Fallout Equestria: The Blue Lightning

So long as I kept moving and didn’t dwell.

Fallout Equestria: Heroes, chapter 18

Sometimes, just when it seems that the goal has been achieved, everything turns upside down. Initial plans fall apart, and victory – so close but suddenly out of reach – turns into defeat. First of all – in the struggle with circumstances, which, no matter how strong the will of the one who is going, usually take over.

The meaning of the former aspiration is lost, and in order to somehow justify the effort spent, you have to choose a new goal – depending on what you get in the end. Sometimes the only option left is to logically continue the previous mission.

Because to give up when the path has taken you so far is to surrender. To retreat shamefully, devaluing all previous efforts and hardships.

Only cowards and losers agree to this.

But heroes keep going, and one day they’ll end up somewhere.

“…Is that a mushroom?!” Cosmic asked, looking at the strange creature in Cream’s hands.

Light blue in color, with a drop-shaped head with a yellow ball floating above, and a red bow tie, it looked at the earth pony with its blue eyes, squeaking and wiggling its limbs. It also had little pink wings on its back.

“This is Chao,” the rabbit girl replied in a soft, high voice. “His name is Cheese. He’s my friend. We lived together in our world until we heard about what happened on Earth. I wanted to go there and join Sonic’s team, but my mother was against it. And then… Tails contacted me and invited me to join him. Cheese likes adventures,” she smiled sweetly and let the Chao out of her arms. He flapped his wings and floated in the air. “And I just couldn’t say no.”

“Cream, I was the one who convinced you!” Amy said as she approached them. “You’re always afraid of everything! Unlike your pet,” she added with a smile.

Cosmic looked at the hedgehog girl.

“So you two knew each other before?”

“Huh! Of course we did!” Amy crossed her arms over her chest. “We’re all from the same world. Many different tribes live there, and while the owls, hedgehogs, and echidnas were at war, the others lived normal lives. Often, they even joined together.”

“But wait…” the earth pony frowned. “Sonic said that hedgehogs and echidnas almost disappeared in that war…”

“That’s right – almost,” Amy sighed, clasping her hands. “Sonic was the only one with his powers, so he was sent to a safe place. But gradually, things calmed down and we could return to a peaceful life, joining the rest of the tribes.”

“So you were actually gathered by Tails, not Sonic? But why do you think Sonic’s in charge?”

“Well, it’s just like in MLP,” Tails replied, walking over to them. On his left arm was a “trophy” PipBuck with a loaded map. Sonic and Knuckles were sitting off to the side, bored. “After all, the Mane Six’s friendship had been predestined by Rainbow Dash, who had performed a Sonic Rainboom that had given them all cutie marks. Twilight Sparkle led the team later.”

There was a flap of large wings, and Spike hovered over the group.

“Are you ready? The sun will be setting soon. You’ll need to be able to see where you’re going without being caught by the Enclave. So now would be the best time for you to go.”

“Tell us…” Cosmic turned to the dragon. “You only gave us this mission so that we wouldn’t get discouraged and still have a purpose, didn’t you?”

Spike hesitated, and with a last flap of his wings, he landed on the floor of the cave.

“No… And yes. As you can see, the Elements are too important to me to just give them away. These statuettes…” The dragon’s gaze clouded over, no doubt he was remembering the past. “They’re priceless in their own way, but –” Spike grinned “– there are seven sets of them in Equestria, not just one. Of course, it’s hard for me to part with them, even temporarily, and I expect to get them back in a few days… So in a way, yes, I’m giving you this job just to get you off my back. But at the same time…”

Spike sighed heavily.

“The Tree of Harmony?” Cosmic recognized. “Was there anything left of it? Considering Red Eye’s been burning the Everfree Forest like crazy lately.”

“That’s the problem,” the dragon replied sadly. “I don’t know.”

“And in all these years, you haven’t even —”

“I’ve tried! But none of those who went into the forest ever came back. They all died either on the way, encountering alicorns, griffins, Steel Rangers or just bandits, or in the forest itself, facing whatever lived there.”

“Wonderful,” Cosmic said wryly. “And that’s why we should definitely go there. Excellent plan. Reliable, man, just like a PipBuck.”

“Like a Swiss watch,” Sonic chuckled from his seat.

“About that thing in the forest…” Tails said, looking at Spike. “You mean Ursa, the manticores and the poison joke? Or…”

“Well, star creatures and manticores can be found in the Wasteland itself,” the dragon said. “You’ll have to avoid the plants first. There are some that like to spit spores… And the blue ivy that was there two hundred years ago has mutated into a much more dangerous ‘killing joke’.”

“How’s that?” Amy asked, tilting her head to the side.

“The same ivy, only its touch does… something to every pony. Different every time. Anything at all,” Spike emphasized.

There was a long silence while the alien team digested what they had heard.

Finally, the silence was broken by Cosmic, “Besides, there must still be Red Eye’s soldiers snooping around as if they were at home.”

“Who is this guy?” asked Knuckles, who was listening to the conversation with Sonic from the other side of the room. “It’s not the first time I’ve heard that today… I don’t like him anymore.”

“This is the leader of all slavers in the Wasteland,” Cosmic grinned unhappily. “He seems to be in Fillydelphia, but at the same time he’s doing something to the forest… I only know about him from radio reports and conversations I overheard in New Appleloosa. That town, by the way, owes him a water talisman that is so rare in Equestria, and they have strong trade ties with him. And Old Appleloosa is a slave-trading outpost in that part of the Wasteland.”

“I want to kill him now,” Knuckles muttered, slapping his spiked gloved hand on the ground.

“If only it were that easy…” the earth pony shook her head. “I think someone would have done it a long time ago. But this asshole relies on fucking alicorns, and he’s got a lot of griffins working for him… No, no chance. And besides…” She sighed. “This isn’t our war anymore.”

“Right,” Spike’s low growl sounded, and Cream shrieked in fright. “Not yours, and not theirs. But both your wars with Lyra and Eggman can wait. All in good time.”

The dragon looked towards the exit of the cave, beyond which the pale twilight was fading, and Cosmic caught herself.

“Yeah… we should go.”

Soon the group gathered at the passage outside.

Leaving the cave meant returning to a brutal, post-apocalyptic world where life was worth as much as a pony carried in saddlebags, plus a bounty on the head in rare cases. And sometimes it was nothing. And no wonder no one was in a hurry to take the first step out of the dragon’s lair: neither those who had already been out there… nor those who had come straight into the cave from another universe.

“Good luck,” Spike finally told them all.

Cosmic nodded and was about to be the first to leave the conventionally hospitable dwelling when suddenly…

“Wait!” Sonic shouted and all eyes turned to him. “I have an idea. A way we can do this faster and safer.”

“And how?” Cosmic asked, turning around.

