Beyond Imagination

by Argent

Chapter 11

Author's Note:

Sorry for the long wait. I've been dealing with some personal issues that have made it difficult to work up the motivation to write. Additionally, this story just hasn't gotten the reception I was hoping for, and my editor has all but stopped speaking to me. With all of that weighing me down, it's been tough to keep going. I apologize if the quality has suffered at all from the lack of an editor, and I'd like to apologize again for the wait. I'll try to make sure the next chapter doesn't take as long. Thank you for reading.

Chapter 11

“Griffons are a lot like ponies; Heart’s in the same place, spine’s exposed. Their skin’s thin and their bones are brittle, just like pegasi. You have to watch the talons, though.”

“Well, of course. Griffons are easy. I’m mainly concerned about more exotic fare,” Dawn replied to the other pegasus, sounding uncharacteristically happy for once. She seemed to enjoy talking shop. After two weeks of solitude, there didn’t seem to be much harm in idle conversation. Wanderlust just wished the pegasi had picked a more palatable subject.

“Exotic?” North chuckled. “Cut me some slack, Dawn. I can’t just start with the best part. Wouldn’t be half as interesting otherwise.” The black pegasus grumbled a grudging agreement and the other pony resumed. “Anyway, minotaurs. We’re likely to run into a lot of them, so you should know how to bring them down. Their torsos will be armored, so that’s out. Their necks are a good choice, but there’s a lot of muscle in there and you’d be surprised at how tough their skin is. In my opinion, your best bet is to go for the legs: Hamstring them, then hit the artery inside the thigh once they’re down.”

“Or you could just shoot them,” Autumn called from his position behind Wanderlust, at the back of the group. “That’s kind of why they gave us these guns.”

“No artistry in energy weapons, Autumn,” North replied lightly over her shoulder. “I’m sure Val would agree.”

“Aesthetics have no place in our line of work.” Valiance drew one of his knives and held it up in a dim aura of orange magic for the others to see. “This is a zebra-enchanted ceramic blade. It will not bend, it will not break and it will never need to be sharpened. No matter what happens, so long as I am alive, these give me a means to fight.” The unicorn returned the knife to its sheath. “Practicality always trumps artistry.”

North grunted in disappointment. “Spoilsport. Anyway, advice for going after corrupted with a knife: Don’t. Simple enough. Same story with dragons. In fact, I’d recommend avoiding them unless you have orbital or air support. If you’re really desperate you can use an AT rocket at close range. Anypony who goes in with less than that is either stupid, suicidal or both.” Wanderlust had almost finished blushing by the time Dawn finally stopped laughing.

“No, it’s nothing, really,” The pegasus explained, stifling a few lingering giggles. “Go on, what’s next?”

“Changelings. Killing them is the easy part, but that’s not saying too much. Their bodies are covered in an exoskeleton, so you have to go for the joints. Where their legs meet their torso is probably your best bet. It’s a straight shot to the vital organs once you get past the carapace: No bones to get in the way. The back of the neck is an option, too, but you have to aim between the plates. This assumes that you can identify them in the first place, of course.” Dawn cocked her head quizzically.

“Shapeshifters,” She explained with a sigh. “They can transform themselves into the shape of any living being. That’s just the start, though. Their society has a hive structure: Drones led by a queen. The queens grow stronger as they get older and so do the drones they produce. The more powerful hives can produce infiltrators able to scan a victim’s memory and produce an almost-perfect copy. There aren’t many ways to detect that kind of duplicate other than genetic tests. If you really want to know about them, Val would be the one to ask; He’s our expert.”

The lieutenant glanced over his shoulder and spoke in what Wanderlust had come to think of as his ‘Don’t push me’ voice. “That’s the line, sergeant.”

“Right. Sorry, boss.”

There were a few seconds of awkward silence before Wanderlust spoke up. “What about draconequui?”

