Bionic Titan: A New Dawn

Helium Delight

The boat swayed gently. The cruise ship had gone out from somewhere with some destination in mind, I didn’t know where exactly. My parents and my little sister had been all excited about it in the days before, but something about the water made me uneasy.

Of the three of us, I was the only one who could fly in the family. But, that was no surprise as we were all pretty mixed. Dad was a unicorn with feathers, mom was an earth pony with feathers, little sister was a unicorn with feathers, and supposedly, feathers were common in mom’s side.

I never really knew where we came from. They’d met in a foreign land, and we traveled from year to year wherever the wind would blow us. Something about an adventurous life that spoke to them both. I remember being in cold places, icy places, starry places, warm places, and then… there was always water around.

Sandy and green and shiny in the day, but at night, there was always that dark water outside the window. They would always try to get me to come play with them. The sound of the waves washing in, the beach slowly being taken away little by little. I hated the water.

It was outside my window. Another dark night, another view underneath the surf. I could never sleep well on a boat, so I’d been sitting there watching the shifting swirl beyond.

A dark thing came closer. It was like a shadow, a monster that grew and grew the longer I watched. I wanted to run, but it stared at me. A big, glowing red eye.

The world fell to pieces. The dark water came rushing in. It spun and tossed, thrashing me from side to side, dragging me deeper like claws on my ankles. I struggled for air, struggled for anything, but the surface kept getting further and further away.

“Help, help, help! The water, the water!”

“Hey, relax! Quit kicking me!”

I opened my eyes. There was no water. No boat, no ponies, no monster. Only Zap.

It was late morning. The early sun was streaming into our little apartment window, the waves outside were beckoning softly, and the heat was tolerable for the moment. And yet, I could feel myself covered in sweat. I shivered.

Zap didn’t say anything. He sat himself on the side of my bed and waited, watching out the window. Part of me was relieved, and the other embarrassed. Twelve years and I still dream about it. So long have the waves called for me to join them, and he’s always been there to keep them at bay. Twelve long years.

“I’m going to go take a shower,” I said, getting up.

“Make it quick. We need to be at the dock at nine.”

‘The dock.’ He could just say Blackrow, but he was so ardently against this that I wonder why he didn’t just go without me. But, it’s Zap. He made me a promise, and I don’t know what there was in the world that could make him break it. Nothing we’ve encountered so far at least.

“Okay. Did you already eat? How long have you been up?”

“Not long. We’ll eat on the way. Just get ready.”

He’s not even here right now. I know better than to try when he gets like this, so I just went on. In Cavalria, there are few things that work correctly. To get the shower on, you had to start the water and flush the toilet twice for the pump to act. After a few minutes of uncomfortable gurgling, the shower would start. More minutes and it might even bless you with hot water. We didn’t have time for that though, so today was another cold shower.

Sometimes, Cavalria got so hot that the cold shower was welcome, but I never felt that way. Even in the heat, I’d rather have hot water. Cold feels too much like ice stabbing into my skin. Like if it were just a little stronger, it might drag me down the drain.

Today, however, I didn’t have time to be bothered by that. Training starts today, which means I get to fulfill one of my long held dreams: to fly a titan! Well, that’s a relative word. The titan I get to be in doesn’t have that capability, and more than anything, I’ll just be trying to get it to walk.

Zap says it’s easy, anypony could do it. Everyone else on the other hoof, has a different opinion. Since the meeting yesterday, I’ve been reading up on it with all the files doctor Ligament gave me to study. ‘Plugging in’ to a titan for the first time is an entire ordeal, or at least, that’s what I’ve read.

The system uses a magic neural link to connect your brain directly into the machine. From there, you get a surge of information like you suddenly have a second body outside your real body. Some people can’t handle that at all. The more limbs one has, the more dangerous it is to use the system as, not only are you gaining at minimum four more, every little movement requires you to process that much more information at a much greater scale.

Sometimes, you plug in too many appendages and the pilot can’t handle it. Overload causes hemorrhages in the brain, leading to death. The original titan designs were much more complex than what actually made it to production due to this important factor.

As if that weren’t enough, the gel system was also something implemented in later designs. Your body can only handle so many gravities before your internals start bouncing around inside. Even the original Mercury had the potential to kill a pilot just by reaching its top speed and coming to a sudden halt. The gel mitigates this a lot, but only to a certain degree, just like Zap said.

That big stallion, mister Comet, said we both had to be in the cockpit; it’s the whole point of the job, so I have to be able to use a titan in the event I need to or whatever we’re supposed to do. He didn’t exactly explain that, but supposedly, we’ll see him again on the day.

My body clean, I turned off the water and shook myself dry. I combed my mane and tail as best I could, and once that was done, I made my way out to the living room. Well, I say that, but the bed was really only separated by a curtain from the rest of the apartment, and the bathroom took up a quarter of the total space here. Somehow, we’d survived in much smaller places before this one.

To think, all of this could change so drastically in just under a week. My own room, working plumbing, never having to worry about food, or dangerous work, or water ever again…

The waves pulled my eyes their direction. I shivered.

“HD.”

He was at the door, our bag in hoof, waiting for me.

“Coming.”

Ten months worth of money to live on had suddenly tripled. I guess Mister Comet didn’t consider us a package deal like Gaston did, and that meant I had more money to my own name than I’ve ever had in my entire life. I couldn’t leave Cavalisa on this, but I could find a life on a nicer island than Cavalria. Preferably, a bigger one closer to an inland city. I could get a job in a safer area and finally help Zap for once. Anything to make our lives a little easier.

But, there was even more to be gained from doing this. All we had to do was get in and get out. One titan. Zap can pilot anything, and I’ll hopefully just be along for the ride. And if I’m not, well that’s what we’re going to Blackrow every day for. To get me—

“Are you ready for this?”

I swear, sometimes it’s like he’s in my head. “Yes, Zap. I read everything the doctor sent me.”

He clicked his tongue. “Ligma isn’t a doctor.”

Lightly, I punched his shoulder. “Hey, don’t say that! He doesn’t like that name, remember?”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “Do you even know what it means?”

Heat rushed to my cheeks. “Come on, Zap.”

“Color me surprised.” He tapped the tram terminal and ordered himself another real apple and a burger. “Ought to eat something. Being plugged in is hell on your body. Little movements in muscles you don’t really use much in everyday life will bruise you in places you never knew you had. Gotta prepare for the recovery.”