The blue hedgehog smiled indulgently and lifted the lanyard with the remaining portal rings around his neck.

“Knuckles, Amy, Cream,” he said as he untied the lanyard and removed one of the last three rings. “You’re new to this world, and it’s not a very peaceful place. I think it would be safer for you to go back for now, and then when we” – he looked around at Cosmic, himself, and Tails – “come down and get far enough away from here, I’ll open another portal (‘cause I know what the room looks like, and I can visualize it), and you’ll come back to us. But…” Sonic frowned. “You don’t have any more rings, do you?”

“We’ll have to look. What happened to yours?” Knuckles asked.

“They were stolen,” the hedgehog sighed. “I’ll tell you later. So you agree?”

“And how’ll we get away from the Enclave troops if they find us?” Cosmic asked. “Well, you, of course —”

“I can just roll down. The round shape allows me to remain unharmed, so nothing will happen to me. Then I’ll run across the Wasteland.” Sonic looked at his fox friend. “Tails could fly away on his tails.” And glanced at Cosmic, smiling again. “And you have a zebra stealth cloak.”

The earth pony suddenly realized that everyone was looking at her now. And while the new aliens from Earth stared at her with amazement, Spike did so with apprehension and wariness.

“You could have slipped past me then…” the dragon said in a muffled voice. “And I wouldn’t have noticed…”

Now he’ll breathe fire again, a thought flashed through Cosmic’s mind.

“No,” the mare shook her head, “I wouldn’t do that. I really do want the best for Equestria, but…” She closed her eyes with a sigh. “It’s so hard to believe in something that’s been dead for so long.”

“We have to believe,” Spike replied. “Believe and hope that there will be a day when we get our sunshine and rainbows back.” The dragon looked at the corridor leading out. “It’s almost dark. Time to leave for you. Take care of these statuettes.” The figurines were now in Cosmic’s saddlebag. “Each of them, even when separated, gives strength, and all together… probably allow to do the impossible.”

The earth pony said nothing. Just nodded goodbye to Spike and walked silently out of the cave onto the narrow platform.

Behind them the portal opened, through which some of the aliens went back to Earth. To the world that could still be saved.

Though… maybe Equestria wasn’t finished either?

However, that was no longer Cosmic’s concern.

After all, there were other ponies besides her. Why shouldn’t one of them try to change the world for the better?

Someone who’d be a greater hero.

She just wanted to survive. And to have a purpose that was worth staying alive for. At least for tomorrow. And then she’d see.

As they descended, darkness fell. The waning moon had risen in the sky, but its faint light shining through the tattered fabric of the clouds gave almost no visibility.

Cosmic would wonder what was causing the moon and sun to rise now, Sonic thought. If everything was as it should be, what powers were Celestia and Luna using? And for what purpose, if days and nights could indeed change naturally? Was it just to maintain their own power? Or was the talisman the Goddesses had given Twilight in the ninth season still lying around somewhere, working?

The hedgehog shook his head and jumped over a small dip, concentrating on the descent again.

It was too complicated and confusing. How many unsolved mysteries had the fourth generation left behind… and many more had been created by the fifth…

Sonic looked back at Tails and Cosmic, who were following. The fox could not jump that far, so he used a tailswing to keep from falling into the abyss, just as he had during the climb.

But there was no sign of the blue pony. And not only because of the darkness, which was necessary for cover.

Even on the upper platform, Cosmic donned Metal Dawn’s cloak, instantly becoming invisible and inaudible. Tails confirmed the same after failing to find her mark on PipBuck’s locator. Indeed, the cloak’s stealth mode was absolute, and the mare actually regretted that during the war, the ponies hadn’t been able to fully copy the Zebras’ technology.

With the tools he had borrowed from Spike, the fox removed the PipBuck and placed the device in Cosmic’s saddlebag. That way, she could find the aliens when they were all away from any possible Enclave surveillance. If the estimates were correct, the cloak would easily hide the dead Spark Glider’s mark from the minicomputers in the pegasi’s armor.

But still, he and Tails could be easily detected. So they had to get down and out of here as quickly as possible. Having learned from his encounters with Dr. Eggman, Sonic knew when to retreat. He simply used that knowledge as he saw fit.

It was still much easier to go downhill than uphill. The hedgehog’s eyes had become accustomed to the darkness, and now even the faint glow of the moon was enough to see where to put his foot or where to jump.

It seemed that everything would go on like this, without any problems. At least until they reached the Everfree Forest.

Sonic stopped and looked at the sky again. It was impossible to tell under the cloud cover – what if a pegasus was flying up there now, looking out for “intruders”?

But no matter how hard the hedgehog looked into the night, there was no movement. Perhaps those who were supposed to be on duty near the mountain preferred to sleep rather than hover in the air.

Sonic turned away and took a few more steps…

And then a bright light struck from the right.

“Aaaaaaah!” the hedgehog screamed and covered his eyes with his hand.

A voice, amplified by loudspeakers, whipped around his ears.

“STAY WHERE YOU ARE! SURRENDER! DON’T DO ANYTHING STUPID AND WE’LL KEEP YOU ALIVE IN EXCHANGE FOR INFORMATION…!”

“Tails, run…!” without waiting for the pegasus to finish speaking, Sonic commanded…

And jumped.

No, not forward. Because Cosmic would still need the path for her descent, and the missiles the mare had warned them about could destroy the only way down for non-flying ponies.

But sideways, straight at the voice, curling up into a tight ball in one motion. White, itchy sparks flew from the needles.

And then an explosion ripped through the rocky slope behind him. Sonic didn’t see it – he only felt the shockwave pushing him far away and down.

Spinning the wheel at breakneck speed, he rolled down the steep, almost sheer slope, bouncing on the twists and turns of the path that wound around the mountain. The energy from the needles sparked, bursting outward, forming a shield that absorbed the strongest blows.

And the hedgehog himself thought about not vomiting as soon as he landed.

BOOM! BOOM! BANG!

Sonic wondered if it was him hitting the rock so hard, or if it was the sound of the rocket hits. But there wasn’t a thing to be done. All he could do was hope that his friends would survive.

“STOP! YOU WON’T GET AWAY…!” came from above.

So Tails was still alive, running through the air from the pegasi. But how long would the fox’s tails be able to help him? And suddenly, their speed wouldn’t be enough to outrun the pursuit?

Sonic gritted his teeth and began to roll even faster.

Still. They had no other plan. Nor did they have time to think of one. If they all went together, half of the group would be gone by now. This way, there’s a chance that at least one of them could make it out. If they were lucky, all of them.

But there was no way to be sure.

Finally, the bouncing stopped and there was only a flat surface under the needles. Sonic immediately stopped spinning and straightened up to his full height, looking up at the sky.

