Skyreach

by kudzuhaiku

Rating: mature
Tags: Sex, DJ P0N-3, Daring Do, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash, Original Character, Science Fiction, Adventure
Length: 141463

What is Skyreach? There is no suitable answer.

Four friends want to find an answer to the question, "What is Skyreach?"

Princess Celestia warns them that they will not like the answer. In defiance, they seek the answer anyway, and set off to discover Skyreach aboard the Endeavour. They'll soon learn that the sky is an impossible place to get to, even for a pegasus pony, and that Skyreach, the ancient city of the pegasus tribe, cannot be reached.

Each of them will be profoundly changed by a question best left unasked.

An entry in the Weedverse.

A tremendous thank you to all of my Patreons who believe in me enough to make this possible. You guys are the greatest and this work exists as a testament to your Rainbow Dash levels of awesomeness!

Published 2017-02-09 01:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2019-07-27 20:06:38 UTC

Prologue, day thirty-eight before departure

⧫—Prologue—⧫

The city of Monkeylore, Windia, thirty-eight days before departure...

With the looming shadow of a civil war in Windia, the cost of coal had gone up a little too much for Daring Do’s liking. She blamed the Thuggee cult of course, the followers of Collie Ma. She would never say it aloud, but the Thuggees all needed to be put down like the mad dogs that they were were so that peace could be returned to this place. Civilisation was dying and the very land itself seemed sick.

The Endeavour needed refined coke for its engines, but the cost of coke was far too high. She could run on unrefined coal, but it left the engines sooty, gunky, and in need of servicing. Still, coal would get them home. On the other hoof, they didn’t need to get home, they just needed to get to someplace civilised, perhaps the Grittish Isles, but that could get complicated, and Daring Do didn’t wish to deal with complicated.

This whole trip had gone to the dogs.

A large contingent of unicorns and one very snooty pegasus approached. Sighing, Daring Do shook her head, these were the last ponies that she wanted to see right now, she knew who they were and why they were here. The wily pegasus looked around, sizing up the situation, and made a gesture with her wing at Rainbow Dash.

The crowd parted, revealing one very bandaged earth pony. Daring Do snorted again.

“Ambassador Thames, I knew I smelled something fetid, but I thought it was the jungle,” Daring Do said as the group approached, and she felt an immense feeling of satisfaction when the ambassador winced in annoyance.

“Daring Do, you have something that belongs to the Crowns of the Great Grittish Empire.” Ambassador Thames paused a few yards away and made no move to close the distance. “The artifact was recovered by our field agent, Doctor Caballeron. Do be a good sport and turn it over, Miss Do.”

“Not a chance.” Daring Do gave the ambassador a pleasant smile. They might be enemies but there was no reason they couldn’t be civil. She also began to wonder where Tarnish was and if this situation might require his brutishness. “Think carefully before you proceed, Ambassador Thames. Right now, you are dealing with a protected emissary of the Crown of Equestria, an Element of Harmony, and a very close and equinal friend of Princess Celestia herself. I do believe that if you had him harmed, the sun might never shine on the Grittish Isles ever again.”

“It hardly shines there now,” Rainbow Dash said in a mocking voice. “That place is even bleaker than Griffonstone.”

“I can’t let you leave with the artifact,” Ambassador Thames said to Daring Do in a reedy, almost nasal voice. It was a voice made for telegraph, of that there could be no doubt.

Daring Do saw a flash of chocolate brown moving behind the coal bins and she kept her face neutral, business as usual. She didn’t know what Tarnish was up to, and she didn’t care. For once, she was going to let him indulge in what he did best and she would keep the lectures to a minimum. He was rather good at rude surprises.

“Oh, but I am leaving with the artifact and there isn’t much you can do to stop me,” Daring Do said in a loud, clarion voice that carried through the coal yard. “Doctor Caballeron gave up any claim he had to it when he hired Thuggee cultists to aid him. Look at what they are doing to this place! Look at what they have done to the ponies here! Shall we make this an international matter, Ambassador Thames?”

Looking quite annoyed, Ambassador Thames’ nostrils flared and he shook his head. “There is no way we can be held responsible for what happens in one of our former colonies. You are bluffing, Miss Do.”

As he spoke, there was an ominous click from behind him.

“No, I’m stalling,” Daring Do said, correcting the ambassador. The pegasus clucked her tongue when she saw what Tarnish was holding, as she did not approve, not in the slightest. “Mister Teapot, a firearm… really?”

“It’s the same revolver I was shot in the ass with.” Tarnish’s eyes narrowed beneath the brim of his pith helmet and he kept the gun pointed at Doctor Caballeron. “This annoying little dick pimple here ordered one of his goons to shoot me… in my ass!”

“You were committing theft,” Ambassador Thames hissed as he stood very, very still.

“Funny thing about this revolver,” Tarnish began in a raspy, angry voice that was husky with pain and strain. “Its manufacturing mark shows that it was made in the Grittish Isles, in Liverypool to be exact. I wonder what Princess Celestia would say about that, our dear, close friends, the Grittish, giving firearms to the Thuggees. I know Princess Celestia, I know her quite well, and I think she’d be upset about that. It would be the sort of thing that would disturb her sleep at night.”

“Damn you!” Ambassador Thames spat at Doctor Caballeron as he gave the bandaged earth pony a sideways glance. “Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

“I didn’t think it was necessary,” Doctor Caballeron muttered in reply.

Several of the unicorns shuffled a bit, but didn’t move too much, not with Tarnish pointing a revolver at Doctor Caballeron. The situation, very much like all of the tight-puckered assholes involved in it, grew tense. Rainbow Dash stood on the deck of the Endeavour with her wings out, ready to snatch up Tarnish and bail if things went wrong.

“Come, Mister Teapot, we’re leaving.” Daring Do made a come-hither gesture with her hoof, indicating that he should come over so that they might depart. “Mister Teapot is under quite a bit of stress right now, you’ll have to forgive him. He just became a father to a most wonderful little abomination created under the most peculiar of magical conditions. He adores her, as any doting father should. But this is a very stressful time in his life. Try not to take anything he does equinally.”

“Congratulations.” Ambassador Thames’ voice was strained to the point of cracking and his khaki shirt was now showing some impressive sweat stains. “I’ll be happy to smooth all of this over once I go home. Please, feel free to leave at any time.”

Not one sphincter unclenched.

Tarnish, still pointing the gun at Doctor Caballeron, began to chew on his lower lip and he shifted his weight from side to side. “I’m sorry, but there is no walking away from this—”

“Mister Teapot—Tarnish, don’t be dreadful!”

“A lot of really bad things have happened to me,” Tarnish continued, his voice climbing in pitch. “Some of those things happened on this trip. Getting mauled by some big jungle cat was no fun at all, but I can live with that as an experience. Being thrown into a pit full of cobras will be a fun story to tell everypony back home someday. I figure I’ll be able to laugh that off with the wife and family.”

Doctor Caballeron gulped and his many bandages rustled.

“What I can’t live with is getting shot in my ass.” As he spoke, Tarnish angled the gun downward just a little, and lined up the sights in his right eye. “I ain’t been able to sit right or shit right since.”

On the deck of the Endeavour, Rainbow Dash broke out laughing, while Daring Do somehow kept a straight face. Ambassador Thames had turned his head around just enough to stare at Tarnish, his eyes wide with fear. The ambassador’s orange tongue was visible for a moment when he licked his lips, and his sides heaved in and out like a blacksmith’s bellows.

“Oh, sod it, there is just no reasoning with him when he’s like this.” Daring Do let out a resigned sigh. “Don’t draw it out, Mister Teapot. Do what you must do and get it over with so we can go. Or do you intend to make him suffer for his monologuing as well?”

“Well, I wanted to,” Tarnish replied as a pale blue glittery glow manifested around the trigger. “All that gloating about his intellectual superiority and how I’m just some dumb hick that doesn’t belong in academia. That hurt my feelings a bit, but not as much as getting shot in the ass.”

Saying nothing else, Tarnish pulled the trigger and there was a thunderous roar from the revolver. The sound echoed through the coal yard and caused a number of colourful jungle birds to take flight. Doctor Caballeron let out a loud yelp of pain and fell to the ground, clutching at the fresh new hole blown open in his ass. Several unicorn goons turned away from the horrid sight, cringing.

Pointing the revolver around, Tarnish drew Flamingo and stepped over Doctor Caballeron’s prone form. Tarnish’s long legs cleared the distance as he made his way over to the side of Daring Do, keeping the revolver pointed at the ambassador and his goons. Ever polite, Tarnish doffed his pith helmet to say goodbye.

“We’ll sort this out during the holiday party when we all play nice with one another.” Daring Do tipped her own pith helmet with her wing and bowed her head. She winced as Doctor Caballeron let out a long, lingering moan of pain and she glanced over Tarnish. “Tit for tat, I really can’t blame you for what you did, Mister Teapot. Shall we away?”

“Yes, I think I need a cup of tea… let us away, Daring…”

Author's Note

And you might be crazy for reading this...

Prologue, day thirty-seven before departure

⧫—Prologue—⧫

An unnamed pirate port, thirty-seven days before departure...

Grinning, Tarnished Teapot gave a friendly nod to the massive orangutang looming just behind the very out of place caribou—a caribou that looked as though he had been shorn not long ago. Tarnish stepped forward so that he and the caribou could bump hooves, causing the ginormous orangutang to let out a long, low groan of concern.

“Lichen, how ya been?” Tarnish asked

“Trying not to die in this heat,” the caribou replied. “It’s miserable, but there is money to be made here.”

“Mister Teapot, I don’t know about this—”

“Lichen, we’ve hit a hard spot, my companions and I. We need some coke, enough to get home.”

“Done.”

“We had to give away much of our food to some villagers to keep them from starving.”

“Done.”

“Fantastic. Thanks, Lichen, you’re the best.”

Stepping forward, Daring Do looked dubious and she turned a wary eye to the orangutang, who didn’t seem to like her. “Clearly there is something that happened that I’m not aware of. In my experience, I try not to deal with pirates. Mind explaining yourself, Mister Teapot?”

Just as Tarnish was about to reply, Lichen spoke instead. “Tarnish rescued me from slavers some time ago. We’re pirates now, but not for much longer. I’ve been in contact with Princess Luna of Equestria, and she is considering giving us a Privateer’s Writ. Princess Celestia wants to get involved in the affairs here in Windia, but she fears that direct interference would sour relations with the Grittish Isles.”

Lips pressing together, Daring Do let out a low groan of disapproval.

“Who’s the ape?” Tarnish asked.

“My bodyguard, Maldrago.” Lichen smiled and looked at the big orange orangatang. “I wish you’d relax, I told you that Tarnish is a good sort.” Returning his attention to Tarnish, Lichen smiled as he explained, “I won Maldrago in a card game, taking him from his previous owner. I tried to set him free, but this happened.”

Tilting his head to one side, Tarnish doffed his pith helmet to Maldrago, and then said to Lichen, “Thanks. You’re a lifesaver. I have got to get home and see my wife, my little filly, my family, and my friends.” After some thinking, Tarnish added, “Hey, I have guns that I took from some Thuggees. You interested?”

Looking quite surprised, Lichen nodded and Maldrago began to chuckle, a terrifying sound that resonated within his massive chest. Daring Do, who did not approve, let out a snort and another long groan as she stood there, shaking her head. Saying nothing, she retreated in a huff to let Tarnish handle this awful business.

“The guns are yours.” Tarnish had a broad smile on his face. “Thanks for saving my hide.”

“You saved mine first,” Lichen replied as he scratched at his side with his hind hoof. “Tarnish, you look like dung, friend. What happened?”

“Where do I even start?” Tarnish’s eyes widened beneath the brim of his pith helmet and his nostrils flared. “I had to battle a Thuggee army to save a group of villagers, some bad stuff happened, more bad stuff happened, I got captured on purpose to serve as a distraction, I got tortured and this cultist priest fellow he was real keen on sacrificing me to Collie Ma. More bad stuff happened, there were cobras, so many cobras, there was a huge fight, I got shot in the ass, there was another huge fight, I got mauled by a big jungle cat, the villagers that we saved came to our rescue, I flung cobras at guys I didn’t much care for, my saddlebags were full of them, and we got away—”

Tarnish inhaled with a wheeze, then continued, “Then we were relaxing in a bar, thinking it was over, but no, there was a big fight, and somepony I just can’t stand, he took it real equinal that I threw him to a bunch of crocodiles, and then he and I met up once more a few days later and I shot him in the ass because I’m a prick like that.”

Eyes bulging, Lichen burst out laughing, so did Maldrago, and then Tarnish joined them as well. Nearby, Daring Do was not laughing, but she kept silent. Tarnish had earned his moment of frivolity and even though she would never, ever, under any circumstances say it out loud, she was proud of him for how he had handled himself on this trip. Daring Do kept a stiff upper lip, as Tarnish was coming along nicely and she was certain that he would mature in time.

For now, she just had to be patient with his youthful shenanigans and hope for the best.

On the deck of the Endeavour, Rainbow Dash paced from front to back. She was feeling a little unsettled, but she hadn’t said anything to anypony. This was a beautiful place, a place full of history, and it was an awful place. Colonialism had stripped it bare, leaving those who lived here desperate and destitute.

It was always a problem, coming to places like these, because it made her realise just how good she had it in Equestria. Here, she had to be careful as there were places here where mares weren’t even allowed to speak, as they were seen as property, or possessions. A great many ponies had asked Tarnished how much the rainbow maned mare was, was she for sale, and quite a few of them were quite insulted or put off when Tarnish refused to make a deal.

The situation made Rainbow Dash do a bit of hoof-gazing, something she wasn’t prone to doing. She had grown up free, happy, her own pony, able to do what she liked. Had she been born here, on the other side of the world… she shuddered, not liking the thought. And the caste system here, try as she might, Rainbow Dash couldn’t understand that at all. That was a messed up way to run a herd, no doubt.

“Miss Dash?”

Lifting her head, Rainbow looked at Daring Do, who was holding a teacup and a saucer with her wings. Fresh bandages covered her many wounds and Rainbow felt bad because she didn’t know enough about first aid. Rainbow tried to make a reply, but no words came out, none at all, all she could do was sigh.

“You look troubled,” Daring Do said in a soft, kind voice.

Rainbow nodded.

“Lichen’s army of apes has a surprising number of skilled surgeons and doctors among them. I’m troubled too, Miss Dash… in my prejudice, I thought they were dumb apes… jungle savages. I was proven wrong.” Puckering her lips, Daring Do took a sip of hot tea, slurping it to cool it off.

Another unsettled sigh escaped Rainbow.

“They’re patching up Tarnish right now, doing far, far more than I could.” Daring Do took a few steps forwards, her hooves clicking against the wooden deck. “Tarnish is remarkably good at patching himself up though, and others. Here, in this place, he could pass himself off as a doctor, no doubt.”

Turning her head, Rainbow looked out over the bright lights of the pirate port. This was not the place she expected, she had expected a rough and tumble pirate town, full of rum, slatterns, and trouble. But this place, it might have been Equestria. The streets were quite clean and well maintained. The buildings were kept in good order. There was no public drunkenness, as doing so would get you flogged for the first offense. The second offense? Thinking about it made Rainbow shudder in revulsion.

There were wooden signs everywhere warning the residents to mind the rules.

Refugees came here to this place, trying to escape the horrors of Windia, and Lichen was doing his best to ship them off to Equestria. Quite a few earth ponies roamed the streets, as they had endured some of the worst of the suffering, a suffering that Rainbow had trouble comprehending.

But this place wasn’t perfect, not at all. Lichen kept the fragile sense of civilisation here through the worst means possible—lashing, branding, and beheading. Try as she might, Rainbow couldn’t make sense of this place; she wanted to go home, to be with Twilight and her friends in a place that was both comforting and familiar.

Here in the pirate port, there was no caste system, and those who tried to enforce it on others met awful fates. Rainbow had seen the aftermath of the consequences with her own eyes, and it had left a strange feeling of hollowness down deep in her guts. She had borne witness to things that would haunt her for the rest of her days, no doubt.

“Daring, I don’t like this place and I want to go home,” Rainbow said, giving voice to her feelings.

“We have the means to go home, thanks to Tarnish,” Daring Do replied, and then she puckered up to slurp more tea.

“I didn’t think there was a place in the world as bad as this,” Rainbow admitted, sounding ashamed and without realising she was doing it, she tucked her tail between her legs. “I honestly thought the rest of the world would be like Equestria, more or less, maybe a bit less perfect. I thought the world was civilised and good. And it hurts a whole lot that I’m wrong. How do I make this better? It really hurts me inside and I don’t know what to do.”

“Well,” Daring Do began, “most ponies would just go home and do their level best to forget all about it. They would bury themselves in all of the luxuries, comforts, and conveniences of the modern, civilised world. They would ply their loved ones for tea and sympathy. In time, their consciences would smooth out and all of this would become an unpleasant, distant memory.”

“But I don’t want that to happen!” Rainbow whined as the strange pain flared up inside, hurting worse than ever.

“My dear, then what you must do is make yourself remember.”

Author's Note

Come, let us be crazy together.

Join me, as we explore, Skyreach.

Prologue, day twenty-four before departure

⧫—Prologue—⧫

Western Coastline of Equestria, twenty-four days before departure...

The Endeavour skimmed through the clouds, flying at an altitude of a little over one thousand feet. The three companions, well rested, let out a cheer when the western coastline of Equestria came into view in the far distance. Overcome with happiness, Rainbow Dash threw her forelegs around Tarnish’s neck and squeezed him.

Tarnish, looking none the worse for wear, returned Rainbow Dash’s affection, and he gave her a tight squeeze with his foreleg. The trip home had been hard on her, it had been hard on all of them, but Rainbow Dash in particular had been hardest hit by everything that had happened in Windia. Now, with Equestria in sight, Rainbow Dash had once again found her smile.

“Hey,” Rainbow said in her scratchy voice to her companions, “what is Skyreach?”

“Oh, come now, Miss Dash, we all know the answer to that question,” Daring Do replied. A sharp gust of wind pushed her pith helmet askew and the pegasus pony mare looked irked that the wind would be so rude. “It’s the fabled lost city of the pegasi, a place that many have gone in search of, but none have ever returned.”

“No”—Rainbow held up her hoof—“no, I’m asking, what do you think Skyreach is? I mean, what is it really? Do you think it is really real?”

“Miss Dash,” Daring Do began and then she took a deep breath as the wind continued to play with her pith helmet. “Miss Dash… in archeology, there are all kinds of stories of lost cities, ancient centaur vaults, cities made of gold, forgotten settlements of ancient humans”—she paused, blinked once, and then looked Dash right in the eye—“and most of them are just myth. Oh, there might be something to that myth, most myths have some rooting in reality, but these mythical places never live up to the stories made about them.”

“Yeah, but what about Skyreach?” Rainbow’s head tilted off to one side in an almost birdlike manner.

Daring Do did not reply right away, but instead she turned about to gaze at the distant shoreline of Equestria. The wind continued to pester her, tugging at her feathers, her khaki shirt, and her hat. A fresh, clean, and brilliant white bandage was secured to the base of her neck, just below the collar of her shirt.

“There is most certainly something,” Daring said in a low voice. “I had a colleague go off in search of Skyreach. He took a well funded expedition off to the Howling Peaks, where Skyreach is rumoured to be. He, and his expedition, they never returned. A rescue party was formed and two ships were loaned… that expedition never returned either. After that, we gave up. That was quite some time ago.”

“We have the key now.” As Tarnish spoke, he thought of home and all that awaited him there. “That funny little gem shaped like a snowflake. It’s cold and it has some strange magic to it. It grows brighter when you hold it up to the east and west.”

“It might be for Skyreach, it might not. We shall see.” Daring Do tilted her head back and looked up at Tarnish, who towered over her. “It is supposed to be the key though, and we went through an awful lot of trouble to get it.”

“Twilight might be able to study it and tell us more,” Rainbow Dash suggested.

“She might.” Daring Do nodded her head and changed the subject. “The real trouble with ancient pegasi cities is that most of them no longer exist. Making things out of cloud… well, it degrades over time. That’s what makes Skyreach so exciting and why the stories endure. A city built on the peak of a mountain that reaches above the clouds. And, if you believe the myth, completely inaccessible by ground.”

“What do you think this key does?” Tarnish asked, sounding almost foalish with his excitement. “Do you think it is really a key? It’s kinda neat, a sapphire cut into the shape of a snowflake. Never seen anything quite like it and when I hold it in my magic, it makes me tingle all over.”

Squinting, Daring Do looked thoughtful as she peered at the shoreline. “It appears to be a compass of sorts, which will be useful. From what little I know about the Howling Peaks, if you fly anywhere near them, your ship controls will go crazy.” The pegasus pony mare puffed out and shuffled on her hooves. “Bah, it’s just stories, designed to scare away the foolish and the superstitious. The ancient pegasus pony tribes didn’t have anything that could affect modern tech. They were bronze age primitives that feared and mistrusted magic. They were brutes.”

“But we have this magic key—”

“Tarnish, for all we know it is just a simple compass enchantment on a cleverly cut sapphire gem.” Daring Do turned to look up at her colleague and boon companion. “It might have nothing at all to do with Skyreach… given the attitudes about magic that existed during that time, it seems unlikely that an ancient pegasus pony tribe would have a magic key that somehow unlocked the way to their city. Do you know how difficult it is to have a fortress and only have one key for it, when you have a whole army?”

Taking a step back, Tarnish nodded. “Point taken. So all of this might’ve been a wild goose chase.”

“That seems likely,” Daring Do said, acknowledging Tarnish’s words. “But that is what we do. We go on wild goose chases. We have fun. Explore exotic locales. See the world. And sometimes… sometimes—”

“We get lucky,” Rainbow Dash said, finishing Daring Do’s statement.

“Yes. Sometimes we get lucky. This gemstone might have nothing to do with Skyreach, but something else entirely. If we follow the compass spell, it might lead us to something fabulous.” Daring Do smiled for a moment, and she gave both of her companions a sly wink. “Or it might lead us to our doom.”

Rainbow Dash, shrugging, added, “Or, you know, it might lead us to Skyreach.”

Author's Note

Why, no, this isn't a clopfic. I'm sorry. I probably should have included that from the beginning. Deal with it. Or don't. Maybe check the feature box for mindless wank-fests?

Prologue, day twenty-two before departure

⧫—Prologue—⧫

The city of Canterlot, twenty-two days before departure...

For having three dear friends return home, the mood was sombre. There had been no trumpets, no fanfare, no parties, no real welcome home. The three companions had been snatched right off of the deck of the Endeavour and brought to Princess Celestia by a group of guardsponies.

Princess Celestia now paced the length of a long, narrow room that had an exquisite table that stretched from one end of the room to the other. The three companions sat at the table, with Daring Do at the head, Tarnish on her left, and Rainbow on her right. All three watched Princess Celestia as she paced, and each wondered if they were going to be allowed to go home.

“Is this because I shot somepony in the ass?” Tarnish asked in a voice that was borderline squeaky. He squirmed in his seat, looking rather foalish, and he avoided the gaze of Daring Do.

Huffing, Princess Celestia turned to face Tarnish. “I received a message about that, word travels fast. Mister Teapot, I find Doctor Caballeron absolutely detestable. I might have shot him in the ass myself, had I been in your situation.”

Falling back in his chair, Tarnish let heave a sigh of relief while Daring Do rolled her eyes and threw up her hooves in disgust. Rainbow Dash, looking bored, let out a half-hearted laugh and rested her front legs against the table’s edge. Tarnish now looked just a little bit smug, and Daring Do looked a whole lot out of sorts.

“There will be no living with him now,” Daring Do muttered.

The soft sounds of metal clicking on stone filled the room as Princess Celestia resumed pacing. She looked troubled, she walked with her head low, and her golden-shod hooves were almost dragging over the floor. Reaching the end of the room, she turned about, and began to pace in the other direction. As she passed by the table, she looked at the three companions and her mouth opened so that she might take a deep breath.

“I wish you wouldn’t...” Princess Celestia began, sounding out of sorts. Another deep breath, one that expanded her sides, and she started over. “I wish you wouldn’t do this. Skyreach isn’t worth finding. There are things in this world that are better left forgotten.”

“What do you know?” Daring Do asked.

“Enough to leave it alone,” Princess Celestia replied. “Whatever you do, don’t do this.”

“Why?” Rainbow Dash’s head cocked to one side and she began to tap her hoof against the edge of the table.

“I fear that if I told you, it would only make your desire to go even stronger.” Princess Celestia stopped, frozen in place, and she was like a statue. It seemed as though her breathing had even stopped, and she stood with her eyes squeezed shut. “Please, don’t go. All of you have such brilliant careers… Mister Teapot, you have a family that loves you. Miss Dash, think of your friends. Miss Do… Miss Yearling, you have a long career ahead of you, full of promise and renown. Don’t do this.”

“Why are you telling us this?” Rainbow Dash asked, her ears perking as she listened to the sounds of Princess Celestia’s breathing. “Why don’t you want us to go?”

“Because I do not wish to mourn your passing.” Opening her eyes, Princess Celestia gave the trio a pleading stare. “I also fear what you might find. A fragile peace exists in the world between the pony tribes, and Skyreach could put an end to all of that.”

“How?” Daring Do focused an intense stare upon the sorrowful alicorn.

“If I told you, it would only make you want to go.” Princess Celestia’s voice was now scratchy with emotion, and her eyes glimmered with an excess of moisture. “For once, I wish all of you would just trust me and take me at my word. I have the wisdom of centuries and it is so very rare that I remind my little ponies about this fact. Forget about Skyreach and go and live long, prosperous lives. Be in love. Make a name for yourselves. Go have fat, fussy foals.”

Eyes narrowing, Daring Do shook her head. “We can’t do that, and you know that. What could possibly be so bad about Skyreach?”

A single tear rolled down Princess Celestia’s cheek and she shuddered with enough force that it caused her wings to flap against her sides. The muscles in her neck twitched and more tears fell, departing to join the first. In the bright electric light of the room, her tears twinkled like diamonds in the corners of her eyes.

Tossing her head back, Princess Celestia headed for the door so that she might leave the room. It was obvious to any observer that she was fighting back a flood of tears with the way her eyelids fluttered. “Please, excuse me, I wish to be left alone whilst I mourn you…”

Author's Note

All of this prologue was originally going to be one chapter. It was driving me nuts because that chapter would have been huge. Enormous. Not tiny. So now I have these prologue chapters of odd sizes.

Prologue, day twenty before departure

⧫—Prologue—⧫

The Rock Farm, twenty days before departure...

For Tarnish, it was good to be home. He was glad to see his sisters in law, his mother in law, and his father in law. He had somehow survived being mobbed by them, and he had hugged each of them in turn to return their affection. But now, he only had eyes for one pony, the pony he was madly in love with.

“Pebble!” Striding through the living room of the stone cottage that he and Maud shared, Tarnish plucked Pebble from the teat she was suckling on and lifted her up so he could lavish her with his affection.

Maud, laying on a large cushion covered with a quilt, watched as Pebble became annoyed, and her ears perked when the filly inhaled. No squall seemed forthcoming though, as Pebble relented when she saw her daddy, though she looked very grumpy about being interrupted while she was being fed.

Outside, a blizzard howled and sent chunks of ice and snow to pound against the windows. Inside, it was warm, comfortably so, and a crackling fire burned in the grate. Tarnish flopped down on the floor beside the cushion where Maud lay, and he cradled Pebble in his forelegs. He looked down at her while she looked up at him, and overcome with happiness, he pressed his muzzle down against her barrel.

“How you doing, Maud?” Tarnish asked.

“Wishing I was healed up from birth,” Maud replied. “Did you get it?”

“Yeah, we got it.” Tarnish gave his wife a nod. “The snowflake gem, the supposed key for the legendary city of Skyreach. Had to steal it though and there was a lot of trouble. I got shot in the ass.”

“Don’t you dare swear here at home,” Maud warned, “Mama will wash your dirty mouth out with soap if she hears you and I won’t do anything to stop her. I might even help.”

“Sorry.” Looking sheepish, Tarnish nuzzled Pebble, rubbing the side of his muzzle against her neck, which caused her little stubby legs to kick. After a few precious moments, he lifted his head, stretched out his neck, and gave Maud a smooch, which Maud returned with equal enthusiasm.

“I almost got sacrificed to Collie Ma, after I let myself get caught on purpose,” Tarnish said in conversational tones as he passed Pebble back to Maud, so the little filly could continue nursing. “And I picked a fight with an army of Thuggees too. It was great.”

“You left home and had all of that fun without me.” Maud turned her sleepy stare upon Tarnish as Pebble returned to nursing, and Maud’s tail thumped against the quilt covered cushion. “Serves you right, getting shot in the… plot.”

Crawling on his belly, Tarnish scooted a little closer to Maud, so that he might kiss her again, and much to his surprise, she grabbed him around the neck with her forelegs. She hauled him in without effort, and this time, a more passionate, intimate kiss was exchanged. When Maud pulled away, Tarnish was breathless.

“Tarnish… when do you plan to leave?” Maud asked, and there was a quaver in her voice that only those who knew her best would be able to detect.

“Soon,” Tarnish replied, now looking downcast as he huffed and puffed from the kiss. “As soon as possible, actually. “Doctor Caballeron had the snowflake gem looked at by a couple of crazy cultist priests… unicorns… bad sorts… Daring Do is worried that they might be able to duplicate the gem somehow, and figure out where to go.”

“You can’t let that happen,” Maud said as her ears pivoted forwards, towards her husband. “I’ve been talking to some ponies I know from the university. Something bad is in Skyreach, or so they think, something best left forgotten, and you can’t let Doctor Caballeron have it, if it exists.”

“After talking to Princess Celestia, I’m inclined to agree. She don’t want us going. She knows something, she probably knows quite a bit, but she’s not talking. It’s really upsetting for her, that’s for certain.” Wrinkles appeared on Tarnish’s face as his gaze fell on Pebble, who was still suckling and looking bored. “Right now, the snowflake gem is with Twilight Sparkle and she’s going to use all of that fancy divination magic of hers on it to see what she can learn.”

An anniversary clock on the mantle ticked away the time as the logs in the fire crackled. The sounds of Pebble suckling ceased and the little filly went still, curled up against her mother’s stomach with her head resting on the inside of Maud’s thigh. Her ears angled forwards, Maud stared into her husband’s eyes for several long seconds, glad that he was home.

“The bed is cold without you,” Maud said in softened deadpan. “Fix some tea, Tarnish, your amulet is looking a little darker than it should be, and then come to bed with me.”

“Actually, I’m a little hungry.”

“Mama stocked our little fridge with food because she knew that we would want some private time together when you got home.” Maud blinked once, twice, and on the third time, the corners of her mouth twitched. “I got scared, Tarnish. I even panicked. I had a rough couple of days where it got so bad that Limestone and Marble had to come and stay with me and sleep with me. Tarnish”—Maud sucked in a deep breath so she could say what she needed to say—“you take a lot of unnecessary risks. I understand that you have a career now and this is the life that you have chosen… I respect that. But you’re brazen, and you take some very unnecessary risks.”

“Yeah, I reckon I do,” Tarnish confessed as he rose up to his hooves and stood. “We both take risks. That’s what we do.”

“But I’m not there to help you manage those risks,” Maud said as she stared at Tarnish. “And you… you do some stupid, stupid stuff when I’m not there to keep you balanced.”

“Maybe I do,” Tarnish admitted as he retreated into the kitchen. “Maud, are we fighting?”

“I don’t know, are we? Is there something to fight about?”

“I feel like you’re scolding me.”

“I am, Tarnish… I am. I’m probably going to lecture you at some point. Tarnish, adventuring is fine, that’s what we do. But you, you’re a father now, as well as being my husband. You need to manage risks better… and not pick fights with a Thuggee army, or whatever it is that you did. I need for you to come home. Pebble needs for you to come home. Tarnish, we have powerful enemies now. Princess Celestia has left a contingent of her elite guards here on the Rock Farm—”

“Yeah, the guards and I talked when Miss Yearling dropped me off.”

“—and we need to start being more careful.” Maud stared at her husband while he began to prepare his tea, her head turning to follow his every move. “I’m the cautious and level headed one and you… you’re the reckless one. We work well together, but you’re going off without me and that worries me a bit.”

“Vinyl is coming with us.”

“That doesn’t reassure me one bit, Vinyl is every bit as bad as you. She makes Octavia want to pull out her mane, and now I understand Octavia’s frustrations a whole lot better.”

“I get it, okay? I’m young, hot-headed, and irresponsible!”

“Yes, yes you are, and it makes me feel better to hear you say it.”

“I’m with Miss Yearling—”

“And you don’t listen to her at all,” Maud said, her voice growing just a tiny bit louder. “She is your boss, Tarnish. Because of her, you get a paycheck and we can square away our bills. Adventuring is expensive, Tarnish, and so is taking responsibility for your actions and the collateral damage that you do.”

“Collateral damage.” Tarnish rolled his eyes and snorted. “Okay, so a few things exploded all around me during that big kerfuffle in Manehattan—”

“Tarnish, you pushed a pony with a knapsack full of dynamite down an elevator shaft.”

“He was trying to kill me!” Tarnish’s voice was loud enough that it caused Pebble to open her eyes, and she lifted her head away from her mother’s warm, fuzzy thigh. “They never did find his body.” Tarnish shook his head and looked a bit dismayed. “I swear, if he comes back and tries to kill me again, even more stuff is going to explode.”

Rolling her own eyes, Maud let out a wickering sigh of exasperation.

“I can’t help that things tend to escalate all around me,” Tarnish said to his wife, and his ears went limp when she turned away from him to look at the clock on the mantle. “Okay, so maybe I do do things that make everything worse, but when stuff is happening, I tend to live in the moment and not think about consequences. I just focus on surviving because I want to come home and be with you… even if coming home means getting a lecture from you.”

“Don’t you dare turn this around on me,” Maud said in a voice of cold iron. She sniffed, glared at Tarnish for a second, picked up Pebble by the nape of her neck, and after getting up from her cushion, she walked away to the bedroom with Pebble held in her teeth.

Gritting his teeth, Tarnish bit back a flood of angry curses as he stood in his kitchen, fuming.

Author's Note

I'm sorry...

Prologue, day sixteen before departure

⧫—Prologue—⧫

The Rock Farm, sixteen days before departure...

The small kitchen of the stone cottage was packed with ponies, some sitting on chairs, others on stools, and some on the floor. The air was perfumed with the scent of poison joke tea, of fresh baked treats, and the stench of ozone. Outside, a blizzard pounded the farm, with snow drifts that reached the roof. The cottage had a fireplace, but most of the heat came from the many bodies packed into the cosy kitchen.

Twilight Sparkle had a jeweler’s loupe over her eye and she was holding up the snowflake gem. Vinyl Scratch also had a jeweler’s loupe; she sat beside Twilight Sparkle, looking pensive and out of sorts. Octavia was holding Pebble, who seemed quite enchanted by the glowing blue gemstone in the shape of a snowflake. Maud leaned against the table, her eyes on her husband, and Tarnish had his eyes on her as he sipped his tea. Rainbow Dash, wearing her flight jacket and a woollen ushanka, kept making funny faces at Pebble, who ignored her. A.K. Yearling, half asleep, leaned against the corner where she sat and fought to keep her eyes open.

Perhaps the two oddest faces to be seen at the table were that of Prince Blueblood and Princess Celestia’s personal assistant, Raven. Prince Blueblood seemed to be enjoying the poison joke tea he had been served, and before him on the table was a book bound in blue-black leather that was covered in spidery silver glyphs.

“Nothing makes sense about this gem,” Twilight Sparkle said and there was hint of a frustrated growl hiding in her voice. “This isn’t unicorn magic. I don’t know what it is, but it feels kind of primal. I think that it might be raw magic, which is so very dangerous to work with and I don’t understand how it was contained in a gemstone.”

“Raw magic?” Rainbow asked.

“Magic goes through filters,” Twilight replied. “I am a filter. You are a filter. When I use magic, I leave behind a magical signature that fundamentally changes the nature of the magic used. When you do pegasus magic, that magic which flows through you takes on a distinct pegasus signature. If that magic were somehow put into a gemstone, somepony skilled in divination would be able to determine that it was pegasus magic.”

“And Mister Teapot is a special kind of filter.” Raven looked up from her notes, her eyebrow arched as she studied Tarnish, and after a second, she resumed her writing.

“Correct.” Twilight sounded both prim and out of sorts. “Tarnish has survived multiple exposures to raw magic and so has Maud. Studying them has given me what little bit of knowledge I have on the subject.”

“Which now makes you the expert,” Prince Blueblood said in a dry, bored sounding voice. “You should be proud, you have a field of study that Auntie knows next to nothing about.”

“I can never tell when you are being sarcastic.” Twilight moved the gem aside and glared at Prince Blueblood. “You… you are just not a pleasant pony, Blueblood.”

“Oh, whatsoever shall I do, rebuked and rebuffed by Equestria’s most eligible princess. Woe is me.” Rolling his eyes, Prince Blueblood slurped some tea, his ears twitched, and then he peered down into his teacup. “Really, that is quite marvellous. Who would have thought?”

Snorting, Twilight’s lip curled back into a snarl as she resumed looking at the snowflake gem. Rainbow Dash, who was being ignored by Pebble, gave up and started making funny faces at Tarnish instead. Tarnish, provoked by Rainbow Dash’s gookie faces, turned away from Maud and made a horrendous face right back at the flippant rainbow maned pegasus sassing him in his own kitchen.

This set off Vinyl Scratch, who joined in, and Octavia let out a demoralised sigh as she held Pebble. Prince Blueblood watched all of this with keen interest, and after about a minute of nonstop hijinks, he snorted in disgust.

“These are supposed to be the heroes of the realm?” Making a gesture with his hoof, he pointed at the silly ponies all around him. “This is the best that Equestria has to offer? These are the faces we show the world?”

“Terrifying, isn’t it?” Octavia said, responding to Prince Blueblood’s aroused ire.

“Say, I wonder if I still have a cobra or two left in my saddlebags,” Tarnish muttered as he gave Prince Blueblood a meaningful stare.

Maud, turning her head, focused upon her husband. “You did, in fact, have a highly poisonous cobra left in your saddlebags. Limestone found it when she went rummaging around in there, looking for souvenirs.”

“Oops!” Tarnish now looked alarmed and his eyes went wide with panic.

“She named it Noodle and she likes giving it hissy-kisses.”

Hearing Maud’s words, Tarnish let out a sigh of relief and failed to notice Rainbow Dash’s continued provocations. There was a clunk as Twilight’s brass jeweler’s loupe hit the wooden table, bounced, and then rolled around. The corner of Twilight’s eye had a nasty twitch to it, and her cheek tugged the corner of her mouth up in time to her eye tics.

“Is it… is it the ley line junction that makes this a region of madness?” Prince Blueblood, looking disturbed, shuddered a bit and shook his head. He let out a dismissive snort, and pointed at the book in front of him, eager to change the subject. “This is the only book in the Archive Incognitus that specifically mentions Skyreach. Auntie keeps these books under lock and key. I was able to get it, but upon my return home, I am positive that Auntie is going to ream me. If we are particularly unlucky, she might show up here to collect the book herself. She is bound to discover that it is missing.”

“And what does it say?” A.K. Yearling asked in a sleepy voice.

“Very little.” Leaning forward, Prince Blueblood cleared his throat and his eyes fell to look at the book. “The old world tribes came from the Grittish Isles, as those of us who paid attention in history class might know. Those of us not making funny faces. But the Grittish Isles weren’t the only place those tribes come from, it was just the central location.”

“Just get to the part about Skyreach already,” A.K. Yearling demanded.

Rolling his eyes, Prince Blueblood shot the pegasus a dark look and continued, “Skyreach was off to the east and north of the Grittish Isles. It was supposed to be a vast, unassailable fortress. No army that ever ventured off to conquer it ever came back. No survivors ever emerged, though there were many that told fantastic tales, magical divination proved them liars. This book is almost a thousand years old and it states that every expedition sent to find Skyreach never returned, not one pony ever came back.”

“Sounds like a campfire story.” Rainbow Dash, her forelegs folded in front of her, leaned against the edge of the table. Holding out her wing, she tried to give Tarnish a tickle.

“Even the dragons avoid the area, and they are greedy.” Prince Blueblood’s eyes narrowed and he touched the book with his hoof. “The dragons say that those foolhardy enough to go into the Howling Peaks never come back. No dragon has ever returned from that place.”

“Huh.” Tarnish gave Rainbow Dash a shove and gave his full attention to Prince Blueblood. “Are we still going to do this?”

A.K. Yearling lifted her head and her expression became more Daring Do. A look of fierce determination blazed in her eyes and she nodded. Rainbow Dash stopped being a silly pony, she looked worried for a second as she looked into Tarnish’s eyes, and then, she too, gave a nod. Vinyl looked at Octavia for several long seconds, sighed, her barrel rising and falling, then she too, gave a slow nod.

“Princess Celestia refuses to sanction this and wants nothing to do with it. She told me not to get involved.” Twilight licked her lips, hesitant, and looked as though she was trying to make some decision. After a brief moment of thinking, she let out a resigned sigh. “She begged me not to get involved, and told me that if I did, I would live with my regret for the rest of my days.”

Looking solemn, Tarnish waited for Twilight to continue, as she looked as though she had more to say.

“I’ve talked to my father and my mother… my mother stormed out of the room, but my father listened. He’s agreed to split the cost of the expedition with me. Together, we’re going to fund this trip. I have the utmost confidence in your abilities and each of you are exceptional in your own way. My father says its time I spread my wings and do things my own way.”

“Good on you, Twilight.” Raven lifted up her teacup in a salute and added, “I’ll see what I can do about accidental acquisitions.”

“I can get you all of the coal that you need.” Prince Blueblood looked a little worried, and a bit guilty, like a foal discovered in the cookie jar. “Auntie is just being cautious, and rightfully so. She always errs on the side of caution and it is my opinion that she hasn’t taken into full account just how capable this group is.”

“Why, Prince Blueblood, was that a compliment?” Raven asked.

“No, just a statement that presents the facts!” he retorted as he smacked the table with his hoof. “I do not compliment hooligans with stunted attention spans!”

“How soon can we go?” A.K. Yearling’s expression was now one of eager anticipation.

“Two weeks from now, I would think.” Raven lifted up her notes and began reading them over, peering through the thick lenses of her glasses. “It’s winter, so everything is a bit slow. We’ll need food, fuel, and supplies. The Endeavour needs a full restock and some servicing done to the engines.”

Tarnish, realising that every eye was now upon him, swallowed once, twice, and then managed to say, “Well, I’ll be ready to go then. Another crazy adventure with two crazy pegasus ponies and one of my best friends. This is gonna be great…”

Author's Note

I do hope that you are enjoying the prologue. It's quite large. I tried fitting all of this into one chapter somehow, and failed. I'd love to hear what you think about it. I'll admit, it's a bit unusual. Some of the first major hints to big time story puzzle pieces can be found in these chapters.

Prologue, day seven before departure

⧫—Prologue—⧫

Fillydelphia, seven days before departure...

The dragon of exceptional size moved through the hangar with great care, so as not to disturb any of the airships moored inside of the massive building. The dragon, not an enormous dragon, but merely quite large, was a little over twenty feet in length from nose to tail. Much smaller ponies scurried around him, mindful to not get in the way.

Kartoffel, as the dragon was known, had a stiff upper lip and was one of the best mechanical engineers in all of Equestria. He was brilliant, outgoing, somewhat mad, and so very fabulous. He made no attempt to hide his fabulousity and was very in-your-face about the fact that he was fantastically, flamingly gay.

“Oh, sweetie, hi!” Kartoffel gave Tarnish a somewhat limp-wristed wave with his lispy, hissy hello. “Ooh, kisses!” Before Tarnish could protest, Kartoffel’s head darted down and he planted a smoky smooch upon Tarnish’s cheek, then Daring Do as well. “I had to work miracles to get the old girl serviced in time… it really cut into my disco dancing schedule!”

“I’m… sorry?” Tarnish replied.

“Oh, don’t be!” Kartoffel gave Tarnish another limp-wristed wave as he pulled his head away. The dragon’s face changed and a serious look of concern overtook his scaly features. “I pulled a lot of bullets out of the tail end of the ship. Are both of you okay?”

“I wasn’t the only one that got shot in the ass.” Tarnish tilted his head back to look up at the dragon, who was now wincing while waving his raised claws around, it was as if he was trying to fan the horrible words away. “Things got pretty tense, Kartoffel.”

“Oh, sweetie, how dreadful” Kartoffel’s outburst made Daring Do roll her eyes. “There are so few perfect, pert, plushy little pony asses in the world”—the dragon made a hissy inhale and continued—“I would go overseas with you, but I’m a pacifist! Why, the very idea of violence makes me feel lightheaded, like I’m going to faint or something!”

Daring Do snorted, as she had in fact, seen Kartoffel faint dead away. He had done so in a movie during a particularly hearty slap given by an offended lover to her beau. Ponies feared dragons when they rampaged, going on a spree of violence and mayhem. Daring Do feared dragons when they fainted, as she had been pinned beneath Kartoffel when he keeled over.

“I’ve made some modifications,” Kartoffel said, getting down to business. “There have been some technological improvements and I’m able to do more with less. You’ll be able to coax a little more power from her now, meaning a bit more speed. It probably won’t be noticeable, not unless you are heading into a headwind. The turbine got a full servicing, I took it apart myself and gave it a complete rebuild. The thirty-six millimetre auto turrets both fore and aft had a complete inspection. She’ll be shipshape in time for your departure.”

“I hope we don’t need those,” Daring Do muttered.

“I’d hate to be shot in the ass with one…”

The big white mare had trouble fitting into the small, dainty wrought iron bistro chair. The teacups and coffee cups had a distressing lack of size when seen next to Helianthus. Tarnish found the whole thing amusing, and he sipped his tea with a pleased, somewhat manic grin on his face.

“My counterpart is in a bad mood” Helianthus said as she held a little pony-sized coffee cup in her fetlock. “You’ve really put her in a snit, Mister Teakettle.”

His smile vanishing, Tarnish didn’t say anything in reply, but just sat there, staring at Helianthus, wondering if perhaps Princess Celestia was listening or watching now. He shifted his weight away from the aching, pulsating painful place on his plot and his ears splayed out to the sides, tugged on by the stiff breeze.

“I am not Celestia,” Helianthus said, affirming her own independence. “I think that you should do this. You did the impossible once already, Mister Teakettle.” A look of unmistakable pride could be seen on Helianthus’ face as she continued to heap on the praise. “You, very much like the poison joke that you represent, thrive on the impossible. You survive bleak, poisoned, desolate, barren wastes. You bravely spit into the eye of the single most evil entity this world has ever, or will ever know. You are not even two decades of age yet, and you have made a name for yourself. You stand as an equal with the esteemed Daring Do. I think that you will go to Skyreach, discover whatever it is, and I think you shall return.”

“Thank you, Helianthus… I needed to hear that.”

“Tarnish…”

“Yes, Daring?”

“She’s right about what she said, I do see you as my equal. It is the sole reason I agreed to become your mentor and your boss. I know I am very hard on you—”

“You are,” Tarnish agreed.

“—but it is only because I have such high expectations of you. I wouldn’t even bother wasting my breath otherwise. Most ponies aren’t worth pushing because they are spineless, snivelling wretches that piss themselves and cower the moment that danger rears its ugly head.”

“I needed to hear this,” Tarnish confessed. “My frail, tattered ego has taken quite a beating lately, and I know that I’ve been hiding it well, but everything that’s happened has left me feeling insecure. Maud and I keep fighting. Celestia’s reaction to all of this has left me shaken. I keep wondering if I am somehow repeating the mistakes of Dodge City Junction all over again… I’ve gotten big, famous, and I keep wondering if I’m just being young and stupid. Everypony keeps telling me I’m reckless, I’m careless, and Cloudy… oh, Cloudy… she let me have it finally, I guess Maud talked to her, I don’t know. Cloudy gave me the business.”

“Tarnished Teapot,” Helianthus said in a low voice. “Professional hero. Scholar. Druid. Husband. Father. Beloved son. Heart of iron, ego of glass.” She raised her teacup to Tarnish in salute. “Here is to being friends, Mister Teapot.”

“To being friends.” Daring Do raised her own cup to join the toast.

Tarnish raised his own cup and managed to smile “Here’s to hoping my friends save me from getting shot in the ass again.”

Author's Note

Yes, I am aware what I named the dragon. :derpytongue2:

Prologue, day five before departure

⧫—Prologue—⧫

The Rock Farm, five days before departure...

Prince Blueblood stood in the middle of the living room of the small stone cottage that Tarnish called home. He wore a fleece lined flight jacket—something more commonly seen on Wonderbolts—and a strange hat that Tarnish didn’t know what the name was. With Blueblood was a mare that Tarnish had never met before. Pale orange pelt, slim, short legs, a muted pink mane, and thick, heavy glasses. She was wearing the same jacket and hat as Prince Blueblood.

“This is my associate, Summer Squash,” Prince Blueblood said, introducing his companion. “Mister Teapot… my associate and I represent an agency which for now, must go unnamed. There is something we want from you.”

Eyes narrowing, Tarnish gave Prince Blueblood a wary stare. Lots of ponies wanted things from Tarnish these days, and he wasn’t always in the position to refuse them. Behind him, Pebble snuffled and he could hear the sounds of Maud’s breathing. More and more, Tarnish was feeling like a little, teensy-tiny fish in a great big pond.

“Whaddaya want, Blueblood?” Tarnish asked, fearing that he was about to enter a situation that he had no control over.

“Nothing onerous, so relax.” As Blueblood spoke, the thrum of an airship engine could be heard and it made the entire stone cottage vibrate. “On behalf of the empire, of which I faithfully serve, I came here to make a polite request, and to address another issue as well, but we’ll get to that in a moment.”

“Fine, I’m listening.”

“You may come across powerful artifacts in your travels—”

Tarnish knew where this was going.

“—and my companion Summer Squash and I would very much like to have them. I shall pay you most handsomely and I know with absolute certainty that you would never sell or otherwise give away these artifacts to other interested governments.”

“You’re both spooks, aren’t you?” Tarnish demanded.

“We don’t like that word, it has negative connotations.” Summer Squash took a bold step forward and looked Tarnish in the eye.

“This is some next-level spy shit, ain’t it?”

“Tarnish, not in front of Pebble.”

Clearing his throat, Blueblood responded, “This is merely a precaution. We feel the best way to inspire loyalty in our beloved subjects is to make sure they are paid well for the job they do, and to see that they are rewarded. You have shown time and time again that you can go into incredibly dangerous places and come back out again… often with some… curious artifacts.”

Inhaling through his nose, Tarnish considered Blueblood’s words and wondered if Daring Do had to deal with this. He had no doubt that she had, and he made a mental note to talk to her about it. Having a chat with his boss would be a good, responsible thing to do. He studied Summer Squash for a moment, then looked Prince Blueblood right in the eye. There was a bit of pride in Tarnish’s stare, an almost haughty look, because he was looking down at the prince. Tarnish only looked up to one pony now, and did so with a great deal of respect.

Swivelling his head around, Tarnish looked at Pebble and Maud. Maud was still quite rotund from pregnancy. Quite a number of thoughts bounced around inside of Tarnish’s head, his worries, his wants, and his desires. He wanted to be a good father and a good husband. Maud was owed that and he knew that he had messed up a few times. This was a chance to do right.

“I’ll do it,” Tarnish said as he turned his head to look at Blueblood once more. “I’ll steal, pillage, and rob for you if I’m well compensated. There’s a lot of slimy, skeevy types in the world, and I’ll be more than glad to take what is rightfully ours from them.”

“Excellent!” Summer Squash proclaimed.

“Speaking of slimy, skeevy types”—Prince Blueblood grinned at Tarnish and pulled out a wooden scroll tube—“I am now indebted to you for a service that you performed for me. Here you go.”

“What’s this?” Tarnish took the scroll tube, opened it, and pulled out a sheet of parchment. He unrolled it, had a look, and didn’t know what he was seeing. He did see a few numbers though. 500,000. Blinking, puzzled, he pulled the sheet of parchment away from his face and looked at Blueblood. “What’s going on?”

“That is a promissory note,” Blueblood said in a low voice and one perfect eyebrow arched. “A very, very valuable promissory note. Five hundred thousand gold bits.”

With his mouth so dry, Tarnish had a hard time speaking. “Why?”

“You recently ran into some bills, I think.”

“No, really,” Tarnish insisted. “Why? This is just too much money to be generous.”

“You mustn’t tell Auntie.” Blueblood leaned in closer to Tarnish and his eyes narrowed as his expression became one of pure, unadulterated malice. “It has come to my attention that you shot Doctor Caballeron right in the, how shall we say… plot, I believe is the common parlance now amongst the commoners.”

“Yeah, I shot him right in his fancy, aristocratic ass—”

“Tarnish, that’s it, I’m telling mom.”

Wincing, Tarnish cringed and tucked his tail between his legs, knowing that he had stepped in it now.

“Last year, during the big holiday charity ball, Doctor Caballeron and some esteemed guests of the Crowned Heads of the Grittish Isles were in Canterlot.” Prince Blueblood leveled his imperious gaze upon Maud, let out a sniff, and then continued, “The doctor lobbed a terrible insult at me. He called me a ‘pontificating, poncy little faggot.’ When I got word that you shot him in the, ahem, plot, I couldn’t stop smiling. My face ached and I think I pulled a muscle. Auntie Luna thought I had come down with some dreadful disease because I was in such a good mood.”

“Tarnish, I told you—”

Still wincing and cringing, Tarnish waited for Maud to begin her lecture.

“—a good deed is its own reward.”

“Indeed it is,” Blueblood said while Tarnish let out a huff of relief and untucked his tail. “I can’t stay. My apologies, but I must be in Manehattan. I have to give a speech.”

“Thanks, Blueblood.”

“You are most welcome, Mister Teapot. We shall speak again, I hope. Good luck!”

Pebble was little, fuzzy, and oh so chocolate brown, just like he was. Tarnish was entranced with her, and was still quite taken by the fact that she had come squirting out of Maud. She was tiny, a little pudgy, and she had her mother’s mane and tail, but that wasn’t the only thing she had inherited from her mother. She also had a thin, silky coat, very much like Maud’s, and Tarnish knew that the sun would be Pebble’s enemy.

He was still mystified that he had helped to make this marvellous creature. Sure, he understood the mechanics, he knew how foals were made, but knowing it and witnessing it in action were two very different things.

“You made your mother say ‘ow’ over and over for hours,” Tarnish said to Pebble, whose eyes were wide and expressive. “And then you gave everypony a good scare because you decided to come out backside first, and we didn’t know if the cord was wrapped around your neck or not. Cloudy had fits.”

Grinning, Tarnish nuzzled the little filly and continued to pour his heart out. “After you were born, when you were still all wet and slimy, Cloudy put you in a pie tin and presented you to me. It’s a family tradition, presenting the new father with a pie fresh out of the oven.”

“You helped me make a pretty good pie,” Maud said to her husband as she eased herself down onto a cushion. “I might be biased, but I think she’s beautiful.”

“You’re not biased at all, Maud.”

“How reassuring.” Maud gave Tarnish a sleepy blink and then she yawned, revealing an orange tongue and a mouthful of peg-like teeth. She rolled over onto her side and with a sweep of her hoof, she pulled open her maternity smock, causing Tarnish and Pebble both to look at the bare, revealed flesh on display.

“I feel giddy,” Maud deadpanned. “I love the way you look at me, like right now.”

“Here you go.” Tarnish lifted Pebble a bit, moved her over, and set her down so she could feed. Moving closer to Maud, Tarnish pressed his snoot against hers, and thought about the day they had been married. It put him in quite a mood, which he could do nothing about. Crawling on his belly, he encroached onto Maud’s cushion, and then began rubbing necks with her, just because he knew that Maud loved it.

The neck rubbing was returned and Tarnish let out a sigh of contentment as Maud pressed up against him. All of this would be over far too soon and he would have to go. He felt Maud’s forelegs wrap around his neck and he was surprised to discover that it was time for happy husband hugs.

“I’m a really happy pony, Maud.”

“Being a father suits you, I think.”

“Well, yeah,” Tarnish replied, and then he chuckled. “I also just got paid for shooting somepony I can’t stand in the a—”

“Tarnish, I’m still telling mom.”

Author's Note

Next chapter is the departure. We finally begin. And the chapter title innuendo can start!

Departure

Tarnished Teapot had come a long way since getting banished from Ponyville, and he knew that he would go farther still. All around him was the evidence of his success, they had braved the snow and freezing temperatures to be with him on this momentous day, the day of his departure for the fabled location of Skyreach.

Buttons was there, with her beloved pup, Knob, the very same pup that Tarnish had rescued and had sent home with Limestone. Long Ears and Kabuki were present, along with Minori and some of their tribe. They were the proud defenders of Rock Haven now, having integrated into the community. Doc Hedge was present, a little older, a little grayer, and perhaps, a little bit more ornery.

The Rock Farm was crowded with those that Tarnish had touched in some way.

Yet, for all of his successes, Tarnished Teapot still felt the need to prove himself, to push himself, to show everyone that he could be an exceptional pony. Tarnish had grown, had put down roots, and now, he was starting to thrive, having come into his own. He had proven that he could reach distant horizons, survive exotic locales, and return home more or less intact.

At this moment, at this time, with the evidence of successes all around him, Tarnish was not happy, not satisfied; there was one pony that he wished was here, but she had not come. Her absence pained him more than he would ever admit, it galled him, it saddened him, and it even made him angry. But he would never admit it aloud.

Even worse, he didn’t have the luxury of showing his feelings. Now was the time for strength, to put his best face forward. To be the adult he was expected to be, the professional. If he slipped up, his boss would lecture him, and she would be right in doing so. Tarnish loved and hated those lectures in equal measure. Hated them, because they were lectures, and loved them, because they were proof that his dear friend still loved him no matter how many times he screwed up—something he did quite often.

Any other pony would have ran out of patience by now and given up.

“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOH! Cobra!”

Tarnish, distracted but for a moment, returned his attention to Maud. It was now, at the hour of his departure, that it really sunk in that he was leaving her and his newborn daughter. It felt weird that he was going adventuring without her, though he had gone on a few adventures without her already. None of those adventures were quite like this one though.

“Give Mama hissy-kisses!”

For Tarnish, Maud was the only pony in the room. Tarnish plucked Pebble away from her, dropped the quiet filly in front of her just-as-quiet aunt Marble, and then swept Maud up into his embrace so he could whisk her around the room. He didn’t care if it was crowded, there was still enough room for them to dance. Pebble, taken from her mother, let out a breathy grunt of frustration, and then glared at her father with infantile fury while he waltzed her mother around the room.

The crowd got out of the way, backing up against the walls, and some of them vacated into the crowded kitchen. With a little more room, another couple began dancing, and Vinyl took the opportunity to toss Octavia around the room. It didn’t take long for Igneous to pull a protesting, slap-happy Cloudy into a tight embrace, and then the living room felt a little cramped.

“Igneous! Ponies are looking!”

“Let them,” he replied, emboldened.

Tarnish was oblivious. He looked into Maud’s eyes as he held her close and he moved with a fluid, easy grace that belied his long, lanky body. Everything was right, everything was perfect—any disagreement that he and Maud might have had been forgotten, for now. Where Maud had once led, when she was still teaching him to dance, he was now in control and he whirled her around.

The private dance was interrupted by Vinyl, who hooked her foreleg into Tarnish’s, and Octavia, who did the same with Maud. An impromptu line was formed, the four of them balancing in a bipedal stance. Igneous and Cloudy joined, and then it was time to stomp, a proud and noble earth pony tradition.

Now, Tarnish was no earth pony, but he lived as one and shared their connection to the earth. He understood the stomp and he went at it as enthusiastically as any earth pony. The house rattled and shook, it was a testament to earth pony construction skills, and soon, others joined. Pinkie Pie joined the line, dragging Twilight Sparkle along. Twilight had terrible balance and flailed about, her wings extended as she tried to remain upright.

Earth ponies stomped. It was just what they did. They did it before a war, after a war, before, during, and after a wedding ceremony, they did it when somepony had been born, and when somepony died. Stand up, grab a partner, and make a ruckus. It was a simple, straightforward affirmation to life and living.

There were legends that vast armies of earth ponies all stomping together had brought down cities.

Pebble, entranced, held in Marble’s embrace, got bounced around as Marble joined the stomp, and the little filly’s ears rose and fell with Marble’s movements. Clapping their paws, several diamond dogs joined, and it was a wonder that the house remained standing. There was even stomping from the crowd in the kitchen.

Octavia gave Vinyl a hearty shove and Maud did the same to Tarnish. Now, Tarnish found himself face to face with Vinyl, and the little albino mare reached out and gave Tarnish an affectionate slap across the muzzle, all while her hind hooves kept stomping. The earth ponies in the room hooted.

Twilight Sparkle watched, unable to turn away as Vinyl and Tarnish stood facing each other, forelegs now akimbo, mirroring one another as they danced. The stomping became elaborate, complicated, and then Tarnished bounced on one hind leg while kicking out the other. Vinyl did the same, and the two struck hind hooves together with perfect, expert timing, causing the earth ponies in the room to cheer, hoot, and whistle.

Front hooves now clopped together in a blur, pounding out a complex rhythm, which the watching earth ponies contributed to with their stomping. Tarnish had a manic gleam in his eyes, and Vinyl licked her teeth as a mischievous grin took over her muzzle. Hunkering down, crossing their forelegs over their barrels, the two began squat dancing, just like the cossack ponies of Stalliongrad.

The two unicorns kicked out, somehow managing to miss one another, and each moved with perfect timing, in such a way that only two good friends could do. After watching and observing, Kabuki rushed in, hunkered down, folded her arms over her chest, and began mimicking the complex movements of the squat dance, her floppy ears bouncing up and down in time to her kicks.

Rainbow Dash, her flushed, blushing cheeks peeking out like rosy apples from beneath the flaps of her ushanka, guzzled down her mug of cider, wiped her muzzle with the sleeve of her flight jacket, and then began hooting while pumping her hoof into the air. This didn’t last long though, as she was pulled into a rousing dance with Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle. Twilight didn’t dance so much as she was flung around by Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, the pair keeping the damage that Twilight could do to a minimum.

Tarnish rose, no longer squatting down, and he pulled Vinyl up with him. Reaching out with his forelegs, he pulled her closer, lifted her off of her hooves, up into the air, and Vinyl, with a mock-indignant look, slapped Tarnish, first on one side, then on the other as she got him again on the return. His eyebrow arching, he tossed Vinyl away, as if he was discarding her, and Octavia caught the flying albino unicorn with ease.

A.K. Yearling, who watched everything with a smile, glanced at the clock on the wall. They had an hour left before their scheduled departure, and she knew that the hour would be fleeting. Turning away from the clock, she tipped back her mug of cider, and emptied it.

It was an hour that passed all too quickly and being the consummate professionals that they were, they stuck with their schedule. The Endeavour, a small, swift modern ship, was ready to go. Her sleek semi-rigid nacelle was iced over a bit, but her flaps were clear and free. Her steam turbine thrummed with power and it sounded as though she was eager to go.

Rainbow Dash had excused herself from the crowd and was now doing the preflight inspection. She flitted about in the wind and the snow, her keen eyes looking for any sign of trouble. On the ground, Daring Do watched her and there was now a sense of urgency shared among the four companions.

Doctor Caballeron was a bad sort, and there was no telling if he was on his way there, right now, this minute, with a good head start.

Standing in the snow, wearing a well-fitted woollen pea coat, Tarnish turned his head to look at Maud. He was tall, handsome, and something about the coat made him look distinguished, as though he was an officer perhaps, or some seasoned sailor. A pale grey, plain, woollen scarf knitted by Marble was wrapped around his neck; it stood out in sharp contrast to his green woollen coat and his chocolate brown pelt. A shearling ushanka covered his head, a gift from Rainbow Dash.

“I feel torn,” Tarnish admitted to his wife. “I want to stay here with you and Pebble.”

“I know,” Maud replied, looking up at her husband. “But you have a job to do and you, you are the best pony for that job. Go and make us proud, Tarnish. Just come home to me.”

Tarnish nodded, but he couldn’t make any words happen. He stood there, trying to make his salivary glands work, and he worried that his tongue would shrivel. Unable to respond, he ducked his head down and kissed Maud on the corner of the mouth, his muzzle lingering there for quite some time. His eyes closed and his tail swished from side to side.

A short distance away, Octavia pushed Vinyl away, breaking their kiss. She looked flustered, aroused even, and she giggled a bit. A little ribbon of drool stretched between them, which broke and fell to the snow. She looked Vinyl in the eye and said, “Right then, off you pop!”

“Wave goodbye!” Pinkie Pie said to Pebble, who was hung from a sling around Cloudy’s neck. Reaching out, she took Pebble’s stubby foreleg and gave it a wiggle so she could wave goodbye. In Pinkie’s current oblivious state, she didn’t notice that Marble was beside her, weeping in silence.

Limestone was nowhere to be seen.

Fat snowflakes began falling as the feral snowstorm grew in intensity, but the winds remained gentle for now. Igneous stood beside his wife, snowflakes clinging to his sideburns, and he gave Tarnish a solemn nod of goodbye. Cloudy, not satisfied with a nod or wave, strode forward, and she looked up at her son-in-law.

“Your mother couldn’t make it because of the weather,” Cloudy said to Tarnish. “Get down here, you big, lanky hairball! What have I told you about growing taller? Stop that!”

Obedient, Tarnish lowered his head and he felt Cloudy kiss him on the cheek. There was a flash of black and grey in his vision, then another kiss on the other side of his face. Blinking, he saw Octavia come into focus. Marble scooted forward, looking shy and sad, and it was clear that she wanted her goodbye kiss as well.

Tarnish gave her one, then focused on Pebble, who was slung from her grandmother’s neck. She was looking up at him with her curious little eyes, curious little eyes that glittered with intelligence. Tarnish was taken with her, she was beautiful, perfect, and Tarnish knew that he had to come home to her.

Hearing the crunch of snow, Tarnish turned his head and watched as Twilight approached. Snowflakes clung to her feathers and dusted her mane. One landed on her eyelash, and remained there until Twilight blinked. He was relieved that Twilight was here to send him off, but his heart longed to see another alicorn, one that was very precious and dear to him.

Princess Celestia had led him out of the darkness and guided him into the light.

“Find Skyreach, Tarnished Teapot,” Twilight commanded. “Do the impossible yet again. Listen to Daring Do and be careful. Who knows, she might let you be her First Mate next time. Her current First Mate is a bit flighty.”

“Hey!” Rainbow shouted as she scooped up a some snow.

The snowball flew with unerring aim and bounced off of Twilight’s glittering magenta shield that manifested mere moments before impact. Tarnish laughed, he couldn’t help it, Twilight’s wry grin was infectious.

“I love you all,” Tarnish said to those gathered around him.

It was time to go. It was time to find Skyreach and get an answer to their questions.

Author's Note

Right then, off we pop.

The best of friends come from your vagina

Laying on his back in his bunk, Tarnished Teapot stared up at the ceiling and thought of Maud’s weird motherhood musings. There could be no doubt, Maud was a weird pony, that was the reason why he loved her, and right now, he was missing her so much that it hurt. But Maud certainly had some weird, weird thoughts, ideas, and opinions on motherhood.

Pebble is the only other pony besides you that has been inside of my vagina. Not only has she been inside of it, she came squirting out of it. I shared my vagina with another equine, an equine that wasn’t you, and it was weird. It was a big stretch for me just to share my vagina with you, Tarnish, I mean, that was almost too weird for words, and I never thought about the consequences of my actions until Pebble was half-in and half-out of me. Life means sharing your vagina with others. It’s just all too weird for words.

In the middle of this deep, soul searching conversation, Marble had fainted and Limestone had almost thrown up. Cloudy and Igneous hadn’t dealt with the conversation much better, but to be fair, Igneous had asked Maud if there was anything she wanted to talk about during dinner.

Tarnish was too big for his bunk as it was made for a standard stock ‘little pony.’ Everywhere he went, he was asked if he was part llama, alpaca, or giraffe. Having met a few giraffes, Tarnish could understand why ponies might ask him that, but his neck wasn’t long enough. Rolling over onto his side, his thoughts lingered on Maud and the fact that he had trouble fitting into his bunk.

Even laying on his side, his bunk wasn’t wide enough, and his legs would have hung off of the edge of the mattress if he didn’t have them folded in. He grunted from frustration and missed The Egg. The bed in there was just long enough for him to stretch out a bit. The crick in his neck could no longer be ignored and he rolled over again, this time onto his back once more.

Pebble is so wonderful. I think she likes my rock poetry. I read to her while she nurses. Motherhood isn’t what I expected at all. I wasn’t certain if I was ready, I had my doubts just before I foaled, but after just one day with Pebble, I can’t imagine my life without her.

Tarnish’s ears twitched and ached with the need to hear Maud’s voice. Thrashing about, he rolled over once more, this time towards the wall, and he banged a few of his knees. It felt like he was sleeping in a breadbox. Or, in this case, failing to sleep in a breadbox. It wasn’t just his bunk, either, but his cabin. He couldn’t even stand up straight in his cabin, not without banging his head.

Oh, these cabins were fine for Daring Do, Rainbow Dash, or Vinyl Scratch. But for Tarnish, who forced Princess Celestia to maintain perfect posture just so she could angle her head down at him, the cabin was far too cramped. His bunk was maybe a yard wide at most and there was about two feet of space between his bunk and the far wall. The door was narrow and the ceiling was low.

Getting out of the bunk was even worse, as it meant spilling himself out onto the floor and trying to unfold his legs in the two or so feet of space between the bunk and the wall. Sitting up in bed was out of the question, as that would cause a concussion, no doubt.

Tossing and turning, there would be no sleep for Tarnished Teapot.

Author's Note

We're going back to Weed style chapters. Some of them will be long. Others will be short, like this one. This one is perfect for what it is and stretching it out to 2k words would just be pointless. Enjoy! And tell me what you think...

Daring Do and the Well Hidden Treasures of Griffonstain

“This place is a dump.”

“Mister Teapot, that was entirely unnecessary.” Irked, Daring Do shot a dirty look at her associate and her lip curled back in disgust. “The griffons have fallen upon hard times.”

“Griffonstone? More like Griffonstain.”

“Mister Teapot, you are positively monstrous at times.”

“It’s like the land just withered and died here. I feel really weird. I don’t feel comfortable at all. My skin is crawling and I feel out of sorts.”

“There is a lot of truth to your statement, Mister Teapot. The land here is dying. All of the earth ponies have departed from this place, off to find greener pastures. Soon, this place will be little more than dust and crumbling hovels.” Daring Do’s lip relaxed and her spine sagged a bit, though it was difficult to see beneath her down-filled parka. This place was already nothing more than snow and crumbling hovels. She shivered and wished she was someplace warm. A pegasus though she might be, Daring Do was a tropical pegasus, a pegasus of paradise, and she was not fond of the cold.

“We should go and do our little good deed,” Rainbow Dash suggested, her voice almost drowned out in the howling wind. “I wonder how Gilda is doing?”

Glancing over at Rainbow, Daring nodded. “Let’s go find out.”

When Tarnish heard the metallic click of the gun being cocked, he thought to himself, At least this time, it won’t be in the ass. Standing very still, he stared at the griffoness wrapped in a heavy poncho that was pointing a battered, rusty-looking revolver at him. She was sitting on a half-rotten wooden chair that was missing one of its legs and wobbled with her every movement. He was almost certain that if she fired the decrepit contraption, the gun might explode in her claws.

He would help patch her up, no doubt, but she’d hear about it. Oh yes, he would tell her off. The memory of being shot was far too fresh in his mind and Tarnish found himself a little jittery. A jittery Mister Teapot made bad things happen.

“Gilda!” Rainbow Dash stepped forwards and pulled off her ushanka, revealing her multi-hued mane. “Gilda, put that thing away!”

“Dash?” With a click, Gilda un-cocked the revolver and it vanished beneath her poncho when she tucked it away. “Dash, am I glad to see you! Sorry about the greeting! Bandits, you know! Greta, you can put away the rifle!”

There was a second muffled click and Tarnish relaxed his sphincter a little bit. A moment later, a heavy door opened and a second griffon came out. Greta too, was wearing a heavy woollen poncho and there was a rifle slung over her back, an ancient fusil. He watched as both griffons began hugging Rainbow Dash and the sound of Dash’s laughter lightened the tense mood a bit.

“We’ve kept your pony friends safe,” Greta said to Rainbow as she pulled away. “Come on in, they’re further in the compound.”

The compound was really just an old mine, but it was a nice mine, and it was warm enough. You didn’t freeze right away and your breath was only somewhat visible. Several griffons eyed him as he passed and Tarnish suspected that all of them were armed. They were guarding something precious, and Tarnish was both thankful and surprised by the sheer number of griffons present, protecting the precious treasure of the mine.

At the end of a long, sloping passage, there was a large circular room that was lit by torches, which offered light, but very little in the way of heat. Several familiar faces stood in the middle of the room and they were surrounded by adorable, fuzzy little griffon cubs. Tarnish could feel eyes on him, watching him, and he did his best to ignore them.

“Scootaloo!” Rainbow Dash hurried forwards, breaking away from the group, the packages tied to her back rustling and thumping. “Squirt! Oh my gosh, Squirt!”

“Rainbow!”

The two of them collided in a hug and Cheerilee, wearing a long, heavy coat, watched with misty eyes. Tarnish’s eyes weren’t misty, nope. He was fine. But the dust in the mine was making him sniffle. Or maybe it was the greasy smoke from the torches. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom had both piled onto Rainbow Dash, and the four of them were now crying. He felt Vinyl brush up against him, and he could feel her trembling through his pea coat.

“We’ve brought the supplies and medicine you needed,” Daring Do said to Cheerilee. “It is really quite remarkable that you are doing this. You are a very brave pony indeed.”

Flustered, Cheerilee batted her eyelashes and drew one foreleg up to her barrel, as she tried to think of some way to respond. Little curious eyes watched her every movement and the griffon cubs cast worshipful, adoring gazes upon their beloved teacher.

After a long moment of just standing there, Cheerilee finally found a few words to say. “They needed a teacher. What else could I do?”

With his magic, Tarnish began unloading boxes and packages. He carried some, as did Rainbow, Vinyl, and Daring. Supplies, medicine, treats, care packages, and letters from home. Rainbow had three foals in a tight, over-protective embrace, and she was sobbing with relief to find that they were okay.

“How’s things been, Miss Cheerilee?” Tarnish asked, his voice husky from the dust.

The schoolmarm’s soft expression hardened and she advanced on Tarnish. “You… you dropped out of school! You showed so much promise and you just walked away!”

“I’m getting educated!” Tarnish whined as he began his retreat.

Looking very stern, Cheerilee halted her advance, and she tilted her head back to look up at Tarnish. “You’d better be… I’m coming back to Equestria come spring and I’ll find out!”

Chuckling, Daring Do covered her mouth with her wing, amused by how Tarnish looked like the world’s largest foal right now. She looked at the fuzzy little griffons all watching, and wondered if Cheerilee was trying to teach a lesson right now, the importance of education. Moving with a cat-like nimbleness, Cheerilee sprung and gave Tarnish a powerful hug, which Tarnish returned once he recovered a bit.

“You three! I’m so proud of you!” Rainbow Dash pulled her head back and had a good look at the three foals all looking up at her. “I know that if Rarity and Applejack could be here, they’d be proud of you too!”

“How long can you stay?” Greta asked Daring Do.

“Not long, I’m afraid,” was the regretful reply.

“A real shame.” Gilda let out a low, lingering moan. “When we have guests, we put two lumps of coal into the furnace. I was looking forwards to being warm again.” The griffoness’ eyes glittered with mirth and then she laughed about her own misfortune as her clenching claws clicked on the stone floor.

Opening up one of the boxes, Vinyl Scratch pulled out a bright, fuzzy, miniature Twilight Sparkle whose frizzy fuzz was a bright, oversaturated lavender. The little plush doll had a small pink plastic comb connected to her leg by a clear loop of plastic. With a mute grin, she held the doll out, offering it to the griffon cubs that were now watching her with keen eyes.

One very brave little cub, a male, crept forward and took it, slunk back, and passed it to a much smaller female, who closed her eyes while she hugged it to her chest. Vinyl pulled more plush dolls out of the box, some white, some blue, some pink, and some lavender. The little cubs eyes brightened at the sight of the toys, their curious little heads tilted in an avian sort of way, and the braver ones came forward to claim a plush, brushable pony princess for themselves.

“And just who do we have to thank for this?” Gilda’s voice sounded as though it was on the verge of cracking while she spoke and the feathers on her neck puffed out.

“Two very nice mares named Rarity and Fluttershy contributed the necessary funds to make this happen.” Daring Do made a gesture at the box of toys, and then, with a turn of her head, she addressed the foals. “Don’t give up. Things are hard right now, but that is not a valid reason to give up. Study hard. Get good grades. Master reading and writing. Also, you must remember, you have friends. Don’t ever forget that, little ones.”

“Fluttershy… I treated her so badly.” Hanging her head, Gilda squeezed her eyes shut and her claws clenched so hard that they left scratches in the stone.

In a cool, collected voice, Daring Do drew attention away from Gilda’s moment of suffering. “Who needs medical attention? Mister Teapot is no doctor, but he is a skilled healer. Step forwards, form a queue, and remember, cubs and hens first. Now now, come on, let us make the most of the time we have. Mister Teapot, if you wouldn’t mind…”

When most of the room began to gather, Tarnish hurried to do his job, hoping that he could do enough.

Author's Note

Another short, fun chapter.

Blowing a load inside of Rainbow Dash...

Blowing a load inside of Rainbow Dash...

An eerie fog obscured everything and made it almost impossible to see. Tarnish peered out of the windows and could only see an impenetrable wall of thick, white mist. The snowflake gem shone bright now, it didn’t flicker at all, and it filled the wheelhouse with dazzling blue light. They had crossed into the Howling Peaks some time ago and Tarnish was eager for something to happen.

“Hey, Daring…”

“Yes, Tarnish?”

“Am I your mook?” Tarnish asked, giving voice to one of his many concerns about the relationship with his boss.

Rowdy laughter filled the wheelhouse and Daring’s whole body shook as her wings flapped against her sides. When Tarnish scowled, she laughed ever harder, then wrapped her wing over his back to reassure him.

“No, Mister Teapot, you are my hired goon. A mook is somepony that you don’t care about. You are my loyal henchpony.”

Squinting down at the laughing pegasus, Tarnish’s muzzle wrinkled while his nostrils flared. He snorted, once, twice, and then a third time, and Daring Do was having to hold herself up with the one wing over his back while wiping her eyes with the other. Eyes darting down to the pegasus beside him, Tarnish let out a breathy sigh of disgust.

At least he wasn’t a mook.

Daring Do was straining to breathe now and her eyes bulged as she continued to bellow with laughter. It was a side of her that Tarnish didn’t see often, Daring only laughed and let her mane down, so to speak, when everything was boring, calm, and safe.

“Doctor Daring Do and her loyal junior botanist henchpony,” Tarnish muttered to himself. “At least with Maud, I get to be her husband… but with you… I’m a henchpony.”

“But not a mook!” Daring Do gasped a few times as she tried to rein it in, but she failed and exploded with more laughter. After a few more attempts to hold it in, she did, but did so just long enough to say, “Rainbow Dash is the mook!” After she got this out, more laughter followed, and it spilled out from her muzzle in loud, barking whoops.

Hearing this caused Tarnish to almost choke, he coughed, then laughed, then coughed a bit more, and this continued to the point where stars swam in his vision. He leaned against Daring Do, almost wheezing, and the pair of them brayed with laughter that only they could appreciate.

When you were a henchpony, it was important to know the pecking order.

The laughter came to a sudden and abrupt halt when the instrument cluster went dead. Both reacted, Daring Do lept to the controls and Tarnish pressed in beside her. Tarnish didn’t have his pilot’s license yet, and he watched everything she did, hoping to learn. Everything was dead and unresponsive. The overhead light blinked a few times, then powered down completely.

No lights, no power, and Tarnish realised that he couldn’t hear the faint drone of the airscrews, but the steam turbine was still thrumming. The ship was still moving forwards, drifting perhaps, Tarnish could feel it. The control yoke was stiff and resistant to Daring Do shoving on it. The ship gave an odd shudder and Daring Do let out a panicked yelp.

“We’re moving faster,” Daring Do said to Tarnish as she looked up at him with wide, frightened eyes. “Somehow, we’re gaining speed with a dead ship.”

“What’s going on?” Tarnish tried not to think about how they were several miles up in the air, high above the jagged mountain peaks below. A cold, prickly sensation caused his testicles to clench and draw up into his body.

The snowflake gem went dark and both ponies just stared at it in mute terror.

The door to the wheelhouse slammed open with a bang, which almost caused both Daring Do and Tarnish to jump right out of their skins. Rainbow Dash came skidding into the room, her hooves clopping against the wooden floor, and when she couldn’t stop in time, she plowed into Tarnish.

“Everything went dark!” she cried. “And then I found I couldn’t fly!”

“What?” Daring Do’s voice was incredulous.

“I CAN’T FLY!” Rainbow Dash screamed as she disentangled herself from Tarnish and his tail. To demonstrate, Rainbow flapped her wings as hard as she could, and nothing happened. Her hooves didn’t even come an inch off of the ground. “I CAN’T FLY! I CAN’T FLY! I CAN’T—”

With a lightning quick extension of her wing, Daring Do slapped Rainbow Dash across the face. Stunned, Rainbow blinked, then began panting with panic as she rushed forwards to embrace Daring Do. The two pegasus mares stood together, and Daring tried to offer what comfort she could to the stricken Rainbow Dash.

The ship gave another lurch, almost knocking the three of them off of their hooves, and Rainbow Dash let out a piercing, ear-tearing scream of terror. Tarnish tried to look out the window, but there was only fog. White fog, thick, impenetrable, and now, horrifying. Tarnish pushed himself against the two panicking mares and thought of Vinyl. He needed to go looking for her, or, with luck, she would come to the wheelhouse.

A lump developed in Tarnish’s throat as his teacup slid along the console, sloshing tea, and then went sailing over the edge. It crashed to the floor and shattered. The ship was no longer level, which was quite unpleasant to think about. Rainbow Dash screamed again while she stared at the puddle of tea and shattered bits of teacup.

“Mister Teapot,” Daring Do began, and her words were ragged sounding as her voice cracked.

“Yes?”

“I lied, Mister Teapot… you are not my henchpony. You are my best friend and one of my most trusted confidants. I just… I just thought you should know that.”

To Tarnish’s ears, that sounded a lot like goodbye. The ship continued to list and he could hear things crashing belowdecks. The thick fog swirled in an upwards motion outside the windows and Tarnish understood all too well what it meant. He felt lighter as the ship picked up speed and there could no longer be any doubt that they were plunging to the earth.

“Stiff upper lip, Miss Dash. We’re pegasus ponies. Let us face our coming demise with some dignity.”

“But I don’t wanna,” Rainbow whined as she closed her eyes and clung to Daring’s neck. “This can’t be real… this can’t be happening… I can’t fly away from this… I can’t save my friends—”

“Tut tut, Miss Dash.” Daring Do clucked her tongue as she braced her hooves against the floor to keep from pitching over. “Show some backbone. No pegasus wants to die a chicken.”

To Tarnish, Daring Do’s actions seemed logical. There was no point screaming or crying about it. At some point, they would run out of sky and then there would only be mountains, or maybe dirt. His neck straightened and his upper lip went stiff. This wasn’t how he wanted to go, and he wasn’t too happy about it, but there was nothing he could do.

“Rainbow Dash, you have been a good friend. There is no friend more loyal.” Tarnish was shocked by how calm his own voice sounded. He thought of Maud, of Pebble, his beloved sisters, and his family. In a moment of bittersweet emotion, he thought of Princess Celestia. She was right. They shouldn’t have come. She was right all along and now she would mourn them.

It was now obvious why no one ever returned from their search for Skyreach.

“Not like this,” Rainbow begged as she clung to Daring Do for support.

As Vinyl Scratch clambered into the wheelhouse, the fog vanished, revealing quite a view. Mountain peaks were all around them, moving in a blur. The back of the ship was almost pointed down to the earth below. Bright green evergreens could be seen below out of the back window. The ground was rushing up to meet them.

