Sky fluttered down onto a cloud, observing her surroundings cautiously before unclasping her saddlebag and retrieving the note. It had been a long time since she’d seen Stronghooves, and longer still since she’d been on good terms with him. Receiving that letter from him had been one hell of a surprise, and Sky was naturally cautious. Flicking it open, she read it one more time, looking for any hint of deception.

Dear Sky,

I heard about what happened with Shadow two weeks ago, and I think I can help. Meet me at the park under the big oak tree on the hill tonight at ten. I promise that I can make everything better. I haven’t forgotten that you’re my sister, even if you have.

Lots of love,
Hoovesie

Sky frowned, slipping the note back into her saddlebag, peering down into the moonlit park below. A huge unicorn was silhouetted against the moon atop that hill, pawing the ground impatiently as he waited for her. Another time Sky would have turned down his offer in a heartbeat. Stronghooves meant well, but their enmity had eroded any love she’d held for him over the past nine years.

Well, it was really more than that. Enmity was putting it lightly. Sky had been his enemy ever since he’d met Shadow and decided that she didn’t belong in his preconceived idea of a great big happy family. In the back of her mind, Sky knew that she’d only been offered this little meeting because her little sister was out of the picture.

Still...he’s family...and I’m sick of being lonely. The house is so quiet without Shadow…

Checking her crossbow one more time, Sky took flight, gliding down to the hill and settling down in front of the stallion.

“I was beginning to think you wouldn’t come.” Stronghooves said quietly, laying down on the grass and nuzzling her cheek. “You being here means more to me than you could possibly appreciate, little sister.”

“Yeah...well…” Sky mumbled quietly, shuffling up to him and lowering her head. “You’re better than me staring at the wall all day, anyway.”

“I guess I’ll have to settle for that for the time being.” Stronghooves sighed. He cast a brief glance to his equipment piled up by the tree, crossing his forelegs and smiling softly at her. “Look, Sky...I’m sorry about Shadow. I know how much she meant to you.”

Sky cringed at the mention of Shadow’s name, closing her eyes tight shut. “You’ve got no idea…”

“Oh, but I do.” Stronghooves whispered, giving her a searching look. “I know how it feels to lose your little sister, even though you tried your best. I know the pain, the feeling of not being good enough, the...loneliness…”

Sky looked up at him with tears in her eyes. Stronghooves stared back, impassive.

“That was different.” She croaked.

“Was it really, though?” Stronghooves cocked his head. “I saw what you and Shadow were like together, the way you played, the way you worked together, the way you loved one another. I remember a time when you and I loved each other like that.”

“I wasn’t gone forever, though.” Sky shook her head. “You left me out there on my own. You left me to get fucked up...used...you were just like mum and dad.”

“I was a teenager, Sky. Mum and dad...told me things. Kept telling me how horrible you were, told me that you’d done things that I know you didn’t do.”

“And you believed them...they lied about me getting hit by a carriage, they lied about half of the shit I did to make me look like a bad kid...and you still believed them.” Sky glared at him accusingly.

“You’re missing the point. I was young, impressionable...and they held my future over my head. I didn’t know what else to do.” He sighed, putting a hoof on her shoulder. “I’m older now, wiser...I realise and appreciate what having a complete family means...and I know you do, too.”

Sky looked back down at her hooves. He had a point.

“I want my family put back together, Sky.” Stronghooves said softly, nuzzling her cheek again. “I miss you, and mum and dad miss you, too.”

“Please.” Sky scoffed. “I saw them partying when I got kicked out of the house. They don’t miss me at all. Giving me the boot was the best thing that’s ever happened to them.”

“You’re probably right.” Stronghooves rolled his eyes. “They’re bigots, Sky. They’re idiots and bigots who thought that being a pegasus was a shameful thing. I suppose they’re partially to blame for what happened to you...well...for what you turned into.”

“You’re talking to me like being a burglar is something shameful.” Sky shook her head. “I got into this job because I had no choice. I didn’t have anything and I was just a kid, so don’t go giving me shit over the burglar thing right now, okay?”

“Yeah...you’re right…” Stronghooves sighed, resting his head on his hooves.

The two ponies lay there in silence for a time, each enjoying each other’s company as they snuggled up to one another. Stronghooves put one of his forelegs around her shoulders as Sky wrapped her wing over his back.

“You’ve still got your filly down.” Stronghooves chuckled after a while.

