’m still getting a handle on this thing. It’s marvelous, but I’m having some difficulty figuring out the…”

With that, the sound was cut off. Apparently she had found the stop button. I continued to flip through the logs, but little else of interest came up. At least now I knew who the Prince was, this “Shining Armor” who seemed to be related to Twilight Sparkle somehow. Maybe a sibling?

I was getting ready to head back to the others and check on Clouds progress when I spotted a log on the final day. It was another audio recording, maybe it’d give me some insight into how the PipBuck ended up here. I pressed play and Cadence’s voice immediately came through.

“You don’t need to follow me here, Valiance.” She said as a door opened.

“My apologies ma’am, but it is the Prince’s order.” A deep, male voice said.

“Can’t I counter that order as the Princess?”

“Not with the recent threats, ma’am.”

Cadence sighed. “Fine, whatever.” The microphone barely caught her next muttered words. “The only threat here is yours on my sanity.”

Her mutterings were cut off as another voice greeted her. “How are you today, Princess Cadence?”

“I am well, Effervescence. How are you?” The Princess engaged in small talk with the pony who I assumed was the owner of the spa by their familiarity, and the fact that that name had appeared many times in the terminal logs. “I’m afraid I can’t stay long.” She said. “Shining Armor is still searching for threats and I cannot leave the castle unattended for long.”

“That won’t be a problem your Highness. Will you be needing anything else?”

“Actually, yes. Could you find a way to get this PipBuck off of me? It is a wonderful device, but I’d like to have my whole leg back, at least for one bath!”

“Ma’am, if the Prince needs to contact you…” Valiance interrupted.

“Then I will keep it nearby so that I can hear any calls.” There was a pause. “As a matter of fact, here.” There was an unlocking sound and the clanking of tools. “You hold onto it. Let me know if anything comes up, and you can wait in the lobby. Keeping me safe doesn’t mean being in the same bath as me.” There was a splashing of water and Cadence let out a relieved sigh. “Now, go, Valiance. I will call when I am ready.”

Valiance gave a reluctant affirmative, and from the sound of hooves was in the act of turning away when a loud, distant rumbling was heard. “What the Hell?” The guard yelled in shock. A loud clattering filled the speaker.

“What was that?” Cadence’s voice, high with fear came from further away. There was the sound of beating wings and the Princess gasping. “Oh no…” The loud, whirring thrum of unicorn magic filled the air.

“Princess, wait!” Valiance yelled, his panicked hoofsteps overpowering the other noises. There was a loud POP another rumble, Valiance screaming, a splash and…

A loud, discordant noise blared through the speaker on the device, practically knocking me off the chair. “GAH!” I fumbled a bit with the PipBuck before finally shutting the log off.

“The fuck was that?” Scout asked, galloping into the room, eyes wide and weapons ready.

“Nothing, nothing!” I said placatingly, sliding the PipBuck between he and I before spinning around in the chair.

“What do you have there?” He asked, brow furrowed.

“Nothing, just a terminal.” I said, nodding over my shoulder. I couldn’t let him see the PipBuck now. I was piecing together why we were under attack, and if I was right the last thing I wanted was his seeing that PipBuck. “There were some strange audio logs on it that I started playing. Didn’t give me any insight into what that thing is, though.”

“Alright, well, Clouds is almost ready. I want us out of here as fast as possible once we can go.” He said, turning back to the door.

“With you there!” I called after him. I waited two beats for him to be completely around the corner before spinning around again in the chair and scrambling over the terminal. I knew what the water was now. It was Valiance, horribly corrupted by the terrible magical energies of the apocalypse into an amorphous being hell bent on following his one last order.

But I had this PipBuck now, and by the Goddesses I was going to keep it. Some soggy spirit wasn’t going to take this from me!

Finally, after much fussing about, I found what I was looking for. A cable to connect external devices to the terminal. I hooked the PipBuck up to the terminal and set immediately to work. I found myself checking constantly over my shoulder as I worked, worried not only that I would see Valiance coming for me, but Scout discovering what I was up to. It wouldn’t take him long to piece together what I had about the PipBuck. Even if he didn’t have the specifics, it was obvious that the monster was guarding it. Scout would give this marvelous little invention back to that beast!

“But not…” I muttered, firmly tapping the last few keys “if I’m clever enough.”

“Sleet! We’re moving!”

“Got it!” I called back, downloading my work. It took a second longer than I was comfortable with, but it worked. I disconnected the PipBuck, stuffed it into my rad suit, and galloped out of the room.

“Find anything good?” Scout asked. He had put his helmet back on, muffling his voice.

