//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6 
// Story: Beyond Imagination 
// by Argent 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 6

        “I shouldn’t have eaten so much.” Allegro groaned from the shore. They had spent twenty-three nights traversing the Dead Lands and twenty-three days huddled together inside whatever shelter they could find, ears straining for any warning of their hunters. They had stretched their food supply as far as they could, but the last of it had run out on the eighteenth day. 
Wanderlust had been relieved beyond words a few hours before as the featureless plains of dust had slowly given way to tree-covered hills. Upon stumbling across a small, lazy river the ponies had stopped to rest and wash off the clinging dust. 
        “I warned you. You can’t just gorge yourself after not eating at all for a few days.” Dawnfire called, still swimming.
        “If I die,” Allegro moaned pitifully, sprawled across the grass as he clutched at his stomach, “Tell my wife I always loved her.”
        “You’ll be fine, you big foal,” Dawnfire called, propelling herself into the air and splashing back into the water. 
        “You don’t even have a wife,” Wanderlust pointed out with a sigh. Allegro just groaned again and rolled onto his side. 
The unicorn was laying on the shore enjoying the feeling of soft grass against his fur again. It feels so good to be away from all that damned dust. “I’ve never met a pegasus who enjoyed the water quite as much as you do,” He called to Dawn. 
        The pegasus swam towards the shore and pulled herself out of the water before fanning her wings, spraying the other two ponies with water. “I grew up next to a lake,” She explained,  “The skies were dangerous, nothing like a bunch of pegasi flying around to attract attention, but I could always go swimming.” She lay down between the others and began fussing over her soaked feathers. “So what now?”
        Wanderlust retrieved the map from his pack and spent a few minutes studying it. “Archive looks like it’s in that direction.” He nodded towards the far side of the river. “It should be an easy trip unless Allegro drops dead first.”
        “I want a mausoleum,” The earth pony groaned. “With statues, and fountains, and stained glass. You should be able to put aside your grief long enough to build it. I have faith in you.”
“Please. If you die from eating too much grass, I’m leaving your sorry flank for the vultures.” Wanderlust replied as he reluctantly pulled himself off the ground.  
        “Very funny.” The other pony moaned as he rose to his hooves.
        “Better than most of your jokes.” The unicorn replied, helping the earth pony don his pack.
“Speaking of which, Allegro,” Dawnfire said coldly as they walked away, “We need to have a little talk.”

*

        “Celestia.” Wanderlust whispered as they approached. Archive was built into a column of rock that rose alone from the surrounding plain. Vines grew up the side of the monolith, creeping across terraces carved from white marble and massive panes of curved glass.
        “Any plans on how to get in?” Dawnfire asked, seemingly unimpressed.
        “I thought we’d find the front door and ask politely.”
        “No, seriously,” Dawnfire said, laughing, “what’s the plan?” She stopped laughing abruptly. “Gods, you’re serious. You realize how stupid that is, don’t you?”
        “Why? They must trade, right?” The unicorn replied, trying to reason with her. “They can’t just kill everyone who shows up on sight.”
“You’re too trusting, Wanderlust.”
        “And you’re too paranoid, Dawnfire.” 
        “Would both of you shut up for a minute!” Allegro shoved his way between the two. “Bickering doesn’t get us anywhere. I say we do it Wanderlust’s way. Even if they aren’t exactly happy to see us, we have less of a chance of getting shot by approaching them as traders than we do trying to sneak in.”
        “I suppose that’s true.” Dawnfire admitted reluctantly. “I have an idea that might work. Just play along and let me do all the talking.”

