I was violently ripped from unconsciousness by a horrible, grinding pain in my foreleg. With shuddering breath and a back arching in agony, I looked to my right to find an earth pony mare pressing my broken leg against the table I was lying on. I tried to roll over and hit her with my free limb, but something caught me and pushed me back down.

“She’s awake!” The stallion who blocked my attack cried. I tried to break free of his hold, but his grip was firm.

The mare just shouted, “Hold her still!”

My struggles with the burly stallion were futile, and to my dismay, my attempt at shadow walking away didn’t work due to the brightness of the room.

What was she doing to my leg?! The pain was almost unbearable. It was a burning, scraping, stretching, all rolled into one sensation until there was a sudden jerk and my suffering doubled.

“It’s set!” the mare cried.

I was screaming, throwing my weight around, kicking and thrashing, doing everything I could to break free of his hold.

“Stop her kicking, she’ll just hurt herself!”

The stallion shifted, so he was standing above me with a hoof pressed against my shoulder. I looked up to see the stallion looking down at me, and seized the opportunity immediately. My forehead smashed into his nose, and blood sprayed out as the cartilage shattered. He fell off me onto the floor, clutching his face, and I rolled over to slam my good hoof into the mare. She went sprawling, and I rolled off the table to stand on three legs.

Looking across, I saw the stallion start to rise again and moved forward to stomp on his outstretched hoof. Shouting, he jerked his hoof away and tried to rise again. Seeing opportunity, I rammed my hoof into his crotch and he gasped, seizing up in pain. Then I grabbed his head and slammed it down against the floor.

Turning around, I saw the mare just as she rose to her hooves, staring at me with fearful eyes. Ducking forward, I put my head under the table they’d pinned me to and flipped it over so it fell onto her. She yelped in pain as it hit her shoulder and stumbled over. I jumped forward, kicking her head into the floor before pressing my good hoof to her neck.

“Stop!” She shouted, fear in her eyes as she tried to protect her face. “Spirit, please stop!”

The words hit me like someone had stabbed me through the stomach. The situation suddenly seemed horrifically familiar.

I was standing over her, hoof raised while she trembled below, begging for me not to hurt her. I wasn’t him, and she wasn’t me, but… Oh, Luna. My stomach heaved and I stumbled away, falling against the wall, clutching my broken limb to my chest. My wings and foreleg burned, and I swallowed a mouthful of vomit.

“We were setting your leg.” The mare groaned after a moment, clutching her head. “The bones wouldn’t mend if they weren’t set straight.”

I didn’t answer her, putting more effort into controlling my breathing and… and… trying to keep the thoughts out of my mind. It didn’t help, though. By trying not to think about... it, I was just picturing it more vividly.

“You were unconscious. We thought it would be better if we did it while you were out.” She slowly shook her head, standing up and wincing with dizziness. “I didn’t mean to alarm you, spirit.”

I ignored her, shutting my eyes to stop tears from spilling from them. Just… I just needed to focus on breathing. Slowly in, slowly out, calm my pounding heart and… and… stand up. Carefully.

I cautiously put my hoof to the ground and stood up a little shakily. A sob was ready to hitch in my throat, but I willed myself to swallow it back instead of choking it out. Oh sweet Luna, she was gone. Chase was gone and I was alone, and I didn’t know where to go or what to do, or how to survive or even if there was any reason to-

I stomped my broken leg against the floor, and the pain drove all thoughts out of my head for a second. Biting my lips until they bled, I rode the waves of agony flowing into my body before swallowing and looking across to the mare as I rubbed the tears from my eyes.

No crying. No despairing. This wasn’t the time.

The mare had knelt down by the stallion. “Honey, are you alright?”

He nodded slowly, groaning and rolling onto his belly. “I dink she boke my nose.” His voice was distorted by the blood blocking his nostrils.

“Let me look at it.” She murmured, brushing his hoof away from his face.

“Am I still in Hoofens?” I asked aloud.

“Mmhm.” The mare answered, gently examining the sniffling stallion. “Tilt your head back, sweetie.”

He did as she asked.

“Definitely broken.” She murmured after a moment, before looking towards me. “I can set your leg in a cast, but that wing is beyond my skill to heal. We’ll need to find you a unicorn healer.”

I considered it for a moment before I shook my head. “No.”

“But I know a unicorn who can-”

“Where are my things?” I interrupted her.

She hesitated before pointing out the door. “In the shop, right next to the anvil.”

I nodded, before limping out of the room and into a small hallway. Outside I could hear the rain pounding down, and wind howling as it rattled the shutters. The dimly lit room seemed homely and peaceful, with comfortable wooden furnishings and no obvious stains or damage. To my right was a staircase leading up to a second floor, which I was willing to bet was where the couple slept.

Pushing open another door, I found myself in the blacksmith’s shop and forge room. An anvil sat in the middle, along with a bellows that still radiated some warmth. Lining the walls were various tools of the trade that I vaguely recognised: tongs, hammers of different sizes and shapes, a workbench and a grindstone.

I spotted both the saddlebags sitting on one of the benches, and felt my heart drop out of my chest and to the floor. At the sight of the second bag, the one that was only mine because… Chase wasn’t… she wasn’t… I couldn’t fight the sob that wrenched itself from me. My knee buckled, and I barely caught myself from slamming into the cold stone floor.

Barely able to see through the tears, I stumbled across the room, clumsily knocking over tools and half completed works. Blunt blades clattered to the floor in my wake, and by the time I was strapping both bags over my back, I had finally managed to get myself under control.

I limped back into the hallway, glancing at the stairs as I passed, when a spot of color caught my attention. Blue. Blue buttons in the eyes of a stuffed rabbit. Movement up the stairs made me glance up, and I found myself looking into the similarly colored eyes of a foal that watched me uncertainly.

We stared at each other for a moment, before her ears folded back, and she nervously trotted down the stairs past me. She kept her shy gaze on me as she passed, before stopping at the kitchen door.