This first class cabin was nicer and bigger than four of our apartments, and again, we had it to ourselves. People didn’t generally work on the south side of Cavalria either, so this run didn’t have a lot of use in the first place. Taking that to heart, I decided I’d try something fancy and expensive too.

“Is that why you’re bruised all the time? Because… you do this all the time?” I suppose, now that I’m involved, he might finally tell me about ‘work.’

Zap gave me a side eye, then turned his attention to the window. So broody. “Yes. It’s rough sometimes. Suffice to say, I’m pretty intimate with the CLIF titans.”

I picked out a few things, then submitted my order. “Why those in particular? Aren’t we in SAST territory?”

Zap shrugged. “Yeah, but nobody wants to drive SAST. They don’t excel in any particular area, and if you want something more geared toward general use, then you go for CLIF since every SAST model is basically last year’s CLIF model. On top of that, SAST titans are more expensive than CLIF and GII models. GIIs are heavy and slow, but they’re also cheap comparatively. CLIF usually runs for around the same price, but again, they’re just better machines.”

“Is this your personal opinion, or something you picked up elsewhere?”

He frowned. “What you mean like an opinion somebody fed to me? No, I’ve driven a similar model from all three companies. I guess… if SAST does anything well, its comfort. Their titans are easier to use and not so hard on the body compared to the others. GII units are like driving a brick, and CLIF units tend to have the worst backlash on the pilot.”

A concierge bot rolled through the walkway to present us with our food. He took his, then raised a brow at mine. “What is that? A bunch of sugar?”

Yes, it was. “Don’t athletes or whatever eat a bunch of it before a big event? It’s my first time in a titan, I figured I need it.” None of which was true, I just wanted the ice cream and the cupcake because I’d not had either in a very long time. It was certainly fabricated and not the quality a real person could make, but it was more than the usual.

“Uh-huh. Get something else that’s actually substantial, alright? You can’t puke in a life suit.”

“Ugh, Zap! I’m trying to eat!”

He pointed a hoof in my face. “Yeah, sure, but you’re gonna be sorry if it ends up in your helmet. The suit can take care of one end, but the helmet doesn’t have that kinda function. In a real situation, i.e. the job coming up, you wouldn’t be able to get out and fix it whenever you want either.”

Sighing, I gave the cupcake back and asked for a grilled cheese and tomato soup. He gave me a look, but I stuck a spoon in my parfait. “I’m keeping it.”

“Fine. But you’re gonna have a bad time.”

It was so sweet. So creamy. There was a moderate chemically aftertaste like there was with every fabricated food, but it was worth it. Oh, ice cream, how I’ve missed you.

“It’s real Helium, go on, try it.” My first time on an island. The last time I remember seeing them. Some summery day with a cake and candles and a sweet breeze on the wind near the shore. I wish I could remember their faces.

“HD?”

I shook the memory away. “Hmm?”

“You, uh…” for as often as I found him in my head, sometimes, he didn’t know what to say. “You enjoying that?”

“It’s alright.” I took another spoon full as the bot came back with the rest of my food. I’m sure the cupcake had been deconstructed and reconstructed back into that sandwhich. If I’m lucky, I’ll get the right chemical after taste with the re-order. If not, I’ll get melty cheese and fried bread, followed by sugary frosting, sweet yellow cake, and rubbing alcohol. Let’s hope first class has a better fabricator than we do at the apartment.

I dipped the corner in my soup and my worst fears were confirmed. “Bleh.”

“Wrong after taste?”

“Yes.” I sighed and kept at it. The nutritional value was the same, the taste was just awful. And still, this wasn’t the worst thing I’d ever forced down. To get my mind off my tongue, I asked, “What about AE titans? You never said anything about those.”

“Well, that’s because I don’t know anything about them. I’ve never been in one.”

“Really? Why’s that?”

Zap sized me up for a moment, then turned his attention to his burger. “You don’t see them a lot out here. Blackrow is the nicest of the companies who have work for somebody like me. The truth is, when I ‘run parts’ I’m doing something in a titan for somebody. I find them all really easy to control which I guess isn’t the same with everybody else. So I just hop in whatever they have and do whatever they ask and that feeds us for a while. There are only so many jobs I’m willing to take, and when I have to take something, sometimes I end up doing things I don’t like.”

Hold on. Has he been lying to me all this time? “Then… what gets you so bruised up all the time? If you’re only working every now and again, I…”

He put a hoof on mine. “Look. Sometimes, I have to fight. And if I get out of practice, it could mean my life. So when I’m not working, I’m practicing.”

I pulled my hoof away. “Are you still going to bars!?”

Zap looked away. “Yes and no.”

“Zap Flash!”

“I’m not there for no reason! I’m not doing anything I shouldn’t be, I just guard the door for a few places every now and again.”

“You are not! Do you still hang around that guy? What was his name…”

He crossed his hooves. “No.” he coughed. “I mean, I see him sometimes, but it’s not like we’re on good terms anymore.”

“Zap!” I covered my face. Oh, Goddess, he is still hanging around those thugs by the port. “Didn’t he get busted by an Enforcer a year ago? Why would you keep hanging around a guy like that?”

“I don’t!” He slammed a hoof on the table. “You know where I got my last bruise? It was in a fight with him. He blamed me for tipping off the enforcers, and I told him to shove it. We don’t hang out, and he is not allowed in the bar anymore.”

I gave him a dark look. “Yeah, but the rest of them are, aren’t they? I bet they still pass that candy around too.”

Offended, he put a hoof on his chest. “I made you a promise, alright? Don’t you trust me? He’s the one who brought it in, and the rest of us never touched the stuff.”

“You swear?”

“I swear.”

I tried to see through him, stare straight through his magenta eyes and into his soul, but I never got a conclusive shake.

Nanite candy. It’s more illegal because of how many people it kills in a year than because of what it does. The machines come in and alter your body chemistry. It turns any inhibitor off, it elevates every pleasure to something divine, and it’s incurably addictive. You can’t feel negatively before they dissolve in the blood, but once they do, the fall is like nothing else. The more you take it the weaker your neurons and blood vessels get. Take it enough times, and you’ll either stop thinking, or start bleeding. Whichever kills you first: forgetting to breathe, or bursting a blood vessel.

“I don’t want you going there anymore.”

Zap scoffed. “It’s not like I have a reason to go now. Couldn’t spend what we have in a week if I tried.”

“You could if you wanted to, and you know exactly on what!”