*

        There were two unicorn guards holding spears outside the main entrance. Ignoring their challenge, Dawnfire walked straight up to one. “I’m here on business,” She told him. “Don’t waste my time on underlings: bring me a pony who can actually make decisions.” The guard gaped at her. “What are you waiting for, you idiot? Go!”
        “Who are you to order us around?” The other one asked gruffly, shifting his spear slightly.
        “Are you really sure you want to do that?” Dawnfire asked with a pointed glance at the spear as she moved her wing to highlight the weapon hanging at her side. “I’m someone who is interested in trading with whoever runs this sorry excuse for a settlement. You’re unicorns, you know what I’m carrying. My home could wipe this place off the ring with less effort than it takes you to swat a fly, and they will not be happy if you snub their envoy.” The spear abruptly returned to its original position. “Now I suggest you get someone I can negotiate with, and quickly. I am not known for my patience.” The guard scurried away as Dawnfire turned back towards her companions. 
        “Impressive.” Wanderlust whispered, careful to make sure that the guard didn’t hear. “Even I believed you there for a second.”
        “It’s all a matter of knowing what buttons to push.” She whispered back with a small, carefully concealed smile. After a few minutes’ wait a gray unicorn wearing some sort of ceremonial robe that was obviously askew came hurrying out the door.
        “My apologies, envoy. We were not expecting you.” He hurriedly stated as Dawnfire turned to meet him.
        “It’s of no concern. I should have sent one of my servants ahead with word.” She gave him a short bow that he respectfully returned.
        “My name is Moonlight, Foreign Minister of the Sovereign State of Archive.”
“I am Dawnfire, representing the Kingdom of Equestria.” Wanderlust nearly laughed. She’d fit in in Equestria about as well as I’d fit in with a family of dragons. “May we speak in private? I wish to propose a mutually-beneficial arrangement.”
        “Certainly, certainly.” He waved the three forward and fell in beside the pegasus. “Of course, first we need to prepare a welcome appropriate for a foreign dignitary such as yourself.”
        “Of course,” The pegasus agreed, “I assume you have guest accommodations ready?”
        “Yes, milady. Will you be requiring separate rooms for your companions?”
        “That won’t be necessary. The unicorn is my bodyguard, the blue one is my personal servant. I would prefer both of them remain close at hoof.”
        “Certainly. Please, right this way.” The unicorn led them through the entry corridor and into a bustling central concourse. “Impressive, isn’t it?” 
The city of Archive occupied the outer portions of the spire. The center was hollow, taking advantage of the perpetual noon to fill the entire structure with sunlight. Looking across the open space, Wanderlust could just make out the other side of the ring-shaped settlement. 
        “It’s novel.” Dawnfire said disdainfully as she moved past their crestfallen guide. The unicorn rapidly caught up and led them through the thick crowds towards the central shaft. He almost didn’t have to bother: the ponies parted around them, casting curious glances at the strangers in their unfamiliar garb. For the first time, Wanderlust was conscious of exactly how different he was. These ponies look like they could be from home. Half my face is a ruin, I’m carrying instruments of death and I haven’t had a proper bath in a month. What must they think of me? 
The eyes upon them made his skin crawl as they moved inwards. The other ponies seemed courteous enough, and he couldn’t blame them for the stares, but there was still something unnerving about the entire experience. Their guide finally herded them into a large glass capsule that rose upwards on command. 
        “The first four levels are largely residential, the next two comprise our market district while the government offices, embassies, etcetera are housed on the uppermost tier.” Moonlight explained. “Your accommodations are located in the embassy district.” 
“Embassy district? Are there that many emissaries arriving here?” Dawnfire asked.
“Archive trades in information, milady: it’s a commodity in high demand. We have envoys from as far away as the Free States and from most of the dragon clans, as well.” 
As the lift rose, Wanderlust tried to take in as much as he could. On each level around the central shaft there was a broad walkway filled with ponies, beyond which numerous passages were carved into the rock leading deeper into the heart of each tier. Glancing upwards, Wanderlust was surprised to see a number of ponies seemingly standing in mid-air at the top of the shaft.
        “The Grand Ballroom,” Their guide said with a smug smile. “It’s located at the very top of the city, spanning the central shaft. Preparations are underway for the feast as we speak.”
        “Excellent. I look forward to it.” Dawnfire paused, as if wondering whether she should say more. “Moonlight. That’s an unusual name.” 
“We have a tradition in Archive of passing names down through families.” Moonlight explained. “It helps us remember that we trade in secrets that others have forgotten, and remind us of what we’ve lost.” 
