> Through Hell And Back
>  by Still Breeze
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Forever Young
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Before I start, I just want to say how humbled I am at the reception my previous title received. But I’ve been know to ramble, and I know that anypony reading this just wants to read the story. The reason I say this is this story is understandable as it is, however, to get a much better understanding of the main character, I kindly ask you to read “Your Wings Were Made For Angels”. Now I know it’s 170,000+ words long, but from the flattering praise it has received, I assure you it won’t be a waste of time. But your decision lies with you; if you choose to read the previous story in this series, then great! If not, well, I hope that I can make this still entertaining for you.

Right, now that that’s out of the way, I hope you enjoy the fic and I am eagerly awaiting any feedback from.

P.S: Oh! One more thing: For any Dead Space fans, watch out: this fic is going to be ‘pack’ed with references and quotes. See? See what I did there?



Chapter 1: “Forever Young”

A dash over a year after Kerous’ futile attempt to destroy the world, Equestria has almost fully accepted the arrival of another alicorn. One who, despite never showing it, was infinitely more powerful than both of the celestial princesses combined. Though many couldn’t believe that he had died to come back the very next night, he was there, in the flesh. And very much alive.

Cantor was a simple pony with simple ambitions and one rule to live by: Protect. Although he wasn't the bravest of ponies, still being relatively scared of the dark, the young stallion set aside his abundance of free time to better the lives of everyone and everything he possibly could.

Actually, this is a lie. He first and foremost spent all day dreaming up innovative methods of getting himself hurt, and encouraging a choir of 'I told you so's from all but one of his friends, who encouraged the act in the first place. Regardless, through all the bumps and bruises, and the occasional dismemberment, he was happy, and content with a life that could never be spoiled.

The hype about Cantor quickly dimmed within the first two weeks of his return, yet nopony forgot what he had accomplished, especially with the stone statue of him in Canterlot gardens. He made requests for a stained window instead, and despite his best efforts of persuasion, which in no way reflected pestering, Celestia's answer remained a firm 'No', and the statue quickly became part of the landscape, along with other legendary ponies of the past. Making the frequently inappropriate stallion feel very out of place.

The study of extra-terrestrial worlds had begun to peak Celestia's interest to the highest extent in recent times. She made a point of saying how she was certain of life outside of Equestria, but now that the possibility for finding out for definite was visible thanks to a one-of-a-kind telescope on the outskirts of Ponyville, she had initiated a deep space programme, which Cantor eagerly took the offered position of being captain in an exploration and research team to the new planet. As for Cantor himself, he simply couldn’t wait to zoom out into space to see close up the very object he had observed many times through Twilight’s high powered observatory that he had made many months ago. And though the official launch date was five months away, Cantor was counting down the weeks like a foal waiting for his birthday. 

Time, as always, flew by in Equestria, but one thing Cantor was sure of was that he and Twilight were scheduled for a very long and happy life together, readying themselves for years and years of peace and happiness. 

With the occasional dismemberment...

The lavender mare had taken Cantor’s gift of the observatory straight to heart, doing exactly as he had said and transformed the little telescope into her legacy, filling the walls with her beauty, and in the quick year, she had already crammed a bookshelf and a half with her endless recordings from beyond the stars. A simple explanation was in order: astronomy, second only to the give and take of knowledge, was Twilight’s largest hobbyist passion, and no matter how much she had discovered, there always seemed to be something just over the horizon that caught her eye, often the cause for several pages of information about the curious lights out there she spied, none of which shining as brightly as her.

Both Cantor and Twilight still kept finding out so much about each other that they found absolutely fascinating. Cantor discovered Twilight was quite the experienced painter, often sitting for hours in front of her observatory, overlooking the mystical horizon at the deep purple sky through stunning lavender eyes and painting. Hours of sitting there on the grass next to Cantor, watching the moon journey across the infinitely vast expanse of sky, flicking a small brush over a large Canvas, creating picture-perfect landscapes to hang on her observatory walls. Cantor could sit forever and watch Twilight paint. And in fact, he did. The alicorn would snuggle close to Twilight, wrapping an enormous wing around her like a huge feathery blanket, watching her many masterpieces come to life right before his deep amber eyes.

After some time, Cantor had urged the young mare to show the books to Celestia, explaining how her new literary expertise would carry Equestria far to new fantasies and wonderful worlds waiting to be explored. Twilight Sparkle and her friends still kept up their weekly friendship reports – and now, seeing as how they had all found love somewhere along the line, their hearts were open to all the beauty in the world, and their content souls added much to it.

It was early Summer in Equestria, and the weather was gradually becoming warmer. The hot and lazy days were in view and everypony in town was eagerly waiting to use their new pools which had been installed by Ponyville’s favourite alicorn. The acts of magical prowess explained to 'wannabe' wizards all throughout the world, who travel for months to get a glimpse at the one who could supposedly introduce new matter to the universe from thin air, with the words "I dunno, I just do it, I guess..." Earning him a bad rapport with a large faction of powerful, scorned unicorns.


*****


Today was scheduled to be a mildly sunny day, with a light shower towards the end of the afternoon. The pale morning glow shone through Twilight’s closed windows, throwing large squares of light onto the wooden floor below. The new spring hatchlings resting in their wicker nests could be heard chirping in uproar every now and then as one of their parents returned with food in their beaks. The day had begun perfect – much like every day in Equestria really… Cantor had awoken to find Twilight already staring at him, her eyes half – lidded and an enchanting expression worn upon her face. Not for the first time, Cantor woke up smiling, barely able to utter “Morning” before Twilight wrapped her lips around his. It was more of a life than he could ever ask for, and he was sure that if there was heaven on Earth, Twilight Sparkle would be his sanctuary.

As Cantor had promised, nothing had changed; things had only gotten better. He still told Twilight Sparkle that he loved her every day without fail and every day, she would say the same to him. Twilight was as she always could be found every morning with Cantor before she got to work, sitting on her small sofa with a cup of tea resting on the table and a magically prepared breakfast beside it, something was obviously on her mind. It was bothering her, and whenever that happened, (albeit rarely), the white alicorn made it his duty to find out what it was so that he could fix it.

After taking a shallow sip from his cup, Cantor turned to the uncomfortable purple unicorn and asked with expectant eyes: “Something on your mind, Twi?”

The young mare quickly shook her head, her straight mane whipping about her face as she picked up a buttered crumpet with her magic and took a feeble bite. She finished it a lot sooner than she had expected and upon swallowing, turned to face her stallion who was still burning into her eyes. She sighed a little as a response, knowing that once this stallion had you in this particular kind of contact, your mind was as good as his.

“What?” She asked, raising both eyebrows, the warm, creamy taste of butter still evident in her mouth.

“Oh, please, Twilight…” Cantor began, smiling warmly in the humble morning light. “I’ve known you for over two years… I can tell when something’s bothering you…”

“Well…” Twilight started, her eyes shifting from her plate back to those paralyzing amber eyes, hotter than fire and more attractive than gravity. “Do you remember… last weekend?” She questioned, her cheeks becoming rosy with fillyish remembrance. 

Cantor’s smile widened from content to amused. “Oh, yes…” He started, taking on a light blush of his own. “I remember ‘last weekend’, Twilight…” He said with a chuckle.

“I um…” The mare began, her eyes fixated on Cantor’s, unable to break away, but also unable to shake her apprehension. “I don’t want to say… I don’t know how you’ll feel…” She finished, her eyes trembling from fright. Cantor saw this and placed a reassuring hoof on her shoulder.

“Twilight… whatever it is, you know I’ll be fine with it.” He stated, giving the mare the courage she needed to say exactly what she wanted to say in the most blunt, basic and easiest way she knew how.

“Cantor…” Twilight started, taking Cantor’s sturdy hoof in her own and grasping it tightly as she looked deep into her stallion’s eyes and finished:

“…I’m pregnant.”

Cantor smirked. "Ha, ha... Yeah..." He replied agreeably with a thousand mile stare.

"You... You're alright with that?" The purple mare asked oddly. Dumbfounded by her partner's response.

"A-are you sure? How can you tell from..." He cast his eyes upward and silently mouthed a few numbers. "Just two days ago?"

Twilight leaned back in her couch and placed both hooves gently over her stomach. "Unicorns can." She explained. "Even from just hours afterward. I knew since last morning; I'm surprised you hadn't picked up on it yet. I guess it's different for alicorns..." She finished with a soft tone, sounding slightly damp of heart. "But... you're okay with it?" She enquired once more, her voice seeming to pick up at the end.

The white alicorn, who had turned a mild green colour, nodded slowly, his nose wrinkling slightly. "Yeah... Yeah..." He muttered, rising to his hooves and making his way towards the front door. "Fine..."

"Cantor?" Twilight called after him in alarm, sitting up fully upon the sofa as the white pony opened the dull red entrance.

The teenage alicorn slipped around the thick wooden door, casting a friendly nod to the mare inside before delicately closing it behind himself.

Twilight waited for a moment, a little perplexed to say the least. When out of nowhere, a catastrophic crash of thunder paired with a dazzling light shining through every window on the front of her hollow treehouse home like a bright bolt of lightning had struck her porch tore through the house. Her heart skipped a beat and she jumped some distance into the air before landing comfortably back on the well-loved white fabric.

As the dazed young mare's track day pulse returned to normal, the many ripples cascading across the surface of her tea began to subside too. And in short time, Cantor calmly stepped back into the house, graciously closed the door behind him and retook his place on Twilight's couch.

"So..." He began, unkempt rust - hued hair rife with static electricity. "That was unexpected."

"Speak for yourself!" Twilight gasped, clutching her chest. She turned toward the decorated staircase and waited a number of seconds. And sure enough, she was met with a loud snore from a certain reptilian source. "That dragon can sleep through anything..." She thought with mild approbation.

"You're really pregnant, Twilight?" Cantor asked with bewildered eyes.

"Yes." The bookish unicorn answered, growing a little impatient. "Do I need to lecture you on the equine reproductive system?"

Cantor shook his head with disbelief, and Twilight Sparkle seemed to be a lot more strategic within her mannerisms. Maybe it was because she had had longer to get accustomed to the fact. Without knowing where to start, he began with 'the big one'. "Are you going to keep it?" He asked in a serious tone, something of a rarity to be seen coming from this stallion.

The lavender unicorn seemed taken aback. "What a thing to say!" She cried in exasperation. 

"Okay!" Cantor replied, holding his hooves up in surrender. "Sorry, Twi: I just didn't know how else to ask."

The mare held her discontented grimace for a short while before releasing it in a submissive sigh. "It's alright..." She murmured. "It's not your fault."

"It kinda is..." Cantor added. Twilight missed the humour and shot him another displeased frown.

"I suppose it's harder for you: you've only just found out. I've had all of yesterday to come to terms." Said Twilight, casting her eyes to the floor. "I'm sorry."

Cantor place his hoof upon the disheartened mare's back and gave her a gentle rub. "Hey, it's okay." He spoke with compassion, drawing Twilight's reddened violet lenses to his face. "It's up to you. And you know that I'll be fine with whatever choice you make." He said with a warm smile. 

Twilight bit her trembling lip as her eyes started to water. A small tear broke free and began to roll down her nose, and she quickly swiped it away.

Cantor's eyebrows inverted with pity. "Oh, please don't cry..." He asked, a lump in his throat from the oppressive sight. "You know I hate it when you get upset." 

Twilight hated crying. For the most part, she knew it made her look a mess, but second to that, she knew it made the pony she loved feel empathetic too. And the thought of how selfish that was made her cry even more! Such a vicious, vicious circle...

Cantor could see the poor mare wasn't going to let up soon, so scooting across a little, he wrapped his forelegs and huge feathery wings around the shivering pony as she laid into his shoulder and sobbed her little equine heart out.


*****


After a few minutes of gentle cradling, and once Twilight's trapped cries were nothing more than gentle sniffs with the occasional hiccup, Cantor began to speak.

"Not uh... not the best way to start the day..." He affirmed jokingly.

Twilight rubbed her face upon the backs of her soft hooves and respired deeply once. "I'm so sorry..." She croaked. "I can be so pathetic."

"Come on." Cantor cooed with an encouraging note. "Don't be like that..." He let Twilight go, and after wiping her irritated eyes once more, she reached out for her tea with magic, surrounding the spindle-like handle of the cup with a crystal white aura. She took a probing sip and promptly set the drink back down, as it had cooled to an unpleasant temperature.

"Ugh... 's cold..." The purple mare relayed with a half-hearted snort of amusement. A golden light began to radiate beside her as small puffs of steam erupted from the water's chestnut surface. And as soon as the tea ceased bubbling and remained at a steady steaming state, the warming glow faded until the early summer sun was the only light source once again.

Shaking her head, bearing a bemused smile as she did so, Twilight closed her eyes and spoke. "You're so special..." She decreed with a sigh. Cantor merely looked on with a modest enthusiasm. "You can... fill a dry lake basin with fresh, clean water in an instant. You can melt boulders with the most minimal of effort. Y-you can even restore body parts and... bring a pony back from the brink of death!" 

"She's gushing over you again." Cantor thought. He didn't like it when it wasn't intended as a joke. Not from anypony. Regardless, he let her continue. 

"There's nothing you can't do... How did I ever even gain your interest...?" The young unicorn finished with a depleted tone, hanging her head slightly.

Cantor waited a number of seconds before replying. "Are you finished?" He asked inquisitively, raising his eyebrows expectantly.

With a confused demeanour about herself, Twilight peered up, and caught sight of that chilling stare Cantor sometimes did. "W-what?" She asked with a frail note, unsure as to whether she fully understood the question.

"I certainly can't do everything." He commented with a serine smile. "And I wouldn't even dream to claim that I can do more than you." At this notion, Twilight swiped at the air and made a loud 'tut', disclaiming her own lease in life.

Cantor furrowed his brow and cast a gaze upward into the treehouse rafters. And after not too long, he looked back town at Twilight with an idea. "What book are you reading?" He asked plainly and simply.

"Huh?" The lavender mare responded, turning about with a dumbfounded expression.

"Come on, Twi..." Cantor jested with an amused grin. "You're always reading something! What is it at the moment?"

Unsure as to where he was going with this, Twilight decided to play along, and her horn shrouded itself in a pale aura. She stared off to the left and selected a relatively small tome bound in burgundy leather from near the top of one of the many oak bookshelves. She brought it over to herself and Cantor, hovering the aged-looking document a few inches above the seat of the sofa between them.

"It's a diary; but I suppose it can be regarded as much more of a journal." Twilight affirmed, scanning the cover with her eyes. "A very well kept one: and by the state of the hoof-writing and the content of the entries, I can assume the mare who wrote this would have been rather, um... self-enlightened." Cantor smiled at Twilight's reasoning as she begun to flick through the stale pages. 

"She even titled it! Can you imagine!" The purple mare continued with a giggle. "It was almost as if she knew it was going to end up on the shelf of a library somewhere!" She laughed again. "Mischievous Magic Insidious Incantations and Bludgenous Beasts for the Budding Sage and Warlock..." Spoke Twilight proudly, reading from the cover page which boasted well-revised font from the girl who wrote this. "Even though she obviously thought a lot of herself, there's some really good information in here. It's actually my second time reading it. I learned a lot from this book alone, and it's one of my most valuable... P- possessions...?"

Twilight finished on a damp note as she caught sight of her partner's gaze. He was staring adoringly at her - the same way a father may look at his aspiratious dreamer of a daughter. At first, Twilight felt challenged by the look, but after a short while, it began to grow amusing.

The young mare allowed herself a long while's giggle, and after several seconds, she calmed herself down and asked with a commendable blush: "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Cantor chucked, then gestured towards the book with a soft nod. "How did you find that out of all the books you have here?"

Twilight, appearing dumbfounded for a moment, decided to play along. "W-well, I knew the diary was over there somewhere, I just cast a quick eagle-eye spell and could tell by its size and colour..." Her lips curled slightly into an amused smirk. "It's really not that hard." She affirmed.

"See," Cantor began, casting an unfocused eye over the tall shelves of literature. "I wouldn't even know where to start. If you asked me to find a specific book out of all of these, even when they are sorted into categories on the shelves, it'd probably take me at least ten minutes to find it!" He turned to face Twilight, smiling proudly. "Even something as menial as finding the right book in a thousand is special, Twilight."

The young mare seemed to be holding back her words, but in true Twilight fashion, she couldn't resist. "...Actually, there are seven thousand and sixty-three books here." She commented, turning her eyes sheepishly to the worn wood floor.

"And again, my point is made." Cantor quipped in response.

After a disgruntled sigh, Twilight picked her head back up. She wore a fine smile on her face. "I see what you mean..." She spoke agreeably. "It sounds bad to say this, but... I don't like not being able to do the things you can do: I've been studying magic since as long as I can remember, and all you are is an alicorn with a natural gift who's put no effort into magical acedemics." She finished, jabbing a hoof accusingly at Cantor.

"Ouch." The white alicorn replied with an off grin.

Twilight's ears fell behind her head. "Sorry..." She apologised casually. "I didn't mean for it to sound so harsh."

"It's no problem." Cantor replied, holding his hoof up dismissively. "But what did you mean about me being 'naturally gifted'?" He inquired, tilting his head as if to inspect the purple mare. "I mean, I know I'm brilliant, fantastic, amazing,-"

"Modest?" Twilight asked mid-sentence.

"That too." Cantor answered with a nod. Twilight rolled her eyes comically. "Seriously, though, Twilight," Cantor continued, with a tone almost compassionate. "You're so much more special than you know, and not just your magnificent flair for magic: to me, and all the others, you're one of the greatest wonders of the world, and no matter how powerful I am, no matter what impossible feats I can accomplish, there's one thing I'll never be able to do." He finished on an empowered note.

"And what's that?" Twilight Sparkle asked in response, not expecting much from Cantor in terms of a reply, though it was nice to hear him talking with such vigour.

"Make you love me." Cantor answered, catching Twilight a little off-guard. She stared up at him with those large purple eyes of hers. A complex expression of pride, trust and gentle romance woven onto her face. "That's something you have to decide to do for yourself, and whatever response you give carries more power than any old alicorn."

After a short while, Twilight's concentration broke, and she sighed out a laugh. Shaking her head softly with a fair smile under her eyes, she brought a lavender hoof to Cantor's cheek. "Oh, Cantor..." She sighed, amused by her thoughts. "When are you going to stop trying to speak so dramatically?"

As Cantor leaned into Twilight and began to close his eyes, he quietly mumbled more to himself than anypony else. "Not anytime soon..."


*****


However when the two ponies' mouths were mere inches away from each other, as always, it seems, they were interrupted.

"Uugh... Mornin', guys..." Spike called sleepily after a stout yawn as he descended the picturesque staircase from his bedroom upstairs. The library had acquired an extension for the young dragon once his wings began to come through. Dragon puberty was not a fun thing, and aside from deserving his personal space in these times, the benefit of a private room for the adolescent reptilian was very much encouraged.

"Nice one, Spike..." Cantor muttered with an irk smile, making suggestive yet serine eye contact with the young lavender mare.

"Huh?" The purple dragon questioned, running his claw over the green backwards-facing spines atop his head as he dropped heavily onto the floor from the last stair with a thud. "How's it goin'?" He asked in a semi-enthused state with a somewhat deep voice, not awaiting a reply from either equine before he trudged into the bathroom and shut the door with unintentionally brutal force.

"Shut the door!" Twilight cried sarcastically as the sound of splitting wood passed her ears, only to be met with a bemused grumble from the dragon in the other room.

She turned back to Cantor, shaking her head and rolling her eyes. "Boys..." She stated, an amused smile on her face. "I'm glad you weren't like that: you're surprisingly mature for your age."

Cantor returned the statement with a wide grin. "Yeah... sure..." He replied cautiously, his job providing most of the day free to do things he really shouldn't be doing, with ponies who should really know better. If the time ever came to explain himself, he would disclose that it would most likely be best if left to the imagination to decipher what went on behind closed doors and below flared wings...

"Anyways," Twilight chirped, re-affirming her position on the sofa. "Back to our previous subject: with all things taken into account, we really need to think about this."

In response, Cantor let out a weighty sigh of contemplation. "You're right." He said, nodding gently. "But, in the end, regardless of what I say, the choice is ultimately up to you."

"Still, I'll take your contribution into my own, because although it's my body, it would be our foal, and we'd both have to raise it." The bright-eyed girl explained, staring slightly past the pony she was talking to, dissolved in some kind of alternate reality.

Cantor focused for a moment, and allowed the silence to grow. After a small number of seconds, a gentle but fierce smile made its way onto his face. "...You want this, don't you?" He asked with soft fervour.

Now it was Twilight's turn to sigh. "Well..." She began, having already decided her course of action, yet had not caught up with what she had agreed to. "We're not tight for money, or space... we... we certainly have a lot of love to share." The purple unicorn continued, her cheeks a fair rouge. "We haven't exactly 'been together' for as long as some couples who decide to have kids, but I can't see us, you know, 'going our separate ways' anytime soon-"

"Or ever." Cantor quickly intervened. 

Twilight pecked Cantor on the cheek and gave him a short, tight hug. "Of course." She re-instated, nuzzling the white stallion's firm neck. "I love you."

"Love you, too." Cantor responded, coming across somewhat relieved within himself - even though he was probably making a big deal over nothing. (It wouldn't be the first time...)

Twilight groaned and rested her head against one of her hooves. "Ugh, Mom and Dad won't be happy about me getting pregnant before I'm married. They're very old-fashioned like tha-"

"What!?" Cantor cried out in alarm. "Married!?" He repeated to the wide-eyed Twilight Sparkle. "One step at a time, Twi...!" He sighed.

Twilight chucked with that gentle demeanour of hers before replying. "You don't want to marry me then?" She asked with a cheeky smile.

Cantor swallowed hastily and dabbled at his words. "I, uh, w-w-well, I-I, um... I... I don't suppose I've thought about it as of yet..." He tried to explain, wondering what in Equestria Twilight was up to with that grin. 

The young mare could see Cantor beginning to become flustered, and steadily brought him back to peace. "It's okay, Cantor..." She said with a comforting tone. "I was only pulling your leg." She pecked the stallion on the lips and managed to dismiss the rest of the awkward air with a light scoff into her hoof.

Cantor, still somewhat dazed from the previous conversation, turned his eyes downward. "Um..." He started, lighting Twilight Sparkle's interest. "...Ab-... About the foal..." He cautiously asked, momentarily glancing up at the lavender girl to try and read her expression before darting his eyes back to the floor.

Before Cantor could continue his semi-awkward verbal proddings, Twilight picked up the speech. "...I'm happy to go through with it." She stated firmly.

The white pony hastily met the mare's eyes, the two purple discs filled with sincerity, as well as mild satisfaction. "You are?" He asked with pending enthusiasm. Twilight closed her eyes and nodded peacefully.

The next thing Twilight knew was a flurry of rusty brown hair and an odd squeal of delight from the alicorn who now had his forelegs wrapped so tightly around her neck, that she found it hard to breathe.

"So... you're happy about this, r-right?" Twilight asked, tugging at Cantor's hooves to try and pry away his grip somewhat.

"Yes, Twi! It's fantastic! I'm so glad you're game, too!" The white alicorn exclaimed like an ecstatic colt. 

"That's... good..." Twilight replied, now pulling at the stallion's forelegs with both her hooves. "Cantor-" She gasped, her face turning blue. "I can't breathe!"

The alicorn quickly let go, an element of apology somewhere within his elated expression. "I'm- I'm gonna be a father!" He gasped, eyes wide with pride and excitement. 

A new entity had joined the room at some point during the conversation, yet through the cumbersome news, even Cantor had been unable to notice the silent arrival. He snapped his head toward the direction of the bathroom, the wild grin still prominent on his face. 

Spike, who was now filling a considerable portion of the bathroom doorway with his adolescent size, wore a doubtful frown on his face and his lips were slightly parted in consternation as he looked out toward the two ponies. Twilight's attention rapidly caught onto Cantor's, and she lifted a hoof to her mouth as she caught Spike's disbelieving stare. 

Without a word, as if to amplify the daunting silence pressing against the library's inhabitants' ears, the young dragon reached for the doorknob, and slowly closed the bathroom door in front of him, sealing him away from the ponies' stares with a soft 'click'.

"Well that's the first one to know." Cantor stated with a smirk.

For not the first time that day, Twilight sighed. "Yeah." She confirmed. "Though we don't need to worry about him spreading rumours: he's not that type." She peered out the window into the stark morning sky, tugging at an invisible collar. "At least I don't think..."

Cantor pawed the air carelessly. "It doesn't matter: it's not like it's a bad thing or anything..." He stated, turning his attention to the purple mare some distance above him. Somehow over time, he had ended up on the floor, his back against the base of the cream sofa.

Twilight took a deep inhale through her nose and nodded gently in agreement. "True... But out of everypony, I'd rather my parents didn't find out until I can think up a good way to break it to them." Smiling, the lavender unicorn reached down and gently scruffed up Cantor's rusty mane. "You know they're not crazy about the whole 'inter-racial thing' we've got. Even if you are an alicorn..."

With a tut, Cantor huffed and shook his head, turning to face across the room toward the antique cookoo clock privately ticking away to itself. "No offence, Twi, but that's really petty."

"I know..." The young unicorn replied agreeably.

"I bet they don't like gays, either..." The alicorn added, rolling his eyes.

"I don't know for certain, but I would assume so, yes. Given their personal views I already know about."  Replied Twilight with a small sense of remorse. "But hey," She restarted casually. "Everyone's got their opinion. Even if it's considered a 'bad' one in the eyes of the masses..."

"I suppose you're right." Cantor replied, magically forming a small globe of water in front of him, toying with it distractingly. "Besides," He continued. "It's not hurting anybody." 

There was a less than comfortable silence, filled only with the distant hiss of the rustling summer leaves and the demure chirping of small birds roosting in the rafters of the library. After Twilight took a sip of her now lukewarm tea, she spoke up, returning gently animated dialogue to the ambient air.

"So, to change the subject..." She began, setting her cup down and propping herself up on her rump atop the sofa. "We have lots of time before the 'little one' arrives, so I don't think we have to over-complicate things at the moment." She chirped with a steady smile.

"Little one?" Cantor asked, pondering into the orb of clear liquid in front of him.

"Our foal!" Twilight cried with a laugh. "Don't tell me it's slipped your mind already... Then again, you have the attention span of a goldfish."

"Or Pinkie Pie." The stallion suggested.

"Or Pinkie Pie..." Twilight echoed. "Anyway," She continued regardless, "Speaking of our friends, we should all get together soon and tell them." She tilted her head to the side and breathed a skittish huff. "It'll be fun to hear their reactions."

"Yeah..." Cantor replied with initial enthusiasm, which rapidly disappeared when he realised he had no idea how to contribute to the conversation. "...So," He began a little awkwardly, following a second quiet session, evaporating the water in front of his face. "What does your day include?"

Twilight pondered for a brief moment, diffusing her vision through the air with a slightly vague expression. "Uhm... Not much, I don't think... I'll probably re-organise the crime-thriller fiction novels over there." She said, nodding toward a low part of the bookshelf near the corner of the sun-kissed room. "Then I'll go see Fluttershy. I remember she asked me last week if I could help her with something today." The unicorn stretched her forelegs up above her head and twisted her spine, letting out a refreshed yawn as she did so, her lips falling into a dozy smile as she exhaled. "I suppose with everything that happened over the weekend, it must've slipped my mind."

"Huh, sounds peaceful." Commented the white alicorn, rising to his hooves and stepping away from Twilight slightly. 

"What about you?" Twilight asked, the effects of her yawn evident on her tone.

"I've got a thunder resonance form to fill out at two. That's all, but it's like an hour and a half of solid paperwork..." Cantor said with a discontented pout, already feeling a headache coming on from the extensive period of staring at bright white sheets.

Without sounding too interested, Twilight chimed in. "What's one of those?" She asked with somewhat tired eyes.

Cantor pawed the air and turned to face out the window. "Just a contract to say that I'm responsible for the claps of thunder around Ponyville. Since I'm the 'weather team', it's up to me to keep the shock waves from the thunder from levelling the town."

"Sounds..." Twilight began, pausing and scouring her vocabulary for the right word. Though after a short while, the best she could do was "...Engaging."

"Yeah, well, that's for later on." Cantor affirmed, a smile re-affixing itself upon his face as memory of the previous conversation crossed his mind. "Aside from that," He began again, stealing a thinly buttered crumpet from Twilight's plate which perched beside her cold tea with a magical grasp, levitating the doughy snack beside his mouth. "I'm gonna go tell Celestia the good news." He finished with enthusiasm, biting off a large chunk of the pregnant girl's breakfast and avidly awaiting a response.

After somewhat of a hesitant train of thought, Twilight just smiled and lied down on her couch, hovering her aged, tome - like diary above her face as she dozily re-found her place. "Sure..." She agreed nonchalantly. "Just don't tell anyone in Ponyville. You know how fast news gets around in this town." Upon this subtle warning, Twilight moved her large violet eyes beneath the small notepad and stared suggestively toward Cantor.

The white stallion swallowed his mouthful of crumpet before responding. "Don't fret; I'm aware of that. Besides, you know how trustworthy the princesses are..." Dipping his head to the side and elevating his eyes slightly, Cantor revised: "Maybe not so much Luna, but, you know..." The white pony took another bite of the breakfast disc and, in a sense, waited to be 'excused' by Twilight as if she were his mother. 

Call it subliminal - an article of over-thinking of sorts, but... Twilight was really the only true family Cantor had in this world. True he 'loved' a good portion of Ponyville's inhabitants, but the 'adorkable' librarian was the only one he felt comfortable being intimate with. And to know that one is entitled to a multitude of second chances - even in family - was a pretty awesome ideal.

"Go ahead, Cantor." Twilight spoke with absolve. "I'll be around if you need me."

Nodding firmly, and with an equally strong grin, Cantor bid farewell to the purple mare in the form of an "Okay, then. See ya!" Before he dissolved into a flurry of vivid violet sparks.

And then, as if by magic, the library returned to its tranquil and amicable constant. Even the chirping birds within the roof seemed to have dimmed down within respect for this precious moment of peace.

Licking the tip of her hoof, Twilight turned to the next musky page of the old journal, revealing one of the only existing sketches of an Umbra: a 'living shadow' that feeds from the energy of the ponies it lives inside and manipulates. This article had peaked Twilight's intriguement some time ago during her first read of the book, she had invested a great deal of research into the subject, and found little to no aid except from the information in the diary entry. 

Twilight must've spent the greater part of a whole minute staring at the well-drawn sketch in the diary. Few had ever been unlucky enough to see an Umbra, and those who had all ended up dead. Not a single one survived. They either had to be put out of their misery, or they went mad with fear, taking their own life out of sheer peril.

Though aside from the description of this dark monster the creatures of Everfree would catch a chill from, Twilight couldn't affix her gaze anywhere other than those demonic eyes: blacker than the darkest of night and so piercing they could slice through stone like a razor through butter. 

Aside from the considerably startling nature of this beast, Twilight agreed that it was an invaluable scrap of research, regardless, and murmured the idea that she should re-write this journal in a newer book for safe keeping.

She skimmed through the next entry in the diary, then the entry after that, and halfway down page 91, she, for once, lost the motivation to continue reading, and it quickly became apparent that she had much else on her mind.

Closing the book gently and setting it down on the edge of the stout wooden table, the young lavender mare decided to catch up on some sleep with a little nap. After the last few days, she felt she needed a smidgen more rest.

But just when her eyelids connected, the soft pop of Cantor returning from a 46 mile distance via teleportation made Twilight languidly opened one eye to look at the stallion, a mildly bemused smile on her face.

Cantor trotted the short distance across the room to Twilight, speaking as he stepped with the last mouthful of crumpet. "Sorry, Twi, almost forgot..." He reached the cream sofa and the lavender mare atop it and, pausing to chew for a moment, pecked the unicorn lightly on the cheek, drawing away rapidly, despite his usual self, to say rather fluently around a half-chewed bread cake: "Love you." Before he fizzled into the air again, a few disorientated sparks of magic remaining to skip on the floor before they too dissolved into the atmosphere.

The whole scene played so quickly in front of Twilight that she didn't have time for a reply - or even to react. Nevertheless, as always, she took Cantor's words to heart, and despite the alicorn's fleetness, she knew he really cared. After all, this wouldn't be the first time he had done something similar to this.

Reaching behind her back, Twilight propped her neck up on one of the off-white cushions and made herself more comfy on the petite sofa. She closed her eye and breathed a quiet chuckle to herself as she clasped her hooves together over her chest.

"Mom..." She mumbled, unable to keep a straight face over the subtle, yet ecstatic grin fixated across he lips. "Mommy..." She said again. "That's got a nice ring to it..."


*****


With nothing more than a hushed 'pop', Cantor re-materialised for the second time in one of Canterlot Castle's many decorated corridors. Over the course of his still rather brief time in Equestria, Cantor and the pair of ruling mares were on a 'first name basis', and seemed to always find the time for a chat. And though it crossed his mind that he was being a world greater than rude for teleporting into the princess' home uninvited, he was self-assured that they wouldn't mind. Besides, the news he bore would leave politeness moderately out of the question.

With an upbeat pace, the white alicorn trotted along the red carpet stretched out over the black and white tiled floor, the cool marble noticeable even through the thick fabric. Unsurprisingly, it was quiet in this part of the castle: most of the activity would be going on in the kitchens and the gardens, and there was little need for cleaning maids right now. The princesses had many butlers and maids ready at hoof, yet neither of the royal alicorns let their home get in any state of disarray as a fault of their own non-existent laziness.

Despite the fact that it was daytime, enchanted torches burned with a quiet roar and distant crackle at intervals on the supporting columns, licking the stone around with intensified light. The sun shone through a large circular window near the ceiling at the far end of the corridor, casting a broad band of gold into the castle interior, highlighting the few specks of dust ambling around in the air like carefree fireflies.

As Cantor gained on the large oak door to Celestia's sleeping quarters, an odd chord was subliminally struck in his mind: there were no guards outside the princess' room. At any given time, there were at least two gold-clad pegasi with sharpened tridents on watch - just in case. At first realisation, Cantor didn't very much concern himself, but as time progressed, it strummed more and more unusual chords - to the extent where it could be considered 'strange'.

Slowing his pace, the alicorn stallion walked lightly along the crimson carpet, not making a sound. Voices could be heard coming from inside the celestial mare's room. One belonged to the princess of the sun, the other, an unrecognised stallion who sounded as if he were substantially stressed out.

Cantor didn't want to intrude: he was uninvited as it was, and he had no problem waiting for the two to finish. However, after no more than ten seconds of eavesdropping, the young alicorn learned that the conversation was far more adverse and sinister than initially expected...

"...I promise, your majesty." Spoke the un-named stallion with a dominant, and somewhat forced sense of insurance in his tone. There was a long pause before he spoke again, the only sound being a slow, practised walk from behind the closed doors. "...But..." The stallion began again, sounding hesitant to speak.

"Yes...?" The unmistakeable regal voice of the came in response, matriarchal, and impatient. "We've spent a great deal of time discussing this, and your objections, sensible points of reference, though they may be, have been noted and dismissed." Celestia said firmly.

"I- I understand, your majesty, it's just... well, the substance has been banned for over half a century; the punishment for being found with even one drop of it is punishable by death - even when instructed by royalty, such as your exalted self..." The stallion replied insistently. Even through the fear and stress carried thick in his tone, Cantor could tell that he was well into his sixties.

"Well then, you'd best be discreet about its importation." The white mare responded bluntly.

Again, silence followed the brief dialogue. The older stallion started to protest again, however this time, all he managed to say was one word. "But-"

"That's enough, Theodore." The princess snapped harshly, not needing to raise her voice at all to express her grave impatience. "Do you have any envisionment of the destruction that could come of such an experiment?" Metal-clad hooves could be heard moving with agitation from within Celestia's room. "The chances of my subject remaining in-control of his darker counterpart are low as it is. Coupled with the Peripharus Crystal, and with no reliable fail-safe, we may as well kiss goodbye to the greater half of Canterlot..."

Even though there was an inch of thick wood between them, Cantor could make out the princess' subsequent sigh of reluctant exasperation. "...You should understand that putting somepony who I personally take under my wing and call my own in mortal danger is one of the last things I wish to do, however I really don't see any other way." There was a soft yet distinct 'thud' on the door that made Cantor's heart skip a beat, yet nothing more than that occurred. "I've seen my home city fall to ruins several times in my long and tiresome life, yet never has it been from the hoof of somepony I love... Please..." Princess Celestia sighed with a depleted tone, "Do not waste your life and my time by arguing... I want the poison... I know you have access to it..."

An impenetrable silence dominated the air, the tension upon both sides of the door was constricting, and so distinct that it held deafening volume..

The ringed handle of the left semi-arch of a door turned and clicked off the latch. With a stout gasp as the door began to edge open, Cantor flared his disproportionately large wings and darted into the rafters, praying that whoever was exiting hadn't seen him. He wasn't certain why, but the whole scenario seemed unpleasant, 'ominous' to some degree. and he wanted no part of it. 

With a melancholy pace, the older stallion shambled from the princess' quarters, ears behind his head like a colt who had been disciplined by his teacher. He paused and turned about in the centre of the desolate corridor, throwing a quick scout left and right to make sure no one was around. 

"With all due respect, your majesty, I sincerely hope you know what you're asking for." The faded green unicorn said with a dulcet tone, turning to face the princess who remained in the bedroom. "I understand your grave concern, but for your own sake, please consider the worst case scenario."

"Believe me, I have..." The experienced mare replied with a sigh, her physical expression hidden behind the one closed door, but Cantor could tell she was tired. "And I have also noted the benefits... The outcome of this whole operation could extend our empire further than ever before: to an extent we never even thought was possible until he came into the picture."

Without reply, the old stallion closed his eyes, simply giving a courteous bow toward the princess which lasted several seconds. "Well, then..." He started after the long parting bow, "I would like to thank you very much for your time this morning, princess. You've given me a lot to think about."

"It is no bother, sir." Celestia replied with a mildly easy tone. "But I would very much like the serum as soon as possible."

"Of course, princess. Have a nice day..." Said the unicorn before he began on his way out of the castle. He wasn't ambling: it was clear that he had a strong sense of direction within these prestigious marble walls. However, he only made it a few paces before he stopped and half-turned his head to peek over his shoulder. 

"...No one lives forever... Do they, princess...?" He asked, sending a wave of frigid goosebumps along Cantor's back for one reason or another. Celestia didn't reply, but the male alicorn hiding in the darkness of the ceiling was sure she was feeling a similar degree of unease from the silence induced by the odd question. "I know you have been, and will be in this world for more than ten generations either side of my own. But it doesn't take millennia of conflict nor harmony to learn that you can't bottle life..." He turned his gaze upward - ever so slightly, yet it was enough to forge chilling contact between those glowing amber discs hiding in the rafters and his own two riled violet eyes. "...Or death." He finished, before turning around again, making his way down the hallway, disappearing around the corner without a word.

And without looking back.
> Arcane Occupation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 2: Arcane Occupation

Princess Celestia sighed once more as she dropped her head slightly and closed her eyes. Although she had only been awake for a few hours, the strain of her conflicting thoughts had made her eyes somewhat sore. 

The celestial mare gently shut her bedroom door behind her with her golden aura of magic, the hollow 'clunk' of the latch locking automatically echoing for a second or two before it died down, returning silence to the lush room.

Breathing a worn sigh, Celestia drew a stout crimson curtain positioned upon the wall to the side, revealing several golden bells, holes below each. Using her supreme magic once again, she tugged lightly on a thin chain hanging from the bell second from the left, which produced a delightful metallic chirp. After less than three seconds, a young mare's voice came through clear from the hole below the bell, sounding timid, whilst also enthusiastic.

"Yes, your majesty?" The shy-sounding girl asked from a place unseen. "What do you require?"

With a cheery smile, the princess replied. "I couldn't trouble you for a round of tea, could I?" She asked demurely.

"O-of course, your majesty... It's no trouble at all." Came the reply, sounding more than a little flustered.

"Thank you." Princess Celestia simply responded before drawing the thick red drape and stepping away from the wall.

In a slightly out of character moment, though she wasn't fully aware - nor would she have cared, the princess climbed back into the perfectly made bed and laid on her back, spreading her legs out to all four corners, enjoying the cool, smooth covers beneath her fur. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath through her nose, inhaling the fragrant scent of the early summer morning wafting through the partly open windows at the far end. She had been feeling stressed up until lately, and now things were beginning to reduce and simmer down, she could begin to reform back to her usual placid self for a while.

Then there was a soft knock at the door.

Apparently startled, princess Celestia sat up rather rapidly, muttering to herself "That was quick..." Before propping her back up on her many pillows and pulling the door open with her magic.

On the other side of the wooden entrance stood an impish-looking Cantor, who still had his hoof raised against where the door would have been. When he spotted the princess relaxing in her bed, he cracked a cheery welcoming smile in the mare's general direction.

"Cantor?" The princess exclaimed with alarm, scooting from her night-time throne and dropping daintily to the black and white checked floor. She addressed the stallion as she walked toward him. "What might you be doing here?"

Cantor chuckled, looking up at the alicorn twice his height. "I could as you the same question." 

Celestia appeared shocked and lost. She stopped between Cantor and her bed with a dumbfounded expression. "I... live here..." She stated awkwardly.

Cantor's smile died and his eyes slowly fell to the floor in what appeared to be intense thought.

"Is everything alright, Cantor?" The white mare asked with a comforting tone. 

After a second's pause, the young stallion shook his head and cleared his thoughts. "Yeah," He said with an embarrassed sigh. "I'm fine... Sorry. I just... Your question caught me off guard: I've got something really important to tell you."

"No need to apologise." The princess cooed in a sudden relief of doubt, a familiar steady smile returning to her face. "Why don't you tell me your news over a cup of tea? I trust you have a taste for it?"

"Of course, princess..." Cantor replied, his previous grin returning with a little more composure.

The pair paced steadily over to the large four-poster bed, its fair silken curtains coloured a transparent lilac swaying in the ethereal breeze. Celestia perched herself atop the royal blue covers, and Cantor pulled up a comfortable chair beside her, listening to songbirds voices carried faintly in the wind.

"I don't usually see you this early in the mornings." Princess Celestia commented. "Of course, I don't begrudge you visiting my home." She continued with a smile, making it unclear as to whether she was being sarcastic or not.

Disrupted by the princess' latest comment, Cantor became somewhat uncomfortable. "Oh," He said, slightly dis-heartened. "I-if it's a bad time... I could leave..."

Catching scent of the stallion's apparent feeling rejection, and by some fault of her own, Celestia intervened. "Oh, no. Of course; you're no trouble, Cantor." She quickly cleared up with a disarming smile. "I'm just not used to unscheduled arrivals this early in the morning." The alicorn mare shifted position to lay down on her side, resting her head on her feather-stuffed pillow, her aqueous mane billowing out beneath. "Besides," She added with a shallow yawn. "I'd expect you to have work to do."

For a while, Cantor was distracted by the princess' sweeping and flawless curves as she lie on her side, but as a brief moment passed, her words finally registered in his mind. "Oh, yeah, that..." Cantor answered, shifting his gaze to Celestia's deep indigo eyes after admiring her buxom hips. "Just some paperwork later today: nothing special. I pretty much have the day off." He finished with a joyful smirk.

Celestia began to reply, but held her tongue when she caught sight of the newly recruited young maid standing timidly in the edge of the doorway, peering in with fear and a considerable degree of awe. She had pure white fur, mostly covered by a generic maid's uniform: a kind of all-body black apron with white frills around the seams. Her lime green hair was held together in a tidy bun, seeking protection behind a frilly white headpiece which tied up in a large laced bow behind her ears. A feint blossom-coloured glow surrounded her horn as well as a silver tray just beside her head which accommodated a teapot, a few more than two cups and an assortment of sugars and flavoured drops sitting atop its shiny metallic surface.

"Ah, tea's here." The princess chirped happily. For the third time that morning, the solar mare dropped from her comfy bed and attended to the door. Cantor didn't follow, yet he still turned around and watched the scene unfold.

"You must be Soya." Princess Celestia said kindly, stopping further than she needed to before the skittish new mare. 

"Y-yes, your majesty." The young girl replied, her fair lime eyes darting between the tray of refreshments, the floor, and on occasion, Celestia's eyes.

"I don't believe we've been introduced properly as of yet." Celestia stated, her unbreakable smile warm and comforting.

Cherry Blossom shook her head with a small motion. "No, your majesty." She replied, staring intently at the ground again.

"Well allow me to be the first to congratulate you on passing your housekeeper's examination." Said the princess with a gentle, yet proud voice. "I'm sure you'll make a fine maid."

The skittish maid seemed to blush ever so slightly in light of the compliment, though she also happened to step out from behind the wall and stand free. A broad, mildly ecstatic grin rose up from the nervous mare, and she gave a slight courtesy toward the princess. "Thank you, your majesty... I uh, I have the drinks you called for, your majesty."

"Please," The alicorn mare started before another word could be spoken. "You may call me 'princess', or 'Celestia'..." She turned to the stallion watching from the chair some distance into the room, giving a sly, very out of character wink as she continued. "Or both, if you prefer..." Princess Celestia turned back to her new maid with an even brighter smile than before. "This is my good friend, Cantor." The princess continued, gesturing vaguely behind herself with one of the golden-shoes upon her hoof. 

The maid and Cantor met eyes, but their confrontation didn't progress more than an awkward wave and another blush.

"I don't suppose you've heard of him?" Celestia asked, noting the fact that the new recruit had already taken a more relaxed stance in the corridor.

"Yes..." The red-haired girl answered quietly. "He has a statue in the gardens."

"That's right." The princess affirmed with a nod.

"I wanted a window." Cantor piped up comically.

"Is the sculpture not adequate for your 'valiance'?" Asked the princess with a sarcastic darkness to her tone.

"No, no, it's cool..." Cantor replied agreeably, though it was still clear he was stretching out the 'joke' he assumed was funny. "But since I, you know, saved the world, they could've at least done me a favour and made me look like I had a bigger-"

"Thank you, for your services this morning,Soya." Celestia said with an odd smirk and very lightly flushed cheeks. The princess took the tray from the maid's pink aura and levitated it to her night stand. "You are free to return to your duties."

Nodding once again and, seeming to have recovered some of her new-job fright, the mint eyed mare backed slowly into the hallway, bowing down low and holding her submissive posture for a strong two seconds before returning to standing. "Thank you." She said with a sheepish giggle. "Have a nice day, your madj-... uh, princess Celestia." Her face flushed a bright crimson before she turned tail and trotted off down the corridor at a remarkable pace, her hoofsteps almost silent after she rounded the corner and made her way down the subsequent flight of stairs.


*****


Celestia smiled, feeling somewhat more nostalgaic than usual this morning. "The new ones are all like that..." She said with a chuckle, closing the cumbersome oak doors with a waft of magic. "Especially the young ponies: they do not yet realise I am a kind and forgiving ruler."

"Rather self-asserted, aren't we, princess?" Cantor asked coyly as the tall mare strode easily towards him.

"Well..." Sighed Celestia, reaching the bed and planting herself upon the sheets yet again, pondering for a moment if she should let herself get too comfortable. "Sometimes you just have to lead with less authority if you want your subjects to respect you greater..." She levitated the voluminous teapot from the tray, following it with two moderately sized teacups, simultaneously working the milk, hot brew, and in Cantor's case, sugar into the cups, stirring both drinks slowly with a thin silver spoon. "At least I need not concern myself over your confidence around my sister and I." The tall mare stated with a regal chuckle. "Speaking of yourself, what was the news you came to tell me about today?" She asked as she presented Cantor with a full cup of gently steaming tea.

Taking the drink, which was still slowly circulating in its container, with his own magic, Cantor cleared his throat and leaned forward slightly. "Twilight's uh... pregnant." He said with a clear sense of unease as to how the princess would react, only after saying it, realising that he would have preffered for this moment to have been a little more climactic. 

Mid-sip, her lips loosely pursed into her drink, princess Celestia's contented eyes widened in disbelief. By no means hastily, the alicorn mare turned to face the stallion, who had developed an impish smile and shrugged lightly when forging eye-contact with the princess. "Surprise..." He added with a great deal of embarrassment, more for Celestia's reaction than to the actual news.

Swallowing her mouthful of hot tea and setting the cup back down on her dark-stained wooden night stand, princess Celestia reclaimed her composure by raising her eyebrows in an oh-so royal expression of alarm. "Well that was certainly a wake-up call..." She affirmed in monotone.

Cantor huffed in agreement. "You're telling me..."

"How long ago may this have happened?" The princess asked with growing interest, though it was still unclear to Cantor at this time whether this was a positive interest.

Cantor stared into the ceiling, almost as if he needed to ponder the scenario. "Last weekend, I think..." He said convincingly.

"The Saturday just gone?" Celestia asked, leaning in toward Cantor from her spot on the bed, her ears held firmly up in attention. "Was that not Twilight Sparkle's birthd-..." The princess' eyes widened as she made the obvious connection. "Ohhh, I... see..." She finished, her cheeks becoming a little flushed.

Although Cantor began sipping at his tea some time ago, an unwelcome silence dominated the air for several seconds before the blushing princess asked a further question. "Was... I-if you don't mind me inquiring, that is... Was it an accident?"

"Princess..." Cantor sighed light-heartedly, swiping a hoof at the air with a developing blush of his own.

"Do not let my rosy cheeks mislead you: this is a life-changing scenario." The princess explained with serious eyes, scooting closer to Cantor. "Have you decided what you are going to do?"

Cantor nodded happily. "Yup: we're keeping it. Twilight and me had that 'conversation' just before I came."

"It would have been more punctual to say: 'Twilight and I'..." Came a second regal voice from Cantor's six o'clock. Turning quickly around, Cantor noticed princess Luna standing partly through the doorway to her sister's bedroom, and his smile grew substantially. "Also," The princess of the night continued mischievously, stepping completely through the door and pacing steadily into the room. "Surely that particular conversation should have occurred a great deal of time before you came rather than your specified time of... 'just'."

Cantor shook his head. "You dirty mare..." He sighed with a laugh.

"You know this to be true..." The lunar princess replied with a coy smirk.

Celestia, however, didn't find the greatest amount of humour from the joke. "...Sister," She began sternly as the dark blue alicorn paused by Cantor's side. "You will one day sit the throne and rule over the entire world, carrying both the sun and the moon on your shoulders. It is customary to develop the mental maturity of something more than a teenage filly!"

Celestia seemed to grow frustrated near to the end of her preach, though Luna didn't seem at all phased; whispering into Cantor's ear: "She's like that when she doesn't get enough". To which he and the night princess burst out laughing.

"Apparently you still have a lot to learn, dear sister..." Celestia commented with a discouraged, yet not at all menacing frown.

Cantor managed to set his cup of tea down before he dropped it or spilled any of its contents as he laughed.

Luna stopped mid-giggle, proclaiming to Cantor: "Hey, you're a boy."

"Well spotted." The stallion replied before beginning to laugh again."

The shadowed princess seemed enthralled by her own mentality as she continued to the sounds of Cantor's softening laughter. "I was just pondering: you may be able to - you know, 'fulfil the princess' needs'..." This point appeared to set the pair of alicorns off into a fit of giggles, yet the much more collected mare sighed with a simple smirk.

Celestia closed her eyes and spoke gently, though loudly enough to be heard over her company's foalish amusement. "Actually, that may not be entirely out of the question."

Silence had never been restored so quickly from such din in a long time. Both Cantor and Luna clammed up instantly and turned to face each other with confused and worried looks. Although The latter emotion for the stallion was much less severe. Much less severe.

"Huh?" Cantor quizzed in mild shock. "What does that mean?"

Without replying immediately, princess Celestia rose from her bed (though under her own grounds this time) and paced slowly over to a pair of thin floor-to-ceiling curtains which must have been around twenty feet tall, drawing and securing them with magic before she reached the enormous window behind. The two 'chummy' alicorns waited and watched in anticipative silence.

"Have you ever wondered why there are so few alicorns alive to date, Cantor?" Princess Celestia asked as she peered out over the lush green valley her castle was built into, the mid-morning sun casting strong shadows over the tips and ridges of the mountainous terrain.

"Yeah, I guess." Cantor replied, glancing at Luna before adding: "Actually, I do quite a lot..."

Celestia took a long breath, summoning her tea towards her before taking a long, almost elderly in-nature sip and setting it back down. "Seventeen hundred and... eighty years ago, now..." She appeared to falter as she shook her head in departed reminiscence. "Has it already been that long...?" She quietly asked herself. Her company didn't seem to hear. "Anyway," She spoke aloud, returning to her previous topic and re-installing the attention onto herself. "All those years ago, an organisation known only as 'The Crimson Shade' made it their duty to torture and kill every alicorn they could find."

"What...?" Cantor asked in astonishment. "What the hell for!?"

"They had the deranged idea that in doing so, the karma of the universe would be restored." Celestia grumbled a sigh as her eyes traced the subtle tree line climbing the mountains outside. "I should explain that it was dark times then; very bad times: there were a lot of natural disasters with which we did not yet have the power to control. As a factor, a lot of villages and towns - even a few cities were wiped from the map, and a lot of lives were lost."

Cantor stood up with a frown. "Then why were the alicorns on the top of their hit-list?" He asked.

"The organisation believed that alicorns were special beings of divine power, and ones who had been blessed unfairly by the 'gods'..." Explained the princess with a curt sigh. "There is no question our race has a reputation for being worshipped for omnipotence: after all, no unicorn could match their power, so why question the alicorns' true limitation?" Swivelling around from the window and making her way back to an uncomfortable Cantor and the thoughtful - looking princess Luna beside him, the keeper of the sun pulled over several floor cushions and sat down on one, leaving the rest for the other two to choose from freely.

Celestia continued with an engaging yet sombre tone. "They reasoned that alicorns had been unrightfully given greater power. And as a factor, the rest of equine kind was forced to suffer the wrath of the world - despite the fact that the naturally occurring disasters affected the alicorns, too."

"What happened next?" Cantor enquired with a unusually fixated attention. 

"We were hunted: game-seeker's proudest trophy... Murdered, cut up and sold on the black market to sadists who felt it was their duty to commit the ultimate atrocity and eat our flesh, eradicating any evidence of our existence. Alicorn horns were, and even more so now, one of the most expensive things you could buy... If you had the right connections, that is..."

Cantor grimaced. "That's horrible..." He said with empathy.

"The horns were ground down and forged with precious molten metals to create wickedly powerful magical jewellery, the wearer of which, would supposedly be granted the power of a 'god'." She shivered. "And that's not the part which gives me chills... It was a popular overshadowed form of entertainment to grind an incapacitated alicorn's horn down to nothing with files while they were still alive... Ponies would pay just... just to hear the screams..." With a quiet tsk of disgust, Celestia continued with a mournful expression. "A god, or a devil... Such titles are only words when power is at the forefront of tyrannical interest..."

Following the princess' dark soliloquy, Cantor waited a moment before asking further questions. "So why did they stop? Why aren't alicorns extinct?"

Princess Celestia shifted position on her cushion, making herself more comfortable and trying to force the old photographs from her memory as her tea drifted across the room towards her. "Well that's the thing... we really don't know why... The Crimson Shade must've known they hadn't eradicated the alicorn gene pool because my sister and I were ruling at the time." She took a small sip of her gradually cooling tea before continuing. "Though they did come close. Even today, the alicorn is one of the rarest creatures on the planet: coming only third before the Draconequi and the elusive Umbras, to which it is believed there is only one left."

Luna had heard this story many times in the past, and although the bloodshed stopped centuries ago, the thought of it coming again haunted her.

Cantor still appeared puzzled. "They just stopped?" He asked as Celestia finished her tea. "But what about the disasters? Were they not still happening?" 

"No." Answered Celestia, her eyebrows raised in an enthralled manner. "That is why the incident was so disconcerting: it was almost as if the Shade were right: kill enough alicorns, and harmony would be restored..."

"Surely you don't believe that, do you?" Cantor asked in disbelief, eyes wide with atheism.

"We cannot rule out that possibility, but nevertheless, it is imperative that we preserve this race: there is no greater and purer magic than alicorn magic." Princess Celestia affirmed, setting her empty cup down beside the teapot. "Aside from of course, the study of the magic of friendship - and we all know who we can turn to for answers upon that..." She finished with a smile. Cantor slowly nodded in serine agreement, staring through the large window in the far wall at the clouds' shifting shadows on the chiselled mountainsides. "This is where you come in."

Celestia's comment caught Cantor off-guard, and bewildered him slightly. "Huh?" He asked in a daze. "What about me?"

Princess Celestia calmly brought three cups toward the group. Cantor and Luna took a cushion and sat down as the opalescent-maned mare poured three more brews. "As well as wondering why there are so few alicorns, I trust you also ponder how they come about."

Cantor dipped his head slightly with a pained expression. "Not so much." He replied.

Celestia stiffened her head and passed everyone a drink. "No bother..." She replied.

"I thought it was just... you know, the usual way. Just biological reproduction." The male alicorn stated, feeling the steam from his tea condense on his nose.

"Yes..." Princess Celestia answered slowly. "...And no..." She added abstractly. "There have been two alicorn births since the end of the 'Crimson Era'; it is not wholly necessary to procreate when you have a lifetime spanning millennia." The princess explained fluently. "However," She continued on a lower octave. "There is no question we are rare, and without alicorn heir, risk annihilation not only for our race, but for the entire equine species."

"So where do I come in?" Cantor asked straight out. "Do you want me to take over the throne? You know I'm not going to outlive you. We've had this conversation before."

Noticing his defensive attitude, princess Celestia simply answered the stallion's question. "I am aware of your 'limitations', and I commend you for being so at ease with them: many ponies aren't so accepting. But since you have traded your immortality for a normal life in the realm of the living, I shall see to it that I am direct..." The princess took a sip of tea as the two other alicorns listened intently. "As one of three male alicorns in the world, you will need to produce an heir to the throne."

Cantor's jaw dropped. "What?" He asked in disbelief.

"I wish for you to mate with myself or my sister in order to increase our population." Celestia revealed, incurring another titanic silence.

Mouths agape, Cantor and princess Luna turned to each other before shying their attention back to Celestia, who wore a sincere expression. 

"You can not be serious." Luna exclaimed, her eyes shrunken. Celestia didn't respond, but her unfaltering expression answered her sister's inquisition. "Why have you not discussed this with me, sister!?" She cried. 

"Because I was waiting for a situation such as this." Celestia replied nonchalantly. "Though I must say I am once again displeased by your lack of composure, sister." The white mare scoured.

"My apologies." Responded Luna, her mouth still agape. "But this is not a light topic to be discussing this early in the morning."

"However, it is an important one: one which needed to have been spoken of for some time." Said Celestia firmly. "Alicorns may be created through a process known as 'Assentue', Cantor." She continued, clearing her throat and in doing so, seemed to loosen up the atmosphere substantially. "It has only ever nearly happened once in the past, and may well happen again." She paused as she realised what had just been said. She took several deep breaths and managed to slow the conversation back down to an earlier pace. "We hardly ever speak of it, and even now, saying that to you may have been far too much."

Cantor didn't reply, but closed his now slightly open mouth and listened to the princess. "Twilight Sparkle may bear an alicorn foal, though that would be unlikely since the alicorn gene is highly recessive; even an alicorn parent copulation has a small chance of breeding similar offspring."

Cantor frowned thoughtfully. "But why me? Why not any other alicorn stallion?" He asked. "You said it yourself: there are others out there. Is it because you don't know where they are?"

Princess Celestia took a brief pause, taking a drink before responding. "No, we know where they are." She answered casually. "But you are... How to say... 'readily available'...?" She stated, concerned about offending her friend to some extent. "It has been proven you are capable of... 'producing', and more to the point, we know each other: it will be far less awkward if it were two friends doing it, would it not?"

All three ponies developed a mild blush, but Cantor replied. "Actually, princess, I think it would be even more awkward." He affirmed, looking toward Luna for confidence.

"Why are you staring at me!?" The princess of the night exclaimed, shuffling away from the stallion. "Don't imagine for one second that I would... D-... Have... W-with you!" She said with an appalled expression, her face bright crimson. "Don't even dream: I'll know."

Cantor raided his eyebrows, and his cheeks deepened in their colour. "What? N-no, I didn't- I wasn't! I just... I was just-"

"No!" Luna interrupted, staring intently at the chest of draws on the other side of the room, her wings raised defensively. "I don't want to hear it. J-just forget we ever had this conversation!" She finished in a huff, folding her forelegs over her chest in exasperation.

With a moment gone past, Cantor turned back to a mildly flushed Celestia, who wore an face of shock. "I'm sorry." She said softly. "I didn't realise it was such an imposing question to ask: things have certainly changed since I was young..." She leaned back slightly, placing her forelegs behind her for support. "I can remember when I was only a few hundred years old - before my sister was even born, spending my youth chatting with the colts in the harem..." Once again, the princess realised she had said to much, though no harm was done. "Oh, my..." She sighed. "Please disregard that last comment."

Cantor turned his gaze downward and thought intensely for a brief moment.

"I understand it is a lot to ask from you, and of course, Twilight's feelings come greatly into play in this situation." Spoke Celestia with empathy. "But please bear in mind that it is a vitally important decision."

"Oh, yeah." Cantor replied sarcastically with a grin. "I'm sure sleeping with a princess would be a horrible experience..."

"Hm," Celestia chortled briefly. "Very amusing..."

"In all seriousness, though, princess," Cantor started with genuine concern. "If you really mean it, I'll go away and think about it, and by 'think about it', I mean ask Twilight if it's alright, because I'm all up for it." He affirmed with an immature smile.

"That means two things..." Luna chimed in before returning to the conversation. "I'm not going to do it." She stated. "It would feel so weird doing it with a friend." She said as she eyed Cantor's body up and down. "However..." Continued Luna. "It would make a very nice change to the usual boys at the harem."

"Time to go, I think." Cantor hurriedly stated, rising to his hooves and backing away from the girls. "It's tough for stallions; being the one sixth of the population: its almost as if all the mares are compelled to experiment, like we're a different species."

Luna smirked. "Is that how Saturday went?" She asked coyly. Cantor just sighed. "Where are you off to, anyway?"

"Yes." Celestia agreed. "I believe you said you don't have work until much later. Won't you stay a while? We haven't heard from you for over a week."

"Sorry, princess," Said Cantor with a shrug. "But this kinda got really weird really quick." The stallion crossed the room at a trot, opening one of the balcony doors as he neared them, letting a bold draft waft into the room. "I'm gonna go practice my fireworks." He called, facing the mares from the stone overlook. "I'll see you later."

And with that, he dove from the balcony, skimming the shear mountainside before extending his wings and pulling up into the sky, and quickly became little more than just a small fragment silhouetted against the rich blue expanse.

The two princesses strolled over to the balcony and watched as their friend flew out of sight. They stood there for a large number of seconds, just watching the clouds above shift and change with the wind before someone spoke.

"I feel bad, sister..." Princess Luna said out of character; it was almost always her older sibling who spoke first in times like these. 

Celestia turned to Luna with worrisome eyes. "Are you unwell?" She asked.

"...I don't think so..." The smaller mare replied after an exaggerated pause, sounding rather depleted. "I just... You know that feeling, where you worry about something, o-or somepony, but you have no reason to? As in, no reason whatsoever?"

Celestia nodded softly. "I do." She said, placing a hoof gently on her sister's shoulder and gesturing a return inside. "Come on, sister..." She continued with a mellow smile. "Let's go and have breakfast. Perhaps you're merely hungry."

Wordlessly, princess Luna began to follow her sister inside, leaving the balcony door open to let the pleasant air in. But before she crossed onto the marbled floor, she turned back to the sky, breathed a refreshing lungful of air, and slowly let it out in a long and bothersome sigh.



*****


"You knocked her up!?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, planting her hooves firmly onto the table, adding a clatter of cutlery and chinking of glasses to the cascade of the summer downpour rolling down the windows and the din of the busy diner.

"Sshh!" Cantor hissed in response, pressing his hoof to his lips.

"Well, there was no means of wrapping a ribbon around the topic, now was there, Rainbow?" Rarity remarked as she leaned across the table, resting her forelegs on the smooth cream-coloured wood.

"I never even considered you two havin' a kid." Applejack commented. from beside the white unicorn. "But I think it's stellar! Good on ya'!" She said with a grin.

"Thanks, Applejack." Replied Twilight graciously as she patted her stomach lightly. Though only a month under-way, the purple mare had developed a barely noticeable bump, which became much more prominent when seated. "I was wondering when we should tell you all, but since we all happened to be here today when the storm came in, I thought it best to let you know now." A bolt of lightning struck the hillside close-by and a crack of thunder shook the windows in their frames only seconds later. Fluttershy, predictably, jumped at both the flash and the rumble (as she had done the last dozen times that afternoon).

"Besides," Rainbow Dash started, pointing towards the lavender unicorn's stomach, but making an effort not to touch. "We would've started to suspect something sooner or later when you started expanding like a hot air balloon!" She cawed with a chortle. 

Despite herself, Fluttershy voiced her view. "Well I think it's wonderful that Twilight's decided to do this." She said with vigour. "I'm so happy with my twins; I wouldn't trade them for the world." The yellow pegasus finished with a contented smile that dissolved once another thunderclap shook the restaurant and she gripped Applejack firmly.

"Three new foals in town!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, enthusiastic as ever. "With Fluttershy's kids, and now yours, everything's gonna be so cute next year!"

"Indeed." Cantor replied agreeably. "I just hope this rocket-mission thing works out..." He added with a sombre tone.

Twilight closed her eyes as a cold chill ran down her spine. "Please don't say things like that." She said, shaking her head. "I'd be devastated if anything were to happen to you."

"Don't worry, Twi..." Cantor replied casually. "Nothing's gonna go wrong; I'll be fine." He said with a sigh, recalling the other five or six times he had had this conversation with the unicorn.

"I do worry, Cantor." Twilight sharply responded. "Now more than ever: this child needs a father. I know what you're like for getting injured, we all do... Not nearly as frequently as Rainbow Dash, but that's besides the point." She scorned. "This is so dangerous: it's so unpredictable. Even if that 'rocket' thingy does work, you can't be certain you'll get back." She paused and stared into the stallion's amber eyes. Her own violet orbs seemed lost and pleading. "Please..." She softly spoke. "Don't do this, stay here for a few years. Surely it is not of the greatest urgency that you go now."

Cantor shrugged dismissively. "I think it's the fact that it would be ridiculously expensive to keep the rocket maintained for that long after it's been finished rather than what it's actually going to be used for. That's what Celestia said, anyway." He explained.

Realising she couldn't particularly argue with that, Twilight gave up with a forbidding sigh. "I swear, with you around, I'll be grey before I'm thirty..." She grumbled, to which everypony found mildly amusing.

Cantor rested his foreleg on the edge of the table and slowly sipped at his over-sweet banana milkshake as she observed the setting. Ponies in aprons wearing formal collars were dashing to and from the kitchen taking orders and delivering meals of warm, nutty oats and other vegetarian servings to the many customers. Every time one of the waiters bumped through the kitchen doors, the powerful clatter of pots and pans could be heard, as well as the flustered cooks' yelling. The gale-force wind was blowing the rain sideways into the diner's windows, generating a constant roaring hiss against the glass. 

He didn't know about his friends, (though Fluttershy was rather predictable) but Cantor loved a good thunderstorm: he relished in listening to the vengeful winds batter the buildings, knowing that there was no way he could suffer from the cold or the wet. In contrast, he loved getting caught in the rain, too: there was something so pleasurable about soaking in a red hot bath after getting drenched with freezing water. And then, there was the extreme attraction of 'cloudburning', which, needless to say, was brought to his attention by none other than Rainbow Dash...

Cloudburning was illegal for two reasons: one, that the act whips up the storm clouds and makes the lightning increadibly destructive if it were to strike a town, and two, it was just plain dangerous for the pegasi involved. The idea is to fly as fast as you can as close as you can, to the storm without touching the cloud. If you skimmed the surface even a little, the electric discharge through your body could kill you instantly. The reason it was so popular amongst thrill-seekers was because of the euphoric sensation felt as you zip past the high-electricity field.

One night, Rainbow convinced Cantor to go cloudburning with her, but on the second lap of the enormous storm, the pair had a head-on collision with a closing speed of over a thousand miles per hour. Amazingly, no one was killed, though the blue mare came off far worse than Cantor with a broken collar bone and a punctured lung. The two were found the next day unconscious in the mud, Rainbow bleeding through her mouth with a heart rate of less than 20bpm, and Cantor, who appeared to be simply sleeping.

In the hospital, following a lecture from the doctors, Twilight Sparkle, and the police, the two vowed never to do it again, especially seeing how much trouble and fear it had caused their friends. Hurting her friends: making them scared, affected Rainbow way more than Cantor however, and as a factor, this was one of the few times anyone from the group had ever seen Dash cry.

With his mind back in the restaurant, and learning that he had all but finished his milkshake, Cantor tuned in to Rainbow Dash's and Rarity's risqué conversation topic, as had everyone else at the table...

"So you're not into it?" Asked Rainbow with a quizzical look on her face.

Rarity, who wore a bright rouge cheeks (which were not part of her makeup) answered defensively. "I really don't feel as though I owe you enough to comment." The well-spoken unicorn argued. 

Rainbow Dash groaned loudly. "You can't tell us you're going into a new line of work, let slip it's bondage, then clam up!" The brightly coloured pegasus yelled. "Spill!"

"Dashie!" Pinkie Pie chimed in, directing a scowl towards the blue mare. "Don't be so mean!" She giggled and turned to the embarrassed unicorn. "Seriously, though, it you're getting into that, can you hook me up?" She asked nonchalantly, resting her foreleg on the table and examining her hoof.

Everyone but Rarity looked to be astonished toward the pink pony's question. "What?" Pinkie asked with a innocently confused expression. 

"I do hope you're joking..." Rainbow Dash murmured, leaning in.

Pinkie, in her true fashion, met the response with a giggle. "Ha, ha! Sure I'm not, Dashie!" She scoffed.

"Well that's unlike you." Quipped Twilight.

Pinkie swiped at the air with her hoof. "Oh, come on!" She insisted casually. "If Rarity wants to sell those kinds of things, why not help her out and buy some? I've got a bunch at home; I'd love to compare them to some 'local produce'..." As she spoke, everyone seated at the table grew more and more red. Their only confide was that with the rain and the din of the restaurant, the 'eccentric' young mare's ramblings couldn't be heard. "And it'd help out your business!" Pinkie continued, gesturing a hoof toward the flushed white unicorn. "I have 'connections'..." She finished, gently pressing her hooves together in a pyramid as her eyes shifted playfully left and right.

Experiencing an almighty silence between the friends, no one even thought to try and start a new topic: whatever it was would sound odd after that performance...

"...I, um..." Rarity began, pulling a 'Fluttershy' and partially hiding behind her mane out of pure embarrassment. "I suppose I shouldn't feel embarrassed... After all, it was my business investment. And aside from that," She said, becoming more headstrong as she spoke. "I'm... I'm interested in bondage. It's an art form, and I shall hope you can accept me for what I enjoy." Rarity finished on a firm note, though despite her new found confidence, she couldn't help but close her eyes since she knew this was a side of herself her friends would have never imagined existed.

There was a second pause, and torturous in Rarity's mind: somehow her friends were thinking she was some kind of sadist: a fiend, a freak. Even after all these years, they still didn't care enough to accept her for who she was. The more she thought about it, the more it occurred to her that Pinkie was having a joke: she had a reputation for taking jokes too far, but this time, the 'joke' was of a topic close to heart. And Rarity regretted ever mentioning the subject in the first place.

"Ah... Sure, okay..." Applejack began, breaking the silent streak. "What's it matter, anyway? Everypony's got their thing..." Said the tan earth pony with a smile. Rarity opened her eyes and met the blonde mare's own emerald peepers.

"I must say, Rarity," Twilight began. "I never expected a conversation like that to turn so... so..."

"Heartfelt?" Cantor proposed.

The lavender unicorn nodded. "Yeah." She replied agreeably "That'll do." She then turned back to her purple-maned friend and grinned. "We don't care! Besides, in friendship, you have to expect that your friends have different interests to you, and even in situations like this, their feelings should come first." She shut her eyes and smiled before coughing awkwardly when she realised she had been 'gushing' to some extent. "Sorry..." She sighed with a blush. "I'll have to write that one down..."

Rarity scanned the group, and as she did, a warm smile lifted her cheeks. "Thank you, girls." She started, adding the sole stallion's name out of courtesy before continuing. "For a moment there, I was afraid you were going to shun me for what I enjoy."

"Oh, we'd never do that." Cantor responded, rolling his eyes. "Especially not me: I'm into some pretty weird stuff!" He said with a laugh.

Twilight heard the comment and frowned. "What sort of 'stuff'?" She interrogated.

With a wayward smirk, the alicorn answered. "You know: 'stuff'... As in, 'in the back, on the top shelf of the restricted section' - stuff..."

The purple unicorn's pressurising expression fell to more of a displeased mother's. "Please tell me you haven't been in there again..." She groaned. "At least not past section three..."

The stallion's smirk broadened. "Section five." He replied, amber eyes wide with mischief.

Twilight clucked her tongue and tried to look annoyed, but as she felt the teenage colt's grin burn into her periphery, she couldn't help but giggle.

Applejack patted the white mare on the back, a little too vigorously than intended. "Come on, Rare," She said casually, though hearing her name shortened in such a way made the unicorn feel odd, even a little uncomfortable. "The next round's on me." She proclaimed, waiting for the next waiter who didn't seem all that busy and ordering everypony a drink.

Cantor opted for a simple carrot juice this time: he'd already had two milkshakes and was starting to feel a little sick. Though it was only after placing the order that he realised the contrast of flavours and textures may not have been all that good of an idea...

Rarity, now appearing to glow with a serene halo, leaned forward and stared at Cantor. "Tell me," She asked slowly. "What sort of obligations does this outer-space programme detail...?"

The white stallion scratched his head. "Well it's not all that complex." He started. "At least from my point of view..."

As Cantor was about to continue, the formally dressed pony carrying a tray of glasses became a focus point. The wine red earth pony paused at the loaded table and gradually passed out the group's drinks: a reasonable collection of beverages, except for (surprise, surprise) Rarity, who ordered a mango and passion fruit smoothie. (With a straw and a novelty umbrella... Of course...)

"Anyway," Cantor restarted after joining in with his friends in a quiet, murmurous 'thanks' to the waiter before he scurried off to serve the third table down. "Celestia told me that my main role is to provide the power for actually getting to the planet."

The straw protruding from Twilight's cloudy lemonade left the unicorn's mouth as she spoke. "And how's that work?" She asked, sounding a little more enthused all of a sudden.

"I don't know..." Cantor replied, sucking at his carrot juice through a straw poised in the corner of his mouth. "I think it's got something to do with somehow capturing my magic and expending it as energy. But as far as how she's going to do that... I'm clueless; she did say it was 'confidential' after all..."

"Like a secret?" Pinkie Pie asked with an ever-immutable smile, popping the tab on her fifth can of soda.

"Exactly like a secret, Pinkie." Cantor replied with a nod.

Rainbow leaned forward and stared past Twilight to look at Cantor. "And when-abouts are you leaving again? I swear you've told us, but, I'm also pretty sure I wasn't paying attention at the time." She said with an amused snort.

"Story of your life, huh, Dash?" Cantor asked quickly and quietly.

"What was that?" The sky blue pegasus asked, sounding more as though she genuinely didn't hear what the stallion said.

Cantor smirked, and with equal haste and volume, responded with "As if to prove my point... Anyway," He continued, taking another sip of his vibrant orange drink. "I think I'm going around late October time; the twenty-something-th..."

Twilight smiled and rolled her eyes. "I can't see it as being a date to forget..." She remarked dryly.

In response, Cantor just carelessly pawed the air. "Aw, I don't worry about dates..."

"No." Twilight replied darkly. "Clearly you don't."

"What's that mean?" The alicorn asked back, seeming lost.

Twilight slid down the back of the plastic, 'leather-feel' booth a little and levitated her drink over to her, pulling the straw in daintily with her tongue. "Oh, I don't know..." She continued sarcastically, making a point of pondering towards the ceiling. "Maybe you'd forget something like... My birthday..."

Cantor sat straight up, and with a face of shock, placed his hoof over his chest. "I got you something, didn't I!?" He asked loudly. Realising his volume, the stallion seemed to shrink a little, though nopony else in the restaurant seemed to notice initially, anyway.

Twilight gave an amused huff. "Yeah, a baby!" She said, placing a hoof over her ever so slightly pot belly. Everypony seemed to find this comment amusing, and a brief giggle was shared at the alicorn's expense. Even the timid Fluttershy gave a cute little chortle.

"No," Cantor continued, red in the face. "I got you that underground hot springs - thing..." Twilight raised her eyebrows. "I know it was a bit... unconventional, but I just remembered how you said you were fascinated by caves, but that their cold temperature - and I remember the specific word - was 'unpleasant'." He said, shifting his position on the booth. "See? I do remember some things - and besides, 'the thought that counts', you know? Also," The alicorn continued, riding his next point in on a more empowered note. "I remember that cloak you seemed so interested in, and I got you that."

Upon hearing this, the lavender unicorn sat straight up, her eyes piercing and in a state of shock. "Yes, you did, Cantor." She responded forcefully. "Yes you did 'acquire' the one-of-a-kind Wolfsbane Cloak of Invisibility that, oddly enough, went 'missing' from the Saddlesage Museum only the day before my birthday." Twilight frowned and pouted at the alicorn, but all he did in response was grin. "You're such an idiot." She finished bluntly.

"An idiot that gets stuff done..." Cantor replied with his provocative grin. Twilight gave the stallion a curt glance, but fell apart when she once again accepted that she couldn't stay mad at him - there was no use. "Besides," Cantor continued, slurping at his drink. "If you're so upset about it, why didn't you give it back?"

Twilight rolled her eyes and took a mouthful of her lemonade. "Are you crazy?" She asked casually, not needing to have been looking to tell Cantor and Rainbow just met each other's glance. Sighing helplessly, the purple mare continued. "If I did that, then it'd look like I stole it in the first place... Besides, that cloak is one of the most hallowed magical articles in existence. I'm taking that to the grave..." She said with a self-supporting smirk.

"Neat." A certain blue pegasus remarked all but discretely in response to Twilight's statement.

Cantor, coming over tired all of a sudden, rubbed his eyes gently before raising the cool glass of his drink to his eyelids and softly pressed the soothing surface to his somewhat 'rough' eyes. "Anyway, as I was saying..." He continued, his eyes closed, listening only to the rain hammering against the glass outside and the unending ambience of cutlery. "I'm going on this... uh, 'mission' much, much later on, but before that, I need to go through some kind of 'training course' Celestia's arranged." The thought of a military course - even if it was only two weeks or so, made Cantor's somewhat pampered muscles ache already. 

"But that's still a ways away, yes?" Rarity proposed with understanding eyes. "However you know what they (whoever 'they' may be) say that 'time flies when having fun', and by the looks of things," The white mare continued with an off-grin. "You lead a rather... 'recreative' lifestyle..."

"Oh, my no..." Fluttershy piped up with a smile. "I've been through the whole pregnancy business, Cantor..." The stallion opened his eyes and stared pleadingly at the butterscotch pegasus. "And I can let you know now, it's not exactly what I'd describe as a 'stroll in the park'..."

Following a short pause, Fluttershy clasped her hooves together in mild glee, and proclaimed with a squee, "Yay! I used a figure of speech again!"


*****


“What do I need to do this for again?” Cantor asked as two grey unicorns dressed in lab coats slid a very snug fitting metal harness over his horn via two six foot poles on either side. The rust-haired alicorn was the only inhabitant of the sterile white room once the harness was secured around his head and the two other stallions had left. He sat there on his haunches, his head heavy from the abundance of thick cables and wires protruding from the metal around his horn and receding into the ceiling. There were no features in the room: no posters, no colour, even the door seemed to melt into the walls once it was closed. Cantor felt as though he was sitting in a giant square teapot, the only orientating feature was a thin rectangular window sunk in to one of the walls, reinforced with thick wire mesh. Princess Celestia and another two lab coats, a pegasus mare who looked barely older than Cantor and a dull lime coated, balding earth pony stallion who looked a little over a century stood on either side of the celestial deity.

“Ready, Cantor?” Came Celestia’s soothing voice from a disclosed speaker somewhere within the walls.

“Wait. No!” Shouted Cantor in response, holding his forehooves out to stop whatever she was going to do. “Why am I doing this again?” He asked slowly, returning his frantic hooves to between his knees.

Celestia kindly went over the plan to Cantor. After all, he did have something of borderline phobia attached to his head, and the princess knew it. The stallion kept having visions of cogs turning and vices crushing and twisting his horn until it splintered like fibreglass. The pain that would bring would be unimaginable. “We need to put some of your magical power into the Peripharous crystal to power the ship that will take you to the new planet.”

Cantor stared blankly and a sigh could be heard over the intercom. “The Peripharous crystal is the rarest element on the planet, it is thought to have come from several sister stones that are scattered throughout the world. And I use that term quite literally.” The alicorn mare chuckled lightly, closely followed by the two scientists which stood either side of her. “This particular crystal we have here cannot be magically dated: we attempted to probe it, but it absorbs magic like water on a dry sponge.” She looked behind her for a brief moment before returning. “That crystal was found seventeen hundred feet underground. The rest of the stones could be absolutely anywhere on or in our planet.” She spoke with a slight hint of remorse.

“Now, do you have any more questions before we start?” Asked Celestia, sounding ever so slightly impatient.

“Why do I have to be alone?” Asked Cantor. Even through the thick glass, into the darkened room behind, Cantor could see the princess’ face fall in sympathy.

“I’m really very sorry, Cantor, but as you know, magic, when pinpointed at a singularity can distort space-time.” She sighed a second time. “Again, I’m truly very sorry, and please don’t be offended by this, but. That much magic is dangerous to any nearby ponies. Even us behind these walls...”

Cantor nodded firmly and looked the princess in her dark eyes. “Alright.” He said strongly. “Go for it.”

Outside of the tiled white room, Celestia stood on some kind of catwalk peering into the room for observation. Behind her and the two other ponies who clutched clipboards in one of their hooves and a quill in their mouths, was a dark, cathedral-like room scattered with long desks of yet more ponies in lab coats which spanned the entire length of the room. On the left wall, there were enormous screens displaying various diagrams, charts and wavelength frequency probes. All the wires seemed to lead into the room where Cantor was being held. They trailed the walls and ceiling like great plastic cobwebs and the whole room was cast under a deep blue – nearly ultraviolet light as the ponies prepared for the magical purge to begin.

Several ponies on the laboratory floor monitored large boxes about twice the height of themselves containing various coloured lights and gauges where the needle was suspended in oil. All of them were relaxed against the zero mark, awaiting their power surge. The rest of the room stood back and stared up in anticipation at all the flat-lined graphs and zeroes, eagerly awaiting their results. Celestia turned to the stallion beside the entrance to the clinical room and they exchanged trusting, yet pain-stricken nods. The dark green earth pony lifted up a large syringe filled with a luminous purple substance: a powerful tranquilizer that could knock out even a fully grown dragon in a matter of seconds. Just in case anything went wrong.

The mare to Celestia’s right dropped her head to the control panel. Adorned with various levers, switches and buttons, it could take one years to learn what they all meant, but that pegasus could operate this machine with her eyes closed if she wanted too. She often did to joke around when all the unicorns on the project would take a turn to see how their magical strength compared. However, this machine had been designed and built for Cantor, and the strongest unicorn there barely made it past the three-decimal place mark.

The young cream coated mare with strong coffee coloured hair flipped several small metal switches in a well practiced sequence before turning most of the knobs to ‘maximum’. The machine began to whir and a siren could be heard outside. Cantor felt a rush of cold air purge the room of impurities while the green eyed pegasus calibrated the machine in respect to Cantor's theoretical maximum: levels so extreme they were almost laughable. Once that work was complete, she rested her hoof over a thick metal lever at the right hoof side of the observation window. And turned to the princess for her orders.

“Are you ready Cantor?” Came Celestia’s voice over the intercom. The machine’s loud hum made communication less than easy. However, Cantor could still hear the princess’ voice clearly over the din.

“Will it hurt?” Asked Cantor, to which Celestia looked nervously off to the side, biting her lip.

“Maybe a little.” She replied, turning around. “But I’ve known you go through worse.”

“That doesn’t fill me with a lot of confidence, Celestia.” Cantor replied jokingly before a long, oppressive sigh. “Go on then… Power it up.”

Celestia mouthed the word “Now” to the pegasus and she dropped onto the chunky red lever. A bright red light appeared over the top of the observation window as the machine exploded into a violent cacophony of buzzing, like an enormous swarm of hornets. The tubes coming from Cantor’s horn juddered and trembled as power rocketed through them like nopony had ever seen. Instantly, the graphs and screens outside flared to life with great arcs of data and numbers. The ponies quickly began taking notes, their heads bobbing up and down from their clipboards to the screens, then back to the clipboards.

Cantor screamed in agony as the machine sucked him dry. His wings flared behind his back and smashed into either side of the room, cracking the tiles slightly before they began flapping uselessly in some desperate attempt to dilute the pain. The mare who had turned on the machine became scared and went to hit a giant red button labelled ‘EMERGENCY STOP’, but she was halted inches away from it by Celestia’s gold-clad hoof. The two mares looked at each other. Celestia appeared rather macabre in relation to the young mare’s distraught, wild eyes. She turned back to the torture she was creating, and although it was happening to somepony she loved, she silently urged the machine to do more. 

Needless to say, she felt vile in doing so, yet she needed this to happen, she needed all of Cantor’s power in one burst and damn her soul to Tartarus if she wasn’t going to get it. She knew Cantor wouldn’t question her actions; they were for the best, but . The pegasus returned to the stallion writhing around in pain through the window and felt so ashamed that she had brought this upon him. She could see tears pouring down his face from his tightly wound eyes and she had half a mind  to square up to Celestia and bring an end to his torture. 

Cantor’s vision pulsed red. The only sounds he could hear was his own desperate screaming and the machine's  drew more and more magic from him. He gritted his teeth together whenever he took in a breath before hollering at the top of his lungs for it all to end. He could feel the searing heat of tears of agony roll down his cheeks as he screwed his eyes tight to try and stop them from falling. By now, he was on his back with his wings twitching rigidly beneath him. His whole body shook and tensed in waves as the sensation of being electrocuted coursed through his conscious mind.

“Please!” He managed to cry out over the cacophonous grinding of the machine. He could feel himself becoming hotter and his teeth begin to grow sharp as he pleaded for the princess to stop this madness. “Please! Tia! Please stop it!” He wailed, rolling over onto his knees as the pain began to fade. “I can’t stop it!” He kept trying to reason. He could feel the darkness closing in around him like it did the moment before he tore Pinkie’s leg open. And then his eyes went black, and then Cantor was gone.

All of a sudden, the magical energy readings skyrocketed and errors appeared all over the gigantic screens outside where the top data values failed to display half of what Cantor was producing. A shrill screaming of a bell rang throughout the facility and powerful red lights whirled rapidly around, flooding the room with the colour of blood as ponies dropped their items with a panicked din, and crowded for the single flight of metal stairs to the emergency exit. The ancient earth pony tugged at Celestia’s foreleg, proclaiming “We have to go, now!” With the utmost urgency.

“Canopy… Canopy! The tranquilizer, now!” Shouted Celestia towards the earth pony with the needle who reached for the door handle. His hoof nearly made contact before the entire front of the wall blew out accompanied by a skull-shaking shock wave, sending chunks of rubble scattering over the lab’s pristine floor, both operators and princess Celestia as well.The earth pony in possession of the needle gingerly peered through the huge gap in the wall just in time to see Cantor release a huge burst of jet black magic from between his trembling hooves. 

Cantor roared in fury as the huge dark shockwave tore through the lab, bursting gauges, shattering monitors and overturning tables. Air conditioning tubes and steam pipes ruptured and exploded as Cantor’s devastating spell cast havoc through the once tidy laboratory. Many ponies stumbled and fell to the floor, yet an unlucky sum of them were sent riding the shockwave into the wall where their figures crunched against the hard concrete.

The dark green pony lunged forward at Cantor, plunging the needle into his neck and slamming down the plunger, getting as much of the luminous chemical into the alicorn as possible before Cantor brought his hoof around and caught him on the nose. He fell to the floor and crawled over to the corner of the room as Cantor encroached evilly towards him. The white alicorn, mane ablaze and eyes hidden behind a dark shroud raised a foreleg and began to twist his hoof with an evil grin carved from his maniacal teeth. The cornered earth pony felt his jaw begin to stretch and snap as the device around Cantor’s horn radiated a shadowy darkness. 

Then all of a sudden, everything went quiet... The gale-force winds that had materialised out of nowhere died down to nothing, the deafening buzz of the device fixed to Cantor's head sparked silent as smoke began to lazily drift into the ravaged room, and Cantor's vicious snarls died down to slow and absent-minded gasping. The deep green stallion's jaw relaxed just before his cheeks split and Cantor’s eyes turned back into the orange discs everypony recognised. Slowly, and with no sense of even trying to stay upright, Cantor swayed on his hooves. On the second sway, the green earth pony propped up against the wall nudged Cantor’s shoulder and the alicorn fell like a tree, landing with a heavy thump on the scuffed floor, bouncing an inch or two before settling for good. 

Celestia picked herself up, dusted herself down and stared at the carnage all around her which all had been caused in mere seconds. Burst pipes were jetting out steam, shredded wires were hanging from the ceiling and sparking against each other noisily. Water was leaking from various sources around the room and the once tidy scientists were a squirming mass at the end of the room. The princess turned to Cantor who was sleeping remarkably soundly on the floor. wires hung ragged above him and the cast iron alloy around his horn had atomized in the blast. His horn glowed a dim purple and was leaking a translucent lilac fluid which began to pool around his head.

The princess turned to the mare and old age stallion who were forced painfully up against the guard rail and helped each to their hooves. Once the mare was up, the princess pulled her towards the unconscious alicorn and instructed her to take him specifically to Ponyville hospital. She watched as the scuffed mare took one of Cantor’s forelegs over her shoulders and dragged him out of the more than adequate opening with the help of Canopy, the dark green stallion who had knocked the alicorn out, who slung Cantor’s other leg around his shoulders.

“Oh, my…” Muttered a remorseful Celestia as the young stallion was dragged away. She cast one more look over the chaos, scanning the room and evaluating the damage. It looked as if a monsoon had washed through, carrying stones and shards of metal which had imbedded themselves deep into solid concrete. The princess clucked her tongue, disappointed with her impatient attitude which had caused one of her most loyal and valuable subjects great anguish - as well as much unneeded destruction. The reality of what she had done suddenly sank in. She was responsible for all of this; she could have stopped this. But instead, she exploited her friend. She had tortured him for power. The thought made her eyes prick with tears.

“I... I'm so sorry, I... I just…” She whispered as Cantor’s shins bumped painfully down the flight of stairs and his limp body was slowly hauled out of the room.
> Insidious Mentality
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 3: Insidious Mentality

Darkness, pain, loneliness, solitude. That pressing buzz of a hazy electrical swelling in the head where the consciousness should be. Absently, a certain stricken alicorn's life force returned to him, slowly, dimly, like dwindling embers, yet sure as day was light, it was there.

“Uhhh…” Groaned Cantor as he attempted to open his eyes. “Oghhhhh…” He continued to moan as his consciousness slowly returned to him. It quickly became apparent that he was in bed. He could feel the rough sheets wrapped tightly around him, the firm mattress beneath his back. The feeling seemed vacant, yet he could still somehow work out that he wasn’t in his own bed; he couldn’t feel Twilight’s warmth next to him where he lay. A few gruelling minutes passed before he managed to open his eye a crack. The room was indistinct, yet it was a strong brown colour as if some sort of muddy light bulb was the only thing illuminating the room.

Ever slowly, Cantor’s left eye edged further and further open until he could identify a little more depth of the room; there were other objects: chairs, a table. He became aware of a regular electronic beeping somewhere above him. His mouth was painfully dry and he felt ravenously hungry all of a sudden. With several more wheezing breaths, the alicorn managed to wake himself up enough to open his eyes fully, and as he did, the sensation of somepony tugging at the backs of his eyes came into play. He squinted and the pain became dull. He stared around the bright room, confused as to why it appeared so intensely light when the thick brown curtains were drawn and the door was closed and there were no other obvious sources of light in the room at the time.

Cantor gazed around, completely lost as to how he got here and when. “First of all,” Cantor thought to himself, “Where is ‘here’?” He slowly surveyed the room. It was small, no bigger than Twilight’s bathroom and the most distinguishing feature was the large ceiling fan which spun rapidly above, whipping up the air and blowing the dry air about the sealed room. On the walls, there rested two watercolour landscapes, one depicted some kind of meadow and another of an old – timely looking water mill which had become overgrown with weeds and algae. Cantor didn’t pay much attention to the paintings, but noticed bars on the side of his bed and quickly made the assumption that he was in hospital. “Wha-“ He tried to speak, but his mouth and throat was so dry, all he managed was a dusty wheeze.

He scoured around the bed and his eyes rested on a metal trolley with a large jug of water on it to the right. Summoning the strength to lift his foreleg, he grievously reached for the jug, ignoring the two glasses which resided next to it, Cantor grabbed the handle and drew it back onto his chest. Now the water was in sight, it became even more of a desperation to drink it. Subconsciously or not, Cantor found out that he could no longer breathe, and he quickly and shakily raised the spout of the jug to his mouth. He threw his head back and gulped down the room temperature water like he had been left in the desert for a week. It pained him to drink, every time he swallowed it felt like somepony was stabbing him in the neck. Though he quickly decided that putting up with this for a few more seconds would be better than suffocating. 

As he drank frantically, half of the water that went into his mouth ended up running down his chin and onto his neck and all over his pillows, but again, he didn’t care, and he never stopped guzzling down the water until the vast jug was empty. Panting heavily, and a lot more smoothly, Cantor let his foreleg fall limp, allowing it to drop to his side, the last dregs of water spilled out onto the bed sheets and onto the floor. But Cantor didn’t even notice, instead, his eyes were fixated on the abundance of get well soon cards and beautiful flowers on the side table.

He shook the plastic jug off of his foreleg and didn’t notice it clatter loudly onto the thin carpeted floor. He reached out and pulled over the only card he could reach. It was a portrait card, more long than wide and the picture on the front made him smile. The cover of the card showed a caricature of a unicorn foal sucking his hoof with a bandaged head. Under the cute little colt read the words simply ‘Get well soon’. Cantor took another look at the card before opening it. Inside, there was printed text repeating the text on the cover. There were also three paragraphs of very small hoof writing stretching down the left side of the card.

Starting from the top, Cantor read the neat writing quietly to himself:

“Dear Cantor,

I’m so, so sorry to hear about what happened, I haven’t been told the full details yet, but I’m sure you will let me know what happened when you wake up. The doctors say they didn’t know how long it could take. They said you could wake up tomorrow or in a month. But I know you’re going to be fine. You always seem to get better really quickly.

I hope you like the rhododendrons I sent. They smell wonderful, don’t you think? And they’re also so delicious this time of year! I hope they won’t go bad by the time you wake up.

Big Macintosh and I are doing just fine, in case your wondering, and so are the twins. Everypony around Ponyville misses you dearly and we all hope you get better real soon. I wish there was something I could do, but… The doctors say they have everything under control and besides, I’m better at looking after animals than ponies… I’m really quite useless when it comes to that.

Once again, wishing you a world of health, 
Your loving friend, 
Fluttershy.”

Cantor smiled with a slightly emotional atmosphere and began to re-read the card when he heard hoofsteps approaching slowly on the other side of the door. Cantor tried to replace the card on the nightstand, but in his haste, only succeeded in knocking down numerous other cards in his attempt. He dropped the card and watched sadly as three other cards fluttered to the floor. He quietly apologised to whomever the cards may belong to and snuggled down under the sheets, pulling the blanket right up to his nose.

He lay in wait for a long few seconds until the hoofsteps ceased. The door opened silently but widely and the sudden blitz of light felt as if somepony had scooped out Cantor’s eyeballs and poured boiling water into the sockets. The alicorn yelped in pain and screwed his eyes shut, turned away from the door and buried his face into the pillow. The spike of pain from nothing to everything made his ears ring and his head spin. He heard the door slam shut but the pain refused to go away.

Once again, Cantor found himself moaning and groaning in bed as slowly, the ringing sound in his ears became replaced with apology after apology from an unknown female source. Cantor painstakingly rolled back over onto his back, gingerly opened is eyes and waited for his vision to come back. The light had temporarily blinded him and it took a good minute for the colour and light to fill his vision once more, and twice as long for objects to come into focus.

The intruder happened to be a chalky white mare with pure silver hair and two big blue eyes which stood out most of all over her entire body. She was stunningly beautiful and the same age – or maybe even younger than Cantor. 

“What… What’s going on?” He asked quietly. The room had once again returned to deathly silence – the cosy kind where everything seems muffled and there is one other distinct noise which kept everypony speaking in hushed voices, like the dawn after a night’s heavy snowfall.

“Thank heavens that you’re awake.” The nurse sighed as she took a seat and dragged it over to Cantor’s bedside. “I was beginning to think you’d never wake up…” She added with the greatest sense of relief as she parked herself in the maroon coloured chair.

“Takes a lot to get rid of me.” Cantor joked proudly. The nurse laughed. “Speaking of which, what did happen to me?” He asked, and the earth pony shuffled nervously in her cushy woven armchair. 

“I really can’t help.” She said apologetically whilst tapping her hooves together and watching adamantly. “I’m really very sorry… The princesses asked that we inform them when you wake up. Of course we need your permission to let them see you.” She looked back up at Cantor. “Please forgive me, but honestly, I really don’t know a thing.”

Cantor batted the air with his hoof discerningly. “Don’t worry about it.” He replied with the best smile he could form around his headache. “Yes, you can tell Celestia and Luna that they can see me if they want.” The young nurse smiled contently and rose from the chair. “Oh, by the way, do you think I can be out of here by tomorrow?” Cantor added, staring levelly at the mare from his rather high bed.

“Once again, sir… I’m very sorry, but we’ll have to keep you for at least a week before we can let you go.” She replied with the most sincerest tone.

“A week!?” Cried Cantor. “Why- why what’s for the week?” He mumbled like a drunkard, flitting his eyes over every inch of the mare's face..

“Sorry, sir, but your medication needs to be monitored strictly. You’re… very lucky to be alive, sir.” She answered with a shallow dip of the head.

Cantor’s eyebrows flittered and he gave a cocky smirk. “Where have I heard that before?” He asked with a small chortle which built into a throaty cough.

The mare laughed quietly, checked the many drips and instruments around Cantor and asked if there was anything she could get him before she left. Cantor requested politely her name first, which she happily replied: “Nurse Silverlove.” And announced she would bring Cantor some more water as soon as possible.

“Thank you very much, Miss Silverlove.” Cantor said graciously with a little nod of appreciation. 

“Not at all.” The nurse replied with a small bow of her own. “Now is there anything else I can do for you?” She asked.

“Well…” Cantor started before deciding it was a bad idea and he stopped. “Sorry, no. Never mind…” 

“No, go on.” Insisted Silverlove with a motherish tone. “It’s us nurses’ jobs to help patients, anything you need, we will try our best to get it for you.” She affirmed with a proud smile.

"Uhm..." Cantor began, shifting his eyes in embarrassment. "If it's alright, could you um... could you stay here and talk for a bit?" The alicorn could feel his face burning up, but since the girl asked, he felt complied to ask.

Silverlove’s face fell into a concerned frown. “You want to… ‘talk’?” She asked. 

“Yeah.” Cantor replied. “It’s just you’re the first pony I saw when I woke up and you seem really nice… I was just wondering… Because I'm a little... you know... scared of the dark...”

The mare’s face didn’t change from the uncertain, discomforted frown. “I suppose so…” She said warily, the though of a full crown stallion having a foalish fear such as that coming across as suspicious. “But I have to inform you that I have a colt-friend.”

Cantor laughed heartily, and once again, it turned into coughing. “I must say I’m not Surprised! No, no… I’m not asking something like that of you, after all, I’ve got a love interest too.” Now the nurse’s face returned to it’s usual bubbly appearance. 

“Oh? Is that the purple mare… Twi…light Sparkle?” She asked. Cantor nodded. “Ah, I thought as much.” Silverlove added with a reflective face. “You know, she would come here every day, talking, having a conversation… some days she would come here and simply cry all visiting hours. It was heartbreaking to see, but it was obvious that she really loves you.”

Cantor sunk into the many pillows of the bed which propped him up and stared at the quickly rotating fan. “She does, doesn’t she…” He gave a throaty quirk of amusement as he continued. “I love her too. So much… She’s… she’s the only family I have…”

Silverlove bowed her head. “I’m sorry, sir.” She said softly. Being a mare so close to her own family – even her non-direct relatives like aunts and uncles or grandparents, the thought of having just one of them out of her life made her teary, but actually having nopony – nopony whatsoever… She was thankful that hadn’t happened to her: she didn’t even want to bear thinking about what it must feel like to be completely and utterly alone.

“It’s fine… But thank you for your sympathy.” Cantor shrugged, closing his eyes and seeing Twilight’s face in perfect clarity. “After all,” He added, “Twi and me are expecting.”

“That’s wonderful. Congratulations, sir.” The mare replied happily. 

“Please, call me Cantor.” Asked the stallion, his eyelids heavy and his consciousness fading.

“Okay, Cantor. No problem.” Replied Silver as she turned to walk out of the door. “Doctor Stable will be here soon to check up on you and he can explain any further questions.” Cantor opened his eyes and stared towards the door where the nurse was standing. His vision was fading again and Silver appeared as nothing more than a white blob amongst a sea of brown. “Don’t worry, Cantor.” She continued. “I’m working late tonight. We can talk then, okay?” The nurse then turned into the room again, staring quizzically at Cantor, though the alicorn couldn't read her expression. "Are you really afraid of the dark?" She asked with a smirk.

Cantor paused for a moment before a grin started to spread across his face. "It's really just my own imagination..." He spoke with an admitting tone. "I make myself see things in the shadows... It's stupid, really..."

"Well, if you must know," Nurse Silverlove began to reply in a whisper. "I'm afraid of going into my basement - even in the daytime..." She informed enthusiastically, like an adult trying to connect with a foal.

Cantor smiled weakly, his head was heavy and his eyelids weighed a ton. “Thank you, nurse Silverlove…” He croaked. “You’re too kind.” He just managed to say this before his head fell back down to the soft pillow. And that’s where it stayed.

“No problem, Cantor.” The nurse replied kindly, unsure whether the stallion was still awake. “I’ll bring you some more water, okay?” Cantor mumbled a thanks, hating himself for not making himself heard, yet far too tired to care enough to try again. “You might want to cover your eyes: the drugs are making your pupils horrifically dilated.” By now, she was certain Cantor was asleep, but she was proven wrong when he covered his face with a pillow and rolled over.

She swiftly exited the room, wishing Cantor a restful sleep before the latch gently clicked shut. And as with the shutting of the door, Cantor fell into a dark, dreamless sleep where he had some queer concept of time, despite the whole fact he was asleep. He stared into the blackness of unconsciousness and waited for the voice of his friends to wake him, which came much sooner than expected, however, the voice which brought him from sleep was not what he had been anticipating, yet the visit was not dismissed as unpleasant in the slightest.


*****


Cantor heard the click of the latch even before he woke up. Once again, his eyes peeled open at a snail’s pace, yet the pain was far less than the first time. The room still appeared ridiculously bright, but the pounding headache he felt a few hours ago had mercifully ceased. Once again, the bright brown room filled his vision and so did the ‘familiar’ surroundings, though another presence joined him. Rather, three were now encroaching to his bedside. The first face he saw was the cream caramel unicorn’s with the chestnut mane. Doctor stable peered down at Cantor with his deep cyan eyes through his frameless spectacles and smiled warmly.

“I thought we agreed that you weren’t going to be getting into any more trouble.” He quipped light-heartedly.

The bedridden stallion gave a gentle chuckle and attempted to sit up. To his dismay, he found his muscles barely responsive and the simple task of leaning forward felt like he had a ton of bricks tied to his back. His forelegs wobbled underneath him, and just as he was about to give up and fall back into bed, two hooves wrapped around him and pulled him forward. With a gasp, he sat up and shuffled his rump slowly backwards until his back was against the many pillows at the headrest.

Cantor resided into the uncomfortably hot pillow as he once again became conscious to the quiet metronomic beeping somewhere behind him. “Hey, doctor…” He greeted quietly, his mouth dry and sticky with a sour taste about it. “Sorry.” He laughed. “It’s in my personality to wind up in hospital.”

Doctor Stable greeted Cantor’s gesture with an amused smile and took the seat left by the young nurse by the side of the alicorn’s bed. “You’ve been asleep for the lesser part of three weeks, Cantor.” The doctor continued solemnly. “We were beginning to think you’d never wake up.”

Cantor frowned at the doctor in confusion. “Three weeks?” He asked in partial disbelief. Stable nodded slowly in a remorseful manner. “What happened? How did I get to hospital? Why am I so weak?” He asked, and Stable could do nothing but hold up his hoof for some guidance. 

“You’ll hopefully get your questions answered in due time.” Said the unicorn. “Right now, you need to rest and let the medicine help you.”

Cantor rolled his head away from Stable and upon doing so, noticed two other alicorns stood on the other side of his bed. “Luna, Celestia… What are you doing here?” He asked, appearing somewhat shocked at the presence of the princesses, yet really, he expected that sooner or later, this would become the case.

Neither of the mares answered, instead, they sank to their haunches and motioned for the doctor to leave. With the speed which was deemed necessarily respectful, Stable up and left, mumbling to himself about his next tasks during the dwindling day, and even into the coming night. Cantor forgot about the warning the nurse had given him and watched Stable leave, being greeted by the garish light outside of the room and screwing his eyes shut in pain.

The two royal mares waited patiently for cantor’s vision to return to normal: he stared ahead blankly, blinking regularly before opening his eyes again as points of colour tingled back into his eyes. Once again, Cantor rolled his head to see the princesses for a little comfort at a familiar face, yet more so, for an explanation.

“How are you feeling?” Asked the dark blue princess, her concern genuine in her large aquatic eyes. 

Cantor smiled. “I’ve seen better days…” He sighed in a light hearted manner. “I don’t remember anything.” Said Cantor, looking more towards Luna than the white one. “The last thing I remember was… unbearable pain, and then… everything went dark…” His eyes fell downwards to the blooming bed rails as the realisation hit him like the ton of bricks he was bound to. “I didn’t… hurt anypony… did I?” He asked, facing the pearlescent maned mare who was staring at the ceiling fan and blinking rapidly, biting her trembling bottom lip.

Celestia did not reply, and Cantor immediately assumed the worst. “Oh no…” He gasped. “No. No I didn’t kill anypony did I? No, I wouldn’t… I… I couldn’t…” He felt tears spike at the base of his eyes as he damned himself for being a monster. He covered his eyes with his foreleg and turned away from the princesses. “I’m so sorry…” He squeaked. “I can’t control it…” He sobbed quietly, his breaths ragged, torn stabs in his throat.

He felt a soothing hoof on his back. Not caring who it was, or that they were trying to comfort him, Cantor did nothing. “It’s okay, Cantor…” Cooed Luna in a dismissive tone. “Nopony was killed.” She affirmed, to which the heartbroken alicorn rolled groggily back over to look at her. 

“Really?” He asked, already feeling his spirits becoming lifted and a smile broadening onto his face. Luna nodded happily, closing her eyes peacefully in light of her friend’s relief. “Oh, thank Cele-“ Cantor began, then abruptly paused. “…Thank luck.” He spitefully corrected himself, glaring at the older princess as she began to cry. Unfazed by the princess’ sorrow, mainly due to the fact that she played a major role in his torture, Cantor did nothing to try to aid her in feeling better about the situation. “Celestia.” Cantor began in a disappointed tone. “What happened? I was in pain, I told you to stop it…” Celestia hung her head and her tears began to roll down her nose and perch on her chin.

“I’m so sorry, Cantor.” Sobbed the princess in complete self-loathing. “You’re right… I should have stopped the machine. I could see it was hurting you, and believe me, it hurt me just as much to see you in so much pain, but…”

“But?” Asked Cantor harshly.

“But I needed to do it. We couldn’t stop then, not when we were that close.”

“Close to what?” Cantor demanded. “What does putting a hundred ponies’ lives in danger and torturing me possibly fall under in terms of importance?”

Celestia looked back up and allowed her sister to wipe away some of the tears. “We did it, Cantor; you did it. You gave us enough magical energy to power up the Peripharous crystal. That is more valuable than any one life.”

Cantor grimaced in disgust. “How dare you say that?” His voice was strong, despite his previous dwindling being. “No life is less valuable than a fucking rock! How dare you condemn ponies you think lesser than that of yourself!?”

Celestia winced, squealed in fear and scrambled backwards towards the wall, hugging her knees tight against her chest as she screwed her eyes shut and waited for Cantor to lie into her like the monster she expected him to be. But he didn’t. Instead, The stallion merely sank back down into his bed so his back was lying once again on the mattress as he gasped for owed breath as a result of his uncharacteristic outburst. Like many ugly times in the past, Cantor’s fury was transformed into sorrow and despair. He wanted to roll over onto his side to face away from what he had done, yet his violent shouting had stolen his breath and now all he could possibly think to do was gain it back again.

Princess Celestia quickly regained her composure and tidied herself up as she rose to her hooves and crossed the short distance to Cantor’s gasping form. She shook her head pitifully and sighed with remorse at her friend. “I’m sorry, Can-“

“No!” Cantor butted in, unable to speak more than one word in-between gasps for precious air. His large, frightful orange eyes moved to look up at Celestia as he continued. “I’m… the… one… who… should be… huh, huh… sorry…” Celestia patiently waited the few minutes it took for his breathing and heart rate to return somewhat to normal, then for Cantor to continue. “I’m really sorry, princess. I’m the one who lost control, I’m the one that hurt those ponies, and I know now that you had the best intentions…” He paused and attempted to swallow the thick, sour tasting saliva that had collected in his mouth, but in doing so, discovered that once again, he could no longer breathe.

Feeling his chest compress, yet no air come through his sandpaper mouth, he reached across his bed for the jug of water. He began to panic when he discovered it was just out of his reach, raising his heart rate, causing him to crave oxygen he could not get. Celestia saw his swipes for the water and rapidly made her way around his bedside, nudging the trolley closer with her head. Cantor instantly snatched the water and drank furiously, spilling much of it over his cheeks and chin again.

He drunk nearly all of the water before he drew the jug away, gasping for air, the feeling of his lungs expanding filled him with relief and gratitude. He placed the few centimetres of water back on the aluminium trolley and stared up at the princess with huge, nearly entirely black eyes. “Oh, thank you, princess Celestia!” Gasped the stallion, wiping his hoof across his mouth, failing in drying up a substantial amount of water. Nevertheless, it helped. “You saved my life!” He added with a great smile as if he had just finished a proud work of art.

Celestia met his grin with bashful eyes. “Well, I… It’s a little much to say that, don’t you think?” She asked, watching the water slowly calm inside the transparent jug.

“No, princess.” Replied Cantor with heartfelt honesty. “If you weren’t here, I would have choked to death; I couldn’t breathe.” Once again, tears welled up in his eyes as he opened his arms wide, yet couldn’t seem to work the muscles necessary to lean towards the princess. “Thank you.” He choked as he started to cry, the pain of how horrid he had been to Celestia hitting him hard. The white mare wrapped her arms tightly around his back, and he could feel her tears leaving hot marks on his shoulder as the two embraced.

“I’m sorry I lost control, Tia.” Wept Cantor as he hugged her as tight as he could, which wasn’t very.

“It’s fine, sweetheart.” Replied Celestia, feeling much better to get all of this negativity off of her chest. “I’m sorry for not turning off the machine…”

They stayed in that pose for several minutes, completely ignorant of the night-time alicorn in the room as their tears dried up. Celestia slowly lowered Cantor back into bed, like a mother would her frail newborn foal and resided back to her sister’s side, where she had drawn over two foam stuffed armchairs from the stout table in the corner of the room during her sister and Cantor’s moment. The two mares looked each other in the eye and exchanged trusting glances, then turned to the stallion, smiling, as was he.

“So…” Luna began after a short sigh to refresh the air somewhat. “Once again, you’ve gotten yourself into trouble and pretty much everypony in Ponyville, and indeed Canterlot,knows about it!” She laughed, and Cantor laughed too, though the humour was short lived as he still had many questions to ask.

“Um…” He started, a meek smile still framed under his tired eyes. “What actually happened; what did I do when I…” His head fell to the foot of his bed, where he focused intently on what had happened during the past three weeks, more so, what had happened at the start.

The two sisters glanced at each other again, challenging one another to explain. Predictably, Celestia was the one to agree, after all, she was there when he changed. “Do you know what a ‘tri-core’ is?” She asked, leaning back slightly in her chair.

“…” Cantor stared blankly. “Am I supposed to?” He asked. Celestia chortled in amusement, closing her eyes peacefully before she explained.

“A tri-core is something whish resides only in alicorns and extremely powerful unicorns.” She explained. Once again, Cantor was captivated, gazing intently towards Celestia for her to continue. “It is called a tri-core because it takes three forms; an equine form, an angelic form, and a… demonic form too…”

Princess Luna became agitated and started to shuffle nervously in her seat, looking away from Cantor towards the darkened corner of the room. Cantor noticed this and had an idea about where this was going. “So… whenever we get angry, or frustrated, or…” He turned to Luna. “…jealous, we turn into demons?”

“Put simply… yes.” Answered Celestia with a fair nod. “But it is only under extreme circumstances… In that state of mind, we can’t think rationally, we do things we otherwise wouldn’t dream of.” She dared a peep at her sister, who had managed to find great interest in counting the petals on the flowers by Cantor’s bedside; a thousand years of isolation would do that to you: make you so lonely as to get thrills from counting inanimate objects just to have the knowledge that you know how many petals are in a bouquet, how many clouds plague the sky, how many pebbles were on the surface of the moon.

“And what about the angel?” Asked Cantor, clasping his hooves together over his chest and frowning in intense concentration.

Celestia frowned at the dark floor beneath her hooves and crossed her legs to make herself more comfortable. “That’s different.” She replied definitively. “That kind of mindset; that kind of power only comes via a physical epiphany of fate.”

