Author's Note

Dedicated to my late grandmother. May she rest in peace.

Chapter Five | The Duet That Never Ends

Chapter Five:
The Duet That Never Ends

“Leave while you still have… hope.”

“You look like hammered shit.” Silver Tongue took a sip of his coffee.

I snickered and finished off my own cup. “You smell like it.”

“What are you doing here?”

“It’s home. What do you think?”

“You know what I meant.” He rested his mug on the counter with a sigh and chuckled, “Mmmm… this mushroom coffee isn’t actually that bad.”

Ginger came up to me with a steaming coffee pot in claw, but I stopped her before she could pour. My ears drooped. I stared into the empty cup in front of me, studying the minute amount of liquid gripping to its base as I tilted it.

“Wildcard.” Silver rested a hoof on my shoulder. “What’s on your mind?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

He bowed his head and dropped his shoulders. “You know I can’t stand to see you like this. It hurts me. Just…”

“Then be honest with me. Why does it have to be you? Not someone else?” I turned to lock eyes with my friend. “Why this option?”

“You kn—“

“I don’t. Why else would I fucking ask?” I cut him off.

Silver’s expression darkened, his eyes boiling. “You didn’t spend time in that city. You never wondered if you were always meant to be chained. If you were still… you or something else. This is my problem.”

My heart sank. I understood him completely. “Just make sure you don’t become what you hate.”

“So, what are you doing here?” he asserted once again after a long huff. “It can’t be—well, come to think of it, I don’t believe you have a real family.”

“That’s funny, Silver. I'm actually here on vacation. Catch up with family, visit the famous Starswirl Libra–”

“That’s bullshit and you know it.” Silver Tongue snorted.

“Fine, then let's cut the shitty subtext. You know exactly why I’m here.”

“Okay then, continue.” He took a sip from his cup.

“I get that I was never there. But Red Eye decides other ponies’ lives, but they should get to decide their own. He shouldn’t and you don’t get to do that.”

“But they-“

“You don’t get to do that!”

Silver didn’t respond this time; rather, he remained quiet. He was never quiet. The display made the balefireflies in my stomach buzz. I thought about my next words. “I can’t pretend to be a hero while being your friend.”

“You don’t have to worry about me.”

“What do you mean I don’t have to worry about you?! My brother is gone because I tried to play make believe! He’s gone!” I furrowed my brow. “I can’t abandon you too.”

“I-“

A pair of wings wrapped around us. “Are you spreading the Hearthswarming cheer over here, Silver?”

“Morning, Blitz.” My grin flustered him.

“W-wildcard?”

I chuckled as the excited little pegasus found a stool and pushed it over to us. He could barely hold a single train of thought. “What are you… Why are… How-”

“Breathe, idiot.” Silver snickered.

Blitz gulped a massive breath and slowly exhaled. “Sorry, I just didn’t think you’d be here.”

“Neither did I.”

“So, are you joining the party again?” Blitz was on the edge of his seat, surging with anxious anticipation. Silver sighed when I looked at him for assistance. I guess I was on my own.

“I…I don’t know.”

“Oh! Well, how about you travel with us to the next station? That should be plenty of time for the thought to simmer.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.” The thought filled me with hopeful warmth. I couldn’t afford to miss this chance or fuck it up.

I stiffened as I was practically shoved onto the countertop as somepo— who was I kidding?—Dusk pressed her hooves uncomfortably into my back and messed with my mane. My ribs screamed at the weight. “Is Serenity making friends?”

Silver Tongue raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t think we were split up for that long.”

“Shut up. And Dusk?” She hmm’d in acknowledgment. “Get the fuck off me.”

Dusk, the generous pony she was, helped me sit up with a small tug of my mane. I scratched around my hair until my hooves bumped into something. She had been braiding small sections of mane behind my ear. The batpony gave me an innocent shrug.

“Silver, meet me at the northern exit in like…five? Nah, ten minutes. Blitz, make sure he doesn’t get side tracked or something.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of him and the others. We'll see you there!” The small pegasus zoomed out of the bar’s front door. Silver Tongue chugged down the rest of his mug and smiled.

“Thanks for coffee.”

As he walked off, Sea Mist came down the steps almost tripping over each one. She bumped into Silver, who caught her suit’s collar before the mare could hit the ground. “Easy, filly. You don’t want to get hurt doing dumb stuff.”

“Thanks.” She shied away from the stallion behind her bangs.

Sea Mist galloped up to me, throwing her front hooves over to the stool to pull herself on top of it. I chuckled while she struggled with the task. The stable dweller was beaming with pride when she was finally able to sit down. “Morning, Serenity!”

“Chipper today, aren’t we?”

Dusk patted Sea Mist on the head. “She finally got to shower and sleep in a bed. What else did you expect? Not everypony can mope around all day like you.”

I rolled my eyes.

“So…” Dusk’s tone darkened. “That was him?”

“Yup.”

“And you wanna travel with them to Sunlight?”

I nodded and hopped off my seat. “I just need to get my rifle. You two eat and I’ll meet you there.”

“Okay.” She sighed while Sea Mist waved her goodbye.

I tossed three bullets onto the counter and made my way out onto the streets of Dry Station. They were quiet, with only a few folks walking besides the tracks. Peaceful compared to the wild wasteland of the south. I followed the signs welded to the corners of buildings and support beams to the local gunsmith.

