Melody was snapped out of her train of thought as she heard Steel trotting up the basement stairs. Melody had completely forgotten of her presence while cleaning up the blood that trailed the hardwood floor. Melody's ears perked up, as she hopped up over, and on to, the couch. Melody smiled softly, pushing the experience of killing herself into the back of her mind and focusing on Steel as the white mare trotted up the stairs. She gave a soft turn of her head to glance at her as she pulled her journal from her robe, flipping through it casually, bookmarks and sticky-notes poking out of the top and sides.

"Heya Steel!" The mare said, closing the journal in an attempt to have seemed busy, but stopped what she was doing to talk to Steel. "What's up? Why were you down there so long?" She frowns.

"I'm alright. It's six, time to get drunk." Steel shrugged at Melody, turning her head back to the door and giving a sigh. "Nothing. Just working on something, don't worry about it. So how long do you plan on staying here? I'm not really going to give you housing forever, so gimme some kind of timeframe." She said, opening the fridge and tugging out a bottle filled with some amber-ish liquid, setting it down on the counter as she poured herself a tall glass of the stuff. Seeing that there was only half a bottle left afterward, she chugged it.

"Oh! I.. Uhm..." Melody started, trailing off, raising an eyebrow as she watched the mare finish off the bottle. "You.. uh... like that stuff a lot, don't you? Anyway.. I think a week will be enough for me. Should give me time to explore the local area and collect some materials!" Melody said happily, trotting over to her and smiling.

"Ehhhhh.. fine, whatever. Now let me get wasted." She sighed, settling down at the kitchen table with the glass and taking a long sip. "Aaaaaahhh... that's some great shit. Want some? Oh, wait... I finished that bottle, didn't I?~ Sorry..~" She said, giving a soft hiccup and rolling her eyes, giggling to herself at her abuse of the substance.

"Well... I wanted to ask you a question! Have you seen this?" She frowns, whipping out her journal and flipping it open to a page featuring an amulet of some kind, many notes surrounding it. The amulet was shaped like a heart, and to the left of it was a paragraph, that read,

"This artifact of unknown origin seems to haunt me, at this point. I've spent almost seven years looking for it, and this is the thanks I get? Dead ends, and hiding out in a random cabin in the woods. I haven't seen or heard from Steel in months, and really, does it matter? I still have the scissors, but what use are they if I don't even know where to look? This feels hopeless, and every day, the more I stare at that picture of Lily, the more I realize I'm never going to see her again. Even if I did, I haven't figured out how to beat the demon possessing this thing. If found the amulet again, I'd just need the picture of Lily to bring her back, but this piece of shit thing would just make her all evil. I guess magic always DOES come at a price."

Melody slid her hoof over the passage, directing the drunken mare's eye to the page with the art. Melody studied Steel's face, Steel's reaction one of being lost in thought.

"Oh yeah! I've seewn thaght before." She said, her words slurring as she put a hoof up to her chin. "It's in my treawsure cooooove!!" She giggles again, taking a sip from her glass and grinning at Melody.

"Y-you have!!? Take me!!! NOW!" Melody squealed, jumping up and tugging at Steel's shoulder, already knowing she would anyway. "NOW!!!"

"Jesus... FIIIIIIIINNNNEEE.." Steele groans, hopping out of her seat and trotting out of the nearby kitchen door, Melody shutting it behind her and trying to hide her excitement. "Lead the way!!"

Steele and Melody trotted along the beach. It had been almost an hour now, and they were so far along, that Melody could no longer see anything over the cliffside. Finally, after what seemed like forever to Melody, they approached a cave. Steel entered first, giving a drunken giggle.

"Here it iiiissss..!~ You like it? Huh? HUH?~" Steel chuckled, trotting into the cave, revealing an entire cove full of gold, trinkets, treasure chests, jewels, amulets, and as many bits as a pony could imagine. Steel took a belly flop into the center after climbing it, fake-swimming around. "Yep! This is it! MY COOOOOOOOVVVEEE!" She squeals, tossing bits everywhere as she flails her hooves. Melody hurriedly took Steel's drunk and distracted state to rush around, hunting for the amulet she so very much needed for her mission.

"Oh my god.. here it is." Melody widened her eyes, slowly picking up the amulet in her hooves. It gave a soft shimmer as she tucked it into her robe, the mare grinning and beginning to stuff bits in as well, as many would fit in the couple pockets she had. It took Steel a good ten minutes to notice Melody doing any of this, poking her head up out of the pile and glaring at her.

"Hey! Are you stealing my biiiiits?" She narrows her eyes, trudging through the piles of gleaming gold, the moon illuminating all of the clocks on her body. "Those are MINE, put em baaaaccck! Don't be a MEANIE mare..." Steel trails off, taking a couple more steps, and passing out on a pile of bits. She gave a couple snores to solidify Melody's belief that she had indeed fallen asleep, at such a climactic point, as well. Melody grinned softly, luck having won out for once. She did some math in her head, and agreed that she had around two days before Steel would be attempting to travel back in time. She slipped a couple more gems into the now considerably heavier robe, trotting back out on to the sand, and turning to get herself on course back to the local town.