“That’s very poetic, princess.” Cantor commented. 

Celestia’s frown changed to an amused smile. “It means you know what is undoubtedly the right thing to do, whether that be banishing your sister to the moon for a thousand years for her to come back a changed mare: happy, and content with life, or opening your heart to fears and thoughts which plague your mind to a loving friend: to show just how much you love and respect and trust them.” She nudged her sister, and Luna turned around with large cyan eyes. She shot her younger sister a trusting wink, and Luna blushed, giving Celestia a little smile of severe appreciation in return.

“Or whether that epiphany is accepting the duty to sacrifice your life for the good of the world.” Celestia continued as she turned to Cantor, who was concentrating on her words, an austere expression fixed upon his shadowed face.

Cantor thought long and hard about what to say next, but there was really only one thing on his mind. “So how do you prevent yourself from ‘going demon’?” He asked, trying not to sound too comical.

“You can’t.” Celestia replied swiftly, locking Cantor with eye contact.

“Really?” Asked Cantor, a little disappointed, but kept refined by the notion that those occurrences, morbid as they were, happened very rarely.

“Well… you can try, but it really does no good for the soul. If you try and seal away your demon, eventually, it will consume your body and your mind, and you will be trapped inside it with no hope of escaping until somepony shows you the light…” She trailed off, smiling peacefully at something behind closed eyes.

The room fell into silent contemplation. There were no sounds apart from the dim electrical beeping and the aggravated grumbling of Cantor’s stomach as it failed to cope with the water inside of it. In drinking the water, Cantor had alerted himself to just how tired (among other things) he was, and now he could barely keep his eyes open. To try and stay awake, he resorted to conversation again. 

“So, how did I end up in hospital?” He asked, forcing his eyes wide. Once again, knowing all the answers, Celestia replied.

“You were knocked out by an extremely potent... tranquillizer. The right amount can be very effective, too much and, well… It’s deadly.” Said the solar princess, her shimmering mane making it difficult for Cantor to look her in the eye for an extended period of time.

“Oh, really?” He acknowledged, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hoof.

Celestia paused before continuing, wondering whether what she was about to say needed to be said or not. “…You were given three times the lethal dose.” She added dryly, making Cantor halt in concentrated thought. “We really don’t know how you should be alive right about now, let alone talking!”

“Where have I heard that before?” He quipped, a deviant grin of reflection worn upon his lips. 

Celestia, despite her seriousness, couldn’t help but chuckle at Cantor’s cockiness. “But the tranquilizer has had some side effects…” Not for the first time that evening, she gazed to her sister for some reassurance, and not for the first time either, found that Luna didn’t have much to offer. “Your body is a minefield, Cantor: high fever, severe blood poisoning, blocked arteries, vomiting blood, urinating blood, deterioration of the stomach…”

As Celestia rattled off the symptoms, Cantor became aware of the many tubes, drips and needles hung around him. He noted about six different bags of chemicals slowly trickling vital fluids into various parts of his body. He could feel the tube inside his nose run down his throat and disappear into his stomach, where, upon lifting the covers, Cantor found a sizeable hole in his lower belly where two thick plastic pipes protruded. One contained a dull yellow liquid, and the other held one with a distinguishable red. Upon ‘lower’ inspection, Cantor noticed a second worryingly thick pipe disappearing into his sheath. The sight made him feel queasy, and in a far worse way than he was used to. It felt as if his insides were being incinerated, and his eyes widened in fright to the grossly painful experience.

“…Your body is practically turning itself inside-“ Celestia slammed on the brakes as soon as she saw Cantor’s frantic eyes and bulging cheeks. “Cantor, what’s wrong?” She asked, beginning to panic.

Cantor blew the air from his cheeks as his saliva became a torrent in his mouth. He winced and clutched his stomach in incredible pain. “I… I don’t feel well… Ogh!” He groaned like a frightened foal. He managed another two exasperated gasps before he silently threw up a terrifying amount of blood all down the pure white sheets. Celestia and Luna screamed in unison as Cantor fell backwards into the pillow. His mouth was pouring with blood and the viscous red liquid stained his chin and neck. Just then, two royal guards burst into the room, and upon noticing the blood-sodden bed sheets, they began yelling down the corridor for help.

In no time at all, the room was filled with doctors and nurses who didn’t seem as fazed as the princesses, yet needless to say, were shaken. Upon arrival, the room appeared a complete mess: the patient had vomited blood and was now trembling in paralyzed fear, unable to speak over the trauma. And in the corner were the princesses, no less – fluttering their hooves and gasping out frightened breaths as they struggled to take their eyes from their grotesque friend. Two nurses took it as their duty to calm the female alicorns down while three other doctors checked Cantor over. Noticing how one of the drips had run dry, they immediately sent off for another bag of ‘taurine polycarbonic steroids’ and another to empty out the nearly full blood and urine pots which hung below Cantor’s bed.

Everypony was very efficient, very on-task. Even now, quiet had returned to the room and the friendly Dr. Stable was trying to calm Cantor down from his petrified wheezing breath. The doctor had slipped a thick blindfold over Cantor’s eyes so as to not blind him with the hospital lights which had flickered on. Doctor Stable, though a veteran in the field of medicine, couldn’t help but sound a little panicked towards Cantor’s display. The alicorn had done this before, but never while he was awake – and never this much. He sent one of the doctors away to fetch a bag of AB negative blood whilst he whispered in Cantor’s ear with a frail sense of humility.

“Oh, Cantor…” He laughed feebly. “When are you going to stop getting yourself into trouble, ey?” He started to laugh again, but that was when Cantor threw up a second time. It was not so much vomiting, rather, a couple viscous pints of blood gushed out of his mouth like a fire hose, and washed over the mattress with a wet splatter: (which made the act even more petrifying for everyone involved).

It was all hooves on deck then. Both Stable and the two mares calming down the princesses sprung upwards, wheeling Cantor and his drips out of the room at emergency speeds. Doctor Stable galloped ahead, ordering others in the hallway to stand clear as Cantor’s twitching body barrelled down. 

The doctor held a door open near to the end of the hallway and pointed the nurses inside. They pushed Cantor’s bed through the doors and up to the wall inside. Stable instructed them to call if anything went wrong. Without waiting for a reply, Stable dashed from the room to the one opposite: his office, to retrieve extra bags of Cantor’s blood.

The alicorn in question knew nothing about what was going on: all he could do was lie there, try not to holler and scream as the tremendous pain in his chest sent lightning bolts through his head. It felt as though someone was lying into his heart with a hammer. Cantor made the crippling assumption that, because of this new degree of pain and the erratic bleeping of the monitor somewhere behind him that he was having a heart attack. He could hear both of the princesses speaking to him at once, telling him that he was going to be fine and that he was being so brave. Truth is, he was crying behind his blindfold. This was the most terrifying experience he had ever had in his entire life: other injuries – lacerations, broken bones, torn ligaments: they were all physical traumas. Being poisoned was different: there was nothing he could do to clear the drug from his body except add more drugs and eventually throw half of the tainted blood up all over his bed.

Cantor felt as though he couldn’t possibly be in more pain. But that’s when his machine flat lined. He sank into the pillow and could faintly hear muffled screaming from the princesses and the nurses. What happened next faded from memory. 

All Celestia and Luna could do was watch in stunned and horrified silence as doctors and nurses surrounded him, prodding him with many needles and applying pads to his head with curled wires sprouting from them running into a large machine. A mask was strapped around his face and two drips filled with blood were connected to both of his front ankles and the doctors slathered electrode jelly all over his lifeless chest.

“Clear!” Yelled one of the doctors as he pressed the defibrillator plates into Cantor’s chest. The machine the pads were connected to buzzed loudly like the sound of a massive electrical discharge and Cantor’s body convulsed violently. Princess Celestia had turned away and was sobbing loudly into her foreleg as her younger sister merely watched and hoped with a trembling hoof held over her mouth as she tried to come to terms with the fact that she might be watching another one of her best friends die in front of her. Everything seemed to move in slow motion, the sounds, the sights. Everypony was doing all they could to bring Cantor back, and that wasn’t much. It was times like this when the patient decided whether they wanted to live or not: somehow the doctors had little influence over this dire decision in a situation like this.

“Clear!” Shouted the doctor in possession of the defibrillator again as the machine buzzed and hummed loudly, and by some miracle, the heart monitor spiked and bleeped back into life. Everypony held their breath and froze, waiting for something to go wrong so they could correct it. But nothing happened. The room became more silent than a cave ten miles underground, the only wonderful sound: an electronic beeping signifying Cantor’s life. 

With no words needed to express their relief, Luna and Celestia embraced each other tightly and cried their fears out onto their adopted shoulders. 

Steadily, after checking that all was finally in order, the three doctors and two nurses left the room to go about their other duties; saving more lives as if it were nothing, and to fetch new sheets to replace Cantor’s bloodied mess. Doctor stable returned to the room looking a little worse for ware with two bags of blood clenched in his teeth. He set them down carefully on a desk at the end of the room and set about checking Cantor’s vitals while the two princesses slowly calmed down until they could speak.

Celestia stepped up to Stable’s side and began to thank him dearly. “Words cannot express how-“

“Yes, your majesty.” The still rather flustered doctor interrupted as he furiously scribbled notes into his clipboard. Celestia appeared mortified, yet the relief for her friend’s safety kept her from blowing a fuse after being interrupted. “Sorry to interrupt,” Stable continued, glancing at a medical instrument, then back to his notes and adding more; deeply engrossed with his work. “But this is really a crucial moment; we're going to need to monitor Cantor her for several hours until we can be sure he can recover on his own.” He checked around the back of one of the larger machines and twisted several knobs to within a very acute degree of accuracy.

Celestia understood, though she didn’t take kindly to being interrupted, she was simply relived that Cantor was fine and that the doctor was doing his job to ensure the safety of one of her closest friends. “I understand, doctor.” Said Celestia, motioning for her sister to follow her out of the door. “Thank you for what you’ve done. You’ve all saved more than just a life today.”

Doctor stable ceased his note taking for a moment and turned to face Celestia. Unlike most other ponies, Stable didn’t have any kind of self-diminishing thoughts when in the presence of the princess. He recognised her as an authority figure, and respected her accordingly. But he didn’t bring himself down a peg or two just to make Celestia feel more empowered. She had enough power already, but the good doctor trusted Celestia not to do anything harmful. Cantor on the other hoof: not only did he feel uncomfortable around him, but something within the alicorn, something in his eyes… It scared him. And he prayed to whatever god there may be that Cantor never found this out.

“Well, princess, I know you hope as much as I do that this will never happen again.” Noted the doctor sternly, turning back to his jotting.

Finding that she had exausted her usefulness, Celestia promptly left. Luna began to follow her, but in one unjustifiable act of care, she crossed the room, planted a subtle kiss on Cantor’s cheek, whispering: “Be safe.” Before she too upped and left without saying another word to the doctor.

The heavy wooden door, surrounded by a golden glow, shut a little louder than it needed to have been and doctor stable tutted to himself and shook his head in disappointment. He took his glasses off and laid the clipboard to rest on the table at the far end of the room. The butterscotch unicorn massaged the bridge of his nose with his hoof and sighed after a long day of thinking. He knew that Celestia was somewhat responsible for Cantor’s injuries, and in less than ten minutes of being around him, he had nearly died again.

Stable sunk to his haunches and stared up at Cantor, eying his bloody sheets and chest in slight pity. He became mesmerized with Cantor’s steady breathing and hypnotic heart rate. He must have watched the alicorn sleep for a good, long five minutes before another thought crossed his mind. And when it finally did, he spoke aloud, as he often did when he was in familiar solitude, and also when something meant a great deal to him. “Here lies one of the most powerful creatures ever to have lived…” Stable mumbled, rising up and ambling slowly to Cantor’s side.

“Look at you… So… weak…” He slid Cantor’s blindfold up to the base of his horn and smiled. Cantor’s eyes were moving rapidly behind his lids. “What are you dreaming about, Cantor? What kind of things do you see with that amazing mind of yours?”

The doctor turned around, and still smiling, slowly strolled across the room to put straight a collection of items atop one of the cabinets that had been knocked during the panic. The dark caramel maned pony re-organised the tabletop with care, straightening bottled water, pencils and the quaint potted plant which had spilled some soil where it had fallen. No serious harm done...

All seemed tranquil: eerie in a way - as if the room had somehow been sealed by an opposing force. Feeling the hair on the back of his neck stand on end, Stable cleared his throat to try and dispel tension as he fetched his previos clipboard and began writing more pseudo-useful notes. The only audio in the room became the heart monitor bleeping in its solitude, the subtle whir of the air conditioning, and the doctor's own quickened breathing as his pen scribbled onto the page.

“…I don't w-want…” 

The sound of a far away whimper made the unicorn's ears stand to attention. Was that something he'd imagined?

Lowering the clipboard slightly, Dr. Stable scanned Cantor's thin body up and down, noticing his chest easily rise and fall. Then he noticed Cantor's face: brow furrowed in apparent concern, his eyes flitting wildly behind his eyelids. The good doctor had seen far too many horror movies to know better than to stare at an unconscious pony, so, drawing backwards slightly, and checking to make sure no one was watching, he addressed the alicorn with a respectful whisper. "C... Cantor...?" He asked, loosely gripping his clipboard and pen with the cyan magic. "Are you awake?"

Several heartbeats passed with electronic beeping, and Stable was about to admit to himself that he had imagined the whole scenario... However, that's when Cantor began to mumble.

"D... don't... want...Can't."

It was at this point, the medical stallion found he had two choices: run and get help, or stay and try to talk with the frequent patient he could comfortably call his friend. He was tempted to go: there were a couple of nurses in the ward just next door, however given the circumstances, Stable decided to remain by the intriguing stallion's side.

"Come... Come clo... ser..." Cantor wheezed, eyes still closed.

The doctor complied, though his unease was very clear as he drew up to the supposedly unconscious stallion. He found he had drawn so close that he and Cantor's ears were millimetres apart.

Stable noticed a cool drop of sweat trickle down his nose and perch on his lip. He silently blew the liquid away and tried to make sense of the syllables radiating from Cantor's mouth as he softly wheezed.

"...Don't." Cantor croaked after a long exhale. "Don't want to... Don't want..."

"What is it, Cantor?" The doctor whispered with compliant enthusiasm, resting a hoof gently upon the alicorn's bloodied stomach. 

Cantor's mouth began to twitch with discomfort, his brow furrowed even more and his head began to roll from side to side ever so slightly. "No, I... I don't." He said a little more empowered, though his tone was still barely audible to anyone more than a foot away.

"What's wrong, Cantor?" Dr. Stable pressured, obviously concerned for his long term friend. "What is it? What don't you want?" He patted Cantor lightly on the chest, trying to get the stallion more alert. "I want to help. What's wro-"

His sentence was gruellingly cut short as a bloody white hoof snapped up and firmly grasped at his butterscotch face. The doctor managed to squeak in shocked protest before Cantor's second forehoof came up to squeeze the other side of his face.

Cantor began to slowly pull the doctor's head towards his own, yet the unicorn did not seem to put up a fight - even though his turquoise eyes were shrunken to pinpricks with dismay. 

He continued to close the distance between their two faces. They were so close now, that Stable could smell the pungent metallic aroma of fresh blood seeping from Cantor's nasal. 

Their heads were touching now, Cantor's horn and the doctor's bumping down rings as their brows and foreheads met.

Cantor opened his eyes, which were nothing but dark black portals, reflective enough for Stable to see his own frantic eyes, shot back at him through the very entrance to somepony's own soul. 

The grip around his head intensified as did the alicorn's furious, hateful grimace. Cantor began to tremble with something similar to rage as he pulled the doctor closer and opened his blood-saturated mouth to speak with a dark, hellish voice. 

"I don't want to see any more." 

Doctor Stable stumbled backwards and crashed into the wall not too far behind him. Breathing heavily, and dripping with a cold sweat, the doctor simply stared at Cantor, his chest gently rising and falling, the heart monitor bleeping at a steady pace, the liquid slowly seeping into his body, urging the poisoned blood to purge out. Drop by viscous drop. The unicorn stallion practically leapt out of his skin when he felt the soft hoof over his tensed shoulder. He whirled around to see a nurse ladled with clean white bed sheets and another with a bucket and a sponge in her mouth. Behind the pair of frightened looking mares stood an older gray pelted earth pony with several teeth missing from his head. He was dressed in doctor’s overalls and appeared to really look like he wanted to be somewhere else.

“Problem, doc?” Asked the aged stallion. “You look like you seen a ghost…” He spoke slowly, and with a deep, but frail voice, accentuating his age and knowledge.

“Um…” Stable stumbled, reaching to readjust the glasses perched on his nose, forgetting he had taken them off and set them down on the other side of the room. Without smiling, and without looking at the pony in bed, he levitated his frameless spectacles back onto his pale face. “I um… I…” He tried to speak his mind, but the last thing he wanted was for ponies to think he was crazy.

“Maybe you jus’ need a rest…” The grey pony suggested, stepping out of the way of the door to let Stable pass. Without a word, and not daring to steal a glimpse at Cantor, the tired doctor left silently to go and have a well needed lie down and maybe a drink or two from the stout bottle of scotch he kept in his bookshelf for situations as dire as this. Leaving the door wide open, he began to maul his brain for answers which he knew he would never be able to find.


*****


“Do you know how much I hate you?” Twilight Sparkle asked with relieved tears in her eyes as she sat by Cantor’s bedside holding the stallion’s hoof as he slowly came around. The white alicorn rolled his head to the side, being greeted with two lustrous orbs of lavender looking kindly back. It had been another two days since Cantor’s last brush with death, and now the doctors were convinced that enough of the poisoned blood was gone to ensure the stallion’s health. One thing which troubled the doctors – one doctor in particular – was the indistinct mumblings coming from the alicorn as he slept. Over his past two nights, he had rambled various words like ‘don’t’, ‘run’ and ‘I’m sorry’. As far as everypony knew, Cantor had a perfectly healthy mind and had had no other bouts of the mild signs of dementia until that experiment nearly a month ago. It certainly raised some questions, and caused a few heated debates about the matter, but regardless, the main focus was Cantor’s safety.

The white stallion smiled weakly and sighed painstakingly and rubbed his eyes with his free hoof. He noticed that he was in the same room he had first woken up in. It gave him an odd nostalgic feeling as well as a sense of insecurity of the violence and bloodshed which had occurred in the room recently. The alicorn still found himself weak and heavy, carrying some unsung burden of the distressing past, yet far too dethatched from it for it to affect his conscious brain.

“I love you too, Twilight…” Replied Cantor with a laugh, now trying to sit up by outstretching his wings into the mattress.

Twilight threw her forelegs around him and squeezed him tight. “You scared the life out of me, Cantor.” She said whilst stroking his back where the wings connected. “You gave us all a scare…” She pulled back, lowering Cantor into the bed gently. The alicorn didn’t protest the fact that he wanted to sit up, knowing that there would be more opportunities in the future to receve help, as his muscles were still incredibly unresponsive due to the tranquilizer’s numbing effects. That was the worst thing about the drug: you could knock a pony out with it, and not know when they woke up until they moved. That is why it wasn’t used in hospitals: the patient may wake up half way through an operation and not be able to tell the doctors that they were awake whilst still experiencing the pain as the scalpel sliced through their flesh.

It was unlikely for somepony to be able to open their eyes and speak after being injected with that venomous drug, but such a feat had become somewhat of an expectation from an equine like Cantor. “How long was I asleep for this time?” Asked the stallion as he still struggled to sit. Slowly but surely, his powerful wings were raising him upwards.

“Two days. The doctors let us in after closing hours; they said it might help your recovery to hear a friendly voice.” Answered a very relaxed looking Twilight Sparkle. 

“Us?” Asked Cantor, peering past Twilight to the five other mares which populated the dimly lit room. Pinkie Pie was in a three way conversation with Rarity and Fluttershy, which left the scandalous as ever Rainbow Dash to converse with Applejack, and as usual, they had gotten into an argument. What it was about was unclear, but their hushed voices and motions towards the machines around the alicorn implied that they had him in mind.

The others quickly caught on that Cantor was awake and they hastily surrounded his bed, most oblivious to his struggles to sit except one certain pegasus. Once again, the room returned to it’s fuzzy silence; the heart monitor bleeping quietly and the choppy fan stirring the air about the place, failing at doing it’s job in the hot, sticky room. It seemed darker than before, whereas Cantor had grown used to his vision being that of an underdeveloped photograph, now he could just about make out the fan blades amongst the black ceiling. A dingy yellow flowed up the walls from the two nightlights, one behind the cabinet at the side of Cantor’s bed, the other in a deserted corner of the room, looking somewhat sorry for itself as it feebly illuminated a portion of the dark aqua carpet. The thick brown curtains were drawn and moonlight seeped in under the gap between the drapes and the white pained window frame.

“Hey there, sleepyhead! How ya feelin?” Asked Pinkie Pie with little concept of whispering. To hear her happy voice made Cantor smile, content in the knowledge that his affliction hadn’t dented her free spirit in the slightest.

“Honestly…” Cantor started, giving up with trying to sit and reluctantly accepting his prone position. “Much, much better than… before.” He answered, looking to each of his friend’s faces. “Especially with all you guys here.” He added with a meek little grin.

“Aw, shucks.” Said Applejack. “Y’all know we’d never leave ya alone in a big ol' grey hospital when ya nearly… got hurt, real bad…” She affirmed with a relaxed posture, leaning over the railings at the foot of his bed with Rainbow Dash to her left.

“Yeah.” Rainbow agreed, swiping at the air indistinctly with her hoof. “Normally I’d make jokes about this and go and fly the anxiety away, but…” She came over all serious at that moment, bowing her head and peering up at Cantor with sincere pink eyes. “You really had us going, Cantor… I really though you were gonna… you know…” She made a forlorn noise along with a sigh that very few ponies had actually heard come from Rainbow before. “We lost you before… I don’t think we could go through losing you again…”

Everypony quietly nodded in solemn agreement, keeping their eyes to themselves and retaining a deathly silence. “Well, that’s in the past.” Cantor coughed, trying to sit up once again, prepared to fall back again, but that’s when Fluttershy helped him. He felt her soft, yet surprisingly strong forelegs press into his back and he lurched upright, extending his hooves behind him for support. “Thank you, Fluttershy…” Sighed Cantor, breathing rather heavily. “Thank you very much.” He added, drawing a bashful giggle from the yellow mare.

He managed to shuffle backwards into the pillows at his headrest so he didn’t have to support his cumbersome body. Looking to his right, he noticed the jug of water he suddenly felt like he needed. Nowhere near as desperately as before, but still, he was parched. He reached out to grab it, but Rarity, who was standing closest, nudged the trolley away with her rear leg. “Uh, uh, uh…” She sang whilst shaking her head. “I’m dreadfully sorry, Cantor, but the doctor said you can’t have any food or drink until your blood is clean… otherwise, you’ll… get rid of it again…” Her face became a shameful light pink as she explained. “He said that your stomach walls are extremely thin and that anything other than… those supplements-“ She said whilst pointing to the bag of murky cream liquid in the bag connected to the tube penetrating Cantor’s nose. “will make you, um… vmmt…” She mumbled whilst turning away a fraction, unable to speak such a ghastly word.

“Oh…” Cantor sighed, hanging his head to his stomach where the two pipes transporting bodily fluids emerged from under the crisp, fluffy duvet. “Well, I suppose being thirsty is better than that…” He added, peering back up to Fluttershy who was staring at the many devices, plastic bags and ‘hat stands’ which kept her friend alive. 

“My, my…” Gasped Fluttershy, quiet as ever. “I’ve never seen so many drips…” She added, remembering the most she had ever seen was on the strange miniature bear she looked after that one time, the koala bear. She remembered it having some idiosyncratic intolerance to the eucalyptus leaves it liked to eat, giving it chronic stomach cramps. Over all of the animals she had cared for, the koala bear had been in Fluttershy’s ‘top five’, simply because of its adorable face.

“What are they all for?” Asked Twilight, the only pony on Cantor’s left. She was examining the dials and readings on the machines, trying to decipher their unfathomable sequences of numbers and apparently pointless letters. With the image of the large tube between his legs, Cantor winced and squirmed with mild disgust.

“You don’t want to know…” Sighed the stallion with a little laugh. “Anyway…” He began, rather hoping to change the subject before the focal point of the conversation became that of his stallionhood. “How long have you guys been here?” He asked, twisting to the side slightly to try and stretch his back out.

“About two hours, Cantor…” Twilight replied modestly. Cantor appeared shocked and awed at the same time.

“You waited two hours… just to be with me when I woke up?” He asked in disbelief, ridiculously indebted to his friends for their compassion. Honestly, Cantor was overjoyed that they waited. After the scare, the last thing he wanted was to be alone. Even though he was in the hospital; another pony wouldn’t be more than a shout away, having these specific pastel equines here with him made him ever so slightly emotional.

“Well… It’s more like three hours…” Applejack added, her Stetson making her whole face completely black. “We came here at the last visiting hour before the hospital closed, we were gonna leave but that doctor Stable said we could stay here in case you woke up.” She blinked slowly and rubbed the corner of her right eye with the tip of her hoof. 

“Well… what’s the time now?” Cantor replied, staring around the room in case there was a darkened clock he could pretend to read.

“Ten o’ clock.” Replied the tired farm pony, drawing another gasp of appreciation from Cantor.

“Wow…” He commented. “Thanks, guys… Thank you so much…” He had to pretend to itch his eyes to cover the fact that he was tearing up. “That means so much to me…”

“Heeeey… Come on now!” Called Rainbow from the foot of the bed. “Don’t go all sappy on us; I know you’d all do the dame thing if it was me sitting there.” She shot with a dispersive smile. Rainbow Dash – if not for her ability to clear the sky in ten seconds flat, would no be able to do the same for a room full of heavy air. She executed this perfectly; if only she could do the same with her stunts, then maybe she wouldn’t end up here twice as regularly as Cantor.

“Oh, that reminds me:” Rainbow added, lounging over the railings so her head nearly touched the duvet. “How did you end up in here anyway?” She looked around, for the first time taking into account the sheer amount of wires, tubes and machines effectively keeping Cantor alive. 

Cantor ruffled his feathers as best he could in a sitting position before replying. “Well…” He began with a slightly ashamed tone. “It was a kind of… experiment that went wrong…”

“Heh!” Rainbow Dash laughed, shooting a suggestive wink at Twilight. “Like two peas in a pod, you two!” She exclaimed as she began to laugh at her own joke.

Cantor had to admit that her comment was quick enough to be humorous, but nopony else really exceeded a giggle. The alicorn patiently waited for the self-amused pegasus to calm down before he continued. He frowned as his thoughts turned dark. “I’ve turned in the past…” He started, to nopony in particular; watching his hooves circle against each other as he spoke eerily calmly. “Remember when I um… hurt Pinkie…” The question went unanswered: it wasn’t supposed to be. “Well that happened again. Except instead of hurting one pony… I hurt about a hundred. Including princess Celestia…”

Twilight, intrigued beyond reason, pulled up the chair behind her and sat down, the weight of the baby beginning to take its toll on her tired hooves. All the mares seemed to lean closer for a better earful, for not the first time, to listen to an interesting story this stallion had to tell. “Basically, it turns out that this spaceship is powered by some sort of gemstone, like… a kind of stone that absorbs magical energy. Celestia said she needed me to ‘fill it up’…”

Cantor paused, waiting for any questions from his friends, yet it seemed as though they were well educated on the matter. With nothing being said, Cantor simply decided to continue. “Something went wrong. At least… I think something went wrong…”

“What happened?” Twilight asked, ironic how it was only now she asked a question after Cantor’s five second pause.

Cantor nodded rapidly, making out as if to say ‘I was getting to that’. “The machine did something to me… or I did something to it…” He peered with sorrowful eyes at Twilight, as if he had just broken a heartstring promise. “I changed, Twilight… I just… I couldn’t help it: it all happened so fast…” Twilight became perplexed, hanging her head and silently nodding. 

Whenever Cantor ever started to loose control, he would slip further and further away from help until he was venting the pent up rage at such a rate, pretty much nothing could stop him until he finished. This had only happened twice in the past year: once, when he thought a stallion had attacked Twilight after some confusion with a rogue weather incident in which all blame pointed to a peachy cream coloured pegasus who barely escaped with dislocated legs and wings. The alicorn hunted him down and confronted him in the middle of the night, but his demonic rage miraculously  left him before he could tear the limbs from the pegasus’ body. Another incident was a little less dire: the alicorn became enraged at the brutality shown towards ponies in the distant past by griffons after he requested an in-depth education in Equestrian history from the oldest princess. And before he laid waste to their nation, Celestia herself brought him from fury by explaining how killing an entire species would make him far worse than the griffons ever were.

All in all, Cantor was a very placid pony, he would never dream of harming a pony - much less killing them. And although he had killed in the past, in doing so, he saved the lives of twenty or more ponies - including a young filly. However, when he did turn nasty, that’s when you started to run. “I’m really sorry… I just, feel myself loosing control and then it gets harder and harder to calm down until I’ve vented.” Continued the self – loathing alicorn, dropping his head once again to his less than busy hooves.

“Aww, that’s okay, partner.” Applejack bespoke, shooting a reassuring smile to the stallion. “Everypony jus’ needs to let off some steam sometimes…”

“True.” Noted Cantor, lifting his eyes to where he guessed the orange pony’s would be. “But when other ponies ‘let off steam’, it usually doesn’t end in everypony else around them being injured. Or worse.” He replied glumly. Applejack darted her eyes about the room for something to turn her focus onto, she didn't know how to respond to such a grim quip.

“Well that’s just something you’re going to have to learn to control.” Said Twilight with a comforting tone, smoothing Cantor’s hair out of the way of his face. “And I can help you to do that by telling you something you need to remember.” She added softly. The depressed looking stallion stared hopefully up at the unicorn, becoming calmed and experiencing a well rounded sensation of unity with her kind eyes.

Twilight leaned into Cantor’s personal space and kissed him on the lips. There was nothing more between them except tender contact and tranquil thoughts as Twilight showed her undying love for the stallion, no matter what kind of monster he became; she would always love him, she would always remember how willing he was to die for any of his friends, and like he told her, he would sacrifice his life especially for her. Like always, rather perceptibly so, the thought of loosing Cantor – even the thought – made Twilight feel shattered inside and out. But like love does, that one special pony could make all the fear and darkness go away, much like she was doing now, in simply touching her lips to his.

When Twilight Sparkle pulled back and slowly opened her eyes, she was greeted by what she treasured the most: Cantor’s deep orange eyes which seemed to light up whenever he was thinking about her. “Always remember that I’ll always love you.” She spoke with her softest voice available, barely audible over the thick science, yet her words rang through Cantor’s ears like thunder.

Cantor smiled cordially, the kind of serene smile only achievable by somepony at the height of their life, which, evident in Cantor’s current condition: being kept alive by chemicals, punctured and probed by pipes and tubes, showed just how important a force like love really was, and what it could mean to anyone at the lowest point in their life, and also at the highest, pushing the bounds of serenity far beyond that of paradise into some kind of godlike bliss one cannot simply describe with words nor feelings nor actions. Love requires an intimate bond between two minds, two assets to the universe, capable of comprehension and understanding who’s concern for each other is so strong and so vivid that they cannot simply imagine how something like eternal damnation in the fiery abyss of hell could possibly be worse than being apart from the one they loved. This is exactly the feeling Twilight and Cantor shared, and this is exactly the reason the two felt alive.

Cantors shoulders fell loosely from their tensed position as he sighed heftily. “Thanks, Twi…” He replied graciously with puppy-dog eyes. “You always know the right thing to say…” The only thing Cantor could think to do at this moment was leap out of bed and embrace Twilight tightly and never let go, but the bed, as well as a lot of other things, kept him tied down. Nevertheless, he was more than happy with the notion that the mare he loved with far more than just his heart was simply there with him.

“Don’t mention it, sweetie.” The purple mare replied with a slight blush, which only increased when she clocked the five mare’s stunted giggling all around her. “What?” She sighed humorously, staring from face to reddened face.

“Sweetie?” Rarity chortled. “You call Cantor ‘sweetie’?” She giggled into her hoof and shot a most embarrassing wink at the mortified alicorn.

“Yes.” Twilight replied whilst smiling disarmingly. “What’s wrong with that?”

Rainbow Dash, who was the most hysterical of all the mares answered. “Nothing’s wrong, Twilight!” She laughed for a short while before mounting Cantor’s bed and staring into the alicorn’s face. “Just know that from now on, I’m always gonna call you ‘sweetie’.” She grinned darkly at Cantor before residing to her flank and laughing up at the pet name.

Cantor shook his head, nearly as amused as he was embarrassed. “Now look what you’ve done!” He grinned towards Twilight, who merely gave her contribution to the room of giggles and scoffs. Eventually, all the ponies were laughing their heads off. Their bout of hilarity, fuelled now only by each other’s laughter, ended abruptly when a male presence cleared his throat deliberately, silencing everyone as they slowly turned to the owner of the voice.

Dr. Stable stood in the wide open doorway, the powerful hospital lights making his specks glow a ghostly white. The seven ponies had been so busy laughing that they hadn’t noticed the new intrusion of light no less than ten seconds ago. “I do hope you realise it’s quarter past ten at night, my little ponies.” Droned the doctor, looking as if he had been up since yesterday. He slowly crossed the room and replaced Fluttershy’s place by Cantor’s bedside. When he became near enough, the dark bags were very evident under his eyes, even with the absence of light. The butterscotch unicorn was not wearing his usual white coat, instead, he was naked, spare his rimless glasses, and for once, his cutie mark depicting a heart monitor connected to a living patient could clearly be seen. His manecut looked rather unkempt and he needed a shave. If not for his extended knowledge into the field of medicine and his educated spectacles, one would be forgiven for thinking this pony lived on the streets, out of bins with a cardboard roof over his head.

Cantor peeped past the doctor, and for once, could see down the hallway without being blinded as if he had stared at the sun through a telescope. His idle gazing was (as usual) cut short by Dr. Stable’s dull, but never doubtable caring voice. “Remember girls,” He started. “This is a hospital, it is late, and visiting hours did end a little over two hours ago…” He sighed laboriously, repeating one of his key movements and massaging the bridge of his nose with his hoof, pushing his specks up as he did so. “I’m sorry, everypony, but I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

The seven other ponies came across heartbroken, not necessarily at the thought of leaving their sick friend, but because the shortness of Dr. Stable had come across as incredibly rude and harsh. The doctor rapidly caught onto this and justified himself with the best dismissive smile he could muster in this languid air. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” He said with genuine empathy. “It’s been a… stressful couple of days. The only reason I ask is that we’ve had a complaint from a couple of ponies nearby about the noise.” He scuffed up Cantor’s hair and pulled his covers down to his waist. 

“Could somepony perhaps turn the light on?” Stable asked politely as he squinted to the point where the two pipes left the alicorn’s stomach.

“Sure!” Replied Pinkie happily, leaping over to the doorway, landing on one of her rear hooves and bending backwards like a graceful ballerina. As she did so, she extended a foreleg which made contact with the switch on the wall. After a second, a bright, but far from blinding light flashed into life in the middle of the ceiling fan. Pinkie Pie giggled and capered back to the bed, landing exactly where she had begun; to Stable’s right, giving a little dip of her knees as she did so.

“Thank you, Miss Pie.” Said the doctor graciously, to which Pinkie merely beamed and examined what the doctor was doing closely, always enthralled in everything in her true Pinkie Pie fashion, with this being especially intriguing.

“Wat’cha doin’?” enquired the pink mare, mimicking the doctor’s line of sight, following the two tubes down to their respective canisters below Cantor’s bed. One was a thick, dark red colour and the other had the same hue as concentrated apple juice. 

“Mmh hmm.” Dr. Stable mumbled contently, signifying that all was in order. He returned to Cantor’s stomach where the tubes emerged and prodded around the slightly bloody fur gently with his hoof. “Does this hurt, Cantor?” He asked, keeping his eyes on what he was doing.

Cantor shook his head. “No, doctor.” He answered with a sincere expression as he watched the yellow hoof press down all around the incision. 

“Good.” Replied Stable, turning to face the alicorn. “That means there’s no infection.” He gave a small chortle under his breath – an even rarer occurrence than the occasional smile as he added: “Really though, from what I’ve seen in the past, I wouldn’t have expected any less from you.” He finished with a trustworthy wink to the stallion, signifying their friendship outside of a doctor-patient relationship.

“What are they for?” Asked Pinkie, genuinely interested in what was happening to her friend. That, and the fact that she had always been somewhat interested in the hospital scene after many a stomach-ache from failed baking experiments. 

Dr. Stable, proud of his job; eager to share his knowledge, took an instant kinship with the usually imprudent pink mare and asked her whether she was interested or not. Of course, Pinkie replied with an astounding yes, and, glad to be sharing his passion, Stable took his time running over what each machine, pump and drug did in layman’s terms to keep Cantor alive. Or at least aid his long recovery. Stable explained what the chemicals in the drips did in the stallion’s body, not intending to give a medical lecture, but captivating the other ponies in the room – especially Cantor. 

He told Pinkie about the drip which kept Cantor’s stomach from “eating itself”, which the sprightly as ever mare found incredibly humorous, despite the severity of the situation. He told Pinkie – in fact all the ponies as they were listening so adamantly – about the new drip which was keeping Cantor’s pupils normally sized so he could at least see the faces of his friends without any pain. Stable also outlined the basics of the cardiovascular regulator machine, explaining that it was currently keeping the alicorn from having a heart attack by sending dull electric shocks into his heart to keep it beating regularly. It was only then that Cantor realised how dire his situation was: that a single switch no less than three feet away from him could mean life or death. Though he had no fear: he knew he was in very capable and caring hooves.

Once Stable had finished his ten minute ‘tour’ of the machines in the room, Pinkie discovered she still had one last question that had gone unanswered. “Uhhh, Mr. Doctor Stable, sir?” She asked, tilting her head and giving the yellow unicorn an adorable smile with her sparkling blue eyes.

“Yes, Miss Pie?” He replied, giving Pinkie a smile of his own.

“What’s this other tube for?” She quizzed, prodding the third blood filled pipe which disappeared beneath the rest of the covers delicately with her hoof.

The doctor’s smile disappeared and his face returned to the serious, ‘business is at hoof’ expression he wore daily. “This," He begun, looking at Cantor with sombre eyes for a moment before turning back to the others. "And there is no delicate way of putting this, though I will try... is a tube taking 'the shortest route' to our friend's bladder." In true doctor fashion, Stable seemed unfazed by the less - than comfortable situation.

Pinkie, enthusiastic though she was, took a second to shoot a dumbfounded look the doctor's way. "What's that mean?" She asked with an inquisitive frown.

Dr. Stable turned to Cantor, and without hindering the alicorn's wide, embarrassed eyes, answered bluntly. "Cantor has a tube up his urethera filtering his bladder." He turned from Pinkie to the red faced stallion and raised his eyebrows nonchalantly. "Sorry."

Most of the girls began to giggle, however it was only when Stable gave a sharp "Ssh!" that they calmed down. "After all," The unicorn doctor thought, "Better to nip their laughter in the bud before it inevitably evolves..."

"Wow," Rainbow Dash announced, scoffing briefly into her hoof. "As if your day wasn't bad enough already!" She said with a grin. She began to tug ever so slightly on the red pipeline that ran down the alicorn's chest before disappearing under the dark teal sheets. "Does it hurt when I do this?" She asked darkly. Both the doctor and Cantor simultaneously pushed the blue pegasus' hoof hastily away.

"Damnit, Rainbow!" Cantor cried, trying not to show the pain, though the colourful mare just snickered more.

Comically, though with some obvious sense of warning, Dr. Stable barked at Rainbow: "Cantor is not a toy!" Everypony but Cantor found the remark somewhat amusing, but the giggles quickly died down again.

Cantor dipped his head curiously, his cheeks still burning red, and the stinging sensation prominent in his nethers. “How did…” He started, mumbling slightly. “How did you… you know… get it in?” To his surprise, and in most senses, relief, none of the mares laughed at his question, which he mentally thanked them for. Unfortunately, Dr. Stable had other plans.

“You really want to know?” Asked the doctor, throwing a suggestive smirk the alicorn’s way.

Cantor stared blankly ahead before his face twisted to a frightful scowl. “Now you’ve said that, I really, really don’t want to know.” He couldn’t keep his straight face, and ended up snickering along with everypony else before he became serious again. “But why is blood coming from... 'there' anyway?” He enquired, gripping the duvet tightly in the fear of being exposed once again; he had experienced enough embarrassment for one day. 

“Honestly, Cantor… I don’t know.” Replied Stable, frowning at the ground. “Maybe it’s an effect of the poison as it tears up your body; disrupting your urinal tract and maybe trying to cause urine poisoning. No, the reason we've put that tube there is simply because we really didn't want to risk operating on such a... temperamental patient. Which reminds me, you also have kidney stones."

Cantor groaned aloud. "Lucky me!" He said sarcastically.

"Indeed." Dr. Stable quipped, fixing his glasses resting over his nose again. "We don't operate on patients with kidney stones: the quickest, easiest, and safest way to deal with them is indeed this method, as humorously macabre as it may be.” 

After a moment, he looked back up, and for some reason his eyes were filled with confused anger. “We haven’t had a case like this for years… The drug which did this to you is prohibited, and punishable by death. There was a mass suicide some years ago in Hasenshire where this drug was used." His dark frown intensified, and now he seemed to be looking through Cantor as he spoke. "I've never had a patient afflicted survive, sadly; it's just such a vicious, unrelenting poison, as I'm sure you're aware..."

Everyone was silent as the dark yellow unicorn persisted, and in some ways, felt a little uncomfortable to be there at the time. 

Stable narrowed his eyes and slowly shook his head, vivid images flashing behind those glassed perched beneath his eyes. "...Such a... horrible, horrible way to die..." He stated with apparent empathy. "Nopony manufactures the stuff any more, however sources are available... Ponies can get their hooves on a good amount if they have the right status: the right connections...” His eyes widened as he seemed to realise he was staring directly at a very uncomfortable looking Cantor. The doctor stared straight into the alicorn's rich amber eyes, opening his mouth to speak as his lips trembled ever so secretly. "Like royalty..." He finally said, leaving the white stallion suspended in gripped suspense before he drew himself away and in an instance of professionalism, cleared his throat, seeming to expand the room past that one conversation and restore reality to the group.

“Come now, ladies!” He spoke strongly after his cryptic soliloquy, waking some up more than others whilst sounding rather stunted by his previous words. “My sick little pony needs his rest.” At his side joke; poking fun at Cantor, the six mares began to chuckle amongst themselves - even in light of the speech against Cantor's ailment. 

Twilight Sparkle stood up slowly. It seemed that every day she was finding it harder and harder to move as the foal grew inside her. As she rounded the bed, Stable noticed the purple unicorn’s unique shape and was quick to intrude. “You’re pregnant, Twilight?” He asked with a slight smile, holding the door open as she passed through into the white hallway. 

The lavender mare turned once she had passed through the doorway and gave a joyful, yet somewhat estranged expression. “That’s right.” She answered, looking the doctor in his slightly bloodshot eyes. “How did you know?”

Stable chuckled lightly, tranquil thoughts of his bed coming to him as his weekend approached. “I’ve seen enough pregnancies to know the difference between pads of fat and a bun in the oven – so to speak.” He wiped an imaginary band of sweat from his brow, standing to the side to let the other mares out of the room. “And if I’m not mistaken, you’re about two months in…” He added with raised eyebrows.

“Yes. That’s right. Just a little under two months, in fact.” The gradually expanding mare confirmed.

Dr. Stable nodded with an air of accomplishment. “And the father would be…”

“Cantor.” Said Twilight briefly, making the doctor’s forehead wrinkle as he raised his eyebrows even further. 

“Really, now?” He replied with an expression depicting that of surprise, or some kind of weird fusion of acclamation and discomposure. “Well, congratulations, Miss Sparkle, I hope all goes well.” 

Twilight smiled and thanked the doctor before paying a final farewell to Cantor and wandering off to meet up with her four other friends. After an unnecessary headcount, it was discovered that a certain blue pegasus was absent from the herd. Stable noticed this too, and poked his head into Cantor’s private room, where he noticed the missing mare on the other side of the bed, laughing at the stallion within and making some crude remarks about his tubes. Rather, the one tube in particular had captivated Rainbow’s gambol instincts. 

“Staying for the adventures of Daring Do, Miss Dash?” Asked Stable suggestively, to which the cyan mare leapt up, completely dropping whatever conversation she was having and trotting through the wide open door with her head bowed conspicuously low, not breathing a word to the doctor, but letting her blush do the talking. Stable chuckled throatily and smiled towards Cantor as a good friend would do. “I’ll only be a few moments, Cantor.” He said sleepily. “Don’t wait up.” He quipped, to which the alicorn laughed silently whilst exhaling and slowly slid down the pillows until he was lying on his back.

The sight of the stallion in blissful comfort made the exhausted doctor envious of his warm bed and plump pillows, but as always, he lived by his rule of ‘no rest for the wicked’. 

Grinning in the presence of his own thoughts, Dr. Stable shut the wide hospital door a lot louder than was deemed quiet and could be heard trotting up the tiled hallway to catch up with the six mares to see them out. Cantor stared at the walls and listened to the clopping hoofsteps slowly fade until deathly silence took over the room once again. Even the shrill heart monitor seemed distant. The alicorn slowly closed his eyes and began to drift into sleep, when his ears alerted themselves towards a hushed thumping and rumbling from somewhere in the ventilation system which ran through the entire hospital and reverberated through the thin metal grate directly in front of him near the top of the nutmeg coloured walls.


*****


“So, I’ll… see you later then?” Asked Dr. Stable, open to the group, yet for one reason or another he was looking towards Applejack. “Are you ladies going to be alright getting home on your own?” He went to slip his hoof into his pocket, forgetting that he wasn’t wearing his coat and succeeding only in making a fool of himself.

“We’ll be fine, doctor.” Twilight answered as she took deep breaths of the cool night air, the dry, but chilly wind refreshing her from the hot and stuffy hospital. A wave of goosebumps rolled down her body and she shivered briefly. “I’m just a little cold, is all…”

Stable said nothing, he simply leaned on the doorframe of the hospital’s main entrance and briefly cast a glance over the sleeping village of Ponyville. It was a peaceful night. So much so, that even here, one might deem it unique. With a deep inhale through his nostrils, the bereaved of sleep doctor became a little more aware of the beauty around him. To the colours; the royal blue sky, smattered with an inconceivable amount of stars, bright white, like the freckles below two emerald eyes upon the face of a certain bright orange earth pony he hadn’t noticed he had been gazing at for all the time it took him to admire the ‘landscape’. 

“You okay, sugarcube?” Came the pleasant southerly voice which distracted him from exactly what it was he had become distracted by. The doctor had been gawping at Applejack for some time, and she was adamant that he was going to ask her something – something completely spontaneous: absolutely anything in the world could have come out of the butterscotch unicorn’s mouth just then. But when he remained silent, the tangerine mare found she had to repeat herself.  

“uhhumm… Y-yes, I’m… I’m… I’m perfectly…” He stumbled over his words, scouring his extended vocabulary for the right word, but his sudden rush of unexpected emotions caused him to stray back into lower-tier speech. “…Good.” He finished with the best poker face anypony could ever hope to achieve. He wanted so badly to smile, but he barely forced himself to breathe in the presence of that mare.

“Well... okay, then.” Replied the hayseed-blonde girl, dipping her hat slowly, with a sense of absence before she made her way off for her friends who were already a considerable distance down the beaten path at a speed which failed to meet her trademark urgency. For one reason or another.

After a single moment, a moment which seemed to last an eternity, yet only spanned a couple of seconds, a moment filled with want, need, desire, emotions; happiness, emptiness, longing, and above all else confidence, Dr. Stable called out the orange mare’s name just as she began to pick up the pace. !Applejack!?" He  yelled, stretching his legs to make him appear taller.

“Yeah?” She called out, turning about her front hooves and skipping back to the doctor, who was now standing unsupported and rigid, all four of his hooves firmly placed on the ground beneath him.

“I… I was just wondering… Maybe… Maybe if… uhhh…” Stable stammered, scratching the back of his head with a hoof and turning his eyes downward, suddenly finding a lump in his throat which no amount of scientific or medical research could diagnose, not only making it hard for him to talk, but also interfering with his vision, as he found it now impossible to look the orange mare stood so close to him in the eyes and say what he was thinking. “Ah, you know, thinking about it now, I’ve forgotten what I was going to say!” He finished with a very forced sounding laugh.

Applejack merely stared at the doctor, who had somehow found the tracks in the dirt incredibly entertaining. “Well…” She spoke with the most adorable yawn nopony would expect such a well-toned mare to make. “Maybe it’ll come back to you tomorrow. I know I forget things when I’m tuckered out.” She finished with another cute little yawn, which Stable could not risk missing again. He looked up just as Applejack closed her mouth and unscrewed her eyes, her emerald green orbs glowing dimly in her half lidded eyes. Even this sight made the unicorn smile demurely. 

“I know.” Agreed Stable, tracing small circles in the dust with his hoof. “I don’t usually think straight when it’s late either…” He peered back inside the hospital briefly as a pure white nurse pushed an empty wheelchair across the reception area. The doctor looked straight past the young, beautiful nurse and turned back to Applejack, adding “It was probably just some nonsense anyway…” before bidding the farm girl a gracious goodnight and turning back into the hospital with a face that showed less emotion than a dead stallion’s.

Without warning, he felt a sudden warmth on his cheek as Applejack gave him a respectful peck. The two ponies were in contact for less than a second, but something made the two seem to want to stay a while longer. Stable turned slowly around, his face now fraught with a weak cocktail of surprise and disbelief. 

Despite herself, Applejack shyly turned away, partly to remind herself that she needed to get going home, but mainly as an attempt to conceal her rosy cheeks. “Thanks fer… You know… lookin' after my friend.” Said Applejack softly, her hot face being cooled by the still night air.

“Well..." Stable began, struggling to put words forward after that - even though he assured himself nothing was meant significantly by it. "...Good evening then…?” Spoke the doctor, a little quieter and more personal than he would have liked, but Applejack didn’t seem to mind.

“Yeah.” Replied the farm pony, peeping ove her shoulder with her muzzle buried in her mane, her perfect eyes framed between her wonderfully blonde hair and her rugged Stetson which she had pulled down low. “See ya later.” She stifled a giggle before proceeding to trot back down the darkened path in the shadow of her friends.

Stable remained motionless as he observed Applejack leave the hospital’s lights and become part of the night, and remained there, still, until the silhouetted mare disappeared from sight. Shaking his head in defeat, returning to the heated hospital, not paying attention to the automatic doors as they bumped shut behind him. He crossed the reception faster than expected, and soon he found himself in his office, more accurately, before his bookshelf with no recollection of his journey from Applejack’s departing to now.

He did something which was now considered a reflex movement, and massaged the bridge of his nose, pushing his glasses up so that they brushed the base of his horn. “Keep it together, Stable…” He muttered to himself, reaching out with his post-comforting hoof to a specific book: a large green hardback bound with gold which had been hollowed out for storage of a certain favourable single malt. He removed the book carefully and flipped open the front cover, revealing the slightly curved glass bottle of deep amber liquid with an intricate red pattern over a golden label. “You’re a Celestia damn doctor.” He scolded himself. He shook his heavy head and withdrew two shot glasses from a cedar wood cabinet discretely tucked into the corner and set them down on his work desk as he unscrewed the blood red metal cap from the stout bottle. “You should know by now that there is more than one way to break a heart.”


*****


The main hospital lights had been deactivated and now only the occasional running light, along with the silverfish moonlight illuminated the sleeping wards. Dr. Stable ambled down the long hallway, sticking so close to the wall that his hindquarters brushed against the shallow oak railing which was fastened tightly to the vanilla coloured walls. With every window he passed, the doctor stole a glimpse at the outside world, but he never stopped to admire the stars or smell the ever fragrant night time air which carried the subtle, but evident scent of cut grass and sweet tulips.

Doctor stable straightened himself up and picked up his pace a little, heading towards the wide door at the end of the seemingly infinite corridor, the one which had a thin halo of light seeping through the tiny gap between the door and it’s frame. The doctor reached his destination and, with the bottle of whiskey and drinking glasses surrounded in his light blue-bice aura, he gently edged the heavy door open with his head. Inside, he found a very frightened looking alicorn with the covers pulled over his muzzle right up to his eyes, his ears were pulled to the back of his head and he looked as though he was trembling.

When the doctor called out his name, Cantor shrieked in fright and caught some air as his weak body tensed and he leapt from the mattress. He turned to the door and a wave of what could only be described as pure relief washed over his face. Slowly, the duvet slid down his face and his relieved expression transformed into foalish embarrassment as his grinding teeth turned into an impish smile.

“Is everything alright, Cantor?” Enquired the doctor, closing the door behind him and dragging over a chair to sit on, setting the glasses and alcohol down on the stainless steel trolley next to the big jug of water. He rested his rump on the soft blue armchair, forgetting what the prickly surface felt like as he had grown accustomed to his posh leather swivel chair in his office.

Cantor nodded his head rapidly, turning his gaze to the ventilation grille at the top of the room in front of him. “I’m fine, doc, but… Do you ever hear… noises coming from the vents?” He asked, staring intently at the thin metal mesh like a hawk watching a rabbit. 

“What kind of noises?” The doctor asked, matching Cantor’s line of sight to the small metal square.

Cantor thought for a moment before replying. “Like… Rumbling, like-“ He shuddered. “Ugh… like something’s… running through the ventilation.” He kept his eyes completely still on the grate, fully prepared for some kind of evil creature to burst out and shred his weakened body to pieces.

Stable listened, straining his ears upwards to hear as much as possible, and soon enough, there was the sound which had been distressing Cantor. It was a dampened rumbling followed by several loud bangs. The doctor laughed just before the sound faded away and the room returned to the soft whirring of the fan and the quiet beeping of the alicorn’s heart. “That’s the boiler, Cantor.” He explained, making the frightened stallion’s face turn pink. “It does make sounds like that; and we’re looking for the money to get it replaced…” He smiled warmly as he poured himself a cumbersome amount of his drink into one of the large glass shots. “Admittedly, yes, the old girl has been responsible for several ghost stories that have come about the place…” He explained as he watched the glass slowly fill, replacing the lid on the bottle and staring at Cantor through the rich amber nectar. “None of them true, of course.” He added. “Do you drink?”

Cantor shook his head and held up a hoof to the offer as the pocket-sized bottle floated in front of him. “I do, but nothing like that.” He answered, watching the bottle set itself down next to the other drinking glass and the doctor flick the main lights off with his magic. Now the only light source were the two nightlights and the feeble lamp on the bedside table, it’s cream shade casting pale white light over the periphery of the two ponies, lighting enough of their faces to be able to easily tell what the other was thinking and doing, but the weak light made it little further than that. The night lights made it seem as though their golden light was attempting to climb the walls, failing to overcome the bottom half of the walls, but a valiant effort, nonetheless. The top of the walls and the ceiling disappeared into an inky darkness, like the endless void of space, subtracting even the stars. The only way anypony could tell that there was in fact a ceiling keeping more than bodies inside lay thanks to the tiny flecks of light bouncing off the shiny surfaces of the fan blades.

“Hm.” Stable chortled an amused breath. “Well, that’s not really drinking now, is it?” He replied, tipping his head back and downing the shot in one, bringing his head back around with a fiery cough. “Ask.” He said, replacing his glass down on the trolley, the non-existent dregs of whiskey forming a thin skin of amber at the bottom of the shot.

“What?” Cantor replied with a quizzical expression. “What do you mean: ‘ask’?” 

“Anything.” The doctor confirmed, leaning forward and resting his head on his hooves. “Let’s just talk, like friends. It’s late and I’m going to clock off soon, but first, I’d like to have a nice little chat.”

Cantor’s facial expression changed from confused to solicitous and he sunk into his bed in slight submission. “Ab- about… what?” He asked, gripping his covers tightly.

“Like I said, Cantor: anything. Anything you want to know or tell me… I’m all ears.” Dr. Stable answered with an amused, self absorbed smile.

The alicorn thought for a moment, tapping his chin with the tip of his hoof. “Uhhh… Ummm… I… What do you…” He made his fuzzy mind audible for half a minute before declaring his absence of thought. “I got nothin’.” He said glumly.

Stable made a show of making himself comfortable, sliding his rump forward in the chair until he was slouching. He removed his glasses from atop his nose and set them down on the metal trolley alongside the whiskey bottle. The unicorn finished the look by resting his forelegs on the arms of the curved chair and touching his front hooves together over his stomach. “Do you know…” He started, avoiding eye contact with the alicorn and pretending to read the impossibly unclear readings of the machines from where he sat. “If… Applejack has a… Do you know if she’s single?” He asked with a rare sensation of embarrassment. For the first time in years, he felt his cheeks heating up as the realisation of what he had just said sank in.

An enormous grin of regale erupted onto Cantor’s face and he slowly shook his head in disbelief. “No way…” He joked, following it up with a haughty laugh. “You’ve fallen for Applejack, haven't you?!” 

“Oh, it’s true!” Whined the doctor, cradling his head in his hooves, looking as though he was completely lost for any thoughts of guidance towards what else to think about other than that stunning orange mare and how to get her. “I don’t know why I feel this way, I never do, but for some reason, I can’t help but imagine us having a life together. And how perfect it would be.” Once again, Stable had the image of the smiling blonde farm girl in his head, stood next to him in front of an old timely country home in the middle of nowhere on the baron plains of the dusty north, surrounded by dark orange sand, scattered with the occasional boulder or dead tree.

“Ah, well love is a strange thing…” Notioned Cantor. “It’s just one of those things that changes with what you believe in.”

“What do you mean?” The doctor replied, bringing his head out of his hooves and staring at Cantor.

“You know… Like, do you believe in fate, or do you think everything just happens at random?” The alicorn asked, his smile dropping a little.

Stable shook his head in a diminishing fashion. “Of course everything happens at random. How can the future already be written?”

“Well, it’s a long story; dimensional planes and reality shells and stuff, but in short, everything in the future it already written, it’s just there is a different universe for every possible outcome for every single decision ever made, so it is kind of a mix between fate and chance as it is, but we are only conscious to the decisions we make – what universe we are in.” Cantor explained. Granted it was one of the simplest ways of putting it, the doctor still had a very lost look about his face.

“I just don’t understand.” Stable said, rubbing his ear with his hoof. “Everything happens by chance: uhhh, figures, probabilities, statistics… I just can’t grasp the concept of this pre-written timeline some ponies believe in called fate.”

Cantor’s smile re-ignited and he wiggled a suggestive hoof at the doctor. “Oh, but can you grasp the concept of love either; why you feel this way about Applejack?” He yawned, closely followed by the doctor. It hurt Cantor’s lungs to yawn, but granted, it did wake him up a fraction.

“No.” Answered the doctor at the end of his yawn. He rubbed his tired eyes with the back of his hoof, trying to tell his body that he did not need sleep just yet. “No, I don’t think anypony can grasp the concept of love.” He said, halting the rubbing of his eyes and proceeding to slowly go about pouring himself another copious drink. “Anyway.” He spoke loudly mid-pour, clearing his throat and waking both stallions up a little. “Did you know if Applejack is seeing anyone?” Stable asked again, eyes content on the rapidly filling glass.

“Uh,” Cantor thought, staring into the fan. “As far as I’m aware… No, she isn’t.” Stable allowed himself a little grin of confidence by the time he had filled his glass and reset the bottle on the trolley.

“Do you think I have a chance?” He asked, cradling the shot gently in his right hoof. 

“Absolutely.” Cantor replied. “But one thing I’ve learned about Applejack is that she is never idle; she’s always doing something productive unless it involves her friends, so ‘taking a day off’…” Cantor closed his eyes, shook his head forcefully and wiped his hoof past the air in front of him. “She doesn’t even know the meaning of the term.”

“Oh…” Said Stable, his dark cyan eyes falling to the rich amber pool of liquor. “So… She works from the moment she gets up… to the moment she goes to bed?” He asked with pandering eyes, seeking confidence.

“Oh, God, no.” Cantor answered with a strong sense of abdication. “No one would work like that, at least I certainly wouldn’t.” The doctor chuckled, nearly spilling his drink in the process. “She gives herself an hour or so in the morning, and a few hours at night for free time, but through the day, she works so hard like you would not believe.” His eyes drifted downward and the alicorn nodded with intense thought. “Yeah… Our Applejack is one hell of a girl.” He snapped his vision back to the doctor, who was steadily raising the drink to his lips. “Tell her how you feel…” Cantor insisted, eyeing Stable’s glass retreat from his mouth.

“Maybe some day…” Replied the doctor, once again taking the drink to his slightly pursed lips, but being halted by Cantor for the second time.

“Well, I’d make it quick if I were you.” The white stallion countered, raising his eyebrows and for some reason decided to allow his eyes to meander around the dimly lit room in some attempt for something else to talk about. “Applejack (and I hate to put it this way) won’t be ‘on the market’ for long; she’s strong, gorgeous, loving, and if nothing else, the most honest pony you’ll ever meet.” He gave a light snort. “And for you… hopefully, you’ll do a lot more with applejack than simply ‘meet’ her…” He gave a suggestive wink, and almost immediately afterwards questioned why he had done that.

Dr. Stable brought Cantor from thought a smidge before he became lost in a combat of ideas and accusations within his own mind. “Well… We’ll see how the future plays out…” He said softly, his tiredness evident in his tone and his eyes as he slowly lifted the glass container of a suddenly much more attractive substance.

“Yes we will…” Cantor replied cryptically, making himself shiver with the unintended philosophical meaning behind his speech. The doctor had nearly entered the point of no return: closing his eyes and positioning the rim of the glass on his bottom lip and was tilting back slowly, trying to summon the effort to take another swig. “Um, question?...” Asked Cantor. Stable’s eyes fell open into a slightly aggravated stare at the ceiling and he allowed the shot of whiskey to fall back to a resting position on his hoof.

“Yes?...” Stable replied dryly, not looking at Cantor as he spoke.

Cantor paused for a short moment, wondering whether his question was truly necessary. Granted, it probably didn’t hold as much philosophy as many of the previous questions that evening, however, the curiosity behind this ask proved too great for the teenage alicorn to abstain from. “How did you get that tube inside of me?” He asked with a slight blush.

Stable sighed and shook his head whilst allowing his eyes to fall shut. “Oh…” He sighed, raising the drink to his lips as if it were a microphone, adamant that the sap coloured liquid would make it inside this time. “…It’s going to be a long night…” He sighed, just before throwing his head back and downing the fiery drink all in one.
> Taming the Heart
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 4: Taming the Heart

Cantor’s recovery, as expected, was considerably faster than anypony predicted. However, being somewhat of a medical miracle had dampened the responses of most of the doctors and nurses at the hospital to gentle smiles and murmurs of congratulations. It had taken the alicorn a little under a week to effectively change his blood until none of the forbidden substance remained in his body. Dr. Stable, though overjoyed that Cantor, one of his ‘regular patients’ who had grown to be somewhat of a good friend, had made such an astounding recovery in such a short time, still seeked justice from the alicorn mare who had poisoned him to begin with. He knew he would never get what he was after; a simple explanation: “How did she get her hooves on such a rare, dangerous and illegal drug, and more to the point, why would she endanger the life of such a close friend?”

For several days, and even after the alicorn had fully recovered and left, the butterscotch unicorn couldn’t remove the thought that Celestia knew a lot more than she was telling, but given the dire circumstances, who could really blame her? He called himself crazy for even thinking such a thing, but Stable’s mind just wouldn’t stop telling him that the princess knew that something bad was going to happen to the stallion that had saved hers – and indeed his life just one year ago. He came to the convenient conclusion that she, like him, hated to see Cantor in harm’s way, even though the legendary pony had proven many times that he would need to be beheaded before he finally went down for good, Celestia still came across really rather heartbroken when she dropped him off at the hospital. Dr. Stable convinced himself that Celestia had shown some good; sending him back to Ponyville so he could be close to his friends and visa versa.

The regal white princess elaborated in great detail what had happened at the laboratory, everything from the violent and bloody end, to what she was doing there in the first place. She explained the magical nature of the Peripharous crystal to Stable, who took the eloquent speech from the large mare as a subliminal compliment to the doctor; respecting his intelligence. He began to like her after that – a lot more than he used to. The chestnut maned unicorn had always seen Celestia in a different light to the rest of the world; whereas they would look to the princess as a wise, caring, strong and brave leader, Stable had the right mindset to see her true colours past the pearlescent mane and practiced smile. There was no being in Equestria who could deny the princess of her loving nature: for this trait was true. However, when one may live for several thousand years, there is a lot of time to play with a lot of power and effectively ruin a lot of lives. If she had been able to put all that negativity behind her, and forgive herself for what she had done, then why was she still up to her experiments, her interests? Was it because she was sorry? If this was honestly the case, then everything would be acceptable in the eyes of the world. Shouldn’t it?

Celestia quickly skimmed over the topic of her power limitations, failing to hide the meekness in her tone as she really put Cantor’s power into perspective: explaining how, when she and her pegasus accomplice held a small test of their own to fully compare the two most powerful living alicorn’s powers, her magical output registered 2.316 at best. Cantor’s on the other hoof… 81.901… And that was before he changed – before the monitors read error and the past month of the stallion’s intensive care took place. All because of an impatient princess with too much power to care, yet not enough of what mattered for control, and twenty millilitres of a lethal poison, the likes of which the stallion shrugged off with no long term side effects other than a mild, lingering pain for a week or so afterwards. Other than that, he had cheated death for the third time, and the good doctor, and needless to say his friends expected nothing less.

One week after he was absolved from hospital, Cantor had become a lot more involved with Celestia’s space programme, an enormous military labyrinth comprised of labs, researchers and scientists which dove several miles into the mountainside where Canterlot castle was situated. It was carved into the solid rock, provided living quarters, numerous canteens and even a breeding programme for the ponies who were serving multi-year stints within the cavernous military base. Some of the ponies down there had not seen the sun for months, or even years – ironic how the pony practically in charge of their lives also happened to be in charge of the thing they had not seen, yet tirelessly relied on for their whole lives for food and sustenance.

Princess Luna had very little say in the matter, not only was she forbidden to come to the laboratories alone, but she did not want to interfere with such important themes. Even as she toured the facility with Cantor, one of her closest friends and an admirable figure, she rarely spoke out to elaborate on a point that had been made, and she never started a conversation and only really answered questions with a two word vocabulary of yes and no. She did not feel comfortable whatsoever underground, so not only having Cantor there with her, but having him walk next to her set the dark blue mare at ease, though only slightly; she still felt uneasy watching ponies live substantial periods of their lives working for her sister in some steel-walled cave underground, away from where they should be: with their families.

Within the facility, there was an unprecedented air of secrecy, and upon questioning, Celestia had told Cantor that the world, sadly, wasn’t as perfect as he would have liked; there was a constant threat from the Griffon Kingdom, though the land of the griffons was generally secluded and aloof, whenever a pony would cross the borders of the Celestial empire, currently the most powerful nation in the world (due to a certain white stallion), to offer kinship and unity to the griffons, they would never be heard from again. Nopony has ever crossed the borders since, after their third party of ponies sent only returned in photograph form; dozens of images displaying horrific scenes of the six-pony team being eviscerated, tortured, disembowelled, raped, set on fire and even eaten alive by the griffons. One heart-wrenching picture showed a decapitated mare’s body being violated by one griffon, while a bound and crying stallion was receiving oral sex from the same mare’s lifeless head whilst a griffon dove spears into his back. 

What was most unsettling about the evil pictures was the messages beneath each. All together, the images gave a message from snippets of text which had to be examined closely and arranged into order to become legible. The message spoke of threats of what would happen to the ponies of Equestria if another friendship party was sent. The last picture – the most gruesome of all showed a toothless blue unicorn mare with blood gushing from her wide open and screaming mouth, her eyes had been gouged out and were also lashing copious amounts of blood all down her face and chest. A vicious looking black griffon could be seen at her side, tearing a large strip of flesh all the way from her shoulders to her flank with his razor-sharp beak, exposing her glistening ribs below. A dead stallion lay face down on the ground before the savaged mare, his head split open, spilling pink brain matter onto the dirt floor below. The picture was captioned: “Try again, princess.” As the final nail in the coffin of the griffon’s demonic threat.

Seeing the images again for the first time in years when she showed Cantor, tears began to pool in Celestia’s divine eyes as the memories of the heartbroken looks of the ponies’ families came flooding back to her. She had lied about their unspeakable demise, telling their mothers, fathers and children that they had all fallen from a cliff into the great ocean and drowned. When questioned by the pegasus pony’s family, Celestia explained that he too, had drowned trying to save his friends, deeming him a hero through all of ponykind. Lies can save ponies’ minds from harm, protect their emotions from savagery in scenarios where the truth not only hurts, but could have devastating re-occurring results. It was pictures like this that brought out the demon within Cantor, and Celestia barely talked him out of mass genocide of the griffons. 

It chilled the usually demure and overseeing princess to know that there was absolutely nothing she could do to stop Cantor if he started killing the creatures, and chilled her even more to know that it was most likely luck that made Cantor agree not to commit such an atrocity. "No matter how bad something or someone is," Celestia had said to the alicorn stallion. "It does in no way warrant the extinction of a species."

Since Rainbow Dash’s old friend, Gilda had visited Ponyville a long time ago, Celestia was displeased to see that the winged lions had not changed their tyrannical ways. Since then, no more word has come from the griffons, and sending Cantor to see what was going on was far out of the question for Celestia; if he did not destroy the griffons when he visited, surely they would give him an ‘extra special’ treatment. And if Celestia’s eyes  would scan those kinds of pictures, she simply would not be able to find a reason to live with herself, even when speaking metaphorically. 

Back in the not-so-dismal present, even after the first day within the facility, the alicorn stallion had put forward theories about space and electro-magnetic wavelength phisicalities which were remarkably accurate when introduced to experiments. After three 100% accurate predictions to unknown scientific experiments involving a new concept known as the electro-magnetic spectrum, Cantor, the two princesses and three of the leading scientists held a conference to try and understand Cantor’s unnaturally precise predictions. After three hours, and seriously messed up body-clocks, the ponies in lab coats, and indeed the two alicorn mares were none the wiser as to how Cantor knew so much, where they knew so little, and needless to say, the stallion was becoming a little agitated.

“Oh, fuck me…” Groaned Cantor as he buried his hooves into his face after the fourth lengthy explanation about why rainbows can be ‘made’ in more than one way fell flat on its face like the three before it.

“Hey, don’t get angry with me!” Cried an orange coated stallion with a straight cut navy blue mane which fell neatly around his large horn sat on the opposite side of the table to Cantor. “We’ve never heard anything like this before; how can you possibly expect us to understand something that is so new?”

Cantor slid his hooves down his face, dragging his features downwards and waking him up slightly from the grievous three hours of secluded understanding he was trying to pass on to these other ponies. “I’m sorry.” He said, muffled, his hooves clasped over his mouth. “I’m just getting frustrated that I’m so bad at explaining things.” His eyes fell to the table littered with empty bottles and cardboard boxes which once held food, now were supporting a thin layer of grease. 

“That’s quite alright, Cantor.” A very well pronounced deep midnight purple unicorn mare replied, looking sympathetically at Cantor through a pair of semi-circular frameless glasses with very, very dark blue – nearly black eyes. Seeing this mare, her voice was exactly how one would expect it to be; rather dull, dry and droning, the very essence of the heart of Canterlot summed up in her half-lidded stare. “Just, run this… ‘magnetic spectrum’ past us once more.” She added. “And go through it very, very slowly; explain all the basics before moving on.”

A bright red earth pony piped up, carrying his always joyful Australian accent (or whatever the Equestrian equivalent may be) with a great big smile. “Y’know what, Cantor?” He began, pointing to a small opening in the wall at the head of the table, a short rope with a little wooden ball protruding from it. “If ya give that rope a tug, there’s a chalk board.” He shot Cantor a friendly wink. “Ya can use that if ya like, ta do illustrations.” He said with his overly cheery and enlightening voice. From the moment Cantor stepped into the room, he instantly took a liking to the lime maned stallion. His smile, his body language, his brilliant voice all massed to a personification of, what both stallions would call, ‘a good laugh’.

Cantor didn’t hesitate in rising from his chair and pulling out the promised blackboard. With as much effort as it would take to draw a card from an envelope, the board slid out and crossed nearly the entire width of the room until it caught on the latch and stopped abruptly. Thanking the earth pony, who was really rather appropriately named ‘Chester’, Cantor paced around to in front of the huge blackboard, turning to the room to see it from a different perspective. The room was painted pure white, but there were enough health and safety posters and advertisements all over them to prevent someone from really deeming it a particular colour. Standing at the blackboard, looking into the room, on the right hoof side of a cumbersome grey plastic table sat princess Celestia closest to the front, an empty seat where Cantor was sitting and then princess Luna at the back. Behind the two alicorn mares, somewhere near the top of the wall, there resided a cork board, absolutely jammed full of hoof-written notes and scruffily drawn diagrams. It looked as if somepony had just gone round collecting all the tiny scraps of paper they could find and stuffed it onto the board, as with the occasional glance, Cantor could see no correlation with the notes at all. Where one small piece of paper could have hundreds of tiny words scrawled onto it, right next to it could be a much larger sheet of crumpled paper which simply read “Storage freezer out of bounds to grade 2 and lower employees.”

At the rear of the room, a lightly stained pine door lead to Celestia knows where with a sign merely reading “All staff must display grade 7 or above ID when accessing this door.” To the left of the seemingly threatening door, there sat a small potted palm tree that had obviously seen better days. Many leaves were golden brown and drooping, and the few that were green seemed frail and anaemic, like it had not been watered for days. It probably hadn’t.

To the left of the room sat the three scientists; the two unicorns and one earth pony. All of whom had their ideas about particle physics destroyed by Cantor in an instant, yet maybe now he would be able to shed some light on the subject, no pun intended. None of the scientists held a grudge – how could they? Cantor was only trying to help; the more they knew about how the universe worked, the better prepared they could be for the day of the launch, which lied just over one month away from the present. Behind the scientists sat a small window with an unnecicerally thick frame surrounding it, providing observations to a four-storey high shaft. There were four levels of metal observation floors encircling the main shaft, ladled with ponies going busily about their work. In the centre of the shaft, there was the spaceship itself. 

It was a leviathan of a craft, nearly one hundred feet long with a cubical body around twelve feet across. It was designed by Canterlot artists as a ‘what if’ kind of fantasy. However, when a certain male alicorn began to speak about ridiculously implausible theories and relativity which, when tested, turned out to be correct, this idea of something going so far from the ground that they won’t actually return seemed quite plausible. Elements of the ship had to be altered to Cantor’s specifications. For example, one of the preposterous things he mentioned was that there was no air to breathe in space. Everypony laughed at him, until he invited two royal guards to fly with him to the edge of space. As well as infinitely beautiful, the theory of intense breathlessness also proved evident. This was the fact that convinced Celestia’s expansive team of scientists to begin this herculean task.

Even now, Cantor still suggested additions and improvements to the vessel. One thing he mentioned was that there was no gravity in space. Now this force was well known, yet rarely researched among ponies, so what Cantor said was really all they had to go by. That was, until he designed and helped build a ridiculously dangerous machine that, as he predicted, would increase Equestria’s gravity, relative to whoever was inside it, he explained. The devise was an enormous motor with one outstretched arm harbouring a large pod at the end of it where a pony would sit and be spun around in an enormous circle by the motor. Cantor was the first to try out this new, curious device. It wasn’t that he was requested to, rather, he volunteered hysterically. The machine, as predicted, made everything seem heavier for the pony in the pod. This evidence only came after Cantor had had his turn; the only information he fed back to the scientists of his experiences were “Faster! Faster!” Until he passed out. When he came to, the first words to pass his lips were: “I want to go again!” 

Besides the encroaching details, the spaceship looked astonishing, though only inside in the dark: once it reached the outside world however, it would be as breathtaking as the place in which it was going.

“Right now…” Cantor began, gripping the chalk tightly in his magic, estimating a reasonable place to start his drawings on the smeared black board. “This,” Said the alicorn, drawing a wavy line which began really rather smoothly on the right side of the board and proceeded to become more and more compressed as he neared the left. “Is the electro-magnetic spectrum I was talking about.” He affirmed, turning back to his audience who were making a show about readying themselves for their lecture. The red earth pony stallion slouched down in his dark blue plastic seat and rested a foreleg over the table, staring intently at the board and Cantor. The other two unicorns, the orange male named Test Tube, and the midnight purple mare, who majored in astronomy, called Globe Trotter took a similar stance, yet rather more composed as to one or the other relative to the easy going red stallion sat furthest away from Cantor.

All ponies in the room, spare Cantor, wore vacant expressions. Not the likely expressions of a fool, however, these faces showed a willingness to learn; their minds were focused on nothing else other than gaining knowledge. “Over here we have radio waves-“ He began, drawing a box around the smoothly rolling area of the wavy line as he was interrupted by Test Tube.

“And what, pray tell, are they for?” The orange stallion enquired, brushing a stray strand of navy hair out of his face to get a fraction of a better look.

Cantor stared silently for a minute, remembering how anything like TVs and radios were non-existent in Equestria. “Well, um… they’re uhh…” He stuttered, thinking of some way to explain. “They’re like… an ‘invisible’ piece of string that can carry digital information...” Needless to say, his onlookers were none the wiser. The white stallion dragged a hoof down his face and groaned. “Don’t worry… I… They’re not that important. Basically, this whole thing,” He said, wavering over the entire squiggly line with his hoof. “is what light is made of.” The faces he received were that of, if not before, now completely and utterly bewildered.

“What… light, is… made of?...” Asked Globe Trotter, tilting her head to the side so that her glasses slid down her nose a little. 

“Yes.” Cantor simply answered, boxing off a tiny piece of the wavy line somewhere in the centre. “This, is the section of the spectrum where visible light lies. Everything outside of this box is, strictly speaking, invisible.”

“Then how do you know that they are there?” Asked Test tube, a little more aggravated than needed. He could already see the conversation begin to fall back into the same pattern as the previous three.

Cantor sighed briefly in mild frustration, scouring his memory for science lessons years ago. “Now I know we did the spectrum in year ten…” He muttered quietly to himself, before a tidal wave of synapse reactions cascaded through his mind and he practically screamed “Frequencies!”, causing everypony in the room to jump out of their seat a little.

“Frequencies!?” Cried Celestia, more out of shock at Cantor’s outburst than his terminology.

“Yes!” Cantor cried back, locating an eraser and furiously rubbing out the electromagnetic spectrum and drawing two ridiculously crude boxes that were supposed to represent a certain radio transmitter which he remembered fondly his ex-armed forces science teacher explaining in great detail. The alicorn remembered muttering something about never needing to know this in the future, yet right now he found himself blushing at his own naivety.

“These are walkie-talkies…” Cantor said, gesturing to the two stretched boxes with a little circle at the top as well as a little line protruding from the left hoof corner of each.

Once again, but hopefully for the last time, the atmosphere in the room dropped to way below the slightest gesture to understanding, yet Cantor felt ridiculously proud that he remembered a science lesson that he had turned up late to more than two years ago. “They use radio waves to carry somepony’s voice. It’s all to do with…” He trailed off, outstretching his ears, waiting for the so called scientists to answer , but when all who answered him were silent, he began to stutter like a parent would, teaching their foal to speak. “F… Fr…. Frrreee-“

“Frequencies!” A dark blue alicorn cried out with a huge and rather impish grin. 

“Very good, Luna…” Cantor humoured the princess, nodding his head slowly with somewhat of a real sense of impression. “Have a gold star.” The younger princess blushed and seemed to shrink a little as everypony chuckled at her expense. “Seriously though,” Cantor began, his tone turning solemn and meaningful. “If everything that emits light emits radio waves, then these things are possible... Ha...” Cantor smirked. "I should teach maths..." He frowned and shook his head. “I don’t know the ‘ins and outs’ of walkie-talkies, but I’m just here to give you a push in the right direction, not do your job for you.” The stallion’s eyes widened and his mouth fell ever so slightly agape as the appalled faces of not only the scientists, but also the princesses came into focus.

“Sorry.” Cantor apologised, bowing his head slightly in self-depreciation. “I- I didn’t mean for it to come out like that, I’m… ‘m sorry…” He mumbled, and the ponies in lab coats became somewhat sympathetic. 

“It’s alright, Cantor.” Said Test Tube softly. “We know what you mean.” Cantor looked up, and the navy maned stallion shot him a reassuring wink with his kind green eye.

“Thanks…” Replied Cantor with a sheepish little laugh and a slight head dip.

“Please continue, Cantor.” Test Tube insisted, bearing his most placid smile.

Without saying another word on the matter, Cantor quickly turned back to the board. “Frequencies are wavelengths.” He didn’t even need to turn around to feel the lost faces burning into him. “Wavelengths are… well, the length of a wave – like a radio wave.” Cantor explained, drawing another wavy line between the two walkie-talkies. “Let’s say this radio wave has a wavelength of… uhhh… ten metres.” He continued, editing his design to show this information. “And let’s say the frequency is… fifty Herts.” He drew a small ‘50Hz’ below the wave. “Don’t ask me why frequency is measured in Hertz, it’s just named after the guy who studied this kind of stuff.” The alicorn said, shaking his head dismissively at the black board.

“Basically, if this walkie-talkie broadcasts a frequency of fifty Hertz, and this one is programmed to receive a frequency of fifty Hertz, then whatever somepony says into either walkie-talkie, the other one will pick up and replicate what has been said!” Explained Cantor, his tone becoming more and more excited as he realised he was making sense with himself. 

“That’s…” Started Globe Trotter, frowning down at the heavily varnished table. “Incredible!” She cried in an almost sensual tone. “Would this really work?” The mare asked, leaning in towards Cantor, nearly knocking her glass half full of water over as she did so, her dark, intelligent eyes sparkled with a little wonderment.

“Yes.” Cantor answered, nodding his head and smiling with pride and a strong sense of accomplishment. “In fact, with all the technology and equipment I don’t understand on board that ship, I‘m surprised you guys haven’t come up with something like this already.” 

“Ta be honest…” Chester began, whipping his light green mane to the side as he spoke to clear his vision. “We ‘ain’t really looked into the subject, but with this information you’ve given us; how much it would benefit this entire operation, we’ll definitely git you guys some of these for your expedition.” He said with a cheery as always grin, instilling confidence and kinship in Cantor’s eyes.

“Ah, that reminds me.” Celestia hastily spoke, rising to her hooves and stepping aside, the movement quickly followed by her sister. “Let us pay a visit to your crew.” She spoke, opening the door with her magic – a rare feat to see the princess (especially Celestia) doing something for herself. Not that her habitual ways were a problem, far the opposite in fact, and it wasn’t the fact that she was lazy, not at all, just the sight of Celestia simply open a door for herself made a couple of the ponies present frown briefly. But they thought nothing of it, or at least, they didn’t bother making a mental note of this uncommon sight.

“My… crew?” Cantor asked, following Celestia around the table, past the perishing plant and up to her side before she left the white walled room to step out into the bright blue vastness of the engineering shaft. 

“That’s right, Cantor.” The solar princess replied, halting herself and turning to face her smaller subject. “A unique team of eight ponies who are specialists in their own field of work: better than anypony else could ever hope to become.” She turned her gaze skyward, rather, ceiling-ward as she recollected the eight ponies in her head. “There are two paramedics, two scribes, three mercenaries, highly trained in martial arts and relentlessly brave.” She frowned and looked back towards Cantor, who was vaguely listening as she continued, not harbouring an expression of thoughtfulness or remembrance, rather, this particular frown depicted malice concern. “And Faith.” Celestia added, her tone troubled and aphoristic.

“Faith?” Asked Cantor, tilting his head and cocking an eyebrow; the sudden change of atmosphere radiating from the princess captivating his attention. “Who’s that?”

Celestia discovered herself to be short of words. “I… she…” The princess stumbled, her speech tripping over the awesome facts within her brain. “I’ll explain later.” Celestia said, clocking the nosy scientists who were all listening to the conversation adamantly, their ears raised and their eyes perfectly still. 

Clearing her throat in an attempt to return a sense of hierarchy to the room, Celestia spoke up again towards the three lab coats. “I trust I can allow you to study these… talking devices Cantor spoke of?” She asked with a smile.

“Of course, your highness.” Test Tube spoke up. Out of the three scientists, he appeared to be in charge, and it was also apparent that he liked it that way. “We’ll get right onto it and could maybe have a prototype ready in… one week.” He replied, his muddy brown eyes scanning the white mare’s form.

“Wonderful.” Celestia simply replied with a content nod. “Carry on, then.” And with that being said, she left, practicing her decorum until she was outside of the room.

“Yes, your majesty.” Test Tube called from inside the room. “Have a pleasant day.” He added, smiling rather contingently. 

“Thank you.” Came the regal mare’s reply from outside. “You too.”

Cantor waited for Luna to pass through the door and give her farewell before he turned back to the now larger seeming office and bid good afternoon to his three new acquaintances before he too joined the two celestial mares on the long metal scaffolding that stretched along the side of the wall overlooking the huge space craft. Before he could get too much of an eyeful of the spectacular vehicle, Celestia pulled him back from fantasy.

“Why don’t we take a look at some of the weapons you will be equipped with on your trip?” Celestia proposed, stopping a little less instantly than Cantor did. Craning her head around, she discovered that the stallion appeared a little less than amused. 

“Weapons?” He asked with a heavy, scowling frown. “As in… bullets? Guns?” The princess nodded slowly. Then and there, he began to doubt Celestia, question her intentions. He had stressed how much he would hate to see any kind of firearm in Equestria, and now the princess had completely gone against his will and created high-velocity death behind his back. Needless to say, he wasn’t impressed, yet when he stressed his displeasure towards the subject, Celestia had shown the utmost maturity and concern towards Cantor’s queries, quelling the stallion’s accusations to some extent, yet he made it blindingly obvious that he wasn’t the least bit happy about her plans. 

“If anything…” Cantor began as the three alicorns continued along their path. “And I mean anything goes wrong-“

“I assure you, everything is fine.” Celestia interrupted as they neared an enormous steel door, a foot thick, and guarded by two masked individuals, their coats and the upper part of their tails wrapped in tight black leather. Cantor looked up at her and burned an evil, hateful glare into her mind with his incinerating amber eyes. At first, Celestia was tempted to back down, but finding her own reason to call about her authority, she spat back at Cantor as harshly as he was staring at her. “Don’t you dare look at me like that.” 

Pure hatred flashed across the stallion’s face for a second, wracking Celestia’s body with a painful, icy chill before every ounce of the male alicorn’s anger depleated as hydraulics lifted the immensely heavy door from it’s setting in the floor with a whisperous hiss, granting the three ponies access to a higher level of the facility.

“I’m sorry, princess…” Cantor muttered, obviously mentally kicking himself for being so ruthlessly atrocious. Unable to find the words to justify himself, Cantor merely repeated his apology. “I’m so sorry… I… I don’t know what came over me…” He applied great pressure to his right eye with the base of his hoof, in a fashion as if he were trying to quell a migraine.

“It’s fine, my child.” Celestia replied, stepping from the metal grate of a floor onto the hard enamel coated concrete walkway illuminated by dingy green lights, the walls nearly bare except for signs and jet black arrows at corners, directing ponies to places they really should know their way to. The regal alicorn shared a frail chuckle with herself as she added: “We aren’t going to have any more negativity today, however, are we?” 

Trying with all his might to say “No”, Cantor couldn’t win the battle between a new, darker presence within his own mind. “…We’ll see…” He grumbled under his breath. At least, the words came from the stallion’s mouth, even if he did not fully mean them.

At this notion, Celestia remained as silent as the dead, even controlling her breathing. She wouldn’t dare risk provoking Cantor again, and for what she had already done to him, Celestia figured that the male deity needed some rest from his darker side. Braving a sticky swallow, Celestia took a breath to say something else, yet stopped dead in her tracks when Cantor spoke next.

“Hey, thanks for getting me out of there before I had to explain how rainbows aren’t only made with that plasma stuff again…” Cantor spoke, smiling softly to himself as he quickly paced along by the princesses’ side.

Celestia and Luna exchanged puzzled, and maybe even frightened glances before the white one chose to speak next. “What… What do you mean, Cantor?” She asked, her pearlescent mane seeming to flow more slowly out in front of her all of a sudden.

“Don’t worry.” Cantor replied, his smile fading into obscurity behind an unreadable face. “Even I don’t understand.” He had a brief and deathly quiet chuckle with himself before returning to his solemn pacing. 

Celestia didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know what to think, even what to feel. All she knew, was that something inside her friend had snapped: made him different, and the omniscient mare had an awful feeling that she knew what it was. She decided to remain silent, after all, saying nothing was the way to ensure she said nothing wrong. That was the right attitude… Wasn’t it? She decided to force the irk thoughts to the back of her mind, and focus on what had happened to her friend, rather, why whatever had happened had indeed happened. Strange how Cantor could go from completely placid and friendly to seething, despicable hatred and back again in an instant nowadays…

…It was as if he were two different ponies… 


*****


“Twelve gauge, semi-automatic, wide burst angle, high velocity low – recoil light combat buckshot gun.” Spoke a musky cream stallion with dark green hair, casting his overbearing shadow over Cantor, the eighteen year old alicorn. 

“Oh, god…” Cantor whimpered in response.

“With laser sights.” The stallion added, adjusting his eye patch a smidgen before giving a chesty cough into his hoof and raising himself up in front of Cantor so that his face was silhouetted by the blazing afternoon sun. “What do you think?” He asked as the female scientist, wearing some kind of telescopic mask finished strapping the curious piece of metal to his right foreleg and poking a thick needle with a small light at the tip into the alicorn’s shoulder blade. Cantor winced a little, but then cried out in pain as an explosive delta of needles unfurled from the original needle, penetrating deep inside his flesh and probing into his nerves. 

“Well, I…” Cantor spoke slowly, rolling his leg around in it’s socket to try and assert the mild scraping pain his bones felt whenever he moved. “I… I think that…” He continued before he was interrupted by the rather large and imposing stallion. 

“Give it a try.” He said, smiling something other than happily down at Cantor where he rested on his haunches, the deep scar over his cheek contorting as he did so. “Then you can tell us what you really think.” His smile suggested pride in his work, whereas his chilling lilac eye told a different tale. “All you have to do is tense your leg and the weapon will fire.”

Cantor rose to his hooves, keeping an eerie type of eye-contact with the ruggedly built pony’s one good eye. He now stood outside after following Celestia a very long way down a ridiculously long hallway into some kind of courtyard that overlooked a wide expanse of brush land. As far as Cantor knew, there were no fields of this type anywhere near Canterlot, and so was forced to assume that they were far, far away from the city now. Three of the courtyard’s light brown walls were chiselled into the mountainside, forming an enormous box of rock and stone, the only entry point, a small opening to the excruciatingly endless corridor at the rear. The floor was thick with dust and felt surprisingly comfortable despite the mental pressure it’s whereabouts instilled into it’s visitors.

Celestia and Luna stood behind Cantor and observed along with several more soldiers as the deadly piece of engineering was strapped to his leg. The ten or so soldiers who populated the area were of a higher discipline and skill level than that of the guards one would expect to see around Canterlot castle. Whereas the gold-clad pegasi were merely there for intimidation and décor, these soldiers stood around the alicorn stallion were massively built, each one fully capable of snapping a tree in two and their muscles bulged out from beneath their pelts. You could be forgiven for thinking that one of the stallions present was Big Macintosh: they had the correct build, though in a line up, the huge red farm colt would appear larger, just.

Without dwelling on thoughts about the rugged stallions around him burning his soul with their trained, experienced eyes, Cantor outstretched his arm, now heavy with an extra five kilos of metal wrapped around it and began to get to grips with his supplier of death. The gun felt strange: cold, dense, but at the same time, half the weight it appeared to be from looks alone. There were two large rings at either end of the weapon which fit snugly around the stallion’s leg and another two leather straps which fastened the weapon tight. A long muzzle stretched along the top of the gun and came to an abrupt stop just before Cantor’s hoof, where an inch or so down from the end, a much smaller, thinner piece of metal dowel with a miniscule bulb shot a perfectly straight line of red to wherever Cantor aimed. To aid in accuracy, there was also a little hoop of metal which framed a glass semi-circle with a luminous red dot in the centre. There was an entrance to the chamber of the gun, where ten blood red shells were somehow stored inside, cocked, and ready to fire.

A sturdy control panel resided in the corner of the clearing, seeming to want to become detached from the rest of the ponies there. A young mare, tightly dressed in black, wearing the same uniform as the one who had attached Cantor’s buckshot gun made her way a little less than hastily over to the panel of switches, levers and buttons. Along the left side of the box atop the thin metal podium lay a plethora of tiny red buttons, to the right, there were many, many silver switches and a large red handle with no words to refer to what it's purpose was. As well as a few larger buttons of various colours unlike the ones on the right.

The mare prodded the tip of her hoof onto three of the starfeild of miniscule red buttons, and each lit up bright orange. She then proceeded to tug on the large handle on the device and three wooden cut-outs of ponies rose up from slits in the floor at the edge of the cliff face with a dull electrical hum and juddered to a halt, swaying slightly despite the absence of wind.

“What’s this?” Asked Cantor, holding the gun to the floor as he stood, turning to face Celestia with a bewildered and shocked expression. Luna, who stood intimately close to her sister scooted a little closer, frightful of Cantor’s expression as much as Celestia was beginning to become.

The white princess shuffled nervously in her golden shoes and found it difficult to shift her eyes away from Cantor’s red hot stare. “Um…” She began, speaking a lot quieter than usual. “This- this is a… t- target practice exercise, Cantor.” She said, scared as to what the stallion might say or do next. Hopefully her other subjects wouldn’t pick up on this, however her frightful dialect rang loud and clear through the entire mountainside, and everypony there darted their heads between the two alicorns as they each took a turn to speak.

“But…” Cantor said, peeking at the targets behind him. “Why are the targets ponies?” He turned back to Celestia, his eyes showing an acute sense of sadness and disappointment.

If not before, now princess Celestia appeared mortified. Unable to stop herself, she spoke the words she was trying to hold down, but the white stallion in front of her, with his chillingly hot eyes of fire, forced the lethal sentence from her lips. “So we will know what would be a ‘kill-shot’.” Immediately after saying this, her eyes turned to the size of saucers and she stuffed a hoof into her mouth. Her slightly nervous frown turned upside down in complete and absolute terror as Cantor’s lips curled into the most morbid of smiles.

Shaking his head, and closing his eyes seemingly peacefully, Cantor turned around so that he was facing away from the princess. “No…” He said. “No, no, no…”

“What’s wrong?” Celestia all but whimpered, her fear now unmistakeable as she pulled her sister close with her wing.

“Nothing’s wrong, princess…” Cantor replied in a voice that was nearly demonic, stepping ever closer towards the wooden targets of ponies. “I just think it’s… such a pity to see perfectly good wood go to waste.” He spoke slowly, alluringly, tempting the devil with his tone. “Perfectly good wood which could go to making…” He pouted as he thought, though the only ones who could see his face were the blank pieces of MDF staring back. “…Tables… Chairs… Cabinets…” His face fell from an eerily cheery to that of a grim scowl as he finished. “…Or… Coffins…”

Luna felt her sister’s wing tense around her small, slender body. Peering up with needy eyes, all she saw in her larger sister’s face was unrivalled dread. “Why waste perfectly good wood to see what shot is how - you - so - quaintly - put it: a… ‘kill… shot’…” Cantor continued, spitting his words, caressing the thin face of the wooden pony in the centre of the three before he turned about himself swiftly, raising his gargantuan wings above his head and high into the air, extending his right foreleg towards Celestia so that a small red dot appeared dead in-between her eyes.

Everypony present (except for the lifeless dead trees) gasped in the utmost exasperation, and all who were wearing a weapon of their own thrust it towards Cantor. In an instant, the white stallion’s body grew ablaze with red points of light, trembling ever so slightly, the situation now a show about reactions. “When we can see if the shot will indeed kill?...” Cantor finished, his head twitching once as he spoke.

Celestia pushed Luna away with her wing and sunk to her knees in the dirt, trembling in frightful abhorrence as the laser that would kill her never moved from her face. The dark blue alicorn stepped to the side and observed in horror as her best friend slowly approached her sister, bearing a weapon capable of blasting her head clean off of her shoulders and began to water at the eyes as the impossibly heavy sensation of helplessness consumed her mind.

The once dignified mare who now cowered in the dirt clasped her trembling front hooves together and begged Cantor for sense. “Please.” She whispered frantically, desperately trying to hold back tears of dismay, and failing hard. “Please don’t do this, Cantor, please.” She whimpered, burying her face into her forelegs as her eyes burst with tears.

By now, Cantor was stood directly above Celestia, bearing his steely tool of treason. “Why did you make the targets ponies!?” Cantor growled through clenched teeth.

“I- I thought…” Celestia sobbed into her front legs, trembling like a tiny leaf in a hurricane. “I thought… it would be-“

“Thought it would be WHAT!?” Cantor roared, forcing the muzzle of the gun under the princess’ head and turning her face to his, using the weapon like a crowbar. “Did you think I would like to shoot at ponies for practice!? Kill the things I love for FUN!?”

Celestia sucked in a breath, and building her courage, managed to force her majestic, intelligent, vital words from her lips. “Huh!” She gasped a breath. “Isn’t that what you’re doing now?” She encroached in a voice as trembling as her body, staring straight into that stallion’s troubled eyes past the long tube of metal he was pressing into her forehead, wordlessly pleading for sanity, but with Cantor's next words, she knew that she had won. 

Cantor let out a gasp that sounded as if something invisible had just torn itself from his body. He stumbled backwards breathlessly and slowly turned his eyes downwards towards his foreleg, which was now trembling in a manner such as Celestia’s entire being was. “I…” He gasped, his words ragged stabs which caught in his throat. “I’m… so... sorry…” Gritting his teeth, the stallion slashed his head in a wide ark as his horn flared violet. Time stood still for a fleeting moment, then the straps and loops of metal binding the buckshot gun to Cantor’s arm fell apart and slid to the floor, landing with a dampened clunk in the dust. He bit his bottom lip and tears could be seen forming in his eyes as lashings of blood began to seep from a huge gash running the length of his leg where he had sliced the vile, corrupting device from.

“Lower your weapons.” Ordered the beige earth pony, only now getting over the initial shock of the incident. When none of the soldiers complied, he grew something more than agitated. “Drop your weapons, NOW!” He yelled, and a smattering of mutters and nervous coughs reverberated through the mountain as the lasers slowly trailed from Cantor’s body to the floor. The one-eyed stallion turned to the heavily bleeding alicorn and started furiously. “What the hell is wrong with-“

Cantor held up a hoof, therefore silencing a pony three times his weight made of pure muscle. Without making eye contact, merely grimacing over his shoulder, face stricken with pain, none at all physical, focusing on Celestia, who was now resting on her knees, tears still stained upon her cheeks, yet she was able to make coherent eye contact. “Don’t follow me.” He ordered in a hurt, and forbidding tone. And with that, he fizzled away from existence, leaving a scattering of purple and white sparks skipping around in the dust where his hooves once were, along with a tiny pool of blood.

A deadly silence pressed itself over the mountain and the refreshing breeze stopped as if Cantor were the only one keeping it alive, and with his parting, the elements had left with him. Helping her sister upward, Luna probed the solar princess for guidance, and maybe a little reassurance. “I want to go after him, sister.” Luna declared, receiving a foreboding stare from Celestia, her worry evident even past the idle tears.

“Are you quite sure that is wise?” The white mare queried, her brow folded into a concerned frown.

“Tia…” Luna started, completely diminishing the presence of the ponies around her. “You know as well as I do that he would have never done anything to hurt you.” She affirmed with a confident nod.

Celestia merely agreed with a nod of her own. “Correct.” She softly and slowly said. “But he hasn’t been himself at all lately.” 

“I know.” Luna admitted, furrowing her brow at the floor momentarily, as if it had done something wrong. “I know it’s him, but…” She broke off, telling this to herself more than anypony else. “…It’s as if he’s two different ponies.”


*****


The Everfree Forest, as always, was dark, dingy and damp - an ambience that was far the opposite to relaxing came in the form of groaning, scratching, and long, distant roars. The branches of the Trappery trees hung low, thick blue vines bore inedible fruit to those who valued their sanity.  There lay a clearing upon the forest floor, overlooking a vast lake with a mirror-like appearance, the other side of the expanse of water invisible past the dense clouds of fog which saturated the area, effectively soaking anything and everything it touched until nothing was left dry and warm in this ill forest. Crickets chirped loudly every now and then, usually, one would start the swarm of whistles and screeches off until the air was ablaze with painless screaming, and then, it would die back down, re-alerting a lone white alicorn to the horrors which plagued this land.

He overlooked the perfectly still water after running his stare along his fixed foreleg. The blood, as well as the self-inflicted, (self deserved) laceration had been rid from his body, and now everything appeared in order. Everything except the young stallion’s mind. His head was ablaze with thoughts and accusations which didn't strictly make sense. The intense amount of regret was almost audible within his conscience, but maybe it was just the crickets, or the baying manticores some miles away.

“What the hell did you do?” He asked his reflection, and oddly enough, yet as no huge surprise, his reflection replied.

“It is not so much as what I have done, rather, what it is that you have done…” Cantor’s image replied, his voice gruff and intimidating. “You’re the one who pulled a gun on the princess, somepony you regard as your own mother.” 

“But I didn’t mean to!” Cantor argued back, waving his still rather sore foreleg about in the fog before he returned it under his stomach and leaned forward from where he lay for a better view. “At least… I didn’t want to…”

“Why the fuck not?” The reflection spat, his evil grin making up for his lack of volume. “You never loved your real mother, so why should you love Celestia?”

“Because she’s the only one who loved me back!” Cantor snapped, forcing himself to turn away momentarily. “She’s the one who taught me what love could mean; she’s the one who showed Twilight to me.”

“And you thank her by threatening to blow her brains out?”

“No, I didn’t!” The physical alicorn cried, returning his head back to the reflection which stared evilly back up at him in the water. “It was an accident. Given the choice, I’d rather blow my own brains out than Celestia’s.” He sighed, tracing small circles in the moist ground with his hoof. “I just don’t know what came over me…”

“Oh, really?” The apparition of the stallion asked, raising an eyebrow as he talked. “Are you sure?” It asked.

“What do you mean?” 

“Are you sure that you don’t just hate Celestia?”

“N- No… Of course I don’t…”

“You don’t want to see her live if you have to exploit yourself for her own selfish desires?”

“It’s not like that.”

“Maybe you hate Twilight Sparkle even more?” The voice asked demonically, obviously trying to snatch the better of Cantor. "Maybe you wanted to indirectly attack her by killing her mentor - and oldest friend."

“Definitely not.” Answered Cantor swiftly, glaring at his reflection. “Yow could you even propose something like that? I love Twilight more than you could ever know, and nothing you say is going to change that!” He ended up shouting, smiling despite himself, feeling much more within his own mind with his thoughts orientated around the mare he loved.

“What a load of shit.” The reflection spitefully spat, stirring feelings of anger within Cantor.

The alicorn grimaced and scowled with the deepest of hatred towards his imposing reflection. “Hey, shut up!” He barked fiercely. “You don’t know me; you can’t tell me how to live my life!” Cantor stood to attention, bearing over the lake whilst still yelling at his grinning reflection. “Now… Fuck off and leave me alone!” He punched the water, eviscerating the reflection in a flurry of waves and water. The water ‘splooshed’ loudly, and the sound echoed across the enormous expanse as large ripples followed, corrupting the dead flat finish the pool held and replacing it with massive arcing ripples, only noticeable by the shadows they were creating in the absence of light before they slowly disappeared from what might as well have been existence under the thick blanket of fog.

Cantor sobbed, and a tear rolled the length of his face and paused on his chin for a fleeting moment before being washed away into the waters below his hooves. “I’m sorry, princess…” He muttered, not hating himself, nor pitying his awful outbreak, rather, all he wanted to do now was make everything alright. “I’m so, so-“

A rustling caught his ear and he spun around to see where the sound was coming from. Directly behind him, the leaves on the bushes were shaking noisily as something black pushed it’s way through. The entire length of Cantor’s horn flared violet and he braced himself for whatever foul, hideous being would emerge, ready to tear it to shreds if it grew to close. After what seemed like an eternity of hissing leaves and snapping twigs, the figure emerged, it’s body scratched by the probing branches, it’s mane scattered with leaves and it’s wings scruffy, feathers all out of place.

“Princess Luna?” Cantor asked in semi-disbelief, his horn fading until it radiated nothing at all.

The alicorn mare merely cleared the bushes, allowing the huge leaves to clash back together behind her and stared meekly at Cantor, keeping her distance, just in case the stallion was still not himself. She appeared to be in distress, yet not all too exasperated; as if she were frightened, but still had some sense of courage within her profound eyes and reserved physique. 

“What are you doing here?” Cantor asked, his eyes reflecting something such as an appeasement of his confusion and distress . 

The princess took a step closer, keeping an air of cautiousness around her. “I followed you.” She said, her voice like a guardian angel, protecting the stallion from harming himself further. “I know you said not to. I’m sorry for that, but I couldn’t just let you leave – I’m sorry… And even though you teleported away, I knew you’d be here…” She softly spoke, edging closer still. Cantor merely observed her approach until she was only a few feet away. Both ponies stood perfectly still for a moment, waiting for the other to speak. They both knew what was coming, but Luna knew she would never get answers from Cantor unless she asked questions. “What happened, Cantor?...” She asked, breathing the words with disappointment, her slow shakes of her head made the stallion feel awful; not only had he threatened, scared and felt hatred towards Celestia, but more seriously than that: Luna had lost faith in him, something neither of them would have ever thought could happen.

“I don’t know…” Cantor sighed, finding nothing else to say to justify his actions even slightly. Small tears formed in both corners of his eyes. “I just… ahh…” He sighed, as if the weight of the world were on his shoulders, turning around and falling to his haunches, overlooking the water. “I just lost… Something. I didn’t loose control like before; I knew exactly what I was doing, but…” He turned to his left, to where Luna now sat, staring deeply into his eyes, piercing his soul and scanning his thoughts with her lustrous green-blue eyes. “…A part of me – something that isn’t me, but is inside me…” His eyes became huge and the original tears fell down his cheeks. “I really wanted to pull the trigger back then, Luna…” He finished quite darkly, his face showing not so much as a slither of emotion, despite his crying.

The princess’ eyes fell to the moist ground for a moment in a few seconds of intense contemplation. When she looked back up, she wore a seldom seen expression of earnest upon her face. “This lake, Cantor…” She began, nodding to the water, which had now returned to the crystalline surface it held previously. “The waters show us what we fear the most. I’ve come here many, many times whenever I’ve felt as cripplingly down as you do right now.” She turned to Cantor, her usually carefree eyes fraught with a grim truth. “Every time I come here I see the same face looking back at me.” She peered over the water’s edge, seeing a jet black mare with lizard green eyes and sky blue armour staring back. Expecting the inevitable, the princess merely turned away, trying to block out her past. 

“What we fear the most is not always monsters, ghouls and pain.” Luna clarified, her mane depicting the night sky wafting dozily in front of her face. “The thing that we fear the most is hurting the ones closest to us. No matter how much they can make us hate them, we would never want to see them in harm’s way. Even now, several years after my return to Equestria after a thousand years of festering hate, heartbreaking loneliness and an unjustifiable act, I still regret ever turning my back on my sister.”

She shuffled closer to Cantor and lied down with him, resting her head on his neck as she poured her heart out to somepony she trusted even more than her own sister. “I hated her…” She said. Cantor could feel her head shaking against his neck. “I hated my sister so much. I wanted her dead, I never wanted to see her ever again. Ever…” Luna choked on her words, as a little of the torturous pain seeped back from her many overbearing memories. “But when that became reality, I… I took it all back in an instant… Every second, for every day, for all of those thousand years, I didn’t hate Celestia, I didn’t hate the sun, nor did I hate the world I was excluded from.” The princess craned her neck around so that she had Cantor locked in a touching emotional embrace, their hearts colliding in their gaze. “I hated myself.” She finished, her eyes streaming with incomprehensive pain and agony which could never make up for her thousand years worth of hurt.

Cantor put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in tight. It was the best he could do to offer comfort at a time like this. He could tell that Luna was hurting, (who wouldn’t be?) but the worst part of it all was that he had no Idea what to say to cheer her up; this whole episode had spouted because of him, and nothing he could say or do could make up for it. “You have no idea what it’s like.” Luna sniffled over Cantor’s shoulder, tears streaming from closed eyes. “When somepony says to you: ‘A thousand years’, you know that’s a long time.” She continued, tightening her grip around the stallion. Cantor did something he’d always wanted to: to feel one of the princesses’ enchanted, flowing manes. He gently smoothed his hoof over Luna’s neck, in a strange way becoming enthralled by the fluidic sensation of weightless water which ran through every shimmering strand.

“A thousand years…” She muttered, now less pained, rather, she was simply talking, now finally having someone to talk to. More specifically, someone who was willing to listen. “Sometimes it’s easy to loose track of time; become unaware as to what’s important in life because you’re so happy, so content that everything is going perfectly. But when you’re secluded from the only pony you can call family, when you don’t even have a pet to talk to, you feel every single second like a stab straight through the heart.” She pulled back once again to look Cantor in the eyes, tears stained on her cheeks, but she had stopped crying. “It’s a fate worse than death; no matter what anypony has done, no matter what malicious atrocities they have committed, no one deserves to go through what I went through… No one.”

“I’m sorry, Luna.” Cantor sighed, his voice reflecting despair. “I can’t even begin to imagine what that must have felt like.” The princess’ speech had stirred up his emotions, and now he had forgotten why he had ever lashed out at Celestia. Again, he had unearthed the regret in his heart, but now he was reminded exactly why he had befriended Celestia in the first place, and the traits she possessed that made her perfect.

“No.” Luna replied sternly, frowning up at the stallion, his eyes widening with surprise. “I don’t want you to confide with me. I want you to promise me that something like that will never happen to you.” She affirmed, the fire of Cantor's eyes burning within her own as she spoke with the utmost empowerment.

“Okay, Luna.” Cantor replied with a firm nod of agreement. “I promise. No more violence, no more harsh thoughts. From now on, I’m gonna be the old Cantor; the one everypony loves.” He smiled, a kind of smile that showed he cared a great deal about the matter at hoof, and that he had resolved it. With himself, and metaphorically, with Celestia too. "Whatever is making me feel so angry all of a sudden, whatever makes me want to hate my friends, I can keep it locked away." His grin rotated slightly into a smirk. "Mental strength has always been one of my strong points, among other things, like... good looks... creativity... my... natural suavé charm... and, of course... modesty..."

“Perfect." Said Luna cheerily, sharing a little giggle with herself. "It’s great to have the old you back.” She affirmed, her happy smile and sparkling eyes more than content in the indistinctly resolved situation.

Although Cantor’s smile quickly faded, he was still a long way from upset as he re-evaluated his previous memories. “I guess I owe someone an apology…” He muttered, turning to Luna as she nodded her head rapidly in agreement. “Welp…” He grunted, climbing to his hooves and taking a stance to the blue princess’ side as she herself stood. “No time like the present. Come on, Luna!” Quipped the alicorn, grinning foalishly towards the princess, who met his stare with a dumbfounded expression.

“Wh- what do you mean?” She returned, standing stiffly next to Cantor as he encircled her, shooting anticipatory looks her way.

After a lap of the mare, Cantor paused directly in front of her, staring into her eyes with a lopsided grin. “How far away from Canterlot are we now?” He asked. Luna merely stared.

“Uh, we- I don’t know…” She stammered, her eyes flitting about, making rough estimations in her mind. “About… three hundred miles… Why?”

“Have you ever teleported that far in an instant?” Cantor encroached, taking a step closer to Luna, obviously trying to be impressive in a cocky, light-hearted manner.

“No.” The princess replied sharply, her eyes widening a little. “I mean, I probably could, if I tried, but… I don’t… That kind of magic… I-“ Cantor’s hoof came down onto her shoulder and the princess silenced, but it was not the surprise contact that quietened the mare, rather, it was the flash of light and the sound of a strike of thunder which made Luna halt her sentence and tense up from the unexpected sensation of weightlessness. 

The pair were instantaneously transported across the few hundred miles of Equestria to Canterlot - the shooting range far away from the castle, to be exact. The dark blue princess barely had time to gasp before her surroundings were changed from the dingy musk of the forest to the blazing sun of the pony-made canyon. 

“Now you have.” Cantor quipped cockily, raising his eyebrow to seem as though he was highly impressed with himself. Probably because he was, even though he hated to admit it. But this fact could be debated later.

“Hold it right there!” That gruff voice belonging to the beige stallion with the eye patch cried out from somewhere behind Cantor. Upon turning away from the furiously blinking Luna, who was trying to adapt to the sudden and intense change in light, getting nowhere fast, Cantor saw that everypony who was there before was pretty much in the same position as they were before. However, now they all had their guns pointing towards Cantor again, his body laced with a dozen red dots. Princess Celestia was resting on her haunches at the far wall. Her panic and oppression had long since left her, but she still looked a little shaken.

Desisting in doing anything other than standing up, Celestia shot an icy stare at Cantor, unwilling to provoke him further, yet doing her best to hold her ground. 

“Look, princess…” Cantor started, taking several steps closer to the alicorn, completely oblivious to the many marks of death scattered across his body. “I don’t know what’s going on; why I feel so angry all the time lately, but whatever it is, I think it’s going to be alright from now on.” He gave a little smile of encouragement, which Celestia returned weakly whilst signalling for the other ponies to lower their guns. As the lasers dropped, Celestia’s smile broadened and she made up the distance between her and Cantor rather hastily, flinging her long forelegs around him when they met in an 'all too personal for royalty' embrace. 

“Don’t worry, Cantor.” The princess said over the stallion’s shoulder in a voice just above a whisper directly next to his ear. “It’s not your fault you feel this way.”

“What?” Cantor replied, his voice somewhat of a whisper as well. “What do you mean?” 

“Do you remember the Peripharous crystal?” She asked in her reverent tone.

“How could I not?” Said Cantor in response, cringing a little as he did so.