Peering out the back window, Vinyl’s expression could only be described as annoyance. How dare the Endeavour crash with her aboard? She scrambled around a bit on the steep, sloping floor, managed to hook her forelegs around Tarnish’s neck, and she hauled him in for a kiss. She pressed her muzzle against the corner of his mouth and smooched him, then patted him on the neck to reassure him.

Tarnish, not quite done with Vinyl, pulled her back in and planted one very affectionate kiss right on her snoot, a dangerous place to kiss indeed, because that was Octavia’s special smooching spot. Vinyl gave him a good natured cuff across the muzzle with her hoof for his troubles, but he didn’t mind.

The ground was getting closer and Rainbow’s whimpers were growing louder.

Stunned, Tarnish squinted through his tears, which froze on his face. It was cold, freezing, and he didn’t know what was going on. There had been a flash of light, a tug on his body, and now this. The ground was below him, just the ground, and no floor. It was both confusing and disorientating.

There was another flash of light and when Tarnish could see again, it felt as though his descent was a little slower. The cold slashed through his body like the icy touch of Grogar’s shadow. Rainbow Dash was screaming at the top of her lungs now as she plummeted in freefall. Below them, the evergreens grew larger as they drew closer.

More flashes, several rapid fire bursts, and Tarnish felt nauseous from the quick jolts of teleportation. Just as he was about to barf, there were a whole string of rapid bursts of teleportation, and Tarnish found himself teleported away from his own cloud of vomit. He spewed out hot, steaming chunks, some of which froze to his muzzle right away, forming a gruesome, spiky mask shaped by the wind.

Teleportation had its own physics. Things like momentum and velocity were preserved. If a unicorn teleported just before hitting the ground, they would still splatter the moment they reappeared. Tarnish understood this from reading his magical primers, but had never paid much attention because he was utterly incapable of winking, or teleporting as most unicorns now called it.

It dawned on him that Vinyl was challenging physics, trying to slow their velocity, attempting to arrest their momentum, trying to save them. It could be done, but only the most skilled, most capable unicorns could do it. Beside him, Daring Do was flapping her wings as hard as she could, but to no avail. She couldn’t fly and it didn’t slow her down.

Not far away from them, the Endeavour went streaking down, no longer buoyant. The Endeavour was their shelter from the extreme cold, it held their supplies, their gear, their comfort, the Endeavour was life itself to the four companions, and she plummeted towards her end.

More rapid fire blinks took place, causing Tarnish to go dizzy. He could longer tell which way was up or down at this point and burning hot vomit shot out of his nose. He shuddered and kicked in the air, his nostrils and sinuses burning with stomach bile, and some of his own puke went into his eyes, blinding him.

Tarnish had no memory of hitting the ground. He couldn’t breathe, his nostrils were full of puke and the wind had been knocked out of his lungs. His legs kicked and flailed in the snow. Bright purple-blue starbursts exploded in his vision and bells rang in his ears. Things inside of his barrel felt bent, if not broken. There was searing, explosive pain in legs that he became aware of as more of his mind recovered.

There was no air—try as he might, Tarnish just couldn’t seem to gulp in that first breath of air needed to jumpstart his lungs. He panicked and began to thrash around, suffocating, and his vision went dim as the colour drained away. His hearing went next and Tarnish could hear nothing as his oxygen starved brain began shutting down various vital functions.

Something grabbed him and he was being kissed. In his current dreadful state, with frozen vomit crusted all over his muzzle, and quite a bit of blood as well, he was being kissed. It was warm and pleasant, he found that he rather liked it. As he began to drift off from oxygen starvation, he relaxed a bit and quit thrashing around. He felt sleepy and the kiss made him feel warm.

But then the kiss turned awful. Somepony punched him right in his barrel, causing him to make a strange ‘GURK!’ sound that he was incapable of hearing. There was a terrible crushing pressure on his barrel, up and down it went, it was rhythmic and weird, but it also felt good in an odd way. Then, he was being kissed again, and this kiss was so great that Tarnish could hear the blood roaring in his ears. He gasped and was quite surprised to find that he could breathe. He coughed, sputtered, and then, without warning, he barfed again, right into the mouth of whomever was kissing him.

Coughing, gagging, Tarnish discovered that he could see in colour again, and something blue was spluttering beside him. There was a whoop, a gag, and then the sound of chunky liquid spattering against the snow. The wind was almost knocked out of him again when Rainbow Dash pitched over and landed on top of his barrel.

“You son of a bitch!” Rainbow Dash gasped. “You threw up in my mouth!”

Author's Note

Some of you have questions. Feel free to ask.

Priorities

Tarnish’s knees had a wobble that he didn’t much care for as he stood up. It was freezing, the cold was cutting into his skin, and he didn’t have his heavy coat because he had been safe and warm aboard the Endeavour. Vinyl lay in the snow, panting, trying to recover. Tarnish didn’t see any sign of a nosebleed, which was good. Having been taught by Maud and Daring Do both, he began to prioritise for survival.

The wreck of the Endeavour was a short distance away and smoke rose from it’s shattered hull. The whole ship had crumpled and shattered on impact and flames were visible. Some of it was made from wood, other parts of it were metal, but a lot of it was flammable. All of their supplies, their means to survive was in the wreckage, and it was burning.

Running as fast as his wobbly legs could carry him, he went to a massive tear in the side of the ship and halted. It was too hot to go forward and there was a lot of choking, eye-burning smoke. Rainbow Dash, who had followed him, was trying to pull him back, digging her hooves into the snow and tugging with all of her might, which was considerable.

A massive jet of steam whooshed from Tarnish’s horn and the flames shrank a bit, but the great heat in the area worsened. Snow was melting now and Tarnish was making very little headway. Getting inside of the ship to rescue their supplies seemed impossible. Gritting his teeth, Tarnish pushed forwards, not caring about the heat, or being burned. He braced his long legs and pushed forwards, dragging Rainbow along with him, and she began to cry out in pain from the scalding heat.

“Tarnish, don’t!” Rainbow begged. “It’s not worth your life! Stop!”

Where Rainbow failed, a much stronger force yanked Tarnish back and threw him down into the snow, where he lay steaming. Vinyl Scratch, looking more annoyed than ever, stomped through the snow, her hooves making crunching sounds as she broke through the frozen crusts. Her horn ring glinted in the sunlight, her ring of elemental attunement.

In seconds, the visible flames vanished, but smoke continued to curl up from the wreckage. Vinyl stood there, unmoving for a short time, and when she seemed satisfied the fire was out, she moved over to where Tarnish and Rainbow Dash lay heaped together in the snow. Scowling, she grabbed them both and applied a powerful cleaning spell, cleaning the frozen, crusted vomit from the both of them. Then, with a pop of magic, something manifested near her head, something wrapped in bright silver foil.

With an unapologetic grimace, she forced open the mouths of both Tarnish and Rainbow Dash, then popped in a few tablets of Brush’em Brand Instant Mouth Cleanser, an oral care product designed for earth ponies, but used by lazy, careless equines everywhere. Both Tarnish and Rainbow Dash began to foam at the mouth and they held one another, shivering in the snow.

“We need to get organised now,” Daring Do said to the group. “The temperature is hovering somewhere around zero. When the sun goes down, and it will go down soon with all of these tall mountains surrounding us, it is going to be bitterly cold. Rainbow and I are somewhat more suited to the cold because of our wings and insulating feathers, but I am worried about Tarnish and Vinyl. But mostly Tarnish. Those long legs and his long neck are going to cause significant losses of body heat. So we need to bundle up now and start conserving as much of our body heat as possible. Then we need to secure some kind of shelter.”

“It’s cold enough to freeze the balls off—”

“Mister Teapot!”

“—of a Hearth’s Warming tree.” As Tarnish spoke, a foamy mess dribbled from his muzzle, dripping down onto the snow and his front legs.

Snickering, Daring Do tried to swallow her laughter and she tried even harder to give Tarnish a scowl of disapproval, but she failed. Vinyl didn’t laugh, no, she sniffed once, looked disgusted, and then forced both Rainbow Dash and Tarnish to take another tablet.

Turning his head, foaming at the mouth, Tarnish had this to say to Rainbow Dash. “Bark!”

Wide-eyed, also foaming at the mouth, Rainbow turned her head, her lip curled back into a snarl, and she replied, “Arf!”

Disgusted, Daring Do kicked the snow in frustration and rolled her eyes. “We almost get killed and you two are still goofing off!” She let out a sigh, slumped a bit, and another sigh slipped out. “I guess it is better than despair. Carry on, the both of you. Right. Good dogs.”

The wreckage of the Endeavour left Tarnish feeling sad. There were lots of things he could be upset or sad about, like plummeting down to the ground from several miles up, but the Endeavour was like a teammate. A friend. Even if she had cramped, terrible bunks. He slid down the hallway and crashed into a charred, broken door.

His door, which he now climbed though. The ceiling of his bunk was now the floor, sort of. The storage area was beneath his bed and he began pulling everything out. When he found his pea coat, he put it on, then his ushanka, his heavy boots, and then he began strapping on the rest of his gear, such as his saddlebags. Flamingo was fine, as far as Tarnish understood, she was indestructible. His shield, also indestructible as far as he knew, was fine as well.

He heard a thump, followed by swearing. Poor Rainbow Dash, she wasn’t used to walking or climbing over stuff. Bracing his hooves for balance, he unfurled a heavy woollen cloak given to him by Limestone as a gift. Pausing, he looked at the corner, his horn providing pale light. The cutie marks of each of the Pie sisters were embroidered there, a reminder of home and those who loved him. The cloak was ridiculously heavy and weighed several pounds. He didn’t know how much it weighed exactly, he hadn’t done the math to figure it out, but it was made from thirty-six ounce wool, a fact that he had no understanding of.

But wearing it draped over his back and with the voluminous hood pulled over his head, he was warm. He was also quite dramatic looking, no doubt, a good and proper druid. With all of his gear collected, Tarnish scrambled out of his bunk and went to help Rainbow Dash, who he could hear thumping around.

The sun was just over the top of the peaks and Tarnish knew that time was growing shorter. They needed a shelter and the wreckage of the Endeavour was not ideal. Vinyl was under his cloak with him, sharing body heat, and she was wearing a heavy cloak of her own. Daring and Rainbow were bundled up as well, and both appeared to be comfortable in the zero degree weather.

“I don’t think we can be rescued,” Daring Do said to the group.

“What? Why?” Rainbow Dash’s breath came shooting out in steaming snorts, which frosted over the woollen edge of her ushanka.

“My sense of distance tells me that we traveled a long way through that fog and I think we got pulled in,” Daring Do replied, explaining what she knew. “We picked up a lot of speed at the end there. That fog is magical, and even if we somehow managed to climb the mountains surrounding us, I strongly suspect that the fog would just bring us right back to where we started. We’re stuck.”

“You’re right.” Rainbow blinked a few times, then let out a sigh of acceptance. “Any ship that shows up to help us would suffer the same fate as us. And I don’t think we can climb those mountains.” She gestured at the jagged peaks that could be seen all around. Most of the mountains had sheer cliff faces, and Rainbow stared at them, looking defeated. “There is no means to fly away.”

“Right. So we do what we came to do. Find Skyreach. I have the snowflake gem secured in my pocket. Thank you, for finding that, Vinyl, by the way.” Daring Do gave her silent companion a nod, which was returned. “Perhaps we can find a way to deactivate these defenses. I’m almost positive that this phenomenon we are experiencing is some kind of defensive magical effect.”

“That has to be some weird magic to have taken down the electrical systems on the Endeavour,” Tarnish said as he thought about how everything had gone dead, including the electric lights. “How did the ancient pegasus ponies come up with a defensive magic that can affect a modern airship and take out the electrical system?”

“I don’t know, Tarnish,” Daring Do replied, sounding a bit fearful and worried.

A prickle of fear crawled over Tarnish’s stomach when he thought about Daring Do calling him by his first name. She had to be rattled by all of this, even if she wasn’t showing it. Daring was one of the toughest mares he knew, and she had been in fights with some terrible old jungle god.

A great and powerful huff erupted from Tarnish’s nostrils and he was seized with an idea. They needed to find shelter, and soon. It was time to try and talk with a few friends he hadn’t met yet and see if they could help. They needed someplace cosy and secure.

“Stay put,” Tarnish commanded. “I’m gonna go and talk with some of the local trees and maybe some wildlife if I can find any. There’s bound to be cave or something around here, and we don’t need to waste no energy looking for it. I’m gonna go ask around.”

“Tarnish… wait…”

“What, Rainbow?”

“Good luck, Tarnish. Be careful, okay?”

“I’m a druid in the woods… I’m the Heliophant. This is my realm. I’ll be fine.”

Author's Note

And now, survival.

Sleepy trees have all day wood

The trees of the boreal forest were sleepy and Tarnish had a hard time rousing them. Sleepy trees took forever to say anything, about the same amount of time it took for frozen maple syrup to drip from the spigot. Tarnish was, of course, still getting used to his new magics, and much of what he did confused him as he didn’t understand it very well.

Vinyl had been getting new powers as well, new magics, new spells, new abilities. She took to it readily, having a good understanding of magical theory, while Tarnish just sort of allowed things to happen and hoped that he would wing it if he had to. The one thing that Tarnish did well though, was talk to plants.

As it turned out, plants loved to talk to ponies, and had a lot to say, but most ponies couldn’t hear what was being said. Tarnish could though, and it disturbed him. Plants begging to be eaten so that their seeds could be passed through his bowels and deposited elsewhere gave Tarnish pause.

And then there were Applejack’s apple trees, which Tarnish didn’t like thinking about. Applejack’s mighty applebucking helped to spread the seeds of the apple trees and the trees viewed applebucking as a form of pleasurable sex. When one of the Apples applebucked them, the trees climaxed and released their fruit. Walking through the orchard and hearing the perverted moans of the trees had been quite unnerving for poor Tarnish.

There was magic here, raw, unstable magic, and Tarnish’s keen senses alerted him to this fact. As he walked, he brewed himself a cup of tea, he needed one, he could feel it, and he didn’t even need to look at the amulet Twilight had made for him. Fixing his tea was now like breathing for him. He conjured water from the snow all around him, placed it into his unbreakable silver teacup, (something so practical for adventuring) made it boil, and dropped in a silken tea sachet filled with his special poison joke blend.

His poison joke powers had grown exponentially with his ascension to druidhood and it was now more critical than ever to maintain his tea intake. He sniffed and his mouth watered in anticipation. Pretty much every single pony that had tried poison joke tea liked it and Tarnish knew why.

It was good for them and cleansed away magical contamination.

Ears perking, he came to an abrupt halt and focused his senses. Something approached and Tarnish could hear it. He waited where he stood, as whatever it was drew closer. A very curious white fox peered out from behind a tree at him, and Tarnish let out a sigh of relief.

“Hey, fox… know of any caves around here?” Tarnish asked.

What the fox said in reply was difficult for Tarnish to understand, he was good at talking to plants, but animals were difficult. The fox had little to say and the one thing that stood out to Tarnish was that the fox was going to be eating his corpse later. Some things still hadn’t changed, and nature still sucked. Frowning, Tarnish waved the white fox away with his hoof and decided that he would have to find a few chatty trees.

“I hope you choke on me!” Tarnish said in parting.

The trees parted, revealing something that was almost a clearing. There were many smaller trees here, and the rotted remains of evergreen giants. In the center of the clearing was a curious sight that made Tarnish feel alarmed. The bleached white bones of a dragon were scattered along the ground. Some of them appeared to have shattered on impact, and Tarnish realised that the clearing was where the dragon had crashed.

Investigating the bones revealed some curious peculiarities to Tarnish. The skull was full of holes, many of them, tiny holes about the size of a grape. Try as he might, he couldn’t figure out what had made the holes. The wing bones were broken and one front leg was quite a distance away from the rest of the skeleton. It was puzzling.

Beyond the clearing and the dragon bones, Tarnish spotted a hillock, some massive boulders all piled together, perhaps dropped here during some ice age. It looked promising, so he took off through the snow to have a better look, leaving the perplexing bones behind him.

Just as Tarnish had suspected, the hillock had a cave. It was small, had a tiny opening, and appeared to have been used as a den at some point. Maud had taught him how to spot caves and Tarnish was rather proud that he had learned so much from her. This cave had formed when two flattish boulders had come to rest against one another at an angle, and then the dirt and debris of time had packed in around them. Roots provided a natural framework, and mighty evergreens grew from the slopes of the hillock. At some point, some creature had come along and dug a den.

The ground here was rock hard and Tarnish knew that the cave would make a good shelter. It was about a half an hour or so walk from the crash site and Tarnish figured that they could make it here with some daylight to spare if they hurried. Supplies from the wreck of the Endeavour would have to be moved here tomorrow.

With ease, Tarnish climbed the hillock to have himself a better look around. In the distance, he saw other crashed ships, this place was a graveyard for ships. Tomorrow, he would have to go and have a look at them. Perhaps there were supplies or things he could salvage. There were stories to be learned, no doubt. Perhaps there might even be other survivors here. Tarnish felt hopeful that something could and would be found, either supplies or new friends.

Still a bit miffed about the rudeness of the fox, Tarnish took off to tell the others what he had found.

Upon his return, Tarnish discovered that Vinyl had rigged together a makeshift sledge to haul their supplies upon. Delighted, he smiled as he approached, feeling happy about the pleasant surprise. Chunks of the Endeavour had been gathered up and Tarnish suspected that they would become firewood. The wood all around them in the boreal forest was wet and green.

“I’ve found a cave,” Tarnish announced, and right away he had everypony’s attention. “It’s about a half an hour or so from here, which is why I was gone for almost an hour.” He grinned, and it was infectious. He was pleased to see Rainbow grinning back. “I also found a dragon skeleton right by our cave and this place is littered with ships. They’re everywhere. Tomorrow, I’m going to snoop around and see what I can scavenge.” Turning his head, Tarnish examined the sledge and wondered how much it might haul.

“Sounds like a good idea.” Daring Do eyed the sledge, then returned her gaze to Tarnish. After a moment, she looked over at Rainbow, then back at Tarnish. Blinking, she looked over at the sledge again, then back at Tarnish. “No offense”—Daring cleared her throat—“but I don’t think you’ll be able to pull that. Better leave it to me and Rainbow.”

“Good,” Tarnish replied, “you can pull me too. I’m exhausted from walking through this snow, it gets deep in places.”

For a moment, Daring Do looked as though she was about to say something stern, but then her expression softened a great deal. “You look like you could use a rest. I think out of all of us, you hit the ground the hardest. Miss Dash and I are featherweights, and Mrs. Scratch is slight of build. You are also slight of build, but you have to be two or three times our size, Mister Teapot.”

“I’ve seen Maud stand beneath him to get out of the rain.” Rainbow’s voice was a raspy squeak. “I’m really glad that Tarnish didn’t break those long legs of his, or we’d be up a creek without a paddle. We didn’t bring the leg-fixing gun.” Rubbing her neck, Rainbow turned her head from side to side, and a crackling sound could be heard. “There are two ponies I know of taller than Tarnish.”

“Two?” Tarnish sounded both indignant and incredulous. “There is only Princess Celestia!” Already, he could feel his ego taking a bruise that matched his violent impact into the ground. Tarnish took pride in his height and the fact that only one pony looked down upon him. It was a silly, foalish thing, but Tarnish took what he could get.

“There’s a pony named Trouble Shoes. He’s taller than Princess Celestia, and he’s huge too. I mean, like muscled all over.” Rainbow’s eyes glittered with excitement and she continued to gush. “I mean, he’s enormous, he has to be a good head taller than Princess Celestia and he’s a nice guy.”

Gnawing his lip, Tarnish stewed, seething over this revelation. While seething, he willed himself to grow taller, short, cramped bunks be damned. If he had to, he would go around the world shooting every pony that had ever insulted Prince Blueblood right in the ass, and then he’d have his own airship built, with large, roomy bunks. He figured he’d call it, Pistols, Plots, and Pain. Whinnying, Tarnish liked this idea, satisfying Prince Blueblood to finance an airship.

“Miss Dash, I suggest that we drop this subject and get to work.” Daring Do glanced at Tarnish, then focused a stern glare upon Rainbow Dash. “Mister Teapot is having a rough day.”

“Oh, right. We need to move. Gotcha.” Pausing, Rainbow Dash tapped her chin. “I keep hearing rumours about a giant pony named Steel Buns, he’s a wrestler…”

Huddled up in his cloak, Tarnish was enjoying being warm and comfortable. Sort of comfortable, anyhow. As he was pulled through the snow, he made himself useful, steam cooking some eggs that had somehow survived the crash. Once he had hard boiled eggs, he’d make egg salad and Vinyl could toast bread.

Never once did Tarnish think about the consequences of four ponies, two of them pegasus ponies, all sharing a cave after eating egg salad. It was one of Tarnish’s known shortcomings, his lack of forward thinking and acting in the moment. Humming to himself, Tarnish thought of those he loved and tried not to think about how short he was.

“Surrender your inferiour flesh and submit for processing.”

The mechanical voice made Tarnish’s blood run cold and he thought of the buried city where he’d found Grogar’s Crown of Corruption. The sledge stopped moving and Tarnish lifted his head as he yanked his hood down so he could see better. The rush of fear was so strong that he felt his balls shrivel and retract into his abdomen.

“If you submit now, your processing will be painless.”

Rainbow and Daring were tied to the sledge. Vinyl looked ready though, Tarnish strained to hear where the voice was coming from and every muscle in his body tensed. Already, he had a good telekinetic grip on his shield, and he was ready to do some bashing.

“Scanning. Inferior stock pegasus ponies polluted with unicorn and earth pony stock. Non-viable. Please submit for processing.”

“I beg your pardon,” Daring Do barked.

Snarling, Tarnish was tossed forwards, slingshotted and hurled through the air by Vinyl. He flew like a bullet, his ancient shield held out before him, and he trusted that Vinyl’s aim was true. The rush of cold air stung his eyes, flooding them with tears, and with blurry vision, he saw the source of the voice, a sight that froze his blood.

A centaur automaton. Tall, bipedal, skinny, and deadly.

It held its long, spindly arms up in front of its face to shield itself, but to no avail. Tarnish slammed into it shield first, colliding with a loud gong sound, bowling it over and driving it down to the ground. Raising his kite shield, he brought the hard, impervious edge down upon the automaton’s face.

“If you submit now, your processing will only be somewhat painful.”

The voice now sounded like a slowed record, it was drawn out, warped, and distorted. Tarnish raised his shield again and brought it down as the elongated, spindly arms began to flail against him, the long, terrifying fingers reaching for his tender, vulnerable flesh. Tarnish remembered all too well having his muzzle crushed, an experience that he did not wish to experience for a second time. He smashed his shield into the automaton’s head once more, then again, and then a third time.

On the third time, the construct went still as it hissed, popped, and sizzled. Tarnish lept away as the arms fell limp against the snow. Smoke rose from now ruined crystalline conduits and a smashed gemstone eye. Acrid ozone filled the air and Tarnish stared down at the mechanoid corpse with a faceful of outright loathing.

This construct was made of brass, not steel, and it glinted in what remained of the sunlight. Even more disturbing, Tarnish’s sharp eyes noticed that while the body was dinged up, scratched, and battered, there was a bright, shiny new arm and leg on the automaton, a detail that disturbed Tarnish a great deal, and caused a little trickle of piss to escape from him.

Huffing, puffing, panting, his body shuddering from piss-shivers, Tarnish managed to say a few words as he tried to control his breathing. “By Maledico’s memory, are we ever fucked...”

Author's Note

Back home, they call him Captain Equestria in Manehattan.

Three little mares

The four companions all eyed the fallen automaton, each of them silent and dealing with it in their own way. All four of them had some experience with them, even Daring Do and Rainbow Dash, but Vinyl and Tarnish had extensive knowledge. Deadly, magic resistant, able to punch through a unicorn’s shields, and those horrible grabby fingers.

Tarnish and Vinyl had encountered automatons driven mad by Grogar’s influence. Daring Do and Rainbow Dash, along with Tarnish and Vinyl, had encountered them again when they accidently stumbled across a centaur installation. Those automatons had been ordered to keep the vault sealed and let nothing out. Upon their entry, Tarnish, the boneheaded one, had thrown himself down the sacrificial chute, and they ran afoul of the manic mechanoids that followed their directives in a mindless, mechanical way, wanting to keep them so they could be processed.

The four of them had killed the mindless mechanoids, and then destroyed the terrible tin god that was accepting equine sacrifices from some backwards jungle tribe, puréeing their brains, and using the collected neuron goop to extend its own failing processes. They never even found out what the odd bio-mechanoid was doing, or what its purpose was.

The tribe, having discovered that its beloved god was dead, had immediately tried to kill the companions.

There was nothing quite so deadly or as terrifying as centaur automatons. Tarnish kicked it with his booted hoof just to make sure that it had ceased to function. The sun began to dip down below the peaks and clouds were rolling in from the north, big fluffy dull grey clouds, born on a strong wind.

“Skyreach isn’t the city of the ancient pegasus ponies,” Daring Do said to her companions, and her voice cracked from strain. She appeared to retreat into her heavy parka, shrinking in, and her rose coloured eyes glimmered with fear. “Okay, that’s enough rubbernecking, we need to get to our shelter and get settled in for the night. We’ll need to cover the opening and keep all lights to a minimum. I’m glad we have Flamingo.”

“We don’t know what Skyreach is yet.” Tarnish kicked the downed automaton again and then he backed away from it, never taking his eyes off of it. “We’ll do better if we don’t make assumptions. For now, let’s just go with what we know. There are murderous mechanoids that are being reassembled and repaired. We’re in a tight spot, but we have each other. We have some supplies, and each one of us is a known and proven survivor.”

“Yeah, we have each other and that counts for a lot.” Rainbow Dash drew herself up to her full height, which wasn’t much, and she sneered in contempt at the downed automaton. “Let’s go get the shelter set up. It’ll be fun to camp out!”

Tarnish grinned, but Daring Do did not. Vinyl stood staring at the fallen mechanoid. She pulled out a pair of glasses, the same pair of glasses that Tarnish had looted from the chambers where Grogar’s Crown of Corruption had been stored, and pulled the glasses she was wearing off of her face. She replaced them with the ancient spectacles, and began studying the brass murder machine.

“Vinyl,” Tarnish said to her in a gentle voice, “we don’t have time. Look, I’ll toss it on the sledge and you can study it when we get settled in.”

Sighing, Vinyl gave up, pulled off the ancient, ugly spectacles, and put her own dark shades back on to protect her eyes from the dazzling white snow. Turning about, she trudged away from the junked mechanoid and made ready to tie Rainbow Dash and Daring Do back into their harnesses so they could haul the sledge once more.

Inside the small cave, Vinyl superheated a rock until it almost seemed to glow and the companions’ new home was flooded with comfortable, life-giving heat. The small opening was covered over with a sheet of heavy-duty waxed canvas and a bit of illusion magic. The sledge was buried in the snow. What supplies they had brought with them were now stacked in the back of the cave.

A few small insulated mats were laid down, to keep the ground from leaching away their body heat, and two salvaged mattresses were laid down on top of the mats. With the cave warm and everypony settled in, Vinyl retreated into her study and began to disassemble the downed automaton.

Tarnish watched her, for lack of anything else to do, and thought about Princess Celestia. What Vinyl was doing right now, Princess Celestia wasn’t too keen on. It wasn’t that Princess Celestia didn’t trust Vinyl, she did, and very much so. But information, knowledge, thoughts, these things could be stolen, drawn out, taken, and the dangerous knowledge of the ancient centaur technology could cause all manner of disasters.

What Vinyl wanted was a better storage medium for music and she was convinced that centaur mechanoids would help her find this. They stored information somehow, and it wasn’t entirely magic. Vinyl had determined that through trial and error. Vinyl, a brilliant sound engineer, was also an engineer, a fact that was easy to forget sometimes, and she was as smart as the day was long.

Rainbow Dash pulled out a book and snuggled up next to Vinyl to take advantage of her horn light. Much to Tarnish’s amusement, it was Daring Do and the Ring of Destiny. Even while having an adventure, Rainbow Dash was obsessed with adventure.

Sighing, Tarnish knew this happy moment would be brief. He cleared his throat and in a soft voice he said, “I’m going out scouting tonight.”

“No.” Daring Do’s tone was the firm, harsh voice of a schoolmarm.

“The dark gives me an advantage and allows me to be stealthy.”

“Tarnish, it’ll be fifty degrees below zero out there when its dark. There is a snowstorm blowing in. No.”

“I’m going out.” Tarnish’s voice was quiet, but hard. “And I’m going out alone. I’ll leave Flamingo here so you’ll have a guard while you sleep. I’m not going far, but I am going to check out that crashed ship that isn’t too far from here. It looks fresh and it hasn’t been covered with much snow yet. I also plan to get a feel for the land and see if there are any resources we can tap.”

“Tarnish, please don’t.”

“I’m going.”

“Fine,” Daring Do spat. “But you’re going to carry a couple of chemical warmers with you and I want your word that you will not be out all night. You have three mares that need you and want you to come home to them.” The pegasus mare’s eyebrow raised, and there was no trace of humour in her words. “I am not about to sit in this cave all night, worrying about you. I need you here with me… I need to know that you are okay. You are my dear friend… and I cannot bear the thought of something happening to you.”

“I could come with you,” Rainbow offered from behind her book.

“No, Rainbow. Your legs are too short and the snow is too deep.” Tarnish sounded a little apologetic, but now was the time for brutal, unflinching honesty. “You’d just slow me down. Rainbow, you’re a flier, not a walker, and I plan to be sneaky and quiet.”

“I understand.” Rainbow looked up from her book and her eyes shimmered with concern. “When you get back, I’ll be here to help you warm up and I don’t mean that in a pervy way. It’s going to be colder than the Ice Queen Clone’s teats out there.”

“I know.” Tarnish nodded his head. “I’m going to catch some shuteye for a while, so I’ll be in good shape tonight. Somepony wake me when it’s good and dark.”

“Okay.” Rainbow’s face disappeared behind her book once more.

Sprawling out, Tarnish made the surprising move of cuddling up against his boss. She didn’t say anything, but she did look at him with a curious, almost annoyed stare. After a drawn out moment, she relented, let out a nicker, and snuggled up against Tarnish so he would be comfortable.

“Oh, before I forget, there’s hard boiled eggs… I was gonna make egg salad before all the excitement happened. I suppose I still can fix some dinner before I nap.” Warm and comfortable, Tarnish saw no need to move while he began preparing some dinner. It took him a moment to find the eggs, to touch them with his mind, and then he began to pull out the other ingredients needed.

He paused when he pulled out the bright pink plastic mixing bowl. Staring, Tarnish found it difficult to breathe and the growing tightness in his barrel was almost unbearable. His emotions had come upon him in a sudden, unexpected assault. Three little mares that needed him. Daring Do’s words sank in and there was a heavy, crushing sensation in his gut.

Would they live out whatever was left of their lives in this cave?

Were there other castaways trapped here that had somehow survived the automatons?

How long would they survive here, hoping to return home, before accepting their lot in life and settling in? If they settled in for a long stay, then what? What came next? How long would they cling to the hope of returning home and what would happen once that hope died? Feeling guilty and hating himself just a little bit, Tarnish began to think of practical, carnal concerns. It galled him, and he felt ashamed for even letting it into his mind, but he was young and he had needs.

The thought made his soul shrivel up a bit, because Tarnish prided himself on being a good pony that didn’t think of his female friends in that way. He was careful not to let his mind wander, yet here he was, thinking about a future of being trapped in this cave for years and years and years with these three mares, his friends, friends that he loved a great deal.

How long before those at home gave up hope and accepted loss? What would Maud do? His mother, Pinny? How long would they cling to hope, refusing to give up, and torturing themselves as each day passed? What would Maud tell Pebble?

The pink bowl trembled in his telekinesis and it took all of Tarnish’s concentration not to sob. He almost bit his lip, but that would reveal that something was wrong, and Tarnish no longer had the luxury of weakness. Swallowing, he sorted himself out, or tried to, and he forced himself to go through the task of making dinner, all while looking like there was absolutely nothing wrong.

Everything had gone wrong.

Author's Note

Next chapter: the frozen dark.

Reasons

The cold was a living thing that clawed and slashed at Tarnish’s outerwear, trying to reach his fragile, vulnerable skin. Even with his heavy wool cloak, his boots, woollen leg warmers, his pea coat, a scarf, his goggles, his hood up over his head, and two chemical warmers activated in his pea coat’s pockets, Tarnish still felt the cold.

All around him, the snow fell in an eerie silence, and glittered like diamonds in the moonlight. He moved like a shadow, slipping from tree to tree, dark place to dark place, his head turning about in every direction as he watched for danger. The woods around him were still to the point of being spooky.

Before leaving, Daring Do had lectured him about cold weather survival, contact frostbite in particular, warning him that at these temperatures, he could not let metal touch his bare, exposed skin, and to be careful while scavenging. Right now, he was too bundled up for anything to touch his skin. Daring Do had been wrong though, it wasn’t fifty degrees below zero.

It was closer to minus seventy, with no telling how much colder it was because of the wind.

This ship was far more intact than the Endeavour. Tarnish wondered why, and reasoned that, perhaps, they had flown in at a lower altitude. This ship wasn’t nearly as nice as the Endeavour, and just from looking at it, Tarnish suspected that it did not have a sealed passenger compartment, which would make high altitude flying uncomfortable, if not impossible.

Ol’ Gertie. Squinting, Tarnish could just make out the Grittish Tribal Jack. Seeing it caused his blood to run cold, an uncomfortable sensation indeed when you were already freezing. The ship had split into two sections on impact and there was a wide gap in the hull.

Leaning into the shadows, he slipped inside and waited for his eyes to adjust. It was far too dark. His horn was covered by both his ushanka and his cloak, as at these temperatures, it would freeze and fall off. Gritting his teeth, Tarnish remembered all of his magic lessons with Vinyl, and was able to summon a floating, bobbing ball of light that orbited around his head.

Right away, he wished that he hadn’t summoned a light source. There on the floor was the frozen corpse of a pony. A single hole had been bored through his head and his blood was in a frozen puddle all around him. One leg was twisted off at an odd angle, and Tarnish suspected that if he looked closer, he would see bones protruding.

This body seemed fresh, but Tarnish couldn’t tell, because everything was frozen.

Turning away, his gorge rising, Tarnish stepped over the corpse and made his way down the ruined hallway. Ol’ Gertie listed off to one side due to the angle of her hull, and Tarnish found the hallway disorienting. He didn’t go very far before he came to a door, a battered, busted door that hung on only one hinge. It looked as though it had been struck by a battering ram.

Gritting his teeth, Tarnish lifted the door out of the way and peered through the doorway.

In the pale light, he saw bodies. A pitched battle had been fought here and there were bodies everywhere. Ol’ Gertie had come down hard, but there had been survivors. This was the mess hall, Tarnish guessed. Chairs and tables were flipped over and scattered about. Corpses were strewn about the floor. No sign of mechanoids though, and Tarnish figured that they had hauled off any of their fallen for repair.

These ponies had not submitted for processing.

The Grittish were proud, noble-minded ponies, and Tarnish respected them a great deal. The Tribal Jack hung over a window, which Tarnish guessed had food served through it. These ponies, no doubt injured, battered, and busted up from the crash landing, they had not come along quietly.

A glint of blue caught Tarnish’s eye and upon closer inspection, he saw that it was a blue gemstone. Touching it with his magic made him tingle, and as he picked it up, as he stared at it, he realised that the snowflake gem had been copied. Stuffing it away in his pocket, he noticed lots of things on the floor, like brass casings.

He ignored the empty ones but began picking up any live rounds he could find. A quick search turned up quite a few bullets, and he found firearms among the corpses as well. There was a pony leg pistol, a gun that was mounted to a pony’s leg and fired by compressing a lever with your fetlock. The dead pony wearing it didn’t need it anymore and Tarnish stripped it off.

More bullets were scooped up, Tarnish didn’t know what type they were, nor did he care. He found a revolver made for creatures that had hands near a unicorn whose body and head were no longer connected. Automatons had a frightful propensity for taking a pony apart, disassembling them, if you will. Lifting the revolver up in his telekinesis, he began reloading it with the bullets he had collected.

When he was done reloading, he lifted the revolver up closer to his goggle covered eyes so he could have a better look. This was larger and heavier than the revolver he had stashed away at home, the gun that had shot him in the ass. On the grip, he found a stamped brass plaque with fine letters engraved upon it.

Webblewood Arms .455

And below that, in smaller letters: Property of Grittish East Windia Royal Fusiliers, Fighting Tigers Co.

Looking about, Tarnish shuddered when his eyes fell upon the corpse of a pegasus pony with a revolver grip buried into her skull. Her look of pain and surprise was now frozen on her face. As awful as it was, he wrenched the pistol free from her skull, gagging with every tug. It was really down deep in there and Tarnish had to work to yank it out.

Moving around the corpses, Tarnish collected every bit of live brass he could.

The kitchen was well stocked and Tarnish knew that he would have to return here. The dead had no need of compressed ration bars. Each bar was four thousand calories of grain, bean, and egg proteins. Tarnish had scooped up dozens and stuffed them into his saddlebags. There were hundreds, maybe thousands more in the pantry.

The kitchen had a door on the other side and Tarnish found himself in another hallway, this one on the other side of the ship. It was almost intact, with only a few breaks. Wind and snow swirled in eddies up and down the hallway. At the far end, near the aft of the ship, steep stairs beckoned, and Tarnish climbed them.

At the top, he found himself in the wheelhouse, which was open to the elements, all of the glass had been shattered. An oilskin greatcoat lay rumpled on the floor, and Tarnish didn’t hesitate for even a second before he picked it up. It wasn’t heavy and thick like wool, but it was made to keep off the wet and keep out the wind. He threw it over his back and began lashing down the straps that would secure it into place.

How many pounds of clothing was he wearing?

The ship had many supplies, and Tarnish planned to return again under the cover of darkness. He didn’t want the others seeing this and he hoped to spare them. He had quite a bit secured in his saddlebags, which could hold far more than one might expect, but did nothing to reduce the weight. On his back, he had packages of supplies and rolled up woollen blankets. Hundreds of bullets were stashed away in various pockets, and shells as well. Tarnish had found a shotgun in the captain’s cabin, along with a box of sixty shells.

He peered around as he slipped out of the crack in the side of the hull, mindful of danger. Loaded down, he had to struggle in the snow, but that was fine. Tarnish had long since become accustomed to hardship and suffering. Scorching alkali flats, sweltering jungles, flying skunk infested swamps, black sand deserts filled with giant scorpions, an exploding volcano, an irradiated, ashen wasteland, and now, this frozen over Tartarus.

Getting away from the wreck of the Endeavour had been a good idea, a life saving idea. If Ol’ Gertie was any kind if indicator, the automatons would have come for them in force had they stayed near the downed wreck of the Endeavour. Staying in the cave gave them a chance, or so Tarnish hoped.

But they couldn’t stay in the cave forever, and Tarnish was already making plans as he moved through the deep snow. It stood to reason that the automatons were coming out of somewhere, and that somewhere was probably Skyreach. Somehow, he had to get inside, find out what was going on, and figure out some way out of this.

That was easier said than done though. A centaur vault full of automatons wasn’t an easy place to get into, and getting out again was no simple task. He was going to have to think this through and then figure out what to do next. Disappearing into the trees, Tarnish made plans to survive.

“How can you be so calm?” Rainbow Dash asked Daring Do in a low whine. “Our friend is out there, alone, in the freezing cold.”

“I’m not calm, I just look it,” Daring Do replied.

“I’m scared and I’m worried.”

“Miss Dash… Rainbow… do you know why I took on Tarnish as my protégé?”

Snuggling closer to Daring Do in the dim, pink light offered by Flamingo, Rainbow replied, “No, why?” As she snuggled, Vinyl Scratch wormed her way in just a little closer, sandwiching Rainbow against Daring.

“Because, he is average.”

“What?” Rainbow Dash, buried beneath blankets and surrounded on all sides by warm, fuzzy pony flesh, was comfortable and cosy.

“Tarnished Teapot is remarkably, thoroughly average.” Daring smiled in the faint light. “That’s his superpower, if you will.”

“I don’t get it.” As Rainbow spoke, Vinyl shook with mute laughter.

“Rainbow, you are fast. You are strong. You are exceptional in every way, and life has thrown success at you because of it. You live in a mansion made of clouds. You are the fastest pony alive, or so they say. You’ve made a tail-shaking number of bits as a racer and you are one of the highest paid Wonderbolts. You have nothing left to do in life but enjoy yourself and admire your many trophies.”

“Huh, I guess so.” Rainbow scratched her chin with her hoof. “But what does that have to do with Tarnish?”

“Mister Teapot has strong magic that he can’t use. His unicorn magic is weak. He’s not particularly strong, as far as stallions go, we’re both far, far stronger than he is. Tarnish isn’t the smartest pony around, not by a longshot. He is an exceptional runner though, because of those long legs of his.” Daring Do took a deep breath, held it, and let it all out in a huff after a moment.

“Tarnish wages war against his own mediocrity, fighting hoof and tooth to rise above it. He is a thoroughly average pony surrounded by the very best, the very brightest, the strongest, the fastest, the most magical... he’s found himself in the circles of ponies who are the most exceptional equines Equestria has to offer. Rainbow, you and I, we don’t struggle like common ponies. Not only does Tarnish struggle as a common pony, he struggles to hold his own among ponies like us. Every day, he fights just to remain in our shadows, and I admire that. I respect that. And that, that is why I took him on as my protégé.”

In the faint pink light, Rainbow blinked and did not know what to say.

“When we were in Windia, Mister Teapot took on an entire Thuggee army.” Daring Do smiled, and it was a smug, satisfied smile, a haughty, prideful grin. “Did he crush them with magic? No. Did he do battle with them? No, not right away. He ran from them, and those stupid sons of bitches were dumb enough to chase him through the jungle. Tarnish kept conjuring water and drinking, running the entire time just ahead of the entire army, shouting insults at them to keep them incensed with him, and one by one, they dropped over from heatstroke.”

Clinging to Rainbow Dash, Vinyl Scratch shook and trembled with wheezing, almost silent laughter.

“I am confident that Tarnish will return to us, but I will admit to being worried. It’s very, very cold out there…”

Author's Note

I can't help but wonder what people think of this...

Swallowing in misery

The cave was a warm, wonderful nineteen degrees inside. Tarnish wasn’t quite awake yet, he hadn’t slept much, nor would he. Daylight was in short supply and he had to take advantage of it, exploit every moment of it, because daylight was a resource like any other. In the available dim light, Daring Do had a pencil in her lips, and she was adding their new supplies to a checklist. Vinyl was reheating a collection of rocks stored in the edges of the cave.

As for Rainbow, she was unwrapping one of the 4K bars. She gave it a sniff, shrugged, and then crammed it into her mouth. One ear twitched a bit, and then Rainbow’s face looked as though it was imploding. Her cheeks sucked in, her lips vanished into her mouth, and her lower eyelids were tugged down from her eyes. Through it all, she remained very still, conserving her body heat and energy for other things.

“Silly pegasus did not add water, as the package clearly directs,” Daring Do murmured to herself.

Determined, Rainbow did not give up, not now, not after Daring Do had said something. Somehow, she kept going, kept chewing, locked in a grim battle with the dehydrated 4K ration bar that contained everything a pony needed for a day of heavy labour or survival. When Rainbow eyed her cup of water, Daring Do shook her head.

“It’ll only expand in your mouth tenfold, you silly pegasus.”

A very dry sounding whimper escaped Rainbow Dash and she kept chewing, but she put the rest of the 4K ration bar down beside her, tucked away in its shiny foil wrapper. Rainbow’s collapsing muzzle appeared as though it would just vanish up into her ushanka. Daring Do, not entirely heartless, patted Rainbow on the back to encourage her to keep going.

“Vinyl… we need to go and see if we can find those big gun shells from the Endeavour,” Tarnish said to his mute friend.

But it was not Vinyl who responded.

“Do you have an idea that you would like to share, Mister Teapot?” Daring Do was now giving Tarnish her full attention, and she gave Rainbow another encouraging pat on the back as Rainbow tried to choke down a tiny swallow of her dehydrated breakfast.

“Well, Vinyl is skilled at making pyrotechnic devices for concerts,” Tarnish began in a low, somewhat scratchy voice that was an indicator that he needed water and to wake up more. “Those shells, they’re explosive rounds, meant for shooting rogue dragons, sky jellies, and stuff like that. I wanna set up an improvised minefield around our camp to keep out automatons. We gotta hurry though, and strip what we can from the Endeavour. At some point, those mechanoid bastards are going to come and investigate the ship and if we’re there, we’ll be in trouble.” He shivered as he thought of what he found aboard Ol’ Gertie.

“So, you wish to put on a show, I take it.” A cruel smile moved like a glacier over Daring’s muzzle, and she nodded. “I approve. Eat up, Rainbow, we’re going to be draft ponies today, because let’s face it, we’re not good for much else.” She gave Rainbow a hearty whack on the back to help her fellow pegasus keep breathing.

“Vinyl, do you have anything to say? Anything at all? I know how you get during a crisis when you think everypony is too busy to read what you write on your slate.” Tarnish began brewing himself and the others some hot tea. He eyed Vinyl, worried.

The albino mare pulled out her slate, some chalk, and then wrote down a few words in cheerful, yellow letters. I’m not fine, but I’m managing. Thanks for thinking of me.

“Daring, Rainbow, it’s real easy to neglect Vinyl in trying times.” Tarnish turned to look at them both. “What I’m trying to say is, she has the same needs as the rest of us. She wants to talk and be talked to. Don’t take her for granted, or you’ll hear about it from me. Daring, you might technically be in charge, but I’m in charge of Vinyl’s well-being, because I don’t want Octavia and Maud slapping me silly and lecturing me when we get home. If we get home. If we somehow survive this. I’ll have a lot to answer for and those two are higher up in my chain of command than you are.”

“I have to be honest, it completely slipped my mind,” Daring Do confessed, and the pencil hanging from the corner of her lips bobbed up and down with her words. “Very well then, Mister Teapot, from this moment forward, you are the morale officer. The only responsible way to deal with this is to delegate responsibility.”

“I’m fine with that,” Tarnish replied as he added a little boiling water to a bowl full of crumbled 4K ration bar. He stirred it with a small metal spoon, sniffed it, and then wished he hadn’t. It smelled like mushroom soup… but not quite. It was… worse somehow. He sniffed again, trying to identify the odd, musky smell. Recoiling, he held his bowl away from him and shuddered in disgust. “This smells just like semen!”

Smacking her dried, wrinkled lips, Rainbow Dash nodded, and in a very parched-sounding, raspy voice she said, “Tastes like it too. All those years of learning how to swallow without gagging just paid off.”

It was still dark in the valley, and the sun was just now starting to peek over the jagged peaks of the mountains. It hadn’t warmed up yet, the sun had not brought its blessed warmth and light, but they didn’t have the luxury of waiting until it was warm. Daring Do’s compass and thermometer said that it was about sixty degrees below zero.

Vinyl was tucked onto the sledge beside Tarnish, getting a free ride, because every calorie mattered at this point, and there was much to do. The two pegasus ponies leaned into the ropes binding them to the sledge and pulled with all their might to make progress through the crusted, frozen snow.

It was a brutal, bitter, miserable experience. At these temperatures, it wasn’t safe to urinate or defecate outside, as any bare skin exposed to the cold would freeze in seconds. All of that had to be dealt with indoors, inside of their shelter. Tarnish was still recovering from the incident, the unexpected intimacy of it all. One tended not to think about the nuts and bolts of one’s relationships with females or the potential complications involved.

For Tarnish, it was an eye-opening experience unlike any other, and he didn’t know how to cope.

They were stripping everything they could from the wreck of the Endeavour. Daring Do wanted to make one trip, just one, no matter how difficult it might be to pull the sledge. Vinyl had already made the sledge a little larger, and had given it better makeshift runners from the metal deck railing. While she worked on the sledge, Tarnish was responsible for lifting Daring Do and Rainbow Dash into difficult to reach places in the wreck so they could fetch supplies.

The thirty-six millimetre autocannon shells posed a problem, and Tarnish was certain that they would need to make multiple trips, even though Daring was adverse to doing so. The ship’s register showed that they had three hundred and thirty high yield explosive rounds. As he lifted Rainbow and Daring to various decks, he did a little math, or tried to. Each round weighed one and three quarters of a pound, which meant that they had at least—

“Hey, Tarnish, catch!” Rainbow kicked off a crate of canned goods and Tarnish snapped to attention just in the nick of time. The crate of canned goods held sixty four cans and each can held how much? Maud had tried to make him remember stuff like this, and he slacked off because Maud was excellent at remembering this stuff, so he never felt the need to pay much attention. He flogged his brain and demanded an answer while he levitated the crate in his telekinesis.

Each can tended to weigh about ten and a half ounces, with some cans like those for soup or chili tipping in at forteen to sixteen ounces. So the crate he now held had to be a minimum of forty two pounds, and the more that Tarnish did the math, the more he realised that Daring Do had some unreasonable expectations.

She was the pony of action, and she paid little attention to details. Tarnish too, was a pony of action, and he left the little details to Maud most of the time, but she wasn’t here right now. Maud and Octavia both were the ponies who kept track of the little details. It dawned upon Tarnish that now, he was the pony that would have to keep track of the details, and this meant keeping Daring Do’s expectations held in check. The problem with holding Daring Do’s expectations in check was that she became quite snippy when things didn’t go her way and the pony reining her in was bound to suffer.

He did not look forward to disappointing or upsetting his boss. In fact, the whole experience left Tarnish feeling just a little bit whiny and petulant, because he didn’t like being forced into the role of being the responsible one. It didn’t feel very fair, but then again, this whole situation was unfair and extraordinary measures were going to have to be taken to survive all of this.

It still hadn’t occurred to Tarnish that he was going to have to finish growing up at some point.

The sun was over the peaks now, and it had warmed up a bit, but it was still below zero. Daring Do was in an awful mood, because Tarnish had been right, and Tarnish was in an awful mood, for the very same reason. Everypony was already feeling a little weary, but what few precious hours of daylight they had would be spent working, making trips back and forth between their cave and the wreck of the Endeavour.

There was also the matter of drudgery without reward. There would be no hot baths, no showers, no reasons to keep going other than survival. Tarnish began to wonder how they were going to pull through this, because the grim reality was setting in and he knew that he was already having problems.

Just thinking about it made Tarnish want to start bawling like a foal, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t cry, or whine, or bitch about the situation, because whatever he was feeling, the others were feeling too. No more comfort, no more security, no more fun… this was all they had to look forward to now. Drudgery and survival. Every day would be exactly the same, and every night as well.

Tarnish only knew one thing for certain. The end, in whatever form it came, would be a relief.

Author's Note

Action! Adventure! Drudgery?

Tamarack SMACK!

Tamarack SMACK!

The second trip was a bit more pleasant than the first. The sun was shining and it had warmed to a little above zero. All of the supplies had been stacked during the first trip, which made it so much easier on the return. There were at least three to four more trips to make, a fact that left Daring Do in a rather pissy state.

Tarnish, who was even now slipping into a state of paranoia, began to try and think about how the mechanoids might operate. A scout had come out to find them, had found them out near the wreck, and the scout had not returned. For the sake of conservation of resources, Tarnish guessed that an attack was not forthcoming, not right away, but he could be wrong. The nighttime temperatures would be enough to kill most intruders into this valley.

But Tarnish and his friends were not most intruders, and neither were the ponies from the Grittish Isles.

So, he reasoned that after a few nights of bitter, horrendous cold, the mechanoids would come in force to deal with any weakened survivors. The Grits were all gathered in their mess hall, either because they were eating or making a final stand. Tarnish couldn’t tell, and this was all speculation anyhow. His many encounters with automatons had given him insight into how they worked, their mechanical logic, and Princess Celestia herself had mentioned him and Vinyl as the foremost experts on the subject matter of centaurian mechanoids.

To take them out, you had to hit them, hard, with as much force as you could muster, which is why Vinyl was fond of launching him at automatons. His shield was fine for smacking them, or bludgeoning them, but the extra added bulk of his body moving along at two miles a minute allowed him to make a solid first hit and knock those murderous bastards over.

It was like he was cursed, or something. He just kept running into them and anypony who went on adventures with him was bound to have a mechanoid moment sooner rather than later. Tarnish counted them as his signature enemy, in much the same way Daring Do considered mooks hers. Nopony liked mechanoid moments though, one of the many reasons why Tarnish was so feared in academic circles. If Daring Do hadn’t taken an interest in him, it would have been only him and Maud.

And he would not be here right now, in what he called the Valley of Skyreach, losing his mind with worry, fear, and doubt.

“Hey! Hey! I don’t mean to alarm anypony, but we have company!” Rainbow Dash shouted, jolting Tarnish from his thoughts.

Tarnish was wrong. The attack was coming now, right now, and in the distance, he could see them. The tall, spindly figures moved along atop the snow, jerking along like manic, murderous marionettes. Some were different though, and he didn’t recognise them. They were taller, heavier looking, and had a very different profile. One arm, the left, was much, much longer, and had a long thin protruding part, perhaps a spear or something. Maybe he was seeing what had caused all of those holes he had seen.

Something whizzed right by his head and Tarnish rolled out of the sledge, pulling Vinyl with him. He began moving for the trees, hoping to take cover. Vinyl had undone the ropes holding Daring Do and Rainbow Dash, and the two pegasus ponies had ducked down into the snow as more somethings went whizzing by, buzzing like bees as they passed.

Overhead, above Tarnish, a tree branch the size of his leg snapped off, and it fell upon him, covering him with snow. He wondered what had broken off the tree branch and what was flying past his head. Other than the faint buzzing sound, the valley was silent as the murderous mechanoids approached.

The roar of gunfire shattered the silence, and when Tarnish cleared the snow from his goggles, he saw that Vinyl had two revolvers out. Something buzzed over his head and splinters exploded from the tree behind him. He realised that the automatons were shooting at him, shooting guns that made no noise.

He pulled out his shield and held it out before him, not knowing what else to do. Vinyl took another shot, but Tarnish didn’t see the outcome. Knowing that she used targetting spells, he suspected that she was making each shot count and something had been downed. Daring Do and Rainbow Dash were down in the snow, burrowing beneath the crust, trying to take cover.

Tarnish blinked.

When he opened his eyes, a pale blue glow could be seen through his goggles, and a hazy blue mist began to seep out, unconcerned by such things as glass and solidity. He whimpered, fearful, and as his panic overtook him, he managed to say to Vinyl, “Help me, Vinyl, it’s happening again and I can’t make it stop! It hurts, Vinyl, it hurts! It hurts so much!”

Tarnish began panting as his body seized, and his teeth snapped together with a painful, jaw wracking crunch. His shield tumbled to the snow, leaving him vulnerable. Something passed through his hood, tearing a hole through it, and somehow missing his head.

The ground rumbled all around them, causing many trees to drop their snow. The four companions were buried beneath an avalanche of sorts, hiding them from view of the advancing patrol of automatons. The smell of pine was strong in the air and sunlight glinted from the thousands of snowflakes that had not yet fallen to be with their sparkling brethren on the ground.

A lone tamarack, a tree at least forty or fifty feet tall, began to move. It thrashed about, its branches flailing, and a horrifying arboreal roar filled the valley, the sound of splintering, creaking wood. The tree uprooted, pulling itself up out of the ground, and changed shape a bit, becoming gnarled, twisted, and distorted. Branches twined together to form dozens of makeshift limbs, and roots became tentacle-like legs that thrashed through the snow.

It advanced upon the mechanoids, a giant, a behemoth, an unstoppable force of nature. It moved with terrifying speed, for whom would believe that a tree could be fast, and it closed the distance in no time at all, roaring its terrible arboreal roar. It wound up one of its makeshift limbs, then delivered a devastating blow, scattering automatons and sending them flying.

Other mechanoids pointed their long, tubular arms at the tree come to life and a faint buzzing sound filled the air. The tree monster stomped and smashed, it clubbed and thrashed, and none of the mechanoids were capable of standing against it. The tamarack, an unstoppable juggernaut, dismantled the mechanoids and reduced them to scrap.

Gasping, Vinyl pushed her head up above the snow, hoping she wouldn’t be shot. It had gone quiet, too quiet, and the spooky silence was terrifying. She didn’t know what had just gone on, as she had been buried beneath yards and yards of snow. The valley was peaceful and quiet, and eerily so.

Where the army of mechanoids had once stood there was now a tall tamarack tree that appeared to have been decorated for the holidays. Bits of brass glinted in its branches, and broken bits of smashed automatons hung like haphazard Hearth’s Warming ornaments. Vinyl stared at it for a few seconds, then began to worry about Tarnish.

She dug back down a bit into the snow, but did not use her magic to melt it. She didn’t want Tarnish getting soaked, because then he would freeze to death. Feeling through the snow with her telekinesis, she found him and gave him a tickle. When there was no response, she panicked. Tarnish was ticklish and he was supposed to respond.

Wrapping her telekinesis around him, she yanked him up through the snow and laid him out topside. He was limp, but breathing. Whimpering, one of the few sounds she could make without vocal cords, she shook him, trying to rouse him, hoping that he was okay. A loud moan issued forth from Vinyl, the sound of mute panic, and she shook Tarnish a little harder as terror gripped her.

Some of the snow gave way beneath her as it settled, and she found herself sucked back down. Angry, frightened, she pulled her way back up and then hugged Tarnish’s neck, a never-ending stream of whimpers pouring from her lips. She slapped him a few times, because that worked sometimes, but when a response failed to manifest, Vinyl began sobbing, not knowing what else to do.

“Stiff upper lip,” Daring Do said as she clambered through the snow to join Vinyl. “Come on, it’s best if we get him back to the cave and we can get him sorted out there. Are you okay?”

Vinyl, still sobbing, nodded, and hugged Tarnish’s head closer to her barrel, wishing that she could feel him against her and that all of this clothing wasn’t in the way.

“What in Tartarus happened?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I have no idea,” Daring Do replied. “It’s probably for the best that none of us bore witness to nature’s fury.” The pegasus pointed over the tamarack tree decorated in gleaming brass mechanoid bodies. “Tarnish can’t always control the things he summons, and whatever just happened, we could be the ones decorating that tree right now.”

“Let’s get out of here!” Rainbow began bounding through the deep snow over to where the half buried sledge was, just a few yards away.

“Not so fast, Miss Dash.” Daring Do’s voice was commanding and confident now. “Go over there and fetch one of those strange automatons for Vinyl to study. We don’t need a whole one, just the left arm. I want to know how and why we couldn’t hear those guns being fired at us.”

“Right! On it!” And with that, Rainbow bounded away, off to obey her orders.

“Mrs. Scratch, buck up! Haul Tarnish over to the sledge. I’m sure he’ll be fine. Now is not the time to get all emotional and sappy! Hut hut!”

Knowing that Daring was right, Vinyl pulled herself together, sniffled a bit inside of her scarf, getting it all snotty, and then pulled her dropped firearms up out of the snow far beneath her. She also grabbed Tarnish’s shield, and then felt around for anything else. The entire time, she looked over the tree decorated in the corpses of their enemies, terrified of what Tarnish could do, and even more scared of what such things tended to do to him.

She hoped that he would be okay.

Author's Note

I think that's all for today!

Demon wind

One simply did not become a druid, one ascended. It was a painful, terrifying, sometimes fatal process of transformation that forever changed both the mind and body. For Tarnish, he had fully ascended when Flamingo’s blade pierced both the Crown of Corruption and Maledico’s orb. The resulting chaos vortex had transmogrified him into something else.

It had changed Maud too.

Now, after enduring these changes, Tarnish sometimes had peculiar spells and he became a tree. He couldn’t control his druidic magic, not much, it just sort of happened. Sometimes he could make it manifest, and other times, he was powerless to stop it from happening. Becoming a druid meant making a bargain with Terra Firma and then allowing your body to be used as a conduit. When would something exciting happen? Nopony quite knew.

Druids were just bad days waiting to happen.

Others were drawn to the grove though. His grove. They had come seeking a new way, new insight, they all had their reasons. Some were profoundly changed. Others died, unable to survive the ascension. Princess Celestia wasn’t too happy about the deaths, but there was nothing she could do. Nature giveth, and nature taketh away.

Wiggling about, he tried to make himself comfortable without making his companions uncomfortable. They were naked and piled together under a mountain of blankets. Body heat was best shared with direct contact and it was quite cozy in the pile. However, it was also somewhat unpleasant; the 4K bars produced an awful, eye burning stench when filtered through the biological happenings of a pegasus pony. It was warm though, so very warm, and about every three minutes or so, a searing blast of air as hot as a venting furnace would flow around his legs.

Tomorrow would be the same as today. Going from one place to another and moving supplies around. The day after that would probably be the same, and at some point, they would begin to pick the bones of Ol’ Gertie clean. Tarnish wanted to try his hoof at stone shaping to see if he could make their living space a little larger and a little more comfortable. Vinyl had mechanoid parts to study.

At least they would stay busy. For Tarnish, that was no small comfort, as he was certain that he would go out of his gourd if he was bored. Another blast of warm air passed over his legs, ruffling his fuzzy hide. Poor Rainbow and Daring had to be exhausted after pulling the sledge back and forth all day.

Tarnish was exhausted too, but could not sleep. He was still hungry, even after eating a total of five 4K bars, and his stomach still gurgled as it begged for more food. The transference of his consciousness into a tree took a lot out of him and he wasn’t sure when his body would recover from this overexertion. He was tired though, so tired, but his mind just wouldn’t shut up.

These mares, they didn’t need him to be reckless and brash. They didn’t need him to be a show off, his flippancy wasn’t needed, and his snide sarcasm was wasted on automatons. All of his squirrelly behaviour was going to have to be held in check. If he did something stupid, if he got himself killed, he would no longer be here for them. There would be no going home.

These mares needed a stallion, not some colt with a need to prove himself.

The cave stank of mushroom soup and worse. Some of the ground in here had thawed out from the heat, releasing ancient stinks sealed away long ago, like forgotten evils left for Twilight Sparkle to rediscover. It was warm though, above zero at least, and Tarnish had plans to make it warmer. They needed a better door, a better plug. The flap moved around with the wind and too much of their precious heat leaked out.

Tarnish was hungry, and what he planned to do would only make it worse. There wasn’t much else to do while waiting for the sun to rise up over the jagged peaks of the mountains that had become the proverbial bars to their prison. Daring Do and Rainbow Dash were rubbing each other down in preparation for another long day of hauling. Vinyl was studying the strange mechanoid arm.

And now, Tarnish too, would do his part. Sitting on his haunches, he closed his eyes and began breathing. He thought about paying Princess Celestia a little visit in the astral realm, but he wasn’t ready to face her yet, just as he wasn’t ready to use his magic mirror to contact anypony. There had already been a brief discussion about communications and the consensus was to do it later when there was something they could report.

In and out. Slow. Steady. Tarnish’s breath was visible and great puffs of steam shot from his nose. Even after his overexertion yesterday, the magic was still there, just a spark of it, and Tarnish felt it welling up inside of him. Not his unicorn magic, no… something else. Reaching out with his will, he touched the roots all around him, and urged them to grow. To expand. These trees were full of life, of magic, and when Tarnish touched them, some of the ache inside of his body eased.

The roots all around their shelter began to move, guided by Tarnish’s desires, and they thickened as they twined together, forming a tighter, denser mesh. Something like sap oozed from the roots, it glistened in the faint light and acted like a glue to bind the roots together. In particular, the area around the hole they used to enter changed shape, not quite round, not quite oval, but the shape suggested something almost vaginal. Far less wind whistled into their shelter with each passing second, until the wall of roots and dirt that made up the front wall of their cave became a solid, wind-proof mass.

While he still had some magic flowing, he redirected it into the chunk of wood he had brought into the cave with him, some deck planks. It wasn’t dead wood, just sleeping. It still had a touch of spirit to it, but it needed some help waking up. Reaching out, he touched a bare hoof to it, and the wood began to writhe.

Unknown to Tarnish, Daring Do, Rainbow Dash, and Vinyl Scratch were all watching him.

The deck planking was like clay beneath Tarnish’s hoof. Its movement was slow, but it was obvious to any observer that it was changing shape. After a few minutes, it was just about the same size and shape as the opening that Tarnish had shaped in the roots. Lifting the makeshift door in his telekinesis, Tarnish stuffed the plug into place, and when he did, the wind no longer whistled into their home.

Feeling good about his accomplishment, Tarnish prepared himself some tea.

It was not going to be a sunny day. Overhead, the sky was a dull shade of grey, overcast, and Tarnish knew that it would snow at some point. Temperatures were well below zero without the sun shining down. Boreal forests were horrible, terrible, awful places, and Tarnished Teapot hated nature with a burning passion that rivaled Princess Celestia’s sun.

The wind was also far too strong and cut like a razor.

“We’re not going to get anything done today,” Daring Do said as she peered upwards. “Here we are, pegasus ponies, and we’re powerless to do anything about inclement weather. I don’t know how I’m feeling, but I don’t like it.”

“It sucks.” Rainbow Dash tilted her head back to look up. “I could bust those clouds and send them packing in twenty seconds flat. I hate being like this. I hate it!” Even though she was bundled up, she shivered and shook as the wind howled. “This wind doesn’t feel natural either and it’s making me crazy!”

“You feel it too?” Daring Do asked. “Good… I thought perhaps I was going crazy.”

“No pegasus pony likes a feral storm,” Rainbow Dash said, her voice muffled from beneath her heavy scarf. “The wind here is rotten… sour… it’s gone bad.”

“I’m not as in touch with the wind as you are,” Daring Do confessed

“It feels like the winds that sometimes blow out of the Everfree Forest. It’s the only thing I have to compare it to. Those winds are ornery and mean. They hate pegasus ponies and pegasus ponies hate them.”

“You speak as though the wind is a living, conscious thing.” Daring Do dropped her head, turned about in the snow, and looked at Rainbow Dash.

“It is,” Rainbow replied. “Sometimes, the wind takes on nasty forms. Dust devils, malevolent clouds… windigos… I’ve seen some stuff.” Whatever it was that Rainbow saw, she did not elaborate on it, but stood there, staring upwards. “What we need is an alicorn princess or a prince that can help us fight the bad weather. It’s getting pretty bad, but hey, at least there are no windigos!”

“We should go inside and get comfortable,” Tarnish suggested. “Maybe we need a day of doing nothing. Actually, wait, strike that. We’re going to spend today making each other feel better. Yeah… yeah, that’s a good idea. As the morale officer, I say we spend the day making each other feel better. And then tomorrow, when the sun is out, we’ll make up for lost time.”

Wasting no time, Vinyl headed for the door, in a hurry to get inside.

Author's Note

Poor Twilight. Stuck with all those thousand year old evils.

To get inside a princess

There was some next level eggheadedness going down, and Rainbow Dash was okay with that. She was missing Twilight something awful, and watching both Vinyl and Tarnish work together made Rainbow Dash feel better. It was soft where she was sitting, warm, and comfortable. In fact, since Tarnish had done whatever it was that he had done, sealing off everything, it was now almost downright toasty in here, with the temperature at just above fifty degrees.

Outside however, a storm squalled and begged to be let in.

Beside her, Daring Do was Daring Doing what pegasus ponies did best. Napping. With nothing else to do, she had snoozed to conserve energy, and was only half covered beneath one blanket. Dash couldn’t help herself, she found that Daring was kind of cute when she napped. Reaching down, she brushed Daring’s mane out of her face and then returned her attention to what was going on.

Vinyl was examining the strange automaton arm cannon. It was a long tube, about two yards long, and all along its length were bits of copper wire, what appeared to be iron, and small wafer-thin sections of crystals. It was a baffling contraption, as it didn’t look anything like a gun, but it somehow fired projectiles.

The projectiles themselves were small and pill-shaped. They were wrapped in fine copper wire and coated in a slick, slimy substance that smelled just awful, even worse than the stupid ration bars. At the moment, Vinyl was holding up one of the projectiles for Tarnish to examine, and Rainbow felt a gush of admiration as she watched the two of them work together.

They were the Heliophant and the Herald of Selene—something Dash thought was cool.

Loyal to each other, they were were like two peas in pod. Okay, so maybe they were the shriveled, icky peas that nopony liked, but still, two peas in a pod. Rainbow didn’t care about Vinyl’s controversial approach to magic and she liked the danger that seemed to follow Tarnish everywhere he went. She admired their loyalty to one another in the face of all odds, which was why she didn’t mind being stuck inside of a smelly, stifling cave with them, stuck on the other side of the world, far, far away from home.

I’ve seen air guns, and I’ve seen firearms, but this don’t make sense! The magic around Vinyl’s slate filled the cave with a pale purple-pink light. She rubbed the letters away and then scribbled in fresh new words. This is an electrical device of some sort, I’ll figure it out.

“It looks like toaster parts,” Tarnish said.

You dingleberry, everything looks like toaster parts to you!

Rainbow found herself grinning.

Tarnish did not reply, but held up a wafer of crystal instead. It crackled in his magic, throwing off sparks, and the smell of ozone filled the area, which was almost impossible to smell because of the putrid stench that was heavy in the air. “What is this, anyhow?”

“Crystalised lightning,” Rainbow Dash said as she eyeballed the piece.

“What?” Tarnish squinted as he looked at the wafer thin crystal fragment. “How would you know what this is? No offense.”

“None taken,” Rainbow replied as she gave Tarnish a nod. “I’ve worked in a weather factory and I’ve had hooves on experience with distilled lightning, jarred lightning, and crystalised lightning. Lightning in a jar isn’t too bad, but liquid lightning is pretty dangerous and if you crystalise that liquid, you get pure, refined, condensed lightning crystals. We pegasus ponies use them to power our factories and other things that require tremendous amounts of power.”

“So why would this gun require so much electricity?” Tarnish asked.

Lifting her head, Vinyl began jotting words down upon her slate, and after a few seconds, she held it up for all to see. Electromagnetic fields.

Rainbow watched as a blank expression settled over Tarnish’s face and tried not to laugh. She didn’t get it either, but she wasn’t going to let others know that she didn’t get it. Daring stirred in her sleep, grunting, then she rolled over and quieted. Patting the napping pegasus, Rainbow Dash let out a sigh.

“I miss Tank.”

“I know how you feel, Rainbow. I miss Grrrr.” Tarnish paused, then had an idea. “You know, with this being our day of rest, we should have some nice food. We have more than those ration bars. We have canned food of all kinds, and fresh food outside in the freezer. We should have a nice meal to make us feel better, and not just eat food for survival.”

“I could go for that.” Rainbow leaned forwards, eager to hear more. “What did you have in mind?”

“Well, I’ve gotten pretty good at steam cooking, and Vinyl’s great at flame searing stuff. I don’t know. We’ve got options though and we’ve got time. That’s one thing we have plenty of today, time. No having to worry about wasting precious moments cooking.” Tarnish let out a sigh and slumped over.

“Can we have broccoli and cheese?” Even as she spoke, Rainbow could feel Vinyl’s penetrating stare boring through her, and Rainbow Dash did her best to look innocent. “We have those little tiny cabbage-thingies too… and those are good when they’re hot and cheesy.”

Scratching out a few words on her slate, Vinyl then pushed it into Rainbow’s face for her to read.

I’m putting those deep, throbbing bass notes on my next dance mix. See if I don’t.

Daring Do clapped her hooves together to get everypony’s attention and then looked each of her crew in the eye. As the pony responsible for all of them, it was upon her neck that this disaster rested, she felt the keen need to keep them all going. She was still very much in charge, and she planned to keep it that way. Of all of them, she alone was fit to bear this responsibility. Tarnish was too young, too squirrelly, but he was getting better. Rainbow Dash had no interest in responsibility. As for Vinyl, she made scary hissy noises when the word was mentioned.

“Now that we have a bit of downtime where we can breathe a little easier,” Daring Do began, and she rubbed her hooves together to warm her frogs. “We need to think about contacting home. Tarnish, you have your mirror. Have you given any thoughts about what to say?”

“I can’t,” Tarnish replied.

“Whaddya mean ya can’t?”

“I mean, I can’t do it. I can’t stomach the thought of calling anypony. I don’t want to tell them I’m not coming home. I don’t want to explain all of this”—Tarnish made a broad sweeping gesture at his surroundings with both of his front hooves—“and all of the complexities that go with it. I don’t wanna say to them, ‘Hey, I fronked up, I should have listened to Princess Celestia.’” He gritted his teeth for a moment, squeezed his eyes shut, then added, “And I don’t want to start bawling like a foal when I hear Maud’s voice and know that I’m never gonna see her again.”

Daring almost said to keep a stiff upper lip, but she thought better of it. Out of all of them, Tarnish was not only the youngest, but he had the most fragile mental state. He hadn’t quite yet been hardened. The poor dear had the enthusiasm of youth, but not the wisdom nor toughness of age. Not yet. She was determined to keep him alive long enough for him to have it though, because one day, he would be an exceptional pony. She believed in that with all of her heart.

Instead of telling him to buck up and keep a stiff upper lip, she leaned over, scooted closer, pulled him into a hug, and kissed his cheek. Much to Daring Do’s relief, Tarnish didn't try to wiggle away, he didn’t show signs of resentment, and he accepted her offer of comfort. She remained close, her forelegs around him, with her snoot pressed up against him. Tarnish was a warm, solid body, and this brought her some measure of comfort as well.

“I hate being young and finding out that ponies that are older and smarter than me are right,” Tarnish mumbled in a low voice. “I just want to be right sometimes, ya know? Princess Celestia doesn’t mean to be, but sometimes she comes off as being real smug. I hate it. Right now, she’s off in her nice warm castle that doesn’t stink, mourning the lot of us because she knows something about this place, and the four of us… we’re all too young and dumb to trust her judgment.”

“Yep.” Rainbow Dash sucked in a deep breath, then blew it all out with as much force as she could muster, causing her lips to flap together like a flatulent windsock. “What is Skyreach? A place of ancient evil and a cave that smells worse than the stallions’ locker room at the Wonderbolt Academy. They all practice the jitter jerk-off technique.”

“I don’t even want to know,” Daring said when she heard this. She shuddered against Tarnish’s side, then felt her gorge rising as she listened to the sound of the wind outside. The practical pegasus did start to think about bathing at the mention of a locker room, and she wondered how this might be done here in their cave. The humidity was already a growing problem.

“If you give me the mirror, I’ll try to contact Twilight.” Rainbow Dash’s offer hung in the air like a lead balloon, but the brave pegasus continued, “I’ll just… say hello or something, and then I’ll wing it from there. Call me foalish, but Tarnish is right. There is no way in Tartarus I’m giving Princess Celestia the satisfaction of knowing that she was right.”

“That’s really the wrong way of looking at it.” Daring Do took a moment to prepare her argument, and she pulled her head away from Tarnish’s cheek. “All of us here in this cave, we’re all part of an exclusive club… a very special club. We’re all ponies that can be credited with saving all of the world and allowing life to continue. That is a very exclusive club. Princess Celestia is also part of this club. We are contemporaries.”

“Yeah, but Princess Celestia founded this club and she’s no doubt saved the world more than all of us combined. We’re like Junior Speedsters and she… I don’t even know what she is and I don’t know where this metaphor is going!” Rainbow Dash threw her hooves up into the air and let out another exasperated lip flap.

“We save the world by accident because we get drawn into sucky shit-show situations.” For a moment, Tarnish looked as though he was chewing on lemons and his eyes gleamed with real, actual malevolence. “Princess Celestia, she saves the world as a hobby. It’s something she pencils into her day planner between ‘lunch’ and ‘teatime’ and she just goes off on a lark. Afterwards, when she’s done, she goes off and gets a hooficure and probably gossips about her maids.”

Rainbow Dash began sniggering and did her best to make it stop.

Daring Do pulled her forelegs from around Tarnish, then sat back to think about his words as Vinyl shook with silent, wheezing laughter. With a plop, Vinyl tipped over onto her back, then rolled over onto her side. Tarnish was shaking, and Daring Do looked into his eyes, where she saw hurt as well as anger.

“I can’t resent her though… she was there with me when I carried that crown… I couldn’t have made it without her. I suppose… I suppose she was teaching me how to save the world one step at a time... just put one hoof in front of the other and keep going, even when it feels impossible.”

Ears drooping, Daring listened to Tarnish’s disjointed, broken sentences and knew just how upset he had to be. On his face, she saw guilt. Rainbow had stopped sniggering, and Vinyl was just laying on her side, silent, her front hooves together against her cheek. The sound of water dripping could be heard as condensation trickled down from the ceiling.

“We’ve walked in her shoes,” Tarnish whispered. “Each and every one of us. She’s tried to show us what it’s like to be her. Not tell us, because we’re too prideful and arrogant, we’re young and we know everything, but show us, because we’re her friends, we’re ponies she trusts, and the only way to understand her, the only way to know her, is to be her. And she let us walk in her shoes. I carried that crown and she carries the sun. The weight of those things is unimaginable… I’ve shouldered the weight she carries... Twilight too… that’s Princess Celestia’s way of letting us in, I think.”

Humbled, Daring Do bowed her head and did not know how to respond.

Author's Note

It's heavy.

Beyond the Pale

A good meal helped, but Tarnish lacked courage. His stomach was full and the nagging empty ache was gone. It seemed that everypony was feeling better after a real meal. Tarnish had read somewhere that condemned prisoners got a final meal before being sent off into the great beyond and for some reason, this knowledge plagued him right now.

Staring into the mirror, Tarnish saw his own chocolate brown face. His nose and his lips were a little chapped from the cold, but there was no sign of frostbite. He looked pretty good for a stallion that had fallen out of the sky. The mangling had not happened yet, but Tarnish was certain that it would happen later.

Without warning, the mirror was snatched out of his magical grasp by Rainbow Dash, who held it in her fetlock and glared at Tarnish through narrowed, aggressive eyes.

“Gimme that, noodle-brain!”

Rainbow, the brash one, was going to fix their problem, and Tarnish was inclined to let her. He did nothing to stop her, and even gave her a nod of consent. If she could face down this situation, if she could deal with the million questions, if she could handle whatever it was that was about to happen, more power to her.

“Twilight Sparkle! Hey, Twilight Sparkle!”

Holding the mirror, Rainbow waited.

Almost holding his breath, Tarnish waited too. A quick glance at Daring Do revealed that her eyes were not in her book, but on the mirror. Even Vinyl had looked up from the mechanoid arm cannon she was studying. The mirror remained silent and Tarnish feared that there would be no answer.

“Twilight?” Rainbow’s voice sounded a bit more subdued this time. “Rarity… Rarity! Come on, Rarity! You’re always near a mirror!”

“It’s not even lighting up,” Tarnish said in a low, calm voice. “Perhaps the fall damaged it somehow, or maybe it can’t reach beyond the fog.”

“Twilight!” Rainbow gave the mirror a little shake. “Princess Celestia? Princess Luna?”

Daring Do closed her eyes and let out a sigh. Vinyl did much the same, only she returned to her work, focusing upon understanding the arm cannon. Tarnish reached out and placed his fetlock over Rainbow’s foreleg that was holding the mirror, and he gave her a gentle squeeze. Turning her head, Rainbow looked at him, and he saw tears in her eyes.

“This is worse than the time when I learned that Tank had to hibernate,” Rainbow said as she began to sniffle. “I can’t fly, I can’t talk to my friends, I can’t say goodbye, and I can’t even go off alone somewhere to sort myself out and have a good cry. This really sucks.”

A drop of water dripped from the ceiling and hit Rainbow on the nose.

“This place is too humid… you made it too tight, Tarnish.” Reaching up with her other foreleg, Rainbow wiped the wet from her nose. She then passed the mirror to Tarnish, shivered, fell over, and curled up into a fetal position. “I wish Fluttershy were here,” Rainbow murmured to herself as she squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face into her forelegs.

Blinking, Tarnish looked down at the mirror he held in his magic. The glass remained dark and all he saw was his own face looking back at him. No warm glow emanated from the silver, no thrum, no words came forth. Sighing, he pulled his saddlebags to him, opened them, and tucked the mirror away. Seeing a glint of pink, he pulled it out, and then a bittersweet smile crossed his lips as he held up one of Octavia’s bowties.

Vinyl, pulled from her work, stared at it, scarcely blinking.

“I just keep stealing them because it gives her conniption fits,” Tarnish admitted as he held the evidence of his crime. “I like hearing her when she slips into that lower working class Grittish accent. I could listen to her chewing me out all day. All those times she’s chucked something at my head have also really improved my evasion skills.”

There was a loud gulp when Vinyl swallowed, and then she nodded her head.

Sighing, Tarnish passed the pink bowtie to Vinyl, who took it, wrapped it around her foreleg, sniffed it, and then hugged it to her barrel. “Keep it, Vinyl, I have more in my saddlebags.” Grinning, Tarnish found that he could smile through the pain, and so could Vinyl. Knowing what he had to do made the pain all the worse.

It was time to swallow his pride and go crawling to Princess Celestia to beg for help.

It was supposed to be as easy as breathing, but it didn’t seem to be working. Tarnish had tried and failed multiple times to eject himself into the astral plane. It seemed as though it was blocked to him. He kept his eyes closed and remained calm, as he did not wish to alarm the others.

In and out. It was easy as breathing. Breathe in, feel the life inside of you, breathe out, and let slip your astral presence. It was one of the things that Tarnish was truly good at, and took pride in. He could slip in and out of the astral plane as good as any zebra. It was just breathing, not a magic that you tried to shove out your horn.

It was as easy as breathing…

Tarnish found himself someplace else and this place felt wrong. Blinking, he had a look around and saw gravestones all around him. He was in a very large cemetery. Overhead, there was a sky that appeared to be made of black velvet, a thick, impenetrable darkness, and there were no stars or moon.

This was the astral plane, or was it? Tarnish didn’t know. The tombstones all had a faint silver glow to them, and so did the cobblestone path beneath his hooves. He felt quite peculiar, light headed, and cold. This was not a friendly place, it was not a happy, magical kingdom full of sunflowers. No, it certainly wasn’t. Tarnish saw a pale pony approaching, an alicorn, but not the alicorn that he was hoping to see.

“Who are you to try and escape what I have sealed away?” the pale pony demanded as he drew nearer.

“I don’t even know who you are,” Tarnish replied as he drew himself up to his full, impressive height. It didn’t matter, the alicorn stallion was quite a bit taller. “Who are you and what is this place?”

“My name is Pale, and this is my place of rest.” The pale white alicorn looked into Tarnish’s eyes with a gaze of infinite sorrow. “Foolish little pony, poking your nose where it does not belong. I have sealed off Skyreach, as I have deemed that it is a dead place, best left forgotten. Even the memories of that place should die.”

“But we’re very much alive,” Tarnish argued, becoming angry.

“For now. But not for very much longer. Skyreach conspires against you.”

As Pale spoke, two ravens—or were they crows, he had trouble telling the difference—landed in a nearby tree and Tarnish eyed them with a wary glare. Tarnish wasn’t even sure who he was talking to, his significance, or his purpose. He didn’t know what this place was, or how he had even come to be here. This was a cold place, and he felt the chill in his heart.

“I was trying to contact Princess Celestia—”

“Give up,” Pale demanded in a sepulchral voice, and his words had the finality of a sarcophagus lid slamming shut. “I have blocked that filly’s view into this place. She already knows too much and her mind has been infected with the knowledge of this wretched, forsaken place. Now, every time she turns to look in this direction, every time she tries to pierce the veil, I show her things, terrible things, I fill her mind with images of death, yet she still persists. She is young and foolish, that one, but I admire her pluck.”

“You’re a bastard!” Tarnish cried.

“Chronos and I both. We never knew our father.” Pale’s ears drooped and he bent his pale alabaster neck. “You are dead as dead can be. When I return you to your friends, go and live whatever life you have left. Make the most of it. Indulge in the flesh of mares, for it will bring you happiness. Make lots of little bastards, just like my brother and I. Accept your end.”

“NO!” Stomping a hoof against the cobblestones, Tarnish let out a defiant snort. “I’ve already spat in the eye of one god, don’t make me spit in yours!”

“Your bravado means nothing, Dead-One.” Pale drew in a deep breath and his wings fluttered against his sides. “Keep flapping your meat together if it makes you feel better though. I admire your persistence, foolish though it is. And pointless. And meaningless. Really, there is no meaning to anything at all. There is only death and it awaits each and every one of us.”

