It took three hours after we left the safety of the radio tower before my little group arrived at the little town Nightcore directed us. Also, within those three hours, being the reasonable individual I am, I became tempted to convince Blueberry to start running in the other direction and see whither or not Red Eye still has job openings.

But, perhaps some context for that last statement might be needed.

It was roughly noon when we left. Nightcore directed us, well, Blueberry and I, to a bridge that wasn't more then twenty minutes away on foot. The road it was connected to apparently wasn't well used and, accordingly, safe enough to let our guard down, as the road itself apparently led down near Tauronto itself.

Blueberry wasn't looking well, with two moderately sized bags strapped to her sides and clad in a thick black robe, one that looked suspiciously like one I saw Dawn wear but in a smaller size. She looked a little tired, but it might have been what little lighting the cloud-covered sky gave to everything else.

Candy Cane, on the other hand, looked like a little mummy, with all but her eyes covered in either a woolen jacket, a small hat, a little pink scarf, or in one of four little purple rubber booties. While it was a little discerning as to why Dawn had foal-sized clothing, it was rather nice that she could walk around without risk of her stepping on something sharp.

Umbra, as apposed to walking, just flew behind us the whole time, high enough in the air to the point where she looked like a hazy dot in the sky. She said it was so she could get a better view of our surroundings, but considering that the area around the road was as dead and grey as anything else, I didn't believe her.

I, on the other hand, was the designated load-carrier, with two bags hanging off each of my arms and another slipped on my left horn. It wasn't hard to heft around, but my pace had to be a little slower and more deliberate then normal, which put me at moving at roughly the same place as Blueberry.

No one had much to say to each other. Candy Cane was quiet but didn't look especially unhappy, Blueberry just didn't look like she wanted to talk, and I didn't want to either, and the only topic that I would have deemed to be good conversation involved things that Umbra would know more about then I did. And Umbra was a few dozen feet in the air, following us like a content carrion bird.

We traveled like this for an hour or so, before we stopped to rest and eat on top of a flat, rocky hill, one that ended at a steep decline. Giving that it was tall, it gave us a good view of the surrounding area, which, seeing as we were getting closer and closer to a hot spot in pony activity, was a very good thing.

But that became just a detail to me when I saw what was a half-days walk away from the very spot we were sitting at.

As it happened, that hill was where I got my first glance at the city of Tauronto.

Call me ignorant, but I once thought an aquarium was one of the larger things in the world.

I wasn't ignorant to the concept of a city, admittedly, but I until that very moment, I wasn't aware at how simply, fascinatingly huge they could be. Often, I had heard from the few ponies that came into my people's domain comments about how large the settlement was. Eighty individuals, give or take a few depending on the year, is apparently on the high end for a settlement's size in the wastes. Watershed was a major settlement, apparently, and I counted about thirty ponies just walking the streets when I was there. I wouldn't speculate about the exact number of tribals in Braymont, but giving all the ponies wandering around I would put it at having at least fifty or so inhabitants.

Tauronto, as a place, was the largest thing I had ever seen.

Even if the sky was overcast as always, the city was impressive to me. It looked almost like a hill, really, with smaller buildings outlying the larger buildings which further hung around the great towers like flies on a carcass. It was a giant grey-blue cluster of old steel and shattered glass; the towers looked like they could fall any moment and the buildings below looked barren, like steel skeletons.

And, off to the side of the largest cluster of towers was a very large, slim building, which made everything else in the city look small and bulky by comparison.

The base was akin to a hexagon, dull grey and probably made from concrete, and it's sides were framed with a dull shiny material, one that only occasionally reflected the spare bit of light directed to it. The real focus of my attention; everyone's attention, really, was the top part of the tower, which had two things that were very, very attention grabbing.

The first was an large, almost flower-like section near the middle of the tower, one that bulged out from the rest of it by at least a few dozen feet or so, rounded at framed with glass. The second thing was the rest of the tower, a thin protrusion that extended from that central bulge that had to be at least a hundred feet tall. It was also giving off a bright green-gold glow that fluctuated every so often, waxing and waning like a schizophrenic green moon. It wasn't bright enough to give the entire section of the city it was located near a green tinge, but it was bright enough that I had to look away after a few seconds of staring at it.

Even then, I had to blink to get the green afterimage out of my vision.

