Fallout Equestria: Old Souls

Chapters

Chapter 1: Thaw
Chapter 2-1: The Other Kids
Chapter 2-2: The Other Kids
Chapter 3-1: 100 In Three Darts
Chapter 3-2: 100 In Three Darts
Chapter 4-1: Change In The Wind
Chapter 4-2: Change In The Wind
Chapter 4-3: Change In The Wind
Chapter 5-1: Blink And You'll Miss 'Em
Chapter 5-2: Blink And You'll Miss 'Em
Chapter 5-3: Blink And You'll Miss 'Em
Chapter 6-1: Open Air Irritation
Chapter 6-2: Open Air Irritation
Chapter 6-3: Open Air Irritation
Chapter 6-4: Open Air Irritation
Chapter 6-5: Open Air Irritation
Chapter 7-1: Warm Heart, Cold Shoulder
Chapter 7-2: Warm Heart, Cold Shoulder
Chapter 8-1: A Welcome Distraction
Chapter 8-2: A Welcome Distraction
Chapter 8-3: A Welcome Distraction
Chapter 9-1: All That Shines
Chapter 9-2: All That Shines
Chapter 9-3: All That Shines
Chapter 10-1: Objects And Images
Chapter 10-2: Objects And Images
Chapter 10-3: Objects And Images
Chapter 11-1: Portion Or Helping?
Chapter 11-2: Portion Or Helping?
Chapter 11-3: Portion Or Helping?
Chapter 12-1: Unstable Radius
Chapter 12-2: Unstable Radius
Chapter 13-1: Butterflies
Chapter 13-2: Butterflies
Chapter 13-3: Butterflies
Chapter 14-1: What Is Deserved
Chapter 14-2: What Is Deserved
Chapter 14-3: What Is Deserved
Chapter 15-1: Red Ice
Chapter 15-2: Red Ice
Chapter 16-1: Indenture
Chapter 16-2: Indenture
Chapter 17-1: Nice Things
Chapter 17-2: Nice Things
Chapter 18-1: Reverse Peristalsis
Chapter 18-2: Reverse Peristalsis
Chapter 19-1: Group Rate
Chapter 19-2: Group Rate
Chapter 19-3: Group Rate
Chapter 20-1: Mirrors And Roses
Chapter 20-2: Mirrors And Roses
Chapter 21-1: Trickle Down
Chapter 21-2: Trickle Down
Chaper 22-1: Fracturing Faces
Chapter 22-2: Fracturing Faces
Chapter 22-3: Fracturing Faces
Chapter 23-1: Playing The Percentages
Chapter 23-2: Playing The Percentages
Chapter 23-3: Playing The Percentages
Chapter 23-4: Playing The Percentages
Chapter 23-5: Playing The Percentages
Chapter 23-6: Playing The Percentages
Chapter 23-7: Playing The Percentages
Chapter 24-1: Vicarious Liveability
Chapter 24-2: Vicarious Liveability
Chapter 25-1: Underground Derail Road
Chapter 25-2: Underground Derail Road
Chapter 25-3: Underground Derail Road
Chapter 26-1: The Balance Of Wants & Needs
Chapter 26-2: The Balance Of Wants & Needs
Chapter 26-3: The Balance Of Wants & Needs
Chapter 27-1: White Stars, Black Stripes, Grey Skies
Chapter 27-2: White Stars, Black Stripes, Grey Skies
Chapter 27-3: White Stars, Black Stripes, Grey Skies
Chapter 27-4: White Stars, Black Stripes, Grey Skies
Chapter 28-1: Not Our War
Chapter 28-2: Not Our War
Chapter 28-3: Not Our War
Chapter 28-4: Not Our War
Chapter 29-1: We Await The Day
Chapter 29-2: We Await The Day
Chapter 29-3: We Await The Day
Chapter 29-4: We Await The Day
Chapter 29-5: We Await The Day
Chapter 29-6: We Await The Day
Chapter 29-7: We Await The Day
Epilogue: New Equestria
Epilogue: New Equestria (Director's Cut Extension)

Chapter 1: Thaw

[Wake up, little sleepyheads, hope you had some wonderful dreams and restful hibernation.]

I stared at a world of white.

Corner to corner, end to end, white dominated.

External Monitor Duty…….External Monitor Duty never changes.

From the first day over 200 years ago, when the door to Stable 61 slammed shut, to this present moment, External Monitor Duty never offered anything new. Each and every monitor showed a never-ending blizzard of frozen rain.

According to the historians, the blizzard hadn’t always been there, or at least not as strong as this, but with no official records to consult, that didn’t mean a whole lot. All that was apparent was that the white winds were fierce and hadn’t let up in two centuries, every hour of every day, every minute of every hour, every second….etc.

External Monitor Duty was the realm of the lazy, punished, or incompetent. The first group would happily take the assignment for the week, set the E.F.S. (Eyes-Forward-Sparkle, specialised Unicorn magic implanted into our equipment to locate anomalies), which acted as an early warning system. Following that you’d be lucky to see them on task or even awake. So long as you were seen to be in the Monitor room, then that was good enough for the supervisors. To them, the world outside the Stable wasn’t their concern.

However, that was only true of the Surveillance crews. The supervisors of other Stable departments didn’t turn such a blind eye towards negligence. Get caught slacking off and, while no immediate reprimand would materialise, the next time your week of EMD rolled around, you would suddenly find your week being 14 days long. Do it again? 21 days, then 28 and so on.

The record was 84 days. That stallion really didn’t know when to quit. That was awhile back. Apparently the guy had caused all sorts of problems around the Stable and drummed up some bad rumours. Nobody seemed to know what they were, or much at all about the story really. Even the pony’s name was lost to the ages. Every teller just called him ‘84’.

All the while I was stuck in EMD boredom some lucky mare, stallion, colt or filly would find themselves assigned elsewhere (the frequency of certain ponies being ‘lucky’ in this regard never failed to raise some eyebrows). The ponies who struggled through these long weeks would be the second group.

“I’m sure plenty of ponies here would consider me part of the third group…” I mused aloud. This startled my workmate, who nonetheless quickly went back to his nap after it became apparent that I wasn’t looking for a response. I wasn’t even sure who he was (although which group he belonged to was obvious).

The assignments came down from the top, from the Overmare and her staff, and you simply showed up, end of story. Stable 61 was too big to be guaranteed a workmate you knew on every assignment, even for folks who were always at the centre of attention like Roc, the Stable’s most popular griffon.

No matter the occasion, the always-smiling, sandy-feathered griffon never missed a chance to expand his influence. It was often said he was gunning for the Overmare’s position, though usually in jest. No one thought badly of him, charismatic as he was, but nobody took him too seriously either. I’d seen him around, from a distance, and he seemed nice enough, though I’d never worked with him.

Right, work…

My console speakers crackled. “Status report...”, the operator drawled, followed by a muttered “…as if I didn’t already know.”

Rolling my eyes, I activated the mic. “Snowflake here. All normal. No change.” The same response I’d given every single time over the years.

“Understood. Next check-up in one hour.” The bored tone of her voice hadn’t changed in the slightest. The line clicked and went dead.

I sighed into the dead mic. It was obvious what she thought of my work. It wasn’t fair! If I’d have been in any other Stable, in other words not stuck in a damn blizzard all my life, I’d have been fine. If I were in a Stable near Dodge Junction or Appleloosa or anywhere surrounded by hot dry sand I would have had my own special place and responsibilities that could make use of my talents.

My magic, such as it was, was ice-based to go with my Snowflake Cutie Mark (I’d heard every joke a thousand times and most of them weren’t funny the first time). I wasn’t a particularly powerful unicorn. My telekinesis was almost non-existent and my ice manipulation wasn’t developed much further than a few beginner-level spells.

Not like I get any chance to practise…

The eternal blizzard outside made it really hard for machinery to overheat. Even on the rare occasions that I was working on the Reactor detail I wasn’t often asked to work cooldown. I was a backup to the automatics. At most I’d be on-hoof when parts were being swapped out, but that was over in a matter of hours. Not nearly enough time to improve and especially not for a pony who was just a second-stringer to an electric fan. A snowflake surrounded by air con in the middle of a blizzard.

What a life.

~~~~~~

I finished up my week of External Monitor Duty, eyes still aching from the white-heavy monitors, and passed the keys over to the next shift before heading to the Atrium to receive my assignment for the next week.

As I was waiting for the data transfer between my Pipbuck and the mainframe, I heard heavy, plodding steps behind me. They were very familiar, belonging to a creature, three actually, that I knew well. All that was left was finding the right brother. The hoofsteps stopped just behind me and I heard a throat being cleared.

“Hey Flake.” Buff’s calm, composed voice sounded in my ears.

Ah, so that’s who.

“Evenin’ Lo.” I cheerfully replied.

The big cienna-furred bison groaned. “Aw, how do you always know?”

I turned and smiled up at him. “If I told you that, it’d ruin the game.” ‘The game’ being Lo’s attempts to pass himself off as one of his brothers. He’d been thrilled the first time a Stable resident had accidentally called him ‘Al’ and had sought to recreate the incident since, to varying levels of success.

Struggling to contain his grin, Lo affected a look of mock-disgruntlement. “Ugh. I swear I’ll get you one of these days.”

I reached up and patted him on his horn. It was half as long as my foreleg even though I’d known Lo and his two brothers from the time I could cover it with my hoof. “I hope so. When you can pull that off, the real fun starts. You can teach Al and do a double act.”

He was smiling openly now. It didn’t take much to get him in good spirits. He loved practical jokes. “Maybe we could even trick Buff!”

“Uh…no.”

His ears drooped at this and his face morphed into the pouty, child-like visage I knew so well. I ruffled his scruffy mane and he recovered. My Pipbuck pinged as the transfer completed. I stepped aside so he could get his assignment.

As he was waiting, I scanned the room. “Hey, Lo, seen your brothers around?”

“No,” he called back, “We’re workin’ separate departments this week. Different shifts too, they’re never home when I get back.”

I frowned. It wasn’t common for family to work together, but I still worried about those three when they weren’t able to watch out for each other.

Buff, Al and Lo: triplet buffalo boys. Their mama, Mrs Doublehorn...

Luna guide her dreams,

...would never have been accused of being too smart for her own good but she was the kindest, most caring, and wonderfully joyful mother you could ask for. I know the boys missed her greatly, even after all this time. I did too, having spent so much time with her and the boys as they grew up. I had a few years on them so I babysat a lot.

“Hey!” Lo came trotting back, “I’m on External Monitor Duty this week. Weren’t you just doing that, Snowflake?”

I nodded. “Uh huh, it’s as boring as ever. Still, if you have any problems then call me, alright?”

“Yeah yeah, I’ll call you if I can’t see the blizzard for the snow.”

His cheeky reply forced a grin onto my face, but I wagged a hoof at him in faux-disapproval. “Now you watch that mouth, young buffalo, or else I’ll chill something of yours that ought not be chilled.”

He knew I was kidding but still had a pretty quick scamper in his step as he left. I noticed a few of the younger buffalo girls watched him go.

He’s reaching that age, I guess.

~~~~~~

When on General Support Duty, as I was this week, I tended to gravitate towards the bar. We had a limited supply of alcohol in the Stable. A happy accident resulted in a broken down filtration system being converted into a distillery. The ‘bar’ was actually a now-disused workshop. Stable 61 was a closed community. Occasionally, due to breakdowns and/or upgrades, the layout of the Stable would have to change. All the equipment from this old workshop had been transferred into the more active sites after the pipes had been rerouted not long after I was born. What was left was a sturdy room with plenty of space, a solid workstation that now pulled duty as the bar counter, and surprisingly good acoustics.

Whiskey Sour had seen the potential and claimed the area as her establishment. She’d decorated the walls to brighten up the place and cleaned out the dust. The result was a great space to unwind after a long shift.

I didn’t much like drunks, but mixing cocktails was kinda fun and the older mare behind the bar made for a good conversationalist. Whiskey Sour’s Cutie Mark was a glass tumbler with a fruit wedge on the rim. She was sliding cheerfully into middle-age and the amber Pegasus was always ready with some quick banter.

“Back again, Icecube? You know I’m not gonna deed you the bar when I’m gone.”

“Oh, I don’t know, when I win the Overmare’s seat in a couple o’ weeks I could just decree it.” This brought a bark of laughter from the old mare.

It was soon joined by a more restrained, cultured chuckle. I turned towards the source, Roc, who’d glided up to the bar. He faced me with a strange look.

“Did I hear you say that you were running for Overmare?”

At my shoulder, Sour had stopped laughing. She seemed to be watching the griffon closely.

“Uh, well…”

He cut me off barely after I started, a wide grin spreading across his beak. “Well that’s wonderful news!” He took my hoof in his claws, leaning in close. Celestia, he was handsome up close. “I’m honoured to be running against such a strong opponent and I wish you-“

“Uh…Roc?”

His eyes twinkled as he halted his speech, a charmingly patient expression on his face. “Yes, fair lady?”

I blushed despite myself. “I’m not really running for Overmare, it was a joke.”

Something changed instantly in his demeanour, even if he was still smiling. “A joke?”

I nodded, waving a hoof towards Whiskey Sour, who still wasn’t smiling. “Right, Sour and I were just messing around. It’ll be a sad day when Stable 61 is governed by Overmare Snowflake.”

At the mention of my name he politely, but promptly, let go of my hoof. All his warmth and good cheer had vanished. “Thank you for telling me… Snowflake. Please keep up the good work for my guests. This will be the last chance I have to win their votes before the election. Everything must go well. You can make sure of that, can’t you?”

The ghost of a sneer appeared on his lips. “After all, we all must contribute to the good of the Stable. Even if we have nothing to offer.” He spun on his rear claw and began walking back towards the mingling guests.

Beside me, Whiskey Sour glared at his back. “Makes you wonder why he even wants t’be Over…griffon, talkin’ like that.”

Roc, having overheard, stopped but didn’t face us, simply turning his head enough for his words to reach us. “It’s my contract.”

Then he was gone, back to his preparations. The rest of the party went off without a hitch. Some latecomers, evidently just off their shift, were more than glad for my ice-cold beverages. They were almost nice, even!

Still, I avoided Roc’s eyes for the rest of the gathering, concentrating on working hard, until finally the guests began to leave, each bearing a little ‘thank you’ package from Roc.

Who knows where he scrounged the supplies to pull that off.

As Sour and I were cleaning up, and Roc, ever the perfect host, was seeing the last guest out, Al strolled in.

Al was the middle triplet and, while he could be as cheerful as Lo, he didn’t always share his little brother’s sunny disposition. “Snowflake! I’ve been looking for you for ages!”

I straightened up from sweeping and nodded my head towards the Pipbuck on his wrist, looking tiny compared to the giant strap and the leg it was wrapped around. “Why didn’t you just use the locator?”

He blinked and looked at his Pipbuck for a moment, his brow creasing and his cheeks reddening. Finally he shook his head. "Never mind that now, I gotta talk to you!”

“Please do keep your voice down. I am trying to maintain a calm, civilised environment here.” Roc, having returned from his hosting duties, shot me with a look that would otherwise be reserved for the radroaches. “He would be one of yours, I assume?”

I frowned and opening my mouth to retort but Al beat me to it. He got right down into the griffon’s face. “You got something to say, pretty boy?”

Roc pulled his head back, not even trying to hide his anger any more. “Watch your tone, lump, or I promise that when I enter the Over Office I will make you and this pathetic excuse for a Unicorn regret your actions here.”

Al’s pupils shrank and he bellowed, lowering his head as Roc took to the air.

I jumped in front of the bull before he could charge. “AL! THAT’S ENOUGH!”

We all remained motionless for a moment, long enough for me to wonder if Al would simply toss me aside and go for Roc. He could. Easily. I was older but still a pony mare against a nearly full-grown buffalo. It seemed an eternity before he focused on me and all his aggression drained away.

Al’s eyes started to glimmer as he realised the situation. “Snowflake, I…….I’m so sorry.”

I tried to get my heart rate under control as I reached up and, as I did with Lo, ruffled his mane. He managed a weak smile.

“How touching.” Mocked the griffon from on high. Then an amber blur cannoned into him and he dropped like a stone, hitting the ground with a thud.

“Let me tell you what’s going to happen now, Roc.” Sour flapped her wings and landed behind her bar, nonchalant. “You’re going to get off my floor, get out of my bar and never mention this instance again. Or did you forget about me being a witness to the whole show or the camera footage that only I have the access code for?”

Livid, the sand-coloured griffon picked himself up, stared daggers at the older Pegasus then stomped out.

“Thanks, Whis-“ I tried to give her a grateful smile.

It was not returned. “That goes for you two as well. This didn’t happen, got it? I don’t want trouble. Keep your mouths shut.”

We solemnly nodded, and I lead Al away.

~~~~~~

The next day I had some real work to do, or close enough, so I had an excuse to avoid both Roc and Sour. Some of the geothermal units deeper in the mountain needed swapping out and I was on hoof to ensure there was no overheating while the fans were offline.

As I stated before, this was hardly necessary. In the five hours I was there, I think I used my horn for maybe 15 minutes, 5 of which were spent on chilling the drinks for the work detail, who basically ignored my presence. Same old, same old. The work was nearly done, new fittings were in place, and the crew was lifting the old fixings so they could huff them down to recycling. That was when I heard a clink. I turned to see a small sphere rolling across the floor towards the ledge.

“Hey! Stop that thing!” The worker who’d yelled had his hooves full with gear.

“Relax,” I reassured him, “I got it.” I figured I may as well get a little use out of my horn, a small thing like that should be no problem even for my foal-level telekinesis. My horn glowed glacier-blue as I snagged the shimmering ball a foot into its plunge.

I levitated it back up to me, noticing the play of colour across its surface. I thought I saw a weird light shining inside it as I held up my hooves to catch it.

And then the world disappeared.

ooooOOOOoooo

“You’ll forgive me if I don’t take your word for it.” A voice sounded in the darkness.

Ugh, my head. What the hay just happened? I tried to raise my hoof to rub my eyes and instantly forgot my headache.

I couldn’t feel my hoof! Or my head! Or anything!

"What’s going on?!" I tried to shout, but no sound emerged.

HELP! BUFF! AL!! LO!!! SOUR!!!! Hell, I’ll take Roc right now, just somebody get me outta here!

No help was forthcoming, however, so I could do nothing but watch the scene before me. I was…somewhere. I didn’t recognise the area, though from the rock walls and dripping moisture it was clear we were underground. A few drops fell on my wings so I shook them ou-wait, wings!?

I have wings! Oh sweet mother of all things feathery, I have wings! What is going on here?

Wait again! Did ‘I’ have wings? As ‘I’ shook them out, I caught a glimpse of multi-shaded pink mane, a far cry from my usual colour.

This……this isn’t me. Who is this? What am I seeing?

“Oh don’t worry, my dear,” a sultry voice responded, a shrouded figure stepping into the vision of whoever this pony was who’s eyes I was sharing, “I can feel your protection spells from here, you and your husband went all out. I couldn’t touch you now if I wanted to.”

Husband? What husband? Who’s got a husband?

“Then what do you want?” Yeah, I kinda wanted to know that too. “I doubt you called me here just to catch up on old times.” From this Pegasus’ tone, it was clear that she wasn’t a fan of her companion. Said companion, still covered by heavy cloth, looked away for a few seconds before responding.

“There is something you must see. Follow.” Without even a backwards glance, the hooded mare (or failing that a very effeminate stallion) set off deeper into the tunnel. After a moment’s hesitation, my pony followed.

The two walked in silence for the longest time, only the green glow from the hooded figure’s horn lighting the way.

So she’s a unicorn. That’s something at least.

Finally the two neared a corner, a great roar drowning out whatever words that the unicorn mare was trying to say, my host opened her mouth to respond…

…and everything went white.

I screamed, again and again, as the wave hit me. Everything at once: sights, sounds, feelings, colours, emotions, every sensation of every kind slammed into me in a continuous torrent, unyielding. I couldn’t make sense of any of it, there was just too much! I could only scream, soundlessly and helplessly, hoping against hope that it would be over soon.

It wasn’t. It continued for hours, never letting up. Any resistance I could muster was momentary at best, then I would be swept away again. If I had eyes to cry I would have run out of tears. Even the voice in my head had overworked itself. I barely was able to hold onto who I was.

Then as quickly as it began, it ended. I was back in the cave, just my Pegasus carrier and the hooded unicorn. I didn’t make any attempt to understand the situation, I merely watched. I wasn’t sure that I was capable of anything else anymore.

“You understand what this will mean, for them?” My carrier’s voice had changed. Gone was the hard edge, now it was strained, conflicted. The mistrust was still there but it was battling with empathy.

“I do. That’s why I brought you here. I want your promise that you’ll do what you can for them while I handle this. Don’t let them fall.” The shrouded figure’s voice was breathy, finally it cracked. “Please?”

The Pegasus swallowed, a lump forming in her throat. “I……I won’t. You have my word.”

Satisfied, the unicorn nodded. “Then they will be in good hooves, though I’d prefer neither Celestia nor Luna hear of this. They……would not be so kind.”

“You have my word. This will be my secret, and mine alone.”

As I watched, a tiny sparkle fell from the darkness of the unicorn’s hood, then another. She was crying. “Thank you. Now, can I ask one more favour from you? It is a small one, I promise.”

The Pegasus nodded in response. “Of course, what do you need?”

“Could you teach me that song that the little filly espoused when I first met her? How did it start? ‘Sunshine, sunshine…’”

ooooOOOOoooo

When I came to, I was sore, lightheaded, dehydrated, and cold all in one go. The cherry on top was a dull ache in my horn.

I groaned and put a hoof over my eyes to block out the bright lights. “I don’t wanna do that again.”

There was a rustling beside me as a looming silhouette appeared. “You’re awake. How are you feeling?”

Ah, Buff, I could not be happier to hear your voice.

The calm, reliable eldest of the Doublehorn boys was a welcome presence after what I’d just been through.

“Like I got caught in the middle of you three rough-housing. What happened?”

Buff was only slowly coming into focus but I could still see that the question upset him. “We…were hoping you could tell us. The maintenance crew dragged you up here. They said something about a shiny ball. Apparently they couldn’t get it away from you, your magic wouldn’t let it go, and you wouldn’t respond to anything they did. Finally they carted you up here.”

“Where’s here?”

“The medical ward. You were out cold when they brought you in but you still wouldn’t be parted from the bauble. They decided to let you keep it while they ran some tests, except…” He was looking very uncomfortable now.

“Except what, Buff? Tell me.” Buff was never uncomfortable. He’d been that way for years, playing the big brother to Al and Lo. This couldn’t be good.

“…except you started screaming. You wouldn’t stop either, it went on for hours and all the while your magic was going crazy.” He nodded his head towards the rest of the room. “This was the result.”

Very worried now, I rubbed the last of the drowsiness from my eyes and looked around.

The entire ward was covered in ice. The walls, floor, ceiling, and every surface had 6-inch long icicles hanging from them. I looked back at Buff, noticing the ice crystals built up in his heavy fur. His breath was cloudy.

“I did this? But….I don’t have the power for something like this!”

He just shrugged. “Could have been you, could have been the sphere. Either way, something set you off and you were blasting out cold non-stop. We barely got everybody evacuated in time. Al and Lo are holding the others outside the door, even the Overmare, who’s been shouting and demanding to see you the moment you woke up.”

“She wants to see me? Oh, hell.”

Buff leaned down and nuzzled against me, I was glad for the gesture. “Do you want me to send her away?”

I smiled at him in thanks but shook my head and ruffled his mane. “No, it’s okay. You just go let Al and Lo know everything’s gonna be okay, alright?”

He didn’t seem convinced. “If you’re sure?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. Let her in.”

Still looking concerned, the burly buffalo stomped over to the door and pulled it closed. There was an exchange outside the door, the words too muffled to hear, though somebody did raise their voice once, then finally the door hissed open again and the Overmare strolled in, the door clicking shut behind her.

The Overmare, though getting on in years, was still a striking pony. A Pegasus, she could send a smile your way that’d get you on her side fast. You’d call it a ‘winning smile’ rather than a beautiful one, though going by the banter of the older workers she wouldn’t hurt for casual playmates should she ask. As far as anyone knew, she never had. She put her all into her role to keep Stable 61 running smoothly.

She certainly wasn’t smiling now, her expression unreadable, though nor was she stern. “Snowflake, what have you done?”

Okay, maybe a little stern.

“I’m…not really sure myself, Overmare.” It was both the truth and the only answer I could give.

She said nothing for a little while, merely looking around the room. “Your experience with the sphere seems to have been a powerful one.”

I realised at this point I didn’t know where the sphere was. I looked around frantically. Gleaning my intention, the Overmare approached the doctor’s desk and, using a pair of tongs, picked up the sphere from where it had sat. It seemed none-the-worse for having been through my self-created cold snap.

“Be careful, Overmare, don’t let it suck you in.”

She regarded me, casually. “Oh I don’t intend to make contact with it in any way. Nor should you have, Snowflake.” She set the orb down and her brow creased in a frown. “Snowflake, what rules do we in Stable 61 live by?”

Usually this would have been a silly question. Every child, be they pony, griffon, zebra, buffalo or anything else had the rules drilled into them from the time they could understand words. I sensed this wasn’t the time for flippancy though, so I made sure to keep my attention focused on her as I recited the Stable motto.

“Old Equestria’s war is not our war. We await the day New Equestria is born.”

The Overmare nodded, her face tight. “Precisely. Stable 61 was one of the first Stables to be completed. The moment it was fully functional, its doors were opened to any and all creatures who wished to escape the war. Nobody cared if they were a pony, zebra or otherwise, they were welcome here so long as they left the conflict behind when they entered these halls.”

She began pacing at this point, periodically shooting glances at me. “From all accounts we were very lucky as, one month after the door to Stable 61 closed behind our last founder, all communications ceased. We do not know why, or how, but the war had obviously escalated. As we still have not found any evidence to convince us that the war is over, we continue to wait here, safe and sound, until New Equestria surfaces from the ruins of the old princessdom.”

She shook her head regretfully. “StableTec’s naïve notion of using the Stables to rebuild Equestria the same as before was wisely abandoned by our predecessors. Such an approach would only lead to the conflict repeating at a later date. Equestria must forge a new path, only then will we open the door to walk it.”

Upon noticing my confused expression, her long speech relented. She held up the tongs, still holding the orb, between us. “This is of Old Equestria. There will be much discussion on how we are to handle this situation. Until then, you are to remain here in the medical ward, under constant surveillance, while we make a decision. You are forbidden from using magic or touching this sphere, it will be locked away in the medical storage.”

“Overmare! I…” I began, aghast.

She waved me into silence with her wing. “I know you did not mean for any of this to happen, however it has and we all must face the consequences.” She gave me one final, strange, look before calling in the doctor to lock the sphere away, leaving without another word.

~~~~~~

I spent the next two days alternating between spine-tingling fear and soul-crushing boredom. I was moved under heavy escort to another room in the medical ward due to the ice rendering the previous one uninhabitable.

How the hell had I pulled that one off? I’ve never even come close to that level of power before. Despite the Overmare’s orders, I’d been unable to stop myself from trying to recreate the spell on a lower scale. It turned out that her warnings had been entirely unnecessary. I found myself totally magic’d out. I couldn’t even do the few things I’d managed before the outburst, like chilling a drink or making a cooling breeze.

I briefly wallowed in despair at this, not realising how much I’d missed my little bit of power until it had gone. I was left wondering if I’d ever be able to use spells again. I couldn’t risk anything but the most basic of tests.

The Overmare hadn’t been kidding about the constant surveillance: Not only were the cameras always on, I always had a security pony in the room with me and two more outside.

I had been allowed visitors, only one at a time, which I was thankful of. Buff, Al and Lo all fretted when they came in to see me, not saying anything when I failed to maintain my composure, just being the warm, soft, loving brothers they’d always been. My other guests weren’t so pleasant.

Whiskey Sour tried hard, that much was obvious. On her first visit she’d been almost the same as she always was, cracking jokes and bringing a few recipes and ingredients so I could practise my mixing. It didn’t completely hide her unease. After what had happened to me and the incident in the bar with Roc, she saw me differently, I was sure of it.

I couldn’t exactly blame her for being nervous; she WOULD be in trouble for the bar incident, especially now that I was what I was, a meddler in the history the Stable had tried hard to deny. Her fears hadn’t been assuaged by the time she left and her paranoia had evidently grown between then and her second visit, in which she flat out demanded to know what I was going to do. When I told her that I didn’t know and that the decision might not be up to me, she’d left and I didn’t expect a third visit.

The worst visit came after I had spent an hour assuring some of the Zebra Stable residents that I wasn’t now a ‘Stripe-hating bigot’. Everyone in the Stable knew the history, Equestria had been at war with the Zebras, but I was still hurt. I’d lived my whole life in Stable 61. Zebras were my neighbours, workmates, sometimes friends and adolescent crushes. For them to think that I could change so much, and so quickly, was terrifying.

The possibility that I really could be so strongly altered by 200-year old magic was not pleasant either. No one here really knew what side effects might surface from my experience. This magic was from the world outside the Stable. I couldn’t lie to myself and say I wasn’t worried. I’d been completely overwhelmed by the experience.

I had also performed a feat of magic that was completely beyond my conscious scope of abilities. It begged the question of whether or not I had really been the one to cast such a spell. Perhaps it was a ghost, freed from the sphere, who had possessed me and made my horn work as a Unicorn’s horn should.

The zebra were right to be worried. Their fears stemmed from the same roots as my own.

Worse though, was the treatment I got from Roc.

After the Zebras had left, he strolled through the door with a big grin on his beak. “My dear Snowflake, I do hope this dreadful misunderstanding isn’t getting you down?”

I sighed and rolled over, facing away from him. “What do you want, Roc?”

His claws clacked on the tiles as he strolled up next to the bed. “Just to talk. It pains me to see a member of our Stable under such wrongful arrest. Why, if I were the Overse-”

“You’re not, Roc, get to the point.”

He grunted in annoyance at being cut off. “Very well, I believe we can help each other. I don’t think there is as much cohesion in the Stable about your little episode as the Overmare would like. You help me to put a positive spin on this, which helps my campaign to become Overseer, and I will reward you handsomely. You could be my Second-in-Command perhaps? All you have to do is tell me what was in that orb and help the Stable see that it was a good thing.”

“Not interested.”

“Don’t be a fool!” He snapped, “Everyone in here considers you a joke! You can’t tell me you don’t want more respect!”

“I’d rather be liked.” I replied, listlessly.

He grabbed my shoulder and spun me around, face to face with his sneer. “You are your mother’s girl.” He snarled.

I pulled my head back. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

His sneer transformed into a mocking smile. “You’ll see soon enough.”

“THAT’S ENOUGH, ROC!” The Overmare’s thunderous yell derailed that line of conversation.

Roc, still gripping my shoulder, narrowed his eyes towards the Overmare and then looked back to me. “Yes, I do believe it is.” He straightened up, releasing my shoulder, and composed himself. "I shall leave you to your rest, Snowflake. Do think on my offer, won’t you?” He stalked past the Overmare without looking at her.

The pegasus watched him turn the corner at the far end of the corridor before closing the door. She came and sat in front of me, not saying anything for a moment, visibly choosing her words. Finally she held up the orb. “Snowflake……tell me what you saw in here. The whole thing.”

That was a familiar request. “Why?”

Her eyes narrowed, again an action that was very recent. “That was an order, Snowflake.”

I had just about had it by this point. It had not been a good week. “Not good enough, Overmare. Roc was just asking me the same. At least he gave me a reason.”

“It’s for the good of Stable.”

“He said that, too.”

She really wasn’t happy now. “You are trying my patience, girl.”

Unfortunately, neither was I. “What’re you gonna do about it? Make me try for 85 days?”

She couldn’t have looked more shocked if I had slapped her. “So……you are refusing to deliver the details of this orb, even to the highest authority?” She spoke very slowly and deliberately.

“That’s right.” I replied, obstinately, I wasn’t really listening too closely to what she said.

“Good. Come.” She immediately got up and called for the guards, leaving me to blink stupidly on the gurney.

“Um, what? O-Overmare…”

“There is no time, Snowflake, suffice it to say, your course of action is now set. You will leave the Stable within the hour. These guards will accompany you to the gate.”

Wait, what?!

“No! I was just kidding, I’ll tell you! Please don’t send me away!” My voice rose to a foalish whimper at the end, causing the Overmare to jerk and stumble as she walked ahead of me.

She pulled herself together and turned back to me, her eyes were not unkind. “It’s too late, Snowflake. Old Equestria will not be permitted within these walls, it will be purged, one way or another. Too many of the higher ranking residents want you gone. If you didn’t leave, you would soon suffer an ‘accident’.”

She shuddered at this. “I… have to preserve the Stable. I can’t bend the rules for you, Snowflake. Oh, how I wish I could, but I can’t. You will be provided with clothing to survive the blizzard and supplies, including weapons, to find your way.”

“But there’s nothing out there! It’s all just snow and ice!”

The Overmare shook her head. “A nation as vast as Equestria wouldn’t vanish without a trace, not even in 200 years. I don’t know where but I promise that you will find others out there.”

“You…” Her voice hitched. “You won’t be alone, Snowflake.”

“Overmare! I’m begging you, don’t do this!” I was crying now but I didn’t care. I was being forced out of the only home I’d ever known. What was 85 days compared to that?

“This is the only way you will survive. Any other resident would have faced the same choice you did. It is to your credit that you acted how you have.” She took the orb and put it in the travel pack that the guards were carrying. “This goes with you. It’s too dangerous for it to stay here. Keep it secret, keep it safe.”

I accepted the offered pack dumbly, shocked, and helpless in the face of these events. The Overmare nodded to the guards as they took up position around me and began marching me away. I turned one last pleading look at the Overmare as we turned the corner. There were tears in her eyes but she looked away.

~~~~~~

The heavy door of Stable 61 slammed shut behind me. The sound jolted me out of my stupor. I dropped my pack and scrambled back to the door, hammering my hooves against it. “PLEASE! Please let me back in! I’m begging you! Please!”

The cave walls echoed my words back to me. Those were the only sounds that came. The Stable door, vast and imposing, denied me any comfort. There was no click of griffon talons on the metal walkways, no heavy footsteps of the buffalo...

Buff...Al....Lo....please....

Help me.

The Stable door, vast and silent, cut me off from that world, MY world, forever. I looked around for cameras, silently pleading to the unseen watchers. They were as unmoving as the cold, tear-stained steel barrier.

Tears still falling down my cheeks, I turned and rested my back against the door, not willing to take even one step away yet. All I could do was look.

I was in a long tunnel, straight as an arrow, leading all the way to the outside. Even here, right at the end of the shaft, I could feel the wisps of cold air washing around me. Even with the main fury of the storm held at bay, I still couldn’t stay here forever. My back was cool against the metal of the door, the only home I’d ever known offering as little warmth and safety as the glaring white opening I could see far ahead. I could see no respite in the white, just a solid wall of snow.

When I closed my eyes I could still see the white, though now my mind’s eye conjured terrible sights within the snow; ghostly eyes, alabaster fangs, and misting breath. Unseen wraiths waiting for me to make the long, lonely walk into that oblivion.

“Please, Overmare. Please forgive me. Don’t do this. I’m scared.” I could barely raise my voice above a whisper. I couldn’t raise my head at all.

I wanted to cry and shout and all those infantile alarms designed to bring a caregiver running. That’s what I was out here, a helpless baby who couldn’t survive on her own. I no longer had the safety of the Stable walls or the constant, reliable hum of machinery to surround me. All that was left was the distant howl of the storm outside.

My Pipbuck was clicking every so often. I didn’t know what that meant. I didn’t know what anything meant anymore. I was completely lost in every sense.

From iris to iris, from flat of the hoof to tip of the mane, white dominated.

I stared at a world of white.

~~~~~~

Level Up!
Perks gained: ‘Snow Problem – Years of watching the blizzard have improved the range of your E.F.S. in snowy conditions.

~~~~~~

Author's Note

As always, a big thank you to KKat, Y1, Auramane, Cascadejackal (he did the original cover art, which is still on the Fallout Equestria wiki), Void Heart (he did the new cover art), Shunketsunoponi and you, the readers. Please read and comment, and pass the word along if you like the story. Finally, because I find it a really funny coincidence to have another fic with a Stable 61 that’s set in Equestrian Canada, go read Fallout Equestria: Pure Hearts.

That’s all for now, folks. Please keep reading, commenting, and spreading the word on Old Souls. I really appreciate your feedback.

Chapter 2-1: The Other Kids

[These radical malcontents don’t care...]

RRRIIIIPPP!

Pain burned down the side of my face but it barely registered. I just stared glumly at the melting ice in my hoof. Strands of fur stuck to the frozen tears that I’d torn from my face.

It had been an hour and I had barely moved at all. Now I could barely move.

Thanks to the constant and unforgiving cold, my tears had frozen solid still on my cheek requiring quick removal. My limbs felt sluggish, as if they had great weights strapped to them. Just lifting a leg was a test on my willpower. Willpower which the events of the past few days had already drained from me. When it finally came time that I had to either move or freeze to death, I’d still failed the test several times. I’d barely managed to get myself standing on unsure hooves and stumbled my way towards the cave mouth. I’d been beaten back by the biting wind though. I wouldn’t last 5 minutes outside as I was.

Was this your plan, Overmare? Am I to die out here? Two days of keeping me in isolation just to arrange for my death-by-exile? All to keep ‘Old Equestria’ out of the Stable? Are you that scared?

My grief was on the verge of falling into anger. Even as I cursed her, the Overmare’s words oozed out of my memories:

“You will be provided with clothing to survive the blizzard and supplies, including weapons, to find your way.”

Those words kept me from taking the plunge, but I didn’t step back from the edge either.

I suppose you had to give me a chance, eh Overmare? After all, I might not be the most liked resident of Stable 61, but I was on everybody’s lips. You couldn’t just kill me outright. You had to make it look good.

My sadness and anger swirled inside me as I turned and walked back to the Stable door to fetch the discarded pack, given to me by the very same guards who’d marched me right out here in the first place. Picking up the pack, I glared at the door for a few seconds until it threatened to turn pleading. There was nothing to indicate I even registered to those behind that door. I turned and walked halfway back along the tunnel.

Here I was, equidistant between my old existence and my new world. I could turn back and hammer at the Stable door until my hooves cracked and the ice claimed me, hoping in vain that the door would open just one more time…

Or I could keep going forward, into that world of white and cold, trusting the Overmare’s word that I wasn’t the only living thing out here. If she was wrong I’d still freeze, just faster.

Ugh. Some choice.

“You just lost my vote, Overmare.”

Without looking at the Stable, I began unpacking. I wanted to see exactly what “supplies” had been deemed suitable for a world nobody in the Stable had ever set hoof or claw in. As I removed each piece, I laid them out in front of me. Exactly what did ponies who’d never seen past that door know of survival? What goodies would even be relevant outside of the Stable?

First up was a fur-coated, pure-white hooded cloak lined with smooth fabric.

I thought the idea was for me to find others? How are they supposed to see me wearing this?

Next was some canned food, mostly dehydrated fruit and vegetables, but also some reconstituted meat. Seriously, that was the label. Reconstituted ‘meat’. No more detail than that. I made sure to stack those at the very bottom, a last resort only.

I really don’t want to know where that came from. If worse comes to worst, I’ll at least be able to choose starvation over freezing. What a master of my own destiny I am!

More digging revealed a small flask of ignition fluid and an electric lighter. The lighter had a full charge and the flask was good for starting half a dozen fires at least.

Great! This is just what I need to stave off the cold. All that’s missing is some dry firewood. That should be so easy to find IN A FREAKING BLIZZARD!

Some plothole back at the Stable must be laughing their Cutie Mark off at this oh-so-hilarious joke. Here’s hoping Lo sits on them when he finds out. Then Al. In fact, I’d like to sign him up for the full course Buff-Al-Lo special! Bet they’d find it real funny to need scraping off the floor. Ha. Ha. Ha.

I found a few swathes of fabric of mismatched colours in a side pocket. They weren’t clothes, just cloth, but at least I could stuff them down my Stable 61 jumpsuit for layers. Better than nothing. The goggles they were wrapped around were more useful. At least my eyeballs wouldn’t freeze. Better yet, they synched up with my Pipbuck, meaning its various functions could be accessed without constantly looking at the device on my wrist.

Finally I reached the weapons. At least here the guards hadn’t skimped. There was a large automatic rifle, at least I thought that was what it was based on what I could remember of self-defense training. Sadly it had no ammo, but it was in meticulous condition. I could even smell the lubricants on it. I guessed it had been restored during my two days in the Medical Ward.

Looks like the Overmare never really had any intention of letting me stay. I suppose I should be thankful that it works, even if it is empty. Heh, I’m worth the trouble to fix up the gun but not to put the bullets in. I wonder, is that good or bad?

Setting the rifle aside, I dug out the box it had been resting on. Opening it up I saw a smaller gun and a few ammo clips. This pistol, 9mm according to the box, wasn’t quite as pristine as the rifle though it was still in useable condition. Usually, according to the instructors, unicorns levitated firearms and pulled the trigger with their magic (I’d been shot an unkind look at this point). The non-unicorn way was to use your mouth to fire.

I looked at the handle of the pistol, and sure enough there was a mouth grip. I’d have to use that. I suppose that might help my accuracy, just point my head towards the target. I counted the bullets, 4 clips of 12 with another already loaded. 60 shots in total. Enough to scare most things away. If I found myself up against something that wasn’t worried about 60 shots from my gun I doubted I’d be able to run anyway.

Yeah, as if I could hit with all 60 shots. I haven’t even held a gun in months. I’ll be lucky if 10 are on target.

My last defensive addition was a pair of solid Power Hooves. They had no charge, but they were compact, not much bigger than the hooves they covered. I thought back to the fabric segments I’d been given.

I could think of worse fates than being Power Hoof-cosies. Emergency toilet paper for one. If I can keep the weapons hidden long enough they could make a half-decent last resort attack if I ever get in over my head.

Finally there was only one thing left in the pack. Wrapped in non-descript tissue, the memory orb was tucked away in a corner. The sphere made me uneasy so I left it where it was.

I’m not touching that thing if I can help it. I already lost my magic ‘cause of it, I’m not risking losing anything else.

Plus it hurt like hell!

Still, at least on that front the Overmare had been right. Probably. Something like that could do some damage in the wrong hooves. Even if the visions hadn’t meant much to me, there had still been that hooded unicorn’s words:

“I’d prefer neither Celestia nor Luna hear of this. They… would not be so kind.”

The war not-withstanding, to think of either Celestia or Luna as anything other than benevolent was difficult. The hooded mare might have been mistaken, though she sounded certain. Something that might tick off the rulers of Equestria was big news indeed, even if I never actually saw what it was. Should I try to find out? Would there even be anything left to find after 200 years?

Not really pertinent right now, Snowflake. Concentrate on surviving first. Besides, who are you going to tell even if you do find out?

That was a good point. I still had no idea whether or not anybody even lived out here. I breathed deeply, trying to calm down. There was really only one thing to do now.

I’d best wrap up warm.

~~~~~~

Okay. Fuck you, Overmare.

The wind howled and the snow blew right into my damn face! Without the goggles and my E.F.S. I would’ve been completely blind. The snow was everywhere and seemed to come from every direction. Whichever way I faced it found its way past my clothes and goggles to settle on my skin and steal some precious warmth. It was no gentle breeze either. I was blown off-balance as often as I was sure-hooved. The Eyes Forward Sparkle spell improved my vision so that I could locate others that I might not see otherwise and gauge their intent towards me. As it was I still couldn’t see much beyond which direction I was heading in.

I’d oriented myself away from the cave entrance and stuck stubbornly to that South-East direction. My Pipbuck had been no help. After I’d taken a few steps outside of the tunnel, an indicator had flashed up on the screen, telling me that it had found ‘Stable 61’.

Yeah, thanks for that.

Now I was hoping that I would be able to hear that ping again soon. Slogging my way through the snow and swirling blizzard was not fun. So far I’d gotten near buried when the ground beneath the snow had dropped away unexpectedly, gone down in a heap multiple times from rocks lying in wait beneath the white, walked into four different trees, and had to near-constantly readjust my cloak so that it wasn’t trying to strangle my head every five steps!

Nature sucked.

There were the occasional brief respites, brief as in 10 seconds tops, where I could take stock and make sure I was still heading in the same direction. This blizzard couldn’t go on forever, right? It had been going solidly for 200 years, straight but it couldn’t be everywhere, could it? There had to be not-snowy parts of Equestria, all the history books said there were. Appleloosa, Canterlot, Las Pegasus, anywhere not here.

I’d be happy enough finding out where here was so I could make sure I wasn’t here in the future. Come on, Pipbuck, give me something to work with!

Well in a way, it had. There was an indicator in the corner of my screen labeled ‘RAD’ with a gauge that went from green to red. Mine was still firmly in the green, though it had shifted a little to the right in the time I’d been outside. At this rate it’d take a couple of days to go yellow, maybe a week to hit red. I didn’t know what would happen when it hit red but that usually wasn’t a good sign. Red on any gauge back home meant somebody had screwed up pretty badly.

As I thought this, my E.F.S. did flash red. A red indicator had appeared from back the way I’d come, had appeared. It was heading towards me. I’d have been happy to see some life had it not been for the ‘hostile’ tag on the icon.

Nice trick. It’ll save me talking to the wrong guys. I don’t think I’ll be talking to this guy.

I sped up, trying to increase the distance between my pursuer and I. It didn’t do much good though. Whatever it was that was following me was closing fast. I risked a glance behind me just in time to see the OHSHITBIGFUCKINGMONSTERIT’SGONNAKILLME!!! crash down 10 meters behind me, throwing snow all around. I screamed and broke into a full sprint. The thing bellowed and rumbled after me.

I’d never seen anything like it, it was huge, bigger than even Buff! It definitely was NOT a buffalo though! The thing had foot-long claws, bulging muscle showing even through thick white fur, big black eyes and long webs of leathery skin connecting foot and fist! It was incredible that its legs could support its massive frame yet it stood upright and brandished its clawed tree-trunk arms before it menacingly.

Snarling past its twitching, snorting nostrils, the beast lunged forward. Its ridiculously oversized front teeth snapped shut inches behind me as I raced around a rock. The creature simply reached over the rock, gnashing and swiping wildly at me. Oh yes, did I mention it had wickedly curved tusks poking out of its horrible puffed-up cheeks? Said tusks tore three long holes in my jumpsuit and left my hide bleeding underneath, though thankfully the cuts were shallow. Still, they stung worse than coolant in the eye and I was not eager to repeat the experience.

I put everything I had into running. I had no idea where I could go but I just knew that I was finished if that thing caught up to me. Its heavy thumping footfalls sounded as it navigated the rock. My heart was hammering in my breast as I launched myself forward, urging my adrenaline-charged limbs to ever more speed. All the fear I’d felt upon being forced out of the Stable crystalised into deep terror of the thing chasing me. It became an avatar of the world outside, terrifying and unknown and something to flee from.

I take it back, Overmare. Not ‘fuck you’.

Save me.

Silhouettes loomed through the driving snow. Were they more of these things? Something bigger for it to snack on? Trees? I couldn’t outrun it and definitely couldn’t outfight it. They might be my only chance. Hoping that its size would slow it down further in where the woods were thicker, I broke in that direction.

I almost made it. Ten yards…

Five…

Two-woah! A huge claw swung through the air where I’d just been standing. Had I not dropped down the hidden cliff edge I’d have been in pieces right now. The behemoth bellowed but didn’t immediately follow me.

One problem down. Now then…falling.

“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!” The silhouettes I’d hoped were trees across the clearing were in fact the peaks of much taller forest growing up from the lower slopes. Slopes I was currently sliding down at ever-more-fearsome speed. So far I’d been lucky not to hit one of these giant evergreens though I doubted that would last forever. I needed to find a way to stop myself.

I tried to snag a passing branch but I just ended up with a hoof full of splinters. The trees were blurs now. They flashed past so quickly. If I hit one of them dead on….well then that’d be a good choice of words. I swung my foreleg down, trying to anchor myself against the slide somehow. The added momentum sent me spinning. The world was revolving around me; tree, snow, wall, tree, tree, snow, wall, tree, snow, wa-

Oh hell.

I hit the barrier hard. Mercifully, the snow piled in front caught me instead of the concrete. I still had the breath knocked out of me though. It hurt to move, so all I could do was lie there on my back, staring back the way I came.

I was so sore and lightheaded, I barely reacted when the giant demon from up the hill bounded out of the trees. Nor did I particularly leap into action as unseen voices sounded and a barrage of bullets and projectiles slammed into the monster from atop the fortification I was lying under. Their weapons tore great chunks out of the beast and drove it to the ground. It was almost majestic when it wasn’t trying to kill me.

The light show was nice too.

I heard something shift and looked up. As the snow slipped off the barricade, my only action was to take a deep breath before disappearing under the white.

~~~~~~

“Think she’s dead?”

Nope. I’m not. Now shut up and lemme go back to sleep.

“Dibs on her stuff if she is!”

Good luck. It’s triple-locked and stashed away somewhere safe. I don’t even have the keys. Buff, Al, and Lo have one each.

“Dibs on HER if she is!”

Wait a second…

“Dammit Lenny! We done tol’ you about that!”

Who is Lenny and why is he allowed out in public?

“A stallion’s got needs…”

Then go find yourself a nice, breathing girl!

“Then go find yourself a nice, breathing girl!”

Okay, sick of this now.

My voice cracked as I tried to talk past my dry throat. “Lenny, touch me and I’ll castrate you.”

“Hey, she’s awake!”

“Aww.”

“LENNY!”

“Yeah yeah, I’ll go help the boys bring the carcass in.” There were sounds of hoofsteps as Lenny, or whoever, moved off.

Carcass? We’re bringing a carcass into the Stab-

Oh…right.

I opened my eyes.

Staring down at me were two Earth pony stallions. One was dressed in well-worn working cloths with furs bundled over the top. He had a grey coat with charcoal mane and was staring at me with a flat expression. He was young too, not yet a full adult. The other colt was more promising. He was also covered in furs but I spotted a well-worn doctor’s coat underneath. He had a mop of greying yellow mane atop his head which clashed horrendously with his emerald-green coat. His expression was kinder than the first pony’s even if I still thought it was a little guarded.

Still, he smiled when he saw that my eyes were open. “Hey there, darlin’. You gave us quite a show.”

People! People outside the Stable! Not just monsters!

I felt myself tearing up. Both their expressions turned to concern. “What’s wrong, girl? Ya ain’t hurt are ya?”

Instead of answering, my hooves shot out and grabbed them both around the neck, pulling them in tight as I sobbed out my relief. The younger pony stiffened in response.

“Please, please be real. Please be here.” My voice was a choked whisper.

I felt one of them shift, and then my embrace was being returned. A firm but gentle leg was rubbing my back. The grey pony shifted and laid his hoof on my shoulder reassuringly.

The older stallion gave a chuckle. “Well o’ course we’re real. You see a lot o’ things that ain’t, do ya, sweetheart?”

I didn’t want to answer at first. I wanted to stay here for a week, a month, forever. This was the first moment of real peace I’d felt since my exile. I was terrified of the thought of letting go, because If I did I might end up back in the tunnel, all alone.

Again.

I whimpered at the thought and shoved my face deeper into their warm furs.

Sympathetic they may have been, but they were also growing impatient. I felt the rumble in the doctor’s chest as he cleared his throat. “Seems you’re a li’l worse off than we thought, huh? Come on now, let’s go inside and get ya looked at. I promise we won’t hurt ya none.” The worker pony grunted his agreement.

Hesitantly, I slowly let go and raised my eyes. The kind expression was still on his face and I couldn’t see the wariness anymore. Even the worker pony was giving me a soft look now. He held out a hoof and pulled me up when I took it. I cast a quick glance around. We were still standing where I’d fallen. The demon that had been chasing me was nowhere to be seen, only a line of frozen blood ran from where it had been felled and into the town. The vibrant colour stood out in sharp contrast with the surrounding snow.

In a weird way, I felt like it meant something.

“Red ice.” I murmured.

“What’s that now?” The softness of the colt’s voice showed he wasn’t a full adult yet.

I shook my head and tried to give them a smile. “N-nothing. L-let’s go.”

I made sure to stay safely between the two ponies, still fearing that we were all the people that were left in the world.

Except Lenny but...ew.

~~~~~~

I tried to keep still as the doctor, who introduced himself as Dr. Facemask, examined me. We were in his home, which doubled as his office. It was a two-story home with a wooden finish and almost all of the furniture was covered in medical equipment. Most of it was basic. The place had definitely seen better days, though at least it was clean enough. The doctor had taken steps to avoid infection.

He was currently shining a light into my mouth while he used a wooden tool to push my tongue out of the way. “Sorry darlin’ but we ain’t got no lady docs to look ya over. There’s just me. I promise I ain’t gonna peek at your private parts. I’m just gonna give you the once over and make sure you’re a fit-as-a-fiddle filly.”

Honestly this was the last thing on my mind. Sure it would have been nice to get a mare to look me over, but I hadn’t really done anything with my ‘private parts’ since leaving the Stable. I was much more interested in getting my back scratches looked at. Who knew where that big beastie had been? I might catch some sort of….outside-germs! Residents hardly ever got sick in the Stable. Sure there’d be the occasional bout of food poisoning from some stock going bad but besides that we didn’t really have any epidemics. Anyone who looked a little off-colour would be sent to the medics for an antibiotic and be back to work within half an hour.

I should really get a hold of some meds. I don’t wanna be getting sick out here.

I wasn’t gonna be alone. There were people here in Cefar. Bosco, the worker pony who’d helped Facemask bring me in, had told me the name of the town just before he left to go help Lenny. I’d been more than happy to stay right here with the good doctor. My Pipbuck had already recorded the town’s name and location in relation to Stable 61.

I’d been relieved to find I had in-fact managed to keep heading South-East. According to Bosco and Facemask, there were other towns not far from here and even bigger cities too! At least I knew that there were towns out here. The Overmare had been right.

Equestria lived!

Facemask took the tongue depressor away and asked me to show him the scratches. With my tongue free, I decided to ask a few questions as I was shucking out of my jumpsuit. “Um…tell me about Cefar, Facemask. How long has the town been here?”

The older colt tapped his chin in thought. “I guess ya really ain’t from these parts, are ya? Everypony around knows about Cefar, being as we’re the place where the road ends an’ all. You reach this li’l town and ya only got two choices: Settle in or turn around. Ain’t nuthin’ out here but us. Been that way for as long as anypony can remember.” He paused for a moment as a gritty non-smile graced his grizzled lips. “O’ course, ‘long as anypony can remember’ is a lot shorter than it was before the war, y’know.”

Okay! Now we were getting somewhere. Facemask obviously wasn’t old enough to have seen the war but he had been around a long time. He should know something. “What do you mean a lot shorter? And why just ponies?”

He turned back to me, confused. “Whaddaya mean ‘why just ponies’? Ain’t nuthin’ but ponies in these parts for nigh-on 200 years. Well, I suppose we get the odd griffon contracted as a caravan guard but they head off soon as their business is done. Ponies are the only thing out here not countin’ the monsters like that Molar Bear you lured in. I’ll remind Bosco t’get yer caps fer that. Ah don’t want nopony tryin’ t’cheat the new girl. If nuthin’ else, Cefar is mostly honest. Keeps us outta trouble.”

“A Molar Bear? That thing?”

He simply continued to look confused. “Well, o’ course. Ain’t no two kinds o’ beasts as ugly an’ mean as them bastards. This must be your first time huntin’ one. They’re fierce creatures if they get the drop on ya. Litr’lly. They jump around in th’ trees. We had a fancy scientist type a while back who told us they were mutated squirrels, which is damn scary on account o’ him also sayin’ normal squirrels’re the size o’ yer hoof. Tha’s a damn scary thought. We get a few o’ you poacher-types through here each year, lookin’ t’bag a Molar Bear on account o’ them bein’ so tough t’ take down. Still, best ya git more info afore you take on yer next job. Leas’ this’ll be a good reputation boost fer ya.”

“Uh…Facemask?”

Oblivious, he continued, looking slightly more upbeat. “If’n yeh got the notion, feel free to bring in a couple more Molars. We’ll pay ya for each an’ ev’ry one. It’ll help yer cred and ‘s good fer the town too. Molar meat ain’t what any sane pony’d call a delicacy but it’ll fill ya up an’ it keeps an’ keeps an’ keeps. The hides an’ pelts fetch a fair price wi’ the traders too. Not t’mention-“

“Facemask!”

He halted his monologue long enough to give me a friendly but slightly miffed smile. “What’s the matter, darlin’?”

Pleased as I was with all the praise being heaped on me, I had to set the record straight. “Facemask, I’m no poacher and I certainly wasn’t hunting that thing. It came after me. I ran for my life in the general direction of away. I found Cefar by accident and the Molar Bear followed me. If you all hadn’t gunned it down I’d be dead right now.”

I began to shake, the realization only just catching up to me. “I…I…I could’ve died! I could’ve-“ The shaking worsened as my mind opened the floodgates and began reliving the ordeal in horrifically precise detail. My breath caught in my throat and I hunched over, gasping.

“Woah there!” Facemask pressed a drink into my hooves. It smelled of bitter herbs. “Drink that. Take slow sips, it’ll calm you down.”

I did as instructed. The taste was vile. It was a good while before I got myself back under control. It dawned on me that aside from the bright spot of not-being-alone I really had no real reason to be happy. I was still exiled from my own home and the only other people I’d come across had been found through a near-death experience.

I’d been in the outside world less than a day and all I’d done so far is halfway freeze to death, narrowly avoid getting gutted by a monstrosity and blunder across a dead-end town. To top it off, all the good will I’d built up with the town had been entirely accidental.

In short, my time outside Stable 61 was not going well.

While I’d been recovering from my panic attack, Facemask had simply stood by, ready to step in but not engaging. Now he spoke up. His voice wasn’t unkind but it demanded answers. “Who are you really, girl? There ain’t nuthin’ past the North-West boundary o’ the town and ya said yerself ya ain’t no hunter. Ya come chargin’ in wi’ a hellbeast ya ain’t never seen before on yer tail when there ain’t no good reason fer ya t’be out that way. Yer gear ain’t ‘xactly the norm either. Wha’s the ‘61’ mean?”

He doesn’t know about Stable 61? Is that good or bad? One way to find out. Better be careful though. Don’t tell him too much.

I took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. My emotions still threatened to boil over, especially about the Stable, but I had to choke them down if I was gonna get through this. I faced him as evenly as I could and spoke slowly, taking my time. I needed to pick my words carefully. I did not want to turn Facemask into an enemy. I didn’t feel up to much right now and he had a whole town’s worth of backup. Like Lenny. I had no idea about life out here. For all I know, Lenny could be normal. “It sounds like we both have questions. Shall we trade? You answer one of mine, I answer one of yours?”

I really hoped he agreed. The only weapons I had on me were my lifeless Power Hoofs while the doctor had a whole clinic for an armory. Thankfully he nodded after a moment of consideration. “Awright. But I go first or no deal. Question number one: Where’d ya come from?”

Damn. I was hoping we could work up to that one. Well, here goes…

I rolled up the sleeve of my jumpsuit, exposing my Pipbuck. “I’m from Stable 61. It’s North-West of here, up in the hills. Stuck in the middle of the blizzard.”

From the momentary look of unease on his face, this was not welcome news. As he opened his mouth to talk, I jumped in first. “My turn. Tell me what happened 200 years ago. Our Stable shut its doors on the war a month before whatever incident cut communications. I’d like to know what that incident was.”

Facemask shrugged. “Now these’re just stories that get passed down. Some o’ the ghouls talk about it too. Basic’lly the war was getting’ worse. Both sides, pony and zebra, were makin’ bigger and better weapons and ways t’kill a feller. Finally both sides got their hooves on these things called ‘megaspells’. Superweapons they were, chock-full o’ magic and capable o’ untold levels o’ destruction. Nopony knows who fired the first one but soon as one went up they all did. Zebra fired on pony cities and vice versa. Bombs fell, ev’rypony died. T’top it all off, the damn things shat out magical radiation that’s still killin’ and mutatin’ all manner of life even now. When the dust cleared, there weren’t no Equestria anymore, just the Wasteland. Guess your Stable’s first dwellers were some pretty smart folks after all.”

He grunted and looked away, not immediately asking his next question. I’d have been glad if I were paying the slightest bit of attention. My mind was reeling. Old Equestria hadn’t just failed like we’d been taught. It’d been completely destroyed, mutilated, scarred. From the sound of things, we couldn’t go back to that life even if we wanted to. And what were ghouls?

Stable 61’s fear, Old Equestria, has been dead almost as long as the Stable has been alive.

Huh.

While I was figuring out how to feel about that, Facemask asked his next question. “Back t’me. Ya said ‘Our Stable’. Who’s ‘Our’?”

Still puzzling over the philosophical implications of fearing something long dead, I answered on automatic. “There’s around 300 Stable residents. Half are ponies. There’s a pretty even split between Earth, Unicorn and Pegasus. Maybe 50 Griffons too. The rest are Buffalo, donkeys, Diamond Dogs, and Zebra.”

Facemask looked like was going to faint. “ZEBRA!?”

I wasn’t paying close enough attention to understand his disbelief. “Well, mostly. It’s been 200 years. A fair number of them will probably have some pony in their family tree by now and vice versa. Stable 61 was open to anybody who wanted to get away from the war.”

There was a clatter as he jumped up from his seat and began pacing. “Oh no no no no. Oh this SO ain’t good. A new Stable full o’ goodies will bring the Steel Rangers down on us. Zebra and Pegasi! That’s a whole other barrel o’ fish too. Sweet Celestia, Snowflake!”

Now Facemask had my full attention. There was apparently a lot to discuss. “Who are the Steel Rangers? What’s wrong with Zebra and Pegasi?”

He vehemently shook his head. “No, no more questions. Ya gotta get outta here pronto!”

There was apparently a lot to NOT discuss. “Why? What’s going on?”

His response was a haunted look. He didn’t stop moving once. It was almost as if he was afraid to. “More’n ya know, girl. Get yer things, I’ll get ya yer caps then ya gotta hit the road.”

I folded my hooves and didn’t move. I stared him straight in the eyes and spoke calmly. “Hold on a second.”

His exasperation was palpable. He seemed torn between staying and just bolting out the door. “What is it already?!”

I grinned victoriously. “I’m still owed an answer to a question.”

He could only sputter. While he was trying to speak, I reached into my pack and brought out the memory orb. “What can you tell me about this?”

This had an unexpected effect. Facemask froze. He didn’t sputter or pace or anything. Were it not for his chest rising and falling you could have mistaken him for a statue. His eyes never left the orb.

I grew bored after 3 minutes had elapsed, so I reached out and whapped him upside the head. This snapped him out of his trance. His eyes turned dark and he was as far from smiling as you can get. “I reckon we better go see Bosco.”

~~~~~~

Chapter 2-2: The Other Kids

“Sooo…” I began, shooting a glance at the pony walking beside me, “Facemask seems nice. Is he your boss or something?”

Bosco shook his head, causing his charcoal bangs to whip back and forth. For some reason, it reminded me of Lo. I resisted the urge to ruffle them with my hoof. At further glance, he looked about the same age as Buff, Al, and Lo. He was almost an adult but not quite there yet. His gentle voice helped to emphasize this. “No, he’s not my boss.”

He didn’t elaborate. I regarded him warily. I was still lacking an answer to my question about these ‘Steel Rangers’ which got me thinking. It was obvious that Facemask wasn’t a fan. I supposed it might be worthwhile to take heed of his fearful reaction and avoid them. But then again, after hearing more about the Wasteland and the history I was eager to learn more about the world outside the Stable.

My initial fears had begun to fade. I still felt my chest go tight sometimes but at least it wasn’t the constant dread I’d dwelled in while sitting outside the Stable door. Since Facemask had decided that our exchange-of-information was over, that left Bosco as my de-facto guide to the Wasteland. “So why are you coming with me? I mean I’m glad for the company but don’t you have things to do back in Cefar?”

Bosco shifted slightly. His expression was complicated. “Doc asked me to. Said it was important. Frankly I think it’s because you’d never survive the trip to Lethbridle on your own.”

I’m not that helpless, was I?

Yeah, I kinda was. I buried any resentment and gave him a smile. “Well thanks, Bosco. I really appreciate it.”

My words caused the colt to brighten instantly. His step became light and easy. His eager eyes sparkled as he responded. “No problem! Whatever I can do for you I’ll do. You just need to ask.”

My urge to ruffle his mane suddenly grew. The boy was earnest and no mistake. If he’d been back at the Stable I’d have probably been looking after him too. I hoped it wasn’t gonna cause problems though. Somebody like Roc could all too easily take advantage of Bosco’s kindness. “So what’s in Lethbridle?”

He simply shrugged. “More ponies, mostly. It’s much bigger than Cefar. We may be where the road truly ends, but most traders don’t go further than Lethbridle. It links to Neighlway in the west and Plottawa in the east, though you should avoid that one.”

As he talked, my Pipbuck pinged 3 times. The map zoomed out and each city was displayed as a point-of-interest. “So are they cities too?”

“Yeah, but they aren’t as friendly as Lethbridle. Neighlway’s got a Steel Ranger battalion stationed there ‘to keep the peace’. Peh, show up with anything flasher than a pistol and they’ll be after your piece.”

“Why?”

“Steel Rangers fancy themselves the guardians of pre-war tech. They think it should be in the right hooves, meaning theirs. They’re not shy about using the tech they’ve built up to get more either. Their fighters are decked out tail-to-horn in power armour. You don’t wanna get on the wrong side of one o’ those, ‘specially cause there’s usually more than one of ‘em.”

He looked me right in the eyes. “My advice to you personally is to avoid them at all costs. They’ll be wanting that box on your leg and I won’t guarantee you’ll still have the leg afterwards.”

I gulped. My Pipbuck was not only very helpful but also one of the only reminders I had of Stable 61. I didn’t want to lose it under any circumstances and certainly not to a bunch of history-obsessed hoarder thugs.

While I was musing on that grim image, Bosco had switched his focus. “Now Plottawa isn’t any better. No Steel Rangers there. They won’t risk it. They might have the hardware but they don’t have the numbers. Plottawa does. It’s a major Slaver base. If you go there you go there in chains.”

“What are Slavers?”

He scoffed. “You’re kidding right?”

My saddening expression made him relent. “Right, sorry. You’re new around here. Slavers are ponies who take other ponies captive. They treat them like property to be bought, sold and used. They’ll fix a collar around your neck that’ll explode if you try to get away or piss ‘em off. Sometimes they’ll just do it for fun.”

“That’s terrible! Doesn’t anybody do anything?”

I really didn’t like the look he gave me. It was equal parts sadness, pity, grimness and resignation. “Ponies out here have to look out for themselves. Anypony gets a thought in their head to try changing the world swiftly gets a bullet in their head, or twelve. You want to survive? Keep your head down and your nose clean. The Wasteland is not kind to idealists.”

I huffed at this. “So nobody helps each other out? Nobody cares?”

“Of course they care! They just can’t afford to care about the big stuff. They concentrate on helping themselves and their loved ones. Anything more is a luxury.” He shook his head. “That’s life. It’s your life now too. If you don’t like it you can always go back where you came from.”

Those words stung. I lowered my head as tears began to form. “I can’t.”

Immediately his voice switched to one of concern. “Why not?”

I dug the sphere out of my pack, eliciting a gasp from Bosco. “Because of this. After I found it I was exiled from the Stable.”

Bosco didn’t immediately respond. He just stared at the orb for a while. “I’m starting to see why Facemask asked me to come along with you.”

“What do you mean?”

Wordlessly, he produced 3 more spheres that were very similar to mine.

“There’s more of these things?!”

He nodded. “Uh-huh. They’re called Memory Orbs. They’re magical trinkets that store memories inside.”

“So what I saw was a memory?”

“Yup. Your magic triggered the memory spell. Shot the memory straight into your head. You’re lucky. Non-Unicorns need a Recollector to view them. I haven’t come across one yet so I don’t know what’s in these three.” He held them out. “Want a look?”

I recoiled immediately. “By Luna, no!”

He cocked his head to the side, confused. “What’s wrong?”

I stabbed my hoof towards my orb. “This one nearly killed me!”

“What do you mean?”

“The memory went crazy on me! Everything went white and…and…there was too much at once. Emotions, sensations, noises, everything! Hours and hours of it! It ended just before the memory did. I saw maybe another minute or two at the end.”

Bosco turned and walked back and forth, deep in thought. “They’re……not supposed to do that.”

He held out a hoof. “May I see it?”

I hesitated, holding the orb close. I thought about the Overmare’s words.

“Keep it secret. Keep it safe.”

She seemed really concerned that some pony might take it from me. I looked at Bosco’s face. He betrayed nothing except concern and compassion. It was difficult to fight. Finally I groaned and passed it over.

He gave me a brief smile before holding it up to his eye, turning it back and forth. He was holding it up and turning it in front his eye when his brow creased. He gently rubbed a hoof back and forth before looking at his hoof. At last he seemed satisfied. He waved me over. “Look here.”

I moved in closer and followed where he was pointing. I didn’t see anything at first, just the orb’s surface, a perfect sphere….except….yes! I saw it! A fine line across the surface. Light seemed to emit from it but it was hard to look at. My eyes seemed to unfocus while staring. It took a lot of effort to keep it in my view. I shook my head when my eyes began crossing.

“What does it mean?”

Bosco handed it back and briefly examined his own orbs. Then he looked at me. “I think it’s damaged. The memory didn’t play back like it should.”

“Really?”

“Uh-huh. The memory inside should play out just as the pony who went through it saw it. Sounds to me like you got hit with a lot more memory at once than you were supposed to.”

“So…what? I got a few days shoved into my head in a few hours?”

He shrugged. “Maybe. We’ll need to look into getting it fixed if you want to see the whole thing.”

“Does anybody know how to fix it?”

“I dunno. Our best bet would be to ask around Lethbridle I think. There’s a fair few Unicorns there. Maybe one of them knows?”

That wasn’t very comforting. I was hoping for a definite destination. I wanted to go there, get the orb fixed and……find somebody else to look into it. Now I just had to hope I’d stumble onto somebody who knew about these things.

Wait a second…

I narrowed my eyes. “Bosco, how do YOU know about all this? You said yourself that Cefar’s pretty out of the way.”

He smiled helplessly. “I’m not from Cefar. I’ve been around.”

No more was said on the matter.

~~~~~~

We’d walked in thoughtful silence for an hour until we came across an abandoned play park which my Pipbuck named ‘Snow Pegasus Park’ and Bosco called a halt. I brushed the snow out of a small hut and sat down inside. The grey colt strolled around the different activities on display, gently pushing a swing back and forth and walking up and down the seesaw.

When he joined me his eyes remained on the merry-go-round. I’d seen his expression of longing before. Al sometimes wore it. Smiling, I leant over and nudged him. “Go on, nobody’s watching. I won’t tell.”

Startled out of his reverie, he blushed and coughed. “What…what do you mean?”

I said nothing, just nodded my head in the direction of the play park and winked. His blush deepened but he gave me a grateful smile and bounded off. He grabbed the spinning apparatus in his front legs and began pushing with his hind hooves, spurring the ride faster and faster until he was sprinting round and round. Finally he hauled himself inside and sat grinning madly as he was whirled.

I knew it. Poor guy.

There were some things little ponies never grew out of……even if they were taught that they should. You saw it with the teenage Stable residents. They took on more and more responsibility as they grew but the sadness stayed in their eyes when they watched the children at play. They still wanted to join in even while being drawn more and more into the world of adults.

That’s why I said nothing, just sat and watched this colt-going-on-stallion indulge in his carefree game. I kept a smile on my face as the momentum finally got the better of him and he tumbled over the side, giggling as he landed on his back in the snow.

He stopped laughing when the bullet slammed into the snow next to his head.

Bosco was up in an instant. “COME ON!” He dragged me out of the hut and together we bolted. We hadn’t gone 5 feet before more bullets began raining down upon us and a manic howling sounded out through the trees.

My heart was pounding as I tried to keep up with the grey colt’s pace. “What’s going on? Why are people shooting at us?”

His breath misted as he ran, breathing hard. “Raiders. They don’t really need a reason. They’re crazy ponies. Killers, all of ‘em. Went savage after the bombs fell. Been terrorizing the Wasteland ever since. We gotta run!”

I saw something flash past us on the left just before a small fireball erupted, coating us with snow from the overhead branches. “What was that?!”

“Grenade. C’mon move!”

I couldn’t help it, I risked a glance back. I saw them then, half a dozen ponies in torn, filthy leather adorned with spikes and skulls and everything out of a filly’s nightmare. They gnashed their terrible teeth and roared their terrible roars. Their eyes were the worst though, they were bloodshot and unfocused yet they definitely saw us from how they charged after us. I saw one go down and the others just ran over him.

They were a mix of Unicorns and Earth Ponies, no Pegasi. The head pursuer was a grimy orange Unicorn who levitated a near-wrecked shotgun in front of him as he ran. The gun barked and tore a chunk out of the tree immediately to my left. I had no more time to spare looking at them so I whipped my head around and tried to spur myself to greater speed.

Bosco flung his arms around me and hurled us both down a nearby incline. As we slid down I couldn’t help but be reminded of the last time I was sliding through snow. I was being chased then too.

Luna, I really hope there aren’t any Molar Bears around.

We were halfway down when the Raiders followed us. They hadn’t even hesitated. They just launched themselves over the edge, the bloodlust driving them on. Meanwhile, Bosco and I clung to each other as we accelerated. At the bottom of slide was a natural ramp and we were heading right for it. We’d be airborne in seconds. The Raiders weren’t exactly sharpshooters but they only had to get lucky once.

I screamed as a bullet tore through my jumpsuit and scored a deep gash along the length of my shin. Thankfully the bullet didn’t hit me straight on. Bosco grunted as his tough Molar-hide covering barely deflected another.

We hit the ramp and went airborne.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! Why is flying even worse than falling?

Wait, who’s that?

Thanks to being upside down in the air, I noticed two newcomers on the ground beneath us. My EFS tagged them as blue ‘friendlies’. A most welcome change to the 6 red marks still careening down the slope after us. “RUN! RAIDERS!”

The two obviously weren’t fresh out of a Stable. At my warning, they didn’t waste time talking. Instead they immediately went for their weapons. The taller of the two was an older Earth mare with a wood-brown coat covered in scars and a conifer-green mane. She carried the strangest contraption. It was like a harness but a pair of impressive guns adorned the sides of the thing and she was busying herself with it after my warning.

The moment the Raiders came into view she opened fire, perforating them as I feared they’d do to us. A Unicorn colt and an Earth mare hit the ground. The rest scrambled for cover.

While this was happening the second member of the duo was just as active. She was a diminutive griffon with rich chocolate fur, creamy feathers and the most incendiary blue eyes I’d ever seen. She held a pistol in each of her claws and was strafing the Raiders, who returned fire.

We landed in mercifully soft snow, completely forgotten by the Raiders now that there was an enemy who shot back. I lay transfixed as I watched the battle, the sounds and lights and heat washing over me as bullets, bodies, and explosions flashed back and forth.

I felt a hard tug on the back of my hood and jerked upright. I turned to look at Bosco as he spat the fabric out and glared at me. “Are you nuts?! Don’t stop! We’ve gotta get outta here while the Raiders are busy!”

I thought about the nameless pair we’d inadvertently drawn into the skirmish. Competent and well-armed as they seemed to be, they still hadn’t asked for this. “But those two-“

“What did I tell you before?!” Bosco’s voice lost some of its softness while he was angry. “We look after ourselves. It’s a shame about those two but better them than us. Now move!”
He grabbed my cloak and slung me around in front of him, pushing from behind. I took one last look back towards the battle and began to move.

As we ran, the lump in the back of my throat grew larger and heavier. I could barely concentrate on putting my hooves in front of one-another. The Earth mare’s scarred face, torn and bleeding, appeared in my mind.

We die so you can live.

I didn’t dare respond. Not even a thought. I couldn’t.

The griffon’s blazing blue eyes glared at me. What did we do to you?

My breath caught in my throat. The lump felt like it was choking me. Distraught, I called out to Bosco. “They’ll be okay, won’t they?”

“Sure, whatever.” He didn’t even turn around.

“BOSCO!”

“I DON’T KNOW!!” He still hadn’t turned around. “All I do know is that WE wouldn’t be okay if it was us.”

I hated him at that moment, almost as much as I hated myself. Before I could snap back at him I was distracted by my E.F.S. flashing. New contacts to the East. More Raiders? Whoever they were they were blood-red on my screen.

They were also heading right for the battle we’d just left behind.

The griffon’s head turned to the mare’s visage. Do you think she’ll help us?

The mare simply smiled a knowing smile. She might come back……to watch us die.

The little griffon seemed to ponder this. She nodded. Yeah, seems like what she’d do.

“NO! I’m not like that!” I screamed at them, begging them to understand.

“Snowflake?” Bosco’s confused call went in one ear and out the other.

The griffon and Earth mare didn’t say anything more, they were just staring at me.

Then they began screaming as their faces fell apart.

Tears welled in my eyes.

Please, no!

A new voice spoke next, one I knew all too well.

Are you lost to Old Equestria already, Snowflake? The Overmare’s face radiated weary disappointment.

I skidded to a halt. A second later Bosco did the same. “Snowflake?”

“I’m sorry, Bosco. I just can’t do it.” Turning, I raced back the way we came.

I’d gotten 20 meters before I heard a miffed “Celestia damn it!” just before the sound of the charcoal colt’s hoofsteps joined mine.

I owe you one, Bosco.

I kept my eyes on my E.F.S. markers as we raced back to the fight. At this rate we’d have a couple of seconds before the 2nd group reached the fray. I hoped that was enough to warn the pair.

I caught sight of the griffon and mare at the same time the new contacts entered my peripheral vision.

Yep, more Raiders.

I still had some distance on them. We might be okay. Only two of the original attackers remained, though they had a height advantage on the two blues. The griffon and Earth mare couldn’t move without losing their cover, but they were sitting ducks for the new group where they were.

As I ran, I looked around for somewhere I could move them to keep both sets of Raiders from getting a good shot. I was still looking when I heard a Chuff! Chuff! Of a weapon firing from the new Raiders.

“GRENADE!” Bosco’s yell drew my eye towards the dark pods arcing through the air towards the blues.

“LOOK OUT!!” I put everything I had into the shout and, Luna-be-praised, it carried. The Earth mare’s head snapped around in alarm. Her eyes instantly focused on the grenades falling towards them and she grabbed her companion and leapt over the snowbank they’d been taking cover behind.

The grenades exploded right where they’d just been, throwing up a cloud of pulverized snow. It must’ve hampered the view of the last pair of original Raiders because they took no shots at the pair as they ran for new cover.

With their immediate targets now taking cover, the new Raiders turned their attention towards the one who’d ruined their fun. Me. Bullets and magically-thrown projectiles slammed into trees and the ground around me as I ducked down behind a not-quite-big-enough rock. It became even more so as Bosco leapt in after me, his tail ablaze.

He quickly began stamping it out on the ground, glaring at me all the while. “What have you got to fight with? I really hope you’re not so stupid as to take on Raiders without weapons.”

I smiled grimly. “Maybe I am that stupid, but not right now. Got a pistol with plenty of ammo. Some Power Hooves too but they’re out of charge. You?”

He reached into his back and dragged out a pistol and a knife. “Enough to put up a fight but nothing special. Can you shoot?”

“Uh….”

He sighed heavily. “Try and stay low. Keep in cover and use your magic to aim the gun.”

I blinked in surprise. “My magic?”

He was busy loading the pistol and nodded off-hoofedly. “Yeah, levitate the pistol and squeeze the trigger. Saves you holding it in your mouth like the rest of us.”

He wasn’t gonna like this next part. “My magic is….uh….kinda gone right now.”

His hoof slipped and a bullet dropped out of the chamber into the snow. He scrambled to pick it up and slammed it home. Cocking the pistol, he peaked over the rim of our barricade, ducked down just before a bullet hit, and stared flatly at me. “You are the sort of idiot who dies in the Wasteland, you know that?”

I could only squirm, ashamed. “Sorry?”

His eyes darkened. “If we live through this, we will have words. Now, since your horn is just a damn target right now, hold the gun in your mouth and squeeze the trigger with your tongue. Don’t shoot your entire clip at once or you’ll burn your mouth off.” He put his mouth over his own gun and popped around the side, squeezing off a shot that caught a Raider mare in the leg. She went down screaming. Bosco didn’t look back.

The battle was on.

I tried to emulate Bosco, leaning around the side to line up a shot. I saw a Raider Unicorn preparing to fire at the griffon.

Of course HIS magic works just fine. So unfair.

I held my pistol in my teeth, sighting along the barrel. I thought I had a good angle.

Now what?

My chest turned to lead as I realized the situation I was in. With a flick of my tongue, I could end a life. The Raider would die by my hoof if I pulled the trigger. Could I do that to save two others who were just as much strangers to me as this Raider? The only difference being that the Raider had shot at me and there was no guarantee that wouldn’t happen with the griffon and Earth mare later. Was I really able to see who was an enemy here? Could I trust my E.F.S.? Could I trust Bosco’s word?

No. Not yet. Not for this.

I changed targets and pulled the trigger. My shot caught the Raider’s gun dead-center.

There, now he’s out of the fight. He won’t be crazy enough to fight without a wea-

Startled, the Raider pulled the trigger. The gun exploded. He fell back screaming as his face was obliterated. The Raider beside him calmly turned her own gun on him, silencing his screams before getting back into the fight.

I just stared in shock until a bullet glanced off the casing for my goggles and sent me sprawling. Stars exploded before my eyes as I lay there, dizzy and confused. The pain around my eye was pretty intense. I suspected I’d have a pretty bad shiner later.

Something thudded into the ground next to me. Still disorientated, I turned towards whatever it was and found myself staring into blue fire.

“Pretty.” I remarked, still not comprehending our situation.

The blue fire blinked. “Save it for later,” groaned the griffon as she tried to rise. There was a roughness to her voice that was somehow….honest. A pleasant contrast to Bosco’s soft speech which vanished had seemed to disappear the moment things got real.

The griffon hauled herself upright and then pulled me up after her. “Can you still fight?”

I opened my mouth to answer just as the Raider stepped out from behind the trees. It was the unicorn colt leader of the first group. He looked to be all that remained of those six. He still had that battered shooter and was aiming it at my new friend. He was moments from pulling the trigger. I couldn’t get us out of the way in time, and I was no quick draw. If I didn’t do something the griffon would die, and my monumentally stupid attempt at heroics would amount to nothing.

What happened next was most definitely instinctual. Usually my magic was so far down on my list of things to try it barely registered. Still, somehow my horn lit up with a glacial blue-white glow as the Raider’s gun locked on. Time slowed.

The crinkle of ice forming in the barrel only just outpaced the click of the trigger being pulled.

This time there was too much rust and not enough gun left for an explosion. The thing simply shattered. Still, the Raider swore loudly as the jagged segments gashed his forelegs. The griffon heard it and she spun around, pistols up. Three shots in the nose, chest, and stomach turned the Raider into a gruesome pastiche of a foal’s button-doll.

The thud of the Raider’s body hitting the ground nearly deafened me. I realized a few seconds later that it had been the only sound there was to hear. The battle was over. I turned in a slow circle, taking in the scene. A dozen bodies littered the ground, all of them adorned in torn leather. Thankfully, no charcoal or wood-green carcasses were to be seen.

It took me a little while to spot Bosco walking gingerly towards us. He was moving slowly, not putting any weight on his right foreleg. I’d look at that in a little while. The Earth mare’s head was poking over a snowdrift, one eye closed as blood from a deep scalp-cut dripped down around it. She was smiling though so I guessed she was alright. I completed my circle to find the griffon a foot from me, smiling widely.

“That was a nice trick with the gun. I owe you one. Well, three really. One for each Raider group.” She held out a claw for me to shake or bump or something. I stared at it momentarily before looking back at her.

“Don’t take this the wrong way.” That was all I managed to get out before my stomach decided enough was enough. I’d seen too much and my actions had produced consequences I never would have dreamed of before today. There was only so much a pony fresh out of the Stable could tolerate. My body had reached its limit.

I puked all over her outstretched claw.

“Oh, come on!”

~~~~~~

Level Up!

Perks gained:
Cherchez la filly– New dialogue options when talking with females.

Breaking the Ice – Your Frost Magic is beginner-level.

~~~~~~

Author's Note

That’s all for now, folks. Please keep reading, commenting, and spreading the word on Old Souls. I really appreciate your feedback.

Chapter 3-1: 100 In Three Darts

[Making up for lack of skill with creative vigour.]

The former contents of my stomach caused the snow to sizzle as they dripped from the chocolate-furred griffon’s claw. I stood frozen and open-mouthed. She was silently glaring. Seconds ticked by without a sound.

Then her mare friend burst out laughing. As did Bosco. My cheeks turned scarlet as I stammered out an apology. “I-I didn’t mean…”

Still frowning, she wiped her claw in the snow. Only when she was satisfied that it was clean did she look at me fully. “I’m docking you one favour for that.” Her rough voice was tinged with embarrassment since her friend hadn’t stopped laughing.

I spat out the last of the bile and gave her my most sincere look. “I’m really sorry about that.”

Her voice was under control now. Only a slight tinge under her face-feathers indicated any unease. “No harm done. Though do it again and I’ll shoot you.” Her tone was not-quite-joking.

With our friends still laughing, the situation remained awkward enough to keep us silent. Eventually I summed up some courage. “Um…I’m Snowflake. What’s your name?”

Before she could answer me her friend spoke up in a deep accent that was rife with amusement. “Oho yesss, please do tell her your name.” She gasped out between laughs.

“Sh-shut up Schwarzwald!” The griffon’s blush was back in full force.

“She’s still waiting.” Schwarzwald responded in a sing-song voice.

“I’m...Wings. You’re Snowflake. Introductions over!” The griffon commanded to me.

I looked between the two, confused. “What’s wrong with ‘Wings’? It’s cute.”

This set Schwarzwald guffawing again. “Oh you simply MUST tell her now!”

Wings had morphed from chocolate-and-cream to chocolate-and-cherry now. “No! No I don’t! Listen, uh, Snowflake. I’m gonna drop another favour and let you and your friend…uh...”

“Bosco.” The charcoal colt finally joined the conversation.

“…right, Bosco. Snowflake, you and Bosco can have these fools’ gear. We don’t want any of it. We gotta get moving.” She turned to her wide-smiled friend. “Ain’t that right, Schwarzwald?” It wasn’t really a question.

“Oh very well, you spoilsport.”

“That’s exactly what I am. Now let’s go. We got places to be, don’t we?”

Schwarzwald apparently wasn’t done with her fun. A sly grin spread across her face. Her next words emerged in a purr. “Yes, we do. You’re quite right, Gi-“

“DON’T YOU DARE!!” The griffon had her claws clamped over the mare’s muzzle before any of us could blink. She literally dragged her companion away. In moments they were out of sight.

“Uh…” Bosco and I said together as we stared after them.

Bosco snapped out of it first. He turned back towards the battlefield. “Right then, let’s get to…it…” I hadn’t turned around but I heard his sharp intake of breath.

“What’s up?”

His voice was strange when he answered. “N-nothing. Y’know on second thought, why don’t you scout around a little to make sure there’s nopony else around. I’ll handle this.”

“What do you mean?”

I heard him suck some more air through his teeth. Something was definitely up. “You probably shouldn’t be here for now. I really think it’s best if you take a little walk and leave this to me.”

I frowned and turned back to him. “Bosco, are you trying to pull someth-“

The scene before me stalled any further sound.

Bosco looked away. “Dammit.” He muttered under his breath.

The adrenaline haze had worn off. Now I saw, really saw, the twelve bodies strewn out on the ground. I found that I’d achieved a terrible clarity. I could count the number of eyeballs…noses…faces left between the twelve. Each total was less than twelve. These ponies, or what had been ponies, were twisted and broken into horrifying shapes. Bones and flesh and charred fur jutted out from beneath their leather attire. The…bodies lay still. Only the occasional creak as the leather cooled gave them even the faintest glimpse of activity.

Wordlessly I found my eyes drawn to a sight I wished wasn’t familiar. The orange Unicorn stallion’s…corpse lay where Wings had shot him thrice. Shockingly, that wasn’t what drew my attention. The ice chunks that were all that remained of his weapon had my focus. More specifically, the frozen blood staining them did.

“Red ice.” I managed to whisper, appalled. I’d seen it before with the Molar Bear. The blood of two creatures stained the white because of me.

I stood stunned. Tears began to run down my eyes. “I did this.”

Bosco grabbed me roughly by the shoulders and looked me right in the eye. “No. You didn’t do this. You acted to keep yourself alive. Nopony would fault you for that.”

Someone did. “A tempting thought isn’t it, Snowflake?”

Startled, I whipped around, the world fading around me. 10 paces away stood the Overmare. Still wearing her disapproving expression, she continued: “Self-defense. Such a neat justification for killing isn’t it? Old Equestria loved the idea. They went to war with it.”

Distressed, I turned back to Bosco. He was 10 paces away too. I was exactly in the middle. His mouth was still moving but I didn’t hear a word. I sat in between the two. Had I moved so close to Old Equestria already?

Could I still go back to the way I was?

The Overmare repeated her words from the Stable but now they were a mocking sneer. “You won’t be alone, Snowflake.”

NO! Give me another chance! I’m not like that! I’m still Stable 61!

A bitter wind blew around the Overmare and into me. I stumbled back a step, hearing a CRACK! under my hoof. I looked down and saw red ice, blood seeping up through the fissures. Had that inadvertent step doomed me? I wasn’t in the middle anymore. I had further to go to get back to the Stable. The wind was still blowing.

Would they even take me back?

The Overmare’s voice was impassive. “Chances are rare, Snowflake. And finite.”

A shotgun shell bubbled up through the blood. I shrieked. The scene faded away.

“SNOWFLAKE!” Bosco’s hoarse cry cut through my misery.

“B-Bosco?” I blinked away tears.

He managed a smile. “Good, you’re back. I don’t know where you went but we can’t stay here forever. Now, do as I say and sit down. Tend to your leg and I’ll gather the Raider gear.”

I numbly complied. Bosco had brought some stimpaks with him from Cefar. I managed to disinfect and dress the gash on my shin. It hurt a lot more now that the battle was over.

Everything hurt a lot more.

Bosco finished within a few minutes. I didn’t watch as he divided up the take. I didn’t care. He could have it all if he wanted.

This place and everything in it were poison to me.

~~~~~~

We’d been walking in silence all day before Bosco spoke up. “We’re about half a day outside of Lethbridle now.” When I didn’t respond he lapsed into silence again.

I finally opened my mouth ten minutes later. “Why do Raiders exist?”

“What’s that now?”

My head stayed down and I didn’t look at him as we plodded along. “Raiders. Why are they here? What happened to them to make them like that?”

I heard his shrug more than saw it. “Same thing that happened to everypony else. The megaspells.”

I slowly shook my head. I found that ‘slow’ was my only gear right now. “Everybody would be Raiders if that were true. What happened to the Raiders?”

“Snow, remember our talk about luxuries?”

“Please, Bosco.”

He looked away, uncomfortable with the conversation. “Nopony knows. Raiders are just part of the Wasteland. They’ve been hunting travellers for as long as there’s been a Wasteland.”

“That’s a sad thought. 200 years and nobody’s tried to understand them.”

“Oh, ponies have tried. The Raiders cut ‘em down before any understanding can be done.”

“…when did people stop trying?”

He turned his gaze skyward, letting out a long breath. “A long time ago, most likely. That kind of response gets around quickly. They’ve been given a wide berth since then. They hate us. We hate them. They kill us. We kill them or die. There’s no other way.”

“So hate is all they have left?”

Bosco cleared his throat irritably. “Snowflake, don’t do this to yourself. You couldn’t have stopped what happened back there.”

“…I didn’t even try.”

“Yes you did! You told Wings and Schwarzwald to run.”

“Then I started killing Raiders. Just like that. I didn’t try to get us away or talk the situation down. I just picked up the gun I never owned until yesterday and started shooting. I gave in to hate.”

I stamped my hoof then winced as pain shot up my bandaged leg. “I’m pathetic.”

Bosco’s voice had again lost its softness. “Snowflake, you can’t talk down Rai-“

“I DIDN’T EVEN TRY!”

“IF YOU HAD YOU’D BE DEAD! RAIDERS DON’T EVEN LIKE RAIDERS! You saw how that mare gunned down her ally when he lost his gun!” He recognised the mounting horror on my face and threw his hooves up in exasperation. “Ah shit! You’re gonna blame yourself for that one too, aren’t you?”

“I have to be held accountable for my actions! If I don’t hold myself accountable, who will?”

Bosco’s patience ran out. “NOPONY WILL BECAUSE THIS ISN’T YOUR WORLD, SNOWFLAKE!”

He realised too late what he’d said but didn’t take it back. We just stood staring daggers at each other.

I tried to keep my voice calm. “Thank you for saying that, Bosco.” He wouldn’t understand but I didn’t care. Right now I just needed his words. “But...I still have to live in this world. That means I have to find my own way. I’m sorry but I can’t just do as you do. Two people and an animal are dead because of me and I can’t just forget that.”

~~~~~~

My Pipbuck pinged. The location of ‘Hoofshine Harlots’ was stored. I cast a sideways glance towards my companion. “Don’t get any ideas.”

He managed a chuckle at that. It served to break the tension a little. We entered the abandoned brothel. Bosco immediately headed for the office to look for supplies while I went for a much needed drink at the bar.

For a place with such a graphic sign outside it was surprisingly low-key and tasteful inside. Laminated reports of cleanliness and health adorned the walls. There was even an old clipping about the place being reputed “in the top 10 of job satisfaction in Equestria”. Apparently the management took care of their ‘working girls’. That was…good?

Shaking my head, I moved behind the bar. The place had been cleaned out. The shelves were bare. I found the cellar door still locked shut, though the scratches on it showed that somebody had tried their hand at picking it. I gave an experimental tug. It still held solid.

“Bosco, you any good with locks?” I called out into the hall.

“Nah, don’t have the control to pick ‘em,” he called back. “Look around for a terminal, there might be an override.”

“’kay.” I scanned the area. No luck. A little put out over the lack of a drink, I kicked out at a crate with my good leg. It clattered away, revealing a backlit screen.

Good call, Bosco.

I crouched down in front of the terminal and “synching with device” appeared on my wrist. I’d had to take off the goggles once the swelling around my eye got too bad. Another reason I wanted a cold drink. I didn’t feel up to magic-ing up an ice pack. I’d felt completely drained from the tiny effort I’d put out in the fight. I was gonna have to start really small with my horn.

The two devices finished communicating and a screen popped up on the terminal. A password was needed. I glanced at the options available.

Pleasure? Maybe. Allnight? Hmm. Goodtime? Nah. Hither? What’d she do? Nostrils?! No, that’s out of place. Well I’ve got three chances and five options. Let’s give it a try.

I tried ‘pleasure’ first. The screen flashed a negative. Two tries left. Would it be something thematic or a ruse to throw a thief off? No. This place was straightforward and honest in its business. I tried ‘goodtime’ next. Another dud. I was down to my last try.

Would it be ‘Allnight’? Those other two seem kinda random since the first three are all connected.

I took a moment to look around again for some more clues. My eyes fell on a short article pinned up behind the bar:

[Miss Match – What a catch!

The charm of the mistress of the Hoofshine Harlots is matched only by her beguiling nature. Everypony who visits has a different theory. Is she an Earth pony? A Unicorn? Pegasus? Is Mismatch (or ‘Miss Match’) actually a very feminine stallion? Barely adult or middle-aged? A zebra? Nopony knows because nopony has ever seen her face.

She spends hours each night with her patrons (whose names have been withheld for decency) while they wait for their escort for the evening or just enjoy a drink in the wonderfully atmospheric bar. Covered tip-to-tail in tasteful veils she provides a significant portion of the establishment’s allure.

Even if nopony can agree on who she is, they can all agree that she is a fantastic host. Witty, sultry, playful, and entertaining, she’s guaranteed to put a smile on a pony’s face. (Just don’t try anything with her or her girls. She’ll have you out the door upside down before you can even leer). The regulars wouldn’t look kindly on it either.

Through her personality and discrete nature (no client is ever named in earshot of another) she had gained many friends. The title of this piece is the catchphrase of the brothel. Everypony knows it and everypony respects it.]

‘What a catch’ indeed. What would she put as a password? Definitely not ‘hit her’ that’s for…wait a second. There’s another ‘e’. Hi there! That’s definitely worth a try.

Without hesitation, I entered my final attempt. I was rewarded with the soft click of the latch unlocking itself.

“Bosco, I unlocked the cellar! You coming down?”

I didn’t have long to wait before the charcoal colt turned the corner, stuffing some Radaway into his pack. It looked fit to burst. “They had a fully stocked supply of meds here. Finally managed to get it open a second ago. Stimpaks, Fixer, Rad-X, the works. All on ice. They really took care of their people.”

“So I see. I’m gonna see if their booze supply is as impressive. Wait here until I get to the bottom and check if it’s safe.”

“Alrighty.” He settled down at the bar and began perusing the clippings.

I gently made my way down the steps, making sure not to put too much weight on my gashed leg. The guardrail helped. As did the automatic lighting that hummed on as soon as I reached the bottom step.

What I saw was very impressive. The room was more spacious than I thought, it must run under the entire tavern area. It was as tastefully decorated as the rest of the brothel. An enormous bed took up one corner of the room along with some clothes cupboards and a not-tiny walk-in bathing pool. It was empty but a quick test of the faucets revealed them to be in perfect working order.

I could get a bath! Oh happy day!

The far side of the room yielded the real treasure though. A wall-to-wall walk-in freezer, still running perfectly and packed to the rafters with every what I could only guess was every kind of liquor ever. This wasn’t any Stable moonshine either. Brand names abounded. They meant nothing to me but they sure looked impressive. A not-unsubstantial supply of food was present too.

Heck Mismatch, I’d marry you just for this room.

“Bosco, come on down. It’s fine.”

The colt ambled down the stairs and whistled. “It certainly is fine. Should we stay for the night? It’s getting dark and we’re safe as we’re going to be here until we reach Lethbridle.”

I was more than happy with that idea. “Definitely. Though what if someone comes in during the night?”

His smile betrayed some pride. “I took a look at the terminal while you were down here. We can change the password for this room to whatever we want. We lock ourselves in for the night and nopony else is getting to us.”

I nodded, satisfied. “Sounds good. We’ve got food, drink, an honest-to-Luna bath and a very comfy looking bed. Which side do you want?”

Bosco’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. “W-what? Oh no. You’re taking the bed, I’ll make do with the floor.”

Aww, that’s adorable.

“Oh come on Bosco, this won’t be the first time I’ve shared my bed with a boy.”

The colt’s blush covered his entire face.

“Sometimes three at once.”

Bosco was going cross-eyed. No doubt his imagination was working in overdrive. It was hilarious to watch. “Three?!”

“Well the other two would get jealous if I only had one in my bed. They were my little brothers after all.” I winked and stuck my tongue out at him.

Bosco lost it. “I…you…gyah!”

I burst out laughing. After a moment Bosco joined in. I realised it was the first time I’d laughed since I left the Stable. It felt good to let it out.

“Seriously though, which side do you want?”

~~~~~~

After a meal and a few drinks, plus a bath worthy of Celestia, I was more than ready for the oh-so-soft bed. Bosco was already in and had chosen to face the wall. I didn’t really care at this point. I was only interested in slipping under those velvet sheets and getting some blessed sleep.

It didn’t come. Try as I might I couldn’t fall asleep. Every time I closed my eyes I saw the bodies. I saw the Raider mare gun down the stallion whose gun I’d exploded. I saw Wings triple-blast the leader stallion after I blocked his shot. I saw the Molar Bear fall as I led it to its destruction. It would have killed me but that’s what predators do for food. I couldn’t fault it. I could only lead it and the two Raiders to their deaths.

Over and over.

I felt the pillow grow damp beneath my cheek. Mourning was the very least I could do. I would do more from now on. Make sure that I didn’t cause the deaths of more “monsters”. I was the only monster I needed.

A slight sound distracted me from my reverie. I held my breath, the tears still falling, as I listened for a repeat.

It came. A shaky, uneven sob rebounded off the wall. I felt Bosco stir and closed my eyes as he turned. I didn’t want him to know I’d heard. It didn’t matter if he saw my tears, I’d shed plenty during the day.

Seemingly satisfied that I was out, he rolled over again and the sobs resumed, quieter now. He was trying so hard to keep it secret. Was it simply a boy’s pride or something more? I’d come across all of my brothers like this at one point or another, even Buff. None of them were happy I’d seen them in that state. Al had been the worst. He always had been the most emotional. Lo was the easiest to cheer up. A long hug usually did it. Bosco? I didn’t know what a hug would do for Bosco. It would also be inappropriate. He wasn’t my brother. Still, I came close to doing it anyway after a big sob resisted stifling. I had to will myself to draw my hoof back.

I turned away lest I falter. It would preserve his dignity this way. I closed my eyes and thought of my brothers and the Stable. Facing my past was easier than facing what I’d done.

Hopefully I could sleep this way.

~~~~~~

I awoke mid-morning feeling much more energetic. A quiet relaxing night could apparently work wonders. I yawned widely and loudly while enjoying the warmth of the covers and the pillows and the soft fur I was snuggled up against.

Ah, right. Bosco. He probably wouldn’t be happy to wake up like this.

Taking care not to wake the sleeping colt, I gently slipped out of the covers and padded over to the bathing pool. I probably wasn’t going to be back here for a while and planned to make the most of it.

After running the bath, I slipped gingerly into the perfectly hot water and stretched out my waking muscles. I sighed in satisfaction.

“Enjoying yourself?” The colt was still on the bed, his head hanging upside down off the edge. His face seemed more relaxed too.

I gave him a big smile. “Most definitely. It’s wonderful what a little time off can do.”

He nodded in agreement. “Take your time. I’ll get us some breakfast then we’ll head off. We should reach Lethbridle about mid-afternoon.”

I took in his bedhead and dishevelled fur. “You’re not going to wash up? The water’s great!”

He coughed and stepped towards the stores. “I’ll...I’ll go in when you’re done.”

I shrugged, too relaxed to care that much. “Whatever you say. Call me when breakfast’s ready.” I sank down into the water so that only my head and horn poked above the surface.

Hmm. Might be a good idea to practise a little now that my magic’s back.

Shutting my eyes and bringing my ears under the water to block out all distractions, I focused only on my horn. I didn’t want to force anything so I tried putting only the faintest amount of energy into it, hoping for a response. Nothing. Not even a tingle. I cracked an eye open momentarily. Nope, no glow either.

Maybe I need something to concentrate on.

I held up a hoof. A droplet of water sat in the centre. I willed myself to move it even a millimetre with my horn. Nothing happened. I tried again and again until I was gasping for breath. The drop only moved when I slapped my hoof back down into the water in frustration.

Looks like I better put on some muscle if I want any heavy lifting done. Now let’s see if I can keep my cool.

I lifted another drop and stared at it without blinking. I didn’t hold back this time. I put everything I had into it from the get-go. My horn glowed weakly but I pushed through. I never took my eyes off the drop.

Freeze.

The outer edge of the drop began to shimmer.

Freeze.

It gradually began turning white.

Freeze!

My hoof began to feel colder where the drop sat.

FREEZE!

With an almost inaudible crinkle the drop froze in the palm of my hoof. I managed a small smile before my vision went black.

~~~~~~

Something smacked my back hard. I opened my mouth to cry out but gagged as water surged up my throat instead. I was struck again as I retched up the liquid.

“Come on Snow, get it all out.”

“Bosco?” I managed to cough before another surge of water followed the word.

“I’m right here. You’re okay. What happened anyway? I found you floating face down in the pool!”

I didn’t respond for a little while until I was sure that no more water was going to come out. “I dunno. I was practising my magic and then I woke up here.”

Confusion laced his words. “Didn’t you say your magic was gone? Is it back now?”

I spat the foamy dregs from my mouth. “Pleh! Not like that’s any use if freezing one measly drop knocks me out cold!”

“What about levitation? Can you do that?”

I should my head ruefully. “No. I tried that before the frost spell. Damn drop didn’t move at all. Some unicorn I am.”

Bosco nudged my shoulder supportively. “Hey now, don’t be like that. These things take time. You’ll get better before you know it. You can get your practise in while doing things the Earth Pony way for a while.”

Breathing slowly through my sore throat, I gave a little chuckle. “Thanks, Bosco. You’re a real pal.”

He scratched the back of his head apprehensively. “Yeah well...you may not think so after this. Truth of the matter is we ARE going to come across more Raiders and we ARE going to have to fight. I know you don’t wanna hear it but that’s the way of things. We should be alright to get to Lethbridle but at some point in the future somepony is going to shoot at us and we’ll have to shoot back.”

“Bosco...” I didn’t like where this was going at all.

“I’m sorry Snowflake. Without your magic you ARE going to have to learn to shoot a gun.”

“No, Bosco.”

“Yes, Snowflake. You learn or I leave you in Lethbridle. It’s not worth travelling with dead weight.”

“Dead weight?!”

“You said yourself you still have to live in this world. Well this is how you keep on living in this world.” His voice softened, “Learning to shoot doesn’t automatically translate into putting a bullet in somepony’s brain. If you really are so against it you can use shots to cover an escape. It’ll make things a lot harder for you though.”

I swallowed uncertainly and immediately regretted it as my sensitive throat protested. “Bosco...I don’t know...”

“Please, Snowflake. Just give it a try.”

“...okay.”

We set the new password as “Cefar” in the terminal. Thankfully we were even able to link the outer doors with the same code. Hoofshine Harlots would be closed to everybody except us...unless they just blew the door off or something but in that case no password would have helped either way. We’d just have to hope they didn’t find the bath-I mean the bedroom.

Out in the snow, Bosco marked a few Xs in some nearby trees with his knife. “Try to hit those. Closer ones first, then further away.”

I was still unhappy to be here. “Do we really want to waste the ammo?”

He gave me a smile that my mind made positively sadistic. “Nice try but you’ll be using a Raider gun. None of our ammo will fit it and we’ll be leaving it behind here since it’s near junked already. I cleaned it up though so it’ll do the job for this.”

I didn’t take the offered weapon. It looked awful and no matter how much it had been ‘cleaned’ I still didn’t want to touch it. “This wasn’t one of the ones that I...”

“No. That crazy mare Schwarzwald gets credit for this one. I’ve never seen a pony with more holes that than poor bas-” He stopped when he noticed my queasy expression, “Right, sorry. No, not one of yours.”

I quietly whined but Bosco just stood there holding out the gun. Having no other choice I took it in my mouth and sighted up the first target.

Bosco stood off to the side offering advice. “Alright. Take your time. You’ve got a couple of shots for each target. Remember to hold the gun still after you have your target and squeeze with your tongue. One at a time or you’ll get blisters.”

I tried to pay attention to all of this information but found myself feeling lost almost instantly. How I’d managed to shoot back in the fight I don’t know. Must’ve been the adrenaline.

Same reason why my magic worked, I guess.

I thought I had a good shot so I pulled the trigger. I instantly regretted it. My bite had been too loose and the kickback sent my teeth rattling. “Ow! Dammit!” I dropped the gun and whimpered in pain.

Bosco seemed undaunted. “Not bad for a first try. Only a little off.”

I looked up in exasperation. “Oh come on! I didn’t even hit the target?” I looked up to see the bullet embedded in a thick branch half-a-dozen hoof lengths from the target.

“Sorry but no. You need more practise. Try it again.”

“Ugh...”

~~~~~~

10 out of 60 was being optimistic.

I’d drained the ammo we had for the dilapidated Raider weapon and managed to hit 2 targets total. Only one of which I’d been aiming at. Eventually even Bosco had agreed that I would have to find a different way to fight. We’d set off for Lethbridle shortly after leaving the busted pistol buried in the snow and tearing the marked bark from the trees.

“We don’t want to leave a sign that ponies have been here.” Bosco had explained when I’d asked. I hadn’t even considered what kind of trail I might be leaving.

After all, I thought grimly, nobody is coming to find me.

We were walking through a narrow pass between two walls of earth and blanketed all over with trees heavy with snow. There was no wind but the path wound enough that we couldn’t see much further than a few dozen meters. The path appeared well travelled. Bosco was walking ahead of me and stopped at a corner. He turned back to me with a smile.

“We’re here. Come and see.”

Intrigued, I trotted up level with him and turned the corner.

Cefar this was not.

Lethbridle ate the view in front of me. A massive wall stretched out in both directions. It must’ve been a mile wide! The solid barrier was imposing. The guards patrolling along the top didn’t help either. Their weapons were most certainly NOT junk. Even from our position a few hundred meters away we could tell they meant business. Painted in stark white letters 10-feet high was the message “LETHBRIDLE WELCOMES YOU”. I couldn’t see past the wall but the noise of the city was apparent even from this distance. Voices and sounds rang out in a cacophony of noise. It reminded me of the Stable in a way.

Bosco nudged me, breaking my gaze. “Yeah it’s a nice wall and everything but come on. You should see the inside.”

A huge smile broke out on my face. This was true civilisation. Cefar was the plot-end of nowhere and places like Hoofshine Harlots or Snow Pegasus Park were empty reminders of the world before this one. Lethbridle was, well, it wasn’t home but it was closer than anything else I’d seen so far out here.

I couldn’t wait. I wanted to grab Bosco and gallop down to the gate right now but I forced myself to take it easy. The guys up top with the shooters might not like me charging their gate. It was a long, arduous few minutes until we were within 50 meters of the gate. We joined the back of the queue of pony travellers. Still all Earth Ponies and Unicorns I noticed.

Where are all the Pegasi?

I turned to ask Bosco about this but he interrupted before I could. He discreetly pointed to my Pipbuck hidden by the fabric. “Make sure that’s completely out of sight. It’s valuable and we might run into some unfriendly types who might want it for themselves. Like the Steel Rangers.”

I recalled his graphic description of how the Rangers might go about removing my Pipbuck and nodded. I made sure that the Pipbuck was completely covered and that jostling wouldn’t remove the sleeve inadvertently. Just as I finished the line moved so we hurried to catch up.

“Try and let me do the talking until we get inside. The less ponies who know you’re from...not these parts, the better. Make sure you’ve got your money ready to pay the toll. It’s 20 caps.”

I fished out the requisite sum. “I’ve got a couple of hundred Old Equestria bits too. Can I use them?”

“Not for the gate. Some merchant inside might take ‘em. I still see a few in circulation but they aren’t worth as much as caps. Best stick to them from now on.”

A commotion at the front of the line forestalled any further conversation. There was a yelling match going on.

“WHAT, YOU DON’T LIKE CAPS OR SOMETHING, JACKHOLE? LET ME IN!”

“YOU COULD HAVE ALL THE CAPS IN TENPONY TOWER AND I STILL WOULDN’T LET YOU IN, STRIPE!”

Bosco frowned. “A Zebra?”

I brightened. “A Zebra?”

“I’VE GOT MORE CAPS THAN YOU’LL MAKE IN A YEAR, GENIUS. DO YOUR MONEY-GRUBBING BOSSES WANT ME TO TAKE THEM SOMEPLACE ELSE?”

“YES! EVEN ONE STRIPE IS BAD FOR BUSINESS AROUND HERE. I HIGHLY DOUBT YOU’VE GOT CAPS ENOUGH TO OFFSET THAT!”

“UGH, THIS IS SO UNFAIR! I NEVER DID ANYTHING!”

The guard apparently got himself under control. “You’re not getting in and you’re making a scene. Leave before we open fire.”

The Zebra stomped her hooves in anger but turned away and stalked back down the line. All her but her snout and jade-green eyes were obscured by the heavy cloak she was wearing. The occasional tink tink as she walked hinted at jewellery beneath her shroud. Bosco purposefully avoided eye contact but I waited until she was level with us before speaking up.

“Mua leija.” I remarked off-hoofedly.

She instantly rounded on me, wide-eyed. “W-what’d you say?”

Ignoring Bosco’s unbelieving stare, I gave her a big smile. “Sorry, was my pronunciation off? I was trying to say bad luck.”

She continued to look bewildered. “N-no I got it. Why do you know Zebra tongue though? No Ponies spend enough time around Zebras to learn it.”

I shrugged. “Well I’ve spend my entire life around Zebra but I wouldn’t say I know the language. Not fully anyway, I’ve got basic phrases down but I never found the time to become fluent.”

Her eyes narrowed as she regarded me warily. “Who are you?”

I kept on smiling. “I’m Snowflake. Iyanda tunyel roga.”

Finally she smiled back. “Roga bagata! I never expected to meet somepony out here who I could speak to like this.”

“I’m happy to help. What was all that about up at the gate?”

Her smile immediately faded. “Ugh, that. It’s so unfair. They won’t let me in because I’m a ‘stripe’. I wasn’t gonna cause trouble. I’ve got a package waiting for me. I just wanted to pick it up and leave. I didn’t want to spend any more time in this plothole city either but they wouldn’t even let me do that. I need that package!”

Bosco was still looking down the line, apparently uncaring. I wanted to help though. This filly seemed to be in the much the same situation as me. She was just trying to survive in a place where the rules didn’t allow her to act as she wanted to. “I can help if you’d like. I can get your package and bring it to you.”

I didn’t exactly get a glowing reaction to this. “And why would you do that for me, huh? What’s your angle?”

I kept my hooves open. “No angle, svara. I just want to help.”

This got a role of the eyes. “Sure, I’ve heard that one before. Prove it.”

How? I mulled this over for a second before digging into my pack. I removed the 400 bits I’d been given by the Stable and held them out to her. “Collateral. A sign of trust. You hold onto these for me until I get you your package back. I don’t get you your package? I don’t get my cash back. Sound good?”

The jade-green eyes boggled at me. “You’re serious? You’re just giving me money? Just like that? You’re giving a complete stranger all this money?”

I couldn’t stop the emotion from pouring into my voice here. “Yes. I am. I need to. I want to show you that I trust you. I have no reason not to. The war’s been over for 200 years. Even if it was still going, it’s not MY war.”

Gingerly a hoof emerged from under her cloak and inched towards the bits. She reached for them, pulled back, reached closer, pulled back again, hesitated with her hoof on them and finally took them from me. They disappeared back under the cloak considerably faster. “I...I’ll trust you. Please, bring me my package. I’ll wait at the East entrance for three days. Once your three days are up, your bits are gone, understand?”

I smiled playfully and rolled my eyes at her tough act before nodding. “Deal. Remember that trust goes both ways though. I’m trusting you with my bits but you’ve gotta trust me to bring you the package. I promise I won’t let you down. Please don’t let me down, svara.”

I held out a hoof. After a moment’s hesitation she bumped hers against it. “In three days, I might call you that. In the meantime, you’ll find my package at Nightcap’s place. It’s a bar on the west side of the city. Say you were sent by Two-tone. He’ll know it’s me. ”

“Got it.”

Bosco cleared his throat. “I don’t mean to interrupt, ladies, but the guards are giving us evil eyes. I don’t think they like you talking.”

The Zebra glanced first at Bosco and then at the guards. Her eyes fell and she pulled her hood further down over her face. “Right. I’ll...see you in three days then, Snowflake.” Without waiting for a response she turned and took off running along the city wall.

We watched her go then headed towards the barrier. Bosco seemed pensive. “So I’m guessing svara means ‘friend’?”

“Yeah. I hope I can help her out.”

“I’m not sure you should bother. I mean you don’t even know her name. I noticed she avoided telling you. Tch, Two-tone, funny.”

I gave him an admonishing look. “I said I was gonna trust her and I’m trusting her. End of story.”

He sighed and dropped his caps into the toll box. “I hope you know what you’re getting into.”

I followed suit. My ‘thank you’ surprised the guards as they let us pass. “It’ll be fine. You said yourself that those bits weren’t worth much.”

“No, I said bits weren’t worth as much as caps. 400 bits is still a fair amount of money to part with on trust. You could still live it up for a week with what you gave her.”

“Uh...”

“Well it should be fine so long as you trust her.” His grin at the very least bordered on smug.

Any response I could give halted in my throat as we emerged into Lethbridle proper. The streets were full of ponies moving back and forth about their business. They were chatting and laughing and shouting and running.

It was perfect. The crowd, the activity, the noise, everything. So many people all working all at once. It was almost as if I were back home in the Stable. “Bosco this is great! Look at all these people!”

“Yeah it’s a little bit livelier than Cefar for sure. You want to look around a little bit or just go straight to Nightcap’s?”

I waved my hoof excitedly. “Come on, we’ve got 3 days! Let’s go look around!”

Bosco smiled knowingly and gave a little bow. “As the lady wishes. Let me start with a basic outline.”

He spread his hooves, indicating the area we stood in. “Now this is the northern quarter where all the residential areas are. Not much to see except for the gate which gets little traffic.”

He turned and pointed in the other direction. “In the southern quarter are the majority of businesses and the government buildings. Makes sense to have them at that end since the rest of the Wasteland’s that way. Easier to bring in the caps and keep an eye on them when here.”

He turned ninety degrees. “The military is housed in the eastern quarter. They keep Plottawa slavers from getting ideas about raiding the city for new victims.”

He made one last about face. “Finally we have the entertainment district in the west. The pubs, clubs, and other delights will be found there. That’ll be our last stop. Now unless you’re really interested in talking to soldiers or bureaucrats what’s say we go shopping?”

~~~~~~

Chapter 3-2: 100 In Three Darts

The south side of Lethbridle was actually quite lovely. The sun was going down as we arrived but the shopkeepers hadn’t started packing up yet. We unloaded the Raider gear we’d collected for caps which both lightened our loads and increased our coffers. I left Bosco haggling over the meat from the Molar Bear that I’d killed and walked down the main concourse.

Despite the snow outside it was actually pretty warm from the day’s shoppers. This must have been common as there were green-leaved trees growing in the middle of the street. I stopped under one for a little while to catch my breath and take stock of what I had left as well as avoid the glare of the setting sun.

I still had most of my original supplies, though I had swapped my pistol for some charges to go in my Power Hoofs when Bosco wasn’t looking. If he kicked up a fuss I’d gift him the bullets since they’d fit his gun. I was just no good with a firearm I was hesitant to use and saw no point keeping it if I could find another way to fight.

I still had the pristine rifle that we had no ammo for and I took it out to examine as Bosco joined me and began packing away his purchases. Thanks to our little hideaway outside of town we were set for food and medical gear. Bosco had used his caps to get some reinforced armour to wear under his tough Molar hide cloak. By the shine on it he’d also had his knife treated. He seemed satisfied and packed his gear away.

I was still examining the rifle when a hooded blur cannoned between us, knocking us both to the ground and swiping my rifle out of the air. The thief took off running down the street. “HEY! THAT’S MINE!” We took off after the hidden figure but I quickly outstripped Bosco as he struggled to maintain his balance with the new weight.

The thief was quick and knew what they were doing, dodging between shops and swerving around corners. I’d have lost them if not for my Pipbuck showing the bright red ‘hostile’ marker wherever they went.

Heh. Not always something to run AWAY from.

Finally the sneak reached a block-off road and cast around for a second or two before diverting down an alley. By this point Bosco had caught up and we’d both gained ground in the seconds of indecision. We charged in after the criminal, trapping them in the dead-end. “That’s mine! Give it back now!”

The thief’s hood moved back and forth, looking for a way out but there was nowhere to go. Eventually they turned back to us and a raspy voice emerged. “It’s mine. Why are you chasing me, smoothcoat?”

My Power Hoof buzzed to life and cracked a paving cobble as I stamped my hoof. Bosco made a show of drawing his shiny new knife. “Don’t lie to us again, punk. You’ve got nowhere to go except through us and we’ll end you if you try.”

Bosco’s words made the hooded figure uncertain but it seemed determined to put on a front. “You’ve got no proof! You’re just a wet-behind-the-ears colt trying to act tough by picking on a ghoul!”

I jumped in here, unveiling my Pipbuck confidently. “No proof? How about an inventory list with an exact match to that gun? A gun which is missing from my packs right now. That’d be mighty suspicious now, wouldn’t it?”

A haggard chuckle came from inside the hood. “Oh, I understand. Stable pony, eh?”

Bosco and I shared a glance. “How do you know?”

The chuckling continued. “Let’s just say I’ve been around a while.”

The pony pulled back their hoof and my eyes went wide. “B-Bosco...”

He glanced briefly in my direction while simultaneously trying to keep the...thing in his sights. “Stay calm now Snowflake, everything’s fi-”

“LOOK OUT! IT’S A MONSTER!” I cowered behind Bosco to keep the apparition away from me. It still had the very basic shape of a pony but that was where the resemblance ended. Blotchy, melted skin covered the creature’s head. It had even warped down and completely covered an eye. The other orb was discoloured and sunken. What little fur and mane were left were filthy and coated in grease. Yellowing teeth emerged from the remains of lips and bare bone ran up from the chin to the jaw below the stubs where the ears should have been.

The thief seemed to find my reaction hilarious. “Hehehe. Stable ponies are fun to mess with.” He drew himself up to full height and his voice became deeper and more menacing. “Out of my way or I’ll eat you!”

I shrieked and backed away but Bosco stepped forward brandishing the knife. “Unlucky you. She’s from a Stable. I’m not. You ghouls don’t frighten me. Now hand over the gun!”

Sensing that his ploy was in trouble, the thief swung the rifle up and pointed it at us. After a few seconds of him pulling the trigger and only empty clicks sounding from the barrel he became apprehensive. “Damn. What idiot Stable do you come from that they don’t stock their guns, filly?”

I was still frozen in fear of the ghoul’s hellish appearance but Bosco had had enough. He charged forward and slammed the ghoul into the wall, retrieving the gun in the process. “You’re really doing wonders for the whole ‘ghouls are just normal ponies’ idea, you know that?” You could have cut the sarcasm with a knife.

The ghoul criminal bristled at this. “Don’t you preach at me, smoothcoat! You have no right to say anyth-”

A rumbling bass voice cut him off. “What’s going on here?”

“Oh great, the bighorns are here.” Bosco muttered as he backed away from the ghoul.

Much as I hated to turn my back on the strange demon, I had to turn around to address these new arrivals. I turned...and was elated to see three mountains of fur and muscle blocking the mouth of the alley. The buffalo were decked out in body armour which barely covered their important bits. Each was full size and would have outsized my brothers by a dozen inches at least. Their fur colour ranged from beech to oak and their horns were prominent and looked extremely sharp.

All of this made no difference to me as I failed to register their glares as I skipped ecstatically towards them. To me, buffalo were infinitely safer than...whatever that thing back there was. The fact that I didn’t know them was of no consequence right now. I stopped in front of the leader and beamed. “It is so good to meet you! I’m Snowflake.”

The buffalo were apparently not expecting this reaction. The two behind the leader exchanged confused glances while the oak-furred leader himself seemed taken aback. “Umm...yes. Good to meet you too ma’am. I’m Chief Rockhaunch. We keep the peace around here. Can you tell me what’s going on?”

I was elated to be around buffalo again. I’d missed them. This was shaping up to be a really good day. This lovely city, a potential new zebra friend and now maybe a buffalo to add to the list! “Well, Chief Rockhaunch, we were just minding our own business in the shopping district when he barged into us and took off with my gun!”

The buffalo glanced up towards Bosco and the ghoul. “Is that so? You been causing trouble again, vagrant?”

The ghoul seethed at this. “You’re all the same. Acting like I’m a monster!”

Bosco wasn’t happy with where this was going. He held up the rifle for the buffalo to see. “Listen, Chief, we got our gun back and would rather not make trouble so how about we head on our way?”

Rockhaunch looked between the two for a moment. Then he grunted and turned back to me. “Can you prove that you are the owner of the weapon ma’am?”

I nodded happily. I unveiled my Pipbuck, ignoring the frantic look Bosco was giving me, and showed it to the chief. “Uh huh! If you check my inventory you’ll see an exact description of the gun. Yet somehow it’s not in my packs. What are the chances of there being two such pristine weapons in the vicinity?”

Rockhaunch remained sceptical. “That’s pretty circumstantial ma’am. Is there anything else you can say that’ll help us out?”

Before I could respond, Bosco jumped in. “No, no she can’t. We’re sorry to have wasted your time Chief.”

The ghoul began to protest but the other two buffalo stepped forward and he quieted. Rockhaunch looked at all three of us impassively before nodding his giant head. His bow narrowly missed catching me with his impressive horns. “Well we are at an impasse. I have seen no evidence that the weapon belongs to the ghoul BUT also no evidence of any wrongdoing on his part. So I will ‘advise’ you all to vacate the area immediately and drop the issue for good. Understand?”

Bosco looked relieved. The ghoul looked annoyed. I was simply happy to have my gun back. The ghoul slinked past us and stalked off up the street under the watchful eye of the guards.

As we were setting off, I forgot myself and reached up to grab Rockhaunch’s horns. I slammed my forehead against his before tottering off past the three buffalo and one colt who were all watching open-mouthed. Granted I was having a little trouble keeping my balance after the hard headbutt but I was still lucid enough to hear the two deputies burst out laughing.

~~~~~~

“So what was that back there?” Bosco had been holding his tongue until we got to Nightcap’s. Now that we’d settled down into a corner booth in the...let’s face it, the place was a dive. Dim lighting, lackluster cleaning, surly clientele and an owner/operator who didn’t ask personal questions. Now that we’d settled into a corner booth Bosco wanted answers.

“Which part?”

“The thing with the Chief? You headbutted him!”

I laughed, waving it off. “That? Buffalo gesture of good feelings. You can use it to say thanks, like I did.”

Bosco had his head cocked to the side. “First you speak zebra and now you act buffalo. What in the hell was your home like?”

My cocky smirk probably wasn’t helping. “I can dance griffon too if you’d like. And my home was lovely!”

“Yeah yeah sunshine and lollipops all round.”

“Well not so much sunshine. Obviously there was no sunshine inside but outside was...well I mean it got light and it got dark but there was always the blizzard going on outside. It was all around us.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. In all the time I lived in the Stable it never stopped. Ever.”

“That’s crazy.”

“Try being on monitor duty.”

“Eesh. No thanks.” We both chuckled at this. Bosco got up to go to the bar. “I’ll get us some drinks. What do you want?”

“Whatever cider they’ve got.”

He nodded and moved off. I took the opportunity to look around at the rest of the bar. It was getting crowded but the drinkers all sat huddled close around their own tables, ignoring the world around them. On the walls of the bar were some fading pictures of the owner with other ponies and on-one-occasion a griffon. Nightcap looked a lot younger then. He still had both eyes too. His eye patch would be hard to avoid staring at when I asked him about the zebra’s package.

Over in another corner of the bar near the crackling jukebox was a buffalo snoring gently. I recognised him as one of the deputies from the altercation a few hours before. His three Unicorn companions were ignoring him. In fact...

Are they looking at me?

Yes. Yes they were. As soon as I caught the eye of one all three got up and began making their way across the bar.

Where was Bosco? Still at the bar. I couldn’t really read their faces in the low light but three-against-one was never good odds. I surreptitiously began reaching for my Power Hoofs. I’d only got the left one on before they stopped at my table.

The three unicorns wore faded lab attire and eyeglasses. They all had bleach-blonde manes but their coats were one white, one darker blue and one grey-black. The grey-black mare was apparently the leader as she spoke up in a rolling low accent. “Good evening. Sorry to bother you but we had a report on your little spat with the ghoul earlier.”

I held the Power Hoof in a way that would make activation easy. “You did? Was he a friend of yours?”

She chuckled. “Oh no, nothing like that. I only mentioned him as a reference guide. In fact HE doesn’t interest us at all. No, what we wanted to talk to you about was the fascinating device on your foreleg.”

I didn’t make a move to reveal the Pipbuck to them. “Who are you and why would you be interested in that?”

She didn’t stop smiling but her companions’ faces became more drawn. “Ah, I apologise. My name is Esto and these are my colleagues Latvi and Lithu. We are researchers of magic and technology. We would like to talk to you about examining your device.”

I nodded warily. “You want to bargain then?”

Her face pinched slightly. “If that is necessary but I don’t think a look is worth much.”

I glanced around briefly and noticed Bosco returning. I tried to convey to him that everything was okay before addressing her. From the look on his face didn’t get the message or wasn’t convinced. “I might have something I wish to ask you too. Sit down Esto. Just Esto.”

Latvi and Lithu didn’t bother to hide their annoyance at that but Esto turned to placate them. “It’s fine. Latvi, Lithu, please go make sure that our friend isn’t bothered while he rests.”

Lithu perked up at this and she sauntered off. Latvi looked more surly if anything as he followed her. Esto turned back to me and gave a helpless little shrug. “Sorry about that. Lithu likes our buffalo friend. Latvi likes Lithu. Neither know about the feelings of the other. They will not bother us.”

Bosco only sat after Esto did. “Good. We don’t want a lot of company. It remains to be seen if we want ANY.”

Esto merely nodded. “Understandable. Let me make my interest clear then. I wish to examine the lady’s device. What can I offer to be allowed this opportunity?”

I thought back to what we had come to Lethbridle for. To get the Memory Orb fixed and examined. Bosco had Orbs too that he couldn’t view without a...

Ooh! There’s an idea!

“Tell me, Esto. Do you have access to a Recollector?”

She blinked in surprise. “A Recollector? For Memory Orbs? Yes we have one of those.”

I smiled. “Then that’s my price. You get to examine my tech and my friend here gets access to yours.”

Bosco looked at me in grateful astonishment. “Snowflake, I...thank you.”

I smiled back happily. “It’s the least I can do for your help, Bosco.” I turned back to the mare. “Do we have a deal?”

She held up a hoof. “One moment. You obviously have Memory Orbs of your own. Will we be allowed to view them at the same time as your friend here? The information carried inside could potentially be priceless. They are such fascinating things.”

Perfect.

I leaned forward. “So your research also studies Memory Orbs?”

She too learned forward. It was obvious she didn’t get much opportunity to talk about the work that clearly excited her. “Most definitely. Latvi knows the spell to create them.”

“Could you repair one?”

~~~~~~

“We’re taking on a lot of sudden extra responsibility. Are you sure you’re up to this?” Bosco was not terribly pleased at the current development as we strolled out of Lethbridle’s eastern gate.

“Doing it this way is a sure thing rather than travelling to another city to take a chance on some other Unicorn knowing their stuff.” Esto had agreed to repair the Orb and allow us access to her Recollector in exchange for a look at my Pipbuck and “another small task”.

“You do remember I told you to avoid Plottawa?” Not terribly pleased at all.

“I remember but we’re not going to go all the way there. We’re going to find out what happened to the supply caravan that they were waiting for and that’s it.” I didn’t hear Bosco’s muttered response but I think the words “got a bridge” were in there somewhere.

We stopped at the tree line and waited. It didn’t take long before a hooded figure strolled out of the woods. “You didn’t take as much time as I thought you would. Do you have my package?”

I nodded, happy that I could do this for her. I held out the package. “I have it right here. Since we were quick I certainly hope my bits are still with you.”

The zebra didn’t move. “Package first. Then you get your bits back.”

“Or maybe we could take a look inside and see what’s so important for ourselves...” Mused Bosco.

Immediately she started forward. “NO!”

“BOSCO!” I snapped at the charcoal colt. Turning, I tried to soothe her. “It’s alright, it’s alright. We’re not going to look. Don’t listen to him. Look here, I’m putting it down. Come and take it.” After putting the package down, I backed off and glared at Bosco.

The zebra flowed forward and gracefully grabbed the package, stashing it under her cloak. The relief in her eyes was obvious. I nudged Bosco in the side. “That was not nice, Bosco. Say you’re sorry.”

“What?!”

“Do it! She’s my friend and you don’t try to extort my friends!”

Bosco was split between abashed and annoyed, but he still turned to the zebra. “I’m sorry whoever-you-are. I shouldn’t have done that.”

She was examining the contents and didn’t reply beyond a grunt.

“Is it what you needed?” I asked in a gentle tone.

Her eyes glimmered as she looked back with a smile. “It’s all here. Thank you, svara.”

Beaming, I spread my hooves wide. “Shall we do the introductions again? I’m Snowflake, and this is Bosco.”

Packing her things away, she gave a cute little bow. “Iyanda tunyel roga, Snowflake, Bosco. Wiv pec Naiara.”

I mirrored the action. “Iyanda tunyel roga, Naiara.”

Bosco didn’t. “Yeah...yander tunnel rugged to you too, Naiara.”

She chuckled at this. “Nice try. Maybe Snowflake can give you some lessons.” This earned a scowl from the colt as Naiara and I shared a giggle. Hers was considerably more refined than mine.

“I’d love to talk with you some more, Naiara. Unfortunately we have to be going. We’ve got a bit of a trip ahead of us. Will you still be around in a few days?”

“Uh huh. I’ll try to get into Lethbridle through one of the other gates. One of the guards will want a bribe. Oh, speaking of which...” She held out a familiar bag. “Your bits.”

I walked up close and took them from her. “Thank you.”

“Well they ARE yours. Don’t need to thank me for that.” She rubbed her neck, embarrassed.

Still smiling, I shook my head. “I didn’t even have to ask. It means a lot to me that I met some one like you. Somebody who isn’t just always looking out for themselves at the expense of others. That’s what I’m thanking you for.”

Her grin was getting wider and wider. “Ah c’mon now. You’re gonna make me blush. Go on, get outta here.”

“Sure. Trig roga prefkam saabi, Naiara.”

“Roga bagata, svara.”

~~~~~~

“I still don’t get what she has against stars.”

“Let it go, Bosco.”

“You told her that you hoped she would escape the stars’ notice, right?”

I sensed he wasn’t going to let it go. “Zebra mythology doesn’t like the stars much. They consider them kinda...well...evil.”

“Evil stars.” He deadpanned.

“No worse than ‘evil’ zebras.” I warned.

No more was said on the matter. We just kept walking. It’d been a few hours since leaving Naiara and Lethbridle so the clouds were black. I marvelled at how quiet the night could be without the blizzard. It was calming. A much better end to the day than the last few. Perhaps things were looking up after all. Had I had my trial-by-fire with the first few days? Or was I just hopeful and trying to ignore what was still to come?

I shook my head. I didn’t want to deal with those questions right now. I just wanted to enjoy the night. It was the first time I’d really seen one outside of the Stable. Everything was clear and crisp. The cold didn’t seem to bother me as much either. Everything had just relaxed and let nature run its course. The noise of Lethbridle was behind us and all the little creatures had retired to their beds. It felt like walking through a dream. The cloud cover prevented the stars from appearing though.

Naiara would say that was a good thing.

Too bad. Going by what I’d seen of the world outside the Stable so far the history files and picture books in the Stable wouldn’t have done them justice. It was a little off-putting that the clouds still hadn’t shifted though.

I was about to ask Bosco what our chances of a starry sky were when the echo of a laugh sounded through the trees. We immediately drew closer to each other. I checked my Eyes Forward Sparkle. Yellow ‘neutrals’ were ahead.

“Is that the supply caravan?” I whispered to Bosco.

We moved forward cautiously as he answered. “Could be. They could just have been held up. Still I don’t want to take any chances.”

We kept silent as we inched towards the increasing noise. An orange glow began to emerge from between the trees. Something was on fire. As we got closer it became apparent what that something was.

We hid behind a snowdrift and peered out at the scene.

Broken crates were piled up to make a fire in the centre. Three ponies sat around it laughing and joking. They were enjoying the spoils of the destroyed caravan.

Bosco pulled us both back down out of sight. “They aren’t Raiders. My guess is that they’re from Plottawa.”

“Slavers?”

He nodded grimly. “I guess we know what happened to the caravan.”

“Then should we get out of here? We have what Esto wants.”

He shook his head. “Not good enough. We need some proof. Going back empty-hooved won’t get us our deal. We need something to show that we found the caravan ponies but I didn’t see any bodies around.”

“Then they might still be alive!”

He whipped his head back and glared at me for a number of seconds before responding.

“On no, Snowflake. We are NOT staging a rescue! We don’t know where those ponies are. Besides which, the slavers have us outnumbered!”

“No they don’t.”

“!”
“!” Bosco and I both jolted in surprise.

Naiara was standing on the snowdrift. “You two are louder than you think, y’know. Of course that made it easier for me to sneak up on these three. They were a few steps from shoving their guns up your-”

Bosco cut her off. “How did you kill them so quickly? I didn’t hear any gunshots.” He turned to me. “Did you hear any-why aren’t you surprised?”

I looked at Naiara sadly as I answered. She just stared back quizzically. “Zebras don’t need guns to kill. Which style?”

She cocked her head to the side and grinned. “You really have been around Zebras, haven’t you? Stompeii Emboli style.”

I looked around in shock. This really wasn’t the terrain for it. “Out here?”

Naiara snorted in amusement. “Like I needed the full show for these grunts. They were totally fixated on gutting you two. You’re welcome by the way.”

I flushed in admonishment. “Sorry. Unten, svara.”

She waved me off. “Ah you’re welcome. You want their stuff? I like to travel light.”

I nodded but didn’t move. I’d learned my lesson from last time. “Bosco?”

“I got it.” He moved over the snowdrift and let out a low whistle. “Not a scratch?! How the hell...”

“Zebra.” Naiara and I answered together.

As he moved to check the bodies, Naiara faced me. “I got the gist of what you guys were talking about while I was tracking you. You really should talk quieter and, y’know, less when in unknown territory. You need to find some supply caravan ponies for some guy back at Lethbridle, right?”

“Basically.”

Naiara crossed one leg daintily. “Well it is pretty dark and those guys back there are two mares and a stallion, soooo...”

I didn’t get it. “Soooo what?”

“She wants us to dress up in their clothes and sneak in. I’m all the way over here and I got it.”

Yes Bosco, rub it in. Snowflake isn’t always clever.

“Naiara, it’ll be dangerous. You’ve got no stake in this.”

She rubbed the back of her head. “Well, I wouldn’t say that.”

That was strange. “Are you sure? Is this even a good idea?”

Bosco dropped down besides us, newly burdened with gear, including three uniforms. “Course it’s not a good idea. However it’s what’ll happen. You two’ll go either way and I’ll feel bad if I didn’t go with you and you ended up dead. And we do need to get evidence for Esto.”

He’s got a point...jerk.

~~~~~~

“This is itchy!”

“Hmm…weren’t you saying something about talking less?”

“Shaddup Bosco!”

“Hehehe.”

“Both of you knock it off, we’re getting close to the gate.”

After donning the uniforms we’d begun following the hoof prints of the three slavers back to their base. It had not been a pleasant walk. Naiara had already voiced her displeasure and the mare who wore mine had apparently been skinnier in the hips than I was. The fabric rubbed in…places. Bosco hadn’t said a word after grumbling that he didn’t want to leave his Molar Bear cloak behind buried in snow.

We had no choice though. The manifest had been among the belongings still in the caravan and it didn’t list any pelts. We’d taken the record with us as a precaution. It’d listed the caravan ponies as two a merchant called Contego and a caravan guard by the name of Vorbis. Nothing else was said about them. It hadn’t mentioned what they looked like or their race.

What the manifest had mentioned was the caravan company name: Sprinkles Supplies. The company logo was an unfamiliar but unique symbol. It’d be easy to see.

We were approaching the gate to the slaver compound. It was all dark metal and stone. The gate looked solid and there were gun emplacements and ponies patrolling the walls.

30 feet from the gate several spotlights kicked in. We hastily covered our eyes. “WHO GOES THERE?” The unseen voice sounded from atop the formidable walls.

Bosco growled around the hoof covering his eyes. “Knock that light off will ya? We just got back from salvaging that supply caravan!”

“PROVE IT!”

Naiara held up the manifest. “Got the record right here. We brought back all the gear we could carry. The rest is piled up at the site. Happy?”

The light’s kicked off. The voice was much softer now. “Happy enough. Come on in out of the cold. Drop the gear inside at the sorting office. We’ll handle the rest. Just head on through to the auditorium. It’s a fun time tonight.”

We all found ourselves blinking at the sudden invitation. “Uh…sure. Sounds good. Come on guys.”

We headed through the gate after it rumbled open. The guards were all smiles and helpfulness as we passed. I was worried that Naiara’s ponifying makeup wouldn’t be good enough to fool the sentries but she was treated no differently than me or Bosco. We dropped the supplies off at the sorting office as instructed and then followed the signs towards the auditorium. As we got closer we heard music and noise growing louder.

“These guys seem remarkably well adjusted for slavers.” Naiara and I nodded at Bosco’s evaluation. I certainly hadn’t been expecting this. Everyone seemed so happy. I was picturing grim and scarred vagrants. Maybe an eye patch or two. This was…almost nice.

The confusion continued as we opened the doors to the auditorium and a wall of noise slammed into us. Everywhere we looked ponies were dancing and laughing and partying! Seriously, this was the most festivities I’d seen ever! There were more happy ponies here than there were residents of Stable 61 and they all seemed in good spirits.

I spotted a bar off to the side and nudged my two companions towards it. Getting through the crowd was difficult but each pony we jostled just smiled and mouthed an apology over the pumping music.

We finally managed to burst through to the bar. Well two of us did anyway. I felt lips on my ear as Naiara tried to make herself heard. “…ST BOSCO!”

“WHAT?”

“WE LOST BOSCO!”

“WHAT!?” I looked around but couldn’t spot the colt anywhere. Was he back at the door? A cursory glance told me that was a negative. I leaned further over the bar to look down its length. No Bosco there either. Naiara nudged me in the ribs and pointed. She had a MASSIVE smile on her face. I followed her hoof and grew a grin of my own.

On the raised platform in the centre of the room there was a line of dancing girls with their forelegs around each other’s shoulders. A line of dancing girls…with one charcoal-turned-scarlet colt in the centre trying in vain to keep his leg-kicks in time with the dancers. His eyes were screaming for help but Naiara and I just fell back against the bar at the hilarious sight.

The bartender dropped two drinks in front of us with an amicable smile. “Heard about your job. Nice work. Per the rules, free drinks all night for a successful haul.” He strolled off to attend to the other patrons.

Naiara and I grinned even wider and clinked glasses after we’d verified that we were drinking the same as everybody else. Bosco had escaped the kick-line but two of the dancing girls had followed him. He was looking increasingly uncomfortable as they draped themselves over him in a far booth. Neither my zebra friend nor myself was willing to make the trip through the sea of bodies to ‘rescue’ him.

Naiara wasn’t even looking in his direction. She was looking towards the raised platform again where the dancing girls had given way to some troops who looked to be making up their own moves. With a lopsided grin she vaulted onto the bar and began hopping from shoulder-to-shoulder across the crowd.

They protested at first but after one of the grooving ponies on the stage noticed her he beckoned and the throng began supporting her as she rushed towards the challenge. She powered past the stallion giving the bring-it-on gesture and took up position opposite him. Instantly the stage emptied so it was just the two of them.

It.
Was.
On.

The stallion moved first. He began with a simple stutter-step back-and-forth before passing it over. Naiara smirked and then moved. It was breathtaking. Her motion never stopped. Like a river she moved through her routine in one continuous flow. The crowd sat transfixed and silent as the zebra danced. I was no different. It was truly a sight to behold. Thunderous applause erupted as she finished and gestured for her opponent to continue. The stallion knew he was beat and began clapping. Myself and the audience soon followed suit. Other freestylers swarmed the stage but Naiara still held the centre.

As she continued to have her fun I was content to marvel from the bar. At least until the choice was taken from me. As I set down my empty second drink I found myself being lifted bodily off the ground and carried towards the dance floor. I was helpless wriggling my legs in the air as the crowd laughed around me. I couldn’t lay eyes on who was carrying me but whoever it was seemed strong as any of the Doublehorn boys. It really did not seem as if they were struggling. Only when we reached the open space and I was rapidly spun down and around did I come face to face with my assailant.

Oh, my.

Creamy hazel eyes and a flowing blond mane graced an Earth stallion face with a dazzling smile and silky oaken fur. After spinning me back right-side-up the mysterious slaver hadn’t released my hoof. It was warm. As was his voice. “Can you dance as well as your friends?”

“I…”

His smile widened. “Let’s find out!”

I didn’t even get to attempt a reply this time as his hoof began directing my body through a series of steps and twirls. I struggled to decide whether to try to complete the steps or pull away. It didn’t seem to matter as the jocular stallion always seemed to compensate and keep the rhythm. I knew for sure that I’d never come even close to dancing like this before.

The music seemed to perfectly match in the background. So much so that I only became aware of how it all came together after it ended. As soon as the lack of music registered in my eyes when the song ended I began searching around. When I looked back the stallion was on stage with a mic dropping down in front of him. “HOW’S EVERYPONY DOING TONIGHT?!”

The crowd gave a thunderously enthusiastic roar in response. The stallion pumped his hoof. “YEAH! That’s what I wanna hear! Now I know we’re all loving the dancing prowess of our colleagues who’ve returned in triumph so I’ll only take a little bit of your time.”

I finally learned my dance-partner’s name as the crowd chanted “Peanut! Peanut! Peanut!”

‘Peanut’ made a calming motion with his hooves. “Come on Plottawa. I’ll be up here all night at this rate. I just wanna say thanks for all your hard work and make sure to let me know if there’s anything wrong here and we’ll fix it. I couldn’t do this without you all. YOU PONIES ROCK!”

With the floor-shaking applause that followed I barely noticed Bosco tugging at the sleeve of my uniform at first. Finally he had to drag me away from the stage and out into the corridor. Naiara was waiting for us when we got out there. “Come on. This’ll be our best chance to find Contego and Vorbis. Unless you wanna dance with your coltfriend some more?”

I returned his amused smirk. “Knock it off, playboy. You were practically wearing those fillies.”

Naiara shushed us both. “Save it for counselling, you two. Let’s go!”

~~~~~~

It seemed that with the big party going on the place was operating with a skeleton crew. On our way to the slave pens we only happened across one group of ponies who were taking food to the guards on duty. We volunteered to ‘help’. Chatting with the provisions ponies on the way cemented the impression that we’d seen in the auditorium.

They loved it here.

These slavers were the happiest ponies I’d come across in the entire wasteland. They were well fed, provided for, safe and valued by their leader. Peanut was seemingly benevolent. He’d even set up a non-combatant wing further in for those too old or infirm to continue slaving raids. These ponies had jobs for life. They’d move to clerical or support positions when they couldn’t be frontline any more.

All it cost was the freedom of other sentient beings.

What are you, Peanut?

~~~~~~

When we reached the slave pens, we saw the other side of Plottawa. Even here there were signs that Peanut was kind. All the slaves were clothed, clean and nourished. No evidence of mistreatment was present.

What are you, Peanut?

“Snowflake!” Bosco’s hiss interrupted my thoughts. The colt nodded over to two ponies in a pen on the other side of the courtyard. Both bore the same symbol as the one on the Sprinkles Supplies caravan.

Nodding, I retrieved some food bags from the carts and followed him over. As we dumped the bags through the secure chutes Bosco leaned in to talk to the more muscular one while I quietly addressed who I guessed was Contego. “Contego? Esto sent us. Are you alright?”

The stallion raised his downcast eyes in confusion. “E-Esto?”

“Yeah. She asked us to find out what happened to you.”

He lowered his head again. “Well, here we are. Fat lot of good her knowing does. No way we’re getting out of here.”

“Don’t say that. We just have to-”

“Do nothing,” rumbled Vorbis from the side, “You try anything and you’ll be in here with us. Best bet is to get word to our company and they’ll get us out somehow. Contego, give her your badge. That’ll be proof we’re here.”

The smaller stallion sadly handed it over. “Right. We’ll just wait then.”

I tried to convey as much sympathy as possible. “I’m really sorry. If there was any other way...”

He just shook his head. “There isn’t. Don’t worry. They treat us okay here. Just not a whole lot to do unless we get sold.”

Our conversation was cut short as the provisions ponies trotted over. “Everything okay here?”

I turned with what I hoped was a convincing smile. “Oh yeah, just making small talk. No need to be mean, right?”

The smile was returned. “Exactly. This is just business. We don’t have anything against these ponies and hurting them hurts our profits. Come on now. We’re heading back. You’d best go fetch your friend.”

I moved off with them for a moment before I registered what he’d said. “My friend?”

“Yeah. The mare you two were with. She saw Peanut heading to his office and went after him.” He gave a dry chuckle. “Probably a love confession. Colt gets them a couple times a day. Hasn’t said yes once though. Least he’s nice about it.”

Bosco and I looked around. Sure enough Naiara was nowhere in sight. We looked at each other and set off without another word.

~~~~~~

After lots of helpful directions from the happy kidnappers we arrived at Peanut’s office and opened the door just in time to see him lever Naiara into the wall.

“Let her go!”

His expression was still genial but his eyes were hard and he didn’t relax his grip. “She’s your friend. I understand. However she did attack me. I can’t allow that.”

My Power Hoofs hummed to life as I sprang at him. “I said LET HER GO!”

My wild swings never connected. Peanut’s easy dancing was no fluke. He always seemed to be in the place to avoid being struck. I wasn’t so light on my hooves. His backhoofed strike caught me under the chin and spun me end-over-end. I landed in a heap next to the now-fallen Naiara.

Dusting himself off, Peanut began walking towards us. “Now I’m not sure what this is about but I’d really like to know. Will you tell me yourselves or do I have to-”

He didn’t finish his thought as Bosco barged into him from the side. Peanut casually moved with the hit, turning Bosco’s momentum back on him as he slammed the colt face first into the desk.

Naiara and I had recovered by this point and moved back in before Peanut could press his attack. I charged in straight with my powered limbs while Naiara made use of one of the core tenets of Stompeii Emboli. Namely that attacks aren’t limited to ground-orientation. Quick as a flash she’d bounced up a bookcase and ricocheted off the ceiling.

Peanut’s eyes widened slightly at this unusual approach but his reflexes were equal to the task. He grabbed me around the wrists and swung me up into Naiara. This collision sent us both slamming into the high-backed desk chair and then to the floor. A barely conscious Bosco landed heavily on us a moment later. All three of us groaned in pain.

Peanut didn’t keep up the attack. He merely brushed himself off, righted his desk chair and sat down. He placed his hooves flat on the desk and continued his uninterrupted thought. “Now will you tell me what this is about please?”

The three of us struggled to our feet but neither answered nor attacked. What would be the point? Peanut wasn’t even breathing heavily while I had a splitting headache and struggled to see straight. Naiara had one swollen-shut eye and Bosco had a busted nose.

What are you, Peanut?

“No answer? Very well.” He sighed and made to rise.

“Wait!” I had a sudden idea but needed him right where he was.

He stopped mid-rise. Hooves still on the desk. “Yes?”

This better work or else we’re all gonna be in those pens.

I shut my eyes and concentrated. “You want to know who we are?”

His amusement was clear. “Oh yes. Most certainly. This is the most interesting event my office has seen in years.”

I was still straining with the effort it took to pull off my plan and had to bite out my words. “These...two...can...intro...duce...themselves. Me? I...am...”

My headache was growing worse from the exertion but I had to continue. This monster would kill us all otherwise. I thought back to the other monsters and other deaths. A thought came.

This’ll make the event even more ‘interesting’, Peanut!

“I...am...”

One last push. Come on, Snowflake!

I willed myself through the pain as my horn finally began to glow. “I...am...RED ICE!”

My horn blazed and the temperature in the office dropped instantly. A deafening crackle sounded as ice formed around Peanut’s hooves and fixed them to the desk. He regarded them in mild shock. “Well now...”

I lacked the strength to turn to my friends but I could move my head. I looked them in the eyes. “Guys...get us...out of here...”

Then the world went away as I keeled over.

~~~~~~

Level Up!

Perks gained:
Gotta Hoof It To You: Your prowess in unarmed and Power Hoof combat has increased.

Chill Factor - Your Frost Magic has increased.

~~~~~~

Author's Note

That’s all for now, folks. Please keep reading, commenting, and spreading the word on Old Souls. I really appreciate your feedback.

Chapter 4-1: Change In The Wind

[Lady, you’re trouble!]

I opened my eyes to assess the situation.

Bars on the doors. I guess we didn’t get out.

Naiara and Bosco were nowhere to be found. I was alone.

Again.

This wasn’t like the first time either. I wasn’t alone facing the terrifying possibility of making my own way in a world I didn’t know. No, this was far from that. I curled up as I lay alone and facing the terrifying possibility of having that little bit of my own way permanently taken away. I was a prisoner. I would be a slave and sold to the highest bidder. I very much doubted that the highest bidder would be a nice and upstanding citizen. The Wasteland was not a world where such people became rich enough to be the highest bidder.

I tucked my head into the crook of my legs. No, there would be no soft-hearted master for me. Peanut may be a perpetually affable person but he said himself that he couldn’t allow our attack on him. He would make sure that whoever he took bits from for me would be of a suitably nasty disposition. To send a message if nothing else. I would be used and abused over and over again. It would send a message. Foolish little Snowflake-no, I would be Red Ice wouldn’t I? Fitting really.

Bosco was right. It was a stupid idea. I knew nothing about Plottawa yet still thought I could walk past countless slavers, chat it up with some people I’d never met before and leave without a trace. How arrogant. How very Red Ice.

In my mind the Overmare was smirking.

Yeah yeah, I know.

Old Equestria won. It got me. It didn’t even need to fire a shot either. A good lesson. Old Equestria is subversive. Red Ice was arrogance, pure and simple. I thought myself smarter than the world around me after a few days. Probably from day 1. My way was right. I gave no thought to any other. No, Bosco, I totally don’t need to kill. Go ahead and take my bits, Naiara. Hi, Raiders, care to chat about your problems?

Pure hubris. Snowflake knows best. Everything’ll be fine.

Just look at me now.

Alone. Again.

I...am alone, right? “Is anyone there? Guys?”

Silence. That could be good or bad. They might be captive too but held separately. It would compound my failure if those two had been captured as well.

Maybe...just maybe, there’s hope for them after all.

Perhaps they hadn’t been caught after all. Naiara’d picked the fight but Peanut only knew who I was. He only knew Red Ice. He wasn’t exactly in any condition to raise the alarm either after I’d fixed him to the desk. I was passed out in his office but the others could have gotten away.

I really hoped they’d gotten away. Damning them by my actions was infinitely worse than damning myself. Bosco was still just a kid. Naiara was a zebra. Neither of which were likely to make things pleasant for them if they were enslaved.

What have I done?

It really was what *I* had done, wasn’t it? Old Equestria couldn’t take the blame. That would be too easy. Before I’d feared the red ice. Now I’d claimed it. The monsters it had touched were no match for the monster who’d taken on the name.

I really hope you escaped, Bosco, Naiara. You need to spread the word. “Stay away from the Red Ice! Stay away!”

That seems to be the closest thing to good I can do in this world.

It wouldn’t be enough. Not if those two didn’t escape.

I lowered my head back down and closed my eyes. I’d know soon enough.

~~~~~~

*CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG*

“RISE AND SHINE SLEEPING BEAUTIES! Can’t have you taking up room in here all day.”

Ah. My wardens approached. Would I recognise them from the big party? Would they recognise me? We were, briefly at least, the heroes of the hour after all. Whoever it was they weren’t graceful. Those were some heavy-sounding steps.

My gaoler rounded the corner and stopped in front of my cell. I gaped. He chuckled. “Well if it ain’t li’l Stronghead. Finally awake are ya?” The buffalo deputy with beech fur stood completely relaxed on the other side of the bars.

I couldn’t believe it. “You? You’re here? How? Why? Does Chief Rockhaunch know?”

The buffalo cocked his head at me as if this was the craziest question in the world. Was this sort of betrayal commonplace? “Well o’ course he knows! He set the rotation after all.”

My mouth went dry. No, not the chief. He seemed so upstanding. So collected. Not a cowboy cop. Not looking out for number one. Not...this. “How...how long have you and the chief been working here?”

The deputy grinned back at me, gearing up to talk a little about himself. “Oh years now. Too much turnover in the forces makes folks uneasy. They need to see the same bodies day in and day out. They trust buffalo, not badges.”

He was so cavalier about it. A long, stress-free con. He was right too. You see the same bodies day in and day out and eventually you stop noticing them altogether. They’re just part of the routine. You don’t look closely. That’s when they get you. Simple.

Simple yet heartbreaking. “I...really thought you were better than this.”

He frowned. “Now what’s that supposed to mean?”

I matched his frown. “You were hired to protect the people of Lethbridle. Not betray them like this!”

He seemed thoroughly confused now. Finding meaning in your work was apparently a foreign concept. “Betray them? Who’s betraying them? We’re looking after them like we promised when we took up the badge!”

“At least until the money’s in Peanut’s coffers you mean!”

“Who in the hell is Peanut?!”

I finally managed a chuckle myself. “Wow. That’s sad. You must be really far down the ladder if you don’t know your benevolent leader after years and I managed to meet him in less than a day.”

He was looking very wary now, staring at me with the strangest expression on his face. “I think we’d best get some medical types in here to look at you. You’re not making any sense.”

I barked out a laugh. “No? Sure then, bring in the doctors. I bet Plottawa’s got just fantastic healthcare for its slaves. Peanut wouldn’t allow anything less, right?”

Understanding dawned in his eyes and his laughing resumed, full-throated and full-bellied. “Waahaahaahaa! Oh you had me scared for a while there girl! Here I was thinking you’d taken a harder hit to the head than you did. Oh this is a horn-curler and no mistake!”

I was not in the mood for this mockery. “What? What’s so damn funny?!”

He didn’t say a word for a moment as he unlocked the cell and slid the door open. He beckoned me into the hallway. “Come have a look at this notice and then tell me whether or not you’re still impressed with ‘Plottawa’ or not.”

I stomped out of the cell grumbling about smartmouthed hornheads and looked around for whatever was causing that annoying grin on the deputy’s face. “Alright, smiley, what’s got you so amus-”

Oh. I see. Well...I feel stupid. Again.

Stencilled onto the wall in big black letters were the words:

Lethbridle Jail - Overnight Cells

“So how does it compare to Plottawa hospitality?” The deputy utterly failed to keep the amusement out of his voice as my tried to keep from showing him my burning red face.

“Wh-what happened? The last thing I remember before waking up in that cell was fixing Peanut to his desk in his office at Plottawa.”

The deputy just shrugged. “Dunno, I wasn’t on duty when you showed up here. I just came on this morning and there was a note to make sure you were okay when you woke up.” His tone turned sincere. “You are okay, aren’t you li’l Stronghead? The chief wouldn’t be pleased if you weren’t. He’s taken a little bit o’ a shine to you after that noggin-knockin’ you gave him.”

I’mnotaslaveI’mnotaslaveI’mnotaslaveI-oh right, talking...

“Yeah, I think I’m okay. I’d kinda like to know what happened though. Are Bosco and Na-are my friends around?” Naiara still might not be welcome in Lethbridle. I really didn’t want to cause her any trouble. I didn’t want to cause trouble period right now. Or ever again if I could help it.

The deputy just shook his head ruefully before a dreamy look came over his face. “Couldn’t say little lady. Like I told you, I just came on duty this morning, had a few days off with a certain special ladyfriend-”

“Lithu, right?”

He managed to blush and look shocked at the same time. “Now how did you know that?”

“We met in the bar. You were passed out in the corner.”

He rubbed the back of his head with a hoof, shamefaced. “Well yeah, hehe. After that we got to talking and had ourselves a nice few days together.”

“Aww, how sweet.” I couldn’t help myself.

The buffalo just blushed deeper. “Ahem. Anyway, I don’t know where your friends are and they aren’t here. I suggest looking around town. Though since you’re just up I’d say take it easy and don’t go storming any more slaver compounds for a little while. Sound good?”

I gave him a small smile. I was glad to be free but apprehensive about my friends’ whereabouts. “Yeah, sounds good. I’ll be going now...you know I never did get your name.”

“Deputy Dent, ma’am.”

“Deputy Dent. Thank you for taking such good care of me. Give my regards to your sweetheart.”

His beech fur turned rose briefly. “I’ll...make sure to do that ma’am. And you don’t need to thank me for taking care of you. It’s why I wear the badge.”

~~~~~~

I was utterly unwilling to set hoof in the market district again for fear of running into that ghoul and this left me with only one place in Lethbridle that I actually knew the location of: Nightcap’s bar. Nursing an ever-warming cider I kept my back against the wall and stayed silent as I took stock. Not that I could hear myself even if I were to talk. The place was packed and the clientele were considerably rowdier than last time. Everybody seemed to be gathered around the central tables cheering but I couldn’t see what was the cause.

Okay, let’s review: I, well...Naiara, picked a fight with a combat master in his office. I, not Naiara, then proceeded to freeze him to his desk and give a fake name when he asked who I was. After which I passed out. In between passing out and waking up in Lethbridle jail Bosco and Naiara apparently got at least me out of Plottawa and then took off somewhere without telling anybody where they were going. Chief Rockhaunch agreed to watch over me while I was out. Today I woke up after a few days, based on the length of Deputy Dent’s private getaway with Lithu. Neither Lithu nor her colleagues Latvi or Esto appear to be here. Here being the only place I know to look for them.

To sum everything up - I’m here in the only place others might know me yet none of those others are here.

Great.

I frowned as the crowd at the centre of the bar began cheering louder. That’s not helping me think. What is going on anyway?

I downed the dregs of my beverage and strolled over. Too many ponies were crowded around for me to see. The crowd noise was still annoying and I was determined to find out what was going on so I began pushing. A half-dozen ponies got a horn in the ribs before I managed to get through the throng. A surprising sight greeted me.

“I don’t believe it.”

Two pairs of eyes, one forest-green and the other scorching sapphire, stared back at me. “Snowflake-dahling! We meet again!” Schwarzwald gave a jaunty wave and an easy smile graced her scarred lips as she lay down her cards.

Next to her, Wings also lay down her deal and faced me. She didn’t display the same enthusiasm as her partner. Instead she afforded me a cautious appraisal. “You’re still alive then?”

I tried not to let this dissuade me. We weren’t friends. Not really. We had fought together though, that should count for something. I smiled back uncertainly. “Yeah. You too it seems. How have you been?”

She didn’t immediately respond but an answer came from across the table. “Hey! Gossip later, play now!” The speaker, a gruff stallion scowled over his deal.

Next to him, a mare who could best be described as decoration followed suit. Her shrill voice backed him up. “That’s right baby! That cut-up old nag’s just stalling cause she bet all her caps and is bluffing!”

Schwarzwald suddenly went very still. Wings noticed and immediately lay her cards down on the table. “Hell no, I fold. Oh little girl you really shouldn’t of done that.”

The fetlock-candy wasn’t finished though. “Oh right, like I’m scared of that middle-aged mare. My baby is the toughest pony around. He won’t let anything happen to me.”

The stallion was puffing up with pride. “That’s right, sweetheart.”

“Oh, is that right? You’re the toughest are you, ‘baby’?” Schwarzwald’s voice was about as far from jovial as you could get. A glaring change from her usual demeanour.

The stallion apparently didn’t notice. He puffed himself up. “Damn right I am! You think you can take me? Don’t cry when I bend you over the table and make you scream my name!” The crowd wasn’t cheering now. Everybody was eagerly awaiting what would happen next.

Schwarzwald chuckled before uttering one word. “Try.”

The crowd immediately sprang into action. Tables were lifted and set aside, chairs were hauled away, bodies were pushed back and in moments a clearing developed with the stallion, his ‘sweetheart’, Wings, myself and Schwarzwald in the middle. The stallion began popping his neck. “Sounds like you’re ready to go. Wanna make it interesting? Our card game was interrupted before we could settle up. How about whoever wins here takes the whole pot?” His date was staring at the pile of caps with open greed.

Schwarzwald barked out a mocking laugh. “That is what you think interesting? I propose a real wager. Since you want to ‘bend me over the table and make me scream your name’, how about this?” I was suddenly off-balance as she grabbed Wings and I around the shoulders. “You win and you get not only me, but my two friends here. We’ll do whatever you say, no questions asked. All. Night Long.”

My eyes went wide. “Hey wait! Schwarzwald!”

Wings nudged me from the side. “Relax. Just watch.”

“What?!”

“You’ll see.”

The stallion was leering at the three of us in a way I was in no way comfortable with.

Why am I involved in this? I just met them again 2 minutes ago!

He nodded, his eyes drifting south. “Deal.”

Schwarzwald held up a hoof. “Hold on there ‘baby’. You didn’t hear the other side. If I win. I get you all night. Same rules. You...and your chirpy friend there.”

It was the filly’s turn to gape. “M-me? Ew, gross. Baby don’t do it!”

This was, apparently, the wrong thing to say. The stallion rounded on her in fury. “What, you think I’m gonna lose? Who do you think I am?!”

She shrank back in fear. “B-baby...”

The stallion wasn’t listening anymore. He was running on pure macho pride now. “Shut up!” He glared at Schwarzwald. “You’re on, bitch!”

Off to the side, Wings deadpanned to me out of the corner of her mouth. “I’ll be surprised if he lasts ten seconds. Come on, let’s make sure Chirpy over there doesn’t bolt.”

We took up station on either side of the now-shaking filly. I didn’t like where this was going. “Hey, Wings? Should we be doing this?”

She just shrugged. “Schwarzwald knows what she’s doing. She won’t hurt this one. She’ll definitely hurt the stallion but he had his chance to walk away.” She winked at the quaking pony. “Don’t worry. She’s only rough if you want her to be.”

The only response was a small squeak.

By now the two fighters had taken up station on either side of the arena. Nightcap had materialised with the last call bell. Both fighters were waiting on the signal. The stallion was pacing and jabbing at the air. Schwarzwald was barely moving at all, just standing there with a delighted smile on her face.

Nightcap looked between one and the other then rang the bell.

~~~~~~

“What’d I tell ya? 6 seconds.”

Wings and I were collecting up the winnings while Schwarzwald directed the unhappy filly out the door, occasionally spanking her as a hurry-up gesture. The unconscious stallion was slung over Schwarzwald’s back. She didn’t even seem to feel the weight as she grinned like a demon.

Sitting down, I took one final look as the new bedfellows disappeared out the door. “Bosco wasn’t kidding. She IS scary.”

Wings laughed roughly at this. “Yeah she is. She’s also very, very good with her tongue. Somepony’s crying her name tonight. Whatever name she gives them anyway.” She took one look at my face and guffawed. “Hahaha, get any redder and you’ll melt, Snowflake.”

I didn’t say anything as the mental imagery of Schwarzwald’s no doubt soon-to-be-wild night ran rampant through my mind so Wings continued. “So where is Bosco anyway? He dead?”

Aaand my good mood evaporated as the world outside of Nightcap’s bar reasserted itself. I fought the depression that immediately surfaced but I wasn’t smiling any longer. “I...don’t know where he is. I don’t know if he’s okay or not. He got me out of Plottawa and back here but he was gone when I woke up.”

Wings choked on her drink. “You got caught by the slavers? Damn that’s fast work to get you out again!”

“Uh...not exactly. We didn’t get caught. We snuck in. There was an...altercation with the leader which didn’t go well and I kinda...got knocked out. Bosco and a friend of ours got me out but I dunno where they are now.” I hung my head. “Or even if they’re okay.”

“If that’s the case then you don’t have to worry.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ll hear soon enough. Does that thing on your wrist pick up radio broadcasts?”

“Yes...”

“Tune in to DJ Pon-3 over the next few days. He’ll fill you in. He’s kinda like the Wasteland news. Reports on all kinds of things. You’ll get your answers there. For now just remember this. Your friends are fine.”

“How do you know?”

She shrugged with a wry smile. “If they dragged your unconscious backside all the way from Plottawa then they weren’t likely to be bothered. DJ Pon-3’ll tell you the rest. I get the feeling you’ll really like it, Red Ice.”

I gasped. “How do you know about that?”

Her eyes lit up. “You mean that really is you? I was just guessing. Oh wow, I know a celebrity! Here I was just thinking that DJ Pon-3 was mispronouncing-”

“Wings!” My sharp cry cut her off. “Can’t you just tell me what’s going on?”

She regarded me coolly. “Not all of it. You’ll get a better picture from listening to the radio. I’d just be repeating what I’ve heard.”

“But-”

“Remember this, Snowflake. I like you. You helped me out when you didn’t need to. Schwarzwald likes you because you’re, and I quote, ‘funny in a cute way’. However don’t think that means I owe you answers to anything.”

I frowned at her. Where was this coming from? I know she doesn’t owe me answers but she’s double-talking and pawning me off on some ‘DJ’. Is it really so much to give me what information she does know rather than leave me clueless until I can get the ‘better picture’? All I wanted to know was whether or not Bosco and Naiara were okay. I was worried about my friends, she couldn’t cut me some slack for that?! Seems like she wasn’t just harsh on the battlefield.

Maybe that’s what I need right now.

“Wings?”

“Yeah?”

“You don’t have to tell me what happened if you don’t want to. However, given what you know, do you think my friends will show up here?”

She didn’t even hesitate, which I took for a good sign. “Oh yeah. Definitely.”

Perfect. Now I can focus on the reason I went to Plottawa in the first place. Wings and Schwarzwald should be more than enough backup for my friends in the meantime. “In that case, you still owe me a favour.”

The cautious look from when I first arrived. “Be careful, Snowflake. I owe you, but don’t be stupid with this. Think about what’ll happen to you AFTER we’re even.”

I ignored her entirely non-veiled threat and pressed on. “Relax, this won’t be hard. I’ll be heading out of town in a little while to take care of some business. All I need you to do is look after my friends if you’re still in town if they should up. Just while you’re all in town. You’re better in a fight than I am and there might still be trouble from Plottawa.”

She was silent for a long time as she mulled this over. I didn’t mind. I had a few things to work out in my own head.

If I can get her word that she’ll look after them then I can head out to the caravan company and pass along word about Contego and Vorbis. Bosco and Naiara shouldn’t have to make the trip after all the trouble I got them in by dragging them to Plottawa. Plus if Peanut comes after me then they won’t be in harm’s way. Only I’m Red Ice after all, not them.

Wings seemed to reach a decision. “...alright. I’ll do it. IF I see them in town then I’ll look after them until they or I leave. No more. I won’t put my life on hold just to babysit your little friends.”

Relieved, I gave her a wide, honest smile. “I know. Thanks Wings. This really means a lot to me. We’re even after this, I swear. You look after those two while I’m out, and I’ll be your friend for as long as you want.”

Now the chocolate-furred griffon just looked confused. I made a ‘nevermind’ gesture and got up to leave. “I have to go. When Schwarzwald gets back, tell her I said thanks too.”

This is how it should be. I’m not putting Bosco and Naiara in that sort of danger again just because I want to be nicer than the Wasteland. Bosco, Naiara, Wings, Schwarzwald, Rockhaunch, Dent, all of them. They can survive in the world outside the Stable. They might not be able to survive in MY world and they shouldn’t have to.

~~~~~~

Chapter 4-2: Change In The Wind

“Goood evening Equestria! It is I, your voice in these not-so-nice lands, DJ Pon-3!” As I left the Lethbridle south gate under the fading light I had to raise an eyebrow at the faceless DJ’s enthusiasm. This would be...interesting.

“Now then fillies and colts, you know I’d love to talk a little more about the rank injustice around these parts, and the evil ponies responsible for it all...”

Who and what is he talking about? Isn’t evil just kinda the thing in the Wasteland?

“...but this time I’ve got some news from a little further afield. I’ve just now gotten some fresh info about a couple of other notable noisemakers up north! Cast your minds back a few weeks Do you remember when I had the pleasure of reporting on that cool-cookin’ Blue Fire? Well they’re back in the news after supposedly wiping out a whole nest o’ Raiders up near Lethbridle. Keep up the good work...uh...whoever you are! I’m still working on that. A source did mention feathers though, so if you see a tough-looking Pegasus in those parts and you’re up to no-good then I’d consider closing up shop. That one ain’t messing around!”

A Pegasus in Lethbridle? I never saw one. Granted I was mostly unconscious during my time here but still...it’d be nice to see at least one after all this time out of the Stable. What’s up with that anyway?

“Now this next part has me scratching my head, folks. See while Blue Fire was tearing through Raiders near Lethbridle the neighbouring town of Plottawa got itself a big name visitor! Now I’m not naming him on the air since that scarlet snake keeps butting in on my talk time but this is very strange since I’m pretty sure the stallion’s still in his home base in Fillydelphia. Reaching as far north as Plottawa without anypony noticing is a scary thought. I’d advice staying away from there folks. Way away. This might be the first time Plottawa has dealt with this particular pony but it can’t spell good news for anypony, even if the reports I’m getting back were that the meeting actually turned violent.”

Violent? Uh oh.

“So violent, in fact, that the Plottawa slavers have actually put a hit out on Red Eye-dammit I wasn’t gonna say his name! Well anyway the rank-and-file up in Plottawa apparently aren’t pleased about Red Eye’s treatment of their boss. I couldn’t get that name.. I guess even slavers can be loyal, huh? Either way I’d say avoid the area at all costs. Both Plottawa and Fillydelphia can wield some serious muscle and if they go at it then a lot o’ folks will get caught in the crossfire. We’ve just gotta hope that they wipe each other out and do the whole Wasteland a favour.”

Oh crap, did I do that?

“That’s all for now, mares and stallions. Stay safe and stay positive! I promise next time I’ll have some news from closer to home. I'm always bringing you the truth no matter how bad it hurts. This is DJ Pon-3 signing off.”

The channel went dead and I switched off the radio.

So that was DJ Pon-3, huh? I like him. It’s nice to know there’s somebody out there who’s looking out for their fellow Equestrians. Maybe I’ll get to meet him someday.

The thought cheered me as I strolled on. Soon Lethbridle was out of sight behind me.

~~~~~~

My peaceful dozing under the rocky outcropping where I’d taken shelter after night fell was interrupted by the crackle of my radio coming to life. “Huuuaaahhhh! Sorry for yawning fillies and colts but this is an unscheduled broadcast. Your faithful Wasteland word warrior was tucked up nice and snuggly warm in bed like all the other good little foals when out of nowhere I’ve got my helpful assistant banging on my door because the Plottawa slaver boss is on the line saying he wants a chat. I guess you good folks won’t have to wait that long for his name after all because he’s joining me on this broadcast through a link to his office up in Plottawa. Good ponies of the Wasteland, I give you Peanut, freedom-stealer extraordinaire.”

Peanut’s threatening DJ Pon-3? This can’t be good. I hope everything’ll be alright. I was fully awake now, listening in eagerly so that I didn’t miss a second of the conversation.

Peanut’s voice was as warm as when he’d pulled me into a dance. The no-nonsense flat quality of our office confrontation was entirely absent. He was certainly skilled in employing his natural charisma. “First off I want to thank you for agreeing to speak with me, dear DJ Pon-3. I always look forward to your broadcasts with cheer and do my darnedest not to miss your show. I do apologise for the lateness of discussion but there was a misunderstanding that I believe is in desperate need of clearing up before some negative actions come of it.”

“Darnedest”? Seriously now, what ARE you Peanut?

“What understanding would this be that’s got a big bad ponynapper like yourself fretting?”

“While I don’t think the tone of your question is productive to a pleasant chat I’ll answer you anyway. You made a mention of Red Eye visiting Plottawa and a fracas ensuing. I’m here to tell you that nothing could be further from the truth...”

Oh I can think of a few things.

“Oh I can think of a few things.”

If this upset Peanut he didn’t show it. “...yes well, as I was saying. I’m afraid that your source for this information may need to work on his enunciation. For you see Red Eye did not in-fact visit my home of Plottawa, though he is certainly welcome to do so and I guarantee his safety and comfort should he take up my offer. No, Red Eye is, as you so rightly pointed out, still in his own base of operations in Fillydelphia.”

My heart skipped a beat. I was really in trouble here. Once word got out that I was the one who kicked up the fuss in Plottawa it’d be even less likely that I’d be able to return to Lethbridle or Cefar or anywhere in the area anytime soon. I might never get back to the Stable! To make matters worse Bosco and Naiara could be named as my accomplices! If they missed this broadcast they wouldn’t know people would be after them! I mentally begged Wings and Schwarzald to be up to the task of protecting them. I’d never forgive myself if I ended up dragging them into terrible danger. Again.

Not like I can forgive myself anyway but that’s besides the point.

“Red Eye is home in Fillydelphia. No, my assailant was in fact not a stallion at all. It was a mare, still a filly really. She was not even an Earth pony but a Unicorn. She called herself Red Ice. Given Red Eye’s fame it is understandable that a mistake could be made as the tale was passed on. Perhaps she thought to use the confusion to her advantage? Regardless, Red Ice and her companions attempted to assassinate me in my office. Luckily my wonderful subordinates were able to drive them away.”

What? That’s not what happened! Why isn’t he taking credit for whooping the three of us? He’s making out that a ‘still a filly’ got the better of him. Why?

DJ Pon-3 seemed as confused as I am. However he found this news amusing rather than worrying. “So you let three random ponies walk right up into your office and start shooting? Did you fire your security afterwards?”

Peanut did a masterful job of sounding affronted. “I’ll thank you not to make light of those ponies’ sacrifices. The only reason that these ‘three random ponies’ managed to get so far into our compound is because they savagely murdered my guards and took their uniforms.”His voice turned melancholy. “The fault is mine and I can never make it up to the families of those guards. I treat all my staff with respect and trust. Sadly there are so many that I have not been able to develop as strong a friendship with as many as I should have. I will work harder in that regard to ensure that this tragedy is not repeated. These wounds are my penance for failing this time.”

Sensing weakness, DJ Pon-3 jumped in. “Yes, can you give us some details about your wounds? As I understand it you were not the instigator of this bounty offering against Red...Ice. In fact it was your troops-”

“Not troops, guards. I am not raising an army.”

“...right, ‘guards’. No army there, sure. Anyway, your ‘guards’ put the bounty on Red Ice because of what she did to you. So tell us, what did you do to you?”

Peanut’s voice shifted again, this time to anger. “She killed three of my ponies. The rest is unimportant. I do thank all of my subordinates for their devotion and I will personally match the bounty amount offered by my staff should Red Ice be apprehended. The spirits of my murdered comrades demand nothing less.”

The faceless music pony was unimpressed. “So you managed to answer a lot of questions except the one I asked. Anyway, to sum up: Red Eye did not attack Plottawa, that was a new pony going by Red Ice, is that correct?”

“Yes. That’s correct. I want to stress that point. Plottawa is no enemy of Red Eye.”

“You are his competition though.”

“Certainly not. Red Eye has a vision. I merely provide a service.”

“That service being the trafficking of living beings against their will?”

“There are worse fates out there in the Wasteland. All my...indentured servants are cared for. They receive food and medical care that surpasses what they might find on their own and nopony in my employ is allowed to raise a hoof against them.”

“And these basic rights, not privileges, justify you taking all choice away from them? Does that justify you depriving them of their future, Peanut the slaver?”

Some of the warmth seemed to recede from Peanut’s tone but he made an effort to remain unperturbed by the DJ’s words.
“Each pony in the Wasteland is entitled to their own opinion on the matter. I think it’s somewhat late to get into the deepest implications. As you mentioned at the beginning, I am interrupting your rest. I have said my piece to correct the error concerning Red Eye and to raise awareness of the dangerous menace Red Ice. The rest is for other ponies to decide for themselves. With that, dear DJ, I shall bid you a good night. I await your next broadcast with the same affection and anticipation as always.”

A change in the background static indicated that the line on Peanut’s side had gone dead. The radio host remained silent for a few seconds. It was long enough for me to begin reaching for the switch to turn off the radio before DJ Pon-3 spoke up again. “Well well well, how about that Wasteland listeners? Here I was all excited to see Red Eye take on an enemy that could bite back and it turns out Peanut’s actually a fan! I am disappoint! I’ll give my thanks to this Red Ice, whoever she is. Three less slavers in the world and a serious drop in reputation for Plottawa. Not a bad night’s work. Huuaahh! Speaking of night work, ol’ DJ Pon-3 is just about running on empty, folks. Let’s call it here and we’ll pick up at the regular time tomorrow. So long Equestria. Enjoy what’s left of the night. Over and out.”

No static this time. The line was dead. I sat there trembling. Not from fear this time. From anger!

What do I have to do? Everything I do ends up looking bad!

I was furious. I was just trying to survive out here! The Wasteland wouldn’t leave me alone. It paired up with Old Equestria. They were determined to make my life miserable.

They took away away my safe haven, my Stable, MY HOME! Them and their stupid messed up way of thinking! I just wanted to help Contego and Vorbis but now I’m a triple pony-killer! I don’t want any more murders on my conscience! Who cares if it was the slaver boss saying these things? People will believe him. He’s just like Roc. Give a nice smile and people will fall over themselves just to support him! They get everything! They’re popular, respected, supported, rich! They don’t have to worry about being alone or scared or cold. They’re fucking WINNERS!

With still-shaking hooves I took out the memory orb. With most of my gear buried in snow outside of Plottawa, this was the only thing I had left from Stable 61. I hadn’t felt right leaving it unattended. The Overmare might have casually tossed me out but I had hope that she was STILL my Overmare. That someday I’d get back in. Back home. I held it gingerly between my hooves. What little moonlight made it through the clouds illuminated the crack running along its surface.

“All of this is your fault.”

I looked out of the cropping to the nearby ravine. I could toss it in and be done with it. Go back to Lethbridle, find Bosco and Naiara and apologise then start a new life. I could live in Hoofshine Harlots if I wanted. Only me and Bosco could get in after all. Hell, I could re-open the brothel if need be. I could be Snowflake, Mismatch’s successor. I could even pull the same schtick. One day a unicorn filly, then a zebra, or an Earth stallion.

All I had to do was let the orb roll off my palm.

“To whom are you referring?”

“YEEEP!!!” I shot backwards, instinctively cradling the orb in my hooves. Unfortunately I failed to take into account the solid rock just behind me and the instant blinding pain where my head struck the stone was a painful reminder.
“Motherf- damn that hurts!”

I glared up at the two sets of upside-down eyes staring at me from atop the lip of the rock roof. “What do you two want? If you’re looking to rob me, I haven’t got any money.”

Both of the mares were around my age or maybe a year or two older. The moonlight wasn’t the best to see by but it looked as if both had light blue coats. Their mane were anything but the same though. The one who’d spoken had a long scarlet mane with a black trim adorned with a star-shaped ornament. The other’s mane was shorter and largely a rich cobalt interspersed here and there with white gashes. A single bang hung longer than the rest. Usually it would rest over one eye but as she was hanging upside down it swayed beneath her in the night air.

The latter grinned at me. “Buuut you do have talkative little thing on your wrist. Was that DJ Pon-3 I heard clear as if she were standing here?” Her voice was rough and casual, very different from her companion's refined, melodic lilt.

Said companion answered before I could. “Of course it was, dear sister. You know you pick up everything with those wonderful ears of yours. However...” She turned her royal blue eyes, identical to her sister’s, back to me. “...I confess I’m more interested in that shiny little trinket she’s hiding in her hooves than the dear DJ’s broadcast.”

I stayed silent, not wanting to reveal the truth of the matter. Neither of the two seemed concerned as their conversation continued. “Hah! Can’t beat my sis’ peepers. Show us what you’re hiding, girl!”

I didn’t like the situation. I literally had my back to the wall and was outnumbered on top of that. I needed to get some room to manoeuvre, literally and figuratively. Trying to project a relaxed air I slowly stood up and began taking a few steps towards the outside. “Do you always act so casual with a person before introducing yourselves?”

I was halfway to the open air. Both fillies were still hanging over the ledge lip and watching me like inverted hawks. The red-haired one looked slightly upset at my words. “Oh where are our manners? You’re absolutely right. We were a tad forward. Come, sister, let us introduce ourselves. My name is Cassiopeia Venatici. A pleasure to meet you. And this is my sister...”

She nudged her sibling with her shoulder, which set the solitary bang swinging. The owner of said bang gave a brash grin. “...the name’s Aqua Breeze. Nice to meet ya! So seeing as we’re all friendly-like I’ll say again. Now show us what you’re hiding, girl!”

I was three quarters of the way out from under the outcropping and the two hadn’t moved from their perch. “Well nice to meet you two...uh...too. Did you say that you were sisters?”

Breeze snuggled up to her sibling momentarily. “Ayup. She’s the best sister that I could ask for and she asked you a question!”

Okay, so their patience is not infinite. Almost there. A few more steps.

“Sorry about that. I’m just trying to show an interest in you two. I’ll answer YOUR question first, Aqua Breeze. You asked about the radio broadcast. Yes, that was DJ Pon-3. I’ve got a gizmo that can pick up the radio broadcasts anywhere in Equestria.” Supposedly.

Breeze’s eyes had been growing wider as I talked. So had her grin. I apparently had her attention now. Unfortunately she had a sister. “That’s very impressive, however I’d like to remind you of two things: One, you chastised us for not giving our names yet we still haven’t heard your name in response. Two, I did ask you a question about that object in your hooves. I really would like it if you’d show it to us.”

Dang. So close. It sounds like they’re done ‘asking’. What am I gonna do about the name thing? They know nothing about Snowflake but how much do they know about Red Ice? Do I want them knowing about Snowflake? Should I give them a fake name? What should it be?

Uh-oh. They’re starting to look impatient. Better say something. I guess I better show them the orb. “Let me show you in the moonlight.”

I took a few steps out into the open air and, when they didn’t immediately attack me, I moved my hooves out of the way and showed them the orb. The “ooh”-ed appreciatively and nodded to each other. Cassiopeia cleared her throat. “Yes, I do believe we’ll be taking that Memory Orb.” Next to her, Aqua Breeze was sporting a grin that had a definite edge to it.

I slowly shook my head but kept my eyes on the two. “I’m afraid I can’t allow that.” The orb disappeared beneath my cloak and I took the opportunity to surreptitiously slip on my Power Hooves.

Staring down at me from the ledge, Aqua Breeze rolled over so that she was rightside-up. “Well that’s the thing. We’re not exactly thrilled to take ‘no’ for an answer. Are we Cassie?”

“No, Breeze, I don’t believe we are. Please, nameless miss, do not make this harder on yourself.”

I cocked my head to the side. “You’re very polite for thieves. Do you guys work for Peanut?”

Breeze giggled. “That guy from Plottawa? Nah we’d never heard of him before listening in on your midnight broadcast.”

“You heard that? How long had you two been there?”

“We got here just after it started. The noise was what got our attention.”

I didn’t hear them at all! They could’ve snuck up on me and I’d never have known. These two are trouble.

“At least I know you two aren’t looking for me.”

‘Cassie’ looked confused. “Why would we be looking for you, dear? Are you somepony special?”

...I’m an idiot. Why don’t I just hang a big sign with “I’m Red Ice” around my neck? “Me? No. Just a pony with terrible luck apparently.”

“Hmm. Well I am inclined to believe you. You’re a little young to have much of a reputation.”

Breeze wasn’t satisfied though. “Hey, sis...”

“Yes?”

“She’s a Unicorn mare, right?”

“Come now, Breeze. The light isn’t that bad. You can see her horn, can’t you? Although it might be premature to call her a mare.”

“So would you say she’s still a filly, really?”

“In body and, I think, in spirit.”

“See the thing about that is...those are the exact words that that Peanut colt used to describe the pony who jumped him in his office. The one calling herself Red Ice. I don’t know whether you saw or not but she was paying real close attention to what was being said on the radio.”

Oh hell. Cassio...something-or-other was right. She DOES have good ears.

Understanding dawned on Cassie’s face. “We never did get your name, did we? Well she’s not red but she does have a Cutie Mark that could easily refer to ice. What do you think, sister?”

She can see my Cutie Mark in this light?! Her eyes are insane!

“I think I really really want a look at that wrist gizmo of hers.”

Cassie nodded. “Yes. That memory orb seems significantly more valuable now as well.”

I took a few steps back. “N-now...let’s talk about this...” The rest of my plea died on my lips upon seeing what happened next.

Rolling upright, both sisters stood upright on the ledge.

Then they spread their wings.

“PEGASI! You’re Pegasi!...WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!”

My sudden outburst took both of them aback. “W-what?”

I ignored their wide-eyed stares and continued. “I’ve been out here for days now, over a week, and you two are the first Pegasi I’ve seen. What, did you all forget how to NOT fly or something?”

The two Pegasi’s wide eyes narrowed remarkably quickly. Breeze spoke first. “You think that’s funny, do you?”

I still wasn’t really listening closely. “Seriously though, what’s been going on? Where have all the Pegasi been hiding themselves?”

Cassie wrapped a comforting wing around her sister. “This is in poor taste, Red Ice.”

“What do you mean?”

Breeze angrily shrugged off her sister’s embrace. “She’s mocking us! Let’s just take her now!”

“Who’s mocking you? You two really are the first two Pegasi I’ve seen since leaving the Stable.”

This caused a momentary relaxation in Cassiopeia. “Ah, now I understand. Calm down, Aqua Breeze. She’s not being facetious. She really doesn’t know.”

Breeze looked to her sister and then back to me before turning her head away with a disgruntled “tch”. I kept her in my view but focused on Cassie. “Doesn’t know what?”

Her face was emotionless. “Aside from a very small minority, no Pegasi descend below the clouds. Even fewer live down here.”

“What?! That’s insane! Pegasi don’t live in the Wasteland at all?!”

Breeze rejoined the conversation. “No, they don’t. The ‘Grand’ Pegasus Enclave decreed it. Even went so far as to declare any Pegasus who didn’t agree with them as a race traitor.” The raw emotion in her voice was evident.

“Was this because of the war? And what’s the Enclave?”

“The Enclave is the ruling authority for all Pegasi. All of those who live above the cloud barrier anyway. After Cloudsdale fell in the war they washed their hooves of Equestria and the whole affair and went skyward. Closing the door behind them, as you can plainly see.”

“What do you mean?”

Breeze made a dismissive sound in the back of her throat. “Dumb dirtpony. Look up once in a while why don’t you?”

I looked up.

I can’t see anything. Barely any light gets through the...ah. “The clouds?”

Cassie nodded. “Yes. A parting gift to Equestria.”

I felt dizzy. 200 years of isolation? This was madness!

Hold on... “So why are you two down here?”

Ms. Venatici had obviously been expecting this question. Her head drooped instantly. Her eyes were covered by her mane. “We...we...”

She got no further. Her sister had apparently decided question time was over. “Enough! We answered your question. Now you’re coming with us!”

Instantly she soared high into the sky, soon joined by her sister. Still distracted by the new cloud revelation I almost lost them in the dark. I called out to them in a last-ditch attempt at defusing the situation. “Wait, please? We don’t need to do this.”

“Too late!”

Cassie put her hooves together in front of her. For the first time I noticed the bracers she wore around her forelegs. Aqua Breeze had similar armour strapped to her legs. Seeing no other recourse, I triggered my Power Hooves.

The red-maned sibling kept her hooves together and dropped like a rock towards me. Her dive would flatten me if she connected. After my disastrous battle with Peanut I was not greatly confident in my martial prowess. I began a dash to the side, hoping to avoid the charge. The Pegasus was fast though. Not as fast as Peanut or even Naiara but more than capable of keeping up with my untrained flank. A simple dip of her wing put me back in her path. When she was almost upon me I made a clumsy swing which missed but at least had her pull up, breaking off her attack.

Cassie didn’t immediately retreat to the sky though. She stayed a few feet off the ground and circled. I kept her in my sights in case she charged again.

Two thuds sounded from the dirt at my hooves. Startled, I looked down to see two dark apples on the ground.

Grenades!

I leapt aside as they went off. The heat was intense and the shockwave sent me rolling. I’d barely managed to stagger upright before Cassie hit me in the shoulder with both hooves. The force of the hit sent me sprawling instantly, which probably saved my life. The hidden blades within her bracers just missed my flesh as I fell away. Instantly my adrenaline picked up and I moved faster.

I have to get away. I have to get away or I am going to die!

I couldn’t see Cassie from my fallen position and desperately scrambled upright. I spotted her floating maybe 10 meters up. She didn’t press her attack. I had a half-second to ponder that before something long and hard slammed into the ground next to me.

My heart pounded in my chest as I sprang away and darted in the not-Pegasus direction. I’d barely gone 5 meters before another rod touched down before my eyes. I turned 90 degrees and headed off again but yet again was halted.

I raised my eyes skyward, seeking out the Pegasi I’d been mostly ignoring, Aqua Breeze. She was smirking at me as she hefted a 4th spear and launched it downwards. It thudded into the dirt to the side of me. I looked at it in confusion for a moment.

All four rods suddenly began sparking. Beams of electricity shot from one to another, boxing me in on all sides. I was trapped!

“Shock Lock. My own design. Nice, no?” Breeze’s smug voice sounded from just above the cage where she watched with Cassie.

I said nothing and tentatively reached out my hoof to touch the wall of lightning...

OHSWEETMERCIFULGODDESSESTHAT’SSOUNBELIEVABLYPAINFUL ...And almost instantly drew back my now-completely-numb hoof. Frantically I cast about for something, anything to assist me in this situation.

The results were not promising. Three sides had nothing but open terrain and the 4th had literally nothing at all. I hadn’t realised how close to the ravine I’d been driven. It was a mere meter or two to the edge. Over the crackle of my lightning cage I could make out the faint sound of rushing water.

This is a terrible idea, and I am justifiably upset that it is the only option I can think of.

This was my only chance. I wasn’t in as bad shape as back in Plottawa so there was a minute possibility that this wouldn’t knock me out cold again. Having no better option, I concentrated on the rod closest to the ravine and began focusing on my horn.

“Hey! Her horn’s glowing!”

“Stop her!”

Too late. The ice covered the rod and the electrical current winked out. I was woozy but amazingly still conscious. Hobbling on three legs I erratically made my way to the edge. A crash sounded behind me as Cassie couldn’t react to my irregular gait and slammed into the dirt. I was at the cliff edge and momentarily hesitated as I saw just how big a drop there was before I would hit the water.

This moment’s hesitation turned painful as Aqua Breeze’s hastily thrown grenade contacted with the back of my head and sent me over the edge.

Because I couldn’t have just a little bit of dignity at the end, now could I?

After what felt like an age in the air I smashed into the water. Pain erupted along my entire body as I tumbled beneath the swell. I had no idea which was way up or even where the river was taking me. I only hoped it was flowing fast enough to get me away from the crazy fillies at the canyon top.

A tightening in my chest reminded me of the need for fresh oxygen so I kicked out towards the surface. Or what I thought was the surface. When my head contacted the river bed and stars burst before my eyes I quickly reversed direction. Breaking the surface as darkness crept into the corner of my vision, I allowed myself a brief moment of elation at still being alive.

Then my hoof jerked.

I looked down at the still-numb appendage and noticed a half-inch hole punched straight through it. Aghast, I searched along the cliff walls to where Cassiopeia Venatici was sighting down the scope of the high-powered rifle she’d produced from...somewhere. I was swept around the bend just as her second bullet clipped the wall by my ear.

She really does have good eyes.

~~~~~~

“MMMMPHHPHHPHHPHH!” I screamed through the leather gag.

“Yes, we know you’re in pain. Everypony in the compound knows you’re in pain. Shut up about it already!” The purple Unicorn mare with the orange mane was healing my bullet wound but the limb had shaken off the electric numbing and immediately (and continuously) made its displeasure at being perforated quite clear.

I was disinclined to acquiesce to her request and continued thrashing. She tried in vain to keep her horn steady at the wound but lost patience very quickly.

“SOMEPONY GET IN HERE!” She hollered angrily towards the corridor. There was a sudden clatter as several stallions burst through the doors at high speed.

“Yeah, boss?” A dim-sounding voice asked for further instructions.

“You grab this dumbass and hold her down. I’m gettin’ a headache tryin’ to keep my horn in the right spot. We’re puttin’ her under a memory orb trance til I’m done.” Fedexi Lexi, the boss of Sprinkles Sprinkles supplies who pulled double duty as their doctor was no angel. She was hard and tough and brutally good at what she did. Just don’t expect her to be nice about it. She’d taken one look at me after I’d dragged my half-dead self from where the river had spat me out to the (mercifully close) compound and gotten to work. They had no anaesthetic. Hence the gag. Well...gags. I’d bitten clean through the first one in a matter of minutes.

“Dahh...you got it boss.”

I suddenly found myself unable to move at all as the ponies trapped my limbs. Lexi held a memory orb up to my horn. “Here kid, magic yourself into this. By the time you come out we’ll be done here.”

Frantically I shook my head. After what had happened in the Stable I was in no mood to go through that again. That mishap was then entire reason I was even out in the Wasteland. I didn’t care that the first one had been damaged and hadn’t played back properly. It had been hours of mental torture. I barely kept hold of who I was.

Hell no am I doing that again.

Lexi apparently disagreed. She seized my mane and shoved the thing painfully at my horn. “I ain’t askin’! Get in there!”

I panicked and my horn reacted on instinct. Apparently that was enough as the world dropped away around me.

oooOOOOOOooo

“Are we there yet?”

Don’t care. I don’t want be here. Let me out. LET ME OUT NOW!

“No, Caramel, we’re not there yet. Would you like to know how I know we’re not there yet?”

“Sure, let’s hear it.”

“BECAUSE WE’RE STILL OUTSIDE!”

No no no, I’m not interested in whatever this is. I want to be back in the surgery! The pain wasn’t that bad, I’m sure I could keep quiet. Lexi? Lexi can you hear me? I’ll be good and quiet, I promise. You can let me out now.

“Wow, Sassaflash, you’re always so good at this sort of thing.”

...Really?

My host, Sassaflash, shrugged and flexed her stiff wings.

Another Pegasus...

“Well thank you, babe. You know I still think you could do just fine for yourself if you focused on what you were doing rather than looking around all the time.”

Caramel didn’t seem terribly put out by this. The pretty stallion, there really was no other word for the flowing locks and delicate features, nudged a shoulder as he strolled beside her. “But then I wouldn’t get to spend so much time with you. We always have a good time when you’re helping me with stuff, don’t we?”

Sassaflash rolled her eyes helplessly and whispered to the side. “Yeah but that’s because we always end up having sex afterwards. Dumb he may be but damn if he’s not capable between the sheets.”

Why am I hearing this?

Caramel apparently noticed her monologue. “What’s that Sass?”

She sighed in exasperation and shook her head. “Nothing, Caramel. Keep an eye on the map. We don’t wanna get lost up here. I’ve never been this far north.”

“A-kay!”

Apparently perfectly satisfied to have a minor task assigned to him, Caramel spent the next hour constantly looking between the map and their compass while Sassaflash silently followed. This had the sobering effect of giving me time to think about my current situation. I was, frankly, tired of freaking out over all that I was doing. I’d been shut out, stalked, shot at, smacked around, shocked, shot up and now stitched up in a stupor. Granted I’d had less to deal with in the Stable but this couldn’t continue. No matter what happened, I was gonna go the next few days without freaking out. Whatever I saw or did I would accept it.

“How typical of Old Equestria, Red Ice.”

Shut up, Overmare, I’m not in the mood!

Silence. I claimed it as a minor victory.

Roughly two hours had passed for Sassaflash and Caramel and the sun had begun to set. Both seemed sluggish and lethargic so they’d settled down under an outcropping I was quite familiar with. Caramel had his head in Sassaflash’s lap.

“Do you think we’ll like Stable 61, Sass?”

Wait, WHAT?! No! No. Keep it together. They were heading to the Stable. They wanted to escape the war just like our predecessors!

Sassaflash had a faint smile on her face as she stroked his silky hair. “I’m sure. This is the right move for us. After all that’s happened...Big Macintosh...we need a fresh start. The Stable will give us that. It’ll keep us safe.”

Caramel didn’t immediately respond so my host looked down at him. He had a faraway look in his eyes. “I...really miss him. I thought it’d get easier but it doesn’t.”

"I know." She just held him closer. “...I know.”

oooOOOOOOooo

Chapter 4-3: Change In The Wind

Waking up from this memory orb was less uncomfortable than the last one. It was barely a transition at all. I didn’t even notice at first. I just kept stroking the mane of the pony in my lap.

“Want to have some ‘fun’, Sass?”

That didn’t sound like Caramel.

I looked down. The flowing brown locks were replaced by wirey orange frizz. Fedexi Lexi grinned up at me expectantly.

“Sorry Caramel, I’m not in the mood.”

The grin turned to confusion. This was apparently not the response she was expecting. “Well that’s a little disappointin’. I was all set to watch your freak out.”

I just shrugged. I meant what I said...thought...whatever in the orb. Besides, after some of the stuff I’d been through the past week I was hardly likely to be spooked by waking up in close proximity with a strange pony. Especially one who just spent the last few hours fixing my leg. I knew this because it was the one doing the mane-stroking and was missing a bullet hole, though not a scar. “Thanks for fixing me up. I take it you’ve seen the orb yourself?”

“Uh-huh. A bunch of times. There are worse ways to kill a few hours when business is slow.”

“Do you know who they were? Sassaflash and Caramel?”

Lexi shook her head. “Nope. Picked up the orb a while back after a trade run to Neighlway. Just a couple o’ long dead lovers now.”

I knew I’d heard the name of that town before. Ah, that was it. “Neighlway is Steel Ranger territory isn’t it? Did you have any trouble?”

She laughed as if this was comedy gold. “Psh, naw! Those tin-saddles need food and ammo and gear like the rest of us. They like having a supply chain. Course that don’t mean we don’t put heavy security on those runs in case they get grabby. I like paying customers but I like them to stay paying.”

I’d resumed stroking her hair as I processed this. She didn’t seem to mind. “So how’d Sprinkles Supplies get started anyway?”

“Beats me. I found the place Maybe 10 years back. Abandoned but fixable. The name was already on the walls but I figured that nopony was using it so...”

“Recycling. Doing your part for Equestria.”

She chuckled at this. “Exac’ly. That’s a nice way to put it. Think I’ll use that for future marketin’.”

“Happy to help.”

“Well it goes on the bill for fixin’ your leg. I ain’t no charity.”

I reached into the pockets of the slaver gear I was still wearing, sans identifying marks, and withdrew the insignia I’d gotten from Contego. “Maybe this’ll settle my fee.”

A serious atmosphere immediately descended upon the room. Lexi’s next words were light but edged. “Now where did you get that?”

I’d best not do anything to upset her. “I got it from Contego personally. I snuck into Plottawa and spoke to him and Vorbis. They’ve both been captured. The caravan’s completely destroyed too. Vorbis told me to get this back to you rather than try to break them out.”

She relaxed upon hearing that, at least a little. “Yeah that’s Vorbis alright. Never met a pony with a surer head on his shoulders. Alright I’d say this works as payment. You’ve got my thanks.”

“No problem. Like I said, happy to help.”

The tension left her, and she lay her head down in my lap again. “Well I’m not happy that they’ve been caught, but it’s better than not knowin’.”

“They won’t be mistreated. That’s not the deal in Plottawa. Bad for business to rough up the merchandise apparently.”

She nodded distractedly. “Yeah I guess. What’s next for you though?”

I pondered this. “I don’t know really. I came here because I had an obligation to Contego and Vorbis. Now that that’s taken care of I really don’t know what I’ll do next.”

“Got some free time on your hooves? Want to earn a few caps? I’m taking on extra caravan guards for a trip to Grindstone. It’s a buffalo settlement to the northwest.”

“Buffalo? I’m in!”

She smirked. “Oh so you like ‘em big do you?”

I smirked back, hardly embarrassed. “Not like that. I’ve got three brothers and they’re all buffalo.”

She cocked an eyebrow at this. “Well if that don’t beat all. I could use your help for sure. You know how to talk to ‘em and you ticked off a guy I’ve got cause to dislike. Not to mention having Red Ice on the staff might help out our rep.”

So she knows. This is turning into the worst kept secret in the Wasteland. “A fan of DJ Pon-3 then?”

“He don’t really take sides. Makes him easier to trust than anypony else on the squawkbox.”

“There is that.”

Lexi sat up and stretched, her white arrow Cutie Mark pointing towards her hindquarters. She saw me looking but didn’t comment. “Come on, I’ll get you all set to join the caravan.”

~~~~~~

This is not helping me to keep my composure.

“What do you mean you’re not gonna do it?!”

I nodded over Lexi’s shoulder at the pony standing in the wings. “She shot me. I’m not going anywhere with her OR her sister.”

Cassiopeia Venatici bristled at this. “You leave Breeze out of this.”

I scoffed even as I fought hard to keep my composure. “Yes because she’s blameless in this.”

Aqua Breeze swooped down from where she’d been tying supplies to the caravan roof. “Hey I probably saved your life. Nopony has a better eye than Cassie. The only reason you were able to make it here at all is because your hoof was numb from my Shock Lock. The pain would’ve drowned you otherwise. You’re welcome.”

I just stared. Is she serious?

Lexi shared my sentiment. “Breeze, was it? That was the single dumbest thing I’ve heard all year. Shut up. That’s an order.”

Cassie lay a hoof on Breeze’s shoulder to stem the imminent eruption before addressing the caravan boss. “Why is the Unicorn here? We weren’t told there would be others besides ourselves.”

Lexi met her stare evenly. “This run to Grindstone passes pretty near to Neighlway. We want to...discourage Steel Ranger interference.”

She made a slow circuit, facing Cassie, Breeze and myself in turn. “Think you’re up to the task? I don’t allow any friendly fire on my runs. You WILL work together or else the half dozen seasoned vets I’m sending along will kill all three of you. Are we clear?”

~~~~~~

“Oh would you let it go already? We said we were sorry.” Aqua Breeze was not fo'nd of the fact that I disliked being attacked. We’d left the Sprinkles Supplies compound hours ago and she’d kept up a running diatribe the entire trip. Apparently she’d made it her goal to befriend me, the pony she’d been been so proud of caging just the day before, because “we’re on the same side now!”

So far it had not been successful.

“Actually,” I interjected and pointed at Cassiopeia. “She apologised. You never did.”

Breeze’s smile faltered. “Err...”

“I’m waiting.”

Breeze looked to her sister. Said sister was smirking at the exchange and watching with obvious amusement. Defeated, Breeze caved. “Oh, alright! I’m sorry I threw grenades at you.”

“...and put me in a cage.”

She drew herself up haughtily. “My Shock Lock is not just a-”

The abrupt cutoff caught my attention. I thought she might’ve been trying to find the right word but she wasn’t even looking at me. Cassie was staring at her sister with concern.

Breeze’s eyes darted this way and that in the midday sun, searching for something.

“Sister?” Cassie voiced her consternation.

Ignoring her, Breeze hollered at the guards on the wagons. “Hey! How long til we get where to Grindstone?”

The guard checked the map and hollered back. “Still a ways yet. We’re skirting the edge of Neighlway territory now. Hours to go.”

This was not happy news. Breeze was still scanning the skies. “Get everypony up and armed! Something big’s coming!”

Instantly Cassie was at her side. “Where, Breeze?”

The blue-and-white mane shook. Breeze couldn’t tell. “I can hear them but I can’t figure out where from. Can you see anything, sis?”

Cassie tried but quickly gave up. “Too much haze. The heat’s throwing me off.”

The guards had been listening in and now were looking uneasy themselves. “I don’t hear anything.” One ventured.

Breeze dismissed him. “You don’t have my ears, chum. Something...no, a lot of somethings are on the way.”

My Pipbuck lit up with red signals. I stared at Breeze in amazement. She’s got more range than my Pipbuck! No wonder they found me last night.

I turned in a circle, allowing the locator function to determine which direction the enemies would be coming from. The readings were confusing and I had to wave it back and forth to make sense of what I was seeing.

This thing says they’re over that way...but over this way too?

Cassie’s voice broke the tense silence. It sounded faraway. “This lot-of-somethings? Does it sound like it has wings...lots of wings?”

“Yeah.” Was the grim response.

Cassie pointed up. “I’ve found them.”

Right, three dimensions. I followed her hoof but saw nothing but the midday sun overhead before us. “I don’t see anything. You sure?”

Both sisters nodded. Their attentions were both fixed on the same spot now.

My Pipbuck chirped agreement with the direction but offered no more info. “Then what are we dealing with?”

Both produced weapons. Cassie wielded the rifle she’d pierced me with before and Breeze had what looked like an oversized memory orb in each hoof. As she sighted along the barrel Cassie paused to blow some red hair from her eyes. Her voice was flat. “Red Ice, go join the others at the wagons. Use your magic at close range.”

Putting aside the issue of taking orders from my attacker, I still didn’t like this idea. “What about you two?”

Breeze’s voice matched her sister in tone. “We can fly. You can’t. Go help the ground-pounders.”

“Help them against what?”

“Hissyflits.”

I struggled not to laugh at the absurd sounding name.

What are they? Characters in a babybook?

I was the only one who found it amusing. Upon hearing the word several guards cursed and the rest went wide-eyed.

“What are...Hissyflits?”

Cassie flicked a perturbed glance my way before returning to her scope. “Not the time. Move!”

I inwardly sighed. I get the picture. Bad news. Best do as she says.

I clambered up on top of one of the caravans with two stallions wielding pistols in their mouths. One offered me a spare but I declined. “Can’t hit a thing with that. I’ll make do.”

He turned away. Looking our group I realised that I was the only unicorn here. I hope they’re not expecting me to be Shining Armour. They’ll be disappointed.

Cassie’s sudden gunfire startled me. I looked up to see Breeze go racing up into the sun...which seemed to be developing a dark spot at its center. As the stain grew larger it began to resolve into individual shapes. They were small but there were an awful lot of them. Breeze tossed her orbs straight into the heart of the swarm. There was a moment of stillness as they vanished behind the gathering of fliers.

Then fire raged through the mass as the incendiary grenades ignited. Dozens of charred corpses dropped lifelessly.

Breeze immediately broke off and retreated. The remaining attackers charged after her. Cassie fired in quick succession, dropping any beast that got close enough to harry her sibling.

As the fight drew closer to us I finally understood how the creatures got their names. The static-y sound grew louder and louder as they approached. Their leathery wings certainly flitted as they moved and their feline faces bore oversized fangs which glistened in the light. Something told me I didn’t want to take a nibble from one of those teeth.

Still not as big as a Molar Bear’s chompers though. That’s something at least.

Cassie paused her barrage to load more ammo. Now that they were close enough, the guards opened up with their guns and the mass slowed down. Still enough survived the volley to get dangerously close to Breeze. Cassie and the others were occupied and couldn’t cover her.

“Look out!”

Breeze glanced behind her and saw the beasts’ proximity. “Oh shit!”

She reached for the greave around her right leg. I didn’t see what she did but suddenly a glowing wall of light sprang up between her and her attackers, who smacked into the construct. The flock recovered and hesitated. They appeared confused by the new hindrance.

Cassie wasn’t. She’d reloaded and resumed firing. The other guards followed her example and got their shots in. The horde was starting to thin out but the light wall was beginning to fade. I watched helplessly with my short-range Power Hooves and wished there was something I could do to help.

Breeze answered my wish. She slammed down next to me and triggered her greave. A cracked and smoking crystal popped out with a thunk. She slammed home another one then grabbed me, shoving the new crystal in my face.

“Ice, charge this up!”

I stared back in confusion. “What?”

She waved the greave around frantically. “Hurry! There’s not much time. Pour your magic into this before the barrier fails!”

Well I could maybe do that at least. I concentrated. It was amazing how much easier it was to do magic when my life was in danger. My horn blazed almost instantly. Aside from a few drop-offs I kept up a constant stream of cold.

Amazingly the crystal soaked it up like a sponge until it shone a brilliant snow-white. I could barely look at it. Breeze seemed satisfied though. I was glad of that because I was starting to feel faint.

“Good. Full charge!”

She swung and pointed the greave at the Hissyflits, who screamed down as the barrier disappeared.

“EAT IT!”

A blizzard blew out of her greave towards the monsters, who scattered in an attempt to get out of its path. Maybe two dozen were successful. The rest were hit by the storm of magic and instantly froze solid. Shattering on the hard earth as they dropped from the sky. The blizzard vanished just like the barrier and another ruined crystal was ejected from Breeze’s terrifying weapon.

Unfortunately she seemed to be out of tricks as she deployed a hidden knife from her other greave and held it before her defensively. Cassie had likewise holstered her rifle now that the enemy were too close for its range and had her own hidden blade out. A whip trailed from Cassie’s other bracer which she wielded with deadly precision. Her impressive eyes guided the snake-like chord wherever she wanted. Blocking and striking at the same time.

Each of the nine ponies were now facing 2 Hissyflits apiece. The guards were more confident now that they had the measure of them. The flying creatures were still threatening but seemed to rely on numbers to swarm their much-larger prey.

I was so busy watching the others that I almost lost track of my opponents. Good thing they don’t just hiss. The hellish scream sounded out behind me and I swung around. I blindly brought both sparking Power Hooves together on one of my assailants, instantly crushing it and silencing its scream.

Too bad it was behind the first one.

I got a really close look at the thing before its fangs sank into my shoulder. It had the head of a cat but the eyes were double diamonds of purple and gold. A forked tongue and wirey stubs of limbs hung from the undersized body. It was obvious that most of the work was done through the head. Said head was currently pumping whatever made those fangs so shiny in the light straight into my bloodstream. Instantly my shoulder stiffened up and felt 3 times as heavy as normal.

I fell backwards as I tried to awkwardly smack the thing off. The sound of gunfire increased as the guards and the two pegasi sisters fought off the remaining bat-cat hybrids.

I saw none of this on account of rolling on the ground with a little bastard doing its best to chew my ever-more-immobile foreleg off at the base.

I did, however, see the armoured limb that flashed down microns from my face and crushed the Hissyflit underhoof.

Shocked at this and the sudden absence of gunfire, I was a little slow in rolling over and looking up at the roughly pony-shaped shadow standing over me. It appeared to be speaking with the guards. The voice was robotic, distorted. “This one has been bitten. She will come with us for treatment.”

I will?

~~~~~~

Cassie and Breeze had taken flight instantly and the guards had better things to do than fight over a ‘scab’. So I now found myself in the renowned hospitality of the Neighlway Steel Rangers.

There had only been two Rangers at the battle but they still outgunned the 6 guards. These ponies were walking arsenals! On their backs were heavy duty weapons I suspected would be more at home mounted on a wagon or something and they were kitted out with all sorts of goodies besides that. It was a wonder they could even stand up under all that gear. They must be strong as Buffalo! I’d been slung over the back of one while the other watched the guards for a response. My bearer hadn’t even seem to feel the added weight.

The two ponies had said nothing more as we trooped towards Neighlway. From my precarious position of being slowly paralyzed on the back of a living tank I didn’t manage to get a good look at Neighlway from the outside. All I saw was that the walls looked imposing and cast a long shadow. We passed through a very long tunnel before emerging into an underground facility where many more ponies in armour went about their various duties. There were also ponies in robes who seemed to be support staff rather than frontline fighters. I passed several rooms where I caught glimpses of activity: Maps, screens, terminals and weapons were spotted out of the corners of my eye. Still my two escorts trudged on silently.

Finally I found myself deposited in a medical ward, which had happened disturbingly often since leaving the Stable. As I lay on the table, twitching occasionally as I tested what parts of my body I could still move and trying to stem my rising panic, the two Rangers took up positions at the door and stood to attention just before they opened and two Earth ponies walked in.

One was dressed in a labcoat and began mixing up a concoction after a short consultation with the Rangers. The other was an older Earth stallion with far more elaborate trappings than his compatriots. This attire and the way he held himself gave the air of importance. The doctor pony jabbed a needle into my shoulder and injected something at the sight of the bite wound. It stung but within seconds I felt the minutest sensation of loosening muscles. The medical pony left with one of the Rangers as the older pony sat down next to me. “Forgive the suddenness of our bringing you here. I’m afraid that the guards didn’t have the necessary medical supplies for treating Hissyflit venom. Well, not before your heart stopped anyway.”

Said heart skipped a beat at this matter-of-fact statement. That and the fact that I was suddenly very aware of the weight of the Pipbuck hidden under my Sprinkles Supplies jumpsuit. “Is...is that so?”

The old stallion gave a smile but it was probably not as reassuring as he hoped it would be. “Yes. You’re quite lucky, young one. Were we not there you might not be here, as it were.”

I couldn’t really think of what to say to that. Instead I tried to keep things light. “So where’s here, mister...”

The stallion quickly sat back and gave that failing smile again. “Ah, forgive me. I am Elder Iron Sights of the Steel Rangers. This is our Neighlway contingent. Welcome. May I have your name?”

This is definitely not a job for Red Ice. “I’m Snowflake. Nice to meet you.”

Iron Sights inclined his head in greeting. “A pleasure, Snowflake. We are always glad to be of service to our friends at Sprinkles Supplies. Do give my best to Fedexi Lexi when next you see her, won’t you?”

“...You know the boss? Sorry, I haven’t been at the company long.”

He waved his hoof in acceptance. “That’s quite alright. Yes, she was very wise to approach us about a business venture early on when she started up her company. Truly a capable mare.”

I still couldn’t properly move my shoulder but it definitely felt better. “I’ll tell her you said that. Speaking of which, I should really be getting back. I thank you for your help and will be sure to get some caps sent to you as soon as possible but I really-”

“A moment, please.”

Uh-oh.

“Y-yes?”

“If you’re willing, I have an alternative payment method that should cover the use of our medical supplies.”

“Y-yes?”

Iron Sights let out a sigh. “I’m sure you’ve heard by now about the trouble in Plottawa a few days ago?”

“Um. DJ Pon-3 mentioned it on his radio broadcast.”

A flash of annoyance crossed the Elder’s face at the name. “...Yes, he did. I’m afraid that the Plottawan slavers have become increasingly aggressive since Red Eye or Red Ice or whoever it was infiltrated them and attacked this ‘Peanut’. They have attacked several of our business partners who are under our protection.”

I stayed silent. Nope. Not got a say a thing on this subject.

Iron Sights wasn’t done talking though. “As such, we have many of our Knights and Paladins out in the field at present. Due to a slight scheduling mishap we actually have no Unicorns here at Neighlway at the current time and don’t expect any back for a few days.”

“Um...is that a problem?”

He let out a long exhale of vexation. “Unfortunately yes. Tell me, are you familiar with memory orbs?”

Oh, damn. I was suddenly very aware of the orb in my pocket. “The boss uses one for putting us under when she needs to fix us up.”

He chuckled at this. “A clever mare indeed. Yes, they can be used for that purpose. We are more interested in the contents of the orbs themselves. As you know, they contain memories of ponies who lived before the bombs fell. Even if it leads to nothing we must examine each and every one to determine whether they contain important information that we can act on.”

“Even after 200 years?”

“Certainly. Many things from the past have lasted that long and will last even longer. The memory orbs themselves for example.”

“...Okay. I still don’t understand what this has to do with me, though.”

His expression suggested that he considered me a little slow on the uptake. “Well, as I mentioned before, you are the only Unicorn in Neighlway at present. A Unicorn is necessary to activate the magic of the memory orbs. We have recently managed to repair two orbs that had been damaged. We are quite excited to see what memories they contain. If you could look into them for us then we will consider your debt repaid and provide you with the means to return to Sprinkles Supplies.”

That was an experience I was not keen to repeat even if the last time hadn’t hurt like the first one. “Um...do I have to?”

It was considerably more than a flash this time. “Of course you don’t have to. We aren’t monsters. However you won’t be under our protection after leaving. Immediately. It would be a bad situation for a lone filly even without partial paralysis and no firearm in Hissyflit hunting grounds.”

...Facemask had a point about these guys.

I slumped in defeat. “Well when you put it like that I’d be happy to help the Steel Rangers.

A victorious and vicious grin graced his features. “I am so glad to hear that. Please follow me.”

Supported by the remaining Knight I followed Iron Sights to another lab where I was fixed into a chair with the first of the two orbs supported in front of my horn with a mechanical arm. The second lay in waiting further along the apparatus.

Mentally steeling myself, I reached out to it with my magic...

oooOOOOOOooo

“Anything?” A tired voice cried out.

“No, nothing.” Came the reply from above.

Ah, these two again. I’m Caramel this time.

As I thought this, Sassaflash flew down from wherever she’d been. “I don’t understand. We’ve been hearing these broadcasts for weeks! How could the door be sealed?”

Caramel seemed equally frustrated. He loudly banged his hoof against the metal barrier three times. “OPEN DAMN YOU!”

Sassaflash plopped herself down in dejection. “We came all this way! Barely made it through that damn blizzard outside and now they Stable’s closed!”

Stable? Blizzard?

Caramel sat down and tried to comfort her with by pulling her into a hug. “Don’t give up. We’ll wait here as long as we need to. We will escape the war.”

Escape the war? Oh no.

Oh nonono.

Please say they aren’t where I think they are?

Caramel’s eyes followed Sassaflash as she glared at the increasingly familiar door. “This isn’t over! We’ll be back!”

The two got up and began to leave the cave. Caramel was muttering under his breath. “Fucking Stable 61. What are they trying to pull?”

Damn it. I knew it.

Caramel nudged his marefriend, trying in vain to keep her spirits up. “Come on, we’ll come back tomorrow. Let’s head back to that abandoned spice farm we passed on the way here. At least it’s out of the cold.”

Spice farm? What spice farm? There was no spice farm when I left the Stable, just Cefar.

Ah, I get it. spiCE FARm. The sign must’ve broken. Heh, lazy long-dead ponies can’t even maintain a sign for 200 years.

Pleased at my own cleverness, I barely noticed the two standing at the cave mouth. The wind whipping at their faces.

They both spoke at the same time.
“We’ll be okay, right?”
“We’ll be okay, right?”

Sassaflash’s surprise and sadness were most likely mirrored by Caramel.

Moving a little closer together, they walked out into the world of white.

oooOOOOOOOooo

I came out of the orb trance shaken. I didn’t want to think that Stable 61 had turned its back on anybody who wanted to get away from the conflict.

Iron Sights’ pathetic smile really didn’t help. “What did you see?”

Nothing for your eyes. “Two ponies. A mare and a stallion. They were in a cave. I didn’t recognise it.”

He appeared thoughtful. “That’s not particularly helpful. Did they say anything?”

What are you after? “Not really. They couldn’t get any further than where they’d reached. They were upset. I...I don’t think the bombs had dropped yet.”

“They were just talking in a cave? Nothing else around?”

“No. It was dark. The stallion I was spent most of the time staring at the mare.”

This was immediately ignored. “Well this is a bust then. I guess we’ll move onto the second orb.”

“H-hey! Can’t I get a rest first. I’m new to this.”

The technicians were staring at me strangely. Iron Sights just sighed. “That orb was very short. You should be fine, even with the venom still in your system. We continue.” He turned to the hulking steel-covered guard. “Knight, restrain her and we’ll continue.”

That robotic voice sounded again. “Yes sir.”

The hulking mass clunked forward and stood before me. “Please remain still for your own safety.”

I was not happy with this, but complied. “You sure know how to make a filly feel welcome, Iron Sights.”

The Knight bristled. “You will address him as Elder!”

I looked him/her in the...visor as I replied. “You...will be disappointed!”

The technician ponies had finished restraining me and the Knight reluctantly stepped back. The next orb swung into place in front of my horn. I glared at Iron Sights and his nasty little smile as I connected with it.

oooOOOOOOooo

“Do we have to do this again?” The voice was weary.

It was also familiar.

A visibly-older Sassaflash stood in the doorway. She was clad in Steel Ranger armour.

There was a mirror next to her. In it I saw Caramel. He had also aged and was wearing the robes I’d seen around Neighlway.

Sassaflash nodded. “We do. It’s been 13 years. Big Macintosh is dead. We need to give it up. We have a life here. That should be enough.”

“Enough for what?” His bitterness was transparent. “We sit here in this bunker or root through the decaying corpse of Equestria for scraps! That doesn’t help anypony!”

Sassaflash had obviously heard this before. “It’s our duty!” She looked away from him as her anger shifted to sadness. “Not that you’d know anything about duty.”

Judging by Caramel’s lack of reaction he had heard that before too. “What can I do to make you understand, Sass?”

She jerked as if shot by Cassie’s rifle. Her pupils shrank to pinpoints. “DON’T CALL ME THAT! DON’T EVER CALL ME THAT AGAIN! NOT AFTER...”

Ashamed, Caramel deflated. “I know. I’m sorry.”

Sassaflash got herself under control. She picked up her helmet but paused with it in her hooves. “We are needed here, Scribe Caramel. The Stable is a pipe dream which we can no longer afford. Our work here is real. It will preserve Equestria. It will bring it back from the dead.”

She donned her helmet and, somehow, lost everything that made her more than the suit of armour she wore. She left without another word.

I watched through Caramel’s eyes as his head drooped and the tears began to fall. “I hate this place. I wish we never came here. The Rangers are wrong.”

He looked at the empty doorway. In the mirror I could see the haunted look in his eyes. “You’ll never forgive me for taking our daughter to the Stable cave, will you? Not after little Sassy didn’t come back...”

He sat there for a long time.

oooOOOOOOooo

I opened my eyes.

“Well my dear? Was this trip more beneficial?”

I blinked away the moisture in my eyes. “N-no. Just two ponies who lost more than they should have.”

He didn’t think much of my deflection. “That’s completely unhelpful Snowflake. I need details.”

I really don’t like you, Iron Sights. “It was the ponies from the first orb again. They were older this time. They had joined the Steel Rangers. Their names were Sassaflash and Caramel.”

The nasty smile was replaced by a thoughtful purse of the lips. “I think I know those names. I must confirm this.”

He began to walk away. I yelled out after him. “Hey! Let me go already. We’re even now.”

He looked back and seemed entirely surprised I was still there. “Oh! Yes. Knight! Release her and provide her with an escort and supplies to make the trip home, will you?”

“Yes sir!”

~~~~~~

At least he was true to his word.

The Steel Ranger Knight escorted me to the limits of Neighlway territory but sulkily refused to chat until I referred to Iron Sights as Elder Iron Sights. I in turn cheerfully refused to do so. Apart from his seemingly random firings of the heavy cannon on his back which always struck an incoming Hissyflit there was no sound besides our hooffalls.

I wasn’t exactly complaining. I had plenty to think about. Caramel and Sassaflash. They’d gone to Stable 61 in search of an escape but found the door slammed shut in their face. I could relate. Without the Stable they couldn’t escape Old Equestria and what would become the Wasteland. They signed on with the Steel Rangers. Judging by Caramel’s demeanour it had been out of necessity rather than design.

I was in trouble. As soon as Iron Sights got a Unicorn back to the base he’d see the full picture in the orbs. He’d find out about Stable 61.

How long would the Stable door keep the Steel Rangers out of that treasure trove of pre-war technology? They wouldn’t stop until they got in.

I needed to buy some time or find a way to warn the Stable.

The Steel Rangers and I would not be friends.

~~~~~~

The moment I was out of their territory he turned and began to walk back the way he came.

“Have a safe trip!” I mockingly called after him. His gait became more tense but there was no other response. Soon he disappeared over the crest of a hill.

I consulted my Pipbuck. It was a trip of a good few hours to get to Sprinkles Supplies. About the same to Grindstone. I had a choice to make. “Do I head back to Lexi or go meet up with the Buffalo?”

I considered this while keeping an eye out for Hissyflits.

“How about a third option?” I was apparently not as attentive as I thought. The unexpected voice startled me so much I fell over.

“Smooth.”

The voice was distorted and tinny. It didn’t sound like a Steel Ranger though. I picked myself up off the ground before looking up. “Who are you?”

When I finally saw who was addressing me I didn’t know what to think.

Floating in front of me appeared to be some form of flying radio.

“You can call me Watcher.”

~~~~~~

Level Up!

Perks gained: Are You Low-Orbing Me? - Your barter skill has increased. More dialogue options are available for negotiations.

~~~~~~

Author's Note

That’s all for now, folks. Please keep reading, commenting, and spreading the word on Old Souls. I really appreciate your feedback.

Chapter 5-1: Blink And You'll Miss 'Em

Chapter 5-1: Blink And You’ll Miss ‘Em

[Restoring the greatest country in the world to its former glory, well, heh heh...well that takes time.]

The floating ball of metal slowly moved up and down as it hovered in the air. It didn’t seem inclined to move closer. I was glad for that.

It was inclined to speak though. “Did you have fun in Neighlway? The Rangers make you feel right at home?” The tone was clearly negative, even when delivered by a robotic speaker.

I really had no idea what to make of this. From the way it was talking it didn’t seem to be affiliated with Neighlway but they were the only ones I’d seen who used technology even remotely like this. Was Iron Sights pulling something? “Well, Watcher, they cured my getting bitten by a hissyflit. There are people in the Wasteland who’d do less in that situation.”

Watcher chuckled. Some static bled through. “Only you would think that. Well, not only you but close enough.”

Huh? “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that the world outside the Stable is very different, isn’t it?”

I kept my promise about spending a few days without overreacting every little thing. I just sighed. “Yes. Yes it is. It still confuses the hell out of me but I also feel like I’m getting used to it faster than I should be.”

The robot stayed silent a moment before responding. “Do you want to get used to it?”

“In some ways, maybe.”

“In what ways?”

I frowned. What did this...how did Lexi put it? Squawkbox. What did this squawkbox want? “I need to be able to survive here and make some friends. Being alone in the Wasteland is less than ideal.”

Watcher wasn’t done fishing. “What do you consider surviving?”

Good question. “A way for me to be happy.”

“You could go back to Sprinkles and be a guard.......don’t act surprised that I know that. I’m called Watcher after all.”

I hesitated. “That’s...an option. I’d prefer to work in-house though. Being a caravan guard seems...”

“Dangerous?” Ventured Watcher.

I shook my head. “No. Well yes but I was gonna say violent.”

“You don’t consider violence dangerous?”

“Of course I do. I don’t want to be violent.”

“Why not? It could help. You’re not that good right now but you have survived Molar Bears, Raiders and a ghoul. You’re tough enough that getting some training would turn you into a force to be reckoned with. Ponies’ll pay good money for somebody with that kind of resume.”

I frowned. “I don’t need that kind of money. Plottawa has that kind of money.”

Watcher chuckled. “Good answer. You’ve probably heard this already since leaving the Stable but stay away from there. Did you hear DJ Pon-3 talking to the boss Peanut two nights ago? The whole place is riled up, because some joker snuck in and took a shot at him. They won’t be kind to a fresh-from-the-Stable pony.”

Some joker? I guess you’re not always watching.

Watcher continued. “So, as a Stable pony in a new world of opportunity, what would you like to do? Your friend the colt seems like he could help you out. Is he still travelling with you?”

“...We got separated.”

“Well you should try to make a few more friends like that. I saw what happened when you got taken by the Rangers. Those Pegasi took off without a backwards glance. Perhaps they’re not the kind of ponies you should be associating with?”

I faced Watcher openly. “Who are you, Watcher? Why is a robot taking such an interest in my social life? With all this talk of friends I’m starting to think you’re pretty lonely yourself.”

He was silent for several long seconds.

“I’m obviously not a robot. I use these bots to communicate and, well, watch the events of the Wasteland. As for the rest? That’ll take a little while, if you’re willing.”

I nodded. “I’m listening. Go ahead.”

“Well I was serious about the making-friends part. That’s still important. Frankly though, I was hoping you were somepony else.”

I cocked my head to the side quizzically. “Who else would I be?”

If it was possible for a floating ball robot to look embarrassed then Watcher managed it at that moment. “I...uh...I was hoping you might have been royalty.”

ROYALTY?! “You mean like the princesses?”

Watcher turned back and forth like a pony nervously twiddling a hoof. “Well not those princesses but A princess...Look I’m nearly out of time so I’ll have to tell you later. For now just focus on making friends and staying out of trouble Snowflake.”

Kinda refreshing to find somebody who only knows me by that name. “How will you find me again?”

A cocky undertone crept into his voice. “I found you this time, didn’t I? Tell me the truth. How many of these bots did you notice before I approached you?”

“I...uh...” I was rather surprised to realise he had a point.

“That’s what I thought. I could cut out any moment so head South-East to Vanchoofer. I saw your colt buddy there. You should really not spend so much time alone. A pony I knew grew up like that and she only really became happy when she-”
A burst of static cut through the words and then the bot fell silent for a few moments. I waited for Watcher to come back but instead music began playing through the speakers and the bot began moving off.

“H-hey! Watcher!”

The thing ignored me and continued moving away.

I huffed. “Well great, Watcher. Like I know how to get to Vanchoofer.”

~~~~~~

“Well ain’t that somethin’? Who’d o’ thought those little bugbots could talk? All ah ever heard ‘em playin’ was that cheesy music.” Lexi took a swig of her drink as she pondered the new information I’d brought. Since I didn’t know the way to Vanchoofer I’d stopped back at Sprinkles Supplies. It too had been South-East of Neighlway so I thought they’d be the best bet for directions to the town. Lexi and I were sat at the bar in the small saloon they kept on site. The liquor quality was around the level of what I was used to back in Whiskey Sour’s bar...

I hope she’s okay. Roc’s still running for Overseer and he probably hasn’t forgotten that she kicked him out of the place
...but not even in the same league as the fine quality beverages I’d enjoyed in Hoofshine Harlots. I sighed, missing the short-lived peace I’d found in that place.

Lexi noticed and, after draining her glass, slid a bag along the counter to me. “Here, girl. This’ll turn that frown upside down.”

I opened the bag. The glint of shiny metal greeted me. “Caps?” I took a quick count. “A lot of caps?”

“Yeah caps. Payment for the Grindstone run. My boys got back a few hours before you did and filled me in about what happened near Neighlway.”

“Bit this is way more than we agreed on!”

“Yup. Three times that. An’ a little bit o’ ‘pology money from the colts fer lettin’ you be taken by them dang Rangers. Even if it was t’ save yer life.”

I left the bag on the counter for a moment and looked at the purple mare. “But why this much?”

Lexi’s smile faded and she growled out the next words.
“Cause those lousy Pegasus twins took off the moment things got hot! They left the job unfinished so they forfeit their pay. I figure it can go to a pony who earned it. That’s you.”

“But I didn’t finish the job either!”

Lexi waved me off. “Tha’s different. If you’d stayed with my crew you woulda died. You had no choice. Plus you came back and then didn’t ask fer yer money. That says sumthin’ bout you, girl.”

My cheeks warmed. Lexi was no Peanut. She lacked charisma and couldn’t charm her reflection. She was gruff and mean and expected the worst of everyone but she was a good boss to her staff and was fair in all her doings.

I’d take that over Peanut’s schtick any day. Opening the bag, I removed the original payment and slid the bag back. “Thanks boss but this’ll be fine. Keep the rest just in case. Those Rangers are up to something in Neighlway.”

Storming my Stable most likely. “You might need those caps later.”

Lexi was a pragmatist. She just shrugged and stashed the bits away. “Whatever you say, Red Ice.”

I winced inwardly. I didn’t need to hear that. I got up from my stool. The drink had done its work and left me feeling warm inside. Now was as good a time as any to head off. “I’m heading out to Vanchoofer. Thanks for the directions...and the drink.”

“Any time. You should have some fun while you’re there. It’s the right place for it. They don’t get much trouble round there so it’s place to unwind. Mebbe find yourself a nice young buck fer a night?”

I chuckled. “Well I am going there to find a guy...”

Lexi guffawed. “That’s the way, girl! And hey, you ever need a job you come see me awright? I can always find a place for a pony I can trust.”

I nodded but didn’t speak around the small lump forming in my throat. What I’d said to Watcher came back to me. I hadn’t been kidding when I said this was an option. It was nice to feel welcome in a place after being thrown out of my home and being constantly on the move. I gave a final small smile and headed out the door.

~~~~~~

“Would you leave me alone?! I don’t want to meet a guy this badly!”

This was seriously unfair. I could see Vanchoofer from here. I could see it! It was maybe a mile away yet I couldn’t get any closer because I was perched on this rock while a naked slobbering Raider kept trying to get at me. One Raider. One.

This would be so much easier if I wanted to kill you.

Ouch. That was dark even for Red Ice. No more of that thinking.

The Raider wasn’t a particular threat but I didn’t want to use lethal force and he’d so far ignored my attempts to scare him off. From the time he’d come waddling out of his cave he’d been doggedly chasing me. Not that he was particularly fast. I could outpace him at a brisk walk but he just kept coming. He had a big gut though. I’d scrambled up this steep boulder in the hope that he was too heavy to follow me.

I’d been right. The Raider had responded by throwing twigs and stones at me which I could do little but shield myself from. Luckily my Molar Bear hide made his efforts futile. I was hoping he’d get tired soon. The sun was going down and it had begun to snow. The extra moisture combined with the slope meant the Raider wasn’t getting up here but it also meant that I was kinda stuck. Judging from his actions and lack of clothing I guessed the Raider wasn’t all there anymore. Didn’t make him any less worrisome though. Given the drool on his lips and what was swinging between his legs I wasn’t sure which part he wanted to sink into my tender flesh. That thought was what was really troubling me.

I looked up at the sky. I still had maybe two hours of daylight left and I didn’t want to spend them here waiting for this poor tubby guy to get bored and wander off.

How would the others handle this? With Schwarzwald he’d be so very dead by now. Naiara’d probably just jump away. Bosco’d shoot him. Wings’d shoot him. Cassie’d shoot him. Breeze’d use some form of gadget. Who else? Peanut? Broken bones. Overmare? Kicked out of Equestria! Rockhaunch? Headbutt! Buff’d ignore him. Not like he can hurt a buffalo. Still Al’d toss him aside. Lo would...sit on him? Dunno what Lo would do.

...but I do know what I threatened to do to Lo back in the Stable.

I glanced down the boulder at the scrabbling wild Raider. “Last chance big guy. Get out of here before I chill something that ought not be chilled!”

A rock bounced off my Molar hide. I shrugged. “I warned you, fella.”

Concentrating on his swinging...parts was not the most pleasant of tasks but it was better than the alternative. I willed the cold to come.

It came. The Raider’s face turned surprised. The surprise then shifted to discomfort and finally to fear. He wasn’t swinging so freely now. He looked down at his gear for a moment and then up at me again. I looked him straight in the eyes and pumped up the intensity a little.

“YIPEYIPEYIPE!” That did the trick. He turned tail and ran as fast as his portly body could carry him. I watched and waited for 5 minutes until I was sure he was far away before cautiously clambering down the boulder. Once I was down and the brief sluggishness from magic use passed I headed for Vanchoofer at a brisk trot.

~~~~~~

This place is great!

Vanchoofer was a very simple city but wow did it work well. The whole place was one big circle miles across. A ring of hotels, barracks and other places to stay formed the perimeter and the inner grounds were all open space. There was just one entrance so security didn’t get in your face. Once you were past the entrance then you could do what you wanted. I was sitting on the grass watching a group of Earth ponies build a small stage by torchlight while a little way away there was a thunderous applause as a unicorn kicked a ball past the keeper and into the net. People were doing whatever they wanted here. Some were just laying on the grass with their eyes closed while others were-

Okay I didn’t need to see what those guys were up to.

I quickly averted my gaze though they hardly seemed to care about privacy. I wasn’t particularly comfortable about the idea of staying where I was so got up, dusted myself off, and began a slow stroll around the town in hopes I could locate Bosco.

I stopped by the many, many vendors selling salty and sugary snacks and got myself some...well I’m not sure what they were but they smelled so good. I munched on the crunchy morsels as I trotted along, occasionally stepping aside as giggling foals ran by. The last of the sun disappeared as I walked and flaming beacons were lit around the courtyard. With my search proving fruitless I finished my food and sat leaning against the outer buildings. I felt an odd sense of satisfaction just watching the people play. Yesterday and tomorrow they’d be struggling out there to make a living but in here they could leave it all behind for a night and just have some fun.

Music started up somewhere and grew louder and louder as other performers joined in. More and more torches lit up as those present flocked to the stage where the band was playing. Pretty soon the sound of laughter filled the air as anyone and everyone got up to dance. I tapped one hoof along to the music but made no move to join in.

That is until a familiar feathered figure bounded out of the crowd cavorting with a bottle of liquor in one hand and a skewer of seasoned meat in the other. She almost missed me in her revelry before freezing and backing up. “Snowflake! Fancy meeting you here!”

I was instantly on my hooves before her. The words poured out of me as I released my pent-up worries. “Wings! I thought you were in Lethbridle! Did you see Bosco? Is he okay? Are you okay? What happened to you after I left? Did Schwarzwald get any trouble from that couple she slept with? Is she with you?”

Wings just held up a talon and I shut up. She didn’t immediately answer and instead bit a chunk off the flesh and took a swig of her drink. I was hopping from side to side anxiously. She didn’t hurry though and savoured her mouthful.

Come on come on come on!

Mercifully, she finally swallowed before giving me a cocky smirk. She began ticking off with her claws. “In order: That’s me! I was. No. Hell if I know. Always. I told you that I wasn’t gonna wait around forever, I had stuff to do. Nah, Schwarz’s fine. She’s always fine. Nah she’s not with me. She had another job. We’ll meet up later.” She took another swig of her drink before smiling and throwing a claw around my shoulders. “I’ve got a nice buzz and this party’s gettin’ fun. Want to hang out with me for a while?”

The lack of news on Bosco was worrisome but I still maintained some of the festive spirit myself. I brightened up at her suggestion. “Sure!”

“Atta girl! Where to first? I know! Let’s get you a drink!”

I shrugged cheerfully. “Sure. Let’s have some fun.”

Soon I was sucking down spirits with a straw as we sauntered side-by-side surveying the sights and sounds on show. There was plenty to take in. After finishing our food we headed over to the attractions. Some enterprising ponies had set up games you could play for prizes. Shiny trinkets were on offer for the younger players while the older ones received drinks tokens or a few shells of ammo if they did really well.

Wings was a natural at the B.B. Rifle game, downing every target one-clawed. The crowd ate it up and the vendor, sensing more sales, kept her playing. She ate up the attention and really drew some applause when she started doing trick shots. First she hit the target over-the-shoulder and everybody cheered. Then she switched to hanging upside down in the air which had the crowd whooping. They burst into laughter as she brought in an adorable little filly and had her hit did center.

I was clapping along with the rest before she grabbed me out of the blue, “W-whoa!” I found myself being spun around and around before finally being dipped and ending up face to face with Wings. Her burning stare inches from mine. I just stared back nervously.

“OOOOHHH!” Went the crowd.

Wings said nothing but ever-so-slowly inched closer.

Hey wait is she going to...

BANG!

Shocked, I jumped in her grasp. I missed slamming my face into hers by the narrowest of margins. I still felt her feathers brush my cheeks. “What was-”

Wings just smirked as the crowd erupted.

Amid the show she’d put on she’d still hit the target right in the middle. Without looking! Damn she’s good.

She pulled me back up to standing. The crowd was still cheering and smirk still graced her face. I wanted to feel affronted but found that I couldn’t. It had all been in good fun. I grabbed her claw and raised it for the crowd to see. This brought a fresh round of applause.

~~~~~~

Wings didn’t get all the glory though. After moving on from the shooting gallery we somehow ended up in an eating contest. Her perplexed pose as I progressively ploughed into a pile of pies was priceless.

Shockingly I didn’t win but the colt who did deserved it. He went to town on those pies. I still needed a little while to digest them though so Wings used her drinks tokens to refill our glasses and we relaxed on the grass. We were far enough from the music and other revellers that the noise was softened enough that we could communicate without yelling.

“Where did you put it all? I’ve never seen a filly your size pull off something like that.”

Thank you Mrs. Doublehorn. “Three buffalo brothers meant you got used to big portions.”

Wings let out a disbelieving snort. “Buffalo brothers? Yeah right.”

I just lay with my eyes closed and smiled. It must sound crazy to somebody outside the Stable. “I’m not kidding. We weren’t born to the same mother but they’re still my brothers.”

Wings was still unconvinced. “Oh yeah? Then what are the names of these brothers?”

Ah. The tricky part. “Their names are...Buff...Al...and Lo.”

She didn’t buy that. A barked laugh of derision escaped her beak. “That’s the dumbest-”

“Don’t say that!”

She halted. My outburst had obviously surprised her.

I sighed. “Sorry. It’s just...their mother, Mrs, Doublehorn, had...troubles. She wasn’t really right in her head. She tried though! She didn’t always get things right but she tried as hard as she could! She was a great mother to them...and me!”
My eyes began to glisten. “You should have seen her smile when she watched her sons. There may as well have been nothing else in the entire world...”

I broke off as that thought brought up other memories of the Stable. Whiskey Sour. External Monitor Duty.

The Overmare.

“So she’s dead then?”

“Not yet,” I murmured before realising what she meant. “Oh! Uh...yes she died a long time ago, when Buff, Al and Lo were still very young.”

Wings stretched out on the grass. “So where are they now? Why aren’t they with you?”

“Well, they’re-” I stopped. Should I tell her? I took a quick glance around for unwanted eavesdroppers.

Wings had noticed that my sentence was incomplete. “They’re what? Running a nudie show in Tenpony tower?”

Wow that’s an image. I looked around. Nobody seemed to be paying us undue attention. I can tell Wings. I mean she already knows I’m Red Ice and she hasn’t turned me in to the Plottawa slavers. I should be fine. I can trust her.

I took a deep breath. “They’re back home...”

Here we go. “...in Stable 61.”

Instantly recognition dawned on Wings’ face. “HOLY SHIT!” She rolled onto her back and began belting out laughter. “AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! No wonder you’re crazy!”

I frantically tried to shush her. Even here, the wrong ear could be listening in. “Wings! Come on, keep it down!”

She was shaking her head in mock disbelief. “A Stable pony! Of course you’re a Stable pony. It all makes sense now. Who else would be crazy enough to trot into Plottawa by themselves and pick a fight with the snatcher boss?”

“Wings, seriously!”

Still chuckling, she picked herself up and gave me a wan smile. “Eheh sorry. This really puts you in a different light though. A Stable pony Unicorn with three buffalo brothers. You couldn’t make this stuff up.”

Well I’m glad she’s enjoying herself but I’d best be sure. “So what light does it put me in then?” I really didn’t want to fight her if she decided that I was worth more as merchandise.

She lazily waved a wing. “Oh lighten up. Nothing’s gonna change except now I might have more questions. Who’d have thought I’d have my life saved, and claw puked on, by a Stable pony?”

I blushed. I’d forgotten about that. “I’ve gotten better about that.”

Wings shot a smirk in the direction of the pie contest. “Apparently.”

We both chuckled at that.

I relaxed. The tension had passed. I felt relatively sure that Wings wasn’t sizing me up for cash value. Considering her aim that was a very good thing. “So...still friends?”

It was shocking how quickly the griffon sobered at that. It was just as quickly covered. “Uh sure. Yeah. Still friends.”

I had no doubt I was grinning like a fool at that moment. That grin grew into a joyous smile as the Unicorns began setting off fireworks. Enraptured, Wings and I watched in silence.

~~~~~~

“Which side do you want?”

It was far into the night when the party finally began to wind down and the tired festival-goers began trudging towards the accommodation buildings on the perimeter. Wings and I only just managed to snag a place to stay but there was only one bed. Luckily Wings wasn’t the biggest griffon and I wasn’t a buffalo like my brothers. We’d both just about fit.

My chocolate-and-cream friend flopped down on the bed in response. I shrugged and took the free space. I found I could barely keep my eyes open. “Huah! G’night Wings.”

A grunt was all I got in return.

I pulled the covers up to my chin. Before I went to sleep I wanted to say one more thing though. I was riding a pretty good feeling today and wanted to share it. “Wings?”

“...”

“Thanks for being a friend.”

“...”

I dropped my voice to a whisper, not wanting to wake the griffon if she was already asleep. “G’night Wings.”

“...s’not my name.”

“What’s that?”

The Griffon didn’t turn over to face me but her shoulders bunched up a little. “My name isn’t Wings.”

“Then what’s your name?”

“...ZZZZZZ”

I left her to her fake snoring and looked up at the ceiling. That was certainly a way to stave off sleep...at least for a little while. My eyes were already getting heavy again.

The rest can wait. Glad you told me though. G’night Wings.

~~~~~~

The next morning the fun was over. Wings still had work to do and I still had to find Bosco and Naiara. I gave her the contact code for my Pipbuck and then we each left Vanchoofer, she by air and me by land.

I managed to get away from Vanchoofer without running into the feral Raider colt again. I took a wide path that kept me a safe distance from Plottawa and pointed me towards Grindstone. Of all the locations I had at my disposal this was the only one I hadn’t checked. Well aside from Plottawa but I wasn’t going back there any time soon.

A day passed uneventfully. The morning after, however... “Snowflake, wake up!”

“Whzzt?” I cracked an eyelid open and instantly regretted it as the rising sun hit me straight in the brain. I blinked through the spots but still couldn’t see the speaker.

“Come on, I can’t stay forever.” The voice was tinny and unnatural.

Ah. “Watcher? Is that you?”

“Yeah it’s me. Hurry and wake up. I don’t know how long the connection’ll last.”

“What’s wrong? Did something happen? Did you see Bosco again?”

“The colt? No. I just thought you might want to finish the conversation we had from before.”

Honestly it’d slipped my mind. It took me a while to remember what we’d discussed. “Oh! Oookay. You said something about...a Princess?”

Watcher began as I readied myself for travel. “Yes. You see I took an interest in you because of your Stable.”

I found the Grindstone heading on my Pipbuck and began walking. The bot followed. “My Stable?”

“Yes. Stable 61 is the only Stable-Tec enclosure for miles around. It’s the northernmost Stable in all of Equestria.”

I thought back to what Facemask said: “We’re the place where the road ends an’ all. You reach this li’l town and ya only got two choices: Settle in or turn around. Ain’t nuthin’ out here but us.”

The only thing further north than Cefar is the Stable. “Is that important?”

Watcher’s voice became more animated. “Heck yes it’s important! Listen, do you know what was here before the war began? Before the world ended?”

I really should. We had plenty of history books in the Stable. It’d been years since I’d picked one up though. Stable 61’s anti-Old Equestria sentiment tended to discourage it. “Uh...a spice farm?”

The bot leaned slightly in a fair facsimile of confusion. “A what? No! I’m talking about the Crystal Kingdom.”

Ohhh. “Um...what about it?”

Watcher wasn’t impressed. “I’ll tell you. The Crystal Kingdom used to be the Crystal Empire. More than a thousand years before the Great War began a powerful Unicorn king ruled there. His name was Sombra. You’d be hard-pressed to find a more powerful magic wielder.”

And I can still barely whip up a cold shock for a would-be rapist. “Hooray for Sombra.”

Watcher grunted. “If you’d met him you wouldn’t say that.”

I started at that. “You sound like you have. You were alive over a thousand years ago?”

“NO-look let me finish. The Crystal Empire was ruled by Sombra 1000 years ago but he was a tyrant. The Crystal ponies feared him. He stole and hid the mystical treasure of the Empire, the Crystal Heart. Not only that but he used its power to seal the Empire away for 1000 years. It literally disappeared off the face of Equestria.”

“One Unicorn did that? Sombra was that powerful?”

“No, not on his own. Don’t get me wrong he was still a grave threat even to Celestia but for what he did he needed the Crystal Heart. 1000 years later the Empire returned and 8 brave ponies banded together to defeat Sombra and free the Crystal ponies from his grasp.”

“I take it they were all powerful Unicorns too?”

A static-y chuckle was the response. “Actually no. Only three were Unicorns. What make these 8 ponies special was the abilities unique to them. I guess...I guess you’d call 6 of them the Ministry Mares now.”

My jaw couldn’t get any lower. “Them?” I sputtered. “They saved an entire Kingdom?”

Watcher really was enjoying himself now. “Believe it or not they’re not the most important ponies here.”

“More important than the leaders of the 6 most powerful organisations in Equestria’s history?”

This was scoffed at. “Equestria has a long history, and the Ministries are were not the most powerful anything. They were just mistakes. No, the other two ponies are the important ones. You know about Twilight Sparkle? Head of the Ministry of Magic and personal student to Princess Celestia?”

“I knew some of that.” I lamely responded.

“Well the 3rd Unicorn was special too. Captain of the Royal Canterlot Guard, older brother to Twilight Sparkle and future Prince of the Crystal Kingdom: Shining Armour.”

“WHAT?! Shining Armour was a Prince? And he was Twilight Sparkle’s brother?!”

“Their parents were very proud.” The deadpan response did not help.

“Wait. Why wasn’t he a king if he ruled the Crystal KINGdom?”

“Well they called it that but technically it was a Princessdom.”

Finally! “And the Princess you mentioned...”

“Yes. Shining Armour was her husband. She was the 8th pony. Not Earth, Pegasus OR Unicorn. She was Princess Mi Amore Cadenza...an Alicorn.”

“A what?”

“Horns. Wings. Leagues above all but a few extraordinary Unicorns in power. Alicorns are the type of pony we class Celestia and Luna as.”

“The Princesses? So this Mi Amo-...Mi Amore-...”

“Cadence to her friends. Yes. She, like her Aunts Celestia and Luna before her, had both wings AND a horn.”

“And she and Shining Armour became the rulers of the Crystal Kingdom after defeating Sombra?”

“Yes.”

“And you thought I was her?” Is he serious with that?

Watcher’s reply was bashful and a little melancholy. “More like hoped, honestly.”

“Why?”

“I DON’T KNOW ALRIGHT! I’M GRASPING AT STRAWS HERE!”

The outburst was as shocking as it was sudden. “Watcher?”

Heavy breathing was the only sound from the bot for several seconds. Finally his voice returned. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to snap like that. It’s just...Cadence could have helped so much. Nobody knew what happened to her or Shining Armour.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well when the fighting started the Crystal Kingdom was too far to maintain an effective defense. Their soldiers weren’t enough to stop a full attack but they were too far from the rest of Equestria to get help in a hurry. It was a bad situation. The power of the Crystal Heart could not fall into Zebra hooves. It would have been disastrous.”

They already made megaspells without it. It’s hard to think of anything worse than that.

“Cadence and Shining Armour knew this but they also cared deeply about their subjects. After a dozen raids by Zebra forces the Kingdom’s defenses were heavily depleted. Soon they got word of a massive incoming attack. They wouldn’t hold against it and help wouldn’t arrive quickly enough. That was when they made the hardest decision they would ever make.”

I was all ears. This was terrible but at the same time I yearned to hear more. “What did they do?”

A heavy sigh came through the speakers. “The only thing they could do. They used the Heart and recreated Sombra’s spell. The Crystal Kingdom was sealed away just as the Crystal Empire was. Only the two of them remained.”

Watcher managed a giggle here. “Cadence was pissed too. She wanted to seal Shining Armour away with the Kingdom since he was a Unicorn, and wouldn’t live nearly as long as her. He wouldn’t hear of it.”

That’s...that’s heartwarming...and heartbreaking. “Then what happened?”

“Well the Zebra forces arrived and found nothing there. Where the Kingdom had been there was nothing but frozen tundra. The Kingdom will return when the seal breaks though hell if anypony knows when that’ll be.”

“...The Prince and Princess?”

“Gone. The Crystal Heart too. There was no trace of any of them after that day.”

“What does it mean?”

A noncommittal sound was heard. “Couldn’t tell you. I’d hoped Cadence might have been in your Stable.”

This sucks. “I never saw any Alicorns in my time there.”

Wacher moaned low. “Ughhh. I didn’t think so. I had to try though.”

I never saw any ponies with a horn and wings in the Stable. She could have hidden one or the other but how would I have known it was her even then? I don’t know what she looked like.

“What else can you tell me about her? What did she look like?”

Watcher’s voice was void of emotion. “What does it matter? She’s not there. Probably gone like the rest.”

“Please, Watcher?”

A distinctly unimpressed air was emanating from my companion. A list of characteristics were delivered monotonously in list form. “Pink. Pink fur and multi-shade pink mane. Tall for a mare. Used Love Magic.”

The barest glimmer of remembrance appeared in my mind but disappeared the moment I tried to focus on it. It was gone so quickly that I wasn’t even sure it had been there at all. “I’m sorry, Watcher. I didn’t see anybody who could fit that description.”

“Don’t worry about it Snowflake. Thanks for listening anyway.”

“Is there anything else I can do?”

“Make some friends? Not much more than that unfortunately. Listen I’m gonna sign off for now. I need to think.”

“A-alright. Take care, Watcher.”

“You too.”

Then he was gone and the music started up again. The bot began floating away as I continued on alone to Grindstone.

~~~~~~

Chapter 5-2: Blink And You'll Miss 'Em

Chapter 5-2: Blink And You’ll Miss ‘Em

I decided against stopping in at Sprinkles Supplies again. They still had a business to run and I didn’t want to disturb them.

As I walked I considered the events of the past few days. I’d gotten halfway to Grindstone for Lexi before being poisoned and taken to Neighlway. I was about an hour away from there now.

Caramel and Sassaflash deserved better.

After that I’d spoken to Lexi again and headed to Vanchoofer to find Bosco.

Instead I found not-Wings. I really want to find out what her name is now. I was just now realised exactly how much I’d told her in comparison to what she’d told me. I’d trusted her then and would have to trust her now.

“RED ICE!” The familiar but not terribly welcome voice put a halt to my retrospection. I glanced up just as the Pegasus slammed down before me.

Her on the other hand... “Aqua Breeze. Been a while since I saw your face rather than your tail heading the other w-”

“WHERE IS SHE?!” Hoarse yelling was not something I was willing to take from her.

“Who is she?” I shot back.

“Cassie! Where is my sister?”

What? “How should I know? Last time I saw you two, I was frozen on the ground, and you both were flying away as fast as you could.”

Breeze’s armoured hoof stomped the ground. “You’re lying!”

I waved my hoof. “Look around us. Do you see her here?” I made a calming gesture. “Take it easy and tell me what hap-”

I spotted Breeze’s indicator on my Pipbuck.

It was red.

Ugh. Crap.

This thought was compounded by the fact that the Pegasus was already mid-pounce.

We went down in a heap. It was a far cry from the gadget user in her last fight. This was messy, desperate, furious brawling. In a way I was glad. I didn’t think I could take Breeze if she was collected but like this she was simply trying to bite and kick and pummel me into giving up her sister’s location. Even if I did know that this style was clearly not her forte.

Still...I don’t want to fight her.

Breeze did not share this compunction. Locked as we were I couldn’t get to my Power Hooves. Lucky for me Breeze hadn’t deployed her hidden blade yet but her mindless attacks wouldn’t last forever. As soon as she realised that she could use it I’d be royally screwed if I was still this close.

“Tell me where you took Cassie!” Breeze growled as I held my foreleg under her chin and pushed back. Her wings were flapping hard, forcing her down onto me. I was losing strength and wouldn’t last if this kept up.

“Stop it Breeze! I don’t want to fight you and I DON’T KNOW WHERE SHE IS!” With a massive effort I got a hoof into her stomach and bucked as hard as I can. Breeze went falling back. Hitting the ground with the wind escaping her lungs in one big exhalation. She remained prone for a moment, gagging and coughing. I took the opportunity to roll backwards onto my shaking hooves.

“Breeze I’m telling the truth. I really don’t know where Cassie is.”

The Pegasus was dragging herself upright. “You’re...you’re the only one who knew where we were...” she wheezed,
“If not you...who else is there? I already tried the guards at Sprinkles Supplies.”

“That’s...not unreasonable thinking but I really don’t know where she is. I can help you find her if you’d like.” This would delay my search for Bosco but I really didn’t need this psychotic flier chasing me all the time. Plus it could potentially mean another...well maybe not friend but another not-an-enemy-anymore. Her AND her sister.

Breeze let out a rough cough. Looking at her now it was clear that she wasn’t at her best. Her blue-&-white mane was unkempt and she had bags under her eyes. her aqua coat was looking pretty haggard too.

She must’ve run herself ragged trying to find her sister.

Try as I might I couldn’t help myself feeling sorry for her. It also forced me to think a terrifying thought. Are my brothers going through this? Did they turn the Stable upside down looking for me?

Close on the heels of that thought was a crushing shame that it had taken me this long to realise this might be the case. Breeze had been away from her sister for a few days. I was two weeks removed from the Stable. Two weeks and I hadn’t found the time to be worried about my brothers. Breeze didn’t even have the knowledge that her sibling was safe inside the Stable like I did.

All my indignation was draining away. I found I couldn’t see Aqua Breeze as an enemy anymore. All I could see was a girl my age who was lonely and afraid and sick with worry about her family. “I’m really sorry, Breeze. You’re a better sister than I am.”

This was not the right thing to say. Breeze still had plenty of hate for me. “Of course I am, you bitch! I don’t take a pony’s sister away from them!”

She flung out her forelegs and four familiar spears. They stuck in the ground on either side of me and began crackling. I wasn’t completely stuck like last time but I couldn’t move on either side. I could only go backwards or forwards.

Frantically I looked for a way out. “Breeze don’t do this!”

She just smirked. It held no trace of warmth. “You know what I want.”

She raised her bracer. I recognised the same crystal weapon I’d fueled when we fought the hissyflits. Apparently she’d gotten it recharged.

I’m fucked.

Her face morphed into a mask of hate and she loosed an incoherent scream as a torrent of magic poured out of greave. A mighty telekinetic wave roared forth. It tore up the ground and flung a wall of debris straight at me. I threw up my hooves as the vortex of magic and matter slammed into me. The pain was instant and immense. I couldn’t even cry out. Bloody gashes burst along my body and stars exploded before my eyes as my head and horn were struck again and again. I finally slammed down a hundred meters away. I lay quivering and fetal. The pain was too much to pick myself up.

A voice came from outside my eyelids. “Now give me what I need.”

I didn’t answer. Someone else did. Someone whose voice moved me to tears. “Oh I’ll give you something.”

It took more than a little willpower but I finally cracked an eye open. A vicious scene was playing out before me.

Naiara was taking Breeze apart. It wasn’t even a fight anymore. The Pegasus would try to get some distance and the Zebra would be on her before she could get airborne. Breeze couldn’t keep up with Naiara’s speed either. She’d try to get her with her blade and be effortlessly danced around. I’d never seen a more graceful fighting style. Peanut might’ve been the better fighter but Naiara outclassed him in style. Breeze simply didn’t stand a chance.

It was over quickly with Breeze in much the same shape I was. Naiara bound and immobilised her before rushing over to me. “Roga nimbala, svara?”

“I think so.” I croaked as she eased me into a sitting position. “How’s Breeze?”

“The Pegasus? Hurting. Like she should be. Want me to finish her?” Naiara’s voice was colder than I’d heard from her before.

“N-no. She’s not to blame. Not really. We’ll fix me up then fix her up.”

My Zebra friend looked at my incredulously. “You’re not serious? Snowflake she just tried to kill you!”

“I...know but she...had a...reason.” The pain was still intense and I felt faint.

Naiara excused herself momentarily before returning with the pack I’d left behind before infiltrating Plottawa. It was still chock-full of the medical supplies from Hoofshine. “Thought you might want this back.”

“You’re a lifesaver, Naiara,” I began sucking down a healing potion. Feeling it instantly go to work on my insides. I winced as I felt a twinge, “...perhaps literally. Well, heh, it wouldn’t be the first time.”

Naiara fussed over me as I drank. “Take it slow now. Little by little.”

I just nodded and looked over at Breeze. She hadn’t moved and just lay there softly moaning. I was still far from 100% but when I was strong enough to move we turned our attentions to her. Still-bound, we nearly had to force-feed her a healing potion. “Now can you promise not to kill me long enough to talk to me?”

The cyan Pegasus looked away. “What’s there to say? You’re not going to tell me where Cassie is.”

“Because. I. Don’t. Know. The best I can do is offer you my help to find her. Do you want my help?”

She still didn’t look at me. “Why would you help me? The stripe is right. I tried to kill you. Twice.”

“Twice?!” Echoed Naiara. She gave me another ‘are you crazy?’ look.

I attempted to give her a ‘probably’ look in return. “Yes and I’m willing to forgive both of those occurrences IF you agree not to kill me at any point in the future. You or your sister. Who I will help you find.”

Suspicion still ruled Breeze’s posture. “Why would you do this for us?”

I shrugged. “Probably because you just said ‘us’ rather than ‘me’. I know what it’s like to be away from your family. Plus if you agree with my terms I doubt your sister would let you go back on it. She doesn’t seem the type.”

Tears formed in the corners of Breeze’s eyes. “She’s not.”

I smiled at her. “Good enough for me.”

I turned to my friend. “You coming, svara?”

The Zebra considered her options for a moment. “That depends. Where are we going?”

“Well since he’s obviously not with you I’d still like to find Bosco. I was gonna head to Grindstone. Aside from Plottawa it’s the only place I know how to find that I haven’t been to yet. Since that was the delivery destination of the caraven we all guarded we might find Cassie there too.”

Naiara chuckled. “Yeah we’re not going back to Plottawa.”

Breeze was watching the two of us guardedly. “You were there too, stripe? Here I thought Red Ice went by herself.”

I rounded on the Pegasus. “If you want my help to find your sister then you will not call her that ever again!”

Breeze ‘tch’ed. “Why the hell not?”

“Because it’s offensive. She has a name. If she deigns to tell you what it is then you’ll address by that name as you would anybody else. If not then you either be respectful or I’ll gag you.”

Naiara was having trouble holding in her laughter at this. “Wow. You tell her, svara.”

She gave an aside glance at Breeze. “My name’s Naiara. Who might you be?”

“...Aqua Breeze.”

Naiara was all smiles. “Pleased to meet you.”

Hell, she’s already proved she can take her.

“And I’m Snowflake. If you both don’t mind I prefer that over Red Ice. Now if you’re both up to walking can we set off?”

“Oh I don’t know, Snow. I think her face may have bruised my hooves a little.”

“Naiara...”

“Oh fine.”

Breeze got up. “I can move. Let’s just go already.”

We set off. I had the location in my Pipbuck so I took the lead. Behind me I heard my two companions sniping at each other.

“I coulda taken you easy if you hadn’t suckerpunched me.”

“Try hurting my friend again and I’ll end you before you hit the ground. She may be giving you the benefit of the doubt but I’m still watching you.”

Oh yeah, we’re totally all friends here.

~~~~~~

We arrived at Grindstone well past midnight. The Buffalo guards weren’t particularly pleased to get visitors that late and refused to let us in. They changed their tune when I headbutted the both of them.

There was a small guesthouse made available to us by too many caps changing hooves. The space was crowded and full of junk. Obviously it doubled as storage. Grindstone was hardly a big city. The Buffalo didn’t exactly encourage visitors. Trade caravans were about the only ponies who came out this far. We were all pretty exhausted so we decided to crash for tonight and ask around tomorrow.

As we were readying for bed Naiara decided to have some ‘fun’. “So Breeze...exactly how did you get our dear Snowflake in such a bad state? As far as I can tell you’re not enough at her level in hoof-fighting and that’s saying something.”

I mock-growled. “Unten, svara. No, Breeze is no brawler but she’s got some amazing gizmos. Apparently they’re her own design. Trust me when I say you don’t want to be on the receiving end of her...”

I frowned and turned to the grumpy Pegasus. “Do you have a name for the magic gauntlet? You named the Shock Lock. How about that one?”

“...It’s my Spell Shooter.”

“Right. Her ‘Spell Shooter’ packs a real punch. I’ve even had the honour of providing the ammunition before too.”

Naiara was looking back and forth between the two of us. “Okay I’m confused. Are you two enemies or allies?”

To my surprise it was Breeze who answered first. “When we first met we weren’t friends. My sister and I were bored and looking for something interesting. We met Red Ice out in the canyon and...I guess things got out of hoof.”

“Her sister Cassie shot me clear through the hoof.”

“I wondered what that scar was.”

Breeze yawned before continuing. “Well after that we met again the next day. We were all hired as freelance guards for a caravan heading to here. We got into a rumble with some Hissyflits...”

“I’ll tell you later.” I assured Naiara upon seeing her clueless expression.

“...and then the Steel Rangers took Snowflake to Neighlway. Cassie and I took off but we got separated when a freak snowstorm kicked up. I’ve been looking for her since.”

The Zebra seemed to barely hear the last part. She was looking at me with open worry in her eyes. “The Rangers got a hold of you? Are you okay? Did they do anything to you?”

“Not much. Cured the Hissyflit poison then ‘asked’ me to watch some Memory Orbs. All their Unicorns were out tangling with Plottawa slavers, our fault by the way, so I was the only choice. After that they gave me some supplies and kicked me out.”

Naiara shook her head definitively. “Don’t...don’t go near them anymore. They’re bad news.”

Don’t I know it. I’ll tell you the rest as soon as I can.

Another yawn escaped Breeze’s lips and she slumped back against the wall. The Pegasus fought off sleep just long enough to raise her head and look me right in the eyes. “Listen Red-...I mean Snowflake. I’m...sorry about before. I don’t think you’d go to all this trouble if you had taken Cassie. I appreciate your help in finding her.”

My heart warmed at her words but she just couldn’t resist hedging her bets with a followup as her eyes were closing.
“But if you were the one who took my sister I’ll...” She didn’t quite manage to finish before sleep took her. I was pretty sure I got the gist of it though.

Naiara seemed halfway between amused and annoyed. “Charming girl.” Then she too rolled over and left the conversation.

I took a moment to double check that Breeze’s gadgets were safe with me. Naiara had insisted. A prudent move even if it detracted from the trust angle.

They’ll both come around. Watcher’s gonna be happy the next time we talk. I hope Bosco’s back by then. It’d be nice if we could all be getting along. Me, Naiara, Breeze, Bosco, Cassie, Schwarzwald...

...Wings.

Just who are you, Wings?

~~~~~~

The three of us awoke feeling rested and much healthier. Breeze and I still weren’t all the way back but we wouldn’t slow anybody down unless things got rough.

We strolled around the various clan compounds that comprised Grindstone’s community asking each in turn about our two missing ponies. As we went Naiara and I got caught up. “So what happened after I blacked out in Peanut’s office?”

She smirked. “You mean when you stuck him to his desk? I wanted to finish him but he tripped a silent alarm and we had to vacate fast. We got dressed in the slaver gear again and dragged you out of there. Anypony we passed just assumed you’d been attacked by the intruders. We were half-a-mile away before the non-silent alarms sounded. I had Bosco keep going with you while I doubled back and bought you some time. Took a few more out quiet-like.”

More dead ponies on my conscience. Yay. “...Thanks, Naiara. I know we got back to Lethbridle okay since I woke up there. After you dropped me at the jail where did the two of you go?”

Naiara had a hint of shiftiness about her for the next part. “Well I’m fine with travelling light but Bosco wanted our buried gear back. Said it was important. I’d left my package from Nightcap there too so I agreed to go back with him and get the stuff. We got TO it with no trouble but...well...Bosco tries but he is not a graceful colt. We got found out by a slaver patrol. Managed to fight ‘em off but by then the game was up. We were ducking and dodging them for 2 days before we were close enough for a mad dash back to Lethbridle. O’ course by then you were up and off on your adventures.”

She chuckled. “Bosco sure had you pegged. He said you’d be trying to get chummy with the entire Wasteland. You’re not quite there yet but you’re still travelling with a pony who’s tried to kill you twice. Anyway we each had a few notions of where to look for you so we split up. If all else failed the final option was to meet back in Lethbridle a week later. That was 5 days ago.”

Breeze chose this moment to speak up. The lack of success in Grindstone was rapidly eroding her mood. “So you’ve just to wait 2 days for your coltfriend. Great. Let’s focus on the bigger issue: Finding my sister!”

Naiara and I exchanged glances. I nodded. “She’s got a point. Bosco should be able to take care of himself. If we hear anything about him before that then great! But for now let’s find Cassie.”

Naiara just shrugged. “Awright. What does Cassie even look like? She a Pegasus too?”

“Yeah. She actually looks pretty similar to Breeze. Her hair’s different though. Instead of blue and white it’s red and black. Her Cutie Mark is stars and she’s more polite than Breeze.”

“Hey!”

“Suck it up. It’s true.”

Breeze pouted. “Still, cheap shot.”

We walked in silence until we reached the next camp. It turned out to be another bust. Breeze didn’t complain though. It seemed like knowing we were focusing just on Cassie had her motivated. We let her take the lead. I brought up a nagging issue with Naiara. “Hey, svara. Yesterday you asked where we were going before you agreed to come along. Why? And why did you want to go to Plottawa in the first place?”

Naiara sucked air through her teeth. “Well I can’t talk about Plottawa just yet but I’ll tell you the first part. I’m supposed to be meeting some other Zebra back east next week. The package is for them. I can’t be late.”

I put a hoof on her shoulder. “Roga nimbala? Do you want some help? You’ve done plenty for me. I’d be happy to come along and meet some more Zebra.”

She hesitated. “Mmmmmaybe. I haven’t decided yet what I’m gonna do. I’ll let you know when I do. That’s all I can tell you for now.”

I tried to reassure her with a smile. “That’s plenty. Unten.”

I got a weak grin in return. We both broke off as we heard Breeze’s raised voice. Apparently we wouldn’t have luck with this group either. “WHAT DID YOU SAY?!”

“I said you’d best leave now, Pegasus.” Retorted a heavy voice. Concerned, Naiara and I headed over. Breeze was surrounded by a half-dozen Buffalo. None of whom looked happy. All of them wore strange contraptions that were fixed around their waists. They looked like reinforced belts and were brimming with guns. This was serious.

“Breeze, what’s going on?” I didn’t like this. She was outnumbered and dwarfed by the bovines. Each one was full-grown too and would outmass even Buff.

The Pegasus huffed but didn’t turn away from the glare-down she was having with the speaker. The Buffalo had a mud-brown coat and was clearly the leader. The only creatures I’d seen bigger than him were Chief Rockhaunch and the Molar Bear. “I was asking about my sister when all of sudden these hornheads show up and started threatening me!”

The Buffalo’s front hoof dug at the ground irritably. “You shouldn’t even be here at all! Ponies bring nothing but trouble. We Buffalo aren’t interested in being dragged into YOUR problems!”

Naiara was evidently unimpressed by the posturing. She gave a terse laugh. “It took six of you to tell us that?”

A rumbling growl emerged from the Buffalo’s throat. “You’d best watch your tone, stripe. You’re no more welcome here than they are. We all know what your kind did 200 years ago. You gonna bomb us too?”

This brought chuckles from his cohorts. “You tell her Crush!”

“Damn stripes always causin’ trouble.”

“Yeah! Hurhurhur.”

Crush was seemingly bolstered by his friends’ heckling and took a menacing step forwards. “Leave Grindstone by tonight or there’ll be trouble. Take your stripe with you, Pegasus!”

The 5 goons began walking away between the tents. Crush stopped besides me. “Got something to say, one-horn?”

I couldn’t decide whether I felt angry at him or bad for him. “Only that I think Rockhaunch is a better Buffalo than you’ll ever be.”

His nostrils flared at the name. “You would.” He snarled before trotting after his friends.

He hadn’t gotten very far before a new Buffalo came running up. “Crush! Crush! More ponies at the border camp!”

“Ugh. Let one get in and they all show up. Worse than fucking Hissyflits!” He shot a disgusted look back at us before charging off.

Breeze was already moving. “Come on! We can ask these ponies if they’ve seen Cassie!”

“Alright just wait for us.” Naiara and I followed.

“Breeze!” I called out. “Don’t get your hopes up. It might just be another trade caravan.”

“Yeah yeah I know.” Her reply was distracted. She obviously hadn’t listened as she sped up. I tried to keep up but was slowed by my injuries. Breeze either healed faster than I did or was pushing herself too hard.

“Naiara go with her, I’ll catch up.”

The Zebra nodded and bounded after the gadgeteer. “Hey blue, wait up!”

I slowed to an easy walk. Exactly what are the chances these ponies will know anything about Cassiopeia Venatici? I know Pegasi are gonna be noticed more easily than other ponies but according to Breeze and her sister there are hardly any of them left down here. I bet some ‘dirt ponies’ could go their whole lives without seeing one. Hell I only saw one because I was the loudest thing in the valley and she has super-hearing. I only saw two because she has a sister. We really might have to go meet up with Bosco before we can find Cassie. I can’t wait to have that conversation with Breeze.

As I walked an increasing number of Buffalo were heading the other way. None of them looked happy and many looked downright scared.

What scares Buffalo in their own home? A Molar Bear attack?

As I neared the gate the sounds of commotion grew louder. There was an argument going on but I couldn’t make out the specifics.

“Snowflake! Get Back!” Naiara spoke in barely a hiss. I glanced around but couldn’t see her. Then a striped hoof popped out from behind a rain barrel and urgently waved.

“Naiara? Wha-”

Her head appeared next and her pupils were shrunken in fear. “Get out of sight! Hurry!”

Confused, I ducked inside an empty tent. I spotted a cobalt pupil looking out near Naiara’s jade eyes so I knew Breeze was with her.

What’s got you so spooked, Naiara? I checked my Pipbuck indicator. Two blues indicated the others but the rest of the screen was full of yellow indicators. They were split into two distinct groups. Both were pretty large. The closest group was probably the Buffalo while the farther one would be the ponies. Each time one person moved a dot from the other group would move to match. The Buffalo had a slight edge in numbers but if things got bad then a lot of damage would be done before it was over.

“WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT HERE PONIES?!” Crash was not subtle in expressing his displeasure.

Oh crap. If he’s there then the ponies will be in real danger! I have to try and help them. I lifted the tent flap and darted out towards the confrontation.

“Snow, don’t!” It almost sounded like Naiara was pleading.

I have to help them, Naiara. I weaved through a few tents before finally emerging in the clearing. Both groups whipped their heads...and guns around to point at me. The Buffalo were annoyed. The ponies...

...were wearing Plottawa uniforms.

OHSHITSHITSHIT!!!!

“IT’S HER! OPEN FIRE!”

I turned and ran as a hail of bullets shot under, over, and past me. Blood spurted from my flesh as half a dozen grazed me. There was a momentary lull as the Buffalo opened fire on the slavers to protect their home but I didn’t stop running. I had to get away.

“Red Ice is getting away! After her! Take her alive if you can!”

Nononononono! I can’t be caught! I can’t be a slave!

I couldn’t spare the time to give a proper look but from the corner of my eye I could see flashes as my Pipbuck jerked back and forth.

Every icon was red.

Breeze? Naiara?

They’d vanished. I didn’t know what that meant. I feared the worst. Even so I couldn’t stop. The slavers were closing in behind me. Every few seconds a new burst of gunfire would strike my surroundings. I had no choice but to keep ducking and weaving between the tents and storehouses. They were so fast!

Or maybe I was just getting slower. I still wasn’t fully healed from my fight with Breeze and I was running on pure adrenaline at this point. I couldn’t last. I needed a way out!

“FREEZE!” Two slavers jumped out and blocked my path.

“You’re coming with us, Red Ice. Peanut wants a word.”

No! I didn’t even have my Power Hooves! They’d pump me full of bullets if I even tried to use magic.

It was over.

Thud. A metal ball hit the ground behind the two slavers as they closed in with restraints. My eyes went wide. They noticed. One glanced behind them as the other kept their rifle trained on me.

“DOWN!” Naiara jumped on me and pushed me to the ground just as the grenade went off. The heat was intense. Luckily it passed after a moment. We both lay still as the world smoked around us.

“GET THE FUCK UP! MORE ARE COMING!”

Breeze’s yell snapped us both out of it and we scrambled to our hooves. Two charred heaps remained of the slaver pair. We jumped over the small crater left by the grenade and kept moving away from the red icons. Breeze swooped in low and stayed with us. “Keep going this way. There’s some uneven terrain not far from here and it’s starting to snow. We can lose them.”

I vehemently shook my head. “No! Get out of here both of you! They can’t see you with me! If they do they’ll come after you too!”

Naiara scoffed grimly. “I was there too, remember? They’re already after me.”

“You had makeup on! They thought you were a pony!”

“Yeah? Well now they don’t. I’m staying!”

I’d be touched by that if it wasn’t suicidal.

“Fine then. Breeze you can still get away!”

“Not fast enough to avoid being seen by somepony. Fliers are too rare in these parts. They’ll put two and two together.”

No! This can’t be happening again! I can’t ruin any more lives! “I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry.” I sobbed at the injustice of it all. More and more people were getting trapped in the Red Ice.

My right foreleg gave out under me and I crashed down into the hard ground. Sharp pebbles cut into my face as I slid to a halt. Immediately I felt hooves trying to pull me up. “Come on Snow, can’t sleep here!”

My tears stained the ground. “Just leave me here. Get away while you can. They want Red Ice more than anything. They can take me if you’ll get away.”

“Of for fuck’s sake!” A blue hoof shoved something past my lips. “Eat it!”

I swallowed without thinking. Seconds later I nearly bounced off the ground. I felt like I could run for days! “What was that?!”

“Buck. It’ll keep you going. Now hurry the hell up!”

“Okay!” At least I know how she found the strength to fly.

My body felt so light as we raced across the open ground. The slavers had found out where we were going but they were hampered by the counterattacking Buffalo. Only a half dozen were coming after and we had a good headstart. Didn’t stop them from taking some long-range potshots. At least one of them was a passable shot. Naiara had lost a wrist bangle. It had been shot clear off while she ran. She’d have some painful bruises if we managed to get away.

We made it out of Grindstone and into the wild land. Small mounds of raised land and increasingly numerous trees gave us some blessed cover. Breeze had been right. The snow had started to fall heavier. It was everywhere. I couldn’t see many clouds in the sky but they always seemed to be overhead. I didn’t care if it meant a better chance that we lived longer. The 6 slavers chasing us had caught up again.

Are they on Buck too?

A barrage of hot metal rained down around us. I felt something pierce my calf and squealed. Moments later Naiara and Breeze echoed my cry. Naiara’s was the loudest. She hadn’t taken any Buck. She’d be feeling it more than either Breeze or myself. At least for now. None of us dropped though. We somehow found the strength to stumble to an incline and throw ourselves down it.

Rolling with a bullet in you is...painful. I planned on being significantly more verbose about the matter if we lived.

Given where we were when we rolled to a stop that seemed an unlikely scenario.

Oh how I wish I didn’t know what a pack of thoroughly-confused-but-soon-to-be-angry Molar Bears looked like.

We lay in the center of the clearing they’d been using as a rest site. A full-grown male was looking stunned by this new development. It has paused mid-chew with a bloody carcass hanging from its oversized teeth. Behind us a mother and her two half-size cubs were beginning to growl. They were between us and the steep slope. We effectively cornered them. We were half their size and we were cornering a mother and her babies.

“W-what are these things?!” Breeze’s voice had been drained of its Buck-fueled strength.

“Notgoodnotgoodnotgood.” I couldn’t think of anything else to say but that. One of these things had nearly killed me. Now there were four of them and one was a pissed-off Mama bear!

We are so very very dead.

Naiara made it clear that she did not accept this as the case. “COVER YOUR EYES!”

If you split time into seconds then milliseconds then split it again and again and again until you reached the smallest possible fraction of time then Breeze and I still wouldn’t have thought to argue with her even for that long. We flung our hooves into our peepers as a brilliant glow burst around us. The Molar Bears roared as the light robbed them of their sight.

“SNOW WHICH WAS HAS NO MONSTERS?”

The hell should I know? I can’t see my Pipbuck through this! I was as blind as the Molar Bears and because of it I was going to get us all killed. I couldn’t see the screen to tell me where the beasts were in this world of white. It was as useless as trying to see something on External Monitor Duty back at the Stable.

“!” THE STABLE GOGGLES!

I frantically dug in my pack to find them. Comeoncomeoncomeo-YES! I rammed them onto my face and flipped the switch to synch them up with my Pipbuck. They blocked enough light to show me what I needed. There was a gap to the left. The Molar Bears were still blinded but the Plottawans were coming up fast.

“LEFTLEFTLEFT! GO LEFT!” I didn’t wait and sprang into action. Thankfully my goggles showed two blue icons following. 6 red dots charged up to where we’d been and suddenly stopped. I heard roaring and then the 6 began moving rapidly back the way they came. They were very swiftly pursued by 4 more red dots. It didn’t take long for the two groups of red to mix. I stopped caring at that point. Whoever won would be in no shape to come after us.

We just might make it after all.

~~~~~~

“Ugh!” I coughed and near-retched. “That’s awful. What is it?”

Breeze took the bottle from me and took a swig herself before grimacing and passing it over to Naiara. “Hydra. Heals you up fast. Just don’t take more than you need. Ponies get hooked on the stuff. For emergencies only.”

I could still taste it in the back of my throat. No fear of that at least. “Are you two doing okay?”

They both nodded. Even with Buck we’d gone on far too long. We were all in dire need of a rest. We’d covered more ground in a few hours than we had all of yesterday but it finally looked like we were in the clear. There’d been no other indicators on my screen for hours. We’d changed direction halfway through. Doubling back from Southwest to North. We’d reached a frozen lake that my Pipbuck dubbed Sombra’s Shadow. I think I was the only one who got the reference. We followed the far shore until reaching a small gulley that ended in a hollow that pinged up as Crystal Point. It was secluded and out of the still-falling snow. It would do as a place to lick our wounds and plan our next move.

We’d all been shot. Hence the Hydra. It had been hell to dig the bullets out. Surgeons we were not. It shamed me that even while my ice powers were returning I remained entirely unable to perform any level of telekinesis. It all had to be done by hoof. All of our wounds were therefore very raw and sensitive after being disinfected. They were also very tender. None moreso than Naiara who’d taken a bullet in the backside.

I really REALLY hope we get a chance to think that’s funny at some point.

My calf was still stiff until the Hydra did its work and Breeze, having taken the shot in her wing, was temporarily grounded.
All in all we considered ourselves damn lucky to be alive and didn’t intend to have any contact with the rest of civilisation until we were all healed up.

“GOOOOOOOOOOOD EVENING EQUESTRIA!” We all jumped at that. The DJ had impeccable timing.

“DJ Pon3 here with some primo news for you! It’s busy busy busy up north these days folks. Reports are coming in about major dustup between the Buffalo settlement of Grindstone and a contingent of Plottawa slavers. It seems that Plottawa’s undesirable no.1 - Red Ice was spotted in the area.”

Bringing you the truth...no matter how bad it hurts.

“We’ve received no figures on the number of dead yet but it seems like the surrounding factions are taking notice. Sprinkles Supplies has halted all caravans west of Lethbridle. Founder and president Fedexi Lexi states that this is ‘for safety reasons’. Girl’s got my support on that one. Nopony wants to be running afoul of trigger-happy slavers. Not only that but Steel Ranger hangout Neighlway has issues official recall orders for ALL its Knights and Paladins. You are hearing correctly Equestria. Every single member of the Neighlway Steel Rangers is heading home. Avoid the place at all costs. Rangers don’t play nice when they feel threatened. Given the proximity to Grindstone this DJ considers it all but inevitable that Neighlway and Plottawa will be going at it in the very near future. Unfortunately for the citizens of Lethbridle they happen to sit directly between the two. If any pony in Lethbridle is listening and has distant family it might be a good idea to visit them. Whatever happens you all need to stay safe while these two groups of lunatics are on the warpath.”

The three of us looked at each other. We were all at a loss for something to say. Meanwhile DJ Pon3 continued his broadcast: “We can’t forget about the Buffalo here folks. Grindstone was attacked by the slavers and the supply lines are being disrupted. It’ll be hard times for a while. Buffalo are people too, ponies. If you can give them any help then ol’ DJ Pon3 is askin’ you to do so. If it’s safe o’ course.”

The tears started again. I was officially past being able to handle everything. People die and it keeps being my fault.

“Now then Equestria. I think we need a little cheering up after this troubling news. So here’s an old classic from the Canterlot Choir...”

I shut the recording off. I couldn’t bear to look at my friends. I just rolled over and shut my eyes. I couldn’t bear to look at anything.

~~~~~~

Chapter 5-3: Blink And You'll Miss 'Em

Chapter 5-3: Blink And You’ll Miss ‘Em

“...don’t care! I want to find my sister!”

Breeze’s harsh tones roused me from my uneasy slumber. The pain of my wound had subsided but I felt no more rested than when I finally dropped off to sleep. It had taken hours. I kept imagining Buffalo being slaughtered by slavers. It was no great leap for those Buffalo to become Buff, Al, Lo, Chief Rockhaunch and Deputy Dent.

In my mind I watched them die over and over again.

“You can’t leave her like this!” Naiara’s disapproving retort was no softer.

“The hell I can’t! It’s because of her I got shot in the first place!”

“Don’t say that!” Hissed the Zebra. “Come on, she’s right there! What if she heard you?”

I did. Can’t exactly disagree either. I lay with my back to them. I didn’t know whether I wanted them to know I was awake yet.

“Look, Naiara. Snowflake isn’t a bad pony. I thought she was but she’s not. If anything she’s as far from it as she can get. But I didn’t come with you two to be pals. I came to find Cassie. She wasn’t at Grindstone and because of what happened there we’re now in the middle of nowhere. Cassie has no reason to be this far out. I have no reason to be this far out. There’s nothing here. Wherever my sister is it won’t be here. I’m not staying.”
There was conviction in her voice. Even if I wanted to ask her to stay she wouldn’t.

She shouldn’t.

“So then what? You’re just gonna-”

“Go.” I cut through Naiara’s scoffing with that one word. The two of them looked at me with chagrin.

“You heard us?” I was a little touched that the Pegasus still managed to sound ashamed.

Still facing away from them, I nodded. “You should go, Breeze. You’re right. All of what you just said was right. You need to find your sister and Naiara has to meet up with Bosco. You should both head back to Lethbridle. It’s the biggest place around. We know Bosco will be there tomorrow and there’s as good a chance as any that Cassie will head there too.”

“You said we-”
“You said we-”
Both of them broke off. Perhaps they weren’t comfortable to be sharing the same thought.

Now I rolled over to look at them. Instantly their faces turned to concern. What a picture I must make. “You two can help each other out. I’d like to ask that of you both. I’ll make it worth your while. Naiara, did Bosco tell you about Hoofshine Harlots?”

She shook her head. Why not, Bosco? Do you still not trust a ‘stripe’ or did you just like the idea of having your own place?

“Well I’m telling you both now. Hoofshine Harlots is a place that Bosco and I found. It’s safe and secure and fully stocked with everything you need. Consider it...a haven for whenever you need a quiet place to rest and recover. You’ll definitely like it Breeze. There’s all sorts of pre-war tech in perfect working order.”

Even with all that was going on she still displayed her enthusiasm for all things mechanical. “Really?”

“Uh-huh. It’s a half-a-day’s walk north of Lethbridle and a little ways off the path. Ask Bosco to show you if you’re having trouble. If he refuses just tell him that the password is ‘Cefar’. That way he’ll know I told you.”

Breeze’s excitement at new gear had faded and Naiara had never looked happy to begin with. She made her unease clear.
“What will you do? You’re not going to surrender to the slavers are you?” Breeze was paying close attention. Evidently the thought had crossed her mind too.

Whatever I tell them it’d better be good.

“No. I’ve got...” I hesitated. Trying to think up an excuse on the fly was harder than I thought. “...another lead to follow.” I finished lamely.

They thought so too. “No you don’t. We’ve been with you the entire time.”

“You’ve been with me for a few days tops. I’ve been out of the Stable for over two weeks now. I have other contacts to call.”

Breeze snorted derisively. “Oh yeah? What are their names?”

I did a quick mental rundown of all the souls I’d met since leaving the Stable and realised that the ones I felt closest to were Wings, Bosco, Lexi and Watcher. I only knew half of their names. “...Watcher...Wings.”

Even in my sorry state I wasn’t fond of the pitying looks they gave me.

“WHAT?” I challenged. “Watcher’s a stallion and Wings is a girl. I can reach both through my Pipbuck.” I thrust the device at them as an attempt at proof.

The calculating look in the Pegasus’ eye reminded me that I’d not actually told her what the gadget was until now.

The jade-green eyes of my Zebra svara were not so preoccupied. “Snowflake...I really think you should come with us.”

Aqua Breeze agreed with her. “She’s right. No good comes of us leaving you alone.”

WHY WON’T YOU STUPID FILLIES LET ME KEEP YOU SAFE?!?! Seriously. It was pretty aggravating.

“You’re not staying with me. I’ll give you the code to contact me through the Pipbuck but then you’re leaving. Wings and Watcher are pretty private. They won’t meet with me if I’ve got company.”

A look passed between the two. If I had to make a guess I’d say it was along the lines of: “Just how long is she planning on keeping this charade up?”

Fine. I’d stop being nice about it. “If you don’t leave now I swear I’ll freeze the both of you and call Plottawa myself. I’m sure they’d love to get a couple of exotics like you two for sale.”

“SNOWFLAKE!”
“RED ICE!”

My horn began to glow. “You have until the count of three. One...”

Breeze began laughing nervously. “Come on Red Ice. You couldn’t take one of us let alone both.”

I fixed her with a steely gaze. “I’m gonna try. And keep trying until I do it. Two...”

I looked back and forth between the two. I dared them to call my bluff.

Naiara threw up her hooves. “Alright! Alright! You win.”

I couldn’t believe it. Neither could Breeze. “WHAT?!”

Naiara shot a ‘shut up’ look at her. “It’s okay. Snow, give us the code to contact your Pipbuck. We’ll leave after that.”

It...it worked? “R-right. The code.” I displayed it on the screen and held it up for them to see. It was actually going to work.

Nobody spoke after that point. An incredibly uncomfortable silence descended as my two soon-to-be-former companions gathered their things and, pausing briefly at the mouth of the hollow to look uncertainly back at me, left.

I waited the long lonely minutes until their heartbreakingly-blue icons were out of range. Then I activated my Pipbuck’s transmitter.

“Watcher? Are you there? I’m at Crystal Point. Can we talk?”

~~~~~~

“ARE YOU NUTS?!”

I turned towards the cave mouth just in time to get a faceful of bot. “Oww! Right in the horn!”

The bot righted itself after the collision and got in my face again. “Suck it up. What were you thinking with that open broadcast? This isn’t a game where you can call me for a chat whenever you like, Snowflake! Lives are at stake!”

“I know, Watcher.”

“And you’re still alone! I told you to make some friends. Staying by yourself won’t keep you safe, Snowflake. If you keep calling me like this then it’ll put me and a whole lot of others in danger too! There is more to this than just you or me, Snowflake!”

“I know, Watcher.”

“You don’t know the first thing about being by yourself in the Wasteland. You send out an open transmission like that and then stay in the same spot you broadcast from for hours afterwards? Why don’t you just send up a flare and save the Steel Rangers or whoever the trouble of tracking you down? You...you...YOU NEED A ROLE MODEL!”

“I know, Watcher.”

“And another thing...” The bot stopped. “...what’s wrong? You weren’t like this before.”

“...like what?” My reply was listless. I wasn’t even looking up.

“Like that! Before you had questions, worries, ideas!”

“That hasn’t changed.” My flat tone still echoed around inside the near-empty hollow.

Watcher was silent for a few seconds before responding. “Snowflake...what happened?”

I gave him a smile. I was trying to laugh at a joke that wasn’t funny. “I made some friends.”

The bot emitted a happy little chirp. “That’s great! Tell me about them.”

I was drowning in manic, self-loathing irony as I cheerfully related to him my adventures in socialising. “Well there’s Bosco but you already know about him. Then I met a Zebra! Very rare. After that came a Griffon and now a Pegasus! How lucky can one filly be?”

“What a crew.” Quipped Watcher. The bot made a slow rotation. “So where are they now?”

“Dunno,” It was getting harder to maintain my false cheer. “I sent them away.”

“What?! Why?”

I waved a hoof airily. “Oh why does anybody do anything?”

“Snowflake...”

A beeping on my wrist interrupted him.

I’m sure they would have been just lovely words of comfort, Watcher. However I simply must take this call.

I triggered the recording. “Is this thing on?”

Ah. Not-Wings. My burning-blue-eyed Griffon friend.

“Snowflake, if you can hear this...I heard about Grindstone. If you’re still somewhere relatively close then I’d like to meet up. We need to talk about something. I’m sending the location to your Pipbuck now. I’ll wait there for 24 hours. It’s important. See you there.”

“She’s smart that one, didn’t give much of anything away.”

So glad to know you approve, Watcher.

I rounded on the bot with a wide, if uneven, grin. “Well now, Watcher. I hate to be rude, but I must dash. As you heard I have an appointment to keep.”

“...”

My Pipbuck pinged as a new location was added to the map. A few seconds later there was a second sound as a new frequency lodged itself in my contacts.

“That’s a secure channel for you to contact me on. No more of this open broadcasting. I also included a how-to for setting up other channels. It means you and your friends can talk with you privately.”

Watcher moved to the cave mouth before turning back to me. “Really talk to them, Snowflake. Not...whatever this was.” His irritation at what must have amounted to a waste of time was clear. The bot said nothing more and flew off.

~~~~~~

Whinniepeg, the meeting place that Wings had chosen, was almost as far north as Stable 61. It was basically due west of Cefar. A few days due west of Cefar.

Facemask said Cefar is the end of the road. That makes this town a place where the roads don’t go. It sure looks it.

As evident by the steady ticking of my radiation meter and the general disrepair of basically everything in sight it was easy to see that Whinniepeg had been a Megaspell target.

“Well at least we won’t be disturbed.” My faux-cheeriness with Watcher was over but I also wasn’t feeling quite as terrible as I had back at Crystal Point. I was almost back to the middle ground between sadness and happiness. I was even looking forward to seeing Wings again. I’d given up forcing myself to call her anything else until she told me what her name was. Referring to her as ‘Not-Wings’ just became ludicrous after a while.

“WINGS? YOU HERE?”

No response. I ventured deeper into the small town. Mindful of my rad levels. There wasn’t a whole lot to see. Burned out homes and charred stores were basically it. I did find a bigger building that had an official look to it, even lacking a logo, but as soon as I got within a dozen feet of the place the radiation spiked and I beat a hasty retreat.

I nursed a lukewarm Radaway as I sat on a blackened bench. I wondered where Wings was. Her recording made it seem like she was already here but I’d been around most of the town and hadn’t seen any sign that she was here at all.

“Hey Snowflake!”

I really stunk at this.

I got to my hooves and trotted forward as Wings landed in a clearing. “Hey Wings. Good to see you.”

She was busy unburdening herself of her gear and didn’t look directly at me. Her shoulders were set in the same tense bunching as they had when she’d told me her secret in bed. “Sorry I’m late...and for this.”

I cocked my head to the side in confusion. “Wh-URK!” A thick cord suddenly wrapped itself around my throat and stole the words from off my tongue. My eyes bulged as a scrabbled at the garrote with my hooves. The noose snapped taut and I was hauled off my hooves onto my back.

Wings, help!

I tried to focus beyond the choking cord and the darkness creeping into the edges of my vision. I found the tight cable and followed it back to its source.

Oh I don’t believe this!

A Pegasus so very like the one I’d spent the past few days with wielding leg covers so very like those of her sister was flapping hard in the air. Cassie fought for altitude to keep her whip from slackening. Her face was grim and...sad? She wasn’t angry but there were definitely more than a few emotions playing across her face. Nevertheless her jaw was set firm and she was committed to the act. A strong yank convinced me of that.

Clawsteps sounded behind me. I craned my neck around to see Wings pointing her pistols right at me.

What’s going on?

“W-...W-...” I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t breathe. I could only gurgle and drool as my eyes threatened to pop out of their sockets and my vision grew dim.

Wings said nothing but flipped her pistols around. Holding them by the barrels she raised them above her head. As she readied her strike I could only look into the cold fire of her eyes and silently ask the only thing running through my mind.

Why?

The pistol butts descended.

~~~~~~

I awoke with the dawn. Painfully. It was no gentle rise from sleep. My entire body convulsed as my lungs greedily sucked in precious oxygen. I managed to roll from my back to my side just in time to empty my stomach over the irradiated ground.

How long had I been out? I lifted my hoof to check my Pipbuck for a clock and my radiation level.

My wrist was empty.

They took it! They took my Pipbuck!

What else had they taken? I still had the clothes on my back and my Power Hooves were scattered across the dirt. So were my supplies of food and medicine. Seemed like everything was here...

Oh please no!

Frantically I checked my pocket. Every pocket. Every nook and cranny of every piece of gear I had.

GONE!

They’d taken the Memory Orb too.

Why Wings? And Cassie too! Why were you two even working together? What happened to you after the Hissyflits? What happened to Wings after Vanchoofer?! WHAT’S GONNA HAPPEN TO ME???

I curled up in a fetal position. What was I gonna do now? They’d taken my Pipbuck. I couldn’t find my way around without it.

They’d taken the Memory Orb.

My last two links to Stable 61 had been taken from me by someone I called a friend.

The Overmare sat on the bench watching me with a smug smirk. “Welcome to the Wasteland, Snowflake!”

~~~~~~

Level Up!

Perks gained: Chimera Formation - Snow and allies receive a 10% stat increase for each non-Unicorn present.