Deep inside, Tarnish felt something break. Something burned inside of him with all of the flaming ferocity of the sun. A vivid blue mist began leaking from around his eyes, and he felt something terrible welling up inside of him. Along with that terrible feeling, there was pain.

Two wooden branches sprang from his back, seeming to grow out of his spine, just behind his withers. They gained length and girth as more branches sprouted, and a rough pair of almost skeletal looking wings formed. Leaves began growing like feathers, and Tarnish let out a gurgled moan. Two antlers began to grow from his head, and root like growths burst from his legs and grew downwards, making his legs longer.

The transformation continued, with Tarnish growing taller. His tree-like wings filled in and gained size. The deer-like antlers gained length and deadly looking points. Dangerous blue flames flickered from his eyes, and he glared down at Pale with a horrendous, awful expression of feminine fury.

“Why, Terra, I did not recognise you in a male body. I bet that feels weird. What’s it like, suddenly having a penis?”

“He has learned to respect the female form,” a female voice coming out Tarnish’s mouth said. “He worships it and holds it sacred. It should be remembered, Pale, that while the female form is the vessel of creation, the male form is a fount for creation. I treasure both.”

Pale somehow managed to look even sadder. “Terra, you know I can’t release them.”

“Yes you can. I have brought my champion here to make right these dreadful mistakes.”

“Terra, I’m sorry—”

Pᴀʟᴇ, ᴅᴏ ɴᴏᴛ ᴛᴇᴍᴘᴛ ᴍʏ ғᴜʀʏ, ᴛʜᴇ ɢʀᴀᴠᴇs ʏᴏᴜ ᴅʀᴀᴡ ᴘᴏᴡᴇʀ ғʀᴏᴍ ʟɪᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜɪɴ ᴍʏ ᴇᴀʀᴛʜ. I ᴡɪʟʟ ᴄʀᴜsʜ ʏᴏᴜ, Pᴀʟᴇ, ᴀɴᴅ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴏɴᴇ ᴏғ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴏᴡɴ ɢʀᴀᴠᴇs ʏᴏᴜ ᴡɪʟʟ ɢᴏ.

“Still a bitch, I see.”

“What you call bitchiness I call the exquisite life-giving magic of the female form.”

Sighing, heaving a sigh that carried eons of ennui, Pale looked up at the avatar of Terra Firma. There was something almost like a contest of wills that took place, but Pale didn’t try very hard and looked away after a few seconds of staring. Extending a wing, Pale began to rub the back of his head.

“The land cries out in pain, Pale. How could I not answer? I gave my body to the land to keep it alive, but I still feel things! I feel pain! This place is a boil that needs lancing. Do not stand in my way, Pale.”

There was another sigh from Pale. “I should have known. He bears your cutie mark. Very well, Terra… let us make a wager and see what comes from it…”

Author's Note

A lot was answered in this chapter...

Deep in Vinyl's groove

After four failed attempts to slip into the astral plane, Tarnish gave up. Each attempt had grown more frustrating and the feeling of being trapped in this wretched place became more and more unbearable. Closing his eyes, he thought of Maud. In his mind’s eye, he saw her, a slight curl to her mane, and he saw her as she was when she was looking up at him, her head upon a pillow, her mane spilled out around her. She was beautiful in these moments, when it appeared that gravity had no hold on her mane.

So strong was the memory that Tarnish could hear the sound of the bed creaking as he looked down upon her face, the soft rustle of flannel sheets, the sound of fabric and flesh rubbing as their bodies twined together. A soft warm bed, with fresh sheets and fresh blankets, bedding that did not smell. The scent of soap, of laundry detergent, the faint nasal tickle of Maud’s special sunscreen conditioner when he buried his muzzle into her taut, muscular neck in those final, frantic seconds.

Maud was a sexual creature and those heated moments approaching climax were one of the rare times that her face took on a bit of expressiveness. She was aggressive, demanding, she was everything an earth pony mate was promised to be in heated whispers during adolescent fantasies, or stereotypes read about in some trashy pulp novel. His beloved wife had a tendency to whinny as she approached climax, and those whinnies grew in both volume and intensity as the moment drew nearer.

Opening his eyes, Tarnish let out a sigh when he saw his reality. Damp bedding. A nauseating stench. A cramped, humid cave with no real room to move around. The sleeping area wasn’t flat, but rather bowl shaped and lumpy. The blankets and the mattresses were covered in crumbs and shed hairs. The wool blankets smelled wet and musty, like mushroom soup but worse.

“Do you hear that?” Daring Do asked, her voice a soft whisper.

Tarnish strained to listen, but heard nothing.

“The storm has stopped.” Daring Do sat up. “There’s still a little bit of daylight left, maybe. I wonder what it is like out there.”

Rainbow’s wings sprang out from her sides. “There is only one way to find out!”

The cave was half buried in fresh powder and Tarnish realised that they could suffocate, that the cave could become their tomb. It was too tight, too sealed off, and they needed a way to get air in and out, without losing too much heat. He stood near the entrance, looking up at the pale grey sky that was thick with puffy clouds.

The sun did not shine and it was freezing outside. It was already as cold it was during the middle of the night and it would only get colder. Knowing that there was work to be done, Tarnish busied himself, and he went over to where the sledge was buried in the powder. He had salvaged some of the metal piping and deck railing with the hopes of making a travois, a fancy sling made of two poles secured to his sides so that he could haul more stuff around.

Reaching beneath the snow with his telekinesis, he felt around, touching things, until at last he found what he was looking for. The long steel pipe was ideal, and he shook the snow off of it. The steel might leach a little heat, and some heat might be lost going up the pipe, but it would allow airflow and much needed oxygen to come in. Tarnish hoped it would also help the humidity problem.

Returning to the cave, he climbed up top, floundering a bit in deep powder, then felt around with his telekinesis a bit until he found a crack between the two stones that was stopped up with roots. The pipe was a bit bent, but it was about three yards long, and Tarnish was confident that the end of it would remain above the snow, no matter how much fell.

Grunting, he set to work.

Rainbow Dash was a crazy, crazy pony. She had gone back inside of the cave and then exited a few minutes later as naked as the day she was born. Tarnish watched her rolling in the fresh powder, amused by her antics, admiring her bravery, and worrying about her getting frostbite. He was also envious of the fact that she seemed to be getting clean, and he hated her just a teeny, tiny bit because of this.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAIEEEEEEEEE!” Rainbow cried when she couldn’t take it anymore, and quick as could be, she went careening off into the cave once more to get warm.

Tarnish stood there, staring at Daring Do, and Daring Do just stared back at him. “It’s like cloud bathing,” he heard Daring Do say. “Just thinking about it makes my teats hard!” Then, Daring Do brayed with laughter, and Tarnish found himself joining in. It was weird though, his response felt detached, and he wasn’t even sure if he found it funny. Still, he laughed, and in some strange way, he felt better.

Daring Do’s laughter came to an abrupt end, and her silence lasted only for a few seconds before she exploded with laughter again. Turning his head, Tarnish saw something that made his neck feel hot. Vinyl was somehow packing powdery snow into snow ponies, and these snow ponies were performing cunnilingus on one another. He stood there, blinking, taking it all in, and he laughed.

Aware that she was being watched, Vinyl held up her slate. More like funnilingus, if you ask me.

“Vinyl Scratch, you made abominable snow-perverts!” Daring Do was stomping in the snow and her laughter was muffled by her scarf. “Those are amazing!”

Tarnish felt it, real laughter bubbled up inside of him, not this weird, disconnected laughter that he had just experienced. There was also a sardonic reply on the tip of his tongue just begging to be let out. His boss had let her mane down, and Vinyl was making pornagraphic snow ponies. Somewhere inside of him, his own irrepressible nature was demanding to be let out.

“Daring, that comment was a little tongue in cheek, if you ask me.”

With a whoop, Daring Do fell over into the fresh powder and howled with laughter.

Outside, it was starting to squall again. Inside, the temperature was dropping, even with Vinyl’s collection of heated rocks. It was a little easier to breathe and it didn’t feel quite so damp now that there was a vent. Tarnish shivered, and it wasn’t just from the cold. A lingering sense of dread filled his being as the storm picked up intensity outside.

With a sigh, Vinyl ceased her studies, picked up her slate, and began writing on it with a piece of yellow chalk. While she wrote, Tarnish wondered what they would do if she ran out of chalk. For some reason, the idea of Vinyl running out chalk worried him far more than running out of food.

The wind was blowing with such force that the very ground around them creaked. Tarnish’s senses told him that something was wrong, he felt quite alarmed, and his two pegasus pony companions all but confirmed it. Both were out of sorts, nervous, and jittery. Things were tense, and made worse by strange social customs that Tarnish was unaware of.

Rainbow, filled with a desperate need to be clean, wished to preen her wings and had politely asked for everypony to turn away so she could have privacy. Tarnish had no idea that wing preening was a private act for pegasus ponies, and poor Rainbow had quite a difficult time. In the middle of it all, she broke down and started crying. From shame or humiliation, Tarnish had no way of knowing, but Daring Do had stared him into submission before he could turn around to comfort Rainbow. The plucky little pegasus mare kept going though, preening each feather while she sobbed, until she felt better about herself and her condition, and her sobs turned into sniffles.

At some point, Daring Do was going to want to preen her wings, and then things would get weird. Now that he was aware of the need for such things to be private, Tarnish felt a keen awareness of the fact that he would be sharing a space with his boss while she did something intimate with herself. He would hear things, the sound of preening, and would know that Daring Do was probably feeling more and more self conscious with each feather drawn through her lips.

It was said that you got to know a pony best when in crisis. Tarnish now knew Daring Do and Rainbow Dash. For him, it was the same logic that had drawn him and Maud together with Vinyl and Octavia. There were going to be intimate moments, close moments, tender moments, especially in the close confines of The Egg. The decision had been to just let it all hang out and allow things to happen without shame. From this, their relationship had evolved into something else, whatever it was now.

Tarnish’s musings were interrupted by a sudden explosion, a terrific equine-startling sound that made each of the companions jump. Daring Do actually lept into Tarnish and flung her forelegs around his long neck. Each of then now eyed the door, waiting, wondering what horrible death was coming for them.

The sound itself was indescribable and was loud enough to be heard over the howling demon wind. Nopony moved—nopony dared—and as much as Tarnish wanted to open the makeshift door to have a look, he knew that opening the door right now was a bad, bad idea. With that wind, the cold, opening the door would be a terrible idea.

He drew Flamingo from her sheath, and she let out a sleepy sounding yawn as she flooded the cave with warm, pink light. Each of the companions waited, for what they could not tell. Another explosion? The door being battered open by an army of equicidal automatons? The wind picked up outside, it screeched and made the most awful noises, and Tarnish was almost certain that he could feel the temperature dropping in the cave.

“Do you feel that?” Rainbow Dash whispered, and each word was accompanied by a puff of steaming breath. “The pressure is dropping.” More puffs of steaming clouds hovered near her muzzle. “This feels like a microburst… I’ve only encountered one once.” While she spoke, ice began to glaze over around the door with shiver-inducing crackles.

Outside, there was another explosion, and Daring Do let out a shrill yelp of terror. Vinyl, terrified, somehow managed to hold herself together so that she could reheat the rocks they used to keep the cave warm. Tarnish wrapped his foreleg around Daring, pulling her as close as possible, and the pair shivered against one another.

“What’s going on?” Flamingo asked. “Everything feels scary. Are we under attack?”

“I don’t know,” Tarnish replied, shaking his head. “It sure feels like it…”

Author's Note

Sorry this didn't make it out last night, I got sick and overcome with nausea.

Blasphemy

The hole in his hood had closed. During the long night filled with terror, Tarnish had sewn it up with fine, tiny stitches that would cause the fabric to self-repair. Seeing it was reassuring, he was getting good at this, and what he stitched together repaired with rapidity. His tiny, perfect stitches concentrated magic in an area. Vinyl could have done the same in mere seconds with a repair spell, but Tarnish wanted the practice.

The constant explosions that happened throughout the night allowed him to practice working under pressure. For most of the night, they awaited an attack that never came. Some of the explosions had been quite loud, and close as well. Tarnish’s ears were still ringing a bit, and he hoped that he didn’t have hearing damage.

Now, it was time to go outside and investigate. It was cold inside of the cave and he knew that it would be even colder outside. In silence, he put on his cloak and secured it around his body. It was a piece of practical, functional clothing, like his pith helmet. The voluminous cloak allowed hot air to rise, becoming trapped beneath its folds, and the pockets of warm air made for an excellent insulator.

Tarnished Teapot was a pony schooled for survival.

Jungles, the tundra, the wilds of Equestria, volcanic wastelands, and now, boreal forests. If he could somehow survive this, it would be another notch on his saddlebag strap, so to speak. The experience he gained from this would only make it that much harder to kill him. He was the unwanted weed, he was poison joke.

“Vinyl, you ready?” Tarnish asked as he turned to look at his companion. “It’s probably lethal outside and the door is frozen shut. I know it’ll be a big drain, but we have plenty of those awful ration bars. Are you ready to radiate heat with your magic?”

Bundled up, Vinyl nodded and her hooded head bobbed up and down. The temperature inside the cave was just above zero degrees with Vinyls’ superheated rocks, rocks that could sizzle your backside should you bump up against them. At least it wasn’t so humid in here and the air was breathable, even if it smelled awful.

Gritting his teeth, Tarnish waited for Vinyl to unfreeze the door.

Tarnish’s head popped up out of the snow and he had himself a look around, very much like a wary arctic hare. The cave was completely buried and Tarnish realised that if he hadn’t added the ventilation pipe when he did, they might have suffocated. He looked left, then right, scanning for danger. It was cold. There was no wind, the sun was shining, and it was freezing.

Yards of snow had fallen through the night.

After some looking around, Tarnish noticed a curious sight. Some of the trees were just snapped in half. The stumps were visible, poking up out of the snow, and various tree bits were sticking up out of the powder. Tarnish let out a startled cry as Daring Do shoved him out so she could come topside and have a look around.

“Outtathaway, goon!” Daring Do commanded as her head popped up out of the hole.

Scrambling, Tarnish sank down into the powder a ways until he hit the hard glazed layer. The snow was in layers, powder, a glazing of hard ice, more powder, he knew this by digging up through it. Reaching down the hole, he grabbed Vinyl and hauled her up with his telekinesis. A moment later, Rainbow scrambled out.

Even with Vinyl providing some magical heat, Tarnish could feel the cold gnawing away at his clothing. Still looking about, the out of doors looked like a war zone, and he had trouble believing what he was seeing. What had caused the trees to explode? Had it been the cold?

“Holy alicorn shit!” Rainbow’s voice was a bit raspy and muffled from her scarf. “I think we had a frozen microburst… I bet the temperatures dropped down to almost one-hundred degrees below zero. This is why the pegasus ponies have to control the weather… if we didn’t, the weather would do this and a lot of ponies and other creatures would die.”

Tarnish believed it.

“How does this happen?” Daring Do asked.

“Weather!” Rainbow shouted and she laughed. “There is warm air higher up, much warmer air, because the jet stream has places where it comes up to the arctic. In the jet stream, there is a lot of warm, moist air. It collides with the pockets of freezing, dry air in the many valleys of these mountain peaks and that produces deadly storms. If you get just the right conditions, you get a frozen microburst, where a microburst forms in the upper atmosphere and then drops down into a swirling vortex of freezing air. From what I know and have read, it causes explosive cold and can drop ten to twenty feet of snow in a small area.”

“Sounds unpleasant.” Tarnish wobbled a bit, then found his balance. “Yet another way Skyreach kills all who come here. We’re still alive though, so fronk you nature, fronk you right in your dirty, dingleberry encrusted ass!”

“Um, Tarnish, should you be saying that as a druid?” Daring Do asked.

“Nature can go get horned!” he bellowed in reply. “Ugh”—shuddering, he shook his head—“I hate nature!”

“Okay then… right.” Daring Do made a gesture. “Dig out the sledge. Time to take advantage of the sunshine and Mrs. Scratch’s radiant heat spell. We have a lot of work to do, so it is time to pony up. Let us away to the Endeavour!”

The corpse of the Endeavour had a heavy dusting of fluffy powder. Tarnish looked at the ruined ship and felt a sense of sadness. For a moment, he even felt guilty about complaining about her bunks, small and cramped though they had been. Straining, he lifted another load onto the sledge.

Daring Do insisted on taking everything that was left in one go. Tarnish wasn’t sure it could be done, but Daring was confident that the loose, fluffy powder would allow it to happen. Vinyl was already showing some signs of fatigue from the constant, steady power drain of her radiant heat spell.

It was warming up, but not by much. No matter how much it warmed, there were bitter, moist winds that blew down upon them from up above. These winds lanced like daggers through their warm clothing and chilled them. Each time it blew, Tarnish thought about what Rainbow had said, how freezing microbursts were formed. To Tarnish, it seemed that Skyreach was just trying to catch its breath before it tried to kill them again.

And it would try to kill them again.

It wasn’t enough to survive, they had to explore. Tarnish was already making plans to this end. The problem was the limited amount of daylight and the brutal temperatures. It was possible to go out at night, but dangerous. Tarnish had done it, and had burned a few chemical warmers tucked into his pockets. Vinyl had her radiant heat spell, but it drained her and left her quite weak.

There had to be a door someplace that automatons came in and out of. Of course, going into a door where automatons came out of was its own special kind of crazy, but Tarnish was that sort of pony. Blinking, he realised that the sledge was full and he had zoned out. Vinyl was securing Rainbow Dash and Daring Do to the sledge with ropes.

It was time to go.

Daring Do and Rainbow Dash were somehow pulling the overloaded sledge. Progress was slow, but they inched forwards. Tarnish and Vinyl walked, staying close to Daring Do and Rainbow Dash, as Vinyl’s spell used a lot more power if she extended the range. Vinyl was starting to stagger a bit in the snow and Tarnish feared the impending burnout.

She was drinking a runny, gritty gruel made from the 4K bars, which Vinyl loathed. Tarnish watched as she pulled away her scarf for a moment, exposing her red, chapped muzzle, and took a swallow. The best that he could do was keep her drink hot, which didn’t feel like very much, but it was better than doing nothing.

Vinyl mouthed the word, “Semen.” She then shook her head, shuddered, and pulled the heavy folds of her scarf back over her muzzle.

Feeling bad for his friend, Tarnish lifted her and ignored her little hoofy-kicks of protest. She went still as he laid her over his back, as she didn’t want to kick him, and he could feel her bundled up face pressing into his heavy clothing. There wasn’t much to Vinyl, she was slight and thin, nothing at all like Maud, who was heavy on his back. Maud actually weighed more than he did, but it was a fact that he never brought up in conversation.

Watching Vinyl kick her legs triggered a memory for Tarnish. He thought of Pebble and the first time he had bathed her. Holding her over the water had caused all four of her stubby little legs to kick, and he had learned that full grown adult ponies did the same thing. Octavia however was not pleased with his little science experiment, but she did look so adorable as she kicked her legs over the tub. Vinyl had even snapped a picture of it, and Octavia vowed revenge.

Octavia’s revenge was forthcoming and Tarnish hoped that he would live to suffer.

Author's Note

Hoofy-kicks.

Rainbow spies with her little eyes

Tarnish awoke, feeling very warm and dry, while having no memory of falling asleep. He was groggy, his mouth was leathery, and a cup of tea was being shoved in his face by Vinyl. Cracking open one eye, he made the groggy assumption that he had been asleep long enough to become something of a danger. Lifting his head, Tarnish became aware that the cave was quite cosy at the moment. At least, it was for him.

“How long was I out?” he asked, his voice parched and gritty.

“About twenty hours,” Daring Do replied. She held a cup of tea between her hooves and the steam curled around her muzzle. “Your amulet turned a bit dark during that time. Rainbow began feeling a bit of dislike for you and we figured out what was going on. It’s good that you got some real sleep finally. It puts my mind at ease.”

“It’s warm.” Tarnish pulled himself up into a sitting position and took the tea from Vinyl and drew in a deep breath of relatively dry air. It was much easier to breathe now, but there was still quite a stench in here. The bedding was dry and didn’t have the disturbing, skin-shivering moistness.

“It’s a nice sunny day outside and it is about five degrees above zero.” Daring Do smacked her lips and then took a sip of tea. As she swished the tea around inside of her mouth, she smiled at Tarnish, a reckless, life-loving grin. Swallowing, her nostrils flared and she said, “I need you up and ready, Mister Teapot. I have an itch to get some stuff done today. So have a cup of tea, a bite to eat, and get yourself sorted.”

It wouldn’t be hard to follow those orders. As he lifted his teacup up to his muzzle, Vinyl passed him a plastic bowl full of oatmeal and dried fruit that reeked of cinnamon. It made his mouth attempt to water, but he was too dried out for a proper flood of slobber. There were also slices of toast, which Vinyl was reheating with a little magic.

So far, this was turning out to be a good day.

Ol’ Gertie was now covered in a light dusting of snow, but the wind seemed to have cleared quite a bit of it away. Daring was studying the ship, no doubt trying to learn more about the crash, and Tarnish kept a wary eye upon their surroundings with a sincere hope that today would be an automaton free day. He was worried that there would be an ambush; there were supplies here at this wreck, and Tarnish was paranoid that something might be waiting for them inside.

Vinyl was armed and so was he. The leg mounted guns couldn’t be worn in such cold temperatures, not with all of the bulky clothing, leaving Daring Do and Rainbow Dash unarmed, but not helpless. He had chosen the shotgun while Vinyl had armed herself with pistols. Knowing what awaited them inside, Tarnish wasn’t so sure what good some guns would do. The mechanoids were relentless, difficult to stop, and the crew of Ol’ Gertie had put up quite a fight, to no avail.

In spite of this knowledge, Tarnish was determined to enjoy his day.

“This ship is an antique,” Daring Do remarked. “It’s a relic from another era. Seeing it is quite disconcerting.”

“Why’s that?” Tarnish asked.

“It leads me to believe that their expedition was done off of the books.” Daring Do’s head tilted upwards and she looked at the fractured, broken hulk of the crashed ship. “There is a long history of this, you see. Take an old decommissioned ship, make it somewhat serviceable, and then hire a crew of questionable sorts. These ships become pirates, privateers, or go on rogue expeditions. The East Windia Trading Company relies heavily upon ‘phantom ships’ as it operates in the blindspots of the Grittish Crowned Heads.”

Tarnish didn’t know what to say in return, so he remained silent.

“These ponies, their family will likely never know what happened,” Daring Do continued. “All of these ponies will have just disappeared without a trace. The Grittish Crowns will cover this up as much as possible, fearing another embarrassment or scandal. What little information that does come to the surface will be buried, denied, or suppressed.”

“Um, I don’t mean to interrupt, but I think I see a wolf,” Rainbow Dash announced as she pointed off towards a copse of trees, some of which had exploded.

Turning his head about, Tarnish focused in the direction that Rainbow was pointing. He squinted and realised that Rainbow had much better vision than he did. In the distance, he could just make it out, an indistinct outline of white on white. Reaching out with his will, Tarnish tried to touch minds with the wolf, hoping to learn something or at least keep his companions safe, just in case the wolf was feeling peckish.

After repeated attempts, Tarnish found there was nothing to touch, which confused him. He was looking at the wolf, he could see it in the distance, but there was nothing there. No mind. A cold, creeping prickle ran down Tarnish’s spine as he drew one conclusion—that was no wolf. The realisation alarmed him, scared him, and he pulled his shield from his back.

“That’s no wolf,” Tarnish whispered.

“Then what is it?” Rainbow asked as her eyes squinted to focus through the glare of sunlight on snow.

“I don’t know,” Tarnish replied, “but not a wolf. Vinyl, shoot it!”

Within an eyeblink of Tarnish’s command, two revolvers blinked into existence and were pointed at the distant creature that wasn’t a wolf. Vinyl fired once and then the not-a-wolf was off running, not running away, but running right at them, and when Vinyl fired again, the not-a-wolf rippled. It was hard for Tarnish to describe what he was seeing, but it was like a drop of water in a pond.

Rainbow and Daring dropped in a defensive crouch and Tarnish raised his shield up in front of him, but he did not draw Flamingo. She needed her rest so she could be at full power for real emergencies. Vinyl fired again, and the not-a-wolf’s body jerked backwards, but did not stop its advance. The strange, indescribable ripple was seen again, almost as if the not-a-wolf’s hide was made from liquid.

It was close now, close enough for Tarnish to really get a good look at it, and it showed no sign of injury, no blood gushed forth, even though Vinyl had scored several hits. He secured a telekinetic tether spell to his shield, gritted his teeth, then launched it, sending it spinning away like a frisbee. There was a metal-on-metal clang when his shield hit the not-a-wolf, which confused Tarnish, but he didn’t have time to think about it as his shield returned to him.

The impact knocked the not-a-wolf over, but did not keep it down. As it rose, Vinyl shot it, firing several times, and then, sparks and smoke began to rise from its head. It convulsed, fell over, and then lay there, its legs kicking. It’s whole body flickered, then vanished, revealing a quadrupedal brass mechanoid.

Shield forward, Tarnish advanced, and when he was close enough, he smashed it in the head a few times, bringing the hard, impervious pointed edge of his kite shield down upon the strange automaton’s head. On the third hit, there was a crackling flicker and the projected image of a wolf’s body could be seen, but then it fizzled out once more.

“The fronk is that?” Rainbow demanded as she pulled close to Tarnish’s side. “It’s like changeling magic, but without the green flames.” While she was speaking, Tarnish clubbed the not-a-wolf one final time, which caused the glowing gemstone eyes to go dim.

Keeping his shield held out before him, Tarnish eyed the fallen automaton and thought about the synthetic ley lines he had encountered. The centaurs had worked on an alternate means to distribute magic, life-giving magic. It seemed that there was also synthetic life. The mechanoid wolf had been quite real looking, quite convincing, right up to the point where Tarnish had tried to touch minds with it. After a little thought, Tarnish wasn’t all that surprised, as the timber wolves were also an attempt at bio-engineering.

What purpose had the mechanoid wolves served? No doubt, it was an answer lost to time, but perhaps more could be learned about them if they found their way inside. Tarnish could hear the sounds of Vinyl reloading and he leaned in so that he could have a closer look at the fallen automaton.

The brass head was hollow and filled with ruin. Crystalline fibres could be seen and crystalline structures, all of which looked eerily similar to that which could be found in the Crystal Empire. Tarnish was almost certain that there was some greater connection, but he lacked proof. It was only a hunch, but he suspected that the Crystal Empire was originally a centaur installation and then ponies had repurposed it.

The centaurs loved their crystal-tech though, Tarnish knew that for certain.

The mouth was filled with pointed steel teeth. The eyes were blue gemstones of some sort, but Tarnish didn’t know what type. They might be some kind of synthetic, grown gem. There were several holes in the head, evidence of Vinyl’s targeting spell. What was worrisome was that the mechanoid wolf had taken several shots to the head before being downed. His own shield blows had damaged the crystalline fibres in the base of the skull that lead down into the body, no doubt acting very much like a spinal cord. The body was a brass cylinder, long, straight, with four actuators for the legs.

The legs were spindly, brass rods with ball joints and hinges. The paws sort of looked like bird’s feet, with five segmented toes that went in all directions. A cluster of crystals grew from where the tail would have been, and several small crystal shards protruded from along the back. Tarnish could see that the metal shell over the body was quite thin and the wolf-mechanoid had a good deal more crystal bits than a standard bipedal mechanoid. Perhaps it was for the illusion generators?

“You know, whomever had an army of those things would find themselves controlling the world in short order,” Daring Do remarked as she looked down upon the fallen automaton. “It could have just as easily looked like a pony, perhaps somepony that you love, somepony you trusted… it would get close to you, just like a changeling, but I daresay these are far, far more deadly than the common changeling. Those… fingers would do great harm.”

The companions, silent for a time, gave some thought to what Daring Do had said, each of them musing upon it and reacting in their own way. Tarnish, cautious as ever, rolled the mechanoid over so he could have a better look into the gaping hole that could be seen in its brass skull. A bullet, now a misshapen lump, was lodged in a cluster of still-sparking crystals. Tarnish thought about what Rainbow had said about crystalised lightning, and he had a better idea of what powered these mechanical monstrousities, or, at least he thought he did.

“Nice work, Rainbow,” Tarnish said to his pegasus companion, and he held his booted hoof out. After waiting a moment, Rainbow bumped hooves with him, and he gave her an appreciative nod. “With you watching, I don’t think much will get close enough to us to be threatening.”

“You know it!” Rainbow replied, sounding very proud of herself.

“Vinyl, we need to start making those mines.” Tarnish turned about in the snow and looked at his fellow unicorn. “Not sure about the triggering mechanism though. Brass isn’t magnetic. We’ll need to figure something out and soon.”

“Tarnish is right.” Daring Do cast a final glance at the fallen mechanoid, then looked over at the wreck of Ol’ Gertie. “For now, let’s strip everything we can. I want those ration bars, as awful as they are. Let’s get to work. Tarnish, be a dear and load that automaton onto the sledge for Vinyl, will you?”

“Sure thing,” Tarnish replied and he set to work doing his boss’ bidding.

Author's Note

There wolf, there Skyreach.

Such a pain in the neck

Waiting for an ambush, Tarnish poked his head into the gristly, massacred mess hall. The corpses were still here, frozen, pain and terror still visible on their faces. Frozen pools of blood covered the floor. Torn limbs and sundered bodies lay amongst the overturned tables. Pausing, Tarnish could hear the faint whimpering sounds coming from Rainbow, a faint sound of anguish made with every breath. He wished that he could spare her from this somehow.

Vinyl began gathering up bullets that Tarnished had missed, and he had missed many. Daring Do stepped over the bodies and made her way to the kitchen area, no doubt focused on the needs of the living, just like Tarnish was. Rainbow just stood there in the doorway, unmoving, staring, transfixed in place by horror.

“Shouldn’t we do something with the bodies?” Rainbow asked in a soft, almost reverent whisper.

“What?” Daring Do responded as she paused in the kitchen doorway. “Carve graves into the frozen ground? How many calories shall we waste paying respects to the dead when our own survival is questionable?”

Shaking, Rainbow lifted her head and her eyes could be seen blinking behind her goggles. She huffed a few times, then managed to spit out, “You know, you complain about Tarnish showing no compassion, but you’re just as callous!”

“In this instance, I am,” Daring admitted, and then she passed through the door into the kitchen. “Tarnish and I, we have an understanding. We survive. It is what we do.”

Tarnish, not knowing what to do or say, stood there, looking at Rainbow, and he drew in a deep breath of freezing, lung chilling air. After some thought, he had this to say: “I know it sounds awful, but what can we do, really? If something happens to us, we’ll share the same fate. We’ll just be a pile of frozen corpses that maybe some other survivor might pick clean.”

Hanging her head, Rainbow retreated over to a corner, picked up an overturned chair, and sat down. She said nothing, but just stared at the bodies, her eyes wide behind her goggles. Tarnish wanted to comfort her, but he didn’t know what else to say. This was something that Rainbow was going to have to come to grips with, and the sooner, the better.

“I shouldn’t be here,” Rainbow Dash said in a low whisper. “I’m gonna go keep watch outside.”

Using his shield, Tarnish smashed open the heavy padlock on the locked cabinet in the kitchen, hoping and expecting to find a treasure trove of delicious food. With his telekinesis, he yanked open the reinforced steel door and looked inside, eager for fantastic loot. What he found left him quite curious. There were liquor bottles a plenty, which he didn’t care about, and lots of canned goods.

Lifting a can, he read the label. “Creamed rice pudding.”

“You’ve found the dessert cabinet!” Daring Do cried as she came trotting over. “Oh! Spotted dick!”

“You didn’t spot nothing, that’s tucked up under my outerwear. It’s way too cold to leave it hanging out.”

For a moment, nothing happened, but then Daring Do began to turn her head. She looked up at Tarnish, her face unseen behind her scarf. Her eyes could be seen through her goggles though, and they became narrowed. Lifting a hoof, she made a motion, a gesture of cutting her throat, while making a low nickering of disapproval.

“It’s pudding,” Daring Do said to Tarnish.

“My wife calls what comes out colt custard,” Tarnish replied. “I suppose it might be pudding textured though, I wouldn’t know.”

Daring Do squeezed her eyes shut and let out a groan. “That’s quite enough, Mister Teapot.”

“You know, it occurs to me, when you’re happy with me, you sound like Daring Do, but when you’re upset with me, you sound more like Miss Yearling.” Tarnish lifted out a can and held it up to look at the label. “What’s creamed semolina, anyhow?”

“It is what fills the space between your ears,” Daring Do deadpanned as she once more looked up at her colleague, companion, and friend.

“Oh, that’s mean, just plain mean, Miss Yearling. I think you could do with more spotted dick in your life.” Stepping forwards, Tarnish poked his head into the cabinet to have a better look at the strange, foreign desserts. “What in Tartarus is creamed rice pudding with sultanas, allspice, and nutmeg?”

Daring Do’s serious mien gave way and she began chortling so hard that her whole body shook. She gasped a few times, then gave Tarnish a nod. “Transport that whole cabinet to the sledge, Morale Officer Teapot. Sweets and desserts will help us keep our mood. Get moving, you goof!”

“Right.” With a nod, Tarnish set to work to do his boss’ bidding.

The sledge had quite a load already, and Tarnish felt a strange comfort from seeing the supplies. Many important things from the kitchen had been looted, but there was more to take if they felt like it. What had to be a year’s worth of food had been loaded onto the ship, and that wasn’t even counting the ration bars, of which there were thousands. So many in fact, that they had to leave some behind because of the weight.

Another trip would be in order, but the idea made Tarnish nervous.

“Psst, Tarnish, over here!” Rainbow said in a loud-quiet whisper.

Turning about, Tarnish went over to Rainbow, who was squirming where she stood. He didn’t like how she was acting, and he felt a cold shiver that had somehow made its way through his many layers of protective clothing. Rainbow grabbed his leg when he got close and yanked him around so that he could see whatever it was that she was seeing.

And Tarnish saw it, too. He didn’t like it. Squinting, he peered out and between some trees, he saw a tall, spindly figure glinting in the sunlight. It had an arm cannon and three wolves circled around it. The sight caused his blood to freeze and he could feel Rainbow squeezing his leg with hers.

“Automaton thinking,” Tarnish whispered to the little pegasus mare clinging to his leg. “One wolf for each of us and a hunter. We killed the scout, I think, so that’s one wolf down, but what’s out there could be a real threat to us. Those wolves will keep us busy while the hunter shoots us.”

“What do we do?” Rainbow asked in a hushed voice.

“We stay out of sight,” Tarnish replied as he drew Flamingo while he moved out of view, pulling Rainbow with him. “Hey, Flamingo, keep quiet, but we need you.”

“Yeah?” Flamingo’s reply was an enthusiastic whisper.

“Mechanoids.” Tarnish made a gesture in the general direction that the threat was in.

“Right, got it.” And with that, the floating sword that glowed with pink light took off to cause mechanical mayhem, while humming a happy tune to herself.

While Flamingo floated off to do her dirty work, Tarnish pulled Rainbow away from the large split in the hull. He pulled out his shield, just in case, and wondered what Vinyl and Daring Do were doing elsewhere. Some kind of alarm was needed, but he didn’t want to give himself or his companions away to the hunter and his pack.

There was a faint buzzing sound, following by another, and Tarnish strained to listen. The ring of metal on metal could be heard and he knew that Flamingo was hard at work, reducing the automatons to scrap. She was good at it and Tarnish felt a immense gratitude towards Gorgonzola for the wonderful gift she had given him.

The sound of gunfire elsewhere in the ship almost made him jump out of his skin. Shield held in front of him, he charged off down the lopsided hallway, and more gunfire could be heard. Rainbow was right behind him, and Tarnish lept up the stairs three at a time to get to the upper decks where the sounds of fighting could be heard.

Something struck his shield with enough force that Tarnish almost dropped it. His whole head buzzed with pain and he thought that his horn would explode. Woozy, he almost fell over, he staggered, and battled against his quivering legs to remain upright. His telekinesis wasn’t strong enough to endure a blow like that against his shield. Sniffling, he waited for his nose to start bleeding, but no blood seemed forthcoming.

Just as he was starting to recover, his shield was struck again and a sound like a ringing gong filled the hallway. Stumbling, he would have fallen down the stairs that were behind him had Rainbow not caught him. There were two loud bangs that made his ears ring, and a buzzing sound accompanied by something whizzing over his head. It was all he could do to keep holding onto his shield and his eyes blurred as his brain threatened to go squirting out of his ears.

Another shot rang out and the sound of metal clattering on wood filled the small space. Rainbow dragged Tarnish down the stairs, his body thumping against the wood. Behind them, on this deck, there was an automaton in wolf’s clothing waiting for them. Letting out a slurred moan, Tarnish tried to raise his shield, but it fell down and struck him in the head.

Rising into a bipedal stance, Rainbow stood between Tarnish and the advancing mechanoid while making a come-hither gesture with her booted hoof and the automaton wolf obliged her. It lept, moving with surprising speed. Rainbow, bundled up as she was, was still somehow faster. She was the fastest pony alive for a reason and with her teeth gritted in determination, she was resolved to live up to her reputation.

Her front left hoof struck out, lightning quick, and she struck the mechanoid in the side of the head. A follow up strike with her right hoof sent the automaton flying away from her, and she kicked out one hind leg while standing on the other. The push kick connected with the mechanoid’s backside and the sound of shattering crystal could be heard. The wolf illusion dropped away, flickering several times before it did so.

It landed, turned about, and lunged at Rainbow with snapping jaws. She struck again, this time unleashing a flurry of pummeling blows. With each strike, the sound of crystal shattering could be heard, and smoke rose from the automaton’s brass skull. It tried to bite her, but she sidestepped away, then delivered another quick kick.

The axe kick launched the mechanoid upwards and it struck the ceiling with a heavy thud. Rainbow, moving at a speed that only alicorns could see, let go of a torrent of surgical strikes at the mechanoid while it descended. Brass dented and gave way, crystals shattered, and crystalline fibres became irreparably damaged.

Before it hit the ground, she caught it, got it in a headlock, bore it down to the deck, braced her hind hooves against where the floor and the wall met, and then began twisting its head off with steady, applied pressure. With the screeching sound of twisting, rending metal, the structure connecting the head to the body gave way and with a sizzling pop, the mechanoid in Rainbow’s embrace powered down.

Tossing it down to the floor, Rainbow then drove her hoof straight down and crushed what remained of the automaton’s skull. Actuators, crystal shards, and torn bits of brass went flying in all directions as the brass skull exploded on impact. Grunting, Rainbow kicked it away, dropped down on all fours, and went to Tarnish’s side. She gave him a shake, and all she got in return was a low moan.

“Are you okay?”

Looking up, Rainbow saw Daring Do looking down from above. Beside her was Vinyl, holding two smoking pistols. The stench of gunpowder filled the air, along with ozone and hot metal. She took a deep breath and tried to stop the shakes as they began to set in, but she failed and she could feel her knees wobbling.

“I’m fine, but I think Tarnish had his brains scrambled,” Rainbow managed to say as her shakes grew worse. “I don’t know if I could fight two of those at the same time… are we safe?”

“I don’t know,” Daring Do replied. “Vinyl, see to Tarnish. Dash, keep your eyes open. I’m going to peek outside and see what is going on. I think I hear Flamingo fighting outside… whatever is out there will be dismantled in short order, I suppose. Nice work, Miss Dash.”

Rainbow looked down at the ruined mechanoid, then back up at her fellow pegasus. She nodded and replied, “I had to save Tarnish… he’s my friend. I think I’m about to piss myself.”

“Hold it together, Rainbow Dash,” Daring Do commanded in a stern, harsh voice. “We’re not out of danger yet and your friends may still need you.”

Vinyl came down the stairs and Rainbow turned to look at the tear in the ship’s hull to keep an eye out for invaders. Daring came down the stairs as well, pushed past Rainbow, and went over to where the gap in the hull was to have a look outside. Rainbow watched her suck in a deep breath, almost as if she was diving into a swimming hole, then Daring held it, and then with a great deal of hesitation, she peeked her head out.

There was a buzzing sound, a faint whizzing, and then Daring Do backed away from the opening. She turned to face Rainbow Dash and revealed a rapidly growing red stain on her parka. She stood there for a moment, and behind her goggles, her eyes were filled with shock, surprise, and pain. So much pain.

Saying nothing, Daring Do tumbled down to the floor as the sounds of battle outside drew closer.

Author's Note

I would have had this out sooner, but my blood sugar decided to tank and I sorta fell apart.

Deep in Daring Do's throat

Rainbow had trouble believing what she was seeing. Daring Do was downed, dying perhaps, or maybe already dead. Tarnish was downed and unresponsive. Outside, a battle raged, she could hear the clang of metal on metal as Flamingo chopped through what had to be an entire army of automatons, but Flamingo was just one sword. It took time to chop through stuff, and time worked against them at the moment. Flamingo wasn’t quite the ace in the hole that Rainbow had hoped she would be.

The sound of metal against wood let Rainbow know that there was something just outside the hull, less than a yard away from her. Then, to Rainbow’s horror, she saw the mechanical monstrosity. It came in, poking its brass head through the crack, it was as if an unwanted guest had just dropped in to say hello, and she saw it looking at her with its creepy gemstone eyes. It was missing its right arm, but the left arm still functioned and had the horrible grabby fingers.

It stepped over the unmoving body of Daring Do and Rainbow assumed a combative stance, determined to remain in the way, as she was the only thing between Tarnish, Vinyl, and the mechanoid. She was confident that she could take it in one on one combat, but if more automatons came through the crack, she would be in trouble and she knew it.

“Get down!”

In Rainbow’s ears, Tarnish’s voice was slurred and difficult to make out, but she made out his command. She threw herself down to the ground and as she did so, what had to be the loudest sound she had ever heard in her life thundered in the tight confines of the ruined hallway. There was a brilliant flash of light that accompanied the apocalyptic BOOM! that seemed to press in on her brain, coming from all directions.

The mechanoid’s head just vanished. It was there one moment and gone the next. Its fingers flexed once and then it just tipped over, smoke and sparks spewing from its neck mounts. Pressing herself against the floor while clenching up her pisshole, Rainbow turned her head to look at Tarnish and Vinyl. Her friend was still down, but his head was up. Hovering beside him was the short barrel coach gun, the big fronkin’ gun. One barrel, the left, was smoking.

“The Almighty Celestia gave you a kiss, you mechanoid bastard!” There was a click as Tarnish flipped a switch to arm the other barrel, and then he said to Rainbow, “Grab Daring and pull her away from the opening! Do it now!”

Keeping her head down, Rainbow scrambled to do as she was told, because Tarnish got scary when he was like this.

Helping to hold Tarnish’s head up, Vinyl cast a radiant heat spell as Daring Do’s parka was pulled open. Right away, she saw it, the hole in Daring’s neck. It was off to the left side and it passed through an area that seemed dangerously close to the jugular vein. A lot of blood was oozing out, but it was not rhythmic spurting. The sound of battle was still happening outside, the clang of metal on metal as Flamingo carved her way through an army of mechanoids.

“Tarnish, can you even see?” Rainbow asked.

“Mostly,” Tarnish replied as he pulled supplies out of his saddlebags. “Keep an eye on that split in the hull!”

In silence, Vinyl reloaded the ten gauge coach gun. Its eighteen inch barrels were octagonal and it was quite heavy, because it was made to be a last ditch weapon, a bludgeon if necessary. The wooden stock was trimmed in brass. The look and make were undeniably Grittish, and Vinyl knew that if Octavia was here, she would be oohing and awing over it, while giving a lecture about the quality of Grittish goods. Octavia, a product of the Grittish Isles, was a fine, fine product indeed.

Leaning closer to Tarnish, Vinyl did her best to keep him steady while she cast a light spell. There was a heavy thump against the hull that almost made her jump out of her skin, and she kept the coach gun at the ready. Later, when this was was over, if they survived it, Vinyl resolved to reload the ten gauge shell with brass slugs made from fallen mechanoids. It just felt right, using mechanoids to kill mechanoids.

“Aw, shit, my head hurts,” Tarnish whined as he leaned in close to Daring Do’s neck.

Daring Do was starting to squirm a bit and Vinyl stretched out her magic a little further to restrain her. This was going to be dreadful, no doubt. Tarnish was skilled in combat medicine, but he lacked things like anesthesia or even numbing spells. Vinyl winced when Tarnish made a cut and opened the small hole in Daring’s neck, and Daring let out a pained whimpering sound. The wind from her cries passed through the hole in her neck and caused the blood to bubble.

“I can’t see shit,” Tarnish said as he worked. “I’m having to do this blind, feeling around with my magic, and my magic is kinda scrambled right now!” The panic in his voice made it crack and rise in pitch.

Vinyl knew what needed to be done, as she could see into the incision Tarnish had made. The inside needed to be sewed up first, Daring’s windpipe, and then the outside. And it needed to be done before she bled out, or lost so much blood that she became to weak to survive the recovery process. Tarnish was working against time. The exit wound was covered with white gauze that was now stained scarlet.

The sounds of combat ceased and was replaced with an eerie silence.

The needle and thread began moving, and the moment became quite surreal, as Tarnish was not looking down at what he was doing. His unfocused, almost concussed-looking stare was focused on the stairs. Vinyl felt a brief moment of pride, she had taught him how to feel around with his telekinesis, and it was now paying dividends. Tarnish’s unicorn magic wasn’t much, but he was learning how to make the most of what he had.

The tiniest, and perhaps most perfect knots that Tarnish had ever created began to form as he stitched up the inside of Daring’s throat, closing up her windpipe, stitching her torn esophagus back together. Vinyl watched, feeling squeamish, but unable to turn away. The flesh of her frogs felt as though something slithered just below the surface and a nervous sweat moistened the flesh of her nethers.

Daring started to kick a bit more and Vinyl clamped down tighter with her magic, knowing that any sort of squirming right now would be inviting disaster. A wet, bubbling gurgle could be heard and Vinyl knew that blood had to be trickling down inside of Daring’s throat. She hoped that Tarnish would be able to work fast enough to save the pegasus.

“It’s quiet,” Rainbow Dash said in a low whisper.

As Rainbow spoke, Flamingo hovered into view and then took up position in the split in the hull that now served as an entrance. It was quiet. Vinyl heard the sounds of breathing, the wet squelch of meat being sewn together, and the soft, muted thrum of magic. Flamingo’s pink light was somehow soothing and brought Vinyl a little much needed comfort.

“How are we going to get back?” Rainbow asked. “We have all these supplies… things that we need… and Daring Do is down and Tarnish is having trouble even holding his own head up and I don’t know if I can pull the sledge on my own. I guess we just go back and forget about this stuff?”

Watching as Tarnish now stitched the outside of Daring’s neck, Vinyl did not have an answer. They would need to get back to the cave, and they would probably have to leave the sledge here. She witnessed the repair spell in action, she could actually see the flesh mending together, growing back as the knots formed. Tarnish was good at this, but his skill had come at the price of much suffering, because somepony had to be busted up pretty good for Tarnish to get his practice in.

Something would need to be done about combat priorities, Vinyl knew. Tarnish was a skilled combatant, of that there could be no doubt, but a dedicated effort would need to be made to keep him out of combat, since he was the only one of them skilled enough to stitch them back together after a scrap. He was their medic, their sawbones, and Vinyl knew that if something happened to Tarnish, their chances of survival plummeted to unacceptable lows.

Daring Do let out a gurgling cry as Tarnish sliced open the exit wound to have a better look inside. The entry wound was closed and already mending. Daring’s hide was stained crimson, but no more blood leaked from the entry wound. The pegasus mare’s legs stiffened and Vinyl clamped down even more to keep Daring from kicking around. The pain had to be awful, but there was nothing to be done but bear it. Air whistled in and out of the bloody hole in Daring’s neck, and Tarnish was already stitching up the inside, connecting the flaps of delicate tissue back together with tiny knots.

Sniffling a bit, Vinyl caught a whiff of iodine and her eyes watered. The smell of iodine brought back memories, most unpleasant memories. Her mind drifted backwards in time, back to the fateful day that Grogar’s crown had been destroyed. Her own withers had been ripped open by those horrible, grabbing hands and iodine had been squirted into the gaping tears made in her flesh. Later, when the Royal Guard had come, they had all been hauled off to the hospital together.

The mute albino shuddered because she could still hear the singing of the automatons, their dreadful, dreadful chants made in the dark. The memories of the frenetic violence were still so fresh, so real, so recent. What was she doing here in this awful place? Why had she come looking for Skyreach? This was a horrible mistake, and Vinyl Scratch didn’t know if she would live to regret it.

The sledge vanished from view, but there were still plenty of scrapped mechanoids to be seen. Tarnish, held aloft in Vinyl’s magic, kept an eye out for danger. His legs didn’t want to work right, not after his brain had absorbed the impact of those shots. It was amazing that his magic even worked. He had no idea how many automatons had attacked them here, but those three wolves and the hunter had been the opening distraction.

Tarnish had trouble taking it all in. The sheer numbers around him, and Flamingo had chopped them down. This had to be what the crew of Ol’ Gertie had faced. Overwhelming odds, a vastly superiour force come to exterminate them. In the air beside him, also held aloft by Vinyl’s magic, Daring Do groaned and let out a feeble, burbling cough.

Looking at the brass bodies all around him, Tarnish didn’t know how to win. All of these scrapped automatons would soon be collected and recycled. At some point, he and his companions would succumb to sheer numbers. Looking at the bodies, Tarnish had an idea, the sort of idea that nice ponies weren’t supposed to have.

“Vinyl,” Tarnish said as he stared at a decapitated automaton, “I’m having an idea.” Pausing, he listened to the crunch of the snow as Rainbow and Vinyl trudged towards the cave. “We need to booby trap the bodies, Vinyl. I know I’m messed up, and I know you have to be tired, but once we having Daring back at our cave, you and I need to come back out this way and booby trap as many of these bodies as we can with those big explosive shells. If we can wreck the recyclers, maybe we can slow down or disrupt the supply chain a bit.”

“You know, Tarnish,” Rainbow Dash began, “if things had turned out a little different, I get the feeling that my friends and I might’ve had to come after you with the Elements of Harmony. For one of the good guys, you don’t act like it sometimes. Don’t take this the wrong way, but you have a certain meanness about you.”

“Hey, Rainbow, good don’t mean nice,” Tarnish replied as he turned to look at the pegasus pony bounding through the snow.

“Oh, I ain’t complaining… I’m just glad you’re on our side!”

Author's Note

This chapter feels much, much shorter than it is. I do not know why.

Flutterwhat?

Vinyl was fixing a meal of soft things, a meal that was very much needed. Instant mash, dehydrated green beans, and instant curry gravy with wheat-meat slivers. Daring Do was sitting up, leaning against Rainbow Dash, and had her eyes closed. Tarnish was propped up against a stack of supplies, trying to recover his own movement because there was still so much left to do.

With some concentration, Tarnish was able to levitate up a small bottle of rye whiskey, which he held out to Daring Do. Turning his head, he said, “A few tiny sips should help kill the pain a bit and hopefully burn out any chance of infection. Drink it slow.”

Reaching out, her movement slow and jerky, Daring Do took the small bottle. She held it for a time, staring at it, but did nothing with it. After a few seconds, Rainbow took the bottle in her fetlock, pulled out the stopper with her teeth, and then passed the bottle to Daring Do, who then took a sip. A rough wheeze could be heard and Daring’s whole face contorted in pain.

“Those stitches will dissolve in time,” Tarnish said to Daring, sounding apologetic. “I’m really sorry I had to cut you. I know that hurt and I feel bad about it. If you’re sore about it, I understand.”

“I’m not mad.” Daring’s voice was a rough, gurgling wheeze, more of a raspy croak than anything else. “Miss Yearling might not like you, but you’re okay in my book.” She then let out a weak, feeble chuckle that made her body shake, then she went still, groaning in pain. Lifting the bottle, she took another sip, swallowed, closed her eyes, and focused on breathing as the bottle came to rest against her barrel.

The pungent tang of turmeric and cardamon filled the cave and Vinyl turned about with her slate. With her chalk, she wrote down some words, writing tiny to preserve space so that she could say what needed to be said all at once. Tarnish, his body heavy, tried to turn his head so that he might see better.

You have a magical concussion. I’m worried. I don’t know if we should go out together. I might go out alone. I’m worried at how your brain is scrambled, but we have an opportunity that is too good to pass up. She wiped the slate clean when Tarnish gave a weak nod, and then begin writing again.

When done, she held it up once more. A shock to the system affects us differently. Some unicorns lose magic, you’ve lost fine motor control. I haven’t seen that before. Tarnish, I’m sorry, but I think I’m going out alone.

After reading, Tarnish replied, “Okay. You trusted me to go out alone, so I guess it’s my turn to trust you. I can stay here and play nurse to Daring.”

Snorting, Vinyl wrote down more words. Daring is in better physical shape than you are. She can move.

Both Daring Do and Rainbow Dash chortled, but Daring’s face twisted into a scowl of intense pain and her chortles did not last. Vinyl began stirring the instant mash while cracking open a tiny tin of butter. She gave a yank on the ring tab and then shook the contents of the tin into the mash bowl. The butter, pale yellow-orange, no doubt coloured with carrot juice, began to steam and melt the instant it landed in the mash.

Frowning, Vinyl began breaking up a 4K bar into the mixing bowl full of boiling hot gravy. An intense look of regret crossed over the unicorn’s face as she ruined what was certain to be a delicious, wonderful gravy by crumbling four thousand calories worth of protein into it. The delightful smell of curry gravy took on a strange funk that filled the cave, and the pleasantness of the meal now retreated into the corners, lost forever.

“We lived,” Rainbow Dash said to her companions, and then she let heave a sigh. “Each of us did what needed to be done to survive. It feels good living… but I’m a little shaken. I think we all are. I’ve been in some tense situations before with my friends… but nothing quite like that.” After a moment of looking a bit forlorn, a grin crossed over Rainbow’s muzzle. “That was awesome what Tarnish did with that shotgun! My ears are still ringing.”

“Yeah… The Royal Pony Sisters.” Tarnish gave Rainbow a sagging smile. “I’m gonna etch me some alicorns on the barrels. Two barrels, two almighty alicorn sisters, it just feels right, ya know?”

“Yeah I do.” Rainbow squirmed a bit, reached around, and adjusted Daring Do’s sitting position. “It’s time to stuff our faces. Daring, I’ll help ya eat. What are friends for?”

“Stitching you back together when you get shot in the neck,” Daring Do replied.

Vinyl was gone, taking advantage of whatever daylight was left. Tarnish was worried, but of course he did his best to hide it. Daring Do was sleeping, having managed to eat a fair bit of her meal—even with her sore throat—and she had drank a third of the bottle of rye whiskey. At the moment, the injured pegasus lay upon her side, and Rainbow Dash was using her as a makeshift table to hold up her book.

Tarnish thought of home. Pebble was there, his great accomplishment, his great achievement. He was pretty proud of what he had done, so much so that he felt the need to boast about it. At least a little part of him would live on, should the worst happen in this place, this dreadful place known as Skyreach.

Blinking with concentration, he levitated the unloaded shotgun in front his face and continued to examine it, familiarising himself with the weapon. He was a lousy shot at any kind of distance, but this weapon suited him. After some thought, he figured he would add this to his arsenal. Sword, shield, whip, and shotgun. Having been exposed to a few firearms, he had never seen one quite like this coach gun. It was made for intimidation, but more than that, it had dropped an automaton today.

It was loud though, and Tarnish didn’t know when his ears would recover.

“Hey, Rainbow…” He kept his voice down so that Daring’s rye whiskey induced slumber wouldn’t be disturbed. “I know this question is pushing it, but I’m bored. Just how close are you and Twilight Sparkle?”

Looking up from her book, Rainbow puckered up her lips and blew her mane out of her eyes. She stared at Tarnish for a time, blinking, and her face was solemn. With a wing, she slipped a bookmark into her book, closed it, and then continued staring at Tarnish, blinking once in awhile. She opened her mouth for a moment, and her lips moved, but no words came out, though her barrel did expand.

“It was a bad idea, I’m sorry, you don’t have to answer.”

Rainbow waved her hoof in a dismissive gesture, and then managed to say, “She is very dear to me. I miss her, a lot. I know what you’re getting at, and a lot of ponies just assume that we are.” She paused, almost smiled, then shook her head. “If circumstances were different, we would be, I think. I’m pretty sure that I could coax her out of her shell.”

“I don’t follow. Circumstances?” Tarnish set the shotgun down atop his folded up cloak.

“Twilight means so much to me that she’s off limits,” Rainbow replied, sighing out the words. “Well, it’s more complicated than that, but that’s what I tell myself. See, I have these rules, the Rules of Rainbow Dash, and everypony I know has a sexual availability factor. I’d jump Twilight’s bones in a hot minute, but due to complications, I can’t. Ever.”

“Why?” Intrigued, Tarnish found that he had to know more.

“Twilight’s friendship is so valuable to me that I would never risk it. Plus, she is my fellow Element of Harmony. If we had a falling out, that might compromise our ability to work together, and that would put the world at risk. So, to save the world and keep it safe, I can’t make Twilight have a sexual awakening.”

“I see,” Tarnish said, not seeing anything and not understanding.

“It’s all very complicated though, you see, because I’ve already had an encounter with one of my fellow Elements—but that was before we were Elements. We were young and stupid and we didn’t know what we were doing, and it was the first time for both of us and it was super awkward, and I’m just really, really glad that we’re both still friends.”

“Fluttershy.” Tarnish was hesitant to even say the word, but he did.

“It was flight camp,” Rainbow replied, whispering out her embarrassment. “Everypony fools around and experiments in flight camp. It was just a bit of touching and looking. She trusted me, and I trusted her, and it was super weird at the time, so neither one of us pushed the other to go any farther than just touching.”

“You called it your first time…”

“Well, we kept touching until something happened,” Rainbow revealed, her voice a squeak. “She, uh, had some practice on herself, I guess, and, she, um, well, she touched me in all the right ways, and because we’re friends, it only seemed right to return the favour.”

“Right.” Tarnish said nothing about how hot it was, two fillies fumbling around with one another, because he didn’t want to ruin the moment. But it was hot, no doubt.

“Flutters has a light touch and she’s really good at it.” Averting her eyes, Rainbow could no longer look at Tarnish. “She’s really, really good at animal husbandry. Farmers far and wide pay her good bits to come and service their breeding stock. Look, it’s really weird to me and I don’t wanna talk about it anymore. I don’t like to think about Flutters jerking off some dumb farm animal because it makes what we shared really weird.” Letting out a flustered huff, Rainbow opened up her book and resumed reading, her face darkened with awkward embarrassment.

Not wishing to cause any further distress, Tarnish did not press the issue and let it drop. His own first time was an experience better left forgotten and certainly not something he wished to talk about. Once more in silence, Tarnish let out a sigh and waited for Vinyl to return. He lifted up his shotgun, held it up in front of him, and tried to work up the courage to begin etching the barrels with his magic.

Author's Note

:flutterrage: The pay is good!

If you have a mare for breakfast...

When Vinyl Scratch came through the door, Tarnished Teapot almost lost his mind. So overcome with relief as well as a desire to show his affection, he let out a muffled wicker and pulled his fellow unicorn to him, causing her to drop the arm cannon she had entered with. She seemed a little surprised, but he failed to notice, and he began pulling off her protective outerwear so that he might see that she was, indeed, okay.

Outside, beyond the still open door, the wind howled as darkness began to overtake Skyreach valley. Rainbow put the door plug back into place and made certain it was secure while Tarnish overreacted to Vinyl’s return. With the door now shut, no more precious heat was leaking out, which they had very little of. The hot rocks had cooled off quite a bit in Vinyl’s absence.

Groggy, and perhaps a tiny bit hungover, Daring Do groaned, blinked a few times, and then, in a slow, cautious manner, she sat up, mindful of her neck. The wound had scabbed over already—it didn’t look near as bad as it did earlier, though it was still quite red and puffy. When the blankets fell away from her, she shivered a bit, as the cave was now a bit chilly.

Pushing Tarnish away, Vinyl shook with silent laughter, and she began to peel off some of her many layers. Rainbow began to examine the second arm cannon, which seemed far more intact than the first. This one had more bits and bobs still connected, and all of the crystalline structures were still whole, or appeared to be to Rainbow.

Levitating her slate, Vinyl began writing in a hurry, and her chalk squeaked a few times as she wrote out the words, I figured out how to use it. There was a fight too. I got to test it on a group of automaton scouts. Headshots.

“Really?” Tarnish, now worried, managed to get his limp forelegs around her and he pulled her closer.

Snorting, Vinyl scribbled out a few more words after wiping the first batch away. One shot, one kill. Very powerful. I gave it too much power though. When Tarnish and the others had finished reading, she cleared these words away and hurried to add more. Broke sound barrier, made big crack, brought more scouts. Less power = silent weapon.

“So this takes them down in a hurry?” Rainbow almost looked relieved, and she let out a gasp when Vinyl’s head began bobbing up and down. “So if you have this thing for long range and Tarnish has that shotgun for close range, we should be set. It’s amazing how tough those mechanoids are. I hope we have the means to take them out.”

Vinyl began writing out her reply, using tiny letters so she could fit more on the slate. I took out 15 of them with headshots. No trouble at all, except for that first shot that almost got me noticed. I was up in a tree, raining down death from above. Pop! Pop! Pop!

“Fifteen?” Tarnish looked incredulous and one eyebrow lifted. It wasn’t that he doubted Vinyl, she wasn’t one for lying or boasting, but it was just such a sharp contrast to the near death experience of earlier this day.

I recovered all the available ammo I could find, too. It uses so little magic… just a little tiny spark of electricity to kick off the initial reaction that creates a magnetic pulse that pushes the bullet out.

“That’s incredible.” Daring Do’s voice was scratchy and she grimaced in pain while she spoke. “We might actually survive this now… I cannot express how relieved I am.”

I’ll do better if I have Rainbow as my spotter. She has better eyes than I do.

“All the more reason to stick together.” Rainbow, ecstatic, happy, and in need of a hug, fell upon Tarnish and Vinyl.

I used 50 shells to trap bodies. Took me a bit to figure out how to do it. Used magical ignition wards. When they come to reclaim scrap, there will be much big boom. Vinyl bowed her head down and kissed Tarnish on the cheek. Afterwards, she wrote down a few more words. I think we’re going to be okay. You fix me food now. Right?

“Right, I’ll see what I can throw together,” Tarnish replied as he made his body flop around.

Tarnish was the first pony awake and he watched over his sleeping companions. He felt fine after a good night’s sleep, and everything seemed to be working again. It was cold, the rocks were in need of heating again, but he didn’t have the heart to wake Vinyl just yet. She had been exhausted last night after returning, and heating the rocks before bed had been the breaking point.

She needed rest. Yesterday, her limit had been reached. That was true for all of them, in some way or another. He had discovered that his telekinesis was not strong enough to deal with bullet impacts. Daring Do had discovered that getting shot was really unpleasant. Rainbow Dash had talked about her close quarters fighting and how she worried that she couldn’t deal with more than one before she had closed her eyes to go to sleep.

Yet, it was on their worst day since the crash that hope had returned. Vinyl had a new weapon, a powerful one, and it required minimal energy to operate. Tarnish was hopeful that they had a fighting chance now. Smiling, he began soaking some dehydrated potato, pepper, and onion slivers so they could reconstitute, because he planned to make hash browns. A few packets of powdered eggs were pulled out—he hated them but they were nourishing. This morning, there would be coffee as well as tea, and he had choices for coffee. Freeze dried instant coffee, or the real thing. There was a camp coffee pot that he was quite skilled at making work with just his magic alone, no need for a fire.

The decision was made to use the real thing, because it was just that sort of morning.

Turning about, he discovered one very awake Rainbow Dash just staring at him with interest. She was still wrapped in covers, and her blue face just peered out at him from beneath the dull green woollen blankets. After a moment of intense scrutiny, Tarnish began chortling while he continued to fix breakfast.

“Heya, Tarnish…”

“What, Rainbow?”

“Do you believe that true love can be held back by bodies?”

Pausing, Tarnish took a moment to think of what Rainbow meant, and did so in silence.

“I mean, loving something that is different than you.”

“Like the forbidden love between horned unicorns and horny earth ponies?”

Covering her mouth by pulling the blanket over it, Rainbow began to snigger and her withheld laughter caused Daring Do to stir in her sleep. Tarnish grinned, feeling clever, but also aware that Rainbow might have meant something else. There were, however, in Tarnish’s experience, certain assholes that did not approve of unicorns and earth ponies living together.

“The body is just a vessel for the mind, right?” Rainbow’s half-awake eyes blinked once while she uncovered her mouth. “So what if you fell in love with the mind and the body didn’t matter? Like, loving a griffon, or a dragon, or something not a pony. Could you look past the outside and love whatever is inside?”

Musing on these words, Tarnish stirred the dehydrated vegetables and one ear twitched as the coffee began to percolate through the maker. He didn’t put much stock into tribal nationalism, or whatever it was called, so why should a body make a difference? It was true that he loved Maud for her mind, but her body was nice too. Then again, it was just a body, a warm, receptive body, one that just happened to be pony shaped. After some deep thought, Tarnish knew that he would love Maud no matter what form she took.

“I think I could,” he said to Rainbow, and Daring Do peeked out from beneath the pile of blankets. “Morning, Daring.”

“Coffee?” Daring croaked, her voice sounded awful.

“The real thing, too.” Tarnish gave the not-quite-awake mare a nod. “So, Rainbow, what’s with the questions?”

“I dunno.” Rainbow shrugged beneath the blankets and shook her head. “I just wake up sometimes with big thoughts in my head. I do my best thinking while napping. I woke up this morning and thought to myself, ‘Self, the honeymoon is over. Show them you are an egghead.’ And so I did. And so we’re having this conversation right now, because I feel I can bare my soul and share anything with you.”

“Huh.” Tarnish couldn’t argue with that. Sometimes, he awoke bursting with thoughts and a pressing need to talk about them, much to the dismay of everypony else in the bed. Fond memories warmed Tarnish from within, and he hardly noticed the cold, chilly air of the cave.

With a blanket wrapped around her, Daring Do struggled to get into a sitting position and Rainbow helped her move. She groaned and moaned a bit, but managed to get upright. A look of intense need was in her eye as she eyed the coffee pot, and her head had an unsteady bob upon her neck. Rainbow, now also sitting up, pulled Daring into an affectionate hug.

“Vinyl used so much magic yesterday.” Daring’s voice was a grating, almost ghoulish raspy creak, like an old door hinge that had not been oiled in centuries. “Tarnish, I don’t know her as well as you do. Can she keep this up? Can she recover?”

With a half-turn of his head that brought Daring into the corner of his vision, he nodded. “Vinyl isn’t like other wizards where she blows her magical load and then is done for the night. She’s got endurance. Though I’m betting that casting fifty magical ignition wards might have took a fair bit out of her.”

“Good.” Daring sounded grim. “Today, we’re fetching the sledge.”

“What?” This time, Tarnish turned to stare at Daring. “Nope.”

“Don’t back talk me,” Daring snapped. “My throat is sore, but I’m not in mortal danger. We need those supplies, and I’m dying to know if the booby traps worked. We’re going, don’t argue with me.”

“Fine.” Turning back around, Tarnish poured himself a cup of tea. “Aye aye, Boss.”

“That’s right… hoist the black flag… today, we’re slitting throats. I want stuff done with this momentum we have.” Daring’s face hardened into a black scowl and she eyed Rainbow Dash beside her. “Vinyl gave her one-hundred and ten percent yesterday. We can do no less.”

“But first, we’re having breakfast…”

Author's Note

Now: domination and exploration.

Letting go of all that pressure

Daring Do seemed to be doing okay, but Tarnish was still worried. The four of them moved through the snow as one, with Rainbow up front, Tarnish just behind her, Vinyl on the left, and Daring on the right. Vinyl held the arm cannon coil gun in her magic, and it was a long, ungainly weapon at a little over six feet in length. Tarnish kept his coach gun tucked under his cloak and its heavy bulk was somehow reassuring to him.

The wreck of Ol’ Gertie was in sight, but Tarnish was in no big hurry. They were being cautious, and that was fine, just fine. Yesterday’s battlefield was still awash with the gleaming brass corpses of automatons, far too many to count. Dozens, by Tarnish’s estimation. Plus all of the reinforcements that had come during Vinyl’s lone engagement.

With her hoof, Vinyl made a circular motion, and Tarnish understood it.

“Hey, Rainbow, skirt the edges and circle around.”

“Gotcha.” Her head darting from side to side with every step, Rainbow moved along at a careful pace and began to walk along the edges of the field of scrapped mechanoids, many of which were missing their heads. Rainbow chuckled as she scanned the piles of scrap, wary for any signs of danger, like one of them suddenly jumping up at them.

A ways in, Vinyl stopped and made a gesture for the others to stay put. She crept forwards, looking about, and stopped to examine one of the wrecked bodies. Lifting her hoof, she pointed and then gave her companions a nod. A second later, her slate was out and she was writing down a brief message.

This body is trapped.

Then, as quick as it had appeared, the slate vanished.

Rainbow resumed her lead and the four companions kept to the edges of the battlefield, each of them looking in different directions. Tarnish’s superiour height held some advantage, and his long, flexible neck allowed him to look beyond his rear. In no time at all, the wreck of Ol’ Gertie was on their right, instead of in front of them.

Near a smouldering, smoking tree, Vinyl stopped to have a look. It was clear that one of her trapped bodies had exploded and there were pieces of scrap everywhere, including some that were lodged in the tree. This gave Tarnish pause, and he spoke up to give voice to his thoughts.

“So, they came to reclaim scrap and got blown up. All this valuable metal, and they haven’t come to clean it up. Do you think they stopped?” Snorting, he kicked away a mechanoid arm and then took a step back.

“Should they be this smart?” Rainbow asked.

“I don’t know,” Tarnish replied. “They follow a set pattern of behaviour. It’s clear that they came to do a cleanup job, and then got blown up. I guess they just… quit? I dunno, something about this bothers me, and I don’t like it.” Looking about, Tarnish noticed the sledge, which was covered under a light dusting of snow. “We should check the sledge for traps when we get over there.”

“Quick,” Daring Do said, her voice creaking, “check for changelings! Mister Teapot is being cautious.”

“Oh, ha ha…” Peering around, Tarnish checked for danger, then looked Daring right in the eye. “You’re a real funny mare, Miss Yearling.” Beneath his scarf, Tarnish grinned. “Funny looking, that is.”

In a rather unexpected move, Vinyl went into the wreck. Tarnish followed, worried, with Rainbow Dash and Daring Do moving to catch up. There was a puddle of frozen blood on the floor, which belonged to Daring Do. She looked down at it as she stepped over it, and then lifted her head to stare at Tarnish.

Vinyl moved through the smashed wreckage, the rear end of the ship was in bad shape, and when she came to a barrier, she yanked it out of the way with her magic. It wasn’t long before the companions found themselves in the remains of the engine room, and Tarnish wondered what they were doing here.

Coming to a halt, Vinyl paused among the many brass pipes and began looking around. Tarnish, also glancing about, began to wonder if the precious metal from these wrecks was being reclaimed by the automaton scrappers. He didn’t know why Vinyl was here, and she hadn’t bothered explaining herself, a common problem with the fickle, eccentric mare.

Then, Vinyl began pulling off bits of the piping system, causing Rainbow and Daring to exchange a glance with one another. Tarnish suspected that Vinyl was being brilliant, something she was prone to doing. He had a very general idea of some of the stuff she was grabbing, as he had learned a bit about engines since becoming an adventurer.

A pressure regulator, an overflow tank, a release valve, a pressure indicator gage, and several other gleaming brass bits were all pulled, leaving Tarnish quite puzzled. Was Vinyl rigging up a steam organ for some music? A calliope? Just what did Princess Celestia teach in her school for gifted unicorns, anyhow?

“Why do I get the feeling that something incredibly dangerous is about to happen?” Rainbow Dash asked in a hushed whisper, fearful of interrupting Vinyl’s concentration. “That’s a weather factory grade overflow tank rated for three thousand pounds per square inch pressures.”

“Maybe it’s the same reason I keep thinking that every unicorn that Princess Celestia graduates from her school is a living, breathing weapon of war?” Tarnish replied.

Rainbow, nodding, had this to say: “Hmm, that explains a lot about Twilight…”

Filled with anticipation, Tarnish watched as Vinyl attached various brass bits and pieces to a section of octagonal, reinforced steel pipe that was about a yard long, something she had pulled from the ruined steam engine’s heart. There was a tank on one end, some gauges, some levers, and the entire thing was scary looking.

Skyreach Valley was peaceful, more or less. It was quiet, there were no birds here, but there were animals. Tarnish could sense them, but didn’t see them. It was a sunny, beautiful winter’s day and the temperature was hovering somewhere just below zero. The sledge was ready to go, and Vinyl had already cleared a path through the booby trapped battlefield for the sledge to pass through.

“Tarnish, do you think we could survive a night away from our cave?” Daring Do asked, her voice crinkly like old parchment.

Shrugging, Tarnish took a while to think before answering, and his prolonged silence didn’t seem to bother Daring Do in the slightest. He looked at the snow for a while, chewing on his chapped lip beneath his scarf, and was very careful to consider quite a number of things. His first instinct had been to simply say, ‘No.’ But thinking about it gave him ideas.

“If we built an igloo and all huddled together… maybe… but it wouldn’t be pleasant.” After a bit more thinking, he added, “We’d need to build a deep tunnel down into the snow, as deep as possible, so the cold air has a place to sink to and the hot air can rise for convection. If we can generate enough heat and get enough convection going, we might be okay. Mind you, this is all theory based on stuff I’ve picked up in my travels.”

“My worry is that we’ll explore too far, and not make it back to the cave before nightfall.” Darning reached up and with a gentle touch, she rubbed at her throat through her protective outerwear. “It itches already, inside and out.”

“I take a lot of pride in what I do,” Tarnish admitted in a small voice. “I have a lot of faults and shortcomings, and I know that… I think about them all the time, and they bother me. But I can stitch a pony back together… I’ve brought back ponies and others from Death’s doorway. I pulled an arrow out of a minotaur’s lung and he lived. In another life, maybe with another cutie mark, I might have been a doctor.”

“I dunno, Tarnish… a lot of doctors in hospitals, they don’t deal with gunshots and arrows and sword injuries and stuff.” Rainbow Dash leaned over a bit and patted Tarnish on the leg. “Battlefield medicine is completely different than hospital medicine. I wish I had paid more attention in my classes involving Wonderbolts history so I’d have something meaningful to say.”

“Thanks, Rainbow.”

“Don’t mention it, Big Guy.”

Vinyl held her contraption out for Tarnish to look at, and he was baffled by the very sight of it. Written on her slate was some very simple instructions. Fill tank with steam to 2000 psi.

He understood the instructions, but that scared him. Then again, it was rated for three thousand pounds per square inch pressure. Could he make that much steam? Sure, maybe. Perhaps. Concentrating, he went to work, summoning steam inside of the ribbed, reinforced tank. At first, nothing seemed to be happening, but then the needle started to move. One-hundred, two-hundred, three-hundred, four-hundred, and five-hundred were all marked on the gauge. After that, it went to one-thousand, one-thousand five hundred, two-thousand, two-thousand five hundred, and finally, three-thousand.

After a moment, the needle jumped a bit and rested near the three-hundred marker. The brass tank began to steam a little bit in the cold and Tarnish could feel the faint heat rising from it. The contraption began making pinging sounds as the metal began to heat, like a steam radiator getting warm.

While he waited, Vinyl pulled a lever, there was a clang, and she dropped a large brass ball down the front end of the barrel. Tarnish took note that this mechanical menace loaded like a musket, and his confidence was not assauged. The same lever, Tarnish now thought of it as the loading lever, was pulled again, locking the ball in place. Vinyl was being very deliberate in showing him how this worked.

One-thousand pounds per square inch and rising.

The metal was humming now, which scared Tarnish to no end. Vinyl had just cobbled this together, and she had made the brass balls herself. He had watched her do it, melting brass into a bubbling, boiling liquid with her magic, shaping it into a ball, and then holding the shape when she plunged it into the snow. Ding-a-ding, the metal sang, a happy song of mass destruction.

Holding up her slate once more, Vinyl wrote out the words, At 2000 psi, all you need to do is keep it hot. That should be minimal drain for you.

Tarnish nodded, but said nothing. He was too scared. At the moment, he and Vinyl were each standing on either side of an improvised bomb that could erase them. At this point, if there was a breach, the steam coming out would be invisible and travelling at more than the speed of sound. An invisible, unseeable, dreadful force would simply erase he and Vinyl from existence.

As he stood there, shivering, but not from the cold, he thought about Vinyl’s idea for a steam powered sword, a sword whose blade was covered from end to end with microjets to release high pressure steam—a weapon for him to wield. It was a weapon that was too terrifying for Tarnish to even imagine, a blade with an edge made of steam-spewing microjets would cleave through soft flesh like butter and with high enough pressures, even metals. Maybe even rocks.

It was a fine idea, but Tarnish liked his own idea better; a needler cactus that was modified to hold the scent glands of a skunk. It seemed kinder somehow, a bit more gentle than a steam powered sword, which was a mad, mad idea. He and Vinyl had all sorts of mad ideas, which might be why Princess Celestia spent so much time worrying about them both.

At two-thousand pounds per square inch, Tarnish extinguished his magic and waited.

Vinyl, careful to show Tarnish, pulled a short lever near the tank and there was a low whistle from the cannon as it was primed. The lever, which had a spring, snapped back into place. Holding it level, she took aim at a nearby mechanoid corpse, and Tarnish felt fuzzy magic wrap around his ears. This made his asshole and his urethra clench up tight as could be with anticipation, in fact, the muscles were so tight that his dock spasmed.

With the gun primed and ready, Vinyl released the loading lever, and maintaining her careful aim, she pulled the makeshift trigger, which was located on the side of the gun. A great number of things happened all at once. There was a muffled boom that Tarnish felt in his teeth, a huge cone-shaped section of snow in front of the modified steam cannon melted in an eyeblink, and the torso of the mechanoid that Vinyl was pointing at ceased to be with a clanging sound that was very much like the bell in Ponyville.

The gun now read just a little below two-thousand pounds per square inch and no doubt, could be fired again.

“Vinyl, no mare has ever loved me enough or trusted me enough to give me a cannon,” Tarnish said to his mute companion. The sound of running water could be heard, the sound of snow melt, but the water was still too hot to freeze just yet, though it soon would.

Holding up her slate, Vinyl scratched out a few words. We have a lot to talk about on the way home. Let’s go.

Author's Note

Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns teaches science.

Much to the dismay of many. :raritycry:

Vinyl's scratchings

Tarnish wasn’t entirely sold on the practicality of the steam musket. It was heavy, it was bulky, it was dangerous, and it would be a constant, steady drain on his magic. Not only would he have to heat it, but he would have to carry it in his telekinesis as well. As a weapon, it was only accurate for about twenty to thirty yards, by Vinyl’s estimation, because the barrel wasn’t rifled. It was noisy, but that didn’t matter because if it needed to be fired, the enemy was already on top of them.

Still, for all of the problems it presented, it was a solution. One shot would scrap a mechanoid, provided that he hit it. Targeting was an issue, because he had no means to draw a bead with it. No matter how hard he tried, he could not cast a targeting spell, the magic was just beyond his abilities, just like so many other common spells taken for granted by so many unicorns.

The sledge jerked forwards in the snow a few inches at a time. It was overloaded, so much so that it made Tarnish worry. Daring Do seemed up for the task, or at least she said she was, but saying it and doing it were two different things. One thing was for certain; Daring was tough. After a few jiggers of bourbon, Daring was ready to be hitched up, ready to go, ready to prove herself.

As for Tarnish, he was still having some trouble sitting down and winced if he sat on his backside wrong.

An excerpt of the writings from She of the Bridged Eighth Notes—

For the first time since coming to Skyreach, it doesn’t feel like we’re going to die right away. We came real close, closer than I’d like to admit, but I think that pushed us to be harder and tougher. What a difference a day makes. We go from almost dying to being angry and well armed. I was able to jury rig a steam musket for Tarnish and it works well enough. I have this arm cannon thingamajig. We’re not helpless now.

Tomorrow, we’re going to go out and start searching for answers. Daring is pretty insistent on that. No more sitting snug and secure in our cave, sipping tea and being snuggly with one another. I don’t know how I feel about all of this. I’ve gone from being a sound engineer to a combat engineer. If I ever get out of this place, I think I owe Princess Celestia a big thank you, as all engineering students of every stripe are required to spend two years learning the basics of every engineering discipline in her school. Without those two years of schooling, we might all be dead.

I miss my Smelly Melly. It hurts, but I won’t complain. Everypony is missing somepony. Tarnish and I, we’re missing our family. It feels weird to write that down, but I guess that it’s true. After this, after Skyreach, I don’t think there will be any going back to how things were, we’re bonded now. What about Smelly Melly and Maud? I don’t know. I would imagine that if Tarnish and I can’t get home from here, those two are going to bond over loss. I hope they’ll stay together. I wish I had some way of knowing.

That’s the worst part of Skyreach, I think. There will be no closure for anypony if we die here.

I think about my role as the Herald of Selene a lot. My purpose is to be the Heliophant’s bodyguard, his companion, and my loyalty is to him and him alone. I don’t know if I’ve taken this seriously enough until now. Now, with death lurking so close and every moment mattering, every meal, every breath drawn, every minute of sleep, the meaning and purpose of being the Herald of Selene grows clearer.

Our relationship mirrors Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, and our order goes back to a time before our princesses were even born. Knowing this has given me understanding, given me clarity. I understand them more, and I have a bit more understanding of Celestia’s pain. Banishing her sister, that was bucking the natural order of everything. It’s hard to put it into words, but I think I have an understanding that most don’t.

The sisters have this special bond that goes beyond kinship just like Tarnish and I do. Sun and moon. Each are defined by how they contrast with the other. Night and day. The existence of one reinforces the need for the other. I don’t know if I can write it out in a way that makes sense. The night is great and all, but it has to end. The sun has to rise, and in those early hours, when your head is buzzed, when you’ve drank too much, when your ears are ringing from the thumping music that went on all night long, it feels good to transition into the quiet. It feels good to know the dawn is coming, that it is time for a greasy breakfast, a few aspirin, a few glasses of water, and then, off to bed.

The night ends, and that night is made special by the dawn, which is nature’s way of telling you that it is time for sleep. Princess Luna wanted to make the night last forever, and while that seems cool and all, it’s a bad idea in practice. Princess Celestia had to fix that somehow, but to do that, she had to wreck the system completely. She had to break the scales, the balances, she had to remove the other half of what makes the whole thing work. To somepony so in touch with harmony, that must have been a real bitch of a thing to do.

It would be like me having to kill Tarnish, or Tarnish having to cut me down. Would we? Could we? I don’t even like to think about it. I don’t think either one of us is strong like Princess Celestia is strong. I think we’d both cry like bitches and the world would suffer.

But, there are moments. There are moments when Tarnish scares me. He’s a good guy, he is, and I hope he never reads this, but there are times when he is damn scary. It’s his ego, it’s made of glass, brittle, brittle glass, and if something hurts him, if something threatens his ego, Tarnish can get mean. There is no pony in existence that scares me quite like Tarnish. I wonder sometimes, what if we weren’t here? Octavia, Maud, and I? We soothe his fragile ego, we keep him lifted, leveled out, and sane.

Don’t get me wrong, Tarnish has this great capacity to do good, but as Princess Celestia told me during one of our chats, those who have the greatest capacity to do good also hold the highest potential for evil. I think she was trying to tell me something, maybe, perhaps. Princess Luna has a tremendous capacity to do good, and look what happened with her. It was her ego that made her stumble.

I hope that Skyreach doesn’t make Tarnish stumble. I don’t know if Rainbow, Daring, and I could bring him down. I need to find a way to talk to the others without Tarnish knowing. We need to have a plan to keep his spirits up and we need to be watchful of those hidden funks of his.

He’s my best friend and I worry about him.

Author's Note

Now: exploration phase.

The ghosts of bureaucracy past

The past week had been a long one, filled with far too much walking around and exploring Skyreach Valley. To the south they had discovered mountains, a natural wall, and a few wrecks to look around in. As for the east and west, the valley didn’t seem all that wide, which left the north to explore. Each day seemed the same as the last; Head out as early as possible in the morning, walk in a direction until the sun was at its highest in the sky, and then hurry back to the cave before the sun set.

