The fort was at once much more and much less than Spike had expected.
It was larger than he had expected by an order of magnitude, for one thing. It was large enough to be a city in its own right, even if no other city he had seen was as strictly regimented as this one. It was easily larger than Ponyville had been during his childhood, anyway.
But it still seemed lesser, somehow, compared to Ponyville. The buildings, while well-constructed and solid, were all unpainted and unmarked, except for a few signs here and there indicating their function. The one he had awoken to find himself in was labeled POST-OP.
And they were all of that same, low-slung type, just tall enough to allow easy movement for normal ponies. Spike was nearly twice the length of any stallion when on all fours, and walking like that now was incredibly painful due to his injuries, so he was forced to remain on his hind legs. He had a feeling he'd be bumping his head on things a lot while he was here.
Besides the low, undecorated buildings, there was the wall. It looked as though all the wood that hadn't been employed in constructing the fort's facilities had gone into making the wall as high and solid as possible. It encircled the entire base, and looked to be at least five yards high at its lowest point.
In the weird half-light of what Spike was, for lack of a better word, forced to call "day", it was hard to make out too many details of anything. There were definitely ponies patrolling the wall's ramparts, and towers dotted here and there to provide better vantage points. The fort was bustling with activity, but Spike couldn't make out any details of anypony's features, or what they were doing, unless they came close to him. There were a few lights installed at what looked like the intersections of common lanes of traffic, but they were oil lamps, not particularly strong. Most of the base was a collection of shadows and shapes, nothing more.
Despite the wrongness of the sky - Spike doubted he would ever stop feeling that lurch of dread when he looked up to see both the sun and the moon overhead at the same time - and the pain of his injuries, though, it felt good to be outside again. It was like a weight that he hadn't even been aware of was being lifted from his shoulders. The Tangle had been a claustrophobic mess of thorns, the castle was crumbling, dust-filled, and cramped, and both of them had been utterly, absolutely dark. Even the fort's post-op building had been dark and small. Now he could see, even if it was dim, and he could stretch his wings. It felt good.
To his mild surprise, even the ponies that came close enough to see him fully didn't seem too alarmed by his presence. They were wary, and gave him curious looks, but nothing more than that. They didn't stop to stare, but instead hurried on their ways.
"Reveille made an announcement as soon as we got you here," Pith said, catching sight of his expression. "Nobody's to bother you. He's not convinced you're not going to start eating them if they manage to annoy you."
The two of them were walking along - or, in Pith's case, limping along, as his left foreleg was heavily splinted and he was attempting to keep his weight off of it - behind a yellow-coated unicorn mare wearing a jacket the same olive color as Reveille's coat. The Colonel had gone to organize a formal debriefing for Pith and Spike, leaving the two of them alone in the lobby with Compass Rose and Doctor Grey. There hadn't been much in the way of conversation; Compass had simply gotten up and walked back towards the beds after a while, and Grey had been wrapped up in filing patient reports, or something of that sort.
Just as Spike had found himself starting to doze off, the unicorn mare had arrived, introduced herself as "Lieutenant Pencil Pusher, aide-de-camp to Colonel Reveille" in a brusque, professional tone, and informed them that the Colonel was ready for the debriefing. Now, they were following her across the camp as quickly as they could with Pith's limp.
"I don't eat ponies," Spike said with a snort. "Like I said, normal food with some gems mixed in. Though..." His stomach rumbled, and he saw Pith try to suppress a smirk. "I am getting pretty hungry."
"Gems, unfortunately, are in rather short supply," said Pencil Pusher. Spike blinked and looked back to her. The unicorn was looking at him over the top of her spectacles as she walked along. Apparently she knew the area well enough to not have to look where she was going. "They are not, all things considered, particularly high on the list of critical resources for a military installation. However, if you are capable of digesting more normal food, I am sure Colonel Reveille is willing to authorize your use of the mess hall."
Spike stared at her for a moment. "What's a mess hall?"
Pencil Pusher turned to face forward again. "The cafeteria."
"Oh." Spike blinked, then grinned. "Well, thanks."
"Don't thank me," said Pencil Pusher. "If you have to thank anyone, thank the Colonel. He is the one who issued the order. Here we are."
