Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo had been walking for several days now. It was fortunate for them that they had been transported here with a few school lunches that had also been flung into the portals with them. At first, Apple Bloom had panicked, wondering how they were going to get back home. Luckily, Scootaloo had assured her they would if they stuck together, reminding her that the Cutie Mark Crusaders had never given up before.

But now, they had run out of food, and it was becoming more and more difficult to keep going, especially with these strange creatures they’d been encountering. While these creatures hadn’t attacked yet, they had been staying in the shadows, hiding behind dead trees and boulders, their faces devoid of eyes and lower jaws, a freaky, slithering tongue often hanging out from the bottoms of their faces.

As the sun was rising, Apple Bloom looked in her bag. There wasn’t a single speck of food left, and she was afraid of starving. Looking back at Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, she asked, “Do either of you know why this happened?”

“I thought we talked about this earlier,” said Scootaloo. “Spooky portals just… opened up and swallowed us whole! And now we’re here!”

“No, no, I know that,” said Apple Bloom. “I’m talking about why, though. Did we come into contact with some kind of freaky artifact and didn’t even know it?”

“I don’t think so,” said Sweetie Belle. “If I remember right, portals have been appearing around Ponyville lately, but they only vanished as soon as they appeared.”

“Didn’t it start happening the moment Twillight and her friends went missing?” questioned Scootaloo.

“Yeah…” said Apple Bloom. “That is a weird coincidence. Maybe… Maybe it’s some supervillain who’s taking advantage now that Twilight and the others are gone!”

“That doesn’t sound good…” said Sweetie Belle, a look of concern on her face.

Continuing their walk, Apple Bloom’s eyes caught sight of something in the distance. “Hey, it’s a city!”

“Finally, we can get some help!” Scootaloo shouted to the sky.

Sweetie Belle’s mind seemed to be elsewhere, as she didn’t say anything. Noticing this, Apple Bloom asked her, “Is something wrong?”

“I don’t think we were the only ones pulled into those portals,” said Sweetie Belle. “I remember somepony else being pulled in with us.”

“Wait, you do?” asked Scootaloo. “Who?”

“Button Mash?” answered Sweetie. “But he didn’t appear out the other end with us.”

“Who is Button Mash again?” questioned Apple Bloom.

“He’s that one pony,” said Scootaloo. “With… uh… the cutie mark… and the… uh… I don’t know.”

“Gee, that really narrows it down,” said Sweetie Belle with heavy sarcasm, an unamused expression on her face. She then looked up at the sunrise, then said, “I don’t know why I know who Button Mash is. All I know is it feels like I’ve hung out with him before.”

“Soooo, you’re making up ponies now, is that it?” questioned Scootaloo.

“No, I’m not!” shouted Sweetie. “I’m serious! There’s a pony named Button Mash!”

“Uh, girls, can we focus on getting to the city?” said Apple Bloom, trying to keep the group together. “We can’t keep arguing.”

“Oh, alright,” said Scootaloo, looking at Sweetie Belle with a small hint of suspicion.

. . . M e a n w h i l e . . .

Button Mash was an average pony. A gamer at heart, he always felt he could take on any adventure, simply because he’d gone through a multitude of them… in his videogames. But this wasn’t some videogame. This was a nightmare, and he didn’t know how to respawn should something go wrong.

Walking along the outskirts of some city he’d never seen before, he was feeling paranoid. His fur stood up each time he heard some bump or clatter from a far distance. As he walked along one of the outer alleyways, he came across a half-shattered mirror, seeing himself.

Looking back at him were his two light-vermillion eyes. He had a brown coat of fur and moderately scarlet hair, with a stripe of a light shade of brown through it. Atop his head was his beloved hat: a propeller beanie, a gift from his older brother. It had red, yellow, and orange stripes, and the tiny fanblades were a grassy green.

Looking at himself a little more, he realized that he probably wouldn’t survive here. He wasn’t some valiant knight, nor some soldier, nothing like in his favorite games. He was still himself. However, he kept his chin up as best he could.

“I-I’m not afraid,” he said to himself. “This is just a bad dream. And if it’s not, I’ll just find my way back home!”

Still walking, he exited out of one alleyway and came across a large warehouse. All across the metal door as he approached it was green spray paint, spelling, “Keep Out!!!”

Button Mash took one look at one of the doors, looked around him, then jumped as he heard another noise, the sound of a trash can falling over. He quickly opened the door and went inside, slamming it behind him and heavily panting.

“I’m not scared, I’m just retreating! It’s a valid tactic!” he shouted to himself.

Oh, yeah. Epic gamer moment™.

The inside of the warehouse was pitch black. Button Mash quickly moved his hoof along the wall, looking for the light switch. When he finally found one, he flipped the switch to reveal he was in a hallway, one with doors on either side that all led to smaller offices.

Looking through each office, he found they were mostly empty of furniture, with only old scraps of metal piled up in them. It looked like somepony was just throwing things in them. He wasn’t feeling too confident, as this whole warehouse had a creep factor of eleven.

It was only when he opened the door at the very end of the hallway did the creep factor drop down from eleven to zero, and quickly escalated the awesomeness factor.

It was a large storage room filled with all kinds of arcade machines and large computers. Vastly colorful RGB lights were strung along most of these machines, giving them a professional gaming setup look. Was Button Mash in videogame heaven?

“Woah…! This is everything I’ve ever dreamed of!” he said to himself as he walked around the room. Each arcade machine had games both familiar and foreign to him, impressing him more and more. Whoever was running this setup must’ve been the coolest pony in all of Equestria.

Walking up to an arcade machine, he read the title. There was no possible way it was running on this machine. It was one of his favorite portable games, on a professional setup, no less: Humgonia, a game where he played the role of a knight, assigned by the king to defeat evil wizards known as the Alixes.

Every single neuron in his brain was sparking in excitement as he hit the start button, the familiar theme of the game playing. One little game wouldn’t hurt, right? It wasn’t like anypony was here right now.