“Dracos are smart, they’re tough, the least of them has magic that rivals that of any unicorn. Their equipment is top-notch, though the two here on the ring have been cut off for long enough that it will be dated, and they have military training so harsh that a senator was once jailed for suggesting that we emulate it. There are few things more frightening in battle than a unit of draconequui.” Her tone was far from reassuring.

“So you’re saying there’s no way we can fight them?” Wanderlust didn’t make an attempt to hide the edge in his voice.

North was quiet for a long moment. “I’m saying that I hope that voice in your head has a good plan.”

Do you? There was silence for nearly a minute, broken only by the echo of hoofsteps off the metal floor. Well?

Contrary to popular belief, I am not at your beck and call, Wanderlust.

So why am I at yours?

Rank hath its privileges. Wanderlust could almost see the smirk that went along with that statement. If you learn nothing else about me, you should know that I always have a plan. You’ll have your revenge, I’ll have my ring and your home will be saved. A happy ending for all involved.

The unicorn was about to reply when he was interrupted. It was the most horrible sound he’d ever heard in his life. It was pain, it was anguish, it was sorrow, it was loss, it was as if the very world were crying out, giving voice to the agony of a billion lost souls. Wanderlust clapped his hooves to his ears, trying in vain to block the sound that echoed from every wall, bombarding him from every direction at once.

“Autumn!” Val barked, screaming through the radio to make himself heard over the noise, “How close are we to the bridge?”

“Six floors up,” The other pony bellowed back, “seventy-three compartments Port!”

“Make us a shortcut!” The group ran upwards, Autumn melding the walls into stairs as they climbed through layer after layer. Near the top, the sound stopped, leaving only echoes that died slowly, fading into nothing.

“What was that?” Wanderlust couldn’t help but shout, his ears still ringing. Autumn ripped holes in the walls in front of them to clear them a path as they ran, any thought of caution or stealth thrown to the wind.

“Failsafe!” Valiance barked back.

“What?” Dawn and Wanderlust yelled in unison.

“The corrupted,” North replied grimly. “You never deploy a weapon you can’t control. The corrupted have an enchantment woven into their very being that allows them to be killed en masse, remotely. What you just heard was every single one of them in this compound receiving that signal and burning to ash.”

“What does that mean?” Wanderlust asked, trying to grasp the implications. “Why would they do that?”

“Because they weren’t needed anymore. Their master is here.”

*

“Are these the ships you were talking about?” There were clouds of the vessels surrounding the central tower, a dozen different models ranging from the size of a small carriage to a few that could have rivaled Canterlot Castle for height if they had been stood on one end. “The ships that were still unaccounted for?”

“No, these are just short-range craft. Maintenance, surveillance, some personal transport ships. The draconequui never figured out how to blend magic and technology together properly. After all this time, they’re reliant upon our leftovers.” Autumn was staring forlornly out over the gathered ships, watching them drift through the sky, seemingly without direction. “If we’re lucky, the garrison scuttled anything armed before they were overrun.”

Valiance laughed humorlessly. Ever since they’d reached the bridge and seen what stood between them and their goal, the lieutenant had lay in a corner with his head resting upon his forehooves. “Lucky? North, you’re our scout. How many minotaurs do you think could pack into all of those?”

The pegasus replied immediately, never taking her eyes off the windows. “We’re looking at at least a full legion of the Crimson Guard in that tower; Fifty thousand minotaurs at the low end. If they brought auxiliaries, maybe sixty to seventy.”

“Fifty thousand minotaurs between us and our ride out.” Valiance snorted. “We are five malnourished, under-equipped ponies, only four of whom are armed and only three of whom have proper military training. Do you really think there’s anything at all that’s ‘lucky’ about our situation, Autumn?”

Any response he may have had was cut off as the lights slowly, almost reluctantly, struggled to life and a dull, distant rumble echoed up from beneath their hooves. Wanderlust looked between the other ponies, all of whom save Valiance had leapt to their hooves and tensed for an attack. “Why would they restore power?”

“They know they’ve already won,” Valiance said sullenly from his spot on the floor. “There’s no point in letting us die in the dark.”

