Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.

“Isn’t this place awesome?” Hispano pranced on her hind paws with a giggle, narrowly missing a few annoyed looking ghouls as they squeezed by us in what turned out to be a fairly packed underground street. “I mean, besides the smell, there’s so much neat stuff down here!”

I wasn’t exactly sure how to say it, but… neat wasn’t the word I would use.

This wasn’t some random collection of underground tunnels. This was a whole damned city in and of itself. An underground city with streets, two story buildings, and populated almost entirely by… ghouls. All different types roamed around down here. Some were bloated like the ones from earlier, others were dried past the consistency of jerky. There were ones that glowed with magical radiation, some gave off smoke and ash, and a few seemed to vibrate at odd intervals.

That being said, other than the fact that sometimes I was literally stepping in bits of another pony every other step, I could at least relax a bit. I mean, this would be the last place we’d ever accidentally run into Solomon.

“Look, you’ve got antique shops…” Hispano gasped and pointed at one of the dozens of businesses built into the old crumbling brick buildings down here. “Gun stores, clothing stores, stores that sell prosthetic limbs…”

She quieted for a moment as her pointing talon paused on a shop that said ‘Doctor Knick’s Used Legs’.

“Stores that sell real limbs. See, you could probably get anything you want down here!”

“Yeah, but…” I canted my head as I looked along the storefronts here. “They’re all… crooked.”

Every single building along this street was tilted just slightly, leaning toward the waterfront. I figured that when the city was hit by the megaspell, these came with them for the ride, but… didn’t exactly stop at the same time as the buildings above.

“They all seem fine to me!” The gravel filled laugh of a ghoul off to my side made me twist my head. I found myself staring uncomfortably close into the yellowed eyes of what at best could be called a ‘normal’ ghoul. Lifting a hoof, he gave Hispano and I a wave with a stump that ended at his fetlock. Glancing down, I noticed that his rear hoof did the same, leaving him with a permanent tilt. “Say, you seem more than fine. What’s a gorgeous mare like yourself doing here?” He split his cracked lips and half muzzle full of teeth into what could loosely be called a ‘smile’. “I bet you’re one of those smoothcoat’s who’s got a thing for us ol’ reliable ponies, doncha’?”

“Unless you want my sister’s help in leveling you out a bit…” Hispano cooed cooly as she pointed Suiza’s barrel at the ghoul’s remaining hooves. “Then maybe you should find someplace else to be.”

“Uh...” The ghoul blinked at Suiza for a few moments before again ‘smiling’ at us. “You ladies have a nice day, ya’ hear?” With that, he quickly turned tail and pushed his way through the crowded street.

As soon as he was gone, Hispano draped her talon across my neck and pulled me close to her. Her beak was spread in as wide a smile as ever, and with a deep exhale, I could feel her relax.

“Come on, Dum Dum!” She giggled into my ear as she dragged me forward. “The night is young! Let’s go find something fun to do!”

The deep bass music that played in the club across the crowded street thumped hard enough with every other beat that it sent lines of dirt raining down from the numerous spidering cracks in the ceiling here. At any moment the city above could come down right on top of us, and the almost laughable patch job of duct tape across a few of the larger cracks made it feel like we were just supposed to ignore it, I guess? Looking up, a particularly bassy thump dropped some dirt right down into my eyes and onto the cards I held in my hoof.

“So… should I be worried about the roof?” I asked Hispano as I did my best to clear my eyes without revealing my cards. Of course, she hadn’t heard me. No, she was too busy trying to bluff the other players here to care.

“You know, feathers…” A jerky-type ghoul spat from across the card table, smirking from behind his flat dark square sunglasses. “Yer marefriend here seems kind of distracted.”

“Is she?” Hispano replied with a sigh, setting her cards facedown in front of her. “I hadn’t noticed because I’m busy playing the game.” With a grunt, she reached down into her bag and flipped up one of Suiza’s red-tipped rounds. She mulled something over in her head before setting it down on the table with the other bits and bobs that made up her bet. “I’m going to bet if you’re making small talk, you’ve got jack and shit. I raise.”

“I’m out.” A brick of a ghoul in a snazzy pinstripe suit spoke up, sending wisps of pink trailing out from his nose as he tossed his cards down. Having only met one other Canterlot ghoul, I was at least a little bit happier that he was the first of us to fold.

“Too rich for my blood.” Said the lithe mare who was basically nothing but a set of bones in the nicest red dress and sun hat I’d ever seen on a corpse. She too tossed her cards on the table before taking a drag of the cigarette in her bleached white bone muzzle.

Leaning forward, I pressed down on my cards to bend up the edges. Lowering myself, I stared at the two and six of diamonds on the pair, then glanced up at the face up three, four, and five on the table. The symbols on the three matched, but weren’t diamonds, which, as far as I understood was something I was supposed to want. Problem was, I didn’t really know if my cards meant anything if they didn’t match…

“What’s it going to be, Doll?” The jerky ghoul let out a gravely laugh and leaned into the table with a wheeze. “Going to call or fold?”

That… was another problem. Looking down on the table, I currently had my remaining grenades and the magazine for my subgun on the line, plus the two restoration potions and hoof-full of caps Hispano gave me to bet with when we arrived. Which, of course I’d gambled away after letting Hispano talk me into thinking this would be a simple affair...

I gave a glance at Hispano to try to get any sort of call here from her. Again however, she simply kept her own eyes locked across the table on her rival. I guess, I’d just have to go with my gut.

“I uh… don’t have anything left to match the bet.” I offered a weak smile and slid my cards forward. It may not be the boldest move, but I was in way over my head here. Best to cut my losses before things get out of hoof.