“I do not,” He crossed his throat. “I do not put that stuff in my body.” He shook his orange, red and green mane. “It’s not like I could ever stop if I did. Seen too many go out like that.”

We’d probably still be stuck in the port if the hippogriff who’d been feeding us didn’t OD on it. A phantom touch ran up my spine. Fear and anger shot through my chest, and rather than vent it on Zap, I turned it toward my food. He knows me too well to say anything, so he just finished his own meal. A few minutes after we were done, the tram stopped in south Cavalria. Time to learn a new skill.

After following my yellow companion through the dark, steamy swamp, we made our way past a different guard into Blackrow. On the one hoof, this place looked like an old sci-fi movie. On the other hoof, old sci-fi movies didn’t get a lot right. Clean was the last thing I’d call it. You could see rust on every other panel and not all the lights were as bright as each other. Some seemed to be on their last legs entirely. Hooves and boots and claws and paws had passed up and down these walkways so many times that they were beginning to erode the floor. For every smooth, clean white surface in your old movie, reality had all the years of dirt, grime and use to accompany it.

Back down at the dock, Another ship was being prepared. The big Grimgarde was alive and walking up a ramp and into another boat like the Mimic. A Mercury and another titan I didn’t recognize were following close behind, presumably on another job.

“What’s that one, Zap?”

He tilted his head. “I think that’s a SAST Heat Hawk.”

It, like the Grimgarde, had no horn, but physical wings with feathers and everything, all made of polished shiny steel or something similar. It was armored lightly at the joints, and rather than four hooves, it had two front claws that also looked very sharp, even for their giant size. Behind each leg, there was some sort of case with a big coil behind it. On its back, it was carrying a box that almost looked like a refrigerator. Relative to the other two, it didn’t have much wear.

“Is it new?”

Zap nodded, stepping a bit closer as it walked along the dock. Each step created a little tremor as the multi-ton machines trotted up the ramp and into the fake freight boxes. “Kinda. It’s a recent SAST model, made for CQC, er, close quarters combat. Rather than use a magic generator to enhance the pilot’s spells, SAST models usually program a few spells into the machine that can be activated by voice command. The boxes on its legs hide big blades that can get super hot, and the claws and wings can do the same thing.”

I wasn’t very versed in any of this at all, but that struck me as odd. “Why use real blades when they could just have beams? And individual feathers too?”

He shook his head. “Far as blades go, sometimes, just hitting a thing with blunt force can be better. If you’re planning to go into combat and just want to kill the pilot and take the suit back with you, beating them to death is a good way to do it, where beams could find gaps in the armor, disrupt the generators and cause an explosion. The feathers though? I’m not sure. Could just be an art piece, but these things are too expensive for that I think. But, it is SAST, and if you want an art house titan, that’s where you’d get it.”

For as violent as its purpose was, it had to be the nicest looking titan I’d seen out of Blackrow’s units. No evil eye, no mean face, a sort of big lens where the eyes would be on the head like it was wearing sunglasses. Maybe it’d be scarier to see in action.

“There you two are.” A familiar voice called from behind us. “We got a rush job from ‘the government’ about busting a cartel this morning on one of the far south islands. Apparently, there’s sensitive cargo we need to recover and we have to keep noise low.”

“Good morning Doctor,” I said.

“Sup, Lig.” Zap pointed to the newer machine. “When did you guys get that thing anyways?”

The changeling pushed up his glasses. “It’s an advance for the job. Long as we succeed, we get to keep it.”

The new titan stepped under the boat’s door, and after it closed, one couldn’t tell it wasn’t just a pile of freight boxes. A tingle ran up my spine. There was an uncomfortable thought in the back of my head that refused to voice itself, but made its presence known all the same.

“Will we be doing the same thing on Sunday?” I asked.

Ligament shook his head. “Not quite. You saw the backpack the Heat Hawk had, didn’t you? It’s a personnel container. We’ll drop you two and a few guys off at the Miyako base where you get in, grab the thing, and get out. I heard something about expecting Wonderbolt III’s, which means we are not going to have time to fuck around.”

“Are they really that dangerous?”

Zap put a hoof on my shoulder. “They are as fast as the Mercury series, and they have as much firepower as a Grimgarde. They can’t just blast through a modern beam shield, but that’s about the only thing that can stop it.” Sighing, he shook his head. “We don’t have a beam shield, HD. Nobody does.”

“Oh.”

Ligament coughed into his hoof. “However, with a literal billion poured into the company, we could get a spaceship that does have one, and this alone would raise our value as a company to astronomical levels, literally. Now then, for you, we have an old Swift Wind I that we use for training new pilots. It can’t really keep up with the other first generation titans, but it’s not so hard on the body as anything else from that era.”

Given the naming conventions I’d heard, this too must’ve been a SAST suit. “Okay! What do I need to do to start?”

Ligament turned and pointed to the furthest machine bay on the southwest side of the dock. “I’ve prepared it over there. You and Zap get life suits on and then we’ll get started.”

“We’re… both getting in?” As much as I didn’t want to show it, that dropped my spirits a bit.

The doctor looked confused. “Well, yes, of course. We can’t have a totally untrained pony strapping into a multi-million credit machine without a co-pilot.”

Zap bumped his flank against mine. “Relax, I’ll just be there with you in case something goes wrong. You’re still gonna be the one driving the thing. Shared control just isn’t a thing with titans anyways.”

“Oh, alright.” They had good points and I couldn’t argue with either of them, but it was a bit of a let down.

“Come on. Life suits are a pain to get used to, and you’re gonna need help.”

I have known Zap Flash for as long as I can remember, literally. There’s a big portion of my childhood that just isn’t there anymore, all I get is flashes of memories from time to time. From when I woke up on Cavalria to now, Zap has been with me. We’ve survived a long time together, and there’s little between us.

Except this. This was too much. “I understand this is hard and important, but for the love of the Goddess, do not help me!”

Red as a beet, Zap grunted in frustration. “Ugh, you aren’t gonna get it on right if you try to do it alone! Your body gets numb, HD, you aren’t gonna realize anything has happened till you come out of the suit, and if you got it on wrong, it’s gonna be a bad time. You think puking in your helmet is bad, just wait till you put the extractor on wrong.”

I took a deep breath. “I would literally rather something go wrong than you, or anyone else for that matter, touch me there. I’ll figure it out. You did, didn’t you?”