Wandering Workout - Constantly trekking across country and running away very fast has greatly boosted Snow’s stamina.

~~~~~~

Author's Note

That’s all for now, folks. Please keep reading, commenting, and spreading the word on Old Souls. I really appreciate your feedback.

Chapter 6-1: Open Air Irritation

[The Wasteland began to erode me from the first night out.]

I sat huddled in the ruins of a dead city, giggling. After hours of struggling to make sense of the events over the past few days, my strained mind had taken a break to focus on the only thing of which I was certain.

Heeheehee, Naiara got shot in the flank!

The sky was bright as I sat in the corner of a formerly three-story building. All that was left of it after all this time was a single floor with a lot of rubble forming a makeshift roof. The entire city of Whinniepeg was like this.

I shivered as a whistling gust blew through the rubble and licked at my body. The rubble might offer some cover from rain but it didn’t do much to warm my drained form. Even now, in the middle of the day, there was little heat present. The far-off howling of the blizzard exposed the reason.

The blizzard. That damn blizzard. Day in and day out it never ends. Even here.

I rose to my hooves and moved from under the dilapidated building. Leaning against what was left of the building’s wall, I turned to the distant storm. There it was, stretching across the horizon.

My world of white.

I’d seen it so many times through my frequent External Monitor Duty rotations and not once had it ever let up. One slow week I’d gone through the EMD archives and they too showed that the blizzard was, for all intents and purposes, eternal. Two hundred years and still going strong. It seemed mind-boggling now.

Turning my head I saw that the storm could be seen from one edge of my vision to the other. A solid barrier running across the entirety of Equestria’s North. It was hardly any wonder why we saw few pegasi around. Having to contend with that weather would make any flier think twice.

Is this because of the pegasi closing the sky? A side-effect of the bombs? Or was Old Equestria just that nuts?

Even with all that was going on, my heart still found a way to break a little more when looking at that blizzard. Seeing how it seemed to run potentially across the entire Northern Equestrian border made me realise that on some level I had believed that it was specific to Stable 61’s mountain. I had believed that perhaps I could have used it to find my way home again.

It’s surprising how much it hurts to lose a belief you never knew you had.

And why did I no longer have that belief?

Cassie.

Obviously not just the star-flanked pegasus, but I wasn’t ready to face the thoughts of the other culprit, not yet. So Cassie was, for the moment, the subject of my displeasure.

I ground my teeth and hissed out the words. “I was looking for you! After you shot me! I was looking for you to bring you back to your sister because I felt bad for the two of you! Even after you left me to the Steel Rangers without a backwards glance! I forgave you! I fought alongside you! Then you strangle me and try to steal from me for the second time! Without a word you took my home from me! If I find you before Breeze does-”

A shadow flashed across me before I could finish. My eyes shot skyward just as two more shapes crossed the clearing. Panicking, I scrambled back into my hollow as more outlines joined them. Perhaps a dozen, maybe more. I couldn’t see anything but their shadows from my position.

Inching my way forward, I scanned the area in the hope of spotting the newcomers before they spotted me. My belly chafed within moments as the debris-strewn ground pushed my clothing into me but I didn’t dare rise. The irritation was minor compared to the thought that these might be slavers or Raiders. I followed the direction their shadows had been heading, attempting to stay in cover and moving as quickly as possible when I could not.

“Is this the place, boss?” The sound of the masculine voice from around the next corner froze me in mid-crawl.

“Indeed it is. The radiation scanner’s going off the charts. Everybody take a RadSafe now and check your RadAway stocks. If you’ve got less than two with you then find one of your fellow grunts who has extra and get one from him. Nobody’s getting sick on my watch. You get me?!” The voice was loud and raucous. It demanded authority.

“WE GET YOU, SIR!” Was the unequivocal response.

I flattened myself against the wall and inched my way towards the corner of the building. I tried to keep as much of myself concealed as possible as I ever-so-carefully poked one eye around the corner.

The biggest griffon I’d ever seen was directing his squad inside the building. He was stone-grey from from tail to tip. Only his yellowed beak and dirty claws gave him any sort of colour change. With the lines and scars adorning his form it was hard to tell if the grey was natural or a sign of age. He was no spring chicken either way. A brown cigar poked out of the side of his beak with a small plume of smoke trailing off it. Each of the other griffon wore grey body armour and helmets and carried a two-handed rifle. The big boss griffon was the last to enter the irradiated building I’d avoided before. He took a long, slow look around before entering, which forced me to duck back and wait a few minutes before venturing out.

He’d left no guards but I suppose if there was that much radiation in play you’d want things taken care of as soon as possible. Leaving somebody standing outside just reduced your numbers and had them do nothing but soak up radiation. I downed a RadSafe myself before approaching the doors of the building.

This is a very Snowflake-stupid thing to do but anything’s better than sitting around with no clue how to get, well, anywhere.

Without my Pipbuck I had no idea how much radiation I was soaking up each second so I moved as fast as I could without making too much noise. I eased the door open and glanced around.

The lobby was a square room with glass doors behind a rotting desk at the other end. They’d been forced open. Nothing else was in the room, not even windows. Gulping, I stepped inside and quietly scuttled over to the desk, staying as low as possible in case any griffons returned. I risked a quick glance over the top of the desk and down the hallway behind the door before ducking down again. It looked all clear but I still proceeded with caution. I took a deep breath and ventured cautiously down the darkened corridor.

~~~~~~

“You have got to be The dumbest unicorn I have ever laid eyes on! You have no gun and yet you still chase down a dozen griffons in a place where you are between us and the only exit? You must be kidding me!” The big griffon blew a load of smoke into my face. The smell was awful and it caused my eyes to water as I coughed.

Seeing my discomfort, he stepped back and addressed the two griffons who’d snuck up on me on the floor above. My stealth skills were obviously not up to task. “Eitom, Wicker, I’ll take ‘er from here. You head down to the next level and meet up with Delta.”

The claws holding me did not slacken. “You sure that’s wise, boss? Unicorn’s got magic after all.”

McCoy stomped up into Wicker’s face. His eyes were hard and his tone was final. “Did I ask your opinion, Wicker?! No, I did not! I said to get your tailfeathers down to the next level and meet up with Delta. I don’t think Wicker should still be here, am I right Monsters?”

Wicker and Eitom instantly dropped me and stood to attention. “SIR, YES, SIR!” And with that they sped off. Both myself and McCoy watched them disappear around the corner.

The griffon took a long drag on his smoke. “Mhm, damn right I am.”

He turned to me, “Now then, li’l lady, you’ll be comin’ with me. I ain’t gonna hurt ya or let nuthin’ else hurt ya. I’m under contract, y’see. Anything or anyone of note we find down here we bring back undamaged.”

I thought about this as the griffon took another drag, the end of his cigar glowing orange. “So I can just walk away and you won’t touch me?”

He just coughed/laughed past his cigar at this. “Now did I say that? Touchin’ ain’t the same as damagin’, li’l missy. You’ll recall I said that we’re to bring back anything we find? Well that means you’re gettin’ brought back whether you like it or not. Try to get rough and I’ll subdue you. Try to magic us and I’ll sedate you. You’re coming with us, unharmed, because that’s what we’ve been contracted to do. You’ve got the word of McCoy of McCoy’s Monsters on that.”

“Lovely.” I bit out. So I was not gonna be killed but I was a prisoner nonetheless. I was gonna be dragged back to whoever this griffon’s employer was.

Unless I take him out now and make a run for it...

“And just so you don’t go gettin’ any crazy ideas about takin’ me on and bolting, I’ve had an open channel to all my Monsters while we’ve been talking. They see you without me and they’ll stop you. Again, they won’t harm you but you will be coming home with us.”

Fuck.

Griffons didn’t mess around with contracts. I knew this from my time in the Stable. Hell, Roc was trying to be Overseer because of a contract. Not that the bastard needed another reason to go after a position of authority. Rock liked being in charge. This McCoy would stick stubbornly to the letter of his agreement, no matter who disagreed. I was stuck...

“So why are you down here?” ...but I didn’t have to be happy about it.

McCoy laid his rifle across his shoulder and stubbed out his spent cigar. I thanked Celestia for small miracles...until he pulled out another one. “We’ve got a job to do here. We stay until it’s done. That means YOU stay too.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. “We can’t stay here! The radiation in this place will kill us in less than an hour!”

McCoy didn’t immediately respond beyond puffing thoughtfully on his smoke-able. “That wouldn’t have stopped us anyway, but we caught something of a break in that regard. It seems that the radiation we detected is isolated to the surface and the upper levels. Eitom says down here we’re basically fine.”

“What? How does that work?” I was less than pleased by our sudden ‘good fortune’.

Neither was McCoy. “I don’t know, but I don’t like it. You saw the place before we snagged you. Do you think something like that would happen?”

I thought back to before I’d been caught. After leaving the lobby I’d passed through a heavy steel door and into something completely different. The concrete walls had given away to clinical tile and the walls were soon adorned with all manner of signs and warnings and directions. Each floor I descended grew larger and larger. More and more rooms and corridors split off as I descended.

Each room seemed to be filled with all manner of scientific equipment. I recognised similar equipment back in the Stable though I hadn’t known then and didn’t know now what the equipment did. From the state of disrepair in the place it was very sensitive and highly valuable. There had been no helpful markers like the Lethbridle jail cells. Nothing even hinted at what these stations and experiments had been for or even who had been performing them.

Any answers that might have been found here had left with the scientists themselves. All McCoy and his employer could hope to find here were useable materials rather than specific items. The increasingly large maze of tunnels could potentially lead to untouched rooms but how would anybody know what was still down here after 200 years? And why, if all other clues to what was being researched here had been removed, would there be anything of importance left over?

No, this place had been stripped of all essentials before the previous tenants had left. Raw materials would be the prize, if any prize was left to be found. Still, I’d seen nothing that would indicate any sort of radiation leak in the upper levels and certainly nothing which would explain how it didn’t affect us down here.

I felt something tap the back of my head and turned around. My eyes widened as I found myself staring down the barrel of McCoy’s rifle. I slowly stepped back and looked past the gun to the griffon pointing it at me. His face was impassive. “Sorry about that but you’ve been starin’ around for a few minutes now and I’m still waitin’ for an answer. What do you think about the radiation?”

Not one for small talk, this griffon. “I don’t know. I’m no expert on radiation but I didn’t see anything that could have been a source.”

McCoy lowered his weapon, looking less than satisfied. “No, I didn’t either. I still don’t like it. But since we ain’t getting irradiated we keep going. Us Monsters never leave a job unfinished. Follow me.” Without another word he turned and began walking down the tunnel, his claws clacking against the metal floor.

He seems utterly unconcerned with the idea that I might attack him. Even in this situation I couldn’t help but feel a little bit insulted. I mean, I didn’t like the name but I was Red Ice. I’d lived through a lot. Was it a griffon thing to be this arrogant? Roc and now McCoy easily dismissed me. Heck, I even got some some grief about my skills from W-

No, not now. It’s not the time. My now-watering eyes betrayed me but I hastily wiped them with the smooth fur where my Pipbuck had been. Setting my jaw, I stomped angrily after McCoy.

Not like I’ve got any other choice. I’m in too deep to make it past all his Monsters.

~~~~~~

“Well ain’t this a fine how-do-you-do?”

McCoy and I had travelled down seven more levels. Judging by the maps appearing on the walls, each successive floor was bigger than the one above it. Unfortunately they were in progressively worse states of disrepair. More and more often we came across collapsed corridors, forcing us to backtrack. Finally we reached the stairs and found another blockage. We couldn’t go any further.

I was tired and slumped against the wall while McCoy inspected the blockage. “Hmmhmmhmm. Something about this don’t seem right,” he cocked his head back at me, “Wake up! I want a second opinion.”

Grumbling under my breath, I dragged myself to my hooves and stalked over. “What? It’s a blocked tunnel. It happens. Can we go now?”

McCoy scoffed at this. “Course not. We got a job to do. No offense but you ain’t the kinda haul we’re lookin’ for.”

I doubted I’d get a better chance to find out what was going on. “So what kind of haul are you looking for, McCoy?”

He didn’t take the bait. “That ain’t in the contract.”

I pushed onwards nonetheless. “So what is in the contract? I know griffons don’t leave a job unfinished but if I knew I might be able to help you so I can get out of here quicker. I don’t like being held against my will.” They may not be slavers themselves but their employer might be. It probably wasn’t Plottawa. With his army, Peanut really had no use for mercenaries, but DJ Pon3 had mentioned a Red Eye as another slaver, even if he wasn’t thought to operate this far north.

The old stone bird chuckled. “What does a li’l pony girl like you know about griffons, huh? You’re as green as they come. You still live with your momma?”

I thought about Roc and the other griffons back at the Stable. Always working hard, never taking a break until they completed their tasks. Roc, for all his unpleasantness, was the very model of griffon dedication. I might have respected that if he wasn’t bigoted against my brothers. I’d always rather liked the other griffons, for the little interaction I’d had with them.

Unfortunately this train of thought brought me back to the topic I’d been avoiding. The chocolate-and-cream girl who’d taken my friendship and spat it back in my face. “I know it hurts when a griffon turns on you.”

CLANG!

McCoy made no move to pick up the weapon he’d dropped. He stared daggers at me for a moment. “What did you say?”

Uh oh. “Nothing.”

His anger did not fade. “Hell no, it ain’t nothing! You oughta watch your mouth. No self-respectin’ griffon’d do that. We ain’t wired that way. You ain’t got no cause to be talking like that!”

YOU DARE?! “No cause? I have no cause to say that? It happened yesterday! You and your flyboys aren’t the first griffons I met here. Who are you to say that griffons are so righteous? That one robbed me and you’ve taken me prisoner! Exactly what is it about griffons that warrants respect from anybody, including themselves?!”

He bit clean through his cigar. “You’re damn lucky I’m under contract not to harm you, girl.”

“AND YOU’RE DAMN LUCKY YOU HAVE BACKUP! I’ve just about had it with everybody around here. You want to fight me then I’ll be happy to oblige!” I felt my horn flare up and the temperature dropped a few degrees.

McCoy’s claw twitched towards his rifle. We stayed there, neither of us blinking. Finally the grey-feathered veteran looked to the side and hollered down his communicator. “MONSTERS! FORM UP!”

Nothing more was said for the long minutes it took for the squad to arrive. When Eitom, Wicker and the rest arrived I was almost immediately flanked by two unnamed flunkies as guards. Apparently McCoy had decided our conversation was over. Still as I waited at the back of the formation I overheard snippets of what they were saying to each other.

“...too far down for this kinda rock...”

“...swear the tunnel was clear the first time I looked...”

“...not even any radiation on the upper floors now...”

“...went back later and it was empty!”

McCoy took it all in before coming to a decision. “Alright, Monsters, we’re wrapping up here. Start on this floor and work your way up. Look for anything strange or worth something. If it’s small enough to carry then grab it. Leave the rest, it can be taken later. Work your way up to the surface. You’ve got 30 minutes. Anyone shows up late and you’ll be walkin’ home, because I swear I’ll tie your wings into a pretty li’l bow!”

I glanced from one of my guards to the other. “So am I following you two or are you waiting for me to take the lead?” The both glared daggers at me.

McCoy growled at my comment but addressed the two. “You heard the...lady. Move like you got a purpose! Don’t be afraid to gag her if she gets uppity. Keeping her mouth shut ain’t exactly harming her.”

Grimacing, the two saluted and immediately began quick-marching me up the stairs. As we passed the now-derelict research labs I strained my eyes to find any kind of clue as to the purpose of the place. I had no more luck than the first time. The fast pace the two nameless Monsters set didn’t help. The closest thing to a clue in the place were a few random bumps and clinks as we passed.

We emerged into the afternoon sun and I shielded my eyes against the glare. One of the pair paused to take a quick reading with a handheld gadget. I recognised a similar screen to my Pipbuck’s Rad detector. They hadn’t been kidding down in the tunnels. There wasn’t even a trace of radiation showing up on the sensor now. Yesterday the levels had registered as lethal. What was going on?

~~~~~~

“You g-guys are n-not g-gentle!”

I was suspended in a harness held by the two griffon guards as we flew through the air. My limbs were bound and I had rolled onto my back shortly after takeover. Thus far I had not managed to right myself again. Trying to look ahead while upside down had resulted in several headrushes, so all I could do was look around at the rest of the formation. Eitom, Wicker and the other 7 Monsters were all burdened by their spoils while McCoy flew at the head of the group, leading the way.

He hadn’t said a word to me since our confrontation. I was quite happy with this arrangement, the stuck-up griffon could stay silent for all I cared.

I just wish the ride wasn’t so bumpy. And that it wasn’t so cold!

The feathers of the griffons apparently did a better job than a pony’s fur. I was shivering in my bonds as the thin air stole my warmth. Not just my warmth but my energy too. It was so tiring to lie here with nothing to distract me.

I took a quick glance through drooping eyes at the landscape below me. It turned out that the Wasteland looked very different from this high up. I didn’t recognise anything on the ground. There was a big...something in the distance which I guessed was our destination but beyond that I didn’t have a clue. The rest of the environment was dull rock, dust and occasional patches of green.

Except the ever-present white to the North. As it was to our left I could see that we were heading East. beyond that I had no clue, though I didn’t think we had travelled far enough to reach Plottawa.

I really, really hope we aren’t going to Plottawa.

I gave in to my body’s craving for rest and curled up in the harness as tight as I could.

Just a little rest, that’s what I need.

“Double time now, Monsters! We’re close to our destination and I want some daylight left when we get there.” At their leader’s urging, the griffons increased their speed. This had the added side-effect of also increasing the shaking.

Even that’s too much to ask? McCoy, you’re a real...what was it Naiara called that guard? Oh, that’s right...

“Keep it down, jackhole,” I murmured, “‘m tryin’ to sleep.”

The chain-smoking griffon didn’t hear me over the blowing wind but it was loud enough to draw the attention of one of my bearers. He shook the harness. “Hey, eyes open. Don’t wanna fall asleep up here. You might not wake up.”

“Mm, wanna bet?” Why couldn’t they be quiet? I was so tired...

“I mean it! It’s dangerous! Hey...HEY!”

G’night...

“SIR! WE HAVE A PROBLEM HERE!”

The flapping of wings sounded so far away in my fading consciousness.

“What’s the trouble...ah dammit!”

~~~~~~

“Snowflake?”

I have got to stop waking up in places I don’t know.

“Snowflake? Can you hear me?” The voice was flat and unfamiliar, but definitely male. Not McCoy, Bosco or Peanut. I found I had to take a moment to consider which other males I had encountered...nooo, it didn’t sound like them either. Someone new then.

I opened my eyes as slits, struggling against the harsh electric glare of the lights.

It seemed I was inside somewhere. And I was warm! That was a pleasant surprise since I remembered being really damn cold before I fell asleep. “Well this is nice.”

The voice returned, it was not unkind. “I’m glad you think so. We weren’t sure how you would be holding up after you went under on the way here. Is there anything we can get you? Some tea?”

While that did sound so tempting, I was reluctant to accept stranger tea. “...no, I’m fine. Sorry, but I don’t think we’ve been introduced...”

The voice was mirthful. “Weeell, actually we have. Do open your eyes, Snowflake. I know that the blankets are comfortable, as well as efficient for heat-retention, but this really would go faster if we could see eye-to-eye.”

We’ve met before? Now quite awake, I opened my eyes and lifted myself from my lovely den of blanket-warmth. The pony sitting across from me, annoyingly flanked by a scowling McCoy, was a bleach-blond unicorn sporting a dark-blue labcoat. He was grinning in a way that suggested immense satisfaction.

“I know you! You’re...um...”

He chuckled. “Aw, a 20-second meeting, over a week ago, where we spoke no words to each other, and you can’t even remember my name? I’m hurt. No matter. As I was introduced by Esto last time, allow me the honour of re-introducing myself. I am Latvi. Welcome back to Lethbridle.”

I gaped. “We’re in Lethbridle?”

His cheerful smile didn’t diminish. “A pleasure to see you again too, Snowflake.”

Admonished, I shucked the blankets, facing him directly. “Sorry, Latvi. It is a pleasure to see you again. I was a little worried when McCoy there grabbed me but there are far worse places to end up than with you.”

The unicorn just grinned wider. “You’re going to make me blush.”

The griffon just scowled deeper. “You’re gonna make me sick.”

I ignored him and looked around. We appeared to be in a small rest area. I was on the lower bunk of a double bed while Latvi sat at a simple table with two other chairs and McCoy leaned against the wall behind him. A sink, cooker and refrigerator comprised the rest of the furniture. The walls were a faded white. “Where are we? In Lethbridle, I mean.”

“Ah. Forgive me. We’re in our, as in Esto, Lithu and my, research station in the Southern Quarter. Mister McCoy here brought you straight here, as per the contract. However I would not have been amiss to him getting you some medical attention, as you were very cold when you were brought in. Luckily you’ve recovered after warming up.”

I glanced at McCoy, who said nothing. “Thank you for your help. If you don’t mind me asking, why did McCoy bring me here? He wouldn’t tell me as it ‘wasn’t in the contract’.”

“Because griffons don’t break contract.” Growled the griffon. His claws twitched towards his pocket but stopped midway and drew back.

Latvi noticed. “Forgive him, I’ve asked him not to smoke in here as it can interfere with the experiments we’re running. It has made him a little tense. As to why you were brought here, I merely specified that I wanted all possible information and findings from the excursion. Perhaps my wording was too simplistic.”

“You wanted all ponies brought back-” The griffon snarled, apparently unhappy at being treated like he’d made a mistake.

Latvi cut him off with less warmth than he’d displayed so far. “Yes, thank you, McCoy. As I was saying, when we were at the bar we expressed interest in your Pipbuck and then you expressed interest in our Memory Orb research, correct?”

“Yeah I wanted you to f-wait, you know what a Pipbuck is? How?”

“We’re scientists,” he deadpanned, “We like to find things out.”

“But...Esto didn’t know.”

Latvi’s smile faltered slightly but he quickly shrugged. “I’m afraid I have an advantage over Esto in that regard. I have memory magic. That’s my special talent. It makes me very good at handling Memory Orbs. They hold such wonderful secrets. That is, in fact, both the reason I know what a Pipbuck is, and the reason I sent McCoy and his Monsters to Whinniepeg. A Memory Orb I recently acquired indicated told me that there would be valuable equipment there. I was certainly surprised when one of the treasures brought back was the increasingly-fascinating Snowflake.”

McCoy grunted as he twirled an unlit cigar between his claws “Do you two want some privacy?”

Latvi made a pointed effort not to acknowledge that. I didn’t. I glared at the griffon before turning back to the scientist. “So, the Memory Orb stuff you bring in, you research it?”

Latvi twisted his hoof back and forth. “Yes and no. I’m happy to donate my findings if nopony buys them. I fund the expeditions to scavenge these forgotten treasures out of my own pocket. Esto and Lithu aren’t involved.”

“But don’t you work with them?”

“Certainly I do. As an independent researcher. Fascinating though the work is, it neither provides much in the way of salary nor offers the same kind of protection that Neighlway, Plottawa, or Tenpony Tower offer their scientists. I am merely attempting to secure a fallback cash reserve should our funding dry up.”

I frowned. “Esto and Lithu?”

“Are free to use their own special talents to create similar opportunities for themselves. I do actually like my colleagues, Snowflake. I am not trying to cheat them out of anything. I merely wish to ensure a good standard of living for myself.”

Bosco’s advice on Wastelanders looking out for themselves rang true here.

“That’s...” I really didn’t know how to feel about that. There was really nothing I could say. He wasn’t exactly wrong to be looking out for himself like that but it somehow just didn’t seem right. Esto and Lithu were satisfied with their work and yet he wasn’t? Would he even honour his agreement with me and Bosco if he thought he could make a profit off it?

I leaned back on the bed. “Sorry, Latvi, but I’m not sure I really know anything about Whinniepeg to help you out. I was there by chance.”

The look he gave me was measured. “It it were anypony else but you, a Stable pony, telling me that, I’d have thought you were lying to me. However I’m inclined to believe you,”

I breathed a silent sigh of relief as Latvi made an “It can’t be helped” gesture before he continued, “How lucky it is that you already have something that is of interest to me. Our original deal still stands: You have fulfilled your side of the bargain. We’ve been informed of what happened to the trading caravan.”

I grimaced at the memory of the two guards among countless other caged Wastelanders. “Yeah, Contego and Vorbis got caught and the Plottawans raided the caravan. It was picked completely clean.”

“Yes, a pity that but not an insurmountable obstacle. Regardless, you still did as we asked and therefore we are happy to help fix your Memory Orb. Oh, and of course your colt friend can make use of our Recollector to view his Orbs. As a matter of fact, we have that at this facility. He left them in our care after telling us about the caravan.”

My heart jumped. “Bosco was here? When? Is he still in Lethbridle?”

Only when McCoy stepped forward and Latvi began to frown did I realise that more than my heart had jumped. I had left the bed entirely.

The unicorn seemed nonplussed. “You don’t know where Bosco is? Has he not been with you? It will be difficult to arrange a time to view his Orbs without him here. Esto has been most insistent that he be allowed to view them first. Quite vexing, naturally.”

“Did he say when he would be back?” I honestly wasn’t sure how much time had passed since I sat in the hut with Naiara and Breeze, when the zebra told me that Bosco would return to Lethbridle two days later. Getting knocked out in Whinniepeg really did a number on my plans.

“No, sadly he did not,” Latvi was rubbing his chin with his hoof in thought and suddenly brightened, “but maybe you can contact him? Did you perhaps set up some form of communication through your Pipbuck? I didn’t see it on you when you were brought in. In your bag, perhaps? I’ll go fetch it. McCoy, watch over her, will you?”

As the unicorn hopped off his chair and headed for the door, the griffon grumbled after him. “Am I still under contract?”

Latvi didn’t stop. “Of course, you haven’t been paid yet.” The remark was delivered without turning or slowing down. Then he was out the door, and I was left alone with my kidnapper.

I gave him a knowing grin. “Still under contract means I can’t be harmed. Toooo baaaad.”

He didn’t rise to the bait. “What do you got against griffons? Back there you said you’d been betrayed by one. That just don’t happen.”

“And yet it did.” I managed through suddenly gritted teeth. I hated this, being around another griffon for this long, so soon after Wings and Cassie attacked me.

McCoy’s feathers were physically ruffled now. “You want proof that griffons don’t go against contracts, including social contracts, li’l pony girl? You’re still alive right now. Because I’m contracted to keep you from harm. If that’s not the case and you start mouthin’ off with those lies again and I’ll kill you dead.”

“Oh pull the other one and then go fuck yourself with it, jackhole. I have not had a good week and I don’t plan on sitting here taking this from you. I’ve been poisoned, taken prisoner twice, one of those being by you, you prick. I’ve been shot at, shot through, chewed out, chased for miles, and mugged by a fucking griffon I called a friend. I literally called her that two days before she mugged me and took my Pipbuck,”

I jerked my head towards the door, “which is probably gonna bring me more grief when that money-grubbing little hissyflit out there comes back.”

I jabbed McCoy roughly in the chestplate. He didn’t seem to feel it and went right on glaring. “It took two damn days for her to go from becoming my friend to taking everything in this world that matters to me. I’VE GOT NOTHING LEFT! I CAN’T GO HOME! I’M STUCK HERE AND WITH YOU OF ALL PEOPLE! Some patriotic geezer who thinks griffon feathers blow stardust!”

Oh, Celestia, that’s...that’s all true.

Wings...why did you do this?

I slumped miserably back onto the bed. “You tell me, McCoy,” my words were quiet and lifeless, “why should I like griffons and why should I care about what you say?”

Silence descended as I stared at the floor and McCoy...did something, I didn’t really care at this point. The only noise was a far-off clattering of hooves on stairs. Latvi was coming back but wouldn’t be here for maybe a minute or so.

“Who is she?”

The gruffness of his voice was still there but it lacked the usual parade-ground bluster. I scoffed at the question. “I’m not telling you, she’ll turn out to be your cousin or something.”

The next tone was accusatory. “Why should that matter? You gonna kill her?”

“NO!” I replied immediately. I really wasn’t going to. I just wanted my home back. Anything after that would be dealt with when it came up. I’d forgiven Cassie and Breeze for trying to kill me, Cassie’s later role in the mugging notwithstanding, and they weren’t even my friends. Well, maybe Breeze would be. Either way I still needed to hold onto the hope that this wasn’t all that it seemed. So I could still be Snowflake, who gave a zebra money on trust, rather than Red Ice, who got a whole bunch of buffalo killed.

“Little girl, this is serious. If there’s even a chance of what you say bein’ true then it needs to be taken care of. It’s a disgrace to all griffons if one of us acts like that. She needs stoppin’.” This had a certain finality to it.

“I’m not your friend, McCoy, and I’m not one of your Monsters. Find her yourself.”

Before anything more could be said on the matter, the door flew open with a bang. Latvi stood livid in the doorway. “Where is it?!”

I didn’t even need to lift my head. “Gone. I got mugged.”

This sent him sputtering. “A treasure of unimaginable significance and you lose it to some common hoodlum? How stupid are you, Stable filly!”

At last, he’s honest. “About as stupid as you for pining after a girl who’s clearly not into you. You do know Lithu’s got a boyfriend, right?” I delivered this with as much smugness as I could muster.

The scientist reeled back like I’d slapped him before charging forward and wildly trying to bludgeon me with my pack. “SHE’S MINE! SHE’S MINE! I LOVE HER!”

I covered myself with my hooves as he rained down blows before McCoy grabbed Latvi from behind and threw him away. “I’m still under contract, Latvi. I don’t like Snowflake any more than you do but she comes to no harm under my watch. Remember that.”

I just rolled my eyes, not in the least bit thankful.

Latvi dragged himself up, chest heaving and eyes dilated. “New contract, McCoy! Go find this Dent that Lithu likes so much and kill him!”

“No, you can’t!” I bounded from the bed towards Latvi but McCoy knocked me back as easily as he’d done Latvi.

“What about this one?”

The colt wiped some spittle from his jaw and collected himself. “We’ll shackle her up and I’ll take her to Plottawa. I hear there’s a big bounty for Red Ice.”

“You knew?”

He barked out a derisive laugh. “Of course I knew, simpleton. We send you to Plottawa and the next evening the slaver boss is on the radio putting a price on your head. Not a giant leap between the two.”

Meanwhile, the griffon was spluttering on his cigar. “Kheh?! Say what?! Her?! This is Red Ice? The one the slavers are trying so hard to find? Her? Are you kidding me? She’s an idiot!”

Nobody disagreed. “She may be, but she has somehow managed to get all the way to the very core of Plottawa and out again, not to mention surviving another attack in Grindstone. Perhaps there is more to her than what she appears to be, or perhaps she’s simply lucky. Either way the price on her head is the same, and I aim to collect.”

A puff of smoke blew out of the corner of the yellow beak. “Whatever. I got somebody to kill. Let’s get a nullifier on her horn and then I’ll get to it.”

~~~~~~

Chapter 6-2: Open Air Irritation

Latvi gingerly touched his black eye and hissed through his teeth. “That was unnecessary.”

I smirked back. “I can’t believe it took you two whole minutes to realise that McCoy wouldn’t let you harm me while you were trying to get this thing on me. You were practically shrieking by the time you figured it out.”

Latvi shot me a sideways glare and shifted slightly, no doubt trying to relieve some discomfort caused by the pistol he concealed under his jacket. Even with a magic-dampener on my horn he wasn’t taking any chances. He wanted everything to appear normal as we travelled down the boulevard, with ponies and the occasional buffalo guard passing on either side of us, as if we were two unicorns out for a stroll... to a slaver base.

Like I use my horn anyway. I’ve just gotta find a way to get around the gun before we reach the East gate. I am not going back to Plottawa.

“You can’t seriously think it’ll be as simple as killing her boyfriend and suddenly she’ll run to you?”

“Be quiet!” Latvi had regained his composure but still bit the words out. “It’s going to happen regardless of what you say. Dent will die and I will have Lithu back again.”

The cracks were definitely showing now. Latvi was so careful in other things but around Lithu he was acting like, well, like the lovestruck idiot he was. More importantly, though, it made him distracted. If I could set him off at the right time...

“Really, what is your plan? Get rich and retire with Lithu to someplace nice? As simple as that?”

He smiled at the thought. “Essentially. I was thinking Tenpony Tower. Have you heard of it? A real high-class establishment far south of here. DJ Pon3 operates out of there, you know. Very metropolitan. Even if my nest egg ran out, a pony of my talents could do very well there with what I know.”

I spotted something out of the corner of my eye.

That could work.

“So... you don’t want to take over the Wasteland or raise an army?”

His bleach-blonde mane shifted as he cocked his head, suspicious. “...No. Why do you ask?”

Not yet. I kept my peripheral vision trained on what could be my best chance to get away from Latvi and go warn Dent.

“It’s just that I’ve spent my time outside the Stable dealing with important ponies like Peanut and other organisation leaders who, for the most part, have not been friendly to me. You haven’t been friendly to me but you’re just in it for the money. The whole thing’s pretty simple. It’s a nice change.”

Apparently unsure of how to take my words, the scientist had resorted to irritation. “If you have a point to make...”

Thirty steps.

I pushed on, ignoring him. “It’s just that, well, y’know, would she be happy with that?”

“Would she be happy with what?”

Twenty steps.

“Well it’s just that, compared to these ponies who, aside from the whole unfriendly aspect, have really made a name for themselves. You’re just looking to disappear.”

His jaw was firmly set in anger now. “So what?”

Ten.

“Is Lithu going to be happy being with a pony with so little ambition?”

My face exploded in pain as his hoof caught me just above the eye, sending me stumbling. I tried in vain to stay on target for my plan.

He didn’t strike me again, probably not wanting to cause a scene in the middle of the street. “I have no ambition? Me? I reach into history and take its secrets for my own.”

Shaking my head to clear the stars, I saw that I was only a step or two away from the hooded figure I’d been watching.

Almost there. Just a little closer. “So you’re a thief, is that it?”

“Of course not, I rarely even lay a hoof on these recovered treasures. I have associates for that.”

I was standing right behind the hooded figure now, who thankfully was paying us no attention.

I’m about to change that. “You don’t need your touch on stolen items to be a criminal, Latvi! In fact, I think I’ve come across one of your flunkies before, isn’t that right...” I grabbed the hood and yanked it down, raising my voice as I finished, “GHOUL?!”

“AAAAGH! HELP!” The earth-pony mare, who I had mistaken for the ghoul that stole my rifle when I first came to Lethbridle, continued shrieking and pulling away, dragging me with her as I, in my surprise, failed to let go.

We were halfway up the street and all eyes were on us before Latvi’s angry shouts snapped me out of it. I released the terrified mare’s hood and sprinted past her, “Sorry! Sorry!”, before turning down down a side street and bolting. I couldn’t risk a look back to see if Latvi was following but I hoped his comment about sending others to do the grunt work meant that he lead a more sedentary lifestyle. My hectic fortnight of constant travel had me much better prepared for a mad dash like this.

As the citizens of Lethbridle flashed by on either side I dodged into and out of the crowds, keeping my head low to avoid being followed and taking extra steps whenever I could. I vaulted over railings, slid between stalls, bounced over barrels and careened around carts.

After a few minutes of this my chest was tight and I was sucking in air as fast as I could. Finally I spotted a guard stallion loitering outside a tavern, nursing a nighttime beer. It wasn’t Nightcap’s place. In fact I had no idea where I was. Rushing up, I barely slowed in time to avoid going down in a heap with him. “Where is Deputy Dent?”

Annoyed at having his refreshment interrupted, he eyed me levelly and casually lowered his drink. “Who wants to know?”

“I do, badge boy!” I did not have time for this, “There’s a hitman after him! We have to find him!”

My choice of words may have been hasty. The guard narrowed his eyes at the insult and brushed off my words. “That’s not funny, filly. Go home and work on your pranks some more. I’m busy.”

“You’re getting drunk on the job, you halfwit! Ugh, nevermind, where’s Chief Rockhaunch? I’ll talk to him.”

That got a reaction. He gagged on his mouthful. “Pleh! Whoa there! You can’t just go see the chief whenever you want. Who do you think you are, talking like that?”

“I AM TRYING TO SAVE DEPUTY DENT, JACKHOLE!” I was getting a lot of mileage out of that one.

Unten, svara.

The guard was really riled up now. “Jackhole?! That’s it! We’re going back to the station!”

“Thank you, finally!”

~~~~~~

“THIS IS NOT WHAT I MEANT!” I struggled against the stallion and two female corporals as I resisted going back to the cells.

“I...umph....don’t care what you meant! You don’t get away with...stop struggling, damn it...get away with calling me a jackhooooo!” I’d gotten a hind leg free and nailed him right in the groin. He went down whimpering as one of the corporals began hollering for assistance. Most of the male officers gathered were content to watch, cheer and take bets rather than offer any help.

“WHAT’S GOING ON HERE?” The thunderous bellow shocked the formerly raucous room into silence.

Oh, thank Celestia. “Chief! Chief Rockhaunch! I need to talk to you!”

The sturdy, oaken-furred buffalo seemed genuinely shocked to see me. “Wha? Li’l Stronghead? What are you doing here?” He motioned to the corporals, “Let her go.”

The two corporals immediately released me, to jeers from the male crowd, for which the mares immediately began berating them. I ignored all this and rushed up to the chief, grabbing him around the horns. “Where’s Dent? He’s in danger!”

My hooves didn’t move his horns one inch, he stared back with quiet, but bemused, intensity. “What do you mean?”

“There’s a griffon mercenary named McCoy out to kill him!”

Immediately Rockhaunch was all business. “McCoy? Of McCoy’s monsters?”

I really didn’t like how easily he recognised the name and the accompanying edge in his voice. “Yeah, him. Latvi, he works with Dent’s girlfriend Lithu, he sent McCoy after him!”

I covered my ears as Rockhauch roared to the entire room. “WHERE IS DEPUTY DENT???”

It seemed like the precinct had never heard their chief raise his voice before. I certainly wasn’t going to forget anytime soon. The startled guards exchanged glances and murmurs as they wilted under Rockhaunch’s glare. Finally somebody at the back hesitantly spoke up. “I-I think he was spending the night at his girlfriend’s place over on Farrier’s Way?”

The buffalo looked back to me. “It’s not far. Let’s go!” He was halfway out the door and already barking orders, “Squad Four, with me!”

I took a moment to have the two corporals remove the magic nullfier on my horn before tearing after them.

~~~~~~

Half of Squad Four had peeled off to secure the research facility by the time we arrived on Farrier’s Way. Standing outside of a multi-storey apartment building was a huge crowd. The residents had evacuated. It soon became apparent why as an explosion blew out the windows on the 4th floor.

“MAKE WAY! MAKE WAY!” Rockhaunch began bulling his was through the crowd as only a buffalo can. Even with all the chaos, ponies shifted themselves fast when he was bearing down on them.

I followed along in his wake until we neared the front of the crowd. These ponies had nowhere to go so even the Chief’s imposing form couldn’t budge them. “Damn,” he roared over the noise, “I can’t move freely inside, too small for buffalo!”

Damn damn damn! Dent will be helpless in there. I have to get to him!

If Rockhaunch couldn’t get through the crowd then I stood no chance. I looked around for another route but most of my vision was blocked by buffalo.

Maybe? If I can’t get through, and Rockhaunch can’t get through, could he get me through?

Twisting my hooves into his fur for grip, I hauled myself up the chief’s mountainous physique. My shoulders were burning by the time I scrambled onto his back.

“What are you doing back there?” The buffalo was turning his head this way and that to try to get a better look at me.

I shuffled up to his head and yelled into his ear. “Chief, can you get me past the crowd? I can get in and help Dent!”

“I can’t send you in there alone!”

Another explosion made us duck before I could respond. “Then follow when you can! I can slow McCoy down until you get there!”

He remained unconvinced. “Snowflake, you’re just a civilian! He’s a trained killer. What can you do against him?”

I hated the amount of times I’d had to play this card. “I’m Red Ice! I can keep him busy long enough for you to get some backup. Dent can’t fight in there and Lithu’s in danger. You have to let me try!”

“I... you’re Red Ice? But even so...” The battle between his Guardsman morals and the reality of the situation played across his face for precious milliseconds before he nodded, “alright. I’ll get you in. Just do what you can to keep him busy. He’s extremely dangerous. I’ll work on getting you some help as soon as I can.” He squared his shoulders, “Ready?”

I braced myself and nodded. With a mighty heave, the Chief launched me over the heads of the open-mouthed crowd and in through the open entrance. I landed hard in the hallway, rolling and skidding until I came to a stop in a cloud of dust and splintered door.

Picking myself up, I glanced around until I found the stairwell. I ignored stealth in favour of speed, hoping that McCoy would be too preoccupied to see or hear me coming. Charging up the stairs onto the second floor, I almost tumbled back down again as my hooves stepped in something slick and I skidded into a wall. Levering myself off the wall, I lifted a hoof to see what I’d stood on.

It was red, and glistened in the low light. It didn’t take long to find the source. Dripping down the stairs from the 3rd floor landing was the blood of a unicorn mare with a bleach-blonde mane. She was groggily staring back at me from her prone position, one eye closed as the crimson liquid seeped from a three-inch gash along her forehead.

“Esto!” Picking my way carefully up the stairs to avoid the blood pools, I squatted down next to her, “Are you okay? Can you move?”

Shaking her head, the scientist’s low rolling voice came out strained. “I’ll live but I can’t move. I-I fell, my... my legs...”

A quick glance showed them lying at irregular angles. I nudged her reassuringly. “Stay as still as you can. Help is on the way. What about Dent? And Lithu?”

Wincing, she turned her eyes to the ceiling. “Up... up there. But be careful. The griffon... he is so strong!”

I nodded grimly. “I know. I’m going to stop him. Hang in there. We’ll get you all out.”

Giving her one last uneven smile, I mounted the next set of stairs. McCoy’s voice floated down as I climbed. “Give it up, li’l lady. I don’t wanna kill you but you can’t protect him forever. You’re gonna get hurt or worse if you don’t clear out of here now. I’m only here for Dent.”

A voice that would otherwise be soft and sweet answered him in quavering tones. “Why won’t you leave him alone? He has done nothing to you!”

McCoy was polite, almost apologetic in response. “I know he hasn’t. This is not personal... for me. He is who I have been contracted to kill and I won’t stop until I have completed my assignment. There was no word either way on whether you survive so if you continue to hinder me I am going to have to take you out too. Sorry, but that’s the way it is.”

Frightened sobs were the only retort.

Gritting my teeth, I padded up the final flight of stairs. Peeking around the corner, I saw a long corridor with apartments spaced along either side. The battle signs were obvious, bullet holes in the walls, crumbling plaster from the explosions, the window at the corridor’s far end was completely gone, leaving a gaping hole with cold air blowing in. The lights were flickering weakly but I could see well enough.

Halfway down the corridor, leaning half out of a doorway, was McCoy. Amazingly, even amongst the chaos, a lit cigar was held between his lips. He was aiming his two-handed rifle at the end apartment on the other side of the hallway. Out of that door was floating several chairs. As I watched Dent shoved his head around the doorway and let loose a burst of wild spray from his automatic rifle, causing the griffon to duck back inside his own cover, his hasty counter-shot striking one of the makeshift shields.

The low light played to my favour as none of the fighters noticed me. Ducking back behind the corner, I suddenly found myself stymied as to what to do next.

What now? If I don’t get to them soon they’re both gonna die, but there’s no way I’ll make it down the corridor before he fills me full of bullets.

A crash of collapsing wall was met with another frightened scream from Lithu.

Come on, come on! Do something, Red Ice! People are counting on you, Snowflake! Do something right and help somebody for once in your miserable life!

A bullet bit into the wall near my position as Dent let off another volley. It was no good. He was hampered by the floating shields as much as he was protected by them. He also couldn’t move without leaving Lithu open. McCoy, on the other hoof, could move around, take the time to line up his shots, and was patient. Eventually Lithu’s magic would fail or Dent would run out of bullets. Help might get here before them but it seemed unlikely they’d make their way through the crowd outside fast enough.

Esto won’t hold out forever, either. This needs to end now! I scanned the corridor, searching for any sort of clue to help me. If McCoy noticed, he gave no sign. He was calmly lining up his next shot, bracing the rifle against the doorframe.

Judging by McCoy’s age and scars, he’d had decades of experience in killing people. He was obviously very good at it, and very used to it. He knew exactly what he was doing. He wasn’t half-insane like the Raiders I’d fought with Bosco, Schwarzwald, and Wings.

I’ll worry about her later. I have another griffon to deal with first.

Suddenly a thought popped into my head. Can I do it? Back then it was a reaction. Can I do it by choice?

A short, controlled burst was fired from McCoy’s rifle, followed by a strained grunt from Dent.

Gonna have to find out.

Touching my glowing horn to the wall, I stilled myself and focused as hard as I could. It took a few seconds for a response come from my horn, but finally the space around me was lit by a faint, glacier-blue glow.

YES! Spreading from the point where my horn touched the wall, an expanding streak of ice slithered across the vertical surface. It was not smooth, it coiled and twisted, and slow as it was it still took every ounce of concentration to keep it moving. Sweat was already breaking out on my forehead but I pushed more into the effort. Gradually the speed of the spread increased... and quickly went out of control.

NONONO! Please, go for the gun! I don’t care how you get there just reach it, and soon! I have to save them! I didn’t know if my thoughts made any difference or it just found a path of least-resistance but at that moment the ice-snake reached the crease between wall and ceiling and shot along it, faster than I could run. I almost lost my hold on it as I struggled to keep it in my sights.

Flashing past door after door, the frozen fissure drew ever closer to the doorway where the griffon was standing. His head perked up and twisted around just as the ice stabbed down from overhead. “YOU?! I-Guah!!!” He cried out and jerked his claw away.

I could have wept for joy. In the half-second he’d been looking at me, the ice had slithered down the doorframe and swarmed over his gun, fixing it in place and jamming the barrel. Even better, the cold had made it brittle. When he jerked away, the trigger went with him, frozen to his palm, while the rest of the now-useless rifle remained attached to the wood.

“DENT! DENT! He’s lost his gun. Shoot him now!”

The buffalo didn’t need telling twice and opened up with every gun he could fit through the door. What remained of the gun-cicle exploded in the barrage and the leader of the Monsters was forced further back into the apartment he’d invaded. The buffalo deputy saw an opportunity and hollered back at his unseen girlfriend. “Babe, plug that door up. Shove everything you can in there!”

Lacking our view of the situation, Lithu remained confused and hesitant. “But what if-”

“DO IT!” I screamed at the same moment Dent roared “NOW!” over the thunder of his weaponry.

She “Yeep!”-ed as the air became hazy and the floating shields, along with the fallen rubble and debris, slammed up against the doorjamb, temporarily sealing the griffon inside.

I beckoned with my hoof fitfully. “That won’t hold him for long. We have to go now!”

The lovebirds apparently agreed. Dent came charging out of the apartment with its owner clinging to his back for dear life. He was not the easiest fit in the narrow corridor, especially burdened with a battle saddle, but he moved on adrenaline and made it down the corridor in 10 seconds.

“Get Esto!” I yelled as the two passed, “I’ll cover you!”

“You don’t even have a gun.” The beech-furred deputy slowed and looked to head back to me.

“JUST GET ESTO! He wants you, Dent! You get to safety and we win!”

“Just do as she says!” Sobbed the scientist from her perch. We all started as a window shattered in the apartment where we’d trapped the griffon.

“No time, move!” Neither argued further. Dent rumbled down the stairs while I looked down the corridor. From the hole where the window had been I saw night sky.

Night sky which was suddenly filled with pissed-off griffon.

And he’s still smoking that damn cigar!

He glared at me for a second or two as he hovered in place, smoke curling from his nostrils. “As soon as I kill the buffalo, I’m going to end you, Red Ice!”

“But there’s no point anymore,” I pleaded desperately, “Latvi’s gone! He’s not gonna pay you! Please don’t do this.”

He slammed a fist against the wall. “Griffons. Don’t. Break. Contract! Until I hear it from Latvi himself, I won’t stop until I finish the job.”

I made one last-ditch effort. “Then kill me first!”

Even with how obviously tempted he was, he shook his head. “It’s not that easy. Your time will come.” With a flap of his wings, he dropped out of sight.

Alarmed, I turned and bolted down the stairs, I reached the second floor and spotted Dent and Lithu gingerly carrying Esto towards the front door on the floor below. Lithu saw me and opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by more glass breaking. She turned to look down the first floor corridor and her eyes widened.

He’s there! With no time to waste, I vaulted over the bannister and bypassed the stairs entirely, landing in front of Lithu as she fled with the others to the front door. I turned away from them and looked down the corridor.

Not 5 paces from me, flying full-speed, was McCoy. “OUTTA MY WAY!” He swung his claw, with frozen trigger still stuck on, in a ferocious open-palm strike that caught me under the chin and blasted me back into, and through, the wooden railing bordering the stairs. The rapid-cool trigger was pulverised against my jaw. It was not painless.

I could only lie there amongst the splinters, winded and seeing stars, as screams and gunfire erupted around me.

I had a blurry vision of a furious McCoy giving me a death-glare as he shot past me, and up the stairs, followed by countless ponies. The shooting continued, but quieted a little as the guards chased the mercenary higher into the building.

Immensely relieved, I moaned and rolled over onto my side, feeling liquid dribbling out of the side of my mouth.

Oh, lovely. I’m drooling. What a triumphant image this i-no, wait, that’s blood. Even better. I coughed and a few drops of red splashed across the floor, along with a tooth.

Chief Rockhaunch’s burly form cast a shadow before me. “Snowflake? You okay?”

I just moaned and coughed out a little more blood. “Dent?” I managed at last, “Lithu? Esto?”

“All fine, thanks to you.” His rumbling voice reminded me of Buff for a moment. I found some comfort in it as he knelt down and gently checked me over.

“Mc-” I coughed, again, “McCoy?”

Rockhaunch stood up again. “Gone. Took of flying after we started shooting. Dent, Lithu and Esto are surrounded by my best people. He won’t get near them.”

The stars before my eyes re-emerged as I shook my head too quickly. “He won’t stop.”

“Maybe,” sniffed the chief, “but not tonight. It’s over.”

I still had my doubts as the medics arrived.

~~~~~~

Chapter 6-3: Open Air Irritation

“... and he’s probably halfway to Plottawa.” I finished mumbling an explanation to the officers taking notes as I lay on the not-terribly-soft hospital bed.

The officer paused in his writing, pen and notebook still held in his horn’s grip. “Why would he go there without the bounty? He won’t get the reward.”

I shrugged... carefully. Whatever they’d given me for the pain wasn’t strong enough. “He might get something. Latvi knows who Red Ice is. Peanut, the slaver boss, doesn’t know yet. Also, Latvi talked about how he wanted protection during his research. He might want that from the slavers now that he can’t pay for mercenaries.”

Making a few final notes, the officer began packing up. “I’ll report this to Chief Rockhaunch. He’ll want to know.” He gave me a quick smile and laid a hoof on my shoulder, “I just wanna say thank you for what you did tonight, Red Ice. You saved one of ours. We won’t forget that. If there’s anything we can do for you, just let us know.”

I momentarily basked in the warm feelings this brought up,

Why is the Overmare never around for these moments?

Before I remembered something, “Can somebody bring me my things? I think they’re still back at the research facility.”

The officer’s voice was not the one who answered. The voice that answered was soft, still that of a young colt, familiar and very, very welcome. “Taken care of,” Bosco stepped into my view as happy tears began to form around my eyes, “still gunfighting with no gun, Snow?”

I sniffled but cracked a smile, “You’ve seen me shoot,” I beckoned him forward with my hoof, then grabbed him in a tight embrace when he stepped close, burying my nose in his charcoal fur, “I’m so glad you’re here, Bosco. I’ve missed you a lot.”

He hugged back fiercely, grey hairs tickling my cheeks, “Me too. Why did you run off like that? Naiara and I were worried sick!”

You wouldn’t understand. “... sorry, Bosco.”

At my dejected tone, he relented. “Don’t be like that, Snow, I was just worried. I’ve got your stuff right here, but I couldn’t find the-”

“Sorry to interrupt,” a doctor and nurse entered the room under the watchful eye of the officer and guards outside, “but we think you may have sustained some damage to your skull in the fight. We’re going to try to heal some of it now. Unfortunately, it will be somewhat painful and we don’t have any anaesthetic available.”

Terrific. “Got any Memory Orbs I can lose myself in?” I still wasn’t thrilled about using them but it seemed to work wonders when Fedexi Lexi was healing my perforated hoof.

Bosco nudged my shoulder, holding three Memory Orbs in his hooves. “Here, use these.”

“But... they’re yours. You should see them first.”

The colt just smiled and yawned. “I can wait. I doubt I’ll get at that Recollector tonight. Plus I’m tired. You use them tonight and I’ll get some sleep. Tomorrow you’ll be fixed up and I’ll take a peek. Then we’ll swap stories of where we’ve been this past week. Deal?”

I’d forgotten what a nice guy he is. “If you’re sure, Bosco?”

His smile didn’t waver. “I’m sure. Get yourself better, Snowflake.”

As the colt found some room on the floor to sleep, I slipped into the first memory.

ooooOOOOoooo

I found myself in total darkness. Somewhere close to me, water was dripping. I couldn’t pinpoint where through the lack of vision and the echoes each drop threw up.

A cave? Oh no, I’m not a Raider, am I?

An answer to that question was put on hold as a soft mewling reached my ears.

A baby? Here?

More voices, drawn to the infant’s cry, spoke up. “Another one survived. Be thankful for that. What of the parents?”

“Dead, like the others. Stop hoping for something different.” I couldn’t pinpoint the gender of the speakers but, even through their raspy whispers, the pessimistic overtones were obvious.

A dull green light emerged from around a corner, confirming that we were in a cave. From what I could see in the half-light, the speakers were pony-shaped. The infant’s cries, which had previously subsided, began anew. They echoed around the slick cave walls.

The first voice tried to calm the child. “Hush now, little one. Everything will be all right. We will keep you safe.” The baby and caretaker moved further into the tunnel, the sound of hoofsteps bouncing off the walls as their voices receded.

The other speaker came around the corner and seemed to notice me in the dark. “Come, give me some help here. We need to get the parents ready.”

Wordlessly, my mystery host followed.

ooooOOOOoooo

As the Orb disconnected, I experienced a sudden pervasive pounding inside my skull. The pain instantly had me gritting my teeth as my eyes watered. The doctor and nurse reacted with surprise as I shifted.

“Next...Orb...please?” I ground out between the painful thuds behind my eyes.

The doctor broke off her part in the spell and the pain increased further, forcing me to clench one eye while watching like a hawk for the Memory Orb she was fetching. After a minute or so she held it up in front of me. “Here.”

I was much more eager to dive into this one.

ooooOOOOoooo

Myself and another earth stallion sat on a small hill overlooking a field.

Ugh, I thought as my host shifted slightly, I really don’t want to have to deal with sweaty... boy parts for too long. I hope this memory is long enough to cover the healing but short enough that I don’t have to hang around afterwards.

Down in the field, foals of all colours ran and played and laughed. The lush greenery and lack of destruction made it hard to imagine that this was Equestria after the megaspells hit, but the Pegasus cloud barrier was in force so it had to be. Even so, it was a beautiful day.

My companion smiled as the gaggle of children let off some flashes of magic. “They seem to have forgotten their troubles... if only for this moment.”

The calm, but resigned, tone was quite different from the rasps of the previous Orb. The frank tone of my host added even more contrast. “If that is all we can give them, then I hope this moment lasts a long time.”

More flashes came from the foals. They were all involved in some form of game. A ring marked the boundary of the play and every few seconds a half-dozen little ones would charge into the centre. Pegasi, earth ponies and unicorns played together, switching positions after meeting in the centre in bursts of brilliant green light.

“These littles ones are very talented.” My companion mused.

My host nodded in agreement, but something struck me as slightly odd. I couldn’t decide what it was but it nagged at me all the same.

Then it hit me. Hey, they don’t have cutie marks. They must be younger than they look. Surprising that they can call them talented this soon. Things change fast for foals.

The appreciation of the talent of the fillies and colts didn’t last so long. My host’s eyes drooped, concerned. “Talented or not, they’ll be so vulnerable soon.”

The other stallion waved away the concern. “Just as we were. They will survive.”

Some of the children were waving at us. My host waved back before answering. “Every time it gets worse though.”

Tired of their play, the kids were bounding up the hill towards us. “This isn’t the time,” was the whispered response, “we’ll discuss it later.”

The conversation broke off as the two stallions focused on collecting all the young ponies and getting them moving, presumably towards home. The other adult led the way while my host brought up the rear, chatting with the stragglers and watching to make sure no foal wandered away from the group. Finally the procession found its rhythm and moved along.

It was lucky that none of the little ones looked back after that, or else they might have seen the tears running down my host’s cheeks.

ooooOOOOoooo

“When’s the actual HEALING going to start?”

Coming out of the second Memory Orb was somehow more painful than the first.

“We’re working on it.” The nurse was trying to soothe me but the doctor was already getting the third Orb.

ooooOOOOoooo

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE???”

Oh good, the raspy whispers are back. Are we in a cave this time? Let’s have a look... yep. Cave.

My host stood in the centre of a circle of lit torches. The flames cast shadows along the walls and obscured all but the bright eyes of those glaring down at me.

“I have given them a chance.” My host’s calm response was almost lost amongst the background murmuring of the gathered watchers.

“You know that was not their fate.” There was definite anger in the rasping speech.

My host faced their accuser directly. “The only fate that has been decided is how we have survived thus far. Nothing more than survived. I believe my actions will lead us to a better path.”

The crowd noise increased. Others began to speak out from behind the flames. “You would divide our strength further?”

“What do you hope to accomplish?”

“Why did you involve the little ones?”

My host was glancing around furtively. It seemed as though they expected resistance, but not as voracious as this. Still, they pressed on. “I would use our strength while we still have any left! I hope for a future for us! Finally, I did not involve them. You act as if I am alone in this. Does this Council not know their people anymore? The new generation are strong, like so many others. And, like so many others, they would not survive, no matter how you might hope they would, if they followed the old way. Not once has this been the case.”

The words had momentarily quieted the unseen Council. After a minute of tense silence, a new voice spoke up. “Tell us, Councilor, what will happen if you, or should I say they, succeed?”

“I cannot know for certain, but I hope that we gain a new place in this new world.”

“And if you fail?” The new voice was not unkind. In fact it bore glimmers of hope.

“Then we will not be there to greet Her, should she ever return.”

Shocked gasps ran through the hall. The original accuser found his voice again. “You would take even that from Her, after all she has done? That last kindness... gone?”

I felt an incredible sympathy with this unknown creature when they spoke next, at how obviously they could shrug off the Council’s disdain for them.

Because it paled in comparison to how they felt for themselves. A feeling I knew well.

“Should we fail, she will not have long to care.”

ooooOOOOoooo

~~~~~~

The next morning found a dozen guards watching over Dent and Lithu as they put put Bosco into the Recollector to view the Memory Orbs. I was looking forward to discussing them with him when he was finished. For now, I found myself with little to do and forbidden by Chief Rockhaunch to leave the hospital grounds in case McCoy returned, so I paid a visit to the remaining scientist unicorn.

Esto also had protectors stationed both in- and outside of her room. Knowing griffons in general and McCoy in particular I felt this was unnecessary. He had no reason to attack Esto again. Voicing the opinion would have been unforgivably tactless, however, so I held my tongue.

As I entered I saw that the Chief was in with her. Esto was smiling even though she was swathed in bandages. I felt a pang of guilt that she’d been caught up in everything. “Snowflake! So good to see you safe. I want to thank you for keeping Lithu safe.”

“Sorry that I couldn’t get to you before he did. I should have tried harder to stop them back at the research facility.”

Her smile turned to disappointment. “So Latvi really was the one who sent the griffon after us. Why?”

Rockhaunch supplied the answer as if he’d heard it before. “One-sided attraction in unbalanced individuals is a dangerous thing. According to Snowflake here, Latvi was running a crooked side business and regularly made use of mercs. A guy like that can get it into his head that his actions won’t catch up with him.”

“My taunting him probably didn’t help either.” Unfortunately, I thought this out loud.

Esto’s flowing voice didn’t sound so friendly now. “You... taunted Latvi? What did you say?”

Whoops. “I... may have thrown the fact that Lithu had a boyfriend in his face. He didn’t take it well. He sent McCoy after Dent when he calmed down a little.”

The chief’s expression clearly conveyed his opinion of my decision-making at that point, far better than words could.

Esto tried anyway. Her speech became very clipped as she let me know what she thought about that. “So you, a prisoner at the time, thought it a smart idea to taunt the stallion who had a deadly killer in the room with him? And that directly led to said killer attacking my friend? What were you thinking?”

I swallowed back a lump in my throat. “I’m so sorry. I was angry and McCoy was under orders not to harm me. I didn’t even think about him hurting others when I said it.”

“Because of your selfishness, our lives may not ever be the same again. I don’t know the extent of my injuries and this McCoy could attack Lithu again at any time. You won’t get any more help from me, you harpie!”

It was hard to argue with her words and I didn’t try. Instead, the chief tactfully escorted me out. “She’s not wrong about the taunting but I don’t think she’ll be permanently hurt. We’re also taking precautions with Dent and Lithu. They’ll be heading to Grindstone under heavy guard.”

Wait, what? “Won’t that make them easy targets for McCoy? Why not keep them here?”

He scoffed. “Here? In Lethbridle? With plenty of places for a griffon to hide? Let me ask you: Where could a griffon hide in a herd of only buffalo?”

He has a point, but still... “McCoy won’t stop though, not until he is released from the contract by Latvi, and he’s probably nearly to Plottawa right now!”

The oak-furred officer shrugged helplessly. “What else can we do? We can’t get into Plottawa for Latvi. At least Dent can get himself lost in a crowd of buffalo. He can handle himself in a fight too.”

My recent trip to Grindstone had given me a good idea of their stance on outsiders. “What about Lithu? She’ll be the only pony in Grindstone. There’s a bull there called Crush, he doesn’t much like ponies.”

Rockhaunch’s face darkened at the name. “I know him. I’ll send word to friends of mine in Grindstone about Lithu. They’ll look after her. So long as she doesn’t cause trouble, Crush... probably won’t do anything drastic.”

“Probably?”

He grimaced. “Probably. Crush has been pushing for harsher treatment for outsiders for years. He might not be friendly to Lithu or Dent but he won’t start anything without overwhelming support. He won’t get that any time soon. Not unless something big happens to sway others to his way of thinking.”

Oh, this just gets worse and worse. “Like a Plottawan slaver raid looking for Red Ice?”

The wheels turned and his mood soured further. “I’d forgotten about that. You really have a knack for pissing folks off, don’t you? I’ll stress to Dent that he shouldn’t make any waves while he’s there.”

“Thanks... and sorry, again.”

~~~~~~

Bosco was just pulling the apparatus off his head when I arrived. He didn’t say anything at first, seemingly lost in thought. I nodded a greeting to Dent and Lithu as I approached, noting how the buffalo followed her with his eyes while she went about her tasks, and how the unicorn made sure never to stray far from him. She also made an effort to stay clear of me.

I couldn’t blame either of them. Dent may have seen some unsavoury aspects of life in the Wasteland but it seemed he’d never before seen them endanger somebody he cared about. Lithu simply hadn’t ever gone through anything like that before and wasn’t eager to repeat the experience.

If nothing else, they certainly didn’t want to be separated any time soon. I wished the best for them, even if the unicorn girl already associated me with horrific violence.

Bosco had snapped out of his funk by this time and turned his gaze on me. His eyes were shining with barely contained excitement. “Snowflake! Did you see them all? All those ponies!”

I smiled back. “I saw them, though I still think you should have gone first,” I reached up and tousled his hair, “if nothing else, you could have fixed your Recollector mane.”

Unfazed, his whipped his head back and forth, the end result being an even bigger mess than before. It didn’t affect his demeanour though. “Better?”

I shared an amused look with the scientist and the guard. “Oh yes, absolutely. Totally fixed.”

Bosco didn’t really care. He was practically bouncing. “I’ve had those things in my bags for years! I can’t believe I finally got to see them. And for free... ish. Every other time I’ve asked about it, ponies have wanted thousands of bits. No way I could afford that! I really owe you, Snowflake.”

You really don’t. “Given what I put us through for this, I’d say I owe you.”

A charcoal-grey hoof shot out and clipped my horn painfully. I quickly covered it before it could happen again. “Bosco! That hurt!”

Even though he was still smiling at his good fortune and still gazing at the Orbs, his voice had a slight edge to it. “Tough! You spend way too much time in your own head. I don’t wanna hear it today. Everypony’s safe, I got to watch my Memory Orbs, and I finally caught up to you after a week. It’s a good day and it’s gonna stay a good day, understand?”

“But-”

I couldn’t finish before Bosco was back in my face with a frown. “Understand?!”

I looked to Dent and Lithu for support. The latter was failing to suppress her laughter and former was mirroring Bosco’s expression but with an upside-down frown. Outnumbered, I admitted defeat. “Fiiiine. Get your stuff. I’ll wait outside.”

Making a point to ignore the giggling couple, I turned and walked back out the door.

~~~~~~

“Oh come on, the Steel Rangers too?”

Bosco was clearly in awe of my ability to get involved with dangerous groups. Sitting in Nightcap’s bar allowed us to get away from the watchful eyes of the Lethbridle guards for a while. Sort of. There were some off-duty buffalo and ponies there, which is why Rockhaunch had insisted we go there, but they were giving us our space. They would only approach us if there was trouble.

“Now that one wasn’t my fault. I was just looking looking to make a few bits while I checked out Grindstone, to see if you were there. The Rangers didn’t really give me a choice. I was kinda stuck at the time. A Hissyflit bit me.”

He made a face. “Ooh, yeah. I’ve seen that. It’s not pretty if the poison runs its course.”

“Glad it didn’t get that far. The Rangers gave me something for it.”

My friend didn’t seem particularly glad for that. “And? There’s more, right? Steel Rangers don’t help out for no reason and certainly not for free.”

He was certainly right about that one. “No, no they don’t. They asked me, and I use the term very loosely, to watch some Memory Orbs for them. Apparently they had no other unicorns around at the time and no Recollector.”

“Of course they didn’t.” Was the flat reply.

“That’s not even the worst part though, Bosco. The Memory Orbs showed two ponies trying to get into Stable 61!”

“What?!” This one wasn’t so flat, “You didn’t tell them how to get there, did you?”

“Of course not, that’s my...” my breath caught in my throat, “...my home.” I’d been in a generally positive mood, since meeting Bosco again had been a wonderful distraction from what happened in Whinniepeg, but talking about the Stable was just too much.

Not now, not here, I thought as my eyes began to moisten, come on, keep it together!

“They... they don’t know how to find it. Without the Pipbuck they’ll never make it through the blizzard...” My lips began to quiver, “...and even if they did, they can’t get past the door...” I lowered my head, allowing my mane to conceal my face, “...Because the guys on External Monitor Duty inside will see who it is and the Overmare won’t open the door...” my drink spilled onto the table as my hooves began to shake, “...BECAUSE WASTELANDERS AREN’T ALLOWED IN THE STAB-UH-HUH-HUH-LE!!!!” I wailed as I couldn’t hold it anymore.

“Wha? Snowflake?” The colt was thoroughly confused but still trying to be supportive, “That’s a good thing, isn’t it? If a pony’s bad then they shouldn’t get in.”

I buried my head in my forelegs and bawled. The rest of the bar had definitely taken notice at this point. All conversations were stopping. I didn’t care.

Still lost, Bosco tried again, “Um...yeah! Your brothers! They’re on the other side of that door where nopony can get to them. That’s what you want, right?”

My eyes were screwed shut as I loudly vocalised my misery.

“What the hell’s going on here?” Nightcap and the off-duty guards had apparently had enough. I felt them crowding around the table. A massive, furry hoof was laid on my shoulder.

“You want us to take care of this guy, Stronghead? Least we can do after last night.” I ignored him.

Bosco didn’t have that luxury. “What? She’s my friend. I’m trying to cheer her up.”

“Good job.” I didn’t see their expressions but they sounded less than impressed, “Maybe you should leave her alone, fella.”

My young colt friend seemed to be getting worried, “Snow, I know you’re upset but can you talk to them, please?”

Something heavy slammed onto the table, “That wasn’t a suggestion. Beat it, punk.”

“HEY!” Nightcap’s growling voice sounded above the commotion, “I don’t want you beating up a kid in my bar. Take it outside and don’t block the door. It’s you guards’ problem after that.”

“Wait, what?” Bosco was seriously getting freaked, “Snowflake, help!”

Chairs scraped along the floor and the table shook as the colt struggled with the guards.

“SNOWFLA-oof!”

My head shot up. Tears were still running down my cheeks and I could only take long, shuddering breaths but I couldn’t let this go on. Bosco was on the floor in a ring of bodies, eyes wide in pain and shock. The stallion who’d just planted a hoof in his stomach was stepping back.

“...n-no.”

They didn’t hear me and hauled him upright again.

“...don’t hurt him.”

They were almost at the door.

“...’s my friend.”

I sucked in one big breath just as they pushed him through the door.

“DON’T HURT MY FRIEND!”

Silence. I took a few small steps towards the group. A worn hoof grabbed me by the shoulder and spun my roughly around. Nightcap was glaring at me with his one remaining eye.

“Get out. I don’t know what Raider poison you’re on, and I don’t care. Take your ‘friend’ and those thugs and get the fuck out of my bar. You’re not welcome here anymore. If I see you again, I’ll be looking at you through my scope. Now fuck off.” He shoved me, hard, towards the door.

Outside, the guards were reluctant to leave Bosco alone with me but I eventually persuaded them. Bosco hadn’t said anything, just glared at the officers as he slumped against a wall.

I sat down next to him. The extra altercation hadn’t improved my mood any and my cheeks were still soaked with tears. “I’m so sorry, Bosco.”

His patience was clearly tested. “What the hell’s going on, Snowflake? What was that back there? You weren’t making any sense. You were acting like you wanted the Rangers to get at your Stable!”

I sniffled, trying to hold back my runny nose. “Of course I don’t want that, Bosco. It’s just, well,” I held up my naked wrist, “what do you see?”

Wincing as he rubbed his sore belly, he glanced up distractedly. “Your leg?”

I turned the limb to show him every side. “What don’t you see?”

To his credit, it only took him a few seconds before his eyes went wide. “Oh, shit!”

I sniffled again. “Yeah.”

His bruised stomach was instantly forgotten. “Snow, what happened? Did the Rangers take it?”

If only it were that simple. “N-no. A pegasus called Cassiopeia Venatici took it. She attacked me in Whinniepeg two days ago. Her... and Wings.”

“Wings? Wings stole your Pipbuck?”

The tears increased again. “I thought she was my friend.”

My charcoal companion seemed at a loss. “Wow... that’s...um...” stumped, he scratched the back of his head helplessly, “I don’t know what to think about that. She really didn’t seem the type.”

I didn’t respond with words, just a small, glum noise of agreement.

Then he asked the question I’d been asking myself ever since it happened. “So what are you going to do?”

“I... don’t know,” a soft, sad, little chuckle escaped me, “all that stuff I said before? It’s true. I can’t go back. I can’t go home again.”

“Could you ever?” His eyes widened as soon as the words left his mouth. “Shit, I didn’t mean to...”

“You know, I think somewhere... my heart maybe, I might have thought I could. I don’t know why I thought that or how I would get back, just...”

I turned my shining eyes on him, “It’s been a few weeks, Bosco. I’ve been away from home for that long. And, at the same time, I’ve only been away from home for that long. What should I do now? What can I do now?”

He didn’t immediately respond, just laid his head back against the hard stone of the wall and looked up at the bright, though always-cloudy, sky. “If I knew, I’d tell you. Fact of the matter is, I’ve been away from home far longer than you have. I still have no clue what I’m supposed to do.”

“You have?” It occurred to me that I knew very little about Bosco, even after travelling with him for days. And sleeping in the same bed. I knew he could shoot and take care of himself, that he wasn’t from Cefar and that he still had a little bit of foalhood in him. I had no idea if he had family or where he came from or even what his Cutie Mark was. He always had clothes and armour over it.

“Uh huh. I’d been in Cefar maybe a year when you showed up. Fact is, I’ve been bouncing around from place to place for closer to 6 years.”

My eyes bugged. “That long? How? Wasn’t your family worried? Did you go home to see them?”

He hesitated, lips moving as half-formed words waited to escape. “Don’t laugh, but I don’t know. Any of it. I woke up in Vanchoofer and couldn’t remember a thing. Not where I’d come from, not what I was doing there, not even who I was. The docs put it down to me being another stupid little colt getting into the booze stores. But, after three days and still no luck, they stopped caring, called me damaged, and kicked me out of the clinic. Those Orbs of mine were about the only things I had on me.”

“But how did you... I mean, who took care of... six years?!”

The heavy sigh he heaved was at odds with, and yet strangely in tune to, his uncaring shrug. “I ran. I hid. I stole. I fought. I begged. I bargained. I killed. Anything to keep myself alive from one day to the next. I didn’t have three little brothers to look after or a big sister to watch over me. I was on my own, and I did whatever I had to to survive.”

I wanted to hug him so hard. “A-and the Orbs? Now that you’ve finally seen them, do they tell you anything?” All my troubles were completely forgotten when faced with this new information.

He smiled ruefully here. “Nope. Not a damn thing. I don’t know those caves, or those ponies, or that valley where the kids were playing. I could have been one of them, or one of them could have been my mother, or my father, or something. But I don’t know anything more than when I started. I just have more questions to ask.”

“Um...” I had nothing. Nothing at all to say to him. Should I apologise for whining about my problems when he had a past just as bad, no, worse than mine? Should I stay quiet? Change the subject? Not a clue.

He saved me from deciding. “Forget about it, Snow. I’ve had years for this. I’ll figure things out eventually.” Despite his words, the faintest, almost indiscernible trace of hope showed in the corner of his eye, “You can help if you like, but I wouldn’t expect much.”

“I’d like that.” I didn’t care about how long it took. Anything was better than wandering around without a plan.

Bosco gingery rose from where he sat. “In the meantime, I think I’ve got an idea about what we can do to solve your problem.”

“What do you mean?”

He tapped himself on the chest with a hoof. “Well I’ve done more in the last week or so than just look for you. I’ve been to a bunch of places, including back to Cefar, where I fought and captured a Molar Bear.”

He was for some reason proud of that suicidal activity. “Why?”

“I was helping somepony out.” His grin was getting wider now. I couldn’t figure out the reason.

“Who would be crazy enough to LOOK for a Molar Bear to fight? They’re... really scary.” I finished lamely.

Bosco’s amusement at my bemusement threatened to overwhelm him. He pronounced his next words very differently from normal.

“A little danger keeps the heart strong, dahling.”

~~~~~~

Chapter 6-4: Open Air Irritation

“Right in the flank, huh?”

“She was not a happy zebra.”

Bosco and I were heading out of the Northern Lethbridle gate. A gentle snow was falling in the cool afternoon air. It seemed a quiet day, as the white sheet covering the ground was unbroken by hoofprints. It would appear that no traders had made the trip north to Cefar that day.

I felt it was time to find out more about what he had been up to. “So tell me again how you turned into a monster hunter.”

He seemed embarassed by the question. “Ah, well, after Naiara and I got back from fetching our things and found out you’d disappeared from Lethbridle without telling anypony where you were going,” he paused to give me an admonishing glower, “she and I split up to check out a few places. I dunno exactly where she went, but I figured I’d check out Hoofshine Harlots first, then try Cefar. You might’ve got lonely for home.”

Yep.

“I had no luck with Hoofshine so I headed back towards the main road. That’s when I met up with Schwarzwald. She was as crazy as the first time. Said she met you in Lethbridle. Also said you had some sort of arrangement with Wings, to look after me and Naiara while we were in town?”

I nodded. “Wings still owed me a favour from the Raider attack. I just wanted to make sure you guys had some help if Plottawa slavers showed up in town. It only applied to while those two were in Lethbridle though. Was... was Wings with her?”

His expression softened. “Sorry, no. Schwarz said she had stuff to take care of further south. Didn’t say that it would involve mugging you.”

“Actually, that happened up in Whinniepeg,” I scornfully remarked, “but I met her first in Vanchoofer. Whatever she was up to down there had nothing to do with me.”

“Whinniepeg? Wow. That’s pretty far out of the way.”

“Just perfect for a quiet bit of betrayal, don’t you think?” I bit out.

“We’ll figure it out, Snow, but let me tell the story first.”

“Sorry, sorry.” Stupid. Stop being so selfish. He’s had it worse than you.

“Anyway, Schwarz said she’d taken on a job for a group of poachers. Apparently they’re gathering up a whole bunch of beasties for some reason. Schwarz was hired as extra muscle to go hunt a Molar Bear up in the snowfields past Cefar. Did Facemask mention we had poachers come through town every now and then?”

“Yeah, briefly.”

“Well, I guess these guys are the same deal. Most of the poachers who go hunting in those woods leave with a few ponies missing. If these guys are hiring extra help it probably means they’ve tussled with Molar Bears before. They told Schwarzwald to bring anypony else who could help out. So she asked me.”

“And you said yes? To a Molar Bear hunt?”

His cheeks coloured at this. “Well, I mean, I was heading that way anyway, and she did ask nicely. It seemed legit, as if they knew what they were doing.”

He instantly agrees to come with me to Lethbridle, and now he goes racing back to Cefar to fight monsters because Schwarzwald asked nicely. That’s sweet... but stupid.

“Anyway, Schwarz and I headed up to Cefar and met up with the poachers. They weren’t really friendly so I mostly talked to her.” A look that was equal parts admiration and horror crossed his face. “Some of the shit that mare’s done...”

I wasn’t immune to gossip, especially about people as downright scary as the scarred mare. “Ooh, do tell.”

He crossed his forelegs in front of him in a warding gesture. “Nuh-uh. You wanna know then ask her yourself. I don’t want to say too much and have her mad at me.”

Nuts. “Fair enough. What happened next?”

“Well when we were all gathered we headed out. Took us hours to find anything. You were definitely right about that blizzard. It never stops.”

“Told you.” I allowed myself a little smugness.

He caught my look but made no comment on it. “So, by this point, we’re all freezing, wet and miserable from being out there so long with nothing to show for it. I seriously thought Schwarzwald was going to kill one of the poachers who would not shut the fuck up. Turned out that his whining led a Molar Bear right to us. Came down on top of the idiot from the trees.”

I recalled my first encounter with the now-dead creature. It was just as Bosco described. It appeared out of nowhere and attacked from the trees. That something so big and powerful could move around up there without being seen or heard was incredible and terrifying. I hoped that the loud poacher had at least died quickly.

“So this Molar Bear was smaller, and much quicker, than that hulking bastard that chased you into town. It took forever to kill the stallion. Just batted his broken bones around for a while. He was screaming the entire time.” Apparently I’d hoped in vain.

“So what happened? Were you okay?”

“Well I was. The others didn’t get off so easily. It might have been a small one but the damn thing still had size on us. Not to mention that we must’ve picked the worst possible place to fight the thing. Plenty of trees about and the ground was uneven so we constantly had to watch our hooves. We lost three more in less than two minutes.”

He paused briefly, reliving the event, before continuing. “The poachers knew what they were doing, I’ll give ‘em that. Didn’t panic, didn’t scatter, just got down to business. Guns up, shoulders tight, hooves loose. Because we were trying to capture the thing alive we had to be careful with our shots. It was damn scary to know I had a good shot but had to hold back and give that mauler another chance to gut me with those claws and teeth.”

Yep, definitely remember those.

“We went back and forth for ages like this, getting our shots in while we can, and trying not to get killed in the process. Eventually Schwarzwald nailed it in the foot. Slowed it down long enough for the poachers to tranq it into a coma.”

“Was Schwarzwald okay?”

Amused incredulity laced the reply. “Grinning from ear to ear. Damn near bleeding from ear to ear too. I had no idea where she was for most of the fight but she looked like she was going a few rounds against the damn thing bare-hoofed. She was cut up all to hell. Says she can’t wait to...” his charcoal grey turned to cherry red, “...have somebody run their tongue along the scars.”

The image invaded my mind immediately, and soon I matched Bosco’s hue. For all her battle scars, the older mare still boasted an impressive figure. The casual ease with which she’d lifted the stallion back at Nightcap’s had already clued me in to her physical prowess.

Not to say that I didn’t pity the poor guy she found for that role. I doubt she would be gentle. “So where is she now?”

He cocked his head up the road. “Stayed behind in Cefar to organise transport of the Molar Bear. Said she knew the poacher boss and wanted a word when they showed up.”

“So... what? We just walk along the road until we see her coming the other way?” That would be a terrible plan. I really doubted that we’d taken care of all the Raiders around.

Bosco’s demeanour had shifted. He was glancing anywhere but at me and looked guilty. “Well, I told her that we’d... meet up at Hoofshine.” Some of the apprehension surfaced in his eyes, “You don’t mind that I told her about the place, do you?”

She might tell Wings. I won’t let her take anything more from me. “I... might have minded. Except I’ve already told two others about it too. One of them’s Naiara.”

He looked slightly less stressed upon hearing that. “Well it’s no problem if she knows. I’m pretty sure we can trust her. Who’s the other one?”

Here we go. “You remember that pegasus I told you about, the one who was with Wings when they took my Pipbuck?”

Oh, there was a lot of apprehension now, just an entirely different kind. “Yessss?”

I took a deep breath. Best to just get it over with. “Well... it’s her sister.”

“WHAT?!”

I made a calming motion. “Now, before you get too angry. I want you to know that Breeze is not her sister. Even Naiara’ll vouch for that.”

“Snowflake, her sister attacked you!” Later, I’d probably find it funny that this kind of conversation had happened before, also on the road between Lethbridle and Cefar.

“Well, if you want to get technical, so did Breeze. Um... twice.”

He just stared, mouth half open in disbelief.

“Look, it’s complicated. A lot of stuff has happened.”

He threw his hooves up in frustration. “I was right. You ARE going to get yourself killed! I thought you might’ve wised up after Plottawa!”

“Bos-”

“No. NO! I volunteered to fight a Molar Bear, with Schwarzwald of all ponies, and you’re still the dumbest one here!”

My shock at being yelled at gave way to hurt. “I-I just wanted-”

“What? What did you just want?” He was outright glaring at me now.

Chastised, I shrank back. “I’m sorry, Bosco, I just wanted to... make some friends.”

Still fuming, he opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it with a long, drawn-out exhalation. He seemed to get himself back under control, and took a step back. There still seemed to be a fair amount of emotion churning inside him though.

“Snowflake,” he began in a low, possibly calm, voice, “let’s stop this here. I don’t think much of your decision making but I’m not going to yell at you in the open. We can talk more at Hoofshine.”

“...okay.”

We began walking towards the abandoned brothel we’d adopted as a haven. I had to let Bosco take the lead after realising I didn’t know the way without my Pipbuck’s map, which really didn’t help my mood.

~~~~~~

The uncomfortable silence we’d been in since Lethbridle continued all the way to Hoofshine. I kept my mouth shut for fear of setting Bosco off again but inwardly I marveled at how he’d found his way here with the sun long since set. Without my Pipbuck I would have been thoroughly screwed. A veteran wanderer like him must have picked up some tricks. I hoped he’d tell me someday. If I was still his friend.

I kept watch while he keyed in the door code. My now-ordinary goggles kept the still falling snow out of my eyes. It seemed heavier than when we were first here, a few weeks back.

Is the season changing? Does the Wasteland even have seasons? Didn’t unicorns magic up the seasons back in Old Equestria? What happens now?

A soft click drew me away from my musings. “Got it,” whispered the colt, as wary of Raider attack as I was, “inside, quick!”

We hustled through the doorway and closed it behind us, the comforting click of the lock reingaging echoed around the empty foyer. The place was as I remembered, plenty of room, and an emphasis on discreet comfort and style. It really was incredible that the place had held up as well as it had. Even more so that nobody else had bothered with it. Well, aside from cleaning out the booze. We’d been really lucky that the medicine stores had been locked with the terminal. If they hadn’t, I suspect the Raiders never would have left.

“Alright,” Bosco said when he had checked for intruders, “it’s getting pretty late. Why don’t you get some sleep down below? I’ll keep an eye out for Schwarzwald.”

Tired as I was, I wanted to make sure everything would be okay. “Bosco, I’m really sorry about everything. I know I cause you trouble but... well, there’s no but. I’m just sorry.”

He didn’t look at me as he laid his gear down. “Did you learn how to shoot?”

Whoops. “Um... no, I didn’t. I did beat a mercenary in a fight though.”

“He put you in the hospital, and got away without a scratch.” He deadpanned.

“I broke his gun...” I finished lamely.

He facehoofed. “See, this is the problem. You still think you’ve got a safety net, like you’re back in the Stable and you can do stuff like this without consequences. In Plottawa you managed to surprise Peanut but you still only got out of there because Naiara and I dragged you out. You nearly died from a Hissyflit bite and got taken by the Steel Rangers. They might end up looting your home, how are you going to stop them?”

I had no idea. Bosco carried on regardless. “After that you got chased out of Grindstone, getting Naiara shot in the process, and somehow found another Molar Bear to tick off. This was while travelling with a pony who had tried to kill you, and so had her sister. Said sister then robbed you with another girl you thought was a friend. They took your only chance to get home. All this you’ve managed in the space of a few weeks.”

Now he looked at me. There was frustration in his expression, but also pity and not a little bit of fear. “You are an idiot. That’d be fine if you weren’t using that idiocy to be a danger to yourself. Keep this up and the Wasteland’s gonna kill you, Snowflake, Red Ice or not. You, and a bunch of others too.”

I was barely holding back the tears. “Then what can I do to stop it?”

He laughed mirthlessly. “Stop pissing off dangerous folks would be my first choice,” then he stopped laughing, “or learn how to survive it when you do. Not just for an hour, or a day, or a week. Learn how to survive the life you live.”

Feeling like I’d been hammerbucked in the gut left me unable to answer right away, fortunately I was saved the trouble by a knock on the door. “Bosco-dahling, are you there? Do let me in out of this cold, won’t you?

Bosco seemed as surprised as I was. “Schwarzwald? That you?” Briefly glancing at me, he moved to open the door.

“Be careful!” I hissed quietly, praying she didn’t hear me. I shrank back around the corner into the bar, Schwarzwald was dangerous on her own, but if she was working with Wings I could be in real trouble.

How should I survive this, Bosco? I won’t ask for your help. I fought off McCoy, if I need to I’ll fight Schwarzwald too. She’s my best bet for finding out where Wings is but if I have to I’ll beat it out of her. My Pipbuck cannot fall into the wrong hooves or else the Stable could be doomed!

The door groaned open. “Dahling,” the unseen mare’s voice was full of mirth, “I was hoping to catch up to you before you got inside.”

“You saw me?” Bosco’s voice betrayed his surprise.

“Oh, yes. I killed a pair of Raiders about a mile north of here and spotted you soon after.”

“You killed Raiders that close to here? I didn’t hear a thing.”

I didn’t even need to see her to know how wide her grin was. “Neither did they. But enough of that, Bosco-dahling, who was the little filly you came in with?” Her voice turned pouty, “Done with me already? Aw, I am hurt.”

“I, uh, that is...” His babbling was adorable, but it did remind me of the harsh reality in all that a colt of his age had been through.

Still adorable, though.

“...just come in.” He said at last.

Hoofsteps sounded on the marble floor of the foyer. Schwarzwald seemed to be inspecting the place, stepping this way and that. Finally she moved close enough that I could see her shadow. It was distorted, probably from the weaponry she wore on what I had now been informed was a ‘battle saddle’.

“Well this is lovely, Bosco. And in such good condition! Quite a find indeed. The ponies who built this place knew what they were doing.”

“Yeah,” Bosco’s shadow moved into range too, looking stiff, “what happened after-”

“Ah-ah. Don’t change the subject, dahling.” Schwarz’s shadow moved away from Bosco’s into the center of the foyer.

Her raised voice carried through the rooms. “Hello? Little girl? Come out and say hello. I promise not to keep you or dear Bosco from your fun for too long.”

Does she ever take things seriously? She’s just killed two Raiders 10 minutes ago and now she’s making sex jokes. Well, now what do I do?

The earth mare was non-plussed with my lack of response. “A shy little thing you’ve found for yourself, Bosco. Do be patient with her, she may be... inexperienced.”

Oh, for the love of-, ignoring Bosco’s spluttering, I rose to my hooves and stepped quietly around the corner. Her back was to me. If I wanted to attack, this was the time.

Did I want that?

No, I didn’t. “Hello again, Schwarzwald.”

She jumped, apparently not expecting me to arrive from the bar. “Snowflake? It is you!” The widest grin burst across her face. “Bosco, you bad boy, bringing our dear Snowflake to a place like this. For shame.”

More spluttering and blushing.

“Although it does explain why you ran off so soon.”

Even more spluttering and blushing.

I soon grew tired of it. “Good to see you, Schwarzwald...”

“And you too, dahli-”

“...now tell me where I can find Wings.”

Directness seemed to work as she halted mid-dahling. She said nothing as she flicked an eye across my ready stance and low frown. There was absolutely no fear in her at all. She remained completely relaxed. Was it from her long years of experience or was I simply not threatening?

Finally she smiled again, though it was much different from the casual grins she bore earlier. This was a cold, calculating smile. There was amusement there, but at my expense. “What has happened, Snowflake? I know that look. You have the start of your own scar gallery and you’ve lost some weight. Some mechanical weight.”

Is she mocking me? How much does she know?

“Where is Wings?” I repeated, putting as much force behind the words as I could.

Schwarzwald kept right on smiling, though she did begin to loosen the straps on her battle saddle. “You have no more favours with us, Snowflake-dahling, and I am a mercenary mare, you know. Why should I tell you? I am quite fond of dear ‘Wings’, and you seem upset with her. Are we not all friends?”

“You tell me, dahling. When did you last see Wings?” I made no move to put on my Power Hooves, not yet. Schwarzwald might turn out to be innocent.

Well, in taking my Pipbuck anyway, I doubt she’s been ‘innocent’ of much else in a long time.

The mare shrugged off her battle saddle, which clattered onto the floor, and stretched her muscles, talking to herself as she did. “Well now, when did I last see her? Hmm, we were in the bar when you arrived. Then I left for my evening entertainment. After that? Ah, yes. It was the very next day. Wings told me that she had found work for herself, to begin the day after. A few hours later I was contacted about my participation in the hunt. Wings left that same day. I remained in Lethbridle a little while longer, and how lucky that I did. It meant I could run into this handsome colt here, no?”

Bosco didn’t react with embarassment this time. He barely reacted at all. Instead, he watched the two of us apprehensively. He was the only one still with a weapon, but I doubted that would matter too much.

“Can you call her here? She and I have business to discuss.” More than discuss, but I had to tread lightly, especially if Schwarzwald was as protective of the griffon as she seemed.

“Weeell, I could... but as I said, I am a mercenary. Why should I?”

Her smile grated on my nerves more and more. “Because she has something of mine, and I want it back.”

Still grinning that now-maddening grin, she cocked her head to the side. “Oh? How did she get it? Did you give it to her?”

My lips pursed slightly as I subconsciously bared my fangs. “She called me out for a chat then ambushed me when I got there! Is that a friend, Schwarzwald?”

She rubbed her chin with her hoof, not really talking to me. “Hmm, I do hope there was a good reason for that. It could be troublesome otherwise...”

“Good reason?! She stole my Pipbuck. I need that to get back into the Stable!” Why was she still smiling?

“And? What relevance is that to me? Thieves exist in the Wasteland, Snowflake. Get used to it. Take Bosco’s advice and learn how to prevent it.” Apparently she’d picked up the tail end of our conversation through the door.

She’s definitely been around for a while. She didn’t even blink at my being a Stable pony. If she wants me to fix it myself then I will.

My horn began to glow. “I’ll make you bring her here.”

Her eyes lit up and she began to giggle, it was lighter than her normal, husky tones and was almost melodic. “Well, this is unexpected. Please try, dahling, I’m still frisky from those Raiders.”

“Ladies, hold on a minute. This is dumb.” Bosco broke his silence in a feeble attempt to break things up even as he stepped back out of the way. Neither of us took much notice. Schwarzwald probably didn’t care in general and I had severe doubts that Bosco would shoot us.

I wasn’t going to beat Schwarzwald with strength. She was bigger, stronger and a better fighter. It was like fighting McCoy or Peanut again. I was gonna have to take away her options.

Ice spread out from under my hooves and crept along the floor towards her... for about a half-second. Then, like in my fight with the stone-grey griffon, I lost control and it streaked away, narrowly missing Bosco, who dove aside at the last moment, before shooting up a wall and engulfing a framed painting of three smiling unicorn girls. Long-dead escorts by the looks of it. The frozen picture grew too heavy for its support and dropped, shattering on the marble.

Following the show with her forest-green eyes, my opponent gave me a look that silently, and sardonically, offered me a chance to give it another go. I took her up on that, another tendril of ice slashing out. This one didn’t even manage to head in her direction at all, instantly shooting away and up a wall. I ignored the faint crinkling and opted to charge instead. Maybe if I can get closer-

-I could get a hoof in the face for my efforts. Pain blossomed around my cheek as the blow lifted me off my feet and propelled me into the bar. I landed hard on the treated wood. A crash sounded just as I hit the ground, at first I thought it was me breaking something else, but when I looked up I saw that the overhead chandelier in the foyer, now frozen solid, had plummeted to the ground where I’d been standing.

On the other side of it, Schwarz’s lips were still curled upwards. “I didn’t want things to end that quickly, this is fun. I like this new you, Snowflake, you’re feisty. Are you sure you’re not better off without the Pipbuck?”

“That’s not really the issue here.” I sprang to my feet and charged again. Diving at her, I crossed my forelegs in front of my face to stop her getting to my face. Instead, she reached up, grabbed my hooves, and swung me into the wall. All the wind blew out of me in a mighty gasp. I dropped to the floor and greedily sucked in air.

As I struggled to fill my lungs, Schwarzwald didn’t press her attack. What she did do was kneel down and softly lifted my mane away from my eyes. “I’m having fun, Snowflake, so I’m not angry. However, I am also pulling my punches. Again, for fun. However if you continue to attack me for so long that it becomes boring, then I will end the fight there and then. I know you are angry at Wings, but there are other ways of doing this. I’d hate to see your pretty form all bruised,” she paused for a moment, “well, in a fight anyway.”

I wasn’t feeling so suffocated by that point, so I had the strength to angrily knock her hoof away. “Don’t...need...your...help!”

She just shrugged and winked at Bosco as she took a few steps back. “She’s very determined isn’t she? It’s cute, no?”

The colt looked wordlessly between us. “Just don’t kill her, alright?”

The older mare burst out laughing. “Kill her? I’m not going to kill her. Where would be the fun in that? Look at how interesting she’s becoming. Why, if she’s willing to attack me, think how entertaining it’ll be when she finds Wings! I can’t wait. If she learns how to fight then she’ll be such fun!”

“SHE is not done yet!” I didn’t care how winded I was or how much that punch had hurt, I wanted to wipe that cocky smile off her face.

If anything I made it bigger, Schwarzwald was delighted with my actions. “Come, Snowflake, show me more!” She spread her hooves wide, waiting for my attack.

I’m not going to get her with a straight shot, so now what? My ice... snake... thingie attack is no good if I can’t control it.

Wait, isn’t it? A notion was half-forming in the back of my mind.

“Stop thinking, Snowflake. If you want to win this fight, you’re going to need to be more... primal.” Purred the mercenary, running her tongue along her teeth.

Why not? I’ve got nothing else to try.

Squaring my stance, I pumped all my energy into my horn BUT made no attempt to control it. I might’ve been unconscious at the time and didn’t have the Memory Orb handy but I still tried to channel that first display in the Stable’s medical bay. The one that landed me in all this trouble. I’d covered the entire room with ice, wall-to-wall.

I was going for a similar effect here. If I didn’t know where the attack would come from, how would she? I lowered my head. I wouldn’t need to know where she was. If this didn’t work I’d probably knock myself out, if not I’d still be out of ideas. The fight would be over one way or another.

A ring of ice crystals formed, then broke, then reformed around me again and again. Bosco was shouting from the corner of the room but I couldn’t hear him over the snaps, crackles, and pops. Schwarzwald didn’t shout, scream, or say anything at all. She was almost bouncing with anticipation though.

Sweatdrops on my brow froze and shattered into snowdust as I pumped more and more power into the spell.

This should be interesting.

The spell fired. Ice went everywhere. It spread out in a great wave along the floor, snakes of white slithered along walls and wrapped themselves around furniture. The remains of the fallen chandelier snapped clean in two.

I’d given the spell all I could, so I looked up to see the result on my opponent. Still joyous, Schwarzwald was dancing this way and that as frozen streams crisscrossed where her hooves had just been. She lacked some of Naiara’s grace, but her reflexes were wicked fast. She was untouched, even if she was being driven backwards.

As she reached the archway separating the marble foyer and wooden bar, the brass divider strip that ran along the floor as a border broke free of its fixtures and warped in the cold. One end shot upwards and smacked her right across the flank. With a girlish “Ooh!” she hopped forward... and promptly slipped on the now-frozen marble, landing on her back with her four legs sticking straight up in the air.

The laughter took a moment to register as mine. Only when Bosco joined in did I realise just how funny I found the scene. The big bad mare lying flat on her back with her hooves in the air and a perplexed expression on her face. After a moment she started laughing too.

10 seconds later, I was still laughing so hard that I never saw her hoof before it hit me in the temple.

~~~~~~

I groaned as consciousness painfully returned. “Uncalled for.”

Her head on the same velvet pillow as mine, Schwarzwald grinned as we lay eye-to-eye in the underground master suite. “It was the only way to make sure I didn’t get angry, dahling. And I did have such fun last night.”

I glanced at the rose-coloured sheets covering our bodies. “How much of it was I awake for?”

A scarred hoof emerged from the covers and booped my nose. “Relax, Snowflake, there is little appeal in a body that doesn’t move.”

I wrinkled said nose and batted her hoof away. “So, since you still have your good cheer, will you tell me where to find Wings?”

She slipped out of the covers and stood in the center of the room. “Not just yet. I have a proposition for you. Come upstairs and we shall talk with Bosco.”

Her scars kept me from answering. As she stood there I could see almost every inch of her lithe frame. She was taller than most mares, plenty of stallions too, and in very good shape. There was obvious muscle tone there without being bulky, her strength obviously came from action, not lifting heavy weights. Were it not for the scars, I might have thought she was a dancer. The damaged flesh spoke of her long combat experience. Her wood-brown coat boasted countless reminders of what she’d been through. It was frankly incredible she was as naturally cheery as she was.

“Oho, you like what you see?” I didn’t think I’d been gawking but it wasn’t a quick look by any means. Judging from the look of her conifer-green eyes, which matched her short mane, it would appear that the decision of whether she was joking or not was being left up to me.

“Just looking for the mark I put on your backside last night.” I tried to give her a creepy smile but she matched it with one that was just as unnerving.

“Very good, dahling, keep talking like that and I might someday show you what else my body has to offer.”

Bosco’s words from the night before sprang to mind and I dove under the covers before my blush could be seen. “Just go find Bosco. I’ll be up in a minute.”

“Hehehe, take all the time you need. Attending to your needs shouldn’t be rushed.”

She was up the stairs before I had a chance to retort.

~~~~~~

The tension Bosco and I had built up over the previous day was effectively diffused when I emerged into the bar, after the skipping Schwarzwald, to see the charcoal-grey colt leaning on the mop he had been using to clean up the melted ice, smirking at my dishevelment.

“Sleep well?”

“Nyrhrgrmrwr.”

“You really did a number on this place last night. I’ve just finished clearing up,” his tone became remorseful, “had to throw out that chandelier. Split right down the middle.”

“I’ve got some bits from my delivery work if you want to replace it.” I looked around for my bags.

“Nah, I’m sure there’ll be a spare around somewhere. This place is pretty stocked. I checked out the other rooms. Ready to go for the others when they show up.”

As if to illustrate that point, Schwarzwald returned with three plates of preserved food. “This place is a treasure trove of goodies!” She rolled her eyes at my hesitance to accept food from her and dug into her own with gusto. “See? No poison or drugs or anything. Now tell me about these others.”

Bosco hopped onto a bar stool with his own food, but he appeared just as interested in learning more about the people I’d met on my travels.

I took a quick bite of something that smelled vaguely vegetable-y and found, to my surprise, that it was quite tastily seasoned. I chewed it down and swallowed while I thought of where to begin.

“Well, Bosco has already met Naiara, but I trust her enough for her to stay here. She has no reason to give us any trouble and she’s saved us twice now,” I rubbed the back of my head for a moment, “I mean she did pick a fight with the boss of Plottawa...”

“Oh, she sounds fun. I wish to meet this Naiara.” Evidently there was little that was not fun for Schwarzwald.

“...but we joined in so we can’t fault her for that. She’s saved me a couple more times since then-OH WHAT NOW?!”

Schwarzwald was smiling that aggravating smile again. “You are Red Ice! I heard the radio broadcast after Plottawa was infiltrated. It was you! Oh, dahling, why didn’t you tell me sooner? I am going to have to keep a closer eye on you.”

Fucking. Damn. It.

I wished she would stop bouncing in her seat. “Please go on, tell me more about this lovely friend of yours.”

I frowned but continued. “There isn’t much else. I met up with her a few days ago on the way to Grindstone. She and Breeze, I’ll get to her in a minute, travelled with me until Plottawan slavers attacked the Buffalo. We ran into the country, ended up at a lake called “Sombra’s... something” and split up from there. Naiara had to meet up with some other zebra and then she said she’d be coming to find you, Bosco. Has she contacted you?”

He looked towards Schwarzwald as if expecting some comment before he spoke, but the mention of the lake had shut her up for some reason. Her smile, while still present, had receded slightly when the zebra were mentioned.

When she made no move to speak, he began. “Well as Snow said, Naiara’s a zebra. Hell of a fighter too. She should be around in the next two days. We made the same arrangement that you and her made when you first met. A three-day window. Yesterday was the first day and today and tomorrow are okay too. I told her I’d meet her in Lethbridle. That gives her enough time to meet up with her zebra buddies before showing up.”

“What fascinating individuals you’ve met, Stable pony. I wish to meet this zebra. Is she pretty? And what of this other one, this ‘Breeze’?”

The young stallion shrugged. “Now her, I don’t know. Care to fill us in, Snow?”

I consumed more of my breakfast first, at the same time wondering just how long the conversation would go on before we got to the subject of Wings. “Well I actually met Breeze, sorry, Aqua Breeze, and her sister because of the Red Ice radio broadcast. I had left Lethbridle after Bosco and Naiara brought me back after Plottawa, thanks again by the way, and had taken shelter for the night under an outcropping. I was happily sleeping when my Pipbuck started blaring out that Peanut wanted my head. Breeze and her sister heard the commotion and wanted to see what it was. They found me. Breeze took an instant like to my Pipbuck and her sister thought my Memory Orb was pretty.”

Bet she’s enjoying it now, damn Cassie.

“...When it became clear that I wasn’t gonna give them up, they attacked me. Breeze has some crazy tech and Cassie is a hell of a shot,” I lifted my scarred hoof, “this is her work. Pegged me from the top of a ravine after I’d jumped down into the water.”

Foam and spittle sprayed over me as Bosco spit his drink back out. “You did what?!”

Firmly rubbing the fluid off my face in frustration, I frowned at him. “It was that or be caught. Breeze has these electro-sticks, they form a barrier that hurts like you wouldn’t believe, and she caught me inside. I froze one and got away towards the cliff edge. Dragged my bruised self to Sprinkles Supplies, a caravan outfit to the south of Lethbridle, and took a job as a caravan guard as a way to get to Grindstone and make a few bits in the process. I won’t say I wasn’t happy about the idea of having armed backup either. What I didn’t count on was some of that backup being Breeze and Cassie.”

The pair’s blank faces let me know that I’d missed something out. “Cassie’s her sister. It’s much easier to call her that than Cassiopeia Venatici. Anyway, we didn’t get along on the trip but I got bitten by a Hissyflit and the Steel Rangers showed up and took me to Neighlway. Breeze and Cassie flew off the moment the Rangers arrived.”

“Flew off?” Schwarz cocked her head to the side, “More griffons?”

“Pegasi,” I corrected.

She squeed at that. She honest-to-goodness squeed. I felt it was important to move on quickly before the spell broke. “After the Rangers let me go I ran into Breeze again, who was looking for Cassie. We fought, then Naiara showed up. The three of us went to Grindstone at last and there we got attacked by Plottawan slavers. After we got away again, I sent the other two away and got a message from Wings to meet up in Whinniepeg. When I arrived she, and Cassie for some reason, knocked me out and took my Pipbuck and Memory Orb. Those two are NOT invited to stay here.” I finished definitively.

My story over, we fell into silence for a few seconds. Then Bosco broke it. “I’m getting a room to myself. If I’m gonna be the only guy here then I’m getting my own space.”

“Aww, you don’t want to keep me company?” Schwarzwald purred at him.

He rolled his eyes and ignored her. She turned back to me instead. “Quite the rabble you’ve adopted, Snowflake. Two earth ponies, assuming I am still welcome here after wiping the floor with your cute rear last night, a zebra, two pegasi and a grif-”

“ONE pegasus and no griffon. Not until I get back what is mine. After that... I don’t know. I’m not adopting anybody. And you only won because you suckerpunched me when I was laughing!” I huffed.

“Shall I kiss the booboo and make it all better?” Schwarzwald’s perpetual good mood and libido seemed to be feeding off our surroundings. “Ooh, I know. This place being what it is, it must have some lovely toys. As an apology, you can play with me. All. You. Like.”

I facehoofed, then regretted it as my bruises made themselves known. “Just tell me this proposition of yours so I can find Wings.”

“Oh very well, you spoilsport.”

“That’s exactly what I am. Now let’s go. What do I need to do for you to take me to Wings?”

She was sporting a frankly terrifying smile. “Well, as I’m sure Bosco told you, he and I were working with a group of poachers up past Cefar to capture a Molar Bear. You’ve seen one, no?”

“I’ve seen five.” I clarified, thinking back to the family I stumbled upon with Naiara and Breeze.

Schwarz blinked in surprise before continuing. “And you’re still alive? How fortunate. Anyway, the poachers have their Molar Bear but, since they lost several of their group to the beast, they are not in good condition for hunting their next targets. They asked me to ease their burden.”

Bosco was less than enthusiastic about battling more dangerous predators. “They want us to risk our necks bringing in another round of monsters? I’d rather not. It wasn’t worth it the first time.”

In response, the mercenary mare dug a bag of caps out of a pocket and dumped it out in front of the stunned colt. “Your share. Multiplied by the deaths of the other poachers. More to come if you join me in this new hunt,” she stared evenly at me, “both of you. And, if you assist me, I will bring you Wings.”

Bosco was looking at the money, and Schwarzwald, and me, and back at the money. He appeared torn.

Not that I really felt much happier about the whole arrangement. “Definitely not Molar Bears?”

She nodded. “Definitely not Molar Bears.”

“And I have your word? As soon as we’re done, you take me to Wings?”

“Either I take you to Wings, or I bring Wings to you. I give my word.” She was doing it again, the smile, like she knew I was going to say yes.

Fucking. Damn. It.

“I’m in.” What else could I say? She was my best shot at finding the griffon. I couldn’t pass it up. I’d faced down Molar Bears and Hissyflits. Nothing could be worse, could it?

Bosco was unhappy but calm. “This is you learning to survive, is it, Snowflake?”

I tried to give him a confident smile but, judging by his reaction, it may have been a little lopsided. “I’m trying, Bosco. You don’t have to come if you don’t want to. Remember you’ve still got to meet Naiara by tomorrow.”

He pondered the logistics, turning to Schwarzwald. “How far are these things we’re hunting from here?”

“Not far. An hour west of here. Perhaps two.”

He seemed satisfied. “That’s close enough that we can get this done and get back to meet Naiara in Lethbridle by tomorrow.”

“Excellent!” The bark-and-leaf mare spread her forelegs wide cheerfully, “So you accept my terms, Snowflake-dahling?”

No real choice. I HAVE to find Wings and get my Pipbuck back. “I guess so. Though I still don’t know what we’re hunting.”

~~~~~~

Chapter 6-5: Open Air Irritation

It’s so fluffy! I’m gonna die!

Try as I might, I could not disengage myself from the entangling softness of the creature’s woollen fibers. They cocooned over and around me, pinning me to the ground. I could barely see through the fabric at the battle that was still ensuing between the trio of monsters and my two earth pony companions. What I could see, and feel, was that with every breath, in and out, my strong-but-flexible prison contracted around me. This meant there was less breathable air for me, and I was starting to feel it.

I’m on my back, and getting hotter, and I’m going to die...

Through the ever-decreasing gaps in my wool cage, I could see Bosco and Schwarz dancing around, trying to get a tranquiliser dart on our hybrid spider-sheep quarry. These three Tarantubaas, bearing natural wool armour in hues of pink, purple or blue, were almost as big as a pony and their eight fuzzy legs allowed them incredible flexibility of movement. They could turn on a bit and their curving horns could hook and gouge.

It was these same horns on that bastard pink one slashing across my thigh that slowed me enough that the other two, in a stunning display of pack cooperation, were able to swoop in and restrain me so.

Momentarily out of the fight, I could only watch as tranq after tranq lodged uselessly in the bushy coats of the bugs rather than penetrating. Schwarzwald’s narrow avoidance of a horn across the belly caused me to take deep breath... or try to. Panic set in as I realised just how poor the low the quality and quantity of air had dropped.

“H-Help! I can’t breathe!”

“We’re coming! Hold on!” The voice was muffled through the cocoon. I couldn’t tell who it was.

Each breath I took in felt emptier. I hammered my Power Hooves against the shrinking shell but the wool just contorted around them, bending but not breaking.

Schwarzwald! Bosco! Wings! Help me! I began to hyperventilate. My heart was thudding in my ears and black was creeping into the edges of my vision. I couldn’t tell what was going on outside anymore.

Not until Bosco’s knife plunged through the constricting cocoon an inch to the right of my eye. Fresh air flooded in behind it. I made good use of my newly-filled lungs by screaming my head off.

“SNOWFLAKE, SHUT UP AND GET OUT OF THERE! We need you!” Hauling me out of the trap, he dragged me towards where Schwarzwald was forcing the three beasts back with short bursts of rifle fire.

“Make it quick, dahlings, bullets are expensive!”

Bosco shook me by the shoulders. “Get it together! We need you to get in close and use your Power Hooves to stun them. We can tranq them after that.”

My lungs were still trying to take in as much air as possible, which interrupted my words. “B-but th-they’ll get me a-again!”

Without taking her eyes or guns off the creatures, Schwarz’s hoof whipped back and slapped me. “Adapt and survive, Snowflake!”

“DO IT!” Bosco shoved me forward past the mare.

“A-Aaahh!” I let panic propel me forward until I somehow slammed a charged Hoof into the forehead of the blue Tarantubaa, who instantly crumpled, curling its eight legs up above it.

Bosco was right there besides me with the tranq gun, pumping a round into the soft, non-fluffy underbelly of the bug. “Great Snow, just like that.”

Like what? Did I do that?

The baying of the purple Tarantubaa snapped us back to reality as it evaded the burstfire from Schwarzwald’s guns and rushed us. Panicked, I stuck my hooves out in front of me. The monster didn’t even slow down, the horns grinding against the weaponry. The fluffy purple thing’s bulk sent me flopping back but the brief contract of its horns had triggered the discharge of my Power Hooves, shunting the beast face-first into the dirt.

Another quick shot from Bosco and it stayed down. That just left the pink one...

...which Schwarzwald was currently riding, rodeo-style. “Nhaha! Such fun. I should keep you as a pet!” The Tarantubaa was apparently less than thrilled with this idea, as it was squealing and bucking, shifting and juking, doing whatever it could to force the pony off its back.

Now that my breathing had stabilised, and the other two were out for the count, I saw a ripe opportunity to end this quickly. “Schwarzwald, bring it over here!”

Grinning like a madpony, she grabbed hold of the left horn and yanked the creature around towards me. I had my fully charged Power Hoof wound back, apprehensively waiting for the hopping and bouncing bug to come closer.

I can finally find Wings and get some answers.

The moment the beast came into range I swung my hoof, uppercutting as hard as I could. The impact sent tremors along my foreleg, and caused 5 of the Tarantubaa’s 8 legs to leave the ground.

Before the balance was fully disrupted, Schwarzwald triple-tapped 3 darts into its neck, then hopped off and let it crash to the ground.

I dissipated the charge and removed my Power Hooves, then surveyed the battlefield. These nesting grounds were in a sheltered canyon, out of the wind, where the Tarantubaas could weave wool webs across the jagged outcroppings. The cocoon they had trapped me in was slashed in two and had shrunk to the size of my head.

Thanks for getting me out of there, Bosco. I’d be dead right now if you hadn’t.

“Can we fetch the poachers and get out of here? We do have a schedule to keep.” Bosco’s gruff request reminded me of Naiara and Breeze. I really wondered how I’d resolve things between Breeze and her sister.

“Then we certainly shan’t keep you.” The voice was feminine, refined and measured. Certainly not Schwarzwald’s voice. Standing at the top of the rock wall was a petite earth mare flanked by hulking, leathery-skinned unicorn and earth pony stallions. The mare’s elaborate, expensive-looking light-blue dress complimented her amber coat and sienna mane. The clothing also served to highlight her jade eyes. Her stallion companions were dressed in heavy cloth with body armour showing underneath. A far more sensible approach than the mare’s frankly unsuitable apparel.

If I were still in the Stable, I might have thought her dress was sky-blue, I glanced at the clouds overhead, not so much these days.

Schwarzwald waved jauntily. “Amber, my dear, you came to find us, and wearing such a pretty dress too. I knew you cared.”

Affecting an air of dignified disaproval, the upper-class pony wrinkled her nose at the mercenary. “Your overt, overly-friendly mannerisms are refreshing as always, Schwarzwald. Have you completed the task I assigned you?”

The scarred mare had flipped over the sedated pink Tarantubaa and was reclining on the soft wool covering its body, completely unconcerned with the fact that Amber was, for the moment, her employer. “I understand, Amber-dahling, you must be all-business in front of your boys. You can show me how much you appreciate me taking time from my busy schedule to assist you later when we are alone. Though how could I not help you, when you are so pretty and you ask so nicely?”

Amber was stone-faced, refusing to play Schwarzwald’s game. “I count three specimens. Very good. I shall have my staff prepare your payment. Of course I will provide a reward for the assistance of your two companions...”

She broke off expectantly. Schwarzwald said nothing and continued to recline, while Bosco and I just looked at her, unsure of how to respond.

Finally, after an increasingly-awkward silence, she spoke again. “Forgive me, I sometimes forget my education has been different from most ponies. I wish to know your names, though I shall introduce myself first,” she gave a quick curtsy, taking care to keep her clothing from touching the ground, “I am Lady Amber Bernstein, head of the Bernstein Conclave...”

“She loves to make it sound so impressive.” Schwarzwald drawled from her makeshift pillow.

“...and I thank you for your help in obtaining these creatures for me. Might I have your names?” Finished the mare, pointedly not responding to the interruption.

“Bosco.” Though he addressed Amber when he spoke, his attention was far more on her dozen stoic followers.

I found myself wondering why she would be out here in the wilderness dressed that like, but answered when her gaze fell on me. “I’m Snowflake. Nice to meet you.”

Amber inclined her head slightly. “A pleasure. Your assistance is greatly appreciated in this matter,” she turned to Bosco, “you were also on-hoof in the forest near Cefar, were you not?”

“Uh, yeah. Is that a problem?” He remained on guard, as if anticipating trouble from her entourage.

Amber, herself, made no indication of intent one way or another. Her tone seemed intentionally flat. “Not at all. I am simply surprised to see Schwarzwald use the same... subordinate more than once, even when the assignments are in such close proximity.”

Am I imagining it, or is she not happy about that?

Amber continued. “Schwarzwald is a... respected agent,”

“I won’t work for you full time, Amber-dahling, I have told you this.” Came the bored reply from within the Tarantubaa fluff.

Again, the minute drooping of the eyes gave the slightest hint of discontent, “...and I believe it would be beneficial to invite her assistants with our future endeavours. Our work here is not the only zoological enterprise we are concerned with.”

“Uh...what?” Bosco didn’t seem sure whether he was being praised or not.

“There is not much I can divulge at this time, but suffice it to say that the prize of my collection is a far rarer and more fascinating creature. I would need the most capable aid in capturing one, and perhaps more.” Amber’s eyes had strayed towards me and Schwarz during this speech before fixing back on Bosco. “Naturally Schwarzwald will be hired for this task. Would you be interested? I assure you that you will be thoroughly compensated.”

Even the prospect of a heap of bits didn’t put the charcoal colt at ease when being looked down upon by a baker’s dozen of ponies. “Sorry, Amber...”

“Lady Bernstein.” She interjected sharply, eliciting a chuckle from Schwarzwald.

“...Lady Bernstein, but I can’t be sure I’ll be available. If Schwarzwald wants me to come along she can come find me herself at the time.” Bosco’s tone was pretty blunt by the end.

“What do you need all these animals for, anyway?” It had been bugging me for a while. Who would actually want a Molar Bear, or these Tarantubaas?

‘Lady Bernstein’ only really seemed to notice my presence at this point. “Well... Snowflake, was it? My client has expressed interest in exotic lifeforms, and though they wish to remain nameless-”

“Red Eye.” Deadpanned Schwarzwald.

As I choked on my spit and Bosco did a double-take, Amber gaped at Schwarzwald. “How could you possibly know?”

Oh crap. These guys work for Red Eye. Oh no no no. I don’t want anything to do with slavers. I don’t care if they’re not from Plottawa. Red Eye’s probably pissed about the confusion of Red Ice attacking Peanut.

Scharzwald’s face emerged from the fluff, grinning wildly, but she held her tongue.

“Tell me!” There was no response. Amber began stomping the ground with her elegant shoes. “Tellmetellmetellmetellme!!”

“Lady Bernstein...” The other poachers were looking entirely uncomfortable at this point.

I, meanwhile, attempted to keep my own freakout underwraps, though I was trading worried glances with Bosco every few seconds.

Seeing their discomfort, the cultured Lady gathered herself, and within seconds was once again the refined, upper-class mare. “Yes, well, you are correct. Red Eye’s organisation has hired us to collect the creatures. I do not know what for, nor do I care to ask. They pay well and on time. So long as they continue to do so, I shall consider them a valuable business partner.”

“And what about Red Ice? Did they ask you about her?” I went cold. Schwarzwald was having entirely too much fun with the poachers, and going too far was going to get us all killed.

Amber’s brow crinkled in dignified confusion. “The rogue? Not in any great detail. Though it is no secret that Red Eye is uncomfortable with a dangerous reprobate using such a confusing moniker to trade on his name. All I have been asked to do in that regard is to send anypony seeking Red Eye in her direction, with a promise of riches paid on arrival. When they meet her, and find her unwilling to pay, it is expected that there will be violence.”

Oh come on! I don’t need this. I just wanted to find a couple of caravan guards and get my Memory Orb fixed.

“That’s... a pretty roundabout way to deal with the problem.” Bosco was trying to appear nonchalant, and utterly failing.

Amber’s gaze remained on Schwarzwald though. “I agree. However, Red Eye cannot be seen to devote any sense of effort to this matter.”

“Why not?” I had to ask, to see if there was any way I could get out of this situation. Latvi was probably in Plottawa right now. There was no way I would stay hidden for long.

“To acknowledge this criminal is to give her legitimacy. Red Eye’s organisation has no wish to increase the profile of some reprobate. It would do nothing but enhance her reputation.”

I think I had Bosco beat in how closely I was watching the poachers, but I still felt like I could breathe a sigh of relief at this point.

“Something of a pity, that...”

Assuming, of course, that Schwarzwald could keep her mouth shut.

Amber sniffed derisively. “And what do you mean by that?”

Taking her sweet time to stand up, Schwarz had a huge smile on her face. “Well, you see, dear Amber, I happen to know that Sn-”

“DON’T YOU DARE!!” I had my hooves clamped over the mare’s muzzle before any of the poachers could blink. I literally dragged my companion away, with Bosco following close behind. In moments, we were out of their sight.

“Uh…” We heard the poachers say together as they stared after us.

~~~~~~

“How long are you going to be mad at me, dahling?”

We were back at the outcropping where I’d first met Breeze and Cassie. After leaving Amber and her poachers with their prize, we headed for Lethbridle, where Schwarzwald visited a transmitter station and sent a message to Wings, asking her to meet. Nowhere in the message was it mentioned that myself or Bosco would be there. I couldn’t risk Wings not showing up. Neither could Bosco, it wasn’t yet noon but today was still the day when he was supposed to meet Naiara. This would have to work, and quickly.

After sending the message, we’d headed out. I chose the canyon-side location as it provided a hiding place for Bosco and I while Schwarzwald was still close enough that she couldn’t get away. We’d made sure to arrive an hour before the scheduled meeting time, giving us time to set up and look out for any problems.

So long as Cassie doesn’t spot us from a mile out. Her eyes are just crazy.

So here we were, the faint rumble of the water down in the canyon serving as a constant reminder of exactly how things went wrong the last time I was here. I kept finding myself rubbing the scar from Cassie’s rifle. At least I knew what she was capable of this time, Wings too. They wouldn’t surprise me again.

“I said I was sorry. Oh, come out and talk to me, Snowflake. It’s no fun waiting here in silence.”

I’m not sure SHE will ever stop surprising me.

“Schwarz, shut up, will you? You’ll give us away. It’s not exactly keeping your word if you blow the whole deal before we can get a chance!” Bosco was no happier about almost being outed in front of a dozen dangerous hunters. He’d been quietly fuming ever since.

I was touched by the support. I needed him here. I might get swept up into Schwarz’s pace if he wasn’t.

A less-than-anxious chuckle was the answer. “Oh please, you heard Amber. They would not have made a move against you. They had no reason to. Not to mention that, sweet girl though she is, Amber is not quick on the uptake. And even if one of her little colts had understood, she would not have paid attention. Dear Amber does not listen to others much.”

Funny, I thought she was hanging on your words. “I still don’t appreciate you taking the risk with MY secret, and certainly not when Bosco, and you, could have gotten hurt.”

“So you DO care! I’m so happy!”

“Oh for fuck’s sake.” Muttered my sane friend, before making sure the non-descript sheet we were hiding under was properly placed.

“Just please don’t ruin this for me. I don’t have any other way to find her. If this doesn’t work, I might never get my Pipbuck back,” I let the genuine sadness of those thoughts bleed into my words while at the same time I tried to think up a reason that would convince her, “if that happens... then I won’t... be... any fun for you anymore?”

The mare was silent for several minutes as she mulled this over. I was almost ready to come out from hiding for fear she’d somehow snuck away when she finally answered in a reflective tone. “Good point. Now I advise silent, dahlings, they will be here soon.”

I hunkered down a little deeper under the cover, my shoulder pressed up against Bosco. He didn’t appear to notice. The bed at Hoofshine Harlots this was not. Unlike Schwarzwald, he knew when to get serious.

“Snow?” The whisper broke my concentration.

“Yeah, Bosco?”

“I know this is tough, but you know I’ll do whatever it takes to help you out. Even... if things go badly.” He was being supportive but there was an edge there, “I really hope this works out but... you may have to face the thought of not going home. It’s not perfect, it’s not what you want, but it may be the best you can do.”

I know, Bosco. I’ve known since Whinniepeg. It’s always been there, in the back of my mind, waiting for quiet moments. I’m just... not ready to talk about it yet.

My lack of response forced him to continue. “If it comes to that, I dunno what I can really do for you, but I’ll do whatever I can. I owe you.”

No you don’t. You’d have seen the Orbs someday whether I was here or not. Now that you have, I’m still dragging you into dangerous situations. You’ll never owe me anything again. But, and I’m really really sorry about this, I’m going to be selfish and keep dragging for a little while longer. I’ll make it up to you if we survive, I promise.

I wondered if I should just go ahead and say all that, let him walk away now.

“Thanks, Bosco.” Instead, I proved my own pettiness.

Two thuds came from above us. Schwarz was stomping on the rock. That was the signal that she could see Wings. I let out the breath I didn’t realise I’d been holding, then stilled myself as much as possible. Beside me, Bosco did the same.

It was an eternity in two minutes before I heard the clackclack of two claws touching down. Her soft backpaws made no sound that I could hear, but the four thuds that followed after told me that Wings was not alone. Cassie was still with her.

Unless she picked up a different Pegasus along the way. I kinda doubt it though.

“You made good time, Wings. Who is this lovely you’ve brought with you?”

“Hey Schwarz, this is Cassio... Cassiopie... Cassiopei... this is Cassie.”

“Nice to meet you, miss Schwarzwald, I am Cassiopeia Venatici. Wings has mentioned you several times. I am glad I get to see the mare behind the name.”

“Oh?” Schwarzwald was already hiding her laughter, “And what has dear Wings told you about me, Cassie-dahling?”

“The term ‘scary but fun’ seemed to be the most common analysis.” Cassie was so very different from her sister. She was all politeness while Breeze was unfailingly direct, forsaking niceties entirely.

“Do I frighten you, dear Cassiopeia? I’m sure I could find a way to... ease your fears.”

Wings jumped in before Cassie could be drawn into innudendo-filled banter. “Ah, knock it off already, Schwarzwald. Tell me what’s up, why’d you call me?”

Now we get to see how well Schwarzwald can act.

“Oh, very well. Here is the situation. I have been hired to capture rare and unusual creatures for a powerful pony.” I could appreciate that opening. She could back that up with plenty without telling Wings about us.

“So?” ‘Polite interest’ best described how excited Wings sounded.

“This pony works for Red Eye. This pony also considers a Molar Bear one of the less-intriguing creatures on the list,”

Wait, is she selling out Amber to Wings? Why?

“I thought this sort of thing might be of interest to you, Blue Fire.”

I was momentarily incensed. Blue Fire? BLUE FIRE?! Wings stole my bit. That is such a rip-off of Re-wait, no... I remember now, there was something about a Blue Fire in the DJ’s broadcast, he said she was a Pegasus though. The wings must’ve fooled eyewitnesses.

“Somehow, I do not think that creatures of that caliber in Red Eye’s hooves would be a good idea. Perhaps you might wish to liberate them? After I collect them and get paid of course, I would not deprive dear Amber of my company.”

Wings cares about wildlife? Seriously? Or does she just not like Red Eye?

“Yeah, that sounds like something I can get behind. Anything else happen while I was away?”

“No, nothing important. I see that you made a new friend but what other trouble have you gotten up to while my eyes were elsewhere, young lady?”

“Nothing special, mom.” Good humour laced Wing’s words.

They infuriated me.

Nothing special?!

I tried to shrug off the sheet and rise but Bosco clamped down on my shoulder. “Snow, don’t!” He whispered urgently. I struggled against his grip but he held tight. Eventually, I realised he was right, I didn’t know anything more at this point and revealing myself would be meaningless, so I choked down my anger and remained still.

“Well then, how did you meet this cute Venatici girl?” Schwarzwald pressed.

“She... helped me out, and I owe her. That’s pretty much all I can say for now.” Wings was less jovial with this than she had been.

“Secrecy is not like you, dahling, what have you been up to, I wonder?”

Schwarzwald’s question went unanswered as Cassie piped up. “I am sorry, Miss Schwarzwald, but it is in your best interests to ask nothing more on the matter,” I almost chuckled at trying to warn Schwarzwald away from anything before she continued, this time addressing Wings, “I don’t mean to be rude but I’d like to get going as soon as possible, we have what we need from Red Ice.”

There it is. I nudged Bosco, who nodded back. Setting aside the camouflage, we quietly moved to the lip of the rock. Gazing over the rim, I could see the backs of the two flyers as they faced the mercenary. They were only a few meters away, we could rush them now and have a chance to take them!

Meanwhile, Schwarzwald attempted to keep up the charade. “You met Red Ice? How fun! Was she what you expected?”

Wings matched mirth with mirth. “Actually, you’ll never believe who it is...”

“She might!” I called as I ran out of patience. Springing up from our hiding place, Bosco and I formed a pincer with Schwarzwald on the other side, trapping Wings and Cassie in the middle.

“Snowflake!” The griffon’s head whipped around, eyes wide. Cassie matched her expression as she too faced me.

“Give me back my Pipbuck and Memory Orb, right now!” No more games. No more moping. I was going to get Stable 61 back, and I was going to do it myself! Learning to survive the life I led started with getting my old life back from these two thieves.

Cassie spoke first. “I am truly sorry, Red Ice, but I cannot relinquish those items to you yet. I still need them.” Her words were firm but, like in Whinniepeg, there was no enthusiasm there. What was happening here? What was her stake in all this? If she didn’t want this then what did she want that would drive her to this?

Wings was less ambivalent. “I don’t owe you any more favours, Snowflake. You might be my friend, but I won’t give up the Pipbuck.” Her eyes were blazing again, like in the snow with the Raiders and in Vanchoofer. The azure irises stood out sharply.

Blue Fire, I see it now.

“Explain why you did it, and give me back the Pipbuck and Orb, and we won’t have to fight you.” I still couldn’t completely hate them, either of them, yet. I didn’t hate Cassie mostly for Breeze’s sake, and Wings... well I didn’t have many friends.

Wings’ smile was confident, but sad. “Fight us? You? Bosco might be a fighter but you sure as hell aren’t!” She laid a claw on one of her holstered revolvers, “Back off, Snowflake, while you still can. There’s no way you two can take us three.”

Cassie’s briefly buoyed confidence soon turned to dismay as Schwarzwald strolled between the two and took up station in front of Bosco and I, facing Wings. “About that, Wings, I have heard much of what has gone on between you all, and it is so fascinating that I want to see what happens next. So, I shall be helping out dear Snowflake this time. I hope you don’t mind.”

The “oh hell” expression the chocolate-and-cream avian wore said more than words could.

“Bosco, take Cassie.” I spoke out of the corner of my mouth, not taking my eyes off Wings.

“Got it.” He was all business again, grey eyes hard and body ready for action. Seeing him squaring off with her, Cassie’s bracers opened and her weaponry emerged. Her wickedly sharp switchblade snapped out of the left armour, to which Bosco drew his own knife in response, and then a long black cord, last seen around my neck, poured from the right armlet.

Schwarzwald squealed in delight. “A whip! She has a whip! Oh, I will fight this one! Oh yesss...” Her manic glee unnerved all of us, except Wings who simply seemed to expect it, while the older mare skipped over to face the pegasus.

“Don’t kill her, you two,” I warned them, hoping that Schwarzwald would listen, “I still need to get my stuff back.”

“Of course not. Wouldn’t want a fight to be simple or anything...” Sighed Bosco wearily.

“You could not pay me enough to kill this one, not yet.”

“Don’t kill them either, Cassie,” Wings retorted, “if things look dicey just get out of here. I’ll follow.”

“I won’t let you.” I warned.

Cassie ignored me. “I understand. Are you sure you can take her, Wings?”

“She couldn’t take me even without holding off from killing. Oh yeah, this’ll be over quick.”

I didn’t respond but I was totally focused on her now. Cassie was a capable fighter but Bosco could hold his own just fine and Schwarzwald outclassed both of them. With the two of them, Cassie would not be interfering.

That left me with just Wings to worry about. She had the aerial superiority over me and was great with her pistols, especially while drunk, whereas I could not hit a damn thing and didn’t even carry a gun anymore. I would have to rely on my Power Hooves, with which I had only managed one successful strike, on a Hissyflit of all things, and my magic, which I was still less than confident of controlling properly. Things were not looking that good.

How was I going to beat Wings? She was still smirking at me, waiting for me to make the first move, though her eyes did flick to the side momentarily as Cassie’s whip cracked...

...followed by Schwarzwald’s moan. “Harder, dahling. Make me feel it!”

“S-stay away!” Poor Cassie had no idea what she was in for.

Wings’ confidence was worrying, though warranted. She’d been born in the Wasteland, Raiders and slavers and other threats were everyday occurrences. She’d grown strong enough to fight back. I’d seen firsthoof that she didn’t just rely on Schwarzwald for protection. She hadn’t yet drawn her pistols but her claws looked plenty sharp, and even with her small frame, I was sure she could throw plenty of strength at me.

So, to sum up; faster, stronger, a better fighter and she can fly. Did I miss anything out? Oh, yeah, she’s not above fighting dirty either. What do I do?

I had only fought one other griffon properly and that was McCoy. The childish shoving-and-scratching with bullies back in Stable 61 wasn’t likely to help me much here, so McCoy was really all I had to fall back on. There were, unfortunately, several big differences. I’d gotten the drop on McCoy, and he was fighting indoors, so his wings limited him as much as they aided him. I’d taken his gun away from him by sending my ice along the walls, and there were no walls here.

I needed to use my ice, even if I was at a loss as to how. It was the only edge I had on her. Back when I met her the first time, I’d frozen Raider guns through instinct, and the only time I’d tried it outside of battle, in the bath in Hoofshine, it had knocked me out cold. I couldn’t afford that here. I needed a new idea.

“You gonna stand there all day? Blue Fire’s waiting. Come at me, Red Ice!” Wings was in a combat stance, but her muscles were completely relaxed. Not a trace of tension was on show.

No great ideas were coming to mind, probably because I didn’t have years of experience in a hostile environment, not a violent one anyway. To win this fight, I was gonna have to hope for a miracle, a lucky hit or something. In the meantime...

I hopped forwards, igniting my Power Hooves. Rearing up in front of her, I jabbed as fast as I could, again and again. I was lucky that she was so compact, it meant she had no leverage when she dodged my strikes. I couldn’t hit her, but no counterattacks came at first.

Then I went for a double-hoof strike. Her wings spread and she shot upwards as my hooves went forwards. She raked her claws along my legs as she rose.

“TSAAH!” I hissed as the claws left long, thankfully shallow, scratches along my skin, the fur underneath immediately turning red as blood bubbled up from the cuts. Not wanting to give my opponent a chance for a headshot, I flung my hooves in a backwards arc over my head, the corner catching Wings’ heel as she kicked down at me. It wasn’t a full hit but it triggered enough of the Power Hoof’s charge to jolt her away.

Still midair, she shook the paw to dispel the shock. She wasn’t smiling now. I’d gotten in a lucky shot, but now she was going to get serious.

“Aigh!” Cassie’s pained yelp came from across the rock. I hopped back and risked a quick look, noting the blood trickling down her cheek. Bosco’s knife was also dripping.

I was about to remind him about wanting them alive when Schwarzwald, in her jovial fashion, beat me to it. “Bosco, how could you? You should know better than to hit a pretty girl in the face! For shame.”

“Oh go fu-”

I didn’t need to listen in any more. While relying on Schwarzwald to NOT kill somebody was risky at best, I was reasonably certain she would keep Cassie alive. I turned back to Wings, who had also taken the time to look. “One for me, Blue Fire.”

She grimaced. “The only one, Red Ice. It won’t happen again.”

Wings stayed in the air while I circled underneath. The pegasus was still battling the two earth ponies but I didn’t dare glance their way again. Things were getting serious. The griffon still hadn’t drawn her guns though, which was promising. Perhaps she didn’t want to kill me either?

It was a slim chance but I took it. “What do you want me to call you? Should I stay with Blue Fire?” She said nothing, so I continued, “For what it’s worth, I... still want you to be Wings, the griffon who called me her friend. I just wish you would tell me why you did what you did.”

I hadn’t even tried to hide my sadness, and it had an effect. The azure in her eyes faded a little and her eyebrows drooped, along with a sagging of her shoulders. She still hadn’t said anything, though she seemed to want to but was resisting the urge. After a few seconds of silent gliding, her expression hardened again and she came at me, talons poised.

The action caught me off guard and I couldn’t get out of the way on time, I could only half-flop backwards and make a clumsy swipe with a Power Hoof.

She made me pay for it. Both claws wrapped around my leg and hauled me onto my back. She kept flying, dragging me painfully along the hard rock and earth. Searing pain ran down my spine as the jagged ground tore at my back.

Blue Fire’s wings beat faster and faster as she towed me further from the others. I wriggled and struggled, twisting my leg this-way-and-that within her grasp, but I only succeeded in cutting my flesh open on her talons. Her claws bit deeper and deeper until I couldn’t stand it anymore and cried out. “IT HURTS! LET GO!”

So she did.

My momentum kept me rolling until I slammed agonisingly into something hard and unyielding. I felt something snap inside, and tried to curl up, causing flaming spikes to stab through my body. Something was very wrong.

My hoof suddenly felt lighter. I looked at it and saw that the blood from the claw wounds had slicked it enough for my Power Hoof to slide right off.

Useless. I didn’t make any more to recover it. I was having enough trouble just catching my breath.

The claw that wrapped itself around my throat did not help matters any. I tried feebly to bat it away with my bleeding hoof, but only succeeded in dripping blood from my horn to my chest, and onto her arm. As I coughed and spluttered, Blue Fire looked sadly down at me.

“W...Wings...help...” Was all I managed to gasp out.

She shook her head remorsefully. “I can’t, not right now. I wish I could, really I do, but it would cause more problems that it would solve.” She glanced around quickly before leaning in close, “Hold on just a little longer, Snowflake, and I’ll tell you what you want to know.”

If she gets away, this will all be for nothing! Come one, Snowflake, get up! Stop her! You have to move now! Tears leaked from the corners of my eyes, Why can’t I even do this? Stupid horn, do something! Anything!

Desperately, I triggered my ice trail spell, hoping against hope that something would happen to salvage the situation. I was rapidly losing strength and let my head fall back to the dirt.

I felt cold lance across my face, then Wings’ arm shifted. “Wha-, Snowflake, knock it off!”

I barely heard her, all I could focus on now was the spell. That and the freezing sensation running down my face. I wasn’t even looking at her anymore.

Wings’ struggles continued. “Seriously, Snow, stop this! You can’t do this, not now. Snowflake? DAMMIT SNOWFLAKE UNFREEZE MY CLAW!!”

With exhausted detachment, I raised my head. The moment I did, I heard a sharp crack and a swift pain as the ice on my chin split. If I had the strength, I would have laughed at the situation. Wings was tugging fruitlessly at the trail of frozen blood, running from my horn to my neck, that was sticking her claw to my throat. She couldn’t even squeeze.

Not Snowflake... Red Ice.

I win.

I didn’t even need to do anything more except hang on. Schwarzwald and Bosco would come, and we would be victorious.

Wings came to the same conclusion. She raised her head and hollered at the unseen battle. “Cassie, I need you! Leave them!”

“No!” Schwarzwald chortled back, “Stay and play!”

“What did you do to Snow?” Demanded Bosco from beyond my vision.

If Cassie said anything, I didn’t hear it. I was having a little trouble focusing. The pain was still there, and my breathing was getting a little ragged. I felt rather than saw something appear beside Wings.

“I can’t get loose,” snapped the griffon, “help me with her and we’ll fix it later.”

Hooves wrapped around my hind legs, then the sound of wings beating reached my ears. We left the ground moments later, with my head lolling back, and the cloudscape shifting erratically as I was bounced around.

“Wait! Let Snowflake go!” Bosco was hollering at us from the ground.

“Wings, you bring her back here right now!” Schwarzwald was not happy either, though whether she was talking about me or her new playmate was up for debate.

Another griffon is carrying me through the air. I tried to smile at the thought but it turned into a cough as something stabbed my insides again.

This time I did hear Cassie. “Wings, she needs help. It was never the plan to hurt her. We have to give her something for her injuries.” She was surprisingly compassionate for a thief.

“I know, I know,” was the griffon’s distracted response, “let’s get ourselves a few minutes headstart, I’ve got some Med-X. That’ll keep her stable until we can get to the Rangers’ rendezvous.”

Steel Rangers again? Goodie gumdrops. I’m sure it would have carried more importance were I not so lightheaded.

Cassie wasn’t done though. Her tone carried elements of accusation, worry, anger, guilt and impatience. “Look at what’s happened here! This isn’t right!”

“I know that!” Wings wasn’t guiltless either, by the sound of things, “What else do you want to do? You know why we’re doing this! If you have another idea, I’m all ears.”

“No... not yet, but I will think of one. This... is wrong.” For some reason, the pegasus girl sounded near tears.

You idiots probably shouldn’t have done it then, should you?

I’d have laughed if I could. Instead I coughed up some blood.

~~~~~~

Level Up!

Perks gained: Not so Stable anymore - Wasteland life is rapidly eroding Snowflake’s naïveté, resulting in a slight increase in Perception.

~~~~~~

Author's Note

That’s all for now, folks. Please keep reading, commenting, and spreading the word on Old Souls. I really appreciate your feedback.

Chapter 7-1: Warm Heart, Cold Shoulder

[Out of all things that could happen, this is THE. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!]

“… and I still say I won the fight.”

“Mmhm. And winning the fight landed you in my medical bay with broken ribs and lacerations.” Happy Pills was very jovial and friendly, for a Ranger. He’d made no threats or such in the time he’d been treating me. The two armoured hulks stationed at the door did put something of a dampener on the conversation though. Without them it might have been pleasant.

I resolved not to show fear, however. “You remind me of a colt I know. Don’t try to rob me of my first solo victory. It won’t work. I won, end of story.”

“But now you’re all the way here. Even if you ‘won’, won’t your coltfriend be worried?” Smarm dripped off his words.

“He’s not my coltfriend. More like a little brother. Anyhow, it’s not the first time. He knows what to do.” I knew exactly what Bosco was gonna do.

Kick my flank for getting myself into this mess again.

“As you say, princess.” He tittered while continuing his magical healing. I preferred Lexi’s approach. More pain but fewer guards.

“Princess?” Is he coming on to me? It didn’t matter how nice the teal unicorn with the pill-bottle cutie mark was acting, it wasn’t going to happen. He was still a Ranger and I was still their captive. Again.

“What else am I supposed to call a pretty mare who appears out of nowhere and bringing wonderful mysteries with her?” I was suddenly very aware of where he was putting his hooves. I looked to the guards in apprehension.

“Eh, five out of ten.” Remarked the one on the left, after looking me up-and-down.

WHAT?!

“Four.” Supplied the other.

HEY!

My jaw stayed dropped for a few seconds, before I hmph’d in outrage. I thought I’d at least rate a 6. Sure, I wouldn’t win Ms. Wasteland or anything but come on! That was harsh.

What, are all the girl Rangers drop-dead gorgeous under that armour or something? Jerks!

“Nobody looks their best on a medical bed.” Happy Pills’ tone was pitying.

I turned my nose up at him, and refused to speak for the full hour that elapsed before Iron Sights stepped into the medical bay.

~~~~~~

“Hello again, Snowflake. I trust Happy Pills has ensured a full recovery?” His civil tone, while not friendly, was a far cry from the angry accusations I’d been expecting.

I don’t like it.

“Why am I here, Iron Sights? More Memory Orbs to view?” I waved a hoof in the general direction of the doctor, “You’ve obviously got a unicorn on base now. You don’t need me.”

“Happy to help, princess.” Both the Elder and I ignored him.

“Please be cooperative, Snowflake. You know as well as I that you were not completely honest when you were last here. There was more to the memories than you let on.”

“Whoops.” I deadpanned. There was no point in denying it at this point. The Rangers clearly knew that there was more going on that I was telling them, the only remaining question would be how I would be able to satisfy their renewed curiosity while still protecting the Stable.

“Would you mind telling me why you withheld information from me?” Iron Sights eased himself into a chair across from my sickbed and pulled down the hood of his robes. He lived up to the title of ‘Elder’, what little mane he had left, including the tufts sticking out of his ears, was devoid of colour and whisp-thin. Age lined his dirty-olive body and he obviously couldn’t move much faster than a dignified stroll.

Still, his eyes were sharp and focused, looking at me with a calculated mix of skepticism and faux-kindness. “What do you know of Stable 61, Snowflake?”

For you? Nothing. “What makes you think I know anything, Iron Sights?” The two armoured guards, clad entirely in their metal exo-skeletons, reacted disapprovingly, resentful of my lack of honorific. Iron Sights and Happy Pills were less concerned, though not happy.

Looks like the angry ones get the guns. That seems totally intelligent.

The doctor spoke up next. “Snowflake, I personally viewed the Orbs upon my return to Neighlway. Caramel and Sassaflash reached Stable 61, yet could not gain entry. After failing to get inside, they left and found their way here, where they joined our great work.”

“One of them, at least,” mused the Elder, “Sassaflash was a loyal Ranger... ”

“… but not Caramel.” I finished, remembering the delicate stallion and his bitterness at the Ranger life. The mare, Sassaflash, had seized on Rangerhood as a way to cope. Caramel looked like he’d only stayed for her.

“Indeed. It would appear he only stayed out of love for her. He has made it very difficult for us to recover any information on the two.”

Thank you, Caramel. I wish Stable 61 had been fairer to you. You, Sassaflash… and your daughter. “Well, you’ve seen the Orbs, what makes you think I can tell you anymore? I don’t know where the cave is.” I was almost glad, almost, that I had no Pipbuck on my leg right now. If I was still wearing it then that lie would have been laughably obvious.

Wait a second, a thought struck me, Wings was on her way to meet the Rangers when we fought, she already had my Pipbuck! It should able to lead them to Stable.

What’s going on?

“Well, I like your flank, but mostly we want to know what else you know. Why else would you have lied to us?” Happy Pills, always appropriate.

Iron Sights grimaced slightly but kept his attention on me. “Yes, Snowflake, why did you think it necessary to withhold information from us?”

“I-I didn’t! I just wasn’t paying full attention. I don’t like Memory Orbs!” That last part was true, even after viewing half-a-dozen of them. The hours-long torture I’d been through with the damaged-and-now-missing Stable 61 Orb had left a lingering unease around the magic. The only time I’d voluntarily entered an Orb was when I was near death, after fighting McCoy in Lethbridle.

And I only did that because the doctor was crap at her job. Do no harm my flank!

“Be that as it may, you did not tell us all that we needed to know. You did not live up to your end of the bargain after we saved your life.” He had the gall to act disapproving.

“You send a griffon after me and think you can guilt-trip me? Think again, Iron Sights.” I hopped off the sickbed, causing the guards to hustle between myself and their leader who, admirably, seemed unfazed by my actions.

He raised his chin slightly and responded coolly. “We sent no griffon after you. That was her choice.”

“Excuse me?” I needed Wings to be working for the Rangers, it was the only way I would have any chance of forgiving her. If he was implying that she wasn’t…

“I believe that the griffon that you speak of would be the associate of miss Venatici? She made the decision to accompany the Pegasus on her own. Only Cassiopeia was acting on our orders.”

“What?!” My outburst had the guards uneasy again. They looked dangerously close to shooting me.

“The Pegasus was acting on our orders. As far as we know, the griffon is merely a friend of hers who she met along the way. Since she accomplished the task of finding you yesterday, I have no objections to her bringing in outside help.”

“Yesterday?” Are you getting senile, Iron Sights? Whinniepeg was a few days ago, not yesterday.

My confusion must have shown on my face because he clarified his statement. “Ah, yes. You were unconscious when the Pegasus and the griffon brought you in. You slept through the night, Snowflake.”

My eyes widened. He… he doesn’t know! He doesn’t know about Whinniepeg! Wings and Cassie never told him! They took my Pipbuck and Orb and the Rangers are none the wiser. Why? What are those two up to?

The entire issue had suddenly become very murky. I had no idea what the truth of the matter was. Everything was up in the air. Cassie, not Wings, was working for the Rangers. From her actions at Whinniepeg and the canyon I’d been convinced Wings was the one making the decisions. Cassie had been tasked to find me and bring me back. She, with Wings’ help, had called me to Whinniepeg and taken my gear but hadn’t told the Rangers. Then I had called them back to me a few days later and ended up helping them to complete their task.

I felt completely turned on my head. None of this was how I thought it was. There was an upside though, possibly two. The definite positive was that the Rangers didn’t have my Pipbuck. Without it they had no chance of reaching the Stable through the blizzard!

The other possible bonus to all this was that Wings and Cassie weren’t completely on the side of the Rangers. They were working their own angle. There was a chance that what they were doing was the right thing.

I have to find them. Whatever they are doing, I want to know. I might be able to help.

I had a chance. A slim line to hold. I relaxed, falling back and letting the sickbed hold my weight up. I finally felt like I could smile. So I did. “I’m not telling you anything, Iron Sights.”

None of them took this well. It was surprisingly easy to spot anger through an expressionless helmet. The 5-of-10 guard was straining in the grip of Happy Pills and 4-of-10. “You dare talk to him like that?! I’ll crush you!”

Is he the same guy from my first time in Neighlway?

The ancient olive earth stallion hadn’t said anything while his subordinates struggled, but the moment he rose from his seat and laid a hoof on 5-of-10’s shoulder, all activity in the room ceased.

His expression was suitable for the leader of the Steel Rangers, cold and hard. “That is a pity, Snowflake. Just as before, all I can do is offer you a choice: Work with us, provide us with the information you are hiding, and we will guarantee your safety. If not, we will have to treat you as an intruder in Neighlway, and you will be detained for as long as we see fit.”

“I’m not afraid of you, rusty, or your walking fridges.” And I wasn’t. I knew I was running headlong towards a Neighlway jail cell but I simply didn’t care at this point. I’d won a victory over the Rangers without doing anything. They had no Pipbuck and no way through the blizzard. Stable 61 was safe. Wings and Cassie might not be the backstabbers I thought they were.

I could figure out a way to get myself out of here later. For now, this was enough.

“You guys are totally crazy, by the way. She’s a 7, easy.”

“For fuck’s sake, doc, you’ve got a wife!”

~~~~~~

“Good morning, Princess. Sleep well?” Happy Pills was tapping his hoof gently against the cell bars.

Yawning, I sat up, careful to keep the sheets around my body, just in case the perverted doctor was leering. “Mm, not great. You guys need to fix your air flow, I kept overheating and waking up.”

He just smiled knowingly. “Yes, I suppose a cool filly like you would get hot in there, wouldn’t you, princess?”

I didn’t like the way he said it. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

He pointed, and I followed his hoof to a reinforced box high on the wall. “Magic stopper. Shuts off a unicorn’s spells. Even passive abilities are affected. According to the knights, you, Snowflake, use ice magic, don’t you?”

I shrugged, not bothering to play it cool with my name and cutie mark being public knowledge. “Yeah, so what?”

“So, an absence of ice magic could lead to a higher-than-normal body temperature, no?” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively, “want me to get my thermometer?”

I ignored him. I hadn’t noticed that my magic had gone. I’d used it more in the two weeks out of the Stable than I had in years inside, but I still didn’t consider it a primary move. I couldn’t use telekinesis and the only ice spell that I knew, the… snake-thingy,

I have to get a name for that one of these days. Maybe I’ll ask Breeze when I see her next?

… was still basically uncontrollable. I really wasn’t a very magic-focused unicorn, was I? “Um, is it permanent?”

He chuckled. “No, of course not. That’d make us monsters. Plus if one of ours wandered into the range of it accidentally…”

“Right, right. Idiots everywhere, I guess.”

He winked at me. “Precisely. Sometimes you’ve just gotta foalproof stuff. Of course, you’ll be here for a while so it might seem permanent…”

“…” Like I needed you to remind me of that, you jovial jackhole.

“Anywho, you’re not staying in there today. We have a job for you. Helping us out with this would go a long way to getting Elder Iron Sights to go easy on you.” He flicked a small ring into the cell, and a clear ting sounded as it bounced along the floor. “Best put that on. I’m afraid I’ll have to insist.”

I made no move to get off the cot or even lower the blankets. “What is it?”

“Magic nullifier. Basically a portable version of what’s on the wall. Slip if over your horn and we can go.”

Same as Latvi’s doodad, it seems. Must be Old Equestrian tech. I wonder if I can snag it. Breeze’d be over the moon. I had to frown at the doctor’s nonchalance, “Aren’t you worried I might make a move the moment I’m out of the wall box’s range, ring or not?”

Happy Pills just grinned as the two guards from yesterday slipped, surprisingly quietly, into view. “Not terribly, no. Besides, I’ll be doing the final touch-up for your recovery along the way. You’ll want to stay for that. Doctor’s orders.”

“…” I grumpily lowered my hooves to the stone floor.

I nodded towards the ring. “Care to do the honours, doc?”

“I don’t see why not. It won’t be the first time I’ve put a ring on a filly.” His horn glowed a gentle pink and an identical aura surrounded the ring, lifting it onto the floor towards my horn. I watched it with me eyes until I went cross-eyed, then just stayed still until I felt it nestle around the shaft.

No reason to inform them that I’m telekinetically-impaired.

As soon as the ring was in place, the two guards rumbled into the cell and frog marched me out. Happy Pills took point, leading us through the halls of Neighlway.

~~~~~~

“Aaaand here we are!” Proclaimed the medic cheerfully. He had led us to a room that housed nothing except a large monitor.

I looked around but saw no other indication of activity. “What is this place?”

“It’s a monitor room. We’re going to put you to work.”

“Me?” I was surprised, for sure. Letting a prisoner watch the security cameras?

“Well, as the Elder has previously indicated, we are short-staffed thanks to that Red Ice stirring up the Plottawan slavers, and now the Grindstone buffalo too.”

Hah! Serves them all right!

However my good cheer died as Happy Pills clapped his hooves and an image appeared on the screen.

A blue Pegasus with a red-black mane, and constellation cutie mark, alongside a short-for-her-species, chocolate-and-cream griffon with blazing blue eyes.

“Cassie… Wings…” I murmured, keeping my voice low.

“Since we’re running on empty, we’re gonna have you watch your friends for us It saves on personnel.” The Ranger medic was beaming at the cleverness of it. Perhaps it was his idea?

“So what’s to stop me from simply walking out of here?”

5-of-10 stomped forward. “Me.”

The teal unicorn spun around, still wearing his wide smile. “Indeed. Him. You didn’t seriously expect us to leave you completely unsupervised, did you? No, this is just to allow us to rotate one of our guards back into duty. While you’re watching those two on the screen, our colt is watching you. Effectively we’re keeping three outsiders under observation with just one Ranger. Isn’t it efficient?”

“Efficient.” I deadpanned.

“I knew you’d like it, princ-“

“But it still doesn’t explain why I’d do this.”

“Oh that. Well, don’t worry. That one’s simple. You’ll do this, or else the other Pegasus will die.” Even though his words were horrible, he still smiled.

I wasn’t sure who he meant though. “Other Pegasus?”

“Yes, the other Pegasus. The one with a blue-and-white mane.”

“!” I instantly tensed up. Breeze! She’s here?! When did they get her? “Where is she?”

“In a safe place. It’s up to you whether she stays safe.” His tone still help good cheer, but Happy Pills was definitely putting an edge on his words. I stared back, helplessly.

They’ve taken Breeze hostage. How? Did she get caught after she and Naiara left at Sombra’s Shadow? Is Naiara okay? What happened, Breeze?

“Well, I’m off to work, enjoy your day!” The doctor and 4-of-10 strolled away, leaving me in the room with the monitor and the Ranger.

“Get to work!” He barked, before taking up station at the door.

I glared for a moment, but complied. I was under no illusion that I could fight him. He was fully armoured and if I made any sort of motion to remove the nullifier on my horn I was quite sure he’d open fire, more than likely smiling widely behind that helmet of his.

Plonking myself in front of the monitor, silently fretting for my missing acquaintance, I listened as the two fliers conversed.

Breeze, what the hell happened?

AND WHY THE HELL AM I STILL ON F*%&ING MONITOR DUTY?!?!?!

~~~~~~

“Did you see her?”

Cassie shook her head sadly. “No, they refused to let me see her. They would only repeat the same threats. ‘Do as we say or we will kill her’. Nothing new.”

Wings rested a comforting claw on her shoulder. “Relax. They need her alive to get what they want. You know they won’t risk losing out.”

The Pegasus was not comforted. “Perhaps in my head, but my heart is another matter.”

The griffon, known to some as Blue Fire, didn’t let up. “Listen, I owe you. For as long as it takes to get her out, I’m here to help.”

Cassie nodded but still held some apprehension. “Thank you, Wings, however we have to play this carefully. We cannot simply push through and hope for the best. That is what caused all the trouble at the canyon.”

“Hey, I said I was sorry about that!” Perturbed, Wings had withdrawn her claw.

“It is all very well and good to be sorry, Wings, but you went against the plan and it worked out badly for everyone!” Cassie was less than happy herself.

“I didn’t ask you to come!” The griffon shot back.

“If I had not accompanied you, then this whole enterprise would have been for nought.”

“I knew what I was doing! I didn’t use my guns or anything. You know she couldn’t beat me.” It might have sounded like bragging, but the griffon wasn’t smirking or showing any pride in her words.

“It didn’t matter which of you would have won. I would have stopped the fight if things got out of hoof.” Personally I had my doubts on Cassie’s ability to stop Wings, but she held herself confidently regardless.

Wings just barked out a derisive laugh. “You would have stopped the fight? I saw how you were getting on against the other two. A whip? Against her? You were lucky to get out of there with your dignity intact!”

Miss Venatici bristled. “Ooh, I should have left you to those Raiders!”

“Yeah? Well, you didn’t! Now you’re stuck with me!” The two stood staring daggers at each other without speaking.

Finally, physically and symbolically, Wings backed off a little. Sinking onto her back paws, she managed a smile. “Thanks, for back there.”

Surprised, Cassie mirrored her actions before waving a hoof casually. “You do not need to thank me. I admit that I did not expect to find you there. I believed that, when those Raiders were making their crude remarks about feathers, it meant that my sister was nearby. Not that I need much of an excuse to kill those filthy savages, but I was hoping to find a Pegasus.”

Their anger dissipated, Wings felt it easy to return to a comradely atmosphere. “And you will. We will. I’m not going to let those amazing skills go to waste.” Her blue eyes drifted away for a second and she chuckled, “Heh, when those Raiders got the drop on me I thought I had a real fight on my claws, then that big bastard’s head gets drilled. That girly didn’t even have time to do anything except gape before you plugged her too! Hell of a shot, by the way.”

Cassie flushed. “Thank you. I practice a lot. Breeze keeps telling me not to waste my eyes. Sniping seems like the right idea for a pony possessing my powers of perception. Also, as I said before, I believed you to be my sister,” her lips instantly curled into a vicious snarl and the next words, though delivered with her customary refinement, had some bite to them, “and I will not let even one single Raider get close to Breeze!”

Still sitting back, Wings’ interest had been peaked, and she leaned forward. “That’s more passion than I’ve seen from you about anything.”

Wings’ words seemed to shake her out of it. Embarrassed, Cassie deflected. “Yes, well, Raiders are no friends of either myself or my sister. They never will be.”

“Oh yeah? Why’s that?” The griffon was definitely intrigued now.

Wide-eyed, Cassiopeia Venatici shook her head forcefully. “No, I cannot! It is too personal.”

Wings threw up her claws in disagreement. “Oh come on! You can’t let out that much and then tell me nothing! You gotta give me something. I’ll trade ya a little of my story for a little o’ yours?”

Frowning, but herself intrigued, Cassie mulled it over before relenting. “Very well. However, I ask that you not inform Breeze about this. She does not know, nor should she ever need to. It would only confuse and sadden her.”

“Deal.”

Rearranging herself into a more comfortable position, Cassie spoke in a low, reminiscing tone. “What do you know of the Pegasus Enclave?”

Wings scratched her chin with her claw before shrugging. “Not a whole lot. They run the show up above the clouds, right?”

Cassie nodded. “Indeed. They make the decisions that govern Pegasus life. One of their core decisions is that no Pegasus should descend below the cloud barrier. My parents… disagreed with this.”

“Woo, rebels!” Cheered the griffon.

Neither Cassie or I could resist a small smile. “Precisely. They rebelled. And were branded, literally, as traitors. Their cutie marks were scarred over with the brand of Rainbow Dash, the first Pegasus traitor. Those with this mark are called Dashites. Our parents… they were outcasts above the clouds. Not maliciously so, simply misfits, born to the wrong time or place. They decided that they were willing to risk the Wasteland in search of happiness.”

Wings was not poking fun anymore, instead listening intently. “Go, mom and dad.”

Cassie gave an appreciative smile. “Thank you, but they were… unprepared for the realities of Wasteland living. Almost immediately upon descending to the Wasteland, they ran afoul of Raiders, and suffered terrible atrocities at their hooves. Things… changed after they got away. Nothing was the same anymore.”

The blue fire in the griffon’s eyes had faded to a warm glow. “What happened?”

Cassie hesitated. “I… don’t have all the specifics. Breeze and I were… too young to fully understand. I learned the full extent later.”

“Did your parents die?”

Cassie turned away, taking a few shuddering breaths before responding. “Yes, but not there. Later. Though I have no doubt that the Raider’s actions played a large part in their fates.”

“So you hate the Raiders for what they did to your parents?”

Cassie smiled sadly. “Were it so easy. But that is as much as I will divulge for now. I do believe it is your turn.”

Wings tch’d in mock-disgruntlement. “You gouger. Alright, alright. Lemme tell ya a little something about griffons then. I’m guessing you’ve not met a whole bunch of us?”

“Just you.”

Wings was not surprised. “Thought so. We can be pretty private. Anyway, griffons are big on keeping your word. About everything. You get in real big trouble if you break your word or your bond or your contract. It’s damn hard to get your trust back with other griffons when you do.”

“Fascinating. Tell me more.” Cassie was a good listener, not butting into Wings’ space, but giving an expression of perfect attention.

“Well, I’ve broken my word, my bond, and my contract a bunch of times each. I’m not gonna tell you all of them now, but I’ll give you one of the earliest examples. I’m an only child, but I’ve got tons of cousins. Some bigger and some smaller. This happened with one of the little ones. Barely out of the egg.”

Cassie was almost bursting with fraternal concern. “What happened?”

Wings took a few moments to marshal her thoughts. I took the time to look between the two. Cassie was at ease one moment and frowning the next, while Wings had tensed up considerably.

Finally the griffon spoke up. “Well, this little chick, cute as a button, had never really been the picture of health. Always sick with something. We made sure she always had somebody watching her. That day it was me.”

“… and?” Urged Cassie when Wings failed to keep talking.

“Well, I dunno what happened, but I had specific orders to not let her out of my sight. Except, well, it was just me and her, and she got sicker than usual. Like real bad in a hurry. I was tearing my feathers out in panic. I wasn’t exactly full-grown yet either. I felt like I had to help her, take her someplace to get some help, but she got bruised just from my picking her up! There was no way she could travel. Still, she was getting sicker all the time, and the doctor didn’t live far. So…”

Cassie seemed to know before Wings said anything. “So you did what any good sibling would do. You got help.”

Wings nodded, stone-faced. “I got help. It was a few minutes, tops. I ran, got the doctor, and dragged him back with me. Lied and told him it was on my father’s orders. Doc got her back to normal quick enough, and told me I’d done the right thing. Another hour and she would have been a goner. So I did the right thing… but I broke my word, and my bond, in doing so. My family were pissed.”

I mouthed ‘what for?’ just as Cassie asked in a more polite manner. “Whatever for?”

Wings shrugged, eyes downcast. “Because I let her out of my sight. That wasn’t paraphrasing. It was important that I stick to what I’d been ordered to do. We can be pretty literal, us griffons. Anyway, same as you after that. Nothing was the same anymore. I never got to watch a cousin again.”

Cassie looked like she wanted to embrace Wings, apparently family was her weak point, but the Pegasus held herself back, perhaps out of etiquette, that would be the sort of thing she worried about. She was not stingy with the smiles though, which seemed to warm the atmosphere a little bit. “Was this in the griffon lands? I confess that I don’t know much about where griffons call home.”

Wings just snickered. “Nah, this was just some mountain where my folks and the flock chose to roost. Somewhere down south, I forget where exactly. Ain’t been back in ages.”

“How long?”

“Ages.” Wings replied with finality. Cassie had enough sense to let the matter drop.

~~~~~~

I mulled over what I’d heard. I couldn’t help but think it was kinda cute for Wings to play nursemaid. Especially to a little baby griffon. They were awfully adorable critters. I remembered crèche duty in Stable 61. Sure it was messy and they wore on your nerves after a few days, but stomaching a day or two wouldn’t be bad.

Would she smile when her little cousin giggled? A proper smile, not the tough-girl smirk she wears in public.

On the other hoof, Cassie’s story had given me another reason to dislike Raiders. It must have been terrible. Nearly 200 years with just Pegasi around and the first non-fliers you come across are violent, chem-filled psychopaths. Mister and missus Pegasus must have been terrified. Rejected by their home and straight into danger.

Like me and the Molar Bear.

Damn. This is gonna make it harder to stay mad at Cassie, Pipbuck or not.

The Pegasus had been through a lot, some of which struck a chord with me. Her aloof attitude might be unpleasant, but at least you could justify it as a reaction to her parents’ troubles. Acting as civilized as possible to distance yourself from the monsters-in-pony-shape who terrorized your parents. Her actions were for Breeze’s sake too. It sounded like she was as devoted to her sister as her sister was to her.

I didn’t know whether it was the sense of empathy I was feeling at the time, or some of Wings’ story mixing in, but I couldn’t help that, like me, Cassie was a big sister to Breeze, rather than a twin.

Well, except the mane. That’s where they aren’t twins. But you expect everything to be just right.

Moving on from Cassie, I thought of Wings’ tale again. She seemed kinda sad that she couldn’t be the griffon her family wanted her to be.

An outcast in her own home. Both of them, actually. I can relate. At least these two can look after themselves out here.

Wings went against griffon values to ensure that her family member was cared for, and she was helping Cassie out of a sense of gratitude, or a debt to repay. She owed Cassie a favour and she aimed to make good.

That’s still pretty griffon, Wings, you’re just putting your own spin on it.

Would she see it that way? Considering how easily she admitted to breaking words, bonds and contracts over and over, did she even want to keep following griffon doctrine? Why did she dole out favours, which McCoy specifically thought of as social contracts to be followed to the letter, and stick so rigidly to them if she disagreed with the overarching griffon culture on the matter?

Just who are you Wings?

And what’s the rest of your story, Cassie?

~~~~~~

While I’d been thinking on the matter, Cassie and Wings had taken the time to clean themselves up and begin their preparations for the day, and soon resumed their conversation.

Twirling the empty barrels of her revolvers, Wings seemed to be looking for blockages. Cleaning supplies were laid out next to her, along with the newly-gleaming bullets. “So what’s the plan now? I mean, I really wasn’t expecting to find Snowflake yesterday. I almost couldn’t believe it.”

Cassie sat with her hooves wrapped around the barrel of her long rifle,

Still don’t know where she keeps the thing,

And was attempting do as Wings did, though her clumsy hoof movements had me thinking that perhaps the mechanically-minded Aqua Breeze took care of the majority of their maintenance. Still, she didn’t shirk from the work and stubbornly kept at it. “Indeed. You had mentioned that she was acquainted with Schwarzwald, but from your descriptions I assumed their personality differences would cause too much friction for them to work closely together. I hope you noted that Schwarzwald was privy to the entire affair. She knew what was going to happen.”

Wings just chuckled, utterly unconcerned about Schwarzwald’s potential sneakiness and loyalties. “Schwarz does whatever the hell she wants. Sure she travels with me when we have nothing better to do, but I don’t claim to know everything about her, nor do I think that I’m irreplaceable to her. She’s a great friend, and I think she does care for me, in her own way, but what drives her is excitement. She’s lived long enough and gotten so strong that nothing can really challenge her. Seriously, she could kill a Ranger by herself, so she spends her time looking for the next laugh. I just happen to be funny enough.”

There was definite pride in Wings’ words. I thought of how Schwarzwald had acted towards Amber back in the snowfields. Dismissive, barely tolerant. After the fight was over she wasn’t interested in much else. To be travelling with Wings for so long meant that Schwarzwald saw something in the diminutive griffon to hold her attention.

Poor Amber, she seemed to be a little sweet on Schwarzwald too.

Cassie had run through a whirlwind of emotions as she sought to process this new information. Approval, disgust, surprise, deep thought and others played across her cyan cheeks. Eventually she just looked lost. “Is… is that healthy? Do you feel like you are okay with that?”

Wings set down the pistols and shrugged, which then turned into a stretch as she lifted herself off the ground momentarily. “It is what it is. I don’t regret it, if that’s what you’re asking. Schwarz is capable, funny and always a good time. While she’s looking for interesting things she doesn’t disappoint herself. So, yeah. I am okay with it. She’s my friend. I can count on that. She doesn’t really lie, I don’t think she sees much point besides single instances like at the canyon, so I can take her at her word. It’s refreshing, even if she does regularly scare the fuck out of me.”

Cassie spread her own feathers and joined her companion in the air. The two began lazily drifting around the room, chocolate feathers keeping pace with blue wings. “She is certainly forceful. I have never had anypony react to my whip like that,” she seemed to suppress a shudder, “but I still have to wonder how Snowflake convinced her to participate. When I first met her, Snowflake did not strike me as greatly forceful. She also did not tell me that her name was Snowflake.”

Wings flipped onto her back, swimming face up through the air. “Oh, she used the other name? She’s getting smarter.”

I flushed, despite myself.

Their aerial exercises became more elaborate. Cassie began to twist and twirl in the air, controlling her speed and course through elegant feather flicks. “Still, I do feel bad about what happened in,” she managed to stop herself, as if unwilling to reveal where she’d been, “… um, that is, I feel bad about our actions. I worry that there might be unforeseen consequences.”

Wings bounced gently off a wall, missing the secrecy. “You mean with the Memory Orb?”

5-of-10 stirred behind me. “Memory Orb?”

Oh no. Wings you’ve gotta shut up now! That Orb came from within Stable 61. It might show them the way! They might be able to get inside! Whatever those unicorns were working on in the memory took days! It has to be big! Latvi retirement fund big! The Rangers can’t get to it, and they can’t attack my home!

My silent wishes didn’t reach Wings, who continued. “Look, we did what we did for a reason. You know that. The Memory Orb kept her from finding out what we were up to. It’s the reason she had to go through Schwarzwald just to see us again. Hell, it was mostly your idea! If she’s chasing that then she won’t be chasing us.”

Cassie was not placated. She fidgeted guiltily in mid-air. “I know that, but it still bothers me. She really seemed to value it when I first met her. She might never see it again.”

Wings made a noise that was half groan and half sigh. “Oh lay off the guilt trip, will ya? She should have had plenty of opportunities to see it. She lived for almost her entire life in-“ Now it was Wings’ turn to stop. She apparently valued the secret of the Stable more than the Memory Orb, “… in her home. She had that stuff with her when she first left. I thought that was half the reason for taking the stuff, to keep that a secret?”

“More secrets, princess?” Came the tinny growl in my ear, “Isn’t this interesting?”

How can he move so quietly in that armour? I stared wide-eyed at the screen. It was happening. The Rangers were going to find out about the Stable. They wouldn’t stop until they got in, and they wouldn’t be gentle. The Stable would fight back, most definitely including my brothers, and they’d suffer for it.

Shut up you stupid fliers! You’re gonna kill my brothers! My home!

For a second, I thought that Cassie might have heard me. Her hooves shot up and covered her mouth. “I-I didn’t realise! Oh, what have we done? We’ve robbed her of her memories, her home! We have to make this right!”

“SHUT UP, NO!” Wings was all business now, getting right into Cassie’s face and seizing her shoulders, “We can’t! You were right about throwing her off by taking that stuff. Forget all that other nonsense. She has to stay in the dark about everything! She isn’t the only pony who might take an interest, just look where we are!”

“But she must be devastated!” The Pegasus was surprisingly resistant to her own plan.

Wings threw her arms out dramatically. “All the better! That means she’s safe and not likely to do anything else stupid. If she doesn’t know then the R-, then none of those other bastards do either. Everything stays under wraps until the right time! Dammit Cassie, I’ll say it again. This. Was. Your. PLAN!”

The Pegasus returned to the ground and stood with a wing over her eyes for a long time. Wings flew short, angry circles around her until she spoke up. “I-you’re right. I know you are, but… her home. I didn’t want to take that from her. She’s never going to forgive us.”

Her head shot up as a terrible thought struck her. “And what would Breeze say? How could I face her after this?”

Wings scratched her claws across the steel wall in frustration, throwing up sparks. “All this is for Breeze! Getting your sister back is more important than Snowflake’s feelings! One thing at a time, Cassie.”

Cassie didn’t look particularly convinced, still wrapping a wing over her eyes and looking forlorn, so Wings took a deep, steadying breath before trying again. “Look, Breeze will forgive you. You’re doing everything you can just to see her again. If she loves you as much as you love her, then this is the way things have to be. Breeze’s safety is paramount. Like you said before, that’s what being a good sibling means in this case. Snowflake will make her own decision. She either forgives us or she doesn’t. We have no control of that and we’ve already crossed that line. Breeze is in danger here. These Rangers are not nice ponies. The moment they give us Breeze is the moment we decide what to do next. We don’t have that luxury yet. I won’t let you lose your sister just because you’re worrying about Snowflake.”

The griffon laid a claw on the Pegasus’ shoulder. The stallion laid an armoured hoof on mine. Somehow I doubted the intention was the same. “Keep watching, Snowflake. They might tell us what you didn’t. Isn’t it fun to think about what will happen if that’s the case?” Even distorted through his helmet’s speakers, his mocking cheer was evident.

It was like being told not to look down. Countless scenarios ran through my brain, mostly about how inventive the Rangers would be in punishing me for giving them the run around. 5-of-10 would be right there too, he wouldn’t dare miss his chance.

Meanwhile, the Pegasus had managed a weak smile from Wings’ encouragement. “This is an awful lot of help for a pony you don’t know all too well, Wings. I didn’t help you out that much.”

A familiar grin broke out over Wings’ face. I’d last seen it in Vanchoofer, when her claw was around me, and I was inches from the blue fire. It oozed confidence. “I decide what I owe and what I don’t. I’m in this until Aqua Breeze and Cassiopeia Venatici get their reunion hug. End of story.”

Cassie’s smile was stronger now. It suited her more than the sadness she’d born the entire conversation. Wings had lifted her spirits enough for some genuine hope to get in. “No matter what else, you have the griffon tenacity, of that there is no mistake.”

Cassie brought her bracer up and sighed wistfully. “I just hope I can see her soon. It was so unlike her to double back after Snowflake when the Rangers took her on the way to Neighlway.”

I froze. What?

“Breeze usually isn’t the type to take a shine to a pony so easily. Snowflake must have intrigued her. Though I confess to being confused that they didn’t let my sister go when they released Snowflake.”

Wait a second… what?

Wings didn’t lose her smile. “We’ll get her back. Neighlway can’t hide her forever.”

I glanced sideways at the Ranger still watching with me, but he neither looked at me nor made any sort of motion. It was like trying to read a wall.

What is going on?

Cassie rubbed the bracer tenderly. “I do hope she’s doing well. Those feathers of hers weren’t in the best condition when the Rangers showed them to me.”

Wings flipped over Cassie and tussled her mane in the process. “I’m telling you. They’ll let you see her soon. It’s just a matter of finishing up what we have to do.”

A roaring in my ears alerted me to the breath I hadn’t realised I’d been holding. Everything was clicking into place.

Clever, Iron Sights, very clever. Plenty of feathers lying around a Hissyflit attack site, aren’t there?

It was a bluff. I huge con being played out by the Rangers. I mentally kicked myself. I should have seen it when I first walked into this room. If they were so short-staffed that they had to coerce me into watching over these two with just one Ranger to hoof, then how were they able to successfully keep Breeze out of sight for that amount of time?

The answer, of course, that they weren’t able to do it. They’d been lying to us all. Breeze hadn’t been taken right after me, they’d just gathered up the feathers from the attack and fooled Cassie into thinking they’d been plucked fresh from her sister. Cassie’s desperation at being separated from Breeze would do the rest, keeping her from thinking too hard about the lie.

In the meantime, I was inadvertently dragging Breeze around the flank-end of nowhere and doing my part to accidentally corroborate the Rangers’ trickery. Cassie was a logical pony, she had no reason to be looking around Crystal Point and Sombra’s Shadow.

Heh, Breeze even said it herself. “Cassie has no reason to be this far out. I have no reason to be this far out. There’s nothing here.”

I should have listened. Sorry Breeze, Cassie. It’s all my fault.

But I was damn sure going to make it up to them. Now I knew what the Rangers were up to, and they didn’t know that I knew, so I had a chance to turn their whole scheme back on them.

I would need some time to figure out how, so I tried as hard as I could to keep my overflowing sense of elation from showing.

They wouldn’t know what hit them.

~~~~~~

Chapter 7-2: Warm Heart, Cold Shoulder

Wings and Cassie had been sent on a patrol for Plottawa activity. Cassie had protested fiercely to Iron Sights, demanding to see her sister, but the Elder had coldly informed her that she would not see Breeze until I yielded the necessary information. The two fliers had stalked out shortly after and, now that there was no more reason to observe, I was returned to my cell until I decided to yield said information.

Not gonna happen, rusty, I know you’re bluffing. Breeze is far from here. She’s probably still with Naiara. You’ve got nothing.

Well… almost nothing. I was still at the mercy of Neighlway hospitality and, as I was not watching alone, Iron Sights would soon learn a little bit of what I was hiding. No doubt 5-of-10 would be telling him all about the Memory Orb.

I didn’t even know it was possible for an fixed mask to look smug until now.

Once the old Ranger discovered that Wings and Cassie had my Orb, things would get complicated in a hurry.

I needed to find a way to complicate them in our favour. And soon.

I sat on the plain bunk of the cell, the magic nullifier whirring quietly in the background. I had to think about my next move. How could I do this? So far the Rangers had been above torturing me for information because they thought they had Breeze as leverage. They would probably threaten her again, because they didn’t know that I had been with her during the time she was ‘captive’.

Could I use that? Act like I still didn’t know they didn’t have her? I’d have to give them something though, or else they might catch on. What could I give them? Could I make something up about the memory in the Orb?

I shook my head. No, that wouldn’t work. They already don’t trust my word after the last time. They’d want to get the Memory Orb themselves to make sure. That would mean having Wings and Cassie give it to them in exchange for Breeze’s safety…

Vexed, I buried my face in the thin blanket of the cot and let out an exasperated sigh. It all hinged on the Breeze deception. I knew, and the Rangers knew, but Cassie and Wings didn’t know. I’d need help to get out of my current predicament, but Cassie wouldn’t make a move without knowing Breeze wouldn’t suffer for it.

Somehow, I had to let them know.

But what could I say? The Rangers weren’t just going to let me have a casual chat with them. They couldn’t risk that I’d say something to spoil their plans. Not to mention that Wings and Cassie would be less than enthusiastic about divulging anything to me, since at least part of their plan, whatever it was, rested on my being in the dark about their actions. Cassie wouldn’t give up anything until she knew Breeze was safe, and Wings would go along with the Pegasus’ wishes since she didn’t yet consider the debt she owed to Ms. Venatici repaid, just like any good griffon.

My eyes widened.

It’s as good a chance as any. Wings was, by her own admission, NOT a good griffon. She forsook literal obligations for doing what she saw as the right thing. I could use that to try to convince her to forget Cassie’s favour and keep the Memory Orb and Pipbuck away from the Rangers.

If I get that far. First I have to have to try to convince Iron Sights that he should let me try to convince Wings to give up my things by trying to convince her that doing that is the right thing to do.

I twitched as my mind tried to jumble that mess into something that made sense. It was already giving me a painful headache.

This plan was still very basic and already relied on so many things happening; Iron Sights needed to trust me even though he didn’t, Wings needed to listen to me even though she wouldn’t, Cassie needed to be open to compromising on Breeze’s safety even though she wasn’t and Wings also needed to act like a good-natured Stable dweller even though she was a morally complicated griffon.

I was going to have to be more cunning and convincing than I ever had been before.

If I pull this off, it’ll be Red Ice’s finest moment.

I flopped back onto the cold, hard pillow and sat staring at the ceiling, the gentle hum of the dampening field surrounding me as my mind remained stubbornly blank.

~~~~~~

The latch of my cell clicked open and the door swung on its hinges. A fully-armoured Ranger, not 5-of-10 this time, perhaps 4-of-10, stood silently in the door for a moment before stepping aside as Elder Iron Sights and Dr. Happy Pills entered side-by-side.

Good timing, boys, I’ve just about got all the details down.

“Hi, princess!” Happy Pills was as chipper as ever, waving jauntily at me while his eyes travelled over my reclining form. Thankfully, he made no further comment.

Iron Sights did. “Your minder during your Monitor duty, Paladin Sticky Buns, has relayed to me what was said between the griffon and the Pegasus under your watch, and how it relates to you. It gave us some answers, but also raised more questions. I am giving you one last chance to give us the remaining information, or else you and your Pegasus friend’s sister will suffer the consequences.”

A big smile blossomed on the doctor’s face. His eyes were also glazing over in apparent delight. “I’ve already called dibs on the Pegasus. Oh, such fun I shall have-”

“Yes, thank you, Doctor.” Iron Sights’ reply was swift and cutting, instantly conveying the idea that Happy Pills should stop talking.

The Elder’s gaze returned to me as he continued. “Much as I have my doubts on the matter, I feel that you might perhaps have formed the wrong idea about us. It is not a personal matter that we have invested so much in your apprehension, rather we simply are following our doctrine and believe you may be of help to us in this matter. In fact, I am willing to offer, conditional to your cooperation, a place within the Rangers for you, Snowflake. I assure you that you would want for nothing within our ranks, and all previous transgressions would be forgotten.”

Everybody in the room, most definitely including myself, was looking at him in shock, even the armoured Knight. Was this a spur of the moment idea on the olive stallion’s part?

It was damn bold, either way.

Finally, I blinked. “That’s… uh… wow. I wasn’t expecting that. You want me to be a Ranger?”

“She would look good in armour…” Mused the doctor to himself.

The armoured pony said nothing, he-or-she just stared impassively at me.

“Obviously you wouldn’t be a soldier,” Iron Sights continued offhoofedly, “I suggest Scribe or technician work for you. Unicorns often do well in those areas, plus they don’t have to worry about helmets damaging their horns.”

“Uh… no?” I found that I was so surprised by the offer that, even in turning it down, I could not put any force behind the words.

“Hmph,” he sniffed, “A pity. In that case, I am sorry but we will not be kind from now on.”

“Waitwaitwait!” I bounced off the bed and waved my hooves in a frantic halting motion, “Might I make a suggestion?”

He had already half-turned to leave. “About what, my dear?”

I indicated at the entire room and everyone in it. “About this! I don’t wanna be a Ranger but I have an idea that you might like instead.”

He still had his shoulder to me, but made no further move to leave the cell. “Go on.”

Now or never. Trying to calm my suddenly-accelerated heart rate, I martialled my thoughts as best I could. “Well… like I said, I don’t want to be a Steel Ranger, buuut I also don’t want to be a ‘guest’ in Neighlway forever either. So I would like to negotiate for both mine and Aqua Breeze’s release.”

Happy Pills barked out a harsh laugh. “You’ve got guts, princess. This oughta be good!” He cantered over to the bed and flopped down on it, content to lounge through the bartering process.

Iron Sights gathered his robes about him and turned back to me, a thin smile on his face. “How interesting. Normally, the only Sprinkles Supplies pony I bargain with is Fedexi Lexi. I do hope you can argue as well as she can. You will need to, given how tenuous your position is.”

I didn’t want him getting the wrong idea when he finally found out that I was tricking him again, so I decided to correct that assumption as an opener. “I don’t actually work for Sprinkles Supplies. I was taken on as extra muscle for that one delivery run to Grindstone. I don’t have anything else to do with the company.”

The prompted a raised eyebrow. “I begin to gain a clearer picture of what kind of pony you are, Snowflake. Do make your offer.”

That did not sound good. “Well, as… Sticky Buns?”

“Paladin Sticky Buns.”

“Right. As Paladin Sticky Buns has no doubt told you, I had a Memory Orb in my possession. It is quite a special Orb. I have only viewed a few minutes of the Memory, not the whole thing, but I c-“

“I’m sorry, what?” Iron Sights was all business now, “How is that possible? Memory Orbs must be viewed from beginning to end.”

“… As I said, it is a very special Orb,” there was no reason to reveal that it was damaged just yet, “and those few minutes, of a days long memory, hinted at an incredible secret that could alter the balance of power in the Wasteland forever in the favour of the Rangers. A secret unicorn project that was near to completion at the time of the memory.” Probably

Happy Pills was facing the ceiling as he mulled over the information I was providing. “Days long… secret unicorn magic… it could be a hidden Ministry of Magic Megaspell! Why, if we had it in our possession…”

“Doctor, please,” The earth stallion was frowning, “these claims are obviously fabrications, born of a desperation to save herself further hardship. Snowflake is a liar and I have no more patience for her treachery!”

He indicated to the statue-like warrior stationed at the cell entrance. “Knight! Take this time-wasting annoyance to be processed. I tire of her pathetic attempts at deception.”

“At once, Elder.” The Ranger stepped forward and placed a firm guiding hoof around my shoulders, irresistibly forcing me towards the open door. Neither the Doctor nor the Elder moved with us, the former pouting and the latter directing a withering glare at me.

I had to try again! Everything depended on my success. I’d have to give up more than I wanted but there was nothing else for it. “Wait! I have more! I can… I can… I can give you other Memory Orbs!”

“Stop resisting, prisoner!” The guard’s augmented strength was unyielding and I was rapidly being dragged from the cell. Still, I resisted as much as I could, fighting with hoof and tooth to get back to the cell and make a deal. Eventually the Knight seemed to tire of the struggles and hoisted me up over his shoulder, pinning me to his paldron.

“No, let me go! I have to talk to Iron Sights!” I battered my hooves against his metal fruitlessly.

“Knock it off,” he shook his head against my blows before uttering, in a much lower tone, “svara.”

My jaw dropped. Svara? That’s…

“Who are you?” I challenged.

He shucked me in warning. “Not so loud! Iyanda tunyel roga.”

“You’re a zebra!” I hissed, “How?”

A metallic chuckle came from his helmet’s speakers. “We have been watching you. My clanmate speaks highly of you.”

I was still held by the idea that a zebra was walking around Neighlway in full Ranger power armour. “Your clanmate?”

Another chuckle. “I am told she introduced herself to you as Two-tone?”

Astonished delight escaped me in a huge gasp. “Is she here?”

“Nearby. You shall be reunited with her soon. But first we must take you from this place.” Glancing around quickly, my nameless stripy saviour ducked into an empty alcove and set me down. As I recovered from my shock, he produced a set of robes, like those Caramel had been wearing in the Orb memory, and held them out to me. “Put these on, quickly, and then follow me. Be sure to keep your head down. We do not want you to be recognised.”

Doing as bid, I struggled into the coarse fabric. Damn, this stuff’s worse than the Plottawa uniform. Do all these nutcase groups have something against comfort?

Finally I managed to get the attire to cover my form and tugged the hood down as low as I possible while still being able to see. I nodded to the zebra, who wordlessly set off at a brisk pace. I had to half trot to keep up.

Walking close behind a living siege platform and keeping my head low made me all but invisible to those we passed, who made way for the imposing soldier but ignored the slight acolyte. For all the success that we might have had so far, I was always waiting for Iron Sights or Happy Pills to discover that I was not where I should have been. It was only a matter of-

ALERT! ALERT! PRISONER ON THE LOOSE! PRISONER ON THE LOOSE! ALL PERSONNEL BE ON GUARD! REPEAT! ALERT! ALERT…

-time.

Kicking at the ground, my new svara cocked his head forward. “Mua leija! No more time for tricks. Now we run!”

I was more than happy to oblige. Using the ample weight of his armoured form, he barrelled through the suddenly pony-filled halls with me sprinting at his heels. I had no idea where we are, and asking directions would be an obvious giveaway, so I had to trust that my rescuer had done his homework. He seemed sure enough, taking corners and choosing doors with confidence.

I almost cried with joy as the entrance, still recognisable from my Hissyflit-poison daze, was before my eyes after more twists and turns than I could keep track of.

I almost cried with despair when the two Knights at the entrance barred our path and yelled “HALT!”

I almost cried with artistic appreciation as my Zebra Ranger flew at them and effortlessly incapacitated them in a master-class display of Fallen Ceasar style combat. How he managed to move like that while lugging all that plating was beyond me. In seconds the two Rangers were staggering around, punch-drunk, and we passed between them with no further trouble. It didn’t look like getting your head rattled around inside those helmets was any fun.

The outside air was the sweetest I’d tasted since leaving the Stable.

“FOLLOW ME! AND DON’T LOOK BACK!”

I sure as hell wasn’t about to argue with him after all this. Still, it couldn’t be this easy. “They’ll come after us!”

“Do not worry, svara! They will not have the opportunity.” He didn’t break stride, just called back vigorously.

What does he mean? I couldn’t help myself, I had to look back. They must be coming after us! My eyes fought their way around until I was looking back at the Neighlway gate. The doorway slid open and the two recovered Knights, plus unarmoured support troops boiled out like a swarm of Hissyflits.

They got maybe 10 meters out before it began to rain. This was no water though. This rain clanked off armour and floored unshielded ponies. These raindrops were half a hoof across and a far greater distraction. As I watched, the metal precipitation fired out hooks and barbs which grabbed at joints and seals and robes and flesh, and as soon as they found purchase they retracted. The two front runner Rangers found themselves being slammed together as the unknown weapon pulled them towards each other. The uncovered acolytes fared much worse, whole groups were knocked unconscious as they collided.

Unable to free themselves, the pursuit was momentarily stymied. Though even that wouldn’t hold them for longer than a few seconds. We’d need more…

More turned out to be four. Four familiar shafts slammed into the dirt around the gateway.

“Breeze!” I gasped as I rain, the Shock Lock cage forming a semi-circle around the Neighlway entrance, barring any Rangers from moving further than the small space where the snarl was still going on. A few ponies, unhindered by the initial trap, prodded experimentally at the sparking cage, instantly dropping in shuddering heaps as the electricity overwhelmed their systems.

Finally the Pegasus herself made an appearance, swooping in low for a single strafing run, loosing more waterless rain on the confused Rangers. There were no fancy tricks this time.

Just a whole bunch of explosions.

“Eyes forward, Snowflake! We have a lot of distance to cover!” The snapped command brought an end to my entertainment. I turned to discover that I’d lost a fair amount of ground to the zebra, and had to hustle to draw level.

As I did, the sound of beating wings reached me from the other side. “Been a while, Red Ice. How ya been?” Breeze wore an easy grin, as if she hadn’t just ruined several dozen ponies’ day.

I could do nothing but puff heavily, and blink away sudden tears. “Breeze! You have no idea how glad I am to see you!”

“You’re not the worst sight in the Wasteland either, Snow. What are you doing here? We lost you after Whinniepeg.”

I stumbled a little at her words. “After Whinniepeg? You left before Whinniepeg!”

The smug smile returned. “You really thought we were gonna leave you to go meet your ‘Watcher’ and ‘Wings’ all by yourself? Naiara’d never leave me be if I did that.”

I almost choked as I gaped. “Naiara’s here too?!”

Breeze’s grin grew even wider, and she nodded in the direction of our third member. “Follow the boxed zebra. She’s waiting a few hours out in a safe place. He knows the way.” She flew close enough to give me a small, friendly nudge, “I’ll keep you company too.”

“NO!” I cried, startling them both.

“What is the matter?” He called back.

“I dunno,” Breeze replied before turning to me, “What’s the deal, Snowflake?”

“Breeze, you need to go back! Cassie’s nearby!”

Instantly I had her full attention. “Where?!”

“She’s being blackmailed by the Rangers. She thinks they have you! You need to get to her. Stay high, out of range but in plain sight. Cassie’s got good eyes, she’ll see you!”

Breeze’s eyes were watering, but her jaw was set firm. “Got it. I’ll bring her to the meeting point later.”

“She’ll have a griffon with her. Bring. Her. Too. I want a word with both of them!” I could not stress that enough.

Without another word, Breeze peeled off and started winging back towards Neighlway.

“Ira leija!” The stallion cried as she sped off, to find the most important pony in the world to her.

I couldn’t agree more. Good luck indeed, Breeze. Bring them both back safe.

That was all that was said during our escape. The zebra passed me a hit of Buck, and then we simply ran.

~~~~~~

“SNOWFLAKE!” A blur shot out of the undergrowth and pounced on me.

“NAIARA!” Still hopped up on Buck energy, I was able to grab her in mid-leap. We went down in a pile, rolling and laughing.

“IfoundyouIfoundyouIfoundyouIfoundyou!” We happily chanted together.

It was good to have a simple relationship with one of my friends.

We’d run for hours with no sign of pursuit. No way they would catch up to us any time soon. The Rangers would certainly come, of that there was no doubt, but for now they would have given up the chase to concentrate on fixing the mess we’d caused. I was in more long-term danger than ever, but at least I could take a short breather. This was a good place for it too. A small wood with surprisingly thick foliage, given the overall barren nature of the Wasteland, it was the perfect place for a joyful reunion.

Naiara slugged me in the shoulder.

“OW! What was that for?” It really hurt. She didn’t hold back,.

“Messing around with the Rangers! I told you they were bad news!”

“I had a plan.” I sulkily responded.

She rolled her eyes. “Sure, just like your plan to surrender at Grindstone so me an’ Breeze could get away?” She raised her hoof again, and I flinched back, expecting another punch, but she just made a non-committal annoyed grunt and fussed over me, “Relax, I’m just checking for anything the Rangers might have done. They’re tricky, you should watch out more.”

Apparently satisfied with her search, she strolled over to have a hushed conversation in zebra with the still-armoured stallion under the tree canopy..

For my part, now that things were slowing down, I was starting to feel a little bit cheated. “Plan was totally gonna work,” I muttered, “Was gonna be Red Ice’s finest moment… all for nuthin’ now.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing,” I grumbled, before scuffing at the ground and moaning quietly to myself at the unfairness of having my plan ignored, “I can be tricky too… Rangers aren’t so smart… never gonna get my Pipbuck back now.”

Their conversation finished, the two zebra were walking over. Naiara was sporting a bright smile that made it really hard to stay mad at the glory-stealing rescue. “About time we all got introduced, don’tcha think? Snowflake, this is my clanmate… “ She waited, giving him the opportunity to provide his own name.

Reaching up, the zebra stallion triggered the release of the helmet. A short puff of air announced the breaking of the seal, and then he tugged the constricting apparatus off his head.

I almost laughed.

He had a major case of helmet mane. Like, ludicrously so. Sweat had caked his frizzy mane over his eyes.

“How did you even see with that thing on?” I joked.

Grinning back, he tried to wipe the hair away, almost knocking himself out with his armour hoof in the process. Naiara scoffed, before jumping up and dragging him down so she could do it for him. Their close proximity highlighted the difference in their manes. Hers, long, wavy and lustrous. His, cropped short and coarse.

His grooming complete, he stood back up to full height, finally revealing a pair of dark gold eyes. “I greet you again, Snowflake. Wiv pec Cept.”

I bowed in response, “Iyanda tunyel roga, Cept. It’s an honour to meet Naiara’s clanmate. And you have my thanks for all your help.”

He clanked out a bow himself. “I could do no less for one who has been so kind to my clan. You showed kindness to Naiara when others would not. This is a rare thing in Equestria.”

I glanced at Naiara as he spoke, and she flushed slightly in embarrassment. I was just glad I could show that I didn’t hate zebras, even if the rest of the Wasteland did.

“So, what is your clan doing in the Wasteland? It’s pretty far from the zebra lands.”

I’d meant the question to be innocent and friendly, but the look the two shared in response told me that perhaps I was prying into something I shouldn’t. Cept coughed and abruptly changed the subject. “That is for another time. For now, I must rid myself of their armour. It is... restrictive.”

“We’ll help!” Naiara had an impish twinkle in her jade eye, “Cept, you and I can work on the top half, while Snow can focus on those… hard to reach places.”

It was my turn to flush. “Naiara!”

Still, as we worked to free Cept from his bindings, it became very clear that the Fallen Ceasar prowess he’d displayed in the tunnel was well earned. He could give Peanut a run for his money in fitness.

Definitely no tubby Raider, this one.

No matter what Naiara said, I stuck stubbornly to the top sections of armour during the removal. Naiara didn’t displaying an ease and comfort around her clanmate that made it clear they’d known each other for a while. She didn’t even look away when the undercarriage was removed. Wow.

Ten minutes passed before we finally removed the last piece and tossed it onto the pile. “Well, now what? Do we leave it here?”

Cept shook his head. “If the Rangers found it, they might use it to track us. It would be best to destroy it.”

“I don’t think so!” Breeze crashed through the tree canopy next to the armour. I jumped back into Naiara, unbalancing us both.

Cept had started as well, but recovered faster since he didn’t have to untangle himself from another filly. “Ah, Aqua Breeze. I am overjoyed to see you unharmed. Were you successful?”

When she didn’t immediately respond, I raised my head to look at her. She stood stock still in the pose she’d landed in, but her eyes were slightly unfocused and there was a girlish shyness in her demeanour as she looked at the now armour-free stallion. “H-hi, Cept. Um… successful?”

As the stallion took a small step forward, Breeze’s blush grew. “Your xilia? Your sister? Did you find her?” I might have been imagining it, but it seemed like Cept was subtly flexing while speaking with her.

“Oh! Yes, thank you. I did. She’s up there right now. She didn’t wanna come down because of Snowflake.” She managed to break away from drinking in Cept’s physique to shoot me an apologetic smile.

Now they get sensitive to my wishes. Of course. I sighed. “Just tell ‘em to come down, Breeze. Both of them. I don’t plan on starting anything at present.”

It was to her credit that she was trying to apologise to me on behalf of her sister, but I really needed to hear it from the source. The tense atmosphere still didn’t keep her from her fancies though. Somehow, she was staring even more hungrily at the armour than the zebra. “Okay, I’ll bring them down. Just don’t destroy that armour. I had to leave some of my custom tech with the Rangers to spring you, and if they’re getting something of mine to poke through, then I deserve something of theirs!”

As she took flight again, I clued in the clanmates. “This is gonna be uncomfortable as all hell. Just try to stay calm while we work this out. Stay calm… but be ready if it goes south.”

“I gotcha.”

“Understood.”

While we waited, I poked at the armour pile for a clue as to what Breeze might want from it, but it might just have been so much scrap to me. Fixing gadgets was not in my limited skill pool. I remembered one time I’d tried magical toaster repair…

~~~~~~

It wasn’t long before the fliers returned, not with a bang, but with a whisper. All three touched down light as their feathers. I watched silently as they landed in a tight group. None of them seemed all that interested in looking at me.

Well Breeze is interested in looking at other stuff. Still… what the hay am I supposed to say?

The other two had robbed me, ostensibly to screw over the Rangers. I could have lived with that… if they’d thought to clue me in, but they hadn’t.

That was why it still hurt, even after all I’d heard on the monitor.

“Snowflake.” Cassie said by way of greeting.

“Cassiopeia Venatici.” I responded, equally formally.

“Snowflake.” The griffon repeated.

“Wings.”

“Naiara.” “Cept.” “Breeze.” The three bystanders shared a quick chuckle between themselves, which broke the tension a little.

Naiara looked between the two pegasi. “Your sister really looks like you, Breeze, are you twins?”

“Yeah. Been together our whole lives.”

“So who’s the pretty one?” Naiara found her fun wherever she could, it seemed.

“She is.” The twins answered together, before shooting a surprised look at each other. Naiara’s hooting laughter further cracked the tension.

Cassie broke it a little more. “Snowflake, regardless of everything else, I extend my thanks to you for all you have done for my sister and I.”

That’s something, at least. “You’re welcome. I know what it is like to have siblings you worry about. Be happy you have yours back.”

She had the decency to look ashamed.

“If you brought us here to guilt trip us, Snowflake, make sure you’ve got the whole story. There’s more at stake than you know.” Wings might have been ashamed, but she went on the attack instead of shrinking back.

Luckily, I had a few bullets in my chamber too. “Babysitting and Dashites, Wings. I know enough.”

All three fliers looked surprised at that. Especially Breeze. “Who told you about that?”

Still facing Wings, my lips curled up in a grim smile. “Technically, nobody told me… but you’d be surprised how far sound carries along Steel walls.”

They looked impressed, and a little bit scared. It wasn’t an expression I’d seen them send my way before.

That’s right. Little Snowflake is growing up. The Wasteland is a fast teacher.

“So,” Wings stood a little bit straighter, though whether it was out of respect or she was getting ready for action was hard to tell, “What now?”

Again, all eyes went to me. I took a few seconds to mull my options. Mostly I still wished I could brush it under the rug, forget the whole thing, and invite them back to a party at Hoofshine. Wings could call me her friend again, Cassie and Breeze could be together in comfort for a little while, Breeze could ogle Cept, and, if Bosco and Schwarzwald showed up, we could all get acquainted.

It still sounded tempting. Oh, how it still sounded tempting. However, there were two things standing in the way of that.

The Pipbuck and the Memory Orb.

“Where are my things, you two?”

Both the Pegasus and the griffon looked like they’d been expecting that. “In a safe place.”

“What’s going on?” Naiara broke her silence, looking less than happy as she examined our faces. Cept was not smiling either.

I stayed silent. I wanted them to admit what they’d done with their own lips. “We stole Snowflake’s Pipbuck and Memory Orb.”

“You WHAT?!” At least this time Breeze wasn’t a part of it. She and Naiara seemed to be developing a vitriolic friendship. I didn’t want to ruin that.

“The Rangers want them. No doubt others will too once word gets out,” I thought of Latvi and Plottawa, and definitely felt the truth in those words, “and Snowflake is not strong enough to keep them safe.”

It is very annoying just how clearly you can realise somebody is right about your shortcomings.

I rubbed the bare leg where the Pipbuck should be. “You’re not going to give them back, are you?”

“No.”

Damn. This is it then. I turned to the two zebra and the one Pegasus present that I was actually fond of. “Can you let me talk to these two in private for a moment? I promise it won’t turn nasty.” I had to add that last part when Breeze began to frown.

Hesitantly, the three onlookers backed off enough that Wings, Cassie and I could talk in low voices without being overheard. I kept up a smile as they gave us our space, before finally dropping it when I turned back to the two thieves.

“That Pipbuck... and the Orb... are not things I can just let go. They mean too much to me.” The mix of emotions running through me were making this hard.

“We can’t... we can’t give them back.” I was both happy and sad at Wings’ breaking voice. On one hoof, it meant that she didn’t want to do this. On the other, it showed she still planned on keeping them.

Cassie said nothing, just morosely looked back and forth between me and her sister. I thought it might have been cruel to do this where Breeze was watching, but it was too late by this point.

“I... have to chase you. I don’t have another option.”

“I know.” They chorused.

It was a very sad situation where trying to find a friend brought this much heartache. Try as I might, I still couldn’t simply hate either of them. I didn’t regret feeling that way, but I was a long way from liking it, too.

“Please,” I begged them, losing the battle to hide how much it hurt, “please just go.”

~~~~~~

“You sure you wanna do this, girl?”

Fedexi Lexi really was a good boss. She hadn’t cared much when I showed up and asked to use her gear. Wouldn’t even accept payment. Not an eyelash was batted about the zebra filly with me. Naiara had stayed, citing her worries that I was troubling her, while Cept returned to his other clanmates.

I appreciated the gesture from both Naiara and Lexi, and wished Cept well.

“I’m sure. I promise I won’t put Sprinkles Supplies in any danger.”

“Hell, Snowflake, I ain’t worried about that! What you think I got all mah boys fer? I wanna make you’re doin’ the right thing for you.” Her posture indicated that this should have been obvious.

“… Thanks, boss.”

She flipped a few strands of frizzy orange mane away from her purple snout. “Anytime. We take care of our own. Jus’… do me a favour and say yeh’re someplace else. Mebbe we don’t have THAT many guards.”

“You got it. I’ll get started now.”

The Sprinkles Supplies boss and also medic nodded and laid a hoof on Naiara’s shoulder. “Awright, we’ll git outta yer way. C’mon Naiara, bring your pretty self o’er to the bar an’ we’ll talk about Snow behind ‘er back. I gotta tell ya ‘bout her first time here.”

Once they were out of the room, I keyed the comm button. The signal would spread out to all receivers that could pick it up, sending out my message. It would be the single craziest thing I’d ever done, even more than reaching out for an Orb about to roll over a precipice in Stable 61.

Here goes.

“Greetings from Whinniepeg, Equestrian Wasteland. My name is Snowflake, though I have been known by another name. Tell me if it rings a bell.

Red Ice?

Now that I hopefully have your attention, I feel like I need to set a few things straight. First things first, that was me who attacked Plottawa, not Red Eye. I have never met Red Eye and I definitely don’t work for him. Anyone who has been told differently and expects something from me on his behalf will be very disappointed. Back on topic. Plottawa is not a friend of mine. They tried to get me once at Grindstone, and instead killed a lot of Buffalo. I actually like Buffalo, for the most part, so I didn’t like that.

I also don’t like Steel Rangers. As soon as he hears this, Iron Sights, their so-called ‘Elder’, will be kicking himself, because I just strolled out of a Neighlway cell a few days ago, and they couldn’t stop me. The Rangers and I will not be friends, and they also won’t get anything from me.

In fact, I’ll generalise that. Anybody who thinks they can take something from me, without my permission, will not be my friend and they will not get anything from me.

Finally, There’s another name I feel I must mention. Blue Fire.. Contrary to previous reports, she is no pegasus. She is, however, my prey. Anybody who gets between us will be in danger. I will not be held responsible for their safety. Do. Not. Interfere.

That is all.”

I shut down the mic with a sigh. I’d done it. I’d announced who I was to the entire Wasteland.

Latvi, Peanut, Iron Sights… Wings.

Your move.

~~~~~~

Level Up!

Perks gained: Spoiler Warning – Snow has gained a reputation among the ponies of the Wasteland, resulting in changing dialogue and reactions.

~~~~~~

Author's Note

That’s all for now, folks. Please keep reading, commenting, and spreading the word on Old Souls. I really appreciate your feedback.

Chapter 8-1: A Welcome Distraction

[I haven’t shown my hand - I’ve shown one card.]

The cold bit at my cheeks, painfully tightening them, as the bitter winds and snow swirled all around me. My Stable goggles kept the worse out of my eyes, but they still stung in the howling blizzard. I stood on the northern barricade in Cefar, facing the snowfields where I’d fought a beast, an unnatural product of Old Equestria, who had immediately introduced me to the harshness of Wasteland life: The Molar Bear.

The monster had chased me over rocks, through the trees and across the snow, all the way to this very wall I stood on. I had only survived because of the timely intervention of the townspeople of Cefar. They included Bosco, the young charcoal colt who had become a trusted companion.

Nobody was around now though, as far as my searching eyes could see into the white. If another of the creatures appeared, then I would be facing it on my own. I knew more existed in the snowfields, thanks to Bosco’s ill-advised participation in an organised hunt of the predators, at the behest of Schwarzwald.

She was another acquaintance I had acquired in my brief stay in the Wasteland. I was not as close to her as I was to Bosco, but I still felt that she was, in her one-of-a-kind way, still a trustworthy pony. She made no claim to be a saint, just showed exactly who she was in everything she did.

Vulnerable as I was, the threat of a Molar Bear attack was not foremost on my mind when staring at the Snowfield. Somewhere in there, hidden by the never-ending storm, was Stable 61. My home.

Without knowing the way, reaching it through the maelstrom was impossible. Even the hardiest of ponies would succumb to the blizzard or the creatures before even getting close. They’d never know if they were either, as the white would blind them.

Still, I thought as my body tilted forward, dropping me from the hard cement wall into the soft white snow beyond the town limits, landing with a crunch, what harm is there in trying anyway?

Tugging my Molar leather clothing tighter around me, and wrapping my heavy white cloak as close as possible to protect against the elements and their penetrating chill, I set off. Almost instantly, the white swallowed Cefar behind me, essentially leaving me with no choice but to continue forward.

It was slow going. I walked for what felt like days, trudging knee deep through snow that never seemed to give until the very last moment. The cold wetness of the frozen rain soaked into my clothing, weighing me down and stealing my heat. I had no markers beyond my own hoofprints behind me to tell me whether I was even still travelling in the same direction as when I started, which I wasn’t even sure was the right direction in the first place, but I doggedly stuck to the line I’d chosen. I passed by trees and rocks at such a slow pace that I might as well have been walking in syrup rather than snow. Still, I continued anyway, willing myself to ignore the cold, the wind, the wetness in my mane that froze and melted and refroze, again and again. One hoof in front of the other, that was all I needed keep going.

About all I can do too.

“Geez, Snow, you’re only this far? It took us like five minutes to get here. You gotta try harder.”

Shut up Wings, you can fly. I’m stuck with my hooves.

“Indeed, Red Ice, you do seem to be struggling. Would you us to show you the way?”

You won’t find it, not even with your eyes, Venatici.

Through my goggles, I could just barely make out the two fliers before me, reclining in the air, their wings somehow utterly untroubled by the sub-zero gales around us. They each bore bright smiles and an utter lack of protective clothing, looking for all the world like they didn’t even notice the blizzard around us.

“Why are you here?” Their presence, and especially those smiles, left me less than pleased. I was somewhat glad for the contact with other people, but did it have to be these two?

Incredulously, the sapphire-eyed griffon performed a few carefree flips in the air, not at all weighed down by the wind and snow as I was. “Cassie just told ya, we’re gonna show you the way!”

The Pegasus with the neat black-and-red mane gave a graceful floating bow. “Happy to be of assistance.”

You’re kidding, right? “You’re kidding, right?”

The pair looked at each other and grinned mischievously. “Well,” they spoke in unison, “we are slightly better equipped than you, after all.”

I stood gaping as the two produced some very familiar items, though from where I couldn’t tell, considering their lack of apparel.

“My Pipbuck! My Memory Orb!”

Wings canted her head to the side, Pipbuck hanging loosely from a claw, while Cassie mirrored the action with the Memory Orb held in her mouth.

“Yours?” Wings’ tone was strange, halfway between a question and a whisper, “If they were yours, you’d know the way.”

Cassie spat the Orb out into her hooves. “Indeed, but don’t worry. We can show you where to go. Please follow us.”

Without another word, the two began flying backwards, away from me. Adrenaline shot through my body in alarm, allowing me to drag my soaking limbs out of the deep snow and stumble after them. “Wait! Come back!”

The two didn’t respond with words. Instead, as their forms began to lose focus within the white, I could hear them giggling.

The sound both worried and angered me. I was worried that I might lose this chance to retrieve my possessions, which reminded me that they’d taken them in the first place, allowing the resulting anger to spur me onwards. “CASSIE! WINGS! GET BACK HERE!” I railed against the storm, trying to force my voice through the whistling of the wind.

I tried, really tried to keep up, but even with anger burning through me, I just couldn’t match the speed of the fliers in the energy-sapping snow. Through the swirl, the two receded, until I couldn’t see who was who, they just appeared as ever-darkening blurs in the distance.

Before I could lose track entirely, happy snippets drifted back along the currents.
“Come on, Snow, not far now.”

“You are almost there.”

“You’re so close!”

“Follow us.”

“Snow.”

“Snowflake.”

My hooves became tangled. I couldn’t help it. I fell. Slamming into the cold, wet snow face-first. Battling my own fatigue, I desperately raised my head, searching frantically for any sign of the disappearing thieves. “N-no! Wait for me!”

Nothing.

The blizzard, as it always had been for two hundred years, continued. The natural world was totally unconcerned with the trials and troubles of one lost little filly chasing after two giggling girls.

Still, I couldn’t give up, even if it was just the barest of sounds now, I could still hear something of the two above the noise. With quaking limbs, I forced myself upright yet again, taking one shambling step after the other. Snowblind, I couldn’t even see the two anymore, I just had to hope that I was still heading in the right direction.

It felt like forever, and perhaps it was, but after two frozen tracks of tears had formed down my cheeks, I was rewarded with the slightest of breaks.

“…’re crazy, Cass!”

That was Wings’ voice! I was sure of it. She was close! Laughing through my ragged gasps, I found some deep, deep store of energy and pushed my tired muscles onwards.

“…te sure I don’t know what you are talking about, Wings.”

Cassie too! I was getting closer. “Wait where you are! I’m almost there!”

“I know for a fact that that ain’t the way to go, Cassie.”

“Do you now? Well I do not intend to get lost just to say ‘I told you so’!”

Were they arguing? Whatever, I didn’t care, so long as they stayed where I could find them.

Mercifully, they did. I finally broke through the worst of the blizzard into a relative calm. There was still a wicked squall, but I could see much more clearly. Or maybe my snow blindness had dampened a little, I couldn’t be sure.

Either way, I beheld the two before me, still floating effortlessly in the chilly havoc. Laughing even as one of my knees gave out, and I crashed down into the snow, my body tensing at the extreme temperature. I kept my eyes on them, though. “F… found you.”

My raspy, almost-silent proclamation nonetheless distracted them from their argument. Blinking together, they turned to face me, still mirroring each other.

“Snowflake! You found us. Great job.”

“Most certainly. Such a relief to see you safe.”

“But you can’t rest now, Snow. We’re almost there.”

“Yes, just a little more and you will be home,” Cassie momentarily paused to roll her eyes at the chocolate-and-cream griffon. “That is, if you follow me. Like this one should be doing.”

Wings dismissively waved away the cyan pegasus’ words. “Ah, ignore her. She’s nuts. Follow me, I know the way.”

“You do not!”

“I totally do!”

“I won’t let you lead Snowflake astray!”

“Well if she goes with you, she’ll be stuck in this storm forever!”

“IS THAT A FACT?!”

“DAMN RIGHT IT IS!”

“WE SHALL SEE!”

“OH YEAH?!”

As the happy smiles morphed into frightful glares, all I could do was lie there in the snow, breathing heavily as my exhaustion slowly built.

As if moving to an unheard cue, Wings and Cassie both whipped their heads around at the same time, to face me. I made no motion, too tired to do anything even as the wind increased and snow began to build around my fallen form.

The fliers didn’t seem to notice my worsening situation. Both made a ‘follow me’ motion with hoof and claw respectively. “This way!” They echoed, before taking off in opposite directions.

Even with the snow piling on and the cold piercing right down to my marrow, I was still driven to panicked action, flailing wildly after each, as if trying to catch them. All I succeeded in doing was flopping over onto my back, one hoof outstretched after each of them. I couldn’t do anything more. My strength was gone. Short, shallow, shuddering breaths were all that I had left in me. Staring up at the sky, too exhausted to even tilt my head, eventually even my goggles were taken by the white.

As I drew closer and closer to a snowy burial, I struggled and tore up my vocal chords just to croak out a few words.

“P-please… don’t leave me… ”

~~~~~~

I opened my eyes. An unfamiliar ceiling lay before me, though I couldn’t focus on it. My terror sweat was drenching the covers of the bed I was lying in. Utterly confused, my eyes darted backwards and forth for a few seconds while I searched for Wings, Cassie, or any signs of the blizzard.

There was nothing. The breath I didn’t know I’d been holding escaped all in one go as the realisation that it was all just a dream began to leach away the fear and panic.

Itchy and damp, I tried to lift my left hoof to wipe my brow… but found it numb and pinned. The unease was back immediately as I feared the frostbitey worst for my leg. Steeling myself, I risked a quick glance down at the damage… except I couldn’t see the thing because there was a grey pony in the way.

“Bosco?”

The lump stirred momentarily, but didn’t wake up, instead simply repositioning himself, still snuggled up to my side and lying on my limb.

I couldn’t help the smile that this brought to my face. At one of us was having an easy sleep. Bosco probably deserved it more than most. He hadn’t been greatly happy to find out about my daring escape from Neighlway after we went through all the trouble of luring Wings and Cassie to us. He’d made it a point to stick close ever since.

I couldn’t tell whether it was because he was afraid for me… or he just didn’t trust me not to get into trouble without him there. I didn’t greatly care either way, it was just nice having him around.

A lock of Bosco’s grey mane, which was longer than I remembered, drifted down onto his face. Since I couldn’t lift the hoof he was lying on to move it, I tried to get it with my other side. No luck there either, as something else had hold of that limb too, keeping it dangling from the side of the bed.

Rolling my eyes in mock frustration, I tiredly rolled my head over to that edge of the bed. The sight I saw there definitely raised an eyebrow.

Bosco… again? This second charcoal pony was not on the bed, instead he was sleeping propped up against the high mattress, my limb draped over his shoulder and grasped in a tight hug, like a precious stuffed animal.

Aww, I cooed internally, Bosco… you’re so sweet. But why are there two of you?

I went back to staring at the ceiling, which for some reason boasted an elaborate oil painting of a beech-furred buffalo with artistically perfect proportions. The buffalo was dressed in gleaming armour and wielding a veritable arsenal in what could only be described as a heroic manner. Artistic interpretation aside, I felt like I knew that buffalo.

He’s definitely familiar, even with the burn marks around the edges… Ah, I remember.

And it all came back. After broadcasting my sorta secret identity as Red Ice to the Wasteland, with help from Fedexi Lexi at Sprinkles Supplies, Naiara and I had gone to find Bosco in Lethbridle.

That’s why there’re two Boscos. Naiara blended her black and white stripes into grey-all-over so we wouldn’t have any trouble at the gate.

It had gone even further than that. Naiara was naturally beautiful anyway and, without the fear of zebras to distract them, the stallions of Lethbridle, including the gate guards, had not hesitated to throw glances aplenty her way. She’d tried to brush it off as nothing at first, but eventually the flattery had turned to embarrassment and she’d sheepish half-hid behind me the rest of the way. I hadn’t complained… mostly because it was really funny.

In Lethbridle proper, we’d surreptitiously arranged a meeting with the leader of the guards, Chief Rockhaunch, through Esto, the remaining science unicorn of the trio who’d agreed to fix my missing Memory Orb. Esto was still hospitalised after her former workmate, Latvi, had sent the griffon assassin, McCoy, after Rockhaunch’s deputy, a beech-furred buffalo called Dent. This had led to a shootout between Dent, McCoy, and later myself, in an apartment block where Dent was visiting his marefriend, Esto’s other science colleague, Lithu.

Who’s apartment we were currently inhabiting since she had gone with into hiding at Grindstone with Dent, to protect them from McCoy.

Esto still isn’t happy that I got Lithu OR Dent involved, but at least she gave us a roof over our heads while we’re in town. Rockhaunch wanted us to avoid public places after my revelation. It’s as good a place as any, even if it is a little worse for wear after all the trouble. I’ll be sure to apologise again later.

I gave an experimental tug on my front legs. All that it produced was a synchronised murmur of protest from Bosco and Bosco-ra, who then snuggled even closer and tighter into me. Their chorus halted me for a moment as I remembered the unsettling dream fliers who had spoken together as well. This soon faded as I smiled again at the two adorable ponies sleeping so peacefully.

My attempt to rise defeated, there was no real reason to stay awake, so I closed my eyes and allowed myself to drift off again, this time quite sure my slumber would be pleasant.

~~~~~~

“So… what now?”

It was a good question. The three of us were sat around a breakfast table, enjoying some pastries. Earlier, I’d awoken to find Bosco gone from the bed and my hoof free, so I’d used it to rouse Naiara. The colt had apparently woken up peckish, as he’d returned with the food just as I was helping Naiara reapply her makeup after bathing.

Lithu’s apartment, aside from the ceiling art, was quite utilitarian. I guessed she spent a lot of time at the lab, or perhaps at Dent’s place. There was, unfortunately, no spacious bath like at Hoofshine Harlots, which I would need to take Naiara to sometime soon, but the shower did the job and left us feeling refreshed for the day.

As Naiara and I chewed and pondered, Bosco continued. “We’ve all got stuff to take care of, I think. I kinda want to find out more about these Orbs of mine…”

I nodded, not arguing with his goal. It wasn’t fair to expect him to drop everything to help me find my one Orb while he had just had a breakthrough with the three he’d been struggling with for years. I’d help him out in any way I could, too.

Even if it meant taking me away from going after Wings and Cassie.

Naiara gulped down the last of her fruit juice, somehow managing to do it without marking the glass with her body paint. “That sounds like fun. I might get called away on zebra business at some point but I’m basically free right now. I can help you out, Bosco.”

I agreed, shooting him a reassuring smile. “I’m in too. It’s the least I can do after all your help.”

The Boscos shared a quick look. “Are you sure, Snowflake? I mean, you’ve got a lot on your plate right now.”

Don’t I know it. But it’s not all about me, Bosco. “Yeah maybe, but you heard Rockhaunch. He wants me to lay low until some of the excitement dies down. Red Ice can wait a little while. I want to help, Bosco, not just get helped. Do you not want me to?”

“N-no, of course I do! I’d love your help, Snow!”

His brief lack of composure had Naiara smirking behind her glass, for which I gave her a gentle-ish kick under the table.

The matter decided, we were lapsing back into an easy silence Naiara jumped back in. “Speaking of helping, Snow, you think you might want to help me out if I get some zebra work? Having a unicorn around could be useful. ‘specially one that doesn’t hate zebras.”

I felt honoured. “Absolutely. Would it mean I got to meet more of your tribe?” At her nod, my enthusiasm grew again, “Great! I’ve only met Cept so far, can’t wait to meet the others!”

“Eheheh… yeah…” For some reason that wasn’t welcome news to the filly. She’d looked away and her smile had shrunk.

Confused, I was about to follow up when Bosco interrupted. “Yeah, what’s up with that guy? He your brother?”

She blinked. “Cept? No, he’s not my brother. Well, he sorta is. I mean, I’ve known him my whole life but we aren’t the same blood.”

She’d apparently expected much more resistance to the idea, as she was pretty surprised when Bosco just nodded in understanding. “Right, like Snow and her brothers.”

Her interest piqued, Naiara swung the topic back to me, scooting closer and leaning in. “You’ve got brothers? How many? Bigger or smaller? Are they cute? Any sisters?”

“Whoa, easy!” As I leaned back to avoid her, I held my hooves out in front as a halting gesture… which meant they weren’t keeping me steady at the table and, unbalanced, I slipped off my chair and hit the ground.

“You okay?”

Stifling a curse, I rubbed the back of my head as Naiara hopped off her chair to help me up. “Sorry, svara.”

I waved away her concern. “I’m okay. Anyway, to answer at least one of your questions, I have three brothers. They’re all bigger than me but, well… they’re still my little brothers.”

Bemused, the painted zebra looked between the two of us. “What the heck does that mean?”

“Get this,” Bosco chuckled, “Snow’s brothers are buffalo.”

“NO WAY!”

I nodded “It’s true, their names are Buff, Al and Lo Doublehorn.”

She scoffed, echoing the reaction I’d gotten from Wings when I told her this back in Vanchoofer. “Oh come on, how do you keep finding these people? Buffalo brothers named Buff, Al, and Lo. A griffon called Wings, and some random who calls himself Watcher.”

“Don’t forget Snowflake with the cutie mark of a snowflake.”

“Shaddup Bosco.” I could at least defend myself on that front. I liked my cutie mark.

“Three buffalo brothers… “ Naiara was musing to herself, “I wonder if they’re cute.”

All I could give was a slightly queasy shrug. “Wouldn’t know, I mean Lo got looks from the buffalo girls in the Stable but, come on, they’re my brothers. I can’t see them like that.”

“Yeah, I can understand that, I guess. I feel the same about Cept. He’s family.”

“Plus I think Breeze has a thing for him.”

“Oh she totally does. Would not stop staring the first time she met him.”

Bosco was totally lost by now. “Um… didn’t Breeze try to kill Snow a few times, why are you so chummy with her, Naiara?”

The zebra just gave him a helpless smile. “I felt the same way at first, but Snow said I couldn’t kill her. Messed her up good though, filly can’t fight hoof-to-hoof worth a damn. She might even be worse than Snowflake!”

“HEY!”

“Suck it up, it’s true.”

I pouted. “Still, cheap shot.”

Naiara waved me off and continued. “Anyway, Breeze went after Snow when she and her sister Cassie, who I believe you’ve met, got separated. Breeze really loves her sister. I think that’s why Snow forgave her so easily.”

“Basically.” What could I say? I had a soft spot for family.

“So me, Snow and Breeze went looking for Cassie in Grindstone, got in a heap of trouble with Plottawa slavers and Molar Bears, then Snow kicked us out of the cave we were taking shelter in.”

“I said I was sor-“

“Lemme finish the story! Anyway, after that, Breeze and I went straight to Cept and asked for his help in tracking her down. Well, after the love hearts stopped anyway. We were a little late at Whinniepeg, but we got to Neighlway and busted her out. You know the rest.”

He took it all in and mulled it over before responding. I could understand. Things kinda went chaotic after the cave at Crystal Point. “Well… glad she found her sister again.”

“Speaking of which,” Naiara was having all the fun she could, “what do you think Bosco?”

“Huh?”

“Well, you saw Cassie. Breeze looks just like her, except for a blue’n’white mane rather than red’n’black. Oh, and her feathers change colour along the wingtips. Think she sounds cute?”

Looking slightly trapped, Bosco shot a glance my way before meekly responding. “I… uh…”

A thick, heavy rapping on the door saved him from answering. Naiara shot to the mirror to double check that she was properly concealed. Wary of Red Ice’s enemies, Bosco was instantly serious, drawing his pistol and waving me back. I stepped over with Naiara as he carefully approached the door and looked through the eyehole. His shoulder relaxed as he saw who it was. Holstering his gun, he opened the door to reveal the chief standing there, wooden faced and oaken-furred.

“Something’s come up. You need to come with me.”

~~~~~~

“And they’re just standing there?”

From atop the monolithic wall surrounding Lethbridle, Chief Rockhaunch,, Naiara, Bosco and I stood with the guards and surveyed the scene outside the west gate of the city.

Two dozen Raiders loitered outside, under the watchful eye of the guards. They seemed to wear whatever they could get their hooves on, mostly dirty leather barding that covered varying amounts of their bodies. Most all of the Raiders had a wild, unkempt look to them, with unruly manes and garish tattoos. Even as they waited, three squabbles broke out which almost instantly descended into hoof-and-teeth scrapping. It didn’t seem to matter to either Raider who they were fighting, mares and stallions went at it regardless of size or build. It was chaotic to look upon.

Still, one Raider stood apart from the others, his attention away from his brethren, casually cycling between the gate itself and those staring down from the wall’s summit. He was a massive stallion, easily outmassing any of the others by a good margin. It was all muscle too, he radiated strength as he stood tall. His fur was a bright orange, and his muttonchop whiskers extended up into his wild locks. His mane looked green at first, but on a closer examination it was a checkered mix of watery green and blue. He wore only a thick bandolier, from which hung an enormous shotgun and a truly intimidating axe. It gleamed in the sunshine, it’s sharpness apparent even from up here.

“What do they want?” Being around more Raiders had Bosco, and myself, feeling less than thrilled.

Sighing wearily, but still wearing his concern on his horns, the Chief pointed a hoof at me. “They want her.”

“Me?” Raiders wanted me? What for?

The buffalo hadn’t smiled in the entire time we’d been with him today. “Yeah. They showed up hours ago. Didn’t do anything to the ponies trying to get through the gate, just waited until it was clear, then the bigger one there said… something. Seriously I couldn’t understand him, he sounds pretty drunk. Though we definitely caught ‘Snowflake’ and ‘Red Ice’ in there somewhere.”

“That’s… probably not good.” I was struggling mightily to find a way to see this as anything but terrible. My one experience with Raiders had been altogether negative. They’d all tried to kill me, forcing me to wound several and cause the deaths of at least two of them.

Naiara had been lying down with her chin hanging over the edge of the wall, watching the show. The individual fights were in danger of sparking an all-out brawl. “That’s all they said? Drunken ramblings about Snow? Couldn’t you have just fired a few warning shots to get them to leave?”

“We did. A few of them went to leave but stopped as soon as they saw the one in front hadn’t moved.”

So he’s the boss then. It says a lot when a drunk can lead a group of this size. Not exactly sure what it says a lot for, but a lot is being said.

The bearded stallion cocked his head to the side slightly, taking in the growing discord behind him. A frustrated look crossed his face. Raising a single hoof, he slammed it down into the ground, sending up a small dust cloud and sounding like a gunshot.

The effect was immediate and profound. Instantly the brawling Raiders disengaged and backed off from each other. They didn’t exactly get themselves into regimental formation but all their eyes were now on the obvious leader’s next move.

He turned back to Lethbridle, craning his head upwards to look at us. “Ho, yous fellas up top there. We’ll be here all day if we hav’tae, but ahm no wantin’ t’be. Can we see Red Ice now? Promise we’ll be on our best behaviour an’ all.”

His thick, guttural accent certainly gave the impression of severe inebriation, but his actions were a clear indicator that he was possessed of sobriety, and that he was no mindless savage. This pony knew what he was doing.

My three friends looked at me as we tried to piece together all of what he’d said. The stallion noticed who their attention was focused on. His voice, still hard and heavily accented, took on a more cheerful tone. “Is that her? Oi, Red Ice, can ah get a wee word wi’ yeh?”

Rockhaunch throat rumbled, disgruntled. “What are we gonna do about this? They’ve been true to their word so far. They plan on staying until they see Red Ice. We can’t have them keeping traffic away from one of our gates. Still, I’m not just gonna hand Snowflake over to a bunch of Raiders. They probably just want the bounty. It’s gone up, by the way.”

“No kidding?” Bosco looked amused and impressed, “How much?”

“A lot,” he deadpanned, “more than enough to make a lot of ponies think about going for it themselves. You need to watch yourself, even around ponies you think are safe.”

I gulped as the Raider gave a jaunty wave. He clearly knew enough to cash in the bounty. A smart Raider with a decent war chest and two dozen reasonably well-equipped followers could be very dangerous indeed.

“Why don’t you just shoot him?” Naiara had apparently seen enough.

She got a look in return that told her she should know better. “We do that and then we’ve got over twenty nutcases charging the gate, hungry for revenge. They can’t come inside.”

He had a point. There was no guarantee that, even with all the authority he clearly had over the Raiders, killing the sane one would cause anything but a firefight as the rest fought back. The orange Earth pony might have an ounce of civility somewhere under all that mane, but the others didn’t seem possessed of the same level of impulse control. It was a disaster waiting to happen. Rockhaunch’s guards shouldn’t have to deal with problems I caused.

“I think I should go talk to him.”

Instantly, I was dragged away from the edge. Bosco had a vice-like bite on my tail. “Bosco! Stop that.”

Spitting out the last few hairs, his grey eyes were hard as he addressed me. “Don’t even bother getting angry at me! I told you what happens to ponies who try talking to Raiders. Dead to the last one! I told you this. I’m not gonna let you do something this fucking stupid just after all the trouble you’ve been through. Not again. You’re not gonna get lucky forever, Snow!”

Wow. That’s… more forceful than I’m used to from Bosco. I was both happy that he cared as much as he did, and a little annoyed at his attitude. Hadn’t I proven yet that I could handle myself even a little bit? I mean, I did survive all that stuff he was talking about, too. Didn’t that count for something?

Looking to Naiara and Rockhaunch for support, I found none. There was concern there, just like Bosco, but they too seemed to think my track record made this a mistake.

Things were so much simpler when they were asleep. Cuter too. “Rockhaunch does need the gate cleared guys. We can’t just sit here waiting all day, just hoping they wander off. They’ll get bored fairly soon. Do you think that will end well?”

It took all three of them a few seconds to respond. Bosco’s constantly shifting facial expressions were the most obvious indicator, but they all seemed to be trying to find the holes in what I said. Rockhaunch looked most unhappy, torn between his duty to the city and the safety of a pony who he thought well of.

I hope he likes me anyway.

Thoroughly frustrated, the chief eventually nodded. “Urgh, fine. But you’re not going by yourself. We’re gonna do this right. This is my town, you listen to what I say.”

Naiara and Bosco seemed happier with somebody talking what they thought of as sense, and stepped closer to listen to the plan.

“Right, well I’m gonna have guards along the wall the entire time. They see anything that doesn’t look right and they’ll open fire. Snowflake… ”

“Yeah?” Rockhaunch was back in chief mode, not taking any chances and doing all he could to keep everybody safe. It wasn’t the time to talk back. This was, as he said, his town.

“If you’re gonna go down there, see if you can get the guy in front to send the others away. He shouldn’t be able to disagree if he’s really here to talk. Bosco will back you up from the gate-”

“Aaactually, I think I’m better up here, chief.” The charcoal colt had been nodding until that last part.

“Excuse me?” Rockhaunch looked like he was expecting another stupid suggestion, similar to my earlier one.

The colt drew his pistol. “I’m a pretty good shot. If I stay up here, and if Snow can get the Raider to take off his weapons, then even if he makes a run for the gate or Snow, Naiara’s our best unarmed fighter, she can deal with him while I help with the rest of the Raiders.”

The zebra didn’t disagree, in fact she looked impressed. “Aw shucks, Bosco. You’ll make me blush. Still, you’re good at this.”

“Yeah, well… “

“HELLO? YOU STILL AROOND? AH’M GETTING’ A WEE BIT BORED O’ WAITIN’!” The other Raiders struggled to stay still too. It seemed like what I’d said about bored Raiders was accurate.

Rockhaunch still wasn’t exactly satisfied, but he liked this plan better than my basic outline. “Okay, if you say so. Naiara will go with Snowflake. We’ll keep watch from up here. If the Raider doesn’t send the others away AND drop his gear, you don’t let Snowflake get one step outside of that gate, understand?”

We all saluted. It just seemed like the thing to do. Rockhaunch’s calm strength brought it out of us.

As we dropped the salutes, he quietly moaned to himself. “We’re gonna regret this.”

~~~~~~

Making my way down the wall, I passed plenty of ponies and buffalo heading the other way, all wielding heavy guns. The glances they shot me varied greatly. I had to wonder how they felt about me.

To them, was I Li’l Stronghead? The funny little filly who screams at ghouls and then headbutts the chief? Strange, but basically a harmless pseudo-mascot and friend to Lethbridle’s guards.

Or, was I Red Ice? Who strolled into Lethbridle and Neighlway and poked the Molar Bears within, leading to strife in and around the streets of Lethbridle? McCoy’s attack no doubt caused a lot of double shifts and injuries, perhaps deaths, and could easily be laid at my hooves. I got enough glares to know that this was at least the way that some of them felt.

I didn’t blame them. They had every right to be upset that I was doing all this. Bringing Raiders to Lethbridle’s city steps was not the best way to make amends. Owning up to being Red Ice was supposed to be a way to steal some power away from the threats around me, but so far it was looking like it’d just make more blood bubble up through the cracks.

The guards at the gate, at least, were too busy watching the Raiders to pay me much attention. They knew what was going to happen but wouldn’t try to help me if they thought it would put the gate in jeopardy.

With Bosco up on the wall, Naiara was really my only support here.

She still managed to get a smile from me, nudging me reassuringly as the gate rattled open. As per Rockhaunch’s plan, I made no move to leave the gateway.

The Raider had noticed the gate opening and was curiously peering into the shade. “That you, Red Ice? Wee touch on the gloomy side in there.”

Naiara was slowly and surreptitiously loosening up her muscles as I cleared my throat to respond. “Yes, I’m Red Ice. Nice to meet you…”

Suddenly, the stallion began belting out a hearty laugh and holding his stomach. “Ahahaha! I didnae e’en gi’ mah name, did ah? Well nae wunner this was takin’ ages. Oh dearie me. I’m Caber Toss. Pleasure t’meet yeh.” He continued his mirthful mock-despair, and his jostling gave me a chance to look at his cutie mark, two crossed, branchless tree trunks.

I heard snickering behind me as Naiara failed to hide her amusement at the strange Raider. Not wanting to inadvertently offend him, which could lead to trouble, I tried to move the conversation along. “Uh… Caber? I’d like to talk more, but there are a lot of people with guns up top who want you to get rid of your Raiders first.”

He stopped cavorting. “Aye? Well the problem wi’ that is, ah’m all by my lonesome wi’, as yeh just pointed oot, a whole bunch o’ guns pointed at me.”

He was definitely not the same class of Raider as those Bosco and I had fought when I was only a day or so outside of the Stable.

Wow, that seems like a long time ago.

Still, he had a point. Any thinking being would consider this a bad deal. “The guards promise you won’t be harmed if you send your friends away.” Hoping to smooth things over, I spread my hooves to indicate that I was unarmed. Behind me, I heard Naiara doing the same.

He took a brief moment to greet her, “How you doin’, hen? Ah’m Caber,” before turning back to me with a very strange smile on his face. “Well, y’know that’d make me feel a whole lot better an’ all, but ah’m no talking tae the guards, am I? I’m talking to Red Ice.”

“… okay?”

His grin, still somehow off-putting, didn’t waver. “Well ah’m gonnae need the word o’ Red Ice on that. You gimme your word an’ ah’ll believe yeh.”

Naiara just shrugged when I looked back at her, no more sure of how to take that than I was. Still, I said I’d talk to him, so…

“Alright then. I give you my word. You won’t be harmed while we talk and will be allowed to walk away unharmed when we’re done, weapons and all. Oh, you’ll also need to remove your weapons while we talk.”

He sucked some breath in through his teeth. “ ’m afraid that’s nae good, doll. Sayin’ it all quiet-like. Ah’m gonnae need yeh t’say it nice an’ loud, enough so that all mah pals back there an’ your lot on the wall will hear. Ah’ll drop mah gear soon as y’do.”

Why did that matter? Still, it wasn’t an unreasonable request given what he was agreeing to. Taking a deep breath, I began to shout.

“I, RED ICE, GIVE MY WORD THAT THIS RAIDER WILL NOT BE HARMED AND WILL BE ALLOWED TO WALK AWAY WITHOUT ISSUE.”

Instantly chatter burst out from everywhere; the guards behind me in the gate, those on top of the wall, and the Raiders behind Caber Toss all were talking amongst themselves.

The orange and tartan stallion’s smile turned honest. Supremely satisfied, he immediately tossed the bandolier aside. “Couldnae ask for more,” turning to his followers, he stamped his trunk-like hoof three times, “go on, yeh maddies, away wi’ yeh. I’ll be along later on.”

The Raider throng didn’t need to be told twice. They bolted as soon as they could, followed by the guns of the wall guards, and Bosco.

After they’d disappeared, Caber took a few steps away from the gate, and his gear, and turned back around, an expectant look in his eyes.

“Now or never.” Whispered Naiara as she trotted past me into the daylight, acting the part of dutiful bodyguard. She made sure to keep the distance between herself and Caber Toss shorter than the distance between him and his weaponry.

Taking a final deep breath, I followed her. In one way, we were as unarmed as Caber Toss now was. In another way, she was Naiara. Even with Caber Toss’ impressive strength, I didn’t doubt for a moment that he was no match for my svara’s Stompeii Emboli training.

Still, if he put so much stock in Red Ice’s word then it wouldn’t hurt to play up the part a little bit, right? “So, Caber Toss, what can Red Ice do for you?”

His response was as loaded as it was simple.

“Unite us.”

Blank stares were all he got in response, so he continued. “Y’know, the Raiders. Unite us. Unite the clans!”

Not one suitable word came to mind. “Uh… unite you?”

He nodded emphatically. “Aye. Truth be tol’, ah’ve been after this for a wee while now. See, raidin’ isnae ‘xactly an easy life. Specially wi’ mah lot. Ah’m spendin’ most o’ mah time tryin’ tae find ways o’ keepin’ mah lot from starvin’ or being feckin’ eedjits. It’s getting’ on mah tits, frankly.

But then ah heard the broadcasts o’er the radio, ‘bout a filly who was snubbin’ her snoot at them slavers in Plottawa, an’ that mess in Grindstone. The more ah asked aroun’, the more ah was hearin’ the name. Yeh’re no one o’ them goodie-goodies either, but yeh’re tough. Perfect for a Raider queen!”

“A Raider… queen?” I was being asked to take over the most dangerous ponies in the Wasteland. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Yet this bright orange buck was sitting there telling me this as if it was to be expected! What the hell?!

“Oh aye, perfect for it. A few days ago, when yeh made that speech on your own, ‘bout no’ bein’ friends wi’ Plottawa OR them bloody Rangers, an’ talkin’ about huntin’ down that Blue Fire, who’s went an’ killed a fair few Raiders in her time? Oh, it was enough to have me greetin’ intae me porridge!”

Oh no. Oh, I am a stupid, stupid girl. I had totally forgotten that Wings had killed an entire Raider camp as Blue Fire, and probably more that I hadn’t heard about. By setting my sights on her over the airwaves, I’d inadvertently set myself up as saviour of the Raiders.

Bosco’s never gonna let me hear the end of this. And I dread to think about what Breeze’ll say. Cassie hates Raiders with a passion, Breeze wouldn’t disagree with her sister about this. It’s gonna be just so much fun the next time I see either of them.

“You want me to lead your Raiders?” What kind of answer was this crazy stallion expecting me to give?

He wasn’t even done surprising me. “Oh, no, no’ just mah lot. All the Raiders around here. See, there’s basically four big groups; there’s mah Haylanders, yeh just met them. Then in the northeast, on the other side o’ Lethbridle, y’got the Barnstormers, mostly they raid farms an’ such. The leader’s a fella by the name o’ Four Fields. Cannae tell yeh much about him. Mostly the Haylanders stay aroond Whinniepeg, which is another reason ah wanted tae meet yeh so badly. Couldnae believe yeh were so close when yeh told the whole Wasteland who yeh were.”

It just got worse and worse. It was all I could do to keep from smacking myself in the face.

Blissfully aware of my inner turmoil, Caber Toss continued his sales pitch. “After the Barnstormers, there’s the Deep Divers southwest o’ Lethbridle. Dunno why but they don’t hurt from radiation so much, so they’ve taken t’diving in lakes lookin’ for stuff tae pull back up. Lass called Undertow’s in charge. She’s no’ so bad, always smells o’ wet pony though, even days after.”

Lovely.

“An’ last but no’ least, there’s the Woodpeckers, no’ far from Vanchoofer. Ever been round that way?”

“Aye, I mean, yes.” I was NOT going to start talking like that.

“Well Ballbuster’s the boss o’ the Woodpeckers,” he shuddered momentarily before collecting himself, “frankly, yeh can find oot ‘bout her all by yehrself.”

Oh great, a Raider who scares Raiders. Why me?

“So yeh want the job, Red Ice? All yeh gotta do is talk those three round and the Raiders’ll be set for life, wi’ you on top.” He took a step towards me in his excitement.

Instantly Naiara was between us. “HEY! Back off!”

Without a word, he did. “Whoa, hol’ on there, hen. Didnae mean anythin’ by it. Just got a wee bit carried away ‘s all,” he clapped his hooves together eagerly, “tell yeh what, ah’ll come back ‘n th’morrow. Gives Red Ice a chance to think it over. Sound fair?”

As I was still somewhat rocked by the whole thing, Naiara dismissed him for me. “Yeah, fine. Grab your things and be on your way.”

The most-unRaiderly-Raider gave a mock salute as he slipped the bandolier back over his shoulder. “Nae danger.”

~~~~~~

Chapter 8-2: A Welcome Distraction

“What. The. Fuck?”

“I know, right?”

I said nothing, content to let Naiara retell the story as I chugged down a cider. I needed the steadying alcohol after seeing just exactly how much I’d screwed myself over with what I’d done.

Predictably, and very understandably, Bosco hated the idea. “This is a joke! He’s not even really offering anything! Just because one particular gang of Raiders decided NOT to try to kill anypony doesn’t mean the other three will be anything close that accommodating.”

We were sat in the same tavern where I’d seen the guard lounging around outside, just after I’d escaped from Latvi. It was even more of a dump than Nightcap’s place, and the drinks were terrible, but Bosco and I were banned from drinking in Nightcap’s thanks to my crying and almost starting a fight.

Still, alcohol was alcohol, so I dug a few more caps out from my bags, which Bosco had thankfully held onto after I was taken during the fight with Wings and Cassie, and strolled over to the bar, returning with two more ciders and whatever concoction Naiara, still disguised as a female double of Bosco, had asked the barkeep pony to mix up for her. Setting the new round down, I held my cider bottle up to my horn and gave it a little chill.

I found that I could only use my ice magic on something that my horn was touching. I hoped to find a way to extend the range someday, though I had absolutely no idea how. There weren’t many unicorns around that I trusted enough to ask about this stuff.

Maybe Lexi? She’s always been a friend to me. Yeah, I think that’s my best bet. I’ll try to get a quiet few minutes with her the next time I see her.

Naiara sipped happily from a straw, satisfied at how the drink came out. The barkeep must have some talent… or some history with zebra drinks. “So are we agreed that we’re not doing this?”

Surprisingly, Bosco wasn’t sure. “I dunno. I mean, it’s a bad idea. So bad. But I just can’t stop thinking about what might happen if Snow says no.”

That was a sobering thought. I didn’t like it. “Right, right, Raiders don’t get their queen, take it out on Lethbridle.” I put my head down on the table, covered it with my hooves, and commenced groaning.

Naiara and Bosco continued the discussion over my head. “What’d Rockhaunch say?”

“He was pissed because Snow promised not to hurt the guy. Some of the guards there had lost friends to Raiders. They were itching to take the shot. The chief had his hooves full keeping them in line.”

“What else could I do?” I mumbled from the tabletop, “He wasn’t exactly asking. It was that or he kept his weapons on. You think it wouldn’t have gone to hell when he stepped towards us at the end with a freaking shotgun close to hoof?”

“Today was the only time though. Rockhaunch says Lethbridle really can’t afford to look soft on Raiders. Or soft at all. With Neighlway and Plottawa causing trouble, and Red Ice suddenly in the public eye.”

“Sorry again.” I hadn’t looked up from the table.

Bosco just continued, not interested in tossing around blame right now. “Basically if the citizens in Lethbridle get too worried they’d up and leave to head south. Not so good for the economy of the place.”

“Oh come now,” Naiara tried to put a cheery spin on things, “can’t we say it’s a tourist attraction? ‘The Amazing Red Ice and her Educated Raiders’?”

I stiffened under my hooves. Wait… educated Raiders?

“Yeah,” deadpanned Bosco, “I’m sure ponies will just flock to see the nutjobs who raped and killed half their families.”

Nobody wants to see a Raider… nobody tries to understand them anymore…

Naiara drained her drink and started on the next one I’d brought her. “Alright, fair enough. So then, how do we get out of it without a lot of ponies dying?”

…because hate is all they have left!

I lifted my head off the table, ignoring the headrush that accompanied the action. “I’m gonna do it.”

I got a face full of sticky drink for my trouble, courtesy of my zebra friend. “YOU’RE WHAT?!”

The other grey body at the table began banging his head with his bottle of cider. “No, no, no. Why? Why? Why? How many fucking times?”

My excitement levels were rising as I rounded on him. “Remember what I asked about Raiders after the first time we met them, Bosco? About why they existed? Now we can find out?”

“Remember what I responded with?” He sounded as if he was losing hope by the second, trying desperately to get out of this.

“Yeah. You said they’d kill us. But they didn’t!”

“ONE TIME! One time they didn’t kill us! That’s not a big enough sample size! Oh, don’t do this to me again, please?”

“Bosco,” I gave him a quick hug around the shoulders, “I’ve been listening, you know. Even if I’m doing this, I won’t let myself be put into a situation where I can’t get out, and I’ll cut and run if things get too crazy.”

“… you promise?”

I hugged him a little tighter. “I promise. I don’t actually want to die, even if it seems like I do. Red Ic-no, Snowflake’s honour.”

Naiara soon joined our hug, to mutters of “lucky colt” from the stallions drinking alone around us.

~~~~~~

Caber Toss was waiting outside the gate the next day, still wearing his bandolier but without any weaponry, just some papers stuffed awkwardly into the holsters.

He brightened up as the three of us emerged from the gate mid-morning, though Bosco’s guns did draw his attention for a few moments. “So? Whaddaya think, lass? Leadin’ the Raiders startin’ tae sound alreet?”

I had to take a few seconds to readjust to his accent before responding. “I’ll agree to talk to the other Raider groups, but I have thoughts of my own about the Raiders.”

This was brushed off with an utter lack of concern. “Aye, nae bother. You’ll be top mare at the end o’ the day. What you say goes, hey?”

The grey pony and grey ‘pony’ flanking me stepped forwards now. They wanted to have their say with this stallion and wouldn’t have let me through the gate if I hadn’t agreed.

Naiara went first. “What sort of guarantee do we have that the other groups won’t just shoot us on sight? You don’t have any pull outside of the Haylanders.”

“Aye, it’s a fair point,” he dug into the bandolier and removed the papers, “these’ve got mah marks on ‘em, an’ a few words tae the other leaders. Says ah’m wantin’ some banter wi’ ‘em. Ah’m already puttin’ the word out that yeh’re no’ t’be touched on the way.”

With a clenched jaw, Bosco let his frustration show at the stallion’s casual arrogance in assuming we’d say yes before we did. “Well that’s just lovely, Raider, but what happens when they ignore those flimsy papers and just gun us down, or worse?”

The younger male spat into the ground. “I don’t trust you and I don’t like your kind. We’re far more likely to be attacked for no reason than we are to get an audience with the clan leaders. If this goes badly for us, I’m gonna put a bullet in your head.”

The two boys held each other’s stare for a few moments, before Caber Toss broke off, shrugging. “Ah’m no’ makin’ any promises about safety. Yeh’re no’ wrong, there’ll be violence afore this is all over. Ah’m just tryin’ to get away from me and mah Haylanders always gettin’ those kinda reactions. ‘s no’ always nice tae have ponies runnin’ away from yeh, y’know?”

“Oh, poor you,” My colt friend scoffed, “the Raider’s upset he can’t make any friends. Please.”

Thunder flushed through Caber’s eyes, and his legs tensed up. Naiara took a step forward in response. “Try it, and I’ll kill you.”

I decided now was the time to break my silence. “Caber Toss, thank you for the papers. I’ll do my best to help everybody out, Raiders included. Just leave the marks on the ground and head back to your clan. We’ll head off soon.” My reassuring smile drew a disgusted look from Bosco, while Naiara just kept her focus on the stallion with the tartan mane.

Calming himself, Caber Toss brushed away some light snow on the ground before laying the papers down. I looked to the sky for a moment. A sparse sprinkling of my namesakes were gently swirling in the breeze, more often than not disappearing before they reach the cold ground. The weather seemed to be coming down from the northern mountains, reaching further with each passing day.

Good thing I’ll be heading south for a little while, I guess.

Stepping away from the documents, the Raider chief ignored the others and looked me straight in the eye. “Yeh got mah thanks, Red Ice. Ah’ll do whatever ah can tae help yeh out.”

Giving me a final nod, he turned and began stalking away to the northwest, perhaps returning to Whinniepeg.

~~~~~~

“Have you seen these papers? All they have on them is his cutie mark and some barely legible hoofwriting asking them to meet. This is pathetic.”

We’d barely been travelling an hour before Bosco resumed his complaining about this whole enterprise. It was getting dangerously close to whining. I wished he’d just let it go. It was happening, and that was that.

Luckily, Naiara was in a far better mood after we found a patch of snow which she’d rolled around in for a while, turning it black as her body paint was washed off. She’d had to pop a Radaway right after but maintained it was worth it. She’d donned her cloak in case we came across anybody before we found the Raiders. Having to explain away a zebra would be less than optimal. It’d take too much time and could cause us problems down the line. Still, she was revelling in having her natural coat again. Even the convenience of passing through Lethbridle without trouble, though plenty of male attention, was not an even trade off to feeling like herself.

I liked that about her. It was such a shame that even two hundred years later, such precautions were necessary for zebras in Equestria.

I’d love to introduce her to all the zebras in Stable 61. She’s friendlier than they were. Though, after what happened with the Memory Orb, they don’t want anything to do with me. I’m mua leija to them.

“Stop staring at them so much then, Bosco,” the friendly, pretty zebra was using any natural object she could find, rocks, trees, snow, etc, to change up her motion constantly. Her joy in the freedom of movement was clear for all to see, “why don’t we swap stories while we walk? I’d love to hear more about what happened to you guys while I was away.”

“That sounds like a great idea!” I took the opportunity to snatch the papers away from the colt and stuff them into my gear. If he couldn’t see them then he might let it go a little, “You first, Bosco.”

Having had his grumble-fodder stolen, the Colt sighed and collected his thoughts. “Alright, fine. Now, Snow already knows this, but I think it’s probably a good idea to tell you about Schwarzwald now, since you’ll probably meet her later.”

I burst out laughing, startling and confusing the bouncy zebra. He’s got a point. It’d be almost cruel to let Naiara meet Schwarzwald without knowing the basics.

“Fittingly enough, we first met Schwarzwald and her partner Wings…” he shot an apologetic glance in my direction at the mention of the blue-eyed griffon, “…on the way to Lethbridle the first time. Before we met you, actually. Snow and I got jumped by some Raiders and we passed them as we ran. Between the four of us, we killed them all.”

“Uh… probably best not to bring this up closer to the Raider camp.”

“That’s for sure. Anyway, Schwarz and Wings left right after that, and I caught up with Schwarzwald after we split up to look for this crazy runaway here.”

I coloured at that.

“Schwarzwald took me monster hunting. Have you ever seen a Molar Bear, Naiara?”

She thought for a second before shaking her head. “No, don’t think so.”

“Actually, you have,” I interjected, “remember when we left Grindstone with Breeze, and rolled down that hill in the forest?”

“Yeah but… oh! Those things?” Instant recognition blossomed over her face. One Molar Bear was not something you forgot, let alone the four we’d seen that day.

“Yeah, those things. Which means, technically,” I had to smile at the insanity of it, “you’ve seen more of them than Bosco has and didn’t even know it!”

“Ha! Sorry, Bosco.”

The colt crossed his front legs and sulked. “ ‘least I’ve seen more Tarantubaas.”

“Ta-what-u-whats?”

Bosco let a little smugness through as he explained. “Snowflake-sized woolly spiders.”

“Binn tusaa!”

That made my eyebrows shoot up. That was strong language for any zebra. I hadn’t expected it from Naiara.

“Riiiight. So back to Schwarzwald. Who, by the way, has expressed great interest in meeting you, Naiara.” Bosco’s face was a mix of sympathy and amusement.

“Me? Why?”

“Because you’re a zebra, and she wants to find out what kind of… tricks you’ve learned from zebra culture.”

“Tricks?” Naiara didn’t look too impressed that her culture was being reduced to something so simple.

“All kinds. Especially… private ones.”

“Oh.” I think everybody present flushed at the thoughts this generated. Naiara and I knew what zebras could do. Bosco and I knew what Schwarzwald was capable of. The combination was… intimidating.

“Veery interested in new tricks, that one. And that’s just the start…”

~~~~~~

The three of us watched from a nearby bluff as the Raiders prowled around our campsite. All three of them wore the same style of battered leather clothing, in various states of disrepair and all wielding rusty farming tools. These were the Barnstormers, it would seem.

“Told you there were ponies following us.” Naiara whispered from the other end of the line.

“We believed you!” I shot back, in equally hushed tones.

“I know, I’m just bragging.”

“…”

“So, when they get bored, we track them back to their boss?” Bosco was all business. He’d been against starting the campfire in the first place, even as a lure. He’d stopped complaining though. He wasn’t dour by nature, just a practical pony. Now that we were committed, he’d shifted from trying to talk us out of it and was focused on getting the job done and getting us out of here without trouble.

He’s really bad at saying no when asked, too. Fine when chewing a pony out after the fact, but beforehoof? Not so much.

Lying in between Naiara and I, Bosco was ignoring our conversation and watching the Raiders as they went about their rudimentary dismantling of our campsite. Well, two of them anyway. The third seemed rather out of it. He’d simply walked through the fire twice now and didn’t seem to feel it. Whatever he was putting into his body, it was strong.

The other two Barnstormers gave up the search and made to leave, pausing briefly to pat out some embers on the junkie colt’s barding, then whap him about the skull with a rake, indicating that he should follow them. All three then turned to travel back the way they came.

Naiara waited a few seconds in case they looked back, then hopped up excitedly. “We’re on! Follow me you two, and try to keep up. Don’t talk if you can help it.”

Bosco and I scrambled to our hooves with a fraction of her grace and trotted after her, trying to mimic how she moved and avoided causing unnecessary noise.

It wasn’t easy, the girl was an artist. Her pace was swift but uncertain. She didn’t travel at the same speed all the time. She’d stop and duck every time some new sound threatened to give us away, only continuing when she judged it to be safe. Her hard-hitting hooves seemed to be wrapped in silk as I couldn’t hear a sound when she took a step, even as close as I was. It made me all the more conscious of just how much noise I was making. I could train all my life and never be as good as she was.

Still, I’d be damned if I was gonna mess up her hard work, so I did what I could to reduce my own sound. We’d all synched our clothes and packs as tight as they would go so they wouldn’t shift or clatter or put us off balance. Bosco suffered with that the most. He was the only one among us who carried a firearm. All I had in my bags were a few medicines and the papers from Caber Toss. Naiara carried no bags but had stashed her jewelry somewhere in her cloak. That left Bosco as the only one to lug ammo and whatever else he’d picked up.

Has he got the rifle I was given in the Stable? I haven’t seen it in a while. Maybe he sold it? Eh, he can do what he likes with it, I’ll never use the thing. Best it gets some use, either as a weapon or sold for caps.

Despite my shortcomings and Bosco’s load, Naiara kept us from being discovered as we followed the meandering path that the Raiders took to reach their home. As we were swiftly running out of convenient high ground to observe from, which had my heartbeat on the rise, the Raiders reached their home.

Following them along the remaining ridge, we saw the two sober Barnstormers dragging and kicking the doped up colt through a bottleneck gap between some rocks. It took us a few minutes to scramble our way to a new vantage point that gave us a view of what was beyond.

Ensconced in the small clearing, with the natural protection of the bottleneck gap and the high rock walls around it, sat the Barnstormer base. It was a ramshackle collection of barely standing almost-buildings, mostly just sheet metal hastily tied or welded together to give the barest of protection against the elements. Ponies lounged under their tin roofs on filthy blankets or prepared nasty looking stews out of… whatever they could get, it looked like, dirty oil fires warmed the warped and rusted cauldrons where they cooked their meagre sustenance.

No wonder they all have that hungry look in their eyes. Bosco was right. This IS pathetic.

“How can they live like this?” We had nothing to say in response, agreeing completely with the revolted tone of his inquiry. I couldn’t vouch for Naiara, but I was revolted because I felt bad for them. If this was the harshness of Raider life that Caber Toss spoke of, maybe they did need someone to guide them to a better way. There were undoubtedly people around who’d simply argue that they should be ‘put out of their misery’, or whatever other justification they’d use to slaughter them all.

Did Raiders use their lack of resources as justification for their despicable actions? Did they bother to justify themselves at all?

Naiara ruefully shook her head, a lock of her flowing mane falling out of the opening in her hood. She tucked it in distractedly. “Such a waste.”

“I know. I kinda feel sorry for them.”

She just looked at me funny. “What? No, not that. I meant the food. I see three different ingredients lying around that’d double the amount they could make without much drop-off in quality. It’s just wasteful. Don’t they have mothers?”

“You wanna ask ‘em?” Bosco quipped, but his grey cheeks were curved up in a smile as he did.

The joke seemed to snap us out of our reverie. We withdrew from the edge and sat down for a moment, trying to determine the best way to do this. Bosco kept one eye on the camp, but it didn’t seem like there was much activity during breakfast time.

“Okay,” I began, “so now we really do have to decide how we’re doing this. Walk straight in? Try to sneak around and find Four Fields? Yell to get their attention? What’s your poison?” I hadn’t used that term since I worked in Whiskey Sour’s bar, safe in the Stable. Now I was trying to figure out how to approach some possibly homicidal strangers. An interesting before-and-after, to be sure.

“We shouldn’t make ourselves known until we see Four Fields, who I am only now realising was never described to us by that useless Caber Toss. Wonderful.”

“I’m with Bosco. There’s too many of them. Stay up here and watch until we figure out who he is. Shouldn’t be impossible, he’ll be one of the biggest, better fed than the others, and acts like he owns the place.”

I just nodded to agree with them, not trusting myself to speak and reveal that I’d never have thought up how to look for Four Fields without them.

It’s nice to have friends. Even nicer to have smart friends to patch the holes in my crazy ideas.

Creeping back to the edge, we began our survey of the village.

“Look for a nicer living space too.” Bosco provided.

“Maybe a bunch of fillies under the same roof.” Naiara’s contribution was a sad thought, though probably accurate.

During our vigil, I worked on the living space angle first, checking out all the biggest shacks to start with. Over the next hour, I saw a stallion emerge from each one, though none of them struck me as particularly leader-y. Half of them were scrawny, and the big ones didn’t seem to have any more authority than anybody else in the village.

I kept looking. There were plenty of foals around, racing between homes and fighting in the dust, occasionally being kicked out of the way by a passing mare or stallion. One chancy little filly tried to swipe some of the food from the pot, but got caught and received what I thought was an overly severe beating for her actions. Eventually she was let go to limp away, crying.

A short while later she returned, flanked by a mare who could only be her mother. Said mother cracked the cook pony who’d administered the beating around the face with a dented pistol, and the two mares went down in a tangle, biting and kicking and wrestling with each other. More Raiders flocked to the action and several other fights broke out, with the gathered foals cheering and egging them on.

“If this is anything like at Lethbridle,” I whispered to my compatriots, “the big boss’ll be along soon to break it up.”

“Mm, you could be right. Check out this guy coming now.”

We followed Naiara’s pointing hoof to a stallion emerging from one of the largest structures, with two others flanking him. At first glance, the unicorn didn’t look like anything special. He wasn’t a giant or a midget, bore no particularly lethal-looking weaponry, and seemed almost utterly bored with the proceedings. His moss-green coat and harvest-gold mane barely registered among the chaos.

I began to wonder whether he was just a bodyguard and one of the bigger stallions following was, in fact, the boss, when his horn began glowing. We watched in silence as a metal ball emerged from his barding and was casually tossed into the middle of the melee, right at the still-scrapping mares who’d started the whole thing. When the grenade rolled near them, everypony in range began yelling and scattering, desperate to get away from the explosive. The mares jostled and shoved each other to get away, but soon found themselves being dragged back, held in the golden glow of his horn.

After he dropped them, in quaking heaps before him, Four Fields began to demonstrate why he was, undoubtedly, leader of the Barnstormers. The grenade, now obviously a dud, leapt off the ground and rocketed towards the two petrified ponies. Back and forth it dashed, slamming into shoulders, knees, faces, eyes, bodies, leaving harsh welts and torn flesh as Four Fields executed as savage a beating as I’d ever seen.

“…fuck.” That was all Bosco managed to get out. Naiara and I were stunned to silence.

Four Fields was no Caber Toss, ruling through physical force. Instead, his unparalleled cruelty kept his Raiders in line. Even now, beaten and broken, the two mares prostrated themselves before him, awaiting his command. Wordlessly, he cocked his head back towards his domicile. Painfully, the two dragged themselves towards it.

I really hope he’s gonna heal them up in there. They’re not in any shape for anything else. I kinda doubt that’s what he has planned, though.

The brawl was definitely over. Four Fields and his entourage turned and followed the crawling mares. Activity in the camp returned to normal, though much more subdued than before. The three of us backed away from the edge and sat in a circle.

Nobody said anything at first, then Naiara spoke up. “Did you see his face during all that?”

Bosco shook his head, then shook it again, as if trying to dislodge the images we’d just seen. “I wasn’t really looking at him, more at the two on the receiving end. They looked like half their bones were broken.”

The zebra’s stare was harsh. “Well I was looking at him. He didn’t even care! His expression didn’t change the entire time. Just walked up, broke up a village-wide brawl, beat two mares half to death, and walked away, all the while looking like he couldn’t give a single damn about the whole thing!”

“That was… horrible. How are we supposed to get close to him without getting on the receiving end ourselves?” I looked to the other two for answers, but none came. They were just as lost as I was.

“Well, I’ve got an idea,” Bosco said, standing up, “how about we don’t go down there? We get their attention from up here, and if they start getting Raidery on us, we just get out of here. If they’re not gonna listen anyway then we wouldn’t have a chance even if we did go down there.”

“So we get to yell at Raiders and they’re too far away to do anything about it? I like that idea.” She and Bosco shared a conspiratory grin before they both turned to me with stern faces.

“What?”

“We’re waiting for you to say you still wanna go down there anyway.”

“That is the Snowflake-approach in this situation.”

“I don’t wanna go down there! He’s got telekinesis and something heavy to hit me with. I wanna stay up here too!”

Why do you two look so surprised right now?!

“What do you know? She’s learning.”

Naiara clapped her hooves together like a mother whose foal just learned something knew. “I’m so proud.”

Oh come on! Fuming, I stalked back over to the edge, taking another look down at the milling Raiders. “So how do we do this? Just yell out that we want to talk and hope they don’t kill us?”

I was joined by the others. “All together we yell out ‘Four Fields’. Better to let them know we want his attention specifically rather than just the entire village. After what just happened, they might wait for him to move first. If we can show me mean no harm, maybe he’ll come talk with us.”

The jade-eyed zebra nudged the charcoal Earth colt. “Better put your guns away then, Bosco.”

“Yeah, I guess…” he took a few seconds to holster his weaponry, then rejoined us, “On three. One… two… three!”

“FOUR FIELDS!”
“FOUR FIELDS!”
“FOUR FIELDS!”

Our voices echoed around the canyon. Raiders looked up in panic, searching for the source of the sound bouncing around them. A few fired randomly in the air, somehow hoping to hit what they couldn’t find.

Four Fields came rushing out of his home, half a dozen grenades held aloft by his glowing horn. Somehow, his face was still impassive. He cast about, this way and that, until one Raider spotted us and yelled out, pointing a hoof in our direction.

Keeping our eyes on Four Fields, Naiara and I waved jauntily, while Bosco watched in stony silence. I decided it was best to play this similar to how it was with Caber. Taking a deep breath, I hoped what I said next would get his attention. “RED ICE WANTS TO TALK!”

Even from this distance, he, and half the camp, started at the name. The grenades swirling above his head ever-so-gradually lowered to the ground. The green-and-gold Raider turned his head, speaking to his unseen guards, who soon emerged, half-dressed. Clearly, they’d been ‘enjoying’ the two near-crippled mares. That didn’t improve my opinion of the Barnstormers at all.

We stayed there until we saw that Four Fields and his guards were making their way up the incline without bringing the entire village with them. Still, we made sure to back off plenty before they reached our level, giving us room to manoeuvre, fight, or run, as the situation might dictate.

Still wearing his unconcerned expression and flanked by the pair of guards, Four Fields came to a stop 10 meters from us. While he himself looked to be in the prime of life, his guards were clearly seasoned. Toughened by years of raiding and fighting, they would put up a ferocious fight if provoked. More evidence that Four Fields was someone to watch carefully.

Raising his chin slightly, he began speaking in a short, flat intonation. “I wasn’t expecting you so soon.”

All three of us tensed up slightly, but Red Ice couldn’t afford to show weakness. I stood tall, matching his stance with a raised chin of my own, looking at him out of half-lidded eyes. “You know why we are here?” I tried to make it sound like it wasn’t really a question.

“I do.”

“And what do you have to say for Caber Toss’ proposal?”

The barest flash of… something shot passed behind his eyes. “…I feel that there is some value to what he says. A united Raider alliance would be a formidable force indeed. Still, I cannot simply accept on the possibility. Show me what is being offered to aid the Barnstormers.”

Oh dang. What can I tell him? Something small. What would help his village? Oh, I know! I turned my head slightly, still keeping my eyes on Four Fields as I spoke to Naiara. “Tell him about the food.”

Beneath the hood she’d donned as Four Fields ascended to meet up, Naiara nodded. “Your stew is weak, which makes your bodies weak,” she pulled back the hood, drawing a gasp from one of the guards, “I can show you how to improve it, to strengthen your village and your warriors. Do you see those roots you have around your village, the yellow-orange kind? If you add those in, the brew will be more potent.”

“A zebra slave? How surprising,” Whatever surprise he felt didn’t register on his face, “and impressive.”

I couldn’t let that go, regardless of the circumstances. “She is no slave. She is my bodyguard, and you will address her as such. This is not up for debate. Do not use that word in my presence again.” The posturing was for the sake of the Red Ice mystique, but Snowflake really meant the outrage. How dare he call Naiara that? It was worse than stripe!

Four Fields gave a slight bow. “I understand, I won’t say it again. But do not for a moment think you can dictate the terms of this conversation by yourself. This is my land and I will not bow to anypony here. If you want the Barnstormers to join you, then you must prove yourself capable of leading us.”

A familiar sigh came from behind me. “What do you want?”

The question was ignored for the moment, though not the questioner. “And this one? Also a bodyguard, or is he a plaything?”

“STOP WASTING MY TIME, FOUR FIELDS!”

That did the trick. Four Fields’ mask slipped for a moment, his eyes showing danger as his head whipped back to me.

I made no attempt to placate him, simply continuing with the objective. “Tell me your terms. I am not here to have my associates insulted.”

The mask slipped back into place, and the Raider boss motioned for his followers, both crouched in ready stances, to stand down. “Very well, Red Ice, you have my attention. There is a building not far from here that I want to explore. It is filled with dangerous creatures. Clear them out, and the Barnstormers will meet with the others. I will not promise more than that.”

“And we won’t promise you full rights to what’s inside. If it is as dangerous as you say, we will take compensation for our troubles first.” Bosco was on a roll. That was exactly the kind of hard-nosed but fair stance we needed. If he conceded to that, we’d know the deal was on.

There were a tense few moments as the Barnstormer mentally weighed up the offer. Finally, Four Fields repeated his earlier bow, only deeper this time, and dug some paper out of his pocket. “Done. This map will show you the way to the facility. Return when the creatures have been dealt with. I will ensure you are not harmed within my territory.”

Without another word, he left the map on the ground, turned, and walked back down the hill, past his guards, who fell in behind him.

Once we were sure he was out of hearing range, three held breaths were let out.

~~~~~~

Chapter 8-3: A Welcome Distraction

I trotted along behind my friends as they studied the map we’d been given. Looking at it had made me a little sad for my missing Pipbuck so I’d let them handle it as I mulled things over.

One thing in particular was eating at me. “Hey… uh… guys?”

They didn’t respond and continued their conversation. “Have we passed that river yet?”

“Yeah, 15 minutes ago.”

“Guys?” Were they ignoring me? Oh please tell me they weren’t upset. “Y-you guys know I was just for show before, right? I don’t think of you like bodyguards or… slaves. Right guys?”

“I never saw any river.”

“This map’s 200 years old. The river filled in. Trust me, we passed it”.

“Oh no, I knew it. I went too far! Guys, I swear that was all just an act for Four Fields. I’ve always thought of you as my friends and nothing else, I swear! I’ll do better from now on, I promise! Oh, please don’t hate me.”

“If we passed the river, then where’s this clump of trees, smarty-filly?”

“It’s right over there!”

My head dropped, eyes watering, as it hit home just how bad I’d messed up. I’d totally alienated my friends, and all for a stupid Raider alliance that only I cared about. “Okay, I’ll be quiet from now on. I’m so sorry. Should we just call the whole thing off? Guys?”

“That’s not the clump of trees, that’s those fallen spires!”

“We haven’t reached them yet!”

“O-okay… whatever you want is good. S-sorry.” What have I done?

“What are you so upset about, Red Ice? You’re safe, aren’t you? That’s a bodyguard’s duty.”

My heart jumped terribly. I’m a monster!

“Yeah, I mean it looks bad for a slave like me if her mistress is unhappy. Please try to cheer up.”

Tears were pouring down my cheeks. I sat down heavily and burst out crying. “UWAAH!!! I’m so sorry you guys! I didn’t mean it, I swear! You’re not my slave and my bodyguard, you’re my friends! Can you ever forgive me? I’m the worst! I’ll never be a bad pony again!”

Bosco was right. This whole Raider thing was a bad idea. Look at how I’ve acted! I’ll give it up now and we can go see the zebras and go look for Bosco’s Memory Orbs. No more Red Ice! From now on, I’ll just be-

“Snowflake, lighten up, we’re just playing.”

Eh?

“Yeah, c’mon svara, we know you’re like that.”

My wails faded to sniffles. “You… you’re not mad at me?”

I felt hooves encircling me and holding me close. “Over this? Nah. We know you.”

A second pair joined the first. “We were just having a little bit of fun with you. Kinda went overboard. We’re not mad at all.”

“…you promise?”

“Heh. We promise.” That made me feel a little better, but the thought still stuck in the back of my mind. Since the first second I’d left the Stable, and even when under arrest inside, I’d been fighting the influence of the Wasteland and Old Equestria. I had to keep myself in check. If I even let myself, for one moment, become Red Ice for real, I would have failed Stable 61. Everything it stood for, everything I’d grown up to believe in, would be lost forever. If that happened, then the chasm between Stable 61 and myself would be even wider than it was now, without my Pipbuck.

It would be impassable.

~~~~~~

“There are what in there?” This day just kept getting worse. We’d arrived at the facility Four Fields wanted cleaned out. I’d expected some sort of animal that could be herded out, instead, we’d heard spine-chilling screams that Bosco had instantly recognised as…

“Ghouls. Feral ones.” Nobody looked happy about that. Feral was never a good adjective.

“You mean like that thieving demon back in Lethbridle, not not even sane? Oh forget this!” I wanted no part of this. If Caber Toss wanted this alliance so badly, he could come and clear the place out himself!

“It gets worse,” Oh please, Naiara. Don’t tell me that!, “some of them could be glowing ghouls. They put out tons of radiation. I can’t get close to them to fight hoof-to-hoof without getting a massive dose of the stuff point blank.” She wasn’t as open about it as me, but the way she was wringing her hooves had me thinking that maybe she was not confident either.

I couldn’t help but whimper. The facility was maybe 200 meters away. We didn’t dare get any closer in case the ghouls sniffed us out and came after us in force. If Naiara was right and they had radioactive ghouls in there, only Bosco could fight them with his guns, and even then not for long.

I tentatively held up a hoof. “Can we… maybe not fight the killer demons?”

“Actually… maybe.”

“Bosco, I will kiss you. I will kiss you full on the lips right now if you can give us a way to do this without fighting ghouls.”

He flushed, and Naiara laughed, when I said this, but shook his head. “Hold the kiss for now. We’ll still have to fight at some point…”

“Aw.”

“…maybe there’s a way we can sneak in without the ghouls seeing us. We might be able to find something that could help us out.”

Me and the other filly crowded in, looking over the charcoal colt’s shoulders. “How do you know this?”

Half-crushed and half-embarassed by the closeness of our bodies, Bosco scowled and stuck a hoof on a point on the map. “See this layout here? The Operations room is at the top. If we can get to a window on the second floor from the outside, we’ll bypass the main area. That’s probably where most of the ghouls are. If we’re lucky we can get to the top without any of them seeing us, or just a few, which we’ll take out quick.”

I deflated. “So we still might run into some ghouls?”

“You can always back out, Red Ice.”

They smirked at that, but I just cringed, the altercation from earlier was still fresh in my mind. “…please don’t call me that, not you two.”

~~~~~~

The facility turned out to be a Ministry of Wartime Technology building, ringed by a dilapidated chain fence and abandoned loading crates, which made for effective stepping stones to reach the lower roof. Unclimbable, it was not. Only a few ghouls were stumbling around outside, and thankfully no glowy versions. Just your basic shambling undead ponies who we managed to slip past without-

HOWISITPOSSIBLETHATICANFAKEBEINGTHISCALMONTHEOUTSIDEJUSTLOOKATTHOSETHINGSTHEY’REROTTINGCORPSESWALKINGAROUNDFOR200YEARSOHHELPMEBOSCOHELPMENAIARAIDON’TLIKEITNONOTONEBIT!!!

-trouble.

We found a window pane on the second floor with the glass missing, probably busted out by the ghouls sometime in the last two centuries, and flattened ourselves along the wall underneath.

I felt a tap on my shoulder. “Snow, take a look with your goggles, see if there are any ghouls on the other side.”

“Why me?” I whisper-whined back.

Naiara slugged me in the shoulder, hard. “Because we can’t have you freezing up on us if a ghoul shows up later. You need to get over it now!”

“Yeah, that.”

Democracy is scary. Rubbing my soon-to-be-bruise, I slipped the goggles on and eased myself up, millimetre by millimetre, doing all that I could keep myself out of sight until the very last moment. When the tip of my eyeball crossed the window ledge, I froze.

After a few seconds of not being viciously mauled, I went a little bit further. Then a little further. A little more, until I was far enough into the window that I could turn my head in both directions.

Okay, all clear on the left. And the righ-nopenopenopenopenope! I whipped my head back as fast as I could without making noise, so as not to alert the ghoul who stood 5 meters inside the window, on the right, poking at the floor with its back to us. Unfortunately my haste left me unable to halt my momentum, so I unbalanced myself and began to fall backwards. If I slammed down on the corrugated roof, not only would it bring the demons running, I’d probably go straight through and fall into the main nest of the things.

Help! I mouthed as I flailed my front legs desperately. With speed born of terror, Bosco and Naiara dashed forward and grabbed a hoof each. We hung there precariously, like a living abstract art piece, before it clicked that I would not, in fact, be falling backwards and causing all our deaths today. Inch by inch, my friends dragged me back to equilibrium, keeping hold of me until we were all safely back against the wall.

Miming my eternal gratitude, it took a while for them to stop my wild motions and get me to explain what I saw. “One ghoul in the corridor,” I didn’t dare raise my voice above a hiss, “on the right side, five meters from the window. It wasn’t looking this way.”

With a shrug to loosen her shoulders, and a crick of the neck, Naiara uttered one, completely welcome and satisfactory syllable.

“Mine.” No others were needed.

I offered her my one remaining Power Hoof, thankfully collected by Bosco after our fight with Wings and Cassie, the other being taken from me at Neighlway and therefore lost forever, but she shook her head. Frankly I’d have been surprised if she took it. Natural was the general feel of zebra fighting arts. Having one armoured hoof and the other three bare would do little more than throw her balance off.

Rising like a black-and-white wraith, she risked a lightning quick in-and-out look at the corridor, her wavy mane whipping back and forth a fraction of a second behind the rest of her. Satisfied that the ghoul was still preoccupied with whatever it was exploring on the floor, she vanished over the windowsill and into the building. Holding our breath, Bosco and I strained our hearing to pick up what she was doing.

We both jumped after a few seconds of apparent silence, when she stuck her head back out of the window with a gleaming smile, looking down at us. “All done.”

Bosco matched my incredulity. Even for a zebra that was impressive. Not wanting to waste any more time, we hopped inside and took a moment to see just what in the hell Naiara had done.

The results were impressively gruesome. What was left of the ghoul lay spread out on the floor, several broken bones in its limbs, and its head had been twisted 180 degrees around, so it was starting up at us with its now fully-dead eyes. I found I couldn’t look at the sight for more than a few seconds before I lost my nerve.

Bumping me with his hip as he went past, Bosco indicated for us to move on. He had the map in one hoof and was pointing down the corridor. He’d apparently figured out where the stairs up were. We moved down the corridor with as much stealth as we could muster. An effortless clinic was put on by our hoof-fighting zebra, Bosco managed to hold his own, and I didn’t too much. Not counting Naiara, it wasn’t pretty, but we also didn’t end up with ghouls bearing down on us either.

Note to self: Get training from Naiara soon. In everything.

Reaching the stairwell, we hugged the wall again. I couldn’t keep my heart rate under control with the almost rhythmic screams and snarls floating through the corridors from unseen terrors. So far we’d just seen the one ghoul, but we’d been hearing its brethren the entire time and it was wearing on my psyche.

At least the ghoul in Lethbridle could be threatened into not eating my skin. These ones are basically animals! I might as well try to teach a tarantubaa to pour drinks!

Bosco and Naiara didn’t seem to have my problems, being a born Wastelander and a traveller in a foreign land, they must’ve seen worse. Even if I couldn’t fathom anything worse than cannibalistic former ponies who may or may not poison us just by getting close enough to our tender, delectable bodies.

“Please tell me we can hurry, guys.”

Imitating Naiara’s earlier motion, Bosco bobbed out and back into cover. “Stairs are clear. We should head up.” He blinked as something caught his eye. “Hold on, see over there? ‘First Aid Station’. If we’re facing radioactive ghouls we may need a few more Radaways and Rad-Xs. Can one of you check it out? My bags are full.”

“I don’t have a free pocket left.”

That left me. “I have to go by myself?”

Damn that reassuring smile of his. “Just get in and get out, Snow. It’ll be ten seconds, tops. Find the drugs, stash ‘em away, then come meet us in the Operations Room upstairs. According to the map, we’ll be right above you. If you get into any trouble, start yelling and we’ll be right there.”

“A-alright. You can count on me.”

“Course we can. Now get going. Sooner you’re gone, the sooner you’re back with us, right?”

“…right.”

As they vanished up the stairs, I gulped down the fear and looked up at the sign Bosco had seen. The First Aid Station was just around the next corner. Keeping myself pressed to the wall, I slid along until I reached the end of the corridor. Putting my ears to work, I willed them to be better at picking up ghoul hoofsteps than they were with zebra hoofsteps.

One second of silence.

Two.

Three.

At seven, I felt confident enough to back-and-forth like the others had done. Sweet mercy had smiled on Snowflake, as the corridor beyond was empty. Even better, the wall I was leaning against had the First Aid Station on the other side of it.

Best of all? No ghouls here either! Still, I couldn’t be complacent, and I couldn’t be noisy in my search. I might not be able to hear any ghouls around but that was no guarantee that they wouldn’t hear me if I tore the place apart for a few healing potions.

A thick layer of dust lay over all the equipment in the Station. Some of it was still in protective wrapping. Either they regularly replaced items in here, very unlikely considering how far out of the way this facility was, or most of it never got used. Was it a new facility built just before the end? Were the ponies really safety conscious? Or were the accidents just too severe to bother with any of this stuff? What did this place even do?

As I pondered, I was glancing around the room, looking for anything that just screamed out ‘Here be healing’ or the like. In the far corner of the room, on the other side of the dusty bed, I spotted a dash of colour in the otherwise grey-white attempt at sterility. A yellow box with three pink and blue butterflies on the cover.

Intrigued, I reached over and snagged it. Luckily, even though it had a keyhole on the top, the box was not locked. I doubted I’d have time to find the key and I had no ability with picking a lock. Breaking it would have brought the ghouls running, which was the last thing I wanted.

GROAN.

“Huh?” Some dust was trickling onto my mane. I foalishly looked up and staggered back as the falling debris got into my eyes.

CREAK.

“What is going on?” Rapidly blinking some moisture back into my eyes, I returned my attention to the butterfly box. After a second of fumbling, the clasp yielded and let me get at what was inside.

Two Radsafes and a Health Potion. Not bad at all.

CRACK! I dove aside just in time as a chunk of the ceiling collapsed onto the bed…

…along with a very surprised colt.

Bosco hit the bed and bounced off, unwillingly backflipping in the air and slamming down hard onto his back at first, with his head snapping back to strike the floor a fraction of a second later.

He didn’t utter a sound. The first contact had driven all the air out of his lungs just before the heavy THUD of the back of his head landing. Wordlessly, eyes wide in pain, the charcoal colt instinctively grabbed his head and rolled around on the floor, automatically sucking in air, and dust, which brought on a bout of sputtering as the powder stuck in his already-oxygen-deprived lungs.

“Bosco!” Naiara was calling down from above, “Snowflake, is he okay?”

“I don’t know!” I reached out to try to stop his wild scrambling. I briefly got a hoof on his head before he broke away again, and it came back bloody. That blow to the head had split the skin. Worse, he was panicking about it all. His breathing was improving but still not normal, while the pain and the dust were tricking his body into thinking it was in worse shape than it is. A possible concussion couldn’t have helped.

“Bosco!” I tried again, but he batted my hoof away, “Come on, Bosco. You can’t do that here. The ghouls’ll hear you.”

“Snow, do something quick!”

Grabbing the healing potion in my teeth, I waiting for my chance. It came when he stopped rolling, holding himself slightly off the floor as he spit up some dust. I dove in, wrapping myself around him from behind. He immediately resisted but I got my mouth to his ear, and the health potion to his lips.

“Bosco! Calm down, it’s just me, Snow. I’m right here. Everything’s going to be just fine. Drink this, it’ll help.”

His panicked strength was still impressive but with each breath he brought himself a little more under control. I kept up my diatribe to give him something other than the pain and lack of air to focus on. “That’s the way, Bosco. Just take a little drink of this. It’ll help your headache and make you feel better. You’ll be on your hooves again in no time.”

Coughing out a little more dust, his eyes managed to focus on the health potion under his nose at last. Grabbing it out of my hooves, he up-ended a swig straight into his gullet, almost instantly retching it up again.

Happy to be getting through to him, I rubbed his back comfortingly. “Easy there, take it slow. Just a little at a time.... there you go. Much better. It’s already working, the cut back here’s closing. You’re doing great Bosco.”

“Naiara,” I called up, “what happened?”

“I dunno!” She called back, looking frazzled, “We thought we found what we were looking for up here, and I was checking it out. Next thing I know, the floor’s giving way under him and he’s down there with you. Snow, I think I hear the ghouls coming. You gotta get out of there.”

Bosco still needs time to recover. “Get what you need from up there. We’ll manage down here until you’re ready. I’ll sort him out.”

“Alright, just be careful.”

“You too.” Then she was gone, back to her task.

I focused on mine. Bosco was calmer now, sucking regularly on the health potion, as fast and as much as his sensitive throat would allow. His eyes were still a little glazed but he was following my hoof as I guided the drink to his mouth. “Not long now, Bosco. You’ll be right as rain and then we can finish our work here.”

It was kinda like back when my brothers got themselves banged up in the Stable, back when they were small enough to hold. Having somebody with them always helped, and they liked me there the best.

I can’t take care of my brothers right now, Bosco, but I can take care of you.

Oh damn, she was right. They are coming.

I could hear them. A slowly growing wave of noise.

I pushed a little harder with the potion. “A little more Bosco, quick as you can. There’s a good boy. Come on, you need to drink the whole thing.”

The last of the potion disappeared down into his mouth and he dropped the empty container. Bosco coughed a few times and wiped his mouth with the back of his hoof, before looking up at me vacantly. “S-Snow?”

I gave him the same smile I’d give to my brothers when they took their medicine, but when I opened my mouth there was an entirely different sound.

“SKREE!!!!”

Still open-mouthed, I took in the apparition hulking in the doorway. The ghoul was staring at the two of us, taking in our heaving chests, and the drops of potion on Bosco’s lips. A primal growl came from deep down within the beast, and it bore rotting fangs as it charged.

In desperation, sibling protectiveness overrode my terror and I jumped in front of Bosco, hurling the butterfly box straight at the ghoul’s face. It struck the fiend between the eyes, sending it staggering back, with the two Radsafes exploding all over it in an auburn cascade.

Now dripping wet, the demon charged again, faster than I could get at the Power Hoof, slamming into me and sending us both flying onto the bed. I was pinned underneath the thing as he battered and bit at me.

I fought back with everything I had, but my combat skills were never strong, and my hooves kept slipping off the slick Radsafe covering the ghoul’s face and legs.

Howling, the ghoul batted aside my flailing hooves and sank its broken, jagged teeth into my shoulder.

“Aargh!”

The demon tugged this way and that, trying to tear the limb off at the socket, the pain nearly causing me to black out then snap back into sharp contrast as it tugged in another direction.

“GET OFF!” I couldn’t move, my lower legs pinned by the creatures undead bulk. More and more medicine dripped off the monster, landing in my eyes, mouth, nose, and on my horn.

MY HORN! Something to travel along! Fighting through the distraction of the teeth in my shoulder, I wordlessly begged whatever guiding body allowed me to use my magic in the first place for just enough concentration to trigger the one spell I could do, my Cryo Serpent.

Thinking the name seemed to help the process along, because the next thing I knew, I was feeling my horn buzz with energy.

Thanks for the name, Breeze. Now then, you horrible. Fucking. Demon…

I pulled with all my might, tearing my shoulder up even worse, before finally bringing my horn into contact with the solution covering the ghoul’s upper body,

Get the hell off me!

I fired off the spell. At point-blank range, I didn’t need to aim, which was good because I still couldn’t control it. The ice trail spread across the Radsafe medium, freezing it solid and trapping the ghoul underneath. The rotten half-corpse noticed just in time to let go of my shoulder and howl in pain…

…before freezing stiff in that pose, its front legs, torso, and head all utterly still.

I stared for a second at the grotesque ice sculpture straddling me on the centuries-unused medical bed.

It was an abomination.

An abomination which then exploded when Bosco hit it with the Butterfly Box. Chunks of frozen blood went everywhere.

There was no red ice this time, though. Whatever ran through the ghoul’s veins had long since lost the scarlet sheen that Bosco’s head wound had spotted along the floor.

The owner of said head shoved the lower half of the thing off me. I could only stare, too wired and scared to make a sound.

Then more growls came. The rest of the ghouls had shown up. We heard them pass the stairwell.

“OVER HERE, YOU ZOMBIES!” Something heavy thumped down the stairs as Naiara got the attention of the monsters. The howls intensified and we heard them thunder up the stairs after her.

A second later, Naiara dropped through the hole in the ceiling, landing with grace next to me on the bed, her eyes grimly focused. “Time to go now.”

We didn’t need to be told twice. Snatching up our things, we headed out the door, heading the far less graceful ghouls begin falling through the now-widening hole in the floor above. Their suddenly-interrupted short yelps would have been humorous if they weren’t trying to murder us.

“Naiara, where to?”

“You two take the next left, then a straight shot across the courtyard into the other building. It’s secure. That’s where they keep the vehicles. You need to get there and get ready to close the door behind me. Like as soon as I’m through.”

“Where are you going?” Splitting up here would be suicide. There wasn’t nearly enough room to move to shake the ghouls.

“I found a way to get rid of the ghouls. They’re all locked in this main building, along with all the farming chemicals in here.” She indicated a floorplan on the wall, which I barely got a look at before we were past it.

“Farming chemicals?” What good would they do us now?

She couldn’t answer for a moment as a side door opened and a ghoul, up until this point utterly unaware that it had guests, trotted out. Naiara leapt over it and we heard the pursuers slam right into it, all of them going down in a tangle. That would give us a few seconds at least.

“Nitrates! Really flammable farming chemicals. Get the point?”

“You’re gonna burn them?” That sounded like a plan, but the sticking point was how we would avoid joining them in the blaze.

“Oh yeah. I’ve used these tons of time in zebra concoctions. I just need to set up a spark.”

“We’ll come with you!” I wasn’t gonna leave my friend to burn with a bunch of undead monsters!

“Hell no! Your shoulder needs treating and Bosco’s still half out of it.”

“…’m alright.” He struggled to say that, dividing his attention from running seemed like a challenge until the fog in his brain cleared.

My svara noticed too. “No you’re not. Go with Snow, look after each other, and keep the door ready, because it’s gonna get hot! I gotta go. Remember, keep straight!” With a quick grin, she dove to the side in the next corridor junction.

“Naiara!” Please don’t die!

“Get to the Storage room!” She hollered back, as loudly as possible. It seemed to work as I heard the majority of the ghouls turn off after her. Only a few stragglers, including the new guy, seemed to be following us.

Ahead, we were fast coming up on an external fire exit. Bursting through it, without slowing down, we saw the equipment bunker Naiara mentioned across the tarmac. Tearing across the hard stone, we managed to get in and drag the heavy door shut with a ghoul halfway in and halfway out. We kept pulling, and soon there was half a ghoul in and its other half out. Only one more remained outside.

I turned to the still injured Bosco. “Just one more. We need to have the door open and ready for Naiara. You up for taking this last one with me?”

He nodded, putting his gun in his mouth. My should was starting to burn as the adrenaline wore off, but I slipped the Power Hoof on and triggered the charge.

Just this once, be useful.

I nodded to the colt, who kicked the door open. It caught the ghoul in the face, sending it flopping onto its back. Bosco took the precious few seconds it flopped around there to aim his weapon, while I stood guard at the door in case he missed.

Just as he fired, the ghoul shot up. The bullets caught it in the stomach, but weren’t enough to down it. It ran straight towards Bosco, who kept his gun shooting, only for my electric hook to catch it in the eye and send it spinning and spasming to the floor.

With adrenaline and worry over my friends overriding my terror at being this close to a ghoul, I got even closer, pouncing onto the ghoul like the other one had done to me. Yelling frantically, I slammed the Power Hoof into its skull, chest, stomach, its everywhere basically. I didn’t really care how many times I’d have to hit it, just that it stopped moving by the time I was done.

I only stopped after Bosco pulled me off, the ghoul having long since given up the ghost.

Breathing heavily, I sat back on my haunches. “We… phew… huff… did it.”

He didn’t agree. “Wait for Naiara.”

“Right, right.” I used my good leg to push myself up to a standing position, joining Bosco at the door as we looked out for the enactor of this insane plan.

CRASH!

Startled, we both looked up as a mass of fabric broke through a second floor window. Throwing off the cover mid-leap, Naiara found her balance, rolling as she landed, and was instantly up and running towards us. “DOORDOORDOOR!”

“COME ON!” I frantically grabbed the handle alongside Bosco as the milliseconds passed. Just as Naiara dove in behind us, an expanding orange glow lit up the facility.

The smallest edge of the flames got through before the door shut tight.

~~~~~~

“And so, if you decide to join the alliance, which will be Caber Toss’ word, not yours, we will supply the access code to the equipment storage bunker. All of the equipment held within is in pristine condition.”

We were back on the hill overlooking the village. Four Fields and his Barnstormer guards had been true to their word thus far. We’d encountered no trouble from the other Raiders around.

The boss himself had listened to our recounting of the events at the Ministry of Wartime Technology facility in silence. Now that we’d finished, he leaned forward, smiling for the first time since I’d met him. “What a fascinating tale. Tell me again. How did you deal with those nigh-unkillable ghouls?”

Having used up all our medicine healing my shoulder, Bosco was still slightly below his best, though far more lucid than he had been. Naiara had debated long and hard on whether or not to reveal this part of the story to the Raiders on the way back, not wanting to reveal even a fraction of zebra secrets. We agreed to give the simplest form of the truth.

“We burned them.”

Four Fields raised an eyebrow. “Burned them? How interesting. Perhaps their flesh could yet be further destroyed after all.” He barely seemed to care about the cache of equipment at all, seemingly far more interested in how the ghouls had been defeated.

It had me on edge. There was no way that giving Raiders combat tips could be considered a good idea, especially where fire was involved, but thankfully almost all of the chemicals at the facility would have been consumed in the blaze. What little there was left would barely equal a grenade.

We were all tired, and not particularly in the mood for another round of barely concealed mutual distaste. “We have completed our part of the bargain. I take it you will be keeping up your end?”

He waved a hoof dismissively. “Oh, of course. How could I not after that? The tale will soon travel. Even this far out, there are other observers. It shall soon be known what Red Ice has done here. If it comes to light that the Barnstormers betrayed her… well then, I believe we would find ourselves with several new enemies and far more attention than I care for. Have no concern over this matter, Red Ice. For self-interest, at the very least, I will honour my word.”

Finally. “Excellent. We’re leaving.”

All three of us turned to go, but Four Fields spoke up before we could take a step. “A moment? You must be tired from your ordeal. Will you not allow us to give you shelter to rest your weary selves?”

Turning back, I gave him the flattest stare I could. “I’ve seen the way your stallions looked at Naiara, and the way they talked about her. I wish neither those smiles nor those glares to come any closer. The same with your mares and my other bodyguard. My people and I will take our leave now, Four Fields. We have other business to attend to.”

His face morphing back into the disinterested visage that was his preferred appearance, he simply shrugged. “Then do not let us delay you.”

~~~~~~

Level Up!

Perks gained:
Healing Hooves – Snowflake’s big-sisterly leanings up the effectiveness of any medicine that she herself gives to an ally.

~~~~~~

Author's Note

That’s all for now, folks. Please keep reading, commenting, and spreading the word on Old Souls. I really appreciate your feedback.

Chapter 9-1: All That Shines

[On the other side of the bottle cap, I didn’t have any place else pressing to be.]

“WHEEE!”

“There must be something that can be done.”

“WHEEE!”

“Dunno what, though. It’s tricky since you’re basically untrained.”

“WHEEE!”

“I can’t keep fumbling around though. I need a way to do it my way.”

“WHEEE!”

“…”

“You’re thinking it’d be much easier if I just used a gun, aren’t you?”

“WHEEE!”

“NAIARA KNOCK IT OFF!”

“But It’s fuuun.”

On our way to the second of the three Raider groups we were to visit, in our quest to bring the disparate Raider groups in the area under one united banner, we’d stopped on a peaceful, flat rock clearing to address a growing concern.

I still couldn’t fight worth a damn. Not hoof-to-hoof, not with a weapon or a gun, not even with my growing-but-still-weak magic.

I knew all of one spell that required me to be touching my horn to whatever it was I wanted to affect. It was pointless in a fight, if I was that close to an opponent with even basic common sense, I would be finished before I ever got around to casting the Cryo Serpent. Even the name, cool as it was, was thought up by somebody else. Aqua Breeze’s passion for proper nouns provided the name.

Either way, the spell, though capable of reaching great distances… eventually, required a medium that connected my horn to whatever it was gonna freeze, which would be a very rare occurrence. Not to mention my control over the Serpent, once released, was very lacking.

No, it certainly wasn’t combat-ready yet. And neither was I. I needed another way.

I was supremely thankful that basically all the people I considered friends, Wastelanders all, were capable fighters in their own rights.

Well, I guess not Lexi, but she runs a trading company AND is a heck of a medic. She hires the fighters she needs. Still, almost all of them.

Currently accompanying me on my task were two of my closest friends, Bosco and Naiara, an Earth colt and a zebra filly respectively. Even better, though each was capable of defending themselves very capably, they went about it in very different ways.

Bosco was a pure gunfighter. His having travelled the Wasteland for at least six years and survived showed that he had learned the lessons he needed to keep himself alive. Not that he couldn’t get up close, he was pretty good with a knife, but gunfighting was his thing. Usually, he used a pistol. It suited him, it wasn’t flashy but it got the job done just fine and could be relied on.

I’d sought his advice on the matter of self-defence before, though my attempts to learn gunplay had been… less than successful. We had abandoned the attempt after little more than an hour of trying. I’d managed to hit one target… out of sixty.

Back in Stable 61, which I’d called home before being forced into the Wasteland, I’d never even held a gun outside of equally-disastrous once-a-year mandatory training. It just didn’t feel right. Perhaps it was my unicorn blood rebelling, as most magic ponies would simply levitate the guns and fire them from mid-air.

Sadly, I was lacking in that regard, having lost my telekinesis, apparently permanently, after touching a damaged Memory Orb, housing much stronger magic than mine. Whatever other effects the Orb had had on me, the most prominent was the loss of my magic.

Still, I owed it to Bosco to try anything he could suggest. He did so much for me, not just protecting me physically but also assisting me on this and other quests, even if he didn’t agree with the goal, that I couldn’t continue to be a liability when it was time to fight. I didn’t want to kill anybody, but my inadequacy had caused too many deaths already.

Always willing to help, that being the kind of guy he was, Bosco was currently racking his brains to think up a way that I could fight. So far we hadn’t had any breakthroughs.

Which brought me onto my other friend, and currently other combat instructor, Naiara. At least as capable as Bosco, Naiara nevertheless utilised a very different way to fight. She was a pure hoof-to-hoof fighter, though not even close to the kind of gutter fighter you usually see around the Wasteland.

No, Naiara was a zebra combat master, following the doctrine of Stompeii Emboli style. Unlike the more popular Fallen Caesar style, which was based on powerful kicks, Stompeii Emboli fighters incorporated surprise and confusion into their battle; attacking from all angles and orientations, using any and all parts of their body for maximum versatility.

Naiara knew the style inside and out, which was what made her so deadly. It was also what made her capable of the stunt she was pulling at present.

After we’d struggled to think up anything that could work as a combat application of my magic, Naiara had switched to thinking up ways of using it to avoid fights. She’d happily volunteered to try out an idea she had for a fast getaway.

“WHEEE!” She zipped past us again, leaning her body into the circle, her balance allowing her to stay upright while she tightened the curve.

Naiara, not the most serious of fillies, had thought to try to use the slick nature of my ice magic as a means to increase my speed for getaways. The end result was, after several botches tries, magicking up thin sheets of ice to cover the flat bottoms of her hooves. With the surface tension removed, Naiara was finding incredible joy in skating around on the flat ground.

“WHEEE!”

Sadly, her body control and natural grace allowed her to succeed in this stunt, whereas I’d ended up on my face more often than my hooves.

I’d be jealous if it looked in the slightest bit fun. Which it doesn’t! Nope, not at all.

Before this brainstorming session, I’d been fighting with Power Hooves, electrically charged hoof armour which could deliver a more forceful blow than a naked hoof could. Especially useful for fillies and colts like me who weren’t built like brick outhouses.

Not to say that I was effective with them. I wasn’t. I’m not a natural fighter. Wearing the Power Hooves, I’d lost fights against Earth ponies, Hissyflits, a pegasus, and a griffon. The only victories I’d had were against three sheep-spider hybrids called Tarantubaas and, what had become the prompt for my current drive to improve, a ghoul I’d beaten into paste with assistance from Bosco and a heavy door.

It was the first time I’d ever killed a sentient being. Technically formerly sentient since the ghoul had gone feral long before encountering me, but still…

That’d been a pony once.

I killed a pony.

It was the first time I’d ever killed directly, at least. My actions had brought about death on a far greater scale than a single ghoul, but this was the first time I’d ended a life intentionally. Even the Hissyflit I’d squashed between my two Power Hooves, before one was taken from me by the Neighlway Steel Rangers, was a wild, instinctual act of self-defence.

I’d gone after that ghoul with every notion of putting it down for good.

That thought had kept me awake ever since.

~~~~~~

Sleep didn’t come that night either.

After abandoning the thinking session, due to discovering that Naiara’s icy hooves weren’t going to defrost any time soon, we’d moved on towards the next Raider group, who I hoped to convince to join an alliance with two, possibly three, others. After I’d been reduced to stumbling tiredly, long after dark, we’d called it a night. I’d volunteered to stay on watch, not sleepy even while physically drained.

I waited until my friends had been sound asleep for an hour before silently letting out the tears.

This… this is unforgivable.

My friends hadn’t blinked at killing ghouls. Being a solo Wasteland traveller and a foreigner in a land that thought you unwelcome respectively, they’d always known that killing was necessary to survive.

Not me. I was born to a peaceful existence in Stable 61. There were no enemies inside. You might not like this or that Stable dweller but you never wished them harm. The only deaths were tragic accidents. To commit murder was unthinkable.

I’m not even three weeks removed from that life. Time obviously isn’t the only measure of separation.

It was hard to keep track of what I was grieving about.

The ghoul? A pitiful shell of a pony, already subjected to unimaginable horrors in life, and now having its unlife snuffed out by an intruder upon its home?

Snowflake? Whose comfortable life within the walls of Stable 61 was stolen by Old Equestria, and whose chances to eventually return to it were being constantly taken away?

Red Ice? An image made real, born from a weak mind, and shaped into a ruthless villain without a choice in the matter?

How about my brothers? The best siblings-no, the best people that could ever exist, being cursed with a sister like me? Buff, Al, and Lo deserved better than the pony I was finally revealing myself to be.

I think I might have been wrong about Snowflake.

Perhaps Stable 61 was no shield against the Wasteland, merely shackles to hold in the Old Equestrian instincts within her.

Within me.

I raised my head, eyes still wet, and matched gazes with the Overmare.

I said nothing, so as not to wake my friends. Despite not having seen the Overmare since Whinniepeg, I didn’t really have anything to say to it… her… whatever this was. The real Overmare was safe and sound in the Stable. I was out here because she knew the importance of separating the Stable’s residents from Old Equestria.

For the first time, I got her point. It hurt so much to realise I understood.

Even worse to realise why I understand.

Her face impassive, the Overmare seemed satisfied, though hardly content, to float and stare. No sound came from the older pegasus’ slowly flapping wings.

Expecting scorn, which she had expressed each time I’d seen her since leaving the Stable, it was slightly jarring to simply be stared at. I thought back to the Overmare’s voice from back in the Stable, the first words she’d spoken to me in months.

“Snowflake, what have you done?”

Heh, even my answer is the same as back then.

I’m… not really sure myself, Overmare.

I found myself missing that stern voice of hers. By no means familiar, but nostalgic nonetheless. Everything was so much simpler in the Stable.

All I had to do was let the Orb fall into the chasm. It would have been so easy.

As if reacting to my thoughts, the Overmare across from me slowly shook her head. Her expression stayed flat, making it impossible to discern her meaning. Was I not supposed to think like that? Was I not supposed to do that? Was that never an option at all? Whatever she was trying to say, I didn’t understand.

I can’t understand her actions, but can understand her fear of me.

I can’t use magic, but can conjure ghosts.

I can’t fight, but I can kill.

What I CAN’T do should be done, and what I CAN do, I shouldn’t.

Staring at her, I didn’t know whether to feel cheated or spoiled. The Overmare hardly spoke to me in the Stable. Here in the Wasteland, she’d been the one to point out my failings when I needed it the most.

