My eyes opened to a more pleasant sight than I expected. It was the same darkness as in my previous dream. The same stars dancing above. This time it wasn't just me and the stars however. I felt a lot more conscious, a lot more present in the moment, not just lying there and watching.

I could feel cold water all around me, as though I was half submerged in it. I was naked. The few things I possessed weren't at my side, even the M.A.I.F.O.S. was gone. I felt that I wasn't alone there, I could sense somepony or something else. The feeling is hard to describe, like I could feel someone's gaze on my coat.

I raised my head and looked around for the source of that presence, but found very little. There was a small metal cafe table some distance away. It also had two chairs set at the opposite sides of the table. Both were made out of blackish metal that shimmered slightly under the stars. A small tea pot stood in the middle of the table with two small cups orbiting it like small moons.

I slowly stood up, the water sliding off of me, leaving me dry as though I wasn't just lying in it. I took a single step towards the table and was already at it closing the distance as though there was none. I sat down. I tried pouring myself a cup of tea, but my horn refused to do anything. No sparkles, no puffs of smoke, absolutely nothing.

"I did not expect to see you dreaming so soon after the last time," a feminine voice came from the opposite side of the table. The voice was very melodic, very soft. Raising my eyes from the pot I saw a small bird-like creature with purple plumage. She was almost my height counting the hair. Discounting it, she was around my shoulder. The hair was purple and gathered into braids. A pair of old glasses rested on her beak. When I looked at her she had already taken the tea pot into her wing-like hands and was pouring.

"Ehm... Sorry, who are you? I don't remember meeting you," I asked as calmly as I could. That was the most lucid I've ever been while dreaming and it was definitely the first time I had a conversation with somepo... I mean, someone else.

"Oh my, I haven't introduced myself, have I? My name is Doran and I am a Nyx. And you are Fritz, a unicorn who worked for the EEA for a little bit and had the fortune or misfortune to pick up 'Custos ex Somnia' while you were there," Doran introduced herself. "I will explain everything in due time. As for now, would you like a cup of tea to start us off? It's very lovely," she suggested. I nodded. Doran carefully poured me a cup.

I got closer to the cup to take a sip, because I couldn't pick it up and I wasn't an earth pony to know how to hold a small cup in my hooves. The tea had a very strong floral scent and, after I sipped it, a very pleasant tart flavor like a fresh green apple. I couldn't even remember the last time I had tea. With the war raging on I didn't really have time for a peacefull tea party.

"It is so good to finally be able to share a cup of tea with someone," Doran sighed. "I assume you have some questions. Feel free to ask them and I'll do my best to answer."

I took a moment to think.

"Well, the most obvious question would be: Why is my dream like this? The only other time was around an hour or so ago, when I learned the Arcane Blaze spell out of nowhere," I started asking. There were no reasons to distrust my own dreams just yet and answers were always welcome. Although it did feel very weird to be having a peacefull dream instead of nightmares after months of them nonstop.

"So that's what you decided to call it?" she chuckled. "To answer you question, we need to go back about a couple of days. At least I think it was days, time is a little harder to judge from where I am. Remember going into Night Twister's study?" – I nodded as the world around us blurred and not a second later we were back in that study room under EEA Head Quarters– "And the 'Classification of Dark Arts'?" – I nodded again, the book appearing on the table in front of me – "And last, but certainly the most important, 'Custos ex Somnia' itself. I assume a dark magical tome is somewhat hard to forget. To explain it as simple as I can, the Custos allowed me to find you in the roiling seas that the dreams of ponies are nowadays. Although there isn't much dreaming, mostly nightmares. From there I just did what we do best and now we can talk. We are limited by time with these talks, a little problem magical stability, a lot of wayward energy down there. And that spell was an old idea I got from Night Twister herself, she always was a talented pony, if a bit too serious."

"Why would anypony need a spell that powerful? That thing evaporated the moment it got hit!" I asked when Doran finished. She took a moment to think, even did that thing where creatures with fingers or talons weirdly rub their chin, or lower part of the beak in her case.

"Well... To be honest, the answer here is quite simple. It's not a weapon, it's a tool in a researcher's kit. You, and I mean no offence by saying this, just do not know how to use it properly. At least not yet. It's a scalpel that you used like a bludgeon, the analogy not withstanding. And the strength of it might mostly be thanks to the Megaspells, I think that's what they're called, that have been blowing up across most of Equestria. There's just a lot more ambient magic than there used to be," she explained after taking a sip. After the topic of the spell died out the environment slowly melted back into the night sky, the stars still moving above.

"But why would you connect to me now and not right after I saw the book or something?" I continued asking questions. I had too few actual answers after I left, if that could be called 'leaving', the EEA HQ and I wasn't about to lose the opportunity to get some answers, even if they were just dream answers.

"Now, I know a lot about sleep, dreams and braids, but I'm no miracle worker. It would've been easier, but some other pony took the book, so I had to do a little jury rigging, spend a lot of time waiting for you to lower your mental guard and then you did. I was hoping for things to ease up and for you to relax, but you being too exhausted worked as well for it," Doran clarified as unintelligible script and formulae flew around her, probably showing what she did, but I was never much of a sleep-scientist, so my knowledge was quite limited.

"But that only raises another question. Why help me and not the pony with the book? If i recall correctly it should be with the Tunnelers now," I wanted more answers. It honestly felt good to ask something and get a relatively normal answer, even if dream communication isn't a thing I ever expected to use to get those answers.

