One Last Mission

Nature Care, Trotson

Day 4

The stasis spell ended before Sharpshot got back, the effect on me pain-wise making me whimper like a filly. Incredibly uncomfortable, unable to hide the grimace that was on my face, I found a comfortable position to lie down in. There was still a constant throbbing in my shoulder from the fracture, and no doubt I was dealing with some external and possible internal bleeding from the veins Gemini had punched through, but I would be okay. I’d be roughed up worse than that during my days serving the Enclave.

Granted I was still serving the Enclave, but I think I’ve gotten what I meant across.

Gemini had calmed down some time ago thanks to Gold’s touch and my own assurances that I was alright. The griffon was surprisingly good at it too, reminding me of a father more than a brute responsible for putting weird things in my head. It was a bit surprising, but Lucky had referred to him as her father figure. There was definitely more to him than his beaten, scarred exterior let on.

Willow had fallen back asleep, likely to get a more comfortable night’s rest. When the immediate anger from Sharpshot choosing to help her first went away, I allowed myself to consider his position from a more familial standpoint. The two had been doing this dance with cloud nine for a while, and it was pretty clear Willow was the only pony in his life he cared about. Her pain must have been one of the hardest things he witnessed, and his worry for her was certainly touching. It made his choice more understandable, even if I still personally fucking hated them.

At some point, after Gemini had fallen asleep herself, Gold had walked up to me. While it wasn’t the first time we had stared at each other that night, it was the first time nopony had stepped in the way. He knew what I was thinking, and the way he would briefly evade my eye contact told me he knew what I wanted to say. I’m not sure how long it was until our silence was broken, but it came in the form of a heavy sigh.

“Sorry. Not a great impression,” He said, sitting down right in front of where Willow slept.

“An impression that a simple apology isn’t going to make go away,” I said, keeping my voice low for the sleeping unicorn and alicorn in the lobby with us. “I thought I was dying, and who the fuck just sticks a needle in someones neck?”

“Yes. I made mistake. Now here to make up for mistake. Till we no longer work together, I ask you deal with me.”

I blinked. “That’s… okay it still doesn’t make up for everything but that was a better apology then I expected.”

He chuckled, and then started to cough profusely. They slowly turned into wheezes, his face growing less and less joyful with each second they continued. Once they faded, he regained his composure and started to pound his chest with a talon. That was followed by him clearing his throat, and then completely disregarding that coughing fit ever happened.

“Might have practiced in mirror.”

“Not a lot of apologizing goes on out here, does it?”

“Hard to apologize. Most ponies have shoot first mentality. Even more griffons have shoot first mentality. Apology is rare, accepted apology even rarer. Becomes myth to griffons who fight for money.”

“You are referring to the Talons.” He gave me a nod. “You’re one of them?”

“Long ago. Not anymore,” He explained, motioning with his talons in a somewhat dramatic fashion. “Something felt… wrong. Not the business, but me. Felt out of place, so went on my own. Met many ponies, good and bad. Saved and killed ponies. All to look for answer. I know it now, what I looked for.” he sighed. “Too late. Considered too old for relationship.”

“You wanted a family, a partner. Somepony to stick by your side through thick and thin, like a brother or sister in arms.” He gave me a nod. “You found them, didn’t you? You found that griffon you were looking for, but you were too late to be with them.”

“Worse. He was taken, and he swung wrong way. Was good to find him nice hen before leaving. Haven’t seen them in years.”

My breath hilted for a second, and then was let out as I took in what he was saying. I actually knew what that felt like. I had felt the same way about Ironsight, and the same exact scenario had occurred. The difference likely came not just in age, but in will. Gold’s eyes showed how much recounting the events hurt him. He had seen this griffon as his one chance.

He just… gave up. Gave up on love, on partnership, and that was the part that felt off to me. Was the wasteland so horrid that everycreature gave up on love that easily? It made me hate this megaspell riddled world even more, but also sad. Love, even if not the romantic kind, was a beautiful thing. A thing that had kept me going, even in the darkest times of my life.

My light in the dark. My guiding spirit. My anchor, keeping me from getting lost at sea.

“You didn’t stay by them?” I asked, voice quiet. I still despised him, but the hurt in his heart had gotten to me.

He shook his head. “Was too tough. Felt weird around them. I left and… not sure what's next. Many memories, all a blur. Never felt conscious till met her.”

He reached into what I initially had believed to be an ammo pouch, but what came out was not ammunition. A cigar, bulk and filled with fresh tobacco, slid its way through his talons. I was certain there was a lighter in another of his pouches, but he didn’t grab it. This one he flipped around, the slightest sign of a smile on his beak. One familiar yet different to that finding my own light in the dark.

“Ponies are odd. Foals are even more odd, but none are unpleasant. Find right ponies, find good company.” It was in the middle of speaking that his other talon finally reached into another pouch. As I had expected, an old lighter came out, the cigar it was meant for being present to me. “Find many of these in wasteland. Doubt these are up there, so take it.”

As soon as he finished offering the cigar, I reached out my hoof. He thought it was a sign I was accepting his offer, but instead I pushed his talons back to him. He was surprised, as if the action of not taking it was unknown to him. There was a clear attempt to ask me again, but I shook my head as an immediate reply. Gold took that as his definitive answer, but he never put the lighter or cigar away.

Instead he brought the roll of tobacco to his beak, lit the end, and chomped down on it. The horrid smell it gave off hit my lungs, but due to my shoulder moving to cover my nose and mouth was pain. A couple seconds passed, he took it out of his mouth and blew the smoke away from me.

“Lucky entered my life, and things became clear. Parents dead, hates cutie marks – mentioned that already – and out of time.”

I tilted my head. “Out of time?”

“Difficult to explain. Lucky from wartime.”

My face first showed disbelief, and then switched to frowning. I fully expected him to say that was a joke, but his expression didn’t shift. Instead he brought the cigar back to his beak, the slight spark of embers glowing and dimming with his breath. He wasn’t lying, at least as far as he was aware. Lucky must have been the liar in this scenario.

“Saw world die, and parents with it,” he said, pulling the cigar out again. He released another cloud, watching it like it with nearly hypnotic amounts of wonder. “They weren’t lucky to join her in stable. She blames old world, hates it. Believes cutie marks are to blame for them not being allowed in.”