Like now. Am I doing the right thing with these Raiders, Overmare? I just wanted to show that hate isn’t the only thing they have left, that they could join in the community of the Wasteland. It isn’t perfect but it’s better than what they have. Hell, Raiders being as they are is a big part of what makes the Wasteland so bad, a big part of what makes people not trust each other. Would it be so terrible to change that? To have them work with others instead of fighting with them? Is it worth my doing this?

Is it worth killing for this?

Though staring at me for far longer than she ever had before, the Overmare nonetheless remained silent.

~~~~~~

Morning brought no relief. Still sleepless, I listlessly brushed off any attempt to develop another way to fight. I was just too tired. I needed to rest. Just for a moment. Except every time I closed my eyes, I couldn’t. All my eyelids were good for was blinding me.

My lack of energy seemed to drain some from my comrades too. They soon gave up on trying to include me in conversations or planning, instead simply debating between themselves. Soon even this fell to my overbearing exhaustion, with Naiara excusing herself to scout ahead, becoming visibly more upbeat with each step away from me.

Bosco had implored her to be safe as we watched her go. When she was out of sight, the charcoal colt suddenly rounded on me. “We need to talk, Snow.”

I continued my plodding pace, giving the barest of grunts to confirm I’d heard him. “Hm?”

Uncomfortableness flowed off him in waves. He seemed even worse than when Schwarzwald was teasing him in Hoofshine Harlots. “Naiara was telling me about what happened in Neighlway.”

“Which time?” I deadpanned.

“The last time!” His snapped response surprised me a little, breaking through the fog of fatigue, “I’m worried about the zebra.”

“’The zebra’? Bosco, you’ve been travelling with her for a long time, aren’t we past this?”

“Not Naiara! I trust her. I’m talking about the other zebras, especially that stallion. What was his name? Showed up in armour, got a thing with that techy Pegasus?” Bosco still hadn’t met Breeze. I wondered what he’d think about her, besides ‘techy pegasus’, when he finally did.

“You mean Cept?” My eyes were widening more and more as this conversation went on.

“Yeah, him. I don’t trust him.”

“What? Why?” Cept hadn’t done anything to make Bosco mistrust him. He’d rescued me from Neighlway, flirted with a pretty filly like any normal stallion, and of course Naiara trusted him as a clanmate. What was Bosco’s problem?

He kept glancing around, as if expecting Naiara to return any second. “I just think it’s a little strange that he managed to take down a Steel Ranger and take the armour without anypony knowing about it. Any time Rangers mix it up with somepony, word gets around.”

“I’ve seen him fight, he’s pretty tough.”

“I don’t know anypony who’s tough enough to be able to choose to non-lethally take out a Ranger. Zebra tricks or not.” Naiara wouldn’t like him calling them tricks.

“…Schwarzwald?”

“…Okay fair point. Still, did he mention how he’d gotten the armour, or how long he’d been inside Neighlway before were taken? No offense, but losing Ranger armour camouflage and a back door into Neighlway is a real high price to pay for rescuing one filly.”

Not that that wasn’t true, but still… “Bosco, come on. He saved my life. Naiara grew up with him. If she says he’s alright, isn’t that enough?”

“What about the other zebras? Why are they here in the Wasteland? They know the kind of shit they’ll have to deal with if they get found out here, yet Naiara is walking around without any worries. That got me thinking about what the rest of the clan are up to, Cept included.”

I had to concede that he had a point, but I still didn’t want to think badly about the zebra if I could help it. I’d known too many inside the Stable, plus Naiara was a great friend. I owed it to her. “Zebra aren’t really much different from ponies, or buffalo, or griffons. They’re all just trying to make their way in the world. Don’t forget that the zebra lands got hit by megaspells too. It might be worse over there than it is here. They might’ve just come for a better life, or to do some good. Maybe they want to work to make things better between ponies and zebras, so they can start working together to rebuild. Just look at what Naiara’s been willing to do for us!”

“I already said I trust Naiara. I know what she’s done and is still doing, for you, me, and everypony. I just can’t be like you. I can’t believe that they aren’t working some kind of angle. They’re risking too much in being here.”

“…Will you at least keep an open mind when we see Cept next? And if we ever meet the other zebras?”

He didn’t answer immediately. Or after a few seconds. I saw his expression while he thought it over; the tight lips, creased brow, his grey eyes trying to find all the unseen arguments.

Fully awake now, I was getting genuinely worried that he wouldn’t be able to ever trust Cept or the remaining zebras, which would drive a rift between him and Naiara, maybe forever. “Bosco, you trust Naiara, and you trust me, right?”

“…Mostly. You do make some bad decisions though.”

“I know, but you know I wouldn’t lie about something if it would be dangerous for you, right?”

This time he replied instantly. “Yeah, I know that.”

“Thanks, Bosco. Look, the war’s been over for 200 years. Everybody regrets it, including the zebras. Please don’t ruin what you have with Naiara because of this. Just talk to Cept, and the zebras, if we meet them. Decide for yourself. Don’t let what happened in the past make you do something you’ll regret...”

“Snow… I just-“

“Please, Bosco?”

I must have looked truly pathetic. He relented instantly. “Alright, Snow. I’ll talk to Cept and find out for myself. You’re right. I owe it to Naiara.”

I almost cried again. Bosco was way too nice to be driving himself crazy over what happened long before he was born. I’d never forgive myself if I let this drive him and Naiara apart. They were as good friends with each other as they each were with me. That was rare in the Wasteland, and too good to let go.

I might have to talk to Naiara about this later, to try to smooth things over with her in case it ever slipped out. I couldn’t bear her being upset with Bosco any more than I could him being afraid of her clan.

It’d be like Breeze, Cassie, Wings and Schwarzwald all over again. Breeze and Schwarzwald were on relatively good terms with me, and obviously attached to Cassie and Wings respectively. I hadn’t seen Schwarzwald since the canyon where Wings and I fought, and I hadn’t seen Breeze since she helped bust me out of Neighlway. All because I couldn’t trust Wings and Cassie anymore.

I would do anything I can to stop that happening to Bosco and Naiara. They were both too nice to go through it.

~~~~~~

I still felt tired and unhappy when Naiara returned an hour later with news.

“Okay, we’re not far now, which means we have to be careful. These guys are really different from the Barnstormers. Four Fields’ lot are like most Raiders, take their prize if they can, kill you as a second option,” neither of us disagreed, considering how the Barnstormer scouts had searched our hastily-abandoned campsite to find us, “not these guys though. They don’t seem to care about prizes, they just try to kill anything that moves.”

“You weren’t hurt, were you?” Bosco and I both began checking her for wounds.

She waved us off. “Nah, I’m fine. They never saw me. They’ll shoot at anything, though. Whatever animals were moving in the bushes got shot full of holes.”

“Why? Were they hunting for food?”

“No, that’s the thing. As soon as they were happy that the animals were dead, they turned and walked away. Just left the bodies where they fell.”

That was strange, even for Raiders. I was starting to realise the rationale for Caber Toss’ proposal for a united Raider alliance. These weren’t just separate groups that he was trying to reunite, they were actually completely unrelated communities that he was trying to merge into a single faction. It was like Red Eye and Peanut: They were both slavers, but had nothing to do with each other.

No matter how much Peanut wishes otherwise. He runs his own slaver city and yet he still looks up to another slaver. Why?

So what would a Raider union mean for the Wasteland? While Raiders normally operated in small groups, they would now have the numbers, and organisation, to bring more people along on their operations.

They’d have operations, for one.

Caber Toss had spoken of change for the better, and Four Fields had expressed a slight interest in that too, but still… they’d been Raiding for a really long time. It would take a long time and a strong personality to reform them, if they could be reformed at all.

The ghoul’s corpse sprang, unbidden, to the front of my mind. What was I even doing here? Did I really think I could reform the Raiders? All of them? I’d acted like a complete bitch with my friends just for a few minutes of conversation with Caber Toss and Four Fields. I’d killed with barely a thought, just for this chance.

Really, what possible hope did I have for reforming the Raiders, for steering them away from hate and anger and violence, if I fell into it so easily when around them?

How many corpses would there be if all I did was make the Raiders worse?

Oblivious to my inner doubts, Bosco continued the conversation, relaxed as he could be while close to a probably-hostile force. “So what’s the plan? If we’re not announcing ourselves this time, can we sneak in? Go straight to the boss… um… what was the name?”

Naiara had been with me when Caber Toss provided the information, Bosco had been up on the Lethbridle wall, giving us cover with the city guards. “Undertow. Her group’s called the Deep Divers. Apparently they do salvage of sunken treasure. Heh, Raiders above and below, huh?”

“At least they’re not hurting anybody down there.” I was mostly mumbling to myself, but both of them picked up on it anyway.

Turning to Bosco, the zebra spoke in hushed tones, full of concern. “How’s she doing?”

The charcoal colt shook his head sadly. “Not great. She’s really shook up. You heard her last night, right?”

“…Yeah.”

Oh. They heard me. That’s not good. I don’t want to worry them about this. It’s my problem, not theirs.

I’d have to try harder to maintain my composure. It’d be all too easy to let slip Bosco’s suspicions when I was like this, which would ruin things between him and Naiara.

Digging deep, I forced my eyes open wider and essentially dragged my chin up to a normal, casual angle. I made sure to catch each of their eyes as I did so. They’d been staring at me with worry. “So, if you think it’s the best approach to take, we’ll sneak in. If you think it’s safe, Naiara. You’re the best at this sort of stuff. If you decide it’s too risky, we’ll call off the whole thing.”

Both pairs of eyebrows shot up. “Call it off?”

“We can’t call it off! The Haylanders and Barnstormers’d riot!”

“She’s right! We’re in it now.”

“Are we?” I retorted tiredly, “Are we really? If we just let it all go, what will happen? The Raiders will go back to Raiding, same as they always have. Nothing would have changed.” I didn’t really see the difference either way anymore. Nothing I did was the right decision. I’d be better off just stepping away from Red Ice, and the Raiders, and everything that I had set into motion. I should just stop dragging my friends into trouble and focus on helping them out. I could help Bosco with his Memory Orbs, or Naiara with whatever the zebras might be up to.

It’d be easier. Less complicated. Just follow their lead for a while. They might have killed in self-defence but they were still good people at heart. They’d do the right thing, even if it hurt.

I don’t see any reason why I should keep going with this Raider nonsense.

Bosco did. “Snow, everything’d change. Make no mistake, word’s gonna get out. Red Ice with the Raiders is gonna turn heads. If they go nuts because you pull out, everypony’s going to think it was on your order. You’ll be branded the Raider Queen anyway. You’ll be hunted down, shot on sight. You wouldn’t be safe anywhere.”

Naiara stepped up beside him in agreement, the corners of her jade eyes drooping as she backed him up. “After what you said in Sprinkles Supplies, too many ponies are paying attention, svara. All your actions will be judged on a bigger scale.”

The edge in Bosco’s voice faded to a soft, comforting tone. “If we were gonna stop, we needed to do so at Lethbridle, with Rockhaunch and the guards as witness. They haven’t seen us since. They think we’re going through with it. We wouldn’t be able to get back there fast enough to stop things going to hell.”

Browbeaten by their words, my chin was down again. I felt, more than saw, the hooves rest on my shoulders. Bosco on my right, tough and strong. Naiara, slender and supple, on my left shoulder.

They were warm.

Bosco’s words damned me and my stupidity, made even worse by his gentle, caring voice. “We’re in this until the end, Snow. There’s no other choice anymore.”

…Never the right decision.

“How… how do we reach the chief?” I finally choked out, past the lump in my throat.

Naiara’s hoof squeezed a little tighter. “Atta girl,” she whispered, before launching into her report, “this’ll be easy enough. Mostly these Raiders are based around a boathouse at the start of the water. It’s not far.”

Releasing my shoulder, she began scratching at the dirt, digging out basic shapes to represent buildings. “The big one’s the boathouse, it opens onto the water. Tons of ponies around there, so we can assume it’s where most of the work goes on. I couldn’t see inside.”

We weren’t expecting anything, but her apology shrug showed that maybe she expected more of herself. She pointed at the collection of smaller shapes scattered around the larger ‘building’. “This is the village. Their homes are in better shape than the Barnstormers’ village, but everything’s kinda… rusty.”

“Maybe they’re getting the materials from underwater?”

Another shrug. “Yeah, maybe,” she paused to scratch out more details. It was a building, slightly bigger than the normal house shapes, and surrounded by a semi-circle. It was located a small distance away from the rest of the village. “but this is the important building. I think it’s the boss’ house.”

“What makes you think that?”

Her hoof traced the semi-circle. “See this? It’s like a ridge, or a cove. It’s a big hole in the lakeshore, basically. There’s an overhang, and not as many ways to get to it. I saw the corner of a building in there. It’s a good location for the most important pony.”

“But…” I began, before stopping when they turned in my direction, “no, never mind.”

“Snow, what is it?” It apparently came as a pleasant surprise to her that I was joining in.

“It’s alright, Snowflake,” he was coaxing me like you would a scared foal, “tell us what you’re thinking.”

I felt like the dumbest filly in class on test day. “Um… well… she’s so far from the rest of the village. How would she help them if they were in trouble?”

Despite the oppressive atmosphere, Naiara still was sufficiently amused to turn away and laugh-cough into her hoof.

“Um… they’re Raiders, Snow… they really don’t care that much about other ponies. Remember Four Fields?”

“…Right.” Dejection does a real number on your mental faculties.

Naiara was back with us now. “Sorry, Snow, I shouldn’t have laughed.”

“It’s fine.”

This view was not unanimous. The impatience that’d been building made itself known. “Can we get back to the plan already?”

“Yeah, okay. Anyway, our best bet is still the house in the cove. Even if it isn’t the chief’s house, it’s quiet and out of the way. We can get in, and hopefully out again, without too much of a disturbance. We can do it one of two ways. First off-“

Blinking, she had to break off and shoot a searching stare our way. “You guys… can’t swim, can you?”

“Nope.”

“No, sorry.”

Heaving a sigh and rolling her eyes, as if to say “oh well”, she smiled and continued. “Okay, so now we only have one way to do it. I was gonna say we could go a little further around and swim in the lake until we reached the cove, but you two would never make it before you either drowned or the radiation made you sick.”

“Yeah, about that: How can these guys go diving every day and not suffer from it?”

Tapping her hoof on the dirt map building we thought was the home of the boss, Undertow, the zebra cut off the tangent before it could start. “Let’s ask her when we meet her, shall we?”

“Right, yeah. Sorry, carry on.”

“Since not all of us can swim, we can’t come in from the water below the house. So… we’ll use the ridge above it, and climb down with a rope.” Beaming, she poked triumphantly at the semi-circle under her hoof.

I shared a look with the charcoal colt that all but said, “Can you do that? Because I sure as hell can’t.”

“Um… Naiara?”

“Yes, svara, I know. You two are out of practice with ropes. I’ll oversee everything. It’ll be fine.”

“If you’re sure?”

“Totally. It’ll be fun. Besides, exactly how crazy do you expect Undertow to be, in comparison to Four Fields?”

“…There is that.”

~~~~~~

Chapter 9-2: All That Shines

Just before we crashed through the roof of the cabin, I briefly wondered if learning to swim would have been the better option.

It had started out sensible enough. Bosco would hold the rope on the ridge. Naiara would go down first and check if it was secure. I would follow, then Bosco would bring up the rear when he found somewhere to tie his end onto.

Naiara had crawled down the flaky, cracking rock with little issue, as we’d expected somebody with her abilities and training to do. She’d gotten her hooves safely on the roof of the cabin and given the rope two tugs, which we’d agreed would indicate it was safe for me to follow. In my current state, I hadn’t argued, preferring to trust in my friends, who actually knew what they were doing.

With Naiara holding the bottom steady and Bosco taking the strain at the top, I’d managed to get my shaking hooves all the way down and step onto the cabin roof with Naiara. After a cursory glance around to check we hadn’t been discovered, I gave the first of the two tugs.

The rope had gone slack immediately. Even worse, it began following me down.

I’d turned to Naiara, thinking that Bosco had lost his grip on the rope and wondering how we’d proceed from there.

She’d been looking up at the falling colt above us.

We’d managed a simultaneous “Binn tus-” before Bosco’s barding-covered flank struck.

The rusty, corroded metal of the cabin roof couldn’t hold up to extra weight of a fast-falling colt in addition to the two fillies it was already struggling to support. It gave way instantly and, mercifully, near-silently.

We landed on something ever-so-slightly softer than the floor. We were not even close to silent.

“My horn!”

“My flank!”

“MY BALLS!”

“Bosco, don’t shout!”

“Fuck you, it hurts!”

“Oh calm down, it can’t be that bad. Here, let me take a look.”

“What? No! Get away!”

We all froze as a new voice, liquid-smooth yet laced with irritation, joined the conversation. “Another challenge to my leadership? Fine. You’ve intruded into my territory, I won’t hold back.”

Sheets still draped over her, the unicorn mare, who could only be Undertow, watched from the shadowy alcove that was her bedroom. It was only through the aquamarine glow of her horn that we see anything at all.

Undertow was a mess. Damp locks of turquoise mane hung over her eyes in wet clumps. Her eyes themselves were hidden behind a pair of rubber and dark plastic goggles, obscuring any details. Hanging loosely on an elastic band around her neck was a strange, boxy device, whose function I could only guess at.

Her horn blazed brighter, which revealed an identical colouration for her coat. It also filled the moist air in the cabin with a strange, musty smell.

“Wet pony, just like he said.” Our prior conversation with Caber Toss popped into my head. As Naiara mentioned, he had commented on Undertow’s aroma.

An aroma that was getting stronger. The watery scent increased in intensity rapidly. Our noses were running by the time the aquakinetic mare’s spell revealed itself with a great torrent of irradiated lake water swooping in through the hole we’d made in the ceiling and darting towards me.

In my sleep deprived state, my reflexes, shoddy at the best of times, were nowhere near up to the task of dodging. The funnel of dirty, radiation-filled liquid slammed into my chest, throwing me back into a stained wooden chair, and then over it as it too gave way in the face of the magic assault.

As I crashed to the floor, the possessed stream turned towards Bosco. Still hobbled and bowlegged from the landing, he was not smooth in his motions, but still managed to dive aside at the last moment, scrabbling for his pistol.

Naiara, having recovered from the fall enough to ignore her bruised flank, charged towards the reclining Raider, intent on ending this before she drowned us all in filthy lake water.

Sensing the danger she was in, Undertow called the water back from harassing ponies to focus on driving off the zebra. Small tendrils burst from the main body of the amorphous mass, shooting at high speed towards Naiara.

At least towards where she had been milliseconds before. She was far too agile, and was making great use of her chosen fighting style’s strong points. Ricocheting around the cabin, yet always moving towards the bedroom, Naiara defied all anticipation attempts. Undertow’s eyes, and therefore her magic, simply couldn’t keep up.

When Naiara broke the plane of the bedroom, the Raider gave up all attempts to ensnare my svara and instead drew all the water back, forming a sphere around herself. Naiara’s diving hoofstrike was stopped cold as the hoof sunk slightly into the bubble, before abruptly reversing direction, having been flung back by the liquid barrier.

Bosco, his pistol out and ready, popped off a few shots. The first one was slowed by the water sphere, but still had enough velocity to break through and embed itself in the headboard two hoofwidths away from Undertow’s suddenly widening eye.

The remaining two bullets were swept up into the stream as the sphere began spinning rapidly, the current carrying any attempt to break through away on the tide.

Undertow hadn’t moved since the fight began, and her defence was formidable, but she couldn’t attack and defend against three of us at the same time. We were in a stalemate.

A stalemate that would be broken when her help arrived, while we had none coming.

“Any ideas?” My body was aching from the insomnia, the fall, and being thrown about like a soggy ragdoll. I was hardly at my best. Watching from behind her barrier, Undertow cocked her head to the side quizzically, and her lips moved, but no sound got through.

“I… don’t think she can hear us.” Naiara, who’d landed on her hooves after being repelled, was in far better condition. Only one part of her was wet, the hoof she’d tried to reach Undertow with.

“All the better for us,” the pistol slammed back to readiness as Bosco finished reloading, “because I’ve got an idea.”

The cacophonic noise of swirling water receded slightly. Undertow had magicked up a hole in her shield. “Don’t think you can keep secrets here. This is my territory.”

The earth colt rolled his eyes, a cocky grin on his lips. “I don’t need to say it out loud. My boss has already read my mind,” he turned towards me, smirk still in place, “isn’t that right, Red Ice?”

She reacted to the name, glaring and baring her teeth. “This is MY territory, Red Ice, and you won’t take it from me!” With that the hole in her defence closed.

I ignored her, wondering instead what Bosco had meant. I couldn’t read his mind.

“Naiara, buy us some time.” At the colt’s suggestion, she leapt forward, jabbing and retreating, searching for weak points.

Sure that she couldn’t hear us with her barrier in place, not to mention being thoroughly distracted by Naiara, I tried to make sense of his words.

I drew a blank. “What are you talking about, Bosco?”

Groaning in frustration, he spoke cryptically again, less willing than I was to talk openly, even if he didn’t think she could hear us. “Is the water affecting your brain, Red Ice? Don’t freeze up now!”

Why the hell is he talking like that? It’s like he’s getting stuck on certain words, and has to work harder to pronounce them. I mean, it’s not like they’re difficult. Two syllables, tops.

“Come on! My balls hurt too much for this crap. Red Ice… FREEZE THE FUCKING SHIELD!”

Bosco looked like he wanted to strangle me, at least when he could walk straight again. So did Naiara. So did Undertow, but she didn’t count.

I felt like doing it too. I am the dumbest filly in class.

My horn blazed as I charged towards the Raider, whose shield was completely occupied with defending against continuous zebra hoofstrikes, backed up with pistol shots.

I needed to be touching the shield for this to work. Luckily, my two friends provided me an opportunity. Bosco’s latest bullet was caught in the swirling sphere at Undertow’s eye level. The lead projectile’s speed within the circuit basically turned it into a blindfold. As I got within one step of the shield, its velocity dropped to nothing, slingshotting the bullet back out again, right through the gap between Naiara and I, which I would deal with later. Right now, I had a golden opportunity.

Dipping my horn into the sphere, as if to test the water in a bathtub, I fired off the cryo spell, not even making an attempt at forming the serpent or any other shape. I just let it spread across all the water it could. The moisture in the air grew crisper as more of the lake blob was consumed.

Within seconds the sphere was solid almost all the way around. Undertow shrieked soundlessly and bolted backwards, splashing through the last little window of liquid before it hardened after her.

Before she could even make her horn light up again, all three of us had her pinned, Bosco’s knife at her throat, and my horn glowing coldly.

“Hi,” I breathed out through my sniffling snout, wet and exhausted, “I’m Red Ice. Can we talk?”

~~~~~~

Under guard from Bosco’s pistol and Naiara’s… Naiara, Undertow obediently rolled the now-frozen water sphere out of the cabin and down to the lake. She did this by hoof, having been warned that any glow from her horn would trigger a swift, hoof-y, bullet-y reaction.

When the door closed behind the three, I collapsed against the damp bed, sucking in deep breaths and struggling to keep my eyes focused. Magic was taxing for me at the best of times, attempting a spell after two sleepless nights, not to mention a bad fall and a frantic battle, had left me feeling incredibly weary.

The one good point, that I clung to tighter than a tarantubaa cocoon, was that I hadn’t had to kill Undertow, or any of her Deep Divers.

None of them even showed up to see what the fuss was all about. Might be something we need to address…

...Later. Just gonna sit here for now. That sounds good.

I closed my eyes, but didn’t sleep. Still, the few minutes rest I managed to get brought my heart rate down and had me breathing a little easier. I didn’t even notice the door opening.

Naiara’s voice caught my attention. “Hey! Inside, now.”

Concerned, I opened my eyes to see a tense zebra and colt gesturing angrily at the mare outside. Undertow was meekly shaking her head in response. “I cannot. The cabin is not my territory anymore. I won’t intrude upon another’s territory.”

“Wa ah yuu tokin abow?” Talking around your gun was tricky, it seemed.

She understood the gist, at least. “Deep Diver law. You must be able to defend what your claim. I couldn’t defend my cabin when you intruded, so it belongs to the one who defeated me: Lady Ice.”

Unable to help herself, even as my eyes were rapidly widening, Naiara burst out laughing. “PWAHAHA! Lady Ice! That’s priceless.”

Using the bed to climb back to standing, I ignored the protests of my leaded limbs long enough to voice my surprise. “What do you mean it’s mine? And don’t call me Lady Ice.”

Subserviently lowering her head, she spoke again in her calm-like-water voice. “What would you prefer I call you, mistress?”

This time both my friends were laughing. It was probably still possible to hear my grinding teeth over the top, though. “Not. That. Ugh, fine, Lady Ice, whatever. Just get inside,” I glared at the chuckle brother and sister, “that means all of you.”

Her posture, non-aggressive as it was, still seemed to relax slightly. “I am invited?”

“That’s what I just said, now come inside.”

Bowing simply, the turquoise-and-blue, goggled mare moved through the door, still under my friends’ watch… even if they still hadn’t stopped laughing.

Arranging ourselves in a triangle, with Undertow in the centre, I wondered at the strange situation we found ourselves in. For some reason, the moment she lost the fight, this Raider seemed to have surrendered in every sense of the word.

She can’t really be just giving me her house, can she?”

“Undertow, what do you mean when you say this is my territory now?”

“It was mine, and now it is yours.”

Bosco and Naiara weren’t laughing anymore. Instead, they were listening closely. “But why?”

Nothing changed in her expression, what little of it we could see with those goggles covering her eyes. “It is the way of the Deep Divers, which I started.”

Oh yes, my friends were very serious now. “You? You started this Raider group?”

She faced the colt evenly as she responded. “Oh, they have taken to calling us Raiders? I see.”

Naiara, still within easy striking distance, instead sat back in confusion. “You’re not?”

She simply shrugged. “It is unimportant. I simply wanted to be left alone. I came upon this lake and felt… at peace here. My special talent revealed itself soon after.”

I glanced surreptitiously at Undertow’s haunches. Droplets splashing into ripples graced her flank. The show she’d put on before with her magic had been clue enough about her abilities with water, this just confirmed it.

“So you came to the lake… how did that lead to the Deep Divers?”

“My peace was short-lived. Others came, perhaps Raiders, perhaps not, either way, they wanted to claim my territory for themselves… to claim me. I killed them.”

She looked towards the lake, sighing. “Still more came. I killed them too, at first. When I had an entire lake as my weapon, I couldn’t be defeated… until today, at least. But soon came more agreeable companions, who wanted what I did: To be left alone to live the life we chose. I allowed them to live on the shores of my lake in exchange for their assistance when I explored its waters.”

“So it’s true,” we were all hanging on her words, “you really do go under the water. Why hasn’t the radiation in the lake killed you?”

“It has claimed many Deep Divers in the past. The water does not accept them as it has me.” She spread her hooves, indicating her body, “I was told, shortly before I left to find my peace, that as an infant, I had briefly been exposed to Taint-filled water. Since then, radiation in water has left me unaffected.”

At the mention of Taint, though it meant nothing to me, the others had leaned away slightly. “You’re immune to radiation?!”

“No, not entirely. However, when in contact with water, I do not absorb it. On land, I am as vulnerable as any other pony.” The pseudo-Raider paused to brush the possibly-eternally damp mane from before her goggles.

“What’s Taint?” I asked, confused by the reactions of the Wastelanders.

“Pre-war goop, cooked up by the Ministry of Magic,” it was somewhat ironic that Naiara, the only non-pony present, proved the most knowledgeable about this, “messes you up bad, even worse than radiation. It can’t be cured with Radaway or anything else either. Whatever it does to you, if it doesn’t just kill you, is permanent.”

“Are… are we in danger?”

“Fear not,” replied Undertow, “while I have lost my cabin, the lake and its surroundings, are still my territory. If there were Taint here, I would know it. There would be signs.”

Looking from one to the other, they offered no more insight on the new danger. “Oookay. Sorry for interrupting, Undertow, please continue.”

She bowed in thanks. “The Lady Ice is kind. As I was saying, my waterborne immunity to radiation allowed me to explore the depths of the lake and bring its treasures to the surface. Those who would later come to be called Deep Divers were permitted to stay here, so long as they assisted me. For years now, I have dived and retrieved, and they have gathered and repaired. Recently, we discovered and renovated pre-war equipment that would allow other ponies to join me in the water, though with nowhere near the efficiency of my natural immunity, combined with this.” Proudly, she flicked the boxy gadget around her neck.

“What is that?” First the gear at the ghoul facility, and now whatever this is. I should have brought Breeze on this Raider hunt. She’d love it.

Tapping it back and forth with her hooves, she smiled. “I do not know its official name, but I found it, along with my wonderful goggles, when I first entered the boathouse from the water. I lacked the strength to break the land-side lock by myself, the Deep Divers became who they are when they performed that task for me. Regardless, I call this device a Rebreather. It contains an air talisman, allowing me to breathe under the lake. This means, provided I have the strength, that I can stay under for as long as I wish.”

“Do you have more? You said that other ponies started diving with you.”

The thought was not a welcome one, as her face instantly darkened. “No, which is a growing problem. Their equipment is older, and not as durable. Still, their dive apparatuses do function well enough that they do not rely upon me as much to dive. This has led to my current situation. Do you recall the first thing I said to you?”

I was halfway through my ‘no’ when Bosco and Naiara replied in the affirmative. I chose not to finish. Sighing, Undertow expanded on her question. “I mistook you for Deep Divers, come to again challenge me for my territory. I fear that they are angered by my guidelines, and seek to get rid of me. It may even be these guidelines which have caused us to be considered Raiders.”

She is the least angry Raider ever. “What do you mean?”

“Every Deep Diver is welcome to claim, and defend, their territory. Not just welcome, but obligated to. If a pony is invited onto a Deep Diver’s territory, that Deep Diver maintains absolute authority over all within, but must not allow the invitee to come to harm, which is why I am glad to be invited into your cabin, Lady Ice.”

As I rolled my eyes, she continued undeterred. “Still, if a pony is not invited, but instead intrudes, the Deep Diver must either forgive them, and have them leave, or punish the transgression. The punishment must be enacted, even if the intruder has left the territory. Perhaps Deep Divers, out of their territory, have drawn ire through their punishing of other ponies. This behaviour might be misconstrued.”

“Tch, they’re still killing other ponies for a stupid reason.” Scoffed Bosco, unimpressed.

Undertow didn’t even bat an eyelid at his casual dismissal of her established rules. “So, now you know how the Deep Divers live, Lady Ice. I submit to your authority while within this cabin, your territory. You cannot allow me to come to harm, if the other Deep Divers make a new attempt on my life, even if we are fortunate enough that they have not heard the commotion you caused. What will you do now?”

“Uh…”

“Sn… Red Ice,” Bosco hissed, anxiety in his tone, “a word, please?”

“R-right.” I stared hard at the not-really-Raider, “Please get on the bed. I’ll be with you shortly.”

Flushing slightly beneath her goggles, the waterlogged mare rose, and daintily stepped past me. Naiara’s knowing smirk stayed fixed in place as we moved to the other end of the cabin, hopefully out of earshot.

“Umm… what now?”

Their faces betrayed the awkwardness of the situation. “Well… kinda looks like we won’t be bringing the Deep Divers to the table. At least, not with Undertow in charge.”

“Yeah, seems like she won’t be around for too long. We should probably get out of here before we get caught up in the trouble.”

Aghast, I sat open-mouthed at their callousness. “Guys! We can’t just let her die!”

“Haa…” supreme, yet unsurprised, frustration laced all of that exhalation. “Alright. Why not this time?”

I wish they wouldn’t be so flippant about this stuff. It shouldn’t be a chore to NOT want somebody to die. “She isn’t a Raider! She hasn’t done anything wrong. She just wants to be left alone.”

“But if we leave her here, she’ll die.” I couldn’t tell whether Bosco meant that as a warning, or if he was indicating that the problem would solve itself.

“Yeah, you kinda took her house... then invited her to bed.”

“Dammit Naiara, it’s not funny!”

“It’s pretty funny.”

“Bosco!”

“So what then, Snow?” He snapped back, “If we’re not leaving her here, on her own, are we gonna fight the rest of the Deep Divers? That would also not solve the problem. Then we’d have her but no group to bring. Plus she’s not so great away from water.”

“Why not ask her?” Naiara’s question instantly shamed me for ignoring the wishes of the pony who, regardless of what she said, still owned the house we were standing in.

“Thanks, Naiara. You’re right. Let’s ask her.”

Our conversation over, we turned back to the bedroom, to where Undertow was reclining on the sheets. She perked up as we approached. “Are you ready to begin, Lady Ice?”

“No.” I was going to make that clear from the get go.

She crossed her hooves in front of her, worried. “Am I not to your liking?”

Snickering erupted behind us, but I ignored it. “That’s not it, you look fine. But I wanted to talk to you about why we came here.”

“To the lake?” Sensing that things weren’t going to go the way she thought they would, at least not for now, she drew herself back into a sitting position and drew the covers around her.

“Yeah. See, we’re kinda on a mission to go round to the different Raider groups in the area, and try to get them to join into an alliance.”

“They even want to make her their queen.” Naiara’s contribution came out between giggles and gasps.

Undertow just nodded. “A wise choice. Lady Ice is strong.”

“Right, whatever.” I’m really not. “What I want to know is your thoughts on the matter, as leader of the Deep Divers.”

“I may not hold that title for much longer. With the new equipment and the theft of the diving lights, the others are not happy with my authority.”

A shared look with Naiara and Bosco confirmed that there was some new information there. “Wait, what diving lights?”

Blinking, she flushed again and lowered her head. “I thought I had mentioned this. I am sorry, Lady Ice, I did not wish to deceive you. Please forgive me, my thoughts were too much on my mortality.”

My heart skipped a beat. ‘Mortality’ conjured up the image of that dead ghoul, those first dead Raiders I’d fought with Bosco, Wings and Schwarzwald, the Molar Bear, and even the Hissyflit I’d crushed. Too many deaths. “What do you mean, your mortality?”

I don’t think I’d ever seen a more heartbroken pony as I saw her at that moment. “With this lake as my weapon, I thought myself unbeatable. So much water that leaps and dances and crushes and chokes at my command. No matter how many times the usurpers tried to topple me, the lake would always leave me victorious.”

She sighed. It was a deep, shuddering breath, heavy and melancholic. Without looking at me, she continued. “And then you came. Not to challenge me at all, but instead to offer a new path. Yet I followed the guidelines I have always followed, wielding all the power I have here, and still you bested me. If the Deep Divers discover this, they will not stop until I am dead.”

“She said ‘the Deep Divers’, not ‘the other Deep Divers’.” Naiara’s whispered observation made me double-take.

I don’t have the heart to tell her that it was Bosco’s idea to freeze the water. Not that he doesn’t deserve the credit, but if she found out that somebody as weak as I managed to win, it’d crush any hope she has left.

“So what now? What do you want, Undertow?”

“What I always have,” she spoke softly, quietly, still looking at the floor, “to be left alone with my lake. But I do not think that will be possible anymore.”

My heart was breaking, and the pain was unbearable. I’d done it again, dragged another pony into my collapsing mess.

She just wanted to be left alone.

“Isn’t there anything we can do? The… the diving lights? What are they?” I was desperate, grasping at straws, anything to ease her suffering and get me away from her sooner.

“The diving lights are magic spheres. They give off such a penetrating light when active. It is not bright, but seems to pierce the murky depths. It lights the way when we dive. They are very strange magic. When activated, it is like I am not myself, but another pony entirely. The world inside the light is so very different from our own.”

She laughed, for the first time since I’d met her. Her laughter was beautiful, bubbly and soft, and it broke through her unhappiness for a moment. “I always enjoyed it within the lights. Such visions.”

That sounded familiar. Bosco seemed to have had the same idea. Reaching into his pack, he drew out three shiny balls. “Undertow, did they look like this?”

Gasping, she bounced off the bed and was before the charcoal colt in an instant. Her permanently damp mane slipped forward and slapped wetly against his forehead. “YES! Oh how did you find them? Did you see the thief? He is horrible, isn’t he?”

Perturbed, Bosco drew his head further back. “Sorry, Undertow, but these aren’t your diving lights. They’re called Memory Orbs. They store ponies’ memories from before the war. That was what you were seeing in your ‘diving lights’.”

“Memory Orbs? Then the ponies who I was, and saw… they were real?”

“A long time ago, yeah.”

She flushed bright scarlet. “Oh my.”

It was clear what kind of memories she’d seen in the Orbs. I hoped she’d come with us, at least so that there was another unicorn who could verify the memories inside. “What did the thief look like? Did you get a good look at him?”

Dejection flowed off her as she shook her head, briefly dislodging her mane from her goggles. “I did not. He invaded the boathouse, where the diving lights are stored, and made off with them. The guards that evening gave chase,” she brightened for a moment, “they did mention his accent was from a place called Lethbridle, and something about a ‘gool’. Does that mean anything to you, Lady Ice?”

Stepping forward, I put a hoof on her shoulder, like Naiara and Bosco had done to me the night before. “It does. Thanks to you, we have a place to start looking. If we help you get your Memory Orbs back, will that be enough to dissuade the Deep Divers?”

Timidly, she opened her mouth a few times, looking at each of us in turn, not managing to speak until she finally looked back to me. “Y-yes. It should suffice. I am the only pony here who can use the diving lights. If I return with them, they will not risk attacking me.”

“Great!” Sighing in relief, I gave her as genuine a smile as I’d felt in days, feeling like I was doing something worthwhile for a change. “Do you want to come with us to find the Orbs, I mean ‘diving lights’? Or stay here while we go?”

“I… I do not want to leave my lake, but it is not safe here for me.” She demurely sidled closer to me, “If I may come with you, out there, to your territory… will you protect me, Lady Ice?”

“BWAHAHAHAHA!”

“DAMMIT YOU TWO!” The chuckleheads were really getting their money’s worth with this trip.

Shocked by my sudden roar, Undertow had retreated from me. I gave her another hopefully-reassuring smile. “Yes, Undertow. I promise, by Deep Diver law, to protect you within my… territory.”

Beaming, the not-so-Raider begged my leave to gather a few supplies for the journey. As she did so, I silently fumed at the thoroughly amused colt and zebra.

~~~~~~

“Well hey there, Snowflake, ya got a bunch of friends with ya today.”

I smiled back easily. I loved it here in Sprinkles Supplies. Fedexi Lexi always seemed to lift my mood. “Hey boss, we’re not staying long. Just wanted to see if we can trade a few caps for some barding for Undertow.”

The frizzy maned purple unicorn winked at all of my friends in turn. Only Naiara returned it, having been here before. “Howdy Naiara, now which one o’ the other two’s Undertow?”

I stepped aside and allowed a better look at the Deep Diver, who’d stuck close to me the entire trip so far. “This is Undertow.” I turned to the pseudo-Raider, giving her a quick smile and a gentle nudge forward, “Come say hello to Fedexi Lexi. She runs Sprinkles Supplies. Maybe you can talk to her about all your salvage.”

Instantly the older unicorn was all ears. “Salvage?”

Undertow still seemed reticent, but took some strength from my encouragement. “H-hello, Lady Lexi.”

Sprinkles Supplies medic, and CEO, howled with laughter. “Lady Lexi? Kid, I ain’t been a lady fer years. Ain’t you a little sweetie though? Come on, we’ll get you all gussied up.”

“Um… Lady Ice-“

“She’ll be right here when ya get back, ain’t that right, Snowflake?”

“Absolutely, boss. I’ll be right here waiting. Don’t worry, Undertow, Lexi heals ponies, she won’t let anything happen to you here. I promise. This is her territory.”

The orange-mane medic draped a hoof over the shoulder of the goggled filly, leading her towards a back room. “I’ve got a few sets of gear here in the back that might suit you, but first tell me about this salvage…”

With one final look in my direction, the turquoise-topped water wielder vanished through a set of double doors.

My two remaining friends and I headed for the bar. Piling into a booth, Bosco went for drinks. As he exchanged a few words with the barkeep, Naiara looked around for a washroom, voicing her thoughts as she did. “You sure she’ll be okay? Undertow, I mean. She’s pretty sheltered.”

“She should be, so long as this doesn’t drag out. She does lead a group of ponies after all, even as they try to kill her.”

“...And are you sure you wanna take her back to all that?”

“Am I sure I wanna take her back? It’s her decision.”

A knowing look showed in Naiara’s jade eyes. “Yeah but you’ve plenty of influence with her already. You heard her; you beat her on her home turf-“

“WE beat her. Not just me.”

“Yeah but you’re the one she’s all kinds of taken with. I can’t decide whether she’s looking to have you as a marefriend or a big sister.”

“WHAT?!”

“Oh you can’t have missed it!” She scoffed and put on a rough approximation of Undertow’s liquid voice, “ ‘Am I not to your liking?’ ‘Lady Ice is strong.’ ‘Will you protect me, lady Ice?’”

“I… I…” What could I say to that? I never intended anything like that! “I just wanted her to be okay. She got swept up into another of my mess-ups. I should fix it for her.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time you tried this sort of thing.” Having retrieved the drinks, and apparently caught the tail end of the conversation, Bosco slid into the booth.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You find way too many ponies who need help; Vorbis, Contego, you wanted to help all Raiders in general at first, Naiara-“

“Not a pony there, Bosc.”

“Right, sorry. Ponies and zebras.” He tapped his chin, “Who else?”

The not-a-pony continued the list. “Breeze, probably her sister too, and now Undertow. You’ve got a thing for helping ponies... and zebras.”

“So I want people to be happy, and I help if I can. What’s your point? Would you rather I be out there killing more people?” I swallowed the gulp of suddenly-bitter drink.

Bosco took a swig of his own drink, fighting back a cheeky grin. “Nah, no real point. Just thinking that you’re basically as dumb as when I met you, is all.”

“Yeah, that.” Naiara took a long suck on her straw. She didn’t seem to like holding the glass in her hooves. “And what’s going on with this place? Fedexi Lexi another of your little lost ponies?”

I was glad of the follow up, it let me ignore the comments about my intelligence. I already knew I wasn’t clever. “Lexi? No no no. All I’ve done for her is show her Contego’s patch while she healed me up, after Cassie shot me through the hoof.”

Bubbles rocked Naiara’s drink as she choked on the straw. “When was this?”

“After Plottawa, when you guys went back to get the stuff. I came down south. Met Cassie and Breeze, we fought, I got away, but Cassie nailed me through the leg in the process. She did say sorry later.”

“Ah well, that makes it all better then… you dummy.”

“Yeah yeah, so after I washed up here and got healed up, I took on a supply run to Grindstone to look for you two, and the twins ended up on the same run. They were on my side that time, but took off hallway through. I came back here after Neighlway and told Lexi.”

My nose went a little higher into the air. “She appreciated my coming back even after getting taken by the Rangers. Offered me the twins’ share of the pay, but I just took mine. Figured she’d need it since the Rangers were getting more active, and with what happened at Grindstone…”

Naiara quieted, staring into her drink for a moment, “Yeah…”

A hoof clipped my horn painfully, before flicking Naiara’s ear harshly.

“OW! What the hell, Bosc?” Her ear was rubbed tenderly as she frowned at the suddenly violent charcoal colt.

He frowned right back. “I do it to Snow and I’ll do it to you. Don’t go getting into your own head too much. Never takes you anywhere good.”

If only you knew. I remembered the last few sleepless nights, when he wasn’t awake to tweak my horn. The Overmare’s silent disapproval… the battered ghoul…

Two limbs, one grey and the other striped, went for my horn this time, but I was still aware enough to pull back before they hit. “Nope, not again.”

“Well stay with us then, Snow.”

“Yeah, bodyguard’s orders, Red Ice.”

“DON’T… call me that, you two.” I tried to find the words to make them understand just how much I didn’t want that name right now.

“… Lady Ice?”

Oh come on! Quickly quashing that thought, I turned to the two returning unicorns.

Undertow was dressed in full guard gear, including some light padding inside the fabric for at least a little protection. Lexi mostly dealt with grey gear, but she’d managed to sort out a russet brown set for Undertow, which complimented her blue coat and turquoise mane quite nicely. It also hid her rebreather under the collar. “Hey, look at you. It suits you.”

She flushed a little. “Thank you, Lady Ice. Lady Lexi has been very kind.”

“Fer a good li’l girl like you? No problem. ‘Lady Ice’ is still payin’ though.”

I smiled and dumped the same caps she’d given me onto the table. “Sure thing, boss, take what I owe you, and enough for a drink for the two of you. You’ve got time, right?” I found myself quite hopeful that she did. Lexi was one of the few people in the Wasteland that I always wanted to see.

Counting out the caps, the orange and purple mare ushered Undertow into the booth next to me, then headed for the bar, already calling out for a whiskey and, “Something sweet fer the kid.”

As Undertow brightened next to me, Naiara spoke in a song-song voice. “Somepony has a new mo-mmy.”

“Knock it off, Naiara,” I chided, “I’m not anybody’s mommy.”

I swear, I thought her smile was going to tear out the sides of her face. “I didn’t say you were the mommy.”

~~~~~~

Chapter 9-3: All That Shines

Once again twinning Bosco’s hue as a disguise, Naiara unhappily scratched at the itchy body paint covering her side. “Ugh, I hate this place.”

Trotting primly beside her, Undertow blinked owlishly. “It is very different from the lake. There is not much water for me, but why do you dislike it, Naiara?”

Suddenly grinning, the disguised zebra was smirking in the corner of my eye. “No ‘Lady’ for me, huh? I’m so jealous, Lady Snow.”

Lethbridle was not the place for Red Ice worship. I’d asked Undertow to avoid referring to me as ‘Lady Ice’ while we were here, instead preferring that she call me Snowflake. She had been reluctant not to use an honourific.

‘Lady Snow’ was the compromise.

Because Lady Flake just sounds stupid.

“Anyway,” Naiara continued, “this place isn’t too friendly to equines with black and white coats. That’s why I don’t like coming here. I have to wear this itchy body paint.”

“Ah, of course.” She nodded in understanding, “That is a pity. You are very pretty, and it is a shame that you have to hide yourself here.”

Pausing for a second to gape at the Deep Diver, Naiara suddenly swept her up in a tight hug, squeeing. “She’s so adorable!”

Undertow squeaked as she was hugged back and forth, while me, Bosco, and half the crowd looked on in varying states of amusement.

Faceless calls of “Kiss her!” and “Smack ‘er flank!” was all the jeering that I needed to jump in and break up the hug. “Come on you two, we’re here for a reason, remember?”

“Yeah, listen to your big sister.” was the little delight that the male quarter of our entourage chipped in with.

Ignoring him, I took both girls by the hoof and dragged them away, drawing boos from the crowd. Bosco followed along, chuckling.

Stepping into a quiet alcove, Naiara spoke first. “So do we know where to start looking? Snow? ‘tow? ‘co?”

Was that rhetorical? It’s hard to tell when she’s looking that damn pleased with herself.

Staring back out into the milling crowd, my newest acquaintance gave a tentative reply. “I do not have any idea where to begin. This place is so loud, with so many ponies everywhere. How will I find one ‘ghoul’ amongst this chaos? How does anypony manage here? The city’s master must be very capable.”

That got me thinking. “Hey Bosco, who does run Lethbridle? I mean, Chief Rockhaunch leads the guards, but is there an Overm-I mean, Overseer?”

“Why’re you asking me?”

“You’ve been here the most. It’s Undertow’s first time, Naiara’s hardly gonna be an expert, and I’d never seen the place before you brought me here a few weeks ago.”

He made a face. “That hardly makes me an expert on the movers and shakers here. I dunno who runs the place. Why don’t we just go see Rockhaunch, like we usually do?”

He answered his own question when all of us, besides a confused Undertow, surreptitiously glanced around to make sure we were safe. Neither Snowflake nor Red Ice were welcome in Lethbridle while on our Raider-unification mission, and I’d already seen firsthoof that not all the guards saw me as Li’l Stronghead, the nickname the Chief had thought up for me after I greeted him in the traditional Buffalo manner… a headbutt.

A little more sadness heaped onto the pile within me, dragging me down even more. “While we’re working with Raiders, he won’t see us. I doubt we’re even supposed to be here. We only really got in because the guards spent the entire time looking at Naiara.”

Embarrassed, she rubbed the back of her head with a hoof. “Eh heh heh.”

“Then who else is there? Who’s gonna know about ghouls?”

That was a good question. I thought back to the first time I’d met a ghoul, right here in Lethbridle. The bastard stole my gun, I keep forgetting to check whether Bosco still has that, and made off with it. I still had my Pipbuck back then, so we could track him. When we found him, I really wasn’t expecting what I saw. He, at least I believed it was a he, was a ravaged husk of a pony, miraculously still sane after all these years of life. Having lived through the end of Old Equestria itself, he was older than basically anybody alive today.

And for some strange reason, he decided to become a thief. You’d think he’d be better off, since he could tell people what life was like back then. Or were they like me, scared of him because of his mutations?

Wow, that doesn’t really make me sound too good now does it? Onto the pile goes that thought too.

Following on the thought’s heels was another, much more useful notion. “Say, Bosco, what about that ghoul we met when we were here? I mean, he stole from us, he might’ve stolen from Undertow too?”

“Yeah, I’ve been waiting for you to get there since Undertow first mentioned it.”

I stared at him, unimpressed.

He stared back, barely holding in a grin.

I decided to borrow a page from his book, and whapped him upside the head with my hoof.

“Ow, dammit!”

“You deserved it!”

“Well… maybe, but still… you put your friggin’ weight behind that one. Seriously, ow!”

The two onlookers turned to each other. “Lady Snow and Bosco… are friends, are they not?”

“Oh yeah. This sometimes happens between friends. When it does, just go ahead and laugh.”

“Naiara, don’t tell her that!” I scolded the zebra, who just rolled her eyes. I wagged a hoof in warning to the other unicorn. “Don’t hit your friends, Undertow, even if they do deserve it… and don’t laugh about it either.”

“Yes, Lady Snow.” She tried to keep her eyes on me, but they drifted towards Bosco, who was tenderly rubbing his bruise.

“…”

~~~~~~

We’d moved to the market district where we’d first encountered the ghoul thief, in the hope that he kept the same hunting grounds as before. Naiara and Bosco were at each end of the high street, keeping watch for anything suspicious. I waited in the middle, under the same tree I’d been standing that day, with Undertow by my side. The filly was still looking all around, idly levitating little tufts of snow to pass the time.

“Lady Snow?” Or so I thought.

“Yeah, Undertow?”

“Can you tell me more of this Raider mission you keep referring to? I would like to help if I can.”

Problem being, I’m less and less sure I want you anywhere near it. “Well, the story actually starts a few weeks ago, long before I was even offered the job. You see, I was not long out of my Stable… do you know what Stables are?”

She nodded, only the aquamarine glow of her horn visible under her hood. “I have heard tell of them. They are giant underground bunkers which ponies fled to when the bombs fell from the sky, correct?”

“That’s basically it, yeah. Anyway, I was only a day or two out of the Stable, and Bosco and I were on our way here to Lethbridle, it was my first time coming here… or anywhere, really. I’d lived in the Stable for all my life until then.”

“Why did you choose to leave?”

I didn’t. “That’s for another time. As I was saying, we had stopped in a broken down play area for a rest, when we were attacked by Raiders. Bosco and I, with… some help,” for another ‘another time’, "fought off the Raiders. We killed a lot of them. I… didn’t take it well. I still don’t. But it got me thinking about Raiders, and why they act the way they do. Then, when another group approached me with this mission, to help the Raiders, and maybe help them change for the better, I decided to take it, to see if I could make up for what I’d done.”

She was quiet for a while before responding. “You mourn them? Despite the fact they attacked you?”

Blowing out a suddenly heavy breath, I nodded as my eyes began to moisten. “Yeah, of course. I’ve… been in the Wasteland long enough to kill people, lots of people, but not long enough to be okay with that.”

I lapsed into my memories for a moment; The Raiders at Snow Pegasus Park, the slavers that Naiara killed outside of Plottawa, the buffalo at Grindstone… that poor ghoul…

With my senses turned inward, I jumped when I felt Undertow cozying up next to me. Surpringly, given the morbid topic we’d been discussing, she was smiling. “Lady Snow is very kind, to care so much about those who others forsake.”

I’m really not. I did briefly wonder whether she was talking about herself in that group, but couldn’t think about it for long, as the others both showed up at that moment. Thankfully, they didn’t comment on my proximity to Undertow, but that only served to highlight their serious visages.

Nudging the other unicorn, I waited for them to explain.

“We think we saw him.”

I perked up immediately. “Where?”

Both cocked their heads back towards the throng. “He’s been here for a little while, walked from one end to the other and back again. Probably looking for his next target.”

“And you’re sure it’s him?”

Jaw set, Bosco grunted an affirmative. “Pretty sure. He’s wearing the same stuff. So unless he’s traded off with another ghoul…”

“… Then it’s probably him. Great job guys.”

Naiara was getting excited, the waiting and watching hadn’t agreed with her. “So how do you want to play this? Wanna just jump him and drag him to a quiet spot?”

I shook my head vehemently, my recent actions weighing heavily on my conscience. I needed to do better, and that meant doing things the right way, not the Raider way.

And definitely not the Red Ice way. “Let’s try talking to him first. We have to be sure that he’s the guy who took Undertow’s lights. I don’t want to go beating up an innocent ghoul for no reason.”

Exasperated, Bosco scuffed the ground with his hoof. “He’s still a thief, Snow, not exactly innocent.”

“He’s might be innocent this time, Bosco. It’s not up to us to pass judgement on anything more than that.”

“Tch. Lady Snow is so very kind.” The inference was very different to Undertow’s statement.

“I’m sorry, Bosco, again. I just…”

“I know what you ‘just’, Snow,” he blew out a cleansing breath from his snout, “it’s okay. This time, at least. We outnumber him, and I don’t think he’s armed. He wasn’t last time, since he tried to shoot us with the gun he stole. We’ll play it safe, but… we don’t need to hurt him. You’re right this time.”

“JUST this time.” That was Naiara, “I agree with Bosco on this. Mostly, you need to work on your decision-making in dangerous situations.”

Undertow was shaking, angrier than I’d ever seen her, even when she’d been trying to kill us. “Lady Snow does not want to kill! Is that so terrible?”

Touched as I was, even I agreed with the hard message of Bosco’s next words. “It is if it greatly increases the possibility that Lady Snow will die. Which it has, several times already. Snow’s put us in danger more than once because of this. You stick with her? You’ll see for yourself.”

I reached over and, ever-so-gently, wrapped Undertow in a hug. “Undertow, Bosco’s right. There will be times when I cause you trouble if you come with us, and I’m sorry for that. Still,” I gave her quick peck on the cheek, “thanks for sticking up for me, svara.”

“Don’t you mean xilia?”

“Shaddup, Naiara.”

Before anything more could be said, a loud tapping alerted us. Bosco was distractedly batting his hoof on the tree trunk, but was looking out into the crowd. “ ‘s very touching, but he’s going! Over there, he’s leaving!”

Releasing the wide-eyed and blushing filly, I poked my head around the trunk next to the colt. “Which one?”

He pointed, as Naiara and Undertow crowded in too. “Dirty cloak, over by the ammo vendor. He’s heading for the street corner.”

We followed his hoof until recognition kicked in. Yep, that’s him. Same raggedy cloak.

Dragging his hood over his face, Bosco shook out his legs. “Let’s go!”

He took off after the ghoul, with us following. The crowd was still packed in tightly, and it quickly became near impossible to keep an eye on both the leading ghoul and the following colt, so I settled for the latter, trusting Bosco not to lose him.

Even just following Bosco was difficult though. His years of solo travelling had honed his ability to remain inconspicuous in a crowd, probably so he wasn’t targeted by thieves himself. He moved with the flow of bodies, darting and ducking when he saw an opening, doubling back and around, anticipating the clusters and avoiding them.

It was not graceful, like Naiara’s flexible dance-walking, as he jerked around like a coal brick in a fire, but he was definitely putting on a clinic. This was another skill I’d do well to pick up at some point.

That list just keeps getting longer every day.

Unfortunately, I was not the only one struggling. “L-lady… Lady Snow!”

My heart skipped a beat, instantly forgetting about the chase, I whipped my head around. There was no sign of the Deep Diver. Panicking, I began fighting my way back through the crowd, but it was like trying to run in thick snow. “Undertow! Undertow, where are you?”

“Snowflake!” Naiara hissed in my ear, “They’re getting away!”

“Stay with them then, I’ll get her and follow after.” I barely cared about finding this ghoul at the moment. Undertow’s safety was more important.

“Lady Snow?!”

“Undertow! I’m here, where are you?” Come on, she’s the same size as me. Why can’t I see her?

“T-t-tree!”

That helped. The tree stood above the crowd like a beacon. Shouldering and shoving my way towards it, I finally burst through into the small clearing, the ponies I’d just bullrushed past glaring behind me, and I instantly directed my eyes. Towards the trunk.

Nobody was there. My heart skipped again. Where could she be? She said the tree, is there another one?

Frantically casting about, I had to hop and bounce just to see above the crowd. I turned all around, but couldn’t see another tree.

“UNDERTOW! Where are you?!”

A turquoise and sea-blue blur sped around the tree and slammed mightily into me, seizing hold like a vice. With the wind knocked out of me, all I could do in response was wrap my hooves around her as we fell.

“Under… Undertow!” I managed to gasp.

Her goggles were fogging with tears as she buried her head in my chest, which was actually kind of painful with her horn, but I held tight anyway. Her sobs and cries ripped at my emotions. “Too… too many! Just too many! I can’t… I can’t… Too many ponies! Too much noise! I can’t…”

Oblivious to the stares from those around us, I gently stroked her mane as she worked through her panic. “Shh… shh… it’s okay. Everything’s going to be alright. I’m right here. I promise I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Seconds past and still she clung tight. She really didn’t do well in big crowds. Being away from her lake, her best defence, probably amplified her anxiety. I’d do what I could for her, but maybe it would be best if she went back to the lake after this.

Ignoring the small, sudden lump in my throat, I gently nudged the now-quiet girl. “Undertow? Listen to me for a second, okay? I know it’s scary, but we need to go. We can’t stay here or we’ll get in trouble, and we’d never get your diving lights back then. Do you think you can come with me while we talk to this ghoul?”

A long scratch was left on my sternum as her head shot up, dragging her horn along my flesh. “Don’t go!”

Hurrying to avoid another display, I smiled as wide as I could. “I’m not gonna go anywhere. We are, together. I want you to take the lead, slow and steady, and take us through the crowd.”

Her pupils shrank to pinpricks. “M-me?!”

A busy day at the market scares the hooves off her, but she’s fine swimming into the darkest depths.

Ooh, there’s an idea.

“Undertow, do you still have your rebreather?”

Her hoof gently rose to her neck, covered by the Sprinkles barding. “Uh huh.”

“Then put it on. We’re gonna pretend like we’re diving. I’ll hold on to your tail, and I won’t let go. You’re the dive expert. You lead us past the obstacles… past the crowd.”

Fixing her mouth around the nozzle of the rebreather, she still looked uncertain, shooting me an imploring gaze.

I grabbed a hunk of her tail between my hooves. “Please just try. For me.” Then I bit gently but firmly on the hairs, making sure to keep eye-to-goggle contact with her. When I was sure I had a solid bite, I gave her a firm nod.

Shaking slightly, she managed a nod back, before turning towards the crowd, which thankfully was beginning to thin out. Moving unsteadily, and taking rapid, shallow breaths through her apparatus, Undertow nevertheless took one step after another, moving with and through and against the crowd as we traversed the ‘obstacles’.

I stayed completely silent throughout, leaving it all up to her. She was scared, and literally out of her element but, once she did this, then nobody could take that away from her, and other challenges she might face would be that much easier to overcome.

Minutes later, we finally broke through the crowd into the side path that the ghoul, and our friends, had been heading for. Nobody else was around. Spitting out her tail, I stepped up next to her and gently nuzzled her face. “You did great. Perfect. I’m really proud of you.”

Managing a small smile, she still was sniffling back tears as she cleaned off the rebreather, before letting it dangle. “I-I did it!”

I wiped away some of the moisture from her cheek. “I knew you could. And I didn’t have to do a thing, that was all you. Great job.”

Face still wet with tears, and some drool from the rebreather, the shy water unicorn gave off a joyful giggle, which I couldn’t help but smile back at as I d’awwed on the inside.

Still, we had friends to find. There were a few offshoots to this alley, we’d have to check them all, one by one.

“Snow, ‘tow, over here!”

Or not.

We walked towards the waving zebra, which she still was even when disguised. Undertow’s canter was much lighter and more confident than before, and it rubbed off on my motion too. I wasn’t complaining, she deserved it for what she’d accomplished.

“What happened back there?” Naiara asked as we drew level.

“Just got a little turned around,” I responded airily, “Undertow got us out of there, no problem. I’d have been in real trouble if she wasn’t there.”

“L-Lady Snow!”

I pushed on, not letting her deny it. “So any luck with the ghoul?”

“Well, sort of…” She moved towards one of the side alleys, and we followed after her, “He wants something for his help.”

“What’s he want?”

She just shrugged. “Dunno. I left Bosco to haggle with him, while I came to find you two.”

Shadowing her, we turned a few more corners, through the really back streets of Lethbridle. It didn’t look like the guards sent regular patrols through here, that was for sure. I wasn’t greatly happy that any of us were here, and especially not Undertow. She seemed to feel the same way, and positioned herself in between Naiara and I.

The growing sound of heated debate reached our ears as we turned another corner. It only got louder as the arguers came into view. “Forget it, smoothcoat, whatever you’re selling, I don’t want any.”

“Well we’re not leaving until we get some answers, so you’d best rethink that.”

Bosco and the ghoul were arguing in front of a flimsy shack at the end of the alley. Corroded iron and stained fabric held it together, barely at least. The ghoul did not live in luxury. If only the banks had survived the end of the old world. He’d have been rich.

Evidently still riding the adrenaline high from her ‘dive’, Undertow immediately stepped forward. “Did you steal my diving lights?”

He didn’t even look at her, just continued his glaring contest with Bosco. “Your what? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Undeterred, she paused to find the right words. “...Memory Orbs! They are also called Memory Orbs! A ghoul stole two from my boathouse. Was it you?”

Now he did look, and comprehension dawned as he took in her goggles and hanging rebreather. “Ah, the little fish from the big pond. I remember you. To answer your fucking question: No, I didn’t steal your precious ‘diving lights’, I took them back! They’re mine to begin with!”

“W-what?”

Canting his head to the side, he spoke like he was talking to an infant. “Those. Memories. Are. Mine! They belong to me! I won’t give them up, they’re all I have left of her!”

“Her?” Echoed Naiara and Bosco.

“I don’t care about ‘her’. All I know is that Undertow will die if we can’t get them back. What can we do for you to let us use them?”

The ghoul scoffed disdainfully. “Nothing that’s worth what those Memories are to me.”

“Wait…” gears were clicking for Bosco, “You’re not even a unicorn. How do you know that they’re the right Memory Orbs? Have you seen them?”

The mutated pony didn’t immediately respond. “… No.”

“Hah! You don’t even know, do you?”

“I followed the trail!” The ghoul roared, a strange echo accompanying the shout, “It took me one hundred and fifty years to get this last Memory of my sister, and you won’t take it from me again.”

“Memory? Singular?” Naiara scratched her head, then looked at Undertow, “Didn’t you say there were two, ‘tow?”

She was already beginning to look disheartened. “I did. There were two diving lights. This ghoul cannot be the one who stole them.”

“No,” I interrupted, “hold on, he recognised you. And he used ‘them’ and ‘they’ before.”

All four of us faced the ghoul again. Sensing he’d trapped himself, he flung up his disfigured hooves. “Oh for fuck’s sake. It’s the same memory, but twice. Once from my perspective, and again from my sister’s. It is the day before the bombs fell. The last time we spent together for fifty years. The next time I saw her, she was old and dying, and I was like this!”

He succeeded in shocking us into silence for a few seconds. Three of us, at least.

“Great story,” Bosco deadpanned, “now prove it.”

Another glare from the ghoul was the only comeback, so the charcoal colt continued. “You say they’re both the same memory? Fine by me. We’ve got two unicorns. They’ll watch together, one each, and see if you’re telling the truth.”

“You’ll just take them if I show you where they are. No deal.” The ghoul, for all his deformed, unmoving skin, had no poker face. His one good eye kept flicking back towards his shack.

Although, it is the only thing here, so we hardly needed the help. Still, I’d rather not have to rob an old stallion if we can help it. “I give you my word that this one,” I pointed to Naiara, “will stop this one,” then Bosco, “from trying anything while we’re watching them.”

He laughed his haggard chuckle at this. “And I’m supposed to trust you, Stable pony? Oh yes, I remember you now, and I also remember that this one held a knife to my throat.”

“WE remember that you stole something from us, ghoul.”

He hmph’d. “I do what I need to, to survive.”

“So do we. Now are we doing this the nice way or…” the rest of the threat was left unsaid. Sometimes letting somebody use their imagination worked better than describing in detail.

I wondered what would happen if he said no. I needed to keep Undertow safe, but I also didn’t want to mug the old pony. After a full minute of tense waiting, he finally turned to Naiara. “I have your word that you won’t let any of them interfere?”

Solemnly, she nodded. “You do.”

He cracked half a smile. “Good enough. Zebras dislike breaking their word almost as much as griffons do.” At her shocked look, his ghastly smile grew to full, “You can’t hide from me, stripe, I’ve been around too long for that.”

The surprise was sufficient enough that nobody reacted to the slur. “So… that’s a yes?”

“Yeah yeah, hold your horseshoes.” he grumped, and disappeared into his shack. Banging and thumping were heard for a while, and then he emerged again with the two Memory Orbs in a soft cloth.

Undertow reacted with immediate delight. “The diving lights!”

“They’re Memory Orbs, you hick!”

“Don’t talk to her like that!” I warned, stepping forward.

He wasn’t impressed, turning to vanish again into the ramshackle property. “Oh just get on with it, and wake me when you’re done.” Then the door slammed shut, and we were left blinking in the alley.

Ugh, I hate this part. “Are you ready, Undertow?”

“Yes. Um… may we do it together, Lady Snow?” Her hopeful expression would have floored even the ghoul, if he’d stayed.

I had no chance. “Sure, Undertow. Let’s do it.”

Our friends had us lay side-by-side on my Molar Bear hide, then Bosco held an Orb to my horn while Naiara held the other for Undertow.

“On three…”

oooOOOooo

I found myself in a softly lit room, thankfully in a mare’s body, wearing nothing, and lying on a luxuriously cushioned bed. It even had the master bed at Hoofshine beat for comfort.

When I spoke, my voice was high and lilting. “Inbox? You ready, bro?”

A deep voice, sharing some similarities with the ghoul’s, sounded from the end of the bed, under my outstretched hooves. “Sure am, Outtray. I’ve been looking forward to this all week, sis.”

My host craned her head down to the end of the bed, where ‘Inbox’ was climbing onto the bed, as nude as his sister. And between his legs, a swinging, stiff…

WHAT THE FU-

oooOOOooo

When the hours-long Memory ended, Undertow and I wore identical luminescent blushes, and sat apart from each other in mortified silence.

Which was broken by the ghoul’s voracious laughter. “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

“FUCK OFF INBOX!”

“That’s my name, was it yours too?”

“SCREW YOU!”

“One of you did!”

“Undertow, how many times did you watch these?”

Her voice was haunted, ghost-like. She still hadn’t looked at me since waking from the Memory. “It was always the other one.”

~~~~~~

That evening, we hadn’t wanted to try our luck with Lithu’s apartment again, so we’d checked into a hotel, with specific instructions for separate beds for everybody.

The adrenaline and excitement of the day had worn off, and still I found myself, as I had every night since pounding that ghoul into the concrete at the facility, unable to sleep one wink. I was sore all over, and barely had the energy to move at all, so I just lay in bed, hoping that I could recoup enough juice to get through the next day.

It didn’t take. I lay there for hours in silence, staring at the unchanging ceiling, until finally I decided to do something about it.

Before I knew it, I found myself back at Inbox’s shack. Surprisingly, he was awake. He sat outside, staring up at the clouds. His one eye spotted me, but he didn’t move, he just grinned.

“I was wondering which one it would be. So you were my sister then?”

Aaand my face went back to scarlet instantly. “Yes.” I squeaked.

“Why’re you here? Want another go-around? I’m as energetic as I was back then.”

I almost turned and ran then. Living that through somebody else had been too much. Even if he weren’t ancient and undead, to do it in real life would have killed me.

I soldiered through the images running rampant in my mind, before saying the only thing I could think to say to the ghoul. “I’m so sorry.”

“About Outtray? Don’t be. Better that she didn’t end up like this. She went happy, and in peace.”

“No, I mean I’m sorry for… killing a ghoul.” I shamefully hung my head.

Inbox didn’t seem terribly talkative, content to just let me hang for a while. Eventually he responded, still staring at the sky. “Why’d you kill him? Or her? Whichever it was.”

“It… he… attacked us.”

“Oh,” comprehension dawned, “one of the ferals, then?”

“Yeah… I’m so sorry.” What else was there to say? I’d taken a life for a stupid, selfish reason. This would never be good enough.

“Don’t be. You did the thing a favour.”

My jaw dropped. “W-what?”

Now he did look at me, and his one remaining eye was not angry. “Eventually, all ghouls turn feral. It’s a horrible, drawn-out process. Since we’re so hard to kill, it’s about the only thing we have to fear any more. We lose all that we were, and the radiation swallows us whole, turning us into monsters that only care about killing others.”

“But it was a pony…”

“Exactly!” He cut me off angrily, “WAS a pony. Hell, I was a pony. Someday, I’ll be a monster. Right now, I’m something in between, and all I can do is sit here thinking of my sister. All I want is to go back, and all I fear is that I have no choice but to go forward, knowing what I’ll turn into one day.”

His words were angry, but his stare wasn’t. Still, it held my attention wire-tight. “You killed a feral ghoul, Stable pony. You killed a monster. It hadn’t been a pony for a long time and, when it was in between, it had wished that somepony like you had killed it before it turned.”

He spat on the ground. “If you want to be sorry for anything, Stable pony, be sorry because you were late.”

I snapped. “WHY DOESN’T ANYONE… WHY DOESN’T EQUESTRIA HATE ME FOR KILLING?” That was the only way I could express it. Why wasn’t I being punished for what I’d done? Why did everybody expect it? Why was killing accepted as part of life? Why was that okay? I couldn’t bear that thought anymore.

Inbox went back to staring at the sky, a sad smile on his lips. “This place was Equestria once, Stable pony, back before the war. Then, when the fighting started, it was something in between, wishing for someone or something to kill it.” He heaved a sigh, “Well, they sure tried. Only it wasn’t enough. They should have tried again, and harder. But… they didn’t. So now this place is a monster that only cares about killing others. All that’s left is to destroy it.”

Aghast, I turned and ran from the solemn ghoul without another word, leaving him with the last part of his sister he had left.

~~~~~~

I walked up the stairs to my room.

The talk hadn’t helped. I felt worse than ever about killing the ghoul. I felt worse about everything.

Inbox was wrong. Equestria was always a monster. Only a monster could have created the war in the first place. The only thing even close to peace that Equestria has ever had was right after they tried to kill it. At that time only, when it was too hurt to fight back or hurt others, did it act like anything but a monster.

I stopped at the top of the stairway. My door was open. Wary, but weary, I crept along to the entryway as quietly as I could, hugging the wall. Reaching the frame, I tried to focus enough to prepare some magic, but my tired mind was too skittish to muster up the concentration. If things got violent, I’d have to hold on long enough for my friends to show up and save me.

I poked an eye around the doorway, and thoughts of violence left my mind. Curled up together on the bed were my three friends. Sighing, I tiredly wobbled over to the bed.

Undertow in my bed is the last thing I need right now. The vivid imagery of the Memory Orb sprang to mind. Sure, she’d been wearing Inbox’s old body, but she was still seeing my host as she did all that, at the same time as I was feeling it. I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to look at her the same way again.

“Something wrong with your own rooms?” I muttered, as I carefully climbed over their slumbering forms and took up station on the last corner of pillow I could get at.

“Wait,” I sat up again almost instantly, mumbling to myself as the sleep-deprived gears in my head managed a quarter-turn, “I’m not gonna be sleeping, why do I even need the bed at all? I’ll take the chair.”

That was the plan anyway. When I tried to rise off the bed, three separate left hooves shot out and grabbed me. “Wha?”

“Not so fast, svara.”

“You’re not going anywhere, Snow.”

“My apologies, Lady Snow.”

As I rubbed bridge of my nose with my one free hoof, the three fully-awake equines were treated to an exhausted glance. “What’s going on guys? Why aren’t you getting some rest?”

“Why aren’t you?”

“…Not tired.” Would if I could, Bosco.

“Liar. You haven’t slept in days.”

“…Not tired.” Not my choice, svara.

“Let us help you, Lady Snow.”

“…Not tired.” I’d feel worse if you helped me to kill, Undertow.

“Snow, you know you had no choice at the facility.” The colt’s grip was firm, but turned gentle too.

Naiara copied the change. “If you hadn’t done it, I’d have died.”

Finally, Undertow made three. “They told me what happened. Please don’t blame yourself, Lady Snow.”

Tears began to form in my eyes. “We… didn’t have to go there. I could’ve said no. I could’ve… found another way, been smart… for once.”

Bosco began softly rubbing my back. “You couldn’t know beforehoof, Snow. There was no other way.”

Tracks ran down my cheeks. “I-I… with my own hooves…”

Painted hooves wrapped me in a tight embrace. “It’s okay, Snow. We know you didn’t want this.”

“W-why am I not being punished? I can’t t-take back what I did!”

A sea-blue horn tapped against mine as the goggled filly pressed our foreheads together. “Because you do not deserve to be, Lady Snow.”

~~~~~~

They’d stayed with me as I wept, long into the night, showing solidarity with an unworthy murderer like me, until they each gave in to the sleep that couldn’t be delayed any more. Regardless of their efforts, I remained alert, unable to escape from my guilt..

Feeling helpless in the face of my crimes, I’d left them sleeping there, and spent the night on the roof, watching the clouds, as Inbox had. Perhaps hoping to find some way to ease my discomfort with what I’d become, as he had.

Whatever comfort the dark clouds might have given him was lost on me. I simply stared and stared, until the darkness began to recede and a new day began, hours later.

I stayed there until late morning, when the roof door burst open, and Naiara rushed out, frantically dashing back and forth. “Can you hear me now, Breeze? What’s happening? What are those sounds?”

Breeze? The brash, mechanically minded pegasus’ voice sounded loud through a device that Naiara was holding to her ear. There was a lot of other noise too. “Really not a good time, Naiara!”

Holding the device tight, the zebra was not at all pleased with her friend’s situation. “Breeze, tell me what’s happening? Where are you?”

“NAIARA, STOP DISTRACTING ME, I NEED TO FOCUS!” The volume of Breeze’s shout nearly dissolved in static, as the transmitter struggled to adjust.

“Breeze? Tell me where you are! We’ll come help!”

“NO! Stay away from La Buque! Don’t co-“ With a burst of static, the transmission cut off.

~~~~~~

Level Up!

Perks gained: Insomaniac: The value of sleep has been learned, if Snow can ever get some. When rested, Snow and allies gain temporary bonuses to Intelligence and Charisma.

~~~~~~

Author's Note

That’s all for now, folks. Please keep reading, commenting, and spreading the word on Old Souls. I really appreciate your feedback.

Chapter 10-1: Objects And Images

Chapter 10-1: Objects and Images

[Losing a friend’s trust is the fastest way to lose a friend forever.]

“Breeze? Breeze can you hear me?” Naiara, with me struggling behind her, was racing around the hotel rooftop, trying to re-establish contact with Breeze through the device held to her ear.

My tired and confused self couldn’t keep up with her. “Naiara,” I puffed out, “what’s going on?”

“I don’t know.” Her jaw was set firm as she moved. “I was talking to Breeze and it just cut off. Do you think she’s in trouble?

I’d only caught the tail end of their conversation, but that didn’t seem unlikely. “Did she say what she was doing? Was anybody with her?”

Having explored every inch of the roof for the best position, Naiara finally stopped and shook her head, worry evident on her face. “She didn’t mention anyone, and I didn’t hear any other voices. There was a lot of noise, though, and it just stopped mid-sentence like that.”

A chilling thought came to mind, given the last few times Breeze had been with Naiara and I. “You don’t think it’s Plottawa? Or the Rangers?”

Her jade eyes darkened at the idea, but she finally shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. I don’t think I heard gunshots. It was more like rumbling. Plus, remember what she said at the end? ‘La Buque’. It’s a series of smallish canyons. There isn’t even anything there, I’m not sure why she’d go in the first place.”

“So why was she alone? Why didn’t she take Cassie, Wings or Schwarzwald?”

Still looking at the silent device, the zebra just shrugged. “I don’t know. She could have called me, too. La Buque isn’t that far from Lethbridle. It’s to the southwest, but not so far as to reach Undertow’s lake. We were only a few hours outside of it at one point.”

I blinked, surprised at the proximity. “Really? Should we ask Undertow about it?”

Naiara made a face. “She probably won’t know. She isn’t the travelling type. Breeze probably knows it better than she does.”

“And she definitely didn’t mention what she was doing there?”

“No, but it must be important. Even if it is out of the way, she might still get caught on her own and end up in trouble… like now, basically.”

Finally an easy decision. “Then let’s go find her.”

Barely hiding a smirk, as if she’d expected this all along, Naiara looked up. “Even though she said to stay away? Probably trying to warn us of some danger?”

I smiled back, happy to be doing something straightforward for once. “She’s your friend. We can’t exactly leave her if she’s in trouble.”

A measured stare was given. “She’s not your friend?”

I twisted my hoof back and forth in a ‘yes and no’ motion. “She’s… getting there. I mean, we’ve literally fought each other hoof and nail in the past.” I began ticking things off with my hooves, “She’s tried to mug me, electrocuted me, hit me with magic, but… on the other hoof, she’s saved me at Grindstone, and Neighlway, and wasn’t there when her sister stole my Pipbuck and Memory Orb…”

I shrugged, the scales weren’t tipping wildly in either direction. “Eh, she’s your friend. That’ll do for now. Let’s go rescue her.”

“And what about Undertow?”

I airily waved a hoof. “Well of course Undertow’s my friend. She can be Breeze’s friend too.”

Naiara facehoofed. “No, I mean what about Undertow’s ‘diving lights’? She’s not going to leave without getting them back.”

Whoops. “Oh, right. Yeah, that’s a good point. We can always come back though, Breeze needs us right now. We’ve got time for the Raider stuff. I’m sure Undertow’ll understand.”

“Well alright, I’m glad we’re going quickly, but just to be sure… you can tell Undertow that she’ll have to wait, Lady Ice.”

~~~~~~

A dozen bottles of irradiated water rose off the table in the hotel cafeteria. “We… are not getting my diving lights back, Lady Ice?”

As one, Bosco, Naiara and I eased back from the table. “Easy now, Undertow, remember that the rest of us still get sick from that water.”

The bottles, thankfully still sealed, very slowly descended back to the table. I’d said one line and it’d set her off immediately. “My apologies, Lady Ice, but you promised to help me get my diving lights back.”

“I know,” I soothed, “but you heard Inbox. He’s not going to get rid of the Orbs any time soon. Breeze needs us now. I’m really sorry, but this can’t wait.”

As she looked at each of us in turn, Naiara sweetened the deal. “Look, ‘tow. If it helps, I was talking to Breeze about you, and she thinks she can help with your diving lights. She’s really good with all sorts of technology. She might be able to help you find another set of lights. I mean, those ones do kinda belong to the ghoul.”

“Oh yeah, they do…” I muttered.

The zebra continued as if she hadn’t heard me. “Breeze can make all kinds of gadgets. She might be able to make some lights for you that aren’t those Memory Orbs. If she does, you can get the Deep Divers back on your side again.” She tactfully neglected to mention the Raider alliance I was trying to create, which would have muddied the issue even further.

It tore at my heart as her shoulders slumped, and I thought I saw her lip start quivering. If her eyes weren’t permanently hidden behind those goggles, I was sure I’d be seeing her eyes watering. “But… my lake… the Deep Divers…”

“Will not hurt you,” I stressed, “I won’t let them. If you want to go back to your lake, I’ll make sure you get back safe and sound. Please, please just wait a little while longer.”

After several seconds, Undertow wordlessly rose and began packing the bottles of water into her saddlebags. Taking that as an affirmative, the rest of us stood up too. “You’re the best, Undertow.”

There was the tiniest unbunching of her shoulders. “We… should hurry.”

As she left, I pulled Naiara and Bosco back slightly. “Listen, when we find Breeze, just… try not to mention that Undertow’s kind of a Raider.”

The two exchanged glances. “Why?”

“Um…” regardless of my feelings towards Cassie, this wasn’t the sort of secret I just went about blabbing. It wouldn’t be fair to Breeze, “I can’t explain now, but Cassie hates Raiders. Like really hates them. I have to think that Breeze might too. We don’t want any… overreactions.”

I received two pointed looks. “From who?”

“… Let’s just say we shouldn’t tell her.”

~~~~~~

Undertow, while still not straying far from me, had been acting sullen and disappointed ever since we left Lethbridle, despite my repeated assurances that we’d be back to get the Memory Orbs as soon as we could.

When we stopped for a rest, hours into our brisk stride, I’d seen a golden opportunity to mend some fences, as well as prepare for the upcoming situation.

As Bosco was grilling Naiara for some information about Breeze, who he’d be meeting for the first time, hopefully, at least, I called out to the Deep Diver as she laid out her possessions. “Undertow?”

She stopped working, but didn’t turn around. “Yes, Lady Ice?”

I’d noticed that she hadn’t once called me ‘Lady Snow’ since I’d given her the bad news, when she’d broken her silence at all.

On the plus side, since it seemed like she was mostly blaming me, Bosco and Naiara were treated with the cautious, but growing, curiosity and general politeness that she’d always shown them.

I hoped she would soon open up to them properly. Naiara already loved to see her acting adorable, and Bosco wouldn’t last long if Undertow turned on the charm. “I need your help.”

Now she did turn around, giving me a look that, even while hidden behind goggles and damp turquoise mane, came off as surprised. “My help?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I need to become a better fighter. I’m useless with guns and can’t fight hoof-to-hoof, so I need to be able to fight with my magic.”

I absent-mindedly reached up and rubbed my horn. “Right now, my magic is not strong enough to allow me to fight well enough that I can avoid… the worst outcomes.”

She cocked her head to the side, confused. “I do not understand, Lady Ice. You are extremely strong. If not, you would not have defeated me at the lake.”

“Undertow,” I hesitated, trying to find a diplomatic way to word what I would say next, “… I got lucky. My magic is ice magic, and you are a water user. I had a natural advantage. Even so, you’re still a far stronger magic user than I am. The only reason I was able to use my one single spell on you was because of Naiara’s agility and Bosco’s smarts.”

The Deep Diver was fully facing me now, sitting with her hind legs spread, like a foal. “Lady Ice… what are you telling me?”

I rubbed a hoof into my tired eyes. “I’m telling you that I’ve survived longer than I should have, and others have not, because I’ve been very lucky several times, and very fortunate that I have strong friends. I always end up needing my friends’ help… and I can’t do anything for them.”

I felt a small pang when I imploringly reached out a hoof to her and she shied away from it slightly. “I’m a bad shot, and useless with my hooves. My magic is the only way I can fight, and I can’t use it well enough to protect everything I want to. You, on the other hand, can control all that water without getting out of bed. I need you to teach me.”

Her jaw dropped. “You… need me? To teach you?”

I nodded again, unable to hide my shame. “Yes. I’m so sorry that I didn’t tell you earlier. You asked me to protect you, and I acted like I could. However, the truth is that I don’t know if I can. Bosco told you before that I have caused him a lot of trouble, and he’s right. I’ve caused him trouble, I’ve caused Naiara trouble, we’re going to see Aqua Breeze, and I’ve caused her trouble too. Clearly, I’ve caused you lots of trouble…”

“That’s not true, Lady Snow!”

“Thank you, Undertow, but it is. All the friends that I’ve made, you included, I’ve put in danger, again and again. All the enemies I’ve made are stronger than I can handle. Just ask Naiara or Bosco what happened in Plottawa with a stallion named Peanut sometime, it’s a really good example, especially since it’s when I became Red Ice.”

I stepped forward and reached out again. She didn’t move away from my hoof this time, just watched it, dumbfounded, as I lay it on her shoulder. I put the other hoof under her chin, to draw her goggled visage back to mine, wanting her to see truth of the matter in my haggard, awake-for-days, bloodshot eyes. “I’m begging you, Undertow, please… teach me how to use better magic. You are the strongest Unicorn I know. You control water, I use ice. There’s a connection there, and I have to, I have to become stronger so that I can protect you, Bosco, Naiara, Breeze and any others that I need to.”

She needed to know the truth, now, before this went any further. As soon as we find out what happened to Breeze, Undertow will need to make the decision about the Raider alliance herself, with all the facts. ‘Lady Snow’ is not the one to make her decisions for her.

“I… I’ve never taught another. I only know how the water moves for me. The Taint made it so that the water is part of me. I-I don’t know how I would help you with your ice, Lady Snow!”

I hated seeing her looking so trapped, she was even quivering! But I couldn’t stop now, this was my best chance. She was my best chance. “Please,” I stressed again, begging, “I trust you, Lady Undertow. You’re more than capable of this. Can we please just try?”

I’d shaken her deep to her core. I could almost see the thought process: This wasn’t the way it was supposed to go. She thought I was stronger than her, and I’d promised to protect her. If it turned out that I wasn’t strong, then what protection could I offer?

I’ve made her vulnerable. She knows this isn’t my territory. I don’t have authority here, and therefore my protection is worth nothing. I’ve taken a girl from her home, her place of strength, and dropped her into a big, bad world with nothing but lies and false promises.

Heh, and now I’m asking her for help.

A helpless glance was sent towards Naiara and Bosco, who’d long since ceased their own conversation and had been watching us.

Naiara, somehow, gave a bright smile. “Your big sister needs help, Undertow. You’re not gonna say no, are ya?”

I frowned at that. The joke was cute at other times, but milking it right now seemed unfair.

Bosco took the more pragmatic approach. “Don’t listen to Snowflake, Undertow. We need her, and she needs you. Please give her some help.”

We were ganging up on her, and it wasn’t fair. I made to take my hoof from her shoulder, but a pair of sea-blue limbs shot out and grabbed it as it withdrew.

Startled, my balance was disrupted, and I instinctually pulled the hoof towards me, dragging the other unicorn with it, so we ended up with her face buried in my chest, and my hoof wrapped protectively around her.

“-dy Snow?” She’d been mumbling into my chest, but that was all I’d made out. It was similar to how she’d acted in the crowd at the market.

“Undertow?”

“You promised to protect me. Do you promise to become stronger than anypony else, Lady Snow?”

It was incredible how small she looked just then. I hadn’t been exaggerating before. She was an incredibly gifted unicorn, to move water with such power and ease, but all I could think of at that moment was that she looked so much like my brother, Lo, back when we were very young.

The day he finally understood that his mother wouldn’t wake up again.

I’d have promised Lo anything then, and I would have meant every word. For the rest of my life, I’d have kept the promise I made then.

I’m gonna mean it just as much now.

“Yeah, Lady Undertow, I’ll become stronger than anybody else, and I will never let you come to harm.”

With misting goggles, she finally gave a short nod. “Very well.”

We were all silent for a few moments, as Undertow and I each managed a soft smile.

“Although,” Bosco’s flat drawl began, “that’s gonna mean that Snow’s gonna have to be stronger than Un-OW! Than Under-OW! OW! Why are you kicking me?”

Naiara kept on kicking, staying on him as he jumped away. “You totally ruined the moment, you jerk!”

“OW! Naiara! Leave me alone!”

“Yes, Undertow,” I answered her unasked question as we watched the zebra chase the colt around the clearing, “Naiara and Bosco are friends. This sometimes happens between friends. When it does, just go ahead and laugh.”

~~~~~~

We were in a hurry, so there was no time to sit around for a protracted learning session. That made Undertow’s first lesson a mobile endeavour. “What magic do you know, Lady Snow? You mentioned that you only had one spell.”

“Right.” I sighed, embarrassed, “My Cryo Serpent. It’s a sorta ice trail that spreads out from what my horn is touching. I… can’t really control it too well yet.”

“This Cryo Serpent was the spell you used against my water shield?”

Shrugging, I tried not to act like I’d done anything special, which I hadn’t. “Basically. I fired it point blank range when I fought you, so I didn’t need to control it. I just let it spread across the water anyway it wanted.”

“I… see.” Yeah, you got beat by an idiot caster with a half-formed spell. Sorry about the damage to your ego, Undertow.

“So what do you think? Any ideas, Undertow?”

“Let me think for a moment.” She turned her attention inward, focusing hard on the task at hand, though still taking care to watch where she was going. Keeping her awareness at all times was probably needed if you wanted to dive underwater.

I left her to her thoughts and trotted a bit faster, catching up with the others. “How’re we doing?”

Naiara had been periodically testing her communicator for any word from Breeze.

So far, there’d been nothing. “Not far now. Maybe an hour.” She clicked the device again. There was only static.

After a few seconds, she switched it off, and we lapsed into silence. Naiara kept walking, increasing her pace ever so slightly.

“We’ll find her.” Bosco’s usual business-like tone was gone, and in its place was a soft, comforting rumble. He sped up to keep pace with the zebra girl. He was being pretty tactful about the whole thing, not trying to cover up any doubts with a wall of words, which was hardly his style anyway, but instead just making sure that Naiara always had somebody to talk with in case anything occurred to her on the way. Since I’d been so absorbed with Undertow, I’d not been available too much.

I owed the colt a few drinks, for making sure Naiara wasn’t fretting about her friend alone.

Naiara herself managed a nod at his words. “Yeah. Cept’d never forgive me if I didn’t. He thinks she’s cute.”

“Oh yeah?” Bosco was no gossip by nature, but the enthusiasm in his voice wasn’t the least genuine I’d ever heard.

“Big time. I think it’s the wings. We don’t get those back home.” She bounced up and down a little bit to accompany her words. It was apparent that she was still worried, but seemed to appreciate the distraction.

Quickly checking that Undertow was still with us, even with her inward contemplation, which she was, I weighed in. “So tell us a little bit more about Cept.”

Surprisingly, she shook her head. “Nuh-uh. Not my place. Cept’ll show up sometime in the near future, you can ask him then. I’m not telling you anything until then.”

“Except that he’s got a crush on a tech head Pegasus.” Bosco’s deadpan was practiced.

“Well yeah, but that’s really juicy. Besides, that’s not something he could hide if you ever saw the two of them together.”

Sensing that it was unlikely that he’d learn much more about the zebra in the Wasteland right now, Bosco wisely let it drop. “Fair enough, his secrets are his own. I’m looking forward to meeting him.”

I had to roll my eyes at that.

“So tell me a little more about Breeze,” he continued, quickly throwing up hooves in an ‘easy now’ motion at her questioning look, “Just enough so I can help find her quickly. Looks, what she might have on her, what she might’ve been doing, stuff like that.”

“I would like to know too, so that our chances are the best they will be for finding Aqua Breeze.” Undertow’s liquid tones were slightly robotic, as if she was still focusing attention elsewhere. Still, it put to rest any doubts I had about her concentration.

“For all we know, she’s wearing the Steel Ranger armour she got from Cept. Best bet is look for blue feathers, she’s a blue-on-blue Pegasus, or some random tech lying around. We’ll try to find her quietly first. If she’s not alone, we don’t want to tip them off. Still, as soon as we think we’re safe, start hollering for her at the top of your lungs. Just call out Breeze, it’s faster.”

“I understand. Um… Naiara?”

“Yeah, Undertow?”

“Would you like a hug?”

Oh, that is precious. Just look at Naiara, she doesn’t even know whether to laugh or cry.

She elected for half of both. Letting out a chuckle as she discreetly wiped her eyes, Naiara spoke up without turning back. “Thanks, Undertow, but I’m oka-” she stopped suddenly as a thought struck her. Whatever the thought was, it brought a sly smile to her face. “Tell you what, save that hug for Breeze, when you meet her. It’ll make her day.”

“Oh… very well.” The Deep Diver turned back to me, “Lady Snow, shall we begin the lesson?”

“Just a second, Undertow.”

I gave a quizzical glance to the grinning zebra, before dropping my voice to a whisper. “Breeze isn’t going to know who she is. She’ll freak if Undertow tries to hug her.”

“Hah, I know!” At my disapproving frown, she relented, “I’m not gonna let either of them get hurt, big sis, it’s just for a laugh.”

“…”

“Lady Snow?”

“Oh, right. Coming, Undertow.” I stopped to wait for her to catch up, while Bosco and Naiara continued on, talking quietly among themselves.

“Think she wants her for a sister?”

“Which one?”

“Either.”

“Well…”

Undertow caught up, diverting my attention to her. I fell into step with her as she drew level. “Did you think of something for me to try?”

A bottle of irradiated water floated out of her bag in an aquamarine haze, and the top began to unfasten. “I believe so. You mentioned that your horn must be touching whatever it is you wish to affect with your serpent spell. I believe it best to work on your magical range first.”

The bottle cap popped off, and was swiftly pocketed, while a small volume of water rose from the bottle, undulating like a snake, before turning and moving towards me.

I looked up, almost going cross-eyed, as the watery sliver spun into a ring around my horn, never touching, but following as I moved my head. The inner wall of the ring was less than an inch from my horn itself. “What’s this?”

“It is a way for you to practice. I will hold the water so that it will never touch your horn. You will try to freeze it with your magic. If you can do that, I will widen the ring. It will get wider each time. I am sure you will master it immediately, Lady Snow.” I’d never ‘mastered’ a single piece of magic in my life, even back before I had a magical blowout in the Stable.

Although… there have been times when I managed something different. My first fight out of the Stable, and that chubby guy outside of Vanchoofer… Huh, come to think of it, those both happened with Raiders around. Undertow’s… kind of a Raider. I’ll take any straws I can grasp at here.

Okay, here we go…

I closed my eyes… then almost immediately opened them again as my lack of sleep brought on a wave of nausea. I kept my pace, but hesitated at first, taking several deep breaths.

Matching my step, Undertow said nothing, merely kept her horn glowing, and the ring of water slowly revolving around my horn, never faltering.

Marvelling at her control, and keeping the aquamarine haze in my peripheral vision, I concentrated, slowly but surely working my horn up to full force, with my own glacial glow emerging in the centre of the sea-blue circle.

Holding that glow for a moment, I made no move to actually attempt to cast a spell. I had no spell to cast. I wasn’t trying to use my Cryo Serpent, I was trying to form new magic, albeit on a basic level. I thought about nothing but the ring around my horn, trying to focus everything I had on it.

“Freeze.” I muttered.

It didn’t. It just kept slowly revolving, still as liquid as ever.

“Freeze!” I pumped more effort into my magic. The tip of my horn began to glow brighter than the rest, and the air began to cool, but still the water remained unaffected.

I glanced over at Undertow, but I couldn’t read her face behind those goggles. “Don’t stop, Lady Snow.”

“Alright.” I ground out, my horn pulsing brighter and brighter. I was giving it everything I had.

“No, wait, that’s not what I…”

A rolling mist burst from my horn, travelling back down my body, instantly soaking every inch. “Gaah!” My concentration faltered, as did my walking pace, and the glow from my horn faded, leaving just Undertow’s aquamarine aura.

The water remained entirely unaffected.

At my disgruntled grunt, Undertow’s water ring lifted from around my horn and rolled through the air between us. “More power is not the answer here, Lady Snow. That will come later. First you must train your magic to recognise your surroundings, and have your unicorn abilities interact with them.”

The water ring returned to my horn. “Look. You see that the ring is not your horn, correct?”

“Right…”

“Nor is it mine. We recognise that it is separate from either. Just as it floats in the air, but is not the air. Your eyes see that they are different, yes?”

“…Yes.”

She reached up a hoof and tapped her own horn. “As your eyes can see, so can your magic. I am not attempting to move all of the air, just that water within the air. Your magic need not travel through all that air simply to reach the water. You merely have to notice the difference between them, and choose which you wish to affect.”

“I… have never thought about it like that. How did you think that up?” She’s got a point. It’s like how my horn glows when I use magic, instead of my entire body.

Undertow’s rebreather shifted as her hoof rubbed across it. “It was a lesson I learned soon after reaching the lake, the first time I went under the water. My magic aids me greatly when I dive, but it cannot bear the weight of the entire lake at once.” Both her head and the corners of her mouth drooped downwards as she relived the memory, “I almost lost my life that day. My magic was overwhelmed through the effort, and I only survived through my rebreather. I did not attempt another dive for weeks.”

Reminds me of the medical bay after the Memory Orb. I’d say I’d been overwhelmed. I hadn’t really considered the possibility that I might not have woken up from that cold snap until now. My own out of control magic might have killed me.

Covered eyes rose again. “I, and my magic, love the water, but I couldn’t do nearly as much as I can now. It took practice, and thought, and time. I believe that you will learn faster than I did, and I will try to aid you in sidestepping the mistakes I made, but it will not happen all at once.”

Despite the gravity of her words, I couldn’t help but smile. “Even though you said I’d master it immediately a little while ago.”

Blushing, she flashed an embarrassed smile. “I… merely meant to bolster your confidence. You truly are strong, Lady Snow, I just…um…”

It is impossible to stay mad at this girl. I grabbed her in an affectionate hug. “Don’t worry, Undertow, I really appreciate it. Come on, help me get strong enough to protect you.”

Relief flooded over her features. “Of course, Lady Snow.” She pointed back to the water ring, “As I said, try to focus on the water itself, separate from the air around it.”

“Aye aye.” My horn lit up again, but much gentler this time. Trying to force the magic had done nothing but gotten me wet and given me a headache. It wasn’t about strength yet.

I was finally getting some basic magic teaching. Any help I might’ve been given in the Stable was years and years ago, and had long since been forgotten through lack of practice. All I’d been able to do back then was make ice cubes, and that took months of self-‘teaching’.

Still, I didn’t need to dip my horn in the damn tray to do that, so I must’ve figured out a way somehow. With Undertow helping me, I’m sure I can do it again. And I’m gonna, for her sake, and everybody else’s. Buoyed slightly by the magic I’d once wielded, however little, I set to work again.

What did my magic feel like? I’d never thought about it before. It was difficult to pin down the sensations I could feel in my horn, especially as weak as they were now. Still, there was a definite feeling there, and I lapsed into silence as I tried to pin down the experience. Bosco and Naiara were still ahead of us, but Undertow stayed with me as I walked, since little of my concentration was on my hoof-falls.

It’s… um… flat? No, that’s not right… jagged? No, still not right. It’s… it’s like a crystal, except… more fluid. Sort of. There’s cold there, and it’s crisp. It’s… like ice. There’s no other way to describe it.

I gasped as I felt my horn pulse in response to my thoughts. Happy as I was to make even that simple tautological breakthrough, ice magic being like ice, I still had a more difficult task ahead.

I still had to recognise the water.

Forgoing my horn, where the glow had faded to a dull imbue, I tried to focus outwards. As soon as I moved my magic sense away from my horn, I fell into nothingness. I almost panicked right there. I knew I was looking at the air, but it was so empty from my horn’s eye. I couldn’t find anything, it was like a void, empty of all purpose.

No, I realised after more probing, there IS something there. It’s different from the air, and my magic. My ice is… harder, more solid. This is… it’s like it keeps slipping through my ‘hooves’. It’s free, and wild, but also calm. There’s… um… I dunno. It kinda feels like there’s more there, but it’s not obvious how. It’s close too, really close.

IT’S THE RING! I found it!

“Excellent, Lady Snow!” Undertow’s excited and encouraging voice came in from outside of my sight, which had fallen into tunnel vision as I looked inward, “Now try to touch it with your magic. Don’t attack it, just reach out.”

Buoyed by her words, I fell back into the magic sense, seeking again for the sensation of the water. However, in my excitement at finding it the first time…

“It was right there! I had it!” …it was proving difficult to re-locate the water ring.

“I know,” she soothed, “stay calm. It will come.”

“But it was right theeeeeere.” I was whining, but I didn’t care.

“It is still right there, lady Ice,” The slight rebuke made it clear that my complaining wasn’t productive, “Don’t think of your magic and your other senses as separate. Use your eyes. You know where the water ring is. You can see it. Your magic can follow your eyes. Just keep trying. You already succeeded once, you will again.”

Following her advice, and mindful of her warning, especially since she was the one with a magic ring perilously close to my horn, I blinked away tears of tiredness-fueled melodrama, then glanced upwards at the shining ring.

Hokay, so it’s right there. I can see it. Sooo, that’s the way I need to send my magic through the air void. Simple enough… I hope.

And, comparatively at least, it was. Instead of fumbling blindly in the dark, I had a direction for my fledgling magic sense to head. It took only seconds until I found the change again. It was like recognising when you move from walking on soil to walking on stone, similar but different.

I’d found the ring again, and let my magic sense explore it as much as possible. The influx of sensations I got back were far more than I could really understand, but the basic gist was becoming clearer.

Now for the tricky part… Taking my own crystalline-tasting ice magic, I imagined it stretching out, reaching, from the familiarity of my horn, through the blind emptiness, until it reached the liquid circlet. I was almost there, just metaphorical and metaphysical inches from my ice making contact with the water, when something strange happened.

I found I could probe no further.

I had the location down pat, both in my eyes and with my horn. My magic had reached the ring. It had travelled away from my glowing horn and found something to touch outside of my immediate influence.

Except… it couldn’t touch it. Wherever I probed, the magic sense reached no further.

My heart sank as I tried to withdraw my touch, disappointment swallowing my desire to continue.

“No, Lady Snow,” Warmth existed in those words, but it was definitely an order, “we are not yet finished here.”

“What? Why? I can’t go any further. I’ve tried all over and I can’t get through.”

My companion would not be dissuaded. Her one-word answer brought me back to the matter.

“Why?”

Hell if I know. I really thought I had it. I mean, I can see the water just fine, it’s running around and around my horn. And my magic can feel it too, even away from my body. But for some reason, I can’t touch it. It’s like there’s something in the wa-it a minute now. Is she hinting at what I think she’s hinting at?

Once again demonstrating her incredible poker face, Undertow gave nothing away. I opened my mouth to speak, but her brows creased in a frown the moment I did. Back to the magic sense I went.

Curious now, I was so focused on the water that I felt my nose growing wet. Finding it again took a full minute, which worried me slightly. I was so close to doing this right, and I didn’t want to stop since Undertow’s lesson was going so well.

Reaching out again, my magic found its way to the ring for a third time. As before, I probed around the edges, looking for an opening. And, as before, I found none. There was definitely a barrier around the water.

Withdrawing my focus from the liquid itself, I turned it back on the area around the water, seeking confirmation of my growing suspicions. The feel of the water was strong, far more so than the feel of my ice magic. It was like it was more… concentrated.

Stymied, I relaxed slightly, and let my magic follow the flow that the water was creating, like a wake, or a slip stream,

Or an undertow.

There it was. I knew there was something going on. Extra information filtered back down my magical connection, surprising me: The smell of wet pony, the slippery elusiveness of the water, but not only that. There was something else there, something reminiscent of how my ice magic felt, but still very much the water, too. A bridge between them, between mystical ice and physical water, neither one or the other, nor both at once, but borrowing from each and forming its own identity.

There was a resonance with my magic, as if the two were connected somehow.

It reacted to my touch. While maintaining its hold on the water, the ‘barrier’ seemed to open voluntarily, as if inviting me in. Reminiscent of how our after-battle first meeting had begun, it was clear what the barrier really was.

Undertow’s water magic was inviting me in.

Cheered, I moved forward eagerly, which proved to be disastrous. I got only the faintest touch at the physical water before the entire enterprise collapsed. My magic shut off like a closed valve, and my eyes refocused on the world around us.

The water splashed down onto my forehead as my knees buckled, its levitator having abandoned her task to rush forward and prevent my fall.

Blowing drops from my lips as I leaned into her, I looked up gratefully at the Deep Diver. “I felt you.”

You could have read by the light of her smile. “And I you.”

Gingerly, I reached up and brushed some of the water away from my fur, it was still irradiated after all, and I didn’t have Undertow’s natural resistance. For a moment, I thought I heard the snap of ice breaking around my horn, but some probing provided nothing but more water.

Must have been my imagination. Still, even as I sniffled my wet nose, I felt rather pleased about the whole thing.

“Shall we keep going, Undertow?”

She didn’t meet my eyes. “Um… perhaps not, Lady Snow.”

“What, why?” I thought I’d been doing pretty well.

Gingerly, a sea-blue hoof wiped fluid from my nostrils.

The fluid was red. My nose had been bleeding.

That would be just about the time my temporarily ignored exhaustion re-announced itself.

Ow. “Ow.”

“What’s wrong now?” Gruffer than Undertow had ever been, Bosco seemed nonplussed that we’d stopped moving. What was strange was that he had his gun drawn, with his knife ready if needed.

“I’m fine,” I blew some more blood from my nose, “Just overdid it a little.”

“Yes, I believe this is a fine place to stop for the day. I am pleased with our progress.”

The colt just nodded. “Good timing, considering we’re here.”

What? “But Naiara said we had an hour to go?”

“She did say that,” he agreed flatly, before smirking, “an hour ago.”

The whites of my eyes were very visible. “We were at it for an hour?” I turned in shock to my tutor, “You kept that up for a full hour?”

Even with a permanently wet mane, and eyes hidden by goggles, pride radiated from the Deep Diver. “And so did you.”

~~~~~~

Chapter 10-2: Objects And Images

Chapter 10-2: Objects and Images

“Dig ib Wa Buque?” We’d joined Naiara at the edge of a ravine, and were taking in the sight stretching out in front of us. My bleeding nose was temporarily plugged with some tissue, which had the charming effect of distorting my speech.

In front of our eyes, La Buque lay open. From our perch, at the tail end of a snaking crevice, we took in the surprisingly unique layout. From how Naiara had described it earlier, I had been expecting an empty valley in the ground, but the truth of the matter was very different. It was almost certainly uninhabited, but it was far from empty.

Stretching from one cliff face to the other, and running along every bit of wall we could see, were dozens, maybe hundreds of walkways. Seemingly hewn from stone and reinforced with rope and mortar, and equal parts cut from, dug into, and hooked onto the walls, the crossings zigzagged and crisscrossed through the ravine.

At the end of each crossing, on the rock walls, were hollows, possibly homes, and eroded stairways between the suspended bridges. Each bridge was connected to two or three others, and formed a maze-like back-and-forth for travelling through the canyon.

“I’d forgotten it was like this. It’s been too long since I last saw it.” Naiara was wowed by the architecture, as we all were, but her eyes were still roving back and forth, searching for her friend.

“Too bad it’s dead around here,” Bosco began, an appreciative smile on his lips, “In its day, this place must’ve been…”

“…Amazing.” Undertow finished. I spared her a quick glance, which turned out to be too quick as it made me dizzy. My nose must’ve bled worse than I thought.

Still, she’s only really seen Lethbridle and Sprinkles Supplies since coming with us, really built up and as modern as can be for the Wasteland, coming to a place like this, no other ponies around to scare her. This place must be almost a playground for her. I neglected to comment on her restrained awe at the design, mostly for my own dignity.

A small chk! sound drew all out eyes. Breaking off from a high walkway, a fragment of stone tumbled downwards, colliding with, and bouncing off, other walkways in its fall, until finally we heard it strike something solid, far below.

Looking a little closer, we all saw that many of the bridges were in various states of ruin. Many were missing chunks, like some gigantic creature had taken bites out of them.

I really hope, for Breeze and all our sakes, that there isn’t a monster around that can do that.

Other signs of time became apparent as we stared. Cracked fastenings in the cliff walls, collapsed stone littering the area, and some crossings simply ending in dead ends, or requiring leaps of faith to traverse, with little or no hope of catching a lower bridge if you messed up your jump.

Maybe the monster’s unnecessary. “Be shubband sday lungah dan be neet.”

Bosco and Undertow just looked at me in confusion. Naiara grimaced, still scanning the dilapidated city. “We don’t have time for your games, Snow. Breeze is here, and the place doesn’t look too stable. We’d better find her quickly.”

Naiara was right. We weren’t here to see the sights. There would be time enough for that after we found Aqua Breeze. I stepped back so that I was in line with the colt and filly, putting Naiara squarely in our sights. This really was her mission more than anything. She was closer to Breeze than I was, I just wanted to help.

Plus I’d rather not talk until I get this damn tissue out of my nose.

Our lack of argument spurred her on, and she turned back to La Buque’s maze. After a few seconds, her jade eyes narrowed, and she pointed. “There.”

We followed her outstretched hoof with our eyes, while she continued. “That’s the best place to start. Looks like it’s stable enough to walk on, and it seems to have plenty of connections.”

Bosco nodded his agreement. “Alright then, lead the way. You’ve got the surest hooves. We’ll follow you.”

“Okay, but remember that if I say stop, you stop. I say move, you move. Got it?”

We gave three nods. Satisfied, she set off, circumnavigating the edge, until we reached the starting point. Said starting point still required a two-meter drop to reach the first walkway, which was unforgiving on my tired, sleepless, fresh-off-a-marathon-magic-session limbs.

My four knees screamed in protest as I landed, which almost made them buckle and faceplant me into the stone. If Bosco hadn’t steadied me, I probably would have broken my nose, which didn’t need another reason to bleed.

Once we were all safely down onto the walkways, we set off to find Breeze. Naiara led us, single file, along the first walkway, stretching perpendicular across the canyon.

Our progress was not smooth. Naiara stopped at every creak, or groan, or whistle of wind, to make sure that we were safe before continuing. Bosco was behind her, almost as alert, and stopped himself just fine when she did. I, being third in line, and not possessed of particularly impressive reflexes, found myself bumping into Bosco’s backside more often than not, for which I was increasingly equal parts embarrassed and annoyed. The fact that Undertow walked so close behind me didn’t help either. If she were further back, I’m sure she would have been fine to keep herself separate.

I just don’t have the heart to tell her to move away. The end result was that Undertow ended up just as jostled as I was. She didn’t seem to show any annoyance though.

After thirty minutes of this, however, and no sign of Breeze, Naiara certainly did. “Uuuagh! This is taking too long!” In frustration, she kicked out at the barrier of our current walkway. Her kick caused the stone to fissure, and the cracks slowly began to spread outwards.

“Uh oh.” Didn’t matter who said it, we were all thinking it.

“MOVE!” Leading by example, Naiara bolted for the nearest wall junction, with the three of us close behind. As we galloped, the rumble of cracking masonry increased.

Undertow, bringing up the rear, barely managed to get her hooves onto more stable ground before the section of walkway we’d been on shattered, throwing up dust and throwing down debris, which tore and blasted huge chunks out of lower bridges as it fell.

“Ah boo awwighd?” I fussed over the other unicorn, making sure she wasn’t injured from the close call.

“Y-yes, I am fine,” she shakily responded, “thank you for your concern, Lady Snow.”

Bosco was examining the broken bridge, which now bore a gap that was far too long for us to cross again. He gently knocked the butt of his pistol against the jagged edge, and a few slivers were knocked loose. Shaking his head, he stood up and faced Naiara. “No good. This stuff’s pretty weak.”

She gave another grimace. “You’re right. If we walked together we’d have to take it slow to avoid causing any instability. We should take a couple of different walkways. We’ll cover more ground and it’ll be less strain on the stone.”

“Well… alright…” Bosco didn’t look terribly thrilled at this, “…But we should try to make sure that we always have one of the others in our eye line, so we don’t get too split up from each other.”

“Yeah, fine.” Her reply, and her demeanour, were distracted. “I’m gonna head down and look around closer to the bottom. Why don’t you three move a little further along, check out the next bend?”

“What did I just say? That’ll separate you from the rest of us.” Bosco was indignant at the zebra’s lack of attention.

“I’ll keep an eye on where you go!” She shot back with rolled eyes. Taking the nearby stairs in a single bound, she landed lighter on her hooves than I would ever be able to.

“Naiara!”

She ignored him and kept going, disappearing out of sight.

A grumph emerged from the colt’s throat. “You’re not the one who pulls this kinda impulsive crap, Snow is!”

I clipped him around the ear for that. “Bowoah!”

“Ow!” He looked like he was gonna keep arguing as he rubbed his ear, but let out a long breath instead. “Yeah, okay. Sorry about that. I just don’t want anypony going alone.”

“I umbers… ugh, hoeb on.” I reached up and gently pulled the tissue from my nostrils. It came away red, but the blood didn’t look fresh. It’d closed enough in the last half hour that I wouldn’t need it.

Taking a few experimental sniffs, I was quite happy to discover that there were no breathing issues, nor was any more loose blood expelled. I couldn’t help but smile in satisfaction. “Much better. Anyway, as I was saying, if you’re so bothered about this, then go after her. Undertow and I can check out the next bend. If there’s no sign of Breeze, you two can catch up faster than we can.”

“Why don’t you go?”

I opened my mouth to respond, but Undertow beat me to it. “I-I wish to stay with Lady Snow,” she interjected rapidly, before just as hastily adding, “her magic instruction is not yet complete.”

I took pity on the nervously fidgeting filly, turning to Bosco. “What she said. I’ll look after this one, you go look after Naiara. Besides,” a thought suddenly struck me, “you two have never met Breeze, so it’s best if Naiara and I split up, it gives us a better chance to find her without her going hostile on us. I’ll tell you right now, Breeze is dangerous when she’s scared.” Thoughts of the beating I took from her when she was searching for her sister resurfaced in my mind.

If Naiara hadn’t been there…

“Alright,” Bosco groused, though he also seemed relieved. “I’ll go after her. You two can head over to the next part of the ravine. We’ll meet up later.”

Reaching up, I gently tapped his shoulder with my hoof. “Keep yourselves safe, alright?”

He returned the gesture. “You too.” Undertow received a reassuring smile. “Both of you.”

Hesitantly, the goggled unicorn reached up and bopped his other shoulder, a small return smile showing in the corners of her mouth.

~~~~~~

The next bend proved just as fruitless as the first. Undertow and I spent the better part of an hour travelling its byways back and forth, up and down, in and out, and came away with very little. The remainder of the hour was spent trying to find a way to meet up again, which became an exercise in frustration as the layout of the walkways proved aggravatingly disordered.

After walking up to the bridge I believed Undertow was on, for the third time, only to find that she was on a completely different bridge, also for the third time, I found myself wishing for the magical prowess to solve all my problems, for what must be the umpteenth time.

What I wouldn’t give to be able to just make a damn route straight to her. We’re not there yet though, not even close.

“Undertow?” I called out, after a few more attempts. She wasn’t on the same walkway as me, but maybe she was close.

“Lady Snow?”

SUCCESS!!! I spotted the Deep Diver a few levels down. She was rubbing her ear strangely.

“You okay?” My concern grew as she continued to rub, and then tap her ear. “Undertow?”

“I am… okay, Lady Snow. I think the air here is affecting my hearing. There is a noise, almost like I am underwater.”

I cast about, trying to make sense of what she was saying. “What do you mean? What noi…”

Then I heard it.

It was subtle, like any other background noise, you’d barely register it unless you were looking for it. A hissing, static-y sound that was chillingly familiar.

“Undertow, get under cover!” I forcefully yelled. “Right now!” The distance between us seemed to stretch as the new danger approached.

“What is it, lady Snow? What’s wrong?” She was standing on the tallest part of her bridge, as if the extra few inches would allow us to reach each other.

I waved her towards one of the hollows in the cliff face. “Get out of the open and get your water ready! Whatever you do, don’t let them bite you! I’m coming to find you!”

“Please, Lady Snow, what is coming?” I hated the raw emotion in her voice, it matched the feeling I had in my heart. She was scared for me, and I was scared for her.

“Hissyflits! Their poison is deadly! Don’t let them touch you!” I had to raise my voice now. The static was much more pronounced. “Button up your barding, tight as you can! Goggles on, rebreather in. Expose as little as possible!”

I raced towards one of the hub points in a vain attempt to find a way down to her, all the while that she was calling out to me. I just wished she would get out of the open. I’d fought these things before. Hell, I’d been poisoned by these things before, I knew what I was up against.

Undertow was a far superior fighter to me, but I didn’t want her taking unnecessary chances. Hissyflits were lethal. One bite could be deadly. There weren’t any miraculous, antidote-wielding Steel Rangers around La Buque, and we were too far from anywhere else for her to get help in time.

“UNDERTOW, GET OUT OF SIGHT!” I screamed as I ran, barely heard over the static hissing.

Then the six cat-bat hybrids came around the bend.

Shit! I was exposed, in the middle of a crossing, too far away from either side. As soon as they noticed me, I was screwed. I didn’t even have the Power Hooves that I managed to kill all of one Hissyflit with outside Neighlway.

If I keep still, they might just pass b-

“Lady Snow?”

My eyes shot wide. I told her to get out of sight!

Whipping off my Molar hide cloak, I waved it over my head, as big as I could make it. Doing everything I could to get the attention of the flying creatures, whatever it took to get them away from Undertow. “Over here, you poison jackholes!”

The motion caught the eye of the lead Hissyflit, which changed course towards me. The intensity of their static cries ramped up as the other five soon joined it, announcing their hunt.

With the monsters screaming down on me, and lacking any real plan, I turned and ran. I didn’t know, or care, which path I took, so long as it took us away from Undertow.

My random path took me along the wall at first, which gave me nothing to look at but the incoming pack as they bore down on me, sharp fangs glistening with dripping venom.

Reaching the end of one walkway, I took the available stairs, heading further down into the ravine, desperately seeking a way to escape from the situation. This desire only increased as I heard wing beats at the top of the stairs behind me, along with a keeling cry as one swooped over my head, my blind ducking being the only thing that saved me.

Still, I could still hear them as they came around again, and it was clear that I couldn’t outrun them. I had no plan, and couldn’t escape. What was I gonna do?

Skidding around a corner, I lurched forward along the next bridge, just as something thudded into the stonework I’d just passed. Looking forward, my heart sank.

This path was collapsed in the middle, and the gap was not short.

Still, given the flapping terrors behind me, I had little choice but to go for it. Putting whatever speed I could into my burning, running-solely-on-adrenaline limbs, I gained the smallest sliver of extra speed, just before my hooves left the solid stone and my body arced through the air towards the other side.

Slamming chest first into the broken edge, all the air was driving out of my lungs as I scrabbled for purchase. Come on, come on!

Something ploughed into me from behind, a Hissyflit, but thankfully I felt no sting of icy venom, as the Molar Hide cloak kept the fangs from penetrating. Still, it dislodged one of my scraping hooves.

Nonononono! With my lungs still empty, I could only think my despair, rather than speak it, as I hung weakly from my one hoof, which was racing towards the edge anyway.

Another Hissy struck my toughened hide cloak, right behind my shoulder, turning me just enough to rip my last grip from the bridge.

My mouth opened in a soundless scream as I dropped. The half dozen hybrids were much more vocal as they dived to follow.

Well, at least for a moment. Almost immediately their howls turned confused and frightened, as watery tendrils shot in from all sides. The light played across the surface of the water as it thrashed back and forth, battering and tossing the Hissyflits back and forth.

Watching with the detachment of somebody who knows they’re about to die, I marvelled at the sight. The water moved from striking the beasts, to trapping them in liquid spheres.

My attention was reattached as I felt something wet wrap around a hoof, and suddenly I was not falling straight down, but rather swinging in a smooth arc, as another water whip had snagged me mid-fall, and was not guiding me towards a lower walkway.

I’m… uh… I’m still going really fast. Like this-is-gonna-hurt-so-much really fast.

It did.

I slammed down hard on the walkway, my already suffering muscles spasming and seizing. I had no time to catch my breath, though, as a liquid voice flowed past the bubbling interference. “You cannot rest yet, Lady Snow! I require your assistance!”

U-Undertow? I was so exhausted and hurt after days of no sleep, travelling and fighting, that even my thoughts were skipping. “Where are you?”

“There is no time. Please, Lady Snow, use your spell. Touch the water with your horn.”

Raising my head painfully, I was greeted to a strange sight. Each Hissyflit was encased in a ball of water, fighting to get free, and a thin string of liquid ran from each sphere, to join together a few inches from my horn. It was like a bunch of living balloons. As I watched, the balloons shook as the Hissyflits inside beat their wings to escape before they suffocated.

Undertow’s voice sounded out from another walkway, I couldn’t tell which one. “Hurry, Lady Snow. I can’t hold them for much longer. You must use your ice now!”

“O-okay.” Rolling slowly to my hooves, I focused only on the water ‘balloon strings’. After a few false starts, my horn finally began to give off the glacial aura for my magic.

I tiredly nodded my head forward until the horn found the strings. I couldn’t manage to find the strings away from my horn in enough time, and Undertow had known that, so she’s positioned the trap as close to my horn as possible. She was most certainly a good teacher.

The spell fired as soon as my horn made contact, and the strings began to freeze solid as the ice tore along them. In the balloons, the Hissyflits redoubled their efforts when they recognised the new threat, but it was too late. The ice found the balls, and began freezing them one by one. One flyer got a wing out before the cold took it, but the rest didn’t even manage that.

Like at her lake, Undertow’s magic lost hold of the water when it turned to ice, and the preserved monsters dropped like rocks down into the gorge. I heard them shatter when they found other walkways, or the hard stone floor of the ravine.

Slumping against the side of the bridge, I was just glad for it to be over. I didn’t move from there until, minutes later, I heard hooves clattering along the stone towards me.

Reaching me, Undertow crouched down so that she was within my field of vision. I couldn’t see her eyes under the goggles, but she looked anything but relaxed. “Why did you do that, Lady Ice?”

“…Didn’t want you to get bitten. You’d die.”

Her frown only increased. “The same is true of you. You could not have survived against those creatures without my assistance. Did you promise to protect me, only to throw your life away for nothing? There was no guarantee that I would have survived without you. That is not protection, Lady Ice!”

That was another bruise to my battered heart. I tried to stand, but found that I was barely able to hold my weight up. “Undertow, I’m so sorry, I wasn’t thinking. I won’t do that again.”

Relenting, she slung one of my front legs over her shoulder and began slowly walking me along the bridge. “I am glad, Lady Snow,” she nuzzled me as we walked, her damp mane cool against my cheek, “I do not wish to see you hurt.”

I promise, Undertow, when I’m strong enough, there will be nowhere in the Wasteland where you will not feel protected. I wished I could have said that out loud, but I didn’t feel worthy of it at the time, with her taking most of my weight.

~~~~~~

It took us another two hours to get back to where we’d last seen Bosco and Naiara. We slowly made our way down towards the canyon floor, being mindful of any uninvited fliers.

There was no sign of any Hissyflits as we walked, for which I was very thankful. I’d recovered enough to walk unassisted, but I was genuinely troubled by Undertow’s words, coupled with my absolutely wrecked body.

I needed sleep. I didn’t know how I’d get it, since I felt no better about the whole ghoul fight than I did days ago, when my insomnia began, but I was physically falling apart, heavily bruised, finding it harder and harder to use the little magic I had, my nose had bled again for a short while, and I was absolutely certain of some jarring notions.

If I didn’t get fixed up, and soon, I wouldn’t be able to learn magic properly, and in turn, I wouldn’t be able to protect Undertow, and my friends.

That was not acceptable anymore. As soon as we found Breeze, we’d head back to Lethbridle, and I would find some way to sleep.

Really glad there’re no Hissyflits around right now.

SPANG! A bullet cracked off the masonry besides us.

Oh what now?

“Raiders, here?” Undertow pulled me down, as the unseen shooters began hooting in delight.

“Raiders,” I repeated, deadpan, “here?”

Taking a few breaths, I turned, still in cover, so that I was facing towards the Raiders. “Knock it off, I’m Red Ice, and I am NOT happy that you idiots are shooting at us. Go away.”

I did not get the response I was hoping for.

“Who’s Red Ice?” One asked.

“Don’t know, don’t care. I want me a couple of unicorns since you lost the damn Pegasus!”

They were after Breeze? If they lost her, does that mean she’s okay?

“Fuck you!”

“Fuck YOU! Bring me those girls!”

Crouching next to me, Undertow was nonplussed. “I don’t believe these Raiders are part of your alliance, Lady Snow.”

“Great… freelancers.” I muttered. Red Ice’s name wouldn’t get us out of this. We’d have to fight.

POP! POP!

I eased an eye over out of cover in time to see one of the Raiders, a yellow earth stallion, tumble over the lip of the bridge they were on, dead from the bullets Bosco had just put into his chest.

From a walkway above us, the charcoal colt had a perfect angle on the Raiders, and their return fire did nothing but strike the stone he stood on.

Still, it was five to one, Bosco would need help. “Undertow, get ready.”

“Nope!”

Flipping onto our platform with practiced equine grace, Naiara landed in our cover. “They’re ours. We need you two to help Breeze.”

I woke up more at those words. “You found her?”

Naiara was still keeping an eye on the Raiders, but managed a nod. “We did. She’s over there,” we followed her hoof, “but we need Undertow’s help.”

“What’s wrong?”

She began shoving Undertow towards the direction she’d pointed. “No time, you’ll see when you reach her. We’ll keep these guys off her, but if one of them gets past us, Snow’ll have to look after the two of you.”

That doesn’t sound too good. Still, we can finish this quickly, so we’ll risk it. “Alright, we’re off then. Be careful with these guys. They only need to get lucky once.”

“Just go,” she flashed a confident smile, “we got this.” Then she was gone, bounding across to another platform, acting as a lethal distraction for at least one Raider, who got a bullet through the neck the moment he turned to look at her.

Leaving the battle behind us, Undertow and I stayed down, shimmying along under cover while heading towards where Naiara had been pointing. She’d indicated the ravine floor, so maybe Breeze was hiding out somewhere?

When we reached the floor, I saw why Undertow was needed. What I’d originally assumed to be dry rock turned out to be, in fact, a shallow but fast-moving current.

If I’d known this was here when the Hissyflits were around then I’d have just let Undertow take care of them from the start.

Looking around, I saw no sign of the missing Pegasus. “Breeze? Are you here?”

I heard no reply, with the only sounds being the quiet river and the far off gunshots. Nodding to Undertow, we began following the water, heading further down the ravine. It stayed mainly to the centre of the expanse, but snaked back and forth as we went, occasionally forming small reservoirs at slower points, before picking up speed again after.

Around a corner, we came across an obstruction. A pile of rubble and stone had fallen, and the water disappeared into the centre of it. A cursory glance didn’t reveal any way around.

This was the direction that Naiara had pointed in, so Aqua Breeze was probably nearby. “Breeze? Can you hear me?”

Both of us jumped as a voice seemed to emerge from the pile. “Who’s that? That you, Naiara?”

“Breeze!” I exclaimed, cheered, “It’s me, Snowflake. Naiara’s busy with some Raiders right now.”

“What?” That wasn’t good news for her. “Those guys are still here? I thought they’d give up by now. It’s been a whole day!”

“What can I say,” the Raider stallion’s words were fresh in my mind, “they were really interested in bagging a Pegasus.”

“Ugh, great. Well, can you get me out of here?”

I looked around again in confusion. “That depends. Where’s here?”

“Oh yeah,” she sounded both sheepish and impatient, “forgot you weren’t here before. There’s a gap on top. Climb up and you can get in. You gotta hurry though, the water’s rising!”

“Water?” I turned to Undertow, who’d been examining where the stream disappeared under the stones, “Right, we’ll be just a second.”

I trotted up to the pile, setting a hoof on it, testing for stability, and began climbing. For the most part, the collection of fallen rock was stable enough, though smaller fragments shifted occasionally.

Grunts behind me showed that Undertow was following.

Reaching the top of the pile, I gingerly picked my way towards the hole Breeze had mentioned. It was dark inside, almost too dark to see, but I could make out basic outlines, faintly, within the dankness. “Breeze?”

A flash of lighter colour shifted back and forth, accompanied by splashing. I recognised the white stripes in her mane, though looking wetter than usual. Just beneath, a pair of orbs glinted. “Snow, good to see you. Think you can help me out here?”

“I can’t really see much from up here. What’s wrong?”

The navy blue eyes looked away. “I’m kinda stuck. My wing’s pinned, courtesy of those bastard Raiders out there. They came after me with grenades, which blasted all this rock free. My wing’s pinned, and water’s coming in.” I heard, more than saw, her spit in disgust. “Fucking Raiders.”

Oh yeah, telling her about Undertow, and all that I’ve been up to, is gonna be so much fun.

But that’s for later.

I looked around the pocket where Breeze was trapped. The drop didn’t seem that high. “Alright, I’m coming in.”

Before I jumped, I turned to the ‘Raider’ with me. “Undertow, stay up here, and see if you can move the water out of here, use this hole to pull it out. Um… well, I don’t really care where you put it, so long as it isn’t in here.”

Her horn was already glowing. “I understand, Lady Snow. Please be careful.”

I flashed a sure smile. I wasn’t about to put myself in danger again if I could help it. Knowing her power, there really was no danger of drowning with Undertow here.

Without another word, I hopped down into the hole. I splashed down close to Breeze, with the water cushioning the fall. “Hi again.”

Before the trapped Pegasus could respond, the water in the pocket began drawing towards the centre, funnelling upwards against gravity, as the Deep Diver boss magically ignored gravity. Breeze and I watched in silence and, even in the low light, I could tell she was impressed. “She’s good. Who is she?”

I smiled proudly. I certainly agreed. “That’s Undertow. You can get a proper introduction later. Suffice it to say, she’s really great with water, and she’s teaching me magic.”

An appreciative whistled echoed around the enclosed space. “You lucked out with her.”

“Didn’t I just? But enough of that for now. How can we get you out of here?”

She gave a few experimental tugs on her trapped wing, but winced after the third, and relented. “No good. It’s stuck tight. I can’t shift the rock from here. I doubt you can either. We need more muscle. We can try when Naiara gets back.”

I hesitated. “That could be a while, and there’s no guarantee that she’ll be in good shape when she does. There were still four of those Raiders alive when Undertow and I left. If they’ve got grenades, Bosco and Naiara could have their hooves full for a while.”

Her frustration was evident. “UGHHH! I don’t wanna stay here any longer. I’ve been down here a full day already! I want to fly again, and I’m all wet. I wanna get out of here and get back to…” she stopped abruptly, which drew my attention back to her,

“Hmm? ‘Back to’ what?”

“…Cassie.”

“Ah.” We lapsed into an uncomfortable silence, the only sound being Undertow’s draining of the water. What else could I say to that? Breeze knew I wasn’t happy with her sister, but I wanted to make it clear that I didn’t hold a grudge against her either. “Let’s… put that aside for now, and focus on getting you out of here, deal?”

“Deal.” The relief was palpable, from both of us.

I put my hooves on the rock that pinned her wing, and gave a shove. It didn’t move a millimetre. Stuck tight indeed. So what could we use to get her out? Undertow was busy, and my magic was basically useless here.

She’s right. We need Naiara, or Bosco. Heh, if I really wanted muscle, I’d call in Schwarzwald. Somehow, I don’t think she’s available, though, so we need a new approach. “…I got nothing.”

“May I offer a suggestion?”

The water mage’s question surprised us both. “Yeah, sure. Go ahead, Undertow.”

Goggled eyes still on the rising water, she didn’t look at us as she spoke. “Aqua Breeze, the surface under your wing, is it stone or soil?”

Blinking, the techy Pegasus went about checking. She finally managed to lever her wing up enough to examine the underside. “Looks like its soil, but it’s probably pretty dry in a place like this.”

Undertow wasn’t dissuaded. “Perhaps usually, but if the water has been pooling within your enclosure, it may have soaked into the soil enough to loosen it.”

I beamed with pride again. “She’s really great with water.” I repeated.

Breeze was already scraping and digging with the hidden blade from her greave, thankfully on her unrestricted foreleg. After a few seconds, she gave a small cry of triumph. “It’s working! I owe you one, Undertow. I think I can dig myself out with this.”

Much happier, I sat back with a splash, as the last few inches of water drained away. “That’s great. Well done, both of you.”

As they worked, I decided to use my few peaceful moments to get some practice in with my magic. Closing my eyes, I tried to recreate the lesson I’d had with Undertow earlier, sensing the water away from my horn, and reaching out magically. I had approximately zero success, as I couldn’t drum up the necessary concentration after all the mental fatigue I’d been through.

I really need a good night’s sleep. I’ll take medicine, or get blind drunk, or something… anything really. Whatever works.

“Hey, Snow? Think you could send some of that horn light over this way? I don’t wanna stab myself in the wing by accident.”

“Oh, yeah sure. I can do that.” That was about the limit of my magical ability at present, but I could manage that much. Soon enough, a glacier-blue glow was illuminating the enclosure, allowing me to get another look at Breeze. She didn’t look too worse for wear for her experience, considering having been down here for a full day, and soaked to the bone. The filly could definitely use a sandwich or two, though, which we’d fix as soon as possible. Not that Breeze was the most fragile of girls, anyway.

~~~~~~

Chapter 10-3: Objects And Images

Chapter 10-3: Objects and Images

Naiara and Bosco returned half an hour later, after dealing with the Raiders, most likely fatally. We’d used Naiara’s rope to pull Breeze, who had dug herself free, and I, out of the pile of rocks. Undertow had kept up the steady removal of water during the process. I quietly marvelled at her sustained effort and control.

I’ve got a long way to go, but I’ll get there, and I’ll go further. Not that I don’t want you to be strong, Undertow, but I think Bosco was right. I am gonna have to become stronger than you.

Once free of her imprisonment, Breeze had immediately wanted to fully enjoy her freedom, spreading her wings and attempting to fly. ‘Attempting’ was the key word, as she could only managed a series of bouncy hops, with a gleeful Naiara joining her, before she accepted that it wasn’t going to happen yet. With a mix of amusement and frustration, she scuffed her hoof in the dust. “Guess I’m grounded for a little while. My wing’s not up to flying just yet.”

“Still,” Naiara smiled, “I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Yeah, me too,” she smiled back, before panning across our gathered foursome, “so now can we get introductions out of the way? I know you and Snow, and I’m guessing this guy’s Bosco, but… the others didn’t mention… uh… sorry, I forgot your name.” She gave Undertow an apologetic smile, which only made her tense up slightly.

By ‘the others’ I guess she means Cassie, Wings, and Schwarzwald. Of course they wouldn’t mention Undertow, they’ve never met her.

Well it’s too bad for them. Undertow’s great. I stepped up beside the Deep Diver and put a hoof on her shoulder, making sure I showed all the pride I could as I introduced her. “Aqua Breeze, this is Undertow.”

Whenever she looked at me, Breeze’s face turned calculating, as if she was wondering just how to say each sentence, given the complicated relationship I had with her sister and the others she was currently travelling with. The tricky part was that I didn’t actually hate Breeze herself, and I wasn’t sure that she hated me either, but if she’d been talking with Wings and Cassie, and had taken their side, then we might have problems down the line. She was studying me, how I looked, how I acted, the hoof on Undertow’s shoulder, how I was with Naiara.

They do say never to talk politics with friends or family…

She apparently came to the same realisation, and switched to an airy, cheerful tone. “Well, nice to meet you, Undertow, and thanks for the help. That water work was amazing.”

I felt muscles relax slightly under my hoof. “T-thank you, Aqua Breeze.”

Rounding on the colt, Breeze kept her smile. “You too, Bosco, good to meet you, and good shooting. I could hear you guys down in the hole, and I heard at least one of the bastards die.”

He swelled a little under the praise. “No problem. Nice to meet you too. Naiara’s been talking about you.”

“Oh yeah? What’d she say?”

Smirking at the zebra, whose eyes were narrowing, Bosco definitely intended to cause trouble. “Said you were a worse hoof-to-hoof fighter than Sn- OW! DAMMIT NAIARA!”

Having kicked him again, Naiara said nothing, but turned her eyes away and whistled.

The gist got through though. Breeze exploded. “You think I fight worse than Snowflake? Oh, that hurts, Naiara. Sucker punch me one time and think you can talk trash like that?!”

The object of her ire just kept on whistling.

Rounding on me, Breeze put up her dukes. “Come on Snow, you and me, right now! No magic, no gadgets, just you and me.” Playfully jabbing and dancing back and forth, it was evident that her pride was smarting, even if she was kidding. Being trapped in a whole by Raiders for a full day probably hadn’t helped either.

“I wouldn’t do that,” Mused Bosco. When Breeze gave him an obvious ‘Why not?’ look, he just pointed above our heads.

We all looked up. A mass of water was hovering over the Pegasus in an aquamarine haze. Undertow’s horn glowed the same colour.

“Because Undertow wouldn’t like it.” He finished, amused.

Confused, and instantly on guard again, Breeze just looked at Naiara. “What’s Undertow gotta do with this?”

“Well, you know how you’re really protective of your sister?”

“Yeah? What about it?”

Naiara just let the wheels turn.

I took the moment to address the matter hanging over our heads. “Put the water down, Undertow.”

Realisation dawned. “I know that tone!” Followed by more confusion, “Hold on, I thought your siblings were guys?”

The water splashed down haphazardly as Undertow lost her concentration mid-lowering. “I ha- I mean, you have brothers, Lady Snow?”

Did Naiara just ‘squee’?

“Lady Snow?”

I ignored Breeze’s sputtering, while at the same time noticing just how eagerly Undertow was leaning forwards to listen. “…Yeah. I’ve got three brothers. They’re buffalo,” eyebrows shot up over those goggles, “and their names are Buff, the oldest, Al, the middle one, and Lo, the youngest. They’re about the same age as you and Bosco.”

This time Naiara kicked Breeze, after she laughed at my brothers’ names. I wholeheartedly supported the action.

“You… have not mentioned brothers before, Lady Snow,” her voice was tentative, almost worried.

“Why does she call her sister ‘Lady’?” Breeze was whispering to Naiara and Bosco, who shushed her.

“Where are these buffalo brothers?”

Instantly the mood dropped. Bosco and Naiara found it hard to look at myself or Breeze, while the two of us didn’t really look at each other. Since Undertow was still waiting for an answer, now in consternation, I had to respond. “They’re… from my Stable. They… didn’t come with me.”

“Why, Lady Snow? Will they not miss you? Will you not miss them?”

Anger and thankfulness duelled as, to my surprise, it was Breeze who spoke up. “Undertow… maybe you shouldn’t ask that right now.”

“Why…”

“…Are you here in La Buque, Breeze?” Naiara’s interrupt was hasty, and not in the least bit subtle, but it got the job done. We were all eager for a change of subject.

I was glad of the chance to stay quiet while I waited for the lump in my throat to get smaller.

“Oh, right. I’m here looking for crystals for my Spell Shooters. Place’s lousy with ‘em.”

“It is?” We all looked around. I hadn’t remembered seeing any crystals around, and it didn’t look like the others were either.

She waved a hoof disdainfully, snout pointed up. “Ah, you gotta know where to look. They’re in the cliff walls. You need a Pegasus to get ‘em out. This place is my secret stash.” She spread her wings, and puffed out her chest.

“That’s actually pretty cool. Sounds like you are as good with gadgets as Naiara said.”

At Bosco’s words, Breeze turned her smug pose back to her friend. “Oh, so you did tell them I’m more than just a crap fighter.”

“Never said I didn’t.” The denial came with a good-natured smile, matching that of her Pegasus friend.

“So...” Bosco was looking around again. “Where are these crystals? We’ll help you get some more, since you’re not flying right now.”

The reaction to this idea was overwhelmingly negative. “Oh nononono. No chance. This place is dangerous. I even told you guys not to come here. No way in hell am I putting Naiara in danger trying to do this like a dirt pony.”

“Aww, so you do care.”

“Shaddup Naiara.”

“Love you too, featherbrain.”

I felt okay to speak now, so I raised a hoof like I was in school. “Uh, why is it dangerous?”

Breeze sighed. “Look, you guys’ve seen my Spell Shooter in action, right?”

Naiara and I nodded. Bosco and Undertow didn’t.

“…Well, half of you have. It works like this,” she held up the greave with the crystal embedded, “these crystals can absorb magical energy and store it, like a power cell. Then, when they’re full, they… well, they kinda pop.”

“Pop?”

“Like a force-fed Hissyflit.” I was hard pressed to feel pity for such a creature, since its brethren had tried to kill me twice, the second time being only hours before.

Naiara wasn’t smiling anymore, and had joined the charcoal colt in examining our surroundings. “And when they pop?”

Breeze was on the same page. “Right. They pop, while surrounded by rock. That means landslides, like the one that caught me when I was on the run from those Raiders.”

“And you do this by yourself a lot?” Intrigued as he was, Bosco was still sceptical about the feasibility of her weapon, and her common sense, going by what she was saying.

“No, course not. I mean I did the first few times, until I noticed what was happening. Usually I bring Cassie. This time she was a little busy, so I came myself. It would have been fine if those Raider dicks weren’t there. They’re damn lucky the Hissyflits didn’t get them!” That last part was accompanied by considerable vitriol. So much so that I had to send a glance towards Undertow, who was technically a Raider, even if I would never think of her as one. I just hoped the Raiders that Naiara and Bosco had fought weren’t Deep Divers.

“Hold on,” I began, as the memory of her using my magic to power the crystal came to mind. “When you used it against the Hissyflit swarm, I charged the crystal in around a minute. What’s charging the crystals in the walls?”

She just chuckled. “Two hundred year old Megaspells.”

“Huh?”

She waved the crystal in her greave around in the air. “Magical radiation? It’s in the air around us, even if we can’t detect it until it gets strong enough. The crystals in the wall can still use it though. Little by little, they drink up the Megaspells’ legacy, one sip at a time.” She tapped the crystal against my horn. “When I sucked it out of you in that fight, your magic was concentrated, hundreds, maybe thousands of times denser than what’s in the air right now. For that level of magic, it only took a minute or so. The background radiation in the air? Two hundred plus years.”

A rock was picked up, and then dropped. “I kinda think that’s why this place is deserted, even with a fair chunk of real estate still useable. Whoever survived the bombs out here would suddenly find their walls exploding. Fun times, right?” We all managed a chuckle. “The ponies’d have to leave. It’s not safe to stay. Each crystal’s a ticking time bomb.”

“And you willingly harvest these things?” Bosco had definitely shifted from thinking she was a techy Pegasus, to thinking she was a crazy techy Pegasus.

She snorted. “Psh, course I do. I know what I’m doing. The more magic they’ve got in ‘em, the more they glow. I take the ones that are still dark.”

I remembered the intense light that the Snowflake-charged crystal had given off just before she’d fired it. The results were powerful. The explosions here must be impressive. I didn’t think that whoever survived here after the bombs would have stayed for very long.

“How do you know all this, Aqua Breeze? Though your wings are lovely, you are not a unicorn.”

Breeze had jumped as the previously silent Undertow spoke up, as if she’d forgotten that she was there. “Uh, you can just call me Breeze, Undertow. And as for how I know? Well, I was just kinda trying out new stuff. I love to tinker around with machines, and when I found out what these crystals could do, I started tinkering with them too.”

When Undertow didn’t respond, Breeze saw that she was still looking at the wings. When the Pegasus unfurled them, and wafted them back and forth, the goggled eyes followed them, mesmerised. Clearly, Undertow had never seen a Pegasus before. One of her hooves twitched forward, like she wanted to touch them.

“That’s kinda adorable.” Breeze mentioned this to Naiara, out of the corner of her mouth.

“I know, right?”

Even I couldn’t help myself. “Undertow,” I snapped her out of her trance, “why not give Breeze that hug?”

“What hug?” Breeze’s wings snapped back to her sides.

“Well she owed it to me, but I’m gifting it to you.” This might’ve been the most common thing in the Wasteland, going by how the zebra filly said it.

“Collect on that later, Breeze.” I’d decided enough was enough. “Right now we need to start heading back to Lethbridle. We’ve got things to take care of. Do you want to come with us until your wing heals up?”

Though miffed at her fun being interrupted, Naiara still answered before Breeze could. “Actually Snow, that’s kinda why I called Breeze in the first place. Since you made sure that I can’t just steal the Memory Orbs from that old ghoul, because of that stupid promise you had me make to him, I figured we’d need an alternative to the Orbs for a diving light.”

“We’re not going to get my diving lights back?” The hug forgotten, Undertow was somewhat more than miffed.

“Stay calm.” I prompted, before frowning at Naiara, willing her to make her point quickly.

“What ‘diving lights’?”

“Well, you see, Undertow is… an underwater salvage diver. But the Memory Orbs she uses to provide light when she’s down there got stolen by a ghoul, apparently they were his memories, so I was thinking you might be able to come up with something else.”

Breeze looked at the sea-blue unicorn with new awe. “You bring stuff up from underwater? That’s incredible!”

Her words were a little too enthusiastic, as Undertow shrank back towards me a little. I gave her a quick nuzzle before responding. “It certainly is. So, can you help us, Breeze?”

Crossing her hooves, Breeze fell into silent thought for a while. I stayed close to Undertow, while Naiara kept her attention on the Pegasus. Bosco watched the surroundings, perhaps anticipating another crystal explosion.

I really hope Breeze comes through. I don’t want to have to deprive Inbox just to save Undertow.

I would, however, if it came down to it. I was sure of that. She had asked for, and was under, my protection.

Finally, Breeze’s head rose and fixed on the Deep Diver. “You really need this?”

Undertow nodded. “It may mean my life.”

Breeze’s eyes softened. With an I’m-not-really-happy-but-what-can-you-do shrug, she tweaked something on her greave, and it opened up. Inside was a mass of wire and circuits, with a crystal set in an inlay, for use with her Spell Shooter. Turning the greave over, she popped open a smaller compartment, and reached in. Two more crystals were withdrawn, each had a faint glow to them. “These’ll work for diving lights, so you don’t have to steal the Memory Orbs.”

“They’ll explode!” She couldn’t be serious about giving those to Undertow.

Glaring at me, she turned the crystals this way and that. “I’m not finished. I have a notion to fix that too. I actually got it from looking at your Me…”

“My Memory Orb?” I finished, accusingly.

“Yeah. That scratch along it, to be precise.” A hidden blade shot out of her other greave, which she then sliced across each crystal, leaving the shallowest of furrows along their surfaces. Each crystal gave off a momentary flash as it was struck. “Undertow, you can thank your sister for this.”

Examining her work at eye level, Breeze nodded at last. “I’ve done some testing, and if I’ve done it right, which I totally have, then these furrows will allow the built up magic to drain off naturally. It won’t explode, but it’ll leak out steadily over the course of around a day or so.”

“How does that help?”

She held out one crystal to Undertow. “Try charging it with your magic.”

Looking first to me, I nodded, and the Deep Diver’s horn began to glow. Nothing happened at first, but soon, the aquamarine glow began to lengthen and distort, being drawn into the crystal.

Undertow kept this up until the crystal was glowing bright and clear, at which point Breeze pulled it away. “Whoa there, that’s enough. Okay so it’s near full charge right now, and it’ll give off hours and hours of light, but after a while the light’ll lessen as the magic runs low, and it’ll be completely gone by the next day. Then you just charge it up again whenever you want to use it. Easy and reusable.”

She swirled the light back and forth in the air, leaving a fading trail behind it. “This crystal’ll break down eventually, like in a few years eventually. Heh, come find me before then.”

She held out both crystals to Undertow, who took them with shaking hooves. “I… I do not know how to thank you, Aqua Breeze.”

Breeze just smiled. “Just call me… ah, whatever. I owed ya. If you weren’t around, I might’ve drowned. I’ll take that hug if you’re still offering.” To illustrate the point, she spread her front legs and her wings.

Moving faster than I’d ever seen her move, Undertow jumped forward and wrapped her hooves around the Pegasus. “Hehe, it tickles.” She giggled, as the feathers brushed her nose.

Even Bosco smiled at that.

~~~~~~

“And you’re totally sure this is safe?” Breeze’s voice was muffled behind the diver’s helmet she was currently sporting.

“Fear not, I will keep you safe.”

With Breeze having developed new diving lights for Undertow, we’d returned to the lake to present them to the Deep Divers. I made sure to send Undertow and I had gone on ahead to deal with the group and settle things down before we brought in Breeze. I wanted her to have as little contact with the rest of them as possible, in case she got upset.

Luckily, they followed Undertow’s lead, and were isolationists by nature. After satisfying them that Undertow had brought new diving lights, which requires her, the only unicorn present, to work, they’d instantly accepted her leadership again, and returned to their homes, their ‘territories’.

That gave us almost free reign of the makeshift village’s common ground, and we were able to reach the boathouse without incident, where Undertow had offered to show her appreciation for all we’d done for her by allowing us to dive with her.

Safety issues aside, we were all very excited.

If I wasn’t trying to save my energy for the dive, I’d be bouncing around like the other three.

Naiara and Bosco were checking the seals on each other’s suits, their helmets already clamped in place, as Breeze and I did the same. Undertow hovered around us all, making sure that nothing was amiss.

With one last thunk, my last suit seal was shut. Instantly, the noise levels dropped by half, meaning I had to strain to hear the others over my breathing, which was suddenly amplified in this enclosed space.

Undertow was sealing Breeze in, though the Pegasus was looking less comfortable with the apparatus. Her wings couldn’t be opened while she wore it, and the idea of being totally encapsulated probably didn’t sit well with a pony that was used to having the entire sky to move in. Still, that couldn’t override the anticipation of seeing the underwater world for ourselves. Without Undertow and the Deep Divers, spending that long in radioactive water would be suicidal.

Bosco and Naiara clomped over to stand beside Breeze and I. With a final once-over, Undertow seemed satisfied, and nodded to the pump operator, who would feed us air while we were down in the lake. “Let us begin.”

“What’s next? What do we do?” The words escaped Naiara in a rush, her thrilled impatience entirely on display.

In lieu of words, Undertow held up the new diving crystal, and fired her magic into it. In less than a minute, it was glowing bright enough that we had to turn our eyes away.

Clipping the light to a chord tied around her waist, Undertow took hold of her rebreather. “Follow me, please.” That was all she said before fitting her breathing aide in place.

Turning, she began walking down the jetty to the water’s edge, with us stomping along after her, thick breathing hoses trailing behind us. While our Deep Diver guide took a running, graceful dive into the water, there was no way we’d be copying her with the heavy dive gear, so we simply walked into the water.

Breeze was at the front of our foursome, and there was definitely some hesitation as the water rose to neck level, her recent entrapment still fresh in her mind. But, with a shake of her head, she pushed through it and disappeared under the surface.

I had no doubts that Undertow wouldn’t let me drown, so I didn’t miss a step as I walked down the incline.

I’m just blinking, not keeping my eyes shut because there’s water in front of this thin sheet of glass that’s the only thing between me and very wet death.

Yep, blinking.

“AAAAAGH!” I screamed as I bumped blindly into something, my eyes snapping open, “AAA-oh, it’s just Breeze. Hah, okay. For a second there I thought that I…”

That was as far as I got before my eyes took in the scene before me.

Bathed in the light from the crystal lazily drifting in Undertow’s take, a whole new world opened out before us. We stood on a shelf at the end of the dock, looking out into the underwater landscape below and before us.

It was incredible. Blues and greens and browns and purples and greys coloured everything. Strange plants swayed in the undercurrents as bubbles danced and broke and shifted around us. So very different from the harsh, dirty arid land above us, the water held an entirely different experience.

A cloud of sand and tiny rocks drifted in from my left. Turning my head, I saw one of the others, though I couldn’t tell who, slowly pushing off from where we were standing. As soon as they left their hooves, the water took them, sending them drifting along, until they ever so softly landed again, further than they could jump.

Undertow swam up from over the edge of the shelf, beckoning to each of us in turn to follow her, before disappearing back beyond down. My fatigue forgotten, but still outpaced by the others, I all but ran over the side.

I was sooo glad that I did. The view was even better the further we went down. Slowly rising into the light were structures and machines of all sizes and shapes, claimed long ago by the water, and now a submerged playground for a lucky few.

One of our four was drawing ahead, kicking their legs frantically in a bid to reach the sunken treasures.

Probably Breeze, she loves all this stuff.

Maybe-Breeze was drawing close to the first half-covered heap, still kicking hard to reach it, when a bubble formed around her and dragged her back. Panicking, the encapsulated pony didn’t stop struggling until they caught sight of the glow that Undertow’s horn was giving off.

We were all confused as to why she intervened until she pointed, and we followed her gaze. Coming around the bend, a shoal of fabulously multi-coloured fish appeared, heading for the spot where maybe-Breeze had been a few moments ago. As they passed us, scores of glassy eyes swivelled to observe us briefly, before turning away disinterestedly, taking us in and forgetting us in the space of a moment.

Real fish! I don’t believe it! “I’ve only seen them in pictures and videos.” An awed whisper was the loudest that I could manage.

Having released... whoever it was, Undertow’s horn glowed again. We all watched as another, smaller sphere of denser water formed in front of her. With a push from her front hoof, she sent it racing after the group of swimmers. Once it caught their tails, the water orb exploded in a rush of bubbles and pressure. The result was instantaneous, with the entire shoal bursting like overripe fruit, each individual fish swimming to escape any way it could, careening and colliding with all the others. Some even shot past, over, under and between the five of us in their panic, causing us to gasp and duck and flinch, though I soon began to laugh after realising there was no danger.

A new eddy formed behind the pony who’d been dragged back, this time giving him or her a shove forward, back towards the construct poking out of the river bed. The other two and I soon followed.

As we reached the object, I soon realised that it was far larger than I’d originally thought. Swimming down between a strange cross of thin blades, I found myself looking into an opening with seats set out in rows.

After making sure that the way was clear, I kicked and swam in, until I found myself floating above one of the seats. Pushing off the ceiling, I dropped down, and found that I could sit down, for all the world as if I was riding in this vehicle, whatever it was, myself, rather than whichever poor souls had been inside when it sank. I was soon joined by the others, who all began poking around the vehicle bay.

Breeze, I was sure of it this time, as I saw the back of her suit twitching around wing-level, swam further forward, through a small opening. I could see glass through it, and another seat. Once she reached it, Breeze started briefly, drawing back, before looking at us. Confused, we looked back, watching as she swept a suited hoof around the seat, which revealed what had startled her.

Floating back through the small opening was a pony skull, followed by several bones. The bones bounced off the walls, ceiling, seats, and our suits. I barely felt a thing when the skull contacted my sternum, but when that caused it to float and roll up in front of my visor, I couldn’t keep looking at the empty sockets where the eyes once were, I had to brush it away with my hoof.

Another shadow fell across us, and we looked up, expecting Undertow again, or at least I was.

But it wasn’t Undertow.

Drawn by the floating bones, and the bubbles that were buoying them upwards, a quartet of fish, half again the size of any of us, swam by overhead. Even discounting their size, these ‘fish’ were far and away different from their smaller counterparts. While the little ones basically looked like the pictures, there things were far more nightmarish. Thick sheets of shell covered almost all of their bodies, tip to tail, with the only exception being the trident-like protruding teeth at the front.

Even their eyes were covered, if they had eyes at all. I began to suspect that they didn’t when Undertow showed herself, as she and the light swam between the four fish without incident, and came to rest at the opening to the vehicle, making ‘stay still’ gestures until the behemoths went past.

Once the coast was clear, and I could hear over the beating of my heart, our voting was unanimous. As one, we all pointed a hoof towards the surface.

~~~~~~

“That was amazing!”

“I know, those fish!”

“And the colours!”

“And that sweet Vertibuck!”

“The what?”

“You know, the vehicle we were all sitting in!”

As Breeze, Naiara, and Bosco talked excitedly amongst themselves, I sat quietly to the side, waiting for the fifth diver, the one who’d shown us this wonderful world, to resurface.

I didn’t have to wait long, only a minute or so, before a jet of water burst from the lake, arched downwards, and slammed onto the jetty with a voracious splash, leaving a unicorn with a turquoise mane standing there.

Smiling at the display, and glad that she’d been showing more confidence as we returned here, I wiped some spray from my eyes. “Show off.”

“Forgive me, Lady Snow. I just love the water.”

I got to my hooves and shock my whole body, trying to dislodge the droplets all at once. “No need to apologise, Undertow. That wasn’t a complaint. I want you to enjoy yourself.”

Before she could respond, she was mobbed by a Pegasus, zebra, and earth pony.

“You were great!”

“I’d never seen anything like that!”

“Can we go again?”

The last question, from Breeze, made her hesitate, and look over to me. “Do we have time, Lady Snow?”

Had I been smarter, more alert, I might have spotted the danger here, and moved to correct the course that the conversation would take. Alas, none of those things happened. “Why wouldn’t we?” I responded in confusion.

“Because,” Undertow began, already beginning to look crestfallen, “you have provided my Deep Divers with diving lights. Do you not have to visit the next group for your Raider Alliance?”

Undertow couldn’t have known the effect of those words, nor why the four of us froze, so I couldn’t blame her for being confused.

Seconds ticked by, with nobody moving a muscle or saying a word, until…

“Your what Alliance?” I’d heard that tone before from Breeze. Right before she nearly killed me, thinking I’d kidnapped her sister.

“Now… now stay calm, Breeze…” Standing next to her friend, Naiara’s good cheer had evaporated. She was looking desperate to avoid a confrontation here.

“Just hear us out...” Urged Bosco, though he was surreptitiously reaching for a weapon.

“Snowflake,” Breeze spoke slowly and deliberately, “what is she talking about?” Her eyes grew darker every second.

This won’t end well. Not Undertow’s fault, but that was really the wrong thing to say. “I’m… trying to unite four different Raider clans.”

“What the hell for?!”

“To change them! Make them better. Stop them from being just another threat in the Wasteland. To stop what happened to your parents from happening again!” I was hoping that speaking to her on a personal level would help me get through to her.

The erupting pain in my cheek from her thunderous slap dissuaded me of the notion. Slamming down onto my back, I had to brace myself as she began shouting. “How DARE you mention them! Do you have any idea what they went through because of the Raiders?!”

“BREEZE!” Naiara’s desperate imploring was ignored, but she had to turn away and deal with another matter.

“Put that gun down, Bosco! I won’t let you kill her!”

“And you’ll just let her kill Snow?” He shot back, eyes hard and focused on Breeze.

“No, of course not! I just… nopony’s killing anybody!” She was almost in tears, torn between friends.

Blinking away stars, I sat back up, gently working my jaw until it popped. “Breeze… I heard what Cassie said about your parents. How they ran into Raiders when they came to the Wasteland for the first time. The first thing they saw were killers, but that doesn’t…”

A harshly barked laugh cut me off. Breeze’s pupils had shrunk to pinpricks, and a manic smile lay across her face. “Is that all you think happened? My parents just found Raiders and were almost killed? Is that all she said? Maybe that’s all she wanted to say, because she thinks I don’t know, but you really think that’s the whole story?!”

I frowned. “What do you m-”

“NINE MONTHS!” She bellowed, “They kept my parents captive for Nine. Fucking. Months! They suffered every single day! The things those monsters did to them… what happened to them… to me and Cassie…” Her heart-breaking revelry only fuelled her ire, “HOW DARE YOU SAY THEY CAN CHANGE!!!”

As she started towards me, any response I had died on my tongue, as two thick whirlpools slammed into her, and pinned her to the boathouse wall.

“Undertow, no!”

Undertow’s voice was hard. “Yes, Lady Snow. This is MY territory, and she is an intruder. I will not let her attack you again.”

Even while subdued by the water, Breeze fueled her defiance with rage. “Is that what you are, Undertow? One of them? A Raider? A monster?”

She turned to the colt, who’d lowered his weapon, but hadn’t holstered it. “Are you a monster, Bosco? You cut my sister with that knife of yours. Did you enjoy it?”

Finally, she turned to Naiara, who was openly crying now. “And why, svara,” the world was delivered with as much venom as she could muster, “are you helping them? Why are you helping monsters?”

With tears pouring from her jade eyes, the zebra opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

I didn’t have that problem. “That’s enough Breeze. You don’t get to blame them. Any of them. Not Undertow, not Bosco, and definitely not Naiara. She, and they, are just trying to keep me alive. All of this was my idea, and it will stay my idea. I’m Red Ice, not them.”

I didn’t turn my head as I addressed my friend. “It’s okay. Let her down, Undertow.”

Gradually, as if reacting to the reticence of the caster, the water funnels died down, allowing the soaking wet Pegasus to get her hooves under her again.

Coughing and spitting out what she’d inhaled, Breeze stood tall, unafraid despite everything that had happened. Her eyes bored into me as she began to quietly and calmly stab me through the soul. “You know, I almost didn’t believe her.”

“Who?”

“Cassie. My own sister. I almost didn’t believe her when she told me what had happened. I thought she’d gone too far, that maybe she was wrong. Naiara thought you were okay, so maybe you weren’t so bad. Maybe you didn’t deserve it.”

She turned to the zebra, a mix of pity, anger, and apology in her eyes. “This just goes to show that my sister knows better than a stripe.”

Looking like she’d been slapped harder than I had been, Naiara couldn’t say anything as Breeze spread her wings, shook off the water, and took flight.

~~~~~~

We stayed at the Deep Diver camp for three days, to make sure that there was no attempt of an attack by Breeze’s group. I didn’t really think they would, but it was as good a place as any to stay and take stock before moving on to the final Raider group. Plus it made Undertow happy to be back at the lake. Bosco certainly didn’t mind getting to dive again.

Naiara hadn’t gone in the water. She’d barely spoken over the two days. She slept in Undertow’s cabin with the rest of us at night, then disappeared during the day, only returning long after dark.

I still wasn’t sleeping, but I didn’t disturb her during the times she came and went. It didn’t seem the time.

On the morning of the third day, however, there was a marked difference in her demeanour. She slipped in the door, marched silently up to my bed, and shoved her communicator, the one Breeze had given her, in my face.

Gingerly, I raised it to my ear. “…Hello?”

Breeze’s tone was flat. “If you hurt Naiara, or Cept in this foolish quest, I will kill you.”

“Breeze, please listen to-”

She ignored me and continued. “I just wanted you to listen to this.”

The device gave off an almighty burst of static, harsh enough that I had to tear it away from my ear. Bosco and Undertow were awake in moments, looking for danger.

“GOOD MORNING, EQUESTRIA! DJ PON-3 here! Coming to you with some breaking news, no matter how bad it hurts.” I hadn’t heard the DJ since he’d spoken on the Grindstone massacre, back when I still had my Pipbuck.

Oh joy, what now? I don’t think I actually remembered a time where he’d given good news.

The DJ’s exuberant tone turned slightly more sombre. “Well, all you pony folk out there, I’ve got some good news and some bad news for you today.”

The four of us looked at each other, wondering just how ‘good’ this news would be for us. “First, here’s the good news. Looks like the northern Wasteland is down one more murdering bastard today, as the body of a Raider was dropped at Lethbridle’s Eastern gate this morning”

Naiara had been frowning since she came in, but now we joined her. The DJ continued unhindered, his bass tone cheerful. “This Raider supposedly goes by the name Four Fields, and is the leader of a particularly vicious group of pillager villagers known as the Barnstormers. An outfit that is usually seen to the Northeast of Lethbridle, the biggest city of the area.”

My heart had gone cold. Four Fields had been killed. What was this gonna do for the alliance? Was Breeze behind this? Cassie? Wings? What would it mean if they were?

“Four Fields had been drilled straight through by a bullet the size of my… well it was damn big, that’s all I’ll say on that topic. Stuck in the hole where the bastard’s heart would have been, if a Raider can have a heart, was a note. It’s real short, so I’ll read out what it said now. This, unfortunately, is where we reach the bad news. The note reads:

From Blue Fire, because Red Ice didn’t.”

Oh Breeze, did you have to do it like this?

Naiara still said nothing, she just stared at me. Undertow stared at all of us, confused. Bosco put his hoof on my arm, but I didn’t respond. “Snow? You okay?”

The DJ wasn’t done. “And there’s the rub, listeners. When Red Ice, or Snowflake, as she’s really called, revealed herself to us a li’l while ago, we all thought that she was another light in the darkness, a pony who was standing up against the unsavoury parts of the Wasteland. She called out the Steel Rangers… Plottawan slavers… hell, she even called out Red EYE! I’ll tell you right now, faithful listeners, this DJ thought it was a given that she was anti-Raider, but according to a reliable source in Lethbridle, which I damn well won’t reveal now, in case Snowflake takes it badly, apparently she did a lot more than fail to shoot Four Fields. Not only did she not shoot the guy, but she’s even working with him, and tons of other Raiders, to build up an army for herself!”

“What?! That’s not true!” I yelled into the device, not caring that he couldn’t hear me.

“I don’t know what Snowflake, or Red Ice, or the Raider Queen, as some have started to call her, is up to, but I want any and all little ponies out in Lethbridle, and the surrounding area, to stay away from her. Neighlway and Plottawa might not be her friends, but it doesn’t look like anypony else is either.”

~~~~~~

Level Up!

Perks gained: Teach Me Ms. Witchy – Undertow’s teachings mean an extra boost to magic each time you level up.

~~~~~~

Author's Note

That’s all for now, folks. Please keep reading, commenting, and spreading the word on Old Souls. I really appreciate your feedback.

Chapter 11-1: Portion Or Helping?

[Now, a lesser person might want that kind of overwhelming force on their side, but you know - where's the challenge in that?]

“Well… this doesn’t help.” Bosco had a knack for summation.

Angrily, I tossed the communicator back to Naiara, who stashed it away. “No. It doesn’t.”

That damn DJ’s got some nerve, trying to paint me as the bad guy just because I’m trying to help some ponies he doesn’t like. I get it, Raiders are trouble, have been for a long time, but all those layabouts don’t even try to change that. At least I’m trying! They sit around, perfectly content to talk about me like they know me, yet do nothing to change the situation!

Pushing myself off the bed, I found I couldn’t stay still as my anger built. Pacing around the cabin, my thoughts turned vocal as they continued outside of my head. “And who’s this jackhole in Lethbridle who says I’m building an army? That’s not what I’m doing, I’m just trying to get the Raiders to stop killing ponies so much! That’s a good thing!”

“Well, at least you’re not taking this jackhole’s words badly.” Naiara’s droll paraphrasing was pretty far from what I wanted to hear right now.

“Don’t even start! I am NOT raising an army of Raiders! I just want to show that they’re not all monsters. I mean, look at Undertow!”

Surprised at having my hoof pointed at her face from inches away, the goggled unicorn, drew her head back slightly. “Lady Snow… perhaps it would be best to simply ignore the DJ’s ramblings? We all know that he is… misinformed, in this instance.” She looked to the others for support.

“He’s hundreds of miles away, in Tenpony Tower, working on second-hoof information. He knows nothing.” Bosco had a point. This DJ only had what someone else, who also didn’t know the full story, had told him. ’Reliable source’ my flank!

“Look,” Naiara began, still wearing the grim frown she’d had since kicking the cabin door open, “You know that we’re not one hundred percent sold on this whole Raider alliance idea. It came from a Raider in the first place, and a Raider crazy enough to stand in front of a Lethbridle gate, in full view of half the guard force, unarmed. Four Fields was even worse. Frankly I’m not even sure YOU are totally on board anymore.”

It was hard to argue that point, but I still felt that abandoning the idea was not the way to go. However, before I could vocalise this, Naiara carried on. “But, Four Fields is dead, and I still think that Caber Toss and his Raiders will riot if we call the whole thing off. Most of all, though, is the biggest plus so far from this whole thing, and why I think we should keep going.”

“And what’s that?”

Another hoof was pointed inches away from Undertow’s face. “Her. Our dear little Undertow here, supposedly a Raider, is about as far from the stereotype as you can get. She’s the perfect poster child for what you’re trying to do here. Would you be willing to write her off as just another savage, Snow?”

“NO!” I blurted out instantly, horrified at the idea. Already blushing from Naiara’s praise, the red in the Deep Diver’s cheeks deepened as I voiced my absolute rejection of her hypothetical wickedness.

She was pure scarlet after Bosco weighed in. “She is a very convincing argument for not killing Raiders, at least not without checking them out first.”

Naiara just couldn’t help herself when set up like that. “Have you been checking Undertow out, Bosco?”

And just like that, there were now two blushing ponies, along with one grinning zebra. “That’s not what I meant and you know it.” Huffing, he fell silent.

“So you two are saying we should keep going, even with Four Fields dead, and probably more to come if Breeze keeps this up?” I purposefully brought up Breeze, and the memory of her strong words before leaving. We had to be sure that we were willing to go against her, at least in this, and that we were willing to face the consequences of that.

I don’t think Bosco really cares much either way, he only knew Breeze for a day or so. After what happened in the boathouse, I think Undertow’s perfectly okay with going against her. The real issue is Naiara. She’s the only one of us who is a true friend to Breeze, and vice versa, given what she said over the communicator. Still, how long will it take for the anger between them to go away if we do this?

On a side note, this is hardly going to make getting my Pipbuck and Memory Orb back easier. For all I know, Breeze might just break them both.

Bosco was the first to respond. “I’m in. Wings has been killing Raiders since before this anyway, Schwarzwald too, and that’s not gonna change any time soon. Even if we get these four Raider groups together, there’re others. You saw the group back in La Buque. They had no idea who you are,”

“Yeah, I meant to ask, were you relieved or insulted at that?” Naiara’s tongue-in-cheek question was thoroughly ignored,

“…Uniting four groups of Raiders isn’t going to change the entire Wasteland, not even close, but it might save some lives, and it might repair your reputation if we get results. I really like having Hoofshine Harlots as a place to stay, but I still want all of us; Red Ice, zebra, sorta Raider, to be welcome in Lethbridle. There’s really not much else around here for fun.”

I didn’t really know how to take that. “So this whole thing is pointless?”

“No,” he clarified, “not pointless at all. Just not the same point you want to make. It’s clear from this trip that there are tons of different types of Raiders. You can’t change them all with something like this.”

“He’s right,” Naiara chipped in, “and you also can’t change what everypony thinks of Raiders just from these four gangs. The best we can hope for here, is that Lethbridle and Sprinkles Supplies and the other towns around here get a little bit of a break from Raider attacks. We can make this area a little safer, by lowering the Raider threat, but we’re not gonna stop it altogether. You’re still thinking like a Stable pony, Snowflake.”

“I am a Stable pony!”

Naiara and Bosco shared a strange look at this, but I couldn’t decipher the meaning.

“So I’ll ask again, do you two still wanna carry on? Even going against Breeze?”

One nod. “Breeze is my friend, but that doesn’t mean I agree with her on everything. We’re weird like that. If you recall, the first thing I did when I met her was beat the hell out of her.”

We all gave her funny looks as she beamed at this.

Two nods. “I actually think carrying on will make it easier to talk to Breeze, and Wings, and Schwarzwald, and Cassie. We’ll see them more often. They can get angry at us all they like, but it’s not like they’ve never done anything we disagree with.”

My distracted rubbing of the patch of fur where my Pipbuck had been made me realise something. I couldn’t tell exactly where it was anymore. It didn’t look any different than the rest of my fur. The covered area had been lighter and finer before I lost the piece of Stable tech. “Yeah… you’re right.”

Which brings us to the last member of our little committee.

Having stayed silent up until now, Undertow now found herself under the attention of three pairs of eyes.

It was time to ask the question that I had been silently dreading for days. “Undertow?”

She straightened, having been following our conversation but not previously involved. “Yes, Lady Snow?”

I didn’t really want to ask this question. I had to treat Undertow as the boss of a Raider group again, just for a little while, and it turned my stomach to do so. I felt nauseous just getting the words out. “As leader of the Deep Divers, I, Red Ice, offer you and your followers the chance to join an alliance with other Raider groups, for mutual benefit. Do you want to come to the meeting, or do you want to stay here, at your lake?”

There, I said it. The ball’s in your court now, Undertow.

Please, please say yes.

The question’s effect was profound and instantaneous. Even with her eyes hidden by her goggles, the utter heartbreak that washed across her was emotionally devastating. Quivering lips opened and shut soundlessly, and soon the tremble spread to her shoulders, and her damp turquoise mane, and finally across her entire aquamarine frame.

The filly was shaking all over, and I did not know why. The others apparently did, as they moved as one to wrap the girl in a hug. This was nothing new for Naiara, but Bosco’s willing participation was a surprise.

As was the accusing glare he sent my way. “What is wrong with you?”

Confused, I could only stare blankly back. “Huh?”

Naiara was no happier. With her hooves wrapped tight around the quaking unicorn, she alternated between speaking angrily at me, and softly to Undertow. “Seriously, svara, that’s not cool. It’s okay, Undertow, she didn’t mean it. I mean, come on, Snow, what were you thinking? She’s really sorry, Undertow, not thinking straight right now.”

Ice shards stabbed through my heart as I realised that they thought that I had caused this reaction in Undertow. “What did I do?”

Even while wrapped in a warm cocoon of friendly limbs, still shaking, and with her head buried in Naiara’s shoulder, Undertow’s words still came through soul-twistingly clear. “You promised to protect me, lady Ice.” The words, though clear, were quiet, emerging in a soft sob.

They hurt.

So much.

I told her to stay here, while I went away, even after promising to protect her.

What IS wrong with me?

I crossed the distance between us in a blink, the colt and zebra opening their holds so that I could get in close, and wrapped Undertow up as tightly as possible, with the others’ hooves closing back up around us.

“I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry,” I kept repeating, tears streaming into her mane as she transferred her face from Naiara’s shoulder to my chest, “I didn’t mean it like that, I swear. Please forgive me. I didn’t mean it. Stay with me where I can protect you. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

A small nod, and noise of agreement, gave me her answer.

Overjoyed, I clung tighter.

~~~~~~

After our emotional embrace, Undertow had departed, to inform the Deep Divers of her decision, and to charge the diving lights before she left. According to Breeze, they would last a week without needing another charge, so that was our informal deadline for the Raider chief meeting.

When I was sure that Undertow was safely away, I turned to Naiara and Bosco, my jaw set firm. “I need your help. It’s important.”

Still less than impressed with my recent decision-making, they were sceptical. “What is it?”

“Knock me out.”

Seconds ticked by. The silent was imposing.

“…What?” They chorused this.

“Knock me out.” I repeated simply.

“…Why?” Their symmetry was impressive.

I took a deep breath, and began from the beginning. “Since I killed that ghoul, at the nitrate facility, I haven’t been sleeping. Like, at all. I’m not sure if you guys noticed.”

“…” From their faces I could tell the effort they were making not to be sarcastic here.

Pressing on, I pointed emphatically towards the open cabin door. “I can’t help but think that this might be partly responsible for my making decisions like that one just then. Partly.”

“Partly.” They agreed.

“I can’t have that anymore. Not after what I promised Undertow, and not after what happened with Breeze and Four Fields. I need to be stronger, and quicker, and smarter, and basically better. I need rest.”

“But every time you try you just end up sitting there all night.”

I nodded. “I know. I can’t sleep, because my mind won’t let me. My body still needs rest, though, so I want you two to put me out, get around the blocks my mind is using, and let me get some rest. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than nothing.”

“Alright.”

“I’ll do it.”

“Now, I know this is a little weird, but I think it’s the right thing t-… excuse me?”

“I’m game.” Bosco was popping his neck.

“Oh, I will totally do this.” Naiara was loosening up her shoulders.

“Hey,” Bosco rounded on her, “why do you get to do it? It should be me.”

“No way! I’m doing it.”

“You are not!”

“Guys?”

“I’m the hoof specialist!”

“That doesn’t matter here! Hit her with anything heavy enough and it’ll work, regardless.”

“Um… guys?”

“I should get to do it! I’ve been dragged into all sorts of stuff thanks to Snow!”

“I’ve been getting dragged around from the day she left the Stable!”

“If I could just…”

“I WANNA DO IT!”

“If you two don’t knock it off, I’m gonna go get Undertow instead!”

Twin gasps, as my threat caught them aghast.

“Nooo, you asked us.” Bosco’s reply was quick, trying to outrun any chance of losing this opportunity.

“You saaaiiiid.” Whined Naiara.

“Get on with it then!” I snorted in frustration. This should not take this long.

“…Together?”

“Alright.”

“Hey wait a sec-”

~~~~~~

The slightest… something was happening. Like a far-off echo, my ears were driving my brain mad, as they struggled to make sense of what they were picking up. Too insubstantial to focus on, yet impossible to ignore, an indescribable noise was dipping in and out. It was low, and constant, and maddening in its familiar strangeness. It was almost like wearing ear protection.

But why would I be working in the Reactor core? That wasn’t my assignment this week.

I resolved to give my ears such a telling off for their treachery, complete with the scariest glare I could muster. But not here, down in the caves. There wasn’t enough light. This had to be a full sensory attack.

Flooding in past my eyelids, a dull, but comparatively shining, gloom pervaded. The lights must be dying again. A requisition would need to be put in for their replacement.

Whatever the light situation, it wasn’t good enough. I couldn’t give my ears a good talking to like this, I couldn’t make anything out! There was a blur covering everything, like Lo had pranked the cleaning staff’s solution with grease again, and everything ended up looking dirty and indistinct.

Oh damn, Mrs. Doublehorn’s gonna give me hell for this. I was supposed to be watching him.

She had, I realised, as the other horseshoe dropped. This WAS that time. I’m daydreaming.

Right, because that’s Buff, and Al, over there, already covered in gunk. So covered, that Al’s got stripes, and I can’t see Buff’s horns. Lo really went all out. I’m kinda proud.

What happened next?

I remembered trying to rise from where I was sitting, except my hooves wouldn’t stay under me long enough to get upright. After a few attempts, I gave it up for a bad job and just let myself fall. Fortunately, my head fell onto something soft, which would also get me a chewing out, because I shouldn’t have let the Reactor core get this cluttered with random objects.

I’d handle that in a minute or two. For now, I was just gonna enjoy the free headrest. Everything seemed pretty calm for the moment, a minute or two’s break wouldn’t be too bad. At least, if it weren’t for the weird noise.

Seriously, what is that?

My break would be ruined if it kept up. Was it the filters? The outflow valves? Cracks in the bulbs, which would also account for the bad lighting?

Coming back to the noise, it was strange that I couldn’t pin down how it had sounded before. It was still bothersome, but I had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn’t the same. There were gaps now, silences, and the loud parts were… changing, even as I was trying to listen.

Can the others hear it too?

“You hearing this, boys?” Whatever this soft thing I was lying on was, getting up was out of the question. I was happy to pay with my voice slurring in exchange. The question probably sounded more like “Yooweirienis, bus?”

They heard me, but they might’ve had their own cushions, as I’d never heard them sound like they did just then. Buff’s calm rumble was too flat, while Al’s heavy growl sounded downright feminine. I couldn’t help giggling, which set Al off, as I knew it would.

I still couldn’t make out what was being said, but there was more feeling in his voice.

“Stop complaining and help me get Lo cleaned up. He’ll be a mess.” I knew he would be because I’d been through this before. It took hours to get it all out of his fur.

And then he jumped in two more times for fun, the little monster.

His lazy brothers made no move to help though, even as covered as they were. It almost seemed to be getting worse, at that. The stripes were more pronounced, and Buff’s coat was losing its colour, shifting slowly more grey by the second.

On the plus side, whatever the noise was, it seemed to be dying down, and regular auditory service was resuming. Sort of. Buff was still speaking too flatly, while Naiara had calmed down and wasn’t looking this way anymore.

Rolling my eyes at them proved to be a mistake, as my vision swam the moment I did so, and I had to shut out the light again until the dizziness subsided. When I was confident that I wasn’t gonna topple over, I let some light back in.

“...Huh.”

The Reactor core was gone. So were my brothers. So was Stable 61. Instead, all I had to go on was the soft, warm something that I was lying against, and a veritable on-rush of startling clear sensations:

The gentle sound of the lake waves on the shore.

The rise and fall of my chest.

Bosco and Naiara talking in hushed tones.

Undertow’s soft breathing on my face.

Undertow?

As I accomplished the last step of my resurrection, opening my eyes, I took in the scene before me.

I was laying on the bed of the cabin, stretched out, with the warm around my shoulders, neck, and head due to being cradled in the crook of Undertow’s sleeping body. Taking a slow pan around the room with my eyes, I took in the perpetually cloudy sky through the still-unfixed hole in the cabin roof, to the open door and the cresting water beyond, and finally to my other two friends, sat at the table, eating a meal.

“Thanks.” I croaked out, only then realising how dry my throat was.

I’d get up, but this is really comfortable.

“Happy to help.” A jocular Naiara beamed down at me, flexing a muscle as she did. Bosco just smirked and continued eating, though he did seem to be making small shadow boxing moves with his free appendage.

I noticed he had a bandage wrapped around the hoof. “What happened to your leg?” I kept quiet, so as not to disturb my slumbering pillow.

The charcoal colt’s grey eyes flicked briefly to said pillow. “When she came back and found you out cold, she got a little… upset.”

Oh boy. I was hoping that I’d be awake again before she got back. “How long was I out?”

“A full day.”

“WH-… what?” Undertow stirred at my stifled shout, but didn’t wake. Her hoof moved though, searching around on the bed, and she quietly moaned when she found nothing, her sleeping features creasing up in concern.

I reached a hoof up to hers, and she grasped it tight, instantly calming. Within seconds her breathing was low and regular again.

“You needed the rest, Snow,” Naiara was more serious than usual, “you were awake for days.”

“…Fair enough. So, Bosco, what’d Undertow do to your leg.”

Throaty chuckles accompanied the answer. “She bit him.”

I goggled at her words. “Bosco, she bit you?”

He just shrugged and kept on eating, only talking after swallowing. “I said she was upset, and when she found out we were the ones who put you under, she, ah, didn’t take it well. Took a while for us to get her calmed down.”

I turned to Naiara. “Did she bite you too?”

Naiara raised her snout proudly. “Nope, couldn’t catch me.”

Still eating, Bosco cut her pride to shreds. “Tell Snow what she did instead.”

Her jade eyes glowered at him, before she sighed. “She put me through the door.”

The door? A second look made my eyes widen. What I’d originally thought to be the open cabin door proved, on closer inspection, to be the non-existent cabin door. Shards of wood littered the shore outside. “How?”

“I wasn’t expecting it, okay!” Her ego must’ve been hurt worse than her body, considering how Undertow couldn’t even touch her in their first fight.

The whole thing made me start to laugh. My little Undertow got so mad at my getting myself knocked out, that she bit Bosco and blasted Naiara straight through a wooden door.

“Mmm… Lady Snow?” My mirthful shaking had apparently been enough to wake Undertow, where a short shout had not.

“Hi.” My response was light, and cheery, and energetic. I’d accomplished what I wanted from my slumber. My body felt much lighter and capable. A few experimental jolts showed me that my magic came easier too.

None of that really helped when two hooves wrapped around my neck in a choking deathgrip of death. “YOU ARE AWAKE!”

“Ggghk!” I could only flail as her over-enthusiastic embrace threatened to send me back under.

“Undertow, she’s choking.” Naiara was nonchalant about the whole thing, but the hooves soon slackened.

“Ah! My apologies, Lady Snow.”

Rubbing my neck, I took a few long, slow breaths to equalise my breathing. “It’s fine, Undertow. Glad to be back. Have you been here the whole time?”

“Yup, she never left your side… except to bite me.”

“I really am very sorry, Bosco. And to you, Naiara. I just… I…” Her blush was back in force.

Neither of them looked to hold a grudge. “Don’t worry about it, Undertow. We know you were just worried about her.”

Undertow said nothing, just demurely clung to me. I was more than happy to reciprocate. “Try not to do that again, Undertow. Bosco and Naiara are friends, they usually have reasons for this kinda stuff.”

“I understand. I’m sorry, Lady Snow.”

“It’s fine. So what time is it?”

“Mid-morning, give or take.”

We were all gathered, and looked to be in good health. I saw no reason to stay any longer. “Wanna get going then?”

~~~~~~

The last of the water froze, causing the tiny ring to fall, giving off a pure crystal sound as it clattered down my horn.

“Hah, I did it!” My delighted exclamation was cut short, as I had to swiftly shake my head to dislodge the frozen band, “Eesh, that’s cold!”

Naiara and Bosco just smiled supportively, while Undertow clapped her hooves at my success. “I knew you could do it, Lady Snow. Shall we try further away?”

The same method Undertow had used before for teaching me magic, levitating a ring of water around my horn, was still what she and I used to practice. Before, I’d simply been able to find the water with my magic, even a half-inch from my horn. It had taken me an hour, and I hadn’t managed anything more than that.

Now that I was finally rested again, I’d managed to not only locate Undertow’s water, but also to freeze it.

Granted it still took me several minutes and was, as said, half an inch from my horn, but I’m still counting it. Woo, progress!

We’d tried greater distances, but after an hour of practice I’d only increased my range by a few feet. I was starting to feel dizzy, so we took a break.

I felt lighter, and happier, now that I wasn’t dragging a dead-on-its-hooves body around. I was practically bouncing as we strolled along, and my good mood seemed to be catching with the others. Naiara regularly broke into simple Stompeii Emboli routines as we went, and Undertow was starting to open up too, being engaged in a lively discussion with Bosco about Molar Bears.

“They move through the trees?”

“Almost as easily as you swim through water.”

“Amazing! I would not think that something of the size you describe would be able to move so easily.”

“I don’t think many ponies get the chance to find out. They can tear a stallion in half in seconds with those claws.”

That drew a shudder from the water-wielder. “Perhaps I should avoid the forest if possible.”

Chuckling, Bosco just shrugged. “I dunno, so long as Snow’s around you might be alright. According to her and Naiara, she’s survived five of the things.”

Whipping her head around, Undertow stared at me with awe. “Five?”

Molar Bears weren’t really something I wanted her underestimating, so I felt like I needed to set the record straight. “Don’t be fooled, Undertow, I had a lot of help. The first time I came across a Molar Bear, I’d have died if it hadn’t chased me into town at Cefar. Bosco and a bunch of others shot it to hell. When I came across the family of four, they seemed more confused than anything, and Naiara did… something,”

“Flashbang.” She called out, still listening even as she somersaulted and cartwheeled back and forth,

“Right, Naiara did a Flashbang, and we managed to get away. That’s what you need to do with Molar Bears. Don’t try to fight, just get away however you can.”

Undertow’s awe transferred to the colt and the zebra. “You two saved Lady Snow?”

All three of us burst out laughing. “ ’Tow, we’ve been saving her since she came to the Wasteland!”

“Got a list and everything.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I gruffed, “I’ll square up with you guys one day.”

“There’ll be interest.”

We all laughed at the joke.

“Get in on this, Undertow,” Naiara quipped, “I’m sure you’ve got a few saves to call in too.”

“I… do not have much need for money.” She was trying, but easy banter was not something she was accustomed to, and she struggled to keep up with the chatty Naiara, and snarky Bosco.

Heck, I still struggle to keep up with them sometimes.

“Why’s that? You rich?”

“Not wealthy, no. However, our lake salvage is intriguing for traders and researchers, and so we Deep Divers use it in exchange for food and other supplies. We tend to welcome more researchers than traders. They offer less disruption to our solitude.”

A thought struck me. “Since the Deep Divers want to be left alone, how are they gonna react to joining up with the other Raider groups?”

She didn’t immediately have an answer. None of us did, and we all lapsed into silence as we each pondered the question.

“Come to think of it,” Bosco mused, “each of the groups is pretty different from each other. I mean, Caber Toss’ lot… what were they called?”

“Haylanders.”

“Right, his Haylanders, seem quick to a fight, but they weren’t anywhere near as vicious as Four Fields and his Barnstormers. Mostly they just seemed rowdy.”

“That’s probably because Caber Toss was there, though. If he wasn’t, they’d probably be a lot more shooty.” I couldn’t really disagree with Naiara’s assessment. Caber Toss had been able to silence his entire group just by stomping his hoof. They definitely accepted his authority, but in general, they did seem to like getting wild.

“From what you have told me, these Haylanders, and Barnstormers, seem to take on the traits of their leaders. Caber Toss is a stallion who enjoys violence, and thus, so do his Haylanders. Four Fields, before his death, was a vicious pony who enforced his rule through fear. His Barnstormers will see that as the correct way to act.”

“Wonder what they’ll turn into now that he’s dead?” Bosco’s muttered response did bring up an important point. With Four Fields dead, would the Barnstormers still want this alliance? How would their new leader, whoever that turned out to be, act and shape their followers?

“How’s this alliance even going to work, anyway?” Naiara piped up, “I mean, Caber Toss was kinda skimping on the details, really. ‘Unite us’ is all well and good, but how?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, think about it. Instead of four groups with one boss each, now they’ll be one big group with four bosses, and presumably, Red Ice at the top.”

“I don’t wanna be on top.”

“We know you don’t, Snow, but that’s kinda the problem. They might all follow you out of respect, but if you don’t do the job, how do they decide which way to go between the four of them? Undertow’s got a voice there, but Caber Toss, Ballbuster, and whatever new guy shows up for the Barnstormers are gonna want to do things their way, too.”

“I’ll do my best to support Lady Snow in this!” She was adamant about sticking with me, even in this.

I studied her earnest face as I thought things over. Do I want her having to deal with this? Do I have a choice? She’s the non-Raider Raider, so I might NEED her to play a big part.

“Argh, bureaucracy is hard!” I rubbed my head in an effort to sort the problem. It didn’t really help.

I stomped a hoof. “One thing I’m damn sure not gonna do, though, is make the Raiders my army. No matter what some faceless DJ says!”

“Hear hear.” Was the deadpan chorus.

Still, I thought, as Naiara and Bosco began grilling Undertow on what those big fish in the lake, Poseidoceros was apparently the name, were like, and how they measured up to Molar Bears, what do I want this alliance to be in the end?

~~~~~~

Chapter 11-2: Portion Or Helping?

It took us a full day to cross from the Deep Diver village, on what I now knew to be Soft Swell Lake, and all in all, it had been a pleasant trip. Even the falling snow hadn’t dampened our spirits.

That ended upon our arrival at the Woodpecker settlement. As we crested the snowy hill, we were instantly snapped back to the reality of the situation.

It was on fire.

“What the hell’s this?” Bosco was, as always when presented with danger, all business. He was already getting his pistol and knife out.

We stared, confused, at the scene. Dark smoke was billowing up from several places in the ramshackle village, built out of busted sky carriages and train cars. As we watched, another fire kicked up, started by an explosion.

Somebody was attacking the Woodpeckers.

“Let’s go!” I began half-running, half-sliding down the soft white snow, trying to reach the village as soon as possible.

“This is definitely the place, Bosco?” Naiara kept pace with our tumbling easily, her natural grace manifesting even in this situation.

“Yeah, it lines up with Caber Toss’ map. This is the place.”

“Who’d be crazy enough to attack a Raider stronghold?” I thought I might already know the answer to that, but didn’t want to believe it was them.

Unfortunately, the Wasteland doesn’t care what you believe. Swooping through the smoke of the centre-most fire, I saw a winged figure strafe the village, with a new series of explosions following in her wake.

“That’s Breeze!” Naiara and I confirmed together.

“Oh, hell.” Bosco muttered, while Undertow just kept her silence and continued onwards.

We were halfway down the hill when two more fliers made themselves known. Corkscrewing up from between buildings, Cassie reached her vantage point and unslung her powerful rifle, sighting down on some unseen, unsuspecting Raider. I saw the muzzle flash before I heard the thunder clap of the shot being fired. I couldn’t hear a scream over the crackle of the fires, audible even at this distance, but I knew firsthoof how good a shot she was.

Wings was pacing Breeze, the two of them raining bullets and grenades down onto the Woodpeckers. Two earth pony mares scrambled up onto a roof, and began returning fire with automatic guns. Breeze broke off, but Wings just juked and opened up with her revolvers, sending one Raider tumbling over the side, and soon joined by the other as the diminutive griffon cannoned straight into her as she struggled to reload. The pony’s high-pitched scream cut off abruptly half a second later.

We were close now, only a few hundred meters away. My breath had stopped fogging as we drew closer to the burning village, and adrenaline was running through all of us, driving us forward.

A disturbing sound almost ground us to a halt as we entered the village proper: Schwarzwald’s laughter. Loud, deep, and melodic, she was obviously enjoying herself. I caught sight of her as we reached the centre of the village.

Framed by the fire, the earth mare was having the time of her life, trading fire with the locals. Her battle saddle flashing and screaming as she run-and-gun’d her way around the square. She put the last of her opponent’s down just as we burst into the clearing.

“SCHWARZWALD!”

Her grin growing wider and wider as she turned, the joy dancing in her forest green eyes was palpable. “Snowflake-dahling! Bosco-dear! How good to see you again! I have missed you since the fight with Wings and Cassie.”

“What are you doing, Schwarzwald?”

My desperate imploring had little effect, if any, on her mood. “Why, I’m just killing some Raiders, dahling. Hardly a new concept.” She turned back to the carnage. “I won’t be long, then we can have a nice chat and catch up.”

“Wait!” I started forward, but a shot rang out, striking the ground before me.

“That’s close enough, Red Ice!”

Five pairs of eyes turned skyward, to see Cassie flapping in place a dozen meters above us, her rifle sight fixed on me.

“Stop this now, Cassie, please!” I had a better shot with her than I did with Schwarzwald. Cassie was no pleasure-seeker, and she had seemed genuinely remorseful on the monitor in Neighlway.

“I cannot do that, Snowflake. What you are doing is wrong!” Her aim didn’t waver, and she spoke around the barrel. “The Raiders are too much of a threat already. I will not allow you to make them worse!”

“I’m trying to make them better!” I pleaded, angry and scared that nobody understood that.

“Oh hey,” a rough voice called out, “the gang’s all here!” Wings swooped over our heads, before turning mid-air to hover beside Schwarzwald. Above, Breeze glared daggers at the four of us, with the possible exception of Naiara, as she took up position next to her sister. Two of her custom grenades were in her hooves.

The atmosphere was incredibly tense, even with the panicked shouts of Raiders rushing to battle fires or get away. In the corner of my eye, I spotted a fair number who were simply watching from the side lines.

Even Raiders love free entertainment, I guess.

Or they’re just going to jump all of us in a little while.

“Wings, what are you doing here?” The sapphire-eyed griffon had a hard look on her face, but was the only flier not to be pointing her weapons at me.

She just shrugged. “I’m stoppin’ you, Snow. Can’t let you keep going with this crazy plan of yours.”

I spread my hooves to indicate the chaos around us. “Like this?!”

She held up her claws in a ‘calm yourself’ gesture. “Relax, we’re only killing the ones who fight back. Just trying to scare ‘em, is all. Make it so they don’t want any part of your Raider army.”

“IT’S NOT AN ARMY!”

“Then what is it?” Breeze snapped at me. “What are you trying to do with these murdering psychopaths?”

“Dammit I’m trying to change them for the better! Raiders are still ponies! They can change!”

She remained dismissive. “You mean like that monster beside you?” Her eyes swept over Undertow, barely concealing the rage within.

Undertow bristled at that. So did I. “Don’t you dare call her that!”

She snorted out a laugh. “Why not? We had a nice chat with Four Fields about her, among other things. She’s killed more ponies than the rest of her flock put together.”

“She would wager that so have you.” Undertow’s whip-crack response shattered Breeze mocking smile.

“I’ll kill you, monster.” She snarled, but her sister put a hoof on her shoulder before she could do anything else.

Cassie, though looking less than pleased at how Breeze was being spoken to, nevertheless maintained a more collected air. “Red Ice, you have to know that this will not work. Too many will oppose it, and your collective will be drawn into a conflict whether you wish it or not.”

“So I shouldn’t even try?” I scoffed, “Just sit back and let you wipe out all these Raiders?”

“Most ponies would thank us.” She replied simply.

I didn’t need to utter a single word to convey my judgement of the opinion of ‘most ponies’ right now.

“Breeze, you gotta stop this now. It’s not you.” Naiara was facing her friend for the first time since La Buque, where she’d been dismissed as just another stripe. The hurt was still present on her face.

Breeze saw it too, and reacted in a way that gave me hope for the two of them. “I’m sorry, Naiara, but the Raider alliance isn’t something that I can allow to happen. This needs to be done.”

Getting into a ready stance, Naiara didn’t break eye contact. “Then I’ll fight you, and we can talk it out after I win.”

Her words, and actions, caused six of our remaining seven to drop into our own stances. Only Schwarzwald, thoroughly amused by the whole thing, remained relaxed. “Oh how fun! This should be delightful. There are four of them, and four of us. Shall we each pair off?” She was treating this as a giant game, which scared the hell out of me, but also made me think that perhaps she wouldn’t be looking to kill whoever it was she ended up battling.

“Whatever works.” Bosco surprised us with his willingness to go along with this. If we were split up, we couldn’t help each other. Everybody here, except myself, was a skilled combatant. We might end up with several deaths if we carried on.

Breeze was certainly okay with the idea. She kept her eyes on Undertow. “I’ll take the Raider.”

Undertow gave no response, other than for her horn to begin glowing.

“Oh poo,” Schwarzwald pouted, “I wanted to see what that cute little one could do. Oh well, no matter. I’ll take the pretty zebra.”

How Naiara didn’t react to the older mare’s toothy grin, I would never know. “Bring it on.”

A clicking noise drew my attention skyward, to where Wings was reloading her revolvers.

Bosco stepped up, his own gun ready. “I got her.”

Cassie’s voice floated down from on-high. “Leftovers are fine with me.”

I ground my teeth at that. Could have been worse. Cassie might not kill me if she gets the chance, though I’m not gonna roll over and give it to her this time.

“So,” a chipper Schwarzwald remarked lightly, “how should we start? Is there a signal?”

As if on cue, a building to the side collapsed under the heat.

She grinned at the serendipity. “That works. Follow me, pretty thing.” Then she turned and ran down one street. Naiara obliged her.

“Be careful, and don’t kill her!” I called after her.

Back in the square, Wings curled a talon beckoningly at the charcoal colt, before flapping backwards over some rooftops. Bosco, far more cautiously, and still wary of Cassie and Breeze, followed.

“Bosco…” I began, but he cut me off.

“I won’t kill her if I can help it, Snow. Might not be my choice though.” Then he was gone.

That’s about all I can ask here. Thanks, Bosco.

Undertow made no snide comment, instead opting to open up with all the stored water she had. It poured out of her bottles, and shot at Breeze like a hail of bullets.

The Pegasus almost didn’t react in time. She spun to the side at the last second, avoiding most of the barrage, but lost her grip on her gadgets, which vanished down into the well in the square.

Undertow called her water back, and then turned and vanished down the same street that we had come from, one of our group not chasing for once.

Enraged, Breeze went after her, with her sister calling out after her. “Be careful, Breeze.”

“Don’t kill her if you can help it, Undertow, and definitely don’t die!” I hollered too.

That first part is very, very important, but the second part is vital. I really don’t want to have to choose between you two, Breeze, but I’ll take Undertow if you force the issue.

Breeze, please don’t force the issue.

And then there were two. Cassie and I made no move to change location. There was no need. She had a clear view with her rifle from where we were, and I knew nothing of urban combat, so using the environment to my advantage was not going to happen.

“Is this really what you want, Cassie?” I asked, while slowly using my nose to point out some of the damage that had already been done; The collapsed building that was our ‘signal’, the dead bodies of Schwarzwald’s previous opponents, the still raging fires licking at whatever they could consume, the craters and debris left by Breeze’s grenades, and the bullet holes riddling multiple surfaces.

“No, she replied immediately, “of course not. However, the question could be posed to you too. This Raider alliance, you must know how dangerous it could be. Is developing that threat really what YOU want, Snowflake?”

“Not ‘Red Ice’?”

“That depends on you.”

She looked almost as miserable as I felt about this whole thing. “What can I do to convince you that I’m not raising an army? That I mean no harm for the Wasteland?”

She regarded me levelly. “You would have to convince Breeze, I think, and that is beyond your powers of persuasion.”

“Does she hate the Raiders more than you?”

A tittering laugh rained down. “Oh my, no. No, she hates them far less than I do. She is simply more proactive in her hate. I will support her in all that she wishes for the Raiders, even if it means wiping every last one of them off the face of the planet.”

My stare was just as even. “You seem to have discovered a fair amount of the Raider alliance idea. Do you know who Undertow is?”

“I do, she is the leader of the Deep Divers. A Raider chief.”

“She’s no more Raider than you are, and she is very precious to me. I can’t allow Breeze to hurt her.” My horn began to glow faintly.

Cassie hefted her rifle slightly in response. “You don’t know our own words, Red Ice, but you know as well as I do that I won’t let her hurt Breeze.”

The implication was clear.

“I’m sorry.” We spoke the words together, before we began.

Another bullet slammed into the ground where I’d been as I launched myself backwards, backpedalling into the cover of a chest-high storage shed. With the barest minimum of my eye poking out, I tried to get a bead on Cassie, and instead received a face full of shrapnel, as her high power rifle round tore through the container inches from my face.

My pained scream drew more shots, blasting apart my barricade, a little at a time. Scrambling away, I received several grazes along my legs and ribs as I haphazardly snaked my way to sturdier cover.

From what I could make out from my peripheral vision, Cassie was in no hurry, content to stay high and take her shots.

I backed off, trying to buy time to formulate a plan. I’ll never beat her like this. I have to find a way to get her away from her rifle. I retreated further, back into the disorganised placement of the homes here, ducking between, and around, and through, homes wherever I found a path wide enough to travel.

The trouble with paths wide enough to travel, though, was that you were also visible down them. Each time I sprinted down one such path, a bullet would follow. Cassie’s ridiculously strong eyes would find me faster than I could dodge, and shot after shot cut a shallow path through my flesh.

Flattening myself against a wall, chest heaving, I knew that I must have looked a picture, with more and more red creeping into my colours. Each cut was shallow, but they were adding up.

It’s obvious she’s toying with me. She’s hit me a dozen times, on every part of my body. If she wanted to end this, I’d already been dead. She’s just stalling so Breeze can take care of Undertow.

“Snowflake?” She called down from somewhere, her voice echoing around the metal buildings, “You can’t win. Give up now, so I can go help Breeze deal with Undertow.”

Something drew my eye. A puddle on the ground. A puddle with a clear reflection of a floating Pegasus.

And her rifle.

Gotcha. My horn blazed. This was no different than Undertow’s training, and having your life threatened did wonders for your focus. “Not happening, Cassie. I won’t let Breeze kill her.”

Cassie was motionless, her wings keeping her perfectly still in the air. I had all the time I needed to get the measure of it.

I felt the magic happen.

Smiling, I stepped back out into the open, looking straight at Cassie. “We’re not done yet.”

Heaving a sigh that seemed genuinely reluctant, she sighted down the barrel, and pulled the trigger.

A pathetic, hollow click emerged from the rifle.

click, click, click.

Confusion, and growing fear, seeped into her eyes, as she tried in vain to unstick the frozen firing mechanism. Finally, a full minute of trying, she understood what happened. “You’ve gotten better.”

“I had plenty of incentive.” I left it ambiguous to her whether I meant Undertow’s protection, or her theft of my gear. I meant Undertow’s protection, though.

I turned to head down the street Undertow and Breeze had taken, but a coil wrapped around my hind leg.

Oh right, her whip. I managed to think, before being yanked off my hooves.

Thudding into the dirt, I rolled in an attempt to untangle myself, managing it just in time to scramble upright, as Cassie advanced on me, whip trailing from one bracer, and sharp blade deployed from the other. “I said I won’t let you go, Snowflake.”

She rushed at me, slashing with the knife, and striking with the whip. The dancing cord hounded me this way and that, always driving me into the range of the knife. My frantic, unscripted jerks were just barely keeping me from serious penetration, though my gashes increased with each slice.

Finally, she got a solid strike in. I’d just managed to avoid the knife and whip, but it left me way too close to Cassie, who simply flipped backwards, her hind hooves catching me full in the chest, and launching me back into a puddle of blood. The red liquid had softened the ground beneath it, and the splashing red scarlet coated my hooves as they sank slightly.

On instinct, I raised my front legs and my horn glowed, as she leapt towards me.

Spreng!

We stayed motionless for a moment, her pushing down with her knife, and my hoof blocking, with the cover of frozen blood becoming makeshift armour.

Wide-eyed at the new development, she didn’t react fast enough when my free hoof, also now armoured, swung up into her chin. The impact sent tremors along my limb, as I hadn’t held back, but it had the desired effect.

Reeling back from the blow to her chin, there were stars in front of Cassie’s eyes. I tried to press my attack with another blunt swing, but she turned and caught the blow on her shoulder, using the momentum to twirl around and backhoof me in the side of the head with her bracer.

We broke apart, each shaking out the cobwebs. Recovering, I sent a wide, arcing hook towards her, but she blocked with the barrel of her rifle, before jamming it into my stomach, thumping the wind out of me.

I collapsed to the ground, retching, and tried to suck some air into my lungs. Inhaling became far more difficult as her whip lashed me from shoulder to flank, in what felt like one long, agonising streak of fire. I couldn’t even scream. My hooves went out from under me, even as my back spasmed with the pain, and I fell face first into the dirt and ash.

I shut my eyes, dreading another bite from the whip’s fiery tongue, but none came. Instead, there was a dull thud, and my eyes snapped open to reveal that Cassie was no longer standing over me.

She was lying a few feet away, with a furious Naiara springing back to her hooves. Her eyes were swollen and blackening, and bruises and bites riddled her body.

Following my friend’s glare, I saw Schwarzwald standing there, still grinning, but looking no better than her chosen dance partner, who she’d just thrown into Naiara.

“Oops,” she giggled, “sorry about that, dahling.”

She’s keeping up with Naiara? The thought initially had me worried, but I soon noticed that it wasn’t quite so bad as that. While both combatants were heavily bruised, and would no doubt be sore later, Naiara wasn’t breathing heavily, while Schwarzwald was sucking in long draughts of oxygen, and favouring her right side. Naiara had the upper hoof, but it was not one-sided.

I heard a grunt behind me, and saw Naiara dancing away from a clumsy attack from Cassie. It almost did me in, as Schwarzwald took the time to charge at Naiara when my attention was elsewhere.

My attempt at preventing this was as unimpressive as Cassie’s failure to catch the nimble zebra, as the mercenary mare effortless ducked under my frozen hoof, losing no momentum as she snagged me around the chest, flinging me away. “No no, Snowflake-dear, Naiara is my playmate, and I will have my fun.”

Failing to hide a grin herself, Naiara casually repelled Cassie. “Don’t worry, Snow, I got her. Breeze’s sister giving you trouble?”

In some ways, svara, you’re as crazy as Schwarzwald is. “I took out her gun. I’ll be fine.”

Just before the two squared off again, the earth mare took the time to congratulate me. “Oh? Well done, dahling. I’m so happy for you.”

“Schwarzwald, what are you doing?” Cassie’s words dripped with incredulous disbelief. “We’re trying to stop them!”

“Stop them, yes, Cassiopeia Venatici, but clearly not kill them. We all know that if you desired Snowflake’s death, she would have already have a bullet through the brain.”

Hah! Knew it.

The accused said nothing, instead grimacing as we watched the two hoof-fighters continue their vicious brawl. I was fairly sure that I wouldn’t have to worry about either of them doing permanent damage. Schwarzwald clearly didn’t want to kill us either. I wasn’t sure why, exactly, but I was sure regardless.

“Ahem.” Cassie was drawing her whip back. “Shall we go again?”

“What for?” I challenged. “You’re just stalling anyway, giving Breeze a chance to kill Undertow.”

“Aren’t you doing the same?” She shot back.

“I’m trying to stop an entire village from being burned to the ground!”

“You already know the village will survive. We only killed those who fought back.”

“Of course they’re gonna fight back, you attacked their home!” I wasn’t going to let her try any sort of justification here. If she, her sister OR Wings had a problem with what I was doing, they could have always come to talk to me directly! This isn’t even about the Pipbuck and Memory Orb right now.

Cassie disagreed. “You would not have listened, had we approached you directly. Your anger at Wings, Breeze, and I would have clouded any discussion.”

“YOU DIDN’T EVEN TRY! NOBODY EVEN TRIES WITH RAIDERS! You all just kill them without another thought! Well, I’m sick of it! ‘Raider’ is such a damn lazy label that you jackholes put on these ponies, so you can try to fool yourself into thinking you aren’t killing other Wastelanders! I’m not gonna let you do that to Undertow, and I won’t let you do it here!”

Her whip cracked furiously against the ground. Livid eyes glared back at me. “You know NOTHING, Stable dweller, NOTHING of what a Raider is. Do not dare to lecture me on that so-called ‘label’, after mere weeks out of your hole in the ground!”

We stood there, glaring at each other in resolute silence, each unwilling to hear the other’s point of view, before she spread her wings to take flight, and my horn’s glow returned.

Our clash was derailed, however, as a torrent of water exploded out of the village well, carrying with it the grenades Breeze dropped earlier. The mass rocketed away over the rooftops and, as we watched, re-emerged seconds later, fountaining a wildly spinning Breeze straight up into the air. Even as the water broke off, splitting into smaller streams, which curled gracefully back down out of view. Even as the water left her, Breeze’s trajectory continued unabated, until she righted her spin after a few moments.

As Breeze dove down after the water, my opponent and I returned each other’s look. A second ticked by in silence, before the two of us, in a synchronised motion, broke into a gallop in that direction.

Leaving the square, we jostled and barged at each other, as we each tried to beat the other to the conflict between Breeze and Undertow.

“Leave her alone!”

Damn, I hate that she said it too.

So focused were we on reaching that particular conflict, that when Wings and Bosco burst through a flimsy excuse for a wall into the street before us, talons and knife giving off sparks as they clashed, we didn’t even slow down, even as the two locked into a stalemate, hooves and claws pushing to keep the other’s gun pointed away.

“Wings, can you handle him?”

“Bosco, you got this?”

“I’m good.” They chorused, without breaking their unblinking eye contact.

Satisfied, Cassie and I separated and ran around the pistol brawling pair, splitting up at a fork in the road.

“Come on, Undertow,” I panted as I ran, “where are you?”

It really didn’t help that everything in the camp was made of the same material, and the same basic design. That, plus the fires and explosions, and general grime of Wasteland life, had rendered every building I passed as more or less identical to its neighbours. I looked everywhere I could, but I couldn’t tell where Undertow was in relation to me.

I thought I saw a glimpse of blue wings to my left, and ducked down the next available alley. Bursting between buildings, I came back out into the open just in time to catch Undertow, having been caught under the chin by Cassie’s kick, the same one she’d used on me before beating me here.

With the stunned unicorn in my hooves, I couldn’t move fast enough to avoid the detonation, which sent us rolling. Neither Pegasus pressed the attack, as Cassie was fussing over Breeze, making sure she hadn’t been hurt. She had been, but not badly enough to incapacitate her.

I found myself doing the same for Undertow, who surprisingly shrugged me off, like Breeze was doing to Cassie.

Two glowing horns squared off against two pairs of wings, and we were then joined by two earth ponies, and finally two non-ponies. As all eight fighters gathered again, I felt utter frustration that we had wasted all that time, just to end up right back where we started: Each group facing down the other, in the still burning village.

“LALALALALAHHHHH!!!!!!”

The eight of us each raised an eyebrow at the scream, looking quizzically at its source.

Rumbling down the street towards us, was what seemed to be the entire Woodpecker group of Raiders, led by the biggest mare I’d ever laid eyes on. Her milk-coloured coat was covered by straining Raider gear, and she was mountainous, bigger even than Caber Toss, and nearly as round as she was tall, with a mouth full of missing teeth, and a red mane tied into a severe bun. Still, she was moving at a fast clip, even out pacing those following behind her.

“What the hell is this?” Wings vocalised what we were all thinking.

Dropping her smile for the first time since our entrance, Schwarzwald shrugged in disappointment. “It would appear that we have run out of time, dahling. The Raiders are here, and I believe we might not be in the best condition to fight the entire village right now.”

“But we’re not done!” Breeze had returned to swapping glares with Undertow.

Cassie remedied that by laying a hoof on her shoulder. “Unfortunately, sister, we are. Schwarzwald is right, we are not fit to battle an entire village.”

Wings and Breeze kinda looked like they wanted to continue, and the death of either, or Cassie and Schwarzwald, would all but destroy any chance I had to get my stuff back from them later, so I added my voice to Schwarzwald and Cassie. “Get going already, Wings! I’ll keep them from coming after you.”

“You will, will you?” Her scepticism was obvious.

What do you want from me? I’m trying to save your life! “Just go before you all die!”

Schwarzwald was already on her way, though she was waving cheerily at the four of us, while the three fliers hesitated, apparently needing to get some parting shots in.

“…Not bad, Bosco.” Wings’ admission was grudging at best, but it was something. She took to the sky immediately after.

Which just left the twins. Cassie was still tugging at Breeze, trying to get her to escape. Finally, the mechanically-minded Pegasus relented, and started to rise with her sister. “Another time, Undertow.”

“Goodbye for now, Red Ice.”

The Deep Diver and I said nothing in response, just watched silently as they retreated into the sky, following after Wings. The Raiders had no fliers, so they’d be fine as soon as they got out of range of whatever pitifully-maintained guns that the Raiders might have, but Schwarzwald could only make a run for it, and she was the only one of the four that I had no real grudge with, so I moved to make sure that she was alright.

Planting myself in the path of this living locomotive of a pony, I took a deep breath and held up a still-frozen hoof. “STOP!”

Shockingly, it worked. The massive mare skidded to a stop, not budging an inch when her followers, all female for some reason, piled into the back of her. Squinting down through her bloodlust, she finally focused on me standing there, feeling less confident now that she was close enough for me to get a real measurement of just how much of a big girl she was. “Wha’s wrong, wee lass? Yeh no’wantin’ tae get after ‘em?”

I heard Naiara facehoofing behind me, and wanted to join her. This accent again. Great. “Um… no?”

The ground shook as she stomped an angry, disbelieving hoof. “How no? Them cheeky bints set me toon on fire!”

If she’s gonna speak like Caber Toss, I’ll act the same way around her as I did with him. That would have made no sense, were I calmer and not coming off an emotionally charged confrontation, but it seemed perfectly reasonable then and there. “Because I’m Red Ice, and they are my prey.”

The response I got to this bravado was overwhelmingly positive, and overwhelmingly painful. The mare-hemoth swept me up and off the ground in an organ-rearranging embrace. “Red Ice! Oh, it’s a pleasure, lassie, what wi’ you savin’ may Woodpeckers an’ e’rythin’! Come ‘ere and lemme gi’ yeh a squeeze!”

I’m actually going to die. The thought was all I could muster as my shoulder blades literally ground together.

“If these are the Woodpeckers, then you must be Ballbuster.” Naiara’s words saved me, and doomed her, as Ballbuster dropped me and seized her up instead.

“Ah am indeed, yeh wee stripey thing! Thanks tae you too. That was some fine fightin’ yeh were doin’ wi’ the earth pony. Ne’er seen anythin’ like it.”

“O…kay.” Was all that the zebra could croak out.

Soon enough Ballbuster had a new target though, as she turned her attention to the last ‘lassie’. As she moved forward, Undertow was already shrinking behind me. “Wha’s wrong, hen? Come oot an’ lemme gi’ yeh a cuddle!”

“She’s not good with hugs.” I tried to be diplomatic about it. Didn’t want Ballbuster’s friendliness, painful though it was, to disappear.

Thankfully, the stout mare accepted without any trouble. “Aye, ah’m always hearin’ that the Deep Diver’s arenae much fer that stuff, seems their boss is nae different.”

“So you know who she is, then?” Bosco seemed glad to move the topic along, and avoid a hug himself.

He got a very different response than the three of us did. Ballbuster scowled at him. “Ah thank yeh fer helpin’ mah village, colt, but watch yehr mooth.”

That surprised all of us. “What’d I say?”

Her scowl threatened to turn into a glare. “The Woodpeckers’re no’ fans o’ males. Too many o’ them try their chances wi’ mah girls. Get rough wi’ em. Ah’ll no’ have that here, which means ah’ll no’ have YOU here.”

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.” It seemed I wasn’t the only one carrying frustration from the fight, Bosco cut loose, raising his voice. “After all I just did to save your piece of…”

“BOSCO!” Naiara cut him off before he said anything that’d get him killed. Ballbuster WAS glaring now, and her Woodpeckers were starting to produce weapons.

“…Fine.” He wasn’t so angry that he’d commit suicide here, so he simply thrust out a hoof at Naiara instead, “Gimme the communicator.”

“What for?”

“I’ll leave, but I wanna call Schwarzwald.”

That put Naiara on edge. “Her? Why?”

He said nothing in response, just stood there with his hoof out, waiting.

I could only shrug as Naiara looked to me for clarification, but she eventually handed over Breeze’s communicator. “Don’t break it.”

“I’m not gonna break the fu-… ugh, forget this!” He turned on his heel and stalked away, muttering unflattering things about all present, and recently-present.

Two Woodpeckers followed him discreetly. “Jes’ tae make sure he’s away from the village, they’ll no bother him past the toon’s edge.”

As soon as Bosco was away, Ballbuster was all smiles again. “ ‘mon then! Le’s get some food in yeh. Yeh’re all so wee an’ tiny! Ah’ll get yeh fed up.” It wasn’t really up for discussion, as the three of us found ourselves drawn along within a procession of excited fillies, all trying to talk to us at once.

~~~~~~

Chapter 11-3: Portion Or Helping?

We found ourselves sat in an impromptu picnic in what remained of the square, with Ballbuster sat next to us, as Woodpecker cooks brought out great cauldrons of seasoned ground meat, along with a thick, brown, herby liquid to pour over the top. “Tarantubaa haggis ‘n’ gravy. Nothin’ finer in all o’ the Wastes. Eat yehr fill, there’s plenty tae go aroond!”

It took me a little while to overcome my apprehension about eating those fluffy spider creatures, but my exertion from the fight had caught up with me, and it did smell good, so I soon found myself tucking in alongside Naiara and Undertow, who had no issues with the food.

Ballbuster watched with satisfaction as we made short work of the food. “Aye, tha’s the way,” she proclaimed loudly, “a full belly’ll do wonders fer a pony.”

She sighed wistfully. “Used tae make this all the time fer mah wee ‘uns, afore they got too big t’stay wi’ their maw.”

“You’ve got kids?” She was showing motherly behaviour, to be sure, but her attitude towards stallions make this surprising.

“Oh aye. Ah was lucky enough tae find a decent buck, either that or he was lucky tae find me!” She, and the other Woodpeckers hooted with laughter at this. We just chuckled politely.

“Anywho, aye, ah had a few. Dunno where they are noo though, been years an’ years since ah last saw ‘em. They’re prob’ly deed.” She didn’t look particularly sad at this, seeming to accept it as part of life. “They all turned out thick as bricks, just like mah husband.”

“Is he here?” Naiara asked, around a mouthful.

“Course no’, he’s a stallion. He’s no’ welcome here. None o’ ‘em are. No’ even yehr wee pal. Mah husband’s prob’ly off gallivantin’ aroond wi’ wee hussies!” Her smile turned lopsided, and frankly deranged, as she spoke on the matter.

“This food is excellent, Ballbuster, could we please give some to Bosco? He will be hungry.”

Undertow’s words defused the situation, drew surprised looks from Naiara and I, and caused a knowing smile to grace Ballbuster’s lips. “Oh, ah see. That one yehr fella, Deep Diver?”

“NO!” I cried, as Undertow blushed, and Naiara burst out laughing. “He’s our friend, and we don’t want him to miss out.”

“Areet, fine,” she relented, signalling to one of the cooks, who took off after Bosco and his guards with a hearty helping of food, “an’ mah name’s no’ really Ballbuster, ah jus’ use that fer scarin’ folk. Ah’m Sweet Lips.”

A morsel caught in my throat, choking me. Seriously? Sweet Lips?

I received a mighty slap on the back from Sweet Lips, which almost snapped my spine, and a drink of weak ale to ease the discomfort. I let it work on my throat as I finished my meal.

When I was done, I decided to move things along. “So… Sweet Lips, I’ll tell you the same thing I told Caber Toss and Undertow. I’m trying to get some of the Raiders in the…”

“What’d yeh say?” She interrupted, a strange tone emerging.

I didn’t think much of it, despite Naiara and Undertow tensing up. “Caber Toss, he’s your husband, right? Anyway, the different Raiders in… the ar… e… a…”

I clicked onto what the strange tone signified.

Oh hell.

~~~~~~

“LALALALALAHHHH!!!!!!”

“What did you do?!” Bosco was unhappy to have his meal interrupted, especially by the three of us grabbing him anywhere we could, mid running-the-hell-away from an enraged Ballbuster, who was chasing us with a very large, very sharp, and very heavy-looking axe.

“STAY AWAY FROM MAH FELLA, YEH WHOORES!”

“Snow mentioned that we’ve met her husband.”

“She did not take it well.”

“So I see.”

…Hate. You. All.

~~~~~~

“AHAHAHAHAH! That’s mah wife alright.”

“And you didn’t think to tell us she was your wife before we met her?”

“Eh. Wasnae important.”

“…” I swear, if I still had my ice gauntlets…

After having barely escaped from Ballbuster, or Sweet Lips, we’d made for the closest safe haven: Vanchoofer. Amusingly, I’d run into the same trouble as I had the last time I came out this way. Namely, the portly Raider.

“Ho, look at that glameen run!”

Only this time, he’d taken one look at me, and waddle-bolted in the opposite direction, as fast as his tubby frame could carry him.

Caber Toss had caught the whole show. He’d been remarkably unfazed by the Woodpecker incident. “Aye, terr’ble temper on Sweet Lips. Amazin’ cook though. Amazin’.”

“What are you even doing here?” I was in no mood for his antics after what invoking his name had just caused. “Didn’t you say the Haylanders were based up around Whinniepeg?”

He nodded. “Aye, tha’s right. Ah’m just comin’ from seein’ the Barnstormers.”

“The Barnstormers?”

“Yep. Now that Four Fields’ deed, I went tae see how they were farin’. No’ well, really, so I took ‘em on as part o’ the Haylanders.”

“You… took them?” We were all frowning at this revelation, and Bosco and Naiara were subtly edging around to Caber Toss’s sides, in case he tried anything.

For now, he was all smiles, though. “Aye. Them Barnstormers are used tae obeyin’ the toughest. Four Fields was toughest ‘cause o’ his magic. Me? I jus’ beat the livin’ shite outta the new fools who wanted tae be boss. And now? Ah’m the boss, so ah said they’re Haylanders now.”

“I thought you wanted an alliance, not more followers?” This was sounding more and more suspicious all the time.

“Ah still do, but Four Fields was the on’y one o’ ‘em who coulda kept the others in line. It’s no’ perfect, but it’s easiest this way.”

He scratched his neck before shrugging. “Although, sayin’ that… Ah didnae really want Four Fields deed, but I was sorta hopin’ yeh’d off Ballbuster fer me.”

“WHAT?!” That was his wife he was talking about!

“Aye, chances are she’ll no’ work wi’ me. Woulda made things simpler.” He gave a hapless little chuckle. “Ah well, cannae have ev’rythin’. Ah’m setting the date fer the meeting o’ the bosses fer a week fro’ today. We’ll do it in the Barnstormer village, since it’s def’nitely safe now. Ah’ll go pass along the message tae Sweet Lips, she’ll prob’ly no’ be wantin’ tae see yeh again so soon.”

He sauntered off on his way, without waiting for a response.

Not that I had one to give, as I was having a really hard time sputtering over his words.

Eventually, long after he’d gone, I found my voice. “What the… FUCK is this?! The alliance is falling into shambles all around us, and he’s acting like this is the best thing that could have happened! Of the five people he wanted there, me included we’ve only got three guaranteed, one’s dead, and the last one hates us all! This is stupid!”

“…It was your idea.”

“SHUT UP, BOSCO!”

“YOU SHUT UP! IT’S STILL YOUR IDEA!”

“WHY DON’T YOU BOTH SHUT UP?”

“SHUT UP, NAIARA!”

“Um…”

“YOU SHUT UP TOO, UNDERTOW!”

“Eeep!”

“DON’T TELL HER TO SHUT UP!”

“THEN WATCH WHO YOU’RE TELLING TO SHUT UP!”

~~~~~~

The four of us, even Undertow, held our silence over the hour it took to reach Vanchoofer. I’d tried to coax Undertow into some magic practice, but got a pretty cold refusal.

So now we were waiting in line to enter, with hunched shoulders and pressed lips. To pass the time, I was readying my caps to pay the entrance fee. A frown crossed my face as I hefted the bag I’d gotten from Lexi for the caravan run. After Undertow’s armour, and several days of travelling through Raider country, not known for their wallets, it was lighter than I was really comfortable with.

I wasn’t gonna starve, not yet, but perhaps it would be wise to take it easy over the next week, until the Raider conference to the north.

Naiara hadn’t wanted to cover herself in makeup again, having griped long and loud about how much of a pain it was, so she’d simply donned a heavy cloak, keeping her steps short so the fabric didn’t reveal much of her striped fur. She dropped her fee on the table, and vanished between the guards without a word.

Bosco wasn’t much better. He never said a word either, but at least he glanced back, perhaps more neutral than positive, but at least he didn’t glare.

The trouble happened when Undertow tried to go in. After leaving her caps on the desk, she moved past the first guard,but she was forced to stop as the second guard moved his assault rifle into her path, though he didn’t point it at her just yet. “What’s wrong with your eyes?”

Startled, she could only raise her head quizzically, providing all present a good view of her goggles. “There is nothing wrong. These are simply my goggles.”

The gun in her way didn’t move, and the guard repeated his question more forcefully. “And I’m asking you why you’re wearing them. Something wrong with your eyes?”

“…They protect my eyes. There is nothing wrong.”

“Protect them from what?” The gun eased forward and tapped against the boxy mask hanging around her neck. “And what’s that?”

She stared back at me imploringly, but I couldn’t get past the first guard. He wouldn’t let me go until his colleague was done with her. All I could do was mouth “It’s okay.”

Still apprehensive, she nonetheless squared herself with the second guard without shrinking back. “It is my rebreather. It allows me to breathe underwater.”

The first guard immediately moved as far as away from her as he could, with the second guard snapping his gun into a firing pose. “Underwater? With all the radiation?”

“Well, yes, but…”

“Don’t move! Who knows how many rads you’re leaking.”

With the first guard still trying to simultaneously move away from Undertow, and keep her in his sights at the same time, I found that I had room to dart past him, ignoring his calls to stop as I ran towards the filly, who seemed to be trying to shrink into her skin. “Hey, what’s the problem?”

The guard’s rifle swung around to point at me. “Keep back! She might be irradiated!”

“Irradiated?”

“Who’s irradiated?”

“What’s going on?”

The first guard tried to calm the line down, leaving the two of us with the paranoid stallion with the assault rifle. I put a protective hoof around Undertow, pulling her into my side. “Just leave her alone. She’s not gonna put anybody in danger, look,” I pulled the Pipbuck-less Stable goggles from my pack, and jammed them over my eyes, “See? Doesn’t mean we’re dangerous.” I felt Undertow shift and look up at me as I donned the visors.

His gun started to shake. “You’re another one? Y-you and your sister can’t come in. Go away!”

“What? But we already paid!”

I really didn’t like how much the gun was jittering. “I don’t care. Take your caps and get out of here!”

I pointed roughly past him. “Our friends are in there! We’re not leaving!”

The line was getting angry at the delay, causing two more guards to materialise out of the shadows. One went to help with crowd control, while the other stepped up beside our aggressor. He was stone-faced, but calm at least. “What seems to be the problem here?”

I nodded my head at the perspiring guard. “This one won’t let us through, even though we’ve paid.”

“Is that so?” This one had a much better poker face, giving nothing away.

The one who originally barred our way was looking pretty low on the career ladder at this point. He’d lowered his gun the moment the new guy showed up, and it was obvious that he was deferring to him. “Th-they been swimming in radioactive water.”

A small crack appeared in the calm mask. He was surprised, but quickly covered himself. “Really? Hmm… still, we don’t need all this noise for something like this. Just sell them some Radaway.”

Another crack appeared now, and it worried me more than the first. I didn’t like the way his eyes travelled up Undertow’s body. “Shall we say, three doses, at fifty caps a apiece?”

My goggles almost slipped right off my head as my eyes shot wide. “Fifty? That’s outrageous! I’ve never seen them go for more than twenty!” While I was no great shakes at haggling, I’d been to enough stores to see the price trends for medicine.

The colt retreated behind his stone face. “If you don’t buy the Radaway, then you don’t get in.”

“I-it’s fine, Lady Snow.” Undertow mumbled, already reaching for her cap pouch.

“Hold on there, Undertow.” I didn’t want to back down to this jackhole who tried to bully her into extortionate prices. If it was just me, I’d have paid and been on my way, but he was scaring Undertow. The other one was just anxious and stupid, but this bastard knew exactly what he was doing. “I’ll take four for a hundred caps, that’s two for each of us, and to make you feel better, we’ll drink them right here. I’m not paying more than that just to pad your pockets.”

He may have been checking Undertow out, but the look I got implied that he’d much rather cave my nose in. “And if I say no?”

I turned back to the line, where there was still jostling, and some ponies were starting to turn away. “Then we stay here and argue for a while, and you lose caps every second.”

Forget breaking my nose, he was itching to teach me a lesson about who was in charge. His mask had dropped entirely. “Fine.” He finally groused.

I all but threw the hundred at him, and true to our word, we choked down the chalky, probably stale Radaway before moving on.

“Be careful in there.” He threatened and warned, simultaneously.

~~~~~~

Almost bouncing as she trailed along beside me, Undertow barely paid attention to the crowd, instead shooting near-constant looks at my new fashion statement. “Are they from the Stable, Lady Snow?”

“What, these?” I adjusted them with my hoof. “Yup.”

“Does everypony have them? Do Buff, Al, and Lo?”

I remembered talking about my brothers the last time too, when I was here with Wings. “Sometimes, it depends on what job each of them were doing.”

“What was your job, Lady Snow?” Her tone was light, inquisitive. She was being adorably precocious.

“Pfft, mostly Monitor Duty. I never got a chance to do the good jobs.” …more than once.

She cocked her head to the side. “Why not?”

“Couldn’t tell you.” Or more like I couldn’t prove it. There was clear favouritism at play. The same reason that ‘Overseer Roc’ is even a possibility, while ‘Overmare Snowflake’ is a bad joke, for more reasons than just my having left the Stable.

“If… if we were in your Stable,” her tone had shifted to a shy, hopeful question, “what job would I perform?”

That stopped me dead, as I considered it. “Good question. I guess… working on the reactor? You could really do wonders to help it stay cool. Or maybe working with the farmers, making sure each of the plants has the right amount of water? Ooh, I know! Since you’re so good at salvage, you’d be used for exploring the caverns that the Stable is built into.”

As Undertow glowed with pride at my appraisal, memories rushed back for me. What would have happened if Undertow WAS in the Stable? What would have happened if she was the one to find the Memory Orb? Would she be made to leave?

Probably not, they’d like her better than me.

I missed what was said, but Undertow’s talking interrupted my thoughts. “What’d you say?”

“I said that I would like to visit your Stable one day, Lady Snow, and meet Buff, Al, and Lo.”

I nudged her hip with mine. “I’d like that too. Now come on, let’s find the others.”

~~~~~~

We found Bosco and Naiara at the food stands, looking far less angry than before. They were chatting around mouthfuls of… something. I had no idea what it was but I could smell the sugar from 10 feet away.

A salivating Undertow stepped in front of me and went to greet them. “Hello again, Bosco. Hello again, Naiara. What is that you’re eating?”

“ ‘s called a Heartbreaker,” Bosco conveyed between bites, “dunno what’s in it, but it’s sooo tasty.”

Naiara was giggling as the sugar coursed through her system. “Bosco, you silly, ‘s not a Heartbreaker, it’s a HeartACHEr.” Reaching into her food bag, she withdrew a third, and shoved it between Undertow’s lips. “Try some.”

To avoid choking, she did. Almost instantly the corners of her mouth turned upwards as she chewed. “This is good!”

“Told you.” Bosco was already on his second.

I jumped as Naiara gasped and bounded upright, pointing at me. “Bosco, look look! Snow’s got goggles now!”

How sugary is that stuff? “Naiara, you’ve seen these before.”

“Yeah, but not side by side with Undertow. Aww, you two look so cute together!”

I gave Bosco a side glance. “Should we maybe get her some water or something?”

When he started cooing alongside the zebra, I had to accept the cause as lost. Pretty soon I found myself munching on an Heartacher, just like the others.

Damn, this is good!

“HeyBosco,” He and Naiara were about to start their third treat each, “I’llraceyou!”

“WhatdoIgetifIwin?”

“I’llgowithyoutodowhateveryouwantandyougowithmetodowhatIwantifIwindeal?”

“Dealonetwothreego!”

There was a blur of motion, and suddenly both their hooves were empty. I thought it was a tie, and so did Bosco, before Naiara laughed and pointed at his cheek, just as a flaky, deep fried morsel lost its hold and dropped. Hyped up on sugar, he snapped it out of the air with his tongue, but the damage had been done.

“IIIIIII WIN!” she was doing a side-to-side victory dance, lifting both front and hind left leg to ninety degrees, then switching to her right legs.

“Aw, I wanted to win.” The charcoal colt only managed a half second of disappointment before something out of my eyeline caught his attention, and he seemed to forget all about what was happening.

Grabbing his hoof, Naiara dragged him upright. “Come on, we’re gonna find some dancing!”

“What? Why?” Horror was etched across his entire face, or at least the parts that weren’t covered in frosting.

“Cause I had fun when I got to dance at Plottawa, and so did you!”

“No I didn’t!”

“Really, even with all those showgirls? Well, tough, I won, so it’s dancey time!”

“Help meeeee!” I made no move to do so as he was dragged away. What could stop a sugar-hyped Naiara?

And I’m not idiot enough to try.

Licking the pixie dust off her cheeks, Undertow looked around in confusion. “Were Naiara and Bosco not with us?”

“You were really into that sweet, weren’t you?”

She hid her embarrassment behind her hooves, but I was sure she was also taking the chance to lick them clean.

You can’t fool me, little one, I’ve got three younger brothers, I know all the tricks. “So what do you want to do? We could go watch the dancing, or look around on our own?”

Looking at the crowded dancing area made her blanch, so we elected to walk off the junk food. Skirting the edge of the thrall allowed us to take in the sights without triggering a panic attack for Undertow. The incident in Lethbridle’s marketplace was not so long ago, and had really tried her. Crowds still affected her strongly, after spending years in relative seclusion.

Still, she marvelled at the sights and sounds of the playhouse atmosphere. I’d seen them before, but it was refreshing to watch them again through her eyes.

Though I couldn’t see them, I imagined that said eyes were darting back and forth as she was swept up from behind in a giant hug. “Uwahh!”

Whipping around, instinctually activating my horn, I was brought up short by the scene before me.

Sat on her flank, with her front legs wrapped around the terrified filly, as she lovingly rubbed cheek-on-cheek, was a wood brown mare with a forest green mane, and a body full of scars.

“The zebra was so sexy, but you are simply lovely, little one. And you have matching goggles! So cute!”

Now rigid with shock, Undertow could barely get the words out. “L-L-Lady Snow, please help!”

I’m sure her panic only increased when my horn’s glacial glow vanished and I relaxed, but I took the opportunity to appreciate the cuteness. Finally, I reached out and tapped Schwarzwald on her free cheek. “Alright, Schwarzwald, you’re scaring her now. Enough’s enough.”

“Aw, please, dahling?”

“No,” I repeated more firmly, “I said stop.”

A smile blossomed gradually onto her face at my words and tone. After one last cheek rub, she released Undertow. “As my Lady Snow wishes. How could I refuse such a firm and confident order?” She lustily rubbed her cheek in the spot where Undertow had been. “Command me, Lady Snow.”

“Later…”

“Ooh!”

“…Now why are you here?”

“In Vanchoofer in general, or right here with you, and your adorable little sister?” She smiled widely, still very suggestively, at Undertow. “Hello, Undertow-dahling, I’m Schwarzwald. It’s so very nice to meet you here.”

This had her cowering even further behind me. I stepped to the side decisively. “Come on now, Undertow, Schwarzwald’s weird but she won’t hurt you…uh, in this situation.”

“Why thank you, dear Lady.”

“Go on,” I urged. “Say hello. Just because she hangs around with ponies we don’t like, doesn’t mean we can’t like her. I kinda do.”

Tentatively, Undertow stepped forward. “H-hello, Schwarzwald. It is nice to meet you… please don’t squeeze me again.”

“As you wish, little one.” She smiled that smile again. “That is, unless Mistress Snow commands it.”

“Schwarzwald! Don’t put strange thoughts in her head!”

“Apologies, Mistress.” It would be impossible to call the older mare remorseful at this point, obviously taking great satisfaction in her new game.

Dammit! “You said meeting us was different from coming to Vanchoofer, what did you mean?”

“Well, I am here in Vanchoofer on business, which involves you, but that can wait. I came to find you two first, instead of the ever-so-fun zebra…”

“Naiara.”

She sighed wistfully. “…Lovely, which suits her, and Bosco. No, I saw your confrontation in the entrance way, and I wanted in on the fun.”

Schwarzwald’s definition of fun was always trouble. “What fun would that be?”

If anything, she looked even happier about this than about teasing me. “We have company, now that the guards have changed shift.”

Ah. ‘Fun’. “Who and where?”

“Only three, and not far. They are watching us. Shall we invite them to play?”

I almost said “no” on automatic. Almost. However, I was still holding some tension from Caber Toss and Ballbuster, or ‘Sweet Lips’, and with Schwarzwald and Undertow with me, I felt pretty confident about working out some tension.

Right to that arrogant jackhole’s face.

“You know what? Yeah, let’s play.”

She double-took. “Wha-, really? Oh, Snowflake, you ARE so lovely right now. You and your sister both.”

I was falling into her pace, and let my pride in Undertow show. “You should see her in combat. She’s incredible.”

Undertow was giving us both worried looks, but Schwarzwald was looking all the more satisfied. “I cannot wait, little Undertow, until you personally show me all of your skills.”

“Later, Schwarz.” I cut in. “Now, where should we have our playground?”

“There is an unused stage nearby, dahling. Follow me.”

I beckoned as she strolled off. “Come on, Undertow.”

“A-are you sure this is wise, Lady Snow?”

Smiling reassuringly, I gave her a wink. “Don’t worry, we’ll be smart. Get your magic ready. If they bring weapons, take them away from them immediately. After that, anything goes.”

Still looking reticent, she said nothing more, simply following Schwarzwald with me. The mercenary lead us towards the outer edge of the town, away from the food, dancing, and bright lights. With the abundance of cheap accommodation options that offered reasonable privacy, there were few reasons to be out in this end of town right now, unless you were an exhibitionist.

Going by the noises in the brush, there are a few of those around.

The stage wasn’t far, as Schwarzwald had said, nor was it impressive. Just a flat, raised platform, it would be a suitable ‘playground’. We stepped up onto the stage, and Schwarzwald immediately began stretching, complete with overemphasised moans and groans.

I basically ignored her, instead turning to Undertow. “Can you coat my hooves in water?”

“I can, but why?”

“Something that happened when I was fighting Cassie. Please, Undertow?”

Her expression said I didn’t need to ask so sincerely, and immediately water began swirling around my hooves.

“Thanks, Undertow, and sorry about this, but I’m gonna have to touch them with my horn.”

That drew a frown from her. “If you do not try, you will not improve, Lady Ice.”

“Just this once?” I begged.

“…Proceed.”

Lifting the hoof, with the water coming with it, I tapped it with my horn, keeping the magic going until the water solidified. I repeated this with the other hoof. Soon enough I had another set of hard limbs to swing, though this time they weren’t red with frozen blood.

Just in time too, as the clopping of hooves onto the wooden stage alerted us to our guests. Turning, I was surprised to see no sign of Schwarzwald. Only Undertow and I remained on the stage, with the obnoxious guard, and two flunkies, ascending the stairs. Surprisingly, they actually didn’t have guns.

The jackhole guard sneered at me. “I’ve been looking for you, loudmouth. I’m gonna make you pay for trying to cheat me.”

I stepped back, trying to shield my armoured hooves with the rest of my body. “You brought it on yourself, jackhole. Shouldn’t have been so rude to my friend.”

His attention was drawn to said friend, standing off to the side. “Yeah, I’ll be sure to make it up to her, long and loud.” He leered, drawing crony-ish chuckles from his entourage.

He had my teeth grinding with how he was talking. “Touch one hair on her head, and I’ll snap off the hoof that did it.”

“You mean these hooves?” He snarled, and charged. I fell back as he came on, with his followers beelining for Undertow. The stallion jumped forward, confident of his size advantage, which resulted in my ferocious double-uppercut busting his chin wide open.

His eyes unfocused, and he fell past me to the floor, drops of blood splashing across the stage. Facing away from me, he tried to rise, so I dropped one icy hoof, hard to the back of the skull.

He tried again, still not looking at me, so I hit him with the other hoof. That time he stayed down.

Reasonably satisfied, feeling like I’d worked out my tensions enough, I turned away from the unconscious stallion, to see how the others were doing.

One flunky was suspended above the stage, within a bubble of water, helpless to aid his companion, who was curled in a ball, being pummelled again and again by rushing fists of water.

“That’s enough Undertow. We’re done. Let that other one down.”

Without delay, the airborne bubble split into tiny streams, drawing a startled yelp as the stallion within dropped like a rock to the hard wooden floor. He groaned, still conscious, as was the one Undertow had been beating. Neither chose to get up.

“Come on, Undertow, let’s find the others.” She fell in beside me, hopping off the stage with me.

“Schwarzwald, have your fun. Come find us when you’re done.” I called over my shoulder. There was no way she’d have just left, not really. It was completely out of character.

All I heard before we left was a mirthful “Hello, dahlings.”

It wasn’t hard to smile.

~~~~~~

“A pity you did not stay, Snowflake-dear. They made such entertaining noises.”

From our spot on the grass, Naiara shot into a fighting stance. “What are you doing here?”

“Easy Naiara,” Bosco spoke up before I could, which surprised all of us. “She’s here to see me.”

“She is?”

“To be precise, Bosco-dahling, I am here for you AND Snowflake.” She corrected, sitting down between the two of us, across from Naiara, who continued to look on in confusion.

“What’s going on?”

Kinda wondering that myself.

“Do sit down, Naiara-dahling, I am not here to fight. Business before pleasure and all that.” She obviously knew the effect her smile had on people, and just as obviously didn’t care in the slightest.

Still, Naiara sat down next to Undertow, as if trying to find some solidarity.

“Much better. Now then, Bosco and Snowflake, I have been approached for another job by dear Amber.”

“Bernstein?” Bosco was frowning, remembering the first time we’d met the socialite. He’d been far more interested in keeping an eye on her numerous bodyguards.

“Indeed.” Noticing Undertow and Naiara looking blank, she clarified for them. “Amber Bernstein is an associate who frequently has work for me.”

“I wonder why.” I quipped under my breath, remembering how Schwarzwald’s casual dismissal of a permanent position had greatly lowered Amber’s spirits.

“We’re not hunting more monsters are we?” The last two times the charcoal colt had helped Schwarzwald in a job for Amber, he’d ended up fighting monsters.

“Yes,” she replied, causing him a look a panic. “But not this time. This time, she seeks some information in a facility to the south. She would not tell me what the information is for, but she promises an impressive reward for our participation.”

Schwarzwald broke off to stare directly at me. “She specified that she desired all three of us to participate, or none at all.”

That was slightly unnerving. I had to wonder why Amber was suddenly taking an interest in me, as she’d been so dismissive when we met, only having eyes for Schwarzwald.

“Amber also made sure to mention that she would guarantee your safety while on the job, possibly beyond.” At my raised eyebrow, she pressed on. “Do not fret, dahling, Amber is nothing if not honest. She prides herself on it. Not for any misguided notion of honour, merely that her business partners appreciate it.”

“Well doesn’t she sound just lovely?” Naiara was grumbling at being basically left out of the conversation, I was sure of it. It twinged at her pride to have fought Schwarzwald so recently, and yet be completely ignored in their next meeting.

“Do say yes, Mistress.” I noticed the others mouthing ‘mistress?’ to each other, as Schwarz continued. “It will give us a chance to spend some more time together. I feel as though all Wings and the twins do is talk about you, but we never see each other anymore.”

“They talk about me?” I pounced on that bit of sentence. “What do they say?”

“So many things, dahling. Enough that I would rather you simply talk directly. It would save time.”

“Oh really? I can’t wait to sit down and chat about how they stole from me.” Sarcasm dripped from every syllable.

“Don’t… don’t say no so quickly, Snow.”

My jaw dropped. “Bosco?”

He didn’t meet my eyes. “It… may not be such a bad idea to call them, Snow.”

“Bosco, what are you talking about?”

Sharing a glance with Naiara, who nodded, he squared his jaw. “Talk to them, Snow. Really talk.”

Scoffing, I could hardly believe my ears. “Now why would I…”

“You were happier before.”

The words hit me like a slap. I couldn’t think of a response, so I just waited for him to continue.

Taking a deep breath, he did. “I know what they did to you, Snow, and how much it hurt. I also know just how much you’ve been through since leaving the Stable. You don’t realise it, but you changed after Neighlway, after Naiara, Cept and Breeze got you out the second time.”

“It’s true, svara.” Naiara chipped in, turning kind eyes on me, “It wasn’t losing your Pipbuck and Orb that did it. Not really. Sometimes, you barely seemed to notice they were gone. Do you know that you haven’t mentioned either of them in days?”

My breath caught in my throat. “I… I haven’t?”

“Not to us, Snow. Whenever you talk about it, it’s always about finding Cassie and Wings, never about the things they stole.”

“I-I…”

Even Schwarzwald was getting in on the act. “Do not think them monsters, dahling. They regret what they have done. If you reached out to them, they would not draw back.”

Bosco and Naiara, I could understand, but what did Schwarzwald really have invested in this? “What does this matter to you, Schwarzwald?”

Ecstatic laughter burst from her in a torrent. “Because you are both so wonderfully confusing, you and Wings. I cannot wait to see what would come about, should Red Ice and Blue Fire mix!”

It was so like her, such a Schwarzwald answer. Saying little, but at the same time speaking volumes.

Surprisingly, it was Undertow who spoke up next. Laying a comforting hoof on my foreleg, her watery voice was smooth, but strong. “Bosco, Naiara, Schwarzwald, is this true? Do you honestly believe what you say?”

The colt and zebra gave solemn nods, while Schwarzwald’s was… less so. Still, it seemed to satisfy. The Deep Diver nodded her own agreement. “Then I support this.”

“What? Undertow!”

“Do you think I only seek your protection, Lady Snow? You are more precious to me than that.” Leaning forward, she pressed her forehead to mine, with our horns meeting.

They were waiting for my answer, but I really had none to give. It was hardly as easy as they said: Get on the communicator and meet for a chat. They had acted against my wishes, and refused to even explain themselves to me. Worse, they seemed to consider all of my actions as a tragic, misguided reaction.

I couldn’t just let that go!

But you know, I admitted only to myself, I do miss them sometimes. Breeze would have loved to explore the ghoul facility. Cassie and Amber would have been fast friends.

Wings… still hasn’t told me her name.

Wordlessly, my hooves came up, and wrapped around Undertow. Opening my moist eyes, I took in their concern, and Schwarzwald’s undisguised interest.

“…I’ll think about it.”

Immediately, Schwarzwald nodded and stood up. “I expected as much. Nothing more, and nothing less. There is a generous time limit for Amber’s satisfaction. Consult me when you wish to proceed.”

“How do we do that?”

Spinning to face Bosco, she dropped an elaborate device into his lap. “This is a communicator, a luxury model from the Bernstein Conclave. I have its twin. Call me when you are ready.”

I expected her to give me one too, but she instead began walking away. “Hey, what about me?”

“No,” she called back in amusement. “I think I shall leave it with Bosco. Do not allow Snowflake to use it, dahling, it is for you and you alone.”

“Come on! Really?”

“Oh yes!” Does she have to smile at everything?

“Before I forget, Naiara-dahling, do not fret about Breeze. She does not hate you.”

“Really?” Relief flooded from her.

“Really.” The mercenary confirmed, with a more tender tone that she’d shown yet.

“Mistress Snow commands that you give it to me instead!” I tried, desperately. I wanted that communicator!

This, at least, got her to turn around, grinning from ear to ear. “Oh no, Snowflake, you cannot skip to the end without playing the game.” She ran her forehooves down her body sensually. “If you wish to lay claim to my possessions, then you must first make me your possession.” Four jaws dropped. “I eagerly await your attempt.”

Through great effort, eye contact with any of my three friends was avoided.

How am I supposed to face them after a comment like THAT?!

Half-turning to leave, Schwarzwald paused, seemingly remembering something. “Oh, and do watch out for Amber, dahlings. She is honest to a fault, but only so far as her words extend. She wields her tools, words included, with great skill. Do not take her lightly.”

With a final wave, she said her goodbyes. “So long; lovely Undertow, pretty Naiara. We shall see each other soon, I am sure.”

~~~~~~

Level Up!

Perks gained: Eye Love You. – When you wear matching eyewear, unicorn companions receive a magic bonus, decreasing their magic cost by 10%.

~~~~~~

Author's Note

That’s all for now, folks. Please keep reading, commenting, and spreading the word on Old Souls. I really appreciate your feedback.

Chapter 12-1: Unstable Radius

[I knew part of me was just trying to live up to my overblown reputation.]

I yelped as Naiara’s hoof slapped my flank. “Come on, Snow, I’m only going like half speed here.”

Growling as she danced away, my horn flared back up. “Just you wait, I’m gonna get you this time.”

She just smirked and began her next sequence. Dodging left, right, up, down, side-to-side, and all possible directions, she moved surely towards me, as I did my best to dissuade her with my ice magic.

Exactly what kind of ice magic wasn’t important right now, as the purpose of the exercise was for me to be able to keep up with a moving target and be able to use my magic against them.

So far, it wasn’t going great.

I was driven back a few hooflengths as she caught me in the sternum. It hadn’t hurt, as we were just sparring, but it had been firm. Naiara kept her hoof raised, and maintained eye contact. “They’ll get harder if you don’t hurry. I’ll leave bruises eventually.”

Nodding, I rubbed the spot where she’d hit me for a moment. “I understand. Let’s go again.”

She hopped back and switched stances. She didn’t appear to favour either side, as that would hinder her Stompeii Emboli style, which was structured around omni-directional movements.

She was very good at those.

The moment my glacier-blue glow relit, she was springing away from the spot she was, and it was only due to her deliberately slowing down that I could barely follow her with my eyes.

The problem was that being able to keep her physical form in my sights did not automatically guarantee that my magic could reach her, nor that a pony with my minimal level of combat experience could predict where she would be to account for my reflexes.

The frozen spots of land that I’d iced, where she had been standing when I focused on it, were a reminder of this.

Still, I kept trying.

Zigzagging back and forth, Naiara suddenly went airborne, flipped over me, and landing a backhoof kick to the back of my head. She pulled the strike, but was true to her word. That one had hurt. “Not good enough, Snow. You’re thinking too much. I can see it in your face.”

“How am I supposed to use my magic without concentrating?”

“The more you use your magic, the less time it’ll take to cast. Look at Undertow sometime, her casting happens almost at once, quicker than you can blink. You’ll get there too, at some point. Until then, you get roughed up as incentive.”

“Hmph, slave driver.”

“That’s exactly what I am. Now let’s go.” She retreated back to her starting point.

Not this time, not again. My vow might’ve sounded confident, if I’d said it out loud.

Naiara’s jade eyes hardened before she moved this time, and I felt a bead of nervous sweat run down the back of my neck. Her stutter-step to the right immediately sent my backtracking, though she’d still managed to cover half the distance in that time.

I need to move faster.

Strangely, I felt my horn respond, though couldn’t see any effect it might have had, at least at first.

It became apparent what had happened as Naiara charged straight at me, when a look of surprise crossed her face and her hooves began scrambling for purchase that just wasn’t there anymore.

Only when she crashed down to the ground, and yet kept going, did I spot what had happened. Without really meaning to, I’d created a slick trail of ice, just thick enough to turn walking into skating, along the ground.

A very roundabout, ice-magic way to ‘move faster’.

Magic’s weird, but it works! I thought this as Naiara went sliding past me, and I returned the earlier favour by smacking her flank, and carried on straight into Soft Swell lake with a splash.

Spluttering and spitting, trying not to swallow any of the irradiated water, she quickly got herself back on dry land. Still, she gave me a smile for my efforts. “There you go! That’s one for you. I’ll need to speed up a little.”

“Please don’t.” I whimpered, still smarting from her hits.

“The price of success, svara.”

“What happened to you?” This was Bosco speaking as he trotted up, slipping his shiny new communicator back into his pack and smirking at the sopping wet zebra.

Naiara just spat out some more water. “Snow finally got me, once anyway. Put me in the lake. No damage done, but I think I’ll take a Radaway just in case. I don’t have Taint-based water resistance after all.”

I dug one serving of the medicine out of my pack, and tossed it to her. “Here, maybe see about grabbing a towel too. Don’t want you catching a chill.”

“This coming from the freeze-icorn.” That drew a chuckle from each of us.

“I spoke to Schwarzwald.” Bosco began, after Naiara had upended the Radaway down her throat. “She says the information Amber’s after is in a place called Whitepony. Apparently it’s an old Ministry building.”

“Which Ministry?”

“Two of them, actually. Jointly owned by Image and Morale. Apparently it was a record archive. Dunno how much is left after two hundred years, but Amber seems to think that there’s something valuable in the place. Schwarz said it concerns Lethbridle, so it’ll be wherever they keep those records.”

“Lethbridle? What about Lethbridle?” The biggest settlement in the region had been quite busy recently, especially being stuck between the Steel Rangers at Neighlway, and the slavers in Plottawa. What was Amber’s Bernstein Conclave planning for the place?

The charcoal colt just shrugged. “Didn’t say. I don’t think even Schwarz knows. We’re just supposed to find the computers that have the info on Lethbridle, then link up the communicator. It’ll do the rest, apparently.”

“Nice to be kept in the loop, huh?” The words were nearly lost under Naiara’s furious towelling. Bosco and I stepped back to avoid the irradiated flying droplets.

I looked at him. “So is that it? Just get to a working terminal, and let the gadget do the rest? Sounds simple enough, so long as the place isn’t another ghoul hangout.” I shuddered, thinking of another Ministry building, this time for the Ministry of Wartime Technology, housing agricultural supplies, materials, and vehicles.

“Schwarz didn’t say whether Amber didn’t say or not. Maybe she doesn’t know herself. I kinda doubt Ms. Bernstein has been there personally.”

“What’s she like? Amber, I mean.” Naiara had the towel draped around her neck, apparently having done all she could with it. Her mane was much wilder than its usual appearance, which was smooth and lustrous, whereas now it was damp and clumpy.

Undertow wears that look better.

“Real high society mare. Fancy dresses, squad o’ bodyguards, the works.” Bosco’s expression spoke volumes about his opinion of said ‘high society mare’.

“Fancy dresses aren’t so bad every now and then. Sometimes it’s fun to look pretty and sophisticated, ain’t that right, Snow?”

“I’unno.”

“What do you mean you don’t know? They didn’t dress up in the Stable?”

“Some did. I was never really invited to those parties. Mostly I just wore my Stable clothing, or went without altogether.” Whiskey Sour’s bar wasn’t really the high class place to relax in Stable 61.

Come to think of it, I don’t really remember where Roc and his ilk had their parties. Huh.

Naiara wasn’t quite ready to admit defeat. “Well then we’ll get Amber to throw us a fancy party when we’re done, and then we can get nice dresses and things.”

“Why does this matter?” Snarking aside, I had to agree with Bosco’s question.

“Why not? Be a nice change from Raiders.”

She wasn’t wrong there. Raiders weren’t known for their finery. “Point taken.”

“Speaking of a change from Raiders,” Bosco’s eyes darted between the two of us. “I want us to go help Schwarzwald with this. Today.”

We both raised an eyebrow. “Today?”

He nodded determinedly. “Today. We’re not doing anything for a week anyway, until it’s time for the Raider meet up. We only came back here so Undertow could make sure there was enough charge in her diving Orbs. Soon as she gets back, we’re setting out.”

Though surprised at his commanding tone, Naiara didn’t seem inclined to disagree. “Alright.”

He really wanted to do this, that much was sure. He seemed to trust Schwarzwald, and remained on good terms with her, although the only person I’d ever seen the mercenary mare on bad terms with was a drunk stallion, who tried to throw his weight around. Him, she knocked clean out in six seconds. Everybody else, including the stallion’s girlfriend, was treated more like a fun distraction than anything else.

Bosco was right about the timing too. There really wasn’t anything more that we had to do for the Raiders right now. Caber Toss had scheduled the meeting for days away, and we’d visited all the tribes he wanted to contact.

That left plenty of time for helping Bosco out, which I’d previously resolved to do more of, and not focus so much on my own stuff. Even if, so far, my intentions had outdistanced my actions in that regard.

This was a prime opportunity to make some strides now. Though I was sure that Amber was mostly concerned with Schwarzwald’s participation, she had asked for Bosco and I to go along too. Bosco wanted to go to help Schwarzwald, and I wanted to help Bosco. The system worked.

“I’m in. As soon as Undertow’s done with her Deep Diver stuff, we’ll be on our way. You can take the lead, Boss Colt. It’s only fitting.”

He made a face. “Hey, c’mon guys, it’s not like that.”

Naiara and I saluted, neither of us making much effort to hide our laughter. “Whatever you say, Boss Colt.”

“Don’t call m-ah forget it. Let’s just get Undertow and go.”

“Go where, Boss Colt?”

“GYAH!” We all jumped at her sudden appearance. Undertow was soundlessly emerging from the lake, apparently having been out swimming. Unlike Naiara’s floundering, she seemed perfectly at home in the water, barely making a ripple.

Naiara found her voice first. “We were just about to head out and…” She blinked suddenly. “Wait, did you say Boss Colt?”

“I did.”

Happy laughter burst from the zebra. “Oh that’s amazing. Undertow just made a joke! I totally didn’t see that coming.”

I joined her in celebration. “Good one, Undertow. ‘Boss Colt’ was just saying that we’re heading out for Whitepony to do this job for Amber. It’s only right that Bosco’s in charge this time. You ready to go?”

“Whenever you are, Lady Snow.”

After what happened last time, I made no attempt to even give her the option to stay behind. Not that it was either of our choices really. I wasn’t kidding about Bosco being in charge. I’d happily defer to him on this. I was coming along to help him, and because I’d been asked for by Amber. Not being the one dragging people around was much nicer.

“Well then, we done making jokes at my expense? Yeah? Good. Let’s go. We’re meeting Schwarz at Sprinkles Supplies. It’s on the way, plus I thought you might wanna stop in.”

Boss Colt knows me pretty well.

~~~~~~

“Snowflake, ya got some explainin’ t’do, missy!”

Uh oh. “H-hey, boss. How’re you doing?”

Fedexi Lexi ignored my question for a moment, instead beckoning us into her office, in a manner that was in no way a suggestion. Gulping slightly, I meandered in, with Undertow and the others following.

Her office was surprisingly well furnished, with a wooden desk of obvious quality taking up one third of the space, with several comfortable chairs facing it. Lexi stalked behind the desk, leaned on it with her elbows, and put the flats of her hooves together in front of her face, hiding her entire face sans the eyes, her hard, frowning eyes.

“Snowflake, what in the hell d’ya think yer doin’?”

“Um…”

She wasn’t particularly interested in hearing an answer. “I didn’t mind when ya came out as Red Ice to the entire Wasteland. I didn’t even mind when ya public’ly went against the Steel Rangers and Plottawa, since y’all said ya were someplace else, and ya didn’t make Sprinkles a target by talkin’ ‘bout us at the time. Ya did good work for me when ya worked here with those Pegasus girls, even if it was just fer one job that ya didn’t finish, but now I really gotta ask: What in the hell are ya thinkin’? Raiders?!”

“Now, I can explain…”

“SHUT YER TRAP! I ain’t done.” Immediately I closed my mouth, and sank lower into my chair, as she went on. “I want to know ‘xactly how much o’ what I’m hearin’ over the squawkbox is right, and how much ain’t. Answer me right, ya hear?”

Trembling slightly, I nodded dumbly. Lexi had never been this angry at me, not even when I first showed up here with a hole through my leg, and she had to take the time to fix me up.

She sighed deeply. “Awright. First question: Are ya workin’ with Raiders?”

“…Yes.”

“Don’t take that tone with me!” Her snapped respond set me back on edge.

“What tone?” I mouthed silently to myself, panicking.

“Second question: WHAT are ya doin’ with these Raiders?”

My hooves were nervously tapping together. “I was…uh… trying to unite four clans into one group?”

She’d stopped blinking. “…Y’all know Raiders are the biggest threat to my caravans, and the boys an’ girls who guard ‘em, right?”

“I guess…”

“Ya can’t guess no more, I just tol’ ya. Now, YOU tell me. Why in the hell are ya tryin’ t’make the Raiders worse, and more organised?” Clearly she expected this to be good.

“I’m not.” She raised an eyebrow, but otherwise gave no reaction, simply waited for me to continue. “I mean yeah, I’m trying to organise them, but not make them worse. I’m actually going for the opposite. See, I’m trying to change the Raiders. Make it so that they aren’t just attacking people all the time. Give them a chance to find their own way. Not all of them are crazy and violent.”

The eyebrow didn’t lower. “Uh huh.”

“It’s true!” I stressed. “Some of them are, I won’t deny that. But not as many as people think. They can change. If we outnumber the violent ones with calmer Raiders, then they’ll have to change. If we can convince their leaders of it, then they can change their tribes!”

“And the bastard that got hisself shot through and dumped outside of Lethbridle’s gates?”

“One of the worst,” I confirmed. “He was crazy, and dangerous, and violent, and beat his own followers with a grenade. He’s dead, and his group is being handled by a better leader. His name was Four Fields, by the way.”

“I don’t care!”

“And that’s part of the problem, isn’t it?” I snapped back. “Part of why I’m doing this. It doesn’t matter whether the rest of the Wasteland likes it or not, but Raiders are still people, and deserve their chance to join the wider community. Raiders aren’t blameless, as they’ve killed lots of people, but it doesn’t have to continue, at least for these Raiders. We’re not aiming to change the entire Wasteland with this, just these groups. That’ll be a start, and maybe more will change afterwards, but this is what we’re aiming for right now.”

Her posture, though still disapproving, had softened ever so slightly. “An’ ya think ya can change these Raiders? Make ‘em like everypony else, just tryin’ to keep themselves goin’?”

“I… don’t really know. But I want to try.”

Finally, the hooves parted from in front of her face. Without saying anything, she reached down to a desk draw, and brought out a bottle of unlabelled moonshine, and a glass. Pouring herself a stout glassful, she downed it in one gulp, before resting her hooves flat on the table. “What evidence do y’all have that this’ll even work? Yer gamblin’ with lots o’ dangerous ponies, Snowflake.”

“Lady Lexi?”

Her gaze shifted to my right, losing its ire as it came to rest on the Deep Diver. “I tol’ ya, I ain’t a Lady. What is it, Undertow?”

“What was it that you said about me, during our last visit here?” She spoke slowly and calmly, though I was finding it hard to read past her goggles at that moment.

“I said ya were a good girl, why?” Lexi was pouring herself another glass, smaller this time.

“May I ask you why? Why you said it?”

Lexi shrugged, then topped off her drink. “Cause yer sweet, an’ quiet, an’ ya obviously think the world o’ Snowflake here. What’s yer point?”

Nothing changed outwardly, but I still got the sensation of immense satisfaction from Undertow. “I merely wished to point out that even you can consider a Raider to be a good girl.”

My boss gurgled as the moonshine caught in her throat. Hacking and wheezing, she set down the half-empty glass, and looked at us both in disbelief. “Wha? Undertow, darlin’, yer not sayin’…”

“I am a Raider, Lady Lexi.”

She was flabbergasted. “I… but… yer one o’ the ones that ain’t got a choice, right? Only there cause ya couldn’t get away?”

“No.” Her response was flat. “I lead the Deep Divers, one of the four groups that Lady Snow is trying to unite.”

Lexi continued to stare wide-eyed at Undertow, before turning to me with a glare. “Why didn’t ya tell me?! Had to go draggin’ Undertow into this by havin’ her damn near gimme a heart attack!”

Her sudden shift to anger left me flathooved. “I… what?”

“It’s never the baby that Momma gets mad at, always the first child.” Naiara’s sarcastic reply wasn’t delivered with her usually playfulness, and Bosco’s stone-faced silence didn’t really convey that he thought this was fair either.

“True, but that is a sign of a mother’s trust, dahling.” came a voice from the door. “After all, big sisters are born first so that they may protect the little ones that come after.”

“Who the fuck is this, and why’s she in my office?!”

Schwarzwald, unimpressed by Lexi’s anger, strolled in as casual as you like. “I am a companion to these lovelies, and will be aiding them in this endeavour.”

Lexi was fuming at being disrespected in her own office. “Yer involved with all this Raider crap?”

Schwarz just smiled that unshiftable smile of hers. “Yes and no, but that is for another time. We are on a different assignment at present.”

Somehow, this was also my fault. “Another li’l tidbit ya forgot ta tell me, Snowflake?”

“Sorry!” I tried helplessly. “It didn’t come up.”

Throwing her hooves up in the air, Lexi sat back in her chair heavily. “So what are y’all doin’ right now?”

“We’re going to Whitepony to look for some records.” Bosco finally broke his silence, and delivered this news with firm conviction, as if daring her to call him on it.

She eventually elected not to. The mention of Whitepony had derailed her. “…So no Raider business? Then why’s Undertow here?”

“Because I wish to help Bosco, and Lady Snow.” Undertow had completely turned the tables on Lexi, and she was now no longer in command of her own office.

“Me too, if anypony cares.” Naiara chipped in.

Lexi closed her eyes, a seconds-long blink, before admitting defeat. “Good girls.”

“Aren’t they just?” Schwarzwald was leaning against the wall by the door, which drew a sour look from the office’s owner.

I didn’t want Lexi looking this bad, especially after telling Undertow that this was her ‘territory’. Deep Diver thinking might make her lose respect for Lexi. “Undertow’s helping me with my magic, so that I can help more people. She’s been really helpful.”

“Yer havin’ trouble with yer magic? Why didn’t ya come to me? I’da helped.”

“You were so busy, and I didn’t want to disturb you. Undertow’s doing just fine. Better than fine. I’ve learned more with her than I have in my entire life.” I was more than happy to show my pride at what Undertow had been able to do for me, and how good she was herself.

Another glare morphed into a gentle gaze for Undertow. “Is that right? Yer a strong unicorn, and ya been helpin’ Snowflake out?”

“She’s the strongest I’ve met, and yes she has.”

Undertow was less combative now. “Lady Snow has helped me much more, I only do what I can to make her stronger.”

It was a few seconds before Lexi said anything. “…Atta girl. Awright, awright, I’ll trust that y’all know what yer doin’. Don’t hope fer miracles with these Raiders though. They’ve had a long time to get plenty good at bein’ bastards.”

“Do not fear, our current employer is taking steps to protect us while on this assignment. She has guaranteed their safety.” Schwarzwald seemed unconcerned that she’d warned us about Amber’s words not long ago.

“Well that’s real good t’hear… since I can’t anymore.”

Confused, I looked back at Lexi. “What do you mean? Can’t do what anymore?”

Firm, yet apologetic, eyes panned over the five of us. “Yer too hot right now, Red Ice. I like ya, Snowflake, but I can’t have Sprinkles Supplies associated with ya, not while yer dealin’ with Raiders. Not with DJ Pon3 warnin’ folks offa ya. If Lethbridle found out that we went easy on ya, then it’d kill our business round here, not to mention that more ‘n a few o’ my workers ain’t happy to have Red Ice on the premises at all. I told ‘em not to get involved, but they won’t listen forever, and that could mean strikes or breakin’ rules, ‘specially if you keep going with what yer doin’. Sorry, but y’all can’t come back until all this Raider crap is finished. ”

My insides went cold. What?

Immediately, Undertow and Naiara jumped to my defence. “What?”

“You can’t be serious.”

Schwarzwald and Bosco were less supportive. “It makes sense, dahling.”

“It’ll be okay, Snow. We’re almost done with the Raider stuff anyway, it’ll only be for a little while.”

All eyes went to me, waiting for my response.

Making no attempt to wipe away my worried tears, I quietly let her know what I thought about that. “S-so, you d-don’t care that I’m Red Ice, until it hurts your b-business? Happy to be nice, unt-til I get in the w-way of p-profit? D-don’t do this to m-me, boss!”

It’s not fair! Lexi’s done so much for me before, so why now? What does she have all these guards for if not to stop trouble? Why is she sending me away?

Lexi didn’t falter. “Yeah. Sorry, but that’s the way things are. Raiders are bad news, kid, and yer not gonna change folks’ mind on that. Y’all can try, but I don’t’ see it happening. All that’ll happen is I get a bad rep, and lose a lot of caps for me an’ everypony else here. I like ya, but yer not worth all that if you keep this up.”

Schwarzwald’s voice drifted into my ear. “I told you that there are all kinds in the Wasteland, Snowflake. You must accept this.”

“She’s right, Snow. It’s harsh, but you kinda have to be in the Wasteland. We just have to make sure that the Raider stuff works out, and then there won’t be any of these problems anymore.”

“…I think we should go.” Naiara was standing now, having taken up position close to my chair.

“I agree, Lady Snow. We may not like it, but this is still Lady Lexi’s territory, and she has authority here. If she wishes for us to leave, then we must.” Between Naiara and herself, they began to gently walk me out.

As Schwarzwald and Bosco disappeared through the door, and the three of us were just about to step through the opening, Lexi had more to say. “Wait!”

Wordlessly, I half turned, waiting for for her to yell at me some more.

“…Don’t die.”

That took me by surprise. Sniffling through my runny nose, I turned the rest of the way.

Still sitting at her desk, and cradling the bottle of moonshine, Fedexi Lexi was gloomily watching us, her frizzy mane drooping over her orange eyes. “Whatever happens, keep yerselves alive, all o’ ya. This Raider bullshit? I don’t care if you fail, won’t ‘xactly be a big loss if Raiders keep bein’ Raiders. I don’t care if y’all get hurt, cause I’ll just patch ya up again.” She rubbed a hoof through her unruly mane, stressed at the whole situation. “…Just don’t die, awright?. That goes fer all o’ ya.”

None of us really knew how to take that, resolving to simply walk away in confusion a few seconds later. All of us except Schwarzwald, who was quietly singing “Momma told me not to come” under her breath.

We weren’t too far away from the office to hear glass shattering against the closed door, along with a frustrated “Dammit ta hell!” as we left.

~~~~~~

The gate to the Sprinkles compound clanged shut behind us, and we began to stroll around the outer perimeter. I was in no way interested in saying anything, happy to just follow silently, while listening to the other conversations that had started up.

“Hey, Schwarz?” Bosco didn’t look at the mercenary as he spoke. He wasn’t really looking at anything. Apparently deep in thought, his eyes were glassed over as he walked.

“Yes, Bosco?

“What’s Amber paying us for this job?”

“Such a pragmatist.” She teased. “The fee is one thousand caps each for yourself and dear Snowflake, and two thousand for me.”

“Why do you get more?”

“What does it matter, Bosco?” Naiara chipped in. “A thousand caps isn’t chump change.”

“Thank you lovely, but to answer Bosco’s question, I will be the one to deliver our prize to Amber in person, and so I garner a higher cut for protecting the information, from whomever may try to take it from me.”

She adopted a chivalrous pose. “Through fire, and ice, I shall be the brave knight, guarding the precious relic.” and then shattered the illusion with a lecherous grin. “Bloodied and torn, I shall return to the waiting princess with the prize, and enjoy the gentle attention of her... tending to me.”

Bosco mostly ignored the lewd rhetoric, focusing only on the information he’d asked for. “Fine, so a thousand caps. Lemme ask this, is her Bernstein Conclave a big group?”

“Oh yes. Their normal operating channels are very different from the general population this far north, but they have many different operations of varying scales in progress at any one time, and dear Amber sits in the centre of the web, guiding it all. Not without help, of course. If she was so busy as to handle everything herself, then she would never have made the time to visit.”

Not even for you?

“Doesn’t sound like they advertise much. I’d never heard of them before the Molar Bear hunt.”

“You wouldn’t have. Simply put, Lethbridle and the surrounding area are far too remote, and poor, to be greatly affected by Bernstein machinations. They are more prominent further south, especially Tenpony Tower.”

“And do they only trade in caps?”

He had her attention now. “Whatever do you mean, Bosco-dahling? What else is there?”

He came back from where he’d been, his eyes focusing again. “That’s what I wanna know. Would Amber be willing to pay in a different way for the information?”

Her eyes lit up. “Bosco! You naughty boy!”

“No.” He stated flatly.

“Oh poo. Then what do you mean?” We were all listening in now. What was Bosco looking for that he’d take over caps?

“I want a favour from her. I’m trying to figure out someone of my own, and a network that’s as extensive as you say hers is would be really helpful.”

“Hmm, that is a good question. I actually don’t know, dahling, I shall have to ask her.” She lapsed into silence, mulling over the new possibilities.

Bosco was clearly talking about his Memory Orbs. He’d carried them around for six years before being able to view them, and didn’t remember anything before those six years.

With Amber’s help, he might be able to find out who he was. That was worth a thousand caps, or two, if he needed mine as well.

“Who pays a thousand caps for a two hundred year old piece of information?” Naiara’s question was very valid, and had me wondering exactly why none of us had asked it before now.

“Amber does.” Schwarzwald answered simply. “She also never does anything without purpose.”

“So what’s her purpose?”

“I do not know, and do not intend to ask. I will carry out the job she has tasked me with, for the payment we agreed on, as two thousand caps is fine for me… but then again, a favour from Amber may be quite beneficial.” Mercenary or not, the idea was definitely intriguing her. “Hmm, I will have to think about it later. For now, we still have to complete the task first, and I do not aim to disappoint. I have, after all, been doing this for a long time.”

~~~~~~

Chapter 12-2: Unstable Radius

Whitepony stood before us like a vision from the past.

A great stone monolith, it rose from the ground as a giant concrete cube, with hard edges and corners. It must have been a hundred metres high and wide, standing there seemingly untouched by balefire bombs.

Either that or it just shrugged the attack off. A record keeping facility probably was built to last.

From where we were standing, a few hundred yards away, the sole visible entrance looked positively tiny in comparison to the building’s bulk. A single set of glass double doors provided a way inside, though nothing could be seen in the shadows beyond the glass.

Were it not for the barren land around Whitepony, you might have been mistaken for thinking that the bombs hadn’t dropped yet, so solid and unblemished was the imposing facility. Also, though two Ministries were apparently using it during the war, the outer walls bore no insignia from any organisation.

“Friendly.”

“Well put, Boss Colt.”

“Ooh, ‘Boss Colt’? I like that.”

“Aaand now Schwarzwald knows about the nickname. Thank you, Naiara. Thank you, thank you so much.”

His sarcasm was ignored through a grinning salute. “Happy to be of service, Boss Colt.”

“Hate. You. All.”

“What’d I do?” I asked, incredulous.

“Spoke to her in line at Lethbridle.”

“…Touché.”

“Dahlings.” Schwarzwald interjected, showing that she evidently DID have a limit to her patience and good cheer. “Though this back-and-forth is very entertaining to watch, should we not proceed? Perhaps knock on the door?”

“Do not worry, Schwarzwald, Bosco and Naiara are good friends.” Undertow paused in her attempt to assure the older mare. “Though she may kick him at some point.”

Silence greeted her remark. Schwarzwald sported a raised eyebrow, and an approving smile.

Bosco and Naiara, on the other hoof, were staring open-mouthed. “Did… did Undertow just make another joke?”

“Well I’ll be damned, she did at that.”

“I’m so proud!”

“I know, me too!”

“ENOUGH!” I’d reached my limit too. “Can we just go?”

“Schwarz’s right.” Bosco reassumed his ‘Boss Colt’ persona. “Let’s go.”

We crossed the rest of the grounds without incident, and formed up at the double doors. “Somepony check if it’s locked.”

A quick pull, then push, on the doors confirmed that it was. Undeterred, Bosco brought out his wicked knife, jammed it into the gap between the two doors, then rammed his hoof down on top of it. With a momentary thunk, the lock broke.

As Naiara opened the door to check inside, Schwarzwald was tsk-tsking at the brute force solution. “You will ruin the blade if you do that. I advise finding a whetstone when you have a moment.”

As he was sheathing his knife, Bosco replied in a whisper. “I’ll keep that in mind, now pipe down. We don’t want to give ourselves away too soon.” With that, he slipped in after Naiara, followed by the rest of us.

Inside, we found a silent reception area. The only features on the room were a receptionist’s desk, and a few dilapidated chairs placed around a grimy table covered with magazines whose covers had faded to near blank. There was a terminal on the desk, which we crowded around.

Experimentally tapping a few keys, Bosco relayed what information came up. “Nothing much to work with really; two hundred year old visitor’s list, a notice telling everypony to head for the nearest Stable… must’ve been sent when the bombs dropped, and lastly… uh oh.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Automated security’s been activated.”

We all tensed up. “What kind of security?”

Bosco shook his head. “Doesn’t say, just that they triggered it before evacuating. I guess they didn’t want any spies or anything snooping around while they were away.”

“That was two centuries ago.” Undertow was looking towards the other exits. “Surely the security must have lost power by now?”

“Not necessarily, dahling, it depends on what kind of security they employed here.”

Grimacing, Bosco agreed. “She’s right. I once came across a few security robots in another old building, and their lasers worked just fine. The Ministry of Tech built their guards to last. We’ll have to be careful.”

He gave us all a stern look. “…And quiet too.”

Surprisingly, even Schwarzwald obeyed the order. Keeping close, we moved past the desk and into a hallway beyond. “Keep an eye out for a map or something. Anything to get us out of here sooner.” The whispered command had Undertow and I looking here, there, and everywhere, while the others just moved their eyes.

Rounding a corner, we came up on a set of heavy doors, this time with three sturdy bolts slid across. Bosco’s knife wouldn’t get us through here. Half a minute of searching yielded no alternative way in. Instead, we carried on past the doors, turning left at the next bend presented us with a window wall to look into the room we couldn’t access.

Surprisingly, the locked door led to a walkway, only a couple of meters below the ceiling. The room itself was much larger than I had thought, as it descended down past the ground floor. It housed a few rows of massive computers, with two other levels of walkway suspended above them.

“It is a server room. The information we need may be closer than I thought.”

We all shushed her, but the damage had been done. From out of a side passage came a hulking mound of metal. The robot was not very pretty, but looked solid and durable. Even before compartments began opening to reveal weapons, it looked like it meant business.

“HALT!” The tinny voice crackled as it emerged through speakers. “Identify yourselves!”

I heard a rustle behind me, catching Naiara pulling her cloak further around her, as she surreptitiously moved to the back of the group. Right, she’s a zebra. Of course she doesn’t wanna be seen by the robot.

Reaching back to drag Schwarzwald forward, Bosco tried to keep his voice strong as he replied. “I am inspector Upper Crust, along with my wife, inspector Jet Set,” he pointedly did NOT look at his ‘wife’ during all this. “And these are our inspection staff. Our inspection is already late, and we do not appreciate the delay.”

“What the hell is he doing?” I had to agree with the growled question. What was Bosco doing? Who was Upper Crust, or Jet Set?

“Verifying…” The bulky robot went silent, as it communicated with the rest of its network.

We all held our breath.

Then the robot’s guns came out. “Verification failed! Inspectors Upper Crust and Jet Set are unicorns. You are not unicorns!”

There was a half second pause. “…Fuck.”

Clicking as its lenses readjusted, the robot was giving us all a thorough eyeballing. “Scanning intruders for identity.”

“What now?” I hissed.

“Um…” His gambit having failed, Bosco was temporarily at a loss as to how to proceed.

Schwarzwald wasn’t. She opened up with her battle saddle, striking the robot again and again in the head and chest. Its eyes shattered under the barrage, but it only fell back a few steps, instead of being destroyed.

It was evidently still connected to the network, as alarms began sounding and flashing everywhere. “ALERT! INTRUDERS ON SITE! VISION IMPAIRED! REQUESTING ASSISTANCE!”

Turning from the continuing roar of Schwarzwald’s battle saddle, now joined by Bosco’s pistol as they tried to put the automaton down, Undertow, Naiara, and I kept a look out for the other trouble.

It wasn’t far away. Through the windows, we could see other identical robots mobilising, gliding around and between the servers as they rushed to our location. “Company’s coming guys, a lot of it!”

“Snow, Naiara, find us a way out! Undertow, help us out here!”

There was no way we were gonna question that order. Her horn glowing, and with water surging around her, Undertow jumped into the fight, as the robot was readying its own weapons to counterattack.

Naiara dashed along the glass wall to the next intersection, looking each way with a lightning-quick hide-and-peek, while I watched the way we’d come. Satisfied, she called back. “THIS WAY’S CLEAR! COME ON!”

I made to follow, but one of the windows exploded into the hallway, making me duck back before the flying shards cut me to ribbons. Looking back into the server room, I saw another robot standing on the upper walkway.

It saw us too. More than we wanted it to see. “NON-PONY LIFESIGN DETECTED! TAINT INFECTION DETECTED! LETHAL FORCE AUTHORISED!” Bigger guns emerged from yet more hidden compartments, opening up on me almost immediately.

Helpless, I threw up my hooves as a pointless shield. The shockwave from the grenade explosions blew me onto my back, but sounded strangely muffled.

I opened my eyes to see a shield of water had intercepted the blast. Undertow was standing behind me, her horn glowing. “We shall deal with this one, Lady Snow, assist Schwarzwald in stopping the other one.”

Looking back, the first robot was struggling. It was still upright, but its weapons looked to be in bad shape. Schwarzwald was firing round after round into its metal skull, but still couldn’t deal a fatal blow. Still, it was only a threat if it got close, which seemed unlikely.

Nodding to Undertow, I traded places with her and Bosco, who took over in battling this new, fully armed threat.

A quick glance down the hall showed Naiara turning and running, as another robot rolled past the T-junction after her.

“Guys, they’re after Naiara, she’s a zebra!”

“Snowflake! Your assistance!” Schwarzwald was yelling, as the robot still hadn’t gone down.

Cursing, I turned and focused on my newest spell, the slippery trail that I’d used on Naiara back at Soft Swell Lake. My horn blazed, and suddenly the robot looked far less sturdy, as its wheels spun in a vain attempt to find traction. Overbalanced, it toppled over completely as Schwarzwald opportunistically shoulderbarged into it. As the bot hit the ground, the mercenary mare was on it, jamming her heavy rifle into its destroyed eye-socket, pulverising its processor with a point-blank burst.

The two of us stood over it, panting slightly, making sure it was down this time, when the chest section opened up, and a beeping commenced.

Wide-eyed, Schwarzwald wheeled round and grabbed me. “Time to go!” She dragged me further down the hallway, all but throwing me around the next corner.

I managed to get my head back, shouting out a quick “LOOK OUT!” to the others, before the robot exploded.

Having caught the tail end of my warning, Undertow’s water shield was already wrapping around her and Bosco, but there was a terrible crash as they, and the shield, were propelled through the window by the blast, falling down into the server room.

“UNDERTOW! BOSCO!” I tried to run to reach them, but Schwarzwald grabbed me.

“They are fine, Snowflake, but we have to get away for now!”

I fought in her grasp, desperate to reach the two. “NO! We have to save them! They might be hurt! LET ME GO!” I kicked and twisted in her grasp in my haste to aid our friends.

I had almost gotten free, but then I saw that the robot, who Undertow and Bosco had been trading fire with, was rolling towards the locked double doors, which led into our corridor. A heavy scrape of metal on metal showed that the door was no longer locked. The robot would be here in seconds.

Again, Schwarzwald seized me around the shoulders, and dragged at me. “See? It is after us now! Let us go, and we will find the others when we are safe?”

“But what if they’re hurt?”

“Then they are hurt!” She snapped. “We cannot get to them, and will only die ourselves if we try! What good would that do anypony?”

That stopped me cold, being reminiscent of Undertow’s words. I couldn’t help anyone by putting myself into needless danger. “Y-Yeah, alright.” I stopped struggling, and turned to face the direction she was dragging me. When I started running with her, she let go and we began to sprint, just barely evading a hail of bullets from the arriving robot.

Juking and jinking, we did everything we could to get away from the robot, now joined by friends, but whichever way we went, we couldn’t find a time to double back and reach the others. Eventually, we were cornered near a stairwell, with our only option being to go up.

I hated myself, and her, as we climbed. This is taking us too far away from the others! Undertow and Bosco might be trapped in that room with dozens of them! And who knows what’s happened to Naiara. I hope she’s okay.

Bursting into an office full of cubicles, we searched around for a safe place. Jumping ahead, I caught sight of two bots just as they saw me.

“Snowflake, get down!” Crushed by the sudden weight, my breath left me as bullets, and now lasers, whizzed by overhead, with Schwarzwald holding me down, until the shooting stopped. After scrambling into the cover of one of the cubicles, she leaned around and took a few shots with her battle saddle’s rifles, the harsh collision of bullets and armour sounding hollow and pained.

Sneering in frustration, she triggered the reload of her weapons. “I am losing too many bullets for too little damage! Do you have any ideas?”

I did have one thought. It had worked on Peanut…

“I’ll freeze their legs, then we’ll make a run for it. Can you keep them busy?”

“Not for long, dahling.”

“Okay, I’ll be quick.” I didn’t really have much of a choice. If this didn’t work, Schwarzwald’s ammo wouldn’t last, and then we’d be in too much trouble to help anyone.

Gathering herself, Schwarzwald darted across into another cubicle, a trail of laser fire chasing her, before leaping up and over into a third partition.

With their attention temporarily on the older pony, I found a bullet hole to look through, catching sight of one of the robots with its back turned. I couldn’t see its leg from where I was, but I could see the steady fire of the cannon in its arm.

That’ll have to do. My horn glowed, as my attention centred on the pumping weapon.

After a few seconds, the fire rate began to rapidly diminish, until eventually all that was happening was an unhealthy, lethargic clicking. Confused, the robot looked at its limb, but I kept the magic on, watching as the gun turned white, with frost forming along its length.

Suddenly the mechanical sentry wheeled around on me, swinging the rigid limb. Shrieking, I ducked out of the way, and the swing caught the cubicle wall.

The limb violently exploded as it struck, scattering bits of frozen metal and circuitry everywhere. While the bot was distracted, I jumped over the cubicle wall and darted down the gap.

I nearly choked as a hoof shot out from a corner partition, snagging me around the throat and ripping me off my hooves. As I was dumped on the floor, Schwarzwald was trying to reload, check the enemies’ position, and talk to me. “I saw that, Snowflake. Do it again.”

I just wheezed.

“No time for that now, just freeze the robots. Get their chests, or their heads. I’ll take care of the rest.”

“Ack, you didn’t have to grab me so roughly?” I rubbed my tender neck.

“Dirty talk can wait, dahling, and I’ll let you return the favour when we find a bed, but for now I need you to focus.” Slipping a hoofheld mirror out of a pocket, she angled it to see down the straight path between cubicles. “There, look in the mirror. Can you see it?”

It was getting close. “I see it. Hold the mirror steady.”

I imagined my spell bouncing off the mirror and heading straight towards the robot’s chest which, thankfully, did start to ice up. It took longer than the gun had, however, so I only managed to finish when the bot rolled over the mirror, crushing it, and turned into the cubicle.

We were trapped, but trapped animals fight the hardest.

With an inarticulate yell, Schwarzwald swung her hoof into, and through, the frozen chest armour of the mechanical beast, up to her shoulder, and withdrew a blinking power pack. It toppled over, the lights dimming before it hit the ground.

“Do you see its one-armed friend, dahling?” She was juggling the battery, testing the heft, acting for all the world like she hadn’t just punched out a robot’s heart.

“I… uh…” I stuck my head out, thankful that the remaining enemy no longer had a projectile weapon, and scanned the room. It was a mess, with office supplies, and bits of metal and plaster and wood strewn everywhere. At the other end of the walkway, the remaining bot caught sight of me, and motored towards us. “End of the path, coming this way.”

“Heh, perfect.” Grinning like a demon, Schwarzwald stepped out of the cubicle, facing down the straight course, wound back, and let fly with the power core. Arcing through the air, the robot raised its arm to shoot the core out of the air.

The arm it raised didn’t have a gun anymore.

Schwarzwald did. I realised her plan just before she fired. Panicking, I grabbed her tail in my teeth and yanked just as she fired, pulling her back into the cubicle before the explosion reached us.

The flames still licked around all the barricades, setting us both briefly on fire before we could stamp or snuff out the embers.

Nothing remained of the robot, who’d caught the explosion full in the face, except miniscule chunks of bubbling armour. The room near the explosion was bowed out, a spherical curve present in all surfaces.

After confirming that there were no other robots in the vicinity, we relaxed a little. “Where to next, Snowflake? This is fun.”

The alarms chose this moment to cease, making me forget about my indignant answer. An artificial voice sounded out of the loudspeakers. “VISUAL CONFIRMATION OF INTRUDERS LOST! COMMENCE ROOM BY ROOM SWEEP! ALL SENTRIES MOBILISE!”

“We should go.”

~~~~~~

We glided from room to room, as stealthily as we could, sometimes just barely managing to avoid patrols of searching sentinels.

Soon enough, my companion had regained her cheerful demeanour. “You know, dahling, I find myself somewhat disappointed.”

“Disappointed?” I didn’t try to hide my sarcasm. Somehow Schwarzwald’s warped worldview wasn’t really what I cared about at present.

“Indeed.” Apparently she was gonna go on regardless. “Amber sends me to fight mere machines? Disappointing. Steel and wires are not nearly so interesting as blood and bones.”

“Then why are you still here?”

“Besides not currently having a choice? Because Amber will soon provide me with something more interesting, I am sure.”

Mostly I responded for a distraction from worrying about Undertow, Bosco, and Naiara. Finding out some more about the Bernstein Conclave was a distant second. “What makes you say that?”

“Not many can provide the results she seeks.” Her tone turned wistful, though still quiet to avoid alerting guards. “I remember a story she told me of one of my predecessors. She meant it as a warning, I’m sure, though I would kill her long before she could repeat the practice on me.”

“Meant what as a warning?”

“Well, my predecessor, I forget the name, took on many jobs for Amber; Assassination, bounty hunting, secret messages, carrying special cargo, all sorts. Apparently, the mercenary developed something of an ego over this, believing himself to be too valuable to lose, and soon forgot to show respect.”

“…You don’t act respectful to her.”

She gave me a disbelieving, shocked look. “Why, Snowflake, of course I do! Amber has accomplished much for a filly of her age, mere years older than yourself. No, I don’t act disrespectfully to her, I am merely friendly. It would be wise to learn the difference. The idiot I replaced never learned.”

That’s an interesting way of looking at it. “What happened?”

“After her patience ran out, Amber played to his ego, hiring him to attack a small gang of slavers, of which there was no possibility for him to succeed. Obviously, he did not think as she did, and declared himself her go-to pony for every job.”

I could already see where this was going.

“Amber then bought him back from the slavers, after they had broken his spirit, though his skills were mostly intact. Then… she made him keep to his word.”

“His word?”

“He claimed to be her go-to pony for every job. Amber made this truth. No matter the job, mind-numbingly mundane or suicidally dangerous, she sent him first, and as he was a slave now, it cost her nothing. Soon enough the cost she’d paid to acquire him had been repaid many times over, and still she sent him on every job. Eventually, he was killed trying to subdue a beast, past the northern mountains.”

“Past the mountains?”

“Indeed. Amber does not accept defeat easily either, whether personally or through her subordinates. I do not doubt she will ask me to find this creature at some point. The Molar Bear, and Tarantubaas? Merely a warm up.”

I eyed her warily. “And you’ll go?”

She shrugged. “Most likely. Amber pays well, and it does intrigue, does it not? A monster strong and strange enough to be sought so dearly? A fun challenge, and a good way to prove my superiority over that enslaved fool.”

Talk of slaves made me think of Plottawa, and I felt a pang of sympathy for the nameless idiot. Still, Schwarzwald’s words hammered home her earlier warning. Amber was good with words, both hers and those of others. I would have to watch what I say, and make sure that my friendliness wasn’t mistaken for disrespect.

I already have enough powerful ponies for enemies.

“Not to mention,” Schwarzwald cut in. “Amber could not make me a slave, I already have a mistress in waiting, no?” She waggled her eyebrows at me, prompting me to roll my eyes in response.

Then I caught myself. This wasn’t the time for her nonsense, Undertow and the others were still in danger. Amber was irrelevant at this point. “We should hurry and find the others.”

“If we move too fast, we will bring the robots down on our heads again.”

“I know, but…” I didn’t care. Undertow, Bosco and Naiara were in danger. The thought made me sick, and so I picked up my pace, trying to outpace my worry.

“Snowflake, slow down.” There was an edge in her voice that was very different than usual. Thoroughly annoyed, I turned, waiting for her to make her point.

She didn’t say anything though, just casually ambled up until we were level again.

“What is wrong with you? The others could be in trouble, and you’re taking it easy!”

Oh how I wanted to rip that stupid smile off her face. “I have more stories if you wish to pass the time.”

Livid, I tensed up. “I don’t want to ‘pass the time’, I want to find my friends and help them against killer robots!”

She cocked her head to the side. “You seem tense, Snowflake, do you not want to relax first, to make sure that you are ready?”

“No, I don’t wanna relax! Let’s go already!” What the fuck was her problem?

“Are you sure? I could help you relax.”

I slapped her, as hard as I could. This was really not the time.

Almost instantly, pain exploded across my face, and I slammed into the wall behind me. Before I could fall, Schwarzwald was on me, with her front leg under my chin.

“How?” That was all she said.

“How what?” I gargled back, glaring at her.

“How will you help them?” Her words, and her eyes, were cold. The only time I remembered her being this vicious was in the bar, when the drunk stallion tried to show off to his marefriend.

“I’ll… find them…”

“Then what? How exactly will you fight?”

A glare was my only response, not having a concrete answer. She nodded knowingly. “Exactly. You saw how durable these machines are, yes? How many bullets are needed before they drop? You don’t have a gun, and your magic won’t be enough. What then?”

“P… punch… like you!”

In response, she held up her hoof, the one she’d buried in the robot’s sternum.

It was gashed, and bloody. Clearly she was in pain, but was hiding it. “I am much stronger than you, Snowflake, and yet I can only do this once. How many sentries do you think there are?”

My glare began to soften. Though I still loathed her at that moment, she was starting to make sense, even cutting through my worry.

She kept up her cold stare. “I am strong, dahling, but unlike my predecessor, I am not fool enough to call myself invincible. This is not a battle any one of us can win. We must work together. Effectively. Charging in, like the fighter that you’re clearly NOT, will get you and your little sister killed.”

Her foreleg across my throat had slackened enough for me to speak. “I… how can I help them?”

She lowered the limb, that she’d been choking me with, completely. “First, we shall calmly find our friends. Then, your magic will be used to create opportunities for the others to finish our enemies. You’re no killer, not yet, so you haven’t developed the necessary spells.” Her cocky smile returned. “Wait a little while longer, and then you may join the fun.”

My nausea returned at the thought. Robots are one thing, but she can’t seriously expect me to sit there and think up ways to kill people. Not a chance.

Bzzt! “Schwarzwald, you there?”

Taken by surprise, we looked at each other for a moment, thinking that the robots were talking to us over the intercom.

Bzzt! “Come on, pick up already.”

In a very familiar voice.

In puzzled amusement, Schwarzwald fished the Bernstein communicator she’d received out of a pocket. “Breeze? Is that you, dahling?”

“Ah good, you are there. Listen, I don’t really know what’s going on, but Naiara says to tell you that she’s fine, but can’t come find you guys right now. What’s she mean? And who’s ‘you guys’?” There was an ease to Breeze’s voice, even through the device, that I hadn’t heard in a while. Our last few meetings had always made her angry. I didn’t mind right now, I was just glad that Naiara was okay, even if she couldn’t meet up with us yet, whatever that meant.

Calm down, Snow, she’s probably just dodging patrols, like us. If she can use the transmitter, then I’m sure she’s okay.

“Well, I’m at Whitepony with the others, but we got separated after a fight with some sentry bots. Snowflake and I…”

“Snowflake’s there?!”

“Yes! Would you like to say hello?”

“No, I don’t wanna say hello! I’m just telling you that Naiara’s okay, like she asked. If you want anything else, then you call me. In private. Got it?”

“Very well, dahling, and thank you for telling us about dear Naiara.”

“Yeah, thanks Breeze, really.” No matter what she thought of me, or what I thought of her, she’d helped us out right now, and that deserved thanks.

They weren’t welcome though. She just “Tch”’d, and the signal cut out.

Grinning widely, Schwarzwald turned to me. “You see, Snowflake? Your friend remained calm, and got a message to us to ease your fears. Now we can concentrate on finding the others.”

I still wasn’t happy with Breeze’s attitude, or Schwarz’s really, but I had to admit she’d made her point. “…Alright, but since Breeze called us, can we use the communicator to contact…”

Bzzt! “Schwarzwald, pick up.”

“…Bosco!”

The smile was now a full on smirk. She gracefully raised the device to her lips. “Hello, dahling. How are you?”

You smug mare. “Is he okay? Ask him about Undertow!” I pressed at her to find out.

“We’re okay. We got away from the robots for now, junked a few too.”

“You continue to impress, dahling.”

“Yeah, whatever, I- OW! I didn’t find the- OW DAMMIT! Find the- FUCK OFF UNDERTOW!” There was a brief sound of a scuffle, before a new voice was yelling down the line.

“LADY SNOW, ARE YOU THERE?”

All thoughts of ponies and their bad attitudes vanished. I jumped for the communicator, but Schwarzwald turned away from my grabbing hooves, continuing to speak. “She’s here, Undertow-dahling. What do you need?”

“Let me speak to Lady Snow!”

I made another dive for the gadget. “Give it to me!”

Another dodge. “I’m afraid that she’s busy at present, would you like to leave a message!”

“I can hear her!” Undertow wailed through the channel. My heart was breaking.

“Dammit, Schwarzwald, if you don’t give me the communicator right now…”

“What?” She replied sharply, but still smiling. “What will you do? Remember to remain calm.”

Oh, you absolute- I almost made another blind grab, but forced myself to stop, even though I could hear sniffles coming from the speaker. Fuck! I can’t do anything too drastic, it might hurt her, or bring the robots running. What else can I do to get her to give it to me? What does she want? Well, besides…

…

Ah, damn it.

Hating the entire situation, I stomped over to her. Schwarzwald made no move to stop me, or dodge, even as I reached a hoof up.

Grabbing her battle saddle, I yanked down, bringing her face close to mine.

Then I kissed her full on the lips.

Even with all her scars, the flesh was far softer then I imagined, and more supple. I felt one scar with my upper lip, and was idly tempted to trace it with my tongue, but stopped myself before it sent the wrong message.

Thankfully, that surprised her enough for me to reach up, while her lips were busy, and knock the communicator out of her upstretched hoof.

I caught it before it hit the floor. “Undertow? Undertow, answer me!”

The sniffling halted. “L-Lady Snow!”

Overjoyed, I laughed into the mic, hearing her respond in kind. “I’m so glad you’re okay!”

“I am glad you’re okay too, Lady Snow, and Schwarzwald as well. Bosco is fine too, although…”

Alarm bells sounded in my head. What had happened to Bosco? Was there something in here that was affecting him? “What’s wrong with Bosco?”

Pregnant silence flowed down the channel or a few moments.

“Undertow!” I repeated, firmer this time. “What happened to Bosco?”

It was the colt himself who answered, an angry voice in the background. “She fucking bit me again, that’s what happened!”

“Undertow!”

“I am so sorry, Lady Snow! I wanted to hear your voice, and he had the communicator… and what he was talking about wasn’t important, and…”

“Unimportant?” Bosco interrupted again. “This is what we’re here for, idiot!”

He found it? “Undertow, we’ll talk about this when we meet up, I promise. For now, don’t bite anybody again, and put Bosco back on the line.”

“But…”

“Now, Undertow.” I had to be firm with her, this sort of behaviour wasn’t nice, and I didn’t want it becoming a habit.

“…Yes, Lady Snow.” She sounded utterly dejected.

There was another movement, and then Bosco’s gentle, but unmistakenly male, voice came back on the line. “I’m here, Snow.”

“Alright. Good to hear you’re okay, Boss Colt. I’m putting Schwarzwald on again. Tell her what you’ve got.”

“Okay.”

Turning to the mare, who was watching me strangely, I held out the gadget. “See if Bosco’s got what you need.”

She began to reach for the device, but I quickly whipped it back, hardening my stare, but keeping my words calm. “Don’t you ever, ever try to get in between me and her again. Understand?”

The stern admonishment revived her smirk. She also ran a hoof over her lips, before licking it seductively. “Yes, Mistress.”

Rolling my eyes, and sighing tiredly, I tossed the communicator to her carelessly, and she scrambled to catch it. “Snowflake! That is not yours, be careful!”

“Whatever.” I turned away from her, and privately revelled in my joy at finding out that my friends were okay. I still kept on ear on the conversation between Schwarz and Bosco though.

“Well, that first server room we found was a bust, it was all information on places I’d never even heard of: Caledonia, Dise, Wintertrot, and so on. Nothing on Lethbridle. So we got out of there before more bots showed up. Spent a while trying to find a map, or anything that could help. Caught a break when Undertow found something.”

“Which was?”

“The servers here are water-cooled. Undertow found the pipes with her horn, and we followed them all the way to the next lot of servers.”

Well done, Undertow! That’s great work.

“Very impressive, dahling. Both of you. And you found the Lethbridle data?”

“We did.” I imagined the colt nodding at that, even though neither of them could see the other. “Did just what you said. Plugged the communicator in, and let it do the rest. Dunno what info you were after, but it thinks it’s got it.”

“Very good, dahling! How shall we meet up, so that you can transfer it to me?”

Pride, and a little arrogance, carried along the airwaves. “That’s taken care of, too. While I was waiting on the device to finish getting the files, Undertow actually DID find a map of the building. Seems like this place mostly restocked through aircraft, so the top floor is just one giant warehouse. On top of that, there’s an external fire escape we can use to get back down, should let us avoid the robots. I say we all head up, and meet up at the top.”

“That sounds perfect, dahling. Naiara contacted us, through Breeze, just before you. We will inform her of our plans.”

“Great, we’ll see you then. Oh, and tell Snow to hurry, Undertow’s sulking.”

A static-y, and pouty, “Am not!” was heard just as the transmission cut out.

Stashing the Bernstein device away, Schwarzwald turned back to me. “So there we have it, Snowflake. Shall we go?”

I’m not mentioning what I did if you’re not. “Sure. So where are those stairs?”