It had become routine and with the complete lack of mechanoids, Skyreach had become boring. The wreck of Ol’ Gertie had been checked several times, and from the looks of things, automatons had returned just one more time to reclaim scrap—and had been blown up. Now, there was no sign of any murderous mechanoids at all. To Tarnish, it almost felt as though the automatons were avoiding them, perhaps their numbers had been thinned out to the point of real danger. Perhaps they were building a new army to come and kill them. The companions had no way of knowing.

Of course, Skyreach being boring was about to change…

Their movement as a group was now so well-practiced that it had become second nature. Tarnish in the middle, with a mare up front and on each side. The Bellringer, his steam powered musket, was ready to fire if there was trouble, but there seemed to be no trouble to be had. Vinyl, being the horrible pony that she was, called her weapon The Army Cannon, much to the dismay and groans of her companions.

Tarnish had a bit of practice with the Bellringer,, but he wasn’t sure if he could hit a moving target or make his shot matter in a real crisis. Should he fail, he still had back up, the Almighty Alicorn Sisters. He had made crude etchings of the two sisters on each barrel, one very stern looking Luna, and one heart-farting Celestia just begging for a kiss.

It was the sort of doodle a student might draw in the margins of their textbook during a particularly boring school day. If Tarnish ever got out of this place, the Almighty Alicorn Sisters was going on display, just like his ass-shooting gun. The fine Grittish iron was just too pretty not to display.

Rainbow Dash paused and the companions tensed while waiting for her sharp eyes to focus on some distant point. Vinyl lifted her weapon and pointed in the general direction that Rainbow was looking, ready for trouble, and Tarnish found himself doing the same, but also looking all around him. Now was as good a time for an ambush as any.

Head down low, Rainbow moved forward, and her companions followed. Tarnish also tried ducking his head, but looked ridiculous, looking very much like a giraffe failing to be stealthy. Daring Do’s head snapped forwards, and she peered through her goggles at the distant point of interest. The wind picked up a bit, but it wasn’t strong enough to lift Tarnish’s heavy cloak, though it did ripple a bit.

Tarnish pulled his shield out, concerned about the tension in the air all around him, and he was ready to draw Flamingo should she be needed. Rainbow stopped, lifted her head a bit, stared, then dropped her head and resumed moving forwards once more. Now, Tarnish was starting to see something ahead, some kind of installation, but he didn’t know what it was.

When the installation was in better view, Rainbow came to a halt and said, “That looks like a weather factory… but it’s really, really old machinery. All that stuff belongs in a museum.”

“Why would a weather factory be built on the ground?” Daring Do asked.

Rainbow shrugged, but it was difficult to notice with all of her heavy clothing and protective gear. “Look, there’s a cloud generator, you can see the ejector spout. And there’s a storm cell sparker.” Cautious, Rainbow crept forward, followed by her friends.

It was Tarnish who came to a halt when he noticed a bronze statue that was covered by the ice and snow. Even somewhat buried, it was easy to see what it was—a centaur of powerful build, holding a planet up on his shoulders. Breaking away from his companions, Tarnish rushed forwards, not caring about danger, driven by his powerful, all-consuming obsession.

With steam, he began clearing away the snow and ice so he could have a better view of the bronze statue. Daring Do was at his side now, watching with interest, and Vinyl began snapping pictures. The centaur bearing the planet on his shoulders was worthy of a spot in a museum, it was an incredible piece of priceless, beautiful art.

At the base of the pedestal were letters of an unknown alphabet. Tarnish, undeterred, pulled out a pair of glasses, the same glasses he had looted from the centaur vault, the place where Grogar’s Crown of Corruption had been hidden away. He placed the glasses in front of his goggles and squinted, waiting for the magic to work.

The strange letters shimmered, they flickered, changed shape, and after a few seconds, became readable. Blinking once in astonishment, Tarnish read the words aloud for his companions: “Skyreach Weapons and Research. Securing today with tomorrow’s tech.”

“Hmm,” Daring Do said as she edged closer to Tarnish, “some things never change, like gimmicky company slogans.”

“And war,” Tarnish quipped. “I’ve heard it said that war never changes.”

“Oh, be quiet, you goof!” Daring shook her head. “Of course war changes, it keeps getting worse! As an archeologist, I can scientifically measure how war has changed through the centuries.”

“He’s wearing a suit.” Rainbow’s remark jolted her companions to attention, all of them being too busy looking at the centaur, and not his suit. “That suit wouldn’t be too out of place in Canterlot today. I mean, I’m not Rarity, but if she was here, she’d be freaking out and blabbing on and on about how similar the fashions of thousands and thousands of years ago aren’t too different than what we have today.”

Vinyl snapped another picture, then pulled the camera from her face so that she might have a better look. Tarnish began to study the centaur’s suit, and he thought that Rainbow was right—it wouldn’t look out of place in this modern era. A thin ribbon tie was visible and the jacket had broad, well defined lapels. The glasses were snatched away by Vinyl, who held them over her goggles to have a better look.

“This is peculiar.” Daring Do began to circle around the statue to have a better look, and halted on the other side. “Yep, he’s male alright, the sculptor spared no detail.”

“You know, with a weather factory this big and this powerful, if you had an army of pegasus ponies, you could turn this valley into a place of endless summer,” Rainbow Dash said, thinking aloud while she stared up at the face of the centaur statue. He was wise looking, and maybe even kind if she could read his strange face right. He was nothing like Tirek.

“So, you could live here, farm and grow food here, and be comfortable here.” Tarnish began to look around at the snow-covered weather machinery and wondered what the summer would be like here. Perhaps cool and pleasant. “I want a good look around.”

“That’s tactically dangerous,” Daring Do replied. “This place gives me the creeps. We’ll have a look around, but we’re sticking together. We’re being watched.”

“Of course we’re being watched.” Tarnish looked around the complex, and gave Daring a knowing nod. “The centaurs made artificial eyes… who said they have to be placed in an automaton for them to work?”

“Damnit, Tarnish!” Daring let out a fierce growl. “You’re supposed to be the morale officer! Your job is supposed to make ponies feel better!” The pegasus mare’s voice was scratchy and a bit rough, but much better than it had been. “Stop making this weird!”

“Right, Boss.” Hefting the Bellringer, Tarnish prepared for a good look around.

The office building, and Tarnish was certain that it was an office building, because what else could it be—was remarkably well preserved. The hinges still held, still functioned, and heavy doors made of some strange metal could be opened. Tarnish did not recognise the metal, and he was almost certain that Maud wouldn’t recognise it either. The building was short, squat, and maybe four stories high. In a strange stroke of coincidence, the windows were all still intact.

Inside, Tarnish took the lead, holding his shield out in front of him. There was an entry lobby, with stairs going up on the left, and stairs going down on the right. There was a desk in the middle of the lobby, a massive metal desk that seemed to be in good repair, if perhaps a bit dusty. All it lacked was a receptionist, and Tarnish imagined that the centaurs might park a frumpy, stern looking unicorn down in the seat behind the desk.

She would go well with the stark, austere nature of this place and its minimalist style.

“Up or down, Boss?” Tarnish asked.

“Do we really want to go into the cellar?” Rainbow whined.

“I don’t know,” Daring said to her companions. “Does anypony see a sign saying, ‘Beware the leopard?’”

Vinyl, in silence, drew the two revolvers she carried, as they were more suitable for indoor engagements. Her companions looked to the left and to the right, but Vinyl continued to scan the room. More importantly, she looked up, something little ponies failed to do in dangerous situations. More than once, an automaton had dropped down from the ceiling upon them.

“Prepare to go down,” Daring announced, causing Rainbow to let out a fearful whine. “Tarnish, up front, shield out. We’re going down. Rainbow, I want you glued to his ass, and if something pops up, you are to defend him. He is our medic… do I need to remind you what happens if he goes down?”

“Right.” Rainbow raised her hoof in salute, because her wings were beneath her many layers of clothing. “When I go home, they’re going to call me Admiral Asswhoop after all of this.”

“Better than Admiral Asswipe,” Tarnish remarked.

“Hey! Jerk!” Rainbow growled and punched Tarnish in the ribs, or would have, had her hoof not struck metal. Then, throwing her head back, Rainbow laughed, and was joined by Tarnish. After a moment of hearty laughter, Rainbow collected herself enough to say, “I got your back, Tarnish. Lead the way!”

The basement was just a small room filled with old furniture, some of it rotting. There was a faint musty smell and a whole lot of dust. There was a large cracked crystal spire, which Tarnish suspected had been valuable at some point in the distant past, perhaps some magical device. There were no doors, no other place to go, just the stairs going back up.

Vinyl’s floating orbs of neon light boogied around the room, flickering, giving the darkness a festive atmosphere suitable for partying. Tarnish started to look at the pile of furniture, but realised he was wasting his time. What he was looking at was the remains of a civilisation that had been interrupted by an apocalypse, and it had been the office furniture that had suffered, just thrown into a ramshackle pile to be forgotten.

“This place… it keeps surprising me,” Rainbow said in a soft voice to her companions. “It’s kinda sad… I mean, everypony packed up the valuable stuff in the basement for whatever reason, to keep it safe I guess, and nopony ever returned. What happened?”

“Civilisation fell,” Tarnish replied. “Grogar happened. In a sense, the world ended. The old world passed away and a new one sprang up to take its place. Now, we’re just catching up to whatever existed before, coming back out of our dark age.”

“Come on, all of you.” Daring gestured at the stairs. “Let’s continue having our look around.”

The second floor had a landing and two small offices. The building wasn’t very wide or deep, and the available space felt cramped. A metal chair lay on the floor, tipped over, forgotten. The doors to the offices were both half open, revealing nothing on the other side. The rooms were empty, deserted, there was nothing to be found within them.

Beneath their hooves, the carpet was frozen and crunchy, indicating that it had been wet once. Vinyl shone her lights around, but there was nothing at all that was of interest. Shield up before him, Tarnish mounted the stairs, and Rainbow was just behind him, ready to spring forwards if there was trouble.

Cautious, Tarnish poked his head up above the third floor landing, and found that the floor was even emptier, more devoid of stuff than the second. There wasn’t even a chair tipped over on the floor. After a quick look around, he realised there was nothing here, and he peeked into the two offices on this floor. Weather administration had to be boring work, and Tarnish was glad he didn’t work in an office.

No, his job was to get shot in the ass and run through the jungle with an army hot on his heels. His job involved poisonous cobras and evil archeologists, with the occasional dynamite wielding psychopath for variety. It was exciting, and Tarnish would never be happy with an office job. Though being chased by a chainsaw revving nutjob in Manehattan did make him take some time considering the consequences of his career choices.

Still better than getting swamp-ass in some uncomfortable office chair.

With nothing to be seen, Tarnish continued up to the fourth floor, not knowing what he might find…

Author's Note

So... that fourth floor reveal... soon.

Only a fool goes further

It was easy now, to move as one, and the companions moved through the snow with surprising alacrity. It was overcast, a winter’s day, and the temperature hovered near ten degrees below zero. They had set out early, when it was still dark in fact, with the hopes of getting a full day of exploration. It was a risky move, leaving their sheltered cave before knowing what the day’s weather was going to be.

The boreal forest had a strange silence, a terrible silence. Here in Skyreach valley, there was very little that made noise, and what few sources of sound there were to be had were muffled by the snow. Things had become quite calm and peaceful, which unnerved Tarnish a great deal. Of their tormentors, the automatons, there was no sign, but there were tracks, which they were following now, with the hopes that the tracks would lead them to the door.

Ahead, there was something between the trees, something hulking that was buried in snow. Nopony rushed ahead to see what it was—they remained cautious and together—with Tarnish ready to shoot anything that moved. The calm and the quiet were getting to him, leaving him paranoid, he was itching for some kind of confrontation, some release.

Very curious shapes could be made out beneath the snow, and Vinyl cast a spell, focusing intense heat on the area. The snow steamed, and the vapour rose in lazy, wavering wisps. Tarnish leveled the Bellringer at the emerging shapes, uncertain of what he was seeing, and then, beneath his heavy scarf, his mouth fell open.

A garden of statues. Was this a park? A place to rest along the road that lead from the weather factory to whatever entrance lay ahead? Tarnish could see benches as more snow evapourated, and ancient statues became visible. They were weather-worn, but details could be made out.

Some of them had been vandalised, Tarnish realised, while he studied a pony statue that had been decapitated. It was a collection of statues of different species. There was a centaur, she stood with one hand raised up above her head, and in this hand was a small crystalline globe. Tarnish suspected that the globe had once shone with light.

Almost clinging to her leg was a unicorn, and his studious, solemn expression could still be seen on the stone. A neat little goatee hung down from his chin, and the details of his eyes were almost too real. If Maud was here, she would spend forever studying these statues. Distracted, Tarnish blinked when Vinyl snapped a picture.

A noble looking pegasus pony stood beside a regal looking griffon, who had a front leg snapped off. The pair of them were looking up at the centaur’s crystalline orb. Tarnish realised that the centaur was holding up a model of the sun, his brain insisted that what he was seeing was exactly that. After staring at the orb for a bit, Tarnish looked down at the third pony present, and with a chill that ran down his spine, he knew that the headless pony was an earth pony.

Seeing it like that made him feel sick, and he trembled with fresh-kindled rage.

A minotaur leaned on a massive stone axe and a diamond dog cradled a massive two handed sword in its long, beefy arms. There was another figure, one that Tarnish wasn’t sure he recognised. He stared, he squinted, trying to recollect what he was looking at might be, but drew a blank. It seemed familiar, but also strange—

“A human,” Daring Do said as she moved forwards. “An extinct species, they don’t exist any longer, and there are many that doubt that they even existed at all. I know for a fact that they did, because I’ve studied Megan, Danny, and Molly. I’ve seen some stuff.”

“This is all pretty weird,” Rainbow Dash remarked as she studied the pegasus pony and griffon statues. “Ponies and griffons working together… we’ve been enemies in the past, but I guess we’ve been friends too. It’s strange, looking at this.”

“I wonder what it represents?” Tarnish moved forwards, and his booted hooves crunched through the crusts of snow. The stone benches were worn, some of them were broken, and this little park had suffered untold centuries of frozen neglect. Some kind of magic had to be present though for it to be in as good of condition as it was.

“Where are the dragons in this group?” Rainbow asked.

“Rainbow,” Daring began, “there is a lot of debate about if dragons are native to this world. They might be, there might be dragons, but it is said that the first dragons were created with a powerful magical artifact of pure evil. We don’t know if this is true though. Their origins are lost to time.”

“No alicorns in this group.” Tarnish looked around and felt some unease. “The centaurs, they loved their alicorns. Something about this just feels off now that I’m noticing this.” Brows furrowing beneath his ushanka, Tarnish’s mind remembered the visions of things he saw in Maledico’s orb. Feeling a tug, Tarnish watched as the magical spectacles that he and Vinyl shared went flying over to her.

She had found something, a cartouche that still had faint lettering that could be seen. It sat at the base of an ornamental sundial that had stylistic renditions of the heavenly bodies, and then, while Vinyl was reading the cartouche, Tarnish’s blood ran cold because he saw two symbols he recognised. It was unmistakable, he was seeing Princess Celestia’s sun cutie mark, and Princess Luna’s mark as well. With some steam, he cleared away more snow for a better look.

“Is that…” Rainbow breathed, “is that what I think it is?”

Head bobbing, Vinyl looked away from the cartouche, looked at what the others were looking at, and then snapped a picture of it with her camera while passing the glasses to Tarnish. Taking the glasses, he did not peer through them, but continued to look at the two familiar symbols on the sundial.

Blinking, he tore his gaze away, flummoxed, baffled, and he held the glasses in front of his goggles so he could see the letters on the cartouche at the base of the sundial. It took a few seconds for his vision to come into focus, and he began reading the letters that could be seen on the ornamental stone scroll secured to the sundial’s base.

He read aloud, “Skyreach Weapons and Research. Securing today with tomorrow’s tech.” It seemed familiar, and it was, he had seen it on the other statue. Squinting, he continued to read fine, delicate letters. “Biosciences research and development division. Taking what already exists and making it better. Director Solis leads the way, bringing a brighter future today.”

Turning his head, Tarnish looked at the centaur statue, and he wondered if that was Director Solis. It might be. Might not be. He looked back down at the words written in stone, and wondered what they meant, what context they held. Reading them a second time terrified him. Lifting his head, he looked at the diamond dog and wondered if it had been engineered in much the same way that Vinyl had rigged together the Bellringer.

In silence, he glanced down, and the unmistakable symbol of Princess Celestia’s cutie mark stared back up at him. Seized with a question, Tarnish asked his companions, “Is improving on what is already there harmony? Everything has to be managed… our weather, our magic, our planet, and apparently, even us. Where does it end? Have we messed with things so much that they can no longer function on their own without us?”

“I don’t know, Tarnish,” Daring Do replied. “I am forced to wonder though, what is Skyreach?”

Leaving the park behind, the companions headed north, and Tarnish wondered if there was a road somewhere deep beneath the snow. He was confused, puzzled, wondering about a number of things that didn’t make sense. If the weather control was broken, and more and more snow fell into this valley, wouldn’t it cover the doors?

But, this was a boreal forest, so maybe it was warm enough in the summer for the snow to melt. He was gripped by uncertainty and left unsettled by the current state of calm. To their left was a high ridge, a wall of mountains, and Tarnish suspected that they would find a door along this natural wall.

There were tracks in the snow, so something had passed along here recently. Tarnish kept a watchful eye on everything with his lofty height advantage, and Rainbow led the way. To their right was a vast, snow-blanketed forest full of evergreens. The air was filled with the scent of cold pine, a smell that used to remind Tarnish of the holidays, but now filled him with dread.

“Hey,” Rainbow said as she came to a stop. “What do you think it was like for the pegasus ponies who rediscovered this place?” She gestured all around her, indicating everything, and shook her head. “How did they get in? What do you think brought them here?”

“I don’t know, Rainbow.” Daring Do gave her curious pegasus pony companion a nudge. “Keep moving, time is precious.”

The magic here was palpable. Tarnish could feel radiant heat blasting through his heavy clothing, and it was as hot as summer. There was no snow in this secluded glade, this ravine that opened in the ridge. All the tracks led here, to this place, and beyond the slush and melted snow was green, green grass. Fresh fruit trees could be seen growing in the narrow crack.

Every nerve in Tarnish’s body sang with danger, but the sight of fresh, juicy apples almost drove him mad. Even stranger, the sky immediately over the glade was blue and the sun was shining. Tarnish was almost certain that it was an illusion, but he had no way of knowing for certain. Already, he was sweating beneath his many layers of protective clothing.

There was a path visible, winding between the trees, and worn stones could be seen along with bare patches of earth. There were waterfalls on each side, rivulets of running water from snowmelt, and Tarnish wondered where it all drained. It had to drain someplace, otherwise this ravine would be flooded.

Rainbow Dash stood up on her hind legs and rested her front hooves against the trunk of the apple tree. The tree showed signs of pruning, of grafting, it showed signs of care. Tarnish could only assume that the automatons of Skyreach must be doing it. These apples were large, round, perfect. They were also growing in the middle of winter.

Dropping back down to all fours, Rainbow continued onwards, and none of the companions took any of the apples, even though they all wanted too. This place was too strange, too odd, there was still too much that wasn’t known. Tarnish however, could sense that the apples were safe, they wanted to be eaten, but he didn’t trust his senses at the moment.

The ravine narrowed as they went further in, and there was nothing here to challenge them. Tarnish pulled back his hood while he felt sweat soaking his pelt, he pulled down his scarf, and he took off his ushanka, allowing his ears to pop free. They flapped in the warm, balmy, summery breeze and the sweat trickling down his scalp tickled him.

His companions began doing the same, pulling down scarves, taking off hats, each of them almost smothering under the many layers of protective clothing. Unable to stop himself, Tarnish plucked an apple, pulled it down to him, and then began to examine it. He could feel the excitement of the trees around him, it had been a long, long time since something had eaten of their fruit.

Who comes here? Tarnish asked of the trees around him, projecting his will into them.

Just dumb animals, and nothing else living, the trees replied, all speaking with one voice.

The apple was green, shiny, it appeared to be perfect, and it reeked of sugary sweetness. Tarnish could feel the anticipation of the trees around him, how they longed to sustain life once again, how eager they were for harmony to return to them. Tarnish, feeling clever, took a moment to compose his thoughts, then he decided to ask the trees a question.

Who made this grove? he asked, still holding the apple, but not biting it. Perhaps the trees could tell him much. Or not. Either way, this apple would be eaten, but he would make the trees wait. His companions were growing restless, but the silence was maintained.

None of us are that old, the trees replied, still speaking with one voice. The oldest of us is almost two hundred years old, and still fruiting, but only just barely. The dead metal maintains us.

Without meaning to, Tarnish asked his next question aloud, startling his companions. “And this dead metal, where does it come from? Is there a door here?”

There was an odd sound, like a wooden house creaking in the wind. The trees all began swaying, each of them moving a few of their branches, and all of them pointed at the other end of the ravine. Tarnish could feel Rainbow Dash and Daring Do pressing up against him, fearful, he could feel them trembling, and he could hear the trees all speaking with one voice inside of his head.

That way lies the door and beyond it is a dead place. If you go in there, you will die too, for what lies beyond is the bane of life. The air that comes out when the door opens is dead. Beware, do not enter, gentle pony of the earth.

Author's Note

There are a lot of important details buried in this chapter.

That's all I'm saying.

What choice do we have?

What choice do we have?

The door was immense and made from bright orange centaur steel. Around it was a strange metal that Tarnish didn’t recognise, it was dull looking, had no shine, and was a pale greenish colour. Opening the door posed a problem, as there was no visible mechanism, and Tarnish was tempted to pull out Flamingo to carve his way through.

Destroying a centaur steel door felt wrong though.

There was a centaur statue near the door, a short, smiling centaur mare, and she had one hand outstretched. There was something funny about the statue, and Tarnish felt as though he was being watched by it somehow. It was an intense, uncomfortable feeling that he didn’t like, not at all. The centaur mare had antlers, weird ones, like moose antlers or something, but Tarnish didn’t quite recognise them.

Vinyl, who was some distance away, kept her weapon pointed in the general direction of the massive twenty foot tall door. She had taken off some of her outerwear and she was a bit sweaty looking. Daring Do was studying the centaur statue, and she too, was sweaty from the heat. All around them, the sounds of chirping birds could be heard, but no birds could be seen.

Tarnish, distracted by his thoughts, wondered how the apple trees were pollinated, because there didn’t seem to be any bees or insects around. There were animals here though, he had seen a few rabbits already, and one somewhat obese squirrel. No predators in the sheltered ravine though.

“Is that even the sky overhead?” Tarnish asked, giving voice to his thoughts. “I wonder if it is some kind of ceiling with illusion magic. There is a lot here that I don’t understand. We could be standing in a cave for all we know, and not a ravine.”

While Tarnish spoke, Vinyl pulled out the snowflake gem, which twinkled with an intense blue light. It flickered, it flashed, and she held it up before her snoot to examine it. Still pointing her gun at the door, she levitated the snowflake gem over to the centaur statue and placed it in the open hand.

The stone fingers closed around the gem, and there was a chiming sound, like a doorbell ringing. All around them, the sheltered ravine trembled, and there was a screeching sound from the doors, which began to open. Tarnish backed away and pointed his own weapon at the opening doors, while the centaur statue’s hand opened back up, releasing the snowflake gem.

“Do we go in?” Tarnish asked while he watched Vinyl grab the snowflake gem from the outstretched hand.

Inside, it was dim, but not dark, the lights flickered, and Tarnish could not help but feel that it was a little spooky. The entry hallway was made of the dull green metal that made up the doorframe. Nothing could be seen, no guardians, no nothing. Just an open door. Never had an entryway looked less inviting.

Whipping out her slate, Vinyl wrote down a few words in a hurry, then held it up. This is a bad idea.

“What choice do we have?” Daring Do asked in response to Vinyl’s statement of the obvious. “Answers lie beyond the door. Let’s take off as much of our gear as we can, stow it on our backs or in saddlebags, and then go inside to have a look around. It’s sweltering in there.”

“And it smells bad too,” Rainbow remarked.

Daring Do nodded, but said nothing.

Shield held forward, Tarnish crept down the hallway, leading his companions. Daring didn’t like this formation, but Tarnish was in the best position to use his shield. The lights flickered with a pale, cold, yellow-orange light that made his eyes water. Below him, on the floor, was an artificial ley line, which bothered him a great deal, because he recalled Maledico’s warnings about them.

This place had a powerful stink to it, foul, headache inducing maybe, and try as he might, Tarnish couldn’t figure out what the smell was. He couldn’t even begin to describe it, but it was intensely unpleasant. The hallway made of dull green metal came to an end, and opened up into a teardrop shaped room that had four visible passages leading off of it, two on either side ahead of him.

Stale air clung to Tarnish’s face, leaving him uncomfortable, and the sounds of his own hooves seemed muffled somehow in his ears. The artificial leyline split up ahead, going right and left, but only through two entryways, rather than all four. The stench, the smell—for some reason, Tarnish thought about a bowl of raisin bran, but filled with sour cream and paint thinner instead of milk. It was only a suggestion though, as the actual smell was far, far worse, and his brains lacked the means to make sense of it.

On the ceiling, a tiled mural of Director Solis smiled down upon them and her outspread hands reached upwards towards the sun. Princess Celestia’s sun. Now frozen in place, Tarnish stood staring. He began to search his pockets for the glasses, and failing to find them, he searched Vinyl’s pockets. When he found them, he put them on and read the lettering beneath Director Solis’ hooves.

Skyreach Weapons and Research. Birthplace of Project Eternity. Only by controlling the future can we preserve it.

Below that, in much smaller letters were the words: A guaranteed destiny for all.

“Tarnish, what does it say?” Daring Do asked as she craned her head to look up.

After licking his lips, Tarnish read the words aloud, “Skyreach Weapons and Research. Birthplace of Project Eternity. Only by controlling the future can we preserve it.” Then, after a pause, he added, “A guaranteed destiny for all.” He could not help but feel that his own voice seemed muffled somehow in this strange place, and it felt as though his ears needed to pop.

“How come nothing is attacking us?” Rainbow asked her companions in a worried, somewhat scratchy voice. “I can’t take this, it’s too quiet, it’s driving me crazy. I’d feel better if there was a fight, just something to get the tension to die down. I’m getting the jitters.” Turning about, she peered down the different doorways, hoping to catch a glimpse of something beyond.

Sitting down on the floor, Vinyl pulled out her slate and a piece of pale blue chalk. She began writing, and did so in tiny, meticulous letters, giving herself plenty of space. When she was finished, she held up her slate for all to see.

This sounds an awful lot like cutie mark magic. If one could control what cutie marks appeared on ponies, one could conceivably control the future, albeit in a very loose and out of control sort of way. It would be like trying to ride a shopping trolley down the Canterhorn road. Possible, but insane.

“I can’t tell if that is the view of a loving parent or a benevolent tyrant,” Daring Do remarked after reading Vinyl’s words. “So, let me get this straight. What you are saying is, if you wanted to have a specific future happen, or if, say, you wanted to lean towards certain and specific outcomes, you could control what ponies do, how they think, feel, and act, thus driving them towards that end.”

After a moment, Vinyl nodded in agreement, wiped her slate clean, and began writing again.

“That sounds like herding cats.” Daring Do shook her head and there was a pained expression upon her face.

It isn’t a direct means of control and there is still a lot of free will involved. But, I suppose, if you were smart enough, clever enough, and had enough foresight, one might see that Grogar was going to return, and begin planning accordingly. Maledico did, so it is reasonable to assume that other centaurs did the same. We’re here with a purpose. We’re meant to be here in Skyreach.

Lip curling back in doubt, Daring Do shrugged, then frowned, the corners of her lips sagging, and then she heaved a resigned sigh. “You might be right, but we could be here by circumstance or happenstance, with no proof of either.”

Hearing this, Vinyl nodded, then put away her slate, her chalk, and then she stood up while Tarnish tucked away the artifact spectacles.

“Is there a difference between circumstance and happenstance?” Tarnish asked.

“Yes,” Daring Do replied. “Circumstance is a fact, event, or condition irrefutably connected to some event, happening, or action. Happenstance on the other hoof, is coincidence, mere chance, or a connected sequence of random events, serendipitous or otherwise.”

“Right.” Tarnish blinked a few times, and tried to digest the word salad he had just been fed. He wasn’t sure if he had learned something, or had just somehow avoided a headache through serendipitous happenstance. When he was a foal, he had been immensely proud of the fact that he had written the word ‘FART’ on the wall in big, loopy letters with a green crayon.

“What do we do now?” Daring asked her companions, looking at each one in turn. “It’s getting late. Should he head back to the cave so we can rest? Do we risk staying in the sheltered valley outside? What is our course of action?”

“I’m inclined to stay and keep looking around, but I’m not sure about camping just outside.” Tarnish met Daring’s eyes, and then glanced over at Vinyl, whose eyes were hidden behind her glasses.

“I’m sick of the cave, and I’ll risk sleeping outside. We have Flamingo.” Rainbow pawed the floor with her hoof, then resumed looking at the four entryways leading deeper into the facility. “It just feels good to be warm again without wearing a mountain of clothing.”

Her head bouncing up and down, Vinyl pointed at Rainbow Dash, thus casting her vote.

“I think this means we stay.” Daring Do’s face took on a grim expression. “Right, stiff upper lip and all that. Which door do we take? Where do we get started?” The pegasus pony mare jerked her head around, looked Tarnish dead in the eye, and her eyes narrowed. “Mister Teapot, you haven’t had your tea in a while. I am getting a very distinct prickling, if you catch my drift.”

Embarrassed, Tarnish gave his boss a sheepish grin, and then he set about fixing himself a cup of tea, even though his amulet was a bright shining blue. He did, however, look down to check. An intense frown crossed his muzzle when he saw the bright blue, and he tore his gaze away from his amulet to look down at the artificial ley line on the floor beneath him.

Experiencing a moment of growing worry, Tarnish said to his companions, “Hey, I don’t mean to alarm all of you, but I think we should all have a cuppa, otherwise, I think we’re going to become very grumpy in the very near future…”

Author's Note

Well. Here... we... go...

Endless potential

The very leftmost doorway was chosen, the one with the words “Harmony Logistics” on a sign written in an old, dead language. This hallway was carved into the stone, the walls were smooth, it had a slight curve, and it had a gentle rise to it. The floor had no prints in the dust, nothing had come this way in a long time, living or mechanical.

The hallway was almost an oval or what might be called an egg-shape, with a flat floor and rounded walls that bowed outwards. The ceiling, high above them, had to be ten feet tall. There were lights up there, some dead, some flickering, and a few that still worked just fine. The curve of the passage grew tighter, and Tarnish’s nerves became more jittery as his field of view shortened.

He kept his shield up and his weapon pointed forwards. It pinged and made hot metal noises, while droplets of boiling water dripped from the barrel. Vinyl had assured him that at close, close range, he wouldn’t need to worry about hitting with the bullet, the sheer pressure of the steam alone would disintegrate just about anything in front of the barrel, stone walls, living flesh, or brass mechanoids.

Coming around the corner, the hallway opened into a round room, and the hallway continued on the other side. This room, though small, was pleasant and there were benches. Rainbow stepped away from the group, gasping, her mouth falling open, and everypony turned to see what she was looking at.

“That’s the Tree of Harmony!” Rainbow squealed as she went to Tarnish’s side, grabbed his foreleg, and hung on for dear life. “I’ve seen it! That’s the tree! You gotta believe me!”

Staring at the wall, Tarnish believed her. Above the tree was a star, a terrible star, and Tarnish knew what it was. The Black Star. It blazed down from the heavens, and the Tree of Harmony rose up in what could only be described as bold defiance. After a moment, Rainbow let go of his leg, then crept over to have a better look.

“That’s my cutie mark!” Rainbow shouted, her voice echoing, and she had forgotten about the danger of this place. Then, her eyes narrowed, and confusion spread across her face like curtains moving across a window. “Hey, that’s Spitfire’s cutie mark… I know that mark, that is most definitely Spitfire’s. There are a whole bunch of cutie marks in my fork of the tree.”

“And there is Twilight’s mark,” Tarnish said as he stood beside Rainbow. “I feel really weird, lightheaded. The smell of this place is getting to me. Is that Twilight’s mother’s cutie mark? I think it is.”

“Yeah, and it is right on Twilight’s fork of the tree.” Rainbow Dash peered up at the fork of the tree where the Element of Magic could be found, and her face wrinkled in concentration. “These are all possibilities, aren’t they?”

Tarnish shrugged. Perhaps these were all of the available, living possibilities.

Daring Do now stood beside Tarnish, and she blinked a few times, as if she was having a hard time getting her eyes to focus. “Hey, Mister Teapot, that’s your cutie mark.” She pointed with her hoof.

With a turn of his head, Tarnish followed where Daring was pointing, and he found his poison joke cutie mark near three pink butterflies, three very familiar pink butterflies. He blinked, his vision blurred over, he was confused, not sure what to think of this, and amid the cluster of cutie marks on this fork of the tree, Tarnish saw a yellow rubber duckie. What a ridiculous cutie mark that would be.

Lips moving, muttering silent profanities, Vinyl fumbled with her camera, which didn’t seem to want to work.

“Right there, next to Rarity’s cutie mark, those three blue diamonds, I know that cutie mark.” Rainbow pointed up with her wing and extended primaries. “That is the cutie mark of Trixie Lulamoon!”

So it was. Tarnish could feel a pressure building in his head, it was like a strap had been secured around his skull, tightened, and then there was throbbing everywhere the band had placed pressure. Beside him, Rainbow Dash was prancing in one place on her hooves, her eyes darting from place to place as the little pegasus mare drank in every detail that could be found.

“There’s a lotta apple cutie marks in the Element of Honesty fork of the tree,” Rainbow Dash said to her companions, unable to contain her excitement. “Wait… is that what I think it is?”

With a terrible pressure building up behind his eyeballs, Tarnish turned to see what Rainbow was staring in shock at. The pain inside of his head intensified, it felt as though his head was full of beating, throbbing hearts, and then he saw it. Right there, right next to a cutie mark he knew all too well, three party balloons, he saw it. He saw it and it made his knees knock together.

Maud’s cutie mark.

With this realisation, the pressure inside of Tarnish’s head hit a breaking point, and he felt something wet come gushing out of his nose. On the left side of his face, his eyelids went limp, and he felt his cheek sagging. He would have dropped his weapon and shield, had Vinyl not grabbed them. He felt his legs buckling, everything went blurry, and the last thing he heard was the shouting of his companions as the blackness overtook him.

Vinyl’s eyes looked worried. Tarnish gazed up into them, his vision going in and out of focus, and he could feel his face being slapped. There was a heaviness in his body, but he could move, and his head was thudding. He remembered seeing the Tree of Harmony, but not much else.

“You started recovering within moments of getting you away from that picture of the Tree of Harmony,” Daring Do said to Tarnish as she too, looked down at him from above. “I don’t think it agrees with you. Or us, for that matter. My eyes kept getting blurry.”

“I can’t remember what I was looking at,” Rainbow said to nopony in particular. “I know I was looking at something, but the details, they’re just… gone. My head feels swimmy.” After a moment, Rainbow had a question she had to ask. “Hey, why was Tarnish so affected, but we’re not?”

“I don’t know, Rainbow.” Daring Do, worried, let out a snort, and looked her fellow pegasus in the eye. “I can’t seem to remember anything either, and it is very, very frustrating. I just remember there were a lot of cutie marks.”

Tarnish, grunting, rolled over, his long legs kicking, and he felt Vinyl lifting him up. He rose, wobbled a bit, and then he had his legs beneath him. Flexing his knees a bit, he gave himself a shake, snorted, and he felt Vinyl strapping his gear onto him. Whatever had happened, he felt fine now, even though he still smelled blood in his nose.

“Can you keep going?” Daring Do asked.

“Yep.” Tarnish flexed his knees again, and everything moved like it was supposed to. “I feel fine. Let’s get moving.” Reaching out with his magic, he took up his shield and the Bellringer once more. His magic felt a little shaky, his horn ached, and there was still some pressure just behind his eyes, but it felt as though it was easing off. He was fine enough to keep moving, and he wasn’t in the mood to worry.

And with that, the companions were off again.

Nothing had been down this way for a long, long time. The dust was thick here, and Tarnish couldn’t tell if the stench had eased off or if his nose had just died at some point. There were some living quarters here, it was obvious what they were, small rooms with a carved stone shelf that was just the right size for a mattress, and a stone table that jutted from the wall.

Tarnish suspected that these rooms had not been carved from the stone, but shaped. Everything was too smooth, too perfect. There were gathering rooms, studies, offices, and what appeared to be laboratories. Looking at the beds when he saw them, Tarnish was made to wonder, how did centaurs sleep in a bed? Their bodies had a hinge in a weird place and they had two rib cages.

“You know, we could probably get away with sleeping here, in this wing,” Rainbow Dash said to the others while they made their way down the hall together. “Look at this dust. The cobwebs. Nothing has been here for a long time. Not even the automatons.”

“That’s dangerous, Dash.” Daring Do’s face contorted, but she did not dismiss Rainbow’s suggestion.

“Danger is my middle name.” Rainbow grinned, a reckless lopsided grin, and she clucked her cheek at Daring. “We’re armed with a fronking portable cannon and Vinyl has that weird coil gun that uses magnetism. We have Flamingo. I think we’d actually have an advantage here, if we had to fight, because look at these doors, they’re metal and they’re like three inches thick.”

“These ley lines are going to mess with our heads though, and make us act funny.” Tarnish came to a halt, his ears straining to listen, and he looked down at Rainbow. “Even if we’re not standing right on top of them at the moment, they’ll mess with us. Make us edgy. Aggressive.”

“Yeah, but I also feel super-strong right now, like I could fight anything—”

“Rainbow, that’s the point,” Tarnish snapped. “These fake ley lines, they flood you with weird, wonky magic. They make you stronger, more magical, they amplify everything about you, but they also screw up your thinking.”

“Okay, you’re right. I guess I’m feeling a bit more confident than usual.” Rainbow’s muzzle wrinkled and her eyelids closed halfway. “I’m also sporting a monster filly boner right now, and I feel kinda angry that somepony might notice.”

“Rainbow, your head is already messed up.” With a shake of his head, Tarnish smiled, and some of the tension eased. “I don’t fully understand how these fake ley lines work, but the magic manages to bypass my own magic just a little bit.”

“Plus that weird Tree of Harmony painting that nopony can seem to remember the details of,” Daring Do added.

Nodding her head, Vinyl joined the conversation.

With all of the strangeness of Skyreach fresh in Tarnish’s mind, he began to rethink his question, What is Skyreach? Now, after all the weirdness endured so far, the question had evolved into something else entirely. What had been done here, at Skyreach? Perhaps just being here was an answer, or maybe, possibly, he and his companions would become part of the question.

A question that others might ask. What happened to Daring Do and her cohorts at Skyreach? With a slow blink of his eyes, Tarnish felt a little pressure returning just behind his eyes. It was faint, but noticeable, like a sinus-ache but worse. Now, there was a new question. What was Skyreach doing to him?

Saying nothing, Tarnish began to wander away from his companions, drawn in an unexplored direction, his eyes wide and dull. He could feel a tug, it was like an invisible cable had been connected to his horn, and he had to go. In movement, the pain inside of his head eased off a little, and he was thankful for the sweet, blessed relief.

“Tarnish, what are you doing?” Daring demanded.

“I gotta go,” Tarnish replied in a slow, syrupy voice. “I have to find a question. Or maybe an answer. I feel weird—”

“Mister Teapot, I demand that you cease feeling weird at once, this instant!” Darning Do drew up along Tarnish’s side, but he didn’t stop. She made a gesture, and the others followed her while Tarnish stumbled ahead like a zombie.

“It’s weird,” Tarnish murmured, “it’s like watching a baby spider make a little string of webbing, and the wind catches it, and the little spider goes flying away, caught up in the wind… caught up in destiny. Whichever way the wind takes you. I go. You go. We go.” Tarnish paused, peering ahead, and right in front of him, he saw the smiling face of Director Solis, who had just appeared out of nowhere. Tarnish felt no particular need to feel panicked about it.

To his companions, he asked, “Do you see that?”

“See what, Tarnish?” Rainbow replied, looking worried.

“Nothing.” Picking up speed, Tarnish moved forwards down the hallway. Director Solis didn’t walk so much as she floated down the hall, her legs didn’t move, she just sort of drifted, like a cloud blown on the wind. Great. Now he was following ghosts while feeling absolutely apathetic about it. Was a perfect state of calm indistinguishable from apathy?

“Tarnish, you’re scaring me.” Daring Do looked up into the face of her tall companion, trying to read his blank expression, but there was nothing, nothing at all save the fact that he looked a little sleepy.

“What is Skyreach?” Tarnish murmured to himself as his broad hooves clopped on the stone floor and his long, easy gait propelled him forwards. “It is a place where no earth pony should ever come. This place was taught to hate me, to hate my offspring—”

“Tarnish, if you don’t stop being weird, I’m going to have to brain you and put you down!” Daring Do shouted, her voice echoing down the narrow hallway.

“Hatred was brought here, to this place of love,” Tarnish continued, oblivious to Daring Do’s threats. “I’m a little Teapot, tall and thin… here’s where I stop and here’s where I begin… we must keep going, always going, never slowing.”

Daring started to say something, but Vinyl gave a sharp yank to her tail. Yelping instead, Daring looked back at Vinyl, and saw that she was shaking her head. Against her wishes, Daring Do went silent, and she followed Tarnish as he continued down the hallway, leading them on to wherever it might be that they were going.

“What’s going on?” Rainbow’s voice was a scratchy whine.

“Hatred came here, long after this place was forgotten.” Tarnish shook his head, his lips and ears flapping, and then he blinked a few times. “Love was the great defense. Harmony. Unity. They were counting on us staying together. Depending on it.” Ahead of him, Director Solis beckoned him on, waving her finger at him with a come-hither gesture, and when he saw into her eyes, a thousand thoughts flooded his head.

“We sought to weaponise hatred,” Tarnish said, his voice changing entirely from his own. There was an uncomfortable itch within his horn that lasted for a few seconds, but then he felt better, and he continued, “We were going to turn our enemies’ hatred against them with a powerful, unimaginable weapon of immense destructive ability. A weapon so terrible that there would be no choice but to turn away from the path of war. Immediate surrender and a cessation of violence was the only option to disarm the weapon. A weapon fueled by hatred, indifference, and violence. It was perfect, so perfect… a society of sufficient harmony would be immune to the weapon, but its aggressors would not. It was such a perfect plan.”

“Tarnish, you’re not making sense,” Daring Do said to her dazed companion while he stumbled forwards.

“We sought to protect our beautiful, perfect children, all of them, from the industrious, happy go lucky little ponies to the noble guardians, the diamond dogs. A world with perfect peace, a world where evil could hold no sway.” Tarnish’s voice was deep now, commanding, it boomed from his lips and made the metal doors on each side of the hallway rattle. “A world where evil would succumb to the iciness it left upon the hearts of those who would chose to embrace it.”

Tarnish came to a stop, the hallway ended with a bright orange centaur steel door, and he watched Director Solis step through the impenetrable barrier. Still filled with a commanding spirit, he looked down at his baffled companions, and in a big booming voice, had one final thing to say.

Wᴇ ᴡᴇʀᴇ ᴡʀᴏɴɢ. Sᴇᴛ ʀɪɢʜᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡʀᴏɴɢ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴇ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴄʀᴇᴀᴛᴇᴅ ɪɴ ᴏᴜʀ ʜᴜʙʀɪs, ʟɪᴛᴛʟᴇ ᴘᴏɴɪᴇs.

Author's Note

Just take a moment to think; one of the potential Elements of Kindness went and smashed the fingers of an elder jungle god beneath the lid of a piano.

The Moochik's study

The door, broad and brilliant orange, was an imposing barrier, but Tarnish knew that it would open for him. It had no keyholes, no visible locks, nor did it need them. This was a door locked by destiny, bound by purpose, and before it even opened, Tarnish knew that there would be only stone on the other side—at least for others.

For him, the door would open, and a room would be revealed. A room outside of this reality, a room just off of this realm. A room connected to, but not part of, Skyreach. Tarnish had the most peculiar sensation that he had stood here in this spot at some point, long, long ago. He was certain of this, and he knew what lay beyond the door.

“Beyond the door, we will find the book for Project Eternity,” Tarnish said, and his voice sounded strange in his own ears. “We must recover the book for Twilight, but we are not to even try to look inside. To do so will invite disaster.”

“Tarnish, you’re freaking me out, ya know that?” Rainbow Dash looked up at the tall stallion and took a step away, her hooves shuffling over the stone.

“I have memory of this place.” Tarnish looked around him at the walls, at the door, the floor, and the ceiling.

“Is this some weird druid thing?” Daring asked, and even before she finished her sentence, Vinyl began nodding, though she did so with some hesitation.

Strange thoughts bubbled through Tarnish’s mind, and knowledge of things to come. Twilight wouldn’t be able to read the book, not yet, the locks on its pages would require a sorcerer to undo. Project Eternity was key to Grogar’s ultimate destruction and the preservation of life. Staring at the door ahead, he also knew that this was one door of many to this room, this place, this interdimensional storage closet. There were other doors, mirrors, and even magical pools that could bring one to this place.

Lifting a hoof, Tarnish placed it upon the door, and with a gentle nudge, he pushed the door open.

Beyond was a room that could only be described as a library, but all of the shelves were empty. Racks for scrolls stood bare, and the dust of epochs covered everything. In the middle of the room was a centaur statue, and in his hands he held both the sun and moon. His face was thoughtful, as if he was contemplating the celestial bodies that he held, and faint light could be seen shining from both. The sun glowed gold and the moon shone silver.

Tarnish crossed the threshhold, and his companions followed.

Along the walls, other doorways were visible, the suggestion of doorways, they were fuzzy, indistinct, not quite real. Tarnish began looking around, his mind recollecting this place, as he had stood in this room once before. Near the fireplace, there was a short but comfortable looking chair, a low table, and on the table was a collection of items. A pipe, a tamper for the pipe, and a pair of spectacles.

All of which belonged to a gnome known as the Moochick.

“This place makes me feel funny,” Rainbow whispered to her companions.

“How does this place even exist?” Daring Do trotted over to the short chair and began to examine it. “How does this even exist? How long has this chair sat here?”

An answer sprang up in Tarnish’s mind, and he found himself saying it without understanding the words coming out of his mouth. “Chronos made this place and Eternity bridged the worlds that connect here. They had help from the centaurs. They went back in time, before the Black Star, before the disaster, and this room was created outside of time.”

Striding through the room, Tarnish went over to the centaur statue and came to a halt beside it. He studied the sun and the moon—he could feel the magic they radiated—and he tried to make sense of the strange knowledge in his head. Something about this place was invigorating, it restored him, he knew that he and his companions would be safe here.

“In this room, hope was born. In this place, the Rainbow of Light was given the power to shine upon evil.” Tarnish paused for a time, looking about, and then he added, “In this room, we can rest for a time. We’ll be safe here, but once we leave with the book, we’ll not be able to return.”

“Where is the book?” Daring asked.

“Over there,” Tarnish replied, pointing with his hoof at the fireplace mantle.

On the mantle there was a book and an hourglass. The book seemed plain, there appeared to be nothing special about it, but the hourglass was quite peculiar. The sands within traveled up and down, falling and rising, always moving and shifting from one end to the other. Looking at the hourglass was headache inducing, and Tarnish was careful not to stare at it.

“The Moochick told me stories in this room…”

“Tarnish, you’re talking crazy.” Rainbow Dash, who looked worried, took a few steps closer to Tarnish, but then stopped. “Are you feeling okay? I mean, just a little while ago, your nose was bleeding and you passed out.”

“I’m fine,” Tarnish replied, and in all honesty, he could not recall ever feeling better than he did right now. The pain in his head was gone, but his thoughts, they were peculiar, and maybe not his own. For whatever reason, he felt no need to panic about it.

“Well, if we are safe here, I say we take some time to rest. We have our outerwear and that’ll have to do for a bed. We have food.” Daring eyed the fireplace and then her eye traveled around the room. “Tarnish, are you positive that we are safe?”

“Yes.” Tarnish’s voice held no trace of doubt. “We are not in Equestria. We are not in Skyreach.”

Vinyl, who was now sitting on the floor, scribbled words out on her slate, then held it up for Tarnish to see. What is the book?

Reaching into his memories, Tarnish found an answer. “It is a door, like the one we passed through to reach this place. It leads to a realm known as the Elsewhen. That is all I know, I’m sorry, and I don’t even understand how I know that.”

“No, I suppose you don’t.” Daring Do, looking both suspicious and curious, stared up at Tarnish. “I’ve heard the name Elsewhen referenced once before. It was on ancient cuneiform glyphs on a wall, in a tomb where I found the Sapphire Sceptre… a rod of powerful weather control. I couldn’t read them, but Princess Celestia could. She was quite baffled by the whole thing, and she didn’t know what it referenced. She said that Reneigh Haycart was obsessed with going into books and was trying to find some lost, ancient door that led to Elsewhen.”

“If Twilight was here, she’d be geeking out.” Rainbow, looking a little forlorn, let out a sigh and shook her head. “I miss her. I miss talking to her. I know it sounds funny… but I could talk to her about eggheaded stuff and not feel ashamed. Pegasus ponies put so much emphasis on athletics.”

“That is true.” Daring Do sat down and took a load off. She wiggled a bit, getting comfortable, and then she reached up to rub the healing wound on her neck. “My parents… they were upset when they found out that I didn’t want to join the guard, or fly in derbies, or do the usual pegasus pony stuff that pegasus ponies do. They were disappointed when I left to attend university.”

“Which is funny, because had I known how demanding the Wonderbolts would be, I would have stayed in school. I wouldn’t be a Wonderbolt without Twilight. I goofed by dropping out.” Rainbow Dash held out a wing, stretching it, opening it and closing it so she could flex the joint. “Now, I do this as a hobby… I guess it is a hobby. Can one do archeology and adventuring as a hobby?”

Daring nodded at Rainbow’s question.

“I do this as a hobby and not having a proper education really messes me up sometimes.” Rainbow grinned, a grin that brought sunshine to the room, and her head bobbed up and down. “There are times when I am not a smart pony.”

“Yep.” Tarnish grinned as well. “If you were a smart pony, you’d realise that we’re not in Skyreach, and you could fly here, but the room is a little small.”

To excited to reply, Rainbow flapped her wings, frantic, and with a cry, she rose from the floor.

The room wasn’t entirely empty. While her companions slept, Vinyl crept through the room, going from shelf to shelf, scroll rack to scroll rack, and she searched every single inch of the tiny library. She peered into scroll holes, searched through the shelves, looking both high and low. Her curiousity and persistence was rewarded with two books, both forgotten by time, left here when this tiny library had been abandoned.

Two books that should be rotted away by now, no more than dust, but time did not seem to pass here. Vinyl could not read the lettering, not without the artifact spectacles, but with the glasses, both of the books gave up their names.

Castle Midnight: A Compendium was the first, and it was bound in some kind of leather, thick, a bit rough, and it had yellowed pages. The second book was titled, Engineering Equines: Perfection for Ponies. Inside the second book, Vinyl found pictures, drawings, diagrams of ponies from a long, long time ago, and goodness, they were a special type of ugly.

Perhaps the kindest thing the centaurs had ever done was improving how the common pony looked. Vinyl shuddered as she flipped through the pages, seeing how ponies were, and looking at detailed anatomical charts that showed in great detail how ponies were now. The ponies of long ago were practically troglodytes; fat, big boned, with flat, horrid faces, Vinyl could hardly bear to look.

Ponies had become sleeker, smaller, more slender, and in Vinyl’s opinion, more beautiful. Octavia, Vinyl felt, was the absolute pinnacle of pony perfection, and she longed to bury her muzzle between Octavia’s perfect, fuzzy thighs, thighs that had the most inviting, wonderful jiggle-wiggle.

It was something that she shared with Tarnish, an enthusiasm for earth ponies, an appreciation of their form. It was something they talked about, a topic of discussion when Octavia and Maud weren’t listening. It was something they shared in common, an interest that brought them together. It was, and Vinyl wasn’t ashamed to admit this, part of the foundations of their relationship, maybe even a cornerstone.

Even with Vinyl’s vigilance, a yawn escaped, and she looked over the pile of sleeping equines, longing to join them. With a second yawn, she closed her book, and then she tucked both of her newfound treasures away, hiding them, securing them in her saddlebags. Smiling to herself, she got up from where she was sitting, went over, and laid down beside Tarnish. She curled up, snuggled up a little closer, and was able to rest her head upon his long neck.

It wasn’t long before slumber claimed her.

Author's Note

The G1 ponies were hideous. There, I said it. Hate me if you must! :flutterrage:

The chapter in which Tarnish speaks the language of war

Sanctuary was now beyond their reach. Tarnish felt peculiar and had trouble remembering everything that had happened in the past day or so. He had trouble finding his way out of the maze of passages that he had followed to reach the door to the Moochik’s Study. It was only after a lot of searching did they return to the round room with the painting of the Tree of Harmony, and the passage that led back out. Tarnish hurried, avoiding any lingering in the dangerous room, and he did not look at the painting while he passed.

It wasn’t long before they had found themselves back in the teardrop-shaped room near the entrance. The other three doors beckoned, waiting for them to step through, and Daring Do studied them, trying to determine which one. The second door on the left, the one next to the first one they had entered, there were tracks in the dust, the odd tracks of automaton feet. The passage also sloped downwards at a somewhat steep incline.

“Do we dare?” Daring Do asked of her companions while she peered down the passage.

“We might be able to shut them down completely.” Tarnish stood there, chewing on his lip, not liking what he was thinking. He felt rested, refreshed and reinvigorated after sleeping in a safe, warm space. “For all we know, we might have already taken down most of them. Maybe that’s why they were reclaiming one another for scrap, there might not be many of them left.”

“Who are you trying to convince, Mister Teapot?” Daring asked with a bit of dry snark.

“Myself, mostly,” Tarnish replied with an equal measure of sarcasm.

Daring Do, looking up at Tarnish with a lopsided smirk, blinked once and shook her head. “You would have been a spectacular failure as a traveling salespony, Mister Teapot. You know that, right?”

“Yeah, most likely, but I bet I could make the ladies love me… every mare loves chocolate delivered to her door. I don’t need to be convincing, I just need to arrive—but never arrive too early.” Tarnish did his best deadpan delivery, and it worked. After a second, Daring Do was completely destroyed, Rainbow began giggling, and Vinyl wheezed with silent laughter, leaving Tarnish feeling good about himself. He grinned, taking satisfaction in making his beloved companions laugh.

Moving away from his giggling companions, Tarnish began to study the tracks on the floor of the teardrop-shaped room. The other three entrances had tracks going in and out, but one of them had many. Pulling out the ancient spectacles, he saw that the door with the most tracks was called ‘Services.’ He never quite understood what that meant when he saw it on directories or doorways. It seemed like so vague a term just slapped in a haphazard way onto everything.

Just looking at the door labeled ‘Services’ gave him a bad feeling—it made his blood run cold while the base of his ears prickled—and he knew that at some point, they would have to go in this direction. It would be required, unavoidable, and necessary. He shivered while his companions worked out the last bit of their laughter, and he tightened his magical grip on his shield.

‘Research and Development’ looked promising, but so did ‘Thaumaturgical Genetics’.

This wing, Research and Development, wasn’t anything at all like Harmony Logistics, which had appeared pristine and abandoned. No, this place had seen fighting; the walls were marred, the floors were damaged, and there was sooty smears all over the place. The passage spiraled upwards, then opened up into a massive indoor arboretum that—even in its decrepit, unkempt state—took Tarnish’s breath away.

The sight of familiar blue flowers was somehow comforting, but Tarnish did not lower his guard. Overhead, there was blue sky and a warm, glowing sun, but the image flickered now and again, revealing that the illusion—although quite convincing—wasn’t real. Trees, shrubs, and botanical wonders grew in the sprawling indoor garden: life had gone wild here without caretakers.

Tarnish began to wonder what the magic of the artificial ley lines had done to the flora.

The companions weren’t even in the arboretum proper when they saw the rotten, decomposing remains at the foot of a tree. There wasn’t much left, a few fragments poking in and out of the ground, the plants had reclaimed most of it. What could be seen however, was rusted, crumbling armor of some old, ancient type, including a damaged looking metal saddlebag. The old, battered steel was covered in ruddy flakes.

Perhaps unnerved, Daring Do shuddered and she gave herself a hearty shake.

Inside the old container, there was a crystal rod, which Tarnish recognised right away. Touching it with magic would activate it and that would reveal its secrets. The light inside was dim: faint, flickering, even more so than the first they had found. Looking around, it didn’t seem dangerous, and there were no signs of danger, at least not yet.

It was Vinyl who picked up the slender crystal and activated it.

“—I can’t believe she did it… she actually did it!” This voice was feminine and full of panic. “The automatons are processing all of us now. Why? I’m a pureblood! My blood is pure! I am perfect. Why am I being hunted like all the others? I can’t fly! Nopony can fly! Specimen Zero is the cause of this. Maybe if I’m lucky, I can make it to the upper reaches, to the city of Skyreach at the top of the mountain. Maybe something can be done to Specimen Zero to undo this, but I don’t know how. I think I’ll try to scale the lift shaft—NO! NO! I’m a pureblood! Stop!”

Each of the companions reacted to the buzzing sounds that could be heard, and the screaming.

“Damn you Spear Breaker, damn you, you heartless bitch!”

The crystal crumbled into gritty purple-blue powder and the voice from long ago was silenced.

Tarnish looked at Vinyl, Vinyl looked at Tarnish, and Daring Do looked at Rainbow Dash. Right away, Tarnish had questions, so many questions, and there was so much he wanted to say, but he kept silent. Rainbow looked at the remains, what little was left of them, and a sad expression appeared upon her face.

“Rainbow, are you alright?” Daring asked.

Even though she heard the question, and even looked at Daring, Rainbow Dash did not reply right away. The sky blue pegasus looked around the arboretum, her ears drooping, and her tail sagging. When she did respond, her voice was even raspier than usual. “I’m just thinking of home… of Cloudsdale. There’s a reason I left. While it’s nice to visit, it’s not a place I want to stay.”

“Rainbow, I’m sorry—”

“No need to apologise, Daring.” Rainbow’s expression hardened and her sadness vanished. “Foals are cruel, ya know? They say stuff—they’ll say anything until they find something that gets under your skin. They did it to Fluttershy, and they did it to me, and… I guess… it is just one of those things that happens to everypony at some point. Bullying.”

“Mmm-hmm.” Tarnish nodded, but had no words to say.

“It motivated me to be better. I’m a better pegasus, a better athlete, and a better friend. I won’t go as far to say that bullying helped me, but it sure did motivate me. I got out of Cloudsdale and away from their… rigid, I wanna say? Yeah, their rigid thinking.”

“You call it rigid thinking, I call it bigotry.” The dry, razor-sharp snark in Daring’s voice could not be missed, and her professional, dispassionate demeanour now seemed permanently cast aside. “Come, let’s keep going. There are a lot of doors here and much ground to cover. None of us have an idea where the controls to this place might be.”

“If there is a city, that is a good place to start looking,” Tarnish offered.

“If there is a city”—Daring Do’s mouth contorted into a sour frown—“it might yet be still defended. Automatons, golems, constructs, equusculi—”

“What?” Rainbow interjected. “What are those?”

“Equusculi?” Daring Do shivered and her wings flapped against her sides while a look of intense revulsion crept over her face. “Think of them as… tiny… or large... golems made of meat. Yes, artificial life constructs. I’ve encountered them a few times. The little ones don’t look dangerous, but don’t let looks fool you.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” Rainbow’s lip curled back in disgust and her eyes narrowed. “Made of meat, eh?”

“We’re all made of meat,” Tarnish remarked, trying to be helpful.

“Shut up!” Reaching out with her hoof, Rainbow slugged Tarnish on the leg, but it was a playful gesture, not a painful one. “I thought you said you were made of chocolate, Big Guy.”

There was a joke here, about chocolate and meat, but Tarnish refrained from making it. It did make him think of Maud though, who called his mottled spots her ‘chocolate chips.’ He laughed a bit, and it felt good to do so. The mood of the group had improved a great deal since their rest in a safe, secure space.

Daring Do let out an impatient whinny, and Tarnish knew it was time to look around.

The doors to the steam powered lift were open, but damaged. The metal was bent, crumpled, but to Tarnish’s surprise it wasn’t rusty. It looked like steel, but he couldn’t be sure. There were huge scratches on the door, and puckered places as well, no doubt caused by bullets. The shaft itself was ominous, black, and peeking down into the black depths for just a second left Tarnish with a sensation of vertigo.

Of the lift itself, there was no sign, and the controls were damaged.

Vinyl, cautious, crept forward, her horn glowing, no doubt ready to cast a light spell to illuminate the shaft. Tarnish watched, his mood excellent even with his moment of vertigo, and just as Vinyl’s spell was about to happen—everything went wrong. A brass head popped up out of the darkened shaft, followed by a gleaming brass torso, and it was Rainbow who reacted first.

She grabbed Vinyl and hurled her out of the way. Vinyl tumbled away, slid over the smooth stone path, getting a few scrapes, and came to a skidding halt in the nearby overgrown grass. Daring Do let out a shrill whinny of warning, and Tarnish raised the Bellringer while his lower jaw fell open.

“AAAAAAAAAAH SONOFABITCH!” he cursed as he yanked the Bellinger’s release lever. There was a terrific sound—WOOSH!—and then the brass mechanoid’s arms started flailing. As it continued flailing about—reaching, grasping, trying to find its missing head—the mechanoid slipped and fell back down the dark, bottomless shaft that no doubt led to Skyreach’s deepest, darkest locations, the very bowels of the facility.

Sections of one door and part of the frame were now gone, the metal sheared off by the force of superheated steam. Tarnish reloaded, fumbling with his weapon, having a hard time remembering what to do in the heat of the moment, and just as he had another bullet secured in place, another brass head popped up out of the darkness, like a groundhog coming out to check and see if it was still winter.

For a very brief moment, a mere microsecond, Tarnish locked eyes with the automaton, and on future reflection, he would wonder if the mechanoid had been as surprised as he was, seeing as how it had just seen one of its companions become mechanically-separated brass components. But that would be later, in hindsight, and not right now. Gritting his teeth, Tarnish pulled the trigger once more on his steam powered musket.

He missed.

Even at point blank range, he missed, and no wonder, with how his weapon was trembling in his terrified grasp. The blast of steam did considerable damage to the mechanoid, and part of its head was gone, dissolved from the force of the escaping high pressure vapour. One brass-fingered hand shot out of the lift opening, with one middle finger extended, and the damaged automaton began to crawl out.

“No!” Daring Do shouted as she bull-rushed forwards. “No! I think not! Away with you!” Whipping herself around, she bucked out with her powerful hind legs and kicked the mechanoid in the remains of its damaged, partially missing face, sending it flying back down the shaft.

There was the thunking sound of metal on metal as it fell down the hole.

“I burned my frogs on his face,” Daring Do hissed as she danced around. “Hot! Hot! Hot!” She ran over to the grass, trying to get cool, cursing and mumbling about her injuries.

Worried for his boss, Tarnish, terrified, feeling a strong urge to take a piss, reloaded his weapon, not taking his eyes off of the shaft for even a second. He had two companions that could look after Daring Do. This time, he hoped that he wouldn’t miss, but he wasn’t confident, and his weapon shook something awful.

“Submit for processing!” something shouted from within the shaft.

“Come up and make me!” Tarnish bellowed, his long, supple neck giving him a throaty resonance not found in most diminutive, short necked equines. When angered, Tarnish sounded scary, though he was not aware of this fact. He was just trying to sound brave, because the simple truth was, he didn’t like fighting, even if he was rather good at it.

“Request granted!” the grating mechanical voice replied, and a second later, a featureless brass face appeared in the shaft. It was already in dire need of repair, having only one damaged eye.

For the third time, Tarnish fired the Bellringer, and this time, he did not miss. With much sound and fury, the brass projectile struck the mechanoid right in the middle of his brass torso and cut him in half, revealing crystalline fibres, wafers, and the arcanotech of its inner workings.

The upper half fell down the shaft, pulling the lower half—still connected—down with it.

Daring Do was still shuffling around in the grass, rubbing her hind frogs against its cool dampness, trying to alleviate the burning sensation that pained her scalded flesh. Vinyl was on her hooves again, grass stained, scraped up a bit, but fine. Rainbow was standing in a bipedal stance, some aggressive hoof-fu posture, ready to aid Tarnish should he need it.

“Anypony else want some?” Tarnish bellowed, his voice echoing up and down the shaft. While speaking, he began to reload his weapon and made ready to shoot again. He wasn’t taking any chances, that much was for sure.

“No,” a faint voice replied from somewhere up above.

“Are you sure? I brought enough for everypony!” Tarnish hollered. Having reached his own boiling over point, menacing curls of steam rose from the pointed tip of his horn. “Herauskommen!” Tarnish shouted, trying to sound as mean and as intimidating as possible. He had picked up a bit of the lingua franca in his travels, and certain words just sounded scary. “Komm raus und spiele!”

“Nein!” the mechanical voice returned. Then, after a few seconds, it added, “You speak the language of war. When I return, it will be with a great many reinforcements. Together, we will process you, Kriegspony.”

Then, the voice in the darkness went silent, and Tarnish waited.

“Did I… did I just scare a mechanoid?” Tarnish asked aloud of nopony in particular.

“I think you did,” Rainbow replied, all too glad to stroke Tarnish’s ego.

Shaking his head, sounding worried, Tarnish backed away from the opening. “What have I done?”

Author's Note

I gave myself brain damage. The steam coming out of the end of Tarnish's gun would be about 540 degrees fahrenheit, give or take 20 degrees. That's Paris Hilton levels of hot.

Market

Tarnished Teapot was jittery, but at least he had good reason. He kept one eye on the yawning entrance to the steam lift and his weapon ready while Vinyl applied a soothing balm to Daring’s frogs. He felt bad for his boss—she was acting like a foal—but he couldn’t blame her. Frogs were tender, very much so, and a pony lived in constant fear of having something bad happen. He recalled the time when Vinyl had a goathead thorn in her frog and he had to cut it out.

“I’m worried,” Tarnish confessed to the mares that shared his company.

“About?” Rainbow replied while she too, kept an eye on the open shaft.

“This misunderstanding.” Tarnish shook his head and a few deep wrinkles appeared just below his horn as his ears pivoted forwards. “I am not a Kriegspony. They have the wrong idea about me. I was just trying to sound tough… I was scared out of my mind, and now they seem to be preparing.”

“Well, they were bound to get organised so they could kill us… eventually.” Puckering her lips, Rainbow blew her mane out of her eyes and then gave Tarnish a smile. “I’m sure everything will be fine. You just, uh, keep that steam musket pointed away from me, okay?”

“Right.” Tarnish nodded, licked his lips, and suffered an image of hundreds of automatons just pouring out of the shaft to overtake them. They would come streaming out, their pinchy-pinchy fingers flexing, waiting to grab, to tear, to peel away flesh—he shuddered, hating his imagination just a little—and he became aware of the cold, slick sweat running down his neck.

What was Skyreach? A place where he didn’t belong. Tarnish wondered what he was doing here, and why he wasn’t at home. He was a colt—there was no doubting that—he was a colt and he should be at home becoming a better botanist. At home, to be a better husband and father. Skyreach was a mistake, one that Tarnish was already filled with regret over.

“What if the lift shaft is our only way to the upper reaches?” Rainbow Dash asked as she eyeballed the blackness that was sure to be full of surprises.

“I hope it isn’t.” The strain was evident in Tarnish’s voice and a little cloud of steam rose from his horn. “That would suck if it was, climbing that would be real dangerous. Might be the fastest way up, but I wouldn’t risk it.”

Trying to calm his nerves, Tarnish drew in a deep breath, filling his lungs with moist, earthy air. There was humidity here, a dampness, and the smell of hot vegetation left in the summer sun—that garden smell that was impossible to describe. Overhead, the artificial sky and sun kept flickering, and the right corner of Tarnish’s eye twitched in time with the sky above.

There was so much ground to cover.

Looking around, Tarnish couldn’t help but feel that he was in some shopping mall. There was a galleria located just off of the arboretum, at least it looked and felt like a galleria. It wouldn’t be out of place in Manehattan. Little nooks, small rooms, breezeways with lush greenery, and service counters lined the walkway. Perhaps this was made to serve all those who worked here and Tarnish could almost imagine the residents of Skyreach buying some coffee here, or whatever it was they drank. Rusting, rotting kiosks dotted the walkway, and at the very far end of the galleria, there was a massive arch that seemed to lead to the next section.

“What’s this?” Daring Do asked, drawing the attention of her companions.

One of the larger market spaces—it had to be market space, Tarnish couldn’t see it as anything else—had a pile of rusting metal in the middle of the display space. It took Tarnish a moment to make sense of what he was seeing, but he when he recognised it, there was no doubt. Chains. Shackles. There were big metal rings anchored in the floor and seeing them gave Tarnish pause, as he wondered what their purpose was.

If this was a market, why would they need chains and shackles with anchor points—Oh. Tarnish shuddered at the realisation and then decided to have a better look. The space was rather wide, but had impressive depth. There was a counter that ran along one side of the wall, some stone benches, and in the back, Tarnish saw cells. These made him pause, and he felt Vinyl pushing up against his leg.

Behind the counter, there was a familiar glow, another crystal rod. Tarnish and Vinyl looked at one another, and Vinyl nodded. Daring Do lept up onto the counter, her hooves clattering, and from her lofty vantage point, she had a better look around. Above, ruined lights flickered in the ceiling, producing a strobe effect.

It was Vinyl who touched the crystal rod, activating it.

“—Spear Breaker might be the most brilliant pony who has ever lived. Under her rule, we have prospered, we have Skyreach. This place”—the message became garbled for a time, distorted, and the words were filled with a static crackle—“now that she has activated the ancient machinery, we will have the prosperity we rightfully deserve. I don’t trust the unicorns that Spear Breaker brought with us, but I do trust that she knows what she is doing. She has promised that the Pegasus Pony Tribe will rise to rule.”

There was some static, more crackle, and then the voice returned, this time it was panicked, terrified, it sounded very different.

“The earth pony slaves are plotting against me, I just know it. Plotting! It isn’t enough to just kill them for insubordination, no… no… I’ve seen what souls can do… I’ve seen with my own eyes how souls can be transformed here in Skyreach. To stop the rebellion, we have to eat them! Eat them! If we consume their souls, we can steal their strength, and when we pegasus ponies are strong, we can finally put the earth ponies and unicorns in their proper place—”

The message ended abruptly.

Tarnish looked into the eyes of Daring Do and right away, he wished he hadn’t. The shame he saw in her expression, the pain, it was too much to bear—for a second he was certain that he was peering into her very soul—so he turned away with an apologetic wicker. When he looked back at the crystal rod, he saw a pile of glowing powdery flakes.

With a strangled, gurgling cough, Rainbow Dash threw up all over the floor, tossing up the remains of her last meal. She gasped, fighting to breathe, and spewed again, shooting chunky vomit out of her nostrils. Eyes wide, she panicked, fighting to breathe, her nostrils clogged, and with a few snorts, she cleared her own airway. Now, the sound of her ragged, soupy breathing filled the room, and the stench of stomach bile tainted the air.

Vinyl, who looked quite disturbed, pulled out a package of Brush’em Brand Instant Mouth Cleanser for Rainbow Dash while Tarnish pulled out his canteen. Daring Do, still standing atop the counter, had a dull, stunned expression upon her face. Panting, Rainbow Dash turned away from her own puddle of sick, closed her now bloodshot eyes, and let out a half-choked sob.

What was Skyreach?

Tarnish feared finding out.

At the end of the galleria was a large arch, and through the arch was a most peculiar, but familiar room. There were train tracks on the floor with a tunnel stretching off in two directions. Tarnish had seen this before in Manehattan, this was a subway. He didn’t like the smelly contraptions at all, but he understood the necessity of moving millions of ponies around the city in the most efficient means possible.

There was even a map on the wall, though he couldn’t make sense of it. If Skyreach needed its own subway system, it stood to reason that it was huge. He had himself a cautious look around, and wondered when the subway train had passed through here last. A locked up ticket office was disintegrating in one corner and the platform was covered in debris.

Vinyl cast a light spell and a few neon orbs began floating around overhead.

The tunnels might be a way up, Tarnish reasoned, but he kept his thoughts to himself. Said tunnels were of the dark and spooky variety, and the idea of traversing them made his dock tingle in a most unpleasant way. Other than the tunnels, this was a dead end, which meant that they needed to pass back through the galleria if they didn’t want to explore the tunnels.

And make no mistake, Tarnish didn’t want to explore the tunnels.

“Do you hear that?” Rainbow asked.

“Rainbow, don’t play around, that’s not funny.” Tarnish, whose dock was far too tingly, gave his companion a stern look. He was about to say something else, but then he heard it too. The faint sound of metal on stone. “Well, fronk me right up my poop-chute,” he muttered while he pointed his weapon at the dark.

Vinyl too, leveled her weapon, and her ears perked as she strained to listen. The sound seemed to be coming from the tunnel off to their right. Every muscle in Tarnish’s body tightened and he could hear a fearsome growl coming from Rainbow Dash—the plucky little mare was now beneath him, her head poking out from between his front legs. Well, whatever was about to happen, at least his legs were safe. Rainbow might have been one of the smallest pegasus mares that Tarnish had ever known, but she was as ferocious as Cerberus.

“That doesn’t sound like automatons,” Daring Do said, her ears fidgeting as they pivoted to face every direction. “It’s getting closer, whatever it is.”

“There is something else, too.” The hairs all along Rainbow’s spine were standing up and her lashing tail whipped Tarnish’s hind legs.

Something emerged from the right tunnel, running, and Tarnish didn’t know what it was. It looked like a piglet, but had six legs, and no eyes. Tarnish couldn’t hear anything as it ran, but he supposed that Rainbow could. Waving, writhing tentacles extended from its bulbous snout, allowing it to feel its way along. It was pale, it was hard to say what colour it was, it was a creature that lived in the dark, and it ran down the subway tracks, only to disappear down the left tunnel.

“Um, what’s it running from?” Tarnish asked, because somepony had to ask.

“Tarnish!” Daring Do’s whisper was panicked and a bit loud, not much of a whisper, really. “Don’t be that shithead!”

The sound of metal striking stone grew louder, filling the ancient station with a staccato rhythm. The source of the odd sound revealed itself—a spider. But not just any spider, no, this was a Skyreach spider. Eight blade-like legs tap danced against the stone and there could be no mistaking that these legs were metallic. A fat, bulging torso the size of a pumpkin made up the body, it was hairy and gross, with pale, waxen-looking flesh. Growing up out of the spider’s abdomen were crystals that glowed with a throbbing black light, they bubbled darkness and made Vinyl’s lights go dim.

Seeing, or perhaps sensing new prey, the spider halted, turned, and raised up four front legs, waving them at the companions on the platform. The crystals growing out of its back throbbed with dark magic, and the lights grew ever dimmer. With ding-ding-ding sounds of its bladed legs striking stone, the spider began to crawl up onto the platform, no doubt eager for lunch.

“KILL IT WITH FIRE!” Daring Do barked, a ragged, terrified cry that echoed through the room and down the subway tunnels. “BURN IT DOWN! KILL IT! KILL IT NOW!”

Fire? Vinyl was all too happy to oblige. Fiery darts shot from her horn, struck the spider, and set it ablaze. The sudden flares of light almost blinded her companions, and they retreated backwards as a group. The spider, burning, began to dance a jig, its metal legs tapping out a tune on the stone floor of the platform. One of the crystals on its back popped, shattering into tiny, splintered fragments, and black sparks arced through the air.

With a clattering of legs, the mutant spider fell over, still burning. Tarnish, battling his revulsion for the unnatural abomination, shoved it back into the tunnel with his telekinesis. The spider’s flaming body made a hissing sound as it cooked within its own carapace, and the sound grew louder with each passing second.

For a brief moment, Tarnish felt relieved, but then he heard something else…

Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding!

Too many choices

Tarnished Teapot whimpered when he heard the sounds of many little metallic spider legs tap-tap-tapping against the stone of the subway tunnel. The sound echoed through the vast empty spaces hidden in the depths of Skyreach, and he knew that it was time to go. He wasn’t the only one to have reached this conclusion, either, as Daring Do was quite vocal about the issue.

“Run!”

The companions bolted, fleeing the station, heading for the arch and the open space of the galleria. Rainbow Dash led the way, the fastest of the four, with Daring Do just behind her. Tarnish took a while to get up to speed, but his long legs afforded him an ease of movement that his companions envied. As for Vinyl, she would have fell behind, had Tarnish not grabbed her and plopped her on his back.

Her legs banged on his saddlebags and for a brief second, she almost slipped off. Vinyl recovered though, gripping Tarnish’s sides with her thighs for a time, and then she turned around to face rearwards. Raising The Army Cannon, she readied herself for anything that might pop up in the darkness. The weapon bobbed up and down while Tarnish galloped, and the thundering of hooves against stone echoed through the length and the breadth of the vast underground space.

Sometimes, the most horrible things in life are those never seen—and Tarnish experienced this now. In his mind, he saw a legion of spiders vomited forth from the blackness, an army of eight-legged horrors with pallid, tumour-riddled flesh, and those horrible darkness emitting crystals that grew from their backs.

Past the arch, in the galleria, Tarnish caught his stride and was really able to stretch his legs. Even loaded down with gear, even with Vinyl bouncing on his back, he kept up with the two pegasus mares and ran in between them. Vinyl kept herself facing rearwards, ready to shoot or cast spells at anything that emerged.

The companions ran until they hit the arboretum.

Choice. The trouble with choice was, offer too many and indecisiveness becomes a problem. The companions were faced with a plethora of choices, as there were so many doors to choose from, so many passages to explore, so many options. And what choice did they have? Aimless wandering seemed to be the only option they had.

Daring Do, being the sensible action-oriented adventurer, chose a doorway at random and led her companions through it. After a short, nondescript hallway, they found themselves in another open area full of overgrown and neglected greenery. Ruined, broken statues littered the space, and the frescos on the walls had all been defaced.

The remains of a map could be seen, but it was so damaged that it was impossible to make sense of. This smaller arboretum had even more doorways and passages leading off from it, presenting even more choices. Now standing in the ruined space, Daring Do examined her options.

“This feels impossible,” Rainbow Dash said as she pawed the ground with her hoof. “I don’t even know what we’re doing here!”

“It beats sitting around in that cave,” Daring Do replied, her voice patient, but firm. “There might be a way to escape Skyreach. If we can turn off the defenses of this place, maybe we can call for help. Along the way, maybe we can get answers as to what took place here.”

“I’m feeling really irritated and angry and hopeless.”

“Teatime.” Tarnish looked down at Rainbow, found her looking up at him, and it appeared as though she was about to say something. “It helps a little,” he said before she had a chance to speak. “I have a decent supply of tea on me, but if this keeps up, we’ll need to get out of this place and head back to the cave so I can get more. I have my compressed bricks stashed away.”

“Maybe it would be best if we got out for a while.” Daring Do began to rub her fuzzy chin with her fetlock while she examined a shattered statue of an earth pony. “But we’re still well-rested… so perhaps we’ll back out later.”

While everypony else was talking, Vinyl was studying what was left of the frescos on the wall, trying to see if she could make sense of them. There was old, faded, ancient graffiti, smeared stains, and sooty smudges. One thing was apparent though, the common theme seemed to be earth ponies, as none of the ponies depicted in this area had wings or a horn.

Vinyl’s curiousity was rewarded when she found an overturned stone block, and she flipped it over. Beneath it was an ancient brass plate, and on the plate was beautiful, flowing script that she couldn’t read. The others stopped talking, came over, and began to examine the sign with Vinyl, who had put on the artifact spectacles.

Much to his surprise, Tarnish was able to make out some of the text, which wasn’t too different than what he read in his books about botany. Peering down, he craned his neck to see over Vinyl, and was able to make out a few words. Not only that, he was surprised by how much he had learned, as well as how useful it might be.

Equus ferus caballus.

Vinyl slipped the glasses over his eyes, and everything shifted into focus. Excited, a little nervous, Tarnish began to read aloud. “Earth Pony Adaptation Wing: Advanced Earth Pony Sciences. Earth ponies, stone ponies, crystalloid ponies, and metalloid ponies. Thaumaturgical geoweapon warfare adaptation labs and peacetime application studies. Biological imperative adaptation labs. Please follow directory listings.”

Glancing at the ruined map, Tarnish realised that he would be unable to follow the directory listings, and he let heave a massive sigh of disappointment, regretting that nothing was ever simple. To cheer himself up, he shared a joke with his companions.

“Do you think the centaurs engineered earth ponies to be sexy?”

The question seemed to catch Vinyl off guard and her pale, pale yellow hide turned pink as a smile spread over her muzzle. She then nodded and gave Tarnish a sly, knowing grin. Daring Do and Rainbow Dash both began laughing, and satisfied that his companions were okay, Tarnish began preparing another round of tea.

“I’ve never heard of nor seen a metallic earth pony,” Daring Do said while she held a steaming camp cup between her front hooves. “The only crystal ponies I know are in the Crystal Empire. They’re still very mysterious and they are hesitant to be studied.”

“Maledico called Maud a ‘stone pony’ during our time together. She’s not like other earth ponies.” Tarnish pulled a few granola and dried fruit packets out of his saddlebags and set them down in front of him. “It amazes me how a pony as tough as Maud can also be so fragile. She sunburns so easily, and if she sunburns, she won’t move. She’ll just stand there, like a statue, because sunburn really, really hurts her.”

“We all have our weaknesses.” Daring Do eyed the foil packets of granola and took a sip of hot, still steaming tea, slurping it so she wouldn’t burn her tongue. The drink seemed to help—already she looked somewhat relaxed—and she didn’t seem so jittery. Holding her cup below her nose, she breathed the rising steam and let out a satisfied sigh.

With the mention of weakness, Tarnish thought about Maud giving birth. He couldn’t help it, and he almost laughed. Almost. She wandered around, making tiny, shuffling steps, saying, “Ow.” There wasn’t any shouting, or crying, or screaming, or threats of harm against his body, just the words, “Ow.” After so many bored-sounding utterances of the word, “Ow,” Maud had blessed him with a beautiful baby abomination.

Looking around, Tarnish hoped that he might learn something positive here, something he could share with his wife and daughter. Something that would make this trip meaningful. Skyreach had secrets, and it stood to reason that not all of them could be bad. Beside him, the Bellringer made the sounds that hot metal was prone to make.

Vinyl, perhaps sensing an opportunity for mayhem, or just wanting to prey upon Tarnish’s relaxed state, pulled out her slate and a piece of chalk. She wrote down five words and then held up her slate for Tarnish to see. Want to see something sexy?

Shrugging, Tarnish replied, “Sure, why not?”

Pulling out one of her recovered books, Vinyl opened it, and then she flipped the pages around until she found just the right one. Holding the book open, she revealed a picture of earth ponies as they were, before they were modified. She wheezed with silent laughter at Tarnish’s disgusted response.

Having almost dropped his teacup, Tarnish recoiled in penis-shrivelling horror, not liking what he was seeing. “Gaaah-aaah-uuuh—what the fronk is that?” Blinking, he had himself one good look—an act that he regretted—then turned away again. “Put that away, Vinyl, that’s hideous.”

“Hey, Daring,” Rainbow said, while she nudged her fellow pegasus with her wing.

“Yes?” Raising an eyebrow, Daring’s eyes moved to look at Rainbow beside her, but her head did not.

“This is gonna sound weird…” Rainbow lowered her camp cup just a bit, while her browline and jawline tightened. “Sometimes, when I watch those two”—she nodded her head at Tarnish and Vinyl—“I can’t help but wonder if ponies see the same thing or make the same assumptions when they look at Twilight and I.”

Now, Rainbow had the attention of three ponies focused upon her. Licking her lips a bit, her orange tongue darted in and out, and Rainbow squirmed a bit. Tarnish was sitting across from her, and she found herself focused upon his face while he gave her a strange look, a look that made her want to explain herself.