The building was pretty small, its details banal in nature. No door like the other buildings, only a simple cloth to keep out the drunkards. The name of the business was spray painted in purple next to the doorway: Iryn Arms. I pushed the cloth aside and entered the business.

“Howdy,” the zebra behind a wire-fenced counter called out. A gambit of weapons, ranging from firearms to swords and even grenades, were neatly organized behind him. “Serenity, right?”

I nodded as the zebra pulled a rifle off the shelf and slid it over the corner. “That ranger said you’d be coming around. A scar like that is pretty notable.”

The rifle’s main body was clean, as well as it could be. Old scrapes and tiny dents still remained, even on the dust cov… “Where’s my gun?”

“Excuse me?”

I pointed at the spot on the dust cover where my brother’s name should be. “This isn’t my rifle.”

“That piece of shit can only fire semi-automatic with a high chance of the bolt seizing. Plus it’s easier to replace the whole thing! So what if it’s not your gun? That one in your hooves works, more than I can say about that piece of jun–”

“Give me my gun and the parts, I’ll fix it myself.”

“But-“

“Just give me the damn gun!” I snapped.

“Okay.” He pulled the firearm from the counter and put it back on the rack before disappearing into a side door. The sales clerk reappeared with my rifle and a box balanced on his back. “That’ll be two magazines.”

I dug out two full magazines from my vest and exchanged them for the items. The zebra gave a heavy huff through his nostrils as I began stripping the weapons down, carefully placing each part on the table as if they were made of glass. I brushed the engraved name on the metal, each letter appeasing my heart, then dark thoughts began festering with each replacement. A piston for a memory. A gas block for a ghastly face. Springs for… nothing good at all. As everything fit back together, the glass barrier of my will reconstructed, allowing me to see something that shouldn’t be. That can’t be. I hugged the rifle tight after finishing the repairs.

“You done?” The clerk was there. Yeah… still there.

I sighed, nodded and left the shop, back into the streets of Dry Station. More lively characters roamed around. They were gathering in crowds for holiday drinks and parties. I tried my best to push past them without interrupting too much. Hell, by the sight alone, you’d almost be forgiven to think this was paradise. Almost.

It took a bit, but I reached the northern exit, and of course, I was the last one there. Dusk was chatting with Sea Mist in front of a burn barrel separated from the others. Silver stood like a statue, staring out at the path ahead. Honey Tea was flustering Gage by rubbing the side of her body against his, sticking her tongue out playfully. It was easy to tell, even behind his power armor, that he was boiling in that suit. How little both of them had changed.

Blitz creeped up to me, brushing his bangs out of his eyes. “Soooo…”

“Something feel off?”

“No, no. It’s just been a while since we were all together. But… umm… who’s the stable filly?” The pegasus pointed to Sea Mist with a wing.

“I found her about to get sautéed by some locals of the Wastes. Now she won’t stop bugging me.”

“Well, she’s quite brilliant and easy to talk to.”

I rubbed the back of my neck. “I don’t agree.”

“To each their own, I guess.” Blitz shrugged and began to walk over to Silver. I followed. The pony in question was trying to stop his left forehoof from shaking, trying everything from massaging it to tensing his lean muscles.

“You’re shaking.” I joined him in looking at the darkness of the tunnel ahead.

“This place is horrifying.”

“I’ve never really thought of it like that.”

He tilted his head towards me. “Solid trees made of pure light, fungi growing over sheer ice, dreamless sleep… only a few things we encountered on our way here. Nothing makes sense.”

“I know.” I didn’t confide in him at all.

Blitz stopped preening his feathers and rolled his eyes. “So are we going to ponder over the endless void in front of us or are we going to head out?”

I waved Sea Mist and Dusk over. “We’re moving!”

“Just a straight shot forward for a while, right?” I nodded to Blitz. “Then I’ll tell Gage to start moving ahead. Wanna walk with me, Silver?”

“Sure.”

Our party set off down the tunnel, Gage’s power armor headlamp lighting the way, his steel-cased talons rattling like spurs. Nothing but the same dirt, steel, and wires to entertain the eyes. The same shuffling of weapons. Sea Mist looked sickened by it.

The stable pony tugged on the side of my jacket. “Hey Wild- I mean, Serenity.”

“Hmm?”

“Out of your friends… why does the earth pony just wear some old dress shirt?”

I sighed. It felt like something I shouldn’t talk about without asking for permission. “It was his mother’s. The last thing he has left is his previous life.”

“At least he has something. Are they good memories?”

“No. More of a memento mori.”

“What’s that?” She cocked her head.

“An old pegasus parable back before the three races got along.”

“Well, how does it go?”

“Once, a teacher’s older brother died during battle, so she was conscripted to fill his spot. The training was hard for the mare. She never could stand conflict, always freezing up. Whether it be a fight or a simple argument. The teacher was just too afraid. So the general pulled her aside and rid her of her fear. He was like her. In the beginning always afraid, but after years of conflict, through watching bloodshed, he learned true peace. His lesson moved her. The mare became an excellent warrior, more accomplished than her sibling, fighting countless battles until being speared through the heart in flight. A bright pony, cut down at half the age of her brother.”

I looked over to Silver Tongue, who was softly nuzzling his collar while he walked. “Soldiers found her body in a field, and when they removed the teacher’s chest plate they found the general’s lesson written on the inside: memento mori. How could a simple phrase move a soul?”