“Yet I’ve seen more than enough proof that her family weren’t the only ones denied,” I replied. My mind thought to the pony in the hotel, getting high on the last day of their life, and the mare or stallion that had given up any hope at Alibi Street Cinema. “Does she know that? That others were hurt?”

“She did learn. More fuel for her hate. Cutie marks separate ponies. Can’t become anything else, because of talent. Get treated better or worse, because of talent. When foal gets it also impacts them. She was late, incredibly late.”

“And when she did get it?”

His entire body suddenly looked ready to fall over, having to place the talon holding his cigar on the ground to steady himself. “Harm. Lots of harm. Very little harm to others, and mostly to herself.”

My eyes searched the darkness of the clinic’s lobby as I tried to process those words. My mind spiraled, thoughts of Clear or Rainy doing the exact same thing to themselves filling my head. Even if so much else of what Lucky told him was a lie, I could be certain that those words weren’t. Lucky saw him as a father, and he clearly cared for the little filly. No father would lie about their child self-harming themselves… at least, I hoped not.

Gold, wanting to get away from such a sensitive topic, turned his gaze away from me. I followed his eyes with my own, and found he was looking at my equipment. He got up and walked over to it, the only thing keeping me from going with him was my swollen shoulder. As he reached them, I saw his claws reach out.

“Break them and I’ll…,” I said, wanting to find some means of threatening retort. Sadly, with a fractured shoulder and no guns on me I came to the conclusion I just looked desperate and turned my head away. “It would be counterproductive.”

“Wasn’t going to break any,” he told me, reaching down towards the Atomizer. “This ones broken already. Familiar with design, to an extent. Early version of ArcanaTech weaponry.”

“Arcana Tech weaponry. ArcanaTech… weaponry.” I played with the words, feeling something strange about them. Gold waited patiently, and was rewarded with a hanging jaw moments later. “We found that in the Ministery of Arcana Science hub. The ponies who were down there, they made ArcanaTech?”

“See themselves as last of old world,” Gold answered, slowly plodding back over to me. He placed the Atomizer down between him and myself. “Continued with their work after seizing tower. MentaBuck one invention, but most focused on black hole energy. Inventions like this.”

His left hoof reached back to his holster, and for the first time I noticed the odd little bracelet he wore on it. I didn’t focus on it for long, instead turning my attention to the pistol that I was positive Gold didn’t have on him the first time I met him. It shared similar design cues from the Atomizer, but where one was made for ponies this one was made for griffons. It had the same strange battery – though it was not entirely made of glass – same dark blue lighting, but it was also far simpler.

He motioned for me to take a closer look, and I was more than happy to do so. Being extremely cautious with how I was moving my body, I placed a hoof on the pistol and brought it closer. I expected every little piece of it, noting that it took a lot more inspiration from standard firearms compared to the G.P.E.’s energy weapons. That didn’t make it any less fascinating.

“Named it Roche Limit. Made for me. Shot rips things apart atom by atom. Direct shot not needed to damage enemy, but death sentence if you do.”

“Sounds gruesome.”

“It is.”

“Have you shot somecreature with it?”

“Quire a few. No ammo for it out there, though. ArcanaTech restocks me when able.”

“How about armor?”

“The more layers, the harder to get through. Can pierce most armor, though, but will weaken impact on flesh.”

I nodded, not sure how some of that made sense but the gun was probably a one-of-a-kind. I can’t imagine any other black hole based energy weapons out in the wasteland, especially ones designed for griffons as a matter of fact. Either way it was clear he and ArcanaTech had given the gun more care than any Enclave soldier ever did. That could be appreciated, and it just made me more curious about what the Atomizer was capable of.

“You think they could fix it?” I asked, turning my head to the prototype rifle.

“Better. They’ll improve it,” Gold answered, grabbing Roche Limit and holstering it once more. “Not agree with all ArcanaTech does, but they got Lucky. May not seem it, but Trotson greatly improved from before she arrived.”

“Their previous leader was not a good pony, I take it.”

“Yes. ArcanaTech scared of outside, like stable dweller but worse. Moondancer, former leader, sees world as twisted beyond repair. Caused mistakes no genius should make. Very few survivors from labs, so inbreeding became common. Now their minds bright, but their bodies are dumb.”

“Just because they wanted to keep as separated as possible from the world outside?”

Before Gold could answer, a door was battered open. We turned our attention to Sharpshot, the ghoul carrying an entire cloudships worth of medkits, equipment and otherwise behind him. I couldn’t see his eyes due to both the broken goggles stuck to his face and the lack of light, but I could feel how tired he was. Every step was drawn out, slamming down into the floor with the force of a megaspell.

He reached us, looked at both Gold and myself and then cut his telekinesis. Every piece of equipment fell to the floor in a jumbled heap, and he joined them moments later. His horn only lit once again, and my injured shoulder was once again numb and locked in place. Gold opened his beak to speak, but was promptly quitted by Sharpshot raising a hoof at them.

“You know, I’ve had a lot of terrible days,” he said. “Some good, some bad. Some of those bad ones were self-inflicted, some of them weren’t. This day is firmly going in the former category.”

“I would have been okay with you breaking her nose if it was after we got Angel’s location from Gemini,” I told him, doing my best to give a look that was both sympathetic and deadpan. In the end I only got the latter. “Cause I get it. If my hubby had been used continually by her for her own gain I would also want to beat the shit out of her.”

“Would do same for make believe lover, and for Lucky,” Gold replied, giving a nod to the ghoul. Sharpshot glared at him. “Before becoming Invisible Mare. We know she don’t need it now.”

“You can say that again,” Sharpshot said. After a long breath, he looked at me. “So how has your day been?”

“Nearly got killed, met the Invisible Mare, and earned two new holes in my body,” I explained. I looked to the bandages on my chest, noticing the blood covering the bandages. “Surprisingly only one of them is from a gun.”

“Ah… and the other one?”

“A unicorn ghoul tried to stab me with its horn. It was more effective than I expected.”

There was a brief pause, Gold and Sharpshot looking at each other in astonishment before the latter spoke. “That’s… okay, as I’m working on your injuries you're going to tell me everything that happened.”

While a healing potion did end up fixing a lot of what was ailing me, it wasn’t perfect. The hole from the unicorn had been around for more than long enough for the potion’s effects to be overall mitigated, and to some extent the same could be said for the more recent shoulder wound. That meant Sharpshot had more than enough work on his hooves, with bandages being changed and added, magic to make sure the bones in my shoulder healed in the correct way, and other things.