“Maybe, but I’m really just hoping we don’t run into that thing again.” I said, cantering to a stop next to him.

“Then let’s get going. This place is freaking me out.” He had apparently found a toolbox while I was in the other room because he pulled out a screwdriver and began dismantling the largest nearby pipe. It was about a pony’s size in diameter and flush with the ground, which would make entering it simple.

“You have those completely flushed of water, right?” I asked Clouds as I pulled my rad suit back over my forelegs and chest. I was hoping that if I had to fall back on my plan that the suit’s magic would let me easily access the PipBuck.

“Not a drop!” She said confidently. Her own suit had been patched up over the wound, effectively sealing the breach. “We can get through bone dry.”

“Good, cause I’m sick of this place.” I said, needing to raise my voice over the clanking of the pipes as they finally came free.

“I’ll go first and light the way.” Scout said, getting on his stomach and crawling in.

“You go next.” I told Clouds, nodding at the pipe. “I’ll freeze us in once we’re inside.”

“Actually, it might be best if I got in last.” Clouds said, rubbing her chin in thought. “I could levitate the pipe back into place and then you can freeze that shut.”

“Are you sure that’s the best idea?” I asked a little nervously. This is going to be claustrophobic enough…

She nodded. “It’ll make sure that it can’t find us, let alone follow.” I sighed my concession. Clouds passed me my helmet, which I sealed into place before turning around and crawling into the pipe.

My anticipatory anxiety of how cramped it would be didn’t even compare to the real thing. My every side was being pressed against by cold, hard metal. I felt my muscles flexing against the containment, which only further increased my panic when it didn’t give. I felt a sudden, all-consuming need to stretch and rotate me limbs, but couldn’t. All I could do was crawl forward, but what if I got stuck? What is the pipe narrowed? It was already cramped, what if forward suddenly wasn’t an option and all that remained was behind to my death? I felt my breathing speeding up right along with my heart…

“Sleet, you alright?” Scout asked, awkwardly bending around to look at me.

“Yeah, yeah I will be.” I gasped, trying to get my breathing pattern back to normal. “I’m just not fond of tight spaces.” I bit down hard on the inside of my cheek, using the pain as something to focus on. Crawling forward, I made enough room for Clouds to climb in, the detached section of pipe held in her electric blue magic.

Once the seam was back in place, I closed my eyes and visualized a thick layer of ice forming inside the pipe, sealing it and blocking the entrance. It was much harder than normal to focus my talent inside the metal tube, the confinement serving as a psychological block from the sky. I pictured myself swooping through the clouds, glorious sunlight beaming down from the clear blue vault above.

The temperature rapidly plummeted inside the pipe and a loud crackling heralded the forming ice. I opened my eyes, and in the faint green lamp light of Scout’s PipBuck, I could see fruits of my labor. A half-inch thick ring of ice glimmered around the seam of the pipe. “Alright, let’s move.” I gasped, feeling the blood rush to my head from the strain of the magic.

We started crawling. The meager light of Scout’s PipBuck flickered in and out of existence as his body periodically covered the lamp. I had to carefully measure each movement so he wasn’t kicking me in the face, and I wasn’t doing the same to Clouds. I could feel her moving behind me through vibrations in the metal, but I couldn’t see her. Being trapped between the two of them was not helping my claustrophobia in the slightest. The darkness and regular movements meant I could close my eyes and focus on not losing my mind in the confined space. Why does the surface have to have so many fucking tunnels? I thought.

My focus was abruptly interrupted as my helmet bashed into Scout’s rear hoof. “Ow!” Though my helmet stopped, my face didn’t and I ended up smashing my nose into the glass. Clouds apparently didn’t notice the stop either, since she kept going and ended up squishing me. “Clouds! Back up!” I snapped.

“Sorry, sorry!”

“Scout, what the Hell?” I hissed into the radio.

“Shhh!” He snapped back, waving a hoof over his shoulder. “Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“Shhh!”

I glared at him, though since I could only see his flank it wasn’t very effective. Straining my ears, I focused my hearing, zoning out the breathing of my companions. There was nothing, just a little dripping…

Wait, dripping?

My eyes shot wide. “Scout, go!” I pressed against his hooves. “Go!” Clouds screamed, a long, terrified sound. She started to panic, scrambling down the pipe even though we still weren’t moving. “Clouds, wait!” Then I felt the cold around my hooves and knew it was too late. Something powerful crushed my lower rear legs, pulling me down the pipe. I managed to twist onto my side, which made just enough room for Clouds to begin to slip by me.