“Got that fancy prosthetic, don’t ya?” He offered back with an eager glance at me and a rub of his hooves.

“I knew a griffon who won a prosthetic from a poker match once.” Hispano spoke up. “Turned out to be a lot more trouble for him than it was worth. Maybe try again.”

“Okay then, how about that pretty dress of yers?” Mr. Jerky’s muzzle stretched into a smile only for a moment before he nearly doubled over in a hacking fit. With a few wheezing gasps, he hammered his hoof on the table, making his impressive pile of caps scatter slightly.

“I’ll spot her.” Hispano grumbled, reaching into her bag again.

“Oh, how sporting.” The ghoul wheezed again as he shot a sideways glance at Hispano. His piercing green eye hovered on her for a moment before he straightened himself up and stared from behind his shades again. “From my estimation though, she’s going to need to bet more than just one of those fancy shells you’ve got.”

Hispano deadpanned and for the first time in a half hour, glanced over at me. With a flash of silver, Hispano flipped Baby up into her talons and set it right down in front of me. Her gaze told me everything, and the message was clear. ‘Don’t fucking have nothing, Night’.

“Oh, that will more than cover her.” Mr. Jerky smiled as he glanced down at Hispano’s robust sidearm. “Alright, if we’re all set then, I call.” Looking up at her, he gave a slight nod.

Again, Hispano looked like she was mulling things over in her mind. I was really hoping that this had gone far enough, because if we had to keep going, either I was going to be very cold, or she’d be carrying my two legged self back to the Inuvik.

“Call.” She finally nodded, glancing over at me. Thank Celestia the nightmare was almost over. “Alright, Night. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

Reaching up, I used my hoof to reveal my two and six of diamonds.

“A straight.” The bony mare mulled as she leaned in momentarily. With a snort, she shrugged. “Not a bad hoof to have.”

“Hey, she’s right.” Mr. Jerky smirked and softly clapped his hooves together before flicking them and flipping his cards. What he pushed forward was the seven and ten of hearts, the same symbol as the three other cards. “But unfortunately, my flush beats it.” He leaned forward and reached for my bet, “Better luck next time, Doll.”

“Not so fast.” Hispano cooed, pulling Mr. Jerky’s gaze over the top of his sunglasses as she flicked her cards over one at a time. The ace of hearts, and the two of hearts.

“A straight flush.” Mr. Canterlot called out with a laugh and a slam of his hooves on the table. “Holy shit, that… that was a hell of a play.”

“Meh.” Mr. Jerky grunted as he slumped back in his chair. “She got lucky.”

“She fucking played you.” Mr. Canterlot chuckled before reaching over to me and pulling me up to him. “Shit, do you know how long I’ve been waiting for somepony to come and put him in his place? Years, decades even!” Again, he let out a roaring laugh that came with heaps of pink that was just a bit too uncomfortably close to me at the moment. Reaching his bulky hoof across the end of my muzzle, he pointed at Hispano. “You, I like you. You and your marefriend here are welcome at my tables anytime, you hear?”

“Sure thing.” Hispano beamed a Ping-sized smile to each of the ghouls as she did her best to scoop her winnings into her bag. “I’d be happy to come back and clean you out again next time I’m in the area.”

“Do swing by again, it really has been a delightful evening.” Mrs. Boney nodded to each of the others as she got to her hooves. “But this old mare can only handle so much excitement, so I’m afraid it’s time for me to retire.”

“I look forward to playing again.” Mr. Canterlot finally let me go with another chuckle before turning and returning to his seat. “And if you two are ever in town again and need anything, look me up. The name’s Book, Dutch. I work for the Begonia sisters, so I shouldn't be hard to find.” With a smile, he pulled out a flatcap from his jacket pocket and slapped it on top of his head. “Really, more smoothcoats should make their way down here. Most fun I’ve had in years, I swear.”

“Speak for yourself.” Mr. Jerky huffed as he crossed his hooves and shot a glare at Hispano over his glasses. After a moment though, his smile returned and his glare softened. “Though, I do suppose it’s good to get reminded that this is a game of luck.” Cocking his eyebrow, he pushed his sunglasses back up over his eyes. “Care to test how long it’ll hold out?”

“Nah, it’s been fun, but I think it’s time we got moving as well.” Hispano retorted as she finished getting her winnings in her bag, finishing it off by using Baby to cram everything down. With a bright gaze, Hispano glanced at me and nodded toward the door. “Ready to get going, Night?”

Thank Celestia, it’s about time.

“Yeah.” I nodded to her and glanced at the others. “It was nice to meet you all, and it really was fun.” If that was the only lie I had to tell for the rest of the day, at least it wasn’t that bad of one. Honestly, even with my curse gone, gambling probably wasn’t something I’d make a habit of.

Giving a wave to the three odd ghouls, I quickly got my own gear sorted again and followed Hispano out of the small casino. While she’d basically been vibrating with excitement the whole time she was down here so far, now? She was practically radiating glee as with each step she nearly floated right up off the ground.

Following her back out into the street, I was relieved to find that it was less crowded than earlier. Turning, I followed Hispano down the road for a bit. She waited for the bassy beat of the dance club to have muted a bit before she turned around and grabbed me by the shoulders.

“Oh. My. Goddesses, Night.” She squealed and flared her wings out as she pressed her forehead against mine. “That was amazing! I’ve never felt so good… what do you want to do next!?” She gasped and looked around at the businesses on the street around us. “Oooo, we should go find a gun range and see if they’ll rent us something big!”

“Big?” I scrunched up my muzzle before dropping it to a deadpan. “You mean like, bigger... than your sister?”