All the while I explained the day’s events to both the ghoul and the griffon lazing about next to us. He was clearly on the verge of passing out, exhausted from whatever they had gone through to get to us, but was doing everything in his power to stay awake. Sharpshot tensed up more each time I mentioned the M.A.S. hub, though he continued to work as if nothing was wrong.

Then, I mentioned seeing Dead Hooves ghost. He went uncomfortably still.

“Ghosts rare. Many ponies ca… can’t see them,” Gold said, a yawn and nearly closed eyes signaling how close he was to passing out. “Not unheard of, however. Zebras more receptive to plain of unlife, griffons not so much, and ponies in middle.”

“Huh, so it isn’t just me then,” I said, not noticing the death glare being given from the other side of me. “Guess you learned this all from your time as a Talon. Can’t think of how you would know otherwise.”

“Learn lots, protecting and killing. Info more useful than caps at times,” he explained, closing his eyes completely. “Is blessing and curse. Not every ghost seen is friendly. Not every haunting is out of hate.” An exhale, his mind no doubt approaching the point where the waking world was fading away. “Not every spirit is free. Some live eternally in their dying moments.”

I had no response, because there wasn’t any way to respond. My first thoughts went to the screams of anguish and torment that I heard. The screams I had long associated with those I had failed to protect in Trotson, and those who never made it back on other missions. Till now I had always believed them to be the result of PTSD. The thought I could be haunted was… distressing.

Then I thought back to everypony I knew, everypony I had ever met up until my exile from the Enclave. I needed to know if Dead Hooves was the first time a ghost had actually been visible to my eyes. I came up with nothing, because everypony in my memories seemed too alive. If they were dead, it was impossible for me to tell.

Questions. So, so many questions. I couldn’t answer any of them, because nopony around me knew me from my days above the clouds. My only chance at answering any of them was Ironsight, and I wouldn’t hear from him for three days.

Having noticed a significant lack of burning pain in my shoulder for the past few minutes, I looked to Sharpshot. He was still glaring at me, something between rage and despair present in his eyes. Whether that was his true emotions couldn’t be gaged; the various cloth rapping and darkness hid it from being viewable, even as close as I was.

“So are you going to finish your work on my should–“

“Why you?”

His voice was barely audible, but the words were so simple it didn’t take long to figure out what he was saying. Nothing in his eyes changed, but it felt like any moment he was more than willing to take one of his guns and reopen my shoulder.

“Why you? Why the fuck did she show herself to you? Why can you fucking see her and not Willow and I?!”

Dead Hooves stepped into my vision, holding her forehooves out as if to hold the ghoul back. “Now listen here you insufferable bitch she–“

“We were with her through the best and worst moments. We were her friends! We are the ponies who should see her!” Sharpshot shouts all came with a step forward, easily pushing the ghost back as if she was an ant. “So why in the name of all the gods and goddesses of the ponies, zebras, and griffons does she show herself to you?”

“I didn’t exactly plan on seeing her,” I said, pointing to Dead Hooves. While he couldn’t see her, the various glances between me and the spot the dead mare was standing in showed he understood what I was doing. “I didn’t even know I could see ghosts until today, okay? So shut your muzzle and don’t get on me for things that are out of my control.”

“Yes. Makes too much noise,” Gold mumbled, shifting a bit in his nearly asleep state. “Griffon would like sleep, thanks very much.”

Sharpshot watched the griffon, and then let out an exaggerated groan. He started to walk off, telekinesis holding his zebra rifle behind him. Before reaching the door, he turned to me.

“Don’t put too much pressure on your shoulder for a few days and no flying till I say so,” he said. “Now if you don’t mind, I want to be alone till the sun rises.”

With that, he walked out of the clinic.

I returned to sleep not long after, and once again found myself in one of Dead Hooves memories. With the wish to simply watch it all play out, I allowed myself to sink back into believing I was the crippled mare. Rhapsody would simply return once I woke up.

Willow and I were still in Ponyville, still in the same building. Two more dead bodies had joined the one in the room next to us. We had stripped them of everything on them from weapons to ammo to clothing and, most importantly, their gas masks. They were the only way we were getting out of this town with the ash storm still brewing outside. With everypony inside houses, this was probably the best chance we had without spilling a settlements worth of blood.

Willow, rather reluctantly, helped me fit into the leather (a moment of silence for those poor brahmin) clothing that we had confiscated. It was almost suffocatingly closed in when the mask was put on over it, but it felt a bit secure too. I had spent my entire life around one little hut, and the fact the clothes hung tightly to my body made me feel like I was home.

Willow was clearly less alright with the clothing, and all for one reason: there was no room for wings. They pushed against the sides of the leather, making it look like some monster was begging to be freed. The wishes of her wings were denied for their own safety; if Balefire ash touched her coat or feathers, she would burn.

“You know how to use it, right?” She asked, pointing to the double barrel I had in my hooves.

“About the only weapon I’ve ever fired. Dad didn’t let me use any of his others,” I explained, breaking open the gun and slotting two of the six shells I had for it in.

To prove that I knew what I was doing, I pointed it away from the pegasus. Her eyes went from me to the submachine gun she had. One of the two magazines she had taken for it slid in, and she turned her attention back towards me. She motioned from me to her back, and with some help I managed to climb on top of her.

“So, any idea where we are heading?” I asked. “Don’t exactly know anywhere nearby.”

Willow rubbed her hoof against the underside of her muzzle, humming. With a nod, she started to walk up to the door leading outside.

“Closest place with civilization would probably be Appleloosa, though that isn’t exactly close. As long as this ash storm clears up within the day we should be able to make it there without much problem.”

“Why does the ash storm clearing up matter?”

“The filters on these masks don’t last forever. It won’t last through the day.”

With a gentle push of her hoof, the door opened itself. Willow quickly lowered her own mask as a blast of hot air and ash came through. It wasn’t a horrid heat, but it was far worse than anything the wasteland threw at a pony on a standard day.

“We’re going to need water badly,”

“This is what it’s like traveling in one of these things? How do you all do it?”

“Forty years ago, apparently we didn’t.” Willow stepped out of the door, the heat instantly making our clothes as uncomfortable as possible. “Ash storms were basically the normal weather back then. They’re still common, but ponies can actually travel outside now.”

“You think there will be a day when they're completely gone?”

“Perhaps. Pray to Celestia that day comes within our lifetime.”