He coughed into his hoof, even redder. “HD, I cannot be the one to tell Lig you put the suit on wrong.”

Oh my Goddess. “Okay, I’ll compromise. Find me a mare, another female, and I will take help.”

He let out a shuddering breath. “Whatever. I’ll go see if Heron is here.” And with that, Zap left the changing room.

The life suit was an ingenious device. It could conserve and recycle everything one’s body produces. However, the process of getting it on is very involved and extremely uncomfortable. You basically had to stick a pair of suction cups to your rear end for the right holes so that the right things go to the right recyclers. Add on to this, being inside a titan numbs your senses, so you cannot feel any ‘unnecessary’ processes while connected to the machine.

With practice, one can get it on without help, but I was struggling, and the last thing I wanted was anyone touching me. Of course, the consequences of getting it on incorrectly were as bad if not worse than vomiting inside one’s helmet, and supposedly, the smell is impossible to get out. After about five more minutes of fiddling with it and failing to stick it on right, I gave up.

Then, Heron walked in. She was an older white hippogriff with purple tipped feathers on her head and at the fringes of her coat and wings. Heron took one glance at me and nodded her head in sympathy. “Ah, I understand.”

I sighed. “Thank you.” Standing up, I got the legs tight around my rear hooves and waited for Heron to do her part.

Her claws were cold, her touch was nearly enough to make me jump out of my skin, but just like that, she was done. “Okay, you can pull the rest of it on now.”

Carefully, I slid my wings into the suit and used my hooves to pull it up and over my back. Once that was done, I slid my forelegs into the attached gloves, then pulled the zipper. Once it hit the top of the neck, the whole suit compressed, shrink-wrapping itself to my skin, making those recyclers even more uncomfortable.

“Oh, Goddess, how do people do this?”

“Because they have to,” Heron said. She circled me to inspect the suit, pulling it this way and that to get it to compress further. “It’s not fun, but you get used to it. Better than shitting yourself in a titan, I can tell ya that much.” Satisfied with her work, she came around front to inspect my face. “So, what’s the deal with you two, anyways? I figured you were like a couple or something.”

“Ah, no, no, no. It’s… complicated.” Which was the understatement of the century.

“Really? Who is it complicated for? Seems to me like he’d do anything for you.”

I scratched at my cheek. The hard rubber of the glove really irritated my coat. “Both of us.” At least, I think so. He’s been taking care of me all this time, and there was the one time I tried to, but… “I’m sorry. Thanks for helping me with this, but I need to get to the dock.”

She held a claw up. “Alright, alright.” She turned to go, but stopped half way. “He’s a weird kid, ya know? Just shows up one day saying he can fly anything, and he means it. He takes money, disappears for a while, and comes back when he needs it again. There’s a lot of other ways he could get the cash to keep himself alive, but I never understood why he came for work here. Bringing you into the picture just makes things even more murky, especially if you guys aren’t an item.”

I bit my lip. You and me both. “It’s complicated.”

“Okay. You need help with this again, just call for me from the terminal anywhere. I should be around.”

“Thank you.”

“Alright miss Helium—”

“HD is fine, Doctor.” He seemed to appreciate me calling him doctor.

“Very well then. The external entrances to any titan are located on the small of the back, and at the navel. Depending on circumstances, you enter based on which side is facing away from the ground. The gel, while viscous and difficult to drain, can be drained, and opening the wrong side of course will create a spill. Once in the cockpit, you must let yourself sink into the gel for a bit before attaching the harness inside. This has a robotic arm that will attempt to keep you in the center of the cockpit for the most shock absorption possible during use. From here, the arm will attach your sensory cables, and then the cockpit will pressurize. As most titans are password protected, you must then say the password aloud, and the titan will come online.”

I raised a hoof.

“Yes?”

“If titans generally have passwords, how do we steal the one that we’re stealing?”

Ligament buzzed his wings. “Prototypes generally do not have one for ease of testing or in the event of resetting the operating system due to a failure of some kind. If it does have one, then I figure Mister Comet will tell us about it before we launch on Sunday.”

I frowned. “Would he have it though? How would he have it? This is a little suspect, isn’t it?”

“HD,” Zap intruded, “Sometimes we get jobs like this and we have to just roll with it. Blackrow doesn’t ask unnecessary questions. Those are unnecessary questions.”

“Indeed.” Ligament did something on his terminal, then the titan hatch beside us opened up. “Go ahead and plug in.”

The Swift Wind I was a light SAST suit designed for speed, but generally out paced by other suits of similar class. Its reaction time, maximum output, and limited capability for spell casting made it mediocre in the market, but it did carve out a small niche for itself as the cheapest and most comfortable BT at the time. The lack of magic capability takes a lot of stress off the pilot in the first place, and SAST is known for solid programming that keeps necessary information fed to the pilot to a minimum. This in turn means one can’t take full control of every capability the titan has, but for the sake of training and construction, it makes them nearly the best. AE seems to just do everything better than everybody else, which, if I’m honest, just seems unfair.

Zap hopped onto the machine’s back and offered me a hoof.

It’s weird to not be able to use my wings at all, but not too terrible. We climbed down a few feet past armor, semi-organic muscles, and frame, then on top of a big pool of clear gel. Space was tight in the hatch, so Zap and I were practically pressed against each other. Without warning, the gel around my hooves started to give way and we sank in. Zap dove beneath and positioned the harness so that my legs would just slide on in. Once the harness caught me and I was completely submerged, the arm activated and pushed me down further til all the straps were just taught. And then, the cable was plugged in.

“Blackrow Shipping.”

The world opened up before me. I was suddenly very tall. I couldn’t feel my wings at all, though I knew they should be there. I wanted to look around as my view was several feet high in the air, but it was like my neck was stuck in place. It was so, so heavy.

“Zap? Are you still there?”

His voice came through my ears. “I’m here. How do you feel?”

And that was a good question. In the strangest way possible, I felt very big, very heavy, and like my skin had been turned off somehow. I had no sensation of touch at all. Well, that isn’t quite right either. I could feel my hooves, but there was also something wrong about it. “Weird, big, and heavy.”

“Well, that’s good. Everything is working right then. Go ahead and try to take a step forward. It should feel normal, so don’t stomp or kick or anything crazy.”

As if anything could feel normal like this. Looking ahead, there was a little path laid out with some sort of neon lights. I’m not sure if they were really there on the ground, or part of a heads-up display. Of course, when a hoof print appeared where I was supposed to step, I figured it out.