“Mommy?” she asked, hesitantly. “There’s a scary lady out here.”

I silently walked up behind the foal, examining her and feeling... Stomping my broken hoof helped distract me from whatever the emotion was. At the sound of my pained grunt, she glanced over her shoulder to find me standing there, and gave a startled meep before running towards her mother.

“It’s fine, dear.” The mare soothed her daughter and gave me a slightly nervous look. “She’s a… guest.”

“I heard screaming.” The filly whispered, peaking at me through the gaps in her mane.

“Don’t worry, Saphron. Mommy’s here, nothing can hurt you.”

Lies. I could easily hurt her.

The mare glanced at me, as if reading my thoughts and hugged her filly a little harder. Perhaps that was a fair reaction. We nightkin did have a tendency to take fillies her age away to Blackrock, so her worry wasn’t without cause.

“I… need to go.” My wings shifted uncomfortably. “Thank you. For hiding me.” My eyes turned to the foal again, then back to the mother. “How long have I been out?”

“Half a day.” She answered after a moment.

“And… has anypony come looking for me?”

She shook her head. “The pegasi have no reason to come around here.”

I nodded, glancing at the foal and then at the mother. The wise thing to do would be to leave right then and there, but… these ponies had saved me when I lost consciousness. I felt no obligation to repay them, but it didn’t sit quite right with me to simply leave without warning them.

“If a... stallion comes, an earth pony with a shield for a cutie mark, uh… don’t lie to him. He’ll know if you do, and will punish you for it. Answer him honestly, but… keep the answer vague.” I glanced at the foal again and swallowed. “And hide your child…” I had no reason to doubt that that... beast in pony flesh would stoop to the murder of innocents.

The mother met my eyes and nodded at me, before standing up and helping the stallion stand as well. When the foal saw blood coming from her father’s nose, she paled and looked away, but the mother kept running a hoof through her mane which kept her calm.

“Spirit,” the lady began, “I uh… My name is Cobble Stone…” She shifted where she stood and looked at the stallion who was still pinching his nose. “This is my husband Hard Hoof, and my daughter, Saphron.” She swallowed. “I just… wanted to… to ask for your blessings.”

I blinked, but otherwise did a good job to hide my surprise.

She stuttered as she continued, averting her gaze. “I-it’s just with Luna… missing f-for now, I know the coming days will be… hard… and, well, your blessing would…” she scuffed her hoof, shifting where she stood.

Despite the rude awakening, she did save my life. Even if I had no idea how to bless somepony, there was no reason not to pretend. Internally shrugging, I said, “You have my blessings.”

A relieved smile spread across her face. “Thank you, spirit.” Swallowing, she added, “Uh… I know a unicorn healer, so we can get that leg fixed before you leave the city.”

I was about to nod my consent, but hesitated when I remembered something. The war games we played at Blackrock, in the forest outside the castle, submission and survival games where we were pitted against each other. Water was the one resource everypony needed at once, and there were only a few places we could get it. I soon learned that holding a water hole or creek bank was an excellent way to ambush others in my year, and that many also had the same idea. Simply put, if you wished to find someone, the best way to do that is often to find the thing they needed.

That monster knew I was wounded and in need of healing, so if he wanted to find me he’d have all the healers in the city watched.

“No,” I said after a moment.

Cobble Stone paused. “No?”

“No healers. My wounds will recover on their own within the week.”

She blinked in surprise and opened her mouth to speak, but shut it again. After a moment’s silence she said, “O-of course, spirit, b-but wounded like you are and with so many Celestians about… I-I don’t see why it’s wise to wait a week.”

I stared at her for a moment, before answering, “The Celestians know I’m wounded. They will think I require a healer, and set guards to watch all of them for my arrival.”

“O-oh… right.” She swallowed and looked away from me.

The stallion, still pinching his nose, spoke up. “Hald Day.”

Cobble looked at him, blinking in surprise.

“Da pries dere. He can heal her, and he knows me.”

The mare’s eyes lit up, and she looked towards me. “Of course. The town, Half Day, on the road from the east gate. It’s a morning’s walk from here, and the priest there, Bitter Brew, gives free healing to all. Because it’s out of the city, the Celestians might not be there.”

After a second, I nodded. “I might stop by on my way.”

“Um…” She looked at my broken leg. “I-I’ll go with you. With that wound and this weather-”

“No.” I cut her off.

“Spirit, I really think-”

“I need to be alone for now.” It was the truth. After a moment I added something that wasn’t. “To commune with Luna.”

“O-oh…” She nodded again. “Of course.”

We stood there in awkward silence for a moment, before I said, “Be well,” and turned away. Walking out of the kitchen, I entered the hall, glad to be away from the family. My sense of relief was stronger than expected when I left that building and found myself in the privacy of an empty Hoofens street.

A strange sense of familiarity plagued me, but I determinedly avoided thinking about it, instead turning my attention to the pain burning in my leg with every step I took. It was my lifeline. I’m not sure what I planned to do once it healed, but for the moment I needed it. It was an anchor of reason. You’ve been damaged, it hurts, was what the pain spoke to me. It made more sense in my mind than the idea that Chase was gone, that my goddess had failed me, or any of the other blatant insanities raging inside my mind.

So great was my distraction, that I was down the road and on my way towards the city gates before I realised it was raining. That in turn made me remember I was being hunted, and so I dug through the saddle bag that belonged to… that used to belong to…

The bag that wasn’t originally mine, for the second copper circlet. The beast with pony skin had already turned mine into salt with the strange occult power of the lie that was Harmony, so I had no choice but to use the only remaining one. Swallowing down the whimper that formed in the back of my throat, I put the circlet on top of my head, along with the black cloak from Luna’s palace.