"It's a sight, eh?"

I didn't bother to turn around, because I heard the flapping of wings close behind me.

"Is that the CN Tower, Umbra?" I heard Blueberry ask behind me, sounding more curious than anything else.

"It is. It's one of the tallest buildings in the world, next to the Skytree and Shadowbolt Tower." the bat mare replied, sucking in a breath after finishing.

I didn't know what either of those were, so I didn't say anything. I just kept looking onward, at the city before me, only somewhat listening to the conversation taking place behind me.

"Miss Batsy, why's it named the CN Tower?" Candy Cane asked, excitement audible in her voice even with a piece of cloth covering her mouth.

Smiling at the filly's question, I surprised myself by realizing that the smile Umbra had on her face had absolutely no sarcasm in it at all. Heck, she looked proud. "Terra's Transporters was the largest railroad company in Caldonia a few years before the Great War, Candy Cane. However, it went bankrupt halfway through the war. So, what part of it that was in Caldonia was put under government control, so it was named the Caldonia National. The part that was in Equestria was sold to a company called Four Stars."

"That's the one in Manehatten, right?" Blueberry spoke up lightly, sounding a bit like she was intruding on the conversation despite being just a few feet away. At this rate, I could relate.

"It is, miss Blueberry." Candy Cane replied, to my own amusement and Blueberry's probable bafflement, "Miss Batsy, but why is it still called that?"

"Eh?" I heard the bat mare say quickly, obviously startled, "What do you mean, Candy Cane?"

"It doesn't look like a, um, Caldonia National Tower to me. What about naming it the Glowy Deathy Spiketower? And why does it glow like that? Why's it shaped so funny anyway?"

I heard Blueberry giggle a bit, and Umbra taking a deep, even breath. I repressed the urge to chuckle so that Umbra didn't try and drag me into this.

"That shape in the middle in it the observation tower, and that thing on the top isn't a spike, it's an antenna. It glows because it has a lot of crystal in it, Candy Cane, and it had a lot of magical things in it that got damaged during the war. And that bump in the middle of it is the place where ponies go when they are inside it." Umbra said, the former casual tone in her voice becoming a little more forced.

I didn't have anything to say to that, and apparently, neither did Blueberry.

"So, why isn't called the Glowy Deathy Tower of Eternal Balefire and Reavers, then?"

Candy Cane did, though, and it was adorable.

"Because it's too long of a name." Umbra said, now sounding a little unsure about what else she could say. "Candy, do you want to listen to one of those little tapes Dawn gave you?"

For clarification, Glorious Dawn, besides giving us a few days worth of tasty food in tasteful tupperware containers and letting Blueberry and Candy Cane take old clothes of hers that were just laying around, also gave Umbra, and to an extent Blueberry and I, a moderately sized box filled with cassette tapes and a pair of headphones that were just small enough for Candy Cane's head.

"I guess." I heard the filly reply, voice lukewarm.

As we had placed our belongings on a rocky shelf a few yards away, I heard the two trot away from the rim of the hill, leaving me as the sole observer of that spot for about fifteen seconds, before Blueberry plopped down to my right.

Neither of us said anything for a bit, waiting for the other to speak up first. After a few moments of settling down on the dirt without messing up her new outfit, Blueberry spoke up.

"We need to talk, Watchful."

I looked down at Blueberry, who simply gave me a expecting look in turn, eyebrow's raised slightly.

"About Candy Cane and Umbra? About the Purebred? Mind explaining why you started to laugh like that when Umbra told you what the Scions worship?"

Blueberry laughed lightly, looking forward for a few seconds before catching her breath. "Nightmare Moon is a foal's tale, and a really really old one."

"Umbra looked upset that you laughed at it, though." I said, recalling the bat pony's resigned look she spared Blueberry when she exploded into a fit of giggles. "What is your plan about her, anyway?"

"Wait, my plan?" Blueberry replied swiftly, giving me a amazed look, "I was going to ask for yours."

I looked at the huge expanse of land in front of me, taking in all the little irregularities I could see at this distance in the buildings and the land, all grays of different hues.

"I don't have any plan that I haven't told you already, Blueberry. But, really, what do you think we need to do about Umbra? "

"I don't think she's a threat to either of us as long as Candy Cane is safe." Blueberry said ambivalently, "I think we need to talk about fighting, Watchful."

