Bright Rock, named for the giant boulder covered in glowing moss and fungus that rested in the middle of the canyon and the middle of the settlement, was probably one of the safest makeshift settlements founded in recent years. Clicker, an earth pony with the uncanny ability to sense radiation, had determined the glowing rock was safe to be around, but had observed that many ponies avoided the area just to be safe. He’d determined that having a natural repellant to other ponies would give the settlement a fighting chance in its first vital years. He’d been right. Though it made trade slow at first, the settlement was not troubled by any raiding parties for several years, which they hoped would give them time to prepare. The small band of ponies in this defensible town has turned back several raiding parties to date.
A small shack, surrounded by similar shacks, surrounded by a canyon suddenly came to life. The walls shook as a mare panted and screamed. The windows rattled for a moment and then went still as the scream subsided into a low groaning. Passing mares looked at each other with knowing glances as a tiny piercing wail cut the sudden stillness.
“She’s...she’s so…”
A tired midwife looked over at the male pony with the goldenrod and copper coat as his voice choked up. “She’s so tiny,” the midwife finished, handing the tiny filly to her mother. The filly’s coat was a pale raspberry freckled with blue “And she takes after her mother, if those wing nubs are any indication. Not that I’ve had much chance to see a baby pegasus born, mind you. You people seemed to keep mostly to yourself.”
“She’s perfect,” the mother pegasus added, looking into the tiny face of her baby. Her mane, lilac and green like an oxidized penny, was plastered to her head and neck with sweat from the strain of childbirth. “Radiant, what should we call her?” She waved the unicorn father over with one hoof. “And don’t even pretend you aren’t bursting at the seams with names! You’ve been mumbling them under your breath for weeks now.” She smiled indulgently as the stallion trotted over and beamed down at mother and child.
“Well, I’m sure I don’t know what you mean! It’s obvious that this little filly could only have one name. Lace Weight!” He announced the name proudly, then looked sheepish as his wife cocked her head to the side. “Lace Weight? It’s...well it’s the lightest weight of yarn that was used before the war to make beautiful delicate items. She’s so tiny and beautiful.” He scuffed a hoof back and forth. “I just thought it was fitting, Steely.”
Steel Sparrow, smiled as she pulled him into their first family hug. “It’s perfect, Radiant. Just like she is.”
Steel Sparrow pulled her husband into a tight hug as she passed their little filly into a sling around his neck. Light glinted off the sharp edges of her wingblades as she strapped them into place and flexed, the silver metal oddly complimenting her steel grey coat. “It’s been over a year since I had to strap these on. The peace has been a nice reprieve. I’m counting on you to keep Lace safe, Radiant,” she stated, catching his face and pressing her forehead against his, carefully avoiding his horn.
“B-but Steely!” he tried to protest. “I should be helping you. Surely there’s something I can do. I’ve been practicing-”
“Radiant Loom!” Steel Sparrow cut him off sharply. “We both know your talents don’t lie in combat. I need to know you’ll stay out of sight. Safe. I can’t be worrying about the two of you while I defend our home!” Her stern tone slowly lightened into a heartfelt plea. “You must promise me you will keep her safe!”
The sleeping baby in the carry sling started to whimper. Even as he tried to find some way around his wife’s request, his horn flared to life and adjusted the cloth swaddling the infant. “If you promise to come back to us, I’ll do anything you ask.” He swallowed hard and took a step towards the hidden cellar.
“I promise I will always come back to you, my gentle heart,” Steel Sparrow took a step back towards the door. “Now go!” she yelled, spinning on a hoof and galloping out of their cozy shack. She took off into the sky, sunlight flashing off her wingblades as she circled around to join the rest of the band protecting the settlement of Bright Rock. Radiant Loom carried the bundled up raspberry and teal filly down a ramp into the basement and pulled the lever that closed it up and slid a large trunk on top of it.
The cellar that Radiant Loom and Lace Weight had hidden in was one of many nearly identical rooms thought up by Tripwire, a clever and perpetually playful earth pony. He had turned his talents from boobytrap disarming to boobytrap creating, using what he’d learned over the years to set up several deterrents around the canyon and town. He had chanced upon a particularly clever setup while out in the Wastes that he studied and brought the knowledge back to make safe rooms if all the town’s defences were ever breached. Radiant said a prayer of thanks to the Goddesses for sending Tripwire their way. He followed it up with a prayer of protection for his wife and the rest of their defenders.
Radiant Loom prayed for days, or maybe it was just hours. Hell, it could even have only been minutes. The only light in the dark hiding space came from a scrap of fabric that he had enchanted to put out the weakest light. He cradled Lace in a delicate embrace, shushing her every time she fussed. They would need to leave soon. She was a growing filly and her belly would soon be empty if it wasn’t already.
As if on queue, the small filly began to fuss again. Radiant tried to shush her again, rocking her and singing softly, but to no avail. It started quietly, just a sniffling snuffling cry, and kept increasing in intensity until Lace had set up a caterwaul that reverberated around their hiding space.
“Shh, please baby. You gotta be quiet!” he pleaded with the squalling child, but she would not hear him. She was crying so loudly that he almost missed the shuffle of hooves above his head. “Oh no, please no…” He buried Lace's face against his chest and shielded her from the dazzling light that appeared as the trap door opened.
He was blinded by the sudden light even though he shielded his face, breathing the scent of baby deeply. He heard ragged breathing and a ‘thunk scrape, thunk scrape’ as some pony came around to block the light.