Outside of the wind, the world around us was quiet. I could hear the crunch of ash with each step Willow took, the gray soot doing its best to cling to our masks and clothing. Each little piece did their best to ignite upon hitting the ground, but like all the others they quickly died. It made it difficult to tell what color the buildings around us were, but their shape was all we needed.

After a time we made our way to an interesting looking building that was close to the center of town. It was themed after a gingerbread house, though a lot of what had given it that appearance had disappeared. It was a crumbling mess, much of the outside decor had fallen to the ground, vibrant pinks, yellows, purples and other colors had worn and faded from time and lack of care.

“If we’re looking for a liquid of any kind, it would be here,” Willow explained. “Be ready to open fire. There might be ponies inside.”

I gave a nod and lit my horn, opening the door for the pegasus so she could train her gun on what possibly lay beyond. We were greeted by a red light filter from outside, the floor as clean as one could get in the wasteland. Nopony immediately showed themselves, and that gave us our cue to enter the building.

With a kick, Willow closed the door behind it. It wasn’t subtle, but then again if anypony was hear they would have heard the creaking of the door when I opened it; stealth wasn’t an option. With a sense of dread and foreboding, I held the shotgun up to our left side.

Wherever we entered used to be a bakery, though the baked goods were probably not the best to eat anymore. A lot of what was in the display case had turned to moldy dust, and those that weren’t had been twisted so horribly by the passage of time I felt the rising urge to vomit. I looked away from it and to the rest of the bakery. The tables, chairs, faded paintings, and otherwise were a lot less stomach churning though far from pleasant. I highly doubt any of them would be able to take a ponies weight anymore, and neither Willow or myself were interested in finding out.

There was an out of sync clop of a hoof, and Willow froze in place. Feeling like I would slow the pegasus down more if I was on her when shots flew, slid off her and onto the floor. I landed on my side, and while it certainly hurt, the fall had done nothing more than bruise. Quickly getting my front hooves under me, I slowly started dragging myself towards the display case in preparation for when the first shot flew.

Except, what came wasn’t a shot but a stern glare from the pegasus I had just fallen off of. I gave her the goofiest smile I could, but with our masks still on that proved ineffective at first. Actually, no, even once I had lowered the mask she was looking at me like a disappointed parent. The only thing keeping her from openly scolding me was the sound of hoofsteps not far away.

“I’m positive that it was the door I heard. There’s no way it wasn’t.”

Willow briefly looked at where the new view, clearly belonging to a mare, had come from. She didn’t hide, didn’t flee, didn’t even take cover. The sound of approaching enemies was what finally put a smile back on the pegasi’s face, stepping towards where she knew they were coming from. Something about her in that moment scared me, as if it had managed to put all the blood that stained her coat in a very different lightening. The feeling that it wasn’t all hers.

“You’re imagining things,” Another mare said. They were coming from far closer to me than the other one was. “Nopony would be dumb enough to go out right now. Not with the ash storm overhead.”

“You’re wrong and you know you are wrong,” the first mare replied. “First off, you have those travelers idiotic enough to prove Equestria is safe once again. Second, you have the striped from Stalliongrad with the biggest fucking death wish I’ve ever seen. Third, Boulder.”

“Boulder wouldn’t g–”

“He would, you know we would. You think that wheezing and hacking he does all the time is due to the amount of physical excursion he puts himself through?”

“No! He’s built like a brick and has the endurance of wartime machine… in more ways than one.”

The second mare was blushing. I have no clue why but she was very blushing, but she most definitely was. She was right above me at that point, on the other side of the display case. As she was in the middle of a conversation, her ability to both search for me and talk caused her to look straight and not down. It did nothing to stop the loud thumping of my heart, waiting for her to either turn away or spot me.

“... really?” the first mare said, breaking the few seconds of silence her companion had left her in.

“Oh well if you want to get on me about my choice in stallions,” she turned her head away from me, and I knew this was my chance. I raised the double-barrle up as she continued to speak. “then perhaps I should get on you about your choice in mares!”

BANG!

I missed. I fucking missed. The shotgun had been directly leveled with her head and yet somehow I missed!

The world slowed as the mare turned to face me. My ear rang, leaving me unable to tell that Willow had just engaged the other enemy. For the second, maybe third time that day I felt certain I was gonna die. The rising of a pistol between my eyes only further proved that, but I had one more bullet

With a silent prayer to Celestia I gave what I thought might be my final actions, and fired.

BANG!

I didn’t realize I had closed my eyes until I needed to open them. The shotgun had deafened me, leaving me in near absolute silence. I thought I was dead until the sound of gunfire graced my ears. With the knowledge I wasn’t yet dead, I dared to open my eyes and see what had become of the mare I had shot.

I was met with the returned urge to vomit, not at what lied within the display case but what was behind it. Blood, tissue, bits of gray matter, anything else that possibly made up what used to be her head. My eyes trailed from where the gore was at its worst to the body. There wasn’t anything that could be called a head anymore. Just a broken mess of bone and skin, clinging onto a limping spine.

My tongue momentarily started to run against my lips, but I pulled it back in. Fear at what that initial stomach churning display had turned into overwhelmed me. Head to the ground, hooves covering my ears, and eyes hidden behind eyelids, my body shook. What it wanted frightened me to no end.

“I won’t. I won’t do it again,” I muttered in terror. “That was an exception. I won’t do it again.”

My words didn’t calm me down, but they did stop the twisted thoughts going through my head. Refusing to look back through the display case, I crawled forward. I brought the shotgun towards me, ready for whatever might show up. My ears somehow caught the muffled sound of body blows being exchanged between ponies, grunts of discomfort and pain hitting my ears.

Then a body flew past me, out the bakery window, and I yelped. I tried to fire a shot but all I got was the click of the trigger; I had forgotten to reload it. A figure stepped forward, Willow Wisp to my relief, motioning me to put my mask on. Lifting myself up as high as my forelegs could, using the display case for support, I looked to the window and saw why.

My hearing was still shot, so I hadn’t heard the sound of glass shattering. I quickly put on the gas mask as the air outside made its way in, ash joining it. A mare, battered, bruised and lacking any protection (she must have wrongfully thought she was safe in the bakery) stood up. She yelled at the pegasus, but I couldn’t make it out. Not until she looked at her hoof and started to scream.

The return of sound to my body was filled with the terrified cries of a pony, and the cackling of fire. It had suddenly lit up in flames, her other hoof going to put it out only to somehow ignite itself as the flames traveled up her. She reached out for us, but I was too scared to approach and Willow was watching in prideful elation at the sight before her.