Sea Mist just stared at me, pursing her lips tightly together.

“Any guess?”

She shook her head.

“It’s old Ponish. Today it would be: ‘Remember you will die.’ It’s an admonition to value your life. To not waste a single second. That is what that shirt means to him.”

She fell quiet, probably to try and process the meaning. Sea Mist rubbed the top of her pipbuck. “Do you have one?”

“No.”

“Why no-”

“Wildcard, may I ask you something?” Gage cut her off.

“Wait, birdbrain. What were you going to ask, Sea Mist?”

She grinned. “Don’t worry, I can just ask you later.”

“You sure?”

She nodded. I’m glad that she was at least somewhat happy again. I hurried to match Gage’s speed, who was in pace with Honey Tea. Both of them giggled like fillies.

“What?”

“I thought romance wasn’t your thing?” Honey cooed.

I narrowed my glance. “We’re not dating.”

“No need to treat a pretty girl like that. What if the batpony hears you? That’d probably break her heart.”

“Shut up, Gage.”

“But seriously, are you two..?” The griffon pointed a talon to Dusk.

“No. That would be just weird.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Honey nodded in agreement.

We continued quietly. Only the tune of softly crunching gravel and the squash of dirt under our legs played through the dead air.

“So…” The silence was getting awkward. ”How have you guys been?”

Honey raised an eyebrow. “Sheesh, small talk? That’s kind of lame, don’t you think?”

“Well, I-“

“I’m only teasing, Wildcard. Relax.” She stopped me before I said something stupid.

“Oh.”

“Yeah, we actually got married.” Honey flaunted the ornate circular steel barrette in her mane’s ponytail.

“I’m all for you.”

“Yeah, maybe one day you’ll know the feeling too, but sadly, y'all still lonely.” Gage chuckled.

“I’m not lonely.”

“Bullshit. Have you ever even been intimate with someone?”

“That shit doesn’t matter.”

“Real shame. Maybe you’d smile more.”

Honey walked around Gage to squash my face. “It’s okay-“

I swatted her hooves away and slowed to the back of the party towards Silver. The couple muttered something inaudible and shook their heads. It was always the same shit with them.

“Don’t let them beat you up too hard.”

I snickered to Silver. “Funny. Even stone breaks down over—“

C R A C K

Dust and pebbles fell from the ceiling accompanied by deep rumble. A massive line surged to the surface in a web-like pattern. Everyone tilted their heads and froze in confusion. Dusk locked eyes with me. I yanked both Blitz and Silver to the ground. Dusk pulled Sea Mist and Honey Tea forward. They didn’t have enough time to react, let alone resist.

The ground shook. The ceiling exploded with chunks of ice, stone and wood. My ears rang. Each addition to the debris thickened the air with more dirt. Metal rods jutted from the new hole in the tunnel roof. My anomaly detector screamed.

A demon’s corpse, its exposed muscles and bones twisted and pulverized, plummeted through the hole and splattered against the ground. The air above the hole shimmered, like oil on water, and vibrated, levitating lumps of snow. My bracer’s beeping slowed to silence. The snow poured down onto the cave-in. Once again my side ached. I waved away the dust, coughing.

Blitz slid to my side, “Nothing broken, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Good, good. Silver’s fine, but what the fuck?”

“You can say that again,” Silver groaned, wiping the grime off his chest.

“Well shit… we’re not getting through that.” The rubble had completely blocked us off from the others. We’d have to make our way to Sunlight Station on the surface.

“What about the others?!” Blitz called out.

I started climbing the pile of debris. “They’re with Dusk, they’ll be fine. Come on! I don’t wanna get stuck in an Emission.”

“A what?” they said in unison.

“You’ll know when it’s about to happen.”

The streets were silent. No roars. No wing beats. No gunfire. I pulled out my PDA and began surveying the area. Finding a good reference marker is always fucking harder than it has to be. I walked up to a nearby road sign and bucked the snow off.

“Woah!” Someone cried. I whipped around to the source of the sound, then facehoofed.

Blitz was flat on his ass in the snow blowing out a long shallow exhale. Silver was laughing at him as the pegasus tried to get up and slipped again.

“What kind of anomaly is this?!” he whined.

“Blitz, that’s just ice.”

“What are you talking about? I can’t see it!” Blitz huffed, getting to his shaking hooves.

I was choking the laughter down. “That’s black ice.”

The young pegasus’s wings shot up stiff as his face turned red. I think he was about to cry.

“You’re a big, strong boy, Blitzy. No need to piss in the snow.” Silver patted him on the back then pushed him towards me. Blitz froze still as he spun around, sliding across the ground before I stopped him.

“It happens to everyone. Don’t worry.”

“Okay…”

I turned back to the PDA. According to the markings and notes stored in the system, we had a straight path forward with zero complications. That couldn’t be right. I rechecked the data and map multiple times but the same outcome. Something about it still bugged me.

I groaned.

“What’s up?” Silver Tongue walked over to my side.

“This map is out of date!”

“How bad is it?”

“Three months…”

Blitz whistled. “Wow.”

“How’s it going, stranger!” A gleeful voice rang out ahead.

“I’ve never met a zebra before.”

Not even a couple hoofsteps away, Blitz was practically molesting the poor soul with his eyes. The stalker shrunk back into the half open door they poked their head out of.

“You’re really special aren’t you, Blitz? You literally saw some not even an hour ago,” I snarked.

