Slowly, CD woke up, everything blurry, wobbly, and looking almost like a bunch of pictures in a kaleidoscope. He was looking up into the concerned face of Summer, and she was joined a moment later by a human, dirty and bandaged, but still alive.

“So does the fact that everything is wobbly mean stuff is normal?” Even his voice sounded wobbly to him, like he was underwater. “Hard to know for sure.” He chuckled for a brief moment. The human made faces, looking like it was trying to speak, but he could only hear a dull, arrhythmic tone or pulse, like a deep, bass buzz.

“I still have my helmet on mute, don’t I, or, you’re trying to read a wordsearch while playing the tuba.” He reached for his helmet controls, finding, to his shock, that his helmet was off. “Well, shit, what happened?”

The human made hand motions of something screaming or singing opera, or maybe throwing up, and then a movement like his ears blowing up. Or maybe getting spaghetti sauce on them.

“The aardvarks are nauseous, and they want to blow up the moon? I’m not totally here, gimme a sec.”

The human just shook its head and turned away, the motions of its body looking like it was arguing with someone. CD sighed and waited for someone else to come and tell him what was going on, preferably with written words this time.

Sketch was sitting next to a makeshift stretcher with a de-armored Broker laying on it. The pale-colored unicorn was severely injured, and even the medigel had given up trying to help him. The stationary RIG they’d set up was blinking sedately on its last red bar, the light barely on.

The refugee camp had scraped together just enough medical supplies to jerryrig the set up, but it hadn’t done more than let Broker’s friend watch him slowly begin fading away. He was barely holding on, and only holding onto his consciousness by the skin of his teeth.

Sketch knew he hadn’t treated his friend well, especially in the last few months. There hadn’t even been a reason for it; Broker had always been a bit chubby, but Sketch had only really started railing on him about it recently. Maybe it was just the loss of so many commissions, but he’d been under some stress. And the last two-ish hours hadn’t been any better.

Sighing, he prepared to say his apologies to Broker, before his friend passed on. What made it all worse, too, was that he was the one to convince Broker to come along in the first place on the princess mission.

“Fuuuck... Why did you have to do that... Damn it Broker... “ Sketch shed drops of liquid pride, sniffling before he continued, “ A-At least you died saving our asses, and the princess’s... Although I really don’t deserve it being the shithead I’ve been... I’m sorry... I- I’ve been losing work the past few months, and it was getting hard to make rent, I didn’t realize I had been taking out my anger on you... You didn’t deserve all the jokes, pranks, or mocking...” He stopped for a moment to wipe his ‘liquid pride’ from his puffy eyes.

Broker coughed, a small splash of blood darkening the last patch of clean coat he had left, across his chest. The arms and claws of the wall of necro-things had torn him apart, even through his armor. In fact, if he’d had lighter armor, he would’ve been pulled apart, and the swollen, dislocated joint of his back left leg showed the strains of nearly being pulled out of his socket.

“S- Sketch... I- I- I forgive you f- for all the mocking n’stuff y- you did to me... I- I don’t think any of us would h- have predicted something l- like that in the room. I- I still appreciate all of t- the valor you showed t- trying to fight that thing. B- both of you. a- and one last thing. Tell C- Cheerilee I’m sorry. I- I’m sorry for not making i- it out alive. A- and tell her t- to live a wonderful life without me.” Broker said which started another cough from him. “G- goodbye. A- and thank you for being with me the whole way.”

Johan stepped over, and sat down next to Broker. “Hey, man, hope I- I’m not too late again.”

Broker coughed another string of blood and mucous from his collapsed lung.

“H- hey Johan. N- no you’re n- not too late. W-what’s up?”

Johan sighed heavily. “Not much, just having to sit and watch while my best bro dies in front of me. Reminds me of my dad, actually. You remember the funeral, right?” Broker nodded shakily. “Yeah... Feels like that again.” Johan sighed again, leaning on the side of Broker’s raised bed.