Feeling that this wasn't going to be a brief conversation, I turned my body around just enough so that I didn't need to move my head to see Blueberry.

"Right now?"

"Watchful, it's not something we can just ignore. Do you know how lucky we have been? We have been captured by a rogue military pony, walked through a cannibalistic hellhole, survived another hellhole and made a ally in the giant mutant that lived in it, and then we walked down to another town, which got blown up the night we arrived. This just has been in the last two weeks, and we actually haven't fought anypony yet. Not a single raider or bandit, even in places that we should have, logically. I have a good gun, but you don't have a weapon or any armor; I don't think you even used that machete you took with you when you left your village, did you? You are a big target, and it takes only one bullet to kill."

I bit the inside of my cheeks, caught without any real pre-formed reply.

"I agree. I suppose we should look in the next place we go to for protective armor and some sort of weapon for me. But, at the moment, you can shoot quite well and Umbra is very fast and has those gauntlets of hers."

At the mentioning of Umbra, Blueberry glanced over to where Candy Cane was now sitting quietly and listening to one of the tapes. Umbra, by contrast, was now perched on a taller rocky outcrop and observing the surrounding area, like a bird of prey. Or a vulture.

"I guess you are right, Watchful. But, really, let's be honest here. You'r a minotaur, and we are going to places where you are probably going to be a bigger target than any of us are going to be. If you can't defend yourself, I don't know what we are going to do."

As she talked, I felt out of place. I didn't feel like I should be where I was, sitting on top of a hill, a place of which I had heard nothing good about looming before me.

But then, I had an idea. A horrific, monstrous idea, but one that might help alleviate her worries and my own. It was a topic that I was trying to keep to myself, but now that seemed impossible.

"Blueberry, remember in Watershed, when I said that minotaur magic protected me from getting shot?"

She immediately frowned. "Yeah, what was that about, anyway? That griffon said you stood in front of that Cheesecake pony and didn't get...."

Blueberry sat there for a few moments before she suddenly looked shocked. "Wait, that was a joke, right? Minotaurs don't have magic, do they? I swear, if you actually have the ability to make bullets not hit you, I am going to-"

I looked to my side, trying to gather just how far Umbra and Candy Cane were, and after gauging that they were far away enough, I leaned forward a bit so that I could lower my voice.

"Blueberry, minotaurs do not have magic, but I have noticed something weird going on ever since I left the Seahorse Aquarium. There was a strange liquid flowing from the water generator, and after I touched it I have noticed strange things happening to me."

"What did the liquid look like?" Blueberry said sharply, not giving me a chance to catch my breath, "What did this generator look like? What have you been seeing?"

I rubbed my temples, thinking back to that hectic day. It felt like it's been forever since it happened, honestly.

"The machine was made out of clear plastic, mostly, but it had some metallic parts. There were six oval orbs arranged in rows of three on each side of it, but it was leaking a clear fluid that glittered from most of it's pipes. It looked damaged."

Blueberry looked away from me for a few moments, at the city, looking like she was deep in thought.

"Watchful, do you know what Flux can do to you?" she said, sounding worried.

"I don't know what Flux is, Blueberry." I replied, hoping that I didn't sound ignorant.

Blueberry turned to me swiftly, and she almost looked like she was going to cry.

"Watchful, Flux and Taint are the same thing; pure, distilled magic in physical form. If that...water generator really was leaking as bad as it was, then that entire water system it's keeping afloat really is irreversibly poisoned. You shouldn't be alive."

I wasn't sure how to react to her words. I didn't remember feeling different after getting near the generator.

"Are you sure, Blueberry?"

She shut her eyes hard, like she didn't want to look at me. Aw, crap, she wasn't taking this well at all.

"Just...what sort of odd things are you seeing?"

I breathed in deeply, brain not working well. I wondered if I should talk about my hand, or about Strife.

I breathed out, and made my decision.

No more lies.

So, I told her everything, starting from when I stumbled out of the aquarium, sans the memory orb, of course. Everything from the manticore to the dream in Watershed to the event on the bridge to the other dream I had inside the radio.

After I was finished, Blueberry looked oddly calm, but before she could say anything, I felt something brush past my horns, which startled me so much I nearly jumped off the cliff.