“Help! Please, help me!” The burning mare replied, her voice becoming more terrified and loud as the flames consumed her more and more. “I’ll do anything, everything! Just please for CelestiaaAAA!”

Her cries for help turned in loud, horrified screams as the flames reached her face. Looking away was impossible, my terror at the sight only slightly dulled at one putrid though: she would be too burnt to eat. Dispelling that horrid thought was as impossible as looking away, even as my vision blurred and the dream started to end.

The urge to vomit hit me as soon as I woke up. Half asleep, Dead Hooves’ grotesteque thoughts still at the forefront of my mind, a foreleg found its way around my muzzle. I quickly went from barely awake to fully aware of all my surroundings. Bile rose, and it refused to move its way back down. As quick as my barely awake legs could carry me, and half-walked half-waddled towards the reception area. Throwing my forelegs over it and batting my wings as quickly as I could, I leaned into the receptionist desk and hurled.

Thank Luna none of the ponies supposed to be behind it were alive to see that.

I was all too thankful that there wasn’t much to throw up at that point, but it was more than enough to leave the disgusting taste of puke in my mouth. I waited to know if I was done before sliding off the counter and back to the floor. My ears turned as they heard hooves, and turning around to see who it was led me to the forms of Dead Hooves and Shining Gemini. One of them I was not happy to see.

I gave the ghost a death glare, leading her to stumble. With her silenced, a let out a sigh and looked at a grounder I was the tiniest bit more willing to talk to. Though, to be honest, I had no desire to talk to anypony at that moment.

“A-are you okay?” Gemini asked. With every step I took forward, she took a step back. I smirked at the knowledge she was afraid of me, something I was more than happy to see after everything that had happened the day prior. “Do you… do you need RadAway? I could grab it for you if you need it.”

“No,” I said, briefly glancing at the radiation counter on the MentaBuck just to be completely sure. I was the slightest bit irradiated, probably from being near the Trotson crater, but not to the extent I felt I needed to take anything. “That was because of something else. Fucking cannibals.”

“Fu- what?”

“Nothing. I don’t want to talk right now,” I said, placing a hoof in the direction of the door into the rest of the medical center. “None of you grounders are intelligent enough to understand.”

Gemini froze still, on the verge of tears just from those few simple words. If she couldn’t handle the truth of my words, then she really was even less worth my time than the rest of these dirt covered mistakes that surrounded me. If only it got rid of the one I was actually trying to get away from.

I didn’t need to look behind me to tell Dead Hooves had followed every step I took. I needed a walk, silence, and my own thoughts at that given moment. I need some semblance of common sense and none of these ponies were gonna give me it. Especially a pony eating ghost.

And to think she claimed to be family!

It was ridiculous, insulting, and too corrupt for me to even consider. The ghost following the serial killer alicorn and the wasteland’s most wanted was a cannibal, cause of course she was! The closest thing I had to a sane pony around me was probably the freed slave I had just yelled at. That was not a good sign.

“Singing, I don’t know what you saw but Gemini didn’t deserve that.”

A cannibal, claiming to be my own blood. Very distant blood, but blood nonetheless. Anypony related to me that was down here would have been a saint compared to the tartarus pit they had put themselves in. What I got instead was some grounder who thought they were far smarter than they actually were.

“Is this because of something in my memories? You saw me eat somepony, didn’t you?”

Fuck, the spirit had just admitted to it herself! I did my best to ignore her existence, my legs carrying me to nowhere in particular. All I wanted to do was be left alone and Dead Hooves was trying her best to deny me that. The worst part was that, despite everything, I was actually listening to what she was saying.

“Look I know it's bad but I swear if I had another option I would have. I didn’t ask for that hunger.”

“You ate ponies,” I said, finally caving to the spirit’s wish of acknowledgement. I never stopped walking. “You think there is a good explanation for that.”

“A good one? No, but there is an explanation. It’s… my mother was one as well, okay? She left when I was young because the hunger was too much and she didn’t want to hear my dad and I.”

“That’s not an explanation. That’s you trying to buy time to create an excuse.”

“Or perhaps you are being difficult because of, what, heritage? Is your family tree really so important?”

I halted, spun around and slapped her with enough force to throw her into the wall. I’m not sure if the fact I had managed to hit a ghost was as surprising as how hard I had managed. Turns out that ghosts had the strength of a six year old unicorn foal, who knew?

“Do you have any idea how half-unicorns or half-earth ponies are treated in the Enclave?” I asked her. She hadn’t responded, more interested in standing back up and rubbing her bruised cheek. “They’re the dregs of Enclave society, the impure unwanted who the Enclave deals with to show we’re better. They’re the last who are looked at for jobs, the lowest paid, and don’t even get me started on how one is treated for joining the military. If I’m that, then… I can’t be like that.”

Dead Hooves narrowed her eyes at me, nose twitching. “You can’t be, or you're scared that you are?”

“I am not scared.”

“Okay, but if having relations with a cannibal doesn’t scare you, then why are your eyes so unsteady?”

It was a trick, her words had to be a trick, but damn it she got me. I became more aware of how I was looking, glaring daggers into her. I looked furious, but in truth I had been terrified because… because I was. She had me. I refused to say it but this pony, who Willow had called an idiot, had me.

Dead Hooves' talent in life had been manipulation. I had witnessed that ability first hoof.

“If you’re not scared, then considering me your great great auntie Dead Hooves shouldn’t be anything to gray your mane over,” she said to me. There was no smirk on her face, instead looking as cold and emotionless as a soldier at attention. “You have some unicorn in you. Deny it all you want, but you do.”

“I’m not connected to a cannibal,” I stated, more a reaffirmation for myself than anything else.

“You don’t have to like it, but you are,” Dead Hooves replied. All confidence in her voice evaporated following her words, ears pinned against her head. “So, let me just tell you about it. About that piece of myself, because I wanted it to exist as much as anypony would want cancer.”

I had no obligation saying I had to listen to her, but the way she pleaded reminded me of Clear. I looked over Dead Hooves for a moment, remembering that, despite no longer being alive, she also wasn’t some crazy old mare. She was young, around the age I had joined military service. Her nonexistent heart was worn on her just as nonexistent sleeve, and as Willow said she hadn’t actually lied to me. Me seeing her memories was clearly not her initial intent, even if it was what we were doing.