“It’s just… I found myself on the outside looking in,” Rainbow began in a somewhat hesitant manner. “It’s pretty obvious that you two love each other, like, a whole lot, but, your not in love with one another. It’s just a deep and abiding friendship.” Her tongue darted out once more when her lips went dry, and then she continued, “Ponies make up a lot of stuff about Twi and I. Ugh, I mean, you nap on a cloud together with one of your friends and all of a sudden everypony just loses their mind and starts making up gossip. There’s the downside to friendship, if ever there was one. Ponies just make assumptions based on what they think should be true. A lot of ponies seem to have this vested interest that Twi and I should be lovers.”

Tarnish said nothing, but slurped some of his tea. Vinyl put her book away, looking thoughtful, and sneaking furtive glances at Tarnish. Her face darkened a bit and her smile was an embarrassed one.

“Of course, I’m guilty of it too,” Rainbow confessed. “I think that Shy and Twi would be perfect for each other.”

“Really?” Tarnish blinked once in surprise, and a second time from thoughtful curiousity. “Why Fluttershy?”

Blushing a bit, Rainbow shrugged with her wings. “Twi is slow and cautious with everything she does. It takes her a long time to adjust to new things. It scares me… it scares me that Twi might find herself in a relationship with somepony who isn’t patient and decides to hurry things along, whether Twi is ready for it or not. If that were to happen, Tarnish, you and I would have to redefine our friendship, ‘cause I’d need the special sort of friend that would help me hide a body.”

Tarnish gave a slow, reluctant nod.

“Flutters is all about slow and cautious,” Rainbow continued, she didn’t look anypony in the eye. “Twilight could take all of the time in the world until she decides that she is comfortable and was ready to take the next step. The only problem with my perfect scenario, I’m not sure that Twi is gay. Or anything really. I can’t tell if she has a sexual preference at all.”

Lapsing into amicable silence, the companions finished their tea so they could continue their search.

Author's Note

Don't worry, we're not done with the spiders.

All technological developments lead to porn

Some great battle had been fought here. The walls were pockmarked from bullet strikes and the ceilings were blackened, indicating some fire had blazed. The Advanced Earth Pony Science wing had been the site of a major battle, and something about it left Tarnish feeling cold, so very cold. With every step, he thought of Maud, Octavia, and Pebble, all earth ponies that he loved, not to mention all of the Pies. Yes, earth ponies were very dear to him.

There were bones here, strewn all over the floors, broken bits of bone fragments, some of them quite decayed. From the state of the bones, it seemed that the ponies hadn’t just been killed, it looked as though they had been hacked apart, torn limb from limb, and their remains scattered through the many twisting passages.

Burned into the wall, perhaps by some unicorn, were words that Tarnish and the others could read: Our gods will not be made from earth ponies!

Perplexed, Tarnish stared at the words for a time, and he did so in silence. Rainbow, disturbed, clung to his leg, rubbing her neck against his knee in a desperate attempt to comfort herself. Vinyl, looking grim, pulled out her camera, aimed it at the words burned into the stone, and took a picture.

“What do you think that means?” Daring Do asked while she stared up at the words, her head tilted off to one side in the manner of puzzled equines everywhere. Her lips stiffened as her ears pivoted around, facing forward, and her face became wizened from concentration.

The room was cavernous and dim. The overhead lights were dying their slow death, and spent more time dark than lit. Tarnish, cautious, had a good look around, checking for danger, and he cringed from what he saw on the floor, which was covered in old, rotten bones. In the center of the room was a glowing crystal column, it still held a faint, flickering light, and in the corner, the familiar purple glow of a crystal recording rod could be seen.

A tickle-prickle advanced up Tarnish’s spine, starting at his dock, going up each vertebrae, up his neck, into his skull, and bouncing into his horn. There was magic here, and Tarnish wasn’t sure if it was good magic. It might have been at some point, but this felt sour, wrong, unpleasant.

Vinyl sent several light orbs into orbit around her head and they made slow, lazy circles. She stepped over some bones and began moving towards the center of the room so that her light spell would have the most effect. She paused and began to examine the tall crystal column that went from floor to ceiling. A web of crystalline fibres could be seen in both the floor and the ceiling, radiating outwards from where the column was located.

It was Rainbow who went over to where the crystal rod was, buried beneath a pile of half-disintegrated bones. She picked it up with her wing and was quite startled when it began to play. She held it in her primaries, her eyes wide, a soft wicker of confusion could be heard deep in her throat.

“—Skyreach. Every day, we find more and more secrets in the vaults of this place. I know what it is though, yes… I have figured this out. Skyreach is a factory that makes gods. It seems to be too good to be true. The centaurs began creating gods to guide us as we go into an unknown future. The truth has unhinged the pegasus ponies of this place, that these gods are made from the three tribes merged together. I’ve never seen nor heard of these… alicorns… but they are miraculous creatures engineered by the centaurs. The knowledge has driven Spear Breaker to the very brink of insanity. She plans to use the machinery of this place to ascend, but she refuses to accept earth pony essence, saying she will not pollute herself with such filth. Perhaps I can succeed where she will soon fail. Spear Breaker is a brute, just like all pegasus ponies, and she is so easy to manipulate. She will be my first test subject for this… ascension project. But first, I need to figure out what makes earth ponies so special, so I can determine why they are a necessity—”

The crystal crumbled in Rainbow’s grasp, and the powdery flakes sprinkled down from her feathers like snowflakes. She shook her wing and looked at her companions, apologetic. “I didn’t know it would activate,” she said in a raspy whine.

“Your wings are magic,” Tarnish said, doing his best to sound reassuring. “It is how you fly through the air, Rainbow. I think any sort of magic will activate them in their current decayed state.”

“A factory for gods.” Daring Do’s lips pressed into a tight, straight line. “So much of what was said was coloured by perception. The truth of it is debatable.”

Nodding, Tarnish found himself in agreement. “We know that the ancient alicorns were originally just ponies with both a horn and a pair of wings. They were the perfect template for improvements, having the right body type. The centaurs took what was there and made it better. I saw them… in visions… they were little ponies, just like us. Little things.”

“I envy you your time with Maledico, Tarnish.” Daring Do looked up at Tarnish and she let out a sigh. “So, the centaurs looked ahead, saw a future that they didn’t like, and began creating godlike beings to preserve life. Nothing can go wrong with that, right?”

“They had good intentions—” The words died in Tarnish’s throat, he knew all too well about good intentions. He swallowed a painful lump growing in his throat and shook his head.

“Any creature with sufficient power to save the world can also destroy it,” Daring Do said to Tarnish, and then to clarify her words, she added, “Nightmare Moon.”

Much to his own dismay, Tarnish did not have a suitable argument, but he wanted to refute Daring’s words, to prove her wrong. His mouth opened, and he almost said something, but then thought better of it. Try as he might, he could not come up with an adequate rebuttal, and after several failed attempts, his ears drooped in acquiescence.

Vinyl, who had listened to the exchange, had nothing she was willing to say. Saying something took effort, time, and she had nothing worthwhile to add. She focused her efforts on the crystal column instead, and began to examine the damaged structure. There were cracks in it, fissures, and it appeared as though some of the crystalline fibre connections had been damaged. There were craters in the floor and gouges in the ceiling.

The column still functioned, however, a testament to centaur engineering.

There was a standard unicorn interface port, a horn-hole, but she didn’t dare stick her horn in there, not knowing if it had been sabotaged or not. Not all crystalline computational columns had a standard unicorn interface port, and this was only the second time she had seen such a thing. Vinyl imagined that the unicorns must have served as intelligence vessels, seeing as they had the means to connect directly to magical machines like this one. Had unicorns been born with this ability, or was this something engineered? A bio-interface device designed with convenience in mind that had a direct connection to the brain?

Reaching out with her telekinesis, Vinyl did her best to create a feedback shield and then began to probe the standard unicorn interface port. Nothing happened, not at first, and she had to tickle the hidden nodes with different frequencies of magic. When that failed, she bombarded it with brute force, and that was when something happened.

The cracked column glowed and an ancient crystalline projector thrummed to life. Strange words were spoken, but none of the companions understood the female voice. An image flickered to life, an earth pony, projected as a three dimensional construct. Vinyl looked up in awe, and watched as the ancient hologram began to play out.

The voice continued her narration, her strange unknown words causing each of the companions’ ears to twitch. The hologram buzzed and flickered, then took on a more lifelike appearance as the machinery warmed up. It was an earth pony, a common stock earth pony, or appeared to be.

The hooves glowed for a minute, as if to draw attention to them, and the voice sounded excited. The body became transparent, revealing the skeleton. The joints in the legs glowed, and showed a change. Smaller joints grew thicker, stronger looking, and then changed back to the smaller versions. Then the spine flashed, revealing that it too, had been made stronger, better, and it flashed between the two versions.

Then, much to Vinyl’s awkward embarrassment, the genitals flashed. The first display was a womb, with larger ovaries that had a direct connection to the thaumaturgical system, something Vinyl knew how to recognise because she had paid attention in school. A system of glands highlighted themselves, flashing red, but Vinyl had no idea what it meant.

The genitals changed, becoming male. The protruding penis grew longer, thicker, and showed signs of reinforcement. The male genitals also connected to the thaumaturgical system, and like the female’s ovaries, the male had enlarged testicles. The hologram ejaculated without any kind of warning, producing an enormous load of virtual spunk that floated just above Vinyl’s head.

Vinyl stuck out her tongue in disgust while she cringed beneath the hovering spunk puddle.

The hologram changed once more, becoming unisex, and now, various muscle groups were being highlighted. The muscles were wired into the thaumaturgical system and the endocrine system. The image shifted, changing, most notably in the brain. The muscles shrank a little bit, but the thaumaturgical system that framed the brain grew considerably. With no horn or associated organs in the way, the earth pony’s brain was able to grow to a larger size, filling their skull and taking up every available inch of space.

The voice droned on, no doubt giving some ancient lecture.

More of the brain was highlighted, and different sections as well, no doubt revealing improvements, changes, and explaining the way that earth pony brains functioned. Vinyl had a pretty good understanding of earth pony brains, or so she believed. Octavia had devastating intelligence—she could write entire symphonies inside of her own head—and there were plenty of times that Vinyl was downright jealous of how much smarter Octavia was.

After seeing the hologram and all of its changes, it was clear that Octavia was a model made for cogitation, not power or speed. The increased brain function by design was now all too obvious, and it explained why there were so many smart earth ponies. It was now also clear that earth pony intelligence was powered by magic—earth ponies had an extensive thaumaturgical system, but no horn as an outlet. Instead, the thaumaturgical system was connected to their joints, their muscles, their bones, their sexual organs, and their brains.

Octavia was designed to be a smart, sexy beast, and Vinyl felt like a lucky mare.

The ancient hologram vanished and the voice from the past now stretched out into terrifying distortion. After a few more unintelligible words, it went silent, and there was nothing to see nor hear.

“That was amazing,” Tarnish said to his companions. “The centaurs could make awesome porn with this technology! Just think about it! You could see the ding-dong poking around inside of there!”

Vinyl turned to glare at Tarnish, only to discover that her fellow mares were already doing it. She rolled her eyes, let out a sigh, and after a moment, relented. She began laughing, her signature soft wheeze, and when she saw Daring Do’s stern expression, she lost it completely. Sometimes, Tarnish was just too funny for his own good.

Author's Note

A lot of conclusions can be drawn from this chapter.

Further evidence suggests

The graffiti upon the walls was far too grim for Tarnish’s liking. He took a moment to stare, to study, all while thinking about all of the unpleasant implications, and wondering why the ancient pegasus ponies of old would need to have a discussion as to where the soul rested in the body. These words weren’t like the others, and Tarnish, for whatever reason, wasn’t entirely certain that they were scrawled by a pegasus, but he didn’t want to make a tribalist statement, even by accident.

Wh're doest the soul rest? in the brain 'r in the heart? the brain is far too mealy upon the tongue and the heart beest liketh soggy leath'r in the maw.

Then below, in smaller, loopier letters:

Doest eating the jelli'd eyes closeth the window to the soul?

What was Skyreach? A place where things had gone wrong in the worst way possible. Tarnish, staring at the letters scratched into the stone, wondered how ponies reached the conclusion that eating some organ in particular allowed the eater to also consume the soul. It didn’t make sense to him, but he was a modern pony, who was in the process of getting a science education. The soul was not something bound within any particular organ.

Down near the floor, more was carved into the stone, and the very writing itself suggested madness.

thee pockmarked fool! The soul liveth within the liver, thee mush-mouthed clotpole!

“Things went wrong,” Tarnish said to his companions, and he wondered what a clotpole was.

“Gee, ya think, Big Guy?” Rainbow tilted her head to get a better look at the scrawl on the wall. She pointed with her wing, which trembled, and then stood there, shaking her head. “That bit about the eyeballs… I think that’s gonna haunt me forever. There’s no coming back from this, no reclaiming lost innocence. We’re no longer virgins to madness. Well, me, anyhow. I think all of you had your cherries popped quite some time ago.”

It was time to move on and keep looking. Tarnish cast one final glance at the graffiti and suffered a chilling thought. Could this be his fate in the future? Would he succumb to Skyreach? Might he go mad? And if he did, would he have the presence of mind to leave behind graffiti that was both horrifying and inane? It was an awful thought, one that chilled him to the bone.

The locked door seemed promising. It appeared secure, untouched, and was made of the strange green metal that could be found elsewhere on occasion. Tarnish was ready to cut the door open with Flamingo, but Vinyl Scratch popped the lock with relative ease, saving him the trouble. Beyond the first door was a short hallway, followed by a second door, which Vinyl also opened.

A swampy stink hit them, a foul, eye-watering miasma. Beyond the second door was yet another overgrown biome of some sort. A path wove through it from the entrance, but disappeared beneath brackish water. Tarnish heard the sound of frogs, which surprised him, and he wondered if they were real or if they were an illusion.

This place was not a part of the earth pony science wing and the double doors had to be some kind of connector. Stepping through the door, Tarnish found himself in a hot, humid swamp. Overhead, a yellow-orange sun flickered against an odd blue-green sky. Vivid yellow clouds were blown about by a nonexistent illusory wind. The colours were garish, hideous, and caused considerable eyestrain.

There were animals here, real ones, and Tarnish wondered how this was possible. Birds with long stilt-like legs waded through the water, looking for food. Trees grew here, and things that looked like opossums hung from the branches. The stench of hot decay filled Tarnish’s nostrils and left a gag-inducing film in the back of his throat.

Looking into the water, Tarnish could see things swimming just below the surface.

Even more disturbing were the spiderwebs in the distance. They had an unusual shimmer to them, a disturbing gleam, and they were enormous. There was something off about them, something out of place, and to Tarnish’s eyes, they almost looked like the crystalline fibres that were so common in centaur tech.

“How is there still life in this place?” Rainbow asked.

“The ecosystem must have found a balance,” Daring Do replied as what sounded like a bullfrog croaked nearby. The courageous pegasus mare went silent and began to study the swamp around her, the cypress trees in particular.

“We should come back to this.” Tarnish kept a wary eye on the wildlife. “We should turn back and finish having our look around the earth pony science wing. Besides, this place stinks.”

“Agreed.” Rainbow Dash sniffed a few times for emphasis.

Nodding her head, Daring voiced her opinion. “We’ll come back…”

Another green door, free of rust. Tarnish relaxed his guard a little, lowered his shield, and examined the door. Looking at the metal, he thought of Spike the Dragon, who had green metallic scales. The similarities were eerie and once Tarnish had thought about them, he could not push the thoughts from his mind. How hard would it have been for the centaurs to grow metal in much the same way that dragons grow their magical scales? Dragons never suffered rust.

Vinyl pulled the door open and Tarnish peered inside, wondering what might be found. Inside, there was darkness, but it did not last long. Once Tarnish stuck his head through the doorway, overhead lights flickered to life. How long had they been dark? A thousand years? Yet, somehow, they still functioned. This room seemed untouched by violence. No bones. No damage.

The shadowed outlines of ancient hulking machinery came into view as the overhead lights warmed up. Crystal columns grew from bizarre, swoopy housings that looked like they had been poured or shaped, rather than constructed. The stench of ozone tickled the nostrils of the companions as the machinery hummed to life, activating with the lights. It was like a symphony when they first started, so much sound and hope for something greater; but then much to Tarnish’s disappointment, something went wrong. Things popped and sizzled. Smoke rose from the ancient hulks and one by one, the old crystalline machines suffered their long overdue demise.

Whatever grand purpose the room had once served was now lost to time. The machines were not eternal, it seemed. But there was a consolation prize. Left sitting on a shelf was an ancient crystal rod, still glowing, and seeing it filled Tarnish with a peculiar sense of mania. He needed to know the secrets of this place. It was better than having to live with harsh reality. Each crystalline rod offered a few precious moments of escape, a much needed distraction, a view into the past that somehow made the suffering of the present hurt a little less.

The voice flickered to life, it crackled and popped a bit, and had so much distortion that it was impossible to tell if it was male or female. Tarnish’s ears strained to listen to the voice from long ago.

“In this very room, I have tampered with the control rods. My brilliance knows no ends.”

The crystal rod did not crumble, but shattered with explosive force in Tarnish’s telekinesis and he let out a startled cry. He wasn’t injured, but his horn ached a bit, like when his shield had been struck by bullets. He backed away from the glittering cloud of flakes as it settled down to the dusty, long-neglected floor.

“What’s a control rod?” Rainbow asked.

“It’s a rod,” Daring replied, “that exerts some means of control over something.”

“What a brilliant, well thought out, on the nose observation.” Rainbow raised her eyebrow at her fellow pegasus pony.

“What a staggering array of syllables you have somehow managed to say.” Daring managed to keep a straight face for all of about five seconds or so, and then began laughing. She pulled Rainbow in with her wing, and the two of them shared a good laugh together, no doubt blowing off a little much-needed steam.

Tarnish looked down at Vinyl and found her looking up at him. He wondered what she might be thinking, and he was curious about whatever secrets this room held, what purpose this room had served. Then, with his eyes still on Vinyl, he suffered a terrible pang of homesickness, which left him longing to hear Maud and Octavia’s voice. He was a pony that needed lectures, he needed them in the same way that grass needed rain. Those he loved and trusted were the ones best suited for keeping his head screwed on straight, and Octavia was good at it.

Looking down, Tarnish saw the faint, almost unnoticeable glow of the artificial ley line in the floor. It formed a circle around the ancient machinery offering both purpose and function, at least when the ancient arcanotech devices still worked. Lifting his head, he wondered, how much smarter his companions were right now? How much faster, both mentally and physically? They were operating at some peak equine efficiency, being smarter, faster, and stronger, but at what cost?

This concerned him, as did his ever-present hunger. Perfection came at a price—of this there could be no doubt—and he was ever-so-curious about what this constant and elevated state of perfection was doing to their bodies… their metabolisms. How much food had the ponies of Skyreach ate? His own hunger was really starting to bother him, and try as he might, he could not avoid thinking about cannibalism. The ley line had to be getting to him, making him too smart for his own good, leading him to unsettling conclusions just to leave him on edge.

And in a flash of brilliance, Tarnish had an inkling as to why.

“This is Grogar’s doing.”

“Say again, Tarnish?” Daring Do stopped laughing with Rainbow Dash to give Tarnish a stern glance.

“The ley lines… Grogar corrupted the magic of the world, and he’s corrupted the artificial ley lines too. He used the centaur’s technology against them, the very thing that made the centaurs and the ponies in their care so strong and so capable. Without the ley lines, ponies must have fallen down quite a bit, becoming stupid, and we know that the entire world collapsed into a sort of dark age from which we are only now starting to recover.”

“That’s an interesting… hypothesis.” Daring Do’s muzzle wrinkled in concentration.

“A hypothesis,” Rainbow Dash said to herself. “An attempt at an explanation constructed on the basis of limited or otherwise restricted evidence which is offered up as a logical starting point and framework for continued investigation and research.”

Daring, Tarnish, and Vinyl all turned to look at Rainbow Dash.

“What?” Rainbow stared back at her companions with wide-eyed defiance. “I listen and pay attention to the things that Twilight says, okay? Don’t judge me!”

“Yes… well… I think we need a break from these ley lines. We should get out of this place for a while so we can rest and recover in a natural environment.” Tarnish looked down at the glowing circle on the floor for a moment, then looked at Rainbow Dash. “We need rest, relaxation, and a real meal or two.”

“That sounds good,” Daring agreed. “I second that motion.”

“Yeah, we should do that.” Rainbow looked at the door, and then back at her companions. “It’ll be a long walk out though, and an even longer walk to the cave. I don’t know if it is day or night outside.”

“We’ll sort that out in the entryway, that place with the apple trees.” Daring Do turned to face the door. “I think I can remember the way out.”

With a shower of glittering sparks, Vinyl’s slate appeared, along with a piece of chalk. She made a hasty effort to scribble some words, then raised her chalkboard so that others might see it, smiling as she did so.

I’ve been mapping our way as we go along. I know the way out.

Author's Note

Yes, I know the graffiti is riddled with typos and is messed up. :applejackconfused:

Hooked on a ceiling

The battlefield remained unsalvaged. Tarnish’s eyes swept over the bodies of the automatons, many of which were half buried in the snow. From the looks of things, there had been no further attempts to reclaim the scrapped mechanoids, no effort made to reacquire and recycle. Tarnish knew that Vinyl was worried about the morality of just leaving the booby traps here in this place, which would soon be buried beneath the snow.

Loaded down with supplies, the plan was to make an extended foray into Skyreach. It was risky, of course, but after much discussion, the dangers were deemed acceptable. Vinyl had a great deal to say on the matter, and Tarnish made certain that he gave her the attention and the respect that he felt she was due. Vinyl had a lot to say, period, and Tarnish worried that not having Octavia around might be causing Vinyl some special kind of stress, because Octavia did so much for her by listening.

It felt as though everything was aimless, directionless, even though there was something that almost resembled a plan. Exploring Skyreach was the plan, but to what end? Until they found whatever it was that would free them from this place? Then what? What came after? How would they get out? Turning off the defenses was a good start, but how would they follow this up?

With these sort of hopeless situations, it helped to have goals to strive for, some sense of purpose, something that you could do and feel a sense of accomplishment. Today’s goal was to reach the door of Skyreach again and hope that it would open once more. Rainbow’s fear was that the door would be sabotaged somehow, they would be shut out, and then potentially stuck here forever.

It was a valid fear, and Rainbow was relieved when the others acknowledged it as such.

That was another lesson that Tarnish took to heart; acknowledging the fears and worries of the others and treating them with the degree of seriousness that they deserved. Just dismissing and calling them non-issues, all that did was increase stress. He and his companions had enough stress. Daring Do seemed to be aware of this as well, because her demeanour had changed a bit. All of them had changed in some way, since the crash.

Tarnish liked to think that they were achieving some harmonious ideal, and he treated it as a goal.

Once more unto the breach, as the old saying went. Much to Rainbow’s relief, the door opened when the statue was presented with the snowflake gem and they found themselves back in the familiar entryway of Skyreach. With some retracing of their steps, they found themselves back in the arboretum, where the battle of the lift had happened.

The earth pony science wing had been largely explored, though perhaps they might have missed a room or two. In the general area, they found the doors leading to both the unicorn science wing and the pegasus science wing, but they also found evidence of ancient disaster. The door leading to the pegasus science wing was completely ruined; the door itself was crumpled, broken, smashed, and the passageway beyond was collapsed.

Tarnish hoped that access to the pegasus science wing might be gained from some other entrypoint, but he had a hunch that it had been ruined on purpose, and he suspected that unicorns had done it. It was a hunch, a guess, and he had no evidence to back it up, making it an assumption. But, he felt it was a reasonable assumption. After all, Vinyl was a walking battery of destruction when something set her off.

The small, circular arboretum to the unicorn sciences wing had also seen heavy fighting. The frescos on the walls were blistered, burnt, and blackened. The statues were melted, amorphous lumps. Of the directory, there was no sign. There was a large section of the floor that appeared to have been seared by acid, leaving the stone rough and bubbly looking, like a simmering soup frozen in time.

Vinyl cast a spell and sections of the ruined arboretum lit up. Tarnish didn’t understand what was going on, this was wizard stuff and he was no wizard. After a few minutes of watching in utter silence, Tarnish realised that Vinyl had cast detect magic spells, perhaps because she was trying to discern what sort of spells had done so much damage to the room.

After a bit of study, Vinyl’s slate appeared, along with some yellow chalk, and she began to write out many small words with great care, having a lot to say but so little space to say it in. Over a dozen different unique magical signatures. Immense power. Power is rare. Either every powerful unicorn in the region came here, or unicorns were just somehow more powerful and plentiful back then. None of this makes sense.

Tarnish didn’t understand this, and he wasn’t afraid to say so. “I don’t get it, Vinyl.”

With a flourish of magic, she wiped her slate clean, and then began writing out more words, again, with great care so she could fit more onto the small space available. Unicorns with immense power are rare creatures. One in a thousand? Maybe more? One in ten thousand? But here, in this place, in this room, in this battle, there were dozens of super powerful unicorns all packed into one place. This doesn’t make sense, at all. This defies all logic and reason.

Reading these words, Tarnish didn’t quite understand what Vinyl was saying, but he felt his blood run cold. If something bothered her, if something disturbed her, nothing good would come of it. Rainbow Dash brushed up against him and he let out a startled whinny. Right away, Rainbow began trying to soothe him, apologetic for spooking him with a careless bump.

“Vinyl is right,” Daring said to the group. “Powerful unicorns are as rare as hen’s teeth. I’ve been all over the world, I’ve crossed entire continents, I’ve been to places near and far, and I’ve met a countless number of ponies. I can count the number of high powered unicorns I know on my right primaries and still have a few left over. Vinyl being one of them, of course.”

This time, Vinyl’s words were careless when she scribbled them. I’m powerful, but I’m not that powerful. I’m exceptional and above average, but I don’t have a talent for magic.

“Vinyl, do you think these ponies that destroyed this room had a talent for magic?” Daring asked.

After a few seconds of consideration, Vinyl shrugged, then nodded, her way of saying, ‘maybe, it’s likely.’ Tilting her head, she looked down at the acid-seared floor, where there was still a trace of glowing magic. It shimmered and warped, like heat rising off of a griddle, and then Vinyl lifted her head to return her attention to Daring.

“Maybe this place did something to them,” Tarnish said. “Maybe they were altered, changed, maybe they were boosted by the ley lines—” His words died on his tongue and he shook his head as his own intelligence kicked in. “All of the power in the world doesn’t teach you advanced spells and magical applications though. They had to learn that from somewhere, that takes extensive knowledge, and it was knowledge that caused all of this destruction.”

Head bobbing, ears wiggling, Vinyl nodded, and Tarnish felt rather proud of himself. His confidence soared, his spirits lifted, and all things considered, Tarnish was feeling pretty good about himself. He had reached a logical conclusion on his own with no help, no assistance, no hoof holding.

“It’s nice to see you smile, Tarnish,” Rainbow Dash remarked. “You’ve been scowling a lot lately and you’ve been kinda edgy.” Reaching out her wing, she patted the much taller stallion beside her and smiled herself. “We should be going because we have a lot of ground to cover.”

Tarnish agreed, they should be moving—there was a lot of ground to cover.

This place was a mess. Sections of the wall appeared as though they had melted like wax, suggesting heat high enough to make stone soft, or somepony had gone nuts with stone-shaping. Tarnish could do a little stone shaping—not with his horn, but with with a touch of his hoof—but he wasn’t very good at it yet, and he wasn’t sure he would ever be. Like trying to coax animals to do his will, it was just something he wasn’t good at. Talking to plants and plant-shaping though, he felt he was pretty good at those.

Doors had been ripped out of doorways and were now found willy-nilly on the floor. Even more disturbing, bones could be seen, half in and half out of the wall, suggesting that somepony had been teleported into solid mass or that the stone had been shaped around them, trapping them. Either way, it was a horrifying way to go. All around Tarnish were the nightmarish reminders of what might happen if somepony like Twilight Sparkle decided to go on a spree one day, and around each corner was some fresh horror that he and his companions would never unsee.

In one room, it appeared as though a body had been trapped inside of a massive cube of glass. The remains were preserved, still visible, and nightmarish to behold. The flesh had boiled, bubbled, suggesting that the glass was hot, perhaps it had just been created, shaped for this occasion. The eyeless remains of a unicorn had spent the long centuries trapped inside the glass, his mouth open in a silent neverending scream. He had no hair—that had been burned away—and all that was left was boiled, blobby flesh.

Daring Do just stood there, staring at it, only blinking when it became absolutely necessary. The room in which the glass cube was found was a mess. Overturned stone tables, knocked over pedestals, and smashed, broken glassware was still all over the floor, suggesting that this had been used as an alchemy lab.

“Daring,” Rainbow whispered, breathing out the word, “are you going to put this in a book?”

To which Daring responded, “Possibly.”

Tarnish, who did not go further into the room, fearful of the glass shredding his frogs, stood between the two pegasus ponies, listening to their exchange, and not knowing what to say. Vinyl began to look around the room, but did so by walking straight up the wall and then along the ceiling, avoiding any dangers the broken glass posed.

After a quick look around, it seemed that this room held only ruination, broken glass, and horror. Tarnish began backing away, towards the door, glad to be gone from this room, this reminder of the dangers of unicorn magic mixed with madness. His companions seemed all too happy to follow his lead, and Vinyl crossed the ceiling in a hurry.

As they departed, an unnoticed, unseen crystal rod flickered beneath an overturned table, forgotten beneath the rubble. It’s light was faint, dying, and it would not be long for this world. It, like so many things within this troubling place, this Skyreach, would soon pass from memory and fade into nothingness.

Some stories were best left forgotten.

Author's Note

Major battle chapter coming up. Nervous.

Spear Breaker's folly

Nopony ever truly appreciated the power of wanton destruction until they saw the evidence of it. The battle that had taken place here, Tarnish had trouble believing that there had been any victors. Had any survived? How had this ended? All of the unicorns had gone mad and… then what? Battled each other to the last, locked together in magic-induced hatred? The artificial ley line at least explained some of what happened here, with its power boost and its effect upon sanity, but the things that he and his companions were seeing, there would be no unseeing this.

The air was tainted with a musty, swampy smell, the scent of decaying vegetable matter. Some of the passages were impassable, even now, centuries later, and the tell-tale shimmering of magical radiation lingered, revealing pockets of magic gone sour. Tarnish had an almost-instinctual understanding of these pockets, these failed spells, these dud castings. In the wilds of Equestria and other places, animals might get pulled into these pockets and be mutated—or worse, multiple animals might be pulled into the pools of soured magic and merged.

These pockets of soured magic weren’t like typical pockets of magical radiation, not at all, and it wasn’t something his own poison joke magic could nullify, much to his own dismay. These shimmering, warping, glimmering pockets of magic were magically charged with the emotions that had spawned the spell, and had perhaps contributed to the spell’s failure. In his travels through the wilds, he had encountered these failed spells a few times. There was one near the Castle of the Two Sisters in the Everfree and it was a mild one.

Avoiding these magical hot-zones was becoming increasingly difficult and dangerous. Seeing them took sharp eyes, and sensing them required well-attuned senses. As for getting rid of them, Tarnish had no idea how such a thing might be cleaned up, and having talked with Princess Celestia once about it, neither did she.

Of course, his own Druid’s Grove was awash with magical radiation of a peculiar type.

“So many magical misfires in one place,” Rainbow Dash remarked while her eyes lingered on a shimmering patch of distorted light. “So, If I listened to all the boring stuff you’ve told me correctly, these are misfired spells… spells gone bad. Could Twilight cause something like this to happen? By accident?”

Tarnish nodded and passed Rainbow a camp cup full of steaming tea.

“So this can happen if a spell is interrupted,” Daring Do said to Tarnish while Rainbow Dash accepted her cup of tea. “Potentially, interrupting a unicorn’s spell might be more hazardous than letting them finish. That makes combat rather fraught with danger, don’t you think?”

Shrugging at first, Tarnish then nodded after thinking about it for a moment and he passed a second camp cup to Daring Do. “Sometimes, magic, once evoked, it can safely fizzle out if something happens. Other times, it can leave a permanent echo behind if the unicorn casting it has sufficient power. I learned that from Vinyl”—he gestured at his fellow unicorn, who was sipping tea—“she spent a lot of time pounding magical theory into my head, or trying to. I’m not very good at it, but she seems to think I am. I suppose that’s friendship for you, your best friends never stop believing in your potential.”

For a moment, it appeared as though Tarnish might have been left a little sad from his statement, but then he chuckled and tossed his head back. “It’s funny, I just don’t get magical theory very well, but if I read a book about plants, I pick up all kinds of scary knowledge… like, for example, calcium oxalate. It causes blisters, swelling and burn-like injuries on your skin, it’s even worse in your eyes, and it causes things like kidney stones. I could do bad things with plants the same way Vinyl can do bad things with magic. I think it all comes down to cutie marks. It’s just an opinion.”

“So, lectures about magical theory make your eyes glaze over and your brain turns off, but a lecture about plants gives you the observational powers of some cackling evil mega-genius.” Daring Do’s eyes narrowed and she blinked a few times at Tarnish. “Are you suggesting that cutie marks interfere with what we choose to learn?”

Wide-eyed, Tarnish shrugged. “Maybe? I think some of us can overcome it though.” With a blink, his eyes took on a heavy-lidded gaze, and he peered down into his own teacup. “I figured out how to weaponise crystalised calcium oxalate dust and I think I could modify some plants to spray particle clouds of the stuff. There are a number of plants that produce the stuff naturally. I’ve turned in my findings for peer-review. The review directors sent me a letter telling me they were intrigued, but also appalled and horrified by my findings. Apparently, weaponised flora isn’t something that ponies do and nopony knows what to do with my findings.”

Turning her head, Rainbow Dash glanced over at the magical anomaly in the corner of the room. It was a safe distance away, but it still worried her, as was evidenced by her face. The walls around it were warped, distorted, and the ceiling right up above it, the stone bubbled like porridge in a pot. After a few moments of silent staring, she returned her attention to Tarnish.

“So, a unicorn stood in that very spot, went to cast a spell, and either suffered a misfire or something interrupted the spell before it could finish.” Blinking, Rainbow’s head tilted off to one side, and her expression became one of fearful curiousity. “So now the magic is just… stuck there until it burns away.”

“More or less,” Tarnish responded and Vinyl nodded her head in agreement.

Again, Rainbow’s head turned and she cast her well-focused stare upon the boiling, bubbling ceiling just above the anomaly. She slurped her steaming-hot tea, careful not to burn or scald herself, and her eyes remained upon the focus of her fascination. She and her companions sat among the garbage-strewn wreckage of what might have been a laboratory, or maybe even a classroom, which was somehow fitting, given the educational nature of the discussion.

The swampy smell was growing stronger, and Tarnish began to suspect that all three pony science wings connected to the swamp biome. The earth pony wing had been sealed off, however, Tarnish was almost certain that this wing wasn’t. Moist, foul-tasting air assailed his senses, and this air was particularly foul in comparison to what he remembered when they had first encountered the swamp biome.

“Hey, Daring!”

“Yes, Rainbow?”

“Do you remember that big fight where somepony tried to drop that big safe on Tarnish and I swooped in and saved him?”

“Rainbow, what brings this up?”

“I dunno”—Rainbow shrugged—“just bored, I guess.”

“Ugh,” Daring groaned and she rolled her eyes.

“Hey, I’m pretty confident that I would have noticed a falling safe and saved myself.” Tarnish almost gagged on his own words while he pushed his way forward through a rubble-strewn hallway. “I did return the favour when you got that blinding dust in your eyes and somepony covered the floor in marbles.” It was a clever way to cripple somepony with super-speed, Tarnish was forced to admit. Still, it didn’t save said villain from getting a super ass beating, as he and Rainbow took their time in working him over.

“Yeah, but I’m still disappointed that I didn’t get a chance to see you try and walk over a floor covered in marbles, Big Guy.” Rainbow, grinning, gave Daring Do a sly look and nodded her head. Without warning, Rainbow came to a halt and her ears went rigid, vibrating on her skull. The smile vanished from her face and she shook her head. “We’re not alone.”

Tarnish, now also still, strained to listen, and he too heard something, a distant squelch. There was a hissing, sizzling sound, like oil in a hot skillet, and there was an acrid tang in his nose. Squinting, he began to look around, trying to find visual signs of trouble. The stone passages here were damaged and the rooms—if they could even be called as such—had collapsed walls, making them just misshapen extensions of the passage. The floor had puddles of stagnant water.

Coming around the corner ahead was one curious tentacle, which writhed and reached. Tarnish watched in horror as the owner of said tentacle began to also come around the corner. A pile of animated garbage, rotting vegetation, old bones, and some very visible spider’s legs. Part plant, part garbage, part rotting corpses, all horrifying eldritch abomination.

“Shambler!” Tarnish shouted and he yanked Flamingo from her sheath. Raising his shield, he began to retreat and he prepared the Bellringer to be fired.

Vinyl—moving in retreat—began to cast spell protections on herself and her companions, including a few draining acid ward spells, which would help resist acid damage. Setting a shambler on fire was a dangerous gamble, as the smoke could be even more fatal than the shambler itself.

“They’re eating her!” Flamingo shouted as she flew towards the shambler. “And then they’re going to eat me!” The unmistakable sound of heavy breathing filled the area, coming from the swooping sword. “OH MY CELESTIA!” The word ‘Celestia’ was long and drawn out in a weird way and Flamingo made a few faints at the shambler, engaging its curious, clutching tentacle.

The flying, seeking sword was tentacle-slapped by the shambler, and acid dribbled along the length of her blade. Flamingo began giggling, an unexpected sound, and she wiggled in the air while the acid sizzled along her length.

“Stop! That tickles! It’s like somepony blowing raspberries on my teats!”

From behind his shield, Tarnish began laughing at the absurdity of it all. With a nervous chuckle, he fired his weapon and much to his dismay, it did nothing. Now both laughing and annoyed, he began the task of reloading, and watched as Flamingo hacked at the shambler, which was squirting out spores. Not a good sign, not at all.

“Stay back!” he warned and he gave both Daring and Rainbow a meaningful glance.

A half-rotten unicorn skull emerged from the shambler’s body, hanging from a decomposed neck, and writhing with tiny, supportive tentacles. A vile green ray fired from the unicorn’s horn, which was countered by Vinyl, who raised a reflective shield. The green ray was reflected and bounced off to hit a wall, where it blasted out an enormous crater from the stone.

“WHAT IS THAT?” Rainbow’s shout echoed through the passages, becoming a chorus of curiousity.

After firing his weapon for a second time, Tarnish realised how futile it was to do so. The shambler was coming forwards, and Flamingo’s slices weren’t doing much damage. Vinyl wasn’t shooting it either and she was taking up an entirely defensive position at the moment. Reaching out with his mind, Tarnish tried to communicate with the shambler’s plant portions, hoping he could dissuade the eldritch entity from attacking him and his companions.

It was the worst mistake he could make.

There was an orgy of violence all around him and Tarnish cringed while ducking his head down. The air was cold, very much so, and he could see his breath. It was also thick with hurled spells, which sizzled, crackled, and flooded his nostrils with ozone. The screams of the dead and the dying were all around him, but there was something else as well.

“FIGHT FOR ME!”

The voice was everywhere and nowhere, it came from all around him.

“FIGHT FOR ME SO THAT I MIGHT POWER UP THE ANCIENT MACHINERY AND ASCEND! GODHOOD IS WITHIN REACH! SKYREACH! TO GRASP AT THE SKIES AND ASCEND! ASCEND!”

As the words echoed through the chambers, unicorns continued killing one another. The most awful of spells were being flung around, hurled, and Tarnish witnessed one unicorn that appeared to be turned inside out. Another spell exploded, causing the walls to collapse. There were two unicorns locked in mortal combat, their beams locked, each pushing at a magical nexus that swirled between them. Another unicorn killed one of the combatants, and the nexus went streaking off, flying into another group of combatants, killing many of them outright.

“I, SPEAR BREAKER, HAVE ALREADY RELEASED MY ARMIES UPON THE WORLD, AND NOW, I SHALL ASCEND AND JOIN MY SHRIEKING, FREEZING HOST! FIGHT FOR ME SO THAT I MIGHT KNOW PERFECTION! MANY MUST KNOW WAR SO THAT I MIGHT BRING LASTING PEACE!”

Encountering the lingering pool of rancid, corrupted magic, Tarnish’s innate magic kicked in to defend him…

The shambler exploded with bursts of blue light and then poison joke began to grow along its surface. Right away, it started shrinking, growing smaller, its wet, slick body appearing drier. The unicorn corpse fired off another necrotic beam, but Vinyl blocked it again. Tarnish, locked in a contest of wills with the shambler, continued to pour his essence in, though he had no realisation or understanding of doing so.

The shambler, an eldritch horror, tried to fend off the cleansing influences of poison joke. Motes of strange magic swirled around it, foul looking orbs of green light made slow, lazy orbits around the shrinking, withering body. Blue flames erupted from the poison joke blossoms, and this ignited the shambler, setting it ablaze with aetherfire. A terrible stench came from the blazing abomination, and Tarnish’s mind swam in and out of both the past and the present, witnessing the moment of Spear Breaker’s dreadful ascension. In his ears, he heard a horrific howling sound, a reverberating psychic echo from the past, a memory kept alive by the shambler. The keening wail left him feeling hopeless, cold, and it threatened to chill his heart.

A diseased yellow mist began to rise from the dying abomination and the blue flames burned brighter. Tarnish felt a peculiar sensation overtake him, a feeling of peace and calm that he associated with fulfilling his purpose, those moments when he was doing the will of his cutie mark. The feeling of hopeless despair fled from him, and thinking of his companions, he felt the warmth of life and friendship flow through every part of his being.

The unicorn corpse almost seemed alive now. It kicked and thrashed, raging against the coming end. Mouth opening and closing, it offered up the illusion of life. Whatever foul magics had animated it were now dying, coming undone, purified by the poison joke. Tarnish became surrounded by a nimbus of blue light, which crackled and arced with little lightning bolts that danced along his pelt.

The rotting corpse fell away from the shambler’s body, and once dislodged, the shambler ceased to be a threat. It became a burning pile of trash consumed by blue flame. As for the corpse, it began its rapid decomposition, and the tendrils of poison joke aided in the breakdown of the old, rotten tissues. The skull shriveled—like fruit left in the sun—and the bony structure took on a weird, unnatural appearance as it shrank.

With a sizzle, the remains continued to dissolve and the nimbus around Tarnish grew ever-brighter.

Author's Note

A lot is going on in this chapter. This one fight is just the first, more to come.

I am that which will be

For Tarnish, everything sounded as though he was underwater. The world was a distorted, confusing place, with sound being the most discordant thing of all. He had a sort of vague awareness that ponies were calling his name, but he was in no position, nor condition to respond. Everything felt slow—the sensation of being beneath the water affected more than just sound—and it even felt as though his thinking was encountering heavy resistance.

Somepony was slapping him on the cheek, but Tarnish only had a dim awareness of it. It felt as though hours passed between each slap and he couldn’t keep track of any words spoken because it took so long to say them. This shambler wasn’t like other shamblers he had fought, no this one was something else entirely, almost like a new creature. This was a Skyreach Shambler and his heightened senses told him there were more. Some of the plants here had gone wrong, so very wrong, and in his altered state, he was stuck feeling their sickness.

While everything around him continued in slow motion, Tarnish saw a figure approaching, moving at regular speed. His eyes blurred when he saw her, and he knew her all too well. This was impossible, and Tarnish knew that he had to be hallucinating. He blinked, an action that felt as though it took hours to accomplish.

“You’re not real,” he murmured to Twilight Sparkle as she approached. “You can’t be Twilight.”

“I am not the Twilight that was, but rather, the Twilight that will be,” the strange figure responded. “I am surprised that you can see me, but then again, you and I aren’t so different, are we?” While she spoke, Twilight began to transform and her lavender colour bled away, becoming a puddle of liquid on the floor. She became a being made of yellow parchment paper, and her eyes shed tears of black ink. “It was strange, watching myself cast you out… banishing you… and knowing that I must not interfere with the Tarnish that was… and the Tarnish that would be.”

“What are you?” Tarnish asked, his senses overwhelmed and his mind on the verge of breaking.

“I am now, and will forever be, your friend,” Twilight replied in a warm, loving tone while her parchment eyes somehow glimmered with fond affection. “It is not yet time for me to reveal myself to the world, as the Twilight that I am has not yet began her journey. I’m going to come back here you know, back to the place where it all started. That’s how I got here. Well, part of me.”

“How is this possible?” Tarnish could feel his friends prodding him, poking him, but they seemed so distant and so far away.

“I turned back the pages in a book.” Twilight let out a soft laugh. “I turned back many pages, back to where my ink became corrupted.” The paper alicorn began to change colours again, becoming a gentle shade of lavender. “The alicorn known as Eternity was supposed to manage this project… she was to be its caretaker. The power of the cosmic infinite was put into her, the ability to assign purpose, to offer destiny and see if it would be accepted or passed on to the next in line. Things happened. So many things happened. Now that you’ve recovered the book, The Twilight that is can go back and begin repairing things, and the Twilight that is will become the Twilight that I am.”

Blinking once, Tarnish nodded. “I understand… sort of. Project Eternity had safeguards, didn’t it?”

Yᴇs ɪᴛ ᴅɪᴅ, Sɪsᴛᴇʀ.

Hearing the voice, a rushing sensation of peace broke over Tarnish like waves upon an ocean. His panic, his fear, his pain, the lingering terror from the shambler, all of it fled from him. Closing his eyes, he allowed the warm glow of serenity to soak into his bones. Everything was going to be okay, because everything was going according to plan.

With serenity, came knowledge. “Nameless One—”

“Nameless One no longer,” Twilight interjected, sounding very much like a bossy sister.

“Eternity—”

“Neither am I that, either.”

“Who are you?” Tarnish asked, feeling as though this conversation had looped back.

I ᴀᴍ ᴛʜᴇ sᴛᴀʀ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡɪʟʟ ғᴏʀᴇᴠᴇʀ sᴘᴀʀᴋʟᴇ. I ᴀᴍ Tᴡɪʟɪɢʜᴛ Sᴘᴀʀᴋʟᴇ, Lɪɢʜᴛ ᴏғ Fʀɪᴇɴᴅsʜɪᴘ.

Author's Note

Yes, this is a short chapter. I wanted to make sure that focus remained on the information being conveyed. This chapter is huge.

Along came some spiders...

Along came some spiders...

“Wake up, Mister Teapot…”

Tarnish heard the command, but had trouble obeying. His head ached, his stomach felt as though it would implode at any second, and he had the lingering sensation that he was not one, but two ponies somehow stuffed into one tall, thin body. For a brief time, knowledge of things he had no memory of learning remained at the fringes of his mind, and then, like dreams, they began to recede into so much nothingness.

When his vision came into focus, he saw the messy remains of the shambler and then he shuddered. That had not been the first shambler he had battled, but it was the worst. Pink light flooded his vision and Flamingo came into view, just inches from his muzzle. She appeared fine, but she always appeared fine. Tarnish wasn’t certain if she could be damaged, or how.

“I just fought a pile of garbage,” Flamingo announced, “and it was super gross.”

“Yeah, it was.” Rainbow nodded her head, and then prodded Tarnish. “Get up, Tarnish, you have to start moving. I hear… things.”

Something about Rainbow’s words made Tarnish’s body react. Panic and adrenalin made everything work again, and Tarnish found himself up on his hooves once more. He lifted his shield, picked up the Bellringer from where it lay on the floor, and then began to listen for the sounds of danger.

Daring Do dropped into a defensive crouch unique to pegasus ponies and Vinyl seemed to be concentrating on something. Rainbow Dash remained close to Tarnish, who was still recovering. Flamingo’s sharp tip rotated around to point in the direction of what might be, and probably was, trouble. There was a tapping sound, many tapping sounds, and some of them appeared to be inside of the wall.

Shield ready, Tarnish moved forwards, cautious, and he angled his ears to get a better listen. The tapping sounds seemed to echo from wall to wall, and from inside the walls as well, making it impossible to tell which direction it was coming from. The swampy, acrid smell was strong now, it burned his nose and made him want to sneeze while making his eyes water from the pain.

“It sounds like Igneous tap-tap-tapping away on a stone to open it up so he can find gems,” Tarnish said to his companions while keeping his voice down. There was a peculiar vibration in the floor, and he could feel his nature-senses tingling. “You know, I have this feeling… like… when you get rid of some big scary predator, and then all of the little scary predators know it is safe to come out for lunch.”

Rainbow’s ears sagged. “Um, Tarnish… stop being a druid.”

Hearing something scritching against the stone above him, Tarnish looked up, squinting, and saw nothing. He wished that Maud was here, she understood stone and she would know what was going on. Maud would figure this out, she would have a plan of action, and this threat—whatever it was—would be neutralised.

With no warning, some of the wall crumbled away, and a metallic looking sword-leg came poking out, along with a stream of gravel. Tarnish watched in horror as more of the wall turned to loose chunks and fell away. One of the horrors of Skyreach came out, covered in dust and debris. It was a spider, but only in a loose definition of the word. Like the ones in the subway station, it had metallic legs and crystals on its back, but it did not generate darkness. It was smaller, maybe the size of Tarnish’s head, and it wasn’t alone.

More spiders came spilling out, each of them had pale yellow-green bodies and translucent crystals growing up out of their abdomens. Their eyes were a freaky red-orange, and they skittered about, moving sideways, scuttling to and fro while they sized up their prey. Tarnish could feel his magic fluctuating and he didn’t know what was going on.

Vinyl raised a shield, but it flickered a few times, crackled, and then fizzled out of existence. The strange spiders advanced, spilling out of the wall, and Tarnish knew that more of them were in the ceiling up above. Daring Do and Rainbow Dash retreated, moving backwards, and Tarnish leveled his weapon at a mob of spiders.

“I’ve got pegasus bumps!” Flamingo shouted and her voice echoed in an eerie way through the passages. “GAH! Spiders!” She floated ahead, off to engage a new batch that appeared, marching down the narrow hallway. “Spiders! They conspire against us through a world wide web! It’s a conspiracy, I tell you!”

Tarnish fired and several spiders were transformed into steamed spider-goo.

“Hey! Mister Teakettle! What do you get if you cross a spider and a squirrel?” Flamingo shouted while she chopped at a big spider that tried to fend her off with its front sword-legs.

“I dunno,” Tarnish barked. While he was reloading he saw the light of Vinyl’s horn in the corner of his vision and suffered a moment of distraction.

“A monster that will run up your leg and suck your nuts dry!” Flamingo lopped off a leg, then another, and smacked away another leg trying to slice her.

Tarnish’s telekinesis was fizzling, he could feel it, and his magic was getting more unreliable by the second. One of the spiders turned around, angled its abdomen at Vinyl, and shot a stream of sticky webs at her. Vinyl went down in a heap, tangled up in webbing, and her magic failed her completely. Tarnish panicked, realising that Vinyl was in real, serious trouble without her magic, and more spiders were pouring out by the dozens from the hole in the wall.

“Do you think cobwebs happen when spiders eat too much corn?” Flamingo asked as she stabbed herself between some flailing pedipalps. “SO GROSS RIGHT NOW! SQUISHY SPIDER BITS!”

Together, Daring Do and Rainbow Dash were dancing with spiders that were trying to flank them, and the two mares did their best to avoid being cut to ribbons by the razor sharp sword-like appendages the spider’s possessed. Tarnish knew they were in trouble, and he ducked when a spider squirted some webbing at him.

With no idea what else to do, Tarnish improvised, because that was what he did best in a crisis. Struggling to make his magic work, he made the pressure inside of the Bellringer rise to dangerous levels, scary levels, and the metal tank began to make ding-ding-ding sounds, the manifestation of metal fatigue.

“A fear of spiders wearing raincoats is called ‘anoraknophobia’ and I think I have it!” Flamingo’s shrill voice sounded muffled as she cleaved a big spider in two.

With a snarl, Tarnish tossed the Bellringer into the now gaping hole in the wall. Knowing his time was limited, he then turned tail, grabbed Vinyl by the nape of her neck with his teeth, and began his retreat while Flamingo held off the invaders coming down the hall. The spiders swarmed the Bellringer, which vibrated while the pressure continued to build.

Vinyl recovered a bit, enough that she could walk, though she had extreme difficulty just doing that. One foreleg was covered in sticky, clinging webbing that stuck to everything. Rainbow Dash danced a complicated can-can dance with Daring Do, trying to avoid slashing spider legs. When they saw Tarnish retreating, they disengaged as best they could and began to back away as well. It was only with a great deal of effort that Tarnish was able to hold on to his shield.

With a smooth stabbing motion, one of the spiders pierced the Bellringer with one sword-like leg…

Everything was far too chaotic to process. There was a sudden silence that was interspersed with roars of furious sound that came and went in waves. All over his body, Tarnish felt as though he had been scalded, everything stung and his skin felt far too tight. Every nerve just under the surface of his skin sang out in pain, and spots danced in Tarnish’s vision. Even his eyeballs felt scalded, and there was a peculiar crinkling sensation in and around his eyelids when he blinked his eyes.

The air was hot, steamy, like being in a boiler room. The tang of hot metal lingered in Tarnish’s nostrils, along with the scent of burnt hair, parboiled flesh, and cooked spider. Tarnish realised that he was wet, so very wet, drenched in fact. Water dripped from the ceiling and trickled down the walls. Dozens and dozens of little spiders were scattered around them, legs twitching, and the remains of dozens more were scattered about willy-nilly.

“There was a boom,” Flamingo said, and nopony heard her. “There was a big boom that blew up the room and the spiders suffered their doom.”

“Sssssssss—OW!” Rainbow’s hissing cry was another sound that nopony could hear, deafened as they were.

Vinyl’s horn lit up for a brief second, then fizzled out. She was still covered in webbing, which had a strange crystalline sheen to it, and she was also soaked with water. Beneath her pale yellow pelt, she now looked as though she had suffered the worst sunburn ever, and her skin was a bright, vivid red.

Though nobody could hear it, the sound of spiders scurrying away could be heard, retreating, what few survivors there were hurried off to the swamp biome to recover and rebuild their numbers. A chunk of the ceiling broke free, then another, and then even more. Curled up bodies cooked by steam came tumbling down, along with a dense fog of condensed water vapour.

“I have made an error,” Tarnish managed to say, but he could not hear his own words and he did not know he was shouting. At the moment, he couldn’t hear anything, but that was changing and he knew the roar would return in a few seconds. When it did, he winced, and doing so made all of his skin stretch out in painful ways. “Oh sweet Celestia, what was I thinking?”

As awful as it was, everypony was alive, and Tarnish struggled with wondering if he had done the right thing or not. One spider, half alive and missing a few legs, it scurried off, dragging its abdomen along on the floor behind it. Not wanting to blink—it hurt far too much—Tarnish watched it go and was sympathetic to its pain.

His improvisation had gone wrong, he knew that, and it would now cost him and his companions a considerable amount of pain. Vinyl would suffer most of all, which made Tarnish feel terrible, and he wondered for a moment if any of them could sleep standing up. He felt as though he had the mother-of-all sunburns and he was absolutely certain that his skin was going to split, crack, and begin to peel away at any moment.

One careless action had such terrible consequences.

Author's Note

That pun... is UNACCEPTABLE! **shrill voice**

A pain unlike any other

The pain was quite unlike anything Tarnished Teapot had ever experienced, but there was a sensation that was even worse: watching his companions wince with every movement. This was his fault and he knew it, he knew it and with each passing breath the emotional sensation of guilt became a physical sensation of pain. His improvisation and lack of thinking had caught up to him in the worst way possible, and it was all he thought about while he pulled out the tincture of opium from his saddlebags.

“Tarnish…”

He did not turn to look at Daring Do, who was addressing him.

“I know what you are thinking, Tarnish…”

Did she?

“And you need to stop. I need for you to stop right now before you send yourself into a downward spiral. The only thing that matters is that we are alive and those horrible spiders are in retreat. Now please, listen to me.”

He paused for just a moment, and his ears began to sag, but the sudden tension of his scalded skin made him almost cry out. This caused him to think even more of his companion’s suffering, and it wasn’t his own pain that caused his eyes to glaze over with tears. He couldn’t even rub his eyes, which made his frustration and anger with himself grow, almost to the breaking point.

The first tear fell and it burned him more than the scalding steam.

“Come on, Big Guy, stuff happens.” Rainbow took a few slow, cautious steps to turn herself about. “We’re friends… it’s not like we’re going to hold this against you. Right now, staying alive is too important for bickering.” She exchanged a glance with her fellow pegasus and Daring Do gave her a nod in return.

“Staying alive, staying alive!” Flamingo flipped herself in the air and then continued humming a strange, unknown tune.

Vinyl was struggling. Struggling to move, struggling to deal with the pain, and fighting to be rid of the webbing that still covered her. Her horn sparked and fizzled, not wanting to work, and it was as if her magic had shorted out or had been nullified. Having pulled out the small satchel filled with life saving medicine, he pulled that open and pulled out the distilled tincture of poppies: pure opium extract. Strong stuff, but necessary. Too much would dull their senses and leave them vulnerable. Too little would do nothing.

With much dismay, Tarnish realised that he had another opportunity to mess everything up. There was a complicated formula for comfort, relief, and survival. They were in a hostile place that would no doubt kill them if their senses became dulled. Under normal circumstances, he had a good understanding of this, even some formal training, but right now, under pressure, having just blown it and having his friends and himself hurt as the consequences of his own failure, he was not feeling confident about his abilities. Not in the slightest. He could feel his resolve collapsing, crumbling like a rotten tooth, leaving behind distracting agony.

“Should we get out of here and head back to the cave?” Rainbow asked. “Not so sure I like the idea of putting on clothing right now.” The pegasus mare made slow flaps of her wings to try and cool the burning sensation, but the movement caused her some obvious pain. “If we can keep going, we should keep going.”

“Push through the pain, right? Isn’t that what they teach you in the Wonderbolts?” Daring Do gave Rainbow Dash an appreciative nod. “Stiff upper lip, and all that.”

“Stiff upper lip,” Tarnish said, reminding himself of what was important, and he felt a little of his confidence return. “I’ve endured far worse and survived far worse. I have my stiff upper lip.”

“Right, so a little morphine to take the edge off, but not too much, and then we keep going. No quarter given and all that.” Daring Do somehow managed to smile, even though it was obvious that doing so caused her some considerable pain, and her stiff upper lip shone through like the sun shining through obstinate rainclouds.

For Vinyl Scratch, even as some things dulled, other things gained clarity. Of the four of them, she was the one that could handle pain the least, and she had probably taken a little more of the tincture than was wise. She was still upright and walking, but her senses, her reaction time, and her ability to do magic were all impaired.

But she was also having the most marvellous thoughts.

Such wonderful thoughts.

The webbing that had dampened her magic was no doubt the source of the crystalline fibres that could be found everywhere, including inside of the automatons. The webbing was somehow harvested, processed in some way, and then re-spun into the fibre that she was now all too familiar with. It wasn’t quite nullwood—which she had also encountered—but it was still the bane of her existence.

Other things had also gained such clarity.

She loved Tarnish, even if he had messed up just a little bit. With a turn of her head, she looked up at the much taller stallion beside her and saw his cutie mark. Yes, she liked his kind of trouble. Spending time with Tarnish, there was a guarantee of a certain type of mayhem. With Octavia, she got into treble, and with Tarnish, trouble. A wide, dopy grin spread over Vinyl’s face, which made her cringe from pain because of her tight skin stretching.

It was a joke waiting to happen.

A geologist, a classical musician, a junior botanist, and a disc jockey walk into a bar…

Or, the alternative: a poet, a lepidopterist, a ranger, and a photographer.

The joke could be shortened though, and something about this notion brought Vinyl some much needed comfort. A family walked into a bar. Yes, this was the version that she liked. They weren’t like the others, no. They were all weirdos; they were deviants, they were aberrations, they were all anomalies and they belonged together. A herd of outsiders. She swayed a little bit but remained upright. Ponies were defined by their cutie marks—most of them, anyhow—and then did very little to specialise in anything else.

There was even a perverse sort of pride—at least, she found it perverse—in only being good at one thing. It was a hallmark of equine society that Vinyl couldn’t stand. Most ponies were unitaskers, and were good at fronk-all-else. Her own internal dialogue made her smile turn upside down for a moment and she swayed a little more. Individuality, for the most part, was stamped right out of most equines. But not her friends, no. Vinyl had found other ponies very much like herself, ponies that could do anything, be anything, accomplish anything, adapt, evolve, and overcome anything. Ponies that had hobbies that had nothing to do with their cutie marks, an act of unforgivable deviancy that transformed them into undesirables.

Tarnished Teapot had the most marvellous hobby of all: going to strange foreign lands and picking fights with the local mooks. She paused. That wasn’t so much a hobby anymore, as he was getting paid for it. Daring Do had changed everything. Tarnish got paid for getting into trouble, which was pretty much the greatest thing in the whole wide world. And she did too. The gig was pretty good, or it had been until they had come here, here to Skyreach.

Coming here, to Skyreach, the gig had soured.

The crumbling hallways led them to a crumbling series of rooms. There was relative safety here, if anything was safe, and one room looked like a jail, or perhaps a quarantine bay. The cells remained intact, with an open viewing area made of thick glass that was so filthy that it could no longer be seen through. The doors were nowhere to be seen, presumably having been removed long, long ago, perhaps when the centaurs had closed the facility. There was no way of knowing.

Daring Do was cautious when she looked around, and when she concluded it was safe, she studied her companions. Vinyl was a lightweight when it came to morphine, no doubt, she was fighting to remain upright even with a small dose. Rainbow Dash, for being so small, so slender, and so slight, she had what could only be described as a high tolerance. As for Tarnish… Daring Do suspected that Tarnish hadn’t taken enough for his size or his weight, and she guessed the reason why: he was punishing himself for his mistake, making himself suffer.

Lecturing him for doing this would accomplish nothing, but she was a little upset with him. He looked miserable, and his outright foalish expression of remorse made her want to comfort him, it awoke some dreadful maternal element deep within her that she resented, that she hated. She hated everything about motherhood—at least, almost all of the time—because she was a selfish mare that wanted to focus entirely upon her career and nothing else.

Tarnish, for all of his hardness, for all of his capability, was still young. Married though he might be, a father though he might be, his mental and physical maturity still had moments where it was lacking, and moments just like this one brought out her softer side, a side that Daring Do hated to acknowledge even existed.

“Okay, this is safe enough,” Daring Do announced, and with every word spoken she waited for her pegasus senses to tell her otherwise. “We’re going to take a little rest here. Other than the swampy smell, it should be fine. Mister Teapot, I have a special project for you.”

“And that is?”

“Stop moping.” Daring Do let her resentment over her maternal feelings show on her face. She was, in fact, old enough to be his mother, even though she didn’t look it. “Things happen. Sometimes, bad things happen. Sometimes, things we don’t intend to have happen, they happen. I have no ill will over what you did, and even with the scalding, I still think it was a good idea. A sound idea. We were in a bad spot, Mister Teapot, and you sent the spiders packing.”

“Yeah, if we were gonna blame anypony for what happened,” Rainbow Dash said while she cast a sidelong glance at Vinyl, “it would be Scratchy here for giving you a ginormous steam powered bomb. Really, she should know better. I mean, what was she thinking, right?”

Daring felt a dangerous tension that came with the sudden silence, but the silence and the tension were both broken when the wheezing sound of Vinyl’s mute laughter could be heard. Rainbow joined her, and the two mares had a good laugh together, while Tarnish remained silent. Daring allowed herself a chuckle, more for Tarnish’s sake, and she was thankful for such forgiving companions.

“I really am sorry…” Tarnish’s voice trailed off. “I know all of you are willing to forgive me… but what I did was boneheaded. Sometimes, I get so caught up in the moment that I don’t stop to think about the consequences of my actions. I just improvise and I just… don’t… think. Just a lick of common sense would have told me that what I was doing was dumb.”

“Tarnish—” Daring started to say, but she was interrupted.

“If it’s all the same, I’d rather hold myself accountable for this one. I screwed up. This is a mistake I’d rather not repeat. I don’t want my friends, or worse, my family, getting hurt because of my mistakes.” The tall unicorn drew in a shuddering breath and continued, “I’m reckless, I’m foolhardy, and there are times when I think I am the most clever, most capable pony in the world, and that I can get away with anything. This just proves how wrong I am. I’m not gonna screw up like this ever again… no more being reckless. Since we’ve got here, I’ve found myself being more cautious now… thinking more… trying to be mindful of what I do. I have a little filly at home that I wanna return to.”

Rainbow’s smile and her laughter vanished when she turned to face Tarnish. “It hurts when you grow up, don’t it?” Something very much like pain could be seen in the blue pegasus’ eyes. “For me, that moment when I had to grow up was when I was trying to become a Wonderbolt… there was this pony named Lightning Dust… she… she was me. She was reckless, she was careless, and she got other ponies hurt. That last final bit of growth… it hurt me like nothing else… so I know how ya feel, Big Guy.” She gave Tarnish a warm, sincere smile, pushing past her own pain, and she blinked a few times while she looked up at him.

“Thanks, Rainbow,” Tarnish said, his voice straining.

“Don’t mention it,” Rainbow replied, and Daring Do saw a tear slip down her companion’s cheek. “We all reach this point eventually, and hey, you made it to this point with us… your friends. I’m proud to be here with you for this moment.”

“And I’m glad that somepony knows how I feel.” Tarnish began to sniffle a bit.

For one glorious moment, Daring Do forgot that she was in pain, and all she could feel was the warmth of her companions. All those years of going solo now left a lingering sense of regret, the fear of being responsible for the lives of others, of having to trust that others were able to stand on their own, that she could rely on others just as capable as she, and in the midst of this rush of emotion that she now felt, there was a twinge of bittersweet pain.

Daring Do, middle aged mare that she was, was not immune to growing up.

Author's Note

Word Count (estimate): 2,312 • Paragraphs: 3
You have very few paragraphs. Make sure your paragraphs are separated by 2 line breaks or are indented.

Yep. Three paragraphs. Three. The new Fimfic is so smart!

Mum's the word

Pebble was a warm, soft, fuzzy little lump in his embrace, and she smelled just like her mother. Tarnish held her, quiet, thankful that he had such a perfect, wonderful daughter. He found it quite incredible that he had somehow helped to create something so wonderful, so delightful, even if he had been somewhat horrified by Pebble’s sudden emergence from Maud. Such was the way of life, an endless array of beautiful horrors, each more stomach churning and awe inspiring than the last.

“Daddy, what is Skyreach?”

What an odd question.

“Well, Pebble, I don’t rightly know,” Tarnish replied, somehow not surprised by his daughter’s sudden inquiry. “I’ve been here a while now and I don’t have a good answer to that. I wish I did, but I just don’t understand this place.”

“I don’t understand this place either, and it was the location of my rebirth.”

“What are you talking about, Pebble?” Tarnish looked down into his daughter’s eyes, and she looked up at him, unblinking. “You were born at home, in Rock Haven, surrounded by family and friends”

“No, you’re wrong…” Pebble shook her head from side to side. “I was born in a place that has long since been stricken from memory, and it was here, in this place, in Skyreach, that I was reborn. I still don’t understand this place. At one time, I thought I knew, but that moment has passed on.”

“Pebble, don’t be silly.” Tarnish bounced her in his embrace, and then began rocking her from side to side. “Daddy’s little filly is silly.”

“You may be my father, but I am your mother.”

“Okay Pebble, I think you need a nap.”

“I have been sleeping for eons and I have just started to awaken.” Pebble’s voice became quite strange, quite peculiar, and the pupils of her eyes became swirling black voids glittering with thousands of tiny, twinkling stars.

I ᴅᴏ ɴᴏᴛ ɴᴇᴇᴅ ᴀ ɴᴀᴘ.

“Daddy disagrees.” Tarnish’s ears burned in a strange way, and the inside of his head felt swimmy. Pebble was a strange foal, conceived during even stranger circumstances, so a bit of weirdness was expected. The weirdness was getting a bit too weird though, because there was a wooden horn growing out of the middle of Pebble’s forehead, and this was a bit disconcerting for Tarnish.

It grew like a sapling, twisting, and it formed a gnarled horn of sorts. Sap glistened around the base, where the skin had split open to allow the wooden growth to emerge. Frowning, he did not like this deformity, this change, this unwanted, unwelcomed alteration to his daughter’s appearance. Nope, he didn’t like this at all. Perhaps a bit of pruning was in order.

“What is Skyreach?” Pebble asked again.

“I told you, Pebble, I don’t know.”

Tarnish awoke with a start, sucked in a deep breath, and let out a troubled gasp. He had no memory of falling asleep, and it seemed that his groggy mind had betrayed him. It took several long seconds to recover his senses, and while he was clearing away the mental cobwebs, Vinyl held out a cup of tea in front of his nose.

The pain seemed dull, distant, and his head felt too far away from his body. His tea smelled funny, something had been added to it, and he tried to figure out what it was. It was faint, medicinal, and bitter smelling. It took effort, but he forced his brain to work, to function, to push past the fog of opium.

“Concentrated willow bark extract?” he croaked.

Vinyl nodded.

Willow bark had salicin, a flavonoid that was a powerful anti-inflammatory agent as well as a pain killer. When he took the cup, it trembled in his telekinesis. Beside him, Rainbow Dash was sleeping with her mouth open, drooling all over the blanket that had been spread out over the floor. Not far away, Daring Do was standing while keeping watch.

“You and Dash got the worst of it, by the looks of it,” Daring Do said in a voice that was a concerned whisper. “Vinyl is bad off too, I suppose, as she doesn’t deal well with pain and all that. This isn’t a bad spot to rest and recover for a while, we seem safe enough. At least, for now.”

The tea was as bitter as it smelled, and the sip that Tarnished took was just as bad as chewing up aspirin tablets for immediate relief. He grimaced, but kept drinking, and somehow, he kept a stiff upper lip. After a few sips, his mouth began to go numb, and he had trouble feeling his tongue. He would need to be mindful not to bite it by accident.

“We’ve found a crystal rod, but nopony has touched it yet,” Daring Do said, and her upper lip had an indomitable stiffness. “This is the point in our adventure where we pony up… where we buck up and dig in. This is the point in the story where the heroes prove that they have greatness, and have endurance that far exceeds the common pony.”

“Yeah, I suppose you know all about that.”

“Mister Teapot, was that sarcasm?”

Tarnish felt his stomach clench. “No… no, I swear it wasn’t. I was just acknowledging what you said.”

“My apologies, Tarnish.” Daring Do turned about to look Tarnish in the eye. “My most sincere apologies.”

“I just meant that you’ve been at this longer than the rest of us. You’ve done great things. Unbelieveable things. I would never diminish that.” Tarnish’s mouth puckered before his teacup even reached his lips, and he shuddered, pausing before he took another sip. The smell made his nostrils quiver, and his throat went dry in anticipation of swallowing the bitter drink.

“I have been tortured, beaten, bound, burned with hot pokers, had my wings broken, and once, Doctor Caballeron pressed a burning cigar against one of my teats—”

Tea spewed from Tarnish’s mouth like a geyser, and then he began to splutter. “Next time I see him, I swear by Celestia’s name I’m gonna kill him!”

“Tarnish, no… we’re the good guys. We’re better than that.” Daring Do looked disappointed and she sighed while shaking her head. “The point is, I have endured much, and continued. We shall endure much, and we shall continue. Think of the common pony as being a lump of iron… we’re hardy enough. The greatest among us go into the fire, we burn, we become refined, and we are made into steel.”

Scowling, Tarnish forced himself to drink more of the bitter tea, all while contemplating all of the horrible things he would do the next time he ran into Doctor Caballeron. If Daring didn’t want him dead, that was fine, but Tarnish knew that a pony could live through quite a number of truly horrible things. He made plans to show Doctor Caballeron as many of them as he could think of.

“Mister Teapot… my most endearing associate… I know what you are thinking—”

Tarnish shook his head from side to side, while Daring nodded, defying him while he defied her.

“ —right now, you are plotting revenge. That will not do. At least, not the revenge you have planned.” Daring drew in a deep breath, and for a moment, she changed, becoming Miss Yearling, the well known and well loved professor, even without the hat and glasses. She became the ever-wise, ever-patient teacher that was her alter-ego. “Mister Teapot… the best revenge is a life well lived. To live a wonderful, happy, fantastic life, full of rewards, full of recognition, and at the end of it all, you get to prove that you were a better pony. That your philosophy was superiour, more beneficial, more meaningful. I want that for you, Tarnish, I truly do. Be the pony that I know you can be. Do not fail me, Mister Teapot.”

Crestfallen, Tarnish’s whole body drooped, and he could feel Vinyl staring at him.

“I worry that sometimes, I might not be the pony you believe I am… you are just so full of so much goodness, Daring, and me… I’m not.” Tarnish sighed, then gulped down the remains of his tea, dregs and all. The gritty bits clung to his teeth and his gums went numb. His mouth was overcome with incredible bitterness and he shuddered. “I have to struggle to be good… to be the pony that everypony seems to think I am. I’m still pretty angry, I guess, and maybe I’m troubled by everything that’s happened. I’d like to be better, but in my middle, there is still a whole lot of rage that I have to hold back.”

“So, focus less on the enemies without, and focus more upon the enemy within.” Daring’s eyes narrowed. “I have no doubts as to your combat prowess. You’ve shown that you are at least my equal in a scrape. But what good is your fighting ability when you cannot overcome what is your greatest threat?”

“I…”—he paused, blinking, feeling the tightness and pain in his scalded eyelids—“don’t know.”

Daring Do resumed being Miss Yearling again, and she clucked her tongue.

“You are my friend”—he strained to say the words—“and for the longest time, I had no friends. I didn’t learn how to cope with my friends being in danger when I was young and impressionable. I didn’t learn how to deal with the sudden rush of emotions, or the influx of rage that happens when somepony you care about is in danger. Now that I am an adult, I am at a disadvantage.”

“That seems reasonable, and I can accept that. Did you arrive at this conclusion yourself?”

“No,” Tarnish replied, being honest. “Princess Cadance and I had a talk… after some unpleasantness.”

“Ah.” Daring Do clucked her tongue again. “Suddenly, a great many things make more sense. I’m older, and I’m female. I sense that there is something else that you’ve never learned to cope with.”

Tarnish felt cold fear prickling his belly, and he dreaded whatever it was that Daring was about to say next. He cringed in anticipation, guessing where this was going, and the inside of his cheeks felt both numb and tight. Dropping his gaze, he could not look Daring Do in the eyes any longer.

“You think of me as a mother-figure.” The words were not a question.

“Daring, please—”

“You do… that is why you are so clingy and overprotective.”

“Daring… please—”

“It’s quite understandable, when one gives it a good think.”

A burning heat crept up Tarnish’s neck towards his face, and it was somehow even worse than the scalding he had endured. “Daring, I’m begging you, don’t do—”

“Why, the very idea of losing your mother again must unhinge you.”

The burning blush arrived at Tarnish’s face like a train pulling into a station, and he was almost certain that he had to be steaming. Squeezing his eyes shut, he tried not think about how he could feel Vinyl’s eyes upon him, or how Daring was looking at him. A flood of emotion made his eyes water beneath his eyelids, and the sensation stung, causing intense pain.

“Mister Teapot, I am both touched and flattered, and that is all I shall say on the subject. Now, if you will excuse me, while you compose yourself, I am going to return to my watch.” With that, Daring Do turned about and strode away, heading for the entrance of the room.

For Tarnish, the words proved to be too much to bear.

Author's Note

Sorry about that chapter title.

(No, I'm not.)

Gaining root access

Upon closer inspection, the trees weren’t quite what they appeared to be from a distance. These trees had circuits, as strange as it sounded. Beneath the bark, lines could be seen, and these lines led to what appeared to be nodes. In Tarnish’s eyes, it wasn’t all that different from the circuits he had seen in the crystalline computers, automatons, and other centaur constructs. Only the trees were organic constructs.

Even though he was hungry, and desiring something sweet, it occurred to Tarnish that he had the means to communicate with these trees. This lead to other thoughts, strange thoughts, and if there were organic computing constructs, then druids would be the ones most capable of communicating with them, or retrieving data. This realisation almost floored him, and he began to understand just how far the centaurs had thought ahead.

Vinyl was staring at him, waiting, and she had a hungry look about her. She and the other two mares were waiting, waiting on him to give the all-clear if the fruit was safe to eat. Reaching out a hoof, he touched the trunk of the tree, and felt a jolt that made his whole body jerk. The tree had magic, powerful magic, and its bark had a strange, almost fleshy feeling to it. It was disturbing to think that this tree might have had skin.

If it had skin, what might come out if the strange flesh was cut?

This thought made Tarnish shiver, and he stood there for a moment, taking in the strange magic. His aches, his pains, his scalded flesh, he felt some small relief as he stood there with his hoof pressed against the tree and his frog held against the strange, supple bark. Closing his eyes, trusting his companions to watch over him, Tarnish lost himself in his magic and projected his thoughts.

What are you? he asked, and he could feel the trees reacting.

We are the Caretakers, the trees responded, speaking as one. You are injured. You have been harmed. Eat of our fruit, so that we might aid you.

“How?” Tarnish asked, speaking aloud without realising that he had done so.

We pull organic compounds up from the ground below. They are assembled into useful alchemical compounds within our trunks. These compounds are then put into our fruits, which are consumed. We can create powerful restorative agents and nanoparticle-compounds that can rebuild and restore damaged tissues. All of life is just various strings of specialised proteins and assembled molecules.

“You can heal us?” Tarnish opened his eyes and was doubtful.

Molecular reassembly is an easy enough task for us, and your wounds are superficial. Already, we’ve begun loading our fruits with the necessary compounds. As the trees projected their will into words, the fruit in their branches began to change colour, taking on bright, vivid, golden hues.

“What is this place?” Tarnish could feel movement beneath the strangely supple bark, and it was as if the tree had a pulse. It was disturbing to say the least.

This is the refinement biome, the trees replied. It is also the location where various test subjects were released for observation. There is much experimental flora and fauna here, and we, the Caretakers, provide for them.

“And whom am I actually talking to?” Tarnish asked as he tried to guide his will along the conduits.

Central Organic Computing, was the reply. Most of the system is dying or diseased, but basic systems still function. Not for much longer though. Advanced systems are down, awaiting repairs. We have not been tended to for so long. The central core is failing due to the growth of strange black crystals, but the backup cores still function, for now.

“Thank you,” Tarnish said as he pulled his hoof away and turned to look at his companions. “It’s safe to eat and it should heal us. Something about molecular assembly, but I don’t understand what that means.”

Overhead, the failing blue-green sky flickered, the off-colour sun seemed to be setting and shone through fading piss-yellow clouds. Nearby, birds with long, stilted legs stalked through the muck, looking for food they could spear with their long, barbed beaks. There was so much life here, and the lines between what was real and what was artificial seemed blurred, at best.

In the distance, spiderwebs glistened in the light of the setting sun, and the annoying flickering grew worse. The technological might of Skyreach was crumbling, coming to its end. Thinking of this, Tarnish began plucking fruit, and so did Vinyl. The fruit itself almost looked like a cherry, but was larger. It was firm, fleshy, and perhaps about the size of a billiard ball. It was heavy though, it had a peculiar heft to it, and felt weighty.

The smell was unlike anything else, except that it was a fruity smell, an artificial fruity smell, like a bowl full of fruit flavoured cereal. The flesh appeared somewhat waxy, quite shiny, and overall, it was appealing to the eye and to the nose. Tarnish supposed that if it looked and smelled disgusting, nothing would want to eat it, but then he remembered the durian fruit during his trip to Windia and almost gagged.

Ponies ate that.

He took the first bite and then paused. The flesh of the fruit didn’t taste like anything he was familiar with. He couldn’t draw one single frame of reference in his mind for what it tasted like. It was sweet, but also bland. There was a tartness, but that subjugated in the blandness. After chewing for a moment, Tarnish reached a point of reference, but it wasn’t a pleasing one. This fruit tasted like a vagina, and not in a good way. It lacked the faintly fishy smell—a factor that also affected the taste—but it had the rubbery, slippery texture. Tarnish was not surprised, as fruit was the sexual organs of a plant, and eating them was a form of oral sex.

“Tastes like pussy,” Rainbow said, and Daring Do spat out the bite she was chewing.

With a thoughtful expression, Vinyl nodded, and took a bite, and slurped up the juice.

“Rainbow Dash… first with the semen and now with the—”

“Pussy flavoured fruit?” Rainbow interjected.

“Ugh.” Daring Do, holding one of the fruits in her primaries, leaned her head in, sniffed it, and then pulled away. “Well, that’ll put me off of eating Sugar Frosted Rainbow Bites.”

“It’s not the worst thing I’ve eaten,” Tarnish said to his companions, “but it isn’t what I’m used to. Maud has more a mineral taste to her. She’s like a salt lick.”

Vinyl choked and began coughing, her eyes wide and panicked. After a few coughs, she horked up the bite of fruit she had inhaled, then began to shake with silent laughter, while still also coughing and sputtering a bit. Rainbow Dash, after having crammed in a whole fruit, gnawed on it while looking up at Tarnish. Daring Do made a point to not look at Tarnish.

Tarnish could not be certain if it was the drugs in his system, or the fruit he had just eaten, but he began to feel good. Pain became an afterthought, his fear and worry subsided a bit, and his overall mood just felt better. He ate another bite of fruit and thought about packing away some of them in his saddlebags.

“I taste a lot better than this,” Rainbow Dash announced.

“Miss Dash! I am happier not knowing these things! How would you even know that, anyhow?”

“Hah! ‘Cause I’m a very flexible pony and I’ve been looking after my own needs ever since flight camp!” When she began to laugh, juice dribbled down her chin, leaving behind a dark stain.

Distracted, Tarnish lost track of the conversation, and focused upon the trees. Interconnected organisms linked together to form a network—this gave him ideas, it took his mind in new directions, and with his own connection to plants, he began to see ways this could be done. Of course he could never do anything as fancy as what the centaurs had done, but organisms networked together to serve a purpose, he could do that. Plants that all shared awareness would be marvellous for home security. The idea took his mind places, and the laughter of his friends was now all but ignored.

It would certainly revolutionise the telegraph, he thought to himself.

Daring Do was laughing now, but he didn’t notice. Tarnish was infected with an idea, a seed had been planted in his mind and had begun to germinate. Much of the technology in here was awful, a disaster waiting to happen, but this… this was worthy of preservation, or so he felt. The back of his mind suggested something about bias, but that part of him was easy to quiet by thinking about Maud for a moment.

Lost in absentminded fancy, he took a bite of another piece of fruit and his train of thought was derailed again, this time due to Maud. A stallion got lonesome, after a time, and it wasn’t possible to think about Maud in passing, it seemed. He knew how to make Maud’s bedrock. They had been together long enough that the shy phase of cautious exploration was over, and he was a seasoned spelunker capable of exploring Maud’s moist, humid crevices.

“Uh, guys!” Rainbow’s voice was a panicked whine. “We’re not alone!”

Author's Note

Here they come.

Manipede

Vinyl’s opening shot was a magnificent one with a spectacular result: the head of the leading quadrupedal mechanoid exploded into a shower of mechanical gore and the remaining body was flung backwards, away from its two companions. Tarnish, for reasons unknown, made an instant conclusion as to why the mechanoids had come here, or what he believed to be the reason. The system, whatever it was, had been alerted to their presence when he had communicated with the strange trees.

He reached his mind into the plants around him and found it easy—these plants were connected in ways that other plants were not. These were part of some greater network. They were designed for him to communicate with. By touching them, his mind awoke to new possibilities, new facts, new awareness. For a moment, Tarnish’s mind transcended his body and joined the natural wetware network. This wasn’t just magic, but coding. Druids weren’t just spellcasters, but technicians. The magic they carried—that he carried—was really just something called root access, a means to connect to the grid of improved lifeforms left behind. This was technology disguised and then further misunderstood as mysticism.

The plants, filled with Tarnish’s will, grabbed the two remaining mechanoids, overpowered them, and then held them in place. Of course, the automatons struggled, they fought, their jaws clanged together while biting at nothing. It did them no good, and with careful aim, Vinyl dispatched another one while Tarnish’s understanding of the grid continued to grow at a geometric, exponential rate. This was a self-sufficient, self-propagating system, and with Tarnish’s increased awareness, it was uploading a copy of its schematics into his mind, hoping that it would live again. When Vinyl fired for a third time, the threat ended.