Somewhere high above, bright red laser beams and red flame trails from missiles were glittering. Tails was flying – somehow managing to dodge the hits, even without Sonic’s speed and reaction! Hedgehog mentally applauded his friend. Tails had a real knack for dodging things.

Suddenly, one of the tracks of the inversion trail pulled down, heading straight for Sonic. And a couple more followed.

“Uh-oh,” the hedgehog said, doing what he did best.

He sped up.

The air thickened again, blowing a solid chill across his face and out his arms to the sides and back. A familiar bluish glow blurred at the edges of his vision.

Racing through the night desert much faster than the wind, Sonic allowed himself a victorious grin. He was back in his element.

Rockets rumbled and exploded far behind him. And then a scream of pain and despair came from above, causing the hedgehog to slow down and lift his head again. And so he froze.

Shots from ray guns and rocket launchers continued to rain down on the small target in the night sky. Only now it was no longer hidden in the darkness.

The small light, which the pegasi kept shooting at, was falling, rapidly approaching the ground.

“Tails!!!”

Sonic immediately sprinted to where the unexpected firefly the fox had briefly transformed into was about to fall. More blasts rumbled behind him, far behind the speed of the blue lightning that was cutting through the Wasteland.

Halfway, the light went out, but the hedgehog already knew where Tails would land. A little less than half a mile – that was how far they had traveled from the mountain. Not a great distance for a creature as fast as Sonic.

It’s all about timing. And not accidentally pulling Tails sideways at the speed of sound.

“Hang on, Tails! I’ll get you…!”

Just don’t miss by slowing down a split second too late.

He’ll make it. He has to make it.

Tonight he won’t lose the friend he brought into this world. A friend with whom he’s been through so much in a matter of months…

Because friendship is magic. And at the right moment, it can do anything.

“Catch…!”

He could already see the silhouette of the fox flying down like a broken puppet. Tails had stopped shooting for a while, and instead of fire, his yellow fur was smoldering for some reason.

Sonic slowed down just before his friend fell – enough so that the pull wouldn’t hurt Tails too much when he flew right into his hands, and the fox’s acceleration wouldn’t slam the hedgehog into the ground.

But even so, it didn’t work to hold on to him.

Sonic stumbled, dropping his trapped companion, and smashing his nose into the ground. Tails flew off to the side and rolled away, hitting the ground hard with each bounce.

Spitting up sand dust, Sonic jumped to his feet and ran to his friend’s still-lying body.

“Tails! Can you hear me?! Wake up, Tails…!”

And then, after running up to the fox and starting to shake him up, Sonic was horrified.

What he thought was smoke from smoldering fur was in fact that. One of the two tails was almost gone; pale wisps of smoke with the smell of burning hair rose from the rest.

“No…” the hedgehog whispered. He couldn’t believe what had happened. “Tails…”

Somehow he put out the rest of the flames and leaned over to the fox’s chest. His friend was breathing, deep and almost inaudible; there was a steady but faint heartbeat beneath his ribs.

Tails was alive. But unconscious, whether from pain or something else.

Just like when they had run from Eggman in the snowy mountains of Siberia…

“No… Tails…” Sonic shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut. “I didn’t wa—”

The laser plowed into the ground at their side. Seeing the pink glow through his closed eyelids, Sonic opened his eyes and looked up at the sky.

Gripped by grief, he had completely forgotten about his enemies. But they were obviously not going to let their targets go.

A rocket shot cracked deafly. A bright point of light blossomed in the darkness and flew down, leaving a clearly visible trail.

An explosion boomed, scattering dust and ash in all directions.

But those the pegasus stormtrooper had been aiming at were no longer there.

With the unconscious Tails on his shoulders, Sonic ran across the Wasteland. Somewhere he hoped they wouldn’t get caught.

I’ll save you, Tails. Just live… The hedgehog stared into the darkness with determination. I promise we’ll get out of here. We’ll help Cosmic… and then figure out how to defeat Eggman.

For some reason, he believed their mission in this world wouldn’t be over even if they got out of the Everfree Forest.

The Equestria they had entered was a terribly imperfect place. And it just needed help to become better.

…The Everfree Forest was a great wall of tall trees, sharply delineating it from the flat surface around it. The dense foliage made it difficult to see anything more than a few steps away, and there seemed to be little light coming through the treetops.

The forest already looked like an unattractive place from the outside, and it was even more unnerving to have to go deep into it soon. The grass and bushes looked the most ordinary, but Cosmic knew that this impression could be deceiving. Especially when one considered the poisonous spores and the killing joke.

The six of them (seven, counting Cheese) stood not far from the edge of the ancient forest, peering into its green semi-darkness. They had only a short way to go before the dark branches would close over their heads.

The last – and most important part of the way to the forgotten Tree of Harmony.

…Cosmic found the hedgehog and the fox near morning, a few miles east of Spike’s Mountain. While the aliens took the fire from the Enclave, the earth pony walked down the path, used her tools to put on a PipBuck (her fillyhood in the workshop had finally come in useful), and trotted off in the direction in which the two friendly marks had fled faster than the wind. The pegasi circled the Wasteland for a while, but then apparently decided it wasn’t worth the risk, and headed back behind the clouds.

Tails was unconscious, his body covered in scrapes and bruises. But after a drink of healing potions, the fox regained his senses and even managed to get to his feet. Luckily, nothing was broken, otherwise they would have needed unicorn healing magic immediately, which would have put an end to their plans. They’d have to go to The Republic… and they wouldn’t be welcome there.

The hedgehog and the fox still had the weapons Cosmic had given them, but as they fled, they… didn’t use them. The fire was coming from only one side, and the other didn’t even try to shoot back.

“Are you out of your mind?!” the earth pony shouted when she found them – hiding behind a random rock that also served as a shelter. “What did I give you weapons for?! This is the Wasteland, idiots, you need to know how to defend yourself!”

“Sorry, Cosmic, but… we’re not like that,” Sonic replied, standing up. The submachine gun still dangled in a holster at his side. “We’re not used to all this, and… we’d probably have a hard time killing anyone. Even to save our own lives.”

“Damn… what the hay are you thinking about?!”

“We shouldn’t… be like them,” Tails said in a weak voice and tried to sit up. It didn’t work, and he remained lying on the spread blanket from Cosmic’s things. “We must… give a drop of goodness… to this world. Otherwise… it will… remain this way forever.”

“And we can do something, too,” Sonic added. “For example, they never caught up with me. Remember how I alone disarmed those raiders,” he shuddered, “until your friend machine-gunned them. And he,” the hedgehog glanced at Tails, “can handle any of the local machines. And you don’t know the others like we do. Although” – Sonic scratched the back of his head – “that’s not very good either, but still… Eh. Just trust us. Please. It’s not that hard, is it?”

“Your kindness cost him his tail!” Cosmic replied, pointing a hoof at the fox. “And for us it may cost the mission!”