Just… walk.

Lightning shot through my body. A simple motion I perform every day thousands of times a day was suddenly one of the hardest things I’d ever done. Heavy and slow, I raised my right foreleg, and heavy and slow, I set it down on the glowing spot. My whole right foreleg was tingling like I’d just lifted a huge weight. And yet, at the same time, I wasn’t out of breath or tired.

“Is it supposed to feel this strange? I’m so… tingly.”

“Uh,” Zap cleared his throat. “I think so? My first time in one of these was a long, long time ago. Keep on the path. Right now, all you need to do is walk across the dock and back.”

Makes me wonder how long ago that really was. Since we’ve been together, or even longer? “Okay.”

And so, one slow, heavy, tingly step at a time, I did just that. It was like each movement forced my muscles to flex as hard as they could for a second, then relax just as quickly. After my little tour of the dock which I remember being much bigger than just a little hallway like the walk suggested it was, my legs had almost gotten comfortable with this. Or, so I think. The feeling wasn’t so alien, but the tingling for each movement remained. I get the feeling that once my nerves come back, I’m going to be in a lot of pain.

A very small Ligament buzzed up to my face holding some kind of tablet. “You’ve done very well, HD. The first walk is never usually this smooth. Next thing I’d like you to do is turn on your hover plates. Say the voice command ‘float’ and they should come on. It will feel strange at first, but if you move slowly and controlled like you just did, nothing should go too awry.”

He drifted out of the way, and then I said the word. “Float.”

The heaviness shifted. My weight was all located in my belly now, and my legs were almost pushing against the air. “Wow. This is weird too. It’s a little like gliding, but with my hooves.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Zap said, “but I guess that makes sense. If you think about it like that, lean forward a little. You should move in whatever direction you lean in this state. But don’t lean too hard, or you’re gonna pickup speed.”

Hmm. Maybe it is just like gliding. Following instructions, I leaned just the slightest bit with my hooves. My body started to slide forward. Even quicker than the first tour, I got to the eastern wall. Feeling it more in my wings than my hooves, I twisted to bank just like I normally would, and my body reacted just how I expected it to. A slow stop, a push with my wings to turn, and then back to my starting position.

“That was pretty easy!”

Ligament flew back into my line of sight. “I suppose, but this time, try to keep the wings folded.”

Looking at my back, sure enough, there were a pair of metal wings that had been extended at some point. Thrusters at each tip had been extended and recently used, which I suppose explains why I felt the change there. “I see. I’m sorry.”

The doctor waved his little tablet at me. “Don’t be, this is a common issue with winged creatures. I suppose, as one with muscular wings, the feeling from this particular titan is totally natural to you. Changelings tend to have a much harder time adjusting to non-CLIF flight systems, and everyone else has a hard time adapting to those.” He thought about that for a moment. “Well, unless you’re Zap. Anyways, go ahead and do that again, but try to turn without the wings.”

How odd. Wouldn’t he have a harder time with flight systems in the first place? Especially if they feel like this and totally normal. There’s not even the extra ‘weight’ to these wings like the rest of my body. They just feel completely right. All the same, I folded them in like I would the ones on my back and watched as they telescoped down to the length of the machine’s barrel, then simply folded down. My eyes were having a hard time registering it because it felt so normal to me.

Now that I could see I wasn’t really gliding, I had a much harder time getting across the dock. Less than being in flight, more like being on ice. I slid across the dock, clumsily came to a stop, slowly turned around by turning one hoof and keeping the others still, then slid right back.

“Okay, that seems good to me.” Ligament commented from somewhere else. A hangar door opened to my left. “Head outside. You might rock over the water a bit, so be wary of that. Once you’re beyond the door, you may use the wings.”

“The… water?” this tingle, I felt in my chest.

“Hey, relax.” Zap whispered. “You’ll be fine. The water can’t touch you in here, even if you went under. You will not drown no matter what with this suit on, okay?”

The feeling was muted, but air moved in and out of my lungs. He’s right. It’ll be fine. It’s like being on ice that I can’t fall through. Just float across.

“HD? Are you there?” Ligament called.

“I’m here! Moving now.” Hooves angled, my body slid again toward the edge of the dock. There it rocked, shifting beneath me, swirling like it was being blown away. I swallowed, took another breath, and carefully put a hoof over.

And absolutely nothing changed. It was like I was still above solid ground, sliding just like I had been. Two hooves, four hooves, I was completely above the blue. A wave of ease came over me, and confidence surged within. I can do this.

The bright surf outside glimmered with the sun. White capped waves rocked in every direction, deep blue and cyan sea green. The sky was clear, sunshine filled the world, and all around me was freedom.

Ligament’s voice came through my ears. “Extend the wings and fly for thirty minutes. You may go as fast and as far as you feel comfortable, just stay away from Cavalria.”

“Yes, sir!”

My feathers spread. The wings of the machine unfolded and telescoped out, the thrusters at the ends angling just like my primaries would. A whine grew at my hooves, and at once, all the muscles on my back arched. A massive push, and the ocean grew small beneath me.

The air raced by, and Cavalria shrank second by second as I climbed higher and higher. Up and up and up, the blue of the noonday shifted darker and darker. Stars appeared just above. I wanted to keep going, but my wings felt like they didn’t have any more to give. In the strangest way possible, I felt like I simply couldn’t flap anymore, though the tiredness that usually comes with that wasn’t there at all.

I looked down and around, and I could see the curve of the horizon. I stuck a hoof out and Cavalria was completely out of view. Every little island of Cavalisa’s archipelago shaped themselves up like a little swirl of beige and green spots amid the blues of the ocean. The lighter and greener the color was, the closer it was to the islands.

“Zap, where should we go?”

“Anywhere it’s real blue, HD. Pick a direction and fly as much as you want.”

A little holographic compass was pointing south where it was most deep blue, so that’s where I went. I was so high up, I couldn’t even see the dark waves. Here, the water could never get me. Here, I wouldn’t get tired, I wouldn’t suddenly fall, and most of all, Zap was right there with me.

It’d been a long time since I felt comfortable playing in the air, so this time, I did just that. Every aerial maneuver I could think of I performed with ease. Spinning and twisting, stalling and free falling, swooping and diving, and never once did I come close to the water. It was all so easy, so natural. I could do this forever.

“Alright HD, that’s enough for today.” Just like that, forever came to an end. “Follow the markers and head back to Blackrow.”

