Fallout Equestria: The Ashlands Timeline

Monday, 10/31/2287
POV: Starlight Glimmer
The Everfree Forest

As she recovered from the memory streaming into her head, Starlight felt how she remembered feeling then. Tears rolled down her face, mind scrambled and spongy. She remembered being pulled into the smoke, and she remembered what she felt happening to her.

Starlight’s fear of the creature wasn’t because she felt her old self becoming evil or dangerous though. It was because she felt herself becoming more. She was certain that the old her wasn’t dying when she ‘left’ that body. It was regenerating and growing stronger, and she’d felt her mind blending with others.

She locked the creature away so some unnatural monster wouldn’t outshine and replace her, not because she imagined it to be any more evil than herself. Her accomplishments would be hers and hers alone, not the result of some accidental fusion.

But it worked out. Starlight’s friends saw the memory from Zecora’s point of view rather than Starlight’s. They only saw the creature as a monster and would interpret Starlight’s fear of it differently. This memory helped after all.

All the same, going through that again wasn’t easy. Starlight tried to pull herself together but couldn’t stop sobbing and shaking. Starlight didn’t realize she’d collapsed until Twilight pulled her off the floor and hugged her. The others were quiet as they gave her time to cope.

“After seeing that,” Limestone said once Starlight settled. “It’s obvious that this Trinity is what’s left of the original Starlight. Now we know how she had access to Starlight’s research.”

“Well, we can’t blame this Starlight for what that one did since they separated,” Twilight said, her understanding almost annoying. “Any more than you can blame me for Midnight’s actions. But even then, why is one of those experiments here around the forest?"

"Hard to say," said Limestone. "But if I had to guess, I'd say Trinity tried to use it as a weapon and the effort backfired when they used the other plants as a defense, which formed the perimeter."

“Yeah,” said Crimson. “Remember when I said Trinity occasionally gave really stupid orders? That was one of them.”

“But she could get out if she has your access, right Starlight?” asked Twilight. “Why hasn’t she escaped the Ministry?”

“No,” said Starlight through tears. “I set it to lock out my exit codes as well. I couldn’t access enough to lock myself out of all maneframes, but there would be no way left to access or teleport to the surface after me and Zecora left.”

“Was it that bad?” asked Solar, wide-eyed.

“Mostly bad,” said Crimson. “But the part with the tentacles was amazing.”

“Tentacles?” Solar’s ears perked.

“It’s not what you’re thinking, Solar,” Mercury said, looking no less freaked.

“Crimson,” Limestone said, herding them back to the subject. “You want us to trust you? Then be honest. Does your method allow you to trick lie detection magic? I’m not going to believe you if you say it doesn’t now, because even if you couldn’t then, you’ve had 200 years with the idea to figure it out.”

“Fine, fine,” Crimson rolled her eyes. “I created a character in a book, which I gave temporary control of my body and switched into the book myself. I told her what to say, and because she believed what I told her, it didn’t register as a lie.”

“That’s ingeniously horrible,” Twilight admitted even as she patted Starlight. Starlight wished she’d stop.

"That is devious," Starlight’s own words slipped out with a more congratulatory tone, but she likewise hated the implications. Starlight had trusted Crimson far more than she should have.

“A character in your book?” Mercury asked. “You don’t mean Paper Cut from your novels, do you?”

“Paper Cut is in the Crimoire now too, but no, I don’t mean her,” Crimson answered. “She’s not naïve enough to believe what I tell her.” She didn’t elaborate.

“But you could put this Paper Cut in control?” asked Twilight. “Or let her out of the book?”

“I could do either,” said Crimson. “And I might let her out if I feel suicidal, since she’d either kill me or I’d die from mana sickness from the strain. Bottom line is, not unless there are literally no other options. There are wards in the book to keep her from hurting me in there, but before I put her there, she tried her best to have me killed.”

“Wait, she didn’t start in there?” Mercury blinked. “I thought you wrote her into the book.”