Wanderlust opened his mouth to reply and snapped it shut as an echoing voice resounded from the walls.

“Hello again, ponies. As you may be aware by now, this structure is now under the control of the Crimson Guard.” This time, Valiance rose. The red pony stared at the ceiling, a noticeable twitching of the weapons on his back the only visible sign of his barely-contained rage.

“He sent Drast,” North whispered, her trembling voice just barely picked up by her barding’s microphone.

“In light of this, it should be obvious that you cannot escape. I’ve restored power to this complex as a courtesy, that you may use the tram system to enter the main tower and issue your surrender. If you have thoughts of doing otherwise, I should also let you know that I have full control over the environmental systems. All compartments of this tower that are not on the path to the central atrium have been sealed and depressurized. Any breach of one of these compartments will be detected instantly and troops will be dispatched to execute you in numbers that you cannot hope to fight. Additionally, if I have reason to believe that you are trying to escape the complex, we will destroy it entirely with atomic weapons. Surrender is your one chance at survival. Whether you take it is of no consequence to myself.”

The announcement was followed by a long silence as the ponies stared at the floor, contemplating their fate and waiting for another to make the first move. Finally, Valiance turned and started towards the exit.

“Val, where are you going?” North asked tentatively.

The lieutenant stopped and spoke without turning. “You heard him. He’s left us with only one option. We go across that bridge, we kill him, and we carry on with our mission. He’s just one draconequus; Nothing we haven’t faced before.”

“Just one draconequus?” North made no attempt to disguise what she thought about her leader’s comment. “Gods below, Val, this is Drast we’re talking about! The Reaper’s Right Hand, The Ebon Blade, Skyburner, the one who destroyed my planet and who the hell knows how many others! He’s ordered the deaths of billions and personally slaughtered thousands. You’re talking about what may be the single most dangerous creature in the universe. You can’t seriously be thinking of doing this.” Her shoulders slumped as she stared at the back of Valiance’s head, realizing that he wasn’t going to listen.

“Does anypony else see another option?” Valiance waited for nearly a minute, never moving a muscle, for an answer that he knew wouldn’t come. “In that case, we need to move. I don’t know how long he’ll wait before he sets off the bombs. We’ve fought him before.”

“We didn’t know it would be him, before,” North muttered.

The others followed reluctantly as Valiance walked away. Dawn took up a place beside the other pegasus. “‘Gods below’?” She asked softly, “I was always taught that the Gods lived in the heavens, always watching over us.”

“The earth brings us food, gives us shelter,” North replied bitterly. “The skies bring fire and death. Where do you think the gods would live?”

I’m working on a way out, Wanderlust. Just stay alive a little while longer.

*

“I was starting to wonder if you'd come. To be honest, I'm almost disappointed; Have you ever seen the immediate aftermath of the detonation of a fusion bomb? That scale of destruction has a beauty to it that few can properly appreciate.” Where the larger outer structures had been built for the task of housing thousands upon thousands of residents, the central spire had been built as a hub. There were wide, towering halls that honeycombed the tower: Wanderlust had almost been able to feel the ghostly presence of the number of ponies they had expected to pass through the structure every day. When they reached the center, Drast was waiting, lounging against a vine-covered tube that ran from the floor to the ceiling high overhead. There had been a garden once, but the plants had long since overrun the room, snaking up the lift tubes that cluttered the chamber and overgrowing the walkways crossed the expanse above them.

None of the ponies replied as they followed Valiance, North drifting to his left and Autumn to his right. Wanderlust started to drift to the side as well, but Dawn silently motioned him to stay where he was.

“Lift tubes will be good cover,” North whispered, her voice carried into Wanderlust's earpiece. “There are some trees on our left; Concealment, but no real protection.”

“Some of these vines are thick enough to trip us up,” Autumn added. “Watch where you stand. There's a cluster of tubes to our right with a statue next to it. That's my ground.”