“Heh...yeah…” Sky giggled back. “I still haven’t gotten rid of it.”

“Damn it Sky, it tickles!” Stronghooves rolled onto his side, laughing harder.

Sky found herself snickering too, clambering atop him and rubbing his exposed belly with her soft padded forehooves. Her horseshoes were inlaid with leather and cloth, creating the experience of being tickled by a great big fluffy pillow. Stronghooves stuffed a hoof in his mouth to suppress his little giggling fit, wriggling around underneath her in a vain effort to get away.

“I’ve...eep...missed...missed this…” He panted, finally coming to rest underneath her as Sky lay her hooves on his chest.

“Yeah...me too…” She replied, her smile softening. Two pairs of bright blue eyes met in the moonlight, and the two ponies cracked identical smiles.

“Sky?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you remember when we were little, you and I, and you told me you’d love me forever?” Stronghooves whispered.

Sky blushed, looking down at her hooves and nodding.

“I’m...I’m not going to ask you to forgive me for what happened between us over the years, but...did...did you ever stop loving me?” He asked nervously.

“N...no…” Sky shook her head. “Look, you stood up for me, and you’re one of the few ponies I’ve met who’s ever done that.”

“Sky, loving you is the easiest thing in this world.” Stronghooves smiled. “I’ve missed you every day since I left. You’ve seen so much pain, experienced so much hurt...and I’m the one responsible.”

“Yeah…” Sky snickered. “You’re kind of an asshole when you get all murdery.”

“Well...you know...I could fix that.” He chanced. “I could make everything right again. I could even...even give you a full family to be part of.”

The little white mare cocked her head. “Wait...a family? Like, a whole family?”

“Yes, little sis. I mean, it’s not going to replace Shadow, but maybe...maybe in time you’ll come to love us again…”

“Oh Luna, yours?” Sky rolled her eyes. “Look Hoovesie, I know you mean well, but mum and dad hate my fucking guts and you know it.”

“Yes...and it’s not right.” Stronghooves sighed. “But...I’ve found a way to make them love you. A way that we can all get back together again, to be a great big happy family and love each other for who we are…”

“You’re kidding…” Sky muttered in disbelief. “How?”

“Well...I learned a spell.” He said simply. “Remember when I learned to walk on clouds just so that I could take you to see the Wonderbolts? Well...I’ve learned a way to turn a pegasus into a unicorn!”

He lay there in silence, beaming hopefully. Sky looked back down at him with real pain in her eyes, her heart sinking.

Just as soon as it looks like we’re gonna be okay, he drops this on me…

“You...you don’t like my wings, either?” She said slowly, confused. This was so far removed from anything Stronghooves had ever said before. It sounded almost like the sort of thing her parents would say.

“It’s not that I don’t like them, it’s just that they look silly and...and they don’t really work that well...and mum and dad hate you for them.” Stronghooves shrugged, taking her forehooves in his own. “They’re beautiful wings...they just do nothing but get you in trouble, that’s all.”

“Hoovesie, these things are a part of who I am.” Sky said accusingly, her ears splaying back. “You can’t take them off of me! They’ve made me the kind of pony I am today!”

“Yes…” Stronghooves nodded mournfully. “A criminal whose little friend is dead because she couldn’t save her. A pony with no one in all the world who loves her, who’s turned to somepony she hates like the plague because he’s the only one who cares, the only one who truly understands the pain.”

“Hoovesie, listen to yourself. You’re doing that thing again where you sound like a megalomaniac.” Sky muttered, trying her hardest to ignore the comment about Shadow. Her eyes welled up with tears again as she spoke. “No, I’m not gonna change who I am just so that those assholes will love me. That’s not my responsibility.”

“Sky, I’m not saying they’re right. I’m saying that you need to stop this burglar thing. It’s gotten somepony killed...a kid.” Stronghooves said, fixing her with an accusatory stare. “You need to start over, make a new life for yourself and reinvent who you are. Shadow would have wanted you to be loved.”

Sky cocked her head, flabbergasted. “You’re not seriously taking their side over this? You’ve never had a problem with my wings before! Why the fuck…?”

“Sky, please. Language.” Stronghooves scolded quietly. “You’re my sister. I need you back in my life, and I need my parents. All I want is to put my family back together, for us all to be happy. I’m sick of all of us being divided by hate.”