I saw his mind stirring even from here. “Fuck you.”

What a dumbass.

“Stripe?” I hollered over.

“No, Loner.”

I nodded and made for the clinic he was holed up in. The zebra smiled at my front patch. “Quite the eccentric companion you got there.”

“Tourists.” I gestured my forehead inside. “Do you mind?”

“Oh! Sorry, come in.”

The clinic’s tile floor was cracked, the loose pieces mixing with the thin layer of snow that crept in through an open window. Parts of the drop ceiling were missing. Some of the rooms to the left were frozen shut, while others had their doors completely missing. There were rusty steel tables inside with the surgical tools still neatly lined up. Stained full body mirrors and abandoned shoes and dolls. One room had a sad little turned-over wheelchair in front of broken picture frames, the images lost to time. Walls marked with heights of foals. Everything was quiet. The kind of quiet where I could almost hear my brain.

We passed a collage of posters. Some advocated to join against the striped menace, others asked residents to hold their ground against the pressure of the ministries. But who cared about past politics when a beautiful aged mural, three tiny pink butterflies dancing around the branches of a tall tree, was just next to it? A cross was painted on its bark.

“We haven’t seen a Ranger in a long time since the armistice.” The zebra said.

“Armistice?” But that would mean… “There’s no way—“

“The Old Guard and Stripes put aside their differences. I know it’s still hard to believe but at least it's peaceful. Well… sort of.”

Everyone in the next room wore the look of week old baggy eyes. Stalkers, faces shrunken from starvation, cooking a small cup of rice with sprinkles of expired sugar over a fire in an abandoned laboratory. Paper bags and old wraps littered everywhere. Truly the pinnacle of living.

Silver Tongue’s eyes drifted over each face until he got to the back. Quickly, his ears shot up. He slid a compact submachine gun from under his shirt and snapped the barrel up towards the glass divider at the other end of the room. The stalkers reached for their own guns.

Protected behind layers of scratched plexiglass was a pony–a pegasus to be exact. The left side of their mouth was ripped open, revealing the chipped bone underneath. Only small tufts of fur remained in the exposed flesh that ran alongside the gash. Even with missing muscle, the mare looked sad, with her hoof pressed against the glass.

I pushed Silver’s gun down. “Settle down.”

He was left dumbfounded at my actions but slid his weapon back into his shirt with a small huff. Blitz hadn’t really moved for his rifle, which was good. The last thing we needed was a big caliber fired in a small room. I preferred my hearing the way it was.

“Sorry.” I bowed a little. “Like I said, they’re new.”

“Don’t worry. We get it.”

The other stalkers relaxed and nodded in agreement.

“Do you happen to have data on the path to Sunlight?”

The zebra pulled a PDA from his jacket. “Sure do, but that station has been in a bit of a hissy fit, so you best watch yourselves when you get there.”

“I thought you said the war was over?”

“Да, but the recent bombings got them on edge and… you know who they blame.”

I nodded. The same as always.

I passed him my PDA and the zebra started transferring his notes by hoof onto my device. Blitz had begun pacing around, like a bored foal, before stopping right in front of the ghoul. He tilted his head and the mare mimicked him. He stared right at her, almost through her. Like he was trying to etch her face into his mind.

“Hey.” He poked the stalker next to him with his wing. “Not to be rude, but why do you keep that ghoul locked up on display?”

“That’s Vineyard.”

“Let me rephrase…” Blitz gestured to their pistol.

“We can’t do that!”

“Why not?”

“She’s our friend! She wouldn’t have left us…” They placed their hoof on the glass.

“You’d be doing them a favor.”

“Blitz!” I snapped. He better not—

“Listen,” Blitz continued. It’s like he didn’t even hear me. “If you don’t do it, somepony else will.”

The zebra stopped messing with my PDA and snapped their head towards him. “You don’t know that!”

He didn’t even have to say anything. We could tell by the dull glint in his eyes. The patch on Blitz’s jacket was all the evidence he needed. The wings of the Enclave on a blue cross: pararescue.

The stalker next to me grit his teeth before shoving my PDA into my vest. “I think it’s best if you leave.”

“Probably,” I sighed.

“What? I just—“

“Sorry,” Silver promptly cut Blitz off. “We’ll be leaving.”

He gave me a slow nod and began heading back the way we came. Blitz rushed up to us and shoved me with his shoulder. “What was that?!”

“Listen–”

“I understand that you’re trying to help them move on, but they need to grieve first. It’s only natural.” Silver didn’t even turn around to speak. “But they’ll starve before they do…”

“Well it’s not the same for everypony, Blitz.”

“It should be.”

I had to break this tension. “Guys, we can’t be–”

“And what will you do if the world shatters around you?” Silver Tongue cut me off again. Was I even there with them? I couldn't even get a word in edgewise.

“It won’t.” Blitz’s pupils flared like dead television static.

Silver nodded quietly before stepping out onto the street. I just stared at the patchwork pegasus following him. I couldn’t give him anything. All I could do was hope for him.

I joined my friends out on the street. It was snowing. The type with massive lumpy snowflakes that floated down to greet your muzzle with a cold boop. Strangely enough, it always warmed my heart a little. Like a brother.

A brother with a hoofball bat.

