With the oppressive cloud cover back overhead, and all the excitement of the last few hours finally dying down, my stomach had made me painfully aware that I hadn't had anything since Brass's stew. I had joined the others below deck in the kitchen where Brass was quickly fixing up a meal for the crew and us, insisting that he could make something better than whatever "mucklurk" soup was that they apparently ate last night.

"The other foals and I were all encouraged to train under a second profession back home." Brass went on happily to the whole group of us, using his magic to both slice up onions and one of the silver looking fish I had seen before the Enclave attack. "My main focus was to become a mission coordinator, but as easy as that was, nothing about it ever changes. It wasn't really challenging to me, you know, being my talent and all."

I could feel my mouth water as I sat at the table, slowly dragging my hooves across the smooth metal as I watched the steam waft up out of the large cookpot on the burners. One of the crew members took a seat across from me, drawing my attention up to him. He was one of the stallions Captain Tempest had ordered to fight the fire, and now that I look at him, he was not much younger looking than me. His turquoise coat was covered in dark smudges of soot and only the roots of his short yellow mane were as bright as they should be.

He smiled toward me nervously as he saw me look him over, he was hard to read through his exhausted expression, but he looked slightly angry. Why would he be angry? The ship rocked again, the noise of a wave washing through the gaping hole in the side of the ship filled the hallway outside. I let out a sigh and figured that anypony who nearly gets you killed is probably a good reason to be angry. I sighed and leaned forward, putting my head on the table as Brass finished his story.

"and that's how I got to be so good at cooking!" He rapped the ladle against the pot in front of him before hopping down from the stool he had to use in order to reach the stove. I heard him walk up, patting me on the back with a hoof. "Don't worry, Backlash, you'll feel right as rain once you try the recipe that Scribe Florentine taught me!" I grumbled as he walked past, my stomach doing the same as he entered into the pantry. The hatch behind me opened up, Carlotta and Sky came in mid laugh, both stopping before taking in big breaths.

"Oh Celestia, that smells like heaven!" Sky called out as Brass trot back behind me, probably with more ingredients to throw into the pot.

"Thank you, thank you! Just you wait, it will taste twice as good as it smells when it's done!" Brass said joyously. I turned my head to watch him cook again, Carlotta plopping herself into the seat next to me and blocking my view. I looked up at her as she leaned down and looked at me, her eyes were ones of a cold and calculated mercenary.

"Something doesn't make sense." She whispered over to me, stopping as the crew member across the table stared. She turned her gaze to him and glared at him as he left the kitchen. "Ever since we were, quote, unquote, rescued, I can't help but wonder what this rust bucket was doing in Filly in the first place."

"I know." I pushed myself back upright, keeping my eye on Brass and Sky as she started to help him. "Captain Tempest tells me he was paid to look out for us there." I looked up at her as she glared forward blankly, a twinge of guilt on her face.

"Look, Backlash. I need you to listen to me. I think that bomb was the key to all of this." She didn't even flinch when she whispered, just keeping her gaze locked forward. "I think we need to consider the possibility that Longbow is still working for Sorbet."

"WHAT!?" I gasped and stood up, backing away from the table. "HOW COULD YOU THINK THAT!" I screamed out, freezing as I noticed Skyline and Brass staring at me. I groaned and rolled my eyes. "You saw how she reacted to the audiolog! She was mortified!"

"Mortified from what became of her step father! Besides, you heard Longbow say it herself!" Carlotta continued, now at full volume. "She is the only pony on this ship trained to use explosives like that. I know you don't want to hear it, but what if Sorbet planted her with you for exactly this reason?"

"I know it looks that way, but there's no way she would do that!" Brass yelled, stomping over to join the argument.

"Look, I'm going up to talk to the Captain again. Screw his unwillingness to tell me, the sooner we figure out who paid him to pick us up, the sooner I can clear Longbow's name." I stomped my hoof and turned to leave.

"Skyline, can you make sure that this doesn't burn?" Brass said as he floated the ladle over to her. "I need to hear for myself how wrong Carlotta is and that Longbow couldn't do such a horrible thing." Skyline simply nodded as Brass and I headed out the hatch of the kitchen, the heavy door shutting behind us with a clang.

We cantered up the stairs and out onto the deck, the cloud cover darkening the sky to its familiar evening darkness. The skies ahead were hazy with rain, the air feeling noticeably cooler. As we went up to the deck house, I could see the brown shores of Equestria, a good sized town lay in front of us along it. I squinted as I noticed the whole town seemed strangely off, but I was unable to place exactly why.

Brass's magic shoved the hatch open, the concerned voice of Captain Tempest coming from inside. "Ah know it's short notice an all, but if not answerin' meh is another one of yer excuses ta be lazy, Dry Dock, I'll be usin' yah as bait on mah next run." The captain slammed the receiver to the radio down onto the navigation table with a sigh. "Is there somethin' ah can help yah with, Backlash?"

"Yes, Captain. I need to know who paid you." I said, looking out to the town as we slowly grew closer to it.

"Yeah! We need to prove Longbow's innocence." Brass cut in with an air of confidence. One which I desperately wanted to share.

"Look, ah was tryin' ta aviod this, but yah forced mah position." Captain Tempest rubbed along his neck with a fetlock. "Yah see, ah dun' rightly know who mah pay came from, just that some mare in a fancy robe met me at tha docks in Friendship City. She gave me five hundred caps and told me ta do a pickup down at Filly and tah not tell said ponies who paid."

"That's it?" I asked as I walked to the front window, squinting out to get a better view of the odd town. I'm sure there is something wrong about the town, and the gears in my head were spinning fast as they worked to figure it out.

"Fancy robe? What color was it!" Brass asked as if panicked. "Did it have gold trim? Maybe an odd symbol?"

