It took Graphite a week to recover from the shoulder injury, but Sunny was always at his side to provide him support. The days passed slowly, Graphite spent most of the time home since he was still uneasy about all of the zebras outside; but he kept himself, and Sunny, entertained by telling Sunny stories of what had happened on the front. He told her about the ponies he had met on the field of battle and his companions, like Blue Jay and Spotty. Sunny was always there to listen to him and comfort him if he ever started to feel bad about what had happened. She proved that making other ponies smile was her special talent more than ever.

Graphite’s peaceful rest came to a close when early one morning he received the message that someone important wanted to see him. There was a knock at the door, Graphite was sitting in the bed, slowly recovering from his wound with boredom. Sunny walked to the door, opening it to a young zebra standing astute in front of the doorway. The zebra was wearing a plaid jacket, decked in maroon stripes and lighter red squares. He had wrapped a belt with magazine pouches around the waist of the jacket and had strapped a large combat knife to it. The zebra had a scar going slashed across his cheek, a detail that was hard to miss. Graphite’s ears perked as the knock echoed into the room, lifting himself up from the mattress and leaning over to look into the doorway. His eyes caught site of the zebra and his large knife he had with him - Graphite’s eyes widening and his fears returning to him.

“I have a message for a ‘Graphite,” The zebra uttered.

“Oh, he’s right on the bed,” Sunny pointed out, stepping out of the way as the zebra stepped into the room.

Graphite was still looking over, the zebra was standing over him looking down on Graphite as he lay in the bed, “So, you’re Graphite?”

“T-that’s me,” Graphite responded with a choked answer.

The zebra cleared his voice, “I have a message from Maji: she requests your presence at her hall.”

“Um- Alright, but, why me?”

“Maji has heard of your great heroics, and would be pleased to meet you herself.”

“Oh,” Graphite looked down to the bed sheets, a bit relieved the pony was out to assassinate him. He continued, his eyes still towards the bed, “I didn’t any pony would notice,” Graphite leaned his head back, looking to Sunny, “Who’s ‘Maji’?”

“Maji,” The zebra cleared out his throat again, “Is the leader of this settlement. She also holds the role as director for the orphanage across from her hall.”

“Okay... Tell her that I’ll be there soon.”

“Very well,” The zebra said and nodded slightly. He left the apartment and Sunny shut the door behind him as he went.

“That’s so typical of her,” Sunny sighed.

Graphite sighed too, but left his sigh to turn to Sunny, “Typical of who?”

“Maji always sends a messenger, but she never arrives herself. Even to the apartment her daughter’s lived in for the past few years.”

“The tribe’s leader is your mother?” Graphite’s voice picked up slightly.

“Well, sort of. She found me, she gave me my name, she was taking care of me, but I never really got to call her my mother. Maji never really showed any sorts of compassion towards the foals she was supposed to be raising, but I guess that she didn’t want to make one foal more loved than the others.”

“That’s umm...” Graphite’s voice faded down as he ran out of words to say.

“It’s okay, Graphite,” Sunny smiled, “At least me and the rest of the foals in the orphanage got closer to each other,” Sunny turned to the kitchen, but quickly turned back when she remembered another subject, “Oh, Sierra’s parents did show some sort of attachment to me - even if I wasn’t their daughter in the slightest.”

Graphite smiled, dropping his head back on the pillow he had under his head. He sighed, throwing the sheet off of him as he gradually made his way out of the bed. Sunny was already waiting by the bed to help him up, she had gotten used to the routines over the past week and a half, ready to help Graphite down and up the stairs; pull him out of bed; grab his coat for him; make his food; and anything else Graphite couldn’t do without four hooves. He made it out of bed, Sunny already had his jacket around him and zipped up before he could notice.

They made their way out of the apartment. Sunny guided Graphite through the small neighborhood to Maji’s Hall, Graphite keeping close so he wouldn’t get lost or beat down a zebra for looking at him the wrong way. The walk through the town seemed just like any other stroll through the city of Buckago; a mindless trot down an a street that had no bends or curves, a walk without either one saying a word, a gallop with all the same sights of buildings and broken sidewalks. The only difference being that the streets were full of ponies, Graphite and Sunny not being the only ones going down the road.