Snow gusts wisped across the bank as wind smacked against my face. I tucked into my jacket’s collar, as did Blitz into his own, just trying to escape the cold assault on our faces. Silver squeezed his eyes shut, trying to stop shivering, his teeth chattering at each whip of air against his body. The blood in my hooves retreated as the temperature continued to dive down.

Instinctively, I dropped my armor rig in the snow and removed my jacket, leaving me my sweater, and swaddled it around Silver. His skin was cold to the touch. His pupils were massive, shaking, startled and confused.

I reached into my saddlebags, feeling past the smooth shell of the Moonlight for something more unnatural. Uneven bumps greeted my touch. I pulled out the small artifact, its appearance like smoked glass with deep purple liquid dripping out of its container to grab my hoof.

The artifact didn’t even resist being twisted in half. I placed one half on Silver’s collarbone, the liquid sinking into his spotted white coat like claws. The glass gave off a soft yellow fluorescent glow. I zipped up his jacket and turned to Blitz. He took a tiny step back when I offered the other half to him.

He shook his head, looking at the artifact. I stepped closer and softly wrapped a hoof around his neck. Blitz jumped slightly but relaxed at my eye contact. Freezing to death was too painful for good ponies like him.

“The stalkers and mutants might kill you, but the weather will.”

Blitz glanced at Silver Tongue who was now rubbing his temples and groaning, but no longer shivering. He creeped over to me, and I placed the artifact on him. He watched the glass glow and titled his head. “It’s warm… Wait, what about you?”

I chuckled as I zipped up my maroon turtleneck. “You finally get to know why I’m fluffier than most.”

“Ugh…”

“Just relax for a second, Silver.” I popped my rig back on and tightened the straps. “Shock isn't fun.”

“I think I’m going to puke.”

“‘No need to piss in the snow’.” Blitz gave air quotations with his wings.

Silver rolled his eyes. “Wildcard, just tell me it won’t take too long to get to this next… city? Station? I don’t know what you guys call it.”

“Either works.”

“Okay, so how long?”

I whipped out my PDA and scanned the map. Little icons of anomalies and note boxes on mutant activity created a twisting path towards the station. Not too far, but the city always had a funny way of extending unwanted trips on the surface. “Maybe five to eight minutes if everything goes fine.”

“Excellent,” Blitz whined, scratching at his neck. “Then let’s go, because this thing—“

“Ember,” I cut him off.

“—this Ember itches.”

======= ☢ =======

Minutes was an understatement. It took an hour by my watch. An hour down still, silent streets. An hour squeezing between the tight alleyways and rubble. Through apartments that appeared more forgotten than abandoned. Every home was roughly the same, with missing cooking appliances and record players, but the little foals’ toys still remained to collect dust. Mail untouched on tabletops, neatly stacked, waiting for postage. I would never open them, but I still heard their voices. Love letters to ponies I’ll never meet.

“You coming?”

I snapped out of my daze, turning towards Silver and Blitz. It would be a lie to say it wasn't a little embarrassing zoning out there. “Yeah… sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Silver walked up to the table and glanced at the stack of letters. “What’s in them?”

“I don’t really know, but… I think that’s why I care.”

“And if you knew?”

“He might be disappointed,” Blitz chuckled. He was looking out of the room’s smashed wall with his rifle scope.

Silver sighed. “So?”

“I already know how it ends,” I surmised, narrowing my gaze. “Nothing I can do about that.”

“And if you could?”

“Should I?” I sauntered past him to glance out at the stories below before sliding down the snow bank to street level. Blitz and Silver followed.

“Enough with the fucking philosophy, Wildcard. We just need your help to find the Dragon’s–”

“Do I really need to repeat myself?” I grit my teeth.

“Well, think about the lives we’ll be saving.”

“Think about the lives we’ll be ending.”

“I-” Silver took a deep breath and scowled. “I don't know how you can drown yourself in all this self-righteousness. Red Eye is conquering the wasteland, forcing everypony that’s left to work and work and work until they die! It’s cruel. It’s unnecessary.”

“We’ve had this conversation before.”

“Then you know what both of us want. They’ll be safe with this.”

I let out a long sigh. “Everyone knows how that ended last time.”

“The wasteland needs this.”

I shoved Silver back a little. “That’s a little egotistical, don’t you think? What if the world doesn’t want it, huh?”

“The world is already bent out of shape! Most ponies can’t even see that nowadays without being on the other end of a barrel. We can help them. Do you really want to wait for permission?”

“No…” I took a few steps forward and stopped. My soul felt like it was trying to burst out of my chest. Silver Tongue was right. He always was, but… I just couldn’t.

“Look, we've been up here for a long time. It’s prob–”

“I can’t.” I cut off Blitz.

They both looked at each other and raised a brow.

“I can’t. I-I just can’t. This plan you want to do is just– why do you even need proof that threatening everyone to play nice just doesn’t work? We’re sitting in the corpse of a society that believed the same thing!” I was seething through my teeth. Each exhale grew hotter and hotter. Each word was more sporadic than the last.

I swatted away Blitz’s vain attempt to console me with his hoof. What was he gonna do, put a tiny bandage on this massive divide?

What the fuck ever.

“And what did playing neutral do to this city?”

“I’m sorry,” I snapped curtly. “You don’t–”

“There is no moral high here. You can either be good or nice and I don’t think kindness is going to work, but tell me, has it worked for you yet?”