“J- just under different circumstances. D- do not worry for me. I- I had a g- good life; no regrets. I- I even got to experience t- the apocalypse w- with my best friends a- and managed to find love i- in the process. I say that’s pretty g- good for the case at hoof.” Broker said with shaking in the words as well. “B- but, live on f- for me a and get out o- of this nightmare. Please.”

Sketch stood up, unable to bear the moment any longer, leaving the two to talk as he sought out Cheerilee.

Johan put a hand onto Broker’s shoulder, patting the colt reassuringly. “Dude, you’ve been one of my best friends since elementary. I’m gonna fuckin’ miss you, man. Still, you never got laid, and I will always be ashamed I never got to fix that for you.” Johan’s tone was joking, light, but his smile didn’t reach his eyes. He was trying, so hard to keep his smile on.

Sketch found Cheerilee, eyes running with tears, being comforted by Big Heart as they sat by Alex.

“Cheerilee, come talk to him, he’s fading fast.”

The mare looked up at him, and her eyes held a broken look. “I- I can’t... I can’t. As long as- as I don’t see him die, I- I can pretend he’s still there.”

“Cheerilee, he probably wants to spend some time with you before he goes, can’t you just give him that? You’re the first mare that liked him back, he really liked you.”

Cheerilee gulped, holding back a sob as Big Heart gave her a pat on the back.

“Miss Cheewiwee? Mistah Bwokah needs you. Pwease?” Big Heart’s eyes were far more serious than any child her age should be.

The older mare’s defenses crumbled at the sad looking filly, and she sighed, her ears still back. ”Fine. I- I’ll go to him.”

She stood up, looking utterly defeated, broken, shattered. She looked like she’d aged a dozen years in the last half hour of them resting in the camp. Her slow, plodding hoofsteps meandered through the crowded hallway the camp had been set up in towards Broker.

Sketch sat down next to Alex and Big Heart, the two sitting next to each other for warmth. The environmental systems had cut out in the habitat, and the chill of space was slowly seeping in.

“So, how are you two holding up?” Sketch patted Big Heart on the side.

“Hey, it looks like Cheers is here. I’ll leave you two alone, alright?” Johan patted Broker on the shoulder gently and stepped away, just as Cheerilee sat down next to him.

“H- hello, Broker.”

“H- hey, Ch- Cheerilee. I- I’m sorry. I’m so sorry f- for not being strong e- enough to make it out of this. T- the past few hours w- with you h- have lifted my spirits through t- this nightmare. I- I’m so glad to have met you.” Broker replied with a tiny smile, his coughing barely being held back.

Cheerilee pressed her muzzle to his cheek gently, and her forehooves wrapped around him. “I’m s- so glad I could m- meet you, too, Broker. I can hope th- that the scriptures are true, and we’ll be together again in the next life. I love you, Broker.”

“I- I love you too, Cheerilee. I will a- always be with you in spirit. T- this next life you speak of, I- I look forward to it, w- whatever it may be. B- but please, for me, l- live through this nightmare a- and live a great life once you escape. P- please. C- can you do that for me, m- my love?”

“I- I can do that. I will do that.” She nuzzled him again, and held him close until he passed on. She wept openly onto his body as it cooled.

Copy.Data’s hearing was slowly returning, and he had a loud ringing noise echoing in his head. He could barely hear it when people talked now, but at least he could hear. Summer had been holding his hoof gently, and speaking to him ever since he could hear again, and it had helped. At the very least, it had helped with his boredom, because the ‘doctors’ kept telling him to stay laying down.

“What... what’s going on guys? What’s the damage?”

One of the doctors, apparently a female human, tapped her ear questioningly, and asked if he could hear her. Which he could, barely.

“If you could turn up the volume that’d be nice, or get something to make everything a bit louder. What’s the chance I’m partially deaf? Just hold up your fingers if you have enough of ‘em.”

The woman leaned over to him, and stuffed the ends of a stethoscope into his ears, speaking into the other end so he could hear her.

“You’ll probably be fine, but you had a few burst membranes from whatever it was you fought. Also, you seem to have been talking to thin air lately, so I wanted to make sure you didn’t have a concussion.”