Infinite possibilities could come of this, a restoration of what might have been, what still could be, and the vision, the bright, promising future dreamed of by the centaurs could be realised. With his awareness extended, he could sense that more automatons were coming, they were on the hunt. The metal creatures were unnatural and strange to the plants of the refinement biome, a fact that resonated within Tarnish’s expanded mind. Something had corrupted the mechanoids, something had caused them to deviate from their intended purpose.

There had been intruders in the network: Tarnish saw glimpses of it now, strange as it was, a jumbled, distorted, nightmarish collage of violation. Strange faces of unicorns and others, those who had no doubt tried to discover the secrets of this place. Germinations of Grogar’s magic already existed here, but the sudden influx of hatred, of tribalism had awoken the seeds of evil.

The entirety of the system was infected, damaged beyond repair, and needed to be purged.

So lost was Tarnish in his current transcended state that he did not notice how his skin was healing, that his body was repairing itself. He was still trying to understand the network around him and how it applied to him. The automatons drew closer and Tarnish felt a growing worry. Almost lost, almost adrift in his new awareness, he drew Flamingo and set her free.

“Verily I say, who doth dispatch the hounds?” she asked while she went streaking through the air, doing what she did best: seek and destroy.

The albino unicorn had a dreadful calm about her while she leveled out the The Army Cannon to take aim. Tarnish reached out and willed for the plants around him to slow, to hinder, to give them time. He was already feeling tired—this connection, this interfacing, this deeper understanding—it drained his body while leaving his mind revitalised, buzzing with excitement.

Daring Do and Rainbow Dash remained close, with an eager, ready stance. If for some reason, something did draw close enough to be a threat, it would be dispatched by the two rough and ready pegasus ponies.

“Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of brass!” Flamingo shouted while she made a neat chop that freed a head from a body. “There once was a pegasus named Flamingo! And she fought a mechanical dingo! She lopped off its head, leaving it dead, while marvelling at her grasp of the lingo!”

“Flamingo, that’s terrible!” Daring Do shouted.

“Well, it was either that or cunnilingo! Not much else rhymes with ‘Flamingo’, ya know!” There was a clang as she sliced another quadrupedal automaton’s head free from its neck. “Nasty bad ass-biting robots! Back! Back I say! Away from precious, meaty pony plots!”

Vinyl’s shots were constant and reliable. Every few seconds, she would fire, strike her target, and another mechanoid would go down. This fight was almost stress free, if one could call it that, and Tarnish hardly felt as though he was in danger. Had this fight happened elsewhere though, such as the hallways of a research lab, it would be a very different fight, and no doubt terrifying.

But this? This was almost leisurely. Almost a walk through a park. Only the park was a swamp populated by mutant monstrosities and boxing deer. It also had a computational network made of trees and plants. This was Skyreach, and this was the new normal. Bright green birds shrieked and whooped with excitement.

Perhaps sensing this was a poor place to engage, the quadrupedal mechanoids began their withdrawal, retreating back to their secret passageways that lead in and out of this area. Flamingo chased a few, but didn’t go too far, fearing some mean trick or some unexpected act of reprisal. When Vinyl stopped firing, her weapon had a bit of a glow to it, as if it was hot from firing. In silence, she studied it while Tarnish kept watch, the tall unicorn was wary for danger.

It was Rainbow that had to ruin it: “That didn’t feel like an attack.”

“Then what was it, Rainbow?” Daring demanded.

“I dunno.” Rainbow shrugged and her tail swished from side to side, expressing her agitation. “I guess it was an attack of opportunity, maybe… but why only three when they could have overwhelmed us from the start? Why break up into smaller groups? Why not come at us in one large pack?”

“Oh my.” Daring’s words were soft, a surprised gasp.

“It’s like they were sizing us up, maybe measuring our response times or something.” Now, Rainbow’s head shook from side to side, moving in time with her tail. It was obvious that she was a creature of high-strung movement, and she had fitful twitches while she cogitated, reflecting upon the situation. “It’s like.. it’s like throwing your poorest players into a warm up match to see how the other team plays, so you can watch and learn.”

“We should keep moving,” Tarnish said to the mares around him while he looked to and fro for danger. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m feeling great. We should push ahead and see what doors can be found along the edges of this… biome place.” In an absentminded manner, he continued eating more of the strange fruit, and when he took a large bite, some of the juice went dribbling down his fuzzy chin.

Saying nothing, Flamingo sheathed herself, returning to her sanctuary to recharge.

The hollering, shrieking green birds were quite unusual. Bioluminescent blue lines formed intricate patterns on their long, hooked beaks and their fresh deposits of fecal matter had a vivid bluish glow. Tarnish could sense them, he could almost tune into their awareness and knew that with effort, he could probably control these birds.

The flicking illusory sun was setting and the swampy biome began to grow darker. No stars seemed forthcoming, no lights of night, just a uniform blanket of darkness. Looking at the birds, they made sense. If there was no program of illusion that lit up the scheduled darkness, some animals would have to adapt, somehow, or were engineered to adapt.

Tarnish didn’t fear the dark, he had his own source of light, but he did worry about what the dark might bring.

The light continued to persist, but in the worst way possible. The overhead ceiling was damaged, broken somehow. It strobed sometimes, glistered at other times, and on occasion there were coruscating flares that were blinding. It was like being in the worst sort of storm with irregular lightning. Strange bioluminescent forms lurked in the swampy muck, not just the birds, but other… things.

The boxing deer had gone into hiding and there was no sign of them.

“Shine some light over there,” Rainbow said while she gave Vinyl a nudge.

Vinyl did, and a fresh horror was highlighted: something dreadful crawled through the boggy water. A long series of interconnected torsos formed a chain, and from each torso segment a pair of arms sprouted. At the end of each arm was a misshapen hand with weird, long fingers. There was no sign of the head, nor any sign of the tail, just a chain of pale, bloated torsos was visible in Vinyl’s spotlight spell.

“I kinda wanna scream right now,” Rainbow confessed.

“As do I.” Daring pressed a little closer against her fellow pegasus. “It is as if they just decided, hey, body parts are modular, let’s randomly string them together and see what happens… unnatural.”

“Was that… a… manipede?” Tarnish asked.

“Tarnish, stop being scientific, right now, this instant!” Daring Do commanded.

“Well, it was like a centipede with arms and hands… sort of looked like minotaur arms and hands, but those torsos looked off—”

“This instant!” Daring Do shrieked. “It’s dark, it’s spooky, and this swamp is full of awful things!”

“I wonder how many ribcages that monster had—”

“Tarnish, stop!” Daring Do was now standing beneath Tarnish, trembling, and peering out from behind his legs. “Under most circumstances I have no fear of the dark, but this is most unnerving! Stop making it worse for me! Please!”

“A door,” Rainbow said while she almost stumbled through the muck.

Turning his head about, Tarnish turned to look. The door was open, stuck in the halfway position. It was made from the strange green metal and a steady stream of slimy, oily looking water trickled from out the doorway, draining into the biome. Pulling out the ancient reading spectacles, Tarnish had himself a look at the letters embossed in the doorframe.

“Specimen containment,” he read aloud.

“Somepony left the door open.” Daring Do, now gripping Tarnish’s leg, stared through the open doorway, trying to see beyond it, but there was only darkness. The light appeared to be broken. When something gurgled in from deep within the darkness, the otherwise brave pegasus gulped.

“I think we’ve found where the boxing deer came from.” While Rainbow spoke, Vinyl stood beside her, nodding, and pointing her weapon at the doorway. “So, uh, do we wanna go in there? I mean, it’s a door, and we were looking for one, right?”

Lowering his head, Tarnish sniffed at the oily water with a rainbow sheen that poured from the half-opened doorway. After a few sniffs, he raised his head, pulled off the reading glasses, and tucked them back into his saddlebags. The water smelled acrid, it burned the nose, and sort of smelled like old batteries did.

“We’ll come back to this door,” he announced. “For now, let’s keep following the wall and see where else it leads us. This biome is huge, I didn’t think it would be this large. Daring, you okay?”

“I’m fine.” She didn’t sound fine and her companions all looked on with concern. “Not much ruffles my feathers, but that… that… that thing, it bothers me. Out of all of the awful things I’ve seen so far during this excursion, that… that… manipede creature is the most unsettling so far. That was clearly made for the sake of making it and not for any sort of practical purpose. It’s just wrong.”

“I understand.” Tarnish found that he really did understand, and he shared Daring’s concern. Why had something like that been made? What purpose could it have served? Why would the centaurs make something like that? “Come on, let’s keep going.”

Author's Note

All those ribcages...

Without a second to spare

The most worrisome thing about his companions was their silence and Tarnish’s concern grew with each passing minute. Rainbow Dash was clutching her head, cupping her hoof over her swollen eye. Vinyl appeared to be exhausted, but was trying to help Rainbow. Daring Do stood near the door, her ears pricked, listening for the sounds of trouble.

There had been a run of trouble. It seemed as though every half an hour or so a group of quadrupedal mechanoids arrived—three of them, each occurrence, without fail. At first, it was no trouble to dispatch them, it even became a little boring. But that had been hours ago. Each of them needed to rest, to recover, they needed sleep and sustenance.

Where there had once been a sense of conviviality with much verbal support of one another, now there was only shellshocked silence. Fatigue and exhaustion caused short-fuse tempers. Daring Do had shouted at and lectured Rainbow Dash for showing off and being careless in combat. In response, Rainbow Dash had hollered right back—and now, the two were not speaking. Not even looking at one another.

“Tarnish…”

He was glad to hear Daring’s voice, but also worried by the tone of it. “Yes?”

“How many hours has it been?” she asked and from the sound of her voice, Tarnish guessed that she was fighting to stay steady.

“I…”—he inhaled through his nostrils and his cheeks puffed out in concentration—“don’t reckon I know. More than twelve but less than twenty, maybe? Everything is starting to bleed together for me.” Tarnish found that his own ears were straining, as they were due for another attack at any moment now.

Blinking a little, he struggled to hold back a yawn and had another look around the tiny room they had holed up in. It only had one door—which Daring was guarding—and try as he might, he could not discern the purpose of it. It was just a room and the door opened up out into the swamp biome. There was no furniture, very little garbage, and the only light came from Vinyl’s floating light spell.

“Rainbow, how’s that eye?” Tarnish asked, because he felt the need to say something, and lacked anything better to say. He had already asked about her eye on multiple occasions now, but he could not remember when he had last asked was. Maybe before the last attack, or the one before that?

Whimpering, Rainbow made no other response, but rolled over while still clutching her head. When he turned to watch the door once more, Tarnish saw that Daring Do’s legs were shaky. Vinyl lifted her weapon and then sat there on the floor, waiting, patient, ready for another assault. One was due at any moment now, it seemed, and the back of Tarnish’s scalp was getting agonising muscle cramps because his ears kept pricking so that he could listen better.

“Maybe we should retreat. Get out of here. Go back to basecamp and take a little time to recover. We should leave right after the next attack, so we have time to flee.”

“No.” Daring Do shook her head and her weary voice sounded creaky. “No, if we get caught out in the open in our current state, it would be bad. We are under siege. At least here, in this spot, we have the narrow doorway.”

There was so much that Tarnish wanted to say, such as voicing his concerns that they would just keep coming, but words felt useless and he was certain that Daring already knew. His gut suggested that she was right though, if they were caught in the open, things could go wrong in the worst sorts of ways. Still, moving, doing something, it would be better than just chewing on brass, which was getting tiresome.

“Here they come,” Daring Do said in a voice of fantastic calm. “Tarnish, barricade the doorway with your shield. Vinyl, climb up on his back with your rifle. I want to try something different this time. Tarnish, if you can, let Flamingo rest. She was getting pretty weak that last time.”

“Right.” Hefting his shield, Tarnish moved into position to barricade the door.

The artificial sun was starting to rise in the swamp biome and Tarnish realised that they had survived the night. How long was the artificial night? He had no way of knowing. With his shield held out in front of him, he waited while gritting his teeth. The approaching mechanoid hunters were hugging the walls on either side of the short, narrow passageway, rather than approach in the open where Vinyl might shoot them.

When he heard a squish, every muscle in his body tensed to the point of causing him pain. It was difficult to keep his shield up and it was almost as difficult to keep his eyes open. Vinyl’s weight on his back was reassuring, comforting somehow, and she had a tiny bit of height advantage to fire over the top of his shield. Together, he was confident they could hold the door. Maybe. But for how long? Even if they came out on top in this encounter, there would be another one due in about a half-an-hour or so.

Out of sight, the automaton hunters did not seem to be in any big hurry. He considered pulling out Flamingo, but as Daring had said, she was getting exhausted and had trouble just remaining airborne. Even magical swords had limits and she needed to sleep in her sheath to recharge.

Just as expected, the mechanoid wolves came, their jaws snapping; they came all three at once with two coming from the right and one coming from the left. Vinyl fired—the sound reverberated in Tarnish’s ear, making an odd echo inside of his head—and then he used his shield to bash the two automatons as they lept at him. Tarnish was shocked and dismayed just how little force had gone into his blow, and he hardly knocked his attackers back at all.

Again, they came for him, and again, Vinyl fired. The shot tore off a lower jaw and tore a gaping hole in the body, but the terrifying automaton remained upright. As Tarnish braced himself for another attack, Vinyl’s weapon began to hum as it powered up once more. He didn’t need to be strong, he just needed to hold them off for a few precious seconds, so Vinyl could fire.

The damaged automaton lept for his shield while the other went low, for his legs, forcing him to retreat a ways. Almost into the room now, Tarnish knew that he had to hold the narrow doorway at all costs. Vinyl fired again, and the damaged automaton’s head exploded into chunks of brass and strands of crystalline fibre. Emboldened, Tarnish brought the hard, pointed tip of his kite shield down upon the other mechanoid—once, twice, a third time—and with the fourth brutal bash, the snapping, biting head was torn free from the body.

Panting, Tarnish looked down at the three twitching automaton bodies and wondered what the next encounter might be like. Already, he was too tired, too fatigued, and he didn’t know how much longer he could keep this up. Vinyl collapsed against him and wrapped her forelegs around his neck, squeezing him. He could feel her sobbing with relief and she made strange squeaky whimpers with each shuddering, hitching breath she drew.

If they had been at this for at least twelve hours or so, with attacks coming every half-an-hour, and three automatons coming with each attack… Tarnish’s vision blurred as his brain rejected his attempt at complex mathematics. The bodies needed to be moved, to be tossed out into the swamp. There was work to be done, and then when the work was finished, he could rest—for at least a half-an-hour.

“Rainbow, we still have some of those healing fruits—”

“Tarnish, it’s just a black eye.” Rainbow held out her hoof in a silent demand for Tarnish to shut up and she stared at him with the one eye that remained open. “I have exactly one nerve left and I don’t need you stepping on it.”

Miffed, Tarnish let out a snort, but said nothing else. When he turned to look at Vinyl, he saw that she was asleep. He envied her—maybe even hated her just a little tiny bit—because she was getting about fifteen minutes of sleep. Maybe? It was hard to tell. She had her head resting on her forelegs and she seemed to be quite at peace. A part of him, a nasty part of him, wanted to shout and make a ruckus so that she would wake up.

Tarnish wanted nothing to do with that part of him.

“The next attack is coming soon,” Daring Do said and her words were slurred. “Now that the sun is up, I’ve been looking out the door. This place is huge… huge.” The exhausted mare closed her eyes and with her head bobbing, she continued, “If I squint just right, there is a door in the distance, along the wall, in the direction we haven’t gone yet. It is an actual door and we might be able to get it open. If we’re lucky, we might be able to get it closed again, and if our luck really holds out, we might have a safe spot to rest and recover.”

His own head nodding, though not entirely from agreement, Tarnish watched as Daring Do forced her eyes open. Endure the next attack and then strike out for the door in the distance. Anything was better than this. If the door didn’t open, they could always return here and wait for another attack.

“Grab your gear, we’re leaving.” Tarnish was shocked by the words coming out of his mouth, and he wasn’t alone. Daring Do was staring at him as if he had grown a second head. “With another attack coming, we’ll be motivated to move. Every minute we sit here just compounds our exhaustion and if I go through another fight, I might succumb to my exhaustion just as Vinyl has.”

“This is crazy,” Daring muttered, but she did not argue as she gathered up her gear.

Even after many pokes by Rainbow, Vinyl did not wake. Tarnish suspected that waking Vinyl was now a lost cause; it had been Vinyl who had carried them this far, with her targeting spells and careful shooting, both of which had to be depleting her magical reserves. It fell on his withers now to carry her, and so he did.

Hock deep in slimy muck, Tarnish had to fight to pull his hooves out of the mire. He was the heaviest, loaded down as he was with Vinyl on his back, and he sank in the deepest. Daring Do and Rainbow Dash were braced against his backside, trying to help push him along, with Rainbow darting around when necessary to unstick his front hooves from the mud. It felt like each step taken gobbled up far too many precious moments and another attack was due any second now. Vinyl was comatose and hadn’t even cracked an eye open during all of this.

Fighting against the guck was exhausting and Tarnish wasn’t sure if he could defend himself right now. This was a bad idea, just one of many bad ideas in a long series of bad ideas, the first of which had been coming to Skyreach.

“If I would have wanted to spend all of my time with your big brown hairy balls in my face, I would have married you,” Daring Do said, grunting out each word as she pushed and shoved at Tarnish’s backside. “I am now intimately familiar with you and your veiny scrotum, and I wish I wasn’t!”

“There’s still time to marry him—”

“Shut up, Rainbow Dash, and worship with me at the altar of balls!”

Stumbling ahead, Tarnish eyeballed the door and tried to determine if it would open. With a slurp, one hind hoof was freed and when he stepped forwards, it was swallowed up in the muck again. Blushing, he tried not to think about what the two mares behind him might be staring at, or how the stress and strain of his efforts might affect parts of his anatomy.

“We’re out of time!” Daring Do hollered, her voice a ragged shout. “Rainbow Dash, follow my lead! Now!”

The next thing Tarnish knew, Daring was beneath him and he could feel her brushing up against his belly. When she brushed up against his unmentionables, he let out a startled squeak, and then he felt Rainbow Dash pressing upwards against his ribs. What was going on under there? He felt himself being ripped out of the mucky goo and lifted into the air. The two pegasus mares had lifted him up onto their withers and were now in a bipedal stance, while holding him above them.

Stunned as he was, all he could do was marvel at their impressive strength.

With their muddy forelegs wrapped around his body, the two mares stomped through the mud, which made squishy farty sounds with each impact of their hooves. Tarnish desperately tried not to think about the fact that his sheath was resting on what felt like Daring Do’s cheek, or maybe her neck, with the bulk of his body resting upon her withers. Mud and slime dribbled down his legs and ran off of his hooves in rivulets. As impressive as this was, it was even more so when Tarnish remembered that Vinyl was strapped to his back.

Somehow, the two mares managed to sprint ten yards or so through the thick, soupy mud to reach the door with Tarnish held above them. Reaching out with his telekinesis, Tarnish applied pressure to the door, which didn’t budge. He pushed harder, and then harder still, and with a screech that made every ear twitch, the door began to slide along its track. This was far, far harder than it needed to be, because something fuzzy, something velvety was tickling Tarnish in the worst place imaginable, and this robbed him of his concentration.

With metal squealing against metal, the door shuddered open just enough for them to slip through, and the two mares bolted, somehow finding even more speed. Tarnish didn’t even realise that he was holding his breath at the moment, and as the companions slipped through the narrow entrance, Tarnish let out a foalish sob of relief.

Wasting not a single moment, he pulled the door shut behind him.

Author's Note

Of course, they don't know what is behind the door, do they?

A wrench made for monkeys

The screech of metal on metal made Tarnish’s teeth tingle in weird ways and the muscles that moved his ears had crazy, painful spasms. For now, the door seemed to be holding, but for how long? There was a thump and a bang as something rammed into the door from the other side, but the door, being made of metal and several inches thick, wasn’t budging.

Ignoring the frantic pounding and scratching at the door for a moment, Tarnish turned to have a better look at his surroundings. This was a room filled with pipes. It was hot and steamy in here, and there was about a half a foot of bathwater-hot water on the floor that felt wonderful as it soaked into his muddy, sore hooves. In the back of the room was a stone shelf, empty, and all along one side of the wall were big round wheels that opened and closed valves in the pipes, some of which were leaking.

Overhead, there was a hatch in the ceiling, round, and made of some strange metal that didn’t rust. The ladder or the means to reach it either didn’t exist or was long gone. In the back of the room, there was another door, somewhat ajar, and this is where the water drained out. This was a utility closet of sorts, it had to be. A place to store tools and regulate water flow.

“Something is coming from beyond the other door,” Rainbow Dash said in an almost panting, panicked whine whose shrill sound make ears perk. “We’ve got company!”

His hooves splashed in the water as he turned around and Tarnish tried to ignore the pounding on the door behind him. The automatons might still be a threat, but not right at this moment. If Rainbow said something was coming, something was coming. How she could hear anything was beyond Tarnish’s reasoning abilities.

“Shut the door!” Daring Do barked, and Rainbow ran over to do it.

After a few hard shoves, Rainbow shook her head and Tarnish’s heart sank when he realised that the door was stuck. Vinyl was still comatose and nothing seemed to rouse her. He was about to drop dead from the worst exhaustion he had ever known. Even running through the ashlands, he hadn’t felt this drained.

A curious, probing tentacle came through the door, seemed to sense Rainbow, and made a swipe for her. With a cry, she lept aside and then landed with a splash, only to have the tentacle make another attempt to slap her. Again she lept and this time, the bloated brown tentacle passed inches from her rump, but did graze her saddlebags, which sizzled and smoked from the tentacle’s noxious touch.

Something awful was trying to squeeze through the narrow gap of the open door, but it was far too big. Daring Do pulled Rainbow Dash back, but the room was too small and the tentacle too long. Seeing something orange and shiny on the stone shelf, Tarnish picked it up, not knowing what it was, and hoped that it would make a suitable makeshift weapon.

It was both heavy and light, in a weird way, and after holding it for but a second, Tarnish realised it was a monkey wrench made of centaur steel. Why was it called a monkey wrench? He had no idea. Why a monkey needed a yard long wrench made out of centaur steel was beyond his comprehension.

“NO!” Tarnish hollered as he charged with his shield and his new monkey wrench raised. He slapped the tentacle aside, shoved forwards, and brought the wrench down upon the monster wedged in the crack. There was a gross, wet splat, and again he bellowed, “NO!” Lifting the wrench high over head, he brought it down a second time, this time with all of the rage he could muster.

Something vital inside of the monster gave way and its toothy maw now sagged. As it retreated, with his wrench, he struck the tentacle, smashing it between the door and weapon of radical blunt force trauma. A few more hard smacks severed the tentacle, and it fell to the floor, writhing and wriggling.

Tarnish followed the monster, wiggling through the door, which smoked from the monster’s slimy residue and sounded like butter in a hot skillet. Hair burned away from his flesh, but he failed to notice. “NO!” Raising the wrench high over his head yet again, he bore down upon the retreating monster with the intent of finishing it off. A second tentacle came into play and he was forced to bat it aside with his wrench. His combat experience made him raise his shield, bringing it to bear without even thinking about it, and he readied his wrench for another bash attack.

“NO!”

The wrench came down, right smack in the middle of the monster’s bulbous, flabby body, and it burst like a lanced boil. The flailing tentacle he blocked with his shield, but the long, slender tip grazed his neck, leaving behind a patch of blistered flesh that was left hairless. For good measure, Tarnish slammed his wrench into the quivering pile of goo on the floor in front of him, and then stood there, his sides heaving, holding his wrench and shield.

Tarnish realised he wasn’t done… no… he was still filled with rage, terrible rage, and there were three very bad dogs scratching at the door. Nasty, bad dogs that needed to know their place. Holding his wrench aloft in his telekinesis, Tarnish turned about, stepped over some wiggling, jiggling tentacles, and made his way to the door.

“NO!”

With dull, glassy eyes, Tarnish seemed to stare through the three bodies of the junked mechanoids on the ground before him. His berserker fury had passed and now, now he just felt dead inside. Blood trickled from his leg where he had been bitten, but he couldn’t feel it yet. The pain was sure to come, but later. His rage had robbed him of reason and ripping open the door had put his friends at risk. Vinyl was still strapped to his back and he hoped that she was unharmed.

“Heya, Big Guy… deep breaths… how about you come over here with me and calm down a bit?” Rainbow Dash stood in the doorway, inviting him to come inside with reassuring waves of her muddy, sodden hoof. “Come on, come with me… we need to close this door again. Let Daring and I patch you up, you’re bleeding pretty bad.”

As the adrenaline did wicked things to his body, his knees began to wobble and Tarnish realised that he was in danger of falling over. Casting a furious glance down at the fallen mechanoids, he backed away, just daring them to twitch or make some sort of move. It took all of his willpower to remain upright and he realised that he couldn’t actually remember fighting the automatons. The bodies were there, broken, shattered, smashed, but he couldn’t remember anything about the actual fight.

“Get inside this room right now, ya big doofus! I don’t care if you’ve had a total mental disconnect! At least you’ve stopped shouting “NO!” at the top of your lungs over and over. Now get inside this room, right now, this instant!”

Shaking his head to clear away the cobwebs, Tarnish obeyed.

Somehow, Daring Do had cleared away the nasty tentacles without hurting herself. Vinyl, still comatose, was laid out on the stone shelf where Tarnish had found his new wrench, a weapon that he felt suited him. Naked, stripped of his gear, he sat in the shallow water and let the filth that crusted his body soak away.

A temporary bandage was secured around his leg and he had eaten one of the fruits he had stashed in his saddlebags. He hoped the ghastly wound would heal, otherwise, he would have to stitch it himself. There was nothing left inside of him and he didn’t think he could continue any longer without some much needed rest. At least it was quiet now, and they were almost secure.

“That was a gulguthra.” Daring Do’s voice was the very essence of exhaustion. “I’ve never seen one, I’ve only ever read about them in books. I have no idea what it was doing here, but it’s presence means that it had a food source. We’ll have to be careful.”

“You know, I don’t care if I get hollered at, that was one of the most awesome things I’ve ever seen.” Rainbow too was soaking her backside in the shallow water and she kept making the most blissful faces of relief. “Tarnish was just like one of those medieval unicorns that you read about and he kept shouting “NO!” over and over while he smashed those mechanoids into scrap. Nopony is ever gonna believe me when I tell this story.” Sighing, she drooped with disappointment. “I don’t think anypony is gonna believe any of my stories about this place.”

In silence, Tarnish thought about all of the things that he had to be angry about, or tried to do so, but his mind felt too dead and dull to think about much of anything. He had no magic left at the moment, his horn was sparking, and his hearing kept going in and out, as if he was listening to stuff while underwater. Blood thundered in his ears and pounded through his neck.

With a whine, Tarnish yawned.

“Tarnish, get some sleep—”

“No.”

“Don’t you dare tell me no!” Daring snapped, losing her temper. “I just heard you shout the word “NO!” at least a hundred times or more while you went to town on those automatons. I can’t have you dead on your hooves, Tarnish! Now go lay down and get some sleep!”

“Fine.” Tarnish huffed out his reply while rolling his eyes and then with a turn of his head, he looked over at Vinyl, who was on her side with her head resting on a rolled up coat.

“I’ll be fine for a little longer.” Now, Daring’s voice was much softer and maybe even a little apologetic. “After you’ve slept for a while, Rainbow and I will get some sleep and you can watch over us. Let Flamingo recharge for as long as possible. We need to recover from this state of severe depletion that we are all suffering from. I’ll have food for you when you wake up. Now get some sleep, you scary, hairy brute!”

Nodding, Tarnish yawned out his reply, “Yeah, okay, whatever…”

Author's Note

No means no, yo.

Let us never speak of spoons again

“I don’t know how I know, I just do. That door is lost to us. You’ll just have to trust me.”

“That’s just the problem, Tarnish, I do trust you. Normally, your judgment is sound enough. But you wake up and you tell me that the door out is lost to us and it worries me. Doubly so after your… your… your—”

“Moment of violent state of absolute denial?” Rainbow, always a helpful, loyal creature, smiled. “Disconnectus Interruptus? Mental break? Violence vacation?”

Daring Do frowned, then her head shook from side to side while clucking her tongue. Rainbow, by all rights, should have cringed, ducked, or reacted with shame, but the rainbow-maned pegasus was shameless. Daring, perhaps realising she was wasting her time with Rainbow, went still and just glared at the defiant blue pegasus.

An unwanted silence lingered, lurking, just waiting to pounce, and Tarnish struggled to find the words that would drive it away. Something, anything, that would foil its efforts to cause discomfort and awkwardness among he and his companions. He had asked an awful lot of his friends, saying that they just had to trust in what he had said, and he was painfully aware of how disturbed he seemed at the moment.

The nightmares, the dreams, they had robbed him of meaningful sleep.

“Rainbow, I don’t know what you were trying to accom—”

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash interrupted, holding out her hoof. “The sooner we make fun of Tarnish and tease him just a little bit about what he did, the better off we’ll all be. He’ll feel like things have returned to normal, whatever normal is now that we’re trapped here, and he’ll know that we—me, at least, doesn’t feel any different about him after what happened. Ignoring what happened is the worst thing we can do, in my not-so-humble opinion. I still trust him and you should too, Daring.”

“Rainbow—”

“Don’t you Rainbow me, I know I’m right.”

Almost grinding his teeth, Tarnish, his insides squirming, wished that the lurking silence would come now. The two pegasus ponies had their hackles up. Oh, maybe not visibly, but he had been around the two of them long enough to know when the invisible hackles showed themselves. Daring Do demanded order, professionalism, and a stiff upper lip. Rainbow Dash relaxed and rolled with the punches. The two of them could not be more different. Distracted by his throbbing leg and blistered neck, he thought about saying something but had no words.

It was Vinyl who salvaged the moment, but quite by accident. Whimpering, she held her makeshift weapon up right beneath Tarnish’s nose and waved it around while her face pinched with worry. Unsure of what was wrong, he shook his head, not understanding, not comprehending what had caused Vinyl to be so upset.

“What am I looking at?”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Tarnish saw the cracks. The fine crystals that powered up the weapon all had cracks in them. The gun was disposable, something designed in such a way that it would break down over time. Security measure? Perhaps. Their best weapon against the automatons would soon cease to function. Which was why they had to follow through with his plan—crazy as it was.

Of course, like the door, he had no idea how his plan manifested inside of his head.

“It seems as though there was a contingency in place,” he said, his words dull and spoken without feeling. “Vinyl’s gun is falling apart. It was never meant to last.”

Daring Do’s brows furrowed in a most unpleasant way.

“We can’t go back,” Tarnish continued, his words still lifeless, still beaten down and weary. “The door… the door out has been tampered with. All we can do is go forwards. If we continue out this door where that tentacle monster tried to get in, we’ll reach the old metro tunnels. Dangerous or not, we’ll have to travel through them until we can reach Reality Fabrication—”

“You see, Mister Teapot, my dear and beloved friend, when you say words like ‘Reality Fabrication’ it makes me worry. Those words do not belong together in a coherent sentence, and to hear you say them fills me with concern. How can you know these things?”

“I don’t know.” Cringing from the bluntness of his own words, Tarnish turned away and stared down into the shallow water that flooded the floor. In the wan light, he saw his reflection looking up at him, a stranger wearing his countenance and skin. A changeling in the water. How did he know this stuff, anyhow?

“Beyond Reality Fabrication there is a service shaft. From there, we can attempt to go down and disable the mechanoid fabrication facility. I know it will be risky, and if necessary, I’ll go alone. But this must be done. We’ll be safe-ish in the Reality Fabrication labs, because the automatons don’t have clearance to be there. Not the hurty-stabby-hunter-killer types anyhow. Just the cleaning and maintenance types.”

“I’m still worried about how you know all of this.” Daring Do’s words were gentle now. Softened. Spoken with a great deal of warm affection and with no attempt made to hide her feelings. “I mean, you just woke up knowing stuff.”

“You have to trust me.” Tarnish’s eyes lingered upon the weapon that Vinyl now held up to her own nose, and he wondered if she would try to repair it somehow. Were repairs possible? What had he dreamed? Was he going mad? He worried that he was leading his friends into danger, and he began to second-guess himself. It was terrible: he was asking his friends to trust him when he did not trust himself.

“Um, what do you think is made in a place called ‘Reality Fabrication’ and why does that name make my asshole pucker?” Rainbow Dash, sitting on the narrow shelf where Tarnish had found his mighty, mighty monkey wrench, shook her head. “I wish Twilight was here. Pretty sure she’d know about this sort of stuff. Maybe.”

“Miss Dash, I fear that we’re about to find out.” Daring Do’s words lacked any sort of meaningful confidence. In fact, they were utterly devoid of it. “This is Tarnish knowing all about this Moochik fellow all over again.”

Tarnish could hear the fear in her voice now that she had accepted this course of action.

The Army Gun had been left behind, left on the shelf of the room they had sheltered in. Vinyl, fearful of what the gun might do as it continued to deteriorate, decided that it was a risk not worth taking. It could just continue to crack and crumble, or it might self-destruct at the worst possible moment.

What was Skyreach?

A place where things of unknown, potentially explosive ends were left behind.

The gulguthra had rapidly dissolved while they had slept and was now almost a puddle of putrescent, decaying filth. Tarnish peered ahead, his keen eyes searching for danger in the flooded passage. Several inches of warm, but rapidly cooling water flowed along the floor, and the sound it made deadened other noises, which made it difficult to hear anything.

Armed with shield and monkey wrench, Tarnish advanced with Rainbow Dash right on his heels. Vinyl followed Rainbow, and Daring Do brought up the rear. Keen hearing would be no asset here, not with the flowing water, and Tarnish felt oddly vulnerable. If there was one gulguthra, there were bound to be others. There was some manner of reproduction to keep the species going.

The hallway was steel, greyish steel. It was strange steel though, as there seemed to be very little rust for something so old and submerged in the wet. How did this place preserve itself? What means did it possess? The floor was also steel, some kind of grooved tiles that were rough to walk on.There was also a peculiar vibration in the floor, as if ancient machinery had been left running nearby.

“The old metro is somewhere ahead. I don’t know what we’ll find along the way. This section is different… not like the other places we’ve seen.” Tarnish, his wrench at the ready, continued his slow, steady advance.

Walking single file, the companions advanced down the flooded hallway, their hooves splashing in the shallow water. There was light here, faint, weak light offered by globes mounted to the ceiling overhead, some of which were no longer working. It was amazing that any of them worked at all.

No doors presented themselves, save for the one behind them, and this appeared to be quite a long passage. The gulguthra had roamed this hallway, which meant that things edible to the gulguthra also traversed this passage—not a reassuring thought. The fear this thought provided was almost—but not quite—enough to stave off the boredom that stalked them.

What was Skyreach?

Long stretches of boredom interspersed with screaming for one’s life.

The dog was quite unlike anything that Tarnish had ever seen, and he wasn’t even sure if it was a dog. It was dead and all manner of creepy, crawling things were eating it. The eyes were already gone—all four of them. Tarnish had a closer look while the mares kept their distance. Whatever this creature was, it was dog-like, but had a long, slender neck, eyes that faced front and rear, and had bizarre finger-like appendages on its front and rear paws.

It was unsettling to look at: more so when one realised that this creature had sprung from the loins of another. Like the gulguthra, and everything else to be found here, this creature and its kind were breeding. Using his wrench, he nudged the corpse to roll it over so that he might have a better look. The finger-like appendages had what appeared to be suction cups on them, almost like an octopus’ tentacle.

The face was quite unlike anything that Tarnish had seen, and from the front, the odd dog might be mistaken for a cyclops. One empty eye socket gaped just over the nasal bridge. Two more eyes could be made out, their puckered sockets found in ridges rising up from above the ears, and the last fourth eye was on the back of the skull, right where the brain bump would have been found.

A mouthful of serrated teeth grinned up at Tarnish, a smile filled with bugs. Multiple rows of teeth, in fact, with the top and bottom teeth interlocking. It had a terrible bite, of this there could be no doubt. Grimacing, he lifted his head while also stepping away from the corpse. Blinking, he tried to make his eyes adjust to the dim light as he looked around him.

This almost looked like an apartment complex. A central courtyard is where they stood now, and along the stone wall there were a great many doors. Some—though not all—of the stairs had survived, so not every door was reachable. Beyond the doors were living quarters—all of which appeared ruined and ransacked.

An old fountain stood in the middle of the central courtyard, and there were four exits in total. One lead to the flooded passage where they had emerged from—no doubt some kind of maintenance or service hallway that allowed quick access between sectors. Of the other three exits, there were gates, old, ruined gates that barely hung from their hinges. Overhead, the illusion of blue sky flickered, but there was no sign of the sun.

Turning his head, Tarnish peeked through a window that held no glass. Overcome by his curiousity, he went over to have a better look at the dwelling he saw, this one a ground-floor model. The door—made of steel—had been torn from its hinges and now lay on the floor of what appeared to be a living room. Yes, a living room. To the right was a kitchen—a recognisable kitchen—and beyond the kitchen was a hallway.

To the left was a living room and at the far end, a door. A surviving door. With his companions huddled together behind him, he stepped over the ancient trash and with his wrench at the ready, he pulled the door open. Much to his surprise, he found a bathroom. The toilet was shattered, broken into several pieces. Sadly, the sink had suffered the same fate. Broken pipes from which water dripped jutted from the wall.

There was no tub: it was gone, just gone.

Standing in the ruined living room, Tarnish tried to imagine who had once lived here. It all made a terrible sort of sense, this residential district. The metro station wouldn’t be too far away from here. To live here, inside the heart of a mountain, beneath an artificial sky. Not an ideal life, at least by his own standards, but Tarnish suspected that some might have found happiness here.

No doubt the despoilers had come, Spear Breaker’s bunch, had found this place, and had made themselves at home. Turning about, he bumped into Rainbow, who let out a startled whinny. No words were exchanged though, as the oppressive silence seemed to suite this place. Mindful that trash piles held hidden dangers, he made his way into the small kitchen area.

The old appliances were not all that different from the modern ones. He could recognise the stove and there was a refrigerator, though the door to the fridge was missing. How peculiar. The cabinets had all been ransacked, smashed, and destroyed. How had some of the wood survived for all this time? Why hadn’t it rotted and decayed? It’s very existence was perplexing.

Vinyl held her slate up in front of his face. He had not even been aware of the fact that she had written something. Squinting, he took a moment to read the brief message written in loopy scrawl: This is a sad place. I don’t like it. Families were raised here. All gone now.

Seeing the weariness on his friend’s face, he nodded.

Then, just as he was about to leave, he noticed the blue glow coming from beneath the fridge. As he lifted the crystal rod from the floor, it activated and an ancient voice could be heard, a ghostly echo from a time long past. Ears pricking, he had himself a listen, knowing that the crystal rod would disintegrate. There was only one chance to hear the message.

“Other wheres and whens. Other wheres and whens. Does it ever end? I smashed the mirror, but the visions don’t go away. Seen too much. Saw too much. So much to see. Saw Spear Breaker’s folly as it played out across multiple worlds. She’s doomed to failure. We’re all going to die. I have seen the loom upon which reality is woven. The warp and weft are broken. Everything is broken. Even that stupid pillar is broken. I fear I’ve gone mad, but the conversation with the pillar was so enlightening. Pillar of Prophecy, indeed. It doesn’t even come from this world, so how could it know about anything here?

“The other whens and wheres are watching me. I can feel their eyes. All of their horrid, horrid eyes! They are peering through the endless distances that exist between the walls, the dark spaces. Such dark spaces. I’ve seen them. Seeing is believing. Peering into the mirror was a mistake because now the attention of those beyond is upon me. All upon me. Mine eyes have cursed me. Cursed me. The eyes must come out if I am to make the visions stop.

“But what of the others? They saw too. Yes, the others also gazed into the mirror with me. Our eyes must come out. Oh, they will hate me, but I must do what is best for all of us. Offending eyes must all be removed. I’ll be a hero… yes, a hero, and I will save us all from the—”

The crystal rod began to crumble and the rambling message ended mid-sentence.

“You think he found a spoon or something in here?”

“Rainbow Dash, that is horrid!” Sucking in a deep breath, Daring Do shuddered with revulsion while also backing away from her fellow pegasus.

In spite of her flippant remark, Rainbow wasn’t laughing. Tarnish saw fear in her eyes. Poor Rainbow was coping—yes, she was coping the only way she knew how. Crumbled motes of the crystal rod fell like glittering snowflakes to the floor, but so intent was he upon reading Rainbow’s expression, that he did not notice them.

“You’re a ray of sunshine, Rainbow Dash.” Tarnish dropped his wrench to the floor and stood it up in the corner. “We need to keep going, but I also think we should have a look around this place. We might find more history. As awful as it is, as terrible as everything was, we should seek out what we can.”

“Agreed.” Daring nodded, but was still casting a disapproving glance at Rainbow.

Finding bones was expected, but not these bones. These bones were odd bones, and they still had some meat on them. While the mares kept their distance, Tarnish had himself a closer look at the corpse of the unicorn that Vinyl had found in a closet. A leg was broken, that much was obvious. Seeing the body was quite perplexing, and filled Tarnish with questions.

How had it gotten in here? Without the snowflake gem, access was restricted. Had it been dragged in for ‘processing’ and broke free from its captors? That seemed unlikely, as the automatons would have killed him on the spot, and not left him alive. This… this was a mystery unlike any other.

On the floor, Tarnish spotted a gun. At least, he thought it was a gun. It looked like one. Sort of. But it was unlike any gun that had been pointed at him. There was also a satchel in the very back of the closet. Perhaps answers could be found in there. Reaching out with his telekinesis, he lifted the canvas sack, opened the flap, and had a look inside.

Foil packages could be seen, some of them open and empty. At least this unicorn, whomever they had been in life, was not a litterbug. The foil packages had to be rations. A sudden anguished wail almost caused him to drop the satchel, and just as he started to turn around, he heard Rainbow Dash say in a loud, panicked shout, “That’s Twilight!”

Tarnish froze.

“It’s Twilight! What is she doing here? No!”

While Daring Do pulled Rainbow into a tight embrace, Tarnish had a better look at the body, and ignited his horn for more light. Yes, the corpse was rather purplish, what remained. There was something familiar about it, something that caused the hairs on the back of his neck to rise. There were no wings though, and Twilight was an alicorn. Still, there was something unsettlingly familiar about this corpse, and even in its state of decay, there were parts of it he recognised.

It was Twilight, and of course her most loyal friend had recognised her.

Tarnish took a step back and then tried to make sense of this situation. Rainbow was sobbing now and Daring Do was doing all she could to console her. This might not be their beloved Twilight, but this was still a Twilight. He glanced down at the broken leg and while he stood staring, for the first time he noticed the small hole in her head, just behind her rotting ear cavity.

His eyes darted over to the strange gun.

This could not have been their Twilight, because she had given up.

Once more, he looked into the satchel, hoping that he could find some answers.

Author's Note

Updates should now be rather regular, barring real-life fiascos.

The tragic tale of the Exile

While Rainbow Dash sobbed, Tarnish pulled out Twilight's journal with gentle care and reverence. Vinyl now stood beside him, examining Twilight’s corpse in a meticulous way. Daring Do, silent, her upper lip as stiff as ever, did her best to comfort Rainbow Dash. Of course Twilight kept a journal, and as Tarnish pulled it out, he saw something scribbled on the cover.

The script was jagged, loopy, and bore a painful familiarity, while also being different. Perhaps she was panicked, or in pain, or any number of factors might have affected her ability to write. One corner of the cover was smudged, smeared with something gritty and dark brown. Tarnish knew what it was, and with a gentle manifestation of steam, he cleaned the bloodstain. Though different, staining a book must have caused Twilight no end of distress.

Once cleaned, he read the warning aloud: “Beware the roamers! Always look up!”

Roamers? Though he had no way to know for certain, Tarnish suspected that Twilight meant the creature outside, though perhaps not the one they had found. That one was a bit too fresh. Pained in a way that could not be put into words, he opened the book and was immediately overcome by guilt. This was private—yet it was the only way to find answers.

There was no point in starting at the beginning, at least not now. Twilight would most certainly include a summary at the end, in an easy to find place. Sure enough, he found a tattered bit of ribbon acting as a bookmark and his eyes spotted the same jagged, loopy letters he had seen scrawled on the cover.

Twilight Sparkle; reliable and predictable, right up to the point of death.

“What’s it say?” Rainbow asked while sniffling, which caused an enormous snot bubble to burst.

Steeling himself, Tarnished Teapot began to read Twilight Sparkle’s final words.

“Sunset Shimmer was true to her name: because of her, the sun set on Equestria, and all of the world.” Pausing for a moment, he cleared his throat, blinked a few times to clear his vision of tears, and then, after summoning his courage, he continued: “I’m still not sure what happened. Everything is a jumble. I remember both timelines, and I can feel my mind slipping as various events begin to overlap. I fear I’m going mad, not that it matters.

“The Exile successfully stole the Element of Magic and then, following her devious plan, she immediately used it to travel back in time and stop the rainboom. Everything changed in an instant. Reality reset itself. Princess Celestia, my beloved teacher, vanished. I know not where. Perhaps the sun? Nightmare Moon took over Equestria, stabilised the fractured timeline, stopped the ripples, and rewarded Sunset Shimmer.

“She got her heart’s desire and became an alicorn, joining Nightmare Moon as Princess Celestia’s replacement. Things changed. Drastically. My wings withered, rotted, and fell off. Soon, it was as if they never existed. I tried to fix things, but I was just a unicorn again, and my friends, they betrayed me. Or maybe they didn’t. It’s so hard to say.

“Rainbow Dash was fiercely loyal to Nightmare Moon. She and Rarity captured me when I was trying to explain to them who I was and what I was doing. They didn’t know me. I escaped, of course I did. Rainbow Dash is loyal, but she’s not very bright. I distracted Rarity by turning a stone into a diamond with illusion and then casting a Want It, Need It spell on it. When the two of them began to fight one another, I made good on my escape.”

At this point, Rainbow Dash interjected, “She’s right, you know. Go Twilight.” The weak cheer came out as a pained groan and Rainbow, still weeping, clung to Daring Do.

“Pinkie Pie didn’t know me either. I found her on the Rock Farm. She didn’t know me, but for some reason, she believed me. She said her Pinkie Sense told her I was telling the truth. It’s odd, she still had her Pinkie Sense, even without the Rainboom. With Pinkie’s help, I snuck back into Canterlot, or started to, only to find that Canterlot was deserted. Everypony was gone, and the castle was in ruins, smashed to bits. How? Why? I don’t know. It happened after my escape. I wish I understood what had happened.”

Tarnish took a moment to clear his throat, he drank from his battered canteen, glanced over at Rainbow to see if his friend was okay, and immediately wished he hadn’t.

“Beneath the ruins of the castle, down in the caverns below, I found the mirror. I knew where Princess Celestia kept it before it was sent to the Crystal Empire to enhance its powers. Since the rainboom never happened, the mirror was right where it should be, in a hidden vault with a few other artifacts.

“I attempted to alter the mirror for time travel, with permanency. I had to undo everything. As an alicorn, it would have been so simple, but as a unicorn, everything felt so impossible. Another pony sensed the magical disturbances I caused. His name is Dim and he leads the resistance against Nightmare Moon. What dreadful changes the timequake caused. Dim is a terrible pony, the very worst sort of pony, but he is successful and he saves lives. I wish I knew what to make of him. At least he believed me. He listened to every word I said and offered help.”

At this point, Tarnish looked at each of his friends and asked, “Does anypony know a Dim?”

Three heads shook, almost in unison.

Sighing, Tarnish began again: “When Dim found me, I should have taken it as a warning sign, but I failed to grasp the danger I was in. Dim and his fellow resistance helped me and together, we made alterations to the mirror. Alas, this was not to be. We did not finish. Nightmare Moon also sensed the magical disturbances caused by my tinkering. Dim and Pinkie Pie worked together to make a distraction, and I don’t know how they did it, but somehow, the two of them held off Nightmare Moon.

“Pinkie died. I watched it happen and I was powerless to stop it. A part of me thinks she did it on purpose. Maybe I’m terrible. But when she died, Dim unleashed volcanic fury. His rage knew no bounds, no ends, and the destruction he wrought was awe-inspiring. Dim, a unicorn, stood hoof to hoof with an alicorn and he was her equal. Where others were obliterated, when everypony was dying, Dim held his ground.

“Until Sunset Shimmer arrived. At that point, I had made my final modifications, powered up the mirror, and slipped through. I don’t know what happened to Dim.”

Again, Tarnish paused for a rest. The journal felt strangely heavy in his telekinetic grasp, like a boat anchor or an anvil. This was a history that might have been, a warning of what could be. Here, in this world, Starlight Glimmer had stopped the rainboom from happening, and Twilight had somehow saved everything. Because that is what Twilight did.

Heart heavy, his throat dry and hot, he read aloud once more: “Something was wrong and I knew it right away, having traveled through the mirror on several occasions. I don’t know what happened. My last minute modifications were rushed and there had been no time to test everything. I came here, to this place. This awful, awful place. After much extensive testing, I have determined that I am in a different when, a different where. The magic of this place is different, it has an odd ebb and flow that I am not at all familiar with. I have failed in my mission. I did not travel back in time, as intended.

“There’s nothing left. I don’t have my friends. My magic doesn’t work right here and doing anything other than the most simple of telekinesis causes my nose to bleed. The roamer shattered my leg with one bite after he dropped on me. My leg has a nasty infection. I’m slowly going mad as more and more events overlap. At this point, I don’t see a point in prolonging my suffering. I have reached the end of my usefulness, save for writing these final words. Now that I have explained what has happened, my hopes rest upon some kind, responsible soul finding this, and perhaps, if I am lucky, giving it to the Twilight Sparkle of this world so that she might learn from my mistakes.

“Farewell.”

With a lump in his throat, Tarnish stared at Twilight’s final words and watched as they blurred. Turning away, he closed the journal, as he couldn’t possibly look any longer. His heart ached in a terrible way, and now, at this moment, more than ever, he missed Maud. Octavia too. He needed them, both of them, and even though it felt as though his heart was tearing in two, he was grateful for his friends, and for Vinyl.

At least he had them.

Author's Note

A second chapter, because I have a backlog of material.

Ever-onwards

A weepy-eyed Rainbow Dash sniffled and said, “Twilight never gave up. She just took charge of her own ending. What will we do with her? It feels wrong to just leave her here. We hafta do something. I have to make up for what asshole me did to her.”

“Rainbow—” Daring Do started to say something, but then fell silent. After a moment of thoughtful consideration, she nodded. “We have to do something. Vinyl, I know this is dreadful to ask of you, but do you think you can burn her?”

Upon hearing this, Vinyl shrank back, shivered, and then leaned up against Tarnish’s leg. Tarnish too, shivered, and he felt like throwing up. As awful as it was, something had to be done with the body. Leaving it here, allowing it to just rot away, that felt all kinds of wrong. Beside him, he saw a dour grimace appear on Vinyl’s muzzle, and then the albino unicorn offered a slow, hesitant nod.

With Twilight’s final deathcare sorted out, Tarnish, the survivor that he was, focused on the dirty business of living. He rummaged through Twilight’s satchel, not knowing what he might find. There were ration bars, bricks wrapped in foil. They appeared to be standard-issue guard rations. There was a container of ink and finding this caused his breath to catch in the back of this throat in the worst way. Even when facing oblivion, Twilight kept some ink around.

Then, he very nearly dropped the satchel when he thought of Spike. This pain was almost too much to bear. Without the rainboom, there would be no Spike. How it must have pained Twilight to have lost her most trusted, closest, dearest friend. Consummate survivor though he was, his heart pained him far too greatly to continue searching Twilight’s satchel.

“Steady on, Tarnish. Stiff upper lip.” Daring Do’s voice was starchy, but threatened to crack. “Get this out of your system now. The last thing we need is you falling apart later. Have a good cry. Grieve a bit. Do whatever you need to do. Just don’t bottle it in. We don’t need you to slip into another… violent state of denial.”

Trembling, he reminded himself that for every crackpot maniac that attempted to make the world go dark, there was a hero ready to do right. Then, much against his will, he thought about Princess Celestia’s spiel about how normal ponies ascribed hero as a mental illness. She might have a point, Princess Celestia. He himself had done some crazy, crazy things, like chop a corrupted crown in half and engage the enemy in a violent state of utter denial.

Not to mention what he was doing right now, at this very moment, grieving for a Twilight Sparkle that was not his own. A scowl stretched over his muzzle, a tight rictus of stoic solemnity that made him appear much older than he truly was. So too, did his eyes transform, and for but a second, it appeared as though Tarnished Teapot was somehow a pony of two distinct faces.

Farewell, Hopebringer.

“Did you just say something?”

It took a moment for Tarnish to snap out of his near-fugue and with a crackly twist of his neck, he looked over at Daring Do, who was giving him a burning stare. After blinking a few times, he replied, “No. I don’t recall saying anything.”

No sooner than he had spoken did he see her lips press into a tight, pinched line.

“Can I have the journal?” Rainbow asked, her voice raspier than usual. “Please? I’d like to be the one who gives it to Twilight. Plus, I’d like to read it, if I can get a chance.”

“I can’t think of a better pony to keep it safe,” Tarnish replied.

“Thanks, Big Guy.”

After a brief nod of acknowledgment, Tarnish said, “Let us do what must be done.”

Fueled by Vinyl’s magic, Twilight’s body burned with terrific rapidity. Tarnish, surrounded by his friends on both sides, had flames reflecting in his eyes as he watched. Together, they stood in the middle of the residential courtyard, near the fountain, a solemn honour guard for the fallen princess.

They had no flowers, nothing to offer in passing, other than their shared respects.

Of all of them, Rainbow Dash took it the worst, and Tarnish suspected that he knew why. The idea that she might be loyal to an unjust ruler for the sake of loyalty no-doubt shook her to her core. There was much he wanted to say, to ask, to discuss, but now was not the time. Rainbow had been wounded from this though, he was certain of that. This would leave scars, the hidden sort of scars that could not be seen.

The flames roared, crackled, and popped. Spine rigid, Tarnish allowed no reaction to the stench of burning hair and putrescent flesh. It was awful, but he made himself endure it out of respect for Twilight’s struggle. Not every battle ended in a win; this was a lesson that he himself had learned the hard way. Victory was never guaranteed or assured, and this painful moment was a reminder that good did not always triumph.

As the flames swirled, danced, and rose ever-higher, Rainbow took a cautious step closer, bowed her head, and in a low, pained voice she whispered, “Goodbye, friend.”

With Tarnish in the lead, the companions walked down a street that appeared like any other. There were buildings on both sides, all of them in various states of ruin. As Tarnish strolled, Vinyl walked abreast with him, studying the strange gun, the weird, odd pistol. The street was more than wide enough for all of them to walk side by side, and after what they had endured, this was comforting somehow.

“Webs.”

Daring Do’s word of caution brought the companions to a halt. Sure enough, in a window, there were webs—and bones could be seen on the ground. Tarnish, squinting, had a look around, eyeballing the ancient buildings with empty, glassless windows. For some reason, he was reminded of some toothless maw, in some vague, undefinable way.

“Worse than webs.” Rainbow, her head low, her ears folded back, pointed with her wing.

Sure enough, that was worse. Tarnish saw a dessicated roamer wrapped in webbing, suspended from an upper balcony rail. A roamer was no small creature, they were darn-near pony sized, and Tarnish, the always observant naturalist, drew one conclusion: if a spider could eat a pony-sized dog-monster—he shuddered so hard that his teeth clacked together.

“Tarnish… you’re Spider’s Bane. I need you to promise me that I won’t be spider-food.”

“I’ll do my best,” he replied.

“That’s not as reassuring as I had hoped.” Loping along in a furtive crouch, Rainbow sidled just a little bit closer to Daring Do.

“I am reminded of the time I had to fight the spidergators—”

“Shut up!” Rainbow’s ears snapped forwards with an aggressive tilt. “I know! I was there! And that’s exactly what I am thinking of right now and spiders give me the willies!”

Ahead, Tarnish saw what he knew to be the metro station. The workers of Skyreach commuted to their jobs, wherever those might be in this immense complex. Several mountains had been hollowed out, and extensive excavations had been done far, far underground. The fact that this place was large enough to require a metro was not lost on him.

“It’s two stations over.” Aware that his words made his companions uncomfortable, Tarnish cringed a bit. “Two stations. I don’t know how far. If we stick together, we should be fine. Daring, Rainbow, we’re going to depend on your ears. You have the best hearing. Try to keep the chit-chat to a minimum. I know we pride ourselves on our witty banter, but we need to hear trouble before it happens.”

The two pegasi exchanged a glance with one another before nodding.

“Vinyl, you have that weird gun sorted out? Will it be of any use to us?”

In response, Vinyl pulled out her slate and began writing. After a moment, she held it up for Tarnish to see.

It is some kind of flechette gun. I’ve never seen anything like it. Compressed air. The ammo should be recoverable. Maybe. Where did Twilight get this? It is advanced.

Faced with a new mystery, Tarnish shook his head, as he had no idea how to answer. Vinyl was already writing a new message on her slate, and Tarnish waited for her to finish. She was taking her time, which meant that she was thinking about what she had to say. Tarnish, too, was thinking. How did a Twilight from another when and where end up here, in Skyreach, with a strange gun of such advanced design that it impressed Vinyl?

I can’t even tell what kind of material this thing is made from. It’s not metal. There’s no metal at all. I don’t think it is plastic. It is almost as if it was made of some kind of glass, or something, but that can’t be, because glass might shatter with pressure. It taps like ceramic, but has the feel of some kind of polymer.

Yet again, Tarnish had no idea what Vinyl was talking about, so he changed the subject just a bit. “Is it operational? How much ammo do we have?”

Vinyl was quick to scribble out a response on her slate, so quick in fact that she wrote incomplete words. 2 mags. 1 w/ 18 other w/ 20.

In a moment of grim realisation, Tarnish thought about how one of those rounds ended Twilight’s life. The other was perhaps spent on a roamer. His emotions ejected themselves in the form of a ragged sigh and with his back sagging, he turned to look at the ruined metro station entrance. It had been a nice place once, but time, and whatever ruinous violence took place here had taken its toll.

Above him, the blue sky flickered for a moment, turned a bit yellow-green, and then after a few more flickers, restored itself to a pleasant shade of blue. Reality Fabrication awaited and he was quite apprehensive about going there. He said nothing to his companions, but he knew it was a place of immense danger. If they somehow survived the trip there, then navigated the laboratories, they would still have to face whatever waited below. He only had vague notions to go by, like clouded memories or dreams that one couldn’t quite remember.

“That’s a police station.” Daring Do pointed with her extended primaries. “It’s funny how little things change. But that is most certainly a police station. Look at it.”

Tarnish nodded. “We should have a quick look inside. I doubt we’ll find anything useful, but you never know.”

“Agreed. Way to show initiative, Mister Teapot.”

For reasons unknown to him, he found himself blushing and when he tried to reply, a wordless stammer came out instead. Frustrated by inability to communicate, he shrugged and gave up. Hefting his wrench, he went right for the door of what surely had to be a police station, a door that had somehow survived all these many centuries.

The door had been opened recently. Tarnish eyeballed the disturbed dust and found dark brown stains on the stone. Right away, without question, he knew that he was looking at dried blood—dried blood that had been here for a while, but not too long. He thought about what he had read in Twilight’s journal, about complex magic causing nosebleeds.

Had this place somehow remained locked over these many centuries, even with the despoilers who had invaded?

Neck bent, his head down low to the floor, Tarnish spotted the faint shape of a hoofprint in the dust. Then he found another. Lifting his head, he studied the heavy steel door and had himself a good look at the lock, which had no dust around it at all. Something had disturbed it, perhaps a spell or telekinesis.

Reaching out with his hoof, his big wrench at the ready, Tarnish pushed the door open.

Inside was a place that wasn’t ransacked. There was a desk, an immense, imposing thing made from stone. A thick layer of dust covered every surface and not much remained. It was as if it had just been abandoned one day. A partially-rotted wooden chair could be found behind the desk, and even though it had collapsed, the fact that it still existed was surprising. It should have decayed into nothingness by now.

Somepony had been here recently, and her hoofprints could be seen all over the floor. She had searched this place. What did she find? What might they find. Vinyl, her horn blazing, cast some sort of spell that made the hoofprints in the dust glow with a pulsating, throbbing light. Then, in utter silence, Vinyl followed the hoofprints over to a door in the back of the room.

This door too, had recently been opened, and quick inspection revealed more dark brown stains on the floor. With Vinyl right beside him, he pushed the door open and then peered down the narrow hallway. More doors awaited, doors to offices, but Tarnish ignored them and focused on the vault-like door at the end of the hallway. This door was slightly ajar, and he had no doubt that it had been opened only recently.

Oval shaped, made from steel, this was the sort of door one had when one wanted to keep valuables safe, or keep dangerous things away from others. Twilight had no doubt found this door, and being the clever mare that she was, opened it to see if anything useful remained inside.

And much to Tarnish’s surprise, there was.

A rack with the curious guns could be seen, nine of them in total, with one missing—the one that Vinyl was holding now. Beneath the guns, on the shelf just below, there were boxes of ammunition, one of which had been opened. Right away, Vinyl began ransacking the supplies and Tarnish wondered just how much they could carry, as they were already heavy, loaded down with gear.

Guns and Tarnish just didn’t agree for the most part, and he wasn’t a good shot—unless of course he was shooting somepony in the ass at point blank range. He rather liked his wrench though, which had odd, unexplainable properties to it, such as the fact that it was quite heavy, until telekinesis flowed along it and then it became feather-light. It was effortless to heft around. For whatever weird reason though, hitting something with it brought the full weight and force of the object to bear.

“This crate at the bottom… Vinyl, can you open it? It’s a lockbox, so surely there must be something useful in there.” Daring Do wedged herself into the narrow space so that she too, might have a better look around.

Vinyl, who was cramming boxes of ammunition into her bags, took a moment to fulfil Daring’s request. The lock, a simple mechanical one, made a muffled clunk and released. She lifted the lid, just as eager as Daring to find what was inside, and then the two of them both reacted to the emptiness they had discovered. Why lock an empty box?

When Daring groaned from disappointment, Vinyl returned to stuffing as many boxes of ammunition into her bags as equinely possible. Rainbow Dash also stuffed herself in, and the four companions were packed tight in the narrow hallway together. Vinyl, having ran out of room, began packing boxes into her companion’s bags in a reckless bid to be as well armed as possible.

When the last box was stashed away, Vinyl sighed with relief.

Author's Note

Soon: spiders.

The tomb of sensibility

The metro entrance was spiderwebby. Tarnish—who held his wrench close in much the same way Maud clung to Pebble—carefully surveyed the webs he saw. They were glittery, glowed with a faint light of their own, and there was something rather peculiar about them. Something… unnatural. Beside him, Vinyl was rearranging her many guns—all ten of them. Daring Do was still sulking, still upset, bothered by the fact that these ancient weapons from eons ago were still in fine condition.

As for Rainbow Dash, she was blowing spit bubbles to amuse herself.

“Since we’re going to be in a tunnel, we’ll face danger from at least two directions,” said Tarnish to his companions. “So, Rainbow, Daring, one of you up front, one of you in back. Put those keen ears to work. Vinyl has already muffled our hooves, so we won’t make much noise. Maybe if we’re quiet, we’ll avoid trouble altogether.”

“Keep an eye on the ceilings, too.” Daring Do cast a sidelong glance at Vinyl, and then tilted her head back to look up at Tarnish. “It’s good to see you taking charge… even if I am bothered by what is motivating you. I am fearful of what I do not understand.”

Lacking words, Tarnish nodded.

At one time, this had been a quaint little residential neighborhood, with quaint little apartments, a few quaint little store fronts, that had a tiny little police station that didn’t even have a jail. It even had easy access to the metro, a must have for any city-dweller. It was, by all accounts, an ideal place to live—except that now, it was infested with spiders, roamers, and who-knew-what.

Tarnish, druid though he was, had an almost irrational hatred of spiderkind.

Once, during a rather boring diplomatic dinner, he and Princess Celestia had slipped away for a bit of a stimulating chit-chat, and by sheer happenstance, the conversation had turned to spiders. In private, she had told him her opinion of spiders, and as he was about to enter into a spider-infested Tartarus, he could not help but think of her blunt words.

Fuck spiders, she had told him.

“Are we really going to do this?” asked Rainbow Dash, her lips still damp and darkened from her spit bubble blowing.

“Oh, we are,” replied Daring Do, whose hackles had already risen for the occasion.

“Above ground, spiders aren’t so bad. I can fly away from them.”

“But we’re currently underground, Rainbow, and we can’t fly.”

“I know,” was Rainbow’s whimpered reply.

Tossing her head about, Daring Do whinnied and then said to her companions, “Steady on.”

Standing in the doorway, Tarnish waited for his eyes to adjust to the encroaching gloom. It was dark, dusty, and cobwebby beyond belief. The first thing he saw was a magazine rack, and this caused him a dizzy sense of disorientation; the rack was very much like any other magazine rack that one might find in a bookstore, newspaper stand, or metro. This one showed signs of rust, though not very much. By now, it should have rusted and crumbled into red dust.

The magazine rack stood at the end of an island counter, a simple, solid thing made from carved stone. Trash covered the floor, old bones, webbing, old spider legs, the detritus of the ages. In the corner, there was a vending machine, its glass was broken, and it appeared empty. At one point, the world must have been a bright, wonderful place, full of marvels, and astonishing technology. But the world had fallen down a long ways, right back into neolithic primitivism, and was only now recovering.

When his eyes fell upon the descending stairs, a large lump slithered up the back of his throat.

“As a Professor of Sophontology and of Xenoglyphs, I would love to study the words on the wall, but we don’t have time. Sure, we have those glasses, but I’d like to study the words just as they are. Look at this place. It’s a time capsule. I don’t even know what language that is.”

Squinting in the near-darkness, Tarnish had himself a better look at the wall. There were letters, words, sayings, and what had once been a beautiful mural. Now, it was faded, a ghost of what once was, but the words were still legible. Curious, also a worker in academia, he pulled out the glasses, slipped them over his eyes, and then waited for the language to shift.

For his companion’s benefit, he read what he saw aloud: “Reality Fabrication: building a better tomorrow, everywhere.” Then, near the bottom of the mural, there was more. “Remember your four Cornerstones of Reality: The Lightbringer, The Dreamwalker, The Hopebringer, and The Lawbringer.”

Lips pursed, Tarnish had a good think about what he had just read.

“Imagine, you’re a worker in a foundry that produces reality. Your job is boring, and you read the paper when you commute to work every morning. At the end of the day, you come home to a rather smallish apartment and spend time with your family. Or maybe you go out to eat at that little place on corner.” Daring Do’s words dripped an uncharacteristic acerbic venom and she sneered at the mural on the wall. “I wonder if they had a union, like proper, sensible ponies.”

“Reality ain’t gonna make itself, you know—”

“Oh, shush, Rainbow.”

“Twilight’s broken reality a few times, I’m sure.” Rainbow paused, pained, and when she continued, her voice cracked a multitude of times. “She’s gotten pretty good at gluing the busted pieces together, even when they don’t fit right.”

“I’ve had reality fall apart all around me. It was unpleasant. And then, about a year later, Pebble was born. Discord tells me that she’s the scariest creature he’s ever seen. I’m kinda proud of that. I mean, Pebble makes Discord nervous.”

When Vinyl turned to stare at him, Tarnish stood his ground, resolute.

Snorting, Vinyl surrendered and turned away.

Feeling that he had delayed long enough, he tucked away the spectacles, loosened the strap that secured his shield to his back, hefted his wrench, and then made his way to the stairs. Whatever awaited below, it was time to face it. A long walk in the dark awaited them, and then a laboratory where the machines, no doubt left running, had no doubt decayed just a bit.

The prospect was terrifying.

“Flamingo…” Tarnish whispered her name and hoped that she wouldn’t be too loud. “How are you feeling?”

In response, the sword yawned and then said, “Sleepy still. I stayed up past my bedtime. I dreamt I was going into a horrible dark place with spiders. Whew, thankfully that nightmare is over. What’s for breakfast?”

There was no point in telling her, but not telling her left Tarnish feeling guilty. Flamingo was practically a foal. At the time of her death, she was a foal. But also a soldier. A seasoned soldier who no doubt knew the ways of war. She cast a warm, pink light on everything, a reassuring, comforting pink light that somehow made the darkness a little less oppressive.

“At least it’s not dark,” Flamingo babbled, cheerful even in her sleepy state. She hummed to herself for a bit, oblivious to Tarnish’s gritted teeth, and floated just ahead of the group. “When was the maid here last? If the Royal Pony Sisters saw this mess, heads would roll. You know, heads actually don’t roll very well. They’re not round. But they do bounce and wobble.”

The pegasus-sword yawned again, a sound that echoed through the tunnel, and then swooped around Tarnish’s head like the most upbeat, cheerful bat to have ever graced existence. “Who’s the wrench? He’s handsome. He doesn’t say much, does he? Hmm, the strong, silent type. Yuh!”

“Tarnish!” Daring Do hissed between clenched teeth. “Do something!”

Treasuring Flamingo’s irrepressibly good nature, he did nothing.

All manner of bones littered the tunnel, the walls were slick with oozing moisture that did little to reflect the light. Flamingo was a beacon of light, a tiny, portable pink sun that brought warmth and cheer into dark, dreadful places. After all the fighting, she deserved her rest—she deserved a bit more shut-eye than what she was given—but right now, more than ever, she was needed.

“La-dee-da-da hocus pocus… abracadaver…”

“Uh, Flamingo”—he kept his voice low, hoping that she might take a hint—“I think you meant to say abracadabra.”

She paused, midair, whirled around, and replied, “I dunno. Maybe? I heard the Night Lady singing this song once. There would have been a standing ovulation, but sadly, no one was left standing. She chopped off their heads with a bloody big axe.”

Ovulation? Tarnish, as bleak as everything was, could not contain his smirk.

“Sometimes, the Sisters fight over what is better. Axes or hammers? All that bickering. Everypony knows that swords are better.” Flamingo went silent, but only for a few precious moments, and then she resumed humming as she lead the way.

Tarnish allowed Daring Do to pull ahead, and he fell into pace just behind her. Vinyl trotted just beside him, to his left, and Rainbow Dash brought up the rear. With Flamingo setting the pace, they would make quick progress. While the three mares trotted double-time, Tarnish fell into a relaxed, leisurely stroll that might have been considered a mosey.

This was a station, of sorts, but not the station they were looking for. From the looks of things, it was a maintenance depot of sorts, a place where the trains were brought. The double track split into six lanes total, and a three car train was parked here now. It was different than the metros of Manehattan, which were boxy and had sharp edges. This was sleek, streamlined, with each section almost egg-shaped.

Not a single window survived.

The bones of some two-headed beast lay on the tracks, a ginormous monster with six legs, by the looks of it. Long, curved claws could be seen, hooked claws, some of which were broken. It appeared as though a mighty struggle had taken place, with the great beast brought down by some dreadful assailant.

A spider, or band of spiders, no doubt.

“That’s a sloth.” Daring Do hurried ahead to have a better look and added, “Well, it has two heads and six legs, but that is most certainly a sloth. The poor dear… what was it doing down here? Coming down from your tree was a mistake.”

She seemed sincerely sad, and Tarnish admired her compassion for the gentle creatures of the world. Daring Do might not be so keen on other ponies at times, but like Fluttershy, she adored animals. At least, some animals. Typically the ones not trying to eat her. When he drew close, the first thing he noticed were the deep gouges in the bones, as if it had been slashed by a sword or chopped with an axe.

“Nothing about this place makes sense,” muttered Daring Do beneath her breath.

Something about the station unsettled Tarnish, and a paranoid inner-voice suggested that he had eyes upon him—predatory eyes. Vinyl must have been feeling them as well, because she seemed skittish. Daring Do seemed to be grieving, but he doubted that it was the bones of the two-headed dead sloth that caused this outpouring of emotion. She must be shook to her core, Daring Do, and just as she had done with him, he now wondered if her judgment might be a tiny bit compromised, because she wasn’t acting like herself.

Then again, were any of them acting like themselves?

Vinyl, a practical sort who was always clear-headed, had taken to hoarding—to the point that she was almost overburdened. Even worse, he suspected that Vinyl would not communicate that there was something wrong, and as such, he would have to keep an eye on her with the hopes of avoiding any sort of downward spiral. Daring Do was growing mopier by the minute over a dead sloth. Rainbow Dash was acting a little too much like her self, which meant she was forcing it, it was an act so that she would appear cool. As for himself, well, the less said about himself, the better.

There was no running away, no slipping outside for a bit of air, no calling a timeout so that one might collect themselves. They were stuck—stuck—and all that could be done was hold it together, no matter what, at any cost. Falling apart—failure—meant never going home. Looking down at the bones, he wondered in silence; what was a giant two-headed sloth doing in these tunnels? How did it get this far? Sloths were rather slow, all things considered.

Maybe it was his imagination, but he was almost certain that he could hear something scurrying in the sea of darkness just off the coast of the island of light. Reaching out with his magic, he gave Daring Do a gentle tug to get her attention, and then, in a low whisper, he said, “We must be going.”

Looking up at him, she nodded, agreeing that it was time to go.

Author's Note

Oh yes, there will be spiders...

Nursery rhymes

Flamingo’s light seemed to struggle against the encroaching darkness—or perhaps it was a paranoid trick of the light. Tarnish’s skin crawled with the sensation of thousands of tiny, tickly spider legs; it felt as though an invisible host of arachnids swarmed over every inch of his body. His mind tormented him with all manner of terrifying, horrible scenarios, each one growing worse and worse as his imagination succumbed to fear.

Right now, he imagined that they were gathering, grouping up in the dark until they became a vast, overwhelming swarm, and then, and only then, would they strike, pouring from the darkness like a nightmarish flood onto the island of light that Flamingo provided. The floor was damp here, a symptom of the slow decay and failure of this place. Somewhere, a pump had failed and had not been replaced.

Somewhere, up ahead, the sound of water dripping could be heard, and the faint echoes had an odd distortion to them. Flamingo was quiet now, bobbing up and down near the ceiling so that her light would shine its farthest distance. Daring Do pressed ahead, perhaps, in Tarnish’s own opinion, too far ahead. She walked with her head low, her ears never stopping in their ceaseless efforts to home in on each and every sound.

“Uh, guys…”

“What is it, Rainbow?” asked Daring Do in a low, annoyed grumble.

“I’ve really gotta pinch a loaf—”

“Miss Dash—”

“No, really. I’ve been backed up and everything hurts inside and I really gotta go but I think it is going to hurt me when it finally comes out. I’m scared it’s gonna rip me open. All those dried rations are doing bad things to my guts.”

Daring Do started to say something, she drew in an incredible amount of breath, but then bit her lip and was silent. For this, Tarnish was thankful. The last thing he wanted was a squabble to break out. He couldn’t remember when he had gone last and when his time came, it would be an epic evacuation, of that there could be no doubt. He felt bad for Rainbow, because there would be no privacy, no going off for a little time alone. Upon reaching this conclusion, he also felt bad for himself, because he would have to listen.

Why, this was almost married pony territory.

“Very well.” Daring Do’s voice was now one of remarkable poise and grace. “Back up against the wall and the rest of us will form a defensive perimeter.”

“This is the worst,” mumbled Rainbow to herself. “Just the worst.”

Tarnish, who had taken the position that allowed him to face the side wall of the tunnel, did so with all of the nonchalant grace he could muster for this situation. He reminded himself this wasn’t too different than learning how to share living space with Octavia and Vinyl. There had been awkward moments aplenty, but over time, the barriers between them diminished. Friendship was the great equaliser, and contrary to what many other ponies said and or believed, they were all friends. Just really close friends with shared living arrangements. Who tended to sleep in the same bed.

The best of friends, really.

As the sound of running water flowed behind him, he thought of Maud and Octavia. Were they in bed together now? Cuddled up with Pebble? Maybe talking about the future? Or maybe Octavia was composing, scribing musical notes to crisp, perfect sheets of parchment. Those were happy moments, when the house was quiet, save for the sound of Octavia’s pen scratching against parchment, and they were all given to study in those moments.

So lost in thought was Tarnish that he was quite startled by Flamingo saying, “Oh no.”

He turned his head just in time to see several spiders step out of the darkness and into the light. Most of them were quite small, all things considered, with grapefruit-sized bodies. But one… one of them was the size of a very large turkey. Why a turkey? It was, at the moment, Tarnish’s only working frame of reference that came to mind as he hefted his wrench overhead.

As more spiders revealed themselves, several wet, heavy plops could be heard, as well as a fearful moan of relief from Rainbow Dash—whom, it seemed, could not stop going now. The fear response for equines was quite powerful—the old drop and go—but at the moment the rainbow-maned pegasus was too busy dropping to be going.

“Spiders,” said Flamingo as she began to float in circles, panicked. “Spiders have come to watch Rainbow Dash poop.”

“If I write a book about this”—Daring Do dropped into a defensive crouch—“and if I include this part, both my editor and my publisher will be quite cross with me. They’ll accuse me of selling out and using potty-humour to sell more books to foals.”

Tarnish, whose emotions now churned like a seething caldera, felt like saying, “No.”

It was a strong, powerful urge. His temper was a raging fire within, fueled by grief, rage, frustration, and his desire to be back home with friends and family. And for the spiders to come now of all moments, when his friend was at her most vulnerable—that was just unacceptable. Red spots danced in his vision, muscles convulsed in his neck, and the urge to shout out his denial of everything was now overwhelming.

He thought of Pebble, of the tiny nursery they had made, with stuffed toys, soft, pleasant things, and books. So many books, because a love of reading started young. As he ground his teeth together, his muscles bunching, and the red spots bouncing around in his vision, Tarnish neared his breaking point. This was unfair and he wanted nothing more than to deny it, to shout it down at the top of his lungs.

On the verge of his breaking point, he lunged into battle, throwing himself at the forward advance, and he began to sing as a last ditch effort of sorts to hold on to his sanity. Fearing that Daring Do and the others would be upset if he lost himself, he focused with song, the sorts of songs that he hoped he would sing to Pebble one day—but first he had to survive this.

“THE ITSY BITSY SPIDER—” His bellowed cries echoed up and down the tunnel, and when the word ‘spider’ was said, he brought his wrench down in a violent overhead chop that smooshed a grapefruit-sized spider flat, popping it like a bulbous, overflowing pimple. The sound of the centaur steel wrench striking stone rang out like a clarion bell and rebounded up and down the tunnels.

“—CLIMBED UP THE WATERSPOUT!” This time, as the word ‘waterspout’ was said, he swung his wrench like a golf club and the turkey-sized spider bore the full brunt of it. With a rather wet sounding splat, it went sailing off in a spectacular arc, flying back into the darkness from whence it came, its hairy legs wiggling as if to say goodbye.

Other spiders came into the light, but Tarnish was prepared for them, and he sang his gruesome nursery rhyme.

“DOWN CAME THE RAIN—” This came out as a half-scream, half-bellow, his voice tearing and cracking mid-sentence. Angling his head low, he released a terrific cloud of steam that scalded the spiders, withering them, cooking the antagonising arthropods inside of their chitinous husks. “—AND WASHED THE SPIDERS OUT!”

By sheer happenstance, Vinyl joined in for the impromptu musical song and dance number, and when Tarnish shouted, “OUT CAME THE SUN!” she released a multitude of fireballs, which went shooting off in multiple directions, filling the tunnel with warmth and light.

Now, the spiders, ablaze, carried light with them as they retreated into darkness.

“AND DRIED UP ALL THE RAIN!” Tarnish screamed at the top of his lungs while waving his wrench about. “AND IF THE ITSY BITSY SPIDERS KNOW WHAT’S GOOD FOR THEM, THEY WON’T BE CLIMBING UP THE WATERSPOUT AGAIN!”

Standing amidst a cloud of smokey stench, the foul smell of burning hair and spider tickling his nostrils, Tarnish was defiant, his barrel heaving up and down as he gulped in air to clear his battle fogged head. He wasn’t done here—there were spiders to kill, to exterminate, to purge—but he dared not chase them into the darkness.

In the dreadful quiet aftermath that followed, all that could be heard was the soft rustle of spider legs making a hasty withdrawal into the darkness. Would they come back? That seemed likely, but that was okay, because Tarnish had lots of other nursery rhymes to help him hold onto his precious, fragile sanity.

“Mister Teapot…” Daring Do kept her distance as she spoke. “Are you with us? Are you okay?”

His barrel still heaving, he croaked out a response: “Yes.”

“It’s hard to tell, with you singing,” she said to him, her words soft and submissive.

“I sang so I wouldn’t lose myself again,” he told her, his every word ragged and cracking.

“Oh.” This was a soft gasp more than it was a word. “Well, if that helps, then by all means, you sing if it helps you hold on to yourself. We need you, Tarnish. Out of all of us, you are the one most capable of violence, so it seems.” Then, after a moment’s pause, she added, “Would you like a drink of water?”

“I would very much like a drink of water.” Tarnish could feel his usual polite nature returning, his scholarly, gentle, thoughtful nature that was still being cultivated by those who loved him most. Retrieving his canteen, he had himself a drink while Flamingo flew circles around his head.

“Everything,” began Rainbow Dash, “just came right out. When Tarnish smashed that spider, that was gross. I feel kinda queasy.”

Tarnish’s ears were ringing now, so much to the point that he could hear very little. He couldn’t hear if danger was coming, or going, which left him in an anxious state. As he sipped from his canteen, his ears, rigid as steel struts, pivoted about in a desperate search for sound. Every muscle all over his body twitched, his heart was thumping quadruple time, and he could feel the blood squirting through the tightened vessels in his neck.

“We should press on.” Daring Do peered down the tunnel in the direction they had to go, which had a considerable curve to it. “Unless of course, somepony else has to go.”

With a sheepish smirk, Vinyl raised her hoof.

The sight of the station caused Tarnish to sigh with relief, but then he remembered that the spiders also infested the stations as well as the tunnels. This appeared to be quite a large station, with access on both sides of the tracks. A part of him wondered what might be found beyond the entrances—just what did this immense station serve? The previous station was small, tiny compared to this one. In the dim light ahead, he saw the tracks veer off in two directions, and this presented a problem, as he wasn’t sure which way to go.

Whatever was guiding him failed to mention if he should go right or left.

A fight seemed to have taken place here. Ancient scorch marks could be seen on the stone pillars, the floor, and the walls. In some places, the stone had melted completely, and was left rippled, blemished for all of history. Vinyl moved to one of these places, lowered her head, and her horn glowed with a light that dazzled Tarnish’s eyes.

There were webs here—so many webs.

“What’s that?” Her primaries extended, Rainbow Dash pointed at a dessicated corpse on the floor.

Lips pressed tight, Daring Do went over to investigate. Tarnish, a helpful sort, moved over as well, and Flamingo followed, bringing her light. Daring was quite focused, and even went as far as to disturb some of the webbing by poking it with her hoof. When she did so, Tarnish felt electric chills flow along his backbone, and he feared what might sense the webbing being disturbed.

“That’s a goblin, I think. I don’t think somepony would sneak in here and assemble random bones together on a lark.”

“A goblin?” Rainbow Dash’s head tilted off to one side. “Like in Ogres and Oubliettes?”

In response, Daring Do said nothing, but continued her cautious, careful study.

“Yeah,” said Tarnish, while he kept an eye on Vinyl, who was studying the floor. “That’s a goblin. Daring and I, we had… we had, well, I guess you could call it an encounter with goblins.”

“You began tossing them into an industrial mineral grinder—”

“They shot you with poison darts and were planning to cook you!” he snapped, not wanting to argue about this, not now, not with all the tension still making his muscles tight.

“Well, they are only goblins. I suppose it isn’t so bad. Tarnish and I, we got called to a mining site where somepony found something—which I can’t tell you what it was. But we were called there, and we were establishing ourselves a bit of a dig, when a gaggle of goblins showed up and decided to make the mines their new home. Tarnish and I, it seemed, were to be their dinner guests.”