“Watch your fire. I'll be going straight up the middle. Wanderlust, you’re with me. Stay behind me, put a shot in when you can but don’t overreach. Dawn, stay back.” Valiance's voice had a growl to it. It was clear even through his barding that he was tense; His head was down and his steps had a jerky quality to them, almost like he was struggling to contain some barely-controlled force. “His armor looks rated for energy weapons. Plasma will have limited effectiveness, particle cannon should punch straight through. Expect protective fields for kinetic threats. Can't see his weapons, other than the sword.”

Wanderlust took his first good look at a battle-ready draconequus. Drast was clad head-to-toe in matte black. There were graceful curves everywhere, the armor seeming to flow around his body almost like a cloud of smoke. Joints were covered by rounded segments where the plates overlapped, revealing more black beneath, making it hard to see exactly where each ended and the next began. His head was covered by a featureless helmet. The flowing, blank front gave no hint that there might be a face behind it.

Slung across the draconequus's back was a long, slender sword. The blade would have stretched from the tip of Wanderlust's nose to the end of his tail, but it was easily small enough for the draconequus to wield with one hand. What frightened Wanderlust the most, however, was how relaxed Drast looked. He leaned against a tube, his arms crossed across his chest, watching silently as the ponies approached. His chest rose and fell with slow, measured breaths and his tail was curved carelessly in front of his crossed legs. He might as well have been waiting for a train. War holds no more surprises for him. Pay attention to this, Wanderlust, The unicorn thought to himself. This is the enemy: A professional killer, with lifetimes of experience, just waiting to log another day at the office.

“I don't like how open the center is,” Valiance growled, breaking Wanderlust out of his reverie. “Autumn, can you give us some more cover?”

“Combat casting has never been my thing, sir. I can try, but he takes one shot at me and I'll lose my concentration. Who knows what the spell will do from there. Might end up hurting us more than it helps.”

“Right. Forget about it, then.”

Drast finally broke his silence as the ponies came within about twenty paces. “The Blades of Dexis, if I'm not mistaken.” He didn't move a muscle, still leaning casually as the ponies stopped. “I'm surprised to see that so few of you have survived, given your reputation. Soldiers sworn to the god of death. You should be in awe, ponies. I'm as close to your master as you'll ever meet.” He waited a few moments for a reply that never came. “I believe we were to discuss your surrender.”

“When have you known Sentinels to offer surrender?” Valiance asked in response, his voice quiet.

“When have you ever known draconequui to accept it?” Drast sounded almost like he was smiling behind the blank face of his helmet.

There were a few long moments where the two sides faced each other down, each waiting for the other to make the first move. Wanderlust could feel his heart beating almost painfully fast as he tensed, waiting for things to break.

Everything happened in the space of a heartbeat. Drast lunged, his tail uncoiling like a spring behind him to drive himself forwards as he drew his sword with one hand and gilded the other with the telltale glow of magic. Autumn dove to the side, rushing for cover as North sprang into the air, her wings driving her upwards. Valiance set his hooves and braced to meet the draconequus, the air around him filling with an orange glow as he drew his knives and surrounded himself with a cluster of glowing, spectral blades. Wanderlust followed suit, drawing his weapons and gritting his teeth as Dawn dove for cover behind a stone planter.

The sound was like sitting in the middle of a thundercloud. All three soldier ponies fired at once, six beams of brilliant white converging on the draconequus followed an instant later by a staccato stream of red plasma as Wanderlust joined in. Drast rolled out of his dive and sprang to his feet, twisting to dodge the roiling death hurtling towards him. Three shots missed outright as their target jinked to dodge a fourth. The remaining two beams hit an invisible shield of magic and deflected away, starting a fire in a cluster of nearby trees. The plasma fire fizzled harmlessly in midair, not even phasing the draconequus’ warding spells.

There was a howl as Drast returned fire. Instead of an energy weapon, he responded with magic, filling the air with shards of black ice. The shards coalesced into streams that writhed like serpents before lashing outwards furiously, pelting the ponies with razor-sharp projectiles. Most pinged harmlessly off their protective fields, but they shattered as they did, filling the room with a smoky haze and deafening the ponies with a sound like breaking glass.