“Yeah! Why not?” She giggled and gave a few excited dancing taps of her hindpaws. “I just want to blow something up! Don’t you?”

“I…” For once, the words didn’t just slip out of my muzzle because… I was sort of at a loss. I was basically a tourist here, whereas she was the guide. “Fuck, I don’t know, I guess?” I shrugged and smiled at her. “It’s our day off, and we’re doing what you want to do. So… lead on.”

“Eeee!” She clapped her talons together and gave a quick spin on her hindpaw. “Oh, this is going to be so much fun!” With a hop into the air, she hovered up and flailed her talons about. “This is the best date ever!”

I couldn’t help but smile as the grumpy griffon from just a few hours ago was absolutely nowhere in sight. Sure, a lot of shit had happened today, but right now, none of that mattered. This was all about her, and I was just happy watching her spin and hop about through the air enjoying herself.

That is, until I spotted an odd, hoof painted sign in one of the shops down the way. It was in the cracked and dust caked front window of a particularly crusty looking brick building. Sets of white and black lines ringed an elaborately styled set of patterns hugging four words. Words that really shouldn’t have ever been commonly combined together, at least not this far south.

‘Madame Mystic: Exotic Fortuneteller’

“Hispano.” I could hardly even get myself to speak as my hindlegs gave out and I sat down hard.

“Yeah?” She squeaked as she spun around in the air. “Night? What’s wrong?”

I wanted to speak. My mind was trying to force out the question that was ringing through my head over and over. But… I just couldn’t bring myself to say anything at all, only meekly point.

“What?” She asked as a note of worry cropped up in her voice. She gave a few quick flaps, spinning around as she landed beside me and followed my hoof. From the way she stiffened up, I knew she saw it too. “Oh… oh no. Fuck that, Night. We are not going in there!”

“What the fuck is she doing here?” I finally managed to spit out. No, this was impossible…

“I don’t know, Night!” Hispano groaned up at the ceiling. “This shit was a franchise or something during the war, I don’t know?” With a slap of her talons across her face, I think she knew what my next question was. “Why do you want to go there, Night? It’s just some drugged up zebra muttering generic shit. It isn’t ‘real’, you know that, right?”

“Isn’t it?” Despite the fact that she’d been here through my curse, through my hallucinations, through everything, I still didn’t understand how she didn’t believe. “She knew about my eye, Hispano. She…” I paused as Hispano clenched her jaw and closed her eyes. “She knew you’d be fine, while everypony else...”

I couldn’t explain it, but there was a reason we’d ended up here. I could feel it inside me, a pull towards this place. After everything we’d been through, we just happened to run into Solomon again, which meant we just had to end up on this street, where I’d happen to see this store.

“We have to go in.” I said, knowing full well that all the goodwill I’d just built up with Hispano was about to go right out the window.

“Fine.” Hispano grunted and curled her talons in frustration. “You know what? I’ve got some questions to ask her myself.” With a huff, she grabbed me by the scruff of my mane and dragged me forward. “Mainly, why the fuck my special somepony’s ‘destiny’ is to be obsessed with mystical bullshit.”

The attempt to cover up the smothering smell of rancid, rotting flesh by using incense was a nice thought, but wasn’t exactly working. Instead, just the hint of something floral in the air only made me reflexively breathe in more of the near toxics odors that it lingered with. It was a fight I'd lost more than a few times in the last few minutes as we sat in the Mystic’s lobby.

Hispano, while still frustrated, had at least decided to lean on me as we sat on a fairly well kept couch. I had my wing draped around her, and every now and again she would ‘adjust’ herself and use it as an excuse to pull it tighter. The first few times she did it drew an interested look from the purple alicorn sitting behind the front counter, but she quickly got bored of it and went back to reading her old copy of some old world fashion magazine.

Sitting here gave me a nice chance to think about just what I was going to ask Madame Mystic. She knew about my eye last time, she could see that the convoy… most of my family was going to die. I know that Boiler and Fuschia had said that their ‘gift’ came with downsides, but if I could find out if something was going to happen again.

If I could just find out if Solomon was going to...

“The Madame will see you now.” The bored voice of the alicorn shocked both Hispano and I back to attention. The purple alicorn spun in her chair, pointing to a curtain with her hoof as her magic pulled it back.

“Alright.” Hispano grumbled and rolled her eyes. “Let’s go see about your ‘destiny’ or whatever.”

The two of us pulled ourselves off the couch and headed under the curtain into the dark back room. As soon as we’d stepped in, I realized that it was decorated remarkably similarly to the room at Pink Mountain. Old cloth was draped overhead, lit by a few dozen candles scattered about the room. In the center of it was the same setup, with a low central table surrounded by cushions and empty Mint-al boxes scattered here and there.

“Ah, yes, come closer.” The gravelly voice of a robed zebra ghoul spoke from the other side of the table. She shifted herself, reaching into her robes with a hoof. Carefully, she pulled out and produced a shining glass orb which she set into a divot carved in the center of the table. “You have come with a question inside. One that has burned for quite some time, yes?”

As she looked to me, I froze as I once again looked into nothing but glowing, empty eye sockets. Her gaze pierced me like it once had, and I could almost feel my heart stop right then and there. But then the initial familiarity started to fade, and the mare’s features started to stand out. She wore scars all across her face, some deep, some long faded but visible enough to stand out against her stripes. No, she wasn’t the same zebra, but the smile that graced her muzzle now was too damn uncanny.

“I understand your curiosity,” She spoke softly as she maneuvered her hooves around her glowing crystal ball. “but I can not explain it in a way you would understand. Now, about the answer you seek...”