Her voice was a little soft, but it was getting easier to hear her by the second.

“Hey, Summer isn’t that skinny, but anyway, how much did having my helmet on mute help? It didn’t make it worse did it? And sorry I’m a bit nervous, last time I woke up with random people around, I was strapped to a table with a needle in my eye trying to suck out my brain.”

The human just quirked an eyebrow at him again. “Ah... that’s... uhm, different. Who is this ‘Summer’?”

“You know, if you don’t like her, just say so, you don’t have to be a jerk and pretend she doesn’t exist.” CD gave the human an irritated gaze.

She looked at him with a concerned look in her eyes. “I, uh, can’t seem to see her, can you point to her for me?”

“Jeez, no respect. Are you blind or something? She’s right here. If you don’t mind, could you at least-” The doctor cut him off. “Mr. Data, there’s nobody there.”

“Some people.” He sighed. “Is there anybody else I can talk to? Preferably one who doesn’t have issues with those of the same sex of another species?”

One of the other doctors stepped over. “Is there a problem, Marilyn?” the new doctor was a grey-blue colt with a green, spiky mane. The female doctor, Marilyn, apparently, motioned towards CD. “He’s seeing things, and refuses to admit they aren’t real. Someone named ‘Summer.’”

The new doctor looked at CD. “Ah, son, you do realize that Marilyn and I are the only other people over here besides yourself, right?”

“Then explain why I can see her, and she talks to me?”

“Because you’re suffering from hallucinations? Son, this is a very serious problem.” The medical stallion’s voice was calm, and level. “Were you hit on the head at all? Either by a solid object or a spell of some kind?”

“Listen, since I woke up strapped to a table with a memory-stealer/torture device in my eye, I’ve had no idea what’s happened in the last five or so months since I was bright-shiny-thinged from an insane asylum. After I’d escaped, I’ve been thrown into walls, jostled, bitten, stung, whacked, thwacked, acid-barfed on, stabbed, blasted, and seen some shit that’d turn your mane white. I just wanna know, how long ‘till I can get back to fighting monsters?”

“Son, I think you should just take a nap, and calm down. It- it sounds like you need some serious mental health assistance.”

“That’s what my therapist said. And in four weeks, nothing much changed. Whole thing was a waste of time if you ask me.”

“Son, if it weren’t for the nasty side-effects, I’d almost recommend you go through a scan-wipe of your recent past, just for peace of mind.”

“I’d love that too, how long was I stuck with those nutjobs and their crazy gibberish about ‘sequences’?”

“I have no idea, son. Now, you rest, we’ll find you some sedatives. We should have enough for an hour’s nap or so. And, uh, if this ‘Summer’ person starts saying anything more, please tell us. Nobody else seems to see her, so maybe you should re-think whether she’s actually been with you or not.”

The stallion turned and walked away with the other doctor, looking over the other injured. His parting words certainly sowed the seeds of doubt in CD’s mind. He looked over at Summer, who looked furiously at the doctor’s retreating back before lifting the end of the stethoscope.

“The nerve of him. I cannot- cannot believe he’d just ignore me like that! What kind of sick doctors try to pull a prank like this?!”

“Some ponies are total asses, but you’d never think one could manage to get a medical degree. Oh well, I guess I can name a few people good at faking incredible intelligence. Me included, sometimes.”

“Oh, Ceeds, you’re plenty smart.” She nuzzled his cheek, and he blushed at the comforting feel of her fur against his. “Just be careful, okay? I don’t wanna lose you, and I almost did back there.”

He returned her embrace, something that had stuck with him from his roots on Equus. He knew she was real. There was no way she’d be able to hold him like this otherwise.

She helped him settle back into the uncomfortable, makeshift cot. Even if the doctor was an asshole, some real sleep sounded great, and he settled in to do just that. Although the idea of sedatives was stupid. If he wanted to sleep, which he did, he wou-

He thought no more as he passed into the peaceful oblivion of dreamless slumber.

