Everywhere he looked, darkness surrounded Drill Bit, or at least some kind of darkness. He found himself on a flat plain with an endless horizon, dimly lit by a cracked, crescent object at the very edge. And it seemed even here he couldn’t escape the endless snow as white petals of pure light gently rained down around him. At the very least there was no chill, but also no warmth.

Drill took a step forward and found his hooves causing ripples in the ground beneath, despite there being no water.

“Hello?” He called out, his voice echoing for seemingly miles.

It was a vain gesture and he knew as much, so with a sigh he sat back down and looked around him.

“Is this it? Did I actually kick the bucket?”

“Not quite.”

Drill immediately snapped his head around to where the voice came from, it had an Appaloosan tinge to it and when he saw her, his heart skipped.

Standing not far from her was an ethereal mare with a dirty copper orange coat and rust ridden red mane. It quickly became apparent she was some kind of spectre as most of her features were blurry at best, her face was devoid of a mouth or nose, her eyes lacked pupils and her cutie mark was little more than a mass of distorted colours. Even her voice had a distorted edge to it, almost like radio static.

Yet most disturbing of all were the things sticking out of her body. Pipes, shards of wooden boards and other pieces of scrap metal were going through her body like she was some kind of pony pincushion. It was to the point she was unable to bend her limbs which dangled in the air, much like her.

Drill stared at her awestruck, already on his hooves with one reared to his chest. “W-Who are you?”

The mare looked at him unamused, but raised an eye with a snarky tone. “Oh come on DB, don’t tell me you’d forgotten already.”

It took several moments, but the more he stared at her, the more bells began ringing in his head. Until at last he came upon a name.

“C-Copper? Is that you?” His voice trembled.

The mare rolled her eyes and refocused. “Oh golly gee junior, what could’ve possibly given it away?”

Drill cringed as a burning wave of emotion kicked up from within, memories came flooding back and he took a step forward, trying to hold back a tide of tears. “Copper I…I’m so, so sorry for what happened, I didn’t thin-”

Before Drill could continue, Copper flew forward and jammed a ghostly hoof over his mouth. “Oh you crackerjack, ah know ya didn’t mean no harm. Things just got outta control, still, not bein’ able to walk is kinda annoyin.”

He tried moving the hoof away only for his to go straight through, only now realising she couldn’t actually stop him from speaking. “So you forgive me?”

“Oh gosh Drill of course ah do! Ya need to learn to lighten’ up, it’s sad to see you drag yourself through life rather than walk. Specially over an accident of all things.”

The stallion stared at her for several seconds, the weight of an invisible anvil seemed to lift off his shoulders and his mind raced with new clarity. The bags under his eyes now were not quite as heavy and slowly, surely, a smile graced the corners of his cheeks.

He gave a slight chuckle as he turned to her. “You were always more lively then me, but that should fix itself now we’re together again, right?”

“About that…you’re not actually dead, Drill.”

His eyes widened at that. “W-Wait, if I’m not actually dead then how are you speaking to me? Where am I?”

“Look around Sunshine, where do ya think you are?”

Drill did as instructed but truth be told there wasn’t much to look at, it was certainly surreal but it wasn’t what he expected the afterlife to look like. Then again, he didn’t know what to expect, there was one thing in particular that drew his attention and that was the half crescent object just above the horizon.

It was visibly cracked and its bright white glow dimmed every now and then. If he focused then he could pick out small grey spots over it, almost like…

“Is that the moon!? Am I dreaming?” He shot back at her.

“I don’t know, if ya are then somethin’s gone real wrong with Luna.” Copper then began floating around him, careful not to rub any of the protruding objects against his form. “To be honest I’m not sure, ah don’t have all the answers an’ even I don’ know how I’m talking with ya. All I know for certain is it’s not time for you yet, and it won’t be for a while.”

Drill looked up to her, welling up with emotion as the two locked eyes. “But…but…I, I want to be with you! Do you know how much I’ve missed you?!” He cried, no longer able to hold himself back.

“I hate this place, I hate everything about it! The noise, the smoke, everything! Ever since you left things have only gotten worse.”