He spawned in normally, going through the usual cutscenes. He hadn’t played this game in a while, but he was still very familiar with its mechanics. It was a sidescrolling beat-em-up centered around swordplay and magic. His goal was to get to the next village and save it from an incoming army.

He played for a few hours, exploring each level, the monsters getting slightly tougher each time he advanced. It was a fairly simple game, with seemingly only one direction to go, and that was to the right, but with some special inputs, Button was able to unlock hidden rooms where he could get special power ups and weapons.

Upon his third hour into the game, he had already collected all the weapons he had needed to fight the final boss. Yet, the moment he entered the boss’ room, he heard an angry voice behind him.

“Hey! What are you doing on my games?!”

He quickly paused the game and whirled around, seeing a filly with a charcoal-colored fur coat and pitch-black mane with fluorescent green stripes. She had a rather short tail, and she was wearing a dark green hoodie. Her cutie mark was a white game controller with colorful buttons on it.

“Wait, this is your game?” said Button Mash. “You’ve got the coolest setup in all of Equestria!”

The filly blinked in surprise and confusion, a smirk on her face as she grew smug. “Did you just compliment my setup?”

“Yeah?” Button replied. “I don’t know anypony back home who has something as cool as this!”

The filly squinted her eyes and walked over, looking at the screen. “You know you’re not supposed to be in here, though, right? Hey, wait, is that the Sword of Heavens?!”

Button looked at the screen, seeing his character with a blue and white blade in their mouth. “Yeah! Pretty cool, right?!”

“How did you get that?! I’ve been looking everywhere for it!” the filly asked.

“I could teach you!” said Button Mash. “The room it’s in needs a very special combo to unlock! It’s hidden, too! I used to spend hours looking for it!”

“You only took hours?! I spent DAYS!” said the filly. “Who are you?”

“I’m Button Mash!” said the gamer colt proudly. “What’s your name?!”

“I’m Gamepad!” replied the filly. “Weird coincidence you have that name. It’s the same as… never mind, it’s not important. Anyways, teach me how to get that weapon?”

. . . M e a n w h i l e . . .

Fluttershy was nervous. Considering how long it had been since the megaspells, dragon culture could have changed entirely for all she knew. So, how was she going to connect with them in a meaningful way without knowing how they did things nowadays?

Zone took notice of the look on Fluttershy’s face. “Miss Shy? Is something wrong?”

The mare turned to look at the zebra. “If you were to come face to face with a dragon today, what gift would you present to them?” asked Fluttershy.

“I would not give them a gift,” said Zone. “I would stand my ground and try not to die.”

Fluttershy then turned to Taipan. “What would you give to a dragon for a gift?”

Taipan snapped her pincers and proudly said, "My venom!"

Fluttershy winced, then looked to her other friends, specifically the wastelanders. Seeing the big hellhound walking beside Rarity, she asked Brute, “What would you give a dragon as a gift?”

“Brute? Gift dragon?” responded the overgrown hellhound. “No, Brute punch dragon!”

Fluttershy sighed and turned to Fiddler, who walked beside Applejack. “Do… do you know what dragons like these days?”

Fiddler and Applejack exchanged glances for a brief moment before Fiddler replied, “Look, Fluttershy, I know you’re doin’ your best to be the Element of Kindness, but dragons just aren’t kind. You’re better off staying away from them.”

There had to be someone who knew what dragons liked. Fluttershy looked behind her, seeing Pinkie and Lucky Break in the back of the group. “Maybe Lucky knows?” said Fluttershy, with a hopeful smile.

Lucky chuckled nervously. “Uh, Flutbutt, this is pretty much a no-brainer. No one here knows what dragons like other than eating ponies, because, well, hardly anyone ever sees a dragon out here in the wasteland.”

“Hey, why don’t we ask Spike?!” suggested Pinkie.

“Spike?” muttered Fluttershy to herself.

“I think Pinkie might be referring to the, uh, other Spike,” said Dusk Feather. “You know, the big, mean, and scary one?”

“Aw, he doesn’t look so mean,” said Tricks in the back. The abyssinian seemed to be focused on his playing cards, shuffling them as he walked to pass the time. “Wish I could ride a dragon. Imagine flying on the back of one and looking cool!”

“Heh, for a land creature, that would be pretty awesome,” said Rainbow Dash with a smirk. “Hey, maybe we could charge ponies for a ride on Watcher’s back!”

“Please tell me that’s a joke,” said Dusk.

“Of course it is,” said Dash. “It would be pretty funny, though.”

“Watcher…?” said Fluttershy to herself. “Where would he be again?”

“Last I remember, he was at the tower, but he may have gone back up to his mountain,” said Rarity. “It wouldn’t hurt to go to the tower, would it? He could even fly us to the Dragon Lands if he wanted to.”

“You’re right!” said Fluttershy. “We need to get back to the tower and fast!”

Without a moment’s hesitation, the group changed directions. Instead of walking to the Dragon Lands without a clue as to how to greet them, they preferred to begin their long way back to the tower in pursuit of Watcher’s advice.

Thus, a day went by without any incident that would hinder the return journey.

The coming day, however, which began as a bright and promising morning, quickly turned into a cloudy and gloomy afternoon, foreshadowing a strong storm that was about to descend upon the group.

Light droplets were falling on the sandy surface already as the faint, gentle flow of air that once was capable of caressing a pony's coat morphed into a noticeable breeze that trailed peculiar scents and aromas; blood, putrefaction, the pungent smell of gunpowder and the terrifyingly exaggerated aroma of laser-scorched flesh - traces of what had become of this world.

“Curse my nose,” Fluttershy heard Lucky Break mutter. They were still on the trail, and while the wasteland seemed to be devoid of any life, Taipan seemed to act up, having a suspicion they weren’t alone.

“The wind doesn’t smell right,” she remarked as the wind picked up from the west.

“What are you on about, exactly?” asked Applejack, turning her head in both directions while trying her best to ignore the stench. “Kinda hard to tell what yer talkin’ about with some of the stench.”

“Of course not, weak nose.” Taipan said as she reached up and poked Applejack’s snoot. “Predator smell and It smells close-ish.”