Johan sat back heavily on the bench. He’d decided to sit away from the rest of the group, but it was evident he was trying not to cry. He’d known both Sketch and Broker for most of his life, and they’d been good friends.

Taking a ragged breath, Johan put his face into his hands. He’d lost his mother when he was young, his father when he grew up, and now, his friend. Taking a deep breath, he pushed down those emotions, dragging them into the depths of his heart and soul, Johan crushed the despair and pain.

Frost stepped forward from her corner where she was keeping watch over the group, her gun pointed at anything that moved. She wasn’t one to socialize with others, especially in a situation where they could be killed at any moment in time.

“Johan...” Frost put a hand on the sergeant’s shoulder, Jackie still in hand incase of an emergency. “I... I’m sorry. If I’d known that you guys needed help then I would have jumped in...”

Looking up with a tired smile, Johan’s gaze met Frost’s. He held the smile for a second before huffing.

“Nah, it’s alright. None of us knew. This one’s on me, I should’ve expected the worst; prepared better for the possibility.”

Frost frowned and put down her rifle, taking Johan’s face in her hands. He leaned into her hand, his eyes closing as he took comfort in her touch.

“Don’t say that, ever. We’re at war, Johan. None of this is your fault, okay?” She lifted his head slightly and gave him a light kiss, pressing them together firmly before breaking apart, setting her forehead on his.

“If anything ever comes up, tell me. I’m not going to let anything else happen to you, got it? We’re in this together...” she pulled back with a slight smile.

“Besides, we’re partners, right?” She stroked his cheek with her thumb, trying her best to comfort him.

He just gave a brittle smile and looked away. He shook his head sadly. “If we’re at war, then I was the commanding officer. It was still my fault, either way. Frost, I can’t pretend that I caused this... but I could’ve prevented it.” He sighed.

“You’re in no condition to act as commanding officer, so stop beating yourself up. It can’t be helped...”

He pushed her back a little, still refusing to meet her eyes again. “No, Frost, you don’t get to make that call. I was in charge from the beginning, and I need to hold it together.”

“No.” Her voice was firm and she force him to look up at her. “All ranks are null from this point on. I hereby demote you to supporting officer due to your inability to keep to your duties and responsibilities.” She gave him a warm smile and gave him another kiss. “I’m taking over now, got it?”

Johan’s face hardened, and he stood up, ignoring her kiss. “No, I’m not giving up command. No ifs, ands, or buts. This is too important for me to give up now. My dad didn’t raise a quitter. As the acting lieutenant, I’m promoting you temporarily to sergeant.” He straightened up, and looked at Frost one more time. “Please don’t make me regret this, Frost. I need this, or I’m going to break.”

“Johan, I know you; you’re too stubborn to break down.” Frost took his hand.

“And I’m too stubborn to back down on this.” He gave her hand a gentle squeeze through their gauntlets. “Please don’t stall me on this. Please.”

“I won’t let you down.” She cleared her throat. “Just promise me one thing. I know it sounds selfish but, don’t be the hero and sacrifice yourself for anyone, okay? You’re that last good thing I have left... and I don’t know if I’d be able to keep my sanity without you.” She bit her lip. “It sounds sappy and mushy, but I’m only saying this because, I- I need you.”

“And I, you.” Johan sighed. “C’mon, let’s go... go talk with the others.”

Johan and Frost embraced once more, before heading back into the camp.

Cheerilee lay on a bench, sniffling quietly, with Big Heart curled up next to her. A couple meters away, on a separate bench, Sketch was sitting. He was next to Scootaloo, the only member of the so-called Crusaders that wasn’t keeping an eye on the perimeter. And Sweetie had acquired nearly a dozen folks with weapons had inconspicuously begun guarding her.

Sketch had been sitting rather uncomfortably ever since Scoots had found out Broker had died. The young-ish pegasus has taken to sitting against him, her feathered wings fluffed against the chill in the de-powered residential section.

“You okay Scootaloo?”

She sighed theatrically, and leaned against him again. “Yeah, I’m fine... I- I just wish I could’ve gotten to know him better. Or, at least, gotten that stick out of his ass...”