"The current owner of the book is far less... How should I put it?" she took a second before continuing. "Well... He's a sinister kind of pony. Dark, cruel, manipulative. I tend to avoid this sort of pony, had my fair share of troubles with one. You'd be surprised, but they are rarely cooperative," once again Doran answered to my satisfaction. With each answer that dream became better and better, it almost felt like an actual dream, save for the being lucid enough to hold a conversation part.

"So, what I'm getting is that I am more cooperative. If my short time in Stratusburg had taught me anything it's that you want something from me, right?" I sighed before spilling what was on my mind right after her answer. "I guess that's just how things are nowadays."

"Oh, don't be such a downer," Doran replied before taking another sip of her tea. "It's not like I'm going to order you around or anything like that. I want to help you, but there are things that must be done. What I'm proposing is a compromise of sorts. I will help you, but you'll need to help me as well, isn't that how you make friends?"

"A friendship isn't really supposed to be based on us exchanging services, but I guess you already kind of saved my life, and Ember's for that matter, so I am sort of in your debt. What do you need me to do?" I was trying to be open and to the point, there was no reason in beating around the bush. If a fairy owl lady in my dreams wanted to be "friends" I couldn't really say no.

"The most pressing issue is that very same book. As much of a blessing as it is, it can also be a curse in the wrong hooves," Doran told as she finished her cup and went to refill it. "I'd like the book far away from him. Back in Canterlot, if at all possible," she clarified what she wanted. I immediately responded.

"I don't think that'll be possible. There's no way to get to Canterlot and I don't think I'd be willing to go there after seeing what the Cloud does to ponies. I don't even know how I got to Stratusburg. I mean, I cast a spell, but it was weird and I still dong get what actually happened," I replied while taking a sip myself. The tea was weirdly therapeutic, even if it wasn't real at the end of the day.

"Now that's an interesting question. How did you get to Stratusburg? I was only able to locate you after you made a connection with the book, presumably after you cast that spell. So, here your guess is as good as mine. Maybe it's fate, hah!" she chuckled a bit before continuing. "And while it would be best in Canterlot, I understand how it could be a little insensitive of me to press you on it. You'll have to forgive me, I've had very little contact in the past few centuries."

"Oh, no worries. It's just that Canterlot brings back a lot of memories that I'd prefer to forget. As bad as my life is right now, it's still better than there. At least there is food and medicine. Although, there were no fillynappers back in Canterlot and there are Tunnelers here. So i guess, nowhere is perfect right about now," I tried to move the conversation to a lighter note. Talking about the state of Equestria was unpleasant ever since the war began, but after the End it became that much harder. But a small amount of comedy, or at least an attempt at it, always makes the problems seem that little bit smaller.

"Truer words have not been spoken," she sipped her tea again. "But back to the topic at hand. As pessimistic as it is to say, the resting place for the book will only matter if you get it back in the first place. And I don't see that happening in your current condition. Plus the whole ordeal with the flyder. So, I'd say you have your work cut out for you for the moment," Doran said finishing her second cup in one big gulp. "Anyway, it seems like this meeting of ours is coming to an end very soon. Can't keep your tired brain this active for a long time anyway. It probably wouldn't be too good for you. Now try to rest and heal up, and I'll try to gather some info. I'll be in touch!"

As Doran was saying her finishing words the whole world started to melt away. First the contents of the table vanished leaving only a distorted version of what was behind. Then the table was gone along with the chairs. A second after, most of the water and stars were gone leaving only Doran and me, until even Doran began to dissipate. Before she completely vanished I saw her smile and wave, but didn't have enough time to say bye myself. And just like that my pleasant tea party was over and I was alone in the darkness. It didn't take long for me to lose focus and drift into dreamless sleep.

The world suddenly came back to me as I woke up. The memories of the weird dream still with me, clear as though it happened seconds ago.

Should I trust Doran? Is she even real or just the effect of me developing some weird radiation-related illness? I mean, the Arcane Blaze was very real, so at least there's that. Although, that's not mentioning that she also talked about the pony who has the book. Even if Doran is just a piece of my slowly melting mind, the thought of leaving a powerful ancient book with the Tunnelers doesn't sit right with me. Especially not after Celestia Station.

For the first time, the one to stop my own thoughts was I. The realization of what actually happened there just didn't hit me before. Of course I understood what happened there. Ponies died. But only now did it hit me that it was entirely my fault. If I didn't shove my face where it doesn't belong they'd still be alive.

The Tunnelers can't be allowed to continue. I have to make them stop. If there are any more pockets of survivors the Tunnelers will do their best to kill or lock them up. They must pay.

Maybe the trip to Glimmer Electronics affected me a lot more than I realized at the moment. I had spent my life running away from things. Moved from my hometown to run from hard times. Tried to save the money to run from the War to a Stable. I ran when the Chancellor opened the seal. Did the same after the Tunnelers took me. For the first time in my entire life I felt like running was no longer an option.

Determined to actually do something to stop the Tunnelers and their lunacy I started paying attention to the world around me.

The first thing to greet me back into the real world was a medical read-out from the M.A.I.F.O.S., there were a lot less things there than the last time I saw it. Although the conclusion at the end wasn't very promising.

"Medical scan complete. Severe Magical Burnout detected. Seek urgent medical help," was the conclusion. My heart sunk to my hooves when I saw it. I was never really good with medicine, especially not with such rare things as Magical Burnout. I was familiar with the overall idea. Basically I just ran out of magic juice. There was probably way more nuance to it. Maybe it's not that I had no magic juice left, but that my horn was not conducting magic because of microfractures or that the alignment of the spirals on it was off.