The sidewalks were cluttered with vending stands and carts of goods. The buildings were covered with zebra decorations and ornaments from their homeland. Most of their decor involved painted masks and murals that ran across the walls. The paintings were exciting and full of colour - bright shades of red, yellow, and orange made up the design. The pictures seemed to tell a story, whether a tale of how something came to be, or of major events that happened in their home country. Graphite stopped to look at one adornment that peaked his interest.

Sunny stopped with him, staring at the brick wall by them. The brick wall spanned a pretty large length down the sidewalk before it finally stopped. The wall was missing bricks here and there, the empty spaces filled in with small candles. Along the base of the wall were also candles, lining all the way down the bricks. Sunny let him take in the sight a moment before she divulged, “This wall, and its candles, are here to represent those who had died in our tribe.”

“Everyone?”

“Yes, one candle for anyone who had lost their life. They’re missing from our lives, just like the pieces are missing from this wall.”

“And Sierra?” Graphite questioned without a second to think of what exactly he had just asked.

Sunny paused, looking down at her hooves. She took a deep breath; she had told herself she had gotten over Sierra’s death, but there was still that memory in her mind, that memory of her last words. Graphite looked down to Sunny, a bit worried she would begin to cry in the middle of the crowded sidewalk. She sighed again, grabbing Graphite by the hoof and directing along the wall, “Yes... I placed one down here...”

Graphite was examining the wall as they both walked along it. There were dozens of candles sitting in the small holes. Each of the candles had something placed on the wall together with them, like a piece of jewelry or a photography. Sunny however didn’t pay any attention to the wall, she kept on walking with out even looking at the wall until she stopped and approached it.

“There she is... That’s what’s left of her...” Sunny pointed out a candle that was sitting in a gap of the wall about eye level to Graphite and Sunny herself.

The candle was accompanied by a small picture of a zebra mare and a red pearl necklace. She had chocolate brown eyes and a soft, inviting smile. Sierra hadn’t much hair, but what her mane couldn’t show her coat made up for. Her coat was white with black stripes - Sierra was a zebra. Graphite was taken for a stupor, surprised to find such an unsung fact.

“Sierra looked like a nice mare,” Was all Graphite said about her.

“I know,” Sunny said hardpressed, “You know, it’s been a long time, but I still miss her sometimes,” She frowned even further and rested her head on Graphite’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure that she misses you too - wherever she might be now,” Graphite pressed his cheek against Sunny’s head.

They shared the moment in silence; a zebra bumped into Graphite as he walked and knocked a thought back into him, “We have to see Maji.”

Graphite turned to Sunny, saying the exact same words that popped into his head. She brought her head up, then grabbed Graphite’s hoof, “Yeah - and it’s not much further.”

They pressed on for a few more blocks before they reached a large building that was built in the centre of most of the town. It was a huge, three story building -- four counting the four towers that were at each corner of the building. The four towers had what looked like straw roofs, but it seemed more of the design rather than actual grains of grass. The walls looked like plasters of red clay, very flat and simple design but clearly told the origin of the design. The front had an open balcony for the second and third floor, a rugged fence made of sticks and wire string went across the ledge of it. After checking out the clay pillars that held up the roof over the balcony and fine artwork that was painted around the ridges of the building, Graphite and Sunny moved across the street and entered into building.

Two guards were standing in attention just outside the main entrance. They were standing in the same uniform as the messenger - any jacket they owned and a belt with pouches strapped to it. They each had a sub-machine gun slung around their shoulder, a mostly steel built gun besides the wood hoof guard, stock, and handle. The magazine was straight and narrow, only big enough to hold .45 rounds. The gun looked similar to the gun Blue Jay carried with him during the war, with only the size of the magazines being different.

The guards stopped Sunny and Graphite, taking a moment to inspect them. It wasn’t much of an inspection, just a quick look over just in case they weren’t going to barge throw the front door with guns blazing. They let the two in, opening the door for them without a word of acknowledgement passed the examination. They walked into the main room, a very wide open room with a grand staircase ahead of them.