It still smelled like her…

I stomped my damaged hoof again, and welcomed the pain that washed my mind clean. Pain of the flesh was something comforting and familiar that I understood immediately. I just had to keep going, and hope that the smell of rain would purge the smell of her as the day wore on.

Tremors danced along my spine, and my clattering teeth made me worry that I’d bite my own tongue if I tried to talk. My breath fogged as it left my mouth, and the cause wasn’t exhaustion. I could feel my muscles going numb, as my cloak soaked up more and more water. The only good thing about the rain and cold was that it left me alone on the road.

I’d left Hoofens not too long ago. It felt like it had been several hours, but the truth was it had probably only been one at the most. The temperature had dropped sharply, and my broken wing sent stabbing pain rolling across my back with every limping step I took. I’d lost feeling in the tip of my ears… lost feeling in the tip of my ear.

Would I die out here? Freeze to death in an ignoble fashion on some road not even a day away from Hoofens?

I couldn’t help but smile a little at the idea. It would mean denying that beast any chance at avenging the death of his bitch.

Another shiver wracked my spine, and I found myself stumbling to a halt. Before I knew why I’d done so, my haunches fell to the wet road side and I simply sat there in the wind and the rain. Some part of me that demanded survival ordered me to stand again, but… it was hard to listen to that voice right now.

There was another voice in my mind, a much louder one, one that I was finding it harder and harder to ignore. I’d fought it off for as long as I could, with action, with unconsciousness, and with simple pain when both of those had failed. But now it was demanding attention, and I couldn’t summon up the strength to fight it anymore.

“...Why?” I whimpered. Even though the clouds covered it from my vision, I knew exactly where the moon was. Luna’s presence on it anchored its location in my mind, and I stared directly at the moon, blinking at the rain hitting my face. “How could you let this happen?”

Oh, sweet grace. She was gone. Chase was gone.

What kind of world was this? It just… it just didn’t make sense anymore. A world without Chase was… incomprehensible. Even when she’d been out of Blackrock on rotation I’d known she was out there, somewhere, occasionally thinking of me.

And now she wasn’t.

I looked away from the sky as warm tears leaked onto my face. “...How?” It didn’t make sense. None of it made sense. The world… it wasn’t… it just… wasn’t supposed to be like this. It didn’t make sense anymore. None of this made sense!

“How could she go?!” My voice was somewhere between a choke and a roar. “Why?!” Hooves trembling with rage, I stood up and screamed. “I’ll kill him! I’ll burn him, and break him, and make him scream! He will die, by my hoof! I’ll… I’ll…” A loud sob broke my voice, and I looked back at the ground again. “Damn him. Damn him…” I pounded my good hoof in the mud. “Damn her… Wherever she is now, I hope she’s suffering.” Slowly I raised my head, and looked towards the moon. “And damn you. Where were you? Where were you?!”

It was some time before I realised she wasn’t going to answer, and I looked back down again..

“I needed her…” My lip trembled. “She needed me, and we… we both… I…”

A terrible realisation washed over me. Something that chilled me even more than the freezing temperature, or the biting wind. Something that sent a cold spike of iron right into my already broken heart.

“I never said I loved you.” It came out as the meekest of whimpers. The sort of pathetic mewl I hadn’t made since foalhood. “I never told you… not even once…” I looked up again. “But you knew, right? I-I-I didn’t have to say it, did I?” It didn’t matter. I still should have, and now I never could.

I lowered my gaze again, a sob throwing itself from my lips. My legs gave out from under me, and I collapsed into the mud. Hugging myself, I curled into a ball as the rain fell down on me and cried uncontrollably.

I wished it was me who died. I wished I’d told her that she was my closest friend. That I loved her more than anything in the world. How hard I’d fought to make her proud of me. How much I regretted those times I disappointed her, or didn’t listen. I would have done anything for just one more minute with her. Just one.

But it wasn’t to be.

“I’ll kill him.” I whispered. “I will kill him.” Uncurling, I pushed myself back to my haunches and looked up again. “No matter what, I will end his life. I don’t know how long it will take, or where, or how… but I’ll do it. He will die.” My oath of vengeance sounded like begging to my own ears. “If I can… when I do… can you… will you forgive me?”

It merely kept on raining.

Slowly, I stood again, wiping mud and tears from my eye. Miserably, I limped on. Cold, shivering, crippled, and worst of all, alone. Utterly alone in this world, I limped on.

I never even got to bury her.

It couldn’t have been a day later. In that cold, with my injuries, I simply should have died well before I made it to shelter, but somehow I made it. I limped all the way to… somewhere, a town I dimly recalled being named Half Day. It was by far the most grueling march I’d ever been on, exhausted from the previous day’s work and mind still unable to find solace in… anything.

The rain was no longer rain, but sleet. An unholy mixture that stung with every evil droplet-snowflake hybrid that landed on my face. Winter used to be my favorite season, now I had no idea why that ever could have been.

By some miracle, or perhaps just raw willpower, I travelled this far on a broken leg, in the freezing cold, and sheltered only by a sodden cloak. I wasn’t certain which I’d have preferred. If it was a miracle, then Luna was still guiding and watching over me, but if it was my own personal fortitude, than I was stronger than I thought.

I didn’t think much of this town, Half Day. What a stupid name. Perhaps it was one of the small farming ones I passed over on the way to Hoofens? Honestly I didn’t care. It had buildings, and more importantly, fire. Even through the rain I could see smoke rising from chimneys, and that could only mean warmth. A windmill, turning gently in the rain, streets abandoned for the shelter of the indoors. It would have seemed like a ghost town if it wasn’t for the small signs of habitation here and there. Muddy hoof prints, fire glowing from behind all the drawn shutters. The town wasn’t poor, so some of the houses could afford glass windows, and through them I saw a couple of curious foals watching me.

I would murder an entire family if it meant being able to warm myself inside one of those houses.

As I walked through the town, I slipped in the mud and almost fell over. Catching myself unsteadily, I glanced around, seeking an inn or any place that would take in a stranger for some coin.