The unicorn came to a halt in front of another wooden building. This one was slightly larger than the rest, and the sign over the door proclaimed it to be ADMINISTRATION. A pair of earth ponies, both holding spears and wearing the same design of green jacket as Pencil Pusher, flanked the doorway. They saluted as she approached, and one of them pushed the door open.
The inside of the administration building was, at least, better lit than the post-op, with more lamps in more places. It was still very low-slung, though, and Spike found himself once again half-crouching to keep from bashing his head on anything. The situation was made even worse by the fact that this building was much busier than the post-op; even in this room, which was just a lobby, ponies of all descriptions, all wearing the same olive jackets, were rushing back and forth, carrying papers and packages as they trotted in and out of the doors leading further into the building. A few of them paused momentarily to eye Spike, but they didn't say anything, and didn't stop for long.
There was only one desk in this room, set against the far wall. A young earth pony was standing behind it, and perked up as Pencil Pusher approached. "Lieutenant," she said, giving a brief salute. "The Colonel is waiting for you. Room twelve."
"Very good," said Pencil Pusher. She gestured for Spike and Pith to follow her again, then led the way through one of the doors. Spike had to duck down even further than usual to get his head under the lintel, but he managed it.
The hallway on the other side was even busier than the lobby. It seemed like the walls had more doors in them than actual wall, and ponies were constantly emerging from one door and darting into another. There was a constant murmur of noise; voices, the scratching of pen on paper, the shuffling of forms, and the thudding of hoofsteps on wood all filled the air.
Eventually, Pencil Pusher reached a door towards the end of the hall and stepped through, Spike and Pith following in her wake.
Inside was a large, circular table surrounded by chairs. Colonel Reveille was seated on the far side of it. The pegasus had donned one of the now-familiar olive jackets, which was almost indistinguishable against his coat, along with a flattish cap with a bronze star affixed to it.
He wasn't the only one in the room. A young-looking earth pony was seated next to him, sorting through a stack of papers, and an orange-coated earth pony stallion wearing a jacket and cap identical to Reveille's was pacing the floor behind Reveille. All of them looked up as they entered.
Spike stepped aside to make room for Pith, who saluted with his good leg as he entered. Reveille grunted. "Wondered when you'd show up," he said, waving one hoof to the other chairs. "Sit. We've got a lot of questions to go through."
Pith took a seat without hesitation. Spike, on the other hand, eyed one of the spindly-looking chairs, then said, "I think I'll stand, thanks."
Reveille grunted again as Pencil Pusher took a seat beside him. "Suit yourself," he said, shrugging. Now that they were in an area with better lighting, Spike could see that the pegasus was much older than he had seemed at first. His mane had several grey hairs in it, and there were several noticeable lines on his face. Even combined with his small stature, however, this failed to dull the sheer magnitude of his presence. He still seemed to command attention just by existing.
Pencil Pusher cleared her throat, and the earth pony shuffling the papers looked up abruptly. "Begin the minutes," the aide said. "Debriefing of Scout First Class Pith Helmet and..." She glanced sidelong at Reveille, who shrugged. She sighed and continued, "Spike the dragon. Personnel in attendance: Colonel Reveille, Defense Corps; Captain Long Road, Reconnaissance Corps; Lieutenant Pencil Pusher, aide de camp."
The earth pony, who was apparently some sort of secretary, started to write on one of the many pieces of paper in front of them at a furious pace. The rest of the ponies in the room ignored him. It was the Reconnaissance Corps Captain who spoke next.
"Right, let's make this quick," he said. "I've got critical reports coming in from the other forts, as well as our own scouting parties to manage. The changelings are moving. I've got to stay on top of this, or we're going to get blindsided hard."
Reveille nodded. "Noted. We'll start with the scouting report, then, so if anything critical comes up, you can leave."
The Captain nodded, then turned to look at Pith. "Report, then. And it's good to see that you and Tailspin survived, by the way. The Recon Corps can't afford to lose any more of its operatives."
Pith saluted with his good leg. "Thank you, sir." He cleared his throat, then, in a surprisingly brisk tone, began, "We left Fort Maneholdt six days ago, headed into the Tangle in search of the castle-like structure that High Winds reporting finding during his previous flyover. Ordinarily, it would have only been an eight- or nine-day trip, but as we were accompanied by an untrained member of the Intelligence Corps, we made allowances for a full two weeks. On the sixth day, we stumbled across-"
Spike was only half-listening as Pith recounted their journey. Part of him was still a bit surprised at Pith's sudden professional tone. He was used to the stallion speaking slowly and carefully, not in this clipped, rapid manner. Another part of him was wondering how the ponies of this new not-Equestria told the time with the sun and the moon both hanging stationary in the sky. The rest of him was thinking about Twilight Sparkle.