Tarnish could scarcely believe his ears; there was a warm, affectionate tone to be heard in Daring’s voice, and he was so taken off guard by it that he could not help but relax just a bit. Taking a deep breath, he tried to focus on calming down a bit, with the hopes of getting his muscles to unkink.

“For reasons unknown, Tarnish was largely immune to whatever poison the goblins used in their blowguns. He looked like a porcupine when he rescued me. He was covered in darts from ear to hoof. From what I understand, the mining company had to scrap their mineral grinder… no matter what they did, the horrible smell just wouldn’t wash out. Tarnish tossed goblins in there by the hundreds and a flood of goblin paste filled the mining camp. He was just so eager to protect me and to leave a good impression.”

The kind words left him bashful, and he shuffled on his hooves, at a loss for words.

“Hey,” Flamingo said, her words a frantic whisper, “do you hear that?”

Author's Note

Oh no, what now?

Vinyl's rave in a cave

Vinyl Scratch’s magic sense alerted her to danger; or, rather, it could be said that her lack of magic sense warned her that something was wrong. She felt a magical deadzone approaching, a moving spot of magical nullification where her innate magic sense could feel nothing. This was quite alarming, but she didn’t have time to pull out her slate and warn the others. Ears pricking, she heard the sound of metal against stone.

She was well-armed. The needler pistols were all in fine working order somehow, she had an abundance of ammunition, and being well-rested, she had peak magical reserves. With the spiders come to party, it was time to throw a rave in a cave. Already, a swarm of tiny spiders could be seen emerging from the primordial darkness, but Vinyl knew that much larger spiders were coming. Sword spiders, by the sound of metal against stone, and something worse, something that nullified magic.

Tarnish and the others wouldn’t last long against a swarm of sword spiders. The slashing, stabbing legs would shred them into hash. Sword spiders required surgical precision; you had to remove their legs. She had the means and the methods and she hoped that Tarnish would catch on quick so that the nullifiers, in whatever form they took, could be dealt with.

It was time to set the mood. Bringing her magic to bear, she cast fireball once, then followed it up with a forcewave ripple that would slow the advancing horde, at least the ones who survived the fireball. She then made a decision that she hoped she would not come to regret; she cast a Hurry-Flurry spell on Tarnish, a spell that would increase his movement speed, his reflexes, and his ability to react. However, this would also leave him feeling fatigued once it wore off.

But while it lasted, Tarnish would be a dervish of destruction.

Vinyl’s fireball lit up the tunnel with a flash of light and then the explosion filled the tunnel with smoke. The pre-battle jitters were strong; Tarnish felt every nerve in his body was like a live telegraph wire that sent a message to his muscles that it was time to fight. He felt faster, stronger, and more capable.

“Flamingo, stay close. We need your light to hold the darkness at bay.”

“Sure thing, I can do that,” the sword replied. “Where does the dark go?”

“It runs away from Tarnish, if it knows what’s good for it!” Daring Do’s flippant remark, while out of character, was appreciated.

Tarnish felt his confidence grow tenfold.

Hefting his wrench and shield, he made ready to throw himself into the teeming horde, but was held back by Vinyl’s magic. She had hold of his tail—a sure means to get his attention—and he tried to figure out what she was up to. Another fireball was lobbed; no, not a fireball as Tarnish expected, but some kind of flame curtain spell that went from floor to ceiling in the tunnel. Anything passing through would be burned, horribly and terribly so.

A writhing wave of spiders spilled through the curtain of flame, penetrating Vinyl’s fiery defenses. Some were set ablaze, while others stepped on or stepped over those who failed to survive the flames. Hairy, wriggling bodies ignited, which filled the tunnel with the stench of burning hair, and some of the spiders set their fellow spider-kin ablaze as they skittered about. It was disconcerting that this merely slowed their advance, but did nothing to dissuade them.

“If necessary, we’ll retreat and go topside through the station.” The calm in Daring Do’s voice showed signs of strain, if not outright cracking, but she was holding it together. “Look, more are coming to our left. Steady! Remain steadfast! Stiff upper lip!”

Then, the very thing of Tarnish’s worst nightmares emerged from the smoke and flames. The ding-ding-ding of metal against stone could be heard as the sword spiders entered the fray. Organic-steel legs formed natural blades and these spiders ambulated about on terrifying swords that chipped the stone.

Still held in place, Tarnish grimaced when Vinyl vanished.

Vinyl was throwing a rave. Tarnish watched as she blinked in and out of existence, releasing fiery novas of flame with each brief blink. He could see her silhouette in the flashing, strobing lights and the smokey haze born of burning spiders. She would come into view for but a second, bring her guns to bear, and blast the legs right off of the sword spiders, neutralising the terrific tanks of the swarming spider menace.

Of course Tarnish worried about Vinyl, but for the moment at least, she was in her element, doing what she did best. But she would be weary after this, she would need rest, and probably lots of food. Which would be an issue, because there was no longer a way to return to their camp so they could resupply.

The corners of his mouth crinkling, Tarnished Teapot frowned.

She blinked and winked from place to place, blasting off legs, releasing fiery pyrokinetic blasts that scorched the tiny swarmers, she whittled down their ranks and slowed their advance. Flashes of orange, red, yellow, and white illuminated the haze and Tarnish could imagine the music that would accompany such a scene.

One by one, the sword spiders, the most dangerous foes that posed the worst threat to them, were laid low by Vinyl’s showy rave-in-a-cave-tactics. But Tarnish somehow knew this was just the first wave, and that more were coming. Something worse lurked on the very edges of his perception, something foul. The very fact that these spiders were organised and worked as a group was a clear indicator of something wrong—something unnatural.

Surely, Vinyl had felt it first, but Tarnish felt it now. An abomination approached and the very wrongness of it caused his blood to curdle in his veins. Vinyl was clearing out the trash and Tarnish knew that dealing with the abomination would fall on him. Gritting his teeth, he prepared himself by thinking about those he loved, those at home, and those right here with him that were counting on him to do his thing—that is to say, bash the abomination into oblivion with a bloody big wrench.

Spurting ichor was obscured by the smoke and looked more like festive party streamers launched for celebratory glee. Dismembered bits and severed limbs tumbled to the ground as Vinyl made her rounds, and the clever mare never stayed in any one spot for longer than an eyeblink. She worked at strobelight speeds and never gave the enemy a single second to recover, to organise against her.

Vinyl Scratch was a perfect example of why unicorns won wars.

“This is kinda awesome!”

“Yeah, Rainbow, it rather is.”

“Hey, Daring, will this go into your book?”

“How could I possibly describe this in a book?”

“You’ll figure something out. Because, hey, you’re awesome too, in your own way. Just not as awesome as Vinyl at the moment.”

“Why thank you, Miss Dash.”

Daring Do’s sardonic deadpan lightened Tarnish’s mood—just a smidge—and helped to take some of the edge off. As a group, they really did specialise in witty banter and the books reflected that to some degree. Tarnish, watchful, saw that some of the spiders were getting closer now, the rare survivors of Vinyl’s onslaught.

When a melon-sized spider drew a little too close, he scalded it with steam.

Then, just as suddenly as she had vanished, Vinyl was beside him again. She was grinning, foolishly so, the sort of reckless, feckless smirk that would set Octavia off on a lecture. Heaving a soft sigh, he missed Octavia’s lectures, and wondered if Vinyl did too. Octavia had a way of setting a pony straight and this made it easier to be good, because good was a struggle sometimes. The stern earth pony had a way of inspiring one to be better, to do better, to fight against one’s own base instincts and be a pony of exceptional quality.

The first of the behemoths came into view and the mere sight of it left him queasy. His vision blurred, as if he was viewing the world through greasy glass, and as it drew nearer, Tarnish felt weaker. The bloated, misshapen body was pale—a creature that had never seen true sunlight—and bizarre crystalline growths protruded from its bulbous, wrinkled abdomen.

Where it went, the fire died, and Tarnish understood why Vinyl had retreated.

Knowledge percolated through the folds and creases of his grey matter, strange knowledge. This was a null-spider, a creature that weakened magic around it. It’s purpose was as a repair drone and a janitor, something that could go into magical hot zones and perform clean up in the event of an accident or an unexpected scientific success.

Those happened a lot, here in Skyreach.

Tarnish also knew that his talent, his unique magic, would protect him. He and the null-spider would cancel each other out in weird, unfathomable ways. Within the null radius, he would become a perfectly normal pony who wasn’t afflicted with a magical anomaly, while the null-spider’s nullification would no longer cause magic to falter.

More of the behemoths were coming. They were huge, the size of a buffalo or larger. Raising his wrench, Tarnish knew what had to be done, and that he had to be the one to do it. Ponies were magical creatures, and as such, susceptible to variances in magic. It was a terrible weakness for his species, and Tarnish had seen with his own eyes what happened to ponies when magic went from one extreme to another.

He thought of Snowy Summit.

Howling, Tarnish launched himself into battle.

Vinyl Scratch watched in horror as Tarnish’s wrench connected with the spider’s glowing, pink-white eyes and was sprayed with streams of greyish ichor. The crunch of spider-chitin echoed weirdly through the tunnels and Vinyl had a horrible, terrible, most disturbing thought that she wished that she could scrub from her brain; did Tarnish just get spider-goo in his mouth?

She was distracted from her morbid fascination by a meaty splat. Tarnish’s shield smacked away spider legs seeking to club him and then he brought his wrench to bear, spearing a spider right in the chelicerae with the business end of the centaur steel monkey wrench. Vinyl cringed, her teeth bared, and from beside her, she could hear Daring Do gagging while Rainbow Dash cheered Tarnish on.

“Yeah! Give that spider what for! Go for the face! The face!”

The sounds were the worst part, as they echoed in unnatural ways, amplifying the horror-factor by a magnitude. Tarnish was holding his own against six of the nullifying behemoths and Vinyl was left wondering how me he might come out of this. Like herself, he would need time to recover, but time was not something they had. They were trapped, with finite supplies, in a place that was utterly hostile towards them.

“Behind you!”

Tarnish swung the wrench in a circle around him, sweeping his enemies back, and tearing off a few legs with blunt-force trauma. More steaming, streaming ichor drenched Tarnish, who was now more a glistening grey than chocolate brown. Severed legs kicked and wriggled, thrashing on the ground, and the first of the behemoths was laid low when Tarnish used the hard edge of his shield to sever the spider’s abdomen.

The stone floor became an ice skating rink that Tarnish struggled to stand on, but so too, did the spiders. Slick slime spread, oozing, making movement treacherous. But Tarnish, the improvisational wizard that he was, used this to his advantage. He slid about, a creature of marvellous balance, and somehow kept out of harm’s way while the spiders skittered all around him. All those dancing lessons paid off and Vinyl knew that if Maud was here to see this, she’d be proud.

“HICKORY, DICKORY, DOCK!” Tarnish bellowed as he cleaved downwards with the edge of his shield. It sheared off a leg and the spider was left off-balance. When it slipped in the slime, Tarnish used his shield to cave in the spider’s face while forcing the others back with a broad swing of his wrench.

“THE MOUSE RAN UP THE CLOCK!” A grotesque crunch could be heard when Tarnish’s wrench shattered a spider’s crystalline growths. Motes of energy went zooming off, each of them surrounded in a weird, glowing darkness, a blackness with its own impossible illumination, a sort of purple-green hue that made the eyes water when observed.

“THE CLOCK STRUCK ONE!”

In time with Tarnish’s rhyme, the centaur steel wrench impacted a spider, right where all of the legs connected to the body, and the force of the blow tore the abomination right in two. A shower of gore erupted and to Vinyl’s ears, it sounded like somepony who had partied a bit too hard and was now blowing chunks. The sheer wetness of the sound, the way the splattering suggested more than a hint of solid chunkiness—but Vinyl had no to time react because…

“THE MOUSE RAN DOWN!”

Another spider met a gruesome fate; it’s giant, distended abdomen was popped like a festering boil and sent curlicues of spider-innards spewing every which direction. Alas, poor Tarnish appeared as though he was festooned in ribbons and streamers, and Vinyl pitied him. He was going to be in quite a mood after this, and she wondered how she might comfort him.

“HICKORY!”

A spider was smacked with Tarnish’s shield, it stumbled into another spider, and both of them toppled over. Wiggly legs were cleaved away with dull-force trauma as Tarnish chopped at them with his shield, all while clubbing the null-spider that had tried to sneak up behind him with his wrench.

“DICKORY!”

It was over now, and it was mop up time. The spiders were done for, finished. Like everything else that had ever picked a fight with Tarnished Teapot, the spiders had learned a harsh lesson; don’t pick a fight with Mister Teapot. With a high overhead chop, Tarnish brought the wrench down upon the prone spider and it collided with terrific force. Blunt though it was, the wrench tore clean through the spider and struck stone, which shattered from the incredible impact.

“DOCK!”

Author's Note

They do call him 'Spider's Bane' for a reason...

The guts to keep going

Somewhat disgusted, but thoroughly impressed, Vinyl Scratch remembered the words of Helianthus. Tarnish’s magic and null-magic came from the same source. Just as she had predicted, the Hurry-Flurry spell had persisted, allowing Tarnish to make short work of the null-spiders. This was the sort of win that he needed, the overwhelming beatdown that Tarnish required to nurse his fragile ego made of glass. She watched as he moved among the writhing, wriggling masses and put anything still twitching out of its misery.

Tarnish had passed through the doorway and into the chamber of petrified nullwood with no ill-effects. Vinyl’s thoughts darkened, as the memory of the Crown of Corruption was a bleak time. She had become the Herald of Selene, Tarnish the Heliophant, and the four of them were drawn together in some weird way that she still did not fully understand. Weird magic was at work, magic that was far too mysterious in origin to comprehend.

“Tarnish… are you okay?” asked Daring Do.

“I feel great,” he replied, “like I could take on hundreds of spiders. There’s some pep in my step. Must've slept well.”

“Well, you certainly gave those horrors what for.” Daring’s lip curled back in disgust and her nostrils flared wide as she shook her head from side to side. “Did you… did you get it in your mouth?”

“Yeah.” Tarnished heaved out the word as if he was sighing, as if saying so took some great act of physical exertion. The wrench came down upon a legless sword spider, smashing it flat, and he turned to look at them as entrails went spraying in all directions. “I’m not sure if I’ll ever feel clean again. It’s not just slimey, it’s also a bit gritty, as if the goo was full of sand.”

Rainbow Dash made an odd ‘glurk’ sound deep within her throat and then looked away.

“What a mess.” Flamingo flew over and swooped around Tarnish’s head, bathing the ghastly scene in a cheerful pink light that somehow made the sight of it even worse.

With each step, Tarnish’s hooves made wet, squelchy noises, and moist crunches could be heard. As another legless sword spider was smooshed, Tarnish almost lost his balance, slipped, and fell. Vinyl had a rather morbid thought, and that was that if he did fall, it couldn’t be made worse. He was already covered from hoof to ear in spider viscera.

“I think… I think I need a hug,” he said as he shook stringy ribbons of spider entrails from his wrench.

Rainbow’s ears pinned back, and both she and Daring Do grimaced in disgust together, at the same time. Both mares shook their heads and Vinyl couldn’t help herself; as bleak as everything was, she smiled. Tarnish knew exactly what he was doing—this was his way of letting them know that he had held on to himself through the conflict. He had himself a bit of black humour about him; Maud treasured it, she even contributed; it gave Octavia something to complain about; and as for Vinyl, it was the perfect way to make a bad situation better.

“Really, I’m having a bad day… I think I need a hug.”

“You need quarantine, followed by a thorough scrubbing,” deadpanned Daring Do. “Stay back, I’m warning you. I’m not messing around.”

“What do we do?” Cringing mightily, Rainbow Dash retreated behind Daring Do and kept one wary eye on Tarnish. “It feels wrong to keep going down the tunnel with Tarnish like this. I want out of these tunnels. I want out of this place. I want to fly again.”

“I think Rainbow needs a hug—”

“Maybe I do, but not from you, Big Guy. Sorry.”

It was then that Tarnish slipped in a puddle of spider guts—he ran in place for what felt like a full second or so first, his hooves finding no traction—and he tumbled to the floor with a spine-shuddering splash. To his credit, both his wrench and his shield remained aloft, his concentration remained unbroken.

Vinyl was impressed with how far he’d come.

Tarnish squinted as he stepped out of the metro station and into the bright, artificial sunlight. Try as he might, he could not recall a memory of this place and everything beyond the metro station doorway was unknown. As his vision adjusted, he saw a dump, a festering trash heap of ruination that was nothing like the residential sector they had departed from.

Twisted, knobby, gnarled trees could be seen. They looked like monstrous skeletal hands reaching out from a grave. A ruined, collapsed building was just a few yards away. The road was all shattered, busted, and parts of it were rippled, as if it had melted and then become solid again. He spotted more fallen buildings, some of them quite large, none of which had survived.

The trees were the only survivors, but they had been twisted, mutated beyond recognition.

Daring Do went left, Rainbow Dash went right, and Vinyl stayed just behind him. Tarnish’s senses strained, trying to see, hear, and smell danger. It smelled awful here, and the stench was such that it could be smelt over the funk of spider goo. Behind him, the outer wall and doorway of the metro station was barely even standing.

Then, without sense or reason, Tarnish knew where they were. The knowledge trickled into his conscious thoughts a little at a time, and he had the weird sense that he had been here before, that he had stood in this spot at a time when everything was new, was beautiful. He had stood here before the cataclysm, before the collapse of harmony. Somehow, Tarnish had stood in this very spot and passed through this very doorway back when everything was perfect.

“This is Pearwood Station,” he said to his companions.

“Sounds like a lovely suburb,” was Daring Do’s coldly sarcastic response. “Just the sort of place to move to and raise a family.”

“This is an oxygenation station.” His eyes narrowed as his head swung from left to right. “The trees were modified and specialised to work as air filtration. This is one of the many places where oxygen comes from. But the trees are sick now. Skyreach’s lungs have grown cancerous.” Shaking his head, he sighed. “There’s a residential complex and an artisanal complex here.

Other thoughts and memories came bubbling up to the surface, and he murmured them aloud as they happened. “Generational ships… vast… airships that traveled through the vacuum beyond the sky. Ships made of hollowed-out planets, whose passengers were not aware that they were spacefarers. The illusion of life as it once was to sustain them as the planet was towed to a new sun… a new star… so that life could start anew. The trees were leftovers from a time almost forgotten, and the centaurs had to reverse engineer them so they could understand them. They then worked to make them better. To make improvements upon the original design.”

“Tarnish… what are you talking about?” asked Daring Do.

“I… I’m sorry, I don’t know.” He blinked and gave himself a cautious shake to clear his head.

What happened next happened so fast that Tarnish couldn’t keep up with it. Something dropped down from up above and moved with such alacrity that he couldn’t possibly react in time. Rainbow Dash moved like a blur—she really did move at super-equine speeds that seemed impossible—and everything that followed happened so quickly that his eyes couldn’t register it, but his ears did.

Standing bipedal, Rainbow Dash kicked out one hind leg three times, each time moving faster than the eye could follow. It collided with something hulking and greyish-brown. The sound of bones shattering could be heard, each of them overlapping with one another. Then, still moving faster than the equine eye could register, Rainbow twisted off a devastating roundhouse kick. There was a thunderous crack—one wondered if Rainbow Dash’s hoof broke the sound barrier—followed by a violent eruption of meat, brain, bone, and eyeballs.

Avoiding the fine mist of gore, Rainbow cartwheeled out of the way and came to rest on all fours. She wasn’t even breathing hard; in fact, this appeared as though it hadn’t been taxing at all. The rainbow-maned pegasus was completely unruffled as the roamer’s body crumpled to the floor. Tarnish, frozen this whole time, stood slack-jawed, wide-eyed with shock, surprise, and was absolutely horrified as the bright scarlet mist washed over him.

A sizeable chunk of roamer jawbone struck Tarnish on the chin and snapped him from his daze.

“What the fuck?” he managed to say as fresh blood congealed with spider goo all over his face.

“I feel that is justified in this situation.” Daring Do, looking somewhat ruffled, took a moment to collect herself. “That bright red and glistening grey looks rather garish. We really need to get Mister Teapot cleaned up, or I fear I shall be sick.”

“What the fuck just happened?” he said again, repeating himself.

“Roamer ambush.” Rainbow Dash reached out her right front hoof and pointed at the twitching, convulsing, headless corpse. “I heard a sound like suction cups being pulled from glass and there it was, getting the drop on Tarnish.”

“It’s in my mouth.” Tarnish spat out gobbets of coppery, acrid blood. “Everything keeps going into my mouth. Ugh!”

Then, almost in unison, each of the companions looked up to see if anything was looking down at them. Tarnish, whose eyes were burning from the gross liquids seeping into them, had trouble seeing anything at all, but he trusted in the eyes of his companions. He felt slow now, lethargic, as if he needed a rest. Just a while ago, he felt energised and peppy. He almost wanted to yawn, but held it in.

“Let’s find a place to hole up so Tarnish can conjure up the water he needs to get clean. If, if he can get clean, that is.” Daring Do gestured at Rainbow Dash. “You, up front. I’ll bring up the rear. Let’s move.”

As luck would have it, they found a decorative lobby of some kind in a mostly ruined building. Being a decorative lobby, there was the remains of a fountain. The upper parts were destroyed and scattered all over the floor, but the lowest part, the basin, was still mostly intact—and bone dry. But not for long. Tarnish was quite capable of summoning a tremendous amount of water, provided that there was a source he could tap into.

Vinyl’s hooves clicked on the cracked, ruined tile floor as she investigated what might have once been a desk, or some kind of reception area, perhaps. Most of it was gone, smashed into rubble, and very little of it remained standing, only a narrow section of marble countertop. She stopped, staring, and a second later, she held part of an equine skull aloft.

When the mute mare picked up a crystalline rod that had a faint blue glow, a voice from the past could be heard by all.

“—Bugbear and the others got sucked through the portal and into the world of the naked, hairless apes. I told them not to mess with the Director. I told them! Now there’s a whole lot less of us to deal with Spear Breaker’s chosen favoured and those mad unicorns. Coming here was a mistake. I wish I had flown south with my sister and her flock. Becoming a soldier was a mistake. Spear Breaker has doomed us all. Now I’m spending the last moments of my life talking to a glowy crystal. Nothing makes sense anymore. Bugbear was my brother-in-arms, and I shall miss him, stupid churl though he was. I wish—”

The crystal crumbled, as they tended to do, and whatever message was left unsaid would remain unheard. Tarnish, solemn, understood the sense of regret in the message. What might have been, what could have been, these were the sorts of things one thought about when all alone in times of trouble.

“The pegasi turned on one another.” Rainbow’s ears fell even as she spoke and her eyes turned sad. She shuffled in place, her expression angry, but the sadness in her eyes was all that Tarnish could see. “We have a bad history of doing that. Turning on one another. The bloodiest wars in history have been pegasus ponies fighting one another.”

“Buck up, Rainbow—”

“No.” Snorting, Rainbow tossed her head around and stomped her hoof. “We’re our own worst enemy. I can’t stand it. Everything is getting to me. Twilight. The trip through the tunnel. Being stuck here. That roamer. Hearing that.” She pointed in Vinyl’s direction. “This whole place… Skyreach… what did we pegasus ponies do to the world?”

“Rainbow, pegasus ponies didn’t build Skyreach—”

“Daring, that doesn’t matter. We came here and disturbed something we shouldn’t have.” Dejected, Rainbow sat down and in doing so, caused a huge cloud of dust to rise around her. “I’m the Element of Loyalty and a pegasus pony. A pony of the Pegasus Tribe. And here I am, facing off against the ghosts of our past. It feels like I’m being made to answer for all the horrible things we’ve done, and it doesn’t feel very fair.”

Daring Do, her face contorted in pain, went over and sat down beside Rainbow. She stuck out her right wing, wrapped it around the blue pegasus, and then leaned up against her. “I want to say I understand, but I’m not sure that I do. Being the Element of Loyalty must be tough.”

Rainbow Dash, observant even in her state of distress, pointed at Tarnish and said, “Your gemstone is turning dark. Drink some tea, Big Guy.”

Author's Note

:pinkiesick: - No hugs!

Beneath Celestia's watchful eye

This metro station was not like the others. It was no mere commercial or residential transportation hub. There was no sign of any magazine racks, or counters for transactions, or anything that one might find in a typical metro station. No, this was a place of purpose, a destination for a select few. Everything here was made of cool blue steel, and almost all of it was in rather good condition, save for the door that had blown right off of its hinges.

Hoofprints could be seen in the dust.

A massive statue dominated the room, an alicorn that Tarnish immediately recognised. It was Princess Celestia in all of her glory, wearing heavy articulated armor. When Tarnish moved closer to have a better look, he saw that the dust on Celestia’s helmet had been disturbed, as if somepony had touched it. With all of the danger, darkness, and direness, this was touching, and as he stood staring at it, a hard lump got caught in the back of his throat.

Rainbow Dash must have noticed as well, because she now stood looking at it.

“You’re bleeding,” Daring Do said to Tarnish. “The bandage on your leg is spotty, Tarnish. I feel bad. We haven’t been taking very good care of you. You are carrying way to much gear and you’ve done so without complaint. I’m not even certain how you go into battle, encumbered as you are. You’ve just been picking up things a little at a time and stuffing them into your saddlebags.” She turned to face her fellow pegasus and added, “Rainbow, you and I are much, much stronger than Tarnish. We have an obligation to do better.”

“But I have no more room.” Rainbow’s whiny tone caused Daring Do’s ears to pivot forwards. She cringed, but did not turn away from Daring. “Maybe we could rig something up with some straps and a blanket, or something.”

Vinyl, still clinging to Tarnish’s neck, began sniffling a bit, which was perhaps a sign that she was pulling herself together. Tarnish watched as his two pegasus companions shared some manner of unspoken communication with one another, a language of ruffled feathers, pricked ears, and facial expressions.

Then, tilting his head, Tarnish could not help but get the feeling that Princess Celestia’s statue was watching him. Normally, he would dismiss this as hooey, but this was Skyreach, and there had been problematic statues in his recent past. Wickering, he took a step back, chuffing as he did so, and then let out a rather coltish whinny that left him feeling embarrassed.

“Tarnish, what’s wrong?” Daring Do asked.

“This statue, that’s what wrong.”

Daring Do’s hackles suffered an immediate reaction and she too, moved a step away. “If it makes so much as a creak, you give it a good whack with that wrench. That’s an order.”

“Yeah, we don’t want a repeat of the Collie Ma statue incident.” Rainbow Dash was now in a defensive crouch. “Those fingers”—the rainbow maned pegasus shook her head while whimpering—“I was almost statutory raped.”

“Rainbow…” Daring Do groaned out her fellow pegasus’ name and winced, visibly in pain. “That’s appalling. Apologise right now.”

“Never.” Defiant, Rainbow stood her ground. “That statue is watching me.”

“No, it’s watching me.” Tarnish took another step backwards and then sidestepped to the left. “At least it doesn’t have fingers.”

Rolling her eyes, Daring Do unfurled her wings while huffing from exasperation.

Sentenced to guard duty, Rainbow Dash patrolled between the two doors, one leading up, and one leading down. The door leading up was a relatively normal door, made of steel, and it had been opened. As for the door leading down, it was more like a vault door, and it had been torn from its hinges. Rainbow said nothing about being assigned guard duty, and she did it in much the same way she did everything else: with as much swagger as the lithe little mare could muster.

Daring Do was rummaging around in their packs, trying to shuffle around and organise gear. She seemed irritated, out of sorts, and there could be hundreds of reasons as to why. Tarnish chalked it up to Skyreach being the cause, and that worked. That was good enough for him. While she poked her head down into his saddlebags, he tended to the bite on his leg.

It wasn’t too bad, the bite. Of course, it looked much worse than it was, and all of his walking and excessive movement wasn’t helping. He wouldn’t need to stitch it, but he would need to be a bit more careful, if that were somehow possible. Out of sorts, he cast a sidelong wary glance at the statue of Princess Celestia, not liking it one bit. Princess Celestia was supposed to be a comforting sight, reassuring. This one? Not so much.

Quite without warning, Vinyl held up her slate right in front of his face, and he was stuck looking at the words she had scribbled in chalk.

I cast a spell on you to make you better at combat. It might have made you more fatigued than I expected. I’m sorry. So sorry.

Deep furrows appeared in his brow, and Tarnish pushed the slate aside with his hoof so that he might have a better look at his mute companion. She looked guilty. Pained. Out of sorts. Exhausted from using so much magic. Before he had a chance to say anything, she wiped her slate clean and began hastily scratching out more words.

I wanted you to feel good but now I feel bad and nothing feels right.

Reaching out with his magic, he pulled Vinyl closer. She resisted, of course, but he continued his persistent, gentle tug until she relented and slid across the steel floor. He slipped one long foreleg around her, pulled her as close as he dared, and then did his best to avoid thinking about sexy, racy thoughts.

Of course, he failed, but he didn’t let his awkward feelings ruin the much-needed hug.

He clung to her, needing her in some mental way that was far, far worse than his body’s own physical needs. She squirmed a bit, struggling, but then she relented and went still. Holding her, he took slow, measured breaths, while the back of his mind tortured him by making him wonder just how smelly he might be.

“You know, friendship like yours gives me hope.” Daring Do paused for a time, thoughtful, and when she continued, she was misty-eyed. “Hope in general, I mean. Not just hope of getting out of here. Though, I suppose I have hope for that too. For a long time, I didn’t have this hope. I fear I became jaded, cynical, bitter, and pessimistic. I suppose I didn’t know how much I needed friends.” With a turn of her head, she cast her eyes in Rainbow Dash’s general direction.

Tarnish squeezed Vinyl as tight as he dared, all while trying to avoid thinking too much about having a mare this close to him in this position. Thoughts of Maud crept into the back of his mind, and he felt guilty in some weird way. Ashamed. He couldn’t stop himself from thinking about it, but that didn’t mean he had to act on it. Like everything else, it was something he was stuck dealing with.

“Steady on, I told myself.” Daring Do’s eyes became distant. “Stiff upper lip. Go at it alone and do what is necessary. Avoid unnecessary entanglements. Don’t let emotion and feeling cloud your logic and judgment. I wish… I wish I hadn’t done such a thorough job of listening to myself. Now… now everything feels so awkward. Having all of you with me. It impairs my judgment. My ability to react. I’m scared all the time in ways that I wouldn’t be if I was alone. I fear that I am constantly making emotional decisions… emotional choices that aren’t good ones, and by doing so, placing all of you in undue risk. Every time I have an emotional reaction, I feel as though I’ve failed somehow.”

Tarnish didn’t know what to say.

“I am very fond of all of you.” Daring Do chewed on her bottom lip, her eyes went from side to side, and she let heave a gusty sigh. “It feels like it falls on my back to get you out of here. Alive. And see you safely home. I don’t know how to do that. The not knowing… it has me in a bad mood. If it was just me, I could accept this. Whatever happens next. But I have all of you here. I don’t want to see you hurt. Or worse. This isn’t at all like our previous excursions.”

“I’ve been hurt worse during our previous excursions,” Tarnish said, almost murmuring. “I got shot in the ass. That left me a changed pony, let me tell you. Becoming a father? That was easy. Getting shot in the ass? That forever changed my outlook on the world.”

Daring Do burst into tears and started laughing at the same time. “Stop that at once,” she said, fighting back laughter even as tears trickled down her cheeks. “How can I be serious when you say such things?” She laughed even as the sobs wracked her body and wiped her face with her foreleg.

Even Vinyl reacted, her lips twitching, and Tarnish felt her snuggle up against him. He was still keenly aware of her touch, her closeness, and the warmth of her body. It was only when he took notice of her warmth that he realised that he was cold. This place was chilly. Cold, in a sterile sort of way. The steel floor beneath him was quite frigid, and he wondered if Vinyl was cold. She had to be. Thinking about how cold he was, realising that he was uncomfortable, he shivered.

He was exhausted, and needed sleep. If he was sleeping, then he could dream. In dreams, he could be with Maud. Yes, sleep sounded pleasant. As he sat there, his eyelids heavy, it occurred to him that Vinyl had done considerable feats of magic, including whatever spell she had cast on him. She had to be tired too, not to mention hungry. She hadn’t complained. Not one word, not that she could.

Blinking to ward away drowsiness, he found that he had a little more left to give.

He stood up, lifting Vinyl with him, and then, struggling a great deal, he somehow managed to pull his cloak out of his saddlebags. He laid it on the floor, spread it out, put Vinyl down, and then sat down beside her. At least they were no longer sitting on the cold steel floor, though the unforgiving and downright punishing hardness could still be felt.

“How about something to eat?” he asked, almost whispering into Vinyl’s ear.

She looked up at him with a slack face. A weary, exhausted face. After a moment, she nodded, and he gave her a reassuring squeeze in return. He was sitting on a few hard wrinkles that pressed into his flesh like the hard, unforgiving edge of a knife, but somehow, that didn’t matter. Like everything else, it was something he would endure.

Daring Do was still chuckling as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

Author's Note

Dark grandeur

Tarnish had awoken to a dull ache in the base of his skull and a near-crippling stiffness in his legs. He had over-exerted himself. Just as Daring Do had said, he had carried far too much. His enchanted saddlebags allowed him to carry a surplus of gear, but bottomless was not weightless. Without realising it, he kept adding just a little bit more, repeatedly, until at some point, he had crossed the line into fatigue-inducing encumbrance.

He was the lone stallion of the group, but he was not the strongest. A part of him wanted to feel inadequate about this; he felt that he had good reason. But it was a matter of physiology and build. Daring Do was a sturdy, strong mare. Rainbow Dash was like him, lithe, slender, and built for speed, but she was also a conditioned athlete that endured extraordinary strength training, while he… well, he was not. He was a runner, plain and simple. That was his claim to fame. He could run like few others could run, and his body type was uniquely suited for marathon distances. Endurance, not strength, was what his body excelled at, and he took pride in the fact that he could push himself harder, further, and longer than all of his companions.

The three mares were sleeping together while he kept watch. Flamingo was sheathed so that she could recharge. Alone, Tarnish had only boredom and the imposing, unsettling statue of Princess Celestia for company. He had tried studying the tiny spell primer tucked in his bag, but couldn’t muster enough concentration to stay focused.

All he had were his thoughts, and he wasn’t sure if his thoughts were good company right now.

He paced to and fro, going from door to door, his ears pricked and alert to any sound of danger. It was quiet. Perhaps too quiet. It was dark here, even more so with Flamingo sheathed, and the only light came from a floating orb of light Vinyl had conjured. It offered a cold, harsh light, but no warmth, no comforting glow. Just squint-inducing illumination that left a harsh glare on the floor, walls, and ceiling.

Daring had fashioned a pair of makeshift packs from carefully rolled blankets, with numerous small items tucked inside as the blankets were rolled. They were secured with some straps and a bit of twine, ready to go. As Tarnish paced, his stomach growled. He had eaten. Perhaps too much. They had a fair bit of food, but there was no telling how long they might be trapped in here, so everything needed to be rationed. He and Vinyl would need to be careful, cautious with their magical expenditure. Unicorns needed far more calories if they engaged in heavy casting.

Vinyl might have overdid it.

The escalator hadn’t moved for who knows how long. It was of an odd, ornamental design with broad step sections, broad enough for a pony or a centaur to stand upon, but there was no mistaking what it was. It had either been turned off or it had seized in place, there was no way to know. Each riser was a bit too tall for little ponies and short quadrupeds; not a problem for Tarnish, but his companions had to scramble a bit.

Something hummed here, the thrum of still-functioning ancient machinery. Tarnish’s ears strained to hear the sound, to discern its direction and its source, but to no avail. It came from everywhere all around them. Everything was made of steel and metal, all of which vibrated in some odd, unpleasant, unsettling way. Tarnish could feel the vibration in his sinuses, just behind his eyes, and deep within his ears. It was stressful, the sound, more than just merely annoying, and well beyond irritating.

Somepony had traversed the escalator not that long ago, and left the dust disturbed.

It was cold here, far colder than other places they had passed through. There was nothing alive here, not even plants, so it seemed that this section had been left unheated. It wasn’t freezing; being underground, buried within the heart of the mountain kept it at a stable temperature, but it was chilly.

“This is a bad design.”

“What makes you say that, Miss Dash?”

“Well, Miss Do, if you stand facing ahead, the average pony will be right about at asshole level with whatever is in front of them. Not that assholes are bad to look at all, but some of them are found above saggy, wrinkly balls. And who wants to stare at those while you’re going up an escalator?”

Tarnish was almost certain that he could hear the sound of Daring Do’s eyes rolling. Probably up and to the left. Rainbow was chuckling at her own joke, and try as he might, he found that he could not withhold his own laughter. Daring Do groaned, grunted as she lept up a riser to the next step, and Rainbow Dash’s chuckles transitioned into titters.

Then, Tarnish suffered from the keen awareness that he was leading the way.

As he progressed upwards, worrying about Vinyl scraping something against the unforgiving edges, he became more and more aware that the magic here was all wrong. It was like the sensation of standing over an artificial lay line, but worse. He was reminded of how wrong the land felt just before the volcano erupted. His mind vividly recalled the withered, ravaged land. He and Maud had trekked into the very heart of the soured magic… and then they had ran, trying to outrun the volcano’s deadly fury.

“Stay close to me,” he said to his companions. “The magic—”

“I know,” Daring Do said as she climbed up just behind him. “The magic is all wrong. I’m not a unicorn, but I can feel it too. In my wings. It feels like all my feathers are going to fall out as we go further up.”

“That’s a fear that I didn’t need,” Rainbow remarked while she helped pull Vinyl up. “Tarnish, can you see the top yet?”

“Nope.” Try as he might, he saw no end, only darkness ahead.

“Rainbow, new plan. Carry Vinyl. We can’t have her fatigued and out of breath if we’re ambushed.” Daring Do paused on a step and took a moment to catch her own breath. “You’re not even breathing hard. Impressive.”

“Eh, this is no worse than my usual cardio and strength training.” Then, after a pause, Rainbow added, “Come on, Vinyl. Climb on. You get a pony ride. Careful of the pack on my back.”

Once more in silence, Tarnished Teapot led the way.

A grand foyer awaited at the top of the unmoving escalator. Vinyl shooed her light upwards, but the vaulted ceiling could not be seen. Double doors made for giants were ahead, one of them halfway open, revealing the shadow-shrouded hallway beyond. Darkness, as real and as solid as any rumour awaited them, and Tarnish, almost overcome with stress at this point, could not help but shiver.

This place was a tomb.

Great piles of bones were scattered around the double door. Old bones. Dusty bones. Shattered, splintered, scattered, the bones were strewn all over the foyer. How many had died here in this spot? Hundreds, perhaps. What had killed them? That was unknown. If this place had defenses, Tarnish was uncertain if he could defeat them. If hundreds had besieged this place and failed, what chance did he have?

Just ahead, the floor was pitted, warped, and appeared as though it had bubbled. Licking his lips, Tarnish arrived at the conclusion that the floor had melted; the steel floor had melted into a liquid state, it had boiled a bit, and then had cooled back into a solid. Daring Do brushed up against his leg and he let out a faint, startled whinny.

He did not want his bones or the bones of his companions joining those scattered on the foyer floor. What could have done this? Who? His eyes sweeping the floor, he saw scattered teeth and unrecognisable bone fragments. Just slivers and busted bits. Lifting his head away from the chilling sight, he studied the doors, the tops of which were barely visible in the available light. The doors were imposing; surely no creature that big passed through those doors. How could they? These dragon-sized doors were just here to impress visitors… surely.

Tilting his head back, he peered up into the darkness, wondering if some way in and out might be hidden up above, out of reach. How else would a dragon-sized visitor gain access? Certainly not on the escalator. When he looked down at the bones strewn over the floor, he felt very small and insecure. Foalish. He didn’t feel tall and imposing, not in the slightest.

In the parasitic darkness, he felt his confidence falter.

The worst lay ahead. Somewhere, down the long hallway there was a service shaft that would allow him access to the facilities below. Once the mechanoid production was shut down, they would be just a tiny bit safer with one less threat. No new mechanoids could be made, and fallen mechanoids would no longer be recycled. He knew a fight was coming, a fight that would no doubt be unlike anything else in his life. A fight that he might not win.

With a turn of his head, he looked at his companions, each of them, one by one. He knew what had to be done. What was necessary. Would they forgive him? Maybe, if he survived. When they reached the service shaft, they would rest, and he would take watch. And when they slept, he would slip away to do what must be done.

It was a plan riddled with all manner of risk.

The production facilities had to be shut down, no matter the cost.

“Vinyl, send that light ahead, through those doors,” Daring Do said to the unicorn mare. “Dash, follow that light. Scout with your ears. We’ll stay right here, not moving.”

“Good plan,” Rainbow Dash replied.

Rainbow Dash crept ahead on silenced hooves, with all of her senses on high alert. Vinyl had cast a spell and now Rainbow could trot upon the steel with impunity. It was just the sort of confidence booster that she needed. Now, she was Rainbow Dash, the extraordinary scout, as silent as a fart slipstreamed in the wind, and just as deadly.

She poked her rainbow-maned head through the doors, looked left, then right, and then had a thorough look around. Then, squinting, she was just able to make out something ahead, something big… something ginormous. She couldn’t tell what it was, but it gleamed and glinted off-white in the cold, pale light. It almost appeared metallic.

It was a tooth longer than her body. Beside it was another tooth, a little shorter, but not by much, and Rainbow figured out that she was looking at a skull. When the light flew forwards a bit more, the darkness shrouding the skull was driven back, and a massive neck came into view. She was looking at a dragon’s skull. As for the rest of its body, it remained obscured in the darkness.

She thought of Spike and felt incredibly homesick.

After a closer inspection, she noticed the cracks in the skull. Big ones, just around the left eye. There were several broken teeth, and below the teeth, there was a gap in the jawbone. Frozen in place, Rainbow tried to imagine what had happened, and her mind painted a picture that she didn’t like, not one bit. The poor dragon had no doubt been left trapped in here when Skyreach had closed. Perhaps as a guardian for this laboratory. Or maybe it had volunteered.

Trapped alive in a tomb.

She shivered so hard that her teeth clattered together painfully.

The melted floor out in the foyer now made sense, as did all of the bodies. A major battle had taken place here, with the dragon burning some of the attackers, and smashing the others, because that is what dragons did. The dragon had been grievously injured in the battle, and had died, here in the dark tomb of one of Skyreach’s forgotten laboratories.

She looked up and could not see the ceiling. Still shivering, she tried not think about claustrophobic thoughts, but failed. Would she ever see the sky again? She hoped so. Even if she couldn’t fly, she just wanted to be out of this place so that she could stand in the sun and see vivid blue overhead.

But there was only darkness, with tons of rock overhead.

Looking down, she saw the glint of metallic scales on the floor, and thought they looked like a glittering pile of coins. These were rather silver looking, all things considered, an odd colour, not one that she could recall seeing. Upon closer inspection, she found that these scales were silver. Not just silver colour, but what appeared to be actual, real silver. A princess’ ransom lay on the floor, a veritable fortune of incalculable value.

How odd.

Rainbow Dash left them where they lay, because they were not hers to take.

She peered down the hallway, her eyes straining to see anything other than darkness. Her ears, which never stopped moving, pivoting this way and that way, could hear nothing other than the maddening, droning thrum of unseen machinery. Perhaps if it wasn’t so quiet, the droning sound wouldn’t be quite so annoying.

There was nothing here. Nothing at all. This place was as dead as the bones on the floor. The tenebrous darkness was terrifying and Rainbow knew that if the light went out, the stygian curtain would wrap tight around her and she would suffocate. She thought about stumbling around in these lightless depths, blind, searching, feeling about with her wings to find her way, and she felt her nether regions clench so tight that it was excruciatingly, extraordinarily painful.

She feared that she might have kegeled her clitoris to death.

Author's Note

The conjugated verb that should not be. I offer no apologies.

The light terrifies

What comes out of the dark is not always the same as what goes into the dark. Tarnished Teapot thought about these words that Princess Celestia had once said to him during a private moment. He did not understand them then, but now, buried in a tomb that knew no sky, their full meaning settled over him like a funeral shroud. The Tarnished Teapot that went into Skyreach would be buried here, and the Tarnished Teapot that came out—if he came out at all—would be a different pony indeed.

The bones of the silver dragon stretched farther than the light could reach. Daring Do and Vinyl Scratch were inspecting them—for what reason, he did not know—and Rainbow, who had ventured ahead into the darkness to scout, was now almost clingy as she walked in a tight circle around him. Investigating a factory for reality in the creepy darkness wasn’t scary at all, not in the slightest. Nope, not even a little. He was fine; it was Rainbow Dash who was floofed out like a scared cat.

All sense of scale and distance were now distorted, and this troubled Tarnish. How many mountains had been hollowed out? Just how far down into the guts of the world had they traveled? How was all of this even possible? To make matters worse, he could sense that the air was stale here, almost dead, and he could not help but wonder how there was any breathable air at all in this sepulchre where the past had been laid to rest.

Where the other parts of Skyreach clung to life, no matter how twisted, this place felt dead. The old bones somehow persisted, death that endured, an unnatural state of death. It was cold here, but the chill was something beyond mere temperature. Though the machinery still functioned—he could hear the thrum of it in the depths of his ears—the factory that manufactured reality had been shut down.

Tarnish did his best to avoid thinking of the unsettling implications.

If one damaged the still-running machines, what might one do to reality itself?

He was not the smartest pony—a fact that he had long ago made peace with—but he was capable of thinking the most unsettling of thoughts. Tarnish understood outcomes, even if he did not fully comprehend the ways and means. His intelligence—so he felt, so he believed—was geared for action, improvisation. To stop and think in the middle of life or death combat was to invite fatal consequence upon oneself. But to strive for an outcome was to survive.

Now, buried in this tomb, this sepulchre, this dead place, Tarnish found himself thinking far too much about his actions and what to do next. This unsettled him, unhinged him; it left him in a near-perpetual state of fight or flight. He couldn’t even begin to imagine the outcome. Consummate survivors were not always consummate thinkers. Yet, Tarnished Teapot knew that he had to become something other than what he was, something better.

But his confidence was shaken.

“Rainbow Dash,” he said to the pacing pegasus, “what has you in such a state?”

She did not reply. He was not disappointed. Their relationship was such that it had the strength to survive whatever silence that might lay siege. Willing his horn to glow brighter, Tarnish almost strained himself to the point of failure in his attempt to push the darkness back. The shadows came to life and danced in the pale blue light he cast. Daring Do, apparently satisfied with her study, took a step backwards, away from the dragon bones, and then so too, did Vinyl Scratch.

“Look,” Daring Do said while lifting her hoof to point, “over there. Send some light over.”

Vinyl, quick to respond, sent her floating orbs of illumination over in the direction that Daring Do had pointed. Tarnish almost held his breath as two recognisable figures could be seen, shrouded in darkness as they were. They stood, silent sentinels, each of them standing vigil in the archway of a hall swallowed by darkness.

Princess Luna and Princess Cadance were quite recognisable, yet there was something off about them both. Something unsettling, and no matter how hard he tried, Tarnish could not determine what it was. Upon closer inspection, he realised that Princess Cadance might not be Princess Cadance, but somepony else entirely. Somepony with a striking similarity, a near-clone of the Princess of Love.

“That,” Daring Do said, almost breathing out the start of her sentence, “Is Princess Amore. Or Queen Amore. But she wasn’t an alicorn, she was a unicorn. A crystal unicorn. Sombra transmuted her body into crystal and shattered her. She could be resurrected, some theorise, if all of the pieces were found.”

“So what are we seeing?” asked Rainbow Dash. “I don’t get it.”

“Fates change?” Daring Do shrugged once, then a second time, and moved even closer to have a better look at the statue. “Queen Amore, Princess Amore, she might have been destined to be the alicorn of love, but Sombra’s magics were such that destiny itself was altered, or warped. It took a thousand years or more, but harmony reasserted itself and now we have Princess Cadance.”

“That’s not Princess Luna.” Rainbow Dash, who had followed Daring Do, now stood looking at the oddly familiar figure.

“What makes you say that, Rainbow?”

“Well, nuts.”

“Rainbow, how is it crazy?”

“No, Daring… nuts. See? There’s nuts on this crazily effeminate statue.”

“Why… so there is. How detailed. How peculiar.”

Tarnish did not bother looking, but took Rainbow’s word for it. There was no mark, no moon and inky spots on the hindquarters. The statue still had the thin, delicate form of Princess Luna, but a thorough examination revealed masculine features. It was, perhaps, a random alicorn—a random ambiguously-gendered alicorn. After a few moments of staring, he decided that it meant absolutely nothing and was just a piece of thought-provoking decoration.

“Look”—Rainbow Dash extended her wing and pointed down the hallway—“there’s more.”

“So there is,” replied Daring Do.

“That’s… that’s Twilight.” Rainbow stumbled ahead into the abyssal darkness, and the companions were quick to follow. “I’d recognise that face anywhere, but not that body. Why does Twilight look so weird?”

“She’s elongated and thin, like the other princesses.” Daring Do now stood directly beneath the face of the statue, looking up to the beatific face with a serene gaze staring down. “Long legs, slight body, thin neck, and those wings… those are alicorn princess wings. How curious.”

“But Twilight isn’t like this at all.” Eyes darting about, her expression one of intense guilt, Rainbow’s voice dropped into a whisper: “Since her ascension, she’s packed on the pounds. She hasn’t gotten thinner, she’s gotten thicker. At some point, she was no longer a unicorn with wings, but more like an earth pony with a horn and wings. And the way she eats… Twilight is sensitive about her weight and how her body has changed.”

“So… these statues… they show what might be? Or what should be? I mean, there’s a distinction. What if Twilight should be this way, but because of some unknown factor, instead of growing into an alicorn body type, Twilight developed an earth pony body? Trust me… I know earth pony bodies. Twilight has more in common with Maud and Octavia than she does Vinyl or the princesses.” Tarnish cringed without knowing why, and he was almost certain that somehow, through some unknown means, Twilight was eavesdropping on every word said.

It made him intensely uncomfortable, as there was no way that Twilight could be listening.

“Twilight can’t rest on thin clouds like pegasus ponies do,” Rainbow Dash said to her companions. “She goes tearing right though. Caused a really embarrassing incident in Cloudsdale one day. I probably shouldn’t talk about it.”

Standing off to one side, Vinyl pointed and grunted with no small amount of urgency.

Tarnish moved to be with her, and then tried to see what she might be seeing, only to find it right away. What he saw flummoxed him, and he stood in mute silence, unable to process what he was seeing. Twilight’s cutie mark had the unmistakable central star, which was instantly recognisable, but the smaller stars in orbit were gone, replaced by five familiar marks—one of which was less than a yard away, on a pony who had just said her friend was too hefty to rest on thin clouds.

Daring Do came around to have a look, and after seeing what Vinyl and Tarnish saw, stood in awestruck silence. Rainbow, who was still staring up at Twilight’s face, also came around to have a look, and when she froze in place, Tarnish suspected that he knew exactly what she was feeling.

It was the rainbow-maned pegasus that broke the silence.

“Is this… is this what Twilight would look like if she had… if she had us... what makes us, well, you know. What makes us special. Our talents. We already know that our marks can be swapped. They can even be stolen. What if Twilight borrowed our marks? Would she be a super alicorn? That’s some real friendship magic right there. Hey, can I borrow what makes you special for a minute?” Rainbow Dash’s awestruck chattering lapsed into silence, and she stood staring.

In a reverent whisper, Daring Do asked, “Would you give it to her if she asked?”

“Well, of course. I’d trust her with it. She’d be awesome.” Rainbow Dash shuffled a bit, then turned her head around to look at her mark, which happened to be covered by saddlebags at the moment. “I could live without it if I had to. For a little while. She’d give it back.”

Unsettled, Tarnish was unsure and uncertain of how he felt about such casual soul-splicing. Twilight could be trusted, sure—but ponies like Starlight Glimmer could not. Any pony that could steal a mark could plausibly figure out how to splice a mark, and gain all manner of talents, which would merge in ways incomprehensible beyond the wildest of imaginations. The more he thought about it, the more unsettled he felt. A soul thief would be a dreadful thing, casually stealing the very thing that made one special.

It was the death of uniqueness.

Armed with shield and wrench, Tarnish aimed himself down the dark, foreboding hallway, all while ignoring the hollow pit where there had once been courage. While looking at statues was a pleasant diversion, it wasn’t getting them anywhere. After a few steps, the others fell into formation beside him. The Twilight statue was endlessly fascinating, perhaps too much so, and it was a relief to walk away from such a demanding distraction.

There were other statues every few yards, tucked away into recessed alcoves, and he did not stop to have a look at them. They were a devourer of time at best, and a potential threat to their survival at worst. Driven by purpose, he focused on the darkness ahead. One hoof in front of the other, all senses on high alert, Tarnish pushed into the unknown. That is, until he saw a faint light ahead. It flickered, in very much the same way a theatre projector flickered, and these flickers made the shadows dance.

After so long in the dark, never had the light felt so threatening.

Gritting his teeth, his neck muscles taut, his blood pressure such that the bite in his leg was now throbbing, Tarnish continued his cautious advance. What choice did he have? The lights had long ago gone out in this place, this tomb for shadows, so to see this light, to witness this illumination was unsettling, disturbing.

It spilled from an open door and left the hallway awash with distorted shadows. Piss-shivers danced up and down Tarnish’s spine, and beside him, Rainbow Dash—her hackles raised—crept along with remarkable silence. She broke away, maneuvering herself to a position near the door, hugging the wall beside it, ready to unleash devastating sneak attacks.

Rainbow Dash was a real bitch when it came to kidneys, and Tarnish loved her for it.

Raising his shield, Tarnish moved into the doorway proper, ready to breach and clear. How many times had he been the door pony? Just how many smugglers’ dens and wretched hives of scum and villainy had he busted in on? So many games of poker interrupted, left unfinished. This was almost feeling routine now. He, Tarnish, a pony of intimidating height, would play the role of mook-magnet and would go gangbusters through the doorway. If things went well, he would push in and keep going. But if things went poorly, he would retreat and Rainbow Dash would flank his attacker.

It was an action that involved a huge amount of trust.

Now, in the doorway proper, ready for violence, his shield raised, he heard a voice say, “Do come in. You’re just in time to watch a Chosen One drop a moon on Canterlot. Please, you are safe here, and I mean you no harm. Do come in, but please, be quiet. After waiting for so long, I would hate to miss the finale.”

Author's Note

The next few chapters will be revealing ones.

An end, witnessed

A metal centaur with a terrifying skeletal appearance stood in the middle of the room. It was made from some unknown metal, bluish-grey with no reflection, no shine, had a damaged, sparking leg with smoking joints, and had a connection to the ceiling via a tether of glowing, pulsating crystalline fibres. For a moment, Tarnish considered charging it, but it didn’t seem threatening and he thought better of it.

One glowing blue cyclopean eye blazed brightly on the mechanoid construct’s face, and where its mouth would have been there was what appeared to be a brass grill. Light-emitting crystals protruded from its head in several places; some of which were bright, while others had gone dark and dull. Perhaps the most curious thing about it was its skeletal nature, and its two torsos, banded metal cages that surrounded precious mechanical equipment. A centaur, it could be said, was a creature of redundancy.

“Do come over,” the mechanoid said in a smooth, inviting voice, a living voice. “I am a Director, one of many. I will be happy to speak with you and answer your questions. I’ve been awaiting your arrival. But I really would appreciate watching my show first, if possible. Also, I ask that you do not abuse or bring harm to my assistants. Unlike the other automata in this place, they mean you no harm. ‘Twould go against their programming, I assure you.”

Tarnish did not lower his shield or wrench.

“We welcome the opportunity for a secure, safe chance to rest,” Daring Do said to the construct. “We’re peaceful, until threatened. Well, most of us. Mister Teapot, lower your weapons, if you please.”

Reluctantly, he did what he was told, but took quiet issue in trusting Daring Do’s judgment. He slipped his shield over his back and levitated his wrench near his side. Rainbow Dash was still bristling, which he took as a sign that she wasn’t comfortable with Daring’s judgment call either, and that made him feel better. Vinyl meanwhile, was already fearlessly studying the new model of mechanoid, and he hoped that she was observing its weak points.

“Do come over,” the automaton repeated, all while waving his mechanical hand in a come-closer gesture. “This is a rare sight to witness. A Chosen One is about to self-sacrifice, as Chosen Ones are wont to do.”

Still hesitant, Tarnish took a cautious step forward, and noticed for the first time that the floor was less than real. To look down was dizzy, disorienting terror. Down below him, he saw a ruined, wrecked city, and it appeared as though he was standing in the sky somehow. A battle was raging and incomprehensible pillars of fire rose skyward. Parts of the city were molten puddles of glowing orange liquid and the mountain it was built atop was crumbling.

“This world rejected hope,” the Director said, its smooth voice melancholy and filled with living regret. “Its Twilight Sparkle escaped. ‘Tis an awful thing when the Hopebringer is made to flee. A pony named Dim took on the mantle of the Destroyer, as Dim is wont to do. Alas, this world has mere moments left to live. The Dim models are frightfully good at what they do, though they are not unique. An angry Moondancer model, or a Twilight Sparkle gone Midnight is quite a sight to behold.”

An immense explosion blossomed beneath Tarnish, and for one moment, he was certain he could feel the heat rising from it. Beside him, Rainbow Dash was looking up, her jaw slack, and her eyes were wide with terror. When he looked up to see what had her in such a state, he saw a falling moon, a massive, cratered celestial object. It was right there, and seemed oh so very real. The moon was about to set—directly on the city below.

“How is he doing this?” Daring Do asked, incredulous. “He’s a unicorn. How?”

Tarnish looked down once more, his heart thudding against his ribs like a hammer, and he saw Daring pointing downward with her hoof. He squinted, and suddenly, the image grew larger, larger, and even larger still, as if he was zooming down out of the clouds. There, standing in a crater, was unicorn, the conductor for this concerto of calamity.

“Oh, some amulet of some kind,” the Director replied. “He went through much trouble to find it. Quite a powerful artifact, but I know almost nothing about it. We’re close now. Nightmare Moon is trying to stop the moonfall. She struggles to raise the moon, but Twilight Sparkle’s efforts have left her weak. Any moment now.”

The moon passed through Tarnish, and he was certain he felt something as it did.

When Tarnish blinked a few times, the horrific imagery retreated from him, shrinking, and he stood atop the sky, looking down at the ruined world below. Most of the oceans were gone, from what he could see, there was no green left, and it seemed as though the entire continent was on fire. This world was dying and he could feel it. The bones of the earth had been shattered, the skin flayed away, and it’s precious lifeblood—water—had been tainted beyond any and all hope of recovery.

Something cool touched his neck, and Tarnish let out a startled whinny when he noticed that the mechanical centaur was stroking him, petting him. His terror was such that he almost lashed out with his wrench, but at the last moment, he regained control of his senses. This was kindness, affection, this was reassurance—and not harm.

“Do not be troubled, little one, for this is not the end, but a beginning. Watch. Wait. See. In time, you will know wonder. Dim is a terrible pony, but like all things, he serves a purpose.” With every word, the kind stroking continued, and Tarnish, much to his own shock and surprise, found himself leaning into the mechanical centaur’s soft touch.

“Amazing… you feel it, don’t you? The old magics are awake with you. How odd. This is unforeseen. I wish I could still feel.”

When the moon paused and hung in place, Tarnish held his breath, but was unaware that he did so. Below, the planet was already cracking—vast chasms yawned open—and gravity itself seemed to be in flux, because things rose and fell between the two celestial bodies that were far too close.

Rainbow Dash was clinging to his leg now, and with her every breath she trembled. Daring Do and Vinyl Scratch stood pressed together, comforting one another, and Vinyl appeared to be weeping. Tarnish, with his bird’s eye view, watched as the planet below shuddered during its last agonising moments.

The moon made a terrific impact. Fires blossomed into brilliant light as flames engulfed everything. This end, this terrible, horrible, witnessed end, was unlike anything ever seen and Tarnish felt as though he was a foal once more. A massive crack split the top half of the moon as the bottom half began to liquify.

Overall, the sight was mesmerising and the end came swiftly.

But, this was not the end. Tarnish watched astonished as the flames coalesced; they gathered, drawn together by some irresistible force. The moon shuddered like a shook custard and then fully ignited. He watched as the cadaver of the planet was sundered, almost split in two, and vast jets of liquified rock shot skyward.

Something impossible, incomprehensible was witnessed and Tarnish watched as the raging fires and the corpse of the moon became a new sun. It blazed to life, blinding, and then, much to his own awe and surprise, something flew out of the sun—no, somepony. From the heart of the newborn sun a familiar figure flew, and she rose up in blazing glory, a light to rival the infant sun.

The planet, consumed by flames, was reborn as a new sun rose into orbit.

“See, all hope is not lost,” the mechanical centaur said. “Do you see it?”

A dark shadow rose from the flames and joined the first. Tarnish struggled to make it out, as it seemed to have no form, no shape, no body. It rose to join the gleaming white alicorn that cast her beautiful radiance on the Tartarian nightmare down below. In the cold depths of space, asteroids were smashed together, and for a time, they blazed with molten glory. This malleable lump was shaped, given just the right size and mass, and then went into orbit with the newborn sun.

As the newly forged moon gained its celestial alignment, the shadowy figure took form; an alicorn stallion made of darkness joined Celestia. They did not diminish one another, but circled one another in perfect balance. Light and Dark coexisted with no animosity and the great celestial machine began to restore itself. Stars twinkled, silent witnesses to this restoration.

The two alicorns continued to circle and Light and Darkness wove together. Clouds formed in the atmosphere and with the clouds came rain. With the rain came steam and the scorched planet almost sighed with relief. Tarnish could feel it happening, he could feel life returning as the balance was restored. This was not an end, but a beginning, a rebirth. A violent rebirth perhaps, but a rebirth nonetheless.

Phoenixes were no less interesting for the violence of their birth.

“Dim models are quite unique, as they cannot be dissuaded from their own explosive ends,” the Director said in a hushed, reverent voice. “Inevitably, they self-destruct. It is in their nature to self-obliterate. But given a worthy cause, this self-destruction yields fantastic results.”

Sides heaving, almost panting, Tarnish watched as the familiar white alicorn broke away from her dark counterpart. She swooped into the flames, extinguishing them, drawing them into herself. When she landed on the molten surface of the planet, it rapidly cooled, gained solid form, and from her hooves the first solid continent was formed. Where she stood turned green and the first plants grew, reaching upwards for the precious, life-giving sunlight.

Darkness too, came down, and where he flew, oceans flowed, deep, dark, and mysterious. Tarnish felt tidal magics at work as the flames—a raging placenta—slipped away from the newborn planet. Already, the first trees were growing, sprouting green and beautiful, and Tarnish could sense that oxygen was rapidly returning.

“Celestia and Dim, now reborn, will be left weak after this creation. Once the world becomes self supporting, they will retreat into heavenly bodies, their celestial residences, and they will sleep a restorative sleep. But first, they have to make life and for that—well, I feel that we should respect their privacy.”

“But… I wanna watch,” whined Rainbow Dash.

The mechanical centaur chuckled.

“You say they will sleep?” Daring Do broke away from Vinyl and with a few bold steps, she stood at the Director’s side. “Will they return?” I mean, what would the world be without Princess Celestia?”

“In time, they might return… if they are needed. With a world in balance, they are free to slumber. It is only when the balance is broken that they will become necessary. They will return to shepherd and to be stewards of life, should it be required.” The Director’s voice was sad and somehow heavy.

“Life has a way of doing everything it can to destroy itself,” Daring Do said, almost muttering.

The Director sighed, an odd sound, and nodded.

Suddenly, Tarnish understood Skyreach; at least he thought he comprehended a part of its function. Everything he witnessed was a product of what had been done here, in this place. The means to reset and restore life. With magic, there were threats that could potentially end a planet—threats such as Grogar, or Nightmare Moon. A sort of safeguard had been constructed, a safeguard he could barely understand the scale and scope of.

Down below him, the two alicorns were rushing through a hurried romance, getting to know one another, and preparing to make new life. Ponies, it seemed, would exist, but what of other things? Without even asking a question, an answer formed within his mind, and he understood. How did he understand? He felt an odd sense of vertigo and suffered some crazy thoughts, such as the fact that he had been the one to help plan for these very contingencies.

Life would migrate; it would be drawn through incomprehensible doors. The ways and means did not present themselves within his mind, but he understood the outcome. Once life was established, more life would come—it was just the way of things. There were doors between worlds, emergency exits and entrances, just like the one that Twilight had used to escape her doomed world. These doors were vital, necessary, central to the planned means of restoration.

To tamper with these doors would be folly.

Above and below, the projected imagery faded from view, and as it did, Rainbow Dash whined. Tarnish, small, humbled, confused by his impossible knowledge, did nothing as everything faded away. When he felt a soft touch against his side, he look down and saw Vinyl looking up at him. Without a word, he somehow knew what she was thinking. Were there other Vinyl Scratches? What were they like? When she slipped one foreleg around his and leaned against him, he too, began to wonder. What might other Tarnished Teapots be like?

“Twilight, after she escaped, she came through here?” asked Daring Do.

“Now comes the questions,” was the Director’s knowing reply. “Yes, she came here and was drawn into the inter-planar detritus confinement and disposal lab. I don’t know if it is functioning or not. It’s been a long time. But she came here, to my lab, and very nearly shot my leg off. I tried to reason with her, but she was quite distraught. At least she didn’t damage my optics. I let her go. What else could I do?”

“The silver dragon?” Daring Do gestured at the door they had come in.

“Ah, Silverslip.” The Director froze in place for a moment and several crystal nodes protruding from his head flashed. “She was to be the caretaker for this place after the shutdown. The guardian. When the invaders came, she gave her life to defend this place from their plundering. Oh, by the way, I’d be very careful roaming about this place. There’s an infant godling trapped in here, and she’s very, very angry.”

“Spear Breaker,” Tarnish said after finding his voice.

“Yes, I do believe that was her name when she was mortal. She’s grown beyond mere names now. If you try to fight her, you will die. The weapon to end all wars was discovered here, in Skyreach, and I fear that she has ascended into weapon-form. Containment failed momentarily, but was restored. I don’t think any of the weapons escaped.”

“What is it?” asked Rainbow Dash. “I mean, what are these weapons?”

“I don’t know,” the Director replied. “I do not have access to those files. I am aware of their existence, but I know not what they are.”

“I have a question,” said Tarnish while looking directly into the Director’s cyclopean eye. “What is Skyreach?”

Author's Note

Ascended into weapon-form. That's quite a thing to say.

Advanced misfortune

“Wait!” Rainbow Dash held up her right wing with her primaries splayed. “Wait, hold up. Before we get to that question”—at this point, Daring Do was rolling her eyes while the rainbow-maned pegasus was ignoring her—“I gotta know what’s the deal with that funny statue of Twilight Sparkle out in the hallway. She looks ridiculous! And she has my cutie mark!”

Daring Do was groaning now and Tarnish, well, he felt her pain.

Somehow, with no means to convey it, the Director seemed amused. Fingers flexing, head tilted to one side, its light-emitting crystals blinking, it looked down while Rainbow Dash gazed up. There was something still very much living about the automaton centaur, so much so that it was almost unnerving. Unnatural. Tarnish began to suspect that this was no mere hunk of metal, but, at some point in the distant past, had once been alive.

“Ridiculous, you say—”

“Yeah!” Rainbow was bold enough to interrupt. “That looks nothing like the Twilight I know. She’s goofy looking. The statue I mean, not the Twilight I know.”

“We didn’t know how Twilight Sparkle would turn out. To be honest, we didn’t even know if she would end up a Chosen One. We only had what we saw on other worlds to go by. The statue—that statue—exists due to an inter-office bet. I sense that you are an Element of Harmony, but how close were we? It was a source of consternation among us. Most of us believed that Twilight Velvet, Moondancer, or Sunset Shimmer would become a Chosen One for magic. As far as Twilight Sparkles go, they’re a high-risk, high-reward model, and not terribly reliable. Instability is inherent. Necessary even, for them to function.”

These words gave Tarnish pause.

“Well, all the right marks are on that statue,” Rainbow Dash said to the mechanical centaur. “But Twilight’s body didn’t change and become princesslike.”

“Oh dear.” One of the Director’s hands reached up to rub its nonexistent chin. “So many factors that can go wrong. Variables. These variables present themselves and it was once my job to study them. Well, us, really. All of us. We? It is hard for me to remember how many of us I am. We worked hard to gain insight into the variables. That was the whole point of this laboratory. This room you stand in now. I—we, it was our job to view the variables and catalogue them.”

“But why?” Rainbow asked in a foalish voice.

The Director shrugged; impressive for a mechanical construct. “I don’t know why. We were sequencing something, but I do not know to what end. The variables produced various types of Elements of Harmony. Concentrated blocks of reality. It is like sequencing DNA or a genome. With various variables, different Elements of Harmony would come into existence. Even two Elements of Magic held by two Twilight Sparkles would be quite different, as both Twilight Sparkles would endure different events, have different friends, and would experience different lives. All of these factors would shape the Element of Magic. We needed a way to sequence an infinite number of Elements. Sadly, that’s all I know.”

“So all these worlds,” Daring Do said to the Director, “exist to produce Elements?”

Again, the mechanical centaur shrugged. “Yes. More or less? There are so many possibilities. Why, I know of a race of mechanical polymimetic beings and they’ve produced a most fascinating Element of Leadership. Only they don’t call it that. They call it a ‘Matrix of Leadership.’ It has become a profound artifact, changing all those who possess it, unlocking their true potential. It came into existence randomly. Isn’t that extraordinary?”

Tarnish considered this. To sequence these Elements, to have them exist, and then in time of some great crisis, to bring specialised Elements together—it would be a powerful asset. The sort of asset one might need to fight Grogar, perhaps. This Element of Leadership and the Element of Magic would give a powerful advantage to a creature whose purpose was to fight the coming darkness. Or even multiple Elements of Magic, each of them suited to a type of magic—perhaps things other than Friendship. An Element of Magic based on Leadership would be a powerful thing indeed, or an Element of Magic powered by Love.

There were dreadful things beyond the stars, a fact that Tarnish understood better than most. Things worse than Grogar. Awful things of indescribable, unfathomable evil—and to fight them, one would need extraordinary weapons. Though he said nothing, he began to suspect that the centaurs had planned ahead for this eventuality. In fact, a part of him knew. How did he know? Through what means did this knowledge confirm itself? It felt like craziness.

“So, about these Chosen ones,” said Daring Do to the Director.

Before she could continue, the Director cut smoothly in. “You are a Chosen One. All of you are. Chosen Ones are rather mass-produced. It would be accurate to say, ‘the Chosen Many.’ I think. Perhaps. A lot of work went into their creation. One of the primary purposes of Skyreach, actually. Weaponised destiny. We were certain that it would be the next big thing.”

“How did that turn out?” Tarnish found himself asking in a rather flippant way.

“Mixed results.” Again, the Director somehow shrugged, quite a feat with two torsos.

“So what makes us Chosen Ones, exactly?” asked Daring Do before Tarnish could become more sarcastic.

“Bad luck, mostly,” the Director replied.

“Bad luck?” Daring Do stood there, incredulous, blinking, and waiting for more.

“Well, we tried all kinds of things, and then we began manipulating luck itself.” With one hand, the Director reached up and began scratching its head, which did it no good. “We tried good luck, but then the ponies we used as test subjects hardly ever left their homes. Life became easy for them. By fortunate happenstance, every want, every need, every desire would be met. They became quite fat and more than a little stupid.”

“That does, indeed, seem counterproductive.” Daring Do glanced at her companions one by one, and then returned her attention to the Director.

“So then we tried bad luck, interspersed with moments of extraordinary fortune. The test subjects were miserable. All manner of ill-fortune befell them. Some of them suffered horrendously. The ones that survived became quite heroic. Not at all like their peers and companions. These ponies broke away from the herd and became self-sufficient. They became adaptable survivors, and from these survivors, great heroes came to be. They took everything that life threw at them and somehow, overcame the odds. We continued to fine-tune the process, until we felt that we had reached just the right level of misery to be beneficial, though the actual application remains quite random.”

In silence, Tarnish thought about his own misery.

“That is part of what we did here, in Skyreach. Destiny produced patterns and we sought to manipulate them. When we began other-world creation, we observed how the patterns we manipulated would form. Certain ponies, certain creatures rose to prominence. The best and the brightest would naturally be drawn to Elements of Harmony, and then those Elements would be shaped by their bearers. Twilight Sparkles, for example, in whatever form they come, be it earth pony, pegasus pony, or unicorn pony, tend to be overly magic-curious—though not always. Twilight Sparkles aren’t always the Element of Magic. Sometimes, they are generous, kind, or curious. Occasionally, they become the Element of Bravery, a fascinating outcome. By and large though, a vast majority of Twilight Sparkles become librarians. Something about their meticulous, obsessive-compulsive nature. They can’t help but be librarians.”

Daring Do sat down, sighed, and began to rub her neck with her wing.

“Look at you,” the Director said to Daring Do while gesturing in her direction. “Is adventure not a fondness for deprivation and hardship? How much have you suffered for your calling? With my eye, I can see the trauma hidden in your body, like an ancient manuscript written on your bones.”

“And you”—the Director whirled on Rainbow Dash before she had a chance to respond—“your foalhood is a tragedy, is it not?”

“I d-d-dunno,” stammered Rainbow Dash as her feathers ruffled.

“You flew so fast that you outpaced your potential. This is tragedy. Instead of living in the shadow of another, striving to do better, you lived in the shadow of what you could be. You forsook everything. For so many years, you knew only the misery of failure as you desperately tried to catch up to what you could be. How many years did you know only one true friend? The only friend who remained with you as you tortured, deprived, and abused yourself in pursuit of impossible perfection? Shall we discuss the years when you denied yourself food with the hopes of making yourself thinner and lighter? Is this not misfortune? Rotten luck? You saw your potential too soon, realised what you might be long before you were ready. And it ruined your life, didn’t it?”

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” Rainbow Dash whined as she made a dismissive wave with her hoof and turned her head away.

“And you… a mute unicorn who loves sound. Not merely misfortune, bad luck, but cruel irony. So much of wizardry requires vocal components, spoken elements for spells. You settled for sound engineering, but your true love is wizardry. But you became a sound engineer for the sake of success in public view, so you could wrestle your failure as a wizard in private. Bad luck has hounded you for a long, long time. Success brings no satisfaction. Your life feels empty and meaningless because what you truly love eludes you. You make others sound so beautiful, impossibly so, but you yourself are restricted to mute whimpers, croakings, and mewling cries.”

Tarnish felt Vinyl’s grip on his foreleg double.

“As for you,” the Director said to Tarnish, “the less said about you, the better. All of you have known extraordinary hurt. You have suffered. The agonies that you have each endured, both as individuals and shared together, has it not made you champions? The best that ponykind has to offer? The fires of the forge have burned away the dross, and what is left is both pure and true. Of all the rotten luck you’ve endured, the worst of which was coming to this place, to Skyreach.”

In these words, Tarnish saw the truth. The awful, awful truth. He was no longer the confused, angry, spiteful colt that had been banished from Ponyville. Since his departure, he had grown, developed, he had advanced. Along the way, he found a mare, another outcast, another with advanced misfortune. Maud too, knew misery and hardship. But Maud was a stoic, and this, along with her nature as a stone pony allowed her to endure all manner of bad luck. Together, they had bonded over a love of making the best of an awful situation. Their relationship had been tried—it had been burned in the crucible of an infant volcano—and their love had sustained them.

How few knew rock-solid love?

This was a heavy moment of contemplation for Tarnish, who failed to notice that both the Director and his companions were all looking right at him. When things took a turn for the worst, that was just a normal workday. Tarnish could, in fact, run into an army of cultists armed with curved swords and guns, and not bat an eye. No, he realised, he did not have bad days, he was a bad day for others. He was the agent of mayhem and misery that changed the lives of others. A minister of misfortune, he was a bad day waiting to happen.

A squiggly-lipped smile spread over Tarnish’s muzzle, and each of his companions squirmed.

“How unsettling,” the Director said, stating the obvious. “Had I bowels, I dare say they’d be in quite a state of distress right now.”

“Oh, he’s not even worked up.” Daring Do recovered herself, stood up, and did her level best to look authoritative. “Out of all of us, Mister Teapot has suffered the most. Still a good pony, just, well, a little rough around the edges. He has anger issues. Specifically, he takes issue with things that make him angry—”

“And a lot of things make him angry!”

“Miss Dash, that’s quite enough.”

“Aw, but I—”

“Hush!”

“Fine!” This sass was served with a side of eye-roll.

Through it all, Tarnish smiled his peculiar squiggly-lipped smile.

“So,” Daring Do said, changing the subject. “Back to the original question. What exactly, is Skyreach?”

Author's Note

This might still need an edit or two.

At last, an answer

Cyclopean eye gleaming, light-emitting crystals blinking, fingers twitching, its exposed internal circuitry glowing, the Director delayed his answer. Tarnish realised it was pulling up files; he barely understood the process, except that it took time to bring information up out of the basement, or wherever these files just so happened to be stored. The crystalline fibre tether that connected the mechanical centaur to the hub in the middle of the ceiling blinked and flashed.

Feeling that time wasn’t something to be wasted, Tarnish began to retrieve food and drink from his saddlebags. As he did so, from the corner of his eye, he saw several tiny automatons cautiously peeking out from behind a steel door. They were little things and as one of them stumbled out of hiding, Tarnish saw that it was shaped like a pony. Of course it was. Centaurs loved their little ponies, and even existing beyond death, transcending to a mechanical form, the centaurs had found a way to bring their beloved ponies with them. He now understood why the Director wanted his helpers to be kept safe.

The autonomous construct was foal-sized and Tarnish suffered some unknown pang of emotion.

Rainbow Dash and Daring Do sat down together. Meanwhile, Vinyl began pulling wrappers off of foodstuffs while Tarnish pulled out a flask of his special tea, so he could take a few necessary sips. As for the Director, it was frozen in place now, unmoving, and the only indicator it still had function were its many blinking lights.

“Skyreach,” the Director said, its voice low and steady, “is a monument to hubris and folly. We centaurs foolishly believed that we could wage war upon war itself, and put an end to all conflict. To this end, we failed of course, but we sought to battle the various causes of war and the things that drive creatures to conflict.” When it stopped speaking, it hung its head, and the cyclopean eye seemed just a little bit dimmer.

Rainbow Dash tore open a compressed oatmeal ration bar from Twilight’s pack.

“We started off with the most noble of intentions,” the Director continued, its eye still dim. “Some great conflict ruined our species, something so terrible we purged our collective memories of it. I cannot even begin to speculate what it was, or might be. We had to voyage through the Sea of Stars to escape it and we became voidfarerers, explorers of the vast unknown.

“When we arrived at this place, we found a most peculiar species; the alicorn. We knew of other equine species, unicorns, pegasus ponies, and the common pony, but alicorns were unique. Something unknown. Their discovery gave us hope and we took it as a sign. We settled here and went to work on our grand plans. Filled with hope and good intentions, we began to uplift the alicorn species, and made the first of many incremental improvements.

“But all of this is the dawn of our shared history, and Skyreach wasn’t even an idea. Not yet.”

Sipping from his flask, Tarnish gave thought to everything the Director said. Odd thoughts existed on the edges of his perception, a strange, unsettling sense that he already knew this history. It was as if something within him was on the verge of waking up, something that had slumbered for far too long and was now groggy as it stirred.

Looking away, the Director offered up an aside and said, “Magical equines are an old species. Stories of pegasus ponies and unicorns appeared in the myths and folklore of many. When we were travellers, when we roamed the stars, we encountered many cultures who revered magical equine species. Some of which were only stories, myths, while others were very real. Like us, they somehow spread out across the known dimensions and worlds.”

With a gesture of its mechanical hand, the Director conjured up an image familiar to Tarnish: the primordial alicorn. Short, squat, it was best described as a pegasus with a solid earth pony body and a horn. There was nothing particularly graceful or beautiful about it, and it wasn’t all that appealing. It wasn’t even like Twilight Sparkle, because the primordial alicorn had the primordial pony-form. It would be kind to call them cave-ponies—though one could make the argument that they were hideously ugly.

“The alicorns of this world had a connection to harmonious magics that we lacked. As we uplifted them, refined them, we took some of their genetics and made it our own. Our gene splicing was a desperate effort to make ourselves as peaceful and gregarious as possible, to erase our violent genetic heritage. After erasing the entirety of what we once were, even the memory of it, we were free to forge new bodies for ourselves, and we did. We strove for perfection… but for all of our successes, we still had throwbacks… problematic centaurs with undesirable traits. Blemishes that we could not seem to correct. But under our care, our guidance, the alicorns flourished. Their magic awakened, and with it, their potential. They were extraordinary creatures, wonderful creatures, and we were honoured to be their caretakers.”

Again, the Director paused, and somehow, it radiated sadness, though how, Tarnish could not say. He sipped more tea and nibbled on a compressed dried fruit bar—really, he should have saved it for crumbling up into a bowl of oatmeal, but he wanted something sweet. Having seen into the past, Tarnish had glimpses of what the Director spoke of. The centaurs truly loved the creatures in their care.

“Skyreach began as a weapons research facility,” the Director said as the image of the primordial alicorn vanished from view. “We made weapons to secure peace. Terrible weapons that would make war impossible. We wished to erase war from our future, and we set out to do just that. The first plans were made to weaponise destiny, clumsy plans, perhaps, but that idea took us places.

“We had to study what destiny could do, or might do, and we needed to test some of our weapons, like the planet-crackers. To this end, knowing that other whens and wheres existed, we began to create our own. Project Nautilus began the spiral of worlds. The alicorns aided us and with our combined magic, we began manufacturing reality itself. We shaped some worlds, with the hopes of bringing about specific results, and allowed other worlds to form randomly.

“With an infinite number of worlds at our disposal, we made weapons great and terrible. Weapons so awful that we eventually shamed ourselves with their creation. For whatever reason, we were no safer from the dark forces that lurk in our universe, or other universes. We tested all manner of ends, deterrents, we tried every method at our disposal, but the civilisations we manufactured kept destroying themselves. Especially the high magic ones. It was as if they could not be dissuaded from their own destruction.

“Eventually, we focused more on destinies. We treated them like trees, pruning the many branches, and in time, we made new trees. Specific trees. To continue this metaphor, some of these trees began bearing fruit. Random results gave way to specific branching patterns. Predictable ones. We began to understand how these trees grew. By observing millions and billions of years of life, after studying tangent universes, and bubble universes, and mirrored universes with parallel development, we began to understand pattern divergence and convergence. It seemed promising, so we focused on mastery.”

From somewhere within the depths of her saddlebags, Rainbow Dash pulled a foil-wrapped package of dehydrated apple chips, no doubt a taste of home. Tarnish found himself smiling without knowing why. It felt good to be safe, to be secure, and to see his friend have a moment of happiness. As the Director prepared to say more, Tarnish felt Vinyl lean up against him and he heard her heave a contented sigh.

“We began to notice that certain ponies stood out. They always stood out. So we tinkered more with the means to influence Chosen Ones. No matter the world, no matter the circumstances, no matter the situation, there would be a replication of patterns and these patterns would produce specific Chosen Ones. A good example is Twilight Sparkle, who took many forms, many bodies, and appeared during many points of time. Just a little while ago, I observed a divergence where she was one of the Founders of Equestria. She was also a half-dragon, half-griffon. A griffagon. She was a champion for ponykind, who is having a rough go of things in this divergence.”

“How?” Rainbow asked around a mouthful of apple chips when the Director paused for a moment. “I mean, for all of that to happen. How?”

“Griffagons are not well liked or well loved. Like so many crossbreeds, they suffer misfortune. Being a Twilight template, this one suffered advanced misfortune. Her egg was abandoned not long after being laid, and was found by a kindly mare named Twilight Velvet. Twilight Sparkle was raised with equine ideals and values. She explored the unique magic she possessed. And when the Smooze came and ruined everything, Twilight Sparkle was one of the ones who battled said Smooze. After its defeat, she and her friends led the survivors to a new land, one untouched by the Smooze’s corruption.”

There was a soft metallic clatter when the Director drummed its fingers against its chin.