Back at the dock, the first real trial showed itself: getting out of the titan. After turning off all the systems, the back hatch opened and Zap got himself out. Then, the cables disconnected.

Slowly, fire crept up my muscles. Everything burned, everything ached. I wasn’t sure if I’d gotten hit by a train or not. “Oh, Goddess, is it supposed to feel like this?” The mechanical arm and Zap pulled me out of the mass of clear sludge around me. My legs felt like noodles, there was no way I could get out of this thing on my own.

“Yeah, that’s the other problem with these. No matter how new the model, the backlash is gonna suck, at least the first few times. At least you’re not in a CLIF titan. Those don’t have slow release numbing agents. They just turn off.”

I tried to help myself as much as I could, but my body was just worthless. I’m not sure how it worked, but as Zap pulled me, none of the gel got caught on the suit or anything, it slid right off and back into the cockpit. On top of the machine and using my own legs now, I could hardly stand. And then I couldn’t. “Oh, Goddess. What is this?”

A much bigger Ligament than before buzzed his way over to us. He checked a few things off on his tablet, then turned his attention to me. “Standard procedure. Titan backlash is what happens when your muscles are activated and not really ‘used’ for a long period of time. Your body ‘thinks’ it’s working very hard and flexes in reaction to the movements the titan performs. Sometimes, this can go far in tearing your muscles and produce similar effects to a very hard workout. With the way the neural link works, every attempt to mitigate it results in poorer titan performance, so the best they’ve come up with is to lower the functions you can perform. The worst backlash comes from using magic in a titan as it affects your brain more than anything. Unicorns and Changelings tend to have headaches for days after extended use of a titan.”

“Well, if you use spells,” Zap added. “You can get away with not doing it, but sometimes, you’ve gotta. Especially if you have to move something delicate. Claws and hooves can’t beat a good levitate spell.”

Ligament coughed into his hoof. “And Zap. Be sure to remove the recycler pack on the suit and connect it to the wall outlet. It won’t be done doing its work for a while, and the suit on its own won’t have enough power to let it finish.”

“Recycler?” and then, it hit me. “Oh! Did… is… is it normal to…?”

“Yes,” they said together. Zap continued, “And imagine if you’d ignored me and put the thing on wrong, huh? It’d all be down in the boots of the suit, and you would need to go bathe for about three days to finally feel clean.”

I gagged. “Oh, Goddess! Can you not?”

Ligament shook his head. “No, this really does need to be stressed in excruciating detail. Life suits aren’t really meant to be taken apart or turned inside out, so cleaning the inner layer is very difficult. If you suspect there are any problems with the recyclers when putting a life suit on, ask for assistance. Soiled life suits are more often thrown away than cleaned, and these things are not cheap.”

“Gross.” I went to get up, but my legs collapsed the moment I did. I’m sure my coat was a nice shade of violet right about now. “P-please call Heron for me.”

“Of course.”

It took a good while to get out of that suit. I managed to recover enough to walk, but using my wings was totally out of the question and every little movement put a huge strain on my already tired body. To say the least, Zap carried me home.

All said and done, I was only in the titan for about an hour. I wasn’t fighting for my life or working the machine hard, or really doing anything that these are normally used for. Collapsing in the first class tram seat made me realize what people put themselves through just to operate these.

“Goddess, I feel so worthless.”

Zap chuckled. “Checks out. Lots of people go through this on their first time. With all the crap you did in the air, I’m surprised you can walk at all right now. Bet you won’t be flying much this week.”

The aching went all the way to my feather tips. I didn’t even know I could feel that far. “Talk about a surefire bet.” I rolled over and got my head up on the table so I could at least see his face. Sometimes, I wish he wouldn’t look at me like that. I don’t understand how he feels or why we’re like this, but when he makes a face like that, I wish I did. Just another part of me to set aching. “So, when did you first drive one of those things?”

And just like that, the sweet face vanished. No smile, no loving eyes, but regret. He covered it up quickly, but it was clear that this was a deep one. “A long time ago. I was just a kid.”

Sitting up, I pressed further. “A kid? You don’t remember how old you were? What kind was it?”

“I mean, it’s not like I really know how old I am now. I say 25 because that’s what everybody else seems to think. It could be years one way or another.” He shook his head. “little. Young. They threw me in a Mercury because they were desperate.” Immediately, he covered his mouth.

“And… who were they?”

We were in the nice, air conditioned part of the tram, but Zap was starting to sweat. “I don’t remember. It was a long time ago.” He swallowed. “Didn’t you want a cupcake? Why don’t you order it?”

Sighing, I did order that cupcake. There was so much I wanted to know, so much I wish I understood, but I just don’t understand where to start. I’d already pushed him into taking this job in the first place and I didn’t feel right taking things any further. But, at the same time, he could be right about this. There could only be six days left in our lives. I was just playing in a big toy and it left my body a wreck. To fight in something like that…

As much as I wanted to bring up more, I decided against it. Maybe there isn’t much, but there’s still time left. After I rest and recover, and maybe after I get used to flying this thing, he’ll open up more. Being passive about it like I have been, though, isn’t going to get me anywhere. A little at a time…

For the first time since we started riding the tram like this, the first class door opened at a stop other than our stop on the west side. Of course, there are other stops on the way home, it does take about an hour to get totally around the island, but usually it’s just economy that gets on and off. And in walked the biggest mare I’d ever seen. A unicorn who was very tall, with long straight hair, a gorgeous figure, and the most beautiful sparkly eyes.

They focused on me and held me in their grasp. Violet but with little flecks of gold around the irises. She was pretty to a degree that it seemed almost other worldly. And, weirdly, reminded me a lot of Mister Comet. His eyes weren’t so big, but they were green and had silver sparkles like hers.

“Um…” she coughed into her hoof. “Can I help you?”

“Hey, quit staring!” Zap whispered.

“Oh!” I sat up quick and lightning flashed through my core. “Ow, ow!”

“Are you hurt?” the big mare asked. She sure did close the distance real quick.

I had to shake myself to keep from staring at her again. “Um, no, just very sore.”

“We were training today,” Zap covered. “Big competition coming up and today was her first time doing anything like it.”

And then, like I stared at her, she stared at Zap. I couldn’t tell if she was about to cry or laugh. The two emotions fought for purchase, but eventually, the laughter won. “Haha, of course you were.” If they looked even remotely similar, I might accuse her of being his long lost mother with a tone like that. “Do you mind if I sit with you?”