"What color...?" Captain Tempast repeated. "ah dun know, some sort of red, and yes, ah believe it was gold trim. That's all ah know."

"Then that means it was the Steel Rangers..." Brass uttered slowly. I continued looking out over the town, looking for anything out of place. I knew there had to be something! "Goddesses, Backlash! I think Sorbet had the boat trip arranged!"

My eyes froze in the sky above the town as my mane itched furiously. "Goddesses?" I turned around and looked at the Captain, the gears in my head putting it together. Nopony in sight, when we should have at least seen a hint of life. No fires coming from the chimneys of any house, even with the cold of fall sinking in? Then there's the problem of my itchy mane everytime I look at the sky. "Captain, I need you to turn the ship north and get the deck guns operating again."

"Yah must be joking, ah need to get the Gallant repaired, Backlash. I can't git that done from out here, now can ah?" The captain laughed, turning us instead directly toward the barren town. "And why do yah need..."

I didn't let him finish, trotting to the computer and hoofing a pair of switches that read main battery start up and auxiliary hydraulic controls. "Captain, that town has alicorns in it, we need to leave."

"Alicorns? Dun' be daft." He pushed me aside from the fire control panel. "Those are just myths an' legends. Don't tell meh ya still believe those foal's tales." His horn glowed as he threw open the hatch to outside again, his expression shifting to one of anger. "Now, if yah dun mind, ah'd like yah ta get off mah bridge."

Willow came up through the floor with a whimper, looking frantically around until she saw me. "Backlash... she's near. I can feel them."

I pressed my hoof into Captain Tempest's chest, slightly disturbed at how squishy his flesh was compared to Brass's. He looked shocked as he took a step back. "Look, Alicorns are real, and if you don't turn this ship north or get those guns working, we're all going to die."

"Oh Luna..." Willow called out "I can see them, they're heading right for us!" I looked up out of the windshield, three of them were flying low across the water, heading straight toward the ship. "Backlash... I can hear her, she knows you're here."

"Shit! Get the guns working!" Brass cried out, scrambling to reach the fire control computer.

"The lot of yah are all mad! There's no such..." He never finished his sentence, his eyes going wide as he joined in gazing at the three purple monsters approaching us. Brass's horn blazed as he worked the gun control terminal, hitting keys at a scorchingly fast rate. The hydraulics of the forward deck gun whined to life as it rotated towards the front, the large gun levelling itself to the horizon. "...that's... they're real. Oh Celestia, they're REAL!"

The cannon lined up and fired, a trail of smoke blowing across the barrel as the right most alicorn evaporated into a cloud of red mist. The remaining two split off, each going a separate way as the gun followed the one that flew high left. The captain was shaking, plopping back onto his flank as he tried to process everything, muttering things I couldn't make out.

A section of windshield in front of us blasted inward, a blue alicorn staring through the hole as she became visible. She glared at us, her horn glowing brightly before a loud crack filled the bridge, a bright arc of electricity striking Captain Tempest in the chest. Brass and I both let out yelps as the captain collapsed to the floor. "FOALS! HOW DARE YOU FLEE US! THE GREAT AND POWERFUL GODDESS CAN NO LONGER RISK YOUR FURTHER INTERFERENCE!"

"Leave them ALONE!" Willow screamed, taking off from the floor and streaking straight through the blue monster. The moment she touched, the goddess let out the a piercing scream into the air. I hoofed at my head as the scream dug deep, forcing me to clench my eyes tight as I flopped onto the floor. The roar of the cannon silenced the screaming as I felt a warm rain fill the air. I needed to think! I needed some way to get us all to safety.

"Backlash, we need to go!" Brass yelled, making me open my eyes. a fan pattern of gore stood out from the busted out section, the bridge had been painted a dark crimson from the remains of the Alicorn. I could taste the metallic fluid that slicked off my coat slowly, shuddering as I looked over toward the young ghoul. Brass had also been coated in the alicorn gore, shaking lightly as a deep fear ran from his eyes. "Please, Backlash, we need to leave!"

"Don't worry, Brass, we're going to be fine." I said slowly, running over to the door. My hoof slipped out from under me and I ended up up sliding along the floor with a wet squeak. The purple form of an alicorn stepped up the walkway out the door, the hint of a smile across her muzzle as I locked up. Oh Celestia, this is it, isn't it!

"WE HAVE... RECONSIDERED. THE GODDESS WISHES FOR YOU TO GO WITH THIS ONE." I clenched my head as she pushed her voice into it again, I couldn't even tell myself to run as she stepped closer. "AGREE TO GO AND WE WILL SPARE YOUR FRIENDS."

"Why does she want me!" I shouted, trying to stall for time. If Sky and the others could make it topside...

"THE GODDESS WISHES TO LIMIT THE FUTURE LOSSES TO THE UNITY. THE INFORMATION YOU HAVE MAY BE... USEFUL." She gave a stern gaze as her horn glowed. "WE WILL LEAVE, NOW."

I finally got to my hooves as I felt the all too familiar teleportation magic warm the air around me, a layer of overglow enveloped the monstrosity's long horn. I squinted and braced myself as I knew going with her was really dumb idea. But do I really have any other choice if I want to save my friends? Maybe this would be better. If the Goddess kept me, the secrets of the mirror pool would be lost with me. 42 would never win.

"Get away from him, you bitch!" Brass yelled, using his magic to shove a shattered peice of glass from the busted window past my face, sinking the jagged shard into the alicorn's neck. "Let's get out of here, Backlash! RUN!" I felt Brass jump onto my side, hanging off my neck as he gripped tightly.

"INSOLENT FOAL!" She projected so loud that it made me jump, the light from her horn flickering before enveloping the group of us, the spell filling my ears with a light ringing as it took Brass and I from the ship.