“Well because you…” She hushed her voice down to barely audible for the next word before returning to her previous dialect. “Because you let your darker side control you, a lot of that negative energy has been forced into the crystal, therefore making you incredibly violent and spiteful towards others since you came into direct contact with it.” Her head became heavier upon Cantor’s shoulder as she continued. “No normal pony can handle the crystal; we had to… put a scientist down because he attempted to murder his fellow lab partners with medical equipment after touching the stone. Even ponies who have meerly seen the crystal have been reported as 'uncharacteristically violent'...”

“Oh….” Cantor sighed downheartedly. “I’m sorry, princess.” He replied with the deepest sense of regret.

“Why in Equestria are you sorry?” Celestia said back, her voice a little louder and more cheerful than before, arousing an ill feeling within her own mind for changing her mood so effortlessly – especially after what she had just said. “I've said it before: if anypony is at fault here, it is me.”

“But I’m the one who lashed out at you for doing your job.” Cantor argued back.

“Well,” Said Celestia with a little chuckle. “Let’s say that we are both to blame for our actions.” She laughed, oblivious to the depth of her words, as she often was.

Cantor laughed a little too, and slid away from the princess, landing in the dust which formed a small cloud around his hooves before slowly dissipating into the air.

With a cumbersome smile of gratitude and peace, the tall, regal mare turned to address her subjects, who had become conspicuous towards the pair’s more than lengthy embrace. “Alright, everypony:” She began, her powerful voice carrying effortlessly across the large group. “We all got off to a very bad start, and this pony-“ She said, motioning a hoof towards Cantor, her golden shoe catching the sun and gleaming gorgeously. “Is an asset to the world, one of the kindest, bravest and friendliest ponies I have ever had the pleasure to meet, and seeing him act the way he did today made me far more upset than scared. You see, knowing Cantor, seeing what he has done, you can’t ever expect something like this to happen. And even though he lashed out like he did, I know it was because he truly cared.” A hubbub of murmurs and confused voices rose up briefly from the ‘crowd’, yet an undisclosed “Shhh!” Silenced them again.

“Cantor merely acted like he did because he has told me how much he was opposed to seeing firearms in Equestria after these types of weapons fuelled so much war in his… Where he’s from…“ Celestia corrected herself, already thinking that she may have said too much. The soldiers around her right now probably would not believe that Cantor was from a different world, let alone a different universe. The story would be regarded as a rumour among the entire base, and disregarded as such. But if the ponies believed her, then, who knows? Maybe they would find some kind of respect for Cantor, or maybe he would be exiled for being different. Who knows? Though whatever would happen, be that good or bad, princess Celestia didn't want to take any chances.

“Where Cantor is from,” The princess continued with her lecture, all eyes upon her. Behind Celestia, princess Luna came to stand by Cantor’s side, listening to her sister’s explanations as adamantly as every other pony there. “There is much war, so much so, that the idea of war in a place like Equestria is so daunting to him that he lashes out at anything that could be used to harm his fellow ponies. But one thing you must realise, Cantor,” Spoke Celestia in a dire tone, turning to face the alicorn beside her sister. “is that ponies… don’t fight other ponies.” She said blatantly, giving her best smile of encouragement. “It is undeniable that there is violence in Equestria between ponies, but nothing like war… These guns…” Celestia sighed, gesturing to an idle weapon perched on a small slab of stone, exactly the same model as the one Cantor had first been introduced to. “Only if used in the wrong hooves can create grief. I doubt I need to tell you, Cantor, that not everything on this good planet enjoys the fact that ponies are the dominant species, and some even try to show their hatred through violence. The weaponry you see here today has never been used in combat, but if the awful atrocity of war rises to become reality, then it will be. It will be used to protect your friends, your lover, and now, it seems, to protect your children as well.”

The solar princess finished slightly out of breath, even trembling a little. Cantor scuffed the floor, kicking up a small cloud of dust that lingered in the air for a moment before resettling. “I…” Cantor said before a heavy sigh of acceptance. “Okay, princess. I see your point and… I’m sorry I scared you, and I promise it won’t happen again.”

For the first time in a long while, Cantor bowed with overbearing respect and forgiveness before Celestia, who returned the welcome gesture with a cordial smile and a trustworthy wink.

“Wonderful.” Celestia said, her voice returning to what could be considered normal after all the deep rooted information she had just explained. “Now, I don’t suppose you would perhaps want to…”

“Give it another go?” Cantor finished her sentence for her as she trailed off awkwardly. Celestia breathed a sigh of relief in the light that Cantor was eager to partake. (Or eager in her eyes at least). She nodded towards the shallow podium with the weapon of choice perched atop it, and in practically no time at all, the lethal device was harnessed tightly to Cantor’s right foreleg once more. Whether it was the same mare as before that tethered the gun to him, Cantor didn’t know; all the mares seemed to be behind the scenes at this operation, pushing buttons and pulling levers whilst behind an anonomising mask protruding microscopic lenses with orange caps. Maybe for some kind of light – enhanced visual aid, it was unclear, not to mention irrelevant.

The PVC wrapped pony halted her activities and seemed to be closely examining Cantor’s foreleg, cradling it, stretching it out and running her rubbery hoof along it. “Is… there a problem?” Cantor asked, making the mare judder a little from her trance – like state.

Her voice, muffled from the mask, sounded fair and sweet, much like a familiar yellow pegasus Cantor knew fondly. “There’s no problem, sir…” She affirmed, continuing to caress the stallion’s leg. “It’s just… I though you had a huge gash in your leg…” Her voice, although quiet, easily reflected bewilderment as she slowly shook her head.

Cantor smiled in partial amusement, like one would after a predictable punch line. “Ah, well.” He said in a bemused voice. “You see, it’s interesting: I have this, uhhh… ‘ability’-“

“What’s taking so long over there!?” A distant and foreseeable voice called out. It was the beige stallion, the forest green hair over his brow was matted with sweat, and not entirely because of the desert heat, though the princess' glaring sun didn't help. The faceless mare gave the lower strap one last tug, ensuring it was fastened tight enough to deal with the kickback before scurrying off back to the control panel in the far corner..

Cantor rose to his hooves as the targets, once again, slid slowly from little slits in the stone floor. Taking a stance in the gangway in front of the three pony-shaped cut-outs, Cantor felt a presence by his side, and the warmth that seemed to constantly radiate from-

“Princess Celestia?” Cantor asked, looking the slender mare in her inquisitive indigo eyes, the feel of the shotgun now strangely… natural.

“Yes, my child?” The tall white mare replied, eyeing the pony-shaped pieces of wood, wondering what in Equestria could have gone wrong before.

“Again, I’m sorry for… You know…” Cantor said, allowing his ears to droop a little. “…sorry…”

The white princess gave a light hum of amusement, smiling all the while, dismissing the event from history. “Think nothing of it, Cantor. After all, I am the one who disregarded your feelings…” She responded somewhat light-heartedly.

Cantor continued talking as if Celestia hadn’t said a word, more notably telling himself he was sorry so maybe he would believe it. “I mean… After all…” He said, raising his foreleg with frightful stability, wielding the high powered weapon as if he had done so for years, the red laser point hovering around the top of the wooden pony’s head. “Guns are just… tools, right?”

Cantor tensed his leg, and a vicious bite shot through his body, making him stumble slightly at the sheer unexpected force behind such an anorexic - looking device. The explosion echoed around the mountain for several seconds, and the initial shock had made all three alicorn’s ears ring. The blast from the gun had effortlessly sailed through the inch-thick wood, and had disintegrated the cranium of the target, scattering tiny shards of wood down the chasmous cliff on the other side. The shock wave which carried the pellets the short distance to their target had excited the dust, forming a large cloud that seemed not to want to leave. 

After several seconds of high pitched thunder rattling around the crests of the valley's tips, the dust cloud finally settled, revealing the damage done over the course of less than a second. Cantor shook some of the pain from his foreleg before tenderly applying pressure to it and standing on all fours, all the while, never taking his eyes from the damage he had caused. He knew the pony was only wooden, but if it  had been real…

“Just dangerous… deadly tools…” 
> Humble Heroes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 5: Humble Heroes

Several hours had passed since Cantor’s latest outburst: the kind of explosive anger that had sadly grown to be second nature to the alicorn. However, even during those few hours of trying out many different types of firearms, the precarious stallion seemed to be keeping his promise and suppressing his emotional strain towards using devices that would not only kill a pony, but that would make an awful mess in doing so. It was when he had practiced with the four different types of weaponry that it was time to leave the shooting range for that day as the sun had begun to hide itself behind the horizon, and Cantor had been right in thinking that this arena played host to the most beautiful of sunsets, despite the lingering truth that this was a place where killing was tried and tested to be made easy, and that nopony gave this point a second thought.

It appears there are four main types of combat weapons under development in Equestria at the present moment, buckshot guns, whose kick was enough to bruise the upper foreleg with the first shot as it spat thousands of tiny ball-bearings with mind-shredding force, the single shot, bolt action, and wickedly penetrative displacement rifles, rapid-fire submachine guns, and a fairly new prototype weapon the scientists were still making improvements on: a laser-based weapon that fired high – powered beams of light which (as proved) could cut an inch or, if hit right, two into the solid rock face. 

By the time the princess had reached her destination in one of the higher levels of the base, night had fallen. It was around ten o’ clock by now, and with the help of raising the moon, the much younger (though it didn’t make a difference) princess Luna declared that she was exhausted, and had become a little irritable as a result. It was very rare to see Luna act like the princess she was. Not that this was a bad thing, rather, the mare of night very occasionally used her lunar guards to do… anything. Granted, she didn’t do her own washing, she had her meals cooked for her and it wouldn't be uncommon to have somepony go ahead and run her a hot, bubbly bath every night. Other than that, she was rather independent, but with the stresses today: the searing heat, meandering around a seemingly endless military base, and not to mention Cantor’s earlier display, she was just about ready to collapse.

After Luna had ordered her sister’s protection to escort her back to the castle rather bluntly, Celestia and Cantor had reached a wooden door – much smaller in comparison to the others scattered throughout the facility, and also much less imposing; whereas the rest of the doors around the swarming labs were solid steel, powered by hydraulics and usually guarded by two or more armour-clad unicorns, this one could be, if summed up in a word, ‘humble’. It was made of some kind of light wood with a slight honey tinge to it. It had an air of a hospital about it: neat, clean, practical, but unlike a hospital’s doors, there were no windows, no posters or notes of any kind. There wasn’t even an indication as to the room’s purpose.

The two white alicorns stood rather awkwardly side by side in the thin white hallway. The glaring lights and cold steel walls of the labs had changed at some undecided location along the way, and now the two ponies stood in silence before the unsuspicious door, bathed in harsh light from the thin lampshades jutting from the walls at either side of the corridor. It had only taken a dozen or so minutes to reach this point, and the scenery had changed greatly besides the walls, the lights, and indeed, the doors. The floor had become taken over by a thin black carpet which felt prickly underhoof, and pictures of ‘famous’ ponies hung on the eggshell walls. Needless to say, princess Celestia’s portrait appeared more than once, but since she didn’t take much notice to her own life accomplishments, neither did Cantor. Nor did he question these questionable feats of magical finesse Celestia had apparently performed over her many, many years.

Celestia and Cantor stood in silence for a moment or two. Unwanted tension built between the two before the tall mare broke the silence with her divine voice.

“Behind this door are the eight other ponies that will be joining your voyage with you.” Celestia spoke, keeping a note to restrain the volume in her voice.

Cantor said nothing, but followed the princess towards the door at the end of the hallway; the only door in the entire hallway…

The white mare raised her hoof to the wood and rasped several times. Cantor gave her a confused and humbled look as if to say: “You need to knock?” as a very masculine, but an unmistakable female voice called from inside.

“Who is it?” Came the muffled voice from the other side of the varnished door.

“It is princess Celestia again, I have a friend I wish for you all to meet…” Celestia responded, her wavy mane spreading its many colours across much of the wall as she held her ear close to the door.

A choir of scraping, shuffling and stomping came from behind the wall before it finally halted, and the same voice called out again. “Alright, your majesty, you can come in.”

Celestia’s horn glowed a pale gold and her magic shrouded the door in a big square cape of light. The door swung open effortlessly, the only sound it made was a slight crackle from the plastic draft excluders that ran around the doorframe as they separated from the gloss-coated wood. The room ahead was really rather dark, the only light coming from a small table lamp in the middle. A metal bunk bed resided in each corner of the darkened space, providing sleeping arrangements for the eight ponies within. The dull green blankets were tightly folded under the mattresses, which looked about as soft and cushiony as a block of iron. 

Cards lay scattered around the table lamp seemingly in no direct manner as some wagerless game raged between two individuals. A couple of sturdy – looking wooden chairs had been clumsily pushed back under the folding table, and had apparently knocked over a glass of water, the contents of which were now slowly dripping to the worn floorboards below. The walls too, were wooden, giving the room the appearance of a log cabin. Even here, the subliminal scenario withheld it’s cosy persona as if it were in the middle of nowhere, halfway up a snow thrashed mountainside. In fact, the only thing missing was a fireplace and a large bearskin rug.

“Good evening, your majesty.” Said a dark grey pegasus in a voice not unlike that of the one which answered the door. She was extremely well built, not to the extent that one could refer to her as a bodybuilder, yet her muscles were more defined than even Applejack’s. Her unkempt blonde mane was raised above her eyes by a white elasticated headband with a single red strip running through the centre, as if the pale red colour were bisecting two of the same side from one another. She wore a light pink belt-looking accessory around her left canon. The silver heart-shaped buckle glinted brightly – even in this ridiculously low level of light. Her eyes were a deep gold and just the sight of them alone sent a shiver down Cantor’s spine. She was staring straight at Cantor, whether she was trying to be intimidating or not, the male alicorn couldn’t stop himself from shuffling his hooves in response to the mare’s chilling stare.

The equine inhabitants had formed some kind of gangway relative to the princess, though the celestial mare barely stepped through the door as she had no intention of staying a long while. Her shimmering mane lit the room significantly, like a giant blue and green candle. Everypony present (except Cantor) gave a modest bow to the newly arrived princess that lasted a few seconds before they stood up straight upon their own accord.

“Good evening to you, too, Faith.” Celestia replied, smiling warmly towards the muscular grey mare, whose attention snapped upwards to the dark purple eyes which appeared even dimmer in the absence of light. “How are you all feeling?” Asked the princess.

A collective murmur of positivity rose up briefly before it was decided that eight ponies talking at once wasn’t so smart and they returned to their hush. 

“We’re very good, princess.” The pegasus mare who was deemed Faith affirmed with a slight smile. Her attention rapidly turned from Celestia back to Cantor, the white stallion’s body tensed as the needlepoint stare returned to him. “Who’s he?”

The princess placed her hoof over Cantor’s back, and her physical presence put him at ease. “This is Cantor.” Celestia spoke, drawing all eyes to the stallion by her side. “He is the captain of Equestrian Explorers One.” She said, shooting the stallion in question a trustworthy wink. 

“Equestrian Explorers One?” Cantor asked with a smirk, stretching his neck out to look Celestia in the eye more closely.

Cantor couldn’t tell, but he was confident in the assumption that princess Celestia was blushing. “It’s the name of the spaceship, Cantor…” the princess said, sounding as if she were admitting it. “It’s a… generic name…” She added, trying to pass off some of the awkward tension in a yawn.

Faith said nothing, just continued shooting uneasy glances Cantor’s way. Celestia quickly caught on to this and spoke up. “Something the matter, Faith?” She asked, capturing the pegasus’ attention, yet the grey mare continued to stare at the new stallion, taking in all of his features: his deep orange eyes laced with fire, his long, ragged mane and the fact that he somehow had both wings and a horn; the former of the two were so large that they crossed over behind his back. She couldn’t see his cutie mark, but something in the stallion’s heavy eyes told her that it was far more austere than his appearance.

“I…” Faith began, seemingly lost for words. “There’s another one?” She asked, keeping her light gold eyes directly in line with Cantor’s.

“Another one?” Celestia asked, glancing at Cantor, who simultaneously looked up at her as she did so. “What do you mean?”

“I thought it was only you and your sister who were alicorns…” She said softly in her rough, powerful voice, with a barely traceable sense of wonderment; something which could be mistaken for disappointment, implying this mare was either not easily impressed, or that she was rather vacant to surprises. 

“Actually, Faith,” Said Celestia, turning back to the eight ponies, the gangway they had formed had rapidly dissolved into a small crowd around the two newcomers. “There are others, only five, to be exact, but they’re not relevant at the moment; Cantor here, however, is.” She nudged her alicorn friend forward gently, but he tripped over his hooves and lurched forward, stopping mere inches from the iron gray face of the coltish mare. Faith reeled back slightly with an expression of shock, one leg raised off the ground slightly and her muzzle crumpling a little in distaste towards Cantor’s unexpected movement. 

As if nothing had happened, Celestia continued to speak whilst a blushing Cantor allowed his eyes to become distracted on things that otherwise would have gone unnoticed such as the knots in the wood in the floorboards. “I have brought Cantor here so that you all can have some time to get to know him better, after all, he is your captain, and launch day is approaching quickly… You should all have enough time to get to terms with one another.” 

The princess started to slowly back out of the room until only half of her remained on either side of the door. “I would have brought him to visit sooner, but Cantor is a very busy pony…”

“Ha!” Cantor laughed briefly before stifling the short outburst in his throat and he forced a calm and concise expression, putting more weight on his left legs as he spoke. “Yeah… that’s me…” He complied with a strange type of modesty. Neither Celestia, nor any of the eight ponies there laughed. They didn’t even smile. Cantor seemed to shrink into himself like a tortoise would as his blush returned. Everypony found more humour in this than in his previous attempt at comedy, and even though he was embarrassed, he noticed Faith wearing an amused smile. 

Celestia stared thoughtfully at Cantor for a while before she slowly began to speak again. “Yes, well…” The princess mused softly, backing out of the doorway until she was back into the clinical whiteness of the hallway lights. Cantor turned about to watch her leave and resisted the urge to follow her. “I’ll leave you ponies alone to chat about your trip.” Celestia continued, gripping the door with her golden magic but not closing it just yet. “You can get back home from here, right, Cantor?” She asked, raising an inquisitive eyebrow towards the alicorn.

Cantor jumped the tiniest bit as he snapped back from a deep thought. “Uh… Y- yeah.” He answered, not really hearing Celestia’s question, but hoping that ‘yes’ would be an acceptable answer.

Celestia’s head fell to the side and she stared at the bottom of the doorframe briefly. All of a sudden, she looked extremely tired, and what was even more of a worry, she actually looked her age. “Sorry to drop you off and leave like this, Cantor.” The princess sighed before her speech mutated into a small yawn. “But I have some very important matters to attend to back at the castle. I trust you understand?”

“Of course, princess.” Cantor replied with a warming smile. “So… should I bid you good evening?”

“Very well…” The alicorn mare replied, rotating on her hooves and glancing behind her to accept the farewell wishes from the adoring crew, something she had still not been able to accept without blushing a tad. 

“Good night, your majesty!”

“Have a nice evening, princess!”

“Great to see you again, your majesty!”

…

Cantor couldn’t see how all this was necessary, but after all, he and Celestia were close enough to be called family; and nopony saw Luna act like this or even ask for praise. Regardless, the young alicorn stallion played his respectful part. “Good night, princess! Have a pleasant sleep!” Even though he spoke with much sincerity, Cantor couldn’t help but snicker a little at the seldom spoken words.

A few more moments passed until everypony had said good night to the princess and she took another short moment to allow the words to sink in. “Thank you, everypony. You sleep well yourselves.” She closed the door halfway with her bright magic as she added “Play nice” to her parting words and shut the door quietly. The only sound it made was a little click as the latch slid shut, and then the silence fell upon the room like a ton of bricks, or maybe even two tons of bricks, Cantor didn’t care, the only thing going through his mind was whether the looks the ponies around him were giving were inquisitive, or spiteful. His only connection to the outside world was the muffled clopping of Celestia’s golden shoes as she meandered back towards her home. And even that soon melted into the pressing silence around. Cantor decided that he may as well be on a different planet right now, and he took a step backwards, closer to the door.

“So!” The pony named Faith began, walking towards Cantor in a heavy fashion, her pair of dull silver dog tags clinking loudly against each other as she stepped. “You’re our captain, are you?” She encroached, beginning to circle Cantor, assessing him. 

Cantor didn’t know whether her question was real or not, so he decided that it was safer to let the thought go and allow Faith to continue musing him over while the other ponies there simply watched and listened.

The pegasus mare ground to a halt at Cantor’s left side, staring in astonishment at his leviathan wings. “Whoa…” She gasped in genuine awe, running her hoof along the lengthy feathers before unfolding Cantor’s wing in a big sweeping movement. Several of the other ponies shared in Faith’s reaction as the huge wing kept going and going until it nearly touched the wall. Faith let the monster of a wing go and it slowly curled back into the very uncomfortable stallion’s side. Daring a movement, Cantor shuffled the wing around in it’s socket to re-align the feathers. All the while, he never took his eyes off of the mare who never moved her eyes away from him.

For a long time, Faith stood there, staring, calculating with her eyes narrowed and her mouth slightly agape. Cantor could almost see the information flitting behind her eyes as she thought. The mare (who by now had wordlessly proven that the unofficial hierarchy placed her comfortably as the leader of this little group) glanced towards Cantor’s flank, just able to see his broken shield cutie mark with the six coloured circles standing proud in front of it in the shadowed room.

“Let’s get something straight…” Faith huffed, stepping towards Cantor until their noses almost touched. Even though Cantor was a little taller than Faith, he still found himself intimidated by, and hopelessly lost in those two golden eyes staring up at him. “Just because you have wings and a horn…” She rattled, her eyebrows accentuating her words. “Doesn’t make you any better than the rest of us.”

“Okay.” Said Cantor sheepishly, finding himself being backed into the wall by the pegasus as she slowly but menacingly approached.

“And just because you’re friends with the princess doesn’t give you any special privileges over the rest of us.” Faith added with a permanent scowl. Cantor’s rump hit the door and his head began to fall to the floor where his backside remained risen as the intense young mare bore down on him.

“Okay.” Cantor winced again, swallowing heavily after his chin hit the floorboards.

“And just because you’re a rare piece of eye candy, don’t think we're dying for a taste of you.” The grey mare finished, frowning down upon Cantor, breathing slightly heavily and calculating her next actions based on the stallion’s response.

“…'Eye candy'?” Cantor responded with a bewildered expression, holding his dumbfounded stare until Faith walked away and flew up to the top bunk nearest to Cantor, perching at the foot of the bed to watch the alicorn slowly stand up.

The male alicorn examined the faces watching him, taking into account their unique features. His eyes stopped, however, when they passed the dark, thoughtful figure of the biggest pony he had ever seen. “Oh, my…” Cantor said in a voice only audible within his head as the enormous earth pony stepped up to him. The dark red stallion wasn’t as tall as princess Celestia, but he wasn’t far off at all. Enormous muscles bulged out from under his pelt as if he had been stuffed with watermelons. He was taller than three ponies stood on each other's shoulders, and his head alone was roughly the same size as Cantor's torso. 

Cantor suddenly knew exactly how an ant would feel looking up at a pony, or indeed, a pony staring up at a hydra, or a dragon, or maybe even the dreaded ursa major! In fact, Cantor favoured his chances with the ursa than with this great beast of an equine. 

“Howdy.” He said in a voice deeper than the ocean, thrusting his humungus exposed hoof Cantor’s way. The alicorn flinched a little before gingerly taking the black maned stallion’s outstretched limb. His white covered hoof appeared completely swamped by the earth pony’s own one. The dog tags tightly wrapped around this stallion’s rock solid neck jangled quietly as he shook Cantor’s leg. “Don’t mind Faith, there…” He spoke slowly with a southern sounding accent, glancing up at the mare on the bed and smiling to himself. “She jus’ gits that way when she likes somepony…”

Faith huffed and turned towards the wall, folding her forelegs around her chest. The big red pony chucked lightly and slowly. “Mah name’s Tyrenol Redgates, but mah friends jus’ call me ‘Red’…”

“N- nice to meet you… Red…” Said Cantor shakily, not fearful towards the huge stallion, but nevertheless, shaken as to the reality of just how big a pony could get. One would be allowed to act this way towards Big Macintosh, but compared to Red, even the farm – hardened workpony would have his work cut out for him. Cantor quickly brought his hoof back to the floor and managed to turn his attention from Red’s great brown eyes to the other ponies which had made a horseshoe shape around him. 

“Hey, guys!” Cantor greeted cheerily, taking in the features of the other ponies. It was discovered then that the oversized Red was the only earth pony there. The alicorn took one more glance towards the sulking Faith sat atop her bed and sighed. “What was her problem?” He thought to himself, just before a pair of giggling mares (whose age could barely class them as such) recaptured his attention.

Two lilac unicorns, both with green eyes and dark purple hair were beaming into each other’s eyes and tittering like fillies. When they caught sight of Cantor’s stare, they quickly quietened down; however their faces still reflected benign amusement. One would be forgiven for mistaking the two ponies for some kind of mirror trick: they were both identical height and build, their coats were exactly the same colour and they both had intelligent green eyes of impeccably alike hue. The only differentiating feature the pair possessed were the brightly coloured bandannas they wore around their necks. The mare on the left wore a royal blue one and the pony to her right, who was presumably her twin sister, wore a bandanna died an intense blood red. 

“Hi!”
“Hi!” 
Both mares cried simultaneously, weirding Cantor out to say the least. 

“My name’s Titter.” Boasted the mare with the blue necktie, her sentence immediately followed by the mare on her left.

“And my name’s Flitter.” Affirmed the red dressed pony. Even her smile was identical to the mare next to her.

“We’re twins!”
“We’re twins!”

“I figured…” Cantor mumbled, squinting through one of his eyes for a while, trying to find some flaw in their appearances to set them apart. But alas, he found none, and his slightly parted, interrogator lips curled into a broad grin. “It’s great to meet you two!” He happily replied, hoping to overcome the disturbance caused by their uncanny resemblance to each other. 

The two young mares then took the insanity to a whole different level, and began to speak in cannon with one another to form flowing and understandable sentences. 

“We got into this space programme-“

“-Because our special talent-“

“-Is being able to read each other’s minds-“

“-And know exactly-“

“-What the other is going to say next!”

"And we can do this-"

"-Even when we're miles away from each other!"

Cantor’s heart skipped a beat and his eye twitched slightly as his brain failed to process what had just happened… Cantor saw two ponies talking, but heard only one voice. At first he thought it was just plain weird, then for a brief moment, he was amused by the pair. But now, once again, he was downright confused towards how such a feat was possible. Nevertheless, it was decided, a special talent was a special talent.

The twins pressed their flanks together and a perfect heart was formed in the middle, one half was green, one half was yellow. Who’s body each colour belonged to was out of the question; Cantor had already gotten the mares’ names muddled.

“Neat, huh?”
“Neat, huh?”

Titter and Flitter both said, their gaze drawn to their sisterly bond, to their perfectly in tune eyes, then back to Cantor, who once again, wore an expression that depicted his entertainment in the form of a bemused grin. The two girls laughed and stepped away from each other, allowing enough time to be overtaken by two frightful stallions, every part of their being – except their blood red eyes was completely jet black.

Cantor’s eyes widened a little then grew to the size of saucers when the dark unicorn opened his mouth, his white teeth seeming something more than white against his black lips, black face, and black hair. 

“Nice to meet you, Captain.” The pitch black unicorn spoke, his voice smooth, slow and tempting, yet strangely, despite his appearance and body language, he didn’t come across as sinister at all. The two exchanged a less than friendly hoofshake before the pegasus mercenary stepped forward and copied his comrade’s action.

“How do you do?” Asked the pegasus as a form of greeting, his emotionless face doing little to set aside Cantor’s anxiety.

“Um… fine… I’m good, thanks…” Replied the white alicorn, scratching the back of his head roughly with the hoof neither of the death coloured ponies had touched. He tried to assert himself by brandishing his previous smile, but its emotional aid went unheard amid the red eyes and distasteful grimaces. “Please, call me Cantor; I don’t really go for ‘sir’ or ‘captain’… I don’t really like… you know… putting ponies below me…” He added, speaking carefully so as to avoid the risk of offending someone. 

“Very well.” Answered the black pegasus, though the way in which he spoke still made it sound as if Cantor had given the request as an order. “It’s a pleasure to meet you… Cantor.” He finished slowly, shooting the alicorn a frightful wink before he receded next to his unicorn partner. 

The pair made a move to skulk off back to the shadows when Cantor caught them off guard. 

“Um… Question…” The alicorn asked, extending his bottom lip and blowing a tuft of rusty hair away from his eye. The two permanently shadowed ponies turned around, looking sceptically towards Cantor. Neither said a word, but their looks enticed Cantor to go on. “Are you two like… twins too?”

The pair of black ponies connected their blood red eyes for a moment, then laughed haughtily, the pegasus flapping his unearthly black feathers a little as he chuckled. “No, we are not brothers, we are just…” The unicorn began to explain, passing the sentence over to the pegasus beside him.

“…Good friends.” The pegasus finished, locking eyes with his ‘friend’ before going on to explain further. “The reason we are almost identical is because our government treats us as numbers, not individuals like here in the Empire.”

“Oh, and what government would that be?” Cantor enquired, raising his eyebrows nosily and poking his head forward. 

The pair of black ponies broke their seemingly romantic eye contact to stare at Cantor. “That is none of your concern.” Answered the unicorn, his brow forming into a miniscule frown.

Cantor took offense to this and found feelings of angst towards both the equines. “I think it is of my concern.” Said the alicorn, his unpredictable anger rising up before he remembered his promise and held down his demon with thoughts of his friends.  

The unicorn spoke for himself and his accomplice, all the while shooting icy daggers towards Cantor. Everypony else, even Red, said nothing, but watched and listened in silence. “We come from a very remote area of the Vlaamperdian Badlands, a wasteland where secret military tests are undertaken.” His attention turned upward, towards the dark grey pegasus atop the bunk bed, her forelegs still crossed, but at least she was now watching. “I’m sure if you ask around, you’ll find that some of the technology here was developed in Vlaamperdia.”

Faith blasted the unicorn with a forbidding grimace, but he only smiled and continued, his shocking eyes returning to Cantor’s. “We were brought as foals and injected with artificial pigments which made our coats and manes blacker than black, so as to become far more stealthy when navigating dimly lit areas.”

Cantor frowned. “And are your eyes naturally red?” He asked, appreciating that it was a possibility. After all, one of his friends he had failed to keep in touch with after the gala had red eyes, but her eyes were more relatable to rubies, something precious and rare rather than the cold, dark rocks belonging to these artificial ponies. 

“No.” The pegasus answered, taking a step closer to Cantor. “They’re a very thin plastic film that slides under the lens of the eye.” A dirty grin of his own spread across his face. “Think of them as… permanent contact lenses…”

“Why do you have those?” Cantor enquired, no longer feeling fretful before the pair, rather, the alicorn felt indebted to suck as much information out of them as possible.

“Intimidation.” The unicorn replied dryly. And once again, Cantor took offense. That was until, the deathly black unicorn turned to the now adamant Faith – who was sat on her haunches with her forehooves free. “Of course… we’re not the only ones who were bought into the army…” He continued in an ill tone, staring at the grey mare with a godless smile. Faith’s slightly vacant expression tightened into a ferocious black look.

“Heh, heh, yeah!” The sinister pegasus continued his unicorn accomplice’s tormenting, like two bullies taking it in turns to pick on a filly in the playground. “Our girl, Faith here was taken in by Celestia because her parents didn’t want her.”

Like a bullet, Faith shot from the top bunk to the male pegasus’ face, hatred seeping through her gritted teeth. “Take that back!” She ordered, but the offensive pegasus merely grinned even more. 

“What’s wrong?” The pegasus asked, burning his harassment deeper into Faith’s steel hard heart, prodding the tip of her muzzle with his hoof. “Is little Faith all upset that her mommy and daddy never wanted a worthless, pathetic little filly like you?”

Faith knocked the black hoof from her nose and darted her own hoof forward, straight towards the pegasus’ face. The vile pony winced, but when Faith’s speeding punch came within an inch of his face, something invisible blocked the contact, and a huge circular shockwave of pure turquoise light reverberated into the room, filling it momentarily with an eerie green glow. The grey mare’s hoof bounced off of the forcefeild with an electrical sounding boom and a huge red stallion forced his way between the two winged rivals. 

“Okay, that’s enough. Break it up, you two!” Red snarled, glaring at the black pony some distance below him. 

The red eyed pegasus snorted and turned away. “Bitch…” He muttered, dragging his hooves along the floorboards until he reached the corner of the room harbouring his bunk. The identically hued unicorn followed, quietly whispering to his equal and glancing over his shoulder at the now less than sturdy looking Faith.

Faith too, turned about and made her way towards the plain wooden door, scuffing the ground with her back hooves in little bucks. “Asshole…” She grumbled, tearing the door open and flooding the room with light. Everypony except Faith winced and rubbed their eyes in response to the massive transition of darkness. The heart stricken pegasus half-looked over her shoulder, just enough so that Cantor could see the corner of her eye. “I’m going out for some air.” She growled, ears pinned behind her head as she trudged out of the room, slamming the door with a mighty crash that rattled the floorboards and made the iron beds squeak.

Cantor, being the tentative stallion that he was, began to make his way towards the door to follow Faith, but a solid red barricade stopped his progress. The alicorn peered upwards and into the gentle brown eyes of the crimson leviathan pony, his face depicting a mixture of concern, sympathy and forbidding.

“Let ‘er go, kid.” Red spoke, his overly relaxed tone doing little to steer Cantor from his objective. 

“Look…” Cantor began, stepping quickly around the earth pony’s leg, which happened to be as thick as a tree trunk. “I’m not sure how you all treat this kind of thing here, but back in Ponyville, we listen to each other’s problems.” The alicorn reached the door and pulled it open. Upon first inspection, Faith was already gone. “You can do what you want.” Cantor said, catching all the ponies in the surf of his vision. “But I’m going after her." He turned his attention to a particular corner of the room. "And you two!” He yelled, standing on tip-hooves in order to connect with the jet black pair, who were sat on the bottom bunk of their bed. Once conversing quietly, now locked in fiery subordination with their suddenly more threatening leader. “Don’t think you’re off the hook: I want a chat when I get back!”

The couple turned from Cantor to one another, exchanging concerned looks before returning to their previous conversation of whispers. The dull orange maned alicorn turned around, facing the bright white hallway and peering over is shoulder at Red. Aside from a misused look of encouragement, the massive red pony merely closed his eyes and nodded gently. Cantor acknowledged the gesture with his own, before dashing from the room, allowing the door to swing shut freely. His scraggly, rusty tail streamed behind him like a bemused lick of flame as he rounded the corner in pursuit of the dishevelled grey mare. 


*****


It wasn’t quite a rooftop. It wasn’t quite a balcony. Instead, it was… something. Maybe a cross between the two. Maybe it was neither; something completely different, a class of it’s own… To a certain heart-slit pegasus, however, it didn’t matter: it was merely a place she went to be able to see the sky, count the stars… get some air. The night (predictably) was dark, the wind chilly, and the mountains, just a little creepy. The gold maned mare closed her tear-sodden eyes and took a long inhale through her nostrils, smelling the mineral water which had condensated on the stone floor beneath her. Her deep breath ended with a sigh, which inevitably turned into another stifled sob. 

“Did I do something wrong?” She asked the thin pink band around her leg, the silver buckle still managing to gleam brightly in the bluish moonlight. “Was I… Was I not what you wanted?” She attempted to blink back more tears, yet only succeeded in making more fall. Two drops of sorrow rolled down her nose and perched on her lips. Their saly taste – a reminder of her sadness – came into the mare’s mouth as she continued her monologue to herself. “Was it because I was too weak? Because you couldn’t support me?”

Another tidal wave of grief crashed down on the lost pegasus and she collapsed into her forelegs, her golden eyes pouring with heartbreak. “Why didn’t you love me? Why am I not allowed a normal life?” Her breaths became shaking bleats of torment and her whole body convulsed as she once again poured her feelings back into herself, trying to at best recycle her agony for another time.

She was so enveloped within her own dejection, that even her heightened senses failed to alert her to the alicorn entity that had recently joined her atop the mesa-like outpost. He slowly approached, being as silent as possible, but a little more recklessness probably wouldn’t have startled the pegasus anyway. He took no notice of the starlit sky; the only object he had his kind orange eyes on was the shattered mare perched somewhere near the edge of the clearing, sobbing quietly, but forcefully into her arms.

“Faith?” Asked the white stallion, the icy air blowing his rust coloured hair about his face was refreshing in lieu of the stuffy corridors of the underground facility.

The young mare snapped her head upwards, but did not turn around. She stared over the valley’s expanse and challenged herself to cease her crying, all the while putting on a false expression of anger to aid in her makeshift persona. “What do you want?” She grumbled as coldly as the air around her, knowing full well who it was who had spoken. 

Cantor shrugged in an unseen attempt at lightening the atmosphere. He took several soft paces towards the mare before he stopped and casually answered her question. “I just… want to… talk, you know?” He said, listening to the winged creature’s ragged breaths that she was failing so miserably to cover up.

“Yeah, well…” She spat, her voice croaky and frail. She hastily corrected herself and straightened out her back, taking on far more of a composed posture to try and play off her suffering. “Yeah, well…” Faith tried again. “I don’t want to talk to you.”

Without a single sound, somehow without even moving, Cantor was by Faith’s side. She snapped her head away, staring into the dust, noticing the numerous dark blotches where her tears had stained the earth. She already knew that the alicorn beside her was wise to the fact that this highly trained, rock hard, careless super soldier had been broken down by just a few words and a smattering of memories. She could feel her nose seeping, but she resisted the urge to sniff, for she could only hope to hold on to whatever dignity she had left.

“Faith…” Cantor spoke with a voice barely more than a whisper. He was certain the pegasus had heard him, and that she was now attempting to ignore his aid. In a tone he reserved only for the love of his life, Cantor used the one sentence that always gave his company the power to raise their head. “Faith, look at me…”

Finally giving in to the stallion, the heartbroken mare sniffled loudly and peered around, catching sight of something she only very rarely saw within Celestia. She raised her head and could feel an unconscious smile creep onto her face. She gazed into those two deep amber orbs and re-evaluated her initial response to the stallion. Those hypnotising eyes grew closer as Cantor lowered himself into the same position as Faith by her side, never braking eye contact, not for a second. Whatever hardships she was feeling before, however alone she thought she was, every last drop of bad energy was absorbed into those two majestic eyes of fire.

“I’ve only just met you…” Cantor began, his eyes never leaving the two wonderful pools of gold. “And I can already tell that you are an amazing pony who would stand up to the world without a fear in your heart.” Faith nodded silently. Her tears had ceased, but the last two droplets fell from her bloodshot eyes as she blinked them away in some attempt at a response. Cantor’s warming smile fell into a gentle frown and he pouted ever so slightly in concern. “And yet… here you are.”

Faith looked away and sighed, filling her blood with fresh oxygen, waking her up a treat. “I don’t know…” She sighed again, which transformed halfway into an unpredicted yawn. “What Deathwing said… I-“

“I’m sorry, who?” Cantor interrupted, reigniting the pegasus’ eye contact.

“Deathwing…” Faith repeated, raising her eyebrows in collaboration before they fell into a heavy scowl. “That black pegasus merc bastard.”

Cantor clucked his tongue in soiled amusement. “Well that’s an original name…” He muttered, feeling slightly prejudice after saying what should only be kept as a thought out loud.

“What?” Asked Faith, leaning around to get another look at Cantor’s fiery eyes that somehow seemed to glow in the night.

“Nothing.” The alicorn quickly replied, biting his lip as he did so. “What’s the unicorn's name?”

“Black Haze.”

“Figures…”

“What?” The mare asked again, finding a smidgen of humour in the conversation, her smile returning shortly.  

Cantor shook his head and exhaled loudly, stretching his wings out above him so that they towered over the ponies. Faith stared up in amazement, silently mouthing “Wow…” As the enormous mass of feathers deflated to the sides of the white pony.  

"Is... is it hard?" Faith questioned gently as she observed Cantor's lengthy quills settle neatly in place.

"What?" Cantor replied, feeling a yawn coming on as he stared over the expanse of Equestria. Far away in the distance, he could see the dim glow of Ponyville flickering ever so slightly against the baron hills and mountains which saturated this particular part of the world.

"You know..." Faith clarified after Cantor finished a cumbersome yawn. "Being an alicorn..." Her tone suggested she didn't regard the topic with due care, yet her sinsere brow let Cantor know that her concern was just.

The stallion rolled his head back slightly, gazing momentarily into the starry sky. For the first time in a while too long, Cantor relished in the sheer beauty the night could bring. The moon capped the frigid mountain tips with a silver sheen, the light reflecting off the sparse snow just enough to give the valley tops the illuion of glowing. His head resided further, until most of his vision was composed soley of stars, and indeed, planets. One planet in particular was on his mind, however. It was an invisible pinprick of light amongst a sea of black, a beacon which was unseen to anyone who dared even to wonder. Cantor couldn't see it, but he knew it was there: Absencicy, the 'new Equestria'. Many theroies and estimations had been spread around about the new world, some say that the dusty looking planet was where the Gods resided. This brought about new assumptions that Absencicy was indeed paradise, and that the ponies lucky enough to visit would be blessed with infinite knowledge and sirenity. 

The most intreging prediction established (to Cantor at least) was the talk of life being a strong possibility in this world. Twilight Sparkle, and even Celestia herself had agreed that Absencicy accomidated the correct properties for life to exist. However, it was made clear that any form of intelligent life, let alone sentient, was unlikely. The most advanced organism Cantor could expect to find would be bacteria and other microbes. Regardless, Cantor had proposed that this was at least a start, and that given the evidence that life, even the smallest and simplest of life, would undoubtably prove that something could live outside of Equestria.  Cantor for one, couldn't wait, and even though he had been with his shipmates for less than ten minutes, he could already tell this was going to be an amazing adventure. 

The alicorn's thoughts suddenly dissolved into Faith's previous question, and it seemed as though his conciousness returned to him, strangely so, as it was clear it had never really left. She was wearing a sympatheic look, as if what she had just asked had somehow upset or hurt her new... captain.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you." She quickly said, her face partially obscured by two thin strands of straw coloured hair which poked out over her headband. 

Cantor breifly shook his head, relinquishing some of the tight atmosphere with a slight smile. "No, no. It's fine, my mind just tends to wander..." He chortled a little, but Faith barely held up a grin, her expression showing a mild state of bewilderment. 

"To answer your question..." He said, pondering the pros and cons briefly. "No, it's not hard being an alicorn." He paused for a moment, furrowing his brow in silent contemplation as he turned his gaze out over the voluminous starscape and continued. "There's... obviously some ponies who judge me before they've met me..." Faith simply laid there, not breathing a word of response. Cantor was the first alicorn she had seen other than Celestia and Luna: it was only several minutes ago that she discovered that there was in fact others besides the two rulers in the entire world, and now she felt a strange connection with this new stallion, a connection she couldn't quite put her hoof on, it was an unreadable concoction of respect, wonder and kinship that she had very rarely felt towards others. Whether Cantor felt the same way about her, however, was impossible to descover without actually asking, but given the circumstances, there were probably a lot of ponies that felt the same way towards him. She decided to leave it at that, and not persue her concious train of thought any longer. Faith meerly sank into herself, fluffing her feathers for warmth and listening intently to try and decypher whatever mysteries this new companion sustained within the reposing aura he appeared to permanently radiate.

Cantor took a deep breath, tasting the summer as he did so, and continued. "I know everyone judges everyone with first impressions and stuff, but some ponies just... take one look at me and go "Oh, look! Another up-tight, self-concerned, all powerful alicorn who expects everyone to fall at his hooves and worship the ground he walks on!"..." He turned back to Faith, who was looking at him in a way only his very closest of friends ever did when they were conversing a heavy topic. "It's not like that." Affirmed Cantor, shaking his head slightly as he did so. "It's never been like that. But still, there are a few ponies that take an instant hatred to me, they say things like: 'We don't want your kind.', or they say that 'only the princesses have the right to have wings and a horn.'... Some even wish me dead..." He bowed his head complacently to the dust below him and began tracing little circles in the ground with his hoof. "Even after I saved them all..."

Fiath frowned, tilting her head to the side and shuffling the tiniest bit closer to the stallion, though he didn't seem to notice. "You... 'saved them all'?" She asked, catching a glimpse of luminosity within the alicorn's hauntingly deep eyes.

"Oh, yeah." Cantor giggled, flicking a pebble over the edge of the cliff, listening to it never hit the ground, seeming to fall for eternity and become part of the night. Cantor finished his private laugh, turning to face the grey mare and elabourated his point. "I guess it should have been kind of a nessecity to mention that I saved the world."

Faith threw her head back and bellowed mightily, her guffaws echoing loudly off of the cliff face as Cantor meerly smiled cordually in response and waited for the pegasus to finish. It took Faith a good three minutes to finally calm down, and after the first thirty seconds, it became unclear as to the subject that was keeping her so amused. The exausted pegasus brought her head back down from the sky and struggled to open her eyes. She was breathing remarkably heavily through a huge beaming grin which stretched from ear to ear, slowly catching her breath back after getting a little carried away. After all this time living in an underground millitary base, one could forget the importance of a good laugh. The heaving mare sat up straight and wiped a small joyful tear from the corner of her eye before finally turning back to the alicorn who had set her off, who also happened to be wearing a mildly maniacal expression that nearly threw her back into another fit of laughter. 

Faith slowly brought herself around to speak after wiping both eyes dry with the back of her hoof. "Really?" She asked dumbfoundedly. "You saved the world?" The sceptical grey mare pointed a hoof accusingly towards Cantor, who stared at it for a short while before replying.

"...Yeah." He affirmed, letting his smile fade slightly into a somewhat more serious expression. "It's probably a little hard to believe, but-"

"I'll say!" Faith butted in, laughing to herself breifly before allowing Cantor to continue.

"Well... I don't know how to prove it to you, but, if you ask Celestia, she'll tell you the same." Answered Cantor, a sudden heavy wave of immodesty and guilt breaking into his mind as he did so. He decided it best to change the conversation topic, and hopefully find out a little more about the pony who he could tell he would be seeing a lot of in the foreseable future. "Um..." He began, attempting to instill some sort of solemness into his tone as he did so. "About what that other pegasus said... you were 'bought' into the army..." Faith hung her head and her eyes seemed to darken as Cantor said this. "...What did he mean?"

"Ahhhh...." Faith sighed heavily, shaking her head from side to side vigarously as if she were trying to remove liquidatios memories from her hair. "It's a long story... I've lived here for as long as I can remember..." Though she was speaking aloud, it seemed to Cantor as though she was producing more of a monologue to herself than anything else. "When I was a little filly, less than a year old, my parents dropped me off at the gates of Canterlot castle. Celestia, she... took me in and uh... raised me as her own in this facility..." She exhaled deeply, her expressionless face proving difficult for Cantor to know whether she was upset or not.

"How have I not heard about you before?" Cantor enquired, leaning forward to catch a glimpse of Faith's gold eyes. "Celestia and I are pretty much family. Why hasn't she told me about you?"

"Dunno." Faith answered simply, turning away from Cantor to gaze up at the slither of moon which still provided enough light to enable relatively easy vision. "Maybe she..." She frowned at the sky, staring intently into the inky blackness as she wracked her brains for an explaination. "I really don't know." The mare finally said, openly admitting defeat. "But, I'm sure she has her reasons. After all, I only found out about you ten minutes ago..."

"Yeah..." Sighed Cantor, following Faith's gaze into the impossible distance, re-evaluating the connection with a cold wind that had picked up. A little too cold for a summer's evening, he thought. So, using forgotten magic, he eased off the harsh wind to a gentle breeze, an ability that he always treasured with being unique. Though it was harsh at times when ponies would instantly despise him for his looks, or even worse: fear him for the sheer power he possesed, Cantor could always set his mind at ease with the serene idea that there were more than enough others in this big, wide world he lived in to care about him and see him for who he was, rather than what he was, or what he could do. With such a simplistic task as changing the wind, one can also change another's perspective of one's self by removing a shroud of discrimination as easily as turning on a light forged in the hearts of the proud and the living.

"The only thing I have to remember my parents by is this..." Faith spoke up, presumably enough out of nowhere, her voice somewhat alien to Cantor's deep thoughts. The alicorn shuddered a little as his contemplation aura melted from his horn and dissipated around his body. He blinked several times before looking to his right, noticing the small pink chocker Faith was now cradling in her hoof. Without breathing a word, Cantor shuffled the tiniest bit closer, now able to feel the warmth coming from the female pegasus' body. He discovered himself to be captivated by the shiny silver buckle in the love heart shape Faith was staring into. It's immaculate surface bore no scratches or stains. It was little; 'insignificant', but still, one of the most perfect articles Cantor had ever felt so lucky to cast his eyes upon.

Faith slowly rolled the band around, taking it's whole length into consideration before she continued. "When the guards found me and took me to Celestia, all that came with me was a note that said: 'Hello, my name is Faith. Please take care of me.'." Her vision became wavy at this point, as if she were staring at the world through a swimming pool. She held up the pink band slightly, not daring to look at Cantor as the thought of somepony seeing her cry again would destroy her rock hard persona. "And, then there was this... bracelet, too..." She added quietly, expertly masking the loneliness in her heart.

Cantor spent a long while staring towards Faith, reading her body language, noticing how she never looked his way even once. Anypony could see that she was hurt, and had been hurting for a long time, but only a select few could confide with her: Cantor included. "You know..." The alicorn began, smiling warmly, despite himself. "I'm not even biologically related to anyone in this entire universe." The mare beside him quietened her breathing and turned her ears about to listen, but still kept her head safely turned away. "Yeah, I um... I'm something called a 'human' from a universe intricately linked to this one." His eyes glazed over, and he stared blankly at the floor below him. "I'm not special." He added, staring past his concious mind and into the realms of imagination. "Just very lucky..."

Faith shuddered and sobbed, alerting Cantor to reality - this reality - at once. With sympathetic commiseration, Cantor peered over at the pegasus who appeared to have lost it and begun crying. But upon closer inpection, the reflective stallion could see that she was indeed laughing. Tears relentlessly poured from her eyes, but still, she bore a huge smile of exctasy. 

"Oh, wow!" Cried Faith when she was spent laughing; a much shorter stint than before, but she was still rather short of breath. "Something like that makes saving the world sound almost believeable!" She laughed again, two glistening tears rolled down each cheek as she did so, soaking into her fur before they reached her chin.

Cantor failed to set himself aside from a smile, and shared in the mare's barely convincing happiness. "Well..." He began, more in tune with a tired sigh than a definative voice. "It's true as well..."His grin dropped and his face fell into the upmost seriousness. Faith caught the expression, and prompty quietened down; she was reunited with those eyes of pure blaze that burned chills into her soul. She sat up straight, bit her bottom lip gently and opened her heart to Cantor, as if something within his cataclysmic stare was forcing out her hidden emotions. 

"You and I are alike." Cantor started, his rich amber eyes never faltering even once. "We are both alone in a world of beauty, but so connected in the knowledge that we have friends we can look upon as family. It just goes to show that the circumstances of your existance are irrelivant; but it is what you are willing to do with the gift of life that determines who you are."

Faith paused her breath for a fleeting moment as the words she had just heard sank in. She slowly began to nod her head in agreement, then sped up the movement as she finally found her voice. "Yes." She simply said, unable to break the eye contact with one of the very few ponies in her life who truly cared for her. "I understand completely. You're saying that even though we are alone in the world in terms of relatives, the best thing we can do would be to not forget our pasts, but create a future we want to remember." Cantor raised his eyebrows and nodded with a satisfied expression. 

"...Thank you, Cantor." The suddenly contented mare spoke after an all too long pause, turning once again to the night sky and (rather ironically) seeing the pitch darkness in a new light. "Thank you for this conversation. I really appreciate that you'd go out of your way to help me out."

As Faith's eyes dreamily closed, completing her sterile expression, Cantor too, became contented with the environment. More specifically, the new company in this environment. "That's what friends are for." Qiupped the stallion quietly, though loud enough to alert Faith to his intensity yet again. She turned away from the billions of tiny eyes set in the black stained sky, and traded them insead, for only two, which still happened to hold all the mystery and grace of the world above. Her cheeks blushed gently as she slowly leaned inward. Cantor mirrored her movement, to the extent where the two pony's lips were slightly parted and their eyes just began to close when a vicious grumbling set the pair aside.

Cantor sat back up straight, clutching the source of the interrupting noise (namely his stomach) and stared down at his white belly. Faith giggled with an enormous sense of innosence and touched her hoof to her lips demurely in an act of extreme uncharacterism. Unbeknownst to Cantor, witnessing this particular mare act this way was nothing short of a miracle. But after all, the alicorn had had more than his fair share of miracles in his breif stint in Equestria.

"Right! Well, I suppose we should get to the canteen, then." Yapped Faith after clearing her throat. She shakily rose to her hooves, her athletic body seemily paralysed for a moment before she regained her effortless control. Cantor followed suit, and allowed the sustainable pegasus mare to lead him from the cliff, opening the remarkably narrow door which was carved straight into the rock itself. She re-entered the glaring white halls of her home, and desisted in waiting for the white alicorn to follow her in before she took off. 

Cantor suddenly experienced a swelling of guilt within his upper chest, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly where it was. Nor could he diagnose a reason for this strange sense of pain. He promptly dissmissed the thoughts, and soon enough, the tight knot in his chest seemed to fade into the subconcious. With a personal sigh, Cantor took one last glimpse of the gorgeous night sky before he steadily pulled the door shut with his bright indigo aura, returning the stillness and calm to the late hour, as if it were inside, with the deserted halls and silent offices.


*****


"Okay, so, why are we back here?" Faith enquired as she stepped through the bland wooden doorframe and back into the darkened room which harboured the explorer's bunks. The room appeared just as dark - or maybe even darker than the last time Cantor had been there, but the change was so insignificant that he didn't bother creating a dilema about it. The grey pegasus with the golden eyes entered first, the sound of her hard hooves on the worn floorboards was doubled as Cantor followed soon after, the two ponies' hair bore almost a halo from the light shining on the back of their heads coming from the pristene white lights bouncing off the clinical walls of this part of the facility.

Closing the door swiftly behind him, returning the room to it's dull, yellow-shifted light, Cantor couldn't help but relish in the private thought of how cosy all of this seemed. Nearly everypony was present, the unmistakable Red, the identical pair of lilac unicorns, who were lounging sleepily on a bunk bed, the one with the blue scarf draping her hooves over the end of the top bunk and staring down at her sister on the bottom bunk. The twins were idly conversing, as were all the ponies there until Cantor re-entered with Faith, or Faith re-entered with Cantor. There resided another two ponies in the far corner of the room, their faces barely visible and their features hidden. Cantor could see that one was a pegasus, and the other was a unicorn, but it certainly wasn't the two mercinaries who had driven Faith away; the pegasus was a creamy white colour and the unicorn sat beside the winged pony was a rich tone of blue.

Not finding a place to sit, and not wanting to propose disconcern by taking a seat on the floor, Cantor remained standing. Faith fluttered up to her bed to the right of the stark door, hanging her back hooves over the rim of the matress and staring quizically down at Cantor.

"That was fast..." Bespoke Red, slowly as ever as he hoisted his mighty body from the floor and made his way over to Cantor, who was still rather sceptical about how comfortable he should feel around this beast of a pony. "Usually, when Faith 'goes out for some air', she's gone fer a good hour or so." His face bore a look of impressed kinship; obviously the stone coloured mare was a good friend of his, and even though Red never mentioned it, Cantor could tell that he was mighty grateful. "What did ya say ta make 'er come strollin' back so quick?" He finished with a small wink in Faith's direction, who returned the gesture with a curt, but still rather bashful smile.

"Just some things..." Cantor replied indefinitevely, keeping his eyes on the mare above him. 

It was at that moment when the two unannounced ponies decided to cross the room to greet their alicornian captain. It became clear that the magnolia pegasus was a mare, and the unicorn who accompanied her, a stallion. The blue-coated unicorn wore a head of silvery-green hair and two eyes of a rich turquoise-teal. The midnight purple-eyed mare that accompanied him had a dark mane of chestnut and each held a respectable posture. It was plain to see that these two ponies were well educated, or at least were raised within the highest of society - enough so to challenge royalty, you might say.

The unicorn opened his mouth to speak, and the expected voice was that of a very upper class citizen: droning, deep and long enough exposure to such a sound could easily cause ear damage. However, this was gladly not the case. "My word!" Exclaimed the stallion in a jolly 'old-colt' tone. He stole Cantor's hoof from the floor and shook it vigorously.  "I've always considered the possibility of other alicorns besides the princesses, and might I say you certainly are quite a specimen to prove my theories correct!"

Cantor offered a slightly embarrassed "Thanks" after the ecstatic blue pony finally released his hoof, though the relief was short lived, as just a few fleeting seconds after he had finished, he began encircling Cantor, making unintelligible mutterings as he did so.

"My, my, your wings certainly are your best feature!" The stallion quipped happily, eying the broad feathers up and down. 

"Really?" Asked Cantor, craning his neck to get a better look at what the dangerously curious pony was doing.

"Oh, my, yes..." Continued the unicorn, seemingly fascinated by the simple white feathers. "Ever so sorry to ask, and by all means feel free to say no, but... could I perhapse... pluck one?..."

Cantor simply stared as a response, not forbidding, or intimidating, rather, he was bewildered by how enthralled somepony could be over a simple wing. "Only a small one, mind you, I wouldn't want to disrupt your flight pattern by taking one of your..." He parted some of the folded feathers to reveal the full length of Cantor's largest primary, nearly six feet long and a few inches thick near the tip. "...One of your magnificent primaries..."

Sharing in the doctor's startled silence for a short while, though not by the same means, Cantor quickly collected his thoughts and found the words to reply. "Yeah... of course... go right ahead."

Without so much as a second of warning, Cantor felt one of the feathers near the pit of his wing jerk out. He felt a slight twitch of pain, no more than what could come from stubbing a hoof, but in a second, it was gone. The unicorn cradled the feather as if it were something precious and thanked the alicorn supplier many times on his retreat to the small round wooden table in the centre of the room.

"Uhh... no problem..." Replied Cantor, still rather lost as to what had just happened. He found that he needed to do a quick run-through in his mind of what went on. A questionably paedophilic unicorn had effectively praised his wings and then stolen one of his feathers. "Stranger things have happened..." Cantor discretely mused to himself as the cream coated pegasus shyly trotted over to introduce herself. 

"Hey." She simply said in a fair tone. She spoke quietly, as if holding her words, but she failed to come across as timid in the slightest. "My name is Cloud Nine... You'll have to forgive my husband there, he-"

"Aha!" Came a mighty exclamation from elsewhere in the room. All the ponies turned to see the fanatical blue unicorn tilting Cantor's feather around in front of the shadeless light bulb with wildly excited eyes. He noticed his fellow equines all curiously staring at him, so to connect in a way, he hurriedly beckoned them all over with big sweeping hoof movements. "Come, come!" He called, and everypony obeyed.

The deep blue stallion perched on the edge of the frail-looking wooden chair and was admiring the white quill from many a different angle. assuming everypony was gathered around, he continued without casting a glance about. "I've read a lot about alicorn anatomy, but this is really the first time I've had a real live specimen to examine!" He cried with the deepest of foalish elation.

Cantor shot a worried look at Cloud Nine, but she wavered off the tension by rolling her sky-blue eyes in a comical fashion with a dismissive smile. 

The still unnamed stallion continued his enthusiastic incitement with a worryingly wide grin. "A long time ago, I read that alicorn feathers differ greatly from feathers of normal pegasi."

"How so?" Enquired Cantor, peeking over the stallion's shoulder for a better look.

"Well..." Started the unicorn, still twiddling the feather around in the light. "Whereas a pegasus feather is... a- a feather, alicorn feathers bear a considerable amount of ambient magic, you know... the natural flow of magic that allows unicorns to channel magic with a certain degree of instinct."

Cantor didn't bother asking any further. He didn't want to know how or why there was magic in his feathers, after all, there were many things others had told him about equine anatomy that he would have otherwise never considered, and these facts hadn't influenced or changed his life hugely. What harm could a stray nugget of seemingly pointless information do anyway? Cantor merely dismissed the thought and leaned ever closer to the 'special' feather.

"Can you see how this feather sparkles and shines?" Asked the unicorn enthusiastically, sounding as if he were showing his collection of rare jewels to a young foal. 

Cantor observed his unnaturally shed quill, and sure enough, it appeared to be coated with glitter as points of light bounced from it's surface in multiple areas. It was a strangely awesome sight, seeing such beauty in something he had produced for somepony else’s enjoyment.

"But... my wings don't sparkle like that..." Cantor gently argued back, pulling his wing around him and staring down onto it, taking careful notice of how it didn't shine.

"No." The  deep blue stallion answered back rapidly, waving the feather comically in the air as he did so. "The magic running through your feathers can be seen as another life force... a... 'second blood', if you will... When an alicorn feather is lost, it seems, this ambient magic leaks out, back into the air, giving off this shine... thus completing the wonderful cycle of life..." He stared dreamily into space for a moment, considering philosophical questions before he snapped back to Cantor, thrusting the feather towards the alicorn's face in an accusing manner, using the quill like some kind of pointer.

"Are you aware of the stardust theorem, Cantor?" The unicorn asked harshly, making the white stallion feel rather agitated over concerned. 

"No, but I'm sure you're going to tell me." Cantor sighed in response, trying not to sound too rude, and failing horribly.

"It is rumoured that when an alicorn dies, their body transforms into pure magical energy which dissipates back into the atmosphere and makes way for another alicorn life." The unicorn explained, leaving the table unannounced to proceed to rummage through a footlocker at the end of his bed.

Originally finding little interest in the matter - or at least having tuned-out to what the unicorn was saying, Cantor began to breathe a whole new air of concern. "So... what you're saying, is that there's only a certain amount of alicorns that can exist - or at least live - at one time?" He responded, finding a new stir of emotions within himself.

"It's just a theory. In all honesty, nopony has ever actually witnessed the death of an alicorn..." The blue pony answered, finding whatever it was that he was looking for in his box with a triumphant "Ha!"

The now worryingly enthused stallion closed the lid on his locker with a loud bang and fumbled about re-scrambling the three-digit combination lock. He turned around and began walking towards Cantor, grasping a very curious looking pot in his hoof. "There are many, many, many mysteries surrounding alicorns and the like..." He said darkly, holding the clear tube with it's black rubber cap above his head. "We can learn so much from the most basic of elements..." Continued the suddenly intimidating unicorn as he bore down upon Cantor, subliminally forcing the alicorn slowly backwards. "Could I perhaps harvest just a little of your magical eliman?" He asked, yet could not be seen awaiting a reply. 

Further and further, he backed Cantor into the wall, all the while, brandishing the long, slender tube with the black article over one end. Now the piece was a little closer, Cantor could confirm that this thin was some kind of suction device. "My magical what?" Begged the alicorn, halting his backward momentum to try and regain authority. Thankfully, the unicorn stopped his approach too.

"Your eliman! The material which collects around your horn when channelling magic." Answered the blue pony in a raised, almost growling voice, bordering on a shout. If he had asked pretty much any other way, Cantor would have obliged, but simply because of how overbearing this equine came across, Cantor felt the overwhelming need to resist.

"N- no. I'd really rather you didn't." Cantor refused, understandably a tad scared towards this stallion's approach.

"But we can learn so much." The daunting blue unicorn insisted, pressing the device onto the tip of Cantor's horn, but the alicorn quickly ducked away.

"Guys..." He worriedly called out, using his eyes to plead with the five other ponies for sustenance. The unicorn's wife trotted rapidly across the room to aid Cantor and prise her husband from the poor alicorn.

Cantor persisted to shrink into the floor until Cloud Nine wrapped her hooves around the deep blue stallion and gently tugged him away.

"Darling..." She softly said in an eerily soothing voice, the sound seeming to reduce her husband into a deep contemplation. "You're scaring ponies again." She added in a whispering tone, stroking the unicorn's rather tense back.

The now dishevelled looking pony tightened his grip on the eliman-harvesting instrument and his breath caught in his throat. He stared long and hard at the device with his teal-green eyes, recollecting all what had been done. At first, he felt disgusted with himself for allowing his unquenchable thirst for knowledge reach dangerous levels once again. But this accusation rapidly changed to pity. For himself, and for Cantor. This new alicorn didn't know what was going on... Thinking about it, the godlike creature didn't even know his name.

Shaking his head in lieu of his self-absorbed diligence, the peppermint maned stallion put on a less than modest smile and extended his hoof towards Cantor once again.

"I'm... I'm dreadfully sorry for my behaviour just then." He said with an obviously forced, yet surprisingly disarming smile. He shook his head again, but this particular movement could very much be regarded as a twitch. "I'm Blue Bolt, and I'm one of your field physicians for this space exploration programme." He raised his eyebrows kindly: an invitation for friendship, to start again from the beginning.

"...Nice to meet you..." Cantor slowly replied, gingerly making contact with Blue Bolt's hoof and taking the lead in shaking it gently. Blue's smile became far more genuine all of a sudden, and he looked as if he had just won first prize in a contest, despite Cantor's awry enthusiasm.

"Um..." Asked Cantor, releasing the doctor's hoof, his heart rate relatively normal after his 'minor ordeal'. "Celestia mentioned there were two paramedics... who's the other one?" He scanned all the ponies, certain that it was neither Red, nor the twins, nor Faith; the grey pegasus seemed far too rash and impatient for medical attention of a higher degree than applying a bandage, the pair of lilac unicorns, who had now joined onto the group and were silently observing the events unfold were obviously far too young for such practices, and the scarily oversized Red needed no further explanation. That only left one other the job at hoof could belong to...

"That would be me." Came the response from the magnolia coated mare who stepped forward from her flushed husband's side.

"Oh." Cantor replied with a just hint of alarm. "Talk about a family business..." He joked, and received the first collective laugh from this group of ponies he had had all night. The pride he felt for making them laugh was visible in his face in the form of an accomplished smile and slightly rosy cheeks.

"Quite." Cloud Nine returned with a quiet scoff. "Well... Just the two of us can't really be classed as a family, but we're hoping to... 'expand' after this little trip." She and Blue met each other's eyes in a psychological embrace, something Cantor could happily confide with.

The royal blue unicorn reverted to the previous subject, feeling as though he owed Cantor an explanation as an extended part of his apology. "Could I just... clarify something, if I may..." He said whilst staring at Cantor. The alicorn raised his eyebrows to wordlessly urge him to continue, however this silent gesture took a little while to process within Blue Bolt's brain.

"... ...Oh, right!" He suddenly cried, his cheeks becoming a healthy tone of red in which he did not try to hide. "About earlier: how I acted... I'm sorry." He apologised again, hanging his head slightly.

"No problem!" Cantor replied with a gleeful smile. "It's fine." He affirmed, causing the unicorn to share in his contentment.

Once his brief grin was spent, Blue Bolt's face settled back to serious. "The reason for my actions is simply this: I have a mental disorder."

"Blue!" His wife scolded him, shooting daggers from her eyes at him. She quickly turned to face Cantor, who appeared rather excluded from the conversation all of a sudden in light of Cloud Nine's discipline. "It's not a disorder, Cantor." She clarified, smiling gently with her eyes half lidded: a face which held regalement. "Think of it more as a..." She once again met her husband's eyes, the couple trying to figure out how to portray this 'aliment'.

"...An ataxia of morals." Blue Bolt confirmed, receiving a satisfied nod from Cloud. He reformed eye contact with Cantor to further explain his terminology. "You see, my special talent is that everything I see, everything I read, and everything I learn... Every. Singe. Thing... I remember perfectly." He turned side on, displaying his cutie mark to Cantor. The emblem fixed to the pony's flank depicted a large pink brain with two lightning bolts skewed toward the centre at either side of it. "If you check, and I'm certain this is true, the square route of seventeen point six - four is definitely four point two." He smiled darkly. "No rhyme intended."

Cantor's eyes widened in a cocktail of surprise and homage. "Really?" He asked, stunned. "You remember... everything!?" 

Blue Bolt nodded, and with a strong sense of shame, clarified his problem. "Yes." He answered, blinking slowly and finding features upon the blank walls to keep himself from confronting the alicorn visually throughout. "But because of this, I have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and research to the extent where it just isn't right." He sighed, and begrudgingly returned his teal eyes to Cantor's blazing hot spheres. "Seeing an alicorn like you, I just..." His body shivered and he produced a growl that suggested he was becoming aroused at the thought of expanding his knowledge. "I can learn so much!"

At this point, he seemed to realise he was getting away from himself again and quickly re-evaluated his posture. "But having this talent is what supplied my wife and I with a placement in this odyssey."

Cantor quipped his eyebrow briefly before responding. "I'd hardly call it an 'odyssey'..." He said with an unintentional, yet pure sense of modesty.

Blue chuckled, closing his eyes and relishing in the amusement for a few seconds. "By all means, Cantor I take what I said back; this is indeed far more than an odyssey!" He yapped enthusiastically, appearing to be the most excited about this project than pretty much everypony combined. "This right here, is history in the making!" He began, occasionally glancing to the other ponies with sharp eyes as he spoke. "We will be the first ponies ever, to travel further than the moon, the first ponies to traverse other worlds and explore the stars. Imagine what our children will say, and our children's children! They will tell of the time when their great ancestors first set hoof in alien soil and returned as heroes, who will have their names flushed through the minds of ponies down through generations. Though our bodies shall die, our memory will not, and this, what some would see as an 'odyssey' - a mere adventure, no less, will be the first quantum leap to the answers to all of the unanswerable questions of life!" He finished out of breath, and with much passion burning fiercely within his eyes. Any doubt of this pony's fanaticisms were demolished by the vehemencious manner in which he spoke. 

"Cool it, brainy..." Faith, who now was lying down on her bed with her forelegs hung over the end spoke up, laughing to herself at the blue pony's expense.

"I'm sorry..." Blue muttered, his cheeks growing rosy above a reserved smile. "But I'm just so excited to be a part of this."

Faith scoffed. "Really? I never would have thought!" She jostled, sending the whole group into a smattering of chortles and guffaws.

The moment of hilarity passed quickly, and the atmosphere seemed somewhat more up-spirited than previously. And though the laughter ended, silence failed to haunt the room as Cantor was straight on the ball with his next question.

"So, Red..." He began, shifting the crimson stallion's attention away from the still flushed-looking unicorn to him. "How did uh... how did you get involved with all this?"

"Ya have ta ask?" The enormous pony replied, sending another wave of laughter Cantor's way. Red waited for his shipmates to settle down before continuing. "Nah, really though... I was jus' an honest work horse back Falabellia way, tendin' ta tha land,  buildin' houses, haulin' goods, ya know... the usual stuff..." Cantor found that he had to agree, not that he could pull a cart of rocks to save his life, but standing in front of a pony who looked as if he could effortlessly pull three, the much smaller alicorn felt compelled to nod his head. 

Red took a mighty breath of air, filling his lungs (which were probably the size of Celestia's royal airship, each.) and continued. "One day, some pegasi in shinin' golden armour who called themselves Celestia's royal guards came an' asked if I wanted to come on this little space exploration mission." His persona changed from completely serine to anxious as his train of thought continued. "Now I'm not one fer figurin', so I didn't really know what they was talkin' about. But, I suppose word got around about me, an' about how strong I am, and they jus' wanted me ta tag along fer the ride..." He tilted his huge head to the side, as if he were reasoning with himself in his mind. (Presumably the tiniest part of his body). "Mah initial reaction was ta say 'no'; see I wanted ta stay in mah home town, help out ever'pony like usual, but mah daughter said she'd never forgive me if I let this once in a lifetime opportunity get away from me. Like I said, I'm not one fer figurin', but it don't take a lot a' supposin' to know that somethin' like this don't come around every day."

The huge red stallion turned his respectful brown eyes back to Cantor, something behind them showed pure, untainted joy. "I love mah daughter; I'd never want ta leave 'er, but she said she'd never fergive me if I didn't go through with this." He laughed, his deep, booming voice making it difficult to find humour in his chuckle. "The whole town said I'd be stupid not to go, an' I'm not sure I could afford ta loose any more sense anyways..." He inserted, this time receiving a ruckus of laughs from all the other ponies. "So," He continued, not quite allowing everypony to fully finish their amusement. "Here I am."

"Wow..." Sighed Cantor, for a moment reflecting on his future with Twilight: at one point in his life, he knew, he would more or less be at this stage... minus the muscles...

Cantor decided to then turn to Faith, who appeared to jump a little when the white stallion looked at her. "I already know how you got into the army, Faith..." He said with a chuckle. The grey mare rolled her eyes around to the ceiling and waited for Cantor to finish. "But how'd you get into this whole... space thing?" Blue Bolt huffed discretely.

Faith yawned and stretched her feathery appendages outward until they cracked. She sat up somehow straighter than straight and twisted her upper body. It was plain to see that the pegasus was very hungry and tired, yet in her mind, nopony knew. In her mind, nopony cared. "I... Uh..." She tried to speak halfway through yawning, but deemed it impossible to say anything other than 'I' in this state. She politely waited until she had finished before she took a second attempt. "I got in because I'm pretty much the best soldier on the planet." She said with not an ounce of modesty.

"Really?" Cantor replied, cocking his eyebrow and dipping his head to the side, mocking the pegasus a little.

"Mh, hm." Faith affirmed whilst nodding her head, where she wore a very accomplished expression. "I've got a dead eye; I can hit a target up to three miles away." 

"Oh, right." Responded the alicorn, sounding as if he were still not impressed. Truthfully, he was; extremely impressed, but for one reason or another, he felt more like winding Faith up than appreciating her accomplishments. All in the name of fun, of course.

"And that's without a scope." She added, frowning down triumphantly at Cantor, who still wore a smug look upon his face.

"That's nice..." He cooed playfully, not finding it too difficult to speak through the amazing facts. 

"Well, 'Mr. saved-the-world'..." Said Faith curtly, though she now retained Cantor's degree of jest. "What do you do?" At this point, Cantor's eyes fell to the floor and he became unnecessarily fidgety. "Why are you on the team? Why are you captain? What's your special talent?" She continued to pry, each question making Cantor feel more and more uncomfortable. For now it was the time to tell these ponies - or better yet, show these ponies who he really was: what he could really do, and prove inevitably why he was indeed captain.

For a moment, Cantor was at a loss for words. He didn't want these ponies to hate him for being so many things they were not. He dreaded the thought of losing friends because of his near infinite power. He despised the looming assumption that he would want to put himself above ponies by simply being who he was.  And he certainly didn't want to get on the wrong side of Red...

Out of seemingly nowhere, Cantor had the idea to treat his knew friends to dinner, seeing as though he was new and all. "Besides." Thought the alicorn to himself as a mischievous smile spread across his face. "That would be the best way to show them my abilities..."

Catching Cantor's curious expression after his few seconds of silence, Faith grew anxious towards what he was actually going to do. ”What?" She asked, leaping from the bed to land without so much as an 'oof' next to Cantor.

With his awry smile, now seeming to be a permanent fixture on his face, Cantor spoke softly, yet not at all quietly. "Who's hungry?" He asked, his question being met by a plethora of agreeable grumbles from everypony's mouths and stomachs.

"I said we should go to the mess hall!" Huffed Faith in frustration. "Because we've been ponsing around in here, all the food'll be gone!" The pegasus said angrily, making for the door. 

She had her back turned to Cantor when he next spoke, but what he said made her pause her progression to the door.

"What's your favourite food?" Queried the alicorn, scrambling Faith's thoughts somewhat, causing her to turn back around and face him.

"What?" She asked in confusion, the agitation about being kept from food clear in her voice. "Why'd you want to know that?"

Cantor put on a sly grin. "I take it the food here isn't all that special..." He asked, still shooting that bemused look toward the grey mare.

She laughed. "No! It's fucking terrible!" Affirmed the pegasus, none the wiser as to what Cantor was doing. "But anything'll do when you're as starving as I am."

"Well... What's your favourite?" Cantor asked again, his lopsided smile beginning to cross into the realms of caring.

"Well..." Faith began to ponder, but her brain was unable to collaborate with it's body so starved of food. "Oh, I don't know!" She gave up quickly with an angry tone. "Can we just go and get some food? I'm fucking hungry! I haven't eaten since breakfast, and that was at six in Celestia's damn morning!" She once again turned with a huff to face the door and rush outside, fearful in the knowledge that she may have had to go a whole day eating nothing but a couple slices of toast. Once again, she made her move to exit, and once again, Cantor stopped her.

"How does pizza sound?" He hurriedly asked, halting the famished pegasus in her tracks and making her turn to face him once again. The expression she was giving was one of anger over confusion, but it was plain to see that what he had just said had intrigued her.

"What?" She asked again, agitated. "Cantor, if we don't get down to the kitchens now, everything will be gone. And right now, I’m hungry enough to eat a horse!" She felt she was expected to try and leave again, but because of this thought, and the feeling that the white stallion was up to something, she decided to stay.

"What topping do you like?" Cantor encroached further, completely ignorant to Faith's aggravation. 

"Aghhh!" Faith half-sighed, half-growled. "Pineapple. Why?" By now, getting to her dinner was of lesser priority than getting away from Cantor. It became a matter of principle, the fact that this stallion was keeping her from her food was more annoying than the gnawing hunger in her stomach, and now actually spacing herself from him could be regarded as a victory in it's own right.

"Pineapple okay with everypony?" Cantor asked, turning his head, but not really looking over his shoulder at the other ponies. A smattering of agreeable mumbles rose up from behind him, and he couldn't contain his cock-sure grin of anticipation as he placed the stout table lamp onto the floor, leaving the round wooden surface bare and smooth.

The already rather exasperated Faith became even more restless towards Cantor's present actions, but she disregarded her angst, as she was now certain that there was no food left in the canteen anyway, she might as well stay here and see what this alicorn was up to. 

Cantor gently sat himself down in front of the table with an inextinguishable smile and closed his eyes in deep concentration. His mane and tail suddenly took on an appearance not unlike that of one of the princesses'. However, his mane did not shine with the multi-hued bands in which Celestia's did. Nor did this new hairstyle depict the contrasting shades of blue imprinted with hundreds of tiny stars like princes Luna's did. Instead, the white stallion's mane shined brightly with the golden light of day. His suddenly living mane billowed around his head and seemed to grow disproportionally in relation to the size of his body. His fluid tail gave the alicorn the appearance of sitting atop a cloud of light, and the transition from a seemingly normal pony to this godlike creature was so astoundingly unpredicted and strange, that it seemed almost instantaneous, despite the whole scene stretching across several seconds.

Cantor's horn blazed and pulsed a deep violet as he worked his impossible magic. A large part of him did not want to have to show off like this; he felt as though he were putting ponies below him, which he made blatantly clear some time ago that this was far from his objective. Every opposing point in the alicorn's mind could be justified by a good cause. For instance, having this ability put him comfortably within the scripts of a god, yet what he was doing with the power to create life, generate matter from pure nothingness, and indeed make a pizza from thin air, he was doing for his friends and the benefit of others. And that just might make it alright.

Faith's jaw fell way past what it physically could, and her pupils expanded enormously. She felt two very strong emotions tugging her apart at this moment: one was wonderment. Not necessarily towards the appearance her new friend had taken, rather, she was awestruck purely down to the fact that what this stallion had said earlier was true. The fact of the matter was that nopony could just make food appear out of thin air; this was purely common knowledge, but given the evidence that this impossible feat was happening right before her huge eyes, it struck her that Cantor was telling the truth: he did save the world, he was from another world, no... a different universe!" There was no clear reason for him to lie to her about these things, but the reality of such an impressive past seemed... impossible. Yet here she was, watching somepony she had known for less than an hour do something which was just that. 

The other sensation was the heavy sensation of guilt pounding on her heart. This pony had saved the world. Therefore, he had saved her. All she did was laugh at him when he told her who he was. The subconscious thought stirred up apologetic urges, but the grey pegasus quickly dispelled these thoughts from her head and simply decided to join her equine companions in stunned awe.

She couldn't even find the mind to think, let alone piece together words to justify her expression. All she could bring herself to do was stand perfectly still, breathless as a large yellow disc formed upon the tabletop.

For what seemed like days, the ponies stood there, amazed and sceptical about what they were seeing. It was forgivable to assume this was a dream, but the reality was concrete, and this event was as real as it needed to be. 

A minute or so passed, and eventually, Cantor's silky hair began to deflate and relinquish it's heavenly glow. The light in the room diminished until the petite lamp on the floor was the only source. The alicorn's ragged orange hair fell back into it's haphazard style along his neck with a slight whip, and his eyes flew open, revealing the telltale signs of the anxiety he now felt. He was found to be slightly out of breath, and his legs were unresponsive for a large fraction of time before he found the co-ordination to stand.

Rising to his hooves, all of his thoughts and assumptions were obscured by Faith's incredible expression. Cantor, despite himself, couldn't help but laugh at the mare's enormous eyes and wide open mouth. She was the pinnacle of astonishment, and Cantor would give anything to have a camera right about now, certain of the knowledge that he would never see this pegasus' face in such a way ever again. 

He was the only pony laughing though, and it didn't take him long to realise this. Casting a worrisome glance around, Cantor could see that every single equine was mimicking the grey pegasus' expression, and it seemed that this wasn't going to change without his help. 

"So yeah, I mean... help yourself..." Cantor stated, gesturing towards the sizeable pizza with his hoof. For one reason or another, this seemed to bring everypony out of their trance. 

"That's it?" Asked Faith bluntly, sounding rather annoyed above anything else. "That's your special talent!? Making food!?" She huffed angrily and stomped her forehooves into the worn wooden floor, her mix of emotions coming out as aggression. "What good is that!?"

"I-" Cantor began to reply, but was interrupted by a telltale voice behind him. He turned around to see a very enthused looking Blue Bolt, stood before the magical food stuff, chewing rapidly. 

"My word!" Said the enthralled blue stallion with his mouth full, declaring his intention to comment before he spoke. Cantor took a step towards him, noticing how his eyes were closed in delicious bliss. Everypony turned to Blue; often the voice of wisdom whenever arguments were concerned to hear his verdict.

He finished chewing his food before continuing, and when he spoke, he did so with the upmost citiment. "My word!" He repeated, a lot louder than before. "That was one of the most astounding things I have ever seen! You must show me how to perform this spell!" 

Cantor hated to crush Blue's enthusiasm, but thankfully, Red began to query Cantor's spell before the alicorn could breathe a word.

"So... you can make any an' many a foods usin' jus' yer magic?" Asked the red pony, content with the knowledge that he could decipher what was going on, how this food came to be.

"No..." Answered Cantor with an unamused sigh, wondering what a waste of power this talent would be if it were solely used for making food stuffs, though the surprise was evident on the alicorn's face when he realised that, day to day, generating artificial food was pretty much all his ability was used for. "Well, mostly yes." Cantor corrected himself, smiling guiltily in the midst of his thoughts. "I mostly use this power to quickly make food for my friends back in Ponyville, but I can make... pretty much anything you can think of as long as I know how it works and what it's made of."

Faith became less than a little flustered and began to rant about Cantor's position on the team once again. "I can't believe this!" She huffed, encircling Cantor in the room. The alicorn turned as she walked, keeping his eyes fixated on hers as she attempted to poke holes in Celestia's logic. "You're the captain of the first ever space exploration mission with no prior military experience, be that combat or survival, and that title puts you in charge of eight other highly trained and versatile ponies who have each been in the army for over six months..." She paused abruptly and began to stare Cantor down. "I don't care what Celestia says, giving somepony with as little training as you the responsibility of a nine-pony trans-stellar exploration and research unit is downright insane!" 

The pegasus spoke her mind, as she always did, never afraid of what other ponies may think of her. Nor would she lose much sleep over the potential loss of a friend. There was no doubt she cared for others and wanted to protect them, but it could simply be put that having her whole life as practically an experiment, she found it difficult to understand what true friendship meant, despite having a parental figure who’s kind words and wise lessons could bring even the darkest of souls into the light. This was Celestia's job, her right, and her duty, and no matter what anypony could say, no matter how many digs and taunts she received, the progression of the equine race; the survival of the planet rested solely on her and her sister's shoulders. If one were to sit down and analyse everything Celestia did and said, they would notice that everything which has happened in her life has happened for a reason, and that she had justified her good and bad decisions beautifully, including putting Cantor in charge.

Cantor took offense to Faith's tone, and argued back with renewed force. "I guess being the most powerful pony alive doesn't count for much in your eyes, then?" He sulked, tipping his head accusingly at Faith, who didn't react any more than raising her eyebrows. "The reason Celestia put me in charge of this... nine-pony, trans-whatever job, is because I have magic more powerful, more complex, than anything that has ever lived." He jeered at the pegasus, jabbing his hoof harshly at her. "This cutie mark, this picture right here..." He began, turning side on to show off the emblem on his flank. "It's not a special talent, it's not a unique power, it's a legend, a prophesy. It means sacrifice, that's the broken shield, and these coloured dots, I don't know if you can tell, but they’re the elements of harmony, a source of infinite energy that even I can't control." He was becoming out of breath in light of his rant, but the only thing the other ponies in the room were doing was tearing off pieces of pizza and watching the argument unfold, being entertained way more than they felt they should be. "Six of my friends, together, have also saved the world. Twice, as a matter of fact. Using the elements of harmony - including my own - I would be far beyond the script of a god. This is why I'm Captain, and this is the reason ponies hate me as soon as they see me."

He tilted his head downward and to the side, lost in deep, therapeutic monologue. "...I don't need this power... I don't want it... Not if it means loosing everything I love. You know what they say: absolute power corrupts absolutely..." 

For a brief second, the alicorn fell into a depressive state of mind, his head a mess of dark thoughts about his magical abilities bringing about his own demise, when all of a sudden, for seemingly no reason, these ghastly thoughts darted from his concious thought.

Cantor began to aimlessly wave his hoof about in the air trying to emphasise his points, but all he managed to do was look the fool. "And another thing." He said. "Just because I can create matter from thin air doesn't equate for anything; I found out I could do that because of pretty much an accident, so don't go thinking I put myself above any of you just because of that." 

"Ha!" Faith gave a very force laugh. "Don't worry, I won't!" She replied sarcastically.

"What's that tone for?" Cantor replied after taking mild offense.

"I never put you above me for a second. Don't worry about that."

"Good. That's what I like to hear."

"Good. I'll keep it that way."

"Good."

"Fine."

"Alright."

"Fine!"
"Fine!"

The two finished barely a hair's width apart, their muzzles practically end to end as they stared each other down ferociously. They could have locked eyes all night if it weren't for Red's placid intervention.

"Ya know..." He began, holding his nose proudly in the air as if he were making an intelligent observation. Cantor and Faith managed to break apart their intensifying stare to get a better listen to the red pony's words of wisdom. "They say the ones who fight the most get along the best..." He finished with the bringing down of his humungous head to make eye-contact with the two, his calm brown eyes doing failing for a setback to his speech. "Now shake hooves an' make up so we can all have a bit o' this pizza."

Not daring a glance at one another in the fear that something else could escalate, Cantor and Faith closed the distance between each other with their hooves and shook once, firmly, before descending towards the table with the steaming circular bread loaded with rich red tomatoes, golden-brown cheddar and the all important pineapple, slightly caramelised, of course.

"So... you can make... any food?" Asked Titter, or Flitter, Cantor couldn't tell. His only aid was the red necktie she was wearing, but this failed to bring him any closer to which mare was which.

"Y- yes." The alicorn answered, using a quick slashing spell princess Luna had taught him a while ago to dissect the round food into seven separate pieces. "Anything." He affirmed, levitating a buxom triangle of pizza towards his mouth. A long, thin strand of cheese trailed from the end as he did so.

"You can make oranges?" Asked the first unicorn's sister, rocking back and forth slightly on her hooves.

"Yes." Replied Cantor after he nearly guided the pizza into his mouth.

"Meringue?" The other unicorn twin asked with eager eyes.

"Meringue falls under anything, yes..." Cantor answered bleakly, hovering his slice of pizza beside his face, waiting for the couple of pale lavender unicorns to finish their oblivious questioning.

"Trifle?" Enquired the pony with the blue necktie, her enthusiasm as untainted as a filly's.

"Yes..." Cantor droned, feeling the heat leave his dinner by his head.

The sister with the crimson neck bandanna stroked her chin with her hoof and frowned half-heartedly at the floor. "What about... carrot cake?"

Cantor sighed, rolling his eyes as he spoke. "Yes again..."

"How about..." The blue-scarfed unicorn began, her eyes drifting upwards as she contemplated the possibilities.

"Girls." Cantor interrupted, holding up his hoof to quieten them down. "Anything you can think of, anything at all, I can make." He said with purpose, before adding. "Except plants and flowers... I'm not too good with those..."He glanced to the side, rather embarrassed and ashamed that he was not as perfect as some ponies expect him to be. And he felt isolated in the knowledge that there was no other pony alive who could teach him how to use this temperamental force called magic to such a degree.

Cantor made a move to finally take a bite of his pizza, when, predictably, he was drawn into conversation with the cool and calm red mercenary. 

"Can ya' show us?" Red asked after taking one bite of pizza which reduced the slice by half, only needing to chew two or three times before swallowing.

"What?" Cantor replied, giving up on eating his food until the promise of silence was evident.

"You know." The earth pony reinforced, jerking his great brow up as he spoke. "Makin' stuff; what other stuff can ya' make?"

Once again, the alicorn let out a slightly displeased sigh. "I told you, anything you can think of, I can make. And it's not just food, either."

Everypony fell into a complacent silence, and, for the third time, a grumbling sigh passed Cantor's lips as he realised he was about to become a performing act for these ponies. "It's going to be a long night..." He mumbled under his breath, finally placing the triangle - shaped food into his mouth, his thoughts suddenly consumed by the looming fact that the cheese was too thick. "Oh, well..." He thought with yet another disheartened exhale. "Nopony's perfect..."


*****


The night wore on, the remarkable (or so it seemed to one particular blue unicorn) Cantor had 'performed' many a task for the six other ponies, even going as far as replacing their hard sprung mattress with a feather-stuffed one, the least he thought they deserved after partaking in such a herculean job. At first, he felt like a cheap cabaret, showing off practiced spells, wowing his audience and what not. But after a short while, the white stallion seemed just as - if not more entertained with his own  exploitations than the ponies around him, and pretty soon, he began to join them in thinking of new and, in a word, 'interesting' objects and items to conjure up out of thin air.

The whereabouts of the two obsidian-coated mercenaries was discarded amongst the other equines, who deemed that particular piece of information pointless to the group, and soon, the couple of red-eyed specialists went completely out the metaphysical window. The 'late evening' dragged on into the wee hours of the morning before anyone even noticed. It was only when Cantor went outside to check on the time when he discovered it to be a little past two o' clock in the morning. He burst back into the room, far more exasperated than need be, exclaiming the atrocious concept of time he held, not so much for his own negligence, but being conscious of the fact that he had left a mare with foal alone for so much time frightened him greatly; she would not be happy.

Cantor refrained from breathing a word to any of his new friends about Twilight, and instead tried to re-assure himself that some time alone might be good for the purple unicorn, but deep down in his mind, he was certain that Twilight Sparkle was going to be over-inquisitive as usual regarding exactly why he was home so late. Though he didn't want to face the lavender mare with scrambled hormones and a precarious temper, he could not bear ignore her a second longer.

Cantor burst into the even darker seeming bunkhouse from the bright white halls of the outside, oblivious to the temporary blindness as his eyes struggled to catch up with the drastic change in light. 

"It's two in the morning!!!" Cried the alicorn, obviously very flustered, unlike the other sum of ponies in the room, who drearily peered up from the table of many foods and items to meet his perplexed amber eyes.

"So?" Asked Faith, looking up from her royal flush she currently had several tangerines hanging on in her card game with the cream pegasus mare sat a little off from opposite from her across the table.

"So!?" Cantor replied in a frightful tone. "I've got hurricane drills in the morning!" He said, beginning to pace back and forth between the dull-quilted beds. "Do you know how hard it is to make winds of over three-hundred miles per hour!?"

Cloud Nine's ears suddenly pricked up, and she quickly averted her eyes from the banana she was slowly peeling with great care. "You're in the weather team?" The cream coated pegasus asked, raising her fair eyebrows provocatively. "Which branch?"

"All the branches." Cantor answered hastily, his pacing distracting his thought-harassed brain from speaking with due concern. "I pretty much am the active weather co-ordinator for Ponyville..."

Cloud stared blankly for a moment before responding. "...I... I don't understand..." She said, cocking her head slightly, her uninformed notion receiving a gruff and obviously flustered sigh from the pacing alicorn.

"It's a long story." He clarified as he continued to pace as Twilight would whenever she had 'mislaid' a book or rare tome; continuously shuffling, re-tracing her steps until she discovered whatever it was that she was looking for.

Catching the misshapen expression from Cloud Nine, the white stallion promptly apologised for being so blunt. "Sorry..." He continued quietly, though he didn't make any attempt to halt his movement. "I mean... I have to be up early in the morning, and I'm sure you all do too, so to keep any of us from getting into trouble for being up at this time, I suggest we all get to bed as soon as possible." He hung his head shamefully and snorted briefly at the inevitable future. "But I think for me, it's a little too late to avoid trouble..." He concluded, his voice heavy with all mannerisms of unpleasant emotions.

"I'll tell you about my job some day, Cloud." Added the white pony, giving a really rather 'too modest' grin before he ended his welcome. "I should be getting home." The alicorn's impossibly powerful horn began to pulse a deep indigo as the image of the interior of Ponyville library came into view next to instantly, and in perfect clarity. "And I suppose you all should get to bed." He smiled and laughed in lieu of his upcoming 'joke'. "Come on, it's bed time!" Cantor cooed in a soft, mock-worthy voice. "If you stay up any longer, you'll be all cranky in the morning, so get some sleep..." Unsurprisingly, his ridiculous behaviour spouted no laughs, and seeing as though he had once again made a fool of himself, he made this his queue to leave.

"See ya, guys." Called the alicorn, the purple glow from his horn flickering off the walls like some kind of magenta candle. His response was met with a compilation of farewell calls, sounding much like it had done when Celestia left, though the good night goodbyes were considerably less formal than the ones used several hours ago.

When everypony had said their bit, Cantor left without so much as a fizzle, though a little of his aura scattered around the room for a short few seconds, trailed by a feint purple streamer as the little points of energy fled randomly outwards before fading into the air, returning the bunk-room to it's usual darkened silence and dim lighting.

The unicorn wearing the blue scarf, known only to those who had had her name imprinted into their brain as Flitter, turned to her sister with a troubled expression. "What a weird guy..." She proposed with a slight frown.

"Uhh, I don't know..." Titter replied with a barely visible blush across her nose. "I think he's kinda cute."

"Ugh!" Sighed Faith brutishly, letting her hooffull of cards fall face down on the fruit-ladened tabletop, turning around in her chair to catch a better look of the lilac unicorn's green eyes. "Not you too." Huffed the grey mare, not realising what she had said until it had left her mouth. Before anypony had the time to make a comment, before they even had the time to think of one, Faith turned back to her game with a lopsided grin and laid her hoof down, presenting the set of cards that won her the game quite literally, hooves-down.

"Ahh..." Sighed Cloud Nine, as she dropped her own cards lazily to the table and observed her smug opponent pull several tangerines toward her. "I thought I had that one in the bag..." The magnolia pegasus said with a defeated smile. Faith wasn't fully aware as to how she was going to eat all of these fruits before they went bad, but one thing she was certainly pleased of was that she had won them: they were hers.




Ponyville library was (as always) dead silent; even more-so now that it was the middle of the night, when even little colts' and fillies' parents should be in bed asleep. The inhabitants of the oversized treehouse, one purple dragon and one purple unicorn, however, were among the world of the waking, despite being as still and as quiet as the sleeping. Spike had taken himself off to bed, but, among other things, he was restless due to the navy-mane mare's absence. He wrapped his toasty blue blanket around his scaly body and attempted to get some sleep, but despite his heavy eyelids and mild headache, the adolescent dragon just couldn't drift off. 

Twilight sparkle stood a little off from the middle of her library floor, waiting for her stallion to return. But hugs and kisses were not first on the list of what she wanted to do to him when he arrived. She cast her eyes from the slightly worn looking red door to her decorative cuckoo clock positioned neatly above it. Two-o-five. She breathed a very displeased snort and returned to looking directly in front of her. The silence was imposing, tangibly so, and the lavender mare had long ago become aware to  every possible sound available: the quiet tick - tock of the clock, the steady sound of the library waterworks... she had even began to speculate the possibility of mice when the scratching within her walls began, and her predictions were confirmed when she saw a tiny brown rodent dart along a sparsely populated bookshelf nearer the top of the library.

With as little warning as possible, a white stallion flashed into existence directly in front of her face with a quiet little pop. He caught sight of Twilight's big purple eyes no sooner than he had arrived and began to scream in fright. His cry only lasted a second before he jammed a hoof into his own mouth to silence himself. 

The unexpected shock of the lavender mare being in such close proximity as soon as he teleported quickly faded, and he managed to pull his hoof from his mouth along with a relived sigh. "How do you do that?" He asked, remembering in perfect clarity the first time he had teleported to directly in front of Twilight and nearly had a heart attack.

Completely discarding Cantor's question, Twilight replied with her own. "A bit late, aren't we?" She asked with displeased, half lidded eyes, her tiredness evident in her face, and in the way she spoke.

Cantor pulled away from Twilight and took several steps backward for some breathing space. "Yeah... sorry, Twi..." The embarrassed alicorn replied, scratching the back of his head gently to disperse some of the awkwardness. He had hoped to return quietly, maybe have a late night cup of tea, then slip silently into bed with Twilight and hopefully be up early enough to make her breakfast in bed to apologise for being out so late. Obviously this plan was out of the window.

"Why the heck are you back so late?" Asked Twilight accusingly. "What were you doing?"

Cantor stopped scratching his head and found the decency to make eye contact with the pregnant mare. "I was just meeting the other ponies who are going into space with me in Canterlot."

"Are there any mares?" Twilight asked, her tone forceful and as accusing as her expression.

"What?" Cantor responded, hearing the question perfectly, but curious as to Twilight's intention with it.

"Are there any mares on the team with you?" The lavender mare repeated slowly, becoming quickly agitated.

Cantor frowned in confusion and shrugged his shoulders casually. "Yeah. Why?"

Twilight rolled her eyes and put on a very fake, provocative smile, turning away and walking towards her pale cream sofa with a heavy step. "Oh, that's nice." She said in an overly sarcastic tone to the point where it was plain rude. "I'm sure you had lots of fun around a bunch of well-toned army girls." She planted herself on the sofa and sat there with discomfort, finding anything to look at apart from Cantor, who had followed her and taken the seat beside her.

"What do you mean?" He asked, once again knowing exactly what Twilight meant, but unclear as to exactly why she thought about it.

Twilight huffed loudly, looking at all the books on the tall hardwood shelves to distract her from the stallion's presence to her right. "You know what I mean." She replied curtly. "You're looking up other mare's skirts because I'm getting fat and disgusting, and not good enough for you, and... and that feels awful to me..." She was close to tears, but the very fine line between anger and frustrated sorrow held strong.

Cantor stared aghast, unsure as to how to approach this mare's statement. If it had been Rainbow Dash, or even Rarity who had come out with this, the alicorn would have known how to respond, but in these uncommon cases of Twilight's oppression, Cantor didn't even know what to think, let alone what to say or how to say it. 

"Twilight..." He began, gobsmacked towards what he had just heard. "How can you say that?" To say he was surprised was a given; a far more accurate term would be saddened, maybe even to the extent of being disappointed. 

"How many other mares are there? How many other ponies do you want to rub the wrong way?" The unicorn with the scrambled thoughts continued to interrogate, all the while looking furiously at the skirting at the foot of the wall and trying to maintain an empowered voice.

Cantor reeled his head back in aversion, frowning down upon Twilight although she could not see him. He found himself to be far more disgusted with how Twilight was putting herself down rather than how she was speaking to him right now. 

"Twilight." The alicorn began sternly. "Don't start putting-"

"How many?" She interrupted, leaning backwards and burying her head into the soft pillows nearer the top of the cushy sofa. 

"Why do you need to know?" Cantor returned, holding his forelegs outwards in a submissive manner.

"Well why don't I?" The agitated mare shot back, folding her front legs over her cumbersome bump in her well-rounded belly. "Do you have something to hide from me?"

"I'm-" Cantor began, cutting himself short before he began to raise his voice. He closed his eyes and let out a frustrated, yet calming sigh. He recalled the names of his shipmates for a number of seconds before answering. "Four." He said with distinction. "There are only four other mares in my crew. Happy?"

"Names." Said Twilight curtly, her emotions completely focused on anger and petulance.

The white stallion grumbled a sigh before complying with Twilight's 'demands'. "There's Titter and Flitter who are barely older than Scootaloo." Anger flared from his heart and he next spoke through clenched teeth. "Cloud Nine's FU-" Once again, Cantor cut himself short, briefly allowing his building anger simmer down, noticing how it was much, much harder to do the second time around. "...There's Cloud Nine, who’s married. The only single one there is Faith."

"Oh, that must have been nice." The purple unicorn spat, glancing over her shoulder just enough to give Cantor an eyeful, but not enough to make any real contact.

"The hell's that supposed to mean?" Cantor replied with just as much, if not more viciousness.

"You know damn right what it means!" Twilight yelled, turning her whole body around to stare straight at the stallion. Her eyes were bloodshot from tiredness, and her vision suddenly became a blurry screen of frustrated, confused, misguided tears. "How do you think it feels!?" The suddenly exasperated Twilight Sparkle cried, her voice finally breaking, allowing the many croaks and hoarse shouts of infuriated depression to flow forth at an uncontrollable rate.

"You don't know how it feels!" Twilight shouted, her voice bordering on a scream as her eyes poured with tears. Cantor flinched, and whatever anger or aggravation he was holding before dissipated immediately as the usually calm and collective mare before him broke down as a result of his own carelessness. "You don't know what it's like to look at yourself in the mirror every morning, stare down at yourself in the bath every night and see a disgusting, fat, bloated body, when all of your friends are nice and thin and beautiful!" Twilight's voice was fraught with desperation and hopelessness, often cracking and loosing direction as she got all of the pent up rage from her system.

Cantor could only stare and listen, horrified that Twilight - especially Twilight would speak of herself in such a way. What concerned him more, though, was the fact that these ghastly feelings had been concentrating inside the young lavender unicorn for some time, and he was too dense, too stricken with his own problems and worries that he had neglected Twilight's own strife. Cantor merely sat there, staring into those red-streaked, watery eyes wondering how in Equestria it could come to this, and right at a dire time when a major part of Equestrian history was about to be written.

Twilight Sparkle continued to become more and more flustered as her de-pressurisation continued, her tone getting increasingly desperate whilst staying lost in the realms of massive anger and self-pity. "Every day... Every day, it gets worse: the thought of you looking at other mares, wondering what life would be like if you hadn't chosen me! I have nightmares about coming home and finding you in bed with some flirt from Ponyville that keep me awake for hours on end worrying whether they're true or not!" She stopped, staring with the greatest intensity at Cantor with wild eyes as she took in short, shaky breaths before resuming her purge of emotion with a dampened soul. The dishevelled mare hung her head, letting her eyes fall dimly to the wooden floor below. Teardrops rained from her lips and her nose and landed upon the floor with a quiet 'tap'.

Twilight sucked in a breath, biting he bottom lip to prevent herself from wailing in sorrow and spoke softer. "Look at me..." She sighed, her spirit shattered and her will trampled. "Look at this..." The bereaved unicorn said, rubbing her distended stomach with a face of apathy. "Then look at you..." Twilight continued, staring again at Cantor with renewed tears, her face falling into the pinnacle of depression. "...You're handsome, strong, funny, brave, kind... I'm... I'm not... good enough... for you..." Her tear-sodden face slowly fell down into her hooves and she began to quietly, but by no means weakly cry, squeaking her last sentence through the bitter tears of loss. "...Not any...more..."

Not feeling anything other than remorse, and not knowing at all what to say to resolve the situation, Cantor shuffled closer to Twilight, her timid little sniffs and sobs only fuelling his desire to make her feel better. He steadily wrapped his forelegs around this heartbroken pony, feeling her wet face against his shoulder seep frigid tears into his coat. The alicorn half-expected to be pushed away, or rejected in some similar manner, but it seemed as though Twilight Sparkle still had some heart left to want to get better. Cantor began to slowly curl his huge white wings around the mare too, slowly stroking the tips of his feathers along her back to tickle her fur and make her shiver a little, urging her to hug back. But she didn't. The slightly larger white stallion then began to slowly cradle Twilight from side to side, planting gentle, but meaningful kisses atop her head whilst whispering "Shhh..." Soothingly into her ear.

For several more minutes, the pair sat there, trying to mentally configure who would speak first. Spare the occasional sniff, or hiccup of dolefulness, Twilight had calmed down, her steady, warm breath replacing the cold, painful tears as she revelled in the sensation of such a tender embrace. They could have sat there for hours, days, even. But if that were the case, they knew that this whole mess could never become sorted out, and eventually, though still a little prematurely it seemed, Cantor and Twilight separated, though they never broke eye contact, slowly moving away from each other until they were hoof-in-hoof, their bodies parted by means of only the most intimate embraces, their souls uniform in each other's eyes to the extent that they were one.

"Twilight..." Whispered Cantor, giving Twilight that intense stare he wore only when the time was right - such as now. "You. Are. Perfect..." He continued, shaking on the unicorn's hooves with every word to illustrate his point that much more along with his uncannily intense tone. Twilight did nothing but listen, trying to find some way to fault this stallion; trying to work her way around his words to stab herself in the heart again. But Cantor was having none of this. Like many times in the past, he watched Twilight melt into his will, fall under his command. He could feel her body relax as her pupils dilated and her flow of tears gradually stopped. At this point, the supernatural stallion assured himself that Twilight was indeed 'his', and that it was his duty to make her realise just how special she was in light of her undeniable compassion and empathy for letting somepony as average as him be a substantial part in her life.

Cantor slowly took a breath and squeezed Twilight's hooves tighter, his deep amber eyes blazing with the essence of some intense flame. "You are the best thing that has ever happened to me, and don't ever, ever say you're 'not good enough'... You're a very smart, talented, amazing mare, Twilight... but that is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard you say, because we both know that that is a huge lie."

The troubled purple mare had destroyed her ego in doubting herself. Even just a second of this self-depreciation on her part destroyed the stallion she loved, and she knew this. If even now, Cantor was overlooking his hurt; doing everything in his power to make her feel better, then maybe she actually did mean something to him: maybe what he was saying was true: maybe she really was 'good enough' for him. Twilight knew Cantor would hate it being said that way, so she left it in mental thought, the same mentality that the alicorn was now moulding with the assumption of ease.

"For starters..." Cantor began in a slightly brighter voice, a quaint smile forming on his lips in an attempt to show that he cared greatly, but that the matter was nothing to become so worried and depressed about. "You're not fat, and you're certainly not ugly... You're pregnant. That's al there is to it." His hoof rose upwards and stroked Twilight's chin lovingly, lifting her head and her spirits. "It's one of the most beautiful things a mare can do with her body." He said with an encouraging smile which nearly allowed a grin to surface on Twilight's face too. "I really doubt I need to tell you how babies are made, but given the circumstances, I suppose I need to..." He chuckled, and a slight smirk appeared on the lavender pony's face.

"When a mummy and daddy love each other very much..." He said, causing Twilight to giggle a little, then try and hide it, which made the urge to laugh even harder to suppress. "I don't need to explain procreation to you, Twi. But you seem to have forgotten that the reason you're getting larger is because there's another life growing inside of you; a product of our love..." He rolled his eyes to the side and sighed with humour, shaking his head slightly and smiling. "Ah, it sounds so mushy when I say it like that, but it's true..." He turned to face Twilight, who, in the brief time their spiritual contact was bent, had looked away and was now staring at nothing in particular for no particular reason. Maybe she still felt as though she was not up to Cantor's intensity: the thought of another session with those fiery eyes sent shivers through her entire being.

Her bemused concentration, however, was unpredictably broken when she felt her head being turned back toward her stallion, back into his bright orange eyes that always seemed to become even more striking whenever he sustained this mood. It was only now that Twilight realised her drowsiness, and her eyes fell to a half-lidded position, her lips falling slightly parted as she began to drift off. Her view of the tentative alicorn became increasingly darker, but her hearing stayed strong. She leaned back into the soft, warm cushions with a smile which could only be described as tranquillity itself. Making a half-hearted attempt to stay awake, Twilight felt the sofa dip inwards as Cantor himself reclined backwards, bringing his face to the same level as hers, taking in the legendary dozy stare which suited this mare so amazingly well.

"I know I say it every day, but it's what I live for..." The alicorn spoke with his most soothing tone, watching the last little bits of Twilight's eyes disappear behind their lids. 

"...I love you, twilight Sparkle." He whispered. "You know that, right?"

But she had already fallen asleep, her serine smile undying upon her beautiful, perfect face.
> Wing and a Prayer
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 6: Wing and a Prayer

There was a fanfare. An honest-to-Celestia fanfare. Yet as the regal white mare stepped out onto the largest balcony of her expansive castle, the crystal white walls adorned with royal flags and banners, the baying of the trumpets was, for once, not directed solely at her, nor her sister, who walked along beside her. Instead, this prestigious blaze of noise was being shared between all eleven ponies who stood just before the edge of the vast balcony overlooking ponies in their millions. The entire crew of Equestrian Explorers One was present, forming a rough 'V' shape upon the observation platform. The captain, a white coated, rust-maned alicorn stallion who had become a very popular face throughout Ponyville stood to Celestia's right, his ridiculous wings flared out in the upmost excitement as the shrill brass instruments ceased, and was instead replaced with a cacophonous roar from four and a half million pastel ponies.

Cantor stared down in sheer disbelief at the unfathomable ocean of brightly coloured equines. Even having lived in this world of magic, monsters and marvel, Equestria always seemed to have something up it's enchanted sleeve to take one's breath away. (But in all fairness, who couldn't stare in awe at this astonishing spectacle?). 

Somewhere in the distance, a couple of miles away resided the spaceship itself, a leviathan of a craft, fit to take the nine brave ponies beyond the stars in luxury and style. Months of planning, hard work and relentless research had come down to this moment, and it was far more glorious than anypony could have ever imagined. The copper coloured inter-stellar spaceship was, in itself, a marvellous work of art: over one hundred feet of living, bathing, cooking, eating and sleeping quarters packed into this mother of all machines. The ship, known to many as 'EE1', stood on it's end, supported by some kind of bright red scaffolding connected to it's undercarriage, it's two large thrusters pointing directly at the Equestrian soil, a prestigious glass dome heading straight for the amber sky. Princess Celestia and princess Luna were working in canon to keep both of their celestial bodies just above the horizon, creating the perfect conditions for the photographs which would surely make worldwide headlines the very next day. Not to mention how beautiful the jet black clouds looked against the red-shifted horizon.

The electricity was tangible, one could almost taste the excitement in the air as launch time quickly approached, even the pair of sinister black mercenaries appeared out of themselves amid this astonishing event that was taking place. Catching Cantor's dazzled expression of elicity, princess Celestia discretely dipped her head to speak into white stallion's ear.

"Not what you were expecting?" She asked in a very amused tone, her great, motherly-proud smile was so fantastic, it could be heard in her voice.

"I-" Cantor stuttered, staring in absolute awe at the swarm of ponies far, far below. "It's unbelievable..." He replied, shaking his head in disbelief. "I mean, I knew this was going to be big, it couldn't not be, but... this feels like a dream, princess..."

Celestia merely chuckled. "Quite right, young stallion..." She mused, casting a lengthy glance down toward her adoring subjects.

History was about to be written, and the quill which would write it was in the grip of the entire nine pony team of explorers, and indeed everyone who had been involved with the project for their amazing spirit and persistence.

Turning to Celestia with bated breath, Cantor took his turn to speak up. "How many do you think there are?" He asked, his mind still incapable of taking in the sheer number of ponies below him.

The princess shook her head with appraisal. Cantor noticed how her fluid mane caught the appearance of a halo in her own dying sun. "Millions..." She answered vacantly. "And among those millions is a very proud mare..."

"Yeah..." Cantor sighed, unable to pinpoint the unique lavender coat from the cascade of lilac and blue tones. "I hope she'll be alright. She always says that when I go away, she has nightmares..." He added, still searching for those two unmistakeable purple eyes staring back, but he found none.

The pair of white alicorns met each other's eyes in a glance, the proud mare of the two empathising with the stallion's rich orange eyes. "I'm sure she'll be fine; she has her wonderful friends to keep her company, after all." 

Cantor gave a brief nod of agreement and turned back to the hordatious crowd of ponies as Celestia did. 

The pure white mare stood up straighter, placing her right hoof across her chest as she cleared her throat gently, and with all the grace and decorum a pony of her stature required as instinct.

"Mares and gentlecolts..." She bellowed in a voice which carried the strength of an entire city all screaming at once, yet sustained the soft, soothing tone of her usual speech, backlit by some sense of unmistakeable pride and urgency towards a joy she held deep in her heart. "We are gathered here on this prestigious evening to lay witness to the greatest achievement in equine history the world has ever seen!"

Cantor rolled his eyes in light of the princess' immodesty, smiling all the same. He felt a light tap on his flank, and turning around, he saw the royal blue doctor shooting him what could be regarded as a gloating gesture. Cantor simply snorted humorously and turned back to the crowd to listen to Celestia's speech.

"In less than twenty minutes, these nine ponies you see beside me will be the first beings from the world of Equestria, to travel far beyond the reach of conventional telescope." Celestia continued with her speech, every time she paused for breath, a silence like no other overtook the land. It was as if the millions of ponies stood below, gazing up with wistful eyes were holding their breath, listening to the first words of this awesome journey being spoke. The same words which would echo through the ages, bringing sensations of fantasy to whomever would be listening.

The tall white alicorn took a long, relaxing breath, recalling the words she had practiced tirelessly in preparation for this monumental day. "Looking down now, I see so many of you have come from far and wide to see off these heroes as they begin their month long journey to beyond the stars... They will take one month to reach Absencicy, where they will stay for one week to carry out all necessary research upon the planet's surface... They will then leave, taking another month to return home, ready to tell us about what new and wonderful worlds lie in the future... Who knows? Maybe even some of you foals I see in this audience tonight will become the next generation of inter-stellar explorers..."