“Guys! Stop comparing dick lengths,” Blitz hollered. “This conflict right here is wasting time. If both of you want to save lives then stop acting like fillies fighting over a toy and make a damn choice!”

I tried to speak my mind again, but shut my mouth after another scolding gaze from the medic. Silver’s eyes went wide. He set his lips into a thin line and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Wildcard. It was wrong for me to go off on you like that.”

“It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not.”

Blitz groaned. “We’re still just standing around in this snow ditch, can we move on please?”

Silver simply glanced at him before softly nuzzling into his collar shirt, shutting his eyes for a moment. Blitz bowed his head. “I've been dreaming about this moment for years. Not exactly like this, but this is the closest we’ve gotten. We can’t throw this away.”

“There’s nothing you wouldn’t give for this, huh?”

“Yeah. I learned that from you.” Silver tilted his stare up at me.

I bit my lip. That physically took me aback. He was adamant, but, then again, so was I.

I could barely stutter out the words. “Don’t make this mistake. You’ll just make more ponies like you.”

“This isn’t some fairytale, Wildcard.” He turned away. “Not everypony deserves a happy ending.”

“Trust me. That isn’t being a hero. That’s being an executioner.”

Blitz was scrambling to pull up his rifle. Was I that much of a threat? But the answer was actually a shaky knife’s edge a hair away from my throat, literally.

“You guys are fuck’n loud.” The stallion pressed his blade a little tighter to my throat, drawing blood. “So which one of you is going to being stupid and try me?”

Silver slid out his submachine gun and aimed it at me. Blitz was scanning the rest of the buildings. The stalker behind me was amused. “Don’t even try. You wouldn’t find them.”

“Okay, then let’s talk,” Silver gruffed out from behind his trigger.

The stalker pointed his knife at Blitz. “I want his—“

Brrrt

I fell to the ground, shiny nicks and scratches on my shoulder plate. It stung like hell. The stallion was cut down, leaking blood from his neck to his chest. His eyes stared dully at me. Silver shook his head before bolting to the cover of a turned-over pile of sky carriages. Blitz flew after him.

Z I P

The snow kicked and exploded as lead whizzed and dinged around me. I threw myself into a gallop towards my friends, sliding into cover. “You couldn’t help but hit me, eh?”

Silver blindly fired over the cover, then ducked back down as wood chips showered over him. “Sorry. I’m not a great shot under pressure!”

“Can we maybe discuss this later?”

Blitz shouldered the massive rifle and slid his hoof into the oversized trigger guard. In one quick motion, he launched himself into the air, squeezing off a shot at the building in front, letting the recoil spin him backwards almost a complete rotation before landing next to us. The bullet tore through the air, crashing like thunder, punching through the building. Chunks of rubble cracked off and fell to the ground. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if the round had smashed through the wall behind it and kept going.

A light went off in my head. The idea almost humored me. “Okay, fuck these Loners. Silver, stay close to me. Blitz… do what you do best.”

The pegasus snickered. He knew exactly what I wanted. He kicked off the cover and sped at the building, bobbing and spinning as he edged closer. I galloped across the street as fast as I could. I could only hope Silver wasn’t too far behind.

Then… everything went to shit.

I heard it before I saw it. Well, I didn’t hear anything, exactly. All sound died away, then I saw it. All the light of the world contracted away into a single point above before exploding into a ringing cacophony of blinding lights. The sky was on fire.

“Shit!” I shouldered my way into the nearest building. It was a small store filled with empty shelves, but it wouldn’t be enough. Not even remotely close. Blitz rolled through the doorway, hyperventilating. That was very understandable.

“We need to keep moving!” I ran into the backroom. We needed more cover. Another out. The paint chips on the floor began to rise into the air. I couldn’t tell if they were shaking, or the world was.

“What do we do?!”

I stared at Blitz. He was tearing up.

“Don’t worry.”

“How can I not?”

“Just get in the corner, both of you!”

I didn’t want to argue about this and I didn’t need to. They sat in the corner tucking their heads into their chests. I huddled them a little closer together, taking out my Moonlight. The light inside burned brighter and brighter until it was almost blinding. I released it into the air then grabbed my knife. This had to work. I slammed my knife into the artifact, cracking the shell. Gas leaked from it, blacking out the room until only the dull glow of the Moonlight remained.

I wrapped my hooves around the others and closed my eyes to pray to no deity in particular, but to anyone that would listen. I didn’t want them to die, nor me. It wasn’t in my hooves anymore.

Objects crashed, crushed, and pinged off the walls echoing into the shroud around us. One whizzed right past my ear, brushing my fur. Silver’s yelp hit my heart. Blitz’s crying tore it out.

Only a little longer. Please, only just be a little longer.

The rumbling creeped to a halt. Silver was still shaking. I reached for the Moonlight, and for the first time, touched its gel-like interior. All the darkness retreated back into the cracks of the orb. The area was a calamity of a mess.

“Silver?”

A chunk of rebar was sticking out of his bicep, blood soaking all over him. I hastily removed my jacket from around him and Blitz began opening his bags.

“Just trust me, okay?” The pegasus clapped his hooves together.

Silver Tongue nodded.

“Is there anything I can do?” I asked.

“No, just keep watch.”

The answer bugged me, but what was I gonna do? I tried to watch out the doorway with my rifle. To keep my eyes peeled for movement in the chaotic mess in the next room, but… Fuck. All this thinking was making my aim waiver.