“What does it mean?” The pegasus asked. Wanderlust blinked. Of course, she’s never seen the moon: the ring doesn’t have one. She’s never experienced a winter, or seen a sunrise, either. To her, even her namesake is just something sliding out from in front of the sun. 
Neither have I. It should have been obvious, but the thought struck him like a bolt of lightning. The only moon I’ve ever seen was an illusion, the only sunrises, the only sunsets. I can point out all the thing’s she’s missed, but at least she was seeing the truth. Sometimes I can’t help but miss the lie, though, he thought, remembering long nights lying under the stars and watching the moon make its rounds. 
“As I said,” Their guide responded sadly, “A reminder of what we’ve lost.” The lift slid smoothly to a halt at the top level and Moonlight ushered them out and led them through a winding series of corridors. On the way they passed a number of ponies, several griffons that were huddled together in deep conversation and even an adolescent dragon that stared daggers at them. 
Wanderlust cringed inwardly as their eyes met, the cold smile on Flamerage’s face as the dragon closed for the kill suddenly flashing into his mind. He knows, the unicorn thought as he looked into the dragon’s eyes. I don’t know how, but he knows. He shook his head to clear the thought as the dragon passed. Don’t be stupid. There’s no possible way. Still, the thought wouldn’t quite leave. 
Finally, they arrived at the rooms that had been set aside for their use. “Would you like beds brought for your servants, milady?” Their guide asked politely from the door as they entered.
        “That won’t be necessary,” Dawnfire responded, carefully concealing her smile from the other pony, “They can sleep on the floor.” Wanderlust shot her a glare but didn’t speak: something about their guide’s manner made him feel as if he was expected to remain silent.
        “Very well. There will be someone along shortly with clothing more suitable for tonight’s occasion. Your bodyguard will, of course, be welcome to accompany you if you believe it necessary.”
        “Thank you. That will be all for now.” Dawnfire said imperiously and the unicorn bowed and backed out of the room, leaving the door to slide shut silently behind him. Wanderlust opened his mouth but the pegasus motioned for him to stop. “Wanderlust, focus for a moment. Am I right in assuming that there’s some sort of enchantment active on this room?”
        The unicorn sat and concentrated for a few minutes before finally detecting a weak spell hanging in the air. He nodded at Dawnfire.
        “Break it.” She ordered. Wanderlust closed his eyes and pulled the spell apart, like unraveling a ball of yarn.
        “How did you know?” Wanderlust asked when he opened his eyes again.
        “I felt it when we came in. You didn’t?” The unicorn shook his head. Dawnfire looked puzzled. “That’s odd, a unicorn should be more sensitive to it than I am.” 
        “I don’t use magic all that often,” The unicorn explained, more than a little embarrassed. “Thank you for allowing me the privilege of sleeping on the floor, by the way.” Wanderlust had noted that the floor under his hooves was cold stone. I’m not going to get a minute of sleep tonight.
        “You two could always sh-” Allegro began with a massive grin.
        “Finish that sentence and I’ll pull your spleen out through your nose.” Her voice had a deadly edge, but Wanderlust thought he saw her eyes twinkling as the earth pony took several steps backwards. “Sorry, Wands but it’s important to keep up the act: I need to convince them that I’m used to the kind of absolute authority we’re claiming.” 
“I still don’t see what that has to do with treating us like dirt.” The unicorn objected.
“That’s just how most ponies expect an envoy from some powerful state to behave. They’re generally spoiled children of nobility who are used to having others jump at their whims.”
“The royalty in Equestria are generally very kind.” They were also grown in tubes, but that isn’t really relevant now.
“You’ve obviously never met Prince Blueblood.” Muttered Allegro. “I bumped into him once when I went to see the Manehatten Symphony Orchestra. He’d change your opinion.” 
“Anyway, we can talk politics later: tonight we go to the party, play along and eventually negotiate with whoever’s in charge for access to information in exchange for a non-existent trade agreement with our non-existent home.” By this point she was smiling broadly.
        “It sounds like a plan to me. You seem to be enjoying this.” Wanderlust noted. 
        “Lies, deceit, trickery and now a party? If I end up killing something before the night is over this’ll be the best day ever.” 
        “Are you sure it’s right to be cheating them like this?” Allegro asked timidly. “I mean, we practically threatened them in order to get in here, and now we’re taking advantage of their hospitality.”
        Dawnfire looked at Wanderlust for a long moment before responding. “Whatever it takes to survive. As I’ve told Wanderlust before: a conscience is a liability one can’t afford out here. This is my world, I suggest you two start following my example.” There was a knock on the door. “With any luck that will be our clothes. Would you believe I’ve never actually attended a party before?”
        “I wonder why.” Allegro muttered.