Dusk’s nose wrinkled up. “Now that you mention it… I think I do smell something… rotting?”

Before any conclusion could be drawn, a shrill shriek sounded from the west, a four-legged figure running at them at breakneck speed, snarling. As all eyes laid on it, the creature jumped towards Fluttershy, a loud crack came from what seemed to be all around them before a bullet whizzed right through the snarling figure’s head, their cranium splattering open and the monster falling to the ground.

Fluttershy blinked, eyes wide in horror as bits of the creature’s skull landed in her mane. Looking down and hyperventilating, she stammered, “Gh-Gh-Gh-Ghoul!” as she stumbled back from the fallen corpse.

Lucky Break walked over, examining the body. “Well, it’s definitely dead dead now.”

Looking down at the deceased ghoul, Dusk Feather rubbed her chin. “This was the work of a professional sniper…”

Dash’s eyes widened. “Are you saying somepony’s watching us?!”

The mare didn’t say a word, glancing at all directions with her eyes as she scanned their surroundings before looking at the pegasus.

“It would only make sense,” said Dusk as she approached the body. “Enclave, maybe…? Steel Rangers, perhaps even an ordinary pony. There’s only one problem,” said Dusk. “Can we trust them?”

Fiddler rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, if he hasn’t shot us, then I don’t see a problem with it.” He walked by the ghoul’s lifeless body, keeping a cautious pace. Fluttershy didn’t blame him. Ghouls were pretty much the undead in a sense. “Remember that battle at Tenpony Tower? Sniper colt literally took out hatelings without any problem.”

Dusk turned to him. “I’m just a bit wary. I could never trust anyone who was militaristic. It usually always ended in a hunger for power.”

Taipan snorted, “Alpha is most desirable spot. Not surprising.”

“Can we keep moving?” interrupted Lucky. “I don’t wanna keep standin’ around here in sniper lines.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Lucky is right. We need to get back to Twilight and Spike.”

A few more days passed and they were soon at Tenpony. On the way there, a few more instances happened with this mysterious sniper, the aforementioned taking out stray raiders and ghouls who would dare try to pounce on the group. The shots never came from the same place twice, Dusk noticed, a useful tactic to cover up his whereabouts.

Fluttershy was beginning to think of this pony as a possible guardian if it even was a pony.

Approaching the tower’s entrance. One of the guards, a pegasus in Enclave armor, halted them. “What’s your business?”

“We were here earlier,” said Applejack. “Study Guide can vouch for us.”

“Study Guide isn't here right now,” the guard replied. “She went on a booze run.”

“Booze run? Where the hell would she be gettin’ booze from in the wasteland?” questioned Dusk Feather.

The guard shrugged, “No clue but she always finds it”.

A sigh came from Fiddler, “Ya know, one thing that unsettles my mind is the fact that this pony is leaving the safety of the tower for alcohol of all things,” he said.

“I mean, I’d do it,” said Lucky Break. “But, then again, I get lucky from time to time.”

“Well, if booze is anything like cider, I can understand why,” said Rainbow Dash. “I mean, wasn’t she questioning Twilight? And we’ve been gone for how long?”

“A week,” answered Rarity. "Oh, dear. The poor pony."

“Jeez…” muttered a familiar pony as she walked out. “Am I really that hard to deal with?”

“Twilight!”

Twilight Sparkle raised a brow, a bit of annoyance in her groan. “Seriously? Well, moving on from that, I thought it would take a while to make peace with the zebras. You’re back pretty early!”

“Well, we need to go to the Dragon Lands, and we thought Watcher could help us out with communicating with the dragons of today,” said Fluttershy.

“Watcher should be here soon,” said the purple unicorn. “He’s been visiting daily, but he tries to keep a fair distance away from the tower so he doesn’t spook the Enclave.”

“How have you been holding up?” wondered Fluttershy.

Twilight rubbed the back of her neck and sighed. “Study Guide isn’t the easiest pony to get along with. She’s pretty cold sometimes and she’ll throw insults like they’re nothing.”

Fluttershy’s eyes wandered over to Applejack, who was looking at Twilight with some concern, seeming to note the tiredness in Twi’s eyes. “Sounds like it’s you who’s gettin’ the harsher end of things and not her,” said Applejack.

“Oh, it’s fine,” assured Twilight. “She’s bearable… kinda.”

Fluttershy noticed something off in the distance, high in the sky. The sound of heavy wings flapping hit her eardrums and she smiled in response to it. “Looks like Watcher’s here!”

“By the way, where’s our Spike?” wondered Rarity.

“Oh, he’s inside. He’s been looking through some really old comics he found,” Twilight replied.

“Comics?” chuckled Dusk. “Kind of nerdish, don’tcha think?”

“Hey, I read at least three books a day,” said Twilight. “There’s nothing wrong with reading.”

“I learned that a long time ago,” said Dash with a smirk.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the ministry mare clones?” muttered a familiar drunken pony.

The group looked in the direction of Study Guide, who was holding in her hoof a bottle on unbranded alcohol. Dusk looked at the bottle and immediately assumed, “You made that yourself?”

“We're in the wasteland, honey. If you can't find it, you make it yourself,” said Study. “There’s more than enough ingredients out in the city. You just gotta know what’s important. Most ponies aren’t too bright, so they leave that shit alone.”

“Miss Guide, can you vouch for these ponies?” asked the Enclave guard.

“Eh…?” muttered Study, half-lidded eyes staring at him. “Uh, yeah, whatever… Mark ‘em as guests… for now.”

“Uh, yes, Miss Guide,” said the guard. “You lot can go in.”

Just as the majority of the group had entered the building, Fluttershy suddenly heard Study shout, “Not the hellhound!” followed by a groan from their friend, Brute.

Twilight led them to the upper floors of the building, entering a mostly-bare room with boxes in the corner. In the box were a stack of old comic books and a familiar baby dragon sitting on top of it.

“Spike, our friends are back!” said Twilight.

“Oh hey!” He eyed the cyan blue pegasus and pointed with a finger to a comic on his claws. “Dash! They have some really neat comics about this group called the Shadowbolts!”