Copper stopped in front of him and cupped her hooves below Drill’s chin, trying to comfort him despite her inability to touch. “Oh ah know Drill, ah know and ah do to, but as hard as it is, you still have ponies countin’ on ya. Remember Steel? Toy Chest? What about that kid Comet?”

For a moment, Drill could also see the ghostly faces of all the ponies mentioned standing right behind Copper.

“Ya can’t just leave em’ behind in a world like this, that ain’t right.”

“I…” He struggled, “I know, but I miss you, I miss the green grass and summer skies, I miss our little thatch cottage, I just…I can’t do this anymore.”

“Oh sunshine, ah wish I could be there for ya, tell ya things are gonna be alright, but ah can’t. It’s up ta you to pull this wagon now, but ah want ya to know you’ve been the kindest, most hardworking pony I’ve ever met.”

Tears streamed down Drill’s face as Copper’s words sank in, quietly whimpering in her hooves.

“You’re strong Drill Bit, stronger than you realise, ya might hide it with a coat of grit but you’ve got yourself the biggest heart o’ gold, and nopony is ever gonna take that away.”

Despite the warm words, Drill’s eyes continued to leak as he struggled to stay strong.

“But…this city, it locked me up! I was only doing the right thing! Is that such a hard thing to ask for? Why try to be better when no one wants you to be?”

Copper’s eyes softened with sorrow, knowing all that Drill had endured thus far.

“Ah know these things are hard sunshine, but ya don’t do these things because they’re hard, do ya?”

Drill slowed down, trying to regain control of his hampered breathing. “No…I don’t.”

“Now say it with me, it’s because-”

“They’re worth doin’.”
“They’re worth doing.”

Both spoke at the same time and Copper chuckled, bringing Drill close and placing their foreheads together, which brought the poor pony a feeling of soothing relief.

“That a boy, now tell me, what are ya gonna do after ya get outta jail?”

“I-I…”

Copper began nodding her head, pushing him along. The stallion trembled upon his words.

“I’m…I’m gonna set myself straight.”

“Yeah, and?”

“And…I’ll make things right, I will make things right…somehow.”

“Good, very good, you got this Drill, ah know ya do.”

“...T-Thank you.” He squeaked.

“Now go out there and show em what ya made of, and remember, press on, for a brighter tomorrow.”

“I Will Copper, I won’t let you down.”

With that, the two bumped each other’s heads together best they could without one phasing through the other, and the darkness that surrounded them swallowed them whole.

The distaint bellow of a fog horn followed by several loud bangs woke Drill from his slumber, his body stiff and numb as it lay on the concrete floor. He barely had time to gather himself before the guard slid open the viewport to address him.

“Hey, old yella?”

Drill coughed as he tried getting up, his limbs feeling more like a set of wooden stilts. At last however it had seemed he was afforded some decent rest, much to the protest of his body.

Nothing felt right, his midsection screamed at him for something to eat, pins and needles racked his body from the cold and his head felt more akin to a lead weight.

But there was something else, something that ignited in the ageing stallion. It came to him in pieces, images and flashes of some otherworldly conversation, words spoken by somepony familiar yet foreign. All of it came together when his mind echoed those fateful words.

“Press on Drill Bit, for a brighter tomorrow!”

Suddenly he felt reinvigorated and climbed to his hooves just as the guard opened the door, a fire within him burning brightly. Whether it was primal drive or force of will he cared not, for while his body cringed he stood strong.

The coal black unicorn walked inside, appearing more concerned for him then the others had, he even pulled out a small bar of oats for him which Drill gently took.

He also took note of the nametag on his chest, PFC Smoke Stack. Could only guess it was something he added as every other guard he’d seen never had such a feature.

“Your time here’s up, your clothes and a bowl of hot soup’s waiting for you at the reception.”

“Thanks,” said Drill, having swallowed a mouthful.

As he took his first step however Drill fumbled and nearly tripped, narrowly caught by the other pony. Despite his bravado, moving around was something his body didn’t like the sound of right now. But with some help from the guard they made their way back to the entrance.