“No.” Hispano stated flatly as she made her way to the closest pillow and sat down on it. I was torn between facehooving and staying standing up. Celestia, Hispano, can you just keep calm for a few minutes? “You talk to me first, then him.”

Honestly, standing was overrated compared to a nice facehoof, but the urge to sit down next to her ultimately won out.

“You are not yet ready.” The zebra ghoul scolded her, waving her hoof strongly at Hispano’s beak. “The day will come however when you know you are.”

“See? I knew this was all bullshit.” With a swipe, Hispano knocked the ghoul’s hoof back with a chirp. With a quick flip of her hooves, the Madame clamped down on Hispano’s talon and wouldn’t relent. “What the… let go!”

“When the final steel dragon falls, and the fated five have sown the seeds of Vanhoover’s future. That day, in the five, you will understand what you are looking for.” The Madame’s tone dropped to a harsh one. “And when the call for home once again takes hold of you.” The candles around us flickered, and the temperature in the room felt like it dropped ten degrees in a second flat. “only then will you again think about me on your journey south. Then, and only then, will this answer, and your burden, make sense.”

With a sharp tug, Hispano finally free’d her talon, and in an instant the air warmed and the candles returned to normal.

“That… what does that even mean.” She cooed as she rubbed at her talon. “Fucking… you didn’t even give me any answer. Fuck, just... whatever. Just ask your shit, Night, so we can get the hell out of here.”

“I…” I started to speak, but paused. I knew what I wanted to ask, the words were there. But there was something inside of me, something in my body twinged as just what it was eluded me. It was something different than asking about Solomon, but important to me all the same.

“Heh.” The Madame laughed as her hooves cupped around her glass orb. “You wrestle with asking, I can see this. It is because for so long you have disregarded it as unimportant when you once held it in such high regard. How could it not be clear when it is so plainly written on you?”

“What?” The question slipped out. Of course I could find the wherewithal to just blurt that out, but I couldn’t get this one thought straight!?

“Wait.” Hispano’s glance snapped over to me. “So I get a Sunday morning word jumble for a riddle, and Night gets that?”

“Not helping, Hispano.” Again I managed to blurt that out easily enough, and sharper than I’d meant too.

“She’s talking about your cutie mark, Night.” With a smack, Hispano face-taloned herself again. “You obsessed over it forever, and it’s written on you? I mean, come on, she practically hoofed it to you.”

“Your mate is correct.” The Madam smiled as her orb glowed brighter for a moment, pulling Hispano and I’s attention to it. “You have sought an answer, and destiny has brought you here.”

“My cutie mark?” I asked, reaching back to my own flank without really thinking about it. “What do you mean? It’s just for dive bombing… or something. What am I supposed to know about it?”

“Oh, child, you have much to learn.” She laughed warmly, and for a moment, the room itself seemed to brighten even without the help of the candles or orb. “Your cutie mark is not about grenades, or bombing, nor anything of the sort.” With a twist of her hooves, she pulled up something inside of her crystal ball. It was an inky line that almost chased her hoof’s movements like it was mimicking her. “A cutie mark isn’t so simple on the surface, rather, it says something about the pony who wears it.”

“Yeah, generally a talent.” Hispano sighed and rolled her talon limply. “The talent is linked to their destiny and blah, blah, blah, magic pony bullshit. What does this have to do with Night?”

“A mark speaks in a special way.” The Madame did her best to shoot Hispano a glare without any eyes, and semi-surprisingly, it was an entirely different kind of unnerving sight. “It tells of some inherent truth, one that was only realized by a spark of pure virtue the moment it appeared.”

“I don’t understand.” I was trying my best to think back to when I got it, but… there wasn’t much I could recall. “I wasn’t even really coherent when it appeared. Is that part of it?”

“Think back to that day.” She leaned forward, reaching out with one hoof while the other continued to lead the inky blot around in the glass orb. “What were you doing when you felt that spark? What did you experience in the moments that you remember?”

Closing my eyes, I tried my best to remember. The underlying fear I felt knowing that Galina was up ahead, ready to ambush the convoy. How the cold wind had sapped at my skin as I flew my runs between Bessy and Bertha. How it all came down to dropping that one shell on Double Drum’s Road Roller. How… it felt to learn that I lost my leg after waking up.

“I… I don’t know.” I just didn’t know what I was looking for here! “I was in the air over Double Drum with the convoy coming in fast. I… I knew I had to knock his Road Roller out, and I managed to do it. But that’s it, there’s nothing else.” Opening my eyes again, I flailed my hooves. “Then I woke up and I had a bomb sight for a cutie mark.”

“See?” Hispano huffed and crossed her talons with a smirk. “Sounds like he got it for bombing to me.

“I want you to focus on the feeling before you got it.” The Madame reached over and took my hoof with hers. The second she did, the glow behind her eyes brightened, and she let out a slight gasp. “Yes… focus.”

“I remember…” Closing my eyes, I thought about when I was flying above the road. “feeling apprehension. Like I said, I wasn’t sure I could do it. That if I couldn’t…”

“But you did, and that’s the key.” She squeezed my hoof tightly the exact moment I recalled letting that shell go towards the Road Roller. “The fact that you acted, despite your worries, is what you need to focus on. I sense… a connection to that moment, hidden in many others.”

“That’s vague.” Hispano again unhelpfully childed and shifted herself sharply in her seat. “What’s that even supposed to tell him?”

“I sense that you always seem to turn up somewhere at just the right time.” The Madame squeezed my hoof again, but this time it was hard enough that it forced my eyes open. As soon as they were, I found her leaning across the table and staring at me closely with her empty sockets. “Has that fact not made you... curious?”

“No, because it’s always been more like the wrong time.” Hispano snorted, again making the Madame deadpan.