"Hey, that's a cool story." Umbra said flighty, hovering in the air with periodic flaps of her wings, "That part with the Draconequus is funny, too."

"Wait, am I the only pony here who doesn't know what a dracwhatever is?" Blueberry said quickly, looking both at me and Umbra with equal confusion.

"Draconequus. Spirits of chaos and disharmony, right?" Umbra said mirthfully, prodding my right shoulder like we were in on a funny joke.

"Yes. The original creators of the world, and most of the species within it." I said flatly, giving Umbra an unappreciative look.

My words seemed to snap her out her good mood and after turning fully upright she started to hover upwards slightly, body positioned horizontally so she could look me in the eye.

She didn't look happy with what I just said.

"You don't really believe that crap, do you? You really think minotaurs were created by Discord on a whim?"

I was quite surprised that she even knew that story; most ponies didn't know much about Discord, from what I could tell.

"Of course. You don't really believe that there's a pony watching you from the sky, do you?"

Between the two ponies, there was an interesting discrepancy in the responses to my question; Blueberry said "Yes." but Umbra said "Fuck no, do I look stupid to you?".

Sensing that I was suddenly not the main focus in the conversation, I moved out of the way between Blueberry and Umbra and watched the two bicker about pony things.

"How can you say something like that! You're a ghoul, even! What do you think is going to happen to you if you die?" Blueberry said, looking rather upset as she stood up off the ground and turned to Umbra.

"You know what this armor is, Blueberry Cream?" Umbra said, sounding a little spiteful as she touched the chest piece reflexively.

"It's...Night Guard armor, right?" Blueberry said slowly, sounding unsure herself. "That's the right name, right?"

A brief look of surprise passed over Umbra's face, and she descended to the ground softly, not making a single noise as she did.

"Wait, so you know that I've seen Luna herself? Then what's your issue with me saying-"

"They ascended! They are not dead!" Blueberry snapped back stubbornly.

Umbra waved her off, closing her eyes and shaking her head. "Luna and Celestia were ponies. Ponies, even ponies that can move the sun and moon, die. They are as dead as anypony else who died in Canterlot. Both the sun and moon arn't working properly and they are both dead and gone."

"But they ascended!" Blueberry said once more, rearing up and stomping the ground lightly as she did, "Just because you are jaded doesn't mean that other ponies can't have hope!"

I couldn't help but wonder where she was getting this from. I hadn't ever seen her act this...defensive for something that wasn't about her.

"You know what? I'm going to be nice, and not break your little fantasy." Umbra replied sulkily. "How do you even know what the Royal Guards are, anyway? You're a Steel Ranger."

"That's Steel Ranger Senior Scribe." Blueberry replied swiftly, giving Umbra a almost pitying look, "And if you really want to know, I skimmed over a book about bat ponies in Nightcore's collection when I got bored."

"Thestral." Umbra muttered, turning a bit over to where Candy Cane was before looking at Blueberry once more.

"Huh?" Blueberry said, echoing what I was thinking from my stone seat.

"It's Thestral, not bat pony. Or Nocturni, if you want to get fancy with it." Umbra said once more, now looking a bit calmer. "And it's the Night Watch, not Night Guard. There's only a Lunar Guard."

"What's the difference?" Blueberry asked, now sounding calmer herself.

"The Night Watch watched the night, and the Lunar Guard guarded Luna." Umbra said, seemingly without irony, before deciding to elaborate. "The Night Watch was the service branch, the one's that did Luna's work both inside and outside Canterlot. The Lunar Guard stayed in Canterlot, and acted as her bodyguard and her high command."

Umbra paused, and motioned over to Blueberry in a friendly manner. "It's the difference between a Knight or a Paladin, to put it one way."

Blueberry let out a tense laugh. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense. So, did you have wings before putting on the armor?"

I was utterly confused by what Blueberry was trying to imply, but Umbra looked humored. "Yeash, that's supposed to be classified. But no, I'm a Thestral born and bred. I got to admit, I'm surprised you know that bit about the armor enchantments."

"I actually didn't read that in that book. One of the founding members of the Fillydelphian Chapter was a displaced Royal Guard, and he wrote a bit about magical enchantments. There's a lot of similarities in the magic that goes into both the Guard and the Steel Rangers armor, you know."