Pain.

The one constant in my life over the last few weeks has been pain. I whimpered and clenched my eyes shut as the light from the teleportation spell wore away, my rear legs feeling like they had both been severed off with a hacksaw. Brass released his grip from me as the ringing wore off.

"Backlash... the alicorn..." He said, his voice filled with a joyous disbelief. I didn't care about the alicorn, the pain in my legs were accompanied by a new sensation of not being able to feel or move my rear hooves. Oh Celestia, don't tell my I've lost my legs!

I opened my eyes wide at the thought, about to spin and look when I froze, the sight before me helping to take my mind away from the idea. The sad left eye of the purple alicorn brass had stabbed looked blankly at me, the entire right half of it's body merged into the brick wall of a building we were now inside. The sharp glass still embedded deep into it's neck dripped crimson strands to the wooden floor, staining the dry, dusty wood.

"That glass must have caused it to loose focus. Without concentration, teleportation is a dangerous spell." Brass said, completely entranced with the oddity in front of him. He spun around with a smile on his face. "Good thing we..." He stopped as his eyes drifted behind me, just staring as a grim expression sank in. His gaze made my back legs explode in pain again, as if to remind my body that I needed to be suffering instead of for once giving me a break. I tried to turn to look, wincing and whining as it only made the pain worse.

"Brass... what happened?" I managed to get out just above a whimper, biting down on my lower lip until I tasted my own blood. My words seem to have little effect on breaking him out of his shock. "Brass?"

"I... I don't know what to do." He spoke softly, not looking away from my legs. "What do I do?"

I could feel my chest tightening, my heart started to pound against my rib-slab as panic set in. "What's happened to my legs? Why can't I feel them?" No, that was wrong, the problem is that I feel too much from them; all of it pain! Sweat beaded and rolled down my face as I tried to slow my breathing. Panicking doesn't help anypony, Backlash, you have to remain calm! Isn't that was Skyline always told me? Brass was still frozen. "BRASS!" I yelled, making him jump and look up to me.

"Sorry, Backlash." He shut his eyes and shook his head. "The teleportation spell was miscast, your back legs are fused into the wall of this building." My heart sank.

"That's ok, right?" I asked, more so to try to reassure myself that I'd be fine. "You can just get a hammer and..."

"NO." He shouted, cutting me off and making my forelegs lock up. "When we reappeared, your legs became PART of the bricks. If I break the bricks, then I am taking part of your legs with it. Magic might be able to separate you, but I'm sorry, I can't do anything to help."

My heart skipped a beat as something dropped onto the floor above us with a loud thump, muffled whispers came through it. Somepony was upstairs, and I pray to Celestia they weren't hostile. Brass's eyes lit up as he looked at the ceiling.

"Are they...bad?" He lowered his voice to a whisper, looking at me as I did my best to look confused through the pain. "On your E.F.S., are they red?" I looked at it, completely forgetting that I had it again. There were four markers, only one of them was red."

"Four total..." I winced and tried my best to keep my voice down. "One is red."

"Stay there, Backlash! I'm going to see if I can convince who ever they are to help us." Not like I could go anywhere else, I thought as he galloped off to my right and through a doorway, his hooves clacking on the old floorboards as he ran. My ears strained over the murmuring that erupted above me, hoping they don't shoot first and ask question's later.

"Don't panic Backlash...the mutation was worse... I think!" I told myself as my knees started to shake, the burning in my legs making it hard to think. What I need is a distraction, something to keep my mind off this! I tensed up as tight as I could, pulling myself into S.A.T.S. as the pain in my legs flared, draining off as the Stable Tech spell once again saved me from my suffering. Well, temporarily at least.

Without anything to target, the medical status screen fuzzed up displaying several boxes around the back legs of the figure that was supposed to represent me. I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind as I focused on bringing up the inventory screen, which brought up another kind of pain as it reminded me that I lost all of my gear escaping from East Orchard. I looked across the tabs, sliding the display over to the audiolog section.

The first file in the list was displayed as 'Ministry of Arcane Sciences Chief Twilight Sparkle project log - Mirror Pond Research Merging and Repurposing Summary'. Wow, that title was so long that IT could have used a summary! Regardless, now is probably the best excuse I'll have to learn anything that could keep me several steps ahead of 42. With that, a small rectangular box popped up, the voice of the 120-year-dead ministry mare filling my head.

"Ministry of Arcane Sciences Chief Twilight Sparkle project log - Mirror Pond Research Merging and Project Repurposing Summary.

The Mirror Pond Ministry Relief project has been indefinitely suspended due to the inadequacy of the Pinkie clones' intelligence that was stated in my logs for the Basic mirror pond experiments. Just in case the O.I.A. miss-files the originals, again, the summary of the closure of those experiments was due to one pair of clones having extensive relations with civilians. The subsequent births of two healthy foals have at least proved that the clones are physically complete, and not sterile as previously presumed. Though the foals are being classified as the only good to come of this project, it proved that the forty copies we had made were unmanageable with their basic intelligence, diverting back to pinkie's primal need for fun too often to be deemed worth keeping the pool running.

The repurposing of this project is due in part that I had previously theorized that if I were to find a way to increase the amplitude of the magic running through the pool, I might be able to increase the intellectual capacity of each of the clones. The low end of my calculations points to an intelligence rate where a set of clones would make for ideal soldiers, able to follow orders and operate equipment. The high end of my calculations point toward keeping the copied pony's intelligence comparable to the base subject used. If proven successful, I might even be able to use the pool to copy myself, possibly cutting years of research off of the I.M.P. project.

Though this requires the design and creation of a new class of Arcano-Flux reactor, something I have personally tasked Stable Tech to help work on. As of now, I have filed the project requisition forms to build the test facility and prototype reactor. Scheduled completion is in three month's time and, as per normal protocol, stage one of testing will begin the moment all the the preliminary checks come back nominal."