“It’s a long story,” smirked Crimson. “She actually started as the AI I had made to harvest data from the Ministry of Magitech computers in Fillidelphia. When I abandoned her afterward, she copied herself into some unwitting morons’ personal computers and eventually got a copy of herself into Stable 27 with one of the refugees. I sometimes wonder how many systems she managed to copy herself to while looking for me.”

“Wait,” Mercury blinked. “She’s that Paper Cut? The AI we learned about in history class?”

“What did this AI do exactly?” Twilight sounded as if she dreaded the answer.

“It isolated a group of ponies and tried to get them to kill each other for funsies,” Crimson said. “Succeeded too, myself included. That’s one of my fonder memories, but sadly she didn’t succeed in getting my soul gem crushed, so I was brought back... You know, I wonder if the original is still at the Ministry… I suppose at some point Trinity probably got it out of the maneframe there.”

“Crimson,” Starlight dried her eyes, anger replacing fear as she cut off their irrelevant conversation. “Did you kill your family?”

“If I did, I felt terrible about it,” Crimson offered.

“How comforting,” Starlight growled.

“My family were monsters,” Crimson said in a rare serious tone. “Every one of them, either for what they put me through, or for doing nothing to stop it.”

“What about what you put ponies through?” asked Twilight, digging for regret that she’d never get.

“I guess that makes me as much a monster as the ones that made me one,” said Crimson. “Who could have predicted?”

“The bottom line is that you came back to spy more,” said Starlight. “I am about ten seconds from telling Maud to kill you in a method not even you will like, Crimson. The next words out of your muzzle better dazzle me.”

“Can I buck her first?” asked Maud.

“During would be best,” Crimson said to Maud, unfazed by the threat, but spoke to Starlight again. “No, I didn't come back to spy. When me and Gora turned in AK Yearling, Ahuizotl decided that we’d outlived our usefulness, so lied to Midnight and Nightmare that we’d betrayed them. Gora fled, probably to her secret lab. I took my chances rescuing AK, conveniently getting to help murder Ahuizotl on the way out.”

"And I should believe you why?" asked Starlight.

"You know that Gora was on the run from the NLR after that, not working for them," Crimson said. "She didn’t rejoin until Midnight offered to let her in exchange for using Hera’s Scorn to kill Daybreaker. I'm sure your own spies figured that out, even if you told me to construe her as still working for them during broadcasts. For what other reason would we both be on the run from them?"

“Starlight,” Twilight said. “I know what she did was terrible, but I think she’s changing as part of this group.”

Twilight’s willingness to forgive so much disgusted Starlight more than it convinced her. It took all the willpower she had for her face not to twist in rage.

“Gora Soul used to be my hero,” sighed Mercury as she lined up ingredients. “Crimson never told us she was like that, only that she was a great alchemist.”

Initially, Starlight really had intended to have Crimson executed, but what she said made more sense than expected. And she owed Crimson for convincing the others that the ‘old Starlight’ was the enemy.

Besides that, Crimson might be useful in other ways, like if Starlight ever wanted somepony to disappear without ordering it openly in front of others. She wouldn't hesitate even if it were a group member; Starlight just had to offer her the right rewards.

“Can I kill-buck her now?” asked Maud after a few moments of silence. “It may take me a while to get naked though. My armor is very sticky inside.”

“Oh?” Solar perked her ears.

“From sweat,” Maud clarified.

“Pinkie can help,” Pinkie added. “With killing more than bucking. Yes.”

“No,” said Starlight. “She might still be useful.”

“Kill-bucking is a pretty good use,” pointed out Crimson, continuing against her own best interests. “I love that term, by the way. I’m keeping it.”

“No,” repeated Starlight.

“I'm keeping it anyway,” said Crimson. “Can she at least get naked? I haven’t gotten to see the Maud goods yet. Or the Pink goods. Or even the Living Dead Mare goods.”

“The crimson traitor is not worthy to examine the pink goods!” said Pinkie. “Yes.”

“You can see them when me and my sisters undress to buck Solar tonight,” Maud offered.