The lobby had rows of long wooden pillars that spanned the height of the roof three floors up. On the roof, were six colossal chandeliers with large fabric fins to cover the lights. The fabrics were painted in the tribe’s colours; bright red and a shade of orange and yellow. The main floor at the bottom of the staircase was enshrouded with trophies and priceless artifacts that were guarded in a thick glass display case. The floor was made of a dark wood carved with intricate designs Graphite was intrigued to look at and admire. The basic structure of the room shared no difference from the exterior, but now the walls were more of a golden colour rather than a faded red.

Sunny grabbed Graphite, pulling him to follow her up the wooden staircase. Graphite waddled up the stairs, Sunny keeping him close as if they were climbing the piles of rubble through the city once more. The top floor was the same etched wood, but now was covered in a extensive carpet. The threading of the carpet showed a story as the murals did outside. The rug was very well made, but the main focus of the space was the zebra sitting underneath a pointed tarp at the end of the room.

Sitting atop a chair that was dissected from a tree’s trunk was the tribe leader, Maji; her head crowned with a traditional headdress of beads, strands of coloured yarn, and fancy ornaments and trinkets. The zebra looked like any other; white coat, black stripes, eyes with some shade of brown - in this case, a very piercing and vivid shade of brown. Her face was a bit stern, a bit serious, but most likely for the fact she was a ruler and a mother on the side. She had wrinkles around her eyes and was looking ahead at Sunny and Graphite as they made their way to her. Graphite noticed her dress as he came closer, a blue dress made for more casual working. A simple cotton dress with a belt and a few buttons going down from the neck of the dress. Over the dress, was a brown leather overcoat that looked pretty thick and fit very long around the arms. On both the dress and overcoat were a few embroideries of symbols from the zebra lands. Graphite couldn’t figure what they could have meant, but they fit with the headdress better than just the plain, pre-war clothes she had on. To finish her outfit was a bit of cloth wrapped around her neck like a scarf; it was many shades of blue stripes and zig-zags.

They got up to the throne where she sat, the guards strategically placed about the room glaring at them with their weapons ready. Sunny tilted her head down a bit, Graphite doing the same when he noticed there was still chivalry to be given in this world. Maji stepped down from the throne she sat in, coming up to Graphite and Sunny as they bowed gently - her headdress jingling against itself as she walked, “Good day to you Sunny and Graphite,” She greeted.

“Hello, Maji,” They both replied.

“You,” Maji directed her attention to Graphite, “Must be that stallion I have heard about.”

Graphite nodded, “Yes, ma’am.”

“Good...” She turned to Sunny now, “...If you could wait outside, Sunny, that would be greatly appreciated.”

Sunny looked up, “Oh... of-of course, Maji.”

She turned about, taking a final look at Graphite before she started her way down the stairs. The room was silent, both Graphite and Maji were watching as she slowly trotted out of the building. The room was filled with the echoes of her hoofsteps, finally stopping with the sound of the door shutting closed. Maji and Graphite turned to each other, Maji beginning to peruse Graphite, “I assume that you know why I have called you here today.”

“No, the messenger you sent only said that you wanted to see me.”

“Well, let me explain the reason of your visit. I’ve heard that you have met Xain.”

“Xain?”

“Yes, Xain. There is a legend amongst this tribe, Graphite,” Maji shifted positions in her chair, clearing her throat a bit. “Long before even I was born, there was a zebra. This particular zebra was just like any other, black and white with the tenacity to help those he was close to. Though things in the world soon fell apart; the ground underneath our zebra shook as the skies filled with a bright darkness. The zebras and ponies he knew were all called together to escape the invisible fire with the aid of those above them. As the citizens of the land crawled into the holes dug deep into the ground, our zebra was left behind - belittled by his peers. He was left in the green lands, just as the lake sunk into the city. Our zebra was left to burn in the fire without flames, his body turning into something rotten and without feeling. Just as his flesh turned corrupt, so did his heart. The zebra’s anger grew until his only purpose was in killing those who had forgotten him in his past life,” Maji came forward, facing Graphite with greater vigor. “This is the fate of the zebra named, Xain. He exiled himself to the island where he still resides, his hate spreading to those trapped on the island with him.”