The log clicked and ended.

So, first log down and there wan't anything in it I didn't already know! In fact, this one log contained everything I learned over the past few weeks! Wow, all that pain and suffering seems like it was such a waste now. If only I had this at the beginning...

The log screen fuzzed away, halting my train of thought as the crystalline form of B.I.T. built up in front of me.

Thank me? Why? I haven't even seen B.I.T. since I passed out in Filly! Which actually reminds me that I need to ask her why the hell she sent me into the air above the Delamare.

B.I.T. tilted her head and looked over me. (well, as much as I could tell. I can't know for sure when she doesn't actually have eyes rendered.) But a single decimal place? I could have died from that fall, hell I WOULD have if Skyline hadn't gotten to me in time. How could this be so casual of a mistake to her?

But, why wouldn't she have wanted to leave? She was doing fine when I pulled her out of her casing and I trusted B.I.T. to get me out of that facility, and she did. And now she said that she wasn't alright after all? Celestia, Backlash! For priding yourself on being observant, there is no end to your own stupidity, is there? She got us out and the first thing I do is chastise her. I needed her help, and I took her willingness for granted. How horrible am I to just assume that she didn't have her own problems? And what about everypony else? Why, just a few minutes ago Brass risked his life for mine on the ship!

B.I.T. had a point, one which reminded me of something the Old Man used to tell me. He used to say 'There is no quicker way to see what a monster you've become, than through the eyes of those who know you.' He would repeat that line until he was blue in the face, believing in being an honest trader. He knew that customers were friends, and that cheating out a friend was the quickest way to become a villain. I didn't want to be a villain, there were enough of them in the wasteland now.

Isn't that what I've been doing? Cheating my friends out of the comfort of knowing that I care for them? But is it really my fault? I mean, I have been trying to figure out a way to stop 42... NO, get that out of your head! They have been trying so much harder than me to find a way. Without them I would be dead already, and for that alone, I owe them more than I can ever give.

As the last of her disappeared, S.A.T.S. shuddered and ended, slowly drawing me back into normal time. I felt as if somepony had turned on an electric cook stove and was slowly increasing the heat against my back legs. With time agonizingly returned to normal, I cried out loudly, Brass's hoofsteps above being drowned out by my whining.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for it to be this way! Oh Celestia, I'M SORRY!" I screamed out and nearly collapsed. Skyline has never left me, not ONCE has she failed to be there for me! And Brass, even with how I've treated him, with what he went through for me, Brass has proven to be the most amazingly loyal pony I've ever met. My ears perked up for a moment as I heard shuffling about upstairs, low drone of voices instead of gunfire was the only comforting thing I knew in the hell I existed in.

There was a lot of movement upstairs now, quick hoofsteps sounded down the hallway. "Backlash! I found a family upstairs who can help!" He yelled as he rounded the corner back into the room. An older, charcoal coated earth pony rounded the corner behind him, he held a sledgehammer in his muzzle, freezing and dropping it as his eyes were drawn to the half exposed alicorn. A red-coated unicorn mare about his age poked her head around the doorframe, her purple eyes looking over me before she too gazed past me.

"By Celestia! Is that what we're hiding from? I... I thought it was the gangs!" She closed her eyes and looked away. "It... it looks just like the Goddesses!"

"You've never seen an alicorn before?" Brass asked as the charcoal stallion grumbled something I couldn't make out, picking up his sledgehammer in his muzzle again. I watched in horror as he craned his neck, swinging the heavy hammer up, before bringing it down against the wall. I bit my lip again to keep from screaming, the metalic taste of blood filling my mouth before I felt it start to drip.

The stallion watched out of the corner of his eye as my blood dripped onto the wooden floor, a thin trail of smoke emanating from each drop as it hit. He looked up into my eyes and gave me a look I wasn't expecting, he showed... sympathy. He promptly swung again, the crunch of bricks punctuating each shock of pain that coursed through my body. On one of his swings there was a loud crack, the wall shifting as part of it came loose.

The immediate crack that followed was not from the wall. The surge of pain was so strong I felt like I had the wind knocked out of me, I heaved as my stomach wrenched. The smell the burning wood drifted up to my nose as I struggled to keep myself from falling over.

The stallion dropped the hammer with a sigh. "Damn, Looks like we'll have to cut him loose. I'll have to get the Doc from next door." He turned and looked at the mare, giving me a moment to notice that he had the same brand on his flank that Ripcord did. That information was quickly pushed to the back of my mind as he gave the mare a kiss before disappearing around her.

"Brass... I'm sorry." I clenched my jaw, my eyes trying to keep my focus on him. "You help so much and I never thank you." I groaned out as his expression became one of worry, I don't know why, but I chuckled to myself. "Fuck, you've given more for me than I could have ever asked."

Brass shook his head. "Everything that's happened to you, it's my fault. If I hadn't kicked you into that bunker..." He stomped a hoof on the floor.

"SHUT UP, BRASS. YOUR NAME WAS ON THE NOTE TOO." I screamed, halfway to stop him from beating himself up over that, and halfway because I could feel the bone protruding from my leg. I tried to keep my forelegs locked back to stop them from shaking so much. "I don't know if it was fate or luck, but since we met, you are more than my friend, you've become part of my family!" It was getting hard to focus, my head was pounding as sweat was running into my eyes, the smell of the acid slowly eating into the wood had now filled the room.

My ear perked as I could hear hoofbeats on the floor down the hallway. My saviours returned quickly it seems, hopefully with a doctor who can fix all this. The charcoal stallion trotted in, closely followed by a brown unicorn levitating a small bottle with him. The unicorn had a prominent limp in his stride, his blue eyes unwavering as he looked at my legs. He rubbed the grey stubble on his chin as he levitated a tablet of what looked like buck out of the bottle and up to his muzzle, chomping down on it without much thought.