Blitz tenderly peeled back the area around the rebar. Silver shifted on his hindlegs at each light touch.

“Shit…”

“Just get it out!”

“That’ll make this so much worse. You sure you want me to do that?” Silver groaned at Blitz’s comment. I couldn’t tell if it was in defeat or pain.

C R A C K

I snapped back to the front room. A single stalker almost tripped into the building. Their head hung limply to the ground, swaying side to side with each step. They were a pincushion of glass and debris. The stalker’s neck crack made me step back. Their eyes were completely white. I knew that look.

I squeezed off a small burst into the pony’s head. Whoever they were, they were already dead. Nothing more than a lifeless wandering corpse.

I couldn’t describe Silver’s scream as Blitz kicked the rebar free from the wall. It was blood-curdling and sickly. Like a cattle being led to slaughter for the rest of a station. At least he was free from the wall. Blitz injected him with a syringe, and tightened a tourniquet above the wound. He helped Silver clumsily get up to his healthy hooves before loading him onto his back.

“He’s stable, but I can’t take that out here.”

“Eh, this is almost as bad as that time that slaver snapped my femur in half like dry pasta. Almost.”

The outside sky was burnt beige; the snowflakes like ashes raining down. It was silent. The type that screams in your head. White noise, more terrifying than gunfire.

“Is it clear?”

“I’m gonna be honest,” I scanned the buildings to the right, “I don’t think anything else is alive.”

“Okay, okay…” Blitz took a deep breath. “What the FUCK was all that?!”

“What was…?”

“The sky fucking imploded!”

“Shit.”

Blitz melted. “What now? Don’t tell me you got hurt too.”

“The map is useless.”

“How the fuck can that be?”

“When the sky imploded, It shuffled around all the anomalous zones in the area.”

Blitz rolled his eyes. “How can you even live here? Everything's just made to kill you.”

“But we survived. Gotta be a little prideful in that.”

“And what about… that?” He gestured to my saddlebags.

I couldn’t help but chuckle a little. “Oh, the Moonlight? It just absorbed all the light in the area.”

“Wait…”

“To be honest, my friend, I thought it was our end. Just tried my best to make us a little more comfortable if that was it.”

“You know, maybe give us a heads up next time before we’re about to die,” Blitz sighed.

“Just relax, take care of Silver, and stick close to me.”

My iron sights firmly lead us up the street, towards where the hidden gunfire came from. I hugged as close as I could to the buildings, slowly creeping past the hollow rooms, searching for motion. Only a few more blocks to Sunlight Station.

My bracer beeped out a slow, steady pulse. I stopped, letting my rifle rest on my back before grabbing a hoofful of bolts, and whipped them ahead. They sailed through the air until an invisible force quickly punched them into the wall of the building, its foundation cracked.

“You need to get me one of those,” Silver weakly chuckled.

“You need a hospital. Now shut the fuck up.”

“I missed you,” he groaned out.

I couldn’t help but smile a little. “Go scout ahead. I’ll carry him.”

Blitz nodded and slid him onto my back before launching forward into the air. Silver Tongue sighed.

“I’m sorry about before. I—“

“Like I said, it’s fine.” I rolled my eyes.

“Then… what did you mean I’d ‘make more ponies like me’?”

“Remember that small settlement near the coast we cleaned of Red Eye shit a few months ago?”

“Yeah?”

“Remember the firefight in the tavern? The brilliant young stallion that we ‘saved’ from that slaver?”

“Happy Hour?”

I nodded. “After we killed his dad and destroyed their supply lines, he had nowhere to turn but raiding. He was a monster of our own creation, but I can’t blame him. How else was he gonna feed the town?”

“I see where you’re going with this.”

“You say you do but you don’t.”

“This is always going to be your argument. The same song and dance, but Happy Hour… what happened to him?”

I chose to remain quiet. He’d know regardless if I answered or not.

“I see. What guarantees loyalty in a wasteland? What stops ponies from just fighting each other?”

“Culture. Family.”

He sighed again. “For some, but not everypony. Not even for you. I know you’re afraid of me becoming this monster but what you want is a little too idealistic.”

“How so?”

“For example, would you stop the slaves from placing those above them into slavery themselves? Repeating the same cycle? Like you said: ‘create more ponies like me’? What stopped any of those slavers from just walking away? How would you give out retribution?”

“I’d give out justice,” I was firm with my words.

“What’s the difference?”

“I…” I felt a nervous chill roll up my throat.

“Look, you and the rest of the wasteland may hate me for this, but at least you’ll be alive to hate me. If that’s what it takes then hate me. I want you to be a part of this, but if you can't it’s okay. Just let us do this.”

“I’m sorry.” I shook my head. I know it was selfish, but I wouldn’t let him. I wouldn’t let any of them do this. I might not know what justice is but it wasn’t this.

“It’s okay.”

Blitz glided down in front of us, touching me with a wing. He didn’t hide his worry.

“Somepony is hurt.”

It didn’t quite click in my head at first. My first thought was of Silver. No shit, he was hurt. Anypony near the Emission, probably, was killed. I don’t think anything could survive direct exposure to that anomaly. Well, I’ve never heard of one. Could they survive?

The thoughts tongue-tied me. Blitz had been staring at me, unblinking, the whole time.

“What should we do?”

“You said hurt, right? Let’s see how bad it is.”