“Then go out and get a new family!” Sky pulled away in disgust. “Meet somepony! Stop playing their game and letting them fuck with your head!”

“Sky…” Stronghooves gave her the sort of look a father might give a naughty child. “You’re swearing again. Look, if it’s a whole family’s wellbeing at stake, wouldn’t you agree that holding onto your wings is just a tad selfish? I mean, you can barely fly anyway. It’s kind of like giving up a toy you never use so that you can have a better one.”

As Sky pulled harder, trying to get off of him, she glanced down at her forehooves. Stronghooves had them in an iron grip, glaring at her more dangerously now.

“I’m not gonna do it.” Sky shook her head, staring at him blankly. “Now let me go. You’ve fucked up again, Hoovesie. We could’ve been brother and sister again but you fucked it up.”

“Sky…” Stronghooves growled, rolling on top of her and pinning her to the ground. “Stop...swearing...this...instant.”

Sky stared up at him in sheer fright as his horn flared up, glancing around for anything that she could use to get away from him. Panic set in, the stallion’s crushing weight on top of her making Sky’s heart race. She looked around with growing desperation, her eyes falling on a rock with a name carved into it. It sat at the foot of the great big oak tree before a patch of disturbed soil, a name she remembered carving into the rock two weeks ago when she buried her favourite little filly.

Stronghooves followed her gaze, sighing softly. “So that’s where you buried her.” He nodded, turning his eyes back to his little sister. “Sky...do you know why she’s dead?”

“Because ponies can be assholes…” Sky croaked pathetically, tucking her hooves up under her chin.

“No, Sky. It’s because they care.” Stronghooves shook his head. “Do you remember when we were little and sometimes one of us would bring home a new friend who was...sort of a bad influence?”

Sky couldn’t look away from the makeshift headstone, nodding silently as her tears dripped down into the soil.

“Well, mum and dad wouldn’t let us see these ponies anymore because they were bad influences. They encouraged us to do bad things, and when a pony does something like that...they need to leave.”

“Wha...what?” She growled quietly, looking up at him out of the corner of her eye.

“Shadow was a bad little sister, Sky.” Stronghooves sighed, looking back at her gravely. “She helped propagate this cycle where you cast your old family aside for something fake, something constructed, unreal.”

“She was my sister, asshole!” Sky cried, snapping her crossbow out and pointing it just under her big brother’s neck. “I don’t care if I fucking adopted her! She’s my sister, and she was a hell of a lot better than you, mum and dad combined!”

“Sky…” Stronghooves snarled, wrapping a heavy forehoof around her neck and choke-slamming her into the ground. “Stop...SWEARING!”

The two ponies fell silent for a time, Sky’s choked breathless sobs breaking the tranquility of the moonlit park. Stronghooves’s heavy breathing eventually softened, as did his expression.

“I killed her.” He admitted after a while. “In the university. I...teleported into the biology lecture theatre. She was beating Nightshade...I had to finish her off.”

Sky’s eyes widened as she stared up at him, shocked. This was far beyond the kind of shit he’d done in the past. Alien.

He’s killed burglars in the past...but he didn’t...no way, he couldn’t have done it…

“No…” Sky muttered, having difficulty getting the word out as she struggled to breathe.

“We wore her down...the two of us together...that’s why she was screaming for you.” Stronghooves said, his ears splaying back. “She...broke.”

Sky lay back on the grass, working hard to process what Stronghooves had just said. “You...killed her…” She muttered.

“Yes.” Stronghooves nodded. “I know what you did to Nightshade when you captured him after that fight...and it’s not going to bring her back, Sky. Let’s not point hooves at who did it or why. The important thing is that now you have an opportunity you didn’t have before. You have the opportunity to reinvent who you are as a pony, from the ground up.”

“But...you killed her…”

“You’re missing the point.” Stronghooves shook his head. “I killed her because she was encouraging you to be naughty, and none of the things I’ve done over the years had worked. She’d stuck by your side, clinging to you like some kind of leech. You’re better than that. Meant for better things.”

“She loved me!”

”I love you, Sky!” Stronghooves cried. “And I mean a hell of a lot more to you than she ever did! I’m your brother!”

Sky fixed him with a severe gaze, hate, anger and sadness burning away in her head and chest as she drew back both of her hind legs. She struck out with both of her back legs, catching him in the stallionhood and sending Stronghooves rolling onto the grass again, groaning and letting her go. Sky was moving as soon as his hooves were off of her, darting out of range and blinking in a feeble attempt to get the tears out of her eyes.