“Sleet!” She cried as I was dragged inexorably past her, crushing the two of us together, I on my back and her pressed atop me. Thankfully, the pipe wasn’t big enough for the two of us and we jammed in that position. But Valiance wasn’t giving up. I screamed as he continued to tug, stretching me like a child’s piece of chewing gum. I managed to wrap a hoof around Clouds’ shoulder and press the other against the pipe, further securing the seal we made with our bodies. I managed to get my chin low enough to see the monster.

The living water that was Valiance had absorbed my rear hooves completely with his front ones. The amorphous head with the bluish-white light for eyes glared at me. The face had no features, but I could feel the determination of the long-dead soldier. Whatever had made him this way hadn’t taken the conviction of his spirit.

“What do we do?” She screamed, bracing her hooves against the pipe as well.

“Hold on, I have an idea!” I tried to summon the PipBuck with the suit’s magic, but the interface flashed red.

>Magical interference detected. Manipulator spell offline.

“Fucking hell…” I growled. “Clouds, hold on tight!” I released my bracing hoof and pulled it inside the sleeve of the suit. The loss of one of the braces caused a sudden jerking, yanking me toward Valiance. Clouds screamed at the strain, and I felt us pulling loose.

A new set of hooves appeared in my vision, wrapping under the helmet and locking in tight. I didn’t have to look to know that Scout had just saved my ass again, but there wasn’t time to thank him. “Do these things have speakers?” I asked Clouds.

“Yeah, why?” She asked, her voice tight with strain.

“Just tell me how to turn it on!” I was slowly, painfully, fishing through the inside of my suit for my trump card. She explained it right as I got my hoof around my target. “Yes!” With a little thrill of triumph, I pulled the PipBuck up into my helmet and switched on the speakers. With only one very, very awkwardly held hoof, I pulled up the audio files and played the most recent one.

“Valiance, this is Princess Cadence. I am safe, stand down.” The light, friendly voice of Princess Cadence played through the PipBuck and through my speakers, filling the pipe. It was obviously not natural, her intonation and tenor changed with every word. Some of them were cut off, obviously part of another sentence, but the whole was there.

The pulling suddenly stopped. Valiance stared at me, at the PipBuck, unmoving. I pressed the button and played it again.

“Valiance, this is Princess Cadence. I am safe, stand down.”

Slowly, agonizingly slowly, the light dimmed in Valiance’s eyes. The water began to lose form, collapsing into inanimate liquid once again. A soft blue light continued to emit from the puddle for several seconds before fading away into nothingness, and we were once again in the dark.

“Holy shit…” I whispered, my voice quavering with the flood of adrenaline pumping through my body. “That worked.”

“That worked?” Scout said, releasing my neck. “What do you mean, ‘that worked’? And where the fuck did you get a PipBuck?”

The adrenal high was making me giggly. I needed to fight through the snickers to talk. “Great Celestia and Luna that worked!”

“Sleet! Answer me!”

“I ffffffhahaha! Sorry, sorry!” I waved a hoof at him and held the one still inside my helmet to my mouth. “Pffffhaha! Sorry, right! PipBuck! Clouds found it, gave it to me.”

“Yep.” She confirmed in a breathless voice. “Now, can we move? It’s hard to breathe…”

It took a minute for us to reorient so that we weren’t so compressed anymore. Throughout all of it, I couldn’t stop laughing. I was still blown away at how the monster had fallen for that shitty hack-job of a doctored sound file! I guess two hundred years as a puddle doesn’t make you very perceptive.

It took a firm knock on the helmet from Scout to get me to stop howling with laughter and start moving.

After a minute more of crawling, Scout announced that, according to his PipBuck, we were finally outside. “How thick were these walls that it took so long?” Clouds asked.

“This whole thing was angled down near the start. We actually passed under the street.” Scout explained. “We came up underneath the next building over. We’re going to need to crawl up to get out.”

Whatever interference had been screwing with my manipulator spell appeared to have died with Valiance. I was able to pull out Black Powder and, after Scout pulled far enough ahead to not get dripped on, started melting the top of the pipe.

“So, want to fill me in on why you didn’t tell us about that trump card, Sleet?” Scout asked as I worked.

I had the hiccups from laughing so much, but could still talk. “I wasn’t sure how that thing interpreted the world around it.” I said, cobbling together a lie on the fly. “For all I know it was reading our minds. The fewer of us who knew I had just made that up, the better.”

“Then how did you know it would hear it?”

I paused to load a new spark pack. The metal was starting to glow at the spot I kept blasting. “Because if it could read minds it would hear it through your thoughts as you heard it? I don’t know how these things work, Scout!”