Then there was the fact that, as if having an out of body experience, I identified with the unicorn before me in a way that can’t quite be explained. I knew I wasn’t her, that I was a pegasus and not a unicorn, but her memories still lingered in the back of my head. I wasn’t worried about the fact they had left, because they felt as much a part of me as all the memories that made me Rhapsody. A desire to know more about those memories had been placed deeper in my heart.

So, though it may be a mistake, I decided to give a nod as my answer. Dead Hooves gave me a solemn smile.

“Mom was a zebra. When she was still with dad and I, she told me about myths and legends from her homeland. One of the few actual real legends she mentioned was something called “the gluttonous one”. It is some sort of strange old spirit far different from myself. It was believed to have once been a normal zebra, but for reasons either desperate or malicious it ate its sister.

What followed for the zebra was a slope, one so slippery yet so enticing it couldn’t and soon didn’t want to come back out. They’re hunger for flesh soon became something separate from normal hunger, like how… no there has to be another analogy.”

“If it’s something gross and dark, don’t worry,” I told her, tapping my chest. “Enclave soldier, remember?”

Despite still being rather unsure of the words, she gave a nod. “I was gonna say it was like how… somepony else getting you off can feel stronger compared to doing it yourself.”

There was a good fifteen seconds of silence, the grounder’s ethereal form unable to hide her blush. I did not laugh, because it was not the time to burst into hysterics at some adolescent mare’s attempt to make a sex joke. That was really hard though, especially as I realized that the analogy did not work as well as Dead Hooves thought it did.

“A-Anyways, he kept eating zebras. Didn’t matter how he got the bodies or if they were alive or dead when he found them, he ate and ate. It changed him, made him something darker and more insidious. The only reason he didn’t rampage in the world of the living was because an old and wise shaman named Perseverance struck him down. Most were saved, but those like my mother and myself were not.

“To those who have tasted blood, that gluttonous one always knows. For the sins of eating one's own, no matter the reason, life's embrace can not protect you. He whispers in your ear and warps your perception, goading you on and asking you to give in. My mom felt it and feared him, and I battled his hunger since I first tasted pony flesh. I wish I could assure you I only did it once, but that would be a lie.”

She capped off the story with a look, one that both commanded and pleaded at the same time. There was truth to it – there was always some truth behind myth and legend – and she wanted me to just take her word and not find out if it was true or not. This was one case where I was more than happy to agree, as I was not damaged enough in the frontal lobe to eat somepony.

“I want to point out, your little talk didn’t make what you did sound any better,” I explained, turning around and restarting my mindless walk through the medical center. “In fact you just made it sound several times worse.”

“That’s what I was hoping for,” Dead Hooves replied, once again refusing to leave me alone. “I made a mistake. A mistake I felt was my only choice at that time, but in the long run it just caused my friends and I a hard time.”

I nodded mechanically, and for an unknown length of time we walked together in silence. Despite having wanted to be alone, and who was robbing me of that wish, I found myself appreciating the company.

When I returned to the lobby, Willow had woken up. Gemini was sitting not too far away from her, though clearly guarded. The alicorn wasn’t in anywhere near as much discomfort as I had seen her in before, which was good. Gemini might have been the only other sane pony here, but Willow was the only one I felt I was actually getting along well with.

They both acknowledged me, and then went back to whatever they were discussing. I sat on one of the many broken seats on the other side of the lobby, Dead Hooves doing the same right next to me, and I eavesdropped.

“It’s just… nice, you know?” Gemini said, forehooves close to her chest. “I won’t lie, I didn’t expect somepony like you to be a freed slave. I mean, you seemed just like Celestia and Luna. How could somepony control you?”

Willow snorted in amusement. “Well I’m pretty sure that was part of the intent Minister Sparkle had for us, and I wasn’t always an alicorn.”

“I know but… you just seem so unlike me, I guess. Its like you were never enslaved in the first place. How did- well- I’m not entirely sure how to word the question I’m trying to ask.”

“Slow down. You’re getting scared over nothing.”

“But this isn’t nothing, it's…,” Gemini’s motions were starting to become slightly erratic. Her pupils flicked in multiple directions, shrinking in fear of an unknown predator. “I-I’m not supposed to be here. You know this, I know this, that pegasus knows. If I don’t seem like I have things together I–”

“What did Sharpshot say to you?”

The rise and fall of Gemini’s chest became slightly more erratic as she looked up at Willow. The alicorn was disappointed, but none of it was pointed at the freed slave before her. I had held that same look at Anchor when he did something, and Anchor had done it to me for the same exact reasons. The lack of an answer from Gemini did nothing but make it even worse.

“Damn it hun. You’re ruining yourself,” she whispered, though with her voice in our head the point of whispering became more freaky then useful. “Gemini, whatever he said to you, I’m so so sorry.”

“Sorry? Why are you sorry for me?” Gemini asked, shuffling backwards a bit. “I missed up last night. I almost killed somepony by complete accident.”

“It was a dumb decision, yes, but have you ever used a gun before yesterday?”

“N-n-no.”

“Who put the gun in your hooves with nary a lesson on how to properly use it?” Gemini clammed up, eyes slowly trailing down Willow Wisp’s body and to the floor. “It was Sharpshot, I know it was Sharpshot. You pulled the trigger, yes, but he was the pony who gave it to you.”

“Y… yeah, I’m sorry.”

“Hey Singing.” I straightened up as Willow called my name. “You think you have time before we leave to show her some proper gun safety? You’re easily the most qualified here.”

“Y-you don’t have to,” Gemini said, hooves waving frantically in front of her. “I know I messed up, a-and I’m sure you don’t really want to talk to me right now.”

One side of my lip scowled, the other remained expressionless. As much as I hated to admit it, Willow had a very good point. Getting shot in the shoulder last night was not part of the plan, and if Gemini was with us – against her will or not – she would need to learn to use a gun correctly. I looked to Dead Hooves, not so much in confirtmation but more in intrigue as to how she felt about it all.

All she did was give a smile and shrug.

“If I’m going to teach you how to use a gun, then you will do exactly as I ask,” I told Gemini, emphasizing my last few words by pointing at her with my hoof. “Do you understand, grounder?”

“Y-yes Miss Rhapsody!”

“I’m married.”

“Sorry.”

I threw a hoof up in the air. “It’s fine. Just don’t make me repeat myself later.”