“All right!” Solar liked that at least, but had a brief gagging fit right after. “But be gentle; I’m sorta broken. A little.”

“Gentle is not a thing that we do,” Maud advised. “I will ensure you do not die though.”

“Quiet!” Starlight shouted. The last thing she wanted was more tangents, and she’d have thought Crimson would have been at least a little grateful at having her life spared. She should have known better.

“Starlight,” Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder, making her tense. “It doesn’t matter if you’re the ‘real’ Starlight. The moment you were separate, you expressed regret for her actions. You’re better than her, and fully capable of making Equestria a better place.”

“Thanks,” sighed Starlight. “That means a lot.”

It meant less than Starlight indicated, but it was another plus if the memory also swung Twilight’s mind further to her cause. Maybe this could end well after all.

“Well, uh anyway,” Solar interjected once they seemed finished. “While you guys had imaginary tentacle fun, I found a locked safe in the floor under the bed and opened it. Bobby pins win again!”

Solar moved the bedspread to show the safe under the bed, which now had about 15 broken bobby pins around it. It was a wonder Solar could move enough to pull that off, but she seemed unnaturally fond of unlocking things.

“Did you find anything useful, Solar?” Limestone seemed grateful for a subject change.

“Well, I found Paper Cut novels,” Solar said. “We have these at Stable 27; Crimson wrote a lot of them back then. And even more since then. She wrote like fifty new ones while in Stable 27.”

“I have the full set in my Crimoire if anypony wants to read,” Crimson offered. “Fair warning though: I have no brain bleach to go with it.”

“Anything useful,” Limestone reiterated.

“Oh right,” Solar said. “I found a telesyringer. They’re like the syringer Mercury has, but they fire canisters that teleport the contents into the target. These things can shoot poison through Power Armor.”

Solar held up the weapon. It looked like the one they’d seen Midnight using in Marble’s memory, though it had a more zebra-ish design with stripe markings and crystals to magnify the power. It looked like a more advanced model.

Mercury was all over it, eyes glowing with delight. She almost squealed as Solar showed her the package of canisters, and gleefully began loading her own syringer ammo into the empty teleport canisters.

“Mercury, you mind getting back to that cure first?” Limestone asked.

“Sorry, um, General,” Mercury blushed, putting the telesyringer down, looking at it longingly before returning to the shelves.

“Pinkie knows how you feel,” Pinkie claimed. “It was love at first sight for Pinkie and her weapons too!”

“He says his name is Johnson,” advised Maud.

Mercury blinked at Maud, peered a moment as if wondering if it was a joke, then turned back to her task.

“I think I’ll have another look at Spitfire’s head now,” said Solar. “Don’t worry, I won’t unwrap it all the way.”

“Can’t stink any more than we do,” Crimson chuckled. “At least it’s preserved. We haven’t bathed since we left 27.”

“You think we’ll be able to get Ra...Kami’s wings working soon?” Twilight asked with a rather sad tone.

“I don’t know about ‘soon’, but eventually,” Solar said with a sigh. “She deserves some appendages!”

“You actually brought that thing?” Starlight grumbled. “We already looked at it and you couldn't fix any more without equipment.”

Starlight had to wonder if Solar was just impatient for Kamikaze to have more appendages for their stress-relief sessions. She needed to find less horny minions.

“Glad I’m not forgotten, even if everypony talks about me like I’m a broken toaster,” said Kamikaze.

“I didn’t mean to bring it up like that, I just remembered why we brought the...sorry,” Twilight sighed, going to the extent of reaching over to give Kamikaze a quick cuddle in apology.

Kamikaze nodded silently, but huffed, maybe disappointed at the platonic nature of Twilight’s cuddles.

Starlight took note that Twilight, while overly-compassionate, could be a useful asset for settling conflict in the group and keeping morale high, as she had a way with ponies that didn’t involve bucking them, which was a big plus in this group.