“She’s right.” I nodded and looked down at myself. Even in the dim, flickering candlelight, each of the scars I’d earned on this trip stood out to me as clear as day. “Everything always goes to hell around me. I’d thought it was my curse, but… you’re saying it’s not?”

“Hah!” Hispano laughed sharply. “Surely his ‘destiny’ isn’t to just cause chaos wherever he goes? That anything that can go wrong, will just because he’s around?”

“No, with marks, you must take a broader perspective.” The Madam leaned back into her seat. Her hooves wandered across the table, eventually ending up back at the orb again. “The bombsight and bomb on his flank may mean many things, but the fact that they are together can tell us something. Perhaps it is that they are two sides of the same coin, a representation of cause, and effect.”

“How?” I blut out as I reflexively twisted myself and yanked my dress back enough to look at my mark.

“You are a pony whose arrival always brings a turning point to somepony else.” She whipped her hooves around the orb, and in a flash of light, an image of my cutie mark appeared inside of it. “Your talent is to choose how those events play out.” As she spoke, the cutie mark rotated slightly, almost as if it was aiming. Small puffs of smoke burst around it, almost looking like blasts from flak shells going off in the air. “It is you who are the catalyst for the change happening wherever you go. Your decisions in those critical moments, guide what is to come.”

The image of my mark stabilized in a near vertical position amongst the inky bursts, and after a moment, the bomb slid free and disappeared into the white void of the orb.

“So, he decides the fates of others?” Hispano scrunched up her beak and sneered at the old ghoul. “That’s not really a talent, is it? A destiny to decide destinys?”

“It is not fates he decides, no.” The Madame shook her head softly. “Rather, he merely makes the choice of how to guide the way that events for others unfold around himself. It is a broader choice, that encompasses everything that either is, or yet could be, in that one, singular moment.”

I mean, it does sound like a little bit of a stretch. Then again, before I came below the clouds, curses and following my gut just weren’t things I believed in much. I’ve learned the hard way about my choices, and there is something about those moments even when thinking back to them. I still wasn’t really sure what to make of it all, though, on some level it just felt… right to me.

But if it really is my destiny to be thrust into pivotal moments to make a decision? Well, let’s just say it would go a long way to explaining my incredibly shitty luck in the wastes.

With a smirk, Hispano relaxed slightly on her pillow as she shook her head.

“I mean I won’t lie, Night’s changed a lot of things in the places we’ve been. But is it really his destiny to find himself in every shitstorm in the wastes?”

Now that was a prospect that scared me.

“I know not the final shape of his fate, I can only interpret what drives it forward.” As she spoke, the orb in front of us clouded. The inky blot that swam in the center grew and grew, stretching out until it darkened the orb completely. “No my child, the stars are not wrong in this matter, nor can this be fought. Night's guidance is a reflex, in those moments he is connected to, he will always feel deep down what will be the right thing to do. No matter what, his cutie mark will prove his choice will be the one to set reality itself on the path it is meant to take.”

“But… if it’s a reflex from his ‘cutie mark’, how can he be the one to guide things?” Hispano snorted. Admittedly, she had a good point there.

“You speak as if Night and his cutie mark aren’t one and the same.” She laughed at Hispano as the cloud in the orb receded. “Two sides of the same coin, remember?” Once again, it bathed us in a soft light as a small inky form followed the old ghoul’s hooves. “It is a reflex because the day he got it, he realized that he could shape what happened that day. You are no stranger to this either, for the choices he has made are the sole reason that you have remained alive. Or have you not thought it odd that those around you befall such grievous injury, yet you remain whole?”

“You know what? I’m getting really tired of all these generalizations and riddles.” Hispano groaned and gave me a firm tap on the shoulder. “Again, please tell me you aren’t buying what she’s selling.”

“Uh...” I wanted to say no, but… I couldn’t deny that even if it was a stretch, deep down I did believe her. “I mean, she’s making a lot of sense here, Hispano. What if this is the reason I’m always getting into bad shit? Isn’t that somewhat important to understand?”

“Of course she makes it sound important, it’s her job, Night.” With shaking talons, Hispano reached up and squeezed at her flight cap straps. “You know what, I can do exactly what she says you can do.” With a shift of herself, she reached back into her saddlebag and drew out Baby’s large, silver form. Unceremoniously, she held it out and pointed it right between the eyes of Madame Mystic. “With one pull of the trigger, I too can set you on a new life path! Ta-da!”

“And if you were to?” The Madame smiled and stared right up the barrel at Hispano. “Then would it not be because he brought you to me today?”

“Grrr, that’s… that’s not my point!” Hispano growled and shifted her grip on Baby ever so slightly.

“Hispano, that’s enough.” I snapped at her and used my hoof to push Baby’s barrel away from the Madame.

“Is it?” She snapped back with a biting clack of her beak. “I won’t sit here and listen to some old ghoul tell me shit like ‘it’s going to rain today’ and expect me to be surprised.” With a flick of her talon, she pulled Baby back and stuck it back in its holster. “I mean, hello! It’s Seaddle. It’s always raining.” Flaring her wings, she got up on all fours and turned to the door. “You want to sit here and waste your time, fine. It’s getting late so I’m going to make my way to the brothel and find somepony to help me get rid of all this fucking stress. Feel free to join me when you’re done being a dolt.”

I wanted to get up and stop her, but even as I watched her stomp off out through the doorway, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. What would I do? What would I say to her in this moment that would make things better? No, she needed a moment alone.