The crowd briefly lit up with an inaudible murmur before it settled back down again to it's deathly silence to allow Celestia to continue. "...I cannot stress my appreciation for these ponies' bravery as they become immortalized in the history books. All I can do, is give them each an uninterrupted moment of glory before they depart from us... So, in no particular order, let us applaud these great stallions and mares who have devoted the last few months of their lives to make this project possible..."

The guardian of the currently deep orange sun turned to her right, and peered down at Cantor, who was still awestruck by the astonishing spectacle below. 

"To Cantor, who's immense magical abilitirs will be used to power the entire voyage, I thank you..." Said Celestia with a very endowed smile as she stared at the stallion, waiting for him to do something. After a short while of nothingness, princess Celestia jabbed Cantor gently in the ribs with one of her polished to perfection golden shoes. The amber-eyed alicorn turned to Celestia with a dumbfounded expression and raised his eyebrows as if to say "What?"

"Wave." Whispered the princess discretely.

Cantor shook a little of the awkwardness from his body, and with a mild blush, raised his right hoof high in the air to be met with a roar of excited and appreciative cries and a ground-trembling stamping of hooves. The applause lasted only a few seconds, but the thought of millions of ponies cheering like this for him turned his face a beet red. He slowly lowered his hoof and the applause softened, but didn't quite die out even as the princess introduced her next pony. 

"To Faith, who's tireless efforts in the training programme leading up to this event has greatly inspired others to achieve their goals, I thank you..." Celestia continued, glancing to her left, where a steel grey hoof was slowly, and what could be regarded as gracefully, waving back and forth, spurring the vast cluster of ponies to roar up again beside a midnight blue alicorn mare, whose starstruck mane billowed and danced adoringly in the cool evening breeze.


*****


The princess' speech continued on for several minutes, pausing often to allow each of the nine ponies their moment of glory. With every second that passed, tension, awe and passion built until thoughts upon anything else other than the topic at hoof were completely diminished. Celestia gave a brief, but detailed summary of each of the crew member's tasks, and as it turned out, the two identical twin sisters, Titter and Flitter, were the scribes for this operation, and their job was to document and research everything they found on the new planet: soil samples, mineral analysis, the usual stuff. Luckily for Cantor, who still became muddled with the pair of unicorn's names even after his two weeks of hellish boot camp with them, the twins were allowed to wear their neck scarves over the bright orange space suits so as to keep themselves from mistaking each other with even themselves.

Getting a better look at the spaceship now that it was outside, Cantor could make out the cutie marks painted onto it's side between the two front windows. He could easily make out his broken shield cutie mark at the front of the ship, and he could just about see Faith's bright red crosshairs a little way back. The story about when Cantor first noticed the pegasus' special talent is an interesting one; he only clocked the red circle with long bars displaying a central dot upon the mare's flank when they were coincidently enough left alone in the waiting room for both their physicals. Talk of medical instruments quickly turned to the two winged equine's sexuality, which somehow ended up with the stone-grey pegasus presenting herself to Cantor for a quick fling while they were ensured half an hour of privacy. The alicorn decided that now would be the best time to make his relationship with a slightly popular mare from a slightly less-popular town named Ponyville known, which seemed to dent Faith's ego for some reason. Nevertheless, the iron-hard mare was back to her usual self later that same day: making all the common digs about Cantor's genitalia, which every other pony apart from the jokes' target thought were hilarious.

Nearer the end of the craft, a symbol of what looked like a red feather could be seen, it’s tip dipped in black ink, and in hushed conversation with his shipmates, Cantor discovered that this particular emblem indicated that the machine's purpose was that of exploration and research, as opposed to bloodthirst and war, which scarily not only existed, but was shown by a black quill dipped in blood. Each highly polished window reflected the pale light of the setting sun beautifully, and the great dome of glass at the head of the ship gleamed like the celestial ball of fire itself, and with every passing second, Cantor's, and the other crew members’ excitement grew to an unbearable level, and all nine ponies were itching to take their first memorable steps inside the enormous vessel that was 'Equestrian Explorers One'...

After the white alicorn mare had given a final prestigious statement about Red, who she referred to with his full name, and had also announced her undying gratitude towards the scientists, engineers and builders who were the backbone of the entire project, the sea of brightly-hued ponies quietened down to listen to the princess' closing sentence. "So, without further ado, let us hear one final cheer for these nine humble heroes who will take the first step to a great new Equestria!" Enthused Celestia, a frown of accomplishment and determination bolted to her pure white face. 

Everypony below exploded into rapturous applause, their ferocious stomping of hooves making the very balcony beneath Celestia's hooves tremble.

Celestia turned from her subjects to Cantor, shooting him an endowed look of earnest. "It truly is a glorious day, is it not?" She asked, her awry grin widening uncontrollably. 

Cantor laughed in agreement. "It is." He answered gleefully, listening to the cacophonous roar of the millions below. "There's just one thing I don't understand, princess..." He added with a barely questionable frown.

"What may that be, Cantor?" Celestia asked, leaning closer for a better earful over the applause. 

"Well..." The alicorn began, peeking briefly over his shoulder at EE1 before continuing. "What I don't get is how you can have so much stuff on that spaceship; an artificial gravity centrifuge, magical dissipation thrusters, a forcefield, stuff like that... but... you didn't know what walkie-talkies were until I told you..."

"Ah." Celestia noted with a deep tone.

"What's up with that?" Cantor finished.

"Well I'm rather glad you brought that up, Cantor." Said the princess. "It's a very interesting topic, you see-"

"Launch in T-minus ten minutes..." Came a disembodied voice from unannounced speakers, the male-sounding words echoing around the valley and alerting ponies to a huge three-digit display projected onto the side of a flatter-looking mountain side. A forty-foot tall 9:58 appeared in bold red letters and gradually began to tick closer to zero as an excited din rose up from the valley floor.

The two white alicorns glanced toward the huge countdown then turned back to each other with worrisome eyes.

"I think that's your queue..." Chortled Celestia, trying to lighten the mood.

"I guess so..." Replied Cantor, his excitement replaced with unfriendly nerves. “Well... This is it..." He affirmed as the eight other orange-suited ponies left, only their heads, manes, tails and (if necessary) wings protruding from the tight fitting fabric.

Cantor went to follow them on, but was halted by Celestia's soft hoof. Ironic, how her touch seemed gentle, despite her hard hoof being covered with gleaming gold shoes. The stallion turned to see concerned indigo eyes staring back. He eyed Celestia carefully for a moment until she spoke. 

"Be safe, Cantor." She said sincerely. "I'm sure you're aware Twilight will not be the only one worrying about you whilst you're away."

Cantor hopped up and squeezed the princess around her tall shoulders, feeling the white mare squeeze him back in a parting embrace. 

"I'll be fine, Celestia..." He sighed as he dropped back to all fours. "All we're doing is going to some dusty old planet to collect some rocks and bring them back." He chuckled to himself. "I mean it's not like we're going to be battling aliens, are we?" He jested.

"No..." Muttered princess Celestia with a little sigh of relief. "Regardless, I know how accident prone you are, and the last thing I would want to hear is if something 'happened' to you..."

The orange eyed stallion shook his head dismissively. "That's not going to be a problem. I promise." He affirmed with a curt nod.

The princess slowly nodded her head, now a little more at ease with her second adopted child going into space for months. "Well, I suppose you should get gong then." Celestia continued, her previous smile returning quickly. "You don't want to miss your flight, now, do you?"

"No, princess." Cantor replied, beginning to trot back into the castle with a grin of his own. "Goodbye, I'll bring you back a nice big stone!" He joked as he disappeared into the shade of the dazzling white walls of Canterlot Castle.

The spectral maned princess began lookong out over her subjects, motioning for the two guards which accompanied her to leave her and her sister to some peace. 

She waited for the clopping of armour clad hooves to fade away before she next spoke. "I know what you're thinking, sister..." She said without looking at Luna, the dark blue alicorn loosing herself for a moment at her older sister's unpredicted tone.

"I know that." Princess Luna replied, smelling the pre-night air. "And I want to know why you didn't say anything."

"Oh, it will just make him worry." The white mare answered quickly, glancing over her shoulder for visual confirmation that they were alone.

"Tia..." Luna mumbled with intensity. "That crystal is packed with enough dark energy to warp the universe as we know it. If something happened, and Cantor lost control of his demon..." She stopped her words, as if doing so would help catastrophe avoid reality. "You know more than I what would happen, but I know as well as you do the only two outcomes that would come from such a disaster."

"Our concerns have been clearly noted, Luna." Replied Celestia, glancing down at her sister with dark eyes. 

"By who!?" The princess of the night cried.

"By. Us..." Her sister answered calmly and darkly, bringing her head down to the blue alicorn's ear, grumbling her next words with dangerous and forbidding intent. "If I were faced with a decision such as killing my child, or letting my kingdom die by his hoof, I would do the right thing in a heartbeat."

"And what would the right thing to do be?" Luna growled back with just as much venom, knowing full well what her sister had meant.

"Now that's something we both know would be difficult to do, should that time arise." Whispered the keeper of the sun deathly quietly. "But do not doubt me, or what I can do for a second."

"Then why have you taken the risk? Why couldn't you have found something better to power the ship with other than my best friend's life!?" Luna argued back, her voice growing to a frustrated shout.

"Because technology to equate to something like that would take thousands of years to come about, and maybe even I would not be alive to see this happen, and Cantor certainly wouldn't." Celestia spat.

"He's still my friend, he still saved your life, and he is still your son." The darker pony grumbled through barred teeth. "You're saying you would kill him without a second thought if he threatened your kingdom?"

"Firstly," Princess Celestia started in her own raised tone. "This is our kingdom. Secondly, I realise that he would willingly save my family and my friends at the expense of his own life, and thirdly, I never actually said I wouldn't give killing Cantor a second thought, but know that if torturing him, and in fact any pony, and liking it would save my kingdom, then I would do it without batting an eyelid."

Celestia turned to her sister, who wore a disgusted face. She waited for Luna to respond, but when no words came, she decided that enough biting was enough, and that it was time to make amends. 

"There are two things that can be expected, dear sister." Celestia began in a slightly less than friendly tone, but the signature calmness had returned. "One: being in such close proximity to the Peripharous crystal for such a long period of time would be damaging to anypony's mind; Cantor even moreso. The only side-effects to absorbing it's energy is mild dementia and paranoia." Princess Luna's mouth fell even wider at this terrible point, and her eyes grew enormously, but Celestia continued regardless. "Two: as a result of this paranoia, Cantor will subliminally cause nightmarish hallucinations around other ponies when his mind is dormant; free to wander. In fact, the head doctor at Ponyville hospital informed me that when Cantor was comatose after suffering his heart attack, he experienced lifelike hallucinations of, and I quote: 'not unlike that of a nightmare.'..."

Luna stared aghast, unresponsive to what she was hearing. 

"Sister," Celestia spoke whilst coming face-to-face with the other mare, her voice dwelling over the realms of compassion. "Do not misunderstand my concern for Cantor, he means a far greater deal to me than you could ever imagine. But the possibilities that could come from his magic are endless..." The white pony said, scouting around briefly before carrying on in a slightly more hushed tone. "Cantor goes far beyond the script of a god. He knows how powerful he is, and he knows how to use that power, but what he doesn't know is what scares me the most."

"And what's that?" Asked the younger princess, not really thinking about what she said, but subliminally fearful that her sister wouldn't give up a little more information without prompting.

"He can't control his demon, sister. None of us can." Celestia answered slowly, striding gradually back over to the pristine balcony, the rumble of the crowd seeming dampened. "Being who he is, Cantor cannot afford to become as you did. Not for himself, nor for the ones he loves: if Cantor looses control many more times during his life, he will begin to question his own reverence, and his heart will become as black as his hatred for himself... If he doesn't destroy everything, he will destroy himself, with, or without my consent, and to see someone as pure as him do that would ruin me."

Princess Luna appeared puzzled; one moment her sister was being maniacal in the state of mind in light of murder, the next, she was stressing how awful it would be to see Cantor in harm's way. She merely disregarded the white mare's conclusions; doubtless, both of the alicorn sisters accepted Cantor as family, and trusted him with even more certainty. It was accepted in Luna's mind just then that nopony is perfect, and that giving the young stallion the benefit of the doubt that he would not do anything to hurt anypony was the right thing to do.

Even if, as Cantor often said: "The right thing isn't always the best."


*****


The nine orange dressed ponies hurriedly made their way across the bright red scaffolding, all the while keeping their anticipative eyes toward the great countdown now some distance away. From where they were now, even the gargantuan mass of ponies seemed miniscule compared to the mountains which surrounded them, and even Canterlot castle seemed non-existent. The once awesome castle was merely a white blur stuck to the side of a mountain, it's tall spires streaking slender black lines past the valley's summit as a resulting factor of the low-hanging sun.

Cantor was trotting along at the head of the group, every so often turning to climb the next slope closer to the entrance of the magnificent craft. The team had a little under three minutes to go until the rocket's engines would fire. And then who knows what would happen? Successful scale models had been made of the ship, but seeing the real deal sent shivers down Cantor's spine. 

Needless to say nervousness was a common feeling at this point for everypony, but even moreso for the alicorn given that he was in charge. Either his head was completely empty, or far too full for anything to make sense. Either way, Cantor allowed his legs to carry him further up the tedious climb to the door to the cockpit without a second thought, or perhaps without a third: his first thought was ascension, the second neural message was keeping the fact that there was no turning back always fresh in his mind.

"Come on... we've only got... four more... flights to... to go..." Huffed Cantor from the front of the line of Equestria's first astronauts, keeping pace with himself, despite being so out of breath.

"Then get a damn move on!" Yelled the much fitter Faith from behind. "We've also only got two and a half minutes 'till launch too!"

"I know!" The alicorn panted back, turning sharply and speeding up a little as the door to the ship's mid-section came into view. They reached the modest steel door nestled a few metres before the huge glass dome of the spaceship, and with the prod of the small button to the door's right, the thick sheet of metal slid upward, allowing the ponies access to the ship's interior. 

All nine of them rushed inside via a short yellow ladder and began to strap themselves to the end wall of the cylindrical room, which at the moment served as a floor in the spaceship's upright position, but soon could be the ceiling, or the floor again as up and down would no longer matter. It wasn't the most spacious place you could think of, but it was far from cramped; the room all the astronauts were currently waiting in was about five metres long and a constant four all around the circular walls. This particular area served no significant purpose, despite being so large. The room would be mainly used for entry and exit of the vessel, social meetings, and aside from the huge cockpit, observation through one of the three windows that lay on two opposite sides of the clinical white walls. 

Past the back wall everypony was lying on was the living quarters for the crew, Cantor included. There really wasn't much to tell about that particular part of the ship; kitchen, beds, showers. It wasn't the most spacious part of the ship, nor the most interesting, though how the engineers had managed to get enough hot and cold running water to last every day for three months still baffled many minds to this day.

At the rear of the ship was the engine room; a small cupboard encased with the densest substance known to ponykind, harbouring the Peripharous crystal that could easily become the seed of the destruction of the universe if it ever fell into the wrong hooves, though this fact had been left undeclared to a certain alicorn's ears.

Cantor was the last pony to begin strapping himself to the floor, but halfway through pulling the restraints (which he wasn't all too happy about wearing) down over his head, he caught a glimpse of his grey co-pilot's dumbfounded expression

"What?" Asked the alicorn, loosely holding onto what appeared to be the safety guard on a rollercoaster just above his shoulders.

"Something tells me we're not gonna get very far with the door open." Faith replied in a mocking tone, grinning to herself as the white stallion flew up to the hatch, pressing a stout red button and making the door re-seal, cutting off the very last fresh breath of Equestrian air these nine ponies would ever breathe. Well, for about three months, at least.

He gently landed on the floor next to the pegasus, who wore some kind of a smug look as she lie on her back. 

"I- I was going to shut the door..." Cantor jostled, as if his actions had been exactly as he had planned. "I was just... testing out the harnesses first."

"Yeah. Right..." The blonde pegasus agreed sarcastically as Cantor pulled the restraint over his head like some kind of huge plastic vest and clipped it securely into the floor between his hind legs.

A small display of the launch time could be seen slowly ticking down the last two digits in blood red numbers to the left of the entrance to the cockpit.

0:57...0:56...0:55...

The ponies all lay there in complete silence, the little 'bleep'...'bleep'...'bleep', the only sound filling the room, seeming to take an eternity to reach zero. 

Cantor continued observing his new home for a while, taking note of the hoof-rails, cables, levers, switches and buttons that lay strewn along the walls in a somewhat tidy manner. He peered out of one of the small windows on the right side of the ship, seeing the blazing orange sky and jet black clouds scattered around it, the thought that he would never see this sight again for weeks, and weeks, and weeks hitting him for the first time, making him realise that this really was happening.

When you watch a clock, time seems to slow down a great deal than if you left it be - especially in times of great boredom, or intense nervousness. However, averting his eyes from the countdown for what seemed like a brief moment had caused forty seconds of time to disappear instantaneously, and he was only awoken from his trance-like state when he heard the definitive word "Ten" emanate from the ponies around him.

The alicorn snapped his orange eyes away from the similarly hued world outside to the display in front of him, and without even thinking, began the countdown along with his shipmates.

"Nine."

"Eight."

"Seven."

"Six..."

Though four and a half million other voices were chanting along with him, the sound of his own shaky voice inside his head and the deafening tension blocked out any other sound.

"Five."

"Four."

"Three..."

Cantor felt a pressure upon his hoof, and turning to his left, noticed that Faith was clutching him tightly, something not quite fear in her eyes, but it was undeniable that she too, even the hard-as-nails, gritty warhorse known to many as fearless was... scared. This was a given; Cantor was terrified, though he wasn't showing it very well, and a small part of him wanted to teleport as far away as possible and forget about the whole thing. But he couldn't do that, not after all the excruciating work so many ponies had put all their heart and souls in to make this possible, and especially not after the young mare to his left had chosen him - over all the other ponies in the room to seek safety in. 

Despite having Red (who, given half the chance, could lift the entire ship above his head) lying to her left, Faith had turned to Cantor in this paramount moment with that look of respect and loyalty in her eyes. Despite being able to beat the daylights out of pretty much anypony she met, being next to Cantor; holding his hoof... made her feel secure, and she could have sworn she saw her own expression reflected in the stallion's intense amber eyes.

"Two."

"One..."

A silence like no other befell the room. There was no sound, no hint toward anything existing. If one could know what it truly meant for 'time to stand still', they would think about a time like this. And as the invisible second ticked away, and the mighty engines began to fire, Cantor was the only pony in what might as well have been the entirety of Equestria to utter the final sentence...




"Blastoff."




A colossal roar of thunder ripped through the air as Equestrian Explorer One's two huge thrusters exploded into a vicious torrent of white hot flame. Even though the shockwave from the ignition sequence began miles away, the ponies on the ground felt the full force of the rocket's engines and their manes and tails flailed about as if they were caught in a hurricane. Despite this, the millions of equines met the deafening engine roar with their own thunderous cheers and applause as the goliath spaceship slowly began to rise into the air, leaving behind a quickly dispersing plume of silver smoke.

All the ponies on board the ship had their heads wrenched back into the wall as their large shuttle gained speed overly quickly. In a matter of seconds, the nine ponies were travelling way faster than the speed of sound; hurtling through the sky at thousands of miles per hour, tearing through layers of atmosphere like it was nothing. Black clouds darted past the windows in the form of dull orange blurs. Cantor's heart raced as his body became much heavier and his muscles had to tighten to keep his organs from bursting. He screwed his eyes shut and could hear his heart pounding in his ears like a jackhammer along with the sound of his clenched teeth jittering with the brutal vibrations.

As EE1 climbed higher and higher, it became faster and faster. The boffins in lab coats' predictions had been right: in ten seconds flat, the space-ponies were well into the five-digit speeds and rising, and soon, would be travelling faster than anything that has ever lived. The engines bellowed their chorus, like an unending rumble of thunder as the unholy crystal sent sparks of pure dark energy through every operating system the ship possessed.

The spacecraft's takeoff was timed to trigger each sequence of the launch to within a hairs width precision, and at 23,000 feet, the bolts holding fin keeping the vessel upright blew off and the large piece of metal fell back down with three red and white parachutes trailing it.

With the main guidance fin gone, the vessel began to tilt forward, taking some of the strain off of the ponies heads, and instead, forced all of the blood into their hind legs as their vertical ascent slowly started to even out.

Cantor managed to force his head to the right and tore his eyes open. He could see the sky darkening. Instead of a rich mango, the world outside was a darkening brown which soon came to bear tiny specs of light.

"Just a little more!" Came Red's deep voice, shaky from the harsh punishment the body it belonged to was taking.

Cantor tried to steal a breath, but his lungs had been compressed, and were now crying out for oxygen. Though he had been told this would happen, Cantor still began to panic, convincing himself that he was going to suffocate before they reached space. But his exasperation was short lived: as if by magic, (which, in a sense was what it was) the bumpy ride began to smoothen out, the pressure through everyone's body slowly fading until it was that of mere discomfort. The muffled grumble of the engines too, faded, and then could no longer be heard at all. 

A second silence washed over the crew, but a silence that spoke of their accomplishment, like the hallowed quiet during the eye of a hurricane. Though it was now easy to inhale again, all the ponies held their breath, and began to try to comprehend what had just happened. 

The captain's eyes gradually explored the room, waiting for something to happen, waiting for something to go wrong. But nothing did. The only thing to befall his ears was this unending silence and the deep pulsing of blood rushing around his own head.

Cantor lay there for several minutes, stunned and awed by the spectacle outside the window of the blackest of blacks, adorned with billions and billions of specks of light from giant burning balls of gas millions of miles away. During the extensive time everypony laid there, wondering who would dare to speak first, the only contact with the conscious world was their slowly softening breath. 

The white alicorn's focus steadily made it's way into his head, and, though a little reluctantly, he shook the majesty that clouded his mind away and began to fumble with the strap which bound him to the wall. Oddly enough, the thick ropey belt between his hind legs was not cutting into his unspeakables like he had worried, and when he prodded the broad square button which marked the buckle release, he discovered why.

The black nylon strap fell downward in a manner not unlike that of slow motion - the smooth, plastic cord fluid in it's decent to the floor, the buckle giving a little flick as the belt it was attached to grew taught. The padded purple harness, too, slowly rose until it locked into place above Cantor's head, leaving the alicorn floating there, not moving, and to be honest, a little fearful towards what would happen when he did.

It didn't take a genius to work out that the anti-gravity was disengaged, but for the currently shaken captain, this conclusion took a few worrying seconds to come to. Feeling the cold wall behind him, Cantor gingerly pushed himself away towards the centre of the room. But when his venture unexpectedly turned upside down as a result of absolutely no anti-gravity training whatsoever, he panicked, flailing all of his legs out at once and sending him flying across the expansive room. 

He noticed that his little bout of clumsiness had distracted the eight other ponies from the spectacular view outside, and that they were now laughing at his flustered expression and useless beating of the artificial air as he glided away from them all, who still had their restraints done up. 

Cantor had forever wondered what zero-gravity would have felt like; not just the feelings and nausea, but how exhilarating it would be to meander freely through a space without the aid of wings. He had always envisioned such a marvel as a trivial, exciting and careless pursuit, but flying helplessly through the air, making inept, spasmic movements to try and stop himself made Cantor realise this wasn't entirely the case.

During the brief moment he was 'airborne', Cantor had crossed the entirety of the social atrium, and was headed straight for the hair-trigger button for the gravity control at the foot of the door to the control deck. His shoulders struck the oversensitive button which had been designed to be as such in case of emergency. In these circumstances, the directness of the gravity centrifuge caused more problems than it prevented. The large red coloured button sunk into the wall, firing up the unbelievably complicated device below the keel of the vessel, restoring gravity to the whole ship.

Artificial gravity shook through the room, and the eight ponies' laughter was cut painfully short. They all fell downward, including Cantor, though the impressionable alicorn only dove a few inches before he landed on his side on the ground. The other ponies on the wall dropped like stones, smashing tender parts of equine anatomy into the hard straps between their hind legs. A mixture of groans, wails, and even one or two screams rose up from the group of ponies as they found themselves supporting all of their body weight on vital organs.

Cantor was dazed for a few seconds, as he was unprepared for the loss of floatation, he was found to be a little disorientated. Not as disorientated (if that could be the right word to use) as his eight other crew members, mind you.

"Agh!" Cried Faith as she hoisted herself upwards, using the shoulder brace as some kind of pull-up bar. "Turn the damn gravity off!" She barked.

With barely a second to collect himself, Cantor struck the button behind him again, and the bright red light behind it, used to indicate that the gravity was on despite the obvious evidence, flashed out, returning the bright red bump to it's residing state of dark, opaque plastic. Once again, the room was purged of all pull, and everything not tied down became weightless and started to float upwards. Cantor managed to find one of the hoof-rails and hold on, so as to avoid becoming a meandering piece of space debris within his own ship.

Nopony could get themselves unbuckled fast enough, and the air rapidly became full of ponies in tight orange jumpsuits struggling to find a means of settling down. 

Cantor cast a weak forcefeild over the top of the room and gradually pressed everyone down until they were either on the floor, or near enough that a fall wouldn't matter as much. He struck the large red stud again, causing it to light up and make the eight astronauts crumple to the floor. Every stallion lie there, clutching his nethers as the three mares who were paying any attention simply watched and failed to comprehend just what kind of pain was wracking male comrades' bodies at this moment.

The golden eyed one of the four mares, after helping herself up and brushing imaginary dust from her clothes, stormed over to the captain, who had barely been given time to stand up himself, and slapped him across the face with genuine intentions to inflict pain, rather than to simply show disgust.

Cantor's face stayed frozen in place, staring in shock to his right as the grey assailant thrust an orange-covered hoof menacingly at his eye. "That's for being so Celestia-damn accident prone!" She caught him in the face again, this time hitting his left cheek, returning the two to complete eye contact. "And that's for fucking me with a chair!" She added with fury.

"Sorry..." Cantor apologised, gingerly clutching the side of his face that hurt the most. "But it's kinda not my fault." He added.

Faith took a step back and gasped, oblivious to the moans and groans coming from the other crew. "You're the one who turned the gravity off!" 

"Yeah, but I didn't do it on purpose!" The alicorn argued back with as much defence as he could muster.

"I don't care!" Faith snapped back, her eyes wild with an unnecessary anger. "My crotch's fucking killing me, and if it's still hurting in an hour, I'm gonna buck you so hard in the balls you won't be able to sit right for the rest of the trip! Got it!?"

Cantor suddenly sunk into submission. "Y- yes..." He whimpered, afraid to acknowledge the irony that his co-pilot was giving him orders instead of the other way around. In actual fact, Faith was far more suited as leader, and in some respects, Cantor trusted her more than he did himself.

Faith huffed and stormed away, leaving Cantor to his own business, the only sore spot on his body was both cheeks, which currently felt like they were on fire.

Reaching Red's side, Faith asked the juggernaut of a pony, famed for his unending strength and toughness, who was currently rolling about on the floor groaning in agony: "Are you okay?" As she hopelessly tried to hoist the huge brute to his hooves.


*****


"Canterlot, this is Equestrian Explorers One, we're ready to continue. Come in, Canterlot." Spoke Cantor softly into a small microphone on the inside wall of the cockpit. After taking a substantial amount of time to take in the breathtaking scenery through the huge spherical window which consisted of a brilliant new perspective over Equestria, Cantor had radioed home as he was instructed to ask for confirmation that the expedition was still a go. 

It was clearly noted that the equine inhabited planet bore far more land than water, and much of that land was covered in mountains or desert. It's differences to Earth struck Cantor as majestic, if indeed a little odd: like Earth, Equestria had tufts of crystal white cloud swirling above the surface, and also like Earth, the underside of the planet was smothered with snow and ice. But this thought was interpreted as strange by the alicorn captain in ways he could barely justify. Firstly, only the bottom of Equestria was caked in snow, and the tip was seemingly one huge desert.

Below this dusty north pole came the Sea of Siren, an enormous expanse of water several hundred miles wide and stretching all the way around the world like some kind of off-centre belt. Very few ponies who had ventured to the small islands scattered thought this place had returned, and the ones who had were mentally distorted and would refuse to talk about what happened. It was rumoured that the ones who met their fate were all led to a watery grave by dangerous and rare animals that lived under the eerily calm water.

The rest of Equestria was pretty much entirely land, with several gargantuan lakes and veins of woodland scattered throughout until everything became lost to the frozen tundra at the base of the world.

The sun was just peeking under the North-East edge of Equestria, giving the impression of a blazing diamond upon a slender ring of golden light that was encircling the planet. However the moon could not yet be seen. 

Every single thing that was not Equestria outside the window were stars. An astounding landscape of tiny white eyes staring back at whomever chose to stare first. There were even a few colourful galaxies dotted around the infinite starscape, rotating impossibly slowly, bearing likelihoods of even more new planets like Equestria and Absencicy just waiting to be discovered. But that was for a different time.

"Cantor!" Came the distraught cry from the other end of the line, causing the white stallion to jump at the unexpected level of volume.

"Princess Celestia!" Cantor cried back in a panicked tone in light of the mare's own frantic voice. "What's wrong?"

"Is everything alright up there?" Came the reply, much quieter and calmer than before, though it still contained elements of fear.

"Y-Yeah. Everything's fine." Answered Cantor, frowning at the microphone, trying to picture Celestia's expression as he talked to her without being able to see her for the first time. The signal wasn't perfect, but it was far better than nothing, though the princess' voice came out slightly distorted and metallic sounding. "Why were you so panicked back then?"

There was a pause, and then Celestia answered. "I assumed something bad had happened; you were supposed to call twenty minutes ago. What were you doing?"

Cantor peered over his shoulder, once again taking in all of Equestria's marvellous features. "I was just admiring the view." He said with a contented smile.

He carried on gazing back at the world through adoring eyes for a matter of seconds before his absent-minded thoughts were interrupted by the princess' voice. "Is everypony okay? There are no injuries are there?"

"Well..." Cantor mused, rolling his eyes as some kind of personal anecdote was made.

"Well?" Celestia asked worriedly, breaking Cantor's train of thought yet again.

The stallion scoffed in mild amusement when the concerned nature of the princess' voice was heard. "It's nothing serious, princess..." He clarified with an impish grin. "But I don’t think we'll have to worry about fertility treatment for the next couple of months..." Only silence came as a reply. "Anyway..." Cantor continued, taking the long pause as the princess' inability to find the appropriate words to respond. "We're ready to carry on. Should we proceed?"

"Not just yet." Answered the princess, apparently clear of the confusing ideas within her head. "I have somepony here who wishes to talk to you."

Even though he was talking to a machine, Cantor could tell that Celestia was smiling behind her microphone purely by the tone of her voice. 

"Who is it?" He asked, to be instantly met with the heart-warming voice of his most favourite mare.

"Hey, Cantor." Came Twilight's sheepish voice on the other end of the line. It was obvious that she was not best of spirits. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine Twilight." The male alicorn answered, the sound of his special somepony making him beam with a comforting pride. "How are you?"

"Not too good, I'm afraid..." Came the frail reply before a lengthy silence fell over the room, the muffled sound of pained voices were heard from the other side of the closed cockpit door. "I... I'm gonna miss you." The purple mare added with a depleted voice, clearly not looking forward to three months without her stallion by her side.

"I'll miss you, too, Twilight..." Cantor said into the microphone in a voice dampened by the unicorn's uncharacteristic tone. "Don't worry, though." He quickly continued quirkily, attempting to lighten the weightless miles of air between them. "I'll be back before you know it!" He added enthusiastically, but no reply came. "Hey... At least now you'll get some peace and quiet without me bending your ear with pointless information you probably already know." He joked, arousing a short giggle from the one speaker in front of him.

"I suppose so." Came the reply in a humorous tone, followed by a deep, well-rounded sigh. "Promise me you'll be safe." Twilight added with great empathy. "I don't want to loose you again."

Cantor exhaled heavily and closed his eyes. It pained him to hear Twilight speak this way, and it was only until now that he realised how hard she was taking this. 

"Nothing will go wrong." He affirmed into the speaker, talking strongly, wishing to hold the purple mare's hooves as he did so. "I promise I'll be back safe and sound on one condition."

"What's that?" Twilight replied cluelessly.

"Don't you have that foal until I get back; I want to be with you when it happens." The stallion ordered forcefully, diminishing the possibility of failure on his behalf and putting Twilight a little more at ease now that she had a little role of responsibility for herself. 

Before he had left the library, Cantor had kissed the unicorn goodbye, as was expected. She felt upset at the time, but seeing him sink to his knees and peck her plump stomach, whispering a soft farewell to their unborn child reduced Twilight to torrents of tears. And although she knew with every fibre of her being that he had to leave, she still asked him one last time not to go, but unsurprisingly, and knowing it was the best of both of them, he pressed his lips tenderly to hers once more and left without another word.

"Okay." Twilight replied with amusement. "I'll try."

"Good." Cantor said back, breathing a shallow sigh of relief. "Hey, maybe they have a gift shop on this new planet; I'll bring you back a fridge magnet." He added, trying to sound as serious as possible.

"Hm hm hm..." Twilight Sparkle chuckled softly from Canterlot many miles below EE1, for a brief moment feeling as if she were stood right next to the adventurous young alicorn, but as soon as that moment arrived, it was replaced by the chalky white finish of one of the castles marble pillars in front of her. "I expect you'll make some kind of entrance, then." She poked, her usual way of talking evident as she spoke.

"When I get there, or when I get back?" Said Cantor whilst grinning wildly.

"Probably both." Came the purple mare's unamused remark, listening to the returning laugh of the stallion. She waited for him to settle down before continuing further. "Goodbye, Cantor. Stay safe." She said, returning serious, though not at all feeling deprived. 

"Will do." The rusty maned pony replied with a similar degree of sincerity. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Spoke Twilight with a relaxed portion of contentment as she stepped away to allow her mentor to conclude the conversation.

The next voice which came through the radio was princess Celestia's, and it was plain to hear that the two ponies' conversation had moved her. 

"Needless to say I will miss you too, Cantor." She declared quietly. "And Faith as well. Could you put her on for a moment, please?" 

"Of course." Cantor replied gently, stepping through the door and discretely ushering the grey mare into the cockpit with him. She trotted with haste across the room still adorned with sickly-looking stallions and met confused and still slightly vengeful eyes with her captain. He motioned toward the humble little speaker next to the door. 

"It's Celestia, she wants to say goodbye." Cantor conveyed, following the pegasus around to in front of the microphone.

She wore an unusual expression of care and confusion as she spoke. 

"He- hello?" She asked, glancing toward Cantor briefly before looking back into the device, being rather startled when she heard the familiar mare's voice reply.

"Good evening, Faith." Said the princess before finding humour in her own comment. "Though I suppose morning and evening does not matter to you up there!" She laughed her composed and reserved chuckle, and the golden-eyed pegasus awkwardly joined in. The next thing she heard was muffled, and barely understandable coming from the princess' side: something involving 'Twilight' and 'privacy'. There was then a long pause until Celestia next spoke, her voice unusually sweet. "Are you alone, dear?" She asked in a mother-ish tone.

For some reason, Faith became a tad reluctant to answer, but she brought herself about to respond. "No, Mom... Cantor's here with me." 

Her iron persona seemed to always dissolve when placed alone with the princess. Maybe it was because she felt embarrassed calling Celestia 'Mom' in front of other ponies. But that was ridiculous; Faith never grew embarrassed over anything, or anyone, but for some account, her mentality shrunk into some kind of metaphysical cage whenever she spoke to this one parental figure in her life.

"Cantor?" Celestia called in a raised voice, diverting the alicorn's attention from the view outside. "Could you give Faith and I a moment alone, please?" She asked politely, expecting no other answer other than 'yes'.

The amber eyed stallion nodded deeply in understanding. "Of course, princess." He replied, promptly turning around and trotting out of the room, acknowledging Celestia's "Thank you" as the circular steel door closed silently behind him. 

During the brief time he had spent talking to the princess and Twilight, the male proportion of the crew had recuperated to some degree, but still appeared a little worse for wear. As Cantor entered the largest room once again, he was met with sour, pain-stricken expressions, and although the crippling injury was barely of his fault, he still felt compelled to utter an awkward apology to the ponies who had nearly become sterilized.




"You're alone now?" Celestia asked, sounding somewhat relaxed.

"As alone as I'll be on this ship." Faith replied, smiling towards the door.

"Good." Said the princess with an air-clearing sigh that sounded like a burst of static. "There's just some things I'd like to talk about with you..." She didn't wait for her adopted super-soldier to reply before continuing, but the young mare wouldn't have spoken first anyway. "I've always looked upon you as a daughter, Faith. You're aware of this, aren't you?"

The grey pony nodded her head strongly. "Yes, Mom." She answered definitively.

"That's good to know." Celestia commented, her voice content, and in such a tone that summed-up her matriarchal role in the world. "I know we don't spend much time together, and that we sometimes don't see eye-to-eye, but I just want you to know that I love you as if you were my own blood, even if I don't show it. You must understand that if word got out about how valuable you are to me, there are some that may try to pony-nap you in hopes of recovering a ransom." There was a grief-stricken sigh. "If that ever happened, I..." In one of those legendary moments, Celestia's voice cracked and she lost her course of thought. But soon enough, she had recovered and continued as if nothing had occurred. "Well I don't know what I would do..."

Faith felt a strange sting in the corner of her eye, something she felt on very rare occasions, and something even the strong-willed pony like her could not control. 

Celestia took the silence as a gesture to carry on. "I want you to promise me something, Faith." She said sharply, and in a manner which showed true care only a mother could possess. "Promise me you'll be safe. I know the likelihood of failure is barely anything, but... that doesn't mean your safe return is guaranteed. What you do out there is far out of my control, but just hearing you say you are going to be alright will..." The princess took a steadying breath, shivering slightly on the exhale. "It will help..."

"Okay, Mom. I promise I'll take care." Faith replied, providing the speaker with a respectful bow. "Besides, what's the worst that could happen? This is supposed to be a dead planet, right?" Enquired the pegasus, her voice a tad unnerved.

Silence was sustained for a number of breaths, only the gentle crackling of the princess' breathing could be heard over the airwaves. "Yes." Celestia eventually said. "That's correct; you shouldn't encounter any dangerous animals on your travels. But under the very unlikely circumstance that this should occur, do not allow your pride stop you from turning to Cantor for protection; he is far more powerful than you think, and I can tell that you underestimate him from how you have been behaving these past two weeks. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, but know that I would trust Cantor with my life, and I expect you to do the same." Her closing sentence sounded harsh, and even a little diminishing. Nevertheless, Faith knew better than to question the white mare she called her family even in times of upset and angst, especially when the safety of herself or her friends was at risk.

"Alright, then." Faith complied. Unused to the ways of this talking and listening device, she dipped her head strongly in understanding, forgetting that the gesture went unseen.

The princess piped up almost immediately as the pegasus finished nodding, and her gentle and light tone reflected her aloof nature. "With regards to Cantor, he is a very approachable and caring pony pretty much all of the time, but for reasons best left unsaid, he is most certainly going to become hostile over insignificant things during your expedition; nothing serious, but... don't do anything to provoke him."

Faith frowned in confusion, her golden eyes trying to figure out what Celestia meant by the way she spoke. "Whadda' mean, 'hostile'? Why-"

"For reasons... Best... Left... Unsaid." The white mare cut in, halting Faith's questioning like some kind of brick wall.

"Sorry..." The pegasus mumbled apologetically, her ears falling behind her head.

"It's quite alright, Faith. Curiosity, especially to this matter, is expected." The regal alicorn declared with an understanding emphasis. "Just get to Absencicy, carry out your tests, then come back home, safe and sound."

"Right. Will do." The fair-maned mare replied in a tough, yet concern-dispelling tone. She pondered whether to find menial things to converse with the princess whilst they were spared this moment of intimacy, yet when it was swiftly decided in her mind that out here, there were no rules, no set lights out, nopony to tell her to mind her manners, and the recurring thought that she was living with a pony who can instantly create any kind of food conceivable, she quickly made the decision to chat about her adventure with her Mom once she had returned, and she actually had something to talk about other than how much she can bench-press at any given time. The sight of her world, much of which she had only ever read about, too seemed to beckon her away from the voice on the other end of the odd device bolted to the wall.

"I'm happy to hear that." Celestia answered in response, her easy smile invisible, yet somehow audible. "Before you put Cantor back on, I have just one more thing to say..."

"Oh?" Asked the winged pony, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

"I love you."

Faith's shoulders fell relaxed, only just a little, though it felt as though she had sunk to her knees. For whatever reason, hearing just that sentence on it's own filled Faith with more pride than any set of muscles or any amount of badges and ribbons ever could. She knew a mother telling her foal that she loved her was a given thing, often accepted and unappreciated, but hearing those words come from the lips of somepony so significant to her made the orphan pegasus feel... normal. All her life, she had yearned to know what it would have been like if she were never abandoned, if she had grown up in a normal household with normal parents; led a normal life in a loving family. Truth be told, Faith felt exactly the same way towards Celestia, after all, she was the only family she had, and over the twenty odd years she had known her as a mother, the lonely young mare began to speculate upon whether Celestia was right: that family wasn't bound by blood, and instead, this sense of a family could come from anywhere and indeed, anyone.

She straightened up, blowing air from pursed lips to avoid tears forming in her eyes, allowing the thoughts to merge in her mind a while before replying in a somewhat satisfied manner. "I... love you, too... Mom." She said, smiling despite being conscious that her desire to squeeze the white mare tightly was separated by thousands and thousands of miles of sky.

"So," Started Celestia, exhaling as she did so to create some sense of urgency. "Now that we've both managed to say goodbye without the aid of tears, I propose you think about setting off. As you already know, you have three months of food, water and air to see you through. That should leave roughly three extra weeks of supplies as a safeguard. And though I can't see our conversation lasting three weeks, there is, as they say, 'no time like the present'." The princess spoke nonchalantly, but with an odd glimpse of haste reflected in her voice.

"Agreed." Faith confirmed before requesting Cantor's presence back with her so that Celestia could give the final order.

Once the white coated stallion had returned from seemingly unending apologies and explanations towards the peaky-looking crew, he swiftly took Faith's position in front of the telecom, hoping to wrap things up quickly seeing as the sudden desire to wrap his hooves around the control sticks had taken it's place in his brain.

"Ready to go, princess." Cantor informed, speaking with much pride; for the first time, he felt like he truly was captain.

"Very good, Cantor." The other white alicorn replied happily, entrusting all of the responsibility and authority onto the young stallion's shoulders. "From here on out, you are in charge. I trust you to look after your friends and return safely in just over two month's time. And if you remember your training, I'm certain you will have no problems." 

"Thank you, princess." Said Cantor, smiling toward Faith with a notable amount of enthusiasm. "I'll see you soon, okay?"

Celestia's next words came out direct and to the point. "Understood. Canterlot out." And with that, the ambient hiss of the imperfect broadcast crackled out and was quickly replaced with the muffled clopping of hooves behind closed doors as the seven other crew members began to neatly file into the spherical cockpit, taking it in turns to gaze in astonishment towards that stone they called home.

"Magnificent…" Blue Bolt commented, shaking his head to emphasise his amazement. "Absolutely magnificent..."

Scooting around the team of explorers, Cantor planted himself in the padded, and surprisingly comfortable captain's seat and pulled the strange looking means of direction toward himself so the odd joystick-looking steering wheel was at a comfortable position above his lap, making sure that his legs were nicely out of the way and ready to pump the four pedals below whenever necessary. 

The steering wheel struck Cantor as odd: it was like the kind of shape one would expect to see in a car back on Earth, except it appeared elliptical at the sides, and the top and bottom of the circle was missing, like some kind of weird 'H'. The curious manoeuvring device protruded from a central control hub, adorned with a multitude of various coloured buttons and switches, which Cantor could barely remember the purpose of. Pretty much all the controls for the ship were on this inter-stellar dashboard; everything from tilt negator sensitivity and solar wind deflectors to far more humble additions such as auto-pilot and air conditioning. 

Cantor's vantage point was dead in the centre of the black floored room, his view consisted of whatever may be in front, at either side, or what lie above the spacecraft. Reversing wasn't a huge issue, so the rear of the ship was looked after by a series of cameras and sensors, which would take over the pilot if they thought he was being irresponsible. (As if giving an eighteen year old stallion the keys to several million pounds of thrust was at all a sensible decision.)

"Ready to go?" Cantor growled with the utmost excitement to no one in particular, tightening his grip upon the steering wheel, raring to literally shoot for the stars.

Issuing a breif headcount around the room, Faith took it as her duty to respond. "Yep, we're ready." She answered, taking the determined expressions of her shipmates as 'ready'. "You remember how to fly this thing?"

"Of course I know how to fly this thing!" Scoffed the alicorn, swiping his hoof playfully against the air. He sat up straight in his cushy yet firm chair and yanked the steering column toward him, hoping to roar off, leaving cosmic dust in the Equestrian atmosphere. 

His cocky grin faded, however, when absolutely nothing occurred.

"I thought you knew how to fly it..." A predictable pegasus quipped, her smug expression audible in her tone.

"Uhhh... Um..." Cantor thought helplessly, re-checking all the settings on the main console, adamant that everything was in check to the highest possible degree. "Everything's fine." He finally concluded. "I don't know why it won't start."

Supplying the alicorn with a rough, infuriated groan, the blonde-maned pony whacked a proud red button positioned on the side of the control hub and twisted, causing the mighty engines to fire up, sending a deep rumbling hum through the entire ship.

Cantor stared up into those buttercup yellow eyes with bewilderment in his own. "What did-" He started, indebted in a weird sort of way to the mare for helping the captain start his own ship before she loudly and angrily interrupted.

"The primary ignition system!" She yelled, driving the stallion's own forgetfulness straight through his heart.

"Sorry..." Cantor sighed back empty-heartedly, shrugging his shoulders in his sitting position. "It's so simple I guess I kind of overlooked it..."

Faith grumbled a second degree of displeasure. "Well fuck." She sighed, frowning in distrust down at Cantor. "You're the captain, and you don't even know how to start your own ship that you did like three solid days training for. You know, that doesn't put a lot of Faith in me."

The rusty-maned stallion took this comment as a hostility, that was until, he discovered the light of the situation, as he usually did. 

"Ha!" He mock-laughed, though the smile which accompanied it was genuine. "It's a name joke!" He commented foalishly. 

Without waiting for the chemical signals in Faith's brain to comprehend what had just been said, he repeated his violent movements upon the steering column, causing everypony to stumble backwards, but not quite fall over as the craft tore off past the moon as it arced away from Equestria, quite rightly leaving an eerie cosmic mist in it's wake. 

Faith, unfamiliar to manoeuvring her body within this unusually unstable environment, stumbled over to the captain's chair, casually resting her hoof upon Cantor's tensed shoulder. "Fuck me..." She slowly remarked, with an unusually impressed voice.

"How ladylike..." Cantor replied dryly, his mannerisms completely unchanged, despite being where he was at this exact moment in time.

"I see I do need to drive for you." The grey mare elaborated sarcastically, dipping her head toward a petite little square with an arrow pointing to the left, and a small red exclamation mark flashing in the corner.

"Oh?" Cantor responded, raising his eyebrows briefly. "And why would you need to do that?" He asked, receiving a despicably cocky grimace from the pegasus when he turned to face her.

She politely, in an obvious sense, too politely, came back with: "Because you're going the wrong way."


*****


Though initially very loud; very distracting and somewhat of a hindrance, the great equine-made engines had, over the three weeks the ponies had been travelling, become simple background noise that had quickly disappeared from the conscious mind and joined in with the chorus of silence on the cold, desolate outside world. 

Everyone on board EE1 had grown used to the sensation of weightlessness whenever it was in use. Some had even grown incredibly fond of it; opening every door in the shuttle, seeing who could get the fastest from one end of the ship to another. The pony who held the record for this slightly irresponsible sport was Titter, the blue-scarfed pony, her nimble antics placing her in the lead by a whole second. Everypony had a bash at the sport, including Cantor, who only had one or two goes, despite having the duty of monitoring the controls up in the cockpit. Even the pair of jet black mercenaries participated in this activity, going as far as to shed a smile for a few seconds before it dissolved back to a mildly amused stare.

Speaking of the blackened duo, Cantor was watching them carefully over the many days, very carefully. He had no real reason to distrust them outside their dislikeable attitude, but something about them just threw his concentration out ever so slightly; they would hardly ever speak to their other shipmates, and when they did, it was always on-topic or about their destination. There never came any banter from their lips unlike the other ponies, and whenever someone tried to joke with them, there would almost certainly be a very awkward silence to follow. 

Over the training period for the group, which now seemed years in the past, Deathwing and Black Haze had proven themselves to be quite the fighters indeed, and one had to admit, they were quite the ferocious spectacle.. But, Cantor being Cantor, he could see that they were almost too good to have come from Celestia's training regime. Instead of fighting with precision and finesse like Faith and Red did, the two red-eyed ponies fought with unrelenting force and power, tearing their targets to shreds rather than just shooting them once to practice accuracy. He made the assumption that they were here for more than just an exploration mission. Maybe they were trying to steal some of the technology used over the project. Maybe they were planning something against Celestia. The former was the most likely assumption Cantor could come to, given that the latter was merely passed on as his stupid mind making far-fetched accusations that were impossible to believe.

Over the time the crew had been living in space, the positives and negatives of being secluded to a number of rooms had made themselves all too clear. One of the more beneficial attributes to living like this was that no one was more than a shout away, and that because of this, conversation was easy. 

However, there were very few pros towards this level of proximity, and at least twice as many cons. The most obvious of these negativities, was that sexual tension was pulled very tight; even turning over in bed would sound as if someone were rustling a paper bag into a megaphone, deeming any kind of lustful activity utterly public. The few pones who had risked bringing themselves to climax might as well have done so in the main atrium with everypony watching whilst eating popcorn. 

This fact was proven, as the youngest three mares: Faith, Titter and Flitter had found a still undisclosed way to spy in on Cantor's bedroom. And when the teenage male could no longer take the strains of not experiencing 'stimulation' for two whole weeks, one of the identical twins signalled to the other to disengage the gravity just when Cantor was about to finish.

The initial prank seemed hilarious at it's conception, but when the grey mare behind this 'joke' ended up with the stallion's produce all over her face when she burst into the room to declare her role in humiliating him, she wasn't at all impressed, and didn't speak to Cantor for the rest of the evening. Even when the alicorn refused to stop calling her names like 'Sticky' and 'Slimy', managing to turn his extreme humiliation onto her.

With Faith in mind, Cantor trundled down the permanently dark landing in the sleeping quarters of the ship, staring out at the smattering of bright stars ambling slowly past the rounded square windows. He had set the ship to autopilot for the night, and was now heading to his surprisingly comfortable bed at the furthest end of the craft. Just before he opened the door to step inside, he momentarily paused, stretching his tired forelegs out in front of him like a cat as he let out a very exaggerated yawn. 

Feeling ever so slightly refreshed after his pre-sleep exercise, the dull orange-maned alicorn reached for the panel on the wall beside his door, but just before he made contact, the almost non-existent sound of hushed voices crossed his ears. 

Turning his left ear around, Cantor found out that the sounds were coming from the bedroom on the opposite side of the corridor; Deathwing's room, to be exact.

He quietly strode over to the right hoof side of the hallway, gently pressing his ear up against the wall for a better listen.

"...And then we might not be able to go through with it." Deathwing growled under his breath, making sure to raise attention to his urgency in his tone, whilst still maintaining the aspect of stealth.

"Keep your voice down." Black Haze shot back, his harsh scowl portrayed in the way he spoke. "We don't want him finding out about..." His voice trailed off, becoming so ridiculously quiet that the only words Cantor could recognise from the unicorn's following sentence was "why we're not".

"And what if he did? Hm?" Came the pegasus' voice, gruff and grainy as usual, contrasting greatly with his partner's much softer and tempting mannerisms. "If he ever did, we'd both be dead before we even knew what hit us."

"That's why we need to get it done quickly. And the rest, too. We can't have them-"

Cantor felt himself slipping, and in his attempt to prop himself up straighter resulted in the alicorn knocking the door ever so slightly with his hoof: an insignificant little bump, but it was just loud enough to alert the two mercs to their uninvited presence.

"Did you hear that?" Asked Deathwing, sounding the tiniest bit panicked.

"I think somepony's listening who shouldn't be..." Haze replied in his eerily calm and cheerful voice.

"Shit." Cantor cursed under his breath as the sound of hooves hastily making their way closer to the door became clear. The alicorn backpedalled a few paces , straightened himself up and began walking back down the hallway just as the black pegasus' door slid upward  to reveal a slightly pissed looking unicorn.

He cast a conspicuous glance up and down the dim-lighted landing before returning to Cantor's seemingly innocent eyes. 

"Yes?" He asked bitterly, holding the stony, unimpressed look upon his face.

"Oh, nothing." Cantor replied, shrugging his shoulders deceptively. "I was just heading off to bed." He nodded briskly toward the door to his bedroom. "Speaking of which, why are you in Deathwing's room?"

"That is another thing that is none of your concern." Haze spat back harshly, provoking the alicorn.

Cantor drew himself up close, and through barred teeth, growled a warning into the black-maned unicorn's ear. "This is my ship, and whatever happens on this ship, however insignificant it may seem, must pass through my ears first. Understand?"

As the white stallion pulled slowly away, he caught sight of the pegasus further inside the room rubbing his eyes in an unusual fashion.

"On the contrary... sir." Haze grumbled spitefully, giving the white pony a disgusted look and lowering his voice so that the other pony sat on the blue-bice - quilted sheets could not hear. "Believe it or not, my partner behind me is feeling rather nostalgic; homesick, if you will. And knowing him for as long as I have gives me somewhat of an instinctual connection with him." Haze peered behind him, and Cantor followed his line of sight to a recluse appearing pegasus who had turned towards the wall slightly. 

The jet black unicorn turned back to Cantor with sympathetic eyes. "This type of behaviour is very out of character. We've both had a rough life, but my um... friend, I suppose you could say, has seen some pretty messed up things. I'll spare you the details, but in short, I think he misses Equestria and the ponies there."

While the unicorn continued to stare up at Cantor, anticipating a reaction, the alicorn cast a second glance into the cream-walled room with a dash of remorse. He let out a, deep, understanding sigh and allowed his eyes to fall downward when the saddened pegasus came into view. 

"I... I understand." Cantor admitted apologetically, bringing his amber eyes back up to Black Haze's red orbs. "I'm sorry for being so intrusive." 

The unicorn shook his head, the dark mane barely moving as he did so. "Don't worry about it." He replied with a slightly less sinister voice, sounding almost cheerful. "I understand that you, as captain, need to know everything that is going on. But some things need to remain hidden." Haze shot Cantor an eerie grin, the white teeth something brighter than white against the pure black lips. "I'm sure you can understand."

Cantor nodded briskly, his blazing eyes falling slightly dimmer as he took a modest step away from the door. "I do." He answered. "Sometimes ponies just need a friend..." The alicorn took a final glance at the apparently disheartened pegasus before giving his last words to the other red-eyed pony. "I know this is a... sensitive moment... But, we're due to land on Absencicy early tomorrow morning, so try to get some sleep, okay?"

"Understood, sir." Haze remarked, turning into the mildly illuminated bedroom and extending a hoof towards the thin metal panel to the left of the door.

"Please," Cantor spoke, halting the unicorn's movement. Haze stared with some degree of impatience towards the white pony, hovering his left hoof inches away from the metal door's controls. "Call me Cantor." He finished with a reassuring smile, and maybe a little trustworthy wink.

Black Haze returned the sentiment with a curt nod of his own, even shooting the rust-maned stallion a wink back. "Good night, Cantor..." He said after a pause, and waited for the alicorn to turn around before he made gentle contact with the small switch on the wall slid shut with barely a sound outside of a gentle hissing of hydraulics.

With very little steps, Cantor turned about himself and placed his hoof firmly on top of the silver - grey-ish panel to the right of his door and slid the miniature switch that protruded from it upward. The door to his own dimly lit bedroom slid up into the ceiling, granting access to the alicorn's personal room, containing a wash basin, a stout wooden bedside table, where a glass stood now empty, and a sizeable single bed, enrolling as a seat for the young pegasus mare lying atop it.

Cantor just managed to stifle a scream that rose up from his chest before it could pass his lips in lieu of the unexpected form of a pony sat in his own personal room.

"Good evening, Cantor." Faith cooed seductively, flashing the stallion an unnecessarily 'friendly' wink as he lowered his hoof from his mouth, not noticing the door automatically fall closed behind him.

There was one thing the white pony did notice though, through the unusual appearance of Faith upon his bed, and the fact that she had unannounced her arrival, Cantor could plainly see that the bright-eyed pegasus was wearing his one weakness - socks. Thigh-length to be exact; his favourite. They were a thin banded stripy pink and hot pink all the way up from  tip of her hoof to the bulge of her haunches, with a little white bow on top. All four toned legs were masked by the smooth appearance of the cotton, and Cantor shamefully found his mouth to be agape.

He quickly drew himself up, remembering his duty, and pulled his mouth closed. "Hey, Faith... What are, uh..." He cleared his throat awkwardly, desperately trying but hopelessly failing to avert his eyes from the mare's astonishing physique. "What are you doing here?" He asked, feeling a cold sweat coming on.

"Oh, nothing really..." The very inviting mare replied, whisking her head sideward to flick the two strands of off-yellow hair somewhat out of her field of vision for a better look of the stallion. "I just wondered what it's like to lay down on the captain's bed..." She sighed in felicity, rolling slowly over from her stomach to her back, splaying all four legs out across the wide mattress.

"Well, we've all got the same beds as standard, so... it's not really..." Cantor started, forcing himself to look away from the tantalizing socks which ushered the eyes towards the spot between her haunches.

"Why don't you come and sit next to me?" The heated mare enquired, her words more of a statement than an actual question.

"Um..." Cantor responded, casting his eyes downwards with intensity, changing his pressured thoughts to that of serious and dedicated ones. "Wh- why are you wearing those socks?" He asked, still facing the floor. 

"Why the hell not?..." Came Faith's ridiculously seductive reply.

The tone she answered in left Cantor with no choice but to re-establish eye-contact, and once he had, he could barely breathe. 

The dull grey pegasus had positioned herself upon her rump with her back facing toward Cantor, the vertebrae which formed her spine was clearly visible all the way down her curvy back until it disappeared between her unexpectedly round buttocks. Cantor could just see the edge of her red crosshairs cutie mark on each fantastic pillow of flesh. Her hind legs hung loosely over the edge of the pale bedsheets, making the tones of pink in Faith's delectable socks stand out like a sore hoof. She was propping herself up with her left forehoof, pushing her shoulder up to cover her mouth and nose, leaving only that breathtaking half-lidded stare of the purest gold visible to the helpless stallion. Her light blonde mane curled around her face, down her strong neck and poured out over her well-formed shoulders like a cascade of lemon topaz.

Faith raised a single eyebrow temptingly. "Do you like them."

Cantor, getting over the initial shock of the scene, began to think more clearly about the questions he was being asked. "They, uh..." He began, feeling the tell-tale signs of a blush forming over his whole face. "They're very, uhm..." He stared at the mare's enticingly curvy legs, the socks she wore reminding him very strongly of candy. "They look... tasty..." The very instant he said this, he realised his mistake, and cursed himself internally. "Crap! Why the hell did I say that!?"

Faith shook her head and smiled provocatively, her pale gold bangs of hair flicking gently from side to side. "How about a feel? They're so smooth..."

"Uhm, I don't think that I should... What I mean is... We shouldn't, that is, you shouldn't... Um..." The stallion stuttered, fully aware that his tongue was not the only organ he was loosing control of, the undeniable redness across both his cheeks showed this. "What I'm trying to uh... say here is, uh... you shouldn't be... you know... That is, what I think you're trying to-" Cantor cut his own ramblings short and cleared his throat, punching himself in the chest with a hollow 'thud' to un-trance himself. "Faith," He begun, empowered, with a voice far deeper than usual. "I don't think you can understand the calamity of the situation."

The mare dropped her alluring pose and raised her head slightly, frowning and shaking her head with parted lips as if to quite rightly say: "What...?"

Cantor scratched the back of his head and felt the heat over his face increase ten-fold. "Can..." He started with a helpless sigh. "Can I start again?" He asked with amused and hopeless eyes, a weak smile across his lips.

Faith nodded gently. "Sure." She said, sitting up and rubbing the spot next to her with the stripy pink sock. "Just sit here first."

Cantor originally opposed, however convinced that there was no way he could get a good night's sleep without first talking to the girl, he found he had little choice. 

Muttering an obedient "Okay...", Cantor slowly paced over to the enchanting pegasus and planted himself on the edge of his bed - still some distance away from the grey mare, though she quickly closed the gap, bumping her rump into his.

"Okay," Cantor said with a refreshing sigh. "Hello, Faith. Wow, what are you doing here? Don't you look nice? Gee, I like socks - especially when they're on somepony so toned, but I must say I prefer a little more 'padding' on a mare if I do say so." He paused only for breath before continuing, noticing all too well the amused smile growing on Faith's lips. "Anyway, I'm really tired and as far as I know, your bed is free, so if you wouldn't mind taking yourself and your perfect ass out and getting some shut-eye for tomorrow, that'd be great..." He finished with a hopeful grin, and slightly out of breath, focusing on the pegasus' face as he waited for her to respond.

After an airy giggle, Faith shook her head again and spoke. "You're funny. You know that?"

"I try." Cantor remarked casually.

"You said I had a 'perfect ass'." Faith affirmed.

"Were you trying to be funny?"

"Yes... And no..."

"You like my behind?"

"I'm a large fan of all 'behinds'."

"What about behinds with socks on?"

"Ohh, y-yeah!" Cantor replied in a quivering voice.

Faith laughed. "Such a teenager." She jabbed. "Tell me, do you have a lot of female friends?"

"Yeah," Cantor sighed. "Pretty much all my best friends are girls... You should see them in heat. Not. Fun."

"Really?" Faith enquired with intrigued eyes.

"Oh, Faith, it's endless!" Cantor gasped. "It's like a whole month of rage and depression and... horniness..." He shook his head painfully. "You'd think it's fun to have six or so mares up for anything, wouldn't you? Every stallion's dream...? Nope." Cantor leaned backwards and sighed once again. "One of my friends actually tried to rape me: she set up traps and everything... (guess who that was...)" He added, staring at the wall, confusing Faith somewhat. Though the grey pegasus had far more appropriate issues to deal with.

"She tried to rape you?" She asked with a chuckle. "Talk about role-reversal: that doesn't happen!"

"Yes..." Mumbled Cantor, staring out the small window to his right at the slowly passing stars. "And prior to how she went about it, I always kind of fantasised bout being in that situation." It was only after saying it that Cantor realised how unbelievably weird and creepy that sounded. "Uh," He began awkwardly. "Forget I said that..."

"Not a chance." Faith responded with playful malice. "So, did you guys do it? Did she succeed...?" She added with a cruel grin.

"Obviously not." Said Cantor, now resting his foreleg over his large pillow. "But I kinda wanted to see what it was like. You know: 'never too late to try something new' - all that stuff."

At this point, Faith's golden eyes fell downward and her smile dropped slightly. When she looked back up and made contact with Cantor, however, the stallion found himself in a new realm of enchantment. Those eyes were astonishing - as though they could tell a million different stories through the depths of the emotions they concealed. And yet Cantor could see right past them.

"F- Faith...?" He asked softly as the young mare advanced on him, her stunning eyes half-lidded.

"Shhh..." She hushed, crawling ever closer to the stallion's face with her big, rich eyes. "You know what time of the year it is?" She asked, making a point of sending her hot breath into Cantor's hesitant face.

Before he could reply, the white pony was struck by a haze of the female's seasonal hormones, and his blush instantly flared. "Aww, shi-"

His profanity was cut short, though, when Faith lunged forward and locked lips with him, forcing her tongue into his mouth and forcefully sucking on the stallion's own.

Cantor's eyes widened in shock, and although he pushed Faith away as quickly as he could coordinate his muscles, he had to admit, it wasn't entirely unpleasant.

After several forceful seconds, Faith began to move away, and as she pulled out, a thin band of saliva stretched between the two equines' mouths and snapped in the middle once it became too long.

"...Whoa..." Cantor said with his eyebrows raised in surprise. He spent a minute or so just staring at Faith, catching his breath back from the shock. "That, uh..." He started, still rather short on breath from the incident. "That was... interesting..." He shot a brief smirk at faith before looking away and blowing air out from his cheeks with his spirit feeling heavy and damp.

The young mare, however, did not seem all to impressed. "You..." She began, her admirous eyes appearing lost and confused, the mannerisms in her tone reflecting feelings of emptiness. "You didn't kiss me back..."

"No..." Cantor said quietly. "No, I didn't..." It seemed obvious to him now as to 'why', but at the time, he was desperate to join in - lose himself within Faith's passion. "I'm sorry, Faith." Cantor apologised. "I don't know why I ever even entertained you..." He swivelled around and sat off the side of his bed, staring in completely the opposite direction to where Faith was sitting. "Please, just leave."

It was at that moment, Cantor heard a sorrowful 'sniff' from behind him, and despite what she had done: what she had tried to do, he just couldn't bear to turn a deaf ear and ignore the girl's apparent pain.

With a laborious sigh, Cantor sat up and put his foreleg around Faith's shoulders, pulling her in close to himself. Her strong hooves were still covered by her pink socks, as she covered up her face while she sobbed.

Cantor, not being a master at sensitivity - though experienced, nonetheless, allowed Faith to continue to cry until all that was left was shaken breathing from the warm mass beside him.

"...Finished?" He asked softly after several minutes of tears. Faith nodded her head, but would not let Cantor see her eyes. "Faith..." He started firmly, only to receive no response other than a wave of nostalgia as he continued. "Faith... Look at me." He ordered. Feeling helpless but to comply, the grey mare turned her gaze upward, meeting those gorgeous amber spectacles staring back down at her.

Cantor, hardly ever one for forced small talk, got straight to the point. "Why did you kiss me, Faith?" He asked. He could tell she wanted to look away, but something about him made her stop, something about the way he focused on her, something about the way he lightly furrowed his brow to show concern but not to intimidate. Despite the mare's apparent disability to look away, she could not bring herself to speak the words in her head.

"Come on," Cantor insisted, sounding stern, yet not at all angry or intimidating. "Why did you put all this stuff on, come in my room and try it on with me? Hm? I know what you were getting at; but what I don't understand is why." When she failed to reply again, Cantor grew irritated by her wordless stare, and snapped. "Faith!"

The pegasus reeled back, new tears streaming down her face as she cried out. "Because I love you!" She yelled, screwing her eyes shut and reeling back from the stallion. "Because you're the only pony I feel completely comfortable around. I feel as though I can tell you anything, and you'd understand! Isn't that what love's supposed to be!? It's not- I mean I can't find anyone like you! You're special to me, and I want to be with you! I know we're friends, but can we please be more than that? I want to protect you, and you... to protect me..." Her voice trailed off as her much needed release hit its damp note.

"I don't understand... It's just not fair..." She spoke, facing downwards and shaking her head. "All the other guys - they just- use me... they all just... say the right things, make the right moves... get me in bed so they can just, use me some more..." She sniffed again and wiped her nose on the back of her clothed hoof. "I'm tired of it. It's like I'm expected to be the girl who can take blow after blow and never get hurt... Well I'll tell ya', it does hurt. It hurts so much. Every! Single! TIME!!!" Her voice reached a volume to the extent that her words were just screams: nothing more than pain-stricken cries for help.

"When I met you, I-I knew you were different... I knew you were special, I just... I felt safe around you, like, I'd never though about it before, but I'm actually quite vulnerable: put me in a cage, and I'm helpless. But you," Faith continued, turning to look up at the stallion, his eyes firm and unrevealing. "You can do anything... I'm... I'm useless..."

Her head fell once again and she bit her lip in order to stop herself from making those horrible 'sobbing' noises. But after a while, she felt a hoof lightly touch the underside of her chin. Taking a moment to acknowledge the contact, Faith raised her head, and once again came face to face with those mysterious and chilling eyes.

"Why do you call yourself useless?" Cantor asked in monotone, acting as more of a concience figure rather than himself. After all, he knew as well as anyone that ponies listen to themselves more than others.

Faith was hesitant to answer. "...Because I'm a hopeless romantic." She said, disheartened. "And I can't hold down a relationship."

"But is that really a reason?" The alicorn asked with a slightly brighter attitude. "If you continue to worry about a problem, all you're likely to do is make that problem worse - especially with this particular subject." He scooted closer to the mare and made a point of nudging her shoulder slightly with his own. "If you want to get what you feel is 'true love' involved, then of course you're going to hit obstacles along the way... Truth is, you can't find true love, you have to wait for it to come to you, whether that be in the form of a stallion, mare or some kind of weird tentacle creature." Faith gave a small humoured snort, which actually managed to cheer her up a little.

Seeing he was getting to her made Cantor ease up a little, too, and an easy-going smile re-affirmed itself on his face. "Look," He started, wrapping a leg around the pegasus' shoulders once again. "I'm not trying to act like some kind of 'guru' for love, but I just want to be able to tell you that you are in charge of your own life. Everyone says you don't get long enough to live, and it's true. But what truly is 'dying'? When you stop breathing? Maybe. What about when your heart ceases to beat? Possible..." Cantor once again took a moment to pause: build his distinct tone. "Or what about this: One is only truly dead when they are forgotten by the people who care about them. Well that's just another opinion, isn't it...? Who's to say we ever die at all?"

Faith, who's tears had finally stopped flowing, appeared intrigued by the stallion's view, and remained silent for more. "Us, Faith: You and I, everyone on this ship, and everyone back home are special to someone. It's a nice thought, and a great situation in which to spend life: to experience true love, but in the end, all it comes down to is how you lived your own life. Dying doesn't matter: what's important is if you know you've lived a life you can be proud of."

Smiling warmly, like a father figure, Cantor reached up and nudged Faith's chin, turning her head to face out the window, to gaze at the endless black abyss and the stars trailing slowly by. "See the stars, Faith?" He asked, pointing at the many specks of white out in the unfathomable distance. "There's a whole universe out there waiting to be explored by ponies like us: whole worlds full of new life with which to make friends with. The universe doesn't revolve around any one of us, but in our own world that we label our life, we are everything that will ever matter..." He turned the mare's face back to his, delving deep into her eyes with his own. "...And everything that ever has..."

"Wow..." The awestruck pegasus started, her dilated golden eyes trembling beneath the direct ceiling light. "I never knew you were so poetic."

"I try." Cantor remarked with a mild smirk.

Faith chuckled. "Thanks for... you know cheering me up..." As she spoke, her smile died, and her expression became far more sombre. "...I'm so sorry for... for trying to seduce you..."

"Well, you did a good job..." Cantor replied with humour, but the mare's face did not alter. 

"No..." Said Faith, cringing slightly. "This isn't funny." She continued, shaking her head disapprovingly. "I understand now that if we did end up sleeping together tonight, you'd come to regret it." She shuffled herself away from Cantor slightly before proceeding to sit cross-legged atop his bed. "I know you don't love me, but... aren't... aren't, if you're supposed to love someone, you want to make them happy?" She turned away slightly and hurtfully rubbed her upper foreleg. "It's come to the point now, so quickly I've realised, that I don't want to be with you: I know that it'll hurt you too much in the long run."

Cantor tilted his head slightly with contemplative grimace. "Actually, I was more concerned for Twilight." Faith didn't change her gaze. "You realise that if I slept with you, she may never forgive me - even if she was aware I knew it meant nothing." Once again, Faith didn't seem to respond much to Cantor's comment aside from a laborious sigh. "And in addition to that," Cantor continued, growing a little more intense in speaking. "I don't suppose you know, but Twilight and I are having a foal. There's no way I'm going to ruin its life before it's even born."

After a moment, and allowing her condition to deteriorate even more, Faith spoke up. "Wow... Now I feel like shit..." She said, turning away as she felt yet more tears sting at her eyes.

Cantor, after considering his next motion a while, swung his legs up and sat cross-legged himself in front of faith. He picked up her forehoof and with care, gradually pulled off the sock and tossed it to the floor. He guided her hoof to his own and gently clasped them together. 

On faith's side, the pegasus noted how her dark grey hoof appeared slightly smaller than the stallion's. She peered past where their hooves touched and stared once again into Cantor's intense eyes, noting how they appeared to glow beneath his hair.

"In all honesty," Cantor began, smiling. "You are one of the bravest and most talented ponies I know, so don't ever think you're useless, or... don't 'mean' anything. Above anything, I can tell Celestia cares about you. And even now, she's probably thinking about you." He let go of the pegasus' hoof and wrapped his own forelegs around her, bringing their faces close. 

Faith was hesitant at first, but she cautiously returned the embrace. 

"You and I," Cantor started, speaking with a voice barely more than a whisper. "We're still friends, right?"

Faith exhaled warmly and her eyes came across understanding and empathetic. "Friends..." she answered with a smile.

Cantor made up the short distance between them and kissed her on the lips. It meant nothing in terms of 'romance', just a bookmark moment between the very dearest of whatever it was they had both called it just now...

Friends...


*****


The aluminium door behind the newly re-enforced friends seemed to slide open far too quickly to be natural, presenting a certain blue-scarfed unicorn, who instinctively burst into the room without declaring her presence or stopping to see whether she was interrupting anything. She just managed to yell "Cantor!" before cowering to the floor as she noticed the pair practically sitting on top of each other.

"Oh, my!" She whimpered as she lay on the floor and covered her eyes with trembling hooves. "I'm so sorry! I didn't know you two were... I- I didn't mean to-"

The young lilac unicorn continued to gush her embarrassed apologies as Cantor and Faith turned from the unexpected arrival to each other, their faces plastered with the utmost amusement. 

Following a distilled sigh, both Cantor and Faith dropped carefully from the bed and made their way over to the mortified mare.

"Come on, Tit." Cantor spoke with a friendly tone. "You didn't walk in on anything..." He affirmed, shooting a trusting smile in Faith's direction. He waited for the unicorn to stand up and collect herself before he moved the conversation onwards. "Why are you here anyway? Is it something important? I mean, most ponies knock before entering someone else's room." He added with a mild grin.

Though cleared of her apparent intrusion into something intimate, Titter still appeared beyond embarrassed, and continued to stumble over her words. "Once again, I'm... I'm really sorry for bursting in." Her bright and strong blush remained on her face as she spoke. "I- I don't know what I would have done if you uh..." She chuckled lightly. "If you actually... w- were doing something..."

"Well, we weren't." Faith replied curtly, but without sounding rude. "Now what's the problem?"

"Oh, right," Titter started again, shaking the embarrassment out through her forelegs. "Something's come up." She began, sounding precarious. "You know that we were supposed to be getting near enough to make preparations to land tomorrow?"

"That's right." Replied Cantor, taking one small step closer to the lilac pony who was wearing her signature blue scarf.

Titter appeared a little shaken: having rushed from checking the telemetry diagrams before she went to bed, she noted that something had gone crucially wrong, the young mare had entered a mild state of panic. Though she was doing remarkably well to cover that fact up. "Well, the plan's changed." She continued, sounding increasingly worried as Cantor's expression cycled through various degrees of concern. "I checked the telemetry before I went to bed - l-like I do every night, and when I looked, I found that we won't be entering the gravity field in ten to twelve hours..."

Cantor turned his head slowly and focused darkly on the unicorn with probing eyes, his fear and alarm rapidly intensifying with each passing second.

Titter swallowed her growing anxiety loudly and continued with a cautious tone. "W-we'll actually enter Absencicy's gravity in... in less than five minutes..."

Cantor's eyes widened, and immediately, he became agitated, flitting his focus around the room for something to help reassure himself. "You're telling me this now!?" He cried, swapping places with Titter and edging out into the hallway.

Once again, Titter grew more flustered. "I'm sorry." She said with apology. "I came as soon as I found out."

The alicorn captain threw a quick search up and down the hallway. Through the windows on either end of the atrium, he could note the bright object visible through the ship's large front window. He turned back to the lilac unicorn, fraught with a sense of dispatch. "And you're certain of this?" He asked with apt vigour. 

Titter did not say a word, but instead, just firmly nodded with a dire expression. At this signal, Cantor turned about and began to hammer on everypony's bedroom doors, calling for them to "Wake up!" as he made his way staggeringly down the hall, opening up the first door to the expansive atrium and darting forward toward the cockpit entrance.

Faith and Titter, after standing in Cantor's room for a moment and observing concerned faces peer out from the many adjacent rooms, turned to each other with an awkward hush.

"So..." The young unicorn began, scuffing the floor and looking at Faith's chest rather than her face. "Were you two getting 'up to something' when I interrupted...?" She asked, turning to look into the older mare's golden eyes upon her note.

Faith didn't reply, but instead, just met the unicorn's remark with a curt sigh as she skipped forward and, rolling her eyes broadly, followed the captain into the control room.


*****


"Cantor! What's goin' on?" Cried Red, sounding ever so slightly panicked as he and the six other ponies joined the captain and Faith in the cockpit. Their view of the outside world consisted of the usual clusters of stars and galaxies, as well as a much brighter object directly in front of them, rapidly growing in size and intensity.

Cantor was in his cushioned chair, gripping the steering shaft tightly, pushing forward with all of his might until the craft gradually started to slow down. Noticing the speed dropping, Faith breathed a private sigh of relief, believing for a moment that they were going to slam straight into the planet.

The alicorn captain gently eased off the odd wheel, exhaling as he did so, wiping a thick bead of sweat from his forehead and closing his eyes in post-panic relief.

"Don't worry, everypony..." He decreed with closed eyes, his hooves in contact with the wheel. "Everything's under control..." He added as he sunk back in the soft brown seat, listening to his rapid heart rate begin to decrease. For whatever reason, Cantor was aware that this event shouldn't have shaken him up to this degree, but he quickly decided to chalk it down to being in space for such a long period of time.

All the ponies began to quietly chat amongst themselves as to what just happened. Faith hung her foreleg over the back of Cantor's chair, practically resting her knee on his shoulder.

"What in Equestria is going on?" She asked quietly, sounding rather shaken herself.

Cantor shook his head, suddenly becoming aware of the din that had begun amongst his crew. "Titter!" He called out in a slightly raised voice, not trying to sound upset or angry with anyone, but the single word was regarded as hostile. Everypony silenced instantly, making Cantor feel a little disheartened by the thought that he had shown negativity, despite the lingering realisation of just what kind of authority he had. "How come we've only been able to detect Absencicy until just now? The sensors were supposed to tell us when we were a few hours from landing."

"I- I don't know..." The pale purple mare with the blue neck-wear started, sounding just as confused as Cantor, and maybe a little disappointed in herself. Though their priority for the mission was documenting; observations, mineral records, atmosphere consistency and so on, the unicorn twins would also aid Cantor with any navigation issues in deep space and on Absencicy itself. 

Flitter stepped forward, hugging up against her sister in partial fear of what her twin’s mind was suggesting. "It..." She began, speaking for her ever so slightly younger sister. "It's as if... there was an unnatural cloaking device around the planet."

Cantor's eyelids flashed open, instantly forming a deeply concerned frown. Torturously slowly, amplifying the deathly silence in the room, he turned around in his chair to stare Flitter directly in the eye. Despite being the one to say it, the pony with the red scarf around her neck appeared just as shocked as Cantor towards the assumption. Cantor's face cycled through a number of nerve-wracking emotions before he felt a firm touch on his shoulder. It was Faith, she was shaking him gently to alert him to the very close sphere of planet that nearly filled the entire observation window.

Copying Cantor's scepticism, Faith too, turned to face the pale-looking unicorn. "That's a dead planet, and we're the only things out here..." She stated in a threatening tone whilst pointing toward the big brown rock, the dirty white clouds swirling around its surface giving it the appearance of some kind of marble. "How - and in Celestia's good name, why the hell is something intentionally hiding an entire planet?" Not long after they had set off, Faith had made up her mind that life outside of Equestria was a ridiculous theory, let alone a possibility.

"Here's a crazy idea..." Jostled Deathwing from the back of the room, his wry grin doing little to set aside the pegasus' anxiety.

"Don't even say it!" Faith snapped back angrily, moving her golden eyes from Flitter to those two red devils.

"Hey!" Deathwing shrugged, his smile becoming that of a the naturally bemused soldier that he was. "I don't mind shooting aliens as long as I get to shoot something!"

The captain shook his head, failing in clearing a lot of the daunting thoughts issued by that one word: 'unnatural'. He carefully replaced his hooves on the steering wheel, just as an enormous piece of space debris entered the right side of his periphery. 

Cantor wrenched the steering control up and to the right, turning the spaceship on it's end, pulling it's metal underbelly level to the jagged piece of rock. Everypony fell backwards, either landing on their rump and sliding to the back wall, or taking flight from the floor all together and slamming into the wall. Either way, the experience was most unpleasant. Cantor observed with bated breath as the sharp edges of the frozen space article missed the bottom of the glass dome by inches. He frantically went about correcting the course, lining up the planet with the ship once again whilst still maintaining an appropriate degree of accuracy. 

"Never. Do that. Again..." Seethed Cloud Nine, the female physician, trembling with rage after nearly being crushed by a giant red pony as a result of the captain's evasive manoeuvres.

"Oh, sorry!" Cantor cried sarcastically, half turning around in his chair. "Would you rather us all suffocate!?" 

"Couldn't you have just turned the forcefeild on?" The magnolia pegasus enquired in a less furious tone as she aided her shipmates back onto their hooves.

Thankfully, Cantor could quickly turn away from the crew to avoid showing off his bright red blush of humiliation he wore across his face. He shrugged his shoulders, and in a voice as casually as possible, replied: "Yeah... I- I could..." He reached out over the multitude of dials and buttons, turning a knob three-quarters of the way around before flicking a shiny metal switch into the 'up' position. A shrill bolt of pain shot through Cantor's body, making him release his grip on the wheel and clutch his throbbing head. For one reason or another, the white alicorn had been experiencing these bursts of pain all too frequently since he began this voyage. And they always seemed to occur whenever he changed a setting on the ship, or used something which would drain a lot of power. It was as if he were connected in some way with the craft itself. But the pain wouldn't usually last for too long, so Cantor merely dismissed it as another effect of artificial gravity; he would have to get Dr. Stable to take a look at it when he got home.

A translucent azure grid sparked into life outside of the window, forming a feint glowing sphere around the fragile spaceship. Tiny particles of rubble locked in orbit with Absencicy began bouncing off of the pale blue shied that was protecting EE1 and it's inhabitants with bright little magical sparks.

"See?" Cantor called out, turning around to watch Faith slowly amble back towards the curved chair in the middle of the darkened room, a look of depletion about her face. "Everything's under control..."

Without so much as a hint towards what was going to happen, one of the primary computing towers fixed to the rear wall of the cockpit blew out, showering anypony nearby in thousands of shards of searing hot plastic and beginning to pour out great plumes of thick black smoke. Everything happened all at once, not making it easy for the ponies to determine what the problem is over the speed of which everything collapsed, and the panic which escalated with each catastrophic failure. 

Several of the pipes under the floor burst, spraying scalding water up at the thin metal floor tiles, singing the hooves of anypony stood above at the time, making Titter, Flitter, Faith and Blue Bolt all leap to the side without thinking. Gauges popped, sirens flared and bright red warning lights illuminated the thick smoke with the very air of danger which was rapidly filling the cabin. 

The air inside the shuttle filled with alarms, alerts, the sizzle of severed electrical cables, and the screams of nine ponies who struggled to find something safe to grab on to.

A few of the crew found refuge on the floor - away from the toxic smoke and away from any hazards at head-height. The smooth painted floor panels provided a reasonably comfortable surface to attempt to hug for dear life as the vibrating of the ship rattled bones and shook teeth in skulls.

Faith stumbled about aimlessly, completely blinded by the smoke as she scoured the uproarious room for Cantor. Despite not being in a relationship, the obedient mare remembered what her mother had said: she trusted Cantor with her life: and so Faith should do the same. 

She stalked the area constantly until her hoof hit something warm and soft. She bent down, hacking up a lungful of melting plastic fumes as she did so, to discover a trembling lilac body below the thick layer of jet black smoke.

The steel-grey pegasus sank to her knees, and upon noticing how much visibility and quality of air increased once she was down there, addressed the rest of the room as loudly as ponily possible. 

"EVERYPONY! GET TO THE FLOOR, NOW!!!" She screamed, satisfied with the subsequent muffled thumps she heard over the wailing sirens. 

The smoke above her pulsed red as the emergency lights scanned across it, giving the wisps of fumes definition briefly before they returned to the looming shadow crushing down on them all.

Faith remembered being next to a pony; she returned her head to the left, and instantly knew who it was by the signature blue scarf.

"You doin okay, Tit!?" Faith asked, finding she had to shout to be heard over the deafening ambience. When the young unicorn mare turned around to face her, Her lilac face was streaming tears of terror.

"Faith, what's going on!?" Titter bayed in a grievous tone, seeing nothing but her own fear reflected in those golden eyes staring back. 

"Don't worry!" Enthused Faith, giving a weak smile of encouragement. "We're gonna be fine!"

Titter put her teeth behind her lips and bit hard to prevent herself from screaming out of the pure terror and adrenaline coursing through her thundering heart. She turned to her sister, trying to reconstruct the pegasus mare's hopeful smile upon her own face, but all the life rushed out of her once she realised what Flitter was doing.

The pony with the red scarf had her hooves clasped together above her head, which was buried into the floor. Like her sister, Flitter's eyes were releasing torrents of tears, but unlike her sister's Flitter's eyes were sealed closed, and she was hyperventilating, blubbering out words a mile a minute with every frantic exhale.

"I'm Sorry! I'm sorry! Please forgive me, Celestia, I'm sorry! Please! Please! Forgive me, Celestia! Please, I'm sorry!  I don't want to die! Please, I'm sorry!" Her mind was a mess, her thoughts scrambled, and her words somewhat instinctual as she begged fate for her life.

Titter could only watch her sister and best friend break down in front of her, and soon enough, her grievous screams escaped her and she pulled her praying sibling close, squeezing her tightly, remembering to never let go, despite how scary and hopeless it all seemed.

Cantor held onto the steering wheel with all his strength, pulling with every fibre of muscle in his forelegs to try to get the craft back on course. The spaceship had performed a one-hundred and eighty degree turn, and was now facing the same sight that had been permanently there for three weeks solid. The alicorn pushed down with his right hoof, at the same time, pulling up with his left, engaging the ship's 'pivot mode', where Cantor could more easily control the direction and angle of EE1 so he could at least see the planet he was hurtling towards. 

However, once the white stallion gave the slightest twitch with pivot mode engaged, one of the two primary engines exploded, sending a catestrophic shock wave through the whole ship. As the craft jolted violently forward, everypony on the floor skidded forward, grabbing hold of anything within reach to stop themselves from being flung about the room like rag dolls, whether that be cables, storage units, or other ponies.

Cantor lurched forward violently in his seat as a result of the immense explosion, slamming his head into the rim of the control hub and jarring his neck painfully. He rocked back in his chair, being thrown about by the violent and continuous convulsions the ship was making as it entered the alien atmosphere. The captain persisted to struggle with the controls, trying desperately to regain control of the multi-billion bit craft and the irreplaceable crew within.

Faith, being her usual self and not giving in to physical restraints, grievously clawed her way along the floor towards Cantor's chair, so focused on reaching the stallion to help him, that she hardly noticed the molten plastic raining down on her back, sitting atop her hair for a brief moment before leaving a searing mark in her skin.

The gash in Cantor's upper forehead was pouring with blood, making it impossible to see out of one eye. Half blind, the speedy white pony continuously pumped the pedal to the far left of the four where his rear hooves lay, hoping to sustain a steady flow of power to the one engine which was working, but that effort was quickly proving to be fruitless.

The dark grey pony clambered around the captain's chair, gripping the back tightly for stability as she peered outside through the window at the milky brown world below. The initial shaking after entry through Absencicy's upper atmosphere had passed, yet the ship was still sending up vibrations through the entire crew as a result of it's malfunctioning engines. 

The smoke around Cantor was becoming more of an issue with every passing second: he couldn't breathe, and now couldn't see. Using magic with just enough concentration, Cantor surrounded the majority of the smoke with a rich violet aura, depositing it within the atrium behind the cockpit; not the most ideal place, but it could be sorted out later. For now, Cantor was merely glad to be able to see the planet and take clean lungfuls of air.

Faith noticed the cut high above Cantor's right eye dying several thick lines of red into his hair all the way down his face, but decided not to say anything as the alicorn seemed to be entirely focused on keeping the ship pointing downwards.

"What the hell's going on!?" She yelled at Cantor just before EE1 breached the thick cloud layer and the entire view outside was swallowed up by a billowing rush of dirty white clouds.

"No fucking idea!" Cantor shouted back, not knowing what to do as visibility on a stellar scale was absolutely nothing. "The only thing I can do is hope to give everyone a rough landing! If I turn off the engines and divert the power to the forcefeild, it should protect us from impact!" He explained, still fighting against the resistance in the steering.

"You sure that will work!?" Faith asked back, staring out of the window as the ship pummelled through the thick cream clouds.

"Got any better ideas?" The alicorn commented, just as their craft exited the clouds, revealing a complex of black shapes and spires spanning several miles of the tan-red surfaced world far below The horizon was smooth, not a mountain, hill or tree to be seen, making it look as though this world was a perfect sphere.

Cantor and Faith stared downwards at the complex for several plummeting seconds, mouths agape, and eyes as equally wide.

"Is-" Faith started, her voice weak from shock. "Are those buildings!?"

Now finding initiative to make sure no one died, Cantor pulled the chord under his seat, instantly shutting off power to the one engine which was still in tact, and stopping the massive leak of energy pouring from the hole where the first engine had disintegrated.

A wave of blue opacity passed over the grid work of the forcefeild once again, re-enforcing it to it's strongest setting as Cantor pressed down on the strength control, turning it all the way back to the start to engage the emergency setting, which shut off everything but the life support system, pumping as much magical energy as possible into keeping the shield sturdy.

Cantor slid from the chair, aided by the rough downfall and rushed over to the wall. He punched in a three digit number into the large display and a sturdy looking red metal door swung open to reveal a thick black and yellow striped cord. The words "CRASH-LANDING PROTOCOL ONLY TO BE USED IN FATAL EMERGENCIES" written in bold white text could be seen on the rich blue wall behind the handle.

Stealing one final peek at the ground hurtling flat out toward his ship, Cantor reached inside the box and pushed down hard on the handle.

In an instant, the entire ship was covered in huge airbags which inflated from the floor, walls and ceiling, surrounding the ponies in a sarcophagus of bright white clouds. Even the joints in the metalwork for the window at the head of the ship burst open to reveal hidden airbags which protected the glass from bodies, and the ponies from the shattered panes.

Before anyone had any time to react to the drastic change, Cantor was already barking out orders.

"Everypony! In the corner; pile up!" He shakily walked across the lumpy, airy surface of cushions, noticing how it felt nothing like a real cloud before being reminded of the dire situation. "Red, you get down first, then the pegasi, then the unicorns on top!" 

All the ponies complied, forming a sturdy heap of bodies in the corner furthest away from the main window. Only being able to roughly guess how fast the ship was falling, and having not the slightest clue how far away they were from the surface, Cantor made sure no time was wasted as the one thing he was certain of was that they would be 'landing' in a matter of seconds. 

Once the pile of equines had made themselves steady in the corner, hugging onto each other tightly to stop them from moving around, Cantor joined them, laying on his back against the layer of pegasi, splaying his enormous wings out  in an attempt to provide just that bit more support for the group as they neared the surface, gaining more and more speed with every fatal second.

"Unicorns! Cover your horns!" Cantor ordered loudly, not wanting anyone to be impaled by the sharp magical anatomy. He glanced around at everyone, sure enough, all the magic-wielding ponies, including himself, had their hooves clasped over the tip of their horns. 

"Brace for impact!" The alicorn instructed finally, feeling the mass of bodies beneath him tighten in anticipation of the brutality that would soon follow.

Barely three seconds of the most strenuous pause in history passed before the ship's forcefeild collided with the first solid object, decimating the group and sending their bodies flying about the room. 

Cantor and most of the other unicorns kept their hooves over their horns - if not to avoid spearing others, then to protect themselves from any lasting damage.

The barrage lasted only seven or eight seconds, but that time seemed to stretch on forever as the ponies collided with each other, screaming in pain and terror as faces were struck, limbs were smashed and teeth were chipped.

The last thing Cantor knew was the screaming of ponies, the havoc all around him, an iron blow to the back of the head, followed by a sickening crunch. 

And then everything went black.
> Instant Catastrophe
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Despite the pressingly obvious absence of any kind of breeze, the air at this given moment was constrictinly cold, as if there were a frost across anything and everything that was lying still enough to harbour such a chill. There was darkness all around, except for maybe the occasional flare of colour and guidance from the electric blue sparks which spat from the eviscerated cables and danced around the ground - which consisted of many deflated fabric bags which once held much air in an attempt to protect several equine creatures who had been travelling many times the speed of sound as their ship collided with whatever unlucky object that may have been in it's destructive wake. Water was leaking from somewhere, generating the steady trickle of a waterfall which had gradually filled the ravaged spaceship that could once have been referred to as the greatest achievement in Equestrian history up to ankle-height sub-zero liquid. A pungent stench of burnt plastic, toxic fumes and stale blood weighed down on the air like a lead balloon. It was possibly this that had woken the white alicorn in the first place: the putrid smell of decay invading his nostrils, making him heave himself awake from a long bout of unconsciousness, to open his eyes to the same darkness that had been filling his mind for the past day and a half.

Cantor sat bolt upright, the breathtakingly cold water acting as a firm wake up call. He had been laying on his back, just above the surface of the water. Not deep enough in to cause any lasting illnesses, but nevertheless, the sheer cold had taken it's hefty toll on his body.

With a laboured groan, the streaky red-faced stallion managed to roll over onto his hooves, instantly feeling the frosty air nip at his skin, urging him to sink back into the now seemingly 'warm' waters. 

With as much concentration as he could muster, and for some reason, finding it way too difficult to accomplish than usual, Cantor managed to light a small fire in front of his face. 

Finding hope in the newly burning flame, the elemental alicorn gradually added more and more effort into the flame until it was the size of a small campfire. Not very impressive, but, it did it's job of warming him up. 

Cantor's breath came out in feint puffs of white smoke which appeared to shiver themselves as they passed the alicorn's trembling lips and chattering teeth until it came into contact with the same air around the artificial fire and returned to microscopic water droplets. Despite having the warming fire in front of him, Cantor still couldn't bypass the menacing thoughts that were marauding through his mind. Primarily, these thoughts consisted of "Am I still alive?" and "Where am I?"

The slow, groggy alicorn brain then steadily began to regain it's memory and regulate the assumptions. Cantor recalled crash-landing, but as far as life was concerned, he wasn't all too sure. This reality was either hell, or somepony's idea of a cruel joke.

He cast a surveying glance around, and sure enough, was met with a rather repulsive scene: within the flickering firelight, Cantor could make out burst airbags, the slight glint in the water as the light stroked the crest of the ripples cast out by the white pony's four hooves. He noticed that the craft he had called 'home' for the past month was dilapidated: storage units spilled their contents of books, scrolls and various other items used for documenting such as quills and ink had spilled over into the freezing water beneath, leaving thick streaks of inky shadows streaming down the dented and scratched wall, like long, black, slender fingers feeling around in the darkness for sleeping ponies.

The once sophisticated cockpit was now steadily lit by the fire, but now and again at seemingly random intervals, a bright blue flash would illuminate the room for a split second before the sparks cascading from the severed magi-electrical cable would strike the water and fizzle out to nothing but a mere band of smoke.

Intensifying his search, Cantor could make out the lumpy bodies of his crew lying in various places around the room. Initially (as any sane soul would), the captain feared the worst, and prepared to think of some possible way to get home with his ship destroyed and his only friends in what might as well have been the universe dead. That was of course, until he noticed the largest of the ponies' stomach rise and fall rhytmatically in time with the heavy breathing he soon picked up on. However, his lengthy sigh of relief was cut perilously short as he notice that the two doors which gave entrance to the main atrium were wide open.

It was not so much the doors that were providing Cantor with his dilemma. Rather, it was what was between the doors. More specifically, the thin trail of an unmistakable dark red liquid trailing along the floor and around the corner, in the general direction of the entrance of the ship. 

If it weren't for the restless stirring that quickly came after the discovery of the blood trail, Cantor could easily confirm that he would have feinted from sheer fear.

Looking down to where the noisy sloshing had begun, Cantor noticed a winged presence groggily standing up from the bloody, inky water and making a point of shivering in lieu of the paralyzing cold. The thick-shadowed form of the mare was wobbly at first, but soon found her footing and managed to circulate several calming breaths before she could see straight enough to notice that there appeared to be a fire in close proximity to her. 

She whirled around, splashing the icy water up her legs as she did so to come face to face with a slightly battered-looking alicorn. Dried blood coming from what once was a thick gash stained the right side of his face and had glued some of his ragged orange hair together. He looked a state, but who was she to criticize? Faith had sprained her left wing during the 'landing', and had a great bruise across her middle back. 

She paced over to Cantor, limping slightly as she did so, almost slipping on the wet, off-level floor as she made up the short distance between them. One of the first things she noticed was the subtle fire which was lingering about in the air, seemingly burning nothing as fuel. The pegasus became slightly hesitant about getting any closer, but she quickly recalled that the alicorn she was facing could willingly control the elements, and seeing his horn shining a bright magenta confirmed that it was indeed him who was creating this necessary form of heat.

"Y- ...you okay?" Faith whispered, taking whatever comfort possible in the quietly crackling fire, rubbing her left shoulder blade in a mixture of pain and anxiety whilst peering around the dark room which took upon itself an appearance not unlike that of a gloomy cavern.

Cantor dipped his head briskly, clearing his throat before answering. "I'm fine." He said in his own hushed voice, bringing the campfire between to get a better look at her face. "What the hell happened?" He inquired in a raised whisper, thankful and relieved to see a friendly face after the short bout of thinking that he was the only one who had survived.

"You tell me." The grey mare whispered in response, raising her eyebrows tentatively. "You were the one flying this thing."

Cantor furrowed his brow towards the wet, bloody floor, trying to make headway towards what could have caused him to lose control of the ship to such a degree "The controls just- ceased up!" He exclaimed, hoping to justify his failure by relinquishing his understanding. "There were no signs- I-..." His sentence froze and his intense eyes turned as cold and dim as the air around them in a concoction of horror and understanding.

"What?" Faith asked, moving herself around so that she was facing the alicorn head-on. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"It..." Cantor started, not believing his own words - even as he said them. "It was almost as if... we were being attacked."

Faith matched the stallion's stare with just as much skepticism. "Whadda ya mean 'attacked'?" She began to venture into the realms of panic as she started to speculate her own crazy ideas. "This is a dead planet isn't it? Besides, we weren't shot at or anything!"

Cantor, once again, found himself deeply lost in thought. "The chances of other life... was always a... possibility." Was all he could manage to say.

Faith couldn't hope to find the words to reply. She was helplessly scouring her brain for answers, and for questions that would bring her to those answers. But try as she might, the young grey mare couldn't tear herself away from the looming idea she had convinced herself of; that there was indeed life outside of Equestria. And now, it seems, that life was... hostile.

Thankfully, the audio of splashing liquid, its volume accentuated by the intense darkness, pulled her away from the daunting thoughts. Both ponies turned to the source of the noise, seeing several pony-shaped objects rise up from the damp, dark floor.

"I haven't had a bash like that since kindergarten..." Mumbled Red's trademark voice. A slight bout of humour was detected within. "That there was some textbook flyin', kid..."

The alicorn failed to respond any further than bearing a slight grin, but the brief amusement swiftly disappeared when the remembrance of the situation came barrelling back into focus.

Cantor and Faith scurried along the treacherously slippery floor and back into the sub zero water, getting to work on helping up the crew of ponies who had clearly seen better days back onto their hooves. 

However, once Titter, who, despite being involved in all this catastrophe, still had her royal blue scarf tied tightly around her neck stood up, a great dilemma quickly unfolded.

"Aah!" The lilac unicorn bleated like a lamb in great pain as her right foreleg collapsed underneath her and she fell face-first into the murky water. Upon closer inspection, once she had been uncomfortably dragged out of the freezing liquid, it was quickly discovered that she had done some severe damage to her ankle, and that even applying the slightest amount of pressure to it would cause a needlepoint pain to tear through the entire appendage. The two sisters took a seat on their rumps out of the water, their backs facing the wall to the right of the entrance as they struggled to keep themselves upright in the awkwardly-poised spaceship.

In lieu of a quick headcount, followed by a very fearful, much slower one, Cantor came to the realisation that the ship's crew was one body short.

"Where's Blue Bolt?" Asked Cantor, alerting the others to the green-maned unicorn's absence.

"I... I don't know..." Muttered Cloud Nine, the unknown whereabouts of her husband as well as the memory of how she had come to exist in such a horrible world causing her to begin to venture into the early realms of panic.

"Awww.... My head..." Groaned a rather hoarse voice from the front end of the cockpit, just in front of Cantor's chair, splattered  with combustion oil and a deep maroon substance that couldn't be considered as anything other than dried blood.

It was Black Haze who had spoken. The relatively dizzy unicorn stumbled around the ruined chair, his winged accomplice in tow, rubbing his share of sore body parts. When the first of the red-eyed ponies came into focus, Cantor noticed that his ample horn was coated thickly with an easily recognisable red liquid.

"Haze?" Cantor enquired worriedly, already beginning to form frightening connections in his head. "When abouts did you lose consciousness after we first hit the ground?"

"H- huh?..." The black unicorn asked with tired eyes, massaging the side of his head.

"When we crashed." Cantor re-enforced with a sense of impatience. "Were you knocked out as soon as we hit the ground?" He asked, attempting to bring the drowsy pony's eyes to his.

Black Haze shook his head violently, clearing some of the post-unconscious nausea. However the gesture failed to jog his memory of the past hours like it was intended to.

"I... I think so... I don't remember..." Haze answered, still sounding a lot unlike his usual, strong self.

"Hmmm..." Cantor pondered deeply, scowling at the floor. It seemed that everypony had turned to him for a conclusion; their next set of orders, waiting for their captain to do his job. Eyes were still and breaths were held: if not for the verdict that could ultimately lead them back home and into the safe arms of their families, then for the ever-building tension that was radiating from the deeply in-thought alicorn who had begun pacing around the room. It was noticed that aside from wearing slight suggestions towards struggling to keep his fire alive upon his face, Cantor seemed unscathed from the crash landing, which struck everypony as odd, given that he was one of the physically weakest of the ponies there.

"I think..." Cantor began, turning to face each pony individually as he spoke. "Haze got knocked out as soon as we crashed, so he couldn't cover his horn with his hooves. So when we were all getting tossed around, he speared Blue with his horn, which is why his horn is covered in blood." He finished with a curt nod and a private smile, feeling far too much like a certain 'Sherclop Pones' he had read about in old world equestrian history, though if one were to compare the teenage alicorn to the well read earth pony of the pre-Solaritus era, they would instantly be able to decipher which one solved unfathomable crimes, and which one's pastime was saving the world. Though the latter of the two professions isn't too much of a shabby achievement.

"Well what happened to Blue Bolt, then?" Cloud cried, re-enactments of how easily the sharp unicorn appendage punctured her husband's fifty year old body far too graphic within her mind.

"I'm guessing he went outside." Cantor replied gently, catching on to the cream coated mare's restlessness, not wanting to throw her deeper into worry by talking as casually as possible. "He can't have gotten far, though: look at all this blood..." He motioned towards the trail of frequent red drips leading out of the door, oblivious towards how that sentence could have been interpreted until he caught sight of Cloud Nine's horrified expression.

"What are you saying!?" The chestnut-maned pegasus exclaimed, her midnight purple eyes wild with fright.

Cantor realised what he had just implied, and that how he had said it, if he did indeed mean to say that he was certain that one of Equestria's most skilled physicians was dead. 

"Oh, no, I didn't mean it like that!" He quickly corrected himself, holding out his hoof disarmingly. "I meant that he probably didn't wander too far as he knew he was hurt." The alicorn gently explained, watching the cream mare relax a little before a second troubling thought decided to cross her mind.

"Why in Equestria would he decide to wander off!?" Cloud asked in a similarly exasperated tone as her last outburst, stepping several paces closer to the white stallion. "I know Blue better than everypony here put together; he wouldn't just leave if he knew he was hurt, and he certainly wouldn't leave his friends and his wife alone in the dark!" She was slowly beginning to find ways to convince herself that everything bad that could have happened had happened, no matter how hard she tried to suppress these thoughts.

"I don't know..." Cantor replied as he casually summoned possible ideas. "Maybe he went to look for help." He suggested with raised eyebrows. "Besides, you know what he's like with learning new things: we wouldn't have been able to stop him from going adventuring even if we landed according to plan." Cantor smiled hopefully, wishing to restore some of Cloud's usual optimism.

"Well one thing's for certain:" The grey pegasus with the striped headband proposed, taking on her own role of leadership. "Nothin's gonna happen if we keep sitting here waiting for something to help us. We should go find Brain-box, then decide how abouts we get home." She trotted over to the cockpit's entrance, the double doors jammed wide open, taking little care to avoid stepping in the blood trail leading further into the ship. Pausing and looking over her shoulder, Faith gave what could have been regarded as 'parting words'. "I'm no engineer, but anypony with half a brain cell can see that this bird ain't gonna fly." She scoffed to herself, raising her right foreleg to take a step out of the trashed room, adding one last burlesque comment before she placed her hoof down. "Let's see if the local wildlife knows anything about twenty-thousand ton spacecraft..."

As soon as the grey hoof contacted with the floor outside of the control room, a gut-churning sound of stressed metal clunked quietly through everypony's ears like a rapid iron clockwork tapping loudly on the ship's enormous undercarriage. The whole spacecraft seemed to tilt backwards, as if it were precariously balanced over the edge of a cliff, the only thing countering it was a weight exactly that of the ponies in the cockpit. And the shifting of that mass - even as insignificantly as it had done just now, was enough to cause the ship to topple backwards.

The movement tortuously ground to a halt, as did the terrifyingly loud sound, covering the crew in a silence as dark as the world around them.

"What the fuck was that?" Asked a very worrisome Faith, afraid to even move her eyes under the circumstance that in doing so, she would make the ship overbalance that much more.

Before anyone could reply, another terrifying noise filled the air. The sound was that of what could be described as a large metal ball bearing rolling along the floor. Cantor, also slightly fearful of any type of movement other than breathing, felt something cold and dense strike the back of his hoof before it rolled around in front of him. 

Despite the fact that taking breath was unofficially allowed, the white alicorn still found himself tensing his lungs as he observed one of the gyroscopic stabilizer pins gain speed as it rolled toward the door. The large metal balls were extremely dense and heavy, and worked alongside the gravity centrifuge to keep the ship the 'right way up' when the gravity was turned on. 

"Oh, that's such shit irony..." Cantor thought privately to himself as the shiny object continued to snowball towards Faith rear legs. It struck her left hoof and rolled around it, hitting the wall beside the her and coming to an abrupt stop, just overhanging the doorway, but not enough to actually fall down.

Everypony exhaled a soothingly deep sigh of relief, the panic and adrenaline seeming to leave their bodies through their breath.

Faith rotated her head at an excruciatingly slow speed, bringing her overly-cocky, but still rather shrunken straw coloured eyes to the captain's post-traumatic stare, and with as much sarcasm and satirical intention as she could master, begged the question: "Would it be taking the piss to say we're lucky?"

No sooner had she said this than the stabilizer pin found some haywire route around fate and toppled past the door, making haste on disappearing into the darkened depths of the decimated ship.

The tormenting rolling sound lasted only a few heart-stopping seconds before it was silenced with an abrupt clunk as it struck the end wall of EE1.

Cantor made the foolish assumption that they had escaped catastrophe yet again during the brief silence that followed, but those cheery ideals were shattered when the craft lurched backward, throwing everypony off balance and careering towards the cockpit door. However, unlike the first horrifying hint towards how the ship might be lying, once the initial tell-tale movement had ended, the entire ship could be felt sliding backwards.

Cantor wasted no time on getting everypony to safety, screaming for them all to "Get out!" As the spaceship quickly built up speed, it's rear end sinking deeper into whatever black abyss lie beneath. 

The first pony to escape peril was Faith, who happened to be halfway to what in this circumstance could be regarded as safety. She was quickly followed by Cloud Nine, Red, and finally the two mercenaries. Cantor was seen headed towards the main entry door next with mere seconds to spare. He could see the other ponies just a few metres away from him, just as he realised he was not the only one left on the ship. 

Cantor whirled around upon discovery of an ear-splitting scream. Upon his one-eighty turn, the white alicorn noticed that Titter and Flitter still held their positions against the back wall, the latter of the two refusing to abandon her sister, even to save herself. 

Cantor had no choice but to turn back and help them, but just as he began to gain ground on the couple of screaming mares, the ship (which could be considered now more of a casket) finally lost what minuscule amount of ground it had, and toppled over into a pitch black void.

The captain slammed into the atrium's back wall with bone displacing brutality before he reached the same speed as the ship as it fell through the petrified air, feeling an unsettlingly familiar sensation of weightlessness take hold. Failing to take the time to acknowledge the nausea in the pit of his stomach, Cantor flared open his wings and thrust the downward, sending himself soaring towards the jammed entrance to the cockpit. During the shutter speed time it took the alicorn to reach the pair of flightless siblings, Cantor subconsciously noted the deflated airbags flailing desperately for their own freedom through the shattered pane of the once magnificent glass sphere. He reached the twins with not a second to spare, halting his ascent for the blink of an eye to snatch them out of their own terminal freefall by the scruffs of their necks. 

Cantor felt the heat of contraction tear through his enormous wings as he threw them to the floor once again, sending all three ponies careering through the narrow opening, slicing legs and wings upon jagged metal on the way out.

The trio made it just in time to see their temporary and only home plummet further and further down until it became swallowed up by the inky black darkness.

Despite rapid breath and thundering hearts, the only other sound that could be heard was that of the alien air whirling around EE1 as it fell to it's inevitable fate. And only a few seconds later, the ghastly noise of metal snapping and crunching rung through the void, echoing around the unknown walls and instilling defeat and empathy into the helpless captain.

With a heavy heart, Cantor began his ascent, listening to the dull rumble of his ship's death fade away into the blackness around him. The two ponies he held below felt rigid, and unusually heavy for their age and size and soon, concerns of their well being overtook the crippling knowledge that the ride home was far beyond unrepeatable.

"You girls okay?" He asked quietly, peering down at them as he spoke. However no reply came; the pair of unicorns merely remained stiff from shock and as eerily quiet as the dark world around.

It took a couple of minutes for Cantor to clear the distance the spacecraft had covered in just a few seconds, and when he finally reached the other ponies upon what appeared to be some kind of metal catwalk, his gargantuan wings, despite being very powerful and enduring, felt as if they were on fire.

Everypony breathed a collective sigh of relief when they noticed Cantor carrying the two young girls upward from the abyss and rushed to the side of the metalwork to help them back onto solid ground. Titter and Flitter where somewhat ushered onto the wide, rusted catwalk by their comrades, sinking to their knees whilst breathing heavily in light of all the screaming. 

The exhausted alicorn joined them soon after, crashing down onto an empty spot of the rust-withered metal surface on his back, his chest rising and falling at a pace that would have suggested he had just run a marathon. He allowed his wings to fall loosely out by his sides like a feathery bedsheet and simply closed his eyes, wondering how in this world they would get back to their own.

Several moments of intense silence stretched out, allowing everyone to collect their thoughts. But even when they had, the thoughts that shadowed their minds were not any less daunting than before. The only difference now, was that they could clearly see their demise amongst all the havoc.

"Always playing the hero, huh?" Faith jostled, turning around from the incapacitated unicorns to shoot the alicorn a lopsided smile in some attempt to lighten the mood.

"It's always the time to play the hero, Faith." Cantor replied in a guilt-free tone and a weak smile of his own, not noticing the previous hint of hopefulness leave the grey mare as she began to make her way towards him.

"Seriously, Cantor..." Faith began on a far more sorrowful note, pacing groggily towards the alicorn with dim, hopeless eyes. "That was our ride home... How are we gonna get back?" She gazed with an empty stare toward the flaking ground beneath the white pony's hooves, her up and at it attitude no more than a dwindling ember of what it once was.

The captain groaned, rolled over onto his side and stood up, folding the sore wings back to the sides of his body, feeling a slight breeze emanating from somewhere. The sensation of the cool air hitting his body alerted him to the shaft of silvery moonlight pouring in through an enormous hole in the pitch black ceiling. He could confirm that he was stood upon a slightly rusted platform which seemed to stretch out forever in two directions, only pale amber running lights illuminating the path until they disappeared behind what appeared to be a gigantic steel door, bathed in it's own clinical green light from an unseen source. There was a metallic smell in the air, so strong, in fact, that he could taste it. If it were not for the rusted surface he was standing on, Cantor would not have argued with the thought of the odour being created by an immeasurable amount of blood; the stench of which was just so distinct.

"Don't worry." Cantor replied with a relatively confident smile. Faith merely looked at him with an open mind, waiting for him to come up with something. "I'll find some way to get us back to Equestria."

"Couldn't you just use your magic?" Cloud Nine enquired, stepping away from the pair of shivering unicorns. "From what I've heard and seen, you can do some pretty amazing stuff... Can you not just teleport us all back to Canterlot?"

With memory of how strenuous simply creating a fire had been a while ago, Cantor replied with a feeble sum of enthusiasm. "Well, I- I guess it wouldn't hurt to try..." Sighed the alicorn who knew full well how powerful he was, but that his magical prowess meant nothing when faced with a situation like this. He took a couple of short steps back, spreading his front legs a little and bowing his head. Cantor clenched his teeth as his horn began to radiate a rich violet glow, casting a magenta aura upon the floor around him. His back tensed up and he screwed his eyes shut, for the first time in a long while, finding that he needed to focus this hard to perform an instinctual spell. He first envisioned Celestia's throne room: the regal mare sat atop her highly polished throne, ever pondering ways to better her subjects whilst being guarded from potential threats by heavily armoured pegasi and magically ample unicorns now that her planet's front line of defence, and if the need arose, most powerful weapon was partaking in one of the most unsuccessful vacations imaginable.