"Everypony OUT, I've no time to waste as those legs aren't going to amputate themselves." He said bluntly and as if he was almost bored. I gasped as the realization of what he said hit home. He's going to cut my legs off... just, take them off. I caught him looking at my eyes, studying how I was reacting was my best guess. "Oh don't worry, the hydra should leave you good as new." He dropped down to a whisper and gave a smile. "But that's only if you don't die from the shock or blood loss first." He closed the bottle of buck and tossed it away.

How is HE a doctor!?

"And you're their doctor!?" Brass exclaimed with impeccable timing. I watched the Doctor's horn glow, a particularly large rotary saw levitated through the doorway.

"How observant." the Doctor snapped back at Brass. "Now tell me Mr. Observant, what kind of acid are we dealing with?" He set the large saw down and lowered himself to the floor, looking over the crimson pool below me. I whined as my knees screamed at me, the pain in my legs dulling down as long as I could hold myself still (dulling down was a relative term when you've been in as much pain as I have). The doctor looked up at me with a slightly annoyed expression. "Well, if no pony is going to tell me, I'll just have to start guessing..."

"How are we supposed to know? His blood just changed a few days ago." Brass took a step back as the Doctor's magic affixed what looked to be a plastic poncho over himself.

"Well then tell me, does it melt through metal, concrete, glass, plastic..." the Doc started to list off.

"GLASS!" Brass's face lit up as he all but screamed the answer. "It can melt through glass! It doesn't seem to affect metal much, and obviously not wood very much either." As he spoke, his words seemed to get harder to hear, the throbbing in my head seemed to lighten as the world started to roll. I shut my eyes and shook my head, bringing everything back into focus around me.

I felt someone tap my cheek a few times, opening my eyes I saw that it was the Doctor. "Hydrofluoric acid, nasty stuff. Which means both good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?" The charcoal stallion trotted back into the room carrying a big plastic bubble helmet. As the doctor took it, I looked over to where Brass was, only to find him missing. Wait, when did Brass leave? "Good news first then, the acidity of your blood won't wear down my tools, so this should be quick."

The doc hoisted the large saw up in his levitation, flipping the switch. The loud screech of the old blade spinning quickly filled my ears before it stopped suddenly. The doctor nodded to the stallion and shooed him out the doorway. "The bad news is that the active chemical in Med-X won't work for you, so this will be the worst pain you've felt in your entire life." He clicked the button, the saw spinning up again as he craned his neck over to look at my legs, stopping the saw again. "Oh, and I won't blame you if you pass out. Just makes it easier on me not to listen to your screaming."

After I woke up, first it was minutes that passed, then hours. I didn't feel right. Nothing felt right. All I could do was sit on the captain's bed, stare at the door, and wait. I knew somepony was coming to take me out of Captain Tempest's room, every fiber of my being told me that I wasn't supposed to be here. That it wasn't right for me to be here.

"Yer gonna be fine, Backlash." I heard the gruff voice of a stallion speak across the room from the desk area, the sudden words perking my ears as I looked up toward the door.

"Yeah! you'll be fine!" The soft voice of a young mare called out jubilantly from near the toilet.

"Hello?" I asked, slowly getting to my hooves and sliding off the bed. "Who's there?"

"I say, how does he not recognize us?" A very proper sounding stallion spoke from behind the coat rack. I swung my hoof out, yanking the captain's raincoat off the rack as I looked behind it.

Nothing, just the wall.

"Cool ya jets there." The stallion's voice came again from the desk. "We're ya friends, ya know? No need ta panic or nuthin'."

"My... friends?" I asked, spinning around as the voices all seemed to chatter amongst themselves. "But, where are you?"

"Why, right in front of you, of course!" The gentle stallion spoke up enthusiastically. I looked up at the coat rack, looking at the hat hanging on it. "I must say, you flatter me with that look of yours, sir Backlash."

"Awww, but I want him to look at me that way!" The mare from the toilet spoke up.

I smiled an waved my hoof in front of me. "Oh, I see what's going on. Very funny everypony. Trying to cheer me up like this." I wasn't quite sure why I said that as I walked over and hoofed open the tank on the toilet, looking for the speaker hidden inside. It must be Skyline's idea, she's always wanted to prank me like this. Didn't she? Why did everything still feel so wrong?

"Oh my!" The voice came from what seemed like in front of my face, startling me. "You could at least buy me dinner first!" I dropped the lid back on and scrambled backwards, pressing into the desk. No, this isn't possible, it can't be!

"Watch it bub! I thought I told ya ta calm down!" The desk yelped.

I collapsed onto the floor and panted hard. It's OK, Backlash, you're just have a psychotic break. It will pass if I just don't listen to any of the voices. Won't it? Oh Celestia, why can't I just be with my friends!?

"I say, what are you doing lying on the floor? It can't be very comfortable, now can it?" The hat spoke up.

"Oi! Give 'im some quiet. I think he's tryin ta rationalize us." The desk responded.

"You'd have thought he would have figured it out by now." The toilet whispered.

I pressed my hooves into my ears, whining as they continued to talk amongst each other. I can't stand it anymore! I rolled and got to my hooves, clenching my eyes shut as I yelled. "NONE OF YOU ARE REAL! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" The creak of the cabin door swinging open broke my concentration, only the sound of the breeze could be heard, the voices now having fallen silent.

"Backlash?" Longbow's voice asked softly.

My eyes shot open as I turned around. Longbow stood in the doorway, the blazing orange sky behind her making her seem otherworldly as I stumbled forward, throwing my hooves around her. She did the same, squeezing tightly as I cried into her wet neck, the warmth of it fading the longer I held her. Why was she growing so cold?