I followed after him, trying my best to gallop without hurting Silver too much. His periodic gasps and winces made my heart sting.

It didn’t take too long to find the poor stalker.

Trapped under a pile of rubble in the street, steel pierced into their striped torso. His only free hoof had dug a hole into the snow towards the safety of the underground, only a few hoofsteps away. His gasps were sporadic and sharp. His bloodshot eyes were pleading with every painful hiccup.

“Think you can stand on your own for a bit?”

“Yeah.” Silver Tongue rolled onto his hooves.

“Wildcard, I don’t—“

I ignored Blitz’s comment. We had to at least try before giving up. “Hey. What’s your name?”

“I-I don’t know? I don’t…”

“Don’t worry about it. Blitz, stim me.”

He sighed and tossed a syringe to me. I injected the liquid into his chest through his jacket. His patchless jacket. Another Loner?

“How’d you get here?”

“Some friends told me this was a great place to find artifacts.” The stalker paused after each word to spit up blood.

“You little shit,” Silver snarled.

“Settle down, we don't know that.”

“And you’re sure he wasn’t?”

Silver might be right, but that wasn’t enough for me. The stones on top of him were probably light enough for two ponies to lift. Even with Blitz’s strength it should be fine.

The stalker shuddered and tried to flail around. Reality must have finally punched in. “I-I shouldn't be here.”

“Hey, relax. We are here.” Blitz finally slid over to my side.

I’d never forget that look. Like I could see the universe in his eyes. The dread of knowing what comes next. The same eyes as… Amani.

“I’m scared.” He stared straight at me. It froze me.

Blitz shook his head in the corner of my eye. I could hear Silver hobbling behind me, dragging his hooves through the snow. He sighed.

B A N G

The snow around the stalker’s head sparkled like rubies. His gaze was locked up at the sky; still afraid.

“Wildcard,” Silver nudged me with a warm gun barrel. “No need to make him suffer anymore. It’d be cruel.”

I bit my tongue.

Blitz helped Silver onto his back. I couldn’t help but stare at the zebra. A wing patted me on the back.

“Let’s go.”

“Yeah…” My thoughts drifted to— stop. Breathe. Just breathe…

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!

Why can’t I stop thinking? It’ll pass… spirits, I hope it passes.

I galloped up to the other two waiting at the entrance to the station. The snow thinned as we descended down the dead escalators back into the womb of the city. At the bottom was a towering hermetic door. I walked up to the small panel next to it. Broken lights and buttons, but no one actually uses that shit. I held down the big button and spoke into the built-in microphone.

“Eclipse.”

The door squeaked and yawned as the hydraulics pushed it up. Sandbag piles, gun barrels, and a gem spotlight blinding us.

“A Ranger, huh?” A pony wrapped in red and golden colors stepped out from behind the light. I could feel the salt through his teeth. “Neat.”

Another stammered. “Hurry up, y'all trying to heat the block? Customs just ahead.”

We strolled past the five ponies guarding the entrance as they locked the door again with a simple push of a button. All of them spat on the floor as I walked past.

Fuck’n assholes.

The office smelled like vinegar and piss, but at least the room looked visually appealing. Murals of a single towering white alicorn, the sun shining behind her like a halo, with other ponies bowing to her. I glanced away from the pretentious fucks over to the few ponies conversing across steel tables. Items being cleaned and inspected for trade. At the end of the row, Dusk was guiding the others in the group through how customs worked.

“Thank you, ma’am.” That was the fakest smile I’ve ever seen on an employee.

Dusk replied with nothing more than a soft grin while Sea Mist shied behind Gage, rubbing the top of her pipbuck. The big griffon patted her head. Honey Tea just looked like she wanted to kill somepony… and I think the employee could tell.

“You guys are g-good to go!”

“Finally,” Honey groaned.

Silver waved as we got closer. “How’s everyone doing?”

“What the hell happened to you?”

He motioned to the length of rebar still in his foreleg, that the guards had pointedly ignored. “Got acquainted with the area.”

“Good one,” she laughed. “We’re all good to go, right?”

The pony behind the table nodded at Honey’s glare, waving everyone towards the door but me. She stopped me. “I’m going to need to search you, sir.”

Again with that fake-ass smile. “Random searches. I hope you understand.”

“Excuse me, but he’s with us,” Honey chimed in.

“Just let me do my job, ma’am.”

I put up a hoof to stop her from fighting back. The last thing I needed was more drama today. My mind was already holding on by a thread.

First came off my rifle, then my rig, jacket and saddlebags until only my sweater remained on me. The attendant didn’t even look at the items on the table, instead focusing on my last piece of clothing. They’re really searching for any reason to arrest somepony, eh? Well, anypony but Dusk. The daughter of the Order’s leader would be bad for political relations. A random member of the group though? Perfect pickings.

I slid out of the turtle neck and tossed it onto the table. She grinned as I spun around. It was the tattoo on my back. It’s what every fucking member of the Old Guard wanted. Better than finding contraband. Better than a Stripe sympathizer.

A real Hearthswarming gift for them. Any reason they needed to treat me any way they wanted to was right there: the zebra stripes on my back.

“That’s all. You’re free to go in.”

What? Why didn’t they do anything…?

I collected my things and walked over to the party. These fuckers were just trying to mess with me. There’s no way they didn’t know what my tattoo was. I didn’t like where this was going. Not one bit.

But when walking into the demon’s den, how could anyone like it?