But as she left, I realized something that worried me. It wasn’t just that this was the second time that Hispano had left me at a fortuneteller’s place, but it was the way she did it that I didn’t understand. Something about these places always freaked Hispano out, but I know she’d never in a million years tell me what it was. Maybe it was because so far, the Madame had been eerily correct. Maybe at some point, Hispano had heard something from one of them that she didn’t want to hear… and that hasn’t happened yet.

Turning back around, I figured I could at least see if I could get an answer from the source. However, as I did, the Madame’s hooves reached out and grabbed the sides of my head. With a firmer grasp than I’d been expecting, she made sure my attention was solely on her glowing eyesockets.

“There is little time left to speak, so you must listen.” She used a harsh whisper, but it didn’t feel like she meant it to scare or intimidate. No, something about her words just made me think that whatever this was was a very delicate topic. “You must understand that now that you have found your home, that you know your true purpose, you must not lose either. Do not let indecision creep into your mind in the times to come. If you are to hesitate, you may lose more than you have left to give.”

“W-what?” My mind struggled to read any sort of meaning in what she was saying, but as with my initial question, I just couldn’t seem to grasp it.

“You are not ready for the answer to that question.” She nodded to me and twisted her hooves so that I nodded back. “A time of anger is coming. You must trust yourself when the time comes, to do what you know is right.”

“Well, if what you said is right, I’m sure I’ll make the right choice.” I offered to her in the absence of anything else. A time of anger? Could she mean… my other question.”

“Is this about Solomon?” I asked bluntly. “Is he going to kill more of my family?”

The moment I uttered his name though, she gasped and all but threw her hooves off of my head. The candles flickered and went out, and her orb dimmed as she woozily steadied herself against the table. Even the glowing of her sockets had darkened, and she breathed in slow, labored breaths.

“I am sorry…” She wheezed slightly as she took a moment to calm herself. “My insights have dimmed, and I do not have the strength left to view the answer you seek.”

That was… inconvenient. Then again, it was somewhat understandable I suppose. I had absolutely no idea how zebra magic worked, and honestly, I’m sure if somepony explained it I still wouldn’t get it.

Blinking, I thought back again to our time in Pink Mountain and Mare’s Lake. Specifically, how Boiler truly believed in what Madame Mystic had told her. Really, after everything I’d been through, and seen with the Mystics, the least I could do was believe in the things Boiler did.

“Thank you.” I offered as I picked myself up and turned back toward the door.

Again, a stronger than expected grip reached out and stopped me before I could take a single step.

“Now, I must ask you for my payment.” She smiled at me as I turned back to her.

“Oh, I uh… how many caps?” I asked as I reached back into my bag.

“I require no caps.” She said softly, reaching up and running her hoof along my side. “I have a… separate request.” As her hoof ran back over my skin, I shivered as she brushed it over my folded wing.

Oh, she better not want that sort of payment...

With a flick of her hoof, a stabbing pain ran through my wing. My augment fuzzed for a moment, and I let out a yelp as she pulled her hoof back. Sitting gripped in her fetlock, was one of my longer primary feathers.

“Ah yes, this is the one. Thank you.” She smiled as she set my feather down next to her orb. “Now, you may go after your griffon friend. I wish you a safe journey.”

“Wait, all you wanted was a feather?” Okay, so fortuneteller’s are officially the weirdest way of doing business in the wasteland if this was how it went…

“It need not concern you anymore.” She shrugged and gave me a dismissive wave of her hoof. She waited specifically for me to turn around before she started to speak again, and when she did, she made sure it was clear for me. “Like you, this token has its own fate, and that fate lies with me for now. It has its own purpose that will be revealed soon enough.”

I froze up as the words of Pink Mountain’s Madame echoed through my head. That’s what she’d told me about her orb when she gave it to me. Nearly word for word, too.

Turning around, I was about to ask her how that was possible. Only, when I turned around, there was no one else here. The candles had been relit, and flickered softly like when we’d entered. Glancing down at the table, the crystal orb, as well as my feather, were missing from it.

Taking one last look around the room, I understood a little bit why Hispano didn’t like coming to these places. They were certainly strange, but they provided more than enough food for thought. While it was nice to somewhat understand what my cutie mark was meant to represent, what hung in my mind was one of the other things she’d said.

“A time of anger.” I muttered to myself. Was it anger for something I did? Was it dealing with Hispano’s anger? Because that’s probably something I shouldn’t bring up for a while. Then again, maybe it was about the anger of somepony who I’d yet to meet?

Honestly, it could mean anything, and worrying about it wasn’t going to do anything for me. I headed out through the doorway, I pushed it to the back of my mind for now. The alicorn sitting behind the desk gave me a sideways glance as her magic turned the page on her old fashion magazine, but otherwise didn’t move as I headed for the door. Stepping outside again, the streets were even more empty than before, with only a hoof-full of ghouls wandering along it. Oddly, a whole group of them just down the road wore heavy burlap cloaks over themselves as they walked slowly.

Looking around, I found Hispano waiting for me outside. She was propped against the edge of the Madame's building with Suiza sitting next to her and her talons tightly folded across herself. Her gaze was pointed down toward the far end of the long underground street. It was almost like the sort of thousand yard stare that came with seeing the horrors of the wasteland, but not quite as empty. Rather, it looked more like Hispano was lost in thought about how life would be if everything had gone the way she'd wanted it to. It was a look of longing, mixed with the faint hope that tomorrow could yet turn out to be a better day.

As much as she deserved to have seen that fantasy life come true, it wasn't on the table for us. Between the three of us, I'd expected Buck to still have that dream this far down on our trip. But while the wasteland hadn’t taken our will to help others, and hadn’t completely torn us down, there had been nothing we could do to keep it from taking the idea of a perfect life from us.