Amidst the confusion, Drast closed the last spare few feet to Valiance. The Lieutenant managed a quick shot with his weapons, one beam grazing his attacker’s arm despite his almost supernatural quickness. The draconequus howled in pain but didn’t slow as Valiance roared and stabbed forward with a dozen blades.

“No shot,” North and Autumn screamed into their microphones, almost in unison. They couldn’t fire without risking their commanding officer’s life. Wanderlust had an extra moment, pouring fire into their assailant before he, too, couldn’t take the risk. All he could do was watch as the melee played out in front of him.

Valiance’s blades closed on their target before meeting a glimmering yellow shield that blinked into existence in front of Drast, deflecting most. The rest skidded off rounded armor pieces. One drew a ragged, red line across a joint but didn’t cause more harm than a scratch. Valiance had put all his strength into that first blow, trying to end the fight quickly, and in doing so he had overextended himself.

The draconequus saw an opening and jabbed his sword forward, the tip connecting with Valiance’s helmet. The armor held, but Wanderlust saw the other pony’s head snap backwards from the force of the blow. It didn’t seem to have caused major damage, but it shattered the soldier’s concentration. His magic dissipated, dropping blades to the floor in a clatter as the draconequus spun for the killing blow, sweeping his sword in a wide arc aimed for Valiance’s neck. When the blade reached it, he was gone. The pony dove under the sword and hit the draconequus’ stubby legs, knocking him to the floor.

Wanderlust had learned from the lieutenant that ponies were at a natural disadvantage in most forms of unarmed combat: Their bodies simply weren’t shaped for it. To strike a blow, they had to be above their target, or turn their back. They couldn’t grab, they couldn’t throw, but they had a low center of gravity and a more stable stance than a biped. Get an enemy on the ground, and you had at least leveled the playing field.

Drast hit the ground and rolled, but Valiance pinned his leg with a hoof. The pony attempted to break it before the darconequus’ other leg caught him with a kick to the back of a knee, knocking the pony off-balance and crumpling him to the floor. “Have you really fallen so far?” Drast asked, twisting to wrap an arm around Valiance’s neck. “Has missing a few meals here and there, so far from your posh empire made you this weak?” He dropped the pony as a razor-sharp horn was thrust at his face with a toss of Valiance’s head. The lieutenant tried a kick with his rear legs only to have one caught and used to throw him to the ground on his stomach, his assailant planting a knee on the back of his neck.

“Before I was given to Lord Rafaldin, when they took our wings, they dumped us in the mountains, to toughen us.” Drast followed the words with a grinding motion, smearing Valiance’s face against the floor. “No food, no shelter. My best friend and I were working together. One night, when it was my turn to stand first watch, I looked at him and wondered why I had to go hungry. What would you do in that situation? Would you have the strength to do what was necessary? To survive? I think you’d die there, lying in the snow, weak and alone.” He grabbed a foreleg and started twisting, still speaking calmly as his claws pulled a knife from his belt. “That was the first time I ever ate my own kill.” He lowered the knife towards Valiance’s throat and started to speak again just as Wanderlust hit him full-force.

The draconequus dropped Valiance’s leg and tried to deflect the unicorn’s tackle, but the momentum behind him was too much. The draconequus and the pony careened end over end across the floor. Drast grabbed his sword as he skidded by and rolled to his feet as Wanderlust still lay dazed. He raised it for a killing stroke before readjusting, going on the defensive as Valiance charged him, wielding his own ghostly blades. Expertly parrying each blow, the draconequus slowly gave ground, meeting the pony’s magic blades with his own sword and a magic shield.

The other ponies moved in quickly, closing on the draconequus from all sides. Just as it looked like he might be overwhelmed, Drast leapt backwards, swinging his sword at North, forcing her back. He followed it with a feint towards Autumn that he expertly turned towards Valiance, nearly landing a blow. It became clear as the draconequus struck again and again, driving the ponies onto the defensive, that he had been toying with them: He had wanted them within arms’ reach, surrounding him so that firing a weapon would run the risk of hitting a friend. The only one with effective melee weapons, Valiance was left on his own in the fight.