He frowned at the memory of how easily he had been taken in by Queen Chrysalis' disguise. The changelings couldn't possibly have gotten into the castle before they had, and he knew it. He had even seen that the resin around their makeshift nest had been wet at the time of his arrival. Beyond that, Twilight Sparkle's journal had stated that she was leaving to face King Sombra, not Queen Chrysalis. Every sign had pointed to it being a trick.
So why had he fallen for it?
Because you wanted to, said a tiny voice in the back of his brain. You didn't want to accept that you could lose another friend. You've never wanted to accept that you would lose any of them. You would wake up every morning and keep your eyes shut for as long as you could just to pretend Rarity would be there when you opened them. You stopped visiting Sugarcube Corner because you knew Pinkie Pie wasn't there any more.
You didn't want to believe Twilight was gone, so you took the easy out. You still don't want to believe it.
A sudden flare of pain from the wound on his stomach brought him back to reality.
Pith was still giving his report. "...entity calling itself Queen Chrysalis," he was saying. "It appeared to be an... alicorn changeling, and referred to itself as the 'mother' of the other changelings."
He paused. Reveille and Road were staring at him.
After a moment, Reveille said, "The queen of the changelings is an alicorn." He thumped a hoof on the tabletop. "And now she's mad. Fantastic. That's fantastic. We can't even handle one hostile alicorn working alone, and now we've got two, plus an army. Perfect."
Spike raised one claw and cleared his throat. Reveille's head swung around to fix him with an iron stare. "What?"
"The spell I talked about," said the dragon. "It can keep her out, too. The last time, she had to try and get the shield down by messing with the one creating it. She, ah, used the same spell on him as she did me, but we got him back to normal in time to repel the full invasion."
The pegasus seemed to relax slightly. "Well, that's one positive," he rumbled. "We've just got to hope you're right about this spell. I've got our communications center making copies of that book," he added, turning to Captain Road. "I'll need you and your scouts to start distributing them to every fort and magical research center you can find. We need everything in there figured out as fast as possible."
Road nodded, but he was frowning heavily. "I'll get them out there as fast as I can," he said. "But we may not have that much time."
"What do you mean?" Reveille's eyes narrowed slightly as he watched the captain.
"I mean, that's why I'm here," Road continued. He gestured to the pony taking the minutes of the meeting, who paused in his writing long enough to spread a large map out on the table. Like the ones Compass had carried with her, it was largely dominated by a huge black splotch marked "The Tangle", but this one also had the locations of what Spike guessed were other fortresses marked on it. Most of them, including the one labeled "Fort McHoofry", were on the western side of the Tangle, and were arrayed in a line around it like a cordon.
Road leaned forward and began to point out spots on it. "We've been spotting changeling flights converging on the Tangle ever since late last night, originating from here, here, here, and here. They're all heading towards the Tangle. It's a safe bet that they're massing for an offensive."
Reveille scowled. "So what you're saying is that our dragon here kicked the hornet's nest in a big way."
"Essentially," said Road, shooting a sidelong look towards Spike, who frowned. He looked back to the map and continued, "As of now, they haven't actually reached the Tangle yet, and it'll be a few days before they do. We have several Defense Corps flights running interference, trying to delay them as long as possible and prevent as many as we can from reaching the safety of the vines. So far, we've been able to stop about three quarters of them, but more and more reports are coming in all the time, and their numbers are growing rapidly."
The colonel propped up his chin on one hoof and peered across the table at Pith and Spike. "So," he said, apparently to the room at large, "we're about to get hit hard, and we don't know where yet. We've got no guarantee that this spell, even if it does exist, will work, and even if it does work we probably don't have the unicorns necessary to keep it running everywhere we need it." He pointed at Spike with his free hoof. "This would be a great time to start giving us details on that superweapon you were talking about."
Spike huffed. "I'm not sure I'd call them superweapons. I mean," he added quickly, seeing the colonel's expression darken, "they're powerful, and they were used to save Equestria from major threats multiple times. But, uh, 'superweapon' sort of... isn't the right wo-"
"You said 'they'," Reveille interrupted.