*

        “Let us welcome our guest of honor, Lady Dawnfire.” The grand ballroom was a dome at the very top of the city’s central shaft. The floor and the ceiling were both made of glass, giving the illusion that one was standing in mid-air. A flock of silver chandeliers drifted lazily through the air, casting a warm, yellow light across the room. On the near half of the room forty ponies were seated on cushions around a long, rectangular table. 
        Wanderlust followed Dawnfire as she crossed the room towards the spot at the table clearly meant for her. A dozen servants had arrived that afternoon and fitted her for a dress: a flowing, dark red gown that she had spent an hour fidgeting over, complaining that it made her look ridiculous. Allegro had spent that hour laughing into his hoof every time he’d caught Wanderlust sneaking a glance at her. 
        The unicorn had been given a plain black suit, functional but nothing that would draw attention. He had nearly murdered one of the servants when she suggested he wear a mask. He almost wished he’d taken her advice as he crossed the room: he was suddenly very conscious of the fact that there were eyes upon him. As Dawnfire gingerly sat at the table he took up station behind her and to her right, having noticed several other ponies doing the same around the table.
        “Thank you for your hospitality. I hope this marks the beginning of a long, prosperous relationship between our two nations.” Dawnfire pronounced, straining herself to sound regal and proper. She feels as out of place as I do. I just hope the others don’t see it. 
        “It is the least we could do for a foreign emissary.” The speaker at the head of the table was an elderly blue unicorn with a greying mane. “As Chief Archivist, leader of the Sovereign State of Archive, I would like to extend our official greetings to you and our friendship towards your home.” The unicorn raised his glass in a toast which Dawnfire returned as well as she was able, clutching the glass between her hooves. The night progressed slowly: scattered conversations were occasionally interrupted by speeches, trays of exotic foods were brought by servants, a string quartet played softly across the room. 
Wanderlust spent the time observing the others at the table. They’re all unicorns. He wasn’t sure what it meant, if anything, but Dawn was the only pegasus in the room, and there wasn’t an earth pony in sight. Probably just a coincidence. Still, there was something unnerving about the observation. 
        After dinner, the table was moved to open the ballroom floor for dancing. Wanderlust waited impatiently at the edge of the room, trying to play the part of the faithful servant.
        As the songs dragged on though, Wanderlust started to grow restless, fidgeting with his ill-fitting suit and trying to find a way to fight boredom. He watched curiously as the servants made their rounds with polished silver trays piled high with food. Each one had something tattooed above their left forehoof. “Excuse me,” He asked as one finally passed close to him, “What is that tattoo?”
        The other pony shot him a glance, but kept walking. Not exactly polite. The unicorn thought to himself. He followed the other pony, a pink unicorn, trying to get a closer look. “A chain? What does that mean?” The servant blushed, but stayed silent.
        “He’s not going to answer you.” A gruff voice said from behind wanderlust. A tan unicorn darted past him to grab something off the servant’s tray. “Sorry about my friend here, he’s new.” The servant moved off as the other pony cleaned his hors d'oeuvres off a toothpick and tossed it aside. “Food at these things is always shit,” He said with disgust. “Yours is the pegasus, right?”
        “Excuse me?” Wanderlust asked.
        “The only ones who show up at this sort of thing are the entitled aristocrats, the kiss-ass assistants and the bodyguards. You’re sure as hell not in the first two categories, and you’re obviously not from around here, which means you’re here watching the new one’s ass, right?”
        “Right.” Wanderlust admitted reluctantly. 
        “Good luck with that. I don’t know how things work wherever the hell you’re from, but when you edge in on somebody else’s territory like she’s doing it doesn’t exactly win you a ton of friends.” He leaned in close and lowered his voice before continuing, “You’d better be on your guard, or you may need to go back for a new envoy.”
        Wanderlust’s eyes narrowed as he finally connected what the other unicorn was suggesting. “I think we’ll be okay,” He growled.
        The other pony laughed. “Right, because you definitely know what you’re doing. ‘What’s that tattoo?’” Wanderlust’s cheeks burned as the tan pony laughed harder. “Go home before you get yourselves killed.” The unicorn was still laughing as he moved off. He has a point, we’re out of our element. The faster we’re gone, the better.
        When a dozen songs had been played and the affair showed no sign of slowing down Wanderlust finally lost the last of his patience. He waited until Dawnfire had drifted towards the outer edge of the dancers and then approached her, whispering in her ear, “Could I please speak to you, Ma’am?”
        Dawnfire turned to her dance partner. “Please excuse me for a moment.” She bowed and the two strode towards an empty corner of the room. “What is it, Wands, were you starting to get jealous?” 
        Wanderlust’s face turned red; There was more than a little truth to that. Dawnfire was still grinning wickedly as he replied, “We still have business to attend to, Dawn. I have a feeling that if you don’t press the issue we could be here for weeks before they sit down and negotiate.”
        “Aw, but I was having so much fun.” Wanderlust glared at her. “Fine. Give me a moment.” She walked back towards her dance partner and after a few brief words waved Wanderlust forward as she and her companion started towards the door.