"Longbow, you're freezing." I said with a chuckle, pulling back and opening my eyes. "You..."

Her neck was covered in cold blood, streaming from a single hole in the side of it as she stared at me blankly. I couldn't do anything as she slumped out of my hooves and down onto the deck of the ship, landing with a thud. She just lay there, unmoving. Dead.

"She died for you, Backlash. They all will." the familiar voice of Pinkie Pie called from behind me. I spun around instinctively, my mind torn with grief. How could she have died? How could I have let this happen? "They'll all die and it's YOUR FAULT!" I looked up as the pink pony started to cackle madly, parts of her muzzle and chest smoking and melting off of her.

"42..." I whispered without even thinking, my mind now feeling like it weighed a million pounds. I dropped to the floor as my eyelids sank slowly, 42 striding up to me and putting her muzzle to my ear. I could feel her warm breath through my mane.

"See you soon..."

I tried to scream, but my muzzle wouldn't open for some reason. My mouth tasted of wet leather and musty, burning wood, both of which mixed with the blood from my lip and filled my nose with a pungent smell. I was laying on my back, the pain from my rear legs was non-existent as I opened my eyes.

"Ah, you're awake. You may have noticed the bit I put in your mouth, you screamed for a while before you passed out. I took the liberty to make sure you don't annoy me again. Oh, and I also take it you can't feel anything?" the Doctor called down from above me, droplets of what I could only assume was my blood were running down his plastic poncho. I nodded as I noticed his horn was glowing, holding a fuzzy red tube in his magic. I couldn't focus my eyes as he lowered it down out of my sight. "That will pass, I wouldn't want you to miss the fun part of hydra."

The fun part? Having regrown one hoof already, I know there is no fun part of hydra! There was a small prick in the side of my flank, the pre-war medicine working quickly. Oh Celestia it hurts! I screamed out as loud as I could through the bit, feeling as each muscle and nerve grew back at what seemed like an inch an hour, thrashing about as what was left of my legs repaired themselves. There was a loud creaking that filled my ears and I could feel running through my legs, making me feel like I was being stretched out far enough that I should have been ripped in half.

I tensed up all at once, attempting to use SATS as my sanctuary again, delighted to see time come to a stop. The pain in me ebbed away as I could finally think once more, the Pipbuck transferring me to the medical screen like it had last time. I looked over the generic pony shape, the rear legs were replaced with dotted outlines, I guess to signify that I had none to speak of, well, not yet anyway.

I flipped the screen over to the audiolog section, wanting any excuse to keep away from the pain. The audiolog list popped up and automatically dropped down to the next file, allowing me to read the title off in my head. 'Ministry of Arcane Sciences Chief Twilight Sparkle project log 01 - Project Golem start up and preliminary data collection report.' I played the log, once again hoping that it contained something useful in finding the mirror pond.

"Ministry of Arcane Sciences Chief Twilight Sparkle project log 01 - Project Golem start up and preliminary data collection report.

In three minutes time, project co-lead Copper Rivet is scheduled to give me word that the Arcano Reactor systems are fully operational and we can finally start transferring the flux reserve tanks into the main reactor assembly. It's been three months of hard work, and both Pinkie and I are anxious to test the new system. Although she appears normal around others, I am concerned for her state of mind. All the running around she does with her ministry keeps her busier than I am, and even I have to excessively rely on my teleportation to get between...

[sigh]

I have to remember this isn't a personal log and that those details need to wait until nine PM to be recorded. Now, where was I?

[knocking from a door ]

Hmm? They've finished early? That's never a good sign.

[door opening]

Oh, engineer Coal Briquette, I wasn't expecting the report from you."

The log clicked and ended, leaving only silence inside my mind. Wait, that was it!? Celestia, these logs don't even have anything useful on them! If I wasn't hiding from the excruciating pain of my legs, I could just scream in frustration! Why do I have to be an idiot and get into situations like this?

Calm yourself, Backlash, there has to be something useful on at least one of these. Even if there turns out not to be, the notes must have something useful in them! Somewhere in all... thousand pages of them. At least the audiologs seem short, let's see, the next one's title is 'Ministry Of Arcane Sciences Chief...' you know, she's just going to repeat the title again anyway, just play it. The file swapped to the next one down and popped up the little box.

"Three hours ago, the reactor team managed to save phase one from total loss when one of the turbine couplings cracked and jammed up the induction filter.

[deep, sad sigh]

If Copper Rivet hadn't reached into the system to clear it, I might have had to scrap the whole reactor and start again from scratch. In doing so, she had to endure flux contamination along her entire right side. Let my report state that Co-lead Copper Rivet showed exceptional resolve in the face of immediate danger and personally saved the lives of two of her fellow employees at great risk to her own well being.

[long pause and a shuffling of papers.]

Doctor Slip Cast told me that the flux poisoning wasn't giving her too much pain, but that she only had hours left at most. I used the time I had reserved for my lunch to take her to her parents house in Manehatten, so she could be with them until she passed. I will save the remaining details of the ordeal for what is sure to be an extra long personal log tonight. I was informed earlier that the faulty coupling was replaced and we are ready to attempt phase one start up again.

As of now, the project is still on schedule and co-lead duties now fall on engineer Coal, end of report."

As the log ended and closed, I looked over the name of the file again. 'Ministry of Arcane Sciences Chief Twilight Sparkle project log 02 - Project Golem Casualty Report.

I didn't really know what to think. Once again, I took something for granted. I've been so focused on finding the answers I need, I've completely looked past the fact that ponies died for this information. They died not knowing whether or not the world was going to end tomorrow, whether or not their families were going to be safe.