Actually, that raised the question, did I have any coin? I’d have to take stock of my supplies soon.

Or at least that’s what I told myself. The thought of going through Chase’s things made it feel like someone was trying rip my heart from inside me.

My eyes came to a rest on a steeple, which took me a moment to recognise as a church of Luna. Healing. According to that mare Cobble… Pot? Cobble Road? Cobble-Something, really I didn’t care, the priest here offered healing. And I assumed all it would take was me showing my true identity, and whoever lived here would eagerly provide me with food and warmth. Even if they wouldn’t I couldn’t continue like this, so regardless of whether or not it would be provided willingly, they would give me shelter from the rain.

My mind made, I approached the tall stone building, pausing at the large wooden doors long enough to offer a quick prayer of gratitude, before pushing them open. They swung open with a loud creak, and I was glad to see the warm glow of lit candles reflecting from wooden benches and polished armor-

Polished armor?

It looked like this place was being watched. I stood in the door, staring for a moment at the sight of thirty or so Celestian pegasi, who stared back with mild surprise and disinterest. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and I found myself taking a step back igniting my ghost blade. Except I didn’t. It was only after I tried to do it, that I remembered my Green had been destroyed, Chase’s Green was still in her bag along with the Blue, and the Red I’d killed Pyra with was still in my bag.

Swallowing nervously, I watched as the pegasi all looked away from the door, and back towards whatever it was they were doing before I entered. From the looks of things, this is where they were staying for now, and had all taken shelter indoors to avoid the rain. Pathetic. What kind of commander lacked the discipline to have his soldiers patrol, even in this weather?

“You. What are you doing here?” One of the pegasi asked, and I noticed the golden sun badge on the brow of his helmet that marked him as a low ranking officer.

I swallowed, my mouth drying as I counted them all again. I wouldn’t feel confident fighting them even at full strength, but numb, wounded and unarmed I knew I’d die easily if it came to violence. Which meant I’d have to talk to them.

Honestly, I’d almost rather take my chances in a fight.

“Uh…” Glancing at his face then at his hooves to check how he was standing, I answered the officer. It didn’t look like he was expecting a fight. “Healing… I came for… uh, healing.” I raised my wounded leg. “There was a farming accident... At the farm.”

He stared at me for a moment, looking my up and down and taking in my appearance. I was extremely grateful that my mane had been plastered down, covering the copper circlet on my head. Honestly, I was terribly disguised to play a farmer, but he was a pegasus and thus probably knew nothing about crops.

Hopefully.

His eyes shifted up to my still-bleeding, half ear, visibly missing even through the illusion spell. Then his eyes went over my shoulder and came to rest on the bulges in the cloak where my wings were.

After a moment he spoke. “The priests here were all dead or fled when we arrived. If you want healing, you’ll have to go elsewhere.”

I nodded and took a step back, moving to close the door, eager to leave them to their business. Forget the healing, I just needed to get out of here.

“Wait!” I flinched at the sound of the feminine tone. All eyes turned towards the speaker, and I felt a little surprised to see an off-white unicorn with pink eyes and a brunette mane walking forwards. She was looking at me with a smile on her face, which instantly made me wary of her. “I’ll heal her.”

The pegasus in charge glanced at her, frowning in annoyance. “Why?”

“We’re here to save these ponies, aren’t we? We’re their liberators. And if this is where she got healing from the priests before we arrived, it’s only right she gets it from us too.” She looked over her shoulder at the officer. Her voice had a slightly unusual lilting tone to it that I didn’t quite recognise. An accent I was sure I’d heard somewhere before, but couldn’t quite place. “We’re the good guys aren’t we? And it’s the right thing to do.”

Every nerve I had was screaming at me to murder her. “Liberators?” I repeated as a growl.

She cast a glance at me, and flinched at my gaze, but looked back at the commanding officer with a determined expression. “I want to help her.”

The officer rolled his eyes. “That bleeding heart of yours will bleed you out one day.” Turning away, he said over his shoulder, “Just don’t share any of your rations with her.”

Turning back to me with a smile that faltered as it met my eyes, the unicorn scratched the back of her leg awkwardly. “So… would you like to follow me?”

“No.” I turned around moving to pull the door shut behind me.

“Wait!” She shouted. “You can’t stay out in this weather, you’ll be killed.”

I hesitated briefly. She was right, unfortunately. Heading back out into the rain wasn’t really an option, unless one of the villagers was willing to offer me shelter… but then how many ponies were so kind to strangers like that? Not many. And even if I did reveal to them I was a nightkin, there was no promising they wouldn’t immediately turn me over to the Celestians.

Perhaps the best option was to stay here, and take my chances with this mare?

Sighing, I turned around to face her. “Very well.”

“Excellent.” She smiled for a moment, holding out a hoof to shake. “I’m Summer Song.”

I stared at her for a moment, before I raised my broken leg to her and answered, “And I’m in pain.”

She flinched again. “Uh, right… It should be warm and private in the priest’s quarters, let’s go there… Uh, do you need help walking?”

My eyes turned to the door, before looking back at the unicorn. My eyes travelled down to the Celestia’s sun token hanging on a chain around her neck. “I made it here on my own, didn’t I?” Whore.

“...Right.” She swallowed before turning away. “Uh, follow me.”

Casting another suspicious glance at the pegasi, most of whom were either ignoring us or paying only a bored form of attention, I let her lead me between the pews. She held open a door to a small room full of beds that I assumed to be the church’s guest quarters. Most of the beds were occupied by sleeping pegasi, except for one which had been stripped to its frame and converted into a makeshift desk with some maps and other sheets scattered across it.

A pink glow surrounded the unicorn’s horn, and she pushed open the door to reveal a small office with only a tiny shrine to the stars, and a dimly lit burning candle. There was a small fireplace with a few red embers still warm in the bottom. With her magic, the unicorn quickly stoked up the fire and soon a steady stream of heat flowed into the room, something for which I was grateful.