POV: Mercury Shine

Mercury couldn’t believe her luck at finding a working telesyringer. It came with interesting ammo and empty canisters to pack her own potions. Some ammo was lethal, like explosive gas darts and venom, but others were not. There were mixtures meant to paralyze, pacify, confuse, or frighten.

There wasn’t enough time to squee over her new gun though. Mercury had to help Dinky.

Mercury felt bad for Dinky, but was excited that her skills would get a challenge. The hut didn’t have every ingredient she needed, so she had to do a lot of substitution and compromise. By the end, though, she was sure her mix was even more potent.

In fact, if Dinky wasn’t already dead, she’d worry it was too potent. That was probably why Zecora herself didn’t make these changes. Mercury didn’t even test it on the killing joke she had trapped in a jar for fear it’d kill the thing and deprive herself of later study. Besides, the one thing she was confident about was her alchemy, so she knew it’d work.

Mercury got water from the nearby stream. She filled the cauldron, though didn’t realize how much the water glowed until she got it back into the darkened hut. Once again, her patient was lucky to be dead, since the radioactivity would help a ghoul, but still wasn’t intense enough to put the living ponies in danger.

When Limestone saw how irradiated the water was, she went outside to soak in the river for a few minutes, taking Dinky with her. When she returned to sit with Dinky more, she looked better and a bit brighter, but Dinky still looked hungry for flesh. Mercury checked her pipbuck to make sure Limestone wasn’t giving off dangerous amounts of radiation, but she still seemed safe enough if they all took a radaway in the morning.

Once Mercury was ready. Limestone unbound and unmuzzled Dinky, wanting her to contact as much of the healing brew as she could. Since she didn’t need to breathe, they put the snarling little one inside the full cauldron and shut the lid, holding it down to keep her fully immersed. The heated pot rocked back and forth from the little ghoul’s feral tantrum.

“Now let’s see how good you are, alchemist,” Limestone said.

Mercury wished Limestone would join her sisters with Solar because she felt like the ghoul was waiting for Mercury to do something wrong to get on to her. At the same time, it was sweet that Limestone cared for Dinky so much.

Solar’s occasional ouches from the corner where Maud and Pinkie had her pinned down were more adorable than they deserved to be. Mercury tried to keep her concentration on the boiling Dinky but hoped the Pies didn’t further injure Solar.

As Mercury held the lid down, she glanced about for the other unicorns. Starlight was curled up under a sleeping bag in the corner furthest away from Solar getting her reward. Twilight sat in another corner reading the first Paper Cut book, eyes wide while blushing. Those things were severe for adventure novels. Maybe the main character was more of a self-insert of Crimson than Mercury previously thought.

When Dinky stopped banging on the inside of the cauldron, Limestone leaned down to tap against the pot herself. A calm hoof tap responded from within.

Limestone opened the lid. A moment later, Dinky pulled her head above the water and hung over the side. She looked like she’d speak, but instead vomited fluid from her lungs onto the floor. She didn’t lunge for anypony though, so that was a good sign.

Dinky gargled up more water as Mercury pulled her from the pot with her magic. She turned the filly upside down to let the rest of the fluid drain from her lungs and stomach.

“I’m fine,” Dinky gagged the words out when she could.

“Thank Break you’re okay,” Mercury sighed as she put Dinky back on the floor.

Mercury expected her to collapse, but Dinky stood up straight and seemed strong. The radioactive bath had done her more good than just curing her joke.

“Thank you,” Dinky stepped forward and hugged Limestone. “Thanks for not letting anypony put me down. I was so scared…”

Mercury assumed Dinky had lost the fear of her own end long ago, and was glad that the little one found it again. She didn’t want any of her new friends longing for death.

“You were aware?” Limestone quirked her ears.

“Yeah,” said Dinky. “I couldn’t control myself, but I was always there.”

“Oh,” Mercury felt cold at the implications. “Do you think it’s because of your unique condition? I can’t imagine all ghouls would be like that.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s all of them,” said Dinky. “Like Spitfire, but with no method of communicating it. I’ve had this theory for a while, this just confirms it more.”