“You’re not my brother.” Sky shook her head. “I don’t know what the fuck you are...but you’re not my brother.”

Stronghooves forged through the pain, getting to his hooves again and retrieving his sword. It was a curved, devilishly sharp weapon, obviously of Zebrican make, and the blade seemed to glow a light green when it caught the moon just right.

“Don’t run from me, Sky. I’m not letting you go.” He growled. “You’re my sister, and I’m going to keep you one way or another.”

“Leave me alone, Stronghooves.” Sky backed away, raising her crossbow and training a sleep dart on him. “Just stay the hell out of my life, okay? I don’t wanna be your little sister anymore! You’re nothing like the colt I grew up with! You’re fucked in the head and I can’t fucking talk to you anymore!”

Stronghooves sighed, trotting towards her with his sword raised defensively. Sky let fly with her crossbow, the dart bouncing off of the Captain’s magical shield and flopping uselessly down onto the grass.

“Face it, Sky.” Stronghooves snarled. “You need me in your life. Now, just come quietly…”

Sky, however, turned tail and galloped for her life, flapping her underpowered wings and taking off. She leapt up onto a cloud, her wings straining to support her weight as she leapt further and higher up into the cloud layer.

With a flash of light, Stronghooves appeared on the cloud before her, holding his sword before him with magic.

“Come on, Sky. Don’t tell me that you’d forgotten I can walk on clouds!” He chuckled. “I learned it for you, don’t you remember? I did everything for you.”

As he stepped towards her, Sky backed up, her hind hooves slipping on the edge of the cloud and sending her tumbling off. She grabbed onto the edge with her forehooves, grunting as she looked around for another cloud to jump onto from here. Panic, fear and anger gripped at her as she searched in desperation, the full weight of what her big brother had done and planned to do bearing down on her like a ton of bricks wrapped around her heart.

“There’s no running from this, Sky. Come on, it’s time to go.” Stronghooves said quietly, standing before her and offering a forehoof.

Sky looked away, turning her gaze down towards the cityscape below. The clock tower lit up the streets immediately beneath her, the spire sticking up at her like a great big impaling spike.

I bet I could make that… Sky bit her lip, thinking. The roof doesn’t look too stable, but what the fuck am I supposed to do?

With one last look up at Stronghooves, she let go of the cloud, spreading her wings to control her descent. She tilted and tucked them in slightly, a lifetime as a pegasus giving her innate control over her body’s path through the air. When she finally touched down on the sloped roof atop the clocktower, it was as gently and softly as could be.

Sky peered over the edge of the tower, sizing up the jump down onto street level. It was far safer down there, and it’d be far easier to lose Stronghooves in the network of alleys that dotted the city.

However, as Sky wound herself up to make the jump, the unicorn teleported down onto the roof with her, grabbing her by the mane and pulling her back onto the tiled roof. The structure, ancient as the city itself, couldn’t take their combined weight, sending both ponies crashing into the inner workings of the clocktower in a storm of shattered tiles and splintered wood.

Sky hit the ground hard, unable to spread her wings in time to soften her landing. Her legs collapsed underneath her as she landed with a thud, the whole room spinning, her vision dim.

Stronghooves was the first to get up, standing over Sky and raising his sword again. This time he didn’t waste any time, bringing it down in an overarm swing. Sky rolled out of the way, causing Stronghooves’s blade to bite into nothing but the wooden floor.

“Stop running!” He pleaded, as Sky got up and observed her surroundings. All around her cogs clanked against one another, the inner workings of the tower a complete mystery to her. Somehow they were linked to that massive bell over her head, too. Sky didn’t know how the hell any of this stuff worked. All she knew was that it was possible to use it to her advantage.

“Make me!” She yelped as he swung the sword at her again, the blade whizzing just past her wing and pulling a few loose feathers free from air displacement alone. Sky took off, straining to beat her wings as she climbed for altitude.

Maybe I can trap him under that bell… She bit her lip, looking up at the admittedly tentative chains holding the giant piece of metal in place. It’d be tough...but maybe if I fire an explosive dart at it and hit it just right…

Sky raised her crossbow, cycling an amber explosive dart into the mechanism and drawing the string back. All she needed was one good shot…

Her aim was completely thrown off as Stronghooves wrapped her in tendrils of pure magic, holding her in place in the air as he glared up at her.