~~~~~~

As planned, we relayed the plan to Naiara through Breeze. She was fine with it, though she did think she was somewhere underground, and therefore might take a little longer to arrive.

We got quite lucky with the patrols, only twice did we meet more robots, first we came across a pair, which were dispatched without trouble, through a combo of ice and bullets.

The second confrontation was more dangerous. We were only a few floors from the top, when a hidden door, scant metres away, opened up, revealing a slimmer version of the sentinels that we’d been facing so far. It was far faster, and much harder to hit, with either magic or weaponry.

Finally we’d been forced to have Schwarzwald offer herself up for the robot to come in close, deploying several small blades. Fighting through the cuts, Schwarz had grabbed it long enough for me to cover its head with ice, which she crushed with her remaining good hoof.

The fight had left her tired, and bloody. I’d stopped us long enough to apply healing bandages. It’d also been long enough for her to annoy the hell out of me, by cooing over the ministrations of her ‘mistress’.

Finally, we were at the doors to the top floor warehouse.

Wordlessly, we took up station at each side of the door. Schwarzwald held up a hoof, telling me to wait, while she eased the door open a crack.

The sound of something heavy striking the door just on the other side synched up perfectly with her startled yell, and wild leap backwards.

Landing in an undignified pile, she seemed unharmed, so I took the opportunity to look through the gap while she got herself up.

On the other side of the door was the busted remains of a sentry bot.

Who did that?

“I heard something at the door.”

“Maybe it is Lady Snow?”

YES!!!

Wrenching the door open as far as I could, I kicked the scrap out of the way, and dashed into the room. “Undertow!”

Standing on a walkway with Bosco, and with a blissful smile spreading across her face, was the water-wielding unicorn. “Lady Snow!”

Having picked herself up, Schwarzwald trotted in after me. “Bosco, are you here? Do you have it?”

“Right here.” He confirmed from the walkway. “And there’s a fire door up here. We can get out!”

“Excellent, dahling. I cannot wait to get to safety. Such stories I have for you both.”

“No you don’t.” I quickly corrected, before turning back to the pair on the catwalk. “How do we get up to you?”

“Far side of the room. Over there. You see it?”

“Yeah, we’ll be right there, just stay put.”

Beaming, the colt turned to Undertow, who was still swimming in happy, innocent joy. “Undertow, get the fire door. I’ll watch the entrance in case any more robots show, or Naiara.”

I was trotting swiftly towards the stairwell as I called back. “She’s on her way, but she was pretty far down when you called. I don’t think the bots’ll give her much trouble though, she’s pretty sneaky.”

All in all, I felt that Boss Colt could be quite proud of how this went. We’d been split up for a few hours, but had still gotten the data, probably, and had a safe way out. All we needed now was for Naiara to get here, and we were in the clear.

With a clunk, the fire door opened.

And everything went wrong.

“AAAAH!”

Three pairs of eyes whipped towards the source of the scream, none more so than mine. “UNDERTOW!”

Surging in from the outside, gold smog was swarming around her. Her thrashing resistance seemed to have no effect, as the shining fog just bubbled and flowed around, over, and under her. “LADY SNOW! HELP ME!”

“I’M COMING!” Sprinting to the stairs, I took them three at a time.

The fog wasn’t satisfied with just Undertow though. Bosco had gone charging in, firing wildly with his pistol, as Schwarzwald opened up from the lower level with her own artillery, but neither had had any noticeable effect. The bullets went into the fog, and then out the other side, but all the while the cloud kept its hold on Undertow.

Slashing wildly with his knife, Bosco too was overwhelmed as he tried to reach her. He disappeared within the fog almost immediately, as it boiled around him as effortlessly as it had Undertow. “SNOW! SCHWARZWALD! HELP!”

“Let them go!”

An aquamarine glow burst forth from within the cloud, and it blew apart just long enough to reveal that Undertow’s water shield, forcefully thrown up around herself and Bosco. No sound came from within the shield, so her anguished pleading seemed silent, a stark contrast to the petrified expression she wore while unblinkingly watching my mad dash to reach her.

The cloud was battering at the shield from all sides, probing for a weak point. Whatever it was, Undertow distracted it long enough for me to get in close, and I mindlessly poured ice magic into the cloud, trying to force it away from the trapped ponies.

Great frozen chunks of gold fell to the catwalk’s grating, but were just as quickly swallowed back up into the main body. A writhing gold tentacle formed, and shot towards me violently.

If not for Naiara’s timely intervention, grabbing me and dragging us both over the edge of the catwalk, to crash down through a box below, I’d have been gored. Naiara’s side had been slashed, though I couldn’t tell how deeply.

“Schwarzwald, watch her!” I bolted again for the stairs, four at a time the second time around, and powered up my magic again. Whatever you are, I can hurt you! “GIVE THEM BACK!” I could beat back whatever it chose to throw at me.

Only… it didn’t.

Scooping up the water bubble, like an egg in a spoon, the fog began to pull back towards the fire door, tentacles stabbing at the already rattling catwalk, ruining it and tripping me up, while taking the helpless captives with it.

“Nonononono! COME BACK!” My horn’s glow vanished as I stumbled, all but the most base thoughts leaving my head.

Catch them. Save her. Kill fog.

All three of those thoughts went completely unrealised. The fog vanished through the door mere milliseconds before I could reach it, and I nearly toppled over the fire escape’s railing as I desperately threw myself onto it, stretching my hoof out to the trapped ponies, now vanishing into the night sky, as they soundlessly cried back at me.

“UNDERTOWWWWWW!!!!!!!!”

~~~~~~

No level gain.

~~~~~~

Author's Note

That’s all for now, folks. Please keep reading, commenting, and spreading the word on Old Souls. I really appreciate your feedback.

Chapter 13-1: Butterflies

[Uh… panic?]

“Come back!” I cried, hooves outstretched as the last of the fog carrying Undertow and Bosco disappeared into the distance. “Comebackcomebackcomeback!”

It was just a speck on the horizon now, and the murky night sky was stealing them from my sight.

“Bosco! Undertow! Give them back!” I ignored everything else; my beaten body, the cold night air, the creaking fire escape on which I stood, none of it mattered.

Pathetically, my horn flared, mindlessly trying to reach out to them, but the distance was too great, and I was pitifully unskilled.

“Snowflake, I need you!” I ignored Schwarzwald’s words from within the warehouse floor. They weren’t important.

In the forefront of my mind was a constant loop of Bosco and Undertow, hiding within a futile shield of water, soundlessly pleading for me to help them.

And my failure to do so.

“Snowflake?!” Schwarzwald called again, more insistently this time.

I barely heard her. She could take care of herself. She’d been doing so for decades. I’d promised to protect Undertow. I’d promised to help Bosco.

Why couldn’t I do anything?

“Help!” They’d said. They were children, snatched by a phantom out of nightmares. They should never have been in danger, and definitely shouldn’t have been taken.

What good was I, if I couldn’t keep two children safe from a nightmare?

What good were any of us? Schwarzwald was a grown mare, why didn’t she do something? Why didn’t Naiara?

“Naiara is hurt, Snowflake!”

My heart went cold. “What?” No, no! Not another one!

It shattered my heart to turn away from the empty sky, even more so now that I could no longer see them, but I had to do something. I couldn’t lose Naiara too.

On leaden hooves, I stumbled back inside, my eyes zeroing in on the fallen zebra, and the earth pony mare who crouched next to her. “What’s wrong with her, Schwarzwald?”

When she looked up, it uncovered enough of Naiara’s body that I could answer my own question. A deep gash had been torn through her side, leaking blood at an alarming rate. Schwarzwald was piling bandages on top of the wound, but they were staining red within seconds.

I clattered down the stairs to reach them, finding Schwarzwald trying to pour a healing potion past Naiara’s lips, though as much was staining the floor as was getting into her mouth, and half of what did came out again as she coughed up fluids.

For once lacking her carefree smile, Schwarzwald was working diligently, and stoically, to heal her. She didn’t look confident as I took up station beside her. “The bleeding is slowing, but she is vulnerable. Whatever that thing was, it landed a solid hit.”

My knees were already turning crimson as I knelt there. “Can you save her?”

Without looking, she held out a hoof. “Another potion, quickly!”

Obeying instantly, I dug into the nearest pack that I could find, rooting around until I mercifully found one of the vials. “Here! Take it.”

She directed me to massage Naiara’s throat as she poured the formula into her open mouth, much slower and more carefully this time. It took longer, and almost half came back to sticky our hooves, but finally the blood loss was diminished enough to satisfy Schwarzwald.

Tossing aside the empty bottle, she wasted no time in gathering up her supplies. “I think that will take her out of immediate danger, but we must take her from here, now, and find help. She may be damaged in ways that we cannot see.”

Trying to still the terrified beating of my heart, I couldn’t do much more than sit with the zebra. “What do you mean?”

Schwarzwald was twisting and grabbing at her battle saddle. With a clang, one of her automatic weapons dropped from its place on the harness. “We know nothing of this creature, this fog, that slashed her. It may have left something behind from the claw strike.”

I gulped. “Some kind of disease?” Half of my attention stayed on Naiara’s trouble, but I found renewed fear for the two who were taken, enveloped within the fog.

Undertow’s shield won’t last forever, even as strong as she is.

A grim nod was given. “Perhaps. Regardless, she requires healing, more than we can do here. We must take her to somepony with the skills to help her.”

“You can’t help her?” I asked, desperate.

“No, I am no doctor.”

Before I could lose it any further, a whirring hum filled the air.

Spitting out a curse, Schwarzwald wrenched the second weapon from her saddle and tossed both guns at my hooves. “It is the elevator! The sentries are coming, they know we are here!”

“No!” We couldn’t possibly survive another battle with the hardy robots with just the two of us.

Schwarzwald wasted no time. She scooped Naiara up, which elicited a pained gasp from the zebra, and gently laid her across the battle saddle, as a makeshift yoke to carry her. “Snowflake, take my guns, the bags, and whatever has been left on the catwalk, and then meet me at the fire escape. We have to go now!”

I complied mutely. The adrenaline still coursing through my system prevented me from feeling their weight. Bosco’s knife and pistol still lay on the catwalk, and were quickly scooped into my bags. Undertow had been taken with her possessions intact, which was a small miracle, as she held some of our medical supplies, giving the two of them a better chance to survive, wherever they might have been taken.

The elevator dinged, and my heart stopped.

Standing outside on the fire escape, Naiara still precariously laid across her back, Schwarzwald tossed me a grenade. “Snowflake, collapse the catwalk, and follow me! They must not follow!”

She disappeared out of sight as I juggle-caught the explosive. Robots began to pour into the room, bullets and beams flying, as I rolled the now-pinless grenade towards the section of walkway that the fog had tried to collapse to prevent OUR pursuit. With any luck, this would finish the job, and trap the sentry robots inside, while we made our way down the outside of the building.

I didn’t see the result, as I was already heading down the external stairs after my comrades, but a dull whump sounded a second later, followed by the crash of metal on metal.

There was nothing more I could do to keep us safe. Not Naiara, nor Bosco, nor Undertow, and not even Schwarzwald. I would have to pray that the older mare’s experience was sufficient to keep at least herself and Naiara alive.

~~~~~~

After an hour of maintaining a balance between trying not to jostle Naiara more than necessary, and moving with as much speed as we could muster, Schwarzwald called a halt. I’d spent the entire time sick with worry, scanning both the skies, and our trail for any signs of robots or fog.

Neither appeared, simultaneously bringing relief and heartache.

Standing completely still, Schwarzwald directed me to attend to our injured friend. Balancing on my hind hooves to reach the taller mare’s back, I did my best to make Naiara more comfortable. I wiped the sweat from her brow, and changed her bandages.

“Hold on Naiara. We’ll… we’ll take you back to Sprinkles Supplies! Lexi can fix you up! She promised!” My bedside manner was not composed, or confident, and I utterly failed to reassure anyone of the situation, least of all myself.

“I am afraid we cannot take her there, dahling.” Schwarzwald’s voice still hadn’t regained its usual playfulness. The disparity was glaringly obvious, and only served to deepen my fears about the situation.

I found myself hating her joking, more than I ever thought I would. “Why not? Lexi said she’d heal us up if we got hurt, I heard her!” Lexi had no reason to be angry at Naiara, no matter how she felt about me. I didn’t care if she never wanted me to come back, she would do this!

“We are not welcome until the Raider issue is settled, Red Ice.” The moniker cut right through me, bringing a fresh wave of self-loathing. “The guards would never allow us to get close, we would be cut down before we ever got inside.”

“So what do we do? Naiara’s dying!” I was wailing now.

“Calm yourself for a moment, and allow me time to think.”

As she lapsed into silence, I attempted to reduce my own noise by childishly slapping my hooves over my mouth, though they soon became hot and wet with my tears and hyperventilating. Still, I would keep them there until Schwarzwald came up with an idea. I didn’t dare risk breaking her concentration.

“… bra… near.” I instantly cursed my idiocy, as Naiara’s rasped words made me jump, and painfully shake her.

“What is she saying, dahling?” Schwarzwald was craning her neck around, as surprised as I was that the zebra was awake.

I crowded in close, a manic smile of relief on my face. “I’m here, svara, what is it?”

Still breathing sharply and shallow, Naiara managed to whisper through the pain. “…Zebra… always near… can help.”

“Clever Naiara!” Schwarzwald crowed, a small smile returning to her face, and her voice. “How can we signal them?”

“… Flare… gun.”

I needed nothing more. Naiara carried no pack, but her cloak was filled with pockets and pouches. I dug through them with gusto, my hooves feeling and passing over all manner of items before finding a small, snub-nosed pistol. Withdrawing it, I shakily loaded the canister into the oversized barrel.

“Cover your eyes!” Holding a hoof over Naiara’s face, and squeezing my eyes shut, I pointed the flare gun at the cloud barrier, and pulled the trigger. A plume of bright red smoke rocketed into the sky, burning brightly in a tall arc.

It was a long thirty minutes before the flare paid dividends. We spent the time in silence. I worried and fretted, while Schwarzwald remained rock still and steady. I couldn’t get any kind of reading on what she might have been thinking.

They were on us before I ever heard them. Two zebra stallions seemed to appear out of thin air, weapons ready. They each carried strange armaments in their hooves, very different from anything Equestrian.

Neither looked happy to see us, and even less so when they saw Naiara. Schwarzwald was basically immobile while supporting her, so it was up to me to calm the situation down.

“Wivti pec svarati!” I cried as I held up my empty hooves, hoping they wouldn’t just kill us both, dooming Naiara. “Wivti pec svarati!”

Surprised though they were that a pony could speak zebra, they still didn’t believe that Schwarzwald and I were friends, most likely due to the heavily injured zebra we were lugging around. One of the stallions pointed at Naiara, snarling out a question. “Sweq nimbala?”

“Sweq mua nimbala.” No, Naiara was not okay, but I had no idea how to explain what had happened in the fight. “Um… do you speak Equestrian? A… uh… gold fog attacked us, and it cut her. She needs to heal!”

Stern and angry, the two stallions devolved into a heated argument between themselves, too fast and too complicated for me to follow, with my limited understanding of the zebra tongue. Schwarzwald had remained silent throughout the entire exchange, and continued to do so, while at the same time scrutinising the zebra intensely.

Finally the two broke off their argument, and one again pointed at Naiara. “We take.” He said in broken Equestrian. “You follow.”

“Unten! Unten, svarati!” I gushed, overjoyed.

They weren’t. They moved towards Schwarzwald, who tensed up at first, but relented when I signalled that it was okay, letting the two take Naiara from her, but keeping the zebra’s cloak. A poultice was rubbed into the wound, before the bandages were reapplied, and then they set off, with us following behind.

Moving in close to me as we followed, Schwarzwald dropped her voice to a whisper. “When we reach our destination, return my weapons immediately. I do not trust this to be a smooth transition.”

I recognised that she was suspicious of the zebra, but didn’t care. Naiara’s gonna be alright! Whatever zebra concoctions they wanna use are fine with me, so long as it gets her better. “Whatever you say, Schwarz, but don’t start a fight until we know that Naiara is taken care of. Nor after, if you can help it.”

“Do not worry. I will be nice, I will merely take some precautions beforehoof.” She dug into Naiara’s cloak, withdrawing the communicator that Breeze had given her.

Still keeping an eye on the stallions ahead of us, as one was constantly looking back, she keyed the microphone. “Breeze-dahling, are you there?”

There was a momentary crackling before she received a confused response. “Schwarzwald? What are you doing with this communicator? Why aren’t you using…”

“Something has happened, Breeze.” Schwarzwald cut her off before the inventor Pegasus could reveal the other communicator’s existence. “We are on our way to meet with the zebra tribe. Naiara has been badly hurt.”

“What?!” Even across the airwaves, Breeze’s rage and shock were apparent. “What happened?”

“We were attacked by something, though I do not know what. It was a very strange creature, and it looked like a gold fog. She has been cut deeply, but is stable for now.”

“Where are you? We’ll come find you right now.”

“I hoped that you would. But I don’t want you to come all the way to us. I am not convinced that the zebra will be friendly, and wish to have you three in reserve, in case the situation turns troublesome. We are currently heading east from Whitepony, roughly an hour and a half out. If you three stay high, you should be able to find us without revealing yourselves. Keep pace when you do. If we need you, I shall signal for you.”

“I… got it. We’re on our way now. It might be a little while.”

“I understand, dahling, but hurry if you can.” Schwarzwald stopped paying much attention to the communicator, as the watching zebra had moved closer.

Still, Breeze’s voice came through clear before she signed off, pregnant with emotion. “Schwarzwald?”

“Yes, dear?” She was still watching the zebra stallion.

“…Please don’t let her die.” Then the line clicked dead.

Stashing the communicator, she couldn’t stop a hint of smugness leaking into her voice. “You see, mistress? Those three… they are not monsters.”

That remains to be seen. And that was all the thought I spared for anything that wasn’t Naiara’s safety.

~~~~~~

I sat on a rock, on the edge of the zebra encampment, facing away from them. The two stallions, upon reaching the main group, had whisked Naiara away, hopefully to treat her. I’d caught sight of Cept moving to intercept them, meaning that she was in good hooves for the time being.

I was still worried about her, but felt I could breathe a little easier. Unfortunately, this had the added effect of having my other worries break through again.

My voice was quiet, yet haunted, as Schwarzwald approached, having also been denied access within the boundaries of the camp.

“Did you… see the way… she looked at me?”

With her battle saddle reassembled, Schwarzwald’s mood had improved somewhat. She was expecting trouble, and was now ready for it. She hadn’t yet cracked a joke, not since calling me ‘mistress’ again, but I got the feeling that one wasn’t far off. “The way who looked at you, dahling?”

“…Undertow, when that thing took her and Bosco.”

“No, I was inside, tending to Naiara. How did she look at you?”

My vision blurred, and my hooves shook. “She… she expected me to protect her. During the fight, I could tell, she had no doubts that I would help her, if she reached the point where she couldn’t help herself. She was sure of it. But, when that time came, all I could do was watch.” I slowly buried my face in those shaking hooves, letting the tears spill out.

Schwarzwald said nothing in response, though whether she was waiting to say something later, or simply not listening or caring, was impossible to tell.

A new voice did join the conversation, though. A masculine voice, though I’d first heard it when it was distorted through a Steel Ranger helmet. “She is safe, for now. Be at ease.”

That’s one of three. “Ira leija, Cept. Unten.”

He didn’t return my pleasantries. When I looked over, there was anger in his dark gold eyes. “What caused this, Snowflake?”

“Naiara knocked me out of the way during a fight, but she took the hit instead.”

He opened his mouth to ask another question, but Schwarzwald broke her silence first. “You could have prevented that, Snowflake.”

Her words hit me so hard, I almost collapsed. “What?”

Cept said nothing, instead watched the earth mare as he waited for her to elaborate.

She did. “You rushed in without thinking, like I told you not to. We had no idea what the fog was capable of, and yet you attacked anyway.”

“What are you saying?” Cept demanded of her.

“I am saying, handsome Cept, that Naiara was hurt while saving Snowflake from her own stupidity. She is not the only casualty either. Two of our friends were taken, and even now we do not know what it was.”

“I…” I started, feeling helpless in the wake of this two-pronged attack.

Cept didn’t let me finish. “You put Naiara in danger?”

“Indeed, dahling. Naiara had to save Snowflake when she got in over her head, as usual.”

Cept loomed when angry. His already impressive physique seemed to be magnified. “What do you have to say for yourself, Snowflake?”

“She is no fighter, but merely blunders into frequent combat.”

He wheeled around, frowning at Schwarzwald. “And this excuses her? If that is the case, she should be working to improve!”

My knees were shaking. “I… I am! Undertow is teaching me magic! I don’t want to be weak, I want to protect them all!” What more do you want from me? I’m NOT a fighter, so I’m still learning this stuff. Do you think I wanted this to happen?! Just for an instance, my grief shifted to rage at the two of them, for condemning my actions so casually, even in these circumstances.

Cept didn’t let up though. “Naiara is not just YOUR friend, Snowflake! We need her here.”

Another arrow through my heart. “What do you mean?”

“I cannot tell you much, but we are not in Equestria without reason. Naiara has responsibilities. If you are deemed to be a hindrance to those goals, she will be taken from you.”

“No, you can’t!”

“I can’t, even though it might be for the best, but our leaders may see the situation differently.”

“But she’s my friend.” My response was weak, but all that I had. There wasn’t time to act, dammit! Undertow and Bosco would have been taken even earlier if I did nothing! I didn’t want Naiara to be hurt, but I had to do something!

“You hurt your ‘friend’ with your reckless attitude. What was it that you fought, exactly?” Cept would need something good, to be satisfied of the necessity of endangering Naiara.

Schwarzwald shrugged her shoulders. “We are not exactly sure, dahling. It attacked as a gold fog, though it formed a solid claw to injure Naiara, before abducting Undertow and Bosco.”

Surprisingly, this got a reaction from him. “A… a gold fog, you say? Excuse me.” Abruptly turning on his heel, he marched away towards the main camp.

After we silently watched him go, Schwarzwald whispered to me conspiratorially. “He knows something, dahling.”

“He does? How?” The fog monster had appeared out of nowhere. How would these zebras, miles away from Whitepony, have known about it?

“Does it matter? If they do know something, then we shall need their help. You wish to rescue the others, as do I. They are not just our friends, if you recall. Undertow is crucial to your Raider effort, and Bosco has my data. I shall assist you in bringing them back safely.”

I sniffed. “You will?”

Finally, the full smile that I’d been missing returned to her face. “Of course I shall, dahling. I cannot disappoint dear Amber, nor would I pass up this challenge. That fog monster is something formidable, and I wish to battle it again. Seeing you improve your combat would be entertaining too. Undertow is not the only teacher you should seek, should you truly wish to keep your sister safe.”

I wanted to show my gratitude, but held back as another thought appeared. “What about the others? The twins and Wings? Can they help?”

“Can you afford their help? Would they offer? Would you accept?” She blew a kiss skywards with her hoof. “These questions are your burden to answer, Snowflake. I will not interfere. It would be no fun. You will have to find a way to convince them without me.”

“Then why did you call them here?”

Her smile turned wicked. “In case these zebra are not as trustworthy as dear Naiara.”

I’d all but forgotten the insults she’d been slinging at me not minutes before. For all her edges, Schwarzwald was an excellent distraction from my troubles. “Who do you trust?”

Still smiling, she shook her head slowly. “I have told you this already, mistress, but you cannot skip to the end. To know my secrets, you must first play the game with me.”

“…What about Wings?”

“I am very fond of Wings. Does that answer your question?”

“Uh… does it?”

She said nothing, but instead turned to face the returning Cept, along with the other zebra with him, an ancient stallion, nowhere near the mass of the younger Cept, but carrying himself with an authority that instantly made me pay attention. A red and gold wrap lay about his shoulders, and around his torso. Sunken hazel eyes and a tuft of grey beard compounded his age.

Stopping a short distance from us, the old zebra regarded us both for a few seconds before speaking. His voice lacked the frailty I’d been expecting, but was not booming either. It was statesperson-like, not reliant on volume to draw listeners. “Cept has informed me of your strange encounter. Would you be kind enough to retell the tale?”

We looked at each other. What does he want with the information? Schwarzwald seemed to judge it safe, and launched into a far more neutral account of the battle than that which she had given Cept. She didn’t blame me this time either.

The elderly zebra listened in silence until she was done, then spoke in a peaceful tone. “And you say that your friends were taken by this… fog?”

I couldn’t nod fast enough. “Yeah, and we need to find them.”

“Of course you do. Svarati are very important, yes? You and Naiara share this bond, don’t you?”

I wasn’t sure I liked where this was going. “Uh… yes. I apologise again for what happened to Naiara.”

He waved this off. “Do not worry, child. Naiara will make her own decisions, as she always has done. More importantly, though, is that…”

“Who are you?” Schwarzwald interrupted flatly.

Blinking in surprise, the old zebra managed to get himself under control again. “Ah, now I must apologise. I am Atesh, leader of this tribe, and I wish to help you to reunite with your friends.”

“And why do you wish that, dear Atesh?”

If her use of “dear” affected him at all, he gave no sign. “I want to say that it would be thanks for being kind to Naiara, but really, we want to ask you to help us in return.”

All but saying “I knew it”, Schwarzwald’s smile turned sinister. “And what would you like our help with?”

“Not your help,” Cept piped up, even though this caused Atesh’s smile to disappear. The younger zebra cocked his head towards me. “…her.”

“Me?”

“Yes.” Atesh interjected, not looking so pleased anymore. “Thank you, Cept, that will be all. I wish to speak with our friends in private. Please go and see to Naiara.”

Consternation spread across Cept’s face as he uneasily walked away. Quickly, I called after him. “Cept?”

He stopped but didn’t turn. “Yes?”

“When Naiara’s better, can you tell her to meet us at Hoofshine? She knows the way.”

He wordlessly acknowledged my request, before moving off again. Atesh and I watched him go, but Schwarzwald had been watching the older stallion. “How very generous of you to offer the help of your followers, Atesh. Do you really believe that you know where to look?”

Stroking his beard thoughtfully, he mulled the question before answering. “Most likely. My followers and I are able to find much information, given enough time. Let me to talk with my advisors, and we will have the information you need in hours.”

“Hours?! We can’t wait that long! The others are in danger!” This old zebra expected me to wait here for hours while Undertow and Bosco were in trouble? There wasn’t time for that!

“Snowflake is right.” Schwarzwald was digging around in Naiara’s cloak. Finally, she withdrew Breeze’s communicator. “This will allow you to contact an ally of ours, who will then relay your information to me. I shall inform them about you. If you find anything, let us know, and we will investigate it.”

Though still polite, and gentle, Atesh’s demeanour subtly changed, becoming more focused. “So you agree to help us, Snowflake, if we help you?”

“YES!” I blurted out, cutting in on whatever Schwarzwald was going to say, drawing a sigh of vexation. I didn’t care. Cept would take care of Naiara, and when she was better, she and Cept, and maybe others, would help me find Undertow! This was perfect!

The mercenary mare idly tossed the communicator to Atesh, who smoothly fielded it, before it disappeared under his robes. “Take care of the device, Atesh-dahling, it belongs to Naiara, and she is quite friendly with the pony on the other end. One or the other may… be upset if anything happened to it.”

Her and Atesh wore matching smiles now. “I understand. Snowflake, we will talk at a later date about your help, but for now, if you must go, then we will contact you as soon as possible through this device.”

The zebra gave a small bow. “I wish you luck with your other friends.”

It was a polite goodbye, but a goodbye nonetheless. Schwarzwald turned away first, not looking back, and I turned to follow after one last look at the zebra camp. Stay safe, Naiara. We’ll be back soon.

I caught up with Schwarzwald within a few steps, but she said nothing until we were a fair distance from the camp. “You are a terrible haggler, Snowflake.”

“Huh?”

“You will see.”

~~~~~~

Chapter 13-2: Butterflies

Once we were out of sight of the zebra, I realised that I was at a loss. I’d meant it when I said that I wouldn’t wait for hours, but I still had no idea where to go to rescue Bosco and Undertow.

“Schwarzwald, what do we do now? Where should we look?”

“I have an idea on that.” Turning her face skyward, an ear-splitting whistle was sent up.

Clutching my tender lobes, I whined when she stopped. “What was that for?”

Her battle saddle shifted slightly as she shrugged. “I am calling in those who are involved in my idea. Wait for a moment, won’t you?”

Fine, bring whoever you want. I won’t let any of them get in the way of my finding Undertow and Bosco!

I didn’t have to wait long. The beating of wings announced their arrival. Touching down around me as three quarters of a square, the fourth being Schwarzwald, Wings and the Pegasus twins seemed slightly miffed at my presence.

“Dahlings!” Schwarz was all smiles again. “You are here. Did you have any trouble on the way?”

While glaring at me, Breeze answered her question with one of her own. “Forget to mention something when you called me, Schwarzwald? I should have known she’d be here when you called me about Naiara.”

“And hello to you too, Breeze.” I snapped. I knew I shouldn’t have, given the circumstances, but she was always so hostile, and I wasn’t in the mood to take it.

Turning to the others, who were far less openly antagonistic than the unrestrained technocrat, I greeted them more calmly, though neutrally. “Cassie. Wings. Good to see you.”

“Hello, Snowflake.” Cassie, ever polite, remained calm.

“Hey Snow, what’s up?” Wings’ reaction was controlled as well.

Breeze didn’t dance around the issue. “How’s Naiara?”.

“She’s fine, the other zebra are looking after her, and Cept won’t let anyone get to her.” I wasn’t gonna start a fight and waste more time.

“I told her hanging out with you and your little pet Raider was a bad idea!”

Red mist seeped into the corners of my eyes. You’ve been pushing it for far too long, Breeze. “Undertow is not a pet!” Avoiding a fight was the plan, anyway. “Don’t insult her, Breeze!”

“Or what? You wanna go?” She hunched down, wings spread.

Wings and Cassie looked frustrated with the development, while Schwarzwald took a more direct approach. “DOWN!” She barked. “BAD GIRLS!”

Startled, the earlier conversation with Cept, where she’d chewed me out for putting everybody in danger by acting recklessly, made me stop immediately, but Breeze’s silence ended just as quickly as it had begun. “Don’t fucking talk to me like that, Schwarz. I’m not your damn dog, and I don’t take orders from you!”

“Would you like to test that, little girl?” When no answer was forthcoming, she continued. “Now is not the time. The little ones have been taken.”

Confused, Cassie looked between us. “What little ones?”

Wings, more familiar with my friends, caught on more easily. “You mean Bosco? He’s been taken?”

“As well as the ‘pet Raider’, as Breeze so eloquently put it.”

“I need your help,” I began, my voice already cracking. “I don’t know how to find them!”

“Seriously?” Breeze mocked. “You called us for help? We don’t like you, Snowflake.”

“This isn’t Raider business,” I desperately pleaded. “I just want to get them back!”

Breeze’s scoffing aside, Wings and Cassie were still looking pretty neutrally on the proceedings. I didn’t care how bad I looked at the time, or how they felt about me, so long as they agreed to help. They might not like me much, but I knew how strong they were. Wings had no real problem with Bosco, despite brawling with him at the Woodpecker village. The two of them just ended up on opposite sides that one time, and had fought together before.

I got three favours out of that fight, but she can’t help Bosco out now?

Cassie was less hopeful. We’d never really been on good terms. Our first meeting was a battle, then she had robbed me with Wings. They’d expressed guilt about that, but after the two of us fought in the village, she might not be so favourable. She hadn’t reacted well to the idea that Raiders should be reformed.

Whatever her past with Raiders, it runs deep. Her sister hates Undertow, too.

Surprisingly, it was the Pegasus, not the griffon, who relented first. “Tell us what happened, Snowflake.” She held up a hoof to stop Schwarzwald from butting in. “In your words, not anypony else’s.”

It was a start, and I seized on the opportunity. “Bosco wanted to go to Whitepony to help Schwarzwald, so we did. After we got there, we got in a fight with some sentry bots, and ended up separated. We managed to get to the warehouse at the top, but a gold fog monster attacked us. It cut Naiara, and foalnapped Bosco and Undertow!”

“A gold fog monster? Well that helps so much. Any more vague descriptions you wanna use instead?”

Cassie silenced her sister with a stare, before turning back to me. “And this has nothing to do with the Raider business?”

“Nothing, I swear! Please, Cassie, you have to help me!”

“Wasn’t Whitepony your mission, Schwarz?” Wings joined the conversation, her blue eyes unreadable.

“It is, but Amber specified that Bosco and Snowflake join me.”

“You mean they’ve met her and I still haven’t?” Looking slightly put out, Wings flapped her wings huffily.

“You are always busy when she calls. It is ironic, no?”

“Wings, please…” I was going to use every trick I could think of to convince them, including dirty tricks. “I told her that I would protect her. I promised to look after her, just like you and your hatchling cousin.”

“…That’s low, Snowflake.”

“I know, and I’m sorry, but I need your help. I’ll do whatever it takes to find them and keep them safe.” I turned a sly, though still emotional, eye on the Pegasus twins here, trying to invoke the way they’d fought so hard after getting separated near Neighlway. Cassie had been tricked into thinking Breeze had been captured, so she’s worked to pay her ransom, while Breeze had flown herself ragged trying to find Cassie.

While it was undoubtedly unfair to bring up the knowledge I’d gained when spying on the two under Steel Ranger care, it seemed to be swaying Wings. I couldn’t read Cassie yet.

Breeze obviously didn’t like it. “We don’t have to take that from Red Ice! She’s playing us! Probably gonna lead us right to her Raider pals!”

Wings had some dirty play in her too. “She may have a point. I mean, they could already be dead.”

“NO!” I couldn’t entertain that thought for less than a microsecond. It was too painful.

“No?” Her question had an edge to it. “Why no?”

“They just can’t! They… they… they wouldn’t have been taken just to be killed!”

“Good.” Wings’ words were hard. “Remember that. Regardless of whatever else happens. Even if we don’t end up helping you, remember that they’re still alive.”

“Wings…” I didn’t know what to say. Her casual cruelty turned out to be from a good place.

“Why should we help you, Snowflake?” Wings was playing the game, and I didn’t doubt that she wouldn’t help me if I didn’t convince her well enough, but she was at least willing to give me a chance to do so, perhaps even hoping I’d win. Schwarzwald must be rubbing off on her.

“Breeze,” I would have to take drastic steps to bring this one around. “I know you don’t trust me, or even like me, but I really do need your help. What will it take for you to help me get the back? Just tell me and I’ll do it!”

Her reaction was initially automatic. “There’s nothing you can offer me, Red Ice, I wouldn’t he-…” She stopped when she caught sight of her sister’s face.

Cassie wasn’t openly showing signs of willingness, but she didn’t react positively to Breeze’s taunting either.

Both were silent for a few moments before Breeze deflated. “…Whatever Cassie decides, I’ll go along with.” She turned away, muttering to herself. “…Fuck’s sake.”

That left Cassie and Wings. I returned to the griffon first. “Wings, I know I don’t have any more favours with you, can I owe you one? I really need your help with this. I ca-…I can’t do this without you.”

Wings’ blue fire eyes watched me for a long time. Finally she turned them on Schwarzwald. “Whaddaya think, Schwarz? Should I help her out?”

Schwarzwald shrugged. “I will not say either way, dahling. It is up to you both to reach an agreement.”

Clicking her tongue against the roof of her beak, Wings didn’t seem surprised. I lamented Schwarzwald’s lack of help here, and briefly hated her for it, even if she had said she wouldn’t earlier.

This isn’t about me fucking up anymore, Schwarzwald! I need to get Bosco and Undertow back, and you won’t even help with convincing YOUR friends to come along.

“…TWO favours, Snow. One for each pony we rescue. They won’t be small either, I’ll be savin’ ‘em for something important.”

My aching heart eased a little at her words, and a laugh mixed with a cry as I nodded my gratitude. “Thank you. Thank you so much, Wings!” I really couldn’t care less about those future favours at this point.

Off to the side, Schwarzwald was shaking her head. “Terrible haggler.”

“And us, Snowflake? What do we get for our assistance?” Cassie seemed to be willing to let the price decide the participation of her and her sister.

I spread my hooves, completely willing to buy high for this. “Name your price. What do you want for your help?”

Humming and hawing, her eyes became unfocused as she searched her mind for a suitable price tag. This went on long enough for me to feel like she was just wasting my time.

Time which could be spent on rescuing Undertow and Bosco! “Cassie? Anything?”

“Do not rush me, Snowflake. We have come a long way.” That thought struck a chord with her. “Ah, yes, I know. Breeze tells me you have a cabin at Soft Swell Lake. I will accept that as payment for our participation.”

“I don’t have a… wait, that’s Undertow’s, not mine!” No matter what Undertow said, I wasn’t going to accept it as mine just because she thought that I claimed it when I won the fight we had.

“Nevertheless, that is our price.”

“It isn’t mine to give!” How dare you try to take Undertow’s home from her?! I wouldn’t have cared if you wanted Hoofsh-hey! That might work, and it might even shut Schwarzwald up about my haggling too. “Uh… the cabin is Undertow’s, not mine, but I have an alternative, if you’re interested?”

Setting her face into a mask, Cassie prepared to deal. “Go on.”

“Well, Bosco, Naiara, Undertow and I have a place outside of Lethbridle. Really great condition, fully stocked, pre-war tech…” Breeze’s ears perked up at that, and Cassie noticed that I noticed. “…plenty of rooms available, all built for comfort. Um… Lethbridle adjacent?”

That last part was a good selling piece, at least it was when judging by her reaction. “Convenient.”

I blustered on. “Exactly. Now, I can’t give you the entire place, but I can give you two rooms there, one each, for your own personal use, and only you decide who you invite in?”

She was tempted, but not yet fully convinced. “How far from Lethbridle? Which gate?”

“3-4 hours walk from the North gate. Less if you fly. An hour off the path to Cefar, which isn’t much travelled as it is. Peaceful and private, and plenty of security, again from Old Equestria.”

Cassie was struggling to keep her poker face on. “That… may be acceptable.”

“Hey!” Wings cut in. “What about me? Or Schwarz? Don’t we get a room?”

“You have your favours.”

“Well then I’m cashing in my favours! Both of them. Two favours for two rooms. One for me, and one for Schwarz!” She put one claw on her hip, and held the other one up with two talons raised.

“Okay.” I replied, seeing no reason to tell her that Bosco had already promised Schwarzwald a room anyway. That would be her pleasure, or his, when we got him back.

I sobered up at that, wondering what I was doing. I shouldn’t be wasting time with this crap! “Okay, so four rooms in exchange for your help, deal?”

“Deal!”

“Deal.”

“Can I look at the tech when I’m there?”

“So long as you don’t break it. On that note, there’s no fighting there, no matter what we think of each other, understood? It’s neutral ground. Leave it all outside. Naiara, Bosco, and Undertow have rooms there too.” That was important. If I couldn’t trust Breeze when she was there at the same time as Undertow, I wouldn’t let her stay. The others were lesser worries, as Schwarzwald would keep Wings and Cassie in line. Cassie would, in turn, hopefully keep Breeze in line. She seemed to be the only one who could.

“Ugh, fiiiine. I’ll play nice with the baby Raider.”

“Yes you will. Now that we’re decided, what do we do next?” No more haggling, or games, or hostility. We were all in it now, all decided, and that meant all that was left was bringing Undertow and Bosco back.

Schwarzwald broke her silence here. She’d sworn not to convince them for me, but now that they were convinced, she stepped back into the conversation. “Wings, take Breeze and go to Gull Gulf.”

Extreme reluctance burst from Wings almost immediately. “Aw, do I have to?” Her response, and her movements, were suddenly lethargic, as if she was trying to make every part of her body drag as much as possible.

“Yes you do, dahling. This is part of the package. The zebra say that they will show us the way, but I do not trust them completely. If the griffons can tell us anything, it is worth investigating. They will not talk to any of us if you are not there.”

“Wings… try not to mention me while you’re there. Just in case it comes up. I dunno if you heard, but I kinda pissed off a griffon pretty badly, and now he wants to kill me.”

Four funny looks were thrown my way. Wings’ was the most expressive. It somehow managed to show amusement, pride, a less-than-positive evaluation of my intelligence, and the question “Why?” all in one.

“What did you do, Snowflake?”

“Well,” I rubbed the back of my head, embarrassed. “This was the morning after Whinniepeg. I was still IN Whinniepeg, and McCoy and his Monsters showed up and started looking a building in town. I got caught spying on them, and told McCoy what I thought about griffons being traitorous bastards. He didn’t take it well.”

If she disagreed with my decrying her race as untrustworthy, she didn’t show it. “Oh, shit. You pissed off McCoy? You didn’t tell him about me, did you?”

“Well… not by name.”

“Snow!”

“You started it!”

Wings threw up her claws in mock-despair. Clearly not looking forward to seeing more of her species, which was somewhat understandable given her history and my recent actions, the griffon sometimes called Blue Fire wheeled around and took wing. After getting a kiss on the cheek from her sister, Breeze went after her.

Said sister turned back to we non-flying ponies. “And us, Schwarzwald? Where are we to search?”

“Until the zebra call with information, we shall ask around in Lethbridle. There is nowhere else to look for information around here.”

Sceptical, Cassie pointed to the northeast. “What about Vanchoofer?” Then northwest. “Or Sprinkles Supplies? Traders frequent both, and they are as good a source of information as any.”

Turning an amused eye on me, Schwarzwald indicated that I should answer.

“We… um, we kinda beat up the guards at Vanchoofer. I doubt we’ll be welcome.” My sheepish tone turned sombre. “And we’re definitely not welcome at Sprinkles Supplies. We know that firsthoof.” How would I ever face Lexi if I didn’t get Undertow back?

Though her tolerance of nonsense would have been high from years of living with Breeze, Cassie still didn’t look impressed. “…Right. Lethbridle it is, then.”

~~~~~~

The better part of a day of a day was spent getting to, in, and around Lethbridle, and we ended up with a big fat nothing to show for it.

With Cassie and myself wearing our cloaks low, she to hide her wings, and me to hide my Red Ice, we’d visited every dive bar, back alley rumour trader, and ‘upstanding gentlecolt’ parlour Schwarzwald knew, even sneaking into Nightcap’s bar.

Another place I’m barred from.

Nobody knew anything about this gold fog, or if they did, they weren’t willing to share.

I’d gotten equal parts sadder and angrier as the day went on, until I found myself sat on a bench, heart heavy and glaring at nothing. The others were sitting nearby, crossing off where we’d been in the city on a map. There were a lot of crosses.

“Schwarzwald, pick up.” Wings’ voice snapped us all to alertness. She didn’t seem happy either.

Raising her communicator, Schwarzwald glanced around, making sure no one was giving undue attention. “Wings-dahling, what have you found?”

“I fucking hate griffons, that’s what I’ve RE-found.”

Schwarzwald didn’t react to Wings’ attitude, apparently used to it. “So you did not find out anything useful?”

“I didn’t say that, I said Snow was right. Griffons ARE bastards.”

The slightest bit of concern leaked past Schwarzwald’s jolly visage. “Was it McCoy?”

“No, didn’t see him. I just had to give up more than I’d like for the information. I’ll tell you later. Right now they…”

A beeping noise was heard. “Sorry Schwarz, that’s the other line. Breeze says it’s Naiara’s communicator. Zebra?”

“Zebra. Let Breeze talk to them.”

“Okay, we’ll get back to you in a little bit.”

The line went dead.

My anger was gone now, and there was hope on top of my misery. “Think they’ll have something? Will Naiara be alright by now?”

“Doubtful.” Cassie had been listening in too. “From her injury, she may need some time, even with zebra medicines, surprisingly effective though they are.”

That was surprising. “You’ve dealt with zebra before?”

“Once or twice. Pegasi are regarded with almost the same amount of suspicion by Wastelanders, which ironically makes the zebra more willing to not kill us on sight. When Breeze and I were younger, we could not always find a doctor willing to treat us when we were sick, so sometimes we sought out zebra shaman instead. They empathised with our situation, and charged fewer caps too.”

That was… kinda sad. “You’ve had it rough, huh?”

“Sometimes.” She didn’t seem inclined to talk more on the subject.

Luckily the comm crackled. “Schwarz, still there?”

“Yes, dahling. What have you found?”

Wings’ voice was calmer now, and Breeze was chattering animatedly in the background. “Well, first off, Naiara’s okay. She’s awake now.”

A weight removed itself from my shoulders. “That’s great. Thanks, Wings.”

“No problem, Snow. She says that Cept gave her the message, and she’ll come over as soon as she can. Didn’t say where though.”

She didn’t need to, so long as she has the message. She knows where Hoofshine is.

“Anyway, it looks like the griffons were on the level with their info. The zebra told us the same thing. The gold fog’s been spotted recently.”

Now she had my full attention. “Where?”

“You won’t like it.”

I grabbed the communicator from Schwarzwald. “Just tell us, Wings!”

“…Both griffon and zebra reports have something matching the description heading towards Whinniepeg.”

“Whinniepeg?!” She was right, I didn’t like it. I’d only been there once and it was one of the worst experiences of my life. Doubly so because of the griffons involved.

The communicator crackled. “Told ya you wouldn’t like it.”

Yes, good idea Wings, hammer home a repeat of you, on a communicator, asking me to go to Whinniepeg.

Lovely.

“Well, we both know the place, don’t we?” She stayed silent, so I continued. “Look, meet us there. You two can move faster than us, but you’ve got further to go. Hopefully we’ll reach it at around the same time. Either way, whoever gets there first stays where they are until the rest get there, okay?”

“Yeah, okay. See you there.”

I closed the channel. Freaking Whinniepeg!

~~~~~~

Chapter 13-3: Butterflies

Each step further into Whinniepeg only served to increase my distrust of the place. Since my first trip here, the town had become associated with loss, amoral griffons, Haylander Raiders, and now a pony snatching fog monster.

It hadn’t gotten any prettier either. The burned out husks of homes and shops still stood empty and ruined, the blackened bench where Cassie and Wings had jumped me was still filthy, and now the mountain wind and snow had begun creeping into town from the north. There was a definite chill in the air, stressing my already fragile mood.

“Any sign of Wings and Breeze? I don’t want to stay here any longer than it took to get Undertow and Bosco back.”

“I don’t see them, dahling.”

“Nor do I, though I share your unease.”

“Oh?” I bit out, sardonically. “Why’s that? Guilty conscience maybe?”

Cassie didn’t respond further, just continued to scan the surroundings as she floated a few metres above us.

Kicking at a blackened wall, Schwarzwald’s hooves blew up small clouds of ash, and lighter patches of concrete were left where her hooves had struck. “Where shall we search first, when dear Wings and Breeze arrive?”

I could only really think of one place that was even worth searching in the dead zone. “After Cassie left with Wings,” I tactfully avoided mentioning what they had been doing here, as if it needed to be said. I’d already told Schwarzwald what had happened at Hoofshine, and it was obviously on Cassie’s mind too. “McCoy’s monsters showed up, and went into that building over there. It’s got plenty of underground levels, and it was some sort of research facility. The fog might have been made there, or something.”

The tall, maybe irradiated building lay at the centre of the town, and was the only thing that still had all its walls and ceilings. Idly, I wondered if Caber Toss’ Haylanders spent much time inside there.

Maybe I’ll ask him when I see him at the Raider summit. Though, after the stunts he pulled with Ballbuster and Four Fields, I’m not telling him we were here until after we’re long gone.

“They are here.”

Looking first at her to gauge the direction, Schwarzwald and I turned to face the same way. I couldn’t see anything though, and the mercenary mare was squinting too. I was about to suggest that Cassie was seeing things, until two specks appeared on the horizon, far above the ground.

How did she see them from so far out? Those sniper eyes of hers are strong.

“You’re sure it’s them, not any of McCoy’s griffons coming back to poke around inside some more?”

She was adamant. “Wings is scowling.”

“…Now you’re just showing off.”

She gave a small smirk. “No, now I am just lying. But it is them. I recognise my sister.”

Cassie flew higher to catch the attention of the incoming fliers, while Schwarz and I began to head for the research building. True to my word, we stopped before going further, to wait for them. True to Cassie’s word, Wings was scowling when they landed.

“What’s wrong with you?”

The scowl deepened. “Friggin’ griffons asked a lot for their help. I don’t wanna talk about it, let’s just go already.”

I looked to Breeze for an answer, but she just shook her head and took up position beside her sister. Filing it away for later, I pushed open the door, leading them into the lobby.

It was as deserted as the last time, with the glass doors still forced open. Trotting quietly around the desk, I peered into the corridor beyond. There was just enough light to see by, but the path was still dark.

Igniting my horn, I let the glow drive back the darkness a little bit. Cassie stepped up beside me, using the light from my horn to sweep the corridor. “It is clear.”

“You two should go first, dahling. With your eyes, and Snowflake’s glow, you have the best chance to spot any trouble for us. Wings and Cassie will guard the sides, and I will watch your rears.” It was a more subtle double-meaning than Schwarzwald usually came out with, but perhaps she was just trying to keep us from being detected.

We all nodded our agreement with the plan, and set off. I tried to remember what I could from my time in the custody of McCoy and his Monsters, but I hadn’t been giving my full attention. I couldn’t even remember how many flights of stairs I’d gone down before we were forced to give up.

There was a fair amount of jostling behind us, as Breeze kept stopping to peer into the gloom of the ransacked research labs, probably hoping to find some cool gadget or device. I had my doubts she’d find anything even if Schwarzwald didn’t simply push her onwards, as the Monsters, and whoever else had visited before them, had gone over the place with a fine toothed comb, taking anything not nailed down that possessed even an ounce of usable material.

As we made our way down each floor, the same blocked passages and rubble greeted us as I’d experienced with the Monsters. Sometimes there was only one way to go, and it always led down.

One such instance was particularly egregious, as there were four possible pathways, though all but one turned out to be blocked straight after the first corner. Soon enough, the backtracking and turnarounds had us gritting our teeth.

“This place sucks!” Breeze never was one for restraint in her opinions.

Nobody argued though. We were all thinking variations of it, but I contented myself with glaring at each collapse that turned us away. Most of the time I contented myself with that, at least. I did aim a kick at one pile of rusted metal and chalky earth that looked particularly annoying. The others had already turned back, and as I moved to follow them, I thought I saw something in the pile, out of the corner of my eye.

Is something living in there? Like a rodent or a bug or something? Whatever it was, I quickly stepped away and rejoined the others. Nothing followed, and when I looked back, the pile was just a pile.

After a dozen or floors, we were getting pretty sick of the run around. “How far down does this freaking place go?”

“Dunno,” I called back. “but I don’t think I got this far last time, which is weird, because we got blocked down every corridor on one floor.”

“Maybe somepony has been here since?” Cassie was still acting as our scout, but she was blinking more often.

I could relate to her strain, my horn’s glow had diminished from being in constant use. Maybe it’s just darker down here?

“Snow… it might be time to call it quits. It looks like the zebra and griffons were wrong.” Wings had been talking quietly with Schwarzwald for the past few floors, apparently about how to broach the subject.

“No! Not yet. We keep going until we can’t get any further. I won’t give up on them just like that!”

“Yeah, I know, but…”

“Aha! Dahlings, I found some stairs!” Schwarzwald’s happy interruption forestalled whatever nonsense Wings was about to say. I gladly rushed over to where Schwarz was standing. Sure enough, there was another flight of stairs here, though how we missed it, I didn’t know.

Doesn’t matter now. We keep going. “Let’s go.”

Without waiting for an answer, I took the stairs down, two at a time, ignoring the cries to wait. The staircase was longer than the others so far, and didn’t turn back on itself.

It took a full minute to fully descend, and when I did, the glow from my horn barely extended past my face. This was not a time move further without support, so I did wait this time.

Schwarzwald was the first to arrive, and wasted no time in whapping me upside the head. “I told you not to wildly run in, Snowflake! Remember what happened last time?”

“I walked down the stairs, then stopped to wait for you. How is that running in wildly?”

“We do not know what is at the bottom of these stairs, dahling. It may be something fun, but we can’t indulge ourselves until we find the little ones.”

“Good point.” I turned to the dark surroundings. “Bosco? Undertow? You there? If you can hear me, please say something!”

I hadn’t received an answer by the time the three fliers arrived, and spread out to the sides.

“Found a wall.” Breeze poked around the side of the stairs, and discovered one edge of the room. Cassie relayed similar information from the other side.

We still don’t know how far the room stretches, but at least we know where the exit is.

“Undertow?” I tried again. “Bosco? Please, if you’re here, tell me where you are.”

We got an answer, but not the one I’d been hoping for. We all had to cover our eyes as blinding light filled the room.

“Who’s there?”

“I can’t see!”

It was a worthwhile demonstration of how weak my horn’s glow had become in comparison. While I’d been barely beating back the darkness inches from my face, these powerful illuminations filled every spot in the room, not even allowing a shadow.

I was the last of our group to remove my hooves from my eyes, and I was finally able to see the room for what it was. Mostly barren, it seemed to be a simple cube, maybe fifty metres across, with our stairway at one end, and a heavy metal door at the other.

Between us and the door, however, was the gold fog.

It was much larger than it had been at Whitepony, taking up half the width of the room as it floated there.

We were all readying ourselves for the confrontation; Wings and Cassie were reloading, Schwarz’s gatling gun was spinning up, and Breeze’s hooves were on her irregular arsenal. My horn had blazed back to full glory too, the sudden shock and adrenaline of the lights and fog appearing serving to wash away my tiredness.

“Where are they?!” My rage and fear were bubbling over as I faced the impassive cloud. “Let them go!”

It wasn’t clear whether or not the fog was even alive, or could communicate, but it responded nonetheless. Splitting off from the main body, two smaller mists floated to the floor, and then began to coalesce, changing and morphing as they did.

Within seconds, two glorious Molar Bears stood before us. Not the smaller ones that Bosco had mentioned either. These goliaths outweighed even the creature who’d chased me into Cefar.

And there’s two of them!

“Oh shit.” Breeze and I whimpered. She certainly hadn’t forgotten stumbling upon the family outside of Grindstone.

Cassie and Wings already had their guns up, eyes hard and watching.

Schwarzwald, though I couldn’t see her, certainly sounded happier than she should be at this situation. “It would appear that we are to be tested. More fun for us.”

All the possible ways that this would not be at all fun ran through my mind, while Schwarzwald took charge. “Wings, Cassie, get their attention. Breeze, Snowflake, support them with your special talents. I shall cover you.”

The two Molar Bears picked up on this, swinging their tree-like arms down, claws throwing up sparks as they raked across the floor. In unison, they unleashed their spine-chilling roars, momentarily freezing even Schwarzwald in her tracks.

Then they charged.

“WATCH OUT!” The eruption of Schwarz’s battle saddle snapped the rest of us out of our stupor, and split the Fog Molars apart. They were still coming at us, but now they were on opposite sides of the room.

Recovered, Wings and Cassie surged forward to meet one each. The Molars swiped at their flitting opponents, trying to swat them out of the air, but couldn’t connect. Wings twisted her body into a cylinder, shooting under the wicked black claws, while Cassie went high, popping off a shot that slammed into the thigh of one of the creatures. It didn’t seem to have much impact.

Breeze crossed my path as she moved to help her sister, unofficially leaving me to back up Wings. The chocolate-and-cream griffon was orbiting the beast, peppering its back, chest, and shoulders with revolver rounds, while it held up its arms, to protect its head and neck.

That took a lot of the Molar Bear’s natural weapons out of the fight for now, but Wings would run out of bullets eventually. I’d need to help her out now, while she could keep up the barrage.

I could just barely make out the glaring eyes of the beast through the gap in the claw barrier it had thrown up. It was, at this point, a blessing that the fog chose to take on a guise of the big, slow variety.

Its eyes were hardly moving, and I already knew where they were with my magic. It wouldn’t take much.

My horn hummed.

The predatory eyes suddenly turned white, as a blindfold of ice covered them. Howling, the creature lashed out wildly with its arms against we now-unseen enemies, forcing Wings to break off her strafing, or risk being decapitated in a blind swing.

The Fog Molar dropped to its haunches, letting loose a roar that made me cover my ears, or risk going deaf. The roar was so powerful, that I barely noticed the beast sniffing at the air, and zeroing in on my scent.

“Uh oh.” I didn’t even hear my own words past the roar.

The Molar Bear was already in mid leap, wicked claws outstretched and shining. It couldn’t see me, but it could smell me, and it had claws the size of my torso. It was not so concerned with accuracy, with weaponry and endurance like it had.

I squeaked helplessly as it covered the entirety of my vision, before a blur cannoned into me from behind, forcing me between the creature’s legs and past its tail as it landed.

Wings, having swung around behind and saved me, immediately turned and opened up with her guns again. Three shots caught the Fog monster in the back, causing it to turn back to us, though as soon as it did it became the victim of a triple grenade strike, courtesy of Schwarzwald.

Rocked, the giant demon crashed to the floor.

Wings took the opportunity. “Snow, take out the claws!” Shooting upwards, though angling away from the unmoving main body on the other side of the room, Wings reached the ceiling in seconds.

In those seconds, I’d managed to freeze the claws of the Fog Molar to the floor, trapping it on its belly.

Wings descended, talons first. She must have run out of bullets.

In an almost contemptuous display of strength, the gold Bear effortlessly ripped its claws straight out of my ice shackles.

It wasn’t enough, though, as Wings reached it before it could raise them high enough. Slamming down on the head from on-high, Wings’ diving claw strike exploded the demon.

Literally, it exploded into a cloud of gold dust, which immediately began to segue back into the main body.

Claws stuck in the metal floor, Wings was blinking her blazing blue eyes owlishly, thoroughly confused about the lack of resistance to her dive.

“One down. Let us help the twins now, dahlings.” Schwarzwald didn’t even sound winded.

“R-right.” My ice barely affects these things, what am I supposed to do?

The answer, apparently, was not much. In a testament to their long years of fighting together, the two pegasi had already taken care of their beast.

Confined to an octagonal Shock Lock pen, the second creature was convulsing madly, barely able to make sense of its own muscles. With every twitch, one random body part tensed, while another involuntarily straightened.

Cassie had holstered her rifle, but her whip trailed lazily out of her bracer. Beside her, Breeze’s greave was dribbling a thick liquid down onto the wire, coating the entire length.

At a nod from her sister, Cassie swung her whip in a beautiful arc, drops of the coating flying as the cord swung down, wrapping around the neck of the Fog Molar.

Tugging it tight, she nodded to Breeze, who ran her switchblade, deployed from her greave, along Cassie’s whip bracer, causing sparks to fly. One landed on the whip wire, and instantly ignited.

The fire raced down the garrotte, until it reached the noose around the Molar Bear’s bulging neck. Within moments, a collar of dirty orange fire was ablaze, turning the roars of the creature into panicked howls. Cassie dispassionately ejected the burning wire from her bracer, and watched the Fog Molar die.

Until it too exploded, again with the leftover smoke returning to the main form.

Forming up, we faced the Fog monster. “We beat your pets, now give me back my friends!”

The Fog clearly had more ability than simply sending out two offshoots against us. It was toying with us, and I was not willing to accept being toyed with, not while it still held those dear to me.

This time it did communicate, though not with speech. The entire structure of the Fog began to morph, not just offshoots this time. The noise it gave off was unlike anything I’d ever heard before. I didn’t even have words for the sounds I was hearing.

The five of us began to retreat a few steps as smoking wings burst from the mass, followed by a horn erupting out of the cloud.

When it was finished, none of us expected the giant, shining gold Alicorn staring down at us.

Eyes wide, I could only stare. I’ve only seen them in pictures. Were they all this big?

“That’s not possible.” Schwarzwald’s voice was barely a whisper, and completely devoid of her characteristic humour.

“What the fuck is that?” Wings and Breeze chorused.

Cassie just gaped.

When it spoke, it was with many voices in unison, some mare, some stallion, some filly, some colt. “You have potential. We must ask something of you.”

“W-what?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Not just the acoustics, the words were beyond comprehension.

“Why the hell should we do shit for you? We just beat your crappy guards, ya big freak!” Despite the size of the monster, Breeze was riding a wave of confidence after winning the fight against the Molar Bear copies.

Does she have to taunt the giant demon?

“Those were merely a test, to determine your strength. If you wish it, we shall show you our true power.” Opening the swirling nexus that functioned as a mouth, a metre thick jet of green flame shot out, encircling us in a blink.

“Breeze.” Wings spoke very carefully, shying away from the cordon. “Shut. Up.”

Even Cassie was glaring at her.

I tried to ignore the flame, and push through. “Where is Undertow? Where’s Bosco? Why did you take them?”

The starlight pinpricks of its pupils came to rest on me. “We sensed something. Something we thought lost. We must discover their secrets.”

“WHERE ARE THEY? They’re not yours to keep!” I couldn’t leave those two in this… thing’s clutches. That was the polar opposite of protecting them.

A horrible smile formed, though the lips didn’t seem to move as you’d expect. It was more like they fell out of focus, and then reaffirmed themselves in an upward curve. Whatever had happened, there was no warmth there. Turning a quarter circle, the golden demon showed off its ‘cutie mark’.

A sphere of water, with two ponies trapped inside.

“Undertow! Bosco!”

A small gap formed in the shield, through which I could see a unicorn worn ragged through the effort of maintaining the barrier for so long. “Lady Snow! You came!”

“I’m so sorry, Undertow! I couldn’t protect you!” Tears streamed down my cheeks as I poured out my shame.

“I am alright, Lady Snow, but… Bosco…”

“What? What’s wrong?”

I followed her gaze to the quivering colt within the shield. “I do not know, Lady Snow, but something is affecting him.”

Bosco was shivering violently, and his charcoal coat was slick with sweat. He seemed in pain, hooves wrapped around his head and body, as he squeezed his eyes shut tight.

“Just hold on, we’ll get you of there now. Please, just wait a little while longer, Undertow.”

“I-I will try, Lady Snow.” Forlornly, she closed the gap, reforming the complete shield.

The monstrous gold tail of the false Alicorn swung around, enveloping the sphere. When it came away, it took the two with it. The Fog apparition was now blank-flanked, with Undertow’s bubble perched on its tail.

Alarm bells rang through me as the door behind the beast opened up, and the bubble barrier was flicked inside, with the heavy iron door immediately slamming shut behind it.

“NO!” Uncaring of the fire, I ran straight through it. “BRING THEM BACK!”

“Snow, don’t!”

“Fool, don’t rush in!”

“Get back!”

“Red Ice!”

A colossal hoof slammed down in front of me, the shockwave knocking me back.

The red mist was in my eyes, and I screamed incoherently as I bolted upright, charging again. A second hoof came down, putting me onto my back once more. It happened a third time before three ponies and a griffon dog piled me.

“UNDERTOW! BOSCO!” I screamed at the four pinning me down, and the grotesque ghoul blocking my path. “GIVE THEM BACK!”

“They are ours. If you want them back, you must bring us something in exchange.”

Bastard! “What do you want?”

“You call them Memory Orbs. There are three. Bring them to us.”

“There are thousands of Memory Orbs out there, you jackhole! How will we find them?”

“We sensed them, when we fought you before. The sense was weak, almost vanished. You know something, AND YOU SHALL BRING THEM TO US!” The last part thundered around the room like an earthquake.

“Give me back my friends first!” I wasn’t going to do anything until I knew Undertow and Bosco were safe, especially if Bosco was sick.

“Little pony, we will return the two when you have completed your task, and not before. Go now, and do not return until you have what we ask.”

Raising its grandiose wings, a green fire aura swirled around its horn, flashing out and blinding us.

After the flash faded, there was no sign of the Alicorn demon.

Or the door through which Undertow and Bosco had vanished.

“Nonononono! Not again!” I struggled in the grip of the four, unable to move. “Get… get off me!”

“Where’d it go?” Breeze let go, then took wing and began exploring the room. The other followed suit.

As soon as I was free, I was charging towards the wall. I threw my hooves against it, beating against every part I could find, trying to make the opening reappear. “UNDERTOW?! BOSCO?! WHERE ARE YOU?!”

Schwarzwald hadn’t moved from her spot in the centre of the room. “They are gone, Snowflake. We have lost.”

“No, they can’t be gone! I saw them! She’s waiting for me to get her, and Bosco needs help! We have to find them!” Couldn’t she see that?

“We shall find them, and bring them back, but this place is closed to us for now. Our best hope is to find these Memory Orbs that that… creature wanted.” Even she seemed disturbed by the Gold Fog-turned-Demon we’d encountered.

The others flew back down to stand around me. “Sorry, Snow, but there’s nothing here.”

“We will assist you in bringing them back. We gave our word.”

“…The colt, at least.”

Breeze swiftly backpedalled after her words, as I was clawing at the space she’d been standing, my rage overloading my mind. Wings struggled to hold me back.

My strongest desire at that moment, even above bringing Bosco and Undertow back safely, was to tear out that insufferable bitch’s Hate-Filled. Evil. Lying. Tongue!

“Apologise right now, Breeze!” Cassie snapped at her sister with as much force as she’d shown to me, during the fight at the Woodpecker village.

“She’s the one trying to kill me!”

“This time you deserve it, now apologise!”

“But, Cass…”

“No! Not this time. You went too far!”

“I…” Breeze looked heartbroken at her sister’s disapproving glare, dropping her head in shame. “I’m sorry, Snowflake.”

My strength was draining from me, as grief over losing my friends a second time overtook my rage. I said nothing, made no acknowledgement of Breeze’s apology. I simply sank to the ground, still held by Wings. My hooves wrapped around her as the emotions burned me up.

~~~~~~

“…Cefar.”

The listlessness of my reply to Wings’ request for the passcode, to enter Hoofshine Harlots, was basically unnoticed. Hardly surprising, considering I’d been acting that way since Whinniepeg.

With a click, the lock disengaged, and we trooped inside, Wings went in first, then Breeze. Cassie was next, having made certain to always position herself between her sister and I. Schwarzwald brought up the rear, back to her jovial self.

My hoof lethargic pointed down the corridor. “Rooms are down there.” I monotone. “Last on the left is Bosco’s room. Set one hoof in there, and I’ll kick you out to freeze. Naiara and Undertow will also have a room. Other than that, take whichever one you want.”

I didn’t wait for an answer, instead plodding towards the bar, and the hidden master bedroom. As I was unlocking the underground entrance, I caught sight of the four as a reflection in the glass.

Wings was poking through the various cupboards, and examining the pictures on the walls. Breeze was already assaulting a terminal, trying to glean its Old Equestria secrets, with her sister nearby, engrossed in a laminated drinks menu.

Schwarzwald was watching me, though she turned and headed down the corridor to the bedrooms when our eyes met.

Though her expression was far from normal, I was neither able or interested enough to discern its meaning.

Inside Miss Match’s subterranean territory, I flung myself face down on the bed, hating that I was here.

The only place I knew where we might find three Memory Orbs was in Bosco’s bags. If he wasn’t carrying them with him, then this was the first place to look. It had taken us until dark to reach this place, and it had been decided, by the others and with heavy protest from me, that we’d stay here tonight, and head back to Whinniepeg in the morning.

Wait as long as you can, Undertow. Keep him safe, and I’ll be there as soon as I can. I won’t let anything happen to either of you.

…Don’t die.

~~~~~~

The hours passed slowly as I lay there, too worry-sick for sleep, and with the covers thrown haphazardly away.

The situation I found myself in plagued my mind with questions:

What was that thing under Whinniepeg?

What did it want with Bosco and Undertow, while ignoring the rest of us at Whitepony?

Was Bosco going to be alright until we got back?

Would he be okay with us giving away his Orbs?

The Memory Orbs. This whole ordeal hinged on them, sitting in Bosco’s room right now.

I suddenly felt uncomfortable leaving them there, resolving to at least keep them with me for the time being.

Still exhausted, both physically and soulfully, I lugged myself out of the room. When I emerged into the bar, a Pegasus was sat at the counter, nursing a strong drink, going by the smell.

Still furious, and not in the slightest bit interested in talking with her, I woodenly moved around to the other end of the bar, and headed for the bedrooms.

With Bosco’s Orbs stashed away in a pocket, I returned to the bar. She was still there.

I was two steps away from the entrance to my bedroom when she broke her silence. “Do you think she’s hurt bad?”

Pupils shrinking, I jerked away from the hatch. “Breeze, if you say one more word about her, I swear…”

“Fuck you. I’m not talking about the Rai-“ She caught herself. “I mean, I’m not talking about Undertow. I’m talking about Naiara. You fought that thing In Whitepony, didn’t you?”

“…Yeah.”

“Is she hurt bad?” The ice in her glass rang as she took another sip.

“She was. Cept says she’ll make it.”

“How’d it happen?”

“It went for me, she got in the way. It slashed her side. She lost a lot of blood before we got her to her people.”

Staring evenly at me, she took two more sips before responding, setting the glass down on the bar as she did. “You’re a bitch, you know that?”

“Love you too, featherbrain.” I mocked darkly, tossing Naiara’s words at her.

From the way she was bristling, she’d picked up on it. “See? That right there. What the hell did Naiara ever do to deserve you?”

I cared less than nothing for her opinion at the time, but she clearly wasn’t going to stop until she’d had her say. I wanted it over quickly, so I stayed silent and waited for her to continue.

“Naiara, Schwarzwald, that colt, Bosco. What did any of them do to deserve having to deal with you, a dumb bitch with a pet Raider?”

“Undertow’s not a pet. If you plan on calling her that again, you can leave right now.”

She angrily threw her hooves wide, spilling some of her whiskey as she did. “See, I don’t understand that at all. She’s a Raider, a blight on the Wasteland! She’s done terrible things, like all Raiders have! Why do you care so much about her? Why didn’t you just kill her like any other Raider?”

I was already weary of this conversation, and gave a sigh as I explained. “She’s a Raider because people like you call her one. What she really is, is a scared little filly who doesn’t like being around others too much. She can’t handle it. She killed those who wouldn’t leave her alone, even though she went all the way to Soft Swell Lake to BE alone. Her magic makes it so the water’s a second home to her, private and quiet. She’s the only one who can experience it like that. Others wanted to see it for themselves, and hounded her to let them in. It was always because others wouldn’t leave her alone.”

Having been forced to respond, I felt myself starting to wake up more, and knew sleep wouldn’t be coming any time soon. Thus, I poured a drink for myself too. “The lake was everything to her, playground and protector, garden and guardian. I took that from her, made it so that she lost her belief that the lake was stronger than anything. I robbed her of the one thing that was sure in her life. So I had to make it up to her, and protect her myself. It’s the least I can do for her, make sure she’s safe, and warm, and happy. It’s what you do when you’re the older one, you look after them, and try to keep them on a good path.”

She was staring at me strangely. “When you’re the older what? You’re an older what to Undertow?”

I blinked, not understanding. “The older pony, older friend. The one who looks after the others.”

She calmly, but forcefully, whacked the glass back on the counter. “Unbelievable. I know you’re a bitch, but that’s just cruel.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Her constant insults had me tuning out.

It didn’t stop her though. “After all Cassie and I went through, and we knew it straight away. This sort of thing… just fucking cruel. Congrats, you’ve actually got me feeling a little sorry for her.”

“Breeze, what are you talking about?”

“Ugh, I can’t believe you. What does Naiara think about you and the Raider brat? I said brat, not pet. What does Bosco, or Schwarzwald?”

“What do you mean? They like her.”

Rolling her eyes, her expression suggested that she’d have more success talking to a newborn foal. “I know that, Red Ice. That wasn’t what I asked.”

“Then what did you ask?”

“…Think about it. How you talk, and act around her, and what they think about that.”

“…”

Rubbing the bridge of her nose, she gave up and hauled herself off the barstool. “I’ve got nothing against Bosco, and I’ll help you get him, and Undertow, back as a favour to Naiara, but you seriously can’t keep things like this. It’s not fair.”

“What’s not fair?” I demanded, thinking she was insulting me in a more subtle way.

“No, I’m not telling you like this. We’ll get them back, and then we’re back on different sides about the Raiders. You’re not even close to showing me that that’s a good idea.” Stifling a yawn with a wing, she lazily waved the other one as she went to her room. “G’night, cruel bitch.”

I stared after her, more confused than insulted now, though still insulted. Her questions hadn’t made any sense, except to fill my brain with a lot of words that I’d need to filter out, before I could rest.

I need some air.

Opening the front door, I stepped out into a world of white, of falling snowflakes.

My breath misted as I stepped away from the building, strolling into the trees, though I made sure that I wouldn’t lose sight of Hoofshine.

As I walked, I voiced my musings. “Little ways to Cefar. I wonder how Facemask is doing.”

The kindly doctor pony had been the first pony I’d spoken with after leaving the Stable.

How things have changed. What would you say now, Facemask?

Beyond Facemask, and Cefar, lay the Stable. I’d never reach it without the Pipbuck, which brought to mind the nightmare I’d experienced days ago: Freezing to death while chasing Cassie and Wings through the snowfields and forests.

I really want to bring Undertow to the Stable, show her where I grew up. She wouldn’t like the crowds, but I know all the quiet places. My brothers’d love her too. They’d make her one of the family in a heartbeat.

A shivering squall brought my train of thought to a halt. My hooves were getting soaked by the fallen snow, so I decided to turn back.

“Sorry, Undertow. Another time. We’ll talk about it when I get you out of there.”

The wind picked up as I returned to our den of freeloaders and squatters. The cold was invasive, slipping beneath the skin, teasing my lungs when I breathed.

Seeing a way to kill two birds with one stone, I triggered my ‘move faster’ slick spell, and soon was gliding over the snow. The actual speed increase was negligible, but it lifted my spirits a little, and there was no more crunching when I crushed snow underhoof. With the wind’s whistling, any noise I made was being masked.

It was almost enough to lift my spirits. Almost.

Any possibility of positive emotions disappeared when I spotted something in the trees, around a corner of the abandoned brothel. A blinking blue light, moving back and forth.

What in the world?

Still using my spell to mask some of my movement, I crept closer. Flattening myself against the hard corner wall, I eased my way up to the edge, listening intently for any sign of trouble.

“You worry too much, dahling.”

Schwarzwald? Why’s she out here this late? And who’s she talking to, Wings and the twins are inside.

There was a response, but I couldn’t make anything out over a cracking branch.

“You must be patient. This will not happen overnight.”

A happy thought surfaced. Maybe it’s Naiara? The zebra medicines might have sped up her recovery!

Poking my head around the corner, I prepared to welcome Naiara home. At least one worry would be eased when I saw her.

My eyes shot fully open. It was not Naiara.

“I’ve been patient for longer than you know, Schwarzwald. Now what’s going on?” The blue light had revealed itself.

Staring her down, the Spritebot’s words were heavy.

I whipped my head back around the corner, relying on my ears to keep track of the conversation.

I’d seen that Spritebot before, and knew the voice.

Watcher?! Schwarzwald and Watcher?

She addressed the floating bot. “I am not yet convinced, dahling. It is too soon.”

A short burst of static served as a fine indicator of annoyance. “You’ve been talking her up to me for weeks, and now you say to wait? What changed?”

Schwarzwald was her ever-entertained self. “The game. There are new players on the board. The tests she passed before will no longer suffice.”

Watcher was less than pleased. “You know I hate it when you call it a game, Schwarz. There’s a lot riding on this, and we can’t afford to be less than thorough.”

I lost my battle with curiosity, and risked a peek around the corner, looking for video and not just sound.

Schwarzwald’s face was contorted in such a pinched, tight position, and she spoke with a voice that was colder than the air around us. “You do not need to lecture me on the stakes of the endeavour, Watcher.” The lack of a ‘dahling’ seemed deliberate here, and set me on edge. “I know better than any other of how the game is played, and also the risks and rewards.”

The two stared each other down for a moment. Neither spoke, and it was clear that Watcher had crossed some sort of line. Schwarzwald had never acted even close to that in all the time I’d known her. She’d frowned, and she’d shouted, and calmly expressed disapproval, but had never lost her cool like I saw her do with Watcher.

Whatever they’re talking about, it has to be big. Watcher doesn’t strike me as the kind of person who messes around, and certainly not like this. Schwarz being serious is the bigger give-away, but what would tick her off this badly?

Watcher broke the silence at last. The little bot managed to look sheepish, and somehow repentant. “You’re right, Schwarzwald. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”

The wood-brown mare lowered her head for a moment, before opening her conifer green eyes, all smiles again. “Do not fret, Watcher-dahling, I am sure you meant no harm.”

Shaking excitedly, the robot effectively displayed relief. “Okay then. So these new players, do you think…”

“Yes, dear, I do. Well… no, I doubt that they will be what we are looking for. Certainly not that one, but the others... I shall watch them closely, and try to be sure. There is potential there, though for what is not yet clear.”

Watcher’s bot body didn’t move, but his tone was speculative. “It would be pretty crazy if you’re right about all of this. I can get behind your thinking about her, but these others? It’s been a while, and I’m not sure.”

Schwarzwald shrugged. “The net must be cast as wide as possible, dahling. A conservative approach will not serve here.”

Watcher twitched. “Damn, almost out of time, but you may have a point. Keep on it, Schwarz. You know I trust you. I’ll try to keep in contact more often, so if you can find some excuses to get some quiet time away from her, then that’ll make it easier.”

“I understand. Good luck with your investments.”

Another burst of static. “Please, Schwarz, don’t call them that. It makes them seem less than alive.” The voice cut off in a screech of interference, before being replaced by tinny, upbeat music.

Watcher had run out of time, and the Spritebot was already ascending, disappearing into the night.

Schwarzwald, and I from my corner, watched it go. A full minute after it was out of sight, she barked out a sudden, hard-edged laugh. “ ‘Less than alive’? An interesting choice of words, coming from a floating relay, dear Watcher. Perhaps your calling is comedy, rather than what you strive for?”

As I looked on, she angled her rifle upwards, and fired off a single solitary round into the cloudy sky. “The starter’s pistol has fired, dahlings, and we must all join the race. We will soon reach the first corner, and those without control will reveal themselves, by falling and tripping the others. The leaders will be those who find their way through the chaos.”

She paused her soliloquy by bending down, and scooping up the spent, smoking cartridge. Wisps of steam and smoke curled up from her hoof. “Games are only fun when they are uncertain. One-sided affairs are dull and uninteresting. You worry far too much, Watcher. It is all the better if we are unsure. It allows the players, and the game, to lead to more outcomes, as different as night or day, or fire and ice.”

A slight tilt let the shell slip from her hoof, and stick in the snow, pointing down. She looked at it curiously, before smiling widely, as per usual. “It’s going to be such fun, dahlings. The game has no rules except those the players make, so who will master it first?”

I chose this unanswered question as my best moment to slip away, heart beating and mind racing.

What was that? Schwarzwald and Watcher? What were they talking about? WHO were they talking about? Does it have to do with Princess Cadence? Or Shining Armour?

Why couldn’t it have just been Naiara?

~~~~~~

Level Up!

Perks gained: Mismatch’s Successor – Hoofshine Harlots provides neutral ground, no enemies will attack, and all medical and restorative effects are doubled while inside.

~~~~~~

Author's Note

That’s all for now, folks. Please keep reading, commenting, and spreading the word on Old Souls. I really appreciate your feedback.

Chapter 14-1: What Is Deserved

[Who are you, that you do not know your history?]

“More tea, anypony?”

“I’d take some tea, if you offered.”

“Ah, my apologies, Wings. Can I pour you a cup?”

“Nah, stuff’s vile.”

What the hell is going on here?

As I sat, bleary-eyed from sleep that was both insufficient and of poor quality, in the bar of a two-hundred-years-abandoned brothel, which had remarkably received countless awards for employment standards and practices, I couldn’t help but feel that the situation was bizarre.

My guests, more housemates now, were spread out throughout the bar’s booths. Cassie and Breeze sat together, while Wings and Schwarzwald had a table to themselves. I remained at the bar counter.

“Can’t we just get going already?” I groused, not caring about tea right now. I just wanted to head to Whinniepeg and rescue Undertow and Bosco. There was no telling how long they would be okay while held by the demonic gold fog creatures.

If I didn’t need your help to get them back, none of you, except maybe Schwarzwald, would even know where this place was, and you certainly wouldn’t be welcome here.

None of the four made any attempt to eat faster. “It’s best if you eat up, Snowflake. We will need our strength today.” Cassie accompanied her words with another dainty bite of her toast.

I’d already rushed through the meal put before me. Now, I impatiently waited for them to finish so we could head off. It would take hours to reach Whinniepeg from here, hours which Undertow and Bosco might not have, especially since their safety hinged upon the word of a creature that I didn’t even understand.

“Ease up a little, Snow. You’re too tense. We owe ya for the rooms, and promised we’d help you get ‘em back, so that’s what we’ll do.” Wings, while at odds with much of griffon culture, always made sure to collect on, and pay out, favours due.

“Listen to them, dahling. The golden fog will wait. They obviously want the Memory Orbs too much to risk injuring the little ones.”

My focus fell on Schwarzwald. Her conversation in the snow last night was a huge contributor to my mostly-sleepless night.

How do you and Watcher know each other, Schwarzwald? What does it mean that you do? Are you the real reason he approached me after my first trip to Neighlway?

Until last night, neither had given any indication that they knew the other. I’d spent hours last night, after rushing back inside to avoid being caught eavesdropping, going over all that I could remember of every single conversation that I’d had with either Schwarzwald OR Watcher, searching for any clues that would indicate that connection.

I couldn’t think of a damn thing.

Well, I suppose both of them did want me to be friendly with others. I told Watcher that I sent my friends away, and he said to go after them, and Schwarzwald pushed me to make peace with Wings, Cassie, and Breeze. I always thought that was just Schwarzwald looking to keep her fun going, but maybe they were swapping notes?

This begged the question as to what Schwarzwald’s motivations really were. Even after her midnight meeting, she’d been acting exactly the same as she always had. Whatever agenda it was that they’d been talking about hadn’t changed. They’d mentioned a ‘her’, who they’d apparently been discussing for weeks.

My eyes wandered over to Wings. Was she the ‘her’? Did Wings know about Watcher? If she didn’t, why hadn’t Schwarzwald told her? Wings hadn’t met Amber either, so what was Schwarzwald trying to hide?

One thing’s for certain. After we get Undertow and Bosco back, I need to have a talk with one of those two. Maybe before.

Yeah, why wait? I might not get another chance after.

“Hey, uh…” I had to stop again. Which one should I talk to? Talking to Schwarzwald directly might get me more answers, but it also might make things worse. If the secret was dangerous, she might turn against me, or do something drastic.

Wings, on the other hoof, might not even know anything at all. It might be a waste of time talking with her… she probably won’t kill me for asking though.

“Uh… Wings, can I talk to you in private for a second?” I tried to keep my voice and face neutral and natural as I spoke. I had no real way of gauging whether I was doing something unusual, as most of the four were naturally suspicious of me anyway.

Breeze, predictably, responded badly. “Why can’t you talk to her here? Got something to hide?”

“You’ve tried to kill me in the past!” I snapped back. “Just get ready to go. We won’t be long.”

“Bitch.”

I rolled my eyes, leaving Breeze to be chastised for her language. The clack of claws on the hard floor let me know that Wings was following me.

Stepping out into the brisk morning air, a slight breeze helped to further wake me up. The morning sky was, as always, overcast, but there was no snow falling, resulting in a fairly pleasant start.

Flapping her wings to keep her paws and claws above the cold snow, Wings still shivered slightly. “What’s up, Snow?”

Good question. “Um… about Schwarzwald…”

“Yeah?”

“You said that… you’d never spoken to Amber before, right? Even though she’s hired Schwarzwald plenty of times?”

She nodded as she clapped her claws together for warmth, breath misting out of her beak. “Yeah, what about it?”

I still didn’t even know how to broach the topic, and whether or not there was a problem at all. Schwarzwald had warned me that there were lots of different types of people in the Wasteland, and not all of them pleasant. “I just… wanted to see how you were doing with that.”

Even as the chilly winds increased, Wings’ shivering stilled slightly as she considered the situation, a far off look in her brilliant blue eyes. “Well I trust Schwarzwald, I mean, she’s never really given me any reason not to, and she’s done plenty to show me that she’s on my side when it counts.” She seemed to feel the cold again, as a full-body quiver ran up her. “Listen, her business is her business, and I’m sure she’s got plenty of contacts I don’t know about. I’ve got some she doesn’t know about… Listen, can we do this inside? It’s freezing out here!”

“One last question. About those contacts…” I hesitated. It was now or never. Did I trust Wings with this? I trusted Bosco, and Naiara, and Undertow on this, and most everything. They were easy to trust.

But Wings? For the most part, I still trusted Schwarzwald, although this Watcher business had thrown me for a loop. Schwarzwald vouched for Wings, sort of. She’d avoided saying that she outright trusted Wings, but I think that was more to mess with me than anything else. Wings herself had fought with me against the gold fog, and those Raiders, and hadn’t tried to take advantage of a naïve Stable pony, even though she and Schwarz could have easily beaten me and Bosco. Instead, she decided to put herself in my debt, just like that.

Wings knew about the Raider business, and still agreed to help me out. Sure she’d done some questionable things, like killing Four Fields, and stealing my Pi-

Wow, they were right. I really don’t think of that at first, when I think about Wings, do I?

I guess I did. “…About these contacts, did she ever mention one called Wa-“

“Hey, what the f…” I was interrupted by Breeze’s startled yell from within Hoofshine, accompanied by violent crashing.

“More of these things?!”

“Look out, dahlings!”

“GET ‘EM!”

Locking eyes with Wings, our conversation was instantly forgotten as we rushed to the door. Wings got there first, laying a claw on the handle, just in time for the door to slam open from the other side, ramming her back into me. We went down in a heap, sliding across the snow, but I still kept one eye on the door.

Shining in the white snow, it was hard to make out what was emerging. Light seemed to play across their surfaces, but by squinting, I could just about make out what they were.

‘These things’ turned out to be fog creatures, though where the Whinniepeg creatures had been warm gold, these ghosts were cold silver.

Pinned under Wings, I could only struggle to rise as the creatures briefly grouped just outside the door. “What are you? What do you want?”

A pair of solid red, featureless eyes formed briefly within one of the creatures, rippling in tandem with the rest of its mass. A harsh, raspy voice, barely a whisper really, emerged from the fog, even though no mouth could be seen. There was a familiarity to the voice, somehow. “We will not allow it! They shall not possess the memories!”

“Who are you?” Wings had freed herself from me, and was back in the air, her blue fire eyes glaring at the apparitions. “What do you want?” She echoed my earlier question.

Tremors ran through each fog. “We will not allow it!”

Three more fog ghosts emerged from the on-going chaos within Hoofshine Harlots, bearing a strange nucleus within their clouds.

“They have the Orbs!” Schwarzwald’s enraged shout was joined by the thunder of pursuing hooves.

Like a bomb had gone off in their midst, the herd of clouds exploded outwards in all directions, forcing Wings and I to reactively throw up our limbs to protect ourselves, though the Silver Fog just flowed over and around us.

A split second later, three ponies crowded into the doorway, dishevelled. Breeze’s eyes were wide. “They took the damn Orbs!”

My heart stopped. “What?”

Schwarzwald’s hoof shot out, tracking one of the escaping miasmas. “There, that one!” Without another word, she sprinted off after it, closely followed by Breeze.

Cassie made to follow, but abruptly changed direction. “I see another!” She too took wing.

Wheeling about, Wings and I were the only ones left, and there was still one Orb unaccounted for. I frantically scanned the trees, looking for any sign of our target. “Do you see it?”

Her grim silence was not comforting, and before I could say anything more, she shot upwards, above the tree line. Casting about this way and that, she finally fixed on a direction opposite to that travelled by Schwarzwald and Breeze.

With a mighty flap of her wings, she shot off, while I gave chase on the ground. “Wings! Where are they?”

She glanced down for the briefest of moments, just long enough to extend a talon. “Dead ahead! Up high!”

Following her outthrust talon, I raised my head off the forest floor. Ascending through the trees, into the open air above, was a solitary silver cloud, bearing a small sphere at its heart.

“GIVE THAT BACK! WE HAD A DEAL!” Silver or gold, it didn’t matter right now. These things had the same powers as those in Whinniepeg, and they were trying to go back on the deal we’d made.

I wouldn’t allow it, not with Bosco and Undertow’s wellbeing at stake.

As the orb-bearing Silver Fog burst through the tree canopy, Wings caught up, slashing with a hawkish cry. Her claws did nothing to the fog itself, but clipped the Memory Orb, sending it plummeting to the snow below.

A second fog beast rushed in from the side, morphing as it charged, until a silver Pegasus ghost slammed into Wings from the side. Slashing and kicking, the two fliers tumbled away.

The first Fog dove after the Memory Orb, trying to reach the fallen Memory before I did.

It was faster than me, and closer, but my horn was already glowing, with a dome of ice beginning to form over the Orb. As Undertow’s water shield had proven, whatever these things were, they couldn’t get through a magic barrier. All I had to do was complete the spell before it reached.

Apparently the Silver cloud realised this too, and shifted mid-dive. Where before it had been a shapeless mass, it reformed into an ever-elongating needle, driving downwards with increased speed and force. It struck the half-formed shield, shattering it on impact.

“NO!” My horn blazed as I attempted the spell again. However, the cloud had already engulfed the Orb, and was rising again. There wasn’t time for more ice, not while the Orb was moving and rising like that, so I did the only thing I could think of.

I dove straight into the centre of the silver fog, hooves reaching for the Orb.

Immediately, an unending buzzing invaded my skull, reverberating behind my eyes. A great sense of wrongness washed over me.

“OUT!” I heard in my mind. “Get away!”

Nausea ran through me, and I almost turned away there, just to make it stop. However, the glinting Memory Orb was so close…

I reached for it, fighting through what felt like tar, but it jerked to the side as my hoof grabbed at it, making me flail madly. Each time I went for it, it moved just enough that I couldn’t get a good grip.

“RRRAAAAGH!” I screamed in furious protest, the roar rippling through cloud, even as silver fog drifted onto my tongue. Lunging forward desperately, my teeth clacked shut on either side of the Orb.

“NOOOO!!!” Bellowed the voice in my head, but I didn’t care. I had the Orb now, and I wasn’t letting it go.

I was at point blank range, and very angry. I didn’t need control here. I just let the rage fuel whatever spell my horn would cast, firing it off into the fog creature. The rippling cloud shuddered and wavered as the spell continued, until finally the fog lost all cohesion, devolving into mere wisps.

With nothing to hold me up, I dropped to the ground, teeth still grasped tightly around the Orb. When I landed, my jaw popped agonisingly, but I willed my molars to hold tight. I couldn’t afford to lose the Orb now that I’d gotten it back.

The Silver Fog reformed a short distance away, and the red eyes reformed. “Give us the memories!”

“Have this instead!” Shooting downwards, Wings braked in mid-air, slingshotting the silver Pegasus she’d been battling straight into the cloud. As the two silver creatures jostled within each other, her revolvers were out, and she unloaded all twelve shots into the mess.

There was no blood, but they still withdrew, uttering a wordless howl of frustration as they went.

Guns empty, Wings landed beside me, caution and worry on her face. “Snow, did you get it?”

I spat out the Orb at her feet, before turning my head away and trying to puke out whatever silver fog I’d inadvertently swallowed.

Wings, having protectively scooped up the Orb, waited patiently until I was finished, constantly scanning the surroundings for more trouble, though none came. After I’d stopped retching, she couldn’t seem to help herself.

“’Least you missed my claw this time.”

It started in my chest, then spread to my shoulders, before tugging at the corners of my lips, and soon enough, the burgeoning smile turned into a full on laugh. I couldn’t help myself. Relief and exhaustion, and a little humour, combined into one, and for now, Wings’ little joke was the height of high comedy. I laughed and laughed and laughed, only halting when the dregs of my breakfast threatened to choke me if I didn’t stop.

Wings had been chuckling along at first, though had stopped long before I did, resulting in an awkward wait as she let me keep laughing. When I was done, she put a vomit-free claw around my shoulders, and steered me back towards the distant Hoofshine Harlots, taking a moment to find it, in the snow that had begun to fall while we fought.

~~~~~~

Slumping into a chair, I concentrated on getting my breathing under control. What was that back there? More of them? And what’s the idea of trying to steal the Orbs? We’re already bringing them back to Whinniepeg today anyway!

Wings was faring better, though still seemed shaken by the fight. “This is getting ridiculous now. First gold, and now silver? I mean what the fuck?”

“I’unno.” I exhaled. “I guess the big one in Whinniepeg changed its mind, decided to just take the Orbs instead. Maybe all it needed us for was to show it where they were.”

Her scepticism remained. “I don’t know about that. I get the feeling that there’s more going on. Why did these ones look different? And did you hear what they said? ‘They shall not possess the memories’.”

My head lolled over to look at her. “What are you saying?”

She shrugged, though her eyes remained guarded. “I think this new attack might not have come from Whinniepeg. These silver pricks aren’t on the same side as the goldies in the basement.”

“…If that’s true, then we can’t let them get this Orb, or the others.”

Wings winked, to my annoyance. “I wouldn’t worry about that last part. I’m sure the others’ll get the Memory Orbs back. They’re plenty strong enough to take on a few clouds.”

“And if you’re wrong?”

“Then we go get the Orbs back. End of discussion.” I felt momentarily buoyed by her confidence, but it soon faded back into worry. I wouldn’t be at ease until the others showed up with the remaining two Orbs, and even then, Undertow and Bosco had to go free before I’d relax.

Plus I have to be sure that Naiara will recover. The list just keeps getting longer.

I jumped as the front door handle turned. Wings and I were on alert immediately, magic and weapons ready. We breathed a sigh of relief as a mop of red and black mane came into view first. “Cassie!”

She, in turn, showed joy at our success. “Ah, you prevailed as well. I am glad to see you two unharmed.” Tucked under her wing was the second Orb. She glanced around swiftly. “The others?”

We shook our heads. “No sign of ‘em yet. Just gotta wait.”

Taking a deep, steadying breath, Cassie’s face became resolved. “As you say. In the meantime…” Using her wing, she flipped Orb into my lap, where it clinked against the one already there. “Please do not lose it this time.”

My hooves encircled the two spheres in my grasp. “No chance of that.”

Giving a satisfied nod, Cassie turned to Wings. “A word in private, please?”

Slothfully rising, Wings mock-scowled. “Everybody wants a chat today.” She followed the Pegasus further down the corridor, until they were out of hearing range.

I took the opportunity to drag myself down into the basement suite, taking the time to bury the Memory Orbs as deep into my belongings as I could. That particular bag wasn’t going to leave my side until we reached Whinniepeg. Try and steal from me again, you bastards!

Returning to the bar, I stretched out in one of the booths. I couldn’t see the door, but at least I could hear it, and I was plenty comfortable.

Breeze and Schwarzwald announced their return with a noisy clatter. “Cassie? You back yet?”

I raised my head just enough that I could see over the backrest with one eye. Breeze and Schwarzwald were standing in the foyer. Schwarzwald seemed deep in thought, while Breeze was fluttering her wings agitatedly.

Her sister’s response echoed down the hallway. “In my room, Breeze.”

“Stay there, we’ll be right in. Gotta talk about something!” She immediately set off down the corridor.

Schwarzwald didn’t. She’s spotted my reclining form, and held up the third and final Orb.

She got it back! A warm rush filled my heart.

Smirking, the mercenary mare rolled the Orb along the wooden floor towards me. I twisted my body to snag it as it rolled past my booth, quickly depositing it with the others.

When I looked back, Schwarzwald had disappeared, though I could hear her hoof steps fading down the hallway.

I made no move to rise and follow, deciding to take a quick rest here, safe in the knowledge that I had the Orbs back, before getting the others set to go. There was little to keep us here right now, so they could have their little chat while I took a few minutes respite.

Kinda wish I had someone to talk to, though. What would Naiara say in this situation? Or Bosco? A numb loneliness struck me, as I realised just how much I missed them right now. I trusted Wings, was on relatively good terms with Schwarzwald, and tolerated the twins, but Bosco, Naiara, and Undertow were true friends, and I would give anything to get them back.

~~~~~~

As soon as their conversation had finished, I’d insisted that we double-time it to Whinniepeg. No more waiting, no more resting, and definitely no more chances to have something I needed stolen from me. I was going to get my friends back today, and I wouldn’t brook any argument on that front.

We were on edge the entire time, and there was no chance that we’d be caught off guard. The three fliers kept a triangular formation above Schwarzwald and I, who stuck together in the centre. It was virtually impossible for me to be blindsided, and the fog creatures, silver OR gold, seemed to understand that. No attempt was made, and we reached Whinniepeg not long after noon.

We wasted no time in heading for the tallest structure in town, the only one still fully standing after the bombs dropped.

Inside, we experienced a rather different trip than either of the other times I’d been here. Descending each floor was much easier than before, too. Last time, coming across a blockage in our path had forced hours of backtracking as we searched for another path to travel.

This time, if we came to a bad blockage that barred our passage downwards, within moments it would melt away into just so much golden fog, leaving an empty corridor.

“Oh, you bastards.” We’d said that in unison the first time we saw this. After the third instance of this, we didn’t even slow down, merely walking through the suddenly incorporeal rubble and debris as it swirled around our ankles.

Somehow, the fog creatures never chose to get out of way before we reached the blockage, which seemed rather mocking to me. Still, it hardly mattered since our progress went relatively unheeded.

As we descended the long, straight staircase that led to the grand cube where we’d met the golden Alicorn, we took no chances; Cassie was loading her rifle and checking the condition, Breeze was adjusting the hidden gadgetry within her greaves and Cassie’s bracers, Wings was spinning and cleaning her revolvers, Schwarzwald was testing the revs on her gatling gun, along with the other heavy guns fitted to her battle saddle. I had no gun, and so merely concentrated on keeping my magic ready, using what Undertow had taught me to get some last minute practice and arcane warm-up.

Whatever happened down there, all seven of us would be leaving. There would be no compromise on that point, Alicorn be damned.

Apparently satisfied with the condition of her battle saddle, Schwarzwald nudged my shoulder. “Be sure to remain calm, Snowflake.” She stopped, and an impish grin came on. “At least until we have the little ones back. After that, I would not necessarily decry some activity, dahling.”

“We get them, and we get out. That’s the only priority right now.” As much as I wanted to revenge myself upon the giant demon, I wanted my friends back more. “We’ll deal with these things another time.” Preferably with a few dozen megaspells.

“Get ‘em back, and get gone.” Wings agreed. I was relying on the others to make sure that I didn’t trade escape for revenge. I didn’t really trust myself not to mess things up like that.

“Buuut, if you get the chance…” I left my wish unsaid. Everyone present knew what it was.

Undertow and Bosco take priority, but if somebody gets a free shot then they should take it.

Stepping down onto the floor of the cube room, we spread out into the same formation as last time: Cassie and Breeze on the left, Wings and I on the right, with Schwarzwald back and in the middle as cover.

It was dark, like it had been before, but we all knew better than to strain our eyes, since the light would be coming soon.

It did. It wasn’t nearly as blinding this time, instead growing steadily from a low glow to full brightness.

When the light had reached its peak, the Gold Fog seemed to coalesce out of thin air. It remained in its amorphous state for a moment, before again transitioning to the Alicorn.

Damn, it’s still scary.

It gazed impassively down at us, and the multi-voice rumbled around the confines of the room. “You return. Have you brought what we demand?”

I purposefully ignored the question for the moment. “Where are Undertow and Bosco? Show them to me.”

The Alicorn frowned. “Show us the Memory Orbs, and you shall see your friends.”

Wings stepped up. “Hell no. All five of us have seen this scam before. You get nothing until we see that they’re safe and sound.”

The frown became a snarl, and just like last time, the facial shift seemed unnatural, more like flickering frames on a video. “Griffon, do not presume to talk so freely with us.” Green flames licked out of the Alicorn’s nostrils.

Breeze took up the challenge next. “Hey monster, don’t think you can scare us so easily. We know how badly you want this, so make with the ponies already!”

Seriously, does she have to taunt the giant demon?

Said giant demon reared both massive hooves and slammed them down again, shaking the entire room and unbalancing the two of us that couldn’t take flight. Flames licked out of its pseudo-mouth, and were dragged up to circle its horn.

Wordlessly, we stared at it, and it back at us, unsure of what was going to happen next. Wings’ claws were twitching, just millimetres away from her holsters, while behind me, I could hear Cassie and Schwarzwald tapping their hooves against the metal of their guns.

A ripple of some unfathomable emotion crossed the Alicorn’s face, and the flames orbiting its horn grew more intense, finally resulting in a flash. Having lived through that once, we all had our eyes averted and shielded, so as not to be robbed of our sight.

Peaking around my hoof, I saw that the door at the back of the room had reappeared, and was swinging open ponderously. Beyond, there was nothing, just total blackness. I stared at it expectantly.

A far-off hoof sounded from within the blackness. Then came another, and soon there was a weak, slow, arrhythmic procession.

Leaning forward, nearly on the tips of my hooves, my eyes strained to make out anything from the void. “Un… Undertow? Bosco?”

Ten agonising, muscle-clenching seconds passed before a watery voice responded from the gloom. “…Lady Snow?”

The tiniest of laughs escaped me. “Undertow!”

My laugh died as soon as the shape of my two friends formed out of the dark.

Tottering slowly forward, the two blinked within the sudden light. Undertow’s waterlogged mane looked more ragged than usual, and there were bags visible even under her dark goggles. Her steps were shaky and uneven, and slight tremors ran along her body as she moved.

Bosco was even worse. The sickly sweat from yesterday remained, and his charcoal coat was filthy and uneven. His mane stuck both to his forehead, and outwards at odd angles. He seemed to be just on the right side of nauseous at all times, swallowing often, and breathing through his mouth. Most telling of all, though, was the way he leaned onto Undertow, barely making any effort to steady his legs.

He can’t even stand up! “Bosco! What happened to you?”

An eyelid cracked open, revealing a tired, bloodshot eye underneath. He took an age to focus on me. “S-Snow? I… I’m…” He sank to the floor, not even up to talking.

Undertow followed him down, keeping him from hurting himself in the fall. “Shh, do not speak, Bosco. Save your strength.”

This wasn’t usual behaviour from either of them. Neither looked like they had slept since Whitepony. “Undertow, what happened?”

She was cut off from answering by the golden Alicorn, evidently having grown tired of waiting. “Enough! Here are your ponies. Do you have the Orbs?”

My eyes were still locked on the two struggling ponies, and not on the giant demon between me and them. Still, it was between me and them, and the easiest way to get to them was to give it what it wanted. I began to dig through my bag, trying to reach the Orbs at the bottom.

I had just laid hoof on one of them magic spheres when a dry, pain-filled gasp reached my ears, barely more than a whisper. “Don’t do it.”

Surprised, I looked back at the colt. He was lying against Undertow as she tried to soothe him, but one grey eye was fixed on me, not blinking. “Don’t… give them… my Orbs, Snow.”

Green flame shot over their heads, causing Undertow to duck, and cover Bosco with her hooves. “BE SILENT!”

The charcoal colt ignored the monstrosity, still watching my rummaging hoof. “I… won’t give up my Memory Orbs. Not… not to…” He broke off as a hacking fit racked his body.

“Bosco!” What does he mean?

“Shit, he’s in a bad way.” Breeze and the others seemed unsure of what to do next. Resistance from Bosco was not something we’d expected.

Cassie was looking between all present. “We cannot just leave him in such a wretched condition! He will not survive.”

Wings and Schwarzwald had their guns drawn and trained on the starry eyes of the Alicorn. “What have you done to them, monster?”

“We have showed them the truth of the matter. Their weakness is no fault of ours. Now, the Memory Orbs.” The fiend’s eyes, such as they were, clearly showed that they would bear no disagreement, and severe malice was implied.

“Nnnnnooo.” Was all Bosco managed to whimper, before keeling over.

“Bosco!” Undertow was right there to catch him, gently shaking him for revival. “Please, Bosco, Lady Snow and the others are here. You will be fine, but you must hold on a little while longer.” Wrapping her hooves around him, she gingerly moved his head to her lap, and stroked his cheek.

“Undertow-dahling, is he…”

Worry poured off her, but she still summoned a firm voice as she responded. “He is unconscious, but you must get us out of here, and soon. Bosco is… he… this place is bad for him!”

What happened to you, Bosco? “Alright, I understand.” I turned to my allies. “There’s no time for this, I’m giving up the Orbs.”

None of them looked happy about it, but nobody disagreed either.

I’m sorry Bosco, but I just can’t risk it when you’re in that bad state. I gathered the Orbs in my hooves, holding them up for the Alicorn to see. “Here! Here they are! Just take them, and let Bosco and Undertow go!”

The snarl on the behemoth’s face shimmer-shifted into a smirk. “Very well. Leave the Orbs on the floor. Once we have them, you may ‘make with the ponies’.”

Grimacing, I rolled the Orbs along the floor towards it. They came to rest halfway to it. Raising a colossal hoof, thin golden tendrils emerged from the flat, and meandered towards the Orbs.

When the probing appendages were mere inches from the Orbs, they drew back slightly, before making a swift grab at the spheres, as if to prevent our trying to take them back at the last moment.

They were half-right. At the last possible moment, each Orb rolled away from the tendril trying to snare it. “What?”

The Alicorn tried again, but the Orbs seemed to have a mind of their own, always avoiding its reach by the smallest of margins. Fury erupted across its face. “WHAT IS THIS?”

None of us had any answer either. My heart had gone cold as I realised that something was amiss. The consequences to Bosco and Undertow could be dire.

Whatever veneer of composure that the Gold Fog goliath had been affected was rapidly eroding, as its attempts to retrieve the Orbs became more angry and stilted. “WE SHALL NOT BE DENIED!” More and more golden tendrils burst from its hoof, swarming in to ensnare the roving Memory Orbs. Once it looked like all avenues of retreat had been cut off, the tendril masses moved in as one.

The Memory Orbs moved again in response, but this was no slight dodge. They shot straight up in the air, clearing the probes half a dozen yards.

Then they exploded.

“What?!”
“What?!”

There was no fire in the explosion, however, but a familiar silver fog. Where before there had been three Orbs, now there were three small silver clouds.

Flames re-emerged from the Alicorn’s mouth. “YOU DARE!” Bellowing wordlessly, it released a stream at the mists, who dodged, and shot up again, until they were almost touching the ceiling.

An answering cry was given to the Alicorn’s furious cry, as more and more silver fog began to pour in from the stairs where we had come from, joining up with the three smaller clouds.

We watched, open mouthed, as within seconds there was a silver swarm that was nearly the size of golden pony idol.

Our jaws dropped a little further as it began to morph, just as the Gold Fog had done, after we defeated the Faux-lar Bears.

Even the Alicorn seemed shocked to see a shining silver Cerberus growling at it.

“What…
“…In…”
“…The…”
“…Hell…”
“…Is…”
“…Happening?!”

Instead of answering, the monstrous three-headed dog rumbled forward, snapping and biting at the Alicorn, who reared up and kicked in response. They collided in a thunderous slam, sending us all scrambling to avoid being crushed beneath their brawl.

Pressed up against the side of the room, I shook my head to get my bearings. As flashes between various legs, I caught sight of Undertow trying weakly to drag Bosco away from the titanic struggle.

“Get them out of there!” I ordered, jumping forward, only to be bowled back by the swinging Cerberus tail.

As I slammed down to the ground, the others were already surging past me. Wings paused long enough to drag me upright, before taking flight and darting up and attempting to avoid the snapping jaws, beating wings and slashing horn of the battling juggernauts.

Cassie, Breeze, and Wings had gone high, but the gusts being thrown by the golden alicorn’s feathers was driving them back. Schwarzwald and I had no more success on the ground, as the stomping hooves and scrabbling paws made it impossible to keep our balance. In less than a minute, we were all breathing heavily from the exertion and adrenaline.

As we watched, the Alicorn drove its prominent horn straight up through the skull of the Cerberus’ middle head, spearing it from jaw to crown, and out again. Undeterred by this, the remaining two heads sank their fangs into the Alicorn’s wings, pulling and tearing, until finally, with a terrible yowl, the wings were torn off entirely.

Slamming to the ground, the wings did not bleed, nor flap their last. Instead, the Gold Fog abominations shifted, blurring and transforming, until the two golden Molar Bears reappeared instead.

This new development set us all back, but the two giants continued their struggle. Not even seeming to notice its missing wings, the Alicorn tugged and yanked, its horn dragging the central head this way and that, until finally it was torn clear off.

The silver Cerberus’ resilience was the equal of its opponent. The severed head burst into a cloud of silver, pulling away from the horn, and re-formed as a strange, wolf-like creature, that seemed to be made of twigs and leaves.

Their injuries catching up to them, the main bodies of the creatures began to break down faster, as the remaining two Cerberus heads broke off, reforming as lions with bat wings and snake tails. They resumed the fight against the two Molar Bears, while the Alicorn’s head became a golden Tarantubaa, which began a grotesque bout against the silver wood wolf.

The prominent remains of each colossus also lost cohesion, giving birth to a swarm of golden Hissyflits, and what looked almost like silver spritebots, but more organic.

It was a hell of a show.

“I think I’m going to be sick.” Cassie’s queasy complaint snapped us all out of our daze.

“We have to get through, keep trying!”

I lost track of the others almost immediately in the chaos, as fantastic creature copies bit and raked and clubbed at each other all around us. The din they created was almost deafening.

Worse of all, though, was that I still couldn’t get through. No matter what I tried, every angle, direction, or approach, was blocked, completely unintentionally, by the Fog creatures, creatures who I was absolutely sure had forgotten all about us.

“Dammit, let me through!” I was reduced to yelling at everything after a dozen fruitless attempts. If you don’t care enough to keep track of us, couldn’t you bastards at least take it somewhere else? I have to get to them!

I briefly wished that I was more capable with a gun at that moment. Surely the others were having more success by blasting their way through, while I was stuck trying to simply avoid trouble, and avoid getting swept up in the fray.

Something grabbed at my shoulder, and I kicked out blindly. Whatever it was let go, and I raced off to another point, trying to find a way to spot Undertow and Bosco, as I’d lost them in the brawl.

“Snowflake!” The hoof landed on my shoulder again. It was Breeze. “Come on! We got ‘em already!”

“Wait, what?”

Breeze jerked her head towards the stairs. “Yeah, Wings got to ‘em a minute ago. You’re the only one left. Come on!”

I hadn’t noticed anything close to that. “I… you mean it? She did?”

“Yeah, now stop fucking around down here! We gotta go!” She accompanied this with a strong tug at my front leg.

Confused, and feeling a whole host of other emotions at the same time, I followed the Pegasus back to the stairs. At the base, I could see one, two, three… FOUR and FIVE bodies further up.

Elated, I charged up the stairs after them, with Breeze struggling to keep up. They’re okay!

~~~~~~

Despite the poor condition of Undertow and Bosco, we were able to get out of the building, and out of Whinniepeg entirely, without incident. Carrying Bosco, and half-carrying half-dragging Undertow, we were able to keep up a pretty solid pace all the way to Hoofshine Harlots.

When we were safely inside, with all possible security and locks in place, we put Bosco to bed in his room. Undertow needed rest too.

After that, we could finally relax for a second. There was little to be done until they recovered. Schwarzwald and the twins had disappeared into their rooms the moment we set up the lockdown. I made sure that Bosco was comfortable, and safe, before venturing to the bar.

I didn’t really need a drink, but I’d poured one anyway. I passed the time by rediscovering one of the few abilities I’d had in the Stable: Making ice cubes. It didn’t take me much time at all to get the hang of it again. Thank you, Undertow.

Wings slid onto the barstool next to me. “You gonna drink that, or just play with it?”

The drink was passed over without preamble. I listened to the clinkclink of the ice cubes as she took a swig.

“Thanks… for getting them out.”

She set the glass down and wiped her beak. “Told ya we would.”

A non-committal grunt was my reply. Wings noticed. “What’s wrong with you? Thought you’d be smiling. We just fought off two giant bastards and got away clean.”

“Yeah.” I droned, idly creating another ice cube in her glass.

“…Are you worried about them? They’re gonna be fine, Snow. They’re safe here.”

Safe, despite being the only two people in this building who haven’t taken a shot at me. “…Bosco’s in bad shape.”

“He’ll pull through. We won, Snow. Crack a smile, will ya?” She tried to nudge me good-naturedly, but I flinched away, and hopped off the stool.

“’m gonna check on Undertow.” I muttered, stalking out of the bar without a backwards glance.

Undertow was dragging her blanket and pillow out of her room when I approached. She was heading for Bosco’s room. “Undertow, what are you doing?”

She paused to give me a brief nod in greeting, before resuming her efforts. “I am concerned for Bosco, Lady Snow. I wish to make sure that he will not be suffering after his ordeal. I shall sit in with him.”

“…Okay. What did happen to you two? Are you suffering at all?”

The blanket corner I’d been bending down to pick up was snatched away. “I… am fine, Lady Snow. I would rather not discuss it at the moment, though.”

Blinking at her actions, I tried to ignore the blanket thing. “Are you sure? Bosco should be fine for now. He’s just sleeping. It can’t have been easy for you to keep up your shield for so long and…”

“Please, Lady Ice, I feel that Bosco should take priority right now.” She gathered up the rest of her bedding and draped it over her shoulders. “Excuse me.” Without another word, she disappeared into Bosco’s room.

“…”

I returned to the bar with a melancholy air. Wings was nursing a second drink. “You’re rubbing off on her, I think.” She swirled the liquor in her glass. “Think I can get some help, Lady Ice?”

I jerked at that. “What? Oh, right… the drink. Sure.” My horn briefly glowed, and the clinkclink of ice sounded in her glass tumbler.

“Much better, thanks.”

I grunted again, grabbing the now empty first glass, and pouring myself another drink. Wings cheerily waited until I was seated before speaking up. “So what now?”

“Well I was expecting a little more excitement when she saw me again.” I replied, distractedly.

“What? Not that. I meant, what will happen next for you guys? It looks like those Silver Fog guys pulled a fast one with the Orbs. You gonna go looking for ‘em?”

You’ve just got all the answers, don’t you? “That’s Bosco’s choice. They’re his Memory Orbs.” There was also the matter of the Raider summit to attend, but I wasn’t about to tell Wings that, after what had happened with Four Fields. “Schwarzwald needs to get the info to Amber when Bosco wakes up, too.”

Wings took another sip of her drink, savouring the flavour as she mulled things over. “There is that. I think I’ll see if I can get Cassie and Breeze to come along for that, too. We can all meet Amber together.”

“You just love bringing ponies along, don’t you?” I mutter-grumbled under my breath.

She caught it, though. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.” Can’t believe she got them out without me.

The stared at me for a long time, and I made sure to stare at my glass just as long. Finally she relented, taking another hard drag. “Whatever. Tell me about Undertow.”

“She’s fine, leave her alone!” I snapped, before covering my mouth with my hooves.

“The fuck, Snow?!” She drained the last of her drink angrily, and began to leave. “What’s your problem?”

“…Sorry.” I said to the empty bar.

~~~~~~

Chapter 14-2: What Is Deserved

“What do you mean you don’t know where my Memory Orbs are?!”

Bosco had awakened at around 1am, still looking quite the worse for wear, but much livelier than before. He’d picked up where he left off at his collapse in Whinniepeg.

“There were silver fog monsters too, not just gold, and they stole the Memory Orbs just as we were about to leave to come get you. We thought we’d got them back, but it looks like they swapped them out at some point.”

“Remarkably clever, if you think about it , dahling.” Schwarzwald was present in the room, as were Undertow and I. The three fliers were busy elsewhere.

“Oh, I’m so fucking glad you’re impressed, Schwarzwald!” Bosco’s temperament was definitely altered by his captivity and weakened state.

“Come on, Bosco, don’t be like that.” I tried to calm things down. “We were all fooled. It’s not her fault.”

“No, it’s YOURS!” He began, but his breath caught in his throat, and he had to break off his rant.

Undertow, staying close to him, rubbed his back and offered some water. “Please calm down, Bosco. You are still unwell.”

“I told her not to give up the Orbs! And she ignored me!”

’She’ is right here. “I know, Bosco, and I’m sorry, but I didn’t see any other way to get you back. That golden Alicorn was powerful.”

“You know nothing, Snow. The shit we saw…”

“Bosco!” Undertow interrupted. “This is not the time.”

Breathing raggedly, the two stared each other down. I watched in silence, very disturbed by these developments.

Just what happened in there? Undertow seems okay, but Bosco? Whatever happened really did a number on him. “Bosco… are you really okay? What happened in there?”

“This is not the time, Lady Ice.” Undertow repeated emphatically.

Chastised, I relented, falling into glum silence.

Bosco wasn’t done though. “They weren’t your Orbs to give away, Snowflake. They’re mine. I told you not to give them to him, fake or not, and you ignored me. Why?”

“You were in danger! Undertow was too!”

“Undertow saw what I saw, did she disagree?” He snapped back.

Both of us looked to the Deep Diver. “…The Memory Orbs belong to Bosco, Lady Ice, and are his to do as he wishes with. I do not approve of his putting himself in more danger, but it was his choice and should be respected.”

“But he put you in more danger too!” I cried. This was one point I wasn’t going to back down on. Even if, as she said, Bosco could decide what to do with himself and his Orbs, he shouldn’t be doing it at the expense of Undertow’s safety.

“I still agree with Bosco.”

Anger flashed through me. “Dammit, you’re supposed to be under my protection! Why are you going against the safe path?”

Harsh, disbelieving laughter burst from the colt. “Are you fucking serious?! This? From you? We know what we’re doing, Snowflake! You’re the only one who doesn’t.”

Undertow was not happy either. “Lady Ice, I may be under your protection, but I still have choices to make on my own.” Hurt leaked into her words. “I had hoped that you understood by now.”

“What’s to understand? I’m getting jumped on all sides for trying to keep my friends safe and alive? You’re welcome, by the way!”

“Ah ah ah, Snowflake-dahling, you know that is wrong. Wings already explained it to you. The fog creatures would not have killed them, as they went through too much effort to capture them alive in Whitepony.” Schwarzwald was not helping my case, and I seethed at her for it.

“Well I guess I’m wrong about everything then, aren’t I? I may as well go ahead and go meet Caber Toss by myself, since nobody else likes the decisions I make!”

Sensing that I was not in a particularly happy mood, Undertow relented slightly. “Lady Snow, you know that I will be with you, in this and other enterprises.” Her frown deepened, and a waiver slipped into her voice. “Please do not suggest this again.”

The ‘now look what you did’ look that the bedridden Bosco was shooting me only served to remind me that Undertow really didn’t like this kind of talk. Shame ran through me. I should know better. She’s just back from being kidnapped. So’s Bosco. I shouldn’t be snapping at them like this. They got back safe after all. That’s what matters.

Before any more careless words could be said, Schwarzwald’s communicator beeped, and she excused herself to listen in. It served to break the tension in the room, just a little. “…Look, Bosco…”

He waved me off, still a little angrily. “Just leave it alone, Snow. I need to start figuring out how to find my Memory Orbs. That… probably means that I won’t be coming with you to the Raider meet.” Even with the dark circles around his eyes, he managed to look a little apologetic.

It made me feel terrible. I’d been yelling at a very sick colt. A very sick friend. He needed rest, and help, and really shouldn’t even be considering coming with me to meet some of the Wasteland’s most dangerous ponies. “That’s probably best, Boss Colt.” He managed a weak smile at the nickname. “You take care of yourself. We’ll catch up after.”

He couldn’t hide the relief at my telling him to stay away. He really was shaken up by what he’d been through… or he just wanted to get away from me.

“So…” Schwarzwald re-entered the room, still holding the communicator. “Will you be wanting to travel with us for a little while, Bosco-dahling?”

The suggestion shocked me into speechlessness. What? No!

He blinked at the sudden invitation. “You don’t mind? Will the others?”

I mind! I wished I could say that, but couldn’t form the words out loud.

“Hah! They agreed to work with Snowflake, and they hate her. Having you along will be a lovely experience by contrast.”

“I… that’s, um…”

Why are you even considering this, Bosco?

Come on, Snow, say something! “…You’d keep him safe?” No, dammit! Say you don’t want him to go! He can’t go with Schwarzwald’s group, Breeze might hurt him! Cassie might hurt him! Hell, Schwarzwald might hurt him!

“Of course, mistress, corpses are no fun. Especially handsome colts like him.”

Showing that he still had some coltishness in him, Bosco blushed. “Well, yeah, Schwarz, that’d be great. But why the sudden offer?”

She held up the communicator. “I just spoke with Amber, and she believes that, since you hold the information she seeks, it would be best if I looked after you until we delivered it to her. And on that note…”

She turned to me. “Amber wondered if you would be available for a visit this later today? She wouldn’t elaborate on what she wanted, however it is usually positive if she is taking an interest like this.”

“Today? Uh, where is she?” Who the hell cares? Why aren’t I asking Bosco to stay?

“She is in Lethbridle, in the southern quarter. I can provide you with directions, or she can have somepony meet you at the northern gate. She said to tell you that she would arrange it so that you wouldn’t be bothered when in the city. Assuming Red Ice can keep a low profile for a night, anyway.” Her sinful smile told me that she both doubted my ability, and my intention, to do so.

I turned to Undertow. Help me out here! “Is that enough time to still make the Raider summit tomorrow?”

We both did some quick mental calculations. She finished first. “I believe so, assuming we do not leave too late in the morning.”

The whole thing was still throwing me for a loop. I could have spent more time thinking through everything, but everything on my end seemed maddeningly fine, at least at for now. “…Well, fine then! We’ll go visit Amber. Schwarzwald, can you tell her that I’ll be bringing a guest?”

She gave a mock bow. “At once, mistress.”

To hell with your ‘mistress’!

~~~~~~

“…And please be sure to avoid excess activity, until you are fully recovered.”

Bosco’s communicator, now Undertow’s, crackled as the colt on the other end replied, a hint of put-uponness in his voice. “Yeah, Undertow, I got it, I’ll be taking it easy for a little while. Don’t worry.”

Against his words, she clearly did. “Stay safe, Bosco. Lady Snow and I will see you soon.”

“Yeah, you too. Make sure she looks after you, Undertow, and you watch out for her.” With a small pop, the line went dead.

Without another word, Undertow stashed away the communicator, given to her by Bosco, and continued walking towards Lethbridle with me, with only the sound of our hooves crunching in the falling snow breaking the peace.

I chose not to comment, on either Bosco’s words or his actions in giving Undertow the communicator and not me. Worse still, he agreed with Schwarzwald when she suggested that Undertow not let me access it!

How many times am I going to have to go through this game? First Breeze and Naiara, though it’s not so surprising that Breeze doesn’t want me calling her, then Schwarzwald and Bosco, and now even Undertow is getting a communicator that I can’t use. Undertow! I’d only tried to push the issue one time, shortly after we’d left Hoofshine, which I wasn’t thrilled about either, since the other five were still there and I didn’t want them taking advantage of my hospitality. When I’d raised the issue with Undertow, she’d refused, saying that the communicator still belonged to Bosco, and things had gotten a little heated.

This is all Schwarzwald’s fault! She started this nonsense, and now it’s rubbing off on Bosco and Undertow. They’re supposed to be on MY side! Her stupid games are causing me all kinds of problems.

I wonder if Wings gets as much grief from her as I do? Do the twins?

Does Watcher? That last one gave me pause. I kept pace with Undertow as we walked, along the empty path, though withdrew my attention inwards.

Schwarzwald mentioned something about testing ‘her’. I’d assumed she meant Wings, since she spends most of her time with her, but was she actually talking about me? When I talked to Watcher, he’d been less them impressed after finding out that I wasn’t Princess Cadence. We hadn’t spoken since the cave at Crystal Point, back when I still had my Pipbuck.

My eyes widened. “My Pipbuck!”

Startled by my apparent non-sequitur, Undertow had jumped slightly. “What was that, Lady Snow?”

For the briefest of moments, I regarded her with suspicion, before admonishing myself. Don’t think like that, she’s Undertow. You know her. “N-nothing, Undertow. Just thinking out loud.”

“Would you like to discuss your thoughts?”

“…Nnno, not yet. Sorry, but I’m still working through everything. I’ll let you know if I need your help.”

She stared back, her dark goggles hiding her eyes, like always. “As you say, Lady…” She paused briefly, which triggered a nervous lump in my throat. “…Lady Snow.”

Relieved, the lump began to fade, though didn’t disappear entirely. Would it kill her to take those goggles off for a-no, stop it! That’s not fair. “I’m really sorry, Undertow, I just want to think about stuff on my own for a little while longer.”

Mouth set in a thin line, she nodded and turned forwards again.

After a minute or so, my thoughts returned to the Pipbuck. Wings and Cassie took it, and Watcher had the code to contact me through it. Did he contact them, or Schwarzwald? Do they know more than they’re letting on? How much did I really know about any of them? Were they messing me around?

An hour later, spent in silent contemplation for me, and unreadable silence for Undertow, my fears hadn’t vanished.

Bzzt! “Undertow, you there?”

This time, we both jumped.

The voice was neither Bosco, not Schwarzwald. Confused, Undertow timidly opened the channel. “Who is this?”

“It’s Breeze, ya moron.” We shared a look. Breeze hated Undertow, why was she calling her? “I’m patching Naiara in, says she wants a word.” The abrasive Pegasus couldn’t hide her excitement at hearing from the zebra, which was the only relationship she had, aside from her sister, that she was openly positive about.

I shared some of her elation. “Naiara’s okay? That’s great!”

Sporting her own small smile, Undertow clicked the mic again. “Thank you very much, Aqua Breeze. I would be delighted to talk with Naiara again.”

“Yeah, whatever, monster.” She just couldn’t resist getting a shot in, it seemed, though it lacked her usual fervour.

After a short burst of interference, the background static changed, and a new voice came through the speaker. “Undertow?”

She perked up upon hearing the zebra’s voice. “Naiara, I am here. It is good to hear from you!”

A soft chuckle came through, though it seemed a little off, somehow. “Yeah, sweetie, you too. Are you okay? The fog monsters didn’t hurt you, did they?”

“I am fine, Naiara, thank you. Are you healed? Lady Snow told me that you were injured.”

“Snow did? Is she there?” She sounded less than pleased about this, which stung somewhat.

“She is. Would you like to talk to her?”

Yes!

“Nah, that’s okay.” What?! “I’m fine. Zebra remedies and all. What about Bosco? I hear he got it the worst.”

Grimacing, Undertow nodded, even though Naiara couldn’t see her. “I am afraid so. It… affected him quite strongly, though I am not sure why. He is resting for now, and we will reconvene later.”

Naiara was no happier than Undertow. “Yeah, that’s probably best. Breeze and Schwarzwald won’t let anything happen to him, I’m sure. We just need time to let him work things out.”

“Why doesn’t she want to talk to me?” I hissed to Undertow, trying to get her to relay the message.

Crushingly, an annoyed look and a turned shoulder was all I received.

“Anyway,” Naiara continued. “I still can’t move fast enough to get to Hoofshine Harlots tonight and see Bosco, but Breeze tells me that you and Snow are heading to Lethbridle to meet up with somepony, right?”

She does, does she? Is this Schwarzwald’s doing too? I was getting really worried now. Nobody was behaving normally.

“Yes, that’s correct. Amber Bernstein, I believe was the name.”

“Right, her. Any who, I was thinking I’d meet up with you guys in Lethbridle, and we can all go see her together. I’m up for anything, so long as it means Cept isn’t fussing over me.”

Undertow cocked her head to the side, which was infuriatingly cute since Naiara still couldn’t see her. “Who?”

“Oh, right. You never met him. He’s another zebra in my tribe. It’s not important, except that he overreacts way too much when anyzebra gets hurt.”

There was the slightest of looks in my direction before Undertow responded. “He seems kind.”

Naiara chuckled again. “Too late, Undertow, Breeze already called dibs on him.”

Flustered, Undertow waved her hoof in denial. “Ah, I did not mean…”

“Hehehe. I’ll see you guys at Lethbridle.” With that, the line went dead, before Undertow could respond.

~~~~~~

“WAIT WAIT WAIT, PUT THE WEAPONS AWAY!” Aquamarine and Glacier magical auras blazed as we stood ready for battle.

“At what point, pray tell, did this seem like a good idea, Red Ice?” A short distance away, on the other side of the wall of angry, gun-toting bodyguards, stood Amber Bernstein.

Rather than the elaborate dress from the previous instance, where she had met us in the snowy hills and valleys between Lethbridle and Cefar, she wore a more practical, business-like blouse, though still in a stylish cut. The dress had been a vibrant blue, while this outfit was a restrained grey. The quality still stood out, even to my untrained eye.

It had all been going swimmingly enough, until Naiara’s hood dropped.

Apparently two hundred years and millions of deaths isn’t enough to convince ponies that hating zebras is a waste of time, and takes away good opportunities. I couldn’t help but think that Stable 61 had a point, at least on this matter. The war was too long ago for this still to be happening.

“Amber,” I besieged her. “I give you my word that she isn’t a threat. She’s just here to meet with me, I swear!”

Her haughty gaze remained unchanged. “Your word, you say? Interesting. Don’t move from that spot.” She turned and exited the room for a full minute, leaving us in a very tense standoff with her squad of protectors, none of whom seemed particularly willing to let this go.

“Very well,” she began, re-entering the situation. “I will allow it, this once. However, do call ahead next time.” Her expression, combined with her tone, let us know that she really wasn’t kidding.

The bodyguards reluctantly stood aside, and we fell into step behind her, still flanked by armed ponies. They only stopped when we reached her offices, taking up the entire floor of this high-rise. Bernstein cap coffers apparently ran deep. The building we were in was one of the tallest in Lethbridle, in the heart of the rich district. All the top employers, and highest administration staff, made their homes in this area.

Or so Amber’s aides had informed us as they escorted us up to this floor, before we were passed into the care of Amber’s personal protection platoon.

Said platoon, after bookending us all the way to Amber’s door, arranged themselves along the walls, watching for trouble, as their employer paused at the doors and turned to us. “Would you like to come in?”

It was undoubtedly rude to not look directly at her when we answered, but the excess of guns really drew the eye. “Uh… yes, please.”

I still managed to catch sight of Amber’s warm, welcoming smile, as she spread her hooves wide. “Then I welcome you to my home, at least for the moment. Do come inside, you three.”

She turned, drawing a key from an inside pocket of her blouse, and made to put it into the lock. Just before turning it, she had to stop, and address us again. “oh, yes. Do be so kind as to surrender your weapons before entering. I do not believe that you will attempt to harm me, but my honourable defenders insist upon it.”

They’re not gonna like this answer. “Uh… we don’t have any weapons.”

Her open, friendly smile didn’t fade. “Oh? How surprising. Not often you see a pony with your reputation going unarmed.”

“Well, y’know, unicorns and all…”

Amber seemed to anticipate this, and winked conspiratorially. “Ah yes, the horns. We can hardly remove them, now can we? Or, at least not in a way that will allow them to be reattached later.”

“Heh… heh… heh.” I felt like the laughter might have been expected.

Amber’s eyes panned over to Naiara, who stared back openly. “And you? You are clearly no unicorn.”

Naiara, though still recovering from the slash across along her ribs, puffed herself up in pride. “I don’t need a horn OR weapons.”

Her self-confidence ran straight into Amber’s highbrow scrutiny. “Hmm, yes, I suppose it would be difficult to find somepony willing to supply firearms to an exotic such as yourself.”

“EXOTIC?!” Naiara’s good mood disappeared faster than the fog creatures.

Momentarily forgetting the situation we were in, I jumped in on reflex. “Amber! Don’t call her that, it’s rude!”

Still wearing her now-more-obviously false smile, she showed no regret. “Oh, calling a sub-pony an exotic is rude in Lethbridle? Noted.”

“I’ll sub-pony my hoof up your plot!”

I had to break off my outraged glare to turn and block Naiara from Stompeii Emboli-ing Amber into paste. “Naiara, Naiara, calm down! She’s wrong, I know, but she has friends!”

With my attention focused on Naiara and Amber, I couldn’t see Undertow, but the faint resonance of her familiar water magic, coupled with the guards snapping their guns up, let me know that she was stepping in to help. Good intentions but bad timing, Undertow.

“Did you ask me here, just to insult my friends, Amber?” I was perfectly willing to turn around and leave right now. Schwarzwald could deal with the Bernstein Conclave from now on, and leave us out of it.

Naiara hadn’t even looked at the score of guns being pointed at us, instead bringing herself under control, even while maintaining a glare towards the bigoted mare.

Amber was equal to it, not looking away. For several seconds, nothing happened, as the guards waited for Amber to give the order, while we waited to see how we’d survive this.

Finally, to the surprise of almost all present, Amber cracked a smile. “Come in, Naiara. You too, Red Ice, Undertow.” Apparently sure that we wouldn’t attack while she was facing away, she turned and strolled inside, carefree as can be.

Even more incredible, her guards lowered their weapons and resumed their posts, as if that was nothing new.

We remained in the corridor, slightly lost as to what to do now, with confusion supplanting any anger we might have felt.

“Psst, you’re fine. In you go.” The closest guard, while struggling to rein in his amused smirk, leaned in just enough to break through the trance.

“Were you… with Schwarzwald, Bosco, and I up in the hills? When we caught the Tarantubaas?” I’d been focused on Amber then, and so would have struggled to recognise him.

His smirk grew bashful. “Yeah, kinda. Go on in.” He repeated.

“I don’t remember her being like this back then.” She’d been short with all present, except Schwarzwald, but not outright insulting like she had been just then.

The nameless guard just shrugged. “She was cold.”

~~~~~~

The surprisingly spacious interior of Amber’s property was far more showy than the non-descript exterior. Through the double doors we passed through an atrium, with offices and meeting rooms off to the sides, and an emblem emblazoned everywhere. The bold black ‘B’ with an equally sharp silver ‘C’ curling through the holes adorned every wall. Clearly Amber was proud of her Bernstein Conclave, and didn’t hesitate to make it known.

At the far end of the business area, we climbed a set of lacquered wood stairs to the living area, which incredibly took up another floor all by itself.

Just how much money does this girl have?

Amber was nowhere in sight but, at each corner of the elaborate dwelling, there was always a maid with a spotless apron, or sharply dressed butler, to direct us, always with a respectful bow and without saying a word.

Somehow, they were never there when I looked back.

Naiara, still smarting from the treatment she’d received at the entrance, did not act impressed. “If she’s got this many caps, what’s the point of all this? Are we supposed to be impressed at her ego?”

“Schwarzwald says she works very hard.” I supplied. Naiara shouldn’t have been treated the way she was, but Amber clearly had done very well for herself.

“Then she should boast about that, not about her money.” Groused the zebra, before falling into silence.

Undertow, meanwhile, simply continued to look around quietly, looking as they she was enjoying the peace. She hadn’t really had any since being uprooted from her cabin at Soft Swell Lake, and wasn’t likely to get any in the near future either. There was too much riding on the next few days.

There was a distinct lack of Bernstein Conclave emblems within Amber’s living areas, which could have meant lots of different things.

She might not want to take her work home with her… or it just wouldn’t match the rest of the furniture?

Finally, we emerged into an open area, with cushions arranged in a crescent around a fountain jutting from the wall. Our host was currently reclining on the fountain’s edge, elegantly dipping a hoof into the clear liquid. Her business attire from before was gone, and she was dressed in more simple, casual fabrics. Again, there was an obvious level of quality there.

“Water.” she spoke without looking up. “Completely radiation-free. Purified and triple filtered. May I offer you a drink?” Withdrawing her hoof, she daintily dried it with a towel.

Neither Naiara nor Undertow spoke up, so it fell to me to answer. Amber seemed to respond to good manners, so ignoring the question would undoubtedly be seen as rude. “We’re fine, thank you.”

Better than fine, if things go to hell, since that fountain’s one giant weapon for Undertow.

“As you wish.” Now, she did look up, meeting Naiara’s eyes directly with a smile. “I would like to apologise for my words earlier. I… have had little dealings with non-ponies, and wanted to ascertain who you were as an individual, not just as a zebra. I also wish to clarify that I do not truly believe zebra to be inferior to ponies.”

She bristled at Amber’s words. “I’d be more ready to believe you if you hadn’t had a dozen grunts with guns pointed at us when you were doing your little ‘test’.”

Amber flashed a helpless smile. “The perils of business, I am afraid. I have many competitors, not all of them scrupulous. My protectors are a… necessary evil.”

“Fascinating.” She delivered this deadpan. “What’s your point?”

Amber’s beatific smile didn’t fade. “I merely wished to put you at ease. My bodyguards will not set hoof within my home unless I personally invite them. We do not have to talk as enemies here. And, again, I am sorry for earlier. The way I acted was for a purpose, but I do not claim to be justified in the means to that end.”

“Um… what?” I was pretty lost by this point. Amber was using lots of words, but I still didn’t get it.

An eyebrow was raised. “…I am saying that I do not belief zebra to be ‘exotics’, or ‘sub-ponies’, or anything of the sort. I was testing Naiara. I wanted to see how she reacted to the way I treated her. She calmed very quickly, quite impressive.”

Instead of defusing the situation, Amber’s words put us back on edge. “How do you know my name?”

Along with a slight upward curve in the corner of her lips, Amber’s eyes took on a focused appearance. “You recall that I briefly excused myself? I was in communication with Schwarzwald, and sought her opinion on you and Undertow.”

“What did she tell you?” I blurted instantly, deepening Amber’s calculating gaze. If she’s put Undertow in more danger after Whinniepeg…

“Well, the conversation cost me an extra two thousand caps, though that is irrelevant. Schwarzwald chose not to tell me much beyond your names, instead she focused on your… physiques.”

I don’t know what I expected. “Of course she did. Nothing else?”

“No.” Amber said pointedly. “Nothing else.”

“Two thousand caps for a couple of names? You got jipped, Bernstein.” Naiara couldn’t hide her gloating.

“Oh?” There was scorn in Amber’s retort. “I disagree. It is a small price to pay. There is power in names. Wouldn’t you agree, Red Ice?”

I just made a face. “That’d be more impressive if I hadn’t told the entire Wasteland myself.”

“And look what has happened since you did.” She continued, undeterred. She almost sounded like she expected it. “Your recent actions have driven the powerful ponies of this city to a fever pitch. You called out the Steel Rangers on one side, and Plottawa on the other. Further still, you have been running around, seemingly here, there and everywhere, driving the Raiders to revolution! Do you think Snowflake could have done so?”

“I am Snowflake!”

She turned back to the fountain for a moment. “I wonder just how much longer you will be able to say that with a straight face…”

Her reverie ended as quickly as it began. “But enough of this. I think it high time that I explain why I asked you here, don’t you?”

“Would be nice, unless you wanna insult my friends some more?”

Bidding us sit, she reclined upon a soft cushion before answering. “I’ll remind you that I did apologise for that, and did not mean true offence. No, the reason I called you here is that I have an event planned for tonight, and I believe your unique standing with the various powers of the region will allow you to perfectly assist me.”

She had our attention now. Mine and Naiara’s, at least. Undertow was watching the flowing water in the fountain, though she was probably listening closely. “Assist you with what?”

Familiar confidence graced her cheeks, reminding me of Schwarzwald when she was about to demonstrate her prowess all over the face of the stupid colt at Nightcap’s bar. “I am hosting a social event tonight, at a venue not far from here, with almost all of Lethbridle’s elite, plus a few ponies from further afield. I would like you to survey the crowd during the event, paying attention to any secrets that may be revealed in conversation.”

I shared a confused look with Naiara. “Me? Weren’t you just saying that Red Ice has all the snobs on edge? They won’t tell me anything.”

Again, the Bernstein leader had anticipated this. “How fortunate, for all of us, that they will not know that it is you. The event I speak of is a formal dance. More than that, it is a masquerade ball. Anonymity does wonders when loosening tongues, after all. A gown for your body and cutie mark, with a mask to cover your face, should hide your identity, as I doubt there are any guests who would be able to place your voice, and even fewer who might put the pieces together and discern who you really are.”

Undertow was openly paying attention now, which was good, as I was feeling very lost. “You want me to… go to a party… and dance?”

“Close. I want you to come to a dance party, and listen.”

I still wasn’t putting the pieces together myself. “But… me? I can’t dance.”

She shook her head. “I am not asking you to dance. I am asking you to watch those who do, and those who do not. They may be the more important ponies to listen to.”

“The Bernstein Conclave doesn’t have spies of its own?” Naiara challenged.

“If I did, I would hardly confirm it. If wind were to reach my guests that I was openly having them monitored, I would lose any chance of gaining their favour. I do hope to make a good impression tonight, after all. I am planning on spending considerable time in Lethbridle from now on, and fostering good relationships with the decision makers of the city is my primary goal. Your task will simply be an extra edge in those efforts.”

“But, why?” I asked, still a little unclear on the whole idea.

Amber blinked. “I have already explained… unless you are asking what I am offering in exchange for your services?”

Good point. “…Well I wasn’t, but now I am.”

Her confusion at my confusion didn’t last long, at least openly. “I offer you two rewards for this. The first is simple: 1000 caps to each of you.”

“Each of us?” My two friends hadn’t been mentioned as part of the plan so far.

“Yes. I wish to speak more with Naiara, about her and her zebra, and I do not believe that Undertow would be with you, Red Ice, if not for a good reason. I believe I am correct in thinking that she has noteworthy abilities, yes?”

Oh, I can totally answer this one, at least. “Very much so, yes. Undertow is extremely worthy of note. That is one hundred percent true.” I turned adoring eyes on the blushing filly.

“Yes, Schwarzwald mentioned that you were very fond of her. I am all the more convinced.”

I reluctantly turned away from Undertow, realising that I’d been swept up into the pace of the conversation, and hadn’t been paying her the attention I should have. Especially after Whinniepeg. Gotta watch that. “Did Schwarzwald also tell you what would happen if you try anything funny with ANY of my friends, not just Undertow and Naiara?”

“Not in so many words, but I believe I can guess.” The threat was definitely noticed, though she didn’t immediately turn aggressive. “Three thousand caps, then?”

I held up a hoof. “Hold on, what’s the second thing?”

Cocking her head to the windows running the length of one wall, and the view beyond, Amber made her pitch. “As I said, I shall be staying in Lethbridle for the foreseeable future. So long as you contact me, I propose to put Red Ice, and any associates and acquaintances she wishes, under Bernstein protection within the city walls. I guarantee that you will sleep easy at night, no matter where you choose to make your bed, if you aid me tonight.”

“That’s… very generous.” Naiara was struggling to maintain her anger at the earth mare.

I found myself recalling Schwarzwald’s words from when she made the offer of going to Whitepony for Amber. “Do not fret, dahling, Amber is nothing if not honest. She prides herself on it. Not for any misguided notion of honour, merely that her business partners appreciate it.” This was a business decision, but the terms were not harsh. Amber was willing to pay in caps and, more importantly, with a long-running promise to protect not only me, but also my friends.

It wasn’t clearing my name, but it might allow me to spend time in Lethbridle with my friends. They had nothing keeping them away, but there were plenty of people who’d make things very difficult for Red Ice.

For the short term at least, it was very tempting.

“If Lady Snow agreed to this,” her silence broken, Undertow got straight to the point. “how would you keep her safe?”

“Isn’t she a good little sister?” Naiara couldn’t help herself, even here.

“Well, Undertow, if ‘Lady Snow’ said yes,” Amber made it very clear that she thought the way Undertow addressed me was significant. “then I would offer not only my own personnel to guard her, but also would negotiate a permanent security arrangement with the Lethbridle guards. I would also make sure that as little emphasis was put on her being Red Ice as possible.”

“That is… agreeable.”

Naiara raised a hoof. “Question?”

“Yes?” Amber turned an appraising eye on her.

“You want us at your party tonight, but we aren’t exactly swimming in fancy clothes right now. It’s gonna be hard for us to fit in.”

In response, Amber clapped her hooves together. Suddenly, the room was full of activity, as servants wheeled in racks of evening wear. “While that technically wasn’t a question, it was a good point. Luckily, I planned ahead and prepared a selection. My personal tailors…” three earth ponies, adorned with measuring tape, pins, and other assorted tools, bowed. “…will adjust your choices to fit your measurements. I assure you that they are very good.”

“I get to wear a fancy dress?” Squeaked Naiara delighted at this new development.

All eyes turned to me, waiting on my answer.

~~~~~~

Chapter 14-3: What Is Deserved

Well this is nice and all, but I still prefer Vanchoofer.

The party was in full swing, and the guest list was long. The main floor of the venue, a private club in downtown Lethbridle, was full of guests and servers, all wearing elegant masks.

I was standing over to the side, near the shadows, and the raised platform where Amber Bernstein was holding court. There were at least a dozen ponies around her, all looking to shake hooves and meet this new southern success. Somehow managing to make a ‘radscorpion’ mask look classy, Ms. Bernstein looked to be in her element.

A sea of strange creature likenesses littered the room: Manticores, Radscorpions, Minotaurs, Griffons, other such radiation-born creatures like ‘bloatsprites’ or ‘radigators’, and even a few Old Equestria critters were on offer, though not even those wearing them seemed to really know what they were.

I did, and had elected to don a snowy owl mask for myself. Undertow, at my recommendation, was an otter, while Naiara had taken a timberwolf.

Speaking of Naiara, I could see in the middle of the floor, having the time of her life as she danced with many a stallion. As her long, wine red dress covered her stripes, as did her mask, the only thing being shown off was her graceful moves and athletic body, both of which were drawing notice. She did not lack for dance partners, and I was sure it wouldn’t be hard for her to get them spilling any secrets they thought she’d be impressed by. It was hardly an approach that would work for me, but I didn’t doubt for a moment that Amber would be getting good value with her caps from the zebra.

Undertow was a different story, however. Her discomfort in large crowds made putting her in the middle of it all a bad idea. Luckily, Amber had had a fountain, even bigger than the one in her quarters, installed in the centre of the room, and Undertow was positioned on a balcony above, using her magic to put on a display of aquatic acrobatics, drawing lots of ‘ooh’s and ‘ahh’s from the gathered guests. She was putting them at ease, and appeared to be a part of the staff.

Plenty of ponies had briefly visited the balconies to talk in private over the hour or so since the party started, and even more would do so before the night was up. They dismissed Undertow as a part of the performance, not realising that her natural affinity for water magic made this barely an effort for her. She wasn’t hearing as much as Naiara, but would probably be hearing higher quality talk, and none of it would be aimed at getting her into bed.

Well, if it is, then I’ll be having words with whatever scheister is trying his luck.

The fiery red-orange gown she wore probably didn’t help matters. I wasn’t crazy about the slits down the sides, as it left her showing an awful lot of leg, but the tailors had been adamant that it worked, also Undertow seemed to like it… and it did look good on her. She still wore her goggles under the mask though, which actually served to support the ruse that she was a mere stagehoof. Her mane did too, as its waterlogged base state had stubbornly resisted all attempts to style or dry.

Brushing it for a while was relaxing though, like back when I used to comb out the tangles in my brothers’ fur, when they got too big to do it themselves.

I think she liked it too.

My strategy was kind of a mix of both Naiara’s style and Undertow’s. I wasn’t planning on jumping in to the middle of every group and taking over the conversation, nor was I intending to stay in one place all night.

My conversation starter was the uncommon owl mask, and matching white-grey dress, which I could back up with some other points about pre-megaspell Equestria. Hopefully that’d be enough to keep me on the outskirts of a group long enough for me to overhear what the ringleaders were saying. This satellite approach could be repeated for group after group, hopefully until I’d learned a few juicy details.

We’d been at it for an hour, and I’d learned a few things which might interest Amber, mostly about who was sleeping with who when they weren’t supposed to be, and I’d stepped out onto the veranda for some air. Leaning against the railing and looking back in at the party, I was able to enjoy Undertow’s performance for a little while.

Beautiful… I thought, as one particular trick caught the light in just the right way, the water hanging in the air for seconds on end. So engrossed, was I, in the display, that I didn’t realise that somebody was on the railing behind me, until they tapped me on the shoulder.

“YEEEK!” Reflexively jerking away, I spun around to see who’d snuck up on me.

“Good evening.” Wearing a form-fitting black dress, with a crimson band around her waist, covering the tell-tale lumps where her wings were, was Cassie.

“What are you doing here?” I gaped.

“Be at ease, Sn-“ My name turned into a small cough, as she realised the consequences that a careless utterance could bring upon me, Naiara, and Undertow. “Be at ease, fair lady, we have a mutual friend who wished to have a pair of eyes at this party…”

“…Aaand she does have really good eyes.” Wings landed on the barrier next to Cassie, wearing no dress, but clutching a black-and-red manticore mask in her claw. “Snagged you a mask, some moron on the roof was drunk and snoring his horn off.”

Gracefully accepting the mask, Cassie briefly inspected it before donning the disguise. “Thank you, Wings. I’ll be heading inside now. Don’t dawdle too long, or else there may be trouble.”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it.” Wings waved her inside. “Just gonna chat with Sn-… this one for a little while, then I’m gone.”

“Is Breeze with you?” I asked, looking to the skies. “Schwarzwald?”

Cassie sniffed. “Schwarzwald cannot fly, and to carry her would have been to risk discovery. And Breeze? Well, we agreed that it was best that she stayed behind this time.” Nodding her farewell, Cassie made a refined bee-line for the party.

I agreed with the unspoken message: Breeze was far too volatile for a gathering such as this. She’d have caused a scene.

If not for the fountain, we’d have had a hard time with Undertow, too.

Wings and I watched Cassie blend into the crowd, until the general party hubbub was all that was heard. “...Dress looks nice on ya.”

Really? I let myself be flattered for a moment, before moving on. “How’s Bosco?”

The chocolate-and-cream griffon let out a long sigh. “Twitchy. I dunno what he went through down in that basement, since he’s not telling, but those fog things really messed him up. He’s jumping at shadows.”

That wasn’t what I wanted to hear. “Does he know what he wants to do next? The Silver ones took his Memory Orbs. Is he gonna try to get them back?”

“Yeah, that’s what he says, but he really doesn’t have the first clue how to do that, and he can’t seem to sit still long enough to think up a plan.”

What happened down there, Bosco? Why won’t Undertow tell me? “…Thanks, for getting them out of there.”

She punched me lightly in the shoulder. “No problem, you’d have done the same.”

“I couldn’t. Not alone.” ...But you did.

And why am I unhappy about that?

“Relax, um… girl. They’re out, and we’re not gonna let them get taken again. Bosco’ll get better. You just gotta give him time.”

I nodded, still downcast. “Mhm. Still, it means a lot to me that you all helped.”

She laughed this off. “Hey, we got a free place to crash out of it. I’d say we’re good.”

“What about what you put into it? What about Gull Gulf?”

“…”

I was still facing the party, which made Wings’ silence all the more oppressive. More secrets? Yay. “…What’s your name, Wings?”

“…”

I could see that she’d said all she was going to on that end. “Thanks again, Wings, but I gotta get back to the party. Look after Bosco for me, and yourself.”

“…Sure, Snow. Catch you later.” With a flap of her namesake, she took off into the overcast sky.

I was still looking inside at the party.

~~~~~~

“…thing after the party? You should join us for a drink or two. We can show you the sights, babe.”

“Yeah, we know all the best places in town. We’ll show you a real party.”

“…No thank you. I have an early start tomorrow.”

Like any suicidally stupid predator, neither colt knew when to quit. Instead of taking the hint to leave Undertow alone as she worked, they stepped in closer, still wearing fake smiles.

“Come on, babe, don’t blow us off just like that. Give us a chance.”

“Yeah, honey, don’t be hatin’.”

I caught Naiara’s eye in the crowd, and beckoned for her to join me. She nodded, and then I did the same with Cassie, who was more reluctant, but still came.

“I said no. I am busy. Please leave me to my work.” Undertow was trying really hard not to kill them, I could see it. She didn’t want to blow our cover, and was suffering for it. She was fixedly looking at the fountain as her horn glowed, ignoring the two idiots hitting on her.

Unfortunately, they didn’t take that well. Growling beneath his mask, the lead colt, a wheat-coloured earth pony with a red tag cutie mark, reached a hoof out and shoved her shoulder. “Listen, bitch, I don’t think you understand what I’m saying. You’re coming out with us tonight, or you’re in a crate heading to Plottawa tomorrow. You get me?”

His crony, an off-white thickset unicorn whose cutie mark was a red awning, also took the chance to shove her. “Yeah, his dad’s the head of the Merchant’s Guild, and mine’s his second-in-command. You ever want to eat in this town again, gurl, you come out with us tonight.”

“Fascinating.” There was nothing in that word that promised good things.

Startled, the two jokers spun around to see that I stood right behind them, flanked by Naiara and Cassie. None of us were smiling. “So you two are the sons of the Merchant’s Guild leaders, huh? Good to know.”

Incredibly, while his lackey was going even paler than usual, the earth colt didn’t seem to understand the situation he was in. “What’s it to you, nag? This is between us and her, now get lost before we teach you what it means to cross our families.”

“Yeeahhh,” Naiara drawled. “See, thing about that is… you don’t know who we are, ‘cause of the masks, while we know exactly who you two jokers are.”

His composure slipped. “I…”

Luckily for him, the unicorn had recovered enough to grab his shoulder. “Chad, bro, let’s just get out of here.”

Unluckily for him, ‘Chad’ failed to take the way out. “What the hell, Fisher? You’re gonna let a bunch of fillies boss us around like chumps? We…”

“…Were just leaving.” Cassie finished for him.

Chad just couldn’t let it go, though. “You don’t fucking talk to me like that! No mare talks to me like that! All you’re good for is sucking my…” He suddenly broke off, eyes wide.

Fisher was staring, jaw dropped, at the ice growing over Chad’s pelvic region.

My horn’s glow faded. “That’ll melt, eventually. Say one more word, just one, and you’ll leave here a gelding. Nothing to suck. Understand, jackhole?”

I looked past him to Undertow. “Keep working, miss, you didn’t see anything.”

Looking immensely relieved, she nodded and turned back to the fountain.

Cassie tapped the other one on the shoulder, who flinched away. “Fisher, was it? Why don’t you take your friend home? He seems to have gotten a chill.”

His pupils had shrunk to pinpricks, and he was so scared that he’d stopped blinking. “I… yes, ma’am. Sorry, ladies.”

Chad could only make pathetic squeaking noises as he was, very gingerly, led away.

When they were gone, I moved up and gave Undertow a big hug. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”

She held me back just as tightly, though I could feel her slight tremors. “I am fine, Lady Snow. It’s just…”

“I know.” I rubbed her back gently. You didn’t want to kill them, but they wouldn’t have given you a choice. “I know.”

After the hug broke, I turned to the others. “Stay with her, will you? I’m going to go report this little tidbit to Amber.”

Both nodded their consent.

“And if they come back?” My expression turned vicious. “Hurt them.”

Spinning on my heel, I stalked away, allowing myself to feel the full force of my anger. Those two little shits DARE lay a hoof on her?!

Down on the party level, I began to make my way towards Amber, standing alone on the raised dias. Unfortunately, as I set hoof on the dance floor, the musicians started up a lively tune, and ponies began to move to the rhythm, obscuring my path.

Still, I pushed on, trying to avoid, go around, or simply shoulder aside the couples in my way. My mood had soured, and the appeal of the party was rapidly draining away. I just wanted to let Amber know what we’d overheard, and then call it a night.

After narrowly avoiding being pincered between several groups dancing together, I found that my hoof had caught on something. Still looking towards Amber, I gave it a few quick jerks, but it was stuck tight. Vexed, I sighed and turned around to see what was trapping it.

Two more hooves, apparently. Oaken furred, and bearing a lattice of misshapen scars.

What happened to this guy? I tried again to pull my hoof away, but the stallion’s grip didn’t loosen a millimetre. Looking up into his face, I saw that he was wearing a white owl mask, just like me, and underneath sported a bright smile.

“Can you dance as well as your friends?” His voice was warm and friendly.

“Huh?”

The grin widened. “Let’s find out!”

I didn’t get a chance to reply, as he pulled me perfectly into formation with the other dancers, and began moving us through the steps of the dance, with me protesting all the while.

“Hey! I don’t wanna dance right now. Lemme go!” He was stronger than me, though, much stronger, and wouldn’t release me. What’s your problem, jackhole? You’re lucky we’re in the middle of everybody, means I can’t use my ice magic to stick you to the floor.

Hold on… why does this seem familiar? I’ve never danced like this befOH HELL I HAVE!!! Tensing up, I couldn’t stop my eyes travelling back to the stallion’s face, with only the hazel eyes visible under the mask. Smiling like a cat with a mouse, he gave a quick shake of his head, and I caught a glimpse of wavy blond locks.

Breath catching in my throat, I redoubled my efforts to get myself out of his grasp.

Those hazel eyes glinted. He leaned in and spoke quietly. “Red Ice. It has been some time.”

I kept tugging, but somehow he made it part of the dance. “Let… me… go! What are you even doing here?” Oh damn. Naiara, Cassie, anyone, help me out!

Undaunted, Peanut kept the lead as the music picked up. “You’ve been quite busy since we last spoke. Not a day goes by without my hearing your name… well, one of them at least, Snowflake.”

“What are you even doing here?” I hissed again, entirely unhappy that I couldn’t get away. And the fact that I can’t dance doesn’t help either!

He shrugged, but somehow, infuriatingly, did it in rhythm. “As you might have guessed, I can’t resist a dance. Plus, I have friends here.”

“You have friends?”

We twirled with the other dancers before he responded. “Hey now, that’s harsh. I like to think I’m a nice enough guy to be around.”

“You’re a slaver!”

He winked. “True, but doesn’t mean I’m not good company.”

I just gaped. “…Are you drunk right now?”

“Now now, Snowflake, that’s very rude. I’m trying to have a conversation with you.”

“About what? What could WE possibly have to talk about? You’re trying to kill me!” It was getting harder and harder to keep my voice down.

A quick one-two-three. “Well, perhaps later, but not tonight. In fact, I had no idea you would even be here tonight. Imagine my surprise.”

What? “Then how did you know it was me?”

Short bow. “Masks only hide so much. You forget, we’ve met in person before, met and… danced. I got a good look at the way you move. You can’t hide that from me with a dress, even one as nice as yours. It’s for that reason that I also know your hoof-fighter friend is up on the balcony. I apologise, but she wears her better.”

“Yeah, I know.” Catching myself, I shook my head. “If you’re not looking to kill me, then what? You gonna try to catch me here, in the middle of all these people? I have friends here, you know.”

“Oh, I’m sure you do. Also lots of enemies, too. That’s actually kind of the point.” An edge crept into his voice, even though the tone remained warm. “You’ve managed to fool lots of ponies since we met in Plottawa, Red Ice, and gained quite a reputation for yourself. Tonight, I just want to remind you that I’ve seen just how little you can do, with my own eyes. I won’t be forgetting about these scars on my hooves either.”

The music died down, and only then did he let me go. “Song’s over. Time’s up. I’ll be seeing you around.”

He melted back into the throng as the dance floor began to clear, leaving me standing there with my heart going a hundred miles per minute.

“I’ve gotta get out of here.” I whispered to myself, and immediately moved to find Amber, moving faster than what she’d consider dignified, trying to outrun the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

I found her off to the side of the fountain, in the shadows I had been standing in prior to meeting Cassie and Wings. She was issuing orders to staff, and they left as I arrived. “Ah, Snowflake. I trust that you have had a productive evening?”

“Can I talk to you?” I puffed out, still struggling to get my breathing under control.

“Of course, follow me.” She led us out onto the balcony. “How may I help you?”

Taking a deep breath didn't seem to help. “You invited the boss of Plottawa here?”

“Ah, you mean Peanut? Indeed I did. He approached me about working more closely with Red Eye, though I doubt much will come of it. Red Eye is merely a client, however high profile. We have no official ties.”

“Did you know he had a price on my head when you invited me earlier?”

She gave me a pitying look. “Well, you are the notorious criminal, Red Ice, after all. It’s hardly surprising.”

I couldn’t believe her, or this. “Any other dangerous groups invited?”

Amber didn’t shy away from the question. “Certainly, though many declined. Some are more influential than dangerous. Chief Rockhaunch was supposed to make an appearance, but he pulled out at the last minute.”

He’d rather be doing his job than… whatever this is. Good for him.

“And we cannot forget the Steel Rangers, though they squabble with the gate guards about having armoured ponies within Lethbridle’s walls. I invited Fedexi Lexi of Sprinkles Supplies too, but again, business called her away. A pity, but they have a good reputation. I shall try again at another date.”

“You can definitely trust them. Sprinkles Supplies, I mean… not the Rangers. I spent a little time on a job for Lexi. She knows what she’s doing.”

"An endorsement from Red Ice herself? How interesting.” She held up a hoof to forestall my warning. “No, I won’t be making that public. It would do me no good to have open dealings with you, not just yet.”

“’Not just yet’?”

She smiled a beatific smile. “I do believe that Red Ice’s name will be influential for some time yet, and not always so negatively. A mutual respectful relationship forged in secret now will be all the more important, when the public’s perception shifts.”

That caught me off guard. “You think it will?”

“I think that Schwarzwald has taken an interest in you, and I have learned to respect her judgement.”

That was not a full answer, more half an answer to that question and half to another, but it still lifted my spirits somewhat, to have a pony who didn’t think I was all the way gone.

“Speaking of Schwarzwald, she says the Bernstein Conclave does more business down south. What brought you this far up?”

For the first time, she looked to be on the backhoof in the conversation. “I… felt confident to leave my established operations in the hooves of some promising Bernstein cousins. They have some leeway, but I have put checks in place that will ensure a healthy profit while I am away… exploring this new market.”

“Just business then?”

“Er… yes.”

Liar. “We were talking a little at Whitepony, me and Bosco and Schwarz.” Her eyes glittered dangerously at the familiar form of address. “And we wondered whether we could get a different method of payment, not caps.”

I had her attention now. She’d straightened her spine, and gave off the impression of someone getting ready to bargain. “What did you have in mind?”

“Well, your Conclave is pretty far reaching, with tons of people working under you, right?”

The smallest inkling of pride shone through. “That’s correct.”

“Well, we were wondering if we could trade our caps for a future favour from the Conclave, though we’re not sure what yet.”

“…Intriguing, but unspecific. I might be able to accommodate this, but I have final say on whether I accept doing you this favour as a form of payment, and can decide to pay you caps instead at any point.”

That’s probably the best I could hope for. “Deal. It’s just me and Bosco who want this, I think. Schwarzwald said she was probably happy with caps, but you can talk that out with her when she brings you the Whitepony data.”

Half her attention was elsewhere, most likely on how the meeting with Schwarzwald would go… or just on Schwarzwald. “I’ll be certain to bring it up. Speaking of data, do you have anything to report tonight?”

“Actually, I heard something very interesting about the leaders of the Merchant’s Guild…”

~~~~~~

There’d been no sign of Peanut for the rest of the night, and we’d been set up in Amber’s servant quarters for safety during the night. She’d also given us an escort all the way to the gate before dawn, and we managed to slip away without any unwelcome eyes spotting us.

Now, finally, we were on the way to the Raider chief meet up. The day had arrived at last.

Just a little while longer, and I can start to change things for the better.

I looked over to Undertow, at my right shoulder. She returned the happy smile I gave her, though with the same slight unease I felt. There was still a chance this could all go to hell. A lot more people knew about this than just the two of us and Naiara, who was on my other side, and none of them really were interested in seeing it come to fruition.

The meet up was in the afternoon, and we’d gotten an early start. The route was quiet, as was the morning, so we were making good time at our current pace, and didn’t need to hurry.

It was a pleasant enough day, though quite cool. A light snowfall had come on during the night, a sure sign that winter was on its way down from the northern mountains.

Having spent a childhood staring at the white, this hardly fazed me. I was almost exuberant to see all my hard work finally pay off.

Still, it hadn’t been without setbacks, and I had to make reparations for that. “Listen guys, I know this is important and all, but I think that, after today, we can leave the Raiders for a little while. We need to help Bosco get his Memory Orbs back before we do anything else. It wouldn’t be fair to leave things as they are.”

“I agree, Lady Snow. I want to help Bosco too.”

Strangely, Naiara didn’t respond, not even to look at us. She just kept walking with glazed eyes.

“Naiara?” No response.

“NAIARA!”

She snapped back to reality with a few rapid blinks. “Huh? What?”

“Do you agree?”

It took her a few seconds to answer. When she did, it was not what I was expecting. She looked away as she responded. “Just… focus on today for now, Snow.”

Her jade eyes were downcast. “Hey, you alright?”

A hoof slipped under her cloak for a second, but came back empty. “I… don’t know.”

I was getting worried now. “Naiara, what’s wrong?”

I tried to reach out a comforting hoof, but she shied away from it, looking guilty. “Snow… I’ve got something to tell you.”

I groaned inwardly, but made the effort to hide it on my face. “What’s wrong, Naiara?”

“Atesh… he says he’s calling in the favour you owe him. Today, at the Raider meeting.”

“What? How does he know about it?”

Naiara reacted long before my brain caught up. “I swear I didn’t tell him! I didn’t even tell Cept!”

Would you need to? I thought bitterly. You showed after Whitepony that there are always zebra around. I relented on seeing her pained expression. “Easy, svara, I believe you. You couldn’t have told him when you were hurt, there wouldn’t be enough time for this. Atesh must’ve just found out some other way.”

Her relief was palpable. “Unten, svara. I promise that it won’t get in the way of what you’re trying to do here. Atesh even promised it wouldn’t!”

I trust you, Naiara, but that doesn’t mean I trust HIM. I’m still gonna have to watch out for this. “…I understand, Naiara. So long as it doesn’t ruin what I’m trying to do, then it should be fine. That being said, I want to get my stuff out of the way first, before we handle Atesh’s stuff. That okay?”

Naiara jumped over and gave me a hug. “Totally, Snow, thanks for understanding. All you’ve gotta do is stay out of it, while I handle the zebra business. I can’t leave the tribe hanging, you know?”

“…I know.” Please don’t go against me in this, Naiara. Not you.

Please.

~~~~~~

We stood on the same hilltop where we’d spoken with Four Fields, days and days ago.

Naiara, significantly more upbeat after coming clean, was gazing down at the camp. “Welcome to Barnstormer territory, Undertow.”

The Deep Diver remained impassive behind her goggles, instead choosing to watch the solitary figure down in the camp. “…It’s very dry.”

“Yeah, it’s a dump, I know. So why don’t we take pity on our poor eyes and just head down there?”

It was a dump, and had somehow gotten even worse in the brief time since we’d last been here. Four Fields’ death must have sparked infighting, as several of the already-ramshackle structures lay collapsed and blood-stained.

When we entered the village, the single pony we’d spotted from the hill made no move to acknowledge us. He or she, impossible to tell under the thick cloak that covered their entire body, sat beside one of the few remaining intact cauldrons, stirring a broth with a ladle wrapped in dark blue magic.

Naiara stepped forward, sniffing at the concoction, before pulling a face. “They completely ignored my advice. Same weak sauce as always.”

“I’m sure you can bring it up at the meeting.” I turned to the shrouded pony. “Is Caber Toss here yet?”

Wordlessly, the ladle rose from the stew, and began banging on the side of the cauldron.

After a few moments, a booming voice emerged from Four Fields’ former shelter. “Ho, so they’re here then? We’ll be reet oot.”

“We?” I shared a look with Naiara and Undertow. Who had Caber Toss brought to the meeting?

Stepping out, the powerful stallion was the same as I remembered. Caber Toss still wore nothing but a bandolier over his orange coat, with the massive shotgun and axe tucked inside. His blue-and-green tartan mane and facial hair were as unruly as ever. He broke into a wide grin as he set eyes on us. “Aha! Y’made it! Good goin’ Red Ice. Fantastic job all roond. A pity about Four Fields, but the crazy bastart’s still got plenty o’ Raiders who need guidin’. Ah’ve been looking after ‘em up til today.”

He suddenly stopped and scratched his head ruefully. “Well, ah say it was me, but really it was mah bonnie lass! ‘Mon out, sweetheart.”

“Sweetheart?” We chorused.

“Aye, ah’m comin’. Hol’ on a sec, will yeh?” Emerging from the tent after Caber Toss was, incredibly, an even bigger and more imposing pony. When last we’d seen her, she was coming after us with murder in her eyes, swinging the ridiculous battle axe that she now bore on her back.

Sweet Lips was all smiles, just like Caber Toss, when she spotted us. “Wee lassies, yeh’re awright! Ah’m glad.”

“Glad? Last time we saw you, you were trying to kill us, even after we saved your village.”

She turned a loving gaze on Caber Toss. “Aye, ah’m awful sorry on that. Ah thought yeh were after mah fella. Ah’m persuaded that’s no’ the case, so it’s nae bother.” Nauseatingly, she still giggled like a schoolfilly when Caber stood on hooftips to plant a kiss on her almost-toothless mouth.

“Uhh… can we get started please?” The faster we got this over with, the happier I’d be.

If he was upset that I’d broken up his affectionate moment, Caber Toss didn’t show it. “Aye, nae danger, hen. ‘Mon an’ sit doon fer a wee while. This wee fella,” he indicated the shrouded pony. “will gi’ us some o’ this broth. Ah’m starvin’.”

Putting words to actions, Caber Toss and Sweet Lips parked themselves on the ground to one side of the cauldron, with the silent pony already preparing bowls of gruel.

Shrugging, we sat down across from them, ready to begin. “So where do we start?”

Scratching his impressive facial mane, Caber remained easy-going. “Hmm, ah dunno. Ne’er done this before. Why don’t yeh say what yeh’re wantin’ outta all this, an’ we’ll go from there?”

And we have done this before? Whatever. “Well, I’ll say this first. I didn’t get into this to turn the Raiders into an army. I’m not looking to start any fights. What I want is to get the Raiders to be treated the same as everybody else in the Wasteland, and to treat others the same. No more acting like savages. There are enough Haylanders, Barnstormers, Deep Divers and Woodpeckers with talents that you shouldn’t have to live as you do. What I want is to help the four groups to gain legitimacy.”

“Legitawhit?” Neither Caber Toss nor Sweet Lips seemed to understand the word.

“Legitimacy,” Naiara jumped in to assist. “it means that you won’t be looked down on anymore.”

“Ohhhhh! Aye, well, that sounds pretty good. What else?” The two were looking more enthusiastic now.

“Ummm...” I cast around for a little while, messing with the bowl of stew I’d been given to stall until I could figure out an answer. “Oh! Well, at least for starters, I want this Raider collective to follow my lead. I’ll be in charge, that was the deal, with Undertow here as my second in command, and then you two. We’ll all take care of the rest of the Raiders together.”

Undertow was looking at me strangely as I promoted her, but I couldn’t focus on it. I had to keep my eyes on the two more Raider-like Raiders.

Sweet Lips was still smiling. “Aye, grand. Nae bother lass. Yeh two can make the hard decisions, an’ we’ll make sure the rest o’ these eedjits stay in line. Should work out just fine.”

Caber nodded in agreement with his wife. “Aye, ah’m in, Red Ice. Sounds like a plan. Now that that’s settled, mind if we have a quick word wi’ Two-tone there?”

“Two-tone?” I looked at Naiara, who seemed to be avoiding looking back. She hasn’t been called that in forever. What’s going on?

Stepping forward, Naiara reached under her cloak again. This time, she withdrew a small box. It took me a little while, but I recognised it. “That’s the package we got for you from Nightcap’s, when we first met!”

Turning sad eyes on me, she nodded. “Yeah. Thanks again for that, Snow. This is what Atesh wanted. I’m giving it to the Raiders. It’ll only take a second.”

Seriously? I was confused, and more than a little worried, about this development. Naiara had been extremely protective of whatever was in the package when we retrieved it for her, and now she’s just giving it away? To Caber Toss? This was more than a little unnerving.

Still, I’d promised to stay out of things, as my debt to Atesh for his zebra finding the fog creatures in Whinniepeg. I’d just have to wait it out, and trust that Naiara wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize what we were here for.

Stepping up to the Raider married couple, Naiara opened the box. I couldn’t see what was inside, but they seemed satisfied. “Aye, looks about right. Set it down right there, lass.”

Wordlessly, Naiara complied, and turned to me with an apologetic look.

That put her back to Caber Toss, who slammed the flat of his axe into the side of her head, sending her sprawling. She hit the dry, debris-strewn ground, and didn’t move.

“NAIARA!” Instantly Undertow and I sprang into action, horns blazing, as we faced the suddenly violent Raiders.

They were on us before we could blink. Caber Toss was wildly slashing at me with his axe, while Sweet Lips was pounding away at Undertow’s half-formed water shield. The only water around was in the bottles she carried with her, and it wasn’t enough to counter Ballbuster’s rampage.

I scrambled back as quickly as I could, but the sudden viciousness of the unrelenting assault made it impossible to conjure any magic. I was only just keeping myself out of range of Caber Toss’ axe.

Something caught me in the back of the legs, and I went down onto my back. Before I could blink, the bulky Raider was on me, sharp edge of his axe at my throat.

“LADY SNOW!” Undertow had spotted my distress, and the inattention cost her dearly. With a colossal downward swing, Ballbuster scattered the water shield, and then pinned her in the same manner as Caber Toss was restraining me.

I was still outraged at what had been done to Naiara, and glared daggers at him. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Caber Toss? Let us go right now!”

It wasn’t Caber Toss who answered, though, or Sweet Lips. A soft chuckling, which quickly grew in volume, came from a little ways off. I watched as the thing that had tripped me up, the soup ladle, floated before my eyes. “Don’t blame them, Snowflake, they’re just doing as I asked. It’s why none of you are dead yet.”

Craning my neck, carefully so as to avoid nicking it on the blade of the axe, I turned to look at the only other soul for miles.

Slipping off his heavy hood, a mop of bleach-blond mane, framing a horn that glowed dark blue, came into view.

I could not believe my eyes. I was utterly flabbergasted by the pony standing there. “Latvi?”

The former scientist broke out in a massive grin as he shucked off the rest of the robes, revealing the same lab coat I’d last seen him in, when he’d been taking me through Lethbridle’s streets on the way to Plottawa, though it looked a little worse for wear now. “Hello, Red Ice. Good to see you again.”

He trotted over to the box lying on the ground, and flipped the lid up. “I really have to thank you for this. None of it would have been possible without your inspiring words.”

“My what?” I wanted no part in this madness, whatever it was.

His voice shifted into a poor facsimile of my own. “Is Lithu going to be happy being with a pony with so little ambition?” You were right. I was just gonna run to Plottawa, maybe be a bean counter or something, after I lost out on collecting your bounty. I was maybe ten minutes outside of Lethbridle, when I realised that you were speaking the truth. I could do so much more.”

He spread his hooves wide, and his grin turned manic. “A Raider army! Isn’t it great? And it’s all thanks to you, Red Ice!”

I forgot myself and tried to rise, hissing as Caber Toss’ axe drew blood. “N-NO! That’s not what I wanted! It’s never been what I wanted!”

Chortling, Latvi pranced around for a moment. “Well, that’s the thing, you see. None of this was ever going to be what YOU wanted. That’s because, even though you were the inspiration behind the goal, it was never your goal to begin with, we just let you think it was. Caber Toss just had to play to your heartstrings: The tired old Raider who wanted a better life.” His glee turned to scorn. “A soft-hearted Stable pony like you would eat it up with a spoon, and just look at what happened. And you didn’t once question why a Raider as capable as Caber Toss wanted to follow somepony else?”

Looking back, I had to wonder how I missed such a massive oversight for such a massive stallion. “So you did all this to get back at me?” I glowered.

He barked out another harsh laugh, shoulders shaking as he did. “NO! Don’t you get it? You’re not important anymore, Red Ice! You were a means to an end, and that end is the ambition you claim I lacked! Now I don’t need Plottawa anymore. I’m as strong as they are, stronger even! This Raider army will be feared throughout the Wasteland!”

He’s lost it! My eyes found Undertow, and I completely forgot about the insane stallion for a second.

She was shaking, either with fear or rage, and either way it broke my heart. She’d been through so much because of me, and now I’d dragged her into another disaster.

Breeze was right about me.

Latvi wasn’t done. “Now then, the best part. See, you might be thinking ‘why are the Raiders following this guy? He’s a weakling!’, and you’d be right. I’m not the most powerful or strong unicorn around. But I do have a very tricky kind of magic as my special talent. Do you remember what it is?”

“Memory magic.” I ground out.

He nodded so low it turned into a bow. “Memory magic. As you no doubt realise through Memory Orbs, even after ponies die, their memories keep going, spilling all sorts of secrets that just won’t stay buried. This is true for even the most powerful of ponies. Allow me to demonstrate.”

Up from Naiara’s box floated a strange object. It was like a torch, black at one thick end, and red the rest of the way, tapering in to a tip. Latvi gazed at it with obvious delight. “This is something very special, very special indeed. It belonged to a world-shaking pony from before the war. This guy even gave Celestia and Luna fits. This… is the horn of King Sombra.”

My eyes widened as Watcher’s words came back to me. Sombra? The guy who sealed away the Crystal Empire, and almost killed everyone? That Sombra? “B-but… he’s dead!”

The words ‘so what?’ might as well have been written across Latvi’s forehead. “Dead and gone, never to return, but you’re missing the point. A guy like Sombra didn’t just stop when he died, he left a legacy behind. From the way you reacted to the name, I’d assume you learned something about him in the Stable?”

“Y-yeah.” There was no way I was gonna let this monster know about Watcher.

Latvi was loving stroking the smooth shaft of the horn. “The body’s dead, but the horn remains, and I think it has a few tricks left up its sleeve.” He pointed to Naiara’s prone form. “Your zebra friends? They want crystals, enough so that they don’t ever have to come back to Equestria again. That’s half of what the war was about, you know. Sombra was the Crystal King, and they’re betting on my digging out some crystal growth spells in this horn to allow them to do just that.”

Atesh, you fucking moron, what have you done?! “It’s just a horn, it’s as dead as Sombra. There’s nothing left!”

Latvi’s own horn began to glow dark blue. “Let’s test that, shall we?” His magic began to swirl around Sombra’s horn, moving it this way and that, with occasional sparks jumping between the two horns.

Cracks began to appear in the ground around us, and from them sprang impure, misformed crystals, which crumbled as soon as they formed.

“Hmm, I’ll need to work on that.” Latvi didn’t seem terribly upset about having a malfunctioning spell coming from Sombra’s horn. “Still, at least we know, right?”

After a few more moments with his attention lost in the horn, Latvi went very still. “Oh, now that’s interesting.” His expression was intense, both haunted and excited at the same time. His eyes kept flicking between Undertow and I. “VERY interesting.”

“What? What have you done? Whatever it is, it’s bad news, don’t do it!”

Utter contempt showed through Latvi’s smile. “Oh now, Red Ice, don’t be silly.” Synchronised gasps escaped Undertow and I, as the stallion’s eyes turned green, and purple smoke began to pour from them. “How could I call myself a scientist if I pass up the chance to experiment? That wouldn’t be very… ambitious.”

I couldn’t move, couldn’t look away. Those green and purple eyes seemed to grow and grow and grow, until they ate the land and sky, and everything else, until they were all I could see.

Dimly, I heard Undertow’s voice, as if echoing from a great distance. “…Snow...Lady Snow…where are you…please…”

She sounded so far away, on the other side of those eyes. “Undertow, I’ll find you, just hold on!”

No matter my assurances, her voice faded more and more, until I couldn’t hear anything at all. All there was were those eyes.

“Don’t you worry your little head, Snowflake. She’s next.” Latvi’s voice came through much clearer than Undertow’s, and drowned her out.

“No, you can’t! She’s got nothing to do with this!”

“...Okay so THIS is a little to get back at you. I think I deserve just a little fun, all things considered.”

And then there was nothing.

~~~~~~

Level Up!

Perks gained: A Plague On All Your Houses – Not many groups actually LIKE Snowflake that much, but they have to recognise her. Her reputation increases with all factions.

~~~~~~

Author's Note

That’s all for now, folks. Please keep reading, commenting, and spreading the word on Old Souls. I really appreciate your feedback.

Chapter 15-1: Red Ice

[I tried to back away, only to find my hooves mired in the muddy street! ]

I shot upright with a tremendous inhalation, eyes wide. Frantically, my head turned rapidly this way and that, trying to find Latvi, Caber Toss, Ballbuster or, most importantly, Undertow.

Finding nobody, I lurched towards the door, only to end up faceplanting into the metal floor as the sheets tangled around my legs. On trembling hooves, I tried to push myself upright, before abruptly stopping.

Wait, the floor is metal, and I’m in a bed? Where am I?

Finally levering myself up to a sitting position, the scene before me was initially confusing, but soon found reference. “I’m… this is… my room?”

Though not the subterranean master bedroom of Hoofshine Harlots, this was still, most definitely, my room. I had all but given up hope that I’d see these particular four walls ever again, as confusion over not knowing where I was shifted to confusion over knowing where I was.

Through the open doorway, in cracked paint, a giant ‘61’ graced the metal corridor wall, as tall as a stallion. “What is this?”

Kicking away the sheets, I did a slow pan of the room. The non-descript bed tucked into the corner, the bare chest of drawers, the knickknack-free shelves, and the featureless walls were all the same as I remembered them.

None of it, however, served to explain why I was here at all. Tentatively stepping into the hallway, I longed for some clue as to why I was back in this place, when the last thing I remembered was so very different.

“Undertow?” I called out worriedly.

Only the hidden hum of the Stable’s machinery answered me. Fretting, I bounded to the neighbouring rooms, checking any open door I could find, and hammering on any door releases when the rooms were closed.

“Undertow! Where are you?” Had she been brought here too? Or was she somewhere else entirely?

I pounded on the walls of the last empty room. “LATVI! Answer me! What have you done?!”

Again, no answer but the inner workings. “This isn’t funny, Latvi! Bring her back! If you touch her I swear I’ll shatter both your horns!” And that damn horn of Sombra’s too!

The pain in my hooves was beginning to crowd out my confusion, but I only stopped banging, not moving. Picking myself up, I ran back to my room. There had to be a clue somewhere, something that would tell me what had transpired.

The room proved to be as barren as ever, with the indent in the pillow being the only thing showing that anybody had been in here recently.

“Undertow!” I tried one more time. “Come on, if you can hear me, say something! Anything!”

I’d have paid any price to hear her sweet, watery voice at that moment.

Worry for Undertow and confusion at my situation were at the forefront of my mind, but just behind them was a deep seething anger at the cause of it all. “Laaaatviiiiii!!!" My horn flared just before my hoof arced up and around, slamming into, and through, the now-frozen desk.

He would pay for what he had done. Whatever had happened was his doing, and it was all bad. If I was back in the Stable, then it meant that he knew about it, and how to get there. His knowing the location was bad, but his revenge game of dropping me here while spiriting Undertow away was worse. THAT was going to cost him.

Fuelled by my anger, I dragged myself to my hooves, and stalked out of the room, forgetting it instantly.

Not like it meant much in the first place.

~~~~~~

The stale air of Stable 61 hadn’t changed, holding that same acrid scent on the edge of the smell-sense, telegraphing its recycled, second-hoof sterility. It was cloying, and failed to truly fill the lungs, instead pressing down with the slightest of pressures. I idly wondered why I had never noticed before.

I had to backtrack a few times, as I couldn’t remember the route, finding myself traversing endlessly similar corridors, and at one point even ending up back at the living quarters. I tried to engage whatever automatic memory I followed when going through the monotonous routines of Stable life, but I just couldn’t fall into the daze. Unless the Stable layout had changed drastically in the time I’d been gone, I was obviously losing my touch.

I’d been following the arrows, but not the words next to said arrows, not really caring where I particularly went at present, so long as I got somewhere more active, but I was having little luck in that regard.

I received a lifeline in the form of the static-y corner speakers groaning into activity, with a should-have-been-familiar, cultured voice booming out. “Good day, fellow residents of Stable 61…”

I knew that voice, but I couldn’t form an image of the person in my head.

Obviously unaware of my inner struggles, the voice retained its good cheer as it continued its message. “Now, I am aware that we have had an interesting few weeks here in the Stable, but I must ask that you not let it distract you any further from an important upcoming event… the Overseer elections, which are coming up within the week!”

“Roc.” The charismatic, sandy-feathered griffon still had designs on the Over Office. The elections were scheduled for the second week after I left. Did my leaving set you back, Roc, maybe show others that you don’t have all the answers?

How about you, Overmare? Did kicking me out keep you in that chair for a few more days?

“I do hope that you all come down on Election day and cast your vote. It is the honour, privilege, and duty of all Stable residents to take part in this process, so that we maintain a true representative government here in Stable 61. We have no silly princesses like Old Equestria did, my dear friends, and are the better for it.”

“You sure about that?” I muttered as I trudged onwards. Old Equestria had been dead in the Wasteland for two hundred years, and the Stable remained shut tight, with myself as the only one to leave.

“Finally, as I myself am running for the position of Overseer for our fine Stable, I would like to remind you that my door is always open to any and all who have questions on the democratic process, or wish to raise any concerns with me for the future. You all deserve to be heard, and I look forward to chatting with you. Until then, good residents, I bid you farewell.” The scratchy signal cut out a few seconds after the griffon finished talking.

“I know a guy just like you, you two-faced liar.” Roc couldn’t hear me, and nor could Peanut, the equally charismatic, equally fake commander of the Plottawan slavers, but they evoked the same reaction from me. Well, almost the same. Roc’s not scary, he’s just annoying.

Possessed by a desire to NOT see Roc in the flesh any time soon, I decided on a different tack for moving through the Stable. Since my mind was still struggling with the unexplained journey I’d taken after Latvi’s weird spell hit me, I felt that I needed some quiet time to work things out.

I knew just the place too.

~~~~~~

Legs dangling over the rim, I stared into the abyss.

Back at the same geothermal energy collector where I’d first touched the damaged Memory Orb, I sat idly on the lip of the ledge. Somehow, I’d managed to sneak in when nobody was around, and hadn’t yet been discovered.

Why haven’t I see anyone around yet? The Stable’s still running, and there are no signs of anything going wrong. Strange though it was, it remained a secondary concern, at least until I could ascertain what had gone down during… whatever Latvi’s spell had done to Undertow and I.

“Okay…” I could barely hear myself over the roar of the heat-collectors nearby, but I spoke more for the act than anything else. “…what do we know?”

“I’m back in the Stable, though I don’t know how or why. Undertow isn’t here, nor Naiara. Neither are Latvi or the Raiders. I don’t know how long it’s been since that meeting, or anything that’s gone on since. The Overmare’s still Overmare for now, and Roc’s still a jackhole. Um… what else?”

I lifted my hoof. Aside from the unmarked barding I’d received at Sprinkles Supplies, there was nothing there. “Still no Pipbuck, even back in the Stable. I’m also missing the Memory Orb, which may come up at some point.”

These too, were secondary concerns compared to the unknown fates of Undertow and Naiara. Last time I’d seen them, one had been knocked out and the other had a battle axe to her throat. Naiara might have escaped Latvi’s spell, but Undertow was hit with it, just like I was.

“Naiara’s strong. She’ll have gotten away, none of those Raiders could have stopped her. Hopefully, she got Undertow away too… hopefully.”

And then, she has some serious explaining to do about just what in the hell she and Atesh were thinking by fooling around with Sombra’s horn! I didn’t think anybody was looking forward to that conversation, but it wasn’t something I could just let go, since it took Undertow from me, and for all I knew might have caused a whole heap of other problems.

The shaft down into the mountain gave no answers, but still evoked thoughts of what could have been. Letting the Memory Orb roll into the chasm, and not trying to catch it, would have meant catching flak for being lazy, but also that I never would have left the Stable. I would have continued on as usual, spending time with my brothers, safe in the Stable for years to come.

And then what? What would I have done instead of what I did in the Wasteland? I’d never have met Undertow, Naiara, Wings, Bosco, Schwarzwald, even Cassie and Breeze. I’d be just another Stable pony doing monitor duty. Nice and safe.

…Yeah.

“Aha! Here you are!” The exuberant exclamation was accompanied by the beating of wings. Looking up, Roc’s shadow fell on me as he descended, coming to a hovering halt before me, confident grin plastered on his beak.

“I have been hoping for a free moment with you ever since I heard that you had returned. I’m glad to catch you with nobody else around for once.” The twinkle in his eye looked genuine, but I’d been on the receiving end of his enthusiasm-acting before, so remained on my guard.

“It never occurred to you that I’m down here because I DON’T want company, Roc?” If I wanted to talk to anyone in the Stable, I’d have gone to find my brothers.

His smile remained, though the twinkle, while not completely disappearing, faltered. “And I apologise for intruding upon your private thoughts. You’ve no doubt seen much in your time away from the Stable, but I feel that I must talk with you about it, for the good of all of Stable 61’s residents.”

“…Seriously?” That’s the line you’re going with?

Roc’s mid-air bow seemed ludicrous when delivered to someone like me, who’d already seen his mask slip once. “Oh yes. I have been eagerly awaiting this day. Such stories you must have to tell! I honestly expected you back scant days after you left, as you are ill-suited to survive in a hostile environment, especially without your buffalo to protect you, but here you are weeks later, and in good health to boot! Very impressive indeed, you’ve exceeded all my expectations a dozen times over.”

“What do you mean you expected me back in a few days?” Didn’t he know that I had been exiled?

He held up a calming claw. “Please, I admit that I was wrong. You proved yourself far more capable than you seemed before you left. Your time in the Wasteland appears to have been good for you. That being said, it was always the case that you would return, but to last for over a fortnight is admirable for you.”

“What do you mean I was always gonna come back? And staying alive for weeks is a surprise? Fuck you, Roc!”

The twinkle disappeared. “I was trying to compliment you, Snowflake, but since you seem disinterested in such things, I will move straight on to business. You will recall I offered you status during the incident with that magical sphere. You left the Stable before I received an answer, or perhaps that was your answer. Either way, I would like to extend the offer again, and more. This time, not only do you have exposure to Old Equestria, you have firstclaw experience of what life outside the Stable is like.”

Seriously, Roc, what is wrong with you? You’ve been insulting me this entire time, yet you’re still sure that you can convince me to help you out. “I should introduce you to Amber Bernstein sometime, Roc. She’d just love you.” And that meeting would have been a treat for any observer.

Roc swooped down to land next to me, throwing his arms wide good-naturedly. “Yes, I’ve heard that name mentioned before. What can you tell me about her? And the others?”

Ice-water ran through my veins. “Wait, you’ve heard about Amber? How?”

Lazily waving his claw, Roc took the moment to scratch his sandy feathers. “Oh, after you left, we felt that it was important to boost our monitor range. We stumbled across all manner of broadcasts from outside the Stable. The information was… disjointed at best, which is where you come in. Even though you were no doubt scared and running for your life most of the time, you should have been able to pick up some of the local gossip through osmosis, if nothing else. Your time in the Wasteland did coincide with a time of much activity, after all, and we followed as much as we could.”

“You… followed what happened out there? What… what did you find?” Naiara wouldn’t be the only one with things to answer for, it would seem.

“Oh we know all about what you’ve been up to. Nobody quite expected all the trouble that you got into…”

Jackhole!

“…Well, no. We expected you to find trouble, but not to find it in the places that you did.”

“Ugh, Roc, I dislike you. You know that right?” I really saw no reason to hide it any longer, especially since my actions were coming to light.

All I got in return was a mildly affronted sniff. “Often the reaction of petty individuals to those who have what they crave. It is also irrelevant. My offer still stands. Tell me what you’ve managed to observe of the major factions and people of interest out there in the Wasteland, like Bernstein, The Steel Rangers and their Elder, Plottawa, Lethbridle, and others, and I shall afford you the second most powerful post in the Stable when I take the position of Overseer. I am being very generous here, given what I am to receive in return.”

My gaping jaw slammed shut firmly after hearing that final line. “I have many people that I dislike, Roc, some that I even hate, but MY STARS do you make it easy to loathe you. If you ever met yourself, one of you jackholes would end up dead!”

Drawing himself up, he opened his mouth to retort, but I cut him off. “You’ll be a terrible Overseer, and I wouldn’t help you if you paid me all the caps in the Wasteland. Do you know what caps are, or are you still thinking in bits? They’re money Roc, did you pick that up in your ‘disjointed’ information?”

Rolling away from the edge, I rose with my back to him. “Whatever you think you might know, wrong as it will be, keep it to yourself. I’m done talking with you.”

Guttural, enraged choking sounds accompanied me as I sauntered away, happy to have shut the damn buzzard up for once in his miserable life. Screw sending him to Amber, I’ll just have him meet Wings!

~~~~~~

Shutting down Roc had put a bit of a spring in my step, and seeing the corridors begin to fill with ponies, buffalo, zebra, donkeys, griffons and diamond dogs lightened my heart. As I passed them, I doled out easy smiles at first.

“Hey, wasn’t that…”

“Snowflake?”

“I heard she was dead!”

“Don’t let her touch you!”

“Yeah, Old Equestria’s got its hooks into her.”

“Can’t believe the Overmare let her back in!”

“She’s smiling like she wants to drink our blood!”

“Yeah, that’s totally what happens in Old Equestria.”

“Really?”

“Totally!”

“Wow, better steer clear then.”

“Sshh! She’ll hear you!”

It definitely hurt to hear that from people I used to live with, but I still struggled to keep a straight face nevertheless. Who thinks this stuff up? Drinking blood? That’s what they think Old Equestria was all about? I’m sure there are history files on their Pipbucks that they could look at if they really wanted to know. They’re working themselves dizzy for nothing!

“Can’t believe she’s changed so much.”

“Yeah I know, she used to be so quiet.”

“She was useless before she left. Old Equestria must be horrible to do that even to her.”

My smile faded. What does it take?

Rounding on the last one who spoke, my horn glowed faintly, and I opened my mouth, letting the mist seek out as I bared my fangs. “Graaah!”

My hiss sent them scampering away, scooping up their foals as they ran.

I got a wide berth after that, anger at the fact that I apparently needed to become a monster to get even the slightest bit of respect from my ‘peers’ warring with a little bit of pride that I WAS getting respect. Not one of them had seen even a fraction that I had in the last few weeks, extra sensors or not. What do they know about ‘useless’?

Moving into the main Stable, I was finally able to get a good look at the time. The early shift was only a few hours in, meaning the Stable would have a lull of activity as the graveyard shift went to their beds, while the late shifts wouldn’t be waking up for a while yet. A good time to look around without too much hassle.

Passing by a Monitor room, I caught a flicker of blazing blue out of the corner of my eye. “Wings?!” Immediately doubling back, I charged into the room, ignoring the snoring pony curled up in the corner chair while casting about at every monitor in search of my friend.

Well versed in this particular piece of equipment, I triggered the rewind. “Come on, come on…” Each and every screen shifted into reverse, but I didn’t see any sign of the chocolate-and-cream griffon. Frustrated, I ran the tape backwards and forwards again and again, searching for any missing moment. “It’s gotta be here somewhere!”

“Whuzzat?” Disturbed, the monitor pony jerked awake. Halfway at least. “What in tarnation? Can’t a Pegasus get a little shut-eye around here?”

I was barely paying attention, eyes still on the footage. “Eyes open, Pegasus. You’ve got work to do. I’m looking for a picture of a griffon, just happened. She’s got big blue eyes, you can’t miss ‘em. Help me to find her.”

“Kid, if you wanna date that badly, just go find ‘er in the fur, and leave me to my well-deserved… wait, that you Ice Cube?”

Ice Cube? Only one person calls me that! “Whiskey Sour?” Spinning away from the screens, I came face to face with the older Pegasus.

Surprised recognition blossomed over her face. “Snowflake, it is you! Well wipe my glass, girl, been a while!”

“Y-yeah. A lot’s happened.”

Sobering, she sat up straighter. “Yeah, I’ll bet. Listen, Ice Cube, I gotta ‘pologise fer what I said in the Medical Bay. You didn’t deserve that.”

I couldn’t have cared less what she said in the Medical Bay. “It’s fine, but can you help me out now? I need to find my friend on here.”

Whiskey Sour didn’t move, just kept staring at me pityingly. “No, kid, it ain’t fine. I shoulda known better. I know ya well enough, and I went too far. I shouldn’ta set you off like that.”

Now I cared. “Sour, what are you talking about?”

The pathetic look she was giving me intensified. “Now, don’t need to be puttin’ on a brave face with me, kid. I know yer a little fragile, and my callin’ you out fer something that weren’t your fault with that doohickey shouldn’ta been said, ‘specially after what happened next.”

I was beginning to worry about the older Pegasus. She’d been stressed out from what had happened, but she was treating me like glass. “What happened next?”

You’d struggle to find a more shamefaced pony. “Y’know, you ran away from the Stable. I shouldn’t have piled on when you were going through all that. It was too much already, anybody could see that.”

You think your yelling at me was what sent me out of the Stable? Really? That’s even stupider than Roc! I couldn’t even think of a proper response to that, except to cock my head on its side in confusion.

When I did, though, another flash came through in my peripheral vision. It wasn’t a pair of blue eyes this time though, rather, it was a coltish charcoal blur. “Bosco!” Immediately I turned back to the footage, but found no more joy than with Wings. I worked the timer back and forth in my search.

“What-co?” Whiskey Sour rubbed her eyes with a wing. “Snow, are you okay? You havin’ a bad moment?”

I didn’t deign to turn my head for that, instead just shooting her a quick glare. Between her amber feathers, however, was a third flash, of jade green and grey-black stripes.

“Naiara!” I muscled Sour out of the way, searching the edge monitor for another sign.

“Now now, Ice Cube,” The middle-aged Pegasus was looking more and more unnerved. “I’m not meanin’ to upset you like this. Just take it easy, I’m real sorry.”

“Dammit, you’re not helping!” In desperation, I flicked through the other visual settings on the monitors in rapid succession: Infrared, Night Vision, Flipped Negatives, Widescreen, Tagged- Wait! Go back!

Flipping back through to widescreen, I tried in vain to relocate the twins, Breeze and Cassie, I’d seen flying on the widescreen picture, but to no avail. Letting out a wordless growl, I slammed a hoof onto the console in frustration.

Whiskey Sour, mistaking my anger for ‘fragility’ used her wings to gently fan my face. “Easy there, Snowflake. I’ll just go ahead and call that brother o’ yours, alright? We’ll get you seen to.”

I turned and got in her face. “I’m. Fine.” I gritted out. Her wide eyes proved the perfect mirror for another of the screens, where a wood brown earth mare with a forest green mane flickered out of focus.

Twisting, I knew it would be too late, but I had to try anyway.

Yep, no luck. What’s happening here?

“Ice Cube, I’m gonna take you to the docs for now, let you rest fer a while. Please, come along now.”

“Okay, this has gone on long enough, Whiskey Sour! I am not having a ‘bad moment’, and I am not going to go to any doctors. I am trying to find my friends in this footage, and you are sitting there treating me like I’ll break if you breathe too hard. I didn’t leave the damn Stable because of whatever the hell you said in the Medical Bay, I left it because of what put me in the Medical Bay in the first place. Now leave me alone!”

I all but ran out of the Monitor room, but couldn’t escape her last words. “I’m prayin’ for ya, kid.”

~~~~~~

The noise of the atrium faded to a low hum on the way to the upper walkways where I now sat, gazing down on the Stable activity. Residents of all shapes, sizes and colours trooped back and forth below me. I watched one particularly entertaining young zebra colt, who managed to make it all the way across the room without touching the floor, courtesy of the backs, shoulders, horns and heads of the adult Stable dwellers.

That had been an entertaining thirty seconds… out of the two hours I’d been up in the shadows.

“…Is this it?” The question was vocalised more to hear a new noise than anything, since I’d been entertaining such thoughts for many minutes already.

This was what I was trying to find my way back to? This was what I took as the right way to live? “Old Equestria’s war is not our war. We await the day New Equestria is born.” I can’t help but feel that the keyword there is ‘await’.

What changes here, in the end? What makes one day or another any more important than the last?

“Tch, I’ve met a ghoul with more life than this place. I mean, what’s the point?” Nobody gave an answer. Nobody heard, and nobody looked up. Plenty of them were looking down though, at the Pipbucks on their wrists. “…Wonder how many of you even know that there’s a map maker function on there?”

My muttered musings did draw the attention of one Stable dweller, at least. There was a clang of heavy hoof on the grating at the end of the walkway. My head lolled lazily in that direction, to where the sienna-furred buffalo stood frozen, a look of shock on his face.

Instantly, my expression matched his, though only for a moment. Tears tracked their way down my face as we faced each other, stock-still.

The big bovine found his voice first, though it shook and hesitated as he spoke. “Is… is it you?”

Fighting past the lump in my throat, I could only manage a small nod, and the faintest of confirmation sounds. Still, it broke the spell and, with rapid steps, he covered the distance between us and swept me up into a bone crushing hug.

My shoulder began to moisten from where he was holding it to his face. “They told me you were back. I’ve missed you so much.”

Buff’s gruff tone lacked its usual steadiness, but just hearing him again, and being this close, was all I cared about at this moment. Hugging back just as tightly, I revelled in his familiar warmth. “Me too. It’s been so long. All I wanted was to let you know I was okay, to get in touch somehow, to say I’m so, so sorry for all that’s happened.” I nuzzled in a little deeper. “It’s all my fault, Buff, can you ever forgive me?”

The firm shake of his head had me rocking back and forth, but neither of us loosened our grip. “There’s nothing to forgive, it wasn’t your fault. It was never your fault. You’re home now, and safe, that’s all that matters.”

I felt myself being lifted, and soon ended up nestled between massive shoulder blades. “Buff?”

With a final sniff, he got his voice under control. “We need to find Al and Lo. They’ll want to see you too. I’ll take you right there, just hold on tight.” With light, confident strides, he covered ground quickly, and was motoring as fast as his restrained personality would let him.

The crowd parted easily before Buff, as any sane being would when in the way of a buffalo moving with purpose. He was more talkative than his usual taciturn self, too. “It was chaos around here, at first, after you left. So many people came forward with ideas on what to do next. Al, Lo, and I didn’t care, not really. They didn’t believe you had left the Stable at first. They searched all over for you. There was even talk of sending a team down into the shaft. They didn’t stop for three days!”

My enjoyment at his thick fur tickling my nose faded. “Th-they did? They didn’t get into trouble, did they?” They didn’t deserve to be punished for what I’d done.

“No, they were mostly left alone. They only really talked to me, or each other. Some of the other buffalo tried to get them to slow down, but they ignored them.”

“Didn’t you try to calm them down?” Buff was probably the only person they’d listen to in that situation.

“I… wasn’t sure that they should. I hoped that they would find you somewhere in the Stable. From all reports, the Equestrian Wasteland is not a nice place. I made it very clear to the Overmare what I thought of you being out there when the truth came out.”

I was even more worried now, though also a little touched. “You… went against the Overmare?”

“Every second I could. She was… less than cooperative. Wouldn’t tell us how you got out, or let us out after you. She threatened to throw the book at me. She threatened to throw EVERY book at me. I was in her office a lot, and didn’t always leave willingly.”

A warm feeling began to spread in my chest. “Buff… you didn’t have to do that.”

“Yes I did!” His response would brook no arguments. “You’re our sister, and we weren’t going to let anything happen to you.” When he spoke next, his voice cracked and his breath caught. “We didn’t give up, I promise, we didn’t.”

I patted his horn softly, over his quaking shoulders. “I know you didn’t. You never would. I didn’t think any different, not even for a second.” The Doublehorns were the best people in the entire Stable, and I was as lucky as anyone in Stable 61 to have Buff, Al, and Lo for siblings. Nobody would convince me otherwise.

Silence fell for the next few minutes, as I rode in silence to give Buff time to collect himself. He’d always been strong, naturally falling into the role of eldest to his three brothers. He wouldn’t want to be seen crying by too many people in the Stable. When he did speak up again, it was a question that sent a shock right through me.

“So what did you do when you were outside?”

Oh, hell. “…I travelled, mostly. I went around to a lot of the different towns and villages. I met lots of different people.”

“There wasn’t trouble, was there? When we found a way to receive broadcasts from the outside, there was mention of some nasty business.”

“…Yeah, there was some trouble. Things… didn’t always go as planned. What did you hear mentioned?”

A ripple ran through his back as he shrugged. “Well, a lot of it we didn’t really understand. There was a group that got mentioned a lot, Raiders? Nobody really knows what that means. Do you know?”

Oh yeah, I do. “Yeah, kinda. They’re… dangerous. You have to be wary around them. They aren’t like anything you’ll have seen before.”

Instantly he was all concern again. “You weren't hurt, were you?”

“Well, no, they didn’t hurt me.”

“They didn’t? Who did?” His tensing almost toppled me from his back.

How long have you got? “…I’m not gonna lie, Buff, the Wasteland isn’t always easy to live in. The rules out there are very different than in here. There’s no getting away from that. I had to learn fast.” I had to be very careful with my words. Buff was angry, the angriest I’d ever seen him, but telling him all that had done on wouldn’t do anyone any good right now. He needed to calm down. “Focus on the positives, little brother. I’m okay, let’s leave it at that for now.”

“…”

“Please, Buff?”

In no way satisfied, he still reined in his rare temper. “Fine…”

I breathed a small sigh of relief.

“…So long as it wasn’t Red Ice who hurt you.”

“Ghk!” Rigid, I tried to process what he’d just said. “Where did you hear that name?”

He’d resumed his steady gait. “It came up a lot. Lots of people seemed to be talking about her. She’d been spotted all over the area, and always causing trouble.”

“A-and?”

“It was a rough little while when Al got it into his head that you might have run afoul of her. None of us slept well when he told us about that theory.”

Um… “You didn’t find out who she was?”

“Well, no. That was never in any of the transmissions we came across. It didn’t seem like many people outside knew either. Do you know who she is?”

Yes. “No.”

“But you didn’t run into her?”

“…That’s right.” My stomach was twisting in on itself.

Relief flooded into his voice. “I’m glad. She’s dangerous and violent. Just look at what happened in… well, you’d know more than I would.”

That’s very true. “Yeah, I tried not to get too involved in what was going on. I didn’t think I knew enough.”

Buff nodded his agreement, and said no more until we reached the Doublehorn quarters. Opening the door, he let me down and then bade me enter, choosing to wait in the doorway.

The front room of the suite was empty when I stepped through, my hoofsteps echoing loudly in the absence. A quick look around revealed no other buffalo, at least from where I could see. “Hello?”

“SNOW!”
“SIS!”

Immediately I was mobbed by two sienna-furred giants, with only the briefest of moments to wonder how they moved that fast before impact. The unbridled emotion I felt when I first saw Buff again came roaring back with my two other brothers.

“You’re okay!”
“We missed you so much!”
“Are you hurt?”
“When did you get back?”
“What happened to you?”
“Don’t ever do that again!”

Much more was said, but through the blubbering and talking over one another, that was all I managed to make out.

Still, it felt right, and good, and happy to be back here. I even managed a laugh. “If this is the sort of reaction I get when I come home, I should go away more often.”

“NO!”
“NEVER AGAIN!”

The absolute terror in their voices killed that joke instantly. I managed to untangle myself enough to get a look at their faces.

They were ghostly white, and six eyes had shrunk to pinpricks.

My heart shattered the moment Lo spoke. “Don’t say that, ‘Flake, don’t you ever say that again!”

Al just made it worse. “You can’t leave us again, ever! Your place is here, with us!”

It was impossible to argue with their forlorn faces, and Buff was no help, smile having turned upside down the moment he got in the door. “Alright, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.” I reached up and put a hoof as far around each of their necks as I could. “I missed you both, so much.”

The hugs were returned. “We missed you too.”

“Yeah, but now you’re back, and we can take care of you now. We’ll never let anything like this happen to you again. Never ever ever!”

Even just a little bit, Lo’s childlike promise gave me pause. It wasn’t ALL bad, you know.

Al got in on the act too. “Yeah, we heard all these stories and reports about what was going on out there. Crazy stuff. Anybody tries to send you back out there will have to get through us!”

“YEAH!”

“Eheh… yeah.” Luckily, they didn’t pick up on my nervous chuckling through the muffle of the crush they had me in.

I was finally set down. Lo wiped away the last of his tears. “We almost went nuts when you disappeared, ‘Flake. Buff was always yelling at the Overmare about what happened, and Al and I went tearing around the entire Stable, even places we weren’t s’posed to be in, trying to find you!”

Al was surprisingly stone-faced. “We saw things. Wondrous and terrible things.”

Buff cleared his throat. “She doesn’t need to know what you saw in the female dormitory.”

Deeply-ingrained big-sister switches were flipped for a moment. “Al! Lo! You shouldn’t have gone in there! Shame on you!”

The snap in my tone dropped their ears in a heartbeat. “But we just…”

“No buts, misters! You stay out of there, you’re good boys.”

“Yes’m.”

Al’s dejection broke first, and he burst out laughing, though the tears threatened to fall at the same time. “I’m so glad you’re back, Snowflake! It hasn’t been the same around here!”

“Yeah, nobody else talks to us like that, we need you!”

My chest fluttered again. “I’m glad I’m back too. I need you guys too… though you should stay out of the ladies’ areas.”

Lo’s head bobbed up and down vigorously in response. Al bore the biggest grin as he leant in for another nuzzle, craving the contact. Buff held himself back, as usual, but his smile told the truth.

“You’re good boys.” I repeated, eyes moistening again.

“And you’re our favourite sister!”

“I’m your only sister.”

“Which means you’re too special to lose!”

“Aww, you guys don’t have to go tha…”

“So we promised each other, that we’d never ever ever let you out of our sights again when we found you!”

“I…”

“We’re gonna make sure you’re here, and safe, forever!”

“Uh…”

“Isn’t that right? Who needs that stupid Wasteland?”

“You don’t ever need to think about that place again, no way they’re getting to you in here!”

Their earnestness painfully tightened my chest. What am I supposed to say to that? I CAN’T just stay here forever. I still don’t know how I got here, or what happened after the Raider meeting. I need to find Undertow and Naiara, not to mention all the Whinniepeg crap. And my stolen stuff too!

“Snow?” Buff’s calm rumble cut into my thoughts, swiftly followed by his siblings.

“What’s the matter?”

“You’ve gone all quiet.”

This is gonna suck. “Guys… sit down.”

The elation was fast fading from their faces, but they did as I asked.

“…Now, you know I love you all, so much. It breaks my heart to say this, but… I can’t stay here forever.”

The response was immediate, and visceral. “What?”

“No!”

“What are you saying?”

I threw up my hooves for calm. “I’m not saying I’m not coming back… just that there are still things I need to do in the Wasteland. Things I can’t do from here. I have promises and responsibilities to take care of with the people I met out there.”

“Out there?!” Buff was incredulous. “Snowflake, it’s a nightmare out there!”

“Why you?” Al was desperate. “Let somebody else handle it, Snow, it’s not our problem.”

“You can’t!” Lo was terrified. “Old Equestria will swallow you up, ‘Flake. You’ll die!”

An image of dark goggles swam through my mind, even breaking through the heartache. “It’s not just about me, boys. There are people out there that I care about, and need to…”

Al cut me off, anger born of fear bubbling over. “We’re people you care about! You should think we’re more important! We’re your family, those others don’t matter!”

“Yeah, yeah!” Lo took up the torch. “You’ve been with us for our whole lives. You’ve only been out there for a few weeks. We need you more than they do! It’s not fair!”

“I know, but…”

“Don’t you love us, sis?”

Hot ice stabbed through my heart.

I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t speak. All I could do was stare helplessly at their morose, angry, petrified faces, and think what a terrible being I was, to cause them such pain.

“Al, Lo, that’s enough.” Buff was no happier than his brothers, but stepped in regardless. “Don’t think, even for one moment, that Snowflake doesn’t love you. It’s doing her a disservice.”

“Butt out, Buff!” Al was trying to look imposing.

“I won’t!” He snapped back, surprising us all, and instantly deflating Al. Buff never raised his voice, except in extreme circumstances. “I think we all need to take a break for now. Our work detail will be starting soon, and I don’t want any of us to miss it. So what we’re going to do is put this conversation on hold for now, and we’ll pick it up later, when everybody’s had a chance to calm down.”

“But…”

“No buts. Snow can stay here until we get back, or do whatever she needs to do and meet us later. This shouldn’t be discussed when angry, or things might be said that shouldn’t be. No matter what, we’re a family, and we’ll be good to each other. Now you two get your things together, and we’ll go to work. Snowflake, you just try to enjoy yourself until we get back.”

Slumping against the wall, I could only watch as the three Doublehorns filed silently out of the apartment. When they were gone, the silence became deafening.

On unsteady legs, I made my way over to the counter, on which rested the most prized possession of the Doublehorns.

“Hey, Mama Doublehorn.”

Smiling her saintly smile, the photo of the forever-proud mother stared back at me.

“I’m sorry you had to hear all that. I know they’re just worried, and I should have handled it better. You told me to look after them, and they feel like I’m abandoning them to go running off for no reason.”

Setting the frame back down, I began to pace back and forth. “I’m not brushing them off, I swear I’m not. I love them almost as much as you do. They’re my brothers, and I’ll always be their sister. It’s just… the Stable hasn’t always been a nice place for me, even though it was safe. When I got thrown out, into the Wasteland, I was in more danger than I ever was here.”

Here comes the hard part. Don’t be mad, Mama Doublehorn. “And yet… it’s been good sometimes too, and fun. I feel like I’m able to do some good out there, make something of myself. The people aren’t all bad, either. Some are, but not all.”

I mentally pleaded with her to understand. “I… there are others, not just here in the Stable. I have friends to take care of out there in the Wasteland. Because of me, they’ve found themselves in bad situations, and had to give up more than they should have. I can’t just leave that alone. I have to make it right.”

Her smile never slipped. Not once.

“I won’t let your boys down, and I’ll come back to them. I promised them just as much as I promised Undertow, or Bosco, or Naiara, or any of them! This is just something I have to do. Snowflake has to clean up Red Ice’s messes, and Red Ice will probably need to make more messes before this is all over.”

Picking up the picture again, I gave it a quick kiss. “I need to protect everybody I care about, not just your family. I’m sorry if that’s selfish, Mama. I’ll try to make you proud.”

~~~~~~

Chapter 15-2: Red Ice

“Snowflake, what have you done?”

“More than you know. You’ll need to be specific, Overmare.” My relaxed stance was in stark contrast to the Overmare’s agitated pacing. It was not a quick process. The Over Office was spacious, far more so than it looked when viewed from below in the main atrium. The horseshoe desk was bigger than my bedroom by itself, and there was ample floor area beyond that. Aside from the desk, the generally Spartan nature of the room only served to accentuate its size.

Nyah nyah, my room in Hoofshine Harlots is still bigger, and it has a bath!

The casual dismissal of her ire earned me a glare. “Do not test my patience, Snowflake. I exiled you from this Stable once for your attitude, and I can do it again.”

My own eyes narrowed. “I won’t go quietly this time. You won’t be able to sweep it under the rug. I’ll make sure that each and every resident knows that YOU threw me out. You’ve been hearing from Buff a lot since I’ve been gone, haven’t you? Well I’ve got two more brothers. Won’t that be fun?” The Overmare had this coming. I did not appreciate the fact that she’d covered up her part in my leaving the Stable. I was going to have satisfaction.

“I’m sure Roc would love to hear how you sent a resident of Stable 61 out into the ruins of Old Equestria. How would that hurt your chances of re-election?” As DJ Pon3 says: Bringing the truth, no matter how bad it hurts, Overmare.

Maintaining her glare, the Overmare returned to her chair, and lowered herself into it deliberately. She said nothing for several seconds, and I was content to wait her out.

Finally, she lay her elbows on the desk and put her hooves together. Raising her head slightly, her glare shifted into imperialistic stoicism. “Snowflake, what are the rules of Stable 61?”

“Not relevant anymore? You’ve seen the Wasteland by now, right?” The earlier fear I’d felt back when she first exiled me, and the guilt her after image brought on every time it showed up in the Wasteland, were nowhere to be found. I just couldn’t muster any sort of reason why I should pay her any attention at all anymore, after what I’d been through in these past weeks.

She wasn’t done trying to invoke some form of acquiescence from me, however. “Do you even recall why I had you leave the Stable in the first place? You do still have it, don’t you?”

Ugh. I can’t get out of this one, but I can make her work for it. “You mean the Memory Orb? That’s what it’s called by the way, and I bet you didn’t know that until just now, while I’ve known since the first day I left the Stable. I don’t have it.”

“What. Happened. To. It?” She forced this through gritted teeth.

“None of your business.”

Both eyebrows were raised now as she was rocked back in her seat. “What did you say?”

The dam was starting to break. “You heard me. What right do you have to demand any answers from me anymore? You threw me out.”

“That was for…”

“I don’t care! However you want to justify it, you still made it very clear that I wasn’t coming back. I was on my own, with no help from YOU at all!”

“You were given supplies!”

“A gun with no bullets? That’s your idea of survival gear? I don’t even know where that gun is! I was running for my life within hours of being kicked out. I got lucky that time, and had to get better to keep myself safe. Keep MYSELF safe!” I was breathing heavier by the end of my outburst, but it was barely scratching the surface.

“I won’t be talked to like that in my own office! I am still the Overmare!” She drew herself up as tall as she could, throwing out her rank like a shield.

“You’re Stable 61’s Overmare for however few days you have left! We’ve already established that I’m not Stable 61 anymore, at least not in your view. I won’t be talked to like that by YOU wherever I am, Overmare! Why the hell did you let me back in just to yell at me?” Something managed to work its way past the red haze in the corners of my eyes. “And while we’re at it, how the hell did I get back in here anyway? You must have ordered the door opened for me to get back in. What’s the deal?”

“Ask the door guards, I’m sure there’s a report somewhere.” she bit out while harshly flicking her hoof out. “I don’t have the time to focus on just one resident, I have the entire Stable to consider. You are not more important than that, Snowflake! Maybe if you’d made even the slightest effort in your time here, you wouldn’t have been exiled, and you wouldn’t have come back in disgrace!”

The floodgates were open now. “I never made a fucking effort?! What have you ever done for this Stable? I’ve never seen you pick up anymore heavier than a microphone, when I’ve seen you at all! You just sit and preen in this office all day and night. I won’t be surprised in the slightest to see you unseated in the elections, you… OVERBITCH!”

Gasping, her voice wavered with emotion. “How dare you! I’ll have you thrown in the detention cells for this! You’re coming dangerously close to insubordination, Snowflake!”

My horn was itching, begging for release. “No I’m not, Overmare. I’m not your subordinate. What I’m coming dangerously close to is violence.”

There was a whoosh behind us, with the Overmare’s secretary poking her head around the doorframe in concern, but was waved away without a word.

After the door had whooshed shut again, the Overmare took a deep breath. “It is obvious that your time away from the Stable, in Old Equestria or this ‘Wasteland’ as you call it, has corrupted you. You have lost the Memory Orb, and it would appear your Pipbuck as well.”

“What of it?” I grumped.

“Clearly you cannot be exposed to it again, lest you grow worse. You shall remain here, in the Stable, until I deem fit.”

Barking out a laugh, my measured gaze met hers. “If you think you can stop me, then I’ll show you what my time in the Wasteland has done.”

She didn’t blink. “That self-same attitude is the reason for the other side of my ruling. You cannot be allowed to leave the Stable, for your own safety, but you also cannot be allowed to associate with the other residents, for their safety.”

Rolling my eyes, I slouched back in my chair. “Oh you’ve gotta be fu-”

“You will be issued with a new Pipbuck, and a permanent security escort. Your duties will also intensify, as penance for your many mistakes.” She laid down my proposed new existence as if reading aloud the daily news feed.

Scoffing, I craned my neck forwards. “The only mistake I made was the one that got me thrown out of the Stable in the first place: Asking for my Overmare’s help when I was in trouble.”

Her haughty stare returned. “Clearly that’s not the case. You have been a chronic disappointment during your Stable life. Unlike overachievers like Roc, or even your brothers, you never had a chance to improve your station. The best you can ever claim to be is what you began as: Stable resident Snowflake. A limited use title for a limited use pony.”

“Okay, I’ve heard enough.” My fiery anger had completely faded, leaving me cold.

“Now you will submit yourself to the Security sta-sit back down right n-I ORDER YOU TO STOP THIS INSTANT, SNOWFLAKE!”

“Isn’t it sad that she thinks I still care?” I cheerfully asked the secretary as I passed her by. Her only response was to shrink away from me slightly, holding her portable terminal between us with quaking hooves.

~~~~~~

Sauntering through the corridors on automatic, I felt the need for some more quiet. Since I couldn’t find it down in the depths, I went to the other end of the Stable instead. I might have to put up with a guard at the Stable door, but he wouldn’t make too much noise so long as I didn’t look like I was gonna try anything.

I rounded the corner into the door chamber. Oh, what the hell?

“I wonder who would be my first port of call?” Back to me, Roc was standing on the railing with his hind paws, ticking off options on some unseen list. “The Steel Rangers don’t have the greatest reputation, but I’m sure they would be very interested in getting their hooves on some of the systems we have here in the Stable. Many of the residents would embrace the new world rather than staying cooped up in here, so our surplus would increase.”

I triggered my ice-glide spell, removing the noise from my steps. Without drawing his attention, I took up station on the other side of the room, leaning against the wall.

Oblivious, Roc continued his musings. “Plottawa would be a last resort. There is too great a risk of putting myself in danger. I suppose I could simply approach Lethbridle proper. The regional activity centre will need to be tackled soon enough as it is. Hmm, Sprinkles Supplies would almost certainly welcome a barter agreement for transporting our radiation-free goods to market. That will be good. I suppose I could delegate some of our buffalo to approach Grindstone, their recent troubles notwithstanding. It would not do to alienate a potential ally.”

Clacking his beak a few times, he then snapped his talons decisively. “That reminds me, I will need to make sure that I treat the Red Ice opportunity with utmost tact.”

He had to unfurl his wings to avoid being unbalanced by my chuckling. “How long you have been there?!”

I watched a dislodged, sand-coloured feather drift to the floor before responding. “Long enough. So, what do you know about Red Ice, that you think she might agree to work with you?”

Being caught off-guard had soured his mood considerably, but he still wanted to show off. “Only what I have heard, but I think I can convince her to see things from my point of view.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Oh? You think you’re that smooth, do you? I gotta tell you, Roc, it’s not gonna be as easy as you think.”

Snorting, he half-turned away. “Forgive me, Snowflake, but valuable as your time out there no doubt was, I hardly think you and I will achieve the same level of success.”

“Oh, that’s probably true.”

With a ‘there you are’ gesture, he gave a sly smile. “I happen to be greatly looking forward to meeting Red Ice, face to face. I think we will both come away from that meeting impressed, and eager to enter into a partnership.”

Nothing needed to be said on that matter.

Naturally at home with an audience, Roc pushed on. “The key to success will be to present a good accounting of our merits and possibilities, while also giving a strong push to dissuade dissidents.”

“Those ‘dissidents’ will push back.”

“It will not be enough. We are three hundred strong and possess the best of ponies, griffons, zebra, and others.”

You small world idiot, you’re worse than I was. You think you know how powerful you are without even needing to compare against anyone else. “Three hundred strong, huh? Say, how many people are in Lethbridle?”

He waved a claw dismissively. “How should I know?”

“No? How about Plottawa?” More than three hundred in one hall. “How about Grindstone?” Plenty of big bruisers there. “Or Whinniepeg?”

“Where?”

Ooh. My smile turned feral. “With thinking like that, Red Ice won’t even give you a second thought, Roc.”

His scorn was on open display now. “Advice? From you? That’s rich. How would you know what Red Ice would do?”

Shrugging to hide my over-spilling amusement, I managed to keep control for a few seconds more. “Because I’ve looked in a mirror or two.”

"Oh, my dear, don’t try to speak in riddles. They need to be well formed and you’re not practiced in the art.”

The Wasteland will chew you up and spit you out. “Okay, I’ll make it simple for you. Red Ice just told you what I would do.”

His screeching laughter was loud and immediate. “KEKEKEKE! You? Red Ice? Perhaps I was wrong after all, Snowflake, perhaps you do have a way with words after all. ‘Snowflake is Red Ice’, that’s a hell of a punch line! The comedy’s in the absurdity of it all. Who’d believe that?!” Throwing his head back, he continued to laugh raucously.

I pressed a hoof firmly into the floor to stop it from shaking. “And that’s exactly why I’m starting to hate this place, and everyone in it! EVERY. SINGLE. ONE OF YOU! Except my brothers, that is. You all think I’m just some joke, you even said that to my face, yet I’ve still done more in weeks than you all have done in your entire LIVES!”

The air temperature plummeted as the glacier-blue glow shone from my horn. “I am Red Ice, and I don’t need to take this crap from you pathetic Stable dwellers! Snowflake was born here, but she didn’t grow up until she got outside. You all missed it, and now you want to act like it never happened. WELL IT DID! I’m free out there, I’ve got friends, and a home, and enemies, and a life! In here there’s nothing!”

He wasn’t laughing now, if anything he just looked confused, and unhappy in the cold.

I didn’t care. “Have fun as Overseer, Roc. You’re welcome to the job, doesn’t matter to me. I’ve outgrown this place.”

Roc couldn’t help but get the last word in. His mocking smile returned. “Did you break out there, Snowflake?”

Eyes wide, I was about to show him what I did ‘out there’, when the PA system kicked in.

“Ice Cube, you hearin’ me? Get over to the Monitor room quick now. Sumthin’ you gotta see.”

Horn-glow fading, I threw one final glare at Roc before turning on my heel and stalking away.

~~~~~~

“What now, Whiskey Sour?” My earlier visit hadn’t been forgotten, and talking with Roc only made the memory less pleasant.

Whiskey Sour gave half a frown, while keeping the other half of her attention on the screen. “Come on now, girl, there’s no need to act like that. I’m trying to help here.” She indicated the screens paused behind her. “Now that you’ve had yourself a breather, I wanna show you something. Since I saw that you were missin’ your Pipbuck when you came back, I tried to see what I could do to find it, and… well, here’s what I found.”

She tapped a button on the console, and one screen began to display AUDIO ONLY in big green letters. After a few moments, voices began to emerge.

“Breeze, would you put that thing down for now?” Cassie’s voice, though measured as always, was tighter than usual.

“’M on break.” The response was mumbled around something.

“We don’t have time for a break! We have to be on our guard in case the Raiders find us.”

“Raiders?” Alarmed, I looked over to Whiskey Sour, who paused the tape. “Is this happening now?”

She shook her head. “No, yesterday. There’s more.”

As she pressed the button again, I allowed myself a brief moment of both annoyance and worry for my Pipbuck, and the ponies who had it. How did the Raiders find Cassie and Breeze? They wouldn’t go near them in a million years!

Breeze’s tired response hit hard. “They’ll find us anyway. The bitch has ‘em running ragged trying to find this thing.” The sound quality shook back and forth here for some reason.

Who? Who has them running ragged?

“Stop that, you might damage it.”

“Who cares?” Sullen grumpiness laced the gadgeteer’s voice.

“Wings does! She, Schwarzwald and Naiara are trying to get in touch with their respective groups to get us some help. We need to keep calm until they have news.” Cassie couldn’t hide her own unease though, but seemed determined to put on a brave front for her sister’s sake.

“Cass, they won’t help! None of them are going to move against the fucking ARMY of nutcases Red Ice is leading now, we’re on our own against the Raiders! We’re fucked.”

Oh no. No no no no no! “I.. I didn’t… I’m not…” I was in Stable 61, leading the Raiders was impossible from there.

What the hell happened since yesterday?!

The soft shuffling of feathers sounded from the recording. “Don’t lose hope, sister. Our friends will come through for us, I promise. We’ll all get through this; You and I, Naiara, Bosco, Wings and Schwarzwald. We’ll succeed, if for nothing else than to spite her.”

The name that hadn’t been said drew my attention. I grabbed the screen in both hooves. “Wait, what about Undertow? Breeze, Cassie, where is she?!”

Sniffling, Breeze gave a small chuckle. “Yeah. We can’t let her win. Not like this.”

The recording cut out abruptly. Panicking, I hit ‘play’ again and again. “Unpause it, dammit!”

“Sorry, Ice Cube, but… there’s no more.”

I continued to try to work the machine. “You’re wrong, there has to be! What happened to Undertow?”

A gentle hoof settled on my shoulder, but I shrugged it off. “Snowflake, who’s Undertow?”

“She’s from outside. She travelled with us, me and the rest. She should be there! What happened to her after the meeting?”

“Snow, what meeting? What happened?”

Betrayed by the useless technology, I jerked backwards, shoving Whiskey Sour back into her chair. “Watch it, kid. Just calm down, you’ll make yourself sick!”

“MOVE!” I continued on my path. I knew what I had to do now.

Have to find Undertow. Said I would. Have to help her, and the others. The Stable was in the midst of its day now, with residents of all shapes and sizes filling the corridors. “GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE WAY!!!”

“Snowflake!” Whiskey Sour flew above the throng, pacing me. “Where are you going?”

“I’m leaving. I can’t stay here any longer.”

“What? Ice Cube, that’s crazy!” She swooped down and tried to place herself in my path, but I ducked under a wing and kept going.

This kept up all the way along the corridors, her trying to stop my wild dash without success, until finally I reached the Stable door.

I skidded to a halt, with Whiskey Sour landing behind me, as I found the Overmare blocking my path. The Overmare… and my brothers.

“W-what are you doing here?” The question was direction at all of them, though for different reasons.

Lo’s soulful eyes bored into me. “Where are you going, Sis?”

Al looked just as lost. “Why are you trying to leave?”

Buff’s composure was faltering too. “Snowflake, what’s happening? What aren’t you telling us?”

My decision became infinitely harder. “Boys, I…”

“She is trying to leave the Stable again. We have been watching her since she returned, to check for signs of dangerous activity.” The Overmare still looked furious about our altercation, but there was a smugness about her that couldn’t bode well for me.

As Al and Lo teared up, Buff looked between the Overmare, Whiskey Sour, and myself. “Snowflake, is she right? Are you leaving again?”

My tongue felt like sandpaper, and I had to swallow a few times before any sound would come out. “I… yeah, I am.”

His mask fell away as his eyes drooped. “But why?”

“Out there…”

“WHAT’S SO DAMN SPECIAL ABOUT OUTSIDE, ‘FLAKE?” Lo was openly weeping now, and it broke my heart.

Don’t stop. If I stop now, I’ll never leave again. But I have to. “Lo, I’ve done things outside, things I have to take care of. I’ve put people in danger because of what I’ve done. I can’t just leave them out there like this, I’m the only one who can help!”

“LIAR!” Al bellowed. “You’ve only ever been ‘the only one’ to us! Nobody else needs you for that, not here in the Stable, and not out there!”

“AL!” Buff and Lo yelled together.

“Don’t admonish him for seeing what you two can’t.” Roc, still here but roosting in the rafters, dropped down to join the discussion. “He’s right. Snowflake has never been needed for the Stable to function, and that’s still true even now.”

“Take. That. Back.” Lo had lowered his horns, and was kicking at the ground. Roc brandished his claws, until Buff stepped between the two of them.

Turning to me, Roc continued. “Now, Snowflake spun me a thoroughly ridiculous tale barely an hour ago, but I’m starting to think that there may be some truth to it. It is still hard to conceive, as there is a fierce dichotomy at play, but I am willing to grant that it may be possible.” His altogether-too-amused smirk made me sick. “Tell me, Red Ice, what is your next move?”

Silence fell instantly. Even the Stable’s background hum seemed to fade. The sound finally returned when the roaring in my ears reminded me to breathe.

“Snowflake… you’re Red Ice?” Buff seemed to plant himself more firmly between his brothers and I.

I hung my head, and gave a small nod.

Before he could respond, the Overmare jumped in. “She is NOT Red Ice! She is Snowflake of Stable 61, and she will remain that way until I determine otherwise. This is not up for discussion!”

My tail lashed as I raised my head again, trying to stare a whole straight through her heart. “You don’t tell me what to do anymore. I AM Red Ice, and I am leaving this Stable!”

“Snowflake!” Chorused the Doublehorns, aghast.

“Sorry. I’m so sorry, but I have to. This needs to be done.” I looked to the eldest, pleading with him. “Keep them safe, Buff. I promise I’ll be back.”

Jaw firm, and still standing between me and the others, he gave a short, gruff nod.

Relieved, I let my gaze sweep over the other occupants. Whiskey Sour had backed as far from me as she could, and had no intention of coming down from the perch she’d flown to when my revelation came to light. Roc said nothing, simply maintaining the smile that never reached his eyes. With a final bow, he stepped aside.

That left the Overmare as the only remaining obstacle. Spreading her wings wide, she loomed as large as she could. “You will not leave without my permission. I am your Overmare, Snowflake!”

I took a step forward. She began to tremble. “Stop!”

Another step. “S-Stop I say!”

A third. “You will stop this now!

Another step, and the room was bathed in glacier-blue. “SNOWFLAAAA-”

I drew level with her, as the last of the ice swarmed over her immobile form. “No.” I corrected. “Red Ice.”

With a thunderous rumble, the Stable door began rolling open. As the metal barrier rolled past, I caught my reflection in its surface.

Purple smoke billowed from the corners of my green eyes.

Without another word, I walked out into the world of white.

~~~~~~

Level Up!

Perks gained: Cold-Blooded – Embracing ‘Red Ice’ has brought on an increase in your Frost magic.

~~~~~~

Author's Note

That’s all for now, folks. Please keep reading, commenting, and spreading the word on Old Souls. I really appreciate your feedback.

Chapter 16-1: Indenture

[There is nothing you can do to keep me from my sacred task of restoration!]

My body convulsed as I awoke, gasping. Between sucking in mouthfuls of air, I scrabbled to right myself, though somehow couldn’t get find my balance. I barely saw the world around me, though it was not the eternal blizzard I remembered walking into moments ago. Still, that thought hardly seemed important as I thrashed and flailed.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I gave up on trying to rise, at least until I got my breathing under control… and until my heart stopped trying to crack my ribs from the inside. Remaining as motionless as possible, my heaving chest gradually slowed its rhythm to normal levels.

Finally feeling out of whatever immediate danger I’d found myself in, I cracked open my eyes. I was lying on my back, staring at the cloud-strewn sky.

So I’m outside, at least. I must’ve been out, but nobody dragged me back to the Stable. “Hmph, figures.”

My words has a strange muffled quality to them. This brought the other sounds around to my attention. They too were muffled, and I couldn’t immediately decipher them, but at least they were something to focus on.

I opened my mouth, taking in one final breath before speaking. My ears popped at this, and the sounds became far more pronounced.

“...wish she’d just get up already!”

“Ah, wheesh, ya halfwit!”

“The pair o’ yeh can gi’ it a rest. Oi, Red Ice, on yer hooves right the noo!”

I sat up, baffled. “What in the hell?”

Across from me, the three Raider leaders were looking back in consternation. Caber Toss and Ballbuster were simply annoyed, but Latvi seemed to be shaking with rage. “Sooo glad to see you awake, Snowflake.” His words dripped with sarcasm.

My confusion shifted to anger which I was sure could match, and exceed, his. “What did you do, Latvi?!”

“I-”

“SHUT UP! What the hell is going on here?! How is this possible? What was that spell? How dare you do that to me!!!”

Still shaking, the stallion somehow managed to be smug as he slowly chose his words. “It seems you’ve had quite the experience, Red Ice.”

You have the gall to smirk at me, after springing that… whatever spell on me and- “UNDERTOW!”

Latvi opened his mouth to speak, the corners of his mouth tugging upwards.

“Shut up!” I cast about, trying to find her. “Undertow? Undertow, where are you? Naiara! One of you, answer me!”

Caber Toss and Ballbuster were quietly arguing amongst themselves, but I ignored them. Craning my neck around, I strained to find a glimpse of a stripe, or a goggle strap, or jade eyes, or a droplet-and-ripples Cutie Mark, anything that might show me my friends.

The Barnstormer camp left me disappointed. The same ramshackle structures, same dented soup cauldron, same rusted metal… but no zebra, no Deep Diver.

I was not happy, and not in the slightest bit interested in suffering in silence. Or suffering alone. I bared my teeth. “Latviiii…”

Locking eyes with the bastard, I vigorously pushed myself up onto my hooves. Too vigorously, as my legs went out from under me and I crashed back to the cold ground. Grunting with the slight impact, I ignored the pain and rose again. I only managed to take one step before I met the floor again.

By this time, the married couple were chuckling at me, while Latvi just watched with mirth in his eyes. “Something the matter, Snowflake?”

“I-” I slipped again. “Dammit! What have you done?”

Still shaking, he gave a small chuckle himself. “Well, I’d love to take credit for this, and I’d love to lend you a hoof, but…” He gave a slight tug at his leg, which clued me in on his situation.

It was annoyingly familiar.

While unconscious, I’d covered the place in ice. Not to the extreme of the Stable’s medical bay, there were no icicles, though a thick sheet of the stuff covered every surface in a radius of a dozen meters or so. This included the legs of the three ponies nearby, and the discarded soup ladle that’d tripped me.

Even in a situation such as this, I had to suppress a giggle at two burly Raiders trying in vain to unstick their hooves from the icy ground. Latvi was no better, but seemed to have come to the conclusion that struggling would be pointless. He wasn’t getting out until the ice melted.

The thought stopped me in my tracks.

“Now, hold on there Snowflake.” He was pretty far from smirking now. I wasn’t. Latvi seemed to be leaning back, as far from me as possible. “No need to do anything rash.”

“Oh?” Steadying myself, I pushed forward on the ice, gliding over to him. A hoof to his sternum halted my slide, drawing a pained ‘oof!’, as I smiled glassily into his face. “Now, Latvi, why ever would I do something rash to you?”

“Well...” Caber piped up from the side. “...f’r one thing, on account o’ that mad-mental hex he put on yeh?”

“Aye.” Ballbuster joined in. “Dunno what it was s’posed tae do, but it’s done a number on them eyes o’ yours, turnin’ ‘em green an’ the like. Does it hurt when they gi’ out that purple smoke?”

I hadn’t taken said eyes away from the staring contest I was having with the increasingly-nervous Latvi. “No, they don’t hurt. Though I am very interested in hearing just exactly how I came by these eyes. It’s one of many questions that I have at the moment. First and foremost, though…” All pretense of good cheer evaporated. “Where. Are. My Friends?”

“How should I know?”

I slugged him, as hard as I could. Right in the face. “Wrong answer, Latvi. One more time. Where are they?”

“Ow! What was that for?” Somehow, he managed to look slighted at that.

Seriously? I briefly entertained the question of just how my green-and-smoking eyes would convey the ‘are you an idiot?’ look I was going for. Turning to the others, I felt that I had to ask the question. “You thought it was a good idea to listen to this guy?”

“Only sometimes.” Was the sulky response.

“He’s a mite better at knowin’ where we might find good stuff than most o’ our lot. We’re no’ saying he woulda really been in charge or anythin’...”

“WHAT?!”

I slugged him again. “That was right in my ear, Latvi. I do not appreciate that.”

His cheek shifting from blue to black-and-blue, the scientist stallion tested some of his teeth with his tongue. “Well, I’m terribly sorry that you didn’t appreciate me voicing my disapproval of these two saying that I’m wasting my time, trying to help them get their hooves on treasures from the old world before anypony else! It’s somewhat hard to keep calm when I’m learning that, even though I spent all this time hunting down the last clue to the legacy of the most powerful unicorn who ever lived, just to help out in our arrangement, I’m still not going to get a say in how we go about it!”

I didn’t verbally respond, but immediately turned away from him and began a new search of the area. Where is it? If he gets hold of it again…

I looked all around Latvi, even peeking between the ice-shackles on his legs, which might have been awkward if I held even the slightest desire for him, but couldn’t spot Sombra’s horn. Muttering, I moved behind Latvi and began a wider search. It’s a horn. How far could it have gone?

Someone else found it before I did.

“Psst! Laddie! O’er there!”

Alarmed, I spun around just in time to see Sombra’s horn emerge from under the soup cauldron, held aloft in the navy haze of Latvi’s magic. It swiftly made its way towards him.

“NO!” I surged forward, horn lighting up on reflex.

“EEYARGH!”

The dead king’s horn thunked to the ground. Not questioning my good fortune, I tore after it, diving for the severed appendage. I got a painful scratch down my chest for my trouble, but I had a firm grip on the thing in my hooves.

Caber and Ballbuster groaned in disappointment.

Latvi was more vocal. “My horn!”

“No.” I responded, before turning to look at him. “Now it’s MY hor-oh, you didn’t mean this.”

The ice from my subconscious spell had fully encased Latvi’s natural horn, the cold being enough to throw off his concentration. From his face, I felt confident in assuming that it was deeply uncomfortable.

Slipping the relic into a secure pocket of my barding, I stood up again, consciously using my magic to dispel the ice beneath my hooves. Only beneath my hooves. I had no intention of freeing these ponies anytime soon. Upon reaching Latvi, I placed a hoof flat against his frozen horn.

“What are you-OW! OW! ARGH! STOP!”

I let off the pressure I’d been putting on his icebound horn. “I’m sure a scientist like yourself knows just how… brittle the cold can make something.” I gave another push, eliciting a pained hiss. “Now, for the final time. Where are they?” I began to press again.

“THEY’RE NOT HERE! I swear! After I put you two under, the zebra woke up, grabbed the other filly and bolted. We don’t know where they went after that! Please don’t snap my horn!” The double satisfaction, at his squirming and the knowledge that Naiara had gotten both herself AND Undertow away from here, was simply delicious, but I wasn’t done yet.

Caber Toss and Ballbuster were watching with a strange mix of anger and evaluation. I faced them evenly. “You two are idiots, signing on with this jackhole on any level. Those zebra who gave him the damn horn are too, but I’ll deal with them later. For now, I need a reason NOT to kill the three of you. I have several reasons to do it, not in the least of which is the fact that this whole thing has been a doublecross from the start!”

At least THEY can look a little shamefaced. Probably fake, but I don’t care right now. They should be ashamed!

Ballbuster wasn’t ready to be talked at just yet. “Well, wee lassie, afore yeh get it in yehr heed that yeh’ve got all the answers, ‘member that yeh need us to keep the Raiders in line, if yeh’re wantin’ tae keep goin’ wi’ the Raider alliance.”

“...” Damn. “And you’re saying you actually would listen to me, not like you were gonna do with this clown?”

“Hey!”

“Cold. Brittle. Snap.”

“...”

Sharing a glance with her husband, Sweet Lips took her time responding. “Aye, well… we’re no’ completely opposed tae the idea, but we’re no’ looking for the same thing you are. Yeh’re wantin’ us all peace-able an’ the like. The rest o’ the Raiders’ll no’ go fer that, no matter what we say. Find us something tae hit, and we’ll be in business.”
Perfect! “Not perfect, but I can work with that.” Caber Toss nodded agreement with his wife, so I turned to the final person present. “And you? You’ll need to be more convincing since this whole ruse was your idea. I put a lot of effort into this, and you were planning to sell me to Plottawa, and you tried to take my Pipbuck, AND you hit me because you can’t get a girlfriend!” My hoof was already reaching for his frozen horn again.

“TheMemoryOrb!” My hoof stopped, but didn’t move back, and he quickly continued. “Back when we first met, in the bar. You said you wanted a Memory Orb fixed. I can do that for you. Memory magic’s good for more than digging out secrets. I’ll fix your Memory Orb, uh… when you have it with you.”

Damn, he’s got a point too. “Well… I dunno, I’m sure there are others who can-”

“I’m also the only one who can call off McCoy! I already know he’s set on killing you after he finishes with…” Anger contorted his face, “...Dent. I can convince him otherwise.”

“...Alright, you can stay.” Without the horn, I’m sure I can take him, if nobody else.

“Can I have Somb-”

“No.”

“Can you unfreeze me at least?”

“...No.”

~~~~~~

Half a day later, I stood with Latvi atop the hill where Naiara, Bosco and I had first approached the Barnstormers, and their now-deceased leader Four Fields. Cassie had put an end to that particular Raider chief by blowing a hoof-sized hole in his chest with her sniper rifle, while I was dealing with the Deep Divers. His corpse had been dumped at Lethbridle’s gates, with a message to me, from Wings.

Looking down into the Barnstormer camp, I faced a very different reality than I had hours earlier. Where before I had been one of only four souls down there, now the place was filled with ponies.

The Raider army was gathered.

Not to say that everything was going swimmingly. Three separate groups were visible even from up here. The middle group, also the largest, was made up of Caber Toss’ Whinniepeg-based Haylanders and what was left of Four Fields’ Barnstormers, depleted through infighting after his death. Caber Toss had taken them over through force, and now the two seemed to be okay with working as one clan.

To one side stood a group that was comprised solely of mares and fillies. These were Ballbuster’s Woodpeckers, formed to protect themselves from male Raider… attention. They were fighters, even now they fought with each other, but seemed to be less eager to become one big happy Raider family.

On the other side was an even more extreme case. Not only standing apart from the other groups, the Deep Divers tried their best to stand apart from each other.

Still united enough to plot Undertow’s death, weren’t you? I’m not likely to forget that.

As I watched, Caber Toss and Sweet Lips emerged from the throng and began making their way up the hill. Besides me, Latvi sneered. I’d freed him from the ice last, after sending Caber and Ballbuster off one at a time, to gather the Raiders. The scientist stallion had been grouchy ever since.

As if I’m any happier being here with you rather than Undertow. I have the horn, and you’re a wuss. Even I can take you if you wanna try.

Kicking at the ground, he scoffed sarcastically. “Behold, the scourge of the Wasteland. A bunch of drunks, junkies and thugs.”

“Remember that this whole thing was YOUR idea, Mr. Ambition.” I was keeping half-an-eye on him at best, more intent on watching the returning pair, who were the real threat if violence erupted.

“This was not my idea! I was in charge with MY idea.” He seemed to barely be talking to me at all. “It was going to be a thing of sophistication… of beauty.”

I’d have been lying if I said I wasn’t enjoying the fool’s look of dejection at that point. He should’ve just gone to Plottawa and been a ‘bean counter’, like he said. “Maybe, not very flexible though. You had no idea what you were getting into.”

“And you did?” He shot back.

“No,” I conceded. “but now I do. I have a much clearer idea of how things are going to go, since you shot me with Sombra’s ancient voodoo.” My experience in the Stable had shown me just how I needed to play this. Reputation wasn’t enough anymore. Red Ice needed to prove her strength, first to the Raiders, and then to the Wasteland.

The words of an equally annoying stallion floated back to me from memory. “You’ve managed to fool lots of ponies since we met in Plottawa, Red Ice, and gained quite a reputation for yourself. Tonight, I just want to remind you that I’ve seen just how little you can do with my own eyes.”

I know just where to start showing what I can do.

Sweet Lips and Caber Toss crested the hill at last. “Ho there, doll. What’s the word? We on for go or no’?”

The two seemed happy enough, but I couldn’t let myself remember what had happened at the start of this little summit. I couldn’t relax here, not for a moment. Latvi still had a chance to mess things up, and the two Raider leaders were only willing to go along with my plans if it pleased them.

Nobody trusted anybody, but we still needed each other to make this work. I had to make a strong impression on them too.

Here goes. “Yeah, we’re on for go.”

~~~~~~

The forest east of Lethbridle rang out with the sounds of gunfire, screams, and explosions.

The Plottawan platoon, originally a score strong, was down to less than half of that now, but they were putting up a good fight, even against the heavy numbers advantage that the Raiders possessed. The slavers, all Earth ponies, had taken up a defensive position near some stones, and were using their superior weaponry and tactics to drive back the Raiders, who seemed to worship at the altar of the reckless charge.

Besides the dozen slaver corpses littering the snow, at least three times that many dead Raiders stained the landscape, caught by gunfire or the Plottawans’ rapidly dwindling number of grenades. As I watched, one of the uniformed Earth ponies let fly with another explosive. It detonated seconds later in the midst of a half-dozen Raiders, tossing them in all directions. Only one got up again, and she, a Woodpecker by the marks on her barding, was bleeding heavily and not likely to last long.

Still, there were just too many Raiders for the slavers, and both sides knew it. Two more slavers went down from the uncoordinated fire of the Raiders’ near-junked weapons.

I tch’d. “I really hope they remember that we need at least a few of them alive.”

Beside me, also removed from the action, Latvi glanced over. He seemed to be judging whether I was talking to him or myself. “You could always jump in yourself, just to make sure.”

“Oh, fuck you. You’d love to see me get a bullet to the brain, wouldn’t you?”

“Right now? More than anything in the world.”

“Really? More than Lithu? I’m touched.”

A cacophony of clanking forestalled any response he might have had, no doubt sarcastic, and brought both of our attentions back to the battle. Caber Toss was advancing close to the slavers’ position, shielded by a wall of Deep Divers in full diving gear.

Slow and ungainly though it was, the diving gear was sturdy and strong. Built to withstand the pressures and rigours of underwater salvage, it was proving far more effective at stopping the automatic fire from the Plottawans than the ragged leather excuses-for-clothing that the rest of the Raiders were sporting. With their faces and bodies obscured by the bulky apparatus, the Deep Divers looked like shambling golems as they steadily moved forward.

It was over not two minutes later. Once the Deep Diver wall got within five metres of the Plottawans, the slavers lost their nerve and began to bolt. Caber Toss and his Haylanders and Barnstormers boiled around the other Raiders and gave chase. The six remaining slavers became five.

Then three.

Then finally, two.

Dogpiled by four ponies apiece, the remaining two Plottawans found themselves utterly unable to move, and could only watch wide-eyed as I sauntered up, Latvi in tow. “Afternoon, gents.” I greeted them warmly.

“What do you want?” One pleaded in a weak, reedy voice. “Why did you attack us?”

A lot more than just the two pairs of slaver eyes were on me as I responded, so I had to make it good. “Well, for one thing, these boys and girls wanted some fun…” A small cheer broke out at that, “...and for another, I needed to get your attention.”

Quivering with fright, the other slaver spoke up. “O-our attention? For what?”

Giving him the slightest of glances, I pityingly shook my head. “No, not your attention. I want your boss to pay attention. He and I do not see eye-to-eye on a lot of issues, and he doesn’t seem to be taking my calls. I have a very important message for him, and I need you to deliver it.” I turned to a random Raider, a Barnstormer perhaps? “Go get their guns.”

The Raider didn’t move, except to look towards Caber Toss, who said nothing.

So it’s gonna be like that, is it? My horn lit up, and a collar of ice wrapped around the Barnstormer’s neck. “Now.” I casually instructed, as if talking to a slow server.

Swallowing painfully, the Raider sped off, getting the message. Latvi, who’d been surveying the battlefield, turned back to Caber Toss and I. “Well, we killed eighteen of them to more than fifty of ours! Great ‘victory’, Red Ice.”

“Raiders die!” I snapped. “If they were smart enough to not do stupid stuff that gets them killed, we wouldn’t need to do this, now would we?”

A murmur spread through the collected masses at my insulting words, and I felt a not-so-slight twinge of regret. I… may have said too much.

Still, they hadn’t attacked me for it yet, and seemed to be waiting on Caber Toss’ reaction.

He didn’t give one. His wife did, though, as she approached with the ice-collar Raider. “Aye, the wee lassie’s no’ wrong. No’ ‘xactly geniuses here.” Her words caused a general lull in the murmuring, but she still shot me a look that was not friendly. The moment of doubt had passed, though. Latvi was wearing a calculating smile at the exchange.

Wordlessly, the Raider held out the guns of the slavers to me.

...No. I’ve got a better idea. This’ll show that smug bastard who’s in charge. “Latvi!”

He jerked, surprised at my call.

“Take out the clips.” I calmly demanded. Collar-colt turned uncertainly to Latvi, holding out the guns to the stallion, who regarded them disdainfully.

My voice dropped to a more menacing level. “Now, Latvi. And, if you’re thinking of trying anything stupid…” My horn lit up with a glacier-blue glow. “I’ll be watching closely.”

Snowflake wouldn’t have been so suicidally stupid as to provide her enemy, which Latvi most certainly still was, with a loaded weapon, especially not in the middle of a group of Raiders and slavers. Red Ice, on the other hoof, had to establish early on that she was in command here, even over other non-Raiders like Latvi. The masses had to see that, so I wouldn’t always be relying on Caber Toss and Sweet Lips, themselves hardly reliable in my position.

Snowflake talked the talk, now Red Ice has to walk the walk.

A navy glow enveloped the weapons, but they didn’t move into firing position. Latvi was surreptitiously glancing around at the gathered ponies. I hoped I was reading the atmosphere correctly, as it didn’t seem like anybody there was excited at the prospect of him turning the guns on me, which is what I was counting on. None of them knew him from me. The Raiders had no reason, beyond the word of Caber Toss or Sweet Lips, to back either one of us. If they saw me in charge now, they wouldn’t listen to him. Still, I held my magic ready, in case he tried something anyway.

After what seemed like an age, there was clunk, and two magazines dropped to the snowy ground. Looking supremely pissed, Latvi turned a glare on me, saying nothing, but obviously awaiting the next instruction.

I win.

Ignoring the feral smiles blossoming across the faces of Caber Toss and Ballbuster, I jerked my head towards the captives. “There should still be a bullet in the chamber, somebody told me that once. Shoot one of them. If not, then just hit him with it. Either way, kill one of them, but leave the other.”

Neither slaver reacted well to this.

“You can’t!” One cried out. The other just cried.

I wasn’t smiling, but I had to make it look good. “Sure I can. That’s the message. What happened here today. Whichever one of you lives, take the message to Peanut. Tell him Red Ice sent you.”

I made a dismissive ‘get on with it’ gesture without looking at the unicorn. “Latvi.”

“...” A gunshot rang out, and the Raiders piled on top of one slaver jumped aside as his head sank into the snow, already leaking red.

The other Plottawan’s crying instantly stopped. He was too scared for tears.

“Let him up, and give him the empty gun.” There was no hesitation this time. My order was followed instantly.

Dumbfounded, the slaver platoon’s sole survivor just stood there, grasping the empty weapon like a child’s stuffed animal.

After a minute of this, ponies began to shift their hooves awkwardly, and still he showed no sign of moving.

“Ah fer feck’s sake!” Caber Toss swatted the guy on the rear with the flat of his axe. “Off wi’ yeh!”

The slaver bolted.

I watched him go, then spoke aloud to Caber Toss and Sweet Lips. “Finish up here.”

“Aye aye.”

I nodded distractedly, already starting to walk away. “Then send out some searchers for the next patrol. I want to hit some more Plottawa troops while we still have some daylight.”

A whoop went up from the gathered Raiders.

I heard the grin in Caber Toss’ response. “Right yeh are, Red Ice.”

“And get somebody looking for the zebras, and have the Deep Divers look for Undertow. Just looking, mind you, if they touch her, then I’ll kill them. Got that?”

“Aye, doll, we heard yeh.”

“Good.” I said no more to them, and passed the sullen Latvi in silence. I needed to find a spot where I could be alone.

I did it! Now everybody in the Raiders will know that Red Ice, and not Latvi, is in charge! Pretty soon, that crybaby slaver will get back to Plottawa, and Peanut will know I’m coming for him, too.

All in all, a good first day.

I walked for a good twenty minutes, until I was absolutely sure that there were no Raiders around, double- and triple-checked the surroundings just in case, and then ducked down into the privacy of some tree roots for good measure.

I emptied my stomach onto the snowy soil. Half-digested Tarantubaa haggis splattered across the ground.

Then the shakes came.

Undertow, Naiara, I hope you’re far away from all this.

~~~~~~

Hours later, we were surveying the aftermath of our second hunt.

“Sooo…” Latvi looked around, making eye contact with as many of the gathered Raiders as he could, and raised his voice. “That’s another eighteen Plottawan troops dead, and nineteen more Raiders gone. Counting the fight earlier, we’ve lost fifty-five Raiders to thirty-seven slavers.” He gave me a pointed look. “Just running the numbers.”

Boy, I hate you. Some of the fighters were muttering amongst themselves at his words. I had to think of something, or else I might have more trouble on my hooves. “Yeah? Well… run… uh… oh! Run this number. Forty!”

“Forty what?”

“That is the number of guns we’ve taken today. Good condition, top-of-the-line guns, not these junkpiles our Raiders have been carrying up until now.”

The murmurs changed from negative to mixed. Not everybody was satisfied.

“We’re going up against an army.” I continued. “Peanut can call it whatever he wants, but that’s what it is. We’re gonna take losses since they have better equipment at first. We’ve got the numbers though, so the more we kill, the more good-quality weapons we get, and the more we’ll win, with fewer casualties.”

“Aye,” Caber Toss jumped in. “the lass is right. We’re getting better gear, an’ our lot get killed all the time. This way we get tae kill more o’ them than us!”

“Well, no, that’s not really the point I was trying to… and they’re cheering. Fine. Whatever.” I began to walk towards the battlefield, and the two remaining slavers, again held captive by four Raiders apiece.

“We’re not done.” Latvi growled, as I passed him.

“We are for now.” I shot back, not slowing.

Strolling past the gathered Raiders, I was somewhat glad to see that, of the two captive slavers, the mare was being held by four Woodpeckers, who all had new weapons. They were using those weapons to shoo away some of the male Raiders, who looked like they were getting a little excited about having a captive female.

We still have a lot of work to do, so I’m glad I don’t have to see ‘that’ yet. Not sure how I’d take seeing… ‘that’ up close.

I squatted down next to the girl, who had also been watching the stallion Raiders. “And who might you be?”

Decked out in Plottawa gear, it was hard to see much of the pony underneath, but she turned a dazzling pair of blue eyes on me. Around those eyes was a pretty, youthful white face, and the faintest wisps of golden hair poking out from under her headgear. “W-who wants to know?”

Sporting the biggest smile I could muster, I cheerily rolled over onto my back, so I was looking at her upside down. “Why, I do, sweetie. I’m sorry about the treatment, but it’s necessary. Now, why don’t you tell me a little about yourself, starting with your name?”

One of the Woodpeckers holding her down tightened their grip, and she winced in response. “Ngh, let’s start with YOURS.”

“Oh, very well. You can call me Red Ice.”

Those blue eyes shrank to pinpricks. “R-Red Ice? You’re Red Ice? S-stay away from me!”

Still upside down, I shook my head playfully. “Ah ah, can’t do that. I just wanna talk to you, that’s all. Of course, I can’t do that without you telling me your name. How else do I know who I’m talking to?”

“...I’m Hot Topic.”

I clapped my hooves together impishly. “Well it is just lovely to meet you, Hot Topic. I’m sure you have a lot of questions. Me too. In the interest of fairness, I’ll start off with one of yours. Go ahead. Ask me anything.” Crossing my hooves over my chin, I batted my eyelids expectantly.

She reacted by drawing back slightly. “Why are you doing this? Why have you attacked our patrols?”

“Well that’s two questions, but okay. I’m doing this because I need to send a message to your boss, Peanut. I’m attacking your patrols because I can’t exactly walk into Plottawa myself and talk to him, now can I? I already did that once and he kicked me. Several times! How mean is that?”

Hope crept into her eyes. “You could give me the message? I’m sure I could get it to Peanut. He wants any information about you he can get.”

Reeeally? Isn’t that interesting? “Aw, you’re gonna make me blush. He wants to know about li’l old me? Anyway, you’re very kind to offer, and I actually couldn’t deliver it without you, but I need to know a little bit more about you first.”

“Uh, okay?”

“Great! Now then, what’s a pretty thing like you doing working for slavers anyway? It’s not the most upstanding of jobs, is it?”

She’d heard the slightest sharpness that had crept into my voice. “I-I didn’t have a choice! M-my parents were attacked just after I was born, they got hurt bad from it. They died when I was young. I signed on with the Plottawans for safety. They took care of me, kept me going. I swear I don’t like the job, I’m just trying to survive like everypony else!”

I rubbed my chin as I pondered her answer. “Well, I suppose I can understand that, but don’t you think that’s lacking some ambition?”

From where he’d been silently glowering nearby, Latvi made an angry, choking sound.

Hot Topic just looked at me strangely. “What do you mean?”

I shrugged against the ground. “Well, why are you just trying to survive? Don’t you want to make a nice life for yourself? You said you don’t like the job, so why not try for what you really want to do?”

“I… I don’t understand. Everypony’s trying to survive! Everyone in Plottawa, Lethbridle, Vanchoofer, and all around is trying to make a living, and we do that as well as we can. I swear we don’t hurt the slaves! We take care of them until we sell them, even if they’re sick! We make them better!”

I absent-mindedly reached out and patted her on the head. “And that’s lovely, but you haven’t really answered my question. Why are you… why is anyone okay with just surviving? Look at me. I’m not okay with that. I’ve only been out in the Wasteland for a few weeks and I’ve already done so much. I’m trying to make a life for myself, rather than just keep breathing. I mean, I’ve got some good friends, some not so good friends, some enemies…” I leaned in conspiratorially. “Like the blue unicorn with the blond mane over there? It’s not really a secret, but you might not know. He really doesn’t like me too much because I took his horn.”

“But he still has his-”

“Not tha- nevermind. Anyway, back to my point. I’ve only been in the Wasteland for a little while and I’m already on my way to a real life, not just eking out another forgettable existence. I’m thinking bigger than that.” I waggled my eyebrows at her. “Red Ice has plans.”

I cupped her face in my hooves. “Don’t you want to get yourself a real life, Hot Topic? Do better than your parents did? Than Latvi’s doing? He’s the stallion over there, by the way.”

Said stallion muttered something under his breath.

That kind of language hardly seems suitable for the friendly conversation we’re having here, Latvi.

Hot Topic seemed thoroughly out of her depth by this point, and her eyes were constantly cycling between looking at my face, and looking at the hooves on her cheeks. “I don’t… I don’t know what you’re saying. I just want to back to Plottawa and give your message to Peanut.” Tears began to form in her eyes. “I just wanna go home.”

“Ah ah, dry those eyes. I’m trying to show you that there’s another way. You don’t need to be a slaver to be happy. Heck, you’re NOT happy as a slaver, but you don’t try anything different. I can help you find a better way. A nicer way. A way for Hot Topic to get what Hot Topic wants, I mean really wants. Slavering’s not a good life for a pretty thing like you.”

“I… I…”

I drew back, rolling over until I was sitting upright, a yard or so away from her. I spread my hooves wide. “Let me help you, Hot Topic. Let Red Ice help Hot Topic to really find her way in this crazy Wasteland. Do you want that?”

The tiniest of pleading smiles tugged at the corners of her mouth. “I… YES! Yes, I want that! Please help me!”

My grin grew even wider.

“Too bad.”

My horn shone.

Her smile turned rictus, then froze completely as the ice engulfed her from her face outwards. As it spread, the Woodpeckers jumped away before it got them too. Three of the four did, anyway. The fourth was shrieking as the cold crept up her immobile leg.

“Oh stop being a baby.” I concentrated, and the freeze receded from the limb. The Woodpecker immediately took off running.

I wasn’t paying attention. All trace of my smile gone, I turned hard eyes to the remaining captive, a stallion. He’d been watching the whole thing in nervous, now petrified, silence. “Run home to Peanut and tell him what happened here. All of it. That’s my message to him. There’ll be more to come.”

~~~~~~

Chapter 16-2: Indenture

Leaning against a leafless tree, I let the warmth from the fire wash over me as I stared out over the collective I’d built. The Raiders had gathered in full now that the light had dimmed too much to allow a third clash.

We’re certainly not all one big, happy family yet. The Deep Divers and Woodpeckers still aren’t interested in mingling with the Hay-stormers. I’ll have to talk to Caber and Sweet Lips about that.

“I am only pointing out that I saw what happened with that slaver mare, Hot Topic.”

I craned my head around as Latvi’s voice reached my ears.

It was soon joined by Ballbuster’s drawl. “Aye, but nuthin’ happened. Ah’ve made it clear what’ll happen if Caber’s eedjits try sumthin’.”

Latvi wasn’t done, though. “Sure, nothing happened this time, but what happens in the future? I notice that those four girls were the only Woodpeckers who got any of the new gear. Wanna know who didn’t notice?”

Sweet Lips was sounding more interested now, and a little angrier. “Who? Caber?”

“No, not Caber…” He trailed off as he locked eyes with me. “Oh, hello again. How’s the fire?”

“Like a nice, warm hug.” I deadpanned. “What was that?”

“What was what?” He matched my gaze without blinking.

“That.” I growled. “What were you just saying?”

He made a show of tapping his chin slowly. “Oh, right. That. Well, I was just going to congratulate you on the show you put on earlier. Very Raider. Didn’t even seem to care that you might’ve frozen one of Ballbuster’s Woodpeckers in the process.”

A grunt of annoyed agreement sounded from the mountainous mare’s throat. “The laddie’s no’ wrong.”

“Yes he is! I fixed it, didn’t I? Magic’d the ice off her right away.”

“You also told the poor girl not to ‘be such a baby’.” Accompanying his chide with a rueful shake of his head, it was still easy to see the smirk beneath his swaying mane strands.

“Are you kidding me?” I growled, standing up and squaring my hooves.

Latvi held up his hooves placatingly. “No, not kidding. I’m just making sure you remember that these aren’t just Red Ice’s Raiders, Snowflake. They are Haylanders, Barnstormers, Deep Divers, and yes, Woodpeckers. I just want you, Red Ice, to remember them.”

The number of fires around suddenly seemed far larger.

“But anyway,” Latvi shrugged, sitting down across the fire. “what’s next for our little entertprise?”

“What?” As we were talking, Caber Toss strolled up and sat down beside his wife.

“Well, while I think we can all agree that ambushing slaver patrols is fun…”

“Oh aye!”

“‘s aces!”

“...but still, there must be more to this, right? You didn’t go through all the trouble of bringing the disparate Raider groups together just to form a larger Raider group that indulges in the same old activities, did you?”

I hate you more than Roc. “No, I didn’t. The thing is, none of the towns and cities around here will give Raiders a chance to prove we’re changing, not by choice anyway.” Visions of all my friends who’d told me just that surfaced in my mind: Bosco, Breeze, Lexi… “So, we need to get ourselves into a position where we can be treated as credible, same as places like Plottawa or Neighlway. Once that’s accomplished, we can start getting the message across that the Raiders are changing.”

Caber Toss started. “Changin’ hoo?”

“...That’s for when we get there. Right now, we’ve gotta concentrate on showing the likes of Plottawa that we mean business.”

That cheered the big brawler up. “Hahah! Aye, tha’s the way! ‘mon then, back to it n’morra. Best be getting tae shawshie bawbaws.”

“Uh… what?” Latvi and I chorused.

“Means ‘sleep well’.” Sweet Lips translated, as her husband nodded sagely.

“Oh yes!” Latvi injected altogether too much enthusiasm into his words. “Do sleep well, Snowflake. Though I hardly think you could do otherwise with all these Raiders around. Yes, I’m sure you’re just as safe as can be here.” His predatory grin was really beginning to grate on me. “Sleep tight.”

Caber and Ballbuster had already vanished into the darkness. Latvi joined them after a final smirk.

Bastard. I lay down near the flames, letting their warmth lull me into a comfortable doze.

It did not come easy.

~~~~~~

“Mrrrrrrrrgh.” I staggered around the Raider encampment, lamenting the quality of my slumber.

There was little activity to be found around the camp. The Raiders seemed to be happy to take a lazy morning, with only a few fights going on, spaced far apart and drawing few onlookers.

I unenthusiastically accepted a bowl of… something from a Deep Diver, who for some reason hadn’t taken off… his? her? diving helmet even though there was no water anywhere near here. Spooning mouthfuls of the breakfast down my throat, I took another look around.

Latvi’s not around, and neither are Mr. and Mrs. Raider. I’d probably be worried about that if I wasn’t so damn tired.

I did spot one interesting thing though. A threesome of Raiders seemed to be fiddling with some of the gear from one of the Plottawans we’d killed. Judging from the harsh feedback, it seemed to be a radio. Finishing up my meal, I wandered over and listened in for any worthwhile distraction.

The Raiders weren’t kind to the machine, fervently tugging and bashing at the settings. A few snippets of music made it through, songs about how it was ‘great to be different’ and ‘proud to be a’ something or other. It wasn’t to the tastes of those working the dials, so never more than a second was heard.

A twist of a knob. “-OOD MOR-” The familiar voice vanished in a burst of interference as the Raiders moved on.

“Wait! Go back to the that one.”

Glancing over to me briefly, the stallion at the controls just shrugged and moved the dial back the other way.

“-d it hurts! There’s a good chance we’ll get more hurt than healing in the next little while, listeners. Ol’ DJ Pon3 has been hearing some very disturbing reports coming from up north.”

I rolled my eyes. Here we go. All aboard the blow-it-out-of-proportion express.

“Seems like the Raider Queen’s been busy indeed. Ponies have been talking for the past few days about massive Raider movements from all around Lethbridle and the surrounding settlements. Whatever Red Ice is planning, looks like it’s started.”

The Raiders began to chuckle and rib each other proudly. I waved at them in annoyance until they quieted enough for me to listen again.

“What we do know is that you want to be as far from Plottawa as possible right now. If possible, avoid travelling at all. Traders have apparently come across dozens of bodies in the snow. Some Raider, some Plottawa. It’s looking grim, folks.”

It’s not looking anything to you, you mouthpiece. You’re half a world away.

“Now, this DJ is hardly gonna cry over dead slavers OR dead Raiders, but both sides have a lot of bodies to throw at this, and there’s a half-decent chance that they’ll do just that. If they do, we’re gonna have fireworks. Big ones, and lots of them to boot. The most faithful of my listeners will remember that it was the Plottawa slaver head honcho, Peanut, who first told us about Red Ice. It sounds like she didn’t take it well.”

I pursed my lips, pouting. “I took it as well as anybody would.”

“Whatever the reason, Red Ice is waging a large scale grudge match against Peanut, or vice versa, and it’s really not gonna end well for anypony caught in the middle. Stay away, my little ponies. Stay far away. Lethbridle’s walls are there for a reason, keep them between you and the fighting. These two gangs of maniacs will tear into each other, and hopefully the rest of us can keep out of it. That’s the best thing to do here. Do NOT go vigilante. The bounty on Red Ice isn’t that high. It’s definitely not worth your life.”

I dunno, given the state of affairs in the Wasteland, that many caps could buy and sell a fair few ponies who just try to ‘survive’.

I jumped as a short burst of an upkeep rhythm rang out, painfully loud. The DJ’s voice followed immediately after. “And that’s all the time we’re gonna give to a couple of warmongers. There’s happy news out there too, ponies! Sprinkles Supplies has re-established trade with the buffalo of Grindstone, thanks to the combined efforts of Deputy Dent and his now-fiancee Lithu, who travelled to Grindstone after a dangerous mercenary shot up their apartment building in Lethbridle. Two upstanding young lovebirds there, folks. A buffalo and a unicorn. Ain’t it beautiful?”

“Yeah, it kinda is.” I mumbled to myself, managing a small smile. The other ponies around just gave me strange looks. I shook my head in jest. “Heh, colts.”

“I think this calls for a classic Sweetie Belle love song, in honour of the happy couple, who’re making the Wasteland just a li’l brighter all by themselves. I’ll leave you with the melodious tones of our bicentennial starlet. Enjoy the music, listeners. This is DJ Pon3, signing off.”

As the ‘melodious tones’ sounded out from the radio, one Raider scowled and made to change the channel, only to get blocked by one one of the others. Within seconds a fight had broken out, lovingly supported by the ongoing song. I just walked away.

Just you wait, DJ, you and all your gullible little listeners. Pretty soon I’m going to make it so that you can’t just ‘stay away’ from my Raiders. You’ll have to acknowledge us, have to deal with us, and then you’ll see what I’m really trying to do here. Then you’ll see that you were wrong to label me as a blight on the Wasteland. All I’m trying to do is help. Soon that’ll be clear to anyone.

~~~~~~

“Well, this is ‘exciting’.”

“Would somebody hit Latvi for me?”

THWACK!!

“OW!”

“Thank you, Caber.”

“Nae problem, doll.”

It was past noon, hours after DJ Pon3’s radio broadcast, and we’d been searching for more Plottawa patrols the entire time. So far we’d had no luck.

For the last hour, Latvi had delighted in reminding us all of that fact.

Worse still, some of the others are starting to agree with him.

Recovering from the backhoof clout that he’d idly received from Caber Toss, Latvi wasn’t done. Shaking his unkempt blond mane to clear the stars from before his eyes, he gritted his teeth as he spoke. “What an eloquent response. Truly I am convinced. Just for clarification, though, could you show me some of the Plottawa slavers we’ve killed today? How about any new weapons we’ve taken?”

I stamped a hoof, losing the battle to keep my frustation in check. “Shut. Up. Latvi.”

“He’s a wee gubshite, but he’s got a point, Red Ice.”

“DOES HE?!” I rounded on Caber Toss. “Because I really hadn’t noticed that we’ve been looking for hours and your Haylanders haven’t found a damn thing! Now I’d love to do everything myself, so I know I it won’t get messed up, but I can’t! I’m stuck waiting for your hepped-up-on-Dash Barnstormers to STUMBLE across twenty ponies!”

Caber Toss was not Latvi. His shoulders bunched up under his orange coat, and blue-and-green tartan moustache couldn’t hide his flaring nostrils as he reached up, grabbed his formidable axe, and slammed it into the ground between us with a mighty THUD! “Watch yehr mooth, Red Ice. Ah’m no’ gonnae take that from the likes o’ you!”

I’d taken a step back on seeing his axe come out, very much aware of Latvi’s words from the night before, and the general situation I was in.

These guys aren’t my friends. I’m stuck in what is still enemy territory, trying to keep them all happy. My fear at the situation was still there, but it was joined by anger. I stepped back towards Caber, horn glowing. I had to make it clear that I wouldn’t put up with being threatened, or else everything would fall apart. “Put that damn axe away right now, or else I’ll stop your heart COLD!”

Undeterred, Caber Toss tightened his grip on the axe, leg sinews tightening. Not wanting to wait, I immediately focused on the blade of the axe, where it was buried in the dirt, and willed a film of ice to form around it. “By the time you get it out of the ground, I’ll have frozen the blood in your veins.”

It was a bluff. I wouldn’t even get the ice on the axe before he took my head off, but I had to keep up the appearance of brutality.

Nobody else moved, they all just watched. I glanced around surreptitiously, looking at their expressions. It was a mix, some, Latvi included, were glaring at me. Others were glaring at Caber Toss. Others still were smiling, and even more were looking confused or worried. Things were getting divisive, and the sea of unfamiliar faces just made me feel lonely.

“Look,” I started, my horn’s glow fading. “we’re all pissed off. Just keep looking, come find me when you find some Plottawans.”

Without another word, I turned and walked away.

~~~~~~

The stone splashed into the puddle, throwing up droplets of dirty water.

From atop the small mound, I watched the miniature rain fall again. I’d been away from the Raiders for an hour, and didn’t feel any less angry at the situation.

“How hard is it to find a freakin’ slaver in the Wasteland? They’re supposed to be hunting other ponies! They’re supposed to be hunting me! It shouldn’t take this many Raiders this long to find some.”

The ripples on the puddle’s surface calmly spread out from where the stone sat, half-submerged.

I suppose I shouldn’t really expect much. I mean, the Raiders are idiots, I knew this coming in, but seriously! Not only can they not find any slavers, but they can’t even tell me where YOU are.

Even as I thought that, I was uncertain that I even wanted the Raiders to ever find out where Undertow was. Regardless of how we had met, this was not meant to be her world.

This world was filled with monsters and rogues, and she was anything but either. She’s the best thing to happen to me out here, and I’ll be damned if I let Latvi get anywhere near her again!

“I promise I’m gonna keep you safe, Undertow, from anybody who tries to hurt you or take you from me. I’ll find you, and I’ll make this right.” Undertow would be safe enough for now, Naiara had gotten her away from Caber Toss, Sweet Lips, and Latvi. She’d still been hit with the same spell I had, and I had to wonder what happened to her, if I’d been sent to the Stable.

Still, I could trust Naiara with her safety. No matter what else she’d done at the Raider meeting, she’d never try to hurt Undertow. They would both be safe.

I had to stop as a chilling thought slipped into my mind. That’s assuming that Naiara keeps Undertow away from others, or gets her back to Bosco, Schwarzwald and the others. Even with Breeze there, the others won’t let her hurt Undertow.

But what if she takes her back to the zebra? I fished the broken horn of the dead king out of my pocket. It was them who gave Latvi this damn thing in the first place. Atesh and Cept, you put people I care about in danger for your own ends?!

Naiara’s my friend, but you two definitely aren’t. I owe you both, especially Atesh, some payback, and I plan to pay you back in full.

According to Latvi, Atesh and his zebra were still looking for a way to get a supply of readily available gems for zebra-kind. Apparently that was what they were fighting for two hundred years ago, while ponies wanted the coal in the zebra lands. If they could harness the power of Sombra, the so-called Crystal King, then they would be much better off.

They won’t be happy that possibly the ONLY unicorn in the Wastelands with the ability to use the horn’s spells doesn’t have it anymore. They might come after me to get it back.

Well bring it, Atesh. You’re not the only one with fighters now, so if you want it, then you’re gonna have to meet my terms… whatever those’ll be when I get around to deciding.

“And my debt with you is already squared,” I giggled. “so don’t expect any favours from me. Unlike last time, I won’t be a ‘terrible haggler’. You’ll be paying through the nose for what you want from me!”

“Well, that sounds equal parts good and bad.”

“AAAAHHH!!!” I dove forwards in panic, landing square in the puddle, soaking my front.

“Smooth.” The voice was robotic, though somehow still amused.

Spitting out some of the muck-filled, no-doubt irradiated water, I sat up without turning around. “It’s been a while, Watcher. What have you been up to?”

“Mostly watching.”

Very helpful.

“And sorry for not speaking with you sooner, I’ve been busy since Crystal Point.”

“Yeah,” You liar. “Crystal Point seems like a lifetime ago. Feels as if a whole lot has happened since then.”

“Yeah it has, Snowflake. I think it’s high time we talked.” Buzzing around behind me, Watcher’s tone was equal parts concern and admonishment.

I sat back up, brushing at my damp coat, and closed my eyes. “I suppose so.” Scooting back away from the water, I popped a Radaway and began to sip it, relaxing until I was almost lying on my back. “Go ahead, Watcher, I’m listening.”

“Alright. First off, why are you working with Raiders? Is it true that you’re attacking Plottawans?”

I chuckled through my nose, still not looking. “Yeah, it’s true. I put all this effort into this project, and now I’m showing what it can do.”

“Snowflake!” Watcher’s voice had shifted further towards worry and not a little anger now. “You’re working with some of the most dangerous, crazy ponies in the Wasteland, and you’re picking a fight with a monster. Don’t you know how dangerous that is? What are you thinking?”

My eyebrow twitched in response. All hope of relaxing had disappeared. Sitting up, I opened my eyes and fixed the darkest glare I could on the floating contraption. “Oh, fuck you , buzzbot! Where do you get off preaching at me? I’m the one who did all the legwork to put this all together, I’m thinking that maybe I should get something for all my hard work! And fuck your danger, too! I know what I’m doing, and everybody needs to stop acting like they know better than me! I did this, and I’m gonna carry on, until everybody realises that I can handle myself!”

Chest heaving, I continued to glare at the robot, which had halted mid-air, remaining stock still.

“What?!” I snarled. “Got nothing to say? No sage advice from the oh-so-wise Watcher?”

It was a tense few seconds before Watcher spoke again, and when he did, it was in a choked, fearful voice. “What happened to your eyes?”

I scoffed. “You like? And here I was thinking that it wasn’t my colour.”

He wasn’t listening. “No no no, it can’t be! He’s gone! He can’t be back!” Watcher was zipping backwards and forwards, examining me from every angle. “WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR EYES, SNOWFLAKE?!” The roar that shot through the speakers set me back on my haunches.

His panic was disturbing to watch, after all he’d told me before this. “Sombra’s still dead, you idiot. Though you should know as well as I do that the Wasteland won’t let things end at death. He left a legacy, Watcher, and I’ve experienced it firsthoof.”

“Snowflake.” Watcher halted his discombobulation and faced me directly. “I don’t care if you don’t like me right now, you can hate me even, but I need you to listen to me for this one thing. You cannot mess around with Sombra’s magic. I don’t care what form it is, stay away! Get out any way you can. This isn’t something you can play with, and it’s not something you can control. Sombra used the worst kinds of black arts. Please, I’m telling you, just stay away from it!”

“Oh please, Watcher.” I waved a hoof dismissively. “I’ve seen Sombra’s magic. It’s bad but I can handle it. If it comes down to it, I’ll even use it myself if I can.”

“No!”

“YES! I’m not helpless, Watcher. Soon everybody is going to see that.”

“I can’t let you do that, Snowflake! Don’t make me stop you!” He was seething, even through the speaker.

I threw my head back and howled with laughter. “What are you gonna do, watch me to death? Oh please try to stop me, Watcher. I could use a laugh.”

Everybody keeps thinking that I’m making mistakes, over and over again. I’ll show them all!

Furious, Watcher tried one more time. “Snowflake, pay attention. This power is not for you. It’s not for anyone. It should have died with Sombra. No good will come from it.” The bot was right into my face now. “It’s… it’s not the way to live. There’s a better way!”

I said nothing, already growing bored of his spiel. Taking a long drag from my Radaway, I just stared.

Unconcerned, he continued. “Look, I should have been keeping a better eye on you, and I’m sorry. I should have put you on the right path earlier. See, the thing is, every pony has a goal, a-a special something that defines them… something that holds true in their very soul. It’s what makes them so special, so unique. The Ministry Mares all had one, back before the Ministries and the war. They lost track of theirs, because of all the fighting and the hard decisions they had to make. This magic, Sombra’s magic, it’s just going to distract you from finding yours.”

“Are you kidding me? What’s having a ‘special something’ gonna do for anybody?”

“It’s everything! The one thing that the Wasteland can’t take from you. The one thing that makes you into best pony you can be. It’s yours and yours alone. Finding your... virtue is imperative for finding your own way to live out here.”

I puffed out my chest. “Then I guess my ‘virtue’ is pride. I’m pushing myself harder than anybody, doing things they wouldn’t dream of, all in the name of pride. I’m making my mark on the strength of my pride!”

“No,” Watcher replied, suddenly old and tired. “pride is not your virtue. It can’t be. If all you’ve done, all of this has come about through foolish pride, then it’s about as far from your virtue as you can get. Finding and following your virtue shows you the right way. This? This is a vice. Pride is your vice, not your virtue. You have to get away, Snowflake, and soon. If you don’t? Your pride is going to bury you.”

“Tch, if you’re so sure that I’m wrong, then what’s my virtue, smart guy?”

All the calm had drained from his words. “I don’t know. You sure as hell don’t know. I’ll try to find that out. You need to keep looking too. It’s the most important thing now. If you don’t… then I. Will. Stop. You.”

My teeth gritted. “Oh, go back to the ponies who want your nonsense!” Schwarzwald can deal with you, Watcher, I’ve got things to take care of.

If the bot had eyes, they’d have been glaring as it slowly turned and moved away, the mockingly upbeat tune emerging as it left.

~~~~~~

Level Up!

Perks gained - No Wasteland for Old Horses - The influence of those who came before affects Snowflake’s resolve.

~~~~~~

Author's Note

That’s all for now, folks. Please keep reading, commenting, and spreading the word on Old Souls. I really appreciate your feedback.

Chapter 17-1: Nice Things

[Why do you knuckle-draggers insist on doing things the hard way? Very well…]

Still seething from my confrontation with Watcher, I was less than pleased when I arrived back at the main Raider force only to find them lounging around.

“What the hell is this?” I demanded out loud, not particularly aimed at anybody. A few Raiders shot up and tried to look busy, but even more just glanced over or ignored me entirely, unconcerned.

Oh not today, you useless jackholes! My horn blazed, and a sheet of ice began radiating out from my hooves, spreading rapidly across the ground. “GET THE FUCK UP, ALL OF YOU!”

Even more took notice of my raised voice this time, but it wasn’t until their backsides felt the cold that they finally rose, many still glaring.

“WHAT?! Got something to say?” I had no intention of hiding the contempt I felt for them at that moment. It seemed to have the desired effect, as all but one turned away and grumpily began to move.

The one, a burly Haylander, didn’t seem to appreciate being spoken down to without the threat of violence from Caber Toss if she didn’t listen. Snarling, she lowered her head and pawed at the icy ground.

A crooked smile spread across my face. “Do it! I dare you! Come on, I’m right here!” You really picked a bad time to challenge me, you no-name punk.

She wasted no time, charging across the gap between us.

Every eye was on our exchange now.

Watch this.

Though there was a fair distance between us, the Raider made good time on the slick surface. She was halfway to me in seconds.

And that’s as far as she got. The moment her leading leg touched the ice, it sprang up around her hoof, pinning it in place. The rest of her, however, kept moving forward at a reckless pace, until…

SNAP!!!

The frozen leg didn’t come along as the rest of her travelled forwards. Her sudden, unexpected halt flipped her head over hooves, landing with her shoulder socket wrenched unnaturally, and the shackled limb in three pieces. A jagged spur of bone had burst from under her flesh, bleeding dark, dirty blood onto the ice.

As the mare, just a filly really, lay screaming, I turned to the nearest Raider, a wide-eyed colt. “Get me a gun.”

...Oh, sure, now you move fast. Prick.

As I waited for the colt to bring my weapon, I ignored the screams, and purposefully turned in a circle, meeting every eye I could. Not many were happy to have my gaze on them.

The colt returned, carrying a shotgun, and flanked by Latvi, Caber Toss, and Ballbuster. None of them were smiling.

“What’re yeh doin’, Red Ice?!” The tartan Raider’s hoof twitched in the direction of his axe. Sweet Lips and Latvi were silent, though I found myself hating the expression on the scientist’s face.

What are you planning you useless, scheming…

“I’m making an example of an idiot who decided to challenge me, now be quiet and watch!” I gestured to the shaking colt with my shotgun. “Give me that.”

He rushed over, which proved to be his undoing. Hooves slipping on the ice covering the dirt, he slipped and went down. Making a desperate grab for the shotgun as he fell, he just managed to get his hooves around it as he slammed down.

BLAM!!!

The shotgun toppled away as his head exploded.

I just barely managed to close my eyes before a wet chunk slapped me hard across the face. Wiping a hoof across my brow, I opened to my eyes to see a square of flesh with a few teeth still attached, laying in front of me.

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! COME ON!” I didn’t really form real words after that point, just animalistic noises, as I scrubbed at my face, dislodging another tooth in the process.

“Snowflake!” Ballbuster called out from beyond the haze filling the corners of my eyes. “Calm yehrself right noo!”

“I. Am. Red. Ice!”

“Whoever yeh are, get yehrself sorted!”

I rounded on her. “Fuck you!” My attention turned to the headless colt. I kicked out at the shotgun, sending it spinning. “Fuck you, too!” Finally, I settled on the now-whimpering Haylander, still stuck in place by her snapped bone. “And fuck you most of all!”

With another shimmer of glacier-blue magic, an icicle burst from her maw, rising a metre in the air with her tongue speared on the tip.

Silence fell on the gathering.

I breathed out a ragged breath. “Finally, some quiet. Her voice was getting on my nerves.”

“Well…” Latvi began.

“Shut up.”

“...what a stunning eulogy for our fallen comrades, Red Ice. Truly you have a way with words.”

I was starting to get anger-shakes now. “Latvi…”

He continued as if I hadn’t spoken. “We’re now down two fighters, and some ammo, all so you could throw a tantrum. Was it worth it?”

“We’ll get more ammo in today’s raid.” I bit out.

Now he smiled, though there was no warmth there. “Except today’s raid isn’t going to happen. The scouts have reported back. There’s no sign of any Plottawan patrols. The only violence we’ll get today is your little show.”

I stamped my hoof furiously, causing a squelch. “What do you mean you idiots can’t find any slavers?”

Affecting a put-upon air, Latvi sighed. “I mean that there are only so many Plottawan slavers in the Wasteland, Snowflake. The majority of them are still back in Plottawa. We have obviously engaged and killed all those in the nearby areas, except for those two you released to send back to Peanut. Now, we could attack Plottawa itself, we certainly have the numbers, but even with the spoils we have taken so far, I doubt we have the necessary equipment.” He paused for a moment to briefly glance at the two dead Raiders. “Especially if we’re going to waste what little we do have on depleting our own forces.”

Glaring, I said nothing.

Shrugging, he turned to Caber Toss and laid a hoof on his shoulder. “I’m terribly sorry about how she’s acting with your Haylanders. She and I have had this conversation before, but it appears that it didn’t stick.”

Every pair of unimpressed eyes turned back to me.

Hate. You. All. “...Fine. We can’t get to the Plottawans, not without more weapons. So… let’s go get some big weapons.”

~~~~~~

It’d been a long, tense two days as my Raider convoy travelled into Steel Ranger territory. We’d taken a long detour around Lethbridle, to avoid getting into a confrontation with the guards that would have undoubtedly broadcast to Neighlway that we were heading in their direction. The trip had been long, and dull, and had soured everybody’s spirits.

I hadn’t cared, being already plenty unhappy before we left.

Upon reaching the outer limits of Ranger territory, there hadn’t been time for any arguing before the explosions started.

I know it’s hard to hide a Raider army this size but I was hoping we’d at least spot them first. Damn scouts are useless.

There were only three Rangers, but they were fully decked out in armour from tip to tail, and had the high ground. Our Raiders were currently trying to get up the hill to get at them, but it wasn’t easy.

“I can’t wait until I get my Memory Orb back.” My offhoof remark drew a grunt from the unicorn watching the battle with me.

“Yes, I’m sure it will be such a relief for you to get back to your humdrum Stable life.” Latvi hadn’t taken his eyes off the fighting. “Oh, they got one.”

The closest Ranger had been reached, and was currently disappearing under a mob of whooping Raiders. “So they did. But that’s not the reason why. I’m not going back to the Stable.”

“No? Why then? Sentiment?” He all but spat the word.

A grim smile spread across my face. “No, because when I get my Memory Orb back, and fixed, it means I get to kill you.”

Surprisingly, he didn’t get angry, or scared. “You think it’ll be that easy, do you?”

“Of course. Since it doesn’t involve the Raiders, it’ll be just you and me, and we both know I can take you.”

“Well if you think that’s all there is to it, then I have nothing to worry about… hmm, this last one is proving quite a challenge.”

The second Ranger was down now, though still alive as the Raiders hammered ineffectually at the full-body protection with hooves and bludgeons. The last one was beset on all sides by howling savages. Their small weaponry couldn’t punch through the armour on its own, but the sheer number of weapons firing into the plating was taking its toll. The Steel Ranger knight had a hoof to the side of their head, trying to shield a crack in the helmet.

Might as well get some practice in. My horn lit up, and finally Latvi did seem affected. He wasn’t my target though, and he breathed a sigh of relief as my Cryo Serpent sped away towards the Ranger.

Better steer clear of our lot. No way am I giving Latvi any more reason to play me off as a bully to the troops.

As I concentrated, I marvelled at how much easier the magic seemed to be coming now. All that practice with Undertow had really paid off.

I felt my lips tug downwards at the thought of her. I have to find her soon. I can’t leave things like this. The magic faltered slightly, and with great reluctance, I pushed Undertow to the back of my mind.

Back on task, my ice reached the Ranger, who didn’t even notice with what was going on around them. Circling up the leg, the frost rounded the flank and crept up the spine of the armour.

Little more now. They’ll never see this coming. At the shoulder, I diverted the flow to travel along the limb that was shielding the gap in the helmet.

Finally, the cold halted on the steel-clad hoof, with the Ranger still none-the-wiser.

“I suppose it’s over then, isn’t it?” Latvi began making his way down towards the battle.

“Yeah, It’s over.” I agreed, giving the final mental command.

My spell leapt into the helmet-hole, and finally got the attention of the Ranger. His panicked cries carried over to me as the ice did its work. “Agh? Agh! EEYAAAA-”

Thrashing about as the magic froze him solid, his agony-filled scream cut off abruptly. Half a second later, he froze in an undignified position as the last of his freedom was taken from him. Stuck in that pose, he toppled over, cold.

“And that’s that. Now I need to talk to one of the other two, while I still can.”

By the time I got down there, having caught up with Latvi, the Raiders had stripped the two surviving Rangers of their weaponry, leaving them as little more than tin soldiers.

“Hello again, boys. I’ve missed your shiny smiles.”

Both of them, from under their dogpile restraints, managed to look up at me with their expressionless steel visages. One said nothing, but the other muttered something too quiet to hear.

I crouched down closer. “Speak up now, we are all very interested in what you have to say.”

“...Four out of ten.”

My eyes shot wide. I started chuckling, then giggling, until finally I was sounding out full-on belly laughs.

What are the chances I’d see this clown again? I wonder if five-of-ten is around anywhere? What was his name again? Stuffy Buns?

Nobody else seemed to be getting the joke, but I didn’t care. I had a chance for some payback for the scores they gave me. “Oh this is a good day for me. What’s your name, fella? I never got it when I was in Neighlway last time.”

His robotic speakers radiated contempt. “I’m not telling you anything, Red Ice.”

“Oh, come on. I’ll be your friend?”

“No.”

“Aw. Well that’s just rude. And here I was gonna pick you to be the one I send back to Neighlway instead of your buddy here.”

“Really?” Caustic disbelief bled from his words.

“No, of course not really. Four out of ten? That’s just mean.” I turned and started walking away. “Kill him, send the other one back as the message.”

~~~~~~

CRACK!!!

“Again?!”

“My dear Sweet Lips, I am so very sorry for the loss of another of your Woodpeckers, and-”

“Suck up later, Latvi! Somebody get this mess cleaned up now, and for Celestia’s sake will you keep these idiots away from the weapons until we need them?!”

“Ey, yeh bunch o’ dafties, listen tae Red Ice! Put the feckin’ guns doon!”

“...and I’m sure we can arrange a funeral once the weapons are secured so this doesn’t happen again.”

“Latvi, SHUT UP!”

“Boohoohoohoo!”

“Aw hell, yeh’ve done it noo. Mah wife’s gonnae be bawlin’ fer hours. Great job, the pair o’ yeh!”

“I don’t fucking care, Caber!”

“Well I do, Caber Toss, and I deeply apologise for mine and Snowflake’s behaviour in this tragedy. Rest assured that I, at least, will do whatever it takes to better the situation… unlike some ponies.”

“Oh to hell with this, I’m out of here. You all make me sick.”

I moved away from the triple act of annoyance that was the Raider leadership besides myself. Shouldering through the gathered masses, I made no attempt to act nice with the Raiders, especially after a second accidental suicide in less than a week.

I passed through the Haylander and Barnstormer troops, moving into the Woodpeckers, who were less than welcoming. In the end I had to physically exert myself just to get through the throng. It soon grew tiresome.

“Move, you jackholes!” Shoulder-slamming one Woodpecker aside, I let my horn light up, not casting any magic, but as a warning. It had the desired effect of sending them scrambling.

Only a few of the Woodpeckers either didn’t notice or didn’t take the hint, and I finally had to brush one aside at the farthest reaches of the camp… or try to anyway. The Raider, tall for a mare but shrouded in rags, barely moved when I tried to shift her, not even looking at me.

“Umph! What are you hepped up on? Move aside.”

“...Alright.” The voice was muffled by the clothing, and was so indistinct that I was left wondering if it was even a mare at all under there. It might just be another idiot Barnstormer trying to get close to a mare or two. They’ll tear him apart if he gets found out. It wasn’t my problem, so I made no move to expose him/her, instead simply stomping around him/her and continuing on my way.

I headed back the way we’d come, hoping that it’d keep me away from any Ranger patrols, or at least any patrols would find the rest of the Raiders first. Still, I didn’t want to go too far, just enough that I could get some peace and quiet and think about things. To that end, I took shelter in a crop of snow-dusted trees. Shivering slightly in the wind, I paced back and forth as I took stock of my situation.

“...These Raiders...MY Raiders...are COMPLETE AND UTTER IDIOTS!”

Seriously, it happened twice?

Bucking halfheartedly at the nearest tree trunk, I felt anything but confident in my long term plans for the Raiders. Latvi’s constant pushing was really starting to grate on me. Combining that with the general level of ability for the rest of the Raiders did not paint a pretty picture. They were halfway capable fighters, some of them anyway, especially with Caber Toss and Sweet Lips leading them, but after that? It was pretty much all on me… or it would be after I got around to killing Latvi. He could NOT be allowed to keep doing what he was doing.

Here’s hoping the scouts are close to finding my Memory Orb. I want to be done with him as soon as possible. I fished inside my Sprinkles Supplies gear, momentarily cursing my lack of telekinesis, until I managed to locate and withdraw Sombra’s horn. The moment Latvi’s done with fixing my Orb, I’m gonna ram this through his eye. It’ll serve him right for all he’s put me through.

I hefted the horn between my hooves for a few moments. “I hope he isn’t really the only one who can use this thing. That’d be a giant pain for everybody, especially me… ‘cause he’s an unlikeable dick.”

“Perhaps you are looking for dick in the wrong places.”

Startled, I almost lost my hold on the horn, just managing it before it dropped to the ground. Hastily stuffing it back into the inside pocket, I whirled around to face the one who’d snuck up on me.

The shrouded Raider stood a dozen pony-lengths away, just outside of the crop of trees. He/She seemed utterly unconcerned with being out in the open, even here in Neighlway’s territory.

“What do you want? Get back to the others.” Gnashing my teeth, my displeasure at being followed was obvious.

Impassively, the shrouded Raider didn’t respond for a moment, just stared. It was somewhat unnerving. Blink once in a while, why don’t you?

Finally they spoke, though their words were still too muffled to clue me in to the identity of this Raider, or even the gender. “What if I don’t want to go back to the others? What if I want to spend some time with you?” This was accompanied with a single step forward, the intention clear.

Instantly, I was both on-my-guard and tickled by the gall of this Raider. “Really? You think Red Ice would give you the time of day? I’ve got hundreds more like you to worry about, so what makes you think you’re special? I don’t even know what your name is, and I certainly don’t care.”

A soft chuckle emerged from beneath the folds. “Yes you do.” One hoof rose to their head, and began unwrapping the covering.

I took a step forward myself. “Alright, that’s enough. You’ve had your fun, and you can even brag to your buddies that you got the drop on me, but this is as far as you go. Go back to the others. I won’t tell you again.”

He/She didn’t pause in their unwrapping. “What will you do if I don’t?”

I couldn’t tell whether they were amused or giving attitude. Either way, I wasn’t going to put up with it. The air around us got colder as my horn glowed. “If you don’t, I’ll show you how I got my name.”

“Which one?”

Momentarily stunned, I struggled to respond. “Which…what do you mean ‘which one’?! The only one that matters to you!”

“You will have to be more specific…” The rags covering the Raider’s face dropped away with a shake of her head. “...mistress.”

The only sound that followed was the rags flopping to the ground. I had no words to counter her smile. Schwarzwald just stood there, grinning confidently. Speechless, I searched her scarred face for any clue as to how she got here, or why she was disguised as a Raider at all.

The wood-brown mare stretched as she removed the rest of her Raider disguise. “Ah, much better. I do not believe that these ponies pay enough attention to their personal hygiene. The smell is… noticeable.”

“I… but… what you doing here?”

“It is a pleasure to see you too, Snowflake. We have missed you since you left.”

No. Not this time. You’re not dodging my questions again! “Answer me, Schwarzwald! Why are you here? Why are you spying on my Raiders? Did Amber send you?” Or Watcher?

She halted her stretching. “‘Your Raiders’. An interesting choice of words.” She looked as if she was going to say something more, but abruptly changed topic. “No, Snowflake, Amber did not send me, and I am not spying on the Raiders. I came to see you.”

I gave her a side-cocked glance. “Me? Why?”

Her smile lessened. “I wanted to see for myself just how your enterprise was progressing. You have done something few would have even attempted, Snowflake.”

Chest swelling, I couldn’t help but feel pleased with myself. “Thanks. It’s been a little rough going, but I’m glad to know that the results are impressive.”

There was no trace of her smile at all now. Her forest-green eyes seemed to sink back into her face. “Ah, my apologies. You took what I said as a compliment.”

Here we go. “Wasn’t it?” I forced the words through gritted teeth.

“I am afraid not, dahling. When I said that others would not attempt to form a Raider alliance, I meant to say that others would not waste the energy on such a fool’s errand.”

“Oh, so I’m a fool now?” My snapped remark somehow reignited her smile.

“You were always a fool, dear Snowflake, but not like this. Your foolishness was charming, and was a part of who you are. This? This is not what I foresaw for your future.”

Exasperated, I blew some mane-strands out of my eyes. “Oh fantastic, somebody else who has an idea about what I should be doing with my life. That’s just what I wanted. Of course there’s just no chance that I might have ideas about that without other people butting in.”

“Is it such a bad thing that others care about you?”

“That’s not what this is about!”

“Perhaps not.” The smile returned. “Perhaps it is just fun to meddle.”

I wanted to smack that smile off her face so badly. I almost did it too, or tried to, at least. My hooves squared and I bared my teeth. “I decide my future, not you. Not anybody else!”

If anything, Schwarzwald seemed merely confused by my outburst. Her brow creased and she was staring into my eyes with rapt attention. “The colour is beautiful, Snowflake, but how did you get those eyes?”

Oh damn, are they glowing again? “A present from an old soul.”

She nickered girlishly. “How mysterious. And you wonder why I have such an interest in you, dahling.”

Grunting, I relaxed. “And just like that, you’re back to your jokes. Why should anybody take you seriously, Schwarzwald?”

“Because I have lived as long as I have, dahling.” The matter-of-fact tone drove straight through my irritation. “I have seen death, and life, and everything in between. I came to see you today because I feel that I will not see you live much longer if you continue down this path.”

“How would you know? You said yourself that I’m the only one who’s ever tried this.” Why does everybody keep stepping on my pride?

“I do not know, Snowflake, but I accept it as a possibility. You should too. I would much rather you quit while you are ahead. Red Ice does not have to be what you have turned her into. Your time with our friends has proven that.”

That was exactly the wrong thing to say. “I am Red Ice! I decide what she should be! Not you, or any of the others!”

“And what about Snowflake? What happens to her while Red Ice has her fun?”

“They’re the same person.”

“Can you still claim that? Snowflake is sweet, and she has such interesting adventures with me and our friends. Red Ice is harsh, and angry, and she spends her time with dullard Raiders... and the wrong unicorn. Where is she, Snowflake?”

The sudden lump in my throat stalled my response. “She… I don’t know. Naiara took her away while I was…” I paused, not ready to reveal that I’d been back to the Stable yet. “...while I was dealing with something else. She’s safe with her.”

“That is not where either of you are supposed to be, dahling.”

“What do you want me to say?” I swiped at my sudden tears. “I can’t bring her back here, not now. This isn’t the life she deserves.”

Schwarzwald shrugged, her wood-brown hooves waving listlessly. “If you know all that, then why are you still here?”

“...She’ll be safe with the others, her and Naiara both. Wings will keep them safe. She got Bosco out of Whinniepeg, and she’s the one who worked so hard for the twins. The others need her more than they need me.”