“Well, it seems like Xain got off his island,” Graphite commented, stepping forward a bit to hear what Maji had to say next.

“Yes. He has also been attacking anyone that has come into his view, including us. Our scouts tracked him and found out that he is using a raft to get to us from his island.”

“So, how do I fall into this, Maji?”

The Chief stepped off of her throne, coming close to Graphite with her headdress still shaking with every movement she made, “Well, Graphite, only you share the legend with Xain - for you both were born before the fires that destroyed the city; and you both share the artistic talent of taking one’s life from afar,” Maji smirked, almost smiling pretentiously.

Graphite was a bit befuddled, worried to sound unprofessional in asking what she meant. He just kept silent, taking a moment to decipher the riddle of Maji’s poetic speech. Graphite looked up to the tribe leader, “How- how did you know I was from before the war?” Graphite asked in a very confused tone.

“What sort of a mother would I be, if I didn’t know my children?” She mentioned just before continuing with, “I’ve heard what they’ve been speaking about.”

Graphite smirked, moving on, “Well, if you believe it would work, Maji, I’d be happy to help - only, do you have any way to get me to the island rather than swimming there?”

Maji smirked, nodding her head a bit, “Yes. We have a boat. It is our old trading vessel, but even with the Xain lurking around, our trading hasn’t gone down. I will arrange for the ferry to take you to the island.”

“Thank you, Maji,” Graphite stepped back slightly, preparing to leave soon.

“I will also arrange some medicine and other supplies from the general store.”

Graphite bent his head down, leaving off with another ‘thank you.’

The Tribe Leader turned away, leading herself to her throne, “You may go now, Graphite.”

Graphite took a quick bow just before he turned tail and traveled down the large stairs to the door. He funneled out of the entrance, finding Sunny on the street corner just to his left. Sunny peeked over her shoulder, looking to the sound of the opening doors. She smiled to see it was Graphite, returning after a long wait, “Oh, there you are. I probably shouldn’t ask, but what were you two talking about?”

“Well, first, we need to head to the general store - I’m guessing you know where that is.”

“Of course I do, but will you tell me what you guys talked about?” Sunny continued to persist.

Graphite kept his same tone, keeping his smile down to a simple grin, “I’ll tell you when we get there.”

Sunny gave up trying to get answers early, but she still kept the idea in her head. She grabbed Graphite, the two making their way down the street to the settlement’s general store. They crossed paths down another pack of zebras, Graphite keeping his head low. Graphite knew he was going to have to settle in with the zebras eventually, but he decided he could work on that when he gets back. Sunny and Graphite were nearing the store, Graphite realized this when Sunny had brought up something about it.

“About the general store, Graphite,” Sunny started, turning to Graphite as she spoke, “The store’s ran by Pneumo - my brother.”

“Your brother? I thought you said your family left to go their own ways?”

Sunny slowed her pace, “They did, but Pneumo and my other brother stayed with me. We were one of the closest in my family, so it only makes sense that we stuck together after all these years. Only, Tsoy - my other brother - he hasn’t been in town for awhile. I don’t know where he went, but I know he’s alive since I’ve received the occasional message from him.”

“Oh, goo-”

“-Also, Pneumo can be a little... nervous around others. So, don’t be alarmed by anything he does, okay?”

Graphite brought back his last response; now left without out a reply, he just nodded. The couple continued down the road until they finally came upon the general store. The store looked run-down, mostly from how old the building was. It was a two story building, but the top floor windows were completely boarded up and the lights shut off. The rest of the building was rotted wood with rusted metal bars in the windows near the entrance, the ornaments hanging randomly around the building were beginning to wear away. The doorway was wide open, the doors propped open by a few books and bag full junk. They trotted inside, seeing that the store was dark as night. Most of the light came from the setting sun’s rays that belted through the bars on the windows, but was still obscured by the shelves and such. The rest of the light was provided by a small lamp sitting on the counter to the left of the entrance. From what the two could see, there was a staircase just near the counter at the front, some loud noises coming from the room upstairs.