“You see? You have no reason to be afraid of us,” Willow said, clapping her hooves together and smiling brightly. “So open up. You got ponies right here willing to listen to what you’ve been through.”

Two quick glances to each side of her body, and Gemini shook her head. “I-I-I’m… I’m not sure I’m ready yet. I mean I literally met you all, what, three days ago? I don’t want you all to just… I don’t want pity.”

“You won’t be getting any from me,” I said to her, leaning back. She looked to me like a filly that knew they had just gotten in trouble. “All you unicorns and earth ponies got issues, and that's why you’re down here and not up in the sky. Can’t pity what's basically a normal upbringing.”

“And where does that put you?” Willow asked.

I gave her a shrug. “Fucked up beyond repair? Sure I didn’t get branded for the reasons most dashites do, but I’ve been on missions no Enclave soldier would ever want to be on. Citizens see us as heroes, but we… Celestia knows what condition the so-called heroes head is in.”

“So you’re a lot like me then.”

I narrowed my eyes at the Gemini, and she turned away. The urge to address how wrong she was barely held in check. Gold yawning was part of the reason why, the griffon’s old eyes barely open. He was as awake as a goldfish was intelligent for a small period of time, but as minutes added up and he became more and more awake that became more offensive and less apt.

“Noisy lot. Can’t a griff awaken in peace?”

“S-sorry Mister Gold,” Gemini replied,

The griffon looked to the window, weakly scoffed, and then stretched his talons out. “Not unicorns fault. I… slept in.”

I willed up the MentaBuck, checking the clock that I had barely acknowledged was there since getting the damn thing. He was correct; it was currently around 0900 hours, far later than then I had originally suspected it to be.

“Guess our little walk-and-talk earlier was longer than I expected,” Dead Hooves said, forehooves rubbing together. I raised one side of my brow at her. What kind of nervous habit was that? “And it’s probably gonna be a bit longer with you having to, well, give a one pony weapons class.”

“I fucking hate that you’re right,” I replied. Standing up, I looked at Gemini. “Alright, we’ll get some food and then do some gun safety 101. Does Sharpshot still have all the food and ammo on him still?”

Willow gave a nod. “Well we certainly didn’t take it with us to the M.A.S. hub.”

I allowed myself to bare a malicious grin at my memory being confirmed as right. “Perfect.”

Sharpshot was leaning against the building right next to Nature Care, staring at me like I had mud on my face. That was definitely because of the grin I was baring, unable to wipe it off my face as much as I tried. I had been given a proper reason to do what I had been wanting to do since I met him. A reason beyond him playing with my emotions like I was some robot.

“So you trying to creep my out or–“

I twisted around and bucked him in the face, earning a pained groan. Happy with what I had gotten, I swiped some rifle ammo, food, and headed back inside without a second thought. My grin was far beyond the line of being natural.

After a wonderful meal the large group I had gained out of seemingly nowhere left Nature Care. We weren’t heading anyplace specific just yet, be allowing those of us with wings to stretch in a more open area. I set up a small makeshift firing range with the help of Gold using practically anything we could find around us. Cans of Sparkle-Cola and Sunrise Sarsaparilla lined the street not too far away, with some precariously on top of fire hydrants, window sills, and the like.

If I was gonna teach a grounder the basics of fighting, I was going to do it in the most official way I could. Gemini wasn’t a soldier, and I doubted that she had the mental fortitude of a soldier, so I was already going to be more lenient overall. If she hadn’t fucked up my shoulder I might have even demonstrated for her. Instead I had the help of a very disgruntled ghoul.

He called it a waste of ammunition. I called it vital instruction.

“Alright, before we put a gun in your hooves there are three things that need to immediately be made clear. Three things that will keep you from fracturing any more shoulders by accident in the future,” I explained, pacing back and forth in front of her. Gold chuckled at my wording, though Gemini didn’t seem to get my sense of human. I swear she is a foal in a mare's body. “The first of those is to never look down the end of a gun, even if you think it isn’t loaded or broken. That’s a one way ticket to Celestia, and she would be very disappointed if you showed up through such means, grounder or not.”

“D-don’t look down the place where the bullet comes out,” Gemini said. She gave a nod. “Yeah, that makes sense.”

“Then the next two should sound even more sensible: don’t point a gun at somepony who isn’t a threat.” I grew more stern in my delivery, as this was one she had technically failed last night. I was going to ignore the fact it was pitch black, because it didn’t matter for teaching somepony gun safety. “If you pull that trigger at the wrong time or by complete accident, then you could very well kill somepony you didn’t mean to. That also brings me to number three: don’t put your magic – or however you plan to pull the trigger – on the trigger until you are going to fire. That keeps incidents like last night from happening.”

“O-o-of course.”

“Answer with confidence, grounder!”

“Of course!”

I smiled. Gemini was clearly scared, but she was doing everything in her power to not show it. Her legs shook a little, and her words were not the most well articulated, but by Luna she was trying. Perhaps I was wrong; maybe there was the hint of a soldier underneath the trauma. I made a mental note to prod and see.

If it was possible to turn a scared little grounder into something resembling the Enclave’s finest, perhaps this place wasn’t beyond hopeless.

From there I moved on to putting a gun in her hooves. Her nervousness popped up again and again, with me having to rip the pistol from her magic and remind her of the basics. She did get it down with a bit of instruction, using a voice that bordered more on maternal then drill sergeant.

All the while the crowd of three gave unnecessary banter and, in the case of Sharpshot, generally horrible advice. When I loaded Gemini’s pistol so she could finally get some practice shots in, they started betting. If I wasn’t so focused on the unicorn before me, then each of them would have earned the most disappointing stare a pegasus could muster.

“So Sharpshot says she’ll hit none, Gold says two, and I say five,” Willow said. I only hoped Gemini had kept out her telepathy; they were putting unnecessary pressure on the mare. “You want to join in Singing?”

“I do not, and will kindly ask you all to shut the fuck up!” I yelled at them. I looked back to Gemini, leaning in and giving her a pat on the back with one of my wings. “Pay no attention to them. I don’t expect you to be perfect on your first attempt. Take one shot at a time and all will be fine.”

The unicorn nodded. “One shot at a time, right.”

She aimed down the makeshift firing range, the fast rise and fall of her chest contradicting how focused she was trying to look. The pistol has fourteen bullets, and there were seven glass bottles laid out before us. A bang, and seven were still standing. Another bang, and one sitting on the road shattered. Every shot that followed fulfilled one of those two outcomes, and when the pistol had been empty we had our verdict.