*

        “Cigar?” They were in the Archivist’s office. Bookshelves lined the walls and a large desk dominated the center of the room. The wall behind the desk was glass, giving anyone visiting Archive’s leader an incredible view of the surrounding countryside. 
        “Thank you, but no.” Dawnfire said politely from her seat in front of the desk.
        “Your loss. We import the tobacco from a settlement to starboard. Finest cigars our traders have yet encountered. They’re in high demand among the functionaries of the dragon clans.” The blue unicorn replied. Without a sign of effort he conjured a small flame to light the end and took a long pull, staring at his two visitors all the while. “Let’s start off by dropping your act.”
        Dawnfire bolted upright. “I’m afraid I have no idea-”
        “Save it.” Archive’s leader snapped, his eyes narrowing. “Young lady, I am not an idiot. ‘Equestria’? You could have at least put more effort into your cover story than just naming your fictitious kingdom after the home we lost.” What the hell does that mean, Wanderlust thought. “We deal in information, after all. It’s our lifeblood: keeps us fed, clothed, keeps the trinkets flowing in and the dragons off our backs. We’ve stayed independent for as long as we have by knowing more than anyone else.” He took another pull off the cigar. When he spoke again his voice was softer, almost pensive. “The rest of the ring may have forgotten our history, but we haven’t.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Dawnfire insisted forcefully.
He let the cigar rest on his desk and leaned forward. “Fine. Let’s say for a moment that you’re from another Equestria. I was informed about you when you arrived, the nature of what you carried. That kind of magic doesn’t stay quiet long. Young lady, if there were a major player on this section of the ring that had that kind of power, I’d know. Which means that if you’re envoys from somewhere closer than Tryn I will eat this desk. Do us both a favor and drop the act.”
        Dawnfire stared at him for a few seconds, weighing her options. Her muscles tensed as she made her decision, as if she was expecting a fight. “So what happens now?”
        The other pony sat back and retrieved his cigar, a look of satisfaction on his face. “You came here to deal, so we deal.”
        “What?”        
        “You heard me. I have access to something you want, and want badly, otherwise why go to the trouble? It can be bought, and I think you can afford it: You see, I have something that needs doing. Specifically, something that needs to be done quietly. The resources at my disposal aren’t sufficient, and I can’t risk showing weakness in front of the other regional powers.”
        “And that’s where we come in.”
        “Exactly. You don’t have ties to anyone else in the region, and when you help me, you get what you want.”
        “What’s the job?”
        The unicorn opened a drawer and set a foot-long piece of cylindrical crystal on the desk. “Do you know what this is?” Dawnfire looked at him blankly. “Didn’t expect you to. The ring is powered by solar energy collected on the shadow squares and transferred ring-side by laser. Most facilities are supplied with power from a web of superconducting cables in the ring floor that connect to receivers in the rimwall. Some facilities, such as this one, that are too remote or too important, however, have their own receivers. 
“This is a part from one of ours. It,” He explained, flipping the part over to reveal a massive crack. “was sabotaged. That wouldn’t be an issue, except that these simply don’t break: our two receivers have been ticking away perfectly since the day they were installed and we have the maintenance records to prove it.”
        “So you don’t have any spares.” Wanderlust supplied.
        “So you’re not actually a mute. Good, I was starting to worry. We’re running at half power right now: fine for day-to-day use but our defenses and more importantly, the entire archive computer network, are offline. In an emergency, we might be able to power our defenses. The archives account for about sixty percent of our power usage, though: until we’ve repaired the receiver, they’re offline.”
        “What’s to stop us from going to one of your enemies and telling them this?” Dawnfire asked.
        “Absolutely nothing, except for the dozen guards outside that door, and the hundred others scattered around the city.”
        Dawnfire just smiled at him. “Spears and swords don’t scare me.”
        “I wouldn’t be scared either if I were wearing body armor and carrying plasma weapons,” Their host replied calmly. “Just a tip, but attempting to conceal magical weapons from a unicorn is generally not a wise course of action. You should also be aware that there are ways to counter both that are well within our means, otherwise I never would have allowed you inside the city.”
        “If you’re interested, I’d be happy to help you test that.”
        “I hope it won’t come to that, I’d very much hate to clean your blood out of the carpet: it’s an antique, you see. I simply wanted you to understand that the only way you’ll ever get what you want is by helping me.”
        Dawnfire was silent for long enough that Wanderlust started to wonder if he should say something. “I see,” She finally said, relaxing back into her seat. Thank Celestia. I didn’t want to have to fight our way out of here. “I assume you know where we could find a replacement.”
        “As a matter of fact, there’s a small settlement about a week’s walk to port and spinward that happens to have another working receiver. It seems rather wasteful to me actually, that much power going to so few ponies. They mostly use it to run a water condenser. Another waste, seeing as we, being in possession of the region’s largest condenser, would be more than happy to sell to them from our surplus.”
        “So you get your part and a new customer.” Dawnfire finished. The unicorn smiled around his cigar. “And if we do this for you, we get access to the information we need?”
        “Full, unrestricted, unsupervised access to all the data you care to see.” He replied with an expansive gesture.
        Dawnfire stood and extended a hoof over the desk. “Deal.”