At the same time, I couldn't fault her for holding onto it longer than we could. Hispano had always been the toughest of us three, and when she truly wanted something, of course there was no way it was going to slip away from her. She’d been fighting the wasteland every moment of her life, so it wasn’t all that surprising that she knew how to keep it from taking this one last dream from her.

She blinked a few times, catching me watching her out of the corner of her eye. In doing so, she replaced her expression with a tired one as she pushed herself off the side of the building. With a quick snatch, she took up her sister into her talons again and waved me over.

"Come on, Night." She grumbled as she walked out into the nearly empty street. "We've got a ways to walk before we reach the waterfront, and we need to talk."

Hobbling up to her side, I matched her surprisingly slow and steady pace, but didn’t say anything. Today had mostly been one disaster after another for her, and I had a feeling that now that we had a free moment, she’d need to vent. So, if she wanted to talk, I’d let her.

“What do you want from me, Night?” She asked with only a momentary glance over at me. “Is it to just go with you every time you feel like standing up for the little guy? Do you want me to be a subservient little pony wife, never arguing and always doing what she’s told?” I uh… what? Where did she get that idea!? “I just mean, when does this end, Night? When do we forget the ‘thrilling heroics’ and get to for once be just a family?”

“We are a family, Hispano.” I cringed at how unintentionally dismissive that sounded. “I just… is it unreasonable to think that there can be more pressing concerns right now though? The Arcturus needs to be fixed, that signal blocking Ping needs to be found. And doesn’t Solomon showing up show that it’s just not a good time to be thinking about taking an extended break?”

“Then when will it be, Night?” She hissed at me, but didn’t break her steady stride. “You heard that crazy stripe, it’ll never be the right time, Night.” She shook her head, but kept her gaze far off ahead of us down the tunnel. “Don’t you get it? This is who you are, who you’ll always be.”

“No, it’s not.” Reaching over, I stopped both Hispano and I where we were and got her to look right at me. “This ends when Solomon is dead. You know that.”

“And when we kill him, that’ll be it? You think it’s really so simple?” She canted her head and frowned as she brushed my hoof off of her. “You think that the second he dies, everything will be sunshine and rainbows in the wasteland? Hell, you couldn’t go one day without wanting to help the toasters at the airfield so they’d help us in return. Do you really expect me to believe that this ends with Solomon?”

“I’m not promising us a perfectly quiet life, Hispano.” Again, I reached up and put my hoof on her, pulling a grimace across her beak at my touch. “When Solomon is dead, I promise that the priority will be on you, Buck, and I.” I forced myself to smile, trying to get her to understand that I knew how she felt about all this. “I want it to just be us, Hispano, believe me, I do. But I can’t deal with Solomon on my own. I need you to be behind me on this, just a little bit longer, okay?”

She took a second to think about it, working over the words in her own head to try to glean any secret double meanings they may have. But a few moments turned into almost a minute of awkward silence where she shot glances around the street anywhere but at me. I didn’t expect her to suddenly smile and accept what I was saying at face value, but I did believe I wasn’t owed this much doubt.

“Grrr.” She growled and again shook my hoof off of her side. With a stiff push, she started walking again, but at a much faster pace than before. “Swear to me, Night. Once Solomon is dead, you promise me that all of this ‘hero business’ will be over for good.” With a shift of her stride, she threw a suspicious gaze back at me. “No more running off to help random toasters, no more fighting for the little guy. Even if it is what your cutie mark is telling you.”

Hopping after her, I wanted to say that wasn’t fair. Now that I knew what I was meant to do, how could I turn myself away from it?

“Promise me, Night. I… don’t want to lose you.” As if she could have read my thoughts across my face, she growled and pushed herself up to a stiff trotting speed.

So, this was the hill she’d chosen to die on, was it? All the good I’ve done, all that Buck has done for others? All that we could yet do? She would so easily toss it aside because she wanted Buck and I all to herself. Who was she to ask for that?

My augment fuzzed, cutting out for a few seconds. In that time, my body locked up in agony as I was reminded just how beaten up I still was after today. While my lungs seized, my augment flashed and booted up again, flooding me with numbness once more, but leaving me gasping for breath. It also planted the seed of a thought in my mind that was growing at an alarming speed.

“Night?” Hispano gasped and spun around on her hindpaws. With a hop, she jumped over and helped to keep me propped up as I took deep, gasping breaths. “What’s wrong.”

“It’s my augment.” I groaned as I started to feel the strength come back to my legs. “It just... fuzzed out for some reason.”

“What?” Hispano blinked a few times before perking up. Her eyes darted about the tunnel, ending with a glance on the nearby ghouls in those heavy burlap sack outfits. With little care for me, she wrapped her talon around my neck and pulled me back into a near trotting pace. “We need to get moving. Now.”

Fighting her hold on me, I pushed myself back from her. Taking a moment to think, I let that thought that had been growing in my head finally bloom.

Hispano wasn’t just asking me to ignore those in need only for her. She was asking because more often than not, it ended with Buck or me getting hurt. Everytime she looked at either of us, all she could see anymore were the scars and the parts of us we’ve had to replace. The words to Hispano from Pink Mountain’s Madame came echoing back into my mind.

Of all those you keep in good company, it is you in fact who will emerge from your trials as triumphantly unscathed. Find peace of mind in that, for it will be the only thing to carry you through the suffering of those around you.

While those words were right, Hispano hadn’t been left with injuries like the one’s Buck and I have gotten, it didn’t mean she didn’t have any. The toll of watching us day in and day out, throwing ourselves into the grinder for others, while a sacrifice Buck and I were willing to make, it was torture on her. And worse than that, I understood that all along.