"Yes," said Spike, nodding. "The Elements of Harmony. Plural. There are six of them. You need all of them together for them to work, but when you do, they can do almost anything. They stopped the Mare in the Moon twice, in fact, a long time ago."
The ponies all blinked and stared at him for a moment. Several of them, Pith included, looked impressed. Spike smiled faintly and continued, "Yeah, they're strong. We could have used them to defeat Queen Chrysalis before, too, but she stopped us from reaching them, so we had to rely on the shield spell. But there's a catch."
Reveille sighed. "Of course there is," he said, waving a hoof. "There always is. What is it?"
"The Elements can only be used by the ponies who, uh, act as their bearers, I guess would be the way to put it. Like I said, there are six of them." Spike raised one hand and began to count off on his claws. "Loyalty, Generosity, Kindness, Laughter, Honesty, and, uh-" he realized that he had run out of claws, lowered his hand, and finished "-Magic. Bring them together and their bearers have more power than pretty much anypony else ever could."
He was aware of a telling silence. Everypony in the room was staring at him. Captain Road had a faint smirk playing around his features. Pith simply looked blank.
After a second, Colonel Reveille said flatly, "Kindness and laughter."
"Yes," said Spike, a bit of defensiveness entering his tone. "The Elements are powered by the friendship that brings their bearers together. It may sound strange, but believe me, it's true. Before I fell asleep, I knew the six mares who used them. The magic of friendship is... strong." He lifted one claw and pressed it against the ruby necklace. "My wife was one," he added quietly. "Rarity, the most generous pony I've ever met. Twilight was Magic."
The pegasus sighed heavily and rubbed at his face with both hooves. "Right," he grumbled. "So this superweapon, which is powered by friendship, consists of six parts, of which we possess exactly zero. Beyond that, even if we had all six, we don't know who, if anypony, is capable of using them."
"Nooooooot quite," Spike said slowly. Reveille looked up sharply, waiting for him to continue.
"I think we already have one of them," the dragon continued. He turned to look at Pith, who blinked at him.
"What, me?" The stallion stared. "What are you talking about?"
"Yes, do tell," said Captain Road.
Spike cleared his throat. "The crystal tree that Pith was talking about using a branch from was the Tree of Harmony," he said. "It's where the Elements of Harmony originally came from. They were crystals taken from that tree. While I was being, uh, controlled by Queen Chrysalis, it looked like he was just swinging a stick around. When he hit me with it, though, I saw the crystal, along with a flash of light." He paused. "It was two colors: white and blue. The exact same hues of the coats of the last ponies who used the Elements of Loyalty and Generosity." He tapped his claw against the ruby again. "I should know," he added quietly. "I never forgot the color of Rarity's coat."
"So you think I'm one of the ponies that can use these," Pith said. He didn't sound as though he believed it.
Spike nodded. "Yeah," he said. "I do. Possibly more than one. It might have something to do with why the Tree gave you one of its branches. And you risked your life to try and save your friends, even though it meant running into a castle full of changelings. That's pretty loyal."
"Right, right." Reveille held up both hooves, putting a halt to the discussion. "Argue on whether or not it might be him later. Seems to me that step one is to find these things, and fast. Preferably before this Chrysalis comes and stomps us off the face of the planet." He raised an eyebrow and looked up to Spike again. "Any idea where they'd be?"
Spike looked down to the map spread out on the table and frowned. "I've got a couple possibilities," he said. "But I'd need to talk to Compass to figure out exactly where they are on this map."
"Compass Rose," the colonel said sharply, "is currently confined to the post-operative care unit, awaiting examination by Doctor Grey to assess her status, both physical and mental. It took me several hours of arguing to get her to agree to this, and she needs it badly. She may not be as close to death as the other casualty of your little expedition-" Spike heard the hiss of indrawn breath from Pith, and saw Captain Road frown "-but the type of stress that she's been through and the type of injury she has sustained are no less severe overall." He waved a hoof over the map. "Make your best guess. We can ask for her input later."
The dragon sighed, then turned his attention back to the map. "There are two possibilities, really." He jabbed at the map with one claw, indicating a spot somewhere around where he guessed Canterlot to be. "They could be around here, in Canterlot. It used to be the capitol of Equestria, and it's where the Elements were kept when they weren't in the Tree. That's the closest of the two."