Pressing the attack, the lieutenant lunged forward, a whirlwind of blades slicing through the air, trying to press the draconequus back. The others slipped away, dodging parting jabs from Drast, leaving the two combatants alone. They circled each other, trading blows that were swiftly parried or turned, stuck in a stalemate. It dragged on for minutes, neither one able to land a telling blow and Valiance’s allies unable to gain a clear shot. Without warning, it all came to a sudden halt as a soft chiming noise broke the din of battle. In a moment of surreal calm, weapons hanging still in the air, Drast and the ponies turned to look at the now-open door to the lift.

In. Now. The two words were a scream inside Wanderlust’s head, so deafening that he couldn’t help but flinch as he repeated them aloud, relaying the admiral’s order. The others didn’t hesitate to follow, but Valiance was still crossing swords with Drast. The two of them wheeled in the middle of the atrium, their swords throwing sparks as they clashed. Finally, Valiance managed to work his back towards the lift and lunged inside, bowling over the others. Landing in a disordered pile of ponies, the lieutenant’s concentration broke and the shimmering blades holding Drast at bay flickered into nothing. The draconequus lunged forwards, but the doors slammed shut faster than he could move.

Wanderlust felt his stomach drop out as they plummeted. It was the only sign of motion within the lift. There was no window, no way to tell how quickly they were moving, but Wanderlust guessed that whatever was controlling the lift knew how much of a hurry they were in. Without a sound, it suddenly stopped, so quickly that the ponies were catapulted off the floor and dropped unceremoniously back down into a heap. A soft hiss accompanied the opening of the door, and every weapon was suddenly trained on a cloaked pony who stood at the entrance, backed by a small room of white-lit concrete walls.

There was a long moment when they simply stared at each other before the newcomer spoke. “Welcome to Station Triumph. I believe we serve the same master.”

*

“Station?” Wanderlust asked groggily, struggling to his hooves.

“The Triumph station for Equestria’s Semi-Official intelligence service,” Valiance spat, his distaste obvious.

“It’s true. I serve the Sons of Nessal. The eyes and ears of the Kingdom.” There was a muffled roar above them and the floor almost seemed to flutter beneath their hooves. “And that was a multi-megaton fusion warhead detonated directly above us. Don’t worry, this bunker is rated for more than that. I have orders from the Administrator to put you on one of the trams. There’s an emergency siding this way.” The pony turned and began to walk away.

“Show us.” Valiance’s words stopped the newcomer.

The pony turned around again and stared at the group. “Show you what?”

“We want proof that you’re one of them,” Autumn replied. “You know exactly what we mean.”

The other pony stared for a moment, then pulled back his hood. Valiance’s prosthetics were obviously artificial, but they were clean, they looked functional. The new pony’s were garish: Half his face was metal, one eye was obviously and unashamedly artificial. There was no attempt to blend the prosthetics with the flesh, no attempt to make it anything but jarring. He smiled, seeing the shocked looks on the faces of Wanderlust and Dawn. “Locals, I assume. Proof of my devotion to our cause. We pledge to do whatever it takes to help the Kingdom, from gathering information to testing the newest technology. It also makes us unrecognizable: I have given up everything of my past life in service of my god and kingdom, even my name.” He turned and once again began to walk away.

“Station chief?” Valiance asked as he started to follow, satisfied.

“Deputy. The chief was killed in a raid about fifty years after the ring was taken. That’s when we lost our last long-range relay, too. The traditional code name for one in my post is Whisper, you may call me that.” He looked over his shoulder at the others. “I have some contacts around the ring, but for the most part I’ve been cut off for a very long time.”

“So if you’re a brotherhood,” Dawn asked as they continued down a narrow hallway, “does that mean you don’t allow mares?”

“Our sisters served in their own way. We were spies, information gatherers. They were assassins and infiltrators.”