“Heh, that stick has been there since fifth grade, I think it was part of him.”

“Might’ve taken root up there, eh? Heh... still... he seemed nice. Ol’ wrinkle-lips certainly thought so, and she never liked anyone without at least two degrees.” The pegasus chuckled and leaned over again.

“He is-..was a great guy, she probably latched onto him because of how nice and polite he was. So, why don’t you like Cheerilee?”

Scootaloo looked up at him with a look of trepidation, before her expression softened. “I- I guess it’s ‘cuz they always treated me like a kid. Or a nuisance.” She sighed. “Mostly just because I would get in trouble. It was so boring, though, they never taught anything I wanted to learn, and when they did it was always the basics, never anything new.” Scoots

“Do they still force feed you guys the the ‘ you will use algebra everyday’ garbage? I never used it in my two years since graduating.”

“Uhm, I’ve used it pretty regularly. Gotta keep an eye on the market, make sure food is at its downswing for the season before buying for the year. Ramen’s cheap, but I’m just riding on a single scholarship. For everything.”

“I know that feel, ramen has been my main food source for a while now. Back to you getting in trouble, what kind of pranks did you pull?”

“I never really pulled any pranks. I, uh, just got into trouble.” Scoots blushed sheepishly. “Like, say... blowing up the science lab? It wasn’t my fault, and Ms. Chloride knew it.”

“Oh, well accidents happen, I kind of did that stuff on purpose, to make things more interesting, not my fault they left it where children could reach undiluted chemicals.”

Scootaloo shook her head, smiling slightly. “So, Wrinkles over there is lookin’ pretty bad...”

“Yeah, give her a break for today at least, Broker’s last moments were... difficult.”

Scootaloo nodded. She huffed, but leaned against him again. She was very warm, and kinda fluffy.

“So, what did you like in school?”

“Gymnastics was the best, but P.E. was pretty cool. I was thinking about getting onto the AeroSpace team, once my wings got bigger. But, here I am, three years later, and my wings are still just humming.”

“Aww don’t beat yourself up about it, they’re kind of cute. Think of it this way, at least you don’t need glasses.”

Scoots just shrugged and snuggled in closer to him. “So... do you really think they’re cute?” She fluttered her wings at him slightly.

“Of course, and the shade of orange looks nice.”

She blushed and nuzzled his neck. “Thanks... You’re pretty cute, yourself. What I’ve seen of you, anyways.”

“Thanks, but I’m average for the most part, plus who ever heard of a stallion who has an outline?”

Scootaloo giggled. “Idunno, makes you distinctive. I like it. Hey, uh, you got a, uh, marefriend, by any chance?”

“No, why?”

“Want one?” She looked up at him and batted her eyes. He just looked at her in return, uncomprehendingly.

“Who?”

Scootaloo face-hoofed. “Nevermind... Just- I- ugh, nevermind, I’ll try again later.”

“What? Did I say something wrong?”

“No, just- nevermind, alright.”

“Sorry, I screwed up didn’t I?”

“No! Let’s- let’s just, lay here, alright? Just to, y’know, have someone near?” Scootaloo just snuggled close, avoiding his gaze.

“Okay, I like snuggles.” Sketch snuggled close, relaxing a bit.

Scootaloo sighed and just kept snuggling.

Around fifteen minutes later, Frost and Johan sat together, looking out one of the windows and resting their rifles across their legs. The window gave a view of the last slivers of light, being slowly but surely dragged away around the other side of the planet in view.

Tyranis, a massive brown dwarf star, that is, a gas giant that had just barely too little mass to become a star, had originally had close to eighty moons. Now, it had only around twenty or so left, the rest turned into a slowly-expanding ring of debris. That ring, now laced with the superstructures of space-faring civilization, had been named ‘Nightmare Station’.

And as Johan watched the light bleed away, he couldn’t think of a better name for it, now that most of the light was disappearing.