Try as he might, Cantor just couldn't forge a connection. No matter how hard he tried, no matter what his magic could do, he just couldn't overcome the impossibly vast distance between them.

The light around his horn dissipated into the surrounding air with a sound similar to that of a whip's crack, and the spent white pony fell to his knees in defeat, gasping for breath, and cursing himself under what little he had left.

"I'm- I'm sorry, guys..." Cantor apologised, feeling utterly useless in the knowledge that he was for once in his equine life, powerless: a sensation he had never hoped to feel ever again. "I can't do it, it's... it's just too far..."

Faith scooped her foreleg under his shoulder and with a forgiving sigh, hoisting Cantor back onto his hooves, where she shot him a sympathetic smile.

"Hey..." The grey pegasus started softly, punching her friend playfully on the shoulder in another attempt to make the situation seem a little less dire. "Don't worry about it, you tried your best. Hell, if I had one of those things on my head, I'd be so clumsy I'd be more dangerous than a grizzly bear with a flamethrower!" She shared a confiding laugh between Cloud and Cantor, somewhat clearing the negativity for a few moments.

"Speaking of which," The blonde-haired mare bespoke, trotting through the swarm of ponies gathered around the injured Titter, who was prodding at her right hoof, trying to determine why it was so painful. She reached the edge of the bent and swollen catwalk, peering gingerly over the edge and down into the vast darkness beneath. She swallowed loudly to try and extinguish the nausea the sheer drop was stirring within her stomach, dipping her head low and squinting in some frivolous attempt to see the bottom. 

"Whoa!" Cantor foalishly said as he nudged Faith gently on the flank, edging her forward just enough to make her panic, whirl around and catch him in the side of the head with her hoof.

"Ow..." Cantor muttered, still regarding his stunt as a joke. What he failed to take into consideration, however, was Faith's cataclysmic fear of falling.

The pegasus punched Cantor once more, even harder this time, making him fully realise that he had done wrong. Faith jabbed her hoof towards his face, staring him directly in the eye with the fury of a thousand suns.

"Don't you ever, EVER! Do that to me again!" She barked ferociously, once again displaying her social prowess and the natural authority she held over other ponies.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" The alicorn hurriedly replied in a panicked tone, covering his face to avoid another meeting with the perilously close grey hoof.

Faith brought her hoof back down to the floor with an infuriated snort before raising herself to her tip-hooves to bring herself to the stallion's own height. "If you dare even think about doing something like that again..." She began in an evil, dangerously dark voice, her gold-hued eyes still burning with that inner inferno. "I will break your legs." She sunk back to the floor, never averting eye contact with that intolerable stallion. She shook her head slightly, signifying her vexation. "And I'm not even joking..."

Cantor didn't react any further than a worried gulp, shuffling on his hooves nervously as Faith gently eased herself back around towards the cavernous drop. She bent over again, almost making a mock of presenting herself to Cantor.

"Again?" She asked suggestively, shooting the alicorn a self-assured smile, tempting him with over-raised eyebrows. Contrary to her way of speaking, she still seemed in some ways afraid.

Cantor merely snickered and brought himself level to the pegasus, oblivious to the audience of confused eyes burning into him from behind.

"That's a long drop..." Observed the alicorn, afraid to put anything other than his head over the ledge, despite the reassurance of wings.

"Yeah..." Faith agreed after an awed whistle. "You think we should go get our guns and stuff?"

Cantor met her remark with worried eyes. "You think we need them?" He asked with a reluctant element in his voice.

The iron-grey mare swivelled her head around haltingly, peering at her audience through anxious eyes with an air of great upset. The faces which connected her glance seemed to fair no better, and as a result, failed to raise her spirits even a little like she had hoped. 

Faith, after a seemingly long session of contemplation, returned her eyes to Cantor's, which, despite the astounding rarity of such a colour, held far more uncertainty than initially allocated. 

"I hope to Celestia we don’t." She simply responded, still somehow managing holding back her feral fantasies. "But from what you said about being 'attacked'... I doubt we'll have a choice..."


*****


Cantor and Faith cautiously, and with stunted pace, made their glacier-speed decent to the bottom of this horrendously dark and cavernous shaft. Hoof in hoof so as to not loose each other in the inky blackness, the couple of ponies meandered downward in the endless darkness, the light emanating from the feeble fire being produced by the out of place alicorn doing little more than illuminating the duo's faces with a comforting amber warmth.

When placed in the dark, even the healthiest of minds are faced with a loss; take away a sense, especially vision, and the other senses will begin to compensate for the loss of activity in the brain. One of the most frequent symptoms of ponies who have been blinded for scientific proposes, be that willingly or otherwise, have, after a short time, begun to report hearing voices or feeling presences they knew were not there. The same anomaly was clearly evident in both Cantor and Faith as their gentle but direct wing beats allowed them to flutter down gently enough to change course should anything startle them. The two ponies' ears regularly snapped around to listen to groaning metalwork or dripping liquid which sounded hundreds of times louder than they actually would have done if they had been produced from a bright and sunny meadow of daffodils.

All around them, they could feel eyes burning into them. It was passed off as a mere side effect of being so secluded in the darkness, but after some adrenaline-fuelled minutes, the uneasy sensation became too much of an instinctual reaction that the idea of the 'something' watching the two venture deeper into the unknown was almost a certainty.

With way past their fair share of fear, the decimated shell of Equestrian Explorers One came into Cantor and Faith's field of vision, bringing about a whole new meaning to the word 'ominous'. The pair exchanged tight-nerved glances before settling down on the side of the ruined shuttle, being careful not to cut themselves on the shattered windows or the razor-sharp bodywork which had peeled open in certain parts like a tin can.

With more caution than necessary, Cantor lowered his flame into the destroyed spaceship, stealing odd glances of the interior before sticking his head all the way in for a more educated visual survey.

Suddenly, Cantor felt a powerful force against his rear, making him loose his footing a little, causing him to nearly plummet straight into the shredded atrium of the once beautiful ship.

He whirled around in an instant, petrified by the idea of falling into the shuttle, but still terrified to find out what it was that had pushed him. In one swift movement, the trembling alicorn was facing the completely opposite direction, where he saw the wildly amused expression a certain grey mare was wearing.

"Not so funny when you're on the receiving end, huh?" She asked, cocking her head in a mischievous fashion. 

Cantor let out the trembling breath he had stolen when he first felt the push, loosening his tensed limbs up somewhat from the fright, lowering his wings which had sprung up in surprise back down to his sides. He placed a hoof over his heart, feeling how it seemed that his entire chest was pounding like a bass speaker.

"Oh my god..." Cantor gasped as he regained his breath. He thought about how to justify his previous actions; how it was unnecessary for Faith to 'return the favour', but after several seconds' contemplation, Cantor decided that she deserved just such vengeance. 

The stallion looked back up at the pegasus, waiting for her to say something cocky. However, no such remark came, and Cantor was forced to collect his thoughts, offer a brief apology to put the pair back on good terms and begin the treacherous descent into the mangled husk of metal.

EE1 Lay on its side, the only entrances available were through the dilapidated doorway near the cockpit and the smashed windows along the side. With one of the two options far too small to grant access to the ship, (not that it mattered anyway) the only option left was to use the door. Cantor once again lowered his light into the dark, allowing the flickering flames to smother the ink-stained walls with licks of light. 

Once the alicorn had ventured inside after a long hesitation and made sure Faith made it safely in too, he found himself having to step on top of the web of brightly coloured wires that were sprawled carelessly across the floor. Panels in the ceiling had, at some point, snapped the bolts holding them up and fallen at random intervals around the room. The water in the cockpit seemed to have luckily stayed mostly in place, leaving the floor of the atrium only slightly moist from the wash of fluids. From this, it was decided that the electrical system on board had been deactivated, otherwise the ponies would have been electrocuted as soon as they touched one of the many sections in the wiring that had split and frayed.

Cantor led the way with his female co-pilot close in tow. They made little to no progress in advancing on the armoury, located right at the back of the ship - the same room in which the Peripharous crystal was being stored. But despite this, neither equine felt speed a necessity over keeping a watchful eye in front, behind and, before it was too late, above them in every bedroom and hallway they scanned. Faith was almost certain, but not entirely convinced that there was alien life on this planet: the sensation of being watched, she admitted, seemed far too genuine to be merely the effect of the black parts of the imagination, but if there indeed was some race of creatures living down here past the stars, then why in Equestria hadn't they come to investigate an enormous spacecraft that had crash landed on their settlement. 

"Unless..." She thought to herself, knowing that such a thought would only make the situation much worse if brought into the open. "Unless they haven't come to see what all the crashing was because... they were still on their way..." She shook her head briskly, trying to focus on how the feel of cold metal wrapped around her foreleg would grant some form of sanitised security.

Some time later, after the most intense session of silence ever shared between two individuals at a time like this, the doorway to EE1's armoury came into view. Like most of the doors on the demolished craft, the armoury's entrance door, though heavily re-enforced, had also been succumbed to the same fate as it's metal brethren, and was jammed wide open.

As soon as Cantor entered the armoury, a deathly cold air met his coat, sending shivers all the way down his spine and making his teeth chatter. The dense material the walls of the room were made from, unlike the rest of the ship, were unscathed from the collision. The heavy lead and silver compound which formed the thick walls was the same material that the party's ammunition was made from: the lead gave each bullet it's weight, and the silver ore had been blessed by Celestia herself with unspeakably powerful and complex magic nopony else in the world possessed to give it unique physical attributes, such as a half life of over seven hundred million years. Not even Luna or Cantor possessed the knowledge to perform a spell such as this. 

The reason for such a material to exist was unclear, but the good mare of the day declared that it would make the trip far safer. As to how this safety was ensured, however, was an even foggier pursuit. But Celestia never lied, and it was doubtless that she would not even dream of putting two of her most prized and loyal subjects in harm's way for what could be regarded as little more than an extravagant curiosity mission.

The first thing the alicorn noticed after venturing further inside the freezer box of a room was that several of the cabinets and gun cases had been forced open. Now, anywhere else on this obliterated ship, and such an unwanted entry would have been understandable. However, inside an impenetrable box at the rear of the craft, made of a metal so robust that it could survive an explosion of up to thirty kilotons, for footlockers containing heightened Equestrian technology that were bolted firmly to the wall to just 'happen' to bust open was the most unnatural thing about this whole expedition. 

What really made Cantor confused however, was that upon inspection, no weapons, ammunition or anything else of partial interest had been taken; just one of nine saddlebags and several shots of morphine from the first aid cache. 

"Odd..." Cantor's mental statement unintentionally passed his lips, alerting one grey mare who had her head buried in a case of vertically holstered rifles in the far corner of the room to his unease.

"What is it?" She asked in a voice barely that of a whisper as she set about checking that the Fawning-SSR Mk. III rifles she was stuffing into a very sizeable duffle bag were not loaded.

"Oh, nothing." Cantor answered back swiftly, taking one of the thick canvas sacks Faith was using to begin stuffing in food rations and medical equipment for the inevitably harsh journey ahead. "I was just thinking aloud..." He reinforced, following the statement with a nervous chortle.

"Well what's up?" The pegasus insisted, halting the progress she was making on loading the bag with guns to turn and face the stallion.

Cantor cast a thoughtful glance around the arctic-cold room once again, scanning the snapped locks and shredded seals before deciding to reply. "Well I just thought it was strange that all these units have obviously been broken into, yet nothing of a huge importance has been taken..."

"Who do you think it was?" Asked Faith, knowing full well who the culprit was, but decided to invest in a second opinion.

"There's really only one pony it could be." Cantor responded, remembering his duties and beginning to load saddlebags with morphine, bandages, and an assortment of other medical supplies.

"Blue?" Questioned Faith. Cantor nodded in agreement. "Damnit!" Scorned the pegasus, making a move to spit at the ground. "I knew he was gonna be trouble as soon as we set off." She turned to the left and flung open another set of cabinet doors and made a start on packing ammunition boxes full of a variety of death-dealing supplements into her duffle bag. 

To any warped mind, to stand in this equine armoury would be comparable to a foal in a candy store.

"I'm sure he won't be too much trouble." Replied the alicorn, slowing his movements in packing the bag to think about what to do. "But our main priority is regrouping, then we should look for a way off this rock."

"How?" Asked Faith, humouring her own hopelessness, laughing and letting her head fall limply downward to her inactive hooves. "How are we ever going to get home? If there were other... things living here, they would have come and found us by now. I just..." She allowed a grumbling sigh to pass her lips, frustrated with herself for not knowing what to say to make things better. "...I... I'm scared... I just wanna go home..." She finally admitted, unable to face somepony she had always exaggerated her bravery and willpower to ever since they met. 

"...Hey..." Cantor called out gently, offering a reassuring smile to the soft-hearted mare when she turned to him. "I know how you feel, Faith, and I'm sorry that we're in this whole situation. I know I can't promise we'll escape with our lives, but what I can provide is hope, and comfort in the knowledge that I will use everything in my power to keep everyone safe." He gave a brisk nod accompanied by an empowering smile, instilling some enthusiasm to the pegasus' dented persona. "Now sitting here in the dark isn't going to help us get back; let's just collect all our things, regroup with the rest and find Blue Bolt."

Faith replied with a stiff, agreeable nod of her own. "Right." She said, beaming with the newfound hope in her heart. However, as soon as she started to pack more boxes of shells, magazines and energy packs into her cumbersome duffle bag, that hope was swept aside by fear as a sound not unlike that of a distant howl rang through her ears.

She froze for a moment, staring up at Cantor with petrified eyes. The stallion met her gaze with a similar level of tension in some kind of mutual paralysis.

A moment's silence passed before anyone spoke, and it was Faith who broke the peace with a pointless question. "Did you hear that?"

She had barely finished her sentence before a second  distorted howl blasted through the air again, making the very walls of the ship vibrate. The sound was comparable to a foghorn, very deep in pitch, but just as loud. However, the great booming wail held animalistic properties - whatever it was, it was living, and judging by it's demonic cry, it was also leviathan of stature.

Faith hurled the last few ammo boxes into her sack and tugged fiercely at the drawstrings, pulling the rim of the huge canvas bag to a tight puckered lip. She heaved the sack of guns and ammunition over her back, wincing as it's tremendous weight compressed the rich bruise between her wings. She hauled the load which was nearly as big as her from the armoury, down the corridor and into the atrium, where she began the troublesome flight to try and get the duffle bag into the air.

Without thinking, Cantor reached his foreleg into the sturdy wall safe where several earpieces and battery packs were stored. And in one swift motion, poured the communication devices into one of the eight saddlebags he had slung over his other foreleg in a cascade of clattering plastic and jangling metal. 

It was unclear to Cantor; he was so swept up in the action, but as he fastened the strap on the saddlebags housing delicate articles, he could have sworn he felt the ground rhytmatically trembling - as if it were being pounded by enormous footsteps. But the frantic stallion had already decided that timing was crucial: it was now obvious that him and his crew were not alone in this world, and even though it was impossible to fathom whether that life was intelligent or friendly, the dark, decrepit shell of his former inter-stellar spaceship was the last place he wanted to be.

However, one last check would have later proved to be vital, because as the alicorn left with several bulging saddlebags across the whole of his back and halfway up his neck, the miniature tremors created by the gigantic creature's steady pacing caused the heavily guarded, lead-lined door of the cracked wall safe harbouring the Peripharous crystal - a gemstone containing enough dark magic to distort space and time in a several million mile radius swung lazily open without so much as a creak, revealing an empty casket where the enchanted stone once lay, nothing but a tangle of wires and an overturned pedestal in it's highly fortified place.


*****


Cantor darted into the atrium, finding a hard time keeping the heavy bags slung across his back from falling to the floor. The ground was now quaking violently with every few seconds that passed. The white stallion scoured the room for Faith, and soon enough, his eyes fell upon the grey mare frantically pounding at the underside of the sack full of weapons which was wedged tightly between the edges of the door.

"Come on, you fuck!" Faith spurred through barred teeth; it was obvious to see that she was in a state of mass panic.

Cantor called up to the pegasus and ordered her to come clear of the door. Finding that nothing else was working, she trusted Cantor with whatever it was he was plotting. She jerked the oversized duffle bag from the doorway, allowing it to fall to the floor, unafraid of breaking any of it's contents as the frayed web of wires made for a soft landing.

Cantor poured all of his stamina into his horn, only feeling a fraction of the power such a strenuous effort would usually arise within the unicorn appendage. He bowed his head low to the floor, screwing his eyes tight in some effort to bring about more energy. 

The rich violet glow emanating from the alicorn's horn was dim, yet more than suited to bring out the ravaged walls, shattered windows and the ominous black stains of ink which had been carelessly splashed onto every available panel of the interior metalwork.

Feeling as though he had reached his limit, and that if he persisted, his head would explode, Cantor swung his head to the heavens, unleashing a torrent of pure energy straight up with an anguished cry of desperation. The brilliant white beam tore through the ship's sturdy iron hull like a bullet through butter, leaving nothing more than a molten metal lip glowing red hot in the thick darkness.

The magically squandered alicorn fell to his knees, exhausted by his sudden inability to channel magic with barely any difficulty like usual. But before he could begin to collect his breath, he felt a rough tugging at his shoulders accompanied by a desperate, yet all-round encouraging Faith.

"Come on, get up!" She insisted, pulling Cantor and his burdensome load back onto his wobbly hooves. "Come on!" Faith repeated urgently, her body pulling her to dart off into the air to safety, but not a fibre of her heart would allow her to leave somepony behind. 

"Okay..." Cantor mumbled, flapping his wings brutishly and stomping his hooves violently on the floor to wake himself up. "Alright." He said, a lot more empowered than previously. "Let's go, you first."

That was all Faith needed to hear. As quick as lightning, she snatched the hooffull of material at the head of the duffle bag, twirled it around her leg once and hauled it into the air, the hole Cantor had made proving far more than adequate to allow the sack of guns and ammo to pass through unscathed.

Cantor still had some doubt that blasting a three-metre hole in the side of the only way home was all entirely necessary. Despite the blatantly clear fact that repairing the ship was far beyond impossible, Cantor still felt that he were adding insult to injury. Forcing himself into the mindset of escape, the still rather breathless alicorn bent at the knees a little, raising his gargantuan wings high above his head in preparation of takeoff.

Realising he had no real means of pacing himself, Cantor filled his lings with air, held it there, and just gunned it for the sky. He sailed straight through the hole, up into the blinding darkness. He may as well have been blind, but direction didn't matter anyway; the only destination in sight was up, and he was rapidly accelerating with every punishing thrust.

It didn't take Cantor long to catch up to Faith, her wings beating like a hummingbird's as she struggled with her load. Lighting was minimal, but there was just enough of the valuable substance for Cantor to see the bottom of Faith's overbearing sack. He extended his hooves moments before colliding with the cargo, hearing a shriek of peril from the over encumbered mare above.

"Don't worry!" Called the alicorn with what little breath he had. "It's just me! Keep going!" He failed to hear a reply, but he suddenly felt Faith's sizeable contribution lighten, so it was clear she had understood. 

With several panting breaths, Cantor sucked in another two lungfuls of oxygen and felt his wings erupt into psychological flames as he upped his game. Every excruciating flap set the bar of pain higher and higher for both ponies, but they didn't give up: they couldn't afford to.

Whatever lie a few hundred feet below at the bottom of that alien pit certainly couldn't reach them up here, and the thought of something that large being able to fly was implausible, yet the two winged equines continued to torture themselves with reaching the top of this treacherous chasm.

A substantial number of seconds later, Cantor and Faith finally reached the summit of their herculean climb, where they were met with exasperated expressions and worrisome eyes.

The strength in Faith's forelegs had completely diminished to zero, and the last leg of her journey was by far the hardest. She just managed to heave the duffle bag onto the rusted metal catwalk beneath several pairs of hooves. Even with the help of Cantor behind, it took both ponies every last ounce of effort they had left to get the sack into place.

Cantor gave three final rapid wing beats for the final push, feeling as though his bones would break in the process. He sailed over the bent lip of the metalwork, tumbling across the rim of the sack and landing on top of Faith. His many saddlebags slid from his back to join the canvas gun bag on the floor, a couple of needles and a radio fell free in the process.

Whether or not he landed on solid ground or not, Cantor's giant wings refused to co-operate with his body, for a short time, becoming dead limbs sprawled out untidily across the cold, rust-bitten floor.

Cantor did not oblige to laying on his pony-mattress; he didn't even notice the soft, warm mare below him through the breathless panting they were both consumed by. It would be appropriate to assume that these two equines had just run the autumnal 'Running of the Leaves' marathon ten times over at a full gallop without ever stopping for a break. 

The mobile crew members set themselves the task of tidying up the weaponry, medical supplies, walkie-talkies and ammunition into orderly rows and appropriate bags ready to be equipped accordingly.

For the time it took the rest of the crew, spare Titter for what was identified as nothing more than a badly sprained ankle and Blue Bolt for obvious reasons, to set everything up, Cantor and Faith had found their hooves and were now drearily helping load weapons and ration first aid, yet they were still highly in debt to their aching bodies. But to be fair, the rest of the battered equine explorers failed to look 'right as rain' either...

"So it's just a sprain?" Cantor enquired in Cloud Nine's presence, nosing over at the blue-scarfed unicorn who was aimlessly surveying her surroundings whilst looking a little sorry for herself, a pristine white bandage now wrapped tightly around her lower right foreleg.

"Yes." The creamy coated mare answered with that soft voice of hers. "But it's a bad one - one of the worst I've seen. We're lucky it isn't broken: it would seem that way, what with all the pain she's in. But the morphine should be kicking in by now..." Her easy tone suggested she was extremely relaxed, but anyone with the slightest sense of common social knowledge could see in her eyes that she was loosing it.

"What do you think happened to your husband?" Asked the alicorn, his soul intention was to create conversation, though his tone reflected sincerity.

"Hm..." Cloud chuckled to herself, closing her eyes whilst still managing to insert needles through the little loops of fabric within her white saddlebag marked with a bold red cross. "I thought you were the one with all the answers..." She opened her dark purple eyes as she began, keeping it in mind to not sound too depressed. "You may be young, and there aren't many colts in your generation who I can look upon like I look at you." Her head fell to the side and she stopped arranging the needles. A serene smile of adolescent remembrance crept onto her face, and Cantor could tell from the little twinkle in her eyes that she was remembering a better place.

"Hm, hm hm..." She laughed again, shaking her head gently as if defying all the bad in the world. "You remind me of my brother when we were both young: ambitious, brave, inspiring..." She stared dreamily past the alicorn, seeing her sibling as clear as day.

"But I'm not really any of those things." Cantor replied, calling the brown-maned pegasus from her daydream.

She shot Cantor a wink, her easy smile undying upon her face. "He was modest, too..."

Cantor allowed himself an amused grin, but decided to insist his point. "No, really, I don't lead a particularly exciting life. Yeah, I love life, and I love my life and wouldn't change it for the world, but... I'm really nopony special, and I'm certainly not the bravest of souls; that title goes to my friend, Rainbow Dash: she would do anything for anyone..." Now it was his turn to become sentimental: imagining what his friends were doing now... It would probably be early autumn in Equestria now, so they were most likely helping Applejack collect this year's harvest.

The sound of Cloud Nine's fair voice brought Cantor out of his own vacant gaze. "On the contrary, my dear, from what I've heard about you from princess Celestia, you seem to be shaping up into the ideal stallion." Her enthusiastic tone cast a pale hint of rouge across Cantor's cheeks. "And knowing that you are going to be a father, too..." She breathed deeply through her nose, picking up a plastic - wrapped bandage roll from the ground and making a start on picking the smooth protective film from the clinical cotton. "I can see that foal is going to be very happy in their life with someone like you to look up to."

Cantor felt his eyes sting a little as small tears collected around the bottom of his vision, but he was pretty sure it wasn't enough to notice. "Thanks." He simply said, wrapping a foreleg around Cloud's shoulders as she did the same.

After they separated from the embrace, Cantor and Cloud mentally decided between them that the moment had passed, and now it was time to focus on the more important circumstances of this situation. 

"Are we ready yet?" Cantor called out in an empowered tone, causing everypony to stop whatever it was that they were doing and turn towards him. 

"All set, Cantor." Black Haze responded, waving a hoof over the neatly arranged selection of weaponry that had been laid out on the floor. In total, there were no less than fifteen guns set out in order: two prototype Enimagic laser rifles, five Buckshot guns, three displacement rifles, (which were a kind of high-velocity, long ranged weapon) and the rest were submachine guns, capable of eight rounds per second. Large metal boxes painted a milky green were piled high on top of each other in a triangular formation. 

Everyone gathered around the stash in a circle, privately marking which gun was 'theirs'. 

Despite his initial objection to firearms, and his present resistance to accept them in this world, Cantor couldn't help but crack a smile at the power that could come from a mere arrangement of metal and a chemical reaction.

"I call shotgun." The alicorn decreed with an unnatural glint in his eye.


*****


Geared up, fully loaded, kitted out, packing mega heat, whatever one could think to say, these eight ponies fit the ticket perfectly. With saddlebags tied around their mid-sections, and a plethora of deadly arms bound tightly to their forelegs, Cantor and his crew set off along the gritty, rusted walkway, heading left towards the door closest to them. Little did they know the next few hours of their lives would be an accurate insight as to what life in hell would be like. 

Cantor had a ridiculously overpowered shotgun wrapped around his right leg, the weight of the gun giving him a little more confidence as leader. The pace was kept at a brisk trot, with the two Vlaamperdian mercs behind Cantor and Faith and Red bringing up the rear. The more vulnerable ponies, though still equipped with weaponry of their own, were kept in the middle of the group for protection's sake, and to prevent anyone from wandering off who happened to be less suited if a situation developed than the soldiers of the group.

Titter was surprisingly nimble with only three fully functioning hooves, and was managing to keep up quite well with the others, but her sister maintained a concerned eye over her sibling at all times, yet the mare with the red scarf failed to identify any discomfort in her twin’s eyes as they trotted along.

Blue Bolt's location was still hazy, but after the discovery that he had in his possession one of the nine walkie-talkies from the armoury, and following a quick reconnaissance report from the unicorn, it was decided that he wasn't too far away from the landing site. Several of the things mentioned in Cantor's conversation with the royal blue pony rattled the alicorn's imagination. For a start, Blue Bolt kept mentioning these things he called: "the croaking black dragons", but would ignore any question raised as to what exactly the black dragons were. But that was not of huge importance: Blue said he had only gone down a couple of corridors for about an hour before he had hidden in one of the rooms he had found on the way back to the crashed shuttle. But when questioned about why he didn't return, the middle-aged stallion only replied with: "there were too many." And once again, he insisted upon another topic when asked what there were too many of.

Needless to say, Cantor was apprehensive to go adventuring, but with the reassuring metal wrapped round his leg, and the self-adopted mission to retrieve Blue Bolt, the white stallion soldiered on with dauntless perseverance.

The stallion in charge - that is, the pony who should have been patient and seen reason with everything, resorted to punching the expansive control panel on the side of the great iron door in an attempt to get it to open. He found it ridiculous that one door required such an array of switches to operate: there must have been at least thirty on this panel alone! For all Cantor knew, this door could have been welded shut with rust - it sure looked that way from the outside. Initially, the male deity had hoped to rip the enormous metal blockade from its holsters, but once he rolled up close, he assumed that by the tremendous dimensions of the door, being several metres wide and nearly twice as tall as it's width, the rust-eaten gateway was at least a foot thick, and therefore impenetrable given his current depleted magical prowess.

Eventually, after much frustration and a little bit of panic, Cantor struck the correct sequence of illuminated buttons and the door began to slowly crawl up into the ceiling with a painful screech of tortured metal.

The alicorn turned to face the others with a chuffed expression consisting of a cocky grin and self-assured eyes, only to receive an irk look from a familiar female pegasus in the back row.

Once the opening had granted enough access so that Cantor could comfortably slip under, the white captain ducked into the next darkly illuminated part of the journey. Two more corridors, both lit by blood red running lights in either side of the floor, splashing crimson onto all the aged walls and casting ominous shadows upon their surfaces.

As soon as Cantor paused to inspect the two options of which to turn, an unholy stench of blood invaded his nostrils, causing him to dry-heave and cover his muzzle with a foreleg.

"What's wrong?" Deathwing enquired, looking under the door before deciding to join Cantor.

The stench was so strong, Cantor could barely breathe. With watery eyes, he turned away from the path and poked his head out under the heavy, malfunctioning door for a cleaner breath of air.

"Smell-" The alicorn managed to choke out between breaths. "It stinks in there!" He exclaimed, just as the pungent aroma struck the two ponies at the head of the queue.

The pair of black mercenaries wrinkled their noses and covered their snouts with their forelegs, turning away slightly in some attempt to escape the disgusting odour.

"Holy shit!" Black Haze exclaimed with the utmost revolution. "What's gone on in there!?"

"I don't know..." Cantor confessed, walking back into the red-shifted hallway, staring down the extensive section of luminous crimson walls. "But there's only one way to find out." He pulled hard on the bolt on the side of his choice arm, creating a satisfying click which echoed slightly through the long hallways.

The white stallion could have sworn he heard some slur involving the word 'show-off' from somewhere at the back of the group, but it wasn't as if he had a choice about whether or not to acknowledge the dig, so he simply carried on.

In one swift movement, Cantor ducked under the fortress-like door and outstretched his right foreleg down the blind corridor to the right, which only went several metres before being cut off by another, much smaller doorway. However, the main aspect of the passageway that caught Cantor's eye was that it was as deserted as the first.

"It's safe." He reported, standing back on all fours to watch his fellow ponies duck their way into the less than spacious clearing.

"Ugh!" Flitter cried out in abhorrence, the rancid stench of blood far more real than she first anticipated. "That's disgusting!" She added, feeling her eyes prick with tears as her nose flared at the sour smell.

"Which way, guys?" Asked Cantor, voice slightly withheld as an effect of the odour.

"You tell us." Flitter replied, the rich red lights sending her pale coat a similar hue to the one-tone scarf around her neck. "You're in charge, after all..."

After several seconds' consideration, the stallion 'in charge' decided to take the route closest to him: opposed to venturing for too long with this smell lingering over him. 

"This way." He instructed, giving a windmill motion with his hoof in the direction of the reasonably sized door to the left.

A much less intimidating interface met Cantor as he cast his eyes to the right of the door where another panel of only three buttons backlit by a dirty yellow glow. Going out on a limb, the alicorn pressed his hoof into the dull yellow bump on the left of the panel with low expectations. However, once his hoof made contact, a very audible 'click' was sounded from somewhere within the framework.

"What happened?" Cloud enquired, stepping next to the alicorn for a better view of the control panel. The corridor could comfortably fit two ponies side by side at any one time; three at a squeeze.

Cantor ceased to reply, but the mare with the midnight eyes could tell that, from the stallion's expression, he was mentally answering her question. Cloud ran her eyes along Cantor's body, noticing how miraculously his wounds had healed: it was not five minutes ago that a rough nick in his shin was gushing blood, but was now little more than a bruised scrape above a dried up river of deep red liquid.

After fumbling with the scarce array of buttons, Cantor felt as though he had 'cracked' the code to opening these doors: it seemed as though the left button locked the passage, the right one unlocked it, and the centre one engaged it. The alicorn decided not to dwell on the subject for too long however, and decided instead, to try and make the sequence that of second nature. Not a difficult task at all, but given the circumstances, such a procedure would require as much concentration as any other lock.

The steel door, not a whole lot closer to pristine, but still much more maintained than the first one, slid up into the ceiling, opening up a whole new, much darker, and in a word, sinister room than previously. Even the dull, flickering lights hanging crookedly from the high ceiling provided enough light in order to make out overturned tables, blood splattered walls, and old paper strewn across the ground as if a tornado had rampaged through. Near the far end of the trashed dining hall, one corner was illuminated brightly by several spotlights shining down from the pitch black ceiling. Dust particles buzzed around aimlessly like lost flies in the narrow shaft of light filtering downwards until it struck the wall, where it slowly vanished into the same inky darkness that made up the futuristic rafters.

Cantor slowly turned to the brown haired pegasus to his left, who was staring into the ominous area with hesitance. "Looks like fun..." He commented, a brief tone of humour within his voice.

Cloud only swallowed in response.

Cantor took one step forwards, and instantly felt something cold and wet surround his hoof. He reared backwards in shock, nearly knocking Black Haze over in the process. 

"What's up?" The red-eyed unicorn asked, irritated, his blood-hued irises seeming to glow in the last of the crimson light leaking into the morbid, cavernous hall.

"Who's got the light?" Cantor hurriedly called out, holding his right hoof as far away from his body as possible.

"Here." Cloud Nine answered, turning on the demure torch on the side of her laser rifle, sending out a powerful, albeit thin cone of pure white light from the glossy black metal tool. She shone the circle of light down Cantor's foreleg, halting abruptly with horrified eyes at the sight which befell her when she crossed the stallion's hoof. 

At least an inch of Cantor's limb was coated with blood, the powerful contrast between white and red made the infliction that much more worse.

Terrified, yet unable to stop herself, Cloud swung her foreleg out across the room, notifying all of EE1's crew to the shallow lake of blood that had collected around the base of the door. The glistening red life fluid caught the shimmer from the magic-empowered rifle and cast a tauntingly bright and cheery starburst across the smooth surface.

"There's so much blood..." She relayed in a quivering tone, her leg trembling from fear.

"...But no bodies..." Cantor whispered darkly with a grim scowl.

"Oh, this shit jus' keeps gettin' weirder by the second!" Exclaimed Red, the familiar docile tone in his voice completely absent now.

"Sounds like a date with Faith..." The jet black pegasus remarked with a warped smile.

"Fuck you, Rookie!" The enraged mare in question yelled angrily in retaliation, pawing fiercely at the ground with her hoof.

"Has it occurred to any of you that whatever did this could still be in here!?" Cantor seethed, ushering everyone into a silence with his tone. He peered over his shoulder, casting a glance over the other ponies with no distinct individual in focus. "I'm gonna radio Blue Bolt." He informed, raising a hoof to his ear to open up the airwaves. 

"Blue Bolt, where are you?" The alicorn asked quickly, now far less eager to go through the ravaged room until he was provided the evidence that it was the only way to wherever the 'adventurer' had concealed himself. 

When no reply came, Cantor spoke up again. "Blue, did you go through a room with loads of blood at the door?"

Silence.

"Blue Bolt, can you hear me?" Cantor asked, receiving nothing but dull static when he took his hoof from the receiver. "Shit." He cursed, snapping his hoof back to the hard metal floor.

"What do we do now?" Titter piped up, until now keeping quiet with nothing but her troubling thoughts to keep her company.

The white stallion shifted his attention from the formidable room to his anxious crew, who all seemed to be exchanging nervous looks while their leader made a decision. None of this seemed real; it was all too nightmarish to believe. Maybe it wasn't real: maybe they had all died in the crash - and this was just hell. Whatever the outcome, neither reality appeared clearly preferable over the other, and yet here they were.

"Let's go." Cantor declared, turning back around and crossing without hesitance the great pool of blood, the ill feeling of the viscous liquid swirling around his solid hooves made his whole body tingle with a ghastly sensation of immorality. "And stay close together: we don't want anyone else going missing..." He added with a dash of spite.


*****


Once the sea of red had been crossed, admittedly, one of the most unpleasant things they had ever done, Cantor and his crew found themselves stranded in the middle of this cold, seemingly desolate environment, still with the sordid smell flowing through their lungs. The only sounds were those of careful hoofsteps clopping voluminously around the cavernous space. Too may times were hooves stubbed on objects which were unseen in the non-existent light, and after tripping over one last table, Cantor lost his patience and fired a flare into the musky air using one of the few specialized spells he had in his memory. The intense white flame burned bright like magnesium, and miraculously hung unsupported above the group, bathing the room in an incredible light. But once the skylight had been lit, Cantor instantly regretted using the spell; in an instant, the entirety of the calamity which had occurred in this morbid place came into view.

Corpses of some odd-looking creatures lay slumped against the far wall, bones tearing through lacerated skin that was consumed by rot. Some were strewn across the overturned tabled that dominated the ground, their insides presented in such a manner that one would assume they had exploded. Grotesque sights of what appeared to be knives and forks buried into the heads of a few of the beings stained and violated the ponies’ minds and they all screamed out in pure, unrivalled horror.

Their equine eyes, familiar with bright colours and happy smiles were infiltrated by this massacre of a scene. Strange writings were scrawled along the walls in what could only be assumed to be blood. Notice boards and posters hung torn on the walls, their scripture unrecognisable behind the gruesome splatters of yet more blood which screamed up the walls as if it had been some frivolous excuse for an attempt at painting.

Titter sunk to her knees and emptied her stomach onto the floor. Her sister quickly followed her to the ground, rubbing a hoof tentatively along her heaving lilac back.

The sound of agonized crying sliced through the thick air like a knife as the young purple mare bleated out screams of dread in-between spluttering coughs.

The sight was too much to take in at once, and for several seconds, Cantor and the four other battle-orientated ponies could only whirl around in circles as the full extent of catastrophe was forced onto them.

"What the fuck happened here!?" Faith finally managed to cry out, feeling rather queasy herself now that she had discovered the source of the stench.

"Hell if I know!" Cantor yelled back, clueless.

"I can't do this, let's get the fuck out of here!" The grey pegasus exclaimed in exasperation, making a move to dart backwards towards the door they came in from before being halted by Red's enormous foreleg.

"Mare up, Faith, you've got a job to do!" The huge crimson pony ordered, the blood stained upon his hoof a lot harder to distinguish from the rest of his body. A rare sight of anger was caught in his easy-going brown eyes.

Faith slammed her hooves into bloodstained floor out of horrified frustration. "Everything's! Fucking! Dead!" She expelled in a voice not too different to that of a mentally scarred teenager, shocking herself with the knowledge that she was close to tears.

"Shut up!" Cantor barked, yet Titter was the only pony to ignore the order and continued to sob uncontrollably into her hooves. 

"QUIET!" Roared an extremely out-of-character Cantor in a voice that was not his own, to which the petrified young mare promptly quietened down and stared up at the alicorn with frightful eyes.

Cantor stared intently at a certain part of the floor beneath his hooves, mouth slightly agape and his ears twitching in all directions. Everypony looked at each other, confused, but then the white stallion broke the heavy silence.

"Can you hear that?" He whispered, still focusing his eyes downward.

Following a short moment's intense listening, Faith answered his question. "No." She calmly said in a similarly hushed tone. "I don't hear anything..."

The heightened alicorn senses were picking up a sound not unlike that of a light purring coming from an obscured corner of the room. It sounded like somepony with a sticky throat was wheezing: the exhale sounding slightly croaky and laboured.

Cantor followed his ears to the source of the noise, stepping over and around decomposing bodies that were so mutilated, it was impossible to even guess what they looked like before death. He eventually came across a curious black lump pressed into the very corner of two walls. It was crystal clear now, that the odd purring sound was emanating from this mysterious object, more for one of two reasons. The first being that everypony could now hear the noise, their breaths catching in their throats as they advanced. The second reason, (and probably the most haunting realisation) was that the dark black shape was moving in an almost respiratory manner in time with the heavy breathing sound. Almost as if it were...

Alive...

"What... is that?..." Cloud nine questioned, the mannerisms of her tone hard to distinguish whether she was scared or fascinated.

"Not sure..." Cantor admitted - not that any of the other ponies had much of a clue anyway.

Gathering a surplus amount of courage, and just a smidge of carelessness, Cantor edged himself closer and closer to the animate object, keeping careful track of how it expanded and deflated with every scratchy breath. He shuffled perilously slowly forward with one hoof outstretched, offering his best smile should this strange article turn out to be some kind of animal.

"H-h... Hey..." He weakly said, eyes nowhere else but in front.

The thing snapped around, and instantly declared its identity. It was, in fact, some kind of animal as was predicted: a quadruped, jet black in colour with sinister - looking bone-like spines running down either side of its back. Cantor froze stiff as the creature revealed itself to him, lowering its large head to the ground, the two odd lobes protruding from the back of its skull seeming to set into place along its spine. It backed into its corner, raising a thick, muscular tail high up the wall, the ridge along the top of the appendage raising broadly out in an intimidation attempt. Its ribs could be seen clearly through the rough black skin on either side of its body, sticking out as if it hadn't eaten for weeks. It elicited a feral hissing noise, its face splitting in half to reveal rows of razor-sharp teeth set in its gaping mouth. Reflective, glossy eyes of purest black radiated fear and anger as the dark being rose to its four feet, three toes harbouring morbidly long claws protruding from each.

Cantor found himself to be petrified, but he just managed to summon the strength to begin backing away slowly. However, as soon as he made the slightest movement of retreat, the savage beast leapt from the floor with terrifying speed, clamping its array of needlepoint teeth down onto the alicorn's foreleg.

Cantor yelped in pain and shock, firing off a powerful shot into the wall, sending white hot sparks flying from the metal surface. He began punching the creature brutally in the head in an attempt to knock it off, but its jaws were like a vice, and were not easily going to budge.

The stallion rolled onto his back, listening to the awful snarls and growls coming from the mass on top of him as his leg tore to pieces.

"Shoot this fuck!" Cantor cried through barred teeth, insisting on pounding at the monster's cranium despite the lack of progress.

Seconds later, a huge red foreleg came swinging through the air accompanied by a tremendous grunt, colliding with the deathly animal and sending it careering into the solid metal wall behind it with a sharp cry. 

Without hesitation, without even pausing to acknowledge the pain rocketing through his torn leg, Cantor rolled over onto his side, extending his arm out, lining up the thin beam of light coming from the end of the piece of metal strapped tightly around it with the feral creature's head.

Cantor tensed his leg, and a second deafening explosion ripped through the air, followed by a distinctive crunch and splat.

The stunned alicorn lay there for several seconds, letting the dopamine rush quell some of the searing heat burning through his body, simply watching a dark red liquid pool around the scrawny black cadaver before finding the motivation to get up in the form of a strong red hoof.

Using Red's leg to pull himself up, Cantor scanned the mortified faces of his crew before turning his attention to his sopping right foreleg. He remained silent for a moment or two, familiarising himself with the sensation of copious amounts of his own blood trickling through his once white fur.

"What the hell was that!?" Flitter screamed, already beginning to lose her sense of protection in the company she was with.

"What did it look like, sister!?" The other lilac unicorn shot back, glaring at her sibling. "We're stuck here, with no way of contacting home, monsters like these running around, and no hope of ever seeing mom and dad again!" Her anger-laced tone was reflected momentarily in the Flitter's eyes, but instantly dissipated when she saw tears form in her troubled sister's. "I don't want to die, Flit..." She sobbed, promptly being embraced by the other emerald-eyed twin. "I just want to go home..." Her head fell into Flitter's shoulder, and she began to cry hopelessly with some effort to keep her voice down. "I just... want to go home..."

"It's okay." Cantor softly called out, peering over to the door several paces to the near wall before turning his gaze upward to check how his flare was doing, nodding privately when he calculated it had about three or four more minutes of life in it. "No one's going to die: I'll get us out of here." Sympathy was intended in his voice, but after what had just happened, little compassion shined through. "...Somehow..." He added quietly.

"What about through there?" Came Black Haze's rough voice, sounding a little enthusiastic, despite recent events. He pointed a hoof towards the door on the right, not too dissimilar to the one they had came from, except this one had a simple yellow and blue design on it that had faded over time.

Cantor followed the unicorn's hoof to the gateway, closely trailed by a suddenly much more vigilant team. He reached the door and paused, checking the surrounding shadows for any sign of unnatural movement. But, he saw nothing, only more overturned tables, torn papers and blood. He gently nudged the right button with the tip of his injured hoof, noticing when he brought it up, that his leg had already begun to heal. He privately thanked his amazing regeneration ability that came with being such a unique race and pressed the centre button, causing this door to split horizontally in the middle and each half concealed themselves accordingly.

"Great." Cantor muttered when a pitch black hallway became the scene stretching out in front of him.

Silence descended over the heard as they all converged around the opening, the sounds of shuffling hooves and rubbing fur came to a halt as everyone took in the unappealing sight.

"Let's get another flare down there, Cantor." Suggested Faith, squinting past the alicorn to try and get a better view in the blinding darkness - but she had no luck.

A dull purple aura collected around Cantor's horn, and an intense orb of white light formed at it's tip. After several seconds' charging, (which would have taken next to no time usually) Cantor rocked his head forward, pointing his glowing unicorn anatomy towards the impossibly dark shaft.

History repeated itself, and Cantor wished he hadn't have sent the flare when he did. 

He released his hold on the ball of light, sending it flying down the long black corridor. At first, all seemed fine...

...Until the walls started moving.

There were hundreds of them. On the ceiling, on the floor, all over the walls. Demonic replicas of the same creature Cantor had killed seconds ago began to crawl and squirm from their resting place like some kind of disgusting, hellish nest.

Everypony's eyes went wide, and they slowly began to back away as the first few monsters came snarling from their hiding place. They kept low to the ground, bearing their many white teeth like some kind of lethal trophy as they slowly advanced on the terrified ponies.

"Run... or shoot?" Asked a panic-stricken Faith, raising her displacement rifle with a slightly trembling leg, her red laser dot joining the many already poised across the several creatures' bodies.

Cantor said nothing, but continued to back away with terror in his fiery eyes.

"Run or shoot!?" Faith cried urgently, turning to face the alicorn with a probing expression.

"Both!" Cantor replied, to which all hell broke loose.
> Lucid Torment
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The musky old air was instantly lit ablaze with a flurry of gunfire and the shrieks and writhing screams of dying monsters. Bullets lashed out upon leathery flesh, puncturing arms, legs, hides and heads, giving rise to an uproar of siren-like wails. The walls flashed like a strobe light as the gunpowder behind each pointed piece of metal ignited, adding to the chorus of cacophonous barks resonating from the apparelled death machines, only to be replaced by another round, inanimately raring to put an end to another feral life.

The eight ponies were backing away, all the while shooting for all it seemed worth. The three equines less trained in the field of battle were the first to make it back through the door, declaring themselves out of service as the only clear shot they had with their weapons was of their pony comrades' flanks. Titter, Flitter and Cloud Nine could do nothing but watch their friends fight for their lives as wave after wave of relentless freaks came cascading from the new opening like deadly rats.

"Keep going back, guys!" Cantor yelled, his desperate orders barely audible over the fighting. "Don't stop 'till we're through that door!" 

As the white alicorn extended his hoof towards one of the demons, the very same creature he was aiming at leapt up from the mass of bodies and took nearly all of his foreleg into it's gaping maw, clamping it's jaws down just under his torso.

Wincing in pain, but realising that the beast was not letting go, Cantor took his opportunity to make, in a sense, a mockery of this macabre situation. "Eyes bigger than your belly, hey, ugly?" He growled before firing off a shell down the monster's throat, practically decapitating it as its body split open, making everything that was on the inside burst outward, showering its brethren with blood and organs.

Cantor shook his foreleg, clumsily removing the severed head which landed on the ground with a sick crunch.

It hadn't occurred to Cantor at the time, but his team mates were moving a lot faster than he thought, and in the time it had taken him to deal with the animal and its messy demise, the four others had built up a considerable distance from him, allowing two of the monsters to flank Cantor and creep up behind him, ready to tear the young alicorn to pieces without so much as a warning.

Previously swept up in fending for herself, Faith just noticed the two black devils creeping up behind her unsuspecting friend. In as much time as it took her to cry out "Get down!", the creatures had pounced. But Cantor obliged, sinking to his knees and bowing his head as the duo soared above him.

Faith waited for the perfect moment, and the passage of time seemed to slow down as the dark beasts crossed each other in the air before firing off a high - velocity bolt from her rifle straight through both of their heads, cutting their hungry snarls dead.

The grey mare pulled the bolt back on the side of her rifle, loading another shell into the chamber and sending the spent metal clanging to the floor. Her eyes transformed to worry, however, when she noticed five or six more creatures behind the white stallion; far too many to handle on her own.

Cantor peered up from the floor, clocking the tight ring of shiny black eyes closing in all around. He scoured the wall of bodies for a way out, or for some way to create a diversion to escape, but hope as he might, the dreadful beings were far too thick to run through or fight his way out of and were closing in quickly. There was nothing he could do, and nothing anyone else could do to help him. 

With all options taken away, Cantor reluctantly, but promptly gave up, sinking helplessly to the cold, wet floor and covering his head with his hooves. He screwed his eyes shut and prayed that the pain wouldn't last for too long, becoming deaf to everything but his own thundering heart with the sickening realisation that it would never beat again.

But then out of nowhere, like a terrifying angel, a low, distant, foghorn-like howl rang through everyone's ears, forcing a deathly silence down over the entire room. Even the feral hissing produced by the creatures ceased immediately.

The cowering alicorn peered up gingerly from his place on the floor in reaction to the hauntingly familiar sound. 

Simultaneously, the encroaching beasts huddled around Cantor began scanning the room for the source of the howl, their psyche reflecting something almost like fear. Instead of harsh hissing, the swarm of monsters resorted to making low clicking sounds not unlike that of a dolphin, meeting each other with what appeared to be concerned eyes.

A second howl, a little closer, but still rather distant emanated from elsewhere, sending the black animals scurrying, flailing, tripping over one another to escape through vents in the walls, all the while emitting screeches of panic.

Of course, Cantor tried to move, but his body had ceased up from the peril, and he found himself all but paralyzed. The ground began to thump ever so slightly, to an extent that wouldn't have been noticed unless one were lying down.

"Cantor, come on!" Came Faith's insistent cry from just on the other side of the door, Red by her side, completely filling up the rest of the entrance. When Cantor failed to move however - not even to reply, she naturally assumed the worst. "No!" She shouted, beginning to hyperventilate. "No, please get up!"

"............"

"Cantor, please! You can't-" The horrified mare's sentence was cut short by a groundbreaking explosion that made her teeth shake. The booming crash was promptly followed by a well-pronounced female voice from somewhere within the roof.

"Hazardous anomaly detected in sector B-2. Initiating lockdown."

In the inky darkness above, blood red warning light flooded the room along with a sinister buzzing siren, projecting two opposing red disks chasing each other around in circles onto the walls, highlighting the distinctive maroon colour splattered all over the aged metal. 

The hiss of hydraulics, accompanied by the sudden screams of his friends shook Cantor out of his trance, and supposedly on instinct, the alicorn rose from his helpless position and bolted towards the other ponies.

A cumbersome-looking metal blockade was lowering itself down from just above the exit, making haste on sealing Cantor into this murder scene of a room.

Everypony backed away from the door to allow him room, all the while calling out at the top of their lungs for him to hurry.

Cantor held his breath as he encroached on the rapidly decreacing opening, and in one swift move, he kicked his own legs from under him, sending him flying onto his back once he hit the pool of blood.

Only the stallion's shoulders skimmed the blood, infecting just the bottom of his mane with the rotten life fluid. Cantor's head barely made it under the door before it closed, and he foolishly allowed himself a second's worth of breath...

...Failing to take into consideration the length of the horn atop his head...

Panic flooded back into the alicorn's heart when he felt the swelling pain shoot through his head as the unstoppable steel door began to bend his unicorn anatomy into the shallow groove within the floor. His amber eyes flashed with vivid horror as his back hooves scrambled against the floor and he desperately tried to pull himself free from the hydraulic vice that was now causing his horn to split near the base.

The new pain was unlike anything Cantor had ever felt before; he'd rather break every bone in his body ten times over than endure one second of this ghastly torture. He screwed his eyes as tight as they would go and attempted to release some of the unbearable pain in the form of chilling, tormented screams of pure agony.

The giant Red earth pony, herculean as he may be, failed to pry the door back open, unable to force his enormous hooves into the inch of clearance Cantor's brittle horn was allowing.

And then, the unthinkable happened. The door suddenly slammed shut with an atrocious snap as it smashed the upper half of Cantor's horn into oblivion. Every unicorn present found it impossible not to wince in psychological pain when the sound occurred, having some idea, but not even scraping the surface of how much pain would emanate from such an injury.

Cantor's eyes shrunk, and his sordid screams halted abruptly as bright little sparks, as well as a weak trickle of blood were seen coming from the break halfway up the incredibly sensitive piece of bone. He merely rolled over onto his side and laid staring at the wall for several moments, his body trembling all over in what could only be described as something far more than pain.

Nopony was brave enough to speak, and none could take their eyes from the shivering alicorn or the magical sparks bursting from his horn and fizzling out in the small puddle of urine forming under his body. They could do nothing but hold their breaths and wait for whatever was happening to their friend to pass.

But when the flow of sparks stopped falling from Cantor's horn, he rejoined reality in the greatest agony a unicorn could ever dread to experience.

His bloodied hooves scrambled frantically at the snapped appendage, as if trying to quell the unbearable pain coursing through his whole body. Successively louder screams tore through his throat, only silencing whenever he attempted to gulp down air. Even breathing was a struggle in this demented situation. The tortured soul writhed around on the floor, his rear legs spasming with every heartbeat flaring excruciation into every neurone in his brain.

"Wh- What do we do?" Faith asked with a white face, turning to Cloud Nine, who already had a syringe grasped firmly in her hoof.

Without answering, the cream mare cautiously took aim at Cantor's neck, pausing for a moment when he was still enough to avoid the risk of stabbing him in the throat. 

After five seconds of horrendous wails and screams, Cloud gave up, unable to get a proper shot at the stallion's vain.

She turned her frightened expression towards a sympathetic red pony towering above her. "Red! Can you hold him still whilst I give him a sedative?" She asked hurriedly.

Red gave a brisk nod and sunk to his knees beside Cantor. He was just about to touch him when the screaming began to subside. Cantor was still writhing about and clutching his horn, but, he was nearly silent. Red shot Cloud Nine a confused look, until blood began to surface in Cantor's mouth.

It was discovered that he had shredded his vocal chords.

The black maned earth pony placed one of his iron-like forelegs at the top of Cantor's neck, and the other just above his chest as the female physician readied her needle. The alicorn's squirming felt like nothing in the midst of Redgrave's immense strength.

The needle gently slipped through Cantor's neck, and with bated breath, Cloud pushed the plunger down gradually, slowly injecting the sleeping serum into the stallion's pain-wracked body.

After three seconds of struggling, the awful screams which once dominated the room now nothing more than choked gurgles faded away to nothing. Cantor's violent kicks became little more than half-hearted swipes at the ground as he passed out into merciful unconsciousness.

Red pulled away from Cantor's limp body, rising to his hooves whilst trying to step out of the stream of the alicorn's blood making a beeline for his hooves. He looked down upon the Cantor with a small dismal frown, a little disheartened to say the least about seeing such harm come to a pony so young. As time marched on, his thoughts tilted towards his family - his home town... His home planet... Right now, millions of miles away, in a small village in the middle of nowhere, his beloved wife, and irreplaceable daughter were either tucked up warm in their beds or working to harvest the annual crops alongside every pony he had ever known until five pegasi wearing shiny golden armour approached him and brought him into this. For a moment, Red became cynical, making the accusation that those ponies were to blame for his misfortune.

His anger quickly faded though, when he assured himself that this was not the case - and that no one could have predicted the catastrophe, and once again, he traced the faces of his family with his mind's eye, emotions so vivid within his memories that he could almost smell the crisp, dry air of the dusty Falabellian mountain range.

Cloud pulled the needle from Cantor's neck, replacing it in a special section in her saddlebag to keep everything else sanitised. She sighed with a heavy heart, shaking her head slightly with a sordid mindset that the white stallion had little time to live; only once had she ever had a unicorn patient who had lost his horn, and he died within hours of the incident with no symptoms detected by current Equestrian technology. The only other injuries of a similar degree she had seen were in books; very few of the unicorns in there had survived their treatment and the ones who had were never able to channel magic like they had before.

Everyone was speechless; what could be said at a time like this? Granted, Cantor's magic was severely weakened due to the fact that after a quick atmosphere analysis, it was discovered that the level of ambient magic, (the invisible soup-like energy dissolved into Equestria's air that allows unicorns to channel magic with a certain degree of instinct) here, was zero, yet the teenage alicorn was the only one with magic powerful enough to override this factor and successfully cast.

"Shit..." Was all that was heard coming from a disgruntled grey mare after a very long and quiet pause. Everypony shifted their weight nervously, unsure of how to build on that remark as it already did a pretty good job of summing up the situation as a whole. "What do we do now?" She asked, staring blankly at Cantor's gently breathing form. "The captain can’t use magic, we've got no way of getting home; no way of... contacting them... It's only a matter of time before those things reach us..." She looked up at Red, her eyes void of all hope and optimism reflected in the huge stallion's contemplative, dark brown ones. “…We’re doomed.”

"Don't give up, kid." Replied the tall earth pony, giving Faith a reassuring nudge on the shoulder with his hoof. "If ya do that, we definitely ain't goin' home."

Faith sighed. "Yeah. I suppose you're right..." She complied, rubbing the upper proportion of her right foreleg, a forced expression of cheeriness upon her face.


*****


Some very uncomfortable time later: a period of thirty tension-filled minutes, and Cantor was finally coming around from his sleep. Instantly, the magically incapacitated alicorn was met with a sharp, painful headache shooting right through his skull with every throbbing heartbeat. 

With a laboured groan, Cantor dragged himself to his hooves, becoming aware of the sore spot on his back where he had slammed his shoulders into the ground. Despite this irritating injury, Cantor's main concern was his broken horn. It was an odd type of pain; comparable to the sensation of somepony constantly tugging on his mane with malicious force.

"Ogh..." The alicorn-turned-pegasus grunted as he straightened his legs out, stretching his wings out above him to limber up somewhat before he opened his eyes. 

When his eyelids flickered open, he noticed that many of the ponies were seated, with only Faith and Cloud Nine standing for themselves near the corner of the relatively spacious corridor. Nevertheless, all eyes were upon him as he made his recovery. 

A thin trickle of dried blood could be seen caressing the rims in the spiral of what was left of his horn from the initial break - jagged like a wine bottle beaten against the counter in a bar-brawl. The last few inches of his mane was glued together with dark congealed blood, sticking several crusty bangs to the fur around his neck. Scuffs and scrapes littered his body: his right foreleg was damn near matted entirely with blood from where the creatures had bitten him, though his shotgun seemed just fine, if a little battered.

"Ah! Decided to finally wake up, have we?" Faith jested, her remarks becoming somewhat trademark in perspective to her character. She stepped away from the medic and towards Cantor.

"I um..." Cantor started, rubbing his eye with the cleaner of his two hooves. "How long was I out?" He asked, shocked at how rough his voice came out. He had a rather gruff way of speaking to begin with, but now it sounded as if he had been eating glass.

Faith dipped her head to the side and rolled her eyes in a strangely placid manner. "About half an hour." She gestured towards the magnolia mare behind her. "Cloud here was convinced you weren't going to wake up." 

Cantor turned his focus onto the purple-eyed pony, who met the disbelieving expression by turning away, ashamed.

"W- Well what happens now? I mean do we split up, or do we try and stick together?" Asked Cantor, looking about the group in search of ideas.

"Neither." The grey pegasus replied with a curt shrug. "All the doors are locked and won't respond." She cast a glance around the other explorers, who all shared the same clueless expression.

Cantor met eyes with everyone there, knowing only one of two impossible options would prevail, not wanting to suggest either. But seeing as how he was leader, such a decision was inevitable. "The way I see it, we only have two options..." He started in a light-hearted tone, trying his best to sound calm and in control even though his sore throat was beginning to grate with every breath. "One: we accept that there's no way out, no one coming to help us, no hope of repairing our ship, and we sit here and wait to starve to death, all the while losing our sanity and giving in to desperation: eating the ones who die first so that we may have another week or two to suffer..." He paused, taking in the worried faces of his shipmates before deciding to continue. "Alternatively..."

Cantor rose his right hoof to the wall beside him, and without looking, fired off a single powerful round into the metal surface, making everypony within range of the deafening blast shield their eyes as shavings of metal and tiny pellets peppered their coats. The alicorn failed to take into consideration the effect of firing a shotgun in such an enclosed space would include, and was confronted with a very unwelcome ringing in his ears.

"Not one of your best ideas..." Faith remarked harshly, her ears pinned to the back of her head in response to the unexpected explosion. She shot Cantor an unamused frown and shook her head disapprovingly.

"Alternatively..." Repeated the orange-maned stallion, ignoring the brash mare's comment partly due to the unending dialling tone in his head. He turned to the right, staring straight down an infinitely expansive ventilation shaft, only the first few panels visible before the eerily familiar darkness dominated the passage. "We can use the vents."

As Cantor spoke, everypony's jaws dropped. With an exasperated sense of disbelief, Faith met the alicorn's remark with an astonished disagreement. "Surely you're not serious, are you?" She asked, her shrunken pupils focused on the captain's calm amber eyes. Cantor merely pouted and nodded his head as if to say: "Of course."

"Are you mad?" Black Haze spoke up, taking an empowered step closer to Cantor with begrudging eyes. "You have no idea what's in there; what if there were more of those creatures, hm? To go blindly into the dark is suicide."

"Does... anypony else have any better ideas?" Cantor responded, raising his eyebrows openly and making eye-contact with the crew. 

"Anyone?... No?..." He enforced after several seconds of silence, a rhytmatic dripping from afar being the only sound. When none of the ponies objected to his idea, Cantor gave a strong nod and made his way over to the small opening - it was plain to see that it would be a squeeze, but he reasoned with himself that he just might make it.

As he positioned himself with his forehooves upon the rugged metallic edge, Faith took it upon herself to make a protest. "No, Cantor. Don't: this is a really bad idea." She stopped walking less than a few feet from the stallion's form, burning her concern into his eyes with her uneasy stare.

Cantor just shrugged and gave a brief laugh. "Well stick around." He said, rolling his shoulders around in their sockets. "I'm full of bad ideas." He gave a short hop before hauling himself into the vent, his front legs and most of his upper body making it through with the initial movement. Cantor was instantly faced with a mild breeze hitting his face. All chaos aside, he admitted to himself that the sensation of the cold air against his tires eyes felt somewhat relaxing. He began to shuffle forward after taking a brief moment to enjoy the 'fresh air', stopping only when his broad rump struck the edge of the square hole.

The alicorn didn't panic: he could still feel the semi - evidential  presence of the ponies behind him, and besides, it wasn't as if there was no way of getting out. He started dragging his hooves along the smooth metal in front of him whilst scrambling at the wall with his back hooves, knowing full well that there was no way in this world or his that would grant him access through the tiny opening. But this failed to stop him from persisting.

"You doin' okay, Cantor?" Came Red's voice, slightly muffled by Cantor's own body, yet still easily distinguishable towards the huge crimson horse.

Cantor was about to reply, when an ill, disembodied voice declared its presence within the alicorn's aching head.

"That's it..." The tormented introduction came; quiet, whispering, and almost seductive in nature. "Keep telling yourself it will all be fine... tell your friends you'll all survive..." The alicorn's brow furrowed as the voice continued. He attempted to pinpoint who it was that was doing the speaking. It sounded a little like himself, but in such a way that one would assume he was making a mockery of the tone an evil, demonic soul would use.

"Who are you?" Cantor asked, darting his eyes around in the blinding darkness, noticing his breathing becoming more rapid. "What's going on?"

The mysterious reply came back spiteful and in a word, venomous. "Oh, wouldn't you like to know?" It spat before Cantor was hastily dragged out of the ventilation shaft backwards by his hooves. He barely had time to point his forelegs downwards when his head popped back into the smooth red light. It was the first time it had occurred to Cantor, and at a time like this, it really shouldn't have, but the corridor held a similar hue to that of a darkroom, and was nearly dim enough to be classified as one.

When Cantor emerged, he was immediately met with an intrusive mare's grey face. "Who were you talking to?" Faith queried with raised eyebrows, getting so close to the alicorn that his head reeled back slightly.

Cantor was taken aback, and became somewhat protective over the abhorrent conscience. "Talk- No! I wasn't... talking to anyone..." He replied quickly with a nervous laugh, looking anywhere but Faith's persistent eyes. "A- after all... there's no one to talk to anyway... You... must be hearing things..." The stallion murmured under his breath.

The pegasus' wry frown transformed into a bright smile as she decided to taunt Cantor in a private attempt to bring nostalgia to this hellhole. "You really thought you could fit your fat ass through that gap?" She scorned with a provoking grin. "Maybe you shouldn't have made so many donuts on the way here, or at least hadn't eaten so many of them." 

Cantor took the remark as more hostile than banter, as was intended, but when the trim pegasus added insult to injury by firing a cocky wink his way. "Hey, I'm not fat!" The snow-coated pony protested, reddening around the cheeks all the same. "I'm just... large."

"Exactly." Faith chortled.

"No..." Cantor replied dryly, rolling his eyes in an exaggerated manner. "I mean I'm a big pony - in the sense that calling me fat would belike calling Red fat. Obviously Red isn't overweight, but he couldn't even fit his head in there, let alone his flank!" Shouted Cantor, scuffing his hoof defensively against the floor.

"Okay, alright..." Faith exhaled, her uneven smile desisting to fade from her face as she paced behind Cantor to the side of her big red friend, who failed to react any more than a tired sigh. Normally, Faith would have persisted in arguing with the alicorn, but a discrete concentration of sympathy crossed her conscience when she realised that Cantor no longer held the power that set him aside from regular ponies - not that that was necessarily a good thing, but whether or not anypony liked it, Cantor's magic was elusive enough to save the world, and every single one of its inhabitants. And that was nothing to be ashamed of.

Cantor admitted to himself that it was a little odd that the grey mare dropped the conversation then and there: usually she would have ridiculed the stallion as much as she could before growing bored and storming off in lieu of Cantor's own harsh points toward her dignity, regardless of what she said first. Whatever the reason, Cantor thought, he wasn't complaining.

"So," Faith began, pacing circles around the broken alicorn until she came to a stop in front of him. Everypony else watched her adamantly as she walked. "Got any more 'brilliant ideas' tucked up in that head of yours?"

Cantor focused on the destroyed ventilation grate, then turned his attention to his hooves in hope of coming up with another solution. In the midst of his thinking, he became more aware of the siren buzzing quietly from the neighbouring room and the feint blood trails he was standing on.

"Damnit!" He finally spat, sinking to his haunches and glaring furiously at the floor, his hopelessness surfacing as anger and frustration within his tone. He sat there in silence for a few moments, wracking his brain for a spurt of inspiration, finding nothing but blockades of foreboding in its place.

Titter's voice cut through the dense air like a knife, the innocent, fair sound somewhat of a treat following previous events. "Um... I could try..." She proposed, drawing all attention to her.

"What?" Cantor asked, looking up from his hooves to forge eye contact with the fifteen year old unicorn.

"I could try going through the vent; I'm a lot smaller than you..." She reasoned, turning to stare down the dark metal shaft, swallowing gently before turning back to the alicorn. "Oop, no offense." She added, her rosy cheeks invisible against the powerful red bulbs.

Cantor turned hastily from Titter to her rouge scarfed sibling, who wore a face that reflected trepidation. "I... I suppose it's worth a shot..." He said after a weak shrug.

"Oh, no. You're not crawling into there, sis." Flitter scorned, casting a disconcerting look her sister's way.

"But what choice do we have, Flit?" The purple-maned pony argued, returning her equal's stare. "Cantor's right: if we don't find a way out of here, we'll all starve."

Flitter began to stutter, slurring her speech as she attempted to find a way to reason with her slightly younger sibling. "B- but you... it's... you can't-"

"Sis," Titter began, tightening her neck scarf with her hoof as she spoke. "It's not like we have a lot of options. And besides, what's the worst that could happen?" She gave her twin a trustworthy wink, bearing an empowered smile of confidence as she did so.

...

A minute or so later, a long coil of rope had been wrapped around the mighty foreleg of Red, the black-maned earth pony acting like some kind of anchor for the safety of the young mare. The other end of the faded beige twine was securely tied around Titter's waist, double knotted so as to not run the risk of losing her in the duct (which just so happened to be no larger than the interior of a coffin).

She stood before the entrance to the venting system, trying to assert herself despite the obvious beads of sweat running down her forehead, not aiding with the fear as they trickled slowly down her face and perched on her lips. To say she was worried would be a fabrication - but perhaps a more fitting word would be 'petrified'. She didn't want to do this; Celestia knew she didn't, but she had no choice. It was either face her fears,

or die.

With a steadying breath, the blue-scarfed mare mounted the edge of the vent, tensing her lungs as she felt the cool air dry her perspiration.

"If you get any problems, Titter:" Cantor said, placing a hoof over her small shoulders. "Anything at all - even if you start to feel scared, just give us a shout and tug hard on the rope three times and we'll pull you out, okay?"

Titter nodded, her emerald-hued eyes reflecting responsibility as well as unrivalled dread.

Just as she was about to plunge into the horizontal abyss, Flitter interrupted with one last protest. "Wait!" She cried, holding out a trembling hoof to stabilize her sister. "Why do you have to go? Can't I crawl down there instead?"

"You could..." Titter replied, falsely rapping the tip of her hoof against her bottom lip, making a show of her comedic style of thinking. "But I've already called it."

Her cute and untainted chuckle became a metallic reverberation as she leapt into the ventilation shaft - only her knees in contact with the wall as her butt sailed through no problem.

Red twirled his arm around, reliving one loop from the tight coil if twine which was about an inch thick. It fell to the hard metal floor with 'donk' - obviously a lot heavier than everypony initially anticipated.

"You okay, Tit?" Flitter asked, chewing the seam of her neck-bandanna nervously.

"I'm fine." Came her reply. "Just a little nervous is all..." 

Cantor compromised with the older of the two twins in the form of considerate eyes. Despite being born mere seconds before Titter, Cantor could tell the elder of the two saw herself as such, and had taken it upon herself long ago to protect her little sister as best she could. Even though anypony small enough to fit through would have suited the job adequately, Flitter was still convinced that it should be her crawling along the cold metal on her knees, with nothing but an anaemic flashlight for sustenance.

"You can talk to us whenever you like, Sweetie." Faith called out, drawing odd looks from her one peer. "Just use your radio." The brash pegasus concluded her sentence with a strong nod, unseen to the only pony who should have seen it.

Titter replied with her own invisible nod of understanding. "Right. Got it." She answered, starting to make progress on crawling through the duct.

"What?" Faith whispered when catching a certain alicorn's questionable expression.

"'Sweetie'?" He asked, raising an eyebrow oddly towards the pegasus.

"Oh, it's a mare thing, Cantor." Faith answered as if it were obvious, rolling her eyes with a short smile. 

Seconds into the expedition, and the dull crackle of shortwave radio static filled everypony's ears and made them jump. Titter's low-quality reply came shortly after.

"Guys, can you hear me?"

"Yep, we hear you, Tit." Cantor replied, watching Red uncoil another line of rope from his mighty leg.

"Oh, good." Came the hissing reply, the lilac pony's relieved smile audible in her tone. "Just checking, is all!"

"Thanks." Said the white alicorn, nodding protectively in Flitter's general direction, who was still chewing her necktie with anticipation. "Keep us updated, okay?" 

"Okay."

"Cool. Over."

"Over and out."

During Titter's long decent, (or what seemed like a long time but could have theoretically been only about two or three minutes) the only audible sounds were the loud crack of the rope coils against the floor and an occasional bang or crash from inside the vent - which was usually followed by a comical "Ow." or "Oof.".

Suddenly, Titter's progress halted, and all indication of her existence disappeared; the hollow rumbling ceased, her intermittent grunts silenced, and the thick rope feeding into the darkness released some of its tightness and sagged against the floor.

The harsh burst of static made everypony tense a little as their ear pieces flared with white noise. The prone unicorn's stunted voice came through awkward and unclear, as if the signal were being jammed.

"Guy... I do... -f you... hear me... th... s... thing... -ocking th-... ent..." Titter's statement came, only fragments of her speech clear enough to understand - yet the ponies were fortunate to receive just enough to infer the mare's sentences.

"Titter?" Cantor asked hastily, trying to keep his voice calm before the fact that Titter was nearly isolated could attack his conscience train of thought. "I don't know if you can hear me, but you're braking up. Red's still got the rope, but if you go any further, you'll be on your own. Do you understand?" 

Silence. Not even radio static graced the captain's fears.

"Can you hear me, Titter?" He continued, the bedevilling peace the only sound that reached him. "If you feel scared, you can come back..."

The rope remained slack.

"...Tit?"

A young mare's agonised screaming ravaged the air, reverberating and amplifying off the sheet metal walls, forcing unnatural noises through the vibrating metal. Horrendous banging and crashing cascaded from the darkness, as if Titter was thrashing violently within the claustrophobic place. And by the sounds of things, she was really going some.

The rope slipped momentarily from Red's leg, but the massive crimson anchor managed to hold strong. The bone-chilling wails continued for a number of seconds, petrifying Cantor until he found the breath to order Red to haul the girl from her endeavour.

“Get her out of there, get her OUT!” Cantor ordered, eyes wild with panic.

However, as soon as the cherry-coated pony began twirling the bonds back around his muscular leg, calamity struck hard, and another - far more cryptic absence of noise made everyone's blood run ice cold.

Not even the dull alarm next door could surpass the cataclysmic silence as everyone held their breath, staring more intently than ever a the small square abyss as the quivering rope shortened the distance between Titter and her mortified sister.

"Why isn't she saying anything?" Flitter demanded, her tone laced with dread. "She should be screaming like before!" The unicorn insisted with abandon.

Cantor found that he had to lie, but surprised himself with how well he convinced even himself that everything was alright. "She's probably just in shock." He confirmed, agreeing with his own acquired hypothesis in the form of a confident nod. "She might have had a scare and feinted; nothing to worry about." He continued to nod his head, hoping that in doing so, he could will the future to show a little more lenience.

Ten seconds passed, then twenty, and all anypony could do was watch and pray for a sign of the young purple mare.

When suddenly, out of the darkness, a pair of legs emerged, and Flitter's heart exploded with relief and joy. "Oh, Tit! You're okay!" She exclaimed, rushing over to the opening to welcome her sibling safely back.

Flitter grabbed hold of the rope with both hooves, placing one over the other to remove her sister from that hellhole.

About four seconds of critical hauling on Flitter’s account passed before Titter's back half - and only her back half limply fell from the bloodied vent, landing heavily on the metal ground with a sick slap.

Flitter froze in time as a little of her sister's viscous blood flicked up from the ravaged flaps of skin around her ripped torso and peppered her face with warm droplets. Titter's digestive tract splayed itself out on the floor, pink guts and olive orbs of matter finding their place amongst themselves within their suddenly more spacious enclosure.

None of the ponies - not even Cloud who had encountered all mannerisms of injuries could have continued observing the lilac unicorn's organs spill out in a vile puddle around her mutilated half of a body, and found that she had to avert her eyes from the grotesque scene.

Cantor couldn't breathe - he literally could not find it in himself to inhale. He merely stood there, his legs protesting to keep him upright as Flitter's morbid screams of terror came through muffled and distant.

The only one of the pair alive sank to her knees in what appeared to be slow-motion - a pinnacle example of grief stricken across her face. One could easily see that Flitter had not fallen voluntarily - but that she had lost the will to live following the nefarious demise of her one and only sister. She landed on her side and vomited onto the floor, partly from the gore, but mostly because she could confirm to herself that she was for once in her life... alone. That thought knocked Flitter out cold, and her wails of mortality ended abruptly as she sank into the floor with a depleted wail.

Nopony dared speak - none of them dared even to look at each other from the sordid scene that befell them. Red was still holding the rope tied tightly around Titter's hindquarters, but the blood merged everything into one colour and shape. 

It was difficult to marvel at such a time, but several of the ponies were genuinely astounded that such a large length of intestines was inside just a single body. Of course, this observation quickly turned sour as one by one, all the ponies began to try and make headway as to what just happened, knowing all too well that it would not take half as long to theorise as it would to come to terms with it in relation to 'why'.

"She... She's dead." Cantor blatantly pointed out, tears of shock and pity brimming in his eyes.

"Damnit!" Grouched Faith, stamping her hooves and walking away from the heard. "This whole operation has gone from bad to total fucking shitstorm!" 

Red just continued to stare soullessly at the shredded mare, his emotions forcing a boiling, deadly concoction up from the depths of his compassionate soul. "I was gonna protect her..." He breathed, barely able to comprehend his own adopted failure. He shook his head slowly as he continued his frail monologue, arousing pitiful faces from the ponies around him. "She looked... so scared. I told her I'd not let any harm come to her, and now she..." He sobbed, sending two glistening tears down his cheeks. 

Cloud Nine attempted to place a hoof over his back, only reaching the lower proportion of his shoulder in the process as she rested her head on his arm and gently closed her eyes.

"Those... things..." Red seethed, his eyes becoming insane with anger. "They... They did this to you!" He bellowed, making Cloud skip away from his side and take refuge behind Cantor. The giant red equine snapped the rope from his foreleg and placed both hooves upon the heavy steel barricade. Standing bi-pedal, Red appeared the size of a polar bear, and his short cut mane and tail shone in the agitated light of the hall.

Suddenly, Red's fury exploded, and everypony found themselves scuttling backwards and into the rear wall as the beastly stallion began pounding at the great metal door. "I'll kill them! All of them! EVERY! LAST! ONE!" His hooves were like anvils; wrecking balls unleashing their ferocity into one single area with every hysterical word. Red backed away from the door, coming just short of Titter's mangled body and her unconscious sister before he galloped full charge into the blockade, burying his shoulder into the metalwork, making it bow around the middle and split around the edge.

"Holy shit!" Cantor exclaimed as Red backed away for another go, finally seeing the true power tucked away in that pony's immense muscles.

The brutal earth pony pumped himself up and gunned it for the door again, a ferocious battle cry escaping his lips as he neared his target.

Red sailed through this time, snapping the powerful hydraulics keeping the door in place and sending the six inch thick slab of metal soaring into the room, taking with it some of the aliens that had regrouped during the past half hour.

Faith scooped Flitter up and slung her over Cantor's back, taking care not to step in any of the dead unicorn's organs as she did so.

"Let's go!" She cried out, slapping Cantor on the shoulder before galloping after Red.

Instinctually, Cantor followed with the three other ponies in quick succession, racing out into the room to be confronted with gunfire from Faith. All the other ponies joined in too, the energy bursts from Cloud's laser rifle slicing a hole in the creatures' thick bodies and sealing it up with heat before they hit the ground. The brash succession of Haze and Deathwing's submachine guns dealt with large spans of the attacking aliens, making long lines of the creatures fall to their knees before they even got close.

Cantor, who was standing within a close circle of protection, couldn't do much, but whenever he had a clear shot past one of his pony comrades, he didn't let it slide, firing blindly into the darkness, killing two or maybe three of those things at a time, the muzzle flare from the guns giving him just enough light to see a couple of heads explode before somepony blocked his line of fire.

Red never stopped even once in his infuriated stampede through the hall, trampling aliens and sending them bouncing off of him like some kind of unstoppable freight train. He collided with the second locked door with unimaginable force, buckling this one as he had done the others. The barricade bent in half, but didn't quite break in lieu of the collision, but that didn't stop Red. He grasped the door at each end with his mighty hooves and tore hard, the sound of tortured metal only lasting for a brief time before it gave in and broke away.

Red used this newfound slack to whirl around and launch the destroyed barrier into the air, decimating a pair of demons mid-pounce.

Cantor heard the crashing, and just had enough time to scream "DUCK!" before he and his friends were decapitated by the flying hunk of steel. It screamed over the crew, skimming their ears until it came back into contact with the floor and cart wheeled into the opposing wall, embedding itself slightly into the metal when it struck.

The solo crimson juggernaut bellowed a second ferocious roar and stormed down the hallway, the lack of any and all light rendering his rage-fueled pursuit morbidly incessant. The red lights radiating from the beacon on the upper wall of the cavernous room was quickly consumed by the darkness, and pretty much instantly, Red was swinging his hooves blindly, through the air, striking numerous foes with bone-smashing force.

"HOLD YOUR FIRE!" Cantor screamed, the volume of his voice sending grating pain through his shredded throat.

The clangs of spent casings replaced the violent gunfire and the dying howls of the creatures as the action slowly descended from climax. The five conscious ponies in the room's breathing was noticeably heavy after the hefty confrontation, but they sought no rest as Faith had taken it upon herself to rush off and aid Red in his own fight.

The grey female reached into her saddlebag and drew out a clear plastic rod filled with liquid. She smashed it against the ground and the substance inside flared into bright orange life, casting a strong glow over the bloodstained flooring. She hurled the glowing orange stick down the hallway, bringing the image of the red leviathan fending off his attackers with unrelenting ferocity into view.

Red knocked one of the monsters onto its back, reared up and crushed its ribs with his tenacious hooves. Another replaced the fallen by leaping onto Redgrave's back and biting down hard on his withers. The stallion countered by rearing a second time, slamming his back into the wall behind him and shattering the freak's skeleton into shards. Red outstretched a blood soaked foreleg and launched himself from the wall, meeting with a third tormentor's face on the way across. Its black head burst open when the massive hoof slammed it into the solid corridor wall, and didn't stop until it struck metal.

The humungous pony scoured the ground for more 'victims', trampling the dead into pulp in the process, snorting and grunting like a wild animal, nostrils flared like tunnels and ears pinned to the back of his head. His eyes were frenzied with hatred like huge brown suns.

Then all of a sudden, like a malicious sugar rush, Red's fury dissipated from his mind, and he could finally see sense over sight, staring around in the warm orange light at the mess he had solely made, a little distressed, but in a strange sense, proud that he had destroyed the vile creatures that had stolen the life of one of his youngest, most innocent of friends. If he hadn't have looked at the unicorn twins in a similar fashion to that of his daughter, then maybe he wouldn't have reacted so... 'extravagantly'. He couldn't make heads or tails as to whether that would have been for the best. Regardless, here he was; there was no changing the past.

"Fuck, Red!" Faith exclaimed as she trotted to the stallion's company and spread her front legs, bowing her head low and panting as the adrenaline rush wore off. She looked up, a volume of blood making a path down her face from a gash above her eye as she finished. "Remind me not to piss you off!"


*****


The door opened up to a far more pleasantly lit area - the contents of which... not so pleasant. Inside what appeared to be a laboratory at a first glance, the six ponies (given the fact that Flitter was still out cold) noticed four large circular operating tables one flight of stairs down from the grid work metal catwalk they were stood upon now. A large machine sprouting many a cruel - looking tools was positioned a few metres above each of these bloodstained workbenches. Cables and canisters supplying power to the instruments rose up into the high corrugated ceiling where bright white fluorescent beams shone down over the scenario, making a macabre mockery of the clinical nature of such a place.

Off to the left, there seemed to be some kind of observation booth, with large floor to ceiling windows overlooking the entire area, imposing a sense of control and order. Holographic monitor screens glowing a pale blue seen through the pure glass door were suspended just in front of a control terminal running the length of the square room, shining a little of the azure light onto the forest green carpet below.

The smell of blood was still just as pungent, but compared to what they had just been through, the ponies sought no time to acknowledge the odour. The air tasted like a cocktail of fumes given off by a chemical accident - as if someone deemed it a good idea to have a roaring tire fire in the middle of the scientific hangar. 

Cantor poised to take a step downwards, but was stopped by a grey foreleg.

"We need a plan." Faith informed, frowning slightly through a subliminally caring expression.

The alicorn knocked her hoof away. "We had a plan." He retaliated with a heavy sigh. "But our ship's beyond repair."

"So what are you doing now?" The stone shaded pegasus asked, cocking an eyebrow inquisitively.

Cantor, beside himself for a moment, shot Faith a cocky wink. "Improvising." He returned. "My friends'll tell you I'm the best at that." He added with an off smile.

"Well just be careful: you and I both would hate to see another..." Her gaze drifted to the dozing unicorn draped over his back, an out of place picture of serenity etched onto her fair features. "...casualty."

The white pony's orange eyes grew sorrowful, and he turned to face the thin metal ground. "Yeah, I know..." He sighed darkly. "God... That poor girl..." He added, shaking his head disapprovingly.

"Hey," Faith called gently, bringing Cantor out of staring deeply at the floor. He slowly turned to face her with empty eyes. "It's not your fault; it's nopony's fault." She patted him on the neck softly, bearing a reassuring smile which seemed to restore a little of the stallion's spirits.

The sudden sound of shattering glass caught everypony off guard, and Cantor nearly threw Flitter off his back when he bucked instinctively in surprise. Every waking eye snapped towards the source of the sound, where they found Red standing atop a pile of glass where the transparent door to the observation room once stood, the only thing in his hoof, a petite plastic handle.

"Oops." Said the earth pony, the single word sounding far more like an apology than it should have done, and his innocent brown puppy-dog eyes weren't helping either.

Once inside the office-type structure, which happened to be by far the most unscathed of all the rooms so far, the ponies took note of how it seemed brand new - only looking about a couple of months old given the reassurance that it was kept in good condition while whatever this facility was had still been operational. Cantor crossed the room and cast an overseer's glance over the carnage. Numerous skeletal bodies lay broken and twisted throughout the scene, their blood staining everything within reach. Claw marks were seen across the walls and operating tables, and by the looks of things, whatever had been their cause had paid the dead their fair share too.

Did those monsters do this? Thought the alicorn quietly, frowning down over the massacre with a consultant, joyless expression.

Cantor felt as though he hadn't seen enough before Cloud's withheld voice pulled him away from the window. 

"Cantor?" She asked timidly, keeping a keen eye on the white stallion. 

"Yeah?" He answered back after a little pause, not averting his eyes from laboratory below.

The brown-maned pegasus turned towards her subject, considering her question before calling on the attention of the captain. "What do you suppose these dials mean?" Her voice was frail and brittle: not a huge contrast from her regular manner of speaking, but still, something was missing.

Cantor peered over his shoulder with pseudo-interested eyes, glancing at Flitter who had been 'positioned' against the wall shortly after entry. Cloud nosed in the direction of the illuminated panels, which were privately beeping away to themselves along the shoulder-high terminals.

"Not sure." The alicorn with the broken horn relayed, pacing over to the centre of the bank of consoles. "But by the looks of things, this appeared to be some kind of recording studio." His observations were met with a dumbfounded face worn by the magnolia mare.

"Recording studio?" She quizzed under her breath as Cantor began surveying the holographic screens.

"Hmmm..." The white pony mumbled, the sound hurting his ruined throat. He swallowed a sticky volume of saliva, which only made the grating sensation worse and made him realise that he was getting sick - something that had never happened to him since becoming equine.

All of the pale cyan boards were ablaze with odd symbols and letters - completely different to any Earth-language in that these monitors were scrolling through an alphabet of lines and different sized circles, completely incoherent to anything Cantor had ever seen before. Yet this did not deter him; he walked the length of the room once, silently surveying every square, symbol and sound being produced by the glowing blue monitors. Upon reaching the end wall, the white alicorn turned back around and found his way over to the only article of interest that had been discovered: a small box a little off from the centre of the computers flashing a vivid red, as if it were baying to had notice taken of it.

Cantor cast a second brief scan across the room, observing what everypony was doing, and it seemed as though he was not alone in his previous endeavour; almost everyone was staring down at the calamity below, aghast features fixated upon their faces, with the exception of Flitter - for obvious reasons. He returned to Cloud wearing an expression of earnest, hovering his hoof inches away from the control panel.

"Looks like someone left a message." He stated queerly, and in a tone a little too laid back for the current situation. Cantor pressed his hoof down onto the flashing red box - which was really more of a rich pink, resulting with a single, much larger display screen sparking into life just above the other holographic dials, nearly filling the entirety of the white wall above the bank of consoles.

The new presence came with two sharp, shrill beeps, attracting the attention of all the other crew members, stealing their gaze from outside to the number of symbols displayed over the fuzzy cyan screen.

"What's that?" Deathwing and Faith both asked in unison, meeting each other's eyes momentarily afterwards in an awkward tense of compromisation.

Cantor replied with nothing, but allowed the quaint display of dots chase each other around in a circle, as if it were the buffering screen for a video of sorts - and it was exactly that.

The pure blue screen crackled into a picture: some kind of humanoid creature with pale skin and large eyes wearing what appeared to be a lab coat. Behind him, one of the sinister black monsters which had plagued the ponies since their arrival seemed to be lying lifeless upon one of the operating tables seen in the other room, yet upon closer inspection, its chest was rising and falling very slowly, and the ribs were not even visible under the skin.

"Research log, number forty four." The pale creature spoke in a masculine voice, setting himself down on a white lab stool beside the operating table next to another of the white-skinned bipeds, who's chestnut hair was covered by a transparent shower cap. The creatures were nearly identical to that of humans - that was the second thing that made Cantor feel unsettled, but when they spoke the same language as him, he became very suspicious. 

The only differentiation between the human race and these frail-looking aliens was that their eyes, though still possessing a distinct pupil and iris, were very large in a 'regular' sized head: they might have been about the size of tennis balls, or at least something similar when viewed up-close. They had three digits on either hand, each being about four or five inches long with stout claw-like fingernails at the ends. The male being who had introduced the video wore a large pair of half moon glasses over the tip of his miniature nose, the arms disappearing behind his bald, round head.

Cantor took a step back with an abrupt gasp. "It's speaking English!" He yelled, catching a glimpse of Faith's disapproving expression. 

"What are you talking about?" The grey mare asked intensely, frowning across the room at the alicorn. "They're speaking Equous." She informed, shaking her head whilst maintaining a disgruntled face.

"Day, 0-7, month, 0-9, year, 30-73." The bald creature continued, speaking directly into the camera. All the ponies could only watch in bewildered silence. "Exposing subject to sample of rubidium olympathane solution compound six." Despite being of a much different race of sentient creatures, the wash of wild excitement that crossed his face shortly after speaking was unmistakeable. "This is the one we've been waiting for;" He enthused with a goofy, flat-toothed smile. "After years of research, we've finally made a breakthrough: with the introduction of the orderly structure of the olympathane molecule, we should be able to control and manipulate the test subjects via infer-red radiation, whilst still maintaining their unnaturally large strength."

Unnerved, Faith turned to face Cantor, but his eyes were fixated upon the screen, so she begrudgingly decided to continue watching the video.

After a moment was spent staring with hope-fuelled eyes directly into the camera's lens, disturbing some of the ponies to the extent where they took a step back. The male humanoid creature turned and pointed one of his three fingers towards something off-screen. A second later, a soft humming noise filled the air, and another slender creature, also wearing a long white lab coat waltzed onto the scene, presenting the first with two needles, one containing an opaque orange liquid, the other housing a clear, water-like substance. The bald scientist gave a brief nod of thanks to his partner before they walked off screen once again. It was unclear, given the similarities between the two, but from the well-rounded section of the other scientist's upper chest, it was safe to assume that she was a female.

The first white-coated being swivelled slowly around in the cushioned stool, squirting a tiny amount of the clear liquid out of it's respective syringe before inserting it into the side of the black animal's leg. A few seconds of silence passed, in which time the male biped discarded the empty needle onto a metal tray beside him and turned to the motionless black body in front of him. 

All of a sudden, the dark creature's head jolted up from the table, and it began to scream and writhe in protest, thrashing its hips around and smashing its head against the clean metal table surface, all the while struggling relentlessly against its bonds.

"Turn up that I.F output." Instructed the male calmly, never moving his huge eyes from the screeching demon even for a split second.

"More." He added, pointing upwards with his finger. The quiet humming turned into more of a loud buzzing. "More." The pale-skinned creature repeated, keeping his long, bony finger pointing straight up.

"It won't go any higher, doctor!" A voice off-camera cried out frantically.

"Make it go higher, then!" The 'doctor' barked through barred teeth.

The reply of the doctor's order came out even more distressed than previously. "Doctor Roskilde, I- I can't. It won't-"

"Use reserve power!" Roskilde shouted, gripping the edge of the table with great brutality.

The buzzing rose in pitch until it wasn't too dissimilar to that of a boiling kettle's whistle. It stayed like this for two or so seconds before the screen went black again and all sound except for the agonized screaming of the creature disappeared.

Within the next few seconds, the low, cumbersome tone of a generator whirring into life joined the monster's screeching howls and the lights came back on dimly, revealing a very flustered scientist.

"What happened?" The humanoid known as 'Roskilde' asked in a demanding tone, staring around at the other researchers who were gathered behind the camera. 

The voice of a young male replied. "You tripped the power, doc. We can't cope with that level of output."

A sour grimace found a home on Roskilde’s face, and he pounded a fist onto the table before darting around the edge and staring the restrained creature in the eyes. 

"Subject forty four, listen to my voice." He ordered clearly, obviously forcing himself to keep his cool. The black monster acted as though he wasn't there, and carried on thrashing about violently. All the while emitting its feral screams of anguish. Roskilde slapped the creature brutishly around the head, which still gave him the same disappointing result.

"Subject forty four! Can you hear me!?" He repeated loudly, and in a manner relatable to shouting. The black animal only continued to wail grievously.

When a brief moment had elapsed, the skinny pale life form plunged the syringe containing the viscous orange substance into the thrashing monster's chest and pressed down on the plunger. less than a second later, and the creature's desperate struggling ceased to exist. It just lay there, unmoving atop the chrome operating table, not even its respiration was visible amid the dim lighting and rich shadows.

Doctor Roskilde slowly paced around the corpse of his experiment, running his three fingered hand along the smooth metal surface as he neared the dead experiment's clawed feet. He met the clinical tray at the end of the table and sent it careering into the floor with a laboured grunt and a strong swipe of his hand. Several of the steel operation pans crashed onto the floor with shrill clangs, carrying with them the personification of the doctor's frustration.

Promptly, the female assistant scooted onto the scene whilst the medical dishes scuttled to a halt on the sturdy metal floor. She rushed to the infuriated doctor's side and ushered him back onto the white stool. 

"Doctor, calm down." She said gently, placing her hand on his white collar with care, only to have it shoved away by the sulking man in the lab coat.

"Just... don't, Elisa." He replied with a deep sigh, slumping over himself upon the short stool, letting his arms fall limply by his side. "It just frustrates me to no end when things don't go as planned." He sighed a second time and rested his elbow on the shiny table behind him. "Ten years..." He muttered, nodding his head steadily as his forehead wrinkled in concentration. "It will be ten years tomorrow that we started with this whole damn endeavor. Ten years and we've hardly made any progress at all..."

The doctor jerked his head towards the camera, startled, as if he had just remembered that it was on. He exhaled laboriously for a third time and spoke. "End recording."

The video cut off there, and the projected screen collapsed into a single line of white light that soon faded away until there was nothing left but the previous illuminated controls.

Everypony stood perfectly still for a moment. No one even looked away from the screen after the video ended. They simply allowed the confirmation of sentient life to mature enough in their brains before any one of them could find the sense to speak. Naturally, it was Cantor who shifted the silence.

"So..." He began, still rather unaware about how to approach the topic. "We're not the only civilized life forms out there, huh?" He stated, the comment seeming to bring the others out of their post-revolutionary trance.

"What were those things doing with the monsters?" Cloud Nine asked, her hooves rooted to the ground.

"Don't know." Admitted Cantor, shaking his head cluelessly. "Maybe they were trying to invent some kind of drug." He proposed, feeling that was the most plausible approach.

Faith excused herself from the room without a word, with Red plodding along in tow, offering the alicorn an 'I hope you think of something' look as he passed. 

Cantor dropped to his rump, then went one step further by lying down and resting his head on his forelegs, giving the wall a mile long stare.

The midnight purple eyed pegasus with the red and white saddlebags turned around on her spot on the floor, but daren't move any closer to the prone stallion. "Wh- what are you doing?" She asked, trying to establish whatever eye contact she could, but the battered alicorn gave her none.

"Thinking." He simply answered back, information racing back and forth in his mind.

A minute or so dragged on for what seemed like an hour before another soul disturbed the white pony's thoughts. 

"Anything yet?" Black Haze enquired, sounding for a moment like he cared a lot more than his character provided evidence for.

Cantor shook his head, and everyone let slip a private sigh.

"Actually..." Cantor started, raising his head from his forelegs whilst still focusing upon the wall. 

"Yes?" Haze encroached, taking the alicorn's thoughtful pause for more of a mental blockage.

"When we were coming in, I caught an areal glimpse of this whole place." Said the amber-eyed stallion, creating eye contact with the unicorn. "And it seemed to be the only thing for miles around. So you know what I think?"

"What?" All three ponies asked at once.

"I think those... things we saw injecting that creature aren't from this planet."

"What are you implying?" Deathwing enquired, his black feathered appendages stretched broadly outwards in front of his saddlebag straps.

Cantor rose to all fours, keeping an eerily accurate eye contact with the black pegasus' red eyes as he did so. "I'm guessing this planet was dead; didn't have any life, but was habitable." He explained, rolling his hoof over factually to asset his speech. "That's why we didn't wake up dead, EE1's life support was way more than fucked from the crash, so that's why we didn't die from suffocation. Now what I imagine happened was that those humanoid creatures built this whole facility as some kind of testing ground: a place to test chemical weapons or something. I mean... if their race was at war, what better place to hide your research than a deserted planet, right?"

"Interesting." Black Haze commented, stroking his chin and staring strongly at the floor. He turned his blood red eyes back up to Cantor's with a sombre look about himself. "What's your plan?"

"If the um... 'Inhabitants' set up a base here, then there'll probably be some kind of airport or landing site." Cantor relayed, growing used to the pain of talking. "There's bound to be some kind of spaceship or... emergency escape pod or something." He began nodding confidently, a self-assured smirk forming on his face. “If we can get hold of something like that..." He turned behind him, facing Cloud Nine, who was still standing perpendicular to the bank of holographic consoles. 

"...We may just have a way out of here..."


*****


As the team paced awkwardly down the brief flight of stairs, obviously built without consideration for four-legged creatures, the air grew colder, as if signifying the degree of death within this compound. Flitter was still asleep, her legs swaying limply either side of Cantor's body as he carried her. The five ponies cautiously navigated around the rotting corpses, but didn't shy away from examining them out of pure, sick curiosity. It seemed strange that a laboratory that, in its time, would have been maintained with the utmost care to make sure everything was pristine and uncontaminated had succumbed to such ghastly decay. But life, once again, had proved its imperative will to thrive, even if it had taken the form of flesh-consuming maggots and crazed killing machines.

The base of the expansive lab wore a plastic floor of white, painted red with blood. So much so, that little of the original laminated surface was actually visible beneath all the crimson liquid and piled up corpses. A second set of metal stairs rose up opposite the first, and backed out to an identical door in the same way the layout currently behind the ponies did, of course with the absence of a second observation booth.

Pre-occupied with an enticing poster of worker hygiene still remarkably in-tact and unscathed from the catastrophe, Cantor failed to notice the decaying corpse he was about to step on. The stallion's white, but ultimately blood-drenched hoof sunk straight through the body's cranium like it was a very mature pumpkin, making a soft 'pop' as some of the fermented blood bubbled to the surface around his limb. Cantor immediately ripped his hoof from the skull, shaking off the excess life juice and gelatinous pink flesh whilst holding his head as high as possible, trying his best to keep whatever food that was still in his stomach down.

"Eww..." He weakly said, blindly nudging the mutilated body out of sight before returning to look ahead, this time taking way more consideration in where he placed his legs.

"She doing okay, doc?" Faith enquired, the first thing she had said after she wordlessly exited the glass walled room in somewhat of a sulk.

Cantor stopped and allowed the medical pegasus to grasp the back of his pony cargo's right forehoof loosely, holding still for just a second before letting go with a satisfied nod.

"Heart rate's normal; she's fine." Cloud reported with empathy.

"Good." The other mare with the golden eyes replied with a stunted sigh of relief. "Then let's keep moving."

The ponies continued making progress until they had reached the metal steps within good time, the head of the party making a mountain out of climbing the flight of stairs with the added weight of a nearly full grown female pony upon his spine. Yet in the end, he reached the top and poised himself in front of the door leading out of the lab, a little apprehensive at first, but taking what little comfort was available in the knowledge that this part of the facility at least, had power. The other four equines converged around the vantage point, Red's great figure deeming the space on the shallow landing a little more than 'pokey'.

Cantor reached for the left side button on the entrance's simple control panel and nudged it gently with the tip of his hoof, rapidly moving on to press the central button which illuminated as he did so before the steel door it was in charge of opened up to reveal the shivering form of a relatable blue unicorn, his body pretty much unscathed apart from a nasty-looking puncture wound above his left flank.

"Blue!" Was the first astonished word to pass Cantor's lips. He went to raise his gun as a result of a very quickly adopted instinct, but his aim was knocked aside as the royal blue pony's spouse rushed past and threw her forelegs around his freezing cold neck.

Cloud Nine buried her muzzle into her stallion's shoulder and began to sob. "Oh, darling!" She whimpered with excitement. "I thought I'd never see you again!"

"Really?" Blue Bolt asked casually, giving Cantor a cold, icy stare over the pegasus' shoulder.

Cloud pulled herself around in front of her husband and looked him in the eye as best she could. "Darling?..." She asked, but the unicorn ignored her and kept his rich turquoise eyes fixated on the alicorn's.

Blue Bolt opened his mouth to speak, but it seemed like a long stretch of time before any sound came out. "Did it hurt?" He asked vaguely with an unnerving lack of emotion on his face and in his tone.

The white stallion's brow furrowed over his spiced amber eyes, and he twisted his body slightly in an effort to dispatch some of that grim stare he was receiving. 

"Did... what hurt?" Cantor asked, gazing inquisitively back at the sea blue pony.

"Your horn!" Blue cried out, pointing a hoof menacingly at Cantor's broken appendage. "I can tell from here that it has been snapped off rather than surgically removed." The doctor explained, failing to drop the uncomfortable look he held strong within his eyes. 

"Oh, um... Yeah, I guess..." Replied the luck - deprived alicorn awkwardly, going to touch his injury, but promptly deciding that doing so would not be one of his best ideas.

Blue Bolt's eyes grew wildly excited. "Oh, I bet it did." He whispered, nodding his head maniacally.

There was an excruciating pause before Cantor spoke; a time that was spent staring into the unicorn's shrunken aqua irises. "...Uh, so..." He finally began, scratching the back of his right hind leg. "How have you been surviving? I mean we've just fought through a room full of deadly animals and barely made it out alive, but you- oh..." Cantor's sentence fell and his head dropped dejectedly. He stared soullessly at the floor for a moment before continuing. "We um... We lost Titter. She... She's dead..."

The mad-eyed paramedic seemed to sink into himself, and allowed his wife to help him to stand, keeping one foreleg around her shoulders. "Oh." He murmured, joining Cantor in facing the floor. Faith eyed the unicorn on the alicorn's back and let out a deep sigh of pity for her comrade's sake. "I'm... so sorry to hear that.." Said the blue stallion with pinnacle empathy, peering up at the beige mare beside him for a sense of communion.

"It's okay." Cantor stated after a second grave bout of hush. "There was nothing anyone could do. I can't even use my magic; can't protect anyone like I should." He closed his eyes as a pair of crystalline tears glistened and fell down his cheeks. He shook his head and uttered a quiet "Sorry."

"Hey-" A creditable grey pony spoke, knocking his neck gently with a friendly hoof. "Don't be so hard on yourself; like you said, there was nothing anyone could do: it's notyour fault."

"Yeah, but I'm in charge!" Cantor argued in retaliation, stepping away from the group. "I'm the one who took responsibility over all of you from the start, I'm the one who's duty it was to make sure you all were unharmed and happy. Look-" He felt his nose sting, and he turned to face the wall to spare him the humiliation of crying in front of these ponies. "Look where we are now... Oh, who am I kidding? We'll never get home! I'll never even see my foal..." The captain sunk to the cold, damp floor below and buried his face in his forelegs, sobbing pathetically with the knowledge that life as he knew it would never be the same again, which given the contrast between the previous scenario and this one was a fate worse than death.

The worst part about it was not the fact that he knew he was going to die. It wasn't even as bad as knowing he had failed his friends. What hurt Cantor most, was that no one would ever even know what happened here - namely, one Twilight Sparkle of Ponyville and her foal which she would have to raise on her own, dreading the day when he or she asked that agonizing question: "Mommy? Where's Daddy?"

Time marched on, yet kept steady in its stride as every pain stricken sob coming from the emotionally decrepit alicorn sent the crew into a whole new level of hopelessness. For the first time, Cantor was the one losing his head. He couldn't even think straight over the sound of his own hurt-laced hiccups. Everypony traded melancholy expressions for the few minutes their 'leader' was releasing his upset, challenging one another by eye to come up with another solution. But alas, there were none - and even if there were, no one would have stepped forward. Even with their own survival at the front of their minds, not one of the ponies present had the blistering indecency to question a father's unreachable love for his unborn child that he was convinced he was never going to ever get to hold - not even once.

After what seemed like a long while, Cantor's anguished sobs subsided, and he found it within himself to get back up - with a newfound fortitude to protect re-kindled within his heart. He felt a unique strain of courage lift his spirits and picked up both his physical and mental form with a determined and acute sensation of leadership. And with purpouse, walked back around to face his audience.

"Sorry." He started off with, bowing in a mildly bashful fashion. "I felt hopeless for a moment, but I'm alright now. I'm sorry you all had to see that..." As it were, Cantor got straight down to business. "First things first: we need to find our way to like a hangar or some kind of airport. Secondly, we'll need to locate a means of piloting a craft if we manage to get there. And lastly, we've got to keep up a high moral - not like how I've just demonstrated. Keep your hope up and your guns loaded: if you run into any of those creatures - and I'm sure you will - give 'em everything they deserve."

A quiet mumble of agreement broke out amongst the group, who felt it in no way necessary to cheer, yet similarly feeling rejuvenated by their captain's swift recovery.

"Maybe we should split up." Faith suggested, stepping forward. "You know: find whatever it is we're looking for faster."

Cantor bid the pegasus a firm nod. "Good idea." He replied, receiving a coy smile from the blonde-maned mare. "Red, Faith, Cloud and you, Haze: you're on one team. Blue Bolt, Deathw-"

"Wait!" Cloud called out before Cantor could continue, silencing the alicorn. "Blue, I... We've only just met up and... well he is my husband and I, uh... You can't expect me to just leave him again!" Her voice was thick with worry, and she too sounded to be on the verge of tears. Knowing how degrading breaking down in front of a group could be, Cantor quickly intervened.

"Okay, alright." The white stallion gently replied, holding out his left hoof defensively. "Okay: Blue Bolt can swap places with Haze. He and Deathwing can come with me and Flitter." The two teams he had declared slowly formed at either side of the corridor, yet held their interest in what Cantor still had to say. He turned about and proceeded to pace down the short corridor, which was lit relatively well - much less than the previous white washed laboratory, yet it was bright enough to see where you were going in its shaded yellow glow. If one were to put the word 'cosy' to this most extreme of situations, the term would not be immediately shunned despite following in the dense shadow of death.

After passing through the wide landscape door at the other end of the hallway, the eight ponies found themselves standing in an oval-shaped room, blue lights behind dials and displays cast an ultraviolet light over the crew, dying the lighter coated ponies a similarly cool shade. Five tall lockers with thin ventilation slots near the top were positioned against one of the walls in the corner, whilst the corner itself was separated by a single sheet of glass. The wall to the left of the group's entry point bore only one feature: a wide door similar to the one they had just came through, painted a mint green that appeared to glow a luminous pink in the oddly serine lighting. Directly ahead of the ponies was another door leading deeper into the compound, however this one was already open fully, giving everyone a masterful look into the steamy area beyond, dreary brown lights illuminating the fog as it poured from the door in thin, wispy plumes.

Pipes scarred the walls in tidy, colour co-ordinated rows and disappeared into the ceiling and shiny black floor. A gentle hum was audible over the clopping of hooves as everyone grouped around in the centre of the room. Four long white coats hung loosely from simple pegs bolted to the wall above a stunted wooden bench that ran along the wall to the left of the lockers, and a pair of black plimsoll-type shoes were placed under the varnished seat with care.

"Right." Cantor started, addressing the heard, slowly growing unaware of the pony upon his hide. Everyone stopped looking around the well-kept room; highlighting the gleaming polished floor and listened to what the alicorn had to say. "Faith," He said, addressing the pegasus directly. "You take your group and head through that door on the left, I'll take mine and go through this door that's already open." He wavered a hoof behind him to the dully-lit room, which took on an appearance not too dissimilar to a sauna. "Do you still have the frequency?" 

Faith placed a hoof behind her ear and spoke. "Pretty sure I do, Cantor." She stated, her voice in stereo from the real thing and the slightly imperfect message coming through the speaker in everypony's ear-pieces.

Flitter was still wearing her ear-piece, and the sound of Faith's words coming loudly right beside her brain appeared to wake her from her slumber, and she began to stir atop her taxi's back.

The sensation of movement felt odd to Cantor, and he almost threw the young mare off of him when she grew restless. Regardless, the alicorn held still and waited for the unicorn to wake up on her own terms - as did everyone else; for no one was keen to remind her that her sister was dead.

The lavender pony, still fit with her red necktie, took about a minute to fully come round. And when she did, she sat up on Cantor's back and asked openly where she was.

"A little further into the compound, Flitter." Black Haze stated casually, not wanting to raise alarm to the girl just yet. "We were about to split up: Cantor thinks he might have a way out of here." He added with a cheery tone.

Flitter stayed silent in light of the remark and scanned the room, presumably unaware that she was riding the captain. But after all, who could argue that she wasn't looking for one pony in particular.

"Where's Titter?" The unicorn asked, her bright green eyes telling everyone that she already knew the truth.

Everypony's heads fell, but it wasn't too long before Faith looked back up with tender eyes. And unable to find any way of making the truth any less painful than it already was, she just adopted one of her primal features, and told it how it was. "Titter's dead, Flit."

The lonesome twin's emerald eyes shrunk a little, and she stared to all the ponies around her for reassurance. "N... No." She whimpered, tears brewing in her young, innocent eyes.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart, but... that's true." Cloud Nine backed up, holding her face up as straight as possible, though inside, she just wanted to say it wasn't so.

"B- b- but... she can't be- I... We promised we'd always be together, we’d always look out for each other." The heartbroken mare sobbed, loosing her balance on Cantor and falling off, not noticing the alicorn catch her and lay her gently on her side, where she lay perfectly still, yet desisting in crying and choking out anguished words. "She was my only sister, a- and I loved her. She can't be- No, please... don't leave. Don't leave me here, Tit!" The heartbroken unicorn cried out, coughing and spluttering out of an unbearable frustration, dry-heaving to the extent that she was nearly sick. "Please! I can't do this without you! Come back!... COME BACK!!!" Flitter screamed, lifting her head upwards and calling to the heavens, but when no reply came, she forced another tortured scream from her body. 

A second bleating howl tore through the air as Flitter buried her face in her forelegs and bit down hard on her flesh, barely making a dent in the pain currently shredding her mentality. She sawed her teeth backwards and forwards, tearing chunks of meat from her foreleg as she continued to wail in torturous frustration, unable to mask the agony in her heart. A fourth scream came, and then a fifth before Cantor pulled her head away from her badly bitten limb, blood, sweat and tears ruining her youthful face with her resent.

"Flitter, listen to me." Cantor spoke, holding the fifteen year old firmly by the cheeks, forcing her to look into his eyes, burning brightly with passionate condolence. "Listen. Your sister is dead. There's no changing that, but sitting here and screaming isn't going to get us out of here, and if none of us survive to tell everyone back home about how she selflessly risked her life and lost it to try and get us out of safety, she would have died in vain. Now I'm sorry to sound like I don’t care; believe me I do, but one thing you must understand is that Titter would have wanted you to be strong for her. I can't imagine what it would feel like if I lost my Twilight, but I know for a fact that she would want me to be brave about facing life. So once again, I'm sorry for your loss, but we can all make it out of here, and Titter's story will live on through our memories." He shook the stunned mare gently, who had silenced herself ever since he had begun speaking. "Do you understand, Flitter?"

She nodded, and Cantor let go. It was unbelievable that the young unicorn hadn't laid into Cantor for seemingly telling her off for getting distraught over loosing her sister. But there was something about the way he spoke; some underlying meaning in his words that allowed her to hear everything she needed to to carry on. Something in Cantor's eyes let Flitter know he was right: she needed to be strong for her sister. There was no doubt that the deceased lilac unicorn meant the world to her, but to end her life's short story with distress and upset would be an insult to her spirit, and instead, the departed filly would be laid to rest as long as she was remembered, not in greif, but as the hero she was, and to many, still is.

"I understand, Cantor." Flitter said, her voice a broken whisper as her tears started to dry up. "I'm sorry about-"

"Oh, don't be sorry." Canter intervened, clasping Flitter's small hoof tightly. "You have every right to be upset, but please remember that crying and screaming will make everything worse."

Flitter bowed her head a second time. "Yes." She simply said, surprising even Cantor by letting a meek smile form on her lips. "I see that now... Thank you." She leaned forward and pecked Cantor on the cheek before wrapping her forelegs around his neck in a tight embrace.

Their hug soon ended, though, and it was inevitably time to split up. Cantor helped Flitter to her hooves and informed her on what had happened while she was asleep, going into great detail on what the video with the odd human-like beings had entailed, answering whatever questions may have been raised. 

In good time, Flitter was up to date and raring to go, putting her sister's untimely demise on temporary hiatus for a spell whilst the success of her and her friend's survival was the greatest importance.

"So I'll call you if we see signs for an airport, then?" Faith relayed, looking across the room to Cantor as he and his four-pony group stood looking into their allocated route.

"Could do." The alicorn answered, dipping his head mockingly. "Can you read the signs?" He enquired, the sarcasm as thick as iron in his voice.

"Faith gave a similarly sarcastic laugh. "Oh, ha ha ha." She grumbled, narrowing her eyes at the white pony. "I'll call you if I see something that looks like a spaceship, then." She corrected herself, receiving a short giggle from Cantor.

"Yes, and I - you." He replied, turning to lead the way into the passage, stopping and calling out to Faith just before she went out of earshot.

"Yeah?" She asked, popping her head back around the edge of the wide opening and making eye contact with Cantor, frowning slightly out of confusion.

"Remember my 'official instructions'?" He asked with an irk grin.

The stone coloured mare returned his expression. "Sure do." She answered, cocking her gun intentionally loudly. "'Kill all sons a' bitches.'"