*

        “Shit. That did not go as planned.” Dawnfire snarled as their room’s door slid shut behind her.
        “What happened?” Allegro asked anxiously, coming to meet them.
        “We cut a deal, but not the one I wanted. I’ll explain in a minute.” The pegasus replied, furiously trying to remove her dress. “Wands, I was concentrating on maintaining the act; I couldn’t pay much attention to anything else. Did you see anything strange? Anything at all? I’m worried this may be some sort of trap. It seems too simple.”
        “Every pony there was a unicorn. That seemed a little odd.”
        “Actually, that’s fairly normal.” Dawnfire’s voice replied from somewhere in the pile of fabric. With a sigh Wanderlust undid the ties and lifted the dress off of her. “Thank you.” The pegasus said as she attacked her barding. As soon as they had ushered the servants out that afternoon, the ponies had removed their borrowed clothing, donned their equipment and re-dressed. It hadn’t been easy trying to conceal the body armor and, in Wanderlust’s case, a weapon, but Dawnfire had insisted.  “Is that not normal where you’re from?” The unicorn shook his head as he carefully placed the dress on the mannequin the servants had left in the room. “Odd, but probably not relevant. Anything else?”
        “It’s probably nothing, but the servants all had strange tattoos on their legs, and they wouldn’t talk.”
        “Slaves.” Dawnfire said in disgust as she finally wrestled her barding off and kicked it across the room. 
        “I’ve never heard the term,” Wanderlust replied, removing his borrowed suit. 
        “Right, you wouldn’t have.” The pegasus had to think for a minute. “A thinking creature owned by another, would be the best way I could explain it.”
        “That’s disgusting!” Allegro exclaimed. Wanderlust couldn’t help but agree. “And we’re doing business with these monsters?”
        “Only for as long as they have something we need. After that we can walk away and forget about it.”
        “We should walk away now,” Allegro insisted. “They can’t be the only ones who have what we need.”
        “And how long will it take us to find someone else?” It wouldn’t bother me half as much if he didn’t have a point, Wanderlust thought. “I don’t like it any more than you do, but we don’t have a choice. I’m sorry, Allegro, we’re doing this.”
        “How can we even be sure we can trust them?”
        “Because if they betray us,” Dawnfire interjected, “I’ll tear this place down with my bare hooves.”
        The earth pony ignored her. “Wands,” He pleaded, “Whatever you decide, you know I’ll follow, but please don’t go through with this. Working with ponies like these starts us down a dark road, and I have a bad feeling about where it ends.”
        ‘Morality nearly cost us all our lives once before.’ The words came to his mind unbidden, the memory of the silver pony who had appeared to him when he was on the brink of death. I don’t want to do this, it isn’t right. He thought back to the Dead Lands, the titanic scale of the destruction he’d witnessed. It wasn’t difficult to make the leap required to imagine the same cataclysm brought down upon Equestria. But I don’t have a choice, he thought, blinking away the vision of his home in ruins. There’s too much at stake.