I couldn’t meet her gaze for more than a moment. Schwarzwald’s expression, so different than her usual good cheer, weighed on me like a lead block. “You cannot believe that, Snowflake. You do more for her than it seems, for all of them…”

She turned to leave. “...and if you can no longer see that, then I shall have to remind you.”

~~~~~~

Chapter 17-2: Nice Things

“Sad tidings today, my little ponies. DJ Pon3 here, bringing you the truth, no matter how bad it hurts, and wow does this one hurt. I’m afraid that the wedding bells won’t be ringing for the happy couple I mentioned a few days ago. While I hope we all got some warm fuzzies in our hearts for Deputy Dent and his fiancee Lithu, it is my unfortunate duty to report that, so soon after fostering stronger ties between buffalo and ponies, Deputy Dent was attacked and killed in the buffalo settlement of Grindstone.”

Unblinkingly, my head swivelled towards Latvi, whose smile was growing at the same rate. “Is it…?”

Cheeks threatening to tear, he gleefully nodded. “Oh yes. I’m sure of it.”

With a crackle, the radio we were crowded around continued. “Reports from Grindstone place a griffon mercenary named McCoy at the scene, and according to the buffalo, Dent and Lithu had fled to Grindstone to get away from McCoy, who had previously attacked them in their hometown of Lethbridle.”

I ground my teeth together. Damn you, McCoy. You do this for caps?

“This is a downer and no mistake, ponies, but there is one bright spot in all this, and it’s burning strong. Red Ice may be dominating the headlines for all the wrong reasons, but Blue Fire is showing us that there’s still hope in the north. Blue Fire sightings have increased a lot in the past week. First she took down an entire Raider village, and now she’s been protecting the returning trade caravans on the way to Grindstone, which have been targeted by Plottawan slavers, Raiders, and Hissyflits. Anyone looking for a meal, I guess. She couldn’t stop a scumbag like McCoy, but she can help the remaining buffalo to get back on their hooves.”

Way to go, Wings. Steer clear of McCoy though, he’s bad news. He also really doesn’t need to know who you are. That wouldn’t end well.

“That’s all for now, children. This is DJ Pon3, leaving you with some of that smooth Sapphire Shores sound.” The radio’s crackle faded away into nothingness.

“How about that, fillies and colts? That stupid lump finally got what was coming to him, courtesy of me and McCoy!” Scorn and manic excitement laced Latvi’s words, and it was drawing smiles from the gathered Raiders.

Let it never be said that Raiders can’t enjoy themselves. I just wish they weren’t so disgusting about it. And speaking of disgusting… “That’s enough, Latvi. Knock it off.”

Shuffle-dancing back and forth, his expression remained as it was. “Oh but my fun is just starting. Our friends here haven’t heard the best part yet! Why don’t I tell them what happens next?”

Instantly my eyes became slits, and a snarl burst from between my teeth. “Don’t you dare!”

But it was too late. Latvi had the crowd entranced now, all waiting to hear the rest of the story. “I dare alright! You see, Raiders, McCoy was acting on my orders, so he’ll be on the way here now that he’s done. Mercs, y’know, they want their money straight away. Plus he’s a griffon, so he won’t delay past meeting up with the rest of his team: McCoy’s Monsters? Have you heard of them?”

They had. A dozen hushed bubbling conversations broke out at once. Caber Toss and Sweet Lips were all smiles as they chatted amongst themselves, throwing frequent looks at Latvi and I.

This isn’t good. They’re getting frisky. “Latvi, we have a lot to do today, so tell your stories la-”

“WE DO INDEED, RED ICE!” He cut me off forcefully. “You see, McCoy will be here soon, and I’ve got just the job for him too!” He spread his hooves wide, calling everybody’s attention back to him. “Now you all know I’m not much of a fighter, but I do have other skills. Skills which allow me to hire McCoy easily, and will allow me to bring you Raiders all that you could ever desire: Caps, guns, mares, stallions, whatever you like! All that’s standing in the way…”

His wandering hoof stopped on me. “...is her.”

A collective grunt of confusion sounded out from among the savage horde. Sweet Lips, already annoyed with me for the deaths of her Woodpeckers, was grinning evilly, while there were almost visibly turning wheels in her husband’s mind as he tried to make sense of it all.

Glaring about, I saw plenty of uncertainty, but no solid support for me in the crowd. Still, I knew that I had to say something to get them back on my side, so I opened my mouth to speak.

Latvi beat me to it again. “You tripped up, Red Ice-no, Snowflake. You despise me, just like I do you, but instead of killing me when you had the chance, you tried to grind me under your heel. Well, you have failed!” He took a moment to brush some of his blond mane away from his face. “You still need me to fix your precious Memory Orb, but I never needed you at all. Soon enough, McCoy will take you out for me, and I’ll get back my position AND my horn!”

Instinctively, my hoof moved over the pocket of my jumpsuit, where I was keeping the last remains of Sombra. Latvi’s eyes followed the motion, as did every other pair present. No! I am not letting him win like this! “You think this is over, Latvi?! These are MY Raiders, and I won’t give them up to you!”

Snickering, he mockingly shrugged away my words. “You won’t have a choice, Red Ice. In the end, none of ‘your’ Raiders have any reason to back you up, while McCoy has plenty of support available. You can’t beat him.”

“I have beaten him! I did it in Lethbridle, and I can do it again anywhere I want!”

Latvi’s words had bite to them. “Prove it.”

Shit. He’d trapped me. I couldn’t back down now after he’d thrown out a challenge like that, not in front of Raiders. Strength and power ruled here, and if I didn’t take up the challenge, they’d tear me apart in seconds, and Latvi would get all he wanted. He might even try to get McCoy to bring him the girl he’d been obsessing over, Lithu.

Somehow, I doubt he’s gonna be all that upset for the grieving widow. Not really anyway. He might put on an act for her, even though he’s the one who-

Oh. Now there’s something.

Finally finding my own smile, I made the best of a bad situation. “Latvi, I was always going to take on McCoy. Don’t dare assume I’d run from a fight. But I’m not waiting around here for him to come to me. I’m going after him myself! I don’t need these Raiders to take him out, I can do it alone!”

He was getting what he wanted, but his muscles tensed under his blue coat, just a little bit, at my tone. That was fine by me, since he’d lock up in a moment.

“And you, Latvi, won’t say a word to anybody about this whole thing. McCoy is my prey.”

“And why should I listen to you?”

“You should use your magic to boost your own memory sometime. You forget that I know it was you who sent McCoy after Dent… and I know how to find Lithu.”

That got his attention. Eyes wide and nostrils flaring, his composure quickly slipped. “You stay away from her!”

Chuckling, I waved a hoof in a tsk-tsk gesture. “Oho no. You blab about my plans, and I’ll have a nice, long chat to Lithu about just who it was who killed her beloved. That… or I could just kill her myself?”

“You can’t!”

I just pointed at myself. “Red Ice, remember? For all that memory magic, you seem to really suck at keeping your facts straight.”

I left Latvi spluttering with impotent rage, and turned to Caber Toss. “Oi Haylander, I’m going after McCoy. Keep watch over things while I’m gone, and don’t let this idiot try anything.”

“Aye, nae bother. We’re all wantin’ tae see how yeh pull this off.”

“...Fantastic. Now then, I heard about a griffon settlement once, Gull Gulf. Do you know it?” Wings mentioned it, so here’s hoping I can find out something about her while I’m there too.

“Well ah don’t, but mah wife does.”

“Aye, it’s a ways sooth o’ here. Ah’ll point yeh in the right direction, an’ pack yeh a lunch.”

I nodded brusquely, resolving to ignore Latvi for the time being. “Well I’d best get going then.” Turning my chin upwards, I raised my voice. “You boys and girls be good now, or else I’ll be awfully sore when I get back.”

Given the cheer that went up, it seemed that the meaning went over most of their heads.

Soon enough I was on my way, following a crudely drawn map, provided by Ballbuster, hopefully in the direction of Gull Gulf.

“First time in a while I’ve been travelling by myself.” I mused. “It’ll be nice to get more than an hour or so of peace each day.” The Raiders were what they were: Blunt objects. Find something to fling them at, and away they go. They weren’t suited for much else. There was still a lot of work to be done in that regard.

Hopefully the griffons of Gull Gulf would be more pleasant to be around. While they could be stiff, and were unfailingly precise, griffons could still surprise you with what they got up to. I had been too long away from griffons without agendas towards me. McCoy and his monsters were enemies, while Wings was… far too complicated to give an easy answer for.

She’s fun though, and she’s a good person to have on your side. If only she hadn’t taken my stuff. Everything between us got a lot harder after that. “I think it’s about time for a reckoning on that issue. When I get back from dealing with McCoy, I’ll head over to Hoofshine and we’ll have it out, one way or the other.” If I survive McCoy, though I’m not giving Latvi the satisfaction of saying that out loud.

I hoped that my trip to Gull Gulf would be informative too. McCoy was one griffon issue, and Wings was another. Perhaps there were others there who knew about her? If at all possible, I planned to learn as much as I could while there.

“Hell,” I murmured to myself, “I might even learn something juicy enough to bargain for my gear. That’d be a win-win for everybody. I get my stuff back, and we aren’t on opposite sides anymore. Plus we won’t have to tense up when we’re both at the brothel at the same time. Well, she won’t at least. I still have the twins and Schwarzwald to worry about.”

...I have let a lot of people who don’t like me sleep at my place.

Yes, finding out information about Wings had definitely moved up the priorities list for my time at Gull Gulf. McCoy, being the actual physical threat of the two griffons, still took first billing, but Wings’ past was not something I could ignore any longer. I needed to find out something to explain why she did what she did, or something that I could use against to get my stuff back.

Either way, Wings had my attention again, and I wouldn’t be deterred until I got what I needed to resolve our situation, one way or another.

Nothing’s ever simple, is it, Blue Fire?

~~~~~~

My mouth hung open as I took in the scene before me.

Gull Gulf was beautiful. Set into a cliff face, it was everything La Buque might have been in its past. Between the hollowed-out homes of the griffons who lived there were gorgeous murals, great swaths of colour that painted the blue-est of skies, here, so close to the land. The griffons hadn’t accepted that the sky was lost, they’d fashioned their own instead. I watched as tiny chicks took their first flaps on that backdrop of self-made stratos, fluttering unsteadily under the watchful eyes of the hens. Still, this wasn’t what had my jaw hanging.

Gull Gulf was full of clouds. They were everywhere! Where La Buque had crumbling stone bridges, Gull Gulf had floating cushions of vapour. Tiercels leaned against them, hens lounged on them, and chicks raced through and under and around them.

These clouds were not barriers, locked together as unwilling wardens of the heavens, as was the case for the rest of Equestria. These clouds were free.

They are stunning. I reached out a hoof to touch one, half the size of a pony. I was beside myself with excitement to touch a real cloud. No more textbooks and terminal pictures, like in the Stable. No more Pegasi-powered-prevention, like in the rest of the Wasteland. These clouds were right here, in front of me, free to touch.

Roc is gonna be sooo jealous! Deciding I’d had enough savouring, I moved towards the blissful bubble again. “Come ‘ere, beautiful.”

Just as I was about to drop my limb into the cool vapour, a tiny spear shot out and jabbed straight into my skin.

“Hthththth!” Drawing back with a hiss, I saw blood slowly seeping out of the puncture. “What the hell was that?”

The little ‘spear’ rose further from the mist, resolving into the beak of an, admittedly adorable, hatchling. Delighted cheeps sounded out as she disappeared back into the cloud.

“...Little runt.” I grumbled. I made to turn away to find another cloud to play with, when a shout sounded from above.

“HEEEYYYY!!!” The word, yelled in anger, lasped into a keeling screech as several large hens landed down between me and the hidden hatchling.

“Back off, pony!” They swiped at me with their claws, driving me back. “Stay away from her!”

“Oh come on, I said ‘runt’!” I explained as I backpedalled, not wanting to start a fight with a bunch of angry mothers. I wouldn’t stand a chance… that’s the theory, anyway. Mothers get angry if you mess with their kids. Wouldn’t know myself.

More griffons were swooping overhead, some mere inches from my horn. No blood had been spilled, except by the little one, but it wasn’t looking good.

Click. The sound cut through everything else, instantly joined by the feeling of hard metal on the back of my skull. I froze. The hens kept coming. Feathers and claws brushed millimeters from my nose.

They only stopped when a clipped voiced spoke past my ear. “Thank you, ladies. We’ll take it from here. She won’t bother you again, I assure you.”

While none of the females were particularly happy with this, they did seem to accept it. All of them took off again, towing hatchlings and other children with them. As they flew off, one of them called back. “Better keep her under control, Eitom. We don’t want any trouble from uppity ponies.”

“Eitom?” I know that name, don’t I?

“At your service.” The barrel of the gun didn’t move from where it was pressed into my mane. “We meet again.”

Unable to move, I couldn’t see my captor. “Apparently so. It’s NOT a pleasure to meet you again.”

“Aha.” Mirth crept into his measured speech. “By that do you mean that it isn’t a pleasure this time, or last time?”

“Both, neither, take your pick.” I was already getting tired of talking to thin air. “Look, can we at least do this face to face?”

“Hmm… I suppose so. I hardly think that even the so-called ‘dumbest unicorn McCoy has ever laid eyes on’ would start a fight in this situation. Vastly outnumbered and without a weapon of her own.”

“Keep pushing and find out.” I growled. I’ve got a weapon, private proper. It’s on top of my head. I can’t wait to show you what I can do with it.

The gun barrel pushed in a little deeper. “Now, wait for just a little while longer, if you please. I’ll be calling in my colleague, and then we can have a more civilised discussion.” I hear him fumbling with something behind me. Kzzzch! “Wicker, are you there? It’s Eitom.”

Oh great, another of McCoy’s rabble. I began searching with my eyes, trying to catch a glimpse of the second Monster.

Kzzzch! “Yeah dude, Wicker here. Whassup?”

Almost immediately I stopped my searching. It was due to a sudden but very powerful realisation. I don’t remember what either of these two look like. I only remember McCoy.

“Can you come meet me in the market? I’ve got somebody here, and I could use your help.”

“My help? What’s going on?”

“Just come quickly, please.”

“Gotcha. Headin’ your way now.”

It was a tense few minutes as we waited for Wicker to arrive. Eitom seemed content to stay silent, which meant I had nothing to distract me except the stares of passing griffons, especially little ones who hadn’t left Gull Gulf yet, and found non-griffons a rare sight.

Mercifully, Wicker finally arrived, slamming down with a strong beat of his wings. It was clear where he got his name, as he was straw-covered from head to tail. Even his eyes were straw-coloured. Said eyes widened upon seeing me, and he looked over my shoulder. “Is that...?”

“It is.”

Wicker’s brow creased. “What’s she doing here?”

“I am not sure yet. Keep your gun on her while I come over there.”

Wicker didn’t need telling twice, snapping his weapon up and training the automatic rifle on me.

Claws clacking on the rocky ground, Eitom padded around me in a wide arc, always keeping at least one eye on me. In stark contrast to Wicker, Eitom was a mess of different colours. His feathers were so grey they almost looked black, while his lower body was so grey it was almost white. His beak was a richer brown too, bordering on orange. His eyes were utterly unremarkable though, never seeming to be focused on anything, giving him an air of complete disinterest.

Once he’d taken up station beside his fellow mercenary, he brought his own weapon up. “Now then, we-”

“Whatchu want? Why you here?” Wicker interrrupted. Eitom seemed unsurprised by the interruption, merely indicating for me to answer.

Awesome. I ‘love’ answering question at gunpoint. “Why should I tell you two?”

“Are our weapons not enough of a reason?”

“I’ve had bigger pointed at me, so no. If you want me to answer some questions, why don’t you try answering mine first?”

Sharing a glance, neither made a move until Wicker shrugged. “Okay. What do you wanna know?”

I had plenty of questions, but one was on my mind more than any other. “The clouds… how?”

Both Monsters chuckled mockingly. “Do you mean to ask how we have clouds down here when the almighty Enclave sealed the sky?”

Wicker spat on the ground angrily. “You damn ponies never change. The sky belongs to nobody and certainly not to you! We’ll use the clouds however we damn well want, and if those pegasi don’t like it then they can come on down, try an’ stop us!”

Eitom was less vitriolic, but there was displaying some pride in his friend’s words. “I could not have put it better myself.”

“...Whatever, keep your stupid clouds.” I pouted. “I’ve got other questions.”

“Yes, I’m sure you do.” Eitom and Wicker shared a smirk.

Jackholes! “Just tell me what I need to know so I can get out of here. There’s a griffon by the name of Wings. Tell me about her, or point me towards somebody who can.”

They started at the name, smirks melting into cold smiles. “Oh yeah, we can tell you all about her.”

“Indeed. We know a great deal about Wings.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “Do you now?”

“Oh yeah, she rolled in here not too long ago, looking for info just like you.”

“Quite the intriguing coincidence to have Blue Fire looking for answers, and then Red Ice follows so soon after, wouldn’t you say?”

Now that was surprising, and I doubt I hid it very well. “You… know she’s Blue Fire?”

“We do now.”

Fuck! “Fuck!”

As Wicker sniggered to himself, Eitom threw me a bone. “No, I kid. She told us. It was part of our deal.”

“Deal? What deal?”

Wicker stopped laughing, and jabbed Eitom in the ribs. “Dude!”

“Right, right, sorry.” He turned back to me. “That is between us and Wings, Red Ice. She wanted information from us, and she traded for it. That’s all you need to know.”

Unsatisfied, I pressed. “What did you tell her? Was it about Whinniepeg?”

Eitom had the loose lips, but Wicker lacked a poker face. He faltered noticeably.

Bingo. “It is, isn’t it? You told her about Whinniepeg.”

“No, we did not tell her about what happened when we found you in Whinniepeg.”

I didn’t bite. “Not what I asked, but thanks for that much.”

Eitom’s weapon came up again, joined quickly by Wicker’s rifle. “Alright. You’ve had your fun. It stops now. We’re not telling you anything more. We will deal with Wings later, when the time is right, do you understand?”

My schadenfreude-fueled good cheer evaporated. “Yeah, I understand.”

“Good.” Gruffed Wicker. “Now get out. You’re not welcome in Gull Gulf no more.”

“And I was just starting to feel welcome too.” I deadpanned. “I’ll leave when I’m ready. I have other things to do here.”

“What makes you think we’re askin’?”

Giving him the brightest smile I could muster, I made no move to leave. “Well, you could order me to leave if you want to…”

“Okay, leave. That’s an order.”

I continued as if I hadn’t heard that. “...but I feel I should first remind you two that you’ve forgotten something very important.”

Neither griffon was smiling back. Eitom was easing away from Wicker, looking like he was expecting a fight. “And what might that be?”

My smile turned into a snarl. “I’m Red Ice, and I don’t take orders from you.”

Their reaction was immediate. “Safeties off.”

This… could be better. Squaring my hooves, I shifted my weight a little. “Are you sure that’s wise, boys? You know what I’ve lived through, and you should know by now that I’ve got plenty of Raider friends who’d just love to get a crack at this place. And yes, they do know I’m here.”

Eitom’s nostrils flared and his pupils shrank. “THAT’S IT!” Enraged, he charged forwards, rifle butt whipping round and cracking me across the jaw. I flew backwards, crashing through clouds and wooden stalls alike. Splinter shards stabbed at my flesh, drawing blood.

I just barely saw him leap at me again past the stars in my eyes. Jerking myself out of the wreckage, I stumbled off-balance until his fist slammed into my face. I tasted blood as my nose cracked. Slamming through a half-open door, I landed in a heap amongst bags of supplies.

Screeching, Eitom unloaded his rifle into the storehouse. Bullets slammed into the back wall, the floor, and the bags around me throwing up clouds of dust as I shielded myself with my hooves.

“DUDE, STOP! YOU GONNA KILL SOMEBODY!” Wicker was pleading with squadmate.

The bullets cut off. “Yeah, I’m gonna kill her! She can’t come in here and threaten our friends, our families, over that Wings bitch!”

Still lying on the floor, I fired my horn backwards at the far wall, creating a filly sized sheen of ice.

“WHAT THE HELL D’YA THINK YOU’RE DOING, EITOM!” This gravelly voice was neither Wicker’s nor Eitom’s, but annoyingly familiar.

McCoy! He’s here? Shit. Without another thought, I punched straight through the ice, shattering the sheet metal underneath, immediately scrambling through.

As I did, I heard the two snap to attention. “Sir!”

McCoy wasted no time. “Report, Monsters!”

“Sir, ‘s Red Ice, Sir! She’s here. She wants information, Sir!”

“Dumbest damned pony I ever met! You better hope you didn’t tell her anything, Wicker!” McCoy’s voice got even rougher as he berated his troopers.

Spitting out blood, and a tooth, the jagged edges of the hole slashed at my haunches as I pulled myself through, leaving bloody gashes along my coat. Gotta get out of here for now. Come back with the Raiders. Make them all pay.

I found myself in a tight alley, I took off in the away-from-guns direction, weaving in and out of the buildings.

“BOSS, SHE’S GONE!”

“WELL GET AFTER HER, DOUBLETIME!”

I just ran. I had no idea where, or even if there was anywhere to go. I just ran. The alleys twisted and turned with no end in sight. “Where the fuck is everything?! I muttered under my breath. “I just want to find ‘out’!”

Bullets slashed at me from above, cutting grazes in my skin. My path blocked, I reversed direction.

“Found her! She’s over here!”

“Stay on ‘er, Monsters!”

“Yessir!”

“Fuck you all!” I screamed as I ran, ducking and diving to avoid the gunfire.

Bursting back onto the main street, I sprinted across without a backwards glance. Needcoverneedcoverneedcovwhothehellisthat?! Slamming into the hooded figure, we went down in a heap. Not having time to mess around, I kicked out at the idiot laying on top of me. “Get off!”

But he didn’t. Instead he grabbed at me. “Afraid not, Snowflake! Your time’s up.”

“Leave me alone!” I battered at him with my hooves, trying vainly to loosen his grip. One swing knocked his hood off, revealed a horn instead of a beak. A navy blue horn. “You?”

“Me.” Latvi grinned triumphantly as he held on. “I told you McCoy and I would kill you. I just can’t believe you made it this easy!”

“I’M GONNA K-” I broke off as the three griffons landed in the clearing. “Stay back, or else he dies!”

While the two troopers fixed their guns on me, the stone-grey leader of the Monsters appeared unimpressed. He fished a cigar out of his pocket, struck a match on his claw, and lit the thing. Taking a long drag out of the side of his beak. “No he don’t. He still owes me my pay for killing the buffalo. He lives until then. You’ve got no leverage like that. I can kill you whenever.”

Fear fueled angry stupidity. “Like you couldn’t do in Lethbridle? I wasn’t half as strong back then as I am now, and you still couldn’t take me out, buzzard.”

He almost bit clear through the cigar. Slate eyes hardening, he took a step forward. “Rockhaunch isn’t here to back you up this time, girl. You’re alone, you got no gun, and you’re between me and fulfilling a contract. Ya think this is gonna end well for you, greenhorn?”

“Take another step and find out. I don’t die before this one does, I promise you that.” Wrapping my limbs around Latvi, I lit up my horn. It was a poor bargaining position, but at least it gave the big griffon pause for a moment.

“You don’t get away with it this time, Snowflake.” Latvi seemed to be releasing all the stress and repression he’d built up during our time together in this moment.

Yuk it up, Latvi. I’m not dead y-... wait, what the hell is that?! “Are you kidding me with this? Now, seriously?” I couldn’t let go, but I tried in vain to keep my body as far from Latvi’s as possible.

McCoy merely grunted, awaiting an explanation.

I couldn’t believe this. Glaring at Latvi, who was going red, I momentarily forgot the guns pointed at me. “You sick bastard! You’re excited by this?”

The old bird nearly inhaled his cigar. “Say what?”

“Wow. Really?” Wicker and Eitom were struggling to keep straight faces.

“Ew gross, it’s poking me!”

“I-I-I…”

“You twisted little…”

“ENOUGH!” McCoy squawked loudly. “I don’t care what kinda weirdo he is right now. I still ain’t gonna let ya kill him until my contract’s complete, now let him g-ugh!”

The spinning cylinder, which had just clocked McCoy on the temple, bounced in the air for a second, just long enough for him to whip his head back around and glare at it.

Then it exploded, and the world went white.

McCoy howled in pain. Wicker was yelling. Eitom shot off a burst in surprise. Latvi and I let go of each other as we moved to block our eyes from the glare.

Or at least I thought he let go, but I soon felt hooves grab me once again. I swung out wildly. “Let me go, you bastard. I swear I’ll kill you for this!”

“Not me, svara. Come, now.” The steady voice was familiar, and welcome in this situation, if not exactly friendly.

“Cept? What are you doing here?”

“Saving you, it would appear. Follow me. If you must talk, do it as we run!” In my vision-impaired state, I could do nothing but let him lead me by the hoof, running away from the ever-increasing sound of pissed-off griffons.

It was long minutes until I could see well enough that I could keep up with him as we raced along the dusty plains. “Cept, what the hell is going on? Why are you in Gull Gulf?”

His jaw was set firm, and he didn’t look back as we ran. “We have been watching, you and Latvi, both. Our arrangement with him made it necessary.”

“You mean the one where you had Naiara sell me out at the worst possible moment? That arrangement.”

“...Yes. When we saw that he was following you, we followed him.” He didn’t seem particularly ashamed of it. “We did what was necessary. You were a part of the plan, unfortunately. There was no other way, svara.”

“Don’t call me that.” I snapped. “You don’t get to call me that any more. Naiara’s the only zebra who can.”

“...Fine. That does not change the situation, however. We agreed to provide the horn to Latvi in return for his services. They have not been provided, in large part because of your interference.”

“Cry me a river.” I shot back. “YOUR interference almost got me, Undertow AND Naiara killed!”

“That was not our intention.”

“No shit! Well it happened that way, and it is your fault, you and Atesh! What were you thinking?”

He didn’t answer, instead putting on an extra burst of speed. “Hurry, they will follow us.”

I sped up to match. “Nuh-uh. You tell me right now. What the hell did you expect was gonna happen when you sent Naiara into that situation?”

The sound of gunfire echoed behind us. I risked a glance back and saw flashes. “They’re coming!”

Again, he refused to stop or even look back. “My clan will drive them back. They will not reach us.”

“What about Latvi? He’s still back there.” I didn’t care about his safety. The little weasel could poke his head above the clouds and get shot up by the Enclave for all I cared, but he was with McCoy. Little bastard’s probably gonna use him to get control of MY Raiders. I still have his horn too, so he’ll be coming after me at some point.

“You will have to speak with Atesh about that. Come.” He slowed down level with me, sticking close. It was clear that it wasn’t a request.

“I do want a word or two with Atesh, so I’ll come with you. We’re not done though, you and I, not by a long shot.” Cept and Atesh would not find me the same person they met last time. I would make sure of that.

Cept’s only response was two words, muttered under his breath.

“Mua leija.”

~~~~~~

No level gain.

~~~~~~

Author's Note

That’s all for now, folks. Please keep reading, commenting, and spreading the word on Old Souls. I really appreciate your feedback.

Chapter 18-1: Reverse Peristalsis

[My natural instinct had always been to put my back to a wall, but now there was nowhere to hide.]

The zebra camp had moved since I’d last been here, and the atmosphere was noticeably different. An air of resentment stuck cloyingly in my lungs as I waited at the perimeter for Cept to return with Atesh.

Yeah yeah yeah, I mirrored the glares of the tribespeople each time they glanced up from their tasks. I don’t trust any of you either.

The old zebra appeared from behind a row of tents, walking in fast, but measured, steps. He and Cept were whispering rapidly, and it didn’t seem like he was happy.

Our eyes met and there was a brief flash of mutual frustration. I didn’t want to be here, and he certainly didn’t want me here. Still, he did not falter and came to stand before me. “Red Ice, do you have any idea of what you have cost us with your crusade?”

A bottle cap, casually flipped, dropped in the dust at his hooves. “That should about cover it. Are you done?”

Both stallions let out a long, angry, nasal sigh. Cept was more expressive, as his sigh, combined with the sunken look in his eyes, conveyed not just his disapproval but also his unease.

If you’re that worried about Naiara, stop yanking my chain and go find her, or better yet let me do it.

Atesh’s elder-statescolt calm gave less away, though he would have to be some kind of bastard to not be on edge concerning the missing filly. Evidently it wasn’t going to be discussed here, as he pressed on: “This is not the time for flippancy, Snowflake. The further you travel down this Raider path you are on, the more you disrupt our efforts, and the less value you hold to us.”

Cept jumped in immediately, as the edges of my vision began to fill with purple smoke. “That was not a threat, Snowflake. Please do not take it as such. We are all merely… less than pleased at our current situation. You have to understand that it is not easy for us to stay here like this, not with such a large group. As much as you might think otherwise, we are not ponies.”

Squeezing my eyes shut for a moment, I opened them again to find my vision clearing. “And here I was thinking that the stripes were just to look cool. No shit you’re not ponies, Cept, what’s your point?”

Gathering his robes around him, Atesh dropped into a relaxed sit. “His point, Red Ice, is that we are not here to make a home in Equestria. We have, or perhaps I must now say had, a plan to enact. When you emerged from your Stable not two months ago, you came across Naiara, and helped her to take possession of something important to those plans, which you now know to be-”

“Sombra’s horn.” I interrupted, focusing on the slight weight on the inner pocket of my Sprinkles armour.

“Indeed. A long-dead king who built his empire from the ground up. Literally, in fact, as he nurtured the ground to form the precious gems which gave his land its name. Sombra’s crystal magic was unmatched, and even Equestria’s greatest could not do what he did.” He paused for a moment, tiredly ruffling a hoof through his beard. “Tell me, what do you know about the war between your kind and mine?”

I tch’d. “I know people are still talking about it, for all the good that’ll do.”

His anger wasn’t particularly animated, but it clearly showed on the old zebra’s face. “It should be talked about. There are lessons to learn from the past, adolescent, and you are perhaps more in need of them than most. However, I am talking about the reasons behind the war that ravaged two nations. It was, as always, about greed. We zebras had coal, and needed precious gems. You ponies had precious gems, yet needed coal.”

“But what about the stars and-”

He held up a hoof, with a mirthless smile crinkling his face. “A fine story for foals, but hardly enough to drive both countries to this outcome.” He nodded in the direction of the Wasteland.

Flopping onto my back, I was surprised to receive an upside down view of some returning zebra warriors. The ones who had stayed behind to drive away McCoy and his Monsters. Some were bloody, others were limping, and a few were both. Not one paid me any attention at all, merely giving a respectful bow to Atesh before moving into the camp.

Still lying on the ground, I spoke to the air. It was up to Atesh to hear it if he wanted to continue the conversation. “I already know that both sides wouldn’t share, Atesh. I really hope there’s a point to all this.”

A sturdy hoof slammed down an inch from my rapidly widening eyes. Cept stood over me, golden eyes hard.

“Get. Up.” Without waiting for me to respond, he reached down and physically wrenched me upright.

“Hey! Get your damn hooves off me right now!”

“SHOW DUE RESPECT!” He roared back. Still dragging me, he turned us both to face Atesh. “Your attitude has caused us no end of problems, Snowflake, but I will not allow you to act this way in front of my clan leader! You will listen!”

I disagreed. “Get off me, Cept! I’m not taking this from you!” Battering at him with my hooves didn’t seem to have any effect on his grip, which remained solid.

I was a few seconds from icing him up with my magic when Atesh’s soft speech did what my struggles couldn’t. “Let her go, Cept. She won’t cause problems until I have explained myself. Isn’t that right, Snowflake?”

Tearing my limb away from Cept’s now slackened grip, I just nodded grumpily.

“Excellent. Now then, as to why we are here at all. I’m sure you can guess, but I’ll explain anyway. We want to help the zebra nation recover from the lack of gemstones that it has suffered in the past 200 years. To do this, we worked together with the one you seem to have so much disdain for.”

I bared my teeth. “Latvi.” He’ll pay for trying to take my Raiders from me.

Nodding, Atesh shifted slightly, enough to catch my eye and bring my attention back to him. “Latvi. Even before you met Naiara, we had been in talks with the scientist. His memory magic seems to be exactly what we need to gain access to Sombra’s spells.”

Shoulders bunching under his red and gold cloak, Atesh’s anger returned. “But then you drove him from Lethbridle, and set him on this foalish Raider enterprise. Both of you are equally misguided in this. He wanted revenge, and you? Well, I wouldn’t even hazard a guess as to what your goals were in this. It doesn’t matter, really. All that matters is that we need Latvi alive, along with Sombra’s horn, for our goals to be reached.”

Still smarting from being yanked around by Cept, I was less than courteous in my response. “You’re not putting your plan’s failures on me, Atesh. Latvi was always looking to get rich. I may have worked the Raider angle, but he’d have gone his own way regardless. Your plan was always doomed to fail!”

With a final stroke of his beard, Atesh fixed his expressionless eyes on me. “We shall see. What is important now, though, is to keep Latvi alive-”

“Not interested.”

“Hush. We do not need you for that. What we do need you for is the horn. We know you took it from Latvi, but we do not know what happened to it after that.”

This was it, the moment of truth. If Atesh called my bluff and had Cept or the others try to take the horn from me physically I’d probably end up dead. I didn’t think I could take the entire tribe in a fight, magic or not. Still, the fact that they didn’t know that I had it on me was interesting. It meant that they weren’t always watching. Cept lied to me earlier. It seems to be a pattern with this tribe.

“It’s in a safe place, Atesh. If you want it, then you better have something to offer me in return.”

Rolling his eyes, he rose to his hooves again. “I suspected as much. No doubt you want ‘your’ Raiders back?” He put extra emphasis on the ‘your’, which had me scowling. “That works for our goals too, so we will help with that, at least for getting Latvi away from the Raiders. We won’t help you to take control again, that is your problem.”

“Of course you’d say that. Getting Latvi away from the Raiders is just one part. Your boys will also help me track down some items that have been taken from me. You get Latvi and the Horn, I get the Raiders and my things. Deal?” No matter how well they’d hidden my Pipbuck and Memory Orb, I didn’t see Wings and Cassie being able to keep an entire tribe of zebra from finding them. I’m not telling you who has them, Atesh. That’s for me. You just need to find the gear.

Atesh was slow to answer, giving me a long, judging look. “I do not know what schemes you are hatching behind those spell-marred eyes, Red Ice, but we will not stand for any sabotage to our goals. Remember that.”

I’m so gonna kill Latvi the first chance I get. “Do we have a deal or not, Atesh? I’ve got things to do.”

Instead of answering directly, he laid a hoof on Cept’s shoulder. “Go with her, svara, until Latvi is ours.”

Cept just nodded, immediately setting off.

“Come.” He commanded as he drew level with me.

Though perturbed, I nevertheless fell in beside him. “Be nice to me, jackhole. You need me to get your precious horn.”

“I work with you for the sake of my tribe.” Was the terse reply. “Once our business is concluded, I will go find Naiara. She has been missing since she completed her task at the Raider conference.”

I didn’t respond to that right away. I might have been better at hiding it, but I was just as concerned with Naiara’s disappearance as Cept was. She was one of my best friends, and she’d gotten Undertow to safety. I owed her for that at least, and I wanted to see her again. I mean, it’s not like she chose these guys for a tribe. I can’t blame her for their mistakes. Wouldn’t want to either.

In the end, I decided to be nice just this once. “Naiara will be fine, Cept. She’s a natural survivor.”

He said nothing, just continued walking while rigidly looking ahead.

“Besides, you know that she’s close with Breeze, right? You getting Naiara back to her safe and sound will net you major plus points. Easily enough for a kiss.”

He’d locked up again at my mention of Breeze, but couldn’t keep the corners of his lips from tugging up as he daydreamed. “That… would be nice. Aqua Breeze and I talked through her communicator several times while Naiara recovered after Whitepony. She is such a fascinating mare.”

I stifled a chuckle, smirking to myself. “You’ve got it bad, don’t you?” Though hell if I know what you see in her, you damn idiot.

~~~~~~

“...and it was totally gonna work!”

“...Your plan?”

“Yeah.”

“You had a plan to escape Neighlway when we first met, without my assistance?”

“It was a good one too!”

“I am doubtful that it would have succeeded.”

“No, see, here’s what I was gonna do. Firs-”

I had to break off as the sound of the explosion reached us. It was soft, dulled by the distance, but unmistakable. As were the other explosions that followed it.

Cept regarded the horizon in grim focus before beckoning to me. “Follow. I will get us there undetected.” I followed with only the slightest grunt of discontent.

We crossed the remaining ground in silence, focusing on keeping our eyes alert and our ears open. It was hard to notice much sound over the ever-louder explosions, though they were soon joined by the sound of gunfire, and then by other sounds of battle.

As we gradually climbed a hill, Cept in the lead and keeping us at a crawl, the noise told us that the battle was raging fiercely on the other side.

Apparently my side trip to Gull Gulf, with Latvi following, had meant that the Raiders weren’t interested in moving on until he came back.

Pretty good bet that they’re fighting with Neighlway’s Rangers again. Wonder how many of each side are dead since I left?

Flat on his belly, I shimmied forward at Cept’s signal, just enough so that I could join him in peeking over the crest of the hill.

I gulped as I looked over the situation. It was very different than the last battle I’d been in. Back then, my Raiders had pinned a trio of Rangers against a hill similar to the one we were on, eventually swarming the three armoured ponies.

The situation was not nearly so advantageous this time.

The full Raider force was massed on one side, looking bigger than I remembered. We’re not so far from Whinniepeg. Maybe Caber Toss called in the rest of his boys?

The Raiders were putting the appropriated Ranger and Plottawan weaponry to good use, keeping up a relentless stream of fire at their opponents.

Said opponents were no mere scouting party, however. There were easily two dozen rangers on the other side, a much stronger fighting force. They were well organised too, formed up and working to cover each other as they answered the Raiders’ fire with heavy artillery of their own. Great clots of dirt were being kicked up all over the battlefield as both sides slung grenades and heavy ballistics at each other.

The ground between the two was littered with Raiders bodies, as well as the occasional motionless metal armour shell. The ponies inside were clearly dead, or would be before the battle was over. With all the chaos and fire in the air, neither side could afford to gather their wounded.

Despite the number difference, the battle seemed to be a stalemate. The Raiders couldn’t rush the Rangers without being victimised by heavy ordnance, while the Rangers couldn’t advance without risking another swarming, or being picked off by the griffons swooping overhead. Guess Latvi brought some friends home to play.

Neither side was backing down, but they’d be there for a while. Nudging my shoulder, Cept nodded in the Raiders’ direction, leaning in close to talk over the clatter. “You know their forces better than I. Where will we find Latvi?”

“Latvi?” I snorted derisively. “That jackhole’ll be at the back, safe and sound. He’ll stay right there until the fight’s over.”

Cept accepted this without reacting. “Then we must move around the Raider forces, and surprise Latvi. If an alarm is raised, we will be unable to retrieve him.”

“And what a shame that’d be.” I muttered to myself. “Come on then, let’s go.”

He tossed me some fabric. “Put that on. It will help you avoid Latvi knowing you until we are close.” Unlike Naiara, who chose to masquerade as a pony with makeup to hide her heritage, Cept just put a barrier between it and the outside world.

I slipped the cloak over my barding. “Whatever, now come on. I want to get this over with.”

Skirting a generous line around the Raider forces, we managed to get by with just one scare, when one of McCoy’s Monsters briefly wandered a little too close for comfort. Luckily, the griffon seemed to be uninterested in taking on ponies who weren’t in Power Armour, and soon diverted back to the main battle. After waiting for a minute or two, Cept had us keep moving.

Just as I predicted, Latvi was right at the rear of the Raider force, overseeing the battle from a high rise. What I hadn’t predicted, however, was that he would have some serious protection nearby.

Two Monsters flanked him, though thankfully neither of them were McCoy, Wicker or Eitom, who were most likely to recognise me quickly. Still, they were armed and wore body armour, which was bad news given that neither Cept nor I carried guns.

Hunkered down in a shallow basin not far from Latvi’s position, we pondered our next move.

“Now what? Are we gonna kill those two or something? McCoy’ll be pissed at me if we do, even more than he is now.”

“I find it quite impressive that you have drawn the attention of so many influential figures in your short time in the Wasteland.” Though his whispered tone wasn’t any different than usual, his inference was clear.

...Dick. “How about this? I think I can take out their guns with my magic, if I’m careful anyway. Can you take them out if I do?”

He gave the pair another glance, sizing them up. “Possibly. It depends on how well trained they are.”

I grimaced. “Not gonna lie, they probably won’t be pushovers. Still, taking their guns out will distract them, and they’ll be stuck by sticking with Latvi. They won’t go against orders like that. He can’t fight worth a damn either, so you don’t need to worry about that. I’ll try to back you up as much as I can after dealing with their guns.”

The shadows under his hood did little to hide his displeasure. “...I do not like it, but they must be dealt with if we are to take Latvi. They will raise an alarm otherwise. I do not see another way.” He slapped at the dirt in frustration. “If we do this, it must be quick. You cannot hesitate, and you cannot fail. Do you understand?”

The look I sent him was not positive. Course I understand. I’m Red Ice. “Watch this.”

My horn lit up, and twin trails of ice began to slither silently along the ground towards the griffons. Neither they, nor their unicorn protectee, gave any indication that they saw them, not even when I parked my Cryo Serpents between the paws and claws of the two griffons.

I couldn’t help but grin smugly in Cept’s general direction. I think I can afford a little dramatic flair here.

Crude mouths formed at the ends of the Serpent trails, jumping up to bite at the weapons before hardening in place.

The reactions of the Monsters was hilarious. “What the fuck?!”

“My good-luck rifle!”

Latvi’s reaction was less so. Infuriatingly less so. Without preamble, he left forward straight away, heading for the main Raider force. “She’s here! McCOY! CABER TOSS! BALLBUSTER!”

“Binn tusaa!” We chorused.

We took off running. “I got Latvi, take those two!”

“Red Ice, wait!” When he received no answer, I heard him growl angrily before he thudded towards the two griffons.

Cept engaged them in a flurry of hooves and claws as I charged past. The situation was bad, but at least one small part of me was glad to finally be able to get some payback on Latvi. You’re not getting away from me this time, bastard. No more bargains, no more tricks, just you and me. Imma get you!

Though he had a headstart, a natural sprinter he was not. Latvi stumbled and half-fell his way down the incline, with me in pursuit. “Stay and play, Latvi!” My call was laced with laughter. I was pretty sure I could catch him before he got to the safety of the Raider horde. Hell, I can probably catch you after you reach ‘em too. Not like they’re guaranteed to get in my way.

My heartbeat thudded in my ears as I closed the distance. A dozen metres. Half a dozen.

Three.

Two.

One.

“Jackhole!” I tackled Latvi mid-stride. We rolled down the hill, bucking and punching, me laughing, him shrieking. Slamming down at the bottom, we rolled apart. I popped up first and dove at him again, but he scrambled away just in time. He only got two steps this time before I dove onto his back. Only adrenaline let him carry my weight and keep on running.

He dropped like a stone when I whacked him in the temple though.

Cowering on the ground, he threw his hooves up in front of his face. “N-now calm down, Snowflake. It doesn’t have to be like this!”

“Too la-ate!” I sing-sang with a crooked smile. “Now you’re all mi-ine! I’ve been waiting for this.” Glacier-blue light blazed from my horn. “I’m gonna shatter you like glass, LATVI!”

“No! no wait, you can’t!” His pathetic snivelling was music to my ears, and I laughed aloud again.

“I totally can, you know.” My voice dropped from joyous to tranquil fury. “Let me show you.”

That was when the griffon slammed into me flank-first.

“Dammit Cept, is it too much to ask that you take care of two griffons with no weapons?!” I punched the griffon as hard as I could in the face, but he didn’t react.

Oh. Probably because he’s dead. Heaving the body off me, I cast about for Latvi, who was up and running clear in the other direction. “Son… of… a… WHORE! Why won’t you die?!”

“That was not our agreement, Red Ice!” Off to the side, limping over the body of the other griffon, was my current ‘ally’.

Nostrils flaring, I stomped towards him. “Oh fuck you, Cept. You had one job. One damn j-”

“I did my job!” He fired back. “I took care of the griffons, but I do not see Latvi here! Perhaps you shou-”

“AAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!!!” We shared the briefest of confused glances before Latvi flew straight past us at full gallop.

Then a wall of gunfire tore into the right flank of the Raider forces, courtesy of the Plottawan soldiers charging their lines in a vicious sneak attack.

...Really?

The Steel Rangers swiftly took advantage of the ensuing distraction to fire indiscriminately into the mixing Raider/slaver throng, tossing Plottawan and Raider bodies to and fro, quickly devolving the two-on-one skirmish into a free-for-all.

I turned away and started jogging in the other direction. “Fuck this, I’m out. I’ll get Latvi another time.”

“By ‘get’, do you mean-”

“Not now, Cept! We have to leave, or else somebody here is gonna kill us.”

“And what about Latvi? Shall we leave him to die?”

I all but spat. “Tch, I should be so lucky. McCoy’s monsters will get him out of here, if only to make sure they get paid. You go after him if you want, Cept, but I’m done.”

“I-”

“HEY, THERE’S RED ICE!”

“GET HER!”

“Is that a zebra?”

“Get him too!”

The shouts were accompanied by gunfire as the Plottawans charged out position.

“COME ON!” I yelled to Cept, bolting in the direction Latvi had headed. Cept followed.

As we ran, I looked around for Latvi, but saw no sign of him. Tch, I only need to be lucky once, Latvi.

We ran into the chaos that was the mixed battle of the three armies. I dodged around Raiders, jumped over slavers, and almost got trampled by a Steel Ranger with one of each on its back.

“This is madness.” His voice was in my ear, but I reasoned Cept was talking to himself.

“Yeah, kinda.”

Wherever our pursuers were in the mess, they weren’t shooting at us directly. Nobody was. Everybody was packed too closely together. Knives slashed at us as we ran, drawing bloody lines in our coats. I hissed every time but didn’t stop.

Finally we burst through to the other side of the throng, and almost immediately had to skid to a halt as two griffons slammed down in front of us.

Still not McCoy, Wicker or Eitom. How many Monsters are there?

The two mercs brought their guns up. “End of the line, Red I-” His head exploded as a bullet ripped through it. Cept and I dove for cover as the remaining griffon fired wildly at the unseen assailant. I willed a spike of ice up from the ground, sending his rifle flying. He dove after it, but two more shots sounded, and he dropped to the ground.

Somebody grabbed at me and dragged me to my hooves, pushing me forwards. We ran. We ran, and didn’t stop. We moved in the direction of ‘away’ for as long as my burning lungs would let me, and then even further.

I was near blinded by the spots in my eyes when we finally did halt. Collapsing on the ground, I rolled over slightly to see Cept, also doubled over. “*Huff* *Wheeze* Good… shooting. Where’d you… get the gun?”

“*Puff* I… thought that you were the shooter?”

My breath caught in my throat. Aw hell.

“You’re welcome, you two.”

Shaking my head to clear my vision, I rolled towards the speaker. Casually loading bullets into twin revolvers, our protector was watching the way we’d come for pursuit.

The shock and exertion made the need to breathe more prevalent than ever. It took several deep breaths before I could finally blurt out a single word. “Wings?!”

Her sapphire eyes were still watching our escape route. “Hey Snow, busy day today.”

I was still gaping. “What… what are you doing here?”

“Was tracking the Plottawans. It’s not often you see that many of them out at once. Didn’t know they were coming after you and your Raiders. You must’ve really pissed ‘em off.”

I couldn’t tell if that was a compliment or not.

Cept recovered before I did, regarding Wings with suspicion. “Are you one of McCoy’s griffons?”

Blue fire blazed in her eyes. “Fuck no. Don’t lump me in with them. I’m nice.”

“You just shot two griffons in the face.”

The chocolate-and-cream griffon didn’t blink, instead giving a casual shrug. “...I’m mostly nice. Breeze says hi, by the way.”

He started. “She does?”

She shrugged. “Eh, probably. You’re Cept, right? Only met you once.”

“Yes, I am Cept. It is nice to see you again.”

“Then she says hi. See? Nice.”

“I… see.” He joined her in watching our path. “Are we still being followed?”

Wings flapped up a few metres for a better view, descending with a shake of her head. “Can’t see anybody. Musta got distracted by somebody back in the big rumble. Lucky us.” She slipped her revolvers back into their holsters. “So I know why Snow was with the Raiders, but what about you? I kinda doubt you’re looking for that life.”

Cept locked eyes with me before responding. “Snowflake and my clan have an arrangement, though it seems neither of us will achieve our goals.”

My breathing was back under control now, so I rolled myself upright. “Speak for yourself, Cept.”

“Still you persist?” Revulsion, and some pity, mired his face. “I must speak with my clan, to discuss our next move. Please excuse me, Wings.”

Confused, she just grunted. “Sure, no problem.” One claw came up, pointing away from the direction of the Raiders. “Head that way for a while before you go your real direction. Snow and I’ll head in another direction, see if we can confuse them if they come following our tracks later.”

Nodding respectfully, he said nothing more. He left, moving at a rapid jog.

Yeah, go pout. No Breeze kiss for you.

We watched him go for a little while, then Wings turned back to me. “Sounds like we have some catching up to do, Snow. I talked to Schwarzwald,” Of course you did. “and I want to hear your side.”

“My side of what?” I challenged.

“Whatever all this is.”

“That’s not an answer.”

She huffed a little. “Fine, you wanna do it like that? Let’s get some more distance first, so they can’t find us by following the yelling.”

~~~~~~

The sounds of the three-way battle stayed with us for longer than I remembered as we moved away from the action. It was a long time before Wings was satisfied that we were clear.

She glid down after one last check of the horizon. “Yeah, we’re good. Must be crazy over there.” She landed a few metres from me, a wry grin on her face. “Guess you’re getting out just in time, huh?”

“I’m not getting out.”

The grin vanished. “What?”

Shrugging, I started walking around her in a slow circle… for warmth. Mostly. “I’m gonna let my boys have their fun with the Plottawans and Rangers, then when the fight’s over I’ll be heading back there to get my Raiders back.”

‘Flabbergasted’ was too weak a term for how Wings looked. “You… you can’t be serious. Snow, you can’t go back there. They’ll kill you if you do.”

I just rolled my eyes. “They’ll try.”

“Snow!” She chirped sharply. “This isn’t a game. Think about what’s happening back there. Even without the Plottawans and Steel Rangers, one person can’t control all that!”

“I can! I did all the work, and I’m gonna be damned if I let somebody else get all the rewards!”

Her brisk step forward halted my motion. “Snow, listen to yourself! Why does all of this nonsense matter so much to you?”

Bristling, I glared back at her. "You're calling it nonsense?"

"Well, what would you call it?"

“I call it MINE! I was the one who dared to do it, I went to every different Raider hideout with nothing but a few friends as backup, I kept it going even after Four Fields died, and I didn’t allow Latvi to win! It was my mission, my responsibility, and my proof that I’m not just a joke!” Seething, I had to take a deep breath before I was calm enough to continue. “I did it all. I made it all work. Nobody, not even my friends, thought I could do it. They… you did nothing except lie to me, steal from me, ignore and look down on me! Well not this time! It. Is. Mine!”

The blue fire had dulled in her eyes as I railed at her, but it hadn’t gone out just yet. “Even after all this time, after all that’s happened, you never once thought that we might have had a good reason to do that? Cassie and I didn’t attack you for laughs, Snow! We thought-”

“‘We thought’ is the problem! You thought you knew better than me! You thought I was dumb and useless and an easy target! Well I haven’t been blindingly running all over the Wasteland in a panic ever since, you know, I’ve been working to get my stuff back. I didn’t sit and cry about it, I made deals and arrangements with groups like the zebras so that we both win. The deal now is that they get that bastard Latvi, and I get my Raiders AND my Pipbuck AND my Memory Orb back!”

Her claw twitched towards her holster. Wings’ normally brash, confident voice came out hollow. “You… you sent hunters after your things? That could put the others in danger, Snow! What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking that if I still had my fucking gear then maybe this wouldn’t have been necessary, would it, Blue Fire?!”

“Don’t you try to turn this around on me, Red Ice. I just saved your sorry flank from your own fuckup!”

“I’ll put it on you all I like, considering this all started with you!” My eyes were burning as we glared at each other. “Why did you do it? Really? Why did you get up that morning and decide to strand me in the fucking Wasteland by taking away the only two things that could tie me to my home?”

Wings was scrutinising my eyes in silence, feathers bunched and tense. “Since when could your eyes do that?”

Dammit, Sombra! Stay dead why don’t you! “Nevermind my eyes, and don’t change the subject. Why did you and Cassie attack me in Whinniepeg? Why did YOU attack me at all? Why…” The burning increased, and a line of wetness ran down my cheek. “...have you never once said you were sorry?”

She was looking into my eyes now, rather than at them. Still, attentiveness wasn’t what I wanted from the chocolate-and-cream griffon.

She seemed to know that too. “Snowflake, I’ve never said it because I still don’t know if what I did was wrong or not. Listen, you’re a Stable pony. A very kind Stable pony. You hadn’t yet learned the truth of the Wasteland.”

“And you wanted to teach me, is that it?”

“Let me finish. Your Pipbuck is no joke. Gear as good as that doesn’t come around often nowadays, especially not out in this region. It’s valuable, and obviously irreplaceable to everybody except you, since you know where to get more.”

It’s irreplaceable to me too. I won’t be going back to the Stable again.

Wings wasn’t done. “You were nice, and you didn’t know the Wasteland yet. You didn’t know the people out here, so what was to stop you from giving it, and your Stable, over to the Steel Rangers if they convinced you that they were the good guys? Worse still, what about Plottawa, or the Raiders, or even this Latvi guy I keep hearing about? If you were alone and they offered to ‘help’, would you say no? Even if you did, your magic sucks and you can’t shoot worth a damn. Even letting them know that your Pipbuck was out there would be too much of a risk in the long run, because of what they could do with it. Schwarzwald, Bosco, Naiara and the rest would be in too much danger if that happened. Cassie and I had to make the call.”

“...What.”

Wings’ confusion prevented her from answering, but her feathers began bunching as she took notice of the storm brewing.

“You ‘had to make the call’? That’s what you’re gonna say to me? Because there was ‘too much danger’?! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME???” Wings had gone too far on this one.

“What? Snow-”

“SHUT UP! You are seriously gonna stand there and tell me that it was to keep our friends out of danger? Seriously? If you wanna talk about putting our friends in danger, why don’t we talk about the little deal you made with a couple of Monsters, huh, Blue Fire? Eitom and Wicker sure seemed to get a good price in your deal, didn’t they? What else did you offer them besides the volumes of personal info you already coughed up? You’re lecturing me on trusting the right people, but you were an informant for a mercenary outfit in the employ of an immoral weasel like Latvi! How are our friends going to like the fact that YOU have put them in guaranteed danger, unlike the fiction you and Cassie dreamed up for me?”

There was still some fight in Wings, however. “You know as well as I do that griffons don’t break their word, Snow! The deal I made with those two took that into consideration, since I’m not stupid! The only ‘danger’ that MY actions would have caused to our friends is the same danger they face everyday anyway: The Wasteland. Schwarzwald, Bosco, and the twins have been dealing with that danger every day of their lives for years. They know the risks, and they have each other to back them up. Nothing I did at Gull Gulf was gonna change that, especially since, oh yeah, I went there with Breeze! Do you really think she was gonna let me put her sister in danger? I knew what I was doing, and she was there as backup. We hammered out a deal with Wicker and Eitom, and we did it in a way that won’t let them turn it around on us without breaking contract. Griffons don’t do that!”

I exploded, stomping at the ground, and unconsciously throwing up icicles all around me. “YOU DO! You’ve admitted that you’ve broken contract in the past. You’re a griffon, and you lie, you cheat, and you steal! How can I trust any deal you’ve made? Even if Breeze, who’s not such a saint herself, was with you, I’ve got no guarantee that you haven’t screwed me and my friends over. You’re a liar and a thief, Wings, you go back on your word, you won’t even tell me your real name, AND YOU STILL HAVEN’T APOLO-”

FHUUP THUDTHUD!

The impact stopped my words cold, and sent me stumbling back a dozen steps. When I finally got my hooves back under me, I noticed Wings’ wide eyes. She didn’t meet my gaze this time, instead her vision was locked on my body.

What’s she looking at? And why is everything so heavy? Finally looking down, I saw the damage.

Twin rivulets of crimson blood ran out of inch-wide holes in my barding, and the flesh underneath. I could barely lift my hoof to see the one that’d gone through my ankle.

Kinda more worried about this one in my chest though. Can’t seem to take deep breaths. I guess the Rangers or Plottawans or Latvi and McCoy caught up with us.

Heh, they actually did follow the yelling. There’ll be no living with her now.

I raised my head again to ask Wings if she had any healing potions, or tried to at least. All I managed was to fall forwards rather than sideways.

~~~~~~

Chapter 18-2: Reverse Peristalsis

Waking was not a gentle affair.

My chest felt like it was on fire and deep underwater at the same time. My perforated hoof was not much better. I was caked in sweat and the blankets and straps holding me down felt like sandpaper against my body.

Everything was a white blur, except for a purple wisp roving back and forth. I could barely lift my head to follow it, and couldn’t lift my hoof at all to rub the sleep from my eyes. I had to resort to slowly blinking away the fog. After what felt like an age, my vision cleared enough to understand what the ‘wisp’ I had been chasing was.

Lexi’s horn made another pass over my savaged flesh, gradually binding it back together with her healing magic.

I’m… in Sprinkles Supplies? How did I get here? What hap… Wings! Where is she? We were talking and then… yeah I got shot! I hope she killed whatever bastard pulled off that fluke.

Seriously though, where is she?

Fighting through the pain, I managed to tilt my head towards Lexi as she worked. She was never a bad sight to see, at least to my eyes, even in situations like this.

The older unicorn glanced up at me for the briefest of moments before returning to her task. There was no hint of emotion in that millisecond stare, and she made no attempt at communication.

Still seeking answers, I opened my mouth to speak, but she reached a hoof up without looking, pushing my head back onto the pillow. Shaking her frizzy orange mane, she gave no further acknowledgement of my being conscious.

It soon grew dull, and still painful, watching her healing my prone form. I was still so tired, and felt my eyes getting heavy again. Even if I wanted to, I could hardly fight it, simply falling back into slumber.

~~~~~~

Some unknown time later, my eyes opened up again. Once again, after finding my focus, I was greeted with Lexi tending to my wounds. She was packing some tools into a carry case, and wore different clothes than before.

Is it even the same day as before? The question brought a flood of others, and they fought in my chest to be the first off my tongue. Blinking, I realised that the pain, while still present, was heavily dulled, and my breathing was much easier than it was, though again nowhere near normal.

“B-boss…” I croaked out.

I got a response this time. She immediately turned and raised me into a sitting position. “Easy does it, girl. How’re ya feelin’?”

Raising my aching hoof, I listlessly rubbed at my chest. “Still hurts a lot.”

Grunting, Lexi pushed my hoof away from the wound. “Well it’s gunna! Nopony takes a shot like that and goes dancin’ the next day. You’re real lucky to be here enjoyin’ my comp’ny, got it?”

“I… I got it. But why? I mean… I thought… you said-”

“I know what I said!” She interrupted brusquely. “An’ I ain’t fixing t’make this a regular thing, not s’long as yer still being Red Ice Raider.” A veritable gamut of emotions were running behind her orange eyes. “This is a one-time thing, an’ y’can thank yer griffon friend fer it!”

“Wings?” I started, but winced as I felt something twinge. Lexi noticed too, and firmly pushed me back down.

“Yeah, her. When she showed up wi’ you, I was all set t’turn her away. You shoulda known better than to come here ‘xpectin’ help after last time.” The faintest of smiles played across her lips. “Thing is, though, she didn’t know a damn thing about this place. Didn’t even know you’d been here before at all. I almost told her she was lyin’ to her face, but the more she talked, the more it showed she wasn’t foolin’. She really didn’t know. An’ even not knowin’ anything about what’s happened with you an’ me, she still begged me t’fix ya up.”

The breath had caught in my throat as I listened to her story, finally fighting its way out in a hoarse cough. “She did?”

Lexi returned to putting her tools away. “Damn right she did. Offered all the money she had t’get ya fixed up, an’ when I still said no she threatened t’put a bullet in me.”

“SHE WHA-argh!”

“Snowflake! Do I gotta strap you down?!” The harshness of her words was offset by the tenderness she displayed in soothing my pains.

When I was calm again, she continued. “Anywho, she’s been stayin’ in the guard barracks and mannin’ the walls while I’ve been workin’ on you. Didn’t want t’leave ya here by yer lonesome, not in the state you were in.”

Hmph, least she could do after what went down.

“I’ll let ‘er in t’see you when yer strength’s back. Firs’ thing’s first though...” She gave me one final check over, making sure I was sitting comfortably and was breathing without difficulty.

When she was finally satisfied, she slapped me across the face. Not full force, but hard enough to feel it. The shock hit me harder than the pain.

“Boss?!”

“WHAT’D I TELL YA, HUH?! WHAT DID I SAY’D HAPPEN WITH YOUR DUMB LITTLE IDEA! THE ONE THING I SAID T’YOU WAS NOT TO GET YERSELF KILLED, AND YOU SHOW UP AT MY DOOR LOOKIN’ LIKE THAT?! IF NOT FER THAT GRIFFON, YOU’D BE DYIN’ IN THE DIRT! AND WHERE THE HELL’S UNDERTOW?!?!”

I latched onto that last part. “She’s… not involved. Naiara got her out when we went to meet the Raiders at the summit. I haven’t seen her since I took over. I swear, Boss, she has nothing to do with it!” A bout of hacking racked my chest and I had to break off.

As I coughed and spluttered, Lexi stayed silent at first. “Yeh’d best not be lyin’ t’me, Snowflake. This ain’t somethin’ I’ll suffer jokes fer. You look me in th’eyes an’ you tell me she’s no Raider.”

Conviction overrode everything else as my head snapped up. My gaze didn’t falter as I spoke. “I swear to you, Boss, on my life I haven’t seen her in all my time as a Raider. Naiara got her away from the summit and there’s been no sign of her since.” I felt a lump growing in my chest. “I… I can’t… I don’t know where she is, but it isn’t where the Raiders are. Naiara wouldn’t let her go near them. I promise.”

Quiet for a long time, Lexi sat by the bed as she worked through her worry. When she finally spoke, her words were tinged with a sliver of relief. “An’ that’s why I’m gonna heal you up this time. Your Wings didn’t know us, but still did everythin’ she could t’get us to fix you up. An’ you? You still know enough t’not put Undertow through what yer doin’.” She slapped one hoof into the other for emphasis. “So here’s what’s gonna happen over the next li’l while: First, you tell Wings you owe ‘er one when you get a chance, y’hear?”

“Yes, boss.”

“Right. Next thing is you ain’ leavin’ this bed just yet. I ain’t done pluggin’ those holes you got shot in ya. ‘til I am, you stay put.”

“Yes, boss.”

“An’ last one: I ain’t kiddin’ about this being a one-off. I will not have you here again until you stop Red Ice-in’. Once yer healed, yer out again. I know what you’ve been doin’, been hearin’ it over the radio. We’ll talk more about that later. Understand?”

“...Yes, boss.”

Snapping her carry case shut with a loud click!, she nodded gruffly. “Good,” Her mask cracked for a moment as she ever-so-gently brushed some loose strands of mane away from my eyes. “Now get yer rest.”

There was nothing to do but obey, and close my eyes with a little smile. “Yes, boss.”

~~~~~~

“Hey, wake up!”

I jolted upright with a half-snort, immediately regretting it as my stiff muscles complained. “Who’s there?”

“It’s me, idiot.”

Ah. “I’d know that caring personality anywhere. I’m trying to sleep, Breeze, what do you want?”

Fluttering her blue-spectrum-tipped wings in annoyance, the techie pegasus settled into a chair and rested her hooves on the end of the bed. “Oh nothing much in particular, just wanted to check up on you and see the damage.”

“Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I’m still alive.” I gnashed out, struggling to keep a civil tone.

“Oh, I never doubted that you’d be alive.” She replied while idly inspecting her hoof.

“Oh? And why’s that? Am I too stubborn to die or something?”

No,” she deadpanned, still not looking up, “it’s just that if Cassie wanted you dead, she’d have put one through your eye.”

“...What.”

Jocularity rang through her words as she smirked. “Oh yeah, Cassie was the one who shot you.”

Slumping back against the pillow, I tried to process this.

“I… she… WHAT?!”

“She does good work, doesn’t she?”

“...I’m gonna kill her. I’m not even kidding, I’m gonna end her life.”

Pulling a face, Breeze shook her head. “Mmmyeahhhno. Now I know you probably can’t see it right now, but Cassie wasn’t trying to kill you. I mean, you’ve seen how good her eyes are, right? And you were standing in the open ranting and raving at Wings about Lethbridle.” At my shocked expression, she flicked her ears. “Great hearing, remember? Anyway, Cassie shot you where she knew you’d be okay. Sure it hurt, but last warnings generally do.”

“LAST WARNING?! What the hell, Breeze? Your sister shoots me in the chest and you say it was a warning?” She’s insane! Her and her sister. Completely nuts. Why the fuck did you let her in here, boss?

After a few moments of even staring, she shrugged. “I figured you’d react like this when you found, which is why I came along to provide a little context.” She rubbed her naked wrists. “Had to leave my gear with Wings, she wouldn’t let me get close otherwise, and I’m sure she’s just on the other side of that door with the boss lady. I was always gonna play nice anyway, but now you know I don’t have a choice either way.”

I’d fixated on one word among all others. “Context?”

The insane filly was rubbing the back of her neck apprehensively. “Yeah. Now this is gonna sound weird and kinda backwards, what with Cassie getting violent and me sitting here chatting with you, but here goes: Cassie’s afraid.”

“She fucking should be! I’ll kill her!”

“Not of you. For you. You and Undertow both.”

I’d had enough, slamming my hooves down against the sheets, ignoring the warning pangs from my semi-healed bullet holes. “Oh get the fuck out right now, Breeze. If you’re gonna sit there and try to blame us for what happened to your parents then you’d best flap away before I ram an icicle through your neck!”

“Parent.”

“Huh?”

“Parent. Singular. Our mother, Stargazer. She, well…” Drawing in a long breath through her nose, Breeze looked at nothing for long seconds. “I know you’re a Stable pony, so you’re pretty sheltered, but… have you ever heard the term ‘rape foal’?”

The silence was deafening.

Neither of us spoke. She obviously didn’t want to, and I simply couldn’t. There was no response to give. I opened my mouth to try, closed it again, opened it again, then closed it in defeat.

I… what can I say to that? Why is she even telling me this?

Breeze grimaced, turning her face away from me. “So you understand. The Raiders ripped our family apart before we were even born. The stallion who should have been our father could do nothing but watch as his wife gave birth to Raider-blood fillies. We can’t ever undo that.”

Breeze turned back to me, her long mane bang flipping forcefully. Her eyes’ focus rooted me to the spot. “Raiders destroy lives, Snowflake. They don’t care about anypony and they will hurt whoever they want. What Cassie is afraid of, is that you’ll not only suffer that fate, but inflict it too. To those around you, to some random kid out in the Wasteland… to Undertow.”

She stood up to leave. “Cassie and me, we can’t change our blood. You’ve got a chance. She shot you, that was her last warning. This is mine. Give up on the Raiders, they won’t be what you want ‘em to be. If you move even one inch in that direction again, there won’t be another miss.”

“If she’s so concerned about me then she can give back my Pipbuck and Memory Orb!”

Without another word, the doors closed behind her.

~~~~~~

“Easy does it, Snow.” Wings hovered beside me as I tentatively walked out of the Sprinkles Supplies main gate.

Lexi had healed the damage done by Cassie’s attack, but I was still weak from being off my hooves for days. In that time, Wings had stubbornly dodged all of my questions about the current state of affairs, including the twins’ actions.

It was, suffice it to say, aggravating. “I’m fine, Wings, just gotta work out the stiffness.”

Behind us, and flanked by fully armed caravan guards, came Fedexi Lexi. She’d been strictly professional after chewing me out in the medical bay, using her time with me strictly for healing.

She broke her silence as we crossed the threshold. “Hold on a sec there, Snowflake. We ain’t talked about your payment fer me fixin’ you up again.”

Internally groaning, I made every effort to keep my vexation from showing on my face. Can’t blame her, not really. Red Ice is not a name she wants to be associated with. “Alright, boss, what’s the damage?”

She stepped forward and poked me in the chest. “Now I heard enough when y’got yer little Pegasus visitor to know you got plenty to deal with over the next few days. Places t’go, ponies t’settle with, an’ so on. But I’m tellin’ you right now that you ain’t gonna be doin’ any of that straight away.”

“Wanna bet?” I scoffed, mind already full of the buffet of violence I was gonna feed to Cassie. I’ve got just the place for that fucking rifle, bitch.

“I AIN’T PLAYIN’ AROUND, SNOWFLAKE!” Punctuating her outburst by telekinetically wrenching my head around to face her, Lexi trembled in fury. “This is payment fer services rendered, girl. You’re workin’ fer me ‘til you complete the job I’m gonna give you.”

Blowing air through my teeth, I exchanged a glance with Wings, who didn’t seem inclined to join the conversation any time soon. “Oh come on, boss, can’t this wait?”

“No it can’t.” Lexi’s voice dropped to a low, serious tone. “You’re gonna fetch me somethin’.”

Aw, dammit. Sighing, I steeled myself for whatever minutiae I was going to be roped into this time. “And what am I fetching?”

“Undertow.”

I jerked like she’d slapped me again. “Undertow? But… I don’t know where she is!”

“I don’t care!” The raw emotion in her voice shut me up instantly. “You find her, Snowflake, I don’t care where you have to go, or how long it takes. She’s out there somewhere, an’ you damn well better-”

“Uh, I know where she is.”

“-go get her this instawhat did you say?” Both Lexi and I stared open-mouthed at Wings, who gave a nervous half-smile.

“Yeah, see the thing is… Naiara called while Snow was healing. She told me where Undertow is.”

Her blazing blue eyes found themselves inches away from mine, after I’d grabbed her and pulled her in close. “Where?! Is she okay? Is Naiara? Are they together? Tell me already!”

She tried in vain to worm out of my grip. “A-alright already! She’s at Sombra’s Shadow lake!”

Gasping, I let her go as the memories of the lake came flooding back. That was where Watcher and I… before Whinniepeg…

“She’s not that far from here!” I shared, and reveled in, the cheer in Lexi’s voice. “Y’heard her, Snow. Get goin’!”

“But what about Naiara?”

This time I was the one dragged eye-to-eye. “Naiara can take care of herself just fine, Snow. An’ she’s not the one who needs you right now, much as you might not think it.” Lexi’s orange eyes, hard as stone a moment ago, began to water as worry soaked her words. “You go to Sombra’s Shadow lake, Snow! You go an’ you find that sweet li’l girl an’ you bring the both of you back here safe an’ sound, do you hear me?”

“Y-yeah, boss, I hear you.”

“Good, ‘cause this is your last chance, awright? No more. You come anywhere near my caravans without Undertow, my guards’ll shoot you on sight. Try t’come back here without her and I’ll shoot you myself. You gotta do this, Snowflake, it’s your last chance. Show me an’ everypony else that you’re not just Red Ice.”

~~~~~~

The cold air of the shores of Sombra’s Shadow, it was no different. It didn’t bother me, only extreme cold did, thanks to my magic, but it was whipping up the mist from the ice, hiding most of the lake from my view.

Standing atop the hollow known as Crystal Point, I strained my eyes for any sign of the water-wielder.

Crystal Point itself hadn’t been occupied, and I had no idea what to look for in terms of signs of life. Junky old detective stories in the Stable always talked about checking the dust and looking for hoofprints, but the hollow was nothing but rock. I didn’t know what to do with rocks.

Is she even still here? Naiara called more than a day ago. What if she’s moved on? This was my only clue. “Come on, Undertow,” I whispered into the wind, “give me a sign.”

...Nothing. The Wasteland kept its secrets, as always. I wasn’t going to find Undertow by standing in one spot and wishing. I’d need to work harder.

thock

My ears twitched as the faint sound reached them. “Eh?”

Searching with only my eyes, I stood ramrod still, waiting for an encore. After a full minute of nothing but the wind, I exhaled. “Damn, could of sworn I-”

thock

“-YES! Where is it?” Encouraged, I took the slope in easy bounds, heading down onto the ice itself. I know I heard something, it has to be her!

The ice welcomed me like an old friend, with my slide-skate spell triggering subconsciously. Soon I was gliding in smooth, long strides, covering far more distance than I would at an unaided gallop.

Thock. It was louder now! I was heading in the right direction. Heart rate rising, foggy breaths blew past my cheeks as the ice reflected my growing smile.

Thock! “I’m coming, Undertow. Wait just where you are, I’ll find you.”

The mist parted.

THOCK!!

Skidding to a halt, I half-laughed as I fought for breath. She's okay!

There she was, my Undertow. Her back was to me, engrossed in her task. I giant plume of water gathered on the ice, floating up overhead. The mass reformed into a wedge, pointing downwards, before slamming into a small crater in the lake shell. The distinctive sound that had brought me to her sounded out as it struck. As the wedge rose again, small streams of water chased after it through minute cracks.

She wants the lake water. Why?

I sat and watched for a little while, just happy to have found her again.

Finally I couldn’t wait anymore. “Un… Undertow?”

She didn’t respond, just continued her task without pause. Her magical excavation was patient and deliberate, just like water.

Doubts crept into my mind at her continued dismissal of my presence. She had to know I was there, but made no move to acknowledge me. Taking tentative steps, I moved in close. “Here, Undertow, let me help you.”

Focusing, I let my magic sense extend out to the water wedge as it reformed above us. Locating it in my horn’s eye came much easier than it had on the way to La Buque, and, upon finding it, I slipped my glacial influence into the waves. A hoof-sized disc of ice formed on the wedge’s surface, blossoming outwards.

At least for a second. A brief, painfully intense sensation of walls slamming shut assaulted my magic sense, forcing me out of the mix. “Wh-wha?” Gasping for breath, I watched the ice melt back into water in less than a heartbeat.

What really stole the air from my lungs was the change in Undertow’s once-calm voice. “Do not interfere, Red Ice. This lake is mine. You are not welcome here.”

“Not welcome? Undertow, what’s wrong?” Moving toward her, my outstretched hoof only narrowly avoided danger as the water wedge slashed between us.

“Stay back. Do not touch me.”

She shouldn’t be like this. What happened? Ignoring the growing lump in my throat, I didn’t back away. “Undertow, please talk to me. Tell me what happened to you?”

“What happened?!” She laughed without mirth. The sound plunged daggers into my heart. “You happened!”

“M-me?”

“Have you so easily forgotten? I suppose it is to be expected, as you are Red Ice.”

“Undertow, please!” I pleaded again. “I haven’t done anything to you. Tell me what happened!”

The corners of her mouth dropped instantly, and the briefest baring of her fangs reached my eyes before the water slammed into me full force. The impact lifted me up and sent me twisting end-over-end, slamming down onto the hard ice a dozen metres away. Fire exploded along my back as the air was driven from my lungs.

“LIES! YOU ALWAYS LIE TO ME! You stole me from my lake, and you have been lying to me ever since!”

Rolling painfully onto my side, I turned horrified eyes to the other unicorn, now facing me. Even with her goggles covering her eyes, her glare was obvious.

It was a struggle to stand. “Undertow, I have never lied to you. I’ve been worried sick about you ever since I woke up at the Raider camp and you weren’t there!”

Horn blazing, her water geysered upwards in a rush. “BECAUSE YOU THREW ME ASIDE!” Her words were just shy of a shriek. The raw heartache they were laced with brought tears to my eyes.

“Threw you aside? What?”

“Now you mock me with feigned ignorance? After the attack, I woke up to you finally showing your true face!” Anger and pain were battling for dominance over her speech. “Your grand deception! You told me that I was nothing but another Raider to you! To be used up and thrown away. I never had your protection, and I never had your love!”

Tears were freely streaming down my cheeks now. I tried to break through my pathetic reflection in her dark goggles, to the pony underneath. “Undertow, I never said any of that, I wouldn’t! Please, you have to believe me!” Has she always felt like this? Was I just being selfish by bringing her along?

Settling into a ready stance, she sent the water swirling around her in an aqua haze. “I will never believe you again, trickster!”

“Please sto-” Was as far as I got before I had to dodge aside, a water whip cracking down on where I’d been standing. “Undertow, stop it! I’m not gonna fight you!”

“Then you will die for what you have done to me.”

My heart stopped in my chest. She… she hates me!

Her attack was relentless, water chasing me from every angle and all sides. I could do nothing but frantically backpedal. I can’t fight Undertow! Whatever she thinks, I can’t fight her again, not after everything we’ve been through!

As I dodged another strike, I fired off a freezing spell into the watery spear, freezing it solid. I did the same with the next strike too, before the third one slipped past my guard and rattled my teeth with a ferocious uppercut.

Spitting out blood, I jumped shakily back to my hooves. “Undertow, please stop this! I don’t want to fight you! I’ll never want to fight you! You have to talk to me, tell me how I can make it right. Please, you have to talk to me!”

Undertow stalked forward. “I do not have to do anything you say, Red Ice. You are not my mistress anymore, not since you sent me away.”

I wailed as she bit out the last few words. “Why do you keep saying that? I didn’t send y-”

Then I saw it. In the chaos and confusion, I’d missed the most vital detail. A fact that changed everything, for me and for her.

Purple smoke seeped out from under her goggles.

“It’s not real.” I whispered. Latvi’s spell… Sombra’s horn… what she saw was all thanks to that! None of it really happened!

Wait, but that means… The Stable… it was all lies, every moment. And everything I’ve done since!

...Latvi, you will burn for this.

Though thoroughly shaken by the revelation, I found the smallest glimmer of hope in it too. It’s fake, all of it, and I can show you! I’ll make you better, I promise!

Buoyed by the truth, I gave the brightest, most gentle smile I could. “I am so sorry, Undertow, about everything I've done to you, but I need you to stop for a little bit. I promise I won’t hurt you, but I need to tell you something.”

Even delivered in mocking disbelief, I found her laughter beautiful. “Stop me, Red Ice? You seem to believe I am the same as when we last met. Allow me to show you your error.”

Her aquamarine magic wrapped around the water I’d frozen, and I watched in amazement as it instantly reverted back to liquid. “Undertow, that’s wonderful! You…”

“I cannot control ice, but I can take my water back from you. You will not defeat me like you did at Soft Swell!”

Still smiling brightly, I radiated pride. “I wouldn’t even try.”

Her anger gave way to confusion, but was swiftly quashed. Teeth gritted, she renewed her attack.

This time, I fought back. For every water strike she sent at me, I matched it with a Cryo Serpent. Her water froze and melted and solidified and liquefied over and over again.

Not that I could ever hope to truly match her skill or power. For all my dodging and magic, I still took at least two hits for every five attempts. I kept at it though, never changing from my Cryo Serpent spell.

I couldn’t change from that spell, I needed her to see that.

Undertow saw, and she adjusted to it. Almost as soon as I fired off one Cryo Serpent spell, it shifted to water and reversed direction, wrapping around my throat and slamming me onto my back.

She was on me in an instant. “Hi,” she breathed out through her sniffling snout, wet but relaxed, “I’m Undertow, can we talk?”

She grinned savagely at her mockery of how our first fight ended, before her scowl returned in full. “What game are you playing, Red Ice? Your spell is worthless against me, and I know that you can do more. I taught you to do more. Why won’t you fight me with everything you have?”

My hoof caressed her cheek for just a moment before she slammed it back onto the lake ice. Even with the water garotte around my neck, I forced the words out through a rictus smile. “Because… this is… all I… could do… without you.”

Her eyebrows rose over the rim of her goggles. “W-what?”

Her grip on my neck and hoof slackened, and I took my chance. Putting everything into the motion, I wrapped my hooves around her in a fierce embrace, burying my face into her shoulder.

She reacted violently, shaking and jerking to free herself. “What are you doing, Lady Ice? Stop this right now! Let me go!” Her hooves found purchase against my chest and broke my hold. She shoved again and sent me sprawling.

“What is this, Red Ice?” Hopping back a few steps, she glared at me.

It was the most beautiful sight I’d ever seen.

I lifted the goggles caught on my hoof, watching her eyes widen in shock. “I’m not Red Ice, not to you. I’m not Lady Ice, or Lady Snow, or any kind of title. Let me show you why.”

Under the glacial light of my horn, a sheet of ice rose up between us, bisecting the view. I looked on joyously as two halves of two ponies looked back at me. One was Undertow, and the other was my reflection.

“Look,” I softly urged, “really look. You want to know why I won’t fight you? This is why I won’t fight.”

Watching comprehension dawn for her was wondrous. Her mouth hung open, gaze shifting back and forth between the ice mirror and myself. Under any other circumstances, I would have hated seeing her cry, but I found myself tearing up right with her as she cried.

“There’s no ice without water.”

The two halves of two ponies, both unicorns, with different colours and builds, stared back at each of us with two pairs of identical orange eyes.

The reflection dropped away as the mirror disappeared, revealing the same eye underneath. I held out the goggles to Undertow and her beautiful eyes.

“You’re my sister, you always have been, and I will never send you away.”

Rooted to the spot, Undertow could do nothing but sob. “Lady Snow, I am so sorry, I-”

Gathering her into a hug, I shook my head. “No, not ‘Lady Snow’, not anymore. Not ‘Lady Snow’, or ‘Lady Ice’, or ‘Red Ice’, or ‘mistress’ or anything else stupid like that. I’m just Snowflake, and you’re just Undertow. Sisters don’t use titles, and I am so sorry that I made you wait for that.”

“My… sister.” Her hooves came up and returned the embrace, her sobs merging into quiet, constant tears.

I’ll protect you, I promise. Nothing will ever hurt you like I have.

~~~~~~

We were in no hurry to do anything as we sat snuggled up in Crystal Point. After we’d both calmed down, we’d been not-at-all-trying and failing to keep smiles off our faces.

“Never had a little sister before.” I mused. “Hope I don’t mess it up.”

“You? Never. Your brothers are proof of that.”

“OUR brothers.”

My heart melted all over again as she giggled adorably.

Too bad the moment was ruined by some unwanted guests. “Finally found you, Red Ice.”

The gruff stallion’s voice made us both jump. Standing at the mouth of the hollow were two earth ponies and a unicorn, all with pistols at the ready.

I’d never seen any of them in my life. “Can… can I help you?”

The leader, an unremarkably brown earth stallion spoke up again. “So you are definitely Red Ice?”

Undertow had untangled herself from me and stood off to the side, watching the other two. I kept my eyes on the leader. “Yyyess, I’m Red Ice.”

He flashed a dirty grin. “Great. So how does this work? I mean, are there caps or…?”

“...What?”

His grin faded slightly. “The reward. What do we get?”

“Reward?”

The grin faded entirely, and the other two stallions were looking annoyed. “Alright what is this? We were told that when we found you, we’d get some kind of reward from Red Eye.”

“From Red Eye? I don’t-” I stopped mid-sentence as comprehension dawned. “Wait, this is still a thing? That was weeks ago, and it was a pile of crap back then!”

The click of a hammer being drawn back interrupted my complaining. “It’s starting to sound like there’s no reward, Red Ice. I can’t say we’d take that well.”

Dammit, Amber! Normally I’d have been a little anxious about having guns soon-to-be pointed at me, but one thing changed the situation entirely. My little sister looked calm as ever, and so I felt no fear.

“Sucks to be you fellas, but yeah, there’s no reward.”

The unicorn at the back leered at Undertow. “Oh, well, that doesn’t have to be true.”

SHHK! “Oh yeah it does. No don’t bother trying to use those guns, they’re frozen to your hooves and can’t be used. Now fellas, I’d have let you just walk out of here if your friend there hadn’t just oggled my sister, but now all bets are off.”

Ice began to spread across the cave floor at the same time as a wall of water blocked out the light from outside.

~~~~~~

I felt a lot of fear this time around. In fact I was shaking.

Undertow and I stood before the gates of Sprinkles Supplies, and before us stood a stone-faced Fedexi Lexi. Atop the walls of the compound stood grim sentries with ready weapons.

Fighting my tongue off the suddenly dry roof of my mouth, I barely managed to get the words out. “We’re… uh… we’re back.”

Lexi didn’t move, just continued to stare.

I tried again. “Boss,” and that’s as far as I got. All the emotions of the past week caught up to me; Latvi, Wings, Breeze, Lexi herself, Undertow, those three idiots, they all slammed me at once. I hadn’t realised, until that very moment, just how important it was to me to be welcome here again.

“c-can w-we c-c-come i-in?” I blubbered, eyes screwing shut to avoid her gaze.

Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes, ple-

“Aw, get over here!”

I didn’t need telling twice, damn near leaping into her open hooves. Undertow joined a millisecond later, and I hugged the both of them like there was no tomorrow. A whoop went up from the walls as the perimeter guards showed their support.

“And it’s done? This Red Ice and Raider business? No more messin’ around?”

I nodded into her mane. “Mhm.”

Lexi’s warm twang lifted the last of the weight from my heart. “That’s my girls.”

~~~~~~

“An’ yer sure this is what you want?”

“Yes.”

Half-opening my eyes, I looked around groggily. Shifting under the blanket, I took in Lexi’s apartment. I was on the couch, where I’d apparently fallen asleep.

The voices of Lexi and Undertow drifted in from the other room. “So yer okay with all she’s done?”

“...Not okay, exactly, but I will stay with her.”

“An’ if she goes all Red Ice again?”

Oh. Having those two, especially those two, discuss my failings wasn’t the best thing to wake up to.

“She won’t.”

“I reckon yer right. Still, if she does, it’s your job to bring her back, y’hear?”

“I know.”

Thanks, Undertow.

“An’ if you can’t stop ‘er by yerself, you come straight here to me, got it? We’ll get her right together.”

“Of course.”

You won’t need to.

“However, we won’t need to.”

“Prob’ly right, but why’re you so sure?”

I heard the smile in Undertow’s voice. “Because she is my sister.”

~~~~~~

Level Up!

Perks gained: Family’s For Life - Sisterhood suits Snow. Being around family grants a boost to stamina and charisma.

~~~~~~

Author's Note

I have been looking forward to writing that scene for so long! Welcome back, little sister.

If anybody was confused about the special connection that Snow and Undertow share, I'll direct you to the Old Souls page on the Fallout Equestria wiki, where you can see a picture of what Snow looks like.

A special thanks goes out to Honey Mead for his assistance with this chapter. He really provided some solid insights. If you are unfortunate enough not to have read his story, Fallout Equestria: Rolling Bones then you should go do that straight away. It is well worth your time.

That’s all for now, folks. Please keep reading, commenting, and spreading the word on Old Souls. I really appreciate your feedback.

Chapter 19-1: Group Rate

[I think we can do it, but we have to work together…]

“Gyah!” I cried out as water splashed down over my head, soaking my mane.

Sat across from me, horn aglow, Undertow’s smile was at least a quarter smirk. “I win again, Snowflake.”

Shaking away droplets, I wasn’t quite ready to admit defeat. “I’m not finished yet.”

She just giggled and levitated the water into a halo just above my head. “As you wish.” It was matched by another above her noggin.

A quick flash of my horn had my halo now frozen and resting atop my crown. “You know, you should do that more often.”

“Do what? Win?”

I grinned mischieviously. “You should laugh more. You’re adorable when you do… little sister.”

“Neeheeheeheehee-AIEE! That’s cold!”

While I genuinely enjoyed her laughter, and truly wished for her to do it more often, I hadn’t lost sight of my goal. Undertow’s water halo was now ice, courtesy of my magic, and she was scrabbling to free her cutely-twitching ears from its cold touch.

She finally managed to bat the ring off her head. “That’s not fair, big sister!”

I booped her on the nose. “Is too. Everything’s fair in love and war, Undertow.”

“Is not! You just don’t want to admit that I won the last ten times.”

“Didn’t win that time, though.”

Her cheeks puffed up in a pout. “Because you were being sneaky!”

I snickered and looked away playfully. “Why, whatever do you mean, Undertow? I just wanted to spend time with my precious little sister. I was not even aware we were keeping score.”

I wanted so badly to hug her as she squirmed in a confliction of embarrassment and injustice. “Sno-ow-fla-ake!”

Helpless against her lovable pouting, I relented. “Alright alright, one more. No tricks, I promise.”

We got back into position for the decider of our game. It was a simple exercise really, but good practice for me and a good time for her. To win, I had to freeze her water halo so it fell on her head, before she could turn my ice halo back into water and soak me again.

SPLASH

“Prbleh!” I spat out a few of the wet mane strands which ended up in my mouth. “I’ll get you one day. I still gotta get stronger to keep my promise.”

Undertow went still, smile fading. “You do not need to-”

Waving her away, she was given the brightest smile I could muster. “Oh sure I do. Besides, that’s what big sisters are for. They look after their little sisters.”

The game forgotten, I matched Undertow’s beaming smile with one of my own.

We didn’t stop smiling as a warm voice called in from the other room. “Girls, come get yer breakfast afore it gets cold!”

“Coming, boss.” We stood up from the floor of Lexi’s spare bedroom and made our way into the kitchen. Lexi was just setting down three plates of toasted oat pancakes for us.

The smell set my stomach rumbling. “These look great, but where’d you get the ingredients?”

Her smile wasn’t unkind, but she wasn’t going to miss the opportunity. “Y’know ah run a supply company, don’tcha, Snowflake?”

I coloured as she turned to my sister, telekinetically wagging a spatula at her. “No goggles at the table, Undertow.”

“Yes, boss.” Reaching up, Undertow pulled down her eyewear so that it dangled around her neck, revealing a pair of orange eyes that were a mirror for mine.

We all dug into the delicious flapjacks without ceremony. Lexi was a great host, but she did have a business to run, and Undertow and I did have to get going at some point, even if I wasn’t in any particular hurry to leave this setting.

“So,” Lexi began as she gulped down her last bite, “what’re yer plans now, Snow? You two gotta get goin’ to handle yer business, right?”

Thanks for looking down about that, boss. We’ll miss you too. “Yeah, just because I’m not a Raider anymore doesn’t mean that Red Ice’s problems have gone away. I need to do something about them. Them… and a few others.” Two in particular came to mind, another pair of sisters.

Lexi picked up on it too. “Listen, Snowflake, ah know yeh ain’t gonna like this, but she really didn’t try t’kill ya. Not if she’s as sharp as y’say. I’ve patched up enough ponies t’know a killin’ shot when I see one. They weren’t.”

“So, what? I should just let it go?!” The very suggestion had my blood boiling.

“Nope, ain’t sayin’ that either. Ya still coulda bled out if that Wings girl hadn’t gotten ya some help, and that needs repayin’. I’m jes’ saying that y’all have mutual friends right? Like Wings, an’ if them friends see sumthin’ good in you, then mebbe they see what you can’t in those two pegasus girls? I’m not sayin’ don’t hurt ‘em for what happened, but maybe don’t kill ‘em. That’d be pretty Red Ice o’ ya.”

Both Lexi and I looked up as our drinks began to levitate off the table. Undertow couldn’t hide her emotions at the best of times, and especially not without her goggles. “They hurt you, sister?”

Lexi tapped her hoof on the table to get the water-wielder’s attention. “That goes fer you too, Undertow. Ya got a say in this, cause yer family an’ all, but ah really don’t want you gettin’ blood on yer hooves if you can help it.”

The beverages only returned to their glasses when I reached over and gave her hoof a gentle squeeze. The aquamarine glow faded from her horn. “I… I understand, boss. I will try… not to kill them.”

“Guess tha’s all ah can ask fer. But there’s sumthin’ else, girls.”

“What’s that?”

The boss of Sprinkles Supplies steepled her hooves on the table. “Me an’ mah crews’re happy t’have y’here, Snowflake, but we ain’t goin’ public with that. T’the rest o’ the Wasteland, yer still Red Ice. That means y’gotta be careful ‘bout who knows that, an’ who knows who YOU know.” Her eyes drifted back to Undertow. “Now ah know you two’re real excited about bein’ sisters an’ all, but maybe you wanna think about what some of those who ain’t so happy wi’ yeh might do with that.”

“I…” Damn, that’s a good point. If word gets out that Red Ice has a sister, she’ll be a target. “So what do we do, boss?”

“Y’gotta be discreet. Tone it down when yer in public. Mebbe find a way to talk to each other without usin’ ‘sister’?”

Glum though she was, Undertow still spoke up. “I… may have an idea.” Our eyes turned to her as she continued. “Um, when last I was here, there was a word that Naiara used. You called me svara, yet she said there was a better word.”

I gasped. “I remember that!” Grabbing Undertow into a hug, I let out a little laugh. “My xilia is so smart!”

Lexi was just confused. “Xilia?”

“It’s the Zebra word for ‘sister’. It’s a perfect in-joke.” Was my cheery reply. “Who around here is gonna know Zebra words besides us and Naiara?”

Lexi’s confusion morphed into admiration. “She’s a smart girl, that one. Y’all gotta go find her too, right? Shouldn’t ya do that first? Ah mean, she did get help Undertow out with the Raiders, right?”

She got two nods in response. “Yeah, boss. I think you’re right. we both owe her and miss her. She’s a good friend, and me and my xilia are gonna go make sure she’s okay.”

Satisfied at our plan of action, we set about cleaning up the table. “‘member now, you two, don’t get killed. Get hurt, get lonely, get hungry, whatever, an’ ah’ll take care o’ yeh. Just don’t die.”

“We won’t.”

“Mhm.”

“An’ remember, when y’see them twins, show ‘em why y’ain’t t’be messed with. Jes’ keep in non-lethal.”

“Oh, yeah!”

~~~~~~

Slipping a score of caps across the barrier, I addressed the guard in a low tone. “Can you please contact someone from the Bernstein Conclave, and let them know that there is a… friend at the gate who require an escort?”

My subtlety was lost on the guard at Lethbridle’s south gate. He just stared blankly at me, then at the caps, then made a motion to someone I couldn’t see.

“...” It was an awkward couple of minutes that followed, as the guard made no move to let us through. He also didn’t let anyone in the line behind us through either, which did nothing to engender good feelings from anyone.

Eventually, one impatient stallion had had enough. He moved with purpose, shouldering me aside before slamming his toll caps down with a grunt. Not that it did him any good, as his face met a powerful hoof coming the other way, sending him sprawling.

“Back of the line, punk. Nobody cuts on my watch.” The gruff voice made I ears perk up.

Hey, alright. Not a Bernstein employee, but I’ll take it! Brushing the snow from where I’d fallen, I flashed a smile towards the new arrival. “Hey, Chief Rockhaunch! Long time no see. How are you?”

The oaken-furred leader of Lethbridle’s security forces gave me a flat stare. “What are you doing here? You know you’re not welcome while this Raider business is going on.”

Making sure my smile didn’t waver, I put a hoof to my chest. “Oh, don’t worry. It is. You, and… everybody were right about that. Shouldn’t have done it in the first place. I’m done.”

“Uh huh.” The level of belief was clear. “And you decide to prove it by circumventing Lethbridle’s security precautions?”

I hesitated. “Uhh… no?”

“Oh, so you weren’t trying to backdoor your way in here by calling on your Bernstein buddies?” The Chief was not a fan of the businessmare, it would seem.

“Um, sorry about that, Chief. The truth is we’re actually just passing through to the north gate. It’s just faster to go through the city rather than around.” At his raised eyebrow, I continued. “Really. We didn’t mean any disrespect, it’s just that we have an arrangement with the Bernstein Conclave for safety while in Lethbridle.”

“Bernstein doesn’t have authority here!” Nostrils flaring, he spat on the ground before grumbling an aside. “Not yet, anyway.”

Waving the gate guard onto the next traveller in line, he jerked his head for Undertow and I to come through the gate. “Fine. You’re with me. I’ll personally take you both to the north gate. That gonna be a problem?”

I faced his challenging gaze easily. “Not at all. We really are just passing through. Lead the way, Chief.”

“No, you stay right where I can see you.” His eyes found Undertow. “Both of you.”

Shrugging, we moved ahead of him and through the gateway. As we walked, I tried to mend some fences with the Chief. “Rockhaunch, have you met my sister? This is Undertow.”

She stared at me with some trepidation. “Xilia, didn’t Lexi say not to reveal that in public?”

This was easy to wave off. “Nah, we can trust the Chief. Everybody can. He’s one of the most trustworthy people I’ve met. Utterly upstanding.”

The response to my buttering-up was a noncommittal grunt.

Slightly deflated, I made one last effort. “Seriously, he’s a great guy. Totally great… totally.” I finished lamely.

“I… see.”

We lapsed into an awkward silence. With nothing else to do, I took to watching the passersby. Even though it was the middle of the day, there were fewer people out than any time I’d seen before. They were also in far more of a hurry. If they stopped at all, it was quickly, to complete their business and move on.

Frowning, I looked back at the towering Buffalo. “Hey Chief, what’s going on?”

The stare he returned was very focused. “You tell me. What do you see?”

Huh? Cocking my head to the side, I took a few more glances around. “It’s like everybody’s on edge. Nobody’s getting close to one another if they can help it.”

A perturbed rumbling sounded in his throat. “Noticed that, did you? They’re afraid.”

“Of what?”

His tone turned sarcastic. “Oh, gee, I don’t know. What recent changes could possibly be upsetting the innocent citizens of Lethbridle? I hear there was an idiot who thought it was a good idea to gather all the scattered savages together, but I’m sure that’s just a coincidence.”

I lowered my voice to just above a whisper. “They’re afraid… of me?”

He nodded. “Yep. I guarantee that if I outed you right now this street’d be clear in seconds. Before your grand plan, Raiders never attacked in anything more than small groups, and there was no chance of them getting past the walls and the guards. Now that they’re operating as one big group, all bets are off.”

I stopped in my tracks, tense. “Have they tried?”

Rockhaunch grimaced. “Not yet, but they almost don’t need to. The fear’s enough for a lot of folks. We’ve had a lot of people leaving the city in the past week, heading south to Vanchoofer, or further.” He turned his head to the side and spat angrily. “It’s bad enough that some of my guards are getting cold hooves too. The public panics, then they panic, and suddenly fearful skirmishes turn into full street brawls. I’ve had to take on extra bodies, and nobody’s got time to train ‘em all, which just causes more trouble when they go on patrol.”

My head hung. “I’m so sorry, Chief.”

He wasn’t done, though I wasn’t sure if he was still talking to me or just blowing off steam. “And if that’s not bad enough, I’ve got that lousy Amber Bernstein leaning on all the higher ups in town, getting her words in their ears, and making it harder for me to do my job. Funny how it’s happening now, while everything else is going on. That little ‘arrangement’ you have at the gate is just the tip of the iceberg. She’s got some grand plans of her own for this city, and damned if I know if that’s a good thing or not.”

Undertow and I looked at each other briefly before turning simultaneously to look up at the high-rise where we’d first met the head of the Bernstein Conclave. What are you up to, Amber? Maybe I should talk to Schwarzwald about it.

Having voiced his grievances, Rockhaunch stayed silent the rest of the way to the gate, seeing us off with little more than a nod, to acknowledge that we’d been true to our word about passing through.

I liked the Chief, so it was a little upsetting to see how far his opinion of me had fallen. I’m probably not “li’l Stronghead” anymore.

~~~~~~

“Okay…” I whispered to Undertow, as I entered the ‘Cefar’ code for Hoofshine Harlots, “...here we go.”

There was no time left to wonder about what would happen inside. We were there now, and what would go down would go down. The door chimed its release, and I pulled it open.

Standing there in the lobby, mid-step, was the person who’d dominated my thoughts on the way over here.

Slowly dropping her hoof to the floor, Cassie returned my wide-eyed stare. “S-Snowfla-”

WHAM!

Her hooves left the floor as my ice-ram smashed into her face. The sound drew surprised shouts from further within the building.

“The hell?!”

“What’s going on?!”

WHAM!

Cassie bounced off the wall behind her as I hit her again. All I could see was her, and red. I barely heard the running steps of the other occupants.

“Is that…?”

“Snowflake?!”

“CASS!”

WHAM!

Before she could fall, she was crushed back against the plaster for a third time. I still didn’t really see the others standing around.

“Stop!”

“That’s enough, Snow!”

I drew the ram back a fourth time as a chilly voice ran through my mind. More! Suffer more! You dare shoot me?!

My ice surged forwards again, even as Breeze leapt in front and Bosco leveled his pistol at me. Before it could reach Cassie, however, tendrils of water shot out and grabbed the ram, rooting it in place.

What?! I turned to my sister, who’s glowing horn was fighting against mine. “Undertow!”

She didn’t back down. “That is enough, Snowflake.”

“No, not yet!”

“Yes. Snowflake… look at your eyes.”

Growling, I sought out a mirror. The image I saw reflected stopped me as quickly as Undertow stopped my ice.

My eyes were green, with purple smoke.

Undertow willed my ice into water, then dispelled it all. “We are not completely free from the Horn, xilia.”

I sank back onto my haunches. As Breeze and Wings tended to Cassie, Bosco and Schwarzwald kept an eye on me. “Start talking, Snow. What the hell was that?”

I ignored his question, sitting with Undertow and taking deep breaths until my eyes returned to normal. Breeze alternated between making sure that Cassie was okay, and being subtly held back from attacking me by Wings.

She wouldn’t keep her peace, though. “So this is what you’ve decided, huh? Raider through and through?”

“No,” I replied robotically, “We’re not Raiders anymore.”

“Hah!” Scorn dripped from her words. “You don’t even say hello before trying to kill my sister, and you expect me to believe that?”

Surprisingly, it was Undertow who answered first. “I honestly do not care what you believe, Aqua Breeze. Just know that if YOU try to harm MY sister, then I will stop you.”

Everybody was stunned by her words for a moment, until a disorientated “Sister?” came from the back.

Swaying slightly, Cassie finally found her way to her hooves again. “What do you mean, ‘sister’?”

Finally having a reason to feel something other than anger and regret, I let some pride slip out. “Undertow’s my sister, and I’m hers. Got a problem with that?”

“...And when did this happen?”

Way too late. “It didn’t just happen. She’s always been my sister.” I laid a loving hoof on top of Undertow’s. “I just didn’t realise it until she beat the hell out of me.”

Everybody, except Cassie, started at that. “She did what?”

“Really? Undertow beat you up?”

“Hahahahaha!”

“Thank you, Breeze.”

Cassie had gone very still. “Tell me what you mean by her having ‘always been’ your sister.”

I nudged Undertow. “Show them.”

Tentatively, she reached up and lowered her goggles. It took a half-second for those gathered to realise, but the reaction was instantaneous when they did.

Breeze’s jaw dropped. Schwarzwald whistled appreciatively. Wings looked back and forth between us rapidly. Bosco was chuckling good naturedly. “Well, it’s about time.”

Cassie… still hadn’t moved. She just swayed slightly, and regarded us neutrally. “But she isn’t of your blood…”

“Got a problem with that?” I repeated, but without much emotion behind it.

“...Why?” She demanded at last. “Is this another Red Ice plot? Another Raider to recruit to your cause?”

“No!” I yelled, causing several weapons to point at me again. “Undertow’s my sister. We’re connected.”

“By choice?” Cassie snarled.

“You’ve seen her in action, and me. Could I keep her here if she wasn’t?”

More silence as we stared each other down. Finally she sat back against the wall. “No… I have no problem.”

Breeze’s frown deepened. “Cassie?”

But Cassie waved her off. “No, Breeze. No more. If they agree not to attack me again, or any of you, then I can accept this. For now.”

Her sister looked more and more confused. “But… she… you… I…”

Standing down, I gave the twins an apologetic look. “I’m… not going to attack. I can’t be sure that it’s really coming from me, and I can’t afford to let… other influences decide my actions.” It wasn’t a good excuse, or any kind of excuse really, but I couldn’t tell them about Sombra’s Horn, not yet.

Every emotion ran across Breeze’s face in sequence, before she finally threw up her hooves in defeat. “Fine, whatever! Let’s all just see how ‘well’ this turns out!”

As Cassie made her way over to the booths to lie down, I had to add one final warning. “I’ll give you whatever help you need to take down the Raiders, but…”

Everybody froze. Cassie spoke without looking back. “‘But...’”

“...but don’t ever point your rifle at me again. I’ll break it, and your teeth, on each other.”

The back of her head wasn’t impressed by my posturing. “If I have to, you will be dead before you hit the ground.”

“...So we understand each other?”

“...Quite.”

Some of the tension drained from the room. “Well, good. Can I get you something to take the swelling down? Some ice maybe?”

“No ice, if you please. There should be a healing potion behind the bar.”

The click of Bosco’s pistol hammer forestalled any answer. “Keep away from her, Snow. We’re not done talking yet.”

Poor guy, he’s always in the middle. Putting on the most open and non-threatening face I could, I nodded. “Yeah, sorry, Bosco. I didn’t mean to ignore you. You’re right about still needing to talk. What do you want to know?”

He evidently didn’t appreciate my light tone, as the gun didn’t lower. He just spoke around it. “Start with why you think it’s okay to come back here and start slinging around magic without even saying ‘hi’. Did you really think that would make us believe you’d stopped being Red Ice?” Then he dropped the gun as he stomped his hoof in anger. “For fuck’s sake, Snow! You’ve been gone for days, and we’ve all heard about what you’ve been doing!”

“...I know.”

He didn’t let up. “Tell me something, when did it seem like a good idea to be doing what you were doing? Really? You spent all that time talking about making the Raiders something better than they were, that you weren’t building an army, and then you turn right around and declare war on Plottawa and Neighlway! If you hadn’t come across Undertow, where would it have ended?”

Probably Gull Gulf. “...I don’t know.”

“And Naiara? It’s great that you found Undertow, but where is she? She’s been gone for longer than you have.”

I frowned. “Still? I would have thought that she’d at least have come to see you all one time. I know that Wings has talked to her, that’s how I found out where Undertow was. She really didn’t come back?”

I caught Breeze’s eye. Her wings were fluttering as she simultaneously tended to Cassie and listened in. “We’ll find her. She got Undertow away from the Raiders… away from me, when she needed to. I won’t leave her by herself.”

“And what makes you think I’ll let you get anywhere near her?”

My head whipped around. “Bosco!”

His slate-grey eyes were hard. “I’m serious, Snow. I’m not sure having you here is a good idea at all, anymore.”

“But-”

Wings stepped in and ruffled Bosco’s mane for a second, before he slapped her claw away. “Bosco, go help Breeze with Cassie for a sec, will ya?”

Letting out a sound halfway between a grunt and a growl, the sole colt of our gathering stalked off, leaving two unicorns, a griffon, and an earth pony mare.

“He is angrier than I remember.” Undertow remarked sadly.

“Yeah,” I agreed. “didn’t expect Cassie to be more welcoming than Bosco. Like, ever.”

Schwarzwald nickered. “It is not as simple as you think, dahlings.”

Wings spread her claws helplessly. “He hasn’t been so good ever since we got him out of Whinniepeg, but it got worse when we got his Memory Orb back.”

Shocked, I did a double-take. “You got them back?”

“No, not all of them, dahling.” Schwarzwald’s easy smile surfaced for the first time since she’d snuck into the Raider ranks. “But we did retrieve one from the Silver Fog creatures.”

“What happened? Are you okay? What are those fog things?”

Wings made a ‘relax’ gesture with a claw. “We’re fine. Stumbled across a group of them in that old agricultural facility you went to, near the Barnstormer camp.”

“The one with all the ghouls?”

They both shrugged. “That is how dear Bosco says, but only you and he were there at the time.”

“No, Naiara was there too.” I shook my head, definitely not wanting that detail left out.

“But no others here, dahling.”

“What were you doing at this facility, Wings?” Undertow was listening quietly, as per the norm, but her brow was creased at the thought of more Raider business.

The griffon fixed us with a pointed look. “Well, we thought that the Raiders being on the move made it a good time to get in there and check out what kind of gear they were packing. Bosco really wasn’t happy that you were using them to stir up the slavers, Snow.”

No, I can’t imagine he would be, especially after I spent so much time telling him I wasn’t gonna do that. “So what did you find?”

“Well I made out like a bandit.” Breeze swooped in and joined the conversation. “The farm vehicles in there were in great condition, and even the Raiders probably could’ve figured out how to get ‘em moving again. So we janked ‘em.”

“You what?”

She slowed her words mockingly. “Vroom-vroom no vroom no more. I grabbed whatever neat gear I could get away with carrying, then we ripped out some delicate, but essential, parts for each vehicle. They might’ve been for farming but they were rugged and could’ve been bad news in the wrong hooves. After that we did the same with the smaller equipment. Smashed ‘em useless.”

“And the fog creatures?” Undertow pressed.

Wings’ tail flicked involuntarily. “I’m getting to that. After scrapping the equipment and vehicles, we went to see if anything survived the fire in the main building. Stumbled across the Silver Fog inside. Only…”

After a second of silence, I looked at each of the three in turn. “Only…?”

Schwarzwald broke the silence. “Only Bosco entered first, and they did not attack him until we four came into sight.”

That’s… is that good or bad? “Why?”

Again, none of them had an answer. “Maybe they weren’t worried until they saw our numbers. Maybe they didn’t see his grey in the dark. Dunno.”

Breeze blew her bang out of her face. “Either way, Boss Colt spots the Memory Orb lying on the ground in the middle of ‘em all, and goes chargin’ in. We had to jump in to help him, and things got crazy, but he snagged the Orb and we got the hell out.”

He did? “Were you all okay?”

Schwarzwald made a back-and-forth motion with her hoof. “Physically? Yes. Perhaps not otherwise, dahling.”

“What do you mean?”

All three looked back the way Bosco had left. Breeze spoke first while rubbing a greave. “Guy’s obsessed with that Memory Orb. Sometimes you’ll catch him just sitting and staring at it. Did it for a full hour the other day.”

Wings clacked her beak. “He’s not always so friendly anymore either. He might just be going through puberty, but Bosco’s developed a little bit of a temper if you catch him at the wrong times.”

Schwarzwald’s throaty chuckle belied her mood. “What teenage boy is not like so? His pride is showing also. The fastest way to get a smile from him is to tell him he was a big help. He does not seem to care what he helps with, so long as he is praised.” Her tone turned wistful. “And yet, he spurns my other affections. So sad.”

Her flirtatious banter dissolved the tension, as Breeze joined the joke. “Yeah but that’s not just him though, is it? You haven’t gotten any in the last few weeks, just like the rest of us.”

Her smirk was matched by another from Schwarzwald. “So sure, are you?”

And the tension came right back for Breeze. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You will see.”

Wings flipped up-and-over Undertow and I, giving us a push towards the older mare. “Yeah but her favourites are back now. She calls Snow ‘mistress’, right?”

“Knock it off, all of you. I’m nobody’s mistress, and Undertow’s off limits to the lot of you, you got that?”

“Ohh.” Schwarzwald pouted. “It is not fair.”

The others laughed, even Undertow a little, and Schwarzwald patted me on the head. “If you are truly no longer a Raider, Snowflake, then it is very good to see you home, safe and sound.”

Yeah, the big ‘if’, huh? I’m still not there yet in all your eyes, am I? I had to be sure, so I looked at the technophile Pegasus. “Are you sure you can work with me, you AND Cassie?”

“Can you work with us?” She shot back airily. “There’s more between us than the Raiders.”

I cocked my head to the side. “There is?”

Schwarzwald leaned in towards Undertow with a victorious grin. “Your sister forgets her past so easily, doesn’t she?” Undertow just watched with a deepening frown.

I grumbled deep in my throat. “What are you guys talking ab-OHHELLMYSTUFF!”

Breeze wasn’t laughing anymore, but wasn’t quite hostile either. “Yeah, your stuff. You can’t have it back.”

“What do you say to that, Snowflake?” Schwarzwald’s tone was edged.

All eyes were on me now. What did I say to that? At this point, I’d been without my Pipbuck and Memory Orb for longer than I’d had them in the Wasteland. I’d done much more without them, been much more without them, for good or ill.

Red Ice faced Blue Fire. “Losing my Stable gear was… one of the most painful experiences of my life.”

Without breaking eye contact, I saw Breeze’s wings tense and unfurl, “BUT… I didn’t always like who I was when I had them.”

Undertow stepped around me to look at my face. “I don’t always like who I became when I lost them.”

Leaning on Bosco for support, Cassie stepped back into the foyer. “Nor did I always like what I did when I was that person.”

Bosco’s grey hoof was rubbing the Memory Orb poking out of his pocket. “But I did like how much I found myself capable of doing, without them.”

Scars creased as Schwarzwald’s lips turned upwards. “And I don’t regret everything it has brought me. Some of it I’ll never regret.”

Now I broke the stare, looking back at the door. “So… I still WANT them, but I don’t think I NEED them anymore.”

I gave the most confident smile I could muster, despite my churning gut. “You can keep them. They belonged to a Stable pony.”

~~~~~~

Chapter 19-2: Group Rate

The crunch of hooves on the fresh morning snow helped to ease me through my drowsiness. ’s too early for this. “Can I go back to bed?”

“Not just yet, dahling. This should not take long.” Schwarzwald’s step was light, as was her tone. The older mare walked us to the back of the property.

I yawned, teary-eyed. “Why couldn’t the others be woken up again?” She’d dodged my questions through shushs while we were still inside. “What’s with the sneakiness?”

She just chuckled. “The others need their rest after yesterday, of course. It is very early, after all.”

“And I don’t get to sleep?” I grumbled as I rubbed a hoof in my eye.

Blowing out a short stream of mist, she turned fully to me. “That is what I aim to discover, mistress.”

I neglected to suppress another yawn. “You’re cryptic a lot, Schwarzwald. Doesn’t surprise me anymore.”

“No?” Despite what I’d said, I was trying to find her agenda. Her voice betrayed little, and nothing I could use to read her intentions. “I suppose that is to be expected. Red Ice has strange bedfellows, and Snowflake has adjusted accordingly.”

“Okay, so I guess that this is gonna be kinda important,” I unconsciously leaned against a tree, dozing. “but does it have to be now? ‘s barely light out.”

Schwarzwald shrugged her shoulders, followed by her whole body. “I think it is best that we have…” She stopped for a moment, cocking her head to the side in a few seconds of silence, before continuing. “...a measure of privacy, for what we must talk about.”

“...zzzz…”

“...Snowflake? Dahling?”

The words were just whispers in the haze. I could feel myself slipping away, back to sleep. Back to my nice warm bed, and my nice warm pillows, and my nice warm blanket, and my nice warm lips, and…

!!!

“I’M UP!” I half-snorted, breaking the kiss that the scarred merc had snuck on me.

Schwarzwald caressed her own lips. “It has been too long since our last kiss, I have missed this, mistress.”

“You know, normal people just get breakfast when they wake up.”

She didn’t stop caressing. “I do not think that anypony present can truly be called ‘normal’, Snowflake. Did I upset you?”

The adrenaline wake-up jolt was already fading. “Nah. I’m not exactly new to your quirks, am I? No harm, no foul.”

“And if I had done you harm?” Her voice lost its lustful warmth. “What then?”

I matched the edge in those words. “Why are you asking? You aren’t as hard to read as you think, you know. For all your games, it’s pretty obvious when you get serious.” Like when Watcher’s around. Should I tell you I know? What then?

Her conifer eyes sparkled. “I love that you think about me when we are apart. However, I would like an answer to my question.”

“...I’d stop you.”

“How?”

I lit my horn as an answer.

Proving that she still COULD surprise me, she clapped energetically. Her expression hadn’t changed, however. “Very good, dahling. I think you have waited long enough to join the fun.”

My mind briefly flashed back to Whitepony. We’ve had this conversation before.

She wasn’t done. “But… did I wait too long? Are you going to have too much fun?”

Heaving myself off the tree, I squared my hooves. “What do you mean?”

Her eyes flicked upwards for the briefest of moments before responding. “Finish your answer. You would stop me. How? Would you mark me? Freeze me? Kill me?”

“No!” I retorted sharply. “I’m not gonna kill you.”

“No?” Schwarzwald had abandoned all pretense at this point, instead stepping her tall, scarred frame into my personal space. “I harm you, yet you refuse to kill me? Why?”

I didn’t back down, or look away. Conifer met orange. “Because I don’t want to kill you. You don’t deserve to die.”

“Are you so sure? The things I have done-”

“Don’t matter, not to me.” She stayed silent, willing me to continue. “I’m not gonna speak for Wings, or Bosco, or the twins, or Naiara, or any of my friends. I’m not even gonna speak for my sister. I tried speaking for others before, tried speaking for the entire Wasteland, even. The result was the Red Ice and her Raider army.”

Leaning forwards, my horn traced along a scar on her cheek. “I can only speak for myself, and I don’t want my friends to die. I don’t want you to die.”

Now she stepped back, taking in all of me. “And the twins? They are among your friends?”

“Well, I mean, they’re not exactly my best friends,” I stammered, before finishing more forcefully, “but no, I don’t want them to die, either. I don’t want to want them to die.”

For several long seconds, she said nothing. Did nothing. Schwarzwald just stood there, not staring at anything. Finally, her stance shifted in a half-bow, half-skip. “Snowflake, you are endless entertainment. I have not had this much fun in years.”

“Fan...tastic.” I deadpanned.

A creak sounded above us, and I glanced up just in time to get an eyeful of falling snow. “Ah! Bleh!” Swiping at the offending precipitation, I tried to dislodge it by shaking my head from side to side.

“Allow me.” A wood-brown hoof reached over and roughly tussled my mane. When most of it was shaken off, I looked up at Schwarzwald.

She was not looking back, but rather watching the sky through a gap in the trees with a knowing smile. “It would appear that she has heard enough.”

“She?” Following her gaze, I spotted a winged figure silhouetted against the cloud barrier. At this distance I could see little beyond undefined chocolate-and-cream. “Wings?”

Schwarzwald’s characteristic mirth was in full force now. “Yes. Did you not notice her on the roof as we moved around the building? She has been listening intently, dear Snowflake. She even perched herself in the tree above to hear better.”

“So she heard all that?” How’s she gonna take my answers?

“It would appear so, though I cannot guess what it was you said that sent her away.” Chuckling again, she turned back towards the brothel. “I am sure she will return soon enough. Come, let us catch up on our sleep.”

~~~~~~

Wings hadn’t said anything about our conversation when she returned, at least not to me. I’d been snoozing down in the master bedroom when she got back a few hours later. She’d gathered everybody in the bar area, though Undertow and I sat on the other side of the room from Breeze and Cassie. The others were scattered around the room, taking whatever seat was closest.

Glancing at each one of us in turn, Wings cleared her throat. “Alright, so… what now? We’ve all been busy over the past little while, and we’ve all got stuff on our plates, so let’s decide who’s going where. First things first, what needs taking care of?”

“Naiara!” Breeze started us off around the room, with an point I could get behind.

“Raiders.” Cassie intoned, flicking her eyes towards me.

“My other Orbs.” Bosco put in, leaning forward in his chair.

“I have a request from Amber.” Schwarzwald said, while doing the opposite.

Wings shrugged. “Got some Blue Fire business.”

“Naiara AND Raiders.” Undertow’s forceful voice surprised me a little.

All eyes settled on me for last. Um. “Well… Naiara and the Raiders, as said. There’s also Plottawa, the Steel Rangers at Neighlway, the silver and gold fog creatures, Latvi, who I guess would be mostly the same as the Raiders for now, and a group of pissed off griffon Mercs led by a guy named McCoy. Wings…”

Instantly her sapphire eyes went wide, and she gave a few rapid shakes of her head. what? Do you not want them to know about your deal with Eitom and Wicker? Well, fine, but that will need to be addressed at some point. “...might know some more about them. ‘cause she’s a griffon, y’know?”

“So we’re leaving her stuff for last?”

The tech-loving pegasus’ snark was probably justified, so I let it slide. I did have one last thing to put in the pile though. “Oh, and Atesh and his zebra are up to something. That can probably wait until we find Naiara, huh?”

Wings pinched the bridge of her beak. “...Probably. So it sounds like we’re gonna be busy. What’s first?”

“Naiara.” Myself, my sister, and Breeze all piped up.

“Orbs.” Bosco said at the same time. It earned him a withering look from Breeze and I. Kinda harsh for you, Bosco.

Cassie fluttered her wings above her head, drawing our attention. “I do not like seeing the Raiders operating for any longer than is necessary, but going by what we saw at the last confrontation,”

“You mean where you shot me through the chest?” I held the hoof she’d also perforated to my breast.

She didn’t so much as look at me. “but, as they are now supported by McCoy’s griffons, and are engaged in large-scale battles with Plottawa and Neighlway, I must advocate caution in how we deal with them. They are too many, and too dangerous, to be anything but extremely prepared beforehoof.” She grimaced, but soldiered on. “Therefore I would prefer we take care of other matters until we have the time to create a foolproof strategy. With any luck, this will also give the slavers and Rangers time to reduce their numbers slightly.”

“Okay, so they’re out for now.” Wings turned to her longest-serving partner. “Schwarz, what’s your request from Amber?”

Schwarzwald righted herself, before grinning. “I am sure you can guess, Blue Fire. Amber has requested that I provide security for her operatives as they retrieve some more specimens. I believe she called them ‘Poseideceros’.”

Undertow perked up. “Poseideceros? But they are found in-”

“Indeed. Amber has sent her staff to Soft Swell Lake.”

My little sister jumped off her seat, vibrating. “That is MY lake!”

“Apparently, dear Amber disagrees.”

Undertow stomped her hoof forcefully. “We must stop her!”

Snapping her talons to draw our attention, Wings stepped forwards. “And that’s my business as Blue Fire. It was brought to my attention by an ‘anonymous’ tip.” Cue telling look between the Griffon and Earth mare. “I’ve managed to break up some, but not all, of the animal raids that the Bernstein Conclave is putting together for Red Eye, and this will be no different. Since our interests overlap, shall we tackle this one first?”

“HEY!” Breeze interjected. “What about Naiara?”

“Well get to her.” Bosco gruffed back. “But at least we KNOW where Soft Swell Lake is. Naiara could be anywhere in the Wasteland. This little raid of Wings’ also has a time limit. I want to find Naiara too, but she is more than capable of taking care of herself for an extra day or two.”

The colt squared his shoulders, eyes unfocusing for a second. “And besides, this might be helpful for me too.”

As the ones who’d been staying quiet and listening, Cassie and I were well placed to share a confused look. “Did, uh, did we miss a step there?”

“Yes, Bosco. How did you draw that conclusion?”

His slate-grey eyes dropped slightly. “Well, we tracked the gold fog creatures to Whinniepeg, right? And we found the silver fog, and my first Memory Orb, in the agriculture facility.”

“Yes, we understand all that, but I still do not see your point.” Judging by their stares, none of the other four were any less in the dark on the matter.

The colt lifted his head again, flashing a helpless, slightly uncertain smile. “Well, Whinniepeg is close to the Haylanders’ stomping grounds right? Same with the Barnstormers and the facility. Soft Swell Lake is Deep Diver territory, so…”

“What, you think they’re working with the Raiders?” Try as I might, I couldn’t see it.

Neither could he, judging by his shaking head. “No, not really. It’s just a coincidence that popped into my head just now. I… don’t really have any better leads.” He blinked, then raised his head slightly. “Actually, me and Snow are still owed a favour from Amber. Well, At least I still am. Don’t know if Snow’s cashed hers in yet.”

“Not yet.”

“So we could call in those favours if this doesn’t pan out, but I still want to work the Raider-fog angle first, even if it is farfetched.”

Schwarzwald rolled out of her booth, stepping over to the colt with a sly smile. “Perhaps it is not so farfetched, Bosco-dahling. Even if the Raiders are not involved, there are few others who would willingly travel near their bases. These fog creatures have proven to be adept at hiding, and may be simply using the Raiders as unwitting guard dogs, to scare others away.”

Breeze pulled a face. “That’s twisted.”

She grinned lopsidedly. “Perhaps, but not without some sense to it. Still, it is just a theory, but Bosco has my support to test it, along with the creature hunt.”

“We’re still not gonna know where Naiara is afterwards, you know.” Sulking seemed to be Breeze’s last tac. “Are we gonna keep putting off finding her until we miraculously stumble across that information?”

“No, Breeze.” Cassie was stepping into her well-practiced role of pacifying her sister. “But, as they said, there is a time factor in play here. We must trust in Naiara’s capabilities for the moment. None of us wish to leave her alone any longer than we have to.”

Breeze trusted Naiara to be okay, that much was obvious. Still, I recognised the signs that her head wasn’t quite passing the message along to her heart. I know that feeling.

~~~~~~

“I have decided that the Deep Divers are no longer welcome in Soft Swell Lake.” Undertow started slipping her rebreather over her mouth and nose. “Now I will make them aware.”

“Hold on a sec, Undertow.” From our perch on the high hill overlooking Undertow’s cabin, we had been observing the Bernstein staff as they dredged the lake for Poseidoceroses. We hadn’t been watching long when the Deep Divers showed up, and apparently took offense to the Bernstein presence. A pitched battle was underway between the two sides.

“Do not tell me to wait, Bosco. This business is mine.”

“No, it’s all of ours!” He snapped back impatiently. “We have to be smart, though. Some of us are known to one of the sides, and Snow at least is known to both. We have to play this right.”

“So what’s the play?” Breeze wasn’t any more interested in waiting then Undertow was, not after ascertaining that Naiara was not around.

All eyes went to the colt. He pointed out into the lake. “Undertow, get in the water. That’s your best weapon, so use it. After the Raiders are dealt with, see if you can mess up the ponies underwater, stop ‘em from taking more fish.”

“Done.”

He followed up by stomping the ground we stood on. “Cassie, set up here. Use your rifle to start picking off Raiders, and in case the Bernsteins get testy.”

“Very well.”

Now his hoof went skyward. “Breeze, you and Wings are up high. Let ‘em have it.”

“Heh, music to my ears.” With that, the two took off into the air. Cassie produced her rifle, and lay down at the cliff edge. She paused just long enough to let Undertow leap over her, and over the edge. My heart skipped a beat until I heard the splash from far below.

Not counting Cassie, that left three of us. “Schwarzwald, get down there and help the Bernsteins. It’d get back to Amber if you did anything else.”

“Right away, boss colt.” She set off running, with the gatling gun on her battle saddle spinning up.

“And me, Bosco?” I was pretty impressed by how easily he’d taken charge and got us a working strategy.

He regarded me warily. “We don’t know how much the rest of the Wasteland knows about your Red Ice situation. Pretend that you’re still the Raider boss for now, and that those guys down there are going against your orders. If the Bernsteins don’t buy it, me and Schwarzwald’ll bail you out. Really sell it though.”

“Uh… okay.” I hadn’t even thought about that. I was ready to be done as Red Ice for good. Will it really help to-

“Now, Snow.” Bosco pushed me after Schwarzwald, interrupting my thoughts.

“Right, sorry.”

We charged down the hill, overtaking the older mare and her greater weapons burden. “Don’t shoot Snowflake.” Bosco called out as we passed her.

“Spoilsport.” She called after us.

About halfway down the hill, our presence still not detected, a Raider’s head exploded. Score one for Cassie. Then tendrils of water burst from the lake, drilling a pair of Deep Divers. Two for Undertow. A grenade lodged itself in the apparatus of a diver suit, before promptly exploding. This was backed up by two loud cracks as Wings’ revolver shots took down a fifth Raider. Everybody’s getting in on the action.

Though outnumbered and outgunned, the Bernstein Conclave managed to take advantage of our intervention, dropping more Raiders before they recovered and resumed their attack.

At the foot of the hill, Bosco and I split up. He broke off towards the Bernstein animal cages, where they already had two of the mammoth creatures contained. I stayed straight on course for the battle itself, charging across the shore.

When I was close enough, I lit up my horn, sending out two Cryo Serpents. “HEY!” I bellowed, as the spells slashed between the two sides, momentarily halting the action. “WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?!” Really hope this works, Bosco.

“Red Ice!”

“She’s here!” The Bernsteins were looking uneasy at my arrival, while the Raiders just looked confused.

One mare turned to the stallion beside her. “What’s she doin’ here? She ain’t supposed to be here.”

”Really sell it” he says. “I Asked you a question! What are you Raiders doing here, AGAINST MY ORDERS?”

More confusion. “But we don’t t-”

“I lead the Raiders! Guess I’ll have to make an example out of you!” Faking a savage grin, I redirected the Cryo Serpents towards the Raiders, willing jagged spikes to spring up along the trails. The Deep Divers, still flummoxed, scrambled out of their way.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a Bernstein guard lining me up in his sights. I froze for a second, and would have been dead if not for Schwarzwald’s timely intervention.

Whapping the guard around the head as she joined and Bosco joined the Bernstein defence, she opened up with her guns. “Leave her! Focus on the Raiders!”

After that, it was a rout. The Deep Divers, loners by nature, were thoroughly unprepared for group battle. Especially when seven new combatants showed up out of nowhere, attacking from all angles. As they tried to fire on me, Wings and Breeze would punish them. Moving to focus on the flyers simply let Cassie and Undertow attack with impunity. Broken, the few survivors eventually scattered.

After the last Raider had fled, I turned back towards the Bernstein staff, and found myself facing a wall of guns. Oh great. Now what, Boss Colt? I got no answer from him, as he rapidly whispered something to Breeze. Nodding, she soared skyward, while he took off running towards the water. Uh guys? Little help here?

Schwarzwald stepped between me and the guns. “State your business, Red Ice.”

Okay, still selling it. “I was only here to punish those traitors for their insubordination. Do not test me further, mare, or you will join them.”

Her gatling span-down in response. “You are outnumbered. We have no quarrel with you, so leave us in peace.” Behind her, some of the Bernsteins also lowered their weapons, but not all of them. Some looked relieved, while others were still hostile.

“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, RED ICE!” Wings joined the conversation dramatically. Swooping over our heads in a wide arc, before pausing in midair, claws-on-hip, the other pointed at me. “I WON’T LET YOU PUT THESE PEOPLE IN DANGER!”

What in the hell? I half-squinted at her, not sure what was happening.

Before I could respond, Wings jerked her head away from the hunters, waggling her eyebrows at me and winking. Oh, right.

She switched her gaze for a moment, to rest on Schwarzwald. “Ma’am, please move your people away from her. It’s not safe here.” Without another word, Wings took out her guns and began shooting at the sand in my hooves. With a yelp that was only half-acting, I took off running between the abandoned Deep Diver houses, sending slow, clumsy ice mists up as I ran.

“YOU WON’T GET AWAY FROM ME, RED ICE!” Still hamming it up, Wings gave ‘chase’. We kept running long after we were out of sight of the Bernsteins, with she and I firing bullets and spells respectively straight up into the air.

After a while, Wings put her pistols away. “Loop back around and meet up with Cassie on the hill. Wait for us there. We’ll deal with the poachers.”

I nodded, before smiling. “You suck at acting, by the way.”

She smirked back. “Oh, and you’re much better?” She growled out a rough exaggeration of my voice. “‘AGAINST MY ORDERS?’ BLARGH!”

“I didn’t say that last part!”

“Might as well have.”

“Oh, go Blue Fire it up for real already.”

“Yeah yeah, just get yourself back to Cassie.” With a final wink, she flew off. I continued on, half-grumbling and half-smiling.

~~~~~~

Out of breath, I puffed back up to the hill, where our sniper was waiting. She had already packed away her things. “How’s it look down there?”

She didn’t turn away from her vantage point. “All seems quiet. After you and Wings staged your little display, Undertow and I disrupted their capture efforts. Not completely, but enough so that they only possess four working cages, rather than twelve.”

That was something, at least. “And then what? What about the Poseidoceroses?”

“The Bernsteins took the four that they could, and departed. The others got together after they left, and are on their way back now.”

“What happened with Wings? She was supposed to go all Blue Fire on them. Did she have another fake fight with Schwarzwald?”

Cassie turned enough for me to see her raised eyebrow. “Wings did not return in time to approach the Bernsteins again. Her secret is safe for now.”

Her raised eyebrow was met by my twitching one. “Then what in the hell was the point of her chasing me off?”

I caught the beginnings of a smile as Cassie turned away. “Poetic justice?” She managed, faltering at the end as she coughed to cover her laughter.

“Ha. Ha. Ha.”

We both jumped as her communicator crackled to life. “Sis, pick up.”

Cassie dug the device out from under a wing. “Yes, Breeze?”

There was no disguising the urgency in Breeze’s voice, even over the airwaves. “Grab Snow and get moving. Naiara just called in. She’s at La Buque.”

Simultaneous gasps escaped us. She’s where?!

“By herself? That’s far too dangerous! She-”

“Talk on the way, Cassie. Get moving!” Breeze chirped.

It was my turn to grin at Cassie being put out from being interrupted. Nevertheless, I joined her in heading off. If Naiara really was in La Buque, then we could be there in no time.

~~~~~~

We ran the entire way to La Buque without stopping. Breeze practically force-fed us all Buck so we wouldn’t stop. Unfortunately it seemed to work a little too well.

“Pfffhahahahaha!” Undertow’s unrestrained chortling was a near-constant during the trip. The Buck had hit her system like a double hind-leg kick, and she was enjoying herself immensely by orbiting us all with bubbles. It was very impressive, and very cute, but it wasn’t entirely appreciated. Considering our chemically altered states, and the situation we were in, Breeze, Bosco and I weren’t really in the mood.

“Undertow, you stop being adorable this instant! It’s not the time.”

Surprisingly, she didn’t flinch at my words. “Oh, come on, big sister. We’ll be fine. We’ll get to Naiara without issue.”

“Why’re you so damn sure, Bubbles?” Breeze dropped back to glare at her. “Naiara didn’t sound happy on the communicator. You should be taking this more seriously!”

Undertow settled a bubble on the pegasus’ nose, and refused to move it, regardless of Breeze swishing her head back and forth. “You should relax more. if Naiara had time to call, then she has time to get to safety. When has anypony been able to catch her?”

Breeze’s frown softened a little. “That’s not…”

Wings, Schwarzwald, and Cassie began laughing. “From the mouths of babes!”

I joined them. “My little sister, folks. Ain’t she grand?” And she will NEVER be allowed Buck again. This is fun and all, but I love her most the way she usually is.

Her anger defeated, Breeze just gave up and let out a chuckle herself. “You win this round, Undertow. Come on, let’s hurry.”

We spend the rest of the rush to La Buque in an unspoken race against each other, pushing ourselves harder and harder to reach the canyon first. It wasn’t clear who started, but everybody got swept up in it. Cassie’s smug nonchalance as she reached the canyon wall first was damn aggravating.

Then she shrieked as a hoof reached up over the edge and grabbed her leg. “GETITOFFGETITOFFGETITOFF!!!” The limb holding her hind leg gave a strong pull, dumping her to the dirt.

“Cassie!” Breeze jumped forward and grabbed her sister by the hooves, trying to pull her away.

As the other ponies and I ran to help, Wings whipped out her revolvers. “I’ll get it!” Spreading her feathers, she shot up and over the edge.

“Shootitshootitshootit!”

A voice from over the edge provided a counterpoint. “SAABI! Don’t shoot, it’s me! It’s Naiara, don’t shoot!”

“It is her! Pull her up!” Wings confirmed.

“Naiara?” Breeze’s panic shifted to hope.

“Breeze! Pull me up! Quick!” Naiara’s panic stayed panic. “Hey, birdie, get up with the others. Trouble’s coming!”

With Wings pushing, Naiara holding tight, and all of us pulling, we managed to drag our whole eightsome back onto solid ground. When we were sure it was secure, everybody flopped to the ground, evidently having burned through the rest of our Buck-induced energy.

Breathing heavily, Naiara’s head was hanging low. “Breeze, thanks,” She raised her head. “but you’re all in troub- Snowflake?!” She gaped at me.

I stared back, stumped. Naiara, usually the most unflappable of fillies, was rooted to the spot, eyes reduced to pinpricks. “Naiara…” I reached a hoof out to her, but she instantly backpedaled.

“Nonono, you can’t be here, Snow. Breeze, why didn’t you tell me she was here?”

Helping her sister up, Breeze shared my confusion. “Does it matter?”

Twin sounds, half-roar and half-hiss, sounded out from down in the canyon.

Naiara greyed even more than usual. “Everybody get away from the edge! The Hissyflits are here, we have to fight!”

Adrenaline blasted away our fatigue, and we were on hooves and paws in a moment. Bosco was already shifting back into the same mindset he displayed at Soft Swell. “How many, Naiara?”

Facing the edge, she backpedaled as fast as she could. “T-two.”

She as the only one who kept moving upon hearing that. “Two?!”

“That’s it?”

“Hell, I could take two of ‘em.”

The zebra’s haunted look didn’t diminish, and she slipped as she took another blind step back. “Not these two.”

Even I had to scoff here. “What, are they some kind of ‘legendary’ Hissyflits or something?”

A fierce wind kicked up from the canyon, forcing us to shield our eyes. “I can’t see! Naiara, what’s happening?”

It was a few seconds before the gale died down enough that I could peek out from behind my hooves. When I did, I got a faceful of Naiara. She slammed into me just as a massive shadow passed by where I’d been standing.

Dragging me to my hooves, she shoved me into a defensive circle that the others had formed. Everyone was looking skyward. I soon understood why.

Naiara’s strained voice sounded off from the side. “Not legendary, but there is a Mother Hissyflit…”

Circling slowly above us, the Hissyflit was unlike any I’d seen before. While the average Hissyflit was only a few hooves high, this one was easily double the height of any one of us. Its feline face was contorted in an even more grotesque snarl than her children. A wicked tongue swirled itself in the air as her venomous, leg-length fangs glistened.

“...and the daddy, the Alpha.”

Outmassing even the Mother, the Alpha Hissyflit was somehow even more horrifying. In place of the ineffectual claws of the babies, there were a set of digits that could give a full-grown Molar Bear a run for its caps. Saw-like spines ran the length of its colossal wingspan, and a powerfully muscled tail swung back and forth.

Nobody seemed to talkative, but eventually Schwarzwald found her voice. “Um… Bosco-dahling, could we call upon your talents once again?”

Not wanting to take my eyes off the hellbeasts on the perimeter, I could only risk a sideways glance at the colt, who gulped heavily before responding. “R-right. We… uh… avoid the fangs. Normal Hissy poison is deadly, so this stuff’ll probably kill you faster. Stick together if at all possi-”

“SCATTER!”

We leapt aside as the monsters dove at us, Bosco and Wings managing to pop off a few seemingly unnoticed shots from their comparatively-tiny weapons.

Landing in a heap, we all rushed to right ourselves. Now split into two distinct groups, I found myself joined by Bosco, Breeze, and Schwarzwald.

“Snowflake!” Undertow called out from the other group, making to come to me.

Luckily, Wings had the good sense to grab her by the goggles and drag her back. “Focus, kid! Look after yourself first.”

“Stay strong!” Was all I could call back, before turning back towards the creatures.

Seeing our splintered herd, these two predators dove at the other group. Faced with half the support, Undertow’s group took off running. Both creatures followed, hiss-roaring in pursuit.

My horn instantly lit up. “NO!” It was joined by the whir of Schwarzwald’s gatling. She unloaded on the backs of the creatures at full force, but they didn’t even seem to feel it.

My ice fared no better. It spread across the Mother’s back and wings, but didn’t hinder her flight at all. As we ran after the monsters after our friends, whooping and hollering in a vain attempt to get their attention, I thought I was going to be sick from the idea that I could lose the others.

SPLUT SPLUT SPLUT “SSSSSHKHKHK!!!” Miraculously, the Mother peeled off from the chase, wheeling about to glare at us.

I didn’t question it. “Yeah, over here! Look at us! Bring it on!” Damn. Couldn’t get the other one. Better kill this thing quick.

Bosco agreed. “Pour on the ice, Snow! Schwarz’s shots broke through the parts you froze. Breeze and I’ll distract it. You two bring it down!” He whipped raised his pistol and began running to one side of the creature.

“You better not fuck this up!” Breeze shot past on the other side, hurling a Shock Lock javelin as she went.

“Work your magic, Snowflake. I will make it count.” Looking as serious as I’d ever seen her, Schwarzwald revved her gatling.

Glacier glow ablaze, I concentrated on the hovering demon, and let loose with everything I had. No form, no specifics, just as much cold as I could muster.

At first, nothing happened. For several heart-stopping seconds, the only thing I saw was the Mother come for me. The flesh rolled back, exposing even more fangs.

“Snow!”

I backpedaled, still pouring on the magic. Come on come on! I need something here! Anything! It was too late though, and the thing’s tongue shot out, slamming me to the ground. The main body landing beside me with a thud.

“Get away!” I half-rolled, flailing wildly with my hooves.

My flailing turned to cowering as the Hissyflit let out another of its hiss-roars. Somebody help me!

Wet, warm liquid splashed onto my hooves and cheek. Cracking one eye open, I was greeted to the sight of the Mother stumbling off me, my magic finally taking effect. Schwarzwald wasn’t wasting the opportunity.

Another javelin glanced off the beast. “Get out of there, idiot! Grenade’s coming in!”

Heeding Breeze’s words, I half-dragged, half-rolled myself away. I didn’t get far enough to avoid the explosive blast, which lifted me off the ground.

I landed next to Bosco. Without looking away from his targeting of the frozen weak spots, he mumbled around the weapon in his maw. “Come on Snow, we still need you! More ice!”

“G-got it.” I was going to be howling later, but I got up fast, spinning on my heel towards the Mother.

It was hurting, but not nearly out of the fight. One wing was completely shredded, but even at half strength, it could still knock us off our hooves with one swing. Worse still, the ice was fading.

Blood began to drip from my nostrils as I re-lit my horn. I didn’t care, that was only a problem if we lived. The Mother was moving more slowly, and couldn’t fly. I could focus on the important parts, like the eyes. It worked for the fake fog Molar bears… I had to try. Mercifully, the effect was far more fast-acting this time around, and the blinded creature began to thrash and howl.

Nobody was sympathetic. Bosco emptied his entire clip into the tongue. Schwarzwald’s rifle kept up a steady beat of punishment while her gatling reloaded, and Breeze took advantage of the Mother Hissyflit’s distraction to land a grenade right in its gullet. “Choke on that, monster!”

Perhaps it did… for the few seconds before the grenade went off, and the whole creature popped like one of Undertow’s bubbles. UNDERTOW!

No time to rest, even as the corpse hit the dirt. The others still had fight on their hooves, with something even bigger and badder than what we’d just gone through.

“SCREEEEEE!!!” Bigger, badder, and angrier too. The Alpha did not take the death of its mate well. It wasn’t unharmed itself, far from it in fact. One of its eyes was completely gone, gouged out somehow, and its powerful tail was showing exposed bone. Still, it retained both wings, and all its deadly toxin. It wasn’t done yet.

Howling in rage, the Alpha’s tail swung around in a wide arc. Undertow ducked, Cassie went high, but Wings and Naiara were caught full on. They were thrown up and away, colliding in midair, and slammed down a half-dozen metres away, unconscious.

“Naiara!”

“Wings!”

Bosco was already in motion. “Schwarzwald, with me, we’ll cover them. The rest of you, take that thing down!”

“On it!” I sprinted towards Undertow, simultaneously glad she was okay, and petrified that she was now the only close target for the Alpha. “Undertow, get away!”

The Alpha had other ideas. Advancing on Undertow, it spread its wings wide, using them to corral her. She had nowhere to go. She swiftly backpedaled, but it took her dangerously close to the prone forms of Naiara and Wings.

I landed on the thing’s back, the product of a desperate leap on my part. Magic was not part of my repertoire at that moment. Magic required focus and awareness. All I knew was that my sister was in danger, and I couldn’t let that continue. The saw-scales scraped and bit at my flesh, but didn’t stop me from sinking my teeth into its ear and biting hard.

“SRRRAAAIII!!!” My teeth were an issue for the fiend, but my miniscule weight was not. It was all I could to do hold on as it bounced and bounded, trying to shake me off.

Finally, the Alpha Hissyflit simply gave up trying to dislodge me, and went for the simple approach. Before I knew what was happening, I was a hundred metres up. The shock loosened my grip enough for it to throw me off into the open air.

“NOOOOO!” I tumbled helplessly in the air as I fell. The view spun around and around, but I still recognised the Alpha diving after me as I fell. Binn tusaa!

Two blue blurs shot past me, and a lance of light blossomed between them as they reached the Alpha, who suddenly shrieked and twisted, wings locking up instantly.

This had the added bonus of sending it plummeting down right at me.

I tried to will my horn into action, but it stubbornly refused to glow. “Somebody help me!” I stuck out all of my limbs, trying to reach something… anything.

“I got you!” A pair of claws wrapped around my hoof, swinging me away as the Alpha continued downwards, slamming into the ground.

Naiara was on it in an instant, planting Bosco’s knife into any soft spot she could find. She’s okay!

So was my rescuer. Wings was flagging, but strong enough to stop my fall. “Hold on, Snow. I’ll get you down.”

“O-okay.” I couldn’t have even begun to crack wise at that moment. When my hooves touched dirt, Schwarzwald was there instantly to usher me… somewhere.

Bosco was standing off to the side, watching Naiara ride the thrashing beast. “Naiara, get out of there. Undertow, NOW!”

I started. “Undertow?”

Naiara immediately abandoned her efforts, backflipping off the Alpha. The Hissyflit turned to follow her, but a wave of water overcame it before it could take a step. Undertow was standing at the canyon’s edge, and was calling up water from the same stream that had trapped Breeze the last time we were here.

Once the creature was completely covered, Undertow raised a hoof and frantically waved it. “I have it. Tell me where.”

Breeze answered her, for once without attitude. “Here! Right here. Right where I am!” The Pegasus was down in the canyon proper, hovering next to the far wall. I spotted a few crystals glowing beside her.

“What’s happening?”

The others ignored me, just kept pushing me towards Naiara and Bosco.

Undertow wasted no time, lifting the watery mass, Alpha included, up into the air. Once it was overhead, she sent it straight at Breeze, who wheeled and soared out of the way. The gadgeteer Pegasus followed the stream back to the source, landing behind Undertow, and looking skyward.

I followed her gaze. High above, higher than even the Alpha had taken me, Cassie was waiting, rifle at the ready, and aimed right at the Hissyflit that Undertow was holding at the wall. “I have the shot!” She yelled down.

Breeze nodded, and pulled Undertow away from the edge, just as Bosco yelled. “Everybody down!”

I still didn’t get it, even as Undertow’s water dropped away, and Cassie fired. “What’s…”

Then Cassie’s shot hit the crystals in the wall beside the Alpha. Already bloated with background magic, they were ripe and ready. A huge chunk of canyon wall blew out, sending severed limbs and broken body of the Alpha careening downwards into the canyon itself, closely followed by a hundred tonnes of falling rock.

The shockwave blew me off my hooves, but Cassie was there in an instant to catch me. “Relax, Snowflake. It’s done.”

I nodded, but wriggled out of her grip and stumbled over to Undertow. My hooves gently roved over her body. “You’re not hurt, are you? Any broken bones? Did it bite you?”

She reached up and wiped some of the blood from my nose. “I am fine, Snowflake. Sore, as we all are, but fine. Do not push yourself further.”

I sagged in relief, addressing the entire group. “Let’s not do that again.”

Cassie and Breeze were leaning on each other. “Why’d we even do it in the first place?”

“Let’s ask.”

All eyes went to Naiara…‘s back as she walked away. “Wait!” I called out. “Where are you going?”

She slowed, but didn’t stop, only looking halfway back. “I figure you don’t want to see me now that the fight’s over.”

Blinking in confusion, I looked for an answer in her eyes, but she wouldn’t meet my gaze. “What do you mean? Why wouldn’t I want to see you?”

Now she did stop, and turn to face us, ever-so-slowly. “B-because of what I did! I betrayed you to the Raiders!”

Understanding dawned. “You think that I’m angry with you?”

She nodded miserably. “Mhm. You and Breeze.”

Heads whipped around to look at Cassie’s sister, who was dumbfounded. “Me?”

Naiara’s head didn’t raise. “I sent Snow into a trap with Raiders.”

Bosco looked on with concern, but also pity. “Is… is that why you didn’t come back? Why you stayed away?”

“Mhm. I guess I am just a no-good Stripe.” She still didn’t meet my eyes.

Taking a deep breath, I untangled myself from Undertow. “Everybody, stay out of this, please.”

Despite the revelations, Breeze was instantly on the defensive. “What’re you gonna do?”

“Just… please.”

Breeze grimaced, but stayed silent. Good enough.

Ignoring the warm trickle on my upper lip, I lit my horn. Boots of ice formed around Naiara’s hooves, pinning her in place.

Looking more and more fearful, she gave a few helpless tugs. “Snow…”

I stalked forward, until we were face to face. “Do you know what I remember about that day, Naiara? In the Barnstormer camp?”

She was close to tears now. “Snow, I’m so sorry. It was… I was… I-”

I put a hoof on her shoulder, silencing her. “You. I remember waking up, and being alone. Undertow wasn’t there. Latvi was. The Raider chiefs were. Undertow wasn’t. Because of you.”

“I’m sorry! I only had time to take her. I wanted to come back for you!” She wailed.

“You left me alone, with Raiders, and a psychopathic unicorn who had already decided to turn me over to Plottawa for measly caps!”

Naiara shrank back as far as her frozen shackles could allow. A crackling hum started up behind me. Shock Lock, Breeze?

“Do you have any idea what you did to me when you took Undertow away from there, NAIARA?!”

“Watch for purple eyes.” Undertow cautioned, keeping the promise she made with Lexi.

“Easy, Snow.” Wings’ claws were closing around her revolvers. Angling my head so that only she could see, I mouthed “suck at acting, huh?” to her. The griffon’s eyes burst into colour as I turned back to the quivering zebra.

“Naiara…” I leaned in and smiled, dropping the charade. “I didn’t want Undertow there. It was a gathering of scum: Caber Toss, Ballbuster, Latvi and Red Ice. She didn’t belong with people like that. She DOESN’T belong with people like that.”

My other hoof wrapped around her neck in a tight hug, the ice fading from her hooves. “You took her away from there. Naiara, you kept my sister safe. Why would I ever be mad at you, svara?”

~~~~~~

Chapter 19-3: Group Rate

“So, which one o’ y’all went an’ plugged mah girl in the chest?”

As I passed, both sisters froze in panic as Lexi cornered them. At her glance, I whipped my head forwards and continued on regimentally. The last thing I saw was her slinging a hoof over a shoulder of each pegasus. “Le’s you an’ me have a li’l talk.”

Yeah, that’s right. I told my… boss on you!

Continuing through the corridors of Sprinkles Supplies, I spotted Wings and Bosco flanking Undertow as the three played poker against some of the off-duty guards. My sister’s quizzical expression as she intently studied her cards made me smile as I trotted along, nodding greetings the the occasional caravan runner going the other way.

I like being welcome here. It’s a nice change of pace. Another safe place to sleep, and no drama.

“You seem troubled, dahling.”

or not.

“Well, it’s just…”

Sidling up to the doorway where the voices were coming from, I eased myself up against the wall. Not getting involved, just gonna listen. That still counts as no drama, right?

“... Bosco isn’t smiling much. Is he okay?”

“No, he is not.”

Naiara and I both inhaled sharply at that.

“What happened?”

“Many things. Do not lose hope, though. I do not believe it is permanent.”

“You don’t? What can I do to help?”

Schwarzwald’s next words were full of genuine warmth. “Be you, pretty thing. Act as you always have around our friends. If it is not clear, you have been dearly missed. Your return has given them all a reason to smile. I certainly am, and Bosco will too.”

Strength returned to Naiara’s response. Even through the wall, I could see her smile. “That’s all you’ll give me, huh? Gotta find out for myself.”

I heard Schwarzwald’s battle saddle shift with her shrug. “It is not my place, dahling.”

“Well, at least now that Snow’s finally got a new sister, I can stop listening to her whining about her brothers.”

WHAT?!

“Indeed. She was beginning to repeat herself. Not at all interesting.”

Are you kidding me?! There was a pause, long enough for me to wonder if they were still there. As I inched forwards, about to glare around the doorframe, two mismatched hooves shot around the corner and hauled me through. I slipped and tumbled forwards in the process, ended up on my back.

Four green eyes, two jade and two forest, leaned over me, upside down. Naiara smirked down at me. “That was for your little act at La Buque, Snow. I was really upset, and you made me think I really had done something I couldn’t take back.”

“Also, you are not stealthy.” Schwarzwald chimed in. “At all.”

Naiara and I stared at each other for a few seconds, with neither us nor Schwarzwald speaking a word. Finally, I sighed, choosing to ignore Schwarzwald’s aside. “Yeah, okay. I shouldn’t have done that. Not to say that I’m not a little angry at you, as one of Atesh’s zebra, but I really did just want you, as my friend, back.”

I took each of their proffered hooves, letting them lift me from the dirt. The night air was cooling just past the point of comfort. Schwarzwald made sure I was upright, then turned to Naiara. “Go on now, dahling, off with you. Go find dear Bosco, and make him smile. I must speak with Snowflake alone for a moment. We will not be long.”

I shared a quick hug with Naiara, before letting her head back inside. Not two seconds after she disappeared inside, however, she poked her head back around the door. “Snow?”

“Yeah?”

She smiled her so-very-natural smile. “I’m really glad Undertow’s your sister now. She deserves you as a sister. Regardless of what else you are, or think you are, you most definitely are the right pony for that.”

I suddenly couldn’t speak for the lump in my throat. All I could do was give her an awkward return smile, as I hastily wiped my eyes.

Then she was gone. I was alone with Schwarzwald, who continued to stare at the doorway for a few more seconds.

Her next words set the hackles on the back of my neck rising, as did the heavy tone she delivered them in. “Finally… you are all gathered.”

“... Schwarzwald?”

She didn’t look at me. “It took longer than I thought it might, but the others are worth the delay.” Her gaze had moved from the door to the rest of the yard. As far as I could see, we were the only two around. She wasn’t satisfied, though, and pulled me towards the deeper shadows. “This way. We will need privacy.”

I wrenched my hoof out of her grip so hard that I slapped myself in the face. “Hey now, whoa. Just whoa. Listen, this whole ‘mistress’ thing was funny at first…”

The mercenary mare paid me little heed. “Snowflake, this is not the time for jokes. What you learn now cannot become known.”

I stood firm, not following. “What am I going to learn? What can’t become known?”

“The light they flung into the future.”

We both looked up, me in surprise, and Schwarzwald in seriousness. Hovering above us, barely visible in the darkness, was a sprite bot.

“Watcher.” About time you two came clean.

“Hello, Snowflake.” The floating robot turned to Schwarzwald. “Are you absolutely sure about this? Is now the time?”

Her reply was delayed. “...I cannot say that I am sure… but I believe it is.”

Seconds ticked by as Watcher processed that. “...Alright. I trust you, Schwarz. We’ll see how this turns out. I do have one question first.”

The attention settled back on me. “Snow, I have to know. Why do you have those eyes? What happened with Sombra?”

“Uh…” Do I really want you to know, Watcher? I glanced at Schwarzwald, who gave a single, curt nod. “...I’ll turn your own words back on you, Watcher. Nobody else finds out about this. I already have enemies who want it.”

“Who am I gonna tell?” He scoffed through the speaker. “Now what is ‘it’?”

“‘It’... is this.” Withdrawing the horn from the innards of my barding, I held it up.

“...There is something there, right? It’s pretty dark out.”

Tense atmosphere thoroughly shattered, I said nothing as I lit up my horn. The moment the glacial light caught the horn, Watcher reared back. “I don’t believe it. It’s still around after all this time?!”

“Yeah. Sombra’s horn still exists, even if he himself died at Cadance’s hooves.”

“And you’re sure about that last part?”

“The zebra are. That jackhole memory mage, Latvi, is.” I couldn’t help pulling a face, not only when thinking about Latvi, but also for Atesh.

“Then destroy it.” He was adamant.

“No.” So was I.

“Snowflake, I told you how powerful Sombra was. I can’t allow any possibility of his return.” When I made no move, he turned to Schwarzwald. “Schwarz, take it from her, and destroy it.”

She shook her head. “If I do that, we may lose everything.”

Noisily deflating, the sprite bot rotated back to me. “Why-hy-hy won’t you just get rid of it?” He whined.

“Because Naiara might need it.” My answer drew a less-than-satisfied silence, so I elaborated. “The war was fought over coal and gems, right? Naiara’s tribe seems to think that Sombra’s crystal powers can be harnessed to grow gems in the zebra homelands.”

“That’s not all there is to it, Snow! There’s an ideological aspect to this too!”

“Not for Atesh, the tribe leader. He’s not a believer.”

Even through the bot’s speakers, the sound of Watcher blowing air past his lips was clear. “Atheist zebra. Well this is just going swimmingly, isn’t it?”

Schwarzwald cut in sharply. “Then return to the matter at hoof, Watcher. The horn’s fate can be decided another day.”

“...Alright. Let’s start over. Where to begin…”

“A light in the future?” I prompted.

The metal insectile nodded. “Right. You remember the Ministry Mares?”

“Of course.” It was drilled into us every day in the Stable. The war and its catalysts, the leaders of Old Equestria.

His voice grew firm, proud even. “Well they were more than those mistakes. Those 6 ponies were worth more than the Ministries. More than anything. Those 6 ponies took it upon themselves to save Equestria time and again before the war. They did it by using something far more important, far more relevant than the Ministries: The Elements of Harmony.” He paused, for no reason that I could see beyond dramatic effect.

“...” Shooting Schwarzwald a worried glance, I was dismayed to receive a smile and nod in return. “And the Elements were…”

“Equestria’s strongest magic. Only to be used in times of great strife, when all other options had been exhausted. Six amulets, representing the traits that the six ponies embodied. They only worked together, and fed off each other. Weaponised friendship.” Pride oozed from his words.

“They sound like megaspells.” The observation was not a positive one.

Watcher didn’t lose steam. “Funny you should say that, actually. See, the Elements could only be used by Twilight Sparkle and her friends, the bearers, because they embodied those six traits, and so-”

“What traits?” I had to interrupt. The conversation was REALLY starting to spin out of control now.

“The six core tenets of friendship: Honesty, Loyalty, Kindness, Generosity, Laughter, and Magic. Twilight had that last one, as you probably could’ve guessed, given that she ran the Ministry of Magic.”

“So the other five Ministry Mares had the others?”

“Why do you think they got the jobs?”

I sat back in the darkness, taking a moment to digest all of this. “But…” I said at last. “The Ministry Mares are all dead. You said the Elements wouldn’t work without their bearers.”

“I did.” He confirmed solemnly. “For the moment, the Elements remain unable to release their power. They can’t fulfill Twilight’s last wish.”

“Last wish?” I echoed helplessly, barely keeping up.

“The Elements ARE a megaspell, or at least they will be. Twilight sought to use them to end the war.”

“That’s… ominous.”

The floating speaker rocked in the air. “Not even remotely what I meant. The Elements weren’t a weapon, not really. That was a poor choice of words. Twilight wanted to use them to cure Equestria.”

“Cure it from what?”

Watcher panned in a slow circle. “This. The day the world ended wasn’t the first we knew of the radiation megaspells. Twilight knew what would happen if they all went off like this, and tried to turn the Elements of Harmony into a countermeasure. The Elements megaspell, which she named the Gardens of Equestria, will wipe out the radiation, and the Taint, and make Equestria fertile again. Gardens will bring Equestria back from the dead.”

I swallowed harshly, my throat dry. “How?”

“Ah, well, that’s the tricky part.”

“We do not know, dahling.” Schwarzwald had been quietly watching from the side, making note of how I’d been reacting to Watcher’s words. She hardly looked at Watcher at all, in fact. “This is old magic, beyond anything that exists now.”

With her rejoining the conversation, I was beginning to feel outnumbered. “But how are the Gardens of Equestria even going to activate? The Element bearers are all dead!”

“But the Elements themselves live on.” Watcher’s response was encased in conviction. “The Elements were not created for Twilight Sparkle and her friends, two hundred years ago. They… inherited them.”

“Inherited them? From who?”

Schwarzwald’s familiar chuckle came out now. “This will be fun to watch. The bearers, before Twilight-dahling and her friends, were the Princesses Celestia and Luna!”

I didn’t disappoint. Eye bugging, I reared back. “THE PRINCESSES?!”

“Sshh! Keep it down, Snow!” All three of us glanced, heads cocked, towards the open door back into the building.

After a full minute of inactivity, Watcher’s sprite bot wriggled in irritation. “Yes, Celestia and Luna bore them before the six. Others, who I don’t know, bore them before even the princesses.”

“And… others will inherit the Elements in this time.”

The full force of what they were saying began to hit me. “Who is going to inherit them? Do you know?”

“Not all of them. We think we’ve found at least one.” What HADN’T been said far outweighed what had.

“Who?” I fought against the lead weight settling in my stomach. “Do you mean… me?”

This got a full-on bark of laughter from Schwarzwald. “HAH! No, not you. The thought never even crossed our minds.”

“O-oh.” I whimpered, chastised. “Then who?”

Schwarzwald maintained her good cheer. “If the answer cannot be found in Red Ice, then…”

“...Blue Fire. Wings? You think Wings is an Element bearer?”

Watcher interjected before Schwarzwald could answer. “We’re considering it as a possibility. You have to understand that this has been a long process.” He broke off for a moment, floating over to Schwarzwald. “We’ve suffered from false hope.” The gentleness of his words was surprising, but not as much as the hoof Schwarzwald wrapped around him. “More than once.”

“What’s wrong, you two?”

Smiling playfully. “After what happened twenty years ago, I was at last able to get Watcher to stop fixing on just one soul per Element.”

Dread fascination pushed me forward. “What… happened twenty years ago?”

Schwarzwald’s smile morphed paradoxically. It was pregnant with meaning, but airy and weightless at the same time. “Twenty years ago… I lost my chance to be a bearer.”

“You?” I gasped.

“Me.” She deadpanned. “I had another group of friends, so much like the ones you have now. We travelled the Wasteland, saw many things, met all kinds of souls, and accomplished great things together. And then… we didn’t.”

“What… what happened?” I couldn’t tear myself away from her face. Her scars seemed to draw the eye more and more, until I could barely see the face underneath.

“They died, dahling. It is the way of the Wasteland.” The off-hoofedness of the statement drilled into me as hard as the words themselves. Schwarz… twenty years? You’ve been holding on to that secret for two decades? How can you look so unaffected?

Mercifully, Watcher took over. “It… was no longer possible for Schwarzwald to be a bearer after that. Friendship is an important part of awakening the bearers, and… well…” The sprite bot sank, then rose. “Still, Schwarzwald is strong. She’s been working with me ever since. I couldn’t have done this without her. We WILL find the bearers, and Wings is the current possibility.”

Schwarzwald still took up most of my attention, so my reply was somewhat stilted. “Wings. She’s not your only choice, is she?”

“No,” he conceded thoughtfully. “There are others; A shrimpy unicorn filly down south, one cocky bastard of a pegasus with oversized wings, a pious gardener, and a few others. Nothing is set in stone until the Elements awaken. It could be all of them for all I know. There are six Elements to awaken.”

“But why Wings?”

Schwarzwald’s unfathomable ease continued with the simplicity of her next words. I really struggled to find the heartache that she had to be feeling, no matter how much time had dulled the hurt. “Because she is honest.”

“...What.” That’s a bad joke, Schwarzwald. If this whole damn thing has been one giant excuse to fuck with me-

“Wings lies, and cheats, and steals. This is true.” Schwarzwald stepped forward forcefully. “But these are just surface traits. In all the time that I have known her, I have never seen Wings be anything but honest with herself.”

“There is a certain level of interpretation in the choice, sure,” Watcher conceded, “but Fluttershy was not always kind. Rarity was not always generous. Pinkie Pie knew when to stop laughing. What they all had in common, was that they never changed their core selves. Who they were in relation to their Element. That never faltered within them.”

Schwarzwald nodded. “Wings is the same. She has fought everything, including her race, society, and YOU, to remain true to herself. A blue fire burns pure, Snowflake.”

“I…” My head was swimming. “Why are you telling this to me, instead of her?”

“Because YOU are the Red Ice. While Wings has stayed true to herself, you have changed into someone else. That has brought you allies, and enemies, and brought the two of you to each other. For Wings to realise her Element, she will need you, and the chaos you bring.”

“...didn’t mean to.” I mumbled sheepishly.

They ignored me. “You can help her reach her goal, without her falling victim to false hope. That will be our burden. She cannot know.” Schwarzwald stepped back, spreading her hooves openly. “Snowflake, there is no place in the Gardens for you or I, but we can plant the seeds so they may grow.”

~~~~~~

“So… we’re whores now?”

“I believe Bosco would be referred to as a ‘gigolo’...”

“Undertow…”

“...or perhaps he would be the pimp?”

“Undertow!”

“Please stop.”

“Says ‘Harlots’ right there above the door.”

“Breeze, you’re not helping!”

“WOULD SOMEPONY JUST OPEN THE DAMN DOOR??”

“...shouts like a pimp, too.”

“AAAAARGHHH!!!”

Cassie silently walked past a near-catatonic-with-laughter Schwarzwald, and keyed in the passcode for Hoofshine Harlots. “Naiara, we are not offering any services here. It is surprisingly well-stocked, well-hidden, and well-decorated. There is room enough for all of us, you included.”

The zebra’s face lit up. “I get my own room? What’s in it?”

Breeze half-smirked, half-smiled. “Pretty dresses.”

Dimples formed in Naiara’s cheeks as her grin erupted. “I get to wear a pretty dress?” Quick as a flash, she’d dragged Breeze and Undertow through the door and halfway through the lobby. “ComeoncomeoncomeonLET’SGO!”

“It might be good for Breeze to pick out something to wear herself,” Cassie mused, as she followed leisurely. “should she wish to catch the eye of Naiara’s clanmate.”

Having calmed down, Schwarzwald and Bosco were both yawning. Both headed straight to their rooms.

I hadn’t made a move to enter. After the revelations from Schwarzwald and Watcher at Sprinkles Supplies, my mind had been swimming in new information. Naiara’s return had easily drawn the focus of the others on the trip from Sprinkles to Hoofshine, leaving me vainly attempting to process it all. Even Undertow had been more interested in Naiara, leaving me completely free to quietly panic in piece.

“Snow, can we talk?”

Well, not completely free. Wings, the object of my panicked ponderings, had been shooting glances my way ever since she rejoined the group. She’d left, and returned, mid-trip, but hadn’t revealed where she’d been.

Avoiding giving away Schwarz-Watcher’s plan had been hell.

Steeling myself, I woodenly rotated to face her. “Y-yeah, Wings?”

It was a mistake. GAH! Those blues!

Said ‘blues’ were closely scrutinising me. “You okay? You’ve been going pale a lot during the walk. Did you get a little dose of Hissy venom or something?”

Don’t blow it. Just politely excuse yourself from the conversation. You totally did get Hissy-venomed. It’s perfect! Use it! “N-no, I don’t think so.” FUCKING DAMN IT! “I’m probably just tired.”

She didn’t believe me, but let it go regardless. Holding up an open claw, she gestured for me to enter before her. “Well, can we talk in your room for a sec? There’s something I’ve gotta tell you.”

My eyes shot wide. Oh, not again!

I couldn’t do anything, except stiffly lead her down into the subterranean area. Perching on the edge of the bed, I hugged a pillow to my breast as she poked at the booze stores. “What… what did you want to tell me?”

Having located suitable refreshment, she flapped over to the stairs, blocking any quick exit that I might have made. Reclining back against the stairs, the diminutive griffon took a rapid swig from the bottle in her claw, immediately followed by a second. Grimacing, she set the bottle down, and abandoned any pretense of relaxed ease by leaning forwards, resting her claws on her knees. “Snow…”

She’s gonna tell me that Schwarzwald doesn’t exist, and she’s just been humouring my crazy flank this entire time!

“...I’m sorry.”

“Huh?”

Twisting her tail hairs around her claws, Wings heaved a sigh. “Whinniepeg. The first time, when Cassie and I…”

“Now?!” I interrupted. “You do this now?”

Mercifully, she mistook my meaning. “Yeah, I should have had more faith in you, and done this sooner. It just took me a while to see you for what you could really do.”

Any balance between my newfound knowledge of Wings’ importance, and my lingering emotions from our various issues was rapidly disappearing. “Didn’t you say you weren’t gonna apologise?” This came out in a rush, ostensibly to fill the silence.

Settling her chin across her intertwined claws, she nodded solemnly. “Yeah, and at the time I meant that, but stuff’s happened since then. I’ve seen you with your sister, and how you handled the twins, and Naiara.” Her talons disengaged, one moving to scratch ruefully at the back of her head. “It got me thinking, and… well I’ve been keeping this in case of emergency, and… y’know…”

Irritation born of awkwardness spread across her face. “Ah, just… here!”

The dim light glimmered on the surface of whatever it was that she’d just thrown at me. Still distracted, I tried reaching out to grab the thing with my non-existent telekinesis. I only barely registered that nothing was happening before the Memory Orb clocked my right between the eyes. “OW, JEEZ!” Sucking in air, I tried to soothe the space between snout and horn.

Wings, meanwhile was face-clawing at the entire situation. “Sorry again, thought you’d catch it.”

“So you threw it at my face? What is this thi-” The object resting in my hooves forestalled anything further. I just stared at it, and at Wings, slackjawed.

Her plumage fell across her sapphire eyes as she looked down. “Took me too long to get that back to you.”

“...My Memory Orb. I-I don’t know what to say, Wings. Why are you giving it back to me? I told you I didn’t need it anymore.”

“You also told me that you still wanted it back.” Her gaze turned reflective. “And you told Schwarzwald that you wouldn’t kill her, or the twins. Days after Cassie put a hole in your chest. Days. When I first took that Orb, I thought you would just give it over to anyone who you thought was nice. Now you know better, but you still stopped trying to kill Cassie because the girl who you gave a family to asked you to.”

She shook her head, chuckling. “I dunno what to make of you half the time, Snow, but I do know that you’re a better choice to hold onto that thing than the Stable pony who saved two strangers from a dozen Raiders… and then puked on my claw.”

I joined in her chuckling for a moment, before sobering, and locking eyes with her. “Wings, thank you. This won’t get me back to the Stable, but it started all of this. I… could use the perspective.”

She leaned forward again, intrigued. “You gonna dive in?”

I held it outstretched, eyeballing it suspiciously. “Hell no. It’s broken. Almost killed me when I looked in there by accident. It’s a paperweight.”

Holding a claw to her chest in mock-outrage, she laid it on thick. “Oh come on, Snow. Give me some credit. I wasn’t just holding onto it, y’know. I was getting it fixed. I met a scientist in Lethbridle, said she’d fix it ‘cause of a deal you two made.”

“...Esto. Is she okay? Last time I saw her, she was in the hospital.”

Wings waved me off. “She’s fine. Left the hospital as soon as she could walk. Said she wanted to make sure her friend was safe.”

I nodded sadly. “Lithu. McCoy killed her husband, on Latvi’s orders. Is she okay?”

“Esto didn’t know. Not sure she’d tell me if she knew. She’s not real fond of you.”

I shrugged helplessly. “No, I suppose she wouldn’t be.”

Wings’ clawtips caressed her revolver in its holster. “Can’t save ‘em all, Snow. You, of all people, know that.”

“Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“He’s on our list. We’ll get to him soon.” She pointed at the Memory Orb. “But right now, you’ve got a fixed Memory Orb to see. You can watch it in full for the first time.”

“Yeah…” I held it up to my eyes, utterly unenthused. “Supposed to be days long, this memory. Have I got the time?”

The bed creaked slightly as her weight landed next to me. Wings tapped the barrel of her weapon against the Orb as we leaned on each other.

“Go ahead. I got you covered.”

OOOOooooOOOO

“You’ll forgive me if I don’t take your word for it.” A voice sounded in the darkness.

I remembered this. I’d woken up in the body of another pony, but I hadn’t known it at the time. Now I did, and I could pay more attention to what was being said. The cave we were in was the same as last time, with dark stone and dripping water.

Still unsure on the husband thing, but this other pony seems to know me, or whoever I am right now.

“Then what do you want? I doubt you called me here just to catch up on old times.” I actually enjoyed the feeling of my host having wings this time around. It was a new experience. The other figure, still covered by heavy cloth, looked away for a few seconds before responding.

“There is something you must see. Follow.” Without even a backwards glance, she set off down the tunnel, and we followed.

After a long, silent walk, we finally reached the point where everything went to hell last time. Now or never.

Wings, if you didn’t get this thing fixed, I am going to be EXTREMELY upset with you.

We rounded the corner again, and everything went white.

FUCKING DAMMIT WINGS!!!

Inside the body of this other mare, I braced for the overwhelming pain to start again, but it never did. After a moment, the white began to fade. It receded until shapes and other colours began to reassert themselves. A huge cavern began to melt out of the white, with a gathering of hooded figures around what resolved to be the sources of the light: One half-sunken sphere, a score of metres across, and several orbiting cages, formed of ethereal bonds wrapped around the creatures within. I couldn’t make out what the creatures were from this distance, but they obviously weren’t there by choice.

My host and her companion moved towards the central recess, where the sphere lay. As we walked, we passed by one of the floating cages, and there was the briefest moment of eye contact between my host and the creature inside, though it wasn’t like anything I’d seen before. Whatever it was, it had a profound effect on my host, as she had to stop and hold her head in her hoof for a moment. “Ugh, what…”

Our sultry-voiced companion stopped too, looking back at us. There was a glint of smirking fangs from under her cowl. “I suspected that you would react to them, princess.” She mocked. “Especially given who you are.”

Princess? There was a Pegasus princess in the past? Nobody ever mentioned that.

My host was still staring at the cages. “They’re… I don’t know. I just feel…” Without another word, she spread her wings and soared up into the air. She took up station directly in the middle of the orbiting cages.

“Majesty?” One of the other hooded figures hissed out.

“Watch her,” the first, apparently royal, pony commanded. “until she comes down. If anything happens, summon me immediately.”

My host was barely paying attention. In every cage, a set of glowing eyes were looking at us. Slowly rotating in place, a few loose strands of mane fell across her eyes.

Loose, multi-shade pink strands. ...Wait a minute.

My ‘Pegasus’ host dispelled any doubt as a powder-blue glow burst from just above our field of vision, with wisps floating out to all of the cages. The creatures inside, and my host, jerked as each one connected.

“Cadence!” The hooded pony called up from below. “Do not lose yourself. I did not call you here for them.”

If I had eyes of my own, they’d be wide open. I KNEW IT! I’m Princess Cadence! She really was in the Stable! Watcher’s gonna be thrilled!

Cadence ignored the warning, ignored everything but the creatures in the cages, non-descript though they were. Hour after hour, she simply floated there, experiencing sensations that didn’t transfer through the Memory Orb connection.

It was beautiful, in a way. However, from my limited viewpoint, it soon grew very tedious.

I hope she snaps out of it soon. I don’t wanna be here all day.

~~~~~~

“So, you spent an entire day with them.”

Damn it.

“What was it like?”

Cadence had a large audience. Besides the original hooded pony, there were scores of others listening in from around the room. I noticed that the royal pony, their ‘majesty’, towered over the others.

Pacing back and forth, Cadence was uncomfortably energetic. “Those things, what are they? There was so much love there! It runs through their very beings!” Her sweet, soft voice spoke as if this was somehow a sad thing. “And yet… they don’t seem to notice it. Almost as if it doesn’t register to them at all. All that love, and they are blind to it.”

“That is true in one sense, but also false in another.” Raising a covered hoof, she pointed at the floating prisons. “They know the love they bear in their bodies, in the sense that it tips the scale.”

Cadence stopped pacing. “What scale?”

“The scale of nature, pony. These creatures, these Windigos…”

Windigos? What are Windigos? Those things?

“...must obey the same nature as all living things. They must maintain the balance between ‘love’, and ‘hate’.”

Cadence jerked in surprise at the royal’s words. I would have reacted the same if I could. “What do you mean, balance? Why would anybody want to lose love or gain hate?”

Letting out a deep chuckle, the royal shook her head, dislodging her hood. “You of all ponies, Crystal Princess, should know how destructive unchecked love can be.”

Ouch, close to home.

Cadence didn’t react as her cloak fell to the floor, but I certainly did.

What. The Hell. Is She? She’s no pony!

Under the hood, the royal creature bore fangs at the corner of her mouth. Like Alicorns, she had both wings and a horn, but her extremities were far removed from any seen on the princesses. The horn was gnarled, and misshapen, yet still jutting out proudly from her forehead. Her wings held no feathers, nor bone, but rather were translucent, gossamer things, like an insect. Both horns and wings were beautiful in their own way, but utterly alien. Her body too, was not that of a pony. Though riddled with holes, she was encased in a carapace of black chiten, the colour broken only by wicked green scales covering the thorax, and an equally be-holed mane, lying gracefully down her spine and shoulders.

The monarch, another princess?, continued her speech. “Everything in existence, be they…”

She pointed her jagged hoof at Cadence. “Pony,”

Then at the floating cages. “Windigo,”

And finally at herself. “Or Changeling, or anything else, must maintain their own unique balance of love and hate.”

A ‘changeling’? I’ve never heard of those. Why didn’t Watcher tell me about them?

The Changeling royal flapped her wings, beating out a thrumming vibrato. “Windigos are creatures of love, through and through, which drives their hunt for hatred. They feed upon it, to maintain their balance. It is what makes them our natural enemies. We Changelings are creatures of hate, which is why we seek out love to survive. We too have a balance to maintain. Even you ponies do, though you fall far closer to the centre than we two extremes.”

Cadence was as stumped as I was, it seemed, but recovered far faster. Taking a step forward, she spread her wings to counter the Changeling’s stance. “Tell me, Chrysalis, why have you brought me here?”

“Queen Chrysalis,” She snapped, finally giving me a title to go with the name. “and I have brought you here to inform you ponies, our far less troublesome food source, of the danger we all face. All thanks to the actions of you and those pathetic zebra.”

Cadence blinked. It was a strange experience to see from behind the eyes. “Our actions? Do you mean the war?”

Rolling her eyes, Chrysalis gave her a pointed look. “Of course I am speaking of your meaningless war. Every day that goes by, every death and setback that you incur, fosters more and more hatred. You fools are drawing the Windigos to Equestria from beyond the northern mountains, and starving the only creatures capable of driving them back!”

Cadence reared back, shocked. “You Changelings have been… protecting Equestria?”

Chrysalis exhaled dismissively. “To the same extent that any farmer might protect their crops. Understand this, Cadence. If your war does not end soon, the Windigos will end it for you. They will sweep down upon pony and zebra alike, feeding upon your petty squabbles until none, not even my subjects and I, could stop them. Your war is dooming not only Equestria, but the entire world.”

“I had no idea.” Me neither. “So what would you have us do?”

Chrysalis’ poise returned to that of a stately ruler. “Ideally, Equestria would return to how it was, during your wedding. I told you then that there is more love here, than anywhere else we have hunted. However, I do not expect this to happen, given your enemy. So I must take more direct action. Observe.”

She, followed by her Changelings, and Cadence, moved to an empty patch of cave. Chrysalis’ horn glowed, but she spoke before casting whatever spell she was preparing. “Remain completely still. Make no movement, nor sound, and under no circumstances are you to use magic. This will be a short demonstration, but dangerous.”

Rising above our heads, Chrysalis’ ignited her spell. Green fire sprang up around her body, utterly encasing her form. When the fire faded, there was no sign of the Queen. In her place was… snow?

The Queen-turned-squall grew in size, swirling around us, faster and faster, until the entire group was completely encased in a miniature blizzard.

Abruptly, one of the magical cages vanished, freeing the trapped Windigo within. I marvelled at the sight. Part cloud and part equine, the creature bayed echoingly around the chamber. Running on nothing, it swept around the cavern, riding the Changeling-blizzard at times. Its head swung back and forth, searching for something, but it always turned away again, regardless of how close it came to the blizzard.

When it was on the far side of the chamber, green fire burned through the blizzard again, and suddenly the Queen was back, and the snow was gone. Firing from her disjointed horn, she snapped another cage around the Windigo before it could react. The magic prison floated back to its position among the others, the ghostly beast helpless within.

Cadence stared on, in awe, as the Queen descended to stand before her. “What did you do?”

“I took the form of a magical blizzard. It can shield others from the Windigos’ senses. It is our first defence, and how we hunt them.”

“I have to ask this again. After what you just showed, why have you brought me here?”

Chrysalis bit out the words like they were knives on her tongue. “Because, though I am without equal amongst you ponies, as I proved when I effortlessly defeated Celestia,” She paused for a moment, content to let the comment sink in with a smug expression.

Wait, when she effortlessly WHAT?!

“I will say again that the Windigos will smarm to Equestria over the northern mountains. Mountains. Plural. Even I cannot hide an entire nation with my magic…” She locked eyes with Cadence, gritting her teeth further. “...not without help.”

“So you called the mare whose wedding you invaded. Literally invaded.”

The irony was lost on precisely no-one. “You are the Princess of Love. You wield the Crystal Heart, which can focus that love. You are nothing but a battery for my greatness.”

Cadence wasn’t going to let her off that easily. “So you need my help?”

“It will be an undertaking that will dwarf anything you ponies have ever done!”

“So you need my help?”

“...I should have left you under Canterlot.”

“But you didn’t, so let me help.”

~~~~~~

The next few days passed in a blur, as evidently there were still flaws in the Memory Orb. Cadence left the cave to consult with a pony I would come to understand was her husband, Shining Armour, and to fly to the very northern edge of Equestria, to see the mountains for herself.

Why didn’t anybody ever tell me that Equestria used to be so beautiful? How could we ever have thought to use the Megaspells, when the cost was losing all of this?

Finally, Cadence returned to the Changelings’ cave again. “The preparations are in place.” She informed the waiting Queen. “You understand what this will mean, for them?” My carrier’s voice had changed. Gone was the hard edge, now it was strained, conflicted. The mistrust was still there but it was battling with empathy.

“I do. That’s why I brought you here. I want your promise that you’ll do what you can for them while I handle this. Don’t let them fall.” Chrysalis’ voice was breathy. Finally, it cracked. “Please?”

The Crystal Princess of Love swallowed, a lump forming in her throat. “I……I won’t. You have my word.”

Satisfied, the unicorn nodded. “Then they will be in good hooves, though I’d prefer neither Celestia nor Luna hear of this. They…would not be so kind.”

“You have my word. This will be my secret, and mine alone.”

As I watched, a tiny sparkle fell from the darkness of the unicorn’s hood, then another. She was crying. “Thank you. Now, can I ask one more favour from you, before we begin? It is a small one, I promise.”

Cadence nodded in response. “Of course, what do you need?”

“Could you teach me that song that the little filly espoused when I first met her? How did it start? ‘Sunshine, sunshine…’”

OOOOooooOOOO

I jerked awake, simultaneously gasping and groaning as three days of inactivity caught up with me. Holding my head, I staggered into a fall from the bed. I barely even felt the floor beneath me, as I tried to push myself up on papery hooves.

“Whzzat?” I familiar voice called out from the bed. “Oh! Snow, you’re back!” Springing from the sheets, Wings grabbed my leg in her claw, sending electric fireworks up and down my circulation-deprived limbs.

When she finally got me standing, I could do nothing but stare at her, too disturbed to even blink.

Her sapphire eyes shone with worry as she held me up, gently. “Snow? Talk to me, what’s wrong?”

I opened my mouth, trying to talk, but no words came out.

“BHLEURGH!” Something else did, though. All over her claw.

“...Again?!”

~~~~~~

Level Up!

Perks gained: Those Who Fail Harmony. - Snow receives an Endurance boost when Schwarzwald or Wings are in the party.

~~~~~~

Author's Note

So, did anypony recognise Watcher’s other prospects?

That’s all for now, folks. Please keep reading, commenting, and spreading the word on Old Souls. I really appreciate your feedback.

Chapter 20-1: Mirrors And Roses

[Killing is personal - so’s vows, promises. Last bit’s more important to me than the first.]

On shaky legs, I followed Wings up the stairs into the bar. Her grumbling, as she fiercely scrubbed her claw with a towel, barely registered.

I didn’t even react when a snarky voice piped up from the other end of the countertop. “So she lives.” Breeze was tinkering with… something or other, it didn’t seem important at the time. She didn’t seem important. I didn’t seem important.

After a quick rinse in the sink, Wings’ claw settled around my shoulders, guiding me towards a booth. “Come on, Snow. Sit down and breathe it out for a little while. Then you need to tell us what you saw.”

There was a clunk behind us as Breeze set down whatever she was working on. “What’s wrong with her? Three days with no food leaving her constipated?”

Irritation laced Wings’ response. “Knock it off, Breeze. Whatever she saw in the Orb, it wasn’t easy to see.”

“What wasn’t?” A clattering of hooves accompanied Bosco’s question, as some or all of the others, I wasn’t able to tell, strolled in.

“Snowflake?” A familiar face moved into my vision. I saw it, but didn’t really register it. “What’s wrong, Sister?”

A hint of anger bubbled through the worry as she growled at the chocolate-furred griffon holding me up. “You were supposed to be watching her! What happened?”

“Easy, Undertow,” Naiara stepped in. “Snow’s fine. Look, no broken bones or bruises. She’s probably just had a little fright is all.”

“She does look somewhat nauseous. Naiara, can you brew her something to settle her stomach? Before anything unpleasant happens.”

A feather brushed my eyelid. “Too late for that, Cass. She already let rip downstairs, all over my claw.”

“Again?” Chorused Bosco and Schwarzwald.

“Again.”

“Sorry.” I mumbled, startling Wings and Undertow.

“Ah. You are back with us, Snowflake-dear.”

I just nodded mutely.

“...Or close enough.”

Undertow’s comforting warmth pressed against me from my free side. “Snowflake, what did you see? Was it the Stable?”

“...Yes… and no.”

“Helpful.”

“Breeze…”

“Alright, alright. Come on, Snow. Tell us already.”

Mercifully, nobody said anything as I looked at each in turn, marshalling my thoughts. Their expressions ranged across concern from Undertow and Naiara, focus from Wings and Bosco, intrigue from Schwarzwald and Cassie, and mild irritation from Breeze.

I took a mental deep breath to match my physical one. Here we go. “...My h-... where I grew up, Stable 61… there’s always a blizzard around the mountain it was built into. It didn’t stop, ever. Every second of every minute of every hour-”

“I think we get it, Snow. The blizzard never stops. Keep going.”

“Well, according to the Memory Orb, it’s… actually not a blizzard at all.”

And then I told them. I told them about Chrysalis, and Cadence, and the Windigoes. About the Changelings, and about the balance between love and hate. I didn’t hold anything back, though my cracked and parched throat forced me to stop at some inopportune times. By the end, though, even Breeze was giving me nothing but rapt attention.

When I finally wound down, the room’s atmosphere weighed heavily on me. I looked first to my sister, whose orange eyes were wide, and then to Wings. She wasn’t really looking back, not at first, but I could see her Blue Fire eyes dancing a thousand ways at once. After half a second, she caught me staring, and the twin blazes settled a little as she nudged my shoulder. “Wow, Snow. Never thought I’d hear a tale like that all the way out here.”

Her forced cheer broke the tension, and suddenly everybody had questions.

“How can a blizzard be a… a ‘Changeling’?”

“Yeah, and what is a ‘Changeling’, anyway?”

“You’re sure that’s what you saw, Snow. The Orb wasn’t still broken?”

“I didn’t know Equestria had another Princess. Where was she back then?”

“This Shining Armour, what role does he play in all of this?”

“And where are these Changelings now?”

My tale told, I found myself quite exhausted. Stepping down onto the hard floor, I slowly and deliberately stretched, relishing in the pops and bursts that ran along my awakening muscles. I was quite happy to do this for a while, and let the debate go on without me.

Schwarzwald ambled past me. “Please excuse me, dahlings, but I must consult with my sources on this. It might take some time.”

Going to ask Watcher, huh? Good call. I had just enough self-control not to say that in front of Wings, but it was a stretch.

Breeze, Undertow, and Bosco were deep in discussion about the magi-mechanical implications of maintaining a blizzard like that for two hundred years, and I’m sure I would have liked to join in any other time, but for now I just wanted some air. Wings and Cassie followed me out, but held their own conversation as I took a few minutes to face north and just stare.

~~~~~~

After a break to digest this new information, we reconvened. For the first time, we all sat together on the floor, with no obvious barrier between my sister and I, and the twins. Everybody was too preoccupied for that.

“So…” Wings began, “...I guess we can add that to the list of things we need to look into.”

“AFTER all the other crap we’ve already got to take care of. It can wait.”

“Can it?” Undertow challenged Breeze. “You heard my sister. If nothing is done, the Windigoes will overrun Equestria eventually.”

“It’s been two hundred years, and the blizzard’s still going strong. It can wait another few weeks or so.”

Undertow’s brow furrowed over her goggles. “I don’t think you are giving this the attention-”

“So what SHOULD we look into next?” Bosco broke in. “Now that we’ve got Naiara back, I vote for finding my other two Memory Orbs. I’ve already lost three more days because of Snow’s vision.”

Not having a counter argument, I stayed silent. He’d earned my help a few times over, so I’d just go along with whatever.

“Do I get a vote?” Naiara piped up. “I wasn’t here when you guys were making your list. Don’t get me wrong, I’m really thankful to you all for coming to get me at La Buque, but I still need to find my clan. They have to know by now that their plan for Latvi and the Raiders failed.”

“They do.” I supplied. The full details hardly needed to be stated at this point.

“Right, that’s what I mean. It was my mission, and I kinda screwed it up. Atesh is gonna want answers, and I need to make things right… somehow.”

Breeze quickly raised her hoof. “I vote for Naiara’s thing.”

“Why?”

Her sister’s one-word question seemed to wronghoof her. “Well, I… I mean, she’s my friend, I wanna help her, and…”

Cassie nodded knowingly at Breeze’s developing blush. “Ah, you want to see your new beau.”

“NO! I just want to help my friend!”

“Of course.” The sniper Pegasus smirked, before affecting a more serious expression. “Unfortunately I cannot agree with you.”

“What?! Cass!”

“I am sorry, Breeze, but Naiara’s tribe should wait until we have retrieved Bosco’s other two Orbs.”

After shooting her a grateful smile that morphed into a smug smirk, Bosco faced Naiara and Breeze. “Your dating life’ll have to wait. It’s finally my turn to get what I want.”

Cassie moved quickly to forestall any heatedness. “I support Bosco because of what we’ve just heard. Snowflake had only one Orb, and yet it held such an important secret. Bosco has three.”

“Anyone else got a vote?” Wings looked at each of our remaining three, myself included, as the twins glared at each other over the stalemate.

Without hesitation, Undertow cast her vote. “Bosco’s Orbs.”

And was quickly countered by Schwarzwald. “While I do wish to hear more stories from the past, I think that spending time with some muscular zebra stallions sounds just lovely.”

All eyes went to Wings for the decider. After hemming and hawing for a few seconds, she shrugged and sent an apologetic look towards Bosco. “I swear that you’re next. You can punch me in the face as hard as you want if I’m lying. Hell, you can punch all of us. But I gotta go with the zebras here.”

“Of course you do.” The charcoal colt seethed, “Nothing like being outnumbered, huh?”

Wings didn’t back down. “The zebra interfered at Gull Gulf. McCoy and his Monsters, and probably some other griffons too, will be out for stripey blood. They should be warned, if nothing else. It also moves up the timetable on anything to do with Naiara’s clan. Sorry, Bosco, but your Memory Orbs might end up being around longer than those zebra.”

Shaking slightly, Bosco stood up and stalked out of the room. We all watched him go. The others didn’t look like they thought much of the victory, not even Schwarzwald. I certainly didn’t.

~~~~~~

The mood hadn’t lightened much after we’d set off. Naiara led the way, though she was working on guesswork, as our first outing as a full eightsome didn’t have a definite destination. The zebra moved around often enough that we could do nothing but rely on Naiara’s experience and tracking skills.

Bosco trudged along in the very centre of our not-so-little pack, stoically ignoring any attempt at communication. The way he pulled his neck back into the gap of his barding brought to mind the old detective stories from the Stable, turning their collars up against the rain.

Much more encouraging was the fact that Undertow and Breeze had resumed their discussion on magic from earlier. Each would occasionally catch mine or Cassie’s eye, tense up for a moment, and seem to withdraw from the conversation, but soon enough would be swept back in. I should have been listening to what they’d been saying, but couldn’t keep up. Still, Undertow and Breeze don’t have to hate each other. It’s fine if I’m the only one who Breeze and Cassie don’t like.

Breeze’s sister, Schwarzwald, and Wings formed a triangle of lookouts. They tossed snippets of small talk at each other, in between watching the horizons and covering Naiara on point.

I sidled up to Bosco, keeping my eyes ahead, and speaking out of the side of my mouth. “I’m here, if you need to talk, alright?”

A noncommittal grunt was the answer.

Dropping it, I swung around and began walking backwards, looking north. We were heading south and, in the fading light, it was too far to see the mountains which housed Stable 61, or the ‘blizzard’ which swirled around them.

Two hundred years, Chrysalis. Two hundred years. You and Cadence spent every second maintaining the storm. How… can you possibly be that strong, yet still fear something? Just what kind of demons are the Windigoes, if they require this much power just to hide from? And how strong is the Crystal Heart, to focus all that love like that? Will it last? Will you?

...What’s it like, being a blizzard? Can you still see the world around you, Chrysalis? The blizzard blinded the Stable, but what about you? Do you even see anything at all? Do you hear, or feel, or taste the world around you?

Cadence… Chrysalis… do you know how badly we fucked everything up?

My eyes dropped slightly, imagining the mountains under Chrysalis and Cadence’s blizzard. I thought about Stable 61. All the ponies and buffalo and zebra and others who called it home. I thought about my brothers. How long would they struggle without me before they found their hooves again?

They’re only as old as Undertow. They shouldn’t have to lose their mother AND their sister. Buff will do his best, he always does, but the Overmare better be treating them right after what she did!

I thought back to the last pony I’d talked to before leaving Stable 61. Both times. She’d thrown me out in reality, and then I’d killed her in the Sombratic dream. Quite the contrast. What was her role in all of this? Did she know about the blizzard? Did anyone from the Stable? For all the times I had been stuck with monitor duty, there had never been much supervision, hence why most ponies just slept through their shift. I had done so a few dozen times myself, being one of the most frequent screen watchers.

They’ll be okay. Even if the blizzard stops. Nobody really ends up hated in the Stable. Even I was just an outcast, rather than a menace. My brothers got along fine with tons of people in the Stable.

Yeah, they’ll be safe. They don’t hate and aren’t hated. Just like Undertow.

I loved my family.

“Hey, Bosco, still pouting?” Breeze’s brash tone cut through my reverie. I sidestepped as she dropped back to draw level with the perturbed colt.

“Leave me alone, Breeze.”

“Nope! So anyway, I wanted to ask you…”

Seizing the opportunity, I moved past the burgeoning, though one-sided, conversation, and increased my pace until I passed my sister. As I did so, I nodded forwards for her to follow me. Moving past the others, we kept going until we caught up with Naiara. “Hey, we gotta talk.”

Her jade eyes on briefly flicked back to us, but the corner of her lips did turn up. “Sure, what’s up?”

Lowering my voice, I leaned in close. “What’s gonna happen when we find your clan? As far as I know, Atesh still wants the Horn. How far is he going to go to get it? And does he know what could happen if he tries to use its magic?”

I had to pause and turn to Undertow, seeking out my reflection in her goggles. Good. Normal eyes. I got a bright smile from her out of it, too.

Naiara hadn’t immediately responded, which didn’t fill me with confidence. “Atesh… will definitely want the Horn back, if you’re not going to use it, or let Latvi use it. It’s pretty much his only shot now.”

“Shot? Shot at what?”

Naiara’s next words made me stumble into Undertow. “For going home.”

“What? What’s that supposed to mean?” Why wouldn’t Atesh be able to go back to the zebra lands?

“Are the zebra lands so inhospitable without the horn?” Undertow had moved to the other side of Naiara. “Were you unhappy there?”

Naiara just shrugged. “I’ve never been.”

THAT surprised me. “You haven’t? I thought your clan travelled to the Wasteland?”

She nodded, pointedly looking forwards. “They did… almost twenty years ago. Technically, I WAS born there, Cept too, but Atesh got us all exiled when the two of us were just weeks old.”

“Exiled?!” Breeze’s startled proclamation made us all jump.

At our quizzical looks, the pegasus turned defensive. “What? I’ve got good ears. Told you that the first time I met you.”

Cassie turned away from her sweep of the area to address the group. “Please, Naiara, enlighten us all.”

Grimacing slightly, she relented. “...Fine. Here’s the thing: Atesh doesn’t believe in the stars, and he was vocal about it. Got the wrong sort of attention placed on our clan by the rulers in Roam. Long story short, we all got shipped off to Equestria as punishment. We’re not supposed to return until we repent, or make amends.”

“That’s crazy!” Wings burst in, feathers rippling in irritation. “Why are you all suffering because of what one guy did? That’s not right!”

“He’s the clan leader.” Naiara deadpanned. “He represents the views of all of the clan. At least he’s supposed to. After we got kicked out, plenty of the others found their faith, and fast. Not Atesh, though. He’s still not a believer.”

She waved a hoof at our surroundings. “So yeah, I’ve only known this place in my life. Cept and the others might tell you different, but Roam’s home to Atesh, not me.”

“Svara…” My heart went out to her. She didn’t even get any time in what should have been her home. She was only here in the Wasteland because of the actions of another.

Naiara surreptitiously glanced at the others, before shuffling in close again. “Seriously though, Snow. Keep it out of sight. Things could get ugly if Atesh is getting desperate. While you were under, Wings filled me in on you and Cept trying to capture Latvi, and how it went wrong. Atesh knows how to be patient, but he’s not gonna wait forever.”

~~~~~~

“I don’t see why we couldn’t just go stay at Sprinkles Supplies.”

“Because they’ve got a business to run, and we can’t be dropping in all the time.”

“But this suuuucks.”

We’d stopped for the night at a burnt-out husk of a vehicle. Some sort of carriage, though I couldn’t see any tracks or rails to carry it. Out first job had been clearing out the bones. Bosco was in his element here, scoping out the place in a matter of minutes, assigning sleeping areas, and arranging a watch rotation.

I was on first watch, along with Bosco, Schwarzwald and Cassie. Still, after only an hour or so I found myself yawning. I hate monitor duty. Still, I struggled through it, and was more than relieved when we were relieved by Naiara, Wings, Breeze and Undertow. I pushed as far into a corner as I could, and was asleep in moments.

I awoke again to a hoof shaking my shoulder. Struggling to blink the sleep from my eyes, I just barely made out the stripes running along the length of the leg in the dark. “Nrgh… Naiara?”

The only answer I got was her holding a hoof up to her lips, then pointing outside. Bleary-eyed, I nonetheless got to my hooves and followed her as she swiftly moved through the wrecked carriage. There was nobody else awake in the carriage. What’s happening Naiara? Are we under attack? The Raiders?

Naiara said nothing as she disappeared outside. I stopped for a moment to pat the horn, under my barding. Still there. Good. And there it’ll stay. Almost fully awake now, I took another step towards the opening.

“Enough is enough, Naiara. Atesh demands the relic.” Cept’s rich baritone banished the last vestiges of sleep. “Step aside.”

“Cept, stop this!” Naiara’s response was full of stress. “Leave her… leave all of them alone! The Horn’s not worth it. It’s not what Atesh thinks it is!”

Okay, time to go outside now. I can’t leave Naiara to handle this alone. I hopped out of the opening, quickly seeking out the two zebra clanmates. Cept was standing tall on the ground outside, while Naiara was crouched atop the carriage. How the heck did she get up there so fast? “Cept!”

Both zebra turned towards me. Cept’s dark gold eyes were hard. “Red Ice. Give me the Horn.”

“Cept, Naiara’s right. It’s bad news. Nobody can use it safely, and letting Latvi get his hooves on it would be the worst idea.”

The stallion just shook his head. “I honestly no longer care. Atesh wants the horn, and I am tired of putting myself and my clan in danger to get it. I will take it, and I will take it now.” He nodded over my shoulder.

Strong hooves kicked my legs out from under me, and a knee like a rock pinned me down by the neck. Straining my eyeballs, I managed to just catch a glimpse of the zebra, the same who’d roused me in the carriage, in the corner of my vision. “You’re… not… Naiara!” I hissed out.

“Mua leija.” She responded, mockingly.

“LET HER GO!” Our friends boiled out of the carriage, disturbed by our confrontation. None of them looked happy. Undertow started towards me, horn glowing, but stopped when the nameless zebra mare pushed down harder on my neck, causing a pained grunt.

“Cept?” Breeze floated above him and Naiara. “What are you doing?”

There was only the slightest waver in his eyes, before they hardened again. “I am sorry, Aqua Breeze, but this is a clan matter. Please stay out of this. It is nothing of concern to you.”

Breeze looked between the two, before facing him again with a frown. “You really think I’m not gonna care when Naiara’s pulling that face? This isn’t like you, Cept. What are you asking from her?”

“Her duty to her clan.” Cept was stone-faced as he matched gazes with Naiara, but spoke to Breeze. “The duty Atesh believes she has been neglecting for too long.”

“The hell is THAT supposed to mean?!”

“I haven’t neglected anything!” Naiara retorted. “I did as Atesh asked, even if it meant putting my friends in danger.”

“I wondered when Atesh would lose patience.” Schwarzwald’s grinning cheer was at odds with her battle saddle’s minigun spinning up.

“Please do not do that.” At his signal, the mare on top of me produced a needle from between her lips, holding it to my eye.

“...Poor sport, dahling.” Schwarzwald’s weapon spun down, and she no was no longer smiling.

“Cept, please!” Naiara pleaded, stepping before the two zebra stallions. “Latvi won’t do as Atesh wants. He’ll turn on us again, just like he did the first time!”

“From what I have heard, he only turned on Red Ice.” The stallion snapped back. “And that is no concern of mine. We will force him to do as we say. What he did to Snowflake is unimportant.”

“It won’t go the way you want.” I called out, still unable to turn my head. “Latvi’s gonna play you, and Atesh, for fools, just like he has with all the others.”

“You mean like he did with you?” Cept raised an eyebrow. “Do not think that we are the same, Red Ice. Atesh has lead this clan for decades. You could only lead your Raiders for days.”

“BECAUSE OF LATVI!” I yelled. “He. Will. Betray. You! Why don’t you understand that?! He can’t get you home!”

Grunting, Cept glared at Naiara. “You told them?”

“I did. Cept, Atesh is too focused on getting out of Equestria. I’m worried about the cost to the rest of us.”

Cept’s golden eyes dimmed. “That is a private matter, Naiara. You should not have revealed it to outsiders. Atesh is concerned about the influence all of your… friends are having on you. He thinks it might be time to cut ties.”

“NO!” Six voices cried out at once.

“LATVI WON’T HELP YOU!” I tried again. “DON’T DO THIS!”

“Well now, don’t I just keep hearing a certain name I’m very interested in?” The heavy voice startled us all as it called from out of the dark.

“Who’s there?” Cept demanded, covering Atesh.

Thick hooffalls sounded out in the night, and seconds later large shapes loomed out of the blackness. Bearing battle saddles bristling with ordnance, four buffalo stepped into our engagement. “So all you tiny ponies keep talking about Latvi. We’re pretty interested in finding him too. Why don’tcha go ahead and tell us where he is?” He punctuated this by racking a round into one of his weapons’ chambers.

Another of the buffalo, this one smaller, with a hastily welded metal helmet covering his entire head, leaned in to the first one. “Hey, Crush, there’s a griffon here too.” the second buffalo’s voice was muffled by his helmet.

“What?!” Crush followed his companion’s gaze, zeroing in on where Wings floated above the wrecked carriage. “Hey, beakface, get down here and take me to Latvi, right now!”

Wings didn’t move, just lazily pointed her revolvers at him. “Why don’t you come up here and make me, big guy?”

“Heeey,” Breeze murmured. “I know this guy.”

Surprised, everybody looked at her as she pondered. After a moment, comprehension dawned in her eyes, and she clapped her hooves together decisively. “Yeah, he’s that racist buffalo from Grindstone!”

“Hey, yeah. He is!” Naiara joined in. “What’re you doing here, buffalo? You weren’t exactly looking to get involved in non-buffalo business the last time we saw you.”

“So you’d be the stripe,” Crush growled. “and I’m guessing the other one is around here too. The nosy unicorn, whoever she is.”

“‘Whoever she is’?” I repeated, gritting my teeth in the dust.

“Whatever. ‘s not like she’s important.”

“This fool knows nothing.” Cept gnashed. “Leave us, buffalo. You are delaying us without reason.”

All of the buffalo pointed their guns at Cept, except the armoured one who was still looking at Wings. Crush’s already low voice dropped further. “Don’t you dare talk to me like that, punk. My name’s Crush. Remember it! All of you damn equines, and griffon bastards, are always causing problems for us buffalo. We’re here for some payback. Now there may be more of you but we’ve got a hell of a lot more guns. Tell us where Latvi is, or we’ll kill you all!”

Cept just smirked at the threat. Raising a hoof, he mocked Crush’s bravado. “All of us?”

At his signal, six more zebra shimmered out of thin air, on all sides of the buffalo.

“What the hell?!” Wings and Bosco both started, drawing their guns.

“Zebra stealth cloak.” Naiara supplied darkly, still focused on Cept. “Good for ambushes.”

All six new zebra bore powerful looking rifles. The big bovines quickly did their best to form a defensive circle. One of the non-armoured buffalo muttered to their leader out of the corner of his mouth. “I don’t like this, boss. That’s a lot of fire.”

Cept stepped forward purposefully. “We have entertained your foolish notions this long, buffalo. You are not welcome here any longer.”

Eyes whipping back and forth, Crush didn’t immediately answer. It was a tense few moments before he finally spat out. “Them’s fightin words, stripe. How ‘bout you back ‘em up? No weapons, just one on one?”

Cept wearily waved a hoof at his clanmates. “Fine. I’ll finish it quickly. After that, if they do not leave, kill them all.” He turned back to Crush. “Drop your weapons, and we will begin.”

Crush chuckled thuggishly. “Oh no, boy. You don’t get to fight me. You’re fighting him.” The leader turned to his smaller, armoured compatriot. Hesitantly nodding, the faceless buffalo moved to the front slowly.

Cept just sighed. “It makes little difference.”

With the unnamed zebra mare still atop me, I was dragged back with the others, to form a perimeter for the fight. Cept made no move to attack his opponent, only affecting a fighting stance and staring down the armoured buffalo.

Said buffalo moved back and forth jerkily, but didn’t take a step forwards. Cept’s patience quickly ran out. “I do not have all night. You will leave us, just as soon as I finish this.”

And then he waded in.

What followed was one of the most one-sided plotkickings I’ve ever seen. Despite the size and strength advantage, the armoured buffalo never stood a chance.

With an array of punishing kicks and bucks, Cept’s Fallen Ceasar mastery absolutely dominated his opponent, who was clearly no fighter. The buffalo’s counter attacks were slow and sloppy, never once coming close to hitting their target. He couldn’t defend himself as Cept systematically chopped him down like a tree.

First, Cept took out his legs by chopping and stomping the knees. Then, when the armoured buffalo crashed to the dirt, he worked his way around the entire circumference, leaving rapidly forming bruises and gashes in shoulders, hips, ribs, and finally cheeks.

The whole thing couldn’t have lasted more than two minutes. Cept never took his eyes off his opponent, and showed no joy, nor remorse, in his task. The zebra had a job to do, and he completed it with brutal efficiency.

Panting and groaning, the buffalo tried to rise a few times. Just stay down, you dumb bastard. You never stood a chance. You and your boss should just get the hell out of here before this gets lethal. I wouldn’t shed any tears for Crush, but you are just punishing yourself now. Every time it looked like he might stand up straight, Cept would knife in and drop him again.

Crush was getting angrier and angrier. “Hey, fool, why are you letting this runt push you around?! You’re a buffalo! We’re the biggest and baddest things around! Nobody does this to us!”

The armoured buffalo in the ring half-groaned, half-cheered, and tried to rise again.

Oh, just end this already, Cept. Slappy there clearly is too dumb for his own good. Maybe getting his flank hoofed to him will knock some sense though that helmet of his. We’re all wasting time with this.

There seemed to be a general feeling of satisfaction when the buffalo finally rolled over, unconscious… at least until the guns came up again, pointing at Crush and the rest of his posse.

Cept dusted himself down, though he was hardly dirty at all. “Now then. Go. Away.”

Snorting and slobbering, Crush had to be dragged away by the two remaining healthy buffalo, with his beaten companion slowly following. The big bruiser just wouldn’t go quietly, however. “You think this is over? I swear I’ll be back, with more guys, and we’ll take you all apart! You don’t get to walk your tiny selves into my home, like Dent and his pet pony bitch did! Damn griffons too, bastards came and killed Dent without a word! And now there’s Raiders sniffing around! All of you are nothing but vermin to me! I’ll wipe you all out! I SWEAR I’LL KILL YOU ALL!”

As they vanished into the night, it became very apparent that not many, besides the stealth zebras watching them go, were giving them much thought.

Even I wasn’t immune. We’ve all got bigger problems than you, punk. Take a number.

A water whip sent the zebra pinning me down sprawling. While I scrambled back to the safety or our line, weapons came up on both sides. Cept calmly helped his clanmate up, then turned back to me. “The horn, Red Ice.”

I stayed right where I was. “You know I’m not going to give it to you. Atesh knows a little about what it CAN do, but not all that it WILL do.”

“And YOU know that I will carry out my duty to my clan.”

Everybody bristled at this, zebra, pony, and griffon alike. The mare holding me had rejoined the other zebras, and some of them were laying hooves on their rifles.

“Naiara,” Breeze tried, even as she brandished grenades. “what should we do? Atesh isn’t going to let this ‘horn’ business go, is he?”

Still standing across from Cept, in the gap between our two sides, Naiara shook her head sadly. “No, he’s not. He’ll keep trying until he gets what he’s after. Even if Cept doesn’t get the horn now, more zebras will keep coming after us. And they won’t be as polite.”

“So what do we do?” The question was aimed at both Naiara AND Cept.

It was Cept who answered. “Come with me to meet with Atesh.”

Bosco and Wings hadn’t taken their guns off the zebra stallion. “Funny joke, guy. Want to try another?”

Undertow’s horn glowed. “It would be foolish to follow them. We will be outnumbered if we do.”

“She’s got a point.” I chipped in, while rubbing gravel from my coat and glaring at the mare who’d sat atop me.

“I give you my word that you will not be harmed.” Cept supplied, turning his hooves up in gesture.

“And what value does that have for us?” Cassie snapped. She had the biggest rifle here, but the zebra had more of them. “We don’t know you, Cept. Why should we trust you?”

Naiara wheeled around and faced the rest of us. “Hey! Listen, I know we’re not in the friendliest situation right now, but Cept is still my clan. If he gives his word then he’ll keep it, and make sure everybody else does too. He’s just trying to do right by our tribe. He hasn’t seen what happened with the horn, so he doesn’t know.” She took a step backwards, placing herself between us and Cept. “Please, guys. Let’s just listen to what Atesh has to say. I won’t let him take the horn from you if any of you aren’t satisfied. Trust me.”

I grimaced. “That’s the problem, svara. We do trust you, but it’s like you said. We don’t know the others, or what they’ve been doing. Atesh might not let you two keep your words. That’s really not something that I can take the gamble on with the Horn.”

Her tone turned pleading. “Snow… don’t. Please? I can’t fight my clan. I just can’t. That’s what’s going to happen if you say no. Don’t put me in that position.”

And there it was. As I exchanged glances with the rest of our group, I couldn’t help but feel that that was the problem in a nutshell. I had the Horn. Atesh wanted the Horn. His decision to take it, and my refusal to give it up, had put all of us, Naiara and Cept included, in an impossible position.

“What do you want from us, Naiara?” Bosco kicked at the dirt with his hoof. “Do you want us to just surrender and come quietly? We can’t do that!”

“I-I know, but…”

“But what?”

Her next words were a child’s whisper. “... but they’re my family. This could get them home.” She looked up, morose. “I know the danger. I know what you went through, all of you, but this could be Atesh’s last chance. He wants to go home.”

A long, tense silence followed. Nobody seemed to know what to say, while Naiara looked more and more unhappy as she found no support from us.

Grunting, Breeze face-winged. “Damn it, alright, alright! Stop looking so sick, Naiara. I’ll come with you.”

Some of the shine returned to the zebra’s jade eyes. “You will?”

“I will.” Breeze’s feathers teased apart, revealing the half-smile underneath. “I still don’t think that Atesh should get anything, but I’ll hear everything out. You deserve that after all you’ve done for us.”

Scratching the back of his neck, Cept took a half-step forwards… until glares from Undertow and I drove him back. “Thank you, Aqua Breeze. I am truly grateful for your assistance. You are a great friend to Naiara.” The hard look behind his eyes was gone as he looked at Breeze and Naiara standing together.

Breeze’s feathers twitched closed, in an effort to hide the red in her cheeks. “Yeah, well… I trust Naiara, and she trusts you. I want to trust you, Cept. However, I really don’t want to end up regretting this.” The two stared intently at each other for a moment, before being interrupted.

“If we are to do this, dahling, then it shall be done on our terms.” Schwarzwald’s gatling was spun down, but she hadn’t relaxed.

Reluctantly breaking eye contact with the technophile, Cept switched back to all-business. “Name them.”

Schwarzwald smiled a familiar smirk. “At this meeting, Atesh will be in our custody until we are done.”

Instant alarm shot through the gathered zebra. The unnamed watchers rapidly began jabbering in zebra tongue, while Cept choked on his spit. “What?!”

Bosco stepped up to support Schwarzwald. “We’re walking into enemy territory, and all on YOUR word that we’ll be safe. We get Atesh in our custody for the talks, and release him when it’s all said and done. Try anything funny, and I’ll put a bullet through his skull.”

“You cannot think that I will agree to this!”

Bosco remained stone-faced. “Take it or leave it, Cept.”

Schwarzwald’s smile grew at the zebras’ unease. “How can we trust your word if you will not take ours, handsome Cept?”

Battling every emotion, Cept looked to Naiara. Eyebrows rose, jaws tightened, cheeks puffed, and foreheads creased as the two went through a rapid, utterly silent back-and-forth. It was only when Breeze pressed her cheek to Naiara’s, and the two gave a simultaneous stare, that Cept gave in.

Gritting his teeth, he looked to the ground. “Very well. It shall be done.”

Bosco and Schwarzwald nodded their agreement, bringing the total up to four.

Cassie swiftly made it five. “I am still unsure as to this ‘horn’ and its importance, but I will support Breeze, and Naiara, if they believe it to be the right course of action. But,” her rifle whipped up and fixed on Cept, “I will not accept you putting my sister or her friend in any danger. This is your only warning.”

To my surprise, Undertow backed Cassie up. “I know Atesh’s plan for the horn, and it will not work. We shall convince him of this. For Naiara’s sake, do not make us do it lethally.”

And that left Wings and I. All eyes looked at us. We looked at each other.

She shrugged. “I don’t know the guy, Snow. Can’t say more ‘til I do.”

I snorted, unsatisfied. “...Fine. Just remember what else is at stake here, Wings.” Can’t mention the Orb out loud, but for pity’s sake get my meaning. We can’t start the old war up again. It will literally kill us all.

~~~~~~

Chapter 20-2: Mirrors And Roses

The walk to the meeting point was tense. No sooner had we decided to move then the other seven zebra, my harasser included, had melted into the night. That left us with Cept and Naiara as the only two zebras… that we could see.

Nobody was happy about that last part. Wings, Cassie, and Breeze were keeping constant surveillance overhead, while Bosco, Undertow, and Schwarzwald refused to leave my side. Naiara kept pace with both our group and Cept, holding position between us and him.

As we walked, I found something kept nagging at my mind. After the third time I’d drifted into Undertow, she perturbedly shrugged me back into position. “You are not watching where you are walking, big sister. Are you worried?”

“Huh?” I blinked, startled. “Uh… no. I mean, yeah, I am, but that’s not… y’know, actually, forget it. It’s not important right now..”

Her goggled eyes twitched towards the two zebra for a moment, then turned back. “We have time, Snowflake. Please, tell me what is bothering you.”

Her open, earnest worry sailed straight through any resistance I might have had. I’m never going to be able to say no to you, am I? Ducking my head to hide my smile, I spoke quietly. “I was thinking about those buffalo.”

“What about them? Their anger is not your fault, Snowflake. It was not you who ordered the attacks on them.”

That wasn’t what I was worried about. “Yeah, I know, that was all Latvi. We’ll settle up with him later. It’s just…”

“Yes?” After I didn’t answer immediately, and she simply continued to wait, I had to finish my thought.

“It’s just… my brothers- sorry, our brothers are buffalo too.”

“In your Stable, yes?”

“Yeah.” Safe and sound. “I was just thinking, that with…” I gave a dirty glare all around, hoping against hope that none of the cloaked zebra were still within earshot. “...with all that we’ve learned from… my ‘little trip’, I was wondering whether I would need to go back to the Stable.”

She cocked her head quizzically. “Why would you need to go back?”

“Well I found the… thing in the Stable in the first place. It kicked everything off. What if they’re connected?”

“But what does that have to do with our brothers?” Her obvious delight in saying that was infectious.

“Well, I’ve been out here for so long now. There’s so much that I’ve seen, and been through...” I glanced skyward, at our feathered friends. “...and had taken from me. I guess…” Once I realised exactly what it was I was about to say, my breath caught in my throat.

“You guess…” She pressed.

Gulping, I pushed through. “... I guess I kinda stopped thinking I’d ever go back.”

Heh, I really did start thinking that, didn’t I? Wonder when that happened?

Did I ever think I’d get back?

“Especially after what happened at the Raider summit. I saw a vision when Latvi… did what he did.” Having to censor my words from fear of eavesdropping was getting aggravating. “I was back in the Stable. I saw, well, everybody again. I saw my three brothers, just as I remember them.”

“Tell me about them.”

Gladly. I couldn’t remember exactly how much I’d told Undertow so far, so I just started talking. “Well, they’re three triplets. Probably a little older than you and Bosco. Buff, Al, and Lo. All of them different, but all of them my little brothers. They had a mother, Mrs. Doublehorn. She was the sweetest mother in the world, even when she struggled with things. She loved those three with all her heart, and always made room for me too. I guess they adopted me just as much as I adopted them.”

My sister smiled her beatific smile. “I want to meet her someday.”

My return smile slipped a little. “Sorry, Undertow, but she died a long time ago. We were all just kids, not even old enough to get a Pipbuck yet. Still, I kinda took care of them after that. Made sure they did their homework, kept ‘em from fighting, saw that they didn’t stay up too late. The usual stuff so that they were good boys.” My reverie began to fade, so I sniffed back my moistening nose. “But that kinda brings me to my point. If what I saw really is connected to the Stable, then it might not be a matter of wanting to go back, I might HAVE to go back.”

The weight of my words evidently weighed down on both of us, as Undertow’s response was tentative, unsure. “That’s good, isn’t it? The Stable is your home, big sister. You can see your family again.”

Somehow, that didn’t ease the load across my shoulders. “One thing at a time, Undertow. Going back to the Stable would be nice, but I meant what I said before my…” I sighed. This is so stupid. “...’little trip’. I’m… not really a Stable pony anymore. I’m different now. I wouldn’t be normal, even if I did go back.”

Playfulness laced Undertow’s words, even as she nuzzled me comfortingly. “I am not sure that you really could claim to be normal, Snowflake, even as a Stable pony. Still, for what it is worth, let me say this.”

She rested her forehead against mine, whispering. “I didn’t know you as a Stable pony, but I know you now. The pony you are now, Snowflake or Red Ice, is my favourite person in the entire world. You are not perfect, in fact you are a long way from perfect.”

Ouch, little sister. Ouch.

“But if WE go back to the Stable, then I won’t let anybody try to turn who you are into a bad thing. You are my sister, and Buff’s, and Al’s, and Lo’s. You are OUR sister, and we all love you for who you are.”

The weight across my shoulders was forgotten in light of the lump in my throat. I couldn’t even speak for the joy I was feeling. Chrysalis, I feel like I could keep you fed forever right now. Even with all the hate coming my way, it’ll never be enough to overtake my family.

Undertow had definitely earned herself a Stable visit. If I ever got the chance, she was coming with me, without question. I should probably talk to Cassie about getting my Pipbuck back.

~~~~~~

The day was half-lit by the time we stopped. Cept excused himself to fetch Atesh, accompanied by Naiara, and shadowed by Cassie in the air. Bosco had us check our weapons were ready to go while we waited for them to return.

We weren’t waiting long. Naiara and Cept emerged from around a grey, lifeless hillside just as six other striped equines shimmered into view with them. Upon seeing them approaching, in equal numbers to those we wielded, everybody tensed up. Cassie would react before any of us, should she spot any danger with her sharp eyes, but we’d still have a fight on our hands if things went rough. Cept was no slouch as a fighter, and all of the others still carried their powerful rifles.

“Come on, Cept, be on the level.” Breeze bit her lip as she muttered to herself. rolling a grenade between her hooves.

“If he’s not, I’ll put my knife through his chest for doing this to Naiara.” Bosco’s growl was lower and colder than usual. Ever since his capture in Whinniepeg, he’d been harder, less eager to trust.

Works out well right now, though. He’s looking out for Naiara, same as always, but being serious about it.

The eight zebra stopped a hundred yards from us, and we watched as they huddled up. Snippets of rapid zebra speech floated across to us, but I couldn’t catch enough of what any of them were saying, as the words of the other seven clouded the sounds.

Seemingly reaching a consensus, Cept and Naiara detached from from the huddle, walking towards us, several yards apart. They kept glancing at each other as they crossed the gap between us, watched by both sides. Both halted ten yards away.

Naiara spoke first, cautiously stepping forward. “Okay guys, don’t freak out. Be cool. You’re gonna be cool, right?” There was a playfulness in her words, but the tightness around her jade eyes betrayed her worry.

Cept hid his better. “As promised,” he gruffed out, “I surrender Atesh into your custody.”

The space between the two distorted, momentarily reflecting an image of Wings’ beak on Undertow’s face, before Atesh removed the Stealth cloak. He hoofed it to Cept, who accepted it without breaking his stare. “Should anything happen to our Elder while in your custody, we will not forgive you.”

Atesh stroked his tuft beard for a moment before moving towards us. “Do not worry, Cept.” There was no sign of the calm he’d previously shown. If anything, he looked bored. “This is not a clash of enemies. It is a negotiation between mutually interested parties.”

We spread out in a hexagon, allowing Cept to walk to the centre, where he gathered his robe around him, and lowered himself to the ground. If he was angry at being held like this, it didn’t show past his uninterested visage.

Wings clicked her talons in irritation at Atesh’s behaviour. “Undertow, Schwarz, watch him. You know what to do if he tries anything.”

“Of course, dahling.”

“Yes.”

Nodding, she turned back to Cept and Naiara. “Let’s get things started already.”

“Yes,” Atesh suddenly became much more animated in our midst. “let us start. In fact, I will begin: I am here today to negotiate the return of the horn of King Sombra, currently in Snowflake’s possession.” He locked eyes with me as he said the final two words.

The reaction from the others was mixed. Naiara went pale. Undertow didn’t react. Schwarzwald’s smile remained, though shrank slightly. Wings, Bosco, and Breeze just looked confused.

“The hell’s King Sombra?” Breeze’s blue and white mane swished back and forth.

“I thought there were only Princesses in Equestria?” Bosco’s grey eyes flicked between Atesh and I.

“Snow, what’s this horn?” Wings’ look blazing blue eyes were relaxed, but expectant.

Mock surprise bled into Atesh’s speech. “You have not told them, Red Ice? You carry a dangerous relic of the Old Empire, one which might change the entire world, and you do not tell your companions? Why ever would you keep this a secret?”

Three pairs of eyes came to rest on me. Possibly four, if Cassie was watching from above. None of them looked impressed. It’s not gonna be that easy, Atesh. “And WE are here to convince Atesh, and his clan, that doing this would be a bad idea.”

Atesh grinned victoriously. “And what do-”

“Not finished.” I snapped.

His grin vanished.

“So let ME tell you who Sombra was.” Yeah, I’m taking this away from you. You can thank Watcher for filling me in. You aren’t the only one who knows about Sombra. “Sombra was king of the Crystal Empire. It was an ally to Equestria, and home to the Crystal Ponies. Sombra, the Crystal King, was an absurdly powerful unicorn who specialised in crystal magic.” Among other things. “And Atesh here wants the horn to grow crystals for his homeland, since he claims that was what the zebra were fighting the war for, two hundred years ago.”

Now, Atesh displayed some of his old ways. Drawing himself up haughtily, he affected an air of insulted dignity. “I do not just ‘claim’-”

“BUT here’s why Sombra’s Horn shouldn’t be hoofed over so easily. King Sombra was a bastard. He sealed his entire empire away for a thousand years, and tried to kill one of the Princesses of Old Equestria when he came back. He’s bad news.” I pointed at my face. “My weird eyes? Compliments of Sombra. It’s the reas… It’s PART of the reason I went off the rails with the Raiders.” How easy would it be if I could blame the whole thing on the horn? “Crystal magic wasn’t his only power.”

“A power which only corrupts the weak-minded.” Atesh was standing again now, openly ready for an argument. “You have just confessed to being a puppet to a ghost. You are not fit to hold that horn.”

“And who is? Latvi?” I ground my teeth at his barbs. “That’s who you’re planning to give the horn too again, right? The pompous unicorn who thought it was a good idea to steal a Raider army from a known criminal.”

“You.”

“Unimportant! Latvi has memory magic, and no morals. If he gets the horn again, he won’t use it to grow crystals for your homeland, he’ll dig and dig inside the horn until he’s found every dark little secret Sombra had, and he’ll use them to further his own goals. Hell, if Latvi figures out how Sombra hid the Crystal Empire, he’ll bring it back and take it over himself!”

I froze, stunned into silence by my own sentence. “Shit, that’s exactly what he’ll do, isn’t it?”

Atesh said nothing, but from the grimace he wore, it didn’t seem like he really disagreed.

The elder zebra soon found his voice again, though. “Whatever Latvi wishes for the horn is simply a fantasy. He will not have any choice but to use it for the purpose that I decide. We will take him by force, and renew our homeland. That crystal spell will be mine!”

“...At any cost, is that it?” Wings questioned airily.

Incensed though he was, Atesh didn’t bite. He still had some politician in him. Before speaking, he gathered his robe around him. “The horn represents the best hope for my people. I am not comfortable leaving it with Red Ice.” His sunken hazel eyes met those of my friends, one after another. “And I do not believe that you all are either. What will you do, now that you know the truth?”

Unsurprisingly, Breeze was the first to voice her opinion. “Snow’s a damn idiot for messing around with a magic she doesn’t really understand, especially if it made her go full Raider.” Her single blue-white bang whipped back and forth as she fixed Atesh with a pointed stare. “But all you’ve done is try to discredit her. You haven’t answered any of the concerns she raised about Latvi.” She spun the grenade on her hoof. “Snow can suffer with the horn, if it means others don’t go full Raider. We can handle her, but I don’t want another one.”

Um… thanks?

Bosco wasn’t any more enthused about Cept’s proposal. “What she said. Snow’s our problem. We’ll deal with it.”

“...” For once, Atesh and I reacted the same way.

A warm, familiar chuckle drew my gaze to Schwarzwald. Ah, hell. She’s got that damn smile again. “I see no evidence for what you say, Atesh. Snowflake has always made questionable decisions, even before she picked up this little trinket. From what I can see, it is equally likely that she hid it from us because it is merely a stallion stand-in.”

Atesh looked revolted at her words, while I was left choking on my own spit. You lying bitch! Did you have to go there? My little sister is standing right next to you!

Recovering sooner than I did, despite the snickering coming from all sides, Atesh moved on to Wings. He bypassed Undertow entirely, no doubt having heard about her from Naiara. “And you? I do not believe it will make much difference either way, but I will ask regardless. In your opinion, is Red Ice truly who you wish to hold possession of the horn, knowing what it is capable of?”

“I…” She began, before faltering. The sapphire blaze in her eyes flickered as she looked at me, evaluating.

Well, shit.

Taking a deep breath, she tried again. “I think that the horn should-”

“INCOMING!” Cassie shouted down from on high.

“Wha-”

BOOM!BOOM!!BOOM!!!

Great clouds of dirt and fire ripped outwards as the rockets hit. We were all thrown off our hooves.

As we all lay groaning, Cassie yelled again. “MOVE! GET OUT OF THE WAY!”

As we scrambled, three more rockets hit. The world spun around me, before I slammed down hard. My head lolled to the side just as Atesh crashed down beside me. Cept and Naiara were there in an instant.

“Protect the elder!” Cept bellowed, sweeping the area for the unidentified threat.

“BWAHAHA! I TOLD YOU BASTARDS I’D BE BACK! AND I BROUGHT MORE GUYS!” Crush and his increased entourage surged forward, still firing rockets. The zebra were only just beginning to return fire, while Cassie had her rifle out and blasting.

The ten buffalo soon split up. Four moved to engage the zebra, another four reacted to Wings’ and Schwarzwald’s returning fire, leaving Crush and the armoured pony to stride straight towards me, Atesh, Cept, and Naiara.

“Come on, new guy. Let’s show these damn stripes what happens when you mess with the baddest in the Wasteland!” Crush’ mud-brown body was bristling with weaponry, and he opened up with all at once.

“Fuckfuckfuck!” We all dived aside, Cept and Atesh to one side, Naiara and I to another as a cascade of automatic fire lanced through where we’d been standing.

“Ahahaha! Don’t run, just stand still and die, punies!” Crush moved to follow Cept and Atesh, while the armoured buffalo turned to us. Without a word, he lowered his head and charged.

“Move, Snow!” Naiara shoved me aside, before flipping away. At Naiara’s shout, the charging buffalo faltered, crashing to the ground. He rolled over onto his side, head facing me. I found myself looking into his eye, in the dawn light. He stared back, the one eye I could see looking almost... familiar.

“Look, just stay down and you won’t be hurt.” The eye widened as I spoke, and the buffalo it was attached to jerked upwards, scrambling backwards at top speed.

“You’re… you’re here!” His voice, muffled by the helmet, squeaked out.

“Uh, yeah. Listen, just stay out of it!” I couldn’t spare any more time on this guy. Crush and his band had to be stopped. Turning on my heel, I rushed towards the four trading fire with my friends.

As I neared the fight, I saw one Buffalo go airborne, as a grenade from Breeze went off under his belly. He landed with a splat, guts spilling out from under him. If he wasn’t already dead, he soon would be.

Breeze took two grazing shots to the shoulder from one of his buddies, and dropped back in pain.

“Breeze!” Cassie drilled a high-powered rifle round through the skull of the buffalo who shot her sister. He too dropped.

That left two more. One was swiping and shooting at Wings, as she wheeled and dodged above him, letting loose with her revolvers whenever she saw unarmoured fur. The buffalo barely winced at her shots, and kept firing.

The last of the four was dueling with Schwarzwald and Bosco. Just before I reached them, his launched a rocket, but it only made it halfway between the two sides when a stray bullet set it off. All three combatants were thrown backwards, to lie groaning on the ground.

“AARGH!” Wings’ screech snapped me back to her fight. The buffalo had gotten a hold of her hind leg, and was crushing it between his hooves.

“Let her go!” My Cryo Serpent shot forward, faster than it’d ever been, and wrapped around HIS hind leg. Startled, he let go of Wings, and swatted at the ice on his ankle. “BITCH!”

That was all he managed before Wings, Cassie, and I all slammed into his head at once.

“Motherfucker, that’s hard!” Wings complained as we fell away. She was right, it’d been like hitting stone.

Swaying, the buffalo began to drop, but bit down on his battle saddle as he fell. Unconscious, his guns ran until they jammed.

“AARGH!” Wings hooted, cradling a wing.

“Let me see.” Cassie dropped down next to her, gently examining the injured appendage. “Not good, it hit the joint. You need a healing potion.” Cassie turned to me. “Snow, go help the others. There’s still a fight going on.”

“R-right.”

With our group out of immediate danger, I went looking for Crush. If we stop him, we end this. I passed the armoured buffalo again, who was still sitting where he’d been before, following me as I moved. Kinda creepy, but whatever. It’s not important right now.

Of the remaining five buffalo fighters, one was dead. Two striped bodies lay motionless across from him. The other three were facing off against the other stealth-cloaked zebra, with the growl of gatling fire battling the crack of the zebra rifles.

That left Crush. The leader of the buffalo was taking on Naiara and Cept at once, as they fought to keep him from Atesh. The old zebra was behind the two, weaponless, and unable to do much against Crush’s vast array of guns. Still, he hadn’t been hit yet.

Cept and Naiara were doing their best, but they didn’t rely on weapons like their clanmates either. Every time one got past Crush’s guns, his goring horns would drive them back. Something had to give.

That something was Undertow. Propelled by her water, she splashed down on the big buffalo’s bad. As soon as she was down, she began whipping her tendrils this way and that, dislodging or destroying Crush’s weapons.

“What the hell? Get offa me!” Crush shrugged his shoulders rapidly, trying to dislodge her, but she held fast.

“Naiara, get away!” Undertow called down from her perch. “I will hold him.”

“NO YOU WON’T!” Crush threw himself backwards onto his back, crushing Undertow between himself and the ground.

“UNDERTOW!” I couldn’t see her under Crush’s bulk. All I could see was his big, crooked, sneer.

“There you are, one horn, you’re first.” Rolling himself upright, he unloaded with everything.

A wall of ice shot up before me, catching the barrage. I caught the barest reflection of purple smoke before the wall shot forwards, slamming into Crush and sending him sprawling. I felt warm spots on my coat, but didn’t care.

Four Cryo Serpents shot out at once, rising from the ground and biting into the guns on crush’s mammoth battle saddle. One after another, his guns turned to ice and shattered before his eyes.

Unarmed, he struggled upright, glaring at me. “I don’t need those to gut you, little pony. I’ll take you out myself!” Snorting and stamping, he barreled towards me.

I wasn’t even looking at him. All I could see was the still form of Undertow, lying on the ground.

“MMMMRRRROOOOO-urk!” My ice wedge cut him off mid-bellow. It crashed upwards into his neck, halting his charge and trapping him in that position. His hind legs scrabbled ineffectually to free him from the perch.

“Do you know who I am?” It was like I was hearing my voice from somewhere else. It was unnerving how calm I sounded.

Crush wasn’t unnerved. He just continued to struggle against the ever-growing ice. “Some bitch. Who cares?”

“Close, but not quite. You see, Buffalo, I… am Red Ice.”

“‘zat supposed ta mean something to me?” He grunted, glaring down at me as I stood in front of him.

I noticed that all around had gone quiet. “Well, that’s kind of the point, isn’t it, Crush? You don’t know who I am. You don’t care. All you care about is your stupid pride.”

“O’ course! A bull’s pride is what makes him a bull!”

“Yes, ‘bull’. A lot of that going around.” I idly inspected the scars Cassie had put in my ankles. “As I was saying, Buffalo, I’m Red Ice. I’ve fought Steel Rangers, Plottawan slavers, Raiders, robots, Pegasi, monsters… and now Buffalo. I’ve fought against, and with, pretty much everything this Wasteland has to offer. I’ve lead Raider armies into battle, faced down abominations in their own homes, uncovered secrets that others wouldn’t dream of, and played power games with the tops of the tops. Did you know I was in one such important negotiation before you and your moronic herd showed up?”

He was still fighting, though the sweat was freezing in his mud fur. “You’ll die for what you did to them, one horn.”

“You’re starting to repeat yourself, Crush. That’s your problem. Out of all of us here, you matter the least. All you care about is your dustbowl village in the middle of nowhere. You’re irrelevant, Crush. You don’t matter.”

I raised a hoof. As I did so, an ice arm formed out of the stocks holding him. It swam up and around to his left horn, wrapping around it. “And, even though you don’t matter, you still dared to ATTACK ME AND MY FAMILY!” I twisted my hoof, and the ice tightened around his horn. Slowly but surely, I began to pull down. “You dare hurt her?! Dare attack me?! You are nothing to me, Crush! You barely register in comparison to everything else I have to deal with. You. Don’t. MATTER!” I pulled down harder, causing small cracks to appear along his horn.

“UURGH! Get away from me, bitch! I’ll kill you!”

I felt my lips curl up into a terrible smile. “You’re just a nobody, lump. You can’t kill Red Ice!”

Click. The barrel of a gun pressed to the side of my head.

“Stop.” Wings’ voice was rock solid.

Slowly, I lowered my hoof to the ground. Turning carefully, Wings and I were soon eye-to-gun.

Behind the revolver, she stared at me, with those burning blue eyes, unblinkingly. “Enough, Snow. Put those eyes away. Go see to Undertow, she’s coming round.”

Robotically, I turned and marched to my fallen sister. The buffalo in the ice stocks was utterly ignored. Undertow was stirring as I got there. Naiara was watching over her. “Easy there, kid. Don’t try to move.”

“N-Naiara? Did we win?”

Sniffling, Naiara shook her head. “Nobody won, Undertow. We just survived.”

Silently, I sat down beside them both, and wrapped my hooves around them.

From beyond my closed, teary eyes, I heard Cept and Atesh conversing. “Did you see? That is the power of the horn! Look what it did, even for a pony as weak as her.”

“I saw, Elder. It was a… memorable display.” Cept’s voice was stilted, thoughtful.

Atesh was exhilarated. “Exactly! We must take the horn from her, now!”

“Not now, Elder. We must attend to our brethren.”

“What do you mean, ‘not now’?!”

A hint of reproach leaked into Cept’s response. “We no longer have enough fighters here, Elder. We must put our clanmates to rest.”

“...Of course. Forgive me, Cept.”

“...As you say, Elder. Please, this way.” Their hoofsteps faded quickly. I didn’t open my eyes to follow them.

“Snow?” A muffled voice came in from the side.

I looked up for this. The armoured buffalo was standing a little ways away, with guns pointed at him from several directions.

“What do you want, guy?” Wings challenged, both revolvers up. “Your buddies are all dead, and your leader’s lucky not to be joining them.”

The Buffalo ignored her, continuing to stare at me. “I can’t believe you’re here, Snow.”

I peered at his helmet, trying to figure out who he was. “Do I know you? Were you one of the guards at Lethbridle?”

His eyes dimmed at that.”No, Snow.” He reached up and tugged his helmet off, voice no longer muffled. “It’s me.”

My heart stopped. “No.” I whispered. “Oh, please no.”

Shedding his armour, revealing his cienna fur, Al beamed down at me. “I finally found you, sis.”

Feeling Undertow shift beside me brought me out of my stupor. “You… you can’t be here, Al. This isn’t right. Al, WHY ARE YOU HERE?!” I was on my hooves now, advancing on him.

“Well, I came with Crush, and…”

“WHY AREN’T YOU IN THE STABLE?!” My hooves were roving all around his face, neck, and front legs. You can’t be here, Al. You’re supposed to be safe in the Stable! “What happened?”

“We got thrown out.” He deadpanned.

The revelation dropped me to my haunches. “W-what? You mean the Overmare…threw you out?!” I’ll kill her. I’ll kill her slowly. I’ll shove my ice so far up her-

“Not exactly. She’s out here too.”

The surprises just kept on coming. “What?”

“She got thrown out too.”

My brain needed a reboot. “How? Who threw you out?” I reached up and smacked him on the top of his head. “WHAT WERE YOU DOING TO GET THROWN OUT?”

“WHAT WERE WE DOING?” Al never did have the most stable temper, even with his family. “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, SNOW?! I heard you just now. You called Crush a ‘lump’.”

“What in the hell does that have to do with anyth-”

“You sound like Roc.”

That shut me up. The confrontation in Whiskey Sour’s bar came back to me in a rush. Al was right. I used the exact same fucking word and everything. I told Crush he wasn’t important.

What have I done?

Al pressed on. “He’s the one who threw us out. Roc’s Overseer now. He won the elections two weeks after you left.”

“No!” Despite everything else, this seemed like my biggest problem. I did not know why.

Al blanched. “Yeah. Soon as he was in the Over Office, he turned around and booted the four of us out.”

My eyes shot wide. “The others? Where are they?” I grabbed whatever part of him I could reach, and shook. “Where are Buff and Lo?”

His big, kind brown eyes were full of sorrow. “We… got separated, Snow. I’m sorry.”

“No no no, this can’t be happening! You three have to stay together. Whenever something bad happens, you help each other! I’ve been telling you that for years!”

“I know, sis. I’m sorry.”

Him apologising was like poison in my soul. “No, Al. Don’t ever apologise. This isn’t your fault. I should have been there. I’m sorry. So sorry for everything.”

A half-smile grew on his face. “So let’s go find them, Snow. You and me. We’ll find them both, and the Overmare too, and we’ll all go back together. Roc can’t get away with this if you come back too.”

He broke my heart in that moment. “I… can’t.”

“Eh?” He tilted his head, not comprehending.

“I can’t go back to the Stable, Al. I just can’t.”

“Why not? We have out Pipbucks,” he looked at my bare legs, “er… I have my Pipbuck. It can get us back to the Stable, even through the blizzard.”

“That’s not…” That’s not the problem. “I still have things I need to take care of out here, Al. There’s too much at stake. Too much still to be done.” My eyes flicked over to Undertow, who was watching silently, and intently.

Al was riding a wave of boyish optimism. “Then I’ll help. I’ll come with you, and we’ll get done twice as fast!”

Not a chance in hell, little brother. “Absolutely not! You’re not safe out here, Al.”

“Snow, I don’t really think any of us-”

“I said no, Al.” I cut him off forcefully.

“What about them?” He shot back, waving a hoof across my gathered friends. “Why are they safe if I’m not?”

“They’re Wastelanders! They know the risks. They’ve been out here all their lives.”

“So what? I’m twice the size of any of them! I can take whatever the Wasteland can dish out.” He pounded his chest. In the Stable, I’d have found his teenage macho pride charming. Out here, the thought terrified me.

“Al, you’re not going anywhere near what I have to take care of. I’m taking you somewhere safe, and you’ll wait there until I can find Buff, Lo, and the Overmare. Then we’ll ALL decide what to do next.”

He was starting to shake. “Why are you doing this, Snow? Why won’t you let me come with you?”

I was shaking too. “You can’t. It’s too dangerous for you. You have to stay where it’s safe. Listen to what I’m saying to you, Al. I’m doing what’s best for you. I’m still your big sister.”

“ARE YOU?” He roared. “From what I just saw, I’m starting to-”

He stopped as his brain caught up to his mouth. We stared mutely at each other, our haunted expressions a mirror image.

“Snow, I-I didn’t mean to… I would never… I don’t…”

Swiping a hoof across my burning eyes, I found just enough strength to look him in the eyes one more time. “I’m taking you somewhere safe, Al. That’s final.”

~~~~~~

The gates of Sprinkles Supplies rumbled open, with a smiling Fedexi Lexi on the other side. The smile quickly faded as she took in our injuries, and general demeanour.

“Howdy, Snowflake. Howdy, Undertow.” She greeted her favourites first.

“Hi, boss.” I replied, listlessly.

“What brings y’all here this time?” She was still starting at Cassie and Breeze, who were trying to look inconspicuous.

I pushed Al’s front leg. It had no effect, but he took a step forward anyway. “I need you to look after him for a little while.”

She regarded the sulking Buffalo for a few moments. “Ah ain’t running a motel here, Snowflake. Who is he?”

“Please, boss?” I pleaded. “He’s my little brother.”

That got a reaction. Her eyebrows shot up so far, they disappeared into her frizzy orange mane. “Him?”

“Just for a little while, Boss. I’ll pay, or… or he can work! Whatever you need.”

Lexi looked across all of us again. “Snowflake, Undertow, what happened? Really?”

Undertow saved me by speaking up. “A lot has happened, Boss. It would take a long time to explain, but I promise that we will explain it, in time. Can you please look after Al until we find his brothers?”

“More of ‘em? How many brothers y’got, Snow?”

“Three, Boss. I want them all to be safe. Can I bring the others here too, when I find them?”

It was an agonising age until she answered. Turning to Al, she looked up at him sternly. “Hey, big fella. Ya fit and healthy?”

Blinking in surprise, he nodded.

“And yer really Snowflake li’l brother? This ain’t a put-on?”

Al’s jaw set. “I wouldn’t joke about that. She’s my big sister. She’ll ALWAYS be my big sister.” He answered, emphatically.

Lexi stamped a hoof. “Well awright then. Git inside and down to the kitchens. We need a garbage boy.”

“Aw, c’mon, can’t I-”

“Ah ain’t askin’, boy!”

Al rapidly shuffled inside, casting a forlorn glance back at me as he went. I had to force myself to keep looking until he rounded the corner. At which point I burst into tears.

“T-t-thank you, B-Boss.” I managed to sob.

Striding forward, Lexi’s purple hoof came up and roughly scrubbed at my eyes. “Dry them tears, Snowflake. That boy needs you t’be strong, just like Undertow does. Y’ain’t got time to cry. Y’got two more brothers to find. ah’ll look after this one until y’do.”

She paused for a moment to whap me around the back of head. “Now ah know there’s no way in hell that you’d leave family like this without it being damn dangerous, so ah’m telling you now that ah ain’t ever gonna forgive you if’n y’go an’ get yourself killed, got it?”

Still nuzzling the hoof that was wiping my eyes, I could only mumble an affirmative.

Satisfied, Lexi gave my cheek one last rub, before turning on her heel and heading back inside. “All o’ you better be safe, y’hear? Look after each other, Snowflake, Undertow.”

The gates rumbled shut behind her.

Breeze turned to Undertow. “Your mom’s scary.”

Undertow nodded in agreement. “Yes, but kind.”

~~~~~~

Level Up!

~~~~~~

Perks gained:

Something the Matterhorn? - In extreme emotional situations, Snowflake receives a massive boost to her magic, but also experiences a sharp drop in perception and, well, sanity.

~~~~~~

Author's Note

That took a while. I should not have tried to write the chapter without an arc layout first. That will be remedied for the remaining chapters.

As always, a big thank you to KKat, Y1, Auramane, Cascadejackal (he did the original cover art, which is still on the Fallout Equestria wiki), Void Heart (he did the new cover art),Shunketsunoponi and you, the readers. Please read and comment, and pass the word along if you like the story. Finally, because I find it a really funny coincidence to have another fic with a Stable 61 that’s set in Equestrian Canada, go read Fallout Equestria: Pure Hearts.

That’s all for now, folks. Please keep reading, commenting, and spreading the word on Old Souls. I really appreciate your feedback.

Chapter 21-1: Trickle Down

[I too need to know my family will be safe. But more than that, I want them to be happy.]

Turning away from the Sprinkles Supplies gates, I sniffed back the last of my tears. “Come on, we should go.”

Bosco cleared his throat, making no move to follow. “We should, huh? Go where, Snow?”

I didn’t stop, as my mind was already on my other brothers. “We’ve gotta go find Buff and Lo… and the Overmare, I guess.”

“No, we don’t.”

I stumbled at that. Lips rapidly drawing back from my grinding teeth, I rounded on him. “What are you talking about, Bosco? This isn’t the time for jokes. I have to find my brothers!”

If he noticed how perturbed I was, it didn’t show in his grey eyes. “It can wait!”

I bristled. “NO, IT CAN’T W-”

“It can and it will, Snowflake!” He barked back. His muscles had locked up and his stare didn’t falter. “You aren’t the only one with things to take care of, and you promised us… promised me that we would go find my Memory Orbs next. I won’t let you go back on that promise.” He stomped a hoof on the ground. “I’m sick of waiting! It’s my turn now!”

You can’t be serious. “The situation’s different now, Bosco! I can’t just leave my brothers out there.”

“Your brothers are buffalo! They’re three times your size!” Bosco’s charcoal mane darkened his eyes as he panned a hoof across all of us. “We all decided, together, what we would do after going to find Naiara’s clan. Well, we found them, and now we move onto the next item on the list: My Memory Orbs!” His face was tight, almost squeezing his features.

I found it hard to meet his eyes. You’ve never acted like this before, Bosco. What are you thinking? “Bosco, I don’t think you understand how important this is to me. My brothers-”

“I don’t understand the importance?!” A strained laugh escaped his lips. “Snow, don’t you dare. I’ve been out here for SIX. YEARS. Six years! The only thing I had to keep me going was those Orbs. I had nothing else to work towards, except finding out what was in them.”

“And you did, thanks to me!” I shot back.

“I saw the memories, but I still don’t understand them! I’m not going to find out what they mean until I get them back. They’re the reason Facemask asked me to go along with you, because you had one of your own. Well, you’ve found out what your Orb means, but I’m still in the dark. You promised to help me, so why won’t you?”

“Guy’s got a point,” Breeze chipped in as she glided overhead, “we all voted on this. First we helped Naiara find the zebra, and now it’s Bosco’s turn. After this, we’ll decide what to do next.”

“But… but…” This can’t be happening!

Breeze’s sister softly touched down at Bosco’s side, laying a wing across his back. “You’re right, Bosco. We did agree to that, and we will ALL follow the group consensus. Snowflake is no exception.”

“Don’t talk for me, Venatici.” I groused. “You should know better than to get between a pony and their siblings.”

“Then do not assume we are the same, Red Ice.” Still comforting Bosco, Cassie blew a stray strand of red mane out of her eyes irritably. “You would not have gotten nearly as far as you have without assistance from every single person here, time and again. You certainly would have never found the brother you did without Naiara, nor acquired a new sister.”

“Family matters do seem trivial in comparison to our other concerns, dahling.” Grinning her insufferable grin, Schwarzwald added another voice of support for Bosco.

Well, I guess I can’t be surprised at that. I thought darkly. All you care about is making Wings into an Element bearer.

I wasn’t completely alone, though. Though outnumbered, I gathered myself before responding, stepping over to Undertow as I did. “Bosco, you’re right. I did promise that, and I want to help you.” I spared a glance at the others. “I will help all of you accomplish your goals, but right now my situation has changed. I wasn’t sure I’d ever see my brothers again, but at least I knew they were back in the Stable. Now I don’t know where they are, and I have to find them. They’ll be looking for me, and might get in trouble in doing so.”

Frowns deepened all around. “So what are you saying, Snow? You’re just gonna ignore the rest of us?”

“Of course not, I-” I had to break off as Undertow strode purposefully into the space between us. I couldn’t read her eyes behind her goggles, but the corner of her mouth was turned down.

“I agree with Bosco. We should help him find his Memory Orbs first.”

I blinked once, twice, then a third time after a long second. “WHAT?! Undertow!” What are you saying? They’re your brothers too!

“It is important to keep our promises, Snowflake.” She said nothing else, and her tone was flat. A brick wall was more expressive.

I tried to step towards her, but she stepped back towards the others to match. “Guys, come on…” I pleaded, getting desperate. “...I have to find them. They need me.”

“No you don’t, Snow.” Wings’ rough voice came out at last. Shoulders stiff, she put a firm claw on my collarbone. “They’re buffalo. Big and strong and not something any sane individual wants to pick a fight with. Not only that, but there’s two of them.”

“You said ‘sane’. What about Raiders?” I challenged, trying and failing to shuck the claw from my clavicle.

She didn’t let up, nor loosen her grip. “Even if the Raiders weren’t far more interested in finding US, your brothers are still buffalo, and what’s more they’re wearing Pipbucks. Pipbucks with danger sensors. They have less chance of running into Raiders than we do, and I’m guessing they’ll be too preoccupied looking for you to try and repeat your ideas about reforming the Raiders. You sought out the dangerous ponies, Snow. Your brothers will be more sensible and avoid them.”

Wings gave me a half-shove. “Suck it up, Snow. We all have things to deal with, and we’re not here to follow you. We’re here to work together to help each other, and I’m gonna make sure we do. That was our agreement, and that’s how it is. Now the sooner we help Bosco, the sooner we can find your brothers. We’re not gonna forget about them, and we’ll take the opportunity if it’s there, but we won’t drop everything. Tunnel vision is a killer out here, Snow, and we have have too many enemies to afford it.”

~~~~~~

Thoroughly annoyed at being outvoted, I was content to hang back and sulk as we walked. Bosco was at the head of the group, talking with Wings. The others were either walking in silence, or chatting amongst themselves.

All except for Breeze, that is, who was flapping along on her back, not looking where she was going. Her attention was focused on the communicator that she balanced on her belly, which she was tweaking with her tools, talking to herself softly as she did.

“We just boost this a little and… got it!” The communicator gave a static squeal, and then a familiar voice emerged.

“Good afternoon, my little ponies! This is DJ Pon3, here to bring you the truth, no matter how bad it hurts.” The DJ’s deep voice stopped the others’ conversations as they turned heads to listen in.

“Some news has come in from a few days ago, but I’ve been a little busy with the new fuss happening around Ponyville. Sorry about that, fillies and colts, but here I am to spread the word, and the word is good! I’m happy to report that some good old-fashioned good vs bad went down, and good won!”

Clueless looks were exchanged throughout our group, before the radio broadcast went on. “A few days ago, up in the north of what’s left of Equestria, that renegade Red Ice took her Raiders for a little swim, at Soft Swell lake.”

Undertow gasped, Schwarzwald started to grin mischievously, while Wings and I looked at each other.

“Except when they got there, they found a group of scientists from the… lessee, I had it a second ago… here we are! From the ‘Bernstein Conclave’, a pretty successful business. Anyway, they decided that killing some ponies would be more fun than taking a dip in irradiated water. Now now, don’t go losing hope just yet, my friends, because this is where it gets good! You see, Red Ice might fancy herself the baddest thing around, but there’s another lady around who isn’t having any of that! Red Ice tried to throw her weight around, and Blue Fire threw it right back!”

Wings and I shared an incredulous look. I didn’t think Amber would want her activities at the lake broadcast. Did one of the scientists talk?

“Blue Fire came down like a bolt from the heavens, killed all of the Raiders, and sent Red Ice running with her tail between her legs! Check plus! How about that, folks? Seems like the bad guys don’t get to do what they want up north, not on Blue Fire’s watch! Oh, and we can confirm she’s a griffon, not a pegasus now. Double check plus! It’s like I’ve been saying, fair fillies and gentlecolts: Evil won’t win so long as we don’t let it, and Blue Fire is one hero who certainly won’t let it! Good job, griffon girl, I’m proud of ya.”

I glanced over at Schwarzwald, who gave an amused shrug.

The DJ’s broadcast was starting to wrap up. “That’s all for now, my little ponies. I’m going to leave you with some of that smooth Sweetie Belle jazz, to keep this good feeling going. This is DJ Pon3, signing off!” The communicator crackled into silence.

Breeze cackled into good cheer. “Heh heh heh, everybody knows you got your flank kicked all over the shore!” Bosco and Naiara coughed and turned away, hiding smiles. Cassie and Undertow were carefully neutral. Schwarzwald was still grinning, and looking between Wings and I. Wings herself was looking slightly concerned.

“Don’t pay it much attention,” I groused, “that’s not how it went down. We know the truth.” And I did NOT get my ‘flank kicked all over the shore’, thank you very much, Aqua Breeze.

Some of her feathers ruffled slightly. “That’s not what… never mind.”

Cassie stepped up beside the chocolate-and-cream griffon, smiling primly. “They do seem to like what you’ve been doing, Wings. This isn’t the first broadcast praising you. It just happens to the first where you two have ended up being mentioned together.”

“Now that you mention it, I don’t think I’ve heard Snow and Wings being put on opposite sides like that, either.” Bosco rubbed an ear as he thought back. “You’d think it would’ve happened sooner. We do fight a lot.”

“I do not think this will help your reputation, big sister.” Undertow wasn’t smiling, but at least she was talking to me. “You promised Lexi that you were finished with this Red Ice business.”

My heart momentarily skipped as I thought about disappointing Fedexi Lexi, but I didn’t lose my cool fully. “Well, yeah, but… this happened days ago, the DJ even said so. Lexi told me to do what I needed to to fix the Red Ice business. I wasn’t going back to it, we had a plan. We all followed Bosco’s plan!”

“Hey, the hell’re you selling ME out to your boss for?”

Breeze stroked her chin. “Does she even know who you are, Bosco? I mean, she obviously knows Snow and ‘tow, me and Cassie too, and Wings I guess. You three? I’m not sure she really cares.”

Undertow huffed. “Of course she cares! Lexi is very kind, and has been nothing but fair to any of you. Especially you two twins.”

“Need I remind you that we have agreed not to kill each other?” Cassie’s rebuke was quick, but just short of confrontational.

“Ngrrr. Fine.”

Naiara tapped her hooves together. “Focus, people. Snow and Lexi will be fine. Remember that we have real problems to deal with. Who cares if Pon3’s trying to paint Snow as a villain this time? Everybody already thinks she is anyway.”

“True, Naiara dahling, but…” Schwarzwald broke her silence. Her grin, though still present, had shifted from mischievous to calculating. “...perhaps we can use this to help at least one of our goals, maybe more.”

“What do you mean?” Wings snapped out of her funk at Schwarzwald’s words. Her blue eyes searching the mare’s face. I found myself mirroring Wings’ actions, no clearer on Schwarzwald’s meaning.

The scarred mare pointed a hoof to the north. “According to our dear Snowflake, waiting just beyond the mountains are a fearsome horde of nightmare beasts, drawn here due to our squabbles. The only thing keeping them at bay is a blizzard, powered, poetically, by love. The more love there is to go around, the longer the blizzard holds.”

“What’s your point, Schwarzwald?” Granted, we can’t just up and forget about all this, but we’re doing Bosco’s thing right now.

“My point, dahling, is that we have an opportunity here. The Wasteland needs love to power the blizzard, and that is hard to come by. There are, however, ways to speed up the process. Tell me, what do the common masses love?”

“Uh…”

“Safety?” Naiara ventured hesitantly.

“Yes, but what else? What will they come together for?”

“Alcohol!”

“No, Breeze.” Anger flashed across Schwarzwald’s face for a moment. “Perhaps I should ask who they will come together for?”

“...Heroes.” Cassie provided, as understanding dawned.

As one, we all looked at Wings. The griffon shrank back slightly. “What? I’m just doing what my own thing.”

Schwarzwald shot me a meaningful look, her eyes and brows screaming for me to speak up. Thinking back to my last talk with Watcher, I raised a hoof to get Wings’ attention. “Maybe… maybe that’s what the people need. Somebody who does the right thing naturally. The DJ was right, Blue Fire is important, and he should be proud of you. THEY all should. I know we all are.”

Wings, if anything, had shrunk back further as I spoke. “What are you saying, Snow?”

“She’s saying,” Bosco cut in, “that the one thing that the common ponies as a whole love, more than anything, is a hero, Blue Fire.”

“‘s not the worst idea I’ve heard.” Breeze agreed as she floated above our heads. “We don’t even have to change what we’re doing that much. We’re already killing all the Raiders we come across.”

“That is a good start,” Cassie took up the reins of the conversation, “but we need to make sure that word gets out that it is Wings who is the one who gets credit for the Raider kills, and that it happens often enough.”

“Hey wait! I didn’t agree to this!” Wings growled, stalking back and forth.

Not bothering to hide the fact that I was enjoying this after what happened earlier, I put a hoof on her shoulder to stop her motion, and half-shoved. “Sorry, Blue Fire, but it looks like you’re outvoted. You’re gonna be the hero of the northern Wasteland.” I stepped back to stand with the others. “We’ll make them believe in you.”

Glaring daggers, Wings pulled herself up to full height. “Oh yeah? Well, what about you?”

Blinking blankly, I cocked my head to the side. “What about me?”

Her beak twisted into a savage smile. “I seem to recall that you were at Soft Swell lake too, Red Ice.”

“She’s right.” the mood of the conversation was lifting spirits. Naiara was practically bouncing. “Every good hero needs their villain, and we’ve got both right here!”

A wood-brown hoof landed on my shoulder, startling me. “This is a good opportunity, Snowflake. For Blue Fire to truly become a hero, she must clash, again and again, against her nemesis, Red Ice… you.” She leaned in close. “If we can pull this off, it will solve a great many of our problems, do you not think?”

I leaned away slightly, but had to agree. If we can get Wings to do this, it’ll be a big step towards getting her Element. She’ll have tons of chances to prove her honesty, and we get to make the northern barrier stronger in the process. It’s a win-win.

Undertow apparently agreed too. “Doing this would bring the Raiders’ attention to bear on us. We would have to face them eventually, but at least if we do it this way, we can whittle down their numbers first.”

“And keeping the Raiders’ attention on us means less chance of them finding Buff and Lo. Good thinking, Undertow.” I gave her a broad smile, which she started to return, but aborted midway.

“I am only looking out for my brothers.” Steel returned to her expression, and she focused on our lone colt. “However, I must caution that this playacting will only be done for targets of opportunity. Bosco’s Memory Orbs are still our primary concern, and I will not accept abandoning this matter.”

“Thanks, ‘tow.” Bosco’s cheeks dimpled in a way I hadn’t seen for weeks, and he looked as young as he did way back in the Snow Pegasus playpark. It froze me for a moment, as the contrast hadn’t seemed all that shocking until that moment. You’ve been unhappy, Bosco, even more than you let on. I really shouldn’t have taken so long to get around to your problems.

“Well, come on then!” Naiara’s enthusiasm was unabated. “Let’s go fool everybody into thinking Snow’s a criminal genius!”

“Don’t ask for much, do you?”

“Shaddup, Breeze.”

I swiped at the air, despite clearly being out of reach of the sassy Pegasus. “Had to get at least one jibe in, didn’t you?”

“If I didn’t, everybody’d be stuck waiting.”

“Yeah, real charitable. Lousy featherbrain.”

“A moment, dahlings. Now this is important, as we will need to expose Snowflake and Wings to Raiders, multiple times, to maintain the charade that Snowflake is still leading them, and Wings is stopping them. The rest of us will provide support from the shadows, but these two will put themselves in danger. If we are not careful, Red Ice AND Blue Fire may suffer.” Try as she might, Schwarzwald couldn’t keep her basic nature from showing through. “I do not wish for Snowflake and Wings to get all the fun, so let us do this right. There are plenty of Raiders to go around.”

Cassie mimed sighting down her rifle. “Then shall we keep score? First to twenty kills gets one hundred caps from all of the others?”

“Deal!” We chorused, friendly rivalry overriding the danger for a moment.

Still, I locked eyes with Wings as we set off, and I was sure she saw as much emotion in my eyes as I did in hers.

~~~~~~

“I see something.” Cassie called down from on high. The sniper pegasus peered through her rifle’s sights. “Yeah, it’s Raiders. They’re chasing some travellers.”

Breeze and Schwarzwald looked at Wings. Bosco, Undertow, and Naiara looked at me. Wings and I looked at each other. She shrugged. “Uh, showtime?”

I blew a little air from the side of my mouth. “It seems so.” I turned to Bosco. “Keep going, we’ll catch up. Don’t wanna slow you down. The Woodpecker village isn’t too far now. We’ll meet you there.”

Bosco nodded, but his expression softened momentarily. “Just be safe, alright? I don’t wanna trade your lives for a few minutes.”

“Do not worry, Bosco.” Cassie reassured him. “I will assist them in taking down the Raiders. After that, it will be up to the two of them.”

“Are you sure?”

“Go,” she confirmed. “we will follow shortly.”

Stoic, but satisfied, he nodded. Beckoning with a hoof, he spurred the remainder on. “Come on, let’s get going.”

With our sisters giving us one last look, our five friends left Cassie and I with Wings. “Okay, so then: Snow, you’ll go in first, act like the Raiders’ boss, and take out any who ‘disobey’. Then I’ll show up and take out the rest, with Cassie as sniper backup.”

“Leave it to me.”

“After that, Snow and I’ll have our little tussle, and she’ll be driven off. I’ll chase her, and when we’re out of sight, we’ll sneak back to the others. That’s when Cassie, with her wings covered,” the griffon passed over a light jacket at this point, “will show up and say that she saw the whole thing. The travellers find out it’s Red Ice and Blue Fire, then spread the story when they reach… looks like Vanchoofer.”

Cassie eyed the jacket with some reservation. “I do wish unicorns and earth ponies didn’t distrust we pegasi so much.”

Wings just shrugged. “Well, they do. Nothing we can do about that now. Just go with it. You’ll be wearing the thing for ten minutes, tops.”

“If you say so.” Cassie looked into her scope once more. “We should hurry. The Raiders will catch them soon.”

“Alright then, do your thing, Snow.”

I moved off, then stopped for a moment, looking back at the other pony. “I know I’ll be in among the Raiders, but don’t shoot me again, got it?”

With a dismissive wave of her feathers, Cassie took off into the sky.

“Greeaaat.” Let’s just get this over with. I took off sprinting in the direction of the Raider attack. I caught sight of the dust kicked up by the traveller’s wagons in around a minute or so, and the Raiders soon afterwards. As I got close, both disappeared behind a small rise. Storming up it, I reached the top as a lucky shot spanged off the wagon’s frame.

The Raiders were almost on top of them now, but were lousy shots. Still, the travellers had no chance if they were caught. Not unless I stepped in. Summoning my magic, I sent two slashes of ice racing down the slope. One barred the travellers’ path, while the other cut across behind them, momentarily separating them from the Raiders. I’d purposefully cut that one close, and was rewarded with the sight of the lead Raider, an earth stallion with a jagged knife, slam face-first into the barrier.

Taking a deep breath, I put on my best ‘Raider’ voice. “Don’t just stand there, you idiots! I stopped them, now take them down!” I strolled down the hill unhurriedly. Gotta make this look good.

Both the travellers and Raiders, besides the dazed knife-stallion, were staring at me in shock. One of the Raiders recovered first. “The hell’re YOU doing here, bitch?” He snarled.

A thin pole shot out from the ice wall and smacked him in the temple. As my horn’s glacial glow faded, I growled at him. “You don’t talk to Red Ice like she’s some damn one-night tramp, bastard! I am your leader, AND YOU WILL FEAR ME!”

The knife-stallion got to his hooves. “You’re not our fucking l-” Cassie blew his jaw off before he could get any further. A mare at the back cried out as Wings arrived, her flyby blowing out the mare’s knees.

Swooping gracefully around, Wings triple-tapped the remaining Raiders, grazing one and driving the others back. Landing crouched atop my ice wall, she rose to full height and spread her wings. “You and your Raiders stay away from these people, Red Ice! I’m here to stop you!”

Fighting to keep a smile from my face at her cheesy theatrics, I stamped a hoof. “Blue Fire! You won’t get in my way again! I’ll kill you here and now, and the whole Wasteland will know that nobody messes with Red Ice!” Turning, I used more ice poles to push the five remaining combat-ready Raiders forwards. “Don’t just stand there, you morons! Get me those ponies!”

Before they could even get their weapons up, Cassie’s second shot drilled the stallion who I’d slapped. His corpse fell into two of the others, knocking them off balance. Wings put a bullet into each of them.

Suddenly the Raiders were down to two. Suddenly I was their best friend. “Run!” I yelled. “I’ll finish her off!”

“Okay, boss!” They chorused, apparently changing their mind about my leadership.

Not looking at them, I crumbled the ice beneath Wings’ paws, sending her sprawling to the dirt. As I advanced on her, I heard one of the Raiders cry out. Damn, Cassie’s gonna win the caps for sure at this rate. That’s what, three for her already? Wings has three too! I have to step things up.

Forming an ice claw around my hoof, I raised it over the fallen griffon. “You won’t interfere again, Blue Fire!”

I hesitated just long enough for Wings to kick out at me with her back paws, sending me crashing onto my back, and dispelling my claw. As we scrambled upright, I shot hit the dirt where I’d been lying. Oh, crap.

Wrenching my head around, I dragged the crumbled ice into a new barrier between the travellers and I, just as the next shots slammed into it.

Wings bounded upright, calling out to them. “Stay out of this, she’s too dangerous! I’ll handle her, just get going!”

Letting out what I thought was a pretty convincing animalistic rage-cry, I spat. “Another day, Blue Fire, but you won’t get away from me forever!” Spinning on my heel, I sprinted back up the slope.

I heard Wings order the travellers to “Get out of here!” just before she she bellowed after me. “GET BACK HERE!” Wings cried as she ‘gave chase’.

I blindly launched flashy, but fragile, ice shards behind me. Her revolvers bark as she shot them out of the air. Nice touch. Out witnesses will be very impressed.

One final shot sounded out as we crested the hill, and a distant thud followed as a body fell to the dust. Now that’s four for Cassie, she’s on a streak!

“Too slow!” Wings landed on me, sending us both rolling down the other side, giggling as we did. We reached the bottom of the hill and came to a stop, Wings splayed out across me.

“You know,” I chuckled, “I just realised Cassie’s contest is totally rigged. If I have to act like I’m with the Raiders, I won’t even be able to get ten, let alone twenty.”

“Yeah, she’s got us by the lady-parts, alright. I have to spend all my time fighting you, so I can’t rack up the kills either.”

“And the others aren’t even here! She’s totally scamming us!”

“Seriously. We’ll leave her behind, next time.”

“Deal.”

Wings got off me, and flew up to the top of the hill again, looking back towards where the fight had taken place. While she was in flight, I leisurely rolled over.

Huh? I stopped as something dug into my shoulder as I put weight onto it. Getting to my hooves, I shook my leg, dislodging the impeding article. It landed on the ground with a tiny thud. Huh. I bent down and scooped the object up, now revealed to be a red and blue marble. “That’s weird. Where’d you come from? Did one of the Raiders have this?”

“Alright.” Wings returned from her short flight. “The travellers are away. No sign of more Raiders.” A red glint reflected off her eyes as she caught sight of the marble. “Where’d you get that?”

I could only shrug. “Dunno. Must’ve fallen on it during the fight. Perhaps it belonged to the travellers? Doesn’t really matter now, I’m not gonna get shot at just to give it back.”

Wings shrugged right back. “Meh, I guess it’s yours now. Free stuff, woo.”

I waved it back and forth, watching it catch the light. “Don’t be jealous, I can share my toys.”

We shared another chuckle, but Wings began reloading her revolvers. “Wish I could stay and shoot the breeze some more…”

I’m sure she’ll say something to warrant it eventually.

“...but I should head back to the others. I’ll go first, then you follow in a little while. We’ve still gotta catch up to Bosco and the others.”

I smiled helplessly. “Yeah, you’re right. Oh, hey, wait a second.” I held out the marble to her. “Take this with you, give it to Undertow. Just, y’know, so she knows we’re both okay.”

The chocolate-and-cream griffon did nothing but stare at the marble for several long seconds, before reaching out and taking it from my palm. “You’re gonna spoil her, you know.”

~~~~~~

I caught up with the others around an hour or so later. Everybody seemed to be doing their own thing; Bosco was sharpening his knife, Naiara was practising her forms, Cassie was cleaning her rifle, Breeze was tinkering with… something, Schwarzwald was reloading the belt on her gatling gun, and Wings was lazing in a dead tree.

“Good timing, Snow.” Bosco spoke up as I passed, but didn’t look up. “We’re moving out in a little while.”

“Alright.” I looked around. “Where’s Undertow?”

Wings cleared her throat, and then nodded her head at an abandoned well a short distance away.

Nodding back, I headed over to the well. Undertow had her back to me, levitating a tiny trickle of water from the well, letting it drop, and repeating the process.

Cheered by her presence, I walked up and wrapped my hooves around her leg. “Hey, xilia, come sit with me for a little bit, until it’s time to go.”

Her goggled eyes turned towards me for a half-second, before returning to the water. “I am fine, Snowflake. Don’t let me interrupt your rest.”

I stumbled slightly as she pulled her leg away. “O-okay. Um… oh! How about we do some magic training? We haven’t done any for a while. That should be fun, right?”

“Not right now, Snowflake.”

Undeterred, I pressed on. “Well then, how about-”

“I am busy, Snowflake!” Her whipcrack interruption stole the smile from my face.

Did something happen while I was away? “Undertow, what’s wrong? You’ve barely spoken to me since we found Al.”

Her bitter laugh brought back memories of Sombra’s Shadow lake. “Since ‘we’ found Al. A good joke.”

The unease I was feeling shifted to alarm. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Her shoulders bunched, and now she did turn around. “YOU found Al, not me.”

“What? We all found him. You were there.”

Her lips curled into a sneer. “Yes. I was. I was there when you found him. I was there when he asked whether you were still his sister. I was there when we all walked in silence for over one hour to reach Sprinkles Supplies. I was there when you left Al with Lexi. I. Was. RIGHT. THERE!”

“That’s…”

The water trickle exploded in mid-air. “One hour, Snowflake! For a whole hour we walked, and I waited. I waited every single second for you to turn to Al, your adopted brother, to tell him about me. To tell your adopted brother about his new adopted sister. But you didn’t. You stayed silent. For one whole hour, and longer, you stayed silent.” Her watery voice began to bubble. “Why? Why didn’t you tell him?”

Please don’t do this right now, Undertow. “I-I didn’t tell him because…”

“Because I am not really your sister?” She challenged.

“NO! Don’t say that! Of course you are!” My chest tightened at the very thought.

“Then what? Because I’m not from the Stable? Because having a Wastelander in the family would bring shame?”

“STOP IT!”

But she didn’t. “Or did you not tell your brother about me because you don’t need me anymore, now that your real family is here?”

I thought my heart broke at that moment, but it only splintered. It broke when she held up the blue and red marble I’d asked Wings to give her, and dropped it down the well.

As it so often did, breaking something led to anger. My heart was thudding in my chest, my breathing was ragged, and my eyes were burning. “How… how could you do that?”

She said nothing. Did nothing.

“How could you? How could you even think, for one moment, that you aren’t family to me? To Al and his brothers? How could you even think that, just because of one hour of silence?”

I tried to keep talking, but the words wouldn’t come. My breath caught in my throat, and my thoughts scattered and deformed behind my eyes. I couldn’t do anything. I could barely even look at her. Never, in my darkest nightmares, did I imagine you would say these things, Undertow? Do you think so little of me?

Utterly lost as to what to do next, I turned and walked back to the others. Undertow… didn’t follow.

As I reached them, Wings hopped down from her tree. “Hey, we’re about ready to go. You good?”

The answer was written on my face, and she didn’t ask again.

I forced out eight words, barely audible. “You’re Blue Fire, I’m Red Ice right now.”

~~~~~~

Chapter 21-2: Trickle Down

“And I can’t believe she just dropped it!” I ducked as a frozen pistol flew through the air.

“...” Wings slashed the throat of the Raider who’d thrown the weapon. The Woodpecker mare gurgled and gasped as blood spurted out from under her hooves. “Just let it go.”

“I-OOF!” The second Raider, a Barnstormer colt with a spiked bat, had walloped me between the shoulder blades. My Molar Bear hide cloak caught the worst of it, but it still hurt a lot and sent me sprawling. Scrambling back, my horn glowed on impulse, coating the ground around me in a slippery ice sheet. I popped upright just as the colt lost his footing and went hooves-over-haunches. Kicking aside his fallen weapon, I willed the ice to grow over him, pinning him to the dirt. “I can’t just let it go! I would never do that to her!”

Wings had retrieved the bat and was using it to fence with a Haylander unicorn telekinetically swinging a wrench. “It’s almost like she’s worried about meeting family for the first time.” She replied caustically, before she sidestepped the floating wrench and javelined the bat straight into the Haylander’s nose. A shot from the hip finished him as he fell.

I failed to pick up on her meaning. “Just because I didn’t say anything to Al about her doesn’t mean I don’t love her just as much as I do her brothers. And they ARE her brothers!” I offhoofedly put the wrench through the eyes of the ice-bound Barnstormer. He couldn’t even move, frozen as he was.

We both leapt away as one of the two remaining Raiders produced a rusty submachine gun and opened fire. I dove behind the Raider-igloo, and Wings went skyward, shooting back as she did. “I. Know. You’ve been talking about this the entire time we’ve been looking for these chumps. Give it a rest!”

“Chumps? ‘ey lass, tha’s no’ nice!” The gunner turned his attention to Wings, rattling off another short burst.

I popped out of cover for a shot at him, but his friend flicked a grenade my way. Ducking back down again, I tried to shout over the explosion. “You don’t want me to be upset with her? What she said really hurt!”

“Oh for fuck’s sake!” The griffon wheeled around in a dizzyingly tight curve, dropping inside the arc of the Haylander’s fire, and caught him in the chest. She thudded down in front of me, blue fire eyes burning cold. “She was worried tha- hold on, grab that guy with your ice one sec, would ya?”

The last Raider, the grenadier, was hot-hoofing it in the direction of away-from-us. Still devoting most of my attention to Wings, I had a Cryo Serpent chase him down, freezing his hooves mid-gallop.

Wings followed behind the spell and, when it was clear that his limbs weren’t gonna be moving anytime soon, sailed leisurely past him, taking all but two of his remaining explosives, and also the pins for those two grenades.

She just touched down back in front of me when he blew apart. “Saves Breeze spending caps to restock. Now, about Undertow...” Her glare returned. “You’re being an idiot, and frankly I’m tired of listening to you about it.”

“How am I be-”

“It’s not about you.” Her matter-of-fact response cut straight through my potential tirade.

“What do you mean?”

Hastily packing away the grenades, Wings was already set to go. “Take yourself out of the picture, and think about it.”

I held up a hoof to stop her. “Hold on a sec.” Hunting around, I spotted something catching the light. Picking it up, I saw that it was a little red pin badge with the words “Red Racer” emblazoned over a push scooter. I held it out to Wings. “Give this to Undertow when you get back. Let her know I’m thinking about her.”

She took it without looking, already rising off the ground. “See you back with the others.”

As I watched her glide away, mind buzzing about what she’d said, my last word in the conversation was “We’re splitting that last guy!”

~~~~~~

“Nobody? The entire place is deserted?”

Bosco and I were in the central square of the Woodpecker village. I was standing, while he was slouched against the a shack wall, still have destroyed from the battle we had all fought against each other. Bosco’s grey mane covered his eyes as his head hung, focused on the Memory Orb he was rolling between his hooves. The only one of the three we’d been able to find so far.

Taking in and releasing a slow breath through my nose, I asked the obvious question: “So what now?”

The rolling stopped for a moment, and he looked up. stone grey eyes almost disappearing in what little light there was. He spoke tiredly. “We’ll scout around the surrounding area in the morning, then double-back towards Vanchoofer later. I’m not giving up just because the Raiders have moved out.”

“Hey,” I said softly, giving my best smile. “we’ll find your Orbs. Don’t get yourself down about it.”

His head lifted slightly. “Yeah… yeah. Thanks, Snow.” His head lolled towards a nearby building. “Undertow’s asleep with Naiara in there, if you wanna check on her.”

“I… yeah. I will. Make sure you get some sleep too, Boss Colt.”

He nodded, returning his attention to his Orb.

Stepping away, I walked towards the ramshackle structure where my friend and sister slept. Quietly pulling back the, for lack of a better word, door, I peered in.

As befitting her scouting prowess, Naiara reacted almost instantly, raising her head at my entrance. Once she ascertained that I was no threat, however, she sleepily smiled and laid her head back down.

Undertow hadn’t stirred in all this, but I wasn’t gonna push it. Gingerly moving inside, I made my way over to where she was huddled in the corner.

I hadn’t made any progress on what Wings had told me, but seeing her sleeping calmly helped. She looks okay. Maybe I should just leave her alone for a little while? Give us both time to think. As I turned to leave, she shifted in her sleep, mewling softly.

Two… somethings fell from her grasp and landed at my hooves; the blue and red marble, and the Red Racer badge.

Aww, little sis, you fished it out of the well. I scooped both up, and slipped the badge back into her lap. I pocketed the marble myself. Reaching in, I left a gentle kiss on her forehead, light enough that it didn’t disturb her sleep. I had plenty of practice with those kinds of kisses, thanks to Buff, Al, and Lo. We’ll each keep one for now, Undertow, and I’ll bring mine back WITH another one for you.

A much lighter heart carried me back outside. The night was warm enough, so I ambled back over to where Bosco sat. Another smile greeted the colt as I plopped down next to him. “Tomorrow’s gonna be better, Bosco. I just know it.”

~~~~~~

I woke early the next day, just as light started to come through the cloud cover. I roused Wings and Bosco, and we decided that we could squeeze in one more Blue Fire/Red Ice fight while the others double checked the Woodpecker village, and we’d meet them with plenty of time to go exploring in the surrounding area.

Bosco was pretty firm that this would be the last time we went hunting. Strictly targets of opportunity after this, which was fair.

Checking to make sure Undertow’s marble was safely stashed in the same secure pocket as Sombra’s horn, Wings and I set off.

We’d been walking for maybe half an hour before a thought occurred. “Hey, Wings?”

“Yeah?”

This is gonna be interesting. “I’ve been thinking about our act.”

She snorted. “Our ‘act’? Are we putting on a show now?”

“...Yeah, kinda.”

She clicked her tongue on the roof of her mouth. “What’s your point, Snow?”

I stayed silent as we walked, choosing my words carefully. “I think it would be good if… one or two times, at least… Red Ice wins.”

Her blue eyes blazed up for a moment, before settling. She gave me a side-on glance. “You want to have the Raiders win? Just leave whoever they attack to die?”

Grunting, I shook my head. “That’s not what I said. I said I should win sometimes, not the Raiders. We’ll still kill all of them.”

Her glance shifted to confusion. “Then why would Red Ice win?”

Ah, the tricky part. “Well, if Red Ice is getting beaten back by Blue Fire one hundred percent of the time, people might stop thinking of me-I mean HER, as a threat. If they do, what we’re doing here loses its effectiveness. Nobody will care if Blue Fire is constantly fighting a weak villain.”

Her eyebrow had jumped at my slip of the tongue. “Uh huh. So you want to win this time, I take it?”

I shrugged. “Maybe, I dunno. I can’t exactly confirm what I said. It was just a thought.”

We’d both stopped by this point, and I waited as she stared into space, mulling it over. Eventually she shook her head slowly. “I… don’t think it’s worth it, in the end. We could end up making things worse. I mean, I do kinda see where you’re coming from, but it’s dangerous to try to make this more complicated than it already is.”She paused for a moment. “Besides, you suck at acting.”

“YOU TAKE THAT BACK!”

“Why don’t you make me?”

“I am totally gonna try to win for real this time!”

“Bring it on!”

“I will!”

“Fine!”

“FINE!”

“FI-oh, let’s just go.”

~~~~~~

We had our target. It was a group of Woodpeckers, around a dozen strong. Some aerial recon from Wings had shown that they were heading for a group of armoured stallions with actually halfway decent weapons.

With no time to lose, I set off running towards the stallions. They were trudging along, tightly bunched but not looking anywhere but where they were going. This made it really easy to put myself in their path, a thirty yards ahead of them.

Slightly flushed from the run, I took a second before speaking. “Good afternoon, sirs-”

A bullet tore past my cheek, drawing blood. Yelping, I dove to the side and summoned a small ice wall, barely up to my shoulder, which I scuttled behind. “Hey, what was that for?”

“Get out here so I can shoot you, Red Ice!” One of the guards, a burly unicorn, kept his hunting rifle up, firing three more shots into my shield. “You’ve got a lot of guts being out here all by yourself!”

Okay, whatever. That works as a segway to warn you jackholes. Putting on my most confident, Raider-ish voice, I ‘casually’ laughed aloud. “And what makes you think I’m alone? The Raider Queen never goes anywhere without her subjects. Remember that before you think about shooting me again!”

Hunting rifle-stallion ignored my words and shot twice more, causing an ominous crack to appear in my ice wall. His companions, however, gave a much more favourable response.

“Hey, is she really Red Ice?”

“She said there were more Raiders coming!”

“Where? I don’t see them!”

“Just keep looking!”

Rifle-guy didn’t care. “You ruined our lives, bitch! We’re all out of a job because of you and your damn Raider army. Can’t even go home, gotta come all that way out here to fucking Vanchoofer!”

Can’t go home? Where’s home? Easing an eye over my barrier, I took another look at the stallions. All of them had their weapons out now, but only Rifle-guy was looking in my directions. The others were looking every which way.

One thing that caught my eye was the uniforms. They were all wearing the same outfit. I know I’ve seen that before, just kinda… stretched. Oh! I mentally kicked myself as realisation dawned. These guys are Lethbridle guards! But what was that he said about losing his job, and moving to Vanchoofer?

CRUNCH!!

I howled in pain as the rifle shot busted through my weakened ice and straight into my shoulder. The limb instantly gave out, putting me in the dirt. “EEEEYAAAARGH!” FUUUCK that hurts!

I dimly heard Rifle-guy shouting through the pain. “Haha, bitch! Stay right there and I’ll finish you off!”

Nonononono! Wings, where are you? Adrenaline surging through me, I rolled onto my stomach and started dragging myself along with my useable front leg, alarmingly aware of the approaching hoofsteps.

Gasping in pain with every movement, I didn’t see the rifle butt slam into my punctured shoulder. I felt the pain though, instant and intense. I screamed as the weapon ground into my ravaged flesh.

Rifle-guy was evidently enjoying himself. “The big, bad Red Ice, crawling in the dirt like just another worm.” Gloating was the order of the day, it seemed. “You had this coming, bitch, for everything you’ve done.”

I said nothing, just tried to push myself up to standing. The levitating rifle swept around and knocked my good hoof out from under me, pitching me snout first into the dust. Come on, Raiders. Can’t you be punctual for once? I need a distraction here!

Shockingly, it worked. Wild howls sounded from behind the other guards, and soon the sound of gunfire filled the air, as the Woodpeckers and guards did battle. Rifle-guy was still standing nearby, but wasn’t looking in my direction anymore. He was aiming at the Raiders.

A lucky shot made his day much worse, and he collapsed next to me, blood leaking from the forehead hole. He was gone.

A gust of air on my blind side alerted me to a new arrival. Wings stood over me, eyes dancing with concern. There was smoke coming from the barrel of her revolver. “Oh, shit, Snow, your shoulder!”

“Yeah,” I hissed between pain pulses, “I can’t use it.”

She shoved a Buck in my mouth. “No potions with me. Use that to get away. I’ll ‘help’ those guys and come find you afterwards.” She glanced over to the guards, who were still engaged with the Raiders. “I can’t do anything more for you right now, Snow. You have to move!”

Biting down on the Buck, I swallowed hard. “A-alright.” Shakily, agonisingly, I pushed myself to my hooves. Grabbing the damaged limb in my jaw, I jerkily hop-ran away from the fight.

I heard Wings take flight behind me, shouting out to the other guards, proclaiming her Blue Fire-ness, and desire to help.

With the Buck finally starting to flood my system, I picked up the pace a little. Like you’re one to talk about acting.

~~~~~~

Drip.

I staggered around the… wait, where am I again? I was in some small building, half-destroyed by apocalypse and time. Knick-knacks littered sagging and rusted racks, and dust covered everything.

Drip.

Slumping against a wall, I immediately hissed and jerked away again. It took a few deep breaths for the jolt of pain that’d run through me to fade. A dark slickness coated the wall where I’d put my shoulder. Now how did that happen? Oh right, I was… Wings and I were doing a pretend Red Ice, Blue Fire fight. Then that jackhole guard…

Drip.

I looked down. There a small splash of crimson stained the floor by my hoof, joined by another as I watched. Frowning, I looked back down the aisle, seeing a trail of similar splashes.

Craning my head awkwardly, because I could barely move the limb, the damage done by the guard’s rifle came into view. The bullet wound was neat enough, but not small. A ginger attempt to move the shoulder just made me wince and look away.

As I did, I caught sight of another pony watching me. “Shit!” I ducked down, limping back down the aisle and around the corner. My gaze shifted this was and that as I slowly retreated, searching for other stalkers. Who was that?

I hadn’t gotten a good look at the pony, just a fuzzy image. The pony wasn’t the only thing that was looking fuzzy either. The edges of whatever I looked at seemed to blur a little, and I couldn’t focus well enough to read the faded writing on some of the oddities on the shelves. That’s… not good. I can’t fight like this.

I couldn’t see an exit except past where I’d seen the other pony. ABANDONED STORE! Right, yes, that’s what this place is. Of course, I remember now. I’d have to get past the pony to get out, and I doubted I could outrun a newborn foal with a rifle bullet in my leg. The comedown from the Buck wasn’t helping either.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?” I whispered to the unknown pony. My millimetre-by-millimetre lean put my eye just around the corner at the same time the other pony caught sight of me. Silently, we stared at each other, waiting for the other to make the first move.

Drip. The sound of my escaping blood made me wonder why the other pony hadn’t attacked yet. Surely he or she could see that I was in no shape to fight? I was tired, woozy, hooficapped, and couldn’t even get my head clear enough to see any specifics of my opponent.

Drip. That wasn’t going to get any better, so I had to act before I was too weak to move. Gritting my teeth against pain I knew was coming, I charged wonkily around the corner and straight at the other pony, hoping that the idea of a pony with a bad leg running straight at them gave them pause, as if expecting a trick. “YAAAHHH!!!”

Shockingly, the other pony hadn’t moved. Is this going to work?

Two steps… one… still no movement.

Then I hit the mirror.

Then the mirror fell and hit me on the way down.

“Son of a bitch.” I managed to mutter, red-faced, once the clatter had died down. Luckily, the thing had stayed intact, so I could avoid picking shards from my shoulder hole.

Unluckily, it was now both heavy and lying atop me. Batting at it with my hoof, it felt like my red face would turn purple. “Get off!” I protested weakly.

I went to smack at the heavy weight again, but froze as a soft click sounded, accompanied by a growl. “Who’s there?”

The weight of the mirror was forgotten for a moment. I knew that growl! “Wings, in here.” I gasped out.

“Snow?” Paws thumped on the shop floor as she rushed through the door. I caught a glimpse of her sapphire eyes as she spotted me. “Snow!” Two claws grabbed the edge of the mirror and heaved. The heavy reflective surface flipped over and burst as it hit the floor. Wings’ claws immediately moved to block my face as we both looked away.

I hissed as something bounced across my wound, but didn’t feel any other strikes. “We’re gonna get bad luck from that.”

She helped me up. “You got shot because we pretended to fight each other to make a bunch of people we’ve never met love me. We already had bad luck. The mirror can get in line.” She dug out a few magic bandages. “Here, put these over the wound. It’ll close it up for now, and you can have a healing potion when we get back to the others.”

As I clumsily wrapped the bandages around my shoulder, Wings inspected the scattered knick-knacks. “Anything here worth taking?”

Shrugging, I made my way over to her. “Haven’t really looked yet…”

“Snow.”

What did I come in here for again? “...but there should be something we can take. Maybe Breeze can cobble something together.”

“Snow.”

I tried shaking the cobwebs out. I got shot, ran from the fight, and then… oh right, I need a present for Undertow. “I need a gift for-”

“SNOW!”

Her outburst halted me. “What?”

She was looking down at the floor. “You just walked all over the busted mirror. Your hoof’s bleeding!”

Idly, I lifted them, one by one, until I found the affected hoof. A sliver of mirror shard was protruding from the ankle. It was promptly flicked out and away. “No big deal.”

Now she looked me in the eyes. “You sure you’re okay? Maybe you should lie down for a few minutes and take it easy?” The other blood splatters I’d been leaving around the store before her arrival caught her eye. “Wait, Snow, is all this you too?”

I picked up a little blue tin whistle on a chain. This could work. “It’s no big deal, Wings. You patched me up.”

Her eyes bugged out. “It IS a big deal, Snow. I may have slowed the bleeding, but I was looking for you for at least a few hours. You’ve gotta be pretty low on blood right now.”

“I’m fine.” I looked up too fast, causing me to stagger.

Throwing her claws up in the air, she moved towards the door while dragging me by the tail. “Come on, we’re going back to the others and getting you a potion, some food, and a nap.”

“Wait, before we go, does this thing work as a present for Undertow?”

“Now, Snow!”

~~~~~~

“Wake up, please.”

I murmured and tried to go back to sleep.

“Snowflake, it’s time to wake up.” A hoof poked softly at my snout.

No. Go away, it’s sleep time now. I rolled over, trying to get the speaker to leave me alone.

A new voice chimed in. “We don’t have time for this.”

Then somebody kicked me in the shin. “Get up, Snow.”

“OW, JACKHOLE!” I shot up, front hooves reaching for my aching leg. “What’s the big idea?” I glared at both ponies present.

Undertow said nothing, while Bosco frowned back. “We can’t be waiting around for you to wake up, Snow. We think we found something.”

I pointed at my bruise. “So you decided to kick me awake? Couldn’t have done it without viol-wait!” I brought my pointing hoof back before my eyes, then followed along the limb to the shoulder.

While it wasn’t completely healed, it was most of the way there. The bullet hole had healed up nicely, and best of all… “Doesn’t hurt anymore. Awesome! How’d that happen?”

Breaking her silence, Undertow tapped at a familiar tin whistle that was poking out of a pocket of her Sprinkles Supplies barding. “Wings brought you back yesterday evening. You were… lightheaded.” I appreciated that she made an effort to be diplomatic.

Bosco didn’t. “You wouldn’t stop babbling about random crap, and could barely stand up straight.”

Frowning slightly at the colt, Undertow continued. “So we gave you a healing potion, got you to choke down some food and water, then… well…”

I cocked an eyebrow. “‘Then… well...’ what?”

Again, Bosco chose the direct path. “Then we basically let you fall over. Though it wouldn’t have taken much to knock you out. Undertow probably coulda done it with a kiss on the cheek.”

“Fantastic.” I deadpanned, before changing the subject. “You said you found something?”

Some enthusiasm crept into Bosco’s demeanour. “We did. Well, Naiara did. The three fliers are checking it out right now to be sure.”

“Checking what out?”

Before they could answer, Bosco’s gear began to buzz and vibrate. Digging through his stuff, he finally drew out one of Breeze’s communicators. “Bosco here, who’s this?”

“It’s Breeze,” the Pegasus sounded more excited than I thought I’d ever heard from her. “looks like Naiara was onto something here.”

The three of us looked at each other for a moment, then Bosco spoke into the device. “You think it might be what we’re looking for?”

“Pretty good chance it’ll be important, at least. A big fuck-off forest like this doesn’t just spring up overnight… except this one, uh... did.”

“A forest?” What happened while I was asleep?

Breeze’s usual harsh wit returned. “Green, lots of trees.”

“Not what I meant and you know it.” I groused.

“krrzk! Zrrt! What’s that, Snow? I bzz can’t rwwwt hear mrrc you. Bad connection, I think. Just get over here quick.” Faint snickering came from the speaker just as before the transmission cut out.

“That fu-”

“No time for that now, Snow.” Bosco interrupted. “We gotta get going. I don’t want to miss the chance to check this place out. It could be a clue to my Memory Orbs.”

“But,” Undertow cautioned. “it might also be a trap. The situation is, as Aqua Breeze said, ‘kinda suspicious’.”

The colt wouldn’t be denied. “I don’t care! If it’s a trap we’ll keep our guard up, but we ARE going to check it out. It’s too good of a chance not to.”

Both of us had to reluctantly agree to that. We’re dealing with strange creatures and magics more and more these days. We can’t run away from this if it’ll help Bosco. Even if I kinda wish we weren’t going in blind, again.

As we set off, my sister had one more question. “What about Naiara, and Schwarzwald?”

Bosco, focused on his new opportunity, didn’t slow down to answer her. He just spoke over his shoulder. “Huh? What do you mean?”

“You mentioned that Wings, Cassie, and Breeze were checking out Naiara’s find. So where are Naiara, and Schwarzwald?”

“Oh, right.” He looked over his other shoulder at me. “Schwarzwald went to pick us up some more food, and some parts for Breeze for a… thing she’s working on, from Sprinkles Supplies. They’ll meet us with the others.”

I perked up. “From Lexi? Did she-”

“Yeah, Schwarz said she’d say hi to your brother for you, and also that she’d make sure him and Lexi knew your fights with Wings were staged, that you’re not really going Red Ice again.”

His words stopped me in my tracks for a moment. “Y-yeah, that’s… that’s a good idea. I’ll have to thank her.” Shitshitshit! Why didn’t I think of that? I promised Lexi I’d stop all of that, then I turn right around and do it again. She’s gonna be so disappointed in me!

Since I couldn’t apologise to Lexi directly, I did the next best thing and apologised to the other pony I’d made that promise too. “Sorry, sis.”

~~~~~~

No level gain.

~~~~~~

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay.

That’s all for now, folks. Please keep reading, commenting, and spreading the word on Old Souls. I really appreciate your feedback.

Chaper 22-1: Fracturing Faces

Chapter 22-1: Fracturing Faces

[I have no idea, and I don't know if I should be excited or scared to find out.]

“Multiple reports have come in over the past few days of Red Ice and her Raiders attacking the increasingly familiar occurrence of travellers leaving Lethbridle. Luckily, she’s been stopped each and every time. That’s right my little ponies, our hero Blue Fire is on top of the situation! She’s been hot on the trail of Red Ice day in and day out, always showing up when Raiders try to cause trouble for good and honest ponies. Multiple witnesses report seeing the griffon kill multiple Raiders each time and, even if she hasn’t quite managed to put a bullet between Red Ice’s eyes just yet, she HAS always been able to drive her off.”

“Success.” I muttered, as we sat waiting at the edge of the mysterious forest. It was as strange as Breeze had claimed. A vast stretch of greenery, impossibly verdant atop the northern Wasteland’s cold, rocky terrain. According to the twins’ flyover, it went on for miles.

The DJ continued his broadcast. “Now, it seems like just a matter of time here folks, but I want to stress again that Raiders are dangerous ponies. Defend yourself and others against them, but don’t foolishly go hunting for them without being sure you can take care of yourself. Blue Fire has proven herself, so it can be done, but that doesn’t mean every Wastelander should grab their nearest pistol and go a-huntin’. Stay safe, ponies, and keep the faith. Blue Fire’s gonna continue to spank Red Ice’s flank up and down the region, even if a crazy mare like the Raider Queen might like that.”

I caught Wings staring at me with a raised eyebrow, and I flushed. “Not gonna happen.” I remarked quickly.

Putting her claws behind her head, she smirked. “I dunno, Snow, might make for a good report to drum up some good feelings. A nice red clawprint right over that Snowflake of yours. I bet the listeners’d love that.”

Barely restrained laughter sounded from all sides as my face reddened further. “Not. Gonna. Happen.”

“Suit yourself, Raider Queen. We could always do a trade. You mentioned wanting to win at least once, maybe this is the price for that?”

“...I hate you.”

The others burst out laughing. Even Undertow.

“You all suck!”

Wings just kept smirking. “You love us really.”

“Gnrr.” Why was this a good idea again?

~~~~~~

“Dahlings, you waited for me. How sweet.” We all turned away from the forest to see Schwarzwald strolling up. The older mare held her familiar, laughing-at-some-unseen-joke smile.

Breeze met her first. “Did you get my stuff?”

Bopping her sister on the head as she landed, Cassie made a plea for decorum. “You know how to say hello, Breeze.” She greeted the scarred mare. “Welcome back, Schwarzwald. Did you run into any trouble on the way? The DJ’s message probably riled some ponies up.”

The twins’ antics merited a chuckle. “You are always so proper, while an eager Aqua Breeze is a cute Aqua Breeze. No, I had no trouble returning, and yes, I bought the parts.”

Breeze’s wings popped up. “Sweet! Gimme gimme!” Practically ripping the bag from Schwarzwald’s grasp, Breeze immediately whipped out one of her gadgets and forgot about everybody else.

Huffing, Cassie shook her head at her sister. “Come on now, Breeze. That’s rude.”

Said sister didn’t look up. “Be right there.”

Cassie clicked her tongue, but Schwarzwald giggled again. “So cute when she gets like this. Leave her be. Anyway, we have supplies for the forest, including medicine.”

Everybody nodded their thanks. “We’ll probably need it. Something about this doesn’t feel right.”

Nobody disagreed with Cassie’s assessment. Undertow had been standing with her back to the group, waving her horn back and forth. The aquamarine glow from the appendage faded as she faced us. “I cannot lock down the water source for plants this vibrant. Cassie is right. Something is amiss here.”

Naiara rolled her shoulders while stepping into the conversation. “Do we still wanna check this out? I mean, it just showed up. It doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with us. We could just leave and keep looking for Bosco’s Orbs.”

The aforementioned colt looked pensive, but didn’t immediately speak up. The others and I glanced between him and Wings.

“It’s your choice, Bosco. We’re all ready to go with whatever you decide. They are your Orbs, after all.”

There was a deepening of colour in his grey eyes as he left his thoughts. He looked at each of us in turn, then at the forest, then back to the group. Finally, though with a slight grimace, he nodded. “We’ll check out the forest. I don’t trust that it’s not important. The timing’s too convenient.”

He’s got a point. Finding myself slightly enjoying the lack of pressure on my part, I stretched my muscles to get the blood flowing. “Alright, so how’re we doing this?”

In response, he poked Cassie’s unresponsive sister. “You almost finished, Breeze?”

“Ten seconds.”

Bosco addressed the group. “Even if we’re gonna be working towards finding my Orbs, it doesn’t mean we’ll all be available at the same-”

“I’M DONE!” Breeze’s happy interruption made Cassie and I jump.

“-time.” Finished, he held out a hoof, and Breeze dropped something into it. “Now Breeze, being our resident tinkerer...”

“Eheheheh.”

“...had already developed communicators for herself and Naiara. She linked in Schwarzwald’s communicator she got from Amber too. I asked her to build one more.”

Every device mentioned was presented. Wings surveyed them all. “Why do we need a fourth?”

Bosco’s jaw set. “Much as I doubt it’ll be so easy, I’d rather we all not do anything solo. We should always try to have at least one of us for backup. Going by that, the most we should split up into is four groups, hence four communicators.”

“And you went along with this?” I was mildly surprised that Breeze took direction from anybody besides her sister.

“I know a good idea when I hear one, dirt pony. Just because I don’t listen to you doesn’t mean Bosco doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

“...Can’t argue with that, I guess, even if you are being a brat about it.”

Breeze blew the hanging strand of her blue-and-white mane from her eyes. “Just for that, you don’t get one of the four.”

“What?!”

“Ever.”

“WHAT?!”

She crossed her hooves, smirking. “My toys, my rules. I decide who gets to play with them.”

“Back off, Snow.” Naiara piped up before it went any further. “Breeze has done us a favour here. All of us. It wouldn’t kill you to show some appreciation.”

I stamped a hoof. “Oh come on, it’s not like she makes much of an effort to make nice!”

“A valid point.” Cassie’s on my side? “Both of you could try harder.”

“But she-” Breeze and I began together.

Wings slashed a claw through the air between us. “Nope, done talking about this now. Bosco’s still gotta finish.”