“Um… W-would you like to take off your cloak?” She asked me, sounding a bit nervous.

I glanced at her, before shaking my head and taking off my saddlebags. I sat those near the fire, before sitting on my haunches and holding out my broken leg to her.

“You should take your cloak off… you won’t be able to warm up otherwise.” She swallowed and sat down, gently probing my wound with the magic.

If I took off the cloak, she’d see my broken wing and want to fix it. Doing so would alert her to the fact I wasn’t a pegasus. Nightkin wings have an entirely different bone structure. There’s no way my disguise would hold up if she tried to fix that.

“It stays on.”

“Oh, o-okay.” She swallowed and then looked up at me. “Um… whatever illusion magic you have on is making it hard for me to see the break. Could you take it off?”

I frowned for a moment, my eyes narrowing on her. Was she onto me? Is that why she lured me back here? To get proof that I wasn’t what I seemed? Could I kill her quietly, wounded as I was?

“I swear, I’m only trying to help you.” A pleading tone entered her voice. “I know that the followers of Luna don’t trust us, and to be honest we don’t trust you either, but please. I want to help.”

How long would her kindness last once she learned what I truly was?

Sadly though, I needed this leg fixed one way or the other. Regardless of my suspicions, I did require her help. Plus, I’d probably be able to kill her if she figured out who I was. I stared before I sighed and turned away. I pulled the hood of my cloak up, hiding my face so she wouldn’t see the eyes or teeth that gave me away, before I turned back around and held my leg out to her again.

She blinked at my actions, before smiling for some reason that was beyond me, and pressing her horn against the leg. A glorious numbness overcame the limb, and soon I was watching her at work, repairing the bone and fixing the damage that had been done by not treating it properly for so long, as well as my repeated attempts to not think about this situation.

“You don’t have to be so shy,” she said as she worked, her eyes on what she was doing. “Whatever scars you’re hiding, I won’t laugh.”

“...” She thought I was hiding my face from her... out of shame? My eyes narrowed and my lips curled into a sneer, not that she could see.

“So uh… I still don’t know your name.”

Because I didn’t tell you.

“My name is Summer Song.”

I know. You already told me.

“Could you tell me yours?”

I could. I wouldn’t.

“...” She glanced up at me, before looking back at what she was doing. “You’re not really a farmer are you?” She must have noticed the way I flinched, because she smirked happily. “Don’t act so surprised. How many pegasus farmers have you met?”

“...Are you threatening me?” I twisted my neck a little, stretching it until it cracked and glared at her.

“Oh, goodness, no!” She stopped her magic and looked up at me with her eyes wide. “I’m just… well, I’m healing you free of charge despite the fact that you’re obviously lying, and probably some kind of criminal. I just… well, do you think you could be a little more polite?” She smiled at me in a way that I’m sure was intended to be charming and disarming. “I like to chat to, is all.”

I shifted where I sat, thinking over what she had said before saying, “Slight.”

“Hmm?” She tilted her head to the side.

“My name. Slight.”

“Oh.” She smiled again, before putting her head down and going back to healing. “Slight, huh? What’s your full name? Slight difference, or… Perceived Slight or what?”

“...It’s just Slight.” I answered.

“Oh. Okay… Is it Slight as in an insult, or Slight like the small change?”

Blinking in surprise, I pondered the question. “Hadn’t thought about it.”

“So is that a name you chose or one your parents gave you?”

“...Chosen.”

She giggled after a moment, before stopping her magic and glancing up at me. “If you want, you could be Slight-Slight, meaning subtle insult, or barely an offence.”

I snorted. “Just Slight.”

She giggled again, before going back to the healing. “What was the name your parents gave you?”

“...” Truthfully I wasn’t sure. I know they used to call me Goldie, but… I think that was a nickname, not a real one. Whatever my birth name was, it was lost, possibly forever.

She must have realised it was an… odd topic for me, because she opened her mouth to answer, but shut it after a moment and lapsed into awkward silence. A few minutes passed without a word, something for which I was grateful. I closed my eyes after a while, and let myself enjoy the warmth of the fire place for a moment. By Her Grace, I was exhausted. The numbness in my limbs had faded, leaving my muscles aching and making me painfully aware of the grit in my eyes. I really did want nothing less than to curl up here where it was warm and sleep.

Sadly, to do so would probably mean death.

After a while, she finished what she was doing and wiped some sweat from her forehead. “Okay, that’s the leg healed.” Commenting quietly to herself, she added, “Never had a leg broken so badly heal so easily before.” Speaking louder she continued. “Anyway, if you could lower your hood, I could do something about your ear.”

She reached for my face, but I caught her hoof before she could touch me. “No.” I growled.

Blinking in surprise, she rolled her eyes and said, “Don’t be silly. What if it gets infected?”

“My concern,” I answered curtly, standing up and rolling my newly healed limb. She’d done a good job, there wasn’t any lingering twinge.

Only standing at my full height, did I realise just how short this unicorn was. It hadn’t been so obvious when she was standing amongst the pegasi, but for a unicorn she was much shorter than I’d expect even of a mare. She seemed to notice my height too, taking a step backwards while looking up at me.

“You can’t leave yet. You’re still soaked, you’ll freeze to death out there.”

Ignoring her, I turned around and began to strap my saddlebags back on.

“I didn’t heal that leg so you could just go and die,” she said, sounding frustrated. “Stop playing the fool and let me look at that ear.”

Throwing the second saddlebag back on, I touched my damaged wing with it and hissed at the pain.

“See, you’re still wounded,” I heard the telltale sound of magic in use, and felt her tug the bags off my back.

Turning around, I growled, “Wait!” But almost tripped forward onto my face when she started pulling the cloak up over my head. Gritting my teeth, I bit and pulled on the cloak, just in time to stop her revealing my wings. “Mmhph!” I grunted.