“But no one’s paying you for this trip?”

“I think we owe Spike for not killing us,” the mare said. “And” – she looked down at her hooves – “I just need some kind of purpose right now. I don’t want to go home without finding out what’s going on. But I don’t know how to go about it. So I need some kind of intermediate step to figure out what to do next. And a hike in the woods suits me just fine.” Cosmic stroked Tails’ chest with a hoof. “The main thing is that you should survive until then.”

…Now Tails stood with the others, slightly wrapped in bandages, probably mentally preparing to storm this “Area 51”, as Sonic had said at one of the campsites. The fox had argued back then that it was something between Chernobyl and Aokigahara… whatever that meant. Cosmic was still not well versed in what the two were saying about the world they came from. And the “Area 51” that Tails had told the bewildered mare about was firmly associated in her mind with Hoofington, a remote town in the southeast of Equestria.

The journey to the northern edge of the forest had taken the same four days as the one from the abandoned farm to the dragon’s mountain, mainly because Tails could no longer fly and was limping. Cream had tried to talk to him, but the previously cheerful fox had only replied that everything was okay, and he was fine. Cosmic decided to just give him time; after all, losing the tail that made him fly was like a pegasus losing a wing or a unicorn losing magic. A loss to be accepted and realized. Or to try to get it back in the future.

Smoke rose above the fence of trees, carried by the wind from the southeast. If this was indeed the work of the hooves of Red Eye’s minions, the small group had another reason to be cautious.

Because it’s one thing to meet ponies with guns. It’s quite another to encounter ponies with flamethrowers.

“Are w-we s-sure w-we h-have t-to go that w-way?” Cream asked, wrapping her arms around herself. Cheese, hovering on his wings, hid behind her.

“Yes,” Cosmic replied stiffly. “We have a mission, and we must complete it. According to the map,” she looked at the PipBuck’s display, where the right marker Spike had loaded was located, “the Tree of Harmony is almost at the center of the forest. If this were the Wasteland, we wouldn’t have to walk more than a couple of hours. But as it is,” she shifted her gaze back to the trees, “I don't even know.”

Sorry, Spark, the earth pony thought belatedly. The PipBuck of her dead comrade was almost physically burning her leg. But I need it now. And you… Sorry, but you’re gonna have to… gosh, how can I put this…

“Okay,” she sighed. “Let’s just do it.”

Cosmic was the first to get up from her seat and step into the forest. The others followed her, one after the other. Amy and Cream were at the back of the group.

Although it was a clear day outside, the forest seemed to be in a permanent twilight. Most of the trees were straight, but many were twisted, sometimes into the most unthinkable shapes. Cosmic even had to shake her head and blink – the dark, uneven trunks sometimes bore the faces of terrifying creatures.

Spike told me that Pinkie Pie dispelled those apparitions with a laugh on their first trip into the forest, the earth pony remembered. She looked back at the aliens following her and could barely keep from sighing heavily. What could I do about their long faces? Anyway, this is neither the time nor the place to have fun.

Indeed, her companions looked like they’d taken a pill of seriousness. Even Sonic remained sullenly silent as he made his way through the thicket, untouched by radiation and fire.

The nearest balefire bomb must have fallen far enough away, because the PipBuck on the mare’s leg remained silent, registering no background increase. From that point of view, it was even safer here than anywhere else in the Wasteland. But “safety” was a relative term. And the main thing was not only to avoid the aggressive flora, but also the arsonists – or Red Eye’s regular soldiers. Still, it would be unpleasant to catch a bullet or a laser beam… though less unpleasant than being burned alive by incinerator jets.

Remembering what Spike had warned her about, Cosmic tried to watch where she stepped. She avoided bushes as well as flowers: it wasn’t clear what those plants could do. But even if she walked on normal grass, she couldn’t be sure that it wouldn’t suddenly try to grab the travelers by the throat.

Or…

“Quiet!” the earth pony whispered, raising a hoof.

The group instantly halted.

Standing still, Cosmic listened intently to the rustling of the forest. Something about them was different now. As if someone was creeping through the same thicket as them.

With a mental curse, the mare turned on the PipBuck’s E.F.S., the Eyes-Forward Sparkle locator. The black and green display immediately highlighted a cluster of dots, automatically zooming in on the map.

Cosmic looked back at her new team. There were six of them besides her…

PipBuck showed six friendly green dots nearby.

And one red.

“Danger!” she yelled as a creature jumped out of the bushes and landed in the middle of the group, flapping its small, useless wings a few times.

Right in front of Knuckles.

Staring him straight in the eyes.

Cosmic threw Argument off her back in one motion, caught the weapon in her mouth, and pressed an inconspicuous button on the side of the PipBuck.

Time surely froze around her, and the world before her eyes blurred, jerked by a pale green filter that came out of nowhere.

Welcome to S.A.T.S. – Stable-Tech Arcane Targeting Spell, the green writing appeared above.

Cosmic knew what PipBucks did, but she had never worn one before. As a result, her first entry into S.A.T.S. sent her into a momentary stupor. An indescribably short moment – during which all the participants in the scene barely moved, but the charge bar in the lower right corner of the view had shrunk by a third.

Finding this or that companion with a glance, Cosmic was amazed how sharp and clear the outlines of his or her figure became at the same moment. Cold sweat broke out on the mare’s face as the numbers appeared – the probability of a hit.

No – she wouldn’t shoot those she was walking with. No way. Never.

She’s not Metal Dawn.

The stupid device just didn’t understand what it was offering.

Cosmic found the “uninvited guest” with her eyes. It was a strange creature that looked like a snake with the head of a chicken. Where these halves joined, small leathery wings protruded from the sides, unable to hold it in the air. Around the small monster’s head, a square of scope appeared. The inscription there said:

Cocatrix. 31%.

About to press the trigger with her tongue, the earth pony stopped.

Thirty-one percent. Less than a one in three chance. So in the other two, she would miss.

Or hit one of her teammates.

No.

Cosmic took her tongue away from the trigger.

She won’t do that.

Besides, she’s not alone now. And she can rely on those around her.

The spell’s charge was over. The world returned to its usual colorful appearance – and time sped forward again. At the speed of the bullet, Cosmic should have fired, but didn’t.

Knuckles took a short swing and struck the cocatrix with his hand in a spiked white glove. With a wild shriek, the creature soared into the air and flew away in a perfect arc. Its wings flapped helplessly in the wind.

And that was a different matter.

Cosmic raised her carbine and, squinting, fired a short burst. The shots rang deaf and strange in the forest and seemed to be absorbed by the surrounding trees. A falling cocatrix exploded with blood and fell into the bushes.

A horrible screech ripped at her ears. Cosmic turned to see Cream staring at the spot where the defeated monster had disappeared, hands over her mouth and eyes wide in horror. Cheese was hiding behind her back, shrinking into a ball.