“S-seriously?” Mercury stared.

“Talk about a fate worse than death,” Twilight said, having put the book down to join the group at the pot. She leaned in and gave Dinky a brief hug. “Glad you’re okay at least.”

Fate worse than death, indeed. The thought of thousands of ponies trapped in such a state for centuries… Mercury had never felt so much pity. She’d wonder if they could still be saved, but she was sure Dinky had already tried everything that could be.

“Well,” Limestone sighed. “I think they made me part of their deal with Solar, so I should go over there.”

Mercury chuckled. She’d get rid of the radioactive water and then may as well join the audience herself. Solar would need tending afterward anyway. Afterwards, she could set up dinner with their limited food and Zecora’s old cookware, to help ensure everypony living ate well and took their rad-away; by this point, they all needed it.

POV: Twilight Sparkle
Tuesday, 11/1/2287

Twilight faded in and out of sleep most of the night. She hoped for dream contact from Luna, but had no such luck. Twilight remembered that Luna said she was too weak to do that much, but she hoped she got something from her soon. At least she had a sleeping friend to cuddle.

She finally gave up on it entirely, pulling up the radio on her pipbuck and wiggling some out of the sleeping bag.

“Well, my insomnia is keeping me up again,” the Songsmith talked. “But that’s not to say I don’t still have dreams, so news time, foals!”

“Looks like it’s curtains for the poor schmucks in Junktown, as Midnight and Trinity themselves are part of the battle over the gem mine they discovered. There isn’t likely to be anything left once that’s done, but I did warn that it wasn’t too bright to settle on the border between two evil warlords, no matter what kind of goodies you found.”

“More bad news,” sighed Twilight to herself, clicking off the radio. Though in a way it wasn’t. If not for suddenly being pulled away for battle, the patrols in the forest would have been far more dense. If not for them knowing Trinity had her attention focused elsewhere, forest surveillance would be more closely watched.

“Well there’s a silver lining,” Kamikaze said from very close by, only her face showing from the sleeping bag, like she was a burrito; it looked cuter than it should. “I think if Midnight were in Everfree, she’d smell me from the castle and come running…”

“Sorry,” Twilight whispered, knowing that her presence made it hard for Kamikaze to forget about her wife. “Would you like to talk now?”

“Not much to talk about,” Kamikaze shook her head. “Unless you need to use me as a pillow or something.”

Kamikaze didn’t seem quite as cross in her words or expression as before. She just seemed dead inside, her expression flat, her tone challenging Maud’s for most monotone. It felt unnatural coming from the spunky pegasus.

“Are you sure your life is so over?” asked Twilight. “Isn’t the evidence to the contrary?”

“What do you mean?” Kamikaze quirked an ear.

“I suppose a lot of ponies don’t believe in fate anymore,” Twilight considered her words carefully. “But in my view, not just anyone gets chosen to be an Element of Harmony.”

“I still don’t understand that,” said Kamikaze, but her forehead creased as if thinking about it. “I mean it’s not like I’m the chosen one or something.”

“Not the chosen one,” Twilight said. “But you are part of the chosen friends. In the end, I don’t know if I’ll be part of that team like I hope, but I do know that it will do great things. You’ll definitely get to do more awesome, you can be sure of that.”

“I suppose we have wings, and might find some legs,” Kamikaze thought, then paused before a hint of a smile graced her features. “And if we don’t, buck it, all I need are wings. This’ll just make it all the more amazing when I succeed.”

“There’s the Rainbow I know,” smiled Twilight, not correcting herself on the name the one time as she scooted over to wrap a hoof around Kami’s sleeping bag.

“And you did pull me out of that reactor,” mused Kamikaze, her face growing more lively. “So I might even give you part of the credit.”

It was good that Kamikaze felt better, but they were both still exhausted, so soon Twilight settled into an uneasy sleep again. She didn’t get to sleep long, Limestone shaking her awake again well before it was time to abandon camp. Whatever Twilight’s fate was, it didn’t seem to involve much sleep for now. She seemed to vaguely remember waking up and briefly conversing with someone, but was half-asleep.