At the end of the day, whatever the reason was the result was me not being able to use any of my magic. Which would be a huge problem if I was still doing my regular EEA work, not being able to copy a document in a few seconds would destroy any semblance of productivity, but with the world gone the magnitude of the problem jumped about ten times. Before it'd just be a slap on the fetlock and a decrease in my paycheck, and after I'd just die out there or even worse. But thankfully, I was not "out there", I was in a soft bed back at Ember's place. For the moment at least, I could relax.

After a few moments the M.A.I.F.O.S. sent me the next message:

"LOADING 'Burnout.DAT'... Due to technological limitations the M.A.I.F.O.S. prototype is not equipped with a potent internal battery and uses the wearer's own magical energies to power the circuitry. As it appears that you have suffered a severe case of Magical Burnout the M.A.I.F.O.S. will not be able to perform most of the standard functions. The functions will resume once sufficient magical power has been restored," the message hung in my view.

"Well, great. At least, it's gonna be quite for some time," I grumbled before dismissing the message and looking around.

The room was dark as always, my things were just piled up near the door. There was something in the room that caught my attention. There was a small piece of paper on the bedside table. I tried to pick it up the usual way, but the sharp pain that crawled like lightning from my horn reminded me to just use my mouth. Trying to get it into the tiny bit of light that seeped into the room was a bit of a challenge, but I managed. The note, while being a bit hard to decipher, read:

"Am out on the town. Trying to move the stuff from Glimmer Electronics. Had a talk with the manager. Says we can take the parts. The plan is moving.

P.S.

STAY IN BED!"

"As if!" I exclaimed. Resting was good, yes, but after that dream and after my morning realization I just could not sit still. There was an ocean of thoughts in my head. But the main thought at that particular moment was very simple. It was: FOOD!

With a course set for the kitchen I climbed out of bed. My legs felt a lot sturdier than last time. Slightly underused, so to speak, but at least it didn't feel like they were made out of glass. How long have I been out?

Slowly trotting to the door I was faced with one of the problems of not having magic. Closed pull doors. I'm sure an earth pony or a pegasus would have little trouble here, but I spent my entire life just opening it with magic and my mouth definitely wasn't as dexterous. So it took me a couple of tries to actually turn the door knob, in hindsight I should have used my hooves instead. But with the wooden obstacle out of my way I was in the corridor on the second floor and the kitchen was on the first. That meant that I had to brave the chilly corridor, then survive the creaky stairs and open another door to get at whatever Ember had left in the kitchen. I was hopping for one of those Fancy Buck cakes or even a Big Mac'n Cheese, although if it was the latter I'd have no way to cook it, so the hopes were mostly for snacks.

The corridor wouldn't be hard, the cold hit me the second I crawled out of bed, I was getting used to shivering and the corridor shouldn't have been much colder than the room. Oh, how wrong I was. A step outside the room proved that, as a wave of air hit me. That place was cold enough for the floor to sting me with every step I made. The stairs were on the opposite side of the corridor. That meant that I'd have to go near the boarded up window, which would not be a pleasant experience.

"If it's for the snacks," I sighed as I tiptoed across the cold floor. Despite the cold it felt kind of good to be able to move my legs with some amount of control again. I was actually feeling a little better carefully stepping around, until another gust hit me and I remembered why the Wendigos were the personification of everything bad. With that little reminder I hurried my way to the stairs and then down them. With the cold wind blowing up my flank it didn't take much time for me to get to the first floor. Form there the kitchen was just a step away.

At last, food was within reach. I was starving, that whole Glimmer Electronics business made me feel like I hadn't eaten in multiple years. I made a mental note for the future to keep some food close at hoof. A good meal could've made some parts of the misadventure a tiny bit easier.

The kitchen itself wasn't very big, just a broken down fridge in the far right corner, a window boarded up opposite the door, a small counter with a couple of cupboards and an oven covering the right wall, there was a compact wooden table with one stool and another piece of paper on it. Apparently Ember expected that I wouldn't listen. It read:

"There's a hayburger in the fridge and an off-brand beetstake somewhere in the cupboards.

P.S.

YOU REALLY SHOULD STAY IN BED!"

"Now, where's that hayburger," I mumbled while opening the fridge. The thing wasn't running, obviously. I think, the sparkle battery keeping it cool had run out or burned out from overheating or something. Ember still kept the food in it. I guessed that it was mostly just because it was a good place to store food, even if it's not much more than a glorified metal cabinet without the power.

The hayburger was sitting there on a plate along with some other things in there. Mostly some weird cans and tubes of Celestia knows what. Ember probably hadn't returned the food we left at the entrance to Glimmer Electronics yet. Or she had better places to store it. Ignoring the somewhat depressing sight of an almost empty fridge I took the plate in my mouth and moved it to the table. Now, if only there were a method to heat it up, but alas, no magic meant no warm food, only room temperature burgers for me. I decided that the beetsteak would be a second course if the burger wasn't enough.

Sitting at the table I took the burger in my hooves and took a look at it. The bread was stale, yet somehow soaked in the sauce that just didn't smell quite right, the hay itself was slightly off color. With no other alternatives at the moment and with a tiny amount of hyping myself up I took a bite out of the hayburger and it was all the awful things I thought it would be and more. What I thought were the tomatoes were a little more crunchy than they should've been, the lower bun was closer to a tub of sauce with bread mush than it was to a bun and the lettuce felt slimy and weirdly colder than the rest of the burger.

But it was food, after what felt like forever. Even though I could almost puke thinking about it, I couldn't stop myself from finishing. And I wasn't done, I needed more food. The beetsteak would be next, the only thing separating it from me was that it was hidden somewhere in the cupboards. With a rumble in my stomach, which might have come either from eating the burger or from still being hungry, I started opening drawers and looking inside. The first one flew open. There was some cutlery and a packet of those bendy straws, but not a beetsteak in sight. The second one. Some plates, not many, but enough for one or two ponies, still no steak. The final one must have had it, there was no other place for the food to be. I went to grab the little knob to pull the drawer out, but as I started pulling the only thing that went was the knob itself, leaving the food so close and yet so far.