The other aliens barely had time to react either.

Sonic with Nige and Tails with Metal Dawn’s revolvers looked comical – only now the hedgehog and the fox had drawn their weapons.

The earth pony raised an eyebrow at the sight of Amy. The pink hedgehog had literally pulled a huge red sledgehammer out of nowhere – and was looking around for a threat.

And only Knuckles stood there, breathing heavily, fists out in front of him.

“Are you okay?” Cosmic asked the red echidna as she put down her weapon.

“Yeah,” he replied, looking down at his hands. “What… what is it…?”

“What happened?” Sonic was alarmed.

“My… hands…” Knuckles’ fingers were still clenched. “I can’t… unclasp…”

Cosmic came closer and took a closer look. And then fell on her haunches, gasping for air.

Knuckles’ gloves – at least in the area of the spikes on the knuckles – were no longer white.

They were gray. Like stone.

“Let me help,” Sonic said, and before Cosmic could understand, he grabbed one of Knuckles’ fists and pulled with all his might.

The echidna roared in pain. The earth pony’s blood even froze in her veins for a moment. And that guy is scary when he gets angry, a thought flashed through her mind.

After a few minutes, one of Knuckles’ palms gave way and somehow unclenched. Sonic and Amy gasped when they saw what their friend’s hand had become. The tips of the fingers were straightened, but the metacarpal and lower phalanges remained stiff, turned to stone.

“I can’t… feel my fingers,” Knuckles whispered. “Though…”

He walked to the nearest tree and, with all his might, cracked the trunk with his other, still clenched hand.

The crack sounded louder to Cosmic than the shots from Argument. Splinters flew in all directions. As Knuckles backed away from the tree, the mare nearly choked on the air at what she saw.

There was a dent about twenty centimeters deep in the trunk, with unevenly broken edges. There were visible cracks running around the tree.

Echidna calmly pushed the trunk with a straightened palm, and the tree snapped in half and collapsed into the thicket.

“Well, that’s not bad,” Knuckles said. Then, looking down at his still-clenched second fist, he added, “Can somebody help me?”

Sonic went to his friend’s aid.

And Cosmic turned around to see Cream sobbing over the tortured cocatrix, and Tails standing next to the rabbit girl with a hand on her shoulder. Her pet Chao was hovering nearby with a sad look on his face.

“Why…?” Cream sobbed. “It wasn’t his fault… We were just supposed to drive him away…”

“Shh, shh…” Tails said, standing behind her and gently massaging her ears. “It’s over now… We can’t change anything…”

“No… it doesn’t have to be like this… Why?!” She suddenly shouted and turned sharply to Cosmic. The earth pony even twitched a little at the sight of those big round eyes, frozen in incomprehension and horror. “Why do you have to be so cruel?! Why can’t we just go where we need to and not kill anybody?!”

Cosmic looked at her – and saw Sonic. But a little earlier one – just a few days after they’d met.

The hedgehog had been looking at the fresh bodies of the raiders he’d captured. Right after Stream had fired that fateful machine-gun blast.

And of course, Cosmic remembered what the pegasus mare had said back then.

The earth pony moved slowly towards Cream – but passed her, stopping a little in the distance.

Without turning around, she spoke, “This isn’t a superhero movie for kids, girl. Strike first, or the world will eat you up. With your guts.”

“If that’s the case… so be it.” Cream turned away and closed her eyes. “I’m ready to die knowing I didn’t hurt anyone.”

“We’ll get through this,” Tails whispered to her. “We’re not gonna die now. And we won’t die later. Maybe someday… but for now, it doesn’t matter.”

Suddenly, all eyes turned to Sonic, who was humming a simple tune as he leaned against a tree.

“What?” the hedgehog asked, surprised by all the attention. “Don’t tell me you don’t like Skillet.”[1]

“Then rather Green Day,”[2] sobbed the rabbit girl and cried again.

Cosmic shook her head.

Damn, I really don’t understand these aliens.

They encountered the arsonists two hours later.

Smoke from the fires slowly covered the sky as the group moved deeper into the forest. The smell of burning was getting stronger and stronger, so Cosmic soaked the remaining bandages in water from the flask and hoofed them out to everyone. Sonic helped the mare to put the same bandage on her nose – so that she could take the weapon’s mouthgrip in her teeth.

Gradually, the crackling fire began to be heard – and bright red reflections began to appear behind the trees ahead and slightly aside.

If this continues, what will be left of this place? Cosmic thought. What will Red Eye turn the Castle of the Two Sisters into? What is this “Cathedral” that PipBuck says is in the heart of the forest now? And what happened to the Stable Spike was talking about? Or is Equestria heading toward a point where there’s nothing left of the past?

All these questions remained without an answer. Unless to consider the blowing of an unusually warm wind and the increasing noise of the fire to be such.

And then the red marks appeared on the E.F.S. Cosmic stopped the group again to assess the situation.

Four. Moving from the center of the forest to the northeast. Right in front of their small group. Leaving only fire behind them – and thus blocking the way for the mercenary mare and the aliens.

It’s possible to wait here until the enemies have passed. The fire would die down at some point – but it would take too long…

With a heavy sigh, Cosmic took out her carbine and reloaded it.

It’s needed to go around them. From the side they’re coming from.

“Attention,” said the mare. It was difficult to speak clearly with a gun in her mouth, but she more or less managed it. She just had to speak louder and slower. “Four enemies at five o’clock. Let’s go around them from the east before the fire blocks our way… Hey, what are you looking at?”

“Well, you said five o’clock…” Sonic replied, pointing his thumb behind his back and a little to the right.

“No, I meant there…!” Cosmic spat out her carbine and pointed her hoof to the left, but immediately made a facehoof. “Oh, Celestia, how many hours you have in a day?”

“Twenty-four,” Tails muttered, frowning, then brightened, “And it’s sixteen here, isn’t it?”

“Right,” Cosmic grinned. “There’s no time to explain – let’s hurry up…!”

But then the unfriendly marks on the locator froze, and two of them continued on, while the other two turned toward the group, cutting off the way to the east.

Cosmic roared.

“Spread out! Weapons to fight! Surround them while we can! Come on!!!” she yelled, and the aliens who had been frozen in place began to spread out in a semi-circle, covering the enemies from the north.

Cosmic grabbed Argument with her teeth again, tilted her head, and took a stance. Then she began to sneak slowly between the trees, glancing at her E.F.S. from time to time.

It was time to meet at least someone with full power.

A shot pierced the tree next to Cosmic’s head. The earth pony jumped aside and hid behind a neighboring tree trunk, keeping an eye out for her opponent.

“Come on, show up, asshole…” came the stallion’s voice. “It’ll be easier for you. It’s not as bad to die from a bullet as from fire, is it?” He laughed briefly.