Umbra smiled a bit, fangs poking out over her upper lip. "Hah, that's funny. Oh, and it's Solar Guard, Blueberry. Day Watch too. Same differences."

"Oh, huh." Blueberry said mildly, nodding at Umbra in appreciation. "Hey, if you don't mind me asking, can I ask you a few questions?"

Umbra cracked a grin, and for a second I saw her eyes shift in my direction before returning to Blueberry's.

"No, it's fine. Go ahead, I'm not hiding anything."

"You're not a Canterlot Ghoul." she said quickly, "Where were you when the bombs fell?"

Umbra stared at Blueberry for a few seconds, and while she didn't frown, it was pretty clear to me that she didn't expect that.

"I was in Tauronto, on the tower." she said simply. "It was a rainy day already, and I can't fly too good bad weather. One of the bomb's sent at the city already was intercepted, but another one slipped past the defenses and it was destroyed too close to the city."

Blueberry's eye's widened just a tad bit. "Wait, two bombs? I only thought there was one?"

Umbra shrugged. "There were two. One came from the north; from what I heard, it was far enough north that it was probably sent from one of the island silos on the other side of the world. The one that got in city limits, though? That came from the east, and it got fired close enough to Caldonia that no detection systems were set up to catch it before it was too late. It might as well have been fired inside it. Wasn't a traditional Balefire Bomb, either."

Blueberry actually frowned lightly, as did I. But I didn't say anything, because Blueberry obviously knew more on the subject then I did.

"I heard that the bomb that hit the city wasn't normal, but it coming from the east doesn't make sense. The zebra's aquatic bases were all clustered close to Equestria by necessity, right?"

Umbra shrugged. "It wasn't a zebra bomb. I saw the thing before it blew up; it wasn't even a real missile. The payload was just a huge hunk of crystal the size of a house, and when it blew, it just shattered into pieces that just kind of. well, disintegrated as they fell. I think was made of solidified necromantic magic bound to irradiated crystals, which explains why everything just kind of glowed for a decade after it exploded. Lot's of ponies in the city that didn't die of starvation went ghoulish because, other then the fact it kept snowing green snow for a decade, the city never really suffered the damage of an actual balefire bomb."

A bomb made of crystal that was sent from the east? I had an idea-

-and Blueberry seemed to share it.

"The bomb was sent from the Crystal Empire?" Blueberry half-breathed, giving Umbra a dubious look.

The ba-thestral shrugged, not seeming to care about Blueberry's conclusion. "Yeah, probably. And it's 'bombs'. The Coltson Skyport was the northernmost Equestrian aerial base, on an island five days from Manehatten. Entire place is an utter hell now, ask a sailor if you get the chance. There's a ruin there, the Opacus. It's a Thunderhead that was scheduled to be the evacuation vehicle for more than eight thousand ponies, and it was at full capacity when it got blown to bits."

Umbra paused to breathe, and pawed the ground lightly. "It was headed for the Crystal Empire, and the only ponies who knew that were the leadership in both the Equestrian and Imperial high command. The wreck's still there on the island, but it's so irradiated the water around it glows green. The zebras never made a missile with a range like that which wouldn'tve just torn it to shreds."

That was surprising and horrible to think about; what if Pearl Strings, that bigoted pony, was right?

"But the Empire was made of ponies, allies of Equestria! Why would they do something like that? How do you even know this, anyway!" Blueberry said, sounding and looking oddly offended as she took a step closer to Umbra.

"I don't know." Umbra said, like it was the most unimportant thing in the world at the moment,"Doesn't matter; Shining Armor died in Canterlot, Cadance went missing fifteen hours before the bombs dropped, and the head of the Empire's military defenses, Flash Sentry, flew the coop and went into the clouds after Cloudsdale went boom."

Umbra, after she finished speaking, paused, and waved a hoof to the east.

"I don't think anypony actually had any bomb's pointed at the Empire; I don't think the zebra's even knew where it was, but I wouldn't put it off them and make sure they didn't have any issues with refugees." Umbra replied matter-of-factly. "And if you want proof, I can show you it at my place. Recorded logs, pictures, everything. I couldn't make this up. Those weird crystal bombs are probably the reason why the area around the Empire is so awful, too; they probably made a lot more than two, anyway. They probably had a stocked silo or a dozen."