I spit out the small piece of plastic on the counter. It was a small black cylinder with a bump and a hole drilled into it. Looking at it and then back at the cupboard a little more carefully I noticed a small metal screw protruding out of the drawer, probably what the knob was screwed onto. It was rusted and probably wouldn't be very pleasant to bite into, sadly screwing the knob back on wasn't really an option with my lack of non-magical dexterity. So I bit into it and pulled hard. I think it might've chipped a tooth, but otherwise I was pulling the drawer just fine if a bit slow, the thing seemed to be stuck at first. Until I pulled it through whatever was stopping it. At that point I was pulling real hard, and when the strength I was pulling against just vanished I was sent stumbling a good few feet back. There was something stuck in my mouth, so I spit it out. It looked like I had bitten the screw off. Probably wasn't that good for my teeth. Especially bad with no dentists around.

After getting back to the drawer I looked inside. There it was. The "Peckish Stallion Beetsteak". It might have been slightly over its expiration date, but with the amounts of magic and preservatives in it it'd probably outlive me five times over, so a month or two over the date wouldn't hurt. Or it would hurt, very badly, but I wanted to eat and that was the only thing left. I took the box out and plopped it onto the counter. There were instructions on the back:

"Open the package. Mix all the ingredients. Fill with boiling water. Cover and wait 5 minutes."

"Seems easy enough. Except the boiling water. Where, Celestia dammit, could I get boiling water without electricity or magic?!" I paused as soon as I said that. "I mean... That's a stupid question. A fire would help, but fuck that! I am not starting a fire..." I was silent for a couple of seconds. "Guess I'm having it with regular water. Should still work, right?"

So, I had to find some water. IIt shouldn't have been that hard, right? But once again life had its way of becoming slightly harder and more unbearable with every small thing I tried to do. I started looking around the kitchen to no avail. The fridge only had weird colorful liquids, which I was not about to use. For all I knew it could've been bottles of acid or some other chemical. The cupboards failed to provide any water too, I don't really know why I even checked them. I looked around, maybe I was just being a little stupid and was missing something, but no, there was nothing.

Under the table, some supplies, but no water, only some tools and a bucket. The window sill had some spices, salt and pepper, a couple of heads of old garlic and one of those first aid boxes the Ministry of Peace had hanging in almost every building. I'm pretty sure the EEA HQ back in Canterlot had more than a hundred of them in the main building and the upper floors. I heard of these things being filled with all sorts of medical stuff, not just the regular potions and bandages. The one on Ember's kitchen sill however was, predictably, empty of healing supplies or water. There were some metal apple-looking things, but I wasn't sure what they were. Never seen anything like them before. I, correctly mind you, chose to close the box.

With no water to speak of and having no idea where water could be, I decided to just eat the beetsteak dry. I heard some ponies back in Canterlot say that it's even better dry, although those ponies were very, very douchey, so, no reasons to trust them on that. But with no water, I'd have to eat the thing whether I trusted the "connoisseurs" or not.

After the long wait and the long search for water I finally opened the package. It smelled a little off, but I guess all instant foods kind of smell like garbage before you cook them. Some do even after that. There were a few flavor packets, some dried onion bits, a little bit of sauce and, of course, the beet brick itself. I opened all of them and added one by one, adding only a half of the flavoring, it'd just ruin it without water. After my slightly larger than usual wafer was ready, I bit down.

"Oh, sweet and merciful Celestia," I started to gag immediately. The taste was like dry socks with a hint of rotting cabbage, maybe a little actual beet in there, but that was before the flavoring hit me. It changed from a complex, but disgusting taste to a simple taste. The new taste was red. Not even spicy, just red. Tears started welling up in my eyes, my nose began to run with speed rivaling the Wonderbolts. I'm not sure how or when, but at some point I dropped the beetstake and started to wander the room heaving heavily.

"Whose fucking idea was it to put this chemical weapon in an instant beetstake pack?!" I complained to nopony in particular as I stumbled my way out of the kitchen and slowly back to my room. "I think I've had enough food... I swear, the next thing I eat better be an actual meal."

The silver lining there was that I was no longer cold when going back to the room, I was sweating like an Orthros. The other good thing to come out of eating what amounted to pure spice was that I fully woke up. So I had to get dressed, maybe do some chores, maybe even get enough time for a small work-out or something. I'd have to get better if I wanted to have a chance at taking the book back.

I was about to put my robes on when I noticed the damage done to them after my last outing. There were a lot of cuts and tears, even magic can't protect from that level of destruction. I mean... some stronger enchantments could probably ignore most damage entirely, but that's not the point. My robes didn't survive the tar-security thing without some scars to remember it by. And if I wanted to go out any time soon I'd have to sew it myself. Without magic. That did not sound promising.

"Whelp," I sighed as I sat down to fix up my stuff. "If earth ponies can build tanks and robots without magic, then I can sew without it. Hopefully..."

Weirdly enough, that wasn't the worst decision I made that day. The sewing kit I used to repair my robes before still sat where I left it, inside the bedside table. From what I understood about the enchantments on the robe, it was fine to just repair it with regular thread, the magic would just seep into it after some time. The colors would look awful with the patches I had, and my stitching was lousy at the best of times, but needs must, I suppose. Thankfully the kit Ember had at her house was the kind a pony without magic could use, there were lots of these little plastic bits that you could use to hold a needle in your mouth without dropping it or swallowing it. To be honest, I was a little surprised how easy it was to use, almost easier than magic. And I didn't even kill myself with it!