“Shadowbolts?” Dash raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah!” confirmed Spike. “The greatest aerial team in Equestria, fighting together! Seems like they were under your ministry!”

“You mean alternate Dash’s ministry,” said Dash.

“Right, right…” said Spike. “You’ve gotta admit, it is cool!”

Dash smirked, looking flattered. “I guess it is pretty awesome that another version of me had all this under her wing.~”

“Hey, Twilight?” Fluttershy spoke up. “Could we talk in private for a minute?”

Twilight smiled. “Huh? Sure, Fluttershy!”

The purple unicorn took lead as her pegasus friend followed closely into what looked like an office. It wasn’t too big, with a single table in the corner with some strange, boxy devices on top of them. Fluttershy also couldn’t help but notice a dusty fur carpet. She ignored the bit of dust as they both stepped onto it, instead turning her attention to Twilight as she asked, “Have you noticed anything strange lately?”

“Like what?” asked Twilight.

“Well,” said Fluttershy. “On our way here, we were attacked by ghouls, but somepony was shooting them down, almost like a guardian. The crazy thing is that we couldn’t even see this pony! They were very well hidden!”

Twilight nodded in understanding, a smile on her face. “Well, while you were gone, whenever I had time, I’ve gotten myself up in some interesting reading about the history here. It sounds like a sniper! They were very common soldiers during the war, and from what I’ve gathered, it’d be odd for snipers to be out in the wasteland due to the lack of working parts and supplies. Many would hide in pretty much any environment, from bushes to buildings to-”

“Do you think it’s the same pony from the battle here at Tenpony?” interrupted Fluttershy.

“Most likely,” said Twilight. “Maybe they followed you all to make sure you were safe!”

“Well, I do like the sound of that,” said Fluttershy. “An added layer of protection. I just wish things didn’t have to end in… violence and bloodshed and… other gruesome things…”

“Yeah, I’m still not used to this place…” the unicorn agreed.

Then, the flapping of giant wings broke off the conversation. Fluttershy and Twilight quickly ran out of the office and looked out the window with the rest of the group. Watcher slowly descended to the ground and landed with a rumbling thud, his one good eye looking at the group with curiosity through the window. “So, you’ve returned from zebra territory.”

Fluttershy, looking up at him, said, “Spike! It’s so good to see you! We need your help to communicate with the other dragons!”

Watcher did not respond, a low grumbling coming from his throat. Ember would respond for him, coming up from behind him and looking at Fluttershy, wings flapping to keep the Dragon Lord afloat. “That might not be a good idea,” said Ember.

“Why not?” asked Fluttershy.

“Well, according to him, dragons are some of the most vicious predators to ever walk the wasteland,” replied Ember. “Their culture and the culture of my dragons are similar, but when it comes to negotiations with wasteland dragons, there’s none.”

“What’s the difference between the two?” asked Fluttershy.

“Dragons here have a bitter history with ponies and zebras,” Ember explained. “While dragons and zebras did work together during the war, they quickly went their separate ways after the megaspells dropped. Nowadays, most dragons are just as bitter, if not more than how it was before I became Dragon Lord.”

“Well, since you’re the almighty Dragon Lord,” said Spike as he hopped up onto the windowsill, “maybe you can rule over them!”

“I don’t even have my staff,” said Ember. “I’d need that in order to have authority over them.”

“What staff?” asked Watcher.

Ember turned her head, looking at Watcher. “Oh, uh… Well, back in our universe, there was a staff that could control dragons and keep them in line. It was pretty much the reason why dragons didn’t go rampant. I earned the staff through trial and tribulation after my father retired and I established a good relationship with ponies. At least, as good as it can get.”

“This staff… sounds very powerful,” said Watcher. “I don’t think we have anything like that in this universe.”

“That’s concerning…” said Ember. “How have dragons not taken over?”

“Because ponies are resilient,” said Watcher. “Advancement in technology is what keeps them afloat. At least, that’s how it was during the war. Nowadays, the only technologically advanced ponies are either the Enclave or the Steel Rangers.”

“This isn’t good at all,” said Ember. “I don’t think I’d be able to help much on this trip.”

“That’s nonsense, Ember!” said Spike, pointing at her. “You’re the fierce and almighty Dragon Lord! You even took on Garble! You’re amazing and I’m sure you could knock some sense into these dragons if you wanted to!”

Ember raised a brow, smirking in obvious amusement. “Well, I am pretty tough.”

“Yeah, you’re one of the toughest dragons I know!” said Spike.

“Do you two realize what you are saying?” questioned Watcher. “It’s not the same Dragon Lands you two are used to. With hardly any procreation, we’re left with the big, adult dragons who wouldn’t hesitate to kill.”

“I’d like to offer this counter,” said Spike. “We’ve faced Nightmare Moon, Discord, Queen Chrysalis, King Sombra, Tirek, and Starlight, all of them being magical powerhouses, each one worse than the last!”

“And don’t forget the psychotic filly,” said Applejack.

“Yeah, but she used mass manipulation, not magic,” Spike replied.

“This is ridiculous,” muttered Watcher. “You’re in over your heads.”

“If we are, then come with us,” said Ember. “Think about it. You’re a big, strong dragon. Don’t you think you’re more than capable of taking on other dragons?”

Watcher seemed very hesitant, his eye looking downwards as he went deep into thought. Fluttershy looked on with pity, wondering exactly how much trauma this dragon had gone through during both the war and the wasteland’s existence.

Watcher eventually let out a hot gust of air from his nostrils in a sigh. “Fine, but only for your safety.”

Spike grinned. “And maybe Twilight can come along! I bet she’s done with being interviewed by Study Guide by now!”

“Not Twilight,” said Watcher. “I couldn’t live with myself if she were to get hurt because of this.”

Twilight looked up sternly at him. “Hey, you can’t order me around! I’m more than capable of handling a dangerous task!”

“Twi, you don’t seem to understand,” countered Watcher. “These dragons won’t show any tolerance.”