“Twilight,” Limestone whispered, then put a hoof against Twilight’s lips to signal her to speak quietly. “We have problems outside.”

Twilight knew what the problem was as a green mist floated into the hut’s door, smelling like rotten eggs and mold. Timberwolf breath.

The creature walked in front of the door, giving Twilight a chance to look it over. It looked much like the ones she had seen in her timeline, but had a glowing green core, like a bunch of logs stuck together with glow-in-the-dark gak. She looked down at her pipbuck and noted that the radiation levels had spiked with it nearby.

The creatures wouldn’t see them through the door or windows due to the perception filter, but they weren’t going away either.

“They smell us...those of us on the PCB, talk with it, except for things Solar and Dinky need to know,” Limestone whispered as if knowing what Twilight’s first question would be.

‘It wasn’t Pinkie! There is no confetti and whoever smelt it dealt it!’ Pinkie added with an on-PCB giggle, confirming to Twilight that she definitely was her Pinkie at her core.

‘I could just blast them with magic,’ Starlight offered.

‘“I’d prefer a method that caused less noise and flashy lights,”’ Limestone countered. ‘We don’t want to draw attention.’

‘Zapper wouldn’t make much noise,’ offered Kamikaze.

‘Would it be strong enough?’ asked Starlight. ‘It might just peeve them.’“Once we attack them, they’ll see us and pounce fast, so our first attack has to end the fight.”

‘Me and my sisters could smash them,’ offered Maud. ‘Probably.’

‘I don’t know if you should chance that,’ said Twilight. ‘These look sturdier than the ones I’ve seen. Their claws look strong enough to rip through armor.’

“How intelligent are they?” Solar asked. “Enough to respond to flirting?”

“Even if they were,” Dinky said. “Do you really want a hole full of radioactive splinters?”

“Never mind,” Solar ducked, while Pinkie gave a most unsettling smirk.

“They’ll give up eventually,” said Limestone. “Best to wait them out, I suppose.”

“Where is Crimson?” asked Dinky.

“What?” Limestone blinked, her voice at first almost normal, before returning to a whisper. “I thought you woke her up?”

“I didn’t wake anypony up,” Dinky said.

“You didn’t wake anypony?” Limestone took another look around the room. “Okay, then where’s Mercury?”

‘How did she leave?’ asked Twilight. ‘You set alarms on everyone’s pipbuck! Either Crimson or Mercury leaving should have set off the alarm!’

Looking around, Twilight noticed something: Crimson’s horn restraint sitting on the desk. Twilight pointed Limestone to it, who face-hoofed and groaned.

‘I suspected a restraint from her own stable wouldn’t work on her,’ said Limestone. ‘But that’s why we set the alarms. Empress?'

‘Crimson’s pipbuck still registers as inside this room, and still registers as worn,’ Starlight looked at the flickering holographic screen of her own pipbuck. ‘There. In Solar’s bag.’

Starlight opened Solar’s saddle bag, dumping the contents on the table. Tools, food, and Spitfire’s head.

‘Wait,’ Starlight floated Spitfire’s head about the room, watching Crimson’s signal move with it. “Damn it all to Tartarus! Crimson switched the codes between her pipbuck and Spitfire’s internal model. The internal pipbuck always registers as if it’s being worn, so the alarm didn’t register Crimson as having left or taken it off.” Starlight was barely whispering at this point, which made some of the wolves get closer.

“But what about Mercury?” Solar asked, panicked. “Where’s her pipbuck?”

“Nowhere,” Starlight shook her head. “I don’t understand. It’s not here, but there’s also no record of it leaving the hut.”

“But why take Mercury?” Solar asked, forgetting to lower her voice. “What did she ever do? We have to save her! Crimson will cut her into pieces! Then have sex with the pieces individually! Then have the characters in her book do it again!”