As I got into it I lost track of time. There weren't many big holes, thanks to the enchantments, so it didn't take as much time as I thought it would. Although, I couldn't really tell you how much time it actually took. Not like I could look at the sun to gauge time, it looked the same when I finished as when I began. The only actual reminder of the passage of time was the sound of an opening door and a lot of swearing. I mean, the M.A.I.F.O.S. could have had a clock if it worked , but I wasn't sure about any of its features other than the spell cataloging. There were reasons why the PipBuck was being used in actual Stables and the M.A.I.F.O.S. was gathering dust in some safe.

The swearing on the first floor picked up again, I think I even heard something heavy drop. At that point I was done with the stitching, so I quickly put on the robes and went down to meet Ember. I had a lot of questions, mostly about what happened after I passed out. It was also high time we talked about our plans for the foreseeable. The original plan, as she explained to me wasn't all that detailed. At least we made some progress.

"Hey, Mr. I-can't-cast-fireballs! You're up!" Ember called out as I went down the stairs. "I thought you'd be out of it for a couple more days. Almost got to a week there," she said while moving a huge sack of what sounded like metal parts to the basement door. "You eaten yet?"

"Yeah, I had the hayburger and tried the beetstake, but..." I stopped when Ember entered the kitchen and saw what I left there. "Yeah... that."

There was orange flavoring everywhere. On the table, on the counter, on the walls, even a few dots of it on the ceiling. I must've dropped the brick very hard, because it was shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces all over the kitchen.

"I hope you know I'm not cleaning that," Ember made an awkward laugh. "There's a broom in the closet. Also grab a pair of cans while you're there, we have a lot to talk about."

Without too much grumbling I went to get the broom and the drinks Ember asked for. The closet was on the first floor near the entrance in a room that I hadn't gone into yet. Once in the closet I took the broom and started looking for the cans. After a second of searching I noticed a small makeshift metal box with a spark battery attached. Ember was running a small fridge on a spark battery! That's kind of clever. Opening the fridge there were a couple of bottles and cans there, mostly booze. I grabbed two cans, closed the door, and with the broom between my teeth headed back to the kitchen. Entering back into the kitchen I tossed one can to Ember and set my one on the counter while I was cleaning up.

"So, what was that about talking?" I continued the conversation.

"Welp," she cracked the can open and took a swig. "The first thing. Our little revenge plot is progressing nicely. The stuff from the electronics place is good and all, but it'll take me a day just to get the chemicals cooking and then a couple more days for the actual process to complete."

"That's good, right? The sooner we'll get the explosives the sooner we can blow up that flyder," I said while sweeping the bits of beetstake off of the floor.

"It'd be a good thing, yeah. But I've done a little scouting over the past few days. It's a lot easier to spy on someone when you can zoom in," she pointed at her artificial eye. That thing gave me the creeps, it was just a little faster than her real eye, just a little too focused when looking at things. "The bug's moved from its nest. That complicates things, but not by much. It couldn't have moved far," Ember paused to drink again.

"What you're saying is that the plan is basically on hold until we find where the thing flew off to?" I continued to sweep the floor, but it seemed that no matter how much I removed, there was always some left. I even had to get under the table for the last few bits before triumphantly placing the broom near the door and finally opening my can.

Before the End and before going to Canterlot I wasn't really a drinker, maybe a glass here and there with friends, but when I opened that can it just felt like what I needed. The beer turned out to be some cheap stuff, a little too bitter and sour for my taste, but it fit the situation nicely.

"Pretty much, yeah. But there is also another thing, that I feel you need to know," Ember became very serious all of a sudden. "I remember you saying that you spent some time running around the subway from some 'crazy ponies', so I went to look. At first I went to the central station, around the city hall, there wasn't anypony there, but there was a resent fire pit and some signs of a struggle. Next I visited Celestia, if memory serves, that place was supposed to be stocked, something about it being deep enough underground that it would be a good shelter. I think you better sit for this one."

I sat down already half-knowing what she was about to tell me. I put the beer on the table and nodded for Ember to continue.

"There were a lot of ponies down there, digging. What ticked me off was the very strong smell of burning meat and blood. Those fuckers are doing something down there, and I'd be damned if it's anything good," she spat out. The Tunnelers were already awful beyond anything I ever expected from fellow ponies, but I didn't like what Ember was implying, not one bit. I shifted uncomfortably on the chair, before Ember continued. "Couldn't get in there, they have ponies constantly on watch. So I went to the next station down the line. There wasn't any major action there, except for a small outpost with just three ponies there: two Tunnelers, weird road signs and all, and one, couldn't really get a good look, in chains in their little camp."

I suppressed every urge in my body in order to stay as calm as I possibly could and spat through gritted teeth:

"Shit," I took a swig of my own beer finishing it. "What the fuck. This shit can't be allowed to continue," I repeated my earlier thoughts.

"Reading my thoughts, Fritz. I though that camp would be a decent place to start. Removed from the others, there are only two of them. That'd show them that their shit ain't welcome in Stratusburg," Ember proposed the first target. And, honestly, she was right. We couldn't just waltz up to their big base and expect to do anything other than die. The smaller outpost would be just the right place to begin, but there was one teeny tiny problem...

"That's a good idea, but without my magic I can't do shit," I flatly admitted. Wasn't any way of getting around it. Now that I had a power house of a spell with the Arcane Blaze, I could actually fight something bigger than rabid critters. But with no magic, that advantage also went away.