“How long has it been since you’ve spoken with one?” asked Twilight. Watcher went silent and Twilight shook her head. “Exactly! How long have you stayed isolated from everypony?! Who knows what they’re like now?!”

“I do,” said Watcher. “I have spritebots all over the wasteland at my command. I’ve seen what they can do.”

“But you’ve never spoken to them, have you? You haven’t even engaged with them,” said Twilight.

Watcher and Twilight stared at each other and Fluttershy could definitely feel the tense energy of the argument. She wished they were all on the same page, but some individuals just had different viewpoints. That’s how things were. What amazed her, however, was the stark difference between Spike and Watcher. Spike didn’t go through what Watcher did, but was Spike better because of that? Watcher had experience, but did it justify his viewpoints?

Spike then suddenly said, “Hey, quit arguing! It’s not fair to either of you! Yeah, Twilight could get hurt, and yeah, future me would blame himself… myself? Ourselves??? Ugh… time travel. Anyways, that’s not the point! The point is that in all our adventures, I’ve learned to trust Twilight! She’s always pulled us through the worst of times and we came out better for it, tougher, stronger! A more powerful friendship!”

“Friendship is dead,” Watcher stated.

“You let it die!” shouted Spike, sending a silence across the room. Spike looked around at everypony, then said a little more softly, “Look… I know you miss her. I understand how you feel. If I ever lost Twilight, I’d probably blame myself, too… But I know she wouldn’t want me to give up on friendship. You don’t have to stay cooped up in that cave of yours… We can all make a difference. Friendship only dies when we let it, when we do nothing, and the only way to make it alive again is to at the very least try.”

Watcher and Twilight were taken aback by all this, and Twilight seemed proud, a tear dripping down her cheek. There was even something in Watcher’s eye that told Fluttershy he had come to a revelation.

“I’m… I’m sorry,” said Watcher. “You’re right… My Twilight wouldn’t have wanted me to let what she valued the most die out. Her friends, the bonds we all shared, I… took it for granted. I guess I needed to talk some sense into myself.”

“So, do we understand each other?” asked Twilight.

Watcher silently nodded. “I’m trusting you from now on. I might get a little defensive, but I’ll trust you more often than not.”

“Cool, we got a motivational speech in!” said Spike with a grin, looking proud of himself.

“Not gonna help us out all the time,” said Applejack. “If we could solve everythin’ through speeches, Big Mac would talk more often.”

“You gotta admit, it was tear-inducing,” Spike said, puffing out his chest.

“Hey, wait a minute…” muttered Starlight, looking around herself in worry. “I haven’t seen Trixie in a while.”

“Or that alicorn who was with us,” said Fiddler. “Who is… Trixie again?”

. . . M e a n w h i l e . . .

Trixie wasn’t liking this. She wasn’t liking this at all.

She’d been wandering this foggy, desolated city for hours now with the alicorn she’d met on the way to Zone’s old village. Unfortunately, having a powerhouse at her side couldn’t do much in this situation. The city was like a maze, and she wasn’t sure how she’d even gotten there. The alicorn, she’d find only an hour after waking up in this place.

“Goddess, I can’t seem to pinpoint where we are,” said the alicorn behind her.

“Could you not call me that?” asked Trixie, getting fed up with this whole goddess thing. “I don’t want to be called Goddess. Call me Trixie! TRIXIE!”

“...Yes, Goddess Trixie Trixie,” said the alicorn.

Seriously…? “AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!”

“Goddess… Ahhh?” questioned the alicorn.

“Just call me Trixie!” shouted the angry blue unicorn.

“Godd–”

“No Goddess!” snapped Trixie. “There is not a Goddess in my title! It is just Trixie! …Or, the Great and Powerful Trixie.”

“Yes, Great and Powerful Trixie,” said the alicorn.

With a small nod of approval, Trixie continued walking, looking at the foggy street ahead of her with worry. “Alright, so… how to get back to Starlight…”

“I’m afraid you may not be able to go back to your friend,” responded a soft voice. Just then, a pink pony with blue eyes came out from the fog in front of Trixie, looking sad. She looked emaciated as if she hadn’t eaten in days. Her mane was white, with red on the edges, and her tail was striped like a candy cane. “I’m sorry to tell you that you may have been forgotten.”

“What do you mean forgotten?!” questioned Trixie. “How could anypony forget the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

The stranger looked down at the ground, sighing. “This is probably most well-known as the Forgotten Realm. Some call it the Inbetween... I call it home. I’m a guardian here and I watch over the inhabitants of this place until…”

“Until what?” Trixie asked with concern.

“Until the universe either remembers you… or decides to throw you away,” explained the strange pony.

“I doubt anypony is going to forget me,” said Trixie. “Starlight wouldn’t forget me!”

“Starlight doesn’t have to forget you,” said the stranger. “The universe does. If it forgets you, you end up here. I’ve seen entire worlds end up here. It can be a very depressing place…”

“This is ridiculous!” said Trixie. “I demand to speak with your manager! This universe!”

“The universe is not someone you can reason with,” said the pony. “Please, stay calm.”

“I AM PERFECTLY CALM!” shouted Trixie.

“Great and Powerful Trixie? Are you alright?” asked the alicorn behind her.

“I’m fine! I’m dandy! I’m faaaaaantastic!” Trixie replied with great sarcasm, slamming a hoof to the ground.

The pink pony looked off into the foggy distance, saying, “There have been signs of a way out before, but they’ve always been rare. If you really do wish to try and leave, it would be–”

As the pink pony turned back to face the angry Trixie, she saw that both of the individuals were gone. Sighing, the pony looked around herself, muttering, “There go another set of friends…”

. . . M e a n w h i l e . . .

Hindsight was a little disgruntled today. It seemed that his machine had been malfunctioning as of late, being unable to pull through any individuals. Arcane Vast had assured him the machine would be fixed in time for the next phase of his plan. Yet with Twilight refusing to join Hindsight, it was even more frustrating, making him question the words of his deity.

There was a knock on Hindsight’s door, the pegasus looking up from his book. “Who is it? I’m very busy.”

“The weapon is finished and it’s prepped,” said a familiar voice, it was Dr. Scalpel.