        “I’m sorry, Allegro,” He finally managed. The look on his friend’s face nearly made him reconsider. If I balk now, what happens to them? “Equestria comes first.”
        Dawnfire gave him an approving glance. “Wands, get some sleep. We’ll be starting early and you need the rest. I’ll fill Allegro in on what he missed.”
        “One last thing.” Wanderlust said, telling them about what the other bodyguard had said. “I don’t think we’re safe here. He seemed to think that if we stayed long, we wouldn’t be leaving.”
        “It’s a good thing that we won’t be staying long, then.” The pegasus replied with a grin. “In any case, I doubt we’re in any more danger than usual.”

*

        “Gods. There’s nothing left.” Wanderlust was standing in the midst of something that had once been a city. The street around him was littered with vehicles, all of which were charred black, melted, contorted and scattered haphazardly like a child’s toys. The buildings around him were in even worse condition than those he’d seen in the Dead Lands: there was nothing but rubble and twisted metal for as far as the eye could see. The horizon glowed a sinister red, the sky was full of clouds and the ground was burnt black. Ash was falling like snow and a harsh wind blew sand that stung his face.
        “Do we call for rescue units?” There were two distinct voices, both distant and quiet. Wanderlust had to strain to hear them. 
        “No way. Look at the radiation levels: there’s nothing alive down there anymore.”
        “How many does that make?” Wanderlust was walking down the street, climbing his way over the broken vehicles and listening to the ground crunch under his hooves.
        “Five confirmed, twenty-three probable. All within a three-day window.”
        “What’s going on?” Wanderlust slipped on something and fell to the ground.
        “That should be obvious by now.”
        “What are we going to do?” The voice was trembling. Wanderlust was face to face with a pile of charred, broken bones: the remains of several creatures that had huddled together beneath a vehicle, trying to escape the oncoming tide of death. The sight filled him with terror. He tried to rise, but there were more bones beneath him, denying him any sort of solid footing.
        “That’s up to someone way above my paygrade.”

*

        “Wands.” The voice in his ear made Wanderlust start. “It’s okay, you were having a nightmare.” He was vaguely aware of Dawnfire standing next to him in the dark room. “That seems to happen to you a lot.”
        “It’s gotten bad recently. I’m not sure why.” He whispered back as the pegasus curled up on the floor next to him and rested her head on his shoulder. 
        “Just go back to sleep, Wands.” The unicorn laid his head on his legs and drifted off to sleep, a smile on his face.