"And the other option?" Captain Road prompted.
Spike frowned more deeply. "The Crystal Kingdom," he said. "But I don't see it on the map. It would be somewhere around here, though." He pointed towards the edge of the map, where an area of blankness had been filled in with black.
He heard Reveille groan, and looked up to see the colonel rubbing at his face with his hooves again. "This just gets better and better," he was mumbling. "Of course they'd be in there."
"In where?" asked Spike. He tilted his head to one side. "It's blank."
"It's blank," said Captain Road, "because we can't scout it. That's nightmare fog. A solid sea of black all the way to the horizon. All we know is the scouts we send into it don't come back, the scouts we send over it say there's no other side, and the scouts we send near it talk about the worst monsters anywhere in the world."
Spike felt a shiver run down his spine. If that was what had become of the Crystal Empire... it explained a lot.
Twilight, please, please, please don't be dead.
He shook his head and pointed back to the mountain range. "Then we start here," he said firmly. "Canterlot. It's closer, safer, and even if they aren't there, it was an important part of Equestria that Twilight spent a lot of time in. There might be something useful there, even if it's just more information on what happened."
Reveille sighed and propped his chin up on one hoof again. "Fine," he said. "That's a start, anyway." He glanced towards Pith and added, "I'm assuming you're going to tag along."
Pith saluted again. "Yes, sir," he said, still in that same surprisingly quick tone. "Even if I wasn't tied up in this, which it looks like I am, I'm no good here with a busted leg, and I'm not about to let the dragon that saved my life wander off alone."
Spike felt a surge of gratitude towards the stallion, but before he could say anything, the pegasus was speaking again. "If you insist," he said. "Give us a few days to get supplies together for the two of you."
Pith looked surprised. "The two of us, sir?"
Reveille gave him a blank look. "Were you planning on taking someone else?"
"I've always worked with Tailspin-"
The colonel cut him off with a raised hoof. When he spoke, his voice was firm, but surprisingly gentle, given his usual brazen tones. "I'm aware of that, scout," he said. "But, to be blunt, your partner is on death's door, and Doctor Grey is not entirely certain that she will even survive the night. She is in no condition to travel, pending a miracle, and, as much as it pains me to say it, you may want to go and see her while you have the opportunity."
Pith's face was ash-gray, but he managed a nod in reply.
The colonel stood abruptly. When he spoke again, his voice was back to its usual sharp, commanding self. "That will be all," he said, as he made his way towards the door. "You are dismissed. Speak to Lieutenant Pusher if you have any further issues."
And the door slammed behind him as he left.
Tailspin had never felt so tired in her life. The exhaustion was more than physical; every fiber of her being wanted to just sleep and never, ever have to wake up. Every breath of air took more effort than anything she had ever done before, and it just kept getting harder.
So why wasn't she stopping?
Despite her utter, complete lack of energy or will, her lungs continued to operate. It felt almost as though someone else were doing it for her.
She wished they would stop. She wanted to sleep.
Tailspin drifted in the blankness for what felt like an eternity. She lost count of how many breaths she had taken, how many unwanted heartbeats had passed. She didn't know where she was or what had happened. She just wanted to sleep.
Then she heard the sound of someone crying.
Slowly, over the course of several minutes, Tailspin managed to force her eyes open. The sound of crying didn't abate during that time, though it did grow slowly quieter. It was coming from somewhere to her right.
It took a long time for her to register that she was back in the fort infirmary. It took even longer for her to get up enough energy to tilt her head to the side and spot the source of the sobbing.
The divider between her bed and the one that the weeping figure was lying on had been left open. It was Compass Rose. The unicorn was curled up on her cot, fore hooves over her face, and fighting to control her tears.
Tailspin opened her mouth, attempting to call out to her, but no sound emerged. She tried again, and again, but her mouth was simply too dry to produce any sort of sound. Every time she tried, she felt herself coming closer and closer to slipping into unconsciousness, but she didn't stop. She was still utterly, absolutely exhausted, but now she knew that she was needed.
Finally, she managed to produce a weak squeaking sound, just loud enough to be heard over Compass' sobs. The unicorn looked up abruptly and turned her head to look at Tailspin, then leapt up and dashed to her bedside.