Sunny and Graphite glared to each other, looking about the empty store in search of signs of Pneumo. Graphite looked right, taking a walk through the dim aisles of canned foods and assorted bags of crisps. Sunny turned to her left, facing the counter and inspecting the trinkets resting on it. Passed the lamp were some magazines stacked on each other, a wrapper for some sort of candy, nuts and bolts, then a dusty bell. Sunny looked back to Graphite, who was shuffling through the most likely expired meals and beverages. She turned back to the bell, tapping it with her hoof and causing it to make a sharp ‘ding!’

A banging noise came from upstairs, the swarming sounds of metal equipment hitting the floor and landing against a table. A voice shouted out, “J-just a moment!”

A trampling creak of hooves against floorboard echoed from upstairs, finally revealing the pony Graphite assumed to be Pneumo. He came down the stairs fast, half way to tripping down them in his odd trot. He came down the stairs, shifting his eyes about the room, “Yes, who is it? What do you-” The stallion stopped himself when he noticed Sunny standing by the counter. “-Sunny! You’re here!”

He skipped to Sunny, giving her a swift hug, “Sunny! I haven’t seen you in a while, how are you? Are you feeling well? How’s Nero - is he doing well? How about-”

“-I’m fine, Pneumo,” Sunny finally stopped the barrage of questions, holding his shoulders to help him keep calm. “I’m here to pick up the armour.”

“Oh, of course. I was just finishing up some things with it, it’s not quite done - but I guess I could give you it. Why the sudden need for-”

“-Graphite needs it,” She stopped Pneumo again.

“Graphite? I don’t think I rememb- Oh, you mean that pony you dragged in from out of town? How’s he doing? Is he even alive?”

“I believe I am,” Graphite stepped from the aisles in announcement.

Pneumo almost leaped to the ceiling in surprise, twisting his head to Graphite, “Oh! I-I didn’t see you there... I-I- you’re alive! Ha, oh good, good... Um, well, I’m Pneumo... Sunny’s brother... uh...”

Pneumo crunched his hoof to his oil stained jacket he had on, the black splatters clearly visible on the tan coloured jacket. His head was looking down to the floor, avoiding eye contact with Graphite. His mane was ungroomed and made up of messy spikes. He was wearing thin framed glasses, his hoof keeping it up his nose as it periodically slipped from his snout. His coat was white with black stripes - Pneumo was a zebra.

Graphite clenched his teeth, another surprise from the zebras smacking Graphite in the face. He came up to Pneumo; Pneumo making a few tiny steps back from him. Sunny came up to Pneumo, “Can we head up to your workshop?” She asked softly.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah...” Pneumo nodded his head vigorously. Turning his head to the stairs, Pneumo started up the steps, “This way...” He directed.

Graphite and Sunny followed him up the stairs as he twitched up the stairs. Graphite was trying his best to be careful around the timid zebra, knowing just the slightest comment could break down the poor zebra. The zebra made it up the stairs and turned right into the next room with the duo coming in with him. The room was just as dimly lit as the main floor, a ceiling light attached to a broken fan was this area’s source of light. The walls were thoroughly covered in posters ranging from propaganda by the Ministry of Arcane Sciences; instructions for operating mounted guns and other machinery; random advertisements of food, clothes, and housing; and a few schematics for weapons. There wasn’t an inch of wall that wasn’t covered with the collection of posters, most of the fliers overlapping one another. The room had a number of tables and work benches, all of them cluttered in spare parts and half-finished weapons or armour pieces. At the end of the room, underneath the windows, was a work bench with a buzz saw and a power drill.

Pneumo was about in the middle of the room when he turned back to Sunny and Graphite, “Oh, watch out for that welder- there. I just turned it off - so it’s still hot, and I don’t want you to get burned because that would be bad and st...”

Graphite ducked his head a bit, turning to see a welding torch hooked to the wall - the nozzle glowing a blue tone. Sunny stepped around Graphite, bringing her voice up for Pneumo to hear, “So, where’s the armour, Pneumo?”