“And how did you get that audio recording?”

“I complied it from a bunch of random recordings I found on that terminal, downloaded the Frankenstallion file onto the PipBuck and played it. You should have seen the amount of times the Princess came up on the reservation list. She practically funded that place, not to mention the endorsements.” The metal was starting to drip, hissing on the bottom part of the pipe.

“So what you’re saying is you completely bullshitted a plan that might or might not have worked depending on if the thing trying to kill us could hear or not?” There was a banging noise as he hit his head against the pipe. “Sleet…”

“What? It worked! And if it didn’t, I could have frozen it and we could have ran.” I had melted a good sized hole in the pipe, just enough to peak through. “Now let me check to be sure nothing up there is waiting to kill us.” I chilled the metal with my talent and crawled forward. Getting my helmet to fit in a proper peeking position was difficult, but I managed it. There was a metal grate above us, signaling that we were under some kind of factory floor, perhaps. The mesh would be easy enough to get through with Black Powder.

What made me scream and scramble backwards was the eye looking back at me. “Something’s up there!”

“Sleet Gray? Is that you?” A familiar voice crackled through the radio.

I froze solid, not believing what I was hearing. “Arterial?” Sure enough, flicking weakly on the radar was a tiny “A” right above Scout’s “S”.

“Why the fuck are you in a pipe?” The griffon asked.

“Because my life is a fucking madhouse.” I muttered. “Now step aside so I don’t accidentally melt your beak off.”

It took way more of my ammo than I wanted to use, but I finally melted a hole big enough for us to crawl out of. “You know, when the Enclave breached Talon if felt like ponies were crawling out of the walls.” Arterial was saying as I hauled myself up. “I never thought I’d actually see it happen.”

“Shut up.” I growled at him, stretching every joint I could. “Do you know where Clarity is? Is she with you?”

“I’m afraid not.” He said. “I’ve been by myself this whole time.” He looked down at Scout and Clouds who were crawling out after me. “Though I see you have been more fortunate.”

“Well, we have almost everybody now. We just need to find Clarity, and then find the Crystal Heart.”

“Easier said than done.” Arterial said. “I tried patrolling the skies to find you, but there are dragons up there.”

“Dragons?” I asked, my heart sinking. Dragons were one of the rarest, but most destructive threats the Enclave faced. One dragon could wipe out a whole city, which was where their special designed dragon-killer ships came in. We didn’t have that sort of equipment though, and all those precautions were taking for singular dragons. Arterial had spoken in the plural.

“Young ones, little more than drakes, but dragons none the less.” He said. “On the plus side we are close to the castle, and there is something shining pretty brightly near the base of it. It might be this Heart you’re looking for.”

“Then let’s get moving. I don’t want to waste any more time.” I gestured for Arterial to lead the way and we started towards the exit. As we went, I pulled out the PipBuck and began trying to attach it to my leg. It was hard to do with the simple manipulator spell though, and Scout noticed my frustration.

“Here.” He said, pulling me over to the side and helping me clamp it just above my right fetlock. “I took a master key for these when I left the Stable, so we can get it the rad suit off once we’re out of here.”

“Thank you, Scout.” I said sincerely, smiling at the PipBuck as it lit up. The status screen flickered for a bit before a little cartoonish pegasus appeared, smiling broadly.

“Sleet,” he said, putting his hoof on the PipBuck and forcing me to look at him. His face was stern, as unforgiving as the crystal structures all around us. “Do not leave me in the dark on one of your plans again.”

“Of course.” I said immediately.

His expression melted slightly, becoming…sad? Before I could figure it out, he turned and continued walking. I flapped there for a second, watching him walk away and wondering why my stomach was churning so much.

“Sleet Gray! Keep moving!” Arterial called back.

I nodded and flew to catch up to them
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EXP gained!
PipBuck acquired! You now have access to all the wonders these little devices have to offer. +5 to Medicine and Repair while wearing it. You might need a little training to access the advanced functions.

Author's Notes:

Bollocks, one day late :/
Ah well, bit of exciting news, I'll be getting a whole lot more professional help on the next two chapters, which is awesome because they have some massive story moments. This means the release of chapters 20 and 21 are going to be a bit erratic, so bear with me. I'll try to keep you all updated as pertinent information comes through.

But for now, I'd like to thank you for continuing to read my story. Special thanks go Kkat for writing the original and Mobius for being my reading slave wonderful volunteer proofreader. Make sure to like if you did, dislike if you didn't, and let me know in the comments why! See you all next time!