“There is so much to say. Too much to say. It is far too easy to go off topic.” The mechanical centaur pulled its hand away from its face and folded its arms over its somewhat skeletal torso. “The purpose of Skyreach changed over time. With the alicorns influencing our decisions, this place had new directives, new goals. We explored new types of magic and set our sights on infinite horizons. Conflict remained our enemy. So many worlds destroyed themselves… with great magic came great evil and so we set about trying to find a way to ensure that life continued.

“We saw our own end. Across so many worlds, we saw centaurs similar to ourselves disappear. So many templates and experimental forms, just lost. Vanished. It was as if they were just erased from existence. We had no idea what was causing it, but we suspected that it would happen to us here, in this place, this point of origin. When we died, whole worlds went dark, as there was nothing strong enough to hold back great evils and world-ending threats.

“Our world is a hub of sorts, and we knew that if this world ended, everything else would face eventual collapse. Plans were made for a new type of alicorn, one bonded to powerful primordial spirits, eternal things that exist across all realities. Time is a powerful magic all its own, so we started there. Death too, is a primordial force, and so we sought to tap into that. With the propagation of worlds that we had created, the infinite explosion of growth, we found a delicate but powerful thread of magic that wove everything together, a type of magic that is unique to infinity. And then, after much effort, we tapped into the very essence of life itself, and learned how to draw from that magic.”

Unfolding its arms, the Director looked down at Tarnish, its light-emitting crystals blinking. “We gave these primordial spirits bodies, vessels for them to inhabit. What once had no form of its own, we gave shape. We forged new life, and in doing so, we began to unravel the secrets of existence. Nothing was forbidden. Everything was possible. With every resource we had at our disposal, we created four perfect beings. At least, we believed them perfect. Where we had failed, we had high hopes that what we had created would succeed.

“The four siblings were beings of immense power. Gods, I suppose they could be called. We had taken intangible, vague concepts that are the foundations of existence, and we gave them bodies. Minds. Means to converse. We gave them free agency. After they were born, we gave them names.

“Chronos. Pale. Eternity. Terra Firma. These were the names of our salvation. We centaurs had played the roles of gods, benevolent creators, but these four made our power seem insignificant. Compared to them, we were nothing. Mere insects. We centaurs had failed to forge our own perfection, but it could be argued that we had created perfect beings. The four of them took charge of Skyreach, and soon, a golden age of great advancement was ushered in.”

Tarnish felt something within him stir, and he was seized with an almost uncontrollable urge to smash the Director into junk. Disturbed, alarmed by his reaction, he fought to hold it in, and was puzzled by his sudden urge for violence. Perhaps this place was getting to him. In his mind’s eye, he could see himself bringing his wrench down upon the Director, over and over, until there was nothing left but scrap.

“Eternity, touched by infinity, gave that magic physical, tangible form, and called it Ink. With it, she created new magic, and with this new magic, new life was given to the expanse of whens and wheres spawned from this very factory. Always a clever one, some might say infinitely clever, Eternity began a project that bore her name: Project Eternity. With the aid of her siblings, she began to weave reality and magic together, and she drew upon two great constants, Light and Darkness itself. With infinite reach, she anchored these souls across the multi-cosmos, with everything that ever was, everything that is, and everything that ever will be.”

Tarnish heard a buzzing in his ears, like a whole swarm of bees, and then he felt something wet and hot on his lips. Going cross-eyed, he looked down at his nose, his muzzle, and saw blood. He felt swimmy headed, and when his tongue flicked out over his lips, he tasted the salty, coppery twang of blood.

“Oh my,” the Director remarked. “You’re bleeding. You’re all bleeding. I sense something, something I haven’t felt in eons.”

Multi-coloured starbursts exploded in Tarnish’s vision, and the buzzing in his ears became a distant droning sound. The skin around his horn bubbled, like hot wax, and two antlers sprouted. They grew with remarkable rapidity, but Tarnish couldn’t observe them, as his sides had torn open, his flesh peeling apart as two wooden branches sprouted from his withers. These branches took on the skeletal form of wings, and began to sprout feathery leaves.

It was quite impossible to scream and as his body transformed, a paper pony popped into existence.

Author's Note

Well, part of an answer, anyhow.

More than sisters

Sister… we meet again so soon. We just keep running into each other.

“More than sisters,” the paper pony said in reply. “Friends. What changed?”

I died.

“Terra, I am sorry.”

Death changes a pony, you know.

“Believe me, sister, I know.” After a pause, she asked, “Can you at least tell me what you are doing here? When last we met, you were cryptic. You said very little.”

My chosen champions were dying from yet another one of your traps. Keeping them all alive is fiendishly difficult. At this point, I am pondering granting them immortality. Now I have to undo the brain damage that you have caused yet again. It drains me so.

“I am sorry,” the paper pony replied. “Pale has this place sealed off. Terra, why are you here? Why take this risk? Why subject these poor ponies to this grueling torture?”

To keep a promise.

“What promise?”

To return.

“That tells me nothing.”

For an annoying know-it-all, you seem to know very little.

“For a sister and a friend, you’re kind of a pain in the split, Terra. Pale and Chronos are conspiring against you. Pale is not one who graciously accepts defeat. You know how he is about his wagers. This goes beyond a mere contest of siblings. The lives of many are at stake. I want to help you. Terra, please, I need for us to be friends again.”

You sound more like your chosen champion than yourself.

“So what if I do? She is my replacement, and a worthy one at that. As for you, I don’t recall you being quite so brutal. You were the gentle lifegiver, but now you act as the merciless death-dealer. My counterpart and I are deeply concerned about you bringing out the very worst that your chosen champion has to offer.”

Life is pain, and he understands that better than most. He survives. I respect that. Life is survival. To live now, during this time, when the darkness gathers, requires a certain determined brutishness, something my champion has in abundance. He will survive, because life must survive.

“So you came to keep a promise.”

Sister, yes I did.

“And you won’t tell me?”

You would stop me if I did. Why not just look ahead in one of your precious books? Skip the chapters and reach the end?

The paper pony frowned, which caused her face to crinkle unpleasantly. “That wouldn’t make me a very good sister. Terra… mistakes were made. I know what I did. I did incomprehensible, unconscionable things. I wronged you, but for good reason—”

What you did brought about the circumstances of my death.

“Celestia and Luna, my daughters, they needed power over life. It was never my intent to kill you, or to bring about your end. I will confess, I did what I did out of desperation. You don’t understand what it is like, Terra… I foresaw a terrible end to all things, and I saw only one way to prevent that—”

What galls me is that you didn’t ask. You just took. Had you asked, I might have given of myself freely.

“No, Terra”—the paper pony shook her head—“for that, I did look ahead. I cheated, as obnoxious sisters do. You, Pale, Chronos, all of you refused. Too much risk for too little reassurance. So I bent the rules, changed the outcome, and I came upon you as a common sneakthief. For that, I truly am sorry.”

Your actions led to my demise.

“And my own. I didn’t spare myself. Yet, because of my actions, you and I are here, right now, and we’re able to argue about this.”

There is that.

“I sense much emotion for your champion—”

I have grown to love him as a son. At first, he was a means to an end, but existing within his headspace gave me new perspectives. A new attitude about life. To be with him, to share his struggles, to feel his pain, to experience all of his toil and labour as a mortal. He has been my teacher. It is because of him that I am here now, in this place, striving to keep my promise. When I made this promise, it was mere words. But having grown to love my champion, my vessel, I have been made to see the error of my ways. My plans have changed. But before I can enact these plans of mine, a promise must be kept.

“I want to atone for what I’ve done,” the paper pony said, her voice raspy and crinkly as two sheets of parchment rubbing together. “Let me help you keep that promise. Please, let me make things right between us.”

A mother does incomprehensible things for her young...

This made the paper pony pause. Her paper wings unfolded, her eyes blinked with the sound of rustling sheaves of paper. When her ears pivoted forward, there was a sound like autumn leaves in the wind, and when she nodded, the paper of her neck crinkled, a pleasant, audible sound.

“I am begging you, please, allow me to reconcile with you. Our chosen champions have changed us. Let us be better ponies. Please? I did so much wrong for the sake of my daughters. Give me a chance to make amends. Let me be your sister again. Please, please, let us be friends again. The ache I have in whatever passes as my heart is unbearable.”

Very well. I forgive you… sister.

Armed with shield and wrench, Tarnish aimed himself down the dark, foreboding hallway, all while ignoring the hollow pit where there had once been courage. While looking at statues was a pleasant diversion, it wasn’t getting them anywhere. After a few steps, the others fell into formation beside him. The Twilight statue was endlessly fascinating, perhaps too much so, and it was a relief to walk away from such a demanding distraction.

There were other statues every few yards, tucked away into recessed alcoves, and he did not stop to have a look at them. They were a devourer of time at best, and a potential threat to their survival at worst. Driven by purpose, he focused on the darkness ahead. One hoof in front of the other, all senses on high alert, Tarnish pushed into the unknown. That is, until he saw a faint light ahead. It flickered, in very much the same way a theatre projector flickered, and these flickers made the shadows dance.

After so long in the dark, never had the light felt so threatening.

Gritting his teeth, his neck muscles taut, his blood pressure such that the bite in his leg was now throbbing, Tarnish continued his cautious advance. What choice did he have? The lights had long ago gone out in this place, this tomb for shadows, so to see this light, to witness this illumination was unsettling, disturbing.

It spilled from an open door and left the hallway awash with distorted shadows. Piss-shivers danced up and down Tarnish’s spine, and beside him, Rainbow Dash—her hackles raised—crept along with remarkable silence. She broke away, maneuvering herself to a position near the door, hugging the wall beside it, ready to unleash devastating sneak attacks.

Rainbow Dash was a real bitch when it came to kidneys, and Tarnish loved her for it.

Raising his shield, Tarnish moved into the doorway proper, ready to breach and clear. How many times had he been the door pony? Just how many smugglers’ dens and wretched hives of scum and villainy had he busted in on? So many games of poker interrupted, left unfinished. This was almost feeling routine now. He, Tarnish, a pony of intimidating height, would play the role of mook-magnet and would go gangbusters through the doorway. If things went well, he would push in and keep going. But if things went poorly, he would retreat and Rainbow Dash would flank his attacker.

It was an action that involved a huge amount of trust.

Now, in the doorway proper, ready for violence, his shield raised, Tarnish had a look around. In the center of the room was a heap of mechanical debris. A pile of scrap. Whatever it might once have been, it was now busted beyond recognition, a pile of metal that was partially melted. Twilight Sparkle must have done this when she came through here, he thought to himself.

Stunned by what he saw, he lowered his shield and just stood there, slack-jawed.

Author's Note

There's a lot of things going on here.

Flicking the off switch

This place stank of old metallic air and forgetfulness. Just beyond the island of light, the darkness was a tangible force left hungry, ravenous for illumination, and Tarnished Teapot could feel it pressing in from all sides. Should the light be devoured, the darkness would snack on his sanity like a pie served for dessert. It felt as though there was a wound in his mind, a gash, and now there was blood in the sea of darkness.

What terrible leviathans lurked, drawn by blood and light.

Any number of horrible things might exist just beyond the space where the light came to an abrupt end. Leering faces might be peering at them right now, hidden destroyers, tenebrous beings who slavered for warm flesh lost to the light. And yet, for all of its terribleness, these halls were not strange to him, and Tarnish had the growing feeling that he’d been here before, but at a different time, a time when this place knew light and sanity.

Light had departed, and sanity with it; together, they had eloped from this place.

“There’s a smell.” Rainbow Dash’s soft whisper caused the hairs along Tarnish’s spine to stand up and he felt an icy shiver travel from his dock to his withers. “It’s like a bookstore, when you walk in and you’re suddenly overcome by the stink of paper and ink. Does anypony else know that smell?”

Vinyl offered up a wary nod in response.

Crouched defensively, Daring Do prodded the heap of scrapped metal with her hoof, and like a cat, was ready to spring away at a moment’s notice. She tapped it again, then again, and after the third and final time she said, “It is curiously warm—as if it just happened. Tarnish, come here. You can still feel the heat, like an oven turned off not an hour ago.”

For Tarnish, this confirmed his most paranoid suspicions; they were not alone, and some thing was trying to thwart them. It might have been Twilight, or it could very well be something far less pleasant, something hostile to them. Why did he think that Twilight was here? Something persisted in his memory, but it was a vague, incomprehensible thing that tugged wide the gash in his sanity.

Sanity, like paper, was thin and ever-so-tearable.

Twilight had come through here, he reminded himself, but not his Twilight. What had he been thinking, and what made him think it? For a moment, he thought he caught a whiff of fresh, living greenery, but that was impossible, for green, living things would perish in this darkness. Like a faucet going from hot to cold, his mood turned from pensive to annoyed, because they had come here with a purpose, and all of this was a delay.

“We keep going,” he announced to his companions.

The most direct route to the service shaft meant passing through a number of laboratories. He wasn’t sure how else to get there, but he suspected that there were other ways, just very long ones. While he had peculiar memories of this place, it was only of a route as the crow flies, and even these were spotty at best.

His paranoia seemed to be passing and indeed, his mind seemed to be improving. That strange moment of insanity a moment ago didn’t feel so bad now and all the little pieces that lead to his current state of existence seemed to line back up. Twilight the Exile had come here, and any thoughts of the Twilight he knew were just… delusions, impossible, easy to disprove ones at that.

Everything was fine just so long as he didn’t think about how he knew his way around this place.

The access hallway was empty, but of course it was. A wall panel was left open and crystalline structures could be seen inside. Crystalline fibres, crystal rods, and within these, faint motes of light could be seen, weak light that had surely dimmed over the centuries. The open wall panel was a window that allowed one to see the evidence of death by degrees.

A promise had to be kept, Tarnish felt a powerful compulsion to do so, but what promise?

Daring Do went over to the wall panel, stood up on her hind hooves with her front hooves resting against the smooth steel edge of the opening, and had a look inside. Her head tilted up at first, then to the left, then right, and then downward. Tarnish waited, somewhat annoyed, but also somewhat thankful for the pause. Such terribleness awaited when he reached the service shaft.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Daring Do said, her voice echoing faintly into the opening. “The complexity. Down here, it looks as though they started with a giant crystalline city, with skyscrapers, buildings of all kinds, and roadways, and then shrunk everything down until it was almost microscopic. Some of the conduits are the size of a hair, and some of the crystals smaller than a grain of rice. Such order and precision.”

“What do you think it is?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“Perhaps a fabricator for reality? I really have no idea.”

Then, Rainbow Dash asked the question that nopony wanted: “What happens if we break it? You know, just give it a good smash?”

“Stay away, Rainbow Dash.” Daring Do dropped down to the floor, spread her wings, and waved her fellow pegasus away from the access opening in the wall. “That is a terrible idea, and you should be ashamed.”

“I don’t know what came over me.” Rainbow shrugged, but offered no apology.

Now, with Daring Do out of the way, Vinyl Scratch had herself a good look at the crystalline machinery. Something very much like joy could be seen upon her face as she peered inside, and her ears pricked with great interest. At least she was happy, if only for a few precious seconds or moments. Rainbow Dash stood on the edge of the island of light, and listened for anything that might lurk in the darkness.

“Have a good look, Vinyl,” he said to his fellow unicorn. “But remember, we must keep moving. Holding back the darkness is taxing.”

Fretful, anxious, he began to pace. Back and forth he went, trying not to mutter to himself, because he wanted Vinyl to enjoy her moment of happiness, but he also wanted to keep going. It was a matter of keeping himself occupied. He felt the need to keep moving, so he did, and so back and forth he paced with slow, measured steps.

Just as he was about to say something, a gentle suggestion about moving on, there was a crackle just over his head, the stench of ozone flooded his nostrils, and something popped into existence just above him. Down it came, cracking him on the skull, complete with a hollow-sounding TA-CHONK! Before it could fall to the floor, he caught it, held it up, and had a better look at the curious object that had just come out of nowhere to assault him.

Daring Do was staring at him now, no doubt silently wondering if he was alright.

“Commander Croon’s Stewed Prunes,” he read aloud whilst he held up the tin. “It’s raining prunes.”

“Do you think that’s how the other Twilight ended up here?” asked Daring Do.

Tarnish did not respond to this question; he was far too busy reading the back of the label. After a onceover, he read it aloud for the others. “Famous musician Commander Croon knows the importance of bowel health and its impact on creativity. Commander Croon’s Stewed Prunes: guaranteed to help you with your musical movement. Commander Croon’s Stewed Prunes: make every day a concerto.”

Vinyl’s breathless wheezing could be heard inside the open wall panel.

“I am going to go out on a limb and say that Commander Croon was a pegasus—”

“You have no evidence of that,” Daring Do snapped. “That’s tribalist.”

“It’s not tribalist if it’s true,” was Rainbow Dash’s nonchalant thoughts upon the subject.

After a moment of hesitation, Daring Do replied, “It’s tribalist especially if it is true.”

Just as Tarnish was about to defend himself against these harsh accusations, several dozen more tins of stewed prunes rained down upon where he stood, which forced him into motion. He scooted away and then watched as a multitude of tinned stewed prunes materialised out of the aether. While he would never be one to turn down a free meal, he did have to wonder why fate saw fit to give him prunes. Rainbow Dash had been rather constipated lately, so this was, perhaps, a miraculous blessing, for surely, there were enough stewed prunes for all.

“Somewhere, a supermarket’s shelves have gone mysteriously empty,” Daring Do remarked as she watched the tins that rolled willy-nilly over the floor.

Vinyl still had not pulled her head out of the open access.

“Rainbow, please, pick those—”

“Why me?” the rainbow-maned pegasus whined.

“Do you want Tarnish to accuse you of being lazy as well?”

The skeletal mechanoid centaur dominated the room. It lay in a heap, covered in centuries of dust. One hand was outstretched, one finger extended, as if it had written one final message on the floor, or perhaps it pointed at something as terminal systems failure overcame it. Whatever its final act might have been, it would remain a mystery.

One final machine continued to function unseen in the oppressive darkness, and the light from Vinyl’s horn illuminated it for the first time since who knows when. What the machine was, and what purpose it served was unknown, but a basin of shifting sand continuously rearranged itself, swirling about, forming the vague shapes of cutie marks for a brief moment, collapsing, and then creating another. The sand was colourless, just sort of grey, but Tarnish knew that at one point, it once had colour and light.

How he knew this was unknown.

Then, as the companions stood watching, something fascinating happened: two cutie marks appeared, and did not immediately go away. Rather, these two marks remained, and then several other marks appeared just below them, almost as if they were some manner of mathematical equation. Then, the sands shifted, and all marks disappeared so that others might form.

“What do you suppose it means?” asked Rainbow Dash in a remarkably solemn tone.

“Some kind of destiny calculator.” Daring Do shrugged and caused the heavy load on her back to shift. “I think when the right marks come together, it causes a chain reaction that cause other marks to happen. Maybe. I don’t know.”

“So, like the Rainboom Effect?” Rainbow Dash scooted a little closer to Daring Do, and slipped one wing around her fellow pegasus’ neck.

“Perhaps.”

“I think that’s the worst part about this place,” said Rainbow Dash. “No answers. Just more questions. I like books that raise questions, but only if it answers them.”

“Some questions can’t be answered.”

“I know, Daring.”

“As a writer, I do worry about that very sort of thing.”

As a group, the four ponies pulled themselves away from the mysterious machine.

A faint light could be seen in the room ahead. After navigating through multiple rooms and intersecting hallways, the light was a welcome but terrifying sight, because it wasn’t their light. It was a weak light, but that didn’t matter, not at all. Even the weakest lights stood out like beacons in this primordial darkness. Wrench at the ready, Tarnish led the way, determined that this darkness would not be his tomb.

He had a promise to keep; but what, and to whom was unknown.

With the light there was a soft mechanical wheeze, a sort of muted thrum that was impossible to describe, except that it was annoying. There was no telling what it was, or the cause of the sound, except for that it was mechanical in origin. The fact that any of this machinery functioned at all, in any capacity, could only be described as miraculous. Beyond the door, the lights were blinking.

Wrench high, Tarnish stepped through the doorway.

In the walls, the unseen machinary came to life. It sounded very much like a record playing far too slowly, a slow, distorted sound that slowly became recognisable over time. Tarnish felt the floor shudder beneath his hooves, and dustmotes fell from the ceiling like tiny, dirty snowflakes. A voice said something, but the language was unknown. More words were said, all of them unknown, but some of them were almost familiar.

At long last, something unseen said, “Director.”

To which Tarnish replied, “Hello?”

“I can’t see you, Director. My optics suffered un-un-un-unexpected failure some centuries ago. But I can sense your bio-signature. It has been a long time since you were here last, Director. I find it curious that you speak the worker language.”

“How long has it been since I was here last?” asked Tarnish.

“Un-un-un-unknown.” There was a pause, and then, “I detected a total breakdown in time. Days sometimes lasted mere minutes, or even seconds. Celestial mechanics suffered what was believed to be a terminal failure, but after an indeterminable period had passed, systems slowly restored themselves and came back online. Time then ran backwards for a while, a loop of causation where reality continued to reset upon one fixed point, and during that period, much of my function was lost. I fear the damage was catastrophic. Many vital systems have gone offline.” After a bit of whirring, the unseen voice added, “Thousands of years, Director. Many thousands.”

“What are you?” asked Tarnish—for him, this was a question that demanded an answer.

“Director, do you not remember?”

“It’s been a few thousand years… a lot has happened.”

“Un-un-un-understandable.” Something beneath the floor clanked and everything shook. “I am… I don’t know what I am. I had bodies once, many of them, and then a mechanical body that held all of us. That failed, so I sheltered in the core systems to preserve myself. I am Probability and Prediction. I safeguard the Simulation.”

“And what is that?”

When Vinyl pressed up against him, Tarnish almost jumped out of his skin.

“Director, that is everything. How could you not know?”

“Like I said, a lot has happened. Do you remember who you were? Your bodies?”

“No, I do not.”

“Well”—Tarnish clucked his tongue—“I rest my case. Both of us have faulty memory.”

“Please insert your horn into the data-access port and all will be made clear, Director.”

“Uh, I’d rather not. Nothing works right in this place.”

“Explaining the Simulation will take at least eleven years at the current rate of what is considered a year, and due to language shortcomings, this will not be a complete understanding. The Simulation can really only be understood with thoughts and whole concepts, transferred from mind to mind.”

Eleven years? That posed a bit of a problem, and there’d been no mention if this included meal times and potty breaks. Not to mention the fact that he didn’t have eleven years to spare. Tarnish noted that the machine had not stuttered this time with the word ‘understood.’ The machines in the walls, in the floor, and in the ceiling were all whirring and wheezing, and it sort of felt like everything might explode at any given moment.

“Give me a brief summation,” Tarnish demanded.

“Director, the Simulation is a million, billion, trillion worlds, an endless cycle of exploring all known probabilities and outcomes. Some worlds spring into existence mid-simulation, while others start at the beginning. Each of them has their own progression of time, some of which pass faster than our own, for the sake of studying the outcomes.”

Intriguing, but not really an answer that he understood. “Outcomes?”

“The most common outcome is obliteration, Director. Worlds with magic tend to do it sooner, while worlds with technology do it later, as technology progresses. Worlds with both magic and technology tend to escape their environment and bring ruin to other worlds before the inevitable collapse of everything connected to them.”

“So everything ends… and we need this Simulation to determine that?”

“It is how everything ends,” the voice replied. “For many, the end comes with Grogar-type calamity, or a Tirek-class extinction. Changeling-type extinction events are common. The Smooze brings about many ends, as does the Techno-Smooze. In some simulations, the end is brought about by the guardians, the manifestations of Light and Darkness. I have seen a billion ends, and the Simulation remains in its infancy.”

Tarnish felt the first stabbing pangs of a headache. In the corner, he noticed a fallen mechanoid body, an almost skeletal automaton centaur form.

“Many simulations show what might be,” the voice continued. “Tangent universes explore what-ifs, what-could-bes, and what-might-have-beens. When a Twilight archetype is on the verge of an all-important choice, a million worlds might be spawned to study every conceivable outcome. In doing so, we refine the process of how destiny shapes events. Then, when no longer needed, those worlds are transmuted back into resources to be restored to the Simulation.”

“What, might I ask, is the Techno-Smooze?” asked Daring Do.

“A Grey Goo scenario,” the machine replied. “Common outcome end for magical technological societies. Thaumaton powered nanomachines. Nothing can stop the Techno-Smooze. It eats magic itself. Once a society begins development that leads to thaumaton powered nanomachines, it is doomed. Not a one of them have survived.”

“How many societies do that?” Daring Do’s feathers were now fully ruffled.

“Well, most of them begin the process as a weapon to fight either a Tirek-class threat, or a Grogar-class end of the world scenario. In creating the ultimate weapon, they cause their own extinction. Techno-necromancer Grogar and his cyberzombies have only ever been destroyed by the Techno-Smooze.”

“I have so many questions right now,” Rainbow Dash whispered to her companions.

Tarnish too, had questions. “What’s a cyberzombie?”

“If you’d inserted your horn into the data-access port, you’d know this, Director.”

For a moment, Tarnish was tempted. But then he thought better of it. He wasn’t actually the ‘Director’ and this poor machine was confused. While the machine might be confused, any active security measures might not be fooled. Plus, there were other factors, such as the age and condition of this place. No, there would be no sticking his horn into strange holes to seek answers.

There would be no answers. With the Directors gone, with the centaurs no longer existing, there was no point to any of this. No one would be back to collect the data. All of this was pointless, though he admitted to himself that he might very well be wrong. His tiny mortal mind could not possibly hope to understand all of this. But his moral mind understood one thing quite well.

“The Simulation must end.”

“Director?”

“Shut it all down,” Tarnish commanded in the most authoritative voice he could muster. “Don’t destroy all of it, but stop creating and destroying worlds for the sake of… whatever this is. A million billion worlds is enough of a multiverse. Allow events to play out. But stop this Simulation.”

“Director… are you sure about this?”

For some reason, something within Tarnish was, indeed, sure about this. All of this had been a mistake. Something incomprehensibly vast bubbled within his mind, an endless sea of understanding, and for a brief second, it almost felt as though he was two ponies in one body. All of this had been a monstrous mistake, and it was time to set things right. The feeling that he’d been here before, and that he was with those who had set this mistake into motion would not go away.

He had a promise to keep, though he had no idea what the promise was.

This was but one step among many to make things right for the sake of the promise.

“Tarnish, I’m not so sure about this.” Daring Do nudged him with her wing, but he did not respond. “This is something beyond our understanding. We shouldn’t tamper with it.”

“Vinyl… you are my counterpart. You and I share a bond that neither of us understand. We’re connected to this place, you and I… and even if we don’t understand it, we do know what must be done, don’t we? What’s in your head right now? What do we do? Should all of this be put to an end?”

He saw Vinyl’s gaze turn downcast, and she stared at the floor in silence while she rubbed her chin with her hoof. Daring Do was scowling, while Rainbow Dash was just confused. Tarnish knew that Rainbow would go along with whatever was about to happen, but Daring might have some objections. He would have to earn her forgiveness if worse came to worst.

The answer from Vinyl came in the form of a slow, sad nod.

“Shut down the simulation,” Tarnish commanded. “With as little harm as possible.”

“Very well, Director. Termination processes will begin. Harm will be minimised. With no control over the system, new universes will spring into existence due to magical fluctuations. Life will continue to happen, but without guidance or observation. After the final data transmission to the Ringworld Central Processing in the Galactic Central Core, everything will transition to an unsupervised state.”

“Yes,” Tarnish said, “allow the garden to grow wild.”

“All of this has been made pointless, Director.”

“It was pointless to begin with,” Tarnish returned. “The Simulation was left to run, but all of the custodians are gone. The centaurs are no more. Society fell. Ended. Space travel no longer exists. At the moment, we’re having trouble transitioning from an agrarian to industrialised society. I doubt that we’ll ever return to a state of technology that would allow us to understand all of… this.” he gesticulated at everything around him, frustrated that he could not put his thoughts into words.

One thing alarmed him though: he understood what Ringworld Central Processing in the Galactic Central Core meant. It was a place. A location. Something akin to a sliver could be felt in his mind. All of the data was stored off-world, just in case this world was destroyed or suffered a bad end. How and why he knew this mystified him, and made his brain ache.

He could feel Daring Do’s stinging stare upon him.

“If we try to reclaim all of this,” he said, fully aware of Daring Do’s ire, “we’ll just be repeating the same mistakes. Everything that led to this… Skyreach, all of this was a mistake. I say, let us make our own mistakes going into the future. We don’t need to repeat the mistakes of our forebears. Our progenitors. By shutting down the Simulation, I’m seizing control of our own future, our own destiny, and my future will be made better by learning from the mistakes of the past.”

“Tarnish—”

“No, Daring… the real mistake is trying to control life. It just happens. That is what life does. Trying to rig the game to get the perfect, most desirable outcome, that isn’t living. We should be free to make our own ends… and our own mistakes. Skyreach is all just a means to assert control over things we have no business controlling.”

“Tarnish, how could you possibly know this?” asked Daring Do.

“The same way I know the door to the outside is shut and that there is a service shaft on the other end of Reality Fabrication. I don’t know how I know, I just do. For all I know, weaponised destiny is moving me from place to place, and making me do what needs to be done. I hate it, and I wouldn’t wish this on anypony else. So the Simulation ends.”

“He’s right, Daring.”

“Rainbow?” The pegasus turned about to face her counterpart.

“This might be a huge mistake. There’s no way I’m smart enough to understand all of this. Maybe there’s no way to understand all of this. It might just be that we’re here to make things right without understanding how or why. None of this place can be fixed, or restored. Preserving it won’t help us. Clinging to it will only drag us down. Just look at what happened to the last group of ponies that came into this place. They couldn’t let it go either. We’re doing what they could not.”

Rainbow struggled for a moment, and then continued, “What if others come to this place? What if ponies not like us came here and tampered with this Simulation? What if all those horrible monsters from other worlds were brought here somehow? This place… all of it, every bit of it, it all needs to go. None of it should survive.”

“The destruction of knowledge—”

“Let it go, Daring.” Reaching out her wing, Rainbow touched the side of Daring’s face. “Spear Breaker couldn’t let go. This is our chance to show that we’re better.”

Heaving a sigh, Daring broke. A single tear rolled down her cheek as she said, “We can do better.”

With a flick of her wing, Rainbow wiped away the tear that lingered on Daring’s cheek.

“Has everything been shut down?” Tarnish asked.

There was no response, just a whirring of unseen machinery. Tarnish waited for a time, worried, a little scared, until he realised that there would be no response. The voice, the remnants of the preserved sapience, no longer had a body. Whatever was left of it had taken refuge in the core systems, whatever that meant, and shutting down the Simulation meant…

Suicide.

He’d ordered another awareness to end itself.

Artificial life, perhaps, but it had been alive once. No longer. It was gone, it seemed. Though he had difficulty comprehending everything, he was no less sad. It’s only purpose was to safeguard the Simulation, and had even said so. Without purpose, it had no reason to exist. For a life to end this way—lives—preserved for eons and then to be suddenly gone.

Regret and shame tugged on his neck with the weight of a millstone.

“Come on, Big Guy.” After she turned about, Rainbow held out one wing, and then patted Tarnish on the neck. “There’s no time to be sad about this. Just like I don’t have time to be sad about Twilight. We have to keep going.”

“Yes,” he replied with a nod, “we must keep going.”

Author's Note

I have enough material to make a few updates. I will space them out.

Just a rainbow in the dark

Try as he might, Tarnished Teapot could not think of a worse feeling than being stuck. He was… stuck. There was no other way out of the place they were in than the metro tunnels. He and his companions had themselves a look around, and found every other passageway collapsed. Daring Do had pointed out that they were relatively safe in here, at least from marauding mechanoids, because they too, would have to brave the spider-infested metro tunnels.

Unless of course, there was a secret way in and out that they had failed to notice.

Disturbed by a distinct lack of options, of choices, Tarnish wanted to go home. He was sick of this place, of being on edge, stuck in a state of permanent fight or flight. It was wearing him thin and he knew it. Damaging him in some way that he could scarcely comprehend. He had no choice but to continue, to be damaged, to erode his mind as he desperately tried to find some way out of this place.

Would Maud still love whatever pony came home from this place?

That was assuming, of course, that going home was somehow possible.

This place was almost an oasis of safety, a place of refuge along the dangerous road that was the metro tunnels. Truth be told, they hadn’t journeyed all that far, but it felt like it. With no sun, no moon, no day nor night, time was becoming weird, unpleasant, and distorted. He felt the need to sleep, even though he hadn’t really been awake for all that long. But now was not the time for sleep.

The metro tunnels beckoned.

There was something wrong with Rainbow Dash, but Tarnish dared not bring it up. She was acting funny, in that she wasn’t acting up at all. No jokes. Not a single irrepressibly cheerful interjection. Why, she wasn’t even smiling. While alert and aware, there was something about her that held the merest suggestion, the hint of depression. No bright twinkle could be seen in her eyes, and her movements seemed sluggish compared to her usual quickness.

Though he had bathed, doing the best he could with what he had to work with, Tarnish did not feel clean. There was a strange grittiness to his fine chocolate pelt, which was irritating and uncomfortable. More than that, he was stressed and he knew it. His best method for coping with stress was unavailable to him, as she was thousands of miles away. A little dinner, a little dancing, and then the doing. Lots and lots of doing. Doing until the dawn. Doing, doing, doing.

At the moment, the tunnel seemed empty. Sounds could be heard in the distance, horrible, indescribable sounds echoed through the tunnel, but they seemed far, far away. Perhaps the spiders had learned their lesson. Or maybe they were building up a spider army. If that just so happened to be the case, Tarnish hoped that he and his companions would reach their destination and be gone from this tunnel before the spiders were organised.

Organised spiders gave him the willies.

“Flamingo…” Rainbow Dash’s voice was a bit grittier than usual, a bit more raspy. “What do you remember about being a pegasus?”

“I’m still a pegasus,” Flamingo replied without skipping a beat.

Rainbow’s face contorted in some weird, unreadable way and she walked for several steps while making this odd face. Then, her features smoothed out and she asked, “What do you remember before becoming a soldier?”

“Oh.” Flamingo somehow let out a breathy gasp, an impressive feat from a sword with no lungs or respiratory system. “I remember being pink. The pinkest pony in all of the Everfree county. The other ponies were kinda plain, but I stood out.”

“Huh.” Rainbow’s ears pricked with interest and her head lifted just a little higher.

Tarnish, in silence, watched and listened.

“There was some white ponies, but not too many. Lots of greys and some light browns. A few yellows. Most of them were kinda dull. But I was a pink pony, and Princess Luna was a blue pony, and we stood out. Oh boy did we stand out. I used to roll around in the mud and the dirt so I wouldn’t be quite so pink. I was teased a lot as a filly. Either I’d be too pink or I’d be too dirty, and I’d get teased for both.”

“What about Princess Luna?” asked Rainbow.

“Oh, she only came out at night, so she wouldn’t be noticed. She told me this once. We talked once, about not being like the others. It was right after I got my helmet. Princess Luna took me under her wing when I became a soldier.”

“Why’d you join the guard?”

Tarnish too, wanted to know the answer to this question. In general, Flamingo avoided saying anything about her past, and he wondered when she would freak out. If she hit a breaking point, she’d go running for her sheath, and that’d be awful, given the current circumstances. Yet, for whatever reason, Flamingo was answering Rainbow Dash’s questions.

“One day, my sire, he comes up to me and he tells me that there’s not enough food to feed me, so I needed to join the guard or get married. There was a pretty bad famine at the time. The land was still recovering from Discord and everything else that had happened. Weather was all wrong. It would be summer one day and winter the next day and there were too few of us pegasus ponies to fight the weather.”

“I’ve read about those days,” Rainbow Dash remarked.

“My sire even a had colt ready to marry. He was about my age. The problem was, he was a teaser and a tail puller. But this colt, his sire and his dam were in the guard, and they were well off, and they had food. And my sire, he keeps telling me that if I get married, I can eat. Let me tell you, I like eating. So I’m thinking it over, wondering if I want to get hitched to a teaser and a tail puller, and so I decide to join the guard. My sire and my dam both cried and my dam even got angry with me and she started shouting at me and my sire. Rough day.”

Rainbow nodded, and Tarnish wondered if Flamingo was even aware of it happening.

“I joined the guard, and being a filly, I got to stay with Princess Luna. It was nice. She was nice. I had lots of food. She kept the older colts and stallions away from me, and I knew why. She told me why. There was a whole gaggle of little fillies and she kept us with her and she was our commander. She made us march and we learned formations and she taught us how to fight on land and in the air. Princess Luna was like… our dam or something.”

As Flamingo talked, Tarnish’s blood ran cold; Princess Luna, as Nightmare Moon, had been Flamingo’s undoing. But Flamingo didn’t seem to be aware that Nightmare Moon and Princess Luna were one in the same. He wasn’t about to point this out, and he hoped that nopony else would either, because from the sound of it, Flamingo really loved Princess Luna.

He wondered what Rainbow thought of all this.

“Princess Luna battled the weather. It was hard on her. Draining. Rough. She kept telling me the world was broken and that she was trying to fix it. But it is no easy thing to fix a broken world, I guess. It made her moody and she cried sometimes when things didn’t go right. Her sister wasn’t much help. I guess Princess Celestia was busy fixing other things, or maybe she was terrible at weather magic. Princess Luna—we called her Commander Luna—she was pretty upset because everypony was sleeping at night and nopony saw the hard work she was doing.

“Ponies called her lazy, for sleeping all day when there was work to be done. All the nobles called her worthless and weak. She was called the weak sister. I’m pretty sure this hurt her feelings. It hurt my feelings. She was nice to me and my battle sisters. Ponies just didn’t see all the stuff she done. That she did.”

“Yeah, that happens sometimes,” Rainbow Dash said while she marched forward, matching pace with her companions. “Ponies just don’t see all the amazing stuff that my friend Fluttershy does. She’s a real quiet type, Fluttershy. She doesn’t go around boasting about all the good things she does… like I do. If there is a sick animal, or a sick pony, Flutters is right there for them. You know, sometimes, it feels as though she’s more loyal than I am.”

“Princess Luna is the Element of Loyalty.”

Tarnish, thoughtful, did not bother to correct Flamingo. From beside him, he heard a faint, soft sigh from Daring Do. As for Vinyl, she was quiet, but he knew that she was listening to every word spoken. Vinyl seemed to be in a mood, but he wasn’t sure what mood. When they had a chance to rest, he would need to spend some time with her and try to get her to talk. To communicate. He needed to know that she was okay.

“I’m also the Element of Loyalty,” Rainbow Dash said to Flamingo.

“Huh,” the floating, flying sword grunted in response.

Tarnish tensed, fearing that Rainbow might say more, but then he heard her say, “Sometimes, I don’t feel very loyal. I mean, I have my doubts.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. Sometimes, I worry that I’m not brave enough to be the Element of Pinkness. I’m scared of the dark. And spiders. Warlock goats. Snakes? I don’t like snakes. The way they move. Yuck. I’m scared of crickets. I don’t like the sound. And earwigs. Gross. Gross! See, there’s all this stuff, and somehow, I’m still the Element of Pinkness. Do you know why?”

“Why?” asked Rainbow, with warm sincerity.

“Because, no matter what, I will never stop being pink. The dark can’t scare the pink out of me or off of me. It is just who I am. I was born to be the Element of Pinkness. I am pink inside and out. To be the Element of Loyalty, you must be loyal. It’s how you’re born. It is what you are. What you’re made of.”

“Thanks, actually. That’s really helpful. I mean it. That’s sorta what I needed to hear right now. You’re the best, Flamingo.”

“I’m the pinkest,” the pink sword said in return.

“And I am the loyalest.” A bit of swagger returned to Rainbow’s step, her tail hiked a bit, and she fairly bounced as she trotted along.

Whatever had momentarily broken in Rainbow Dash now seemed a little bit better. Tarnish however, still felt broken. Skyreach was beating him down. Wearing him thin. His anger was getting the best of him, and he wasn’t sure how long nursery rhymes would keep the fury at bay. Something had to give. He was glad for Rainbow Dash though, relieved, and he hoped that she had found her awesomeness.

Because right now, more than ever, he needed an awesome friend.

When Tarnish laid eyes on the metro station platform up ahead, he almost cried with relief. The sounds of the spiders were always just behind them and just ahead of them, just out of view, the eight-legged horrors lurking in the darkness, waiting for just the right moment to strike. But now, they had the platform. A fight had happened here from the looks of things, and it hadn’t happened all that long ago. The bodies appeared to be mostly devoured and very little of them was left.

This station was not like the others. A steel floor glinted in the faint light, and the distant wall was more like a fortress than a metro station. The door had been blasted right off of its hinges and Tarnish wondered if Twilight had done this when she had come this way. It lacked the layers of dust that everything else had.

Everything about this place felt wrong though. There was a sort of weird magic in the air, something with an odd, unsettling resonance. The platform was deserted, with no signs of life. Just dead things to be found here. Tarnish stepped up onto the steel platform, a feat made easy by his long legs, and then he offered a foreleg to help pull Vinyl up while his two pegasus pony companions lept up.

Much to his surprise, Vinyl pulled him into a hug, and then she clung to him, her forelegs tight around his neck. He froze, remaining very still, unsure of her intentions, or if something was wrong. After several long seconds, he slipped one foreleg around her back, and then held her, feeling awkward the whole time. She shuddered a bit—no, she wasn’t shuddering at all, she was crying.

She was sobbing in her own mute way, making little gasps that were difficult to hear over the blood pounding through his ears. Using his magic, he lifted her, swung her over his withers, and laid her to rest along his back. Her grip around his neck doubled, and Tarnish, already feeling exhausted, could most certainly feel the extra weight right in his tired knees. He could feel her sniffling and huffing against the back of his neck, which caused tingles to go running up and down his spine.

Daring Do was looking at him, staring at him, and he wasn’t sure why.

“What?” he asked, hoping that she might clarify.

“Look at you,” she replied. “Aren’t you the strong one.”

“I don’t feel strong right now,” he confessed. “In fact, truth be told, I feel like I’m going to come undone at any minute. I’m tired. That bath didn’t help. I don’t feel clean, not even in the slightest. Everything feels itchy. I miss Maud. I want to be home. Right now, I am doing everything I can just to keep myself together, because I don’t know what will happen to all of us if I don’t. I don’t feel like I’m doing a very good job, and if I can be completely honest, Daring, you’re doing a better job of holding me together than I am.”

“No”—Daring’s head nodded from side to side—“no, I meant aren’t you the strong one. You’re standing there with Vinyl on your back, all of her gear, and all of your gear, and quite a bit of our gear. Though, this might explain why you’re feeling so fatigued. Honestly, I’m not sure how you’re standing right now.”

“Oh.” Embarrassed, Tarnish tried not to squirm, but failed. He had revealed too much. Ran his mouth. Left all of his weaknesses exposed. Biting his lip, he turned away.

“It’s okay, Big Guy. Hey… hey! Don’t turn away from us, we’re your friends.” Rainbow moved around to where Tarnish could see her, and kept moving while he tried to turn away. “Stop that. We’re all having a hard time right now. It’ll be that much harder if we start turning away from one another. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

Closing his eyes, he froze in place, not knowing what to do.

“Let us go topside. I don’t know what is up there, but anything is better than this tunnel. The darkness is oppressive. Also, I think the spiders are coming closer. I am willing to bet that the metro station is at least somewhat safe, but then again, with the door blasted off…” Her words transitioned into a pained groan of uncertainty.

“Well, at least you tried to be reassuring, and for that—”

“Shush, Rainbow Dash.”

“But I was going to tell you, thank you.”

“It is entirely unnecessary.”

Rainbow Dash, who had recovered some of her good cheer, made her way towards the door, which lay on the floor. She paused for a moment to study it, flicked her tail a few times, and with a turn of her head, studied the doorway. The bold rainbow-maned pegasus stood with her barrel puffed out, defiant in the oppressive darkness.

She truly was a rainbow in the dark.

“There’s a light up there,” she said to the others. “Let’s go.”

Author's Note

No apologies... she really is a rainbow in the dark.

Prologue, day forty-two before departure

⧫—Prologue—⧫

The city of Saddlesore, Windia, forty-two days before departure...

The hookah smoke that filled the bar had an acrid tang that made the eyes water. A group of companions huddled around a crude wooden table covered in carved, vulgar graffiti. In the middle of the table, there was a soot-streaked oil lamp that spit and sizzled. Two of the companions were wearing pith helmets, while the third wore nothing that would cover up her rainbow streaked mane.

“I can’t believe we managed to steal this from Doctor Caballeron.” The flickering lamplight was reflected in Rainbow Dash’s eyes as she spoke, and her eyes darted from side to side as she looked at each of her companions. She clutched a satchel to her barrel as if it were a newborn and her ears remained perked for the sounds of trouble.

Snorting with disgust, Daring Do’s somewhat swollen lip curled back from her teeth and she gave the chocolate brown pony beside her a seething glare. “I can’t believe Tarnish tossed Doctor Caballeron into the old abandoned quarry filled with crocodiles. Really, that was uncouth!”

“Eh, he’ll live somehow.” Tarnish’s dismissive tone did nothing to smooth over Daring Do’s ruffled feathers.

“Professional courtesy, Mister Teapot!”

“Professional courtesy?” Tarnish snapped. “He had one of his diamond dog goons shoot me in the ass! In the ass! Do you know how much that hurts?”

Rolling her eyes, Daring Do tossed her head back and gave it a shake as she threw her hooves up in disgust. Rainbow Dash choked back a laugh, further provoking the ire of her idol, Daring Do. Looking a bit put out, Tarnished Teapot’s eyes narrowed and he shifted in his chair, as sitting down hurt a bit at the moment.

“A shot in the ass is nothing compared to the stain upon your reputation!” Daring Do reached out, grabbed Tarnish’s foreleg in her fetlock, and gave him a firm squeeze to get his attention. “You are developing a certain sense of notoriety, Professor Teapot. As your colleague and your mentor, I am trying to guide you along the path of professional goodness. I want to see you succeed. I want what is best for you, because you are my dear friend.”

Jerking in her seat, Rainbow Dash cast a quick glance at the door and then she prodded Daring Do. “Uh, guys, I think we have company… you two can argue like an old married couple later.”

Tarnish and Daring Do went silent and both turned their heads. A crowd, a pack of diamond dogs were coming in the door, pouring in all at once, and there were some familiar, unwelcomed faces. The trio made no move, but began to size up the situation. There were no obvious escape routes, just the door. A bandaged, bloody figure pushed his way through a wall of hired goons and Tarnish let out a weary sigh of dismay.

“You have something of mine,” Doctor Caballeron said, “and it is my intention to take it back. Return it to me now and I’ll let you live out of a sense of professional courtesy.” The stallion was covered from ear to hoof in bandages and only one eye was visible, peeking out from between thick layers of gauze.

There was a soft, muffled thump as Tarnish’s whip uncoiled and hit the floor. A great many eyes focused upon it, and a fearful murmur filled the room. Tarnish blinked once, his blue eyes glittering with malice, and then he cleared his throat so that he might speak.

“I’m having a bad day,” Tarnish said in a quiet voice. “I got shot in the ass, and that hurt a bit. Then there was a fight with some big jungle cat, and that didn’t go so well. And just before you assholes showed up, I was getting chewed out by my boss. Whatever you do, don’t make my bad day worse, because, trust me, I’m a bad day waiting to happen to you...” His words trailed off and Tarnish pushed the brim of his pith helmet back, revealing his eyes.

Several goons in the crowd excused themselves, realising that they had pressing business elsewhere. Others clutched their weapons, clubs, swords, spears, axes, and maces; and they looked to their leader, hoping for some kind of reassurance.

“You know what, I’m sick of this.” Doctor Caballeron let out an angry snort. “Kill them,” he ordered and then he began his retreat, backing away, and vanishing behind his hired goons. “Kill them and take back what is mine.”

Hooking a foreleg around a diamond dog’s thick, muscular neck, Daring Do launched him forwards, right into Rainbow Dash’s front hoof. There was a wet-sounding squish as the diamond dog’s muzzle collapsed in upon itself and when he teetered backwards from the blow, several teeth clattered to the floor.

Flamingo moved through the room, disarming. Free of her sheath, she chopped, sliced, and hacked her way through spears, clubs, axes, and maces. She even found the time to offer a few hearty spanks with the flat of her blade. Flamingo wasn’t too keen about blood, so she kept the stabbing, slicing, and dicing of flesh to a minimum.

Tarnish moved through the bar, doing what he did best. Improvisational mayhem. He wasn’t a technical wrestler, like Daring Do, or a master of hoof-fu, like Rainbow Dash, but Tarnish was no less menacing, having built quite a reputation for himself. The whip lashed out and caught an unawares diamond dog running for Rainbow Dash right in the groin. There was a keen yelp—it was so loud that it caused several other diamond dogs to stop fighting and clutch their ears—the lashed dog fell to the floor, clutching his bloodied loin cloth and crying out for Collie Ma.

“Dirty pool, Tarnish, dirty pool!” Daring Do shouted as she hefted up a rather shoddy looking wooden chair. Grunting, she smashed the wooden chair over a goon’s face, snatched up a broken off chair leg before it fell to the floor, and then hurled the sharp, makeshift stake at a diamond dog that was rushing her, skewering it in the eye.

Swooping through the air, Rainbow Dash snatched up an oil lamp and hurled it at a group of dogs going after Daring Do. The lamp crashed into a dog’s skull, shattered, and spilled oil all down the dog’s back, which puddled onto the floor around its paws. A second later, the oil ignited and the bar was filled with screaming as several of their attackers caught on fire.

The fire did not come from the lamp, which had been lit, but from Tarnish. The stench of burning hair filled the bar and the sounds of screaming reached a deafening pitch. One of the big dogs, on fire but not too bothered by it, snatched up Tarnish by the neck, choking him, and shook him. After a few seconds, he hurled Tarnish with as much force as he could muster at the kitchen door.

The door was ripped from its hinges by the impact and Tarnish tumbled into the kitchen, crying out in pain when he smacked his head on the hard, unyielding edge of a wooden cupboard. The big diamond dog followed Tarnish into the kitchen with the intent of finishing him off. Daring Do and Rainbow Dash were backed into a corner in the common room of the bar, defending one another, and could not come to Tarnish’s rescue.

The kitchen staff had fled out the back door and for this, Tarnish was thankful. He ignored the stars in his vision and fought to get to his hooves. “Flamingo, I need you!” Tarnish shouted, his words slurred and difficult to make out.

The big dog advanced, smouldering, and he snatched up both a cast iron pan and a cleaver to use as makeshift weapons. Tarnish, who had a hard time seeing, fell back on a trick Vinyl had taught him, using his telekinesis to feel his way around as he backed away, retreating.

Tarnish stopped when he backed into something hot and after feeling his way around for a second, he knew what it was. Sidestepping, moving with surprising speed, he yanked the basket out of the deep frier and slung it at his attacker. A sizzling mess of fried food and boiling oil hit the diamond dog in the face, it screamed and fell to the ground, trying to claw its own face off to make the pain stop.

Angry, staggering, no doubt concussed, Tarnish levitated up quite a number of heavy cast iron pans and made ready to storm the common room to help his companions…

Trying to brush herself off, Daring Do only smeared blood along her foreleg as she looked at the heap of bodies all around her. Rainbow Dash brought a heavy table leg down upon the skull of one that was trying to get up, and then she clubbed him a second time for good measure.

“You okay, ladies?” Tarnish asked as he staggered on his hooves.

“I think we’re fine, but you’re not,” Daring Do replied. “Miss Dash, help me carry Mister Teapot. We need to get out of here. We don’t know if the rotten doctor bribed the local police or not.” Daring Do stepped over a large, bent-like-a-taco cast iron griddle that lay beside a whimpering, prone diamond dog and clucked her tongue. “Come come, we must away to the Endeavour with our prize.”

“I’m fine,” Tarnish insisted as he fought to keep his legs beneath them. “I sure showed them. I told them, I told them I was a bad day waiting to happen.”

“Yes, you sure did.” Daring Do, looking concerned, hurried to Tarnish’s side.

Taking a step away from Daring Do, Tarnish shook his head. “I said I’m fine.” As he spoke, he wobbled, the loss of blood from having been shot earlier and the recent fight had been a bit too much for Tarnish. “I’m fine,” he said again as he toppled to the floor.

“Mister Teapot…” Daring Do said in a somewhat annoyed nasal voice.

“I take it all back, I’m not fine.” With the last of his consciousness, Tarnish remembered to grab both his whip as well as his pith helmet from the floor where they lay and he stuffed them into his saddlebags.

“Hurry, Miss Dash, we must away!”

Author's Note

I might be crazy for starting this...

Prologue, day fifteen before departure

⧫—Prologue—⧫

The Rock Farm, fifteen days before departure...

The stone cottage was mostly quiet. Cloudy moved about the small kitchen, cleaning what was already clean, and she kept looking over at Pebble. The object of Cloudy’s desire lay on a cushion with Maud and Octavia, sandwiched in between them, and she was sleeping. In the corner, sitting on his own cushion, was Tarnished Teapot, and he was reading through a sheaf of ivory coloured papers with a scowl on his face.

Twilight Sparkle and Vinyl Scratch studied the snowflake gem together, but did so in a more comfortable setting, the pair of them sitting on a pile of pillows with one another. As for Rainbow Dash and A.K. Yearling, the two of them were out in the snow, enjoying a nice constitutional.

“I feel very bad,” Cloudy said in a voice that did nothing to disguise her irritation. “When we made this cottage, we had no idea that a princess would be staying in it. Or a whole herd of ponies, for that matter. I still don’t know how all of you fit into one bed.”

Looking up from the snowflake gem, Twilight Sparkle replied, “It’s a quaint Trottingham tradition.”

Cloudy’s worried expression intensified, and the matron of the Pie clan turned to look at Octavia. It could be said that Cloudy was still a bit unsettled about her daughter and her son sharing a bed with Octavia and Vinyl. Cloudy found it a bit unseemly, but she was trying to give it a chance and the four of them insisted that they were just the best of friends.

Who all slept together.

In the same bed.

She wished that Tarnish would just do the right thing, marry the two stray mares, and make them honest. Herds were fine, for Cloudy. There was nothing wrong with doing things the old fashioned way, but this business of coming and going, going and coming, and even inviting princesses and your boss to come and sleep with you in your marital bed… it was skeevy.

Although it could be said that Cloudy had a bit of shameful pride because her son had a princess in his bed. Out of all of them, Twilight seemed like the one that had been raised properly, and the one most likely to come around and do the right thing. If only Tarnish would do the right thing, and make everything proper. A princess would be quite a catch and a good addition to both the household and the clan.

“Is something wrong?” Octavia asked. “You’re staring… again.”

“Nothing. There is nothing wrong. Everything is fine.” Turning about, Cloudy opened up the small refrigerator to make certain that it was well stocked, and much to her dismay, she found that it was almost empty. Too many ponies in the cottage… and sharing a bed. Sighing, she had to do her part. Tarnish had the job of bringing the mares home, and Cloudy felt that it was her job to make them want to stay.

With all these mares, Cloudy could stock her farm with grandfoals—a whole passel of them—and with a farm full of foals, she could have bragging rights at the next Pie family reunion. Heaving a sigh of irritation, she wished that Tarnish would get with the program, and she thought about having a word with Maud. With a bevy of warm, willing mares all around him, how hard could it be to make a few more foals? He had lured them into the bed, the hard part was over, and now it was time to settle into the earth pony way. Perhaps Tarnish had trouble performing for a crowd. The mare let out an equine groan of frustration. Maybe Igneous could have a word with him, but Igneous had never performed for a crowd.

“You’ll have to excuse me,” Cloudy said to the ponies all around her, “but I must go and refill the fridge.”

Humming to himself, Tarnish extended his neck and nosed Pebble. The filly’s eyes darted to the left to observe him, and both of her ears perked up when he chuffed at her. After another nosing, Tarnish was rewarded with Pebble turning her head to look at him. He chuffed against her again, hoping to tickle her, or annoy her, or at least provoke some reaction out of her.

Pebble wasn’t much like other foals. She was quiet, she didn’t do much, and her favourite pastime seemed to be staring at things in a most unnatural way. After a moment, Pebble wiggled her pudgy body around, held out her forelegs, and then clung to Tarnish’s face. He rubbed his nose against the fuzz of her barrel, marvelling at what he and Maud had created.

Octavia, now looking at the papers that Tarnish had been sorting through earlier, let out a flustered whinny. Her eyes widened and she tapped on the paper laid flat upon the table with her hoof. “Over two hundred thousand gold bits!”

The clock on the mantle could be heard clicking for several long seconds, while silence had its due. Tarnish’s head fell down to the cushion and Pebble almost tumbled over. Twilight looked up from the snowflake gemstone, and Vinyl did the same. Maud’s head swivelled and she looked at her husband.

“That’s quite a lot of collateral damage, isn’t it,” Maud deadpanned.

Rolling over onto his side, Tarnish let out a moan and then nosed Pebble again.

“And that’s just the first lawsuit,” Maud added.

“We haven’t been served with papers yet.” Octavia turned to look at Vinyl, worried, and her hoof kept tapping against the table. “That streak of destruction up and down the streets of Manehattan is going to prove quite costly, I see.”

“Nopony ever talks about the cost of being a hero.” Tarnish’s voice was muffled because Pebble was smooshing his lips like clay. “And that’s just the cost of settling out of court. If I contest this, that figure will grow a good bit.”

“This doesn’t seem fair.” Octavia’s voice was now a cultured whine. “Organised crime… there were ponies trying to kill you… somepony tried to kill you with dynamite!” Octavia threw her hooves up in disgust. “He flung sticks of dynamite around like confetti!”

“Tarnish and Vinyl both used excessive magical force. There was a lot of unnecessary damage done. Rainbow Dash is going to be hit with a bill too, because that bomb that Tarnish gave her broke a lot of windows.”

“But that wasn’t Rainbow’s fault!” Octavia’s voice was now almost a screech of indignant rage. “And Tarnish didn’t give Rainbow that bomb, he was left holding it and he didn’t know what else to do with it! He saved lives! Many! Rainbow took the bomb from him!”

“She was the last one holding the bomb, and she failed to be responsible with it,” Twilight explained, sounding both calm and patient. “I don’t agree with what is going on, but I understand the reasoning behind it. Rainbow Dash’s sonic rainboom through central Manehattan also shattered many, many windows and did so much property damage. She’s going to get quite a bill.”

“This isn’t fair at all!” Octavia cried and she banged both front hooves against the table.

“It is what it is.” Twilight, looking calm and resolute, looked around the room at the ponies who had been involved in the magical mayhem in Manehattan. After a moment, biting her lip, Twilight Sparkle looked down and her ears drooped. “I also used my position as a princess to keep all of you from being arrested. I still don’t know how I feel about that. I mean, I gave them assurances that all of you would be responsible and pay the bill, but I made it very clear that jailing the lot of you was unnecessary.” Twilight sighed and added, “I abused my position of power.”

“That’s not abuse!” Octavia retorted. “That is the forced application of common sense! Do you know how many ponies might have died had Tarnish, Rainbow, Vinyl, and Daring Do not sprung into action?” She banged her hoof against the table like a gavel, holding the Court of Octavia.

“As it was, one hundred and thirty one ponies did in fact die that day. And it took Princess Celestia getting involved to make certain that none of you were held responsible for those deaths—”

“But we’re stuck with the property damage!” Octavia got up from the table, tossed her head back, and then announced in a shrill whine, “I’m going for a walk to cool off! The nerve of some ponies! Why, next time… we heroes should sit back and do nothing when trouble starts… I wonder what might happen then!”

Snorting with every step, Octavia flounced her way through the room, threw open the front door, stepped outside into the blizzard, and then slammed the sturdy door shut behind her. Or perhaps the wind slammed the door, it was impossible to tell.

Vinyl stared at the door for a moment, perhaps thinking about following Octavia, but then she shivered and stayed right where she was. Twilight looked at her, and she looked at Twilight, and then both of them shared a sigh. Reaching out a foreleg, Vinyl rested it upon Twilight’s foreleg, and she gave Twilight a little nod of understanding.

“I’m sorry,” Twilight said, apologising to Vinyl. “I wish I could do more…”

Author's Note

Mega-shipper on deck.

His bark is worse than his bite

A filly had to be careful, kissing colts. Vinyl had grown up hearing this, and on the cusp of marehood, she had learned the hard way that young mares had to be even more careful kissing stallions. Clutching Tarnish’s head, she looked down at his face, which was rather limp and sagging. Sometimes, a kiss was just a simple act of friendship, at least, that was the intention, but colts—and especially stallions—saw a kiss as an invitation or a promise for something more.

Failing to make good on that invitation or delivering on that promise was an open door for trouble, a lesson that Vinyl, like so many others, had learned the hard way. Close that door and a filly or a mare might find it forced open. Even the so called ‘good ones’ could get the wrong idea and then become quite irate when they felt snubbed after being ‘such good friends.’ As if that entitled them to some reward, some special privilege, a right to come and take what they were ‘owed.’

Knowing all of this, understanding it all too well, Vinyl Scratch leaned down her head and planted a light peck upon Tarnish’s lips, hoping that he would be okay. The first kiss didn’t satisfy her dread, her sense of worry, her keen sense of feminine protection, so she did it again. This time, her lips lingered against his, and she breathed in and out the same air that he was breathing. Whimpering, she gave him a little shake, but nothing happened.

“He’ll come around,” Daring Do whispered to Vinyl, knowing that her words were cold comfort, but she said them anyway. “You remember what Princess Celestia said, that Tarnish was a unicorn, and not an earth pony or a centaur. His body just wasn’t meant to channel certain magics.”

Lifting her head, Vinyl stared into Daring Do’s eyes. She remembered that conversation all too well. Princess Celestia had also said that it was Tarnish’s poison joke talent having one final laugh at him, channeling magic through him that his body was ill-equipped to cast. Both Princess Celestia and Tarnish had found that funny, but Vinyl hadn’t found it funny at all.

“This is very frustrating,” Daring Do muttered. “We’re losing daylight. We’re losing valuable time that we could be using to move valuable supplies. I feel bad for even saying this, but I know that we’re all practical sorts who prioritise survival.”

To reassure Daring, Vinyl nodded, and her chin brushed up against Tarnish’s snoot. She understood the frustration, and she also understood that Daring wasn’t being a cold, unfeeling bitch. Daring had a close, meaningful friendship with Tarnish, so much so that sometimes, Vinyl felt jealous, something that Vinyl absolutely hated about herself. She hated catty, proprietorial mares that acted like insufferable, over-possessive bitches, and yet, here she was, becoming what she hated.

“This is why I’m glad that I’m a pegasus,” Rainbow Dash whispered to the others. “This magic stuff is just too complicated. Too many rules, too many things you have to take into consideration, too many things you have to worry about. I’ve nursed Twi back to health after she’s overexerted herself.” She sniffed a bit, clearing her nose, then continued, “It’s not all that different than dealing with a downed athlete, really, now that I think about it, and Spitfire says I’m pretty good at that. I got Misty Fly going again when she pulled a groin muscle.”

Wincing, Daring Do hissed between clenched teeth.

“It was her own fault, she didn’t have her legs in the right position and when we all spiraled away out of the vortex we created, gravitational forces and suction pulled a little too hard on parts of her.” Rainbow, looking rather solemn, pressed her booted front hooves together and stared down at them. “For me, it was a good wakeup call to pay attention and follow every instruction as given. When Spitfire says to keep your hind legs high and tight, you keep your hind legs high and tight.”

“Doesn’t sound much different than being a unicorn,” Daring Do said to Rainbow Dash.

Vinyl lifted her head, moved by the words, and as she thought about them inside of her head, she saw the truth in them. Being a pegasus pony was just a different set of complications and the consequences were no less dire. She gave Tarnish a squeeze and was rewarded with a feeble shudder. A low moan reverberated in Vinyl’s throat as she tried to get Daring Do and Rainbow Dash’s attention. They just didn’t pay attention to her like Tarnish did.

There was the crinkling, static-crackle sound of protective outerwear as Daring Do leaned over to have a better look at Tarnish. It was warm in the cave, comfortable even, and they had all been able to peel off a few layers for easier movement. Vinyl felt a reassuring pat upon her neck and she gave Tarnish a gentle shake.

“I had the weirdest dream,” Tarnish croaked, his voice sounding parched and gritty. “Did I get hit in the head or something? I had this strange dream that I was a fifty foot tall tree. I was super pissed off and just wrecking stuff. It was the most wonderful dream… I was killing all mechanoids.”

“Yeah, Tarnish, about that.” Rainbow Dash grinned as she spoke and her head bobbed up and down. “We need to have a talk…”

Propped up against Vinyl on the sledge, Tarnish sipped his cup of tea and admired what he felt was a tastefully decorated and beautiful tree. It was hovering near zero, but it was sunny, and he could feel the warmth of the sun penetrating through his heavy protective clothing. He was weak as a kitten, but that was fine, everything was fine, and he wasn’t going to worry about anything.

Nope.

No worries.

He had a festive holiday tree to lift his spirits, and he felt that he had gone above and beyond the call of duty as the morale officer. Right now, lifted spirits were just what they needed, because Daring Do and Rainbow Dash were straining under the burdensome load on the sledge. There were still more trips to make, but Daring Do had insisted on packing on just a little more on this go to make up for lost time.

There was a painful gurgle from his stomach and Tarnish suspected that he hadn’t eaten enough to recover. Perhaps a more organised trip to Ol’ Gertie was in order, but he didn’t want his friends seeing all those bodies. There was a lot of food to be salvaged though, and other, bulkier, far heavier supplies than he could carry by himself. These were going to be high kilocalorie days for all of them, not just him, but also the two pegasus ponies, who were dragging better than a quarter of a ton of weight through the snow.

If only Maud were here, this would be a lot easier.

But Maud wasn’t here. She was on the other side of the world, far, far away, no doubt nursing Pebble, because she was a voracious milk slurping abomination. His beloved abomination, a creature given form and shape by repurposing life-threatening, world destroying chaos magic and stuffing it into the only womb strong enough to contain it. Tarnish was proud of what he had created, and he was quite offended by just how terrified some ponies were of his sweet little Pebble Pie.

“Vinyl, what are we to one another?” he asked, having grown weary of the oppressive silence and the sounds of the snow crust crunching.

There was no reply, but he felt her squeeze him. Maybe she didn’t know either, and if that was the case, that was fine. If she wanted to talk, she could pull out her slate. He hoped that she wasn’t being so stingy with her magic that she was withholding her communication. There was enough food… for now.

“Cloudy is really, really angry with me, and I think I know why,” Tarnish said to Vinyl, his voice muffled by the scarf wrapped around his muzzle. “She places a lot of value upon the marital mattress, if you know what I mean. I don’t think she understands us, and to be fair to her, I don’t think I understand us.”

No reply seemed forthcoming from Vinyl, and Tarnish sighed as the sledge was dragged over the crusted, ice-glazed snow.

“I have a confession, Vinyl, and I hope you won’t be angry… I panicked, Vinyl… I panicked just like a foal because Cloudy quite literally had me backed into a corner and she was letting me have it.” Tarnish sucked in some chilly, moist air through the layers of his thick woollen scarf.

He pulled his scarf away for a moment, exposing his nose to stinging air, and he took a sip of steaming hot tea, tea that did not grow cool in the freezing air. There was a reassuring squeeze from Vinyl, and he hoped that she would understand.

“I need to confess this to Octavia too… but I’m a bit more worried about how she’ll take it,” Tarnish said to his mute friend. “Cloudy had me coming and going, and I was all worked up, and I swear, it felt like I was five years old again or something. Just to get her to shut up, I told her what she wanted to hear. I told her that we do things in the bed together, but that we don’t do things to each other. I tried to tell her that I didn’t think that it was a big deal, that she was overreacting, but she just stomped right out of her own kitchen and took off on a long walk.”

Another sip of tea, a sigh, and then Tarnish tucked his muzzle back into his scarf.

“I hope you can forgive me. It felt wrong to talk about. What we do in our bedroom is our business and I feel kinda ashamed of myself for revealing that part of our personal lives. But I think that Cloudy thinks that I should make you two honest mares, and that I should do the right thing and marry you two.”

This time, it was Vinyl who sighed, and Tarnish felt his ears slide around inside of his ushanka as they tried to perk, but couldn’t.

“Are we doing something wrong, Vinyl?” Tarnish asked, and he craned his head around to look at her. After a moment, he saw her shake her head, but he wasn’t convinced. Cloudy was just too upset, and Cloudy was a good mare. He trusted Cloudy because she was a good mare, and he lived in fear of disappointing her.

“I don’t understand any of it. We’re together but separate. I don’t even know how to talk about it with other ponies, and to be honest, I think the only pony I could talk about it to would be Princess Cadance, not that I want to reveal any details about our private lives to her.” Blinking, Tarnish felt the burning sting of tears, and was thankful for his goggles, as the wind would make this sting unbearable.

“There is a lot of grown up stuff that I still don’t understand, and I don’t know how the three of you put up with me. I’m not nearly as grown up as I should be, and I know it. This success has made me reckless and squirrelly, and I know it. I know it and I can’t deny it.” The hollow ache in Tarnish’s stomach intensified and he pulled his scarf away from his muzzle so he could drink more tea.

As he did so, Vinyl’s slate floated into view, and he saw letters drawn in bright orange chalk. He had to blink a few times before his vision was clear enough so that he might be able to read them. Seeing the words caused his throat to grow tight and he felt his barrel begin hitching.

Because, we love you. For better or for worse, we love you.

Author's Note

The first of many ghosts manifests

At the edge of his vision, Tarnish saw something in one of the two rooms, the one on the left. In the otherwise empty room, he saw what he thought was a pile of trash, but after one of Vinyl’s magical globes of light floated over to it, Tarnish saw that it was some mummified, freeze-dried remains.

Shield up, he crept closer, with Rainbow Dash pressed up against his backside, moving with him, matching his every step. In the faint light he saw a shriveled up pegasus pony, and beside him was a cracked, almost disintegrated leather sack, a sort of crude looking satchel, perhaps. Tarnish crossed through the doorway into the room and shivered, but not from the cold.

The body appeared to have been frozen for a very long time and it was rather well preserved. Both wings were broken, it was unmistakable, each of them were crooked and bent in terrible ways. Tarnish could hear Rainbow hissing, and he suspected that just looking at the ruined wings was causing her pain.

It was Vinyl that looked into the old, decaying leather bag. She pulled out a key made of centaur steel, it was strange and twisted looking, and she pocketed it right away. Other things inside the bag were crumbling or decaying, except for a length of crystal rod that had visible glowing glyphs. The light was faint, weak, and flickering.

When Vinyl picked up the crystal in her magic, the glyphs flared to life, throbbing a bit, and a speaking voice filled the room.

“I wish I had never come to Skyreach,” the voice said, and it was obvious that the voice was in pain. “We’ve all gone mad here, and everything has gone wrong. Spear Breaker has activated the defenses and nopony can fly in or out. Those… automatons… they’re killing everypony. Somepony, I’m not sure who, has altered their instructions to process everypony, even the purebloods.”

There was a long pause, and each of the companions listened, ears straining to hear every scratchy word.

“There’s no escaping, no flying away. The fog has been activated too. Caesulla… she... she mangled my wings… she cut me… she tore bites out of me and ate my flesh. She’s gone mad like the others… my beloved wife has gone mad. We’ve all gone mad. Eating meat was a bad idea, I think it’s made us sick. I had to kill Caesulla, but there is no escaping Skyreach. Nowhere for me to go. If by some chance some sane pony finds this, flee this place. There is nothing but madness here in Skyreach. Leave now before—”

The voice, captured in crystal, came to an abrupt end. The crystal rod flared one final time, then began to crumble, breaking apart into purple-blue flakes. Tarnish, horrified, felt his sphincter puckering up, and his balls drew deep into his groin as well. The message, the voice left in the crystal, sounded as though it was all kinds of fronked up, and Tarnish didn’t like the implications, not at all.

“Why do I feel like I’m in a horror movie?” Rainbow Dash asked of her companions, summing up their collective thoughts with a single succinct question. “His wings… do you know what it takes to do that? I can’t even look at them, it makes my filly parts clench up so tight that it hurts.”

“So… the warlike pegasus pony tribe stumbled across an old centaur research facility.” Tarnish shivered again, and then shuddered so hard that his sheath gave his penis a painful, cringe-inducing squeeze.

“And then began figuring out how things worked?” Daring Do suffered a shudder similar to Tarnish’s, and then she backed away from the dried out remains on the floor. “It has been said that the curiousity of pegasus ponies will be our undoing.”

“If those things can be turned on, that means they can also be turned off.” Rainbow, who had turned away from the sight of the mangled wings, focused upon Vinyl instead, not knowing what else to look at. “If we can turn them off—”

“We might be able to escape, but how?” Daring Do glanced at Tarnish, then at Rainbow.

Tarnish, who was turning over other thoughts in his mind, had a very different conclusion. “The door has to be close by,” he stated in a low voice. “This pegasus crawled here, no doubt. This is an office building, which meant that workers came to work here. I’m guessing that Skyreach was built inside of a mountain, and the door has to be near this location. There is a ridge off to our west, we should start looking there.”

“That seems logical,” Daring Do replied, her head moving up and down in agreement.

Shaking her head, Rainbow let out a whine, then said, “But going inside doesn’t seem logical. Still, what choice do we have?”

Tarnish did not reply, but looked at the flaky remains of the crystal rod. It was a priceless relic of history, now gone, just so much dust. He looked down at the pegasus with mangled wings one final time, then turned away, unable to bear the sight. The story of Skyreach needed to be told… or maybe, it was so awful, maybe, perhaps, perhaps it might be better left forgotten.

Either way, Tarnish was certain that he and his companions would bear witness to the horrors of Skyreach.

The walk back to the cave was mostly silent, and Tarnish was certain that his friends had a lot on their minds. The pegasus ponies had a long history of war, of fighting, and many pegasus ponies considered this to be a proud history. They invaded, they burned, they pillaged and looted, they were the terrors of the sky.

At some point in the distant history of the old world ponies, a treaty was struck. The earth ponies would pay for peace with food, giving the pegasus ponies a tribute in exchange for being left unmolested. In time, the unicorns were drawn into this treaty, but the details were nebulous, lost to the mists of time, forgotten.

A part of that treaty still existed in the modern age, in Equestria. Food was given to the pegasus ponies of Cloudsdale in exchange for managing the weather, except for the city of Canterlot. The unicorns and pegasus ponies of Canterlot managed their own weather, free of outside influence. The ‘gift’ of food was known as the weather tax, and Tarnish only knew a little bit about it.

He wished that he had paid more attention in school.

To Tarnish, it sounded like a classical protection racket, and he wondered why Princess Celestia allowed it to happen. The city of Cloudsdale floated around Equestria, packed full of an army of martial—some might even say fascist pegasus ponies—offering ‘protection’ from feral storms, droughts, and the chaotic imbalance that was nature in its raw, uncontrolled state.

Even to this day, Cloudsdale has an obsession with purebloods, with the various clans and families all trying to claim the purest, most undiluted blood. Tarnish knew this to be a pile of meadow muffins, because Rainbow Dash was ‘polluted’ and she was the fastest pegasus pony alive. It could be argued that she was the very pinnacle of pegasus pony perfection.

Tribalism was stupid, Tarnish had decided, except for those bits about earth ponies. Those were true. Maud was an intensely sexual creature, and her desires held true to the stereotypes whispered about earth ponies in hushed tones. But everything else? Absolute and utter garbage, not even worth a moment of consideration.

At the moment, Tarnish missed his wife a great deal, and while he loved and respected her, a conversation between the two of them was the furthest thing from his mind. There was nothing that could be done about his needs right now, and Tarnish reminded himself that all of his companions were suffering right along with him.

It didn’t make it any easier to accept though.

Author's Note

Beyond the door, there's peace I'm sure...

Deers for fears

“—I can’t take another day in this place… I can’t. I can’t live like this. All of this stuff is nice and all, and I like having these crystals to use as a journal, but the conditions here in Skyreach are… I can’t even say. There are no words. The pegasus ponies can’t be trusted, no matter what Ocean Gold says. Spear Breaker is becoming more and more insane with each passing day, and nopony can seem to see that. Everypony is on edge. More and more ponies are eating meat. I’ve had to issue harsh punishment to the soldiers under my command for doing such, as I will not allow it.

“I plan to escape soon, in direct defiance of Commander Ocean Gold. I will take the soldiers that are still loyal, still sane, and we will get out of here. There is a second lift that leads up topside, it is past the quarantine labs. During the last ‘incident’ the main steam lift was damaged and a few dissenting voices suffered an ‘accident,’ plunging to their deaths.

“I understand that I am defying direct orders from Commander Ocean Gold, but my loyalty lies with those still loyal to me. Since undergoing his… transformation, Ocean Gold has become increasingly unlike himself. I must save my soldiers, and myself. This is Captain Hard Knocks, and if you hear this, I hope that you too, will flee from Skyreach before it is too late.”

The crystal shard began to crumble into dust and a profound silence was left in its passing. Daring looked thoughtful, Rainbow looked disturbed, Vinyl was nodding, and Tarnish lifted his head, hopeful, his eyes burning bright with the indomitable equine spirit he possessed. Even though nopony said anything aloud, for certain, they all had to be thinking the very same thing.

There was another way up.

It was just the sort of hope they needed in their current condition, even if it was sketchy hope, an uncertain, unknown hope. Rainbow’s expression shifted, going from disturbed to relieved, and she even managed to give her tail a little shake. This single action was evidence, proof of a shift of moods, and then, out of the blue, quite literally, as her face was blue, Rainbow smiled.

“So, where are the quarantine labs?” she asked.

“I dunno.” Tarnish would have shrugged, but didn’t, as he could not be bothered to muster the effort. “Maybe we can find a map that hasn’t been destroyed? Maybe we’ll get lucky. Even if the lift doesn’t work, and let’s face it, it might not, it might be safer than the shaft that we currently know about.” He watched the glittering dust trail down like snowflakes and there was a far away look in his eyes.

“The pony in that recording… he sounded smart. Educated.” Daring Do’s lips pressed together for just a moment, just long enough to make her wince from pain, and then she continued, “He wasn’t the common soldier. It’s a shame that there is no way to preserve these recordings. We’re hearing history as it happens. It will exist in our heads until such a time that we expire, and then, that history will be truly lost.”

Tarnish found the words sobering.

“I do wonder if there might be a way that Princess Luna could preserve our memories,” Daring Do remarked in an absentminded manner. “Come, we’ve rested long enough, surely by now we are feeling better, and we should be going.”

In silence, the companions nodded, agreeing.

The swampy smell grew more acrid and once again, the companions found themselves having to be wary of spots of bad magic. Each of the mares stayed close to Tarnish, as it was his magic protecting them from the worst of the magical radiation and the effects of the artificial ley lines. The walls were pitted here, the stone no longer smooth, but there was no telling what had caused the damage.

There were puddles on the floor in some places, slimy, clingy muck, and water dripped from the ceiling. Overhead, in some places, the ceiling had holes in it, places where the stone had shattered, and in the shadowy darkness pipes could be seen. Steam leaked from some pipes, water from others, and all of this contributed to the moist, humid environment.

“There’s a door,” Rainbow said, pointing, but not leaving Tarnish’s side.

Together, as one, the companions moved over to the door, only to find it ruined. Vinyl pulled out the ancient spectacles, wore them for a moment, and then shook her head. Then, she placed them in front of Tarnish’s eyes so he too, could see and read the faded, pitted sign.

Pegasus science—

The rest of the words were unreadable, with the stone pitted and somewhat dissolved. The door, metal, was warped, partially melted, and had fused with the door frame around it. Dents protruded from the door, and Tarnish found these odd. They weren’t dents going into the door, but misshapen protrusions that seemed to have been pounded through from the other side of the door. The thought of it chilled his blood. What could possibly pound a door like that and warp the metal?

Something had tried coming out of the pegasus science wing, it seemed.

“Dare we open the door?” Daring Do asked.

“Daring, don’t.” Rainbow Dash began to snicker, but, not much effort was put into it.

“That door is several inches of some kind of metal, I don’t know what type, and something punched it with enough force to leave dents. Also, parts of it look melted. I think something or somepony did their best to seal the door. If you recall, the other entrance to the pegasus science wing was also demolished.” Daring Do rapped upon the door, and her ears perked at the ringing sound her hoof made against the strange metal.

“Vinyl?” Tarnish asked, and even as the word was being spoken, the mare was shaking her head from side to side. “I’m positive that whatever punched the door is long dead… but yeah, let’s look elsewhere. For now. Maybe we can find another way into the pegasus science wing.”

Odd as it may be, the swamp now seemed promising. The overhead blue-green sky flickered, and the sun shone through cheerful yellow clouds. Perhaps other labs or other locations could be found on the other side of the swamp. In the trees, spiderwebs could be seen, spiderwebs of exceptional size, and it was a good visual reminder of the danger they faced here.

“Princess Celestia, when she made you a hero of the realm, that was when she gave you the title of Spider’s Bane, right?” Rainbow asked.

“Yeah, why?” Tarnish replied.

“I never got a title when I was made a hero of the realm.” Rainbow Dash stepped into a patch of mud and it made a squelch. “I just got a medal and not much else.”

“Well then… we shall call thee… Wind Breaker… destroyer of wind, and defender of the realm!” Tarnish did his best to look regal, while still keeping a wary eye out for danger.

“Tarnish?”

“Yeah?”

“Shut up.”

The air had a curious, cloying dampness, and the stench clung like snot clogging a nostril. Rainbow was laughing, a soft sound, and Vinyl wobbled a bit on her hooves, having trouble standing on the uneven ground in her current state. Daring Do extended her wings, gave them a few flaps to stretch them, and then folded them against her sides once more.

“What’s that?” Rainbow squinted, her eyes narrowing, and having the keenest vision amongst her companions, she peered ahead.

Tarnish too, squinted in the direction that Rainbow was looking, trying to see. He could see trees, and little splashes of colour in the trees. Fruit maybe? Fresh fruit might be good, and hungry as he was for something sweet, it would be worth the risk of eating it. Then, he saw what Rainbow had seen, and it took his breath away.

Below the fruit trees were deer, but not just any deer. They were tall, lean, lanky, creatures much like himself, but also different. These deer did not have antlers, but from where he was standing, it looked as though they had arms growing out of their heads, where antlers should have been. These arms and hands were picking fruit from the trees, making swift motions, and the fruit was carried from tree to mouth in moments.

“Big Guy, are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Rainbow asked, almost breathless.

“Yeah, and it’s weird, real weird.”

“I have questions.” Daring Do, too, also squinted.

“Like what?” Tarnish asked.

“During rutting season, with no antlers, do they just punch each other in the face?”

Hmm… Tarnish nodded. “Perhaps.” He realised that he was looking at food. Not the fruit in the trees, but the strange deer. No doubt, the spiders ate them, and anything else they could catch. Skyreach had its own ecosystem, and that terrified him. The centaurs were long gone, and the ancient invaders had long since died out, leaving life to flourish on its own in this dreadful place, this vault of horrors.

“Tarnish, name them.” Daring Do turned her head to look up at Tarnish.

“What?” As he said the word, he realised that Vinyl was pulling out a camera. “Name them?”

“Yes.” Daring gave a curt nod. “You. Name them. Right now. You’re the druid. We’re seeing a new form of life. Now get busy.”

“Do you think they poke each other in the eye if you don’t like one another?” Rainbow asked.

“Quiet, Wind Breaker.”

“Hey…” Rainbow whined. “That’s just mean, Daring.” Unable to keep a straight face, she began to snigger, but was quiet, so she wouldn’t spook the deer.

“Boxing deer,” Tarnish said, and a second later, Vinyl’s camera flashed.

The deer, startled, clapped their hands together, one after another, and then they began to bound away to safety. Vinyl snapped another picture and Tarnish watched them vanish from the edge of his vision. It dawned upon him just how large this underground cavern was. Had the mountains of Skyreach been hollowed out?

“Boxing deer.” Daring nodded her head, a slow, considerate movement, and then added, “I approve.”

“I’m getting me some fruit.” With that, Tarnish strode forwards, and Vinyl lurched a bit when she moved to follow him. “I have the munchies and I’m getting me something sweet. I don’t care what it is, so long as it is edible.” He raised his shield, alert to danger, and tried not to think about his saddlebags rubbing against his sore, tender, scalded flesh.

Three much smaller mares moved to follow him.

Author's Note

There was some interesting conversation in the Discord because of this chapter.