"Well, you don't have to rely on that mumbo-jumbo all the time, might as well trust good ol' pony gunsmithing for once. Speaking of witch, how about we grab another pair and move this conversation to my bedroom?" Ember suggested and the second she heard what she just said she got even redder than she already was and started stammering. "Th-that's not what I meant!"

"Yeah, uhhh, totally, uhh, that's what I thought," I stuttered out like a very cool and confident stallion. "You know what? I'll go get us that beer," I attempted to shift the topic to something less embarrassing. Getting up before Ember could respond I went for the beer closet. After an awkward pause Ember coughed a couple of times and continued:

"Anyway! What I was trying to say is that I have my workbench in my bedroom! And I have a gun that I wanted to show you! In my bedroom!" she blurted out while going past me to the second floor.

I entered the closet again, grabbing two more beers and leaving the broom there. Ember's room was the furthest door from the stairs, the door even had a separate lock on it. When I got to the second floor, Ember was standing in the doorway holding it open for me. As soon as I was in, she entered the room herself allowing the door to close, it clicked closed. While I looked back at the door Ember snatched her can from me and moved closer to the bench opposite the door.

Looking around, the room was slightly bigger than the one I was staying in, but a lot more lived in. There were all sorts of little odds and ends strewn around the dark carpeted floor, most I presumed were either gun or explosives parts. The walls had a blue hue to them. There was a queen sized bed jammed into the far right corner, with a big wardrobe next to it. The spear she found back in the TSR lab stood leaning onto the wardrobe. The workbench Ember was now sitting on was a heavy table with all sorts of tools and instruments, most of which I couldn't even name. There was a hammer there, I think, but that's about as far as my gun related knowledge went.

"Now, forgetting that little miscommunication. Here," the pegasus reached behind the bench and pulled out a small metal box and handed it to me. "A little something special I pulled from that Celestia-forsaken lab. C'mon, open it."

I nudged the box open revealing the item inside. It was a dark lavender-colored pistol with darker silver trims on all the edges and the words "Protect the Night" etched in cursive on both sides of the barrel. It was unlike any gun I've ever seen. The pistol had a small ovoid glass chamber with some liquid sloshing inside, the glass had three crystals embedded into it, they shimmered with magic. Probably an enchantment. The barrel had a few crystals as well, one on both sides of the barrel, right under the engraving and a ring of smaller ones around the end of the muzzle. The entire thing looked like it was made for the Lunar Guard, it had the same colors and roughly the same style. Taking it and moving it around in my hooves to get a better look, it was also very lightweight, I could barely feel it. The mouth piece even had the little holes for bat ponies to stick their fangs into. I suspected this might've been one of those weapons I'd read about in the first TSR lab.

"Any, uhm... thanks? Anything I should know about it?" I inquired while still spinning the thing in my hooves.

"Of course. It's a modified Crystalline Sliver Pistol, that was intended for some high-ranking officer in the Lunar Guard, but I figured they won't be needing it, so you might as well use it. The regular version crystalizes a small part of the poison inside and then splits the crystals into hundreds of little slivers that are then sent flying at targets at high speeds. Since bats have better perception and awareness at night than most ponies have at day, they can easily track shots from these babies into gaps in enemy armor. Or so the theory goes. The target get's even as much as a scratch from these and it's over. The poison that's supposed to be inside paralyzes most equines in less than twenty seconds, a high enough dose can easily stop the heart. But that's just the regular version! Oh-oho, this one, it's something else! This one has some special shit magic-ing it up! The way I understand the technical stuff it pretty much turns any liquid inside into a deadly poison. I don't really get how it does it, but imagine the possibilities! It's silent, has a firing rate that some automatic rifles only dream of, the bullets dissolve into the target leaving very little trace, there are no casings! And, AND! It has pretty much infinite ammo! Seeing as it only needs some liquid to magic-ify," Ember was jumping around the bedroom telling all the things she knew about the little, honestly toy-looking, gun in my hooves. It's good that at least one of us was excited.

"So, a gun that shoots tiny crystals made from whatever liquid is inside?"

"Well, the regular one does, this one magics it up! Didn't you listen?"

"I was just wondering, couldn't we use it to fire healing potions or something like that?"

"Not really, the potions are for internal use only, so to say. It'd be just a waste. Plus I have no idea how the enchantment on it would react to a healing potion," Ember buried my ingenious idea.

"So does this one chemically change the liquid inside to a poison or just enchants the water to have something like a curse on it?" I followed with the more magic-related questions. It still wasn't my area of expertise, but at least I knew more about it than about guns.

"No idea. As my wing-mates would say 'Makes it dead-killy and that's nuf' fer me'," Ember lowered her voice for the quote.

I put the gun on the table, then grabbed it properly and tried to aim it at a wall.

"Not in here! I'd never fined new wallpaper!"

I turned towards Ember to ask where to go and try it out.

"Don't point that thing at me! Do you even know what gun safety is?!" Ember shouted as she jumped away from the muzzle of the gun.

Come to think of it, she was right, pointing a loaded, as much as a glorified super-soaker can be loaded, gun at somepony you don't want to kill is probably a bad idea. I put the pistol onto the table.

"Ahm, yeah, about that. I'm a paper pusher with a couple of fancy spells, not a trained soldier. Why would I ever know how to properly use a gun?" I retorted instead of admitting that I was wrong to point the gun at her. I mean, I was hoping to never have to use a gun, but desperate times.