Copper Rivet gave her life not just to save the project, but to try to save Equestria from it's fate. I know that all these events played out over a century ago, and that there are a countless number of stories that were never told, but this one hit me differently. The way Twilight went about talking about her was so... casual, like she was still just a name in a report, nothing more. I could hear that she was saddened, deep down inside, but it made me angry that she wasn't more audiubly upset! Copper Rivet was a pony! She had a life, and responsibilities, maybe she even had a special somepony!

The audiolog list dropped down one more without me thinking about it, the entry playing on it's own as the log pulled me away from my other thoughts.

"Ministry of Arcane Sciences Chief Twilight Sparkle project log 03 - Project Golem Phase One, day two status report.

With yesterday's successful testing of the sequential flux reactor, I have approved the work order to install the mirror pool. The containment vessels I designed are performing above baseline expectations with no recorded innate magic loss. I was correct that the decahedron was the perfect geometrical shape to resonate the innate magics of the pool. It has made it somewhat difficult to transport, but one of Pinkie's Griffin chasers managed to lift the pair here in only a few hours.

[Knocking at a door before it opens]

Oh, hello Pinkie, I didn't expect you yet. That seems to be happening quite a lot recently actually. Please, sit down.

[Creaking of a chair]

Twilight, can I ask you something?

[shuffling of papers and the shutting of a file cabinet]

Sure Pinkie, what do you want to know?

[Short pause]

What if... what if this doesn't work? What if this is the wrong choice? Maybe I could just find another way to be helpful! I have plenty of ideas about other things, like maybe finding a way to make my Pinkie sense...

[hoofslam on a desk]

NO, Pinkie, We've been over this, the project will work! I know you are worried it will end up just as chaotic as the previous experiment, but it has to work... for Copper.

[soft sigh]

Twi... are you alright? Who's Copper?"

Once again, the audiolog clicked and stopped. The first audiolog with something useful, but I can't for some reason find myself caring about it. Why is the one hundred and twenty year old death of Copper Rivet weighing so heavily on my mind? Maybe I just need some time to think about it. What I probably REALLY need is one of those pre-war psychologists. I have a mountain of issues I need to get sorted out. First, as much as it was going to suck, I needed to get my legs sorted out. I can't hide in S.A.T.S. forever.

I cancelled the spell and braced myself for the hell that was to come.

"Backlash... wake up..." A familiar voice called out. I felt somepony slapping my cheek lightly as my senses returned, the wood floor under my back feeling cold as I shifted on it. I opened my eyes slowly to see Brass's frowning face staring down at me... no wait, he was just upside down and smiling. "One day, medicine is going to be really hard to come by in the wasteland, so I suggest you stop losing so many limbs."

I rolled over onto my hooves, happy to be able to move my rear legs again, happy to feel all four of my hooves on the floor. I went to stand up, but jolts of pain ran through my flank as the muscles refused to lift me. I whimpered softly as I dropped back down. I forgot about the muscle weakness. At least there wasn't an oversized safe waiting to crush me from the floor above.

"Oh yeah! Doc Lodge told me to give you this." Brass's horn glowed softly, levitating a small white tablet to my muzzle. I opened my muzzle and bit down on the chalky buck tab, feeling as a surge of energy warmed my body. I felt... good! I stretched each of my limbs out as I lay there, noting how each one felt like it could buck right through solid wood, even the regrown limbs. Last time Skyline gave me this, I ran our cart through the leg deep mud of the radigator forests in ten minutes flat. "You really need to stop passing out all the time, it's like you use it to conveniently pass the time." He spoke flatly.

"I really do, but I can't choose to do it any more than I got to chose my cutie mark." I rubbed my eyes, feeling the cool air on my hairless rear legs. "And thank you, Brass. I value your honesty." I looked up to him as he smiled. "You have no idea how much it means to me. How much YOU mean to me." A blush flushed through his cracking skin as he nervously looked away. I reached my hoof up carefully, prodding him in the chest as softly as I could manage. "Brass, I meant what I said. You are more than just a friend, you are family to me."

"Backlash... I..." Even though he was a ghoul, it didn't stop him from blushing as bright as I'd ever seen him. "I would totally hug the hell out of you if it weren't for the whole... burning... thing." He gestured to my still bloody chest, a smile wide on his muzzle. "It's probably dry by now, but I think we'll need to take a shower or three when we can."

"Oh, that does sound nice..." I groaned and closed my eyes, trying to imagine the water running over my coat. My ear flicked and perked as I could hear somepony approaching. The door across the room opened as the Doctor limped inside, his horn glowing.

"I'm so glad you are recovering, it would have been a real shame for you to die before I got a chance to know who I was saving." The Doc stated sarcastically with a smile, floating a fairly rusty looking bolt action rifle to his side. "I've always been a sucker for my patient's stories, so tell me, why the hell did you appear in Redwing."

"Redwing? As in the old mining town?" I asked, probably sounding like a moron. If that was true, than Brass and I were lucky we didn't teleport straight into Foal Mountain!

Brass stepped around me and stood firmly. "We were taken by the alicorn. It was injured and miscast it's teleportation spell. We were lucky we didn't wind up inside the mountain." Damnit Brass, you're on fire today with our like-mindedness!

"Taken? So you two don't work for the Pinkos?" He asked, swinging the barrel of the old weapon between us slowly.

"You think we work for the who? You mean the 'Pink Mare's gangs?" I grumbled and held up my pipbuck to him. "We're the ponies that they're looking for." I put my hoof down, straining to pull myself up. My rear legs refused to bear the weight again, even with the buck running through my system, so I just scooted them apart so I could at least sit upright.

"Well then, if that's true, then maybe you could kindly pay your bill and get the hell out of town before you get everypony here killed. They run through here every morning looking for you." He moved the gun away, propping it up against the doorframe as he spoke. The way he talked about us paying threw his voice off. He wasn't being honest with us.