"Sorry Steel, but, it's for the greater good." She smiled, trotting away, leaving her to find her own way home once she awoke from her alcohol fueled sleep.

Melody licked her lips as the waiter set the tray of maki down in front of her, the mare settling down in her seat. She was at a beach side restaurant, and it had been awhile since she had seen Steel. She ended up buying herself a fancy hotel room the night after Steel passed out, and she had slept comfortably for what felt like the first time in months. Afterward, having slept away an entire day, she had wandered out in search of something to eat. She had ended up here, a small sushi restaurant with the name, "I Su-Shi's a Pretty One." She had ordered an eel roll and decided this was a situation as good as any to try out her magic. She grabbed the wand from the confines of her robe, and concentrated, straining. As she bit her lip, a piece of maki slowly floated towards her, a blue aura enveloping both the wand and the sushi. She opened her mouth wide, dropping the piece in giving a relieved groan, at both the taste and the successful magic.

"Ok, THAT... was stressful. Back to eating, and maybe I should grab some stuff later." She thought to herself, not bothering to speak out loud in public and look like a psycho. After awhile, she had finished the maki, leaving a tip of 40 bits on the counter and trotting off. She had a lot more money than any normal mare needed, and where she was headed, she wouldn't need more for the rest of the foreseeable future. As she stepped out into the fresh air, the boardwalk had come alive with activity. Ponies were playing silly, unwinnable carnival-style games to get that plush they just HAD to have, chatting, eating unhealthy but incredibly delicious food from nearby vendors, and trotting around the nearby seemingly monthly flea-market. Melody trotted around, waiting for something to catch her eye, before smirking and entering a beachside building called, "Madame Mystics Magical Supplies!" With a smaller, nearby sign that read, "Tools and Ingredients for all your Magical Practice Needs!" Both made from driftwood painted black with white lettering. She pushed the doors open, slinking in and looking left and right, studying the walls.

From top to bottom, the entire room was covered in a space-like coloring. Blackness, with white dots, and a supernova here and there. Racks upon racks of strange items in jars covered the walls, and the entire room was lit by soft white lights embedded in the ceiling to look like stars. She trotted over to a rack labeled, "Herbal ingredients." along the wall, in little plastic baskets nailed to the wall, were separate ingredients. She reached into the baskets and grabbed a blood root, a tiny cut of deerstongue, and a small mushroom that looked like a sunflower. Melody pocketed them and continued on. She trotted along the wall, until she arrived at a small tent, completely black. She had missed it when surveying the room, it was so small. She curiously opened a flap, and as soon as she entered, she could tell something was up. The tent was MUCH bigger on the inside, the size of a small room. In the center was a pony, head hidden in a red robe, with an orange mane sticking out of the top, as well as two whitish-cream hooves resting on the table. In the center was a misty crystal ball.

"Welcome. I've been expecting you." The mare in the middle of the of the room spoke, nodding from within her robe. "Take a seat. This reading is free."

"Uhhhh.. alright. Sure, lady, but realize we're in the same business. I know every trick in the book." Melody said, taking a seat on the floor, and placing a hoof on the ball in the center. "Yeah, I know this stuff already, let's just get to it."

The mare in front of her nodded again, still not revealing her face. "We must speak quickly. What you think you know, and what you have, are two very different things. She is waiting for you. I'll leave who she is up to your own thoughts. It is also waiting for you, which I will also leave to you to figure out. Be prepared. You think you know what you have to do, and you thought what you did was necessary, but everything will make more sense soon. Take this." She frowned, grabbing an incredibly rusted sword from under the table and shoving it at Melody. "You have to go now. You're almost out of time. Be prepared. She's waiting for you." The mare said, pointing to the door, and lowering her head even further.

"Wait, but.. why.. who.." Melody frowned, grabbing the sword and waiting for a reaction. After getting none, she shook her head hard, hurrying out of the tent flap, only to find the store completely black, other than a bit of moonlight shining in from the window. She gave a puzzled groan, stepping out of the front door and staring into the night sky. "How is it already night time..? It was noon when I came in!!" She frowned. She sighed, trotting over to the fence overlooking the beach and ocean. Suddenly, a large cylinder of light grew up from the ocean, the wind picking up and blowing her mane behind her head. "WAIT, NO!" She shrieked, leaping over the fence and taking flight, flying over the ocean, closing in on the light. She suddenly felt a heaviness on her back, beginning to plummet toward the ocean. As she landed hard in the water, something continued to drag her down. She spun around, met with... Herself. The Melody grabbed at Present!Melody's neck, holding her under the water. Present!Melody broke away from her, kicking her way toward the light circle, splashing furiously as the wordless other Melody grabbed at her legs, pulling her back.

"GET. OFF. ME!" She screamed back at the random Melody, grabbing the sword the mysterious mare in the tent had given her, and swinging wildly. She felt something connect, the sword making a shattering sound as it sunk into the other Melody's throat, and ripped off half of the sword along with it. Present!Melody widened her eyes in horror, pulling back the broken sword and struggling towards the light, Steel seemingly standing in the middle, right on top of the water, her body surrounded by light. As Present!Melody struggled up, panting, there was the sound of an explosion, and everything went black.

Author's Note

"Steel gives me what I always needed, she gives me more time." -Melody