"But that's horrible! Equestria saved the Crystal Ponies; and-"

Umbra waved a hoof, cutting Blueberry off with ease.

"It's not that hard of a concept to grasp, you know. Plenty of ponies betrayed each other on the last day, heck, the Crystal Ponies arn't much different then the pegusi. Both wanted to cut ties with Equestria and both had issues with how Equestria was running during the war. The real difference between the two of them, I would say, was that the Crystal Ponies were always separate from Equestria and never got..."

Umbra stopped talking abruptly, and began to hover off the ground until she was at least a few feet in the air. Turning around to face the city, she made harsh hissing noise and turned to give the both of us fearful looks.

"Go the the fuck down, there's something co-oh sweet Celestia's shitter get down!"

I felt a breeze come from behind me, but then I heard something strange, like air being shifted in large volumes a great distance away. I turned around to see that Candy Cane was hiding under our things, and above us, above the hill, really.

The sound I was hearing was the sound of wingbeats, and the creature making it was a unmistakably, horribly, a fucking dragon.

It was flying far too fast for something that was the size of the house and built like one too, yellow-green scales almost slimy looking in the light. It's big blunt snake-like head was had two thick tusks that jutting out of it's mouth like spears, and it's eyes were small beady things that almost glowed in the afternoon light.

Even if it was hundreds of feet in the air, I could feel the wind shift and twist under the two ragged wings that carried it, and with that wind I quickly realized that dragons smell awful, like an old corpse soaked in propane and set on fire.

As soon as I could, I ducked down on the ground, tried to place my head under my arms as best I could without getting a mouthful of dead, moist grass, and waited, prepared to either die or...well, that seemed about it at the time.

That wasn't the worst part of it, really.

The worst part for me, sitting there face-first on the ground, was when I heard the beast roar.

It wasn't really a roar, because it was wasn't one. It wasn't a proud declaration of dominance, it was almost like a scream. It was a frustrated cry, the sound something makes when it knows there is no hope left for it. Something about it was familiar, because even at it's magnified, level, it was still a cry of despair.

I thought I was going to die for a few moments, but, in time, the beast passed over me. As I raised my head, I saw it continue it's straight course, towards the city. It seemed like every flap of it's wings took forever, but soon enough it made a right turn when it was just about to fly near the city, and soon just seemed to make a half-circle around the entire thing before moving to the west. In time, it vanished from my range of vision, and the only signs around me that it was ever here was that Blueberry was huddled under her robe and Umbra was laying flatly on the ground.

But then, a few moments after standing up, I heard another sound; tiny little pony hooves hitting soft earth.

At first, I thought of the worst case scenario; Candy Cane was scared to death because a giant lizard just flew overhead and could have swooped down on her at any moment, and was in the middle of a sobbing fit. I couldn't get a good look at her, thought, as she ran straight pass me and up to Umbra, who was now only just getting up off the ground.

"Are you alright Candy Cane?" Umbra asks quietly, stretching out a wing over the filly like a protective blanket, "Shh, it's okay, it's not going to hurt you."

"What was that!" Candy Cane squeaked out, voice an octave higher than it was normally.

Umbra looked at the little filly at her side, then at me, and then at the still-quivering form of Blueberry Cream.

"That," she said slowly, "Was a Balefire Dragon, Candy Cane."

There were times when something didn't need to be said. This was one of those times.

Umbra paused, giving Candy Cane a nod and a look of general worry. "How do you feel?"

Candy Cane, by now, was bouncing in place slightly.

"I feel awesome!"

I stared at the filly, and then at Umbra. For a few brief moments, I think we shared a moment of empathy for each other.

Candy Cane, meanwhile, just kept grinning and trotting in circles, like she didn't comprehend that a massive mutated dragon-thing that could fit us all in it's mouth just flew right over us.

Blueberry, now on four legs, was staring at where the dragon flew off too, and looked shaken. She didn't seem to notice or care that there was a little filly doing a happy dance next to an armor clad undead thestral with a far-off look in her eyes.

I just looked at Tauronto, the place where I had spent so many days trying to reach, and realized that the giant pony eating deathlizard that just passed us by actually took pains to avoid flying through the city, and had a feeling that the next few days were going to suck.