“Oh, you’re being ridiculous.” Before I could respond, I felt extra pressure on the tugging of my cloak, and I was pulled forward onto my face. Surprised from the fall, I didn’t put up a fight as she tugged my clothes the rest of the way off. “There,” she said, the black cloak still around her head as I scrambled to my hooves. Tossing the cloak aside, she smiled at me. “That wasn’t so hard, now was-” She blinked in shock, her eyes widening as she took in my slit eyes, extended canines and black leathery wings.

Before she had time to scream, I’d slapped her in the horn, preventing any spell she was about to cast, and threw myself against her, pushing her up against the wall. My leg pressed against her throat, pinning her there and cutting off any chance she had of screaming. My eyes met hers, and her pupils dilated with raw terror before bugging when I started to strangle her. Her futile kicks against my chest, her desperate half-formed attempts at magic, all meaningless.

Staring into her eyes, I found myself frozen in horror at the sight of the lights inside her dimming. Her soul, leaving her body as I forced it from her corpse. Her pupils were rounded, not slits like Chase’s, nor was I cradling her body and begging for her to stand up, but…

Goddess damn me, the wounds were too fresh. I couldn’t kill someone like this so soon after losing Chase. Flinching back from her, I blinked the tears from my eyes and fought to still my trembling jaw. She fell to the floor, clutching at her throat and sucking in air.

I guess I’d just have to kill her in such a way that she wasn’t staring at me as she died.

As I moved towards her again, her eyes looked back up at me, and the fear in them made me hesitate again. Was that how I looked when faced with Honesty?

She opened her mouth, but before she could make a sound I was crouched low in front of her with my hoof against her neck. “Scream, and you’ll die before any help can come.”

Swallowing nervously and still breathing heavily, she nodded in understanding. “P-please, I healed you didn’t I? Y-you don’t need to hurt me.”

I stared down at her for a moment, before taking my hoof off her neck and taking a step back. “Do not scream.” I growled.

She nodded, scrambling up to her hooves and staring at me fearfully. My eyes met hers again for a moment, before I turned around and opened up my saddlebag. I kept glancing over my shoulder at her as I searched through them, but she made no move to run or scream, but only stood there watching me fearfully, and it was only a moment until I found my red ghost blade.

Strapping it on, I turned around and beckoned her closer. She hesitated for a moment, before swallowing and approaching me cautiously. When she was right in front of me, I pressed the blade’s hilt against her chest.

“With this I only need a thought to kill you. Don’t try anything.”

She nodded, swallowing as she looked down at the device on my leg.

Turning so she had access to my wing, I growled, “Heal it.”

Her gaze flickered from my face to my wing, before she shook her head. “No.”

My eyes narrowed. “No?”

“The moment it’s done, you’ll kill me.”

“You think I won’t kill you if you don’t?”

She swallowed, glancing towards the door then back at me. “If you leave here without me, the guards will be suspicious. You can’t fight all of them.”

I grit my jaw. “You’d be surprised.”

“Th-there’s thirty of them. There’s no way you could kill all of them.

My gaze turned towards the door, before I shrugged. “It’d be a personal best.”

“R-right…” Licking her lip nervously, she looked up at me. “You need me to heal you.”

“I don’t.” I looked towards my wing, moving it a little and wincing. “Nightkin heal faster than normal ponies. I can walk now, so healing my wings is a convenience.” I looked back towards her. “You don’t have anything to bargain with.”

“How do I know you won’t just kill me anyway?”

How much time was I really willing to spend here, trying to convince her to do as I said? Honestly, I’d received the basics of what I needed, and now that I could walk again I was free to leave this place as soon as the rain let up.

I don’t suppose promising to kill her painlessly rather than agonisingly would be a good incentive?

Rolling my eyes, I sighed and promised, “I won’t kill you if you do.”

She hesitated before asking, “How do I know you’ll stay true to your word?”

“How do you know I won’t?”

“Swear you won’t... Swear on your… mother’s life.”

Easily done. I didn’t even have a mother. “I swear.”

She blinked at me, before frowning suspiciously. “Do fades even have mothers?”

My eyes narrowed on her. It wasn’t hard to look offended, especially when I actually was offended. “We’re born, the same way other ponies are. Do you think we’re created from… virgin sacrifices and souls ripped from the Pale?”

After a moment’s thought she nodded, and pressed her horn against my wing. Instant relief. Not the bitter loss of feeling from cold, but the relaxing numbness of a well-used spell. I almost closed my eyes at the pleasure, before a thought I didn’t like entered my head.

“No numbing spell.”

She looked up at me confused.

“I want to be able to feel if you try to put any other spell on me.”

She blinked, before nodding, a faint blush touching her cheeks. What did she have to be embarrassed about?

The healing was uncomfortable, both because of the magic, but also the tense silence that hung in the air. I remember that Victory always had a glare that you could just feel on the back of your neck, and I tried to affect a similarly intense gaze as I stared at the back of hers.

The uncomfortable itching burning of the magic was just starting to stop as she said disbelievingly, “They said all the fades had been killed.”

I couldn’t help but flinch at that statement, looking away from her and wishing it wasn’t as true as it was. “Nightkin,” I said firmly. When I looked back at her, she was giving me a confused look. “We were not… we are not ‘fades’.”

She watched me before nodding and finishing off her work on my wing. “I’ve never healed a limb like this before...” Gently, she touched it with her hoof, flexing it experimentally and probing for damage. “It’s... incredible. It’s almost as if there’s already a template there, and I’m just feeding the magic into to it and letting it do the rest.”

I tugged my wing from her grasp, and rolled it a few times before giving it a few flaps. It felt fine. “We share the blood of the divine, a touch of the eternal,” I said as I stood up. “Though we aren’t permanent like our goddess is, our role in the world is much more lasting than a normal pony’s.”