He pointed to the table resting by the doorway; there, the armour was sitting. Sunny took the armour, taking a close look at it. It was easy to spot a notable difference - a new chest piece made of a light Kevlar vest and a white button up to line the vest. The remaining pieces of armour were left the somewhat the same; the holes in the pants were patched and some of stains washed out of the fabric, and the duster’s sleeves were cut off. Sunny turned to Pneumo, who was standing with his head down at his hooves and trying to act as if he’s not there, “Did you change the armour, Pneumo?”

“Well, umm, yeah. The chest plate was damaged and couldn’t find anything to replace it with... Come to think of it, the riot armor looks kinda similar, but acquiring a set of that is almost impossible,” His last statement was almost impossible to understand; a mix of talking fast and mumbling each word he spoke. He continued after finding his train of thought, “...I did find an old bullet proof vest lying around, so I patched that up. The inside of that thing doesn’t feel too nice when it rubs against your coat, but I added one of my old shirts - I guessed it would fit since you seem to be wearing my old jacket, and that looks like it fits just fine, and yeah...”

“What happened to the duster’s sleeves?” Graphite inquired, pointing to the duster.

“Oh, umm, that was my mistake... I kinda accidentally spilled the paint on some of it when I was painting another one of my works -- um, this gun I was working on looked like it needed another coat of red, but then I brought the can over and then it started dripping and I was near your duster and- and- and-” Pneumo started to hyperventilate, grabbing his dirty jacket and pull it nervously.

Sunny ran up to him, grabbing his shoulders tight, “It’s fine, Pneumo, it’s fine - right Graphite?” Sunny turned to Graphite, glaring at him; her eyes telling him, “Say yes!”

“Yes- Yes! It looks, uh, quite nice now...”

Graphite slid over to the table, grabbing the suit with his levitation, “Maybe I can go put it on now.”

Sunny was holding Pneumo while he sniffled his tears back; he grabbed his glasses, cleaning them off on his jacket, “Oh, well, if you think it’s alright. There’s a... there’s a- um- bathroom back down stairs, right under the stairs. It’s not too clean, and I never had time to put decorations in it, and it is sorta small, but you can change down there -- if you want to.”

“I will, Pneumo...” Graphite left the room quickly, letting Pneumo settle back into a better state of mind.

He stepped down the stairs, turning a sharp right to the underside of the stairs where the bathroom door was waiting. Graphite stepped inside, closing the door ahead of him. Graphite was stuck inside a room barely big enough for him to even turn around. There was a toilet and a sink, nothing else in the room. The toilet had dried up, starting to mildew from lack of use and lack of cleaning. The sink looked about the same, the faucet rusty and chipped. Graphite unzipped his jacket, laying the coat on the sink as he brought his armour over.

He looked at his new suit, spinning it left and right as he inspected it. The new kevlar vest didn’t seem to be as tough as the steel plates, but he knew the piece would stop a bullet from going through his chest. He dusted off his pants and the torn duster, slipping it on easily. He was a bit relieved to see the new armour was easier to put on, the vest almost comfortable to wear. Graphite walked back out into the store, grabbing the jacket just before he shut the bathroom closed.

There was no mirror to check himself in, but he didn’t need it to know the suit fits. He jerked the shirt down to stop it from wedging against his body, then made his way to Pneumo’s workshop.

Graphite found himself in the dark room again. Pneumo was at the far end of the room showing Sunny a schematic he had drawn out himself. He was speaking a mile a minute, Sunny simply nodding her head as his hoof moved from one section of the paper to the next. Graphite trotted forward without watching his waltz. The tip of the welder grazed his cheek, Graphite grabbing it and searing his teeth from the sudden burn.

Pneumo jumped and let out a yelp, knocking over the screws he had scattered on the work bench, “Who- Graphite! Oh, um- um, are you okay? I told you about the welder- I should have put the welder somewhere else-”

“-Pneumo,” Sunny interrupted his usual rant, “I’m sure it was nothing.”

“I’ll be fine, just a little warmer around the cheek,” Graphite chuckled.