*****


Faith and company had been walking for some twenty minutes now, and given the fact that the group of four hadn't encountered any of the black monsters for the last third of an hour, one would expect them to feel a lot more at ease as time progressed. Wrong. In fact, the lack of feral activity chilled their bones, and speculations of those things watching their every move; planning their attack was soon the forefront of everypony's minds.

Faith lead the way, edging her nose around every corner before proceeding to make sure all was clear. Despite the comfort of a pony five times her weight walking along beside her, the grey mare couldn't set her mind aside from her imagination: she saw shadows moving, and dark objects darting around the next corner as soon as she spotted them. She tried telling herself again and again that these apparitions weren't real, but that thought failed to make the experience any less unnerving.

Keeping a face like a concrete book, Red's fear was unreadable only to himself: there were no signs of his unrest apart from a thick band of sweat continuously dribbling down his forehead. He, like the captain, wore a shotgun around his humungous foreleg, but his own body could theoretically be classed as a weapon in its own right, but the idea never seemed to cross the broad stallion's mind. With haste, Red kept his thoughts to himself and kept up with Faith, barely paying attention to the more complex of orders; making turning a corner somewhat of a routine where he would pause and wait for the blonde pegasus to do her thing, then continue leading the way. It never occurred to him that the lack of contact with the enemy was odd, but then again, this particular pony regularly had trouble picking up on conspicuous vibes.

Cloud Nine and her husband were idly chatting away as they walked. Not to say they weren't paying due attention, but it was clear that they were trying to set themselves aside from the gradually climbing tension. Cloud explained all that had happened up until he had been found, avoiding going into detail about the youngest pony's demise, still feeling awful that it had happened in the first place, despite knowing full well that there was no changing the damage that had already been done. Everyone knew Cantor's words had helped, but there was nothing he, or anyone else in the world could say or do to make her fully get over her loss.

Rounding the corner for the umpteenth time, Faith's group of four stepped out into an identical hallway to the one before. But that was to be expected; the only time the scenery changed to an extent that was respectively noticeable was when they came across a door or two, but even then, the difference in the architectural integrity of the building was minute. Occasionally, the team would come to a room where two or sometimes three doors would lead off in other directions, but this wasn't much of a problem as Faith would always lead on through the left-most passageway, regardless of what her gut instinct was telling her to do. The last thing she wanted was to get lost in here; separated from Cantor. Even if one of the other routes did lead to a spaceship of sorts, she wanted to get lost as a whole, rather than have just four ponies (granted one could account for three on his own) wandering around this deserted facility, getting picked off one-by-one until there was no one left.

The pegasus shivered at the thought and continued on her way, checking every open room for 'nasties' before trudging on. Despite its complexity: signposts, wires and switches dominating the walls and ceiling, the corridors themselves didn't have much to look at, with only three or four moderately-sized rooms sprouting off from the main walkway. A thin rectangular glass window which allowed a visual into each of the office-like rooms stretched out beside each door. The rooms seemed to be weakly lit by some kind of white-blue lighting that cast strong shadows from the thin plastic chairs scattered incautiously around the horseshoe-shaped table onto the thin navy carpet below.

The leading mare retained a heightened sense of wariness as she constructed the path to follow, checking the darkness hiding inside crevices for any and all sorts of potential threats.

"So," Faith started, keeping her voice a little quieter than usual, but speaking loudly enough to be heard by all. "...Um..." Her mind went blank; conversation was bleak at best, but she felt silence had ruled for too long.

After a quiet while, Cloud Nine piped up, her walking becoming more restless before she began so as to eliminate any awkwardness that would come from simply pearcing the silence. "Blue was just explaining to me what kind of damage Cantor had done to his horn." She looked to her husband, who was trailing behind her slightly.

"Oh?" Was Faith's inquisitive reply. She raised an eyebrow and half-looked over her shoulder to the cream mare. "He seems to have quite an interest in Cantor, doesn't he?"

Cloud held back on her response, but instead looked toward her spouse's blue-green eyes, which held a barely noticeable slither of maniacal worry.

"I- I- I- I..." Blue stuttered, casting his eyes to his chest before looking back up. "I'm just enthralled by the fact that he is an alicorn - not many of those around, I'll tell you that!" The blue pony joked.

Faith turned her head more to meet eyes with the mint-green maned stallion. "You know he doesn't really like ponies pointing out that he's... different, 'special', maybe." She explained, watching the doctor's enthusiastic eyes fall a little dim. "He told me he sometimes gets excluded for being like he is, and that he just wants to be treated like any other pony." The grey pegasus turned back around and watched where she was walking more carefully, a bored sigh passing her lips before she continued. "Frankly, I don't see what the big deal is. Cantor has wings and a horn- well, he used to have a horn - big deal! So he has stronger magic; I don't see you unicorns discriminating against each other for being more magically abled than others!" 

She felt herself beginning to get annoyed for her friend's sake, but quickly realised that she shouldn't really concern herself and decided to twist the subject. "So will Cantor ever be able to use magic again?" Enquired the gold-eyed mare with peaked interest, whatever the answer, she knew she couldn't do anything, and thus began to question her intuition - maybe she was just trying to create conversation.

Blue Bolt took a breath before answering. "Well our friend has severed his primary mana gland-"

"Equestrian please, doc." Faith intervened with a roll of her eyes.

"The part of a unicorn's horn that resides under the bony part." The green-maned stallion rephrased after a giggle.

"Primary gland?" The blonde pegasus asked, eyebrow raised in interest as she reached the next door and paused. "You mean there's more to using magic than just the horn?"

"Mmh..." Blue hummed with bemusement. "Unicorns have an extra organ that connects their heart to a part in their brain that intensifies neurone responses triggered by chemicals like serotonin, oxytocine and vasopressin: the chemicals associated with emotions like love and happiness." He turned to his wife and laughed, a small blush forming over his cheeks. "Call me sentimental but I think it's true what they say: friendship is magic, both spiritually and scientifically. As established, I know barely anything about how this cycle works for alicorns, but when a unicorn is in love, his or her magical ability can increase two, three, sometimes even ten times relative to what it would be if they were single."

Faith tilted her head and crossed her legs, using the sturdy metal wall to lean against. "But Cantor told me his marefriend's special talent was magic." She said with a frown. "Does that mean-"

"Oh, yes." The blue stallion answered before she could finish. "If she truly loves Cantor, she has the potential to become one of the most powerful unicorns in history."

"Huh..." Faith mused, her mind elsewhere, yet Blue snapped her from her idleness.

"Tell me: have they... mated?" He asked, throwing his head off-centre in a similar fashion to the pegasus'.

Faith turned her head back around, her golden eyes swimming in bewilderment. "Wh- I... Y- yeah." She answered with an ill frown. "Why would you ask that?"

"It is rather personal, dear." Cloud added with a disconcerting tone.

Blue Bolt's eyes seemed to light up under the shade of his pale green hair as he spoke. "I am assured you are aware that all ponies posses some kind of magical ability, but unicorns and especially alicorns even moreso." He cleared his throat into his hoof, glimpsing towards the bulky earth pony before carrying on. "When two ponies make love, uniquely unicorns, their secondary mana gland becomes... overwhelmingly powerful, and their magical potential is at its highest. You know..." The stallion began, gazing around his 'audience' with a lecturer's enthralled eyes. "I wouldn't be surprised if Cantor is more powerful than Celestia..."

Faith blew a raspberry and pawed dismissively at the air in front of her, rolling her eyes once again. "Yeah right!" She laughed, grinning widely. "That's ridiculous! Nopony's more powerful than Celestia! Hell, even her sister's probably twice as strong as Cantor!"

"I wouldn't be so certain." The unicorn stallion warned, making a point with his hoof in Faith's general direction. "You'd be astounded at the true power love can endow... 'Truly, there is no greater valliance than the secrets of the lover's behold.'..." He closed his eyes peacefully and nodded in private agreement to his statement, yet everypony else's reaction was more of a collection of misguided eye contact. 

"Starswirl said that." Blue Bolt continued, still staring at his eyelids. "And he knew magic better than pretty much anypony; has a whole wing at Canterlot library dedicated to his work, you know..."

After a few seconds of silence, which could have been deemed compulsory, Faith turned her mind and everyone else's back to the subject very much at hoof with the only word appropriate. "Anyway!" She began with a huff, limbering up her shoulders and rolling her wings in their sockets. "It's all very well and good discussing lovey-dovey matters with you, Brainbox, but I don't think that feelin' all sentimental is gonna help when I'm gettin' my ass chewed off by one of those creatures." Returning quickly to her usual state of mind, the brash pegasus turned around to face the control panel at the side of the door they all stood beside. "Let's just find a spaceship and get the hell out of here. I may not be Cantor's marefriend, but I trust him with my life - if there's anypony who can get us out of this, it's him." She smiled with confidence and opened up the door, which led on to a lengthy walkway, glass walls and ceilings giving a vast view of an impermeably massive room.

A great expanse of tarnished metal stretched out in front of the ponies as they stepped into the glass-walled room, pausing to take in the scenery. Shattered shells of what appeared to be spacecraft littered the gigantic floor below, the metal below each singed black with soot and stained a repulsive brown from oil. A second glass-walled catwalk was seen opposite the group of four's. Unsurprisingly, it was empty, and doubtless it had been that way since the monsters took over.

The roof above may as have not been there: only about two meters above the catwalk, the illumination coming from the intense floodlights poised against the rusted moss-green walls became overwhelmed by darkness.

All the ponies took in the trashed space vehicles, their hope of escape feeling threatened as each and every means of freedom lie as destroyed husks in untidy heaps before the mare in charge decided to re-evaluate the situation to some context.

"I'm calling Cantor." Faith relayed, drawing her hoof slowly to her ear, capturing everypony's attention although they stayed staring at the carnage with all but eager eyes.


*****


In a similar respect to Faith, Cantor had been leading his group for getting on twenty minutes now, yet the alicorn - led squadron had experienced a much less peaceful time. Not to say they were threatened beyond a few scars and bites, but nevertheless, the creatures which roamed these darkened halls had tried their luck against the four armed equines and did not fail on leaving the four several reminders of their scrap - despite being ultimately annihilated.

Black Haze and Deathwing walked side by side behind Cantor and Flitter, who were also traversing the corridors at each other's side. Opposed to Faith, Cantor had somehow wound up in a sort of maintenance deck: pipes, wires and huge whirring generators were the only items of scenery he had down here, aside from the odd door or two separating different types of the same machinery and boilers. 

An ambient steam-type substance was meandering around aimlessly just above the ponies heads, the odd reminder of its presence occurring when it obscured one of the harsh ceiling lights casting a dull yellow tinge over the bodies of the crew.

Cantor had barely spoken to the lilac mare to his left, but the two mercenaries behind him seemed to be chattering away quietly between themselves just fine. Every now and again, the alicorn thought he heard his name whispered. He wouldn't have cared so much, however the source of the voices did not always rise from the black ponies to the rear, but came from all around - almost as if there was something inside his own head trying to get his attention. Cantor merely shrugged the ill feelings off as anxiety: being in such a place would do that to even the most sound of minds was the thought he assured himself with.

"Uh- s- so um, Flitter..." Cantor started, avoiding looking towards the young girl, but diverting his attention from the path ahead. 

Flitter looked up at the stallion, but quickly drew her eyes back to the dim, musky corridor stretching out in front of her just as Cantor spoke again.

The white pony batted his ears uncomfortably before continuing. "You have any hobbies?" He asked, his tone verging on awkward.

The green-eyed pony turned back to him, quizzical. "Why would you ask me that?" She enquired, bewildered, if indeed sounding a little annoyed.

"Oh... no reason." Cantor quickly replied after catching the miniscule hint of hostility in her voice.

Flitter closed her eyes momentarily and took a long, deep inhale through her nose, remembering... home. "I like sailing." She simply answered, recapturing the white stallion's interest. "I used to live by the sea before I moved to Canterlot for this exploration thing..." A smile formed and proceded to grow on her face as she carried on. She remained looking forward, but it was clear her eyes were elsewhere. "Once or maybe twice a month, my mom, my dad, my sis and I would hire a yacht and sail around the islands close to our village..."

Cantor peered down at Flitter, but she had her eyes closed in remembrance. Yet this didn't stop him from looking away again. 

"The village itself wasn't particularly big - it had all the essentials: a post office, harbour, corner shop. You know, just a typical seaside town... Fresh air... the smell of fried chips down by the seafront and the squawk of the seagulls..." Flitter sighed again, opening her eyes and looking back up into Cantor's. The alicorn expected to see tears in the mare's pair of emerald peepers, but was surprised to see reformed peace. 

"Sounds like a nice place." He responded with a demure smile.

Flitter nodded briskly. "It is. I hope I get to go back there." She said, her voice drifting a little into the realms of despair.

"Hey," Cantor called softly, giving the purple-maned girl a trustworthy wink. "You will. You've just got to have hope." He shot Flitter a warm smile, and she returned with a hearty grin of her own.

"You can't do it..." A disembodied voice spoke out within Cantor's head, its tone devilish and tempting. The alicorn snapped his head around behind him, eyeing the two black stallions suspiciously, but they were seen conversing quietly as they had been, and were proven innocent when Cantor heard that off voice once again. "You can't get her home. You're a failure. Because of you, the children of loving parents are going to die."

"Can you hear that?" Cantor asked worriedly to Flitter, stopping dead in the passageway, causing Deathwing to crash into his rump.

"Hear what?" Flitter asked in a similar state of suspicion. "Are there more of those aliens?" She began to scour her surroundings, dashing her eyes between dark vents and particularly cloudy corners.

The voice continued to drill into Cantor's head, making him wince and clutch at his skull in pain. "How pathetic; you can't even keep your head in this place... and they call you leader? You're not a leader - you're a joke."

"Who are you?" Cantor shrieked, burning his eyes into every inch of darkness. "What do you want?"

"Exactly what you want..." The sinister narration replied, its tone flooded with a suppressed hatred. "Look at her." It ordered.

"Who?" Asked Cantor, still looking around, expecting to get at least a hint as to who was speaking; at the moment, it just sounded as if there were twenty ponies in a circle all around him speaking in perfect unison, completely disorientating the young stallion.

"The girl!" The voice seethed in response. Cantor snapped his focus to Flitter's concerned, and slightly frightened face. "Look at her smooth body, her firm flanks. Oh how easy it would be to overpower her." Cantor said nothing, just waited for whoever was playing this cruel mind trick to come clean. "You three stallions, and... her." The voice whispered sensually, making Cantor feel uneasy. Another wave of cringe worthy pain washed through the white pony's mind, making him clench his teeth together. However, the cruel voiceover continued on relentlessly. "And she's a virgin... What a treat." It let out a callous chuckle before returning to taunt Cantor. "Imagine how she'll scream. It would be bliss."

"Shut up!" Cantor finally cried out after hearing more than enough, shaking the voice violently from his head. "I don't know who you are, but I don't like your attitude. So just piss off and leave me alone!"  He stamped his hooves violently on the damp floor, the hard white cuffs making clinking sounds against the rusted metal.

Everypony exchanged confused and cautious looks while the white alicorn waited for a response, not knowing how to feel when no such reply came.

"Uhh, Cantor?" Flitter asked tentatively, stepping closer to the stallion despite feeling rather nervous in light of his outburst. "A- are you okay? You don't look so good..."

Cantor shook his head and scratched his shoulder roughly, bearing an unsettled laugh as he replied. "I'm fine!" He answered happily, turning slightly away from his group.

"Are you sure?" Black Haze asked apprehensively, eyeing Cantor coyly. "You were just talking to yourself. You're not losing it, are you?" He asked, discretely limbering up his right foreleg.

"I'm fine, Haze." Cantor answered brashly, turning about and following his head towards the rapidly approaching door, the iron surface of which had been attacked by rust. "But one thing's for sure: the sooner we get out of this place, the better... For all of us..."

Cantor opened the door and froze upon discovery of the next room's contents. A repercussion of the first few minutes of his expedition came back into mind as he stared down the hallway of black creatures, their spiny bodies clustered all over the walls like spiders. For a second or two, Cantor was petrified. However when none of the monsters seemed to react to the new presence stood at the entrance to their lair, he became a little more lenient.

For a brief time, Cantor stood there in breathless silence, waiting for something to happen - waiting for the dark animals to pounce. But they didn't. In fact, one would be right to assume that they were sleeping. However to this theory, another dilemma arose: If any sound were to be made, they could all awaken and unleash their fury. Cantor found it odd that the iron door hadn't woken them up in the first place. But then again, the doors throughout this facility made less noise than a sheet of paper being withdrawn from an envelope upon opening and closing, so no legitimate surprises there.

The captain gave a silent hoof signal to fall back, beginning to walk backwards himself, taking impeccable care with every millimeter he moved.

Now, despite Equestrian engineering’s advances in making highly technical in-ear walkie-talkies, their knowledge of masking the catastrophic volume of which one pony's voice came from the another’s speaker was extremely limited. And the next thing Cantor knew was the strident crackle of radio static followed promptly by a certain brash pegasus' full-mouthed voice.

"Cantor!" Came Faith's speech, giving rise to a flurry of angered hissing and snarls from within the corridor of deadly animals. "I think we've found something! Go back to where we split up and go through our door. Take every door leading off to the left and you'll get to us."

Cantor continued to back up with mortified eyes as the first few monsters emerged from their nest. All the while, Faith's suddenly irritating voice was filling his ears and the air around him.

When the grey mare had finally finished talking, Cantor instantly retaliated with a stern hoof upon his own earpiece. "Nice fucking timing, Faith!" He shouted, to which the closest creature leaped out with its many ferocious teeth presented in its gaping pink mouth.

Cantor reeled back and flared his wings, which seemed to make the sadistic monsters back away out of intimidation. But they soon found themselves and begun charging at the ponies. The alicorn raised his right foreleg and caught the first alien along the side of its torso with his shot. He just had enough time to scream "RUN!" before another two assaulted him, one biting onto his left wing near the tip and the other sinking its teeth into his shoulder.

He cried out in anguish, but the pair of assailants were quickly disposed of by several rounds from the two mercenaries’ machine guns. 

"Thanks." Cantor quickly said, shooting a creature point-blank in the head and scoring a collateral kill on one beside it as the buckshot peppered its ribs with hundreds of tiny meta pellets. "I owe you one."

Though the three ponies who were willing to end the heinous beasts and their fourth, rather timid companion had eradicated a smidgen of the threat, their siege was far from over, and from the looks of things, if they couldn't haul ass out of there before they needed to reload, they may never get out at all...
> Loss of Bitter Luck
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 9: Loss of Bitter Luck

"Well he seemed rather upset." Blue bolt proposed in light of Cantor's outburst as the sound of gunfire and shouting came loudly through everypony's earpieces, accompanied by the white alicorn's successive profanities.

"Crap." Faith muttered in pseudo-engaged retaliation.

Cloud Nine appeared horrified as she grasped the grey pegasus by her shoulder. "We've got to help them!" She cried, eyes wild with panic as the digital screaming grated away at her eardrum.

Faith just sighed nonchalantly, acting as if she couldn't care less. "Nah..." She said, turning away from the group and cutting Cantor off from her frequency, returning a silence to the room. However it appeared a broad ringing was still present in everypony's ears. "They'll be fine." Added the pegasus with an easy tone. "Cantor is more than capable. Besides, he's got two other soldiers with him."

"But how can you be sure?" Cloud insisted, bringing herself up close to the blonde-haired mare. "I know Cantor and the other two are... 'capable'..." She stated with a little hesitation. "But Flitter can't handle fighting like before on her own; making her own decisions - what if she-"

"They'll be fine..." Faith answered back, conviction buzzing about her entire form. The magnolia coloured pony took a petite step backwards - and she looked to be taking the younger pegasus' words into account. "You heard what Red told me: if we give up hope, there's no chance of us getting out of this. But if we believe we can, we might. That's what I'm gonna do: give Cantor his space; he'll get us out of here, I'm sure of it." She finished with a confident nod, but the other female pony was still not entirely convinced.

"But..." Cloud began, focusing on the tatty floor for a short while. "What if Cantor becomes unstable?"

Faith cocked her head. "Huh?" She asked, dumbfounded.

The pegasus' purple eyes were laced with foreboding as she explained. "When a unicorn suffers an injury to their horn - however mild it may be, they begin to turn... 'hostile' to the ponies around them and develop symptoms on the same line as... dementia..."

Faith's mind turned back to just under a month ago, when Celestia had informed her of the male alicorn's newfound tendency to become 'violent'. She hadn't really taken the precaution into consideration, but now it seemed, the celestial mare's warning had been more concrete than she had given it credit for.

"What sort of dementia?" Enquired the stone coated pegasus, her prying yellow eyes scanning the mare in front of her closely.

Cloud Nine's brow flexed with fright. "...The bad kind..." She replied with genuine fear.

Faith narrowed her eyes. "They're all bad."

The chestnut-maned pony drew her face up to Faith's - to the extent where they were nose-to-nose. "No, Faith." She said on a deadly serious note. "The worst kind."

The grey pegasus felt a harsh chill traverse the length of her spine before the strangely relieving sound of radio static snatched hers’ and everyone else's attention.

"I'm out!" Came the harsh alicorn voice, promptly followed by a succession of mutual agreements from a number of other sources. That was when the gunfire stopped and the pounding of hooves ensued. Quiet snarls and hissing could be heard through the speaker, but it seemed as though the other group's assailants were far enough away.

"Faith!" Cantor cried out, sounding slightly pressed for breath from the thunderous galloping. The grey mare's ears perked up when she heard her name called, and she took a breath to reply, but the luck-derived alicorn beat her to it. "We need to reload, I'm bringing the party to you!"

"WHAT!?" The pegasus yelled in astonishment. "How many are there!?" She asked in a panic - stricken voice.

"...Lots!" Was the reply neither she nor anyone wanted to hear. "I hope you're ready!"

Faith was momentarily at a loss for words, but her senses rapidly returned to her. "I- I'll see what I can do." She affirmed with an unseen nod of reassurance.

"Every door on the left?" Cantor asked.

"Correct." Faith answered firmly.

"Got it." The white stallion responded before giving a laboured, loathsome sigh. "This should be fun..."

The chaotic radio call ended abruptly, and it was soon noticed how monumentally quiet it was without a feral pursuit going on inside one's head.

Faith let out a groaning sigh; she knew something like this would have happened sooner or later. She turned to face her expectant group with chilled, thoughtful eyes. Everypony met her glance with their own imperfect imitation; ranging from slightly apprehensive to full out scared.

With a second disgruntled groan, the mare in charge gave out her orders in a kind of 'self-inflicted' superiority. ('Orders' being the inoperative assimilation.) "Get full mags in those weapons, guys: I think we're about to walk into a world of shit."


*****


Few times can ponies claim they had literally 'ran for their lives', yet Cantor and the three others around him could, during the past hour, say they had done. Twice. They bombarded down the hallways, the steady wisps of steam displacing around them as they set about their relentless gallop. 

The sounds of deep resonating clops emanating from the hard metal ground and resilient hooves overpowered the violent hissing baying up from behind. 

Cantor daren't look back - he could sense the heinous monsters' presence inches away from his form, feel their powerful jaws snapping at his tail as it whipped behind him in the dash.

The alicorn leader had taken the back of the pack: spurring on the others without the wish to put them in harm's way for his own safety. He was well aware of the fact that if he stumbled and fell just once on these slippery corners, it would all be over before he stopped tumbling. He took a sharp breath through his nose and held it, lowering his head as he belted through the corridors. Right now, Cantor was feeling decently relieved and resourceful about the decision to leave every door crossed open; saving time - saving lives.

Pipes, boiler systems and lengths of sheet metal radiating intense heat were all but a blur as the team of four whipped past them. For only about two minutes they ran - which, under regular circumstances wouldn't seem all too difficult, yet now they were pushing one-hundred and ten percent of their will to survive, two minutes of arduous galloping seemed like a marathon.

After the two minute mark, the head of the group, one lilac unicorn named Flitter, spied the ultraviolet - blue light washing out over the heavy, mustard-yellow floor, spurring her on to call out to the rear.

Cantor had seen the light way before the young mare, and before she could even begin to separate breathing air for speaking air, the white alicorn was already shouting over the din.

"Take the big door on the right!" He called out in his loudest possible tone. But amid the strenuous breathing and the previously thrashed voice, all Cantor could seem to do was reach a modest yell. "Then take every door leading off to the left! Keep going until you get to Faith!"

Flitter nodded in agreement, but the gesture went unnoticed in light of her furious gallop. She shot through the narrow opening and into the cool atmosphere of the locker room, nimbly scooting around and making a beeline for the passage the other half of the crew took, keeping in the mindset that she was making the pace for everyone else, and that if she were the one to fall, not only would she be dead, but her friends as well. She couldn't let that happen: failure was not an option. Rallied on by this notion, Flitter bowed her head, held her breath, and gunned it, shooting off down the first hallway and making a beeline for the next door.

After Deathwing and Black Haze had slipped through the doorway and darted off to the right, Cantor was soon to follow, allowing himself a half-second glance towards his pursuers. As it turned out, they were a lot further away than expected, but one could hardly call the separation 'comfortable'. Bursting back into the blue-shifted storage room, he caught himself on the doorframe with his left foreleg. In one swift motion, the rust-maned stallion whirled around and mashed his hoof into the control panel on the right of the door, noticing it begin to close just before he sprung back into action.

Cantor performed a swift three-sixty as he passed through Faith's vantage point, seeing how the door was holding the creatures back to an extent: one was trapped under the crushing door, and the others before it were pushing it back up into the wall as they tried to force their way under.

"Good." Thought Cantor as he made a dash for the open door on the left, making good progress in catching up with the two black ponies who had already built up quite a distance between their comrade. "That'll give us another five or six seconds at least."

He took another lungful of air and bolted forward, his only motive within this wretched world now taking the form of survival as a bray of infuriated wails echoed through the halls from behind.


*****


Faith, who stood in the middle of the glass-walled hallway, was darting her head back and forth; Cantor could come from either end of the corridor, and wherever he was, so was the danger.

Cool beads of sweat were seen matting her mane to her forehead and neck, making it seem as though she had been unfortunately caught in the rain. Of the two situations, anyone in their right mind would rather get drenched, than endure this bloodbath, and the grey pegasus was no exception.

She eased her shoulders down low whilst stretching her forelegs out in front, feeling right in assuming that running would soon prove to be an inevitability. She flapped her wings harshly a few times as well, realising only now that they hadn't seen enough action recently based on the stiff, unoiled sensation they caused in her back.

Rapidly, the sound of hooves clopping upon metal grew from the dense silence, and equally as quickly, a young lilac mare was seen galloping hard along the hallway with her eyes screwed shut and her straight mane whipping in front of her eyes.

"Flitter!" Yelled Faith, standing up quickly and trotting towards the sprinting unicorn.

The deep purple-maned mare looked up, and slammed on the brakes all too late, barely making a point of stopping before she collided with a doubtful Faith. The pair tumbled to the floor in a flurry of pained grunts and "Sorry's". And before the two could even recall their orientation, a couple of black ponies with blood red eyes accompanied by a scratched and bitten 'white' alicorn were seen bolting down the catwalk.

This time, Faith desisted in approaching the oncoming traffic and merely held her ground, waiting for the trio to come to her at the risk of another head-on.

Haze and Death shot past her and came to a halt just behind the group, dipping their heads and breathing with much emphasis. Cantor just managed to lock up his hooves in time to stop a little in front of the cautious grey pony, giving her a look of joyful reunion before falling to one knee and beginning to pant.

Cantor's limbs were burning, but Faith relished in the chance to make a sly remark. "Ready for retirement, are we?" She jeered, seconds before having her attention consumed by the beastly cries of the monsters currently filling the room at the far end. They cascaded from the doorway like soldiers, a little slower than they normally would advance. Either they were tired out from the chase, or they were playing some kind of trick. Whichever reality, nopony was desperate to wait around to find out.

Once again, like an inner demon, that ghastly voice re-established itself inside Cantor's brain. "Bad guys gotta eat too." It stated, arousing an aggravated growl from the alicorn.

"Damn it!" Shouted the white stallion. Despite being stood directly next to her, Faith, nor anypony else seemed to register the outburst. "Just what do you want? Why do you keep haunting me!?" Cantor's fiery orange eyes were fixed upon the slowly approaching enemies, but his attention was tilted solely towards the foreign entity echoing in his mind.

"Listen to me, Cantor..." It began in a 'warm' tone, by far the most unsettling variation as far as its host was concerned.

Faith was tugging on Cantor's shoulder, pulling him slowly backwards towards the exit, where everyone but herself and Red were looking onto the scene with intense stares. "Come on! Come on! We've got to go, Cantor!" The grey mare pleaded, but the stallion she was dragging did little more than glare into the faces of the encroaching beasts.

"You and I are like two sides of the same coin, Cantor." The voice continued, snaring the alicorn's attention like a fish on a hook. "The only thing that matters... is which way the coin lies..." 

The rusty-maned stallion's frown slackened a little in curiosity. "What are you saying?" He asked.

"What!?" Faith cried out in exasperation, nearly yanking her captain's foreleg out of its socket by now. "Are you talking to yourself again!?" She began to wrench his body back and forth, as if he were up to his knees in mud. Red had already bolted from the scene to make sure everyone else was doing okay; he knew Faith could handle things on her own, though now he wasn't so sure.

Everypony had cleared off once the horde of monsters was in sight: to attempt to deal with them would be to toss ammo out the window, however the Faith and Cantor seemed to be getting themselves into a spot of unnecessary bother.

By now the creatures were just several metres from the pair of winged ponies, and no less than twenty seconds away. Yet Cantor's twisted conscience desisted in quietening down. "I can help you get out of this... All you have to do... is accept my presence in your body..."

Faith continued to pull. "Come on, let's move!" She groaned, panic rapidly consuming her voice.

"I... I don't know..." Cantor replied, shaking his head which was currently swimming with speculation and doubt. "What are you?"

"Please, Cantor! I'm not leaving you!"

"Just say it."

The black monsters were drawing closer. Their feral cries chilling the tight air.

By this time, tears were beginning to stream down the grey pegasus' face. "Cantor, they'll kill us! Please... Run!" 

The threatening voice continued to insist relentlessly. "Do it! Ask!"

Faith continued to beg.

Cantor shook his head and shut his eyes tight in a grimace. "I can't- I know what you want."

"I don't want to leave you! Come on! Let's go! I don't want to DIE!"

"Set me free!"

"ENOUGH!" Screamed the alicorn in a hellish tone, spinning round and knocking Faith violently to the ground. The blonde mare merely peered up at Cantor, her own horrified reflection clearly visible in the darkness that dominated the entirety of her friend's eyes. "Fine! Help me!" He added with vile force.

Faith scrambled to her hooves, but remained frozen stiff in light of the new form Cantor had taken - his lustrous amber eyes were totally consumed by a glossy jet black, radiating a darkness that spoke in death’s place. His teeth had sharpened into a tidy assortment of interlocking daggers and his mane was a billowing cascade of fire all around his body - like some sort of fearsome safeguard.

"Run, Faith." The alicorn just managed to choke out in a voice nothing like his own.

The grey mare darted her eyes toward the approaching aliens: they were mere seconds from Cantor, but strangely, she sought ten times the horror within the pony directly in front of her, than in the many fearsome creatures behind.

"What the hell are you?..." She asked, a harsh tone of resent in her voice. She turned around and bolted away as quickly as possible, unsure as to what exactly she was running from - the initial nature and form of the enemy now seemed unclear.

Cantor fell to one knee as unspeakable power surged through his bones. The first wave of monsters leapt upon his back and began gouging at his rump with their treacherous claws. 

The alicorn's last sight was that of the young pegasus dashing away from him, which deep down was what he knew he wanted, but for some reason, couldn't seem fit to want to accept. His vision was hastily obscured by the spindly black creatures, their sleek bodies covering him like some kind of grotesque web.

"If I am to die..." He seethed with that evil, demonic tone, staring through the scorching pain with his infinite glare. "Let there be fire."

Faith couldn't have reached the safety of her friends any faster. As soon as she traversed the open door, she rushed to press the button to seal it again, hiding the swelling mass of monsters currently eating who she assumed to be Cantor.

She dropped silently to her flank and cursed several times under her heavy, shaking breath.

Flitter kneeled down to attempt eye contact with the resentful grey pony. However the lilac unicorn's kind emerald eyes failed to see through the anguished tears.

"You..." Flitter started, welling up herself. "You couldn't get him to move..." She stated, blinking away some of the heartfelt tears. "...He's dead."

The bereaved hush of the room was explicitly torn apart by Cantor's arduous scream. It sounded as though he were trying to rip apart the world with his bare hooves. 

Instantaneously, there was a great explosion from the other side of the tick metal door, and Flitter jumped out of her skin and scooted away. She didn't stop shuffling backwards until she struck the back wall, where she proceeded to curl up into a foetus and cover her ears from the tortured sound.

It was as if the burner from a hot air balloon was burning in the middle of the room; the sound of pressurised flame infiltrated everypony's ears and forced them to seek out the source.

No sooner had they turned to face each other's clueless expressions to try and make some kind of sense with themselves, another article featured itself before their eyes. The broad iron door Faith had passed through alone began to glow a dim red, yet quickly came to glow a bright orange. The grey pegasus who was still moping on her haunches found that she had to scurry away from the blazing piece of metal before her mane caught fire.

The air around the brightly glowing entrance became unsettled, and looked as if there were some kind of gaseous forcefeild in front of it. 

This scene played on for an extended number of seconds before the separated stallion's unholy bellows cut off harshly, filling the room with another tense wash of silence. Privately deciding against talking, everypony just stood perfectly still, waiting for something to happen - anticipating some kind of lethal explosion to come and shatter their skeletons.

They held their breaths, and waited. Flitter slowly uncurled from her terrified spot against the wall, lifting her hooves from over her ears as she started peering around the deathly still area.

For a long time it seemed they waited, but in reality, it was probably only several seconds. Either way, the cumbersome iron door began to lose its glow, until it was nothing but a slab of scorching hot metal steaming slightly in the damp light.

Gingerly, Faith took it upon herself to approach the door. If not for curiosity's sake, then to find out what fate had befallen her friend. With her hoof slightly shaking, she reached out and made contact with the switch on the wall, not expecting it to respond at all after its burning session. Regardless, the large iron entrance slid up into the wall cavity with no problems except a fair screech of metal  

Everypony else in the room gathered around the grey mare as the door opened up, staring down the hallway, which was now blackened and scorched. The glass walls and ceilings were scarred with oily yellow streaks poking out from the breaks on the flaking charred surface. Bodies of the creatures lay lifeless all over the ground, their flesh bubbling and melting from their bones. Some were even set alight with flame. It appeared as though this hallway had been utilised as an incinerator, with a certain white alicorn acting as the source of heat.

"Cantor!" Cloud Nine cried out as soon as she saw the lone stallion standing some distance away down the passage, his body was turned away and surrounded by vivid flames.  "You're on fire!" She exclaimed with fright.

The alicorn angrily snorted a burst of fire from his nostrils. "No I'm not." He muttered harshly as the flaming mane billowing around his form lost its heat and fell to his body in the usual unkempt bangs.

Faith rushed towards Cantor, promptly followed by everyone else as they made a point of avoiding the smouldering bodies. The smell of charred skin was powerful in the air, but was not entirely disregarded as 'unpleasant'. She stopped just before reaching the stallion, apprehensive to go any closer than she was right now in response to his previous actions.

Without sounding too fearful, the blonde-maned pegasus leaned slightly toward Cantor in an effort to see his face as he stared intently off in the opposite direction. "Cantor?... A- are you... okay?" She asked softly, not too keen on the idea of being incinerated herself.

Cantor's knees bowed out from under him and he stumbled into the wall to keep himself from falling over. After a moment of heavy breathing and laboured swallows, the tired out alicorn managed to bring himself to turn around, facing his friends with his tired orange eyes."...What... What happened?" He asked between breaths, eyeing Faith for an explanation.

The grey coated pony gulped loudly and helped Cantor to stand on his own before replying, an impressed grin upon her face. "I think you just cooked every ugly fucker chasing you." She stated before giving a curt laugh and turning to face Blue Bolt, who was absently eyeing Cantor with lust. "Hey, Blue?" She asked, post-traumatic stress surfacing as humour and excitement in her tone. "What was that you said about Cantor being more powerful than Celestia?"


*****


"So what you're saying is... you're some kind of 'evil being'?" Asked Faith with reluctance, making a forceless point with her hoof in the direction of Cantor.

The alicorn shook his head. "No." He answered. "Every powerful unicorn and alicorn has a hidden dark side that they can't always control." He yelped as a sharp pain stung the back of his head as Cloud Nine applied disinfectant to a harsh cut behind his ear.

"Sorry." The cream mare apologised tenderly for the umpteenth time during the past twenty minutes, growing a little tiresome of the stallion's unchanging reaction as she treated his many cuts and scrapes over his body. But she didn't feel much like complaining: she had treated patients with far less severe injuries than this who had made more fuss. And besides, she was nearly done.

Cantor turned his eyes back to Faith, glancing at Red who was sat on his haunches beside her, still nearly twice as tall, despite. "Remember what I told you about Nightmare Moon?" He asked, shuffling uncomfortably upon his bandaged flank.

"Yes..." Faith replied slowly whilst nodding. 

"How she wasn't strictly princess Luna, but an emanation of her envy and hatred?" The 'lecturer' enquired, raising a comprehensive eyebrow.

"Yes..." The grey mare repeated herself.

"Well that's kind of like me:" Cantor elaborated, scratching the back of his head. "But I don't have much of a reason for being like that. I just get angry and... well..." He sighed and turned to face the floor. "Well you've seen first hoof what happens when I... change."

Faith joined Cantor in assessing the floor, her face contorted in heavy focus. Meanwhile, everypony else seemed to be doing their own thing: Black Haze and his comrade, as always, were talking quietly with each other. Nopony had every really paid any attention to exactly what the contents of their conversations withheld - nopony really wanted to: the pair were entitled to their privacy as everyone else was, yet for some, it struck an odd chord that they barely seemed to socialise outside of their own little duo.

Red and Flitter were positioning their eyes two and from Cantor and Faith as if they were watching a tennis match: becoming enthralled by whoever happened to be speaking at the time whilst seeking opportunities to add their own input to the conversation. 

As if there were ever any doubt, Cantor's stories of his darker side kept everyone hooked, yet he neglected to go into detail over the incident with Pinkie Pie a long time ago. Even after all these years, the teenage alicorn had never forgiven himself for turning on his best friend even when all of the Elements of Harmony, including Pinkie herself, had almost entirely forgotten about the whole thing. Cantor knew that the day he hurt Pinkie: how he had felt, would be a sensation he would take to the grave, regardless of anyone else's uplifting input.

Cloud Nine and her husband had been vaguely listening to Cantor's recollection as they fixed their teammates up with bandages and iodine, failing to raise any questions or statements like their other friends did. Cloud had a vague memory of the white alicorn injuring his forehead in the crash that triggered this hellish endeavour; that it had healed within hours of the event, yet now, all the lacerations, bruises and scrapes Cantor had suffered since then had not even begun to show any signs of getting better like the scar above his eye had. Maybe it had something to do with loosing his horn, as if his miraculous cell re-growth had something to do with his magic. She decided in the end that this wasn't a particularly vital topic to converse over, and merely returned her attention to wrapping bandages around the crew's battered bodies.

Blue Bolt kept giving Cantor edgy looks. The young stallion came to the conclusion that the limited lighting was to blame for the misinterpreted glances, yet that didn't stop the blue unicorn's burdensome smiles from unsettling him any less.

The room they were in, was dark. Dark and damp. Cantor had made the quick assumption that they were in  some sort of goods transit line given the soggy cardboard boxes piled from floor to ceiling on nearly all the walls and the many unreadable signposts which were poised on every piece of wall not obscured by a sodden container. The air felt extremely wet, as if there were a light mist floating about the place, dampening everyone's fur and tickling their noses with humid moisture. 

Above the entrance where the ponies had come from, there sat a single light that highlighted each individual speck of vapour in perfect clarity as the non-existent air currents chased them about the place. Whether the light was intended to be yellow or otherwise, it would have made little difference over the intense atmosphere the inhabitants of this room were locked in, though it did add an element of 'cosiness' to such an alternatively sinister load-out.

Faith gradually came to a decision on where she stood on such an issue, lifting her head slowly with meaningful eyes. "I honestly don't think it's a problem." She affirmed, arousing Cantor's attention from the floor. "Think about it." She continued using her light hearted tone. "All of us get angry and lose our temper sometimes... Sometimes even towards the ponies we care about. But that doesn't mean we can't be forgiven." A warm smile found a home on her face, and the alicorn sat opposite her couldn't help himself not to return the grin.

The grey pegasus chuckled and shot Cantor a friendly wink. "Besides, blowing your fuse saved your ass!" She laughed, and a few other ponies chuckled along. "Come on, Cantor..." The mare sighed, her humorous smile falling into a far more heartfelt one. "Ain't it clear that everypony forgives you? If you can't forgive yourself, then what's the point of saying sorry in the first place? Everyone makes mistakes, but self-loathing isn't going to make anything better, so face the world like a stallion and stop pitying your damn self."

The subject of Faith's motivational speech gave an impressed snort. "Wow, Faith..." He said joyfully. "I didn't know you were so philosophical."

The blonde pegasus' cheeks flushed a feint rose and she turned away. "...Yeah, well..." She spoke after a while of trying to find something to respond with. "When you have to hang around a sentimental pony like you all the time, something's bound to rub off." She jostled, sharing a private laugh with the alicorn before rising to her hooves, promptly followed by a somewhat rejuvenated Cantor.

"Welp-" Started Cantor, stretching his wings broadly, fond of the slightly warm bandages wrapped around much of his rump and back. "No time like the present." He finished, waiting for everypony else to stand up and familiarise themselves with their legs after their short break before setting off for the door placed out of the way at the back of the room, a small green LED blinking slowly in the top right-hoof corner.

"Oh, yes..." The enthusiastic as ever Faith commented with a sarcastic element as the group made their way into the next chapter of their journey. "I can't wait to get back into this shit..."


*****


"I just don't understand how all this could have happened." Stated Black Haze from the rear of the group as they stepped out onto the expansive platform harbouring the many shells of spacecraft. Though some of the ships seemed in perfect condition compared to the other husks around them, closer inspection revealed that they had been torched inside, and all the dials in what may have been the cockpits were charred and melted.

There was a stiff chill in the air, as well as a strong smell of petroleum. Not that anypony other than Cantor could identify the odour as such. It reminded him of Earth; brought back memories of the wars fought over the unquenchable thirst for oil that had claimed so many good lives. But the present was far past the luxury of remembrance, and the beaten up alicorn found himself scanning the scenery in an effort to establish where to go next.

The floor appeared to have a copper tarnish-type colour to it. Whether this was due to the dusky lights that seemed to take dominance over the facility hanging some distance above, or if the floor was indeed this brown-yellow tinge of metal to begin with, Cantor didn't know, however he found himself strangely attracted to the hue, and found it rather quaint how the scaffold lights reflected off the shiny surface, highlighting the minute radial scratches across the surface where it had been polished with an imperfect buffing machine. It was somewhat slippery to walk on, but with half a mind's concentration, it wasn't that much of a big deal.

The group reached the centre of the hangar, or at least what could be regarded as such, given the scarcity of spaceship carcasses at this particular clearing, and stopped. Cantor took in a detailed eyeful of his setting. There were arrows and lines of various colours painted onto the tarnished yellow floor, signifying some kind of runway towards a darkened patch of the room. An enormous door with yellow and black hazard lines painted across the middle rose up at the shadowed end, massive white symbols painted across its surface neatly and clearly. One of the spotlights nearer the left of the gigantic entrance was malfunctioning, spluttering the powerful cone of light erratically onto the metal gate's surface.

Cantor intensified his stare upon the sporadic beam of light, intrigued by its imperfection. In one brief moment, the edgy alicorn could have sworn he'd seen the silhouette of an abnormally tall skeletal figure projected onto the wall whilst the spotlight strobed unpredictably. His amber eyes widened in trauma, yet before he could say or do anything, the tall black shadow disappeared, and the flickering light returned to its sporadic and uninterrupted flashing.

The now unsettled alicorn shook his head, once again trying to clear the sordid images from his mind before addressing the party, beginning his sentiment with a disgruntled sigh. "Well, it doesn't seem like any of these are going to fly..." He said without heart, gesturing to the useless piles of 'scrap metal'. "What now?"

Cloud was on the ball, and almost instantly piped up. "Maybe there's more: like... emergency escape pods, or... some sort of backup spacecraft or something." She suggested passionately, yet sunk after identifying the heavily thoughtful face Cantor was wearing.

The alicorn gently nodded. "Possibly." He affirmed. "It's a good idea; what do we have to lose?"

"Our lives." Flitter answered bleakly, turning away when Cantor's eyes met hers. 

The scarred alicorn, now looking much cleaner as the bandages had covered much of the bloody wounds, slowly paced over to the adolescent mare and delicately turned her face to his. After a long while's tender silence, Flitter's bright green eyes held forlorn tears, yet the sight failed to stir the focused stallion anything more than a compassionate sigh. "You miss her, huh?" He asked gently, not realising how stupid such a question was until it was spoken aloud.

Seeing the lilac unicorn wipe her eyes all too casually, and noticing her blatant unease, Cantor slung a foreleg limply over the girl's withers and walked her away from the rest of the ponies, only looking back when he was assured they were out of earshot. Everypony was watching adamantly, but turned quickly away upon discovery of the captain's glance.

"She was all I had..." The still emotional mare explained with a melancholy exhale. "We were hardly ever apart from each other... I just can't believe she's actually gone..."

"Look, Flit..." Cantor whispered, rubbing the purple-maned pony's shoulders in an effort to comfort her. "I know what it's like to lose someone special..." He was staring off into the overshadowed distance, but felt Flitter's emerald eyes watching him from the side. "I was lucky enough to be able to fix it, but only under the extreme circumstances I was faced with... Still, that didn't make it any less painful..." He sighed for his own sake, sinking to the floor, unintentionally dragging Flitter with him.  

Cantor's face started to bear a slight smile as he remembered home. Not his place of origin, but the world in which his love resides. "Back home, in a small, self-supported town named Ponyville, there's an enormous hollowed out tree that is filled from floor to ceiling with books, and serves as the town's library. Somepony very special to me lives there; somepony who I would gladly give my life for, then come back so I could do it again." He took a deep breath and slid his foreleg around Flitter's neck, pulling her closer so he could feel her heart beating in her warm chest next to his. "I have no family: no mother, no father... No brothers or sisters - nothing. So you know what I've done?..."

Flitter was surprised to see such a mystic stare personified by a single pony as Cantor met her gaze with an enchanted inner smile. "I've made my own." Cantor simply said, the warm grin never shifting position from his bruised and scratched face. He gave a demure chuckle before continuing. "People always used to say to me: "You'll understand when you've got your own kids."... I- I never thought I'd ever have children - especially not with somepony as special as Twilight, but... quite some time ago, that changed... and now, I feel as though I don't just live for myself, but for two other lives that depend on me..." Regrettable tears brimmed in his eyes, but the sentimental stallion quickly got shot of them. "Flitter... I know you've lost your sister, but... please, I don't want the only memories my foal has of me to come from pictures... I understand your loss, but be in the mindset that with Titter’s spirit in your mind, you'll never truly be apart."

Flitter felt a strong pressure around her hoof as Cantor picked it up and grasped it tightly with meaning. "Whatever your reason for getting home, it's far better than expecting to die out here, so without wanting to sound cold and heartless, put the past behind you and make your future one to remember."

As soon as he had finished speaking, Cantor noticed that not only had Flitter ceased crying, but that she also wore a meek smile of fortitude. "Wow, Cantor..." She spoke with wonder. "I never knew you were so..." Her speech dissolved as she pondered to find the words to reply without sounding too harsh.

"Soppy? Sentimental?" Cantor interjected, bringing about a tender laugh from Flitter. "How about... 'poetic'?"

Flitter giggled once more. "I think that might be pushing it..." She joked without looking at the stallion, who promptly let out a discreet chortle of his own. "...Thank you." She added after an elaborated pause. "I guess, in a way, you're completely right: even our special talent was shared. We were inseparable when Tit was alive, so why should that have to change now she's gone?" She broke away from Cantor's embrace and rose to her hooves, waiting for the alicorn to join her before she continued. "I think I'm ready to let go; say goodbye." She explained with a serene, dependable grin. "I was scared that in doing so, I'd have to forget. But I can see now that that's not the case."

Cantor bowed for a moment before lifting his head back up. "I'm just here to help." He said peacefully.

Flitter cocked her head playfully to one side. "I thought you were supposed to by flying our ship..." She stated wryly, drawing an agreeable giggle from the white stallion.

"Yeah," He jested, rolling his eyes. "That too…"


*****


Rejoining his group, Cantor had deemed it best to act like nothing had happened, and addressed his fellow equine survivors: 'business as usual'. "Right," He started with prepared huff. "I don't think it's a good idea to split up again, so we should remain in this group as we continue." Cantor took a break for a moment, scanning the room for the next leg of their journey.

As the alicorn was peering around, Red proposed an intriguing thought. "Hey, uh... Cantor?" He asked, drawing the white pony's attention. "When we find some kind a' way outta' here, how d'you reckon we actually git back to Equestria?"

The question caught Cantor off guard, yet failed to instil him with hopelessness. Rather, the sentiment made him ponder towards the floor for a reliable solution. 

"Again," Said Cantor, shaking his head. "That's just something we're just gonna have to work out when we get to it; crossing bridges and all that..." He glanced to the wall on his left, running his hot eyes along the many comet-shaped beams of light coming from sturdy metal lamps poised a few metres up. He stopped when he spied an out of place piece of rust-bitten metalwork, a small, faded green symbol beside it and one of the three-buttoned control panels to its right, camouflaged to look identical to the wall it was bolted to.

The captain turned and slowly began to pace towards it, subliminally ushering his team to follow him as he did so. "Well the guys who built this place sure knew how to make a door invisible." He joked, deciding not to look behind him when nopony even uttered a snicker. "Anyways," He hurriedly added, his cheeks noticeably warm all of a sudden. "This is our next lead. We don't want to stray too far from this room: if there's going to be some kind of escape pod, it'll be close." The rusty-maned stallion began to explain. However, once he had taken a breath to further elaborate, and in a sense to create mild conversation, his ears picked up on a hauntingly familiar grumbling.

He halted in his path, ears stretched toward where the origin of the sound seemed to come from.

Faith was walking behind Cantor, and wasn't all too happy about the fact she had almost experienced a collision with his rump due to the abrupt halt. "Do you mind... not just keep stopping dead in the middle of walking with no warning?" She asked sarcastically, but was quickly 'shushed' by the alicorn.

Cantor kept every aspect of his being still apart from his ears, which were slowly scanning the area like radar dishes for an indication towards that sound again. "Did you hear that?" He whispered nervously.

"Bollocks." Faith replied with an agitated tone. "Remember what happened last time you said that?"

After the grey pegasus' sentiment, the cold, dark, foreboding room fell silent again, and remained that way for some time. Ideally, Cantor wanted to blame his mind for playing tricks on him again, but that eerie noise sounded far too real, much more believable than skeletal bodies lurking in the shadows. And what's more, he recalled hearing it before.

A distant, rapid drumming, like the savage beating of a drum rose up from the darkest end of the room. It sounded like something enormous was running full speed toward the ponies as they stood there in the wake of this chilling new sound, loosing their balance as the floor beneath them shuddered with each cataclysmic footstep.

"What the hell's going on!?" Faith cried out, but before anyone could reply, whatever it was that was running hit the back wall hard, sending the eight ponies falling to the ground as well as several of the torched spacecraft.

They rose to their hooves again, this time managing to remain standing when the second gargantuan collision occurred. 

Another short moment of fearsome silence embodied with terrified breathing passed before an almighty roar rattled everypony’s bones and a third, final crash was heard. This time, the sound of metal tearing and iron framework being crushed dominated the air. Low frequency grumbles were heard emanating from the darkness for a number of breathless seconds before their source stepped forward into the light.

Whatever foul creature hell had rejected stood a large, but still uncomfortable distance away from the ponies. It stood over sixty feet tall and appeared to be some kind of horrifically mutated gorilla. A dark, bald, muscular chest broke free from the morbid blue fur which consumed the rest of its body, and a heavily girthed crest rose up from the back of its enormous head. Bloodied teeth, several feet long themselves were seen creeping out from below the giant's upper lip, bearing their ferocity and power without even being asked. A heavy, broad frown was fixed above the beast's beady black eyes, its face, too being void of hair except for a scratchy beard that started on its chin.

It stood poised, leaning slightly to one side with its long muscular arms drooping down to its knees. Its fingers were cautiously twitching, similar to a cowboy's who was waiting to draw, but much, much more deadly - especially with the talon-like claws protruding from the end of each, glistening slightly in the spotlight it chose to exist under. It almost came across inquisitive in the way it held itself, but everyone knew it was merely sizing up what it fancied for its next meal. What may have been the most haunting aspect of all, however, was the fact that it was completely and utterly silent, as if it were actually trying to paralyse its food with fear before he made his move. The only movement it made was the gentle bobbing of its body as it took in air through two huge train tunnels of nostrils set in the middle of its tormented face.

"Faith?" Cantor breathed calmly, not moving a muscle. "Take everyone... and go through that door at three o' clock." He instructed, pulling off a mediocre ventriloquism act.

"I'm not leaving you again." The pegasus hissed in reply, her eyes, too, were locked onto the terrible beast. "Not with that thing."

Cantor's voice portrayed his frustration, but he held his body motionless. "I can buy you some time while you escape. If he blocks off that door, you're fucked."

"Now's not the time to play the hero, Cantor." Faith growled, furious towards the alicorn's plan.

"It's always time to play the hero." The white pony answered back quickly. He turned to Faith with profound eyes, and the mare returned his gaze with an expression of helplessness.

The two ponies' spiritual compromise was interrupted rapidly by a thunderous roar that made their teeth vibrate in their skulls. Faith an everypony else except Cantor bolted towards the door, not looking back even once until they were guaranteed some slither of safety. The seven ponies had barely made it through the exit and into the pitch black corridor beyond when the quaking footsteps began again. Faith managed to make eye contact with Cantor one last time before the body of one of the many spacecrafts in the beast's wake slammed into the wall in front of her, cutting off any source of light and leaving her and her other shipmates consumed by total darkness.

For a moment, the grey pegasus, who was informally in charge for now, contemplated staying here until Cantor could make his escape, but when ceiling panels began to crash down onto her head due to the earthquake outside, she, along with Flitter, who was now the only pony carrying a flashlight contrary to her sister's death, lead the way further into the darkness with not a single lead as to where to go. All Faith could hope to do now, was get to safety, and pray to whatever god there may be that Cantor would promptly meet her there.


*****


The white alicorn flared his wings and skipped up into the air, reaching the ceiling in record time, but he was far from safe up here. The enormous creature leapt from his thunderous gallop and swiped at the alicorn with his gigantic claws, leaving broad scratches in the solid metal ceiling just a few feet from where Cantor was hovering. 

Predictably stunned from the close encounter, Cantor froze into freefall for a second before recalling his surroundings and soaring back off into the air. He halted mid-flight and turned around to see the great beast setting itself up for another charge. The alicorn swallowed nervously and scoured his surroundings for a place to escape. He spied a large cooling duct a fair distance above the door everyone had left through. Black smoke was billowing from the top of the smashed grate protecting it, and at often intervals, white hot sparks were seen bursting from the gaping hole.

Cantor didn't have time to devise a plan, though; as soon as he noticed a possible means of escape, his focus was alerted to the giant foe's immense footsteps. He had just enough time to corkscrew out of the monster's path before it swatted him from the air like a fly. The airborne stallion quietly thanked Rainbow Dash for teaching him how to perfect such a move.

With his eyes darting all around for anything to help himself with, a failsafe plan emerged from the depths of Cantor's brain. His frightened amber eyes relaxed a little as he began to formulate his next series of moves in his head.

"Right..." He whispered, the sound of his own voice instilling his heart with adrenaline. "Come on, big boy..."

The apelike leviathan turned about from his last failed siege and began stamping its huge, leathery feet in frustration, emitting feral growls and grunts of fury all the while. It ducked low, then bolted towards Cantor with alarming speed, roaring its ungodly war cry.

Cantor fell from the air a lot sooner than he had planned to, swooping down between the brutal creature's legs and darting off toward his hiding place behind a pair of burned spacecraft it had kicked over during its first charge. 

With any luck, the towering animal would not be able to find Cantor amongst this rubble, promptly give up and wander off in search of more food, thus eliminating the chances of it trying to follow Cantor through his pipe. The last thing he wanted was to lead that thing to his friends, where they would have no chance of escaping in a more enclosed environment.

Cantor tilted his head up, making himself aware of the distance between himself and freedom. He heard his pursuer’s confused grunt, but was disallowed the comfort of seeing it past the wrecked spacecraft. He held his breath and pressed himself up against his cover, silently begging fate to spare him his life, or at least a less gruesome death.

The alicorn controlled his exhales, trying to let air leak out of his lungs to minimise noise. He listened intently to where the monster may be and tried to determine what it was doing. Cantor could hear its deep, below sinister pants for breath accompanied by dumbfounded clips of voice. He felt the ground shake as the creature searched, and counted his throbbing heartbeats between each step it took.

Then all of a sudden, the bone-shaking footsteps ceased, and the only recurring sound was the distraught thumps of Cantor's petrified heart, like a rapid tempo bass drum exploding in his chest.

The charred spaceship was violently dragged away with the sound of agonised metal. And as his hiding place was ferociously decimated, Cantor found himself crying out in terror as he peered up into those demonic, merciless black eyes. It was now or never, so taking the only chance he was going to get, the white alicorn blasted into the air with a muscle-melting lash of his gargantuan wings.

Cantor was barely six feet into the air before a crushing grip was felt near the base of his left wing. It took a fraction of a neurone impulse to let him know part of is body was inside the beast's treacherous maw. With a panicked bleat of terror, the stallion tried to pry his wing from the creature's blunt teeth. However, the starved monster's jaws were like a vice upon Cantor's wing, grinding his bones and mincing his flesh as he was hoisted into the air. He saw his would-be escape route pass him on the way to the gruesome animal's full height. To have life and freedom pass so closely by him with the knowledge that he could never achieve it broad in his mind was nearly as grievous as the pain swelling through the entirety of his left limb of aviation.

Then... In a morbid 'eureka moment'... A dark, evil, tormented idea passed Cantor's mind, yet his eyes widened in the realisation that through all these hardships, it was a good one. Time seemed to slow itself as his eyes drifted downward to his savage, atrociously powerful shotgun. He then turned his deadly attention to the few inches of wing poking out between his killer's decaying teeth.

"Go on..." A calm, soothing voice spurred sweetly within Cantor's mind, and without a second thought, the clueless alicorn found himself pressing the muzzle of his weapon into the middle of the bloody appendage, which began to stream fresh life fluid all down his trembling foreleg.

Cantor allowed himself a steadying breath, turned away from what he was about to do and focused solely on the large ventilation tunnel.

"This is gonna hurt." He stated privately before tensing up his leg, hearing the deafening explosion beat his eardrums before any sort of pain could set in. The next thing he knew, he was falling, and as if by instinct, he reached out and grabbed hold of the lip of the vent. His back hooves scrambled at the wall as he hoisted himself up into the opaquely dark tunnel, subliminally thanking all those hours of upper body training he despised so much. 

He could hear the bones in his lost wing breaking as the deadly animal crunched what it thought was the body of an extra-terrestrial life force, only to be sadly mistaken in the form of a mouthful of feathers.

The stallion made it into the ventilation shaft with minimal ease, yet failed to even take one step before a second searing pain shot through his body centred at the back of his left leg. Cantor wailed in agony as he turned over to see what had happened. One of the vile beast's fingers was poking into the tunnel, and the oversized digit's malicious talon had skewered straight through the alicorn's left canon. In one side, out the other.

Cantor reached out with his left foreleg and managed to tangle himself up in some stray electrical cables that had burst from the wall. The back end of his body began to feel the strain as the relentlessly hungry creature's claw tried to pull him back out of 'safety'. The alicorn's screams continued until a stomach - churning 'pop' was heard echoing around the cylindrical walls of his escape route.

With disregards to anything other than survival, Cantor fired three shots randomly towards his attacker in rapid succession, the third and final shot miraculously hitting something critical. The tension on the tortured stallion's left leg slackened instantly, and he wasted no time in scuttling as far away from the obvious danger as possible, tears of agony, fright and panic drenching his checks as he whimpered further into the darkness, every shivering lungful of air he took consisting of nothing but toxic black fumes.

Treacherous wails of pain were heard reverberating through the vent as the terrible beast outside staggered around in light of his prey's lucky shot. 

Cantor didn't stop crawling until he physically couldn’t. The grieving alicorn was a fair way into what could be labelled as 'safe' before his muscles gave out and he collapsed from exhaustion. As he lay there in his semi-unconscious state, he could hear a vicious scratching somewhere behind him, but was far too weak to look or even to care.

After a feeble number of seconds, the scarred monster outside furiously accepted his defeat in the form of a barbaric scream of ruin. His conquered footsteps were the second stage heard in his forced retreat, the cumbersome thumping sound gradually fading away until it dissolved in with the depleted stallion's steadying heart rate.

A great amount of time passed before Cantor could achieve conscious thought again, the only times he had come close during the last ten minutes was when he felt as though he were going to throw his entire stomach up, which didn't fair well in his overall self-healing.

With a sickening turn, the barely alive stallion rolled off of his belly and propped himself up against the curved wall so he was sitting on his bruised rump. In response to this new compression, Cantor felt a unique swelling deep in his stomach, forcing him to face the side and empty the organ's minimal contents onto the floor beside him. During throwing up, and the sour coughing fit that followed, Cantor was painfully reminded of his strong headache.

Fumbling around with the button fastened up on his right saddlebag, Cantor withdrew a small syringe containing a scarce amount of clear liquid from one of the key pouches, pulled its sanitary cap off and discarded it carelessly onto the floor. He gave the plunger a quick squeeze, and assured by the knowledge that morphine was the only drug he was carrying, slipped the impossibly sharp point into his leg just above the wound. Cantor placed the used needle back into his bag and gave the applied area a quick rub. Mercifully, the sickening pain started to decline, as did his tormenting headache, giving Cantor the time to accustom himself to being a half-horned, one-winged 'alicorn'.

The fur beneath his eyes had long since dried out from before, but now, fresh tears slicked Cantor's cheeks once again as the calamity of his situation sunk in.

After a while of self-pitying, and once the morphine had had enough time to properly distribute itself around the main injuries, Cantor felt as though he needed an odd definition of comfort, just so he could affirm how close he was to meeting his maker. Weakly, he raised his right foreleg, the weight of the chunky weapon unaiding his efforts. He tensed his leg up, waiting for the satisfying crack of his own personal death dealer.

...'Click'...


*****


"On a scale of one to ten, how fucked is Cantor?" Deathwing asked with a humoured tone, nudging his companion on the shoulder, making the black unicorn giggle darkly in response.

"Hey!" Faith snapped, turning around from leading the heard and facing the two black mercs with a disapproving scowl. "Don't say things like that. I know for a fact that he's gonna be just fine." She replied with confidence.

The red-eyed pegasus cocked a brow. "You're sure of that?" He asked provocatively.

Faith nodded her head. "Positive." She answered.

"Then how come he hasn't contacted you yet?" Deathwing queried with an evil grin. 

The grey mare's eyes faltered a little for an explanation, seeing as though the obvious factors pointed to the worst, but she rapidly became aware of a possibility. "W- well maybe he's still fighting that thing." She said with forced enthusiasm.

"Really?" The black-maned pegasus enquired again, the newfound light from the fluorescent beams running above revealing the swollen blood vessels in his eyes. "After twenty minutes?" Faith tried to find the initiative to protest, but even through her trust in the alicorn, even she couldn't hide away from the fact that something might have... 'happened'...

Black Haze stepped forward to re-enforce his partner's accusations. "Face it, girl:" He said coldly, his grim way of speaking hadn't changed at all since the day he walked into this group. "Your friend's dead. You could say it any other way; gone, passed, deceased... But in the end, it all boils down to one thing: dead." 

Faith's head fell to the floor in defeat, her unkempt blonde hair covering her bloodstained headband and casting her eyes into shadow. The black unicorn stallion took to walking through the seven-pony team, everyone who was in his path quickly dispersed, keeping a dampened tone of abandon inside their minds.

Haze paused momentarily when he passed Faith, his vision of her blocked by a wall of straw hair. Too bad one of the few times he had reflected compassion in his eyes went unseen by the heartbroken mare. "Faith..." He began gently, whatever remained of his empathetic side surfacing then and there. "I'm sure... you two were... close..." To speak kindly sounded like a struggle to him; he had grown far too used to having a heart as black as his artificially enhanced coat. "But it looks like you're in charge now. Forget about that stallion. It's time you took leadership to hoof."

The dark unicorn quickly, yet silently paced past Faith, walking on his lonesome down the corridor, seeming to disappear into the shadows hiding between each ceiling light.

"No." The dented mare grumbled, still keeping her head hung low. The clopping of Black Haze's hooves upon the gritty metal floor came to a halt, and he, like every other pony, turned to face Faith expectantly.

Frowning out of confusion, the black unicorn turned his whole body about to face the others. "What?" He asked in mild disbelief.

Faith shook her head slowly. "No, I... I won't accept Cantor's dead." She weakly said, trying to mask the pain in her voice. 

Haze began to rapidly trot back over to the rest of the group, an ill frown hanging over his eyes. "The evidence is clear, Faith." He argued. "There's no way-"

"There's no way I can carry on this mission without him!" The stone-coated mare snapped back, glaring at the unicorn with her bloodshot golden eyes, making him recoil slightly in shock. "You tell me he's dead; I think that's a load of crap, so during Cantor's temporary absence, I'll lead the group, and during my brief stint as leader, you, and your jumped up little shit of a mate can shut the fuck up until further notice." She ordered harshly, wanting to grin wildly at her own dictatorly tone, but refusing to spoil this austere expression. "Do I make myself clear?"

Haze looked as if he were forcing back a yawn, and to see this particular stallion so secretly exasperated made Faith's heart glow with amusement. "...Yes." The unicorn finally growled through clenched teeth.

"Yes, what?" Asked the grey pegasus, this time, a little of her irk grin forced its way from her mind.

Black Haze's dangerous glare intensified, and his teeth remained barred as he answered. "Yes. Ma'am." He grumbled.

"What about you?" The temporary captain pushed, glancing over her shoulder at the nefarious pegasus, who all of a sudden wore a commendably similar expression to his counterpart.

With agitated red eyes, the dark-coated pegasus replied with a less than devoted "Yes, Ma'am."

Smiling out of a self-inflicted state of pride, Faith stepped past Haze with not a single glance towards the black unicorn. Wanting to avoid any unnecessary violence or negativity on their behalf, everypony else promptly followed on after Faith, leaving the two black coated equines at the rear of the group once again. 

With a fraction of his recent hate left inside of him, Deathwing turned to his unicorn friend with quizzical eyes. "You really think he's dead?" The pegasus enquired, a note of agnosticism in his voice.

Haze gave a disgruntled sigh. "Not really." He answered bleakly, making a start on catching up with the rest of the crew with his teammate stumbling along beside him. "I was hoping to break her, but it seems she trusts that pony more than I gave credit for."

"So what do we do now?" The pegasus stallion asked, looking to his partner expectantly.

Black Haze took a breath before rounding the corner. "We wait for him, to come to us."  He answered just when a panic-stricken Faith tore round the corner with everypony else tightly behind.

"Running, would be a good idea!" She noted before dashing off past the two black mercs.

The couple of red-eyed ponies peered around the corner, finding the next passage to be teeming with the black creatures. Like a writhing army, most of them darted and slithered along the floor, yet some clung to the walls like enormous four-legged spiders. 

Even at a glance, it was blatant that there were too many to take care of, but the duo of mercenaries reached their forelegs around the smooth metal edge and blind-fired for a little over a second before nerves got the better of them and they turned and bolted from the scene, heinous snaps and snarls dangerously audible at the tips of their tails as they galloped once more. 


*****


Faith burst through the entrance to a dead-end room, followed closely by Red, who took a less than satisfactory amount of care when passing through, clipping his broad shoulders as he did so, carving two intense gouges on each bulging muscle. Regardless, the doorframe came off worse. Flitter followed suit and dove behind Faith, entrusting her with her safety, despite the reassurance of her weapon she had seldom fired. A short moment later, Deathwing and Black Haze darted through the door, spinning off to either side and aiming down the corridor, seeing as though they were completely blocked in.

They waited for no more than ten seconds before Haze skipped forward and shut the opening, a laboured clunking sound heard as the door past Red's handiwork when it closed.

The metal barrier struck the ground with a little hiss of decompression, and everypony let out the breath they had been unknowingly holding.

"Shit!" Faith spat, snapping her head to the right wall and glaring at the shelves lined with cardboard boxes that spanned its surface. "We lost Cloud and Blue Bolt." She affirmed, sending everypony into a penitent hush.

Flitter slowly stepped around her meat-shield, feeling a little better about having a couple inches of steel keeping the monsters at bay. "M- maybe they're alright." She suggested. "After all, they only took a wrong turn." She added with hopeful eyes.

The grey mare in charge nodded prudently. "You're right." She agreed, though did not make eye contact with the lilac filly. "If we give it about half an hour for the heat to die down, then we can go out and search for them. For now, lets just sit tight, and hope for the best."

"So that's your brilliant plan?" The cynical black unicorn encroached, earning him a piercing glare from Faith.

"What did I say about not talking?" She asked venomously.

Haze sighed heavily with an air of aggravation, rolling his eyes in an exaggerated manner. "Look: all I'm saying is that those things know we're here, and it's only a matter of time before they work out a way to get in."

The blonde pegasus planted her flank and spared a bemused smile. "So you're telling me they know how to work the doors?"

"Maybe." The unicorn replied arrantly. He shrugged his shoulders and glanced to the metal door behind him. "We didn't know how to open them at first."

Faith groaned and shook her head, pushing her bi-colour headband further up, keeping the long bangs of pale yellow hair out of her face. "So what if they can open doors? We'll just mow 'em down before they even get through. Besides... Red'll just knock 'em back through if they even get close, right?" She shot a trustworthy wink in the direction of the behemoth stallion stood next to Flitter in the corner, earning a protective smile back from the crimson pony. 

Through the hush, a dull banging emanating from above interrupted the moment. Everypony craned their necks skyward, eyeing the heavily shadowed ceiling cautiously. The din persisted, and it sounded as if it were moving along within the roof itself.

"Shit!" Exclaimed Deathwing, becoming vigilant to every grate which lay on the walls. "They're using the vents!" He stated with panic, noticing how there were at least five potential entrance points for the aliens to come through, rendering the ponies virtually surrounded.

Faith sprang upwards, turning her attention to the source of the clatter, eyeing the only ventilation shaft in the ceiling. "It's going for that vent." She affirmed, raising her rifle towards the tight square of cross-hatched metal above. Her single laser sight was quickly joined by four more, yet one seemed to be quaking uncontrollably.

Taking a second glance towards the danger, Faith turned to Flitter and called her over. "You ever kill one of these things, girl?" She asked in a rushed tone.

"Mmh mhm." Replied the mare, shaking her head fretfully.

The grey pegasus nodded in understanding, patting the lilac unicorn with a fostering hoof. "Well now's your chance to pay them back for hurting your sister." She announced forcibly, peering at Flitter's scared emerald eyes, yet the pale coated unicorn's gaze was fixated upon the metal grate.

Suddenly, there was a clang, and the thin metal mesh dropped to the floor, rattling metallically before coming to rest. Faith and Flitter both returned their weapons to the black square in the roof, Flitter's red dot still trembling with her as she stared into the morbid darkness beyond the hole.

A scuffed, bloody, but relievingly familiar face popped out, as well as tangled and knotted tufts of scraggly brown hair. "You guys expecting someone else?" Cantor asked, staring down the barrels of five separate guns, his unscathed amber eyes darting from pony to pony.

All the ponies gave a post-tension, exasperated sigh of relief and rushed over to help the battle-sodden alicorn down. Cantor disappeared back up into the rafters, but quickly replaced his head with his hind legs. Faith was hovering nearby should her friend be too weak to fly, waiting to carry him down to the floor. However, as the white stallion started to lower himself, she, as well as everypony else, gasped at the four foot talon that had impaled Cantor through his left cannon. Obviously, thought Faith, the 'fight' between the two titans hadn't gone as smoothly as she had expected, but thinking this, she found she had to ask herself: "Was 'smoothly' actually an expectation?" Regardless, she was enthralled that Cantor was alive, and fluttered closer to grasp him around the chest.

But, as Faith reached her forelegs around the stallion's bloodied body, she felt something sharp jab her in the stomach. Looking down out of curiosity, and maybe just a little bit of annoyance, she noticed that two gruesomely snapped bones were protruding from the stump of what used to be Cantor's left wing and into her.

The stone-grey pegasus took a moment to process what she was seeing before screaming and involuntarily dropping Cantor, who was scooped up by Red moments before hitting the ground.

Red unfurled his foreleg and set Cantor down on all... four hooves? The alicorn, who could now barely be classed as such, had his four hooves in contact with the ground, but his left hind leg: the one with the two-inch hole running all the way through was turned outward, almost as if he had no real control over the limb and it was just hanging there as dead weight.

The next thing Cantor knew was Faith's bear-like grip around his neck. In a state of shock, and unaided by the europhoric sensation of being back with his friends, Cantor failed to return the hug, but by the time he had registered the mare's presence, she had already let go, and now seemed to be tracing the side of his body. 

Ravaged strips of skin and sinew hung untidily from the brutal - looking amputation, and it appeared as though someone had decided to compress a sponge saturated with blood over the missing wing's stump, coating a large proportion of Cantor's left side with a rich crimson lather.

"Oh, Cantor..." Faith muttered, staring at his poorly severed wing, in a similar tone to a mother who had just witnessed her son's daring stunt go horribly wrong; an empathetic value in her voice, oddly containing hints of annoyance at the same time. "Didn't I tell you being the hero never plays out?"

"No." The 'alicorn' answered back. "You told me it wasn't the time to be the hero..." He remarked, earning himself a friendly roll of the eyes from Faith. "H-hey?" He began, nosing around the area with fearful eyes. "Where's Blue Bolt and Cloud?" He asked.

Faith exhaled sharply, as if waking herself up. "We got separated; we ran across some trouble, and when we were being chased, those two went down a different corridor to us." The pegasus explained, finding it a little odd that a stallion who had lost his horn, his wing, his voice, probably the larger part of his sanity and Celestia knows what else in the span of an evening would still be so concerned about his friends. Well, friendship was something she had never really invested in until a few weeks ago, so she could hardly comment.

Cantor cast his eyes sideward for a spell, thinking before he turned back to Faith. "Can you remember which passage they went down?" He asked.

"W- I... y-yeah... I'm pretty sure I can, but we should stay- I mean, I think we should stay here until those creatures lose interest in us and go away." Faith replied, becoming uneasy on her hooves after that unexpected and seemingly instinctual bout of submissive loyalty she gave to the pony who was silently declared as leader once again.

The captain nodded. Although a troublesome headache was at the forefront of his mind, he was still able to identify good reason. "Okay." He said with definition. "Let's give it twenty minutes and then go retrieve Cloud and Blue. With sense I'm sure they have, they'll find somewhere to hide and wait for us to come and get them.

"Sure.” Faith replied with a restful nod, following it up with a self-inflicted giggle. "I think we're safe in here." She affirmed, and as if by cue, every vent, grille and duct burst open with a cough of smoke and dust, shards of metal peppering the floor as they exploded. 

In less than a second, a barrage of relentless monsters had widely dispersed into the room, covering the walls and floor with their menace.

Everypony reacted instantly, having become somewhat desensitised from all the nasty surprises this heinous place had in store for them. They pressed their rumps together in a tight circle, raised their weapons, and took aim.


*****


The creatures were on the ponies in an instant, like coiled springs pouncing on the equines from all angles. Claws sliced and teeth scratched, but any serious damage was thoroughly sustained during the initial onslaught. Their sturdy structure was swiftly broken apart as the monstrous beings stormed their circle, nipping at the survivor's necks with their needlepoint teeth.

Everypony was fearful of using their weapons at all, given the fact that their 'safe room' was so small: any attempt to fight off the horde with bullets would be far beyond risky, and it was assumed that no one wanted to be responsible for the death of a teammate.

The fight consisted of bucks, punches and the occasional bite from the ponies' flat, yet powerful teeth. 

Predictably, Red was making remarkable headway with his foes, casting multiple bodies across the enclosed room with one swift swipe, and even going as far as pinning a few to the ceiling to 'deal with them' more accurately - which consisted mainly of insuring his forelegs and face became covered in extra-terrestrial brain-matter.

Cantor was plunged straight into hot water thanks to his leg. Not having had the time to remove the giant claw slammed through it, and forgetting that formidable beast had done some serious damage internally, as soon as the alicorn placed the slightest dab of pressure on his left hind leg, the limb collapsed and buckled under his body with a tremendous gnawing pain. 

Faith seemed to be dealing with things rather well on the other hoof. She was making precise shots with her quick eyes, planting bullets in the bodies of creatures out of the firing line of her companions. She ducked in the nick of time as one of the spindly attackers launched itself at her, sparing herself just enough time to see it become another victim to Red's unstoppable rampage. She bore a stunted smirk before scurrying off to where Cantor was lying on his back, managing to dodge a few more of the demons as she did so.

"What's up!?" She asked in a raised voice, having to bring her tone up several decibels to compete with the calamity all around.

"It's my-" Cantor rasped, being cut off before he could finish when one of the black animals sunk its teeth into his shoulder. Rather than ceasing up, the alicorn merely reached up and swiftly snapped the monster's neck with a sharp shoulder twitch and a jerk of his hooves. To say the least, the stallion's too - in a word: 'professional' kill rattled Faith, but she deprived herself the luxury of judgement. 

"It's my leg." The white alicorn repeated, clutching the sore limb firmly. "I think it's broken."

Faith swallowed nervously, oblivious to a barrage of shots coming from the two dark-haired mercenaries in one of the corners. As much as she didn't want to feel like she was agreeing with either of the couple of black stallions, she had to admit: they had the right idea about positioning themselves. 

She sprung behind Cantor and dragged him across the room on her hind legs, one foreleg cupped under the tired alicorn's shoulder, the other outstretched, brandishing her sizeable piece to whom, or whatever may be unfortunate enough to pass the firing line. Faith knew the corner was the safest place, if not for the ensured protection of the solid metal walls behind, then for the comfort of only needing to shoot in one direction.

The pegasus mare propped the bloodied stallion up against the wall and took up a guard beside him, using physical attacks as much as she could without endangering her or her friend's life. But that wasn't to imply Cantor was effectively useless - far the opposite: the first thing the oncoming threats had to deal with were the forceful rear legs of a nearly fully grown stallion. Granted one of his biological melee weapons was out of service; that didn't stop him from packing one hell of a punch with his right leg. And, if the need arose, he had one of the most powerful guns there for last-second protection.

The scene was just a slurred lapse of fighting. The walls flashed white hot with muzzle flare, the very air was ablaze with the sounds of hissing and pained or otherwise terrified screams of peril, and above all, the stench of blood was quickly becoming a more proud factor. Faith knew that Cantor wouldn't last long. Even if he did survive this onslaught, there was no way he could make it out if another need for galloping were to occur. Without him, Faith found herself inconveniently pondering, more than a life would be lost.

Her sentiment was interrupted by an eyeful of miniature white daggers set in pale pink gums lunging towards her. She soon sent the beast tumbling to her hooves, what remained of its head blasting through the air until it struck the wall on the other side of the room. With a newfound sense of surveillance, Faith noticed that the number of feral monsters was thinning out. There was a carpet of corpses dominating the ground, but in relation to the arena before this homicide, diminished movement was an incredibly broad identification. And even though the great red tank of a pony had several of the creatures clinging to his being, he seemed to be doing more than his fair share of killing - as always...

In the past, Faith had never undermined her accuracy, and managed to place a bullet in the head of an alien gnawing at Red's withers, and another through the neck of a second monster clawing the stallion's flank. All she could do then, was wait and hope to clear out the rest of the room of any stragglers before they got their chance with one of her only true friends, seeing as though there was no possible way to shoot Red's attackers without shooting Red as well.

Cantor took every chance he got to obliterate his foes. Seeing a clear spot where no pony stood, he sent a shelling of pellets into the realms of feral flesh, and any depraved life he managed to put to an end was simply regarded as a bonus. He was soon met with the cringe-worthy 'click' of an empty chamber, and began to fumble around in his saddlebag for some more ammunition.

He counted silently as he went. One, two, three... But as he slid the third bright red casing into his weapon and returned his hoof to the ammunition sack under his right wing, all he grasped was a hooffull of fabric. With a sudden weight consisting of panic dropped onto his shoulders, Cantor frantically unfastened the buckle on his other saddlebag, taking no pleasure in the thought that doing so was far easier without the burden of a wing obscuring his grip. Finding only spare morphine shots and bandages in his left satchel, the alicorn regrettably drew back the bolt on the side of his shotgun and took aim, refreshing the fact that he had to make these last three shots count if he were to be of any kind of help regularly in his mind.

A creature sprang up from the floor and made a beeline for Red with its claws outstretched like a cat, only revealing itself from the sea of fallen kin as it did so. Two shots were heard being fired simultaneously as the black monster's side ruptured and it fell to the stockpile of lifeless bodies below. Cantor turned to Faith with questioning eyes, and without returning the glance, the grey mare replied with: "Yep. That's mine."

Cantor smiled and shook his head, crossing Faith's chest with his foreleg and dropping another creature he had spotted crawling along the wall behind the pegasus.

Faith turned around just in time to see the dark animal fall to the ground, darting her eyes back to catch the questionable alicorn's cocky smirk. 

"Okay." The blonde mare humoured. “Now we're even."

The white stallion turned away and discarded a thick band of sweat from his brow with the cool steel of his gun. "One more shot..." He whispered to himself. "Make it count."

"Indeed." That trouble-invoking voice parlayed inside Cantor's head once again. "Put that last slug somewhere special."

Not feeling the need, nor the persistence to argue with himself, Cantor merely ignored the sinister vocals and looked around for another target, yet all the possibilities he saw were promptly snapped up by Faith, who, needless to say, informed Cantor on every single one of them. It was unknown at the time, but Cantor felt as though the reason for Faith's good fortune was a factor of his own withdrawal: either he didn't want to waste his last shot on something Faith had spotted way before he could even take aim, or something within his mentality was forcibly making him to spare that last shell for something... 'special'...

After several more seconds occupied with the occasional bark from somepony's gun later, the oddly acclimatising sound of vicious hissing halted abruptly, and the only sound which remained was the clanging of bullet casings and the dull rumbling of pipes as the creatures who realised taking on five ponies with long-ranged death strapped to their arms was less of a 'bad idea', and really more of a suicidal one fled the scene with their long spiny tails between their legs.

"Hold up!" Faith called out, taking a good long look over the room, surveying the floor for any and all movement non-pony related. "I think we got 'em all..." She relayed, the statement giving rise to a collective sigh of exhausted relief.

"Y-yeah!" Red weakly cried out from the middle of the destroyed room, staring at no one in particular with strangely worried brown eyes. "Whew!" He called out a little more forcefully like usual. "Ah didn't think we'd make it out a' that one!" He added, his legs quivering briefly before he collapsed onto his back knees with a deeply pained and exhausted grunt.

"Red!" Cried Faith as she galloped the short distance across the room to her fallen comrade. By some miracle failing to trip over the carcasses strewn all over the place. Cantor hauled himself to three legs and hopped in suit of the grey mare, but took far more consideration as to where he placed his hooves.

Faith closed in on the great red brute just as his forelegs buckled and he slumped onto the grey pegasus' lap. She caught the crimson pony's burdensome head in her arms, feeling his sweat - saturated mane rub against her chest as she familiarised herself with the large weight. 

As Red screwed his dark brown eyes shut in anguish, his equine cushion scanned his body with frightful eyes. She finally noticed the heart-stopping wound in the minimal but direct light filtering through the dust-ridden air. It took the form of several deep gashes over Red's left flank: four or five inches deep at least. Judging by the size of the monstrous incision, and taking into consideration the fact that there were four of them scoring the earth pony's flesh like a baked potato, it was impossible to deny that the stallion's femoral artery had been sliced dead in half - especially with the voluminous quantities of blood spurting out some distance from the gashes; perhaps five or six feet before they splashed onto the floor.

Red groaned wearily and stirred with a fraction of his common strength in Faith's forelegs, alerting the pegasus to her best friend's presence. 

"Red?..." She softly asked, to which the stallion in question opened those brown puppy dog eyes of his. Faith nearly burst into tears then and there when she saw how lifelessly he was staring up at her. Not that she made a habit of staring into ponies' eyes at all, but... there was so little energy reflected back up at her from the goliath pony below, that it was almost as if he was dead.

"F... Faith..." The burdensome stallion whispered with the strength comparable to that of a crushed beetle, reaching his hoof up to the female pegasus' cheek, never breaking eye contact for a second. He made contact just below Faith's right eye, but his great hoof of exposed black cartilage covered the whole side of her depleted face. "A'm... so... cold..." He added with withheld breath.

After only knowing him for a few months, Faith knew that without a shadow of a doubt, this would not be the first, only and... last time she broke down in front of this pony. 

Cantor and Flitter had also converged on the scene, the former of the two only noticing what had happened after standing for a while, yet the young unicorn mare had spotted Red's fatal injury almost instantly.

Sucking in a lungful of air, and forcing her tears into standby, Faith took one of her hooves away from under the bloodied stallion's head and clasped it over the hoof gently pressing against her cheek, glaring down at the red pony's eyes with enchanting golden orbs of her own. "Red?" She started forcefully, captivating the earth pony's attention with that one syllable. "You have a wife, right?" She asked. Red nodded, weaker than ever. "And a daughter?" Red bowed his head slowly a second time. "Can you tell me their names?"

"Ughh... uhhh..." Redgrave groaned, as if he were trying to force the memory out through the blockades of pain in his mind. "Mah... mah wife's name, she... she's Cherry Bud..." He closed his eyes and swallowed. "Our little daughter's name's... Sh... Shimmer..." Red's laboured frown transformed into a pleasant smile. "She had the brightest blue eyes Ah ever did see!" He added, sounding genuinely pleased with himself.

Faith couldn’t help herself but smile along in agreement, yet persisted to go even deeper. "What kinda house you got back home?" She asked, miraculously managing to keep her voice under control in light of the tears pooling at the bottoms of her straw-coloured eyes.

"Nothin' fancy..." Red muttered, still smiling up at the pegasus, merely absorbing her warming smile while his body became cold. "Jus' a little place in a honest ol' workin' town 'round Falabellia county..."

Faith bit her trembling bottom lip. "...Close your eyes." She ordered delicately. Red obeyed. "Imagine a usual day at home-" She sniffled discreetly and allowed a petite tear to trickle from each sorrowful eye. "What does your family normally do while you're at work?" She let go of the breath she hadn't realised she was holding in the form of a quivering exhale, dropping Red's weighty hoof to his chest and cradling the stallion's head in both her forelegs as another pair of tears fell from her loosely closed eyes. "What... What do you suppose they're doing now?" Faith managed to ask that one final question before she chocked on her words.

Red swallowed once again as the spurts of blood thundering from his wounds continued to weaken, yet that smile remained undying upon his face. "Ah guess Shim'd be helpin' her ma bake those cranberry muffins a' hers..." Red's head fell limply into Faith's accommodating forelegs as he drew in a single deep breath. "...Mmmm..." He mused privately. "...Ah always did love the smell a' Cherry's cookin'......" The last of his breath escaped his lungs in one long, slow exhale, and his body seemed to gain even more weight as he sunk into Faith's form, where he laid, perfectly still, not breathing...

...Yet that smile remained: undying upon his face.


*****


All Faith could manage to do, was shut her eyes, and touch her forehead to Red's as she listened to the dregs of oxygen escape his giant lungs like a slowly deflating balloon.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha..." Chuckled Black haze despicably, his face depicting an expression of extremely elated excitement. He and his winged partner walked around in front of the three other ponies left alive, keeping with the steady and predatory pace their personalities ensued.

Everypony who could raised their heads to stare in shock at the two dark stallions as they took their positions beside each other, maniacal grins dominating their faces.

Haze's eyes were locked on one pony's in particular out of the trio, trying to break through his passionate orange spectacles. However, in the midst of all the death, all the pain and all the suffering, a single wry glare couldn't even scratch the surface of Cantor's protective psyche.

"I must say I'm disappointed..." The black unicorn muttered with a blatantly fictitious sorrow; pouting his bottom lip out comically. "I really expected more from a pony of his stature."

"You shut up!" Faith barked, embracing her deceased friend’s head like an oversized plush, leering towards the unicorn's blood-red eyes with tear-bitten ones of her own.

Black Haze appeared taken back in astonishment towards the outburst, yet his action was easily distinguished as yet another exaggeration. "I beg your pardon, miss," He gasped, covering his chest with a hoof like he had been deeply offended. "But as you quite rightly stated a number of minutes ago, you're not the one in charge any more, so why don't you climb off your high horse and-"

"Shut the fuck up." Cantor finished Haze's sentence for him, directing the sting straight back at him with incredible malice. Before the black pony could react past a stunted gasp, Cantor was right back with the roast. "I've never liked you. Either of you." He began, the devil's glare burning within his fiery amber eyes. "From the moment I stepped hoof in that room back in Canterlot, I knew something was up. Your story, your blatant disregard for Faith's feelings despite her being the adopted child of the ruler of the world, and the fact that you were always seen sucking each other off in the shadows struck a wrong chord - especially that last one."

Deathwing let out a foreboding grumble, yet Cantor was far from done. "You're both cynical to everyone but yourselves, you don't have families and you were adopted and raised... by ponies in lab coats..." The alicorn shook his head. "And you just happen to be involved in this expedition...? Something doesn't add up..." 

Faith's attention was divided between Cantor and his targets, her head, weary with sorrow and stress darted back and forth between the two parties, though she felt considerably better when focusing on the frail white alicorn as opposed to staring at the duo of black mercenaries. Whereas Flitter had merely sunk to the floor and was trying to block out the negative vibes thwarting the very air she breathed.

"On the ship, I nearly had to think twice about you, Haze." Cantor elaborated, a somewhat more cheery tone gracing his lips before he returned to the punishing venom. "You said you were comforting Deathwing as your friend; a commendable virtue, I must admit: kindness... However, I now realise that was a ploy to throw me off your case. Not any more..." The white stallion adorned with thick lashings of blood stepped out around Red's corpse, bringing himself to stand directly in-between the pair of dark equines like some kind of bias western shootout. "You two aren't who you say you are, are you?" He asked, brow furrowed intensely.

Black Haze began to slowly and rhytmatically stomp his left hoof on the fluid-moistened ground as if he were applauding a pseudo-amusing performance. "Very good..." He replied, stopping the false round of praise. "You certainly have a talent for locating personality traits in ponies... Too bad it's never going to see any use." Haze raised his weapon towards Cantor, aiming the little red dot precisely between the stallion's eyes.

"Aah! What the fuck!?” Faith cried out as she noticed the gun pointed at her friend. She sprang to her hooves but froze in time as she spotted the sinister pegasus' own firearm poised at her.

Cantor carefully pivoted his head and made a meek spiritual connection with Faith before he returned to the mutinous black unicorn. "Who the hell are you?" He asked cautiously.

Haze merely intensified his grin and replied. "We are the best private execution team money can buy... 'Hitponies' as a word you'd understand..." He began to circle Cantor slowly in unison with his partner. "I'll have you know somepony's put quite a price on your head - not that they'll get to see it..."

The alicorn appeared dumbfounded. "But... who would... why?... How much?"

"Twenty." The dark-hued unicorn replied before a pause. "Million. Between us."

Cantor felt his breath tear from his body as those words occurred. "Tw... twenty million?" He asked in a shamefully proud manner, before the more pressing questions crossed his mind. "But..." He started, his confused frown returning promptly. "...Who in Equestria would want me dead!? I've done nothing to upset anyone!"

"Well apparently you have." Black Haze retaliated blandly. "Besides, it doesn't matter to us; all we're interested in is the money..." He was soon smiling warmly in light of his own evil deliverance. "Twenty mil' is the most we've ever been offered; nearly twice our previous 'record'..."

"But if you kill me, you'll have even less of a chance of getting that money!" Cantor argued back frantically. "And anyway, Celestia'll find out, then you'll be in trouble."

"Not likely." The unicorn retaliated casually. "That much money is enough for us to disappear: get new names, move far away-"

"But as I said: if you kill me, you're not even going to get the chance to get paid!" Pleaded the alicorn. "You'll die here too!"

Black Haze relaxed his shoulders, and his menacing grin melted into a mellow smile of self-amused bane. "Oh, Cantor... We're all dead; we're just waiting to die. As for payment, snuffing out your life is credit enough in that I could die with the joy of knowing there'll be two daddies not coming home for Hearth's Warming..."

Cantor's muzzle wrinkled in the pinnacle of disgust. "You evil, despicable bastard..." Seethed the alicorn. "I'll fucking end you."

"Of course." Haze responded agreeably. "Killing me is going to solve all this trouble..."

The scourned white stallion shook his head in disapproval. "Oh no, killing you won't solve all my problems..." He said with an imposingly rational air about him. "...But it's a fucking good place to start."

Cantor drew his foreleg up like a western gunslinger, catching the trigger on the ascent and carving a trench through Black Haze's cranium with his last remaining shell, forcefully expelling shards of bone and brain matter all over the wall behind him. The black unicorn's body was cast backwards some distance before it collided with the floor like a sack of potatoes and laid there completely motionless.

Cantor's next instinct was Haze's winged accomplice, but as the alicorn threw himself into the air in the general direction of the pegasus, Deathwing snapped his aim from Faith to the centre of Cantor's chest. 

He pulled the trigger, firing several shots in quick succession into the airborne stallion's body. 

Bullets tore through Cantor's flesh and burst through his back. His eyes widened as his breath escaped him and he lost momentum and slumped to the ground, where he lay gasping whilst he watched Faith tackle the black pegasus off his hooves.

The grey mare landed atop Deathwing's chest as she knocked him over. The two were nose-to-nose: their eyes locked in a ferocious embrace. 

The barrage of gunfire had stopped ever since Faith had collided with the male pegasus, and now, that very stallion was merely staring wild-eyed up at the her as she sat on top of him.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!?" She screamed, grabbing two mighty hooffulls of Deathwing's chest-hair and thrashing his torso into the floor.

The black stallion simply laughed in response. Clearly, he had lost his mind - not that he had much of one to begin with. "You're all dead!" He cried maniacally between fits of demonic giggles. "You'll be eaten! Torn apart!" He insisted excitedly, his blood-red eyes elated with madness. "But not me! Not me! I'm not gonna be like you! Not now! Not ever!" He positioned his gun under his chin and became trigger-locked as he fired, blasting bullets through the roof of his mouth and out the top of his head, creating a cascade of blood as his form spasmed violently under Faith's.

The pegasus mare leapt from the grotesque sight, and with sympathy for the murderous pegasus failing to reach a number above zero, she darted to Cantor's side, where Flitter already was, clutching the incapacitated stallion's hoof as firmly as she could to keep him awake.

"Cantor!" Faith cried out, dropping to her knees beside the alicorn's head. 

It was clear he was in pain: though squirming on the floor eliciting short, breathless squeals of pain, pawing his free hoof in the air for something else to cling to.

"F- Faith... O- ow..." He whimpered, the shock beginning to wear off as he started to loose feeling and eventually control  in his limbs. "You know this r- really... f- fucking hurts..." He added weakly, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the floor.

Faith stayed by Cantor's side as he drifted in and out of consciousness. "You stupid bastard..." She said with a laugh, above all else trying to keep the stallion awake. "Do you ever think things through before jumping in?" There were tears in her eyes. despite the smile, she couldn't pretend she didn't know that this time, Cantor's grave injuries were far too much.

"Flitter?" Cantor called out, voice drowsy and drunk with nausea. "Is sh... she... 'kay?"

"I'm okay." The unicorn said tonelessly, apparently in some kind of shock.

"Ohhh..." Cantor's relieved sigh mutated into a terrible yell of pain as he pushed his punctured chest up weakly, rolling slightly on the floor. "If... If you two ever some- somehow make it out of... here." He said with a raspy throat, his pace of speech following no consistency other than a losing battle. "Would you k- kindly... tell... my Twi that..." He gasped and closed his eyes, feeling tired beyond measure - it actually felt kind of pleasant. "Tell Twi that I... that I love her very much..."

"Oh, Cantor, don't say that," Faith started with an animated sense of protest. "Well find Blue, a- and Cloud: they're doctors, they can fix this, just... just hang on..." She pleaded, voice cracking under what she didn't want to even acknowledge.

"Faith," Cantor said loudly, re-affirming his status as captain for one last time. "Promise me," He said, fighting desperately for breath. He knew something important had been hit in the shooting - not that it mattered now. "Promise me you'll try... You'll... try to meet up with the others and find ash... a ship. Go home."

He let out another breath filled with sobs, tears falling from his eyes. With sorrow, he quietly said, "I just wanted to hold our baby..." before his head rolled limply to the side and his breath escaped in a sick gargle.

"Don't go, Cantor!" The grey mare pleaded, as if her wishes were to help at all. "I can't do this without you!"

A wise grin cracked over Cantor's face and he closed his eyes to try and bypass the pain. "You'll be fine! I'm sure-... sure of it!" He laughed, dribbling more crimson life fluid from the corner of his mouth. "Sorry, Faith... But I... don't think this is... one in- injury I'm gonna... walk... walk away from!" He tried to make the comment into a joke, but before he could attempt to laugh, his body ceased up and he screwed his eyes tight as his heart beat for the last time, leaving 'the most powerful pony to have ever lived' nothing more than another piece of dead meat in this hellish facility.

Faith shook her head. "No..." She mumbled. "Not you too!" She exclaimed, rocking Cantor's body back and forth like she was trying to wake him. "Please! I can't loose both of my best friends in the same day!"

She begged and pleaded for this all to not be happening, but this was one nightmare she couldn't wake up from. "Cantor!" She called, but the alicorn just lay there unmoving, staring behind closed eyes, open-mouthed up at the shadowed ceiling. "You can't do this to me!" Faith continued, shaking Cantor's limp foreleg for any sign of life, but when the same result continued to greet her, all she could seem fit to do was give up. "You utter bastard..." She sobbed, letting the deceased stallion's limb fall into her lap.

Flitter wasn't crying: she was too confused to even start. Here was a pony, who promised her salvation, lying dead on the floor. She couldn't confide with herself in her mind, but there was one thing she knew of to be true that was staring her in the face: she, as well as every single pony on this planet was already dead. To persevere in the face of doom was more brainless than stupid. She thought to herself that she would be with her sister soon, but instead of feeling a little more at peace with this affirmation, all the poor young mare could think about was pain and suffering - as if her whole life leading up to this moment had suddenly deteriorated into a ferocious nightmare.

...But this was one nightmare she wouldn't wake up from...
> Sorrow on the Brink of Paradise
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 10: Sorrow on the Brink of Paradise

Darkness had set in as profound as the cold which constricted his body. Cantor's eyes flashed open in a state of sacred fright. He took in every aspect of this new environment in an instant; there wasn't much to see. 

Everything: the sky, the 'walls'... Even the weightless floor held less than a reflection across its jet black surface.

He slowly rose to his hooves, finding he had to exert so little effort in doing so, it was almost as if he were floating. Once on all fours, Cantor allowed his eyes to wander, or, as best they could with such a bleak scene. Distinguishing an emotion within himself proved difficult; he wasn't entirely scared, and his curiosity was at a peak, however the unease in his stomach coupled with the chilled air nipping at his coat made him shiver.

After what seemed like a while: a while fraught with confusion and bewilderment, Cantor tried his voice.

"H- hello...?" He asked, fooling himself into expecting a reply. He waited, and as predicted, no one spoke back - and as a second thought, he wondered how he'd feel if someone did.

The frost-pelted alicorn sank to his haunches and shivered, hugging his forelegs into his chest while he wracked his brain for a decision. He allowed himself to become immersed in thought, but tried to hide in ignorance: it was blindingly obvious, and in an odd sense, relieving: he was dead. Finally.

Cantor allowed himself a stout chuckle as he privately admitted he was impressed he was eventually brought down: even an ancient prophesy with a villain to boast couldn't hold him down for long...

True, the teenage alicorn was disheartened that he was devoid of the living, but he just couldn't bring himself to react any more than a disgruntled sigh. He almost yawned.

Oddly, Twilight Sparkle was not at the forefront of Cantor's mind. Instead, the young alicorn's thoughts were centred rather worryingly around Faith. Maybe it was because he knew Twilight was safe. Maybe it was because he felt he had some kind of  responsibility over the grey mare. Either way, Cantor made peace with himself that the matter was out of his hooves, and all he could do now was watch, and pray...

But then, the departed stallion caught a glimpse of something: a single point of light, like a lone star in a bleak sky, or like a tiny imperfection in a photographer's darkroom.

He rose up once more and squinted through the dark. There wasn't much to see, and after a second scout of his surroundings, Cantor affirmed that the tiny white dot was all there was in this realm. He found himself with one of two options: go towards the light, or sit back down, and do nothing. Yet only one of these decisions led him to immediately foresee an inevitable outcome...


*****


An age of adverse ambling later, and Cantor was so close to the light source, that he found himself able to pick out distinguishable features of the realm beyond. He could see pale violet mountains capped with the most pristine snow - snow almost as clean as the cotton-candy clouds drifting carelessly in the immaculate blue summer sky. Deep green pine trees rose up out of the blackness, and before making a forcible asent up the purple rockface, had encircled an expansive basin of crystal clear water, starbursts of glorious light blooming from the sufrace's shallow waves as they broke upon the pebbles of the shore.

Truly, it was the most breathtaking location the alicorn had ever seen, and he was met with the odd instinctual sensation of never wanting to leave. As he drew ever closer, a mildly warm breeze met his fur, and the new-found sustenance of sunlight made him take a deep breath of floral mountain air.

But he stopped just before the brink, where the dark met grass. Grass so vivid and crisp, he could already feel it softly prick his underhoof. At first, the white stallion couldn't find the words to speak over the stunning scenery, but when he did, all he managed to mutter was "What is this place?" In an air of pseudo-unease, he already knew, and it was the most beautiful place he could only dream of.

Cantor waited and waited; too afraid to make the final step, but still rather reluctant to stay here in the chill. He took a long, hard stare at his view behind, taking into careful consideration the unending blackness of the prior world. And eventually, his flurry of internal thoughts manifested themselves as a vocalised monologue.

"But I can't go..." He spoke, turning back to face paradise. "There's so much I have left to do..." He dropped his head to the non-existent floor below as the crushing reality (or rather not) began to finally sink in. 

"What about my friends?" Cantor continued to ponder, watering carelessly at the eyes. "What about Faith? What about Flitter, Blue and Cloud...? I've left them all alone..." Tears made their way around his gently closed eyelids and splashed soundlessly to the floor. "What if they don't find a way back? No one will ever know why we never came back: how we all died... It will be all in vain..." He slumped to the ground, biting his lip as hard as he could, yet no pain was felt. "Twilight..." He muttered soullessly. "How's she going to cope?" His thoughts turned dark as he was met with the cruelty of the death some ponies call 'closure'. "I'm never going to even get to see my foal." He grumbled, becoming vicious as for some reason he frequently did. "Not be with the pony I love when she gives birth. This is unfair! What kind of heaven is-...!?"

A slow sound of splashing water became apparent ahead, something unlike the regular breaking of waves and more like somepony dragging their hooves through the surf.

With fearful reluctance, Cantor gradually lifted his head, eyes still glossy with tears. Upon realising what was going on up ahead, Cantor immediately developed an expression of haunted confusion.

From out of the lake, an embodiment of himself rose. Though it was not as the alicorn would have favoured his doppelganger to take the appearance of. The lake-treading pony wore teeth which protruded out over his bottom lip like sharpened alligator's, and a mane which billowed fire like a woodland inferno. Though perhaps what was most chilling part about this devious mirror, as it always was, were those endless black eyes which darkened shadow and haunted the most gruesome of nightmares. Cantor's gaze was reflected in those eyes. But somehow, the late alicorn did not seem all that afraid. In fact, he felt like he was in control for once.

The dark pony continued to rise from the water, and carried on walking until he felt the rocky shore beneath his hooves, just a few inches below the water.

The pair remained motionless for several moments: Cantor just sitting there, staring with expectant eyes, whilst his other self merely looked onward with a slight grin, the small waves gently breaking against the backs of his legs.

When the fire-maned stallion opened his mouth to speak, though it was only subtle, Cantor greater noticed his jaws lined with the little white daggers. "Hm..." He pondered in mild interest, taking in the scenery and not looking at Cantor. "I have assumed it would look a little like this..." He stated, voice calm, yet unnerving.

Cantor could only sigh and ask one of the two questions plaguing his mind. "Just... Who are you?" He questioned, unsure whether he was looking forward to the answer.

"Me?" Replied the dark alicorn in mock surprise. "Well isn't it obvious?" He continued, resuming his steady pace toward Cantor, speaking calmly as he walked. "I'm a part of you: and you're a part of  me... We need each other to survive..."

"That's not true..." Cantor grumbled, staring at the grass just a few feet in front of him.

Hearing this, the doppelganger halted his progress and turned his head quizzically as he responded to the resilient stallion's remark. "Is that so?" He politely questioned. Cantor didn't look up. "I assume, Cantor, that in your statement, you were referencing the assumption that... you didn't need... me?" When the seated alicorn in front of him failed to respond once again, the dark-eyed pony upped his game. "Tell me," He began, a more sinister tone passing his lips. "How does it feel to... 'turn' on your friends...?" Surprised that even at this, Cantor didn't react, the sharp-toothed counterpart increased his taunt.

"...Tell me," He said again, voice becoming far less refined than before. "What do you think will happen to your girlfriend, Cantor? What will happen to the princesses, Canterlot, Ponyville, hell, all of Equestria with you not around...?" Knowing this was getting to the newly departed pony, the darker of the two persisted in aggravating the young stallion, seeing if he could push him over the edge. "They shall all die, shan't they?" He continued, pacing ever closer to the pained alicorn. "After all, who's there to protect them? Who's there to protect your little foal? Tell me-!" He growled, sinking to the floor and stretching his neck out to get as close to the bitter pony as possible without crossing the boundry. 

The next time he spoke, he did so in an evil, and unforgiving tone. "Tell me..."  He breathed more than spoke. "Who's going to be there to stop the 'bad guys' coming back...? Surely you have noticed two of your old crew members had been tasked with your execution..." He grinned a wide, pointed grimace. "Who would do such a terrible thing?"

As the first sign of life shown in the few minutes the blazing pony had been speaking, Cantor wearily shook his head. "I don't know..." He grumbled.

"You don't... know..." The fiery pony echoed, standing up once again to loom over Cantor like a menace. "To further your response," Continued the other stallion with a wry look. "Do you know, maybe... where you are...? Are you confused as to whether you're upon the threshold of Heaven, or scared; aware of the fact that you have murdered ponies in the past, that you may be sat before the gates of hell...? Perhaps some kind of lonely purgatory...?" The doppelganger arched his head maliciously, a sadistic grin spreading over his lips. "But..." He started with an even more sinister approach than before. "If that were the case... Who might I be...?"

Cantor sucked in a breath and turned his head upwards to face the creature, eyes lashed with fury. "I don't know..." He seethed gruffly with an abominable scowl. "...You tell me."

The demonic embodiment of Cantor, upon hearing this, paused, and made an effort to elaborately take a deep breath before releasing it through the partial gap between his razor-sharp teeth. "I'd like to." He affirmed with his grin. "However, I cant. You see, I'm a part of your own inner psyche - in short, I'm you. And you're me."

Cantor appeared to be troubled by this notion, but, to the duplicate's surprise, non-resistant. "You think I don't know that?" The white alicorn asked with a struggled grunt, like the weight of this oppressive world was wearing him down. "You think I'm unable to acknowledge the truth!?"

"And what of the truth!?" The dark-eyed pony retaliated harshly. "What can come of the truth? Peace of mind? Substance? The age-old ideal of justice!?" Once again, the other-worldly pony grew agitated. "What is the truth, Cantor? What's it for?" He stomped his hoof into the fabricated soil with great force, though nothing extraordinary occurred. "What are you going to do with the truth when you find it? How is anything you do here going to affect the piece of meat you are back where it matters?" He drew even closer to Cantor, who was once again staring at the floor. But no matter this fact, the passive stallion could feel the angered pony's hot breath on his face as he spoke with heavy breath.

"Because..." Cantor began in a hush, still staring at the tufts of grass around his doppelganger's hooves. "Because you're trying to scare me. You think something as dark; as evil as yourself can dampen my soul... But you're wrong..." The white alicorn continued with empowerment, though he didn't peer up from the ground. "I know you're a part of me. It sickens me to accept that you and I share like feelings, but... you're the pathetic part of me, the part of me, I can't control. You think you can dominate my heart, but you know something, you're nothingto me..." Cantor's voice became dark, and volatile as he continued, smirking under his own steam. "You can't stand in my way." The alicorn persisted through barred teeth. "I won't die today: that isn't my choice to make, neither is it yours..."

Cantor shot his hoof up and snatched up a good portion of the side of his counterpart's face, gripping it tightly as he forced it downward and made fierce eye-contact. "...And that... is the truth."

The world shattered around him - the shards of light making up his dark doppelganger exploding into pieces before being consumed by the blackness all around. The beautiful landscape was replaced with a cold, dark room littered with death and gripped by stale fear. All of a sudden, Cantor felt the hostile panic of falling a second before his eyes flared open and he took in a gargling breath.

His chest heaved upwards and he began to choke. The unquenchable thirst for oxygen coupled with the need to choke on his own semi-coagulated blood felt like torture to the stallion. It was as if he had just run ten miles uninterrupted whilst holding his breath, yet couldn't decide between a drink and air.

Forcing himself onto his knees, Cantor put all the force he could muster into clearing his lungs, whilst binging on as much breath as he could when he had the dire chance.

After several minutes of lingering on Death's door, Cantor finally built up enough slack to relax a little. Still kneeling, the recently revived alicorn found himself to be no longer choking, but still at a massive loss of breath. As he knelt and rapidly gasped deeply, he allowed himself a weary look around. He noticed through his pained eyes that he seemed to be in the same room he remembered losing consciousness in. The same light above flickered dimly like weak, persistent, silent lightning, and the same bodies carpeted the frigid metal ground - including Red's slashed hide and the two traitorous mercs which had not only failed to complete their mission, but had denied their own lives in doing so.

There was one noticeable difference, however, and Cantor picked up on this particularly quickly; and that was the fact that he was all alone, spare the lifeless body of one brave stallion. 

With enough energy to muster a smirk, Cantor let his head fall comfortably downward as he shared a private comment aloud with himself.

"I really need a safer line of work..."


*****


"Faith..." Flitter whined as she dragged her hooves heavily across the chilled floor behind the fast-paced pegasus. "Can we please just rest for a minute? My hooves feel like they're gonna burst..." The lilac mare proceeded to stumble into the wall closest to her, propping herself up against its hard surface to try and take some of the weight off her aching hooves as she grievously followed.

Faith didn't reply - she didn't even acknowledge the teenager's complaint; not this time, at least. She just kept her golden eyes forward, checking the numerous vents and corridors for attackers whilst they searched for Blue Bolt and Cloud Nine - not that Faith held out much hope for the separated pair now.

The stone-grey, blood-slashed pegasus kept an emotionless face as she briskly walked towards her questionable destination.

Once again, Flitter weakly complained. "Please, Faith," She sighed. "Can we stop for just five minutes?" It was at this point where the unicorn's knees were beginning to buckle with each step, and she was finding it hard to keep her balance. Unlike the hardened, older mare who was more experienced with long-distance walks over uncomfortable ground with heavy saddlebags, Flitter was much more delicate - even more so with everything she had endured today. "Can we at least slow down?" The exhausted mare continued. "Why are you in such a hurry, anyway?"

Having heard enough, Faith stopped in her tracks and quickly turned to face Flitter with cold eyes. "You want to have a break?" She asked. Flitter nodded semi-eagerly. "Well you can plant your little rump right there and wait to be picked off by those creatures." She harshly spoke, gesturing towards the hard ground. Despite her curt attitude, Flitter accepted the rest and fell to the floor, propping her back up against the wall as she breathed deeply. "But as for me," Faith continued. "I'm gonna try and get to the others. There's a chance that we'll survive longer if we're in a larger group." She turned away and continued to walk with a heavy stride. "Not that it'll matter..." She muttered to herself.

She was about to 'round the corner when a soft sob made her pause for a second. She looked back down the previous hallway to see the young unicorn hugging her legs tightly and trembling, her face buried into her knees, clenching her teeth to stop herself from crying. 

Finding it impossible to be as heartless as to effectively leave the frightened girl to her death, Faith, albeit with a reluctant sigh, turned back around and planted herself next to Flitter. She rummaged around in her saddlebag for the pair of candy bars she had picked up from the ship. She tossed one to the unicorn on her right and began to tear her own one open with mental detachment.

After catching the small oat bar, Flitter did little other than observe as Faith slowly unwrapped hers. The pegasus pulled the thin, shiny wrapper down halfway and proceeded to simply examine the golden-brown snack.

"You know," Faith started after a light sigh, not changing her view on the candy bar as she rotated it in her hooves. "I had a lot of these when I was younger..." She stated, noticing the nuts and raisins nestled within the oats. "Aside from the occasional chocolate, they were the only sweet snack I could have... Yeah, apples and carrots were nice and all, but... They just couldn't live up to these." She took a bite, allowing the oats to become unstuck within her mouth, letting the honey that stuck them together coat her tongue. "I was gonna save 'em for on the way home, but..." She gave a self-pitying sigh. "...But that plan has kind of gone out the window, now..."

It was at this point, Faith felt she was expected to cry. But she just couldn't: she was far too depleted to shed a tear, even now that much of her hope was gone. She was feeling so run down that she couldn't even be bothered to chew any more.