Leaning towards Frost, he chuckled, as he realized what a good metaphor the setting sun was for recent events. Things had become clearer, in a sense, and also so much darker. And the sun wouldn’t be back for around six months.

Johan’s voice was strained, even more so than before. “Hey, Frosty? How’re you holding up?” Having time to dwell on what had happened hadn’t made him feel any better, just more resolute.

“I can deal with death, Johan. Why do you think I studied to be a nurse?” She turned to him. “Even with the death of my father, I still have you to keep me sane, even if you tend to drive me, well, insane.” She let out a slight laugh. “My feelings have no meaning or importance to the situation at hand, Johan. I can handle my own feelings.”

“Thanks, but... I... I don’t know if we’re going to make it out of this, Victoria. Not... not as us, at least.” Johan continued to stare out the window as one last finger of light held desperately to the edge of the planet. “We won’t be the same people who went into this if we come out of it alive. And... and that’s the crux of it, isn’t it? We might come out of this, but alive anymore. We might be monsters, shambling along.”

The last threads of sunlight melted away, and he face was thrust into shadow. The sweeping expanse of night rocketed across the ring, slowly bring it all into darkness.

“Six months of night, out here, then four months of daylight. Maybe we were just asking for something like this to happen here, Frost.”

“Johan, we are going to survive this. Even if we have to slaughter every last monster on this station, we’re gonna live. Besides, I’d hate to have to lose you after you finally admitted how you feel about me.” She slid her hand atop his and gave it a light squeeze, smiling as he returned it. “Once we get off this crazy thing, I want to stay with you... I- I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have someone to help me through the recovery.”

Johan pulled her into a hug, simply placing a kiss on her forehead as he held her.

“Frost, I promise you, nothing will get you for as long as I draw breath. Nothing will hurt you, nothing will take you from me, okay? C- can you promise you’ll do what you can to survive? Please?”

“I’ve survived this long on my own haven’t I?”

“Please, just promise me, okay?” He looked into her eyes, his viridian irises burning intensely.

“Johan...” her hand lifted to his cheek, brushing it with her thumb before pulling him into a long kiss. “I promise.”

She pulled away suddenly after a few silent moments. “But you have to promise me the same thing. No being the hero, got it?”

“I- I can’t promise that, Frost. I’ve got exactly two reasons to live.Three, actually. You, Sketch, who probably needs me, and... well, I need to get Sweetie to Rendezvous Point Eta. She’s got to be that high on the priority list for a reason.” He put a hand on Frost’s shoulder and pulled away a bit. “I- I’ve got to hold on to something that can’t disappear on me right now, Frost, and right now, that’s gotta be our basic mission parameters.”

Johan paused for a moment. “Oh, and I should probably help get that ‘Seedy’ guy get his suit back on. Heh, he’ll need it if we’re going to go anywhere.”

Frost let out an angry huff and got to her feet quickly. “Don’t make me regret letting you in, Johan.” Her rifle was pointed at his head. He looked at her calmly and pulled the muzzle to the side. “Frost, I’m not going to lose you. I’m not going to leave you. I can and will promise you that. Nothing’s going to make me go without a fight.”

“You have to swear on your rank, Johan. Swear that you’ll keep your word.” Her rifle shook with every syllable, a strain in her voice.

“I promise on everything that matters to me, yourself included, that I will keep my word.”

Johan grabbed her, holding her close and just giving her something to lean on. “I promise.”

Her rifle went to her side and she held him tightly, gripping the armor.

“A-alright. I trust you.”

Author's Notes:

So there you have it.
He's gone.

I hope you people are happy with yourselves.

Remember to vote. One person up, one person down.
Any player who does not have an active character in the chapter may vote on that chapter.
Current Roster:
Sketch, Johan, Frost, CD, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Applebloom

Thanks to the following for contributing to the story so far:
Itsmyfuneral, starring as Sketch
Hunterz263, starring as Broker Wordsmith. May he Rest in Peace.
Rosethorn, starring as Victoria Frost
SomeGuy, co-starring as Johan Allegro
The Pieman, as Copy.Data