I’ll finish you off myself, Cosmic thought and peeked out from behind the tree.

A unicorn of dirty-white color in good-looking armor approached her, not afraid of anything. Next to him floated a new rifle, which he levitated with his magic. And judging by his grin, he was very, very confident.

“Eeny, meeny, miny, moe…” he said in a raspy voice and stopped. “Catch the pony by her toe…”

Cosmic held her breath as the rifle began to move away from his head, coming closer to the trees around the mare.

“Where are you then? Maybe here?”

The gun flew around a nearby tree and fired into the grass.

The stallion laughed again.

“Or here?!”

The rifle aimed straight at Cosmic.

There was no more delay. The earth pony emptied at least a third of her magazine into the weapon hovering above the ground and sprinted without looking back, running in an arc around the enemy.

“Aha!”

A burst of magic flew into the tree at Cosmic’s side, raining splinters down on her.

“You won’t get away!”

Another discharge went over her croup, scattering the bushes behind her.

“Take that!”

Cosmic threw herself to the ground, and another white flash of energy cut through the air above her head.

The earth pony jumped to her hooves, turning to face her enemy… and found herself standing right before him.

The unicorn stood a few paces away from her, a battered rifle floating before him, but still seemingly able to fire. An ugly grin froze on his face.

“There you are,” he said. “Didn’t take long to track you down. You wanna tell me why you came to the forest, or can I kill you now? Or maybe you’d like to have some fun for the last time?”

“I’ve heard that Red Eye pays this price for unicorn slaves because he can’t get hard with earth ponies,” the mare snapped back through Argument’s mouthgrip. “Or am I wrong and he’s experimenting on you to give you some brains? And you’re just a failed attempt, then?”

“What d’you know anyway,” the stallion frowned. “Yes, I didn’t fit into some of his plans, but this job – armed escort – is also okay.” He grinned again. “And while your friends are being roasted alive, I’ll just shoot you in the head.”

His gun pointed at Cosmic again.

“Not before… you see… this!”

In one fell swoop, the earth pony pulled something round out of her saddlebag and hurled it at the unicorn. The white glow of telekinesis enveloped the object, and it flew aside…

But Cosmic had already entered the S.A.T.S. The targeting square froze on the enemy’s face. Technomagical arcane software estimated the chance of a hit at ninety-four percent.

Three bullets tore through the unicorn’s head, turning his face into a bloody mess. Before he could fire, he fell to the ground like a sack. A rifle fell next to him, released from his telekinetic grip.

Something hit one of the trees and rolled back under Cosmic’s hooves.

An apple. An ordinary green apple. Which Red Eye’s soldier mistook for a grenade.

Picking up the apple and hiding it in her bag, the earth pony ran on.

Judging by the location of the markings, her friends were definitely in need of help.

Cosmic was right. Even together, the aliens couldn’t do anything really significant against the three remaining pony enemies. And it wasn’t just that the colorful beasts had weaker weapons. On top of that, they had almost no combat experience. That is, in real conditions.

The two groups had managed to split up – and were now facing each other separately.

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles were dodging the flamethrower jets fired back and forth by the two earth ponies. Another enemy – with a battle saddle – barely loomed over Amy and Cream as they huddled together. The hedgehog girl clutched desperately at her sledgehammer, but the sight of the pointed gun barrels must have been depressing. Cheese was nowhere to be seen – perhaps he had managed to fly further away and hide.

Cosmic shifted her gaze from one to the other and back again. Trying to decide who needed her help more.

But it wasn’t hard to answer that question.

She galloped toward the terrified girls who were about to be shot and stopped sharply beside them. The carbine in her teeth was aimed right at the enemy’s head.

He still hadn’t fired – and wasn’t even too scared by Cosmic’s arrival. He probably found it amusing or enjoyed talking to his future victims.

Cosmic came right in the middle of their dialog.

“…Why…?” Cream asked with tears in her eyes. A bruise spread across her cheekbone – probably from a hoof blow. “Why do we have to be killed? Why can’t we just go on our way, and that’s it…?”

“This is our forest,” the brown earth pony replied in a harsh voice. He stood, turning slightly so that both rifles mounted on his saddle were pointed at their targets: one at the frightened animals, the other at Cosmic. “You don’t belong here. This is Red Eye’s territory now. And you” – he squinted at the mare – “are a threat. And a threat” – he grinned – “must be eliminated.”

“This isn’t right!” the rabbit girl squealed and stomped her foot. Wetness spurted from her big, open eyes. “No one should ever hurt another! That’s not why we live! All of us – and you too!”

The mare’s attention was drawn to a strange yellowish glow that suddenly broke through the material of her saddlebag. Jumping up, Cosmic peered through the gap that appeared for a moment to see what the hay it was.

Glowing was a statuette of Fluttershy, a yellow pegasus mare with three butterflies on her cutie mark. The Element of Kindness, the memory of which was encased in a small figurine.

“Really?!” The stallion with the battle saddle laughed. “The whole fucking Wasteland lives by the same laws! Why should I make an exception for you?”

“Go away,” Cosmic growled. “Put away your weapons and go. And tell your buddies to stop it. Let them burn what they want… just not us. And no one else.”

“Ha! Fuck me if I’m an alicorn…!”

He clenched the ropes controlling the guns with his teeth.

Cosmic’s tongue tensed on the trigger.

Let him just try to shoot…!

Suddenly, flexible bluish vines broke out of the ground right under the stallion’s hooves and – neither he nor Cosmic had time to notice – tightly wrapped themselves around him up to all four knees. The brown earth pony twitched to free himself, but in vain. The plant held him very firmly.

And then something happened.

A bone popped out of his forehead, with a sharp edge pointing upwards. Blood gushed from the wound, flooding the stallion’s eyes. Large flaps of skin on his back were ripped off at once and immediately flung into the air, a skeleton of bone beginning to grow underneath.

His mouth twisted in a silent scream. But the cry of pain was not to be heard.

Because the stallion was already dead.

Cosmic nearly vomited when she realized what the killing joke had done to her enemy.

He had indeed become an alicorn. But only technically, outwardly, formally. The horn was clearly the top of his spine, piercing his brain through and out of his forehead. And the skin on his back turned into improvised wings.

But the brown earth pony could neither fly nor cast a spell.

The plant gave him what he had unintentionally asked for. But in return, it took something he wouldn’t let go.

The wings made a single, final downward flap, and the stallion fell into a rapidly spreading pool of his own blood.

Cosmic looked at Amy and Cream, staring horrified at the image, then glanced down at her bag. The yellow glow of the statuette had faded.

“Don’t look there,” she said, stepping between the girls and the fresh body. “Better look for that… Chao. It’s not safe here.”

And then, without turning around, she rushed to help Sonic and the others.