"Well Doctor Lodge, as I'm sure you already noticed, we don't have anything to pay you with." Brass turned and joined me by my side. "No guns, no barding, no supplies, no caps."

"Has anypony recently told you how amazingly observant you are?" He squinted his eyes and sighed. "But you do have that." He pointed to my Pipbuck. "The mayor has been searching for some pony with a working Pipbuck, I don't know what exactly for, but it has to do with something they found in the mine." He turned around and limped out the door. "Follow me, best to not keep him waiting!"

"Quick question!" I called out to him, listening as he stopped in the hallway. "How am I supposed to get there?" Doc Lodge let out a loud sigh, levitating a pair of full leg braces around the doorway. I looked to Brass and gave him a weak smile. He nodded and used his magic to fasten the straps to me, wrapping the leather tightly to my bare skin as the metal frames creaked.

"Ok, I'll need to lock them in place once you stand up. It's going to hurt, but I need you to stand long enough for me to do it." Brass told me as his eyes fed me his sympathy. I took a couple of deep breaths, trying to psych myself up for it. I can do this, it's only a few seconds. I leaned forward, dragging myself up with all my might. My flank exploded in pain as I put as much weight on my front legs as I could.

Brass's horn flashed as my ears heard the clicking from the braces. I groaned and evened out my stance, the pain in my rear legs still pulsing, but not unbearable. I tried to stride forward, nearly loosing my balance as my rear hoof didn't have the freedom it normally did. Ok, this was going to make walking really awkward.

"You got it, Backlash?" Brass asked as he trotted forward into the doorway.

"Yeah, just have to take it one hoof at a time." I smiled as best as I could and did just that. I put one hoof in front of the other and slowly shambled my way out of the room. The hallway leading to the front door was short, the only distinguishing feature was a single black and white picture hanging on the wall. I glanced at it as I made my way toward the open door. It was a photograph of a whole group of smiling pegasi in their enclave uniforms. Shrugging it off, I made my way out to the porch, stopping as I reached the edge.

"We meet again, my old nemesis." I muttered as I is glared at the single stair in front of me that led to the dirt road. I went to take another step, finding myself enveloped in magic. I looked up to see a layer of overglow envelope Brass's horn, his magic pulling me off the porch and softly placing me down on the dry dirt street. The glow from his horn dissipated as he panted heavily, looking up to me with as much of a smile as he could form.

We continued along the vacant streets of the old mining town, the darkening skies making it hard for me to see where we were being led. Redwing was not a town I liked to stop in, the ponies here were mostly miners trying to scrounge what little they could of what the old world missed in the mine. But when you spend your life trying to horde as much as you can, you become mistrusting of others.

We turned around one of the buildings we passed, following as the road doubled back and followed the slope of the mountain. The inn that Skyline and I normally stayed at was all the way at the bottom of town and I had never been through here. I looked over at Brass, his eyelids hung low and his steps were sluggish.

"Brass, do you want to ride me?" I asked without thinking, the gears in my head grinding to a halt as I realized how that sounded. But, contrary to what I expected, Brass just kept walking along. Wow, levitating me must have really taken it out of him. "BRASS." I raised my voice, watching as he jolted to attention just before tripping on a rock, dropping forward onto his muzzle. I stopped walking as he flopped onto the ground and groaned, rubbing his muzzle between his hooves. "Brass, get up on my back and rest."

"No, the extra weight..." He started to say as he pushed himself back to his hooves.

"Not going to take no for an answer!" I cut him off, pushing my head underneath him and hoisting him onto my head. I grunted and did my best to nudge him along my neck. I felt him sigh and slide down and hold around me lightly. "Now was that so hard?" I craned my neck to look back at him, met only with the sound of him yawning. At least the blood on me is dry.

I smiled to myself and continued following the Doctor up the incredibly tiring dirt incline. The only reason I had been keeping up with him was because even with as awkward of a gait as I had in these braces, his limp made him nearly as slow. After a few more minutes, my legs we begging me to stop and rest, but we had just turned around another corner and I still didn't know how far we had to go. I let my mind wander, thinking back to the Gallant.

Brass was right, Longbow couldn't have been working this whole time as a double agent. I would have read it on her face the second she tried to lie, right? No pony has been good enough to lie to my face, and I don't think that Longbow could be that convincing. The emotions she had when we talked, they were the same as any other pony who wore them without deception. How could I even consider her at all?

I looked up the road as the last bit of natural daylight faded, glancing over a rickety looking cabin at the end of the road. A single, yellowing porchlight brightened the front of the structure, dim lights barely made it through the clothes that were hung in the windows. As we trudged closer and closer, the gears in my head put out a disturbing realization.

For the first time in my life, I was on my own.

Author's Notes:

Time for the thanks! Thank you Kkat, creator of this whole damn universe of Grim Dark Awesomeness! Thank you Somber, for giving me exactly what I needed to get through the day. Thank you Mimezinga, for keeping the spirit of innocence alive! Thank you No One, for making Hired's story one to strive to compete with! Thank you Psychoshy, for destroying my hopes of getting the next chapter done soon by releasing more of Double Tap and Rita's shenanigans! Thank you to John Colt, for humoring me with my insane theories of Craft since chapter 3, and keeping it a secret until it turned out I was right. And finally for the authors, Thank you to Hnetu, for reminding me of what it feels like to be positively absorbed into a story.

Special shout out to Regolit, who has been a constant help to everypony in the FoE community. Everypony may not value your words, but I do. Thanks for being so damn dedicated!

As per normal, a big thanks to Bad Pun for his help pre-reading and editing. Everypony should go check out the story he started, it's good.

And Lastly, thank you. As the reader, you are the lifeline of the story, and I thank you for keeping it alive.