Warm clothes, a hot meal and a few minutes by the heater reminded him what exactly being warm felt like. Though at least twice he had to take care not to burn himself against the metal, otherwise he could’ve well hugged the thing.

He was still tired, still hungry, still felt ready to collapse somewhere and call it a night, but at least now he could choose when he collapsed.

But as he finished his meal and headed for the doors, Smoke Stack stopped him once more.

“Hey! Mr. Drill?”

The stallion turned to him, bags the size of travel cases under his eyes.

“So you’ll be happy to hear you have the day off work tomorrow to recover, but after that it’s back to usual grind.”

Drill Bit sighed as he stared at him. “I was only doing what was right.”

“I know, trust me, I know.” Smoke then reached into a pocket and pulled out a bundle of paper, it didn’t immediately register to Drill until a moment after it had been inserted into his coat pocket that it was money, golden script to be exact, which caught him by surprise.

“Gold Script? As a gift? Are you aware how valuable this is?” After the world froze over, gold had become much harder to come by compared to when it was their only currency. Having even a small amount these days was a pretty big deal.

“Consider it compensation!” Smoke exclaimed. “Again, I’m truly sorry for what happened.”

Drill stood stunned as he patted his pocket, but his wide eyed expression narrowed as he looked up at the guard. “Why are you being so nice to me?”

“Because it’s my job?” He smiled.

Yet Drill’s suspicion wasn’t quelled, but not wanting to cause an issue he turned to the door and pushed outside.

A wave of icy air washed over him as he walked out the gates, the night sky having already swallowed the sun. It was as if no time at all had passed between his arrival and departure here, yet even with the metaphoric ice bucket that had been poured over him, he felt no more awake.

His steps were sluggish, his eyes fighting to stay open and were it not for the many street lamps he would’ve tripped over the first depression in the road.

Part of him feared he might simply collapse in the snow and freeze to death.

Seeing this, Smoke Stack turned to a couple of guards at the entrance, a few words and a quick nod and Drill suddenly found the young adult by his side.

“Uhm, what are you doing?” He asked.

“Escorting you, a weary stallion going home in the middle of the night? With Diamond Dogs around? I just wanna make sure. Wouldn’t exactly sit right if I let you go only for you to never make it back.”

“Oh, why thank you.” Drill said, trying to hide an inquisitive glance.

With a slow but careful pace the two made their way through the city, winding around building after building, street corner after street corner. But as they did so Drill’s curiosity only grew, until at last when they reached the road that led to his apartment block he turned to him.

“You know something, don’t you?”

Smoke Stack stopped dead in his tracks and stared at him, his attempt to hide his sheepishness went in vain to the experienced forepony.

“I-I just wanna help.”

Drill continued to glare at him, careful to keep their voices low.

With a sigh the guard conceded. “Okay, yes…who do you think handled the evidence?” Drill’s eyes widened as Smoke looked away. “I read the whole thing.”

“Where is it now?”

“Gone, ash…I’m sorry about what happened. For what it’s worth, I’m glad to know somepony out there cares enough to try.”

The two stood in place for a moment as the pieces clicked into place for Drill Bit, Smoke Stack avoiding his gaze in shame.

“This isn’t the first time, is it?”

“No,” Smoke replied, “It happens more than you think.”

Drill stared at him with a knowing look, memories of similar actions invading his mind, those of letters and screams, ink and blood.

“It’s alright, you don’t build a Generator without breaking a few eggs…”

“Huh?” Smoke turned to him in confusion.

Before he could follow up Drill closed the door behind him and power walked back to his apartment, memory of the building guiding his step.

“I’m a good pony, I have good intentions, but the world can be such a horrible place. And you can’t survive on good intentions alone.”

In little time at all he found his door and stormed into his room, plunging headfirst into his bed uncaring that he was still clothed.

He did eventually get to his bed in the end.

Just a lot more tired than he thought.

Author's Note

After the Great Storm, many began having nightmares and uncontrolled dreams, leading to the belief the princess of the night did not survive the Storm.

Yet very rarely, those with lucid dreams can hear distant screams...