“Thanks, Wings.” He gave her a grateful smile. “So yeah, at least two of us at any one time, for anything. It’s much harder to kill two opponents than a solo fighter.” He nodded at Breeze. “Give the last communicator to Undertow for now.”

Her reaction was a half-hearted blanch. “Why Undertow?”

The goggled unicorn was equally confused. “Yes, Boss Colt, why me?”

“How enticing it is to see him live up to that name.” Schwarzwald was eyeing Bosco hungrily, but he was the only one who paid her much mind.

“Rrright. Anyway, Undertow. You’ll probably stick close to Snow, so your communicator’ll cover the two of you. Cassie’s got one for you two twins, Naiara and I can share, while Schwarzwald can cover Wings.”

Breeze and Undertow nodded approvingly. “That makes sense.” They chorused, before the pegasus grunted at the coincidence. She wordlessly flipped Undertow the communicator, which was snagged midair in an aquamarine glow.

“Thank you, I appreciate it.” Undertow slipped the device into a pocket of her barding.
Wings nudged Bosco’s shoulder, turning him back towards the forest. “So, are we going?”

He nodded. “Yeah, we’re g-”

“One moment.” Schwarzwald held up a hoof to interrupt. “I have a message from Fedexi Lexi.”

Boss? I thought happily. Undertow and I crowded around Schwarzwald as she started her communicator’s playback.

“Hey, girls.” Lexi’s drawl lifted my spirits, but it seemed a little colder than in person. “Now, ah heard over the radio about what’s been goin’ on recently.”

My ears flattened against my head at the business-like tone.

Lexi continued. “Snow, yer… yer not makin’ this easy.” I swallowed my tongue and had to look away. Sorry, Boss.

“But,” Lexi’s tone warmed here. “Ah got faith in ya. Ah trust y’know what yer doin’, and when t’stop.”

The build-up in my breast started to drain away, just a little. I gave Schwarzwald a thankful smile.

“Snowflake, Undertow. Y’all keep each other safe. You and yer friends. An’ find yer brother’s quick now, y’hear? No more pancakes if’n y’let me down.” The message cut out, with nobody saying anything for a moment.

“Aww,” Sugar laced Naiara’s cooing. “dat’s sho schwee-”

A deafening hiss erupted from the forest, forcing all of us to cover our ears. Breeze howled as the sound punished her sensitive hearing.

“WHAT’S HAPPENING?” I tried to shout, but the sound didn’t even reach my ears, let alone those of the others.

Cassie’s eyes still worked, as she wrenched her suffering sister aside just as vines burst from the foliage, grabbing for them both. They took wing, but the vines rose after them, grabbing them around the haunches. They screamed soundlessly as they were pulled between the trees.

Flashes to my left showed that Wings and Schwarzwald were still fighting. Back to back, they fired minigun and revolvers at any vines that came too close.

I tried to shout a warning about the vines encroaching from above, but the hissing was still too impenetrable. The vines divebombed them both, smothering their weapons and limbs. Within seconds they too were dragged into the forest.

They already got half of us! Where are the others? A thick creeper wrapped itself around my ankle and flipped me onto my back hard. The wind was driven from me as more plants grabbed at my body. I tried to freeze them with my magic, but couldn’t focus while being jostled.

Watery tendrils slashed and whipped at the vine on my leg. Undertow’s valiant defense looked like it would free me for a moment, but then more green tentacles bowled her over too. Reaching out a hoof, I grabbed hold of her barding and held her close. I blasted out magic in all directions in an attempt to get the plants off of her. We stopped mid-drag, the creepers frozen solid. Manically, I tore at the green chains, getting our attackers away from her.

Undertow was pointing, and I followed her limb. Bosco and Naiara were still free, jumping and dodging aside as the mossy tentacles hissed and hunted. I tried to pull Undertow towards them, but the world went black. Something pressed against my eyes, yanking my head up and to the side. I twisted and bit at what was blinding me, but it didn’t budge.

I felt Undertow’s hoof disappear from my grasp, then all I could feel was leaves against my cheeks.

~~~~~~

Grunting as I hit the ground, I found myself in a clearing within the forest. My battle saddle and weapons were still with me, but I could not see the others.

“Whoa!” Wings shot out of the greenery backwards, trying and failing to unfurl her wings before she too crashed down.

“Wings-dahling! You are alright!” I had to keep my eyes on our surroundings, but made my way over to her quickly.

She took my proffered hoof, using it to get herself upright, with revolvers drawn. “You okay, Schwarz?”

I gave myself a quick scan. “I seem to be, as do you. However, I do not see the others.”

“Can’t see what grabbed us either.” She groused, as she used her one free claw to rebind her feathers into a tail, which left her eyes unhindered. “Did you try the communicator?”

Good, you are keeping your cool, as always. I fished out the device given to me by dear Amber, and clicked up Breeze’s channel. “Breeze? Are you there, dahling? Cassie? Can anyone hear me?”

Nothing but static came through the speaker. I moved onto the other channels. “Bosco? Naiara? Do you read me?” More of the same. Finally, I tried the newest link “Snowflake? Undertow-dear?”

They might be somewhere they cannot answer. Let me try one more person. “Amber-dahling, are you busy? Amber? Amber, if you can hear me then please respond!”

More static. I shrugged and put the device away. “It appears that we are, for the moment, on our own.”

Still monitoring our surroundings, WIngs didn’t answer straight away. After a minute or so, she was finally satisfied that we weren’t in immediate danger, and let her claws drop. She didn’t put her revolvers away, however. I cannot argue with that.

Turning back to me, her blue eyes were smouldering. “Any idea on what’s going on? Why’d this forest grab us?” She raised her chin and repeated her question to the foliage. “HEY! WHY’D YOU GRAB US?”

When no answer was forthcoming, she picked a direction and began stalking off. “Come on, let’s go find the others.”

You still think about others first. As I’ve come to expect. “Yes, they took the twins first. Was that planned, or a target of opportunity?”

She flapped a wing tersely. “Don’t know, but let’s make finding those two our priority.”

Oh? “Why the twins?”

She started at the question. “I just… well, I mean… ah! Breeze has good ears, and Cassie’s got sharp eyes. If we find them first then we’ll find the others faster.”

Clever, but… “Is that the only reason?”

Her shoulders hunched slightly as she continued stalking forward. “Well, we could always look for Bosco. Colt’s got a good head on his shoulders. Or Naiara, since she’s a tracker.”

“...But not Snowflake or Undertow.” Something is troubling you. I wonder what.

She blew out a long breath, through the side of her beak. “Of course we’ll find them, I just... “ She sighed, stopping and turning to face me. “...I just need a little break from Snow for, like half an hour or an hour or something. Just some peace for a little while.”

“Is it the Red Ice business?” My eyes hardened a little at the thought. You HAVE to be ready for all this. You are the one that will decide Equestria’s future!

She waved off my question. “Nah, I can handle that. What gets me is that Snow never fucking shuts up about her damn family!” At my questioning look, she rolled her eyes and continued. “Oh don’t look at me like that. You just know the first thing she’ll do when we find her is to ask where Undertow is, and then the moment we all get out of here she’ll be right back to harping on about finding her brothers.”

She spread her claws wide to indicate the forest. “Newsflash! Bigger things to worry about! At least she’s got a chance to see her family again!”

Ah. I see. “Snowflake does seem to miss the bigger picture, sometimes.” Though she did seem to understand why you will be important.

“Yeah, that’s one way of putting it.” She muttered.

I had no response to that, so we resumed walking in silence, looking for the twins. The scenery didn’t seem to change, no matter how long we walked. The trees and leaves seemed to blur into one after a while.

After half an hour without any other source of entertainment, I had had enough. Leaning over, I nipped one of Wings’ neck feathers with my teeth.

“Ow! The hell, Schwarz?!”

“Will you tell her?” I challenged.

She was still rubbing her plumage. “Tell who?”

“Snowflake. Will you tell her how she upsets you?”

She flexed her claws quickly. “Of course not! What would I say? ‘Stop trying to find your loved ones’? Yeah, like I’m gonna be that girl.” She spat on the ground. “It’s my problem, not hers. I’ll get over it.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle. Wings took it to mean I was laughing AT her, and sulked. This, of course, made me laugh harder.

I think I’ll hold on to this conversation for the next time that Watcher doubts your place in the Gardens.

“Well,” I shoulder-nudged her. “as we are being honest, I feel that I should tell you something in return.”

“And what’s that?” She grumbled, only half-listening.

“Well, dear Cassie and I have been getting to know each other more closely since we began travelling together.” Another perk of our growing circle of friends and confidants. “Myself, Cassie… and her whip.”

I thoroughly enjoyed the shock that ran through Wings’ blue eyes, the obvious images running through her mind, before she attempted to cover it with a cough. “You and Cassie? Well… that’s a thing. I didn’t think she was the type.”

Not all of us have our eyes turned outwards every second, my dear. The rest of us stop to appreciate these worldly pleasures. “It is more complicated than-”

“Wait.” She cut me off suddenly, drawing her guns. “Did you hear that?”

The faint rustling was growing more distinct in my ears too. I span up my minigun. “Indeed…”

~~~~~~

“And so that is where I have been ‘sneaking off to’ at night.” I tried to keep my cheeks from reddening further. Talking about this with one’s sister is… icky.

Breeze was staring into space with that faraway gaze she always wore when working through a tricky issue with one of her gadgets. I always did like how your bang swings back and forth when you do that.

After a few seconds, she blinked and came back to the conversation. “I-I’m just a little shocked is all. I didn’t think you… I mean, of course Schwarzwald does, but I’ve never seen…” She was starting to go red now too.

I took pity on her. “I’m not, not like you are thinking anyway. It is more of an… in the moment experience. I don’t know how else to explain it, but the act is more important than the participants.”

She took a few moments to mull that over, while I took another look at our predicament. Still no sign of our captors, not since they left us here. “Can you try the radio again? To contact the others?”

Keying up her custom-built communicator, she hit the switch. “Are any of you guys out there? Anybody at all? I’m here with Cassie, but we don’t really have a fix on where ‘here’ is yet. Naiara, Wings, or Undertow, give a sign if you can hear this. We’ll keep our communicators on.”

The same silence that followed our previous tries returned. Grimacing, she put the communicator away. “No luck. What now?”

My jaw set. “We keep walking. We will either find our way out of this forest, or we’ll find one or more of the others. Naiara would be the best option, with her tracking skills. Or perhaps if we had Wings here, we might be able to get through the tree canopy.”

We both looked up at the tangle of branches and leaves overhead. Despite our best efforts, including one of Breeze’s grenades, we had been unable to get past it to the open air. Spitting on the ground, Breeze stayed looking at the gooey expulsion for a moment. “Maybe we should try to find Undertow?”

I frowned. “Now isn’t the time to settle up with her, Breeze. We need to get out of here first.”

She shook her head. “Not what I meant. Bosco told me that she can do this tracker spell thing, where she finds water and can follow it to its source. If she did that, it might lead her out of the forest.”

I mulled it over. Not an unsensible idea, however… “It could also lead her further in, depending on where the source is.”

Breeze shrugged. “Better than walking around lost like us.”

I reached out and rested my hoof on her shoulder gently. “We’ll find our way out of this, Breeze. Don’t worry.” I pressed further when this failed to get a reaction. “We’ll get back to normal soon enough, and we’ll just laugh about the time you went stir crazy and even missed Undertow.”

She gave a single “Ha.” A token effort at best. Her eyes kept flickering towards mine, only to turn away at the last moment.

I fixed her with a stare. “I know that look, Breeze. You had the same one the last time you polished off my whiskey. What did you do?”

Panic set in. “Nothing! I-” Her eyes had gone wide, and she shrank back slightly. “I just… I, uh, was thinking about the… I was thinking about Undertow.”

Oh. You actually DO miss her. “What about Undertow?”

She still wouldn’t look fully at me. “It’s just… she’s kinda… she doesn’t really act like a Raider, you know? I know she was considered the leader of the Deep Divers, but that basically meant they left her alone until one of them got brave enough to try to kill her. A-and that business with the new Raider army? Well, that wasn’t really her either, was it? She just kinda went along with the plan.”

My heartrate had picked up considerably. I didn’t necessarily disagree with anything Breeze was saying, but still had concerns. “Breeze, you know all we’ve been through because of the Raiders-”

“I know, I know!” She cut me off desperately. “Look, she’s been fine so far. Naiara’s… Naiara’s been pushing for me to give her a chance, to properly get to know her as a pony. I’ve tried, every now and then, y’know, talked with her a little bit, even had a back and forth about some magic ideas.” Guilt racked her face as she finally met my eyes. “I dunno, Cas, I just kinda get the feeling that, instead of another Raider, she’s another Raider victim.”

That one hit me right in the chest. A… a victim? You’re saying Undertow’s another casualty of the Raiders? My mind skittered over and around the idea. “I don’t know either, sister. That’s… Raiders can be tricky to spot, and-”

This time I was the one to step back while she pressed. “I know, and I wouldn’t say this if I didn’t think there might be a chance, but I just don’t wanna always be worrying about when I’ll have to take her out. I wanna try, for our sanity.”

It just wouldn’t coalesce into a certainty in my mind, but it was being gradually drowned out by something that would. I trusted Breeze explicitly, unreservedly. If she said she could handle this, and it might be good for us, then I would support her.

“Alright,” I exhaled. “we’ll give it a try. Naiara has proven to be a good judge of character so far, you being exhibit A.” She coloured nicely at this. “If she says we can trust Undertow, then we will try to trust her.”

Breeze’s obvious relief at my agreement prompted me to get in one last jab. “And who knows, it probably couldn’t hurt your chances with that handsome clanmate of hers.”

“Cas! Come on!” She couldn’t hide her blush. “That’s different. I can probably trust Cept.”

“Probably?” She wilted under my raised eyebrow.

“Yes!” She replied, indignant. “I mean, the clan leader is a little troubling, but Cept seems okay.”

I can’t disagree with that either. This ‘Atesh’ seems like he is planning something too. We cannot ignore him forever. “So, your circle of friends is growing to include a not-Raider and a zebra stallion, to go along with Naiara. No ponies?”

“Bosco’s okay, I guess. And you clearly think Schwarzwald’s good. Her and Wings both.”

Now the moment of truth. “And what about Snowflake?”

“What about her?” Her reply was caustic, a solid wall of disapproval.

I couldn’t agree more. “Precisely.”

The forest’s rustling seemed to react to my thoughts.

~~~~~~

The loud CRACK of my water breaking through the frozen vines did nothing to lift my mood. Within moments, vines covered the gap.

“Any luck?” Snowflake was on the other side of the clearing, trying to find another way through.

“No,” I called over my shoulder. “as soon as I make a hole it fills in again.”

“Yeah, same over here. Doesn’t look like we’re getting out of here without the others’ help.”

That didn’t help matters either. Why capture us if we are to just wander aimlessly in these woods? I absentmindedly flicked a sliver of ice from my goggles before addressing my sister. “Shall we move on?”

Snowflake drew even with me. “Are you getting anything from your water trail spell?”

I could only shake my head. “No. I can feel water sometimes, but I cannot find where it comes from. We will have to find another way.”

Falling into silence, we continued stoically on. The forest’s greenery never seemed to end, and there was no sign of light from between the trees, nor of the clouds above. We both looked up, momentarily hopeful, as a ripple of wind ran through the forest canopy. It wasn’t enough though, and didn’t open up the green ceiling.

Snow continued to look up. “Do you think the others got out?”

“If they managed to get through to the sky, yes. I am… not so confident about Schwarzwald, Naiara, or Bosco.”

Silence descended again, and we walked for several miles before it was broken. “Hey, Undertow, do you mind if I ask you something now it’s just the two of us?”

Why would that matter? “What is it?”

“It’s about something Breeze said.” She was tentative, speaking slowly and softly.

“What did she say?” My sister didn’t often get like this. It was usually when her own insecurities surfaced.

Her mouth twitched, looking like it was caught between a smile and a glum droop. “Well, back when we dropped Al off with Lexi, she said something to you.”

“To me?” Thinking back that far distracted me, and I had to stop walking for a moment. Most of my focus back then was on why Snowflake hadn’t told Al about me, but Breeze did say something. It was… “She said that Lexi was… scary, correct? I agreed, but also mentioned how nice she was.” I glanced over to Snowflake. “Is that what you were referring to?”

Her expression turned from confused to worried. “Undertow, um… Breeze never said that Lexi was scary. No, well, she did, but she didn’t use her name.”

Did she insult Boss? I’ll kill her! I stepped forward forcefully. “What word did she call her?”

Snowflake’s orange eyes were kind, but also serious. It reminded me of our battle at Sombra’s Shadow Lake. She still wore that ‘should-I-be-smiling’ half-smile. “Undertow… she called Lexi your mom.”

My goggles slipped from my eyes as my brows rose. “...Oh.”

Snowflake stepped closer. “How do you feel about that?”

How do I feel about that?

My hooves rubbed the sleeves of the Sprinkles Supplies barding.

The taste of the oat pancakes Lexi had made for us ghosted along my tongue.

My shoulders grew warm as I remembered how tightly she’d hugged me after Snowflake and I had fought.

Then there was the promise the two of us had made, to save my sister from herself if need be.

“Undertow?” Snow broke into my reverie. “Sweetie, you’re crying. What’s wrong?”

“I-I am?” A shaking hoof came away wet from my eyes. “I’m crying.” I found myself laughing at the sensation. “Why am I crying?”

“Are you sad?”

“NO!” I near-shouted, surprising myself. “I’m not sad at all.” It wasn’t a totally unpleasant sensation, but the pressure on my chest was building.

I had to see my sister at that moment, even if she was blurred by the tears. “Do you… do you think she would say ‘yes’?”

Her indecisive smile lost its indecision. “Do you want her to?”

I could only whimper and nod, feeling the pressure break in my breast.

Gathering me up into a hug, Snowflake stroked my mane lovingly. “Then let’s go ask her, after we get out of here and finish Bosco’s business.”

I sniffled into her neck. “But what about our brothers?”

She’d shifted into full, supreme-confidence big sister mode. “We’ll find them too, don’t ever doubt that. We won’t let anything stop us, and then we’ll get you back to your mom.”

I… I have a mother! Water still ran down my cheeks, but the thought cheered me up.

“What...what are moms like? What was yours like?”

She shrugged in the hug. “I dunno, I never met her. I’ve never had a mother. I was raised by the Stable, and the boys’ mother looked after me sometimes, before she died. Still, it’s like Breeze said: Lexi IS scary but kind.”

Giggling, I hugged her tighter. However, another thought had taken root in my mind and wouldn’t leave. “Um… if Lexi wants to be my mom, and you want to be my sister, does that make her your-”

“Wait!” Snowflake hissed suddenly.

“What?” I pulled my head up, and looked around.

Snaking down from the tree canopy, as the leaves rustled, were more of the damn vines.

~~~~~~

“Get up.”

“No.”

“We seriously don’t have time for this.”

“We’ve got as much time in here as we ever did, unless you thought up a way to get out of here in the last five seconds.”

I gritted my teeth. “So you want to just wait and be stuck in here forever, is that it?”

“Yyyyep.”

“THE FUCK YOU DO, NOW GET THE HELL UP!” I am not in the mood today. Not. In. The. Freaking. Mood.

Slumping from her sitting position to laid down, Naiara crossed her hooves behind her head and closed her eyes. “Make me.”

“So it’s gonna be like that.” I seethed. “The others might be in trouble, and you’re just gonna lie there. Real quality friendship there, Naiara.”

She didn’t move, not open her eyes. “Well maybe it can be someone else’s turn to be the good friend, for once.”

The bitter reply cut through my anger somewhat. “What do you mean?”

Her eyes snapped open, caught. She quickly turned away and began pushing herself to her hooves. “Nothing. Let’s just go.”

“Hold on.” I stuck a hoof out to stop her. “Say what you want to say. Seems like you need it.”

She swiped at the air. “Well, none of you seem to care much that I lost friends to the buffalo! Nobody’s even mentioned them, except when Breeze wants to talk about her crush, or Snow wants to speak in broken zebra. None of you, my ‘friends’, have given a second thought about my clan.”

I frowned. “Your clan?” Where is this coming from? You were fine earlier.

She nodded angrily. “Yeah, my clan. When Crush, and Snow’s brother I might add, attacked us: the eight of us got out okay, but not all of us zebra did! I might not spend all that much time with them, but they’re still the ones who I grew up with. It still hurts!”

Hesitating, my barring hoof dropped. “I…” Shit, what am I supposed to say to that? I guess they did kinda bring it on themse-

“And yeah, Atesh worked with Raiders, and my clan were the ones who decided to sneak attack the camp, then humiliate Crush,”

-lves.

“but we’re not just doing this for no reason. Atesh really believes that we need the horn to prosper.” Her jaw set, and she dug at the ground. “Snow should have told you and the others about the horn, especially after Latvi learned about it. She didn’t, and it cost zebra lives.”

“That’s not…” I tried to ease some of the strain out of my suddenly stiff neck. You’re right, Snow should have told us. She put us all in danger by keeping the thing in the first place, and then keeping it secret. But still, Snow doesn’t really seem to be doing anything with it except trying to keep it out of the wrong hooves. Atesh and Latvi are the ones who want to use it.

“And I should have said something.” Naiara’s jade eyes took on a faraway look. “I knew she had the horn. I knew some of the rumours of what it could do, but I just ran away after the Raider summit. I didn’t go back to Atesh and Cept, or stay with Snow, or find you guys. I just ran, and now six of my clanmates are dead, maybe more by now.”

“You did get Undertow to safety.” I tried, searching for any silver lining.

“Not good enough.” She chastised herself grimly. “Not nearly good enough. I was so worried about letting everybody down that I let everybody down. After I got Undertow out of there, I had to run. I didn’t know who I was supposed to back, who I was supposed to apologise to first. I just freaked and ran, because I didn’t know what I was supposed to do next.”

Now I was the one lying down, as all the fight left me. “Yeah,” I breathed out. “I get that.”

Agitated pacing gave way to confused stillness. “You do?”

My eyes found the walls of our green cage. “Yeah. Back in Whitepony, when Undertow and I got grabbed and taken to Whinniepeg. It was the worst experience of my life.” Shuddering, I had to jam my hooves into my eyelids to dispel the remembered images. “Undertow did what she could to keep us safe, but it just kept happening, every moment. I never felt...right. Even after you guys got me out, it didn’t go away, it just faded… got quieter.”

A striped visage loomed over me. “What did?”

Letting my hooves fall to the grass with a soft thud, I shrugged. “I can’t explain it. I don’t feel right inside. It’s like something different, but I don’t know what. Undertow saw it, and she tried to help, but pretty soon we all got swept up into dealing with the Raider army, and fights with Hissyflits, and now this search for my Orbs. Whatever those things tried to do to me hasn’t gone away.”

All sharpness had left her green irises. “Why didn’t you ever tell us?”

I let out a helpless laugh. “And say what? ‘I’ve got a bad feeling about nothing’? You’re all helping me find my Orbs already. I can’t lump this on you too.”

“Bosco, we’re your friends. We want to help you if there’s something wrong.”

Sighing, I looked away. “I know, but I need to know if it IS wrong. It’s different, but it ebbs and flows. Getting angry seems to make it worse, which was why I didn’t go with you to the Raider summit. I couldn’t be around Snow without being angry after she tried to give away my Orbs. Being with Wings and the others was simpler. We were doing straightforward things; going after bad ponies, killing Raiders, other easy stuff like that. Not hard to feel better about myself.”

My hooves raised to the sky, separately, before coming together. “Now that we’re all back together again, things are getting muddied. Whatever the feeling is, it’s getting stronger again.”

Naiara radiated concern. “Bosco, we’ve gotta figure this out. You can’t keep going like this.”

I met her gaze steelily. “Yeah, I can. Just like you. Just like all of us. I’ll get right in time. I’ll live with it for now, until I know what it means.”

“You cannot wait. You will continue.”

Shooting up in panic, our foreheads met violently. Wincing in pain, we scrambled upright, back to back. “Who’s there?”

“Boy, you meddle with more than you know.” The voice seemed to echo from everywhere at once.

I bit down on my knife’s handle, as Naiara shouted at the forest. “SHOW YOURSELF!”

“Not yet, zebra, but you will see something special.”

Vines burst from the brush, lancing between us. More and more vines rushed in, cutting off our view.

“Nu-ura!” Yelling around my knife, I tried to get a view of her, but the undulating tendrils obscured any sign of her.

I could hear her, however. “Bosco, get out of here!”

I spat out the knife. “Not without you! Just hold on a little while longer.”

Grabbing up the blade, I charged at the wall. Hacking and slashing, I kept up a steady attack, all personal issues forgotten. Why now? We were just talking! Why are you taking her too?! WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH ALL OF US?!?!

“Rest assured, boy. Your time here is not yet over.”

~~~~~~

Chapter 22-2: Fracturing Faces

The vines released their death grip on my limbs and retreated back into the bush.

As I looked around, my temper quickly flared. “Are you serious? You drag me away from Undertow just to dump me in another patch of identical FUCKING FOREST?!”

“-all the way to the roots!”

I barely had time to look up before the descending body crushed me to the ground. “Orrrrrrrgh." I could only groan and try to push the lump off.

“The hell’ve I landed on? Oh, Snow!”

I kept groaning as my bruised form was grabbed and roughly hauled upright. “You had to land on me, Bosco?”

The charcoal colt grinned sheepishly. “Wasn’t really my choice.” His smile slipped slightly, and he looked around. “Just us? I was hoping they’d bring Naiara too.”

My focus sharpened. “Naiara? They got her?”

He grimaced. “Yeah, they got all of us.”

“Damn. Undertow was just with me before, too, but they separated us.”

Frowning as he surveyed our new clearing, Bosco began circling the edge. “Any idea who ‘they’ are?”

“None. You?”

His hooves probed the green barrier. “Not yet, but they spoke to me just before they split up me and Naiara.”

That made me double-take. “They spoke to you?”

He nodded. “Something did, anyway. Said we weren’t done here just yet.”

Fucking wonderful. “Lovely.” I deadpanned. “Did they happen to say what this was all for?”

“No, they neglected to provide that info.” He exhaled sloppily.

“It is not yet time for that,” We both froze as the voice reverberated around the clearing. “but why not show you something beautiful?”

Pretty sure we differ on the definition of beautiful, freak. My alarm was reflected in Bosco’s grey eyes.

We watched, shoulders tense, as a cluster of leaves pressed together across from us, before slowly spreading out. In the centre of the leaves, a translucent film ran across the widening gap. The film was a mess of shifting colours, that slowly resolved themselves into an image.

Through the ‘window’ we saw another clearing, very similar to the one we were standing in. In the clearing were two figures, writhing on the ground.

“Wings!” She was clearly suffering.

“Undertow!” She’s in pain!

“What happened to them?”

~~~~~~

“ARGH!” I yelled as I clutched my beak. “Fuck, kid, what is your horn made of?”

Undertow’s hooves were wrapped around her horn, but she still seemed to glare through her goggles at me. “It’s growing out of my skull, what do you think it’s made of?”

“Well thank you so much for charging into me skeleton first!” How does Snow put up with you?

“Me? You ran into me face first. You could have taken my eye out with that beak!”

I noticed something shining on the edge of her goggles. “Are you crying?”

“NO!” She hastily rubbed at her goggles. “You’re just seeing things.”

“Pft. Brat!”

“Blind old bird!”

Why you insufferable little… I bristled. “I’m not your sister, filly. I won’t take that crap from you.”

“My sister wouldn’t try to lie about running into someone!”

“Your sister lies all the time!”

“Not for small stuff!”

She sat scrunching her nose at me, while all I could manage was to stare open-beaked. Then the laughter came.

“Eheh… eheh… ehahaha… ehAHAHAHA! You know, that’s totally true.” She does save her lies for the big stuff.

As her disgruntlement shifted to confusion, I let the good cheer continue, speaking between chuckles. “Eheheh, good to see you’re okay, Undertow.”

“Uhhh… you too?”

I looked over her shoulder. “So, where’s Snow?”

“We got separated. The vines took us.”

Damn. “Same for Schwarz and me. Guess we just keep going until we find the others, now that we know they’re in here.”

Undertow blanched, but still fell into step with me as I began walking. “That isn’t much of a plan, Wings.”

“Nah, not really. I’m open to suggestions if you’ve got any.”

She winced and rubbed the base of her horn. “Perhaps when the swelling goes down.”

I rubbed my beak in response. “I better not wake up tomorrow with a dent the shape of your scooter badge on my face.”

She gasped, and fumbled for the badge. “It didn’t break, did it?”

Aww, how cute. “It’s fine. I’m sure Snow’ll bring you another one soon enough. I’ll tell her you like those little gifts.”

Sighing in relief at the intact badge, she re-affixed it with a smile. “I really do, and not just because they’re from my sister.”

“Oh yeah? Then why?”

Even while looking slightly unnerving with her expression-less, goggled eyes, her smile still managed to light up her entire face. “When Snow brings me back a trinket, it means she came home safely. It means she’s okay, for one more day anyway.”

Damn if you don’t lay it on thick, kiddo. I opened my mouth to tease her, but another voice interrupted.

“Why wouldn’t I be okay?”

We both started at the confident tones. Our heads whipped towards the newcomer: A unicorn, standing there with a smirk, bold as brass.

“Sister!” Undertow scampered towards her.

“Snow?” I quickly scanned our surroundings. Where’d she come from?

“Good to see you guys are safe.” Still smirking, Snowflake stepped straight past Undertow, bringing the younger unicorn up short, and stopped right in front of me. “I was worried about you.”

Me? I looked over Snowflake’s shoulder at Undertow, who was equally confused at this. “Uhh… what about Undertow?”

I near-flipped out when Snow made no move to check on Undertow, who’s smile had vanished, and instead batted her eyes at me. “She’s fiiine. Now then,” Orange eyes roved over my form, “are you? Maybe I should check.”

The heck? “Snow, are you okay? Did whoever caught us do something to you?” I leaned back slightly.

She leaned forward slightly, eyes glinting. “I’m fine, though maybe YOU should check ME over if you’re worried?”

“Um… Snowflake?” Timidity outlined Undertow’s entire being as she hesitantly called out to her sister. “Did you see where you went after we were separated?”

“No, Sweetie.” Snow replied curtly, not taking her eyes from me.

“Are you sure you’re good, Snow?” I was checking her out for signs of trouble.

She noticed, and batted her eyes. “So thoughtful, Wings, but I’m fine.” Her voice dropped to a husky whisper. “Just like you.”

Ho-ly damn! My face burned. I flicked my eyes repeatedly towards Undertow, hoping Snowflake would get the message and knock off the act.

Spinning on her heel, which meant her tail ran softly along my cheek, Snowflake turned and began walking. “Shall we go find the others?”

With mirroring looks of utter cluelessness, and my cheek tingling, Undertow and I began walking after her. I made sure to manoeuvre Undertow between Snowflake and I.

The older unicorn noticed, and pouted at me. “Why so cautious, Blue Fire? Everypony knows you like ‘spanking my flank up and down’.”

AAAHHH!!!Wait a second...

~~~~~~

“What am I doing? WHAT AM I DOING?!”

Bosco was watching the display in open-mouthed amazement. “Looks like you’re hitting on Wings to me.”

“Why am I hitting on Wings?”

“I know.” Awe ran through Bosco’s words. “I mean, Undertow’s right there.”

“Why am I hitting on Wings when Undertow’s right there?!”

“Well, I dunno but you’re really going for it.”

“BOSCO!” I shouted at the colt, spittle flying.

He held up his hooves in defense. “What? It’s not my fault.” He couldn’t contain his smile. “But it is kinda funny. I didn’t even know you thought Wings was pretty.”

“Of course she’s-that’s not the point, Bosco!” I rounded on the forest. “Why are you doing this?”

“It will be very informative.”

“Informative for what?” I growled, incredulous.

“Snow, the picture changed!” Bosco was still rooted to the wispy window.

“What? No!” I Crowded in beside Bosco. “Turn it back to that fake right now!”

~~~~~~

“I got you!” With a diving leap, I managed to catch Cassie before she hit the ground. “Couldn’t get those wings ready in time, huh?”

“I… yes.” Scrambling off me in an attempt at dignity, Cassie brushed herself down. “Good to see you, Naiara. Is Breeze with you?”

Good question. I watched the shrinking hole that Cassie had come through, until it closed completely. “Apparently not. I was with Bosco before, but this place split us up. Was Breeze with you?”

Cassie had been watching the hole too. She nodded without looking away from it. “Indeed. I was hoping that we would be brought to the same place.”

“Dang. Sounds like we’re getting the run around. You think the others have ended up jumbled too?”

Tiredness crept into her words. “I don’t know. We won’t know for sure until we locate our comrades.”

“Don’t worry,” I pressed, trying to cheer her up. “we got this.”

The pegasus craned her neck deliberately, and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, they weren’t kind. “Got what, exactly? At what point did it seem like we were in control of this situation?”

I huffed at her accusatory behaviour. “What’s eating you?”

Cassie just carried on as if I hadn’t said anything. “At what point did it seem like we were in control of anything? Even before we got trapped here, we were barely managing to avoid trouble for even a few hours at a time. Time and time again one of our group has landed us in danger, so why, in the name of all that’s decent, do you persist in acting like nothing is wrong?”

“So somehow this is my fault?” I groused. You picked the wrong day for this, Cassiopeia.

“You tell me, svara.” The word came out like the worst insult. “It wasn’t so long ago that we were at the mercy of your clanmates. It was only through that lummox, Crush, and his gaggle of idiots, that we got out of that situation. Now my sister is sweet on Atesh’s loyal bloodhound, and I don’t know if I can trust this Cept or not!”

“For your information, that ‘lummox’ that allowed us to ‘get out of that situation’ also killed six of my clanmates. Thanks for proving me right about you guys not caring about them, or how I feel about it. And by the way, I’ve known Cept far longer than I’ve known Breeze, and certainly longer than I’ve known YOU. I trust him explicitly, and Breeze is lucky to have him!”

“But you don’t trust her explicitly.” She pointed out.

“That’s not what I meant!”

“What did you mean, Naiara? You have been a great friend and comfort to my sister since we began travelling together, however Atesh, and Cept, and your clan are matters that we can ill-afford to ignore. They have meddled in our affairs, and will continue to do so. Where will your allegiances lie when the time comes to resolve this?” The bracers on her wrists shifted ever-so-slightly, as the muscles beneath them tensed.

“My ‘allegiances’ lie with EVERYONE I care about. I’m not gonna let anything happen to Breeze, Cept, Atesh, YOU, Bosco, Undertow, or the rest. BUT… I don’t plan on letting any more of my clanmates get killed either.”

Cassie scoffed. “Oh, what a wonderful non-answer.”

Teeth grinding, I took a purposeful step forward. “Listen, you POMPOUS-”

“Now, now, girls. Don’t fight over little ol’ me.”

Both our heads snapped towards the source of the interruption, hearts lightening as we did so. “Breeze!”

Puffing her bang out of her eyes, Breeze’s cocksure smile stayed up. “Glad to see my two favourite equines are okay.”

Cassie was gently checking her over. “Where did they take you?”

Bruskly removing her sister’s roaming hooves, Breeze cocked her head further down the path. “Not far from here. I walked for a little while, then heard you two chatting. Thought I might have heard some of the others, but I can’t be sure.”

My eyes were drawn to Cassie, who’d gone stiff. “You… you are not sure?”

Shrugging, Breeze beckoned for us to move off. “Hey, nopony’s perfect. I might have heard something, and I might not have. Let’s go find out!”

I moved to follow Breeze, but stopped when Cassie stayed in her spot. “Come on.”

Her face was expressionless, but she started walking robotically nonetheless.

~~~~~~

“Hey! Heyheyhey!” Bosco yelled at the greenery. “What was that? Was that really Breeze, or just another fake?”

A ripple ran through the leaves. “You would need a philosopher to truly answer that.”

“Oh, screw off, you damn ghost!”

“This is pointless!” I interjected. “What possible benefit can this bring you?”

“Keep watching.”

~~~~~~

“I gotta say, I didn’t expect that from Cassie. I mean, first off, I didn’t think she swung that way, and I never suspected her of looking at you that way.” Seriously, I didn’t see it coming.

Chuckling wistfully, Schwarzwald good-naturedly shook her head. “I do not believe it is as you say, dahling.”

I blinked. “What do you mean? Seems pretty cut-and-dry to me. You’d hit anything with a pulse, and Cassie seems into you. What am I missing?”

“Do not be jealous, Breeze-dahling, it is unlady-like.” It would have been clear to a blind Hissyflit that she didn’t believe what she said.

“Cassie’s the lady, and she went to town on your flank with a whip. Kinda think the definitions are getting muddled.”

“Hmmhmmhmm, perhaps. But what I meant was that you should not be so quick to choose the lewd option. Cassie’s actions were not about sexual release, at least not on her part.” Her toothy grin deepened. “I can hardly be blamed for enjoying myself.”

I cocked my head to the side, lone bang swinging down past my cheek. “So Cassie just wailed on your plot, with the whip I made for her, for no reason?”

“You can be so cute and naive sometimes. No, not for no reason. I only said that it wasn’t for sexual release. Dear Cassie was simply relieving some stress. I took advantage of the situation.”

“What’s Cassie got to be stressed about?” I wasn’t fond of the idea that something was bothering my sister.

Schwarzwald’s humour remained, but it was overlaid by a patronising expression. “Perhaps our growing number of friends and enemies? For every new member of our group, we seem to gain two foes.”

And she couldn’t talk to me about this? Had to go beating on your flank instead? “Well, yeah, but we’ve known about all that for a while. It’s not like it snuck up on us. Cass and I made the decision to stay involved with Snow even after we found out she was Red Ice.”

An unfocused, faraway look crossed her eyes for a moment. “Sometimes it is that which does not surprise us which is hardest to deal with. If we know it will come but cannot escape it.”

Speaking from experience, old mare? I shrugged, and rubbed my greave. “I’m not saying I want Cassie feeling like this, ‘cause I don’t, but it’s not like I can stop her from doing the stuff that gets her down, y’know?”

“Go on.” Sharpness returned to Schwarzwald’s forest-green eyes as she waited for me to continue.

Guess I’m not getting a history lesson today. “We are dealing with some crazy shit, and I spend half my time wondering if it’d be better to just take Cass and Naiara and just bolt, but I know they wouldn’t go for it. They like the rest of you guys too much.”

“And you do not? Oh, I am hurt.”

“I don’t mean it like that, Schwarz, it’s just… well, besides Cass and Naiara, I’m not really all that close to any of you. Cass is friends with you and Wings, and seems to like Bosco, and Naiara’s buddies with Snow, and Undertow, and Bosco again. I just kinda go along with what those two say. I can’t call the others my friends, and I’m sure they wouldn’t either.” Undertow wouldn’t, no matter what Cass thinks. A-and it’s not like I’m sure I want her to, either!

“You do not think you are valued?” Her normally husky voice had shifted to a drier tone. “It is because of you that we are all together at all.”

Huh? “Huh?”

She produced her communicator, and tapped it against my greave. “You build things that none of us can even dream of. You are a Pegasus, yet you hold magic in your hooves. If we are separate, we can always talk with each other, thanks to your radios. Nobody considers you an outsider here.”

“So they don’t like me, they just like what I can make for them?” I bitterly griped.

A painful jolt sparked through my forehead. “Ow! The hell?”

Stashing the communicator she’d just bopped me with, she tut-tutted. “Do not be difficult. Your creativity is a vital part of you, and none of us take it for granted. We do not believe that your virtue makes up all of you, but it might be all that you choose to show. If you open up more, I do not think the others will complain.” Her disapproving pout morphed back into her easy smile. “You can be so cute sometimes, and you do not see it.”

“Ah, go headbutt a wall, dirt pony.” Still, I found myself smiling back involuntarily. “Since when are you doling out the feel-goods?”

Mischief sparkled in her eyes. “Laughing at sad children is not as fun as laughing with cute little ones.”

“Yeah,” I jibed. “because you really struggle to laugh, Schwarzwald.”

“What can I say? It is my nature.”

“Be careful of that nature, sister. I’m sure it could get you into all sorts of trouble.” Pushing her way through the foliage, Cass emerged into the clearing, looking as prim and proper as ever.

“Cass, you’re okay!” Embracing her tightly, I enjoyed the sensation of her red and black mane rubbing over my eyelids.

“It is good to see you safe, Cassie-dahling. Have you found any of the others?” Schwarzwald playfully joined the hug. I didn’t care, and happily wrapped a hoof around her.

Cassie broke away to answer. “Not yet, Breeze and I were separated, but I didn’t see any of the others. I was hoping to find Wings or Bosco, but I would have settled for any of the others, even Red Eyes, or her sister.”

I popped back and began walking. “Well, come on! With the three of us, we’l-” Wait, hold on, did she say…? Fuck it, don’t care right now. “We’ll find the rest, and get the hell out of here.”

Schwarzwald tightened the straps on her battle saddle, grinning all the while. “One down, and only five to go.”

~~~~~~

“The tests are progressing well.” The voice was distracted, musing.

“What tests? What. Do. You. Want?” I stamped my hoof, some icy mist shooting from my horn. So sick of this crap!

“Seriously.” Bosco agreed, twitching his knife. “You guys are just wasting our time now. We’re not your playthings.”

“Do not pout because you are not the toy currently being played with, little colt.” The voice sounded affronted now. “When your friends’ tests are over, then you will be in play.”

“LEAVE THEM ALONE!” Bosco and I yelled together.

“It is almost time. The final test should determine the next step.”

“If you do anything to them-”

“Anything such as what is shown currently, perhaps?”

“Currently? Oh, hell…”

Bosco and I could only watch helplessly as the scene unfolded before our eyes.

~~~~~~

“How much farther, Breeze? Where did you hear the others?” Naiara and Cassie trailed behind the technophile, impatient and pensive respectively.

“Just a little further.” Flashing a smile, she bounded on ahead, disappearing around a thick clump of foliage.

“Breeze, don’t run ahead!” Cassie chastised, speeding up to follow. She and Naiara hustled around the corner, into a larger clearing. Still overcast by vines and leaves, it spanned a radius of a dozen metres.

Breeze was standing in the centre. She held up a hoof. “Just wait for a little while, you two. You’ll like what comes next.”

That brought the two up short. Exchanging a quick glance, they stared questioningly back at her. “What do you mean, Breeze? What is coming?”

Breeze didn’t have to answer, as three more bodies emerged into the clearing from a far bush cluster.

Snowflake was first, strolling backwards effortlessly. No trace of nature stained her coat.

Wings was less lucky, as wet green streaks ran along her feathers. “We couldn’t have taken two seconds to find a path to get us-” She broke off abruptly as the scene before her registered.

Following Wings, Undertow pushed an oversized leaf out of her way, before spotting the others. “Naiara! Cassie! Breeze! You’re here!”

“Guys!” Wings found her voice. “You’re okay!”

“And you as well.” Cassie’s body language had utterly shifted. The rigidity was gone, and she openly embraced Wings and Undertow in crushing hugs.

“Ooh, me next!” Snowflake hopped forward towards them.

“Stay right there!” Warned Wings, talon pointed accusingly.

“Aww, don’t be shy.”

“No. Bad Snow!” Wings was going red again.

“Gonna spank me again?” She winked at the chocolate-and-cherry griffon.

The others watched the exchange with open mouths.

Undertow looked queasy.

Naiara was astonished.

Cassie was frowning, and looking between Snowflake and Breeze.

And then Cassiopeia Venatici walked into the clearing.

Following behind her, Breeze and Schwarzwald froze as they took in the scene. Slowly panning across everyone gathered, Breeze managed to croak out one word: “...What?”

“Aqua Breeze?” Said Cassie.

“Cassie?” Said Breeze.

“Cassiopeia Venatici?” Said Aqua Breeze.

“Breeze?” Said Cassiopeia Venatici.

Schwarzwald was half-smiling, but spinning up her weapons at the same time. “Well, this is interesting, isn’t it, dahlings?”

Undertow sidled closer to Wings, as did Snowflake. Naiara wouldn’t stop looking back and forth between the two pairs of twins.

Snowflake leaned on WIngs’ shoulder. “Exciting, no?”

Flinching at the contact, Wings’ sapphire eyes flamed. “YOU!”

Before she could do anything else, one pair of twins moved as one. Hidden blades popped out of their wrist armaments, and slashed at their closest ‘sister’. The attack targets took wing, and flapped over to an empty section of clearing, landing beside each other. The attacked Cassie smiled at the attacking Breeze. “What’s the matter, sister?”

The attacked Breeze mirrored the action, towards the attacking Cassie. “Yeah, sis. What’s wrong?”

Both attackers kept their weapons pointed, glaring at the grinning girls. Cassie spoke quietly, but firmly. “You are no sister of mine.”

Breeze, keeping her eyes on the smiling pair, slowly walked towards Cassie. “What she said.”

The attacked Breeze gasped dramatically, making a show of clutching her heart. “How could you say such a thing? Don’t you love me anymore?”

All emotion vanished from Cassie’s tone. It was cold, hard, and devoid of warmth. “You are not Breeze. Breeze never mishears anything.”

Breeze came to a stop beside her sister, glaring at the mirror of said sister. “And I didn’t hear wrong from you either, fake! Snowflake isn’t Red EYES, she’s Red ICE.”

“She’s also not HERE.” Wings tried to draw her revolver from its holster.

Snowflake moved like a snake, slamming a hoof down on her claw. It, and the weapon it held, were pinned in the leather. “Think before you do something you regret, Blue Fire. I really am Snowflake.”

“No, you’re not.” Wings’ wings spread out wide, pushing back with powerful swings. “Lie again, and I’ll put a bullet between your eyes, imposter.”

“And here I was hoping to have some more fun before this all came out.” ‘Snowflake’ leered eye-to-eye with Wings, who glared back. “I guess I’ll just have to settle for this.”

Without another word, she leaned in and met Wings’ beak with her lips.

~~~~~~

In the image, Wings froze in shock. I spluttered incoherently, looking to Bosco for help. His gormless expression offered none.

WHAT AM I DOING?!?!?!

~~~~~~

“MmHMPH!” Pushing the doppelganger away, Wings slashed at her with her free claw. It passed through empty air as ‘Snowflake’ melted into the forest floor. A rustle surged across the clearing, coming to rest at the hooves of the false twins. The imposter unicorn climbed out of the solid ground like it was air.

The three tricksters seemed utterly unfazed by the weapons and spells now readied. ‘Breeze’ took a low, mocking bow. “Well, that’s our show, ladies.”

‘Cassie’ curtsied. “We hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did.”

Snow raised her hooves for the final curtain call. “It was just a small performance to remind you that we can always meet again,” the unicorn’s usually orange eyes rainbowed ominously. “if we need to.”

~~~~~~

“Did you have fun, little ones?”

Surprised, Bosco and I shared a look. The colt scowled at the unseen puppeteer. “That’s it? All that, capturing us, splitting THEN jumbling us up, all just to lead us back together again? What was the point of it all?”

“It was necessary to be certain about your friends’ sensibilities. They had to prove themselves.”

“Prove themselves for what?” I argued. “What more are you planning?”

“And why the song and dance for them, but not us?” The frustration present in Bosco’s demand was clear.

Laughter rippled through the trees, unnatural and somehow both reverberant and flat all at once.

Guhrhr. I shuddered. Don’t do that again.

“It was not necessary to test you two. You were known qualities before being taken. Your comrades were the variables to be quantified. Now that they have been studied, the next step can proceed.”

“You keep talking about that,” Bosco’s hoof rubbed the hilt of his knife, “but what makes you think we’re in the slightest bit interested in doing what you want?”

Smug satisfaction laced the very air. “Because the payment is something YOU want, colt.”

“Come again.” He replied sarcastically. “Nothing is worth this hassle.”

Something thudded into the ground at his hooves. “Is that so?”

We both looked down. My eyes widened. ...Shit.

Stunned into silence, the charcoal colt’s tremble-laden fumbling could barely scoop up the Memory Orb dropped by the voice.

“Why do you have this?” I challenged on my friend’s behalf.

“A signpost for the trail you are now on. You know there is one more to recover, and so long as you do as instructed, its location will be provided for you.”

“Listen, Bosco,” I began placatingly.

“No.” He cut me off. “I know what you’re going to say, but I’m going to do this regardless. I don’t care if it’s a trap. I want my last Orb, so I’ll play their game. You will too, since we already agreed that we’re all in on this.”

“Well, yeah, but we’re not gonna be stupid about it!”

“Why not? That’s how you handle all your business.” Ignoring my displeasure, he addressed the forest. “Where’s the last Orb?”

“Under the place you call ‘Neighlway’.”

Bosco’s lips and cheeks sucked in on themselves. “...Shit.”

I’m sorry, which of us was the stupid one? “Neighlway? Steel Ranger city? How in the hell did you get it in there without them noticing?”

For once, the voice remained silent, either unwilling to answer truthfully, or mocking us with its reticence.

“Well, we definitely need to slow down and think up a plan now. Storming the place is not going to work. We’ll be gunned down before we get inside the walls.” Changing tac to avoid another confrontation, I softened my tone. “Bosco, this isn’t the time to be rash. You’re right, I run into things too much, but you’re always the one who tells me not to. You need to be that guy now, to take the time and come up with another plan. You’re good at that.”

“Do not take too much time, colt.” The voice broke its silence in a pointed roar. “You have one week to reach the third Orb, or you will find yourself in a place very similar to this forest.”

I glowered. “Fantastic. Anything else?”

“Yes, one more thing.” As the voice faded out, the forest around us began to shimmer and unfocus. “The radio DJ’s accounts of your work are very entertaining. Keep it up.”

Smug prick. The forest had deteriorated to a green glow, and even that was fading into...silver fog?

Bosco saw it too. “Son of a bitch. I don’t believe it.”

The last of the forest disappeared, and the Silver Fog creatures soon disappeared into the twilight sky. With no appropriate words, the two of us stood mutely.

We both jumped as hoarse voices called out from behind us. “Bosco? Snowflake?”

I know that voice! Spirits lifting, I started to turn.

“More fakes?”

Nope, really us this time.

“GET ‘EM!”

Oh no. I completed my about face just in time to get dogpiled by two of my friends, who immediately began punching me in the face.

“OW OW OW! KNOCK IT OFF!” Throwing my hooves up as a shield, I noticed that Bosco was in a similar predicament, with the twins laying into him. His pained cries of realness went ignored.

A wet smell reached my nostrils. I knew it well, and would have been happy to smell in it almost any other situation. “Undertow, get off me! I’m not a fake this time!”

Naiara, the other weight across my body, replied first. “Liar! How else would you know about the fakes?”

“Good point, keep punching!”

OH COME ON!

“We OW were OW watching you OW!” Bosco was valiantly pleading his case despite the Pegasus aggression. Schwarzwald’s hooting laughter in the background wasn’t making me feel any better about the situation.

Bosco pushed on. “The Silver Fog creatures WERE the forest! They snagged us all, and want us to go get my last Orb!”

“Aha! I knew they were fakes! Bosco only has ONE Orb.”

THWACK!

“Ow, damn it, that’s enough!”

“Hold on Breeze, I see an Orb here. Maybe they’re telling the truth.”

“...”

THWACK!

“BREEZE!”

“Sorry, but come on, can you really blame me?”

She’s not sorry at all!

Grumbling promises of extreme retribution, Bosco pushed Breeze off him and rolled to his hooves. Naiara, having climbed off me, gave him a hoof.

That still left one weight on my chest, however. Said weight’s voice was uncertain as it spoke. “So it’s… it’s really you, big sister?”

“No, it’s Crush the buffalo. Of course it’s me! Now get off!” I never liked to be short with Undertow, but her punches had hurt!

She didn’t though. She decided to exacerbate my bruises by clinging to me in a strangulating hug. “Snowflake! I missed you! I didn’t like that other Snowflake, she was… weird.”

I gingerly returned the hug. “The other Snowflake, right. She… oh...uh…”

Moving Undertow long enough to get to a sitting position, I caught sight of another member of our group. She had been even more troubled by the false Snowflake. Standing beside Schwarzwald, Wings hadn’t said anything since the forest vanished. When we locked gazes, nothing was said, as we both instantly blushed and looked away.

Schwarzwald’s raucous laughter redoubled.

~~~~~~

“Okay okay okay, how about this one? Ready? ‘Aqua Tease’.”

“Oh that is so perfect.”

“I know, right?” Hoof-bumping each other, Naiara and Breeze dissolved into giggles.

Bringing herself under control, Breeze tapped her chin. “Hmm, so we’ve got ‘Snowfake’ and ‘Aqua Tease’, that just leaves one for Cassie’s clone.”

Crossing her hooves, Naiara closed her eyes and concentrated. “Hmm… ‘Vena-sneaky’?”

Breeze waved her off. “Nah, doesn’t rhyme.”

“Um…” Undertow raised her hoof.

Both girls blinked at her. “You wanna try?” They looked at each other. They looked back at her. “Alright. Go for it.”

“...‘Cassi-FAUX-peia’?”

A two second pause followed before both Breeze and Naiara extended a hoof.

“Nailed it.”

“Very nice.”

Beaming, Undertow double-bumped the hooves.

Naiara clapped decisively. “Alright, now we gotta think up names for any potential clones for the others.”

“No, you don’t gotta do that.” Bosco had been checking Wings over for injuries, while I did the same for Schwarzwald. Neither Wings nor I were really up to the thought of physical closeness right now, and purposely avoided glancing in each other’s direction.

“What we gotta do is get moving. According to the voice of the Mysterpons, we’ve only got one week to get my 3rd Orb.”

“A week? What happens after a week?”

He flicked the Orb into the air and caught it. “If it takes longer than a week, we wake up in another forest.”

Naiara and Breeze bounced a little. “So we might get to name the other clones?”

“WE’RE NOT WAITING FOR MORE CLONES!”

“WHY DON’T YOU LIKE FUN?”

“YOU SUCK!”

“YOU SUCK!”

“May I interject?”

We all jumped at this, looking around in panic at the unseen voice, feminine but distorted.

Wings shot into the air, drawing her revolvers. “Are they back?”

“Everyone stay together!” I barged Undertow towards the middle of the pack, with Bosco, Naiara and Schwarzwald crowding in close. Breeze and Cassie were in the air too, grenades and sniper rifle at the ready.

“Anyone see them?”

“Where are they?”

Bosco ground his teeth around his combat knife. “One week my flank!”

“I am not the Silver Fog.” The voice replied, sounding mildly amused.

“Oh, fantastic.” He muttered. “Another damn delay.”

“Then who are you?”

Yeesh, Breeze, you’re like 10 metres up. How are you hearing that so clearly?

“You would be Aqua Breeze, correct? Delighted to make your acquaintance. I have been looking forward to talking with you for quite some time.”

All eyes went to Breeze, who blanked. “Do I know you?”

“No,” Schwarzwald revved down her minigun, and reached for a pocket. “but I think I do.” She produced her communicator. “Amber-dahling, is that you?”

“Schwarzwald,” Amber confirmed. “as always, it is a pleasure. However, today I call on business that cannot wait.”

Three thuds sounded as our fliers landed, the danger having passed. Schwarzwald turned the volume up so that we could all hear Amber’s words.

“Do tell, dear Amber. Why are you in such a hurry?”

The Bernstein leader launched into her explanation without preamble. “There are two griffon mercenaries, from McCoy’s Monsters, heading to your position at this very moment. I want you to wait for them where they are.”

I felt like my heart jumped into my eyeballs. “What? They’re coming here? How did they find us?”

“I told them where you are.” Even through the communicator, Amber’s detachment was jarring.

“Amber-dahling,” An edge crept into Schwarzwald’s voice. “you know that we are not friends with McCoy’s squad. I do not like the idea that you have given them our location.”

“Calm yourself, Schwarzwald. They are not coming to fight. In fact, they are not aware that six of your eight will be present at all. You are one of the two they are aware of, Schwarzwald.”

Various puzzled sounds scattered around the group. How does she know how many of us are here?

Nobody looked any happier after her elaboration. “Amber,” The dropped ‘dahling’ was immediately noticeable. “who are they coming to see?”

“They have business with Wings.”

Everybody turned to the griffon, who looked as lost as the rest of us. She, in turn, sent a questioning look towards Schwarzwald.

The older mare grimaced. “How do you know this, Amber?”

“Because it is part of a deal I made with them. The details of which I will not reveal at this time.” Her voice seemed to be challenge Schwarzwald to try pressing further.

Blinking slowly, Schwarzwald’s expression gradually morphed into the first hints of her regular easy-going nature. “Amber, you realise that neither Wings nor I have made any such deal. We have no reason to meet with these griffons.”

There was no surprise in Amber’s response. “I do realise that, and I will personally pay you each twelve thousand caps when I next see you. Two thousand for the meeting, and another ten for the next business I have with you. Said business will come in the near future.”

Wings’ eyes bugged out, and Schwarzwald raised an eyebrow at the hefty payment. “That is a lot of caps, dahling. What job pays so much?”

There was no response for several seconds. “Amber, are you there?”

The speaker crackled. “Yes, Schwarzwald. I cannot reveal anything at present, but wish to make it known that the ten thousand caps for participation is available for all eight of you.”

Bosco half-choked, Naiara hissed, the twins whistled, Undertow’s jaw dropped, and I sucked in a ragged breath. What’s so important that she’s willing to toss eighty thousand caps our way?

“Regardless,” Amber continued. “the two griffon are expecting you and Wings to be present. No others were mentioned. Perhaps you can use that? Either way, I ask that you listen to them. Part of the deal was that there would be no violence. From what I hear of griffons in general, and McCoy in particular, he is loathe to tolerate broken contracts from his tiercels. There should be no danger.”

Silently, Schwarzwald looked to Wings. The griffon’s claws had curled in on themselves, and her eyes were dark, but she gave a nod. Placated, if not satisfied, Schwarzwald spoke into the receiver. “Very well, Amber. Wings and I shall meet this griffon. We will not attack them without cause. However, I will not tell you more than that.”

“A prudent response.”

“AND we will discuss our future dealings when we next meet. That conversation may not be quiet.” Though her tone stayed light, the slight tremble in the hoof holding the communicator told a different story.

Sounding resigned, Amber spoke a final time. “I understand. I will only say that I do not squander valuable connections, nor endanger them without cause. The griffons will be at your location within two hours. I suggest you make your preparations. Until we meet again, Schwarzwald, Wings, Aqua Breeze.” The communicator static’d, then went dead.

Without looking up from the device, the mare uttered seven words. “You six should remain out of sight.”

~~~~~~

Chapter 22-3: Fracturing Faces

“They’re here.”

At Cassie’s warning, Breeze, Naiara, Bosco, Undertow and I all shimmied up to the ridge we were hiding at. According to the sniper pegasus, it was around half a kilometre from where the Silver Fog forest had been, where Schwarzwald and Wings were still standing.

Lying next to Cassie, I hesitated to move too much, lest she lose concentration while looking through her rifle sight. Still, my trepidation got the better of me in the end. “You can make the shot, if things go wrong, right?”

“Of course she can!” Breeze snapped from two spots down the line. “Nobody has better eyes than Cass.”

“Yeah, but this time it counts.” Undertow clarified.

Cassie grunted, without looking away from the scope. “Especially when it counts. They’re about to land.”

At the end of the line, Naiara fidgeted. “I wish we could hear what they were saying.”

As in on cue, Breeze’s communicator crackled. “Stay calm, dahling.”

“Schwarzwald?” Breeze scrambled for the device.

Wings’ voice emerged from the speaker next. “Yeah, I know. Still don’t think this is gonna be any fun, though.”

Bringing the communicator to her lips, Breeze prepared to reply. Before she could, however, Undertow put a hoof over the receiver. “I don’t think she is talking to us. I think she just wants us to listen.”

Undertow’s hoof still over her mouth, Breeze’s eyes and brows widened and lifted, and shrank and lowered, until she eventually shrugged and stayed silent. She, Naiara, and Undertow squeezed in close to listen to what was being said.

I stayed beside Cassie, watching what I could from this distance, which wasn’t much. I could just barely make out that the two descending shapes were griffons, much larger than the petite WIngs, even taller than Schwarzwald, but beyond that they were just blotches of colours.

Wings’ usual cockiness seemed strained as she addressed the new arrivals. “Eitom, Wicker. Can’t say it’s a pleasure.”

Eitom and Wicker? I rubbed my jaw, remembering the last time we’d met, where the former had cracked me across the face with his rifle butt. “This is bad, they’re not just any monsters. They’re McCoy’s lieutenants!”

“Quiet!” Cassie hissed. “I can’t hear!”

“Wings,” Eitom’s cultured speech seemed a start contrast to his past actions. “I believe you know why we are here.”

“Collecting on our deal?” If she was surprised, it didn’t sound like it.

“That’s right, dudette.” Wicker chimed in. “You owe us, and we’re here to collect.”

“A mutual acquaintance has hired we two, and McCoy, to act as-”

“DUDE!” Wicker interrupted Eitom’s exposition. “We talked about this! You can’t keep blabbing every little detail!”

The black-and-white blotch still managed to look chastised, half a kilometre away. “Right, right. Sorry. As I was saying. We’re here to collect. Some griffons have business with you, and you alone. I’m sure you can fill in the blanks.”

“That's not good.” Cassie hissed.

“What's wrong? Are there more griffons?” I couldn’t see any, but I didn’t have a sniper rifle, or her eyes.

“No, but Wings… she’s acting strangely.”

My horn glowed briefly. “Strangely how?”

Cassie shook her head lightly. “I don’t know, but whatever that Eitom said really affected her. She’s smiling, but her eyes are wide open, and she keeps swallowing. I think she's nervous.”

“...I understand.” Wings said at last. There was no cockiness in her voice now. It was flat, resigned.

“Wings, do not make any rash decisions.” Schwarzwald cautioned, still watching the two tiercels.

“No,” Wings stopped her. “this isn’t anything rash. In fact, it’s a long time coming. I owe these two, and it’s time to collect.”

“Wings!” Schwarzwald croaked. She never sounds like that. This can’t be good.

Wings ignored her, and addressed the Monsters. “Can you give me a few minutes. I need to contact a few people. I won’t move, I swear.”

The straw and black-and-white blotches looked at each other. “...Five minutes. We’ll be in the air. Come up when you’re done.”

With that, the two slowly elevated, rising a hundred metres in the air, before coming to a halt. Their wings flapped as they hovered in place.

Bosco immediately grabbed the communicator from Breeze. “Cassie, keep those two in your sights.”

“Roger.”

He flipped the switch. “Wings, answer me! What’s going on?”

She shook her head in the distance. “I’ll be with you in a sec, Boss Colt. I gotta tell Schwarzwald something in private first.” The communicator went silent.

“Wings? Wings!” Bosco yelled into the device, but to no avail. She’d switched hers off.

Groaning violently, he switched tactics. “Cassie, forget those two. Read Wings’ lips. We’ll watch the griffons.”

“Bosco, I don’t know how to lip-read.”

Growling, he tossed the communicator back to Breeze without looking. Naiara managed to catch it before it smacked the techhead in the face.

Watching Wings and Schwarzwald talk was heartbreaking. Schwarzwald was animated. Wings… was not. She stood statue still as her partner gesticulated. The chocolate-and-cream griffon patiently let Schwarzwald tire herself out, then reached out and touched the mare with her claw.

Only when Schwarzwald turned away did the communicator come to life. “Guys, you there?”

Naiara still had our radio. “We’re here, Wings. What’s going on?”

“Naiara? Alright, I’ll start with you. I… can’t say I know you all that well, even after all the time we’ve spent together. You were more the others’ friend than mine. I can say this, though. Nobody here has a bad word to say about you, and I totally see why. You kept things fun.”

Regarding the communicator with confusion, Naiara looked around for an explanation. None of us had one to give. “Wings, what are you talking about?”

Wings pushed on. “Who’s next? Breeze? Cass?”

“We’re here.” Cassie called out, still watching over the two Monsters.

“Cool. I always felt like I could talk to you two about anything. Having a few more fliers around is nice.”

Breeze, perturbed, tried to cover it with gruff. “Wings, seriously, the hell’re you talking about?”

“Come on, Blue Fire.” Cassie pressed. “You can talk to us.”

False cheer was not what anyone wanted to hear from her, but was what we got. “No time, bud, sorry. Lemme talk to Bosco.”

The communicator was helpless passed over to the colt. “Wings.” He acknowledged, frustration evident in his voice.

“Hey, Boss Colt.” She sounds so tired. “Sorry, but I’m not gonna be able to stick around to help you find that last Memory Orb of yours. I gotta go do a thing.”

He was shaking. “What thing is so important that you can’t stick with us for a while longer? You’re breaking your word, featherbrain.”

“Yeah, but I think you’ll be okay. You really know your stuff, guy. You can look after the others just fine.”

“Not really a fair trade, Wings. We like having you around.” Lips drawn back to bear teeth, he kept looking between the communicator and the griffon-blotch in the distance.

Thanks, Bosco. That means a lot. Sorry again. Can you put Undertow on, please?”

Undertow grabbed the communicator out of his hooves before he could make a move. Her voice was even more watery than usual. “Wings, why are you saying these things?”

“Oof,” Wings chuckled. “keep that up and your family won’t be able to help spoiling you rotten, kid.”

“Answer me!” Undertow pleaded.

“I gotta go away, Undertow. When I’m gone, I need you to look out for your sister, okay? Special mission from Blue Fire for you. You gotta keep Red Ice out of trouble.”

“But I’m not Blue Fire, you are!”

“I’m a lot of things, kid. Proud of you is one of them.”

A whimpering sob came from the girl.

“Snow.” Wings’ voice somehow overrode Undertow’s distress.

I took the communicator from Undertow’s unresisting hooves. “Wings. Explain this right now!”

“You need to find another hero, Snow. Someone else to spread the love. I’m gonna be going off-radar.”

“You’re our only hero, Wings. You’re the only Blue Fire we have.”

“Sorry again.” There was no fight in her voice. She wouldn’t be convinced, or swayed, or comforted. You suck at acting, Wings. We can all tell you hate this, so why are you doing it? “What do they have on you, Wings? They told me you made a deal. What was it?”

“Before your time, Snow. Not your business.” Her voice lifted, just a little. "Don't worry, I'll be okay."

“Your business is screwing with OUR business. You know what’s at stake here!” I couldn’t help the anger creeping in.

Wings replied in kind. “Look, I’m not gonna argue with you about this, Snow. I’m out of time, and this is something I’ve gotta do. That’s all you need to know. If I can help in any way with your mission while I’m away, I will, but I can’t keep playing a silly game of cops and robbers with you!”

“So what?” I challenged. “Is that it? No more Blue Fire?”

“...Gon-na miss ya, Red Ice.” The quaver in her voice shook something inside.

“WINGS!” I don’t ever wanna hear you talking like that again.

It was too late. The line was dead. All seven of us, six on the ridge and one down below, watched as she took off with the other griffons into the sky. She didn't hesitate. She was almost enthusiastic, even. As they faded out, Schwarzwald’s blotch slowly turned and began making its way towards us.

“Fuck.” Bosco intoned, deadpan. “Fuck.” Louder this time. “Fuck!” Still louder, almost yelling. “FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!” Now he was yelling it, over and over again.

The rest of us sat around, despondent, as he raged. “What in the hell good is this? What about my Orbs? What about the Windigoes? What about…”

He stamped on the ground once, twice, thrice. “...what about her? What’s she gonna do now?”

She’s gonna fulfill her obligations, like always.

“We don’t know, Bosco. In case you hadn’t noticed, she wasn’t exactly forthcoming with that information!” Breeze’s aggravation was obviously not directed at him, so he didn’t respond.

She’s never been forthcoming. She still hasn’t told me her name.

“Why doesn’t she trust us with this?” Cassie lifelessly packed away her rifle.

She does. We’re the only people she does trust. It’s why she stayed so long, even though none of this is really her fight.

“Why does she think we’d be okay with her being scared like this?” Undertow sat glumly.

Good question.

“I thought of her as a friend.” Naiara supplied, watching Schwarzwald plod up to the ridge.

We all did. She’s our friend. That was never in doubt. Even when I was leading the Raiders, she still stuck with me when I almost died. She led me to Undertow again.

She’s supposed to save the Wasteland.

She’s supposed to fight against Red Ice.

She’s supposed to be loved by everyone.

I stood up, jaw set.

She’s supposed to tell me her name.

“Come on.” I announced to the group at large.

“Come on what?”

“We’re going to go get Schwarzwald, then we’re all going to get Wings.” Bosco’s gonna kill me.

I turned to the colt. “Listen, I know we only have a week, but-”

“Snow, be quiet.”

That was direct.

“We’ve got a week to spare.” A hint of a smile curled up at the corner of his mouth. “Let’s go get her.”

“Hahaa! That’s what I’m talking about!” Breeze was less restrained, punching the air enthusiastically.

“She can’t truly think we will let her get away without severe mocking about what happened between her and ‘Snowfake’.” Cassie had caught Bosco’s grin.

“Yeah!” I agreed. “I-wait…”

“You had to see that one coming, big sister.” Undertow patted me on the head, sporting a big smile of her own.

“Our friend needs us!” Naiara clicked on the communicator. “Schwarzwald, stop moping!”

The older mare’s voice was anything but jovial as she answered. “Naiara, please, not n-”

“I said stop moping and let’s go get Wings back!”

“DAHLINGS! You are wonderful!”

~~~~~~

“HALT! Who goes-URK!”

I looked on, unimpressed, as the griffon guard hit the floor, having just been knocked out by Naiara. “Sheesh, turn the radio on sometime, buddy. I’ve been here before, and I'm kinda famous.”

“Shh!” Naiara chided. “Come on, Snow, we’re trying to keep a low profile here! Don’t start anything until we find out where Wings is.”

“Right, right.” I whispered back. Naiara scaled the wall of a nearby shack, disappearing away over the rooftops of Gull Gulf. Not so vertically gifted, I was forced to scurry through the tight spaces. It was the only way to get closer to the centre of the town without being seen.

I’m gonna be really pissed if she’s not here. Granted, we only came here because this is where griffons hang out, and Wings is a griffon. Which, now that I think about it, might be profiling, so...

“Freeze!” Another guard cocked his shotgun at me from a nearby roof.

Glad that thought got interrupted.

A split-second whistling noise sounded, and then the griffon’s eye exploded, showering the wall beside me with goo. The guard simply toppled off the roof, thudding down bonelessly into the alley behind him. This angle showed the nasty bullet hole in the back of his skull.

“Not fun, huh, pal?” I muttered, glad Cassie wasn’t shooting at me for once.

I slowly made my way through the rest of the shacks, ducking out of sight when other guards stalked past. The majority of shacks looked basically the same as each other, and I almost lost track of where I was a time or two.

It was only when I had to scramble around a corner to escape another guard that I spotted something useful. The supply shed, where I’d been briefly cornered by Eitom and Wicker, still hadn’t had the hole I’d kicked through it repaired. Groaning softly as I remembered the jagged edges, I hunkered down and crawled through the gap, hissing as the uneven rim rasped against my coat. Luckily, I managed to get through without being cut open, unlike last time.

“Before we start with your business,” I quickly ducked down, remaining motionless as McCoy’s deep, rumbling bass drifted in through the door crack. “You got anything to say to help my Monsters, your fellow griffons, in going after Red Ice? You are Blue Fire, after all.”

My heart jumped. Wings! I knew she’d be here, totally called it! I crept up to the door, peekng through the gap.

Wings was standing in the open square, dwarfed by McCoy, who paced back and forth across from her. The massive stone-grey griffon was rolling his nasty cigar around his beak, not even bothering to hide the sneer he was sending her way. To the side were Wicker and Eitom, as well as a clawful of guards, though the latter’s weapons were hardly more than ornamental in comparison to the fully equipped Monsters. Where Eitom and Wicker had assault rifles and heavy armour, the guards had rickety-looking pistols and body plates. Beyond the Monsters and the guards was a crescent of onlookers, unarmed Gull Gulf griffons of all ages and genders.

Big crowd, but then again they do have a celebrity in their midst. Two, if you wanna count McCoy. Only really those three and maybe the guards for trouble if this all goes crazy.

“Why would I tell you?” Wings bit out, her usually brash voice coming out stretched. She still had her revolvers in her holsters, which I had to raise an eyebrow at, given the state of affairs.

“You should be tellin’ me because I am the one appointed by your flock to bring you back home. The final decision rests not with me, but it can be altered by what I’ve got to say.” McCoy paused to reach up and grab his cigar. He removed it from his beak, blew out some dirty smoke, and replaced it. “So, kid, what am I gonna tell them? Keep in mind that I’ve known your flock leaders for a long time, worked with ‘em plenty in the past, and I don’t plan on lying to them. That’d be goin’ against contract, you know? And McCoy NEVER goes against contract, unlike yourself.”

Wings growled and looked away, but McCoy just kept sneering, and pressed. “So I’ll ask again, oathbreaker, what am I tellin’ them?”

Feathers fluttering, Wings shook as she stood her ground. Her sapphire eyes seemed to be trying to burn a hole straight through McCoy’s smug face. “I’ve been called worse than that, McCoy. Why should I care about your opinion at all? Especially when you’ve clearly already made up your mind!”

Turning so that he was side-on to her, he regarded her with one wrinkled, scarred eye. “No, you ain’t been called worse. That right there is the worst insult any true griffon can be called. Although, given what I’ve been told by your flock, there’s a couple others I can call you too, and they come pretty close; ‘Backstabber’? ‘Murderer’? ‘Can’t be trusted’? How do they sound to you, Blue Fire? They better, ‘cause calling you a true griffon might be an untruth on my part. ‘s what I’m tryin’ to find out.”

“I know what I did.” She gnashed, and squared her form, shoulders tense.

McCoy turned away from her and addressed the crowd. “But maybe these fine folks don’t! How ‘bout it, Gull Gulf? Why don’t I tell you what this chick whelp did, way back when?”

The crowd voiced their consent, even though some of the hens began shepherding the younger hatchlings away. With one last mocking look at Wings, McCoy launched into his tale. “Well now, you all know how it works when yer growing up, right? You start gettin’ a few easy jobs to test how ready you are to join the grown-ups.”

I didn’t want to take my eyes off Wings, even as I listened. She was just standing there, letting him talk. It hurt to see her looking so helpless. This can’t be about her getting a doctor to save her sick cousin, right? Even griffons aren’t so cruel that they’d shun her this much over that.

He pointed accusingly at Wings. “Now this girl had chances even before she did what she did, and she didn’t exactly set the world ablaze with how she did. Still, she got another chance: A milk-run job. Provide some extra muscle for a Mom’n’Pop couple, a tiny little operation. Barely worth anybody’s time. A two-day one-night job, people. Point A to Point B. Scout ahead, shoot anything that ain’t the clients or their merchandise. Real easy run, between two cities that already were real good at killin’ bandits. Shouldn’ta seen a lick o’ trouble.”

He spread his claws in mock-befuddlement. “So how’d it all go wrong, folks? Well, little miss Wings here decided that she didn’t like the contract her flock’d signed with Mom’n’Pop, and didn’t do her job!”

At this revelation, the crowd erupted, hooting and screeching all manner of obscenities, some repeating McCoy’s earlier insults, at the diminutive griffon. Wings just watched in silence, looking from one end of the crowd to the other.

I saw something else. Her eyes are glistening. She’s trying so hard to hide it. I doubted any of the crowd even saw her well enough, rather than the image in their mind, to notice.

McCoy wasn’t finished. “So she welched on the deal, a despicable act just at that, but her actions killed ol’ Mom’n’Pop. They died that very night, under Wings’ supposed care!”

Amazingly, the crowd could get louder. Wicker was shouting right along with them, and Eitom was glaring daggers at Wings and twitching his talons on and off his rifle’s trigger.

McCoy took another drag on his cigar. “You got something t’say, Blue Fire? ‘cause it better be good if you do.”

Oh come on, that’s not fair. You’ve already turned the crowd totally against her. What CAN she say now that they’ll believe? I gritted my teeth. Jackhole prick.

“Sure, I’ve got something to say.” Eyes blazing and voice shaking, Wings refused to back down from McCoy’s challenge. “You chose one a very interesting word there, McCoy: ‘Merchandise’. Was that your word or did it come from my flock?” She flicked her feathers at his as his mouth opened. “Doesn’t matter. Anyway, let me explain something about merchandise: YOU DON’T CALL IT THAT IF IT’S OTHER PEOPLE!”

Her bellow caught the crowd by surprise, halting their jeering for a moment. Wings took advantage of that, marching around the crescent and daring each and every one of the to meet her gaze. “They weren’t a damn caravan, or anything respectable like that. Mom’n’Pop were SLAVERS! Their business was capturing and selling other ponies! Want to know what I was doing for the first day, before those two bastards died? I was wondering what kind of mistake had been made! Griffons shouldn’t take on this kind of work. That was for the ponies who didn’t know any better. Griffons hold themselves to higher standards… or so I thought.”

Well, there goes the crowd again. They didn’t like that at all. I felt pride stirring for Wings at her words, even if they painted my species in an unflattering light.

“Mom’n’Pop were tyrants, even by slaver standards. They were vicious, malicious monsters to their captives. They beat them. They denied them food, water, or cover from the weather. They laughed as these half-starved, half-crippled victims staggered and fell, then beat them when they didn’t get up! They shot at them for fun, openly talked about raping one of the fillies. Not a mare, a filly! For those of you who are too young or too stupid to know the difference, a filly is a child! They joked about raping a child!”

She was on a roll now, and the crowd didn’t seem like it would dare interrupt her. “So, when night came, Mom’n’Pop got so damn drunk that they kicked the keys to the slave cage within reach of one of their victims. I watched the whole thing. As those two scumbags tried to beat whiskey dick, their victims unlocked themselves and escaped. I watched the whole thing. I watched them take off their chains, I watched them open the cage, and I watched them disappear into the night.”

She came to a halt directly across from McCoy, who was openly mad now.

I wonder if that smoke’ll start coming out of his ears?

Wings managed a smile at this point, halfway between cheer and malice. “And… I watched them come back. Lugging whatever they could find; rocks, sticks, jagged glass. Let that sink in, hens and tiercels. Mom had a shotgun, Pop had a pistol. The slaves had wood, stone, and fired sand. Still, they came back to fight. I watched that too. One of them, dirty and hungry, could barely lift his rock, but he managed. He was the first to attack. Mom’n’Pop were too drunk to even find their guns, let alone use them to defend themselves. I stood aside and watched the freed slaves beat their monstrous captors to death.”

Fixing McCoy with a look of utter disgust, she all but spat the next words. “And I’m glad I did, you chickenshit coward!”

A roar came from the side, as Eitom launched himself towards her. Wicker tried and failed to grab him, leaving McCoy to shoulder-slam him just before he could reach her. The two went down in a heap, soon joined by Wicker. The other two Monsters grappled with the raging Eitom, trying to hold him back. Wings watched with detachment, almost as if she’d burned through all her emotion with her speech. The crowd was scattering now, some screaming, as the chaos continued.

Now’s my chance. Just gotta hope the others are ready to move. Backing away from the door crack, I triggered the glacier-blue glow of my horn. I poured out chilling mist, filling the entire shed. My coat slicked with ice and water, and I couldn’t see a thing. I kept pushing though, deepening the mist. It had to be big for what I had planned.

I kept an ear on the scuffle outside, as McCoy and Wicker fought to calm the usually prim-and-proper Eitom. It took a while, but finally his anger ebbed enough that he was able to shout out that he was back in control.

Guess this’ll have to do. Hope it’s enough. With a swift spin, I double-bucked the shed door. At the same time as it banged open, I propelled the mist out into the open, where it almost instantly covered the square. Amid the shouts of panic and confusion, and under cover of the mist, I rushed out of the shed, running full tilt towards where I’d last seen Wings.

When I was satisfied that my location lined up with my memory of the square’s layout, I took a deep breath.

This is either going to be epic, or backfire spectacularly.

Eh, either way she’s worth it.

“YOU DARE?!?!?!” I hollered into the mist.

“Who the hell is that?” Wicker called out from the miasma.

“You gotta be fuckin’ kiddin’ me!” McCoy connected the dots faster than his subordinate. “Red Ice!”

“Snow?” Wings hissed from somewhere beside me. “What are you doing here?”

With a magical flourish, I drew all of the mist in towards my body, covering Wings and I in an opaque sphere. Grinning ever so slightly, I winked at her. Watch this.

With one final magical blast, I sent the mist exploding skyward in a white cyclone, until not a speck of it remained.

The crowd of Gull Gulf had had enough. Seeing the demon pony from the radio broadcasts appear in their midst, apparently out of nowhere, was too much for them. Within moments, the square was emptied of all but five bodies. Three Monsters, one monster, and one hero.

It was pure disbelief that kept the three Monsters from speaking, or attacking me. I was okay with that. “McCoy, you do occasionally listen to the DJ’s radio broadcasts, correct?”

He just grunted around his cigar. My rhetorical question didn’t even need that, so I continued. “I’m sure you remember a few weeks ago. Mere days after you and I first met, in fact. I do hope you remember my words. In case you, or your stooges do not, allow me to remind you.”

The two ‘stooges’ seemed to stir slightly from their shock, more the hotheaded Eitom than Wicker, but didn’t get aggressive.

Time for some vintage Red Ice. “Blue Fire is my prey. I distinctly warned you and the entire region of this fact. I do not compromise my hunt, and nor do I share my spoils.” My voice dropped several octaves. “She. Is. Mine.”

“What the hell are you doing?” Wings half-groused, half-moaned from behind me.

I answered her but didn’t turn. “I am laying claim to what is mine. You and I have unfinished business. I am the one who will decide your fate. I am the one who permits you to surrender. I am the one who will put an end to you. Your life belongs to me.”

I heard her claw grind in the dirt behind me. “THE HELL IT D-MMPH!” The sudden ice gag over her beak had her clawing at it, while simultaneously glaring knives at me.

Sorry, Wings, but we really can’t afford to have you screw this up right now.

McCoy’s breathing had regulated after his struggle with Eitom, and he remained calm. “I don’t know what you think is gonna happen here, pony, but you ain’t takin’ her.” He waved his claw at his subordinates, who began reaching for their weapons.

Don’t show any hesitation or fear! “You couldn’t stop me in Lethbridle by yourself, and you couldn’t stop me here with your flunkies when I was multitudes weaker than I am now. What chance do you have against me, buzzard?”

“Enough talk!” McCoy spat out his cigar and stood on it. “We take ‘em both.”

“Interesting point.” I replied. “Allow me to disagree.” Anytime now, guys.

My prayers were answered, as another small shed on the other side of the square went up in a ball of flame. The three griffon mercs whipped around, weapons ready.

“Eyes!” Naiara whooped from… somewhere. Two contraptions pinged across the ground at McCoy’s paws.

I had already grabbed Wings, and was dragging her as fast as I could straight out of town. I still caught some of the flashbang’s blinding light in my peripheral vision, but wasn’t afflicted beyond that.

I willed the ice gag away from Wings’ mouth. She immediately began berating me. “Why are you here? I didn’t ask you to come after me!” Thankfully, she kept running regardless.

“You’re welcome anyway.” I half-jibed back. Whatever problems she had with her rescue could be worked out later, just as soon as we were safe.

~~~~~~

We made it about fifteen minutes out.

“REEEEED IIIIIIIICE!!!” Talons first, McCoy divebombed right between the two of us, sending us both sprawling.

I kept rolling as a burst of gunfire slashed the ground where I’d been. Blood-shot eyes wide, McCoy was beside himself with anger. “Never again. Never again will you interfere. I’ll finish you off right now!”

His rifle swung up, firing a long burst straight into my hastily summoned ice wall. The increasingly frequent cracking sounds told me this wouldn’t be enough.

Two louder shots rang out, and McCoy squawked incoherently. I risked a glance over the wall and saw him take to the skies, chasing after Wings. The smaller griffon had grazed him with her revolvers, but hadn’t slowed him any.

Wings’ armour was light, and wouldn’t stand up to the repeated fire from McCoy’s battle rifle. Still, she wheeled and spun, dove and rose, rolled and tucked, all to keep her away from the hail of bullets.

“Bring him closer to the ground, Wings! I can’t help you up there!” My magic wouldn’t reach that far, not in a fast-paced firefight.

If she heard me, Wings gave no sign. She kept weaving and evading, but couldn’t keep up any speed when constantly changing direction. McCoy was getting closer and closer. Finally he managed to shoot forward and clip her as she arc’d, sending her tumbling out of control.

He was on her before she could right herself. Pushing down from above with strong thrusts, he easily outmassed and overpowered her smaller wings. She couldn’t shake him and couldn’t fight the rapid descent.

“I’m coming!” I took off running towards their landing point, forcing myself into the air in a wild leap. I intercepted them a metre and a half off the ground, the impact wrenching Wings from his grasp, and turning us enough that we both landed hard on our shoulders. I felt several things inside crunch, however I didn’t slow down.

Getting to my hooves as quick as possible, I made the costly mistake of looking the wrong way to find McCoy. His claw wrapped around my neck and squeezed hard. I couldn’t breathe. He picked me up like a ragdoll, swung me around and slammed me face first into the dirt. Pain exploded over my entire face.

“Die!” I rolled over in time to see McCoy slam another magazine into place, and swing the barrel towards me. When it was halfway there, a hawkish keen sounded out and Wings was on him. Her back paws corkscrewed into his gun, which flew from his grasp. She kept attacking with her revolvers, firing at point-blank range.

Less than point-blank range. McCoy was too close, inside the firing range of her guns. She couldn’t get her arms turned inwards to shoot at him, not before a jamming, clicking noise proved she was out of bullets.

Nothing if not resourceful, Wings resorted to a tactic she’d employed on me in the past, and began beating on his head and shoulders with the empty firearms. Driven by rage and bloodlust, McCoy barely seemed to feel the diminutive griffon’s strikes as he lashed out with a fist, catching her right in the jaw. Her revolvers flew out of her grasp. One landed near me, while the other went straight up.

Grabbing the fallen revolver, I stuffed it into my mouth and wrapped my tongue around the trigger, pointing it at McCoy just as he caught the other falling gun. He readied his at me in the same moment.

We both froze.

Chest heaving, McCoy managed a hoarse chuckle. “You’re out, pony. Can’t shoot me with an empty gun.”

“Moo’re oud koo!” I shot back, muffled by the mass of metal in my mouth.

“SNOW!” We both whipped out heads around to where Wings was staggering back to her paws, clutching her shoulder. “Only one of them’s empty. Shoot him!”

The leader of the Monsters and I locked gazes again, eyes wide, and we both pulled the trigger.

“GRRRRAAAAGGHHHH!!!” My bullet ripped along the side of his neck, in an angry red gouge. Howling in pain, McCoy wheeled away. Dropping the revolver and clutching at his neck, he pulled his claw away bloody.

“I’LL KILL YOU BOTH!” Completely off the deep end now, he pounced, tackling me to the ground. Before I could think about making a move, his fists were slamming hard into my head. I got my hooves up to block, but the power of his strikes was forcing them back into my face anyway. These were no precision strikes, he was just running on primal fury.

And there was nothing I could do to stop him.

“HRGK!”

Wings’ claws, jammed into the gouge in McCoy’s neck, ripped up and away, tearing feathers and flesh from sinew in a gruesome wrench. Exposed bone and brain were left behind.

Not even McCoy could ignore that pain. Wailing, he rolled on the ground and clutched at his face. Wings and I were completely forgotten in his mind-numbing agony.

Ashen-faced and wavering on her paws, Wings meandered unsteadily over to McCoy’s fallen rifle.

Without a word, she picked it up, and unloaded every last bullet into the leader of the Monsters. By the time the weapon fell from her leaden-limbed grasp, he wasn’t even twitching.

Collapsing into me, both Wings and I slid to the ground. Neither of us spoke, nor moved, or anything besides look skyward. We just didn’t have the energy.

~~~~~~

“Get up.”

My eyes popped open, and I immediately regretted it. The brief nap hadn’t done nearly enough to restore my energy. “I’m up, I’m up. We should get going.” I just about managed to get to my hooves…

...before Wings’ vicious slap sent me to the floor again. Clutching my already-bruised face, my look of disbelief was all I could muster as a response.

Massaging her claw, Wings stared back, furious. “Do you know what you’ve done?”

I coughed a little to clear out my dirt-encrusted throat. “Well, I thought that I saved your life, but that doesn’t seem like the answer you’ll give full marks for.”

“Don’t joke!” She near-shrieked at me. “You just cost me any chance I had to reconnect with my family! They’ll never take me back now!” She turned away, moaning to herself. “Not after what happened, after… THIS!”

“Just to be clear,” I quipped as a rubbed my ever-swelling jaw. “this would be the same family that hired McCoy to track you down and DRAG you back in the first place?”

I watched as her talons curled inwards. She pointed at me. She opened her mouth to speak. She closed it again. She pointed everywhere but at me.

Can’t say ‘no’, can you? Not you. Too honest with yourself, just like Schwarzwald said. It was probably improper to be self-satisfied about that at the time.

“...Yes.” She managed at last.

“And you wanted to go back?” I queried.

“And it’s YOUR fault!” She was back to pointing at me again.

“My fault?!”

“Years I’ve been away. Years and years. In all that time, I never once expected to be taken back. I’d made my peace with it. I had Schwarzwald to travel with. I had Blue Fire to keep me busy. I had my freedom. And. You. Ruined. It!”

“The heck did I do to ruin… whatever it is you’re saying I ruined?” I wasn’t in the mood to simply ask her what she was talking about.

Her wings spread instinctually. “I’ll tell you what you did. You walked out of that damn Stable and didn’t make your peace! You knew you had a family back in that hole-in-the-ground, and you never gave up hope that you’d get back to them. I saw that in you day after day, and it made me want to try again! Obviously today has proven that it was useless, and now I don’t even have the hope to hold on to. Now I know for certain that I won’t be with my family ever again, all because you had to go and be so damn precious with yours!”

“YOU STOLE ME HOPE FROM ME!” I countered, rearing up onto my hind legs to mimic her aggressive posturing. “I did give up hope! When you and Cassie took my Pipbuck, you blocked me from ever truly believing I’d get home. I made my peace sometime between that day, and meeting Undertow, but I had made my peace with it. That’s on you!”

“Oh so everything’s on me, is it?”

“Yeah, everything’s on you. Because of you, you’re separated from your backwards-thinking stuck-in-their-ways flock. Because of you, I not only found my way back to my family but also expanded it! Because of you, we have a chance to protect all of Equestria from nightmare monsters from the edge of the world! That’s all on you!” You made your own damn bed, now lie in it!

We regarded each other warily for several dozen seconds. Neither of us broke the silence, yet neither relaxed.

Finally, my exhausted limbs began to tremble, so I sat down heavily. This seemed to break the tension, as Wings did the same. “I don’t think those things you said work the way you wanted them to. I’m not exactly regretting doing those things.”

“Yeah, well,” I gruffed. “your good actions overshadow the bad, to a pretty insane degree. You’re one of the best people I know.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. It's so annoying sometimes.”

“Pfft.” Her chin dropped to rest on her sternum, as she fought to keep the laughter inside.

I had to ask the next question. “Did you really wanna go back? Knowing what you’re like, and knowing what griffon culture’s like, and the reasons you left in the first place, I can’t see you being happy there.”

“No, not really. I think I mostly wanted what you have, just for a little while. I wanted people who would be genuinely happy to want me around.” She looked skyward in contemplation. “Guess that isn’t gonna happen.”

Seriously? If I could have reached her, I’d have whapped her upside the head. “You do know that seven wildly different people just risked a hell of a lot to get you out of your most recent jam, right? Naiara was utterly pissed that you didn’t think of her as a friend!”

Her eyes returned to my level. “She was?”

“Big time. It was hard to tell which of us was more upset, actually. We all felt pretty hard done by when you just up and left like that.”

She rubbed the back of her head ruefully. “Yeah, perhaps that wasn’t the best move. I’m not so sure I was thinking straight after the forest. Some bitch who looked a lot like you had something to do with that.” The sly look out of the corner of her eye simultaneously cheered me up and ticked me off.

“That wasn’t me. I’d never ignore Undertow like that.” There was no way that point was getting disproved.

“Yeah, yeah, I know.”

“Just out of curiosity,” Trying to keep my exploration airy and light, the question was floated like it was no big deal. “how’d you know that wasn’t me?”

“Besides her sticking her tongue down my throat?”

“Yeah, besides that.” My deadpan expression was pushing hard to give the impression that I wanted that line of thought to cut off right there.

She shrugged. “I wasn’t one hundred percent sure until the twins outed Aqua Tease and Cassifauxpeia, but really it was because of something she said.”

“What’s that?”

“She said ‘everypony’.” I was left waiting as she cut off her reply there, like it explained everything.

“Uhhh… and?”

“And you don’t. I picked up on that pretty early on. I guess it’s because of your brothers, but you always say ‘anyone’ or ‘everybody’. It was a nice change of pace.” Her small smile there was promising.

“Huh.” I'd honestly never noticed before. “Do you think the others picked up on that?”

Another shrug. “I’unno.”

“Well…”

“Yeah.”

“....should, uh, should we get back to the others?”

She nodded. “Yeah, with all the effort they put in to get Blue Fire back, they should at least know it worked.”

Cocking my head to the side, I made no move to get up. “What are you talking about?”

“Well, I mean you all need Blue Fire, right? I heard that speech you gave McCoy. Red Ice claims Blue Fire. Very powerful.” She began holstering her revolvers.

Is-is she blushing? “None of us cared about Blue Fire today.”

The scrape of metal on leather cut off mid-way. “What do you mean? You just came all this way-”

“-for Wings.” I finished simply.

Saying nothing, she faced me expectantly.

“You need a good rest. You can’t seriously think we did all this, fought that crazy dead bastard over there,” I waved in any random direction, which might possibly have been the wrong one. “just to get Blue Fire back?”

“Well, yeah. I mean, Blue Fire’s much more important than Wings.” Her sheepishness was not welcome at this moment.

“Hell no! At least I didn’t. I came for my friend. I came for Wings.” I sniffed away the sudden wetness in my nose.

Her bottom jaw had dropped a millimetre at my words. I couldn’t help but notice that her eyes were brightening in real time though. “I… don’t know what to say to that, Snow. Thank you.”

“Y’welcome. Now come on, let’s get you back to the others… Wings.” I could easily give her a big smile at the thought.

I had only taken a few steps before I was stopped cold. “That’s not my name.”

Fucking c-h-a-n-c-e! “What’s that now?”

A good-natured sigh sounded from behind me, but I was too afraid to turn around and give the game away. “My name isn’t Wings.”

Come on, baby. Just a little more. Momma wants that grand prize! Fighting to keep my heart from breaking out of my chest, I chose my words carefully. “Then what is your name, pal o’ mine?”

“It’s… grfrhrings.” It was like she was having a tooth pulled.

“Beg pardon?” Like I’m gonna let it go now.

“I said… it’s grfrhrings.” If anything, this one was even less legible.

Unhappy with being teased with such a big deal and then her trying to get out of it, I turned and gave her a flat stare.

Blushing from tip to tail, she squirmed for a little while longer, until finally giving in. “I just want you to know that this is entirely my mom’s fault. I didn’t pick it.”

“Sure, of course.” Ohboyohboyohboy!

“My name is… Gigglewings.”

I literally couldn't breathe.

~~~~~~

Level Up!

~~~~~~

Perks gained:

Contract KILLER - All party members receive an endurance boost and damage reduction when taking on hired goons.

~~~~~~

Author's Note

That’s one detail that has remained constant throughout the entire story process. I refused to budge on it. I actually had the most fun writing this chapter that I’ve had in the last few, and I think that the quality is better for it. It took me a little while, after being away from the story for months, to get back into it fully. I think I’m there now.

That’s all for now, folks. Please keep reading, commenting, and spreading the word on Old Souls. I really appreciate your feedback.

Chapter 23-1: Playing The Percentages

[It must seem like an eighteen carat run of bad luck. But, truth is…]

“Hehehe.”

“Stop it.” A voice replied wearily.

“Hehehe.”

“Stop it.” In the same tone.

“Hehehe.”

“Stop it.” Yet again.

“H-”

“Snow!”

Brushing away tears of laughter, I just shrugged at her. “Alright, alright. I’m done now…”

The griffon was still blushing angrily. “Don’t say it.”

I held out for all of two seconds. “...Gigglewings!” I wheezed, collapsing back into convulsive chortles as I laughed through the pain of my injuries.

“Damn it, Snow!” Wings’ feathers fluttered along her shoulders. “I knew I shouldn’t have told you!”

“I’m sorry,” I coughed out, trying to stifle the giggles. “I just really didn’t expect your real name to be…” One blazing blue eyeball glared at me, so I quickly changed how the sentence ended. “...that.”

Grousing and flushed, Wings taloned the rifle she’d finished McCoy with. “So glad the others aren’t here right now.”

My eyes popped open, and I gasped excitedly. “The others! I gotta tell them too!”

“NOOO!” Wings’ full weight crashed down on me, pressing me into the dirt. Her beak was by my ear. “You’re not telling them, Snow!”

“Aw, c’mon, it’ll be funny!”

“I...said...no!” She blurted out as we struggled. I managed to get myself turned around so we were face to face: my hoof pushing at her cheek as she tried to hold me down.

The absurdity of the situation struck me as I noticed her smooshed cheek, and the slight hint of tongue poking out of the side of her beak as she put all her effort into the struggle. I couldn’t help myself, wrapping my hooves around her neck and hugging her tight, fresh giggling bursting forth. “You’re just too adorable!”

Suddenly our positions were reversed, with her frantically trying to push me away. “Gerroff, Snow! I am not!”

I clung on tightly, all the while whispering in her ear. “What am I gonna do now, huh? You’ve kinda ruined the whole plan, you know.”

Her feathers shifted against my jaw, the tickle helped the smile on my face grow even larger as she spoke. “What’re you talkin’ about, Snow?”

Pulling back, I flashed my rambunctious smile right in her face. “Well, how exactly am I supposed to take you seriously as Blue Fire now, when the entire time I’ll be thinking ‘Gigglewings Gigglewings Gigglewings’?”

“Oh, screw you!” She squawked, before we descended into another tussle. After 30 seconds of back-and-forthing, we both lay panting on the ground.

“Don’t tell them.” Wings puffed from my side, as I stared at the cloudy sky. “Just… don’t.”

Something in her voice halted the half-formed joke on my tongue. “...Alright. But why? I mean, you told me.”

She didn’t answer for a few seconds, so I rolled onto my side to stare at her. She was still looking skyward, though her sapphire eyes were dancing as she worked through whatever thoughts hid behind them. “Yeah… I guess I did.”

“Then why not tell them?”

“I just…” She gave up and rolled over to meet my gaze. Neither of us were smiling now. The time for jokes was past. “I told you because… because of what you did before. Back at Gull Gulf. It... it meant a lot that you came after me.”

We shared a shy smile, but I couldn’t just take the compliment. “Well, I mean, it wasn’t just me. I had help from everybody.”

Her eyes sparkled at every-‘body’. “I know, I know. I owe them too, and I’ll repay them. Thing is, I told you my name because you’d been asking, and I didn’t have anything else to give you. The others, though, I’ll make it up to them another way.”

Reaching over, my hoof lightly rubbed her arm. “You know they won’t laugh at you for long, right? Not if you tell them it bothers you. They’re nicer than I am.”

Finally, she managed a laugh herself. “It’s not that. I don’t mind the joke. Gigglewings comes with a lot of baggage. A lot of Griffon stuff. I guess… I guess I’d just rather be Wings to them. I like being Wings. I like that they actually like me AS Wings.”

I can’t argue with that, though why are you worried about being liked? You’re not a Raider, zebra, or pegasus. You’re awesome.

And I don’t wanna be getting weird looks from the others for laughing at a joke that only I know. And Schwarwald, I guess. I opened my mouth to voice something to that effect, but she cut me off.

Looking back at the bullet-mulched corpse of McCoy, she grunted and kicked the empty rifle away. “‘sides, Gigglewings is gonna have plenty of problems from this point on, and they don’t need to get themselves messed up in them. My family’s not just gonna give up, so I have to watch out for that.”

You’re STILL trying to handle this yourself? She must have felt my heavy eye-rolling, as she turned back to me. Giving her the flattest, most unimpressed look I could, I spoke slowly and calmly. “That choice has already been made for you, dummy. I told all of Gull Gulf, loudly and publicly I might add, that any business they have with you goes through me. Your business is your business, but any Griffon tries anything with you, or tries to take you anywhere you don’t wanna go, then they’ll have a former Raider queen in their way. This arrangement we have, our little act? It goes both ways. You keep the Raiders off me while I pretend that’s not what I want, and I do the same for you and Griffons. The only Griffons you have to deal with are the ones YOU decide to. End of story.”

Some, not all, but some, of the tension visibly drained from her, and she lay back down with her eyes still on me. “You know, that sounds pretty good. Thanks.”

I scooted closer and softly knocked my head against hers, before laying down beside her. “Any time. Oh, but one thing…”

“Yeah? What’s that?”

It was joke time again. “I bet the Raiders figure out our scam before the Griffons do. Y’know, ‘cause I can actually sell it.” I nudged her in the ribs. “Unlike some people.” I stressed that last part.

Puffing up her cheeks in mock outrage, she literally didn’t take my words lying down, instead flopping over and putting her weight on my belly. “Are you kidding? Your Raiders are morons. There’s no way you don’t get found out first!”

Not bothering to push her off, despite the ache she forced on my stomach, I went for one last jibe. “Well then, you must really suck at acting then, huh, Giggle-?”

“WINGS!”

“SNOW!”

We both looked up to see two Pegasi, two Earth ponies, a Zebra, and a Unicorn charging towards us.

“Heh, you lucked out on that timing, Wings.” Sliding out from underneath her, I got up and held out a hoof to her.

Her claw wrapped around it without hesitation. “Yeah, I got a break. I’m sure.” She allowed herself to be pulled to her paws.

I ignored her snarking, instead trotting towards our charging friends. “Hey guys, I found-”

Five of the six, one of them surprisingly being Undertow, completely ignored me. They all shot right past and dogpiled the Griffon. “...Wings. Okay then.”

Pinned on all sides by rapidly chattering comrades, Wings’ head whipped back and forth, doing her best to keep up with five conversations.

Stepping back to let them have their moment, I was soon joined by Schwarzwald. The Earth mare was uncharacteristically quiet, seemingly content to watch the others.

I wasn’t. “Everything cool?”

The mercenary mare didn’t turn her head. “By that you mean…?”

“McCoy’s dead. Eitom and Wicker won’t be happy about that. Where are they?” I punctuated my question by pointing towards the old, grey corpse of the late leader of the Monsters.

She followed my hoof. “Ah, then yes. Everything is cool, dahling. We fought off the other Griffons. The grey-on-grey one…”

“Eitom.”

“Yes, him. He was cursing so energetically as they flew. He even managed to make dear Breeze look uncomfortable.” She’d stopped looking at McCoy’s corpse almost immediately. Dead bodies didn’t offer much in the way of entertainment. She was far more engrossed with the ongoing hug-swarm that Wings found herself at the centre of.

The two of us watched in silence for a few more seconds, before she spoke again. “Do you see her eyes, dahling?”

The griffon was all smiles now, oblivious to my stare. While she and the others talked animatedly, I had plenty of time to look at the blue fire. “Sure, what about them?”

Schwarzwald was already moving past me to join the embrace, but she turned her head back for a moment. The corner of her mouth was curled up, hidden from the others. “I have been watching over her for a long time, Snowflake, and I have never seen those eyes shine as brightly as they do now.”

Without another word, she stalked forward and bulldozed her way straight to the Griffon. Wrapping her hooves around Wings’ neck, she proceeded to forcefully and aggressively ignore all semblance of personal space.

The others just laughed harder.

~~~~~~

“So the stallion asks me ‘So where do you stand?’, and I had to pause.”

Looks were exchanged. Undertow voiced what seemed to be the group consensus. “I don’t get it.”

Panning across vacuous expressions, the griffon remained unswayed. “Aw, really? Psh, whatever, guys, I’m hilarious. Okay, so there’s this dragon…”

I tuned her out, happy to see her smiling again. Besides, she’s still got Bosco and Undertow for an audience. Neither pony had strayed far from Wings after being reunited. Undertow acted like Wings might take off again if she didn’t watch her, and Bosco had been sporting an unshakeable grin ever since we’d set off. The good feeling was infectious. I walked between Schwarzwald and Cassie, with Breeze gliding just overhead and talking with Naiara. Mostly about Cept.

Cassie, Schwarzwald and I would exchange a few words every now and then, but for the most part were happy to walk in comfortable silence.

Still, there were matters to address, especially considering our destination. I raised my voice to ensure that all seven of them could hear me. “So, uh, guys. Any ideas on exactly how we’re gonna get inside Neighlway? Steel Rangers don’t exactly give guided tours.”

“Don’t worry,” Bosco spun around and began trotting backwards, still sporting his loveable grin. “I’ve got some ideas about that.” He paused for a moment, looking off into the distance. “By the time we reach Neighlway, there’ll be four days left on our timeline.”

I nodded knowingly, but soon stopped as nobody else was. Confusion had taken the place of good feelings.

“Neighlway is our destination?” Cassie’s expression was no longer friendly.

Breeze landed beside Naiara. “What timeline, Bosco?”

He didn’t stop smiling. “The timeline those fog bastards gave us. One week to find the next... we forgot to tell you guys that part, didn’t we?”

“Who’s ‘we’?” I suddenly found myself skewered by a pair of jade eyes. “Wait, you knew about this too, and didn’t tell us?”

Shifting uneasily, I passed the bit. My hoof sprang up and pointed at Wings. “It’s all her fault. She distracted me by running off and making me go chase after her!”

Wings puffed up like I’d slapped her grandmother. “What?! Oh heck no, Snow. If you think-”

Over the sound of Schwarzwald’s raucous laughter, Bosco pushed onwards. His smile was back too. “Alright, alright. Let it go, all of you. Yeah, the fog creatures told us where my last Orb is, and they said we had a week to go get it, or else we’d end up stuck in another forest, or something along those lines. Now, as I was saying before being rudely interrupted, I have a plan for that.” A sheepish blink followed his words. “Well, part of a plan. The start anyway. I’m pretty sure that I can get us in. After that, we’ll wing it.”

“So we’re, um, we’re still going to the tin pony factory, despite our only reason to go coming from the things that trapped us in the forest, which was also them?” The unsubtle scepticism was in no way lost on any of us.

Except, apparently, Bosco. Guy just went right on beaming. “That’s exactly right.” His brick-wall enthusiasm still managed to worm its way past our concerns. Somehow. “As soon as I get my last Orb, everything’ll be back on track. We can take down Latvi, or Peanut, or whoever. Just gotta get through these next few days, which should be easy, ‘cause of my plan.”

Murmuring to herself, Undertow spoke up. “You just said that your plan was not complete, Bosco.”

Draping a hoof over her shoulders, Bosco bounced up and down a little. “We’ve still got time, ‘tow. I’ll be all set when we get there. Don’t worry about a thing. We get my Orb, and we get out. No heroics.”

A small smile eased across her lips, but didn’t fully break free. “Are you sure, Bosco? After what happened at Whitepony and Whinniepeg…”

Nodding vigorously, he energetically met all our gazes. “Totally sure. We can handle this one last thing from these pricks.”

My sister was clearly buoyed by his confidence, and agreed almost immediately. “Very well, I’m with you. Just try not to do too much.”

Brushing her off with a lazily-waved hoof, Bosco still refused to be anything but exuberant. “Yeah, yeah, I know. We got this. Now c’mon, we’re still hours from Neighlway. Gonna run circles around those Steel Rangers, and take my Orb right out from under them!”

~~~~~~

“Shouldn’t they have called in by now?” Stood in a small crater not far from Neighlway, Naiara had been pacing for the past 10 minutes. Our three fliers had been doing an aerial recon for the past half-hour. “I knew I should have gone with them. No offense to you guys, but I’m the best scout we have.”

“Can’t fly though.” Bosco’s response was light and joking, but his checking of the communicators had become more frequent in recent minutes too.

Laying a hoof on his shoulder, Undertow leaned in to the colt. “Stay calm, Bosco. If things were really bad, we would hear gunfire. Just trust in Wings for a little while longer. She will not let you down.”

Finally, for the first time since Wings had come back to us, his mask cracked a little. Smile hanging on by a hair, his big grey eyes searched hers through her goggles. “We might not get another chance at this, Undertow. We lucked into the first Orb, and the fog came to us with the second, and they were working their own angle when they did. I only have their word that the last Memory Orb’s here.”

The Deep Diver didn’t blink. “We will find it, Bosco, even if we have to tear Neighlway apart to do so.” Giving him a quick squeeze, she hardened her expression. “However, don’t ignore what the fog creatures are capable of. You did not fare well in their captivity last time, you might not-”

She cut herself off, her head turning slightly towards the rest of us. “You cannot let your desire to get your Memory Orb back blind you to the danger these enemies present.”

Naiara had stopped pacing, and had been watching the two. “You never told us what it was like, Bosco, when they had you.”

The charcoal colt went still for a moment, just long enough for his smile to come back. “I’m fine.”

Undertow caught my eye, and Naiara and Schwarzwald exchanged a look too. The latter’s look was not so much worried as inquisitive. She checked her communicator, then the skies, before answering. “That is not what she asked, dahling.”

Smile starting to look like rictus, Bosco disengaged himself from Undertow’s hoof, taking a step back. “Guys, I promise I’m okay.”

“No you’re not.” Naiara stepped forward. “It’s getting louder again, isn’t it?”

He retreated the same distance. “N-no.”

What’s she talking about? “Bosco?”

“I said I’m fine, Snow! Don’t start with me!” Pupils shrunk and hackles raised, the words flew from him in a spittle-y rush.

We all jumped as Schwarzwald’s communicator crackled to life. “In that case, allow me to interrupt.”

“For fuck’s sake, Amber, stop doing that!” I yelled into the mic, clambering over Schwarzwald to do so.

The leader of the Bernstein Conclave’s voice did not give the impression of patience. “While I might otherwise have been happy to exchange pleasantries with you, Red Ice, I am afraid that now is not the time. I need all eight of you to come to Lethbridle, immediately.”

“No no no, not now! You cannot be asking this right now!” Bosco’s unease had given rise to rage. His hooves were shaking as he growled at the disembodied voice.

“I am afraid that I am, Bosco. The situation-”

Bosco’s hooves slammed over his ears, and his eyes squeezed shut. “I DON’T CARE WHAT THE SITUATION IS! Neighlway is there, I can see it! IT’S RIGHT THERE! I won’t just leave when we’re so close!”

Nobody spoke for several seconds. Undertow and Naiara rushed to Bosco’s side, trying to comfort the colt. I looked at Schwarzwald, whose eyes were cycling between the me, Bosco, and the communicator.

Amber broke the silence. “You must, Bosco. I understand that you have other concerns, but this cannot wait.”

“Neither can this.” He shot back quietly, glaring at the ground. “What exactly is so damn important that you want to drag me away from this?”

“...because if you do not come, all of you, Lethbridle will fall.”

I sucked in a long breath. What have you done, Amber?

Another voice joined the debate through the airwaves. “Amber, this is Wings. What do you mean? What’s happening in Lethbridle?”

“Latvi’s Raiders are moving on the city, and they’ll breach the north gate within a day. I require Blue Fire, Red Ice, and the rest of you to defend the city.”

“Latvi’s attacking Lethbridle?” I exclaimed, disbelieving. No way he’s brave enough for that!

“Wait, Amber-dear,” Schwarzwald cut in, “how do you know he will use the north gate?” The mercenary’s eyes were dancing with anticipation.

Amber didn’t hesitate. “They will use the north gate because my associates will have made preparations for them to enter the city, and Latvi will not consider it an attack.”

Everybody, except Bosco, immediately voiced their disapproval. Schwarzwald, Naiara, Undertow, and I were all yelling at Amber, and were soon joined digitally by Wings and the twins.

“The hell were you thinking?”

“You’re letting Raiders into Lethbridle?”

“What is the matter with you, bitch?”

“You’re insane!”

Eventually, Schwarzwald managed to quiet us, then spoke in a suspiciously airy tone into the mic. “Amber...dahling, this is not like you at all. Explain yourself.”

“Latvi and I have an arrangement in place for Lethbridle. He has promised me full use of all four Raider encampments around the region; Whinniepeg, the Barnstormer lands, the Woodpecker village, and the Deep Diver’s Soft Swell Lake!”

“MY lake!” Undertow corrected grumpily.

“Regardless, in exchange for those locations, I will give him a way into Lethbridle. He intends to take it for his own.”

“That’s not yours to promise, Bernstein.” Wings’ voice strained against the wind, obvious even through the speaker. You’re really moving to get back here, aren’t you?

“Do not presume that I am unaware of the particulars of any deal that I make, Wings. I do not overextend. The only reason that I am contacting you is that Latvi has moved up his action against Lethbridle to today, rather than a week from now. All my preparations would have been in place then. He has moved up the timetable, I might add, because of the death of McCoy, leader of the Monsters. I do believe you all had something to do with that, did you not?”

“You’re not gonna pin this on us, Amber. Don’t even try.” You don’t have cause to blame us for this. Hell, you still owe half of us favours!

“I am not looking to assign blame, Red Ice. This is business, not personal. I am aware of the risks, and have entered into this arrangement with a plan in mind. This plan will save Lethbridle, however due to the schedule moving up without warning, I have had to call on your services earlier than I anticipated. Latvi cannot be allowed to dictate the pace here. If nothing else, you must agree that my stewardship of Lethbridle is a more agreeable option.”

Wings slammed down into the centre of our group, soon joined by the twins. All but Bosco jumped. The griffon’s chest was heaving, but her Blue Fire eyes were sharp. “Amber, we’re on our way. We’ll defend Lethbridle against the Raiders, but that doesn’t mean we accept your outcome either. You will pay for this.”

The Bernstein leader was not unsettled by Wings’ threats. “Excellent. Make sure to arrive by the south gate. My people will collect you all there. I will ensure that Red Ice is not troubled by the guards.”

Grr, I’m never gonna get away from that, am I?

Bosco stood up jerkily. “Good luck with that, you guys. I’m staying right here.”

For the first time in the conversation, Amber was nonplussed. “I asked for all eight of you. You are all needed.”

“Yeah?” Bosco shot back, contempt lacing his words. “Well, I’ve got my own schedule to keep, and it doesn’t work with yours. Tell me Amber, how long would we be staying in Lethbridle?”

“...Two days, perhaps slightly longer.”

It was probably a good thing that Amber couldn’t see the condescension radiating from the colt. “Uh huh, thought so. Well, let me tell you about MY schedule.”

“Bosco…” Undertow warned, “perhaps revealing this is not-”

“AMBER,” he silenced Undertow, “I have four days to find my way into, AND under, Neighlway, plus do whatever is needed of me while there. From here to Lethbridle is one full day’s travel. Another for the return trip. And now you want two days or more of my time that I simply don’t have, and don’t want to give you. No deal.”

“Two hours.”

We waited for her to continue. She didn’t. Rolling his eyes, Bosco started walking out of the crater. “Yeah, Amber. Two hours. Whatever you say.”

I again marvelled at her ability to be smug, even miles away. “Your return trip will not take a day. It will take two hours. I have a sky carriage that you can use which will make the trip from Lethbridle to Neighlway in two hours, if one of your fliers is willing to pull it. If you agree to help me, you may keep it.”

He stopped halfway up the crater, but didn’t turn around. We all watched his hunched back. Over what seemed like a thousand years, his shoulder muscles relaxed. Tilting his head enough for us to see the corner of his lips, but not his eyes, he spoke with certainty.

“I’ll help, but this is the last time. I don’t care who it is, or what the problem is, if anybody tries to stop me from coming back here after this, I’ll put a bullet between their eyes.”

My heart went out to him, and the others seemed to feel the same way.

It’s not fair on you. There was no other way to describe it. It’s just not fair.

~~~~~~

“Oh no, this is much better. No, why would we ever need to stay at Neighlway with our limited time when we can trek all the way back here and wait in the fucking snow?” Kicking his hooves, Bosco send up a fine spray of loose precipitation.

“We can’t exactly control the weather, Bosco.” Breeze snapped back, wings fluttering tersely. It had been a long trip from Neighlway. Bosco had been mostly silent, but when he did speak it was never positive. We all felt for the guy, but nerves were fraying all round with the complete negativity he’d been espousing.

I’d held my tongue thus far, but even I was reaching my limit. I get it, you jac-no, don’t think like that. He’s right to feel this way.

I just wish he’d do it quietly.

He didn’t, though. “Oh, I’m sorry, Breeze, I forgot that pegasi stopped doing that two centuries ago. I guess if I wanted to be warm, or even average, I should have stayed at Neighlway by myself. Sure, you guys promised to help me get in and get my Orb, but I should have said something, huh? OH WAIT!” He was bellowing at the end, and it seemed like at least half of our group was gearing up for a full on screaming match.

Undertow defused it at the last second, stepping between Bosco and Breeze, and speaking in low, calm...er tones. “Please, everyone. The decision was made. It is what it is. Let us just finish our business here quickly, and collect our sky carriage. That should be fun, yes?”

Breeze and Bosco simultaneously “tch”’d and turned their heads away, but didn’t resume the argument. Good going, Undertow. You’re really starting to open up with these guys. My heart swelled at the sight of her holding court like that.

“At least there’s no line.” Wings muttered, stalking towards the gate. That was a first. Every other time we’d been to Lethbridle, there had been dozens of ponies trying to get in.

“Maybe they don’t wanna risk the trip if a storm’s coming?” I could only guess, as this was the first sign of a possible winter coming down from the mountains that I’d seen while travelling. Hell, I was in a Stable until a few weeks ago, I don’t even know if the Wasteland still even has seasons.

“Or perhaps they’ve heard about who else is coming to Lethbridle.” If nothing else, Cassie knew when to pick her moments for maximum impact. We all snapped back to some semblance of focus. Satisfied, she hammered on the gate. “Hello? Is anypony there? Hello?”

The gate rumbled open within moments, revealing a looming figure inside. Chief Rockhaunch stalked out of the shadows, glowering at each one of us between his horns. He lingered longer on me than the others. “Not a pony, but I have been waiting for you, and I’m not particularly happy about that. Get inside, now!”

“It’s good to see you, Chief.” I tried, but he just grunted and ignored me.

Giving up, I let him lead us into a small room off the gate tunnel. Once we were all inside, he closed the door and locked it, then leaned against the frame for good measure. The room itself was very sparse, with just a small table in the centre. On the table was a speaker.

“I thank you all for coming so quickly.” Amber’s businessmare tone emerged from the speaker not two seconds after Rockhaunch had sealed us in. “Especially you, Bosco. I assure you that I will provide any resources that I am able-”

“Just get on with it!” He snarled, leaning his grey hooves on the table. “We’re wasting time.”

Amber’s tone didn’t change. “Of course. The reason that I asked you all here is that, due to Latvi advancing the timetable, Chief Rockhaunch’s guards, along with my private security force, have not yet finished evacuating the city’s inhabitants. The Raiders will soon entire the north gate, and make their way into the city. We are confident that they can be contained in the northern quarter until we are ready to move to the next stage, but have decided to provide a very VISIBLE deterrent to keep them from advancing further.”

“What do you mean ‘visible deterrent’?” Naiara was flanking Bosco, along with Undertow. Her restless eyes darted around the room.

“She means Blue Fire.” The Chief intoned, heaving himself off the doorframe. “We put her front and centre with our forces, helping with the evacuation, maybe taking a few potshots at the Raiders if they get close. It’ll put the citizen’s minds at ease to know their hero is on the job.”

All eyes went to the griffon. We watched as she squared her jaw and grimaced. Her frown was directed first at Rockhaunch, and then at the speaker in the table. She closed her eyes and let her plumage fluff slightly. All present waited, in silence, for her answer.

Amber, not being present, did not. “I should stress that it will not be only Wings who is to be our symbol here. In fact, it will require the services of six of you; Chief Rockhaunch, Wings, Bosco, Naiara, Aqua Breeze and…” Her voice morphed into a noticeable growl as she spoke the final name. “...Cassiopeia Venatici.”

“But why us? We’re not-” Breeze began, but was cut off by a half-whispered, half-grumbled addendum from Amber.

“And her whip.” Even at that barely audible level, the venom present was clear.

I glanced over at Schwarzwald and Cassie. Schwarzwald was smiling to herself, and Cassie was intentionally looking the other way.

Breeze blinked twice, waiting a few seconds before trying again. “Why us, Bernstein? We’re not heroes.”

“No,” Amber replied, once again the unflappable businessmare, “you are not. You are, however, very useful symbols in your own right. An earth pony, salt of this land, fighting to defend his brethren. But he is not alone. The Raider threat is not just dangerous to your average Wastelander. The brave Wastelander Earth stallion is joined not only with Chief Rockhaunch’s buffalo, but also with a heroic Griffon, a noble Zebra bucking the trend of the past two hundred years, and even a pair of Pegasi from on high, unable to ignore the pain of their ground-bound cousins. All of these separate, yet united peoples, coming together to face a grave threat. Quite the picture, is it not?”

Naiara’s hooves shot out and clapped against the wall. “This is the same shit you pulled when I first met you! You just want to parade me out there as a ‘noble savage’!”

“I want a capable warrior to defend this city. The rest is secondary.”

Schwarzwald rapped her horseshoe on the speaker. “In that case, Amber, why are we not all going? We are all of us battle-hardened.”

Rockhaunch spoke up first. “I’m not letting Red Ice out in public. We’ll have enough trouble as it is, and she’ll just incite panic.” The big buffalo’s brow lowered as he focused on Undertow. “The former leader of the Deep Diver Raiders is no better. The two of you will be going straight to Bernstein. That’s the only good you can do here.” He pointed a massive hoof at Schwarzwald. “You’re going with ‘em. I actually would have you out front with the others, but Bernstein’s specifically requested you.”

“Yeah I’ll bet she did.” I murmured under my breath. Be less obvious, Amber.

“Snowflake, Undertow, and Schwarzwald will assist me in making preparations for the next phase of our plan, which will come into force tomorrow.” From the frosty atmosphere, it was clear that neither Amber nor the Chief had any great affection for each other. Rockhaunch’ll do everything he can to shut you down if you go too far, Amber. You can call yourself Lethbridle’s “steward” all you want, but it’s really his city in the end.

A faint sound of thunder eased under the door. We all looked at Rockhaunch, who gave a stoic nod. “You five are with me. Red Ice, get yourself to Bernstein. That’s an order.”

...and it’s under attack. “Be safe, you guys.” I got solemn nods in response.

As we gathered our gear, one sullen colt’s voice piped up. “Can I just repeat how fucking ‘glad’ I am that we left Neighlway?”

~~~~~~

Chapter 23-2: Playing The Percentages

Who lets Raiders into a major city by choice? I mean, seriously?? I tugged at my armour, trying to draw little bit more warmth out of it to combat the chill in the air. Snow was falling in the city itself, and the appeal quickly diminished. It wasn’t heavy, but melted as soon as it touched flesh, leaving cold, wet spots.

The sounds of battle had grown obvious ever since we’d reached Lethbridle’s northern quarter, so Rockhaunch had slowed us to a crawl. We checked every alley before moving forward, and did our best to watch every angle at once. It was slow, annoying work.

At least it stops Bosco’s bitching for a little while. I knew the stallion was justifiably annoyed about having to once-again delay his goal of getting his stuff back, but his petulance was grating on everybody. As I watched, he trudged forward just behind Rockhaunch, giving only the barest attention to his surroundings. Mostly he kept his head down, loading and unloading his pistol.

Not gonna cut it if we get caught up in a full battle. I poked his shoulder gently with a talon. “I know you’re pissed, but get over it.” I hissed quietly. “We need you to focus here. I don’t wanna see you get shot just because your head’s not in the fight. You get me, kid?”

“I know why we’re here, Wings.” He responded, surly.

“I’m serious, Bosco. I don’t want to lose you because of this. If you’re not gonna be careful, I’ll send you back to Snow right now.” I laid my claw over his pistol firmly.

He tugged it free on the third attempt, and brushed his mane out of his eyes. “Alright, fine. I get it. I’ll handle this.”

My claw curled into a fist. “Just so we’re clear. Stay safe, Bosco.”

“Yeah, sure.” He sulked, but at least his head came up a little, and his eyes watched our surroundings more.

“We’re almost there.” Rochhaunch held up a huge cloven hoof, halting us in our tracks. He flattened his oak-furred body against a wall, just shy of the building’s corner edge, and we all crammed in behind him. His eye swivelled back. “Which of you is quiet?”

“That’d be me, Chief.” Naiara’s striped hoof shot up from within our scrum. “I’m your scout.”

He nodded. “Good enough. Go recon the situation. Find out where my guards are.”

Flashing a confident smile, she disengaged from the wall, slunk past us, and slipped around the corner.

When she was gone, Rockhaunch shifted enough to talk to Cassie, the next in line. “Is she any good?”

Looking him square in the eyes, Cassie’s response sent a shiver through my feathers. “If she wanted to, she could kill us all in our sleep.”

“Cass!” Breeze chided from behind her. “Come on! I mean it’s true, but you don’t have to say it like that. Naiara’s our friend.”

Pursing her lips, Cassie blew out some air but didn’t respond.

Grunting as he checked the straps of his oversized battle saddle, Rockhaunch didn’t sound put off. “Good for us, then.”

He “ghk”d as Naiara’s head suddenly appeared from around the corner. “This way, hurry! There are a LOT of Raiders.”

Cinching himself up, Chief Rockhaunch grabbed the mouthbit. “Alright, lead the way.”

Without another word, Naiara turned and sped off, with us following in hot pursuit. It only took a few minutes to reach the battle, and we skidded to a halt a dozen metres behind the barriers that Lethbridle’s defenders had hastily thrown up in the street. The Raiders were taking potshots from positions a hundred metres further down the road.

Rockhaunch continued on until he reached the barricades. “REPORT!” He bellowed at nobody in particular.

Without looking away from the battle, one of the Unicorn guards spoke up. “Glad you’re here, Chief. These crazies are spread all through the quarter. We’re holding them at bay for now, but I don’t know how long we can last.”

He turned to a Bernstein soldier with a grenade launcher. “And the blockades. Are we ready yet?”

I exchanged glances with the others. What blockades?

The Bernstein pony loosed two explosives down the street, the explosions being joined by screams. “All squads are calling in. Should be ready in ten minutes, give or take.”

A bullet panged off the barrier, so we all ducked down. Rockhaunch hefted his battle saddle and let loose with a full volley. The return fire cut off for a few seconds. He hunkered down behind the wall again. “Okay. Ten minutes. We can do that. We’ll hold them here until our teams are in place. But you tell me the second they’re good to go, alright? The very second!”

“Yes, sir!”

The hefty hoof pointed upwards. “The zebra and you three fliers. Head back around the corner, then airlift the girl up to the roof. Zebra…”

“My name is Naiara.”

“Whatever. Naiara, when you’re on the roof, call out patterns and strays, and watch for any Raider trying to pull something. You three fliers stay up high, out of their range. Take your shots when you can, and see if you can drive them out into the open. Colt, you’re with us down here.”

“Why is Naiara going with them instead of fighting down here?”

“Because she’s not a gun-user, or so Bernstein tells me, so I’m sending her where she can be of some use.”

We all waited for him to continue, and he just looked at us expectantly.

“Roof! That’s an order!” He bellowed.

“Oh, right. Uh...yes sir?” The four of us took of running back the way we came. I glanced over my shoulder to see Bosco start popping off shots with the other guards. Once we rounded the corner, we all took a hold of some Naiara. As one, wings beating together, we lifted her up to the roof.

“Not an ounce of fat on you, is there? You’re really light.”

“Well, I can’t eat as much as you hollow-boners.”

Breeze couldn’t help herself. “Boners.” She snerked.

We all giggled the rest of the way to the roof. After dropping Naiara off, I looked to the twins. The three of us nodded at each other, before simultaneously shooting up into the sky. At a hundred metres up, we took stock of the situation.

Cassie’s sharp eyes gave her the best image of the fighting. She spun in a full circle, chill wind whipping her red and black mane around her face. “I see four separate flashpoints. Rockhaunch and Bosco seem to be stalemated, but...Breeze?”

Her sister was scanning the city, and twisting a dial on her greave at the same time. “Yeah, sis?”

“We’ll do more good at one of the other skirmishes, but perhaps you could drop a few presents for the Raiders before we move on?”

Instantly, three grenades were in the technophile’s hooves, and a feral grin was on her face. “Coming right up.”

As Breeze rocketed down below, Cassie turned to me. “I’ll keep watch up here, but can you relay the information to Naiara before Breeze gets back?”

I nodded. “On it.”

Dropping into an arcing dive, I zeroed in on Naiara, who had already moved rooftops. The lithe zebra was dancing to avoid sporadic Raider fire while she surveyed the street below. As I got close, I squeezed off three shots with my revolvers, catching one Raider in the stomach, but the other two clanged harmlessly off a Deep Diver in full diving gear. “Hey, Naiara!”

She hopped back from the roof, just as a bullet chipped off some fragments from the edge. “Yeah?”

“Cassie says we’re moving to another street. Keep an eye on things here, and let us know if it starts going wrong. I know Rockhaunch said it’d only be ten minutes, but…”

She understood without my finishing. “Alrighty. Good luck.”

I squeezed her shoulder, just as three explosions sounded within the Raider contingent below, before beating my wings into a steep climb. I met the twins coming down. While Breeze cackled like a madmare at the devastation she had wrought, Cassie motioned for me to follow as they glided past. Folding my wings in, I wheeled round and powered after them.

Cassie pulling up short allowed me to catch up to them. “So what’s the play?” I asked, as she was raising her rifle.

“One moment.” Sighting along the barrel, she pulled the trigger once. Fearful cries went up a moment later.

Damn that’s loud up close. Breeze must’ve gotten used to it, because there’s no way she enjoyed that with those sensitive ears of hers.

Confirming her kill, she lowered the rifle. “With that, the third skirmish should be stable enough to hold out until the ten minutes are up. That just leaves two more. There,” She pointed towards a farther street where muzzle flashes could be seen between buildings. “and there.” A similar scene, but in the opposite direction.

Hmm, probably not enough time to do both one after the other, if we wanna leave ourselves time to get back for whatever Rockhaunch is planning. “You guys wanna take one, and I’ll take the other?”

“You sure about that, Wings?” Breeze looked on with a frown. “Going without backup is risky. Especially now.”

I tested the roll of my barrel chambers. “Don’t see that we have much of a choice, Breeze. We’ve gotta hold out, and we need to do it at two locations. You guys work together better than I would with either of you.”

“Well, yeah, of course we do, but-”

“But,” Cassie interrupted, turning her sniper rifle side on in front of us, “I am not at my best in close range. Each of you will take one of the battles, and I will provide support to you both from higher up. Does that sound more acceptable?”

Breeze and I looked at each other.

“Works for me.”

“Yep, me too.”

“So...break?”

“Break!” The three of us split up. I went in one direction, Breeze another, and Cassie went straight up.

Heading to my fight, I spotted a couple of figures skulking along a rooftop. When I got closer, the mismatched and barely functional barding clued me in to which side they were on. Their attention was on the guards below, and they were dragging a heavy, hoof-cranked turret to the roof’s edge between the two of them.

Nice idea boys, but allow me to provide a counterpoint. Two shots dropped the Raider pair. The first was from my revolver, and punched a neat-ish hole at the base of his skull. The second, coming from a much higher vantage point, drilled the remaining roof Raider into the floor by sheer force, though he was almost certainly dead before he actually finished falling. I landed on the roof itself, checking out the turret. “All set up for me? Oh you shouldn’t have.”

The two dead Raiders had it pointing at the guards below, but I orientated it back towards the throng at the other end of the street. Well, no sense wasting any of OUR bullets. Drawing the attention of all present with a hawkish shriek, I vigorously cranked the turret’s feeder.

The Raiders, having not bothered to erect walls of their own to hide behind, were left scrambling as I rained shot down on them. Many were too slow, and were cut down as they turned to run. The Lethbridle defenders took advantage of the chaos to score some easy kills of their own.

“Thi-i-is i-i-is a-a-aws-s-some!” Chuckling even as the rusty, unstable turret threatened to throw us both off the roof, I continued to crank the feed, all while trying to ignore the shaking in my claws.

Clickclickclick. The light, almost accusatory sound let me know that my fun was at an end. “Aw, no more turret? Bleh. Useless Raider tech. Maintain your weapons, punks!”

“Who the hell is that?” One of the defenders started to aim his weapon my way.

“Whoops! Hold on there, guy! Blue Fire backup, at your service. Also, I just killed the guys who would’ve shredded you like roachmeat!”

His not-too-bright buddy tried to come to his defence. “Why should we trust you? You’re a griffon, like the others working for the Raiders!”

“Maybe because I just killed the guys who would’ve shredded you like roachmeat? Or how about the fact that I’m not doing my griffonly duty to kill you right now? Doesn’t sound like I’ve got a contract to help the Raiders now, does it?”

“Uhhh…” They chorused.

Lethbridle’s finest, everybody. Give ‘em a big round of applause. I rolled my eyes and went back to shooting Raiders.

Luckily, I’d stolen their high ground, so their attempts to de-roof me didn’t amount to much more than a few shallow cuts from the masonry chips that their misses kicked up.

A tense few minutes elapsed before a series of sharp whistles sounded throughout the northern quarter. The reaction of the Lethbridle guards was instantaneous. “EVERYPONY MOVE! WE GOTTA GO!”

Suddenly the defenders’ hardpoint defence turned into a fighting retreat, as they began to fall back, in dribs and drabs, covering each other as they went.

The Raiders wasted no time in coming after them, whooping and shouting threats of rape and murder, but they couldn’t gain much ground thanks to the defenders still having plenty of bullets.

It wasn’t an orderly or perfect retreat by any means. A Lethbridle guard took a bullet in the shoulder, and the Bernstein fighter who stopped to help her ended up getting hit between the eyes. The dead pony fell on the mare, pinning her underneath his lifeless husk. Myself and the other fighters did what we could, but we were too far away, and the Raiders were too close. They swarmed around her as she screamed for help, but there was nothing we could do. Not even a good angle for a mercy kill. Sorry, lady.

“KEEP MOVING!” The same shouter from before, apparently the guy in charge, didn’t let up as we fell back. “WE’RE ALMOST THERE!”

“Almost where?” Not knowing the plan was really putting a damper on my ability to adequately help these guys.

He unslung a bandolier of grenades, pulled every pin with his magic, then tossed the whole thing around the corner. Before the explosion went off, he was already sprinting. “OTHER END OF THE STREET! GOGOGOGOGO!”

A massive fireball blew out from around the corner, with the airwave blowing me back. There were some pained screams from the area, but still more shouts of rage and madness.

Breeze and Cassie swept down around me. “Wings, come on! Move it, they’re setting the charges!”

“What charges?” Nobody told me about this!

“JUST MOVE!” They ordered together.

Heart pounding full tilt now, I soared after them. At the other end of the street, I could see Naiara, Bosco, and Rockhaunch beckoning frantically.

Breeze’s ear twitched. “IT’S COMING! FULL SPEED!”

Then I heard it, a swiftly growing rumble. From just above the buildings a few streets over, a surge of dust and debris shot up. It’s coming right for us!

Putting everything I had into my wingbeats, I powered past just as the collapse blasted through the buildings lining the street on my right. Tumbling in mid air, I saw the cobblestones collapse all along the street, nearly back to the other end. It didn’t stop there either, as the growing chasm continued through the buildings to my left.

“Little help?” Righting myself was proving slightly problematic, and I was still going pretty fast.

“I got her!”

“Me too!”

Two pairs of hooves, one striped and one grey, wrapped themselves around me as I rolled, holding tight as we landed with a thud against something soft, but firm. The world finally stopped spinning.

A low, bass chuckle sounded from the thing we’d hit. “Still with us, Blue Fire?”

“Chief?” The burly buffalo had halted my mad rush. “What the hell was that?”

“Collapsed the boundaries for that part of the city. Northern quarter’s cut off now. The Raiders can’t get to us. They’re stuck where they are.”

Bosco helped me to my paws, then frowned at the Chief. “Won’t they just leave? They still control the north gate.”

Rockhaunch shook his head. “On the ground maybe. We’ve still got our guys on the top of the wall. If they try to get out again, we’ll have plenty of time to bottleneck them, and really make a dent in their numbers. Some might get away, but not enough.”

Whistling in appreciation, Breeze looked over the dark gap. A few Raiders were glaring impotently, but they had no way across. “So what’s next then?”

“Next we get you guys patched up. More to do tomorrow. The Raiders might be contained for the moment, but I’m told they have that scientist-type, Latvi, leading them. He’ll figure something out eventually.” He cocked his head to the side. “Come with me, I’ll take you somewhere safe.”

We all fell into step behind him as he stalked away. Given the chaos and noise we’d just been suffering, it had grown eerily silent in a hurry. Looking around, I couldn’t see anybody who wasn’t in a Lethbridle or Bernstein uniform, except us.

“Hey, Chief? Where is everyone? I thought Latvi caught you guys off guard by coming early.”

Spitting on the ground, Rockhaunch cleared his throat. “He did. We only managed to get MOST of the northern quarter evacuated before the Raiders showed up. Some idiots wouldn’t leave their homes, and they ended up dying. We’re still working on the other three quarters.”

Cassie flicked her wings at the idea. “Why wouldn’t they leave when you told them to?”

“A little too late to ask that now.” He sighed, but kept walking. “They probably didn’t think the Raiders’d get past the wall. Never happened before, no reason to think they’d do so this time.”

“But you and Amber had your plan-”

“Which had no chance of succeeding if we told everyone in town!” Hoarse anger laced his words. “We couldn’t tell them. We had to hope that they’d trust us. It was supposed to happen next week, not today!”

Bosco drew level with him, and looked him square in the eye. “If you kept to the original schedule, if you had the time, where would you evacuate everypony to?”

Shaking off his frustration, the Chief’s face set in stone. “Wherever they wanted. Some went to Vanchoofer, others made the trek further south, or went to their own little hidey-holes around the region. We couldn’t protect all of them AND keep Lethbridle defended at the same time. A bunch of guards up and quit to escort the ones going to Vanchoofer. Said they didn’t like the way Amber was running things here in town.” He half-laughed, half-cough mirthlessly. “Can’t really blame ‘em.”

“Yeah, I met a few of those guys.” I deadpanned. That one prick almost killed Snow. Lucky none of his buddies saw me pull the trigger.

“And there were still a bunch of civilians that we couldn’t safely get out in time. Those, we’re holding somewhere safe inside the city.”

“Where’s that?” Naiara seemed to have doubts about how safe any part of the city was at present.

Rockhaunch stopped for a moment, rounding on us. He met each of our eyes in turn. “I’m not saying where out here in the open, just in case a few Raiders got past the collapse, but I’m taking you there now. Hopefully you’ll see a little more of how our plan’s gonna work after this.”

~~~~~~

A prim, immaculately dressed maid led us into the ballroom where Amber had gathered all of the city’s leaders, and those of the surrounding factions and settlements. So was that what they call ‘networking’? I always ignored it when people said Roc was doing it, but if it got Amber in charge of the entire city…

Amber herself stood at the other end of the room, on a raised dais next to the gently flowing fountain that Undertow had been in charge of during the masquerade ball. She wasn’t wearing a ballgown this time, however, but rather a brilliant white, conservative business suit. Amber was surrounded by ponies, griffons, and buffalo. Every few seconds, one would approach, whisper in her ear, get a whispered response in return, and scuttle back to the milling cluster. Even as we strolled in, other runners were darting around us on both sides and in both directions, relaying messages to the busy throng.

The maid, a mousy little earth pony, cleared her throat beside us. She had to raise her throat to be heard over the noise of the water and collective voices. “Ma’am? As you requested, I have brought the lady Schwarzwald, along with Red Ice and the Deep Diver leader.”

As she announced us, several of the runners stumbled, while around half of the primary think tank looked up in astonishment. Not in the mood for cowering, I gave them a quick smile. “Yes, I’m Red Ice. Can we move on and get back to work now?”

A painful silence followed, as nobody responded. They didn’t even look at me. Perturbed, I leaned over and whispered to the maid. “Uh… they know about Red Ice, right?”

She, at least, instantly shrunk back. She wasn’t looking at me either, or trying not to, even if she did sneak a glance every second or so. “Th-they d-do, but th-they’re looking at h-her.” She flicked her eyes towards Schwarzwald, before catching my eye and squeaking. “Please don’t kill me!”

What are they looking at her for? I tried to ignore Undertow’s shoulders silently shaking with laughter, and realised that a few whispered exclamations ran through the group, so I caught which ones I could.

“That is Schwarzwald?”

“I thought she was just a joke to scare the new blood!”

“Look at those scars!”

“Why isn’t she fighting down in the city?”

Idly, Schwarzwald basked in the awe, slowly making her way through the crowd with a smile on her face. We followed, Undertow still cracking up, and me red-faced. The one damn time I buy into my own hype! Shut up, Undertow!

Rapping a hoof on the dias, Amber quelled the murmurs. “Thank you, fillies and gentlecolts, but that will be all for the moment. My maid will take you to my assistants, please brief them on anything we haven’t yet covered. I must talk with my guests now.”

Still staring ONLY at Schwarzwald, the gaggle of staff followed the mousy maid out of the room. It was a long, impatient wait until we heard that final click of the lock.

Straightening the hem of her jacket, Amber trotted down from the dias. “Now then, I ext-”

“WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING, BRINGING RAIDERS INTO LETHBRIDLE?!?!?!”

“-tend my thanks for coming so quickly. Please do keep your voice down, Red Ice. This is a place of business, after all. We strive for some semblance of professionalism.” She had the gall to wrinkle her nose at me.

You colossal bitch! My horn lit up.

In the brief pause where I pondered exactly which of her lips I was going to freeze off, Schwarzwald stuck her hoof between us, while keeping her eyes on Amber. “Amber-dahling, explain your arrangement with the Raiders. I thought you dealt with more trustworthy business partners?” There was no accusation in her voice. Like with most tragedies of the Wasteland, she found someway to treat them as a potential joke.

Staring down at us imperiously, the leader of the Bernstein Conclave gave nothing away. “I made my arrangement with Latvi after you two, Schwarzwald and Snowflake, delivered some invaluable information into my hooves.”

“We did?” I looked at Schwarzwald, who shrugged. “Do you mean Whitepony? Undertow was there too, as were Bosco and Naiara.”

She waved a perfectly hooficured appendage. “No, though that information was invaluable, so I thank you for that. What I am speaking of comes from a conversation you two had at Sprinkles Supplies, away from any…watcher.”

At the same time that Schwarzwald stiffened, with the smile crashing off her face, my blood ran cold. I couldn’t risk looking back at Undertow, even though she must have been clueless.

We both spoke together, in a rush.

“Amber, do not say another word.”

“Don’t do it, Bernstein.”

A victorious smile crossed her lips for a brief moment. “Relax, that conversation was between you two alone, and I do not need to repeat it here. Suffice it to say, however, that by hearing what was said, a great many things fell into place about you, Schwarzwald.”

“Me?” A smile was threatening to break through Schwarzwald’s face. The air between the two was electric.

“Yes. I am-”

“-going off topic.” I groused, finally extinguishing my horn’s glow. “The Raider deal. Go.”

There was some twitchiness in Amber’s movements as she broke her gaze away from the older mare. “Very well. Going off the aforementioned information, I approached Latvi about a business venture. If I were to provide him with the city, he would provide me with ownership of all local Raider territories, AND a 30% share of any future memory salvage he might uncover.”

I blinked twice. “We didn’t talk about his magic back then, did we?” Schwarzwald gave no response besides another shrug.

“While it may hurt your obviously plentiful pride, Snowflake, I must inform you that I do have other sources of information besides you two.”

“Excuse me, Bernstein,” Undertow finally joined the conversation, and her tone was not forgiving. “but how exactly did you manage to overhear that conversation? I do not remember you being present, and neither I nor the others have ever mentioned being privy to the discussion between Schwarzwald and my sister.”

That last part was probably aimed at me. Sorry, xilia.

Giving no sign that she was surprised by Undertow’s interruption, Amber angled her head slightly. “An astute observation. No, I was not present. I had no need to be, as steps had already been taken to allow me to track Schwarzwald’s progress on the various roles for which I have hired her.”

“...The communicator. You listened through the communicator.” Schwarzwald grinned for a moment. “That was how you knew about the whip.” And then the smile vanished. “However, I have told you many times that I will not follow your rules, Amber. I work my way. You are not my employer, you are my client. If you do not cease, I will have to remind you of this fact.”

Amber’s stance shifted slightly. “Regrettable, but not unexpected. I did not expect to continue after you discovered my measures. Be sure to have Aqua Breeze remove the bug from all of the other communicators she has built too.”

My jaw dropped slightly. “How the hell did you get your bug into Breeze’s comms too?”

“Software. Once she linked my communicator with hers, I was able to install what I needed to. To answer your question of a few days ago, that is how I was able to determine that you had eight in your group.” She nodded at some terminals along one wall of the ballroom. “Do extend my appreciation of Aqua Breeze’s work to her, won’t you? For the resources she had at her disposal, and despite being a non-unicorn, her work was impressively elegant. Once this is situation is resolved, I would like her to come and work for me.”

Undertow scoffed. “If she doesn’t kill you first for messing with her tech. Like I am contemplating for your gambling of MY lake without my permission.”

Amber’s stare was flat, unimpressed. “I am afraid that those who consider Soft Swell Lake to belong to you are limited to just we here, and perhaps the others in your group. You have been away too long, Undertow of the Deep Divers, and Latvi has made the Raiders unafraid of you.”

Now Undertow’s horn lit up, and the sound of water in the background changed. “Then I will remind them of why that lake is mine.”

My hoof slammed against the ballroom floor, and a quick burst of magic rained turned the water floating above us into snow. “The rest of the deal, Amber! Now.”

Without missing a beat, she complied. “There is not much left to tell, I arranged for Latvi to take the city, and only the city, not the inhabitants, a week from now. Unfortunately, McCoy was murdered these past two days. I assume that since none of the six of your group within earshot of the communicators were the ones who killed him, that it was you and Wings who fought him.”

“Yeah. We came pretty close to dying too, all because you decided to sic Eitom and Wicker on Wings!”

Again, Amber waved her hoof across the rest of the room. “Part of the plan, Snowflake. What I got from them in return for Wings’ location will be of vital importance over the next few days. You shall see in time. It is one of many steps I have taken to mitigate and control this crisis. Even as we speak, other forces are on their way here to combat the Raiders.”

“Then why are we here?”

“To boost Wings’ profile, of course.” Finding a smile again, she looked back to Schwarzwald. “You have done what you could, but I have considerable resources at my disposal. I realise now that this is how I can help you.”

Schwarzwald stepped forward, until they were almost nose-to-nose. “Help me?”

Appearing uncertain for the first time since I had known her, Amber nodded demurely. “Yes. I had intended to win you over to my side eventually, to bring you into my fold. However, after hearing your words, I realise now that this will never happen. Your eyes are always on further horizons. Your concerns are higher than money or business success.”

Amber’s lips pursed slightly, and her front legs tilted forward a fraction, before she caught herself. Returning to an upright position, she gave a slow blink. “I cannot fight beside you with bullets and armour, but I can fight with you, in my own way. When Lethbridle is safe, you will understand. And after you do, I will continue to support you as you achieve your goals. Beyond that…”

“...we will talk.” Schwarzwald finished. Braver than Amber, she leaned forward and licked her cheek. “You should have shown this side of yourself sooner, dahling. I like it.”

The faintest tinge of red graced the Bernstein leader’s cheeks, and she quickly stepped back. “Yes, well, that is for later. I will keep you informed, all eight of you, of our progress. I ask again that you work with me for the sake of the city.”

Well, Schwarzwald’s clearly on board, and she does seem like she could be a big help with Watcher’s Gardens, but I still don’t know...

The snow rose from the floor around us, reverting to water and returning to the fountain. “It appears you are still keeping a lot from me, sister.”

Yep, she’s pissed. Willing as much compassion through her goggles as I could, I made no attempt to lie further. “Yeah, Undertow, I am. Sorry, but I need you to keep it secret that you even know that there IS a secret. It’s important, and not ours to tell. We’re in somebody else’s territory now.” I wasn’t sure she’d appreciate my referencing her Deep Diver laws after learning that she had lost her lake, but I wanted to be clear on the importance. “As soon as I get the okay to tell you, I will. I promise.”

For the longest time, she just looked at me. Then she lifted her goggles just enough for me, and only me, to see her eyes. A mix of emotions ran through them. “I suppose that will have to do for now.”

~~~~~~

Breeze’s hoof slipped out from under her, the gravel debris kicking up onto Naiara, who threw up a hoof to block it, but still ended up spitting and hacking.

Grousing, Breeze pulled herself upright and rubbed her shoulder. She waved off Cassie’s concern. “Friggin’ groundpounders! How far are we gonna be walking, Rockhaunch?”

Kicking aside some more loose material, the burly buffalo nodded at the next left. “Just down here. Before we go, though, take a look around. Gotta make sure the coast is clear. It’s vital that nobody finds this place who we don’t want finding it.”

Still grumbling, Breeze complied. I glanced around at the rooftops, or what was left of them after the street collapse in the northern quarter. We were in the southern quarter now, but not far from the partitions. This place hadn’t escaped damage, like the gravel and debris from the closest buildings going down, but it looked to be mostly contained to the northern quarter. “I can’t see anything. Naiara? Bosco? Cassie?”

“Nope.” The zebra shrugged.

“Nothing.” The colt’s voice still lacked its usual life.

Good thing there’s not any clocks around here. He’d be counting the seconds ‘til we head back to Neighlway. “Cassie?”

“One moment… no.”

“Alright, come on.”

Rounding the corner, we were greeted by a full squad of guards pouring out of nearby buildings. They assembled in front of Chief Rockhaunch, ripping off a simultaneous salute. “SIR!”

Returning the salute, Rockhaunch beckoned one mare over. “Open the hatch, captain. We’re going down. Shut the door after us, and then reinforce the watchponies at the north quarter divide. It’s gonna be a long night.”

“Yes, sir.” She turned to the assembled guards. “Back to work, the Chief’s going under.”

Waving a hoof at us, the captain started walking towards one of the buildings. “This way please.”

We followed her towards the building, but I wasn’t sure what we were seeing. It didn’t look any different from the outside than the rest of the street. It was only when we got inside that I saw what it was that the squad was guarding.

Deep in the building, down a flight of stairs, we came across a hole in the wall. And one in the wall behind that wall. They’d recently been excavated, judging by the rubble and tools stashed in the corner of the room. A pair of guards flanked each hole, and lights flickered further in.

“What happened here?” The others were studying the unearthed secret too. Well, Breeze seemed more interested in the tools and the flickering lights than the masonry.

Rockhaunch padded through the first hole. “Seems that Bernstein got her hooves on the original Lethbridle plans, or what place was here before it was Lethbridle… whatever. Anyway, said she got them from some place called ‘Whitepony’. They showed us how to find this.”

Naiara and Bosco exchanged a glance. “Whitepony? That was us!”

Stopping in his tracks, the Chief about-faced. “You two went to Whitepony for Bernstein?”

Bosco scratched at his neck. “Well, we had Snow, Undertow, and Schwarzwald with us too.”

“More like Schwarzwald was going, and dragged us along, really.” Naiara was trying to appear nonchalant, despite the unblinking stare Rockhaunch was giving them.

He cleared his throat. “I’m guessing this was recently, within the last month or so?”

“Yyyes?”

Breathing in through his nostrils, then slowly blowing the air out past his lips, the Chief turned and started walking again. “Good to know that you are in part responsible for this mess, even if I doubt you really knew what it was you were looking for at the time.”

Nobody really had a response to that, so we just followed in silence. Awkward silence.

Moving past the wall in the second wall, the flickering lights grew and resolved into a heavy steel cover on the floor, five metres wide, with lights popping up intermittently.

I tapped at it with a claw. “This a Stable?”

Rockhaunch shook his massive head. “Not quite. It’s the entrance to Lethbridle’s subterranean levels. Or maybe Lethbridle was built on top of this. Nobody knows, and I don’t really care. We’re not here to see the door.” He waved a hoof at one of the guards standing by. Using his horn, the guard tapped a code into the keypad. Once the code was entered, three beeps emerged.

Nothing happened for several seconds. Breeze, hovering excitedly over the cover, looked up with a frown. “Is it broken?”

“No, it just takes a little while.”

“Seriously? Weak. I want a look at how it works. Bet I could-”

With a hiss of displaced air, the cover began receding back into the walls. Immediately the sound of many voices reached our ears. Breeze quickly landed beside her sister.

“This way.” Rockhaunch began descending the ramp under the cover.

“Uh, Chief?” Bosco scampered to keep up with the buffalo. “This really seems like a Stable.”

“It’s not.” The Chief’s tone was final. “Stables are built with the idea of housing people long-term. Down here is just tunnels. There’s nothing down here for food or the like except what we brought down ourselves. Not a Stable.”

“Then who’s talking?” Breeze challenged, looking a little uneasy.

I can relate. Look how low the ceiling is. No room to fly in here.

Rockhaunch kept walking. “That’s one part of the Lethbridle defence plan. I told you that we evacuated the northern quarter, and some folks left. Those down here are the ones who wanted to stay.”

Cassie wrinkled her nose at the grimy walls. “The citizens are living down here?”

“For the moment. Until the threat has passed.”

“There can’t possibly be enough room! This is barbaric.” Cassie’s wings fluttered with her words.

Surprising me with a chuckle, Rockhaunch glanced back over his shoulder at her. “You’d be surprised. There are tunnels and chambers branching off from this one. Hundreds of them. Some even reach further than the wall.” He shrugged his bushy shoulders. “Honestly, we’d have struggled to keep order down here, what with some of my guards deciding they didn’t want to work for OR with Bernstein on this, and leaving the city to escort the civilians to Vanchoofer.”

My claw twitched towards the handle of my revolver. “Yeah, we met a few of them.” Like that prick who put a hole through Snow’s shoulder. All she said was hi!

“You did?” Rockhaunch sounded relieved. “Did they make it safely to Vanchoofer?”

One didn’t. I tried to force myself to keep a neutral expression. I had no idea how well the buffalo Chief could read griffons. “Some of them. There was a Raider attack.”

Taking the news stoically, he closed his eyes for a moment. “I see. That’s unfortunate. Still, we have to hope for the best until I can spare the guards to go find out for sure. As I said, we’re short on bodies here.” He looked back down the tunnel. “We got really lucky with some help. They’ve got the same computers on their wrists that Red Ice had the first time I met her.” He fixed Bosco with a glare. “When you were getting into trouble with that ghoul in the shopping district.”

Ignoring that last part, Bosco was wide-eyed. “You’ve got ponies here with Pipbucks?”

Rockhaunch tapped his forehead. “Right, that was what they were called. No, we don’t have any ponies with ‘Pipbucks’.”

“But you just said-”

“They’re buffalo.”

My eyes went wide too. No way we got this lucky. Flapping my wings, I jumped up and grabbed Rockhaunch by the horn, narrowly ahead of Bosco and Naiara, who also crowded in. “Chief, this is important. These buffalo, are they bulls or cows?”

I hung fast to his horn, even when he tried to shake me off. “They’re bulls, now let go of my head.”

Naiara tugged on the other horn. “How many were there?”

“Let go I said! And there’s two of them!” He pulled back and jerked, dislodging Naiara. My wings allowed me to keep hold. “They’re down in the tunnels. They can keep a whole map of the place on those computers, and a bunch of other stuff besides. We’ve been relying on them to keep the peace while we’re fighting up top.”

He ground at the floor with his hoof. “Normally we wouldn’t have to rely on outsiders for this, but with everything happening before we were ready…”

Bosco bounced up in front of the Chief, waving a hoof to break him out of his reverie. “Chief, those two buffalo you mentioned.Can we talk with them?”

He didn’t immediately answer, as he was too busy staring at Naiara and Bosco’s identical huge, goofy smiles.

“It would be convenient to work through them for… whatever it is we’ll do next as part of the defence effort.” Cassie wasn’t sharing in the thrill, but she helped in her own, proper way.

“...Alright, I’ll take you to them now.”

YYYESSS!! Utterly failing to stop the growth of my own dumb smile, I eagerly followed after the Lethbridle Chief. She’s gonna be so happy!

~~~~~~

Chapter 23-3: Playing The Percentages

Undertow’s cute little squeak betrayed her surprise as we surveyed the jagged collapse running along the northern quarter boundary.

Schwarzwald and I shared a look of appreciation. “Pretty brave, to break Lethbridle just to stop the Raiders.”

She kicked a pebble down into the hole, listening to it clatter as it fell. “If I knew the information at Whitepony was so valuable, I would have asked for more caps.” She tapped a hoof against her chin thoughtfully. “Or perhaps certain favours from dear Amber.”

“Hell, she owes me some favours alre-and those aren’t the kind of favours you’re talking about, are they?”

“You are learning, mistress.” The playfulness that she’d sported when we first met, diminished slightly since revealing her connection to Watcher, was back in full force. You really love that Amber one-upped your perception of her, don’t you?

A growl from Undertow snapped me out of my reverie. “We have company.”

Across the divide, a trio of Raiders were approaching the other side. One had a club, but the other two were unslinging guns.

“Come.” Schwarzwald turned away from the edge. “They will not get target practice from us.”

Tugging my hood further down, in the hope that none of the trio would recognise me or Undertow, we followed suit. “Right. Still things to do for ‘dear Amber’, after all.”

Retreating around the corner, the suddenly outraged cries of the Raiders followed us for a little while. Ignoring it, I scanned what was left of the town’s infrastructure.

“We cannot guarantee that there affected areas will be empty. Please join the search teams to find any stragglers.” Real easy to say when you’re sat in your tower, Bernstein. We’re down here doing the grunt work.

She better not think I’ll take orders from her in the future.

Skirting around a patch of glass, the shattered remains of the shattered remains of a chasm-side building, Undertow took a deep breath. “I hope that Buff and Lo were not caught up in this. We still don’t know where they are.”

“Don’t even think like that.” I had to be careful not to over-balance her as I bumped her reassuringly. “Lo’s a kidder, but he knows how to keep himself out of trouble. Buff won’t put him in a situation where they might be in danger.” Memories of Buff’s face in the Stable medical bay had my lips curling upwards. “He’s the responsible one. They’re triplets, but he’s always been the ‘oldest’.”

“But is he old enough?”

I could hear the innuendo in the mercenary mare’s question. “You can just go ahead and consider all of my brothers, AND my little sister…” Undertow nickered at my side. “... too young for you. Forever.”

“Spoilsport.”

“That’s exactly what I am, now keep your eyes out for any poor dumb saps who thought it was a good idea to stay out here while the ground fell out from under them. We get them back to safety, you can go nuts on them.”

“Ooh!”

“Oh, grow up!” I focused back on Undertow. “As I was saying, Buff’s the responsible one. He always helped me to look after Al and Lo.”

My smile slipped slightly. I hope it wasn’t too hard for you when I disappeared, Buff. You could look after them by yourself, right? I didn’t want to go, honestly I didn’t.

I snuffled the thought away. “Al’s in the middle, and he can get really intense about things sometimes. Lo’s the youngest, and loves to play tricks and have fun. You’ll like all of them, I promise.”

Levitating some rubble away from a doorway, Undertow peered inside. Facing away from me, her voice echoed back from the empty building. “Will… will they like me?”

“What? Psh. Course they will. They’ll be thrilled to have another sister, especially one as cute as you.” I caught the hint of a blush in her cheeks as I said this.

It soon deepened as Schwarzwald’s chuckle came from across the street. “You are very adorable, dahling.”

“I-I don’t want to just be cute!” Undertow protested. “I want to help my brothers!”

Tittering into our hooves, Schwarzwald and I enjoyed the sight of Undertow’s pouting.

It was short-lived, however, as a voice growled out of the ‘empty’ building that Undertow had been looking into. “Who’s there?”

“EEP”-ing, Undertow scampered behind Schwarzwald and I, her with weapons ready and me with horn aglow. We all watched as a misshapen, gnarled, hideous thing plodded out of the building’s dark interior.

My heart instantly dropped a few beats-per-minute. “Hello again, Inbox.”

Blinking his one useable eye, then vigorously rubbing it, the ghoul seemed as surprised as I was. “Stable pony? Is that you?” He ground his haggard hoof into the socket again. “I don’t see too well anymore.”

Schwarzwald wound her gatling down. “You two have met before, dahling?”

My mind flashed back to the time before the last time I’d come across him. Him and his sister… me and Undertow… four hours! Shuddering and blushing, also pointedly not looking at Undertow, I nodded. “He’s a thief who tried to rob me when I first came to Lethbridle. We’ve met a few times.”

If he was offended or regretful of his actions, Inbox didn’t show it. He just shrugged. “You don’t have to worry about that anymore, Stable pony. From what I hear, you’ve got much more important things to worry about.” He waved a malformed limb around at the devastation. “We all do.”

Undertow stepped out from behind me. “Do you not fear the Raiders? They will kill you if they find you.”

He turned a glossy eye towards her. “Ah, the little hick. I suppose you want your ‘diving lights’ back?” He spat on the ground. “You can have them, if you find your way to my shack. I’ve got no use for them anymore.”

Regarding him warily, Undertow leaned back slightly. “No use for them? You stole them from my lake, miles away from here, and now you just give them up? Why?”

Inbox didn’t answer, didn’t do anything except stare blankly ahead, not even at us. After a few seconds, he snapped out of it. “What? What’d you say?”

Oh. Now, I remembered the last conversation between the ghoul and I. “We lose all that we were, and the radiation swallows us whole, turning us into monsters that only care about killing others.” “It’s happening, isn’t it?”

Emotion finally crept into his eye. Glimmers of sadness, despair even, and fear swirled around the iris. “I… yeah. I get flashes, tugging. Space out for a few seconds. I think actually LOOKING for my sister might have been the only thing keeping me right. After I got her back, there was nothing keeping me here.”

“Is… is there anything we can do?” Nothing else seemed appropriate. What do you say to a guy who’s disappearing into his own head?

Taking a step back into the house, Inbox shook his head. “No. Just stay away from me. Next time, I might not be able to control myself.” He stopped suddenly, head rising. “Oh, right! I suppose you already know about what’s happening, right?”

We nodded, so he continued. “There’s something else going on, too. Nobody’s talking about it, except those Bernstein guys.”

“Bernstein?” Schwarzwald was suddenly VERY interested. “What do you mean?”

He kicked a nearby crate over, revealing it to be empty. “Not sure, but even before all this started, probably for about a week or two now, those Bernstein guys have been buying up everything; food, clothing, fuel, guns ‘n’ ammo, everything. Hell, the markets haven’t even been open for days now because everypony’s been cleaned out.”

“Amber already ensures that her employees are provided for, she would not need all this for them.” Schwarzwald’s expression flickered back and forth between excited and contemplative. “She has something else in play.”

Undertow had been poking her head around in the crate, but withdrew it to fix Inbox with a hard stare. “How do you know this? You said that only the Bernsteins talked of it.”

A wheezing, raspy chuckle escaped his uneven lip. “Nobody cares if an old ‘vagrant’ ghoul is around, little hick. I hear a lot of stuff… or at least I used to.”

Well, that’s probably not good. What are you up to now, Amber? “Umm... thanks, Inbox. This helps, and you didn’t have to tell us because we’re… well, we’re not exactly friends.”

Laughing that sad laugh again, he took another step back so that he was halfway through the busted doorway. “Who else am I gonna tell now, those Raiders that are around? Fuck ‘em. I’ll talk to you until I can’t talk anymore, and then I’ll… I’ll…” He trailed off into nothing.

After several seconds, I motioned for us all to go. Inbox gave no sign that this registered. He continued to stand there, halfway in the dark, doing and looking at nothing, as we walked away.

At the end of the street, I thought I might have heard a “-nks, Stable pony”, but when I looked back, the doorway was empty.

Hurrying to catch up to the others, my mind was cooking at this new information. I drew level with Schwarzwald, who was positively bouncing. “Could you love this a little less? We don’t know that what Amber’s planning is going to be good for us.”

“But it will be interesting, mistress. Dear Amber is doing so well!”

“Try not to be too jealous, sister. You won’t be mistress for much longer.” The undercurrent of humour lacing Undertow’s words made me stumble.

“Ooh, you just wait, little sister. Wait until your brothers here about your teasing.”

She gasped. “Don’t tell them!”

“WHO’S THERE?” A colt charged out of a derelict storefront, slamming straight into me.

Grunting as I hit the lightly snow-dusted ground, I felt my hood slip down and away from my face. “Get offa me!” I kicked out at the scrawny pony, who scrambled off me.

Springing to his hooves, he levitated a bent crowbar before him in a weak green glow. “This is my patch, I called it. Go look for stuff somewhere else, or else!”

An aquamarine haze seized the crowbar, stilling it in the air. Confused, the colt tugged at it with his magic, but it didn’t move an inch.

Speaking in a low growl, Undertow pulled no punches. “There is nothing here to find, fool. Didn’t the guards tell you to get to safety?”

The colt didn’t give up his futile struggle. “They’re not the boss of me, and you aren’t neither. Leggo my crowbar!”

Dusting myself off, I regarded the stupidity. “You won’t get it away from her, kid. She’s way better than you. It’s her crowbar now. Run along to wherever the guards told you to go already. We’re busy.”

“Fuck you, I do what I… I…” He trailed off, looking past us in terror.

Turning around, we spotted why. Three Raiders were standing there, looking stunned.

One recovered faster than the others, and took off back the way they’d come, screaming “RED ICE IS HERE! RED ICE IS HERE!”

The other two simply decided to attack, whipping out rusty shotguns and charging.

Schwarzwald wasted no time. She opened up with her full battle saddle, and the two Raiders went down in seconds. “Unfortunate. Now Latvi will know that we are here.”

“Y-y-you’re Red Ice?”

Ah, shit. Rubbing at my temple tiredly, I turned back to the now-cowering colt. His magic was entirely gone from the crowbar, which Undertow was holding aloft. “Yes, I’m Red Ice. And I really, really wish you hadn’t been here for this.”

Undertow dropped the crowbar, letting it clatter to the ground. “Snowflake…” She cautioned.

“If he blabs about this, word could spread that Blue Fire and Red Ice are working together. People still think I’m leading the Raiders. If the truth comes out, they won’t trust Wings anymore. Any chance we had of turning her into a hero is gone.”

“But he is just a child.” She had a point. The colt was barely her age, if that. Just some punk kid who was looking to get himself a few things to sell for caps. Still, as I looked at his shifty eyes, looking all over for a way out, I remembered something Inbox had once told me.

“If you want to be sorry for anything, Stable pony, be sorry because you were late.” The ghoul I’d killed had been too far gone to help by the time I came along. This time, I might be able to help the situation right now...

I’m not gonna let him jeopardise this for Wings, Undertow. “Schwarzwald, take Undertow and go on ahead. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“As you wish, dahling.” Gently but firmly, the mare directed Undertow away. I tried not to look, knowing that I wouldn’t like my sister’s expression.

I waited until they rounded the corner. “She was right, you know? You are just a child.”

Faint hope grew in him, and he tried to stand up.

Until my ice spear ran through his heart. “Just a child who ran afoul of a Raider… because he went out looting instead of keeping himself safe.” Why couldn’t you have just gone with the guards? Stupid, stupid colt!

Dragging his body back into the store he’d been poking around in was hard, heavy, deadweight work. It was perfect for forcing a person to think about why they had to do it, to really drive that home. I can’t be late this time. Either the Raiders get you, kid, or the Windigos get us all.

...worth it.

After stashing the body as far into the store as I could, I hurried to catch up with Schwarzwald and Undertow.

I pulled level, but neither said anything for several seconds. Undertow broke the silence, but in a way that sent ice into my heart too.

“This habit of keeping secrets is getting expensive, Lady Ice… and your eyes are glowing again.”

~~~~~~

Moving through the tunnels, we passed one guard… then two guards and three civilians… then a dozen ponies crowded around a makeshift table. It was just an overturned crate, but they were still using it to choke down some plain looking fare. None looked up as we passed. The noise generated by the multitude of voices grew louder with every step we took.

Finally, Rockhaunch reached a corner with flickering shadows playing across it. “We don’t have the room for any funny business down here, not with this many citizens. Keep your weapons holstered. Do not endanger any of my city’s denizens, understand?”

Shifting from one hoof to the other, Breeze tch’d. “You took us down here, Chief. We didn’t ask to be here.”

“But you’re here now, and I’m telling you the rules. This place has to remain a secret to the Raiders, and not starting a fight down here helps with that, girl.” The big buffalo showed no interest in Breeze’s discomfort. “Be on your best behaviour.”

“Can we just meet the two buffalo already?” I was running my talons through my feathers over and over. They have to be the brothers! Now where are they?

Without another word, Rockhaunch turned and stalked around the corner. We followed, with Naiara and Cassie flanking Breeze. Once around the corner, the source of the shadows became apparent.

Barrel fires lit up a spacious chamber stretching hundreds of metres back. Almost every inch of it, save for a few thin walkways, was packed with tired looking ponies, along with the occasional buffalo.

The citizens of Lethbridle seemed to be split along age lines. The adults were miserable, or scared, or frustrated. Some made token attempts to maintain a semblance of normal life; knitting with magic, or washing clothes, or cooking over the dirty barrel fires.

The foals, on the other hoof, seemed to be treating it as some great adventure. They raced along the walkways, and squeezed in between the groupings of older ponies, laughing all the while. Rockhaunch didn’t flinch as they scampered around and under him, giggling. The five of us stepped aside as best as we could with our limited space, but they hardly paid us any attention.

Until, that is, one giggling filly skidded to a stop a few hooflengths behind Breeze. Eyes widening, the little one turned around and trotted back to the pegasus.

Breeze leaned away. “W-what?”

With fearlessness born of foalhood, the filly reached up and poked at Breeze’s wing. “How come you got wings? Was your daddy a griffon?”

Mouth half-open, Breeze could only look at the rest of us. She was totally lost on how to respond.

The filly pressed on. “Was it your mommy? Did she kiss a griffon? My mommy says some griffons and ponies kiss each other. Was that what happened? Did a griffon and a pony kiss and make you?”

Cassie’s shoulders were shaking, and she had to hide her mirth behind coughs. The rest of us weren’t any less amused.

Trapped, Breeze squared her shoulders and tried her best to explain pony genetics to the tyke. “Um, no. I don’t have a griffon mommy or daddy. I just… I’m not… I just have wings.” She finished lamely.

The filly’s friends had come back and were listening to. One grubby colt tilted his head sideways. “How come?”

“I just do.”

“Why?”

“Because!”

“Because why?”

“Because I said so!”

“...Why?”

Wings flaring out, Breeze stomped a hoof. “Listen here, you little-”

“BREEZE!” Cassie snapped sharply. The sniper gave her sister an eyeful of warning.

“They started it!”

“I don’t care who started it. Watch your language around the children!” Breeze shrank down as Cassie lectured her. Venatici turned her attention to the foals. “And you all. Didn’t your parents tell you not to bother strangers?”

Instantly, the kids melted into sulky innocence, twisting hoof points in the dirt. “...just wanted to see the pretty wings.” The filly mumbled, not meeting Cassie’s gaze.

Still looking stern, Cassie stood to full height. “Well, perhaps if you ask the lady nicely, she’ll show you her pretty wings.”

Shuffling into a line, the assembled foals chorused at Breeze in their most adorable, obviously practiced voices. “Show us your wings please, pretty lady?”

That did it. Bosco, Naiara and I lost it. Hooting with laughter, we had to step away to where Rockhaunch was waiting. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Breeze glowering at us, face flushed.

With no help coming from Cassie, who just watched her expectantly, Breeze gave up. Turning side on, she unfurled one with and waved it back and forth for the foals. Said foals immediately grabbed at the new distraction, examining it every which way, while the wing’s owner stood statue still in frustration.

Cassie allowed the children to “ooh” and “aah” over her sister’s feathers for a minute or so, before shooing them away with her own wings. “Alright, little ones. That’s enough. We have to go now. Be good and go back to your parents now.”

“Aw!”

“Just a little longer!”

“No fair!”

“Will you come back and play later?”

Already walking away, Cassie called back over her shoulder. “If there is time. Goodbye now.”

“BYE BYE PRETTY LADIES!” Shrieked the foals, at hyper volume.

Cassie didn’t look back, but instead smirked at the technophile pony’s blushing helplessness. “They think you’re pretty.”

Breeze looked away. “They should mind their own business.”

“Just take the compliment and move on.” Naiara whispered. “They didn’t call my stripes pretty.”

Blanching, Breeze gently shoved her away. “I’d just rather not draw attention to the fact that we’re pegasi, OR that you’re a zebra, while we’re stuck underground and can’t get away.”

“Don’t worry,” A cheerful voice interjected. “they’ll find something to distract them soon enough. I just gave ‘em a ball. Should hold ‘em for a few hours. By then they’ll have forgotten all about you.”

All five of us turned to the new arrival, a cienna-furred buffalo with a bright smile, and a Pipbuck on his wrist.

My eyes widened. Wow, he really does look just like Al.

Chief Rockhaunch finally cracked a smile. “You’re Lo, right? How are things going down here? Is Buff around?”

Lo returned the smile with a wide grin of his own. “Hey, Chief. Yeah, we’re doing fine. Buff’s just off doing inventory. A few of your guards dropped off the last of the supplies from outside. He’s updating the records. Wasn’t really a two-bison job, so I’m on break.”

Nodding, the Chief’s hoof came up to indicate us. “Good timing then, got these five here on special business. Said they wanted to meet you and your brother.”

Lo’s smile faded almost instantly, replaced with fear. “Meet us? Who wants to find us?

Well, this is as good a time as any. Slinking past Rockhaunch, I stopped in front of Lo. Doing my best to appear open and non-threatening, I spoke in measured tones. “Hi, Lo. My name is Wings, that’s Bosco over there, the zebra is Naiara, and the twins are Breeze and Cassie. We’re… friends of your sister.”

“Eh, well-” Breeze began, before Naiara kicked her in the shin.

Stars burst into Lo’s eyes. “You know Snow? Is she okay? Where is she? Is she okay?”

“You said that already.” Bosco laid a calming hoof on the vibrating buffalo. “She’s okay. She’s here, in the city. We’re working with her, and we’ll meet up soon.”

“She’s here?” A copy of Lo stepped up next to him. Buff’s demeanour very much more composed than Lo. “Why is she here? It’s not safe in Lethbridle right now.”

Lo looked like he was going to burst into tears. Naiara quickly moved to calm his fears. “Don’t worry. We know all about what’s happening. There are two others with her, also friends. They won’t let her get into trouble.”

’Trouble’ being a very ambiguous term for Snow. Still, we found her brothers! She’ll love that. “She’s okay. Really.”

Lo did have tears in his eyes now. He was almost sobbing at his brother. “Buff, we did it. We… we found her! She’s okay!”

Buff was trying hard, but there was a definite glimmer in his eyes too. “Yeah. We’ll go to her just as soon as we can. We just gotta finish up here first.”

Aghast, Lo’s jaw dropped. “What? You want to wait here?”

“Just until things are under control here. We’re the only two with Pipbucks. They need our help. Wouldn’t Snow say the same?”

Breeze opened her mouth again, but I silenced her with a hiss. “Don’t you fucking dare.” I hope to hell that they didn’t hear that.

Lo relented, but looked anything but happy about it. “Yeah, I guess she would. I just don’t wanna wait a second longer. We need to get Snow, then find Al and the Overmare.”

Cassie spoke up before any of us could stop her. “Why are you not with your other brother...Al, wasn’t it? The way Snowflake talks about you three, we didn’t expect you to separate.”

Both brothers suddenly looked very uncomfortable. Buff spoke first. “After Roc, a griffon from our Stable, won the Overseer election, he exiled the four of us: Myself, Al, Lo, and the former Overmare. The three of us were only interested in finding Snowflake, while the Overmare had no real plan. We travelled together at first, coming here to Lethbridle, and then following any leads as to Snowflake’s whereabouts.”

“Uh huh.” Exchanging glances with Bosco, Naiara, and the twins, I was suddenly less enthusiastic about talking to Snow’s brothers. “‘Any’ leads?”

Buff made a noncommittal gesture. “I’m afraid that we aren’t familiar enough with Wasteland living to determine which are worth following, and which aren’t.”

That’s probably for the best, right now.

“I know the Overmare’s not worth following.” Lo grumbled.

Naiara looked between the two of them. “Wasn’t she your leader, back in the Stable?”

“Exactly.” Lo groused. “She was the leader back in the Stable, BEFORE she lost the election. Then she was just another Stable dweller, for an hour or so. After we were kicked out, she was just another Wasteland wanderer. Didn’t stop her from acting like she was still Overmare though, even though now she’s just Willow Wisp.” He gnashed his teeth and looked away. “She would’ve been fine if she’d just kept quiet.”

“What do you mean?”

Buff continued for Lo, who still seemed angry. “The Overmare, sorry, Willow Wisp, was quite… vocal in her opinion of the situation after our exile. The situation… and Snowflake.”

The hackles at the back of my plumage rose. “What did she say?”

“Nothing good, unfortunately. I think she decided to lay blame on Snowflake for the whole mess. Even went as far as saying Snowflake was lazy while in the Stable. She was not kind when she spoke of her, and sadly she was not quiet either.”

Cassie’s wings fluttered. “Raiders?”

He shook his head. “No. Plottawans. They ambushed us a few days ago. We two and Al managed to get away, but we were separated from the Overmare. We don’t know where she is now.”

Lo’s head rose again. “I hope she’s okay and all, but she needs to watch what she says. She was getting pretty bad between kicking Snow out and the election, but she just got worse out here. Old Equestria made her a whiner.”

“Lo, please.” Heh, he sounds just like Cassie when she talks to Breeze. “She’s just scared, like us.”

“Doesn’t mean she’s gotta take it out on Snow!” Raising his voice, especially against his brother, came anything but easily to Lo, and he immediately seemed to regret it. “Al’s probably scared too, but I bet he isn’t taking it out on Snow.”

“We lost Al a few days later. Steel Rangers this time.” Buff supplied as an aside, before addressing Lo directly. “Al has his Pipbuck. He’ll get away. He’s tough, just like you. I’m sure he’s fine.”

“He is.” I confirmed.

Both jolted. “You met Al?” They asked together.

Say only what they need to hear. Do not screw this up for Snow. “Yeah. We were with the others, Snow included, and we… came across Al. He’s safe. Snow has a... friend of hers looking after him.”

Instantly, some of the tension drained away. “He’s okay, and he’s found Snow.” Buff was talking to himself, but his relief was clear on his face.

“This is great!” Lo was not so restrained. He was near bellowing. “Al’s okay, and Snow found him! And soon we’ll find Snow too, and we’ll find the Overmare, and all go back to the Stable together!”

“Awkward conversation coming soon.” Breeze snarked under her breath.

Thankfully, Rockhaunch salvaged the situation. He stomped up, and looked the two brothers square in the eyes. “I’m happy for you and all, boys. However, as you’ve already said, you need to finish your work here for now. We don’t have much time, and we need to make sure we’re all ready to go. Back to work.” The Chief rounded on us. “You five have work to do too, I’m sure. Come back when you’re done.”

His tone made it clear that he’d brook no disagreement. Wearing a mix of annoyance and excitement, the two brothers followed the Chief, but Lo kept looking back at us and smiling happily.

No sooner had the three buffalo disappeared into the crowd before a guardpony came puffing up. “Is…” He had to stop to take a deep breath. “Is the Chief gone? They told me he was with you.”

Bosco pointed in the direction that Rockhaunch and the others had gone. “Just missed him. He’s somewhere over there.”

Groaning tiredly, the guard set off, muttering to himself. “Sure, I’ll just track him down in all this. Bernstein’s enforcer bitch is tearing it up with Raiders in the streets, but yeah, I’m sure we’ve got time.”

Schwarz is? Better go help. I ran a claw through the feathers atop my head. “Well, looks like Snow’s group found themselves some entertainment.” I turned and started walking back towards the tunnels exit. “Come on guys, Let’s get some air.”

~~~~~~

“MOVEMOVEMOVE!”

We barely managed to get past the warped and dilapidated storefront before a Raider’s heavy machinery burst through it in a shower of rubble. The Raider stallion in the driver’s seat was cackling up a storm, audible even over the rumble of the massive vehicle.

Whoops and howls soon joined the din as Raiders poured from the new gap into the street, glancing back, I saw a second vehicle emerge from the hole, utterly unworried by the uneven terrain of the wrecked shop. Standing atop it was a familiar pony, one I’d come to greatly dislike.

Bastards must’ve filled in the gap and gone straight over it!

Perhaps feeling my backwards glance, Latvi’s head turned in my direction. The smug scientist grinned viciously as we retreated, and jocularly pointed at my friends and I as we sprinted away from the pursuing Raiders.

Great plan, Amber! I silently groused between intakes of breath. Your ‘trapped’ Raiders got around your tricks in a only a few hours!

And Breeze told us she junked those things! The goliath farming vehicles, from the feral ghoul-infested agricultural facility, had supposedly been disabled by Breeze and the others when they revisited the site to find one of Bosco’s Memory Orbs. The fact that the Raiders were running parades of them through Lethbridle’s western quarter raised doubts about the technophile’s claim.

To my left, Schwarzwald spun around as we reached an intersection, opening up with a rattling barrage from her minigun as Undertow and I darted around the corner. She drew level with us a few seconds later.

“Any luck?” I asked as we skirted around more debris.

“No. The armour is too thick for my weaponry. We need to retreat and warn the others.” Her cheek was bleeding from the Raider’s uncoordinated return fire.

“We cannot just run to the quarter-boundary.” On my other side, Undertow weighed in. “Those vehicles will break through in minutes. We need to try to slow them down here, to give us time to mount a better defence.”

All of us were breathing heavily, so it was a moment before Schwarzwald responded. “What is your plan, dahling?”

Horn horn glowed aquamarine for a moment. “We need to block this street,” we all ducked as bullets whizzed past, “...and make them clear it first.”

“How? Nothing we’ve got on us can bring down a building.” I agreed with my sister’s assessment, but didn’t really see a way it could be done.

Undertow’s goggle-covered gaze was darting from one side of the street to the other. She pointed at an upcoming building on our right, a three story cuboid 50 metres away. “There! We can use that.” She glanced past me to the mercenary mare. “You’ll need to give us some cover while we work. Can you hold them back for thirty seconds?”

Revving her minigun in response, Schwarzwald managed a tight smile. “If only to see what you are up to, dear Undertow.”

“On my signal then.”

As we reached the building, Undertow shouted “NOW!”, and leapt inside. I followed closely behind. Schwarzwald ducked into the door, then leaned out with her entire battle saddle-mounted arsenal firing.

The glow from Undertow’s horn lit up the interior walls as she simultaneously emptied all her bottles of water. I hastily conjured a half-metre tall ice wall to cover Schwarzwald. “Undertow, what are we doing here?”

The floating water drilled into the edge where the floor met the wall, sending plaster and wood slivers flying. Soon, the water had spread out to cover the entire length, corner to corner. Undertow jabbed a hoof at me. “Now, sister, ice it!”

Still not following, but you know water better than me. The aquamarine glow was replaced by a glacial one, as the water froze solid. As soon as it turned to ice, the building began to groan and cracks began running up the wall.

Grabbing me, Undertow ran towards Schwarzwald and the door. “Time to go, Schwarzwald! Run now!”

Without a second thought, the mare ceased her assault on the Raiders and leapt over the ice wall I’d created, running past the building in the direction we’d been heading before the detour. As Undertow and I crested the frozen barricade, my heart jumped a little as I saw how close the vehicles were. Latvi’s good mood was in full swing, and he was leaning out into the air as he directed his forces from atop his metal behemoth steed.

“Undertow, the plan?!” I magically twisted the ice barricade to spear a charging Raider in the thigh.

The Raider went down, but the ice liquefied and joined with more coming from inside our affected building. Undertow reformed it all into one massive tentacle. Rearing back, the aquatic appendage swung around and battered the building’s lower floor, gouging great chunks out of the wall. The groaning from the structure rapidly grew to deafening levels.

A set of teeth seized the scruff of my neck and yanked me back painfully. Falling onto my backside, I got to see the entire plan suddenly come to fruition. With one side of the building destabilised, the weight of the whole three stories overbalanced, and it all came crashing down.

Straight into the street, blocking the Raiders’ path. I caught Latvi’s shock morphing into fury just as the entire mess came down between us, cutting them off.

A turquoise hoof reached under my shoulder and helped me to my hooves. “That won’t hold them forever, sister, but maybe we bought ourselves an hour or so.”

“Very impressive, dahling.” Schwarzwald spurred the three of us on at a brisk trot, but not so frantic as the mad dash we were making before. “How did you do it?”

“Kinda wondering that myself. What’d you do?” I tried not to smile at Latvi’s faint, incontinent ranting coming from the other side of the fallen building.

There was some pride in Undertow’s words as she explained. “Water expands when it freezes. I used to see it during the cold seasons back at Soft Swell Lake. If it gets into cracks and then freezes, it weakens the foundations. Eventually it will bring a building down. I sped up the process here, with some help from Snowflake.”

“Happy to lend a horn, little sister.” Are you ever going to stop surprising me?

“We are fortunate that you did what you did, Undertow-dahling.” Schwarzwald shrugged her saddle. “I am out of ammunition.”

“Then let’s get back to the southern quarter and regroup. I can still hear Latvi.” I blew a raspberry, and picked up some more speed.

We made it a half-dozen streets before it all went wrong. I rounded the corner for the road leading to the quarter divide, and ran straight into a wall of flesh. My nose squashed against the obstruction, and I bounced off, stumbling backwards and falling in a heap with Undertow and Schwarzwald.

“WHO’S THERE?!” I yelled out at anybody, already trying to magic up some cold. It wasn’t coming easily after the chase, however. How did they get ahead of us so quickly?

“Sorry, didn’t see you there. Are you…” The voice cut off with a gasp. “S...Snow?”

I froze. All other sounds and sensations dropped away. I knew that voice. I’d heard it every day for years. It was a voice I would never not know. “Lo?” I fought to dislodge myself from the pile, and to get a look at the speaker. “Lo, is that you?”

“You’re...you’re...” The voice, which I was now certain belonged to my youngest brother, choked up. “They told us you were here, a-and you are, and…” He was snuffling and losing it now. “And you are!”

Finally managing to fight my way out of the tangle, I scrambled upright. I was eye-to-quivering chin with Lo Doublehorn. Looking up with increasingly tear-clouded eyes, I took in his big loveable face. He looks so young… and a little older. “Are you okay, Lo?”

His buffalo-sized hoof reached up towards me. I seized it almost instantly, and the two of us embraced as tight as we could. “I’m okay, sis. You’re okay. They told me you were here, and I had to… I had to see you for myself.”

’They’ who? I broke the embrace, reluctantly. “Who told you about me, Lo? Was it a guard? One of the Bernsteins?”

Swiping at his eyes with a free hoof, he could only shrug. “I dunno. They were with Chief Rockhaunch, so they might’ve been guards, but I kinda doubt it. I didn’t see any uniforms either. There were five of ‘em. A griffon, zebra, earth colt and two pegasi.”

My heart lightened. You found my brothers for me. “Yeah, I know them. They’re friends of mine. You can trust them.” Well, Cassie and Breeze are kind of a grey area, but I doubt they’d go for you just to get at me. Naiara wouldn’t let them, and I’d kill them if they tried. I reached up and began patting his head and body all over. “Are you sure you’re okay? No injuries or diseases? It’s a little colder and dirtier out here than the Stable.”

He interrupted my examination with another tight hug. “I’m fine, Snow. Everything’s fine now that you’re here.”

Burying my face in his cienna fur, I allowed myself a little chuckle. “My baby brother’s okay.”

CLICK! “Well, that’s a matter of opinion.”

I looked up. Standing on a nearby rooftop was a griffon in insignia-less armour.

He’s pointing his rifle at my brother.

He spoke to all of us without taking his aim away from Lo. “Now, I don’t want any sudden movements from any of you. No horn glows either, unicorns, or else I’ll have to paint this big ol’ target I’m looking at. Now, my employer wants a word with you, Red Ice. You’ll be coming with me.”

He’s pointing his rifle at my brother.

“Lucky break for us that you’re in Lethbridle right now... or is it really just ‘luck’?”

He’s pointing his rifle… AT MY BROTHER!

“Either way, you’re coming along. All of you. Any funny business and I kill the lump.”

That did it. I could feel the purple smoke leaking out of my eyes. “Take it back.” I muttered.

“Something to say, Red Ice?”

“Take. It. Back.” I’ll kill you, bring you back, and do it again.

“How about no? Now get moving.”

“He is not a LUMP! TAKE IT BACK!” Shrieking was too soft a word for the noises I was making.

“Yes, yes, very scrrrrrrrrrrrr-” Spasming, the griffon toppled off the roof and crashed down to the street. Still convulsing from the Shock Lock spear stuck in his armour, he lost his grip on his rifle.

You’re mine! I pounced forward, horn ablaze. First, a ring of ice wrapped around his neck and fixed it to the ground. Then similar shackles trapped his wrists and ankles.

Only then did I pull the electric spear out, slowly and jerkily. I revelled in the jumps and shudders as his overloaded nervous system misfired. “You want Red Ice, Monster? Here I am.”

With my teeth, I gripped his wing and pulled it out to full spread. “Let me show you MY opinion.”

In a burst of arcane energy, I flash froze his wing. “It’s my opinion, that you have too many feathers. Let’s fix that.”

I slammed a hoof down onto the now-brittle quills, eliciting a scream of pain to go along with the crystalline shattering. When I took my hoof away, a hoof-sized hole remained in the frozen spread.

“How’s that?” I taunted. “Are we down to the right number?” I tilted my head pointedly. “No? Well then, here we go again!”

CRUNCH! Another hole. Another scream. “Yeah, you were right. The job wasn’t done yet. In fact,” My hoof glided back and forth at the point where the wing met the shoulder. “I think it might be best to go with a full cutdown.”

I raised the hoof, but a gunshot rang out before I could stomp down. The unnamed Monster gained another hole, this time in the centre of his forehead. Another griffon, her revolver still smoking, touched down next to me.

My hoof lowered deliberately. “I wasn’t done.”

Wings shoved her revolver back into her thigh holster. “Yes you were.”

I rounded on her, teeth gritted. “He was pointing his gun at my brother!”

She didn’t flinch. “And you’re scaring your brother.” Wings pointed a claw at my face. “You can’t keep letting this happen, Snow. Every time I see those weird eyes of yours, it means bad news. Get yourself under control!”

She’s right, even if you don’t want to admit it. Grunting, I squeezed my eyes shut for several long seconds, trying to will myself back to normal. Remember that you found Lo, and he’s okay. Stick with that. After a few more deep breaths, I opened my eyes again. Wings’ sapphire orbs were still watching me. I leaned in closer. “Better?” I whispered.

The smallest corner of her beak curved upwards. “Better. Go talk to your brother. He looks like he’s about to cry. I got the others.”

“Thanks.” I mouthed, before turning back to Lo’s puffy face. Geez, she wasn’t kidding. “Lo, I’m really sorry about that. Some stuff’s happened along the way, but I shouldn’t have done that. I’m really… I’m just sorry. About everything.”

Instantly, a different kind of panic set in for Lo. He stepped forwards, holding out a hoof to me. “No, Snow, come on, I mean, that’s not a big deal. I know that things are different out here, but you’re still my big sister. You never need to apologise for anything.”

My heart swelled at his words. Heh, you… you’re great, Lo. I remember why I love you so much. I grabbed his hoof with mine. “Thanks, Lo. I needed to hear that from you.”

His big brown eyes twinkled. “And that was some ice magic, Snow. You’ve gotten a lot better!”

“Yeah, um, some stuff’s happened… along the way.” I repeated lamely.

“Yo!” Breeze, Cassie, Bosco, and Naiara rounded the corner. “The Raiders are making progress in getting around that fallen building. We gotta move.”

“What’s he doing out here?” Breeze’s wingtip was pointing at Lo accusingly. “I thought Rockhaunch said he had stuff to do back in the shelter?”

“Hmm?” I cocked an eyebrow at the increasingly uncomfortable looking buffalo. “Lo, is there something you’re not telling me?”

“I, uh…”

“Lo,” Big-sister mode was in full swing now. “did you finish all your work before coming out here where, I’ll remind you, there are bad people?”

“...Buff’s got it under control.” He tried, but wilted under everybody’s gaze.

Visibly rolling his eyes, Bosco broke the deadlock. “Seriously guys, Raiders. Let’s go already. Those machines will bust through the blockades to the southern district if we don’t warn everybody.”

I snapped out of it. “Right, right. Yeah.” I tapped Lo’s horn with mine. “Take me to Buff.” I have to make sure I don’t mess it up with Buff like I did with Al and Lo.

~~~~~~

Chapter 23-4: Playing The Percentages

I felt progressively worse, about losing control in front of my family, as we walked back through the Southern Quarter. Undertow and Lo stuck close anyway. She stayed silent while he talked at me. Mostly about how great it was that I was here again, and about what had happened during the two weeks I wasn’t in the Stable before they were exiled. My blood boiled at how the Overmare had refused to tell them anything, and how Roc had used it as an excuse to build up support for himself.

Both of those two have a lot to answer for, if I see them again. Though, I guess I’m hardly blameless either.

What really hurt during the walk, though, was how Lo would just stop talking every time I looked at him. He’d break off mid-sentence, probably waiting for me to explode again. Only when I gave a smile or a nod did he resume his stories.

My own brother was afraid of me. Lo, who had never had reason to fear anything or anyone before I found that Memory Orb. Even guys in the Stable such as Roc, who didn’t particularly like me, wouldn’t be able to break Lo’s cheer. Everybody in the Stable was at ease around him, and he around them.

And he’s scared. Great job, Red Ice.

Still, I made an effort to try to show that he shouldn’t be. I kept the conversation light, and avoided topics like the Raiders. I really did want to know what he’d been through out here in the Wasteland, and that he hadn’t been negatively affected by it.

At least I can take solace in the fact he never came across any feral ghouls.

I shuddered at the thought of those walking corpses menacing my boys. Lo noticed the involuntary motion, and broke off again. “You okay, Snow?” He blew a little snow dust out of my mane, and looked at the gently falling precipitation. “I guess it is getting colder, huh? We should hurry and get inside while there’s still some time left to find Buff before bed.”

“Yeah, I can’t wait to see him.” My last brother was going to get the right reception from me. No flipping out or glowing eyes. Just a big, warm hug from his big sister. He deserved nothing less, and a lot more besides.

The others perked up as we approached a guarded location, picking up the pace and walking past Undertow, Schwarzwald, and I. “Um… is this the place?”

Lo nodded excitedly. “Yeah, it’s a shelter underground. A lotta tunnels and big chambers. Kinda like a Stable. You’ll feel more at home here.”

Heh… a Stable… ‘at home’. Right.

The guards stopped us all at the first barrier. Lo tried to get past them by showing them his Pipbuck, for some reason, but they stood firm. It soon became clear why.

Stomping out from the dark interior was a very pissed-off guard Chief. Seeing Lo, Rockhaunch got right in his face. It was quite something to see just how much he outmassed Lo, despite them both being buffalo. “What the hell were you thinking, boy? You just up and leave all these civilians with just your brother to keep everything in order? That gadget on your leg isn’t a toy! We need that to keep track of everything!”

Lo leaned back slightly, a guilty half-smile half-grimace on his face. “I know, but-”

Snorting out of his nostrils, the Chief cut him off. “I DON’T WANT TO HEAR IT! You had a job to do, and you walked out in the middle of it. Buff’s been running himself ragged down there. Get back in there right now and give him a break!”

“Y-yessir! Sorry sir!” With a round of “sorrysorrysorry”, he rushed into the dark hole in the building.

“Hey!” Wings shouted after him.

Undertow called out at the same time. “L-Lo!”

But he didn’t answer. He was already inside and out of earshot. Well, that’s just perfect. I was already conflicted about what had happened, and now I’d lost track of one brother again before I found the other. I glowered at the buffalo I wasn’t related to. “Chief, you are not helping.”

“I could say the same to you. The Raiders are all riled up again, and are into the western quarter now.” He gave me a flat, unimpressed look. “Weren’t you just there?”

“Indeed they were.” A cultured voice answered. As was made clear by Schwarzwald’s growing smile, Amber Bernstein had arrived. She was flanked by a small group of bodyguards and retainers, all sporting the Bernstein colours. Amber herself wore a thick shawl elegantly around her shoulders. Evidently she had noticed the light snow too.

“Hmph. Finally come down from your ivory tower?” Rockhaunch groused.

His irritation didn’t seem to phase her. “Indeed. I have received reports that the Raiders seem content to sit still in the northern and western quarters this evening, at least for the moment. I suspect they will resume their offensive early tomorrow morning. Latvi is not being reckless.”

“Yeah? Well, neither are we. I’ve got guards and spotters working in shifts to make sure they don’t go off your script and attack tonight.” A big, oaken hoof slammed against a nearby wall. “Though we’ve only got tonight at best. If they attack en-masse with those heavy vehicles, our barricades won’t hold. We might delay them for a few hours, and my sharpshooters know to go for the drivers, but they’ll break through eventually.”

Nodding in agreement, Amber motioned in the direction of the northern quarter. “True, but I have other news which may aid in… delaying the enemy. I have contacted some reinforcements, who are on their way here now. They should tip the scales back in our favour.”

“More Bernstein fighters?” I glanced at her bodyguards, who didn’t bother to look back at me.

“Not quite. Still, they are well trained. It will make quite the difference, I am sure.”

Breeze, for one, wasn’t placated. “Not a lot to go on there, Bernstein.”

She gave a noncommittal shrug. “Apologies, but there are some things that I must keep secret.”

Breeze dug out her communicator and waved it meaningfully. “Must be nice.”

“You will be compensated for that, above the promised caps. I do intend to discuss the matter further with you, and possible future cooperation.” She gathered her shawl closer around her. “For now, however, I would advise you all to get your rest while you may. Tomorrow will be another busy day. I bid you all a good night.”

Departing as swiftly as they arrived, the Bernstein entourage disappeared back into the dark streets. Bosco watched them go with utterly unconcealed frustration. “Tomorrow’s all she’s getting out of me. After that, I need to head for Neighlway. Whatever’s gonna happen, it all happens in the morning.”

“Try not to skip out on us too early, kid.” Rockhaunch’s tone wasn’t accusing anymore. Now he just sounded tired. He looked it too, on closer inspection. His eyes were red and baggy. He beckoned us all inside. “Let’s get you out of the open. The guards can handle things out here for tonight. We can get you some food and somewhere to get your heads down for a little while.”

Naiara perked up. “Food?”

Cassie did too. “Sleep?”

Wings didn’t stand on ceremony, and was already walking inside. “Sounds good to me.”

We all followed. I stayed near the back with Undertow. I leaned in to her as we walked. “I’m sorry for not saying anything to Lo. I want to do this with Buff and Lo together, if that’s okay with you?”

She seemed to consider that for a few moments, before nodding. “We can let them finish their work first.”

I bumped her appreciatively. “Atta girl. Take a little while to think about what you’re gonna say. I’ll be right there with you, but they’re gonna need to hear from their little sister too. I can’t just tell them to love you, even though they will anyway.”

Colouring nicely, she giggled softly. “Alright.”

Once we were taken into the underground dwelling, and I was done marvelling at how they managed to fit all this under Lethbridle in the first place, Undertow split off with the others to get some food.

I went to find a quiet place to gather myself.

Keeping my head down, I weaved through the crowds of civilians clutching their possessions closely. I had no idea where I was going here, but one of the side tunnels was a better bet for some quiet. Leaving the larger chamber behind, I turned three corners before finally finding myself alone in a stretch of tunnel. Slumping against the wall, I quietly addressed the air. “Take your time finishing your work, boys…” Not that I don’t want to see you. I want nothing more.

But will you still want to see me? How much do you know?

After ten minutes of silent zoning out, I tapped my hooves against my forehead. “Hokay, what are they gonna want to know first? Straight into Red Ice and Blue Fire? Al? Undertow? Wanna know where I got these scars?”

“Let’s start with you telling us you’re okay.” Two shadows fell upon me.

Startled, I slipped and half-fell down the wall. Catching myself just before I sprawled onto the grimy floor, I hauled myself upright and launched at my brother. “Buff!”

A cienna hoof wrapped itself around me and held tight. I felt Buff’s cheek pressing against mine. It was wet. “I missed you so much, Snowflake.”

My own tears were soaking into his fur. “I know. Me too, everyday.”

Lo joined the hug from the other side. “We looked for you for so long, sis.” His voice caught in his throat over and over, barely able to choke even that much out. “We…we tried to look for blue dots on the Pipbuck, but…”

Kissing their cheeks over and over, I refused to let go. “I’m so, so sorry. For everything that you’ve been through because of me.”

“Don’t say that.” Lo begged.

“It’s not your fault.” Buff confirmed. “You didn’t choose to leave the Stable, and you certainly didn’t throw us out.”

“Why did they do it?” Lifting my head out of their fur, I looked at each of them for answers. “What did the Overmare and Roc mean to do by having us leave? Did they tell either of you?”

Both shook their heads. “No, they never did. I half-expected Roc might have gloated a little while he was exiling us.”

Lo interrupted with a half-laugh. “I mean, he did, but not about that. Just about all these ‘grand plans’ he had after becoming Overseer.”

“...what a jackhole.” I muttered, half to myself.

Still holding his hoof around me, Buff squeezed my shoulder. “As soon as we get to Al, we can all go and find the Overmare together. She can answer for what she did to you to all of us.”

Yeah, I suppose we’ll need to find her after this, won’t we? I’ll go ahead and put that right at the bottom of my ‘to do’ list.

Excited, Lo joined in, his carefree smile returning. “And then we can go and get answers from Roc back at the Stable. All four of us! Maybe five if the Overmare comes back too. Well, I guess she’s a former Overmare now.”

The beginnings of a heavy weight began to settle in my stomach. “Yeah, about that…”

Despite his generally calm demeanour, Buff was feeding off Lo’s enthusiasm. “Oh, we know. The Lethbridle situation comes first. We’re not happy about leaving Al by himself, but this is important.” He smiled at me. “That griffon friend of yours told us that he was safe. She said that you had him staying with a friend in a safe place.”

Wings did? “Uhh… what else did she tell you?”

“Just that, and that you were here in the city. The others with her didn’t say much.”

Phew. Thanks, Wings. That’s perfect. The weight hadn’t gone away, but hadn’t yet increased either.

Lo had disengaged from the hug, and was strolling back and forth across the tunnel width. “Gotta say, Snow, you have a lot of friends out here. You’re pretty popular out here.”

“Ahaha… yeah.” I rubbed the back of my neck. Almost every one of them has tried to kill me.

“Roc won’t have any choice except to allow them to visit us back at the Stable. Not after we get back. He’ll be forced to reveal what he’s done.” Though Buff’s voice was steady, his grip on my shoulder steeled for a moment.

“Easy, Buff.” I cautioned. “Don’t let Roc turn you into something you’re not.”

“I know, sis. It’s just… you were alone. We couldn’t get to you. Nobody could. We never wanted that for you.”

“C’mere.” I leaned back into the hug, while beckoning for Lo. “You too.” When our little brother returned to the embrace, I put on my best reassuring, sister-voice. “I’m okay. You two are okay. Al’s okay. It was scary, but we all pulled through. This place isn’t just the Old Equestria they taught us about in the Stable. It’s good and bad...” Like the Stable. Good for you guys, bad for me. “...and there are good and bad people out here. It is what we make of it.”

“That may be.” Buff answered adroitly. “However, I’ll sleep easier when we get back to the Stable. That’s our home.”

And that was the moment that I realised what the weight in my stomach was. Shit.

I gave no outward sign, or didn’t intentionally give a sign at least. I just stayed in the hug, enjoying the simple pleasure of having my two brothers safe and sound with me. We’re missing Al, but we’ll go find him soon enough. And also one more…

“Boys, wait here. There’s someone you need to meet.”

~~~~~~

I felt Undertow shrink back behind me as we stepped back in front of my brothers, in the secluded tunnel.

That’s fine. We’ll ease into it.

Taking a deep breath, I began. “Boys, I…” And immediately stopped again, as I realised I had no idea how exactly I was going to explain this. “Um…”

Blinking in unison, the two looked at each other, then back at us. They didn’t say anything, opting to wait us out instead.

I guess I should start with the good points? “Um… oh! Boys, why don’t you, uh… tell me what you think about all this?”

Brows furrowing, Buff stared back. “What we think about all what, Snowflake?”

I pointed at them, their Pipbucks, and at myself. “About leaving the Stable. About the Wasteland, about…” About what I’ve done. “...about my leaving the Stable.”

Now looking slightly worried, Buff and Lo exchanged another glance. Lo looked away, while Buff cleared his throat.

Good start.

“Um,” Buff began hesitantly. “it hasn’t been easy. Sorry, but it hasn’t. Your leaving was tough on all three of us, and we wanted you to come home. We weren’t ready, not for you to leave, and not for us to have to leave after you.”

My chin dropped slightly. “Neither was I.”

“It wasn’t all bad, though.” Lo managed a smile. “We met some good people too. There was this cranky old doctor in the town at the bottom of the mountain, he told us that you’d been through. Told us to go to Lethbridle.”

“Facemask.” I smiled back. “I’ll have to thank him for his help, the next time I see him.”

I can work with this. “You know, he’s not the only one I’ve had help from.”

Nodding enthusiastically, Lo’s smile got wider. “Yeah, I mean, you were kinda scary in the street, but that was some impressive magic you were showing, Snow. Who taught you how to do that?”

Showtime. Breaking into a grin, both inside and out, I turned my head to the silent filly behind me. “Come on, say hello.”

Hesitating at first, Undertow eventually snaked her way around to my side, but stopped with her nose a new inches behind mine. A tentative hoof wave was given, as she looked up at the two buffalo. “H-hello.” Her watery voice was quiet and unsure.

Giving her a break, I fixed the two of them with an intense stare. “I held off on doing this when I found Al, and was wrong to do so. The moment I get you boys back to him, I’ll tell him too. For now, I’ll tell you two.”

I stepped to the side, ignoring the panicked “Eep!” from my sister, and gave a flourishing introduction. “Boys, this is Undertow…”

Lo grinned at her, and Buff gave a nod. “A pleasure to m-”

“...our sister.”

“-eet your what?” Buff brained Lo with his horn as his head swung around. Undertow’s hooves shot up to her mouth as the two staggered around.

It would’ve been funny in other circumstances.

Lo recovered first. Still rubbing his head, he turned his big round eyes to me. “What do you mean, Snow? You’re our sister!”

“I know this is a lot to take in out of the blue.” Stopping for a moment to give Undertow a reassuring nudge, I pressed on. “But it’s really no different than what happened between you three and me. We were always brothers and sister, and Undertow has always been our sister. We just didn’t know it yet.”

Smiling, albeit weakly, Undertow looked at each in turn. “Hi, big brothers.”

As Lo gaped back, Buff stayed rock still. His eyes were bouncing between the three of us in turn, before finally settling on me. “Snow, I… how? It’s only been weeks! And besides, she’s not from the Stable.”

“What does that matter?” I shot back.

Leaning back slightly, Buff’s calm demeanour faltered slightly. “You know what we were taught growing up. The rules of the Stable are pretty clear about Old Equestria-”

“Old Equestria’s dead!” Stamping my hoof while protectively hugging Undertow, my oldest brother was subjected to a harsh, disapproving stare. “It died when the bombs fell. A month after the Stable’s doors closed. I learned this from Facemask, didn’t he tell you too? This is the Wasteland, Buff. It’s a whole different beast. I’m not saying it isn’t without faults, because it’s got a lot of them, but Undertow’s not one of them! She’s been the best part of my life out here!”

I shoved her forwards, so that she and Buff were inches apart. “And are you, Buff of Stable 61, home to many different species besides ponies, that where somebody comes from is a good enough reason to dislike them? To shun them?!” My voice was steadily rising in volume as I chewed out my brother. “Are you going to her that she’s not good enough because she was born outside of the Stable?!”

“No, that’s not what I meant!”

“Then what do you mean, Buff? Lo asked why I got so much better with magic despite spending my entire Stable life barely able to conjure ice cubes. Well, the reason is standing right in front of you!”

Trying her best to sink into the floor, Undertow wilted and blushed simultaneously under all the attention. “I um, I taught sister some of what I know. Our magics resonate, so-”

Lo finally found his voice. “What does that mean, ‘Our magics resonate’?”

Recoiling, Undertow squeaked out an answer. “She… she has ice and I have water. They are connected and…and…” Giving up, she lowered herself to the ground and covered her head with her hooves. “...I’m sorry. I didn’t mean any harm.”

“LO!”

Finally seeming to notice the size difference between himself and the cowering filly, Lo all but jumped back. “I-I didn’t mean to scare her. I just don’t know what’s going on right now!”

“Neither do I.” Buff didn’t sound angry, but did still seem perplexed. “Snow, can you explain this a little more, please?”

Taking a deep breath, I hunkered down next to Undertow, and drew her into a tight hug. “Undertow… is our sister. You don’t have to accept it straight away, but I’d like you to think it over. For now, I’ll tell you a little bit of what has happened to me while I’ve been out here. Maybe that’ll help you understand.”

I jerked my head back down the tunnel, towards the exit. “You know there’s a Raider army out in the streets, right? Well, it’s my doing. Or Red Ice’s, whichever you prefer. You two should have heard that name by now, right?”

Neither seemed surprised. “We were waiting for you to bring it up.”

I nodded. Sounds about right. “Well, if you weren’t completely sure before, then I can tell that I’m Red Ice. I had a run in with some Raiders before becoming Red Ice, and I wanted to see whether I could change the way the Wasteland the Raiders coexisted. Reform them. Only, it wasn’t really my idea. Latvi, the guy running the Raider army right now, manipulated me into bringing the Raider tribes together, forming the army. When I brought them all to a meeting, he doublecrossed me. Red Ice has done a lot of bad things, some because of Latvi and some just because of me, but I was brought back from it by the leader of one of the Raider clans: The Deep Divers.”

Stroking Undertow’s mane gently helped me to keep calm as I talked. “Undertow led the Deep Divers. She’s about as far from ‘Raider’ as a filly can get, but she was called one by the rest of the Wasteland. Mostly, she just wanted to be left alone. Not out of malice, but because she’s never been treated kindly. She and I have gone at it a few times, never her fault, but she has always been supporting me and being exactly who she always was: Our sister.”

Leaning in to the now-calmer girl, I whispered in her ear. “Hey, show them. Take the goggles off.” When she gave a nod, and moved to lower her eyewear, my heart swelled. “You guys will love this part.”

With her goggles hanging around her neck, Undertow and I turned in unison to the buffalo brothers.

four identical orange eyes faced the twin pairs of our identical brothers.

“Oh.” Was all Lo could say.

“I see.” Buff wasn’t much better.

Undertow seized upon the silence. Standing up, she reached one hoof up hook Lo’s face, then her other front hoof wrapped around Buff’s. Stepping forwards, she turned her hold into a hug, pressing her face in-between those of the Doublehorn’s. “I do not wish to ever get in the way of the bond you three have with Snowflake, but know that she is as precious to me as she is to you, and I am so happy to be part of her family. I only hope that you three can treat me as a sister in time.”

Planting two quick kisses on their cheeks, she withdrew. Eyes glistening, she began walking backwards around the corner. “I will not intrude on your time together any further tonight. Just know that I am very glad to have met you both, big brothers. I will go back to the others now. Goodnight… my family.”

Then she was gone. The three of us listened in silence until we couldn’t hear her hoofsteps any longer.

I sighed. “Was it a mistake, Buff, Lo? Telling you like this? I just wanted you two to love her like I do.”

“Yes.” Buff replied, not unkindly. “Whatever you’ve been through with her, we haven’t. No matter the outcome of all this, we don’t have a connection with her yet.”

Lo had other things on his mind. “She’s not a replacement for us, is she, Snow? Did you just move on to somebody else when you were away from us?”

A fair question. “You know, she asked me that too. She was worried I was just using her to ease the pain of losing you three. She didn’t want that. She wanted to be a real sister to me, and to the three of you. She hadn’t even met you three yet, and only knew what I told her about you. She still wanted so badly to be good enough for you, to make me as happy as you three do. So no, Lo, she’s not a replacement for you. She’s no replacement for my family, she’s an addition to it.”

“...I don’t know what to say to that.”

Sighing, I decided enough was enough. “Yeah, me neither. For now, you two should just get some sleep. There will be time to think all this over tomorrow, and the Raiders are still out there.”

~~~~~~

Getting the boys to go to bed proved as difficult that night as it did when they were in single digits, only for entirely different reasons. I was also under no illusions that they’d find sleep anytime soon, and would instead opt to stay up talking with each other for hours. This, too, would be like when they were younger.

Still, I made sure they had a comfortable place to sleep, then bid them both goodnight with a loving kiss. Even if our relationship is complicated by Undertow, or by Red Ice and the Wasteland, I can still do that much at least.

After making sure the boys were okay, I checked on Undertow. True to her word, she had found some measure of comfort with the others. She’d squeezed herself in between Bosco and Naiara, and miraculously HAD managed to get herself to sleep already. It has been a long few days. Maybe she just ran out of juice? The reason was irrelevant, but I still leaned in to give her a goodnight kiss too, then took a walk.

My walk took me up and out of the underground shelter, through the main streets of the southern quarter, and eventually up onto the stories-high walls of Lethbridle itself.

The falling snow of the day seemed to have dissipated, leaving a night that was cool, not cold. Walking the top of the wall was fairly solitary, the guards that I could see having positioned themselves near the gates. That left long stretches where I had complete solitude.

I stopped near one of the floodlights, roughly halfway between the south and west gates. The floodlight was pointed down into the city itself, looking to be pointing towards the western-southern quarter boundary. Still, the brightly shining apparatus gave off a few degrees of heat, so I paused to take in the slight warmth.

The city of Lethbridle seemed to have fallen quiet for the evening, so I turned my attention outwards, specifically, to a certain settlement to the west. One which, for want of a missed call, we might have been in and out of already. Leaning on the outer ledge with crossed hooves, I squinted through the dark, trying to catch a glimpse of the Steel Ranger stronghold.

“Y’know, if Bosco found out you were up here lookin’ at Neighlway, he’d probably have a few unkind words for you.” Touching down next to me with a few strong flaps, Wings joined me at the wall’s edge.

I just shrugged. “Bosco’s gonna have unkind words for me either way. You too, probably. You were the one who pushed to come here and bail out Amber.”

Crossing her claws in front of her, she leaned on the wall too. For several minutes, neither of us spoke at all, content to look out at the barren world in a comfortable silence.

The peace was broken when Wings shook out her wings, causing the tips to brush my shoulder. Her automatic “sorry” did enough to break me from my reverie. Shifting my own shoulders for circulation, I gave the chocolate-and-cream griffon a sideways glance. “So how’d you spend your day?”

She glanced back easily. “Oh, y’know, killed some Raiders, took their gun and killed some more Raiders with it, got a bunch of looks from ponies who figured out I was Blue Fire, was at ground zero while Rockhaunch broke the northern quarter, and then I met a couple of buffalo. Can’t be sure, but I think you might know ‘em.” The tip of her tongue was sticking out of her beak by the end of that last sentence, and the corners of her lips were turned up.

Rolling my eyes, but not able to stop the smile from gracing my lips, I let a little of my tongue show, too. “Good guess.”

After we shared a chuckle, she shuffled her wings again. “How about you?”

Tapping a hoof on the wall, I tried to be matter-of-fact in my recitation of the day’s events, though knowing I’d probably fail. “Met with Amber, made an idiot of myself, learned that she’s been listening in on all of us through the communicators...”

“She’s been WHAT?!”

“...which Schwarzwald has hopefully told Breeze about, I’ll check in the morning. After that, spoke with a ghoul who told us that Amber’s been buying up all of Lethbridle for some reason, then we fought some Raiders,” And I killed a colt to keep your reputation alive. “then fought some more Raiders, including Latvi, then we found you and Lo. After that, we came back to the shelter, where I had Buff and Lo meet their new sister.”

Wings turned to fully face me now, Sapphire eyes glinting in the background illumination from the floodlight. “Yeah? How’d that go?”

“Not as well as I’d hoped, but about as well as I could have expected, I guess.” Breathing out through my nose, I counted to five in my head as I did so. “Undertow did great, made me really proud of her. They boys, though, they were a little bit in shock. I guess it was a lot to drop on them all at once. Getting a new sister really isn’t something you accept in five minutes.”

A claw landed softly on my shoulder. “You’re fine. They’re fine. You love your brothers, right?”

I nodded immediately. “Of course.”

The claw squeezed gently. “And they love you, right?”

A few milliseconds hesitation. “I hope they still do.” They might not love Red Ice.

Another squeeze, firmer this time. “They do. Don’t doubt that. Anyway, you and your sister love each other too, right?”

“That I don’t doubt.” Not for a second did I doubt that.

“Then your brothers and sister are going to love each other, too. It’s just how things work out in your family.” Her claw left my shoulder. When I looked over, she was staring out into the open sky. “It’s really… special to see.”

Are you still hung up on not being able to go back to your family? You hated it there! My hoof found her shoulder, a reverse of what happened a moment ago. “Isn’t it enough that they love you?”

She snapped out of her trance, staring blankly back at me. “Huh?”

I nodded down into the city. “The others. Schwarzwald, the twins, Naiara, Bosco, even Undertow. Isn’t it enough that they love you? They risked everything to get you back. FROM your family, I might add. They’d walk through fire for you.”

She snorted, and tried shrugging my hoof off. “For you, maybe.” Her airy tone was forced, even I could tell.

My hoof stayed put. “For you. I’m usually the one starting the fire.”

“What does that matter?”

I looked into those sapphire eyes. “I saw how you were when you decided that you had to go home. You hated it. I… just want you to know that you’ve got a place with them. A place where you’re smiling. You don’t have to go home, unless you absolutely want to.”

“Some of us don’t have that luxury.” I muttered under my breath as an afterthought.

“What was that?” She leaned in a little.

I waved her off. “Nothing, doesn’t matter.”

The look she gave me wasn’t exactly one of acceptance, but she didn’t press the issue. “So when are you taking them back to the Stable? Your three brothers and Undertow?”

“Not for a while. Undertow will be coming along with us while we get Bosco and the others’ problems handled, not to mention the Windigoes. Lexi can watch the boys until then. I can pay her with Amber’s caps if she needs it. After that, I’ll take them all back to the Stable. Red Ice’s enemies can’t get them in there. It’ll be…” I sighed inwardly. ...boring as hell. “...safer.”

“Safe’s one word for it.” Wings scoffed, flapping up onto the wall ledge and posing on her hind legs. “Still, there’s no reason you have to be there ALL the time.”

Confused, I looked up at her with furrowed brow. “Huh?”

Her wings spread. “I bet you could get Breeze to boost the power of your communicator, so you could contact the Stable any time you want. That way you could call your brothers and sister any time you want.”

Pushing up with my hooves, I heaved myself onto the ledge as well, but kept a firm grip to avoid falling. “Call them? Why would I call them? Where else where I be?”

Looking away with a shy grin on her face, Wings scratched at her cheek with a talon. “Well, I kinda think Schwarzwald may be sticking around to work with Amber after all this is settled, and if I’m not going home then I’ll need a place to go next. Maybe down south? Somewhere where nobody knows who Blue Fire is.” She glanced back at me. “Or Red Ice.”

That… doesn’t sound too bad, actually. Especially if we had that skywagon Amber was offering. I could come back to see them whenever I wanted, but wouldn’t have to live in the Stable! And being able to just be Snowflake again would be fantastic. No more Red Ice! “I hear it’s nice and warm down south.”

Wings floated in close and, with a mischievous grin, nudged me off the ledge, back onto the walkway. Then she glided over my head and over the other side, hovering above Lethbridle itself. “Yeah, I’ve heard that too, but I’m just thinking out loud. Must be getting tired if I’m talking to myself, huh?”

“Yeah, probably best if you get some sleep. The guys down there still need Blue Fire tomorrow, and I don’t want you playing hero when you’re half asleep.” I put on my best ‘stern’ voice. “Get to bed, Gigglewings, or no sweets at breakfast.”

Putting on a put-upon expression, she playfully crossed her claws in mock-anger. “You sure your brothers and sister’ll be safe with you? Sounds like you starve them, ya slavedriver.”

Wagging a hoof at her, I played along. It wasn’t hard, with the way I was suddenly feeling. “That’s it, you’re grounded, missy! Seriously though, get to bed. I’m going down now myself.”

“Yeah, yeah, alright.”

I’d gone about a half-dozen steps towards the stairs when she called out to me. “Snow?”

“Yeah?” I turned back to the floating griffon.

“About your family and you taking them back to the Stable…”

Not quite sure where she was going with that, I stopped walking and faced her again.

Extending an open and upturned claw, her brash voice lightened. “I want you to know that there’s a place where you’re smiling, Snow.”

As she dropped out of sight, Wings left me with one final question. “Isn’t it enough that they love you?”

~~~~~~

Chapter 23-5: Playing The Percentages

The small stone clattered around the collapsed trench between the quarters, throwing up echoes as it did.

“Undertow!” Naiara whisper-hissed, glowering at the filly.

“Sorry! Sorry!” The goggled filly breathed back.

We resumed our journey, though all watched our hooves a little more closely. Using the Whitepony map of Lethbridle’s under tunnels, we’d managed to sneak back to the divide that Rockhaunch had triggered to trap the Raiders in the northern quarter. At least for a little while.

Whichever crazy bastard came up with the idea to blow the tunnels is one REALLY crazy bastard. Too bad they didn’t count on the Raiders’ heavy gear.

Naiara silently led Undertow, Bosco, and myself through the chasm. She was silent, anyway. We… tried our best. None of us could keep up with her in terms of stealth, which meant that we stopped when Naiara did, and moved when she told us to.

Flowing over a small pile of debris, Naiara paused as she crested it, and held a hoof to her ear. After a few seconds, she nodded, then waved us forward again. Another twenty metres further along, she beckoned us in, under an overhang.

“What’s up?” Bosco crowded in close. Naiara had taken the time to paint herself up as a slate-grey pony again, to better blend in with the concrete, and with the naturally grey Bosco. Undertow and I couldn’t do much to hide our colours.

Naiara waited until we were all under cover. “This is the place. Cassie says there’s a street above without any Raiders. If we’re quick, we should be able to get up into the western quarter.” The sharp-eyed pegasus was on overwatch with her sister, feeding Naiara info through an earpiece connected to the communicators.

Undertow’s head looked back and forth at the lip of the artificial canyon. “We are sure that there are no vehicles still in the northern quarter?”

In response, the zebra shook her head. “No, she couldn’t get close enough to check. Too many griffons in the air. She did say that most of the vehicles were in the western quarter, at least according to the numbers Rockhaunch’s guards reported. That’ll have to do for now. Any backups in the northern quarter will have to wait. We’ve gotta cripple the ones on this side first.”

I glanced around at the jagged, uneven trench walls. “So how do we get up there?”

“WHO’S DOWN THERE?”

“Oh, shit!” We all looked up in time to see a Barnstormer poke his head over the edge. He and I locked gazes, both of our eyes widening at the sight of each other. His shock soon morphed into a twisted grin, his tongue hanging out hungrily.

Horn lighting up, I willed a sheath of ice around that tongue. Gurgling, he began swatting at it with his hooves. Less than a second later, a water whip wrapped around his throat and dragged him bodily down. Hitting the ground in a thudding heap, he barely had time to gasp before the blade of Bosco’s knife opened his throat from end to end. He thrashed violently as he bled out, but barely a sound escaped the ice blocking his windpipe. Less than a minute later, he was gone.

It’d still cost us time, though. Time the defenders on the walls, Blue Fire and Amber’s ‘enforcer mare’ included, could barely afford.

Naiara seemed to think the same, considering she was already halfway up the wall on the western side. In seconds, she’d scaled the entire height of it, and slung down her rope. Without a word, she beckoned for us to start climbing.

Once we were all up at ground level, we made better time on the mostly flat surfaces of Lethbridle’s streets. Naiara still kept us to the shadows, and occasionally the rooftops, but we managed to cover a kilometre or so without encountering trouble. We came close a few times, but some well timed magical misdirection courtesy of Undertow distracted any Raiders enough for us to slip past.

Creeping up the stairs to the second floor of a run-down gambling hall, dilapidated and faded card tables still strewn about, we snuck over to the glassless windows, peeking around the edges at the scene below us.

The Raiders were gathered in the market square. I remembered it from my first time in Lethbridle. I’d traded my bullets and some other supplies for some barding. Didn’t help much. Ended up shot up all the same. Lexi’s stuff is much better. I affectionately rubbed at the Sprinkles Supplies gear I currently wore, bullet holes and all.

Cheek pressed against the wall, barely poking an eyelid into view, Bosco was nonplussed. “Look at all of them. There’s gotta be near a thousand. Latvi’s got all the clans together in one place. No way we can get out there to take out the vehicles like this. What now?”

“Where is Latvi, anyway?” The scumbag scientist was nowhere to be seen.

“Hmm, if I had to guess, I’d say in there, with all the guards.” On the other side of the plaza was a large, mostly intact structure. As Naiara had said, there were far more guards around there than elsewhere. “No way to get to him either.”

“The vehicles themselves are under heavy guard, also.” Undertow was right. The heavy duty machines were surrounded by Woodpeckers, not a stallion among them. “They appear to have been well-equipped.”

“Makes sense.” I muttered to nobody in particular. “He’s not getting any further without the vehicles, so he needs to make sure they’re safe.”

Pulling back from the window, we squatted in a square. Bosco checked the safety on his gun. “So what now? We need to take those things out, but we don’t have a chance with just the four of us. Unless you two can do the damage with magic from here?”

I couldn’t give him any good news. “Not without somebody noticing.”

“I could use my magic without being noticed,” Undertow began, but she wasn’t smiling. “but I couldn’t damage them enough with just water alone. Not from here, and not without knowing where to focus my efforts.”

Looking between each of us in turn, Bosco was frowning deeper and deeper. “So, what? We just sit here? We need to do something before they decide to move out. No way the defences hold if they bring everything!” We quickly moved to shush him at the end, as his voice was rising with every word.

“Uh huh? Okay, got it.” Naiara took her hoof away from her earpiece, grimaced, and checked the scene outside again before rejoining the square. “Looks like we lucked out on that front. Cass says Amber’s telling her that the reinforcements have arrived. Says we’re about to get ourselves a very big distraction any second n-”

“Can’t believe we gotta sit around here.” Outside the window, on the street below, a guttural Raider voice spoke up. “That unicorn bastard in there almost flipped his shit when I mentioned the girl. Wouldn’t let anybody go near her.”

“Girl?” Each of us looked at the others, not understanding.

The second Raider, sounding even rougher than the first, responded. “Ah, she’s just his bitch. Them feathered fuckers were talking about her. Say Latvi had her buffalo fucktoy killed, and took her for himself. He’s got her in her old apartment.” He chortled perversely. “Ya ain’t got a chance with her, not after she’s been all stretched out. That small dicked asshole might think he owns her, but she probably won’t feel it after getting with a buffalo.”

The two of them enjoyed a full-throated guffaw at that, their laughter fading as they made their way back towards the main Raider force.

Back at the Window, Undertow watched them go. “Who were they talking about? Does Latvi have a hostage?”

Oh no. Realisation dawned. “I think I know.” I caught Bosco’s eye. “The DJ on the radio mentioned how the Monsters attacked Grindstone, killed Dent and took a pony girl. I think they’re talking about Lithu.”

Staring blankly back, it took a second or two for Bosco to remember. When he did, his mouth dropped open. “Shit, you’re right! That scientist girl who was with Latvi in the bar!”

Nodding, the corners of my mouth turned down. “She worked with Latvi before he turned Raider. Esto even said he had a big thing for her. Did he decide to just take her?”

“Raiders’re rubbing off on him.” Naiara commented darkly. “Should we go get her back?”

A sonorous rumbling forestalled any final decision. Crowding to the window, we looked out to the square in time to see Latvi, Caber Toss, Ballbuster, Eitom and Wicker charge out of their headquarters, weapons at the ready. The Woodpeckers, Deep Divers, Barnstormers, and Haylanders in the square were milling around, trying to find the source of the cacophony.

Ducking back away from the window, Bosco whipped out his weapon. “This the reinforcements?”

Shrugging to loosen her shoulders, Naiara made a ‘maybe’ motion with her hoof. “Could be. This should be interesting.”

After a minute or two, the rumbling abruptly cut off. Everything went still in the plaza. Raiders looked at each other in bewilderment. Latvi, ringed by griffons, cast about each and every way as he searched for the cause of the confusion.

We’d made our way down to the ground floor of the gambling hall, sticking to the shadows but listening at the door. Bosco had checked and rechecked his weaponry and gear half a dozen times in the last minute. “Be ready to move when the distraction hits. We can’t waste this chance to wreck those machines.”

“Who do you think she got as reinforcements?” I was racking my brains to think if Amber had mentioned having other forces in the area besides those already deployed on defence.

“Maybe she made a deal with the Buffalo?” Undertow ventured. “They cannot have any love for Latvi and his Raiders.”

How lucky would that be? “They might not like the Raiders, but Crush isn’t exactly a fan of ponies in general, either. I doubt he’d work with Amber just to get a chance at Latvi. Plus, he’s stupid. He’d just attack the Raiders himself if he could.” The burly buffalo thug couldn’t be relied upon to stick to any plan that a pony thought up. He’d want to do things his own way, and ignore any advice to the contrary.

“Then who?”

“Good question. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

The wait wasn’t a long one. Almost at once, a several screaming rockets blasted into the square from two different streets, exploding in the throng of milling Raiders. Latvi and his entourage were bowled over by the explosions.

Everything went to hell. The Raiders all began yelling and screaming at once, and firing weapons in every direction. More rockets flew in, and then they came. The reinforcements.

Oh. Shit.

Charging into the square, weapons cutting a swath through the disorganised Raiders, were a few hundred uniformed, well-equipped Plottawan slavers. The Raider lines collapsed as they contracted. The closest Raiders tried to run, but they were packed too tightly into the square. Dozens died in seconds.

“Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck…” I backpedalled away from the doorway as fast as I could. “We’ve gotta get out of here, right now!”

“How they hell did THEY get here?” Bosco wasn’t listening.

“Are… are they Amber’s reinforcements?”

Undertow’s disbelieving question stopped us all cold. It was a horrifying thought.

No. No way. She couldn’t do that. Not when she’s doing this all for Schwarzwald.

Unless she was lying about that too.

“LET’S GO!” Shouting over the noise, Naiara pushed us all out of the door.

“Great! Let’s get out of here!” I was all too ready to leave.

“No!” She chided. “We’re not running away, we’re going up there!” She pointed to the maelstrom going on up the street.

“ARE...”

“...YOU....”

“...INSANE?” We all chorused at once.

Face set firm, she pointed again. “This is the only chance we’ve got to get rid of those vehicles, or would you like to leave them for the SLAVERS?”

An imagination working in overdrive could be a terrible thing. The idea of the Lethbridle defences being overrun by Peanut’s forces was somehow even worse than Raiders.

Naiara was already up the street. Left without a choice, though each espousing various profanities, the three of us charged after her.

Luckily, the vehicles themselves were between us and the action. The Woodpecker guards had all moved up to engage the Plottawans, leaving us with a clear approach. We caught up with Naiara in the centre of the parked machines.

Bosco fell into ‘boss colt’ mode. “Naiara, you and me keep a look out. Snow, ‘tow, wreck these things and do it quickly!”

He and the zebra bounded off, taking up cover positions. Undertow and I started with the vehicles closest to the actions, trying not to think about the explosions and screams coming from the other side of the cabin.

Repeating Undertow’s ice expansion trick, we moved from truck to truck, filling the insides with water and then freezing it solid. The groans and cracks of shattering mechanisms wasn’t quite satisfying enough to override my fear of the two warring factions mere metres away.

After our second sabotage, I heard Naiara yelling over the din. “LATVI’S BUGGING OUT!”

WHAT?! Looking skyward, I was greeted with the sight of a unicorn scientist, struggling in Eitom and Wicker’s grasp.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING? TAKE ME BACK!” His shrill voice cut through the noise for the moment, as did Eitom’s furious response.

“I’D LOVE TO, BUT I’M UNDER CONTRACT! I HAVE TO GET YOU OUT OF HERE!”

“UNDER CONTRACT WITH WHO??”

I didn’t hear Eitom’s answer as Undertow smacked me upside the head. “HURRY!”

“Right, right!”

Water. Freeze. Break. One more. A severed hoof spanks Undertow. She ignores it.

Water. Freeze. Break. Another. A trio of rockets explode overhead. I don’t look up.

Water. Freeze. Break. Hurryuphurryuphurryup! Naiara grunts as she breaks bones.

Miraculously, we managed to junk every vehicle present, with their insides spilling out from under their canopies like great gored beast organs, before Undertow and I were disturbed. Several bodies, both Plottawan and Raider, lay at the hooves of both Bosco and Naiara, showing that we hadn’t been completely unnoticed.

The fighting was still going as fiercely as ever in the square, and it seemed like Caber Toss and Ballbuster had rallied the Raiders to throw back the Plottawans. I could hear the two Raider chieftains barking orders in their heavy accents.

Nothing to do with me. Our job’s done. “Can we please go now?” I pleaded.

Mercifully nodding, Bosco and Naiara took of running. Undertow and I had no trouble keeping up, even at full sprint. Adrenaline blasted through my veins. I wanted to pick the three of them up and carry them all back to safety myself.

A burst of gunfire struck the cobbles around us, kicking up sparks. Blinded, I slipped and crashed to the ground. I tasted blood. Rolling over, I saw Naiara dancing away from the gunfire, Undertow holding her swirling water shield in front of her, and Bosco exchanging fire with some pursuing Raiders.

Beyond them, I thought I glimpsed something. I flash of golden mane. Peanut! The slaver leader was facing away from me, back in the thick of the action.

My body moved on its own, as did my horn. As I bolted upright, Undertow’s water shield froze solid and went spinning down the street, right at the Raiders. They were bowled over, but their friends were coming up fast behind them.

A lot of their friends.

After that there was no running battle, there was just running, dodging, fleeing. Undertow took a bullet to the thigh, and a thrown knife gashed Bosco above the temple, but we kept moving regardless. We couldn’t stop.

Running through the western quarter, each street would be quiet for the five seconds or so it would take for the Raiders to round the corner, and then it would explode with noise. The same pattern would repeat over and over. Then it was four seconds.

Three seconds.

Two and a half.

It hurts. Gotta keep going. It hurts to keep going. Dying’d hurt more. We were all feeling it. Undertow was panting constantly, Bosco stumbled every few steps, Naiara was chattering into her earpiece, calling frantically for some help. She jerked her head to the side, hissing as a shot grazed her cheek.

“Please…” I dry-heaved. “...please somebody…”

Two seconds.

We turned the next corner.

No seconds. There was no quiet in this street, someone had beaten us to it.

“Run! Come on!” The defenders from the barricade yelled, even as they opened fire on the Raiders rounding the corner after us. “You can do it!”

Oh, thank you! Finding the last little bit of strength I had, I surged forwards.

Two big, welcoming forms loomed in the entranceway. Buff wielded two massive riot shields, while Lo stood with outstretched hooves. As we reached the door, one at a time, Lo would seize them with his hooves and yank them backwards, then instantly be back in the doorway, waiting for the next one.

Naiara got there first, skidding as Lo pulled her through. Bosco was next. He did the same, ending up in a heap with her.

The Raiders were still coming, but were slowed by the guards atop the barricade and their fields of fire. Ahead of me, Undertow’s balance took a hit as some buckshot hit the ground just as her hoof came down. The limb slipped, and she was about to go down.

NO! Leaping, I planted both hooves on her back, and pushed. That sent her tumbling straight into Lo’s grasp, and he was through the gap with her in a heartbeat.

My chin slammed down onto the cobbles, worsening the iron taste on my tongue. I was too tired to pick myself up. Luckily, I had a second brother. Buff scooped me up and retreated through the barricade, which others rushed forward to seal off.

The sound of battle was instantly dulled by the walls, though not completely gone. Still, there were others here with us, fresh and ready to fight.

“Snow, tell me you’re okay, please.” Buff’s heavy breathing had his chest radiating warmth.

Spitting out some blood, I reached up limply and tapped his horn. “Yeah, I’m okay. The others, though, Bosco and Undertow…”

“They’re here.” He turned us to the others. “They’re safe.”

Bosco and Naiara were dabbing at each other’s facial wounds with cloths. They seemed to be okay for the moment. How long that’ll last with TWO invading armies in town is another story.

A medic was digging around in Undertow’s thigh, trying to remove the bullet as she herself squirmed and cried in Lo’s grip.

Judging by his expression, she was stronger than he expected. “Undertow, keep still! Un-... Undertow! Come on, you don’t want to do more damage!”

She ignored him and kept thrashing. The medic sent a withering look at Lo, who gave a ‘what do you expect me to do about it’ half-grin in response. Still, he tightened his grip and kept trying to get through to her. “Undertow, it’ll be over soon. They need to get the bullet out. Come on, just keep still for a little while, won’t you?”

She still didn’t listen. Lo looked at me helplessly, and I just indicated with my eyes that he should focus on her. Stymied, he tried again. “Undertow, please. I don’t want you getting hurt. You could end up with a limp…” A sliver of frustration crept into his voice. “Would you just do what the medic says, little sister?”

Undertow froze. The medic didn’t hesitate, ripping the bullet out in what was undoubtedly a violation of some oath. The keeling scream Undertow let out had me reaching for her, but she turned and clung to her closest sibling instead.

Good enough. I thought, smiling as I looked on. Then I sobered. But we can’t stay here. “Buff, put me down. I need to go find Bernstein. She’s got a lot to answer for.”

~~~~~~

“YOU BROUGHT SLAVERS INTO MY CITY!” Buff and Lo were struggling to hold Chief Rockhaunch back as he railed at Amber.

Me, my friends, family, and the chief were standing in Amber’s skyscraper office. She’d excused the rest of her staff before we arrived, so now the Bernstein president stood alone on the dais, while the oak-furred buffalo snorted and raged at her.

It wasn’t surprising to me anymore that she didn’t flinch at the accusations, but this time she almost seemed… satisfied? Amber gracefully stepped down from the dais to stand before Rockhaunch. “Yes, I did. It was necessary.”

“NECESSARY?!” Rockhaunch’s jaw dropped. “How could this possibly be necessary? We’ve got twice the number of enemy forces in the city now than we had two hours ago, and even then we had too many!”

“Precisely.” The words shot out of her mouth with a whip crack. “The Raiders entering the city before we were ready nullified any chance that our defenders could handle this issue on their own. I engineered the Plottawan arrival in such a way that they would be forced to engage the Raiders first and foremost, which should cause both sides massive losses.”

“Not good enough. You were the one who brought the Raiders here, and your plan there failed spectacularly since they showed up early.” Rockhaunch tempestuously pushed Lo away from himself, his eyes never leaving Amber’s. “What’s to say that you bringing in the Plottawans will go any better? Peanut’s no idiot. He can’t be happy about this.”

“I doubt he is, but he has no choice but to deal with the Raiders for us.”

Wings wasn’t any happier than the Chief. Feathers flaring, she all but spat at Amber. “Until what? The Steel Rangers show up next?”

Astonishingly, Amber cracked a smile. “That would truly be a surprise.”

“DON’T JOKE!” Three voices yelled at once.

Amber turned side on, walking over to the window and looking down on the city. “Nothing that has happened so far is outside of the boundaries accounting for such things. Everything is still proceeding well enough on schedule.”

BANG!

The glass in front of Amber’s eyes, which had widened considerably, splintered as a bullet lodged itself within. Slowly, haltingly, Amber and the rest of us turned towards the shooter.

Slate-grey eyes hard, Bosco lowered his pistol. “I told you, Bernstein, that I would help you out with the Raiders, and no more than that. You want to talk schedules? I still have to get to Neighlway by the end of tomorrow. You don’t get to spring more surprise delays on us. I told you what would happen if you did.”

“Easy now, Bosco.” Naiara tried to step between the colt and Amber. “Killing in cold blood’s not your style.”

“Then what is my ‘style’?” He growled back. “Getting tricked? Lied to? Having my needs ignored and brushed aside? I’ve been dragged halfway round the damn Wasteland by almost everybody here, and I still haven’t got what you all promised me!” He raised the gun again, speaking around the mouth trigger. “Move, Naiara.”

“Put it down, Colt.” Rockhaunch’s bulk leaned over Bosco tensely. “You’re not murdering anyone in my city… even if they are asking for it.”

Amber’s voice spoke around Rockhaunch, quiet this time, and the confidence was slightly dulled. “Bosco, my promise to you still stands. You will have your passage to Neighlway, and you will reach your objective in time. The matters at hoof in this city should be resolved within the next day cycle.”

“Enough of this crap!” Breeze stomped up and, without any ceremony whatsoever, hauled back and backhoofed Amber with her greave. The Bernstein leader was sent sprawling.

She groggily rose, wide-eyed, holding a trembling hoof to her cheek. Breeze ignored her for a moment, checking her greave for damage, before continuing. “You’ve made deals with Raiders and slavers, bitch. You’ve spied on me with my own tech, which is only slightly less irritating. As things are right now, whatever plans you think you’ve concocted for how this all ends, you are not in control of the situation.” She turned back to the rest of us, smirking. “Damn, that was satisfying.”

Coughing haughtily, Amber used the dais steps to right herself. A definite edge was in her voice now. “I am so glad to provide some stress relief, Aqua Breeze.” The pegasus’ name was spoken like she was dragging it through the mud. “Now may we get back to the matter at hoof?”

“Your inviting doom upon this city, and subsequent failure to thwart your own twisted designs?” Following her sister’s lead, Cassie got her digs in.

Making her way to the window again, Amber avoided the bullet hole. Framed against the snowfall, increasing in strength from yesterday and this morning, she appealed to us once again. “There are plans in place for the Plottawans, just as they were one part of the plan to deal with the Raiders.”

“One part?” Wings scoffed. “From what we’ve seen, they were your only out, and you can hardly control them.”

Chuckling to herself as she smoothed out a crease from her white suit, some of Amber’s confidence returned. “My only out? Are you so sure?” She turned and leveled a flat stare at both Wings and Bosco. “Tell me, when the Plottawans attacked, what happened to Latvi?”

Bosco didn’t blink. “He took off the moment things got dicey for him. Hardly a surprise.”

Raising an eyebrow, Amber panned across Naiara, Undertow, and I. “He left by choice? You are sure?” Naiara and Undertow just shrugged.

Well, now that you mention it… “He didn’t seem happy about it. Almost sounded like he didn’t want to leave.”

“Almost?” The eyebrow went higher.

“Okay, fine.” I grumbled. “He definitely didn’t want to leave. He was screaming at Eitom to take him back. What’s your point?”

Her attention returned to Wings. “Did you ever wonder what the payment was for my giving them your location, after you killed McCoy?”

Cocking her head to the side, Wings regarded her warily. “You’re saying that you made Latvi leave? How?”

Despite the small dribble of blood from the side of her mouth, Amber was back in top form. She stood tall and collected. “Eitom made Latvi leave. I made Eitom make him. The agreement I made with Eitom was for him to take Latvi, and the rest of the Monsters, completely out of the city for 48 hours if Latvi found himself to be in danger. Latvi was to have no choice in the matter.”

Shiiiit. I couldn’t help but admire that, even if I had little else in the way of good feelings feelings for the mare. “So Eitom took Latvi away when the Plottawans attacked…”

“...And suddenly the Raiders are bereft of their leadership, and any air support.” Amber finished for me, radiating smugness.

“Damn,” Rockhaunch mumbled, much calmer now. “That’s…”

“Inspired.” Schwarzwald’s satisfaction was as evident as Amber’s, but she was staring hungrily at the mare. “Latvi is taken away for his own protection. Well played, Amber-dahling.”

Holding up a hoof, the businessmare called for quiet. Addressing the room as a whole, she held court without interruption. “Now will you believe that I have the Plottawan angle accounted for? I am not relying solely on the Raiders and slavers to wipe each other out. I have made additional arrangements.”

“Yeah, yeah. You’re real smart, lady.” Despite the bluster, there was a level of respect audible in Rockhaunch’s speech. “We’ll go along with this for now, I guess.”

Giving a small bow, and a smaller smile, Amber returned to the dais. “I was confident that you would see reason.”

Rockhaunch wasn’t done. He strode forwards and rested a massive, cloven hoof on the dais itself. There were an audible creak as it took his weight. “HOWEVER, that doesn’t mean I’m any happier about you bringing the Raiders and Plottawans here, or about what you’ve been doing to Lethbridle itself. Your plan ends when the danger has passed. I won’t let you have your way past that.”

After shuffling a few papers, Amber rang a small bell on the pulpit. The mousy maid from earlier entered, carrying an ice pack.

Good luck for you, Bernstein, cause I’m sure as hell not icing that bruise for you.

Wincing as she held the pack to her cheek, Amber nodded at the Chief. “We shall see.”

~~~~~~

The last few hours had been, relatively speaking, quiet. No further attacks had come on the Lethbridle defenders’ blockades. There was definitely fighting occurring within the city walls, but not involving any guard or Bernstein forces.

For the past hour and half, the Plottawans and Raiders had been skirmishing throughout the western and northern quarters, under the watchful eyes of the twins and I.

I exhaled some cold mist, surveying the ongoing battles from two hundred feet up. “Gotta love all the space up here.” I muttered under my breath.

“I know,” Breeze chipped in from my left, formidable ears easily catching my words. “we almost wouldn’t have to dodge if any Raider or slaver even noticed us up here.”

“Still,” Cassie pointed out from the other side of her sister, as she sighted down her rifle’s scope. “we won’t be so foolish as to not dodge if they try, will we girls?” Her frown did little to dampen out spirits. She knew we were kidding.

“Yeah, yeah.” I waved her off, before pointing to the ground. “Who’s winning?”

Her weapon barked as she pulled the trigger. Far below, a blurry figure toppled over. “Me.” She gleefully replied. “That puts me at 20 Raider kills. You all owe me a hundred caps.”

Breeze and I both groaned and rolled our eyes. No fair! “I meant between-”

“I know,” Cassie interrupted smarmily. “but I’m finally able to have a little fun without worrying too much. The others got their chance before, now it’s out turn.” Her rifle barrel waved back and forth. “It looks like the Plottawans have driven the Raiders back to the northern quarter, while they control the western side. Mostly they seem to be trading shots across the boundary. For now, neither side seems to be in any hurry to attack the rest of the city. The Raiders still look to have the numbers advantage, and it isn’t particularly close.”

Breeze was looking at a wide courtyard, where the wrecks of the Raiders’ vehicles remained. “The Plottawans’ gear’s better though. I’m guessing they reached a stalemate.” Slamming a newly charged crystal into her Spell Shooter, she broke out into a predatory grin. “Let’s change that.”

Swooping down like the old Wonderbolts posters, the three of us dove rapidly towards the fray. Starting just on the Plottawan side of the divide, we popped off a few shots, a few grenades and, most enjoyable of all, a mini tidal wave, courtesy of Undertow’s magic in the Spell Shooter. Best of all, once the crystal was nearly drained, Breeze stuck a grenade to it, and chucked the improvised explosive into a clutch of slaver fighters.

Wow, that’s a big explosion.

Crossing the gap from the west to the north, the three of us twisted and twirled above the heads of the Raiders. Too far for their shoddy weapons, but no problem for us. Cassie stayed high for the most part, the better to use her long-range gun. For the most part, considering she brained a rooftop Raider with the rifle’s butt in a fly-by.

Firing until I was out of ammo, and unable to reload without breaking off, I tried to repeat the trick from my last fight: Stealing a gun from one distracted Raider, to use on their buddies. Spotting a likely target, I angled in for a grab, but a new burst of rattling fire from the throng on the ground forced me to divert and come back around.

Breeze was having better luck, wheeling and climbing, dropping and strafing, throwing and kicking grenades in any direction where she saw bodies without wings. Laughing maniacally, she kept calling back to us as her kill totals went up and up.

“Twenty eight!” Spinning in the air, her overhead kick rocketed a grenade straight into the face of a Raider, before it exploded. “Thirty one!” Spotting a pair of Raiders atop a ten-story apartment complex, she soared up the building, throwing a Shock Lock spear before her. The electric discharge paralysed the pair, sending their jerking bodies over the edge, passing her on the way down.

Blowing her bang out of her eyes, she cheered loudly. “Thirty thr-”

I watched in horror as her triumphant cheer morphed into an anguished scream, as the massive spinning axe slammed into her side. The blade bit deep, and the force of the throw pushed her towards the apartment building’s wall. Her momentum carried her to the roof but, out of control, she slammed into the lip shoulder-first, eliciting another scream. Tumbling onto the roof in a heap, she didn’t get up.

“BREEZE!” Abandoning her high-altitude harassment, Cassie sped towards the rooftop where her sister lay. “BREEZE!”

“Ahahaha! I got me a pretty berdy!” Standing tall on a nearby rooftop, Caber Toss looked on with relish. “ ‘mon over an’ I’ll finish the job, lass!” His crooked teeth parted as he laughed wholeheartedly.

No you won’t! “You son of a bitch!” Whipping out my revolvers, I charged at the stallion, pulling the triggers again and again.

Clickclickclick. “Shit!” I rammed the guns back in their holsters, and flexed my claws. This works too.

Still roaring with laughter, he leisurely unslung his oversized shotgun, and aimed it in my general direction. The blast that came out of it was somehow louder than Cassie’s rifle, and I had to break off my attack run. “Aw, don’ run, ya wee buzzard! Stay an’ play!”

Zigzagging to get out of the range of his shooter, I flapped up to the roof with the twins. Cassie was there now, cradling Breeze’s head in her lap. Caber Toss’ axe lay nearby, the blade’s edge slick with blood. “How is she?”

Hooves trembling and eyes watering, Cassie could only look at me, aghast. “She’s alive! She’s alive, but she’s hurt so badly!” In her hooves, Breeze sucked in air, eyes squeezed shut against the pain. She looked too hurt even to talk.

I had no pockets to check, and nothing to soothe the pain. Breeze’s side was a mess, with the deep gash and heavy bruising already forming on her shoulder. “Cass, maybe your Buck?”

The sniper started to reach for it, but then stopped herself. “She’ll just bleed faster!”

Raucous laughter floated up over the lip of the roof. “So she’s still kickin’, then? Ah’m on mah way t’fix that!”

“Shut up, you monster!” Glaring across the gap, my eyes locked with his.

“You...BASTARD!” Forgetting her sister for the moment, Cassie raced to the edge, swinging her weapon into position and letting rip, firing again and again. The first shot slammed into the concrete at Caber Toss’ hooves, and he retreated into the stairwell of the building. His laughter still mocked Cassie’s fruitless firing, until she too ran out of ammo. As soon as she did, he popped his head out of the doorway, grinning playfully.

“I’LL KILL YOU!” Tossing her weapon aside, her whip and hidden blade popped out of her bracers, as she launched herself full speed across the space between rooftops.

“Cass, no! I can’t…” Looking back at the downed Breeze, there was no way I could leave her and follow her sister’s blind revenge charge. “Don’t do it, Breeze needs our help!” Breeze was still bleeding, but remained conscious. Hang in there, girl. We’ll get you out of here. I moved to do what I could for her, all the while keeping one eye on Cassie.

She wasn’t listening to my words, though. Cassie’s whip snaked out and slapped the shotgun out of Caber Toss’ hooves. His smile dropped in the brief second before she smashed into him, blade first.

It was a good try, but the Haylander boss was massive. Cassie was not. Even putting her whole weight behind the blade, she didn’t take him off his hooves. Worse still, the blade had gotten him in the bicep. Not close to fatal.

Caber Toss’ smile returned in full force, inches away from the Pegasus struggling to retract her blade. “Well, awright then! Got some fight in yeh. ‘mon then, let’s have a go!” Winding his free hoof back, he hammered down on the smaller pony. She hit the floor, the breath leaving her in a shocked gasp.

Leaning down, he snagged a lock of red and black mane in his teeth. Neck muscles tensing visibly, he spun, dragging the winded mare off the concrete and over his shoulder, letting go at the apex of his swing. Cassie went tumbling through the air, bouncing off the stairwell door helplessly.

Still, anger gave her energy, and she rose shakily to her hooves. Glaring demonically, she swung her whip out, snaring him around the throat. Putting both her hooves into it, she tried to pull him off-balance.

Tried to. Caber Toss simply bit down on the whip, and yanked back. Cassie was wrenched straight into a vicious backhoof from the same limb that her blade had pierced. If he even noticed the wound, the Raider gave no sign. Cassie’s head flopped back from the strike, and she rolled to a stop on her back. Chest heaving, blood pouring from her nose and mouth, she tried to rise and keep fighting, but didn’t have the strength.

Caber Toss seemed disappointed with the development. Waving his shaggy mane back and forth, to remove the whip from around his neck, he looked down at her glumly. “What, ‘zat it? No’ gonna try an’ kill me ‘nymore? No’ even after mah axe put yer pal down? Ah’m tryin’ t’have some fun, lass!”

“Kill....you.” Breathed the fallen pegasus, from the floor. “...kill...you.”

Grunting, he stomped over to her, nudging her head with his hoof. “Nah, doll, yeh’re done.” Lifting the hoof further, positioning above her head, he prepared to stomp down.

NO! Breeze or not, I couldn’t let him kill Cassie either. My wings flared out, ready to fly. Before I could push off from my perch, though, I was beaten to the punch.

Or kick, as it turned out. A doubled-hoofed dropkick, straight into Caber Toss’ ribs. It sent the Raider chief staggering back to the roof edge, and almost over, before he got his hooves under himself again. “Who in the hell?”

The kick’s deliverer gently helped Cassie up, all the while watching the Raider boss. Golden eyes dark and furious, Cept stood tall between the two fighters. “You will pay for what you have done today, Raider.” There was no warmth in his voice, just chillingly calm certainty.

“Y-you?” Cassie leaned against the stairwell. “How?”

“Later.” Without breaking gaze with Caber Toss, Cept kicked a small pouch back at her. “Use this to help Breeze, until you can get her to your doctors.”

“But-”

“Go.” He silenced her with the word. “I will kill this Raider.”

“He’s mine!” Cassie near-roared.

“SHE is yours!” Cept full-roared back. “I cannot carry her out of here, not without being caught. You and the griffon have the sky. You can do it.”

He risked a backwards glance, eyes burning with intensity. “Please, Cassie, help Breeze now. You know you want to. I will take our revenge on this beast.”

“He’s right, Cass.” I called across the gap. “I can’t carry her on my own. We need to get her to safety, while we still can.”

“R-right.” Scooping up the pouch, Cassie bounced into the air. She paused for one moment, to deliver one last plea.

“Make it hurt.” Cassie winged over to me. “Help me, Wings. We need to get her to the medics.”

Nodding, I took up position on one side of Breeze, as Cassie pulled some bandages out of the pouch on the other side. “Whatever you need. I’m here for you both.”

Together we wrapped Breeze in bandages as best as we could, stemming some of the blood loss. It was a temporary solution at best, and we both knew it. Without another word, we lifted her up and away, towards the southern quarter.

Don’t give up, Breeze. We’ll get you help. Just hold on for a little while longer.

~~~~~~

The Raider and I watched as the three winged friends departed.

“Yeh think yeh c’n take me, stripey boy?” Flexing as he boasted, Caber Toss squared his shoulders. “Ah was killin’ pretenders afore you were even born. Whadaya think o’ that?”

“Nothing.” The muscles along my back bunched. “I have no time to think about you. I will simply kill you, then go be with her.”

“Aww,” the guttural Raider drawled. “is she yehr bonnie lass?”

Bursting forwards, I spun into a Fallen Caesar double buck. The Raider met it with a twin hammerblow. Tremors ran through my hind legs. The Raider’s strength was unreal. Even the buffalo I’d faced didn’t compare.

Kicking out, I separated from him. “Make it hurt” were her words. Baring my teeth, I charged again, spinning into another back kick. Caber Toss raised his hooves for another smash, but I was ready.

I kept spinning, a full rotation, so the strike passed harmlessly down in front of me. My spin wasn’t done, though, as I brought both back legs around in another half turn, pounding both into the side of his skull.

Disorientated, he ferally lashed out, catching me under the chin by chance. My hooves lifted off the ground, as he went down in a heap. I bounced up as soon as I hit the ground. He rose too, but slower, still dizzy.

Seizing the chance, I leapt forwards, heels crushing into his temples. Grunting in pain, he staggered back another step, eyes unfocusing. Sensing victory, another double blow was attempted to put him down.

Unfortunately, this time the massive stallion simply lowered his head further, with my hoof heels glancing off the top of his skull, cushioned by his wild mane.

I was in close and, before I could disengage, his teeth snapped around my bicep. Rearing up, teeth still looked around my limb, his bulk flattened me under him. Bleeding and bruised, but still more than able to fight, he grinned through gritted teeth. “Got yeh noo, bastard that yeh are.”

Formlessly, stylelessly, he rained blows down on me as I was trapped under him. All I could do was shield my head with my hooves, though they felt like they were cracking almost immediately.

As he battered down on me, he started laughing that absurd laugh again. That absurd, mocking laugh. That damn laugh you laughed as you threw that axe. That damn laugh you laughed as she fell. That damn laugh you laughed as you hurt her sister. With each mental image, the pain fell away. Ever since I saw Breeze fall, I’d been holding back the anger, the anguish, the worry, the panic. No more. It was a wonderful anaesthetic, and I was going to use it to kill this Star-marked inrispa!

Kicking out at the same rib I’d dropkicked, I felt something crack. I kicked at it twice more in succession, finally halting his attack. Planting both hind hooves in his stomach, I did as he did, grabbing him with my teeth, and pushed. Something jarred in my left hind leg, but it was still enough to send him rolling away from me. Scrambling upright, I grabbed his fallen gun. Spinning around, I only just got it up as he slammed into me head first, we both went down again, him on top of me.

I pulled the trigger.

A wet, meaty splat sounded as the weapon fired. I felt my own rib break from the recoil. The Raider fared far worse, though. As his body fell to my left, his left front leg fell away to my right. The blast had blown clear through the joint.

His incoherent screaming gave me no small measure of satisfaction, but also snapped my mind back into focus. I would hear you scream all day, beast, but you won’t keep me from her side any longer.

Racking the slide for one more shot, I pointed it at his head.

He stared back, wide-eyed. “Ah’m no dyin’ like this! No’ until ah’ve killed Red Ice!” Bloody spittle sprayed from his lips with every word.

The point of caring was far behind me. “Mua leija.” I pulled the trigger, wincing as it drove again into my broken rib. Such worthless tools.

Without a backwards glance, I turned to the stairwell. Halfway down the staircase, with the battle rush wearing off, I had to slow to a crawl. I could only breathe in ragged gasps, and couldn’t put any weight on my back right leg.

Grimacing at my own weakness, I pushed on as best as I could. “I will be there soon, Aqua Breeze. I will not abandon you.” Keep her safe, Naiara. Please.

~~~~~~

“WE NEED HELP!” The twin screams of Cassie and I brought a dozen onlookers running. We landed roughly in a wide open staging area.

Naiara was with them, jade eyes widening as she took in our state. “What happened? Is Breeze… is she…? What happened?!”

Cassie didn’t answer her, instead barking orders to the medics wheeling out a stretcher. I made sure that she was on her way to treatment, before turning to the zebra. “That bastard Raider boss got her with his axe. Cept stayed behind to fight him. Cassie and I carried Breeze back here. We need medicine, potions, whatever they’ve got. She’s in a bad way, Naiara.”

Shaking, Naiara fell into step with me as we ran after Cassie and the stretcher. “Cept’s here? And he’s fighting Caber Toss by himself?”

“Yeah. It’s a bad situation all around.” There was no other way to describe it. One fucking Raider shouldn’t be able to do all this.

Naiara looked after the medics. “You’ve got Breeze and Cassie, right? You can watch over them with Snow and the others?”

Nodding, I spotted the medics opening up a case of healing potions. Rushing forwards, I grabbed two of them, and tossed them to her. “Yeah, we got this. Go get Cept.”

The potions disappeared into her cloak pouches. Grimly, she nodded. “I’ll have my communicator. Tell me the instant you hear anything.”

“Got it. Good luck. There’s still plenty of Raiders and slavers out there.”

Nodding silently, she sprinted away down the courtyard path.

When she was gone, I sped up to the infirmary, where Breeze was being attended by half a dozen medics. Cassie was being held back by Bosco and Schwarzwald, with Snowflake and Undertow standing off to the side. Seeing me, Bosco called out. “What happened to her?”

“Caber Toss’ axe.” I gnashed angrily. “Cept’s fighting him. Naiara’s gone to help.”

Cassie redoubled her efforts to get closer to her sister, straining against Bosco and Schwarzwald’s grip. “LET ME GO! She needs me!”

“You will be in the way, dahling. Let them work.” Schwarzwald had size and strength on the pegasus, and wasn’t coming off a beating. She didn’t let go.

“She needs me! I need her! She’s all I have!”

I seized her around the shoulders, hugging her close. “We’re not losing her. Whatever they need, we’ll get, but we’re not doctors. We can’t give her what she needs.”

“She needs blood before we can start healing.” Announced one of the medics. “You all need to be tested as donors.”

A strangled sob burst from Cassie’s throat. She’d gone cold in my embrace. “Blood donors?”

“Blue Fire’s out,” The medic continued. “too volatile for griffon blood right now. Any of you had any Taint exposure?”

Undertow raised a hoof. The medic made a cutting motion in the air. “You’re out too.” He looked to the rest of our group. “Family would be easiest.”

As one, we all looked to Cassie. She burst into tears. “I-I can’t.”

“CASSIE!” My disbelieving squawk was right in her face.

“What are you saying?” Bosco and the other looked aghast at her words.

The medic frowned deeply. “Miss, I can see you’re hurting too, but your sister needs your blood.”

Shaking her head every more vigorously, Cassie could barely speak over the sobs. “I can’t! She can’t have my blood.”

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Snow challenged. “She’s your sister. Help her!”

“I CAN’T!” Cassie was falling apart before her very eyes.

“Tell us why!”

“SHE’S NOT MY REAL SISTER!” Wailing, Cassie covered her face with both hooves.

Silence descended immediately. Nobody spoke, nobody moved, nobody took a breath.

It was broken by the medic, who began issuing commands to the other healers. “Plug her wounds, and we’ll put her under a body stasis spell. It’ll help her last longer, but we’ll still need a donor within the next few hours.”

Sobbing, Cassie ran from the room.

Taking charge, another medic tested Snowflake, Bosco, and Schwarzwald for blood matches.

No matches. It was a long hour to wait for Naiara and Cept to return. Longer still before it was finally determined, with hugs and huge sighs of relief, that Cept could donate.

~~~~~~

Chapter 23-6: Playing The Percentages

Three hundred metres. Pull trigger. Thirty-two kills. Re-sight.

Four-fifty. Pull trigger. Thirty-three. Re-sight.

Two-eighty. Pull trigger. Thirty-f… no, Plottawans don’t count. Thirty-three. Re-sight.

“Cassie?”

The soft voice made me stiffen momentarily. Breeze would have heard her. “What is it, Undertow?” I hadn’t looked up from my scope. Re-sight, damn it.

Stepping up next to me, she remained silent until I took my next shot. “We’ve been looking for you.”

“How’d you find me? Did you use your water tracking spell?” My tone wasn’t kind, but I couldn’t really be around Raiders right now.

“No, I asked the guards if they had seen a Pegasus go by. Then I followed the sound of your shots.”

The downside of a big gun. I knew I should have bought that silencer last year. No, Breeze wanted those new connectors. Sighing and lowering the rifle, I looked across at the unicorn. “Well, here I am. And here you are. Why were you looking for me?”

Undertow pointed, down from the city wall we stood on, towards the main gathering place for the guards, a dozen blocks away. Where Breeze was. “They found a blood donor. Breeze is stable. They’re healing her now.”

My rifle clattered against the concrete. Collapsing in a boneless heap next to it, my hooves pressed against my eyes as the tears came. “She’s okay?”

“Mhm. She’s not awake yet, but they seem confident that she will pull through.” Did I detect happiness in her voice? I still wasn’t sure she really cared about Breeze either way.

First order of business. “Who was it?”

“Um?”

Peeking over my hooves, I stared intently at her. “The donor. Who was it? I have to find and thank them. I should have done so already.”

Before answering, she looked around at the walkway, at the score of spent rounds. “...It was Cept.”

“Cept?” The enigmatic zebra’s stock rose a lot higher in my estimation. “He went that far for Breeze?”

Undertow managed a smile, sitting herself across from me. “He said his injuries could wait, at least until she was safe. I think he’s really taken with her.”

I really don’t care about the ‘why’ right now. There were still pressing matters to resolve. “And the Raider? What became of him?”

“Cept blew his head off with his own shotgun.”

I’m grateful, but… There was a click of teeth as I snarled. “I told him to make it hurt. That was too kind for a monster like that.”

“Naiara told us that Cept did it quickly, so he could get back sooner.” She was rolling a spent round under a hoof, looking down at it and then back up at me over and over.

Closing me eyes, I had to turn away as the shame burned through me. I was only concerned with hurting him. Cept was always thinking about Breeze. Giving a sniffling grunt as a stray mane strand was brushed aside, my hooves found my rifle again. “You said Cept was injured? Is there anything I can do?”

She gave a small wave of her hoof. “No, Cept will manage. He’s on his way here now, with Naiara. He wanted to speak with you. It was a surprise to him that you weren’t with Breeze.”

Another stab, right into my heart. “I-I panicked.” Coward. You didn’t panic. You RAN. “I should have seen the axe, should have seen the danger. Nopony can match my eyes… I should have seen it coming. I should have protected Breeze. It’s what sisters do.”

Pushing the rifle round away, Undertow leaned forwards. “Before, when you said that Breeze… wasn’t your sister. What did you mean?”

Standing up abruptly, my hoof slashed at the air between us. “That’s not for your ears! You or your Raider sister!”

Leaning back, Undertow looked back headquarters, before lowering her voice. “Is it because of what the Raiders did to you and Breeze’s mother?”

Damn you Snowflake. “What has that sister of yours told you about my family?”

Sheepishly, she tapped at her chin in remembrance. “Um… she told me that your parents had come down from the clouds, and that they had been caught by the Raiders. Later, Breeze told her that she and you were… fathered by a non-pegasus.”

She knew that much? “We were born to Raiders,” I growled back. “do not try to soften it. Now tell me this: Do the others know?”

She stayed silent, staring back at me from behind her goggles.

“Do not play with me, Deep Diver! Snowflake obvious has told you my secrets, so did she tell the others?” Secrets that aren’t yours to tell, Red Ice, regardless of whether or not Breeze told you.

Only able to shrug, Undertow continued. “I don’t know. The others have never mentioned it to me, or to Snowflake while I have been around. She told me when it was just the two of us, in a small grotto near Sombra’s Shadow lake. If she told the others, it was not while I was with her.”

Breathing in slowly, I tried to abate my anger through reason. The others have never acted as if Breeze and I are Raider-born, and I would have seen a sign if they knew, based on how often we deal with Raiders. Perhaps they don’t know, after all? The anger was still there, but I could control it, as usual, now. “Can you promise me that this will not go beyond your ears, Deep… Undertow? Not even Naiara, Bosco, Wings, or Schwarzwald can know about this, and definitely not your sister.” I am trusting your word about her, Breeze. If she truly is a victim, rather than another Raider, then this shall be proof.

Blanching, Undertow stood too. “I can’t tell my sister?”

Without blinking, nor breaking eye-to-goggle contact, I slowly shook my head back and forth. “I will not even allow you to tell MY sister. These are my terms. If you cannot agree to them, then you should go now.”

Thoroughly unnerved now, Undertow seemed to consider doing just that. “You are keeping a secret from Aqua Breeze? You?”

“I will kill any who reveal this secret to Breeze. Learning the truth would break her heart. Do you understand me?” Popping my hidden blade did a wonderful job of accentuating my words.

Gaze drawn to my blade, she took a moment to look back at me. When she did, a mute nod was her answer.

How laughable is it that YOU are the one I reveal this to? I could have chosen Naiara, or Cept, or somepony I actually like. Instead, I choose you. What madness holds me these days? “Breeze and I take each take after our mother.”

“The one who the Raiders…”

“Yes,” the words caught in the back of my throat for a moment, but I pushed through. “...and no.”

Pursing her lips, she stared for a moment, before cocking her head to the side. “What?”

Forgive me, Breeze. “Breeze spoke the truth when she told you what happened to Mother… as far as she knows. Stargazer was indeed raped by Raiders, when she and Splash Radius, Breeze’s father, came down to the surface. Do you notice the words I’m using?”

She nodded solemnly. “You’re saying that Splash Radius wasn’t your father by blood, because of the Raiders.”

“No,” I replied, the word drifting lifelessly from my lips. “I’m saying that, because of the Raiders, Stargazer wasn’t Breeze’s mother by blood. She was mine.”

Stunned silence descended, as did Undertow’s jaw.

I ignored it. “I only found this out later, because it seemed ludicrous to think about for those who haven’t met Schwarzwald, but mares are just as capable of rape as stallions. Whichever damnable Raider stallion raped my mother, Stargazer, also had a friend, a mare, who set her sights on Splash Radius, Breeze’s father.”

Downcast, Undertow moved towards me, helping hoof outstretched.

Batting it aside, I repeated my earlier words. “Breeze and I each take after our mother.” Those idiots who saying airing your past is cathartic know nothing. The tears sprang unbidden from my eyes, but I forced myself to not look away. “She’s not my real sister. We aren’t anything, unless the Raiders were the incestuous sort. We share no blood between us. Worse, my blood is actually toxic to her. She almost died once when I tried to give her some of my blood. I would have killed her tonight, if I hadn’t known already.”

“But your parents-”

“...were far kinder than they ever needed to be, two of them at least. I take after Stargazer, while Breeze takes after her mother. It’s why she’s so… boisterous, why she likes explosives, and why our names are so different.”

“I had wondered about that.” Undertow mumbled into her chin. However, she didn’t seem ready to concede the point just yet. “But, you look so much alike. We call you twins.”

“I thank you for your kind words, and curse you for your thoughtlessness too.” I drew myself up imperiously. “And that’s the heart of the matter. Breeze and I were born days apart. We are not twins. We are not sisters. We should have been, but only look alike by circumstance. Breeze should have had a sister, and a mother, and a father. She should have had a loving, living family. Instead, she has a dead Raider mother, a dead father, and a stranger masquerading as a sister. THAT is reason I hate Raiders, including Red Ice.” And I have to live with the guilt of how much it hurts to look at Breeze sometimes, knowing that I lie to her every day.

Fixing her with a hard stare, I motioned for her to take off her goggles, and looked her straight in her orange eyes when she did so. “Breeze thinks you are another Raider victim, like us, merely falling into terrible circumstances. That so, she will decide if you should be called Raider or not.”

Gulping, Undertow ran a hoof over her goggles and rebreather. “But, Snowflake…”

“Snowflake chose!” I knifed in. “She was not born into the Raider life. It’s not her blood. She was given the option, and embraced it. That is her sin, and I will never stop hating her for it. Raiders destroyed what should have been my sister’s family, as well as the lives of countless others. I will NEVER forgive Snowflake, and I will protect Breeze from her forever.” My heart rate was up by the time I’d finished speaking, and I could feel a tightness behind my eyes.

Across from me, wearing a deep frown, Undertow sat quietly. After a full minute, she replaced her goggles over her eyes. “You feel that you’re somehow less of a sister to Breeze, because you don’t have her blood?”

Every day. “Of course.”

One of her eyebrows raised. “So your choice to stay with her, to give her the family stolen from her, to make sure that she was never alone, means nothing? You think she’d stop loving you because you want to be her family?” She had the nerve to chuckle, and ask “Are you so stupid?”

Bristling, thoughts of breaking her teeth her rebreather ran through my mind. “Don’t you dare laugh at my pain, Deep Diver!”

“OI, CASSIE!”

We both jumped. Looking back along the walkway, we could see Naiara supporting Cept as they made their way towards us. He can barely walk! What has he been through? Raising a hoof, I waved them closer.

Also waving, Undertow spoke out of the side of her mouth to me. “I’m not laughing at your pain, Cassie, although I AM going to do everything in my power to change your mind about my sister. It’s the least I can do for her, you, and Breeze.”

“How in the world does that help Br-”

“I won’t tell anyone what we talked about here. It’ll be our secret, until you’re ready to tell her.” Breaking off as the two zebra reached us, Undertow helped Naiara ease Cept into a sitting position, then began tugging at Naiara’s elbow. “Come on, svara, let’s go check on Breeze. Cassie can watch over Cept for a little while.”

Cept and Naiara blinked in unison. “Were you two not speaking a moment ago? I do not want to interrupt.”

Waving him off, Undertow bowed briefly. “No, we’re done. Thank you for everything, Cept. We’ll leave you two to talk in private.”

“But we just got here.” Naiara got a kick to the shin for her complaining. “Ow! Fine, fine. Yeesh.” With a smile, she allowed herself to be led away by Undertow.

Cept and I watched them go. If you ever went full Raider, you’d be very dangerous indeed.

Clearing his throat, the sitting stallion gingerly held his leg as he spoke. “I wanted to speak with you. The Raider is dead.”

All my tension evaporated away. Plopping down next to him, I laid a hoof over his. “I know, they told me. Thank you so much, for everything you’ve done for her.”

Smiling widely, if tiredly, Cept did not object. “She has my thanks as well, for being such a good friend to Naiara. It is the least I can do to repay her for that.”

Oh no, you won’t get out of this so easily. “Was that all this was? Repaying a debt? You did not want to save her yourself?”

“I did not mean that.”

“Then you were here for a reason?”

Nodding, his smile slipped slightly. “I have business with the Bernstein,”

“Oh.” That is not what I wanted to hear.

“..but I had hoped to meet you all again while I am here. I did not expect this situation, but…” He sighed regretfully. “I wish I could have reached her in time.”

That’s better. “Me too, but she will be okay, and she has you to thank for it.”

His smile began to resurface. “I am very glad to hear that.”

This is a much easier discussion than the last one. “I’m glad too. Glad enough to discuss you and my sister…”

His smile got a little wider.

~~~~~~

“And make sure that you contact me the very second that she wakes up, you understand? The very second.” Cassie waved a stern hoof at the communicator.

I nickered a little. “You know Cept can’t see you through that thing, right, Cass?”

The communicator crackled, and Cept’s voice came through clearly. “I can hear her, and you, Snowflake. Be at peace. I will not let anyone near your sister, and I will not leave her side.”

Remaining silent for a moment, it was clear that Cassie still considered this a distant second to being there with Breeze herself as she recovered, but the sniper eventually managed a small smile. “I know you will protect her, Cept. I trust you, and I will see you both when we are finished here.”

The communicator crackled again. “Trig roba prefkam saabi.”

The zebra tongue caused our other zebra to stir. Stepping into the centre of the group, Naiara turned in a slow circle, locking eyes with each of us in turn. “I don’t want anybody here to take any stupid risks for this. Not. One.” The slightest tremor ran across her shoulders. “Do what is asked of you, and nothing more. We do this, and then come right back.”

Undertow and Schwarzwald were fixed with withering stares. “This isn’t about boosting our kill contest scores, or fighting whole clans singlehoofedly. This is about stalling them. The moment you think you might be in danger, you fall back. That’s not up for discussion.”

While Undertow just nodded sombrely, Schwarzwald leaned forwards and tapped her forehead against Naiara’s. “Make it up to me later, dahling. I still must have my fun.”

“Only later.” Naiara snapped back. “I’ll fight you all you want when we’re done. You come back in bad shape, and I’ll never let you have fun again.”

Next, she rounded on Cassie. “Be cold, Cass. This isn’t about making the bitch suffer, it’s about taking her out. Trying for angry revenge almost got Cept killed. I won’t allow you to repeat that mistake again.”

Cassie huffed in a deep breath, and squared her shoulders. “You…” Then the fight left her. “...are right, Naiara. I will fulfill my mission. One bullet, then I head back to Breeze. I don’t want to be away from her for any longer than I have to.”

“Wings won’t let any Raiders or slavers through, Cass.” I offered in consolation. The griffon was on the walls, being a visible rallying point for the defenders, while the rest of us went about our plan.

“And if, by some miracle, any of them do get past…” Undertow chirped eagerly. “...my big brothers will be around to stop them from even spotting Cept, let alone Breeze!”

The look Cassie shot my sister was enigmatic, at best. What’s with the face? Undertow’s just trying to help. None of us wanted to see Breeze like that, despite our differences. Not at the hooves of a Raider.

Naiara wasn’t done. This time, Bosco and I were the targets of her tranquil fury. “You two have no excuses, considering you’re with me. If either of you two do anything I don’t agree with, I send you both home and finish this myself. I am NOT losing any more friends in this blasted city, do you understand me?”

Despite shrinking back a little in the face of her intensity, Bosco still managed a rebuttal. “You haven’t lost anyone yet, Naiara. Breeze’ll pull through. Still, you’re right. We’re not here to fight Raiders. That’s the Plottawans’ job now. We’re just here to make things a little harder for both of them. No heroics, we promise.”

We all gave our assent. Naiara still didn’t smile. She just nodded. “Then it’s time to get started.”

Cassie spread her wings, crouching down for a spring launch. Before she could, Undertow rushed in close, whispering in her ear. It was only a few words, but Cassie shot her another almost-confused, almost-worried, almost-repulsed expression. She didn’t say anything back, and instead went skyward.

Since when are you two buddy-buddy, ‘tow? “What was that about?”

“Not now.” Was Undertow’s shut-down response, as she was already on her way with Schwarzwald.

“Um...okay?” What gives? She can tell Cassie, but not me? She doesn’t even like Cassie! As I followed Naiara and Bosco, the thought continued to nag in the back of my mind. A conscious, and not insubstantial, effort was needed to keep on task.

“Keep up, Snow.” Naiara barked. “You’re falling behind.”

“Right, right, sorry. Lead the way, svara.”

~~~~~~

The cold air blew around me as I hovered silently, wings flapping just enough to keep me in place, hundreds of metres above Lethbridle. The scope case felt solid against my eye, reliable. Breeze built me this rifle, and I only need one shot. It won’t fail, and I won’t miss.

Please, everyone, bring my target to me. I would remain there as long as I was needed, even if it was snowing.

~~~~~~

Our travel wasn’t exactly rapid. Naiara was taking absolutely zero chances. She only had us move when she was utterly sure we wouldn’t be detected. Is she still kicking herself about those Raiders in the trench when we wrecked the vehicles? That was just a fluke, not her fault. I couldn’t tell her that, unfortunately, as she had forbade all but the most crucial communication. “Unless we’re about to die, shut your stars-damned mouths!” were her exact words.

Still, we made progress, slow as it was, and with any luck we’d reach our target unnoticed. We were going pretty far into the northern quarter, and even with Caber Toss’ death, it was still swarming with Raiders. The Plottawans controlled the west, while the Raiders held the north. Anything we could do to keep attention off the eastern and southern quarters of the city, the better.

Naiara ducked around a corner, with Bosco and I following. As the two of us turned into the street, we came face to face with a Raider.

Rearing back, my gargled exclamation caught in my throat. Where the hell’s Naiara?!

The Raider answered for us, by falling forwards like a sack of rocks. His lifeless body thudded onto the cold ground, and only then did I notice that his neck was twisted into an impossible angle. Bosco and I exchanged a look.

Naiara hadn’t even broken stride.

~~~~~~

“Heeheehee.” My quiet chuckle was probably the kind of risk that Naiara didn’t want me taking, but I couldn’t help it. Watching the diving-suit laden Deep Divers stumble into each other, helped along by my half-second blasts of magical telekinesis, was just plain funny.

I paused for a moment to adjust my goggles, then resumed my efforts. The Deep Divers were the weak link of the Raider forces. They hated the other Raider clans, and weren’t too fond of each other. My initial influence, combined with Caber Toss’ strength, had kept them in line so far, but with the Plottawans so close, and with Caber Toss now dead, we’d hatched our plan.

If I do my part right, the Deep Divers will be, at worst, out of the fight altogether. Or, at best, they might turn on the other Raiders. Either one works, and it’s gonna make that crazy Raider mare really angry.

I spotted another prime target for some trickery. A Deep Diver mare was checking the aim on her harpoon gun. She didn’t have her hoof on the trigger, but she WAS pointing it at another former resident of Soft Swell Lake.

My vulpine grin refused to go away. Let me help you with that, lady. Just a simple arcane squeeze, and the glinting spearhook burst out of the barrel, to the startled cry of the mare holding it.

The flying harpoon shanked another Deep Diver’s air tank, causing the pressurised air within to violently expand. In short, it exploded, and sent all ponies within a five metre radius scurrying for safety.

Except for the owner of the air tank. He just died.

The survivors, rattled and angry, quickly found the ‘culprit’, who was running in the other direction as fast as she could. Half a dozen gave chase. It was but the work of moments to cause a few of the chasers to trip into each other and, soon enough, a mass brawl developed.

While quietly sniggering from my roof, I looked up again, just in time to see a trio of Haylanders corner the fleeing Deep Diver mare. I don’t even have to do anything this time...well, maybe one more push, just to be sure.

Drawing on my focus for one more spell, it was enough to cause the empty harpoon gun’s line, never attached while she’d been testing it, to flip up and slap across the right cheek of all three Haylanders in quick succession.

Okay, now they’re beating her with her own gun. I don’t need to see that. My work here seems to be complete. Time to head back.

As I readied to leave, the other Deep Divers noticed the treatment of the mare by the Haylanders. They didn’t seem happy to be deprived of their retribution. My sister isn’t the only one who can use Deep Diver law against them. I thought up the laws, after all.

~~~~~~

“Stay beautiful, dahlings.” I growled in my masculine affection. Backing out of the building, I tried to move past the fun I’d just had, and to return to my mission. I cannot be blamed if the mares I find do not resist me as I expected them to. This Ballbuster does not know her mares as well as she thinks she does.

Still, My smile grew under my gender-shrouding covers. I must continue until the Woodpecker chief takes notice. Shifting my Barnstormer trappings, taken from a dead stallion, I began the search for my next target.

“WHAT IN THE HELL’S GOIN’ ON HERE?”

Whoops. I casually stepped aside as the moving mountain that was Ballbuster rumbled past.

She was not happy to see the two satisfied mares staggering out of the building, leaning on each other. “Are you two lassies takin’ the piss? Gettin’ off wi’ each other when we’re fightin’ them slavers?”

“Not just each other…” One replied dreamily.

The Raider chief’s eyebrows shot skyward. “Well, who else an’ all?”

Time for me to leave, I think. Dipping around the corner, I swiftly removed the rags which made me ambiguous enough to pass for a stallion.

“Some nifty Barnstormer fella. Had us both at once, so he did.”

When Ballbuster began shouting in earnest, I began running.

I didn’t stop when the thundercrack rifle-shot sounded out either.

It’s a shame that those two girls will be dead soon. They were a fun time.

~~~~~~

The three of us paused for a moment, as the sound of Cassie’s shot reached our ears. Exchanging intrigued glances, we took a moment to huddle under an overhang.

“Think she got her?” Bosco kept his voice at whisper level, but his lips were trending upwards regardless.

Naiara nodded, also dropping to hushed tones. “Only one shot. She didn’t need a second.”

Straining my ears, I listened to the sounds of the city. “No other gunfire. Not yet anyway. I think the others got away with it.”

Switching back to all business mode, Naiara waved us out from under the overhang. “Then it’s our turn. Come on.”

Continuing our trip, it struck me as just how different this place looks than the last time I’d been to our destination: Lithu’s apartment.

We faced no more Raiders until we found ourselves waiting in an alley, across from Lithu’s apartment building. It still held the scars from McCoy’s attack on Dent: The destroyed windows keyed us in as to which was Lithu’s floor, and the three Raiders, armed with what looked like commandeered Plottawan weaponry, guarding the ground floor entranceway confirmed that this was the place.

Bosco, flattened against the side of a building, with his eye peeking around the corner, pulled his head back. “They don’t look like they’re going anyway, and if we take them on in the open, it’ll bring any of their buddies inside running. I could take out one from here, but the others would notice. Do you think you two can do something about the others?”

Naiara was looking higher than the entrance way. “I might be able to get up to that gap on the upper floor from the outside. So long as those three don’t look up.”

I gaped at her. “You can’t do that. One slip and you’ll fall five stories!”

“We are in a warzone, you know. It wouldn’t even be the most dangerous thing we’ve done today.”

“Well, yeah, but…” I looked up at the suddenly-very-high-up gap in the building. “...weren’t you the one who told us not to take unnecessary risks?”

She opened her mouth to argue, then closed it again. Bosco gave a wheezing laugh. “Outsmarted by Snow, HAH!”

“Are we just gonna sit here and wait, or are we gonna figure out a way to get in?” Naiara’s blustering didn’t hide her blush.

Bosco was still smirking, but nodded. “I can kill one from here, do you think that you can get the other two if Snow and I keep them in the doorway and stop them from going for help?”

Naiara gave a quick glance around the corner, then her eyes unfocused for a moment, tongue sticking out of the side of her mouth. After half a minute or so, she snapped out of it. “I can do that. We’ll be alerting the others inside the building, but that’d happen anyway. There’s no cover in there, from what I remember.”

Exhaling through my nostrils, I mulled over the plan. “And we’re pretty sure they won’t just kill Lithu and run?”

“Depends if these guys have heard that Latvi’s out of the city or not. We really won’t know for sure until we get up there. Though, if they were gonna, they probably would have done so already.”

“So we might be fighting over an empty apartment?” Fun times for a pony we don’t know.

Bosco shook his head. “They wouldn’t need to guard this place if they’d already killed her. They’d have gone back to the main group.”

He turned to our zebra… or would have, if she was still there. “What the?”

“Psst. Hey guys.” Naiara poked her head around the corner, causing us both to jump.

Trying to control my heartrate, I held a hoof over my eyes. “Where did you go?”

She shrugged. “Killed all three of them. Door’s clear now. Let’s go.”

Quick and quiet as we could, we rushed into the doorway and up the stairs to Lithu’s floor. There were only two guards outside her door, and they looked really bored. At Bosco’s direction, I sent a Cryo Serpent around the outside of the building, then in through the gap in the wall. Snagging the leg of the guard closest to the hole drew the attention of the one closer to us, who Bosco promptly shot in the back of the head. The guard who was in the process of freezing was dispatched by a Stompeii Emboli kick to the throat.

Booting the door to Lithu’s apartment open, we were treated to a sight quite different that what we expected to see. No Raiders were present, and Lithu herself stood in her kitchen, wearing a frilly apron and levitating a tray of sugary treats from the oven.

The bleach-blonde mare barely blinked when the three of us entered, instead putting on a welcoming smile. “Oh, hello. I wasn’t expecting company. I hope you’ll excuse the mess.”

The hell? “You’re Lithu, right?” I surreptitiously waved Bosco and Naiara to check the rest of the apartment.

Still smiling, the scientist mare set the tray down, and began dusting the cookies with powdered sugar. “That’s me. A pleasure to meet you. Who might you and your friends be?”

My friends both gave me an ‘all clear’ sign. Fighting against my surprise, I answered her warily. “That’s Bosco, she’s Naiara and I’m Snowflake.”

There was a clatter as Lithu instantly dropped the sugar dispenser. Eyes wide, she pressed herself back against the counter. “You’re Snowflake?”

Helpless, I looked over at Bosco, who had no answer. “Yes? We’ve actually met before.”

“LIAR!” She shrieked suddenly. “Everything you say is lies!” Looking desperately at the open door, she began screaming for help.

“Whoa whoa whoa! Take it easy.” Naiara tried to approach the hysterical mare, but kitchen utensils began to fly, forcing her back.

“Leave me alone! Haven’t you done enough to my husband and I?” Lithu clambered up onto the counter itself, wedging into the corner.

“Look, I’m sorry about what happened to Dent, but-”

“WHO IS DENT?”

What? Utterly lost now, I could only stand there as Lithu continued to build a wall of frying pans and rolling pins. “Your husband? Deputy Dent?”

Her telekinesis stopped for a moment, with all items clattering to the floor, as she drew herself up in her corner. “I don’t know any Dent, or any deputies! My husband is a scientist, not some guardpony!”

“Dent’s not a p-” A lead weight settling in my stomach forestalled my words. “Did you say scientist?”

Watching the door, Bosco looked back. His grey brows creased. “You’re not talking about… Latvi, are you?”

Lithu found the time to roll her eyes. “No, I’m talking about the zebra over there. Who else would I be talking about when I say my husband?”

“Since when?” I questioned. I don’t believe this. How could you marry that idiot after what he did to Dent?

The white-furred scientist’s hoof found her wedding band and clutched it tight. “Since years ago! We’ve been together since we were foals, after all.”

She stopped shaking for a moment, and looked me dead in the eyes. “I’m not surprised that YOU decided not to remember, Snowflake. You’ve always been jealous of my husband!”

Sputtering on my own spit, I could barely get the words out. “I barely know Latvi, except for when he’s trying to kill me!”

“Kill you?” She laughed. “YOU are the one my husband warns me away from. He spent so long trying to keep you from tracking me down, trying to keep me from danger and worry. You’re a danger to everypony around you!”

“Latvi was the one who killed Dent. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

Apron held out out like a shield, and eyes squeezed shut, she shook her head. “My husband has never raised a hoof to anyone, and he takes care of me. Stop saying these horrible lies, and get out of my home!”

“Look, Lithu, I don’t know what kind of crazy cocktail you’ve been throwing back while you sit and wait for your ‘husband’, but-”

The dropped items rose off the floor again, held in her white glow. “Stop talking like that! I see what you’re doing here. You’re trying to take my Latvi away from me! Well, you can’t have him, and your sabotage didn’t work. Claiming that I would never love Latvi because he had ‘too little ambition’, have you no shame?”

What in the hell is she talking about? I mean, yeah, I think I did say something like that to Latvi, but that was when he tried to kill Dent! How can you not remember THAT part?

Readying myself for another round of arguing with the delusional mare, we were interrupted by a gasp from Bosco. “Snow, wait!”

“What, Bosco?” I near bellowed, not willing to take anymore jabs like the one from outside.

Naiara replaced him at the door, while he trotted over and whispered into my ear. “Didn’t you say Latvi’s magic is based around memory?”

Cold spread through my entire body. You’re not saying what I think you’re saying… “He wouldn’t.”

Inclining his head, Bosco grimaced. “I think he did.”

“With her? He’d go that far?” It was nearly impossible to believe. Latvi was insane, but this was the mare he loved. It defied belief.

“He’s the head of a coalition of thieves, rapists and murderers. You really think he wouldn’t get his hooves wet?”

Lithu apparently took offence to our whispering. “Whatever lies you two are saying about my Latvi, you need to stop right this instant!”

Shifting my gaze back and forth between her and Bosco, it felt like fireworks were going off in my brain. “W-what do we do? We can’t just leave her like this.”

“Guys,” Naiara called from the hallway. “the gunfire’s picking up again. I think the Plottawans noticed that we got Ballbuster. They’re making a push.”

Instantly, Bosco was all business. “Right, we do what we came here to do. We get Lithu, and take her back with us. After that, we contact Esto, and get her some help.”

“If you think I’m going anywhere with the likes of y-”

Bosco’s pistol butt to her temple put an end to her complaining. “Sorry, but I’m not asking. We’re out of time.” He grabbed a limp hoof and slung it over his shoulder. “Snow, help me carry her. Naiara, lead the way.”

~~~~~~

When we arrived back at the southern quarter, I was still nauseous at the idea of Latvi’s manipulation of Lithu’s memories, and not in the slightest bit happy that the inspiration might have come from me. Did I really push him to this when I goaded him back then? Is she like this because of me?

Wings, Undertow, and Schwarzwald were waiting for us when we returned. After making sure that Lithu, while restrained, was taken to the medical ponies, the six of us reconvened to swap notes.

“How’d it go?” Wings was cleaning her revolvers as we talked, tongue sticking out the side of her mouth. That’s kinda cute.

Undertow seemed exuberant. “Mission accomplished. I didn’t have to do much. A little prodding, and a lucky appearance by some Haylanders finished the job for me.”

Schwarzwald was downright orgasmic. Forest green eyes half-glazed, she huskily recounted her part in the whole plan. “I had much more fun than I thought I would, oh yes. Also, I looked at the Plottawans on the way back. They noticed our efforts.”

Nodding, Naiara sat down next to Undertow. “We noticed. Had to speed things up a little at the end because of it. Latvi-”

“...needs to die.” I interrupted, clenching my molars. “I can’t believe he did that to her.”

Along with an eyebrow raise from Schwarzwald, Wings and Undertow looked at us for an explanation. Bosco saved me the effort of explaining it. “The mare we brought back with us? She’s Lithu, used to work with Latvi. He was in love with her. Too bad she had a boyfriend. Too bad again that Latvi had him killed, then used his magic to completely overwrite her memories.”

“She was a scientist!” The words came out of my mouth halfway between a growl and a roar. “He turned her into a damn housewife! He was supposed to love her, not… this! Is this what he thinks love is?!”

“C’mon, Snow,” Wings tried to lay a claw on my shoulder, but I shrugged her off. “it’s not the best outcome, but at least there’s a chance to reverse it, right? Just like with Breeze. Nobody died, and we’ll help them both.”

“I… yeah.” She’s right. I don’t like that it happened, but Lithu’s still alive. Esto should be able to help her. We’ll just keep trying until we break the spell. I relaxed a little, and leaned against Undertow.

Grinning a little now, Wings addressed the others. “So what’s next? The Raiders have no leaders left; Latvi’s out of the city, and with Caber Toss and Ballbuster dead, they should be easy pickings for the Plottawans. Well, hopefully not TOO easy. If they keep killing each other down to nothing, that works too.”

Naiara chuckled. “Heh, should we just go ahead and let them?” We all laughed along with her.

Schwarzwald’s communicator crackled. “Come in, Schwarzwald.”

Fishing it out of her gear, the mercenary mare spoke warmly. “Amber-dahling, so nice to hear from you.”

“We do not have time, unfortunately. I need you to get back to me as soon as possible. I literally mean sprint.”

The good cheer faded immediately. “Amber, what is wrong?”

I froze up at Amber’s next words.