Fourteen bullets, four bottles still standing, three destroyed. While I had said she didn’t need to destroy all of them, the fact a good number of them were still standing was disappointing. It was also more than I had expected, which left me conflicted. Gemini simply looked relieved.

“I actually hit one of them,” she said, turning to me with the barest amount of bravery. “No, I hit sever–”

“You’re pointing it at me.”

Her bravery disappeared as soon as I pointed out her mistake, lowering the pistol and flattening her ears. “Sorry.”

“You did good though,” I gave the ponies and griffon behind me a smug look, leaving me unable to notice the small smile Gemini had gained. “Looks like none of you won. Does that make me the winner?”

“You didn’t pick a number, so no,” Sharpshot replied. His words were laced with venom, probably from me kicking him in the face earlier that day. “Congrats, noponies a winner. Who knows when you’ll get your chance for another victory.”

“Victory comes in the form of the Enclave’s – and by extension your – safety. That doesn’t happen till my old squad is dead,” I reminded him. I took a few steps forward, standing in the center of our little group. “Which means it’s time to put our focus back on Angel Hair. The good news is that Lucky told us her location, the bad news is she isn’t in Trotson anymore.”

“She sold ArcanaTech the stolen documents for info on her biological father. Apparently they are in Our Haven,” Willow explained further. She frowned. “Betraying everypony you know, for a pony you’ve never met. She deserves the most painful death a pegasus can be offered.”

“Which is why our next stop is Our Haven. Gold, I assume yo–”

Sharpshot stepped forward, waving one foreleg around in perfect 4/4 time. “Whoa whoa whoa, you want me and Willow to go into Our Haven?”

“Yes, because I recruited you two to deal with traitors of the G.P.E.. Doing otherwise would be going against that.”

“Yes, and I’m willing to do that, but Our Haven!” His hoof swung outward. “Nu uh. No way. They tried to kill Willow once already and I’m not letting you send her to her death!”

I raised my brow, and looked at Willow in hopes of an explanation. She sighed, then looked at her husband. The sorrow on her face wasn’t pointed at him, but rather at me.

“I… I don’t want to step hoof near it again. I didn’t mention it when we were at the M.A.S. hub, but if you’re going there then I need to stay outside. They really, really hate alicorns.”

“What? Why?” Gemini asked, tilting her head. “I mean your… messy, but not a bad pony. Did… did you do something to a pony there?”

Willow shook her head. “No. There reasons are religious. Alicorns built the ministries, alicorns started the war. Alicorns brought the world to an end. All alicorns are sin incarnate, and we must be purged to avoid the same mistake from occurring.”

Gemini gasped, Gold allowing her no time to recover as he replied.

“Our Haven is cult. Powerful cult too, like old Nightmare Moon fanatics. Controls much of food in San Palomino due to clean water source. Want food? Follow Our Haven code. They protect San Palomino decently well, but are cruel.”

“There is another group called the Shattered Moon, but they are more bandits than a nation,” Willow explained. A brought my hoof to my muzzle realizing how familiar that name sounded. “They mean good, but siding with them means a target on your back.”

“I see. I can understand why you wouldn’t want to put your wife in that sort of harm. You can stay outside of Our Haven if you desire,” I said, motion to Sharpshot and Willow. “I’m still going in. Angel needs to die.”

“Not really.”

I looked back to Gold, the old griffon lazing back with a half-empty bottle of Sparkle-cola. He took another gulp, lowered it, and stared right back at me with lackadaisical intrigue. It was the look of someone who had seen everything, and already knew what response his words would draw.

“Angel unimportant. Already got rid of documents, so just normal pegasus. Nothing gained from killing them.”

I took a slow step forward, leaning my head forward. “Are you trying to convince me to not go after her?”

“Would save time, get us to other pegasi with documents. That's important for the mission, correct?”

“What's important is what I messed up. I let the documents get stolen, I got betrayed, I need to set things right!” I gave one hard stomp after another towards the griffon. “That aligns with what the Enclave wants, not ArcanaTech.”

“W-wouldn’t the Enclave pre–” I gave Gemini a glare, freezing her in place. Her eyes looked away from me. “I-I mean yes, right with you missus.”

“None of this is necessary, Rhapsody,” Sharpshot said, stepping forward. “Like, I’m all up for killing ponies but you seem… back and forth I guess? What do you want? Your family's protection, or revenge.”

“I want both damnit, and they go hoof and hoof,” I said. “My revenge lines up with what the Enclave wants, and if M.A.M. falls into the wrong hooves then… then….”

Willow tilted her head, Sharpshot’s eyes narrowing at me. “M.A.M.?”

I gritted my teeth, mentally beating myself as they mimicked that acronym back at me. Stepping back would only cement that I had let slip something I hadn’t meant to. Stepping forward felt impossible, because I had just made an unfortunate blunder. My choice ended up being to turn away and mouth “fuck”.

I was hoping what I had told them back at the apartment complex would have been enough. That no longer seemed to be the case. It was time to see how much they would allow me to keep under wraps.

“It’s unimportant. You don’t need to know about it.”

“No. It’s what you came here for,” Gold said. I glared at him in warning, but the griffon didn’t care. “Among blueprints was a device. Its purpose: destruction. Similar to balefire spells, yet different. Technologically made, instead of magic.”

Outside of the rushing wind, there was no sound. All eyes were on me, Willow’s glee contrasting heavily to the horror on Gemini and Sharpshot’s faces. Gold continued to laze back without a care, watching with intrigue as Sharpshot and I took a step back from each other. Gemini would have probably stepped away from me if she wasn’t frozen in terror.

“Singing, what the geezer is saying,” Sharpshot said. It was odd to hear him genuinely terrified. “don’t tell me it is true. Tell me he is lying.”

I closed my eyes, lowered my head, and shook it. “No, he’s telling the truth. Ironsight’s plan was to destroy the world again. He saw it as the only way to undo the damage Calamity caused, until everything he built was undone by my squad. I didn’t like it, but I couldn’t stop him.”

I lifted my head back up and opened my eyes. “He was higher up in the Enclave than me; a General instead of a Lieutenant Colonel. I simply went along with it, content in the idea it might keep some revolution from happening.”

Another few moments of silence followed, only broken by words that hurt far more than they ever should have.

“You’re a fucking monster.”