Zap and I shared a glance. What a strange encounter. “I don’t see why not. Are you… a tourist?”

She didn’t bother looking for a chair or anything, she was so big that just sitting down on the floor put us all at even height. “Something like that. My cousin told me this was an interesting little island, so I decided to check it out.”

Zap snorted. “What, you hooked on candy or something? Cavalria doesn’t have anything for anybody who can just walk into a first class tram.”

“Zap!”

The big mare stared at him in wonder. “Candy? Like, sweets?” It certainly says a lot that she doesn’t seem to have any idea what he’s talking about.

He felt bad about it. “Uh, no, it’s… just a joke.” He coughed into his hoof. “How long you been here?”

She had a bag with her, and the strangest thing I’d ever seen happened. She took a little pad of paper out, and then wrote something down on it with, like, a pencil. Who does that? If she’s taking notes, why not just add it to a terminal? Or… oh, Goddess, she isn’t even wearing one! How in the world did she get on here without one? There’s no way she has, like, a real physical credit card, right? She doesn’t look very old at all. What kind of person under seventy uses a credit card these days?

“Just a few hours. I was told the tram circumnavigates the whole island, so I figured I’d get off at each station to see what there is to see.” She paused for a moment. “Is a thousand credits a lot to you?”

She can’t be real. “That’s, um…” I was struggling for the words.

“If you’re really in need here, you can live a month on that kinda money. Cavalisa isn’t exactly an expensive place to be.” Thank the Goddess for Zap. Maybe it seems weirder that we’re in first class than some foreign mare on vacation.

“Oh, I see.” And again, she took a note. “Normally, I do more research before going places, but this was a spur of the moment kind of thing for me. My family has been trying to get me out of the house for a while and this is the first time I’ve really caved. Do you two live here?”

This mare clearly has no idea where she is. This has got to be some rich AE tourist. If she gets caught out at night… “We do. But, um, this really isn’t the place to be walking around out late.” I checked the sky. The sun was going down, but only just so. “Where are you staying?”

She paused for a moment to think about that. “I… haven’t decided yet. I wanted to look around more. Do you have any recommendations?”

“Stay away from the north side.” Zap said immediately. “West side too. Honestly, if you can stay on one of the bigger islands, do that. The Enforcers are pretty lax here, and the local government isn’t something remotely reliable.”

She frowned. “Oh.” Then made another note. “This is a little embarrassing, but as you can see, I’m out of my element here. I feel like I can trust you two though, so would you mind showing me around for a few days?” Coloring a little, she covered her mouth. “My mother would be laughing at me if I ran back home just after a day here and I’d really hate to give her that satisfaction.”

“Uh, one second,” Zap said.

“Of course.”

He turned his back and opened up his terminal. “Is this chick crazy?”

“She can’t be anything else. What kind of mother would send a naive little girl out here on her own?” I messaged back.

“Little is about the opposite of what she is.”

“Well, what do you want to do? I’d feel bad leaving her alone, but like, what would we do with her?”

He thought about that for a moment. He glanced back at her, and she gave what could possibly be the goofiest smile I’d ever seen. She’s adorable.

“We can’t leave her alone. Some gang is gonna find her and do Goddess knows what with her.”

Goddess and us. I shivered. “Okay, but do we take her home, or what? And don’t we have to go back to Blackrow every day?”

He paused and looked at the sky. “She’s rich if she doesn’t think anything of a thousand credits. If we take her to the east side and rent out a suite, she can go play around and do whatever while we’re at work, and we can keep an eye out for her when we get back. Long as we go early, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Do we have the money for that? I know we just got 20K, but…”

“It’s enough, alright? We might as well. Clock’s ticking for us. Why not have a nice place with AC and working plumbing for once?”

I could take a warm shower every day for potentially the rest of my life? “Yes, let’s do that.”

“Uh, we’ve got work in the mornings, but I think we could do that.” Zap offered.

She absolutely lit up. “Wonderful! My name is Twilight.” And she held out a hoof.

“I’m Zap, and that’s Helium, but she goes by HD.” He shook the hoof, and clearly, was very surprised by it.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both.” She sent the hoof my way, and just like him, I was astounded by the strength behind it. I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised since she’s such a big mare, but that was something closer to a male griffon than a unicorn mare.

“Likewise.” I massaged my poor sore hoof. “We need to run by a place on the west side, but we live on the east side. Is there something you wanted to see over here, or do you want to just go back?”

She tapped her lips. “I could follow along for an errand if you don’t mind. I really don’t have any particular plans or needs. Is there something good to eat around here?”

Zap and I shared a look. We really need to get this sweet, clueless mare out of this place as fast as possible.

“Honestly?” he began, “No, not really. Unless you just want hay and oats, pretty much everything on the west side is fabricated. And they aren’t very good fabricators either.”

More notes. “Hmm. Alright, I suppose. What do you need to do?” Good question. Zap?

“A friend of mine is holding onto some stuff for us. He’s out of town though, so I’m just gonna run by his place to get it. Since HD was training all day, you two can just hang out by the platform til I get back.”

Good call. The big mare smiled, stifling a laugh. “I see, I see.” she shook her weird humor off and stretched her back out a little strangely. Her muscles were awfully big back there for a unicorn, and the way she arched it was the same way I do it when I stretch my wings. It kind of felt like being in the titan again like what I saw and what I felt weren’t lining up. “I suppose everypony has things they must do after all.”

Then, the tram had reached our stop. Quickly, Zap took off toward the apartment to get everything we were going to need for the week, and I led her to a table next to a little fabricator vending machine just to the side of the platform. You could get everything they served on the train from this, save the real food. It was still expensive compared to what we’re used to, but it’s probably better that we didn’t appear as poor as we really were.

“Do you want a drink? They’re not great, but if you get one with enough sugar, it papers over the chemical taste. Unless you like that. In which case, the energy drinks are pretty spot on.”

“Here.” as I feared, she took a little plastic card out of her bag and gave it to me. “Get whatever you think is good. And if you need to purchase anything else, just let me know and I’ll take care of it.”

I swallowed. “S-sure…” This wasn’t just an AE card, it was a Luna City card. Not only does she work for the most powerful conglomerate in the world, she normally lives on the moon. If SAST would ever pull their desperate claws out of it, she could probably buy Cavalria.