“SKY, STOP FIGHTING!” He roared. “YOU BELONG IN MY FAMILY, WITH ME! I’M ALL YOU’VE GOT LEFT! DON’T RUN FROM ME!”

Sky growled, trying her hardest to raise her hoof to take the shot. “I’m...gonna...run...for...forever…” She snarled. “You’re never...gonna see me again…”

Stronghooves glanced from her hoof to where her crossbow was pointing, his eyes widening as he seemed to realise just how close she was to escaping from him again. With a furious shout, he lifted Sky up and threw her bodily against the wall, right into the clockwork mechanism. The little white pegasus slammed into the brass wheels, sliding down to the ground with the wind knocked out of her body by the impact. Her ribs ached, and she was almost positive that a couple of bones were bruised. Her leather armour was only good for a certain level of blunt trauma, and could only absorb a little of the impact.

As she sank to the floor, the outermost feathers of her right wing caught between two of the cogwheels, the grinding mechanism pulling her wing out against her will as she fought to regain full consciousness. Sky shook her head, trying to get that ringing out of her ears, and by the time she caught sight of what was happening to her wing, it was too late.

Panic shot through her body again as she realised what was happening, wrapping her hooves around her wing and tugging on it to try and pull it free before any serious damage was done. It was no use. Her primaries were already caught between the cogs, which whirred onwards with no sign of stopping, trapping her limb between their teeth and dragging her further in. Sky cried out as the metal gears crushed her hollow pegasus bones, snapping them between the mechanical teeth as if they simply weren’t there. Blinding pain shot up across Sky’s body as her wing was caught between the cogs, grinding slowly to a halt as it finally consumed a full half of the damaged limb. Out of the corner of her eye, Sky could see the rest of her wing sticking out the other side, mangled and broken. The whole wing was numb from the mid-point up, the rest a storm of pain and panic as she saw the full severity of the injury.

“I told you to stop running…” Stronghooves said, as the mare slumped, dangling by her ruined wing from the halted mechanism. “I did try to warn you that you’d be hurt if you kept trying to fight me. Sky, you’ve lost. You’ve lost Shadow, you’ve lost your self-respect, your drive. You’re just running from me because you don’t want to admit that starting over again is the right thing to do.”

“Fuck...off…” She snarled weakly, as a rather unpleasant warmth began to spread across her wing. Raising her head just a little to look up at it, Sky saw her own blood running down the cogs in little streams as blood vessels burst and gave up completely.

“No, Sky. I’m here to save you, to get you out of this…” Stronghooves growled, raising the sword again. “And if that means removing your wings, so be it.”

Sky raised a hoof to stop him, but she could barely feel a thing beyond her shattered wing, her limbs twitching and shivering as her body attempted to somehow cope with what was happening to her.

Stronghooves brought the blade down in a horrible piercing arc, sending it right through her damaged wing and out the other side in a spray of blood and a white-hot epicentre of incredible, horrific agony. Sky screamed at the top of her lungs, her voice echoing across the inside of the bell and the tower itself. The stallion pulled the sword out, driving it in again and again. Each time the cold steel pierced the pegasus’s wing, Sky let out increasingly quiet yelps, the pain rendering her near-silent as her body began to accept that it wasn’t going to survive. Pain and panic blinded her, the fear, sadness and surprise at Stronghooves’s betrayal and the murder of her sister swept over her mind, blanketing it and dulling her senses. She could barely feel her wing anymore, the blood loss and her overwhelmed nervous system dimming her ability to feel pain until each stab felt like an injection, each spray of her own blood driving her closer to the edge of consciousness.

I’ve gotta get out of here...got to find a way out...there’s always a way out… Sky raised her head, trying not to see the metallic blood-flecked sword as Stronghooves raised it again. This time he held it differently, clearly meaning to strike through the weakened wing and sever it with one more swing. She had to think fast.

Raising her crossbow up above her head, she launched the explosive dart. It shot out from the hoof-mounted weapon, the three-pronged tip digging into the woodwork of the tower rafters before detonating with enough explosive force to shatter stone. The supports around the bell disintegrated, sending the monstrous piece of metal crashing down towards the floor and pulling the clockwork machinery apart with it. Sky let out another scream as the upper cogwheel was torn from atop her wing, leaving the bloody, horrible mess completely free. The bell landed on the floor behind Stronghooves, the ancient wood splintering and cracking under the impact. Stronghooves whirled around, shrieking as his tail was caught under the heavy metal. With an ear-splitting cry of anguish, he fell through the floor with the bell, his sword clattering down long after the chaotic tolling and his screams had ceased.