It was because I knew that it wasn’t physical that I think I rationalized it away. Only now did I understand that all along I’d decided for her that this was the life we were going to have. And come to think about it in hindsight, all the dates and days she just wanted to relax made sense. She’d gone along with it this whole time because for her, it had given her a chance to try to steer Buck and I away from losing even more of ourselves to the wasteland.

Now the hill made sense. Hispano had gone far enough, and it wouldn’t be one step further until she knew that while she couldn’t stop us, there was some end in sight. That for all of her failed efforts, there would still be something worth holding onto of Buck and I at the end of the road.

“Night, what are you doing?” Hispano reached over and again sharply dug her talons into the back of my neck. “We need to go, now.”

“I promise, Hispano.”

“We don’t have the time anymore.” She grumbled and tugged on me harder.

“I’m sorry it took me so long to understand, but I get it now.” Hopping forward, I wrapped my forehoof around her talon and used it to spin her around to hold me up. As she brought her other talon around to keep me standing, I caught her glance with my own and stared right into her worried eyes. “We’ll do what it takes to kill Solomon and Rook. Then it’ll be just the three of us. No more helping. No more heroics. No more sacrifices. You won’t have to worry about us getting hurt anymore, because we’ll be right there with you everyday.”

Despite the panic that had washed over Hispano, I could feel as my words sunk into her. Her eyes searched mine for anything to justify the doubts that she had welling up inside, but I didn’t have anything to hide from her. She’d let us take enough from her that I needed to give her at least this much hope to hold on to.

As she opened her beak to speak, I pressed forward and kissed her, forcing away the outside world even if just for a moment. It wasn’t like the ones we’d shared before in the way that we both had given in to what we’d felt. This time it was me giving myself completely to her so that she’d know that I’d finally understood what she’d wanted all along.

I think somewhere inside she knew that, because without hesitation, she took over and pressed herself into me. I could feel both of our racing hearts as she took up a stronger stance and wrapped her wings around my own. When she finally pulled back her beak with a heated gasp, she let her softened gaze drift from my eyes.

“It took you long enough to understand, Dum Dum.” Her words remained soft, even as she strengthened her grasp around me. As her eyes wandered around the street, the content grin that had grown across her beak already started to fade. “But you always have the worst timing.”

“What?” I asked as just now the world was coming back into focus. Looking around the two of us, I noticed that more than a few of the burlap sack ghouls had gathered around us.

The longer I looked at each of the strangers, the more I realized that they weren’t what I’d thought. Normal pony muzzles poked from under each burlap hood, and some of their sacks didn’t quite cover the stiff armor plating that some of them wore. Most worrying of all, was that more than a few had the barrels of rifles on battle saddles poking out through the burlap.

“So, did I overhear one of you gal’s mentioning some toasters?” One of the larger ponies in the bunch spoke up as he took a step forward. “Specifically, were you speaking of the Bow-wing ones?” As he moved, his burlap robes lifted just enough that I could see the silver of the power armor he wore under it. “I think you need to come with us then.”

“And I think you need to get lost, creep.” Hispano cooed softly, slowly moving one of her talons from my side and towards Baby’s holster. However, the moment she tried, a magical aura wrapped around the both of us and froze us in place.. “Fuck…” She muttered as we both struggled against the near-suffocating pressure of the magical aura.

“Alright, the hard way it is.” The pony smirked and gave a wave of his power armored forehoof. All together, the other ponies around us spun around to face away from us. As soon as they had, Mr. Power Armor flicked his hoof downward.

A small, black sphere dropped from his hoof, hitting the floor with a clack and drawing our gazes. We both could only blink as a small grenade came to rest just beside us, and Mr. Power Armor spun himself around.

Neither of us even got a moment to react before the world turned into nothing more than a bright white light, and an endless ringing nightmare.

I suppose I should have seen this coming. The Madame had said that despite what I’d wanted, I couldn’t fight what I was meant to do. Hispano was right, trouble would always find me, no matter what promise I made to her. I hated that it made everything I just said to her feel like a lie.

Up until now, my goals, my virtues had been to act on what I felt was right. Well, as of today, what was right for me had changed. I wasn’t going to let Hispano down and strip away yet another layer of her own psyche just so I could feel good about my own self-sacrifices.

This family I’d found, the crew I’d built? They were more important than anything else. And thanks to Hispano, I could now start to see just how they’d been grinding themselves down to nothing because of me. So as much as it clashed with the ideal wasteland I wanted to see, my priorities had changed.

All I could ask of them now is for whatever was needed to finally take down Solomon, but nothing more. No side jobs, no fighting in fights that weren’t ours already. Because if we were going to finish things and finally get to the Ark with ourselves intact, then I was going to have to start acting a lot less like Night Flight, and a whole lot more like Delilah Burro.

I just… wish I knew how she could always make it look so easy to tell others no. Not that my cutie mark would always let that slide, or that life would ever be so simple. After all, Hispano had summed things up pretty well. Anything that can go wrong in my life, will go wrong.

Then again, so what if I couldn’t avoid it? There was nothing in what the Madame had said that led me to believe that I was destined to keep making the same decisions again and again.

No, if it really was my destiny to guide the events around me, then who was to say that I couldn’t push things in a way that kept us from making any more sacrifices?

Author's Note

As with every chapter, I really need to thank TheFurryRailFan. I know when he offered to go over these chapters, he didn't know he'd be doing it for over five years, but I'm eternally grateful for his dedication and friendship.

And of course, a big thanks to Kkat. With this chapter, it's been now eight years since I first read FoE and had it change the course of my life. It's meant more to me than most know, and I can't give enough thanks that this story and universe exists.