Faith suddenly felt an unexpected pressure on her shoulder, and turning her head weakly up, she caught sight of Flitter's sombre expression. The pair held eye contact for several seconds, unsure as to what to say to each other at this point. Regardless, Faith tried to approach.

The grey pegasus turned away to look ahead once more, to stare at another blood stain smeared across what could be observed as a skewed health and safety poster. "How it it fair, Flit?" She asked, shaking her head heavily. "How can we be charged with such misfortune...? There are plenty of bad ponies out there, but why do we have to suffer? I mean..." She continued, nibbling a little at her oat bar. "There's... There's you and... your sister... I don't think I've said it yet, but... I'm sorry..." She said quietly, having the courtesy to look at the only sister to give a weak nod of condolence. 

Flitter smiled a thanks, and waited for Faith to continue. 

"It must be hard to loose somepony you've known all your life... I'm not trying to compare, but... I've lost two ponies who were important to me today..." Once again, she turned away and sighed, resting her head on her forelegs as she crossed them over her knees. "We didn't know each other for all that long, but Cantor, Red and I really hit it off, you know... I can't believe they're really gone." The notion hadn't fully set in yet, and as well as the fact that she was still in danger helped Faith reconcile with herself that she did care, yet the time for that amount of sentimentality was not yet.

The two mares rested there for a minute or so, and after a while, Flitter finally started on her own bar of oats.

"Faith...?" The young girl asked timidly after her first mouthful.

"Yeah?" The pegasus replied, peeking over her shoulder, the swollen cut across her nose entering her periphery.

Flitter seemed hesitant to ask her question, but decided to once she realised she didn't have much to lose. "Do... Do you believe in Heaven?" 

Upon hearing this, the grey mare seemed to be taken back. Not necessarily because she was surprised that Flitter had said such a thing, but truly because, she'd never really thought about it - which she let the other girl know.

"Huh..." Replied the unicorn with a troubled look about her. "See I haven't really thought about it either..." She affirmed, and despite the topic, she didn't seem all that sombre. "But it's a nice thought, isn't it? As in, not having to suffer any more..." Faith nodded agreeably. "I hope that, when I die... Whether that be here, or seventy years from now at home in my bed, I'll get to see my sister again." Her thought made her smile, and took away some of the fear in her heart.

Faith raised her eyebrows tentatively. "Wow..." She remarked, impressed. "I'm surprised you can talk about something like that so easily. A lot of ponies find it hard to accept their own death - even right at the end..." Faith shot a trusting wink Flitter's way and gently knocked her shoulder with a hoof. "For the record, Flit, I think you're really brave." Faith said with a grin, which the unicorn mare promptly returned. "I don't think any filly your age has gone through what you've gone through today. I'm proud of you."

Blushing, Flitter gave a small chortle. "Thanks." She quietly replied, taking another bite of her cereal bar.

Suddenly, a sharp burst of radio static made the two mares jump. They had been wearing their ear-pieces for so long that they had grown over-comfortable, and had forgotten that they had them in at all. Needless to say, though the loud hiss right next to heir heads made them panic for a second, the couple of ponies were overcome with relief when they inferred that not only Blue Bolt and Cloud nine alive, but that they were sure they were no longer the only two left in this world.

Breathing an exaggerated sigh of glee, Faith placed her hoof to her ear and applied a little pressure, trying to hear whoever was speaking: the signal was feint, yet a voice could definitely be heard from the other end. 

When the distorted voice cleared, Faith pressed down on the transmitter button and spoke eagerly. "Blue!?" She cried. "Is that you? Can you hear me!?" With this new technology, the mare had forgotten that her own volume would not necessarily affect the strength of the signal.

Being the eagle-eyed girl that she was, Flitter noticed an imperfection upon Faith's earpiece. Shuffling closer to the pegasus, Flitter reached out and began to adjust the grey mare's receiver.

"Whoa!" Faith yelped as she felt the foreign touch against her skin. Darting her view to the right, she saw Flitter's coiled hoof just a few inches away. "What are you doing!?" She asked loudly, excitement still evident in her tone.

"Ssh!" The young girl snapped back before quickly taking on an apologetic expression. "I'm adjusting your receiver." She stated, as if it was obvious. "We're supposed to be working on a 4.5 frequency. Your radio is on 4.7... I think that's why you can't hear anypony."

"Oh..." Faith replied and waited for Flitter to fix her earpiece.

"I mean, I can hear who's talking just fine." The fair coated unicorn said with a growing smile. "And I think you'll be pleasantly surprised..."

As Flitter adjusted Faith's receiver, the voice of a young stallion became clearer, and to the grey mare's glee, it was quite obviously Cantor's.

"Helooooo..." He cooed. "Is anyone gonna answer?" As the disembodied stallion continued to call, Faith's great smile became wider and wider as her hope was restored. "Bloody Hell, it smells awful in here... Like... well, a bloody Hell... Huh, I wonder if that's where the expression comes from...? For fuck sake! Someone answer me! Please, just... let me know there's someone left..."

The radio went quiet, and though Faith was overcome with delight that her companion was alive, she took that moment to compose herself.

"So, back from the dead, huh?" Faith began, the apparent smugness very evident on her tone. "Ooh, I've never met a zombie before."

"Faith!" Came the elated reply, the volume of the reply nearly bursting the pegasus' eardrum. "Hell yeah! I knew you'd still be kicking!" His relief and joy were more than notable in the way he spoke.

Faith laughed. "You know, for a zombie, you sound very much alive." The blonde mare remarked. "I'd tell you where I am, but I'm afraid you're gonna come and eat my brain." She added with an unseen smirk.

"Actually, there's another fleshy pink thing of your's I'd rather eat first..." Cantor replied coyly.

"Um, Cantor...?" Flitter started, unsettling the alicorn to some degree.

"H-hey, Flitter..." Cantor replied, his new-found enthusiasm sounding artificial upon the discovery of the younger mare listening in.

"How are you still alive? I thought you were shot." The unicorn enquired. "And... And you stopped breathing..." Her last note was that of a a depleted one. She sounded upset despite the fact that Cantor had come back.

"Aah, don't worry about me." Jested the young stallion. "I've been bitten, crushed, torn apart, burned, punched, stabbed and stretched." He replied nonchalantly. "You think some pissy little pieces of metal can keep me down for long?"

"Easy, boy..." Faith interjected, taking on a serious tone. "Tell me, can you get to us?"

There was another rather lengthy pause coming from the stallion's side. "Sure." He said blankly after a while. "Because I know exactly where you are." The sarcasm was viscous.

Faith sighed and shook her head, though it was impossible to keep the smile returning to her face. "We've been walking for about half an hour straight." She affirmed. "I have some idea-"

"Half an hour!?" Came the exasperated yell from Cantor. "How big is this place!?"

"To be fair," Faith started. "About twenty minutes were spent climbing stairs." She said, feeling her legs begin to complain out of painful remembrance. "We're at the top of some huge tower. I think if there's gonna be some way off this Hell-hole, it'd be up here."

A second of agreeable muttering passed before a laboured groan came through the couple of mares' ear pieces. "Does that mean I'm gonna have to climb loads of stairs with three legs?" He whined. "And in darkness, no less!" He exclaimed at the end.

Faith's mischevious grin was evident when she next spoke. "What's wrong, Cantor? I thought you loved long dark things."

"Oohh..." Cantor replied with a frustrated shudder. "When I get to you, I'm gonna make you eat those words."

"Kinky." Replied Faith with another chortle. "Anyway, I'll direct you to the tower and... 'motivate' you during the climb."

There was audible breathing and heavy steps coming through the speakers as the alicorn began to hobble along, dragging his dislocated leg which still had a hefty claw speared through it along behind him. "...I don't like the sound of that..." Cantor worriedly said.

"Don't worry," Faith proudly spoke with yet another light chuckle. "I've got a number of 'motivational songs' lined up for you, zombie... Speaking of which, I haven't forgotten about your 'fleshy pink' remark earlier on..." The self-assured mare added with a smirk.

There was no reply...

> Top of the Tower
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 11: Top of the Tower 

"Damn... Bastard... Stairs..." Cantor breathlessly grumbled as he clawed himself up the final few bumpy non-slip metal steps. The last six songs being dreadfully sung through his earpiece by the growingly irritating grey mare had been forever branded onto his mind like a number on the posterior of cattle.

Cantor lie there on the cold metal surface, his vision pulsing black as he took deep, rapid breaths which hurt his chest. Faith's somewhat intentionally bad singing had become background radiation - nothing like ambience at all. "Maybe this is what she meant by 'motivation'. Cantor thought; too tired to even speak. "Or at least the quirky way she said it..."

After several minutes, Cantor had recovered enough breath to comfortably speak. To his great agitation, he had to wait for Faith to finish making a meal of 'Stairway to Heaven' before he could quickly interject to avoid giving the pegasus a chance to ask if he 'liked it' and start another song.

"Faith-" Cantor quickly started. "I've got a headache. I've just climbed over a hundred flights of stairs with a dislocated leg and a punctured lung. To say I've had a bad day is an insulting understatement. Please... No... More... Singing..."

"...Just one more?" Asked Faith with enthusiasm, followed by a jestful laugh.

"No!" Cantor snapped in response.

"Okay, fine, jeez..." The pegasus replied, sounding a little hurt. "So you say you're at the top of the stairs?" She asked, adopting a much more austere approach.

"Yeah." Cantor breathed as he struggled back to his hooves.

"You should see three doors: one on the left, one in front of you, and one to the right." Informed Faith as she looked to Flitter for support. "Now if I'm right in thinking, only the front one and the right one should be open: the left one's closed."

Cantor nodded. "Correct."

"Go through the one in... fffront...?" She instructed, sounding a little unsure towards the end. "It was the one straight ahead, wasn't it, Flit?" She asked, failing to take her hoof from the transmitter before she did so.

The sound inside Cantor's ear disappeared, and he was met with the looming silence of the two extremely dark corridors. To break the chills of the silence, Cantor touched his hoof to his earpiece. "Uhh, girls... Which door do I go through?" He asked cautiously, changing focus between each entrance, expecting something sinister to leap out from the shadows when he wasn't looking.

Hesitantly, Faith responded. "T-the r-right one."

"Which is...?" Cantor replied in monotone, rolling his eyes. 

"Huh?" Came the mare's dumbfounded reply. 

Cantor rolled his eyes for a second time before answering. "You said 'the right one'." He stated dryly. "Does that mean 'the door on the right' or 'the correct door'?"

"The one on the right." Faith answered, still sounding somewhat unsure.

"You don't sound all that convinced." Cantor replied with a dull tone. "Why can't you come to me?"

There was a long silence until Faith responded gingerly. "...W-we're... feeling sick." She said with a little sincerity. "Ooh, my stomach keeps cramping every couple of minutes!"

Cantor grumbled a sigh and stared blankly ahead with dark eyes. "Sounded fine during those half-dozen songs..."

Again, another long silence occurred. "Be a gentlecolt and come to us girls." Faith spoke harshly, though her playfulness was evident on her tone. "The door on the right..."

There was only silence on the mares' end after Faith stopped speaking. 

Cautiously as ever, Flitter turned to the grey pegasus, who seemed to be wearing a troubled expression. "You think he's going to be okay?" The lilac mare asked with concern. 

Faith shrugged as she screwed up her cereal bar wrapper and threw it against the opposite wall. "I'm sure he'll be fine." She affirmed confidently. "But I doubt he'll be thanking me for my efforts in 'motivation'..." The blonde mare continued, a subtle smirk reforming on her lips. "How rude..."


*****


"You look like shit." Faith remarked to Cantor as he slowly hobbled closer to the couple of mares.

"Thanks..." Cantor replied sarcastically, stopping some distance from Faith and Flitter to allow them to make up the distance.   "Nice to see you, too..." The alicorn leaned against the wall and continued to take long, deep breaths. The immediate pain in his chest and punctured rear leg had become so much of a constant that the bloodstained stallion had grown somewhat used to it.

"In all seriousness, though," Faith started as she grew close to Cantor, breathing a relieved sigh.  "I'm glad to have you back with us. Though I'm a strong,"

"Strong." Cantor repeated agreeably.

"Confident," Faith continued with a grin.

"Cocky." Cantor proposed in place of an improvement.

"Independent mare," The grey pegasus finished, finding it difficult to keep even the slightest straight face. "It's always good to have a stallion around to provide the bulk... Shame we don't have one of those anymore..." She rallied, shooting Cantor a shameless wink before her glow dimmed slightly as her eyes fell to the floor. "...It's a shame about Red..." She muttered, scuffing her hoof on the slightly rusted metalwork. 

"Hey," Cantor quietly, but firmly spoke, drawing the downhearted pegasus' eyes to his rousing smile. "He died protecting ponies he cared about. That's more of a hero's death most ponies could hope for..." He affirmed, allowing the grey mare to mimic his slight grin.

With an accepting sigh, Faith closed her eyes and nodded her head. "Yeah..." She breathed. "But still, he was only like, forty... He still had a lot to do. More so," She continued with sensitivity. "He had a family... They're gonna be heartbroken..."

Upon hearing this, Cantor's expression dissolved from sympathetic to sinister; his eyes widened slightly and he found himself staring straight through Faith like she was made of glass.

In a concerned sense of curiosity, Faith tried to intercept the stallion's vacant line of sight. "...Cantor...?" She asked, moving her large golden eyes in front of his. "What's wrong? A-apart from the obvious...?" She tried to crack a smile, but the alicorn's face remained omer and hard. 

Cantor remained only breathing for several seconds before he collected enough of his thoughts to form a scentence. "Oh..." He began, seemingly startled. "I... I was just thinking about my f... family..." He relayed openly, unsure as to why he so freely expressed himself. "When you said about Red's, I... I realised I might never get to see my family again..." Despite his tone and topic, Cantor couldn't help but form a nostalgic smile. "We're not a very big family: only two and a half members, you know... Unless of course you count our close friends. In that sense, we're huge! Regardless, Twilight, our foal and I are a family, and... and I want to be a part of it..."

Faith began to take on a more sympathising persona, yet she was wise enough to know that these kind of feelings were as impairing as they were delicate.

"Come on, Cantor," Faith began with confident enthusiasm. "You've said this before! And didn't you decide not to dwell on these feelings while there was still hope?"

Cantor nodded weakly before looking up and gauging coinciding eye-contact with the mare. "You're right." He said, admitting quick defeat in his own argument; knowing it was for the better.

"While we still have options available, there's no way we can let ourselves fall into self-pity." The pegasus continued with unnaturally occurring vigour. "We haven't even searched all of this floor yet, and I'm confident that there's gonna be some kind of landing site when we're this high up; away from everything."

Cantor's placiated and reformed composure gave rise to that of proud stature and an expression of leadership as he pried himself away from the wall and accepted Faith as an organic crutch for him to find stability in. 

With a confident stride, the three equines steadily made their way down the corridors and hallways, checking the many rooms and areas of storage for anything and everything that looked like it might help them off this planet. They had each other's backs: even the very young, hesitant Flitter seemed to be coming out of her shell of innocence and taking the lead at intervals. Whatever prejudices they may have held before; whatever opposing beliefs they may have kept, didn't matter at all now. The three lost and homesick ponies moved together as one: a group of soldiers, comrades... A group of friends.

They had decided to fight, to survive...

...To live.


*****


The thick metal plate separating the cold, moist hallway from the thinly carpeted room slid up into the ceiling. Immediately, the stench of the damp, rotting carpet hit the ponies like it had done for the other half-dozen rooms. The contents of this office-like enclosure was difficult to set aside from the other rooms too; thin, dark plastic chairs were left in a dissarayed congress around a large oval table. Papers were scattered across the stained grey enamel surface as well as broken glasses and jugs of stagnant water.

Flitter, who stood above the kneeling Faith and Cantor reached into the darkness and shone the light on her laser rifle across the less-than clinical walls, highlighting oddly-coloured posters, a wooden-framed cork-board adorned neatly with papers, and a large incandescent silver screen stretching from floor to ceiling.

"Nothin'." Faith declared spitefully. "Just like the others."

"One thing strikes me as odd, though..." Cantor began as the ponies entered the darkened room and tried the lights, which took several seconds to weakly flicker on.

"What's that?" Flitter asked, pulling out a chair and peering under the table.

Cantor admired the poster on the wall, attempting to decode the mind-boggling symbols printed in bold red. "It's that this area of the facility seems most derelict..." Stated the alicorn with a focused brow. "Yet all those creatures were back down below nearer the surface."

"Oh, yeah..." Faith mused thoughtfully as she scoured the filing cabinets at the far side of the room. "You're right, we haven't seen any of them since they swarmed us in that room." She shut the cabinet door with a 'bang' and continued searching the metal trays of illegible documentation, occasionally pulling out one which piqued her interest before declaring it incomprehensible and tossing it to the floor. "Why?" She asked whilst flicking through papers. "You wanna see more of 'em?"

"Pfft!" Cantor scoffed, limping further along the wall until he stopped before a curious - looking vent near the ceiling. "I don't want to see another one of those for as long as I live!" He spoke with direction. "I just find it... 'odd', that there were so many in clusters down below, but up here, it's like... It's like there's a whole different strain of chaos..." He shuddered. "Speaking of which, come and look at this, guys." Cantor beckoned, drawing great interest from both mares.

"What is it?" Faith inquired before seeing for herself what Cantor had discovered; only a second after asking her hollow question, she gave an out-of-character filly's squeal of disgust. "Eugh!" She wretched upon seeing the swollen red tendrils making their way like thick, bloody ivy through the grid-work of the ventilation grate in the top corner of the room. The fleshy-looking substance pulsed with fat, bulging veins running across its surface, as well as giving the odd appearance of 'breathing' as it very slowly thickened and deflated.

Faith, returning to her overly-uncouth nature expressed her disgust in the most simple way she knew how. "It looks like an old stallion's prolapsed ass!" She cried with revulsion.

Cantor gagged a little and turned to the grey mare, who appeared somewhat proud of her own fast-thought observation. "Thanks for that!" He spat with a scowl before turning back to the meaty anomaly. "But in all seriousness, what the Hell is  this stuff?" He asked openly, dragging over a table to stand on for extra height.

It was a struggle to walk with only three functioning legs - let alone clambering onto a smooth plastic surface. He fell off once - much to the pair of girl's 'encouraging' laughter. Though they soon stopped their chuckling when they discovered Cantor was in real pain; and that it was a genuine struggle for him to find the energy to roll over onto his stomach.

After helping the amputee alicorn onto the tabletop, Faith and Flitter subconsciously accepted the job of spotting for the male pony as he made his observations verbal. "I think it's some kind of..." His sentence fell to a mumble as he refrained himself from finishing but continued to make out like he was investigating.

"What?" Faith questioned, skewing her head a little. 

Sighing, knowing how ridiculous this was going to sound, Cantor retried his observation. "I think it's... some kind of, uh... 'living plant' matter..." He stated, pausing for Faith to snicker and diminish his point. However, no such mockery ensued, and after a few seconds, Cantor turned to the couple of mares wearing an expression of mild surprise. "That doesn't sound odd to you?" He asked openly.

"Cantor," Faith replied nonchalantly, eyes closed somewhat tiredly. "With what I've been through today, I wouldn't be shocked if you told me it had a mouth and eyes..." Spoke the pegasus with a smirk.

Cantor returned the smile before referring back to the strange vent. With a surplus of curiosity, he leaned forward and placed his ear next to the opening. As well as a light breeze, the alicorn noticed how the sound of what may be blood pumping through this odd growth's veins was similar to that of somepony swallowing viscously: thick, loud thumps as the bulging bloodlines flexed with a slow metronomic rhythm.

"Well..." Cantor started again after a moment. "It doesn't seem to pose any kind of threat: I don't think there's anything hiding in this vent..." He affirmed, allowing Flitter and Faith to once again help him clamber from the tabletop.

They were about to leave when Faith unexpectedly cupped her hoof around one of the heavy plastic chairs and tossed it across the room. It struck the iridescent screen with a crash before making an almighty, clattering descent to the messy floor over the other chairs and a table. 

The sound had, to say the least, startled Flitter and Cantor. Both of which had now frozen in shock before the stallion found the initiative to turn around and inspect, finding the large screen glowing bright white before a cocky-looking pegasus.

"What the Hell, Faith!?" Cantor barked viciously. "Why'd you do that?" He asked, becoming sidetracked by the white square illuminating the wall.

Faith didn't answer: for she, too had become engrossed and intrigued by the glowing white space. Flitter was staring at the wall too, mesmerized by the oddly-occurring light.

And then all of a sudden, the harsh white lite cut to a shot of one of the ape-like creatures from before. It looked like another male, however it was different than the one seen in the video in the destroyed lab. He leaned back in his chair as he drew his broad, three-digit hand away from the camera, staring into the lens with his large, bulbous green eyes. He wore a lab coat with a large, albeit feint stain over the right shoulder. Beneath which, he wore a pale red shirt with a black tie done up loosely around his unbuttoned collar. Facial hair surrounded his lips and chin, and several pens varying from ballpoints to highlighters lie in disarray within his breast pocket.

"Tower Eight, research log number eighty-seven. Day, 0-4, month, 0-1, year, 30-74. Chief biological engineer and head of creature research, Dr. Harpin recording... " He said, his voice coming over surprisingly soft and well spoken contrary to his rather brash appearance. "We have been able to create a compound which does not send the subject into a crazed fit of pain and violence. However, we have been unsuccessful in controlling their temperament. Though motor function seems to be stable under the creature's own control, attempts to domesticate them have been futile..."

Intrigued to no end, the three ponies paced warily over to the screen with the vividly moving images and watched the creature take out a red pen from his coat pocket and begin scribbling down notes on a piece of paper off-screen. This cinematic reminded the equines of the motion-picture theatres they had back home - only this was much more advanced.

"The easy part is over." Continued 'Dr. Harpin' as he wrote, taking on a much more relaxed and opinionated persona. "Sure some may see the investment into biologically engineered predators as 'impossible', but when one understands meiosis to such a degree as the Noxi Faction, then building such a creature is a breeze..." He turned his gaze from the papers under his hands and stared up at the camera with an off smile. "Some might say we are playing 'God'..." He stated darkly. "But really, what difference is there when comparing oneself to that of a God? Omnipotence? Will? Or is it some kind of sick sense of 'judgement' believers feel they owe themselves the duty to bestow...?"

Harpin let his eyes fall slightly, though his amusement seemed to grow. "My apologies..." He continued with a laugh. "I seem to work myself up somewhat whenever religion becomes involved..." He put an unpleasantly cruel emphasis on that particular word.

Cantor turned nervously towards Faith, but she was too absorbed in the ape-like creature's ramblings to notice the alicorn's eyes staring at her. Seeing as how she didn't react, Cantor shifted his gaze from Faith to the moving images on screen.

"Not many people are aware of old-world history, but less than a thousand years ago, religion was a main factor in many wars: whenever someone should do something that seemed morally 'wrong' from a sensible man's point of view, the notion that the act was spurred by the assailant's 'God' seemed to provide moderate cushioning to their blame..." Dr. Harpin paused for a second or two; simply staring into the camera before he coughed nervously into his large, three-digit fist and sat back in his chair.

"Excuse me," He said with a curt laugh. "I didn't mean for this to turn into a lecture on opinionated history..." Added the doctor with a sigh. "Moving swiftly back to topic," Harpin re-affirmed with volume. As he raised his voice slightly, one of the other creatures peered over from the background as he walked past, only giving a quick glance of curiosity before he continued on his way. "The 'easy' part is over, now we need to develop some form of domesticative inoculation for the creatures, as well as a name for the beasts... Yet this, as with all solutions, will come with time... perhaps some form of telepathy could work to influence these... 'animals'..." The video ended with Harpin staring slightly to the side of the camera, tapping his bearded chin lightly with his taloned finger, a knowing smile spreading across his lips.

The screen shut off abruptly, plunging the room once again into darkness, sharply enough to make the ponies flinch with the sudden change in lighting. 

For not the first time that dreadful evening, the ponies were at a loss for words. Though the silence seemed to promptly pass - as it always did in the end...

"So..." Cantor started with a soft advertent tone, turning to Faith, who was still staring blankly at the shiny square where the picture just was. "The... people who used to live here... Made those creatures that've been trying to kill us?"

Faith changed her gaze to the stallion, her expression difficult to tell from uncaring or absolute. "What gave you that idea...?" She asked in monotone before the slightest elements of amusement grew on her face. "That guy literally just said that."

Cantor, however, found little humour in the remark. "But why?" He asked, not expecting either mare to provide an answer. "Why would they think it would be a good idea to make something so... so vicious, so dangerous, so... experimental..." He queried, focusing his eyes on the dark carpeted floor.

"...Sounds a bit like the last party I went to..." Faith interjected after a longer than adequate pause.

"That one took you long enough." Cantor quickly responded, drawing a light smile from the grey mare. However, he did not loose his conspiration over the matter. "But the big question here is: ...'Why the Hell did someone try and make these monsters...?" Asked the alicorn openly, not sure about pursuing this discussion further. Or, for that matter, unsure as to whether he wanted to find out at all. "Whatever the reason," Cantor began to speak again in dark monologue. "I doubt they were trying to open a petting zoo here..."

And the subject was left at that.

With nothing else to say, the trio exited the musky room, leaving the door open as they had done for all the other rooms they inspected. Doing this so they could easily tell which they had already visited if the need to back-track arose. Their most recently searched room seemed to be the last in the corridor - yet their options were not yet exhausted: a while ago, the ponies came across a barely furnished room around halfway down the corridor: pipes were left bare and exposed along the walls - yet they did not keep uniform like the cables of the facility below. It very much took on the persona of a boiler room, yet without the dry, comforting heat.

Faith walked slowly alongside Cantor to help him keep his balance. Occasionally, whenever she felt it necessary to ruffle her feathers for comfort, the bone protruding from the alicorn's badly amputated wing jabbed along the top of her wing. Even with the bandages wrapped around the entirety of the stallion's mid-section, the jagged bones still seemed to jut out quite alarmingly.

Looking upon the room the ponies had last searched from the front, the corridoor took a sharp right-angle turn to the left, extending some distance before turning another ninety degrees to the right, to follow the perimeter of the last conference-type room. 

Cantor and company reached the sharp right corner of the hallway and stopped, waiting for Cantor to check to see if the coast was clear. 

Slowly edging his head around the edge of the metal wall, the alicorn kept his own personal visibility in mind: keeping a clear mental image of how much of himself he was exposing to the other path. 

But then, once he had had enough of an eyeful to decide the next course of action, Cantor quickly withdrew his head from the area and fearfully turning to console with Faith with mortified eyes.

"What was it?" The pegasus asked impatiently, whilst bearing in mind that she should keep her tone hushed. "What's down there?"

Cantor slowly shook his head, his mouth slightly open in an expression of horrified disgust. "Fuck. That. Shit..." He quietly breathed, his words doing little else than ignite Faith's curiosity - for better or worse.

Mimicking Cantor's cautious approach, Faith nosed ever so slowly around the corner, and instantly, she could see the reason behind the alicorn's vexation. Not too far down the hallway; perhaps ten feet or so, was the last door of the hallway. But something was most definitely wrong... near the foot of the door, there was a small-ish circular opening - only several inches in diameter. The hole looked like it had been drilled through. (And somepony hadn't taken the care to sand down the 'rough' edges...) Surrounding the already rather macabre opening was a substance similar to the curious fleshy matter found growing out of the vent in the previous area.

As well as the vein-scarred tissue spreading halfway up the rest of the wall like thick, skinless fingers, the majority of the walls and floor surrounding the pitch-black hole was saturated with dark, stale, marroon-coloured blood. Even the faltering light above had flecks of red lashed onto it: completing the eerie, sinister scene to a tee. 

"Shit..." The unnerved pegasus breathed with an out of place tone of awe, wearing an ill look.

"I know, right." Cantor replied agreeably, going to walk away. (As if there were any other option.)

Despite her next question, Faith began to follow on after the alicorn. "Where are you going?" She asked, returning to the stallion's bad side.

"Back to that place with the door going outside." He replied knowingly. "I saw something we might be able to walk on when we briefly opened that door..." Inside the boiler room-type place the ponies had passed a while ago was a large service hatch to the outside world. However, once Cantor had manually opened the door, gale-force winds stormed inside, making it difficult for the ponies to keep their eyes open with the dust and sand being pelted at their faces. Once Faith had collected herself over the interior hurricane, (or to whatever similar re-affirmation could be applied) she slammed the hatch shut, restoring 'peace' to the inside. 

Everyone caught a chill from the winds, yet it was only after a peek through the cramped, reinforced window within the door that told the ponies why there was such an unrelenting wind: this planet, as far as the equine eye could make out, was perfectly spherical. (Or thereabouts...) There were no hills, mountains or even trees, just the baron, cracked, dry, dusty earth: nothing to stop the winds as they smoothed this world and became faster and faster, more violent as time marched on...

Regardless, Cantor was aware that the next step was the step outside, and what was left of his team would have to follow suit.

Back near the corner as she watched Cantor and Faith shuffle back the way they had just came, Flitter's curiosity was at a high - though she was certain what the other two had seen was unpleasant to the highest degree, the young unicorn couldn't help but steal a glimpse.

"Uugh..." She groaned in revolution, attracting the attention of the two older ponies.

"What are you doing, Flit?" Cantor asked with a forbidding tone.

"It's like that stuff in the vent from before..." The unicorn observed, taking a step closer. "It's really weird..." She added as she took small paces towards the opening. 

Both Cantor and Faith turned around and made their way towards the lilac mare, though it was Cantor who continued to question the young girl's intent. "Flitter," He began sternly. "Don't go near that." He said, his volume raised.

Flitter shook her head dismissively. "It's alright," She began to justify, scanning the dark hole with curious eyes. "My gun's got a torch on it: I just want to see inside."

"Be damn careful, Flit..." Faith warned, staying by Cantor's side some distance from the corner.

Flitter continued to advance on the strange hole, holding her flash light low to the ground, able to make out the deep red tendrils beyond the morbid opening, when all of a sudden, Cantor felt a wave of unease surge through his shoulders as the hairs on the back of his neck stood to attention.

"Stop!" Cried the alicorn, making both mares flinch slightly. 

"What?" Both Faith and the adventurous young girl asked in imperfect unison.

"Honestly, Flitter," Cantor started, worry evident on his tone. "I really think we shouldn't be anywhere near that. Look at all the blood." He could hear that his voice was starting to tremble himself, and he somewhat hoped his company might pick up on this. Yet they did not.

Stealing one last glimpse of the fleshy interior of the room sealed shut by the red vines, Flitter began to walk back towards Cantor and faith, trying to dismiss herself as she neared. "Sorry, Cantor, I just wanted to see what was on the other side... See if the stuff in the vent was-"

Flitter's sentence was cut squeamishly short as she felt the unwelcome sensation of something warm and wet firmly wrap around one of her back legs.

And her confusion turned to panic as it began to pull her backwards.
> A Place Called Home
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 12: A Place Called Home

Flitter's eyes widened as she opened her mouth to make way for the frantic bleat of terror. However no sound passed her lips as a large sine wave rippled through the red tendril and cast her into the air. She landed with a solid 'thump' on her back as a second prehensile tentacle shot from the dark void and ensnared her other leg.

The young mare, originally winded by the fall had now found her voice - and she was howling with terror. She needn't call out for help since both Cantor and Faith were doing everything in their power to pull her back to relative safety. 

"What the Hell are these things!?" Cried Faith angrily. 

"Don't know," Cantor replied, his teeth barred as he struggled to find his own footing, meaning he and Faith were slowly but surely being pulled along with the distraught Flitter. "But they sure ain't getting another one of us." He finished with renewed force, using the new strain of determination to get more power behind him. 

With a laboured grunt, Cantor managed to cup a forehoof around the corner of the hallway, forming an organic rope between the solid metal wall and the horrified mare. Gradually, Flitter began to stop moving backwards until she had halted movement completely - being suspended in the air by pure tension, which was putting the durability of her joints to the test with all four legs being pulled with great force.

By this point, Flitter had stopped screaming, yet her breath still came out in sharp, panicked gasps. "It hurts!" She cried, screwing her eyes shut as tears streamed down her cheeks. "Please don't let me go!" The horrified unicorn sobbed.

"It's alright." Cantor said with a forced smile. Flitter managed to open her dismayed emerald eyes and stare up at Cantor. She could see he was struggling to hold on, but she managed to find some comfort in his steadfast eyes. "Don't worry," The alicorn continued with a growl. "I won't let go." He tried to smile, however it merely seemed like an awkward grimace. Nevertheless, Flitter seemed to feel a mild encouragement from the stallion's reassuring words.

The lilac mare tried to wriggle her stretching legs, but aside from making it more uncomfortable to the extent where it was painful, she made little difference in her two aids' struggle. Regardless, it was better than doing nothing. She continued to twist her body, wriggle her hind legs and pull herself up on Cantor and Faith's hooves, and slowly - very slowly, but surely, the distance between herself and the ominous opening increased.

With a triumphant laugh at the fact that the equine team was winning, Flitter was spurred to amp up her game, and she begun to thrash against the ensnaring tentacles.

"That's it, Flit!" Yelled Faith with encouragement, her voice seeming stout as she held her breath for an unofficial burst of strength. "You just keep kickin'! We'll get you out of there!"

Despite her less than comfortable position, Flitter seemed rather cheerful: pleased with the notion that she and her friends were winning this fight, and that soon, she would be safe. "Who knows...?" She thought with hopefull glee. "If we keep searching, maybe we will find a way back home." This notion caused the young girls face to light up with a confident smile.

But then, her gain on freedom took a drastic leap away from her - if not for the halted progress, then for the sensation of her rear legs being spread apart.

Once again, Flitter began to panic: the drop from her pseudo - elated state so drastic, that she couldn't help but yelp out in chilled and embarrassed shock as she felt another prehensile entity lightly probe her most delicate areas.

With startled eyes, Flitter attempted to twist her body around to see what the new tentacle was doing to her adolescent marehood. "What's going on!?" She cried in her panic. "What's it doing to me!?"

"Huh?" Cantor asked, unaware that their party had suddenly lost a considerable amount ground in the battle. He nosed over the trapped mare's flank, and saw one of the deep red tentacles slithering between her legs. Clocking Flitter's sickly expression, it took Cantor only a second to realise what was going on. "Kinky..." He stated admittedly, trying to shrug some of the calamity with a laugh. "But not today." 

Cantor let go of the wall he was holding with his right hoof, Dragging Faith forward with Flitter and colliding with the overgrown door, jamming his gun somewhere near the entrance of the squirming opening in the wall. He fired a shot he had collected from Red's body into the hole, and the smaller of the three protruding tentacles: the ones holding onto Flitter's legs, were peppered with an assortment of high-velocity pellets, and snapped.

Still holding onto Cantor and Faith with her front hooves, Flitter wasted no time in scrambling to her hooves. But she only had one foreleg planted firmly on the ground when another, much thicker tentacle thundered from the hole and instantly found its target directly between the unicorn's legs. The sheer force of the organic spire mercilessly puncturing Flitter's virginity knocked the young mare to the ground once again, and this time, her screams rang more blood-curdling than before. 

Cantor grasped both of Flitter's hooves and slid himself under her, placing his one good hind-leg slightly off-centre to the bloodied opening to avoid the same horrible fate. 

Flitter was chocking on her own morbid wails as she viciously lashed out with her rear hooves, trying to knock the relentless organ from inside of her.

"It's okay! It's okay!" Cantor called out, unable to hear even himself over the screaming. Not that it would matter - he knew full well he was telling a lie, though maybe he could do something to spare the poor girl's life.

Firing several more shots downward, the thick tentacle broke as well, releasing the unicorn as she fell screaming to the floor. Cantor slid her along some way, into the reviving hooves of Faith, who continued to pull Flitter from further harm as Cantor reached behind the shrieking unicorn and pulled the terrible muscle from her privates, releasing a gush of blood as it flopped, still twitching, to the floor.

Without warning; without even being given a moment for the pain to die down, another pair of tentacles drove from their lair. One dove straight back into Flitter, somehow making her cry even louder than previously. The other deep red muscle wrapped itself tightly around the unicorn's middle, forcing the contents of her stomach out through her mouth as it squeezed her.

Once again, Cantor caught her, yet this time, Faith had a hold on Cantor, and was also tugging with all her might to pry him and Flitter free.

Though it was little use. Even with two ponies tugging at the animated vines, Faith could tell there was only a matter of seconds before it was all over. Yet what she was unsure of, was who was going to die this time...

Flitter couldn't see anything: she knew no world outside the unbearable pain, and could do nothing to stifle her screams even slightly.

But then, she felt a whole new realm of unease. The agony in her nethers paused for a moment and her screams halted abruptly while she affirmed herself with what she knew was unavoidable. Like a rehearsed torture, Flitter felt the growing pressure build slightly above her flowing entrance. She attempted to clench her hindquaters together to block the intrusion, however it only took a second for her to realise anything she did now was futile.

The pressure against her taught hole released quickly, but during the same time, her pain rocketed to a whole new level, and there was nothing she could do to quell it. This new realm of agony was completely unknown. She could feel the tentacle's proud girth eviscerating her insides as it forced itself through her colon and into her guts. She was coughing, choking and heaving up dribbles of vomit - that is, of course, when she was not thrashing her throat by screaming.

"Please, no!" Cantor cried out, sealing his eyes closed as he violently yanked the unicorn to try and free her. Once again, he reached behind the bleeding mare and fired two powerful shots into the squirming tentacles before his gun made a hollow 'click' the third time he pulled the trigger.

Flitter's piercing howls gradually began to soften - and this was the most cryptic of the sounds she was making. Her screams were now little more than dark gargles and groans. Her eyes began to droop as blood from her ravaged anatomy continued to saturate Cantor's chest.

Flitter's body began to convulse violently befor she gave one final, full-bodied wretch and gallons of internal blood cascaded from her mouth and covered the face of the alicorn below. Only one of Flitter's eyes was barely open, and her gargles of pain were now just weak groans.

Dark, sticky matter soon began to fall from the unicorn's hanging mouth, closely followed by many of her churned internal organs, including a hauntingly vast length of small intestine. The tentacle that had dealt the damage followed suit, evacuating the mare's gaping mouth and flailing about in the air. 

Flitter gave one final rattling wheeze before her body abruptly fell limp, and she died with the thick tentacle running the full length of her body like a soft, murderous spine.

The dead girl's blood had entered Cantor's eyes, and was now stinging him as they mixed with his regrettable tears. "No... No..." He sobbed, cringing, refusing to let Flitter's limp forelegs go.

Faith was horrified, disgusted, and mortified. But above all, she was in control, and refused to stop tugging at Cantor's shoulders. "Cantor, we need to go." She stated firmly. "Now!"

"NO!" Cantor screamed in response, his eyes screwed tight in denial. "I wont let her go!"

"Cantor-!" Faith started, wrapping her foreleg around the stallion's neck, trying to choke his grasp looser. "She's dead! There's nothing we can do for her now!" She continued, the loss clear in her teary eyes, yet her voice showed no emotion other than desperation. 

There was a degrading moment of hush while the steady trickle of blood expanded the pool of life fluid gathering beneath Cantor. With a defeated sob, the alicorn slowly loosened his grip on Flitter's hooves. She quickly began to disappear into the dark opening, and Faith wasted no time in dragging the blinded and exhausted stallion away to their destination. 

The slate-grey pegasus knew for certain that she had enough time to drag the heavy pony with her to safety - and she tried very hard not to think about why: that the hole was far too small for a pony to fit through in one piece.

And she was unaided in trying to block the image of Flitter's mangled corpse when the sharp, haunting sound of bones snapping from behind started to echo through the desolate and bloody halls.


*****


Cantor was gagging and baying with half-hearted cries of anguish as he scrambled with his hooves in whatever direction Faith was pulling him. After being blinded under a torrent of the decimated unicorn's blood, Cantor had pushed himself into a state of horrific shock. All that was playing in his mind when Faith was dragging him was the fact that his face and chest were saturated in life fluids. As he murmured incoherently to himself, he started to notice the slightly viscous texture and warmth from the liquid as it soaked through the layer of hair - which only made things ten times worse.

All of a sudden, Cantor felt a harsh tug on his scruff as he was hurled along the floor, and only a moment later, felt the back of his head strike something hard. The blow made his ears ring slightly, but not so much as to drown out the sound of the hydraulic door closing neatly behind Faith as she hobbled into the room.

Having hit his head - or rather, having somepony throw him into something, Cantor ceased his senseless jittering and begun another long climb to recuperate his breath, only able to listen to Faith curse loudly and ferociously buck repeatedly at what sounded like hollow pipes, their haunting hum echoing through the alicorn's ears like ghostly wails.

"Damn it! Damn it! DAMN IT!" Faith screamed in a helpless release, bucking the space around her until her hooves throbbed. Though Cantor could not see as he rubbed the blood from around his eyes, it was clear the distraught pegasus had quickly lost her edge. "Why'd she have to die like that?" Faith asked with a hollow and fragile tone, almost sounding as if she were addressing her question to fate itself. "I knew she wasn't going to make it from the start! Why didn't I just-... n-no, I... I... but it would have been the right thing to do: she wouldn't have suffered..." The depleted mare continued, adopting an element of fearful nausea in her voice.

"I swear..." She continued, her voice sour and trembling. "We're getting out of here. And when we do, we're gonna have a memorial for everyone who died here today..." She quietly plodded across the room and planted herself beside Cantor, yet the alicorn didn't notice since he was pre-occupied with clearing his vision and regaining his breath.

Cantor cleared enough of the blood to be able to take a look at his surroundings. His eyes still stung, but he could quite clearly see that he was back in the boiler-type room they had passed earlier on. He grew fearful when he could not locate the pegasus, but was filled with an out of place sense of relief when he noticed that she was sitting to his left. Rubbing vigorously at his eyes with the back of his hoof, and at a great loss for words, Cantor allowed Faith to continue to speak - though he couldn't possibly begin to anticipate where the conversation would go.

"I hate it here, Cantor..." Faith stated, as if it were something new. "I've never been homesick; I don't have time for that, but... I just..." Suddenly, she just broke down - seemingly out of nowhere, curling up into a ball and shivering in the wake of her own powerful sobs. 

Hesitant at first, Cantor decided to gently wrap his foreleg over Faith's back, feeling her misshapen, bristly feathers prick at his skin as he pulled her in close. Whenever she cried like this, it was really the only time Cantor could relate to Faith as a mare. Usually quite brash, headstrong, and sometimes a little rude, Cantor looked upon the pegasus as little more than a stallion with different body parts. Faith wanted to adopt the strong, often carefree nature of a colt, and did so in her attitude towards life and the challenges it presented. In effect, this made ponies see the girl as impenetrable, rock hard to her core. And that was just the way she liked it. Regardless of whether she wore the face of the pony she wanted to be, Faith felt comfortable with being housed, fed and treated like a stallion, which made moments like these terribly mortifying and humiliating for her...

"Damn it..." She sobbed quietly as she began to feel the stallion's warmth against her. "I hate crying." She affirmed with frustration. "It's so useless and degrading..." Said the mare, shaking her head slightly. She suddenly became aware of the fair pink bracelet fastened tightly around her upper foreleg. Turning to the leathery band, she caught the glint of the metal buckle reflecting what little light it could find in the murky room. It made her smile: reminded her of home; and how the princess would maybe give her a long holiday to somewhere she was never able to go: anywhere...

Growing up in Canterlot's famous castle, then being moved in to the underground barracks at the age of twelve when she knew just enough about right from wrong to survive had taken its toll on the pegasus. The day where her castle room was cleared of its contents and all but a few of her toys were taken away and put into storage was the day her fillyhood ended. From a very young age, Faith called herself a mare. She was able to lift weights as well as a small number of stallions who also lived in the bunker after a few years, and by her late teens, she was able to perform areal acrobatics to the highest tier.

All these memories: good and bad were roused by simply staring at the thick pink strap, and the glossy silver buckle that was shaped like a heart...















A little over twenty one years ago...

A bright young pegasus filly trotted happily through the long corridors which made up the majority of her home. Her inquisitive golden eyes flitted across the faces of famous ponies she couldn't immediately recall the names of in the extravagant oil paintings hung neatly on the stone walls as her small, yet powerful wings buzzed quietly on her back, making her carefree strides high and exaggerated as she sprung along. 

She passed several guards as she made her way to her large bedroom, who, as they usually did, gave a friendly wink and a smile as they patrolled by.

Only a few minutes after her tutor had dismissed her from the Friday afternoon class, the grey filly had almost reached her destination. But upon rounding the corner to find herself in the corridor her room fed out from, she noticed something was off... There were a large number of cardboard boxes stacked on top of one another in the hallway just off to the side of the bedroom door. As well as this, princess Celestia, who the blonde girl had become rather dependant on, could also be seen staring into the room with a sterile expression.

"Uhh, Sunnie...?" The filly asked in her rough and underdeveloped voice, alerting the solar princess to the new, but not at all unexpected arrival. She turned to the approaching pegasus with a welcoming smile, folding her legs slightly to forge a more intimate contact as the filly drew nearer. "What are these boxes?" Enquired the slate coloured filly, staring through her guardian's slender white legs at the lumpy paper boxes with a concerned intrigue.

"Hello, Faith." The regal mare greeted with her practised smile. "How was school?" She added with genuine, motherly interest. 

The small girl took several steps back in order to look the tall mare more properly in the eye. She failed to express much emotion other than a light grin as she spoke, but regardless, she answered the question as any other filly of her age would. "It was alright..." She said with a shrug. "I didn't learn much, but me and my teacher were learning about cutie marks and special talents." Continued the young pegasus with slowly developing enthusiasm.

"Is that so?" Celestia asked warmly.

The grey filly nodded her head firmly and carried on. "Yep. She said that usually, ponies' special talents are down to fate, but that sometimes, a pony's talent depends on how she grew up and the ponies she's around..." She trailed off with a sense of detachment, and she found herself to be staring out into space. "Sunnie...?" She asked again, re-affixing her contact with the slender white princess. Celestia raised her eyebrows openly in response. "How come I can't go to a school where there are other fillies and colts? Miss Diamond Crest sometimes talks about when she was at school. She says about her 'old friends.'" Once again, the little pony found herself to be staring up into her guardian's deep indigo eyes.

Catching her sudden change in composure, the princess took on a sympathetic frown, and sunk to her knees to bring herself closer to the depleted mare. "What's the matter, Sweetie?" Celestia asked softy. 

The young Faith let out a burdensome sigh. "I don't have any friends..." She said sourly, dropping her blank-flank to the floor with a huff. 

Princess Celestia just smiled. "What about me?" She asked. "Am I not your friend?"

Faith suddenly came across overly-dismissive. "Oh, no! I- I didn't mean it like that!" She quickly replied with a nervous laugh. "I just meant... Well, I- I don't have anypony... my own age to play with..." She finished damply with a disgruntled sigh.

Celestia, though unsure and somewhat hesitant in her own mind, managed to broaden the smile on her face and stand up. "Well that might be about to change." She stated with definition, arousing the filly's attention once more.

"Huh?" Faith queried as she rose to her hooves. Celestia didn't repeat herself as she took a few steps back and ushered Faith toward her bedroom with a sharp nod.

The young pegasus poked her head around a box standing inside the door frame and took in an eyeful of the unfamiliar room where she used to sleep and play. The walls, though having hardly any posters upon them to begin with, seemed particularly bare: just a screen of stone painted a pale purple. The white chest of drawers against the wall opposite to the abundant poster bed held none of the ornaments or nick-nacks the filly had collected over the years, and the similarly coloured bedside cabinet wrote the same story... 

The stuffed toys which used to perch at the head of her bed were all gone, and all which remained atop the carved wooden furniture was a bare feather mattress: no navy quilts baring the night sky - nor the soft, comforting pillows...

Faith spent a good while staring at the empty room, unsure as to what was going on. She always liked to have half a clue about the situation before asking the first question, and today was no exception. 

"Umm... M... Mom?" Faith asked, turning slowly to the princess. Being addressed in such a way caught the celestial mare off-guard, and she had her words stolen for a second. Celestia had always treated Faith as her adopted daughter, and whenever she thought about it, that was truly the case. Regardless, in her youth, Faith had often referred to her guardian as 'Mom'. However, this was the first time she had solely meant to say it, and the princess picked up on this in a heartbeat.

"...Yes, Faith?" Princess Celestia responded after an uncomfortable pause.

The filly turned from Celestia to her baron room, then back up to the alicorn's understanding eyes. "...Where's..." She began with hesitance. "Where's all my stuff...?" Queried the young girl with a plainly fearful expression, finding it difficult to pre-determine the situation and assuming the worst. "Are you... Getting rid of me?"

Noticing the petite well of tears form in Faith's large gold eyes, and becoming moved when she tried to cover up her embarrassment by turning away and pretending to hold a spontaneous interest in the oil paintings in the hall, princess Celestia dropped to the ground and held out a foreleg in the pegasus' direction. "Come here..." She cooed softly as Faith's tears burst into floods and she threw herself into the compassionate mare's shoulder, gripping the upper proportion of her foreleg as tight as ever, never wanting to let go.

Before Celestia could offer any words of comfort, however, Faith was already pleading over her assumptions. "Pease, Mom!" She cried, her words understandable, yet muffled by the princess' shoulder and her full-bodied sobbing. "Please don't throw me away! I know I'm not smart and th- that I d- don't always behave. And th- that I can't f- f- fly yet, but... but ple- ease don't make me go away!" She continued to violently sob for a minute or so, always increasing her grip around Celestia's neck before she pulled back and stared deeply into the princess' mystifying eyes, becoming lost in the indigo aura. Yet she found the sight too painful to stare at for long, and once again, she turned away and sealed her eyes closed, feeling more cool tears trickle down her reddened cheeks and drip from her chin.

"Please..." Faith sighed with grief. "You're like...the only family I have..."

With haste, Celestia interjected before the distraught filly could work herself up once again. "Faith, it's okay!" She said with a soothing tone. The small girl hushed and gingerly turned to face the princess. "I'm not going to move you out!" She continued with a laugh. "I could never do that to you. I... Well, I love you. You're like a daughter to me."

To this notion, Faith seemed to perk up a little. She wasn't crying, but was still rather apprehensive as to what was going on, and she loosened her grip around the princess' neck only slightly. "Then why have you packed up all my things into boxes?" She asked with unease.

"Well..." Princess Celestia started light-heartedly, doing well in dispersing some of the unpleasant air with her dulcet tone. "You're going to be moving to a different bedroom, that's all." She explained, reassuring the filly enough to make her release her grip on Celestia's neck. The princess returned to her tall and proud stance, all the while, Faith merely continued to stare up at her with examinate golden eyes.

"Will I still be in the castle?" Queried Faith.

Celestia took a moment to reply, but the pause hardly seemed to matter. "In a sense, yes." She answered with a smile. 

Faith frowned thoughtfully at the carpeted floor for a second before looking up once more. "What about school?" She questioned with uncertainty. "Will I still be able to go to school?"

"Do you enjoy school?" Celestia responded with placid care and an inquisitive eyebrow.

Faith nodded slowly at first, then took on a more enthusiastic motion. "Yup." She replied, wiping the stray tears from her cheeks as she began to feel more relaxed. "I do like school: I like it a lot." 

Once again, Celestia took a moment or so to affirm with her mind. "We will see." She finally answered. Despite her words, she effortlessly appeared as affectionate as always. "If you are heart-set on continuing to attend school, then I will try to make arrangements for your continued education." Though inspired by the filly's cheerful grin in response to her statement, the princess felt she needed to make the minor downside clear. "However, I can't promise you'll be going to school five days a week like you usually do..."

"That's okay..." Faith replied, sounding a little disheartened, despite. She gave a large sigh of relief before continuing. "Besides, you said I'm gonna meet other fillies and colts." She stated with interest. "Am I going to some kind of boarding school?"

"Something along those lines, yes." Replied Celestia with a grin. "However, the other ponies may be... justa little older than you." Added the white mare with just a smidgen of anxiety. "You are allowed to pack a suitcase and two saddlebags worth of luggage to bring along with you to your new home." At this, Faith suddenly became wide-eyed, and it appeared to Celestia that she had frightened the filly. "Not that the items you don't bring along will be thrown away: but merely placed into storage - for when you're all grown up and maybe have a house of your own." She finished with a demure and prosperous smile, which Faith promptly returned after hearing the assuring words about her future.

The young blonde mare turned to search through the boxes, when a soft pressure on her unmarked flank stopped her. She turned to see the princess offering a thick pink leather strap. It looked like a short belt - with the shiny silver buckle taking the shape of a heart.

"...W- what's this?" Faith asked, her deep yellow eyes fixated on the simple jewellery.

Upholding her enthused smile, Celestia answered. "I was planning to give you this when you were much older." She stated, moving her golden-shoe'd hoof in a way to entice the filly to take the band. "But, after much consideration, I've decided that now would be a better day than any to give it to you." 

Faith carefully reached out and took the bracelet-type leg band from her, rolling it around slowly in her hoof until the silver buckle was facing her. She focused on the metallic heart before turning quizzically to Celestia once again.

"That was left with you when you were... found..." The princess explained, feeling remorse as Faith's head dropped. "I am sorry." She affirmed softly. "This must be difficult for you... By my understanding, this strap was your mother's." 

Once more, Faith fixed her eyes upon Celestia, like she was watching a vertical game of tennis. She nodded her head strongly, peering up at the princess who was taken back somewhat by the sudden change in the intensity of the young one's eyes. It was as if she had matured many years in that split second, and princess Celestia could sense the filly's determination.

"Thank you." Was all she said with those unfaltering golden eyes, a slight furrow to her brow. The pair were held in a mental confide, trying hard to seek out the other's inner motives for life. But then the mature and headstrong image lifted, and the bright young filly pulled open the cardboard flaps of the nearest storage box.

"Where are my saddlebags, Sunnie?" She asked with sprite.

Having recovered from the slight, yet unexpected calm and composure the filly expressed despite what she was presented with, princess Celestia was quick to reply. "They're in this box, here." She answered, guiding faith towards a trio of boxes stacked on top of one another, opening the box atop the pile and  drawing out the simplistic black fabric bags with her arcane magic and placing them over the girl's back. "You realise it's perfectly fine to view me and address me as 'Mother', don't you, Faith?" The soft-spoken princess added demurely. 

"I know." Faith chirped cheerfully as she found her favourite stuffed wolf toy and gave it an affectionate squeeze before setting him aside against the wall. "But I really like the name 'Sunnie': it sounds bright and happy."

Princess Celestia gave a light chortle towards the remark. "Well, whatever you wish to call me, please know that I'll always be there for you." She stated with her placid as-ever smile. "...I love you, Faith. I would be proud to call you my daughter."

Faith stopped her encouraged rummaging to look with admiration towards the tall white mare, a sentimental smile growing on her lips. "I love you too." She softly spoke. "Mom."

Princess Celestia noted immediate tears pool in her eyes as a slim shiver of goose bumps rolled down her back. She couldn't help but laugh gently at her own performance. "Thank you, Faith." She replied; far more grateful to hear the young girl say that than her young mind could probably comprehend. "Please, continue packing. I'll be right here when you're finished." Added the princess with closure, watching Faith scour slowly through the boxes for a while until she became aware of one of the palace guards rounding the far corner and approaching with a brisk pace, a sense of pleasant urgency in his pale hazel eyes.

"Your majesty," He began as he neared the princess, pausing to bow respectfully when he drew close enough to be held in earshot.

"What is it?" Celestia responded, failing to appear troubled by his presence in the slightest: she could tell that, from his capital, yet calm voice that there was nothing to worry about.

"I bring word from the Canterlot hospital: as you predicted, a unicorn filly has just been born minutes ago." He was looking the princess right in the eye, and although made anxious at first by the obscurity of the solar alicorn's reaction, he felt as though he could  ease up on his act a little as he saw her eyes brighten. "I have been notified that this foal was of the greatest interest to you." He said with a thoughtful smile. "But... why is this filly of importance? If you don't mind me asking."

Avoiding a cynical persona, princess Celestia just closed her eyes and wore a knowing smile. "I have my reasoning..." She delicately responded.

"Oh, I'm sorry..." The Dark-coated unicorn guard apologised, taking a small step backwards. "I did not mean to pry."

Celestia held up a dismissive hoof. "It's not a problem." She said with a refined face of delight. "Thank you for being the bearer of good news. I shall make my way to the hospital when I have finished with this business; could you please prepare a pegasus chariot?"

The guard nodded. "Certainly. At once, your majesty." He spoke with confidence.

"Thank you." The princess replied with a gentle nod of her own. "You may go."

With a parting bow, the silvery-blue maned pony began to trot back down the hallway with haste once again, his motions unfaltering until he heard the princess call out after him as he neared the far corner.

"Hold on: one other thing." The princess called loudly, but by no means mislaying any of her opulent tone. She waited for the guard to turn around before continuing.

"Anything, your majesty." The armoured unicorn replied patiently, taking several steps back towards the royal mare.

"Do you know of the newborn's name?" She proposed inquisitively.

The guard appeared to dabble in thought for a moment: staring with a gently upward gradient before he nodded knowingly and replied. "Yes your majesty." He answered with a private smile. "Her name is 'Twilight Sparkle'."
> Yellow Flame Before Darkened Eyes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 13: Yellow Flame Before Darkened Eyes

Faith was reminded of her presence in the world after having stared at the fair coloured band for several minutes, remembering with the greatest nostalgic detail the day she received it. She clenched it firmly in her hoof and held it to her forehead. “I’ll get back, Mom.” She whispered in monologue. “Just you wait.”

The dependable Pegasus returned the belt to her left hind leg and fastened it tightly, shrugging Cantor’s foreleg from her shoulders and rising to her hooves with a renewed air of determination.

“Come on, boy,” She said freshly, addressing the stallion who was still trying to recover his breath. 

Upon hearing her sprightly voice, Cantor raised his head to look at her. To his surprise, and in a way, relief, she was grinning. Returning the expression, he spoke with a similar mental fixation as well. “We going?” He asked, excitement of a pre-holiday foal in his voice.

“Yup.” Answered Faith with a sharp nod. “Let’s go kick some extra-terrestrial ass!”

“Ha ha!” Cantor replied agreeably as he too stood up with purpose.

The pair made their way to the service hatch-type exit to the tower’s exterior. Peering out of the small window in the centre of the square door, several tornadoes could be noted at various locations in the landscape, whipping up the amber sand in a tall, thick funnel that stretched from the horizon to the dirty white clouds miles above. 

Lightning flashed far in the distance as black storm clouds made their gradual and ominous journey around the planet. The thunder could be heard faintly as distant drum beats, and although the assurance of the separation between the storm and the ponies was reassuring, it was clear that it would eventually be on top of them. They had an abundance of time before the storm got close enough to cause any real disturbance. But in contrast, they faced hindrances of unknown severity that may lie in their way.

There was one more place to check. If whatever laid above was anything other than salvation, there was a good chance that it would spell 'the end' for the ponies. They knew this, but they had little options other than to try. In fact, they had no other option.

“Ready for this, Cantor?” Asked Faith, turning to lock eyes with the alicorn.

With a confident and determined nod, the stained stallion replied. “Let’s do this.” 

And with that, the reinforced latch on the service hatch was pulled open, and the hurricane-strong winds instantly tore the door outward, making it crash and bang violently against the banister on the scaffold-type walkway.

“Bloody Hell!” Cantor gasped as the wind rushed in with untold force, peppering his and Faith’s coats with small, sharp pieces of sand. “Come on! Let’s go quickly.” He ordered, climbing out of the hatch, being bombarded by the forceful gale as he helped Faith climb through the opening. 

There was a hasty unanimous decision to leave the door open in case they needed to return once again. The two clung to the railing with a foreleg as they climbed, shielding their eyes from the force of the wind and sand with their other hoof. 

The grid-work metal steps, despite being dry as a bone, were difficult to walk on. Rust had eaten away at the corners of each step, and the violent winds had bent the rotten iron into thick, jagged splinters: just one more thing to be wary about besides the everlasting threat of slipping and falling the very long way down to an inevitable, messy death.

The stairs reached a platform where a small margin of rest was available. Faith followed suit behind Cantor, who was hanging exhausted from the rusted banister.

“Come on, Cantor, we need to move!” Cried Faith with an encouraging tone of urgency. 

"Yeah..." Cantor replied with a gasp, spitting out of exhaustion. "Just lemme... catch... my breath..."

Faith began to grow agitated, and scraped her hoof along the ground in aggravation. "No, Cantor," She began, finding she had to yell to be heard over the sound of the wind bombarding the side of the building. "We have to get back inside quick. Who knows what's in this air? I mean it's breathable, but there could be some kind of toxic chemical in it." She coughed and spat a mouthful of grit. "Not to mention all this sand we're breathing in." She added spitefully.

With a weak nod, Cantor dragged himself to his hooves, entirely dependant on the rough, uncomfortable railing for stability and a sense of direction. Still gasping for air, beginning to grow more concerned about why he was struggling to breathe so badly, the alicorn pulled himself up just a few steps before collapsing once again with the wind whistling through his ears.

Faith, who was following closely behind, tripped, and nearly fell over the stallion's soft, bloodstained form. "What the Hell, Cantor!?" She exclaimed with angst. "Don't just stop here! We still have a way to go!"

Gasping for air he was not getting, Cantor shook his head helplessly. "Can't...!" He wheezed. "I can... bare... barely... breathe..." He continued to lie in frustrated and breathless exasperation, dragging himself up one more step before giving up. "You... You go on... go on ahead..." The winded alicorn weakly gestured a hoof up the stairs. "Go... Go on ahead... I'll... I'll catch up..."

Seeing Cantor roll onto his back and lay there in total vulnerability, Faith reared her head slightly and gave a sour expression. "Oh, no, you don't." She scourned, tugging at the eviscerated pony's blood-blotched foreleg. "I ain't letting you die out here. Not with all we've been through already." Faith grilled with empowerment. "...Hell, I'll carry you if you won't get up!" 

Without the will to protest, Cantor merely lied on the uncomfortable scaffold stairs and struggled to take in any means of a breath, all the while having the old iron steps carving grooves into his back. 

Having been met with the 'silent treatment', Faith wasted no time in scooping Cantor up and over her head. With a laboured grunt, the grey pegasus was oddly thankful for the absence of a unicorn horn; it made this whole movement much simpler... She felt the stallion's body roll down her neck and come to a stop just behind her whithers, his soft underbelly seeming to add an element of elasticity to the somewhat cumbersome weight of the over-spent pony.

"Damn..." Faith grumbled under her cargo as her legs bent slightly. "For somepony with no muscle, you sure do weigh something!" She joked, yet the silence that replied was message enough to inspire her to get moving again. And she did just that.

With untold effort, the pegasus mare, who could not be regarded a whole lot better off, carried her cumbersome load up the many remaining flights of stairs, keeping no record of the progress she had made and simply focusing on climbing higher and higher - now with twice the normal weight straining her legs.

Faith was not one to give up without a fight, and since failure was no longer an option, she ploughed on passed her limit, climbing each flight of stairs like a different mountain, halting only for a breath or two before beginning the next, all the while being pelted relentlessly by shards of sand which burned like scatter-shot against her toughened coat.

After what felt like miles of rough, afflictive climbing, Faith was nearing the end of her physical tether. She pushed and pushed her body: urged it to carry on walking up these unending steps. With next to no flair in her state of mind, and all the flame in the world shredding her tired legs, the sturdy mare began to falter, her knees buckling with every grevious step she took.

But then she noticed something: up above, there was no black skeleton of a stairwell. Instead, turning her head skyward, Faith could only see the endless domain of filthy clouds billowing like milk in a rich cup of coffee. Knowing that she was on the last leg of her journey - for better and for worse, the enduring pegasus lowered her head, allowed herself a provocative grin, and put every ounce of strength into climbing these last few gruelling, mountainous steps.

She finally reached the top, barely able to drag herself over the rusted iron threshold with Cantor's weight slowing her down to a crawl. Mercifully, Cantor had recuperated enough to not prove solely dead weight, and managed to 'dismount' his taxi.

Falling to the sharp floor in a most uncoordinated heap, Cantor wasted as little time he could in clambering back onto his hooves. He made his way aimlessly toward the door, stepping over Faith who was panting heavily on the floor taking a well-deserved, but not at all comfortable break. The strong winds disrupted his path, making him stumble and lurch like a drunkard. Regardless of these impediments, the 'semi-alicorn' reached the small service hatch on the side of the building; the entrance to the calm air of the interior.

He was, in an odd turn of consequence, eager to get back inside. What horrors would unfurl later on was little concern to him at the moment: he would just be glad to get out of this punishing wind and catch his breath.

With panicked hooves, Cantor fumbled around the edges of the door for several seconds before coming to the ill realisation that there was no clear way of opening the door from the outside; there must've been some kind of key or mechanism which allowed access from this windy exterior. 

"Stupid dicks that built this place." Cantor cursed in a less-than hushed tone, yet over the howling of the wind and the bombardment of sand, Faith didn't hear.

"What's taking so long!?" She called out in one rapid breath, peering up from the ground slightly to see.

Cantor punched the door in frustration with the side of his foreleg. "The damn hatch doesn't have... a... a handle on the outside!" He called back, his lack of breath becoming less of a hindrance.

"What the hell!?" Faith cried out in anguish, pounding the floor in front of her viciously. "So we're trapped!?"

Suddenly, Cantor's ears perked up, and he lifted his head to peer through the small glass window set in the bulky metal door. Though he could see nothing but darkness within, he was sure to loudly verbalize his thought process. "Don't worry!" He called with a gasp and a fierce grin. "I got it-"

Pressing the muzzle of his shotgun as close as he could to the flat of the window, Cantor fired off two shots in quick succession, not expecting to break the glass on the first shot, yet not wanting to think about the pellets scratching his foreleg and face as they bounced off the re-enforced window. His theory, however, was found to produce a flaw; as the first round sailed through the thick transparent substance with ease, allowing the second follow-up shot to give whomever there may have been on the other side a very prickly facial.

With ears ringing from the blast, Cantor reached through the 'open' window and fumbled on the other side for the latch with haste. In little time, he traced the smooth plastic-wrapped handle of the locked door, and tugged it upward. With a satisfying 'clunk', the large door became loose and begun to open outwards with relative ease.

But then, with dreams of silence in his head, Cantor's self-amused smile vanished as the triumphant wind caught the inside of the hatch and tore it the rest of the way open like it had done before. Cantor was not anticipating this, but even if he was, there was no way he could have pulled his foreleg out before the door was wrenched by the wind. 

The service door was battering Cantor's right side as it trembled violently in the wind, while the stallion's left side was crashing repeatedly against the side of the enormous metal building. And yet, this bombardment was the least of his worries: what really sent that signature shiver down the alicorn's spine was the dismaying void stretching beneath - of which he could not see the bottom.

The sight would not have been at all daunting if Cantor had his wonderful trait of flight; in fact, he may have actually leaped off in high spirits... But seeing as this was not the case, the one-winged alicorn clung to the thick piece of metal for dear life, scrambling with his one good rear hoof to try and gain some grasp on the safety of the rickety catwalk.

His panic was quickly diluted, though, when a smug-looking grey face poked out over the side of the railing, peering down at him with amused golden eyes.

"Hey, Cantor!" Faith called loudly with a grin. "How's it hangin'!?"

"Oh, shut up!" Cried Cantor in response, mildly amused from the pegasus' remark despite his situation. "Can you get the door closed so I can climb up!?" He called with the previous waft of panic creeping into his tone.

The scenario, which the pegasus found great amusement in up until now, suddenly became capaciously more dire when the weight of the alicorn stallion caused the bolts securing the top hinge of the ample door to shear off. 

As the hard piece of metal fell from its fastenings on the door and struck Cantor on the forehead before making the long journey down, the riled alicorn felt the hatch buckle under his weight, and he slipped down a foot or so until he found himself to be dangling just above the floor of the catwalk.

With an initial cry of panic, Cantor reached out with his left foreleg and gripped one of the hand-rail supports, while calling to Faith and clutching at the pieces of metal which were suspending him above the tremendous drop. "Faith!" He yelled in destitute. "Pull me up!"

"It's alright, I got you..." The pegasus replied as she grabbed the mid-point of Cantor's right foreleg and began to pull him up.

Faith was straining as she pulled Cantor to safety. Not feeling too easy with breath herself, she waited for Cantor to be able to hook a knee over the railing before giving a helpful as always comment. "Holy, crap, Cantor!" She exclaimed. "Ever heard of a treadmill?" Asked the grey mare before grunting a laugh.

Cantor was able to somewhat pull himself up after swinging his good hind leg over the catwalk's edge, and managed to roll over into the minimalist security of the flat, solid surface with an elderly groan.

Once again, and unsurprisingly, Cantor was found to be out of breath, but somewhere within his quick gasps for air, he managed to offer "Thanks" to the pegasus who, for not the first time that day, saved his life.

"Don't mention it..." Faith replied, standing with her forelegs spread slightly, bowing her head and breathing deeply. "Just... hurry up and get inside." She added firmly.

Cantor laughed as best he could and closed his eyes. "I wish more mares said that to me..." He said, trailing off with a smile.

Faith rolled her eyes. "You had your chance." She replied, sounding somewhat sore despite wearing an amused grin. "Come on," She continued with direction, "Lets get out of this wind..."


*****


The two equines clambered through the hatch back indoors. Cantor, barely able to stand up once through, used Faith as a strong support, but the pegasus didn't mind her unofficial free service. 

The air inside the building was unfamiliarly moist and muggy, and it carried an indistinct, yet noticeably unpleasant taste. The floor was coated with some kind of stagnant dew, and the lighting was very dim and flickering. There was a good helping of blood on one spot of the wall and a large splattering over the floor beneath. The fact that there was no body - not so much as a skeleton was unnerving but not a great cause for concern. A pipe above where the ponies had entered had split at some point in history, and was leaking an odorous liquid onto their scared hides. The strong gale from outside was forcing itself through the small square opening, making a shrill whistling as it blew the contents of the room about.

The damp, shadowed room was shrouded in an eerie cloak of tension - much like the rest of the facility. However this particular chapter carried a foreboding omen in its air: alien to the past building in a way which put the young alicorn more on-edge than his companion - for reasons he was uncertain, yet nevertheless fearful of.

"...Well this is nice." Faith stated, attempting to slice through a portion of the dense atmosphere.

Cantor sighed, eager to explore, yet unwilling to discover what lie in wait under the cover of darkness. "Come on..." He gently grumbled. "Let's move..." 

And with that, he broke away from Faith with a trusting nod, walking towards the closed metal door with a depleted demeanour. The pegasus followed closely in tow.

The pair reached the door and paused for a nervous second. With a wave of uncertainty, Cantor struck the button to send it rising into the ceiling, its neglected pistons making a sickly screeching sound as they pulled the heavy slab open.

Like a mist, dry, frigid air wafted slowly into the room. Despite having the external gust blowing harshly against their tails, Faith and Cantor felt the chill creep out and caress their forelegs as if an ice box had just been opened in front of them. Cantor shivered, yet it was not the cold pricking his bones which made him shudder... Instead, it was the eternal blackness that stretched beyond that gave the stallion the textbook definition of unease. 

"Oh, crap." Faith offered as a confide. "How the hell do we get tied up in shit like this?" She asked with reluctance, rubbing her back leg anxiously with her other rear hoof. 

"Did-" Cantor began to say, but halted when he noticed the panicked knot in his neck distorting his voice. He cleared his throat into his hoof and tried again. "Did I ever tell you I'm afraid of the dark?" He asked sheepishly. Faith laughed.

"How old are you, ten?" She replied with an amused smirk. Though in due time, she gained several layers of apprehension. "Still, we're not going to get very far standing around looking at where we've gotta go, so..." She trailed off, leaving the rest to Cantor's imagination. "So unless you want to start a new life in this room, Cantor, I suggest it's best we get moving - I'm starving. When we get home, I'm gonna eat a whole bale of hay."

Almost in response, Cantor's stomach grumbled loudly. Clutching his belly with a forehoof, Cantor replied. "Oh, please don't mention food..." He said with a pained expression.

Faith, recently seeming to find humour in everything, chuckled again. Regardless of whether it was forced or nervous laughter, it felt nice for both ponies to hear. "Alright..." The mare replied with an accepting nod, taking the first step into this new strain of unknown. "Come on, 'tripod'..." She called mockingly. "Let's go..."

With a riled snort, Cantor followed Faith through the opening and into the corridor beyond. The light from the previous room proved itself valuable, as Faith only lead the way for a number of seconds, stopping just short of the edge of the previous light's threshold before relaying her troubled proclamation in her own true fashion.

"Shit..." She spat through bared teeth.

"What is it?" Cantor asked from behind, drawing up close to the pegasus' side.

Faith gestured a hoof in the direction of pitch-black progression. "Flitter was the only one out of us three that had a light on her gun." She explained, turning around to face the alicorn with agitated eyes. "In this darkness, in corridors like the ones we just came from, we could get lost real easy..." She said with a huff.

"Well, why don't we try and make some kind of torch?" Cantor proposed. 

"With what!?" Faith replied with angst, clearly in a fluster.

"That room where we came in," He started to say, once again making the forcible gallop of the wind coming from outside noticeable. "It looked like some kind of maintenance room -- like a janitor's. Maybe if we searched, we could find something to burn and something to carry it around with." Cantor proposed, already deciding it was the best (and only) idea worth a small deal of trouble.

"Hold on," Faith began, halting Cantor as he started to walk backwards. The alicorn stopped and turned his head slightly to listen. "What are we gonna light it with?" She questioned, adopting a slightly disgruntled tone. "Even if we find some supplies, we don't have any matches..." 

"I've got some matches." Stated Cantor, unbuckling his saddlebag and rummaging for the small box of matchsticks. 

Faith cocked her head and furrowed her brow. "Since when did you have them?" She asked, sounding oddly impressed. 

"Don't you remember?" Said the stallion, turning his eyes downward to look at what his hoof was touching. "I asked the health and safety guys to give us a box of matches each... You know, like how we've all got a few syringes of morphene and some bandages despite not being 'the medic' part of the team..." He stated with a focused frown. "Speaking of which, I wonder what happened to Cloud Nine and Blue Bolt..." He added - regardless of the fact that he had a good idea about the fate of the couple.

There was a short moment's silence before Faith cleared the air. "I think..." She started quietly. "It's safe to assume they probably didn't make it."

Cantor took a moment to stare solemnly at the ground, coming to terms with the notion that he and Faith were not just the only two ponies for hundreds of thousands of miles around, but also, that they were the only pair of souls who knew this story. The alicorn need not confirm with his partner that their survival was of the utmost importance - for if they should die out here, their memories, and the stories of their late allies would be forever lost.

"Yeah..." The stallion sighed quietly. "I had that same idea, too." He said, looking at faith's barely visible hooves.

"Hey," The pegasus began with an elevating tone. "Let's make sure they didn't die for nothing." She said with that headstrong smile of her's.

Cantor, after a second, returned the look with a similarly determined nod of his head. "You're right." He stated, pausing briefly to allow the moment to clear up. "Come on," Cantor continued with a grin, turning about and leading the way back into the gusty room. "Let's find some cloth or something to burn."

Following suit with a slight skip, Faith rolled her eyes. "What is it with you and setting fire to things?" She asked with an auspicious chuckle.


*****


In a position that bore discomfort to most, Cantor struck the deep maroon head of the narrow and frail matchstick along the waterlogged roughage upon the side of the soggy cardboard case. Despite the stallion's apparent agression with the incendiary article, no results past a few feeble sparks were yielded.

"Damn." Grumbled the alicorn around the box in his mouth, the foreleg holding the thick piece of pipe growing heavy as he struggled to hold the weight of the saturated fabric wrapped around its end.

Faith, growing impatient with Cantor's best efforts, groaned tiresomely. "Give me that." She hissed, taking the makeshift torch from the stallion and held it out in front of her, dripping small amounts of the liquid she had been assured was flammable onto the floor.

With both hooves now free to work on the matches, Cantor managed to strike one of the explosive splinters along the rough side of their box firmly and fiercely enough to make it crackle into life and begin to slowly burn away at the stick. Being a self-certified 'pyrotechnic', Cantor held the match upside-down for a moment, inviting the warm flames to climb smoothly along the length of the wood before touching the burning timber to the underside of the bulbous bundle of blue material, instantaneously deploying licks of flame across the entire surface.

With luck having already proven itself to not be on the ponies' side, the pair of equines took the discovery of several thick, unworn, but most importantly: dry cache of old jumpsuits as more of a break than any embodiment of 'good luck'. There were roughly six of the full-body articles of clothing, dark blue in colour and as thick as canvas. The styling would have been enough to make a homeless stallion scoff, yet the visual appeal of the attire was the least of the ponies' concern, as soon enough, they had been wrapped around a length of spare pipe and doused in a conveniently - placed tin of highly flammable lubricant. And now, they were on fire.

"Quick," Cantor began, unsteadily rising to his restless hooves. "I don't know how long this thing is going to burn for." He relayed, stuffing the stout container of ignition fluid back into the right pouch of his saddlebags: the other sack almost bulging off its buckle with a couple of the heavy suits stuffed less-than neatly inside.

The duo quickly made their way out of the dampened room; now laced with a bitter chill from the sandy wind forcing its way in from the vast outside. They were mindful of their surroundings despite upholding a hasty demeanour as they trudged through the long, dark maze of hallways. It was difficult to see why the facility had been built in such an oddly intricate manner - though it was decided that the creatures who built it in the first place would have had plans which made a world more sense. 

Maybe it was the pressing darkness constricting Cantor and Faith to almost touch that caused confusion to take dominance in their minds. That same frozen, stale darkness paired with the urgency of finding another source of light before the torch ran out of its fabric fuel sparked fears of loss and separation between the pair of battle-worn equines. Regardless, they pressed on, though still under the oppressive and constant threat of an ill encounter in the dark.

"How come there's lights on through the rest of this building, but not here?" Faith asked openly, her voice little more than a whisper, though she was mildly shocked to have spoken so delicately.

Cantor shrugged, which afflicted his already haphazard pace as he stumbled along at the pegasus' side. "I think all those other lights were from a backup generator or something." He replied firmly: his voice so calm it sounded almost unnatural.

Faith was swayed by the stallion's odd tone. Though it would have been insulting to ask if he was 'alright', she opted for the next best thing, and openly asked what the matter was.

Despite having a distinct modesty and a firm discomfort in sharing his problems, Cantor decided that idle conversation would act as a sufficient distraction from his tingling nerves. "I'm just..." The alicorn began, hesitating for a brief moment. "...A little scared of the dark, that's all. I know it's a stupid thing to be frightened of - for my age, at least, but..." He said sheepishly, letting a stricken sigh from his badly bruised lungs before continuing. "I just can't stand being confined in the dark."

"Wow," Faith remarked with eyebrows raised. "Sounds like you've got a touch of claustrophobia, too. What's not wrong with you!?" She cried with a laugh, her smile dying abruptly on her lips once she caught sight of Cantor's humourless face. "O-Oh..." She started, sounding surprised, carrying a clear note of apology in her tone. "Sorry..." Said the pegasus, sounding hurt in the wake of her own failed attempt to lighten the mood. Instead, all she had done was condemn herself and Cantor to another awkward silence.

Once again, a cold, heavy hush set in, and through the absence of noise spare the quickened pace of the ponies' hoofsteps, Cantor found himself almost surprised that the tormenting, grim voice that had plagued him many times before had not began with yet another dark, sarcastic remark to nudge him closer to the border of insanity. Despite the internal isolation churning unwelcome feelings of unease in his stomach, Cantor leaned in a little closer to Faith as they turned a left-hoof corner and persisted in their demanding trek through the halls.

A long while passed, and little seemed to change: every corner bore the same three sights: pitch black darkness, grey walls and flecks of blood... "At least the latter aesthetic held an ever-changing air of decor." Cantor thought bleakly, growing increasingly aware and concerned by the ratio of blood to bodies - being that there were none of one and a copious amount of the other. In a way, Cantor was relieved: not having to stare at the floor to make sure he didn't accidentally 'pop' another half-decomposed head was a mild comfort, though the mystery of where the bodies had gone unsettled him to a great extent. He didn't ask Faith whether she was fretting over the same problem, but by the way she was solemnly following every dried patch of blood with her head as she trotted by, it was clear she was thinking deeply of something...

The silence practised by the two was gradually being replaced by a steady, rhythmic 'clunking', like a door being repeatedly opened and closed. Faith and Cantor had looked at each other when the sound first made its weak presence heard. However now that it sounded less than a great many corridors away, the pair came to a standstill, their ears focused toward the endless dark of the hallway beyond.

"...Sounds like a good time." Cantor stated, staring at the pegasus beside him with a forced smirk. To his surprise, Faith was wearing a much less poised expression, and seemed gravely fearful of what was to come. It was only now that he became aware of how uncharacteristically quiet Faith was being, and realising this buried the alicorn's bottle a little more. "What's the matter?" He asked openly before noticing the dwindling condition of the flaming cloth. "Oh, wait a minute..." He said, handing the makeshift torch to Faith and unbuckling his bulging saddlebag. 

It was almost a mutual sensation of release for Cantor and his tired supply bag as one of the long articles of work clothes was dragged out and carefully wrapped around its gently burning comrade, feeding the flame and beginning the cycle all over again. During the act of wrapping, Cantor was momentarily sidetracked from the mysterious source of the ominous pounding by the notion of how remarkably long the last jumpsuit burned for. It must have been seven or eight minutes since it was set alight in the first place, and without a layer of highly flammable liquid singing off half the fabric from the beginning, who was to tell how long this one would last.

Holding his tongue limply between his teeth as he concentrated on the final knot in the unconventional light source, Cantor reared up as best he could on his one good leg and firmly tightened up the long sleeves bound up around the head of the torch. Taking the pipe back from the pegasus, Cantor gave the metal tube a testing shake, and satisfied that the binding would not slide off the end under regular circumstance, he turned his attention back to the oddly frightful Faith.

"You're awfully quiet." Cantor began with a light laugh and a wink. "What's up? Usually you're the one rearing to go; giving me mental vigour." He said with a confiding nudge to Faith's shoulder.

The grey mare shot a sickly glance down the hallway to where the haunting sounds were coming from before returning to try and seek any kind of comfort in her friend's close proximity. "I've got a really shit feeling about this one, Cantor..." She murmured shakily, dabbling for solutions yet finding none before the stallion asked the obvious.

"What other choice do we have?" He replied gently, feeling Faith's reluctance on an uneasy level of mutuality. He almost added impossible suggestions of where they could go next, but felt as though that may be somewhat adding insult to injury. "...We should just... Keep going, and keep our wits even more about ourselves than before." He suggested, tugging at the mare. She resisted at first, then slipped into a burdened walk, and stayed closer than ever to Cantor's side as they continued this twisted venture.

How strange, thought Faith, that the tables were now turned: and that she was seeking a psychologically strengthened sense of protection from Cantor. He was more than a stone's throw away from the bravest of ponies, though far from a coward, and despite the ravaged condition of his body, her protection still seemed to be his main concern. "Maybe it's all part of his nature..." Faith pondered, casting a glance over the broken shield embossed upon the alicorn's bloodied flank.

Due to the absence of all but one feeble light source, the grim corridors and the unsettling banging, the journey took several minutes longer than it would have done if it had been strode out in green pastures under the warming sun. Alas, the ponies eventually made it to the source...

Rounding one final corner, the steady clunking was prominent enough to hear a hydraulic hiss during the interval between each heavy beat. The pony duo was weary as they crept into sight of the source. With an odd cocktail of comfort and fear, both Cantor and Faith let out mixed sighs as they set eyes upon a small, finite bar of light expanding and shrinking in unison with the heavy clockwork droll. 

The scene replicated images in Cantor's mind of something like an elevator repeatedly opening and closing: unable to seal itself fully and embark on its vertical journey because...

The notion caught in the alicorn's mind, and somehow, the end of his cryptic muse made it past his lips. "...There's something stopping it..." He murmured - just loud enough For the on-edge pegasus to hear.

"What?" She hissed, unable to maneuver her eyes anywhere but in-front. "What are you saying? What's stopping what?" She questioned, her voice stiff from the surplus adrenaline, sounding increasingly more threatened by the unsightly images in her head of how this situation could unfold.

Without an option left, Cantor decided to suck it up and press on, whispering "Let's check it out." Before starting towards the repetitious door - albeit at a very slow pace. Even at this crawling speed, he felt a world more brave than he usually did. A thought denouncing his actions as 'stupid', 'foalish' and otherwise 'irresponsible' crossed his mind for a spell, but he let that quarrel slide. If it were not for Faith by his side, there was no way he would have entertained the idea of venturing into this rank of unknown peril. He was thankful for her company, but questioned whether or not she felt the same.

"What the... Hell...?" A very terror-stricken Faith breathed as she neared the doors with Cantor. What looked like a bruised magnolia hoof was protruding from the opening could be seen, appearing to rise a little each time the elevator doors came in to squeeze at the flesh. 

Faith was petrified, yet her legs still carried her until some of the horror instilled by the trembling discovery was dismayed with the realisation that she recognized this pony.

"Cloud!" She cried with astonishment, losing the need for Cantor's security and rushing over to take a look at the deathly still pegasus. Despite the chilling probability that all she may find would be a corpse, Faith still wore a mildly alleviated smile as she stepped up and peeked through the now wide open doors to the well lit room, becoming bathed in its pale mint-green illumination. She heaved.

Cantor had been somewhat left behind by his supposed 'comrade', and had fallen to his knees after having exerted himself through walking. He took it as a bad sign when he watched Faith reel away from the elevator with a whinny of violation and coughed up what little she had in her stomach onto the floor: merely adding a contribution to the sickly stains and smells already dominating the air.

"What is it?" Cantor called out, trying to sound concerned over his exhaustion. 

Finding her footing after a wobbly session: almost feinting for the first time in years, Faith turned to face Cantor, staring with remorse and a morbid reverence for a second before snapping back to gape into the elevator, biting hard onto her lower lip in lieu of what she saw, then turning back to look at the stallion; looking pale and shaken.

"Just..." She started, taking on a persona carrying more stress and hopelessness than could be considered healthly. "...Screw this..." She added with hesitation. "This is just... fucked..."

Curious, if indeed more unnerved by the pegasus' reaction, Cantor slowly rose and made his way towards the elevator, keeping his eyes trained upon the flexing hoof, having dark visions of it whipping back inside the small box of the room. He had to keep telling himself that it was no more than a dead body devoid of all possibility of movement - though he needn't for long. Soon enough, he had reached the opening, and his presumptions set in place by Faith's outcry were confirmed. It was, indeed the body of the chestnut-maned pegasus, Cloud Nine.

"Bloody Hell..." Cantor breathed in astonishment; partly (and he was not proud of this) because he was baffled as towards exactly how the body got here in the first place: he hadn't seen anything like the door to an elevator since he came around, and there was no way the mare or her husband could have gotten in from outside... The other chilling convention of the corpse was that its eyes had been gouged out. There were no signs that suggested care had been taken in removing the optical organs: the eyelids too, were missing, and the gaping holes in Cloud Nine's head were surrounded by splatters of blood.

The past experiences of that day had extended Cantor's boundaries of what was truly 'chilling'. But as his eyes drifted upwards from the desecrated body, the words written sloppily on the rear wall of the elevator made his blood run cold.


"She doesn't have to see anymore."


It had clearly been written in blood - and by its powerful red colour and the shine it gave in the teal light of the elevator, not too long ago, either.

Turning to Faith with revulsion, Cantor slowly shook his head and spoke. "How the hell did this happen...?" He asked in a bereaved hush.

The blonde pegasus, her face a sickly shade of green raised her eyebrows and shrugged weakly. She opened her mouth to say something when the entire hallway lit up for a split second, the flash accompanied by a painfully loud 'crack', and she instantly fell to a heap on the floor.

Faith's agonized scream merged with the ringing in Cantor's ears: a cocktail of disruptive pitch. 

The fallen mare let out a pained, but moreover confused groan, clutching at the red hot pain at the top of her right foreleg as her body jolted backwards a couple inches with another catastrophic explosion and flash of stark light. She wailed in explicit pain as a gushing trail of blood began to flow from a large cavity in her underbelly and grasped at Cantor's hooves for aid.

The alicorn snapped his head in the direction of the bursts: further down the endlessly black hallway. Two glints of light reflected from the open elevator's own illumination swayed like two spirits dancing in unison some distance away.

Raising his gun, Cantor focused on the two sprites of light mechanically moving from side to side and shouted as threateningly as possible. "What the Hell is this!?" He cried, his trigger-finger aching profusely, though he didn't want to waste his last shot on something he would surely miss.

The incident with Flitter downstairs had severely crippled his ammo supply - which was already in poor collection when he searched Red's body for more shotgun shells. 

There was no reply from the hall: why would there be? "I swear I'll fucking shoot you!" He growled, convincing himself of his own threat despite knowing it was an empty one. Cantor had started to ponder why he had given such a warning: everypony else apart from himself and Faith were all dead, and this place looked far too old and forgotten: too stained with age old blood to hint towards any suggestion that its previous inhabitants might still exist...

Yet the alicorn did not get much time to think over his question further before a large object came hurtling from the inky darkness  and struck the end of his nose. It felt as though he had been blasted in the face with a flamethrower: the searing heat quickly spreading up his now bleeding nose and into his eyes, making them water at the edges.

He didn't get a chance to speak whatever the first profanity came to mind as another blunt object came sailing through the air and struck him in the chest. It hit the stained fur and dropped to the floor with a 'clang'. Peering down at his hooves, Cantor noticed that it was some kind of miniature hammer - chrome finished and looking remarkably clean contrary to its setting.

Faith's cries had died down to desperate chokes and grievous breaths. She managed to wheeze Cantor's name, and as he turned to look at her with apologetic eyes for his lack of knowledge of what to do, another bigger, much heavier object struck him all across his front side, knocking him to the floor.

He landed next to Faith, his eyes falling perfectly in line with her own. Blood was trickling thinly from her mouth as tears from those golden eyes filled with real mortal terror and pain saturated her cheeks.

Cantor noticed her trying to grab a hold of his hoof. He reached out to touch the trembling pegasus, gripping her tightly, he noticed the grey hoof was sodden with freshly drawn blood. He was barely able to see through his teary eyes, though he could confirm the sound of rapidly approaching hoofsteps. The next thing in Cantor's world was a brief, blinding blow to the back of his head. And then, 

nothing.
> Blood, Sweat, and More Blood
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 14: Blood, Sweat, and More Blood

"Get off!" Growled Faith with a gritty throat, coughing up yet more blood. "What the Hell's going on!?" She cried again as she was dragged through the invisibly dark halls.

As her own pungent life fluid soaked into her haunches and left a trail down behind, she felt a remarkable mutuality with the unconscious alicorn being dragged along beside her, whose coat was now nearly entirely red with blood.

The pegasus' neck was beginning to ache as it was stretched and rubbed raw by the rope firmly secured around it and pulling her along. Her hooves were also tightly bound in two pairs - unlike Cantors. She felt mildly jealous over the stallion as his bindings were only secured in a loop under his forelegs. But she didn't have time to acknowledge this emotion as the 'convoy' rounded a corner and her shot shoulder scraped painfully along the wall.

She elicited a long, afflictive groan as the cold, wet metal pressed along her leg. Fresh tears formed in her eyes from the pain. She had never been shot before, and to be honest, she had no idea it would've hurt this much. The wound in her upper leg stung like, how she relayed, "A bitch", but the new cavity in her stomach sent waves of black sickness throughout her entire series of nerves whenever she shifted position - even slightly. The grey mare was astonished Cantor had not only been walking (albeit with a heavy limp) all this time, but also that he hadn't been complaining over his own multiple bullet-wounds dotted along his belly like a surgeon's edition of join-the-dot.

"Blue?" Faith called up, listening to the clopping of hooves on the metal flooring several paces ahead. "Blue Bolt, I know it's you." She added with hostility.

There was no reply.

Faith, struggling one more arduous time against her bindings, found she had little choice than to slump down and hope she was being taken somewhere of relative safety... Still, regardless of the deep blue unicorn's intent, the pegasus let her body fall into a limp, heavy lump that was difficult to pull. To her surprise, the old stallion did not seem to notice this change in cargo, and carried on his steady pace.

The pained mare turned to look at Cantor. With any luck, he'd have come around and would be formulating some fantastically risky plan. Unfortunately, this thought remained as mere hope, as the alicorn remained quiet and motionless.


*****


More profanities spilled from the grey mare's mouth as she was hauled through a set of large double-doors that swung quickly shut behind her. During her 'travels', the environment had gained some much needed lighting - however it appeared to be fed some kind of emergency backup power: the few lights drilled into the low ceiling were far from being 'homely' by a long shot. Many tiny bright bulbs ran in two rows behind their clear plastic casing, shining down harshly on the equine convoy and casting stark shadows across their bloodied bodies.

Taking a pause from cursing for breath, Faith turned once again to check up on Cantor. He was grumbling in his sleep: fidgeting as his face gently contorted and grimaced to some unseen horror.

But Faith did not have time to try and once again wake her friend, as the tow-pony dropped the alicorn's bindings and he slumped to the floor, still sleeping. The distance between the two captives grew. Faith was plunged into a deeper depth of worry, and even though no harm befell the stallion, she still cried out his name in alarm.

Once again the pegasus tried her luck against the bonds around her ankles. She thrashed her forelegs about until the rope stung. She kicked and bucked at the constriction around her back knees, but all she managed to do was wake up the sickening pain in her deeply gouged stomach. 

Having been dragged cruelly toward the corner of the room, Faith felt herself being hoisted slowly upwards like she was on some kind of winch. Panic began to twist her heart as a clean white platform was positioned under her and she was lowered onto the soft fabric. Her flanks burned as they connected with the new material - grazed by the excessive dragging along the metal hallways. In that moment, she felt oddly grateful that this part of the hellish facility hadn't been struck by the worst of the rot of time. What her rear end would have looked like after fifteen minutes of sliding over that cheese grater of rusted iron the lower floors were made of bear not thinking about.

But there was little time to focus on the pain: a rich blue face appeared overhead, right ear missing a substantial chunk that sent a messy smattering of blood across that side of the unicorn's face. His silvery-green hair fell down over his face, casting all but the glints of light reflecting from his teal eyes into shadow.

Stunned only for a moment by her manic situation; startled by the silence that had now fallen over the scene and enveloped it like a thick, hot cocoon, Faith took in a steadying breath and spoke.

"...Blue Bolt...?" She questioned after a nervous pause. The stallion didn't move. The notion of insanity on the unicorn's part flashed before her mind, and stuck there, becoming ever more convincing as events unfolded. "Did... W- were you the one who shot me...?" Faith asked submissively, admitting to herself that she was indeed very scared.

Blue held his manic expression for some time after the question. So much so, that to say he had 'frozen' would not be immediately dismissed.

"I'm so glad I found you." The doctor said loudly, the abrupt sentence giving Faith a shiver. "Where are the others?" He said a little quieter, sounding fractured, as if apprehensive to asking the question in the first place.

Hearing the stallion's tone, Faith knew she was in a dangerous situation. With shortened breaths, she twisted her neck around to peek at Cantor - he was still out cold. "Damn..." The pegasus spat vilely inside her head.

Her attention was rapidly drawn back to Blue Bolt as he became distracted and started rummaging through the tattered leather saddlebags clinging to her sides.

"Hey-!" Faith cried with a surprised start. "Don't go through my stuff!" She tried to sound threatening, but the underlining tremors in her voice proved otherwise. Bullets and bandages and empty syringes fell from the bags, landing with clangs and dull thuds on the shiny metal floor. 

After a short while's bewilderment, "What are you looking for?" Came Faith's dumbfounded voice.

"They're dead, aren't they!?" The blue unicorn replied without hesitation with a volume that was almost a yell. He leaned across Faith and placed both hooves beside her head, something in the clutch of supplies he held in his left cutting the mare's cheek with a shallow gouge.

Faith winced briefly, yet she easily held her focus. She slowly began to nod her head in regrettable response, then picked up the pace. "Yes..." She said softly, forgetting her place for a moment. "It's just us three left." 

Appearing to have been expecting a far different response, Blue Bolt dropped everything in his hooves and stormed off into the shadows of the room, brutishly bucking the many skeletal stretchers littering the floor like improper tombs.

Somewhere in the near distance, Faith could hear the unicorn ranting to himself and tossing more medical equipment about the place. As always, She struggled against her bindings, but had even less luck than before given that all of her limbs were suspended above her stomach by some kind of winch with a hook on the end.

"Oh, chrome plated messiah..." The pegasus sighed quietly in a breath as she noticed the pristine condition and sharpness of the claw holding her legs in the air. Turning to check Blue Bolt's proximity, she realised he had escaped her sight - but she could still hear feint rumblings of rubber wheels upon the floor and the occasional clatter of a table filled on every step with 'tools'.

Faith, strong as she happened to be, had suffered extreme damage from the shooting incident some minutes ago, and could barely pull her top half up against its own weight a couple of inches. Regardless, in true pegasus spirit, physical limitations were a mere challenge before the goal. And so she persisted.

Flexing her forelegs backwards and forwards, Faith managed to balance the middle of the thick rope upon the sharp point of the hook. She tugged at the bindings, and was miraculously able to cut the rope in half. With a gasp of immanent freedom as she dropped the short distance back onto the bed, the pegasus realised she was a great deal closer to taking her fair control of the reins of the situation. She started to tug and tear with all her exerted might at the weakened rope; pulling herself up on the hook: trying to get all the weight of her equine body against the morbid captivating twine.

The rope finally gave in and snapped around its frail section after an intense bout of thrashing on the pegasus' part. It slackened immediately: the ecstasy of freedom overpowering the sting of returning blood as Faith shook the broken bounds from her forelegs and began to make a start on pulling herself up to untie her rear hooves.

But predictably, and grievously so, Faith realised that her captor had realised what she was doing, and was now storming across the room with hostile vigour, overturning a number of the empty stretchers and leaving a mess of medical tools in his wake.

Blue Bolt reached the struggling mare and took hold of her right foreleg as he stepped up to the table, earning himself a sturdy thump in the side of the head from the riled pegasus' left.

"Get-" Chocked Faith as she struggled against the doctor's hold. "Get off me, you fuck!" She growled, not noticing the shiny scalpel gleaming in the stallion's hoof holding her leg. The next thing she knew, the blade was against her throat, and she had telepathically agreed to stop struggling with such a precision instrument so close.

"Shhhhshhhshhh.... ssshush..." Blue bolt whispered almost in a hiss. That churning fear washed over Faith once again, and she noted the sudden curtness of her breath. "Don't.... struggle." Said Blue softly - madly. "I would really rather not... kill you."

Faith found herself at a loss, and started to cry. She didn't want to submit to whatever the doctor's clearly warped state of mind could conjure up at the moment, and yet, the thought of having her neck cut was seriously frightening. What horrors she had faced before always put her in with a chance. But now, she was as good as defenceless lying here.

"Please roll over, now." Blue said with that eerily soft-spoken tone. Faith did not move. Although she was an impossible distance from home, cornered, and whimpering like a puppy, she still held her own stubborn air of defiance when it came to kneeling to ponies 'below' her.

After a frozen moment, Blue Bolt shivered and turned around, taking the sharp piece of metal away from Faith and placing it next to a large notepad where he began to furiously scribble with a capped pen. "Patient... is... un... co... operative..." He trembled as he 'wrote'. He finished, discarded the pen with no care, pulled the scalpel back into his hoof and plunged it into Faith's breast.

Panic and pain rocketed into the mare's mind. Once again, she howled in terror as the doctor continued to thump the blade onto her chest. Faith could not see nor even begin to reason the fact that the scalpel was not slicing into her far enough to hit anything vital, so to her, this was the end. Still, she swung her hooves upwards, knocking the unicorn off-beat. In her flurry she managed to bump herself free of the hook suspending her hind legs and fell to the bed's surface.

Choking and spluttering from the deadly concoction of breathlessness and panic, Faith made a scramble for the edge of the bed, but came to a cold, dead stop when she felt a single point of pain between her shoulders. She soon discovered, to a whole other level of dismay, that she had no control over her legs. She squirmed, but could barely lift her face from the pillow now moist and warm with her own blood, sweat, and more blood.

She couldn't move, but could feel every rough way Blue Bolt was manhandling her. She was pulled to the centre of the stretcher and both forelegs drooped limply over the sides. Her hind legs were pulled back out straight, and she could feel the ropes still around her hooves being tightened to a more than uncomfortable extent.

Blue bolt disappeared under the bed and after a second, began to tie Faith's front hooves together. He tied a knot which would tighten, but never grow loose until it was un-threaded, winching Faith's legs tighter and tighter until Faith was sure something would snap. In a short time, she decided that she would rather that happen; fearing the slightest movement would pull her forelegs off - not that she could move anyway.

Faith grew weak, tired - but not at all sleepy. She must have blacked out for a moment, because when she awoke, she could feel an uncomfortable tautness in her left wing. Straining only to shift her eyes a little, she discovered that her feathered appendage had been fastened near the middle with yet more rope. The other end of the rope was tied securely to an adjacent bed.

Discomforted by the rope tightly bending her feathers flush to the wing, Faith tried to ruffle it a little looser, but could in no way budge her wing. It was like several robes of chainmail was draped across her wingspan: she knew the limb was there, and could feel it, (as well as everything the doctor was doing) but the weight which clung to it, and indeed her whole body was like an invisible, artificial press.

The grey mare handled her adrenaline quite well. She could feel her own heart thumping away in her chest; it unknowingly pulsed the chemical intoxication around its heavy host, driving her deeper into a fully conscious trance to the point where even the girl's eyelids were too heavy to keep open.

Faith fell into a world of sound and touch. She heard the clatter of surgical equipment being jostled, the sensation of a cold pen of sorts being run around the base of her wing. She anticipated with dread what he thought was coming: not wanting to submit to the idea even following the unicorn's concrete insanity. But that's when the sawing began.

Faith's eyes peeled hotly open as a grating pain burned at her back and shot into her head. She screamed - internally. It helped none. The pain felt quadrupled with the disability to move or even cry out in anguish. She squeaked and mumbled as her uncooperative lungs tensed up with the rest of her body. Tears trickled from her eyes and soaked the one cheek resting on the sarcastically-placed pillow.

Her mouth grew wet with the outrageous desire to screech, but she could only groan and mumble at most. 

Distress, panic, and the horrendous torture behind her made Faith throw up. She spared half a nano-second's thought towards the positive notion that her face was pointed slightly to the side and down as the minimal bile dribbled from her lips and ran over the side of the stretcher.

The morbid sensation in her wing suddenly grew ridiculous as Blue Bolt began to hack at the stone-hard bone of the pegasus' wing. Mercifully, this paramount level of anguish only lasted a brief moment until her brain overloaded, and she slipped into a cold, uncomfortable, dreamless unconscious.


*****


...

...There was humming nearby... It sounded familliar...

...It was a nursery rhyme. But it was unclear exactly as to which.

Faith, the pegasus, creaked her right eye open a few millimetres before shutting it again; a headache having formed at some point; barging its way to the front of her brain. In her short, unclear reconnaissance, Faith noted a shape moving relatively close - but it was unknown and impossible to confirm with such a short peek.

Taking a moment to gather strength needed to open just one eye enough to see, the pegasus spotted Blue Bolt sitting on his haunches, his back towards her. He appeared to be doing something to Cantor, and taking note the tuneful humming, macabre as it may have sounded to anyone else, the unicorn was taking great pleasure from whatever it was.

Forgetting the ropes cutting deeply into her flesh, Faith attempted to wriggle free. However any kind of movement felt raw and intensely uncomfortable  after being bound so tightly for... however long she was out...

Despite being bound to the bed, the mare discovered, with whatever glee could be scraped together at this time, that she once again had control over all of he body parts. And not burdened with the squeeze of rope around her belly, she knew her wings were free. 

But following a few testing flaps, she felt an uncanny absence, and with sickening remembrance, recalled what had been happening a few moments before she passed out. She peered over her left shoulder with hesitation, and grimaced at the bandaged stump where her left wing used to be. It wasn't horrific: in fact, skill had been used in the application of the slightly bloodied bandages. However, being a pegasus, Faith had always relished in the option of aviation, and now that gift was gone forever, it brought a tear to her eye. But that was all.

"...You... Son of a bitch..." The grounded mare seethed weakly. Blue Bolt didn't seem to notice, and continued with whatever he had tasked himself now.

Faith had no choice but to wait it out and try to recuperate some of her faculties. Hunger grated at her insides, and thirst wasn't far behind. The bullet wound in her lower stomach had proven to be non-fatal, but it swelled with an unpleasant ache with every breath. She was alive. Flightless, trapped, but alive. If things became ugly, there was always the option to talk her way out of further harm. And, if the need came, she was a mare... That would have to be an advantage...

After what felt like a long time, Blue Bolt gave a soft chuckle and stood up. He paused for a moment, staring at his work before turning with a trot and making his way back towards where Faith was still lying on the bed, a miniature pair of scissors, some thick twine, and that gruesome scalpel all clutched between his teeth.

Faith had her eyes trained on the unicorn, but when he passed the threshold of her vision and went out of sight, she looked back to Cantor. She found her missing wing: it had been stitched back onto the alicorn's own stump. Faith was sick. Or she would have been, if there were anything at all to throw up. Her throat burned with bile, and she found herself screwing her eyes shut.

"You're mad." She whimpered with an underlying venom. "You're evil, you psycho!" The blonde mare cried, eyes still sealed. 

There was silence. Spare from the blood pumping loudly in her ears, Faith heard no response. She didn't know what else to say, but surprisingly, the unicorn did eventually come up with a response.

"He is beautiful, isn't he...?" Blue asked dreamily. Faith opened her eyes, and found the doctor perched on his haunches just beside the bed.

"Wh-... what!?" Faith replied, dumbfounded.

"I mean the alicorn in him." He affirmed. "Such a majestic, powerful creature. Truly, I am honoured to have served beside him." Said Blue Bolt, smiling warmly at the freshly bandaged stallion. Faith could only stare, mesmerised by the large part of her own body crudely patched onto her friend. "We must do whatever it takes to preserve this astonishing life form. If I could give my own life to bring him strength, I surely would."

The golden-eyed mare shook her head. "You're fucking mental." She responded sourly. "He's just a guy: and I know for a fact he would have been opposed... to cutting my FUCKING WING OFF!" She screamed, riled, filled with the urge to pound her hooves into the crazed unicorn.

Then Blue stood up. He took a second glance at the sleeping alicorn before turning to confront Faith. "I apologise for any stress you may have experienced." He said quietly.

"Strees!?" Exclaimed the pegasus with rage.

"Indeed." Came Blue Bolt's humourless tone. "But it was for the greater good!" He continued with renewed enthusiasm, grinning to himself. "Cantor is a god among us! When he realises that his followers care enough to sacrifice their own flesh, blood and bone for him, he will deliver us to a higher power!" The deranged stallion raved, becoming increasingly animated. "Surely you can understand the importance of such a sacrifice."

Once again, Faith shook her head in disbelief. "What the hell is wrong with you...?" She asked, bewildered. "You actually believe this shit?"

At this, the blue pony's expression darkened. "You would do well to watch how you speak." He said dangerously. "I shall not have somepony like you jeopardise my place in the universe." He scowled down at Faith, who suddenly felt as defenceless as she was. "Do not speak with such vulgar language when we are in the presence of glory."

After several breaths of confidence, the tied mare merely grumbled her response. "Go... fuck yourself."

Blue Bolt seemed to flinch upon hearing this - as if the words were physically painful to hear. He regained composure quickly, though, and when he spoke next, did so with an eerie gentleness. "No matter..." He sighed, taking another glance over at Cantor. "He is not awake yet. Your profanities have gone unheard..." He wandered off out of sight again. Faith tried to follow him, but found moving her head difficult.

He returned baring that insidious blade. "Come here..." He said with a sigh, as if attending to a laborious task he had been putting off for a long while. He grabbed a hoofful of Faith's mane, pressing her head into the pillow. The scalpel made its way towards her muzzle, and she was quick to clamp her teeth closed.

Faith shook her head in protest, afraid to even plea "No!" in the fear that the metallic article would be in her mouth and shredding her tongue in an instant.

Regardless, Blue bolt tried prying the mare's jaws open with the blade. The cold metal slicing at her teeth was not a pleasant experience for the terrified girl. She tried to pull her head away, but couldn't even move under the stallion's weight. 

The surgical knife suddenly struck a sensitive spot, and Faith bleated in pain. It was unexpected, and only lasted a second. But that was all it took...

Still trying to force his way into the pegasus' mouth, Blue Bolt reacted slowly to her scream, and plunged the scalpel into her mouth. The blade pierced the back of her left cheek and cleaved the pillow her head was resting on.

It didn't hurt nearly as much as the tooth, but regardless, being stabbed in the cheek was far from pleasant, and Faith yelped another time. This was all Blue Bolt needed to jam the tip of his hoof into Faith's mouth, keeping it locked open.

With a victorious, terrorising smile, the unocorn stallion decreed, "There we go..." As he re-located his scalpel and started teasing it across the back of Faith's tongue. She screamed in frustrated panic, but found that only pushed her tongue further onto the blade. Nevertheless, Faith opened her lungs and howled.

"CRACK!"

There was an explosion, accompanying a jolt from Blue Bolt, making him slip and gouge a hefty chunk from the mare's blood-soaked tongue. 

The sound was so startling, that Faith found enough fascination to tone down her pained cries. The doctor didn't make a sound, but instead, just remained hunched over Faith, frozen momentarily before he stumbled and fell to the side. Eyes wide open.

A thin trail of smoke dribbled upwards from the hot tip of Cantor's shotgun, and the alicorn's cold amber eyes followed the unicorn's form as he slumped to the floor beneath Faith's bed and stayed there, chest rising and falling very slowly.

"Sorry, Blue Bolt... You didn't make the cut..." Sighed Cantor as he let his shotgun-equipped foreleg fall to the floor.

Faith looked on, stunned, her mouth dribbling blood. "Holy shit." She stated in a breath. Her bloodied lips curved into a weak smile. "Nice timing." 

The pegasus tried not to look at her old wing as it flopped down Cantor's side when he stood and made his way over to her.

"Oh," Said Cantor in quiet surprise as he realised his busted rear leg only hurt a fraction than it did before. The great talon that had punctured him was gone, but there was still a large hole in its place. He thought that if he looked, he would be able to see right through to the other side, but he shied from the idea.

"Oh, my god..." He spoke with sympathy as he drifted his eyes across Faith's abused body, feeling especially stricken over her lost wing. He knew how she felt.

He got to untying the mare, starting with the ropes around her hooves under the bed. 

With an elderly groan, Cantor lowered himself onto his back and slid under Faith's bed, tugging at the rope which had been tightened horrendously, to the extent where he was sawing through the thick fibres with a scalpel he had found on the lower section of a tools trolley beside the bed.

There was silence as he worked, but Cantor thought he had to say something. "...Uh..." He began gently. "I'm... really sorry, Faith..." He said with a sigh, only imagining the gruesome things the unicorn could have done to her.

A long pause came after the statement, but Faith replied. "It's okay... I suppose I'm just going to get used to being an earth pony now..."

With a thoughtful frown, Cantor responded. "Me too..." He heard Faith sigh.

"I guess it's harder for you." She replied, exhaustion on her breath. "All that magic and stuff... Still..." A grin crept over her words, and Cantor could predict what was coming. "At least you've got one horn left."

"Brilliant." Cantor replied dryly, smiling nonetheless.

"That son of a bitch Blue Bolt." Faith began spitefully. "He's absolutely fucking insane. Can you believe someone would actually cut- Oh, shit! Cantor!"

There was little time to respond. Cantor peered towards a pressure that had formed upon his right hind leg, and saw the maddened turquoise eyes of Blue Bolt staring him down.

In a moment, Blue Bolt yanked Cantor from beneath the bed, nearly dislocating the alicorn's other leg after fixing the first. in this instance, Cantor discovered that the older stallion was very strong: much stronger than he knew he was.

Blue loomed over Cantor, grinning like a mad pony as he tried, and succeeded in intimidating the younger stallion.

Cantor was frozen for a second, but found reassurance in the blade he still held in his hoof. He swung it 'round in an attempt to stab the unicorn in his deranged face, but Blue Bolt caught it.

"No, no..." Blue softy spoke as he held cantor's hoof away from his face, crushing the reddish-white hoof until Cantor dropped the scalpel. It landed on the floor with a metallic slap. Cantor didn't bother trying to get it back: Blue Bolt had him pinned.

Instead, the alicorn opted for persuasion - the only choice... "What the hell, Blue...?" He asked, disgusted. "You cut off Faith's wing and stitch it onto where mine was. Did you even think that would work!?"

Blue Bolt shrugged. "It's not important."

"What!?" Both Cantor and Faith cried in unison.

"I need to make your body whole so that your mind and soul can begin to grow again." He became ecstatic. "We can transcend into greatness together! All of us!" He said with an enthralled grin.

"What the hell does that mean!?" Cantor argued back. "You're absolutely crazy! I don't want all this 'transcend into greatness' crap. I just want to go home!"

"No..." Blue Bolt insisted gruffly as he straddled Cantor's chest and pinned his forelegs to the floor beside his head. "You are a god who walks among us. It is your responsibility, your duty! To lead us into the great harmony of paradise!"

"I'm trying to get us home!"  Argued Cantor in outrageous frustration. "Are you so far fucking gone that you don't know that!? You think I'm keeping us here!?"

"No, Cantor, not here - not 'home'." Blue responded. "Life means nothing. We are only here for a short time and then we die. You cannot expect me to believe that there is nothing after death: that we all just rot underground and stare with absent eyes into the abyss forever?"

Cantor shook his head. "I don't know, Blue... None of us do. All we have to go on is our beliefs, and honestly, you can bellive whatever you want to, but when that faith starts to hurt ponies, that's when there's a problem." The unicorn seemed to recoil slightly at this, face growing with bewilderment - or what could be confused as such...

"You..." He said shakily, increasing his grip on the alicorn. "You're an impostor..." He added, voice rapidly flooding with rage.

"Blue Bolt, no!" Cried Cantor in panic.

"I'll kill you. You don't have the right to bear a god's face." Blue bolt replaced his hooves from Cantor's and positioned them around his neck. He started to crush Cantor's throat, spurring the alicorn to thrash beneath him, swiping at his head, pushing against his torso in a desperate attempt to get him off. But Blue was too heavy, and Cantor was already loosing strength.