"Oh. That... makes sense. I just kind of assumed you'd know how to use it. Yeah, that's on me," she sat down on her bed, thinking for a bit while tapping her head. "Got it! Let's finish the drinks and we'll have like four targets to practice on. I do remember somepony telling me not to handle firearms while drunk, but I'm not drunk yet and the thing doesn't technically classify as a firearm."

"Cheers to technicalities," I opened my own future target.

"Heh, I'll drink to that," Ember jumped back to the table where she left the can. "And while we have the time, I don't think you actually told me much about yourself. Care to fix that?"

"Alright, but afraid there isn't that much to tell really," I took a little sip before I started recalling my life so far. "Was born in a small village up north. Don't think it actually exists anymore, some incident with local wildlife."

"Oh, that's tragic, hope nopony got hurt."

"I wouldn't know, my family moved a long time ago before that happened. Lived in Foaledo for a while, went to school there. Went to university there as well. Had a good thing going there for a while afterwards. Even bought a house, believe it or not," I looked at the can of beer and took a swig.

"So, if life was fine in Foaledo, why move? I had a buddy from there and he always said that it was a beautiful little place with serene views," Ember asked before wiping her mouth with her wing.

"Oh, believe me, that city was a dream for me. I spent most of my life there, bought my dream house overlooking the river. And all of that only for the war to start, and for me to be practically forced to sell it and move" I said gloomily.

Ember listened intently, so I continued after another sip.

"It was fine for a while, yes, but after the whole war-thing got out of control I moved to Canterlot to work for the EEA, because my previous job didn't pay well enough to afford a Stable ticket. Heard the EEA needed smart ponies and the pay was great, so it was a no-brainer."

"Huh, wanted to get into those death-boxes that bad?"

"Well, if you put them like that, then no. But when you put it with a nice jingle, it doesn't sound that bad, does it?"

"I have to admit, the jingle was sorta good," she hummed the melody form the Stable-Tec ads for a second before mimicking the repeating part of the song, "Dying in a Stable underground!" which go a laugh out of me.

"Call me pessimistic, but I didn't really think that I would survive the end of the world outside a Stable. So, that ticket was my goal," I continued once Ember stopped her parody. "In the end it turned out that working at the EEA was what saved me. Spent almost a month under there."

"Actually, about that," Ember became a little more serious. "How did it save you? I may not be the smartest tool in the cupboard, but you being in Stratusburg doesn't really add up with you being in Canterlot, right?"

"Ehm... I wouldn't know the first thing about it, to be honest. There was some sort of ancient spell that got me out of there. Just before the rampaging creatures, that our Chancellor let in, broke down the door. That spell got me from there to here. I wouldn't know the first thing about spells on that scale. Copying documents is more my level of spell complexity. It might've been a teleport of some sort or a displacement spell, maybe even a dreamwalking one, although I doubt that."

"Okay, that's a lot. Is dreamwalking even a thing? I mean, I know the old fairy tale that Princess Luna guards our dreams and travels in them. But isn't that just a myth? How'd she even get the time, the country's huge!"

"I don't know how true that story is, but I have been having a lot more nightmares ever since getting locked under the EEA building."

"Hm... Okay. Seems like that is a thing you might want to look into. Another thing. Why would this Chancellor let monsters in? And what monsters?" Ember took another sip, moved back to the bed and sat down near the spear, even leaning on it a bit.

"The food was running low, ponies were getting desperate. I suspect he just had to do something to prevent an uprising. Not the best option if you ask me, but, hey, what do I know? As for what they were... Ponies, cursed by some zebra magic, if I were to guess."

"So, some sorta zombie then?"

"I guess you could call them that. Although they weren't really picky, brains or no brains. Bit the Chancellor in the neck the moment the seal was down."

"His decision came to bite him? Oh, the irony."

I sat down on the workbench chair and savored the beer. It'd probably be one of the few precious moments of peace for some time, so I wanted to enjoy it. Ember waited for me to ge comfortable, I gave a nod and she continued.

"I get that he was trying to remain in control and all. But letting some dangerous creatures into your secure little haven? That's just stupid. Why not use you're fancy unicorn magic to magic you up some food?"

"Pft, you know that's not how it works. I mean, the higher-ups and the older scholars probably could do something, but there was this whole rhetoric about not using magic as much anymore. In hindsight it was probably a bad idea, but very few of us could actually think straight then."

"It was the same here right after the big fucker blew a good ten or twenty miles from town. Most folk who weren't dead after the heatwave hit weren't all that calm and collected either," Ember got a little quieter talking about the dead.

"Well, the fact that he let the pony-eating monsters in is the exact reason I am here in the first place. So, at least for me, the reason I haven't died of starvation is that the Chancellor opened the seal."

"Huh, that's an interesting way of putting it. But what happened after you bullshit-magicked yourself out of there? And any chance I can expect the same magic trick from you again?"

"Not really, not without the book the Tunnelers took from me. I hadn't memorized the spell, just read it out basically," I took another sip and tried to get comfortable in the chair again, but the thing was just bare wood, so I just wiggled about until it was good enough and continued my tale. "After I got teleported here I was captured by the Tunnelers. They weren't all that bad when they did. More comically incompetent than actually evil, you know?"

"Don't seem like that to me, from what I saw."

"They didn't know how to make cages, had some stallion with a thick accent teaching them how to. The lock on their cage came apart without any sort of spell, it just kinda, fell off. No chains at that point either. They only got worse when they tried to chase me after I escaped, even tried to shoot me. Like somepony flipped a switch in them," I took a second to think. "Although, that might have been because I knocked one of them out cold-"

"You? Knocked somepony? Out cold? Are we talking about the same Fritz here?" Ember was quick to jump onto my phrasing.