Compass looked like she had been through the worst day of her life. One of her eyes was blackened, her mane was matted and tangled, her coat was soaked in sweat, and her face was streaked with tears. Tailspin, though, couldn't look at anything but the broken horn in the center of the unicorn's forehead.
"You're awake." Compass' voice seemed to be coming from a long way away. She sounded tired, nearly as tired as Tailspin felt, but there was no mistaking the relief there.
"Y-" It was an incredible struggle just to produce that one sound. Tailspin paused for a moment, gathering her strength, and tried again. "You-"
Compass shook her head rapidly. "Don't talk," she murmured. "I'll get you some water."
Tailspin shut her mouth again. She couldn't muster up the energy to manage a nod, or even a smile. She just had to hope that Compass understood how grateful she was.
There was a pitcher on the table beside Compass' bed. Tailspin watched as the unicorn walked towards it, paused, then leaned in to pick it up in her mouth rather than use her magic. The sight of her clumsily attempting to fill a glass made the pegasus wish that she were somewhere, anywhere else. But she didn't shut her eyes or turn away.
Compass walked slowly back to Tailspin, slipped one leg under the pegasus' head, and held her up to pour a small measure of water past her lips. The glass, at least, was being held up via magic, but the aura around it was faint and flickered rapidly. Tailspin could feel Compass shaking with the effort of keeping it airborne, and drank quickly to spare her any unnecessary strain. The icy sensation made her head swim, but she drank as much as she could. She didn't want to have to ask Compass to do it again.
Finally, the unicorn let out a long breath and lowered the glass onto the bedside table. Then she sank onto her haunches and bowed her head, panting heavily.
"Thank you," Tailspin whispered hoarsely. It still took more effort than she could believe to force the syllables out, but at least she could speak now, and she couldn't imagine not saying anything after Compass had put herself through so much to help her.
Compass let out a small, choked sound and shook her head. She didn't look up at Tailspin as she said, "Don't thank me. Please don't. This... this was all my fault." Tears were streaming down her cheeks again. "If I didn't insist on making this expedition, none of this would have happened. And you - you wouldn't..."
"You're hurt," Tailspin murmured, still fighting to stay conscious. Even in her only semi-conscious state, she recognized that "hurt" was not nearly strong enough a word to describe what had happened to Compass. "And you helped me anyway. That's worth a thank you." The world was trying to slide out of focus. She blinked rapidly, trying to keep the unicorn in sight.
"I'm only hurt because I told Pith to do it," Compass said. She opened her eyes, but didn't look up. She just stared at the floor and sobbed for a moment. Tailspin couldn't think of anything to say.
Compass broke the silence on her own accord anyway. The words came out of her in a jumbled, frantic rush. "If I hadn't insisted that somebody go to check out the castle, none of this would have happened. If I hadn't insisted on coming along, I wouldn't have slowed you down when the changelings attacked, and you could have escaped. If I had been paying less attention to the books and more to where Pith and Spike went, they wouldn't have gone off alone and gotten captured. And if I'd been able to - to not be completely useless at the end, I could have gotten you out of the cocoon and kept... kept this..."
She shook her head again and closed her eyes tightly. "I had Pith break the resin off my horn, even though I knew what would happen, because magic was the only thing that could help and I couldn't let you die for trying to save me. I shouldn't have come. I'm not one of you. I'm not a soldier or a scout. I shouldn't have been there, and it's my fault this happened to you." She took a deep, shuddering breath. When she spoke again, her voice was almost as quiet as Tailspin's. "I'm sorry. Just please don't thank me for anything. I can't... I can't stand it."
For a few long seconds, Tailspin just watched her cry again. Then, with every ounce of strength she could muster, she forced one of her legs to move and placed her hoof on Compass' shoulder. The unicorn froze at the touch.
"You." Tailspin wet her lips and tried again. "You are one of us." She pressed weakly down on Compass' shoulder. Some part of her recognized that her leg looked almost skeletally thin, and her coat was fading to grey. The rest didn't care. Compass needed her. Her own weakness could wait. "You saved my life." She paused for a moment, blinking slowly as unconsciousness started to close in again, and forced herself to finish before she passed out once more. "You gave up your horn. To save me."
She was out of energy now. She felt her eyes drift closed, despite her best efforts to keep them open. "You are one of us," she repeated, not entirely sure whether or not she was speaking the words or just thinking them. "You earned us."
And she drifted into the blackness.