Hindsight walked over to the door opening it up to see Scalpel’s cloaked figure standing over him. “It’s been tested?”

Scalpel seemed slightly offended by the question. “Do you take me for someone who doesn’t perform proper testing procedures?” he asked. “I thought you had a bit more faith in me than that.”

“I’m just making sure,” Hindsight replied. “The past few days have been stressful.”

“May I come in?” asked Scalpel.

Hindsight stepped aside, allowing Dr. Scalpel to walk in, the creature’s eyes looking around the simple, almost-bare room. There were only simple necessities here, along with the occasional luxury. A small bed, a dresser, and a book cabinet with literature filling it halfway.

“I see…” said Scalpel, standing over by the book cabinet. “You seem to do a lot of research into the occult.”

Hindsight’s eyes kept from making contact with Scalpel’s as he answered, “I like to dabble…”

“In my world, we had no need for magic. Magic didn’t even exist,” bragged Scalpel. “It’s a shame you won’t get to see it.”

“You seem to have both a pride and a hatred for your world,” observed Hindsight. “You’ve spoken of how barbaric your species is, yet you praise it?”

“It is a complicated thing, it is…” Scalpel said quietly. “I know it can do better. I’ve done better than all of them. Of course… they won’t ever see that. At least, not anymore…”

“You’ll be returned,” assured Hindsight.

“That’s not what I speak of,” said Scalpel. “I’ve done things that are considered a crime against nature. In fact, should they know where I’ve gone, I’d say it’s only a matter of time until more of my kind come after me.”

This was concerning. More of his kind? Coming here? “What exactly have you done?” wondered Hindsight.

“Have you ever lost someone, Hindsight…?” questioned Scalpel.

“I’m… potentially close to losing someone,” Hindsight replied.

“What would you do… to bring them back?” Scalpel asked.

Hindsight’s mouth went slightly agape. “You… didn’t.”

“I did,” Scalpel replied, a subtle smile plastered on his mouth. “At a cost. I lost my daughter a long time ago, but with the power of glorious science, I brought her back, against the forces of nature itself. But… she wasn’t the same. She… ran almost solely on instinct. Had the urge to harm, the urge to kill. She and my son would get along for a while, but… he warned me of what she’d been doing. She would stand in the hallway, looking into his room every night. She’d stare at him, keeping him up.”

“That’s… a monstrosity,” admitted Hindsight.

“...It wasn’t a monstrosity,” said Scalpel. “It was the consequences of my mistake. She wasn’t the only one I brought back. There were hundreds. Potentially thousands. I thought I was doing a service.”

“You unknowingly delivered a plague onto your people,” stated Hindsight. “You can’t just… run from it.”

“I can,” stated Scalpel. “And I will. Until I can perfect my research and fix it.”

There was silence in the room after that. Hindsight looked directly at Scalpel for an instant before directing his gaze away, his eyes saw the mad scientist in a different light. Scalpel was someone who had cracked, had crossed the boundaries of life and death in a desperate attempt to bring back someone he loved.

Hindsight knew that if he were to have ever attempted such a thing, it would likely go horribly wrong, and Scalpel’s mistakes proved that. Therefore, Hindsight needed to keep his mother alive as long as possible, so he wouldn’t crack as well.

Scalpel eventually looked over at Hindsight, saying, “The weapon will be in the hidden armory. Don’t forget it.”

Hindsight nodded, then left the room, leaving the scientist to his own thoughts.

. . . M e a n w h i l e . . .

Following the events of Trixie returning with the alicorn, the group had the usual questions. “Where had Trixie gone? Why was she gone? Why did it happen again?”

Fluttershy had an aura of stress about her, noting that not only had Lucky Break and Pinkie been in the same realm, but Trixie and her alicorn friend as well. If it happened twice, it could very well happen again, and to possibly anypony here.

“You said this pony told you about the universe forgetting things and all that jazz,” commented Lucky. “What the hell is so forgetful about me?”

“Well, obviously, you’re a wastelander,” said Trixie without any hesitation whatsoever. “But I’m the Great and Powerful Trixie! It’d be pretty hard to forget me!”

Applejack gave an angry glare at Trixie. “Don’t toot yer own horn like that. It’s rude.”

“I’m in my right to be upset!” Trixie replied, giving back a glare of her own.

“I’m a little more worried about this now…” said Starlight. “If ponies are going to be popping out of existence at random moments like that, then who’s to say it won’t do it to a much larger group?”

“Like a city…” said Twilight. “That’s not good…”

“The scary part is that I had trouble remembering Trixie,” admitted Fluttershy, looking down in a bit of guilt.

“So, if the universe forgets, then we forget,” Starlight concluded.

“All the more reason to fix everything and go back home as soon as possible,” said Twilight, trying to put everypony back on track. “We need to head to the Dragon Lands!”

Fluttershy was unnerved. It was a little hard to focus on the mission when something like this was happening. Twilight was right, though. They needed to keep going. Fluttershy could only hope that the problems didn’t worsen over time.

Climbing upon Watcher’s back, it didn’t take long for the group to finally set off for their destination, the Dragon Lands. The mere fact of being transported through the sky made the trip much more bearable, with the wind caressing the fur of all the riders. Fluttershy looked down at the wasteland, curious to see her home, quickly regretting it as it proved to be a bad idea while her eyes witnessed in horror and shock the panorama below them.

The landscape before her sight consisted of dull, non-vivid colors, capable of sinking the most cheerful and happy soul on the face of Equestria into darkness and hollow. “How far did the war reach?” thought the pegasus - her gaze fixed on the now distant city of Manehattan, fully realizing the true scope of this war. It hadn’t just affected two nations. Seeing this, Fluttershy had come to the conclusion that the war had likely affected the entire world.

Subconsciously, she gulped at the view, stunned by the fact that such a promising land as Equestria had ended up in such a mess, broken and abandoned.

It only made things sadder for her, giving her more of that painful pang of homesickness.