Sky was left alone on what remained of the upper floor of the clocktower, with nothing left but broken beams and twisted metal. Her hooves collapsed underneath her, the little pegasus collapsing under the weight of her own body and sobbing quietly. She was safe, but completely destroyed.

As she lay there crying quietly, her mind began to struggle, filled with dread, horror, pain both mental and physical in nature. It pored over the things that had happened to her over the past two weeks, how far she’d fallen. The loss of Shadow during the Elements Job, the horror of having to bury her tiny body, the crippling loneliness that followed, and now the last pony who could have possibly cared for her had robbed Sky of her ability to fly. The things that had occurred over the past fortnight bore down on her, crushing her psyche and threatening to turn her into a depressive mess.

I can’t be alone...I don’t wanna be alone anymore...I can’t go back to that… Sky thought to herself, her very thoughts panicked, grasping at straws as her mind began to fall apart.

With a thud, Sky let her head hit the wooden floor, the fear and misery overcoming her senses, her very reality. In that moment, her brain realised that it was incapable of dealing with the crushing loneliness again, the implications of living alone with nopony to love, and under that stress it broke completely.

A little snout bumped against Sky’s cheek. The mare’s eye cracked open, choking back her sobs to try and see the perpetrator. Her heart leapt as she caught sight of a little blue pony muzzle, a pair of bright green eyes, and the soft smile of her little sister.

“Sis?” Shadow asked, fluttering her huge wings nervously.

“Sha...Shadow?” Sky mumbled, looking up at her little sister in the dim light.

“It’s okay, Sky.” Shadow whispered, nuzzling her big sister and wrapping one huge wing around her. “I’m here for you. Everything’s gonna be alright…”

“But...you’re...dead…” Sky whispered weakly, though that seemed like such a minor thing right now. What mattered is that Shadow was there for her, just as she’d always been.

Besides… She thought to herself, as the clock tower began to fill with a great white light. Maybe I could just pretend she’s alive just for a little while...nothing’ll come of that, right?

“Sis?”

“H...huh?” Sky blinked, coming back to the land of the living. She lay in an alley between two buildings, deep in a maze of labyrinths and alleyways. Her wing ached like mad, but as she glanced around and stared at the dislocated limb, she remembered what had happened a few hours prior.

Shit...how long was I out for? She thought, rubbing her head as she looked up into Shadow’s eyes. The filly stared back with concern, before adopting her grumpy adolescent pout again as soon as she ascertained that Sky was alive.

“Ugh, finally!” Shadow rolled her eyes. “I’ve been looking all over for you! Did you get the crystals?”

“No.” Sky muttered, shaking her head. “Looks like Stronghooves is part of this. Hell, it looks like he’s taken over from Rolling Thunder completely.”

“Shit, why’d it have to be him?” Shadow sat back, facehoofing. “So what’re we gonna do?”

“First...we’re gonna have to get to Sawblades to get this fucking thing looked at.” Sky sighed, looking around at her dislocated wing. “Then I guess we’re gonna need to make a new plan. We’ve gotta find some other way to take down the Operatives.”

“And clear your name, right?”

“No way that’s happening now.” Sky huffed, struggling to stand up. “If Stronghooves is in charge of those assholes, it doesn’t matter whether I’m guilty or not. He’s gonna be sending them after me because I’m me.”

“I was afraid of that.” Shadow sighed. “Okay, let’s get you down to Sawblades, then we oughtta find Rat. Fox and I lost him after we bombed the facility. I dunno where he’s gone.”

Sky looked down at the ground, catching her tear-stained reflection in a puddle. The innocuous questions that he’d asked earlier flooded back into her head, as did his comment about needing to talk to her after the job was over.

“I know exactly where he’s gone.” Sky muttered darkly.

With that, the two of them left the alley, walking slowly off towards Sawblades’s clinic. Shadow wrapped her huge wing around Sky, holding her close and nuzzling her cheek silently.

Damn, I love that pony… Sky thought to herself, glancing across at her little sister and nuzzling her back. I don’t know how the hell I’d ever cope without her…

Author's Notes:

I've heard it described as "like losing a limb."