“Peanut contacted me a moment ago. He is on his way here.”

~~~~~~

Chapter 23-7: Playing The Percentages

Leaving Naiara to back up Cept as bodyguard for Breeze and Cassie, and with Wings and Bosco manning the walls in case Peanut brought more than just himself, Undertow and I followed Schwarzwald to Amber’s office.

We passed servants at every doorway. They held the doors open for us, then ran like hell the moment we were through. We three were the only ones heading into the building, while ‘out’ was the destination of every Bernstein assistant.

The mousy maid held the last door, and didn’t even wait for us to reach the door. The moment we came into view, she hollered “They are here, Lady Bernstein!” and bolted back the way we came.

Moving into the ballroom proper, it became clear that this was not all last minute. The terminals and workstations we’d seen when we first arrived in the city were all gone. The staff were absent too, naturally. In fact, only four things remained in the room itself; the refreshment-laden dais, the now-running fountain, a giant viewscreen mounted on the wall, and Amber Bernstein herself.

As we entered, she immediately turned from the window. Her business suit was still prim and proper, but she herself seemed harried, frazzled even. “You did not all come? I asked if you were with the others?”

Her entitled tone did nothing to improve my already sour mood. “Oh, sorry we can’t all come to save your self-dooming flank, Bernstein. Turns out that we’ve got other things to worry about, like looking after the city, or making sure that Breeze doesn’t get hurt any further. Your fault, by the way.”

She brushed off my jibes, running a hoof along her sienna fringe to straighten it. “Now is not the time, Red Ice. Peanut will be here any moment, and I need you three to be ready to step in, should our talk turn violent.”

I wasn’t done, however. “Peanut’s not going to sit and talk with me here, Amber. Unlike you, I don’t have a good relationship with him.”

Amber wasn’t looking at me, but rather using her reflection in the window to make sure her appearance was immaculate. “Which is why the three of you will be out of sight, up on the balcony. I told Peanut that he could not bring any weaponry, and that the meeting would be between he and I, nopony else. You are aware of his martial prowess. I see no reason that he should come armed, when not expecting anyone else. That will be your advantage.”

Schwarzwald stepped up next to Amber, smiling widely. “You are our bait, dear Amber. You continue to surprise. I should have invited you to Lethbridle sooner.”

For once, Amber didn’t respond to Schwarzwald’s compliments, she just pointed to the balcony. “You three need to hide. I do not know how much time we have left.”

“As you wish, dahling.” The three of made our way up to the balcony, and situated ourselves so that we had a clear view of the main ballroom, but could still duck out of sight if needed.

Then we waited.

This could be it. I got away from Peanut twice before, but this time I might have to stay and fight. Reaching out invisibly, I touched Undertow with my magic, revelling in her water wizardry. Undertow and Schwarzwald haven’t fought him. I have to make sure not to let up for a moment, or else they might be in danger.

Undertow touched back, and I felt her pumping all the love she could into the meld, trying to overwhelm the fear I was failing to hide from her. A physical smile was all the acknowledgement I could give. On our other side, Schwarzwald simply sat and waited, eyes fixed on Amber.

We weren’t waiting long. Barely a minute passed before we heard a door open, and measured hoofsteps in the corridor. The breath caught in my throat, and I slapped a hoof over my mouth.

“Amber Bernstein, so good to see you looking well.” Peanut’s warm, welcoming voice had my skin crawling. Despite hearing him first, I still wasn’t prepared to see him in person. First his flowing blond mane came into view, then the rest of him. Unsurprisingly, he wasn’t wearing battle armour, but rather a simple boilersuit. He wouldn’t have gotten within a mile of this office with Plottawan branding.

Amber answered in her usual, business-like way. “Peanut. A pleasure. I thank you for your assistance with the Raider situation.”

While still warm, Peanut’s next words took on a definite edge. “Yes, ‘the Raider situation’. How unlucky you and I must be, to have the Raiders attack the city just at the moment they did.”

Amber gave nothing away. “Indeed.”

Keeping his eyes on her, but turning side-on, Peanut began slowly pacing the floor. “I am afraid that this changes the parameters of our agreement somewhat, Lady Bernstein. You see, in coming to your aid, I have lost one third of the troops I brought. I understand your agents have done what they could to remove the Raider leadership, which I appreciate, but I am now at least one hundred soldiers down.”

“You also have a much better chance of winning now. The Raiders can’t hold against your fighters, as disorganised as they are. My mercenaries tell me that there are at least five hundred Raiders left. Add that on top of the other slaves you were promised, and you will definitely need your new premises.”

“Five hundred new slaves who will require much time and effort to bring to heel. This ‘bonus’ you offer does not offset the fact that I am missing far more troops than our projections predicted.” He held out a hoof. “Before we go any further, I will need you to fulfill at least part of your side of our bargain.”

Unfazed, Amber just nodded. “Agreed. I had you enter through Lethbridle’s western quarter for more than one reason. Aside from putting you in prime position to ambush the Raiders, there is also the fact that some of the city’s citizens are seeking safety in another of the tunnels, separate from the one you use to transit ponies between Plottawa and Lethbridle. I even had Red Eye’s concern take shelter there, and they will meet you there.” Amber took a step back, and swept a hoof across the food and drink on the dais. “Would you like to eat first, or will you head straight there?”

Peanut barely looked at the food. “I make it a point to, on excursions, eat the same rations as my slavers. It’s a wonderful tool for morale. That being said, I have certain ponies that I can trust to act in my stead.” Producing a two-way radio from one of his pockets, he keyed the speaker. “Peanut to Willow Wisp, come in. Over.”

“What?” I muffled into my hoof, then ducked down instantly, praying he didn’t hear. Willow Wisp? It can’t be the Overmare!

The response came through loud and clear. “Willow Wisp here. I read you Peanut, uh… over.”

My hoof had to be jammed further into my mouth. IT IS HER! How? Why?

Peanut smiled at Amber before replying. “Willow, I am here with Amber Bernstein. She will direct you to an underground shelter. Red Eye’s contingent should meet you inside. I’m putting Lady Bernstein on the line now, over.”

Taking the proffered transmitter, Amber began relaying instructions for reaching the shelter, as well as turning on the viewscreen, which displayed its location.

Up on the balcony, I was being pressed into the carpet by Schwarzwald and Undertow, to keep from freaking out. Amber’s leading them straight to the citizens, she IS selling out Lethbridle! And why is the Overmare working for Peanut?! Until Schwarzwald took her hoof off me, we couldn’t make a move, only wait for her to decide that enough was enough.

After a few minutes, three figures walked into view on the screen. One was instantly recognisable: A pegasus mare whose features I knew straight away. The other two ponies, both stallions, seemed familiar too, but I couldn’t place from where. The trio was followed by a squad of uniformed Plottawans.

The Overmare stopped dead centre in the screen, and reached for her radio. “Willow Wisp here, Lady Bernstein. We have reached the coordinates you provided. What’s next? Over.”

Smiling wider than I’d ever seen her before, Amber turned fully to face Peanut. Framed by the image at her back, she addressed the Overmare cheerily. “Acknowledged. I am opening the way to the shelter door now. I advise against going in guns blazing, lest you start a panic.” With that, she reached over and pressed a button on the dais.

On the screen, a section of wall slid back, to reveal a heavy metal door. The Overmare indicated to the two stallions to move forwards, and they did so at a shuffle. The chains around their hooves slowed them down.

It was then that I realised, with wide eyes, where I knew them from. They’re Vor- uh… Vorbis! And Contego! They work for Lexi! Why are they here?

There was no sound on the screen, only that which came through Peanut’s radio, but the sound of the heavy door beginning to open sounded out as if we were there.

Tossing the radio back to Peanut, who stood in the centre of the ballroom, Amber moved so that the dais was between the two of them. “Peanut of Plottawa, let me introduce to you Red Eye’s… Lethbridle contingent.”

“AAAAAAAHHHH!!!”

The three of us, as well as Peanut, jumped at the scream. On the screen, Willow Wisp took flight, shooting straight upwards and out of view.

“What?” Peanut raised the transmitter to his lips, but the unholy racket that emerged from it kept him from speaking.

On the monitor, the source of the noise made itself known. From the shelter, a veritable menagerie of creatures boiled out; Molar Bears, Hissyflits, Tarantubaas, and other monsters I’d never even seen before.

As we watched in horror, Vorbis and Contego disappeared under the claws and fangs of the beasts. NO! We were gonna get you out!

The stampede didn’t stop with them, however. Even as the Plottawans opened up with their weapons, the massive Molar Bears simply shrugged it off and charged into their midst.

Several more survival-minded Plottawans broke ranks and bolted, however, even then they weren’t safe. The ground gave way beneath them, and they fell, flailing, into a subterranean pool. A pool that wasn’t empty. Trident-like horns protruded from the water, and surged towards the helplessly splashing Plottawans.

I felt Undertow stir next to me. “The Poceidoceroses from my lake!” She hissed quietly.

The rushing, uncontrollable mass of radiation-spawned monstrosities utterly massacred the slavers, but in complete silence. Without Willow Wisp, Peanut could only watch as the soundless carnage played out on screen, expressionless.

After an eternity, he raised the transmitter to his lips, speaking calmly and low. “Willow Wisp, return to Plottawa. I will meet you there.” Then he unemotionally put it away. “An explanation, if you please, Lady Bernstein.”

It was obvious to all involved that Amber was trying not to smile at the situation, and was trying to cover it with a hoof held daintily in front of her mouth. “It was our arrangement that I would create a path into Lethbridle for you and your slavers. You would have free reign to capture any citizens who were not able to flee the city, and would control the city itself. I would also have you meet any Red Eye forces within the city. In exchange, I get Plottawa, and thirty percent of any future business you undertake while in control of this city.”

He nodded stoically. “Yes. Why are you breaking our agreement?”

Tittering into her hoof, Amber’s jade eyes sparkled. “I take offence to that, sir. I have broken no agreement with you. I gave you a path into the city via the tunnels, and have made no attempt to interfere with your troops’ enslaving of any pony they encounter. More so, I have just introduced you to the totality of Red Eye’s forces within the city. The deal stands, former master of Plottawa.”

Sucking in air through his nostrils, Peanut noisily blew it out past his lips. Rotating his shoulders and joints, he began softly clapping. “Well played, Lady Bernstein. I withdraw my claim that you violated our agreement. I should have included an exclusivity clause, to prevent this occurrence. I assume you also had a deal with the Raiders, yes?”

“And with McCoy’s Monsters.”

Peanut’s smile was mirthless, though it did not take away from his natural good looks. “Comprehensive. I assume that promising the city to the Raiders gives you control over their territories in exchange, as with our deal?”

Inclining her head respectfully, Amber smiled back at him. “It is a reasonable exchange, as you would agree.”

Are they still angry at each other? They’re just… chatting.

“Indeed, Lethbridle is worth far more than any satellite settlements.” Tapping his scarred hoof against his chin, Peanut shrugged. “Which, I suppose, is the only remaining question. Why do you so easily give up Lethbridle, if you know its value?”

Amber pressed a button on the dais, then walked over to the window and opened it to the cold air. “For the following reasons.”

The moment she finished talking, an explosion sounded out in the city, then another, and another, and a final rumble. Four blasts had sounded out in succession.

Nodding in appreciation, Amber closed the window again. “What you have just heard was the bombing of the north, west, and eastern gates into Lethbridle, as well as the charges planted in your entry tunnel going off. You and your forces, along with Latvi’s Raiders, are now trapped here, in the city. Only the south gate remains, and I control it. That gate, too, will fall once the withdrawal of Lethbridle’s populace is complete.”

Peanut had removed his boilersuit, and folded it neatly in a corner. He was doing some simple warm-up exercises as he spoke. “A powerful gambit, Lady Bernstein. But you are still leaving me with Lethbridle. I can handle the Raiders, and even your captured beasts. My troops and I will survive this.”

“No,” Schwarzwald spoke up, standing and revving her gatling gun. She gracefully made her way down the stairs, with Undertow and I in tow. “... you will not, Peanut-dahling.” “

I watched comprehension dawn on Peanut’s face as we locked eyes, and fought the urge to shrink back. He’s not in control here. You have backup. You can take him… probably.

Schwarzwald continued, as she strolled a wide berth around Peanut, to stand by the Bernstein leader. “My dearest Amber has thought of everything. You see, we met an interesting fellow, who told us an amusing tale. It appears that the Bernstein Conclave has opened their purse strings quite wide. Every scrap of food, clothing, ammo, and batteries have been bought before you arrived.” Schwarzwald ‘bowed’ deeply. “Lethbridle is yours, former Plottawa master, every shattered stone and empty building. Enjoy.”

Peanut hadn’t stopped staring at me. I was less than thrilled. “Well, this is an eye-opener. Red Ice in cahoots with the Bernstein Conclave. That sheds a lot more light on things.” Looking back and forth between Amber and I, Peanut kept his smile. “I am impressed, truly I am, but unfortunately not so impressed as to not kill you both right now. Bernstein is far too dangerous to let live, and Snowflake has apparently cost me my chance to work with Red Eye. I can’t allow that to happen again.”

Before I could blink, his hoof was slamming up into Undertow’s chin. The force took her off the ground, spinning in the air and slamming down again. Schwarzwald’s battle saddle opened up with both rifle and minigun, but Peanut danced away from the streams, leading them towards Amber and I.

Yelping, I cannoned into Amber, taking us both to the floor as the hail of bullets passed over us. “Stay down!” I commanded, before rising to search for Peanut.

He was still fighting Schwarzwald, who had ditched her weapons and was trying to go hoof-to-hoof with. Almost contemptuously, he parried and dodged her strikes.

Just like with Naiara. I reached out with my magic, trying to snag him with some ice.

As he raised his right front hoof for an overhead strike, it paused just long enough for me lock on. A ball of ice formed around it, dragging it down to his side.

Surprised, Peanut took a heavy punch to the jaw. Spinning with the blow, his momentum brought the iced hoof up and around in a vicious backhoof, sending Schwarzwald sprawling.

Oh shit, I gave him a blunt object! Frantically, I willed the ice to spread further down his leg. Gotta slow him down!

Peanut was having none of it. Still spinning like a whirling dervish, he came after me. I scrambled to get away, catching his spinning hoof in the shoulder instead of the face.

It hurt like hell though, and sent me back into the window, which splintered around me. Groggily, I just managed to duck before the frozen hoof broke straight through the spot in the window where my head had just been.

“Stay away!” I cried. He’s too strong! I-I can’t beat him! He’s gonna kill me! My limbs felt like jelly as I tried to crawl away from the murderous stallion.

He was still trying to extract his iceballed hoof from the hole in the window. “Don’t run, Snowflake!” He called cheerily after me. “I’ll be with you in just a moment.”

“Nonononono!” Getting to the others was the only thing on my mind. If we could get away, we could reach the others we might get out of this alive.

“This is your penance, Red Ice!” Why does him being so upbeat make it so much worse? He finally succeeded in ripping his hoof from the window. “This is the second time you’ve trapped my hoof in ice. It’s rather unpleasant.”

On the other side of the room, I pressed myself against the wall, chest heaving, as he made his way towards me. I couldn’t focus enough to use magic, and he seemed to jump back and forth in my vision.

Schwarzwald jumped at Peanut from the side, rifle held like a club. Swinging down with all her might, I thought she might get him for a split second. Pirouetting, Peanut trapped the weapon on the ground with one hind hoof, while the other came up and caught Schwarzwald above the temple. She went down and didn’t get up again.

“No, Schwarz!” My legs wouldn’t move from the wall. She was too far for me to reach. She needs to be okay, I can’t beat him alone!

Peanut wasn’t even breathing heavily. “I told you right here, as we danced, Snowflake. You might have everypony else fooled, perhaps even yourself. But I’ve seen the real you, in my office, and I know you don’t have what it takes to play at this level.” Giving a ‘what are you gonna do’ shrug, he leapt at me, ice-hoof cocked and ready.

Squealing, I covered my head with my hooves. Peanut’s shadow loomed over me, and I waited for the pain.

It didn’t come, despite Peanut’s shadow looming over me. Peeping furtively past my hooves, I almost had a heart attack at the sight of Peanut just a few steps away. “W-wha?”

Hind hooves scrabbling for purchase, just above the floor, Peanut hung suspended in the air. Water tendrils wrapped around his shoulders, ice hoof, and throat.

Across the room, standing in the fountain, was a very welcome sight. “UNDERTOW!” Thankyouthankyouthankyou! “You saved me.”

“So this is how you survived so long, Snowflake.” How Peanut could calmly muse in the situation he was in was beyond me.

Horn blazing, water swirled around Undertow as she held him tight in the air. “Don’t touch her, you… you… bastard!”

She must be really pissed off. She hardly ever swears. I didn’t mind one bit at that particular moment.

Apparently, Peanut did. “Language, young lady. There’s no call for profanity.”

“You tried to kill my sister. You don’t lecture me!” Undertow snapped back, shaking with fury.

Undertow, no! Don’t tell him that!

“Sister?” Cold calculation ran through Peanut’s hazel eyes. “That is fascinating. Snowflake, why didn’t you ever tell me you had a sister?”

Oh no. “I… I…”

Supreme confidence returned to his expression. “Perhaps this day isn’t a total loss after all.”

“No.” Replied Undertow icily. “For you, it is.”

Then, using every drop of water in the fountain, she launched him through the glass window, into the open air beyond.

~~~~~~

“I’m… I’m okay.” I waved away Undertow as she tried to help me up. She stayed close, though. I wasn’t complaining. “That was amazing, Undertow. You saved me.”

Heh, even cuter when she blushes.

Schwarzwald, once again fully equipped, was standing with Amber. The Bernstein leader was sitting on the fountain, and staring at the stallion-sized hole in the window.

Snow was already starting to blow in. Shivering lightly, Amber seemed to rouse from her stupor. “You have my thanks, all of you, for dealing with Peanut.”

Undertow’s expression was carefully blank when responding. Her goggles heightening the unnerving factor. “You are welcome. Now don’t ever make us do that again.”

Licking at her wounds, Schwarzwald disagreed. “Do not listen to her, dahling. Battles such as this are the most fun! I am already looking forward to the next one.”

I bet you wouldn’t be saying that if Wings was here. I wanted absolutely no part of another run in with Peanut, ever again. Can’t believe I ever thought he was handsome. “If Undertow hadn’t just killed him, I’d still be running the other way. Heck, my knees are still shaking!” They were, but it was also a HUGE weight of my mind to know that Peanut was gone.

Instantly, Undertow was all concern and hoof-holding. “Lean on me, big sister.”

I waved her away again. “I’m alright. I just don’t want any more action today. Let’s just get out of here, blow the south gate, then collect our skywagon.” Amber was treated to my most determined glare. “Oh yeah, don’t think I forgot.”

Amber did take the helping hoof, offered by Schwarzwald, to stand. I almost laughed at how she looked. Rather than her usual rigidly business-like look, her mane was disheveled, there was a bruise forming on her cheek from when I’d mashed her into the floor to avoid getting shot, her knees were also shaking, and Schwarzwald was openly ogling where her skirt had ridden up. “As I proved with Peanut, I stick to any deal made.”

“As you proved with Peanut, you have a very liberal understanding of ‘sticking to any deal made’.” I deadpanned in response. “Let’s just go.”

Nodding, Amber finally stood on her own hooves instead of leaning on the older mare. “Schwarzwald, will you please go and collect some of my mercenaries? I will require an escort to the south gate.”

Stretching to get the kinks out, Schwarzwald was already on her way. “Of course, Amber-dear.”

The three of us watched her go in silence. Said silence turned awkward when she was gone.

Undertow and I inspected the fountain. I ran a hoof along the bottom of the basin. “Bone dry. You really went all out, huh?”

She blushed again. “He deserved it.”

Leaning against the fountain, I slid back down to the floor bonelessly. “No argument from me, little sister. I’m just glad it’s over.”

“It will be over when Schwarzwald returns with my escort, and we are able to leave the city to the Raiders, Plottawans, and beasts.” Amber had found an angle in the mirror to use as a reflection, and was fixing her outfit.

I didn’t raise my head, but let it loll in her direction. “Can I just say that this is a hell of an endgame, Bernstein? You only showed up here in the region a little while ago. Are your plans always this complicated?”

She managed a genuine laugh, or at least a very convincing act of one, for the first time since I’d known her. “No, this is a special case.”

Undertow plopped herself down next to me. “Why?”

Still facing her reflection, Amber’s eyes flicked towards the corridor. “It is… not unpleasant to work towards something other than profit for a change. To be, for once, Amber-dah” She caught herself midway, and hastily corrected. “To be Amber, rather than ‘Lady Bernstein’.”

Aww, that’s precious. Mirroring my sister’s knowing look, I leaned back against the fountain again. “I getcha. Well, while we wait, I’m gonna help myself to some of that foo-”

A strong gust of wind cut me off, and forced all us to cover our eyes as snow swirled around us. Shivering, we all crowded down behind the fountain, but it did little good. The squall wasn’t letting up.

I tapped Undertow and Amber on the shoulders, and pointed to the door. Shielding our eyes with our hooves, we crunched along the snow-covered ballroom floor.

Halfway there, I tried to lighten the mood. “Heh, guess winter’s finally here, huh?”

“I don’t believe this is really the time, Snowflake.”

“Oh lighten up, Amber, we’ll be out of the cold in just a-”

The world between my upheld hooves darkened for a moment, then brightened again. Clicking my tongue against the roof of my mouth, I looked out of the window. The heck was that?

The thing in the blizzard that cast the shadow made another pass, and I had my answer.

“No…” I whispered, going rigid. “It’s not possible.”

“What?” Undertow frantically brushed snow from her goggles, even though they were half-covered again in seconds. “What is it?”

I have to get you out of here! “Undertow, take Amber and get down to the ground level.” It was hard to keep the quaver out of my voice.

“Huh? Why?”

Grabbing both roughly, I pushed them towards the door. “Don’t argue, just go!” Without waiting for a response, I pushed them through the corridor to the staircase.

Once they were safely inside, ignoring their questions, I slammed the door behind them, and sealed it shut with my ice.

On the other side, Undertow pounded against the blockage. “Snowflake, what are you doing? Let me through!”

“NO!” I bellowed, before calming my tone. “You two need to get out of here. I’ll handle this.”

“Handle what?”

“Just go!” I ordered, before turning and heading for the roof access. I could still hear both of them calling after me, but didn’t stop. I won’t let you anywhere near this. This isn’t up for debate.

Charging up the roof access, I double-bucked the door open. The force of the blizzard descending on Lethbridle nearly bowled me over. Dropping to one knee for stability, it was a few seconds before I pressed forwards.

Even with the blizzard, I had could see a fair amount of the city. The city… and the demon flying above it. Howling a rolling roar, the horse-shaped spirit rode the surged along the blizzard, even as the city froze beneath it.

Gritting my teeth, I yelled into the storm. “YOU CAN’T BE HERE! SHE’S SUPPOSED TO KEEP YOU OUT!”

“SNOW!” Wings burst through the swirling winds to land beside me.

My heart stopped. You’re almost worse than Undertow! My hoof slashed between her and I. “Get out of here, Wings! It’s too dangerous!”

She pointed out into the blizzard. “You know what that thing is?”

Nodding, my eyes stung with flakes as the world ended around us. “It’s a Windigo.”

Jaw dropping, and sapphire eyes widening, the griffon stilled. “That thing? But I thought that they couldn’t get past the northern mountains.”

“They shouldn’t be able to!” With the wind picking up again, it was getting harder to hear without shouting. “Chrysalis and Cadence should be keeping them back!”

“Did all the fighting draw it in?” Jaw set, Wings unslung her revolvers. “So what do we do?”

You’re asking me? “I don’t know! I’ve never seen a Windigo before!”

Her head snapped back to me, the blue fire rising in her irises. “Yes, you have. The Memory Orb! You’re the only one who saw it in person. How did they handle the Windigos?”

“I-I don’t know!” After last few days, and the fight with Peanut, my brain just wasn’t working right. “Wings, I’m not an Alicorn Princess, or a Changeling Queen. I can’t stop it!”

Her talons grabbed me around the shoulders. “I’m not asking you to, not alone. I’ll help you any way I can, but I wasn’t the one who saw these things up close in the Orb. That was you.” Her grip tightened to just short of painful. “Snow, I need you to focus and work with me here. What. Do. We. Do?”

Staring at her blue fire eyes was much easier than looking at the Windigo. “I… okay.” With a deep breath, I closed my eyes. Okay, think back. What happened in the Orb? Cadence went into the cave, met up with Chrysalis… then there was the cavern with the Windigos. They had them in cages! But we don’t have any cages… I squirmed, my hope already fading.

Wings’ voice, rough but firm, cut in from beyond my eyelids. “Keep going, Snow. You’re okay. I’m right here.”

Focusing on her voice, and the touch of her claws, I managed to dull the worry and dread. Alright… the cages are out. I don’t know the spell. What else did they do? Chrysalis, she did something. What was it? I mentally bashed at my brain to remember. She… she… I GOT IT! “She hid them with her blizzard!”

Wings’ claws left my shoulders and wrapped me in a hug. “Alright, I knew you could do it! How can I help?”

“I don’t know if this’ll work, but I’m gonna try something. If it doesn’t work, I need you to get the others out of the city.” If all else failed, I was more than happy to sacrifice the city, as Amber had done, to keep my family and friends safe.

Sheathing her weapons, she nodded and flexed her wings. “Done. What else can I do?”

You’re already doing plenty. “Watch the Windigo. See if it has any weak points.”

With a grim smile, she got into position next to me.

I really wish I had the confidence I just faked. Summoning magic into my horn, I tried to channel as much of Chrysalis’ actions from the Orb as I could. If I could focus on them, then maybe, just maybe, my spell might come out like hers.

Out over the city, the Windigo swooped low, leaving a cover of ice over every building it flew over.

Here we go. Squaring my hooves, my horn’s eye found the cold that the demon was emitting. Connecting was not gentle, like it was with Undertow. The Windigo immediately sensed my arcane presence, and the cold itself was… not like mine. Mine felt natural, like it was part of water, part of nature. The cold of the Windigo, a spirit of the north wind, was... unnatural, harsh, lifeless. Cadence thinks these things are full of love? I respectfully disagree.

The Windigo was heading straight for us now, or rather, straight for me. “Get out of here, Wings. It knows where I am!”

“Not a chance.” And that was that.

Pumping even more magic into my horn, it became harder to keep focus on the Windigo. I don’t think I’ve gone this hard since the Medical bay in the Stable. “If this… goes wrong, then I… told you so, in advance… Gigglewings.”

A warm wing, the colour of rich chocolate, settled over me. “Then you’ll just have to do it right, yeah?”

The Windigo was almost on us now, but for a brief moment, I felt no fear. All I felt was the warmth of those feathers. “Always have to win, don’t you, Blue Fire?”

I fired off the spell. A great torrent of cold and snow burst outwards, spreading into a screen in front of the Windigo. Hindered, the beast reared its legs. At my command, my blizzard spread further, into a disc a hundred metres wide under the apparition.

Roar fading to bewildered huffs, its head swung back and forth listlessly.

“It’s working!” Wings was practically vibrating beside me. “It’s confused! Keep it up, Snow.”

“R… right.” Damn this hurts. Stopping wasn’t an option, pain or not. Blessing my sister for her lessons in control, I angled the snow shield into the Windigo’s path. Shifting into a concave bowl, I gradually brought it up and around the monster, cutting it off in all but one direction: Out of the city, and back to the northern mountains.

Go home. The exit’s that way. Go back to your herd.

Snuffling, the Windigo paused, not doing anything. It didn’t roar, or howl, or move at all. It just hung there, in the twilight sky.

Please.

Seven thousand lifetimes passed in the next few seconds before, mercifully, the nightmare creature took flight out of the city.

I kept my blizzard shield with it as long as I could, but it was shrinking in real time. Finally, with the Windigo just disappearing from view, I had nothing left to give, and the shield dispersed.

I keeled over. I didn’t feel myself hit the roof. I didn’t feel Wings’ feather slip from my back.

I didn’t feel anything. All sound was muffled, and the world seemed to lack colour.

Except for a pair of sapphire blue eyes. I saw those clear as day.

The owner of those eyes pulled me back into a sitting position, one claw on my back for support. “You did it, Snow.”

I think I managed a smile, it was hard to be sure without feeling anything. “Yeah, let’s… let’s never do that again.”

Enthusiasm undiminished, Wings kept smiling. “It scared the shit out of me when that thing got close, but you totally did it! You saved the city!”

I didn’t save anything. A Windigo is here, in the Wasteland. That’s bad news for everyone. Chrysalis must be getting weaker. The thought almost put me on my back again. She couldn’t stop it. She might stop 99% of them, but she can’t stop them all. She needs our help. She needs more love.

Electricity tingled all up and down my limbs as my hoof shakily came up to tap Wings in the chest. “You.”

Smile still in place, Wings half-laughed at my actions. “You too.”

NO DAMMIT! I poked her harder. “You. Not me. You saved the city.”

Now her smile faltered, and she drew back slightly, brows creasing. “You… what?”

My tongue felt dry and papery in my mouth, but I forced the words out. “Blue Fire saved the city, beat the Windigo.”

Definitely not smiling now, Wings shook her head. “Snow, c’mon, you can’t-”

“Right.” I replied emphatically. “I can’t. Only the hero can save the day. Only Blue Fire could save Lethbridle like that.”

I might as well have punched her in the chest, rather than poked. Wings was positively repulsed by my words. “I’m not gonna do that! I can’t take credit for this!”

“You have to!” As the feeling in my flesh returned, so did the sound and colour of the world. “Wings, a Windigo got through. Whatever love is keeping Chrysalis and Cadence’s blizzard up is not enough. They NEED Blue Fire to be loved by the people. They need it.”

Her head dropped. Her feather tail brushed my mane as she stared at the floor. When she spoke, it was in a dull mumble. “Snow, this doesn’t feel right.”

“Heh, try it from my end.” Our heads tapped together gently. “We both know this is the way it has to be. This is how we’ll beat them.”

She didn’t respond, instead just staying there, head on mine.

My hoof was still on her chest, so I gave her a quick shove. “Get going. Tell them who saved Lethbridle.”

~~~~~~

On second thought, I should have asked for a ride. I staggered my way through the empty south-Lethbridle streets. The evacuation clearly well underway.

After suffering from the Windigo’s strafing, it didn’t seem like the Plottawans or Raiders were up for making another push. It was a slim silver lining, almost microscopic, but I was willing to take any good news.

To a newcomer, Lethbridle could almost be called peaceful, and I would just be another jelly-legged drunkard trying to figure out how to get home. Snickering at the image, I continued my glacial gait.

Rounding a corner, another yawn struck me. They came fast and frequently, and constantly tempted me to just close my tired eyes and lay down in the street. “Stupid gate,” I muttered. “be closer to where I am.” Should’ve just had Wings bring the sky carriage around.

Further up the street, I noticed a shrouded figure fiddling with… some gadget that threw up some light. My vision was going blurry, so I couldn’t tell much about them, but they didn’t seem to have noticed me. As I wobbled past them, I raised my voice. “You should get to the south gate, guy. ‘s weird stuff going on in town tonight.”

“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind, Snowflake.”

Hey, I know that vo- It was about that time that my face slammed into the wall. “Let me go!”

A silken voice whispered in my ear. “Oh, I don’t think.”

I almost fainted right there. “But… I saw you die!”

Keeping one hoof iron firm against my head, Peanut chuckled. “Well, you see, the thing about that is… you know what? I’m not going to tell you. I want you to wonder, and dream up all sorts of ideas as to how I survived, and I want you to die not knowing.” Lowering his voice, he winked at me conspiratorially. “It was cool, though.”

I beat a Windigo, I can beat him. Fight back, Red Ice! Putting both my hooves on the wall, I tried to push back against him.

“Oh please.” With barely a grunt, he rammed me back into the wall. “I saw you just now. You can barely walk.” He leaned in again, wearing a crooked smile. “I can kill you with one hoof. In fact I will, but first, I wanted to show you my new toy.”

His other hoof brought the gadget up to my eye. I recognised it immediately.

“That’s a Pipbuck!”

“I know, right?” He chortled. “How lucky can a guy get? Lives through defenestration, and then comes across a Pipbuck for free. Well, I didn’t pay for it, at least. I took it off a buffalo.”

“B-buffalo?” I twisted desperately against the wall, scraping an entire side of my face.

The look of utter satisfaction in his hazel eyes made me sick to my stomach. “Uh huh. I couldn’t believe it either. What are the chances of coming across a Stable Dweller way out here?”

Silently glaring, I said nothing.

Peanut seemed happy to pick up the slack. His confident smile unbalanced a little. “That’s not even the best part. It seems there are some recordings on here. According to this, the guy was looking for his sister.”

Bristling, I tried again and again to free myself. “If you hurt him, I swear I’ll-”

“Die. That is literally the only thing you have left on your schedule today. Was that not clear? Well, then again, now that I have this, I’m hardly going to stop with just you, am I?”

“Llleave herrr allonnne.”

For the first time, frustration seeped into Peanut’s voice. “Oh, what now?”

Stalking unsteadily out of an alley, Inbox continued to growl at Peanut. “Let go S-S-S-Stable-ny!”

Peanut’s hoof came off my back, as he turned to face the newcomer. “Listen, ghoul, I really have had a bit of a day. Could you please look the other way for a minute or two? I shouldn’t be long.”

Rubbing at my scratched up face, I couldn’t take my eyes off the two of them. “Inbox, are you…” I stopped when his one uncovered eye found me. Oh no. Even in the dim light, it was obvious. He was fading, and fast. “Inbox, don’t do it, he’ll kill you!”

Peanut made no bones about it. “She’s right, you know. I only want to kill her right now, but if you interfere then I’ll make an exception.”

Inbox wouldn’t, or more likely couldn’t, listen. His stance was dropping; shoulders low, hind legs coiled to spring, teeth bared. It was a miracle he’d lasted as long as he had, but the feral ghoul inside him was winning.

He managed one more word, choked out in a spittle-laden rage. “RrrrrrrrrrrrrUN!”

All that was Inbox faded in that moment, and the feral ghoul threw itself at Peanut.

I didn’t stop to watch. The moment they clashed, I was up and running down the street.

Peanut’s laughter, uneven as he fought back against what was left of my friend, reached me as I ran. “I’ll find you, Snowflake. You can’t hide from me and my Pipbuck now!”

I just ran. No answer would help, and I needed every bit of breath to keep going. Street after street, turn after turn, I ran. A block away from the gate, I turned a corner and ran straight into Buff. Bouncing off, I landed hard on the cobbles.

He turned, hunched up and eyes hard. “Give me back my Pipbuck you son of a-... Snow?” Hunkering down, he dragged me upright. “You’re okay!”

“Buff!” I tugged and pulled at him. “We have to go, now! Peanut has your Pipbuck, and he might be coming after us.”

Nostrils flaring, Buff looked back down the way I came. “Then I’ll-”

“NO! We run now, Buff. That’s an order.” I would not allow any member of my family to take on Peanut, not without an army.

“He surprised me last time, Snow. Don’t worry.”

“BUFF!” I shrieked in his face.

He finally got the message, slinging me up onto his shoulders. “Right, okay. Running time.”

Clinging tightly to his fur, I let him thunder along the rest of the way to the gate, and through it. Evacuees were still streaming through, but my eyes found everyone I gave a damn about. Undertow, Lo, Wings, Bosco, Naiara, Cept and the twins were standing off to the side with Amber and Rockhaunch. We had all gotten out.

We would never go back to Lethbridle again.

It was small comfort, however, given what I'd just witnessed.

Goodbye, Inbox.

If Peanut gets out, and I’m not counting anything out after that, then he can find us anywhere. He's got a Pipbuck now!

What are you, Peanut?

~~~~~~

Level up!

Perks gained:
Gambler’s Fallacy - Doubling down on the Bernstein Conclave means a boost to stamina, but drop in luck when working with/for Amber.

~~~~~~

Author's Note

Finally, we’re done. It’s been seven months since I release chapter 22. That was way too long. Then again, so was this chapter BP. Anyway, the chapter’s done now, and I do hope you enjoy the near 48,000 words of it. I enjoyed writing it, and hated it sometimes too, but really am glad that I kept at it.

That’s all for now, folks. Please keep reading, commenting, and spreading the word on Old Souls. I really appreciate your feedback, and welcome back.

Chapter 24-1: Vicarious Liveability

Author’s note: There will be some overlap between this chapter and the next.

Chapter 24-1: Vicarious Liveability

[I returned to a world of darkness and incredible pain.]

“Okay, Snow, just rest here for a little bit.” I didn’t complain as Buff sat me down on the hatchstep of our new sky carriage, courtesy of Amber Bernstein. It was a wondrous machine which, through the multitude of talismans adorning its hull, allowed one or two fliers to carry ten times their number. Or so Amber claimed anyway, since we hadn’t left the ground yet.

Love the blue flames along the side, very symbolic, but did she have to sneak the Bernstein Conclave symbol onto the wheel spokes? Yeah, that’s right, I saw it.

Lazily raising my head, I looked back out into the dwindling procession of Lethbridle citizens making their way out of the south gate. The initial surge had slowed to near a trickle now, and guards were shouting out the number of people to come through. It wouldn’t take long before everybody was out, and then Rockhaunch would trigger the explosives.

Lethbridle would be sealed shut, with the Plottawans and Raiders trapped inside.

That’s gotta be enough to finish off Peanut, right?

Grimacing, I shook my head, as fast as my drained muscles would allow. There were other concerns now. Peanut wouldn’t dare make an attack with this many armed people around. Now was the time to focus on other matt-

“Get out of the way!” The harried command was punctuated by a heavy, jingling case being shoved unceremoniously into my grasp. The weight of the container put me on my back, driving the wind from my lungs. Before I could recover, a pair of hooves grabbed my hind legs and rolled me further back into the carriage.

Taking a moment to suck in some precious oxygen, and to rub at the welt where the tumbling case had caught my temple, I glared at my assailant. “What the hell, Cassie?”

The pegasus utterly ignored me, and was facing back out of the carriage door. She had hold of one end of Breeze’s stretcher, with Naiara and Cept lifting the other end into the carriage. Undertow’s aquamarine telekinesis helped to steady the frame.

Never had the younger pegasus appeared so unlike herself. Before, whenever there was a spare moment, she would have a gadget or tool in her hooves, tinkering and tightening. As she lay there, taking small and soft breaths, a swath of healing bandages around her slashed torso, it was hard to reconcile the difference.

“Easy,” Cassie hoarsely warned the other bearers, as they guided the stretcher to the farthest corner. “keep her supported.”

As I set down the heavy case, Cassie finished securing Breeze for the ride. Leaving her with Naiara and Cept, she hustled over to the door, barely glancing at me as she hopped back out. I watched her head straight for Wings, motioning for the two of them to head for the carriage’s reins. “Come on, we’re taking Breeze to a doctor.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bosco stir and take a step towards them, face greasy and sweating. Almost instantly, Schwarzwald’s hoof landed on his shoulder, holding him in place as he opened his mouth. Still pale and queasy, the colt nevertheless managed to collect himself. A flash of regret passed along his brow, and he simply shut his mouth again.

Wings was less ambivalent, nodding immediately. “I’ll get the others.” Cassie’s only response was to buckle herself into the flier’s harness. The griffon flapped over to where Schwarzwald, Bosco, and Amber stood. “We’re heading out. You comin’, Bernstein?”

The others had been watching, and I had to shuffle back into the interior of the carriage as Buff directed Undertow, and a puzzlingly guilt-faced Lo, inside. My hoof brushed each of their shoulders as they passed.

So glad you all got out of there. That was way too close. The memory of the wind demon rampaging throughout the city brought on a full-body shudder. Tricking the creature had taken all my strength, and only bought us time. I still had no idea how to hurt it, let alone kill it.

The magic ice storm I’d conjured had left me with the worst ache behind my eyes, and I gladly collapsed back against Buff. I wonder if there’s time for a nap while we’re flying? I feel like I could sleep for another two hundred years.

Sadly, even my drowsy state picked up on the change in the background voices outside. The crowd had quieted the moment the chief had raised his tone. “Hold it right there, Bernstein. You’re not going anywhere just yet.”

The buffalo chief had placed himself between the business mare and the sky carriage. Amber seemed to be feeling the events of the past few days as well, as her carefully crafted mask of detached neutrality had given way to open frustration. “Whatever grievances you have against my efforts, Chief Rockhaunch, I must remind you that one of Lethbridle’s heroes is in urgent need of medical care.”

The chief was unmoved. “I’m not stopping her, Bernstein. I’m stopping you.” He jerked a cloven hoof from Wings to the carriage. “Get yourself gone, Blue Fire. You’ve got our thanks, but Bernstein’s not going with you. She and I need to talk.”

Before Wings could say a word, Amber raised her voice. “Schwarzwald, please have my staff move my things to the carriage, and then get aboard. I would advise that you do the same, Bosco. I do not wish to delay your trip any longer than I have to, and will join you in a few minutes.”

While I could only see the corner of Rockhaunch’s mouth, I was surprised to see it turn up at Amber’s words. You’re all about keeping order, Chief. You’re really gonna let her talk to you like that?

“You think it’s that easy, Bernstein?” For the first time in days, Rockhaunch seemed at ease. His chin tilted up as he spoke as much to the crowd as he did to Amber. “Inviting the Raiders here was bad enough, and we only just managed to contain them with the loss of the northern quarter. That was a bad wound to our city, but we might have survived it.”

“As I recall, you agreed to-”

“BUT,” He interrupted. “you went behind the backs of me, my guards, and even Blue Fire to bring in Plottawan slavers. You forced a total evacuation of the city. These good people are homeless, Bernstein!”

Eyes narrowed, Amber drew herself up imperiously. “If you think-”

Rockhaunch refused to be outdone. “And if that wasn’t bad enough, you also set all those monsters free!”

The crowd was stirring now, and they didn’t seem happy.

“I saw it!” Called out a melodic female voice, unseen on the edge of the crowd. “Bernstein brought in Red Ice too!”

“Yeah,” This was a stallion with a dumpy tone, from somewhere in the center. “Red Ice was the one who done brung that scary ghost thing!”

“Why did you call Red Ice and the monsters here, Lady Bernstein?” This time it was a frightened little filly, just out of sight behind the front row.

“Well?” The chief challenged. “Why should these people follow you, with all that you’ve done?”

Amber had moved to put Schwarzwald between herself and the crowd, but wasn’t quite ready to concede just yet. “It was the only possible option to save the city. If you wish to keep your lives, you have no other choice.”

With the worst possible timing, the explosives went off. This triggered the collapse of the south gate. Lethbridle was a city no longer.

Now, it was a prison for the slavers and Raiders trapped inside. A labyrinthine deathtrap, with enemies and beasts around any corner, and not a scrap of food or drink within its walls.

The crowd went nuts.

“Lethbridle is dead!”

“Bernstein destroyed our home!”

“All our caps were in there. We’re ruined!”

“How dare you trick Blue Fire like that, Bernstein bitch!”

I was just close enough to overhear the chief’s words when he sidled up to Amber, relaxed and sure of himself. “I told you I wouldn’t let you have your way. These are MY people, Bernstein, not yours. I don’t think you ever understood that. Caps can only go so far.”

Amber didn’t look at him, instead keeping her eyes on the crowd. “A fair point, Chief Rockhaunch, but please remember that I am well versed in exactly how far caps can go.”

“Come on!” Cassie bellowed from the front of the carriage. “We are moving NOW! I will not let Breeze be caught up in your squabbles! Wings, get over here and strap in!”

Schwarzwald stepped between the chief and the business mare. Ignoring the buffalo, she leaned in close. “She is right. It is time we left, dahling.”

“Your reward is still with my belongings. I believe that Snowflake has already received her ten thousand, but the others have not yet been loaded.”

Rockhaunch moved faster than Schwarzwald did, stepping past both mares and towards the crates embossed with the Bernstein Conclave logo. “Mighty kind of you to donate towards our rebuilding efforts, Bernstein.”

“I-”

“For the last time. GET. IN!” Cassie was already lifting off.

Without another word, Bosco and Schwarzwald ponyhoofled Amber into the carriage.

~~~~~~

Reclining in the corner of the carriage, all I could see from the windows was the murky backdrop of the cloudy sky. As used to it as I was, staring at nothing for extended periods of time never lost its dullness.
Ngh, let’s give moving another try. Friggin’ Peanut, then friggin’ Windigo, then friggin’ Peanut again. My heart rate had slowed down now that I was safely away from Lethbridle and the monsters within, Peanut included, but the rest of me had slowed down too. Keeping my eyes open was getting gradually more difficult, and having Buff as my leaning post was crucial to keeping me upright.

You didn’t get out without a scratch either, did you, little brother? Eyes roving downwards, I glanced at the matted fur where his Pipbuck had been. You’re gonna feel that loss, Buff. When things are quiet, and you’re trying to relax. It’ll sneak up on you at the worst times. Nuzzling into Buff’s side, and feeling him breathe in and out gently as he dozed, didn’t seem enough, but I had nothing else.

Quiet rest seemed to be the order of the day in our corner, but the others in the carriage were more active. In the centre of the room, taking up the majority of the space, Naiara and Cept were tending to Breeze. Both looking equally unpractised in their newfound role, with Cept openly aggravated by that fact. Whenever Breeze shifted in her sleep, his hooves shot in to steady her. Any beads of sweat on her forehead had lifespans you could measure in seconds, and he had to visibly restrain himself from bothering Naiara when she checked and changed Breeze’s bandages. Neither could afford to pay mind to anything but their injured charge.

Beyond them, in the opposite corner to Buff and I, Schwarzwald and Amber were talking quietly. The mercenary mare wore the same easy smile she always did, as she absentmindedly explored her new cuts and scrapes. ‘Lady Bernstein’ clearly had her attention elsewhere. The Conclave leader sat ramrod-straight, fussing over a pocket pad as the two quietly conversed. Amber set the tablet down, vexed, before a comment from Schwarzwald made her pick it back up with a nod, her frown disappearing as she did.

At the hatch, Bosco had his cheek smooshed against the glass. Judging by how he was sweating, and doing little else besides breathing slowly and taking regular sips of bottled water, he was after the feel of the cool glass.

Where the heck’d you find a straw for that drink, Bosco? I’d ice it for you if I could, but I’m a little konked out right now. A yawn was the only thing that came out when I opened my mouth to tell him to try sleeping it off.

The last two passengers took up a third corner, and were completely adorable about it. Lying perfectly still, Lo was near cross-eyed as he looked up at Undertow, who was balanced gregariously on his back and shoulders. She couldn’t seem to sit still for even a moment. She tugged at his horns, rubbed at his fur, and leaned over so far she was almost hanging upside down as she spoke to him.

Suddenly, I realised that what I originally thought had been background noise from the flight was in fact Undertow’s voice. She was talking more than any time since we met, and Lo seemed to be having trouble keeping up. His responses were half-smiles and single syllable chuckles, at best.

“...and then I pulled all the water into one big ball…”

“Uh huh. Hey, listen-” Lo winced as Undertow bounced around.

“...Bosco tried shooting me but I stopped the bullets…”

“He shot at? Nevermind, I have to-” The boy’s smile wavered even further.

“...and then Snow used her horn to freeze my ball solid…”

“Undertow, you have to-” Mouth and brows dropping, Lo gulped.

“...we rolled it into the lake and it floated away!”

“LISTEN TO ME, PLEASE!” Reaching up and back, Lo’s cloven hooves snagged the filly. He brought her down and held her eye-to-goggles.

As Buff stirred, several pairs of eyes turned to my youngest siblings.

Still exuberant, Undertow hardly seemed to mind being held like a doll. “What’s the matter, big brother?”

Setting her down, Lo mashed his hooves into his eyes, shaking his head despondently. “...It’s that. That’s the matter.”

Keeping my eyes open was the last of my rapidly growing list of worries at that moment.

Undertow’s smile faltered. “I-I don’t understand.”

The buffalo didn’t take his face out from behind his hooves. When he spoke, his fur muffled the words, but not enough that we couldn’t hear them. “Undertow… you’re really sweet, and you obviously care about Snow a whole bunch. When we met, I could tell just how important you are to her, but she’s been our sister all our lives and, well…”

His limbs dropped away from his sunken cheeks. “In the city, when you got shot and they dug the bullet out, what I said wasn’t fair to you.”

Bottom lip trembling, Undertow reached a hoof up towards Lo, and gasped softly when he pulled away. “But you c-c-called me ‘little sister’.”

If anything, Lo looked utterly terrified at the hoof she held at him. “Yyyyeah, I did. I’m sorry, they had to get the bullet out, and I thought it would calm you down. I’m so sorry. I want to, but I just… don’t see you that way yet.”

“You WHAT?!” Standing wasn’t so hard now either. “LO!”

Squeaking helplessly, Undertow looked to Buff. “B-big brother?”

He gave a rumble deep in his throat, but said nothing and looked away.

“BUFF!!”

The elder Doublehorn sighed. “This isn’t what anybody wanted, Snow, but we can’t change how we feel.”

No, you don’t get off that easy. “And you think it’s okay to lie to her? To me? To take this away from her?”

“Of course not, but-”

My hoof ripped across my mouth in a ‘zip it’ gesture. “I don’t want to hear ‘but’s! This is way over the line. I can’t believe you two would do this!”

Tottering unsteadily, I held out a hoof to Undertow. “Come here, xilia. It’ll be okay.” You’re damn sure gonna have at least ONE sibling onboard.

Openly snuffling, Undertow faked a smile. “It is okay, big sister. I will… go help Bosco with his upset stomach.” She nodded at each of our brothers in turn. “Sorry to bother you, Sir Lo, Sir Buff.”

Without a backwards glance, she turned and marched the short distance to the charcoal colt, plopping down on the deck without looking back.

Our spat had gotten even the zebras’ attention, and the stares weren’t kind.

“Dick move, Lo.” Bosco was glaring at the boy as Undertow ran a cloth across his brow. “Dick move.”

Cept muttered something to Naiara in zebra tongue. Too quiet for me to hear, but she didn’t disagree with whatever it was. Sorry you both had to see that.

Pointedly ignoring Schwarzwald and Amber, I tugged both buffalo back to the corner.

“You two are SO grounded.”

~~~~~~

The landing threw us all of our hooves.

“Blegh.” Bosco choked back his stomach contents. “Those two need to work on their landings.”

Glancing out the window, I was greeted by the welcome sight of the gates to Sprinkles Supplies. Guards were gawking in awe at the carriage. Good call. Boss’ll fix Breeze up no problem.

Wrenching the hatch door open, Cassie bounded into the cabin. “Is Breeze okay? She wasn’t hurt when we landed, was she?”

Naiara and Cept were already waiting with the stretcher. “She’s fine. Let’s get her out.”

Undertow rolled upright, and made for the door. “I’ll get Mo… Boss,” she corrected, indecision rolling over her face as she glanced at the Doublehorn boys. “Boss. I’ll get Boss.” She disappeared through the opening without another word.

“Great, now she’s worried about that too.” Muttering didn’t make the situation any better, but it didn’t make it worse either. I raised my chin. “Boys, go find Al.”

The two of them had been staring at the doorway, where Undertow had been, but snapped out of it upon mention of their missing sibling. Buff’s eyes lit up, and Lo even managed a small smile. Both headed outside.

“Remember that this is Lexi’s place, you two!” I called after them, as I set about gathering up the few possessions we’d managed to load before the mob at Lethbridle drove us away. “You listen to her while we’re here!”

“Gently now, gently.” Cassie drifted backwards, directing Bosco and the two zebra as they helped carry her sister out of the carriage. Her eyes never left Breeze’s face.

Amber went next, gathering her now-wrinkled wrappings around her. “I look forward to meeting Fedexi Lexi. It was a pity that she declined my invitation to the ball.”

“You too, Bernstein,” I warned. “Lexi is Boss here, not you. I won’t let you run over her like you tried with Rockhaunch.”

“I don’t have a cap to my name at present, Snowflake. What influence could I bring to bear?”

“Don’t even try. You won’t get in the door without Undertow or I vouching for you, but that’s all we’re willing to allow. Lexi’ll tell you herself that she’s not running a hotel here. If you want food, and a place to sleep, you’ll work. Boss will decide how you go about it, not you.” I realised my horn was causing the air around us to crackle and cool, quickly quashing the magic before it got out of hoof.

With an aside glance at Schwarzwald, the Bernstein leader pointed outside. “Do you expect an adverse reaction to our visit, Snowflake?”

“Not if you remember who runs Sprinkles Supplies.”

Amber had paused at the threshold, and wore a wry expression as she looked back at me. “A pity indeed.”

Chuckling, Schwarzwald finished strapping her battle saddle on, but did not load her weapons. “Subordinates. Good joke, dear Amber.” She pushed the bemused businessmare outside, but gave me a final wink. “Very forceful, dahling. Your ‘boss’ would be so proud.”

Why’d she say it like that?

Suddenly I was alone in the cabin. Making the most of the quiet, I gathered the rest of the supplies we wouldn’t need for now, and prepared to leave.

Two claws braced themselves on either side of the door frame, and Wings stuck her face in. “Hey, you comin’?” Her feathers and plumage all wind-tousled.

For someone who just dragged ten people and a big damn box miles through the air, you have no right looking that fresh. “Yeah, I’ll just—”

“WHAT’N THE HELL HAPPENED?!”

Lexi’s bellow froze me in my tracks. Visions of Vorbis and Contego’s deaths ran through my mind. “...stay right here.”

Cocking her head to the side, Wings looked out at the commotion, and then back to me. “Wha?”

They got torn apart, and the Overmare just ran. “I’m, uh, asleep, okay? If anyone asks. I’ll stay here and sleep.”

Her claws moved from the door frame to the deck, and she pushed herself halfway inside. “But your brothers are all gonna be together. Don’t you wanna be there for that?”

Not moving from my spot, I shush’d her. “I know, I know, but just until Boss takes Breeze inside.”

Blowing some air out of her cheeks, Wings smiled for a second. “Alright. I’ll run interference if anybody comes along. At least until Lexi deals with Breeze.” She swung around and leaned against the fuselage, claws behind her head.

Smiling gratefully, I crawled up to the hatch, and peered around her.

Standing in the clearing, Cassie gripped the case of ten thousand caps in her teeth, and slung it at Lexi’s hooves. “Payment. Heal my sister.”

Making no move to take the case, Lexi’s frizzy orange mane flopped around as she looked over at the unconscious filly, then back at Cassie. “Watch yer tone, girl. Y’want somethin’ from me, y’ask fer it!”

Shaking and turning red in the face, the pegasus didn’t give in. Her twitching hoof shot forward, fixing on the case. “There are ten thousand caps in there. Is that not enough, you crook?”

Lexi’s eyebrows disappeared into her frizz. “CROOK?!”

Jumping in between the two, Undertow snagged the case in her aquamarine magic, bringing it up to eye level. “Boss, please don’t get angry. Cassie is just worried about her sister. She wants you to help her get better. I want you to help Breeze get better. Can you please take the job?”

Lexi frowned at Cassie’s now-glistening cheeks. After a few moments, her magic took the case from Undertow. “Bring ‘er inside, quick now. Follow the signs. We’ll get started in a minute or so.”

Relief blossoming across her entire form, Cassie rushed to Breeze, grabbing one end of the stretcher. Naiara took the other end. The two of them motored inside, as fast as they safely could.

Cept made to follow, but Bosco stepped in front of him. “Hold on there, guy. I need a word.”

Even as Cept’s eyebrows bunched, Lexi ignored the two of them and gave Undertow a big hug. “Good t’see yeh, babygirl. Where’s yer big sis?”

I ducked back into the cabin, just before either of the two could look my way. Don’t come over here, boss! I can’t tell you what happened yet. I need more time!

“She’s just over th-... huh?” I heard Undertow shuffle about. “Um, Wings, where is my sister?”

A slight gust washed over me, as Wings’ feathers moved. “Shhhh! Not so loud, Undertow.”

“Um?”

“She needs her rest,” Wings responded gently. “She went through a lot in Lethbridle. It took a lot out of her.”

Facing away from the doorway, my smile went unseen. You did as much as I did, Wings. You should be resting too.

It took all my willpower not to tense up as a hoof touched my neck. The smile was a distant memory. Lexi’s unseen hoof stayed where it was for a moment, before moving up into my mane, gently brushing it away from my face. Not the worst result, but please just go help Breeze, boss. I don’t want to tell you that I let you down again.

The hoof came to rest just above my horn. “Get yer rest, darlin’. Yer doin’ fine.”

I felt, as well as heard, Lexi move away. The crunch of her horseshoes on the gravel told me she was moving back into the compound. “Awright, anypony who’s comin’ in best get to it. Ah’m closin’ the gates in five minutes.”

Amber’s restrained tones sounded out first. “Until we meet again, Schwarzwald. I shall contact you, should I require your services.”

“Behave yourself in my absence, Amber-dahling.” As always, an undercurrent of mirth laced the mercenary mare’s words.

Cept’s stoicism came across strained. “Please move aside, Bosco. I am going inside.”

“No, you’re not,” the colt replied, matter-of-factly.

“What did you say?”

“You’re coming with us to Neighlway. You’re the only of us who’s been before, except for Snow, but she was a prisoner. We need you to guide us.”

“But Aqua Breeze-”

“Will be fine with Naiara watching over her, Cept. You trust your clanmate, don’t you?”

Terse silence was Cept’s reply.

“Good, so it’s decided.”

Bosco, I know you’re frustrated, but—

“Don’t be a dick about this, Bosco.” Wings finished my thought for me.

“After today, I won’t have to be. I’ll apologise all anypony wants after that.” I couldn’t hear any apology in his voice yet. “If there’s nothing else keeping us here, Wings, then can you—”

“BUFF! LO!”

“...Dammit.”

My eyes had popped open as I heard Al thunder out of the gate, and I hopped out just as he slammed into Buff, headfirst. “Eyyy!”

He turned to Lo, and headbutted him too. “Eyyy!”

This went on a few more times, as the three of them laughed and jostled. “I’m so glad Snow found you guys. I was worried!”

“You?” Lo chortled, as the brothers exchanged heavy pats on each others’ shoulders. “We were totally stressed out! Until Snow told us you were okay, we thought you were all alone.”

“Well, I did get a little help, but I’ll tell you about it later. Right now, I’m just glad you’re both okay!”

Buff joined in the embrace as I moved over and sat next to Undertow as she stoically watched the three Doublehorn brothers roughhouse. Without taking my eyes off them, I reached out with my magic. Easily finding the connection, I pumped as much love and good feelings as I could through our link. She sent some sensations back herself, to let me know she’d felt my touch.

All smiles, Al disengaged from the huddle. “Alright now, guys, where’s my sister?”

They both pointed over at me, and I waved back, but didn’t move to join them. This is their moment. I already had mine with Al.

Beaming even wider, Al bounded straight at me. Even after years of dealing with my little brothers, the sight of the exuberant buffalo motoring towards me still raised my heart rate.

The slight apprehension blossomed into full-on confusion as he veered off at the last second.

With barely time to “EEP!”, Undertow found herself swept up in a crushing hug from Al. “Good to see you again, little sister!”

Both Buff and Lo’s jaws dropped, as did mine. “But, I, what? I didn’t tell you that she was-”

Al was spinning around, with the stunned filly holding on, as he answered. “I know, and I can’t believe you, Snow. Why didn’t you tell me we had another sister? And she’s so cute!”

“Heh… hehe…” Al’s excitement was breaking through Undertow’s confusion, and it finally seemed to sink in that one of the Doublehorns was happy to be her brother. “Heeheehee… faster, big brother! Faster faster!”

“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Flipping Undertow up onto his broad back, Al began spinning and bucking, with the girl dissolving into wild giggles as he did so.

When it became clear that his younger and older brothers weren’t joining in, Al ground to a halt. “Guys, what’s up? Why aren’t you celebrating? Our own little sister!” He reached a hoof up, which was gleefully grabbed by said little sister.

“How can you be okay with this just like that, Al?” Lo’s shame was visible. “We don’t know her at all.”

“So? Snow does, and we know we can trust our big sister, right?”

A warm lump began to form in my chest.

“...Undertow isn’t from the Stable.” Buff ventured.

“Pfft.” Utterly uncaring, Al just shrugged. “I know that, but all it means is that we’ve got more work to do. Come on guys, this was always the plan. We just need to tweak it a little.”

“Plan?” I cocked my head to the side as I whispered to myself. “What plan?”

Al was still talking to our brothers. “Didn’t we always say that we’d take care of Snow someday, instead of her taking care of us?”

“Well, yeah, but…”

You boys think about stuff like that?

“Well, now we take care of Undertow too! Come on guys, she’s our little sister!” Al’s boundless energy was almost physically pushing Buff and Lo back.

As for me, I was trying to keep my chest from bursting with pride. Al, you’re so great.

“Yo, we’re going. Save it for when we get back!” Bosco’s hollering shattered the moment entirely. The colt was waving from the open hatch. Wings was already hooked up, and both Cept and Schwarzwald were already aboard.

“Aw,” whined Al, before reaching up and plucking Undertow from atop his head. “Sorry, little sister. Your bros have to stay here for a little while, and you’ve gotta go with Snow. You be safe, alright, and look after Snow for us, too!”

Grinning from ear to ear, Undertow reached forward and kissed him on the forehead. “Heeheehee, okay! We’ll be back soon, big brothers!”

Even if their faces still showed their discomfort, Buff and Lo didn’t correct her.

~~~~~~

Breeze’s safety assured, the second leg of our flight proved less tense. Simply knowing the pegasus was in very capable hooves seemed to lighten the atmosphere. It must be a little weird for Lexi to be fixing Breeze up, at Undertow’s request no less, after Cassie nearly killed me earlier. The ex-raider was pressed up against me as we flew, giddy with the prospect of having a brother who already thought the world of her. You were awfully quick to jump to Breeze’s aid, little sister. It’s a good sign. Weird, but good, and I don’t think Lexi’ll do any less than a full heal on Breeze, since you were the one who vouched for her.

And Al’s vouching for you with Buff and Lo. “Your brother was pretty happy to see you, huh?”

A contented sigh was her answer. Her attention wasn’t in the cabin. The sky outside was reflected in her goggles’ lenses.

While Undertow was off in her own little world, I noted a change in the overall mood of the compartment, which was facing a situation that I hadn’t come across in a while.

Two young males, not on the best of terms, in an enclosed space. With no exit.

“And you are sure that Wings can lift us all, in here, without another flyer?” Cept’s grousing was entirely focused on Bosco. The zebra was apparently still displeased he was forced to come along.

Which, at the time, had been the will of our formerly only colt. When are you gonna try being gracious or grateful about that, Bosco?

“Dear Breeze would know. You should ask her when we return, dahling.” Schwarzwald reclined at the front of the cabin, where a small window showed the outside air, and glimpses of our pilot’s beating wings. “Wings does not seem to be having trouble.”

His frown didn’t shift. “I could ask her sooner, if you had not stopped me, colt.”

Bosco returned the expression. “Cry me a river, Cept. You’re the only of us who’s been inside Neighlway without being a prisoner, or blackmailed. I need you to lead us to whichever part of the complex we’ll find the fog creatures.”

Cept looked over at me. “Did you not already find the Gold Fog days ago?”

We all stirred at that. Still watching the zebra stallion, Bosco corrected him. “Actually, these ones are silver.”

His golden eyes sharpened instantly. “There are two?” Cept was muttering to himself, then found the charcoal colt again. “Perhaps yours was the right call after all.”

Staring back evenly, Bosco was stoic. “I’m sure I’d care about whatever little nugget of Atesh’s schemes just changed, if I wasn’t in a hurry. That’s for later. Now, we’re focusing on getting me into and under Neighlway. I want my Orb back.”

Head resting on my shoulder, Undertow piped up. “Maybe Cept can tell us something about the Silver Fog creatures. He knew about the Gold Fog.”

Good idea, Undertow. Atesh knew about the Gold Fog when they first took you and Bosco, and I’d rather not walk into another meeting with these things blind. “Well, Cept? Care to share?”

“No,” he stated without preamble. “I must talk with my Elder first.”

Barking out a harsh non-laugh, Bosco turned away. “Fucking cop-out.”

“Just forget it for now, Bosco.” My teeth were already grinding at his behaviour. “We’re focused on Neighlway, remember?”

Souring, he said nothing, but did give a small nod. No longer cornered, Cept mirrored the action, equally surly. His frustration was obvious. It was through his goodwill that he was helping Bosco and, being the better-trained and more-athletic fighter, he could have decided against it at any time.

Hell, Wings wouldn’t even know until we landed. Bosco’s running out of leeway with all of us on this. It NEEDS to end today.

Moving away from the front window, Schwarzwald plopped down with the four of us, one hoof wrapping around Bosco’s shoulders. “So tell us, Boss Colt, what is the plan when we reach Neighlway? Steel Rangers are fearsome foes, and we charging into their lair.”

Giving up after trying, and failing, to remove the offending appendage, Bosco produced his knife. “We’re not gonna start trouble if we can help it, since we’re really trying to get under Neighlway, not into it, but if it comes down to it, we’ll deal with any Rangers we come across.”

Bless him. Points for trying, I guess. “You’re going to take on Steel Rangers…”

“...with a knife?” Cept finished flatly.

“If I have to.” Iron determination showed across his entire body.

I couldn’t help myself, and snickered.

“What’re you laughing about?” Bosco’s cheeks puffed up and, for a moment, he looked his age.

First time in weeks. “Ever fought a Steel Ranger, Boss Colt? They don’t go down easy.”

“Oh, and you would know, would you?”

“Uh, yeah!” I pointed to myself. “Red Ice over here. Anypony who’s taken down a Steel Ranger, raise your hoof.”

While mine was the first up, two more joined it. “Well, Cept’s no surprise. I saw him knock out two Rangers. Still didn’t kill ‘em, though.”

“I could have. It was not hard to beat them, but I had a mua leija filly to rescue.”

“Pft.” I scoffed, not taking the bait. “Been a long time between then and now, Cept. I’ve learned a few tricks. Like blowing a hole in MY dead Ranger’s helmet, then scooting a Cryo Serpent through the hole. Froze him solid in his shell, took maybe half a minute.” A thought occurred. “That’s not a bad idea for the future, actually. Metal gets brittle at low temperatures. I might be able to crack the armour if I pour it on. Might not even need to kill ‘em.”

The zebra’s smug grin had vanished, replaced with a calculating thoughtfulness. The one plastered on the face of the other hoof’s owner, however, hadn’t. “Ah, but I did kill mine, dahling.”

Undertow’s head was bounced up and down by my shrug. “Guess that’s not really a shock either. How’d he die?”

“Smiling.” Our quizzical expressions only made her grin grow wider. “His armour was in a pile on the floor.”

Of course it was.

“...Are you going to try that method, Bosco?”

As he stammered and spluttered, Schwarzwald and I raced to be the first one to huggle the adorable joker, laughing all the while. At least I hope it was a joke, Undertow. Bosco’s still too young for that, like you.

Bosco’s discomfort became a prolonged sigh, twinned by Cept, as Schwarzwald showed the benefits of coming in second in our race.

She’d just gone ahead and glomped both of us instead.

~~~~~~

Undertow, Schwarzwald and I held each other tight, as Wings divebombed us towards Neighlway. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that Cept and Bosco were surreptitiously leaning into each other too. Somebody was screaming. It might have been me.

I know we need the element of surprise, Wings, but can you slow down a little? Through the small window at the front, I could see the dull grey rooftops of Neighlway growing larger at an unfriendly pace. “Oh, this is gonna suck!”

“How can you be smiling?!” None of us had to look to know who Bosco was referring to.

“I have never done this before, dahling, and might not get another chance. I am going to enjoy myself.” She clutched us closer, eliciting a pair of whimpers.

“...We're all gonna die.”

Wings drifted us north, further out from the centre of the city. Not that it mattered much, as all the buildings were made of rough grey stone, and sported metal protrusions wherever there was a free square metre. “We'll never fit on one of those roofs, not with that crap all over them.”

“It's okay,” Bosco grunted over the G-forces. “Wings said she knew a quiet area to set down.”

Risking a glance, even if it drained colour from the world for a second, I took stock of Bosco's mood. The colt, though pressing himself against Cept and acting like he wasn't, barely blinked. His eyes never left the small window opening, and his lips were curling back in anticipation.

Blindness set in momentarily, as Wings whipped the sky carriage around in a vicious turn. Considering it also had us all pinballing around the cabin, loss of vision was the last thing I wanted.

“SISTER!”

“UNDERTOW!”

“GUYS!”

“BINN TUSAA!”

“WHEE!”

When the shadows of the buildings fell on us from the windows, I realised I could see again. “Urgh, I'm gonna kill her.”

“Later, dear Snowflake, because...” The carriage's wheels rasped on stone. “...we have arrived.”

Recovering miraculously, Bosco was already at the door. “Everybody out! We've gotta move.”

Wings met us outside, looking pretty pleased with herself. “Did you see me when I pulled that last turn?”

“I didn't see anything when you pulled that last turn!”

“Aw, you were supposed to be watching.”

“No, I mean I really didn't-”

A slate grey hoof pushed against both of us. “On a schedule here, ladies.”

We sprinted down an uneven row of jagged metal piles, rising high on either side. “What is this place?”

“Landing area.” Wings called back.

“I know it's where we landed,” I snapped back. “but what's it supposed to be?”

“It's really a landing area. I flew over it a few times when Cassie and I were trying to get Breeze back when we thought they had her. Asked a scribe about it, and he told me that it was for their vehicles. Only they didn't have any, so now it's a dumping ground.” She gave a hiss as a protruding pipe nicked her thigh. “Hence all the crap. Thought it'd be useful to stash the carriage. Less likely they'll come looking for it way in the back here.”

Well... alright then. Bosco, Wings and I scampered the rest of the way in silence, until we met up with Schwarzwald, Undertow, and Cept. The zebra was on point, and was poking his head around a rusted, gutted cooling unit.

Looks just like the ones I backed up in the Stable. Cept held up a hoof, and we all crouched low and still. His golden eyes roamed the area ahead for a few seconds, before the hoof dropped again. We followed without a word when he slunk around the corner.

Cept led us to a small access door, which was locked with a heavy, grimy padlock. Wings, Schwarzwald, Undertow, and I played lookout, as Bosco and Cept worked on the door. “I don't suppose you can pick the lock, can you?”

“I believe so. One moment.”

“What, really? Uh... cool.” Seemingly at a loss for words, Bosco stayed silent for a few seconds. “Who taught you to do this?”

Cept had a bobby pin in his mouth, and spoke around the tool. “Naiara. She shaid it would be usheful one day. It sheemsh today ish 'one day'.”

“Mhm.” Bosco lapsed into silence again, took a glance around, then dropped his voice to a conciliary tone. “Sorry, for dragging you along on this. I know you wanted to stay with Breeze.”

“Yesh, I did.” Cept wasn't hostile, just stating a fact. “But you were right. Naiara will keep her shafe. And your hashte in thish matter is apology enough.... there!”

The lock clicked open, and Bosco caught it before it hit the ground. Setting it silently aside, the two stallions nodded at each other, and then slipped through the door. A hoof waved the rest of us through a second later.

We were in the back of a stockroom. Random musty boxes lay spread around, some open and empty, while others were taped shut. Numeric codes were written on them, but they meant nothing to us.

As I gingerly eased around a stack of crates, a faded arrow on the walkway caught my eye. “Guys, this way.” I crept along the path, following the barely-visible directions, until a door loomed from behind a row of shelves. Pressing my eye to the frame, I eased it open a crack.

Uh oh.

“Well?” Bosco asked, by my ear.

“Firing Range,” I hissed back. “We'll be sitting ducks if they catch us.”

Sighing, he drew his pistol. “Great.” He took point as the rest of us readied our weapons and magic. “I'll take a look. If one of those walking tanks is in there, give him everything you got.” Opening the door just enough to squeeze through, the charcoal colt dropped to the floor. Shimmying along on his belly, he disappeared through the gap.

It was a long ten seconds before we heard “Clear,” from within. Letting out a breath I hadn't realised I was holding, I followed the others through.

Inside, Bosco was looking around in confusion. “Where's the rangemaster? Look, there're training pistols on the shelf there. Any rookie idiot could come in and kill themselves.”

“C'mon, Bosco,” Wings scoffed as she looked at the targets down range. “We haven't been spotted yet, but we're not that lucky.”

“Everyone, over here.” Undertow was poking her head out of the door. We hustled over, but stumbled over each other as she stepped fully out into the corridor.

“Are you nuts?” Bosco bit down on her tail and dragged her back. “You could have been seen!”

Rubbing her tender tail, she frowned at the colt. “There's nobody there, Bosco. I'm not stupid.”

Still frowning, he spat out a turquiose hair, then stepped out into the corridor himself. “Alright, let's keep moving. I don't trust this quiet.”

We joined him in the corridor, and followed his gaze to the far wall. On it were written several signposts. To the left, it read 'BARRACKS', whereas it read 'OFFICES' on the right arrow. An arrow pointing behind us read 'MEDICAL/TRAINING'.

Bosco wasted no time. “We're going right. There might be a map in one of the offices. Best we stay away from the barracks, since clerks'll be easier to kill than fighters.”

“They are called 'scribes'.” Cept supplied as he started after Bosco.

The dingy halls weren't any better in the office wing. Oxidised metal and stained stone reminded me of the less-frequented portions of the Stable. Apparently Steel Rangers aren't much for paperwork. Colour me unsurprised.

Rounding a corner, Bosco almost ran into a unicorn scribe. The Steel Ranger walking with his head down, a sheaf of papers hung in front of his eyes. Eyes wide, Boss Colt backed up a few steps, then charged shoulder-first. With the papers obstructing his view, the scribe didn't have time to react as another pony's weight was suddenly added to his own. The two went down in a heap, with Bosco struggling to keep his hooves over the scribe's mouth, and the scribe trying to use his telekinesis to push the charcoal colt away.

Stepping in to help, Cept's hoof slammed into the hooded pony's temple. He went limp immediately.

Rolling off the prone pony, Bosco pointed in every direction at once. “Find an open office, quick! Cept, help me with this guy.”

Given each office's regimental identicalness, it was luck of the draw to find one that wasn't locked. The first two I tried were, but the third one clicked open without trouble. “Over here!”

Dragging the unconscious scribe between them, Bosco and Cept were the last in. After shutting the door, Bosco opened it again and darted out. He was back a few moments later, with the sheaf of papers. “Get his clothes off.”

“Ooh, Boss Colt. How naughty.” Schwarzwald already had the scribe's robes up over his head.

“Just give 'em here, Schwarz. It'll be easier for me to get around with those on. So long as I keep my head down, and carry these,” He pointed to the papers the knocked-out clerk had been carrying. “I'll be fine. As soon as scope out the Elder's office, I'll be back.”

I double-took. “The Elder's office? Iron Sights' office? Are you nuts?”

Struggling into the robes, Bosco barely seemed to be listening. “It's close. I saw a sign on the wall.”

“Why didn't they hear the fight?” Undertow glanced at the door before taking a step further into the office.

“I grnf stopped the ush scribe from shouting. They'll think he just tripped or someth-what's wrong with this thing?!” The robes were fighting back against Bosco's attempted abduction.

Cept just stared, deadpan. “The back is on your front.”

“...Ah.” Wings wrenched the cloth around the right way, as Bosco stood like a statue, while the rest of us nickered lightly.

Gathering up the sheaf, Bosco headed for the door. “You guys stay here, and watch that guy. If he comes around, knock him out again. Or kill him if he starts trouble.”

After he left, Cept looked down at the scribe impassively. “This one is no warrior. I will sedate him.”

Wings fluttered her feathers. “Yeah, sorry about that. Bosco's not usually this kill-happy. He's just trying to get back something important to him.”

Glancing at me, and then at my horn, Cept nodded. “I understand. Still, he should calm himself. There are still warriors to fight here.”

My hoof rubbed at the spot over my inner pocket. Atesh isn't getting it back, Cept. I can't trust him with anything to do with King Sombra.

We all amused ourselves as we waited. Wings and Schwarzwald checked their guns, while Cept watched over the now-snoring scribe. Undertow and I took turns freezing and unfreezing water drops on our hooves.

The door banged open. Alarmed, we all readied for battle, but Bosco was the only one standing there. His face was a picture of frustrated detachment. “Come on, all of you.”

“What happened?” I was trying to look past him, into the corridor, in case his theatrics had brought unwanted attention.

“Nothing happened. There's nobody here. No guards outside the Elder's office, no Elder IN the office, and no grunts around either. I checked the barracks too. They're cleared out. The beds aren't just empty, they're in pieces. There were only six left.”

Wings looked at the scribe. “Well... here's one, at least.”

Looking somewhat put-out, Schwarzwald finished fastening her battle saddle. “But where did they go, dahling?”

Frown deepening, he turned and beckoned for us to follow. “Maybe they sprouted wings and flew away? We'll figure it out later, but we're still here for a reason. We want to be under Neighlway, not in it. Let's head back to the Elder's office. We might find a map or something.”

“Or the other five guys looking for this one.” I reminded.

“They will not find him.” Cept slipped a gag, containing a damp rag with a cloying smell, around the scribe's muzzle. “He will be asleep for hours.” The zebra stallion finished by pushing the Ranger clerk behind a desk, out of sight.

In the Elder's office, we spread out to look for something to help. The room was sizeable, with a circular desk on a raised platform in the centre. There was a terminal on the desk, which Wings was tapping away at to find a passcode. Bosco and Cept were checking the adjoining chambers, Undertow and I were looking through filing cabinets, and Schwarzwald was watching the door.

The information in the files was dull, and ultimately useless. Inventory checks, historical Ranger records, and reports on readiness. Most were months or years old.

“Got it!” We all looked up as Wings hooted in triumph. “Heh, what a traditionalist.”

“What do you mean?” I wandered over to look at the screen.

“See here?” Wings' talon tapped at an underlined phrase.

“'True Aim'.” Means nothing to me. “I don't get it. Why's that traditional?”

“Some guns nuts won't use scopes or aim assists.” Free of the scribe's robes, Bosco re-emerged from the other rooms. “They say it ruins the soul of the shot, or whatever. They'll only use what's molded onto the weapon itself, because that's 'true aim'.”

“And what's the Elder's name?” Wings had closed the password screen, and was looking through the unlocked files.

“'Iron Sights'. I get it. Full of himself, isn't he?”

“Big office, big desk, big ego, little-”

“Little sister in the room.” I warned.

“Oh please,” Clearly enjoying herself now, Wings pressed on. “like she's never heard that before. Hell, she's old enough to have seen her fair share, ain't you, Undertow?”

Pulling her head out of a drawer, the former Deep Diver clearly hadn't been listening. “Huh?”

“Too bad, so sad,” I whispered jauntily to the griffon. “You don't get to be a bad influence today.”

“Day's not over yet.” Folding all but one of her talons in, Wings turned her attention back to the screen. “Well, here's something. Hey, Bosco, check this out.”

Hopping up onto the central platform, he glanced over the information. As he read, his smile grew and grew. “Perfect. That's just what we needed.”

The others had joined us as he was reading. “What is it?”

“It's a map of Neighlway, AND what's under it.”

~~~~~~

Chapter 24-2: Vicarious Liveability

“Okay, here it is.” Bosco tapped the map printout against a solid metal plate on the floor. “This leads to the sub level.”

Giving it the once over, Wings looked back at him. “You sure? I don't see any handles or anything. It's just a solid plate.”

Teeth gritted, Bosco turned in a circle. “Look for a button, or terminal, or something.”

I put my ear against the metal, and rapped on it with my hoof. “It sounds hollow, at least. Not too thick either.” Inspiration struck, and I fired up my horn. “Let me try this.”

Focusing on the centre of the panel, I poured on the cold. A dot of ice appeared, soon spreading outwards into a half-metre wide coating of thick ice. Setting my jaw, my will halted the crawling frost, and focused it inwards. The circle stayed the same size, but the metal beneath began to groan louder and louder.

One more push oughta do it. The edges of the circle shot up into spikes, biting down into the metal beneath. Cracking, it held out for a second, before the circle plummeted down into the darkness. Whoops.

“GRAB IT!”

Undertow's horn lit up, but a splash sounded from below before she could do anything.

Giving me one heck of a stink-eye, Bosco approached the hole in the floor. My horn was already drawing the ice off, leaving an opening big enough for all but Schwarzwald, with her bulky battle saddle, to fit through. Nothing but blackness could be seen beneath.

“Snow, 'tow, one of you get down there and see if you can open it from the other side.” The way we'd come held all of Bosco's attention.

“Why us? We don't know what's down there.” There could be Hissyflits! Or Molar Bears!

Without looking at us, Bosco raised the map in his hoof. “It's a hydroelectric generator, which means there's water. We just heard it. You both can use that, plus you've got built-in light sources coming out of your foreheads.”

“Tch, fine.” I turned to my sister. “Your choice, xilia.”

She was already halfway through the hole. “Too late, big sister. Be careful if you are coming through. These edges are sharp.”

With the others covering our backs, I stuck my head in the hole, and followed the aquamarine glow of Undertow's horn as it moved about. “Do you see anything?”

Her hooves clanked as she walked. “The walkway here is steady enough, and I think I see a wall box. Let me check...”

With a clunk, the floor hatch began sliding aside. “Oh, shit!” Yanking my head out of the hole I'd made, I just managed to avoid getting crushed.

Below the now open door, Undertow stood at the bottom of a stairwell. “I think that was it.”

That was almost it for me too, Undertow.

We all made out way down to where she was standing, and took in the situation. The walkway we stood on was affixed to the wall of what turned out to be a massive cavern, stretching out into the black. It was a good hundred metre drop to the bottom, where the shadows of heavy duty machinery lay half hidden in the gloom. Out of sight, the sounds of flowing water could be heard.

“Come on,” Bosco pushed to the front of the group. “we're heading down.”

He got a few steps before the slight shaking of the walkway stalled him. Looking back, I caught his nervous grin in Undertow's horn light. “Uhh... maybe we take this a little slower.”

It was a tedious few minutes of slow steps, and deliberate movements for five of us. Wings had skipped the entire effort, and lazed in the air beside the scaffold.

Setting hoof on the cavern floor below, I almost slipped. “It's damp. Watch your step, guys.”

“And smell that?” Wings landed solidly next to me, sniffing. “Mold. I don't think the Rangers come down here much.”

“The air is full of moisture,” Undertow supplied. “It might affect their armour.”

“If we are lucky, they will not disturb us until after our task is complete.” Cept was staring warily at the generator apparatus.

As was Schwarzwald, though hers was a more violent expression. “Should we do some damage while we are here, dahlings?”

Bosco stepped in front of her, face set. “Only after. We're still looking for the Silver Fog for now. Nothing else, got it?”

His stance did not have the desired effect. “Ooh, such a firm hoof, Boss Colt.” Schwarzwald's grin was anything but nervous.

“And what will he do with that firm hoof?” The voice, playful and light, had come from out of the darkness.

Tensed and on guard, the six of us looked around in the shade for the source. As we searched, the cavern itself began to grow brighter. Litchen on the walls gave off a pale glow, which brightened in real time. Soon, the entire cavern had become visible. Though not bright, it was enough to see most of the features of the grotto: The walkway behind us, the generator and pumps, the river and three boats moored on the near bank and, finally, the small tunnel across the water.

Leaning against the wall of the tunnel was a familiar figure, who casually waved as we gaped.

Cept found his voice first. Taking a few steps towards the water, he passed a hoof over his eyes before speaking tentatively. “Aqua Breeze?”

Her blue-and-white mane swayed as she snickered into her chest. “Hey there. Haven't seen you in a while... probably.”

That last word caught our attention. The five of us spread out around Cept, Wings and Schwarzwald to the left, Undertow and I to the right, and Bosco putting himself between Cept and the pegasus.

The colt raised a hoof to bar Cept's steps. “That's not Breeze.”

Still mildly stunned by the developments, Cept's weak attempts to push past Bosco were ineffectual. “What do you mean, Bosco? She is standing there.”

“It is not the first time that the Silver Fog has shown themselves as Breeze, dear Cept.” Schwarzwald wasn't angry with the apparition, despite being a victim of 'Aqua Tease' in the false forest. She was, however, staring with rapt attention.

As Cept's confusion grew, the faux-pegasus sighed, and heaved herself off the tunnel wall. “You bring us a new playmate, but don't indulge our games? You all aren't much fun anymore.” Flashing one more mocking grin, she turned and began walking further into the tunnel. “Are you coming or not?”

“Stay where you are, evil lie!” Golden eyes hard and wide, Cept knocked Bosco's warding hoof aside, and jumped in one of the boats. Pumping the oars hard, he powered across the water.

“Hey, Cept, wait up!” Wings took flight, gliding over to his craft. “Calm down and wait for the others!”

“She is not for them to play with. Breeze is her own and only her own!” His muscles were tight as he propelled the vessel towards the tunnel.

Half way across the river, something slammed into the boat from below, toppling Cept and Wings into each other. The griffon recovered first, grabbing the sides of the boat with her claws, and peering into the dark waters. “The fuck was that?”

Cept went for the paddles again. “More tricks?”

Before his hoof could reach the tool, a three-pronged tusk burst through the hull, snapping the craft in half. Wings and Cept were dumped into the drink.

“Wings! Cept!” Bosco, Schwarzwald and I raced for the other two boats, while Undertow donned her re-breather and jumped straight into the water.

Ahead, Wings and Cept resurfaced, gasping for air. Cept swished round in place, looking for the assailants. The griffon was not doing as well. Her wings were beating to keep her above water, but the feathers were sodden and heavy. She thrashed with her claws, retching out any water that went down the wrong pipe. “Help! I can't swim!”

“Hold on, I'm coming!” Schwarzwald and Bosco were working the oars, and I was at the prow. “We'll get you out.”

A dark mass shot around our boat, swinging in towards Wings. A huge burst of water sent her skywards, rammed by a colossal denizen of the deep. Pinned against its thick scales, Wings couldn't dislodge herself, and was dragged under.

Kicking off from the prow, I dove after her, calling out to the two left in the boat. “Get Cept!” The water swallowed any reply as I disappeared beneath its cold surface.

In the murk, I caught sight of Wings just as the beast plowed into her from the side, ragdolling her towards me, bubbles exploding from the force of the impact. Forming an ice stand beneath my back hooves, I braced myself and grabbed her. Slashing wildly with her talons, she barely missed my eyes before realising I wasn't her target. Expanding the ice under us, I let it buoy us towards the surface.

As we neared precious air, I felt Wings tugging at my shoulder. The creature was coming around for another charge, its trident tusks pointed straight at us.

Positioning my hooves in front of me, I lined them up. Have this, you jackhole. The improvised sights aimed true. A hammer-rod of frozen water shot out from my hooves. Gullet open, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth, the beast didn't even try to dodge. The two attacks met head on, and the river dweller went straight backwards.

The ice rod snapped one massive tooth clean off, and shattered the scales around its jaw as it forced the brute back into the river wall. Bloody chunks of pulp leaked out of the cracks in its armour. Broken, the convulsing thing sank out of sight.

On our now-floating ice island, Wings and I sucked in needed oxygen. When the grey cleared from my vision, I saw a second huge fish get rocketed out of the water by a swirling geyser, and splat into the wall by the tunnel. It hit the ground and weakly flopped for a few moments, before going still. A moment later, the ice tilted as Undertow popped up from underwater. “Are you two okay?”

Belching out another lungful of liquid, Wings managed a shaky nod. I leaned back against the cold raft, bonelessly. “The others?”

“Over here.” Schwarzwald beckoned with her hoof from the far shore, near the tunnel, as Bosco helped Cept purge any of the river still in his throat.

Not in much state to hurry, the three of us hoof- and claw-paddled our float over to their side.

~~~~~~

Clapping greeted us as we emerged from the tunnel. We found ourselves in another cavern, still voluminous but only half the size of the last one. Reclining on a rock at the far end was Aqua Tease. “That was dramatic.”

Wings was still knocking water out of her ears, and wringing her feathers. “Was it really necessary?”

“Mmmyes and no.” The false pegasus lazily waved a hoof back and forth. “The Poseidoceros'...”

Slapping the back of my hoof into the palm of the other, I glanced at Undertow. “Knew I'd seen those things somewhere before.”

Miffed at the interruption, I was treated to a pointed stare from the doppelganger. “Yes, well, as we were saying: They make useful watchbeasts, discouraging the Rangers from spending too much time on our side of the river.”

Breath still heavy from the battle, Cept glared unwaveringly. “You knew they would attack, but did not warn us?”

Switching from prone to lying with her head resting on her hooves, Aqua Tease waved his concerns away. “Don't be scared, playmate. We would have intervened if they proved too much for you all. We had faith, however.”

“I am not sc-”

Bosco stomped in between the two. “Can we PLEASE skip to the part where you give me back my Memory Orb?”

Pointing enthusiastically, the fake Breeze smiled at him. “Now that's a better question. But you're getting a little ahead of yourself, Bosco. First we need to determine just exactly who the Memory Orbs belong to.”

Confused glances were exchanged all around. The first objection came from Undertow. “You stole them from Bosco. We know exactly who they belong to.”

“Not so, waterwitch.” Spreading her wings, Aqua Tease rose from her rock. “Your Wasteland would say that they belong to us, because we were able to steal them away from you. You might say otherwise, that they must belong to you in order to be stolen in the first place.” Weighing up the options with her hooves, she mimed dropping both. “These are recent developments. We're more concerned with before that.”

“You shouldn't ignore the now to focus on what has passed, Silver Fog.” Schwarzwald revved her minigun. “What is to stop us from simply attacking and taking the Orb?”

“Courtesy, courtesan? We have not attacked you. Oh, and the fact that we have no pockets to hide the Orb.”

Bosco started. “You're telling me it's not even here?!”

“I am telling you that it is not...” Aqua Tease ran her hooves over her body. Every inch of her body. “...here.”

“Allow one of us to double-check,” Schwarzwald purred. “Cept perhaps? He is so fond of dear Breeze.”

Immediately, Cept rounded on her. “That thing is not Aqua Breeze.” His golden eyes were molten.

For several long seconds, Schwarzwald just smiled back. “No, it is not. But OUR dear Breeze is a lucky girl, dahling.”

“Oh, I just love how we keep getting off-fucking-topic!” Bosco's eye twitched rapidly. He reached for his knife. “Enough games, Silver Fog. Why did you bring me here, and where is my Orb?”

Aqua Tease unfurled a wing, and held it up so only her eye could be seen through the gaps between the feathers. “Are you feeling uncomfortable, Bosco? Is it similar to how you felt in Whinniepeg?

Scoffing, he began pacing back and forth. “Oh, yes, THIS is on topic.”

“Yes,” the doppelganger intoned. “It is. It feels similar, doesn't it? When you and the waterwitch were taken, you felt something. Something you couldn't understand.”

Blinking tersely, and shaking his head back and forth, Bosco kept pacing with his head down. “W-what of it?”

Undertow sidled up next to the colt, leaning into him. “Bosco...”

Changing wing-veils, the false-Breeze pressed on. “And when Lethbridle was under attack, you felt it all then too, didn't you? The fear.” Her one visible eye shifted yellow. “The anger.” Then red. “The worry.” Blue, before finally shifting to black. “And the hate. It only increased when the Windigo appeared.”

Retreating, Bosco gasped raggedly. “You... how do you know all this?”

Her feathers dropping away, a kind expression graced Aqua Tease's face. “You don't like it when your friends fight, and love it when they're pleased with you, and each other, right?”

I stepped up on the other side of the colt. “Who doesn't?” I challenged. Bosco, what's happening?

“E-everypony's unhappy when their friends fight.” Bosco's voice was a far cry from his usual youthful tone, and shook erratically.

Aqua Tease slowly shook her head. “But nopony is unhappy like you.”

A nauseous gag emerged from Bosco's mouth as he dropped his knife. Schwarzwald, Wings, and Cept jumped in front of him, ready to fight, while Undertow and I sat him down on the cave floor.

“Why won't you just give back the Orb and leave him alone?” Brow creased, Undertow's shrill shriek echoed off the walls.

“If he wishes to have it back, he may take it. It has served its purpose already.” The fake pegasus signalled to someone out of sight.

“And what is its purpose?” Cept's stance was rock solid, hooves poised to defend or strike.

Folding her wings in, the clone made no move to guard herself. “A trail. Signposts to lead him.”

Revolvers out and cocked, Wings was taking no chances. “Where are you trying to lead him?”

“And what makes you think we'll let you?” Leaving Undertow to watch over Bosco, I joined the line, legs squared and horn blazing.

Our adversary held a hoof over her heart. First she looked at Wings. “Be at ease, hero.” Then at me. “You too, villain. The trail was meant to lead him to us. To lead him...”

She looked past us, straight at the colt. “...home.”

Bosco's grey eyes grew wide. “Home? What do you mean? This isn't my home.”

“Six years you've held those Orbs, Bosco.” Her voice was morphing away from Breeze's brash pitch, into something fuller. The words rolled off tongue, filling the air around us. “Do you remember where you got them?”

When his only response was silence, she continued. “Before those six years, where did you live? Who took care of you when you were just a child? Why weren't they there, when you woke up in that strange place, at the start of those six years? Where was your home?”

“I...I...” His quaking was uncontrollable now. “I don't understand. How do you know this?”

She reached out to him, eliciting a harsh cry as he slid back. “We know this, Bosco, because we...”

Another Silver Fog creature congealed in the air to her right, shifting into a twin of Undertow. When it spoke, it shared Aqua Tease's voice. “...are here...”

Another apparated through the cavern wall on the other side of Breeze's clone. It imitated Wings. “...to welcome you...”

Two more appeared, coalescing into copies of Cassie and Naiara, flanking Aqua Tease. “...home.”

With a blinding flash, all five burst into green flame.

Eyes covered against the glare, I heard Undertow's desperate shout. “Bosco, don't move! We'll keep you safe!”

When the green flash faded, and no attack came, I blinked a few times to clear my eyes.

Standing in place of the false ponies were five entirely different beings.

Schwarzwald's minigun revved up again. At the exact same moment, Cept barked something in zebra, and Wings yelled out. “WHAT IS THIS?”

Of course! Of course that's what they are. That's what this has been about the entire time! Flashes of the memories in Bosco's Orbs played out behind my eyes. I had my suspicions, but seeing them up close...

“Stay away from Bosco, you monsters!” Water tendrils raced out of the tunnel, swirling around Undertow's horn before shooting out at the five non-ponies. The quintet took to the air, their uneven gossamer wings flittering, as the water splashed down where they'd been standing. The creatures' lips began drawing back, revealing pointed fangs, as they readied to dive.

Nononono! “CHANGELINGS!” My howl reverberated around the entire cavern, freezing everyone in their tracks.

At least five pairs of eyes turned to me. “You're Changelings! You're not Silver Fog, you're shapeshifters!”

Looking at each other, the chitinous quadrupeds slowly backed away, landing on the rock where we'd first seen Aqua Tease. The middle Changeling shifted back into Breeze's form. “Yes. We're Changelings. The Memory Orbs contain Changeling memories.”

“Changelings can create Memory Orbs like ponies can?” Schwarzwald was not revving her weapons anymore, instead she was intensely scrutinising the carapace-covered, insectile beings.

Aqua Tease affected a smirk. “Creating a way to put ourselves in other bodies? Somehow we managed.” Bowing, she put a perforated hoof around the shoulder of the closest Changeling. “We can teach your friend to do what we can do, in time.”

“Heh... hehe... hah!” Guttural laughter cut in from behind us. Turning, I saw a bloodshot-eyed Bosco stagger to his hooves.

“That's how you knew about Whinniepeg and Lethbridle! All that nonsense you tricked me with before!” He danced back and forth, manically shoving himself in front of each of us in turn. “They almost convinced me!”

“Bosco...” Undertow tried to grab a hold of him, but he'd already danced over to Cept.

“Glad you came along now, buddy? You couldn't get this sitting at Breeze's bedside.”

Head tilted slightly away from the profusely sweating colt, Cept raised an eyebrow. “Are you well, Bosco?”

“I'm just fine! Better than fine, in fact. I'm a pony, not a Changeling.” Wagging a hoof at the Changelings on the rock, he rolled his eyes. “You all must be pretty bummed, huh? Went to all this effort to find me, and it turns out they've got the wrong guy!”

I caught Wings' eye, and she mirrored my concern. “Um... maybe you wanna sit down for a sec, Bosco?”

“Yeah, don't wanna wear yourself out after all that's happened.”

Suddenly calm, Bosco winked at me. “Can't stop now, Snow. I still need my Orb back.” His head dipped, and he chuckled into his sternum. “Imagine, thinking I was a Changeling?”

“You ARE one of us, Bosco.” Aqua Tease and her companions weren't smiling now, instead looking on with furrowed brows. “You have to accept that.”

“I don't have to accept shit, especially not a lie.” He tapped his sides, and his forehead. “See? If I were a Changeling, I'd have those creepy wings, and a horn on my head. Besides that, if I was a Changeling, would I be able to—”

He disappeared in a burst of green flame, then reappeared as the scribe from the Neighlway offices.

Undertow's hooves flew up to her mouth, Wings' jaw was on the floor, Cept stopped blinking, Schwarzwald choked on her own spit, and I yelped inarticulately.

“What?” The nameless scribe was looking around, jovial. His voice was high, reedy. “Guys, you look like you've seen a... a...” Hoof slowly reaching for his throat, Bosco finally looked down.

Seeing the body of another pony underneath him, Bosco opened his mouth to speak. Nothing came out. He tried again, and managed a pitiful mewl.

Pupils shrinking, he looked at at us. “G-guys, what's happening?”

None of us had an answer, only staring back in shock.

Spittle flying, he tripped over himself spinning to face the Changelings. “What did you do to me?” He cried, as he fought to untangle another pony's limbs.

Aqua Tease hopped down from the rock. “We didn’t do anything, it’s just you-” One of the other Changelings cut her off with a grunting hiss, nodding his head at the tunnel. “We have to go. Bosco, we’ll see you again.”

Without another word, all five burst into plumes of Silver Fog, and dissipated into the walls and ceiling.

“HEY WAIT!” Undertow found her voice again as they retreated. “COME BACK AND FIX BOSCO!” Her water whips chased after them, but burst fruitlessly against the stone.

“Dahlings, they left in a hurry. Perhaps we should do the same?” Schwarzwald already was moving towards the exit.

I know what you're thinking. You want to talk to Watcher about this. Probably a good call. “She's right, guys. Let's get out of here for now, and figure out the rest later.”

“Agreed.” Cept reluctantly turned away from the walls.

“Yeah, okay.” Wings holstered her revolvers, then moved to help Undertow with Bosco. “Come on, kid. Let's get you out of here.”

Unresponsive, but back in his own body, he dumbly allowed the two to walk him towards the tunnel. Undertow held tight to steady his balance. The walk through the tunnel was completed in silence.

It was short lived, however. We were only a few steps into the main cavern before a robotic bellow sounded from above. “INTRUDERS SPOTTED. OPEN FIRE!”

Gunfire and explosives rained down on us from the walkway, where five figures stood. Four were in the heavy armour of the Steel Rangers, while the fifth was a teal unicorn in a labcoat.

A wall of water leapt from the river, just in time to turn aside the barrage. Muffled explosions ran through the liquid, but didn’t make it through.

Undeterred, the Rangers loosed another volley, sending their rockets in wide arcs to confuse and circumvent Undertow’s defenses.

“Back into the tunnel!” I ordered. We scrambled into cover just before the barrage hit. The shockwave sent us all rolling, as stone slivers nicked and scratched at us.

“Wait a minute, I know that voice. Hold fire!” This was a different Ranger than the first.

Probably the one without armour, since it doesn't sound like he's speaking around his own-

“Princess, is that you? Remember your old friend, Dr. Happy Pills?”

Son of a bitch. “Oh fantastic, I was hoping you'd died when my Raiders took you Rangers on, you old pervert.” All of the others, sans a still-stupefied Bosco, were staring incredulously at me. I waved an angry hoof. I know, I know. “Doc, can't say I'm happy to see you again. How's the wife?”

If he was angry about my waging war against him and his friends, it didn't come across in his jaunty voice. “Just fine. She was so disappointed she didn't get to meet-and-greet. Maybe we should take advantage of this second chance?”

“Wish that I could, Doc, but I'm actually just passing through.”

Tittering rang down from the walkway. “Hmm, yes, straight through our half-concussed scribe, in fact. Are you sure I can't coax you out of your little hole?”

So you can stick me back in that magic-less cell? “Gotta be honest, Doc. My first impression of you wasn't great, and I'm not looking for a second date.”

Mock indignation laced his words. “Oh that cuts me deep. It cuts me deep in my chest, Princess. Oh well, missed connections and all that.”

I was about to breathe a sigh of relief, when Happy Pills spoke up again. “Paladin, collapse that tunnel.”

“FUUUCK!” We tore out of the tunnel just before the rocket hit. Stone slammed straight onto where we'd hunkered down.

“What now?” Wings was taking potshots at the Rangers with her revolvers, but they didn't seem to notice. “We're trapped down here!”

“No!” Undertow was shoving Bosco towards the river. “Into the water!”

“Are you nuts? There's killer fish in there!”

“Just do it!” Undertow ordered back.

I felt a tingle at the base of my horn, and opened the link to Undertow. Glimpses of her planned spell filtered through, enough for me to get a vague sense of it. Works for me, little sister! “You heard her! Everybody in!”

Undertow went in first, hooves wrapped around Bosco's neck.

“Mua leija.” Cept's deadpan contribution reached my ears just before he and Schwarzwald flopped into the water.

I wasted no time, sprinting and cannoning into Wings, dragging us both into the drink.

Undertow's connection instantly strengthened when we in the water, with only our heads above board, and she pulled us all in towards her. Automatic fire rained down around us, but the river was flowing too fast. Once we were all together, another signal flowed down our link. It was the arcane equivalent of shouting “NOW!”.

Allowing her to guide me, I froze six-inch thick shell of water a metre around us, while at the same time she pushed all the water between it and us out, leaving cold air, and six sodden bodies.

I finished closing the shell up, then turned to Undertow. “Do you know where this thing goes?”

She shook her head. “I know it goes somewhere, from the speed it's flowing, and it has to be better than here.”

“A fair point.” Schwarzwald's husky tones came from somewhere in the pile.

I could only just make out some blurry shapes through the ice shell, before we disappeared under the water and stone.

~~~~~~

When the darkness of stone gave way to daylight, my heart rose. We're clear!

Then it rose a lot faster, as the river dropped away beneath our shell. We all reacted badly, but Wings was worst. Griffon instincts kicked in, and her wings unfolded to take flight. She slammed into the top of our shell.

Then slammed down on top of me, as we hit the bottom of the drop. All the air left my lungs, but her weight didn't. Black spots danced in my vision as the ice shell shattered around us.

Groans sounded all round, before a pair of wood-brown hooves hauled Wings off me. “Dahling, you cannot rest now.”

The griffon feebly pushed at Schwarzwald. “Gimme five minutes.”

“No.” Schwarzwald was uncharacteristically hurried. “You must go to the sky carriage. Bring it here before the Rangers find it.”

Groaning from both pain and frustration, Wings took off into the sky.

As I followed her flight, it dawned on me as to where we were. “La Buque? The river carried us that far?”

Cept was looking up at the criss-crossing stone paths. “So it seems.”

Undertow's voice drew my attention. “Bosco? We have to get moving. It's not safe here.”

The colt brushed off her tugging hoof. “Leave me alone, Undertow.”

“Bosco, I'm sorry, but-”

“SORRY?!” Gnashing his teeth, he shoved her hard in the shoulder. “What do you have to sorry about? You're not the one who—” Emerald fire flashed around him, and in his place stood another Undertow. “—does this!”

I checked that Undertow hadn't been hurt when he pushed her over, and then grimaced at him. “And we'll help you figure this out, but we can't do it here. Just stay calm and listen for a second. La Buque's not safe, and we have to get back to the others!”

Undertow burned away into Naiara. “Fuck the others, they can't help!”

I stomped a hoof at his antics. “You don't know that! Now stop yelling at the people trying to help you! If you fall apart, it'll delay us getting back. We won't figure this out here, and we still need to check on Breeze.”

Naiara became Breeze's sister, with tears running down her face. “You sound like Cassie! Well guess what, both of you, I don't know what the hell's happening to me, and I'm not gonna find out sitting around at Sprinkles Supplies!”

Spreading 'her' wings, Cassie lifted off. Unused to the sensation, Bosco's flight was anything but smooth, but she kept at it, rising higher and higher.