"Well... More like 'I tripped him into falling face first onto the floor', but 'knocked out' sounds better. But that's not important. What is important is that through sheer luck I managed to escape them. Fell through a couple of floors into one of those TSR labs. The place was better than the one we visited, no giant writhing mounds of tar. Just went in, took some meds, a bag and a pair of night-vision googles. Traveled the metro after that, went through a station that smelled so awful I couldn't even describe it to you, don't even know what happened there," I shuddered a little remembering what was next. "After that I was at the Celestia station. Was actually there when the Tunnelers took it. Haven't ever seen that much blood or heard that much screaming. They must've gone completely nuts after I left."

"So, that's why you went out with no rad protection? Yeah, that makes sense from what I've seen. Getting a little toasty on the streets ain't half bad compared to what they got there," Ember took the last sip of her beer, before tossing the empty can at me. I, of course, couldn't catch it on account of not having my magic. So the can just hit me in the face splattering what was left on my face. I made a loud exaggerated sigh while picking up the can and gave Ember a kind of disappointed look.

"Really?"

"I thought you'd catch it," she just brushed me off.

"Anyway. I didn't exactly run out while escaping the massacre, but in broader terms, yes. Also visited the city hall, even got a souvenir," I tapped the M.A.I.F.O.S. on my head.

"Wait! Wait-wait-wait. You got into the city hall? How? That place is locked up with some sort of crazy protection, I couldn't even budge the field the last time I tried," Ember flew off of the bed and stood less than a hoof's reach from me, clearly interested in the development. I could see the fire in her eyes... err... eye. The artificial one looked more like she was examining me than being excited.

"I got in through the elevator from the subway. Got the robe from Astral Sky's office and this piece of headwear from the mainframe room. Then just left through the door," I explained showing off the robes.

"Luna's grace, Fritz! You little genius! Why didn't I think of that! We'll definitely need to visit my office there! Got a few things there I'd love to have with me again," Ember's mood had really improved the moment she heard that there was a way into the city hall. "If you're finished with your drink we can go try this baby out, maybe teach you a thing or two about a thing or two," she pointed at the box on the table.

I finished my drink, grabbed both our cans along with the gun in its box and followed Ember out of the room. She led me back to a door on the first floor. It was a door to the garage, I really should've guessed that. Inside there were even more little things: tools, parts, I'm pretty sure I saw a tank hatch just laying in the corner. Ember moved an old table in front of a wall and carefully placed the four cans there.

"Now, there are only a few things you need to know about using a gun. First, keep the muzzle pointed either in a safe direction or on your target," Ember started as though remembering points on a list. "Second, don't keep it loaded when not in use... I don't think this one applies to your new gun though," she was definitely remembering a list. "Third, don't treat the 'safety' as though it's a hundred percent reliable, mechanisms can fail. Fourth, know what you are shooting at. There will be no blind firing while I'm around. Fifth, use the correct ammunition, but that scarcely applies to a gun that makes any liquid into lethal poison. Sixth, if something goes wrong with the gun, remember rule one, but also take it out of your mouth. Seventh, don't dabble with the gun if you don't know what you are doing," Ember scratched her head as though trying to remember the rest of the list. "Ah, that'll be enough. Just remember rule number one and you'll be fine. Most likely."

I listened intently to what Ember said. I carefully took the gun out of its box and aimed it at the cans about ten to fifteen paces away. I focused, slowed down my breathing and lightly pushed the trigger.

There was very little kickback, which I wasn't expecting. I was ready to have my neck broken, but I barely felt it. There were no sounds other than the shards hitting the wall behind the cans. The trigger was pushed for less than a second, in that time around ten little purple shards flew silently out of the barrel and scattered all over. Only one shot actually hit the cans, it was very off-center, closer to the rim of it. But one hit was more than no hits, so I was somewhat content.

"Not bad, for your first shot. This thing has some fire rate, doesn't it? And the sound, I couldn't even hear when you fired. I think this baby is right up your alley," Ember cheered.

"Heh, maybe you're right."

I spent some more time practicing my shooting. Eventually I could hit three out of four cans in one spray. Ember stayed and watched giving some pointers on shooting. But after all the cans were more holes than cans we decided to call it a night. Or a close approximation, I still refused to check if the M.A.I.F.O.S. could track time.

"Alright, good drinking with you. Get some sleep in, tomorrow we're going out again. Hopefully this time without getting almost killed in some underground lab. We can discuss the finer details at breakfast," Ember and I chatted on the way back to our rooms. The idea of going out didn't really sound good to me, but I'd guess that that was because of the burnout more than anything else. But with the flyder gone for the time, a gun in my bag and Ember at my side I couldn't really ask for a better time to go out. Waiting to heal would be just wasting a perfect opportunity.

"G'night, Fritz," Ember lazily closed her door.

"Goodnight," I closed mine.

I quickly nestled into bed and closed my eyes. There were some clanking and whirring mechanical sounds coming from Ember's room, but I didn't pay them much attention. For the first time after I 'arrived' to Stratusburg I closed my eyes and dozed off not because I was half dead or exhausted to the point of collapse, but because I damned wanted to.

New Perks:

• Gun Training – you've taken your first baby steps upon the road of gunslinging! Or at least you've listened to the basics. +5 Small Guns
• Protected Sleep – because of your connections upstairs you no longer experience the terrifying nightmares that most ponies have to live with. Lucky you!

Effects:

• Radiation Poisoning – standing in the sun isn't as pleasant as it used to be. -1 Endurance.
• Magical Burnout – didn't your parents ever tell you not to overdo it with the spells? -1 Perception and Spellcasting is disabled.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading! Took me some time, but here it is.