They were now standing around the two flamethrowers, breathing heavily. The grass was burning, the fire was licking at the roots and trunks of the trees, and in some places blue ivy was writhing in its death throes. If the battle continued, the flames would eventually consume them all: arsonists and aliens alike.

That’s probably why Sonic didn’t go into speed mode, Cosmic thought as she ran. It’s always scary to get burned. Even if you know the wind will blow everything away.

Noticing the mare running up, Sonic grinned.

“Come on guys, this is our chance!” he shouted, and the fox and the echidna looked at him questioningly. “Tais, distract them! Knuckles, do what I do!”

Cosmic slowed down, for at the hedgehog’s words, another glow began to shine through the bag.

This time – purple.

She opened the flap – and barely held back a surprised curse.

Now Twilight Sparkle was glowing. The Element of Magic… and Friendship.

The one that had united the Mane Six for nine seasons and a little more else.

Just as the flighty blue hedgehog had gathered his friends around him.

For a moment, everything seemed to freeze. Then suddenly, things went so fast that Cosmic had no time to do anything.

Jets of flame hit where Sonic had just been standing. But the hedgehog was no longer there: for a moment, he seemed to dissolve in the air, turning into a pale blue lightning. And when he came out of the acceleration, he literally rode the red earth pony with a flamethrower, pulling something out from under his belly.

At that moment, the stallion was about to re-bite the cables that controlled the barrels of the incinerator on his battle saddle. And as Sonic, having released something in his hands, rolled off his back and jumped as far as he could, the arsonist, who had just begun to turn toward the hedgehog, shot.

A fireball exploded where the earth pony had stood. There was a heartbreaking scream, the cry of a living creature being burned alive.

The stallion didn’t even have time to fall down and try to knock the flame away. It killed him too quickly.

Sonic sat wide-eyed next to the smoldering patch of grass, staring at the pony that was now dead only because of him.

In fact, when the hedgehog had jumped off the flamethrower’s croup, he had disconnected the tank of flammable liquid. The fuel spewed out – and went up in flames. Taking one life and saving others.

By then, Tails and Knuckles were dealing with the last opponent.

He shot fire at the echidna, but Knuckles immediately jumped aside. Meanwhile, Tails picked up a rock and threw it at the stallion’s head. The pony turned around – and that was his biggest mistake.

Because the next second, Knuckles’ stone fist smashed into his face.

Blood splattered. The flamethrower flew a few paces away and fell to the grass at the edge of the forest fire that he had started.

Knuckles walked over to the stallion and stood over him. When the echidna spoke, there was only cold anger in his voice.

“I hate and despise those like you. But do you know what I hate even more?” And suddenly, he shouted out, “When… someone hurts… my friends!!!”

Cosmic was no longer surprised when another statuette sparkled.

Orange. Applejack. The Element of Honesty.

Knuckles put his foot down to kick the knocked-out pony into the fire…

But then something happened that no one expected.

A small figure darted past Cosmic and, slipping between Sonic and Tails, clawed at Knuckles’ dazzlingly clean – by Wasteland standards – white shoe.

As the echidna turned, she stepped around him and stood between him and the downed pony, looking Knuckles straight in the eye.

“We’re not going to kill him.” Cream’s voice trembled – but now it was no longer with fear, but with rage. “The others weren’t enough for you…? And then what? Do you hear me?! Then what?! No… no, no, we can’t… we can’t do that! Otherwise, why…? How are we supposed to fix this world if we’re not better than its inhabitants?!”

Knuckles drew in air to answer her sharply… but suddenly exhaled and slumped his shoulders.

“All right. We won’t,” he said quietly. And added, “But he’s gonna burn up in here anyway. We gotta get him someplace safe.”

“Then do it!” Cream shouted and grabbed the flamethrower pony by the front leg. “Help me!”

Sonic, Tails and even Amy joined them.

And all the while, as the aliens worked together to drag the last surviving enemy out of the burning grass, Fluttershy was glowing in Cosmic’s bag.

Soon the squad reassembled and moved away from the fire to a safe distance.

“Everyone okay?” Cosmic asked.

“I think so…” Sonic replied, looking around at his friends. His gaze stopped on Cream, who was rubbing her face. “Though… wait a minute…”

“I’m fine…” the rabbit girl squeezed out. The huge bruise on her cheek was screaming, “What in heaven’s name are you talking about?!” “Really, you shouldn’t…”

“Damn, I’m out of bandages…” Cosmic muttered, looking through the inventory on the PipBuck.

The mare glanced disapprovingly at Tails, who was still wrapped in the healing rags burned a little by the flamethrower.

And then her jaw dropped. The fox was unrolling one of his bandages, the cleanest looking one.

“Here you go,” he held the bandage out to Cream. “There’s still a little magic left in it, so it should be enough for you…”

“Thank you,” she sobbed, pressing the rag to her cheekbone.

Cheese, hovering nearby (he had managed to hide before the battle and then reappear), nodded in agreement.

The glow again. White this time. Rarity. The Element of Generosity.

Cosmic felt her head start to clear. All thoughts faded into the background at once, replaced by an important, simple, yet stunning assumption.

The blue earth pony opened her mouth to speak it out, but suddenly everything came to a halt. So close, the realization of something crucial had dissolved before it could be put into words. And now it just pulsed in the background at the edge of consciousness.

Until the next time.

“Come on, don’t be sad,” Amy said. She had managed to put the sledgehammer away unnoticed. “We’re all alive and that’s all that matters. You’ll see, everything will be fine! We’ll all go home, defeat Eggman, and then have a party and invite the whole of Green Hills!”

And she laughed merrily. Like bells rang over the forest.

Cosmic felt her soul truly warmed by the inadvertently given hope.

Pink glow. Pinkie Pie. The Element of Laughter.

Five out of six. So many figurines had shone from the set.

And the blue earth pony still had a vague idea of what that meant.

But she kept silent because she had not yet formulated it for herself.

When the time came, they would understand. Magic doesn’t happen out of nothing.

It was several miles to the destination on PipBuck’s map when they reached the edge of the remaining forest. There were only vast fields of charred stumps, and some buildings were visible on the horizon. This was probably Red Eye’s secret citadel, the so-called Cathedral, built on the site of the former Castle of the Two Sisters.

But Cosmic and the aliens hadn’t signed up to reveal the terrible secrets of the slavers’ leader. Besides, the closer they got to the castle, the more ponies and even griffins were walking there. There was simply no way to hide from them in the open. Except under a zebra cloak – but it could only hide Cosmic or two, at most three of her companions. Crossing this scorched earth together was out of the question.