“I like the sound of that,” Dawn remarked with a smile.

“Dragons, draconequui, griffons are all patriarchal societies,” North replied. “In fact, dragon and draconequus females aren’t even sentient. They have a tendency to underestimate mares, think of us as docile.”

“Our sisters made them dearly regret that miscalculation.”

Dawn just laughed. “I’d imagine.”

The hallway soon opened into a large, vaulted room. Bright, white lights were spaced evenly across the ceiling, banishing any shadows that may have otherwise lurked around the sleek, silver capsule sitting in the trench that lay in the center of the room. There was a single visible hatch that broke the clean lines and regular windows of the capsule, and that’s where Whisper led them.

“The computer is programmed to take you to a station near Remembrance. From there, the Administrator will tell you what to do.”

“Why Remembrance? We saw it as we came in: It got slagged in the initial assault. There’s nothing left there but ghosts,” Valiance objected, glaring at Whisper.

“And Dragons,” Their host added cryptically. “But I can’t speculate as to the Administrator’s intentions. All I know is what he’s told me over the radio.”

“He communicates with you over the radio?” Wanderlust blurted. If he can do that, why the hell is he in my head?

Radio is unreliable. It can be detected, tracked, possibly even decrypted.

“Short messages, light on detail. Apparently, he has other ways of communicating with you.” The other pony raised an eyebrow but didn’t give voice to the question that was obviously on his mind. “That’s enough questions for now. You have your task, as do I. Onto the tram.”

As they filed past, the newcomer stopped Wanderlust and pulled him aside. He’d replaced his hood, leaving Wanderlust to stare once more into the shadow where a face should have been. “I know he’s accessing your mind: My brothers developed the technology which allows it. I follow his orders because I lack any other guidance, but that won’t stop me from warning you not to trust him.”

Wanderlust stared back for a moment before replying. “I never said I did.”

The tunnel’s lights glinted off of teeth as the pony smiled underneath his hood. “You would have done well as one of us.” Wanderlust couldn’t help but cringe at the thought. “It is a motto of my order that trust kills as surely as a blade.”

“Something tells me that you have a lot of mottos.”

“Only fitting for those who serve the God of Many Faces.” The pony turned and walked away without another word. Wanderlust watched for a moment before he entered the capsule, shivering slightly as the hatch silently closed at his back.

“Feeling okay, Wands?” Dawn asked as he took a seat on the couch beside her. “Wands?” She looked over to find the unicorn slumped against the wall, fast asleep.

*

There’s an old Triumph Defense Force base a few miles from this station. You’ll find a single Echo-class interceptor still there.

A what?
A ship. It’s a ship you’ll need for what comes next. There’s a catch, though.
There always is with you.

They’d reached the station hours before. It was a massive, multi-level structure of walkways, staircases and landings, all carpeted with thousands of years of dust. While the others searched for supplies, Wanderlust had sat in a corner, trying to contact the admiral. It had taken some time, but he’d finally heard the other voice in his head answering.

There’s only room for two inside.

No. There’s no way we’re leaving the others behind.

They wouldn’t be left behind. You’d meet them again at another station before continuing to the command center.

I don’t like it.

There’s no other choice. We’re approaching the most important phases of the plan. If you want to save your home, you have to trust me. Bring the lieutenant with you and send the others ahead on the tram. You won’t be apart for long.

That night, Wanderlust talked to the others and passed along the message. They spent half the night arguing before Valiance finally silenced his squad. The lone voice of dissent, Dawn finally agreed as well. The next morning, Wanderlust and Valiance saw the others off, saying one last goodbye before they boarded the tram. In the last moments before they boarded, Dawnfire pulled Wanderlust off to one side and pulled him into a hug.

“Come back in one piece, Wands, okay?” She punctuated it with a quick kiss on the cheek, leaving the unicorn at a loss for words. Then she grabbed his head and stared him right in the eye. “And if you don’t, I will hunt you down through this world or the next and make you regret it.”

Wanderlust couldn’t help but smile. Yeah, that’s more like Dawn.