A real credit card, physical notes, a rich AE moon employee on vacation to spite her mother. Who in the world did we just pick up? The least awful thing vending machines had to offer were lemon drinks and diet sodas. One was acidic enough to not taste too chemically wrong, and the other was so chemically wrong in the first place that it didn’t taste out of the ordinary when fabricated. I picked out lemonades and returned as soon as it dispensed the can.

She stared at it like some foreign object. “Interesting. Does the machine make the can too? Or are these loaded into it somehow?”

“I believe they collect the trash and fill the machines back up with it. There’s some kinda magic that renders it down to atoms and then remakes it into whatever you asked the machine for. It’s really not something you want to spend too much time thinking about.”

I’m pretty sure she got what I meant because she looked at the can suspiciously before finally opening it and taking a sip. Then she made a confused face, and then finally one of disgust. “What is…?”

“Don’t worry, that’s normal. You kinda get used to it after drinking them for a while.”

She scowled at the can, but then took a longer swallow. “Well, it’s not that bad.” She raised a brow at me. “Drinking them for a while, huh? Have you lived on this island for a long time?”

I sighed. “At least twelve years. I have trouble remembering much more than that.”

“Twelve years…” she studied my face. “And how old are you now? If you don’t mind me asking, that is.”

I shook my head. “Oh, no, I don’t mind. I’m 22. Probably. At least, I think so.”

“You think so? How did you end up on this island? Were you born here?”

“I don’t think so, and I’m really not too sure.” The dream from this morning filled my head. Water, three ponies, a big eye. “I woke up on this island at one point. Zap said he found me on the beach. And we’ve been together since. Any memory of before is sort of muddy and unclear.”

“Muddy and unclear…” she reached a hoof out, but stopped herself before touching my face. “I’m pretty handy with magic. Would you mind if I scanned you? It’d only take a second. I could give you some insight, if you wanted it.”

Some insight? It would be nice if I had concrete proof of my identity, but I’m not sure I would know what to do with that information. But, then again, if we survive this operation, maybe I can learn who those ponies were, or how I got here. “Go for it. I could use some insight, I think.”

A weird sense of deja vu came over me. She took hold of my chin and inspected my face from every angle, turning it this way and that to get a better look. I felt a little tingle run across my skin for an instant, and just like that, she let go. From there, a terminal screen appeared before her, but it was unlike anything I was used to. Then I noticed her horn glowing. It wasn’t a terminal at all, she was straight up accessing the web with her magic. Who is this mare?

“Well, one thing you can be sure of, you were born on March fourteenth, 2057.” She scanned down the page, reading things so fast I wasn’t sure if she was really processing what the page said, but the more she read, the more she frowned. There seemed to be a lot there.

“Is there anything else?” I asked.

She dismissed the screen and put her hooves together on the table. “Nothing I think will help you. At least, not right now. You have a personal terminal, right? Give me your contact info. I’ll look more into this when I get back home and have more information available to me. When I know something, I’ll tell you about it.”

“Uh, sure.” I gave her what she wanted, and after she was satisfied with that, she checked the time. “Do you think he’ll be gone much longer? I think I’d like to eat soon, but, um…” she glanced at the vending machine. “Maybe not here.”

That’s fair. Anybody who can afford to eat non-fabricated things usually does. Hunger isn’t so much a problem anywhere in the world, but that’s not to say that what can be eaten tastes good. “Not too much longer. He didn’t need to go that far.” Which was the truth. I’m sure he’d already made it to the apartment, he just had to pack us a bag. It’d only been about twenty minutes. “Regardless, the next tram will be here in ten, so he should be back before then.”

“Okay.” Miss Twilight let her eyes drift to the horizon where the sun continued to lower. “What would you consider your relationship?”

“With Zap?”

“Yes.”

Twice in one day from two different women I don’t know, alright. “Complicated? I don’t really get it, to be honest. I’m not sure how he feels about me or how I feel about him, but he’s also the only stallion I’ve ever known, really. It’s very confusing.”

She focused on me intently. She’s definitely not telling me something. There was a lot on that page and I’m wondering if she sped through it for my sake for some reason. She let go of her hard stare and went back to wistfully gazing at the sun. “Sometimes it is. If you’ve been together for so long, you may think that he’s perfect and nothing he could do would be wrong. But, one day, you might get time away from him and begin to reflect. Distance may make things clearer to you.”

I snorted. “Perfect? Nothing about him is perfect! He comes home late, he doesn’t listen to me, sometimes he treats me like a sister, and others…” even on the tram earlier. I felt exposed, like some kind of warmth was going to spill out of me. “I don’t know. I wish I did, but I just don’t.”

She started chewing on her hoof. “Complicated indeed.”

A few moments later, Zap came trotting back with our bag filled up with a bunch of stuff. I could guess toiletries were in there, but the bag was awfully full. I’m not sure what all could be in it, but I knew one thing for sure: I don’t want any kind of distance between me and him. If it had to be complicated the whole time, but we could stay together, I’d be okay with it.

“Alright, we should be set,” he said as he approached the table. He took a look at our faces. “Is something wrong?” Without warning, she grabbed his face, flashed her horn, then let him go just as fast. Blindsided, Zap staggered. “What in the hell was that?”

She pulled up a screen and sped through it. Her eyes were wide and she looked very pale. She cleared her throat. “Sorry, I just…” she licked her lips like they were dry. “I can’t stay here. Forget I was ever here. I’m sorry, Zap, Helium, I… I’m sorry.”

Her horn glowed bright. It was bright, then brighter, and in a flash of violet, the big mare was gone.

Silence.

In the distance, the tram whistle sounded.

My eyes fell on the table. When I gave her her can, I put her card on the table. She never picked it back up.

He swallowed. “Is that what I think it is?”

I nodded.

“Think she’ll come back for it?”

I shook my head.

The tram pulled onto the platform. Griffons and hippogriffs and changelings all got off on one side, and boarded from ours. I picked up the card, and slid it behind my ear. He was thinking what I was thinking, and she did tell me to ask and she’d take care of it. “How long do you think we have til this gets canceled?”

“Couple hours to a day. I was gonna try and get her to pay for the suite anyways, so…”

I stood up and put my wing around Zap. “You’re my favorite, you know that? Let’s go have a nice last week, one way or another.”

He threw a hoof around my shoulders, and we walked into the tram, side by side. “That sounds like a great idea. No more fake food, no more AC-less rooms, and no more cold showers. One way or another.”