By walking, it could have possibly taken them days, weeks even, to reach the Dragon Lands. With Watcher’s help, the trip only took them about half a day. Spike scooted next to Fluttershy, eyes wide as he looked upon what was once Equestria’s original Dragon Lands. “Woah… That’s… hot. I can feel it all the way from up here!”

Fluttershy was horrified. The ground was mostly red from the extreme heat, with cracks in the ground letting bright rays of red shine through. On occasion, lava would erupt from these cracks, scorching the earth surrounding these openings. The pools of lava were brighter, seemingly more powerfully hot than what she was used to seeing here.

Scattered across the lands were several dragons, some of them staying away from the pools of lava while very few were actually swimming around in these, their scales seeming to glow from the heat. “It’s… so much more intense than what I remember,” said Fluttershy.

“The Megaspells’ reach knew no bounds,” Watcher explained, looking down upon the land. “The Dragon Lands was greatly affected, changing the way of life for many of its inhabitants. The scorched earth might even be a bit too much for you all to stand on. Do you really want me to land here?”

Twilight, looking around, replied, “I could probably cast a spell that should temporarily protect us from the heat.”

“I hope you all know what you’re doing,” said Watcher, slowly descending to the coolest spot out of the scorching land he could find.

Twilight turned to face everypony, her horn lighting up and firing a beam at them all, a cool, blue wave of color slightly tinting their coats to a bluish hue. “There we go… This should keep us at a normal temperature throughout our entire visit. If you start to feel a little, uh, warmer, tell me and I’ll reinforce the spell. Hopefully, this won’t take too long.”

“Darling, are you sure you want to exert yourself like this? There’s at least a dozen of us, give or take a few ponies,” Rarity pointed out.

“Trust me, I’ll be fine,” Twilight replied. “I just need to make sure we don’t stay here for too long.”

“Um, Okay, dear, just don’t stretch yourself too thin,” said Rarity, seeming unsure.

“It won’t take too long,” assured Fluttershy. “We just need to ask around for Ashes’ whereabouts.”

Ember nodded in agreement. “That shouldn’t be too bad. Just… let me and Spike do the talking. Better yet, we could let our bigger friend here have a chance at socializing.”

Watcher, squinting his eyes, simply replied, “I will not.”

Ember turned around to face Watcher. “Hey, are you a dragon or not?”

“Can I even consider myself a dragon if I was raised by ponies?” Watcher countered. “Besides, I wouldn’t even know how to greet another dragon.”

“I’ll show you how it’s done, and then you can try,” Ember offered.

Fluttershy looked over at one of the lava pools where a dragon lazily laid about. “We could ask him.”

Ember smirked, walking over, looking onward with no fear whatsoever, but Fluttershy had to assume that if Ember was a dragon, she probably wouldn’t have to fear anything from another one, right?

“Hey, you!” shouted Ember, catching the dragon's attention. He lifted his head, yellow eyes with black slit pupils staring back at her with a mixture of anger and confusion. Ember walked up to him, looking up as she asked, “Do you know where we can find a dragon named Ashes?”

“You’ll be ashes if you don’t go away,” the dragon replied.

Fluttershy was already feeling like this was going to be hopeless, but Ember seemed to stand her ground. “Hey, look,” said Ember. “I don’t like your tone! I’m asking you as nicely as I possibly can. If you just answer the question, I’ll leave you alone. I think that’s a pretty fair trade.”

Fluttershy suddenly heard Watcher mumble from behind her, “What do these dragons know about ‘fair’?”

“If you want information, I suggest you go bother Smaragdus,” replied the dragon. “Now leave before I decide to roast all of you.”

“Where can we find them?” asked Ember.

“They’re typically somewhere in the lava pools north of here. You literally can’t miss them,” the dragon answered.

Ember looked over at Twilight. “Cool, and, uh… what’s that word you say to others?”

“Thanks?” Twilight replied.

“Yeah, that thing,” Ember replied, walking away and back to the safety of her group.

Fluttershy rubbed the back of her neck. “I was almost certain he’d be more hostile than that.”

“Dragons respond to assertive and dominant behavior,” Ember explained. “Try to be nice to one and you’re likely to get nowhere with them.”

“So it’s brawn versus brawn,” Rarity supposed.

Ember nodded. “Exactly.”

“So, we’ve gotta find this Smaragdus,” Spike assumed. “Let’s go!”

Moving north, they came upon various lava pools, but none were occupied. However, after a few had passed, they found who they were looking for. In front of them was a massive magma pool that could potentially even fit Watcher inside, and in the middle of this lava pool was a big, green lump.

“Welp, he drowned,” said Fiddler. “Let’s go home.”

“No, he’s not,” said Ember. “Someone gimme a rock.”

Spike quickly flew over, plopping a stone into her hand. She then wound up the pitch before throwing it, the rock bouncing off the green lump and landing into the lava. For a small while, nothing happened, but then the green lump began to rise up out of the lava, a similar shape to any normal adult dragon coming into view. Bright green eyes locked onto Watcher, and as all the lava slid off the green dragon, it was revealed to be… a girl.

“Who fucking threw that?” she asked. “You think you’re tough, big guy? I will fucking wreck your shit.”

Watcher’s eyes darted back and forth as he replied, “It was not me...”

“Uh-huh, sure. You’re the only one big enough to have the nerve,” she replied. “I doubt any of these ants would have the courage to do it.”

“Look, we don’t want troubl–”

The green dragon quickly splashed lava towards him, causing the smaller group to quickly run out of the way of falling droplets. “Damn it!” shouted Dusk, narrowly avoiding a large portion of raining lava.

“I don’t want to become pony steak, thank you!” screamed Fiddler.

“Everypony move away!” shouted Twilight.

Watcher’s face was hit by the splash, and as it slid off of him, he did not seem amused. “You’re testing my patience.”

The green dragon smirked. “Aw, can’t take what you dish out?~”

“Hey, down here!” shouted Ember.

The green dragon looked down upon Ember with a confused expression. “What do you want, pipsqueak?”

“Are you Smaragdus?” Ember asked.

“Yeah?” the green dragon replied. “What of it?”