“My… Baby,” the pony wheezed. “Where's my…baby…” The figure began to topple over, but Radiant Loom was already there, having run pell mell up the ramp to reach his Sparrow.
“Steel, honey? Oh baby, talk to me. What happened? Where is everyone? Are you hurt?” He peppered her with a million questions, but all she could reply was,
“My baby…”
He held the now quiet Lace out to her. Lace's face was scrunched up tight, partly against the bright light and partly against the knowledge that something was wrong with her mama. Steel Sparrow let out a half chuckle half sob as the infant clung to her. “She’s got a set of lungs on her, doesn’t she...Radiant? Brought me right back from...somewhere…” Her face clouded over and she looked confused.
Radiant Loom was finally getting used to the light and realized it wasn’t bright daylight as he had thought. It was actually early evening. The sun would be setting over the canyon soon and dropping everything into darkness. “Steel Sparrow,” his voice took on a sharp clinical tone. “I need to check you over before it gets dark. Where is everyone else?”
Steel Sparrow slumped against him. “Dead. They’re all dead.”
“The Raiders or…? Surely not everyone!” It was then that he saw the trail of blood leading from their front door to the trigger for the trap door. “STEEL!” His years of training clicked into place as he gave her a thorough examination. Her flank was crusted with blood, as were her wingblades. He hurriedly disconnected the blades, carefully letting them fall aside. She’d caught a few grazing bullets and some superficial knife wounds, but she’d scar and heal. “See? It’s not too bad, my love,” Radiant soothed. He turned his attention back to examining the rest of her and that’s when he saw it. Her back leg was riddled with holes and was oozing blood at a fairly steady rate.
Steel Sparrow sighed as she felt her husband tense. “You’ve seen it then? Some kind of battlesaddle. Caught me by surprise,” she whinnied softly. “I’m s-so s-s-sorry, Radiant. I should have...should’ve been more careful.”
“No, no that’s OK. I know how battle is, you know that. You did your best,” Radiant Loom calmed her quickly, stumbling over his words. “And besides, you’re a pegasus. O-once this heals...well….until it heals you can just fly everywhere, right?” He tried to tease, but he could feel her leaning more heavily against him. He snapped back into his training, levitating over the blanket from the bed and beginning to rip it into strips for bandages. “We’ll get you patched up in no time, my little sparrow.”
“Radiant,” Steel Sparrow started.
“Nope! We’re going to get you patched up now!” Even in the field of levitation magic, the cloth was trembling as Radiant poured all his concentration into what he was doing.
“Radiant Loom, my knight in power armour, I’m already on borrowed time. I was leaving. I knew I was going to be with the Goddesses soon, but…” she trailed off and looked down at the still slightly scrunched face of Lace Weight. “I knew I couldn’t leave without saying goodbye. I could hear her crying and I knew that if I could just get to you...if I could just...say goodbye…” She closed her eyes and leaned her head against Radiant’s neck. “I guess I thought it wouldn’t be so hard to leave.”
Radiant Loom swallowed hard as he gathered his family into his arms. He choked back tears as he tried to speak. “A-and...and is it? Are you leaving us, Steely?” He held onto her more tightly even as he could feel her slipping away.
“I am, my darling. You must promise me that you’ll take care of our daughter. Take her somewhere safe. Continue for her. For where she is, I will always...”
The flow of blood slowly stopped as Steel Sparrow flew away from her family for the last time. Radiant Loom held her tightly all through the night.
There were other survivors from Bright Rock, other ponies whose loved ones had convinced them to hide in the panic shelters, but their casualties had been numerous. Most of the able bodied fighters had been wiped out. Those who had lived had also suffered gruesome injuries. Radiant Loom kept Lace Weight with him at all times as he moved numbly around the town. He helped create healing bandages, applying them by the sickly green light from the glowing fungus. Lace remained quiet all night, sleeping fitfully in the sling Radiant had worked up. They buried their dead as the darkness of night gave way to a grey and dismal morning.
The bodies of the raiders had been piled up on either side of the one entrance into the canyon village. Grizzly cutie marks and disfigured faces leered at the ponies of Bright Rock as they gathered their possessions. Though nothing official was said, nopony wanted to stay there anymore. In one fell swoop, their hope for a peaceful small town was wiped off the map. Wagons were loaded. Last words were said over graves.
Radiant Loom stood just outside the entrance to Bright Rock. He stared at the stacked bodies of the raiders. His numbness began to fade as he felt Lace move in the sling against him. His sorrow came in a crashing wave, threatening to tow him under if he wasn’t careful. His rage followed. Rage at these creatures unworthy of being called ponies. His horn started to glow. Not the gentle warmth that he usually had, but a white hot glowing point. Tears ran rivulets down his face as he gritted his teeth. The glow became brighter and brighter. He screamed… Screamed for his wife, for the life they could have had. He screamed for his daughter, who would never know a mother. He screamed for all the townsponies who had lost someone dear to them. He built the spell until it was a sickly green colour that licked at the air around it. Only then did he let it loose, bathing the stacked bodies in an all consuming green fire.
He turned, leaving the cleansing fire to do its work, and carried his daughter away from the nightmare.
Author's Note
A broken family. A widowed father. A filly with no home. Where will they go? And who, in the Goddess forsaken wasteland, will help them?