Pneumo made a loud sigh, “Oh, okay. Well, I remembered a package that one of the delivery ponies gave me - I think it’s why you came to my place to start with. It has a box of some different ammo, a rifle with an optical scope, a pistol, and a shortened pump-action shotgun. There are also some medical supplies: ‘Few doses of Med-X, a pack of bandages, and healing potions.”

“Yeah, those would be the things,” Graphite mentioned.

Sunny turned her head to Graphite, her eyes a bit distraught, “What do you need all those supplies for, Graphite?”

Graphite paused. He never wanted to tell Sunny what he and Maji had discussed, but it seems never had come too soon. Graphite took in a deep breath before sighing, “Well, Sunny, I didn’t want to tell you so you didn’t have to worry, but-”

“-Worry? What did Maji tell you, Graphite?” Sunny came forward a bit, her brother stepping back to his work table.

With another sigh, Graphite continued, “She sent me to kill that sniper outside of town. I needed to come here, to the general store, to pick up the supplies before I hop onto the boat that can take to the island that sniper’s on.”

“But, why? Haven’t you killed enough already?” Sunny raised her voice at Graphite.

“I know, Sunny - I don’t like it anymore more than you but-”

“-Then why are you going?”

“He tried to kill you and me, Sunny. If no one stops him, it could go on forever.”

Sunny groaned, “Yeah... the... Maji can’t send any pony else? Anyone at all?”

Graphite walked closer to Sunny, his and her voices were starting to dim down, “She called me in because I’m the only one with a good enough shot to take out that sniper.”

“I guess that I shouldn’t be surprised...” Sunny sighed and frowned, “I still don’t want for you to go,”

Graphite grabbed Sunny, hugging her tight against his vest. She grabbed Graphite back just as tight, pressing her head into the body of his vest, “I’d like to stay here with you too, but some one has to do this.” Graphite sighed.

Sunny stood in Graphite’s embrace for a while. A few tears started running down her cheeks. It was hard to tell ‘goodbye’ to some one you love and letting them go to a place where Celestia knows what could happen, but at least he wouldn’t have to say goodbye just yet.

Sunny finally pulled away from the hug. She shed the last of her tears, trotted back to Pneumo, “Just be-”

“-Could you take the package now, Graphite? Oh- Sunny, sorry; it’s just I don’t like holding onto someone else’s things for too long and... you might want to check it - make sure I didn’t forget anything...” Pneumo turned around, staring back at his schematic.

“Of course, um-”

“-It’s on the right table.”

Graphite trotted to the table Pneumo guided him to, finding that his bag was the package itself. He strapped it around his back, and was ready to head to the pier with Sunny. Sunny was standing by the doorway, trying to keep light in the situation by creating the best smile she could while somber. Graphite grabbed her by the hoof as he came to the door, Sunny emotionally squeezing it tight. She turned to Pneumo, finding the will to squeeze out a goodbye, “Pneumo, I’ll- I’ll be back soon, okay?”

Pneumo waved his hoof bye with his face still stuck in his schematic. Sunny lead Graphite out of the store and began to take him to the pier just across town. The swerved through the same crowd of busy zebras, moving left and right together as they made their way to the pier. They marched pass a few murals more, walked under another street webbed in hanging ornaments, and galloped passed the native building structures before making it to the settlement’s docking yard.

The docks were small, nothing compared to the docks of where his father used to work. There were only two piers, a large one and a smaller one - neither of them any big to begin with. The bigger pier had the boat Graphite was taking to the island waiting for him with the motors quietly buzzing. The smaller pier had a few small long boats wading in the water latched to the pier’s struts by rough rope.

The lake was covered in a overbearing fog, the only things visible beyond the pier was a white, thick cloud. Graphite was about to step up to the boat when Sunny stopped him. She pulled him close, squeezing him tight as she wrapped her lips around him and kissed him. They held the kiss for as long as they could hold their breath, then they let each other go with hearts heavy.

Graphite turned to the boat, watching as a figure in the fog hopped out of the boat and headed towards him. The trots bounced against the planks on the pier, then clicked against the concrete dock yard. A voice came from the figure asking, “Are you Graphite?” It inquired in a low voice.