Ember flew up to Smaragdus to face her, saying, “We’re looking for a dragon named Ashes. Have you seen him?”

Smaragdus put a claw to her scalp, scratching as she thought long and hard. She eventually answered, “Yeah, he’s… kinda just bein’ a hermit.”

“Where is he?” asked Spike flying up as well.

“I ain’t just gonna tell you where he is,” said Smaragdus. “Info ain’t free.”

“You could,” said Watcher. “You’re just being a prick.”

“Shut it, cupcake,” Smaragdus responded. “Now, let’s see… what do I want…? Oh! I want gems.”

“You… want gems?” questioned Spike. “Nothing else? Just gems?”

“Yeah,” Smaragdus replied. “Gems. Get me some, and I might tell you where Ashes is holding up.”

“Gems are a bit scarce these days…” said Watcher. “We’d have to go scavenging.”

“Ooorrrrrr, you could go to one of those… abandoned mines at the edge of the Dragon Lands,” Smaragdus suggested, looking smug. “If you can handle the monsters.”

“What monsters would I even fear there?” questioned Watcher.

“Dunno,” Smaragdus answered. “It’s just that… whoever goes into those mines don’t always come back out. I’ve even heard of dragons vanishing around there.”

“Uhh, How big is this mine?” questioned Ember. “It’d have to have a pretty big entrance for our friend to get through.”

“Pretty damn big, I’d say,” Smaragdus replied. “There are two entrances. One’s basically a big ol’ hole in the ground that extends miles below the surface and the other is a smaller entrance where the ponies would go through.”

Watcher stared with a bit of skepticism. “Uh-huh…”

Smaragdus stared back with what Fluttershy could only interpret as the fakest smile possible. “Soooooo, yeah, if you could get me some of those gems, I might tell you.”

“Fine,” said Twilight. “We’ll head there, do a quick look around and grab the gems when we see them.”

While Fluttershy was a little worried about wandering in a dark cavern, she was still certain that she and her friends could fend off any creature that may be lurking in the dark. Still, though, there was that small hint of doubt in her mind.

Finding the cave entrance was pretty easy. With Watcher flying overhead, the large hole in the ground was easy to spot, and the main cavern entrance was found soon after. When they landed, Watcher looked at the large hole in the ground and said, “I’m not sure if I’ll be going down there with you.”

“What’s wrong?” asked Spike as he landed onto the ground.

Watcher’s eyes looked over the hole and he grumbled a little towards himself. “I feel there may be some trickery at hoof.”

“It definitely looks big enough for you to squeeze into,” said Ember. As she peered down the hole, her eyes widened a little. “Uhh, I can’t see the bottom. How long had ponies been working on this thing?”

“I recall reading about mining operations in class years ago,” Dusk replied, looking down towards the pitch-black darkness of the pit. “Ponies were getting desperate for gems, so they dug as much as they could. Now that I look at it… I can kinda see how bad it was getting for Equestria’s resources near the end of the war.”

Fluttershy looked at the pit with fear in her heart. She couldn’t help but feel like she was being watched. “I think maybe we should go through the normal entrance…”

“That’s exactly what we’re doing,” said Twilight, calming Fluttershy’s fears. “Watcher can stay out here and guard it. I don’t trust this place either.”

After some walking, they reached the cave entrance, which was settled in a tall, stony cliffside. Walking inside, Twilight was about to light up her horn, but Rarity stopped her. “Pardon me, darling, but I feel I should do this. We need you to recast the heat-repellant spell. Wouldn’t want you to waste you energy, would we?”

Twilight smiled. “Thanks, Rarity!”

Rarity smiled back. “It’s no trouble at all! Plus, with my knack for finding gems, I should be well-suited to this situation. We’ll be out of here in no time!”

Rarity’s horn then lit up the cave, a brilliant bright blue glow bathing their surroundings, revealing the path up ahead. Fluttershy was thankful that she could see now. Walking forward on the path, Fluttershy could see Rarity looking about, but she noticed some hint of worry on the unicorn’s face.

They continued walking for an hour, wandering the many pathways, but no gems. This began to worry Fluttershy, and she knew it worried Rarity as well.

“So much for your knack for finding gems,” said Ember, looking unimpressed.

“Lay off her,” Dusk defended. “I wouldn’t be surprised. The war took up so much of the resources that I wouldn’t doubt for a moment that this entire place was cleared out.”

“Th-Then, wouldn’t that mean we’d have to go deeper down?” questioned Fluttershy with quivering fear.

“We’ve got this,” said Dash with her usual cocky attitude, a smirk on her face. “I don’t think anything down there could be worse than what we’ve faced before!”

“Be wary,” Zone warned Dash. “Remember that the wasteland has many dangers lurking in the dark.”

“Hey, I can handle myself!” Dash replied.

“Enough!” Twilight shouted. “Come on, we need to hurry! I can’t keep the heat-repellant spell up for too long.”

The group continued deeper in, finding slopes and stairs that would lead them down further into the mines. The deeper they went, the creepier it was. Every so often, Fluttershy would catch a glimpse of something on the edge of the darkness, just out of reach of Rarity’s light spell.

“Wait, something smell off,” Taipan announced as she readied her tail for combat. “It smells like ghouls.”

“Ghouls?!” shouted Fiddler. “Nope! Get me out of here! Nope nope nope!”

Dusk put a wing in front of him as he tried to leave. “Leaving the group would just put you more at risk. Don’t be stupid.”

Fluttershy could see the glimpses of creatures slowly come more into view after Taipan’s announcement, glowing eyes watching them. She stood behind Twilight, eyes widening as she shivered. “O-Oh no!”

Zone sighed and gave a smile to Taipan. “We never fail to attract trouble, do we?~”

“Nope,” Taipan said as she fired her pin missile attack in the ghouls’ direction, taking out a few.”

“If I’m correct…” muttered Lucky Break. “These mining operations had hundreds, maybe a few thousand ponies in them during the war. If that’s the case…

“Then we’re looking at an army.”

“Dagnabbit,” Applejack said as she tipped her hat for combat.

Author's Note

Yo. We're not dead yet.