“Quiet, the timberwolves are going to figure it out eventually, they don’t cut ponies into pieces as neatly as Crimson would, and we would for sure find out about those splinters,” Limestone whispered to Solar.

“Holy horse apples you ponies are bucked up,” Dinky said at a more appropriate sound level. “How do you even come up with fears like that?”

“Healthy paranoia and years of practice!” Pinkie replied most uncomfortingly. “For becoming bucked up, Pinkie advises practicing by torturing mangos.”

Twilight didn’t register that ‘mangos’ was another racial slur for bat ponies until the conversation had moved on and it was too late to scold her.

“The book,” groaned Limestone. “Crimson’s ‘Crimoire’. If she put Mercury inside it, we might not detect her leaving.”

“She forced Mercury inside!” Solar said, being a little more restrained. “Paper Cut is chopping her up and serving her with noodles as we speak! Just like in book 32: Paper Cut and the Eldritch Tentacle!”

“Wait,” said Limestone. “Is this pony in her book fully self-aware? Damn it, I should have realized sooner. Somepony I didn’t account for… if she came up with a plan for Crimson and didn’t tell Crimson until it was time to do it, my sense wouldn’t have picked it up.”

“No!” Solar squealed. “I should have thought to tell you about that sooner. I’m sorry, it didn’t occur to me that it’d be important and we were all too busy bucking to think! This is my fault!”

Limestone reached and forced Solar’s muzzle shut with her hooves before she got louder.

‘But it takes a long time to store anything,’ said Starlight. ‘Mercury would have time to scream. Unless Crimson got her in her sleep I guess… but why choose her?’

‘This makes little sense.’ Twilight said. ‘If Crimson was betraying us, she’d take off alone. If she wanted to ponynap someone to give to Midnight, it’d be Starlight, Kamikaze, or me, not Mercury. Even then, why take somepony at all when she can just tell Midnight where we are?’

‘True,’ Kamikaze said. ‘Not like I’d be hard to snatch, and Midnight would probably be so happy to see me hoofed over, she’d be eating Crimson’s farts.’

‘Crimson needs no logical reason,’ said Maud. ‘Murder is like sex to her. She may simply be afraid to take me, and think Mercury is the second hottest.’

‘The bottom line is that we cannot wait the Timberwolves out,’ Starlight said. “Midnight could be on her way here. We have to leave now.”

‘Maybe I could use my…” Maud said, opening her bag, but stopped short. “One of my stealth bucks is gone. I will murder her and everything in her book twice.’

“We won’t need that, Maud, I have a plan,” said Limestone as she finally released Solar’s muzzle. “They’re looking for prey they think is hiding in the tree. Starlight can use her magic to float Zecora’s skeleton. Have it fall out of the tree and ‘run away’. Get them chasing it and give it a throw; they’ll follow.”

‘I don’t like that plan,’ Twilight admitted. ‘But I guess she’d want us to survive.’

‘Pinkie thinks the plan is hilarious, as much as she would prefer if we had captives to throw out and watch the carnage,’ Pinkie disagreed. ‘Pinkie gives permission for her own body to be used in such fashion upon her demise!’

‘No dying without permission, Pink,’ said Limestone. “Now everyone saddle up; as soon as they leave, we run.”

“And go where?” asked Kamikaze. “If we’re not here, they’ll go for our wagon. They might even send soldiers to both at once.”

“All the more reason to run,” said Limestone. “We’ll head out into the Ashlands as quickly as possible. If they haven’t found the wagon, we’ll fly it out; should be fine since we know to shield it the whole way now. Empress?”

As everypony packed, Starlight clenched her teeth as she pulled the blanket off of Zecora. There was a hole near the roof of the hut once meant to vent smoke and fumes, which Starlight pried open with her magic. The skeleton was hard to keep together as she floated it up to and out of the hole.

The timberwolves leaped into action when the skeleton fell from the tree. Zecora barely ‘escaped’ them, then Starlight tossed the skeleton off an embankment nearby, watching them follow.

As soon as the wolves left their sight, the group rushed into the forest.