When I looked at her, she was observing me. After a moment, she asked, “Are… are you the last one?”

...I stared at her, considering her words, taking a moment to let them sink in and make sense inside my mind. Was I the last one? Was I the last nightkin in this world? That… didn’t seem possible. Yes, most of us were at Blackrock when we were attacked, but many were out on rotation. Some were serving behind Celestian lines, attacking their supplies and sowing chaos and terror where they could, while others were with Luna’s regular armies, acting as banner bearers or leaders, or even just the head of the vanguard.

They had to still be alive, right? Obviously some of Luna’s armies had turned traitor, and had probably turned on their nightkin, but others would have had to have remained. If the ones behind Celestian lines hadn’t been rooted out already, then surely they’d still be there now?

I shook my head slowly. “No. I might be the only one here in the west, but I’m certain others must have survived.”

Nodding to herself, she bit her lip for a moment before asking, “Does that mean your... family might still be out there?”

Like a lance to the heart, I flinched away from her. I fought hard against the urge to break down again, I was barely managing to hold down thoughts of Chase as it was, but I wouldn’t allow myself to show such weakness before some… damned Celestian whore.

“...No.” My voice didn’t crack, and I didn’t feel any tears in my eyes as I looked back towards her. “She died in front of me.”

She looked up at me, before saying softly, “She?”

I couldn’t meet her gaze, so I turned away. It was foalish and I knew it, but… I couldn’t bear to look into her eyes and see pity in them. “My sister.”

“I’m sorry,” She murmured, but pressed on, “When was this?”

“...Last night.” My voice quavered only a little, and I’m not sure why I actually answered her.

I heard her hoof steps before I felt her hoof on my shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”

Anger reared up in me, demanding I slap her hoof away and meet her with a snarl. “What do you care?” I jabbed a hoof into her chest, bringing fear to her eyes and forcing her back. I leant into her face, snarling, “This is what you and the rest of your ilk want! Me dead, everyone I’ve ever known gone, my sister… gurgling out her last breath while I hold her, and the lights… fading from her eyes. Anything that was inside her that was once alive and cheerful and loved me is just… gone…” I felt my knees start to wobble while my vision blurred as more tears formed in my eyes.

I wiped them free and glared into her frightened face. “And I couldn’t even bury her! I was forced to leave her body just… lying there in the mud! The best pony I knew, my sister who’s been there for me since I was four, who held me while I cried myself to sleep, who encouraged me, who fought for me, who… who would have… who did die for me…” I swallowed as I realised I’d fallen to my haunches, and was now eye level with the unicorn. “And I couldn’t even bury her…” I finished in a whimper that sounded pathetic even to my ears.

Strangely, I heard the sound of her swallow before I felt her hooves wrap around me as she murmured, “I didn’t know, I’m sorry.”

“Get off me…” I hissed and tried to push her off, but she didn’t let go so easily, and it was hard to get leverage with her pressed so close to me.

“I know what it’s like to lose family.” She said quickly, letting go of me and looking into my eyes. “My mother died when I was young, and my father just last year.”

“What of it?” I growled, taking a step back from her.

It was hard to read what was on her mind right then. “Please, what was her name?” She looked like she cared, but she might have just been trying to form a connection with me in the hopes that I wouldn’t kill her.

“...Chase…” I whispered anyway.

Glancing around, she said, “Here, sit down,” before pulling up a chair and guiding me to it. “I can’t even imagine losing someone who means so much to you, but still having to run for your life, hunted like some animal that needs exterminating.”

I would have answered, but right then I couldn’t. All I could do was swallow and nod in acceptance. Some part of me demanded anger, that I hurt this mare who dared to manipulate me, but then she hugged me and it was all I could do not to start sobbing in her shoulder.

“Did you see how she died?” She murmured gently.

“That beast...” I choked after a moment. “Honesty. A stallion… killed her, because… because she was trying to save me.”

“Did she leave you behind anything?”

“Her sword… her bags…” I touched the ribbon around my neck. “This…”

She nodded at me, pressing her hoof against mine. “It’s important to have something you can remember her with.” Her horn glowed and the sun token on her neck twisted open, revealing a small scrap of cloth. “This was my father's. He died when me and my brother were still in our teens.” Then she closed it, and dropped the token. “I know how much it helps to have someone who understands what you’re going through.”

I was determined not to sniffle as I closed my eyes and wiped away a tear. Her hooves closed around me again, and my face was pressed against her shoulder.

“Don’t ever forget the things she taught you.”

That was it. I thought I’d cried out all my tears on the rain here, but I proved myself wrong. Some part of me knew she didn’t care. That she was desperately doing everything in her power to save her own life, but… by the Goddess it was hard to care. My hooves closed around this stranger who I’d known for even less than half an hour, and I crushed her against me. She froze for a moment, but then continued to pat me and whisper sweet nothings as I sobbed uncontrollably.

“I wish it was me.” My lip trembled . “I would trade my life for hers in a second…”

“Just as I’m sure she would for you.” Was the whispered reply.

I buried my face in her shoulder again, unable to control myself at this point. I didn’t scream. Not like the other times I had broken down before. This time I was quieter, drained of energy and pain, all I had left was grief.

And hate. So much hate.

I would kill that stallion. This was no longer a world fit for the two of us. No matter what else happened in the future, I was certain of one thing: one of us would die bleeding at the other’s hooves.

And I was determined that it be him.

Eventually my tears dried once more, and the sobs died in my throat. I pushed her away from me gently, and she released me without struggle.

“Do you feel a little better?” she asked.

I shook my head, but said, “Thanks.”

She nodded, and I shakily stood up. Reaching up with her hoof, she touched my damaged ear and quickly said, “Here, I’ll heal this.”

“No.” I said quietly.

She blinked at me and said, “But it will get infected-”

“No.” I repeated, turning away from her and pulling my black cloak back over my head.