So the group took a detour, for the sun was still high, hidden by the clouds. Tails had told them that the Tree of Harmony had originally stood in a cave at the bottom of the narrow, deep gorge that surrounded the castle on three sides. But in the ninth season, thanks to the efforts of the Young Six (as Sonic noted, created by the scriptwriters, apparently, on the principle of greatest diversity), the remains of the tree sprouted through the ground and turned into a small, majestic palace, topped by branches with pink leaves. And by all accounts, it was within the walls of the citadel.

There was definitely no way to get there from above. In theory, it was possible to get into the gorge through one of the streams that ran through the forest. They just had to find out which one.

They had to go halfway around the castle before they saw a crevice about ten meters wide, with a small stream at the bottom. Tails oriented himself, calculated a rough route, and the group cautiously descended into the ravine. The slopes were rocky and almost steep, so they had to go down one at a time, very carefully.

“I’m sorry. If I could fly, I’d take you all down one by one,” the fox said grumpily when it was time for him to go down.

“Never mind that. It’s not your fault. Forget it,” Cosmic replied. She had to go last.

They continued to walk along the bottom, and some of them – like Sonic and Tails – happily jumped over the rocks that popped out of the water here and there. It wasn’t deep at all: Cosmic barely got her hooves wet. And instead of drowning, there was the danger of slipping and hitting a rock with their temples. So they walked not too fast, but not too slowly either: the thought of spending the night at the bottom of the gorge, or even in the forest at all, sent shivers down their spines. Along with the destination marker, Spike had added a few other places to the map that he thought might be useful. One of them was closer to Ponyville and was marked as Zecora’s Hut. Cosmic hadn’t even imagined that zebras had once lived in Equestria, almost on par with ponies. Apparently, the whole thing was about that very “almost”.

The group waded against the stream, and as time went on, the flow of water began to die down. Or rather, the opposite, to bud.

Soon they came to a spring that flowed from under the rocks in the wall of the deepening canyon. Cosmic remembered to refill their flasks, as supplies were running low after the long journey, and after a quick drink and snack, they all continued on. There was not much time left before evening.

Now they walked on dry ground. The wind howled frighteningly between the close walls, forcing them to pick up their pace. But it was no longer three or four, but at least ten Cosmic’s heights up to the former level. Add to that the eternal darkness that reigned below (even though the trees that blocked the light had been cut down a long time ago) – and it was simply the perfect setting for a horror story. Just about such a group of travelers going to an even more sinister place.

After a while they came to a fork in the road. One of the branches of the gorge ran somewhere to the northwest, and perhaps actually served as a road from time to time for the ponies hanging around in the forest. The other ran due east, toward the Two Sisters’ Castle. PipBuck’s navigator showed an arrow pointing in the exact direction of the destination, and the locator still assured that there was not a single soul along the way.

Just a fabulous daydream.

In the last few miles, the gorge began to widen. On the one hoof, this was good: the almost sheer walls put less pressure on the mind. But on the other hoof, it became more and more likely that one of Red Eye’s minions would accidentally look down and see the unwanted spies. And then the whole mission… oh, hell with the mission! their lives! – would be in danger.

Finally, the distance counter on the PipBuck’s display showed that they had arrived.

“And… what is this?” Cosmic asked, coughing.

The whole company was standing in front of… something. As if there was a hole in the vertical, angular rock, tightly sealed with a translucent, shimmering all colors of the rainbow material that looked like magical crystals. The earth pony walked over and poked at it with a hoof. Hard… and seemingly almost unbreakable.

They spoke softly: the sound carried well in all directions. Up above was one of the buildings of the Cathedral complex. Apparently, it had been built on the site of the former Palace of Harmony, which had once grown from the shards of the Tree.

Tails also picked at the solid material with his finger.

“Some kind of crystal…” the fox muttered. “Maybe the Tree wanted to protect itself from something.”

“And I think I know from what…” Cosmic sighed. “Well, how do we get inside now to see if there is anything left at all?”

Suddenly, the saddlebag where the statuettes were shone so brightly that the earth pony involuntarily covered her eyes with her front leg. And then, confused and with a strange haste, she began to take the statuettes out one by one.

It was only then that she noticed the inscriptions on the bottom of each figurine. “Be Pleasant”, “Be Smart”, “Be Strong”, “Be Unwavering”, “Awareness! It was under ‘E’!”… and, of course, “Be Awesome”.

On the stone floor of the gorge, six small ponies, also made of stone, were lined up in a row. Five of them were glowing brightly, so bright it hurt to look at them. All except Rainbow Dash. The light seemed to emanate from the figurines themselves, as if there was a piece of a good soul in each of them, eager to share its glow.

The gears in Cosmic’s mind definitely clicked. The last piece of the puzzle fell into place.

“These figurines…” she began. “They… are you!” The mare looked around at her companions. “You can be the Elements after all!

“Kindness.” She looked at Cream, and the rabbit girl took Fluttershy, hesitating for a moment.

“Magic.” Sonic picked up the lavender alicorn princess with a slightly embarrassed smile.

“Honesty.” Knuckles twirled Applejack in his hands with surprise.

“Generosity.” Tails nodded, accepting the figurine of Rarity.

“Laughter.” Amy rubbed a small Pinkie gently against her cheek.

“And —”

“…Loyalty,” an unfamiliar voice said from behind them.

All turned immediately to the one who had just said it. And Cosmic even took aim at him from the carbine that immediately turned out to be in her mouth.

It was a black, upright hedgehog – just like Sonic, but a bit taller and… older, or something like that. The mare even glanced at one, then the other, to make sure she wasn’t imagining it. But the two hedgehogs didn’t look that much alike; at best, they looked like an uncle and a naughty nephew. But in reality, they were hardly related at all.

The black hedgehog wore the same snow-white gloves as the members of Cosmic’s new team. White sneakers with red soles clearly hid some extra features. Behind his back was a large black backpack – but the mare had her eyes on something else.

On the hedgehog’s belt, large rectangular sword scabbards hung on either side, dangling almost to the ground. It looked as if there were several slots with spare blades in each. The hand grips also had triggers on them for some reason. On the back of the scabbards were strange devices the earth pony had never seen before. Some kind of valve with a long, narrow cylinder attached to it; a few more of those were mounted in holders.

Cosmic had no idea what this wonder weapon was or how this stranger would use it. All that remained was to find out his name and whether he was hostile.

Although… she seemed to know who it was.

“Shadow?!”

Note: Level up.

Player: Cosmic Valor. Skill: Stealth – 75%. New perk: Cool-blooded – accuracy bonus when firing while standing still (+30% by default) is multiplied by 1.5, and accuracy loss from shooting behind your back (-40% by default) is halved. Only affects shooting without using S.A.T.S.

Player: Sonic. Skill: Survival – 50%. New perk: Bullet Dodger (level 3/3) – evasion increased by 45%.

[1] Reference to the chorus of the song Skillet – Not Gonna Die.
[2] Reference to the last line of the song Green Day – Peacemaker.