Graphite squinted his eyes, looking to the figure until it finally came close enough to see. It was a very large stallion, big enough to carry the boat on his back. He was wearing a long, green jacket with a ragged white top underneath. Around his neck was a mess of thingamajigs; a brown cloth wrap, keys for all sorts of locks, and necklace with too many ornaments clinging too it. He was wearing a simple, tan cap with a pair of sunglasses resting on the rim. Over the rolling fog came his fur, a brownish tone with black stripes running up his neck and down his hind legs, just like a zebra. It didn’t take a genius to know the boat driver was half pony and half zebra.

Graphite came up to the zebroid, trying make himself stand as tall as the boat driver - it wasn’t working. He looked up to the zebroid, “Yeah, I’m Graphite.”

Sunny pushed Graphite aside with her hoof, her hoof clinging to Graphite and pressed against his side, “Tsoy?” She called and asked.

The zebroid lifted his cap, adjusting over his big head as he called back, “Sunny?”

Graphite sidestepped away from Sunny’s hoof, letting it slide off and land back on the ground.

“That is you, Tsoy!” Sunny hollered, leaning forward to hug the hulking zebroid - her arms barely able to wrap around him, “I haven’t seen you in so long! Why haven’t you told me you worked the trading route?”

The zebroid, who appeared to be Sunny’s brother Tsoy, kept his body still. He probably didn’t hug bag knowing he would crush Sunny with his muscle bound arms. He looked down to her, replying, “Well, I guess it just slipped my mind...”

“Of course it would slip your mind, I suppose your busy as captain of that ship, right?”

“Heh, I guess so.”

“Well,” Sunny backed off of the giant, patting off some dust from his jacket, “I’m glad you’re doing okay. Oh, well, Tsoy, this is Graphite.”

Graphite sidestepped back to Tsoy, offering a hoofshake to him, “You’re Sunny’s older brother, yeah?”

“Yes,” Was all he answered with, looking about the docks without any sort of focus on either Sunny or Graphite.

Graphite brought his hoof back, Sunny taking up the conversation again, “Take care of him, Tsoy, would you kindly?”

“I’ll try my best. If you could follow me, Graphite,” Tsoy turned, heading back to his boat that was still running near the pier.

Sunny grabbed Graphite before he could move, pulling him into a deep kiss. Graphite let her hold the kiss using her own strength to keep Graphite attached to her lips. She let him go, giving him a quick hug just before he went on his way, “Good luck, Graphite...”

Graphite smiled, “Thank you, Sunny.” Graphite took up Tsoy’s command, following just tail-side of Tsoy. Sunny was standing just at the edge of the docks, holding herself back from the pier knowing she would try to go after Graphite if she came any closer. The two stallions stood port-side to the metallic boat, Tsoy giving Graphite a moment to look at his transport.

It was a rusty, pale green boat, about big enough for a crew of four or five ponies. The wheel was in the middle of the ship, the pilot’s section was covered by a tarp that went across the width of the ship and held up by a few iron bars. Sitting behind the piloting wheel was an empty area free for ponies to stand and watch the water as the boat cruised along the dark river. Up front was a raised section of free room, only with a small seat sitting inside the raised section of boat. It looked as if guns used to be mounted to the ring that wrapped around the seat, Graphite realized this was an old military craft taken up by the settlement after the crew abandoned ship.

Tsoy kept his eyes locked on his craft, but quietly asked Graphite, “So, what do you think?”

“Well, if it can run, it’ll work for me,” Graphite smirked.

Tsoy was already halfway on the boat as Graphite finished his sentence. Graphite joined him, hobbling onto the boat with an ungraceful leap. Tsoy grabbed the wheel, bringing the boat out of idle and inspected all the gauges just to make sure everything was in order. Graphite walked to the rear of the boat, waving goodbye to Sunny while she did the same.

The boat drifted from the pier as the rotors spat up water, pushing the boat across the misty lake. Graphite waved for as long as the fog allowed him to see his loved one before it swallowed her up in its haze. Graphite turned back to the zebroid piloting the boat, trying his best to keep steady as the boat bounced against the waves.

The boat and its passengers were now on their way to the Xain’s island.