“Okay… But, why?”

Simply put I wanted this scar. To feel the absent weight on one side of my head for the rest of my life. Whenever I turned my head I would be reminded of what happened, and what had taken her from me. Every time I looked at my reflection I wanted to be reminded that he was still alive, and that I needed to fix that.

Rather than answer her, I finished putting on my saddle bags before putting the circlet back on my head. When I turned to face her, she blinked in surprise, taking a step back. After a moment though, she tilted her head to the side. “That’s really not a very good disguise.”

Frowning, I glanced down at my white hoof before looking back up at her with my eyebrow raised.

“Well, there aren’t a lot of white pegasi out there, not to mention I’ve never met a pegasus mare as tall as you are. You kind of stand out.”

She was right, but it wasn’t like I’d be better off without the disguise. “Do you have anything better?”

Pursing her lips, she shook her head.

Then it would have to do.

We stood there for a moment, awkward silence reigning as she scratched the back of her hoof. After a moment she spoke, “Are you… still going to kill me?”

“... I should.” I murmured after a moment, glancing away from her. She was a risk. Even if she had… helped me how she had, just that she knew of me and where I was going made her a risk. There was no way of knowing that she wouldn’t betray me the moment I was out of sight.

After a moment, she shook her head. “No, you shouldn’t. What would your sister have wanted?”

I paused for a moment, before I looked at her with a glare and a growl. She flinched back as I stalked towards her. “Don’t you dare to presume you know what Chase would want of me. My sister’s death is not something for you to manipulate me with. Her death does not justify your survival.”

She nodded quickly, “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“You did.” I cut across her.

She swallowed, before looking away. “I’m sorry, I’m just scared. Please, I don’t want to die.”

The mare reminded me more of a foal, then. Terrified, small, not really capable of ill intent, but doing what she could to avoid trouble, regardless of how undignified or pathetic her actions were. Had her efforts to comfort me been purely because she wished to survive?

Even so, I was reluctant to end her. Truthfully, she should have tried to kill me when my face was in her shoulder. The fact that she hadn’t probably had less to do with compassion and more to do with her believing she couldn’t. Even the healing had been in part because I’d threatened her life, and the other part due to mistaken identity.

I had all the reasons I needed to kill her, and I was struggling to think of a reason not to. So why was I still trying to think up excuses not to?

Was it because she was the last pony alive who even seemingly cared for me? The real me. Not as a spirit, but as a mare who had thoughts and feelings behind her actions.

That was it. That was the reason.

She was the only pony in this world that had seen me as living pony and didn’t seem like she wanted to kill me.

Now the question became was that reason enough?

Truthfully, no it wasn’t. It was petty emotional thinking that was bound to get me killed the same way it almost got me and the way it did get Chase. We never should have gone to the council chambers. We should have just left.

And I should kill this mare.

My jaw set, I turned back to her, igniting my ghost blade as I did.

Seeing the look in my eye and the ghostly red sword on my hoof, she swallowed and shut her eyes. “W-will it hurt?”

“...Only for a moment.”

She made a whimpering noise, and shrunk in on herself. Hooves trembling, tears leaking out from behind her screwed shut eyes, she bumped against the wall, and slowly slid down to the floor, her face turned away from me. Sniffling miserably, she coated her head with her hooves and lay there shaking like a leaf.

It was the most pathetic display I had ever seen. That was how she died? Curled up, eyes clenched shut and mewling like a blind kitten straight from the womb?

I couldn’t help but snort out a laugh.

Her eyes opened, and she looked up at me confused.

She wasn’t even going to scream to alert the guards. How utterly, indescribably pathetic. What was that? Was she a foal? How could a grown pony let herself leave this world in such a fashion?

“Get up,” I told her, shaking my head in bemusement. “I can’t kill you after that… display of…” A giggle sounded in the back of my throat. “What was that? How am I supposed to kill a mare who…”

She quickly scrambled to her hooves, wiping the tears from her eyes and sniffling. “You won’t… you won’t…?”

“Kill you?” Turning away, I pulled the still damp hood of my cloak up and pushed the door open. “How can I?” I chuckled as I walked into the church’s sleeping quarters. Glancing over my shoulders, I said, “Though I will find you if you mention to anyone I was here.”

She stared at me for a moment, before a smile broke out over her face and she nodded. “I swear I won’t mention to anypony that-”

I held a hoof up to my lips and shushed her. Knocking my head at the sleeping soldiers, I rolled my eyes before continuing down between the beds. Her hoof steps followed me, and when we entered the church service room, the soldier’s stared at me as I entered.

Ignoring them, I turned towards the large church doors and pushed them open. As they swung outwards, I froze in surprise as a small weight hit me in the side. I looked down, surprised to see Summer hugging me.

“Thank you.” She murmured, sounding genuinely grateful.

What a strange mare.

Pushing her away from me, and not really bothering to be gentle about it, I said, “You’re welcome.” Before stepping outside.

It was only when I was out from under the shade of the building that I noticed it had stopped raining. The sun was still hidden behind the clouds, and a wind was picking up as thunder crackled ominously in the sky, but at least it wasn’t wet anymore.

I gave Summer a parting nod, before I walked away from the church, heading along the road I’d followed into town.

Even if the rain had stopped, it was still bitterly cold, and I suspect that once night fell, the moisture in the ground would freeze solid, making the oncoming winter even colder than it normally should have been. Travelling in such conditions would be particularly hard, maybe impossible if I didn’t have wings. I had no choice but to try anyway, and I certainly wasn’t looking forward to it.

Still, I was healthy again, it had stopped raining, and at the moment I wasn’t surrounded by ponies who wanted me dead. Those were things worth being happy about, I guess.

As I turned my head to look back at the church, my wounded ear scraped against my hood,making me wince. It did still remind of me one important thing though. Looking back ahead, I rolled my shoulders and cracked my neck.

I had a rabid beast to put down.