“No, Bosco, come back!” Undertow's plea went unanswered, and all we could was watch as he disappeared around a valley bend.

~~~~~~

Level Up!

Perks gained:
Frigid Fortifications - Snow’s ice magic reduces effectiveness of metal armour and barriers.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Author's Note

I’m sure plenty of you saw that coming, but at least I did the reveal well… right?

*Crickets*

*Sobs* I tried.

I have to give a Massive, BROBDINGNAGIAN thank you to Kyts, who not only helped me with pre-reading, editing and story ideas, but also made the latest cover art for Old Souls, which can be seen here. I seriously cannot show my gratitude for everything that Kyts and all of the others have provided for our work here. It’s humbling.

As always, a big thank you to Kkat, Y1, Auramane, Cascadejackal (he did the original cover art, which is still on the Fallout Equestria wiki), Shunketsunoponi and you, the readers. Please read and comment, and pass the word along if you like the story.

That’s all for now, folks. Please keep reading, commenting, and spreading the word on Old Souls. I really appreciate your feedback, and welcome back.

Chapter 25-1: Underground Derail Road

Author's note: As stated last chapter, there will be some overlap between Chapter 24 and this Chapter 25. Maybe a tiny bit of Chapter 26 too.

[When all the truth does is make your heart ache, sometimes a lie is easier to take...]

The thoroughly disagreeable doctor finally took Amber's dirty caps. “Bring 'er inside, quick now. Follow the signs. We'll get started in a minute or so.”

Not trusting my words, I fought against the impending breakdown by channeling all my suddenly unleashed energy into carrying my sister's stretcher. Naiara grabbed the other end.

You blessed girl.

Even Cept was forgotten as she and I rushed Breeze through the gates of Sprinkles Supplies, across the courtyards, and into the headquarters proper.

“Signs, signs, she said signs, WHERE ARE THE SIGNS?” I started to slightly panic as my wings flew out to ward off any ponies brazen enough to bar my sister's path to health, I still couldn't see these mystery markings of which Fedexi Lexi seemed so sure. “If she lied to me, just to get the caps, then so help me...”

“Turn left here, Cass.” From the back end of the stretcher, Naiara tugged me to one side.

I dug my hooves in, stopping in my tracks.“How do you know?”

Pivoting smoothly around my centerpoint, Naiara switched our positions so that she was leading. “Look up, Pegasus.”

I am not exactly staring at my own navel, Zebra! Still, I humoured her, angling my eyes skyward.

A trio of pink butterflies was painted on the ceiling, at the end of a prominent left arrow.

“Oh.” Am I going blind? I need my eyes! They keep Breeze safe!

Setting the pace, Naiara glanced back as we moved off. “When was the last time you slept?”

“A few hours on that first night in Lethbridle. Nothing since.” This time I did look down, as I knew what she would say next.

“It's showing, Cassie. We need you sharp for whatever comes next. Lethbridle wasn't the end of it. Latvi got out.”

Her rebuke was less jagged than I had anticipated. “I'll sleep when Breeze is out of danger, no sooner.”

“And no later,” she pressed. “Our backup is on their way to Steel Ranger city. We need to be at our best. There's only us to watch over Breeze.” Grunting, she dropped a hoof extra hard on her next step as she looked over my shoulder to the corridor we has passed. “And Cept, whenever he decides to show up!”

Mercifully, we reached the medical bay, only to find it unoccupied. “Moreso than Cept,” the volume of my words rising with my blood pressure, “where is that Doctor?”

My legs shook as we settled Breeze in. “Oh, I knew coming here was a bad idea. What was I thinking? I should have taken Breeze to somewhere more trustworthy!”

Naiara laid a hoof on my shoulder. “Hey, c'mon, she's done good work in the past. She healed up Snow after you shot her, didn't she? Both times?”

I shrugged her off. “That was then. After all the upheaval in the region, Fedexi Lexi might not have enough supplies anymore. Maybe Amber bought them all up...” Those shelves don't look nearly full enough!

“Or there hasn't been time for sterilise the equipment they do have...” What if something gets into Breeze's system?

“And she doesn't have the right information about Breeze! She doesn't know what she can and can't be given!” Do they have safe blood for transfusions? WHERE IS CEPT?!

Spots forming in my vision made me aware of my body's desperate desire for new air. Doubling over, I held my head in my hooves as I took several deep breaths.

While I sucked in oxygen, Naiara softly rubbed my back. “You really need some sleep. We'll stay just long enough for Lexi to give Breeze the okay, and then I'm putting you to bed, alright?"

My reply was barely a grumble. “I am perfectly fine.”

Any further argument was abandoned as Lexi entered from the corridor behind us, the case full of caps floating in her purple magic. Without Lexi taking her eyes off Breeze, the case was deposited in Naiara's lap while medical equipment began to lift from their stations. “Ah'm workin' here, girls. You need to keep out of the way.”

Sufficiently recovered, my argument with Naiara was the farthest thing from my mind. “What can I do to help?” I could wash cloths, or prepare bandages, or wipe her brow, or... whAT IS SHE DOING?!

To my horror, Lexi's magic was twisting Breeze's front legs this way and that, seemingly at random. Lexi's frizzy mane bobbed as she jerked her horn around, in an attempt to remove Breeze's greaves. “The hell're these things? Tryin' ta fix a girl up, and she's covered in armour? Let's get 'em off already.”

With a sudden SHNK!, and an accompanying yell from Lexi, Breeze's hidden blade popped out. As she reared back, I took the opportunity to dash in and trigger the greaves' release. The two accessories clattered to the floor.

Anything but happy with the surprise, Lexi pointed at me, then the greaves, then the door. “Get that garbage outta my medical bay! This is a place o' healin', not fightin'!”

Feathers ruffling, I placed myself between her and Breeze's creations. “Garbage? You dare to mock my sister's work?”

Unimpressed, Lexi's horn lit up, brushing the greaves and I aside. “I'm tryin' t'save yer sister's life. I don't care about her work, or yer pride. Right now, neither should you!” Telekinesis pressed harder. “Get out, and let me help her.”

Overbalanced from the magic shove, the last sentence hit me the hardest. I would have fallen, had Naiara not been there to support me. “Come on, Cass. Try to calm down. Let Lexi do her work. We'll be right outside.”

“I... mhm.” Hitting the retract on the hidden blade, I stashed both of Breeze's gadgets under my wing, and followed Naiara out.

Lexi's words followed me out. “Ah'll do all I can.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The clasps snapped shut, pulling out a few hairs in the process.

Worth it, I thought, around my pained hiss, now they're safe until Breeze wants them back.

Matching my front-leg bracers, I now had Breeze's greaves on my hind legs. It was the only way I could think of to guarantee their safety, until Breeze was healthy again.

“Looking good,” Naiara stepped around me, appraising, “now you're double the trouble.”

My hoof wiggled until the pins-and-needles faded. “Hmm, perhaps, but even I don't know all that they can do.”

“Really?”

A smile graced my lips. “Yes. Breeze is never satisfied with these things. She'll change the entire setup on a whim, often without telling me.” I managed to utter a small chuckle. “I used to joke that we spend more caps on her parts than we do on food or shelter. I've never tallied it, but I don't think I am far wrong, either.”

Sitting down against the far corridor wall, Naiara waved a hoof across my a-greaved limbs. “So what all has she put in them, over the years? Is it all weapons?”

“No, she often makes space for small tools. The less that goes into saddlebags, the better in her opinion. Not that I can blame her.” My feathers flexed. “They can restrict the wings, you understand.”

Nodding, she tapped her heel on the floor. “I getcha. Same with me and horseshoes. Can't sneak with 'em, and they're better suited to Cept's style than my Stompeii Emboli.”

My eyes found the medical bay doors. “You beat Breeze with that style, back when the two of you first met.” My sister was very impressed, after the bruises faded.

Chuckling, Naiara rubbed the back of her neck ruefully. “Heh, I'd forgotten about that. Seems like a long time ago.”

“Many things do.” It wasn't so long ago that I wouldn't have even considered travelling with this many others. A contemplative silence fell over us.

It didn't last long.

“I can't believe you just let her go like that, right after we all found each other again.” The reproach came from one of the Doublehorn triplets, rounding the corner. I couldn't tell which one was which. This one had a softness to his rumbling baritone.

“Snow knows what she's doing!” Another shot back, sharper than the first. “She's been out here longer than us, and she knows how to take care of herself. She damn near tipped Crush, who's bigger than you, when I met her. She's really getting the hang of her magic.”

The third buffalo spoke up now. His was the calmest, lowest voice of the three. “That doesn't mean we should have let her go alone into the Steel Ranger capital. We all saw what those ponies' armour and weapons are capable of. Snow shouldn't be doing something this dangerous without help.”

“She has help. Or did you miss the five people who went with her? Snow's got more friends out here than we do!”

I'm reasonably sure that one is Al. Naiara and I shared a look, but stayed silent to listen as the three took up the entire corridor to argue.

“We don't know anything about any of those guys. Are they even fighters?” This was the younger Doublehorn, Lo. “Snow's never been in a fight in all her time in the Stable. She's still new at this.”

Rumbling in this throat, Buff waved his Pipbuck-less hoof. “We all learned fast, Lo, and we've heard the radio broadcast. Snow's not as new at this as we might like.”

“Exactly!” Al confirmed, but Buff cut him off before he could go any further.

“That being said, there will be a lot of Steel Rangers in Neighlway. She and her five friends are flying into grave danger.”

“You mean four friends and one sister.” Al didn't back down against his brothers. “Undertow and Snow will watch out for each other.”

“He knows what he said, Al,” Lo replied testily. “Snow, her friends, and whatever Undertow is, will-”

“'Whatever Undertow is'? She's her sister! SHE'S OUR SISTER! What is the matter with you two?”

Several heads popped out of doors, to see what the cienna-furred buffalo were yelling about. Al and Lo didn't seem to notice, but Buff made a 'quiet down' motion. “Undertow is a stranger to us, Al. We don't see her that way.”

“Snow does! How is this any different than how we got our first sister? Tell me.” Unblinking, Al turned back and forth between the two. Buff was stoic, while Lo's lips were tightly pressed together.

It was Buff who replied first. “I don't have anything against Undertow personally, Al, but the situation isn't the same this time around. It's complicated.”

“No, it's not.” Lo sulked. “Snow's ours.”

This took Buff, Al, Naiara, and I all by surprise.

Lo's brothers replied in sync. “What?”

“Snow's ours.” Lo moaned again. “She's been with us for our whole lives in the Stable. She's always been there for us and we've always been there for her. Now she's only out here for a month or so and she's replacing us! New friends, new family, new magic...” He swallowed as his voice shook. “...she's changed, guys! Why has she changed?”

Buff and Al looked on in stunned silence. Lo's stout hooves scrubbed at his moistening eyes. He sank down onto the floor, blubbering. “I want my big sister. I wanna go home. I want Snowflake!”

Defeated by Lo's helplessness, the other two Doublehorns sat down with him. Al spoke first. “Listen, Lo, I get it. When I lost you guys, it was like losing Snow all over again. But I did what you're doing now. I expected her to be exactly the same as she was in the Stable, and got upset when wasn't. I hurt her with that, bro.”

“But she should-” Lo half-wailed, before being shut down by Buff.

“No, she shouldn't. Al's right. We can't expect that of her anymore. She's been through a lot out here. She's been changed by it. WE have probably changed too, even if we don't notice it right now.” He moved his large frame close to his brother, keeping his intonation soft. “Like it or not, things are different now, and we have to do everything we can to help each other get through it.”

“Sorry, Lo.” Al knocked his horn against Lo's. “I'm scared too. About a lot of things, but I've spoken a lot with Lexi about Snow since I've been saying here, and we've gotta have faith in our sisters to come back safe and sound.”

I felt something stir in my chest when neither Lo nor Buff challenged Al's use of the plural. It's hard waiting around to know the ones you love are okay, the lights shining through the gap in the medical bay doors seemed a little warmer at that moment, isn't it?

Gathering my hooves under me with a sigh, the words out of my mouth were not what I'd expected to say anytime soon. “Excuse me, you three? If you'd like, we can tell you all about what your sister is like, ever since leaving the Stable.”

“Cassie...” Naiara's warning was coupled with her rising too.

“My grievance is with her, not them.” I whispered out of the side of my mouth. “They are little ones. I will be mindful of that.”

Still frowning, Naiara relented after a few moments. Creased brow easing into a smile as she turned to the boys, good cheer was injected into her words. “Let me tell you about how I first met your sister. It all started with this jackhole gate guard...”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“So there Snow and I am, standing on top of this shack by the lake, and the rope goes slack. We look up, and Bosco's following us down, quite a bit faster than we got there too.”

Naiara, in full storyteller mode, was spelling out the scene with her hooves. We sat in the Sprinkles Supplies bar. It was empty aside from us, which allowed Naiara to hold court as she regaled the boys with tales of their sister's adventures. Each was taking up a booth by themselves, while Naiara moved and gestured on the floor. From my perk on a bar stool, it was the audience that held my attention, rather than the performance.

Closest to the door, Buff sat calmly with a barely touched glass of water by his side. The eldest buffalo brother smiled at the appropriate moments, but never seemed to lose himself in the story.

Nearest to the bar where I sat, Al chugged on a Sparkle cola, guffawing openly as Naiara yelled “MY BALLS!” in a reasonable facsimile of Bosco.

In the centre booth, Lo had stars in his eyes as he sucked brahmin milk through a straw. He might as well not be blinking. He devoured the tale of how Naiara, Bosco, and Snowflake crashed at Undertow's place without a word of interruption.

There was a way to tell that he was enjoying himself, however. While Buff smiled, and Al laughed, Lo blew bubbles in his milk. That's actually rather sweet. I wonder if there are any cookies around here? He's being good now that the crying's stopped.

A mix of satisfaction and sadness nipped at the back of my throat. Too bad MY stories about Snowflake wouldn't be so enjoyable for them.

“Hey, birdypony, ya in here?” Lexi's arrival in the bar put an abrupt end to Naiara's retelling, not in small part to my running her over to meet the doctor just inside the door.

“How is she?” Hopping to see behind Lexi, in case Breeze was with her, I didn't immediately notice her expression. When I did, it stopped me cold.

When we landed at the gates, she'd been angry, but now her eyes were soft and her lips curved down. “She's gonna be okay...”

The world brightened around me.

“...eventually.”

And dimmed again. “W-what?”

Lexi rubbed my shoulder. “Yer sister's hurt bad, girl. Real bad. From what I hear, all of yeh've been busy for days straight now, and it's caught up with her. If there was time, Ah'd suggest you all get some rest, but that don't seem likely.” Lexi looked Naiara over too. “Stress'll eat away at a body if it ain't given time to relax. All o' ya could use some time off. I'm guessing y'all were in Lethbridle these past few days?”

Not by choice, but... “...yes.”

Air blew out of the side of the doctor's mouth. “Thought so. Lotta fightin', lotta enemies, lotta strangers. Breeze, well probably all o' yeh, were running close to ragged 'cause o' it. The buildup didn't help when she got hit. Whatever got her,”

“A Raider's axe.” I supplied limply.

“Right, well, it woulda done plenty just by itself, but catching her when it did has left her real weak. Ah can heal her up, but it's gonna take some time. She's gonna have to stay asleep and in bed until then.”

No! “You can't let her wake up?”

“Not unless you want her bein' in a lot o' pain.” Lexi drew back, and her face turned slightly bitter. “It's the same deal as when Snowflake got hurt bad. At best she'll be up for a few minutes at a time. Y'gotta wait until she's back to full strength. It can't be rushed. Recovery time is important to make sure a patient ain’t been permanently damaged by a pony hittin' her when she ain't lookin'.”

“Was that a shot at me?” I tried to growl, but it paled in the face of Lexi's counter-hiss.

“Only fair, after you takin' a shot at her.” She walked around me into the bar proper, nodding to Naiara and the Doublehorns. Her words were still directly at me, however. “Don't think ah've forgotten about that. Now I'll let you look in on your sister in about an hour or so. After that, we gotta discuss arrangements.”

Trying to avoid the glances I was getting from all four of the others, it didn't immediately become clear to me what she meant. “Arrangements?”

“Arrangements. Now, yer caps will cover the girl's treatment, as well as a bunk for you while she's healin', but Ah ain’t gonna have non-employees walkin' around Sprinkles all day gettin' in the way. Y'wanna stay? Then get t’work. Ask Al about that 'fore anything else happens.” With that, she strolled behind the bar and began mixing herself a drink.

“You can't drink that!” Wings flaring, my hooves left the ground in preparation to knock the beverage out of her hooves. “You're still healing my Breeze!”

“Didn't I just tell you that y'can't overwork yourself?” Taking a long draught, Lexi appraised the cocktail, before adding another ice cube. “Healin' takes time, fer both of us. Her body's gotta do its fair share o' the work, and for that it needs fuel. Ah got 'er on a drip, t'get her body ready for the next step. Gotta do it in stages, that Raider axe hit her near the base o' her wing. Ah ain't worked on many Pegasi, but plenty of griffons've got themselves hurt and paid fer healin'. Y'should know this as well as anybody, but Ah gotta do this slow an' steady so she don't end up grounded.”

My own wings failed me at the thought. “Breeze might never fly again?” But she loves flying! This can't be happening!

“Ah don't think it's as bad as all that, but do yeh really wanna take the chance?”

I crossed my hooves in front of me frantically. “No, no, of course not. I can wait as long as it takes. I'll be right be her side the entire time. Just... make her whole again. Please?”

Setting down her half-empty glass, she leaned on the bar counter for a moment before responding. “That's better. Y'don't always have to go fightin' e'rybody over every little thing for yer sister. Sometimes, y'need ta have a li'l faith. Good feelings can do as much as any doctor if yeh let 'em, like how Undertow asked me t'help, even after yeh shot 'er sister.”

There was a cacophony of clatter as water, milk, and cola all hit the floor. “YOU WHAT?!”

Naiara darted in between myself and the three Doublehorns. Well... they're quite large after all, aren't they?

The zebra was hopelessly outmatched, but she still tried to defuse the situation. “Boys, now I know what you're thinking, but if you just—”

“How can you possibly know what we're thinking? She shot our sister!”

“And your sister has tangled with my clan!” Naiara's rebuke was powerful, and set them back slightly. The girl's jade eyes bore into them. “I trust your sister, and I trust Cassie, but sometimes things get complicated!”

However, it only dulled their fury, rather than douse it. Lo bit clean through his straw. “Complicated is figuring out what's safe to eat out here, Naiara. 'Don't kill your friends' is simple wherever you are.”

“Oh really?” I jumped in. I'm rather less than willing to be demonised by this particular family. “Even when this 'friend' goes Raider?”

“Better than full assassin!” Buff snorted.

CHK-CHK!

The cocking of the barrel stopped us all cold. Now on this side of the bar, one hoof pressing on Al's shoulder, a shotgun and half a cocktail in her telekinesis, Lexi inserted herself into the standoff. “Now, Ah'm certainly not sayin' that I condone what Venatici here did to Snowflake, but she's right that the circumstances were not ideal. Yer sister's no saint, boys. She's tryin' her hardest t'be a good gal, but she doesn't always do so well at it.”

The shotgun spun in a lazy circle, sending us all ducking and diving. “That being said, this is MY place, and Ah ain't havin' y'all scrappin' while yeh stay here. This can be hashed out when YOUR” she nodded at the Doublehorns, “sisters get back, and YOUR” then at me, “sister's back on her hooves. Until then, all o' yeh cool it, else mah friend here will be making another appearance. Got that?”

I didn't speak, nor did anybody else. Keeping my eyes on the loaded weapon seemed like the safer bet at present.

“GOOD—”

Five different yelps, mine included, sounded out as we dropped to the floor in tandem.

“—EVENING, EQUESTRIA! This is DJ Pon3, coming to you live with a special report. Big things are happening up north, fillies and gentlecolts, and you'll hear it here first.”

Eyes shuddering from pressure in my chest, I levered myself up into a booth alongside Naiara, who was taking rapid and shallow breaths with a hoof over her eyes. If I ever meet this DJ, I will break his jaw.

Playing from Lo's Pipbuck, DJ Pon3 continued his broadcast. “You know what they always say, my little ponies: I've got good news and bad news, which would you like first? Wait, I can't hear you, let me flip this bitfor instead. What's a bitfor? For flipping, silly. Might not be worth much to a trader, but at least this bit can settle arguments. Okay, here we go... and it's good news first. Okay then. The good news is that a lot of the problems that the northern region has been having with Raiders and slavers have been solved in one fell swoop. 'How?' you ask? Well, that's the bad news.”

Looking around the room, a menagerie of facial opinions were on display. Lexi quirked an eyebrow, Al stared unblinking at the device, Lo blanched, Buff grimaced, and Naiara snorted. Wordlessly, the youngest Doublehorn turned the volume up.

“The bad news, dear listeners, is that the ponies of the northern region took care of their Raider-and-slaver problem by building a giant cage to trap them in. A giant cage by the name of Lethbridle. That's right, folks. In order to get rid of the slavers and Red Ice's goons running around in the region, the leaders of the biggest city in the province decided to turn said city into one big ponytrap. Now, on the one hoof, that is actually pretty hardcore, to seal of the city with the baddies inside, but on the other hoof, well...”

“Here we go.” Lexi closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

A slightly more melancholy tone crept into Pon3's words. “See, the thing is, a lot of people made their homes in that city. Not just ponies either, there were griffons and buffalo too. To keep the Raiders and slavers locked in, they had to lock themselves out. That is a LOT of homeless guys, guys. Doesn't help that Lethbridle was the only major settlement in the region, the rest are small scale. Still, some refugees are heading to the different smaller towns in the regions, and this is where it gets into a mix of good-and-bad news.”

Lexi looked out of the window, as if expecting a great horde of displaced families at her doorstep.

“Some folks are heading up to the border town of Cefar, but not many. It can't take many. A good chunk are heading to Vanchoofer, being lead by the former head of Lethbridle's guard force, Chief Rockhaunch. Nice party town, Vanchoofer, but probably not best for a prolonged stay. Others are making the long trip south. Who knows, maybe we'll even see them around Tenpony. If you've got anything to spare for 'em, ponies, then make them feel welcome. But back to it. The city's griffon population are mostly heading back to Gull Gulf, and the buffalo are heading west, to Grindstone. They've got the good sense to avoid Neighlway, with its oh-so-warm-and-cuddly Steel Rangers. Nobody's going there to get AWAY from their troubles.”

A collective sigh of relief went up around the room. I can take or leave Snowflake, but the others, Undertow-included, don't deserve to be hounded by the very people they saved in Lethbridle, just for being in close proximity to Red Ice.

“Lastly, some VERY brave individuals have, thanks to information provided by the Bernstein Conclave, learned the locations of the Raider bases around the region. They seem to have decided to house-swap with the Raiders who are now trapped in Lethbridle. Can't say that bunking in a Raider ghetto would really appeal to this DJ, but I guess they don't have a lot of options.”

A chuckle escaped Naiara's lips as she lay in the booth. “Oh, Undertow's just gonna 'love' that. More people in her lake.”

“We should be more worried about these refugees finding Hoofshine Harlots.” I reminded.

That got her to sit up. “Oh, crap. My room! My pretty dresses!”

“And all our supplies.” I reminded again.

“I... hold on a second folks,” Sounds of shuffling and muttered words came through Lo's Pipbuck as we waited for the DJ to continue. “Well now, this is a surprise. I'm getting a live call from Plottawa. Looks like Peanut wants to weigh in on this. After his, in this pony's opinion, rather stupid comments when last we spoke, this should be good. Gimme a few seconds to set up the connection.”

“What the heck?” Confused looks were exchanged all round.

“Wasn't Peanut in Lethbridle?”

“Yes, he was.” Buff rubbed his fur where his Pipbuck had been. “The bastard jumped me and took my Pipbuck, but we sealed the gate after Snow and I left. He was stuck inside.”

“Then who's calling from Plottawa?” Naiara's question was answered as a rich, mature voice came through the speaker. One that rendered her completely still.

“Good evening, DJ Pon3. My apologies, but I am not Peanut.”

“Naiara...” I looked over to the girl. I know that voice.

Her jade eyes had shrunk to pinpricks. “Elder Atesh?”

“Who's Atesh?” The Doublehorns remained clueless.

“The leader of the zebra fought against Crush and his buffalo,” I fixed Al with a level stare, “when we first met.”

Atesh's statescolt-like speech resumed. “I can provide an update on the situation around Lethbridle, if you will let me.”

“Uh... sure?” Pon3 seemed as confused at this as we were.

“Thank you. My followers and I are currently in control of Plottawa. As we have no need for slaves, we are willing to negotiate the release of any and all ponies present. From what we see, they have been treated well in their captivity, and are of fit mind and body.”

“And, if this is true, what do you want in return?”

Atesh almost sounded apologetic. “Caps are always welcome, but our true prizes are the Raider leaders, Red Ice and Latvi. Should both be brought to us, we will free all slaves immediately, and leave Plottawa open for any and all to shelter in. We will no longer need it after that point. That is all.”

“Wait a minute, you never gave your-” An audible click sounded on the DJ's end. “Okay then. So a mystery group claims to be in control of Slaverville North, and wants the Raider leadership. What a ride this has been. That's all I've got for you right now, my little ponies, so I'll just tell you the same as always. Keep fighting the good fight, and be kind to each other. I'll keep bringing you the truth, no matter how bad it hurts.”

As the single devolved into static, Buff and I stared at Naiara, while Al and Lo seemed to be trying hard not to. The zebra herself was still frozen, hooves gently tapping against each other as she sat with unfocused eyes.

“Naiara,” Lexi ventured from the bar, “Ah had two ponies from one of my runs caught an' taken to Plottawa. Think there's a chance your Atesh'll give 'em back?”

“I... yeah, a chance. Can't say more than that. I really don't know what Atesh is thinking with taking Plottawa like this.”

Lexi wasn't dissuaded. “Good enough. If you see the opportunity to bring it up with him, please do. Ah don't want Vorbis and Contego sittin' in there any longer'n they have ta.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter 25-2: Underground Derail Road

I found Naiara doing exactly what I expected of her. I watched, leaning against the barracks doorway, as she sat checking the pockets of her cloak. “So when are you leaving?”

A petty, not-as-small-as-I-would-like part of myself was satisfied as she jumped in fright. It was quickly squashed, however. I wasn't there to guilt-trip her.

Judging by that face, you're aware of how this looks, Naiara.

The zebra turned, a tight ball of knotted muscle, on the bed. “Cassie, I... look, I want to be here with Breeze, but-”

“I know,” She quieted at my gentle interruption. “you have to deal with your clanmates.”

“I... yeah.” Shrugging, Naiara fidgeted with some zebra contraption in her hooves.

Inhaling for several seconds, then letting it out, allowed me to remain composed. “I owe you an apology, Naiara. I am fighting the impulse to shout and scream at you for abandoning Breeze, but that's not fair.”

“I'm not-”

I held up a hoof. “I know you're not. Breeze is MY whole world, but she's only a part of yours. And that's...” Every adjective I knew ran through my mind to finish that sentence. In the end I just gave up. “...okay. I know you love Breeze, and have proven it over and over. Having more than her in your life does not diminish all that you are to her.”

Still tensed, Naiara silently waited for me to get my words out.

Why did nobody tell me it would be this hard? Oh, that's right. I don't have anybody to tell me that. “Your clan is important to you, and should be. You were right in the forest. We don't do enough to help you with the goals of your zebra compatriots. We should do more, and that's why I'm here to tell you that you don't have to feel guilty about heading to Plottawa.”

“I just have to find out what Atesh is thinking!” Naiara stuffed whatever she was holding back into a pocket with vigour. “This is totally new ground for him.”

I nodded. “the more we know how to deal with him, for good or ill, the better. Still, not just in the forest, but I remember what you said in Lethbridle too. When Breeze first got hurt.”

An ear flick went well with her clueless expression. “Uh.. what'd I say?”

The smile this drew from me couldn't be held back. “You demanded that we look after each other when going about our missions, to guarantee that Breeze wouldn't be alone when she woke up. You stopped just short of telling us all that you'd cripple us to make sure we were safe for when Breeze wakes up.”

She mumbled into her hoof. “...didn't want her to be hurt and alone.”

“And I love that thought process.” Crossing the room, my hoof tapped her in the sternum. “That being the case, I trust that you won't complain if I accompany you to Plottawa? I have to ensure that YOU stay safe for her, too.”

Her head cocked to the side. “But that won't solve anything! We'll both be gone, and Breeze won't have anybody around when she wakes up!”

“We'll get to that, don't worry. Please, just let me help you with this. You, and Cept, and..." A bitter taste caught in my throat as I continued. "...most of the others have been nothing but welcoming to Breeze and I. She's reciprocated, but I'm starting to realise that I've been too focused on her.” A tight smile flittered across my lips. “I still want to spend every waking moment making sure she's looked after and content, but our group has grown larger than just the two of us. You, Schwarzwald, Wings, Bosco and yes, even Undertow, have done much more for us than I have done in return.”

“What about Snow?”

Her question was ignored. “Breeze has given back, with her friendship and her technology, but I haven't. I want to start making good. You all deserve more from me. I can do better.”

“Cass, nobody's keeping a scorecard.”

“I am.” I set my jaw. “I can't simply coast on the sidelines, that's not friendship. You all must be satisfied that I am truly on your side, and not just as Breeze's plus-one. The least I can do is show you and your clan that you have my support in whatever enterprise you wish to undertake.”

“But what about Breeze? She'll still be sitting in that bed by herself.” Naiara had, loyally seized upon that point. Be at ease, friend. I have a plan.

“Yyyes, well, I was actually hoping you would help me to convince the Doublehorn brothers to watch over her while we are gone. They would most likely refuse if I asked, but have no reason to distrust you.”

“Well, except for conspiring with you, perhaps?” This time I was the one to jump, as Buff stepped through the doorway, followed by his two brothers. All three were stone-faced.

Let's find out. Rounding on him, I matched his stare. “And was I correct? Had I asked, would you have agreed?”

The buffalo's big face shifted slightly. “You were correct that we wouldn't have been happy about it, but no, we wouldn't have refused.”

Surprising. “Oh? Why is that?”

“Because your sister's not you.” Lo piped up. “'sides, Undertow stumped for the two of you, and we actually like her.”

“Same with Lexi,” Al supplied. “she agreed to heal her up, probably because she WASN'T the one who shot Snow. We trust their judgement on this.”

Buff lowered his head until it was right in front of mine. “That doesn't mean that there won't be a reckoning when you two, and Snow's group, get back. We won't just let this go.”

I doubted you would. “That's fine. This is hardly one-sided. I would caution you against assuming the best of Snowflake beforehoof, as a courtesy.”

Naiara waved a hoof between the two of us. “Ookay, don't ruin it after they've said yes, Cass. Come on, I don't want this taking any longer than it has to. We'll work things out, and be back before Breeze wakes up. Sound good?”

“Agreed.”

“...fine. Now what do you want us to say to Breeze, when she wakes up?”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“But did I really have to have my communicator off the entire way?”

“Yes, or else you'd have been stopping every hour to check in. We're on the clock here, Cass.”

Grumbling, I put the small device away, and followed Naiara through the forests east of Lethbridle. We'd made good time, but it was still long enough for me to run through several cycles of regretting leaving Breeze, rationalising leaving, hating Atesh and his machinations, and hating Snowflake in general.

The forest itself was withered and failing, with a moderate dusting of snow in the weak trees. Still, Naiara found us paths to follow, with only one sheer hill face requiring us to backtrack. I had offered to lift Naiara, but she vetoed it, saying I should save my strength for Plottawa itself.

Mimicking Naiara's movements as she moved through the forest was an exercise in futility. How does she balance like that? The best I could do was to simply try to move WHEN she did, rather than how.

Following this pattern, when she dropped straight to the ground, I did the same, before wriggling on my belly to where she lay. “What is it?”

“Patrol, stay still.” She whispered back, without moving her head. Her cloak was flicked back to cover my more vibrant coat, and we did our best to blend in with the landscape.

Soon, the crunch of hooves sounded through the trees, coming closer. From what I could hear, there were three of them, and they were talking amongst themselves.

“We seriously don't have the guys for this. Peanut took too many of us to Lethbridle.”

“Oh come on, that's not fair. He had no way of knowing Plottawa would be infiltrated. I mean, who'd be stupid enough to attack our headquarters? Generally, ponies try to avoid us.”

“Well, there's the rub, isn't it? Damn stripes don't think like we do. I don't know what they're after.”

“Doesn't matter. They can't hold out forever, even if we're running a ghost unit. We just need to keep 'em busy until the boss gets back from Lethbridle, with a fat stack of new Raider slaves in tow.”

I jerked, earning a kick from Naiara. They are trying to enslave the Raiders? Madness!

“Hell, they might as well just sic those lunatics on the zebras. They'll take care of them in no time.”

“And wreck half of Plottawa in the process, not to mention all the slaves we've already got in there? Raider slaves are a niche market, for those deathring types. Anywhere else, they cause more damage than they'll cover in payment. You might be broke, but I got some good stuff in my locker.”

“I know, that picture of your cousin.”

“DO. NOT. I'm already worried enough about her. She stayed behind to catch up on paperwork. If those zebras have hurt her...”

“Don't worry, dude, we'll get her. The stripes were just trying to scare us when they killed those unicorns from accounting, uh... Shoestring and Flip. They wouldn't just kill all of the support staff. No way they can keep the slaves in line without them.”

Naiara stirred in front of me at the mention of zebras slaughtering non-combatants. I tapped her back hoof with my bracer as comfort.

“'sides, the lieutenant'll think up a plan soon enough. She's devious, that one.”

“Yeah, whatever. Come on, let's get back. I wanna get those bastards out of my home.”

After a long few minutes, until she was absolutely sure they were gone, Naiara lifted the cloak and stood. I followed suit, brushing dirt and leaves from my haunches.

“Well, that was interesting. The Plottawans are down to their dregs. Good to know their teeth were pulled in Lethbridle. It might have been worthwhile after all.”

“Mhm,” was Naiara's distracted reply. “Come on, let's keep moving.”

“One moment, Naiara.” I shucked the last of the foliage off my gear. “Let me ask you: How does this end?"

“I don't know.” She shook her head. “Atesh has never had us do anything like this before. It's much more overt than we usually are. He doesn't pick fights like this without reason, and certainly doesn't trap himself and the clan in one place. It doesn't make any sense.”

“I'm worried about that 'lieutenant', too.” I glanced in the direction that the patrol had gone, my eyes just picking up their movements. “Peanut might be in Lethbridle, but if he trusted his second-in-command enough to leave her in charge here, she might be formidable in her own right.”

She waved that off. “One thing at a time, Cass. We need to get to Atesh, first.”

“I agree, but the Plottawans are between us and he. Any ideas?”

A wry smile appeared. “Yeah, I did use this one trick on my first trip here. All you need to do is find an open space, and wait for a patrol. Then, when I start, be ready to jump in.”

The smile was just the wrong side of unnerving. “What? What am I doing?”

In response, she led me to another clearing, and had me lay half-hidden behind a fallen tree trunk. “Keep those blades out of sight, but ready to use.” Then she was gone, blending into the trees in a way that made her near impossible to track, even for my vision.

Wonderful. I act as bait for slavers. How fun. If they come anywhere near me with a collar...

Quietly fuming, it took several minutes for me to pick up an approaching slaver patrol, and several more for them to notice me. I played the part well, limping dramatically as they approached.

“Well, well. What do we have here?”

“Yo, are those wings?”

“Hot damn! A Pegasus?”

“Easy on the eyes too. She'll fetch a bundle.”

“Please, no,” I 'whimpered', inwardly smiling at managing a flutter in my voice.

“Just come along quietly now.” The lead slaver, an earth pony mare, fished a collar from out of her supplies.

Before she could take another step towards me, Naiara dropped onto her two colleagues, knocking their guns away, before striking out with a hoof to the back of each's head.

The mare, startled, whipped her head around towards the zebra in shock. “What the—”

Was as far as she got before I buried Breeze's and my hidden blades in her back and neck, respectively. As she fell, I moved to help Naiara.

She didn't need it. She was a dance of devastation. I watched as a slaver swung a powerful hammerhoof straight at her head, only for the blindingly fast zebra to bend backwards, the attack sailing over her head. As the slaver's movement reached its end, she grasped his hoof, and in one swift motion struck at his back knee with all her weight. A sickening crunch and yell accompanied her as she used the created momentum to sail towards the second raider, delivering a two hoofed kick straight to his midsection.

The surprisingly tough second raider managed to keep his balance, his resilience fading fast in front of the thorough beating he was receiving. Naiara came spinning from the skies once more, this time delivering a vicious crane-kick with her front leg, before catching herself and landing in a crunching pirouette on his neck. The bone snapping was audible.

The first slaver, a unicorn stallion, got his rifle off the ground in a telekinetic haze, before my whip wrapped around his horn and yanked. Off-balance and off-focus, the rifle twisted in mid-air, smacking him in the jaw. Dazed, he fell long enough for my blades to finish him off.

Panting at the exertion, I sheathed the blades in bracer and greave. “What was the point of all this?”

Already stripping the bodies, Naiara tossed me a helmet. “Camouflage.”

Sniffing at the headgear, I pulled a face. “Joy.”

“Not the first disguise I've worn, probably won't be the last.”

“Hooray.”

Still, it did the job. While we made sure to steer clear of most Plottawan patrols, and we couldn't avoid seemed content with a simple wave of acknowledgement and counter-acknowledgement as we moved along. Soon enough, we found ourselves near the back wall of Plottawa itself.

Shucking off the foul trappings, I relished the feeling of stretching my wings again. “I wish we didn't have to do this again on the way out.”

Piling snow and branches atop the uniforms, Naiara just shrugged. “You gotta do what you gotta do. It'll be quicker than going without. All for Breeze, yeah?”

The things I do for love. “All for Breeze. What's next?”

Jade eyes turned to the wall before us. “Gimme a lift?”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The other side of the wall was not the secluded spot we hoped it would be.

“Is that a Pegasus?”

“Another one of those filthy stripes too!”

“Bitchwing traitor, how can you work with the zebras?”

Hunching my shoulders against the slaves' shouts, I concentrated on gently lowering Naiara onto the correct side of the slave pens. So their spirits haven't broken, at least. That's... good.

“What'd we do?” Naiara muttered, legs dangling.

“We were born with stripes and wings. Apparently that was wrong.” I let her go as we dropped to a metre above the ground. Crouching, she barely kicked up dust on impact.

Naiara's head jerked towards some boxes. “Behind there, before my clan comes to investigate what's got 'em all riled up.”

We barely had time to get out of sight before Naiara's prediction proved true. Two zebra, armed with the same rifles that all the Plottawans carried, slunk into the courtyard.

One of them pointed their weapon at the pens, demanding an explanation in broken Equestrian. The slaves responded by hurling abuse at this new target.

The other made a token attempt at looking around, but soon lost their patience with the captives. Growling in zebra, barely heard above the jeers, he directed his friend back inside.

When they were gone, I carefully peered over the top of the boxes. “What did the second one say?”

“Basically? 'To hell with these guys, it's cold out here'.”

“Eloquent.”

“Well, y'know, it loses something in the translation.”

“Of course. Lead the way?”

Naiara wriggled some warmth into her shoulders. “Let's see what I can remember from my last time here.” A small grin appeared. “And if I'm still the stealthiest zebra in my clan... even with a clodstomping pony slowing me down.”

“'Clodstomping'? How very dare you!” I held a certainly-clod-free hoof to my breast. “I'll have you know that no equine is lighter on their hooves than a pegasus.”

“Tell that to Breeze. If she leans the wrong way, she jingles when she walks.”

“That is not...” always “...true. She just likes to carry her materiels when she travels. If you'll remember, we don't have a home base to stash our extras.”

Canting her head to the side, Naiara shushed me slightly before responding. “Me neither, but I still know how to travel light.”

Folding my wings in, and tucking my loose mane strands behind my ears, I stuck close. “And that's why I trust you to get us through undetected, svara.”

Emitting a noise halfway through a groan and purr, Naiara flashed me a smile. “Flattery, my only weakness. You honey dripper, you.” Her grin faded as she took stock. “Okay, no more jokes. We're at the ballroom now. Big open space, very little cover. Good for a fight, bad for sneaking. Easiest bet? Stick to the wall, get ourselves through in one dash. Got it?”

Silly to spy in no time at all. Nicely done. Nothing more would be said until she gave the all clear, but my muscles tensed for whatever would be in the ballroom.

One step into the ballroom, Naiara changed her mind. She pointed at me, then pointed up, then flapped her hooves.

“Fly?” I mouthed back. At her nod, my wings spread. The reason for the change soon became apparent: The ballroom was solid wood flooring. Any hoofsteps would echo around the entire area. Naiara might have been soft enough to mask her sound, but I was better off airborne.

“Still think I could have walked,” I grumbled at the other end, before following Naiara down a hallway. We had passed the impressive stage that almost the entire length of one wall, the long-emptied bar where Naiara mentioned Snowflake had been flustered by Peanut, and the wide central area itself, where slavers had danced and mingled.

Turning the corner, we found ourselves in an office, with several rows of cubicles. A doorway at the other end caught my attention and, with a nudge to Naiara's shoulder, my hooves stayed grounded while beginning to cross the thick carpet. The rug absorbed all sound of my hooves, and a little thrill went through me as I imagined, for a moment, that I was as talented at infiltration as Naiara.

My daydream shattered a moment later, when I snaked around a cubicle and found myself face-to-glyph with a zebra guard looking the other way. Breath catching in my throat, my mind screamed for Naiara as my body locked up. Oh no. Nonono. Not now, we're so close!

I almost screamed as a hoof wrapped around my muzzle. Glinting green eyes identified her as the one zebra I wanted to see, even with her expression fixed in a grimace. With a mountain's slowness, we marched, one hoof at a time, around the corner of another cubicle. The unfamiliar zebra, engrossed in a flickering terminal display, did not turn around before we were out of the far doorway.

“Please tell me we are close.” Wheezing the words out, my body battled to remain quiet but still suck in all the air it had forgone in the other room.

Naiara was much cheerier. “Just up those stairs.” Barely ten metres away, at the top of said stairs, was a door of flawless oak.

Creeping our way up, a voice from inside grew louder as we ascended. “-ernstein has no power left, the agreement is void.”

“Atesh?” Naiara responded to my whisper with a nod.

If anyone responded to Atesh, I didn't hear them. He continued talking regardless. “I do possess this Plottawa which, once sterilised of the ponies outside the walls, will be a valuable commodity, for those seeking shelter OR slaves. I am free to bargain with any who ask, now that the fortune of the Bernstein is in the hooves of the Lethbridle chieftain. This 'Rockhaunch' is no schemer. He will not uphold her deal.”

“What deal?” Naiara and I chorused.

The door was open a crack, to which I pressed an eye. Inside, Atesh sat in a high-backed chair, tapping at his chin. “The only remaining question is if Cept managed to reach Naiara.”

On the wall of the stairwell, the slightest of shifts drew my attention. Looking round and past Naiara, I felt my jaw drop as two more zebra emerged from under their Stealth cloaks.

Atesh's inflection shifted. “Won't you tell me, Naiara?”

Wooden-limbed, Naiara stood and marched into the office, with the two zebra and I following. “Elder.”

“Welcome home, scout.” Atesh clasped his hooves in front of him, peering imperiously over them at the two of us, as the cloaked zebras took up station on either side of the door.

Shaking her head, Naiara pointed at the wall. “This isn't home, Atesh. I wouldn't be surprised if you could still see the imprint of my face from the last time I fought Peanut here.”

Tired hazel eyes barely flicked in that direction. “Much has changed since then, Naiara. Possibly everything.”

“Like our clan being slave traders now?” Naiara shot back.

“Naiara!” One of the door guards barked at her. “Roga tok amarin!”

Atesh raised a hoof. “Please, it is alright. Naiara has been away, and she does not know all that we have seen and done in her absence. She may speak her mind, in Equestrian, for the sake of our guest.”

Dirty looks were sent my way from the guards, but they said nothing more. How is it MY fault that we speak different languages?

Emboldened, Naiara took a step forwards. “Elder, what deal did you make with Amber Bernstein?”

Leaning back, he regarded us both with level eyes. “The Bernstein wished to remove the Raiders and Peanut as players in the region. She used Lethbridle for this purpose. Did you see the Plottawans arrive in the city?”

“We saw them appear out of nowhere, and attack the Raiders.”

“You are close to the truth. The Plottawans had a secret tunnel into the city from here. I am told that it was used to move slaves out of sight of the guards. An arrangement with the Merchant's Guild, if I recall correctly.” Atesh's laugh was nasal, mocking. “No matter. The Bernstein asked us to collapse it behind the Plottawans.”

“Why us?”

I gave Naiara a curious glance at 'us'.

“She offered payment of supplies and information, and we accepted as the natural choice. We are skilled in the ways of stealth. It was not difficult to follow the Plottawan army on its way.” A burst of outside gunfire cut through the conversation for a moment. “Still, we had hoped to trap ALL of the slavers.”

“Is that why you took Plottawa? To kill the rest of the slavers?”

Atesh shook his head. “No, we were only asked to collapse the tunnel. We are here because the opportunity was there. The slavers outside were on patrol when we breached these walls. Now, we have supplies, weapons, and the means to further my goals.”

“What means?”

Atesh leaned forward again, onto his steepled limbs. “The slaves. There are many unicorns among them. We will test them. Perhaps among them is one of sufficient power to wield the horn.”

Oh, dear. Twisting my back hoof ever-so-slightly, I felt the slight shift inside Breeze's greave. A surprise, in case this rapidly collapsing conversation went even further downhill.

Naiara wasn't any happier about the direction it was going either. “The horn is still dangerous, Elder! We don't know all that it can do, or all that it will do.”

“And that is why a pony will take the brunt of the effects. Whoever we choose to wield the horn will only do so at my order. They are as much a tool to be used as the horn itself.”

Naiara put her hooves on the desk and leaned forward, nose to nose with Atesh. “And will it truly get you home, Elder? Will you be accepted back, even though your beliefs have not changed?”

The two guards gasped at the same time as Atesh's expression soured. “Watch your tongue, Naiara. It is starting to sound like you do not support our efforts.”

She didn't pull back. “I want the best for this clan, Elder, and-”

“I decide what is best for this clan, Naiara. The horn will bring us glory, the means to revive our entire nation. Belief will not matter, for we will be NECESSARY.” He rose, mirroring Naiara's stance. “My goal is still to have Latvi wield the horn. His magic is useful, but he himself is weak. If I cannot have him, then we will take another suitable unicorn, either one who is known to be susceptible to the horn's power, or are themselves powerful in their own right. Even without the slaves, Latvi is not our only option."

My heart skipped a beat, and meeting Naiara's gaze confirmed my suspicions. He's going after...

Beseeching, Naiara stepped back and genuflected. “Elder, please. Not them. They won't help you.”

Gathering his crimson robe around him, Atesh provided no comfort. “We do what we have to, scout, for the good of our kind. Any and all will be used for that goal.”

“No, they won't.” I triggered the greave, and squeezed my eyes shut.

Even from inside my eyelids, the glare was visible. Thank you and your explosives, Breeze. All four zebra were crying out in pain as the flash grenade went off. Trusting in hooves and my memory, I reached out in what was hopefully Naiara's direction, grabbing tight to the first body part I came across.

“My mane! Ow, let go!”

Success! “Naiara, come on. We're leaving!” About-facing, I knocked aside the reeling guards without resistance.

Taking the stairs with my eyes shut, and a zebra in tow, proved far more difficult, and painful. Still, the adrenaline was pumping. It allowed me to pick us both up from the bottom of the stairs where we'd fallen, and keep going.

“NAIARA!” Atesh thundered from Peanut's office. “RETURN TO ME AT ONCE! THIS HAS GONE ON LONG ENOUGH! YOU WILL NOT BETRAY THIS CLAN!”

“Notyourfaultnotyourfaultnotyourfault...” I chanted as she gave a choking sob.

Far enough from the flash, I could open my eyes. With no more thought for stealth, we rocketed through Plottawa's halls, offices, and ballroom.

One pair of zebras leapt out to bar our path, but I slung another of Breeze's grenades at them. It exploded in a concussive wave, launching them back and away. They lay groaning as we rushed past. We were in the pens, and over the wall, before any more of Naiara's clan could catch up.

Hastily dragging our Plottawan uniforms back on, we ran into the dark forest.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter 25-3: Underground Derail Road

In the forest, all the trees began to blend together. “Naiara, which way?”

Several seconds passed with no answer. I looked over at her. Her eyes jittered as she ran, and she mouthed to herself. “I can't believe Atesh would go that far. It's... it's...”

“Naiara!” My shout seemed to reach her, as her head rose for a moment. “Which. Way?”

“Right, right. It's, uh...” Blinking, she shot me a sheepish smile, before pointing to our right. “That way.”

“Okay!” No time to get angry now. We have to get out of here. “You know there was nothing you could have done, right? It wasn't your fault.”

“I don't know whose fault it is, or even who's wrong.” Naiara stumbled over a thick root. “Atesh... Atesh has never been like this before. And it's all because of Lethbridle.”

“That was Amber's idea, not yours,” I reminded her.

“We helped!” she snapped back almost going over another root. “We broke Lethbridle on Amber's orders, turned the people homeless, and screwed up a lot of other people's hopes, including my clan!”

“We also stopped the Raiders, and crippled Peanut's slaver operation. Nobody made Atesh take Plottawa afterwards. His job was done after the tunnel collapsed.”

“Amber never paid up on that!”

“Blame Rockhaunch for that! He took her caps.”

“He had reason.”

“No, he has a kleptomaniac streak. Regardless of the outcome of Lethbridle, that money was not his to take. He threatened Bernstein. In essence, he mugged her at gunpoint. Well, crowdpoint.”

Naiara halted in her tracks, spinning and glaring at me. “So, what? We're just supposed to pretend that this is all okay? Everybody does whatever they want?”

My wings shifted uncomfortably inside the uniform. “No, of course not. We can't say that this is how we wanted things to turn out. It is, however, how things have turned out. Things are going to change after Lethbridle. A lot of people will do things they never thought they would do, for reasons that wouldn't make sense to them a week ago.” Like listen to Undertow. “We can't bury ourselves in the mistakes of others. We can only recognise that we might have to react to them. Whatever Atesh is doing now, it is not in the same 'best interests' of your clan as a week ago. The change is in him, not the clan. You saw that in Peanut's office. He is the one who has strayed, not you. If you want to help, help him realise that. Don't bow to his wishes if they don't make sense any more.”

We held each other's gazes for a few seconds more, before she turned away, resting her forehead against a tree. “Oh, what's Cept gonna think? He's closer to Atesh than I am. Hell, he's closer to the clan than I am these days. He should be told. He'll know what to do better than me.”

“You see? That is a sensible course of action. You can work with Cept to find the next step, and help each other to get there. Your clan is still your clan, and they still need you, Naiara.”

Breathing in slowly, Naiara lifted her head from the tree trunk. “When did you get so good at pep talks?”

“I've got a little sister who is occasionally... moody,” was my sly remark.

Despite herself, she smiled. “Yeah, okay. Let's go see her too.”

We turned back to the right path. “Wonderful choi-” My words died on my tongue.

There, through a clearing in the trees, silhouetted against the cloud cover, was the shape of a Pegasus.

“BREEZE!” I didn't even question it, just took off straight for it.

“Cassiewaitno!” Naiara's cry was left behind with her.

She's okay! She's... she's flying! The wind stung at my eyes as I sped up towards her. Laughter threatened to bubble out from between my lips, but some impish desire squashed it down when I saw that she was looking away from me. I'll sneak up and spook her, it'll be hilarious!

Then the pegasus in the sky half-turned, enough for me to make out a few features, even in the low light.

Her Plottawan uniform.

The unfamiliar lines of her face.

Her Pipbuck.

The laughter within me morphed into anger. She still hadn't seen me, and twisted unnaturally when I blasted up behind her. “WHO ARE YOU, AND WHY AREN'T YOU BREEZE?”

The stranger Pegasus' voice was clipped, sharp. “What? Who's Breeze? Who're you?”

“Who am I? I was the only other Pegasus around for miles. Why are you here, why are you wearing a Plottawan uniform, and why do you have a Pipbuck?”

Her sneer grew. “Why is any of that YOUR business? Why are you wearing a Plottawan uniform?”

My judgement was not the best at that moment. “To blend in with the Plottawans in the forest. What does it matter? Who ARE you?”

Running a hoof down her face, she folded her front legs across her chest. “This is getting us nowhere. If you want to know who I am, introduce yourself first. You're not the only one here who's surprised to see another Pegasus. I was given to understand that we're something of a rarity these days.”

Oh. I see. The world began to slow down and make sense again. “You're from the Stable, aren't you?”

Shock flittered through her eyes for the smallest of moments, before she quashed it beneath a smug smile. “That's correct, I am a Stable pony. I suppose the Pipbuck gave me away?”

“Among other things.” I rubbed at my hoof, where a Pipbuck would have been, were I from the Stable. “You are not the first dweller from Stable 61 who I have come across.”

“Hmm, so the Doublehorns survived then? Excellent. They always were... wait.” Her look was calculated, guarded. “No, not the Doublehorns. You've had the misfortune of meeting Snowflake, haven't you, my dear?”

I didn't say anything, but she continued as if I had. “Even now, that girl manages to cause me grief. Even out here. You wouldn't think it possible outside of my Stable, yet here we are. She has been a thorn in my side from the day she was born.”

“Your Stable?” Words from the Doublehorns, down in the Lethbridle bunker, came back to me.

“Indeed. I am no mere resident of Stable 61. I am its leader, its guide, its Overmare.” Her chest swelled with each declaration.

“Oh? I heard 'former'.”

My challenge dropped her self-adulating awe into a sneer. “I am past, present, and future. I will lead the Stable until I die. Not even Snowflake's actions can disrupt that, regardless of what that buzzard, Roc, believes. Even out here, leadership finds me. Plottawa will give me back my Stable, and I will open its doors to this land of opportunity.”

“Land of opportunity,” I took in the pervasive cloud cover, the dead forest, and the miles and miles of inhospitability around us, “...really?”

“Doubters such as yourself will be disproven, dear Wasteland Pegasus. On that topic, I still don't have your name.”

It was my turn to give a smug grin. “I'm the mare who played you for information, Willow Wisp,” she twitched at the name, “and all without telling you who I am.” I popped my hidden blades. “Now then, since you have already revealed your intent to hand Stable 61 over to Plottawa, which I can't allow, I'll be taking that Pipbuck from you, Overmare.”

Fruitlessly attempting to hide the device behind her, she backed off a couple of metres. “What good could my Pipbuck possibly do you?”

This is a lot like the first time I met Snowflake. Talked about Pegasi, Pipbucks were gonna change hooves, they both suck at hiding things... “I know somepony with an affinity for gadgets. She'd be thrilled to get her hooves on it.”

Willow Wisp moved further back as I approached. “Hmm, this 'Breeze' no doubt. You are aware that, by doing this, you are making an enemy of Plottawa, and Stable 61?”

Yes? My heart, she weeps at the thought. “It was bound to happen sooner or later.”

Her grin turned feral, but it was still there. “Why do you say that?” My poker face failed me, and she seized the opportunity. “You called me the 'former' Overmare, and you have been utterly nonplussed about Stable 61 and Plottawa. The Doublehorns told you of my current status, no doubt, but they would not have been so blasé about the danger. Yes, I see now. I know why you even know of the Doublehorns at all. Snowflake wasn't met in passing, was she? You know her personally. She's an acquaintance, perhaps even a friend?”

I couldn't stop myself. “Not a chance.” Damnation, Cassiopeia, you foolish filly. Why not just tell her that you're travelling with Snowflake while you're at it?! The victorious smirk she wore confirmed that I'd said too much.

Throwing caution to the wind, and to ensure that I gave nothing more away, I charged her. She couldn't react fast enough to dodge, and we grappled.

It was a short fight. Every move she made was to avoid my blades. Every move I made was to get the Pipbuck. After mere seconds, I managed to trigger the release of her personal computer, and it slipped from her wrist.

Both of us dove after it, shoving and shouldering, but it was too late. The Pipbuck reached the tree line...

...and was snagged by the cloaked zebra waiting there.

No! That's just as bad! The Overmare forgotten, I divebombed the zebra.

Lips curling, they gathered their stealth cloak around them and the Pipbuck with a flourish, and disappeared.

Roaring, I turned to take my vengeance on the Overmare, but she was already winging away towards the other Plottawans, drawn by the commotion. “Another time, my dear!”

Impotent, I could do nothing but take flight back towards Naiara. Towards safety.

I was so close!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Emerging from the forest into the dawn light, Naiara broke our silence. “So what was that back there?”

“What was what?” I groused, knowing full well.

“You just took off mid-sentence. Cassie-lass, what did your Pegasus eyes see?”

A quick glance over to her showed that she wouldn't let it go. Sighing, I ground out the words. “I saw another pegasus, and foolishly assumed it was a somehow-healthy Breeze. It wasn't. My hopes overrode my eyes.”

“So there's a third Pegasus around, then? Who was it?”

My reply was incredulous. “Snowflake's Overmare.”

Cackling in disbelief, Naiara slowed down. “You're kidding.”

“No, I am not. Also, she apparently hates Snowflake almost as much as I do.” That, at least, is a development worth pondering.

Blinking to herself, Naiara lined up her questions. “Is she with the Plottawans?”

“Yes.”

“Because of Snow?”

“No. She believes they will give her back her Overmare status in the Stable.”

“Really?”

“Indeed, but...” My hoof tapped the underside of my wrist, at the strap of my bracer. “She may find it more difficult now that her Pipbuck is in Atesh's hooves.”

This time, Naiara stopped cold. “What? How did that happen?”

Ego on my part, combined with a generous portion of bad luck. “I tried to take it from her, but we dropped it in the confusion. One of your clan was waiting in the treetops.”

“Well... shit.” Kicking at the dirt, Naiara started jogging again. “I'm not sure I like the idea of Atesh getting into that Stable, at least as he is now.”

Nor do I. “We'll have to deal with that when it comes. For now, Atesh's attention seems to lie elsewhere. Let us hope it stays there, and at least it will keep Willow Wisp busy in attempting to retrieve the Pipbuck, rather than any other action.”

“So she'll keep going after my clan?” Face falling, Naiara turned round eyes on me.

“...Yes. Sorry, but I think it might be the best thing for the moment. They have a stalemate at Plottawa, and the longer it goes on, the longer the Plottawans are not gathering new slaves, or selling off the ones they have. The same goes for your clan. We couldn't have removed either side without the other gaining control of the compounds again. For now, they need to be stuck with each other for the slaves' sake.”

“Mua leija.” She groaned. “This has not been a good trip.”

There was no real way to debunk that. “My apologies, I did not mean for things to turn out as they have.”

A raspberry blew from her lips. “'snot your fault. Well, maybe that last part, but there's plenty of bad to go around. Let's just get back to Sprinkles Supplies. I need to see Cept, to tell him about Atesh, and to see Breeze, to make sure she's okay.”

I've already been cheated out of seeing MY Pegasus already, I'm not waiting any longer. “Could not agree more. Let me check to see if the others are back yet.”

Fishing out my communicator, I flipped onto my back. After stabilising it on my belly, my hooves flicked the power on.

The speaker crackled before I could key the mic. “...is Amber Bernstein, broadcasting again for Cassiopeia Venatici and/or Naiara. Please respond. Over.”

We exchange raised eyebrows, before responding to the businessmare. “Amber? Why are you contacting us?”

Impatience oozed from the speaker. “Excellent, you finally respond. I have been asked to transfer you through to your allies the moment you are on the line.”

“What about?” Neither Naiara nor I could do more than shrug.

Amber didn't bother to explain. “Patching you through now.”

I notice you aren't signing off, Bernstein, not that it matters with your little spies in Breeze's system. I can assure you that that will change soon.

The next voice on the line was more familiar, and somewhat more welcome. “Hello? Naiara? Cassie?” Undertow's watery words were washed out, blowing winds in the background muffling the sound.

Both of us managed a smile at this. The times, they are a-changing. “We're here, Undertow. Amber informs me that you wish to speak with us. Is everything okay?”

“No,”

I gasped along with Naiara. Please not Breeze.

“It's Bosco.”

Relief at Breeze's safety went to war with this new concern. “Bosco? What about him? He is with you, yes? Is he hurt?”

Silence followed for a few seconds. I landed next to Naiara, both of us crowding in close to the speaker. Naiara affected a gentle plea. “Undertow, please speak to us. What's happened to Bosco?”

“It's... um... it's complicated.”

“'Complicated'? I repeated.

“Mm.” If she were in person, I had no doubt that Undertow would have been speaking with her chin resting on her chest. “We found the last Memory Orb underneath Neighlway, but... we also found something else. Or Bosco did, at least.”

“What did he find?” My heart rate was rising again.

“The Silver Fog creatures. They were there. They... did something to Bosco. He... panicked.”

“Panicked how?” Naiara cut in, frowning.

Another crackle came through the receiver. “He ran away. We couldn't catch him before he was out of sight. We don't know for sure where he is now, but we have some ideas.”

“Hoofshine?” I ventured.

“Yes,” Undertow's speech became slightly more bubbly. “we think he might go there, or back to Sprinkles Supplies. We want to check those two first, before we look anywhere else.”

An internal groan threatened to deafen me. I know what you're gonna say next, Deep Diver.

“Cassie, your wings can get you to Hoofshine Harlots much faster than any of us. Could you check there, and Naiara tries Sprinkes Supplies?”

“And, of course, Wings is all tied up with the sky carriage and can't go, yes?” The caustic nature of my reply couldn't have been mistaken, even through the radio.

“Um.”

“You know this is keeping me from my sister, when she needs me the most?” Do you recognise what you are asking of me, Undertow.

From the timidity of her response, she did. “Yes. I'm sorry, but this is for Bosco. You are the only one who can get there fast enough.” Her bubbliness diminished. “Cassie, he's... he's all alone, and scared. Terrified. He needs you. Please help him.”

Naiara's doleful jade eyes pressed the point home. “Breeze is safe. You know that. It sucks, but Bosco might not be. She won't blame you.”

There's really only one answer I can give. You know that, and I know that. Make no mistake, though. I AM going to be unpleasant about this, all the way back to Breeze's side. “Naiara, why are you still here?”

Her head cocked to the side. “Huh?”

My jaw and lips set firm. “If I find out that neither of us were at Breeze's side when she woke up, I will visit such pain unto you as you have never known.” I switched to talking into the mic. “Undertow, the same goes for Cept. If he is not there for Breeze in my stead, I will strongly consider castration. Without anaesthetic.”

Shocked silence won out from all sides.

Oh, for the love of— “NOW!” I ordered.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“No, no, Atesh. Unicorns are certainly the ponies you should be coveting. All that magic must make them so very useful, yes? Too bad not a one of them has invented a 'get off your voluminous flank and actually do something useful' spell. That would have been just wonderful, but instead they leave it all up to the other ponies. Earth ponies do the heavy lifting, and Pegasi are there for the long-range. Truly, Unicorns are the pinnacle of ponykind, Atesh. Truly.” Clamouring at the injustice of the situation had become my way to distract myself from the injustice of the situation.

While I couldn't deny that I was the only one who could make the trip in such little time, it did not dull the sting of flying away from Breeze second after second.

Ugh, making friends is hard work. So much... compromise. Hopefully Naiara is near Sprinkles Supplies. If she has been dawdling...

The thought wasn't fair to her, or worthy of me, but I was not without my own limits. Travelling to Plottawa had taken hours. We had passed midnight, and now dawn, and still I was separated from my sister. Finding Bosco quickly was paramount. Whatever was wrong with him would be taken care of, but hopefully it could wait until we rejoined the others.

I wonder what happened to you, Bosco. To come this far north, you must have been running full tilt for hours. What could have scared you so badly?

A sudden brisk squall had me shivering. I descended to a few metres above the barren landscape, trying to draw what little warmth I could from the dust and rocks. If there was a change, it was marginal.

Complaining about it got me the rest of the way to Hoofshine.

Touching down in the snow outside the brothel, the crunch audible in the biting air, I took in the situation. Hmm, the door is on the other side from the wind, so no hoofprints to show Bosco has been here. I'll just have to check inside.

Perhaps help myself to some tea, too.

Keying 'Cefar' into the pad, the door unlocked. Knocking my hooves against the door frame, to dislodge the snow, I headed inside.

It wasn't warm, what with our being absent for several days, but it was more hospitable than outside. The bright and summery colours did much to give at least the impression of warmth.

I took a few minutes to brew some coffee, judging it a better choice than tea, given the flying I still had to do, and strolled down the halls to my room.

Looking in, I found it quite... empty. Everything I owned was either strapped to my legs, or in mine or Breeze's bags at Sprinkles Supplies. Given that Snowflake was the one who had gifted us these rooms, I hadn't felt comfortable leaving anything here.

Wait a moment...

I was mistaken. I, or more likely Schwarzwald, had left on the floor a few dried drops of something that caught the light from the hall.

Blushing, I fetched a wet rag from the kitchen, scrubbing at the floor until I was sure that the... spillages had been removed. I'll have to be more careful about that.

Breeze's room was in much the same state as my own, but I spotted a few nuts and bolts kicked into a corner. I couldn't help but smile at them. Even when you're supposed to be sleeping, eh, sister?

Naiara's room, and her dresses, lay undisturbed, as did all the other ground floor rooms. That only left the master bedroom under the bar. It, too, yielded no Bosco. The bathtub was still drained, the bed was made, and the stores showed no evidence of recent use.

Returning to the bar, I pondered what to do next.

If Bosco isn't here, I should head back. The others should have arrived by now.That sounded great to me, as I was looking forward to returning. But, before I could even take a step, another thought slithered its way into my mind, unbidden. He could have gone to Cefar, and I'm closer than any of the others. Another trip this far north would take a long time. I could make it there in a few hours, verify if Bosco is there, and THEN head back. It would save a second trip, at the cost of a few hours more away from Sprinkles Supplies.

I sighed heavily. Decisions, decisions. Except to leave now would be leaving the search unfinished, and Bosco is still out there, as Undertow said, alone and scared. Could I leave him by himself, just to get back to Breeze a few hours sooner?

What would you say to me about that, Breeze?

“...Sometimes you irritate me so much, sister.”

Washing my coffee cup and rag in the sink, I headed back out of the building. After resetting the pass code, the ground was left behind.

The treetops on the way to Cefar were fuller than those near Plottawa. They didn't look completely healthy, but they did have some foliage buried under the dusting of snow. If I flew just above them, my wings would kick up tiny flakes to be sucked into my wake. Pretty, but not what I'm here for.

Rising higher, there was a slight thinning of the air, and my speed increased. Half an hour passed like this, and I began to have hope that I would see Cefar in my sniper's eyes any moment.

Instead, I got an eyeful of frost as a sudden rush of snow barreled into me, carried on strong winds. The flurry halted almost all of my momentum, and I had to shield my face to even see a short distance in front of me.

Beating my wings thrice as hard for a third of the gain, I wheeled around to look for a place to land. Splashes of pastel colour drew my attention to my right. There, roughly one hundred metres away, lay the half-covered remains of some unnatural structure.

Having no other options for getting out of the wind, I headed for it. Just as I was coming in to land, one lucky snowflake got passed my guarding hooves, and hit me square in the left eye. Grunting at the sudden sensation, I blinked rapidly to melt it away. Unfortunately, this still took up enough of my attention for my hind leg, with its greave-widened diameter, to clip the top of something metal, twisting me over and down. The snow cushioned my fall, but my back and wings still felt the impact.

Groaning, I opened my watering eyes to see the miniature blizzard dying away. Excellent timing, as always. Tilting my head back, I looked at what had caught my hoof.

The metal sign, faded by legible, read “Welcome to Snow Pegasus Park”, with a guideline of 'ages 4 to 12' in smaller lettering underneath. Around the words, pictures of happy foals clambered atop colourful apparati.

“A... play area? This far out?” Flexing the snow from my wings, I stood up and took stock.

Snow lay piled on top of everything, to one degree or another, but there was a long plank of wood, with red hoof holds at each end, and a pivot on the middle base, also in red. Further along was a green triangular frame, from which hung yellow seats on chains, which swayed gently in the fading wind. In the centre was a blue circular device, big enough to fit several foals, again with several bars to hold on to. Finally, off to the side, was a large orange cube made to look like a house, with a spacious hole where the front door would be, to allow access to the presumably hollow inside.

In another situation, it would have been a lovely place to visit, but at that moment I was utterly unconcerned with the visual appeal.

Several hoofprints remained in the snow in front of the playhouse.

Shrinking back behind the metal sign, I ran through the options for my next move. Only one set of prints, I could take them. Unless they have backup... A quick circle spin showed no other prints in the snow besides my own. Just one then. They haven't attacked yet, either. Better yet, they might have seen Bosco. I think I can risk it. “...Hello? Can you hear me?”

“C-Cassie?” The voice was young, very young, but still reminiscent of...

“Bosco?” Jumping around the sign, I rushed up to the playhouse. “Bosco, is that you?”

A very pregnant pause descended, before the distorted voice finally responded. “I... don't know.”

Undertow's words came back to me. “The Silver Fog creatures. They were there. They... did something to Bosco.” I tapped one hoof on the playhouse roof, but didn't look inside. “Bosco, are you hurt?”

“I don't know.” He responded, more coltish than ever.

Not a good sign. “Undertow told me that something happened. What—”

“I DON'T KNOW!” The voice from inside rose several more octaves.

“Okay, okay,” Trying not to press, I backed off and sat on the pivot game. “I'm right here. It's just Cassie, nopony else. Will you please come out and just... talk to me?”

“...nopony else,” Even with the foalish voice, the melancholy was blatant, “Alright, I'm coming out. Please don't freak out.”

A pair of slate grey hooves emerged first, followed by a mop of charcoal mane, and finally the rest of the tiny, shaking colt came after. Shivering, the little thing stood across from me, one eye covered by his hair.

Several thoughts ran through my mind at the sight. That's not Bosco. Oh my, that is Bosco. He's so little! He's so cute! WHAT HAPPENED?! “I... I...” Had nothing, petering off into silence.

Stubby legs shuffling slowly, he walked towards the seesaw. “I didn't want anyone to see me like this.”

Finding my voice, and resisting several inappropriate-but-adorable urges, my leg swung off the beam, so that I was standing in front of, and also over, him. “Bosco, you look... so young. How? Did the Silver Fog cast an age spell on you?”

His sad smile threatened to break my heart. “No, Cass, no they didn't. Um... I did this.”

“But... you can't cast spells, you're an Earth pony.”

Sniffling, and brushing at his eye with a teeny hoof, he moved around me and sat down on the seesaw. “No, I'm not. I'm not a pony, Cassie.”

More concrete doubts began to press at the back of my mind, but I pushed them back. “What are you saying, Bosco?”

His head dropped until it was resting on the handle. Whatever meager adulthood was left in his voice vanished as he squeaked out “Cass, I'm a Changeling.”

My jaw dropped. You poor thing. “Bosco, I... didn't know."

He laughed. It was a veteran's laugh, half-death and half-resignation. “That makes two of us. Those things under Neighlway knew, though. The whole time. Six years I travelled by myself, just me and those Orbs, and they didn't even tell me.” The squeaks turned to cracks. “Why didn't they tell me, Cass? Why did they do this to me?” And then to sobs. “Why didn't they help me?”

“Oh, Bosco, come here.” Wrapping my hooves around him, I pulled the quaking little ball of pony-Changeling into my lap, and let him cry it out.

I had little to offer him except my warmth, and my hoof stroking his unruly mane, until he calmed enough to continue. “The Silver Fog... Changelings told me that I'm one of them, but I don't know what that means. I don't have any idea how to be a Changeling. I just...” moisture soaked into my coat again, “...I just wanna be Bosco again. Go back to before all this happened. Changeling aren't good guys, Cassie. I don't wanna be a bad guy!”

His words hit me deep inside. I'd whispered them to myself over and over, night after night, quietly so as not to wake Breeze, for years after I learned the truth. I can't imagine what you've been thinking, out here all by yourself. 'Scared and alone' doesn't even come close. But... you don't have to be scared. “Bosco, let me tell you about Breeze and my parents.”

And I told him, everything that I'd told Undertow: The separation between Breeze and I, what had happened to our Pegasus parents, how much it hurt in the quiet moments, and everything in between.

He listened, curled up in my lap, without a word of interruption. Only when I was done did he speak up, in a voice much closer to the one I knew. “Wow, Cassie, that's... wow. So you and Breeze are—”

“Raiders by birth, yes.” I booped him on his itty-bitty snout. “And that's the point, Bosco. We're Raiders by birth only. Everything after that, has been what Cassie and Breeze decided. Breeze can do more on technology with her hooves than any Raider can do, or even any Unicorn can do with magic. I am, to toot my own horn, as far from a slavering sadistic monster as a pony can be. Our Raider blood does not define us, nor does our pegasus blood. Nor does your Changeling blood.”

Considering this carefully, he shook his head. “But what am I supposed to do about this, Cass? I don't know how to be a Changeling. I only know how to be Bosco.”

“Then that's all you have to be.” I replied, emphatic. “Being a Changeling doesn't take away your choices. In fact, in this case, being a Changeling gives you more choices. If you want to be a new pony every day, you can do that. If you want to be the same colt I know every day, you can do that too. It is entirely up to you. The only thing you HAVE to be, is Bosco. Just like the only thing I have to be is Cassie. Even staying as Breeze's sister was a choice, one that I have never regretted, not really.”

He studied his grey hooves intently. “But which is the better choice? I don't even know where to start.”

I laid my hooves over his. “I know. Having too much choice can be even scarier than having no choice, I'll wager. Whatever you choose, that will be you choosing to be the Bosco you want to be. There's freedom in that, and in being a Changeling. And no matter what, you won't be alone. I'm sure will be right there to help you out, but I can tell you for certain at this very moment, that I will be by your side for as long as you want or as long as you need. I won't let you be alone in this. I know how much that would hurt, and I don't want that for you.”

Curling his hooves around mine, he snuggled back into my chest. “I... still don't know anything: Why this happened to me, who I was before those six years, and what Changelings really are.”

“I'll help you find them. I promise.” Holding him around the belly, I spread my wings. “Now then, do you think you can stay like this for a while? A little fuzzball like you should be small enough for me to carry back to Sprinkles Supplies.”

He jerked in my grasp. “Like this, but the others-”

“...don't have to see this.” My cheek nuzzled against his. “I'll take us down a little ways out, and you can try your Changeling magic to look like whatever you want. I'll wait and help until you get it right. Right now, though, I really wanna see Breeze. She might have woken up by now.”

Eyes still wide and grip still tight, Bosco managed a nod. “I... okay. Let's go see Breeze. I want her to see her okay too.”

Planting a kiss on the back of his head, I kicked off into the sky. “Thank you, Bosco. One last thing, if you wouldn't mind. The things I told you? Undertow knows, but can you please keep it a secret from the others. I'll tell Wings, Naiara, and Schwarzwald when I'm ready, but I won't tell Snowflake, and I CAN'T tell Breeze. Ever. Will you keep this between us, and Undertow?”

A hint of his usual bashfulness returned. “Not my secret, Cass. Wouldn't dream of it.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Level Up!

Perks gained:
Stuck In The Middle With You – Auxiliary abilities are boosted across the party.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Author's Note

I guess we're gonna have a little overlap in the next chapter too. My bad.

This is the first, and probably only, chapter to not feature Snowflake outside of a reference point. Wasn't so bad. I'll get yelled at by my editor for it, but what are you gonna do. Not my fault she got stuck in La Buque... wait...

As always, a big thank you to Kkat, Kyts, Y1,
Auramane, Cascadejackal (he did the original cover art, which is still on the Fallout Equestria wiki), and you, the readers. Please read and comment, and pass the word along if you like the story.

That’s all for now, folks. Please keep reading, commenting, and spreading the word on Old Souls. I really appreciate your feedback, and welcome back.

Chapter 26-1: The Balance Of Wants & Needs

Chapter 26: The Balance Of Wants & Needs

[Bring all your weapons, bring your convictions, your flag of the bull…]

Swooping in low, a few hundred yards out from Sprinkles Supplies, our sky carriage's wake bowled over Naiara as she ran beneath us.

As the flying machine rattled to a stop, Cept was first out of the door, bounding over to assist his fellow clan member. “Are you hurt?”

Gripping his offered hoof for support, the supple mare almost dragged the taller zebra down as she hauled herself upright. “Cept! I have so much to tell you!”

“You have found Bosco?”

She hid her blanch behind steadying her balance. “Uh...”

Naiara's hesitation made me pause in the process of unhooking Wings. The griffon and I sharing a look as she vocalised my thoughts. “They couldn't find him?”

“M-maybe he's inside?” I really hope you're inside, Bosco.

With a sad shake of her head, Naiara apologised to each of us in turn. “I haven't seen him. There's something else too...”

Golden eyes betraying his sadness, Cept looked around. “Where is Cassie?”

“...okay, SEVERAL 'somethings'.” She pointed to the main gate of the Sprinkles compound. “Let's get inside. I'll tell you what Cassie and me found out.”

Why is she looking at me?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“I KNOW THEY'RE GLOWING! Just... leave it alone!” Slapping a hoof over my eyes, I waved Undertow away and tried to focus on the conversation. I tried so hard to focus on ideas to help Bosco, but one image had taken root in the back of my mind and wouldn't be dislodged.

The smug, condescending sneer of the Overmare as I'd last seen her, in Latvi's Sombratic vision at the Raider summit.

And then I froze her solid. The thought did provide some solace, even as my glowing-eyes-inducing anger threatened to bubble over. Should've shattered her too. Fucking Overbitch.

Whapping myself upside the mind, I dragged myself back to the present. Bosco, dammit!

We all sat outside in the cooling afternoon air. Naiara and Cept jabbered rapidly in the zebra tongue, keeping their worries about Atesh and his actions to themselves. I wished they wouldn't, but Cept still had reservations about spreading clan matters to anyone not a part of it.

They know we'll help them, at least. As soon as they decide on what they want to do, we'll get on it.

My brothers, too far out of the loop to really contribute, still managed to help put me at ease, just by staying nearby. Amber Bernstein also attended, keeping close to Schwarzwald. The businessmare listened closely as the mercenary discussed our next steps with Undertow, Wings and I.

Wings was being extra careful with her words, constantly shooting glances at Bernstein and my Doublehorns. The effort had her feathers bunching up. “Even if we can find Bosco, and help him with his... problem, it still leaves the issue of what to do next. We can't go back to Neighlway, the... group we found at the agriculture facility scattered on us, and the forest never existed in the first place!”

Undertow scrunched up her nose. “What comes after isn't important right now, Wings. All that matters is making sure Bosco is okay, body AND soul. He's been through a lot, even before this.”

“Oh, and we haven't?”

“Not like this! His whole world has changed!” The downward curve of her lips, coupled with the slight tremour in her speech, showed how hard Undertow was fighting to stay calm. “You weren't there when he first got exposed to... them.” She all but spat the word. “He almost died!”

Schwarzwald remained sat between the two of them, wearing her wry smile. “Your loyalty to our little Boss Colt does you well, Undertow-dahling, but Wings is right. We have all been in mortal peril at one point or another.”

“And yet you say that with a smile.” I plopped down next to my sister. “I'm with Undertow. Let's just find Bosco first. Has anybody heard from Cassie in the last hour?”

Head shakes all around. Cept's frown was the deepest. “She is not answering her communicator.”

Wings flexed her talons. “If we don't hear from her in the next half hour, I'm heading to Hoofshine.”

I took in the condition of her plumage. “You sure you can make the trip? You dragged us and the sky carriage a long way, and then back again.”

Said plumage puffed up. “I said I'm going. And I'll be fine,” Narrow sapphire eyes squinted at Undertow. “ this time I won't be retaining water.”

My jaw dropped.

“AND JUST WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO—”

I heard all three of my brothers shuffle to their hooves. “Hey, someone's coming!”

Instantly, we were all ready for battle. Conversations forgotten, two zebras, a pair of unicorns, and a griffon whipped around to put themselves in a rough half-circle. The three buffalo crowded in with one earth mare, while all four were covered by a second Earth pony.

Too busy to concern myself with glowing eyes, I kept my horn alight and facing outwards. “Which way, Buff?” I called over my shoulder, not turning around.

“Up.” He yelled back.

“Up?” Every neck craned skywards, scanning the horizon.

“Is it Cassie?” Naiara's voice bled excitement.

“Or the Overmare?” Lo's didn't.

There's not a single pegasus in the Wasteland that I can truly say I like. That kinda sucks. “Let's hope it's Cassie, and that she's found Bosco.” Especially the second part.

It took a few seconds, but I finally noticed the blue pegasus outlined against the cloud cover. “It's Cassie.” I confirmed.

“Is she alone?” Wings strained to see.

“Yeah,” Naiara sighed, “Bosco can't fly. Damn.”

“She is coming down by the sky carriage.” Schwarzwald was already in motion to cross the two-hundred-metre gap. The pegasus disappeared behind it at ground level.

“I would be very interested to hear her perspective on the situation in Plottawa.” Amber gracefully trotted after her.

“At least we can cross off the places she visited as where Bosco isn't. That's something, I guess.” Undertow nudged my shoulder as I said this, seemingly appreciative of the effort.

Cept outpaced Schwarzwald on the way to the carriage, but drew up short as Cassie popped up onto the top of the vehicle. “Hold on a moment, Cept, and all of you.”

Skidding to a halt, Cept dithered unsuredly. “What is wrong, Cassie?”

The pegasus glanced behind her every other second. “Just... just hold on where you are. Don't come any closer, for a few more seconds.”

The heck? “What's back there?”

“Wait, I said!” She growled. “Can you not stay patient for even a moment, Red Ice?”

“And there it is. Didn't take you long, did it, Venatici?” I stuck my tongue out at her. “We don't time for this, let's see what you're hiding so we can get back to finding Bosco.” I took a step towards the carriage.

“NO!” Cassie slammed down before me, blades crossed in my path.

“What is the matter with you?” I challenged, horn lighting up.

Sweating, Cassie continued to glance back at the carriage. “It's not about you!”

Sliding one hoof forward deliberately, I looked her straight in the eye. “Then who-”

“Guys, please stop.” A young colt called out from behind the carriage.

I jumped back in surprise, just in time to see a green flash leak out from around the edge of the aircraft. Uneven hoofsteps followed it, with a charcoal colt gingerly poking his head around a second later.

I forgot all about Cassie at that point, and exclaimed with the others. “Bosco!”

Said colt soon found himself gang-rushed by a swarm of female equines, and one griffon hen.

“You're okay!” Undertow wrapped her hooves around his neck and held tight.

“What happened?” Naiara checked him up and down for injuries.

“Dahling!” Schwarzwald sported a bright, genuine smile.

“Where did you go?” I smooshed his face like I'd done so many times with my brothers.

“Don't you ever scare us like that again!” Wings damn-near took his head off with a worried-angry swipe.

“Ow!” Bosco covered his head with his hooves.

“Wings!”

“What?” She didn't lower her claw. “I'm glad he's okay, but running off like that was stupid! And dangerous! It meant we couldn't look after Bosco and keep him safe!”

“Well, yeah, but—”

“No, Snow, she's right. I shouldn't have run off. I'm sorry.” Still covering his head, Bosco nevertheless showed a small smile.

“That's better.” Wings' claw opened up and dropped to his shoulder. “Don't do it again, alright?” And she joined Undertow in hugging the daylights out of the colt.

Cassie bustled in and used her wings to shoo the others away. “Ladies, please. Give him some room. We don't want to overload him right now. Let's try and keep calm, yes?”

“Agreed,” Cept chimed in, “though it is good to see you well, Bosco.”

He got an obviously faux-laid back response from the charcoal colt. “You too, buddy. Totally.”

“Bosco, be serious for just a moment.” Undertow had physically backed off, but still pressed with her words. “Truly, are you... okay?”

Everybody quietened down to hear his answer. Looking across all of us, he tapped his hooves together a few times before responding. “I... think I will be, eventually. There's still a lot of thoughts rattling around in my head, but I'm not freaking out as hard as I was. Not gonna say I'm not gonna have bad days with this, but try to wait those out. I can't really say better than that right now.”

Studying him statue-still for a few moments longer, Undertow finally nodded and flashed a smile. “That's fine. Take as long as you need. I just wanted to know that you're okay.”

Leaning slightly into Cassie, Bosco held out a hoof for Undertow to bump. Which she did. Energetically.

A comfortable silence descended, and I took the time to look over the group. Not everybody was smiling, but nobody seemed too unhappy.

A forcible grunt sounded from behind me. Oh, right. “Bosco, Cept, I don't think you guys have met all of my brothers, have you?” I waved the three buffalo over.

Raising an eyebrow, Cept nodded towards Al. “I have met this one in battle.”

“Oh, damn, forgot about that.”

“I didn't.” Al groused. “I think I might still have bruises.”

Bosco raised a hoof at the other two. “And I met Buff and Lo in Lethbridle.”

“Well, that's convenient then.” I pointed Cept towards each of my brothers in turn. “That's Al who you fought, he's the middle one. The eldest is Buff here, and the baby over there is Lo. Boys, say hi.”

“Hi, Cept. Hi, Bosco.” They chanted dutifully.

“Buff, Al, and Lo?” Cept didn't seem to know whether or not to smile. “But that is—”

“We know.” The three Doublehorns chorused patiently.

“I am sorry, but it is unusu—”

“We know.” They repeated, impatiently this time.

“Cept,” I elbowed him in the ribs. “I know, but they got those names from their mother, who they love very much. Please let it go.”

His golden eyes twinkled as he grasped my meaning, “Of course.” He turned an apologetic gaze on the triplets.

They just waved him concern away, and extended hooves for he and Bosco to bump. Afterwards, we all headed back to the main gate of Sprinkles Supplies, with Bosco sticking close to Cassie the entire time.

Fedexi Lexi met us as the gate opened. “Quite the crowd y'got here. Ah hope yeh ain't expectin' to stay here fer free. Cassie excluded o' course, since she already paid up.”

Never change, boss. “Just tell us what we need to do to earn our beds, boss.”

She was practically salivating at all the free labour.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Stop worrying, Snow. He'll be fine.”

“Yeah, but... Cassie.” I rested my chin on top of the outer wall of the Sprinkles Supplies walkway, looking out into the brief illumination cast by the floodlights from the corner guard towers.

Beside me, Wings was checking her revolvers for blockages. Satisfied, she gave one a quick spin before slamming the cylinder back into place. “She brought him back, and he seems more comfortable with her. Maybe you should just let this one go.” The diffuse light was just bright enough to show the smirk sneaking up her face. “Unless you're just jealous that somebody else is playing the big sister for a change.”

“I am not!” My reply probably would have been strengthened by not being so sulky. I rolled my head until my cheek was taking the weight. “I just want Bosco to be safe.”

Emptying her lungs in mock-exasperation, Wings winked her sapphire eyes at me. “Totally not jealous Cassie jacked your 'big sister' role. Totally. He's in the medical bay, way in the heart of the compound, and the most dangerous thing he'll be doing is changing Breeze's bedpan. Your boss knows what she's doing by putting him with Breeze and Cass. They're all safe.”

“Don't care about Breeze or Cassie.” I grumbled.

“Yeah, that's not true. We're too long together for you not to, unless you're a complete bitch.” She waved a claw dismissively. “You might not be best buddies, but you'll still look out for each other. For Bosco's sake now, if nothing else.”

I turned away. “...'m not jealous.”

I can hear that laughing, Wings!

Lexi had made the most of her extra help for the evening. Wings and I were patrolling the walls, and she'd assigned Bosco as a caretaker for Breeze and Cassie. The others were scattered around the building on various tasks; Naiara and Cept were cleaning the stockrooms, wearing heavy overalls to cover their stripes. Amber had already been working while we'd been away, and now Schwarzwald joined her in filing. In Lexi's words, “an easy job for three big buffalo fellas” had my brothers helping to load wagons. That just left Undertow to wash dishes in the kitchens, though the girl had asked for a quiet word with Lexi before the evening was up.

My heart had sped up when she asked that, and I couldn't help but be worried. What if Lexi says no? Undertow'll be crushed. Come on, boss, you've gotta say yes!

Gah, I don't even know what I'd do if Lexi said no. I mean, would Undertow wanna stay here or go back to Hoofshine? I'd go with her if she did, but the others'll have to stay here until Breeze recovers. What would I do about my brothers, or Bosco, or Naiara and Cept, or Schwarzwald and—

A cream feather tried worming its way up my nostril. “Hey, calling all Snowflakes, you still in there?”

“Aachoo!” The offending quill shot out of my snout in a sticky mess, just barely missing the griffon who'd been tickling my nose.

“Heh, gross. Reminds me of the time we first met.”

Blushing, I shoved her away. “I really don't think those Raiders back then were interested in sticking things in my nose.”

Making jokes about Raider rape. Quite the then-and-now change.

Placing her claws on her hips, Wings sashayed back and forth. “Well look at you, little miss Raiders-wanna-bang-me. Bet they'd just love to get a hold of a Stable pony. Very clean.”

Huffing, I covered myself with my hooves, even though I was wearing full gear. “Well, some of us have to make do with 'clean'. We can't all have pretty blue eyes, you know.”

“...You think my eyes are pretty?”

Still checking myself for Raider leer, I started answering without looking. “Gorgeous. First thing I noticed about you. Can't really be a surprise to you, you've looked in a...” My words stuck on my tongue as I caught sight of her chocolate-and-cherry colouration. “...mirror.”

Heat rose in my own cheeks. Silence reigned as we both were stuck half-staring, half-avoiding each other's gaze.

Eventually, the quiet threatened to deafen me. Say something! ANYTHING! “Um... so, you... uh... your eyes are pretty.” Was all I could manage.

“Th-thanks.” Wings looked back towards the interior of the compound, and stiffened. Following her wide-eyed gaze, I saw why.

Two pairs of eyes, one big and surrounded by sienna fur, and the other covered by goggles, peeked at the two of us from the stairs. Four eyebrows were trying to jump off their faces.

“And what are you two loo-”

Undertow and Lo bolted mid-sentence. Wings and I could only stare dumbly as they scampered away, giggling.

The griffon found her voice first. “Well, that's just super.”

Determinedly, I rooted myself facing out into the Wasteland. Not turning around again until my shift's done. “Think there's any chance they didn't—”

“No.”

“...super.”

“Yyyep.”

“So,” I forcefully changed the subject, “what was the first thing you noticed about me back then?”

Letting out a single syllable laugh, Wings joined me in facing rigidly outward, at least as far as I could see from her shadow. “That's an easy one. You came back.”

She realised I was waiting for her to continue, and did. “I didn't really see you that well when you went flying past, just really heard you shout about the Raiders. I was glad of the heads up and everything, but I really started to pay attention when you came back. Ice magic, on a snowfield, during a Raider ambush? Not what I expected when I got up that day.”

“Not complaining, I hope?” A slight breeze tugged at my mane and her plumage.

“Not dead, am I?” Her elbow nudged mine. “Not many'd do what you did, Snow, not for strangers. Some wouldn't even do it for family. Count it as a good first impression... even if you're totally weird now.”

“Oh, I'm weird? Says the most un-griffon-y griffon ever.” I gently bopped her on the shoulder.

“Three. Buffalo. Brothers.”

“You spend all your time with ponies.”

“You adopted a Raider!”

“You adopted a Schwarzwald!”

“Raider-pony!”

“Pony-griffon!”

“Red Ice!”

“Blue Fire!”

We were literally face to face, nose and beak scrunched up as we sparred verbally. She noticed the situation at the same time I did, and we turned back to looking outwards. Still, I saw her smile out of the corner of my eye, which matched mine.

Nice night for it, Gigglewings.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!” I scrambled up onto my big brother's back, goggles and rebreather bouncing as I climbed. “Do you think Snow—?”

Lo almost sent me flying as he nodded vigorously. “Totally! And also—”

“GET BACK HERE!”

The sound of thundering hooves followed the shout of my other two brothers. Lo and I looked around, just in time for Bosco to tear past, with Buff and Al hot on his heels.

What in the world?

“...I don't know what that means, though.”

“You leave him alone, you brutes!” Cassie chased after the three of them.

Bosco dodged around a stack of crates and turned back towards us. Cassie dropped down between him and the pursuing Doublehorns, forcing them to skid to a halt. “That's enough. You two should be ashamed of yourselves.”

With the colt peeking out from behind Lo, the three of us watched Cassie argue with Buff and Al. Buff ground at the floor in front of Cassie. “WE should be ashamed? What about him? He's the one sleeping with our sister in a whore house!”

Uh oh. I felt Lo tense up beneath me, and frantically started signalling for Bosco to start running.

“Sisters, plural!” Al added. “Snowflake was bad enough, but Undertow's even younger than us! He's gotta pay for besmirching their innocence.”

Cassie couldn't help herself, and laughed in his face. “Innocence? Them?”

My furry mount began rumbling, as Lo jerkily turned to face Bosco. “You slept with my sisters?”

Backpedaling, Bosco's ears flattened against his head. “Seriously, it was just sleeping. It was for safety after she overdid it in the bath.”

Oh no. My hooves shot down to cover Lo's eyes for a moment. “Run, you idiot!”

Not needing to be told twice, Bosco ran. Lo didn't waste any time either, by reaching up and plucking me from his head. He, and his two brothers, darted around Cassie and gave chase. The pegasus followed behind, threatening revenge if they hurt the colt.

I watched as the five of them disappeared around a corner. “Good luck, Bosco.” I was fairly sure that my brothers wouldn't badly hurt him, just try to scare him a little. I could live with that. It's not like I can truly be angry at them for defending their sisters' honour, even if they don't have to.

Making to get back to the kitchen, I ran into Fedexi Lexi coming the other way. Her orange mane was extra frizzy as she glared after the pursuit. “What's with all the yellin'? An' why ain't y'all at yer duties?”

Her anger did nothing to dampen my mood. “Heading back now, boss.” A thought brought me up short, however. “Um, actually, could we have that talk now?”

With one last glower at the others, she turned back to me with a kind smile. “Sure, sweetheart, we’ll go somewhere more private. Follow me.”

Dutifully, I traipsed after her, up to her office. The entire time had been spent thinking about what I was going to say, but nothing came to mind.

In the office, Lexi settled herself behind her desk, and gestured for me to sit down across from her. “What's on yer mind, babygirl?”

Barely hearing her over the thudding of my heart, it was all I could do to get any words out. My tongue felt papery, and sweat began to dampen my back. “Um, boss, uh... thanks so much for everything you've done for me, and Snowflake, and the others.”

“Y'welcome, but yer not gettin' outta dish duty.” She tried to smile, but stopped when she saw I wasn't joining her. “Undertow, what is it? Yer lookin' spooked.”

I wish Snowflake was here to help me do this. “Um. Well, the thing is, you've always treated me well, from the first time I met you. You gave me new clothes, and food, and got angry at me when I did anything silly...” I did end up smiling at that last one.

Lexi smiled too. “What about it? Ah like yeh, kiddo.”

My hoof twitched for my rebreather, to fall back into the safety of the air talisman, but I quenched the thought. Instead, I reached up, and lowered my goggles from my eyes. I can't hide right now. Have to do this right. “I like you too, boss, but what I meant was that you don't just help me out physically. You care, or at least I hope you do, about more than just how I'm doing. You keep working to make sure I act right, and stay a good person.”

“Undertow...” Lexi wasn't smiling now. She was leaning forward over the desk, purple eyes shining with concern. “...what're y'tryin' to say?”

Here it is. With a deep breath, my hoof extended out to her. “I'm trying to say that you always treat us so well, and look after me and my sister better than anybody else. You're not afraid to tell us we're doing wrong, because you always want us to do right, and do the best we can. I never want to disappoint you. I... I have to ask you something really important.”

Stepping around the desk, she took my chin in her hooves. “Jus' ask me, Undertow. Ah'm listenin'.”

The warmth in her hooves, and her words, was too much for me. Tears rolled down my cheeks, onto her hooves. “Boss... will you be our mom?”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter 26-2: The Balance Of Wants & Needs

Yawning, and wishing that the early shift at Sprinkles Supplies didn't start so early, I meandered down a quiet corridor to the meeting room. We would decide over breakfast on our next move.

As I walked, I passed a few familiar faces who were also making their way there. “Hey, Cept.”

The stoic zebra stallion nodded politely as he overtook me.

“Morning, Buff, Al, Lo.”

The three Doublehorns all smiled as they hurried towards the increasingly fragrant aroma of food.

Another body moved into my peripheral vision, catching up and matching pace with me. Barely sparing them a glance through the sleep gunk I was attempting to rub away, I could only muster another token greeting. “Hey, Lo.”

His response was significantly cheerier. “Hey, 'flake. Good shift last night?”

“Eh, pretty quiet. Didn't finish until late, though.”

“Quiet eh? That's good, lots of peace and quiet. No one to bother you...”

The snickering tone drilled through my sleep-addled ears and hit straight at my brain. Memories of the previous night ran my drowsiness down and beat it into full consciousness. Ah... bugger. “Um... yeah, nice and quiet. Nothing to report.”

“Oh, really?” His tongue might as well have been dipped in sarcasm. “Then what about—?”

“Hold on,” I cut him off, fully awake brain moving past last night and into the morning. “how are you here right now?”

“Huh?” His not-at-all restrained glee morphed into confusion. “Whaddaya mean? We slept here last night too.”

“No, not that.” I looked further up the corridor. “You were just here a second ago, with Buff and Al.”

“Wha? No, I wasn't. I told them to go ahead while I made my bed.” He was looking up the corridor too, smile slipping a little.

“Lo, if you're trying to be funny then I don't get... hold on.” Ah, I know what's going on. “Stay here a sec, Lo.”

“Um... okay?”

Jogging up the corridor, I turned two corners, and found myself face-to-chin with 'Lo'. “Oh, hey there, 'little brother'.”

Grinning unevenly, the 'buffalo' scratched the back of his neck. “Hi... big sist-”

“Knock it off, Bosco, I know it's you.”

Frantically checking around for eavesdroppers, the buffalo disappeared in a burst of green flame, leaving a familiar colt standing in his place, frowning. “Snow, shh! You wanna give away what I am to everybody here?”

I poked him in the chest with a hoof. “What the heck were you doing pretending to be my brother?”

He shrugged glumly. “Just wanted to see if I could. Still got a lot to work out, but if I have to be... what I am, might as well try to be good at it.”

“But why Lo?”

He shrugged again. “I've been trying all morning. Seems easier when more I know the person I'm changing into. Watch.” In quick succession, three green flash fires turned him into Cassie, Naiara, and finally another Snowflake.

I could only watch, enraptured, as a mirror image stared back at me. That's... unnerving.

After second or two, 'I' doubled over, and green-burned back into Bosco. He was wheezing. “Guh, takes it outta ya.”

I put a hoof around his shoulders, and turned him towards the meeting room. “Well, leave it for now. Get some breakfast in you and rest up. Real impressive, though.”

“Yeah, thanks.” He panted, before heading on his way.

A colt could get himself into a lot of trouble doing that. New issues constantly barraged my thoughts as I headed back and fetched Lo. Whatever we do about this, we're gonna have to be VERY careful.

As Lo and I entered the meeting room, he spotted his brothers and moved to join them. I started to follow, but almost instantly found myself wrapped up in an aquamarine glow. Hoisted up, my hooves had to tuck in to avoid inadvertently kicking Naiara and Cept in the head as I was taxi'd across the room. Cassie, in a rare appearance away from the medical bay, sat with Bosco. The pegasus had pointedly placed herself between Bosco and my brothers, and next to Cept and Naiara. On Bosco's other side, Wings was speaking with Schwarzwald and Amber, but still smirked as I floated by. I stuck my tongue out at her to hide my blush. Damn your twinkling eyes, Blue Fire!

When the aqua glow let go of me, aqua hooves took its place. Wrapping me up in a tight hug, Undertow giggled into my chest.

“Mmm, now this is a nice way to start a meeting. How you doing, little sis?” Returning the hug, I nuzzled her ear, drawing another giggle.

“She said yes!” Undertow managed to whisper between giggles. “Mom said yes!”

My heart melted. “She did? That's wonderful! I'm so happy for you, Undertow.”

“I know there's a lot of things happening, but I can still smile right now, right? Nobody'll get mad?”

“If they do, they'll have to go through me.” I hugged her tighter. “You smile as bright as you can, little sister. As bright as you can. I love you so much.”

“Love you too, big sister.”

We shared one last loving squeeze before the door opened to admit Undertow's new mother. Lexi strode into the room at a brisk trot, taking note of all those in attendance.

Boys, would you swallow that food and pay attention?! I glowered at my three brothers until they got the message.

Lexi moved to take her place before the group. As she went, she locked eyes with her daughter, who was waving joyfully. The older unicorn's eyes lit up for a moment, before she continued on with a smile.

From the bottom of my heart, boss, thank you.

Lexi rapped a hoof on the wall. “Awright, boys an' girls, afore we get started, got a few latecomers needin' t'join too. Pretty sure you know 'em, or most o' yeh do anyways. If yeh don't, Ah don't care. They're joinin' anyway.”

Turning back to the doors, I was surprised to see a cloven hoof hold one open for a unicorn mare in a lab coat, who I recognised instantly.

“Esto?”

The scientist pony stared evenly back at me, before brushing some bleach-blonde mane from her glasses and panning her eyes around the room. “Good morning, everyone. I apologise for the interruption.”

“I don't.” The rest of him following his hoof through, Rockhaunch kicked the door shut behind him.

“Chief, is that you?” Buff and Lo stood up to approach him, but he waved for them to sit down again.

“At ease, boys. I'm sure everybody's in a hurry.” This didn't stop him from eyeballing my last brother. “You must be Al. You've got two fine brothers there, boy.”

“Uh... thanks?” Like myself, Al didn't seem to know what to make of the appearance of the newcomers.

“Weren't you leading the Lethbridle refugees, Chief Rockhaunch?” Wings' Blue Fire was showing as she surveyed the pair.

“And weren't you looking after Lithu, Esto?” Bosco piped up from the side.

Esto beat the stone-faced bull to the response. “Yes, to both. It is part of why we are here.” She caught my boss' frown, and quickly sat herself down next to Rockhaunch, who had joined my brothers. “But that can wait for later.”

“Very kind o' yeh.” Lexi deadpanned, before raising her chin to address the entire room. “Well, Ah've been hearing bits an' pieces o' all that's goin' on, but Ah figure it's high time you all get yerselves a real plan of action. Not that it ain't nice to save caps on labour costs, but there's a bunch o' mah wagons due back any time now, and Ah ain't got the room to put up all these extra bodies no more. So Ah need yeh to hammer out the details 'mong yerselves today.” Her purple eyes looked at each of us in turn. “Who's gonna start?”

Cassie flapped her wings the second Lexi finished. “I'm not going anywhere until my sister wakes up. That's not up for debate.”

“That's fine.” Lexi responded. “Already got yer payment fer mah services. Y'can stay til the job's done.”

Satisfied, the pegasus sat again, but nudged Bosco with her elbow as she did. The colt took strength from it, and spoke up in a clear voice. “I need to go to Whinniepeg.”

Undertow and I started, along with Cassie, Wings, Naiara, and Schwarzwald. I let go of Undertow so that she could lean forwards. “Whinniepeg, Bosco? Why do you need to go there?”

Turning his slate grey eyes on her, he held a hoof over his chest. “There are things I still need to find out, and I don't have anywhere else to look. The Barnstormer facility is an empty, burned out husk, the... forest moved, and I doubt we can get back to Neighlway again.”

“How in the hell does a forest move?” Rockhaunch groused, but went ignored.

Bosco chose his next words slowly, shooting aside glances at those present not in the know. “Now that... Silver is unavailable, that leaves me with Gold as the only option. I'm not happy about it, given how... Gold has treated us in the past,” Undertow grimaced at the apologetic expression he sent her way, “but the answers I need might be there. I have to find out.” Breathing out, he leaned back. Cassie reached over and rubbed his back softly. I did the same for Undertow, who was still watching Bosco.

“Does this have anything to do with your Memory Orbs, Bosco?” Esto peered at him over the top of her glasses, interest peaked by the mention of a mobile forest, and Bosco's cryptic words.

The charcoal colt bit on his bottom lip, but nodded.

Cept stood next, before Esto could press further. “I believe that my clan elder, Atesh, is growing more impatient with our work here in Equestria,”

“You mean what's left of it.” I muttered under my breath.

If he heard me, Cept gave no sign. “Naiara and I must travel to meet him, and work to keep our clan on the true path. Atesh is currently in control of Plottawa, but I cannot say for how much longer.”

“Ah, so he took my suggestion.” Amber mused, visibly calculating. “I wonder if I could still broker a mutually beneficial-”

“Nnnope.” Naiara shut her down with one word. “Ain't gonna happen. Leave this one alone, Bernstein. Atesh has already said that he's not bound by your arrangement anymore. He's also under siege by Willow Wisp and the Plottawan remnants.”

I choked on my spit. “The Overmare's at Plottawa? The Overmare's WITH Plottawa?”

Cassie grimaced. “Yes. She is also aware that you continue to live.”

“The fuck, Cassie?!”

“I didn't tell her, not directly. She inferred it while I attempted to take her Pipbuck from her. If it is any consolation, I do not believe she is yet aware that you and Red Ice are one in the same.”

“Oh, well, that makes it all better now, doesn't it?” I snarked.

The businessmare sighed unaffected by our squabble. “Unfortunate, but not unexpected.” She opened her hooves. “Still, I do have alternatives for my next move. I propose an expedition to Whitepony.”

“What for, dahling?” Schwarzwald looked as surprised as the rest of us.

Did 'dear Amber' keep something from you, Schwarz? I wasn't sure if I should be smug or worried about that.

“You and your team brought back very valuable intelligence in your last excursion, which enables Chief Rockhaunch and I to put our plan for Lethbridle into action.” Amber smoothed down the folds of her blouse. “As I was only interested in information pertaining to Lethbridle then, there may yet be untapped wealth within Whitepony's walls.”

“Your plan for Lethbridle didn't go so well, Bernstein. You broke my city, and ended up broke yourself.” The Chief glared at her from his spot, from where he hadn't yet moved since sitting down.

“Still,” Esto tried to keep the peace, “it was very generous of you, Lady Bernstein, to donate the funds for Lithu's treatment here at Sprinkles Supplies.”

“Lithu's here?” My eyes shot wide, and I looked over at Lexi.

She nodded back, and mouthed 'ten thousand caps' to me with a harsh grin.

Amber couldn't have known about this, but her reaction was much more muted. “Indeed?” She raised an eyebrow at the Chief, who didn't care, before smiling with dignity. “I value the scientific arts, Miss Esto, and I do hope your assistant can return to her full strength. If you could make some time after the meeting to discuss the matter further with me, I would appreciate it.”

“Certainly. Thank you again.”

“So... yeah,” Naiara grunted. “Cept 'n' me're gonna head to Plottawa. Sorry guys, but just us this time.” Both zebra were solemn to Cassie.

The pegasus wasn't happy, but didn't try to stop them. “Please be safe, you two. Breeze would never forgive any of us if you did not come back.”

“And, no, Amber. We're not going to Whitepony.” I snarked. “Your info's not worth facing killer robots again.”

“That is impossible to determine before we have the information to hoof, but I will broach the subject at a later date, given the numerous issues still to be resolved.” Amber exchanged a few whispered words with Schwarzwald, then fell silent.

“So what's next?” I ventured.

Clacking her beak together, Wings cleared her throat. “Rockhaunch mentioned Lethbridle, and how it played out. The slavers, most of them anyway, and the Raiders might be trapped in the city, but McCoy's Monsters got out.”

Damn, forgot about them. “Right. And they took Latvi too. Gotta deal with both of them. Too dangerous to leave them to their own devices. Latvi might not have the Raiders anymore, but he's not stupid.”

“No,” Esto mulled, quiet disdain in her words. “he certainly is not. I would like to see him answer for what he did to Lithu.”

“And the entire region.” Wings reminded. “Guy thought it was his own personal excavation site. Screwed a lot of people over in the process.”

Like me, the prick. I rolled my shoulders, loosening up my suddenly anger-tight muscles. “McCoy might be gone, but his lieutenants are still around, and they...” want to take Wings away “...have business with us. Their contract will keep them coming after me, at least. I'd kinda like that target off my back. We take out the rest of the Monsters, including Eitom and Wicker, and Latvi loses his muscle.”

Wings' sapphire eyes were boring into me as I spoke, but I tried to avoid staring. Too many people here who aren't on great terms with me.

One such person finally shifted closer to upright. Rockhaunch looked over to Amber. “You made the deal that got the Monsters out of the city, right? I don't suppose you set a specific place for them to go, did you?”

She shook her head. “Sadly, no. They wouldn't agree to that, only to vacate the city if Latvi was endangered. To push that point might have revealed my intentions too early.” Amber turned her attention to Esto. “You knew Latvi better than any here. Could you venture a suggestion as to where he might go?”

Using her magic, Esto cleaned her glasses on her lab coat. “Latvi never mentioned his... side project to either Lithu or myself. I doubt there is anything I could tell you that you don't already know.”

Amber wasn't finished. “I am told Lithu, after her change, was a confidant for Latvi. Perhaps she-”

“Absolutely not!” Esto rammed her glasses back on her face, ignoring that her haste had led to them being upside down. “Lithu is a victim in this, not a collaborator. I won't have her traumatised any more than she already has been. She is here for treatment, not interrogation!”

Looking between the two, I found myself torn. They've both got a point, really. Lithu could have useful info, but I don't feel great about the idea of putting her through more trouble. “So what do we do?”

It was Fedexi Lexi who answered. “It's Esto's call. She brought Lithu here fer treatment. She makes that decision.”

“A treatment funded by the Bernstein Conclave.” Amber's tone was sharp, but not yet unprofessional.

“Ah don't care where the money came from. Yeh been here fer days, Bernstein, an' it's only after Esto showed up that the money appeared. Whatever goes on between you two after y'leave here is your business. Right now, Esto gets final say. Don't like it, y'know where the main gate is.” The three mares; Esto, Lexi, and Amber, sat in an almost perfect triangle. Lexi might have spoken up for Esto, but she was keeping an eye on both the earth pony businessmare AND the unicorn scientist.

Tense silence descended, as we waited for this to play out. Lexi seemed content to wait for the other two to work things out. Neither seemed to have a first move to make, however.

Finally noticing her glasses, Esto righted them with her magic. “Lady Bernstein, I do appreciate your generosity in this matter, but Lithu is my closest friend, and she has been through so much because of Latvi. I do not want to be rude, but please could you allow my friend her treatment, first and foremost?”

Amber didn't immediately respond, except to sit up straighter. In the end, she put a hoof across her chest, and gave a half bow. “Of course. Forgive my coldness. Please convey my best wishes to Lithu.” She turned to Wings. “I tried, Blue Fire.”

Blinking at the unexpected involvement, Wings just stared. “Uh... right, yes. Good try. We'll figure something else out. Maybe try Gull Gulf again, or something.”

“You can't go back there!” I exclaimed.

“Why not?” Wings' expression was guarded.

“The place is full of griffons. They were this close to lynching you last time!” How are you even considering this, Wings? We didn't go to all that trouble to get you out just for you to go straight back.

“Well, yeah, but—”

“Anyone else got something they need to do?” I demanded, turning away from her to address the group.

The Chief lumbered to his hooves. “Guess I'm the last one.” Reaching into his gear, he produced another bag adorned with an interlocked black 'B' and silver 'C', the mark of the Bernstein Conclave, and dropped it in front of my boss. “Need to hire your best guards. Dangerous work, might not all come back, so I'm paying a lot, and in advance. Another ten grand.”

Schwarzwald had her hoof wrapped around Amber's neck, the latter wearing a pinched expression.

That's thirty thousand of our promised eighty accounted for. I wonder what he's gonna do with the rest. If it turns out he's just gonna head to Grindstone for a week long bender, I think Amber'll try to kill him. The thought of the prim and proper businessmare wildly assaulting the giant buffalo forced a chuckle from my lips. I zipped them again as Amber's eyes whipped across in my direction.

Lexi made no move to lift the bag, either by hoof or horn. Her orange frizz mane jostled as she leaned away from the offered caps. “Yeh're askin' me to send some o' my employees on a job that could kill 'em. That's a hard sell, buffalo.”

To his credit, the Chief didn't seem happy about the situation either. “I know, some of my guys'll be going too. Ordinarily, I wouldn't dream of involving civilians, but I just don't have the numbers right now. Most of my officers are tied up escorting refugee convoys. I'm here because I heard your guards can fight.”

“They can, but only when they have to. They know when to cut and run. There's always another delivery run.” Her horn lighting up, the bag rose so it was floating in the air between her and the Chief. “What's so important that you think it's worth my guards dyin'?”

The chief's oaken fur shifted as he smiled a mirthless smile. “Believe it or not, it's caravan guarding.”

Lexi's eyebrow rose, but she didn't say anything in response.

Rockhaunch continued. “The refugee caravans are being attacked. I need help to find the ones responsible.”

“Raiders?” I went to stand by my boss. “Did some of them get out of the city?”

Rockhaunch's lips set in a thin line. “Nah, not Raiders. They're all still locked in Lethbridle. The ones attacking the refugees are Crush and his gang.”

Al sucked in a gasp. “Crush? Why would he do that?”

The Chief rounded on Al. “You know Crush? How?”

Wilting under the taller bull's stern glower, Al looked around for support. “H-he helped me out after I got separated from Buff and Lo, not long after we left the Stable.”

Rockhaunch's voice dropped even lower than usual. As did his brow. “You ran with Crush's gang?”

Buff and Lo had to move between Al and the Chief as the latter took a step forwards. “I-I didn't know it was a gang. He just helped me to survive. Said he wanted the best for all Buffalo.”

“'The best for all buffalo' to Crush means killing every non-buffalo around. That's what I'm here for. Crush has been attacking as many refugee convoys as he can find EXCEPT buffalo convoys. He's no saviour of buffalo, he's just an angry punk who looks down on other races. Always has been. Hell, I left Grindstone to get away from bastards like him.”

“And you're gonna get away from my brother right now, if you know what's good for you, Chief.” My horn was glowing glacier-blue, and the air temperature was dropping around us.

Lexi tapped the back of Rockhaunch's head with the money bag. “An' what're yeh gonna do when y'find 'im? Kill 'im?”

The oak furred buffalo took a step back from the Doublehorns and collected himself. “If I have to, to keep the region safe. Don't like killing, but wouldn't be my first time.”

Pondering this, Lexi tapped the bag against Rockhaunch's head a few times more as she thought. He made no move to stop her. Eventually, she nodded to herself. “Ah'll ask my boys. If they wanna go with you, then they can. If they don't, then you leave anyway. Any who go get an equal share o' this. Ah ain't takin' one single cap of this blood money myself. It's on them. Ah still expect you to do all you can to bring them back safe, mind.”

He nodded in respect. “I'll do everything I can to bring them home safe.”

Clapping her hooves together, Schwarzwald walked to the centre of the room, grinning in a circle. “We have a long list, dears and dahlings. Shall we get started?”

I reached out a hoof to help Undertow stand. “So what's first?”

Rockhaunch tapped the floating bag with his horn. “I'm just here for my fighters. Once I have them, I'll be off.”

Al tapped the Chief on the shoulder. “I-I'm coming with you, Chief.”

My blood went cold. “WHAT? Al, no!”

“I have to, Snow.” He pleaded. “It's like you told me when we found each other. I've got responsibilities here, people I need to pay back.”

“Crush?!” You cannot be serious! He'll kill you!

“No, not Crush. The others following him, like I did. I don't want them to be hurt if I can help it.”

“But... it's too dangerous for you!” I was pulling on Al's fur, trying to tug him away, but he didn't budge.

“It's always dangerous out here, Snow. We've gotta get used to that.”

Buff and Lo stepped up next to Al. “Which is why we're going too.”

“You can't!” I was trying to reach out to all three of them with just two hooves.

Lo stepped forwards and nuzzled against my cheek. “We'll look after each other, Snow, just like you taught us.”

“But... this?!”

“It's how we can help you.” Buff replied, the simple response stunning me. “All this other stuff you're talking about, we can't help with that, but we can help to keep the peace.”

“Red Ice,” Rockhaunch stepped up in front of me. “I promise I won't let them fight. If they can convince Crush's followers to abandon him, that's good. Otherwise, I'll have them fall back.”

“Chief,” I growled through where I'd smushed my face into Lo's fur. “If anything happens to them, I will kill you.”

“Of course you will. You're Red Ice.”

Furious, but helpless in the face of my brothers' determination, all I could do was give a self-damning nod. Undertow gently walked me back to where I had been standing.

Cassie started back towards the door. “I wish you all luck, but I have to stay with Breeze.”

Esto went after her. “And I have to watch over Lithu.”

Amber made to join them. “I am no fighter, and my business proficiency doesn't appear to be of any use against these particular opponents. One will not listen, and the others know me. I will return to my filing.”

Bosco held up a hoof. “Hold on you three, I had an idea on that. A way to help keep us all safe. With the buffalo going one way, the zebra another, and probably more splitting up too, we need somebody looking out for all of us. If you three are willing, could you stay here and act as a sort of relay for all of us? Mission control, y'know?”

The three mares; one pegasus, one unicorn, and one earth pony, looked at each other with trepidation. However, in the end, Cassie nodded. “If it means I can keep Breeze safe, while still helping you all, I'll do it.”

“I shall assist.” Amber agreed.

“Me too.” And Esto made three.

“Great,” Bosco smiled boyishly. “So who's coming with me to Whinniepeg?”

“I am.” Undertow didn't hesitate.

“Any other day and I would not miss this, Boss Colt,” Schwarzwald licked her lips. “but I will be joining Naiara and Cept in Plottawa.”

Both striped heads snapped up. “What?”

“Schwarz, we said we were going alone!” Naiara stamped a hoof.

The mercenary barely blinked. “I will not interfere in your business with Atesh. My focus is actually on Snowflake's Overmare, this Willow Wisp. I have questions for her.”

Yeah, I'll bet you do. “Careful, Schwarz. The Overmare working with Plottawa can only be bad news.”

She smirked back at me. “Do not worry, mistress,” Amber twitched at that, “I will not kill her unless she forces me. I really do have questions for her. It will not be a wasted trip.”

Neither zebra seemed particularly at ease with the arrangement, but Schwarzwald wouldn't be denied. She strode confidently over to stand by them.

That left Wings and I. We looked at each other.

Wings winked. “Latvi can wait a little while longer. The Boss Colt needs some backup.”

I wasn't up to smiling, but I nodded back. “Yeah, that works.”

“Ah'll keep workin' on Breeze and Lithu while y'all are gone. Anythin' happens, we let each other know, yeah?” Lexi had walked into the middle of the group, with Schwarzwald. “That goes for all o' yeh.”

The Chief coughed into a hoof. “On that note, I should probably mention that there's a region-wide 'kill on sight' order for Red Ice.”

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?” I yelled, not in the mood after the events of the gathering.

“After that monster showed up in the city, everybody's convinced you summoned it. You're back to public enemy number one, Snowflake.”

“Oh, fan-fucking-tastic!” Shrugging off any attempt at physical comfort from my friends and family, I walked to the side of the room and paced.

Rockhaunch just shrugged. “Guess I'll be going then. Come on boys.”

“Bye, Snow.” Lo tried, meekly.

“Keep safe.” I commanded without looking away from my pacing. “I can't lose you boys.”

“We will.” The three of them departed with Rockhaunch.

Schwarzwald, Naiara and Cept left next, trading hugs and hoofbumps with Bosco and Cassie. Wings headed to the skycarriage, to ready it for lift-off. Cassie led Esto and Amber out of the room, the three discussing how they were gonna handle the duties assigned to them.

With a big kiss on the cheek, Undertow bid goodbye to her new mother, speeding out of the room on the lightest of hooves.

That left just Lexi and I, standing together in the formerly raucous meeting place. She nudged my shoulder with hers. “They'll all be okay, darlin'. They can't bear to leave you, an' vice versa.”

Alone with my boss, away from friend, family and acquaintance alike, I felt no need to pretend. “What if they're not?” I gasped out, my throat hoarse.

“They will be. They got someone special to come back to, babygirl.” A tingle ran through my cheeks as she magically cleaned the tears off.

“But I can't keep them safe. I'm their big sister. I have to be able to keep them safe.” I've already failed too many times. The Stable. The Raiders. Lethbridle. How am I supposed to keep them all safe if I've always gotta look over my shoulder for attacks?

Lexi turned me to face her, tapping her horn against mine. “Then ask for help. Nobody expects yeh to do all by yerself. Y'got friends too. They won't let yeh down. An' yeh can always come t'me.”

Her warm, soft words ran straight up her horn and down mine. Despite everything going on, I felt myself calming.

Brushing away the last of my tears with the back of my hoof, I gave her a small smile. “Thank you. I better catch up to the others.”

She returned the smile. “Come on back anytime, Snowflake. Always a place here for yeh.”

You have no idea how nice it is to hear that. “You're the best, boss.” Turning on my heel, I sped out after my sister.

Halfway down the corridor, one last word reached my ears.

“...'boss'?”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter 26-3: The Balance Of Wants & Needs

“Doing okay, Buff?”

“Just fine.” I called back.

Aside from that brief interlude, the Chief and I continued to tromp along in silence, as we had since leaving the compound, while the lively conversations of the Sprinkles guards ponies and my younger brothers played out behind us. We had been travelling for hours, and already the discussion had moved through such topics as caravaneer life, Stable life, caravan girls, Stable girls, and now it focused on certain girls.

“So she still moans about giving the wethead filly such a huge discount on her gear.” I frowned slightly at his casual insult of my sister’s sister.

“The girl's called Undertow, I think, and it's totally weird. Boss complains about the amount all the time, but she's always smiling when she does.”

“She seems really nice,” Lo piped up, “let us stay the night even though we didn't have any caps.”

“We had some spare bunks, and you helped out with the wagons. That'll cover it.”

“Still, it was nice of her.” Al replied. “And we got a free breakfast!”

They all chuckled at that, and I gave a smile. Lexi has been good to Snowflake, and now Undertow. I'll have to repay her somehow.

To my left, there was a grunt from Chief Rockhaunch as he shifted his massive, weapon-abundant battle saddle. “Glad you three are enjoying yourselves, but try to keep in mind that this is going to be dangerous. Especially since we've got ponies with us. Crush won't like that.”

Absorbing this, I nodded solemnly. “Why does Crush have so much anger towards ponies?”

Rockhaunch spat. “He's just a punk who blames all Grindstone's problems on an easy scapegoat.”

I hope we get to visit Grindstone at some point. Seeing how Wasteland buffalo live might help us to better understand the world outside of Stable 61. “What problems does Grindstone have?”

The Chief jostled his battle saddle again, low voice rumbling flatly. “Same as most places round these parts, at least before Lethbridle happened. Gotta keep the people fed, and clothed, and safe from attack. It's just a little tricky because of the location and, well, us.”

“Who are 'us'? And what do you mean by the location?”

“Neighlway's between Grindstone and Lethbridle. Steel Rangers really drive the property values down, and the caravan costs up. Nopony wants to tussle with those bastards if they can help it.” He tch'd. “As for 'us', I mean being buffalo. We get dirty looks sometimes, on account of being three times the size of your average pony, or 'puny' as Crush would call them. Ponies have been more wary of anything without a cutie mark ever since they and the zebras started killing each other two centuries ago. Ask a griffon in a bar sometime. He'll have some stories for you.”

Nonplussed, I slowed a step. “So it's ponies' fault?”

He shrugged in response. “Eh, it's everybody's fault, kid. I spent too much of my youth in Lethbridle to think all punies are bad people, or that all buffalo are saints.”

“And Crush?” If the Chief can be swayed, then we should be able to end this peacefully.

Rockhaunch spat again. “Crush is a punk who spends too much time with his head up his own buffalo backside. From what I hear, he's been pointing his guns at non-buffalo since he got big enough to hold 'em.”

The Chief raised his head, spotting something in the distance. “We're almost there.” He called back over his shoulder to the others. “There's Vanchoofer, people. We're on the job from this point on.”

“Aw,” one of the Sprinkles Supplies guards whined, “but Vanchoofer has really good food.”

He was promptly ignored.

Blinking, I looked in the direction the chief was facing. “Vanchoofer? Aren't we going to Grindstone?”

He nodded. “After this, Vanchoofer's where most of the Lethbridle evacuees were sent off to. So far, Crush has been attacking them en route, but I want to make sure the main group is safe. We'll head to Grindstone once I'm sure.”

“Hmm.” I fell back to pace my two twins. “Al, Lo, we should stay together. Remember, we're here to help, not to fight.”

Hefting his riot shield, Al shook his head. “Something tells me we aren't gonna be the ones making that choice, bro.” Lo matched his action.

As did I. “That doesn't mean we should go looking for trouble. Listen to Chief Rockhaunch. He'll get us back safely.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“This place is awesome!” Lo bounced around at the front of the group, taking in the sights, sounds, and smells of the town.

Even when packed with Lethbridlean refugees, or perhaps because of it, Vanchoofer's attractions worked hard to create a festive atmosphere. Street vendors enthusiastically peddled their wares, performers capered and pranced, and smiles were drawn out of even the most stoic of passersby.

Rockhaunch gathered us in tight. “Keep your eyes open, people. See a buffalo, or anything suspicious, point 'em out. Al, you've seen Crush and his gang, you're up front with me. Everybody else stay sharp. They might not even be here, but I wanna be absolutely sure before I leave these civilians alone again.”

We made room as a gulping Al hustled up to the front. There was no more banter now, as everyone was focused on the task at hoof. The crowd was dense before us, but still found room for four armed buffalo and half a dozen earth stallions.

The further through the crowd we went, the more it seems like Chief Rockhaunch was on the money about the relationships between ponies and non-ponies. Mothers gathered their foals up when we got close, shepherding them out of the way. Stallions and colts did the same for the mares and fillies.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a ramshackle outdoor bar with only griffons at the counter. While I watched, one of them swiveled around to take a look at the excitement. It was a short look. Did she just not care, or simply prefer the company of other griffons? “Chief, we are starting to draw attention.”

Pausing to allow a cart full of junk to go by, the Chief took a moment to answer. “Nothing we can do about it now. Bear with it until we finish our sweep.”

Al searched back and forth. “I don't see anything, Chief.”

The others called out similar sentiments.

Nonplussed, Rockhaunch pushed us onwards. We travelled in a wide arc, circling the centre of Vanchoofer, where the throng was thickest. Reaching a point around halfway across from the main gate, we stopped in a moment of relative calm. The press of bodies had eased somewhat.

A sudden blaring clued us in as to why, as well as nearly scaring me out of my fur. In the very centre of the town, surrounded by ponies, was a vast stage. Great metal beams crossed over above it, filled with floodlights, and huge curving walls ran along the outer edge. There were gaps to watch through, and the audience crowded around them.

A musician had just started up a raucous number, with all eyes turning in her direction. One by one, more players joined her, the music and crowd growing louder as each walked on stage.

“Got a buffalo!” I jerked out of my reverie at Lo's cry. I followed his pointing hoof. At the edge of the stage, a burly bovine figure was passing instruments to the band members as they headed out.

He could just be a stagehoof helping out. “Al, do you recognise him?”

Straining his eyes, Al tried a variety of angles to get a better look at the target. Eventually, he shook his head. “I can't say for sure. Too far away.”

“Hey,” one of the Sprinkles Supplies guards called out, “he's on the move.”

“And we're going after him!” Rockhaunch hucked his battle saddle further up, so the chin strap was mere centimetres away. “Doublehorns, with me. If he can lead us to Crush, I want to try it with just buffalo. The rest of you, find some Lethbridle guards. Blue uniforms, grey caps. Tell them that Rockhaunch wants them to keep the peace, but be ready to move if necessary.”

“Got it.” The caravan ponies sped off into the crowd.

My brothers and I waited with Rockhaunch. The Chief finished his preparations, and tapped Al's riot shield with his horn. “Keep these up and ready, all three of you. Al, still see the buffalo?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, then lead the way.”

Gulping some more, Al began to push his way through the crowd, after the departing buffalo. We constantly had to apologise to disgruntled music-lovers, too wrapped up in the tune to notice us coming through, but were able to keep the stagehoof in sight.

The mystery bull, covered head to toe in massive overalls, headed straight for the edge of the crowd. and beyond His destination seemed to be in Vanchoofer's ring of outer buildings. Sticking to the crowd, we followed. He didn't turn around. When he turned a corner, we sped up after him, catching a glimpse before he disappeared into a dark and degraded warehouse behind the first row of structures.

“Damn, can't see anything.” Rockhaunch made to head for the warehouse, but Lo spoke up before he could move.

“We're not going in there, are we?”

The Chief nodded without looking. “Yep. Hurry, before he gets away.”

Lo didn't move. “But we don't know what's in there!”

Now, Rockhaunch did look at him. His brow was low and stiff. “That's what we're here for, Lo. I don't see another way in, do you? If we waste time searching for one, we might lose this chance.”

Shrinking back, Lo shakily raised his shield. “O-okay.”

I don't feel much better than you do, Lo. “Chief...”

Exhaling through his nose, Rockhaunch blinked a few times. “Yeah, okay. Sorry, keep forgetting you boys don’t deal with this back in your Stable.” He tapped Lo's shield. “I'll go in first, and you three follow after me. Keep those shields up, and if I tell you to run, you run, okay?” he eyeballed Al and I. “That goes for all of you, got it? You're being real brave here, but you're not fighters, not against Crush and his goons.”

“But if we find Crush, you can't take them all on by yourself, Chief.” Al was looking at the weapons on the Chief's battle saddle.

Suddenly there don't seem to be as many.

Grinding his teeth, the Chief looked back at the warehouse entrance and shook his head. “Crush won't gun us down. He's too tied up in his 'biggest and strongest' schtick. He'll want a one-on-one fight, no weapons.”

Al's queasy look lightened a little. “Yeah, like when I fought Cept. Crush really wanted to make a point.”

The Chief's hoof bopped his shoulder. “Exactly. He wants to put on a show. He's not a killer, he's just a punk doing playground games. If I think he's gonna go the fight route, I'll get you boys out of there.”

With an air of finality, the Chief bit down on his saddle's mouthpiece, testing the empty chambers of his guns. “Now come on. We're going in.”

“Right.” I was hardly enthused, but would make good on our pledge to help.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Visibility dropped off to almost nothing the moment we entered the warehouse. All I could see in the black was a faint outline of the my two brothers and Rockhaunch, little more like a different shade of dark rather than a true shape.

“I don't like this.” Lo whispered from somewhere to my right. “It didn't seem this big from outside.”

“It might extend through some other buildings?” The shake in Al's voice wasn't very comforting.

“Quiet, boys.” I discovered that Rockhaunch had stopped when I headbutted his backside. He didn't move an inch, except to hush us again. “Buff, your Pipbuck, does it say anything?”

Oh... dear. “I, um, I don't have it anymore, Chief.”

Rustling in the gloom, then Rockhaunch's horn clak'd into mine, twisting my head to the side. “What do you mean you don't have it? You didn't sell it, did you? It's worth far more than caps!”

If only, Chief. I grimaced. “That slaver leader, Peanut, he attacked me back in the city, just before Snow and I got out. He took it.”

“FUCK!”

Panicking, I moved to quiet Al with my hoof, but accidentally slugged the Chief in the face. He grunted angrily.

Aah! “Sorry, Chief, I was trying to shush him, keep him quiet. I didn't mean to hit you!”

I heard the Chief spit. Something wet and rich hit the floor with a splat. “No harm done, Buff. Just watch that jab of yours.” He sighed. “So Peanut has a Pipbuck now? Just 'great'.”

“Chief!” Al hissed from behind us. “I still have mine. It's got some yellows ahead of us.”

Our horns contacted again as he turned in the direction of Al's voice. “How many?”

Al took a second to respond. “They're bunched up pretty close together, but doesn't look like that many. Four, maybe five?”

“Okay. Nice and quiet now, boys.”

We continued through the dark warehouse, Al keeping up on the right path. Around one hundred metres in, something slashed across my shoulder, causing me to cry out.

“WHO'S THERE?!”

Instantly, light flooded the warehouse, forcing us to throw hooves over our eyes.

A deep booming laugh sounded out from beyond the glare. “Well, well, well, if it ain't 'da Chief'. Come all the way out here for little ol' me? What an honour.”

Blinking away the stars in my eyes, I squinted until I saw the speaker. Almost as big as Rockhaunch, Crush looked like he was very familiar with his namesake activity. Two more grinning buffalo flanked him. All three bore battle saddles bristling with heavy ordinance.

“Crush, why are you here?” Rockhaunch's growl was heavy, sharp.

The Chief was still rubbing at his eyes. Crush spotted this, and boomed out another laugh. “Oh, don't get all weepy on me, Chief. Me and my guys here are just out for a fun time. This is the place for it, you know. All that nice music, and the happy crowds, and the food cooked in all that hot, flammable, oil.”

Rockhaunch hadn't stopped sneering at the younger bull. “What are you planning, Crush?”

Crush sneered right back. “I'm here to put on a show.”

He looked to the side, where the stagehoof buffalo entered. The new arrival had no battle saddle, instead had massive shotguns strapped to his wrists.

The Stagehoof nodded at Crush, turning the latter's sneer into a lopsided grin. “See, I don't much like that 'puny' music they're playing. I need something with more boom.” The burly buffalo slammed his hoof down on a button on the floor in front of him.

Four, five, six, dull thuds sounded from outside, followed by high-pitched, manic screaming.

The four of us were frozen, looking out into the Vanchoofer air as the screams intensified.

Al recovered first. Anguished, he turned back to the gang leader. “Why are you doing this, Crush?”

Canting his head to the side, Crush looked genuinely surprised to see my brother. “That you, Al? Boy, I never thought I'd see you again after the big rumble back then. Thought you were dead.”

Shaking, Al looked at all four of the bombers. “Did you even look for me? Look after your 'brother buffalo', like you claimed we all were?” Al slashed the air with his Pipbuck-laden limb. “How did you put it? 'Buffalo gotta look out for each other. If we don't then nobody will.' How does that line up with leaving me behind?”

“I didn't need you, punk. You couldn't even beat one zebra. What good were you to me against ponies if you were that soft? You'd never do what was necessary.” Mud-brown form shaking with psychotic glee, Crush threw back his head and roared. “TAKE THAT, YOU PUNIES!”

“HOW DOES THIS HELP BUFFALO, CRUSH?” Al roared back. “These people were innocent!”

“They're not buffalo, who cares what they are?” Crush stopped laughing, and waved Al off. “Gotta do what it takes to put buffalo on top, Al. That means tearing down the ponies. The griffons and zebra too, if I have to.”

Suddenly clicking his hoof against his horn, Crush snickered. “I got an idea! Since they didn't kill you back then, why don't we go get that zebra bastard who kept knockin' you down? Or how about that Red Ice unicorn who thought she could beat me! Let's go get her, Al!”

Another, louder, boom sounded out, followed by intensified cries. Crush squeed in delight. “And that's the stage! No more lousy racket played by punies.” He pointed past us, out of the warehouse doors. “Come on, boys. Let's go have some more fun. They'll all be running scared now! Can't wait for the rest of the bombs to go off.”

Stamping the concrete so hard that it cracked, Rockhaunch put himself between Crush's gang and the door. “You're not going anywhere, Crush!”

Snorting in derision, Crush rolled his eyes. “Oh give me a break, Rockhaunch. This ain't Lethbridle. You can't arrest me. You can't do SHIT to me!”

Rockhaunch turned and blasted every weapon in his battle saddle at the stagehoof. The buffalo was blown upright and over, crashing down on the cold floor. “You three, stop the other bombs.” His speech was barely audible over the burst of his guns, tearing into the second of Crush's goons as they stood dumbfounded.

“We can't leave you here!” Al made to move up, raising his shield.

“GO!” Rockhaunch bellowed, scrambling out of the way as the last of Crush's posse charged straight for him. He barely made it upright before Crush barreled into him. The two behemoths went down in a thunderous heap.

“What do we do?” Lo was gripping his shield as hard as he could.

“Give me your shield, Lo!” I commanded. With Rockhaunch tied up in fighting Crush, the last of his crew was pulling himself back to his hooves. “I'll back up Rockhaunch. You two find the others, tell the guards about the bombs. Tell everyone!”

“Are you sure, Buff?”

Lo hadn't let go of his shield, and the last enemy was turning back to the titanic combat between the Chief and the terrorist. Heart pounding, I wrenched the shield from Lo's grasp and secured it across from mine. “I'm sure. You two go now.”

Without another word, I charged forwards, slamming into the unnamed buffalo before he could bite down on his mouthpiece. I felt metal rend and fold, but didn't stop until I pushed him into the wall.

Twin shields up, I put everything I had into keeping him pinned. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Al dragging Lo back outside. Good job, Al. Keep going.

I might have been stronger than any pony or griffon, but my opponent was a full grown bull, while I was a teenager. Bovine muscles surged beneath the shields as he barged me backwards.

Hooking his horn, he tore one shield away, sending it spinning across the empty storehouse. I struck out at his face with the remaining shield, catching him on the chin.

He stumbled back, but shook it off and lowered his head. I braced the shield for his charge, but it wasn't enough. The force lifted my front hooves high, and the momentum left my back hooves scrambling for purchase as I went in reverse.

Pain exploded across my back as I hit the wall behind me. Twin spikes of pain stung my chest as his horns pierced the shield. Is this how Wastelanders fight? It's horrible.

“You're out of your league, pup.” He sneered, raking the points of his horns down my front. When he pulled away, blood came with him, as did the shield stuck to his horns.

Winded and bruised, I felt the blood from the gashes matting my fur. Before I could even raise my head, the shield slammed into my forehead. He... he didn't even take it off his horns. My assailant rammed it down onto my crown. My legs gave out, and I sank back down, only to meet another charge. I felt something pop in my side as I fell landing heavily on my shoulder.

Shield-first, he battered me around in a circle, moving my unmoving bulk through sheer power alone. “You're as weak as Al was. Even look like him too. You two brothers? Maybe you can at least manage to die right.”

Smirking, he chomped on his trigger. I froze. I... am I going to die? Someone help! Snow! Undertow! Anyone!

Raggedly clicking, his impacted weapons refused to fire. “Oh for fuck's sake.” Grumbling, he shucked off the entire battle saddle, and ripped the shield from his head. “Guess I'll do this oldschool.”

I tried to rise as he stalked towards me, but fear made my legs weak, and I only managed to get one knee under me before he smashed a hoof into my face. I tasted blood, and turned my head away to shield my face.

He didn't care, and punched me in the side of the head. The back. The top. Anywhere where his hooves could reach, he struck.

I couldn't see. I couldn't hear. I could only feel the pain, and my heart thudding in my chest. The remaining bombs meant nothing to me, nor Rockhaunch, or Crush, or the screams outside. I just wanted it to stop.

It did. With an ear-splitting volley, Rockhaunch launched everything he had into my assailant. “I told you to run. Get outta here, Doublehorn!”

I could barely comprehend what was happening, through the pain and blood. All I knew was that I wasn't being hit anymore, and the buffalo wasn't getting back up again.

I raised my head. Rockhaunch was already turning back to Crush, but he was moving so slowly. The Chief was bloody too, and panting. He shuffled an inch at a time, turning like driftwood in a weak current.

What did Crush do to him?

As if summoned by my thoughts, Crush surged in from Rockhaunch's right. The Chief kept turning to meet him head on, but he was too slow. Crush had no battle saddle and, unburdened, his horns stabbed deep into the flesh of the older buffalo's side. Howling, Crush kept pushing, until his forehead rested against the oaken fur of Lethbridle's champion.

Then, Crush twisted.

The unholy sounds drawn from Chief Rockhaunch as the wicked barbs rips chunks from his body blasted me back to full consciousness. Eyes wide, I could only watch as blood arced out of the wound, spraying the drab grey in a crimson burst.

Pupils unfocusing, the Chief fell. He fell, and did not rise.

“Heh... heh...” Crush tried to wipe some blood from his cheek. All it did was smear it across more of his ragged face. “Told ya you couldn't... do anything to me, old... bastard.”

“Ch-chief?” Using the discarded, punctured shield for a crutch, I managed to get upright.

Chest rising and falling, in ever decreasing frequency, Rockhaunch couldn't even raise his head. “Buff,” he croaked through bubbles of blood, “...go.”

“Still not dead?” Crush stomped manically across the floor. “I'll fix that.”

In one swift, terrible motion, he opened the Chief's throat from end to end.

I held Rockhaunch's gaze as it happened. My body didn't know how to respond. A thousand internal sensations began and ended before I could even determine what they were. Is is always this way, Snowflake? How many times have you gone through this, big sister?

Who did you see die first?

“One left.” Crush growled. “Just you and me, kid.” He took a shaking step towards me, then dropped to his knees, unable to take his own weight. “Argh, damn. Fucking Rockhaunch.”

He's gonna kill me! I hobbled towards the exit, as fast as my broken body could take me.

“Yeah, go ahead and try to run. More fun for me.” Shuffling around, Crush began tugging at the Chief's battle saddle. “Gotta be something on here to kill your punk ass. You, Al, and... the other one.”

Lo! Al! I have to get to them. We have to get away!

I cried out as a bullet sparked off a steel beam two metres to my right. Putting everything I had into moving, I wasted no more time looking back.

Crush's voice followed me out of the warehouse. “Urgh, damn thing's heavier than it looks. Whatever. Run all you want, Doublehorn. You won't leave Vanchoofer alive!”

Back out in the open air, the devastation was readily apparent. Bodies lay either bleeding or unmoving all around. Those on the ground moaned softly, or reached out for me as I passed. Others, crying or screaming or shouting, were pulling their loved ones from craters and collapses. More than once I saw somebody with a bloody stump where a limb should have been.

Smoke from over a dozen blazes burned around the outskirts of Vanchoofer, darkening the cloudy sky further, with more fire at the centre of the settlement. The misshapen, blackened remains of the stage were still standing, but the creaking of the fire-warped wood was audible even from this distance.

Staggering towards the stage, passed tangled and twisted bodies, I desperately hunted for my brothers, or the Sprinkles Supplies guards, or any Lethbridle uniform. There was a lot of people around, soot-covered and bloodstained, but nobody I recognised.

The best and worst of Wastelanders were on display as I limped through the town. Griffons fought to keep their meager possessions safe from pony looters taking advantage of the situation, even while hens stripped dead bodies of any valuables. Stallions and tiercels joined forces to lift rubble away from a doorframe, freeing those trapped within. Near the main gate, the Vanchoofer gate guards looked on, indifferent, as a pair of buffalo struggled to hold up a wall while others pulled foals to safety.

“Al. Lo.” Stumbling and dragging myself with hoof and shield, I reached them just as the wall they were supporting cracked down the middle.

“GET CLEAR!” Both dove aside as the wall dropped, throwing up choking dust.

By the time I'd spat out the foul powder that got into my mouth, Al and Lo were up and crowding me. “Buff! What happened to you?”

“Where's Rockhaunch?”

“Did you stop Crush?”

Snorting, I hocked out a mess of green, red, and grey. “Al, Lo, I'm sorry but Rockhaunch... he's dead.”

Colour drained from their faces. “D-dead?” Al crossed his hooves in front of him.

“But... what about Crush?” Lo wasn't blinking now. He was looking all everywhere at once.

“He's still alive.” Another twinge of pain ran through me. “We have to get help, stop him. Where are the Sprinkles guards?”

“They left, said the money wasn't worth their life.” Mournfully, Al looked to the openly-eavesdropping Vanchoofer guards, who turned away. “We should get out of here too, Buff. We can’t stop him without Rockhaunch.”

I would love to leave, but... “We can't. Crush won't stop. He might have more bombs, and he still has a gun. Everyone here is in danger. Don't you remember? He said he was going after Snowflake after this.”

Both jerking at the mention of our sister, they stalled. We all looked at each other, Al to Lo, Lo to me, me to Al. “What do we do?”

I honestly don't know which one of us said that.

“We could leave?”

“Come back with help, yeah!”

“I'm sure the guards will handle Crush.”

“Nope,” An anonymous guard called in from outside our stand-off. “busy now with all this shit going on.”

“Well, now what?”

“If Rockhaunch couldn't stop him, why should we even bother trying?”

“Because,” I was sure, at least for this one moment, that I was speaking, “our big sister raised us to be good.”

Silence descended, broken only by our sniffles. I was certain that Al and Lo were thinking the same thought that I was. A girl a quarter of our size, a tenth as strong... and a hundred times as bold as the three of us put together.

“Snow won't get mad at us for fighting, right?” Lo wiped at his tears. “She's scary when she's ticked.”

“So long as we make sure we come home, like we promised.” Al forced a smile. “She'd never forgive us for leaving her alone.”

“She's not alone,” I corrected. “she's with our other sister.”

“About time you came around.” Al's quip earned him a real smile from me.

“Yeah, sorry I took so long.”

“And not just Undertow!” Lo started excitedly, before stopping himself. “Nah, y'know what, I'll let Undertow tell you when we get back.”

I looked at Al. He looked back. We both shrugged. “Okay?”

A loud banging echoed around the town. Looking back, I spotted a burly form by the stage, striking a massive gun against the compromised structure. Bloodied but standing tall, Crush roared. “Doublehorns, come out to play-ay. Doublehorns, come out to play-ay. Doublehorns, COME OUT TO PLAY!”

The three of us stood, side by side by side.

“This is how we help.” I reminded them. “This is how we protect our sisters.”

Al hefted his shield. Lo procured another to replace the one I'd appropriated back in the warehouse.

“'ey,” A Vanchoofer gate guard strolled up and, without warning, jabbed a needle into my shoulder. “this'll help.”

“OW! What was that?!” I swung my horn-drilled shield around, but he ducked under my attack.

“Easy there, big guy. Just some Med-X. It'll take the edge off. I saw you movin' a little slow there.” He jerked his head to the other guards, who were tossing caps into a pile. “We're takin' bets. At least this way you can give us a good show, yeah?”

I do not like you. “Well, we wouldn't want to bore you and your gambling buddies now, would we?”

Lo didn't miss with his follow up swing, and sent the stallion sprawling. “Get away from my brother, ya leach!”

Worryingly, the stallion came up smiling. He turned to the other guards. “Ten caps says that one gets the last hit in.”

Al tch'd in disgust. “Friggin' ponies, bro.”

He's not wrong. “Let's just get this over with.” Despite my words, the sick feelings from the warehouse were resurfacing, multiplied to the power of three now that I had my two brothers to imagine dead.

“Oh, come on, guys.” Lo's fear-born optimism was relentless. If he stopped, he would probably break down. “They're just trying to make some caps off of a bad situation. Remember that this is Crush's fault.”

Al mulled that over for a second, before altering his statement. “Friggin' buffalo, bro.”

Okay, so he was wrong. “Yeah, friggin' buffalo.”

And then there was left to do but go face Crush, who was still ranting by the stage. Even from here, his movements were erratic and irregular.

Has he been using Med-X too?

As we neared the stage, he caught sight of us. “There you are, Doublehorns. Time to die.”

In a flash, his shotgun was up and firing, shot bouncing off of our shields.

It would have gone straight through mine if I hadn't already been in motion. Yep, he definitely gave himself something.

His weapon tracked me as I moved. Just as he fired, Lo barged into his shoulder, and the shot went wide.

Grinning and grunting, Crush twisted the gun up and over, slamming the butt into Lo's shield, which hammered both down onto Lo's face. Hooking his horns under the dazed buffalo's shield, he wrenched up and away. Lo went flying backwards, the wind blowing out of him as he crashed down.

Al rammed Crush from the other side, overbalancing him, but the drugged up giant caught him under the chin with a blind kick.

NOW! While Crush was down, I bounded in and leaped, bringing the shield down on the shotgun. There was a raucous CRACK, but it didn't break.

Rising, Crush yowled and rammed his forehead into mine. Thanks to the Med-X, I barely felt it. The two of us struggled against each other as our hooves gouged deep furrows in the ground for traction.

I struggled more, and the bigger buffalo surged forwards.

Digging my heels in did little, if anything, as I was steadily forced backwards. Crush and I blinked blood out of our eyes, mere inches from each other. His pupils were tiny, zeroed in on me.

Al rushed Crush from the left, battering his shoulder with a mighty impact. As he moved to push Al away, Lo caught him on the opposite thigh. He staggered, and we were apart for a moment.

I butted him back half a metre, and suddenly he was in the middle of a Doublehorn triangle. Any move he made to focus on one of us invited a dig by another. With horn, shoulder, hoof, teeth and elbow, we assaulted the reeling bomber.

Rockhaunch should have won, not you! As Lo twisted Crush around, I took a half-step back, for a bigger charge. I want you to feel this one, you lunatic!

That half-step was a mistake. Without me to carry on the cycle, Crush recovered enough to catch Al's thrust before it could connect. With a firm grip on my middle brother, Crush heaved.

Yelping in panic, Al's entire bulk was lifted off the ground. Crush suplexed him down right on top of me. Even through the Med-X, my popped rib sent white hot agony through my body.

I pushed Al off me with a snarl. The white hot agony was being devoured by a red haze as generations of buffalo battle instincts kicked in. It should have been you! I charged again, ignoring Crush's punch as it just missed taking my eye, I put my whole weight behind my horn.

The spur bit deep into his bicep. With a roar, Crush yanked backwards. My neck felt like it would snap, and his limb tore free.

Still unfeeling, Crush ignored the damage, swinging the perforated limb up and under Lo's chin. Continuing his motion, he clashed brows with Al, who was finally upright again.

“You can't do it, Doublehorns.” He growled. “You're just not strong enough.”

Like me, Al went backwards. Lo got a buck in at Crush's bruises hip. “Not alone, maybe, but we're not.”

My teeth sank into the hole in Crush's muscle. I grunted around the blood and sinew. “Cun beet ool fee ov uz, Clazj.”

For a second or two, it was Crush who was forced back again. Then his healthy, unhindered bicep flexed. The mind-numbing weight of another buffalo's bulk fell atop me, and my knees gave out. I hit the ground, chin first. I felt it burst open in the dirt.

“I'll... KILL YOU ALL!” Taken by the same bloodlust I was, Crush went shoulder to shoulder-and-shoulder with both Al AND Lo, and he was winning. “I'm the strongest around. The biggest and baddest. I don't lose...” Veins pulsed on his forehead. “I CRUSH!”

Forcing my way in between my brothers, stars exploded before my eyes as Crush and I clashed foreheads again. “You can't crush us all. You're alone. Even other buffalo don't like you. Buff, Al, and Lo definitely don't like you.”

“Like I care!” He roared back, spittle covering my face. “I'm still the strongest. I'll show everybody that buffalo should be on top, and I'm the top of the top.”

“Then why are you going backwards, Crush?” Al taunted.

“You bastards are ganging up on me!” He screamed with petulant, schoolyard bully logic. “None of you can take me one on one.”

“We don't need to, you moron!” Lo's cienna fur was caked in sweat, but he kept pushing. “We're not looking to be alone at the top. We want our family around us. The three of us, and our two sisters.”

“Two 'puny' pony sisters,” I interjected, just to see the shock spread across his face.

Yeah, ‘what the fuck?’ indeed. You can’t understand it, can you?

Crush's struggles became more and more disjointed as our wall of bodies pushed him up the ramp onto the stage itself.

I let a sneer run across my face. “You can't beat our family with strength, Crush. It's never going to be enough.”

“Says who!” Back literally against the wall, Crush dug deep. Planting his back hooves on the wall, and his forehooves against Al and Lo's chests, Crush extended as far and as fast as he body would allow.

Al and Lo were blown backwards, off the stage. It left Crush with no leverage, and I slammed him into the back wall of the stage. Still riding the adrenaline, Crush repeated his tactic, but put both hooves on me.

Flying isn't pleasant for a big-bodied creatures like buffalo, especially when you land on your brothers. The three of us groaned in a heap, in front of the stage.

Wheezing, Crush couldn't quite stand up on the stage. Still, he held his head high. “You see that? Three on one, and you still lost. I'm the best. The strongest. The alpha buffalo. Not you, or Rockhaunch, or anyone else. Me! Crush is the strongest one there is!” Stomping heavily around the stage, he challenged the entire town. “This bull won't lose. This bull won't die.” Falling onto his back, he raised his hooves to the sky. “This bull will CRUSH!”

Something answered him, but it wasn't the town or sky.

Damaged by bombs, fire, and a burly buffalo's bulky body battered into its back brace, the stage collapsed.

It collapsed under him, around him, and on top of him.

It was over in seconds, but they stretched out for eternity in our adrenaline high. First the stage floor gave way, and Crush's expression shifted to confusion.

Then cracks ran up the walls, chunks breaking off and falling. His confusion became disbelief.

Finally, the walls and supports themselves came free, tumbling down into the sinkhole.

At its centre, a disbelieving-turned-furious buffalo wouldn't be silenced. One long, continuous, defiant shout echoed off every twisting, turning, tumbling surface, in a crescendo of unbridled vehemence. It was so loud, Crush died before the echoes did.

Al threw up. Lo threw up. I threw up. Our bodies understood what had just happened, even if my mind was still catching up.

Lo managed to recover first, somehow, and keyed his Pipbuck. “Um... mission control. Sorry, forgot your names. We found Crush. Stopped him. Um… we're in Vanchoofer.” He finished lamely.

“Very good, you four.” Responded the cultured voice of the businessmare... Amble? “Allow me to speak to Chief Rockhaunch.”

I choked on the dregs of my vomit. Lo was just as helpless. “Uhh...”

“Hello? Are you still there?”

This shouldn't have happened. I leaned over and spoke into the Pipbuck. “I'm sorry, but Chief Rockhaunch is... he died.”

“They killed each other?”

“Not… exactly.”

“You three killed Crush?”

“We… did some of the damage.”

The mare on the other end of the line, whose family name I at least remembered as Bernstein. was as much at a loss for words as we were. “My congratulations… and condolences. It cannot have been easy to do that.” A pregnant pause was heard. Finally, she spoke again. “This is truly unfortunate but, given that this is the case, I must simply relay the information I have to you remaining three.”

Three wet-behind-the-ears Stable buffalo are hardly a good alternative. “Go ahead. We're listening. Whatever you needed from Chief Rockhaunch, we'll do our best to finish.” We owe him that much.

A hint of humour crept into her voice. “I'm sure you will. Here is the message: Snowflake has called in. She wishes for your group to meet her at Crystal Point, near Sombra's Shadow Lake.”

I heard Al's Pipbuck ping twice, in reaction to the two locations. “Okay, but why are we meeting her there?”

Stiffness returned to the businessmare's tone. “She did not give a reason, only asking that you hurry. I would advise that you do not keep her waiting, both for her sake and yours. She can help you through this more than I am able.”

“That’s not really what I want to hear about my big sister.” Al climbed to his hooves. “We'll go right now.”

Lo looked back towards the warehouse. “Should we… uh… find the Chief’s body?” He whimpered, shuddering as he did.

I groaned as the pain from my battles overcame the waning effects of the painkiller. “We’ll ask the guards. We have to get to Snow now. We can’t help Rockhaunch anymore. We’ll leave, just as soon as I can find a health potion.” Sorry, Chief.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Level Up!

Perks gained: Top Toppling – When faced with more than one opponent, the strongest enemy takes more damage when attacked by different party members sequentially.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Author's Note

Author's note: Well, that one wasn't as long as I thought it would be, but it's the shortest of the remaining chapters. We'll see how the rest go. I only have three more planned, plus an epilogue.

That’s all for now, folks. Please keep reading, commenting, and spreading the word on Old Souls. I really appreciate your feedback, and welcome back.

Chapter 27-1: White Stars, Black Stripes, Grey Skies

[The only real revelation was the realization that hanging all your hopes on an assumption was going to get you nothing but hurt.]

“No, you mad mare, I will not ask Bosco to copy my body to 'spit roast' Breeze!” Cept was almost foaming at the mouth at my suggestion. “I do not even know what that is, though I am sure it is sexual!”

I was not done, however. “Not even if dear Breeze herself asks for it?”

Whatever your answer, Cept-dahling, I can still enjoy the idea in my mind.

The three of us had approached Plottawa from the back, so far managing to avoid any Plottawan patrols while in the forest. We weren't far from the wall, and Naiara had scouted ahead to confirm we were safe to talk.

The zebra filly was doubled over in a belly laugh. “I would trade everything I have in this world to hear Breeze ask that.” Still unable to stand, she waved Cept over. “C'mere, I'll tell you what it means.”

Watching the mounting horror on Cept's face as a barely-able-to-keep-a-straight-face Naiara whispered the possibilities of three-person intercourse into his ear was a treat in itself. His golden eyes were widening at the same rate his striped face was reddening.

By the end of the explanation, he could only stare straight ahead, open-mouthed.

I sidled up next to him, rubbing along his side. “Now you know the theory, dahling, but I would be happy to give you some hooves-on practice.”

His resulting leap carried him straight over Naiara's head. She and I collapsed into further giggles. Oh, you lovely boy. Breeze will be very satisfied when you finally find your courage, I am sure.

Marching stiffly around us, Cept waved us on. “You are not here just to make rude jokes, Schwarzwald. Why did you come with us?”

My loose gait easily kept up with his tight movements. Smiling, I tapped my forehead, where a unicorn's horn might be. “This 'Overmare' comes from the same Stable as our dear Snowflake. Talking to Willow Wisp should be very informative indeed.” For more than one reason.

Naiara trotted up beside us. “Why would she talk to you? Cassie said she wasn't really on good terms with Snowflake, or those who know her.”

“And she has Plottawan soldiers with her.” Cept supplied.

I flashed my biggest grin. “I will just have to convince her. It will be fine.” You two are not the only ones to overcome danger and anger. “Focus on Atesh, dahlings, and leave the Overmare to me.”

“We meet Atesh first,” Cept said with finality. “He is the reason Naiara and I are here. After that, we will deal with Willow Wisp.”

“Aye aye.” The cheery reply from Naiara had me raising an eyebrow.

They are used to working together like this. No arguments. “Understood, Cept. It is nice to hear such a commanding voice.”

“Can't wait til he tries that on Breeze, either. She'll murder him.”

Cept coloured nicely at Naiara's quip.

“Come now, Naiara. Confidence is always attractive.” Leering, I leaned in to slyly faux-whisper in her ear. “Besides, even a strong-willed girl like Breeze will sometimes want her lover to... take the reins.”

Coughing loudly, Cept turned and walked diagonally away from us, hind legs slightly crossed.

Naiara shared my knowing look. She winked at me before nodding ahead. “There's the wall. You want a second to think about ghouls, Cept?”

He refused to turn his head, merely grunting a response. “I am fine. We should get to the wall before any slavers arrive.”

Taking pity on the stallion, Naiara and I took the lead. No Plottawans arrived by the time we got there, but our scout wasted no time in barking out several hails in the zebra tongue.

Within moments, two striped heads popped up over the top of the wall, eyes widening as they spotted the three of us. One ducked back down immediately, while the other jabbered rapid-fire after them.

“What are they saying?” I took it as a positive that neither of my companions seemed worried by the responses.

“They are getting a rope for us to climb up,” Cept scanned the forest once more, “and they are also informing the Elder of our arrival.”

“Saves us some time.” Naiara was limbering up for the climb, straining her shoulders and hips as she stretched her limbs.

My own warm-up was slightly more sensual. Purposefully so, as I made sure to do it in full view of our stallion companion.

To my delight, Cept had to turn away again.

“Breeze is gonna kill you.” Naiara managed between chuckles.

“No,” My tongue ran across my lips, “but she may make me squeal.”

Clearing his throat again, Cept muttered to himself.

Oh, do not deny yourselves your fun, Cept. Breeze is far less uptight than you.

A rope descending cut off any further teasing. Cept was halfway up before I even noticed he had moved.

Naiara waved me forwards after he reached the top. She gripped the rope and wrapped it around my hoof. “Hold it tightly. Use the friction to hold yourself in place with your back legs, and pull with the front. Call out if you need help, they'll pull you up.”

I hmph'd, “I am not so old yet.” and began to pull myself up.

I am not old, but I have not done this for quite some time. It is not as easy as I remember. My limbs felt heavier by the time I pulled myself over the top, but I waved away any assistance.

My pride was only slightly wounded when Naiara appeared mere seconds later. “Let us find Atesh, dahlings.”

“Whatever you say.” Naiara and Cept stayed close to me, as the other zebra formed up around us.

I suppose you two are as concerned with keeping me safe from harm as your clan mates are with keeping me from causing it.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

We were led down and through some slave pens on the way to Atesh's office. Gaunt faces stared out at us from the other side of the fences.

Naiara's jade eyes dimmed at the sight. “What happened to them? They weren't like this before.”

“What do you mean?” Cept spoke out of the side of his mouth.

Naiara followed suit. “They were more active. Healthier. It's only been two days!”

“Sickness?” Cept glanced around. “All the more reason to resolve this quickly.”

“Please...” A dirty hoof pressed against the walls of the pens. “Just a little food...” The pony behind the hoof couldn't even hold themselves upright, and slumped backwards.

“They are starving, not ill.” I ventured. “It appears they have not been fed in those two days.”

Cept tried to talk to the other zebra, but was rebuffed. “Has the Plottawan attack drained their supplies?”

I sized up the fit and toned bodies of the zebra guards accompanying us. “Your clan mates do not look underfed.”

We stopped at the foot of the stairs to Peanut's, now Atesh' office. Two of our guards climbed the staircase, while the others waited at the bottom. Naiara didn't wait for permission to head up. “No, they don't. We'd better ask Atesh.”

“Naiara, he is still our clan Elder.” Cept's warning was barely acknowledged.

I followed behind them both in silence, halting a few steps down to listen. This will be interesting.

Naiara opened the door and walked in, cutting Atesh's “Enter” off mid-word. Cept followed after her. From my vantage point on the stairs, I could see Atesh's hoof on the desk, but not his face.

The hoof moved in greeting. “Naiara, Cept. You have returned. I am pleased.”

“Elder.” Cept bowed.

“Atesh.” Naiara didn't. “What happened to the slaves?”

“Has something happened?” There was a hint of confusion in Atesh's statescolt-like voice, but mostly indifference.

“'Has something happened'? They're starving!” Naiara kicked a hoof against the wooden floor.

“Elder,” Cept laid a calming hoof on her shoulder, “has their been a shortage of food from the Plottawan attacks?”

“No, we still have food to last several months.” Atesh's tone, though proper, seemed utterly bored. “Now that you two are here, it is time—”

“If you've got food to last months, why are the slaves starving outside?” Naiara shrugged off Cept's hoof, frowning at the older stallion.

Atesh's hoof pressed flat against the table, and the trundle of wheels on wood showed that the clan Elder had risen from his chair. “Scout, I permitted you to speak your mind when you were last here. I do not give permission now. Do not interrupt me again.”

“You said you were going to test the slaves for a suitable unicorn for the horn. They can't prove themselves if they're half dead!”

His controlled tone slipped. “They already failed to prove themselves. The few unicorns present are of no use to me with their pitiful levels of magic. Why should I waste supplies on them?”

“Because they're people, victims!”

“They are ponies, Naiara.” He shot back with a razor-sharp tongue. “They are unimportant, not worth wasting food. I thought that your return here with Cept meant that you realised that.”

This feels like the right moment. I climbed the rest of the stairs and trotted into the office. “You are such a charming stallion, Atesh. It is a wonder you do not have mares around you wherever you go.”

At my entrance, Atesh drew in a long, slow breath through his nose. His frown deepened as he did so. The younger of the two stallions found himself skewered by a flat hazel stare. “You brought a pony into my office, Cept?”

“I did not bring her, Elder. She accompanied us.”

Atesh slashed a hoof through the air between them. “There is no difference, Cept. You should not have allowed her to follow you. You should have returned with Naiara, and no other.”

Snorting out a laugh, I lounged against the office wall. “I do wonder how you believe he could stop me.”

Atesh smiled, a reptilian effort that did little more than expose teeth. “Unlike Naiara, Cept is a capable enough fighter to overcome a pony in combat.”

Bristling, Naiara squared her hooves. “The hell is that supposed to mean?”

Atesh pointed to the camera in the corner of the ceiling. “I have been watching the footage of how you fought Peanut in this very room. It was disappointing to see one of my zebra students fall to my unworthy pony pupil.”

All three of us started. “What?!”

Atesh sat back down. “Fifteen years ago, I trained Peanut in the fundamentals of hoof combat. He learned quickly, but was ultimately unsuited to any style. Not unexpected, no pony is truly capable of mastery of zebra arts.”

Cept was utterly thrown by the revelation. “Elder, why would you do that?”

Atesh didn't falter. “The young colt was a useful tool in other areas. He had knowledge and skills I made use of. These were payment for the training. After we parted ways, I had little interest in what he did next.” He rubbed his chin. “However, it is intriguing how he has merged what I taught him with pony techniques. There may even have been some griffon fighting involved too.”

Naiara gaped at his casual attitude. “You hate ponies! You've always hated ponies! Why would you teach one zebra secrets?”

Hazel eyes rolled. “As I said, scout, Peanut had other talents that I could make use of. He provided information. Information that mixed with other knowledge to form steps on the path to the horn. It has been a long process, and I have been patient. Still, I will agree that it was a mistake to train him, no matter the reward. I could have found a better way without him.”

“It rather sounds like he got the better deal, dear Atesh.” Peanut used what you taught him to build his slaver empire. You and your clan have been without a home for longer than his Plottawa has existed.

Whispers from the hallway showed that Atesh's secret was not so easily accepted among the clan.

If Atesh heard the whispers, he gave no sign. “Possible, mercenary, but I did learn that I could not trust ponies because of my trade with Peanut, which was a valuable lesson indeed. Zebra cannot coexist with ponies, we can only use them like the tools that they are.”

Quiet descended upon the office. Atesh, smug in his chair, faced us all with half-lidded eyes. Cept stood tall, but his cheek twitched. I watched Naiara, who was vibrating with rage.

“You're wrong, Atesh.” She didn't raise her voice, but the whispers ceased immediately. A quick glance down the stairs showed the other zebra waiting with baited breath.

He sighed. “You still cling to this folly. I have given you too much freedom, scout. Now, you must fulfil your duty to the clan.” He stood up and thrust out a hoof. “Naiara. Cept. You two will retrieve my horn, Red Ice, her unicorn follower Undertow, and Latvi. You will find them, and you will bring them to me. No more delays, and no more failures. Go now, fulfil your destiny.”

Cept stared back without moving, unimpressed.“Our destinies?”

Naiara was far more animated. She stepped forwards, so that she was standing right in front of his outstretched hoof. “And if I won't?”

Atesh lowered his hoof, but did not back down. “Then you doom your clan to wander this poisoned land forever. We are heretics and outcasts. We cannot go home without a means to prove our worth. This is the way we will do it.” His eyes panned over to me. “Your friends are as damaging to our cause as the fools in Roam claim the stars to be. The difference is that something can be done about your friends; Schwarzwald, the two pegasi, the griffon...”

Finally. I was waiting for you to make that threat. I didn't have my battle saddle, but I still had my holdout weapons. Clenching, I readied for everything to go wrong. You will not harm Wings, nor any of the others. She is necessary, you are very much not.

Stepping forwards, Cept gently pulled Naiara back, and imposed himself between the two. “I ask again, Elder, what are our destinies?”

Inconceivably, Atesh's visage turned prideful. “Is it not obvious? You two, Cept and Naiara, are the finest of your generation. The finest of our clan. With the horn and its unicorn vessel in my possession, I will be able to return to Roam in triumph. The horn can provide the crystals that our nation needs, and show that I was right all along. The stars do not decide our fate, we are born with our fates.”

I nickered, hoof over my mouth. “You talk of only yourself, Atesh. Cept did not ask of your destiny.”

Hatred burned through the Elder's hazel eyes. “Our destinies are intertwined, pony. When I return to Roam, I will be raised to a higher calling. I will be a senator of Roam, a leader of our people, not just this clan. When I earn my new position, Cept will take my place as leader of this clan.”

The announcement caused a burst of chatter from the bottom of the stairs, and a frantic eyes-only conversation between the two guards in the room with us.

Did you tell anyone of your plans, Atesh?

“Congratulations, Cept.” Naiara's snark was not aimed at the younger stallion.

“When were you going to tell me this, Elder?” Cept remained standing between Atesh and Naiara.

“When you needed to know.” Walking around the desk, Atesh tried to put a hoof on Naiara's shoulder, but she shrunk back while Cept jumped between them again. “As for Naiara, she will return with me to Roam, at first to control the unicorn...”

Eyes already wide at the thought of going to Roam, the jade-eyed filly jolted at the last sentence. “'At first'?”

Atesh nodded in agreement. “At first. After the crystal farm is safely in place and contained, then you will fulfil your destiny. You will give me a son.”

“WHAT?!” Naiara gasped, echoed by Cept. She leapt straight backwards, away from Atesh. “You... you want me to... you're like a father to me!”

Unfazed, the Elder ignored her revulsion even as his eyes roamed her form. “It does not speak well of a leader of an entire people to be without a family of his own. As I said before, you are the finest female in our clan, and it is time to use all of your body's gifts to their fullest. You will be my wife, and the mother of my children.”

I burst out laughing. “Are your own followers strangers to you, 'Elder' Atesh? Naiara is a free spirit, unchained and born to explore. You think she will be happy in your gilded cage?”

Returning to his statescolt-like manner, far more fitting to his delusions, Atesh smiled serenely. “Naturally. She will be nobility. Any thing she desires will be hers, and all will know her as the mother of the changing times.”

Naiara moved to use me to cover herself, spitting out her discontent. “Oh yeah right. You want me to capture my friends. Then you want me to drag them to Roam, WHERE I'VE NEVER BEEN by the way, and then sit around making babies with you, the guy who practically raised me. You're nuts, Atesh!”

Sighing, the Elder returned to his desk. “Still you do not understand, Naiara. I am not cruel. Why do you think I allowed you all the freedom you have enjoyed? Days, weeks, months go by with you away from our clan. I wanted you to see the world, live your life to the fullest you could in this dying place. It will suit you well when you see the splendour of Roam reborn, to know of the world outside its walls. Why do you believe your true home to be a punishment? It is no prison, it is where we were always meant to be.”

“The hell it is!” She shouted back. “I won't live my life to someone else's ideals. You wouldn't do that, you left Roam instead, so why should I?”

Zebra murmurs increased in volume as she made her case.

It is a good point, Atesh. How will you pretend otherwise?

A thunderous BOOM, strong enough to shake the windows and doors, cut off any response Atesh might have made. Panicked shouts rang out almost immediately, along with the sound of gunfire.

A gashed and bleeding zebra stormed up in the stairs and into the room. “Plottawati! Plottawati!” He continued to rapid-fire words in the zebra tongue, with Atesh and Cept responding just as energetically. The zebra at the bottom of the stairs departed instantly.

“What are they saying?” I murmured over my shoulder to Naiara.

“The Plottawans've blown the main gate. They're coming in. The others are going to help fight 'em off.”

“Then we should do the same. Where is the armoury?”

Naiara made to head out, but stopped when her ear perked up. “Hold on.”

She turned back to the desk, where Atesh and Cept were now arguing with each other. The other zebra in the room were watching nervously, visibly uncomfortable with Cept squaring up to their Elder.

“What are they saying?” I asked again.

Naiara dutifully translated, though at just a whisper.

The older stallion hammered at the desk. “I told you to get the others to safety. We are finished with Plottawa.”

Cept slammed a hoof down too, the force bouncing Atesh's limb up. “And I said no. No more! I've had enough. You and your stupid decisions have caused nothing but trouble for our clan. I won't let you have your way anymore.”

Atesh pointed back down the stairs. “Our enemies are here, why are you wasting time like this?”

Cept pointed out the window, at the slave pens. “Because you want to cut and run, leaving those ponies to the slavers. You've starved them. They won't last!”

“They're pony inrispa, who cares about them? We aren't here to babysit. I wanted a strong unicorn, but there aren't any among the slaves. They are no good to us!”

The stomp of Cept's hoof made the messenger zebra jump. “You're wrong about that too! If we work together with the slaves, we can beat the slavers, and get everybody out, not just we zebra.”

“We zebra are the only ones you should be concerned with.” Atesh jabbed the younger zebra in the chest. “Follow my orders, Cept. I am the leader of this clan!”

Naiara and the messenger both gasped as Cept violently knocked Atesh's poking hoof aside.

On a half-second delay, Naiara translated what his next words. “You have shown yourself as the selfish bastard that you are. Everything that has happened to Naiara, to Plottawa, and to our friends, is because of you! You trained Peanut! You worked with Latvi and the Raiders! You starved the slaves here when you could have easily released them, and you want to force my best friend into a jailed life she doesn't want, all for your own satisfaction! You are not fit to lead this clan anymore, Atesh, and I hereby take it from you!”

I couldn't have stopped the smile spreading across my face if I wanted to. The sight of Cept, standing tall and proud, promised to stay with me for a long time. Especially on cold nights.

Stunned by the force of Cept's outburst, Atesh slumped back into his chair.

The new leader of the clan paid him no more mind, instead grabbing the messenger by the shoulders. Naiara's awe was evident in her voice, but she continued translating.

“Rally the others, brother. We will drive back the Plottawans! Tell them not to shoot any pony not in an enemy uniform, they will be helping us. I will be there soon, now go!”

The messenger was out the door in less than a second.

Cept turned to Naiara and I, switching to Equestrian. “Naiara, Schwarzwald, go the slaves. Find any who are still fit to fight. Tell them that they will have their freedom this day, if they help us to fight off the Plottawans. If they won't help, show them where the food stores are, so that they can feed their friends. Whatever happens, they are not slaves any more.”

Neither of us questioned his orders. Halfway down the corridor, I started to laugh. “It seems dear Cept is a natural leader.”

Naiara didn't laugh. “Yeah, I just hope he knows what he's doing.”

“What do you mean?” Her reply had sobered me.

At the entrance to the pens, she skidded to a halt. “There's more than one way to be put into a cage.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter 27-2: White Stars, Black Stripes, Grey Skies

“This way, dahlings.” Waving the few slaves still strong enough to fight up to a walkway over a courtyard, I took my time to help each into a suitable firing position. “I know they are different, but please do not shoot the zebras. They will not hurt you again, and you will be free at the end of this.”

“No promises.” One mare grunted as she eased her pistol between two ramparts.

Having retrieved my battle saddle, I revved the mini-gun intently. “Do not make me shoot you, my dear. The new leader of the zebras has given his word, and he is a friend of mine.”

Colour draining from her face, the mare stayed silent.

“Now,” I addressed them, “the zebra will do most of the fighting. Concentrate on any at the edge of the enemy group. Shoot at those who are looking elsewhere.” Shouts and gunfire reached my ears. “Be ready, they are coming.”

The door to the courtyard burst open in a hail of gunfire, one unfortunate zebra propelled by the bullets. Half a dozen more, Naiara among them, tumbled through to scramble for cover.

Hopping up on the ramparts, I aimed at the empty doorway and let loose with everything on my saddle. The first of the Plottawans charged through the opening into my barrage, three getting cut down before they were able to return fire and drive me from my perch.

Two dozen more, advancing under cover from their vanguard, pressed into the courtyard itself. One they were all through, they immediately split into two groups, racing for two staircases in the closest corners.

Oh no. Heart thumping as I realised where those stairs would bring them out, I began tugging and pushing the slaves back the way we came. “DOWN! DOWN! THEY ARE COMING HERE!”

Tired and mistreated as they were, not all the slaves were fast enough to get off the walkway before the Plottawans bubbled up at the other end. The grousing mare, and four others, died as the enemy reached out level guns first.

Two unicorn slaves had conjured weak magic shields to guard our retreat, but they visibly cracked as we backed out way down the ramp. I took my shots where I could, but spent more time supporting the starving captives.

The Plottawans took up stations along the walkway, where we had been, looking down into the courtyard itself, where Naiara's zebra contingent were battling the other dozen.

“NAIARA, BEHIND!”

Heeding my warning, the zebra flipped and cantered erratically, confounding the aim of the Plottawans. She and her clanmates cavorted their way to us, at the doors to the other entrance to the courtyard, before we were driven back entirely into the building.

With one last, mournful look at the fallen zebra body as the doors closed, Naiara shook her head. “No good. We've got the numbers, just, but they know this place better than we do. We need a better plan than meeting them head on.”

“I am open to suggestions, dahling.” The closed doors held my gaze as I spoke, not daring to look away in case of another push.

“Let's regroup with Cept and the others for now. They've been here longer than I have.”

Forcing a chuckle as we jogged down the hall, I winked at her. “It is too bad we do not have our cute little Boss Colt here now.”

“You're fantasizing now?!”

“Not like that, dahling. He likes his plans.” A shot from behind dropped another slave. I spun and loosed a volley that drove our pursuers back around the corner.

Calling out in zebra, Naiara suddenly changed direction. “Head for the ballroom!”

Panting, the slaves struggled to follow. Only three were left now. Seeing their weakness, the chasing Plottawans surged forwards, falling among the slaves and knocking their weapons away.

Before the screaming ponies could be dragged away, Cept and two other zebra stallions appeared in the middle of the Plottawans. Throwing off their stealth cloaks, they lashed out in all directions with hoof, blade, and even Plottawa-owned firepower. Another two Plottawans died before they swarmed the zebra.

Seeing the danger, the two other stallions pushed Cept away from the rumble, back towards me. Shocked, he tried to keep fighting, but stopped when one of the zebra held up a small metal sphere.

“Cept, get back!”

My warning came just too late, as the explosion ripped apart the dogpile of slave, slaver, and zebra. Cept himself was taken off his hooves, rocketing straight into me. The two of us went down in a heap. The acrid smell of burning horse hair kept me focused, as my hooves stamped down on Cept's smouldering tail. When the embers were extinguished, we took in the explosion's outcome. Bodies were strewn all over the floor, not all in pieces. Charred zebra flesh lay next to melted uniforms and blackened pony forms.

Grimacing, Cept bowed his head to the dead slaves, and his clan brothers. “I could not save them.”

“Such is life, Cept.” I tugged at his shoulder. “You still have your clan to lead.”

Bruised and battered by the explosion, we limped down the corridor to the ballroom, before more Plottawans could follow. Inside, we found Naiara standing alone in the centre of the room. She held a rifle in her hooves, clearly uncomfortable with it, but she paid it little attention beyond holding it.

Following her gaze, we saw what was distracting her.

On the stage, wings spread in triumph, stood a pegasus in Plottawan attire. She was not alone. A score of Plottawans stood in a half-ring around her, all pointing their weapons at Naiara. One third changed to aim at us, so I slowly and deliberately released the mouth trigger of my battle saddle.

Flapping her wings, the Overmare rose in the air, looking down on us with a sneer. “You poor little squatters thought you could take Plottawa from me? My city? My slaves?”

“You're a Stable pony.” Naiara snarled. “How could you join up with slavers in the first place?”

Lazing haughtily in the air, the kept us waiting for a few seconds before she answered. “It was necessary to get back what was mine in the first place: My Stable.”

“The way I heard it, they kicked you out.” Naiara countered.

Willow Wisp's face contorted in anger for a moment, but calmed again when the doors behind Cept and I opened to admit the chasing slaver squad, weapons up and ready. “That was not their decision to make. I am the Overmare, not just any Stable pony. My treatment at their hooves was utterly unjust, thanks in no small part to the actions of one particularly useless filly.”

Cassie was not lying. She truly does not like Snowflake. “And who might that filly be, pegasus?”

Said pegasus' lips tightened up. “Nopony of consequence to you all. Now, I have nothing but respect for zebra, but I cannot allow you all to leave here after freeing my slaves. You will take their place. Our stock needs to be maintained, after all.” She put a hoof over her heart. “Oh, don't worry. Unlike the way you treated the slaves, you will be fed and cared for. My predecessor Peanut, may he rest in peace, was right in that regard. Mistreated merchandise lowers the value and reduces the chance of repeat business.” She turned her eyes skyward. “A pity that he is gone. He was a very intelligent pony. He can at least rest easy to know that his legacy is in my capable hooves.”

“While in your 'capable hooves',” an unseen voice echoed around the ballroom, “Plottawa fell to me and my clan, winged pony.”

Willow Wisp cast about in search of the voice. “Who's there?”

A zebra stealth cloak opened up at the far ballroom doors, revealing Atesh. His red robes covered his left side. “The one who took this place from you, 'Overmare'.” His left leg emerged from under his robes, showing the Pipbuck he wore on his wrist. “And here is something else I have taken from your 'capable hooves'.”

With a victorious grin, and a flourish of limbs, Atesh disappeared under the stealth cloak again. The door behind him opened.

Thrusting a hoof at the empty doorway, Willow Wisp shrieked at her Plottawan troops. “GET HIM! I want my Pipbuck!”

Fully half of her gathered troops charged for the doorway, yelling taunts at the elder zebra. Once they were through, she turned back to us. “As for you three. I am not the first to advocate this option, but...” Wrapping her lips around a pistol, she tongued the trigger.

I cried out as white hot pain burned through my shoulder. Cept grabbed for me as my strength evaporated, but couldn't reach before I toppled over, battle saddle cutting into my side.

“Schwarzwald! Where were you hit?”

Hissing, I rolled over to relieve pressure on the wound, feeling sticky blood on my shoulder as I did.

Through agony-fogged eyes, I saw Willow Wisp disdainfully examine her pistol. “There is some appeal to this, certainly, but I wouldn't call it addictive.” Holstering her weapon, she pointed at the slavers standing behind Cept and I. “Dispose of them, and return my Plottawa to me.”

The slavers didn't move.

“What's wrong?” She gestured again. “Capture them!”

The air around the Plottawan squad shimmered, and they collapsed. Their weapons didn't, however, and opened fire on the remaining slavers on the stage.

“What!” Willow Wisp shrilled as a stray bullet smashed the light next to her.

The phantom weapons danced and spun in the air, firing at anyone in a uniform. Catching on quickly, the slavers returned fire. The cloaked zebra responded by physically throwing the guns at the slavers, then charging them under cover of invisibility.

Without the weapons as targets, the Plottawans had nothing to aim at. Instead, they tried to take out the enemies they could see. Namely Naiara, Cept, and myself. If Cept hadn't tuck-and-rolled me further from the stage, a trio of shots would have put new holes in my head.

I still couldn't lift my limb, and my battle saddle was off-kilter and unfireable. There was little I could do in the fight except hope I didn't bleed out.

The stage had descended into half a dozen melee brawls between de-cloaked zebra and disarmed slavers. One powerful buck landed a hammerblow on the throat of a dancing zebra, whose eyes bugged out as she choked on her own windpipe.

Another zebra was fighting two Plottawans at once, ricocheting between the two of them with lightning fast jabs. The smaller of the two slavers made a grab for his back, but caught a backhoof in the chest for his trouble. The other one, taking advantage of the distraction, was more successful, and trapped the zebra stallion's front leg with his. The two grapplers used their free hooves to box, neither letting go while the other had face left to punch.

Unable to fight effectively and watch over me, Cept had gone on the offensive instead. He and Naiara moved in tandem. Charging two Plottawans, Cept threw himself into a four-hooved dropkick which staggered both enemies. Naiara vaulted off Cept's back to flip over to the other side of the slaver pair, then the two zebra converged. Cept went high with a right jab, Naiara scissor-kicked low.

Cept's opponent got a hoof up to block, then followed through with a vicious headbutt, rocking the clan leader's head back. Naiara's combatant was not so lucky. Chopped down by the scissor, an audible socket dislocation preceding her scream.

Not letting up, Naiara rolled back to her hooves, then torpedo'd straight over her downed foe for a hoofpoint jab into the nape of the one fighting Cept. Spasming from the nerve strike, he was unable to guard against the machine-gun barrage of mismatched zebra hooves drilling up and down his body, culminating in a cartilage-crushing cross. The two best friends were moving to assist their brethren before the body even hit the floor.

“What are you doing?” The disbelieving cry from on high drew my attention. The Overmare was hovering above the battle. The barrel of her pistol shook as more of her slavers went down. “Fight back, damn you!” She fired a shot, but jerked as she did so.

It made no difference. The last of the Plottawan soldiers were knocked out or killed. The mare with the dislocation now sported a nasty bruise on her temple, courtesy of one zebra who was annoyed by the wailing. It hadn't been without losses on our side either. As many zebra bodies as pony littered the floor.

There was only one pony left to deal with. Willow Wisp floated back and forth, looking for a way out, while zebra guarded the two doors.

Naiara and Cept stood in the centre of the room. “Give up, Overmare. You're beaten.”

“I am not beaten. You may have bested these soldiers, but I won't be stopped until I get my due!” She was spinning in place, trying to keep every zebra in her view at once.

“I promise you will not be harmed if you give up now.” Cept tried the diplomatic route.

She was having none of it. “I told you that I am not beaten! Don't talk to me as if I were.”

“What is wrong with her?” Naiara groused, not bothering to talk directly to the pony anymore.

Having pulled myself into a sitting position, though still not putting any weight on my wounded leg, I waved towards the door where Atesh had exited. “She is stalling, dahling, so that her other fighters can come rescue her.”

“NoI'mnot.” Willow Wisp's reply came far too quickly, with the words merging in her rush.

Not acknowledging the Overmare, Naiara was digging through the pockets of the Plottawans. “Come on, one of them's gotta have one... AHA!” She rose with a grin, brandishing a knife and a healing potion.

“Cept, watch the Overmare. I'm gonna fix up Schwarzwald.”

“Too late!” Seizing her moment, Willow Wisp soared down, jamming her pistol in her mouth as she dove, and landed beside me. Clicking the safety off, she jammed the barrel against my forehead. “Stay back, or she dies.”

Well, this is not very nice. Still weak, I tested my injury while Willow Wisp was frantically staring down Naiara and Cept. Ngn, still weak, but... Swinging, I rammed my hoof into the Overmare's chin, moving the gun barrel just enough that the instinctual shot went over my head rather than through it. Once she fell away, clutching at her jaw, my hoof dropped. Cept was on her instantly. The pistol clattered in the other direction.

I couldn't hold it up any longer. “Ow.”

Naiara approached me with the knife. “Sorry, but I gotta get the bullet out before you get the potion.”

My grimace was half smile. “Scars are sexy, Naiara. I'll remember you gave me this one. Do what you have to.”

The pain of the bullet, doubled by the probing knife, had incredible clarity. Every shredded nerve sang out as the blade brushed by them. To distract myself, I focused on more pleasurable images.

Naiara's flushed face as she concentrated.

Sweat running down Cept's chiselled jaw, set firm as he guarded the Overmare.

Willow Wisp, helpless beneath a more powerful body.

The sweet relief of the bullet tapping against the ballroom floor.

The way the light caught the potion as Naiara poured some into the wound itself.

Much better. Taking the rest to drink, I nodded my thanks to the mare.

She nodded back, and helped me up. “Still gonna need to take it easy. I don't think one potion'll do the trick.”

The rest of the Plottawans burst through the door, knocking aside the zebra guarding it.

My mini-gun roared until it was empty.

Turning away from the corpses, I quirked an eyebrow at her. “I think you are right. I will take it easy.”

She couldn't help herself, and let out a short laugh. “Show off.”

“Ptoo!”

Three pairs of eyes looked to the Overmare, just as her tooth fragment hit the floor. A dribble of blood ran from the corner of her mouth as she glared at us. “Don't think you have won. I will turn this around.”

“Perhaps you will have the chance if you play nice.” She shuddered as I bent down to lick the blood from her mouth. “I have some questions for you.”

Leaning back, her expression was anything but cooperative. “Don't touch me.”

I ignored her. “Who is the filly you spoke of before, and why do you hate her so?” Naiara caught my eye. We already know the first, but the second part should be interesting.

“...Her name is Snowflake. She is a less-than-average unicorn from my Stable that has been a drain on its resources since the day she was born.”

“Is that why you hate her?” Naiara pressed.

“She isn't worth hate, but she has inconvenienced me greatly. My opinion of her is justifiably less than favourable because her actions led directly to my ousting from my position, and from my Stable.” She rubbed the spot where her Pipbuck had been while speaking.

“What do you mean?” Snowflake was not in the Stable when you were exiled. How could she cause it?

“Snowflake found something, deep in my Stable. Something that had no business being there. Something that should not exist at all.” She grit her teeth, then immediately regretted it. “So, of course, that utterly useless girl was the one to find it, and all of a sudden she was the talk of the Stable. Rumour and hearsay ran out of control almost immediately. Everyone with an agenda wanted to get her on their side and for their cause. She destabilised everything I had worked to build. I could not allow that, so I did the most sensible thing I could.”

Now, we are getting somewhere. “What did you do?”

“Naturally, I had her killed.”

What? Naiara, Cept, and I all looked at each other. That makes no sense.

Seeing our poor poker faces, Willow Wisp chuckled and continued. “Oh, not directly, no. That might have come back on me. Rather, I had her spirited away into the Wasteland without telling anyone. Spun her a tale of the world outside the Stable walls. 'You won't be alone', I told her. I even threw in a little voice crack to show her I was 'sincere'. She needed to have something to keep her trying... and failing, until she failed too often and died. Her family was suspicious when she vanished, but they could prove nothing. She, and the secret she found, would trouble me no more. Except...”

“'Except'?”

Willow Wisp was no master of deception herself. Barefaced hatred erupted across her face. “Except she didn't die like she was supposed to. Everything would have been fine if she had. The matter would have been settled and my Stable would continue on as normal... but she didn't. That is why I hate her.”

Dumbfounded, Naiara struggled to form a response. “You... hate Snow... because she lived? You want her dead, and she didn't die. You try to get her killed, and she's the bad guy?”

The Overmare wriggled in Cept's grip. “My plans are more important than her. She wouldn't have been missed. Snowflake did nothing of note in her entire Stable life. She's was a placeholder, and no more.” She smiled bitterly. “Even worse, now it appears that she has caused me even more trouble, by sending you all to my Plottawa. Don't try to deny it, you just told me you call her 'Snow'. So, am I still the bad guy if she costs me my home and livelihood twice, zebra?”

“Yes, you crazy bitch!” Naiara's hoof stomped down an inch from Willow Wisp's head. “You're trying to kill my friend, because she wouldn't fall in line for your plans. Right now, that's a serious pet peeve for me!”

Nonplussed, the Overmare barely batted an eye at the threatening gesture. “I cannot overstate how little I care about your 'pet peeve'.”

Hauling her upright, Cept marched her towards the doors. “And we do not care about your anger at a mare who did nothing wrong. We will take you back to Snowflake, and she will decide your fate.”

Redoubling her efforts to escape, the Overmare gnashed and shook. “You think I will let her talk down to ME? Decide anything for ME? I am the Overmare, and she is nothing!”

My hearty laugh drew a glare from the pegasus. “How wrong you are, Willow Wisp. Dear Snowflake will show you the scale of your mistake.” It will be a good lesson, for you and for her. She will finally understand just how far she has come from the poor little Stable filly in the snow. “Here is a small taste.”

I pulled out my communicator. “Come in, uh... base. This is Schwarzwald.”

Esto's clipped mannerisms were even more obvious through the radio. “We read you, Schwarzwald. What is your situation?”

Too bad I do not know this one. I cannot tease her. “We have leader of the Plottawan slavers. We will be bringing her back with us.”

There was a slight pause. “...'her'? Isn't Peanut the leader of the Plottawans?”

“You must keep up, dahling.” I smiled to myself. “Peanut is trapped inside Lethbridle's walls. Willow Wisp is in charge now.”

“Now and forever!” The Overmare called out. Then she doubled over as Naiara slugged her in the stomach.

“I see.” Papers rustled on the other end of the call. “If you have Willow Wisp, what about Atesh and the zebra?”

Naiara made a 'one sec' movement, and disappeared through the hall. For a dozen moments, nothing could be heard but the static of the communicator, and the Overmare sucking in needed oxygen.

“BINN TUSAA!” We all perked up at Naiara's bellow, before she stormed back into the room. “Atesh is gone!”

“What?” Cept forgot himself and let go of Willow Wisp. “What do you mean? Where did he go?”

“Away, Cept.” Naiara pointed in a random direction. “He's got a stealth cloak, so he took off. Still got the lunatic's Pipbuck too!”

“Hello?” Esto called across the channel. “Did someone mention a Pipbuck?”

“My Pipbuck.” The Overmare growled from the floor.

“Shaddup.” Naiara commanded, before grabbing the communicator from me. “Atesh is gone. We've still got Willow Wisp, for all the good she does us.”

“In that case,” Esto interrupted. “I have a message for you from Wings.”

“Wings?” I perked up. She is finished with Whinniepeg already? Why did she not call us directly?” “What is the message?”

“She and Bosco would like you to meet them at Lethbridle's north gate. You should bring Willow Wisp with you.”

“Why?” Naiara looked as confused as Cept or I.

“She says that she has learned something new, and needs to talk with you all about it.”

Naiara still looked puzzled. “What about Snow and Undertow? They were with them too.”

“They are looking into other leads from the new information. All four are fine and safe.” Esto's voice was flat. “Please, meet up with Wings and Bosco as soon as you can.”

Cept passed the Overmare to me. “I must speak with our clan. I will be back shortly.”

“Wait!” Tossing the communicator back to me, Naiara hurried after him. “I better come too. The new Elder should address the whole clan, after all.”

Conflicting emotions ran across Cept's face when he heard the title, but he steeled himself with a nod. The two zebra closed the door behind them, leaving me and the Overmare along among the bodies.

Dragging her over to the stage, I sat on the steps with battle saddle pointed at her. “Did you enjoy your short time as mistress of Plottawa, Overmare?”

Mindful of the bruise in her gut, she stood on shaky legs. “You could still let me go, you know. When I get my Stable back, I will have access to technology and supplies that simply don't exist in the Wasteland anymore. I'm sure we could work out an agreement?”

“I already have a rich backer,” even if she doesn't have a cap to her name right now, “and I think it would be much more fun to see what happens when I bring you to Snowflake.”

Sniffing in derision, she turned her head way. “Wastelanders truly are savages.”

“It is true,” I agreed. “we do live in interesting times.” Snowflake will happily make that clear to you, I am sure.

“GOT THAT RIGHT, LADY!” Bursting in through the opposite door from that which the zebra had used, a quartet of uncomfortably familiar fliers soared up to the ceiling.

“McCoy’s Monsters?” I was on my hooves immediately, but the sad click of my empty gatling gun did little except draw smiles.

One griffon, straw-coloured from head to claw, smirked. “Looks like we missed a hell of a party. Too bad, but we’re on the job. Our boss wants us to bring back the boss of Plottawa. Point 'em out for us, will ya?”

Forgetting myself, I looked to the Overmare. What does Latvi want with her?

The straw griffon noticed where I was looking. “Well, that's lucky. We'll be going now.” He waved two of the other Monsters over to pick up the Overmare, who gave a startled neigh.

“WAIT!” My charge towards the door, to cut them off, was derailed when the fourth griffon swooped close past me and sent me tumbling.

As quick as they arrived, the four griffons exited the way they'd come, now with a fifth pair of wings in their midst.

“Schwarzwald!” Cept and Naiara, leading the rest of their clan, barrelled through the other doors. “We heard you shout.”

“Where's the Overmare?”

Waving off the zebra who offered a helping hoof, I stood and spat out my useless mouth trigger. “Sorry, dahlings. Latvi's griffons came. They took her.”

“What in the hell for?”

“I honestly do not know.” What are you planning, Latvi?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter 27-3: White Stars, Black Stripes, Grey Skies

Turning away from the overcast skies through the window, I spoke up to break the silence of the carriage. “So, are we really never going to talk about Cassie saying Breeze isn't her real sister?”

Bosco and Undertow, the other two occupants of the carriage, instantly looked at each other. Their eyes were wide open.

“Uh...” Bosco began, not facing me.

“Um...” Undertow echoed, but she did manage to meet my gaze. “Does it matter, truly?”

Are you kidding, Undertow? “Of course it does.”

Bosco finally shifted to look back at me. “Doesn't seem to bother you two any.”

“That's different.” My magic brushed against Undertow's, bringing a smile to her face. “I've never said that Undertow wasn't my sister. Well, maybe once to stop my enemies from targeting her.”

“Well, there you go.” Bosco jumped in. “They're pegasi, and we know they've got some sort of past with Raiders. Even if they didn't, there are a lot of folks around who don't think highly of winged ponies. She could've been just trying to keep Breeze safe, like you did.”

“Oh, come on.” I groaned. “They're the only two pegasi within a hundred miles and, aside from the manes, they look just like each other. You're telling me people couldn't put two and two together?” Something twinged in the back of my brain. “Oh, I guess the Overmare's another pegasus now, huh? Still, the point stands.”

Turbulence filtered back through the magic link. “Why take the chance? I know you would do all you could to keep me safe. You have done as much as you could. The same with our brothers, and they're three times our size. Wouldn't Cassie do the same for Breeze?”

“I guess...” Why am I getting ganged up on?

Emphatically nodding, Bosco was not so hesitant. “She would. No doubt about it.”

“Mhm.” Undertow radiated agreement through her face and horn.

Fighting the sensations without inadvertently upsetting my sister was becoming difficult. “Okay, while fully aware that I am the one who brought this up, why are you two so adamant about this?”

Bosco's reply was simple. “Cassie and I can actually stand each other.”

My frown deepened. Cocky little...

Bolstered by our connection, Undertow was more comprehensive. “We've all fought together for a while now, big sister. Yes, things were rocky at first, but now we're all fighting on the same side.” Her heavy stare rooted me in place. “You can't go through all that without knowing you can trust each other, Snowflake. You've changed through what has happened to us and between us, and so have we all. Just like you and I, Cassie and Breeze aren't the mares they were when we first met. Can you not recognise that by now? Trying to convince yourself that you should keep hating them has to be tiring for you, so can't you lay the matter to rest?”

Green fire burned, and suddenly Cassie stood where Bosco was. “Couldn't hurt, Snow.”

A twinge of contempt ran through me at the sight of the sniper pegasus, and I hastily cut off my connection before Undertow picked up on it. Not cool, Bosco.

Goggles now lowered, Undertow's soulful orange eyes bored into mine. “Please?”

Damn, not fast enough. The scars on my hooves and chest itched as I thought of Cassiopeia Venatici.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

We trudged through the dilapidated buildings of Whinniepeg, heading for the 'irradiated' building we'd visited several times before. Really is a cute trick to fool radiation sensors like that.

Speaking of cute tricks... We'd entered a clearing, with a familiar charred bench. Someone sucked in air through their nostrils behind me as I trotted up to the busted furniture. The discarded packet of Radsafe I'd been drinking was crumpled up at the base of one leg, the few drops left inside discoloured and spoiled by the weeks of weather exposure.

The crunch of gravel under paw told me who now stood behind me. “Been a while since...” She began tentatively.

“Yeah, feels even longer.” Almost a past life. “Never did get around to getting my Pipbuck back from Cassie, did I?”

Wings snorted uneasily. “I never thought to ask. Just gonna say this now: I gave you back the Memory Orb. Whatever happened with your Pipbuck? She did it.”

“Damn straight she did.” We shared a laugh.

Sobriety returned quickly. “Undertow thinks I should forgive and forget with Cassie. Bosco wants it too.”

“...do you want to?”

The bitch shot me three times! “No!” I snapped, surly, before softening. “But... I guess I'd rather not be always angry with a girl who's probably gonna be a big part of all our lives from now on.”

“You are better when you're smiling.” Her tone was matter-of-fact. “I'll see what I can do.”

“You?” I glanced over.

“Yeah, well,” one claw waved back and forth. “I was there too. Like we said, a lot's gone down between then and now. Figure I've got a few more favours to pay you back.”

As if I don't owe you? “I stopped counting after we settled the third favour in Lethbridle, Wings.”

Her claw curled into a fist. “I don't have an exact number either, but I'm okay adding one to it regardless.” She smirked. “You know us Schwarzwald-adopting pony-griffons: We always gotta pay our debts.”

“You are a remarkably stubborn lot, every one of you.” Smiling, I aimed a kick at the bench. There was no anger in the strike, rather it just felt like the thing to do.

KRGK! The bench split where I'd kicked, collapsing inwards.

The two of us just blinked for a few moments.

“...nice kick?”

“...whoops.”

“Guys, c'mon.” Bosco and Undertow clattered up to us. “I wanna get down there.”

Without waiting for an answer, he bit down on Wings' tail and started dragging. She yelped and tugged back, until he stilled her with a look.

Undertow followed suit, but more gently. She simply picked me up in her magic, as she had done in the meeting at Sprinkles Supplies, and followed the colt. “Please stay on task, big sister. We are here to help Bosco.”

Griffon in tow, Bosco made straight for the fog-inhabited structure. Booting straight through the double doors, his lack of hesitation startled those inside. Golden miasma seeped through the walls and floor, gathering into a thick fog cloud.

Bosco strode right up to it, unblinking. “We'll be down shortly. Tell the others we're on our way.”

To the extent that a formless mass of gold gas could look perturbed, it did. Swelling in front of him and looming.

To his credit, Bosco didn't move, opting to simply keep staring. It was only when I caught a glimpse reflected light that I realised he was sweating down the back of his neck.

The cloud remained puffed for a second or two longer, then dissipated into the walls.

My hooves clicked on the floor as Undertow lowered me down, goggles still on Bosco.

Wings whistled low. “Boss. Colt.”

He gulped heavily. “Let's go before they figure it out.”

On the way down, through hallways no longer blocked by 'debris', Bosco's sweating intensified. So much so that, walking with him as Wings and I took up the rear, Undertow had to stop and cool him down with her water magic more than once. “Please try to stay calm, Bosco. We won't let anything happen to you. We are only here for answers, not to fight.”

“Do they know that?” He grumbled, but pressed on.

Navigating down through the bowels of the building, the corridors and rooms seemed in far worse condition than I remembered. The Silver Fog fight must've been a rager. The two warring factions had ripped through walls, shattered furniture, collapsed stairways and ceilings, and generally thrown a whole heap of filth and grime around.

A thought made me giggle a little bit. What if the Gold Fog are the neat ones, and have always been hiding the dirt when we were here? Then the Silver come in and total the place.

Bosco's glare did nothing to lessen my amusement at the idea.

Wings moved into the centre of our foursome, and spoke up just enough for us to hear. “They're following us. Gold flashes in the cracks and missing panels. Watch what you say.”

Bosco snorted. “Paranoid much? We didn't come here by accident. We know they live here. We're actually here to see them. You'd think they'd save themselves the trouble.”

Undertow looked directly at an open junction box until a faint glittering appeared. “I don't think they know any other way.”

“Sucks to be them.” Snorting more forcefully, the colt quickened his pace. “Let's keep moving. I don't think we're that far now.”

He turned out to be correct. Only two more twisting corridors, and the final flight of stairs, were between us and the wide open chamber where we'd encountered the master of this place, the giant golden Alicorn.

The same one that we now saw before us again. Well, almost. Our arrival seemed to have thrown the Gold Fog for a loop, as the Alicorn stood stock still, glaring imperiously down at us. Its wings, horn, and other extremities were jagged, roiling, unfinished. A steady stream of gold filtered in from all sides, molten ore to fill out the mold.

Caught you without your makeup on, did we?

Clearing its throat, a rumbling echo swarming the chamber, it spoke. “We did not summon you, nor are you welcome here. Why have you come back?”

Okay, that's still scary. The four of us crowded together, with Bosco in the centre.

The colt craned his neck upwards. “A lot has happened, and I think you might know something about this.”

Finally finished forming, the giant pony flexed its wings. The backdraft almost bowled us over. “What has happened, and why would we know?” Another beat of its feathers lifted the manes back off our faces. “Furthermore, why would we tell you anything?”

Giving us a 'make some room' motion, Bosco took a deep breath. “Because your Silver buddies seem to think I'm important.” Green fire flashed, and Cassie stood where Bosco had been a moment ago. “Do you?”

The Alicorn quirked one tarantubaa-sized eyebrow. “Indeed.” A satisfied smile split the colossal face. “We were wrong before. You are indeed welcome here, child. It is good to see you again, after so long.”

Cassie flashed back to Bosco. “You know who I am?”

It nodded. “Your name may take some time, but we do know who you were before, and why you have been alone for so long.”

“And why you made no effort to find or help me?” Bosco countered, staring unblinkingly at a pony a thousand times his size. “You're like the Silver Fog, right? You're Changelings too?”

The smile on the Alicorn's face dulled. “Sending you away was... not our choice. It was a failed endeavour, one that continues to cost our race dearly.”

“Was it Chrysalis?” I enquired.

“QUEEN CHRYSALIS!” Roaring, the gold collective slammed their hooves down, toppling all four of us. “SHE IS OUR QUEEN, AND YOU WILL REFER TO HER AS SUCH!”

“Not... my queen!” With gritted teeth, Bosco stood back up. “I am Bosco, an earth pony. What I was born as won't change who I am.”

Anger giving way to disappointment, the Alicorn looked on Bosco as a parent would an unruly child. “Why would you wish to remain a mere pony? It is because of the ponies, and the equally foolish zebra, that we are in this situation.” Disappointment became a thousand-yard stare. “Without their mistakes, our glorious and radiant Queen would not be tied to their mountain tomb.”

“Wait, what?!” Pushing past Bosco, I waved the Alicorn back to the room. “What'd you just say about Chrysalis?”

“She is Queen...” It began, exasperated, before relenting. “Under the mountain. She shields herself, the focal point, and the pink pony princess, in the coffin you so perversely call a Stable.”

My tongue decided to stop working, sending all its energy to my fizzing brain. Stable 61! Chrysalis and Cadence are IN THE STABLE! We'd know if they were. There's no way they could hide that, is there? A hundred thoughts assaulted me all at once, but two in particular stood out.

The first was accompanied by an image of a stoic pegasus. The Overmare! Did she know? Did she cover it up? I can't let her control this. Wait, she's out now... DOES THAT MEAN ROC KNOWS? THAT JACKHOLE WILL RUIN EVERYTHING!

The second thought finally managed to muscle the first out of the way. Unless... what if neither of them know? What if nobody does? They could be sat on top of a ticking time bomb! If they blizzard fails, it could lead the Windigoes right into the Stable! They'd all die!

The assault of imagination left me feeling dizzy. While I reeled, Bosco stepped up again. “You didn't answer my question. In all the time I was out there by myself, why did you never contact me?”

To my utter surprise, a look of hesitation came across the Alicorn's face. “It was... not our place to approach you. Our Queen would not have wanted—”

“LIES!”

The four of us, and however many Changelings made up the Alicorn, turned back towards the staircase, where a boiling mass of Silver bled through the opening into the chamber. Undertow, Wings, Bosco, and I were forced back to the bottom of the stairs as the Silver Changelings coalesced into a second Alicorn, equal to the first in all but colour.

The air pressure ramped up immediately as a second pair of skycarriage-wide wings began beating for emphasis. “You do not deserve to speak for our beautiful and magnificent Queen!” After snarling at the Gold Alicorn, the Silver giant turned softening eyes on us. “Are you alright, Bosco? You should not have come here. These fools do not have your best interests at heart.”

“And you do?” Gold scoffed behind a wing. “We speak for all Changelings, not just those who have turned their back on our resplendent Queen Chrysalis.”

Silver grimaced, but did not retort. Instead, it stayed focused on Bosco. “Are you alright? Did they do anything to you?”

“Not this time.” Bosco's hoof stayed ready by his knife holster. “We were discussing why I was thrown out into the Wasteland alone, with no sort of heads up as to who or what I was.”

“For six years!” Undertow piped up. My sister hadn't moved far from Bosco the entire time, clearly not happy to be in the presence of Changeling gehstalt-Alicorns again.

“Let Bosco and Undertow talk,” the last member of our group murmured into my ear, “I'll watch Goldie, you watch Silvia. We move if they do, got it?”

I replied out of the tiniest corner of my mouth. “Sounds good.”

'Silvia' nodded sadly. “It tore us apart to do that to you, our brothers and sisters, but we had to. Without our efforts—”

“...we would all be in a stronger position.” 'Goldie' whipped her horn forward, into the Silver mane, which parted around the horn before reforming. “All you have done is jeopardise every duty that we were charged with!”

That one, the Silver Changelings could not let go. Rearing around, they clashed horns with the Gold beast. “We were charged with preserving and strengthening the Changeling race, you pretentious pretenders, and we have done so.” They forced Goldie back. “Unlike you, who has let our race weaken and decay! You did nothing to help, only sat around and waited for salvation, all under the banner of 'tradition'. Traditions you failed to recognise were dangerously obsolete without our transcendent Queen!”

Goldie rallied and pushed back, pressing Silvia and ourselves to the wall. “That has been your argument for six years, and it is no more true now than it was when you first embarked upon your fool's errand. All you have done is accelerate our demise!”

I whacked my hoof against the wall as loud as I could. “REMEMBER WE'RE HERE TOO, YOU CLUMSY PRICKS! Gonna squish Bosco after you spent so much time getting this all out in the open?!”

Instead of getting into another shoving match, 'Silvia' dissolved into an entire wing of angry Changelings. The thrum of their gossamer wings filled my ears instantly. They remained in concert as they all called out. “Your traditions are guaranteed death! Dying more slowly is no worthy goal. Our gamble gives we Changelings a chance for survival, and possibly a new, sustainable way to live! We have heard your bleating before too!”

The racket in the air became almost a physical force as 'Goldie' reverted to her chitinous individual elements too. “If we abandon all that we are and believe in, we risk losing our connection to the Queen! What if your machinations deprive her of the source of her power? We have seen for ourselves that the threat endures! Lethbridle will be just the first if we cannot feed Queen Chrysalis' soul and spirit!”

What the hell are these guys talking about? Through some miracle, I managed to draw the attention of the others, to get some non-verbal answers.

My 'the fuck?' gesture was met by my sister's head shake, Bosco giving a furious shrug, and a 'they're nuts' temple claw-twirl from Wings.

The charcoal colt wasn't interested in sitting on the sidelines as the two groups rehashed years-old arguments. Grabbing me around the ear, he pressed his lips nearly into the canal. “Snow, get their attention!”

“How?” We were barely audible over the ongoing shouting match above us. There were so many Changelings in the room that I couldn't see the ceiling anymore.

“Make a blizzard, like you did in Lethbridle. They were watching then, and they'll see it now.”

“I can't do it on a whim, Bosco. I could barely walk after that time!”

He dismissed my criticism, blank-faced. “You're not trying to cover an entire city. Don't even need to fill the room, just get their attention. Kick out some mist, I've seen you do that before!”

“Alright, fine.” A 'please' or 'thank you' might be nice. The glacier-blue glow washed over the others, before the air around me turned hazy. As condensation settled on my nose, I directed the spell upwards.

In a tight spiral, cold air blew upwards, between the two groups of Changelings. I fed the spell until the white turned opaque, then let it spread out in a frigid sphere.

The sudden drop off in noise, punctuated by sharp surprise from some of the insectile ungulates, let me know I had their attention.

“It's a Windigo!”

Nope. Got rid of one, though.

“Everyling for themselves!”

'Everyling'. That's kinda cute.

“No, it's her!”

Yep.

“She's a Windigo!”

Rude.

“She’s a witch!”

Ruder.

“She’s a Witchigo!”

Oh, come on!

A trio of Changelings from the Gold Fog faction dropped from the pack, to slam in front of us. They glared at Bosco and I. “Why are you attacking us?”

“We're not,” Bosco griped, “we're just getting your attention. I have enough to think about without you bunch of idiots wasting my time.”

The three Changelings were matched by the same number from the Silver Fog side. “We're trying to help you, Bosco. Remain calm and let us.”

The charcoal colt was having none of us, jerking back and forth between the two delegations. “You all have put me through hell for weeks now, and think I'll just sit back and listen to whatever you say? You wanna talk to me about this crap? You six stay, the rest leave. Then we can get down to it. I am not friends with any of you, don't act as if I like this.”

While the Gold group glared, the Silver side nodded. “That's fair. We do owe you.” At a glance from the leader, the other parts of Silvia waiting in the air shifted to fog, and disappeared up the stairway.

“Well, we don't!” The other side countered. None of Goldie's parts made any move to leave.

“Then we shall leave, and talk with the Silver Changelings alone.” Undertow's sharp rebuke was punctuated with a glare. “For all their mistakes, THEY did not pluck us from our friends.”

She held the gaze of the Gold leader without flinching. After a half-dozen heartbeats, the Changeling looked away, sulking. “We sensed something, and acted to investigate.”

“By grabbing us, and leaving our friends high and dry in the middle of a firefight.” If they expected sympathy, they would be disappointed. “I don't care what you thought you sensed. You could have killed us all. You almost did kill our friend.” You're just lucky Naiara pulled through. If she hadn't, I'd have brought this entire building down on top of you.

A brief quiet followed, before the Gold leader silently waved away all of its still-airborne compatriots.

Surprisingly, the Silver side came to their defence. “Our business is not with you, pony, but with our wayward son here.” The Changeling, whose gender I could not identify, if it even had one, rounded on Bosco. “We have agreed to your terms, Bosco. Will you accommodate us in return?”

“What do you want?”

Both trios nodded at each other before responding. “Can you speak to us as a Changeling?”

Stunned silence was the response. Bosco stood stock-still, jaw slack. Undertow tried to wrap her hooves around him, but he didn't seem to feel it.

Eventually, in a haunted, choking voice, he spoke seven words. “I don't know what I look like.”

“We know,” the Silver leader looked on, not unkindly, “we wiped that from your mind too.”

“'too'?” I started. “What else did you hide from him?”

“Everything. Species. Appearance. Name. Every last detail was sealed away, so that others would accept the pony before them. So that they would accept Bosco.”

Undertow hugged Bosco tighter as he mewled quietly.

Wings looked between the colt and the Silver leader. “So then why'd you give him a name like Bosco?”

Glassy eyes blinked. “What do you mean?”

Wings ticked off names on her claws. “Snowflake. Undertow. Aqua Breeze. Willow Wisp. Any of those sounding like a 'Bosco' to you?”

“...we don't spend much time with ponies.” Even through chitin, Silver blushed.

“Hah!” The Gold trio piled on. “Your whole approach was flawed from the start. All you've done with this is deplete our already dwindling numbers. You should have retrieved all of the children years ago.”

Silver leader bared its fangs. “Bosco survived, the others will too!”

“Stop talking like Bosco's not here!” Undertow's rebuke cracked like a whip.

She still held the colt close, but he appeared to be rousing from his stupor. His head came up again, and he spoke with a steady tone. “Who was he?”

Breaking its staring match with Gold, Silver collected itself before calmly addressing Bosco. “Who was who?”

“The pony whose face I'm wearing.”

The response was an uncaring shrug. “We don't know. All we ever knew of him was his body. We copied it in every detail, except for the bullet hole in his head.”

As Bosco rubbed at a phantom wound on his forehead, Silver extended a carapaced hoof. “We can help you find your true face. We shut you away, but we can bring you out again.”

Fear shifted to anger, and the hoof was knocked away. Bosco shrugged Undertow off. “WHY DID YOU DO THIS? You keep talking but you never answer that question! Why me? Why this?” Bosco's own hoof came up, jabbing at Gold. “This one says you're running out of Changelings and Chrysalis is suffering for it. You say you're looking for a new way. WHICH IS IT?”

“We were trying to not die.”

“EVERYONE IS!”

“No,” Gold interrupted, “not individually. They mean that we're trying to not go extinct.”

Stopped in our proverbial tracks, we waited in silence for them to continue.

Chittering, the second Gold member spoke next. “Our illustrious Queen Chrysalis is necessary for the survival of our race.”

“Ponies think like that too.” I moved to stand across from Gold-2. “We miss our Princesses, but we've made it 200 years without them.”

Silver-2 formed a triangle with Gold-2 and I. “If you can call how your ponies act 'making it'. But we are not speaking in metaphor.”

Gold-2 nodded. “Without our melodious royalty, the Changeling race has halved in size seven times in the past two centuries Where before there were dozens, now there is only one.”

Mirroring me, Wings had moved to counter the -3s. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Silver-3 rubbed their stomach. “What do you believe is the greatest act of love that can be performed?”

“Uh...” Wings scratched her cheek. “Protecting the ones you love?”

“Trusting them?” Undertow supplied.

“Not lying to them?” Was Bosco's caustic try.

I'd been watching Silver-3's hoof. “...a baby? Is that what you mean?”

Gold-3 chirped. “Indeed. There is no greater outpouring of love than that of a parent to a child.”

Not sure I agree, but...

The Changeling continued. “For a happy and healthy child, great quantities of love are required.” The corners of its mouth turned down, and its brow furrowed. “But what would happen when the child, so hungry for love, takes more than the parents can give?”

We all blinked. Bosco found his voice first. “I don't understand.”

Silver leader pointed between itself and Gold leader. “You may know this already, but we Changelings crave love because we are ourselves beings of hate. We must maintain the balance. Ponies must too, but they are closer to the centre of the spectrum, and do not suffer so from too much or too little of either love or hate.”

Chrysalis' words from the Memory Orb came back to me.

“You of all ponies, Crystal Princess, should know how destructive unchecked love can be.”

“What does this have to do with children?”

Gold leader pressed its hooves together. “Changelings spend years learning to moderate their intake of love, to make it last. Like ponies, we know that we can survive going hungry for short periods. This is not the case for babies. They do not yet understand how to be calm when in need. Instead, they panic.”

Silver-2 also joined its hooves. “You are a new existence, and your body and soul have relied on two sources, your parents, for everything in your very short life. If you feel that you need something, you will look to those parents for it.”

Now it was Gold-3's turn. “Changeling babies need such love to survive their journey into this world, and the only source they know is the parents. Unfortunately, the parents themselves have so little love to spare, and no way to tell their little one to stop.”

Wings clapped a claw over her mouth. “You're not saying...”

All three parted their hooves. “The parents give all their love to their child. The greatest outpouring of love... and doing so kills them. The child is too needy, and there is barely enough love for two, let alone three.”

Silver-3 raised its wings. “Two parents die,” then dropped one. “one child lives. Each new generation is half that of the last.”

Bosco was now clinging as tightly to Undertow as she was to him. “Every time? The parents always die?”

Silver leader knocked a hoof against its forehead and pointed at him. “Without help, yes. That is why our generous Queen is vital to our survival. She is strong, stronger than both parents combined. She can offset the newborn's drain on the parents, by giving of herself. Three can nourish the child, where two cannot.”

Wings, Undertow and I all looked to Bosco. The colt was quaking, lost in all these new revelations. His body didn't know how to react. His cheeks were drawn in, but his jaw puffed out. His shoulders tensed as his elbows shook. Thrashing tail contrasted drooping ears.

No answers, just more questions. You don't deserve this.

I keep thinking that about you, Bosco. Every time we learn something more.

All six Changelings looked in the same direction. I was absolutely sure they were looking towards the Stable. “Chrysalis is not just a splendid Queen, she is honoured mother to our entire race. Without her, we will become fewer with each new generation, until we are no more.”

Blinking mistiness from their peculiar eyes, the three Silvers returned to the conversation. “To that end, rather than wait for this slow death, we sent our children out into the Wasteland. They were to find love, and a place for themselves. Possibly, in time, for us as well.”

I shivered as a sudden breeze blew in from the stairs.

The three Golds snorted. “And wiped away everything that made them Changelings in the process. You gave them false, hollow lives, and it was all for nothing. Bosco here is the only one to find his way back, and he is scared half to death. That is after spending so long without his family. This madness does not engender love any more than having Raiders nearby engenders trade. What would our magnificent Queen think of your failure?”

Something light and wet settled on the tip of my horn. I wiped it off with my hoof, feeling it melt as I did.

The Silvers didn't seem to notice. “What would she think of your inaction? You did nothing but sit back and claim tradition as an excuse for stagnation! As our numbers shrink, you found no more success in finding love to keep our watchful Queen strong than we did!”

I flicked my ears as more of the cold settled there. Is that... snow?

“Your gamble might have doomed us all!”

Blowing the frost off my lips, I bustled in close with Undertow and Bosco. Wings joined us soon after. All four of us were shaking off ever-increasing amounts of ice, which did not help Bosco at all. Already suffering, his shivering only increased as the temperature dropped.

Sending a pulse through her horn to get Undertow's attention, I motioned towards the stairs. “I think that's enough for today. Let's get him out of here.” My voice was a whisper, to avoid tipping off the Changelings, even if we were all but forgotten in their arguing.

“Sounds like a plan.” Wings' claws tapped her holstered revolvers. “I'll watch the rear, in case they decide not to let us go.”

“You first, Snow,” Undertow hadn't released the colt, instead gently guiding him with her body, “do what you can to keep the cold away from him.”

“Guys, no.” Croaking painfully, Bosco tried to wipe his eyes clear. “I still have questions.”

“There's gonna be time for questions, Bosco.” I put as much warmth into my words as I could. “Don't try to do it all at once.”

I remember every time I told that to Al, when he wanted to learn something new. He never wanted to wait either. Just like him, you can't learn what it is to be a Changeling in a day. It's gonna take time.

Bosco continued to resist distractedly, even as Undertow manoeuvred him towards the exit. “Still don't know who I was... or whose body this is...”

“There will be time.” Undertow's patience didn't waver. She just stuck close, and never raised her voice.

With the Gold and Silver trios still bickering at each other, we were able to start up the stairs without any trouble.

That was when the screaming started.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter 27-4: White Stars, Black Stripes, Grey Skies

Echoing down from the unseen heights, a multitude of voices cried out in a wailing sea. Following in the wake of that sea came a horrendous baying.

My blood went cold. I know that sound. A few steps further up, Wings also found herself rooted in place. The blue flame of her eyes flickered uncertainly as we locked gazes.

As one, we turned and began shoving Undertow and Bosco back the way we came. “Down! Down! Get back!”

Their bickering forgotten, the six Changelings were waiting to haul us out of the way as a bitter, biting wind drove a swirling maelstrom of mixed Gold and Silver back into the basement. The interweaving fogs exploded out to fill every corner of the air, with suddenly-solid Changelings ricocheting off the walls, floors, and each other. Two inverted Silvers cross-blocked a dizzied Gold, which plummeted out of the air in panic.

Everyone was yelling at once, rendering all words indecipherable. The two leadership trios raced from one cache to another, calling for calm, but their pleading fell on deaf ears.

Cowering in the corner, Wings and I did what we could to protect our younger charges. “Bosco, whatever you do, stay behind me. Stay with Undertow.”

Spinning her revolver slots, Wings watched the room's entrance. “Think it's the same one, or did we get super lucky?”

I blinked through purple smoke. “Does it matter? If it comes after us, grab those two and go. I'll slow it down, same as before.”

“'Before' almost killed you, Snow. You barely made it out. We're not outside this time. It'll turn you into a snowcone!” Wings slammed home a fresh set of rounds as punctuation.

I half-growled at her. “Bullets won't hurt it, Wings! My spell at least drove it off.”

“And now it's back!” She full-growled. “We need a new idea, Snow!”

“What is it?” Demanded Undertow. “What's coming?”

“A Windigo.” Grim fear dripped from my words.

Undertow paled. “Bosco is a Changeling. If it comes—”

“If it comes, we stop it.” Wings interrupted, before tapping Bosco with her tail. “Listen, Bosco, I know things suck right now, but we could really use some of those Boss Colt smarts right now. What's the play?”

Appealing to familiarity seemed to, at least for the moment, drag him out of his own head. For the first time in days, determination set across his face. “Okay. How did you fight the last one?”

“Chrysalis' blizzard. It blocks their vision, or senses or whatever. They can't see through it. I whipped up a blizzard of my own, sat it between the Windigo and Lethbridle. I think it got confused and, well, wandered off.”

“It was cooler than it sounds, but yeah that's basically what happened.”

“IT'S COMIIIYYYAAAHHH!” The warning shriek cut off abruptly in the darkness.

“Okay,” numbers crunched behind his grey eyes. “so that can slow it down, but how do we stop it?”

“I don't know, that's all I could manage of Chrysalis' tricks. She made some kinda magic cages to hold 'em in the Memory Orb, but I can't do that.”

“We can.” Gold- and Silver-leaders chorused as they dropped down beside us. “You say our insightful Queen could trap these beasts? Then so can we. The revered Mother may be without equal, but we are many. We will see her will done.”

“SCATTER!”

In a great rush of frigid air, the Windigo burst into the room. The Changelings scrambled to get out of its way as it charged after them. Two unlucky souls didn't make it, and were swallowed up into the ethereal body. Through the translucent form, their struggles played out in mere seconds.

As it reached the far end of the chamber, the Windigo began a slow, lazy turn. Two mangled, wingless, frostbitten corpses dropped to the chamber floor. Their carapaces cracked on impact, but their expressions of horror didn't budge.

“Wings, distract it!” Bosco jostled his way to the centre of the gathered bodies. “Everybody else, get out of the building. Lead it outside!”

“On it.” With a flick of her feathers, the griffon went airborne, ducking and juking towards the wind demon.

“Snow, get to the top of the stairs, when everybody's out, throw up your blizzard cover so Wings can get clear. Then both of you run like hell!”

Oh sure, easy for you to say. “Alright. Undertow, stay with Bosco.”

She didn't argue, just followed the Changelings up the stairs. “Stay safe. Get out as soon as you can. We'll be ready.”

Bosco hesitated a moment longer. “She's right, Snow. Don't hang around.”

“I could tell you the same thing. You're its lunch, not me.”

Queasy at the thought, Bosco sprinted up the stairs.

Alright then.

Backtracking up the stairs, my attention was fixed on the show Wings was putting on. The griffon used every trick in the book. When it lunged for her, she pulled back. When it bit out, she twisted forwards before the jaws could close around her.

The Windigo filled the air around itself with ice, covering her wings in dead weight, but she just dropped, using the momentum for a mighty flap to clear the frost.

I reached the top of the stairs, and my horn lit up. “Wings, this way!”

Abandoning all evasive action, she turned straight around and charged towards me.

Held in a ball, my blizzard spell split out into two Cryo Serpents, surging either side of Wings as she powered up, and colliding behind her to spread out in a wide disc.

Huffing and puffing, Wings halted by my top step. “Good job. Now let's get out of here before it figures out we're gone.”

Ice was spreading across the walls and floor around my blizzard shield, so we beat a hasty retreat through the corridors and walkways of the building. We were almost out when the Windigo's furious howl echoed around and past us.

We found an extra gear in response, and needed it too. We'd barely gotten out of the building and behind cover when the remains of the windows blew out, and the ghostly half-horse emerged.

Changelings buzzed nearby, hidden by the buildings like us, but watching the winter creature's every move. Gold and Silver were forgotten now, both groups joining forces against a much greater threat.

Snuffling, the Windigo moved this way and that on the wind, seeking out its prey.

“So now what?” Wings' breathing had lightened, but she was in no hurry to dance with the devil again.

“Dunno. Bosco didn't explain past this point.” Whisper or not, the Windigo's head snapped up. The two of us held our breath until it resumed its searching. “Fuck, that was close. Where the hell's Bosco with the plan?”

“Snow.”

“Any Changeling wanna jump in here? They were the ones who wanted to cage the thing.”

“Snow.”

“I mean, seriously, did they just ditch us?”

“Snow, shut the hell up!” Her whispered hiss broke through my grumblings.

“What?” I glowered at her but she didn't look back.

Her attention was on the monster. “Snow, it's looking at you.”

“What?” Risking a glance through a crack, her assertion was confirmed. No longer meandering back and forth, the Windigo barely wobbled in the air. It's attention, through our concrete barricades, was focused right on me. “How?”

“Oh, fuck.” Sounding a lot further away than the half-metre she was, Wings reached out a claw and turned my chin towards her. When she glanced over, she instantly squeezed her eyes shut and blew out a harsh breath. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”

Talking around her sharp talons was an exercise in restraint. “What is it?”

“These things eat hate, Snow.” She released my chin, and held two talons up to her own eyes. “And those peepers of yours only glow when you're pissed.”

Oh... shit. Purple snaked into and out of the corners of my vision. “What do I do?”

“Dial it down before it...WATCH OUT!”

Grabbing me, she hauled us both out from behind the wrecked building, just as the Windigo passed straight through it. Ice instantly covered the parts where the Windigo had travelled through.

Getting my hooves under me, I followed Wings to another wrecked building, two stories this time, even as the Windigo roared behind us.

As we reached the new shelter, Bosco's voice sounded out from somewhere else in the ruined city. “Split up!”

Taking the advice, Wings soared up to the second floor, then took off to the right. She loosed a few revolver shots at the Windigo as she went.

I went in on the ground floor, then leapt left out of a window. I was barely fast enough, as the Windigo engulfed the structure, and the ice kissed the back of my hooves before I cleared the area.

As I ran, I passed Bosco, who was running perpendicular to me, green flames flicking over and over as he cycled between himself, Cept, and Cassie. “Over here, big guy! Nice tasty Changeling for you!”

“Bosco, what are you doing?!” I cried, even as I knew I couldn't stop.

“Trade off, we’ll keep it distracted. Snow, build up another blizzard, and be ready to drop it on my signal!” Cept-Bosco disappeared into another crumbling domicile, which iced over as the Windigo ghosted into it.

Bosco emerged the way he'd come, now flying as Cassie. The wind demon made to follow, but water tendrils jabbed into and through its body as Undertow leapt down from an overhang and ran in a fourth direction.

The winter spirit's frustration emerged as a rumbling bellow. The moment it moved to follow Undertow, Wings streaked by its ear. When it snapped at her, Bosco rapid-fired a morph display to entice it.

As the three of them bothered the beast, now joined by the Gold and Silver trios. I concentrated on building up my spell. I was halfway there when I felt a probing presence through the arcane link I shared with Undertow.

It wasn't her. Raising my head, I found myself glared at by the devil of the north winds. Even as the Changelings flitted about it, it did not break eye contact. The eye itself was pure white, alien, the essence of the cold and winter itself.

It had no words to say, but the sensations that ran through link were all too clear:

Cycling images of Lethbridle, the basement chamber, and the present.

It remembered me.

Ghostlike threads linking it to me, threads that shifted and danced in the wind.

It knew how to find me.

The Changelings, filled with red. My friends and I, roiling masses of red and blue. Wings and Undertow were almost all blue. Bosco had a single solid core of blue, surrounded by red.

Me? Fifty-fifty, with each blending into the other.

The Windigo didn’t care. It only cared about the red.

It would consume the hatred within me.

More images now, other Windigoes dancing at the edge of the blizzard. Probing. Hunting.

It was not alone. The others would get through, and they would feed on all the hatred in the land.

Infinitesimal licks within that wall of wind.

They would devour the one in the mountain blizzard, and then me.

That won't happen, I sent back, I'll stop you.

Again, it gave no words, just hunger... and what felt like laughter.

“Now, Snow!” Bosco's voice was dulled by the link.

You won't win. We know about you.

“SNOW! What are you waiting for, do it-no wait, HELP!”

Bosco's shrill cry broke the spell, whiplashing me back to reality. The reality that Bosco was half a leg into the Windigo's grasp, and sinking deeper.

“BOSCO!” Instinct drove my actions. Through the link I had with the creature, my ice magic rode its ice nature, all the way along to where Bosco was being dragged in.

The non-corporeal ice wind hardened. The winter spirit howled in pain as a chunk of itself sloughed off, taking Bosco down and away from it. In the corner of my vision, I saw Wings and Undertow move to intercept him.

I wasn't done with the Windigo yet, though. I poured my blizzard spell into the wound, filling it out again, and more. My foreign ice wrapped around the creature, slowing its movements and impairing its vision.

Anger gave way to confusion as it blindly lashed out, taking out three Changelings as they rushed in. It hardly mattered, there were so many more. Every available shapeshifter rammed into the Windigo from all sides, pinning it in place in the air.

Cued by a rallying cry from the Gold and Silver leaders, the entire capture force burst into green flame at once. As the Windigo yowled, the green fire cage grew and stretched, engulfing it entirely.

Trapped, the beast could do nothing... as the Changelings began to feed.

It was a horrific, indescribable sight. The Windigo seemed to break down on the basest level, drawn into its captors.

Rationed and malnourished for so long, the Changelings feasted.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“I think I'm okay, Undertow, really. It just takes a little getting used to.” Gently removing her helping hooves from his person, Bosco leaned back against one of the few buildings not iced over by the Windigo's rampage.

He wasn't the Bosco we knew, not in body at least. Getting suckled on, however brief, had cancelled out the shapeshifting spell. Bosco was back in his true Changeling form.

Compared to the others, there were some differences, both minor and major. The other Changelings bore a green tinge. Bosco's tinge, when it was there at all, was not absolute. His green was not so pronounced, and at times simply faded to grey. His eyes too, were different. They were still his pony eyes, rather than the all-blue of the Gold and Silver Changelings.

Said other Changelings seemed to be in a post-feast stupor, and provided no answers. From the brief glances they'd managed, they hadn't seemed worried, at least.

At least they're not fighting each other anymore. If they can keep working together, we might have a chance if more Windigo break through. I still needed a quiet moment to work through what I'd felt from the Windigo, but it could wait until later. I should talk to Watcher about this. I'll ask Schwarzwald when we get back.

One of the reasons Bosco had pushed Undertow's touch away was sensitivity. His gossamer wings, carapace, and even fangs had him shuddering, giggling, squirming at even the lightest touch.

Just be glad Schwarzwald isn't here. She'd have a field day.

Still, Undertow and I stayed close, and Bosco seemed to draw strength from us.

If he was feeding on our love, he was welcome to it.

“Alright, see you later.” Wings stashed her communicator. “Hey, just spoke to Cassie. Let her know about the Windigo.” She cocked an eye at the sitting colt. “Didn't mention this. Thought you'd wanna do that.”

He smiled, the only genuine smile I'd seen from him in days. “Thanks. I appreciate that. Are we heading back?”

Wings shrugged. “You wanna talk to the Changelings some more?”

“No, I wanna be among friends right now.”

Wings tapped the radio against his skull, eliciting a... noise. “Well, you'll get some of your wish. Cassie says Rockhaunch and the three brothers have called in from Grindstone. They think they're on to something, but want some backup. Me, you, and 'tow are heading that way.”

Undertow and I both perked up at the mention of our brothers, but I frowned at the last part. “Just you three? What about me?”

Wings turned and pointed at her back with a claw. “Cassie's asking for you to head back to Sprinkles Supplies. Apparently, Lexi could use your help with the next part of Breeze's treatment.”

I was no less confused. “My help? I'm not a doctor.”

“What do you want me to tell ya? Cassie isn't either, but she's saying Lexi could use your help to get Breeze back on her hooves.” She nodded at Undertow and Bosco. “Couldn't hurt to get some goodwill going between the two of you, Snow. Said that yourself.”

Groaning, I stood up. “I guess so, yeah. Still kinda sucks that I don't get to see my brothers, though.”

Undertow sent good feelings through our link. “I will make sure to let them know you are thinking of them, big sister.”

“Stay safe, Snow. I mean that.” Wings lightly punched my shoulder. “I gotta clear my debt with you, and I can't do that if you're dead.”

“Careful,” I niggled her, “all these good vibes and Bosco'll get fat.”

“Worse things to be.” He quipped.

“Damn straight.” Wings started shepherding him and Undertow towards where we'd left the sky carriage. “Come on, you two. Let's go help the buffalo.”

I waved after them. “See you back at Sprinkles Supplies.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Level Up!

Perks gained:
Zeitgice – Due to a misrouted connection, Snow now has limited access to long forgotten, non-Equestrian ice magics.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Author's Note

Metaphysics!

That’s all for now, folks. Please keep reading, commenting, and spreading the word on Old Souls. I really appreciate your feedback, and we're almost there.

Chapter 28-1: Not Our War

Chapter 28: Not Our War

[Those friends as you know them are not here, alas. But tell me how all this came to pass.]

The trip back to Sprinkles Supplies had been blessedly uneventful, giving me time to fully digest the events at Whinniepeg.

Sure, the Windigo’s dead, but it has friends. The Changelings don’t now have the numbers to fight them all. And speaking of Changelings, Chrysalis is in the Stable, or at least her core is. Why hasn’t anybody ever mentioned it, or even shown any sign that she’s down there? Do they even know?

If it’s still a secret, at least I get the satisfaction of telling both Willow Wisp AND Roc “I know something you don’t know!” that’ll be fun.

It wasn’t really all that funny, but did just enough to get me the rest of the way. At the gates of the caravaneer’s compound, I waited at the steel shutters for a guard to let me in. And waited. And waited.

“Hello?” I called up to the walls after several minutes. “I’m here to help Boss with some magic? Hello?”

Weird. I didn’t have an exact idea of the time of day, but there was still light filtering through the cloud cover, so they shouldn’t have all been sleeping. I rapped a hoof against the shutter three times, but still received no answer.

“Okay, this is ridiculous.” My hoof slammed against the steel over and over again. “Call me out here, away from my brothers and sister, to help heal up a girl who keeps trying to kill me, and now you don’t ANSWER THE DAMN DOOR!” Can’t even freeze the door, since it belongs to Boss and all. Lousy, lazy guards. Are they deaf or something?

Just as I was rearing back to doublebuck the metal, it began to rise with a harsh squeal. Off-balance, I fell forwards into the dirt. Spitting and snorting out dirt as I rolled over, cheeks puffing. First guard I see, I’m gonna let him have it!

A stallion, swaddled in gear far too big for him, greeted me on the other side of the door. From some hidden mouth inside the folds of fabric, he spoke in a reedy, jittering voice. “Hey, you’re the girl the boss talks about so much, right? She said to bring you through right away. Sorry about the wait, most of the guys are getting supper. Come on.” Without waiting for an answer, he turned and headed inside.

Thrown off-kilter by his response, I swallowed my anger and followed in silence, but not without glowering at the guard’s back. We passed through the courtyard, and then the outer corridors of the offices without meeting another soul. Must be one hell of a supper. Supply caravans get all the good stuff. A sympathy grumble showed my belly agreed with me. Maybe I can get Boss to make me some more oatcakes when we finish with Breeze? I treasured the memory of that moment.

As we moved past the offices, towards the medical wing, the guard stopped for a moment. “Before we continue, do you wanna check in with those three tasty fillies on the radios? They’ve been pretty busy helping the other groups you went out with too.”

Hmm, not a bad idea. “Yeah, sure. Breeze isn’t going anywhere another minute or two.” If Boss needed me in a hurry, she’d have asked for Wings to fly me back in the sky carriage. About-facing, I headed to the comm room, the guard following.

When we reached the door to the communication station, it was shut tight. Jiggling the knob didn’t work, so I knocked, more gently than I had against the outer shutter. “Hey, anyone in there? Amber? Esto? ...Cassie?”

The latter’s voice, muffled by the wooden barrier, sounded out first. “Snowflake? Wait a moment. We’ll be right with you.”

“Greaaat,” I deadpanned. “are Esto or Amber with you?”

“Yes,” Esto replied from inside “we are here.”

“Just give us a moment, Snowflake.” Amber’s business-like tone didn’t help my impatience.

Half a minute passed without another word, leaving me to stand awkwardly outside the door. At the full minute mark, at least according to the clock on the wall, my impatience returned. “Hellooo? Still here, you know.”

Cassie’s response made me feel like a child. “...Snowflake, the door isn’t locked. We were waiting for you to come in.”

“...Oh.” Trying to ignore the sniggering guard, I pushed at the door again. It shifted, but only a little. “You sure it’s unlocked, Cassie? I’m pushing but it’s not opening.”

Esto was more forgiving than Cassie, but still short. “Put your weight into it, Snowflake.”

“I’ll put my weight into you,” I grumbled, but did as instructed. Lowering my shoulder, I rammed into the door in three quick, violent bursts. The first did nothing. The second shifted it enough that I could see something blocking the door, even if I couldn't’ tell what. The third sent the obstruction rolling along the floor, and me flailing to the comm. room tile.

Rubbing my chin as I got back up, I finally saw what I’d just smacked with the door. “Oh, damn, Esto! I didn’t mean it, I swear. That was an accident!”

The scientist was facing away from me, still on the ground, but the other two answered before she made a move.

“Very forthright, Snowflake.”

“Yes, wonderful job defeating the door.”

Neither Cassie nor Amber had even bothered to look away from their desks. Still, I glared at their backs. “To hell with the both of you. You couldn’t have just let me in?”

“And miss all the fun? No, I think not.” Amber barely shifted as she responded, still not looking my way.

I bristled. “Fun? You might not like me, but you’re not even gonna offer Esto a hoof? The hell’ve you three been up to this past while?”

“Waiting for you.” Like Amber, Cassie was almost statue-like.

My patience ran out. “I’ve had just about enough out of the both of you!” Marching over to her seat, closer than Cassie, I put a hoof on Amber’s shoulder and wrenched her around.

Instant regret ran through me as I took in the state of the Bernstein leader. An ugly purple bruise marred her amber coat at her temple. She was unconscious, only remaining upright by the bindings holding her to the chair.

Dried blood stained her clothes and front from the chin down. A drop seeped out from under the tape over her mouth. In her lap, next to an empty health potion, lay something fleshy and red. Sat atop it was a silver bit.

“A-Amber?” Recoiling, I suddenly became away of the state of the other two mares. Esto and Cassie were similarly bound and gagged. “What happened here? I don’t—”

“Is something the matter, Snowflake?” Amber’s light, airy tone made me jump. Her eyes were still closed, and her mouth still gagged, but she continued regardless. “You seem upset.”

Backing up towards the door, I tried to keep all three in my sights at once. “What’s going on?”

Esto, somehow, spoke next. “We’re trying to have a friendly conversation, Snowflake, yet you seem intent on being rude.”

Yeah, screw this. Spinning on a back heel, I bolted for the door, straight into the guard standing in the doorway. “Get out of the way! I’m going to find my Boss, and then we’ll get to the bottom of this.”

The guard didn’t move. “Bottom of what?”

Thrusting a hoof back towards the bound mares, I redoubled my efforts to move the stallion aside. “Whatever’s making them talk through those gags!”

“Uh… nopony was talking except you.”

“What?! Don’t be stupid!” Risking another glance into the room, the lack of movement threw me off more than anything.

Almost anything, as it turned out. From just by my ear, I heard something impossible.

My voice. “You’re the one who’s stupid, Red Ice.”

Halfway into jerking back around, the guard’s hoof crashed into my cheek. I was launched backwards, pinballing off the chair on which Cassie was bound to crash down next to the fallen Esto.

As I whimpered around my loose molars, the guard lowered his hoof. His shoulders were shaking. “Ahh, I don’t get to do this often enough.” Gone was the reedy, jittering tone, instead replaced by a hauntingly familiar honeyed baritone. “You’re always such fun, you know that, Snowflake?”

Not again! Not him again! “You shouldn’t be here! You should be stuck in Lethbridle, Peanut!”

Sweeping off his ill-fitting uniform with a smile, the ‘guard’ changed before my eyes; His shoulders relaxed and spread outwards, he stopped crouching, and filled out the now size-appropriate gear. Rubbing at his collarbone, he stretched into an audible pop came from his joints. “Unngh, gotta tell you something. It’s not easy to lose a head of height and keep it lost for that long. I’m gonna need a buffalo-strength massage later.”

“How are you here?” My hooves got back under me, and I righted myself. The pain in my cheek was long forgotten, overridden by disbelief at the sight before me. “I saw them blow the last gate. There was no way out!”

Peanut was working out a crick in his neck. “I actually got out ahead of you and your brother. It’s amazing how easily the guards believed I was just another evacuee after rolling in soot and dirt for a couple of seconds, and it really didn’t take that long to kill that ghoul you sicced on me. Dropped like a sack of flour. After that, it was just a matter of blending in with the crowd. As you saw, not really an issue for me. I had a good teacher for that kind of thing.” He stopped as a thought struck him. “Did I ever tell you who taught me what I know? Not everything I know, of course, just everything HE knew.”

“Why are you here?” I challenged, trying to ignore his musings, despite his casual dismissal of Inbox’s sacrifice.

His expression settled into neutrality. “Guess that’s a story for another day. As to your question, it should really be obvious. Well, maybe not. I am, after all, an even-tempered stallion.” He rolled his shoulders and took a step into the room, forcing me to take a step back. “It takes a lot to get under my skin, Snowflake, so I guess congratulations are in order. You and Bernstein there managed to pull it off. Wanna know what you’ve won?”

“Stay back!” My horn erupted with a tight spiral of cold, but he spun to the side and down, swinging a back hoof around and into my ankle. Off-balance, I couldn’t block his follow-up shoulder barge. I heard, and felt, glass crack as I slammed back into the communication equipment.

Peanut didn’t press his attack, instead resuming his speech. “See, you and Amber Bernstein there kinda ruined my plans. Well, not ‘kinda’, more like ‘utterly’.” For a brief moment, before he regained control, his expression turned dark. “I needed Lethbridle, Red Ice, and I needed my Plottawans. The actual citizens of Lethbridle weren’t all that important, just a bonus. I needed the city itself. Control Lethbridle and you control the north. Bernstein recognised that, which is why she worked so hard to keep it from me. Without it, you can see the instability that’s sprung up in the region. Lethbridle was the center of the region. Then you and Bernstein went and broke it.”

“The Raiders would have broken it worse. They probably have!” Warm stickiness dribbled down the back of my neck from where I’d hit the glass.

Peanut kicked at the floor. “And who brought them into the city? Who put those honeyed words in Latvi’s ear, huh?” He reached over and grabbed the empty bottle of healing potion from Amber’s lap, ignoring the fleshy lump next to it. “I had to make it very clear to Lady Bernstein that I wasn’t happy. I cut out that silver tongue of hers, then forced this potion down her throat. The wound’s closed up now. She can’t reattach it, and can’t interfere again.”

That’s horrible. “You’ll pay for that. If you think—”

“I’ve already paid for it!” He flung the empty bottle aside. “Don’t you see? Without Lethbridle and my soldiers, I have nothing to offer him. Nothing to bring to the table. They were my way in!”

“Into what?” Three jagged ice shards shot towards him, but he danced aside with ease.

“Into Red Eye’s organisation! Lethbridle and the Plottawans were my dowry. I needed a gift of value to present to him. Had to show him I was worth being his lieutenant.” Peanut’s hazel eyes shone with fervour.

Wake up, you three! “All this to impress your celebrity crush?”

“He’s the most powerful pony in the Wasteland. I suppose it’s hardly surprising that a pretender like you, trading on his name, wouldn’t understand. He’s going to win, and I want a place at the table, preferably at his right hoof.”

I gathered my magic in my horn, but didn’t release it yet. “Sounds like you want a place in his bed, not at his table.”

Peanut shrugged, unaffected. “Whatever gets me what I want is fine by me. Besides, power’s sexy.”

A little more. “So all of Plottawa, and your attack on Lethbridle, was all so you could be Red Eye’s boyfriend?”

“His confidant. The one whom he shares his secrets with. Eventually, I’d be his successor.” Peanut beamed with pride at his imagined position.

“Plottawa not enough for you?” I made no effort to hide my scorn. “You want to enslave the entire Wasteland?”

“Well, yeah.” Peanut spread his hooves wide. “There’s only so much to be done out here in the north, at the end of the world. I think bigger than just what I can see in front of me.”

Except you’re only looking one way. You don’t even know there’s something beyond the mountains. “You only see what you want to see. What, you think that silencing Amber, or killing me, is gonna solve your problems? Get you noticed further south?” My horn was near bursting with charge, but I had to wait for the right opportunity.

“You mistake my reason for coming here.” Peanut leaned casually back against the wall. “I’m not here to help my plans, not really. After Lethbridle, I’m taking some ‘me’ time. I’ll have a nice relaxing few days punishing you two, and then I’ll get back to work. This? This is catharsis.”

“So why heal Amber after? Why not just kill her?” Amber’s to my left, Esto’s behind me, Cassie’s between the two of them. I took a slow half-step to my right, putting Peanut squarely between myself and the doorway.

A roll of his eyes preceded his answer. “The same reason I don’t starve or beat my slaves. The value increases this way.”

My tail thrashed at that. “Amber’s not one of your slaves!”

“No, but she is an asset. She doesn’t have a choice in the matter, if she wants to keep her business afloat. Those cousins of hers that she left in charge down south don’t have her brains. Without her lead, the Bernstein Conclave will suffer. She’ll be forced to take back the reins. Trouble is…” his tongue snaked across his lips, “...now she can’t put words in the right ears. That weakness will encourage her cousins to make a play to take over permanently. Suddenly, Lady Bernstein is very busy indeed, but can only suffer in silence.”

Heaving himself off the doorframe, he stood in the center of the entrance. “Her true trade is her words, Snowflake. That’s why I took her tongue. Words determine everything for those who don’t fight, and even some for those who do. You should know that by now.”

Every muscle on my body locked up. “What does that mean? What have you done, Peanut?”

He smiled the same wide, insufferably perfect smile he’d given the first time I met him. “Do you recall the kill-on-sight order against you?”

MOTHERF— “That was you?”

His smile just grew wider. “Actually, it was Chief Rockhaunch.”

“What? He never mentioned that!”

Waving a hoof back and forth, Peanut chuckled to himself. “Oh, he doesn’t know.”

That doesn’t make a single damn bit of sense. Have you lost your mind? Have I been talking to a crazy pony this entire time? If he had become unhinged, fighting him would be even less enjoyable than it had been, and much harder to survive, let alone win. “What are you talking about, how could he not know if he did it?”

Smile now showing teeth, Peanut cleared his throat and took a deep breath. When he opened his mouth, a shockingly familiar voice came out. The problem was that it wasn’t Peanut’s.

“Attention, this is Chief Rockhaunch. I am issuing a blanket order against Red Ice. Do not attempt to apprehend her. Kill on sight. That is all.”

I could only stare blankly at my ears attempted to make sense of hearing the voice of the Lethbridle guard captain coming from the Plottawan stallion. “What?”

Ignoring the question, Peanut rattled off several more lines, each in a different voice:

“Bernstein brought in Red Ice too!” A melodic female.

“Red Ice done brung that scary ghost thing.” A dumpy stallion.

“Why did you call Red Ice and the monsters here, Lady Bernstein?” A frightened filly.

Cassie’s voice was next. “Snowflake needs to come back to help with Breeze’s recovery.”

Glancing right to verify that Cassie was still bound, gagged, and unconscious made a sick feeling bubble up in my gut. “You were in the crowd. YOU WERE THE CROWD! You set me up. You lied to all of us!”

He had the nerve to chuckle. “I did. It’s my special talent. The right word in the right ear.” Snickering, he opened his mouth again, “Or the left ear.” except it sounded like he was standing behind me and to the side. Next he spoke from under my chin. “I don’t get enough chances to do this outside of practice. A pity, what with my name being what it is.”

My mind was spinning, and I was only barely keeping up. “...Peanut?”

“That is what I tell everybody.” He turned side-on, so I could see his cutie mark under his uniform: A red-and-white-striped bag of peanuts. “You and Bernstein are the only ones I’ve told this to. You should feel honoured. Not even A— my former teacher knows my full name.”

He bowed deeply. “A pleasure to meet you, Snowflake, Red Ice, whoever. You can call me Peanut Gallery.”

“Why are you telling me this?” I choked out.

Literally bouncing on his heels, Peanut Gallery jigged up and down. “Because I’m having fun, Snowflake. Didn’t I tell you this is me taking some time for myself? Besides, it’s not as if knowing will do either of you any good. Bernstein’s not exactly got a wagging tongue these days, and you… well, you’ve got much bigger problems than little ol’ me.”

His hazel eyes twinkled. “This is probably my favourite part of all of this, mostly because I didn’t do it, and it still worked out well for me. See, the thing is, some buffalo called Crush killed our mutual friend, the Chief. I have that on good authority, unless your brother’s a habitual liar. Do you know what that means, Snowflake?”

I was stunned, only half-listening. The Chief is dead? Crush killed him? Are my brothers okay? How are they gonna get back? How did this happen?

Peanut continued right over my mental floundering. “Rockhaunch can’t rescind the kill order against you now, Red Ice, and I won’t. Wherever you go, you’ll be attacked. Your life in the Wasteland is over. You will never know peace again.”

“Yeah?” Purple smoke engulfed the corners of my vision. “Well, neither will you!” I let loose with my gathered magic.

You won’t hurt anyone again! Bars of ice sprang up in the comm. room, shutting Amber, Cassie, and Esto off from Peanut and myself. The two of us were trapped in a narrow corridor, leaving no room to move except back towards the door.

Half-snarling, half-smirking, I squared my hooves. “Dodge this, bastard!” Channeling Chrysalis and the Windigo all at once, Peanut was blown backwards out of the room by a screaming burst of hail.

The Plottawan leader ricocheted off the corridor wall as I charged out after him. Ice snakes coalesced around me, striking for the stallion, but he deftly flipped to the side.

As I left the comm. room, I covered the doorway with more bars. “You won’t touch them again!”

Shaking his head, Peanut stepped back into a ready stance. “Well, haven’t you improved. You might actually up my heart rate a little this time. It’s not gonna be enough, though.”

Without a word, I sent overlapping waves of Cryo Serpents at him. As soon as he dodged one, the next wave would hit, forcing him back. Can’t beat me if you can’t touch me, heckler!

After his half-dozenth step, Peanut grunted harshly. Flipping back through the air, he landed with his mouth full of a wicked looking hoofcannon, half the size of his head.

My brain wasn’t even through processing his jaw-clench before my cheek split in two. Blood splattered into my right ear and eye. Adrenaline dulled the pain, but I still had half the perception I did a moment ago. Squeezing my right shut, I turned left-on to Peanut, fixing him with my good eye.

His second shot slammed harmlessly into my conjured ice shield, which I thrust back at him.

Cartwheeling aside, his hooves went out from under him as I covered the floor in slick frost. My Cryo Serpents found his weapon as he landed, blocking the barrel.

Spinning impossibly on his head and front hooves, his momentum carried the hoofcannon straight into my throat.

Adrenaline could only do so much, as the air caught in my tubes. Hacking and spitting, I blindly conjured icicles in a full ring around me. A sharp hiss sounded from beyond the red blood and purple smoke, but I couldn’t tell where with just the one unblocked ear.

My head jerked to the side as Peanut’s hoof slammed into my torn jowl, but it was he who cried out in pain. I couldn’t smile outwardly, but momentarily cheered on the inside. You’re not the first opponent I’ve fought covered in blood, Peanut. Thank you, Cassie. I couldn’t call the fight in the Woodpecker village a victory, but it was a learning experience.

With a vague idea of where he now stood, my horn slashed down and across his general direction. Unfortunately it met his bucking hooves coming in the other direction.

Lifted into the air, the corridor spun around me. At the corner, I stopped rolling. Sharp needles ran up and down my horn, and the pain from my jaw was increasing. I was coming down from my adrenaline high. Just a little more. I almost have him.

Peanut wasn’t looking so hot himself. Cuts and scratches marred and bloodied his oaken coat, and his blond mane stuck to his face as he huffed and puffed. The hoof he’d punched me with was cradled close to his chest. “Well, isn’t this interesting? You’re on form today, Red Ice, I’ll give you that. Still, those hooves of yours are shaking. You won’t last much longer.”

“Lung enif…” I gave up at that point, the bubbling blood in my mouth derailing any comeback I might have had as I willed my shaking legs to remain still. Spitting out a mouthful was agony as my split flesh objected. Damn, he’s right. My face is killing me. Have to kill HIM quick.

Peanut wasn’t looking at me. He was staring past me, around the corner I stood at. His face was a picture of surprise.

A filly’s voice, timid and watery and familiar, told me why. “Snowflake?”

Undertow?! My good eye whipped around to find her, warn her away. I couldn’t see her. Damn blood’s in my eyes. Where is she?

In the split-second I reached up to wipe away the blinding red, Peanut had moved.

KRACK!!!

My eye was totally forgotten as he completed his leap on my other side. Something else landed beside him, clinking against the floor tile.

Glacial glow fading into darkness, my horn rolled to a stop between us.

I screamed. Pain, not blood, blinded me now. My cheek trauma forgotten, I scrabbled with my hooves at the jagged stump on my forehead. I wailed on the ground as all strength left me.

Barely noticed through the haze, Peanut scooped up my horn in his mouth. Smirking around it, he looked for all the world like McCoy smoking one of his filthy cigars. Imperiously, he stood over me, savouring the sight. “I told you it wouldn’t be enough.”

“GET AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER!” The new voice, not Undertow’s, thundered down the hallway.

It pierced through the lightning storm of pain behind my eyes. Boss! What’s he doing to Undertow?!

Shots rang out in the corridor, and Peanut’s shadow fell away from me. His clattering hooves, and those of the the multitude chasing him, were muffled by blood and exposed nerves.

Another shadow came upon me, however. Tender hooves probed and caressed, while a soothing aura enveloped me. “Oh, baby, what’s he done t’you?” Lexi’s voice trembled. “Can y’hear me, baby girl?”

“U-Undertow?”

“No, honey, it’s me. Undertow’s not here.” I felt her magic pulling my cheek back together, however gradually.

“But…” I coughed out, “...she was. You said ‘your daughter’. Where is she?”

“What?” Lexi’s hooves left me for a moment, before grabbing me and holding me tight, frizzy mane scratching at my stump, while she wailed. “Ah meant you, yeh silly thing! You’re both my girls, don’tcha know that?”

Her words hit like a ton of bricks. They managed, for a moment at least, to make me utterly forget about the pain. M-me too? I have a… you’re my…

Every moment I’d ever spend with Lexi ran through my mind in a flash;

Our first meeting, where she healed me even as a complete stranger.

She didn’t turn me away.

Scolding me for playing Raider, but still telling me not to die, and to come to her if I was hurt.

She knew I could do better.

Sending me after my missing sister, her missing daughter, and the warm hug that followed when we returned.

She forgave me.

The delicious breakfast she made for Undertow and I, and the promise between the two to watch over me.

She worried.

To Fedexi Lexi, I had value. To her, I was worth keeping on the right path. To her, I mattered. I was one of her girls.

She wanted me.

Even through the returning pain, hard enough to dim the world around me, my hooves hugged her back as tight as I was able. Through tears, I bawled out the only word I could:

“MO-O-O-M!”

Gentle and safe, she held me close. “Ah’m right here, Snowflake. Momma’s gonna look after you.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter 28-2: Not Our War

“They can’t find her horn?” My entire body, beak to tail, was tying itself in knots at the thought of Snow’s horn being just… gone.

Standing with me in the courtyard, Schwarzwald shook her head, serious for once. “No, dahling. She has had to be sedated, to ease her pain until then. What is not there cannot be fixed. Fedexi Lexi has every free guard looking, but it seems Peanut took it.”

“How? How did he get away?” Anger joined queasiness as I thought of the one who had done this. The bastard who maimed my friend.

“From what the guards say, he has a zebra stealth cloak.” Schwarzwald nodded her head towards the medical bay. “Naiara or Cept may be able to tell us more later. For now, they are in with Breeze.”

Thank heaven for small miracles. “Gotta thank her, don’t we. She was the one who raised the alarm, right? Her and those ears?”

Schwarzwald cracked a smile. “Indeed. Dear Breeze was nice enough not to let her personal feelings towards Snowflake get in the way.”

“Or she was just trying to get Peanut.” I groused, but almost immediately kicked myself mentally. Breeze didn’t deserve that, come on. “How’re her wings?”

“Weak for now, but healed.”

One healthy pony’s better than two patients. “I’ll go see her when there’s a quiet moment. I’ve missed her.”

Smiling getting wider, the mercenary mare licked her lips. “As have we all.”

“I know that look, Schwarz. You are not asking her if you can feel her scars, not for at least another week.”

The two of us chuckled together. “You are so cruel, Wings-dahling.”

“That’s exactly what I am. ‘sides, don’t you have your own injured girl to be watching over? How’s Amber?”

“Sleeping now.” Smile slipping, she kicked at the dust. “The tongue cannot be saved. Peanut saw to that with a potion. She will not speak again.”

Harsh. Shivering through my feathers at the thought, I clicked my tongue in my beak. “So what will she do now?”

Inhaling, eyes closed, Schwarzwald took a moment to respond. “I do not know. She prides herself on her skill with words, and now she has lost it while helping us.”

This entire thing is one fucked up nightmare! “She only lost the words, not the skills. Make sure you remind her of that when she wakes up.”

The smile I got from her was softer, warmer than the last one. “Your way with words is not so bad either, Blue Fire. Thank you.”

I matched it, before nodding at the doors to the offices. “Head back in there, make sure you’re around if she comes to. Can’t have her be the only one without a friend by their side, right?” Breeze’s got Cassie, the zebra, and Bosco. Snow’s got Lexi, Undertow, and her brothers. Hell, even Lithu’s got Esto. Medical Bay got crowded in a hurry.

Schwarzwald started towards the door, then stopped and looked over her shoulder. “Are you not coming, dahling? Snowflake will feel better if you are there, I am sure.”

I waved her on. “In a little bit. Let her sleep for now. I need a few minutes by myself to think things through. We got a lot of fire thrown at us all at once. Even with her hurt, we can’t just ignore it.”

“But our problems will still be there when she wakes up.” She reminded, before opening the door. “Do not focus on the wrong thing, and miss something important.”

When she was gone, I turned and sprinted around the back of the buildings. From our numerous visits to the site, I knew this was where the guards had set up their practice range. A battered old radio was set up on a fence post, offensively inoffensive music droning from its speakers.

I emptied every bullet I had, reloading over and over, into the targets at the end of the range. Peanut’s face was in my mind every time. I fired so many and so fast, my claws couldn’t hold my revolvers when they finally ran dry. Letting them slip from my talons, I bounded down the range and, with a hawkish shriek, gouged great gashes in the painted wood.

“Kill you! Kill you! Kill you!” The mantra kept my energy from flagging, maintaining my rhythm. Trick me away just so you can cripple her?! There’s not gonna be a corner of the Wasteland you can hide from me!

When even the mantra couldn’t keep the exhaustion away, my forehead dropped into the ravaged target with a dull thud. “And she says I don’t owe her.” I mocked bitterly, “Can’t claim that anymore.” I should have been here. I should have known something was up. Why would Cassie send all but Snow away? Why didn’t I just drop her off first with the sky carriage? Why the FUCK is Peanut not trapped in Lethbridle?

I still hadn’t been to see Snow since getting back. Undertow and her brothers got first priority, I couldn’t deny them that, even if I wanted to go in there. I want her to be okay, just…

Maybe it wasn’t nearly as bad as the black hole I was imagining in the middle of her forehead, but still had trouble willing myself to go find out. Taking a unicorn’s horn was… a violation. Like de-clawing a griffon.

Disgusted with all concerned, myself included, I meandered back to my fallen revolvers. As I dusted them off, the folksy music on the radio cut off with a sharp burst of static. What replaced it stunned me into stillness.

“Good day, Equestria. My name is Roc, and I am the Overseer of Stable 61.”

Oh… crap.

Unaware of my growing dread, Roc continued jauntily. “First, let me express my joy at finally being able to communicate with the wider world outside of our Stable walls. We have waited for this moment for a long time.”

Fumbling my six-shooters back into their holsters, my attention focused fully on the overly cheerful lunatic coming over the airwaves.

“Second, I apologise for interrupting your other broadcasts. We are still adjusting to how things work in… the Wasteland, and don’t quite have the schedules memorised yet. We are trying, however, especially with the aid of some new friends.”

“New friends?” I mouthed, not feeling any better about that than any other part of Roc’s broadcast.

“It warms my heart to find like-minded individuals to ourselves, even two hundred years removed from communication. It gives me hope for a brighter tomorrow. Still, I can’t take up all your time with my introduction and not get to the point, so allow me to do so. I must apologise for the actions of a small number of former Stable residents who may have been causing issues in the region. We will be working to correct this diplomatic oversight. I do hope you all can believe that Stable 61 does not condone the actions of this radical minority. I apologise again, but they are not representative of Stable 61.”

I held the radio close up to my face, which did nothing but increase the static. “Where are you going with this, ‘Overseer’?”

Roc’s apologetic tone returned to its original cheer. “While we are still in the learning and planning stages for now, with invaluable input from our new friends from the fine city of Neighlway,”

“What?” Neighlway? No, you can’t be doing this now, not them.

“I can happily report that, once we are ready, Stable 61 will be opening its doors to the Wasteland in its entirety. We still have much to learn, but I truly believe that my Stable and I are in the unique position of ALSO having much to teach, and much to offer. All will be welcome at Stable 61, no matter their concerns; business, pleasure, personal. Stable 61 hopes to greet you all as friends, as we have with the honourable Neighlway Rangers. I must express my gratitude towards Elder Iron Sights, on being such a fine friend in Stable 61’s first partnership. We are rejoining Equestria, my dear listeners, and we look forward to meeting you all. I, Roc, Overseer of this Stable, bid you good day.”

“That’s why Neighlway was so empty…” The grey skies seemed to grow darker by the second, as I stared up at them bonelessly. “Oh, Snow...”

Unfurling my wings, I rose into that grey sky.

I’m gonna do something about this.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Please be careful, Breeze.”

Cept’s fretting call from below warmed my cheeks. I absentmindedly waved a hoof in the general direction of ‘down’, even while pumping my wings higher. “I’ve been cooped up in that bed for days. I need to stretch my wings.”

“But—”

“I’ll be fine so long as you catch me, Cept. You won’t let me fall, will you?” A little mean, but he can’t treat me like I’m made of glass forever.

“Never!” He shouted instantly.

A few metres away, Naiara burst out laughing. “You’re both so lame.”

“I think it’s sweet.” Across from me, Cassie was on-hoof in case I struggled. “Ah, a little higher now, Bosco. Try to keep yourself steady.” Also, at the same time, she was tutoring our newest flier.

“I am trying!” The colt retorted testily, even as he continued to wobble in the air. We’d travelled a fair distance from Sprinkles Supplies for this training session, solely so that Bosco could shift back to his Changeling state.

The thrum of your wings is nice enough, Boss Colt, but I still can’t get used to you looking all buggy like that. My eyes were drawn mostly to the stubby little horn rising from his forehead. Besides transformation, I wonder what other types of magic you can do? Maybe even… ice spells? The thought made my side twinge.

“Breeze, watch out!”

“Wha-WHOA!” My left wing locked up, and I dropped like a stone. The wind rushed past my ears beyond my squeezed-shut eyes, but the harsh impact I expected never came. Instead, I found myself wrapped in strong hooves.

Cept’s golden eyes were there when I opened mine to look. His breathing came fast and shallow, but he still smiled down at me. “Never.” He repeated. Warming all over, I snuggled further into his embrace. Around us, the other three looked on in concern.

Even as Naiara began “d’aww”-ing, Cassie swooped down upon us. “Alright, that’s enough for you for today. You’re walking back.”

“Aw, c’mon,” I whined. “I’m fine, Cass, really.”

“I said no.” She emphasised, poking me in side. “Cept, make sure she doesn’t leave the ground.”

“As you say.”

I sat and sulked. “Traitors, all of you.”

“Don’t you start with me, Aqua Breeze,” Cassie puffed up her chest. “You are gonna take exactly as long as you have to to get better. Your injuries were serious. Lexi said that you might not fly again. You know how ponies feel about pegasi in the Wasteland. A pegasus who can’t fly would be in serious danger!”

Naiara coughed into her hoof pointedly. “Almost as much danger as a hornless unicorn with a kill order out on her?”

My sister rounded on her. “Don’t preach to me, Naiara. We’re all aware of the situation with Snow, and if you think you can guilt us—”

“I’m not.” Cutting through Cassie’s rant with a calm, unshakeable resolve, the zebra mare continued. “I’m telling you to be glad that Breeze came through okay. No guilt, just be happy about that. We all got very lucky.” She turned a bright smile on me. “‘sides, Breeze already repaid Snow for her mom’s healing, by telling her that Peanut was here.”

“He’s dangerous,” I deflected, not wanting to upset Cassie further, “anyone would have done it. Just looking out for the rest of us.”

“Sure,” Still unsteady, a slow-rotating Changeling hovered overhead, “and you didn’t enjoy the big hug that Undertow gave you when she heard you were the one who raised the alarm. Totally.”

Bosco and Cassie found themselves being pointedly not-looked-at. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Who are you, crazy-shelled-colt?”

Cept and Naiara started to chuckle, but Bosco didn’t. He drifted slowly down to the ground, then morphed back to his normal charcoal earth pony form. His eyes looked past us. “You know… this is the second time she’s lost her magic.”

The zebras’ laughter choked off, and we all started at his words. “Snow?”

He nodded. “Yeah. When she first left the Stable, she couldn’t use any spells. The Memory Orb had a crack in it, and did a number on her. It came back then, gradually, but… this time…”

“Mm.” Cassie murmured. “Without her horn, she most likely will not ever regain her magic.”

Sometimes, your insistence on propriety keeps me from figuring out if you’re happy or not, Cass. Still, that’s not the only problem...

“And she can’t shoot worth a damn.” Everybody frowned at my statement. “What? It’s true. Snow’s never been good with a gun, or any weapon. She lost the Power Hooves she had back when we first met her a while ago, and it’s been her horn ever since. With the kill order, she’s gonna need a new way to fight.”

“This is true. The Steel Rangers hold her Stable. If they can use that old world technology, they will be a very bad threat to all of the northern Wasteland.” Plottawa seemed to be where Cept was looking as he said this.

His words resonated with me for a different reason, though. Old world tech, huh? You might be onto something there, Cept.

Bosco cricked his neck. “It’s even worse than that. With Chrysalis down in the Stable, the Rangers could blunder around trying to figure out what she’s doing, and end up taking down the entire blizzard. If they do that, the Windigoes get in. If the Windigoes get in…”

“...we’re fucked.” Naiara finished matter-of-factly.

Nodding, Bosco wreathed himself in flames, becoming a Changeling again. He looked back at his wings. “So far, Snow’s the only one who’s been able to hurt one, and the other Changelings can’t fight ‘em all at once. Face it, we need Snow back, and we need to get the Rangers out of her Stable.”

Naiara nosed his wing up and down with her nose. “How’re we gonna do that?”

I raised a hoof. “I… might have an idea on that.” And maybe more.

Cassie raised an eyebrow. “When did this happen? You’ve been stuck in bed for the better part of a week!”

“Yeah, but I’ve been listening. While these three,” I pointed to the two zebra and the one Changeling, “were away gallivanting around Plottawa and Whinniepeg, YOU,” my hoof found Cassie, “were talking with Amber and Esto. Amber wanted to go back to the Whitepony facility, right?”

Bosco and Naiara tensed up at the mention of the place. “Yeah, so?”

“So, I’m thinking maybe not the worst idea right now? There’s tons of information there, about all sorts. There might be something there that can help get Snow’s magic back.” My chin stayed low as I finished. The reactions I got back weren’t particularly positive, but at least the suggestion was out there.

Bosco was first to offer his opinion. “Last time we were there, Naiara almost died. Undertow and I got foalnapped. Hell, the last time we were there, the Changelings showed up, everything went to hell, and has pretty much stayed there since!”

Unlike Bosco, a more neutral tone was adopted by Cept. “But why were they there at all? Why did they pick that moment to take you and Undertow? Do they know something that we do not?”

Cassie looked to the colt-turned-Changeling. “Would they tell you? They haven’t really been all that forthcoming with information up until this point.”

He grunted. “And we might not have time to humour them if they want us to jump through any hoops to get the info. Let’s call that Plan B for now.”

“Plan C.” I corrected. Maybe.

Again, everybody looked at me in consternation. “What?”

Stretching my wings to ease the twinge, which drew a warning glare from Cassie, I looked in the opposite direction that Cept had been facing. “Well, assuming a day trip to Whitepony’s still our Plan A, there might be another move to make before we resort to going to the Changelings hat-in-hoof.”

“You’re not flying all the way to Whitepony, Breeze.” Cassie interjected. “Confound it all, you’re barely out of bed!”

It was my turn to frown at the interruption. “I meant that we’d take the sky carriage, which YOU would pull, but that’s beside the point. I’m talking about Plan B now.”

I had everybody’s full attention now. Cassie was still sceptical, Naiara was intrigued, Bosco was confused, and Cept’s intense attention simultaneously spurred me on and made my stomach tighten. I took a deep breath. “Well, Snow lost her magic because she’s down a horn, right?”

They all nodded.

I’m either really clever or really crazy.

“...Don’t we have a spare?”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“And you’re sure this is where he said to meet?” I certainly hope so. I have had about all I can stand of your nonsense, ponies. I better see some uptick in income or else things are going to become very unpleasant.

“Are you questioning my comprehension of a simple arrangement, Eitom?” The pegasus flying beside me, Willow Wisp, barked back.

And everything’s a slight if you’re not fawned over! “I am verifying the information I’ve been given for this assignment. Nothing more.” The bile bubbling in the back of my throat took a few swallows to hold back.

Willow Wisp pushed further. “Just do as I say and you’ll be fine.” She snorted, before muttering under her breath. “Story of my life, not that anybody listens.”

And the tightness in my throat returned. “I don’t take orders from you, pegasus!” She jolted at my snap, but I continued before she could respond. “I work for Latvi and, right now, so do you. Order me or my Monsters around again, and we’ll have a problem. Is that clear?”

Glaring, she looked past behind her to where Latvi was being carried by two of my Monsters. The scientist unicorn was deep in conversation with Wicker, and didn’t seem interested in our discussion. Seeing no support, she turned cold eyes back to me, gnashing out a single word. “...fine.”

Small miracles! Uninterested in speaking with her further, I turned and gave the signal for the rest of us to descend. Below us, the ruined and burned-out husk of a supply caravan lay in a forest clearing. I still don’t think it’s all that smart to be between Plottawa and Lethbridle like this. Her slavers don’t control either anymore.

My monsters and I thudded down around the clearing, weapons posted outwards. Willow Wisp fluttered onto the top of the wreckage, which leaned and creaked in response to her new weight. She wobbled when it did so, and took a good few seconds to right herself again.

Some of the other griffon noticed, and grinned to each other. It was definitely satisfying, especially since they didn’t stop their sweeps. It spoke to their training, evoking memories of our former leader and his methods. You did good work with these guys, boss. Sticking to standards without fail, that’s the trick. Ponies never understand that. I could almost smell the smoke from the cigars he constantly inhaled.

Not one of the Monsters had so much as suggested changing the name of our troop. Wicker and I never would have agreed if they did, but it said something that it was never even considered.

“So what now, chika?” Wicker was standing guard by Latvi. It was almost comical how the straw-coloured mercenary dwarfed the blue scientist. Still, we had a contract with him, so we took his orders.

So long as he keeps paying. It remains to be seen how long that will last now that his Raider army is gone.

Willow Wisp drew in a deep breath, stopped for a moment to adjust as the caravan shell moved under her, and spoke directly to Latvi. Wicker went ignored. “I shouldn’t have to wait long. Peanut won’t waste my time.”

I saw Latvi raise an eyebrow at her singular pronouns.

“Very true, Overmare, but I have business with Latvi too.” Somehow, Peanut was suddenly standing there, cigar between his lips, in the middle of the perched pegasus and stunned scientist.

My rifle was instantly trained on the earth stallion. If I wasn’t fighting my own racing heart, I might have laughed at Willow Wisp’s startled hooting. “Where the hell did you come from?”

Wicker, all-business, had put himself between him and our contractor. “Shit, pony, don’t do that!”

To his credit, Peanut seemed unaffected by the ring of Monsters who all had him in their sights. He turned and gave Willow Wisp a damn-near sparkling smile as she picked herself off the ground, having tumbled down at his surprise entry. “Good to see you safe, Willow Wisp. I heard what happened at Plottawa. Very unfortunate, but we can retake it later.”

Latvi cut in before she could respond. “Nice trick with the zebra stealth cloak, but why are you here, Peanut? The last time I saw you, your slavers were firing rockets at my Raiders. Why shouldn’t I just have my Monsters gun you down where you stand?”

While his expression screamed ‘you are welcome to try’, his smooth voice didn’t waver. “Well, I’d rather like my lieutenant back, if what your lieutenant said about her working for you is true, and then I’d like the two of us to make you a mutually beneficial proposal.”

Willow Wisp showed nothing but confusion at his words, while Latvi took a moment to levitate and clean his glasses. “Really, a proposal? Do tell.”

My back paw tensed in the dirt. Of course you won’t just tell us to shoot him. You want to play games, like always. How many Monsters will we lose this time, I wonder.

Holding up his shin to display the Pipbuck wrapped around it, Peanut tapped the screen. “Have you heard the broadcast by Overseer Roc yet?”

“OVERSEER ROC?!” We all winced at Willow Wisp’s livid screech.

“Apparently not.” Peanut rubbed his ear. “Don’t worry, I have it recorded. Allow me.”

While the announcement played back, to which I was only half-paying attention, Wicker was miming shooting Latvi. He was even making ‘pow pow’ movements with his beak. I smiled at his antics, until I noticed that Peanut saw it too, and swiftly motioned for him to stop.

Once the recording was done, Willow Wisp sat stewing. Latvi, however, was thoughtful. “All that lost technology, in the hooves of those bulkheaded thugs?”

Peanut clapped his hooves together, getting everyone’s attention. “Which brings me to my proposal. I want the three of us to get into that Stable, even if it means working with the Rangers for a little while. This,” he again pointed to the Pipbuck, “means I can get us there. The lovely Willow Wisp here can then get us in the door, and then you get your moment. According to… several sources, you’re the resident expert on digging up the secrets of the past.” He offered a hoof to the blond scientist. “Just imagine what you could do with all that old world knowledge and technology. Pristine, untouched by the fires that burned our world. It’d be like walking into the past. Doesn’t that sound wonderful?”

Latvi’s eyes were glazed over, lost in his fantasies. “Yes,” he breathed ecstatically. “wonderful.”

Oh hell. Latvi liked his games, but Peanut had him totally outclassed here. To my further annoyance, Willow Wisp seemed to have noticed what the Slaver boss was doing, and for-once kept her mouth shut. Now we have to deal with Steel Rangers. They would have taken most, if not all, of their Neighlway forces to the Stable. They won’t want to give up the tech to you three, which means we are going to lose A LOT of Monsters on this one.

Sometimes, I hate my job.

Somehow, Latvi managed to shake off his daydream. Even more surprising, he managed to ask a relevant question afterwards. “This is all very tempting, Peanut, but what’s in it for you?”

The Plottawan leader grinned around the cigar in his mouth. “Glad you asked. Two things: I want one-sixth of the Stable’s collective treasures, in whatever form, for my own use,”

Which means you’ll take an eighth if Latvi learns how to haggle.

“... and then I want you and your Monsters’ assistance in getting into Lethbridle, getting my people out, and dealing with whichever of your Raiders they haven’t enslaved or killed yet. I don’t care how your Raiders are dealt with; leave, rejoin you, die… whatever. So long as at the end of it, they are out of the city entirely.”

Make that a tenth. Hell, a twentieth! I slammed my rifle down on the ground and advanced on Peanut, talons out. “You’re asking a hell of a lot just to point the way, slaver! And spit out that damn cigar!”

Wicker was on me instantly, holding me back. “Whoa, bro! Down, down! Eitom, reel it in!”

Peanut dropped the cigar into the palm of his hoof. “This? Not a cigar.” He held it out to Willow Wisp. “Here, you’ll get a kick out of this.”

“Me?” She blinked, but took the ‘cigar’. “What am I supposed to do with this?”

“Do? Nothing. Just enjoy it. That is the horn of a filly we all know and ‘love’.”

Recognition dawned for the pegasus. “Snowflake? This is Snowflake’s horn?”

Willow Wisp turned it over and around, looking at it from every angle. She mused to herself. “Snowflake has no horn.”

Latvi’s eyebrows shot up at the mention. “You took her horn? Impressive.”

Finally, the red mist began to subside. I tapped Wicker on the shoulder. “I’m okay, I’m okay.” To prove it, I took a half-dozen steps back, claws up and open.

Latvi had been staring at the severed horn in unbridled amusement. Now, he turned to Peanut. “Your offer? I accept. But I may I suggest a slight alteration?”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter 28-3: Not Our War

“YOU WANT TO DO WHAT?!”

We all shrank back from Schwarzwald. Her trademark amusement was completely absent here, as her conifer eyes drilled into Breeze, who had made the suggestion. You have never raised your voice before. Now, my sister offers a chance to restore Snowflake’s magic, and you act as if she suggests euthanization?

What had been a very cute scene, with Amber and Schwarzwald wearing identical smiles as the latter spoonfed the former, now threatened to unravel. Amber, involuntarily silent, seemed equally surprised at the older mare’s reaction. There was a hint of indignation in the Bernstein’s expression too, as the spoon Schwarzwald held remained in her mouth. She was forced to stare, cross-eyed, down the handle to the mercenary’s face, which continued to glare at Breeze.

Wilting, Breeze leaned back into Cept, who rested his head against hers. “I, um, I just thought that… y’know…”

Schwarzwald released the spoon, and bounced off of Amber’s bed. Standing at her full height, we were reminded that she was a very tall mare. “You thought that you would expose Snowflake to the influence of the dark king?”

Breeze’s wings had locked in at her sides under Schwarzwald’s scrutiny. “She… but... um… magic?”

Schwarzwald’s wood-brown face was turning burgundy. “Absolutely not. Those magics are not toys. Bosco’s Changelings, and their Windigo enemies, show that there are forces of the old world to fear. King Sombra was no mere unicorn trickster. He held power that threatened the entire country!”

“Schwarzwald,” I came to my sister’s defence, “the king is dead. Sombra has been gone for two hundred years. What influence does he still wield to make you act like this?”

“Ask Latvi!” She snapped back, shifting her focus to Naiara. “Was the horn so harmless the last time somepony called on its power?”

Naiara looked away. Her actions at the Raider summit still shamed her at times, even though all concerned had long since forgiven her. “No, Latvi used it to hurt Snow and Undertow.” When she looked back, her jade eyes were glistening. “But what else can we do? That was then, and this is now. Now, Snow’s got no magic, and everybody’s trying to kill her. She needs a way to defend herself, and there’s no time to teach her to fight with her hooves.”

Amber put a hoof on Schwarzwald’s side, but the latter shrugged it off. “You are not wrong, dahling, but there is more to that horn than just normal unicorn magic. We do not know what it will do to Snowflake if it is attached.”

“So what would you have us do?” My patience had run out with Schwarzwald’s little outburst. I placed myself in between her and Breeze, matching her glare. “Leave her crippled and a hindrance to our fighting power? We still have battles left to wage, Schwarzwald. If the rest of us have to expend time and energy protecting her, it will put us all in danger!”

The door to the ward was wrenched open by a purple haze. Orange frizz bouncing furiously, Lexi strode in. Undertow stiffly marched in behind her. The older unicorn made no effort to conceal her gritted teeth, or furrowed brow. “Ah’d have the lot o’ yeh shut the hell up right now. Ah heard the whole thing, and yeh’re all lucky Ah don’t have my boys escort y’all outta mah compound flank first!”

Oh, wonderful. Another angry mare. “With all due respect, Fed—”

“SHUT THE HELL UP, PEGASUS!” She followed up the interruption by painfully seizing my lips in her magic and forcing them shut. “You, sniper, do not get to talk about protectin’ mah daughter. Either of my daughters. Yeh’ve done the opposite more than once, and this ain’t the first time Ah’ve had Snow in my medical bay with her life in danger. Say one more damn word, and Ah’ll pluck out those eyes yeh’re so damn proud of!”

Breeze tweaked her greave, and its blade popped out. “Let go of my sister, you bitch!”

An aquamarine aura surrounded the accessory, rooting it in place as the technophile ineffectually tugged at it. Undertow’s anger wasn’t as explosive as her mother’s, but there was no warmth in her voice. “Breeze, you are on my mother’s land. Do not threaten her again.”

Lexi dropped her hold on my lips, prompting Undertow to do the same to my sister’s weaponry. After a moment, Breeze retracted the blade, and lowered her hoof. Lexi hadn’t looked away from me. “Now, there ain’t a one o’ yeh who’re as worried for Snow as me or Undertow, but Ah’ll be damned if Ah let y’try to fit ‘er with some dead horn if’n it’ll be dangerous. Ah’ll be damned if a single one o’ yeh makes any sort o’ decision fer Snowflake. Y’all ain’t got the right. ‘til she wakes up, and decides for her-damn-self, the horn stays off.”

Schwarzwald nodded her thanks at the mare, then exhaled in a long, slow stream. “A mother’s wisdom is a fine thing, Fedexi Lexi, thank you. But, and I do not like this any more than you, Naiara has a point. Snowflake still has battles to fight, and she cannot do that without her magic.”

“Ah know, but Ah’m a medic, not a doctor.” Lexi’s eyes softened, her pupils shrank, and her breath stuttered her words. “Ah don’t know if Ah can do what yeh’re askin’.” She hugged one leg with the other, curling in on herself slightly. “Ah don’t know if Ah can get my baby whole again.”

Despite her bluster, and violating my lips with her telekinesis, I felt a pang in my chest. Did mother look like that when she thought of who I would be: A pegasus Raider born of rape? Was she so afraid of what might happen to me because she couldn’t make it better?

Lexi’s worries didn’t go unanswered. “I do.”

All eyes went to the buffalo in the entryway. And then to the pony riding atop him. Buff, taking small and measured steps, shuffled into the room with his two brothers in tow.

On his back, Snow grunted at even these small movements. Left eye squeezed shut, mane plastered to the sides of her face, the unicorn was not at her prettiest. She had to constantly part her mane strands so they wouldn’t brush across the jagged stump on her forehead, reacting every time one did. Still, she held herself upright and stable.

Undertow cantered across to her, climbing up the horn Buff presented to her. “Sister, you should be resting.”

The older girl reached out to stroke her cheek. “Yeah, I could use a nap, but I have a decision to make first, don’t I?”

Naiara gulped. “And what’s your decision?”

Easing her neck muscles around, she shoved her head into her gear, and withdrew a red needle, fire-blackened at one end. Passing it down to Buff, who laid it on the ground, Snow looked to Lexi. “You can do it, mom. I know you can.”

“You sure?” Lexi replied in a hoarse whisper. “Ain’t no goin’ back if you do.”

Four wood-brown hooves planted themselves over the severed horn. “Snowflake, there will be… certain people who will be very upset if you do this.”

“Yeah, like half this room.” Naiara quipped, even as she traded worried glances with Bosco and Cept. “Wings’ll be seriously pissed.”

Where IS Wings?

Snowflake grunted again, holding Schwarzwald’s gaze. “Anybody who has a problem can come see me later, but it needs to be done. I’m the only one who can hurt the Windigoes. That hasn’t changed while I’ve been asleep, has it?”

No one present had a response to that, no matter how much several clearly wished they did.

Clearing his throat, Cept held a hoof up to his chest. “I will not be sad to see the horn out of his reach, Snowflake, but Atesh and my clan may feel differently.”

“We’ll talk to them, though,” Naiara interjected hurriedly, “I won’t let them try anything.”

Managing a weak smile, the buffalo-rider nodded at the two zebra. “Thanks, guys. I appreciate that.” She turned to the other unicorns in the room. “Shall we get started?”

“Snow, Ah told yeh this could be more’n Ah can do.” Looking between the horn and her daughters, the master of Sprinkles Supplies remained unsure.

Her eldest daughter opened her mouth to speak, but broke off as a stab of pain ran across her face. After a few calming breaths, she tried again. “Mom, I know you can do this, and you don’t have to do it alone. Undertow’s gonna help.”

“Me?!” Startled, the Deep Diver slipped off Buff’s back, rolling onto Lo. “What can I do?”

Both of Snowflake’s eyes were drooping now. Whatever energy she’d built up while sleeping was already draining away. “We’ll use our link. Nobody knows my magic better than you, little sister. You can bring in Mom, and the two of you can get the horn to harmonise. I know you can do it, both of you.”

“If they do, it’ll be unprecedented. I’ve never heard of a horn transplant before.” To my surprise, I began to feel excited at the prospect, though partnered with a healthy amount of concern. “The three of you understand that there will be risk, not just to Snowflake, but to all three of you. Are you prepared for that?”

Growling, Schwarzwald raised her back hoof over the horn. Half a dozen gasps sounded as it hovered there.

Don’t do it. They will kill you. Lo and Al had lowered their heads, horns pointed at her, and Cept’s muscles were visibly coiled under his stripes. Nobody moved a hair for a tense quarter-minute.

Groaning, Schwarzwald’s hoof shot down… next to the horn. Without a word or backwards glance to anyone, she stormed out of the room.

Lexi’s purple glow began brushing Snow’s mane away from her face. “Let’s get you ready.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Y’all two ready?” To my left, Lexi held the horn over my forehead with her purple haze.

My nostrils sucked in a deep breath, eliciting another little pang of discomfort through my horn stub. “Ready.”

“Ready.” Making up the third point of the triangle with Mom and I, Undertow was wound tighter than a Tarantubaa cocoon.

Reaching over, I patted her knee. “I know you’ll get us through this, Undertow. You’re the best magic user around.”

Gulping through a smile, she nodded. “Ready.” She repeated.

“Yeh’re up first, babygirl,” Lexi blew a little frizz out of her eyes. “Start the link.”

Electricity exploded in my brain as Undertow’s arcane touch probed at the remains of my own. Where once we had been almost effortlessly connected, now her tidal wave overwhelmed my last few icebergs, threatening to dislodge them entirely.

“Un… Undertow,” I gasped, eyes squeezed shut against the assault, “slow down, please.”

“Sorry, sorry,” she blurted out, “I’ll stop.”

“No!” Lexi interjected. “Don’t stop. Just listen to yehr sister. A little at a time, yeah?”

“I… yes, mother.”

What had been a surging river drained to a trickling stream. Shallower, gentler. Her touch moved with the grooves and islands of ice, flowing around and protectively encircling, rather than washing away.

Though painful, it was becoming more familiar. With her comforting presence, I felt emboldened to activate more of my own magic, to pour more into the link from my end.

I haven’t dared to try since I lost my horn. The sentiment may have been lost through the link, but I hoped Undertow understood regardless. Keep me from going under, ‘tow.

We two sisters revelled in our link, so precious to us both. Every little extra bit of ice I supplied was corralled and contained in her water, held together and coherent through the lapping tides. I could feel the magic trying to escape, lacking the horn’s focus point, but Undertow was equal to the challenge, and her confidence grew as my gratitude filtered down the connection.

Finally, my mind buzzed with the arcane weight I had collected. The pain was still there, but manageable. A calm pulse was my signal for Undertow to move to the next stage.

She sent a confirmation back though her horn, and turned to Mom. “We are ready for you. I’ll guide you in.”

“Awright. Ah’ll start wi’ just a little. Yeh’ll lemme know when Ah can up the juice, yeah?”

“Don’t worry, Mom,” I opened my eyes to smile at them both. “she’s the best.”

She smiled back. “That’s mah girls.”

True to her word, Mom’s magic arrived gradually, a warm breeze rolling across the waves, until it reached my frozen islands. The wind was followed the path of the water, encircling my magic before moving inwards. There was no malice in this wind. It was just pure, unburdened, kindness. My islands were cradled in it, stirred into greater activity by it, insulated by it.

The warmth increased as it found the heart of my isles but, instead of melting the ice away, it filled in the gaps, strengthening it. The water around it joined in, the two forces working to bind the frost back into a single whole.

It was mesmerising. The sensations, the emotions, the three flavours of magic all intermingling as one. I felt all of them, and they felt all of me. The three of us, together, complete.

...Family.

Mom’s healing magic repaired the damaged and fraying leylines of my magical self, and Undertow’s water washed away impurities. I felt cleansed, and each new push of cold I provided felt… purer. Virginal. A rebirth.

It was still weak, though, and wouldn’t stay like this without them. It was time to introduce the last chain in the link.

One voice gave words to the situation. “It’s time.”

I have no idea which one of us said that. From the feelings I was getting through the link, neither of the others knew either, or particularly cared.

This was the hard part. I had to open myself to the horn, but just enough that it would come to me alone. Schwarzwald’s fears might have been baseless but, if they weren’t, I couldn’t risk exposing my sister or mother to it. The burden would be mine alone.

Softly coaxing and cajoling, I eased the water and wind back away from the shores of my reefs, letting them surround them, but not penetrate. All the while I was sending comforting affirmations throughout the link.

I’m okay, you’re okay, just follow my lead for a little while.

At the borders of my floating icebergs, great pillars of cold rose up, reaching into the sky, a more obvious target for the foreign magic to align to.

It was not subtle. Black lightning slammed down onto my islands, gouging deep furrows and harsh cracks in the surface. It pushed constantly from the center outwards, trying to overwhelm the rebuilt atolls.

From beyond the archipelago, pitiful cries sounded. It took me a moment to realise that they were my own.

Inside the link, the lightning continued, dark clouds forming overhead, threatening a storm. Impossibly, the stygian lightning was so harsh and so hot, it set the ice ablaze. Green fires and purple smoke began to swarm across my islands.

It… it’s too much! I can’t contain it!

Renewed emotions barreled down the meld into me, just as the wind and water surged in.

The ocean reared up, extinguishing the fires caused by the lightning strikes.

I’m here! It willed.

The wind fought just as fiercely, blowing the storm clouds away and over the horizon.

Me too!

The lightning took notice, and intensified its assault.

You can do it! The wind and water sang together.

YES! With them, I could. Without the fire and cloud, the black lightning was alone, and I was not.

From the very heart of the strike zone, my ice leapt and climbed, scaling and encasing the black lightning itself. Up and up it reached, to the very sky.

You can’t beat me! I roared into the black. I’m not alone! You’ll never have enough to outlast us all!

Every inch of the black lightning, from sea to sky, was encased in solid, unyielding ice. Around these towers, waves lapped and winds whirled. Laughter and joy ran rampant through the world of our link.

In the farthest sky, the towers of ice joined together in a bright glacial flourish.

This is our family, our magic, and we are stronger than you!

From the heavens, soft white snow began to fall.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“INSPECTORS UPPER CRUST AND JET SET CONFIRMED! PLEASE ENJOY YOUR INSPECTION, INSPECTORS AND ASSISTANTS!” The guard sentinel bot executed a jerky bow, then motored away back into the facility.

“...I cannot believe that worked.” I unclenched as the robot disappeared back down the corridor.

“I can.” ‘Jet Set’ remarked from beside my ‘Upper Crust’. “This was what tripped us up last time. We tried to be Jet Set and Upper Crust, but weren’t unicorns, as the guards made violently clear.”

Wonderful. “So is that why you brought me along, Bosco? Because I am a unicorn to pair with you?”

“Not just that, Esto,” Aqua Breeze, playing the role of ‘assistant’ with her sister, piped up. “I needed your scientific know how. You’ve got working knowledge of programming, right?”

“Well, yes,” I should have brought my lab coat. “why do you ask?”

Eyes shining with delight, Breeze moved past us and started down the corridor. “I’ll tell you later.”

“Why not now?”

Cassiopeia Venatici gave an apologetic bow as she followed her sister. “Sorry, she gets distracted when there are gadgets around. I’m sure she’ll tell us soon enough.”

Well, that is hardly ideal. I huffed. “So… until she deigns to tell me my purpose here, I am forced to walk around accompanied by the very-former associate who did such terrible things to my closest friend?”

“Sorry.” Bosco, in Latvi’s blue body, ran a hoof through his blond mane sheepishly. “He’s, uh, the only male unicorn I really know.”

“It would have taken all of thirty seconds for you to seek out a unicorn guard among the Sprinkles Supplies employees. You could not have taken the time, and spared me this annoyance?” I pointed out of the double doors separating Whitepony from the Wasteland. “And them? Naiara and Cept? They cannot enter without alerting the guards, or so you tell me. What will they do?”

Cassie was halfway through the door before responding. “They’re going to use the fire escape. It’s… delicate. Apparently it was damaged the last time our group was here. I wasn’t present at the time, but I will take Bosco and Naiara’s word for it. The zebra have the best chance of scaling it without issue. We will meet them on the upper floors.”

“Hey, wait a sec!” Breeze called from around the corner. “How do we even know Jet Set’s a guy, or Upper Crust’s a lady?”

The two of us remained completely still for three long seconds.

Bosco released the breath he’d been holding. “...I cannot believe that worked.”

“...If we are married, I want a divorce.”

He hung his head. “Yes, dear.”

We caught up with the two pegasi on a catwalk overlooking one of the server banks. Cassie was trying in vain to glean information from an extremely faded wall map, while Breeze was… almost drooling as she took in the the sight of the guards rumbling around the walkways below.

I ignored the latter and addressed the former. “Do you know where we should look for the information you seek?”

Giving up on her scrutiny of the near-white illustration, she instead turned to Bosco. “I have no idea. Where did you get the information last time?”

He jerked his head towards the far end of the catwalk. “A server room further in. If we follow the water pipes it’ll lead us there.”

Cassie and I exchanged a sideways glance. “Bosco, how would we know which ones are water pipes. There are pipes all over.”

He shrugged. “Undertow did it last time. Um… could Breeze hear the water?”

“Probably.” She replied cheerfully, pushing herself away from the railing. “Everybody shut up for a sec so I can listen.”

Ears twitching back and forth, Breeze turned this way and that for a few seconds. Finally, she just blew air from her lips. “Can’t tell. I think it might be somewhere on one of the higher floors. Probably easiest to just meet up with Cept and Naiara, then go from there.”

“How very scientific.” I drolled, but still followed them. It would hardly be helpful for me to stay down here by myself and risk having our cover identities undone, while the rest did the real work upstairs. Whatever I can do to speed this up and get back to fixing Lithu.

Heading further up, into the heights of Whitepony, was not the most pleasant of experiences. There was a noticeable tension every time we passed one of the heavily armoured sentinels, audibly checking us as we passed. The hallways became quieter too, so each encounter was all the louder for it. We have no more notion of what we are here to ‘inspect’ than the robots do. If they try to offer us directions, we will be in a difficult position. The others had tried talking loudly about quasi-scientific terms while the guardians were around, but fell silent after it became clear the robots weren’t that sophisticated.

I happened to glance into an office suite as we passed, then promptly turned around and went back to stare. What in the world?

The others joined me a few seconds later. Bosco went bug-eyed. “Whoa! What happened here?”

The room was utterly destroyed. Perforated cubicles, smashed desks, shattered terminals, and a debris-filled miniature crater with thick black burn marks radiating outwards.

I regarded him squintily. “You did not do this on your last visit?”

“Hell no.” he shook his head vehemently. “Might have been one of the others. Snow and Schwarz, maybe. Either that, or…”

“‘Or’?” Cassie repeated, but was already wearing a resigned expression.

“...or maybe we’re not the only ones who’ve been here.”

“Or are here.” Breeze quipped, already checking both ends of the corridor.

Why did I agree to come here? “We should hurry to meet the zebra.”

All three grunted their agreement, and we set off again. Our pace was far less casual this time around. We sped up along corridors, then slowed down to ascertain that other rooms were clear before passing. More than once we ducked into a side path or alcove when Breeze’s ears or Cassiopeia’s eyes were alerted to approaching sentry bots.

Three floors from the top, we ran into Naiara and Cept coming the other way.

Breeze instantly jumped forwards. “Naiara! Cept!”

The two clamped hooves around her mouth without stopping, bustling the four of us back around the corridor corner. Cept peaked his head around, waited a second or so, and then nodded. Only then did Naiara release her grip on Breeze. “Not so loud. We got trouble.”

Of course we do. “The robots?”

The striped mare’s green eyes were dark. “Worse. Latvi’s incoming, with all his griffons.”

Spittle caught in the back of my throat. “Latvi? Here?”

Batting Naiara’s hoof away, Breeze pointed downwards. “Does he know about the—”

“NON-PONY LIFESIGNS DETECTED! LETHAL FORCE AUTHORISED!”

“...robots.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter 28-4: Not Our War

Damn. I stared into the conjured ice-mirror, taking in the sight looking back at me as I stood up on the guard walkway above Sprinkles Supplies’ caravan entrance.

I had a horn again, of sorts. The thing was still bright red and charred black, standing obvious against the backdrop of my coat. Tapering to a point rather than a smooth cone, used-to-be-Sombra’s horn had somehow gotten turned around during the transplant, and now pointed to my left. This left the barest tip of red in the upper-left corner of my vision at all times, and I was increasingly having to drag my attention away from that. Worse still, the jagged mound of my stump didn’t line up with the jagged base of the horn, leaving it off-kilter and with a visible and tactile gap on the right side. With the mirror, I could literally see the forehead behind my horn with that gap.

The bubbled, angry scar taking up most of my right cheek didn’t help my looks any either.

It looked like what it was. I looked like what I was: Piecemeal. Patchwork. Unnatural.

Worst part is what’s going on underneath the horn, though.

"I brought you some tea. Thought you might be cold out here."

Startled, I looked up to see Wings standing there, two mugs held in her talons. "You're so sweet. Thanks."

Passing over my mug, her claw was warmer than the drink was. She pointed at my face. "Are you okay? Your eyes are doing that thing again."

Inwardly, I sighed. I know they are. "Sorry, I've just been thinking about something Peanut said. He basically told me that the world’s trying to kill me, and that it's basically pointless to try to make a life for myself."

She snorted into her tea, though it didn’t feel like there was really any humour there. "That's ridiculous."

Is it? There is a literal order out to kill me on sight. "At the time I thought so too.” I waved vaguely at the Wasteland beyond the wall. “Not much out there for an ex-Raider queen with a target on her back. I thought he was just being his normal jackhole self, but I'm beginning to think he might have a point."

Placing her mug down deliberately and stoically, Wings’ blazing blue eyes were turned on me. "No, he doesn't. Peanut doesn’t get to decide that. He doesn’t get to decide anything. You deserve a life after all this just as much as anybody else, maybe more."

It was hard to face the fire in her eyes when all mine had was smoke. "Do I? No matter what I do, the situation seems to always get worse. I can’t sit here within these walls forever. I will need to deal with what’s happening at the Stable soon."

“Ugh!” She groaned, almost knocking over her tea with a wild swipe of her claws. “You keep thinking that you need to do these things alone, and that we’re gonna let you. The only thing you need to do that the rest of us can’t is cast your anti-Windigo spell, but that doesn’t mean you need to go off hunting them by yourself! We’ll be right there with you, and we’ll keep you safe. For once, stop thinking like the big sister!”

“I am a big sister!”

“Not to me!” Another swipe, this time it did catch the mug of tea. We both stared at each other as it clattered and splattered on the floor beneath us. “I’ve never needed you to be a big sister.”

“I know that.” I smiled to lighten the mood. “You’ve never needed me at all.”

Anger flashed through those beautiful blues. “Is that what you think?”

“I know,” I groused, “you need a Red Ice for your Blue Fire.”

“That’s not what I… oh, just forget it!” She turned away, plumage ruffled and a scowl on her face.

What’d I say? We lapsed into silence, her angry and my not wanting to make it worse.

“...does it hurt?” Her caustic tone had softened considerably.

“Hmm?”

“The cheek. Is it painful?” She snuck a few looks at it, but tried not to linger.

There was a slight tightness around my cheek, as the scar took up a good half of it, but not enough to call it painful. “Nah, it’s fine. Here,” I tilted my head towards her, “feel.”

“...Alright.” One talon slowly reached out, halting just before contact for a few moments, then deftly brushed along it.

I threw my head back, hissing loudly. “Ah, watch the claws!”

“Sorry! Sorry!” She whipped her arm back, tucking it tight under the other. “I didn’t mean to—”

Rolling my face towards her, I smooshed my jaw onto her shoulder. “Hehehehe, sucker.”

“Bitch!” Wings’ tone was half relief, half barely-constrained rage. “Why do I even put up with you?”

“Because I’ve got the cutest little sister.” My reply was accompanied by running my tongue across what parts of the scar I could reach. Mom does good work. It doesn’t hurt at all. Doesn’t keep it from standing out like a damn road sign, but...

“Doesn’t explain why she puts up with you.” The tucked-under claw came out shaking in a mock-fist. “And I suppose the horn’s not painful either, is it?”

“Well, still a little pain. It’ll be fine when it’s fully settled though.” Hopefully, never swapped horns before. “Thanks for asking, Wings. Seriously.”

She shifted her weight from one paw to the other, changing the subject. “How is Undertow? And her mom?”

“They’re both fine.” A genuine smile was easy to come by when thinking of how I’d last seen them, after waking up from the three-way-meld. It’d taken its toll on all of us, and the two of them were fast asleep at the bottom of my bed, Undertow curled up in Mom’s embrace. It’d been a challenge to sneak out here without disturbing them. “And it’s OUR mom, actually.”

“Well, alright!” She found some genuine cheer too. “When’d that happen?”

“Apparently when I wasn’t looking. And speaking of things happening when we don’t notice, where’ve you been lately. I haven’t seen you since before I lost a few inches.”

“I was doing some stuff.” Neither her face nor voice gave anything away, no matter how long I quirked an eyebrow at her.

“...riiight. Well, I’m glad you’re back. Even if I am the worst offender, it’s dangerous for any of us to go alone these days. ‘sides, I missed you.”

She punched me in the shoulder. “Missed you too. And...sorry I left you alone.”

I punched her back. “It’s okay. You couldn’t have known what’d happen.”

“Still, though.”

“Yeah, I know.”

After a minute’s quiet tranquility, we both jumped as a new voice cut in. “A pretty sight, dahlings, but I am afraid I must interrupt.”

Schwarzwald stood on the ground behind us, craning her head up. The mercenary mare was still not her normal, merry self, but did not show the obvious anger she had displayed earlier.

Wings and I looked at each other, before she cleared her throat. “Me or her?”

Schwarzwald canted her head in my direction. “Hopefully both, but dear Snowflake first. I will speak with you later, Wings.”

“Alright.” Scooping her mug up with her tail, and then flipping it into her claw with a cocky smirk, Wings let her feathers glide her down next to the mare. “I’ll be inside when you’re done, yeah. You can fill me in on all of this.”

“Yes, dahling. Later.” Shooing Wings off, she waited until the griffon had disappeared out of sight before turning back to me. “You have taken a big risk, Snowflake.”

The purple smoke around the edges of my vision loomed a little larger. “I’m well aware. Are you here to yell at me for doing it?”

She shook her head. “It is done, Snowflake. I will keep watching, in case the worst happens. Right now there is somebody else who must have their say.”

Here we go. “So what are you gonna say, Watcher?”

A spritebot bumbled up over the wall from the outside. Angry static nipped at his words, making him seem even madder than he no-doubt was. “I could say a whole heap of things to you, Snowflake. Or Red Ice, it’s getting hard to tell.”

Lifting my mug, I sipped at my tea. “I don’t seem to be going anywhere. Go ahead.”

He sighed. “I wish you could have seen firsthoof just how much of a bastard Sombra was. What he was capable of, what he did. If you had, this never would have happened.” His mood turned melancholic. “I didn’t want this for you, Snowflake. You’re not a potential Element bearer, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have a role to play in saving Equestria.”

Trying, and failing, not to laugh at his sincerity, my free hoof pointed back to the main compound. “We’re already working to stop a rampaging horde of wind demons, Watcher. One thing at a time.”

“I’m aware, Snow, and I don’t doubt all your bravery.” Even over the airwaves, he conveyed a welcome hint of pride. “This isn’t about bravery, though, it’s about whether or not you’re fighting evil with another kind of evil.” The spritebot tilted slightly. “How are you feeling? How’s your mood? I know it hasn’t been long, but have there been any changes you can see?”

“Got a medical license there, doc?” When my quip was met with stony silence, I relented. “It’s too soon to tell. I’m not feeling murderous or anything, nor do I have a sudden impulse to enslave any empires. If I do, I’ll make sure to tell you first.”

“Knock if off, Snowflake. It’s not funny.”

Exhaling through my nose, both Watcher and Schwarzwald were subjected to flat stares. “What do you two want with this? I am the only one who can fight the Windigoes. I couldn’t do that without a horn, and this was the only one on hoof. There wasn’t a better option. Sombra’s horn hasn’t killed me, and I’ve already confirmed that I can use magic again. This was what needed to happen.”

Schwarzwald raised her chin. “We know that, mistress. That does not mean that we have to happy about it.”

“But,” I shot back, “you do have to accept it.”

To my great surprise, Watcher began to chuckle. “Yeah, that’s the word isn’t it?” When the two of us simply watched, he continued. “I’ve talked a little bit about virtues in the past. Everybody’s got one, a defining characteristic that they stick to no matter what. It’s not always easy to determine what they are for a person. Often times they’re hidden under masks, or some dumb sap’s trying to be something they’re not.”

Was that a shot at me?

The spritebot chirped again. “In my spare moments, I’ve been thinking about the virtues of those ponies and griffons and other folks that I’ve taken an interest in. I think I finally figured out yours, Snow.”

“I’m all ears, and one messed up horn.”

Watcher slowly drifted in an orbit around Schwarzwald and I. “Buffalo,” he began, “the Wasteland, Raiders, Griffons, Changelings,” he stopped in front of my new horn, “...ghosts. Most others were smart enough, or just plain scared enough, to stay away from them all. But not you.”

Am I supposed to be offended by that, or...

Watcher laughed again, louder this time. “Before, because of your brothers and sister, I thought it might’ve been family. It’s a nice virtue to hold to, and you could fit the mold. Or maybe you took after Princess Cadence, and had great love in you. Again, there’s some truth in that, but no. Now, I’m pretty sure I’ve got it.”

Tootling over to hover by Schwarzwald, who had finally managed a real smile, Watcher made his case. “All those things I mentioned, you’re the only one who’s given them all a chance. That’s your virtue, Snowflake: Acceptance. You can allow anything into your heart.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“INSPECTORS AND ASSISTANTS, PLEASE REMAIN HERE UNTIL THE INTRUDERS ARE LOCATED!”

The robot guards had herded Esto, Bosco, Cassie, and I into a control room the moment the alarm had sounded, with Naiara and Cept following under zebra stealth cloaks. Once we were safely inside, the sentinels had sped off to intercept Latvi’s Monsters. Even in our makeshift safe zone, we could hear the pitched battle beginning on the floors above us.

Finally satisfied that we were alone, Naiara and Cept shucked off their invisibility. The two of them took up station at the door, with Naiara crouching to peek through the keyhole. “Can’t see anything, but no way to know how long that’ll last.” She turned back to us, pointing down through the floor. “We can’t stay here for long, not if Latvi’s here. Those bots aren’t subtle. They might give away that we’re here.”

“That someone’s here, at least.” Esto reminded. “We are here under pseudonyms, after all.”

“At this point, would you really trust this to coincidence?” I didn’t look up from the various monitors at the workstation. “Really?”

“No,” she admitted plainly, “but I also will not draw conclusions without sufficient evidence to support them.”

Bosco was slamming in a new clip for his pistol. “They might’ve seen the air carriage as they flew in.”

Cept leaned an ear to the door. “We covered it as best we could, but it is possible.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Cassie cut in sharply. “Naiara’s right, we have to leave if they’re here.”

Hoo boy, time to come clean. “Not yet. We can’t leave yet.”

They all rounded on me, except for Naiara who was still trying to watch the corridor outside through the cracks. “Why not?”

Still not looking away from the screens as I tapped at the keys, my back hoof kicked over my pack, spilling out its contents onto the control room floor. “Because of these.” Three, two, one…

They didn’t disappoint. Bosco was taken aback. “Is that a Pipbuck?”

Cassie was furious. “Is that Snowflake’s Pipbuck?”

“What’d you do to it?” The parts clinked in Naiara’s grip. “Looks like it’s been gutted and then put back together… multiple times.”

“Yeah,” I confirmed, “been poking around inside for a while. Think I’ve got a fair idea of what it can be used for here.”

“And what’s this?” The scientist unicorn’s fur brushed against the floor as she sifted through the other tech I’d brought. “Is this… armour?”

“Steel Ranger armour.” Cept confirmed, an edge to his voice. “The same armour I wore when I rescued Snowflake from Neighlway.”

Despite everything, the corners of my mouth curled up. Yeah, it was risky, but I had to take the chance. “Some of it, yeah. Real find that one, Cept, thanks.”

“Breeze.” Cassie was using her full-on ‘I do not approve’ voice. “Why have you brought these things here? If Latvi finds them—”

“I needed them,” Cutting her off as I turned away from the workstation, my hoof came up and came to rest on Esto’s shoulder, “and you. That’s why you’re here.”

“Me?” She looked to the others, who were as lost as she was. “What do you need from me?”

I nodded towards the parts on the floor, and then at the console behind me. “I need you to science up. If we’re gonna be storming the Stable, which is guarded by Neighlway’s Steel Ranger force, we’re gonna need some help.”

Esto had rapidly moved from surprise to analysis. She listened intently but dispassionately. Eyes no longer wide under her glasses. “Help from who?”

We all froze as a platoon of sentries barreled past the doors outside the room. “ENEMY FORCES PRESENT IN FACILITY!”

“From them.” I deadpanned.

“The robots?!” Green fire flashed around Bosco’s hooves for a moment. “Those things almost killed us!”

“And the Steel Rangers will kill us.” I countered. “Cassie and me saw them in action when we were observing Snow’s Raiders. Three of them took on twenty times that many Raiders. Even if there aren’t all that many of them, there will be more than there are of us, and we can’t take them one-on-one.”

Naiara flinched as an explosion went off somewhere in the facility. “What’s that gotta do with Snow’s Pipbuck?”

Scooping said Pipbuck up with a wing, I placed it on the console next to me as I began to type. “This thing can access any system I’ve tested it on. Combine that with the robust slave-and-master circuits in the Steel Ranger armour,” Schwarzwald must never know that’s what they are called. “and, in theory at least, I should be able to switch command of the sentries from Whitepony’s mainframe to the Pipbuck. I need Esto’s help, though, for this to even have a chance in hell of working.”

Horn lighting up, Esto moved to the other side of the console. “I think I understand the theory. I will do what I can to assist.”

“Thanks.” Already feeling the rush of tech, I hastily waved the others to the door. “You guys keep us covered. Don’t let anything in the door until we’re done.”

“Aye aye.” Cassie produced her rifle, flying up to sit atop the massive command console, barrel pointed at the door. The other three gave confirmations with various levels of sarcasm attached.

The system here was the most intact I’d ever worked on, and one of the most stringently protected. Even with the Pipbuck doing most of the heavy lifting, it still took all of mine and Esto’s combined concentration to penetrate each level of security, especially in ways that wouldn’t bring the robots busting through the door after us instead of Latvi and his griffons.

At one point, as an aside, I managed to trigger the camera feeds on a small, auxiliary computer in the corner of the room. Cassie was watching it and the door at the same time, keeping us informed. “Breeze, Esto. Latvi is in a room similar to this one. He appears to be trying to access the system.”

Bosco rushed to the camera monitor in shock. “How’d he get past the robots?”

“Because,” Cept growled as he stretched his muscles loose, “you are wearing his skin, and the guards think he is this ‘Jet Set’.”

“Ah… dammit.”

Esto grimaced, but kept working. “That will complicate matters. Though I am proficient enough with computers, Latvi was always the more electronically inclined. My studies were more in the natural fields. He may be faster than me.”

I heard her, but my expression didn’t change. “But he isn’t faster than both of us. Keep going, Esto. We’ll get the bots before he can.” My tail flicked up at my perching sister. “Let us know if he does anything, Cas.”

Standing up from the keyhole, Naiara wrapped the stealth cloak around her. “Cass, if you can show me the way to that room, I can take him out right now.”

She shook her head fiercely. “Absolutely not. The robots can detect zebras. They’ll cut you down before you even get there.”

Slipping the hood over her head, Naiara vanished. From the empty space where she’d been standing, her voice piped up. “Not with this. They walked Cept and I right here without being any the wiser.”

“You should not go alone.” Cept donned his own cloak. “I will come with you.”

Naiara waved him back. “You need to stay and look after these guys. If something happens, you need to get them out.”

What do you mean ‘if something happens’? “If something’s gonna happen, don’t go. We’ll finish here soon.”

Esto’s voice rose a few octaves. “Latvi is trying to access the guards’ control software. He is here for the same thing we are!”

A shimmer sped across the room to the door. “Cass, where am I going?”

“Nowhere.” Ripping the cloak off her, Bosco shouldered her away from the door before planting himself in front of it. “You’re not going.”

“Hey!” Naiara twisted with the shove, hopping back to glare at the colt. “What’s the big idea?”

He held his ground. “Back in Lethbridle, you got on all of us about taking stupid risks. This is a pretty stupid risk you want to take, and I’m not letting you do it.”

“We can’t let him take the robots, Bosco!”

“And we’re not going to!” He looked past her, to Esto and I. “Can you two change who the guards will target?”

Esto looked at me and half-nodded. “Probably, yes. Why?”

Green fire leapt up around the colt, leaving a smirking second Esto in its wake. “Send them after ‘Jet Set’. Nobody here but us ‘Upper Crusts’.”

“Oh-ho-ho, that’s nice.” Both us sporting wicked grins, we set to work doing just as the charcoal changeling commanded. “This is…”

“...going to be entertaining.” Esto finished my thought beautifully.

Unable to hide her own amusement, Naiara just shrugged and went to watch the cameras. “That should definitely slow him down a little. If we’re lucky, he’ll come to a very dead stop.”

“Done.” Esto planted her hoof forcefully onto the final key. “I have removed Jet Set from the list of expected visitors. As far as the sentinels are concerned, only ‘Upper Crust’ and her assistants are supposed to be here.”

“Well done.” Cept, still keeping his focus on the door, let out an almost inaudible sigh.

My ears still caught it, though. They caught everything. Yeah, I’m relieved too. Didn’t want Naiara going alone either.

“It’s working!” From her perch, Cassie cheered as several sentries on the camera feeds abruptly reversed or changed direction. “They’re moving against him.”

“Quiet, please.” There was no celebration in Esto’s edict. “He is still working, and we are still lagging behind.”

“Luckily,” Data scrolled before my eyes, “the bots are split up into squads, and he’s startin’ from the other end of the roster to us. Let’s lock down the ones we can, and work on the rest when his time runs out.”

“As you say.” The scientist hadn’t looked up from the console, or stopped working, for even a moment.

“Um, guys?” Whatever elation we’d been feeling was utterly absent from Bosco’s voice now. “Latvi’s doing something.”

“What?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Cept peer over the colt’s shoulder. “He is… looking at the camera?”

“He’s what?” Cassie moved down from her perch to crowd in too. “His horn’s glowing. What is he up to?”

We immediately had our answer, as the P.A. system came to life. “Very clever, Esto. Or did you think I wouldn’t recognise your methods?”

“Latvi!” She twitched at her station.

“He can’t hear you.” I reminded. “Just ignore it and keep working.”

The blue unicorn on the screen kept talking, regardless of our wishes. “It is certainly vexing to not get ALL of these fine machines, but the ones I have already should suffice.” Latvi looked off to the side as the sentries gave another bellowed alarm. “I appear to be somewhat pressed for time, so I’ll have to wonder how you found your way to this facility. I suspect you had help from Red Ice and her friends. Let’s test that theory. Naiara, are you there?”

All eyes went to the zebra filly, who watched stiffly. Her jade eyes had shrunk to pinpricks.

Nobody liked the savage grin Latvi bore at that moment. “Now, while you may have been at Lethbridle, and I suspect you were, the last time I actually set eyes on you was at my, oh sorry, ‘Snowflake’s’ Raider summit. Do you remember that? I do.”

“Cept…” Shaking, she moved to say something to her clan leader, but Latvi carried on before she could.

“Let me refresh your MEMORY. Naiara…” His voice shifted, reverberating across the loudspeaker as his horn grew brighter onscreen. “Two-tone ambition.”

Jerking as if shot, Naiara’s hooves flew up to clutch at her head.

Then she threw back her head, and howled. It wasn’t a sound of any language known. It was a throwback from before language, animalistic and unrestrained. Bloody cracks shot through her sclera, and drops began to fall from her nostrils.

“Naiara!” Cept tried to grab her, shield her from whatever was happening.

Her wild thrashing knocked his hoof aside, the brief contact snapping her eyes open. Growling, she rounded on him, gnashing out guttural growls in the zebra tongue.

Convulsions and further howls cut through his panicked responses, and her persisting agony kept his hooves at bay.

“What’s happening to her?” I yelled at the distraught stallion.

“I DO NOT KNOW!”

NOT GOOD ENOUGH! “HELP HER, CEPT!”

He tried. “Everyone, hold her still!”

We all leapt to his command, but Naiara was faster. She took in the four of us, not a one of us striped. “PONYTI! BINN TUSAA! CEPT, PONYTI!” Blood and contractions hardened her terrified glare. “STAY AWAY!”

“Naiara, let us help you!” Bosco crouched low, taking a single step towards her.

That was all he got. Throwing her whole body into a twist, she sprang up off the floor, knee crashing into his chin. Bosco was thrown back into the camera console, slumped and stunned.

On the screen by his ear, a crowing Latvi was led away by one of his Griffons. “I’ll leave you to your work. My robots and I will be going now.”

Can’t worry about that now. Have to help her! “Naiara, it’s me. It’s Breeze! What’s wrong?”

“Who are you?” She screeched. “Where have you taken me?” Her head whipped back and forth, trying to watch us all at once.

“Naiara, please stay calm. These are friends. You know them!” Cept panted as he tried to reason with her.

Pupils focusing and unfocusing over and over, she shook her head. “NO! I don’t know any ponies, Cept! What’s going on? Why are we here?” She broke off to grab at her skull again. “My head… it hurts!”

That bastard! “What did Latvi do to you?”

Even with one eye squeezed shut against the pain, she still managed to burn me with her glower. “Don’t talk to me, pony! Leave me alone!”

Tears ran freely down my face. “It-it’s me. It’s Breeze! Don’t you know me?”

With a vicious buck, she kicked the doors open. “I don’t know any ponies! This… this is all wrong! I’m leaving!” Swiping at the air to drive us back, she flipped away into the corridor.

“No, the guards!” Esto’s cry had us all speeding after her, even a groggy Bosco.

They’ll kill her!

None of us, not even Cept, could truly keep up with his clan’s finest scout. It was all I could do to follow her hoofsteps, barely heard over the sound of my thumping heart. “Naiara, please stop! Let us help you! PLEASE!”

My begging went as unanswered as Cept’s equally-desolate zebra-tongue pleas. All we could do was chase her, hoping that whatever had taken hold of her mind would eventually let her go. Come back, Naiara! You have to come back!

Our chase led us down level after level, corridor after corridor. We hadn’t encountered any robots yet, but our luck couldn’t hold.

Bursting through onto an overhead catwalk, it finally did.

Naiara stood at the centre of the walkway, casting about this way and that. When she saw us, she cartwheeled away, landing in shoulders-squared facing us. “Leave me alone! I just wanna get out!”

I could barely string two words together for blubbering. “We’ll get you out, I promise we will! We’re your friends, I swear! But you have to get out of sight now, or else—”

“INTRUDER SIGHTED! NON-PONY LIFESIGN DETECTED!”

The world slowed to a crawl.

A thousand, a million, ten million angry beams of ruby death slammed into her from the factory floor below. Their force lifted Naiara, determined glare shifting to dread surprise, off the walkway and into the air.

In the slow motion madness, she spun with impossible, horrific grace. Her body flew, swam even, through the air for a moment that lasted lifetimes.

Helpless, I could only watch as my best friend in the entire world fell, her final moments full of confusion and terror.

“NAIARAAAAAA!!!”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Level Up - Max Level.

Perks gained: Absolute Zero - All ice magics, Equestrian and non, are at Snowflake’s command.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Author's Note

Goodnight, sweetest of angels. You will be missed. You have no idea how much I hated doing that.

A big thanks to TyriaThistle for this sweet picture of Snowflake.

As always, a big thank you to Kkat, Kyts, Y1, Auramane, CascadeJackal (he did the original cover art, which is still on the Fallout Equestria wiki), and you, the readers. Please read and comment, and pass the word along if you like the story.

That’s all for now, folks. Please keep reading, commenting, and spreading the word on Old Souls. I really appreciate your feedback, and we're one chapter from the end.

Chapter 29-1: We Await The Day

Chapter 29: We Await The Day

[So try again! Make new friends! And if something that you can't control happens that changes things, work through it together!]

The heat from the blaze was sweltering, but it wasn’t the reason my eyes burned.

Atop the pyre, an unmoving form lay amongst the flames.

I barely felt the sweat-soaked rags covering my head and face as I looked up at her, deceptively peaceful within the fire.

The burning increased as wetness coated my cheeks, and the lump in my throat grew larger.

How could you be dead, Naiara? How could this happen?

No answer came.

Closer than I, braving the fierce heat, a pegasus and a zebra clung to each other as our friend burned. Breeze barely had the energy to stand, and even Cept’s hooves trembled as they supported each other, physically and spiritually.

What are we going to do without you?

Nearby, a second pegasus and a Changeling waited, misty eyes flicking between the couple and the fire. Cassie and Bosco could do nothing, but wouldn’t let Breeze and Cept go through this alone.

Why couldn’t we save you, like you kept saving us?

Away and to the side, a young filly buried her face into the embrace of three stoic buffalo bulls. Undertow made no effort to hide her pain at the passing of the mare who had shown her nothing but love. Buff, Al, and Lo paid their respects, even if they hardly knew Naiara.

When did we ever spend time on you? Did we ever?

I didn’t move my head when paws and claws stopped at my side, and hooves across from them. Schwarzwald and Wings solemnly watched as grey, striped hair turned black.

Who could ever be a better friend? A better person?

Schwarzwald cleared her throat, but her voice still cracked as she spoke. “It nev… it never stops hurting, dahling, not for a moment. No matter how much we wish.”

Wings’ head dipped. “Even now? Twenty years?”

Schwarzwald did nothing for a long time, before quietly taking a breath. “Even now. They… all of you… so young.”

With patience and fortitude I couldn’t hope to muster, the two remained silent as I tried, over and over, to force a response. Eons passed before I managed. “It shouldn’t be her up there.”

“I know.” The older mare’s sad warmth softened the hurt, for a fraction of a moment.

Wings’ voice faltered. “It shouldn’t be any of us. This wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“I know.”

“Why?” I half-cried. “Why couldn’t it be… not her?” So many names and faces ran through my mind, but not a one of them reached my tongue, no matter how I wished them to.

Latvi, Peanut, Willow Wisp, Roc… any of them. Why couldn’t they be burning up there while she smiled with Breeze and Cept? Swapped jokes with Bosco and Undertow? Sparred and sat and sang with me, Schwarz, and Wings? Why—

Even the thought choked me. “...not her.” Was all I could say.

Nothing, no robot or horn or ANYTHING is worth this. Worth her.

“...I know.”

I couldn’t even see her in the flames anymore.

The griffon beside me shifted. “What… do we do now?”

“We finish.” Laboriously, Cept turned from the fire. His face was drawn taut around his golden eyes, and every word visibly drained him further. “Naiara was— IS my closest friend. She always will be. I know no better soul. She cannot rest easy if we do not finish her work.”

With the slow force of a rolling storm, Breeze’s head came up to rest under his chin. “No matter how long it takes. Forever. Besides my sister, she was my first friend, and I didn’t always deserve her. I have to make that up to her.”

Sniffling and snuffling, Undertow pulled herself from Al’s embrace. “She was… the best of us. Whatever can be done must be done.”

Cassie nodded. “I won’t stop until I’ve found Latvi.”

“Not even for a moment.” Bosco’s grey eyes flashed green for a moment.

Metal scraped on leather as Wings drew her revolver. “And the rest.”

I nodded past my rags. “Them too. All of them.”

Looking to each of us in turn, Cept nodded before turning to Schwarzwald. “Please take Breeze and keep her safe. Our clan must pay their respects, and prepare our clan-sister for the next world. This… only zebra now.”

Eyes wide and glistening, Breeze separated from him. “I can’t stay?”

“Not for this.” There was no irritation in him, only sorrow. “There are things that zebra do that are not for outsiders. Naiara is still part of our clan, and we will show that now.” He reached out and caressed the technophile’s cheek. “I do not want you to go, but the clan will not allow it. Please understand.”

She held his hoof in place with one of hers. “I love her as much as you do, Cept.”

Without warning, he pulled her in. Their lips locked together as he wrapped her up in his hooves, the fire roaring behind the two. We could only watch, stunned, at the brazen display from the normally-reserved stallion.

Cept broke the kiss after a dozen seconds. “I know. I love you as much as we love her, but for this moment…” Again he looked to Schwarzwald.

“I understand.” The older mare moved up next to Breeze, and began softly leading her away. “Come with us, dahling. We will wait for Cept back at the compound.”

Breeze didn’t resist, but did look over her shoulder at Cept, blue and white mane falling across her face. “Be gentle with her, Cept, please?”

A small smile was returned. “She is family, Breeze. We will send her soul on with all our love.”

The rest of us moved away, Breeze and Schwarzwald, Bosco and Cassie, Undertow and Doublehorns, Wings and I. After a hundred metres, I looked back.

All around Naiara and Cept, zebra were shimmering into existence from under their cloaks.

I couldn’t be completely sure from that far out, but it looked like Atesh was not among them.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“So… what now?”

Not one of the other thirteen sat in the Sprinkles Supplies bar answered Esto’s question immediately, thoughts still on the funeral. Nobody was really in a hurry to acknowledge anyone else, more sitting in close proximity rather than as a group. I barely saw the others past my rags and the pair of dark welding goggles that Mom had scrounged up for my eyes.

Shifting on her stool at the counter to look across the entire bar, Esto rearranged her glasses and tried again. “I’m sorry, everyone, I know this is a hard time for you all. Still, Latvi is out there, and his forces are far stronger than they were two days ago.”

“We know.” Cassie snapped succinctly. “We’re going to stop him.”

Even under the Sniper Pegasus’ glare, Esto didn’t wilt completely. “I am afraid that it will not be as easy as that. Going by the manifest I pulled from Whitepony after…” She broke off, lowering her voice, “...after Whitepony, it seems that Latvi got away with roughly sixty percent of the guard robots. We could only acquire the other forty.”

“So what’re yeh sayin’?” Mom hadn’t left Undertow’s side since we got back from the funeral, and sat with my sister and I in a square booth. My brothers sat in the adjacent seats.

“She’s saying,” Bosco piped up from the opposite wall, where Cept, Breeze, and Cassie also had situated themselves, “that we can’t take him in a straight fight.”

The scientist nodded remorsefully. “Not with the forces we have available.”

“Just get me a clean shot,” Cassie interrupted again, pressing a hoof hard into the table top. “I’ll do the rest.”

“Ain’t gonna work,” Leaning against the wall, Wings twitched a claw, “he’s still got griffon air support. You won’t get close enough.”

Cept thumped the cracked, faded leather. “What can we do? Latvi cannot win. Is there any news that can help us?”

Breeze rested a hoof on top of his. “We know where he’s heading.” She looked at me. “North. Way north.”

What a surprise. “The Stable. Of course he’s going there. That moron Roc sends out an open invitation, AFTER he already lets the Rangers inside, and expects things to go well.” I briefly pondered how Iron Sights, the Steel Ranger Elder, had reacted to Roc’s broadcast. There was a zero percent chance that he’d have been in favour of it. “If we can’t take Latvi’s army, can we at least beat Neighlway’s fighters? We can’t leave the Stable in their hooves either.”

“We do not know.” Sitting with Esto and Amber at the counter, Schwarzwald shrugged. “No one knows how strong the Neighlway Rangers are together. They are avoided for good reason, and only small patrols are ever seen. We do not know if we can beat them either.”

I coughed into my hoof. “When Latvi and I had our Raider army, we took on the Rangers a few times. They’ll at least have lost some forces from that, and someone told me once that Neighlway isn’t that big of a detachment.”

“Do we have to take ‘em on in a straight fight at all?” Bosco held his hooves out separately, then crossed them in front of him. “We know Latvi’s heading to the Stable, and the Rangers are already there. He’s gotta go through them to get in, and they’re not gonna like that. Why not let them duke it out, and deal with the winner?”

Undertow shook her head. “We can’t wait that long. Every moment that the Rangers are in the Stable is another chance for them to find Chrysalis’ core. They could bring the Windigoes down on all of us.” She rubbed Lo’s shoulder. “Besides, the residents of the Stable might be suffering under the Rangers. I don’t want your friends to go through that.”

Lo beamed down at her. “That’s sweet, li’l sis.”

“I’m sure they’re fine,” Buff soothed, “but thanks for thinking of them.”

“Yeah, you’re the best.” Al nuzzled her cheek. “The guys in the Stable’ll will be alright.”

“Whatever. Screw ‘em.” I muttered, mostly to myself.

Mom nudged me in the ribs, before clearing her throat. “Ah don’t know ‘bout the rest o’ yeh, but from what Ah know of the Rangers, they ain’t the type to bunker down if an enemy’s comin’ for ‘em. They’ll wanna fight.”

“So?” Wings glanced my way while she asked this. Judging by her frown, she’d heard me too.

“Well, they might know that this Roc wants ponies comin’ to the Stable, but might not know that an army’s headin’ their way. Ah propose we let ‘em know.”

Quizzical looks were exchanged all round. Esto was the first to respond. “For what purpose?”

Lexi nodded in Bosco’s direction. “Two reasons: One, gets ‘em fightin’ each other and whittlin’ down both sides’ numbers. Two: They do it outside the Stable. The folks inside don’t get caught up in the fightin’, at least until our side gets there. Less casualties fer us.”

The charcoal Changeling colt scratched at his chin. “Not a bad idea, all things considered. We make a big fuss over Latvi heading to the Stable, get the word out as far as we can, and make it like the Rangers don’t stand a chance. They’ll wanna prove us wrong.”

Breeze sat us a little straighter. “And while they’re fighting, we sneak inside, or attack them both while they’re distracted.”

“Or both.” Cept squeezed her shoulder. “The Rangers would not have many guards at the Stable while their fighters attack Latvi’s robots. We could beat them and take the Stable without a fight.”

Doubt it’s gonna be that simple, but it’s a better idea than going head to head with two armies who might both be bigger than what we’ve got. “If you could get me and the boys inside, we can take you to the main points you’d need to control the place.”

A rapping on the bar counter cut into the discussion. Amber held a piece of scrap paper in her mouth, folded into quarters, for Schwarzwald to read.

“‘The Steel Rangers do not know about Latvi,’?” Read the mercenary mare, before squinting at the author. “What do you mean by that, Amber-dahling?”

In response, the Bernstein leader twitched her lips, just enough for the quarter-fold to come undone, exposing more writing on the new half.

Schwarzwald dutifully continued reading. “‘We must give the Rangers a known quantity to counter. One who is guaranteed to oppose their plans.’”

Bosco shifted uneasily. “You mean somebody they’re gonna want to kill?”

Wings stopped leaning on the wall. “I know somebody we can use for that.”

Everybody looked at her. “You do? Who?”

She hooked a claw back at herself. On the other side of the room, Amber unfolded the rest of the message, with two words written on the other side of the paper, underlined and in bold:

BLUE FIRE

“You?” I began shuffling out from the booth, looking to Amber for answers. “Why Wings?”

Her ‘reply’ was a severely frustrated grimace, and a pointed stare.

“Right, right, sorry.” I turned back to Wings. “Why do you have to do it? The Rangers don’t like any of us, and more than half here have had direct contact with them.”

She shrugged lifelessly. “They don’t have our reputations, and you’re needed in the Stable. ‘s gotta be me.”

Breeze grunted. “You’re makin’ it sound like you won’t be with us at the Stable.”

Wings’ expression didn’t change. “Because I won’t. We’ve gotta sell this to draw the Rangers out. I have to be with the bots. Some tintop spots me in Stable 61, calls it in, and suddenly they’re all heading back that way. Can’t let that happen until they and Latvi’s lot knock enough lumps out of each other.”

Everyone was staring at her now. Bosco slid off his stool and joined her and I in the center of the room. “Wings, you can’t be the only one of us out in the open. You’ll be a giant target for Latvi AND the Rangers. We already know our bots can’t hold them off. You need some more backup. Let me go with you. I can help with tactics too.”

Breeze reluctantly let go of Cept’s hoof and flapped out of their booth. “Cassie and I’ll go too. Pegasi aren’t good in narrow corridors anyway, and Naiara would never forgive us if we let you go alone.”

Amber rapped on the counter again, furiously scribbling on more paper.

Schwarzwald leaned over her shoulder and read it aloud. “‘No more fliers’.” She nodded. “A fair point. You four are the only ones here who can fly. We can’t use the sky carriage without one of you, two if we all go. Latvi has fliers too. We would be in trouble without bringing some of you with us to the Stable.”

“Not to mention the Overmare, and the Pegasi or Griffons in the Stable itself.” The words ground themselves out from between my teeth.

Buff noticed. “Snow, the Overmare’s one thing, but you don’t think the Stable residents will try to fight us, do you?”

“Yes.” Was my instant reply.

“Snow,” his brow creased, as did that of my other two brothers, “I know they weren’t always good to you, but do you really think—”

“—that they’ll put a bullet in my brain to save their own sorry hides from the Rangers? Of course I do.” I wasn’t even angry, not really. I just couldn’t see it happening in this or any other reality. “But we’re going off-topic. Wings shouldn’t be staying back alone, for the same reason that she’s saying she should: Blue Fire’s too valuable to lose. After all this is over, there’s still gonna be a role for her.”

Schwarzwald purposefully cleared her throat.

I know, I know, shut up. “I mean we’ve still gotta clear out the Raiders and slavers trapped in Lethbridle. We’ll need Wings for that.”

The aforementioned Griffon groaned, spinning on her heel and stalking from the bar. “This is getting us nowhere. We’ll work out the rest on the way. Let’s just send the damn message first, then work out the rest on the way. Latvi’s already heading for the Stable. We don’t have forever to discuss this in fucking committee.” She disappeared around the corner, still ranting. “Hey, Snow’s Mom, where’s your broadcast gear? Let’s get the message out already!”

I stared after her, stunned at the sudden shift in atmosphere. Wings?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“The good people of Stable 61 should not suffer under the Steel Rangers’ cruelty. I won’t allow—”

I shut off Wings’ message. I’d heard her recording it, and it’d been playing every hour since. There was much more to focus on as it was, even if I was relegated to keeping out of the way, lest my wrappings come loose.

In the main Sprinkles Supplies courtyard, our delegation readied to depart. Out of the main gate, the Whitepony guard robots stood at attention, awaiting orders. Not far from them, Breeze was hooked up to the sky carriage, itself full of supplies and tech.

Inside, the activity level was leagues higher. In her status as Blue Fire, Wings had been named leader of the expeditionary force, which included my family, our friends, Amber, Esto, Lithu, and any Sprinkles Supplies guard who wanted to follow their boss figuratively to the end of the world.

There really isn’t any further to go than Stable 61, unless you wanna commit suicide-by-Windigo.

Some former Lethbridle guards, coming from Vanchoofer after the Crush incident, were going to meet us on route. More fighters against Latvi’s robots and Monsters, and Iron Sights’ Steel Rangers, but still not nearly enough to tip the scales in our favour. The original plan was gonna have to go on ahead, no matter how much I didn’t like it. Wings is risking too much for this, I have to come up with something better.

Unfortunately, that left me bundled up against more than just the cold. Red Ice was not a popular name to any group here, not even our inner circle, and we couldn’t risk revealing who I was to our allies. I was stuck in my increasingly stuffy and sweaty coverings.

Three metres off the ground, Wings hovered, taking one last look over the proceedings, before giving a sharp avian keen. “LET’S MOVE OUT!”

She’d said it loud enough for all to react to, but there was no emotion in her words, just cold professionalism. She’d been that way from the second the initial message went out, barely speaking to any of us outside of checking preparation details.

Even as I watched, she brushed past Schwarzwald in silence. That’s not like you, Wings. What’s wrong? You tackle problems, you don’t go robot at them. You’ve put a gun to my head more than once to get me to knock off the crazy. Hell, you’ve pulled a gun on my mother instead of taking ‘no’ for an answer. What gives?

The tension remained for the first four hours of the trek, with the Griffon practicing an economy of words that would make Amber seems chatty. Her only interaction with the rest of us came when Cassie, having taken over lugging the sky carriage for Breeze two hours earlier, came down to swap out.

Seizing my chance, I snuck up to the carriage while Cassie was fixing the headset radio onto the Griffon, so she could still communicate with those on the ground if she spotted something. The sniper Pegasus’ eye swivelled in my direction as I eased the hatch open, but she said nothing as I resealed it behind me.

Inside the cramped compartment, I remained still until Wings reached a steady altitude, then slipped the communicator I’d borrowed from Undertow out of my barding. I switched it over to a short-range private channel. “Hey, Wings?”

“HOLY FUCK!” The carriage rocked violently from her shock. “WHAT THE HELL, SNOW?!”

I peered out of the narrow porthole, giving a small wave at her as she glared back at me from the harness. “Can we talk?”

“Oh yeah, sure, just as soon as I make sure the crap you scared out of me didn’t hit anybody down below!”

I couldn’t laugh, not so soon after the funeral, but I managed a half-smile as I turned and slid down the wall separating me from her and the open air. “That’s better. I was worried since you were so quiet.”

She tch’d through the speaker. “Maybe I don’t wanna talk to anyone right now.”

“You could talk to yourself,” I tried, “I’ll just leave the channel open and not say a word.”

“Why’re you pushing this, Snow?” She challenged, voice taut. “Tryin’ to make things the way they were before Naiara DIED?”

Fresh daggers cut into my heart at that last part. “Things won’t be the way they were, Wings, not ever again. But that doesn’t mean you have to cut yourself off from the rest of us. We’re all hurting, but we all want to help each other get through it. Naiara wouldn’t want her friends breaking up over her.”

“Well, isn’t that great for you to know what Naiara would have wanted.”

The sulky tone dragged me up to the window again. Wings resolutely looked forwards, not at the window. “What’s that mean?”

Her scalp feathers, bundled up in the usual ponytail, shook slightly. “I honestly can’t say that I remember a whole lot about her, Snow.” She couldn’t maintain her stoic speech, resulting in it turning watery and shrill. “Do you remember what you told me, back when I left to go back to my family with McCoy? You told me that Naiara was so pissed when I said she wasn’t really a friend.”

I wanted to reach through the glass, to wrap her up in a tight hug. “That was a while ago, Wings. She knew that wasn’t true. You know that’s not true. Don’t do this to yourself.”

The dam broke, and she lost all composure. “I still hardly know anything about her, Snow, and now I never will! I never got the chance to make it up to her for saying that!”

“Wings, we all feel that way.” That soul-sucking regret, that crushing doubt, the constant and unrelenting feelings that she’d still be here if we were even a fraction as good a person as she was. “Breeze and Cept are cut up about bringing her to Whitepony, and if anybody’s to blame for Latvi’s involvement it’ll be me, but Naiara was her own filly. She didn’t… doesn’t carry grudges, and she certainly doesn’t blame you for anything. She stayed with us, all of us, because she didn’t want us to be alone. She knew we made each other stronger. Don’t doubt that you made her stronger.” I cradled the communicator to my cheek. “I know you make me stronger. That’s how you show you’re her friend.”

“...It still doesn’t feel like it’s enough. Not even close.”

“I know.” Tears ran down my cheeks freely. “It’s because we love her so much. We have to make sure we stay the people she loved, and who love her. Can you do that for me, Gigglewings?”

She sniffed a few times, still sounding pained. “I can try, for Naiara.”

That brought a genuine smile. “For Naiara.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“IF ONE MORE OF YOU JACKHOLES TAKES A SINGLE STEP TOWARDS NAIARA’S ROOM AGAIN, I’LL USE EVERY GRENADE I HAVE AND BLOW YOUR DAMN DICKS OFF!”

I shut the front door behind me, confident that Breeze had the situation in hoof… and that Cassie would stop her from going too far. Maybe stopping at Hoofshine for the night wasn’t the best idea, with all these hangers-on.

The Lethbridle, Sprinkles Supplies, and Vanchoofer guards who’d accompanied us had colonised the former whorehouse’s bar for the past few hours, and some of them were on the wrong side of where any bartender would cut them off. Since we had no bartenders, besides my on-off apprenticeship under Whiskey Sour back in the Stable, nobody was around to declare Last Call. They had even stopped listening to Blue Fire on the matter.

Speaking of the griffon, she had already retired for the evening, along with most of our friends. My family was safe and snug in the master bedroom under the bar, too. Only the twins, Schwarzwald, Bosco, and myself remained awake. Guard duty fell to the bots.

The twins were inside, guarding Naiara’s room and its contents, while Schwarzwald had slipped away for reasons unknown. Bosco was dealing with a much more interesting situation.

The charcoal colt was engaged in an animated discussion with a haggard Earth pony stallion, his pale yellow mane and emerald coat bundled up in Molar Bear fur and hide. “The Rangers are camped out on the north end of town, while the robots are holdin’ just outside the south entrance.”

Bosco listened intently to Facemask’s intel. “Cefar’s gonna end up a wreck once they start going at it.”

I walked up to stand beside Bosco. “Good to see you got away safely, Facemask. Sounds like the situation’s pretty bad.”

He took in my concealing bandages with a doctor’s stare. “What happened to you, girl? Did your brothers find you?”

I smiled back. “Yeah, thanks to you. They’re sleeping inside.” I circled my face with my hoof. “As for this? I found the bad side of the Wasteland that you warned me about.”

The old healer grinned. “You’re still kicking, at least. That’s something. Still got to get through the mess back the way I came, though. Least, I assume that’s where you’re goin’ with all this?”

“What about the others?” Bosco interrupted, eyes probing. “They didn’t stay in Cefar, did they?”

Facemask didn’t answer for a moment, before shaking his head. “Most were smart enough to leave when the Rangers came through last week, heading up the mountain. They mostly left us alone, but…”

The younger colt gulped. “‘But’?”

The doctor looked away. “Kiddo, the Rangers killed Lenny.”

Bosco’s face fell.

Mine… didn’t. I simply deadpanned “Oh no, they killed Lenny.”

That earned me a glare from Bosco, and a deep frown from Facemask. “You got meaner, girl.”

“Yeah, I did.” I confirmed, easily meeting his gaze. “Wanna know why? All those things you warned me about - the Rangers, Raiders, slavers, and the like. Well I found ALL of them.”

He took all this in with just the barest widening of the eyes. “Guess it ain’t surprising then. Still, with how much those three buffalo boys were gushin’ over you, I’m almost disappointed.”

Scowling, I brushed him off. “I’m glad you’re okay, doc, but you’re gonna be even more disappointed if you think I’m gonna cry over the death of an idiot whose only interaction with me was wanting to have sex with my dead body!”

“That’s enough, Snow.” Steering Facemask away, Bosco wouldn’t look at me. “We’re gonna go inside, you should stay out here and cool off.”

Without another word, the two headed inside. I stared after them, mentally kicking myself. Sorry, Bosco, I shouldn’t be making light of this so soon after Naiara.

Stepping away from Hoofshine Harlots, I let my hooves lead me on a meandering path through the trees. The lights and sounds of the building didn’t penetrate far into the forest itself, leaving only what little illumination could find its way through the cloud cover.

The Moon hasn’t given up on Equestria yet, it seems. Too bad I can’t see it. Hell, I might be wrong. For all I know, that’s a Windigo up there, waiting for me.

Whichever you are, keep waiting. I’ve got things to do.

As did others, accompanied by a chirping Spritebot, Schwarzwald materialised out of the gloom. “Dahling, you should rest. Tomorrow is a busy day.”

“Just getting some air.” Giving a lazy salute, I greeted the floating machine. “Watcher, been a while. How’s business?”

“Oh, just dandy.” If the bot could have rolled its eyes, it would have. “So Schwarzwald tells me you’ve gotten really close with Sombra’s horn.”

I could do sardonic too. “Yep. Pretty much inseparable, we are. You could almost say we’re of one mind.”

Even through the speakers, I heard him breathe in through his nostrils. “Yeah, done with the jokes now. Show me.” The last part wasn’t a request.

I denied it anyway. “Watcher, I’m sure you have my best interests at heart, but I’m really not in the mood for another lecture. It boils down to this - I needed my magic to take on the Windigoes, and I lost my other horn. As Breeze rightly pointed out, we had a spare. I’m using that spare. You wanna talk about the pros and cons? See me after we get into the Stable.” Schwarzwald was fixed with a hard stare. “Not a word out of you either, Schwarz. It had to be done.”

Schwarzwald canted her head, grinning. “I know, mistress. I was there.”

Watcher’s Spritebot whirred. “What do you want me to say, Snow? That I approve of what you’ve done? Of what you’re doing? Sombra nearly the destroyed the Crystal Empire, and the Changelings you’re helping once invaded Canterlot. There aren’t many more ways I can say it - You’re messing with dangerous forces.”

“Helping the Changelings is only a side effect of two other goals. The first is to help Bosco find his way again, and the second is to stop the Windigoes.” Glacial light leaked out from the folds of my wrappings. “Whatever happens with the others, that has to happen. The Windigoes will kill us all if they get past Chrysalis’ blizzard. We have to keep Chrysalis out of the hooves of the Steel Rangers. They're in the Stable now, and it’s only a matter of time before they find Chrysalis’ core.”

“WHAT?!” The outburst devolved into static that had Schwarzwald and I wincing. “You know where they are?”

Schwarzwald waggled a hoof in her ear. “We know they are in the Stable, dear Watcher, but no more than that. The Changelings did not give a precise location.”

He was barely listening, tootling back and forth in the air. “Imagine what we could accomplish if we got Cadance back…”

A smirk formed on my face at the satisfying clunk that occurred when I tapped my hoof against the bot’s shell. “Finally found some faith, Watcher? Enough to get you off my case and let us do this thing?”

The random floating ceased immediately. When he spoke, Watcher’s voice was subdued. “Snow, it was never about getting in your way, or bothering you. It’s always been about what’s best for Equestria. I work my angles and you work yours. Any reservations I have on the matter are an attempt to get you to look at the whole board, and possible ramifications of your actions. We’ve never not been on the same side.”

I stilled myself too. “Then give me the benefit of the doubt, Watcher. Look at this way - If we fail tomorrow, we were already fucked no matter what else is going on. If we succeed? Happy days. We can continue our work. There’s no risk here.”

Silent for a long time, the floating bug drone surprised both Schwarzwald and I with a quick twirl. “You’ll go no matter what I tell you, yeah? You don’t really have a choice. Suppose I gotta believe in the two of you, and your friends. I’m behind you guys, really I am. Just don’t get Wings killed if you can help it. I mean, some other candidates are getting exciting, but I don’t wanna thin out the field if I don’t have to.”

Guess that’s as good as we’ll get. I’ll take it.

Schwarzwald and I shared a wink, before she cleared her throat. “Tell Snowflake about the others, Watcher-dahling. She should know who else is out there.”

I chuckled and leaned back against a tree. “A bedtime story? Sweet. Spin me a yarn, Watcher.”

Good cheer returned to the roboticized voice. “Alright, I’ll give you the rundown on a few of the other candidates. So, get this. This little pony walks out of Stable 2, right? Takes her all of about a week to get into trouble with, if you can believe this, a DRAGON of all things...”

The hell’re you laughing for, Schwarzwald?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter 29-2: We Await The Day

We’d gotten underway just before first light. The fourteen of us, plus Lexi’s guards and the robots, were joined by Facemask. Bosco had tried to get the old stallion to stay behind, but he’d refused, citing his limited-but-not-non-existent medical skills as reason to come along as another healer.

It takes some of the strain off Mom, at least.

We were maybe half a mile out from Cefar when the rumble of heavy ordnance fire echoed back to us on the wind. Our entire force halted, murmurs springing up.

My eyes went straight to Wings, who stood with a tight jaw and narrow blue eyes. “It’s started.”

She didn’t look over, only clenching her beak a little tighter. “Yeah.” She sighed to herself, then motioned to Breeze. “Time to go to work, I guess.”

The technophile Pegasus hooked the cannibalised control unit of my Pipbuck around her wrist, cinching it tightly in place. “Remember, you’re just there to point the robots in the right direction. Don’t get into the thick of it. Let the bots whittle down their numbers. You’re just there to tie up their forces, Wings, not win this whole thing for us. Don’t try to be Blue Fire if it means Wings gets in some shit. Wait for the right moment, get in, do your damage, and get out again.”

“Point and click, got it.” The griffon’s quip was not well received. “Alright, yeah. I’ll hang back and direct. Can’t hold my guns and press the buttons on this thing at the same time anyway.”

“Seriously, Wings,” Bosco and Cassie joined Breeze in fussing over her, “be careful.”

Undertow and I crowded in too, hugging her tightly. “Dying won’t help us, Wings, no matter how many you take with you. You’re more important than the bots, ours or theirs. You can’t fall out here without ever seeing my Stable. I’ll never forgive you if you do.”

Claws wrapped around my neck in return, she squeezed back. Her warm plumage rested against my chest. “Wouldn’t miss your embarrassing baby pics, Snow.”

When the hug broke, Wings turned to her oldest friend. “Sure you don’t wanna come with, Schwarz? Lots of violence and explosions. You might pick up some more scars?”

Schwarzwald ruefully shook her head. “It sounds wonderful, dahling, but we each have our role to play. I wish you well, and repeat what the others have said.” She squared her shoulders and, even though it didn’t outwardly change, her grin became obviously strained. “Do. Not. Die.”

A veteran of Schwarzwaldian bravado, Wings barely blinked. “Yeah, I love you too. Keep everybody safe, Schwarz, yourself included.”

Schwarzwald led the others to the sky carriage, with Bosco helping to get the twins into the harnesses. That just left Wings and I standing in the snow. I feel like I should say something, but what?

No answers came, so we continued to stare each other down. Finally, I blinked. “I, uh… I’ll be waiting in the Stable. Don’t… don’t take too long.”

She held out a clawed fist. “Just remember we’re here to keep the Changelings safe. The Stable might’ve been jerks to you, but they’re caught in the middle of this. Focus on getting the Rangers out of there, first. I’ll gladly help you get some payback afterwards.”

My hoof bumped against her claw. “You do that, and I’ll owe YOU a favour for once.”

She snickered. “I thought we weren’t counting?”

So did I. “Just this once.”

“That’s a promise. Don’t do welching on the deal later.” Her claw withdrew, and she turned towards the robots.

I watched her go. “Not a chance.”

For the short walk to the sky carriage, I didn’t bother to look up. Too many thoughts of what might happen to Wings while the rest of us were away in the Stable plagued my mind.

I was so lost in thought that I didn’t notice the Sprinkles Supplies guards going in the other direction until I ran into the last one. Shaking off the collision, I glared at him. “Where are you all going?”

He glared right back, but nodded over to the hatch, where my mother stood waiting. “Looking after the griffon. Boss’ orders.”

What? I scampered over to her. “What did you do, Mom?”

She offered a hoof to pull me into the carriage. “Ah ain’t about t’leave mah daughter’s best friend without backup, now am I?”

Gaping open-mouthed as we took off, it was several seconds before I could talk around the lump in my throat and chest.

“You’re the best mom ever.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A rolling wave of mist, courtesy of my glowing horn, filled the tunnel leading to the Stable entrance.

We stood at its mouth, the wind if not blocked, then dulled, by the bulk of the sky carriage. The blizzard outside, and the curvature of the rock, meant that light barely reached a dozen metres in.

I willed another wave of fog down the passageway. “You guys stay here for a minute. I’m gonna check it out.”

The four forms of my siblings started at this. “By yourself?”

Lo’s concern was touching, but unnecessary. “Calm down. I’m not gonna go nuts. Just gonna check it out. I’ll keep the mist cover up. It’ll be easier with just me. If we all go down there, the noise might alert any guards.” I was already a hoofful of body lengths in by this point, giving them no time to argue. “I’ll be back soon.”

“...Be careful, Snow.”

I gave a final wave before turning the first corner. I hadn’t been kidding that I would be careful. Even with my haze cutting visibility, I hugged the wall. Any overzealous tintop decides to just shoot until he hits something, I’ll be out of there before he finishes his first volley.

It was slow going, though, and a not-insignificant number of curses were choked back due to stumbling on fog-hidden stones. Still, after a few minutes, I felt my coat growing damper.

Hmm. I blew out another patch, only to watch it displace the pre-existing miasma back around me. Nowhere to go. Slowly, I extended my hoof, feeling through the soupy air. I whispered to myself as I probed. “Gently, gently, gent-”

CLANG! The ringing of my horseshoe on the solid Stable door rang out jarringly.

“...-ly. Dammit.”

“WHO GOES THERE?” Above me, both top corners of the haze exploded into noise. Rattling and feeding back, 200-years dormant speakers wheezed out the robotic voice of some unseen Steel Ranger, on the other side of the Stable door.

Friggin’ speakers?! Overmare, you bitch! Gave me the silent treatment for like an hour when you kicked me out. Couldn’t have just told me to move on, save me half freezing for nothing?

Rather than answering the repeating demand, I reached back, along arcane channels, until I felt my favourite familiar water sourcery. My frustration at being noticed, coupled with growing battle readiness, got the message across. I felt her reaching back, growing stronger as she and the others drew closer. Atta girl.

“IDENTIFY YOURSELF! YOU ARE TRESPASSING, AND THIS FACILITY IS UNDER THE PROTECTION OF THE STEEL RANGERS! THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING!”

I couldn’t help it, snorting in response to the wording. “‘Protection’, right. Whatever you say, fella.”

“Oh!” A less robotic, and far too familiar voice, took over. “Snowflake, there you are. I have been eagerly awaiting your arrival.”

Undertow and the others are almost here, I can feel it. “Have you now, Roc? I don’t remember calling ahead.”

The smarmy griffon’s practiced warmth didn’t falter. “Well, perhaps not directly, Snowflake. But, from their past encounters with you, my Steel Ranger friends here were quietly confident that you would find your way back here after you stopped in to visit them at Neighlway.”

“Oh, is the gang all here? Open the door and I’ll pop in to say hi.” I almost believed he would, too.

But then the sounds of the others approaching became noticeable behind me. The golden-furred griffon’s silver tongue kept wagging, but got a little sharper. “My, well, that’s a terribly kind offer, Snowflake. However it appears that, like me, you have friends with you. I wouldn’t want to keep you, considering how rarely you manage to socialise.” The veiled insult practically oozed from the speakers.

My tail shifted as one of the others brushed against it. “Get ready.” I grunted to them, chin down, before addressing the unseen Overseer. “Never let it be said you’re not one for etiquette, Roc,”

“Thank you.”

“...but I’m comin’ in, and any ‘friends’ of yours that try to stop me won’t survive the attempt.” With a flourish, the magic-born mist was dispelled, and my hooves and tongue ripped away the makeshift shawl covering my head. “Now shut the fuck up and open this door.”

My twisted horn and bubbled scars brought instant sputtering and background chatter through the loudspeakers. A dull thunk, then frantic scrabbling sounded before Roc came back on the line. “Snowflake, what have you done to yourself?”

Ignoring Roc’s flapping, we approached the door. Bosco rapped a hoof against it. “Feels pretty thick. Can we override it somehow?”

The twins were probing the edges of the doorframe. Breeze shook her head. “No way to connect from this side. Probably intentional.”

“It is,” Al piped up, “I took a look at the blueprints one time. The door’s just solid metal. It gets moved with a mechanism inside.”

Breeze huffed. “Then I got nothing.”

“I’ve got something.” Taking a few deep breaths, I stepped up to the door, resting my horn on the metal. “Been thinking about it on the way up. It’s gonna be dangerous, so you guys should probably back off like, ten metres or so, but be ready to move when I break through.”

Esto raised an eyebrow. “What are you planning?”

I shrugged. “It’s about to get very cold in here.”

The eyebrow raised higher. “If you are planning what I think you are, the temperature—”

“I know, which is why you all need to back off.” Her scepticism grated a little. “It’s gonna need to be damn cold, and I don’t want you all getting caught up in it.”

Without another word, Esto began moving straight backwards. “Everyone, I strongly suggest you back up to the next bend. This will be dangerous.”

Thankfully, they heeded her advice, leaving me free to concentrate. “Gimme a few minutes, Roc, I’ll be right in.” My horn began to glow glacier-blue, but then faded as I stepped back to look at the speaker. “Oh, I almost forgot. Overseer?”

Years of practice kept the decorum in his voice, but just barely. “...Yes, Snowflake?”

The most wicked grin I could manage spread across my battle damaged face. “You’re fired.”

“Excuse me? Snowflake, you are hardly in a position to—”

I let him rant, and focused on the task at hoof. My entire focus went to the very centre of the door, an area barely the width of a bottlecap. My magic rested on it, feather light, and then I started concentrating.

Cold poured onto that bottlecap space, more and more, layering into one pure, tiny sphere of ice. My will pushed on that sphere, keeping it the same size, while filling it ever denser with chill.

I poured it on, harsher and harder, sweat falling from me from the effort. Instead of hitting the cave floor, however, the falling drops froze and then crumbled into nothing mid-descent, robbed of their energy and form by the frozen core I pushed into the Stable door.

The door itself was feeling it too, with small pops and groans increasing in frequency and volume. Roc’s voice couldn’t be heard any more, the speakers warping and cracking in their sockets.

Still I moulded more raw frigidity into that same space. The cold was so intense now that the metal behind it was cracking and snapping off, a small crater in the centre of the mighty barrier.

Go deeper! I willed. Bite and claw and dig your way through.

My breath was turning ragged from the exertion, but I kept at it, the frost sphere boring through the door, the headbit of my horn’s drill. As it reached critical mass, the very light around the area dimmed, its warmth and power stolen by the ravenous core.

The twinges of the core were making themselves known now, hinting at the rapidly approaching apex. I could feel the sphere now, having dug through to the three-dimensional centre of the door now, the perfect position for its intended purpose.

The only issue being that I was still standing barely a metre from the door. Swiftly backtracking, and with no spare concentration to send a message through to Undertow, I had to hope that I made it around the bend in time.

Here...three steps…it...two...comes...one!

Four pairs of hooves reached for me,trying to drag me out of view, just as the core… went off. As it did, I saw the door turn black. Not just black: the deepest, fullest, most absolute black there could be. The utter absence of light.

Light wasn’t the only absence, either. The door was completely silent. No sound escaped, the vibrations drained by the cold. Light, sound, warmth, energy. The state of the door was ultimate stillness. For ten seconds, twenty, it remained that way.

“Um.”

The door exploded.

The basest levels of the metal, robbed of their energy, grabbed at anything they could find to regain their normality; each other, the energy around them, reaching out as far and as fast as they could.

Throwing my hooves up to protect against the shrapnel-filled shockwave, I braced for the pain to come. However, while the cacophonous ringing of metal on metal filled the tunnel, coupled with sudden and violent gunfire, I didn’t feel any chunks tear into me.

When I lowered my hooves, I saw why. A rippling transparent barrier stood in front of me, reaching out and up to block every millimetre of the rock and metal, which piled onto the shield in jagged bushels. Beyond the barrier, a pair of fully armed and armoured Ranger Paladins stood in the now-empty door frame, loosing volley after volley of bullets, bombs, and lasers. Every shot of theirs struck at the barrier directly in front of my eyes, and would have either put holes in my head or taken it clean off if not for the clear wall cutting them off.

Standing next to me, Spell Shooter up and glowing, Breeze twitched. “Get ready, everyone. Barrier’s about to go down. Move when you see the flash!” With that, she crouched down behind the piles of door pieces, pulling me down with her. “Nice work, Snow. Seriously, damn.”

The others bolted around the corner as the barrier flickered, hugging in low to get behind the temporary cover. I found myself getting positive looks from more than one of them. “Uh… thanks. I’m glad it worked.”

Breeze flicked her hoof, ejecting the spent crystal over our cover. “Cassie!”

“Eyes!” Still back at the corner, the sniper’s rifle barked as the barrier dropped. Her aim was true, and struck the tumbling shard, resulting in a blinding flash.

We’d heeded her advice, and turned our heads away, but the Rangers cried out as the glare overwhelmed their optics.

Bosco was first over the wall. “GO GO GO!” He and Cept snaked in on the right-most Ranger, ducking low under the arc of their blind return fire. Schwarzwald’s gatling sang out between the charging colts, jerking and jolting the Ranger’s armour and aim.

On the left, my siblings followed a similar game plan. Undertow kept up a steady torrent of levitation-accelerated shrapnel, to batter and discombobulate the Steel-clad pony, covering her three charging brothers, who wielded massive reinforced iron sheets as pseudo-riot shields.

With that much gunfire, shrapnel, and flash beating down on them, the two Paladins couldn’t set themselves long enough to line up shots. The Doublehorns slammed bodily into the left Ranger, shields first, crunching him backwards into the wall.

Across from them, Cept flipped into a double dive kick with his hind hooves, both connecting right into the faceplate. As the tin pony staggered back, Bosco used his smaller stature to duck between its legs, then flashed green fire around himself, bringing a fourth buffalo, magnitudes bigger than his colt form, into the fight.

The sudden size increase beneath it up-ended the Steel Ranger, leaving him easy pickings for Buff. Leaving Al and Lo to keep the left Ranger pinned against the wall, with Undertow jamming its weaponry with shrapnel telekinesis, Buff body slammed down right on top of the rightmost Ranger with a mighty crash. Buffa-Bosco joined him a moment later, with Cept’s Fallen Caesar hammer blows raining down on the exposed head of the prone pony.

Even when pressed nearly flat against the wall by two hefty bovines, the other Paladin still tried to fight. Servos whining, they inched themselves around until they could angle a shot against Al. I saw Al’s eye widen as the Paladin growled out a curse. “Wastelander SCUM!”

That was as far as he got before Cassie surged forwards, slamming her rifle’s barrel point-blank against his eyeguard and pulling the trigger.

The other one lasted only moments longer. I’d frozen a hoof-wide spot along the armour’s neck joints, and Cept’s hoof crashed down onto, and then through, the embrittled metal, collapsing the cartilage underneath. Bosco and Buff kept her pinned as she gurgled out her last.

The half-second lull in the fighting revealed to us that Roc was still on the p.a. “What are you doing, Snowflake? All of you, stop this now!”

“Stay out of the way, Roc. We’re coming in, and you’re not stopping us.” Hopefully he runs and hides, but he’s probably gonna sit there in his office until I break down his door.

Roc’s decorum had evaporated entirely. “Why are you doing this, Snowflake? You are not a resident of this Stable any longer. You are not welcome here!”

I couldn’t resist, even if it was gonna make the situation slightly worse. He’d been such a pain back when I lived here that I took a second to taunt him. “And yet here I am, former-Overseer Roc.”

“You were not invited here, Snowflake, and you are attacking those who were.” Nasally breaths played over the speakers for a few moments, before Roc composed himself enough to continue. “I can see that the rumours about you were true, Snowflake. You truly are lost to Old Equestria.”

“Yeah, yeah, big bad Snowflake’s here to cause you trouble. Sure.” I spat on the ground. “Get over yourself, Roc. We’re not here for you.”

“You said ‘we’.” Roc replied excitedly, changing tac. “You others there, you may not be aware, as you are travelling with her, that there is a bounty out for Snowflake’s capture. If you apprehend her now, I will pay the amount here, and allow you to take her to collect the same from the one who issued it out in your ‘Wasteland’.”

Breeze, who had been poking and prodding at the dead Rangers’ systems, straightened up. “You don’t say? You got the caps for that?”

A slight hesitation on the griffon’s part. “Not caps, no. I am afraid that we don’t yet deal in that form of currency. We do have bits.”

She rolled her eyes. “Not interested. The exchange rate sucks.”

“Wait!” Roc tried again. “We have something else. I saw your weapon before. We have technology of our own here. Technology that has been lost for two hundred years! Pristine, maintained stringently and untouched by radiation. Surely we could trade some, up to the price of the bounty, for you to capture Snowflake?”

Back and forth, slowly and deliberately, Breeze rubbed her chin with a hoof, before breaking out into a bright smile. “Y’know what, Roc? You’ve got a deal…”

“Very gracious of you, my lady Pegasus. Now, if you—”

The smile disappeared. “...if you can answer this question.”

Riding high, there wasn’t a shred of hesitation on his part. “Of course. However I may be of help.”

Breeze was dangerously neutral. “Does ‘Naiara’ mean anything to you?”

“Hmm, ‘Naiara’,” It felt like Roc was the one rubbing their chin this time, “my apologies, but I am afraid that I’m not familiar with the term.”

“I see.” Breeze’s wing unfurled, laser straight, to point at me. “It means something to her.”

Slamming another crystal home in her Spell Shooter, Breeze spoke to the entire room. “Snowflake knew Naiara. Snowflake loved Naiara, and was loved by Naiara in turn. Naiara was not so foolish that Snowflake could dupe her, so that means she genuinely found worth in Snowflake.”

She had all our attentions now, mine especially. Her words hit deep inside. Breeze...

Feathers shaking, the technophile Pegasus stalked across, placing herself squarely in front of me. “The ones Naiara loved are here in this room. Snowflake is one of those Naiara valued and loved. That makes her ours. That makes Snowflake one of us. To threaten Snowflake, to try to take her away, is to spit on Naiara’s memory. I will be damned if I let another one of us be taken away.” She finished by raising the Spell Shooter up, primed to fire, and aiming it at the speaker pointedly.

Even through the purple smoke, my eyes were wet, and the lump in my throat ached warmly. You don’t know how much that means to me, Breeze. Naiara would be proud.

Roc got the point. “Unfortunate. I had hoped someone in our group would be reasonable. I see now that that won’t happen, therefore I call on Elder Iron Sights, and all Steel Rangers, to drive these intruders from my Stable.”

The p.a. system cut out. Breeze didn’t give it another thought, and instead strolled past the entrance room, into the Stable proper, where the corridor split into three directions.

“Let’s go to work.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter 29-3: We Await The Day

A water tendril slammed one Ranger acolyte into the steel corridor wall, but Undertow had to duck back as his buddies returned fire, peppering the metal where her head had been with laser scorch marks.

Breeze retaliated by whipping a grenade down the passage with her wing, mouthing “Three, two, one” until the boom came. Screams sounded from the Rangers’ position, making me glad my stomach was empty right now.

How do my sisters do this?

When the enemy fire didn’t immediately resume, Buff tightened the straps on his sheet metal shield. “We need to get through if we’re gonna get to either destination.”

My youngest sister tugged on his shaggy fur. “I can clear a path for us, we some help.” She looked past him to the other side of our T-junction, where Lexi, Esto, and Amber waited, with only Lexi’s shotgun to protect them. “Mom, get ready to shoot.”

The older unicorn shook her head, frizzy orange mane going haywire in the process. “Ah can’t line up a shot fast enough without getting mah head blown off.”

“Then leave your head where it is,” Undertow continued, unconcerned, “I only need THEIR heads occupied.”

“Awright. Jus’ gimme the word, babygirl.”

Nodding, Undertow turned to the pegasus. “Do you have any of Naiara’s flashbangs left?”

Pausing in the middle of replacing her Spell Shooter’s crystal, Breeze dug into her pack. She withdrew a clearly-cobbled-together device. “Yup.”

“Great.” Half a dozen bottles of irradiated water floated out in her aquamarine magic, bottlecaps twisting off as she pulled the liquid around her in a six-strong orbiting halo. “You, then Mom, then me. Buff and Al follow after me with your shields.”

Breeze tossed the flashbang, pre-cooking it for a second first. The corridor filled with light within moments, through which I could just make out the purple glow of Lexi’s shotgun as it barked out at head height, even when she had no chance of seeing anything herself.

Undertow wasn’t next to me anymore. I couldn’t see her, or much of anything. I could hear plenty, even with the shotgun, including energy weapons discharging. There were other sounds too, dry rips followed by wet pops, and finally more screaming, though often-times it cut off abruptly. Buff and I knew our jobs, and followed our sister down the corridor. Occasionally, a stray beam sizzled against our shields.

The whole thing had taken around ten seconds, before the light began to fade, and a voice, even more watery than usual spoke up from between Buff and I, a second after we ran into the far wall.

“It’s clear.” Undertow stood stock-still, six tentacles of water extending from her legs, frozen needle tips dripping crimson.

Lexi scampered up the corridor first. “E’rypony okay?” She came up short when she spotted the blood running down Undertow’s back, and the fact that—

OH SHIT! Her mane’s on fire! Me, Buff, and her mother all slapped at the embers until they died out, leaving blackened ends. When that was taken care of, a pair of tweezers came out of the medic’s bags. “Stay still, baby, Ah gotta get the pellets out. Why gotcha, didya see?”

Wincing and shuddering as the surgical tools dug around under her skin, Undertow still managed a smile. “You did. I thought you would aim higher.”

Fedexi Lexi’s heart visibly broke. “This was me? Undertow, Ah’m so sorry.”

Her concerns were waved off. “It’s fine. I knew the risks. But, can I have some healing bandages anyway? We still have work to do.”

Breeze, Esto and Amber had caught up by this point. Esto was covering one corridor with a pistol she looked anything but comfortable carrying. “Where to next?”

I pointed the opposite way she was looking. “Down this way’s the Monitor Room. Undertow, Lexi, and Amber and I will get in there, and gets eyes on the rest of you. We’ll keep you updated.”

Buff stepped up next to Esto. “You and Breeze are with me. We’ve gotta move carefully though. There’s no way the Overseer’s Office is unguarded.”

Breeze stuffed the two best-condition laser weapons into her bags, and what looked like the power packs for the rest. “Doesn’t matter. Snow told us what his computer can do. We need that access.”

Esto nodded stoically. “Then good luck to you four. Contact us via Breeze’s communicator as soon as possible. Let us know what we might face if we do not reach our target first.”

Amber silently clicked her communicator on and off, the static sputter confirming the signal on Breeze’s end. Satisfied, the buffalo, Pegasus, and Unicorn swept down their path, further into the grey-walled Stable.

Our remaining quarter moved off half a minute later, once Undertow was mummified to a compromise between Lexi’s satisfaction, as her mother and a healer, and her own, as a warrior with more fighting to do.

We only saw one more group of Steel Rangers on our way to the Monitor room, a pair of scribes bearing plasma pistols, but my Pipbuck alerted us to them before they noticed us. We managed to scramble out of sight before they passed, avoiding another encounter, which would just lead to another delay.

The Monitor Room itself, when we reached it, had its door wide open. Voices could be heard inside.

Damn Rangers had the same idea we did.

My Pipbuck’s Eyes-Forward-Sparkle only showed two red dots inside. “We got this,” I whispered to the three ponies huddled behind me as I hefted my shield, “just two in there. C’mon.”

Leading with the metal, we all surged towards the door of the room. At the threshold, I met one of the red dots coming the other way. Solid metal, backed by buffalo bulk and momentum, soundly beat the walking-pace Earth mare in thin robes. She careened backwards, ragdoll limbs flailing uselessly, until she bounced off the Monitor Station desk, hitting the floor without complaint.

We were all already in the room with the remaining Ranger before he got his mouth closed at the sight of his unconscious colleague. Half-risen from his seat, his eyes flicked between us and the pistol by the keyboard.

“Don’t.” I half-warned, half-pleaded. “You won’t reach it. Please, just surrender.”

Sweat dripping down his face, he made a decision. “Damn Wasters!” Hoof snapping out, he went for the weapon.

Lexi’s shotgun blew his head off before he got a good grip.

Far too casually, Undertow’s water wiped the blood and bone from the desk and camera feeds, allowing Lexi and Amber to sit and work unimpeded. My sister and I took up position by the door, shield and spells ready.

Undertow looked to the two older mares. “How is the situation?”

Amber grimaced, daintily pointing at one screen in particular.

When the three of us saw what she saw, we all halted. “Uh oh.”

Lexi recovered first, and keyed the communicator. “Y’all need to hurry, Ah’m lookin’ at where the Stable door used t’be, an’ Ah’m seein’ a whole mess o’ griffons, an’ one blue unicorn. They’re inside.”

“Not just them,” Undertow had somehow become even less thrilled as she continued watching, “I see two Plottawan uniforms with them. One is Peanut, the other is a Pegasus.”

I almost howled my next words. “That’s Willow Wisp. It’s the Overmare!”

If she could, Amber almost certainly would have said more. Her face was saying plenty already, even as she watched the monitors like a hawk.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

My family’s radio update brought me skidding to a halt. “Peanut and the Overmare are working with Latvi? Since when?”

Cept, without looking away from scanning a corridor, spoke over his shoulder. “Willow Wisp was taken by McCoy’s Monsters when my clan fought the slavers in Plottawa. Now we know why.”

“And, apparently, she invited her boss along too.” Cassie, facing the other way from the stallion, did not appear all that surprised. “She knows this Stable well. That is a dangerous advantage for our enemies.”

Yeah, it is, but-wait, hold on… I spoke into the communicator again. “Mom, what about Wings? Has she come too?”

“We ain’t seein’ her, sweetheart. Latvi didn’t bring his bots, though. Looks like she’s still tanglin’ with them an’ Rangers outside.”

“She is a capable warrior,” Cept tried, “we must trust her.”

“She’s doing her job, Snowflake.” Cassie reminded, not unkindly. “I’m worried too, but her reputation is keeping us from being swamped by two armies we can’t defeat. The faster we take out the leaders of both sides, the safer she’ll be. She’s buying us the time to do it.”

I don’t want her buying me time. She’s alone, those Sprinkles guards won’t be able to keep up with her. “Let’s hurry then. Residential area’s up ahead.”

We broke into a gallop. Cept kept pace with our shorter strides rather than charge ahead. “You are sure a zebra and a Pegasus will be welcome here?”

To my mild irritation, Cassie beat me to the answer. “This Stable is not the Wasteland, Cept. It houses more than just ponies. Zebra, griffons, buffalo, and others make up the population.”

Oh, thanks for filling me in, Cass. What would I do without you? “Short answer: You’re fine. Don’t worry.” We turned into the housing quarter of the Stable, and I stopped again in front of a familiar door. “Can’t say the same for me. You two go and deal with the Stable residents. Make ‘em stay out of this. We don’t want any casualties if we can help it.” Well, you guys don’t mostly. It’s more the pain of having to fight through living shields for me.

The two of them wheeled around, perplexed frowns on both of their faces. “You’re not coming with us?”

“It would be better to have a Stable dweller speak to them?”

“If it was one of my brothers, sure.” Who knows what stories they’ve heard about me by now. “I’m… probably not the best choice for this, all things considered. I wasn’t popular here in the first place, and you two know better than most that I’ve made some… questionable decisions since leaving.” I tapped the door I stood beside. “I have a little business in here, and then I’m gonna head for Chrysalis’ core. I think I’ve got an idea of where it might be.”

Their eyes met for a split second. Cassie spoke first. “Where might that be?”

I met her stare. “Further in. Someplace where… Cadence and Chrysalis could stay hidden, and not have some random stumble across them.”

“And the Stable dwellers?” Cept had resumed his watch of the corridors. “You know them better.”

Well, I was around them more, at least. Doesn’t seem like we ever really ‘knew’ each other. “You’ll do fine. You’ve just gotta remember that they’re not Wastelanders. They don’t know killing like we do. Keep your weapons down, and speak softly, like they’re babies. Which, in a way, I guess they kinda are.” Harsh heat swelled in m breast. Coddled little fucking babies in a steel crib. Children with their playground games, don’t know anything about the world outside of these walls. “You’ll do fine. Just be kind. You got this, Cept, Cassie. Get them to stay in their rooms, and we’ll go back to the real work.”

While they had moved on to the main residential area, I stayed in the outskirts. Triggering the door to my old room, I took a deep breath. Wonder if they gave my room away while I was gone?

BEEP BEEP BEEP

OH SHIT! Magic surged as an ice cocoon shot up around me. Through the frost, I saw the flash as the mine went off. The explosion blasted me, cocoon and all, straight backwards into the far wall.

The shield around me shattered into tiny, frozen razor shards, digging into and across my flesh as I cowered. Only when the twinkling hail subsided did I remove my hooves from being wrapped around my head.

What remained of my room was a complete shambles. The bed’s frame was warped and burned. The mattress, sheets, and pillow were still ablaze. All that remained of my spare Stable jumpsuits, and the wardrobe that held them, was a pile of smoking fibres. The dresser across from the bed was overturned.

I can’t believe they boobytrapped my old room. Still blinking away stars, it took a few tries before I could get my shoulder under the dresser to lift it upright again.

When I did, I found I could breathe a small sigh of relief. “Oh, thank heavens.” There it was, the only thing in the room whose survival I actually cared about.

The frame was cracked, but intact. Soot and ash marred the glass cover, and the bottom quarter had been burned away in a rough triangle. That’s fine, I didn’t need that part. So long as the rest is okay. Digging a small item out of my pocket, I eased the frame away, and slotted it into the gap where the bottom triangle had been.

“Perfect.”

I left the room without a second thought, heading to the next door over. The boys’ room was far larger, and had been mercifully spared further explosive surprises. Apparently the Steel Rangers hadn’t known of the connection between the Doublehorns and I. Still, I didn’t delay. It hadn’t been a lie that we had other things to take care of, and I couldn’t linger too long.

It might have been my imagination, but I could swear that Mama Doublehorn smiled a little brighter in her frame when I placed my room’s salvaged treasure next to her picture.

A long second glance held me at the door this time. “My only good memories of this place were here. Love you.”

The Doublehorn’s door shut solidly. Glad to have taken the time, I started back the way Cassie, Cept, and I had come, back towards the Stable’s core.

The further away from the rooms I got, the more the outrage built in me. Who boobytraps a bedroom, seriously?! Steel Rangers, more like Steel RAIDERS!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Cassie and I heard voices up ahead, the loud whispers of a large group talking quietly. It never occurred to anybody that so many talking together made them louder than one talking normally. I looked down at my companion. “What should we say?”

“Shall we open with a joke?” She replied, her voice flat. “We shall have to just tell the truth, and hope that they believe us. At least enough to stay out of the way. We probably will not receive any help from them.”

“Hmm.” I grunted, as I considered this. “Then we should not speak long. The others need us.”

“Fine by me.” Cassie stopped before the final corner. The voices were just around the bend. Taking a deep breath, she smiled brightly, then stepped through into the main residential area.

Following after her, the number of beings stuffed into this space surprised me. Even with the large, open atrium, the residents of Stable 61 were packed in tight. Buffalo, Diamond Dogs, donkeys, and ponies pressed together on one large bunch. Foals, pups, and calves were perched on backs to ease the crush. At the other end of the room, I saw through to what came after, rows and rows of open doors, living quarters and other residents within.

Even the air within was full, with Pegasi and griffons flapping wherever they could stretch their wings. Two catwalks stretched from balcony to balcony, with zebra standing in a clump in the center of the far crossing.

None of the present bodies paid us much attention. Most were absorbed with their families and associates, while the zebra all seemed to be looking away from us.

Tilting her chin up, to carry her words further, Cassie opened her mouth to speak to the assembled creatures. “Excu-” She broke off almost immediately, grabbing at my shoulder. “Cept, look!”

Crouching, my eyes darted around the room, searching the walkways, atrium, and connecting stairways. “What is it? Enemies?”

She hunkered down too. “You will need to decide that.”

Her face seemed tight when I looked at her. “I do not understand. What do you see?”

She didn’t take her eyes off whatever sight she saw. “Cept, on the walkway with the other zebra. It’s Atesh.”

“Dhu?” I exclaimed, slipping into my native tongue before correcting myself. “How did he get here? Is he working with Latvi and the others also?”

She shook her head, black and red mane wafting into my face. “I do not know. He had the Overmare’s Pipbuck. He could find this place without their help.”

Her eyes were better than mine. I still couldn’t see him through the activity around us. “I must know what he is doing. Can you see from here?”

She slumped. “He’s talking, but I can’t tell what about. He’s not speaking Equestrian.”

For the zebra ears only? What does it mean? “Follow me.” Slinking to the right, I began to move around the edges of the mob, towards the stairs up to the walkway. Cassie stayed behind me in the edge of my vision.

None of the Stable dwellers would move, at first, just complaining and grunting as we tried to move through them. They only stepped aside when I growled back. Even buffalo did not want to fight an angry zebra, or perhaps it was because they did not know me.

Either way, they made what room they could, allowing Cassie and I to slip through to the staircase. Hidden on the stairs themselves were more zebra, all listening to the former Elder’s words. Sliding past them, I stopped just out of sight of the walkway, and perked up my ears.

In his calm, commanding tone, Atesh held court with the gathered zebra in our native tongue. “”

My eyebrows shot up, and my entire body locked.

I didn’t move an inch when Cassie pulled at my hoof. “Cept, what is it? What is he saying?”

Red was rapidly overtaking my vision. “Wait here, Cassiopeia. Do not interfere.”

She pulled harder. “Cept, tell me what he said. Is it about Naiara?”

Rising, I ignored her as her hoof fell away. Everything fell away. All I saw was Atesh’s grinning face. Thundering up the last few steps, I launched myself straight at him. “ROGA INRISPA!!!”

My hammering hoof barely missed his eye as he danced aside at the last moment, shock across his face. “Cept…”

I rose again at once, wheeling on him, even as his audience headed for the walkways, taking Cassie with them. Atesh and I were left alone on the walkway. Snarling in zebra tongue, my hunched form had him stepping back. “”

One hoof in front, Atesh gathered his Elder’s robes around him. “”

“<There is no ‘us’!>” I shot back, heart pounding in my heaving chest. “<You are no longer part of this clan. You gave up that right by conspiring with animals like Latvi and Peanut!>”

“<Yes, I was mistaken to trust ponies with zebra fates, I admit that.>” Atesh held out a hoof, smiling paternally. “<I should have trusted you, my proud successor. Join with me again, and we will bring our people home. Our mistakes don’t have to be forever.>”

There were no longer words for what I felt at that moment. My backhoof lifted Atesh into the air before I even realised I had moved. He barely managed to flip upright before landing, but I was on him the moment he touched back down. “” He twisted around my straight, but I threw him away on the backswing. “”

“” He had the nerve to snap, even as he danced away from my bucking thrust. “”

“CEPT!” Cassie called from three metres into the open air. “Don’t fight him angry, that’s what he wants! Calm down, then beat him!”

“NAIARA IS DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU, ATESH!” I roared in Equestrian, before switching back to the zebra tongue. “<You would know that if you hadn’t run like a damn coward!>”

“” Astonishment and anger warred across his face. Anger won. He went on the offensive, twisting and slamming against me. “”

I barely felt the hit. “” Elbowing him in the ribs, I tried to flip him but he kicked out at my front leg, breaking the hold.

“” Seizing my roundhouse kick, he yanked my leg fully straight, then spun into a counterblow straight to my stomach. “”

Gasping from the hit, I pushed up and away on my front hooves, putting some distance between us. “”

Atesh’s neutral face fell into a scowl. “” He leaned back into a ready stance.

“” I smirked around breaths. “”

His scowl turned into a sneer as he threw off his robe. “”

I didn’t blink at his threat, instead getting into my own stance. “”

Cassie’s voice broke our stare down. She was addressing the now-retreating Stable dwellers. “Everyone, please, don’t panic. This is an internal matter. None of you will be harmed, I promise. Just stay in your rooms for the time being.”

I looked over to her. Her back was to the walkway. Atesh moved towards her, winding back to throw.

I sprinted in between them. “Cassie, be careful!”

Too late, I realised Atesh’s plan. I blocked his view of Cassie, but put myself off-balance. Atesh planted a doublehoof strike into my face, and followed it up with vicious hook when I ricochet’d off the walkway’s railing. “”

Catching his next attack, I slammed my body weight down on his knee. “”

Howling with rage and pain, his teeth snapped shut just in front of my nose. “”

We spun apart again, then charged. Meeting in the middle of the catwalk, his thrust glanced off my shoulder just as his hoof turned my punch aside. Both of us reared up onto our hind legs, kicking and hacking at each other with hoof and tooth.

After a furious volley of back and forth blows, Atesh’s entire left side seemed to become totally boneless, whipping out and in and under my guard. Whatever the attack, it knocked my legs from under me, dumping me on my back. Rolling back, I just managed to avoid his follow up stomp. “”

Though his breathing had gotten heavier, Atesh wasn’t yet tiring. “”

He came at me again, strange movement on his right this time. Tensing, I took the attack, muscles screaming at the impact, but holding. While he was still in close, I rammed my forehead into his. Stars exploded in my eyes as he reeled, but I reared back and headbutted him again.

I couldn’t hold on the second time, allowing him to stagger away while I shook out the cobwebs. He silently glared my last question back at me.

It was my turn to smirk. “”

Bloody spittle leaked from the corner of his mouth. “”

I licked scarlet from one of my cuts. “”

On shaky legs, Atesh attacked. I parried strike after strike, not countering, just continuously avoiding any damage. His breathing became more ragged as we danced like this, and he belched blood after a surging strike that seemed to begin from a mile behind him. I was content to simply step aside, and let him jolt his own limb when it connected with the railing.

Clutching the limb, he glared daggers at me. “”

“” I remarked, eyes low and drooping, “”

“” Atesh hopped up, both hind legs scissoring for my head.

I twisted under it, back leg spinning up to drive into the back of his neck. He crumpled as I straightened, face inert. “” Ignoring his glare, his twitching body lay unmoving beneath me as I stood tall. “”

Cassie landed beside us, unfurling a cord from her bracer.

I took it with a quick “thank you”, and began tying Atesh’s limbs. I wanted all listening to hear my next words, so I switched back to Equestrian. “A mare I love very much said these words, not long ago. They are still true now.” I pointed to Cassie, and then to myself. “We love Naiara, and she loved us too. We saw her worth. That makes her ours.” I finished cinching him tight, so he couldn’t move even when his muscle control returned. “You did not see the truth of Naiara. To you, she was a birth giver and nothing more. Because of this, Naiara was never yours. She was not one of yours, she was one of us. And we will not let you have her, even in memory.”

Working together, Cassie and I pulled him upright. “You have lost this battle and you have lost your clan, former Elder Atesh. Be happy, though. You will see Roam again, to answer for your crimes.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jump to top

Chapter 29-4: We Await The Day

“Any more surprises at the front door, Bernstein?” Mom had fallen into an easy rhythm here in the Monitor Room, efficiently juggling the different feeds, along with directing Al, Amber, and I.

I liked watching her work.

“Undertow!”

Her snapped call brought me out of my reverie. “Yes, Mom?”

“Ain’t got time fer yeh to daydream, babygirl. Ah need yeh ready t’fight. The Rangers’ll notice we’re in here sooner or later.”

“Make that sooner!” Al hustled into the room, slamming the door behind him, and hammering the ‘lock’ button. “Got three Rangers coming up the corridor, and the one in front looks important.”

“Important how?” Fedexi Lexi kept her attention evenly split between the buffalo and the monitors.

Al was trying to wedge his metal shield against the door. “Well, he’s pretty old, and he’s got one of the others carrying his helmet for him.”

Blowing air past her lips, Mom racked her shotgun telekinetically. “Must be Iron Sights. Old bastard never did wanna do any o’ his own work.”

A hastily scribbled note bounced off Al’s horn. Unfurling it, he voiced Amber’s question. “‘What now? Trapped here.’ I dunno. That door’ll hold for a while, but the Rangers might have gotten override codes from Roc.”

We all jumped as a heavily armoured hoof rapped against the other side of the door. The door’s intercom clicked, and a robotic voice blared out. “Attention, intruders. You are ordered to surrender immediately or face immediate termination.”

Amber enlarged the feed from the corridor, fixing it in the center of the monitor bank. Al’s report had been accurate. Flanked by two helmeted and fully covered Paladins, both of whom had all firepower trained on the door, the leader of Neighlway’s Steel Ranger contingent stood waiting, impassive.

Exhaling through her nose, Mom stalked over to the intercom. Before she keyed the mic, she looked back at us. “Figger sumthin’ out, you three. Ah’ll keep ‘im talkin’ as long as Ah can.”

“Be careful, Mom.” I whispered, before throwing all of my attention at the screen, and the three armoured opponents it displayed. Three of them, all armed. I could probably fight one by myself, but the other two would get Al, Mom, and Bernstein before I could stop them. I need a way to stop them all.

Clearing her throat, my mother began her distraction. “Iron Sights, y’all wanna point them guns someplace else? Ah got kids in here an’ yeh’re spookin’ them.”

On the monitor, the Ranger elder’s head had snapped up on hearing the unicorn mare. Clearly not expecting it, he took a second to recover. “Fedexi Lexi? You are here?” His surprise faded into cold neutrality. “I suppose it should not come as a shock, what with your relationship to Red Ice.”

“Ain’t got a relationship with Red Ice, Elder.” she shot back, "Just with a little filly called Snowflake.”

Iron Sights tilted his head, mild amusement tugging his lips up. “You wish to discuss semantics? They are one in the same. She has herself told the Wasteland this. Or are you simply attempting to cover for one of your employees?”

“They ain’t the same,” my heart swelled to hear Mom defend my sister, “an’ neither works fer me anyway. Snowflake did me a favour a little while back, an’ you tintops jumped ‘er in the process.”

Iron Sights looked up at the camera, giving a wide smile. “Then I suppose I have you to thank for leading us here. Snowflake was very helpful in showing us the way to this place, albeit through others.”

While he was speaking, I was searching him and his companions for weaknesses. They all have energy weapons. They won’t jam.

“She wouldn’t do that.”

“She gave us the first clue. While we treated her after the Hissyflit ambush, her report on our Memory Orbs was invaluable.” He reaches up and tapped the Steel Ranger symbol on his armour plating. “Of course, it was a true Ranger who paved the way for us. Paladin Sa-sorry, now Paladin-Commander Sassaflash, is still loyally serving the order even over a century after her death.”

A hoof landed daintily on my shoulder. Turning, I saw Amber holding another scrap of paper in her mouth. What now? Levitating it, I unfolded its contents. There were only two words this time, but they still had the makings of a plan. Very clever, Bernstein. I lit up my horn, and went to work.

Al muttered something to Mom, who relayed it through the mic. “The Stable wasn’t even open that long ago. How the hell’d a Ranger get inside a hunnerd years ago?”

Iron Sights shrugged. “Well, she didn’t, not truly. She was the one who alerted her superiors to the traitorous actions of her husband, formerly Scribe Caramel, who was stripped of his rank for the crime of forsaking the codex, of desertion, and of simple cowardly incompetence. Where Sassaflash saw the majesty of our sacred duty, Caramel simply wanted to be near her. He was never truly committed to our cause, and attempted to flee to this Stable with their daughter. The daughter didn’t survive, and Caramel was exposed by Sassaflash herself for his crimes. She included details that allowed us to locate this place, where we found our new associate, Roc, eager to do business.”

“Ah dunno about you folks, but Ah’m thinkin’ Caramel might’ve been the smarter one o’ the pair, all told.” Her magic ruffled my mane warmly. “A pony’ll do the right thing every time fer their child.”

Iron Sights’ smile briefly turned into a frown, before his expression returned to neutral. “I’m sure that we can discuss the actions of our past heroes in greater detail at a later date, but for now I must ask again that you surrender.”

Sprinkles Supplies’ boss ignored his demand. “Why’d yeh even come here, Iron Sights? Ain’t no way Stable 61’s gonna give up all its tech to you and your hoarders. Surprised they let yeh in the door at all, t’be honest.”

Iron Sights waved the two Paladins forwards. “Your stalling grows tiresome, Fedexi Lexi. But, to answer your question, I convinced Roc that our goals were similar. ‘The restoration of Equestria’.” He chuckled. “Such an… imprecise and wide-ranging term. It can mean one thing to an individual, and something completely different to another. In time, Roc and the Stable will see that our way is the true path to that goal.”

“So long as they give yeh all their stuff, an’ let yeh do whatever with it, y’mean?”

Tight smile still in place, Iron Sights remained silent. The two other Rangers raised their weapons at the door, waiting for his signal. His hoof dropped, and the pair of Paladins fired their weapons.

Or tried to, anyway. Sparks and haggard grinding sounded from within their weaponry, prompting all three Steel Rangers to stare at the malfunctioning devices.

Wheeling around, Iron Sights raised his voice. “I gave you an order, Rangers. Get that door open!”

“Sorry, sir,” One responded helplessly, “weapons are nonfunctional. There appears to be corrosion in the interior systems.”

‘Metal rusts’ indeed. Thank you, Lady Bernstein. Aquamarine horn-glow fading, I nodded my appreciation to the Earth mare, who had already taken cover behind a desk.

“Al, get ready.” Lexi intoned, hoof hovering near the door panel.

“Gotcha.” Backing up as far as the small-for-a-buffalo room would allow, he squared his shoulders and heaved his heavy iron shield in front of him. “Just say the word.”

“RANGERS, GET THAT DOOR OPEN!”

Iron Sights’ ire had the two Rangers wilting slightly, but they pulled themselves together and began to mirror Al’s preparations.

The moment they had backed up enough, they began to charge.

Lexi hit the panel in the same moment, shouting for Al as the door whooshed open. “GO GO GO!”

At the Monitor Room’s threshold, Al again met a Ranger coming the other way, only this time it was the buffalo who was coming out, and carrying a few hundred kilos of solid steel with him.

Even in their armour, the Rangers were half his size, and went straight backwards on impact. One managed to grab hold of Al’s shield, and drag it away as he fell.

Al ignored it, and continued on after the other Ranger, diving his full bulk onto the rising pony, who was crushed back down into the floor.

Mom and I boiled out of the Monitor Room after him, her shotgun barking away at the Elder, who threw his hooves up to shield his unarmoured face.

I went for the last Ranger, the one who had grabbed the shield. Even with my horn, I couldn’t lift it, so I did the next best thing: I grabbed his corroded weapon and ripped it off his armour, then began beating him upside the head with it.

Al had his opponent hooked on his horns, and was ramming him into the walls again and again. The Ranger, clearly not used to fighting an opponent larger and stronger than themselves, was doing their best to get free by raining down blows on the skull between the horns. It was a battle of attrition between Al’s body and the Ranger’s armour.

My opponent had gotten the shield out of the way, and powered through my makeshift bludgeon, his hard shoulder plate ramming into my sternum.

White hot pain exploded through me as the breath left my lungs. Something hard rammed into my gut, leaving me retching on the floor, even as I covered myself from the Ranger’s assault, the butt of his severed weapon striking every part of me.

GET OFF! Forcing out some telekinesis, the unguided wave blasted the weapon out of their grip, sending it spiralling away.

Undeterred, the Ranger raised a hoof to stomp on me instead. I was already scrambling out of the way, however, and managed to get myself upright in time to get some distance.

Al’s showdown with the Ranger was over, with the Ranger unmoving on the floor, while Al was panting as he leaned against the wall. Our eyes locked for a moment, before he kicked out at the shield with his cloven hoof. “Jump!”

I jumped. The sliding sheet metal scythed the legs from under the Ranger, dumping them to the ground like their ally. As they tried to get their hooves back under them, I grabbed their helmet in my horn’s grasp, and twisted.

The snap of bone was audible, even through the armour, and the Ranger dropped like a stone.

“ENOUGH!” Iron Sights’ bellow whipped both our heads around.

The breath caught in my throat. MOM!

One hoof, wrapped around her neck, the Neighlway Elder held Fedexi Lexi’s shotgun to her temple. “Not one move, or else I will blow her head clean off!”

“Don’t hurt her!” My horn’s glow instantly faded. Al stayed leaning on the wall, chest heaving.

“That’s better.” Iron Sights squeezed my mother’s neck tighter as she struggled, before looking over to the remaining Ranger. “Paladin, wake up this instant. That is an order!”

Groggy, the Ranger pulled themselves upright. They saluted, before tottering over to their Elder’s side.

“All this for one criminal filly, Fedexi Lexi?” Iron Sights waved the shotgun over Al and I. “I confess, it doesn’t make any sense to me. You had to know that you couldn’t beat my Rangers with just this small force.”

“Sir,” the other Ranger had shaken off his daze, “permission to subdue the other two?”

“Granted.” Iron Sights kept his grip on the shotgun, and its barrel pointed at us.

The Ranger, now with a firm swagger in his step, walked right up to Al. “Not so tough now, are you, *lump*?” Then he raised an metal hoof, and cracked my brother across the jaw.

Crying out, Al staggered back. The Ranger went after him, backhoofing him this time.

“Al!” I tried to help him, but Iron Sights pressed the shotgun back into Mom’s temple. “Leave him alone!”

Back to the wall, Al shielded his face with his hooves as the Ranger tortured him, taunting as he did. “How’s that feel, Wastelander? You dare to raise a hoof against our Elder?”

Mom was still struggling in Iron Sights’ grip. “Real brave, beatin’ on a kid, Iron Sights!”

The stallion shrugged. “It wouldn’t be this way if you hadn’t attacked this Stable, and our allies here.” He noticed what Al was wearing on his wrist. “Be careful not to damage his Pipbuck, Ranger.”

“Yessir!” After one final smack, the Paladin began tugging Al’s Pipbuck off his leg.

I was vibrating with adrenaline. There’s gotta be something I can do here!

I was beaten to the punch. A paperweight shot out of the Monitor Room, beaning Iron Sights in the skull.

As he “Unk!”ed and grimaced, the shotgun dropped, not pointing at anyone.

Reaching out through the aether, twin aquamarine glows surrounded both the weapon and the hoof that held my mother, and fiercely ripped them in opposite directions.

Mom scrambled away as Iron Sights’ limbed stretched further than the old pony could take.

I levitated the shotgun over to her. “Mom, help Al! I’ll get the Elder.” Sending a silent thanks to Amber for her timely assist, I advanced on the limping stallion.

Brandishing a hidden knife from within his armour, he slashed at me jerkily.

With a far more potent excitation of the water around us than what I’d used to corrode their energy weapons, I rusted the knife blade to nothing in seconds. “You invade my brothers’ Stable...”

Instead of the air, I started sucking water from another source. “You slander and attack my sister, Snowflake…”

“Your sister?” Iron Sights gulped dryly.

The water I was controlling was sent to his armour’s joints locking them in place. “You point a gun AT MY MOTHER?”

Armour locked up, Iron Sights could only pant and cough hoarsely.

“Perhaps you have forgotten, Steel Ranger, but I led a band of Raiders for years.” His helmet was positioned over his face, but not attached just yet. “Do you think it wise to anger a Raider chieftain?” Pushing my magic to its limits, I grimly sucked ever greater amounts of water from his body.

Unable to sweat, or cry, or even bleed, Iron Sights choked and gargled as his throat cracked and his flesh split. What little mane he had left fell out, all the while unable to move because of his rusted-out armour.

Shoving his helmet down onto his head, I sealed it with rust, then corroded the air valves until they were completely blocked. I flared into the visor, through to the trapped stallion underneath.

Having disposed of the other Ranger, Mom joined me in facing Iron Sights’ form-fitting tomb. “By the by, when yeh asked if Snowflake was mah employee? She ain’t. She’s mah daughter, an’ so’s this one here. Prob’ly shouldn’ta threatened mah family, Iron Sights. Ah don’t take kindly to it. Yeh can consider our business arrangement over.”

Reaching up with her shotgun, she pushed the armour over with a CLANG!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Is… is it over?” A middle-aged pegasus with a glass-tumbler-and-fruit-wedge Cutie Mark eased herself into the atrium from the far corridor. “You’re not gonna off the rest of us, are ya?”

Leaving Cept to hold Atesh, I hopped up to perch on the walkway railing. “No. Our business in the Stable is not with its residents. So long as you stay out of the way, and do not try to hinder us or assist the Rangers, we will leave you alone.”

Emboldened by the news, but still staying close to the wall behind her, the amber pegasus floated up until she was at eye-height with me. “Then why’re you here? What do you Old Equestria-types want with our Stable?”

I shared a blank look with my companion. Cept was as lost as I was, mouthing “Old Equestria?” to himself.

I tried to wave her off. “It’s none of your concern. Please, go back to your room while we take Atesh away. We are not ‘Old Equestria-types’, and we do not desire anything from your Stable’s inhabitants, miss…?”

Frowning, her eyes flicked back to the doorway she’d emerged from. “Name’s Whiskey Sour, an’ you didn’t answer my question. Why are you here? We shut ourselves away because we didn’t wanna deal with your war. Why’re you bringing it here?”

“I merely wanted to take my people back to their home country.” Atesh quipped, but Cept nudged his shoulder forcefully.

The younger zebra tried to placate the mare. “We do not want war. We are only here for one thing. Your Stable is not in danger.”

Frown devolving into a glare, Whiskey Sour slammed the Pipbuck she wore on her wrist into the wall behind her. The collision let off a ringing. “Of course it’s in danger! First those damn metal Rangers show up, and now we’ve got strange zebra brawling in the bunks! Everything we were taught was right, Old Equestria is a violent, fool place, and so are the ones who live there.”

Why is this bumpkin so angry? My patience rapidly depleting, I gave up the diplomatic approach. “Old Equestria is two-centuries-deceased, you foolish mare! Your little Stable is living in fear of a ghost. We don’t care about what you were taught. We just want to finish our work here, and then go back to our lives. You and the others back there in those rooms are not in the least bit important to us. Go back to your room, and stop wasting our time!”

The situation did not improve. Whiskey Sour puffed herself up as big as she could manage. “You ain’t coming into my home and bossing me around. We’ve had nothing but grief ever since-” She visibly blocked herself from finishing.

You don’t need to say it. We already know to what you are referring. “...since Snowflake?” I allowed myself to briefly enjoy her shocked expression. “Oh yes, we know about her. We know what happened here. Would you like to know something interesting?”

Pupils half-shrunk, Whiskey Sour had dropped to the ground in front of the doorway. She said nothing as she watched us, unblinking.

Perhaps this will get you out of our way? “She is here, with us. I am surprised your Overseer, Roc, did not make you aware of this fact. She has told us so much about this place.”

Gaping, her back hoof slipped back into the corridor behind her. “Snowflake’s here? She’s alive? How?”

Competent acquaintances, and not a small amount of sheer dumb luck. “You will have to ask her yourself.” I held out a hoof. “Shall I take you to her?”

“Keep her away from me!” The amber pegasus bolted back through the doorway, and we heard several heavy locks slide into place further in.

The two zebra had watched in silence, but now Cept spoke up. “You did not need to scare her. She does not know what we know.”

Maybe not, but it’s done now. “It ended the conversation quickly, and made it less likely that any more of the Stable’s population will bother us. Sometimes cruelty is faster than kindness.”

“A fair assessment,” Atesh piped up, “it is a pity you are not a zebra.”

Cept slugged him in the stomach, doubling him over. “Be silent, Atesh. Your want of a wife has brought too much trouble already.”

Yes… ‘a wife’. That is the level of relationship that Atesh wanted. “Cept, I cannot wait for you and Breeze to get some quiet time to… chat.”

“While I am sure that would provide endless entertainment,” a voice sounded out in the stairway from which we had entered, sending a jolt up my spine. “I’m afraid he’ll be just too busy.”

“Latvi!” I chorused with the two zebra, as we all whipped around.

Flanked by Monsters, the blond unicorn stood bold-as-brass in the mouth of the corridor. His smirk stayed constant as the griffons around him pointed weapons at us. “I confess, I did not expect to see my former partner here. What brings you to Stable 61, Elder Atesh?”

Even while bound, Atesh raised his chin before speaking. “It is private, Latvi.”

We were surrounded now. The Monsters had taken to the air to cover us up, down, and all around.

Latvi just smiled at Atesh’s reticence. “Very helpful, Atesh. Fortunately, I have other ways to gain the information I need.” He swiped a hoof at the three of us. “Hold them down!”

Feathered felines crowded in immediately, powerful claws forcing us down to the floor. I tried to wrest myself free, but a razor-sharp talon ran itself across my eyebrow.

On the other side of Atesh, Cept sported several small cuts on his pinched cheeks, but was as restrained as the zebra elder or I.

“That’s better. Stay still, you two. I’ll get to you two in a moment. For now,” Latvi sauntered up to Atesh, and dipped his horn down to the crown of the old stallion’s head, “let’s retrace your steps, shall we?”

Dark blue surrounded Latvi’s horn and, almost immediately, Atesh began writhing under the rope and claws that held him.

Latvi didn’t seem to notice, or care. Humming to himself, his half-lidded gaze showed that he was directing his attention elsewhere. “Hmm… yes… oh! Atesh, you should have told me that you were having troubles with your followers. I could have helped, you know?”

Spittle was building at the corners of Atesh’s mouth, as the unicorn poked and prodded in his mind.

Blinking, Latvi returned to reality for a moment. His gaze centered on Cept. “Congratulations on your promotion, short-lived though it may be.”

Cept’s golden eyes met his mockery with a cold stare. “Do not talk to me, monster. You will not be forgiven for Naiara.”

“And I’m all torn up about, truly.” Latvi snarked, before returning to Atesh. “Let’s continue, my old ‘friend’.” He delved back into the zebra’s mind, none too gently, muttering at every new find. “Okay, so… you’re here to recruit more zebra… still want to return to Roam, I see, aaand… OHO! Here we go!”

Latvi’s horn dimmed, and he smooshed Atesh’s face between his hooves. “You’ve still got designs on enslaving me! All to grow new crystals for your Roam.” Still gripping Atesh’s jaw, he began twisting. “What should I do about that, hmm, Atesh? What should I do to show you that trying to control me was not a good idea?”

Cept growled from the side, renewing his struggle against the griffons weighing him down. “Do not touch him, Latvi. Atesh will face the justice of Roam, not your sick jokes!”

Responding with a flat stare, the blond scientist was unmoved. “The more things change, the more they stay the same. Another zebra colt who thinks he can tell me what to do.” Latvi’s horn glowed in Cept’s direction. “I was going to do this after I was finished with Atesh anyway, but he’s not going anywhere. I can take my time with him, he’s alone. You all, though? I would rather like to know what your friends are up to, and where.”

Golden eyes shining in the horn light, Cept faced it unblinkingly. “I will tell you nothing!”

Calm down, Cept. We cannot tell him anything, but we must be patient until we have an opportunity to escape. Even though I worried about Cept’s provocation, I still felt myself agreeing with him. I haven’t forgotten my promise. Today, Latvi dies.

Abruptly, Latvi’s magic faded again. “I believe you, Cept. And that’s why…” A wide grin blossomed on Latvi’s face, “...I’ll ask her.”

The breath caught in my throat as he whipped around, horn aglow. Cept’s howl of protest was ignored.

It was like a claw, dozens of times as large and sharp as those on my flesh, was squeezing my mind. GETITOUT! Get out of my head! Breath ragged, I could do nothing as the claw tore into my memories, sifting through my most private moments, private thoughts.

The pleasure Latvi took in viewing these was perverse. “Well, that is impressive. A clean shot, straight through Ballbuster’s eye. I wondered what had happened to her.”

“Fu… fuck… you!” Forcing out that much took an inordinate effort.

“You’re not my type.” He deadpanned. “And you don’t seem to have a type. Or perhaps you do, and just don’t know what it is yet, because you spend all your time worrying about your sister?”

No, Breeze! I couldn’t help it. Thoughts of her sprang to the forefront of my mind.

Latvi noticed too. “There she is. Your Aqua Breeze.” With terrible certainty, his focus halted on a particular memory. Sighing contently, Latvi continued. “Ah. She’s not yours, is she? Not really.”

“Stop this, Latvi!” Cept was near-roaring now, and two more griffons had piled on to hold him down.

Latvi shrugged. “Relax, Cept, I’m not talking about you.”

I hated him the most in that moment. “Please, no. Don’t.” Don’t you touch that memory!

He was in his own little world of fun, though, and didn’t stop. “All this time, Cassiopeia Venatici. So many years, you have let her believe a lie.”

“I had to!” I cursed, willing myself to push against his intrusion into my memories. “Breeze needs me!” Don’t judge me, you bastard!

“Should I tell her?” He mused, more to himself than to me.

“You will not go near Breeze, coward!” Even as one of the Monsters slammed his head back against the floor, he didn’t stop glaring at Latvi.

“Actually, I think we’ll go now. We were going to find the Overseer’s Office anyway, so this can accomplish two things at once.” He gestured to the Monsters. “Take them. Aqua Breeze can watch them both die.”

“NO!” Cept and I chorused, fighting harder to get free.

Cept wasn’t done with just one word, though. He got his head away from the claws for a moment, long enough to scream out “SASA!!!”

He got an elbow in the ribs for his troubles, courtesy of the closest Monster. “Quiet, Stri—”

A thrown knife, burying itself in his jugular, cut off his bigotry mid-insult. The air all around us shimmered, exploding into action as stealth-cloaked zebra shed their disguises, too close for the griffons to bring their weapons to bear.

Cept’s clan, waiting for their new Elder’s signal.

Within moments, Cept, Atesh, and I were free of the Monsters’ hold as they tussled with the new arrivals. To their credit, the mercenaries didn’t panic at the ambush, and fought back with anything they could use; talons, beaks, foreheads, rifle butts.

The zebra had the edge in numbers, but the griffons probably outmassed them. Both sides were firing weapons, slinging blades, and attacking with their martial arts.

Cept, given an opening by his clanmates, dived into the fray. He crumpled a knee with a powerful kick, but took a thunderous hook to the jaw from the falling griffon.

“Be careful, Cept!” It was hard to know if he heard me with all that was going on, but I was painfully aware of just how tired he must be, having fought Atesh by himself earlier.

Where is Atesh? And where is Latvi?!

The first question was answered as the old stallion fell into me, still tied up, as a Monster took potshots at us with an oversized pistol. The two of us scrambled away as the griffon’s shots ricochet’d around us. One glanced off my bracer, straight into Atesh’s thigh.

He cried out, falling onto the ground as blood flew from the wound.

Serves you right, selfish old coot. I didn’t care about his health, so long as he lived to face the justice that Cept was adamant he endure, but the wounded prey had drawn the full attention of the predatory griffon.

Deploying my bracer’s whip mid-twirl, I lashed the pistol out of the griffon’s claw as he stood over Atesh.

Snarling as he clutched at the flayed flesh of his talons, the Monster changed his target to me. Kicking Atesh in the face as he bounded over him, the was on me almost before I could blink. I just barely managed to get my hidden blade slashing in front of me in time to drive him back, though unbloodied. Those back steps brought him into the path of a wild ball of violence that was morphing and shifting between two Monsters, and three of the zebra clan.

With a moment of relative calm, I refocused. WHERE IS LATVI?

Even with my eyes, it was hard to see through the maelstrom of bullets, blades, and bodies. After a few seconds, I spotted a flash of blond on the main floor of the atrium, below.

No! “CEPT,” I called out into the chaos, “LATVI’S RUNNING!”

“FOLLOW HIM!” He called back from within the forest of feathers and stripes. “WE WILL FINISH HERE!”

“DON’T DIE!” I yelled as I flipped off the walkway into the air, an agreement and a command. My wings pumped as I angled for the corridor, Latvi having already disappeared inside.

I caught a glimpse of his wide-eyed face, taking the far turning at a dead run. You’re not getting away again! “THERE’S NO ESCAPE, LATVI!”

I didn’t get an answer. He was putting all his energy into running.

Side-on as I took the corner, hooves kicking against the wall, I spotted Latvi thirty metres ahead. My Rifle was in my hooves in seconds. The corridor was clear, and I had a clean shot.

The round soared from the barrel before I even realised I’d pulled the trigger. I watched it plow straight through his temple…

...and spark against the wall ahead of him.

Wha? “That was a clean hit! What happened?”

Latvi turned another corner.

Furious, I surged after him, twisting around the bend into another shot. “This time!”

I hit him between the shoulder blades, I saw it with my own eyes. Yet, somehow, the unicorn continued running, heading up the stairs leading to the Stable entrance.

WHY WON’T YOU DIE?! Angry tears began to blur my vision as I racked another round into the chamber. I didn’t miss. I can’t have missed! What’s going on?

Up the stairs, running through the gap where the Stable door had been, I focused on Latvi’s retreating form. “It’s definitely you, you coward! I can see the fear in your eyes!”

I went to pull the trigger, but stopped. I saw that.

For the briefest of moments, Latvi’s body had flickered out of existence. Where he’d been running was empty space, and he’d jumped twenty metres ahead. He was back in the original spot a moment later.

I understand.

Rather than taking the shot, I followed him through the tunnel. He continued running out into the eternal blizzard. I stopped at the entrance. Even in this horrid weather, my eyes could track him for a few moments.

I held the scope to my eye, and waited.

Latvi’s desperate run continued down the mountain, kicking up loose snow as he sprinted.

He flickered. I tightened my grip. “Not this time.”

Swinging my rifle out, I sighted along the path the far flicker had taken.

With a mighty CRACK, my rifle round blasted through his hip.

The closer Latvi disappeared as the farther one fell, horn’s dark blue glow fading.

The grim smirk crossing my face wouldn’t have stopped it if I wanted it to. Got you.

I snuffed out the last of the magic’s traces with three more shots; pelvis, shoulders, spine.

The snow around Latvi was already crimson and shiny, but he was still barely moving.

“That was for Naiara.” The barrel of my rifle sizzled as it lowered into the snow. “Nobody is going to remember you.”

I watched my friend’s murderer bleed out, alone in the crimson snow.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jump to top

Chapter 29-5: We Await The Day

Buff’s expression shifted between grimace and glare as he heaved himself up the stairs to the Overseer’s Office, one at a time. “Why didn’t he just stay down?”

“Slow down! I still have to finish cinching you up.” Esto did her best to tie off the makeshift splint, cobbled together from his shield and some bindings, around his front right leg. “If you move around too much, it won’t set right.”

“And stop whining!” I groused, measuring the weight of my all-too-empty gear. “I had to use up most of my grenades on that guy. Only got, like, six left.”

“Good thing we’re here, then.” Buff stood at the top of the stairs and, after taking a moment to gauge the weight on his splint, used his good hoof to key the door release.

Predictably, it didn’t open.

What it did trigger, however, was the P.A. system kicking in. Roc’s harried politeness sounded out, loud and strained. “Attention, Steel Rangers! Converge on the Overseer’s Office immediately. There are three intruders attempting to gain entry.”

Great. Immediately, I fished out my grenades. The corridor behind us was empty, for now, but Roc’s announcement would bring more soon enough. “Get that door open, you two!”

Great resounding thuds echoed around us as Buff hammered against the door. “Roc, open this door! This has to end!”

“It will,” the griffon responded over the speakers, “just as soon as the other Rangers arrive. They will deal with you, and then your friends. You never should have come back, Al.”

Esto was studiously contemplating the locking mechanism for the Over Office door, and didn’t look away at Roc’s words. “This one is not Al, ‘Overseer’.” Her horn glowed, but the door stubbornly remained closed. “And you should think carefully about what will happen in your partnership with the Steel Rangers. They are not known to play by any rules except their own.”

Roc’s tone instantly shifted to haughty politeness. “And who might you be, madam? I don’t believe we have had the pleasure.”

Esto matched his tone. “I am afraid that I only give out my name face-to-face. I’m sure you understand. If you could just open the door, I would be happy to introduce myself.”

Roc chuckled. “You know that I won’t do that. A fair attempt, though.”

Shrugging in a ‘worth a try’ manner, Esto tried the door again. Unfortunately, she had no more success than last time.

Well, now what? We can’t waste all our time talking to this moro—wait, what’s that? Twisting and flicking my ears, I listened harder.

Uh oh. The faint sound of hooves on metal began to grow louder. “Guys, we gotta get out of here. Somebody’s coming.”

Buff wheeled around as fast as his injured leg would allow. “Rangers?”

“If it is, they’re not in armour, but it could be their scribes.”

Esto was helping Buff back down the stairs. She pointed across the corridor. “There’s an alcove.”

Between us, we dragged Buff across the open space, then hunkered down.

We didn’t have to wait long. Not even thirty seconds after we’d taken cover, a pegasus mare in Plottawan uniform clattered up the stairs to Roc’s office.

Buff stiffened. “The Overmare!” He hauled himself upright, and ran-limped after Willow Wisp.

That’s her? Esto and I followed, as the shouting started from within the Over Office.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?” Demanded Roc.

“IT’S MY OFFICE!” Willow Wisp shouted back.

“It most certainly is not! You lost the election fair and square and, in addition, I EXILED YOU!” The griffon’s smooth voice cracked at the end.

Esto and I caught up with Buff just inside the door. Current and former Overseer stood, claws and front hooves pressing down on either side of the desk, glaring at each other.

Vehemently shaking her head, Willow Wisp didn’t back down. “That means nothing! Look what you’ve done to the Stable, MY Stable, in my absence. Steel Rangers?! Who told you that was a good idea?”

A talon rose from the desk to point squarely between her eyes. “YOU would have had us sit behind the Stable door forever. There is an entire world out there, full of possibility, and you sealed us away, cowering in fear!”

She batted the talon aside. “You’ve seen the files, ‘Overseer’. You know what Stable 61 was formed to do.”

“Yes,” Roc mocked, “‘a total segregation from the conflict’. A pipe dream that left us stagnating, until we would have no choice but to turn on each other.”

“Perhaps not for you, but I was able to juggle everybody just fine!”

At my side, Buff rumbled in his chest. His face had set stonily, watching the argument stoically.

Roc noticed us before Willow Wisp did. Instantly, his eyes sharpened. “Buff! I have an offer for you! Cease your intrusion into the Stable, restrain Willow Wisp, and assist our forces in driving out the other invaders. Do that, and I will allow you and your brothers to return to the Stable’s ranks.”

Buff twitched in response, but said nothing.

Willow Wisp, now aware of their audience, gave a counter-offer. “No, Buff. Help me to retake my Stable, and we will get our home back on the proper track.”

“These two are very loud,” Esto whispered in my other ear, “and the office door is still open.”

At her words, my eyes swivelled back to stare at the open entryway. “Good point.” Rangers, or whoever, could still be on their way.

Spinning, I slammed my hoof into the door’s control panel. Squealing and grinding, it slammed shut behind us. The satisfying click of the lock was music to my ears.

It seemed to stir Buff out of his reverie as well. Cienna shoulders hunching, he panned across the griffon and pegasus in turn. “‘Return’. ‘Retake’. Both of you saw fit to send people away. You,” he fixed Roc with a hard stare, “threw me and my brothers, not to mention your defeated opponent, out into a world we knew nothing about, as your first act in power.”

Face contorting, Roc tried to backtrack. “Well, you see, that was merely—”

Ignoring him, Buff wheeled on to the Overmare. “And you decided to throw Snowflake out of the Stable in the first place, no doubt giving Roc here the idea in the first place. Oh, and don’t either of you think for a moment that leaving Snowflake out of your speeches just now went unnoticed.”

Willow Wisp fluttered her feathers timidly. “I-I didn’t mean—”

Even with one limb crippled, Buff pulled himself up to his full, near-full-grown-bull Buffalo height. “Why should I believe, or help, either of you, when you both see fit to throw away things you have no use for, or those who are a distraction? How is that path going to help the Stable find its way?” He took two heavy steps towards the desk, causing it to creak when he leaned on it. “The Stable door is gone. My sister saw to that. My sister, Snowflake, who has seen and done more in mere weeks in the Wasteland, than both of you two have done in your combined times behind this desk. You can’t ignore Snowflake any more, either of you. So, I’ll ask the two of you a simple question: If I help you, what will you do in regards to Snowflake and her friends?”

Silence descended the moment he had finished. It was awesome.

You’ve got nothing, either of you. All you’re both thinking about is this office and the chair behind the desk. Not a clue as to what you’d do the next time somebody from outside makes their way here. Maybe got you both thinking a little harder about the endgame of having Steel Rangers here, yeah?

I almost burst out laughing when I noticed the two of them give each other, staunch opponents mere moments ago, a worried glance.

“That’s what I thought.” Buff drawled.

Seeing no help coming from the buffalo, the past and present Overseers turned to Esto and I.

Roc looked to me. “We spoke at the Stable entrance, you and I. I can offer you complete access to ALL the Stable’s technology, free of charge, for as long as you need.”

Guffawing, I waved him off. “Good for you, champ. You do that.”

It took Willow Wisp slightly longer to field an offer, having never met Esto before. “Peanut has resources, much more than this place. You could have whatever you want; caps, weapons, stallions… mares?”

Esto rolled her eyes. “Peanut’s empire lies in ruins. Plottawa is a wreck, his army is trapped in Lethbridle, and he is forced to ally himself with ponies such as Latvi and yourself. I will not forgive that last part.”

Shield-splint clanging with every step, Buff began to walk around to the griffon’s side of the desk. “Get out of that chair, Roc.”

“Never!” Reaching under the desk, Roc hit something with his left claw. His other came up wielding a heavy pistol as the wall and floor behind the desk began to slide open. “You won’t take me in my own office!”

We all, Willow Wisp included, dove for cover as he wildly unloaded every bullet around the room.

This guy’s gonna kill us! And it’s gonna be a fluke!

Thankfully, the bark of his weapon fell silent without any of his untrained shots biting into me. Nobody else had cried out either, not even the Overmare. Still, I refrained from rising too hastily. “Anybody hit? Buff? Esto?”

“‘m okay.” Buff grunted from halfway around the desk.

“No injuries.” Esto confirmed from the corner.

Well, that’s a reli—

“I too, am—”

“NOBODY CARES!” My interruption shut Willow Wisp up. “Where’s Roc?”

Buff had gotten up, and was exploring the now-bare wall behind the desk. “Looks like some sort of escape hatch.” He banged against it thrice. “Can’t get it open.”

“Perhaps he jammed it shut during his escape?” Esto made her way around the desk to join him.

Oh, wonderful. Without even looking, my greave swung up and in front of the Overmare’s jaw, my Shock Lock javelin deployed and crackling. As her eyes widened, I keyed the communicator. “Heads up, guys. We’re in the Overseer’s office, but Roc got away. Got the old Overmare here, though, so that’s something at least.”

Fedexi Lexi’s rural timbre came through right away. “Awright, un’erstood. Jus’ get into the system, an’ see what y’can do to help the others out. We’ll keep an eye out fer Roc.”

“Roger that.” I clicked the communicator off. “So close to getting him, too.”

“Like you said,” Esto turned away from the wall through which Roc had made his escape, and sat herself down in the Overseer’s chair, “we have the old Overseer.” Esto began tapping away at the keyboard. She spoke to Willow Wisp without looking up. “If you have a way to gain access to this system, now would be the time to speak.”

The pegasus’ eyes hardened almost immediately. “You’re in my chair. If you want my help, move aside.”

“Nobody wants your help, and this is not your office any longer. You gave up that right when you forsook the ideals of this place.” Buff moved away from the wall, planting himself in front of her and looming. “You threw my sister out of her home, then allied yourself with a slaver for power. You can prove your worth, or my friend here,” he indicated me and my still-sparking spear, “can knock you out so we can work in peace. Which will it be?”

She held his stare long enough that my hoof began to tire of holding up the greave. She’s actually gonna make me do it, isn’t she? Let it go, lady!

Instead, she cocked her head to the side, somehow sprouting a small smile. “Easy, isn’t it? To talk down to those you hold influence over? You’re not so pure yourself, Buff. Your sister’s influence, no doubt.”

Ignoring his gaping, she shoo’d him out of the way with her wings, moving over to stand by Esto. “Start with the main directory. I doubt Roc will have changed too much in his short time here. Now, what you want to do is…”

Retracting my Shock spear, I kicked the buffalo in the shin, just hard enough to break his thousand-yard-stare. “Don’t worry about it, big guy. She’s just being a bitch.”

“R-right.” He looked like he wanted to say something further, but gave up and went to stand guard near the staircase door.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“LOOK OUT!” Lo threw himself in front of Facemask, getting his shield up just as the rocket hit. Schwarzwald and I managed to dive aside, but the impact lifted the buffalo off his hooves, spinning back to crash into the wall at the far end of the atrium.

“Lo! Facemask, how is he?” Where’d that shot come from? I ducked behind a pillar, listening and looking for the shooter.

The grizzled medic had tumbled back with the youngest Doublehorn. He poked his head around Lo’s bulk, lips curled down. An angry red streak ran down his face face under his faded mane. “He’s out, and there’s some shrapnel in him. I gotta dig it free and patch things up.”

Across from me, behind another pillar, Schwarzwald called back to the old stallion. “You are bleeding too, dahling. Take care of the little one, and of yourself. We will deal with this.”

We will? “Did you see where that came from?”

She nodded back at me, revving up her minigun. “Three Rangers near the far wall. They have cover.” To accentuate her point, she leaned out for just long enough to fire one short burst, then immediately had to wrench her head back to avoid the massive return volley.

Once the enemy fire subsided, I raised my voice to address the room as a whole. “What do you want? We’re trying to get through. We have no quarrel with you.”

Tittering laughter was the response. A labcoat-wearing teal unicorn, armed with a wicked-looking laser rifle and flanked by two fully armed and armoured Paladins, sauntered casually into view. “Oh come now, my dear colt, we both know that’s not true.”

I know that guy. Seeing that none of the Rangers were actively aiming their weapons at us, I poked my head out enough to speak to him. “You were in Neighlway. Why are you here?”

He rolled his eyes. “‘You were in Neighlway’. That’s all I get? I even introduced myself then. The least you could do is remember my name.”

Schwarzwald leaned out to see, too. “It was ‘Happy Pills’, yes, dahling?”

He clapped his hooves together, suddenly smiling. “There we go, one of you was paying attention. And I love the ‘dahling’. Keep that up.”

I was a little preoccupied in Neighlway, ‘Happy Pills’. “What do you want, Happy Pills?”

His expression shifted to contemplative. “What, personally? I mean, we Steel Rangers are here to protect the Stable and all its wonderful toys,”

No mention of the people, I notice.

“But as for me? I’m kinda hoping that I can finally see the little princess again.” Reaching back, he patted one of the side of one of the hulking Paladins. The larger one. “Like I said back in Neighlway, the wife here was so disappointed that she didn’t get the chance to finally meet Princess. Breaks my heart, so it does.”

Both Schwarzwald and I raised an eyebrow as Happy Pills’ ‘wife’ grunted, the sound anything but feminine.

The other Paladin grunted too, but with an undercurrent of frustration.

Happy Pills shrugged. “Of course, this one here… Go on, introduce yourself.”

Even with a helmet on, the look the Ranger gave him was telling. “...Paladin Sticky Buns.”

Pinballing between the two, Happy Pills never stopped smiling. “Sticky Buns here just wants to kill her. Something about monitor duty weeks back. Not important. Anywho, imagine the wife and I’s luck when it turns out that this Stable happens to be where Princess grew up. I’ve already visited her room and left her a flashy gift. Y’know, to be neighbourly.”

Schwarzwald chuckled into her hoof. “Why would you think we would give up our ‘Princess’?”

The head of the ‘wife’ snapped up straight, fixating on Schwarzwald. Happy Pills noticed and, momentarily, looked worried.

Sticky Buns was less stoic. He stomped a heavy metal hoof. “You don’t have a choice. On the orders of Elder Iron Sights, Snowflake will die at my hooves.”

The wife’s head turned on a swivel, staring down the other Paladin. Happy Pills jumped in between the two. “Now now, dearies, have to play nice. I have a compromise. If we cause enough ruckus with these fine folks here, I’m sure Princess will come running. We can secure her, the wife and I can have our fun, and THEN Sticky Buns can kill her.”

It was my turn to roll my eyes when Schwarzwald whispered ‘If only you weren’t an enemy’. Gimme a break, Schwarz. This guy’s just nuts.

“That being said,” Happy Pills hefted his giant blaster in his magic, “weapons ready. Dear heart, why don’t you take care of the griffon?”

Griffon? Shit, is Wings here? Whipping my head around, I laid eyes on the black and white tiercel. Nope, not Wings.

Caught out in the open, mid-flap, Eitom clearly hadn’t been expecting to find three Steel Rangers pointing weapons at him, nor the undoubtedly gobsmacked look he was getting from me. “...Um.”

Well, not even close to my favourite griffon, but this could work. I forced cheer into my voice. “Glad you’re here, buddy. Lend us a claw with these guys, will ya?”

He blinked. Once. “What? I don’t—”

Sticky Buns did. “Confirmed as hostile. Open fire!”

Immediately, the air was filled with lasers.

“OH COME ON!” Wheeling and twisting, Eitom dropped down to crouch behind the same cover I was hiding behind. “This is all your fault!”

Suck it up, prick. “Yep. And neither you nor us can take three Rangers alone. We’ll have to work together. We can kill each other after that.”

Bloodshot eyes stood out in stark contrast to his white feathers, but he didn’t disagree.

Good enough. I nodded to Schwarzwald, and we readied our weapons. “We’ll give you cover. Fly to the upper level. We’ll have them taking fire from two angles.”

Even as he nodded, he hiss-growled at me, plumage hackled. “If this is a trick—”

“SCHWARZ, NOW!” Snapping off two shots at Happy Pills, forcing his wife to step in front of him as a shield, I didn’t wait to see if I’d done any damage, instead turning my attention to the other Paladin, Sticky Buns.

Schwarzwald’s gatling battered at his helmet’s visor. Throwing up a hoof to shield his eyes, the Ranger was firing blind.

Beside me, Eitom took flight, surging up past the firing arc of the Rangers. His back paws clattered on the upper mezzanine, and soon his automatic rifle began kicking out fire too.

Happy Pills had retreated to cover, and Sticky Buns was at least acknowledging our efforts. The wife, however, simply began to stalk across the gap between our respective covers, not even flinching at the bullets rattling against her armour. Her energy weapon, a triple-barreled monstrosity that was a full third her size, superheated the metal walls around us when it struck. Even her voice was unflinching. “Bring me the Princess! Where is she?”

Schwarzwald tried for a shot at her flank as she got close, but laserfire from Happy Pills slashed across her back, dropping her to the floor, even as the wife was almost on her.

“Schwarz!” Without thinking, I leapt out of cover, between the two mares. Green fire enveloped me, and I was a very different pony when I landed.

“You want the Princess?” Snowflake’s voice flew from my lips. “Here I am. Come get me!”

From above, Eitom’s voice cut in. All the anger had been replaced with bewilderment. “What the fuck?”

The other two Rangers had stopped firing. The unicorn in the labcoat was gawking, while the helmeted Sticky Buns simply stared.

Long as they’re not shooting at us. Dancing around the wife, I poked and prodded at her as I circled. “Follow the Princess, wifey! Come on, I’m right here.”

Dumbly, she tried to track me, but was too big, too slow, and too lost.

I kept up my capering until she was fully turned around, away from Schwarzwald and my other friends, facing back towards her husband and fellow Paladin. Now would be good, guys.

Eitom fired at the same time Sticky Buns did.

The griffon’s bullet hit Happy Pills between the eyes. He dropped without a word.

The Ranger’s lasers struck the black and white griffon dead center in his chest. He barely had time to gasp before he burned away to ash.

Two simultaneous roars sounded. The wife raised both front hooves up, slamming them down where I’d been just a moment before.

On the mezzanine, a straw-coloured griffon scooped up Eitom’s rifle, twinning it with one in his other claw, and unloaded both straight at Sticky Buns, screaming all the while.

Juking as I fled from the wife-turned-widow’s wrath, I had no time for anything fancy. It took all I had to keep ahead of her crushing stampede.

One stomp hit close enough to throw me off my hooves, bouncing me off a support pillar, and straight to the floor under her raised hoof.

There were no words for the sight of that colossal armoured hoof, bigger than my head, blotting out the light above me.

Schwarzwald’s gatling roared, shot after shot slamming into the forgotten triple laser strapped to the wife’s side. The damage discharged the battery, unbalancing but not toppling the wife.

When Lo slammed into her from the other side, she finally did fall. For a half second at least, and then she was up again, clashing with the buffalo who outmassed her but didn’t apparently didn’t outmuscle her.

It bought me time to take stock, however, and with it a welcome sight. The straw griffon, still dual-wielding his fallen friend’s weapon, was actually on fire from Sticky Buns’ lasers, though he’d managed to avoid getting ashed like Eitom. He didn’t seem to feel the flames, and aimed a constant stream of lead at the remaining Ranger.

What was more welcome, however, was the presence of the third griffon beside him. Wings, revolvers out, worked in tandem with the tiercel. They, along with Schwarzwald, provided no opening for Sticky Buns to set his aim, and his shots missed over and over.

Without taking her eyes off the Paladin, Wings flicked her tail from me to Happy Pills’ corpse. “Get it, Bosco!”

Get what? I looked. Oh. OH!

Diving under the bellies of the dueling giants, I laid hooves on my target: Happy Pills’ laser weapon.

Point blank, I jammed it under Sticky Buns’ chin, then pulled the trigger. And kept pulling it, over and over, until the charge ran dry.

Jerking and spasming, the Paladin tumbled over. A hoof-sized hole had been chewed through his chin plate, and wispy smoke curled out from within.

Both griffons had already switched targets, and were pouring everything they had into the wife, now pinned beneath Lo’s bulk. She was still fighting, but couldn’t break free.

Finally, the bullets penetrated her armour, and her struggles gradually subsided.

When it was over, Facemask began treating Schwarzwald’s back burns. Lo helped.

Wings landed beside me. “Hey, Bosco. Nice work.”

“Um, yeah, you too.” I looked up at the mezzanine, where the straw griffon, whose name I finally remembered was Wicker, sifted through the ashes of his friend. “What’re you doing with him?”

Her beak clicked as she shrugged, cream feathers rustling. “Hired him. He’s gonna help us clear the Stable.”

You… hired him? I couldn’t hide my disbelief. “How? What are you paying him, and why would he agree?”

Her sapphire eyes twinkled. “Latvi’s dead, Cassie got him. The Monsters are out the contract, and their pay.”

Some of the tension drained immediately. “She got him? That’s great. Fucking bastard deserved it for what he did.”

She nodded, eyes still smouldering. “Yeah. So I talked Wicker into a new deal.”

Can we trust him, though? Or any of them? “What’re they getting in return?”

She looked away, up at the straw-coloured Monster, and his pile of ash. “Something they wouldn’t get otherwise.”

“What’s that mean?”

Turning back to me, she shook her head. “Not now. Later. Still work to be done.” She put both claws on my shoulders. “Where are the others, Bosco? Where’s Snow?”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jump to top

Chapter 29-6: We Await The Day

All of this seems… hauntingly familiar.

The geothermal units groaned and croaked as they worked, harnessing the natural energy from far below the surface. To the side, exactly where they’d been weeks earlier, lay the old components, the workers of that fateful having apparently never gotten around to shifting them down to recycling after I’d grabbed the Memory Orb.

Sloppy. I get taken to the Medbay, they get to take time off.

The ledge was the same, too, as was the dark expanse beyond it. I stood where I was for now, not quite ready to head over there yet, even though I would have to eventually.

Here’s where I found the Orb, and where else in the Stable could an Alicorn princess and a Changeling queen hide? The Orb was still tucked into my barding, in a pocket over my heart. It felt heavier, there in that place, than it had at any time since I first grabbed it in my magic.

“So then,” I spoke to the machinery and darkness, “shall we get started?”

“Get started with what?”

I jumped. That’s new. Looking up, I saw a shadowy figure raise itself up from where it was nestled between some gargantuan piping. I know that voice. “Roc? What are you doing down here?” HOW did you even get down here? “Didn’t I fire you?”

His claws kicked up sparks as he raked them down the metal pipes. “That means nothing, Snowflake! No matter what manner of calamity you bring to my Stable, I will never bow to your commands!”

Is that so? “So you waited down here to tell me that, or is there another reason you’re not in the Overseer’s Office right now?” More like three reasons, and one of them’s my big ‘lump’ of a little brother.

He only gave a flicker of uncertainty before coughing into his claw. “Well, I could hardly leave a… disruptive element, such as yourself, to wreak havoc in MY Stable’s inner workings. The protection of Stable 61, its equipment and residents both, is one of my most important duties as its Overseer—”

“Not the Overseer anymore,” I interrupted in a sing-song voice, with an intentionally goofy grin, “...‘cause I fired you!” It probably wasn’t the time, but I felt I owed him for all the grief he’d caused me.

“What are YOU doing here, exile?” He bleated, launching himself into the air, before jabbing a talon at me. “What do you think is down here, in this dark corner of the Stable? What do you think you know of this place that I, the Overseer, do not?”

I burst out laughing. Where do I start? “Oh, just so many things, Roc. I’m not even sure I’ve got the time to list them all.”

He cawed back a harsh laugh. “Is that why you spent all your time stuck on Monitor Duty, you census-line? Because you knew so much more than those of us who actually could navigate the Stable’s environment? The Stable didn’t need you, Snowflake. It needed me, and those like me, to determine the path to New Equestria.”

Bingo. “And there it is.” I smirked up at him. “Roc, since you are so needed for New Equestria, I’m sure you’ll be able to tell a poor naïve outsider like me the answer to this question. See, it’s been bugging me for a while now, and no matter how I wrack my brains about the Stable’s teachings, I just can’t ever remember any details on this.”

Landing at the edge of the darkness, Roc smoothed down his feathers, then looked down his beak at me. “Ask away.”

“What was so bad about Old Equestria?”

He waited for me to continue for a few seconds, then scoffed. “That’s it? That’s the question you don’t have an answer to. Well, clearly you paid less attention than even I thought.” Perfect contentment on his face, he spoke in his smoothest tone, eyes closed. “Pay attention now, little Snowflake. Old Equestria went to war, my dear. They forsook peaceful cooperation, and took up weapons against their fellow equines. That was their failure. We of Stable 61 have a duty to not make their mistakes all over again.”

“Then what would you change?” I asked, plainly.

“Hmm?” One of his eyes opened.

I pressed onwards. “What would you change, Roc? Old Equestria went to war, we all know this. What led to them making that decision? What wouldn’t you do that Old Equestria did?”

“I—”

Butting in, I didn’t let up. “What would you do that they didn’t? How about the parts that they did, which you’d also do but differently? How differently?” I lifted my hoof to pan across the cavern, its equipment, the dark expanse, and the two of us. “Name the parts of Old Equestria which caused the problems? Tell me your plan to prevent the problems happening again. Tell me how your New Equestria would be different from the Old.”

“Well, obviously we wouldn’t consider warfare as an option.”

“Who wouldn’t? Plenty of folks out there with guns, Roc. They’ve used them too. But that’s in the Wasteland. You haven’t answered my question: What parts of Old Equestria were wrong, to bring about its own end, that your New Equestria wouldn’t be?”

He held up a single talon. “Well, I would say… um, it would be the… you see, the crux of the matter was…” The talon lowered, and he frowned at me.

Hah! “Not so easy is it, to pass judgement over an entire nation, especially when you’ve sat apart from it, hiding in metal walls for two hundred years?”

His frown deepened. “And you would know better?” Two talons came up. “You’ve barely been out of the Stable for two months, if that, and suddenly you believe you can solve the problems of the past two centuries?”

“Not all at once, no,” I shrugged at him, ignoring the glare this brought on, “but I’ve got a working theory. See, I’ve seen Equestria. Every Equestria. As it was, and as it is now. Memory Orbs are useful that way. But anyway, I think I have a notion as to Equestria’s failing, both past and present.”

He sniffed in derision. “Oh, do enlighten me. I could use a laugh after the events of today.”

I smiled. Not the malicious smirk that I’d sent his way before, but a beatific smile that wasn’t aimed at him. “Balance.”

“‘Balance’.” He echoed, claws crossed.

“Balance.” I confirmed. “See, Old Equestria was full of love. The people, the land, the Princesses. There was so much love in Equestria, they didn’t know anything else. Trouble is, when you know nothing but love, you lose perspective on the rest.”

Roc cocked an eyebrow. “‘The rest’?”

“Hate.” I clarified, pointing at my smoking eyes. You won’t get it, but these are what I’m talking about. “Hate arises when there are problems between people. To recognise hate is to recognise that the problem exists. If you can’t hate, you can’t perceive problems before they become too big to ignore. That was Old Equestria’s failing. Because they only knew love, they couldn’t stop the war before it was too late. Problems can’t be solved without love, but they can’t be discovered without hate. There needs to be a balance, within ourselves and within Equestria.” And we can’t achieve it with just ponies. We’ll need the others, too. “Hate will sharpen your eyes when you need them, and love will soften them again afterwards. Love and hate need to be in balance. We need to accept both to bring about harmony.” We need them both to make the Gardens grow. “That’s my answer to the riddle of New Equestria. We need to find the balance. Unless we can find acceptance of all sides to ourselves, we won’t succeed, and history will repeat itself.”

“And how will you do that?” He asked pointedly.

Well, I have been told that ‘acceptance’ is my core virtue, but… “I won’t, though I do know who will.”

“And who might that be?”

Blazing sapphire eyes ghosted across my mind. I touched my breast, over my heart, still smiling gently. “No, that one’s for me.” Shaking my head, I tried to wave him aside. “If I told you, it might throw off the balance. You’re not ready to be a part of this yet, Roc. Let me take care of it for now.”

Both wings shot out to bar my path. “Excuse me, Snowflake, but poetic speeches do not give you the right to walk about my Stable as you please.”

I facehoofed. “Are we really doing this again?”

A voice from behind me forestalled any response Roc might have had. “I concur with the lady. It would be best for you to leave, Overseer.”

I had about-faced before the third word was out of Peanut’s lips, horn glowing and stance lowered. “Roc, you should leave.”

“I am not going—”

“ROC!” No attempt was made at niceties anymore. “If you stay, either he or I will kill you. Get out of here!”

Peanut was poised with his mouth just an inch away from his holster. The hoofcannon that had given me my latest scar lay within. “I would listen to her if I were you, Roc. Not that your life means anything to me, but noncombatants are just so… distracting.”

Roc, stymied, hovered at my shoulder as Peanut and I stared each other down. “Snowflake, you have no weapon. He has a gun.”

Glacier-blue light glowed brighter. “Got this right here.” I sucked in some air through my nostrils as Peanut’s mouth twitched towards his shooter. “Roc, I don’t much care if you live either, but you’ll have one chance to get away. Listen closely.”

He leaned in, beak to my ear. “What is th—”

Then I cracked him across the jaw with my ice-covered hoof.

DAMN, that was satisfying!

He dropped off the side, in a boneless heap.

Taking two long strides away from the unconscious griffon, with Peanut following my movements all the way, I squared up again. “Now then.”

He spoke without moving his neck. “Indeed. Quite the nice speech you gave, I must say. ‘A balance between love and hate’. Very evocative.”

“Glad you liked it.” I deadpanned.

“Oh, I did!” He smirked. “My favourite part was—” His hoofcannon was between his lips before the next breath, snapping off two shots.

I blocked both, one hitting the ice I’d conjured up in front of me, and the other chipping off the barrier I’d erected around Roc.

“Mm. Clever girl.” Then he moved.

Cartwheeling to the left, he snapped off another three shots mid-flip. All three hit exactly where his first shot had struck. The second and third splintered the ice, and the fourth shattered it.

I’d already thrown myself to the side before the shield broke, and slammed a hoof into the ground as I landed. Four Cryo Serpents shot out from where my hoof had landed, surging for Peanut.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!Four more shots, and each ice trail faded out. I tried to will another spell into play, but Peanut crossed the distance between us in the blink of an eye, driving an elbow into my stomach.

The impact lifted me off my hooves, and forced all the air from my lungs. I flew out over the black expanse. On instinct, my horn fired off, a thin ice ledge shooting out from the edge to break my fall.

It was still ice, though, and thin, meaning I was left gripping at it with every part of me, teeth included.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Peanut reloading. “What is this now, Red Ice, our… fourth go-around? I mean, you have been called insane before but, as you can probably guess, that was from ponies who don’t much like you.”

I got one hoof wrapped tightly around the ice, and hauled myself upright. “This isn’t the same as before.”

“Why?” He tossed his flighty golden locks. “Because of that crooked new horn? Fast work, by the way, but it won’t be enough.”

I set my new horn glowing. “We’ll see, Peanut Gallery. A lot’s changed since then.”

Brilliant white teeth shone with his smile, as he reached inside his Plottawa uniform. “I know. You’re not the only one who picked up a new horn.”

He withdrew a string from under his collar. On the end dangled my old horn, still cracked and jagged, but a perfect match for my coat.

Well that’s… macabre. “I’m gonna want that back.”

His perverse trophy was quickly tucked back inside his clothing. “Come take it. You couldn’t beat me with it, and you won’t beat me without.” He pointed at my forehead. “Maybe I’ll take your new one, too. First pony in history to take the same unicorn’s horn, twice.”

“And what,” I groused, “gonna give it to Red Eye when you turn and present your plot to him? Maybe stuff ‘em both inside first?”

He rumbled in his throat, smile fading. “Don’t be so crass, Snowflake. Red Eye is doing more for Equestria than you, or your ‘balance’, could ever do.”

Ooh, did I hit a nerve? “He’s just another slaver, Peanut, like you. Neither of you will get what you want in the end. You’re both destined to fail, because Equestria doesn’t need people like the two of you.”

Drawing in a long breath with his eyes closed, Peanut popped his neck. “Okay, that’s enough.”

What happened next was all in one lightning quick motion. His eyes opened, focused and predatory, and he fired at me and my ice ledge.

I was in motion too. I’d reformed the ledge to catapult me into the air, and as I spun over him, I left another body in my wake. When I landed, now with him between me and the edge, I was rewarded with the sight of him flipping aside, to avoid the spinning scissor-kick of Naiara.

Well, almost Naiara. My friend couldn’t truly be revived, but I could picture her clear as day in my mind, and bring that forth as living ice.

Even as Peanut’s eyebrows shot up, Ice-Naiara fell into a zebra combat stance between us, one I’d seen so many times in the past from the graceful filly.

Peanut had stopped blinking for the moment, regarding the summon warily. “Well, this certainly isn’t the same as before, I will grant you that. Still, this seems a little out of character for you, Snowflake.”

“Every time we’ve fought, I’ve been a different person, Peanut. You don’t know what my character is.”

He shrugged nonchalantly. “Perhaps not, but what I do know is this: This one,” he nodded at Ice-Naiara, who stared back blankly, “couldn’t beat me either. I put her into the wall when she and I fought. How is this pale imitation going to save you?”

Without waiting for an answer, he charged. Naiar-ice rushed to block, kicking out with her Stompeii Emboli moves I remembered so well. Peanut twisted, letting the blow glance off his hip to little effect, and countered with a powerful Fallen Caesar thrust that shattered her throat, with the rest of her following.

The breath caught in my chest. Naiara… Even as a summoned ice-golem, seeing her fall again tore open the scabs of her death.

I only barely got my hoof-sole ice-skate spell, and a weak ice wall, in place before Peanut’s hoofcannon triple-tap sent me sliding back into the hard rock wall.

More shots came, but they were intercepted by a pair of new arrivals.

“Will wonders never cease?” The Plottawan leader exclaimed, an edge of irritation creeping into his voice. “Who might these two be?”

Shaking the stars away, I glared past my reinforcements to him. “See, that’s the problem with your whole ‘slavery’ approach. It’s so impersonal. Let me introduce you Vorbis and Contego. They were guests of the Plottawan hospitality system for a time, and then you and Willow Wisp dragged them to Lethbridle to die as your meatshields!”

Comprehension dawned. “Oh, I do remember those two. That’s right. I offered to let Fedexi Lexi buy them back, but she apparently couldn’t spare the caps.”

“Don’t try to turn this around on my mother!” You already know our relationship, and I’d tell you proudly even if you didn’t! “You don’t get to dictate terms when you’re snatching people from their business and spiriting them away to your gulag!”

He barely reacted to my anger, quietly musing over my words. “Perhaps I should test the depth of your mother’s pockets. Even if she didn’t pay up for these two, she can’t ignore it if I dangle her daughter in front of her. Either of her daughters.”

Red began to mix with the purpose smoke around the edges of my vision. “That was a mistake. You won’t get near my family again. Let me show you what happens if you try.”

A third frost figure coalesced. This one was a young filly who, in life, had been pure white with a bright gold mane. “Remember her, Peanut? Not a slave this time. She was one of your slavers.” My voice dropped down deep. “I froze her solid to make a point. To get you to come out and play. You never did.”

There wasn’t even a flicker of recognition in his eyes for his fallen soldier. “I already know you’ve done some questionable things, Snowflake.”

I winked without smile or cheer. “Oh, you just bring out the worst in me, dear heart. Hell, Red Ice was basically born in your office, so you’re kinda the closest thing she has to a father.”

He pulled his head away slightly. “Wait, so are you saying that you’re Red Ice’s mother… and Red Ice? That’s… disturbingly incestuous.”

“Like I said, you bring out the worst in me. And now my worst is going to kill you.”

Hot Topice, Vorbice, and Frostego charged. I followed on their heels.

Peanut batted Vorbis aside, then jammed his hoofcannon under Contego’s chin and pulled the trigger. Hot Topic reached him before he could reset his stance, and took them both down in a heap. The ice-filly rained down chilly blows as she straddled him.

Blocking with his front legs, Peanut got his back legs under her, just in time to buck her straight into me. Her head caught the bullet meant for mine, but chips of her frozen face nipped at my eyes. Blinded, I scrubbed at my eyes to get the frost splinters out.

A bullet, one that felt like it was the size of my hoof, blasted my back knee out from under me. Howling, I thrashed on the ground as I tried to reach the wound. For my trouble, I got kick to the face for my trouble, cartilage breaking in my nose from the blow.

Through the pain haze, the purple smoke, and the ice shards in my vision, I could barely see Peanut line up another shot.

I felt it though, as my other back knee shattered.

Reduced to whimpering, I couldn’t do anything as the smoking barrel of his gun was pressed into my unscarred cheek.

It sizzled as he held it there. “I told you, Red Ice. No matter what you have on your head, no matter what ghosts you summon to your aid, you can’t beat me. You aren’t strong enough.”

“Red Ice isn’t,” I muttered under my breath,

He leaned in closer, pressing the burning metal harder into my face, until it was flat against the teeth under the flesh. “What was that? Speak up now.”

Red Ice isn’t… “...but Snowflake is!”

Gnarled ice teeth sank into Peanut’s arm. The slaver boss howled as Inbox clung tightly. Both of them shook and struggled against each other, until a massive cloven hoof sent them both flying.

Inbox couldn’t hang on in the air, leaving Peanut free to flip himself into a four-point landing. He came up glaring at me, as I lay atop the frozen visage of Chief Rockhaunch.

Even as he cast about for his fallen weapon, I spoke down at him from on high. “Red Ice can’t kill you, Peanut. She doesn’t have enough people on her side. Neither do you. You’re alone. Like Red Ice, all you have is your sins.”

I followed his gaze as he found his hoofcannon. He made no move to grab it, as Hot Topic stood with one hoof on it. As he watched, she sank into the ground, encasing the weapon in a perfect, inaccessible hemisphere of crystal ice.

Openly glaring now, Peanut remained defiant, even as the leg that Inbox’s teeth had savaged shook and threatened to crumple. “You haven’t won, Red Ice. I just have to sit here and let you bleed out.”

I didn’t glare back, instead just stared with level eyes. “You won’t get the chance.”

Inbox, Contego, Vorbis, and Hot Topic swarmed, grabbing at the stallion from all sides. He tried to dive away, but his gamey leg slowed him too much. In moments, he was struggling against unmoving statues, trapping his limbs even as they rooted themselves in the cavern floor.

With slow, deliberate steps, Naiara moved to stand in front of him.

Peanut ignored her, continuing to try to incinerate me with his eyes, even as she reached inside his collar and withdrew my old horn. “I won’t die down here, Red Ice, not in this backwater Stable at the end of the world!”

She half turned, tossing it to me. I caught it in my mouth. The hoof that had thrown it, still raised as if in triumph, morphed into a single, wicked spike.

Hanging my old horn’s thread from my new horn, I took a moment to take in the scene. “Stay down here, Peanut Gallery, with Red Ice and all your mistakes. Equestria’s more balanced without you.”

Naiara, ever graceful, pirouetted. Her ice spike sank deep into Peanut’s chest, and stayed there.

I watched impassively. “This isn’t the end of the world, slaver. Be thankful you’ll never see what’s beyond this place.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jump to top

Chapter 29-7: We Await The Day

Sure arms lifted me gently up to a sitting position. “Easy there, Snow. I gotcha.”

“W-Wings?” But I was just…

Bolting upright, and immediately regretting it my body screamingly protested, I found myself staring into a pair of blazing blues. “How long was I out?”

“Not long, dahling, dear Peanut hasn’t stopped bleeding yet.” Over by my grotesque, self-created sculpture of ice and blood, Schwarzwald was admiring my hoofiwork. “You fought him alone?”

“Didn’t mean to, he just showed up. I-AAARGH!” Sobbing as my legs erupted into fresh pain, I fell back into Wings’ grasp.

“Easy, Snow. When we found you, your legs were all messed up, and there was only half a health potion on Peanut. You’re gonna be taking it easy until we can get your mom down here to heal you up fully.”

Still leaning into her, I gingerly tried my legs again. They felt weak, hot and papery and hollow, but I could move them. It hurt like hell, though. That wasn’t the biggest question on my mind, however. “Wings, what are you doing here? You’re supposed to be outside, with the bots.”

She smiled back, with the easy confidence I knew so well. “It’s taken care of, Snow. Don’t worry about it.”

Too late. “The others?”

She waved back up and at the Stable. “Around. Had some close calls, but no mention of anybody dying. Things are starting to calm down, especially now with Peanut and Latvi dead.”

“Latvi’s dead?” This got me standing, pain be damned. “Who killed him?”

“That sniper-chick of yours.” Wicker cut in from out of my sight.

“LOOK OUT!” If Wings hadn’t caught me, I’d have toppled over from the shock. My horn glowed as I finally found him, leaning against the rock wall. “Get the fuck away!”

Claws tightened slightly on my shoulder. “Whoa! Easy there, Snow. He’s with us, sorta… for now.”

WHAT? “How long was I out?”

Schwarzwald trotted up and took my weight from Wings, freeing the griffon up to step between Wicker and I. “Look, Latvi’s gone. The Monsters aren’t getting paid, so their contract’s null and void. Wicker agreed to take on a new contract with me, to help clear out the last of the Steel Rangers.”

None of this did anything to diminish the glare I was shooting the tiercel, who just stared back stoically. “Wings, you don’t have those kind of caps. How are you gonna pay for this?”

She hesitated, looking down and away. “That’s not import—”

Wicker cut her off, grunting into his chest. “Gonna let us take ‘er back to her fam down south.”

Lead settled in my stomach. I looked to the griffon girl, hoping for some denial. When she finally met my gaze, she shrugged.

I choked on what little spit I could conjure. “Wings, you can’t! You,” I struggled in Schwarzwald’s grip, “you still have things to take care of. You can’t let him take you! You can’t just...surrender!”

“Deal’s done, pony.” Wicker still leaned against the wall, rifle propped next to him, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else. “Contract’s agreed. Gonna finish my boss’ last deal, Eitom’s last deal, and take her home.”

“THAT’S NOT HER HOME!” My cry echoed around the chamber. “We are! I am!”

Wings jolted at that, looking at me with those glimmering sapphires. “Snow, I just… it’s to finish what we’re doing here. You know how important this all is.”

“I know how important this is,” I shot back, stumbling forwards to bury my face in her plumage, “but this isn’t the end, not for you.”

Her claws came up to encircle me. “Snow, what are you—”

NOW! With as much strength as I could muster, I shoved her aside. My glowing horn, obscured by her feathers and fur, unleashed on Wicker. I had no specific spell in mind. I simply poured cold into the mercenary.

His brief look of shock was flash-frozen onto his face. The rest of him was stuck mid-jerk too.

I didn’t feel any satisfaction at it, but a tremendous amount of relief. Now, we can finish.

Sharp talons cut into my side, twisting me around to face the wide-eyed, red-faced griffon. “Snow, what the hell! I had a deal with him! He wasn’t gonna hurt anyone!”

This time, I was the one who couldn’t look at her. “Yes, he was,” I mumbled, “he was gonna take you away.”

“I agreed to that!” She yelled into my face as she shook me. “I was gonna be okay.”

“I wasn’t.” I replied glumly. “You didn’t want to go back. I know you didn’t.”

“So what?” She let go and spread her claws, incredulous. “Doesn’t mean it wasn’t the thing to do to help you and this place! Dammit, Snow, if this is about that stupid bit about being ‘your prey’...”

Without her holding me, I sank to the floor. “Not my prey,” I mumbled, “you’re the one who’s gonna kill me."

Her bluster evaporated in an instant, as she locked up. “What?”

I looked up at her with a mirthless smile. “I got it wrong, back then. I thought Red Ice had to win to be credible, but that’s not right. Red Ice has to lose, in the end. Blue Fire has to be the one to beat her, too. Sorry about that.” Shakily, I rose and pulled out my old horn. I held it out to her. “Here’s the proof. Red Ice came down here, to destroy this Stable… or whatever, details aren’t important. Red Ice was being bad, Blue Fire stopped her. They fought, Blue Fire won, Red Ice died. That’s the way it has to be.”

Wings was very gradually unclenching, but still looked lost. She glanced over at a silent Schwarzwald, who didn’t react. Then, pale under her cream feathers, she turned back to me. “...why?”

I pointed at the dead Plottawan leader. “Because I’m never going to NOT be Red Ice, thanks to him. And, let’s face it, because of me. He pretended to be Chief Rockhaunch, and put the kill order out on me. They’re both dead, it can’t be called off. After all I’ve done as Red Ice, after Lethbridle, and Whinniepeg, and here, Red Ice can’t be allowed to walk out of here. Even if she did, Snowflake would never stop being hunted.”

She still hadn’t made a move to take the horn, staring at it in horror. “I-I can’t… kill you, Snow.”

Wrapping my own hooves around her, I slipped the horn into her pocket. “I’m not asking you to, not for real, but the Wasteland has to think you have. You have to be Blue Fire for that, just a little while longer.”

Looking over her shoulder, I locked gazes with Schwarzwald. “You’ll get her the rest of the way?” She’s still got a place in the Gardens.

Lips tight, the older mare nodded in silence.

“What are you talking about?” Wings pulled away from me to face Schwarzwald. “What is she—”

She never got to finish her question, as I clubbed her around the back of the head with the revolver I’d lifted from her holster when I put the horn in her pocket.

Schwarzwald moved forward to catch her before she hit the ground. When Wings was safely laid down, She rose and, conifer eyes soft and tired, smiled her familiar smile. “She will not forgive you for that, dahling.”

I placed the revolver back into its holster. “Yeah, but I won’t be here for her to yell at.”

She sucked in a harsh breath. “That’s not funny.”

Brushing some feathers away from Wings’ face, I nodded. “I know. Sorry.”

Schwarzwald’s jaw trembled slightly. “This was not how it should happen. Not Naiara. Not you.” One hoof came up to cover her wet eyes. “I was the one who should fall. My time was twenty years ago. You are all… just so young.”

I ignored my own tears, and pressed my cheek against hers. “Just a little while longer, Schwarzwald. You just need to help her make the Gardens grow. Then you can rest. Actually rest, not die. You still have a life left to live.”

“You can still be there to see it.” She tried, though we both knew it was in vain. “We can find a way.”

“This is the way.” Pulling my face from her damp coat, I knelt beside Wings. “You know, I think I figured out why you chose her. Why she’s a hero.”

Her hoof falling from her eyes, Schwarzwald stared at me morosely.

I gave her a bright smile in return. Don’t be sad, Schwarzwald. This is what had to happen. “She never needed a reason. The rest of us all had agendas. You wanted the Gardens, I wanted revenge, Undertow wanted a family, Naiara and Cept had their clan, Bosco missed his memories, and the twins wanted the Raiders gone. Not her, though. She never had a reason…” I paused to watch the griffon’s chest rise and fall for a moment, “...she just helped.”

It was easy to smile at Wings as she lay peacefully. “I think that’s why I love her so much.”

Finally, I got a chuckle from Schwarzwald. “I like that reason. It is...fitting.”

Soft giggles found their way out of my mouth, too. “I thought the Element of Laughter might approve.”

A flicker of a smile graced her scarred lips. “Good guess.”

I rolled my eyes. “Well, which other one were you gonna be, really?”

She mock-pouted. “...I can be kind.”

“Hah!” I guffawed. “See? Got me laughing again already.”

The two of us enjoyed the sound of our laughter for a few seconds, before a squeal of static caused us to jump. “Babygirl, yeh pick up this microphone right now, yeh hear me? I know yeh can hear me, ‘cause I just heard every damn thing y’just said!”

Oops, busted. I fished the communicator out of Wings’ barding. She’d left it running the entire time. “Hi, Mom.”

“Don’t you ‘hi, mom’ me, missy!” Lexi’s warm drawl had given way to faltering tightness. “What’s this Ah’m hearin’ about dyin’, huh?”

Despite everything, I wilted at her disapproval. Be strong, Snow. Don’t give in. “I… have to go do something, Mom. Might take a while.”

“An’ what exactly is gonna take a while? Yeh never got ‘round t’mentionin’ that part.”

Tread carefully. Don’t be tricked by her loving, Momly ways. “It’s, uh, it’s like this: The Changeling Queen’s down here,”

“Where’s ‘here’?”

Nope, not falling for that. “She’s down here, and she’s needed to make Changeling babies safely. We need the Changelings to stop the Windigoes. So, I’m gonna get her out.”

Her tone was still wary, but lightened somewhat. “Well, that ain’t too bad. Ah don’t see what all the fuss’ about.”

“But,” I continued, feeling more nauseous with every word. “She’s the one making the blizzard that’s keeping the Windigoes out of the Wasteland.”

If it were possible for a communicator to look conflicted, this one did. “So yeh’re sayin’...”

Deep breath. This is the hard part. “I’m saying that, besides Chrysalis, there’s only one person who knows how to make a blizzard that can drive them off.”

More silence. Schwarzwald and I waited in palpable discomfort, for my mother to give me permission to take a one-way trip.

When she finally spoke again, her voice had shifted into a businessmare’s sharp inflection. “So… yeh ain’t gonna stop, are yeh?”

I was rapidly losing my stuff upper lip. “I can’t, Momma... I just can’t.”

A shuddering breath sounded from the speaker. “Awright. Ah get that. Ah hate it, Ah hate it so much, babygirl, but Ah get it.” Her wonderful warmth returned to her words. “‘M proud o’ you.”

That did it. I couldn’t hold it in anymore. “Why?” I wailed. “I keep messing up! I wouldn’t have to be here if I didn’t! I’m a bad daughter. I let Vorbis and Contego die and never told you. Naiara’s dead because of me! Undertow’s been through so much because I kept screwing up, Momma! I’m so sorry!”

“Baby, stop.” She cut through my hysterics with practised ease. “Yeh’re not a bad daughter. Yeh’re mah firstborn. Ah couldn’t be prouder of yeh for what yeh’re doin’. Don’t fer one second think Ah ain’t so glad that Ah got a daughter like you. Ah love you so much, babygirl, an’ so does yer sister. Yer brothers too. We all love you so very, very much. Yer our Snowflake, sweetheart.”

Burying my face in my hooves, I sobbed out the one thing that filled my mind. “Please, I know I’m being selfish, Momma, and cruel, but please…”

Blubbering now, I all but screamed the words. “Even if I go away, please don’t stop being my mother!”

Even as she cried, there was no sound in the world sweeter than my mother’s voice at that moment. “Never, babygirl. Yer always gonna be mah daughter. An’ that’s the reason why I gotta do what comes next.”

Elated, but confused, I held the communicator close. “Momma?”

“Ah know y’can’t stop now, sweetheart. But that don’t mean Ah gotta sit here an’ let mah baby go. Forgive me, Snowflake, but a mother’s gotta keep her daughter outta harm. Ah’m sendin’ the others after yeh now, darlin’. They’ll stop yeh. An’ if they can’t? Well, Ah’ll be sure to keep yer room ready.”

I blinked, dislodging a stray tear from my cheek. “Why? I’ll be gone.”

She didn’t care. “So yeh can find yer way home, o’ course.”

Warmth blossomed in my chest. Thank you! Thank you so much, Mom! “I understand. Good luck, Momma.”

I closed the channel, then placed the communicator in Wings’ claw. Looking up, Schwarzwald was still standing there, twin streaks running down her cheeks. “Gonna try to stop me, too, Schwarz?”

The nickname, which Wings was so fond of using, seemed to shock her out of her reverie. She hastily wiped her cheeks. “No, mistress. I could not stop you now if I tried.” She turned to face the entrance, speaking over her shoulder. “Go now. I will hold them back.”

Nodding, I bent down to place a kiss on Wings’ forehead. “Sorry about all this, Wings. I had to do it. You couldn’t go with them, because you’re gonna save the world.”

Reluctantly breaking away from the griffon, I moved towards the darkness below.

Then, I stopped. Or, rather, my body stopped me. “What the?”

“What is it, dahling?”

My whole body shook in place, and tingled all over. “I… I can’t move.”

I heard her turn around, but couldn’t see anything but what was in front of me. “Did Peanut hit your spine when you fought?”

“No, just my legs, and Wings fixed those up.” What is happening right now? “Lemme see if I can do something with my magic.”

Focusing my magic inwards, on my own body, I searched for the solution. It didn’t take long, as I was immediately flooded with sensations.

Ah. “It’s Undertow.”

Gravel crunched as Schwarzwald moved. “Where?”

I couldn’t even shake my head. “Not here. She’s somewhere in the Stable. I’m feeling her through our link. She’s… wow, she’s in my blood.”

“Your blood?!”

Little sister, you are amazing. I sent nothing but praise and apology back through the link to her. She reacted so strongly that I could almost hear her begging me to wait. “Sorry, Undertow. I can’t let you stop me now.”

“What will you do, dear Snowflake?”

“This.” Using Undertow’s magical presence as a guide, and feeling profoundly guilty about doing so, I sent my magic through my veins. Just a moment, every drop of blood in my body froze.

The sensation of Undertow’s tingling was immediately replaced by pain. Pain so intense, I went blind for a few seconds, even as my lifeblood melted back to liquid.

Through the link, I could feel Undertow’s reaction to the manoeuvre. She was barely coherent. “Sorry, Undertow. You’re the strongest unicorn in the world, but you can’t stop me now.” I am so sorry. I repeated that message over and over through our arcane connection. Nothing but love was transferred. I had to make her last memory of our link a good one.

Schwarzwald made a circuit around me, and nodded when I was able to follow her. “Dear Undertow was not hurt, I hope? Good. You said she was the strongest, but how were you able to overpower her?”

I began to work out the sudden stiffness that Undertow’s attempt had caused in my muscles. “Well, Undertow’s the best Unicorn ever, but she can’t stop an Alicorn.”

Schwarzwald snorted. “You think that dead king’s horn makes you an Alicorn?”

Wryly, I smirked. “No, I’m an Alicorn because I started out a normal Unicorn…” She followed my gaze to the unconscious girl on the floor, “...and then I was blessed with Wings.”

Shaking her head ruefully, she didn’t answer. Instead, she just took up her post watching the entrance again.

Taking the hint, I started back towards the blackness. When I paused at the edge, Schwarzwald spoke up again. “I am very proud to know you too, dahling. Both of you.”

Huh. I stepped away from the edge, walking back to stand beside her. “Has anybody told you that? How proud they are of you?”

Startled, she looked over at me.

I smiled, my profile still to her. “Because I am. You’ve been doing this for so long. Twenty years! I can’t imagine all you’ve done to make this happen.” I turned and held out a hoof. “I’m pretty damn proud to know a pony like you, Schwarzwald.”

Gulping back the lump in her throat, she nodded. “Thank you, dah—… mis—… Snowflake.”

“And,” affecting a grin that was a match for her most lecherous, I winked, “because I know Amber would kill the both of us if I didn’t, I’m gonna make sure you survive this.”

She cocked her head to the side. “How? You know little Undertow will strike me down to save you if I block her way.”

I winked again. Raising my voice, I yelled at the rock around us. “CHANGELINGS! I KNOW YOU’RE HERE! COME OUT NOW!”

Nothing happened for several seconds. When the lack of activity became awkward, I stamped my hooves. “Don’t you mess me around now, Silver and Gold! I am no mood! Get out here, or no queen for you!”

That got a reaction. Gold and Silver fog veritably burst from the rocks surrounding us, coalescing into a swarm of dark green insectoids.

“That’s better!” I barked. “Now then, two things: One, I’m gonna get your queen out of there for you, so be grateful.”

My proclamation set the swarm abuzz, forcing me to shout the next part.

“Two, I’m gonna need a little time, so if anybody comes down here trying to stop me, you stop them. Do. Not. Kill. Them. Just stop them. You understand?”

“WE UNDERSTAND!” They echoed in the voice of their giant Alicorn form.

“Good.” I pointed at Schwarzwald. “Knock her out too, don’t want the others getting mad at her.”

“Oh, you spoilsport!” Was all she managed before being mobbed by a dozen gossamer-winged fliers.

“That’s exactly what I am...” ...my friend. “Goodbye.”

Behind me, the blackness awaited.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I stood before the core of Queen Chrysalis’ blizzard.

Navigating my way down through the dark had been easier than expected, though still no cakewalk on my shaky limbs. Some forward thinking individual had hewn rough steps into the rock face, enough that I wasn’t having to hang from my front hooves with each descending step.

The core itself was breathtaking. What I’d seen of her spell in the Memory Orb didn’t do it justice. A glowing, perfect sphere of shifting whites, running in rivers and crossing over and under each other, twisting the light around it in indescribable ways.

On the far side of the sphere, great tendrils of snow and wind and ice climbed up, back into the blackness of the mountain. I hadn’t seen these streams as I descended the rock, so it must be leaving the mountain from some unknown opening, bleeding out into the border-reaching blizzard outside.

It was hard not to feel inadequate, standing before this massive magical majesty.

I slipped Buff’s Pipbuck, taken from Peanut’s corpse, from my foreleg. Setting it on the rock floor, I hesitantly took a few steps closer to the core.

For all its size and activity, it was disturbingly quiet. Standing less than two metres from its perceivable edge, I still had to strain to hear the swirling winds. The better to hide, I guess. Still cool, though.

Pebbles cascading down the rough steps sent me plunging involuntarily into the core itself. Once my horn made contact, my hooves left the floor. As the spell danced around me, I was pulled up into the center of the core.

Oh, my.

Even seeing the outside couldn’t prepare me for what it was like to be inside. The rivers and crossings were still there, but there was no white to be seen. Instead, every colour in existence, even some I couldn’t even recognise, lapped around me.

“Who are you, little pony, to penetrate the Queen of the Changelings so brazenly?” The voice was coming from everywhere at once, resonating within my eyes, and body, and horn, and heart.

“Um… shift change?” I tried, unsure of where to look while I spoke.

“...Excuse me?” Chrysalis’ deep, reverberating timbre faltered for a moment, before hardening. “I don’t understand. Tell me what you are doing here this instant, little unicorn!”

It’s been a long day. “My name’s Snowflake. I’m here to take over for you with the blizzard.”

Chaos erupted within the core. Colours faded while others spiked, streams broke while rivers burst. “Do not be a fool, ‘Snowflake’. A pony such as you can’t possibly hope to match one who could topple your feeble princesses!”

Okay, rude. “Can I talk to Cadence instead, please?”

Everything dimmed. “...No. She is… no longer with us.”

My heart sank. “Well, that’s a problem. She would have helped a lot with what’s happening outside.”

With sensations over words, the Queen of the Changelings radiated agreement. “Indeed. She gave everything she had to keep my blizzard strong, and more still within the Crystal Heart. Even then, it may not be enough. There will be much strife in the region from Red Ice’s actions today.”

Double-taking, still with no clear directions to address, I spun in place. “How do you know about Red Ice?”

“I AM the blizzard, Snowflake. You cannot hide what’s in your heart from me while within me. Not even with that disgusting creature’s horn on your head.”

“You two met?” Watcher never mentioned this.

“Do not be insulting. What worth is there in a kingdom devoid of love, and ruled by fear? Sombra was a fool who didn’t realise his disrupting the balance guaranteed his own defeat.”

“Well, ruling by yourself’s hard!” It wasn’t really Sombra who I was defending with that one.

She knew it, too. “Yes, your Raiders. Very entertaining.”

Switching topics, I dragged the discussion back to the important parts. “Speaking of subjects. Yours need you now. Without you, they’re dying out.”

“As I knew they would,” she replied sadly, “but I cannot simply abandon my blizzard. Only it keeps Equestria from Windigo eyes.”

“For how long?” I challenged, though not maliciously. “One’s already got through. I killed that one, but I saw its mind. They know we’re here. It won’t be long before the rest come. We need your Changelings to beat them, and they need you.”

“What would you have me do, Raider Queen? If I drop the blizzard, they will come anyway.”

“That’s where I come in.” If you can see into my heart, you know what I mean. “I learned the blizzard spell, and I’ve seen it block a Windigo’s sight. I can hold the blizzard here, while you work with your Changelings to bring love back to Equestria. The Wasteland’s hate is a buffet for them right now, but there’s a way to bring back the love. If you help to make that happen, the balance will tip in your favour.”

Intrigue laced her words, though with an undercurrent of scepticism. “That horn does not grant you power equal to mine, nor even to Cadence’s. Certainly not equal to both of our powers combined, as they were.”

“You’re right.” I laid my cards on the table. “I couldn’t do what you and Cadence did. I couldn’t keep the blizzard up for two hundred years even if I was gonna live that long. I might not even be able to keep it up for a tenth of that. What I can do though, with this dead king’s horn, is keep it up long enough for the Gardens to grow.”

“The Gardens, yes…” I almost felt her poking around in my heart. “With that, much of Equestria’s hate would give way to love. The Windigoes would lose much of their interest, and their food source. My Changelings and I could gorge ourselves as well.”

“Will you let me try?” I pressed. “You know that you can’t keep this up forever, and you lose Changelings with each passing generation. Every moment in here makes you and subjects weaker. If I take over, you’ve got a chance to be strong again. A chance for the Changelings to rejoin the world.”

“And in exchange?” She demanded.

“There’s a mare named Schwarzwald. Ask her to take you to the Watcher. He will explain what it is you need to do next. The Gardens will help the Changelings too, not just the ponies. It’s time for you to join Equestria, not just feed from it. You have a place within the spectrum of love and hate, just as we ponies do, and a responsibility to maintain its balance.”

“How do you know so much of the balance, Snowflake? Most ponies don’t.”

Thoughts of a slate-grey colt with a charcoal mane flooded my mind. “I have the right friends.”

Something stirred in the blizzard. An aura, separate from Chrysalis’ presence, touched at my magic.

The Queen’s tone shifted to thoughtful. “Perhaps you do. The Crystal Heart is responding to you. Perhaps it is time for me to rejoin the world.”

“I promise not to break anything while you’re gone.”

She laughed, low and throaty, but still attractive. Before long, though, she sobered. “It will not be easy, Snowflake. You cannot let up, not even for a moment. Rest will be fitful, never enough to satisfy. You must always remember what and who you are doing this for. If you forget, the Crystal Heart may forsake you.”

Please don’t, Crystal Heart. I mean, I’ve got a little bit of both of your former masters in me. Sombra’s horn is on my head, and Cadence’s memories and touch started all of this. That’s enough, yeah?

Thankfully, though I couldn’t see it, I felt the Crystal Heart’s influence leaching into me. The physical pains of my tired body faded away, leaving me sensing with my horn alone. It was different than any link I’d attempted before. “I understand. Not gonna be a problem. I’m not short on loved ones.”

Appreciation rolled through from her to me. “No, you are not. I could feel that the moment you entered. Perhaps you can do this.”

“Gonna try either way. Since you’re about to leave, lemme give you the rundown: Find Schwarzwald and Watcher, like I said.” If I could still feel my chin, I’d have tapped it. “Oh! I left a Pipbuck, a small computer, outside. Fits on your hoof. It’s got some messages for my friends and family. Could you take it to them, please?”

“Just this once, Snowflake. The Queen of the Changelings is nopony’s courier.”

I ignored her royal obstinance. “Thanks. Last thing, and this is the big one.” I’m not kidding. “You have to work with the others this time around. Don’t just feed off them. The Changelings aren’t enemies of Equestria any longer. Please, for all our sakes, be better than you were. Ponies need to be, as do zebra, and griffons, buffalo, and now you Changelings. We have to accept each other, or else New Equestria, the real New Equestria, can’t be born. If everyone wants it, there’s a place for them. Though, I think you already know this.”

Haughtiness blossomed almost immediately. “Of course I know, Snowflake. I am the Queen. This entire enterprise was my doing, not Cadence’s or any pony. I know what is at stake. I trust you will remember, too.”

“Well, I’m a Raider Queen,” I joked, “so yeah, I got it. Go on now, go back to your Changelings. I got this.” I was trying very hard not to show her how scared I still was.

If she knew, which she almost certainly did, she gave no sign. “Good luck, my little pony.”

I let my horn do the rest. Filtered and amplified through the Crystal Heart, with a touch or two from the departing Chrysalis, my magic and conscience reached up. Above the cavern chamber, above Stable 61, above all the northern mountains of Equestria.

The magic of Snowflake stretched from one end of the world to the other, a single shield to guard against the demons of the north wind.

With love in my heart, and loved ones on my mind...

...I watched over a world of white.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The End.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Author's Note

See what I did there, with the bookends? Totally never been done before with a Fallout: Equestria story.

BTW, there’s still an epilogue, guys.

As always, a big thank you toKkat,Kyts,Y1,Auramane,CascadeJackal (he did the original cover art, which is still on the Fallout Equestria wiki), and you, the readers. Please read and comment, and pass the word along if you liked the story.

At time of writing, this chapter (sans the author’s note section, which I don’t believe counts towards the word count) puts us at eighty-nine words short of half a million, with the Epilogue still to come. So yeah, I can claim to have written a five hundred THOUSAND word story, and it only took me three and a half years. Go me.

Seriously, you guys, thank you so much for reading. It’s been an honour to tell this tale to you.

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Epilogue: New Equestria

Epilogue: New Equestria

[But this time is different, children. Because this time, we have hope. Hope that the Equestria of tomorrow will actually be a better place than the Equestria of today. And that we may actually know peace in our childrens’ lifetime.]

“GIVE HER BACK!”

Queen Chrysalis did not flinch as the little goggled unicorn struck at her with her water magic, but nor did she retaliate beyond parrying her spells. The unicorn, and her gathered comrades who were also being blocked by the Changeling Queen’s subjects, were distraught at the loss of one they loved.

Chrysalis levitated out the ‘Pipbuck’ that Snowflake had asked her to bring to the gathered group. “I will not. Even if I she wanted me to, to do so would undo everything you all have worked for. There will be generations because of what she did.”

Aquamarine magic renewed its assault on the Queen and her Changelings. “DON’T YOU DARE SPEAK FOR MY SISTER!”

Floating the Pipbuck over to her, the Queen nodded at it. “I do not need to. She has left words for you all.”

Instantly, Undertow ceased her attacks, grabbing and clutching at the device, rushing to start the playback.

“Everyone, sorry that I have to do this with a message, but I couldn’t risk seeing you all face to face. I’d never have been able to go through with this. Still, I got some things to say…”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Buff, Al, Lo. You three are the best little brothers that anybody could ask for. Every moment I spent in the Stable was only bearable because of you three. You can’t imagine how unbelievably proud you made me, every second of every day. I will never be able to thank you enough for that.

I have to ask something of you three now. Something big. You’ve been my beloved little brothers for all these years… but now you need to be more than that. I need you all to be big brothers now. Not just Buff, but Al and Lo too. Your sister’s gonna need you to look after her. I’m trusting that you’ll make her feel as happy and loved as you made me. I know you’ll do great.

One last thing, though. Don’t you EVER make her cry… like I did.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

[One week after the battle at Stable 61]

“DON’T EVER SAY THAT AGAIN, YA BITCH!!!”

Between the three of them, the Doublehorn brothers managed to drag the enraged Fedexi Lexi away from the Stable’s brig. Within one of the cells stood Willow Wisp, the former Overmare, who had backed herself up against the far wall.

Al got a leg around Lexi, bodily lifting her off the floor. “Whoa, Boss, calm down. What’s going on?”

Still struggling, her frizzy orange mane bouncing everywhere, she thrust a hoof back towards the cell. “She’s tryin’ claim mah daughter!”

The three buffalo looked at each other. “Undertow?”

Lexi’s purple magic rattled the cell’s bars. “NO! She’s sayin’ that she’s Snowflake’s mother!”

Shocked, all three Doublehorns froze in place. Al even lost his grip on Fedexi Lexi, who dropped to the floor. As one, the three brothers turned to the captured Pegasus mare. Buff spoke for all of them. “What do you mean?”

Shoulders tight, the Pegasus still made an effort to be combative. She stepped right up to the bars. “I’m saying that I gave birth to Snowflake. She is my daughter.”

“NO SHE AIN’T!” Lexi stomped forwards, even as Undertow rushed in to help calm her down. “Ah don’t care if y’took a dick way back when and she popped outta yeh a couple months later. That don’t make yeh her mother!”

Undertow, while still restraining the older unicorn, glared at Willow Wisp as well. “Snowflake told me she never had a mother. That she was a ‘ward of the Stable’.”

Willow Wisp flicked a wing lazily. “Well, I couldn’t very well deal with a newborn while I was set to become Overmare, now could I?”

It was only through the combined efforts of the three Doublehorns that Willow Wisp lived beyond that comment.

Once Snowflake’s mother and sister were outside of the brig, and the door locked and secured, did things calm down slightly.

Only slightly, as Undertow began to gnash and sob. “I can’t do it.”

Instantly, all four of members of her family crowded round, faces full of concern. “Can’t do what, little sis?”

She flailed at the Stable at large. “I can’t stay here. All these people, they keep saying such terrible things about her! I don’t want to be here! I want to go home!” With that, she flung herself into her mother’s embrace.

Stroking Undertow’s mane, Lexi nodded. “Ah’m with yeh, sweetheart. Ah ain’t stayin’ here neither. Not wi’ that bitch tryin’ to take credit for mah baby jus’ because she spread her legs.” She spat on the ground. “This place ain’t worthy o’ Snow, or her family.”

Buff looked on helplessly. His worry turned to shock as his brothers spoke up.

“I’m… gonna leave, too.” Al moved to wrap a thick limb around Undertow. “I’m not leaving you alone, little sister.”

Lo avoided Buff’s gaze, mumbling. “Me too. I don’t think I wanna live here anymore. I… I’ll go to Grindstone. They at least deserve to know about the Chief and Crush.”

Buff looked at his three siblings in turn, heartrate up. “But this place is a mess after the Rangers! We can’t just abandon the Stable and the others living here!”

He didn’t get encouraging looks in response. Steeling himself, Buff set his jaw. “I… understand. You guys have to do what’s right for you. I’ll stay, though. This place isn’t just Willow Wisp, or Roc. The others need help. I’ll do what I can for Stable 61. And, any time you want to come visit, I’ll make sure you’re welcomed.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Cept, you’ve been nothing but honest the entire time. I didn’t know you as well as I should have. I should have made more of an effort to get to know Naiara’s loved ones. All I can say is sorry. From what I’ve seen of you, I missed out on a great friendship.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

[Two weeks after the battle]

Sitting in a corner booth of the Hoofshine Harlots bar, a golden-eyed zebra stallion sat with a pegasus mare.

She looked up from the drink she’d been nursing. “Do you really have to go? Breeze will be so lonely without you here.”

Cept took another sip of his drink, eyes also downcast. “I do. I must take Atesh back to Roam to face judgement. Others in our clan want to return too.” He swirled the drink in his hooves. “Roam should hear how Naiara helped to save Equestria. Maybe they will change their minds about ponies.”

Cassie sipped her liquor before asking her next question. “Do you think so?”

Pulling a face, he drained the rest of the glass. “No, I do not. I will try, though.”

Setting her glass aside, the pegasus got up when Cept did. “And none of us can go with you? Not even Bosco? He could disguise himself as a zebra.”

Holding up a hoof, Cept shook his head. “It is too risky. If word got out that an outsider was brought into Roam without permission, the whole clan could be punished. Only zebra this time.” He looked back, through the foyer, towards the bedrooms, where another pegasus slept. “I do not want to leave her, but I have a duty to the clan.”

Slipping both hooves around his neck, Cassie hugged him tight. “You ARE coming back, though, yes?”

He returned the hug. “Nothing in this world could keep me from her.”

She nuzzled into his neck. “Then good luck. We’ll miss you while you’re gone. Don’t keep her waiting too long, Cept.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Cassie… you’re a complete bitch sometimes. You shot me. Three times. I don’t care what problems you’ve had with Raiders, that’s just overkill. For all the time I’ve known you, your only saving grace was how much you loved your sister.

Still, you fought alongside me, our friends, and our two sisters. You killed Latvi and avenged Naiara. I won’t forget that. Because of that, I’m gonna ask you a favour.

All that hatred you’ve got towards Raiders? Let it go. Pile it all onto Red Ice, and leave it buried down here with her. Focus on the love, Venatici. Let any hate you have focus on me, and leave Undertow alone. She never asked to be a Raider, never tried to be like I did. It’s not her fault, it’s mine. Leave all your hate with me, and go spend your days with those you love.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

[Six months after the battle]

Cassie couldn’t help but smile as she watched the scene unfolding before her. Four Changelings, a buffalo, and a unicorn were engaged in an increasingly loud shouting match. Cassie wouldn’t have missed a moment of it if you paid her.

In the six months since Stable 61, Cassie had honoured Snowflake’s last wish, and not been hostile to Undertow, but she still greatly enjoyed seeing the water-wielding unicorn getting stressed out like this.

A figure in a heavy cloak and dust mask strolled up next to her. His voice was muffled by his attire. “What is wrong?”

Cassie chuckled. “Youth.” She pointed at one of the Changelings, currently in the familiar form of her beloved friend. “Bosco there has gained something of a following, thanks to his role in what happened six months ago.” Cassie moved her hoof towards the other three Changelings, all in the form of pretty pony fillies. “Those three hangers-on follow him around, hanging on his every word.”

As if to prove her point, Bosco snapped something at the buffalo, with the three fillies chorusing approval. This set the unicorn and buffalo arguing back, and soon it devolved into Bosco, Undertow, and Lo each yelling at the other two, as well as the other Changelings.

Cassie snickered again. She nodded at Undertow. “She’s Bosco’s best friend, but I’m not so sure she really knows how she feels about him getting all this female attention.” Then at Lo. “And her big brother there is not so keen on much of what’s happening here, from Undertow OR Bosco. Which, naturally, leads both to get angry with him in return, and so on and so forth.” She shrugged. “As I said: Youth.”

The stallion began to remove his traveller’s garb. “They are well, at least. I am glad.”

“They are,” she agreed, before turning and poking him in his striped chest, “and you’re late. It’s been six months, Cept. You’ve kept my sister waiting.”

“Sorry.” His smile was embarrassed, but not uneasy. He began looking around rapidly. “Is Breeze here?”

Cassie smiled brightly at his eagerness. She turned him away from the ongoing argument. “Let me take you to her. You’ll make her day.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Breeze, what you said at the Stable entrance really made me happy. I know I made some mistakes, and we didn’t always get along, but I was always happy that you were such a good friend to Naiara. You deserved her, and she deserved you.

I am so sorry that I have to take another one of us away from you all. It’s cruel, I know. Sorry again. I guess you’re in charge of making sure it doesn’t happen again. I can’t think of anybody else who could honour Naiara’s legacy better.

Keep up with the fancy tech, too. Always liked that. Well, after the first time, anyway.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

[Four years after the battle]

The elevator doors dinged open, allowing Breeze to trot casually out into the foyer. As she headed further into the Bernstein penthouse’s offices, she passed by one of the full length glass windows. Looking out, she was treated to a fantastic view of the recovering city of Lethbridle.

With the activation of the Gardens of Equestria, the region’s farmlands had returned to their pre-war fertility. After managing to clear out the few pockets of Raiders and Plottawans who had survived within the city up until that point, it had been opened up for settlers again.

It was, once again, the heart of the northern region. With the bright summer sun shining down on it, Lethbridle gleamed like a polished jewel.

Breeze took a moment to enjoy the warmth on her feathers, before continuing.

As she passed through the next set of doors, she raised her voice to greet the three ponies inside. “Good morning, Esto, Lithu, Amber.”

Esto, already hard at work, waved without turning away from her multiple projects. “Breeze, good morning.”

Lithu immediately dropped what she was doing to focus on the newcomer. “Breeze, hello! Did you fly up here?”

Amber waved, but as-always said nothing.

Breeze waved off Lithu’s concern. “Yeah, I flew up here. Gimme a break, the baby’s not due for another month.”

The white-and-blonde unicorn hadn’t taken her eyes off Breeze’s bump. “Yes, but we might not see you for a while after the little one arrives. I want to make sure we get as much Breeze time as possible, and that means not making yourself sick via overexertion!”

Rolling her eyes, Breeze moved over to Esto’s workstation. “Relax, Lithu. When it happens, I’ll be gone maybe a week. Cept’s the one who’s gonna watch over the baby.” The pegasus took a moment to rub her hoofring. “That husband of mine’s going stir-crazy waiting for the foal to arrive. He and ‘Auntie Cassie’ are constantly squabbling over every detail. I’ll be here plenty up until my time just to get away from that.”

The four mares shared a laugh, silently in Amber’s case, at the thought. Cept’s time in Roam had ended in his exile, the brunt of the atheist clan’s folly falling on him as Elder, though he’d adjusted to life in Equestria because of a strong support system of fire-forged friends.

The matters of the day soon took precedence over chatter. Breeze joined her partner in their research, Esto as the thinker and Breeze as the tinkerer having developed a strong working relationship since the Stable.

On the other side of the room, Amber and Lithu resumed their planning. “Okay, so we’re set on the presentation for the Bernstein main office team?” Receiving a nod from the Bernstein mare, Lithu pressed on, sharp mind remaining even after Latvi had stolen her scientific knowledge. “Your cousins must be eager to see you again, Amber.”

The silent businessmare just rolled her eyes, and pointed at the next item on the agenda.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Bosco, you were the first friend I made outside of the Stable, and I damn sure wouldn’t be here to do this today without your help. Heck, none of us would be. You got us through scrapes we had no business getting through, Boss Colt.

Sorry I can’t be around to help you figure out all this Changeling stuff. I’m sure the other ‘lings will help you out if you ask. If not, then there’re plenty of worse things to be than just Bosco. Love that guy.

You’re gonna do great, buddy. I guarantee it. I literally cannot think of a scenario where you won’t. Especially because you’ve got tons of love around you to help you grow big and strong.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

[Five years after the battle]

Two griffons stood on a mountaintop, taking in the last few rays of warmth as the orange sun sank over the horizon.

Green fire flashed around one, leaving a sturdily built grey Earth stallion standing in its place. The Stallion began counting slips in his hooves. “Twenty… forty… sixty… this new NCR paper money’s fiddly. I miss caps.”

The remaining griffon, now dwarfed by her partner, barely reacted. “Mhm.”

Satisfied that the money was in order, the stallion stashed it away again. “Looks like we’ve got enough to last us a month or two, even if we don’t pick up any jobs along the way. Whaddaya say we head north and say hi to the others? Breeze has been bugging me to come visit little Naiara. ‘If you can catch her’, she says.”

Wings broke from her stupor at the name, nodding vigorously. “Sounds great. That little filly’s gonna be special. Schwarz has been pushing me to stop by, too. Must be a full year since we saw each other.” She dug an elbow into Bosco’s side. “We’ll stop at Sprinkles Supplies first, eh, so you can see a certain somebody.”

He flicked her elbow away with his tail. “Why does everybody think—? I mean, I DO wanna see her, but as a friend.”

Sapphire eyes glinting in the twilight, Wings just chuckled. “Sure, kid. Whatever you say.”

Glowering at first, Bosco’s expression shifted to conciliatory. “While we’re up there, we’ll have time to go to 61.”

Immediately, the griffon looked away. Her voice dropped to gruff tones. “There’s nothing there to see.”

He scratched at his cheek. “It’s okay to miss her, you know.”

She didn’t respond.

Bosco pushed on. “You never talk about her. Any time we talk to people in bars, or whatever, you’ll mention the others, but not her.”

Her claws scratched thin lines in the rock as they balled into fists. “It’s just what happens in the Wasteland. Nothing to stew over, especially not after five years.”

“If you really feel like that, why is that horn still hanging around your neck?”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Undertow, I’ve got so many things I want to say to you. Sorry I couldn’t keep watching over you in person. Sorry I ended up keeping my promise in a really shitty way. There’s nothing left out there that can hurt you, at least nothing that stands a chance of getting past the others first, including your big brothers.

Xilia, in the time I got to travel with you, you did things I never thought possible with magic. Seriously, when I watch you do some of the things you do… you just take my breath away. Nobody’ll ever convince me that there’s a more powerful unicorn in this world than you. And you’ll keep getting stronger too, as you grow up. I wish I could be there to see that. You’ll be a beautiful mare, even more so than you are now, I just know it. And you’re kind, too. Mom taught you well.

You, Undertow, are everything I should have been in life. More complete. I was just the prototype. Ice is just incomplete water, really. You’re more of a full person than I ever was. You can use magic like I can’t, love like I couldn’t, and live as I was never able to. You’re perfect, Undertow, and you’re not even finished yet.

I can’t do much more for you, but I can try. It might be a gift, might be a burden, but I gotta try either way.

Undertow… I pass my soul onto you.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

[Six years after the battle]

Stepping through the Stable, nodding greetings to passing residents and visiting traders, an aquamarine-and-turquoise unicorn mare moved with a fluid gait. As she walked, a pair of goggles hung loosely from her neck, and her orange eyes passed over all points of interest.

“STOP! THIEF!”

Undertow looked up calmly, as a bright pink teenage filly darted around a corner at the far end of corridor, four bread buns held in a neon-green haze while she hastily chewed on a fifth as she ran. Struggling along after her was a heavyset earth stallion, middle-aged and wheezing.

The thief charged down the corridor swerving to avoid Undertow, who hadn’t moved. The filly passed the waterwitch…

...and stopped dead in her tracks. The half-bun left in her mouth kept going, even as the mouth did not, but was caught in an aquamarine glow before it hit the floor.

The teenager struggled in vain against her immobile body. “What’s going on here? I can’t move!” Neon-green eyes widened on the serene smile Undertow was sending her way, even as the hue around the floating buns was overtaken by aqua. “You! You’re doing this! Lemme go!”

Turning to the approaching baker, Undertow nonchalantly floated the four buns back to him, as well as some NCR cash for the half-chewed fifth. “Sorry about this. I’ll take her to the Overseer.”

With a final glare at the girl, the stallion stomped off with his recovered wares.

After he was gone, Undertow resumed her casual amble, though now she had company. No matter how she struggled, gasped, and complained, the filly couldn’t stop her legs from moving in formation with those of the older girl.

In a voice as pure as a mountain spring, Undertow addressed the bread thief. “What’s your name?”

Gritting her teeth, the filly gnashed out. “What’s it to you? Lemme go already!”

“Not until the Overseer gets his say.” If she was tiring from frogmarching a teenager through corridor after corridor, Undertow didn’t show it.

After exhausting all options at toughness without success, the filly changed tactics. “Why are you doing this to me? It hurts! Leave me alone!” She even managed to squeeze out some crocodile tears.

“It might hurt, if I’d caught you six years ago. Apparently it hurt like hell back then. I’ve had practice since, though.” She reached over and ruffled the little unicorn’s mane. “You’ll live. Now tell me your name.”

“Fourhoof Discount.”

“Try again. Your real name this time.”

“Sticky Digits.”

“One more lie, and I walk you into a wall. Horn first. That stings, lemme tell you.”

“...Fizzlestick.”

Glancing at her face, the water-wielder seemed satisfied. “Nice to meet you, Fizzlestick.” She nodded forwards, towards an open door. “We’re here.”

Fizzlestick’s response was a drawn-out groan, as she was propelled into the Overseer’s office.

Because she could, Undertow had her charge salute. “Hi, big brother. You’re looking well.”

Head still buried in papers, Buff took a second to notice his visitors. When he did, his head snapped up, an ear-to-ear grin spreading across his face. Lumbering around the desk as fast as his full-grown-bull body could take him, he wrapped Undertow up in a bone-crushing hug. “Hey! I didn’t know you were coming! Why didn’t you call, little sister?”

“‘Little sister’?” Fizzlestick squeaked from beside them.

Brother and sister broke their hug, and fixed the girl with twin smirks. “That’s right. Now what did you do this time, Fizzlestick?”

“Nothing, Overseer, I swear!”

Undertow traded glances with Buff. “‘This time’, huh? She steal bread a lot?”

Grunting irritably, Buff returned to his desk. “She acts out a lot. Seems to think that she knows everything there is to know, no matter who tries to teach her otherwise.”

“I don’t need anybody trying to box me in.” Fizzlestick muttered.

She was swiftly ignored. Undertow looked back at Buff. “What’s her story?”

Buff’s irritation gave way to pity. “Only child. Lost her parents when the Steel Rangers first came to the Stable, not long before… you know. Since then, she’s been a ward of the Stable. Everybody’s tried their best to help her fit in, but…”

“Tried their best to shut me down, you mean!” Even redoubling her efforts did nothing to free Fizzlestick’s body and blood from Undertow’s arcane grasp.

“...now she just lashes out at anybody.” Buff ran a hoof over his eyes. “I’m running out of ideas. Punishment does nothing. Redirecting her energy doesn’t take, and even offering to let her go out of the Stable with our supply caravans doesn’t interest her.”

“Stop talking about me like I’m not even here!”

Undertow looked to the girl, then to her brother. “Can I try?”

Buff and Fizzlestick both stared, confusion and unease on their respective faces.

Beckoning her in close, Buff whispered into Undertow’s ear. “What are you gonna do?”

She kissed him on the cheek. “Give her what I think she needs. I’m gonna borrow a page from someone we both know and love.”

Turning to the suitably freaked filly, Undertow released her bloodhold on her. “Well, Fizzlestick. I think you and I are gonna be spending a lot more time together in the next few months.”

“What?” The pink unicorn backed away. “Why?”

“Because you never had a big sister and you need one.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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Epilogue: New Equestria (Director's Cut Extension)

Author’s note: Okay, so I know I said I was done, but this has been on my mind ever since I published the epilogue. This part’s as canonical as you want it to be. If you liked the other ending from the main epilogue, ignore this. If you like this, don’t. Either way, I’m marking it as Director’s Cut for that reason.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Epilogue: New Equestria Extend

“Looks like I’m almost to the end of the path now. I think that’s the core up ahead.

Buff, Al, Lo, Undertow. Look after each other. Undertow, look after Mom.

The rest of you, thanks. I didn’t always show it, but the time I spent with you all was the best of my life.

Friends, family, even you twins: I’m grateful that you let me love you…

...and thank you for loving me.

Goodbye.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

[Seven years after the battle]

“And it was so cool! He could turn into loads of different ponies!” The bright pink filly bounced on her stool in the Sprinkles Supplies bar room, almost spilling the straw from her Sparkle Cola as she recounted her tale.

Muffled chuckles emanated from within her audience’s ragged gear. “He sounds pretty incredible.” The pony’s voice was garbled by the thick coverings they wore, and the viewscreen goggles obscured what parts of their face that the swaddles didn’t cover.

Fizzlestick sank back into her stool with a sigh. “He totally is. I wanted to stay and talk to him some more, but my stupid sister all but threw me out so she could have him all to herself.”

The stranger cocked their head to the side. “Your sister?”

Sucking hard on the straw, Fizzlestick could only nod, causing her spiky neon-green mane to twitch. When she finished her gulp, she continued in a sulkish tone. “Undertow, that’s my sister by the way, totally likes him. Bosco and her’ve been friends for years, but it’s sooo obvious. Not that she’d admit it, though.”

“You don’t say?” The mystery pony tapped a hoof on the bar. “This Bosco seems like a good guy, though.”

Fizzlestick instantly brightened. “Oh yeah, totally. He was really friendly, and nice, and has all these great stories. He’s so funny! He’s been all over Equestria, according to my sister and her friends, and met a bunch of crazy people. He showed me a few when he was doing his body changing.” The girl blinked her neon-green eyes for a moment. “Though, there was one time where I think he wasn’t paying attention. He turned into this unicorn mare I didn’t know. I don’t think he did it on purpose, though, because Undertow went really quiet when he did, and he changed back to normal a second later.”

The stranger shrugged. “Everybody makes mistakes. It happens.”

Fizzlestick shrugged too. “Yeah, I guess. It was kinda weird though, ‘cause the mare had the same eyes as my sister.”

“That happens too, sometimes. There are only so many colours in the world, after all.”

Fizzlestick leaned in. “You know what I think? I think it might’ve been my sister’s big sister.”

“‘Your sister’s big sister’? Strange way to put it.”

Fizzlestick waggled her eyebrows conspiratorially. “Undertow talks about her a lot, and keeps promising to show me a picture of—” She cut off abruptly, slapping her hooves over her mouth. “Nevermind! Forget I said anything!” Quickly grabbing her drink, she sucked on the straw like there was no tomorrow.

Her audience chuckled again. “I won’t tell, I promise.”

Breathing a sigh of relief, the pink filly grinned in thanks. “I owe you one. So, why’re you here today?”

A hoof moved under the pony’s heavy cloak, pointing back out of the bar. “I have an appointment with Fedexi Lexi. I’m just waiting for her to finish up with the ponies already in there.”

Both jumped as a shotgun blast shattered the peaceful atmosphere. Fizzlestick squeaked, and half-dove over the bar, while the stranger bolted between the filly and the door.

Out in the corridor, a wheat-coloured Earth stallion with a red tag cutie mark and a portly off-white unicorn with a red awning for a cutie mark scampered backwards across the doorway.

Eyes wide, Chad Valley stammered as he backed up. “The hell’s wrong with you? I just said Red Ice was a—”

“YOU DON’T SAY THAT NAME! NOT IN THIS PLACE!” Another crack as the shotgun fired again. Fisher Price, now at a dead run, slammed into Chad Valley, and the two went down in a heap.

Stomping into view, purple eyes hard and orange frizz extra dishevelled, Fedexi Lexi pointed the levitating shotgun at the quivering stallions. “Get the hell off mah property this second, the both o’ yeh!”

Fizzlestick and the stranger reached the bar’s doorway just as the two stallions, crawling on their bellies as fast as their hooves could take them, slammed into two thick, cienna legs.

Reaching down, Al hauled both stallions upright effortlessly. “Sorry about that. My boss lost her daughter because of Red Ice. She doesn’t like hearing about her. You two would be best served to keep your mouths shut.” The big buffalo lowered his face until it was inches from theirs. His eyes were not friendly. “Got it?”

Unblinking, both nodded. Satisfied, Al near-dragged both around and away from the shotgun-toting Lexi, and towards the exit.

When they were gone, Fizzlestick found her voice. “Um… Lexi?”

Face still frozen in a snarl, Lexi whipped around. When she noticed who was speaking, her expression softened. “What is it, Fizz?”

Meekly, the younger unicorn pointed at her bar companion. “Y-you got another appointment.”

“Awright.” Face defaulting to stony neutrality, the Sprinkles Supplies boss indicated for the appointee to follow her. “This way. We’ll talk in mah office.”

After the earlier confrontation, plus two carriages breaking down within minutes of each other, not to mention talk of new tariffs on the busiest routes, it’d been a trying morning for theSprinkles Supplies boss. Lexi didn’t bother making nice. She was in no mood for it, not today.

The stranger followed silently. Neither pony said a word until the door to Lexi’s office clicked shut behind them.

Lowering the floating shotgun onto the desk, barrel pointed away from her guest, Lexi pointed to a seat in front of the hardwood table. “Siddown.” Without waiting for confirmation, she moved around the desk, sinking into her own high-backed and considerably more comfortable chair.

When the appointee was settled, still without speaking up, Lexi rubbed her face with a hoof, dragging the skin downwards with a groan. “Ah need a drink before we start. Y’want one?”

The stranger nodded.

Floating out two glasses with her magic, Lexi pulled a bottle of high-end whiskey from her under-desk fridge with her hooves.

While Lexi was busy with the glasses, her appointee began to speak, words still muffled by their clothing. “I’m here about a room you’ve got on offer.”

Lexi blinked, stopping mid-pour. “A room? Y’mean in the barracks? Y’wantin’ a job t’get a place over yer head or sumthin’?”

Glinting in the warm rays of the summer sun, streaming in from the window behind Lexi’s chair, the stranger’s whiskey sat untouched for a moment.

“Not exactly.” Seeming to appraise the offering, the covered pony looked up from the glass to the mare already sipping on her share. “Not on the rocks? It’s hot out.”

Lexi shuddered, almost sputtering. “Fresh outta ice, sorry.”

It was a lie. Her cube trays were full in her fridge’s chiller compartment. They had been for seven years. Even on the hottest days, like this one was shaping up to be, she still couldn’t bring herself to face even that amount of ice. Not since Stable 61.

Grunting to cover the tears welling in her eyes, Lexi reached for the glass. “If yer drink’s too warm, Ah’ll toss it.”

The stranger waved her hoof off. “It’s fine. I got it.”

Reaching past their own glass, the mystery pony waved a hoof over Lexi’s drink.

Plop. Plop.

Fedexi Lexi’s day just went from bad to unbearable.

The harsh sun beating down on her back warred with the chill up her spine as she jerked her hoof away from her glass. Floating in her whiskey, rocketing up her heartrate far more than the two idiots she’d just chased out at shotgun-point ever could, were two perfect frozen cubes. “G-get those away from me right now, or so help me—”

Lexi’s pupils, shrunk to pinpricks, fixed on the stranger, who was in the process of loosening the rags covering their mouth. “Didn’t yeh hear me? AH SAID—”

The rags fell aside. “Hi, mom.”

And, just like that, Lexi’s day didn’t seem so bad anymore.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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