"Stop..." Cantor choked. "P- please..." Blackness was creeping into the corners of his vision, and slowly pulsed into the middle until almost everything was hidden behind the impossibly black veil. He was weak now, surprised at how quickly this method of killing was. He tried to dislodge Blue Bolt's hooves from his neck, but they were an iron valve blocking his air.

Cantor trembled as his hooves drifted do the floor in submission. Sounds became muffled, but he was sure he heard Faith let out a battle cry.

There was a thud, accompanied by a long, painful growl from Blue Bolt. Air rushed back into Cantor's lung as he gasped, choking with every rushed breath.

He weakly peered over to where Blue Bolt had fallen, and saw Faith straddling his chest, pounding her hooves repeatedly into his face with horrible malice, thick smatterings of blood flying up and caking her face as she screamed and pounded at the stallion.

Cantor managed to crawl over to the mare, who was now plunging both her forehooves down and screaming in adrenaline-fuelled terror. He wrapped his forelegs around the distraught mare and pulled her away.

"No!" She screamed and struggled against Cantor. "Stop! Get off me!" She cried.

Cantor tried to get her to face him, but she was thrashing violently to escape his embrace.

"Hey!" Cantor called out, keeping his face out of range of Faith's swinging hooves. "Hey! Hey, it's me!" He said with haste. 

Faith's frenzy seemed to deflate as rational thought flooded back to regain control of her body. She escaped Cantor's hold, but simply stood to the side in shocked horror, staring with gruesome conviction at the motionless blue unicorn. A quickly spreading lake of blood was gathering beneath the pony, and Cantor struggled to his hooves in time to stay clear of it.

"..Oh, no..." Faith breathed, looking sick. Her lip trembled and she fell to her knees. "What have I done...?" Tears streaked her cheeks, mixing with the large splatters of blood and dragging the life fluid along like thin red rivers.

"It's alright-" Cantor began to say hastily, trotting over to Faith and pulling her into a tight embrace. He could feel she was trembling. "It was either us or him." He added.

She took a while to reply, and when she did, her voice seemed vacant. "I killed a pony." She said in a whimper. "I murdered him..."

In response, Cantor took Faith by the shoulders and held her up. "Listen," He said sharply, looking Faith in her reddened eyes. "Killing to survive and murder are completely different." Faith's eyes wandered and she began to groan with self-loathing. "Look at me!" Cantor snapped with a snarl, shaking Faith's body with a re-aligning jolt. "You saved my life, Faith - and not for the first time today. Be proud of that."

"B- but..." She stammered, peering across to the messy scene. "I've never killed anyone before." She explained with an ill whine. "I... feel sick." Shortly after finishing, she leaned over and spat a small amount of burning, foul-smelling liquid onto the floor, followed by a session of choking.

"That's good." Cantor replied after she was fit to listen again. "It shouldn't be an enjoyable thing to kill someone." He said, looking slightly anxious for a moment. "...I'm just glad you did: I'd be dead right now if it weren't for you." He smiled. "At least I still have my sanity...just..." He added quietly.

Faith gave an exhausted sigh. She had stopped crying now, although her cheeks were still wet with cold tears. "I'm so tired." She openly stated, a headache having crept up on her; one that was now squeezing her brain in a vice. 

"Me, too." Cantor confided with rusty eyes. "But we can't stop: we need to be on guard if any of those monsters show up."

"Can we take it in turns?" Asked Faith weirily.

"What?" 

"Sleeping."

Cantor paused for a minute before replying. "...I don't wanna rest until we're safely on our way home." He said with direction. Faith yawned in response. "...Oh, fine." Cantor eventually said, a little begrudged, and helped Faith onto one of the operating beds scattered around the room - quite far away from the one she had been previously tied to, which was now forever stained with her slowly darkening blood. 

"I'll wake you up in about-"

"An hour." Faith finished for Cantor, who was caught a little off-guard by the comment.

"Half an hour." The alicorn responded bluntly. "I'm tired as well, and don't much fancy sleeping here at all."

Faith grumbled mockingly. "Beggars can't be choosers..." She stated with a grin, trying to hide the previous experience away in the same dark place as everything else in this world. As soon as her head hit the pillow (albeit thin) and her body relaxed, Faith was gone.

Cantor took a position on the floor by the side of Faith's bed, resting his back against the cool metal supports and resting his head on the side of the mattress.

After a long while, and once he had gotten his breath back no thanks to his injured lung, Cantor cleared his throat, which hurt. "I'm gonna just have a look around: see if I can find anything useful." There was no response from the pegasus. Cantor climbed to his hooves. "I won't go far: don't worry." He explained, looking at the slowly breathing grey form. "...Faith?" He said after a while, to which he was greeted once again with silence.

Peeking over Faith's shoulder, it became clear that she was asleep - and had been for some time. Cantor affirmed that she deserved it - after everything she'd been through today. Not that he was far better off...

He meandered about the room for an extensive moment, occasionally picking up tools from benches he passed, examining them, and setting them back down. He didn't particularly know what he desired to find, but hoped that these aimless travels would bear some kind of lead to what was sure to be a deeper level of this dark Hell.

He paced through the labyrinth of haphazardly abandoned beds and made his way over to the railings beside the wide clearing: a proposed hallway alongside the mess of dirty stretchers. He hopped up, placing his forehooves onto the top of the cylindrical railing. The brushed steel surface felt smooth and cool, but had not been untouched by the repercussive devastation throughout the rest of the facility, and it felt wet - almost 'slimy' to the touch.

Cantor turned his head over his right shoulder. He had hoped to, but could not see Faith, although there were no clear signs of trouble. His gaze drifted down to a dark lump on the edge of the cleared pathway. The grimly decapitated body of the manically insane unicorn lie there on its back, his blood having long since stopped gushing and was now just a repulsive red ocean sticking Blue Bolt to the floor like a macabre glue.

Cantor turned away with an upset moan.

Peering over the guard rail, he clocked a steep slope heading down into darkness where strong lights cast a powerful comet's tail of light across the tarnished iron floor. As expected, one of the lights further down was flickering harshly. Cantor's eye was drawn to the unintended strobe, and that's when he saw it.

A great mechanical shape loomed up at the end of the massive metal trench, spilling light onto the walkway beside it. Exhaust casings on the back glowed a ready blue, and were fed by many brightly coloured wires and blinking lights.

"..." Cantor stared, mouth agape in astonishment. "...Holy shit." He said weakly. 

He turned with a beaming grin, tears in his eyes, towards Faith to call out. He took an excited breath, but held it when he noticed something was off... Blue Bolt's body was gone.

"Oh, no..." Whimpered Cantor as he realised that one of those creatures must have made its way upstairs. He rolled over and rested his back against the wet railing, scanning the deep, thick darkness, realizing with grief that hundreds of the things could be behind the curtain of shadow covering the distant beds.

The alicorn's heart failed to twitch for a few seconds when he caught sight of a pony standing upright on its hind legs, realising with horror, that in fact, there were no black monsters in the vast room with him: just Blue Bolt, and his pulverised face.

With revulsion, Cantor mouthed "What the hell...?", his hooves anchored to the floor in petrification. A female scream tore the silence, and was then suddenly cut short. With a panicked wheeze, Cantor snapped his head to the sound. "Faith!?" He cried out, trying to stare through the darkness toward the chilling cry.

There was only silence, and the all-too familiar pulse of blood in his ears. Cantor grievously turned to see the mutilated unicorn standing no more than one foot from him, simply staring with non-existent eyes. The place where his head should have been was a wreck of bloody matter and pulp, jagged bones and teeth like tombstones jutting from the horrendous mess.

Cantor woke with a frail gasp. He went to scramble backwards, but only succeeded in pushing the stretcher he was already leaning against back a few inches.

He laid there, panting and dripping with sweat. With reluctance, he checked on the place where Blue Bolt had been put down, and with an unwelcomely happy relief, saw that he was indeed, still dead.

There was a while to reflect on what had happened as he let his breath gradually return to normal. Did the nightmare really carry some truth? If so, Cantor thought, then there might just be a slim possibility that going home was an option.

Cantor pulled himself up in a series of grunts. (Clearly, it seemed, the dream had forgotten at least some of his physical strains.) He limped across to the railing, not focusing on Blue Bolt's corpse, but instead on the fact that his pierced leg was somewhat working again. It was probable that the crazed unicorn had done something to repair it during his unconcious absence.

Peering down the vast stretch of old metal, he noticed the flickering light near the far end. It was, indeed a little less severely damaged as depicted, but nonetheless, the spotlight was broken. Cantor set his gaze even further into the enormous hangar-like room, and with a great chuckle, spied the huge cyan thrusters of the promised resolve.

"Faith!" Cantor cried with glee, finding galloping with a bum leg a rather comical experience. Faith's amputated wing hung lifeless by his side, pushed slightly by the breeze he was making. "Faith!" He cried again as he drew closer, prompting the mare to sit up with a startled yelp.

"What!?" She replied with panic, not picking up on the thrill in the stallion's voice, raising her rifle and scanning the room, aware that she had little chance of hitting anything having been woken up not five seconds ago. She lowered her gun and rubbed her tired eyes. Already, she was feeling more alert from the sleep: like the air was clearer and a veil of encumberment had been lifted from her face.

She looked up to see Cantor gradually slowing in front of her. Catching the glimpse of her old wing stitched on to the alicorn's side made her cringe and look away. Fortunately, Cantor was already there to distract her.

"Guess what?" He proposed, foalish expression demanding a photograph.

Faith shrugged and scratched behind her ears. "I dunno..." She answered a little detached. "You've found a ship that can get us back home?" She closed her eyes and yawned loudly, and when she finished, Cantor's expression had sunken a little.

"Oh, damn, I wanted to be the one to say that." He replied, slightly disappointed.

Faith gave a challenging stare. "You fuckin' with me?" She asked sceptically, but an undeniable canal of hope flared in her mind.

Cantor nodded happily. "It's just down there." He said, nodding towards the craft.

With a benevolent sigh, but still rather curious, Faith hopped down from the bed. She didn't even need to get to the railing before she saw the spaceship's large engines. She let far too much of a feminine squeal pas her lips before correcting herself. "Oh, shit." She said in a gasp. "No fuckin' way..."

"Looks like it can fly." Cantor stated with a smirk. He laughed and added, "Unlike us."

The comment initiated an unwanted silence, and Faith turned to look at Cantor with mutual pity. 

Cantor caught the look and realised the gravity of what he had said. "Oh," He responded with a soft reverence. "I'm sorry, I... I didn't think-"

"It's fine." Faith stated abruptly, waving a hoof. "At least we're in this shit together."

Cantor nodded, but kept silent, still feeling bad for his remark.

Faith sighed a brief and dispelling sigh, rocking on her knees impatiently. "Well," She started, curving her back and stretching. "We ain't gonna get anything done standing here and talking about it."

"Right." Cantor said with another firm nod, falling back to reality following the moment of elation. "Lets go, then."

The pair began to make their way along the clearing of beds, at ease, but still mindful of shadows. There was little progress made before that ill-favoured voice rang once again in Cantor's head, startling him to a halt.

"Are you going to leave me here?" It asked, echoing slightly in the darkness of the stallion's subconscious before fading to horrible silence.

"Huh?" Cantor said, stopping and looking back.

Faith turned to meet the alicorn's stare. "What's up?" She asked coolly.

A shrill sound began to gnaw at the back of Cantor's mind as an odd force tugged his curiosity back to Blue Bolt's cold body. As he began to take steps back towards the beds, the shrill ringing grew louder, as if something emmiting the noise was drawing closer.

"What are you doing?" Faith call after the stallion, taking a few leaping steps forward before halting and watching as the scene played.

"It's alright," Cantor murmured half-heartedly, intrigued beyond reason by the strange sensation pulling him over to where the dead unicorn lay.

Without care for the corpse, Cantor unbuckled the straps on the saddlebags around its stiff underbelly. Pulling the leather cases away, Cantor dumped them onto the nearest bed. In doing so, he had rolled the dead body over onto its side with a sick squelch, causing a little more blood to trickle from the severed arteries in his neck. But the alicorn didn't much care any more, and focused moreso on getting the saddlebags open, convinced that the source of this now deafening, shrill white noise was inside, and that there would be some way to silence it before it drove him mad.

It was inside the first one he tried: a soft purple glow coming from deep within the bag's depths. It took a long while's careful digging around in the used surgical needles to find the source, and in the time, Faith had wandered over out of curiosity. 

Cantor's brow furrowed with integument as he brushed aside a loose roll of bandages and saw a small stone, about the size of a plum radiating the purple violet light. The disembodied whine stopped, allowing the stallion's ears to echo the noise for a few seconds as he examined the glowing rock. He reached to take it out, but as soon an he touched it, a terrible sensation tugged at every blood-caked hair on his body. He pulled his hoof away after having felt as though ten buckets of icy water had been dumped onto him at once. Once again, the alicorn was breathless.

"And what's in here?" Questioned Faith, staring into the saddlebag apprehensively following the stallion's reflex reaction. Upon spying the pretty little stone, She reached in to grab it, but was held back by Cantor's hoof.

"Don't." He warned with a gasp, guiding the mare's hoof out from inside.

Faith looked scorned, if indeed a little worried, too. "Why?" She asked carefully. "What is that?"

Not entirely getting his breath back, Cantor braced for another wash of the horrible burning, itching feeling, and pulled the stone from the saddlebag, letting go as soon as he could and watching the misshapen rock roll a few times until coming to a stop on the dusty bed sheets.

Faith looked at Cantor quizzically, then turned back to the stone lying on the old sheets. "What's up with that?" She asked with a smile. "It looks pretty cool; the way it's glowing like that." Her amusement quickly accomodated a questionable frown. "Where would he find something like this?" She asked without expecting an answer, glancing over her shoulder, peeking very briefly at 'his' body.

Cantor stared intensely at the stone with chilled eyes. "It's the Peripharous Crystal..." He coldly stated. "It's what powered our ship."

"What!?" Faith responded with surprise. "That's the crystal!?" 

She looked to Cantor, who merely shrugged and said, "Guess so. I remember seeing it once before behind some really thick glass, but... yeah, I thought it was bigger than this." He lowered his head and examined the object. The stone itself wasn't providing the light, but posing as a sort of solid light bulb for an intensely bright swirling point in the centre. Most of the surface was shiny - not quite polished, but it seemed naturally smooth. Opposite to the rounded spherical bottom, the top rose at two points, forming a valley in between, one mountain significantly higher than the other and opaque with white minerals.

"How the hell'd he get it?" Faith shot another question, slightly startling Cantor out of his transfixed stare at the rock. "Like, wasn't it supposed to be magically sealed away in an impenetrable box only Celestia could open?"

"I don't know that the Princess' spell would hold very well this far away." Cantor responded, still gazing curiously at the Peripharous Crystal.

"Well she can control the sun." Stated Faith.

Cantor cocked his head. "I think we're a bit further away than the sun." He said with an ugly smile. "Celestia's spell, if it was weaker, must've broken when we crashed."

"At a hundreds of miles an hour into the surface of the planet." She blandly said to Cantor with an equally lackluster face.

"Wasn't my fault." Cantor replied with a defensive frown.

"Tsk." Faith mumbled satirically. "You were driving."

At the response, Cantor just huffed a sigh and opened up his saddlebag, now mainly full of spent shotgun shells and spare painkillers. (Celestia knew he needed them) Cutting a jagged-edged hole in the thin fabric of the bed sheet, Cantor wrapped the Peripharous Crystal up in the sheet and dropped it into his left-side sack with his mouth. All the while, Faith watched from the sideline.

After a while, "Why do you think Blue Bolt took it?" Faith asked with mild, impartial eyes. "That crystal, I mean. What the hell would he want with it?"

Cantor needn't search for his answer. "I remember what happened when I first met the guy." He began with a slightly spiteful but reverent tone. "He wanted one of my feathers, which I gave to him. But then he wanted to scrape some of that magical residue off my horn. He got really insistent about it: I think he had mental problems before all this."

"Think so. I remember that, too." Faith said, expression falling to that of engrossed concern. "Why didn't you let him? Does it hurt?"

"Not really." Answered the alicorn, shaking his head. "The only pony who's ever touched it is my girlfriend." Faith (inevitably) snickered. Cantor cocked a smile himself. "Haven't you grown out of this?" He asked with banter.

"Have you?"

"No."

"Well alright, then." Faith said with an air of conclusion, the sterile expression only lasting a moment before she gave a slight gasp. "Shit," She began sharply. "When we all woke up after crashing, Blue Bolt was gone." Cantor, still warmly smiling slightly, followed with a slow nod. "He must've taken that stone and wandered off thinking we were all dead."

Cantor found himself nodding along in agreement, but yet another frown of thought found a home upon his brow. "Yeah, but he was a doctor. He would have known if we were alive or not."

With a weighted sigh, Faith stated, "Yeah, well it's odd. But it's not like it matters now, anyway. And all this thinking's bringing my headache back."

"Okay." Cantor agreed with a firm nod, buckling the strap of his saddlebag back down. "Let's press on."


*****


The transparent acrylic door slid up with a somewhat 'healthier' hydraulic hiss: quiet, efficient, and fast. The room beyond was dominated by an extreme centre console which held numerous blinking lights of all manner of colours. Pale lights shone down from the low ceiling, bathing the concrete floor and the bare iron walls an unhealthy yellow. An old body of one of the bipedal creatures that used to run this place was still sitting where it had died in the swivel chair behind the enormous horseshoe-shape of computers and switchboards.

On the opposite side of the room, an identical plastic door was observed. It was closed, but through the blue-tinted window that took up the majority of the hatch, one could assume it lead out onto some kind of launch platform where the shuttle could be accessed.

Faith and Cantor traversed into the room, trying and failing to block out the smell of the body decaying tragically slowly. They held their breaths the best they could, but the putrid smell stained their nostrils. 

Cantor neared the door on the opposite wall. Instinctively turning to Faith as he was about to open it, he realised she wasn't there. Looking around the room, he spotted the grey pegasus standing at the round bank of consoles, slowly wheeling the dead creature from the room in the hopes that it would take its smell with it. Thankfully, after shutting the first plastic door, it was discovered that much of the choking odour was gone, however it had tainted the room, and the walls leaked the stench.

Faith, in her haste to get away from the corpse, had unknowingly left the many-wheeled chair facing the clear door, and now the long dead person was sat slumped, staring emptily at the two ponies with his dark, sunken eyes.

She shivered and turned away from the haunting ghoul with a sigh. "Sorry," She started. "I just didn't like looking at that."

Cantor turned slowly to face the lone body draped across the chair staring back into the room with a vacant and ghostly gaze. "And that's much better." He stated, feeling his hairs bristle slightly.

Faith was silent as she looked around the room, musing at the many coloured buttons laid out on the centre console as she strode up to it. "At least the smell's gone." She said with optimism. When out of seemingly nowhere, the young mare winced and tripped, falling onto her front knees as she screwed her eyes shut.

"Oh, shit." Cantor said, startled, rushing as best he could over to her as she struggled to stand. She had quickly recovered, but seemed to be shaking in her knees as he reached her. After making concerned eye contact, "You alright?" He asked.

"It's this..." Faith explained without having to think about it, limping over to the wall and sliding down it onto her flank, exposing her belly, and the large bullet wound from earlier, which had now bruised horribly, surrounding the initial hole with a grim black halo.

"Damn..." Cantor whispered - the word only meaning to materialise as thought. 

Faith just looked away, feeling more pain than just in her missing wing and penetrated stomach. "I um..." She began darkly. "I don't think I'm gonna make the trip back, Cantor."

The stallion recoiled immediately. "Don't be stupid!" He spat with a scowl. "I've been shot like eight times, and I'm still kicking." He frowned deeper at Faith. "And don't think for a second I'm leaving you here. Whether you get back alive or dead, you're getting home."

Faith could only chuckle in response. "Alright..." She said after a moment. "I suppose in the end, we all end up the same, anyway. Just some of us get there faster than others." She pulled herself to her hooves with the help of Cantor, using him as a support until she could comfortably hold herself again. The pain in her lower belly was extreme now, and she knew as well as Cantor hated to admit he did, that there was something seriously internally wrong, and it was wearing the pegasus down fast.

She rooted around in her saddlebag for a few moments, uncovering single bullets and a feeble roll of bandages. There were no more syringes of painkillers, and their absence made Faith just want to collapse again. With depleted eyes, she looked up from her bag to Cantor, who was holding up a shot of morphine. She glanced from the needle to Cantor, who was staring sorrowfully back. 

"The last one." He affirmed solemnly. "You need it more than I do."

Silence fell as Faith took the shot with anything but haste, uncapping the sanitising cap and dropping it to the floor. Her face turned sour as she felt beneath herself, wincing slightly as she felt a good spot to inject, all the while trying not to break eye contact with Cantor.

She finished and removed the needle, tossing it to the corner of the room, still staring into the alicorn's amber eyes. There was a timid dripping sound as blood collected and fell from Faith's underbelly onto the floor in tiny droplets.

A special silence fell over the two ponies, and before either of them could even register, they were in each other's mouths. Both standing on hind legs, eyes shut, Cantor and faith's forelegs were wrapped around their shoulders as they kissed to an almost violent extent. Cantor pulled the pegasus in with force, and Faith squeezed back even moreso.

Their hooves ran down each other's backs as they felt the new scars. Cantor's fur was matted with blood that flaked off easily beneath Faith's own red-stained hoof. 

Faith felt smooth - completely unlike her nature at the most tranquil of times: like her muscles were made of chocolate that melted and swirled as the stallion's hot breath filled her.

Cantor was loosing himself. He was becoming excited, and thought to knock the strong mare over and press his stomach to hers, and go all the way.

But as his hooves fell lower and lower down Faith's back, the voice he had been hearing surfaced once more. There were no words. Only a macabre chuckle as Cantor's eyes opened and his movements became slow and reversed.

He pulled away from Faith, who he gently nudged to step back too, staring at her misguided gold eyes for a moment before slinking away to the other side of the room.

Another silence choked the room. Different: dark, like a poison cloud settling between the two.

Eventually, it was Faith who took a step forward. "Cantor?" She softly spoke, holding a foreleg up loosely. 

"No," Cantor replied sharply. "Just, stop..." He said with desperation, very much out of breath. Faith remained silent, but she didn't have to wait long for the drained stallion to speak again. And when he did, his demeanour had changed, as if a sudden an unprovoked clearance stormed his mind. He sounded as if every star in the sky had turned against him... "We're not going home, are we...?" Faith searched, but couldn't find a comment, although she was doubtful that she could say anything to change the tone of conversation at this moment. 

Cantor quietly let out a soft chuckle. "It's this thing again." He said smiling, looking away from the pegasus. "'Can't loose hope', that was the theme, wasn't it? I even followed it myself for a while, but..." He choked a little, then turned to face the corner so Faith couldn't see the tears begin to fall down his cheeks. Regardless, he failed to let his voice falter under the weight of this horrible situation. "...But I just don't know any more."

"But the ship," Faith started, glancing over to the somewhat small box-shaped vessel that could be seen through the impressive glass wall running the length of the front of the room.

"Forget this ship." Cantor replied bitterly, waving a hoof in its general direction. "How could I even begin to imagine I know the controls? There's no way I could fly it!" He cried in a fury. "I don't know what Celestia wanted out of this, but if it's a broken relationship and a kid without a father, she's succeeded."

"For fuck sake," Faith snapped back from the other side of the room, scuffing her anger onto the floor with her hoof. "What makes you think this is only about you?"

"I never said that." The alicorn retorted with slightly lesser temper than the mare. 

"Yeah, well I certainly haven't heard you stressing over anyone else's family while we were here." Cantor fell quiet. Although he could recall confiding with Flitter some time ago, he couldn't name one pony who he'd approached personally for this particular dispute. "So many ponies have died tonight, Cantor." Faith continued with an appropriate tone of reverence. "Mothers, fathers, daughters and sons alike have all died here. It's not your fault; ain't no one's fault. It wasn't solely your job to protect them."

Faith strode several paces toward Cantor, but still maintained a moderate distance between the two. She continued to speak, pausing with dark emphasis on every word. "The world. Doesn't. Revolve. Around you." She growled in a voice laced with aversion. 

Cantor found he had to take a moment's pause to think about this: clearly, there was more than one way to put one's self across as pretentious. However, it was unclear as to whether melancholic self-pity was any better than shameless self-promotion. In the end, he couldn't find the words to respond, and just sighed in defeat.

Faith echoed the depleted sigh a moment later, and made up the distance between herself and Cantor. "I'm not scared of dying, Cantor." She stated softly. "I just don't want ponies I care about to push blame anywhere if anything happens to me." She sounded content, but her eyes still glistened with tears regardless.

Cantor sighed once again as he shook his head heavily. "I'm so sorry, Faith." He said, sounding exhausted even in his words. "I just wish this could have gone better..."

"Hey," The mare started cheerfully, attempting to lift this beyond-dismal atmosphere despite what had been said. "lets not do this again."

"What?" Cantor replied. "Get all down and sombre? You think it's possible to drop this subject just like that?"

Faith answered with a nod. "Yeah. Instead, you wanna finish what we started?" She raised her eyebrows suggestively, though it seemed Cantor didn't catch on to what she meant until she made a slow, exaggerated lick in the air.

Cantor smiled. Despite his usual nature, it was a shock to see him do so at a time like this. "I don't think so." He said with a smirk, drawing himself up to the bank of consoles in the centre of the room after a small blinking light had caught his eye some time ago.

Without hesitation, Cantor pressed the button directly below the light. It was a rubbery type of button, and didn't feel particularly precise, hence why nothing happened when he pressed it. Cantor tried again, this time, using the tip of his hoof to work the soft material around until he felt something inside the controls 'click'. 

The light stopped its blinking, and a screen to the far left wall to where the ponies were standing flickered into an electronic black. In the centre of the monitor was a small circle spinning, a succession of numbers counting up flickered beneath it. The number reached '99', then abruptly cut to a video recording.

The camera must have been lying on the floor. Either that, or the bipedal creatures dashing about had learned to walk on walls. The scene stayed like this for several seconds. People dressed in white lab coats unbuttoning them as they paced quickly around were seen. Two other upright creatures attired in tight black, solid-looking armour stood guard by the only door in shot, cradling a heavy piece of similarly coloured metal boasting a glowing yellow tip. 

There was a rumbling sound emitting from unseen speakers that gradually became louder, as did the intensity of the camera's trembling canon with the deep noise. The camera tilted and fell, and was then hoisted into the air.

Cantor and Faith slowly strolled over to stand some way back from the screen as the images danced. Yelling from the hidden speakers sounded distant, but it was clear that the raised voice belonged to someone shouting orders rather than screaming in an untidy panic.

The pegasus turned to her alicorn friend. "They love leaving messages for us to find, don't they?"

Cantor didn't respond, but subtly agreed with the mare in a slight nod. 

The camera's built-in microphone was making ghastly scraping noises as the creature holding it fumbled to set it down straight. Eventually, the screen was filled by a chest wearing a torn and stained lab coat unbuttoned over a grey-blue shirt and red tie loosely done up below the broken top button. The microphone stopped popping and scraping as the creature stepped back and pulled up a chair so his features were clear on the recording.

It was another male. His eyes were red from prolonged fatigue and there was a wound near his left ear that was sending streaks of red down his cheek and into the unshaven hair upon his chin. His mouth was open and his rapid breathing was being picked up by the microphone as his chest quickly rose and fell.

"Deputy chief researcher Nathan Dawkins." He stated with a breathless, but rough voice.

Cantor noted to Faith, "Good name." With briefly distracted enthusiasm.

The creature in the recording shook his head fretfully. "It's all gone to shit." He stated, obviously scared. "Project Sin was the worst mistake in the history of our species." He ran his three-fingered hand across his face, brushing his hair to the side as he reached his forehead. "This will be my last recording; the last recording of the station. So..." He looked at the camera, eyes of a man who knew his mortality not unlike an old friend. "So if anyone finds this, know that we did our best... but for the worst possible cause." He finished with a growl, then the video cut harshly to a new location. 

Chilled to see the same room that they were standing in upon the screen in front of them, the ponies cast comparative glances around the room, noting the glass window running the length of the wall beyond the bank of flared lights. But not for long: only a dozen seconds' heavy breathing lapsed from the speakers before speech started again.

"They're perfect; just what we wanted..." Came the hushed voice of Nathan Dawkins as the camera was turned back around and placed upon the top of the round consoles to face him. He looked to be in a far worse state than before: his lab coat was gone and his right short sleeve on his blue shirt was eviscerated and the arm beneath was heavily wrapped in bandages that still didn't stop the blood making its point beneath. Some of his teeth were missing as he did the same heavy breathing into the camera as before, and dried blood was thickly caked over his chin, smearing the dentals he had left a marbled crimson-yellow.

As Dawkins caught his breath, sounds of horrific screaming rang in the distance, making the researcher look up with terrorized eyes for a moment before staring back into the camera lens. "I put the Pulse Shield up." He stated heavily as his eyes watered and he rubbed his face harshly, like a great calamity was enjoying piling the weight slowly onto his back. "No one can ever leave or enter this place alive without whatever craft they may be travelling in being pulled to the surface." This notion sent chills throughout the pair of onlooking equines' bodies, and they took a step closer to each other. "Except for Christian Mills, the Chief Researcher. Her emergency ship is the only one that can bypass the forcefield. She says that she and I can leave together. I told her we should bring as many as we could, but all she did in response was look at the floor like that wasn't possible. I- I didn't understand, but her orders are final. Whether it's an engineer apprentice or myself, Christian's word goes... I'll prep the shuttle for launch, but I... Oh, God..."

He buried his bulbous head in his hands, trembling viciously as if he were freezing to death. "Everyone's gonna be dead in hours." He continued, mortal fear in his tone. "These... these creatures; we call them 'The Immitis'. They were a military-funded project: the task we were set was to create a relentless biological killing machine for the war with the Meliorites. We were stationed here a little over ten years ago, but the real progress has only occurred in the last few months." A cold expression washed over his face as he lifted his head and formed a smirk. "Progress..." He said with a small chuckle. "That's as good a word as any..." He continued dully following a weak shrug.

The man darted his attention to some place behind the camera as a feint, haunting scream poured quietly from the speakers, followed by a muffled succession of gunfire. "We spliced the DNA of hundreds of likely animals together to create them, but only one combination of two reptiles could sustain itself for more than a few minutes after birth. We thought it was a fluke: a biological anomaly, but after repeating the process, we bread the same results, again, and again... We made those monsters!" He slammed is hands onto the console, producing a rapid, panicked 'bleeping' on the board. 

Looking down slowly, his eyes cast into shadow, Dawkins lazily pressed several switches, and the sound stopped. He sighed with an absent sense of hope. "We began injecting compounds of various amino acids containing desirable variations into the embryos of the hybrid creatures: hardening their skin, sharpening their teeth, giving them better vision, and so on... We kept going until we had a breeding pair, then we tore them apart: tried to find out how to control them: tame them. You can't condition them like you would a dog - we lost a fair few volunteers finding that out..." He once again rubbed his large head, as if there was a terrible headache torturing his mind. "In the end, we started to dream the impossible, and began trying to inject them with a compound that would let us control them with telepathy. It was madness, and some of the researchers walked out on the project when mind-control came into the mix..."

Dawkins looked all around him, appearing to check for anyone who might be listening in. It was clear that no one was there, but the two ponies watching knew better than any of their kind that this place would make the hardest pony even just a little paranoid. "We created a drug that made the Immitis warm to us: un-hostile to anyone who showed their face. Put a mask on, and they would tear you to pieces before you could take it off again. Unfortunately, the drug mutated, and whenever we made eye-contact with them, they would go mad trying to get at us." His eyes seemed to stare off into an endless nothing as he recalled vivid images from his past. "I remember watching one shatter its bones to pieces; throwing itself against the test-chamber window trying to get at me when I took a glance. It had to be destroyed..."

Following that last word, the bloodied researcher seemed to return to the room in a new consciousness, staring once again into the camera with his large, pleading eyes. "I'm sending this message out on the emergency broadcaster, and leaving it as a recording in this room..." Those huge eyes, wet with tears, grew apologetic, and, in a word, scared. "If you are watching this video from this very room I sit in now, I'm... so sorry, but there is no possibility of escape for you now. I have Christian's ship prepped for launch - I'm looking at it now." He explained, peering over the top of the camera. "I'm going to wait here for her. We've moved the entire tower's medical deck up to this floor, but we couldn't get any supplies from the IC lab: there's... there's something in there. We don't know what it is, but it's..." He held two fingers to his lips as he turned pale. "...It's eating people..."

In a final act of farewell, Dawkins blinked, sending two wet streaks down his face as he reached for the camera. "Oh, God," He started with divine terror, "May our children forgive us..."

The recording shut off with a hiss.


*****


Cantor and Faith stood at what was presumably the cockpit of the spacecraft. Cantor looked up. 'Lady Christian Mills' was embroidered into the plush overhead interior. It was as if a large pillow of pale cream had been stretched out over the ceiling, puckering inwards at measured intervals where it connected to the bodywork. Clearly, this ship had been sculpted with luxury in mind.

"Sick." Faith spat, looking at the comfortable pilot seat, the fabric a mild yellow and as cushioned as a bed. "People were dying horribly down here and this bitch wanted to not only leave them behind, but escape in comfort!"

"Easy..." Cantor replied softly. "This was just her ship: it's the only one that can make it past the forcefield without having its mechanics destroyed like ours." He stepped closer to the commanding console. Gripping what was quite clearly the steering wheel firmly. "Also, she could never have known that, and to put it scientifically," He turned to the pegasus and frowned. "Shit was going to go down."

Faith turned her gaze downward with a slight grimace while Cantor scoured the controls. 

"We've got an air supply, water, what I think is food," Cantor started, staring along the underside of a petite but button-heavy control console. "Now all we need is to find the ignition, and..." He sighed, "A sense of direction."

As he was talking and fiddling beneath the controls, the pegasus continued to meander around the furniture, peeking into several cubby-holes before settling on the pink surfaced pilot chair. She found trouble in defining how these people must've sat; having to arch her back uncomfortably to get any kind of stability.

It seemed as though a particular moment had been passing as Faith settled as best she could, and it was allowed full passage to leave before the grey mare decided to speak. "There's only one bed." She stated, any emotion if any at all in her voice incredibly hard to read. Cantor's movements slowed as he stopped to listen. Faith didn't wait for a reply before continuing. "I've already looked: there isn't any other sleeping quarters." She added with more obvious amusement.

Cantor smiled in response to the new-found banter. "Not this again..." He said with a smirk, continuing to look for something, but this time looking a little less hard.

Faith chuckled. As it drew on, it began to sound forced. But then she stopped, and spoke with sobriety. "Um, Cantor...?" She started, re-settling that awkward fog within the room. "Ab... About back there,"

Cantor huffed a sigh, hoping it would show his exhaustion over a lingering feeling of guilt. "Oh, shit, yeah..." He said quickly, only attempting to look party over his shoulder. "Sorry about that: just you were the only-"

"No," Faith interjected, sounding not at all aggressive, but firm enough to make the alicorn stop and look around. She appeared bashful, eyes shifting to the floor then back up for a second before speaking. "I should apologise to you." She said with sincerity. "I don't know why, I just... feel like it's my fault." She explained with a sigh. 

Cantor didn't know what to say, however knew that if he did, he shouldn't voice it. He let Faith continue in a reserved state of concern. 

"I was aware that you had a marefriend, but I didn't even relent. I even thought about her when we were kissing." Faith explained, appearing more ashamed with each word.

Cantor waited for a few seconds before speaking. "...Wh- what, in like a... lesbian way...?" He said neutrally. He knew it would sound stupid, but was hopeful it would lift the conversation into lighter air.

Faith laughed. She tried to hide a smirk at first, but couldn't help but chuckle loudly. "And see that, is why I like you so much." She affirmed with teary eyes - from laughter or otherwise. "You can shrug-off something crushing and serious, and then follow it up with a joke."

"I try." The alicorn replied with a shrug. He knew he wasn't funny. Well, most of the time, anyway...

Faith sighed through a small smile. "I want to just put this behind me: act like it never happened, or at least didn't matter..."

As she was speaking, Cantor rose weakly from the floor and put a hoof on the mare's shoulder. "Go on, then." He said openly. Faith begged an explanation with a frown. "Forgive." He continued with definition and fortitude. "Never forget." He held himself very close to Faith as he carried on. "Remember everyone you meet in your life. Remember every good thing about them. Remember all the quirks in their personality that made them special to you. Remember who you've loved, and remember why you loved them, and feel blessed to have ever had that emotion course through your blood." 

He turned away with a short exhale, looking around the cockpit briefly before carrying on. "No one isn't special. And no one doesn't have the potential to be." He stopped, letting several breaths pass until he felt he could carry on. "I don't know why love can be so complicated, and God knows if we'll ever be able to figure it out... Regardless, we all have bad days, and this..." He said with a growing, but hollow and forsaken smile. "...This has been a real... royal fuck-up..."

The alicorn sighed once again, this time allowing a weak, unconvincing chuckle to join his breath. "I'm not just talking about what happened in that control room. That was just a blip on the scale of shit we've seen today... We've killed ponies, lost friends. We've seen... little more than foals brutally murdered by the mistake of a dead civilisation.... But then again, that's all it comes down to, isn't it? Mistakes? Some of the worst disasters in history have gotten their pioneers the mortal blame for when their good ideas went wrong."

He lowered his voice to the extent where Faith found she had to try hard to focus on what was being said, realising the next words spoken sunk deeper than before.

"What happened a few minutes ago was a mistake. It was... nothing."

Faith fell into silence for a long while, though Cantor seemed immortally patient in expectation of a response. He didn't move, just stared with those terrifying, awesome amber eyes. After what felt like decades, Faith took a breath, and spoke.

"Do you love me?" She asked quietly, timidly.

"...Yes."

With watering eyes, "More than a friend?"

"...Yes. But I have to choose. And I choose Twilight." Cantor responded, voice heavy with emotional burden.

Faith's expression softened, and her head fell in defeat. She knew with utmost certainty that this was the last time she and Cantor could be that close - this close... This intimate. There was absolutely no way she could steal his heart away after this point. The feeling was crushing, but strangely, was like an immense weight - almost like a responsibility had just been lifted.

Cantor looked at the mare with sorrowful eyes. "I'm sorry." He whispered. And that was all he said. Upon contemplation, he quickly pulled Faith into a tight hug, feeling her cold, wet tears on his shoulder. "I don't know if we'll ever be able to go home." He said with apology. "...I just wanted you to know how I felt."

The embrace continued until Cantor's aching back legs forbade him any more upright balance. He let go, and sat down.

Faith broke far away, too, deciding to stare for a long while out of the curved front window until she had calmed down from the composed stress. 

Cantor sat and caught his breath, not a fan of the silence. He eventually found the strength to stand, and stood before the centre console admiring the large twist-switch and key that would start the engines. A far more genuine smile grew across his face as he spoke.

"Where I live, we've got a fireplace." He began, blushing as Faith turned to listen. "When me and Twilight first got together, we did a lot of... stuff together." He continued with a smirk, rousing a knowing look from Faith; one eyebrow raised in a combination of amusement and embarrassment for the alicorn's sake. "One of my favourites was when I came in after a long day's paperwork- completely different to my usual job of messing about with the weather." His face reddened deeper as he recalled the moment. "I opened the door, and was instantly hit with a combination of warmth and the scent of rose. Now, having been outside in sub-zero temperatures, it was quite a pleasant experience. But what I saw next caught me off-guard."

Faith, still unsure why he was telling her this, and still quite deprived from the conversation beforehoof, twitched her head questioningly; holding high expectations for what was about to happen.

"I saw my Twilight laying on her back in front of the fireplace," Cantor continued. "She had her legs open facing this gorgeous roaring fire. She turned her head up and looked at me upside-down..." The alicorn laughed nervously, reconsidering whether it was a good idea to share this story. He reasoned that starting without finishing would be a rather large failure in his original intention for this tale.

"'Twilight,' I said, already locking the door behind me. I said, 'What are you doing?'"

"And then she said:" The flushed colt continued with his ever-growing (smile). "'Just warming up your dinner, sweetie.'"

Cantor shook his head and turned his gaze to the floor, feeling dirty. Faith chuckled herself. "I thought you'd like that one." He scratched the back of his head and sunk onto the passenger seat behind him. "It's one of my favourite things Twi said to me, and I can tell you, dinner was great."

Faith bore an embarrassed grimace and shook her head. "Do you regularly feel compelled to share your sex life."

"I do when I need to clear the tension." Cantor replied in a state of relief.

Faith shot an amused smirk Cantor's way. "You treat your sex life as a joke?"

"Yeah." Cantor grinned in response before his features fell into a mild frown. "Actually, so does Twilight..." He added, rousing a blissfully genuine laugh from Faith. "That was a joke, just so's you know." He added, reforming his smile for a second before it fell into legitimate absent concern. "I mean... I hope she doesn't..."

Faith let the amusement in the room fall to an energetic simmer before eliciting a sedative exhale. "Right," She started airily at the end of her breath. "Are we gonna do this thing?" She asked, eyeing the control board. 

Cantor already had his hoof over the the large red circle embedded into the console. He pushed, twisted, then pulled the button from the brushed metal surface. A rumble of power shook the ship gently as a satisfying purr coursed through the engines.

Cantor raised one of his blood-caked eyebrows. "Sounds promising." He jested, shooting the grey pegasus a confiding smile. He squeezed past her, his vigour fuelled only by hopeful visions of returning back home. Maybe Twilight would even cook him a hot, 'welcome home' dinner.

He collapsed into the pilot's seat and slowly took hold of the wheel, caressing it gently. He shuffled himself comfortable and blew the air from his one working lung. He turned to Faith, eyes full of earnest. "Ready?" He asked, nodding towards the dulled silver key protruding from the console.

With a trusting nod, Faith placed her hoof over the key and returned the stallion's look. "As I'll ever be."

"Right..." Cantor began, needless to say a bit more than a little nervous. "Hit it."

Faith turned the key and braced for a surge of power to come and try to knock her off her hooves... But no such force came. She stumbled forward and had to shoot her forehooves out to stop herself from falling. An unwelcome sound of the engines powering down could be heard falling to a low-pitched hum before once again becoming shrill until the point of inaudibility - like it had rebooted.

Cantor turned sharply to Faith with dumbfounded eyes. "That didn't sound ri-"

His comment was interrupted by a smooth, dominant female voice resonating from a hauntingly ambiguous source. "On-board ignition system malfunction." She relayed with a tone so calm it was cruel. "A repair technician has been notified."

Cantor's face flashed furious frustration and he turned to Faith with dismayed eyes. "Oh, for fuc-" He began to curse at the ship, but it interjected once more.

"However, third-party launch sequence is possible from tower B flight control room. Access to the ignition sequence located on the flight traffic chief's centre console." The voice's tormentingly soft voice chilled both ponies into a knowing eye contact, realising what it was they had to decide. The shuttle's voice gave one final hurrah before silencing itself. "Thank you for flying with Chakushu Machines: producing quality fission engines since seventeen - seven-eighty-two." And to add insult to injury, "Have a nice day."

"Holy shit..." Faith breathed as if chilled below freezing throughout her body. She stared at Cantor with terror in her shrunken gold eyes. "One of us is going to have to stay behind and launch the ship."
> End of my World
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 15: End of my World

"FUCK!"

Cantor cried in a dramatic fit of hooves. He punched the re-enforced window so hard it cracked slightly around the impact - as well as giving the stallion's hoof a throbbing ache in addition.

"Shoot it." He ordered to Faith, who was watching the scene unfold from the doorway, a look of damp sorrow and pity on her face. 

"What?" She asked, confused, lifting her head slightly as if threatened.

"Just shoot the fucking window!" He barked again, to which Faith promptly lifted her foreleg and fired a bolt into the centre of Cantor's strike, finishing his job and shattering the window into millions of shiny crystals.

Cantor bent down and scooped up a hooful of the shards and threw them at the escape craft. "Fuck you!" He yelled, turning around and picking up another mass of glass and hurling it over the shuttle. The broken pieces struck the metal body panels and bounced off, twinkling like crystals as they fell to the trench below and rattled down the banked walls.

He snorted and stormed back over to the control room with a limp, muttering with venom. "God damn fucking monkeys; built this place. Fucking safety protocols, dick head stupid bloody... uh, shitty windows..." He reached the centre of the room and stood behind the large console looking out over the smashed window, staring at the spacecraft until his anger re-surfaced. "Complete shit idea of an 'adventure.' Haven't we had enough pain!?" He growled, coiling his foreleg to beat down on the controls, the limb hesitating at its peak. "...Actually, no, that's important..." He mused with disappointment as he relaxed his leg: afraid of smashing something important.

Faith stepped closer to intervene. "Cantor, calm down. It's not like both of us are still stuck here." She said softly, but still holding an air of caution. "It's still not the 'end of the world.'"

"No, but it's the end of my world," Cantor replied, tautness in his tone. "Because I know it's me who's got to stay here." He explained with an emptiness that was somehow filled with reluctance, tapping the symbol denoting sacrifice over his flank.

"Bullshit!" Faith spat, sounding offended. "We're gonna sit and come to a conclusion about this. Stop talking out of your ass." She bore a thoughtful frown as she began to step forward with her eyes lowered. "Literally." She said darkly, raising her focus from the floor momentarily before dropping it once more.

Cantor began bitterly -- not intending to sound as harsh as he did. "Faith, listen,"

But Faith cut him off before he could say any more, and also shocked the alicorn into silence. "NO, YOU LISTEN!" She screamed - so loud it looked as if she hurt herself. Cantor reserved his right to keep silent: an order was an order... "We could never have gotten this far if it wasn't for you -- regardless of the fact that it's now only just us left." She had tears in her eyes, but it was due to the fact that she was working herself up with volume rather than what she was actually saying. "You helped me get the guns from the ship, you tested that first creature we came to to see if it was a threat..."

The pegasus continued, animating her voice with her forelegs and the occasional buck of frustration over the unfairness of the situation. "...You stayed behind to fight off that giant motherfucker so we could escape. It's all on you; this day. And if you had your magic, I'm certain there'd be more than just us two standing here in this room." She motioned a connecting hoof between herself and Cantor before sighing in defeat. "And yet, we'd still be having this same debate..."

Cantor's expression darkened; his brow fell and he merely turned away from Faith. "No we wouldn't..." He had been paying attention to what the pegasus had said, and he appreciated it beyond measure. Regardless, he was stubborn to his virtue, and let out a grumbling sigh as he turned and tried to figure out the controls on the large panel beside him.

Suffering the rejection, a deep scowl grew on Faith's face, and she ended up shaking with anger.

"Hey!" She barked to Cantor, and as he slowly turned with that same desolate expression, he had just enough time to raise his eyebrows in alarm as Faith's coiled foreleg unsprung, and her rock-hard hoof struck Cantor right on the end of the nose.

With a confused, but mostly pained gasp, the stallion stumbled backwards, clutching at his face as fresh blood ran down his foreleg from his bleeding nostrils.

"Oh, what, you..." Cantor started, disorientated more from the confusion and surprise the punch carried rather than its force. "What the fuck!?" He gasped with a stagger in his sentence.

After a moment's groaning, Cantor's eyes widened in panic as he gave the nose a slight twist. "Oh... Oh, shit!-" He started, trying to pry any emotion other than cold detachment from the mare's eyes with his scared and unsettled look. "I... think you broke it!" He relayed, sounding offended, if indeed, a little more confused...

"It's because you were being stupid. And I wanted to get you to listen to me!" Faith spat back viciously.

"Well why didn't you just shout?" Cantor replied upholding his exasperation, still holding his bleeding nose. "O- or you could have at most slapped me like some of my other friends do when they want my attention!"

Faith lowered her gaze, and she hid a smirk as she replied. "Yeah, well... This time you were being exceptionally fucking stupid!"

The stricken alicorn fell silent and looked to the floor. He wasn't entirely 'scared', however felt a substantial distance from Faith in terms of authority - and not for the first time that day, either... He sniffed wetly and wiped his nose along the back of his foreleg, hardly noticing a difference in the limb's bloody camouflage as his own blood mixed with countless others'.

"...Sorry." Faith quietly apologised after a less-than comfortable pause. She sounded saddened - but whether it was by cause of the situation or her actions, it was hard to tell... Cantor didn't ask.

"It's alright." Cantor said an a voice struggling to hold back accompanying tears. Then, after a pause of reconsideration, "Well, actually, it's not. But I forgive you... How's that sound?"

Faith raised her eyes and huffed a smirk. She could only hold this temporary optimism before recalling her situation. She started weakly. "W- well... what do we do now...?" She asked with clear apprehension. 

Cantor frowned in response. "Are you putting this on me now?" He replied harshly. "Are you asking me to make this decision?"

"No, that's why I said 'we'." Faith countered offensively, returning the heavy look. She breathed gruffly and shook her head as if to expel the constricting feelings squeezing her mind. "Look at the facts, Cantor..." She said with utter emptiness. "Me being in this condition, I don't think I'll last another day... And I don't mean in terms of fighting -- at all."

Cantor agreed, but he didn't say. He just lifted his intense eyes to Faith and stared with his own haunted reverence.

"Cantor..." The pegasus decreed with a frightened voice. She was strong, and if it weren't for his skill at tracing the subliminal emotion behind a pony's words, Cantor wouldn't have been able to tell; she was far too proud to admit it. And to be honest, that was why Cantor liked her so much.

"Cantor, I... I think you should leave on that ship." She slowly motioned with her head towards the sleek shuttle, the long bangs of blonde hair hanging over her face waving to the craft as she did so.

"What!?" Cantor retorted in exasperation - his one-track mind blocking out any logic. "But... that's what I'm supposed to do: sacrifice. After all the ponies that have died today when I couldn't help them, this one time I get a chance to save a life - like I was meant to do from the start, you expect me to just leave?"

Faith stared at him with sorry and blatant eyes. "Yes." She plainly said. "I think you've become so absorbed with this idea of being some kind of hero, that you can't see the logic in the situation."

Cantor looked, in a submissive light, offended. "I was never trying to be a hero..." He said softly - not so deep-down, he knew he was lying. He didn't ask for praise when his valiance shone, nor did he feel cheated when none was given. However, when told he was some kind of hero, the young alicorn grew excited beyond measure: like the elation for being recognised as the one who helped out was so great it was a drug.

Faith shook her head and smiled. "Don't lie to me." She said with a quirky grin. "Who doesn't want to be a hero? Regardless of whether you expect people to like you or not, heroism is always a great thing to have as an aspiration." Cantor responded with a meek grin and a mild blush: she could see right through him. "Now, what I need you to do, is use that great sense of direction you've got to get yourself home, and when you do, tell everyone about what happened here. Let them know how much suffering was endured so that the families of the ones who've died can get at least some sense of comfort that their loved ones were brave, and died fighting."

Cantor's expression softened into sorrow. "...Faith..." He breathed, knowing one of the most horrible 'goodbyes' of his life was about to play. "Are you certain you-"

"I'm done, Cantor." Faith interjected gently. "I didn't want to say anything, but... I can sort of 'feel' my own life slipping away. It's so strange, and to be honest... I'm scared as hell right now." She sunk to her haunches with a slightly displaced chuckle and closed her eyes. "Even if by some miracle I make it to see Equestria again, I can never hope for a normal life: the things I've seen and done are gonna haunt me forever." She weakly peered up at Cantor, the smile undying on her face. "I'm not like you: my mind's not as strong. I know for a fact what happened here will haunt you for years, but eventually, you'll learn to live with it - I wont..."

Cantor could do little more than stare and listen in awe: the mare in front of him was sacrificing herself to allow him another (albeit small) chance at salvation. Never had he felt so small, so powerless, and so honoured at the same time...

Cantor unfastened his saddlebag and took out the wrapped Peripharous crystal. He planted it on top of the centre console and began to unwrap it.

Faith looked on quizzically. "What are you doing?" She asked, stretching her neck to try and get a better view.

Cantor quietly watched his hooves work. Then, calmly, and with an odd sense of closure, he said, "I'm leaving this here."

"What?" Faith asked curtly with a frown. "You sure that's a good idea?"

"Look, Faith," Cantor began, "This stone is some kind of weird material that absorbs and emits magical energy... Now when Celestia took me to, as it were, 'fill it up', for some reason, it brought out the worst in me." He explained himself under a neutral light: as if reviewing himself rather than telling Faith the story. 

"What do you mean?" The pegasus asked, dreary, but curious.

"Remember that thing I said about unicorns having a darker, more magically exempt side to their personality?" He asked, recalling the time where he blasted a hallway filled with the swarm of creatures. The memory was like a blur: a blip - it seemed like it had happened so long ago now, but had happened so fast. "Well..." He continued, pausing unwrapping the stone from it's soft cotton tomb. "...That sort of happened when, uh... when I was... 'connected' with this stone."

Faith watched silently - she was following, even if it did appear as though she were struggling to sit up straight. 

"Basically, the power contained in this stone is so dark, so evil..." He turned and stared at the bundle of cloth covering the crystal and licked his lips. "And so powerful... that it would serve the perfect candidate for a weapon of mass destruction: capable of wiping out an entire country - and then some."

Faith's response to this news was a shocked, but reserved "Oh..."

"You know why I don't want it anywhere near me?" Faith raised her eyebrows in silent response. "It's because with how I've been lately, I don't trust myself not to be the kind of pony who would use a weapon like that." He spoke coldly, and as he looked at Faith, he could tell she saw a similar chill in his eyes.

Faith looked Cantor in the eyes, trying to gauge his true intentions; whether he was merely saying these things for effect - whatever odd purpose it would serve. "Could you do it?" She asked slowly, speaking softly as the alicorn turned his attention shamefully to the mass wrapped in cloth. "Could you honestly and knowingly do something like that - to all the living things there? She could see the workings of Cantor's mind simply through the intense stare he was giving the stone, his hooves placed either side of the parcel like he was psychicly interrogating it. 

"I know you're thinking about the griffins." Faith stated with a tone thick with concern. Cantor upheld his silence, but intensified his thoughtful frown. "You've probably heard what they've done to ponies in the past - I have..." She dropped her head with the distressing images that quickly came to mind, and when she looked back up, Cantor was looking at her with questioning eyes: listening intently to her take. Faith adopted a fierce brow with the next words she spoke. "No pony has the right to condemn thousands - millions of lives for old crimes - especially when those millions include innocents. I thought you would know this better than anyone." Her comment ended on a sour note, but regardless, Cantor understood, and he nodded slowly in silent agreement.

"You're right." He simply stated, his mood quickly darkening. "...But you're wrong about me." Faith's expression lifted into confusion, and she sat up slightly for the debate. "Obviously you don't know enough about me to know that I'm quick to stupid and violent decisions." He was speaking somewhat quietly, but the temper in his tone was clear. "I don't know how to use this thing to like... amplify my power or, use it as some kind of... bomb, but I'll find out given the motivation. And recently, that kind of 'motivation' has been all too available."

Cantor glared at Faith, but his outward angst was undoubtedly coming from something deep inside him - something he, himself knew was there, but could not tell what it was or what it wanted. This made him afraid, paranoid... Quick to anger. "So yes, Faith, I could 'do something like that.' I'd regret it, and I'd know I'd regret it whilst I was doing it - but it wouldn't stop me; not even slow me down." He grew agitated at himself for saying such things. But what really made his blood boil was that he meant it, and once again, didn't know why...

Not wanting to take his rage out on the weakened mare beside him, and his current injuries made killing himself if he stomped on his own hoof a risk, Cantor targeted the only other entity in the room worth mentioning. He turned to the wrapped crystal. "...Ever since I touched this thing in Celestia's lab, I've felt like complete shit. Hardly anything excites me like it used to - and the slightest problem just pisses me off so fucking much." 

Cantor was getting frustrated, and Faith could sense the growing danger of the situation with every passing second. 

With heated malice, Cantor focused his outrage on the small, obscured lump of mineral. "I wish I'd never agreed to this: Equestria's not prepared for this kind of travel yet. Hell, if I hadn't said I'd do it, we wouldn't even be here!" The stallion developed an unfathomable hatred for both himself and the Peripharous crystal, turning back to the stone with renewed resentfulness. "I wish they had never even found this stupid fucking rock!" With a malicious grunt, Cantor swiped at the bundled crystal, sending it and the cloth around it sailing through the air. 

Faith ducked as the projectile launched over her head, but quickly jumped to her hooves when the stone broke free of its fabric prison and began lashing the room with thick tendrils of intense violet energy, connecting with all the electrical devices and producing crackling sounds.

Cantor and Faith had just enough time to cry "Oh, crap!" in unison as the crystal struck the wall harbouring much of the sensitive equipment and all the dials and screens flared into life. The stone rolled down the front of the instruments and hit the floor with a sharp and finite clatter. Its activity seemed to stop, but for a few seconds afterwards, an occasional lick of purple lightning would run along the face of the electrical boards. 

A moment passed, and the Peripharous crystal did nothing. Cantor and Faith waited for a sign of life, but all that the stone did was sit there on the floor steaming, its mild glow illuminating a small area of the floor around it. It filled the air with the same feeling experienced shortly after a pony rages out of their oppression, leaving the loved ones around staring in shocked silence. The two equines simply stood and stared at the stone, one not daring to look to the other in fear of somehow being attacked by the smouldering crystal.

Their attention was only captivated for a short moment, though, as soon, a refined, feminine voice manifested from the speakers in the room, and a hauntingly familiar image appeared on the large display screen beside the controls.

"...Encrypted coordinates received," The female spoke with an oddly present sense of benevolence in it monotone voice. "Uploading stellar route to [THIRD PARTY CRAFT] in Tower B launch bay. Coordinates: zero, seven, seven, six, zero, two..." The unnervingly fluid robot voice rattled five long sets of numbers off to the ponies' uncomprehending ears. The minutes-long experience barely felt like seconds, however, as the ponies were entranced by the rotating image on the large screen. 

After finally reaching the end of her excessively particular set of directions, the disembodied voice continued, repeating the message heard inside Christian's ship. "Error: on-board ignition system malfunction on-board [THIRD PARTY CRAFT]. A repair technician has been notified. Alternatively, emergency launch protocols available from Tower B flight traffic chief's centre console." And once again, "Have a nice day."

The audio cut off with a deep 'thump', and simultaneously, a bright, beacon-like light began to flash above, what was quite comically, a big red button, its soft rubber surface intermittently illuminated by the similarly coloured bulb just above it. Despite the absence of the somewhat unsettling voice, the screen stayed on, and continued to display what was undoubtedly a slowly revolving Equestria.

"..." Cantor moved his lips, but no sound came forth. He swallowed his bewilderment, sucked in a breath, and tried again. "...How the hell..." He felt as though that was enough - it was, but he was sure he needed to keep talking to avoid succumbing to the fortuity of the situation. "That's Equestria." He stated, still in shock.

Faith gave a single, steady nod and answered with a similar attitude in her tone. "...Yeah."

There was no way it couldn't be: the thick band of ocean separating a vast polar desert sitting atop an unending landscape bisected only by a gargantuan network of lakes and impossible rivers was far too similar to the equine planet to be mere coincidence. It still held all the beauty from when it was first viewed by the crew of explorers - maybe even moreso now since it was a direct link to salvation. 

Cantor made a point of breathing again and spoke. "I think the crystal somehow let the computers know where it came from."

Faith showed she was following along by finishing the stallion's remark. "...And it's made them set the ship to automatically fly back home..." She added with awe - not an entirely proud or excited variant of the feeling; still, not particularly shameful, either.

Before, the odds of navigating the way back home were basically nothing. However, now they were definite; and the thought of this insured salvation was so tantalising, yet so immeasurably cruel and contorted, that both ponies could turn to each other once again and tell exactly what the other was thinking. 

Regardless of this mutual understanding, Cantor, for whatever reason, felt the need to vocalise it. "Whichever one of us goes back, we'll need to be the bearer of bad news for-" He turned back to the display of his home: the subject of his comment, "The whole world..." He said with eyebrows raised in alarm.

Faith attempted, when all else failed, an approach to humour. She laughed, "Sorry about that, bud." She said with a smile, putting a hoof on Cantor's shoulder.

Still with a fog of bafflement lingering in his mind, Cantor returned a quizzical look to Faith. "Why are you so dead-set on sending me back?" He asked; not with such an acute sense of denial, this time. "I mean... I never expected to be able to get back on my own: it was as if we were both going to die, just not together - or at least not both here." Faith tilted her head a little. The situation had grown lighter with the prospect of 'home' being the topic, but there was still a great issue at hoof. 

Cantor looked over his shoulder to the shiny craft. "...But now that thing can definitely get one of us home, why do you still want me to leave instead of you?"

Faith sighed heftily as she forced herself to fall into that sombre, heavy persona yet again. "It's because," She looked like she struggled to voice the next words, however the grey mare was really only trying to find the best way to say what she meant without making herself feel too bad. "...It's because you have something to live for." She held up a hoof before Cantor could interject. "Sure, I could be happy back home... No doubt I'll be decommissioned if I wanted to: given somewhere nice to live and enough money to live off from Celestia, but... There are just some things I'd have to carry around forever..."

Faith gave another sigh. She didn't enjoy this, but as she spoke, she helped herself realise takes of the situation she wasn't even aware of before. "L- like you, for a start. I'd have to live the rest of my life knowing that the only pony who's ever cared about me - truly... loved me, is somewhere I can't get to, and I'll never see him again." She had started crying again, though what was odd was that she only realised when she felt the all-too familiar cold trickle on her cheek. "I know what you said about choosing Twilight over me and shit, and I'd be lying if I said I was even the slightest bit happy about it, but regardless, that feeling was there.

"And also," Faith continued, another few tears streaking her scarred cheeks. "If I ever did find a stallion who actually 'loved' me, I couldn't ever have a family: a 'proper' one." As she spoke, for whatever reason, the pain circling the bullet-wound that had penetrated deep into her belly flared up again, as if to re-enforce her own point - even if it was only her who could feel it.

Faith winced and her back legs buckled a little as the pain pulsed dimly, but deeply, yet she didn't fall - only continued to make her point. "And overall, all the ponies we've seen killed by those monsters are going to haunt me forever..." She shook her head as the gruesome images flashed vividly in her mind even now, as she closed her eyes in pained reverence. 

Her demeanour changed dramatically from pitiful to ferocious as she remembered another side to the situation. "Also," She stated loudly, not quite at a shout, but a voice filled with heat, nonetheless. "Who the hell's going to look after that kid of yours? Yeah, sure, it'll have it's mom, but imagine how she'll feel when that question is asked when they're old enough to ask it." Cantor's eyes widened as his jaw dropped slightly - this point was hitting hard. "Mommy," Faith began, raising her voice enough to displace herself, but not sound silly. "Where's my daddy?"

Cantor closed his eyes and winced, turning away slightly. He knew that would hurt, but the feeling roused by the statement was something else.

"Imagine how that'd make her feel, Cantor. What would she say?" Faith pressed on tenderly. "And your friends, too. I remember the stories you told be about them: to get on that rocket and go home would be like personally hurting every single one of them." She noticed tears pooling around Cantor's eyelids, and could see he was trying not to cry. "...You can't expect me to do that, Cantor. And if you do, then you have no right to put sacrifice to your name."

The pegasus finished with a curt, relieving exhale. She cleared her throat and took several calming breaths. When she had her emotional faculties in check, she returned her attention to Cantor, who definitely looked worse for wear.

He stared silently and shook his head. "...I honestly don't know what to say." He replied quietly - almost at a whisper.

"Don't try and think." Faith answered for him, sitting down and unstrapping the belt around her foreleg. She unbuckled it and caught it as it fell. She stood and stared deeply into it for a long moment before presenting it to the alicorn, who looked at it quickly before returning his eyes to Faith's and silently questioned her.

"All you need to say," Faith started, an oddly serine smile on her face. "Is that you're sorry. And that everypony fought, and died bravely trying to protect each other." Her smile grew to a unique juxtaposition of happiness, peace, and crippling sorrow. "And... privately, tell Celestia that Faith was thankful to have been able to grow up in her care, and that she loved her like a mother."

Faith extended the band further, and Cantor respectfully took it, tucking it into his mane - (outside of the situation, briefly, he still wondered where things placed there went...)

The two stared at each other for a loose and tranquil moment. Faith slowly warmed a smile, and Cantor cultivated his own. After a minute or so, all that was to be said, verbally or otherwise, had been said, and Faith took a breath to speak. "Well, I guess this is goodbye, then."

Cantor didn't react outside a disheartened sigh. "...I hate goodbyes." He softly and plainly stated.

The two pulled each other into a caring embrace. It was odd how it felt like they'd meet again someday - perhaps in both their hearts, they knew they would: not in Equestria, not on this dry and bloody Absencicy, but a whole new world that promised salvation - and unlike the facility, kept it.

They eventually parted, and Cantor paced slowly over to the broken window. He turned to face Faith, and breathe the same air as her for one last time before raising a hoof to his brow and giving a small salute to the mare. She returned it with a brave smile and a strong nod.

Cantor wore a grin of his own as he turned and stepped over the rim of the shattered window and onto the cold metal of the floor beyond.


*****


Cantor only turned back when he had entered the shuttle. He locked eyes with Faith one final time and called out. "You don't know what this means to me, Faith." He said loudly in order to be heard over the distance. "I will never forget you, or what you've done."

"That's alright, Cantor." Faith called out cheerfully - even if that chirp in her voice was coming from an early form of post-traumatic stress as well as the inflicted madness via the seclusion she was about to deal herself. "And hey, don't feel bad." She continued with sprite. "It's just that some ponies have more to live for than to die for." It sounded odd for something relatively profound to be spoken with such light-heartedness, but regardless, it was better to part on cheerful and friendly terms than dark and stale ones that could lead to resent.

Cantor responded with nothing more than a firm, agreeable nod: nothing more could be said. He quickly darted into the cabin, pressing the switch to close the door behind him, instilling an air of haste as he hated the idea of slowly watching someone leave his life forever. He convinced himself that there was still a mission to be done: that there was some kind of time frame which needed to be kept inside.

He pulled himself in front of the captain's seat and sat uncomfortably down in it. He was unable to find some kind of fastening for launch, and upon closer inspection, noted that there was no such security at all. Instead, the alicorn 'buckled up' mentally, and anticipated his ride, gripping the underside of his seat and preparing for the thrust.


*****


Faith, too adopted this mindset of urgency: rushing across the room to the pulsing red light standing proud from the large centre console. Her heart rate was rapid: her breaths short. Her forehoof hovered perilously over what had announced itself the button to launch the ship. 

She stared wide-eyed at the button - and it gave the suggestion that it was testing her: reminding her that if she pressed it, there would be absolutely no hope of getting home. Regardless, the young, battle-scarred pegasus cracked a smirk in the face of this reality: she had already made up her mind.

"Heh..." Faith said as she grinned a small, but triumphant grin. "What's it gonna take to bring you down?"

She forced her hoof onto the button, and that same electrical whirring filled the air. The glow from the rear of the spaecraft intensified as it warmed its engines to its own powerful soundtrack. Faith's expression was one of captivation, and her face was washed an azure blue from the engines.

Rods that were supporting the craft sunk into the walls of the launch basin. The ship fell an inch or two, but corrected itself and wobbled to an equilibrium in mid air: floating itself upwards as the engines glowed brighter and brighter, and the sound roared louder and louder.

Two leviathan metal shutters pulled back to create a colossal parting in the side of the hangar, letting the dirty tan light and harsh winds rush inside. Faith's mane was whipped up almost instantly despite being mostly protected from the gale. The wind pushed the broken shards of glass along the floor towards the opposite wall. Their haphazard shapes made them dance and skip as they slid along the floor, glinting like thousands of tiny silver diamonds.

After a while of whistling wind accompanied by the evolving growl of the engines, the  hangar doors were finally open fully, and they came to a rattling halt with a great clatter that echoed around the room for seconds.

Cantor's ride home lifted even higher into the air until it was directly in the middle of the hangar airspace. And then, without warning, the engines all fired at once with an almighty 'boom' which shook the very ground.

Faith stumbled, her ears clamped to her head to drown out the noise. She managed to steady herself on the centre console as the ship slowly pulled away at a slight incline. The shaken mare turned as it breached the sunlight, leaving a growing pool of white smoke in its wake as it exited the building. She could feel the heat from the inferno that were the craft's engines even from where she stood.

Her mouth was agape at the awesome spectacle playing out before her. She had heard of fireworks - even seen a video once, and they were nothing compared to the flash and gleam and godlike noise this rocket was creating. Cantor may be going home, Faith reasoned in thought, a fierce grin manifesting on her face, But he'll never be able to see something like this!

The shuttle had now fully cleared the hangar, though Faith could still see the end half of it from where she was standing: its square, elongated body, its sleek copper finish, and its magnificent engines burning brighter than day. It came to a mid-air stop once more, then began to tilt backwards, positioning itself towards the thick cloud layer. Somehow, the engines grew brighter yet, now just five balls of intense solar rivalry. Then all at once, they blasted into a secondary launch stage, accelerating itself and Cantor into the sky at epic speed.

The sound faded quickly, and Faith rushed as best she could with the pain pulsing in her stomach to the metal rail of the launch basin, catching a glimpse of the glowing speck soaring miles away in the sky before it entered the clouds, dying the bottom layers a strong cyan before they faded back to the (grimly) familiar milky brown.

Despite her now sealed fate, Faith smiled and rested her head on her forelegs as she leaned upon the rail. She had done the right thing, and knowing that put her at peace. It was an odd sense of acceptance the young mare was experiencing: it was sad; empty, but at the same time, quiet, gentle, and simply carefree.

...

But after a moment's adventure through the emotions of closure, Faith began to realise she wasn't alone any more. She gradually opened her eyes to see the hangar doors still open: the rocket's smoke being whipped about by the agitated winds.

Hearing snarls and the 'tip-tap' of sharpened claws on the floor behind her, Faith spun around and dropped onto all fours.

There were thousands.

They were swarming all over the ceiling, the walls and more personally, the floor in front of her. Baying for blood with their jaws clamping wetly together, eliciting throaty hisses and rattles as they tested their advance. The immense racket made by the rocket launch must have woken up every creature in the facility: and if nothing else, their curiosity was ravenous.

A breath caught in Faith's throat, and she managed to transform a rising scream to an uncomfortable exhale. She dropped her eyes to the floor, hearing the murmurings of thousands of renditions of death close in around her. She thought about Cantor, then Celestia, then home in general... Then back to the princess.

"...Sorry I'm not coming home, mom..." She meekly said.

Faith lifted her head. A single tear streaked from each eye, falling down her face and around the curve of her determined; headstrong as ever smile. She checked her rifle: four rounds. Upon closing the bolt back up, Faith laughed triumphantly - if indeed a little maniacally...

"Ha ha...!" She chuckled slowly. "You want a piece of me you ugly fucks!?" She cried out, dropping slowly into a battle stance, murmuring under her breath with a dark and tempting voice, "...Then come and get me."

She broke immediately into a gallop and soared over the first couple of rows of monsters, landing her hooves with a splat directly onto one of their heads.

The creatures, despite themselves, recoiled at the grey mare's actions - but only fractionally: they were quickly rushing to swarm her once again. Faith kissed the top of the barrel of her gun, took aim with her dead-eye,

And fired...


*****


Cantor's teeth were clenched as his body became ever-more moulded to the chair he was sitting in. The g-force was so intense at this point that he could hardly breathe. His eyes were screwed shut in a mixture of pain, fear, and a crushing (though not entirely unpleasant) feeling in his lower organs as their weight multiplied several times. 

Much like his haphazard and stunted breathing, Cantor flashed his eyes open every few seconds to keep himself aware that he was indeed alive. Every time he stole a glimpse past his eyelids that had begun to flash intense colours, the scenery was the same: dull, dirty white clouds that were infinitely opaque, but somehow allowed a shocking perspective of the incredible speed they were being ploughed through at.

The shuttle was shaking violently. Red curtains lining the cockpit window had all been pulled backwards and were fluttering in the gravity-made 'wind'. If not for the apocalyptic roar of the powerful engines, ornaments, the contents of wardrobes, and other such miscellanea cascading from their holdings would have been heard having a most energetic 'party' in the living quarters of the ship.

Despite all the chaos rattling the small, enclosed world around him, Cantor could think of nothing else other than the sickly feeling coming from his compressed stomach. This felt more intense than when his own ship had launched from Equestria... Not that it felt, in a word, 'worse', just... something 'more.'

Cantor cracked his eye open again to discover the sky above and around him had darkened. Startled into opening his eyes fully, his senses became less clogged with this ideal of haste and panic: slowly dissolving to allow wonderment and an oddly tense state of relief to blossom. As he began to realise himself, Cantor noticed that the ship's shaking had dulled to a harsh vibration - and that sensation barely had enough time to announce itself before it was corrected and the flight path became smooth.

Small points of light began to appear in the sky, and grew more intense as the dark clouds faded to the total, infinite blackness of space.

There was a short moment of weightlessness: a moment where Cantor was at a loss for words. He merely sat there, staring open-mouthed at the strange isolated beauty of the view as his body slowly began to drift up into the cabin's breathable and fresh airspace. 

...Until, "Artificial gravity systems online."

The female computer spoke calmly, followed by a polished mechanical 'whirr.' Cantor fell the foot or so he had lifted back into his seat as the computer continued. 

"...Estimated time to arrival: two weeks, five days, thirteen hours, five minutes,"

Cantor huffed a laugh: his current status both mentally and physically drained. "Hmph... 'estimated'..." He said in light of the ship's 'rough' judgement to the minute. The stallion ignored the ship as it seemed to understand his tone, and asserted itself:

"...and forty-three seconds." 

Cantor rolled his eyes, but was alerted to a small orange panel that had emerged from a holographic projector. The translucent dial hovered inches away from the window, and failed to flicker even once in the ship's near perfect condition. The orange panel displayed a countdown to the arrival date. According to the ship, home would be reached on the '18th of March, 3074.' Whether that was this craft's pre-determined time and date, or whether Cantor had suffered an immense bout of relative time travel, either way, it was going to take more than two weeks - and all he could think about now was sleep, food, and a hot bath. In that order.

Cantor slumped forward in his chair and rubbed his weary eyes as the feminine voice of the ship continued, bringing on a slight headache for the alicorn.

"Thank you for flying with Chakushu Machines - we hope your voyage is a pleasant one." She sang: voice positively glowing... And as ever, 

"Have a nice day..."

Cantor leaned forward and touched the tip of his hoof to the clearly marked white cross icon in the upper-right corner of the panel, and it shut down, casting the room into darkness spare from the festive lights blinking on the control board to the left of the room, their light making a feeble attempt of illumination before they were dominated by the darkness invading from the rear..

Cantor dropped his hoof heavily into his lap and slumped back into the seat: getting as relaxed as he could in this awkward, but most cushioned position. He closed his eyes after a long, (very) painful failure of an expedition: himself the lone survivor doomed to tell the world of the horrific news....

...Yet this was a future problem: and all Cantor was could focus on now was the euphoric sensation of rest as his eyes closed and his body began to lighten.

He was almost asleep - despite everything, a comfortable smile fuelled only by his relaxed and grateful body was woven upon his face. It slowly wilted and died, however, when the lone stallion felt a wave of cold air pass over him as he saw a shadow slowly creep over his face behind his eyelids.

He waited for it to pass before frightfully, although terribly slowly opening his eyes to see the stars and twinkling colours of faraway galaxies slowly moving past the window. He became aware of his own trembling, shallow breath, increased heart rate and cold sweat running down his face as he creaked his pupils to the left corner of his eye, suddenly feeling anything other than 'alone.'

It suddenly occurred to him with a grievous chuckle that he had never bothered to check elsewhere on the ship: just this one room he was sitting in now...

Epitomising the sensation of anti-excitement in his horrified and expectant stare, Cantor reluctantly turned his head to stare at what he presumed was an empty space beside him - though now wasn't so sure, and could feel icy eyes burning him from one fixed point in the room...

He turned to the left, the expression of pure terror frozen in his eyes, only to see silence, darkness, and an empty chair...

Whether it was fatigue that made Cantor close his eyes again, or whether he simply passed out from a mixture of draining emotions, everything from the stallion's point of view went dark as his consciousness slowly slipped from the world, and he fell asleep...
> Had it Not Gone Wrong
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 16: Had it Not Gone Wrong

The golden aura surrounding princess Celestia's proud horn dispersed as the pale morning sun peeked over the crest of the distant mountains, plunging their vallies into thick shadow and flaring the streaky sky above with lashes of pink and amber. Birds awoke within the branches of the earthy-hued trees and began their song upon the chilly late Autumn breeze.

The younger princess' horn lost its own unique shine as her moon made night beneath the horizon. She closed her eyes and sighed happily as the surge of magic hushed to its resting pulse in her bones for yet another day.

"It's a nice morning." She softly spoke with an air of tranquillity.

The taller white mare reflected her sibling's dulcet tone as she replied. "Quiet..." She expanded with a somewhat empty demeanour.

Princess Luna replied with a sideways look, a fair and curios smile formed on her slightly parted lips. "Strange choice of words..." She said knowingly. Celestia didn't respond outside of a gradual nod as she exhaled. Knowing this look - among others far too well, Luna took on a more open persona. "What are you thinking about, Tia?"

The elder princess sighed before replying. "I'm worried about those ponies." She stated plainly, looking up to the quickly brightening sky. "They should have been back by now. I... I try not to, but can't help but think something's happened to them." She finished and focused her attention upon Luna with pleading eyes.

The dark-coated princess was dismayed by the uncommon look. If not for the fact that she herself had given the grim outcome some consideration, the somewhat fearful expression her older sister was wearing may have startled her speechless. Regardless, she shared reason with Celestia along with a comforted, easy smirk. "Sister," She began with humour, "First of all, we have no definite clue as to how long it will actually take to reach this planet: they could have only just arrived, for all we know."

Her smile and the assuring way in which she spoke was comforting - to both Celestia and herself. "Anyway, this is Cantor we're talking about: he's in charge - there's no way he'd let any harm come to the crew." Her smirk grew to an amused grin as she recalled a memory: one that was painful at the time, but ironically brought comfort presently. "Isn't this the same alicorn who tore the moon into pieces and then brought it crashing down to the ground - almost as if to prove a point?"

Princess Celestia chuckled delicately and turned back to the cheerful sunrise. "I understand what you're saying, Luna." She answered assuringly. "Nevertheless, I doubt it's in any way healthy to dwell on the subject of 'what if?' even for a little." Through the corner of her eye, the solar princess noticed her sister give an agreeable nod, and she took one last breath of the crisp, chilled air before retreating back inside from the balcony overlooking the dry lake that spanned before the castle's Eastern face.

Princess Luna followed suit, and strolled quickly behind her sister as she closed the tall doors behind her with a flourish of golden magic.


*****


Twilight Sparkle yawned as she stepped out from the dry warmth of her library onto the hard dusty ground of the dim Ponyville streets. As she made her way into town, she relished in the silence the early morning brought. She allowed her eyes to muse over the pleasant surroundings early Ponyville presented, noting the odd leaf of the deepest crimson too stubborn to give in to the changing season. The sight re-affirmed her smile, but simultaneously reminded her that winter was mere weeks away, rousing a shiver through the unicorn's fur. 

In little time, or what seemed as such aided greatly by the gorgeous as ever light of dawn bathing the town with a unique hue, Twilight reached the ring of thatched houses huddled around the clearing that was the town square: named oddly enough given the fact that it was quite clearly a circle...

She nodded acquainted greetings to the old stallion snuffing out the flames on the enchanted candles inside the rustic lanterns scattered about town. He returned a smile to the purple mare and went about his business with the oversized black thimble on the end of a long pole. The candles, although being fantastically and unnaturally bright within their glass cells as well as being able to ignite themselves whenever it grew dark, had this annoying tenancy to stay lit whilst in daylight. It wouldn't cultivate a problem if not for the endless amount of wax they somehow produced as they slowly burned - and so, somepony needed to rise early each morning to prevent the small town from being entombed by hard white jelly. On the brighter side, it at least gave whoever was desperate enough to take on the task a job...

Despite being wrapped in a woolly yellow sweater, the cold still managed to nip at Twilight's bones as she passed through the dormant town. Ponies either still in bed or recently woken were silent in their homes, and suiting her curious nature, the lavender unicorn nosed in through the parted curtains at the ponies eating breakfast or drinking a bowl of something steamy. A playful sense of envy stirred inside her, but remembering her large flask full of tea warming her right flank put a smile on her face, and she continued into town.

The heavy brass observation equipment seemed to have grown heavier as Twilight slid it from her back with a groan, allowing it to fall onto the ground whilst she caught her breath. She turned her head skyward to clear her airways, and was greeted with a spectrum of warming dawn colours: the wispy clouds streaking the sky boasted a gradient of rich peach and gold, and the blue sky above had yet to fully lighten from its night-time state.

"Gorgeous..." She said quietly to herself after a moment. With the clunk of her observatory gear and the thoughts of keeping the cold at bay, Twilight hadn't heard the other pony pulling a cart full of apples into town moments after.

The simple responding phrase, "Ah know, right?" From what was presumed to be no one caught Twilight very much off-guard, and despite the heavy form inside her, she still managed to jump and spin about quite rapidly.

Twilight gasped in surprise when she heard the reply to her brief statement, but relaxed quickly after when she discovered it was Applejack who had spoken. She smiled foolishly in light of her own fright and shook her head at the ground. She returned after a moment to the tan earth pony in front of her, who was wearing a bashful expression, as well as somewhat of an apology in her pea-green eyes.

"Ha, ha..." Applejack laughed nervously as the pony she had accidentally startled clutched the side of her swollen belly painfully. "Sorry 'bout that, Twi." She continued light-heartedly. "I figured you were talkin' to me."

"It's no problem, Applejack." Twilight responded with a happy smile. She hadn't spoken to, or even seen her orange friend for around two weeks following another bountiful (albeit late) apple harvest, and so the sight of her, despite the mild conflict, was very pleasant. "How are you doing?"

"I'm good, thanks." The Stetson-sporting mare replied easily. "Yerself?" She added quickly.

Twilight responded with an eager nod. "I'm feeling fine." She said, happy as ever. "It's good to see you again. All of us haven't really seen you at all since you finished your harvest." The unicorn continued with concern. "Did something go wrong?"

Applejack flashed a painful expression before replying. "Just a tad..." She finally said with an air of defeat. Her eyes wandered absently for a moment, but promptly found their way back to Twilight. "That harsh storm a few weeks back - it absolutely destroyed one of our silos." Twilight raised her eyebrows in whatever apology and state of shock for her friend's sake she could convey. "Woke up the next mornin': bones aching from the stress o' tha harvest, opened the curtains to find thousands a' apples scattered across the whole farm."

"That's terrible." Twilight said apologetically, eyebrows raised in alarm.

Applejack just tilted her head in reason. "...Actually, it ain't so bad." She said before going on to explain, "Me an' Macintosh gathered 'em all up, washed 'em, then sorted the good ones from the bruised an' broken ones: gave those to Applebloom an' Granny to make into pies an' fritters." She resurrected a smile and laughed again. "Lemme tell ya', there was an awful lot: I'm sellin' a couple dozen today in town: 's why I got this here cart with me." She affirmed, tilting her head back to gesture at the large wooden cart piled high with quite literally a 'mountain' of apples. A selection of cold pies in shallow tins and apple-based pastries lined shelves along the cart's outer sides.

The Apple family's best mare caught Twilight eyeing the deserts filling the shelves and cast the unicorn a compassionate glance. "Y'all are free to take one if ya' fancy." She said kindly, stepping forward to give the pregnant mare a better selection.

Startled once again, Twilight fervently shook her head. "Oh, no," She denied, secretly hoping her orange friend would insist. "They look really nice, but I don't expect you to give one to me for free."

Applejack chuckled loudly enough to make a nearby curtain or two twitch. "Oh, Twilight, we got near on a hundred pies at home - and almost double that in pasties! I'm chargin' two bits a fritter, three a pie: that's nothin!" She cried gleefully - obviously focusing hard on the brighter side of having a collapsed apple silo on her hooves. "Please," The cheerful mare continued, beaming, "Honestly, Twi, we can't give these sweets away; and like I'm ever gonna charge mah best friend a pittance for somethin' I'm tryin' ta shift."

Applejack appeared to grow somewhat aggressive towards the end of her pseudo-speech, and was almost forcing a pie upon the unicorn: at some point having produced one of the baked apple goods from behind her, and was now brandishing it at Twilight forcefully.

Twilight still hesitated for a moment. Ignoring the fact that her mouth was drooling as her eyes locked onto the pastry lid baked a caramel gold in a hot oven hours ago, she failed to falter with her manners, and asked Applejack again, "A- are you sure? I mean it does look delicious ,but, I'm more than happy to pay."

"Nonsense." Applejack scolded, her tone harsh despite the casual smile. "Y'all can take one a' mah pies, on the house." She finished with a strong smile, and she shone with even greater delight as she felt what little weight the desert held leave her hoof in a shroud of silver magic.

"Thank you, Applejack." Twilight spoke politely, setting the free treat down beside her still collapsed equipment. 

"Ain't nothin'" The earth pony replied triumphantly before turning her attention and nodding to the pile of cylindrical brass and glass lying on the floor behind her lavender friend. "I figured it might hold y' up while ya do... whatever it is you're doin' there."

Empathising with the farmer's stare towards her equipment, Twilight returned the gaze with a proud look of her own. "You wanna know what it does?" She asked hurriedly, the filly inside her growing excited over the prospect of technology and knowledge - amd moreso, teaching...

"Uh," Applejack started with a blank expression. "I'll try an' follow..." She said with a dry tone of humour.

Only sparing the blonde mare's comment a chuckle,Twilight began setting up her device as she explained...

...

The sun had risen by the time Twilight had finished explaining the contraption's function. Applejack dreaded to imagine how long the intellectual tour could have gone on for if Twilight had have elaborated on what she intended to do with the information it would give her. To be honest, the young farm girl was lost when Twilight mentioned something called 'gravity.' "Working on an apple farm," Twilight had said, "You of all ponies should understand how gravity works..." Applejack didn't understand the joke, and made a point of letting Twilight know that. However, the knowledgeable unicorn had explained something along the lines of how mapping the sun's path across the sky would help her to understand this 'gravity' better.

"...and so by measuring the change in the sun's path across the sky," Twilight elaborated, "I should be able to notice a change in how it moves at different times of the year." She reset the article that looked something like a telescope to its original position, pointing the thinner end towards the end of what appeared to be some kind of large, solid metal protractor made of the same dark gold brass as the telescope casing.

Twilight continued in a lower voice, looking about the town centre from the floor pillow she was perched on. Applejack noticed the shifty signs and leaned in closer to hear Twilight speak. "See, I've come up with this hypothesis that neither princess has as much control over the sun and moon as they'd like us to think..." Her rich purple eyes grew wide as she realised her thoughts sounded much worse when vocalised. "Of course, I've got no reason to doubt Luna or Celestia, o- or question their power, but I've just got this feeling that there are other forces at play."

Applejack stared blankly for a second or two, blinked once, then straightened up, feeling the harness dig into her back as she did so. "Well I understood most... ehh, some a' that, Twi." She stated with a meek smirk. Twilight simply stared back at her hopefully. "Anyway, the stuff I did get was real interestin', though: what yer doin' sounds pretty important." She cast a glance around, and noticed several ponies either exiting their houses or already traversing the streets. Taking this as her cue, the tan earth pony stretched where she stood, shaking at the knees slightly. A yawn escaped her lungs.

"Well," She started, looking from Twilight to her pitch site on the other side of the square. "It's been real nice speakin' to ya' again, Twilight." 

Having drifted off slightly in the wake of her own excitement, Twilight snapped her attention to Applejack and nodded her head maniacally. "Oh, sure!" She relied with great enthusiasm.

Appplejack grinned eagerly and replied. "I'm gonna set up shop over there." She stated, nodding in the direction of her pitch: a small grassy flowerbed beside the town hall. The mayor would almost always buy something come lunchtime whenever Applejack was vending in town, and given today's deals, Applejack was confident she may help clear her hefty stock.

"Okay." Twilight chirped in response. "Thanks for the pie: it looks delicious." She said once again; no word of a lie.

Applejack shot the purple mare a wink. "Don't mention it." She said easily, sounding relaxed, despite the heavy load she was pulling. "Take it easy, okay?" She added with an air of closure, looking over her shoulder as she walked away.

"Hm, hm... Okay." Twilight called out with a chuckle. "I'll see you later."

Applejack sprouted a smile on her face as she departed. "Bye..." She mused as she strode out of earshot.

Twilight watched her friend walk away for a while, noticing how the mountain of apples atop her cart fumbled against each other as the wooden wheels bounced over the uneven ground, before staring to the clock tower rising up from behind the outer row of houses, noting the time: five past seven...

"Darn." Twilight cursed harshly under her breath as she took the reading from the numbers on the large brass protractor highlighted by the single point of intensely magnified sunlight. She would have to work out an estimate for the reading at seven o' clock - which shouldn't prove to be too difficult...

Telekinetically pouring herself a steaming drink from her flask, Twilight fought off the chill as she waited for the next ten-minute milestone.

She slowly sipped her tea, and sighed deeply as it nicely warmed her insides.


*****


The sun was soon at its highest in the sky: it was noon, and Twilight Sparkle was already tired. It had warmed indefinitely from the early morning, however, the chill still lingered over the lavender unicorn like a dark cloud. Still, her experiment was going smoothly, and she was thrilled with that. She had prepared for a day of low temperatures and in cruel ironic contrast, sunburn, but while slathered in sun lotion and mildly chilly, overall, boredom was the bane of Twilight's sitution.

Many ponies stopped by that day, curious towards the large metal apparatus, and while she enjoyed the frequent acquaint  company, Twilight felt it would be rude to ask for any one of them to fetch a book from her library (And privately, she convinced herself that no one but her close friends could be trusted with her work: a valuable cookbook may 'go missing', then suddenly reappear in the possession of a less culinary equipped mare, and there would be no way to prove it wasn't hers...)

"Any book would do." Twilight wound up thinking, her whole body heaving as she sighed deeply and checked off another reading at twenty past twelve. She had been occupying herself with thoughts, but not having spoken to anypony for at least half an hour now, the purple mare had taken to talking to herself - though still only quietly. "Even a dictionary..." She muttered, staring at the intense white dot moving achingly slowly across the brass notches of the protractor. "Maybe I could find a word to describe just how bored I am right now..."

She looked across the square to where Applejack had set up her stall. It was interesting to watch certain parts of the mare's wagon break apart and re-assemble into a makeshift vendor stand. It even produced a flag and everything...

Applejack was now, as expected, conversing with Mayor Mare on her lunch break. The elderly beige earth pony held an apple fritter in her right hoof, taking bites intermittently as she spoke. She looked to be having a good time speaking to the apple vendor, and had paid her double for what Twilight had thought she overheard as "A job well done."

Applejack had predicted her business correctly: a great many ponies had come throughout the day to sample her discounted treats, and she had sold out all of her pies in less than two hours. Several ponies left disappointed when a white sign declaring 'out of pies" Was nailed to the side of the cart. Regardless, a hefty line still stretched a long ways into the square: a line consisting of ponies who were loyal to the best apples, as far as they were concerned, in Equestria.

The waiting line had backed up a lot more than it should have while Applejack talked. Somepony may have cried out for more motion in the queue, but seeing as it was the mare who controlled their taxes, it seemed as though no one minded...

It was when the mayor let out a particularly rambunctious laugh that everything began to glow. Slowly at first, but after time, the air grew so bright, it became painful to look anywhere at all. Ponies quickly discovered the source of the light aided by the booming crackles it was also emitting. 

Everypony in Applejack's queue turned their heads simultaneously skyward and squinted as the great distant ball of light hurtling high above the ground grew denser and brighter. Twilight followed their gaze and spied what appeared to be a tiny red comet. It was dashing across the sky like some kind of super-fast zeppelin. As she watched it fly by, she noticed how unnaturally quiet it was: there was a small, distant rumble, but there should have been much, much more, given its speed.

Already squinting like an old nag without her glasses, Twilight couldn't keep staring any longer. Despite her unique attraction to anything extraordinary, she found she had to screw her eyes shut and look away - and even then, the burned image of the bright object still pulsed in her eyes.

She tucked herself up and pressed her hooves firmly into her ears as the ground warped under her like a momentary earthquake, and the shock-wave tore through the town. It sounded as if an epic chemical explosion had been set off atop the fountain. Despite having her ears covered, Twilight's head still boomed with pain as the force and sheer volume of the shock blasted her.

She was knocked from the pillow, and had to outstretch her forelegs to steady herself. As she did, the sounds of shattered windows flowing in pieces from their frames and clinking against plant pots and cobblestone doorsteps prevailed over the slight ringing. The next thing Twilight was made aware of was the townsfolk: the ones who were not stumbling about in a daze were running to their homes screaming.

Twilight would have done the same, but for whatever reason, she knew exactly what had just happened. She grinned as she looked about the chaos. Applejack rushed through the frantic crowd of ponies towards her purple friend, confused as to why she was smiling.

"What happened, Twilight?" She gasped, heart racing, ears ringing. "What was that in the sky just then - and that noise?"

Twilight checked her brass equipment: it was skewed, offset, confused by the addition of a secondary light source as bright as the sun. It was tuned to follow the brightest point of the sky: the sun, as it passed over. And so right now, the device believed that it had set, and wouldn't be able to re-calibrate until next morning.

"Damnit, Cantor!" Twilight cursed gleefully, throwing a protection enchantment over the tool and leaving it in the centre of town, heading for her house. Applejack followed.

"Hey, Twilight?" She started, still baffled by the positive vibes radiating from the unicorn. "Mind lettin' us in on what's goin' on?" She asked, walking alongside her friend at a slow, pregnant pace.

"It's got to be Cantor, Applejack!" Twilight revealed with a happy sprite in her voice. "Think, he was supposed to be back sometime this week - and just look what's happened! A bright light falling from the sky heading in the direction of Canterlot - it must be him!" A strange setting for her excitement, she inwardly admitted, but she didn't care. Life had been different with the alicorn gone - not unhappy or boring (not out of the ordinary) in the least, but something was just 'missing', and now, it seemed, it had returned.

Applejack smiled and looked to the trail of smoke gradually dispersing into the air. She gave a thoughtful frown and turned back to Twilight. "So... what are ya' doin' now?" She asked, noticing they were heading for the library.

"I've got to get ready." She sang, opening the door to the gigantic tree with her magic as soon as soon as it came into sight. She galloped as best she could ahead, turning at the doorway to face Applejack once she was inside. "Applejack," She began, eyes sparkling with excitement. "Are you gonna come with me to go and see him?"

"Uhh..." The orange mare's eyes shifted to the ground for a moment before darting back up. "Ah, suppose so." She said happily, eliciting an even broader grin from Twilight. "I mean, Ah made a bundle on those apple pies, today." Her eyes shrunk as she remembered her unattended stall. "Oh, Crab apples." She spat, looking over her shoulder into town, but she couldn't see her cart. She turned back to Twilight and took a step back. "Okay, Twi, I'll come with ya', but Ah need ta' get to mah cart: got a lotta' money back there Ah don't want goin' missin'." She shot Twilight another grin of reassurance and took another step back.

"Oh, on your way," Twilight started, upholding her smile effortlessly. "Could you ask Pinkie to round up the rest of the gang?" She gave a light chuckle, "I'm sure everypony'll be happy to see him again."

Applejack turned her nose up slightly. "You sure it's right to go pullin' folks away from their business fer this?" She meant what she said, yet also had intentions of humour, but failed to pass it on particularly well.

Twilight's smile faltered, and she shifted her eyes absently. "Well, for this it is." She answered, prepared to blame her hormones if she became 'adamant.' "Come on... I mean, he'll be glad to see us: I'm sure he's missed us dreadfully over... how long has it been...?" She gazed upward for a moment, tracing the few clouds drifting in the pale blue sky above as she thought. When it came to her, Twilight raised her eyebrows and faced Applejack. "Nearly three months... Where does the time go...?"

Applejack shrugged in response. 

"So will you do it?" Twilight reinstated, re-affirming the orange mare's attention. "Can you ask Pinkie to tell everypony to meet up here in half an hour?"

"Half an hour?" Applejack asked as a concerned frown wrinkled her forehead.

Twilight laughed once again. "It'd be Pinkie rounding the others up: she'd find a way..." 

The tan earth pony gave an amused snort in response. "Okay, Ah'll ask her, but I wouldn't be surprised if she jus' wants ta stay here an' put together some kinda' party to welcome him back."

"She'll probably just do that anyway." Twilight replied with a chuckle.

Applejack groaned a parting sigh. "Alright, sugarcube." She said slightly dourly. "Don't git too worked up, okay? Ah know it's excitin' for ya an' all, but ya'll gotta be careful with that baby inside o' ya."

Twilight's expression flashed quickly with fear, reason, and responsibility all at once. But she rapidly composed herself and returned Applejack's concerned look with an agreeable nod. "Yes." She said with definition. "You're right..." She almost appeared ashamed of herself after speaking: Cantor had pushed healthy eating onto her ever since finding out about the coming foal. Twilight understood the importance of what he was saying, but having been entrusted with her own responsibilities, chocolate, ice cream, and an odd craving for black roses had made an all-too comfortable home in her diet.

Twilight shook the guilty thoughts from her head and gave a final nod of agreement with her strong, Stetson-sporting friend. "You're right." She said again before starting anew on another level of glee. "So, go and tell everyone: let them know that Cantor's come home!"


*****


A minute or so beforehoof...

The sound of cutlery idled about the otherwise silent dining room; carrying its self-produced air of unrest. It would be considered a disaster in any circumstance if this kind of silence had been kept up for as long as it had been at any type of royal banquet event - and both of the princesses present were thankful for the smaller, more private dining room as opposed to the Great Hall where this silence would have been overwhelming. Regardless, the pairs of guards stood at the doors either end of the moderately sized room and both of the caterers standing ready by the kitchen shifted their eyes about each other nervously: obviously, there was something  plaguing their rulers' minds. Even the mutual discomfort between the Lunar and Solar guards was overshadowed by the profoundly tense atmosphere.

Princess Luna, herself feeling the unease, looked up from her fresh leafy brunch and smiled at Celestia. "Stop troubling yourself, sister." She suggested with a calm tone. "Just what are you fearful of? Do you doubt our little alicorn?" She added with a smirk.

The white mare sat at the opposite end of the table stopped eating and stared at her own salad for a short while before peering up to look at her sister. As silence flooded the room, her keen ears noticed frantic hoofsteps scrambling somewhere downstairs. "You should know I dislike to put the best-case scenario first, Luna." She replied, not without a small echo of hostility. "If, and hopefully when our ponies return, then superb..." She cast her eyes to her small plate of food and sighed heavily. "...However if by the end of Winter, they have not returned..." She sighed once more as her words seemed to simply fall from her mouth. "Then it will... be less of a shock to the system if I were expecting it..."

Princess Celestia became lost in her thoughts for a moment: she became aware she was trying to convince herself yet again, that the worst possible outcome had occurred. And at this instance questioned how many more calamities her mind could endure.

Luna merely looked upon her sister for a while, trying to make sense of how she was feeling. "But, sister, surely you should allow yourself some sense of fa-"

Furthermore..." The solar mare continued forcibly, backing Luna away from a front she was never intending to make. the silence which followed thickened the air enough to slice and serve for lunch.  "Whatever happens is out of our control..." She continued with desperate eyes, fearing for her younger sibling's sanity should something as terrible as losing a close friend become a reality: she, herself knew the sting all too well. Celestia's hard stare quickly softened as the sound of an approaching gallop behind her grew more pronounced.

Princess Celestia gazed with intensity, yet with no sense of anger. "Please don't go wising upon stars, Luna..." She spoke softly as the hoofteps entered the corridor behind her and drew closer. "It is a futile endeavour: surely you should know this better than anypony..."

The night-time princess' mouth was partly open in shock at her sister's words; and moreso the tone with which she voiced them, however, her attention was quickly drawn to the gold-clad unicorn stallion who drew himself up to Celestia's side.

"Your majesty..." He spoke softly, a concoction of secrecy and tremendous fear running through his words. 

Celestia failed to acknowledge the pale mauve unicorn's presence apart from swivelling her ear towards his face. After a tense pause, he began a profound whisper that rivalled the already unsettling silence present in the room. Even princess Luna could not hear any words coming from the stallion's lips.

All of a sudden, princess Celestia's Eyes widened, and her expression as a whole seemed to lift. She turned to the unicorn messenger with a reserved smile and asked, "Are you certain?"

The mauve stallion nodded falteringly before begging the princess' attention with his stare. He cast a shady look about the room; scanning everywhere apart from the opposite princess' curious and serious teal eyes before whispering silently to Celestia once more.

The white alicorn's face faltered a little, and Luna could tell as plain as day the slither of worry dash through her sister's eyes. Regardless, princess Celestia, over the many, many years, had become rather adept at hiding her emotions - at least when the instance called for a certain degree of composure in her subjects.

"What in the world do you mean, 'it's different'?" Questioned Celestia with a demanding brow.

The guard appeared to recoil - though only slightly, before he replied.

As his lips poured words into Celestia's, and only Celestia's ear, the white ruler's expression grew darker and darker until it was reminiscent of how she appeared at the start of the meal. She stared off into an endless distance, lips slightly parted as she let the words sink in.

The guard finished and took a step back, affirming himself by clasping his pairs of hooves together and standing to attention, quietly declaring, "That is all, your majesty." before receding into a much needed rest: his chest still rising and falling quite rapidly following his hasty ascent to the princess' side.

Princess Celestia produced a laboured sigh before her face fell into an odd state of rest for the longest while. Conflicting thoughts and emotions raced back and forth as she continued to gaze into the abyss stretching out from her subconscious. It was only when her sister meekly called her name, that Celestia seemed to awaken from this intensely personal venture. 

She looked up. Her expression was less than stern, yet far from what could be noted as 'placid.' "Luna," She began curtly, stepping out from behind her end of the table, "When you are finished, I would appreciate your company in my room as quickly as possible: I have been told about something I feel should be kept..." She halted on her way to the large doors leading into the hallway and peered over her shoulder. "...Quiet." She added with an unspoken, yet unmistakeable sense of warning. She turned away from the other ponies as her horn began to gently glow. "At least until I am certain of the situation." She affirmed with an air of business before vanishing into a parade of rich golden sparks.

Princess Luna hurriedly followed suit, setting her fork down delicately on the glossy white plate and rising from her seat. Despite her sister's apparent urgency, the princess of the night took the minute time to thank the ponies scattered about the room for the meal, before dismissing herself within her own unique magical cascade.


*****


Princess Luna fizzled into existence within her sister's bedroom, oddly, she thought, before the white mare herself. She began to search for Celestia, however she could somehow tell she was alone in this room.

She took a moment to collect herself: having not teleported - even this short distance in some time. Both she and her sister had been raised with the idea that teleportation was an uncouth activity, and in a word unuttered by upper-class living, 'lazy' way of getting around. It had become apparent that this was no longer the case - or at least, not looked down on so much. Even now, after almost six years since her redemption, the princess of the night was still finding everyday things she needed to adjust to.

Regardless, the thousand-year exile was behind her, and she hoped to keep the memory which didn't particularly hold a clear beginning any more in the farthest reached of her mind. 

She crossed the room to the embellished balcony, the doors to which already open, and peered out over the land. It was, as planned, a very cheerful, albeit chilly day: the sun was high and washing the deep vallies splaying out beneath the castle in a bright, seamless shine. Clouds were frozen in the air, casting the land beneath into permanent shade until a pegasi would move it.

Princess Luna smiled and shifted her gaze skyward, and that's when she noticed the small dark object in the distance. Straining her eyes, the purple-blue alicorn tried to focus on the shape, and it didn't take her a while to work out that it was headed in her direction, and at tremendous speed.

She gasped in a dual combination of shock towards the mysterious object and the discovery that her sister was standing beside her.

"Celestia!" Luna exclaimed, stepping closer to her sister. "Wh- what is that!?" She asked in a breath growing with panic. 

Princess Celestia stared past Luna towards the speeding object. She was silent for a short moment, contemplating all the things it can possibly be, an most of the ideas running through her head weren't positive...

"I am unsure, Luna." Celestia answered, her voice, usually steadfast and unyielding was fraught with a foreign tone of dismay. "But regardless, I don't intend for it to collide with the castle if I can help it." 

Celestia passed Luna and stepped out onto the balcony, the intense sunlight directly above casting strong shadows between the feathers on her outstretched wings. She focused on the object and cast out her magical lasso, hooves planted as firmly as she could upon the balcony's marble floor.

She caught the shape, and excessively underestimating its speed, was torn from the spot. Her chest struck the stone rail, and she could feel herself being crushed against it. She let out a sharp cry, but quickly rivalled the wicked object's energy.

Princess Luna cried out in cannon with her sister, and rushed to her aid. Yet before she could approach close enough to touch her, Celestia was already standing strong once again. 

Unable to particularly slow the strange item's incredible velocity, Princess Celestia found she could at least turn it towards the desert region North of the outskirts of Canterlot. The object followed a great arc as it careered across the sky. It passed the castle and screamed out of sight. Following one last push to slow it down, Celestia let go of it and threw up a shield around the entire castle as a great shock wave bounced off the protective bubble with little more than a muffled thunderclap.

Princess Celestia stood rigid for a second, affirming that nothing was too amiss before rising from a stance she didn't realise she had fallen into. She closed her eyes and slowly exhaled as her protective shield melted into the November air. Remnants of the sonic boom were still echoing about the vallies between the snow-capped mountains, of which many now presented avalanches pouring down their rocky faces like powdery white waterfalls.

After releasing her breath, Celestia turned about to face a stunned and confused princess Luna. "Come, sister." The white mare spoke with an air of discipline. "...This may require the both of us."

She went to take point, but Luna stopped her with a hoof. Somewhat dismayed in an unexpected tense, princess Celestia peered down and looked at Luna with a questioning face.

"Would you please tell me what just happened?" She asked, her voice quaking mildly. 

Celestia sighed. She didn't know why she was feeling this apprehension to speak to her sister - tell her what was going on, however it had proved useful in the past to keep some things to herself. Regardless, she acknowledged her sibling had reason to know. "I was informed that the object you just saw was not of Equestrian origin." She explained dourly. "I was unwilling to believe it, but it would be unwise to ignore it as just any other meteorite. However, I realise now that this object is most certainly not of this world."

Luna furrowed her brow. "What do you mean?" She asked as her own mind constructed an assumption. "Hey," She began with growing excitement, "Hey, could it be Cantor and the others!?" She asked with glee, her own doubts about their survival suddenly more distant.

Celestia failed to match her sister's cheery smile, and her stringent expression raised new concerns in Luna's mind. 

"Perhaps you misheard, sister." Celestia spoke, her voice tattered by a fear only Luna could detect. "This thing is not from this world..." Princess Luna's ears dropped as she realised the weight of her sister's words. "Whatever it was, it is not Equine... But what scares me-" She stopped and forged a confide through uncomfortable eye contact with Luna for a moment, realising and re-wording her mistake. "What gives me cause for concern, is that it is most definitely mechanical, and I realised when my magic touched it, that there is something alive inside of it."


*****


Several chariots pulled through the air by armoured pegasi carried the princesses and a number of squads of Celestia's best towards the trench of upturned dirt. The roof covering the royal carriage protected the royal mares from the high-speed winds barrelling about this barren span of land unaided by the pegasi's powerful wings.

Celestia wore a solemn face. One of complexity: an unnatural fear covered up by concern and forcefulness. She hadn't spoken much besides arranging the ride, and her sister perched on the seat beside could feel the tension and subtle panic radiating from her.

In a time not too long after they had set off, the crater from the object came into view. It had carved an immense trench in the ground, unearthing large rocks and hurling them miles away. The surrounding dust had been scorched black, and the upturned lips of the elliptical crater were smouldering in the cold air.

Celestia's convoy touched down, and the soldiers all exited their transports in a manner religiously practised to form a protective wall around the pair of alicorns exiting their own carriage 

Smoke poured from the depths of the cavernous hole, the dust and sand crawling from the lip of the crater having been forged into odd lumps of glass beneath the heat. It did not venture far into the earth, yet there was enough of an overhang to cast an ominous shadow across the surface of the crashed article.

The princesses approached, Luna appearing apprehensive towards knowing what was inside, Celestia, on the other hoof... wasn't... As they grew nearer, and the soldiers maintained their defensive formation, it became clear that the thing that had crashed was indeed a craft from the stars - and was most certainly different from the one that had left Equestria months ago.

Despite warnings from the soldiers swarming her like bees protecting their queen, princess Celestia rose a silencing hoof, pausing for a second to enforce her steadiness, before proceeding into the crater. Luna didn't hesitate to follow, but in her mind, she was well aware her legs were carrying her somewhere she didn't want to be. As this thought crossed her mind, she was certain her sister was aware of this obedient fear as well.

The couple of princesses perched on the rim of the steadily declining trench. Celestia held her head high, unbeknownst only to her, to try and assure herself of her empowerment.

She went to take a step forward, but a harsh hiss whisked through the smoke-blackened air before she could progress. 

The white mare flinched at the sound, and she gasped in a breath. The scene grew silent spare for the impossibly quiet sizzling of the metal in the cool, moist ground.

As a moment managed to span a millennium, a new sound offered itself: the uncanny droll of tortured, clunking metal. It sounded as though a door was being forced through a keyhole, and the onlooking ponies only had just long enough to affirm this sound with themselves before something dropped from the craft. Once again, the new sound triggered a flinch - though this time, it afflicted everypony there.

The soldiers surrounding Celestia and Luna - all of them, aimed their weapons towards the hunk of smouldering metal lying at the foot of the crater, covering the charred ground with a shade of a dozen red lights. The view inside the machine was darker still: nothing visible along the surface of, nor the interior of the craft...

...All except for two amber eyes, glowing under their own heat as they stared out.

Celestia renewed her tight breath and took a step back. These were Cantor's eyes. No doubt could be made about it. The pony they belonged to could not be seen, yet it was obvious, deep within those complex eyes, something was smiling back with a grim motivation.

What Celestia took as most frighting, however, was the fact that the astronautic alicorn was not staring at her, but instead was deathly focused on her sister.

Undoubtedly, there was something wrong - in Celestia's experience, eyes like those held a gaze into the deepest realms of fear. What she saw within the doorway of this new craft, was pure, unrelenting terror.

Before she could usher her sister behind her, however, a cruel, bemused chuckle rose from the crater. 

Celestia forced herself to watch as the broken form of Cantor emerged from the craft. Her eyes grew wide with disgust and peril as she took in his afflictions. He stood crooked, coat drenched almost entirely with blood. Ribs could be seen sickeningly clearly beneath his scuffed fur. His mane was matted with thick clumps of coagulated life fluid, and broad strands of mane and tail clung to his reddened body. His horn was smashed halfway up; a long crack fingering down the front side of his magical appendage before disappearing into his ruined hair. His left wing was a much deeper red - almost black in colour, and was hanging limply by his side, the tips of the feathers barely gracing the ground as he stepped into the light of the winter sun.

Truly, it looked as though he had been dragged through hell and back.

Despite their discipline, all the soldiers were murmuring loudly amongst themselves: their reactions ranging from disgusted cries to accusing threats. Deaf, however, was Celestia to all of them.

Taking in both princesses', then everypony else's aghast features, Cantor's morbid laugh faded to a wicked smile as he brought himself to a halt a distance along the crater's incline.

He took a long moment to make, if there were ever a greater understatement, 'uncomfortable' eye-contact with everyone watching, one by one, each fell into an expectant hush. And when he had finished, he finally focused on the tall white alicorn in front of him, his evil smile sinking into a cocky grin of satire.

"What's the matter?" He asked with his shredded voice. "...You guys expecting someone else?"

He attempted another step, but collapsed under his own weight and fell to the dusty ground after his consciousness deserted him.

He was immediately rushed to the castle under the strictest supervision of Celestia. She took the time within the chariot to assemble herself, as well as write a letter to a certain student.


*****


Twilight had made herself up. Not to the extent another would expect: she knew Cantor wasn't a fan of the over-dressed mare... Keeping this in mind, she did a very good job of making herself look elegant, despite the weight of pregnancy beneath her. She wore a very pale lipstick and introduced a plain silver necklace to her image. She noted herself with a smile in the mirror set into the table against the wall past the foot of her bed before making her way down the stairs. Taking her time to be cautious despite their steady decline.

As she touched down to the bottom floor, she cast a glance to the decorative cuckoo clock high up on the wall. It had a small, intricate display, but with accustomed eyes, the lavender unicorn could tell it was around half twelve; and almost time to go.

She then clocked the adolescent dragon sorting through books on the top shelf. Despite being nearly as large as a pony now, he still had to perch on the tips of his claws to reach mid-way up the shelves. Twilight chuckled at the sight, stopping and turning to face Spike as she pulled a woollen bobble hat over her head. The dragon reacted to the sound and spun around quickly in a flurry of obedience, knocking several books from the shelf he was working on to the floor with a hardback drum roll.

"Hey, Twilight." Spike greeted in his ever-deepening voice. He looked to his claws, where he was firmly grasping a red-covered volume entitled, 'Mamba Brew: What to Do When They Poison You.' He gave a cornered laugh and set the book gently down on the library counter before snaking over the wooden desk to sit himself closer to the purple mare. "What's up?" He asked with a smile of many predatory teeth.

"Cantor's come back today: remember that explosion a little while ago?" She asked, watching her assistant nod slowly before continuing. "Well," She said with an infatuated smile, her eyes rolling knowingly. "That was him coming back home - you know how he likes to make an entrance." Her grin widened as she chuckled.

Spike turned his eyes to the floor thoughtfully before returning his stare at Twilight. "How do you know it's him?" The dragon asked without commitment. "Why couldn't it have been like... some kinda meteorite?"

Twilight returned the question with a relaxed an dismissive shake of her head. "I just know, Spike." She replied with spiritual-grade certainty. "I can't really explain it, but... Something is telling me it's Cantor."

"But-" Spike returned, any sense of debate absent in his tone, yet he couldn't particularly believe it, himself.

"Spike," Twilight insisted gently. "I just know..." She added with a wavering certainty.

Spike looked to the unicorn questioningly, but ultimately, his accusations promptly dissolved. "Okay, Twilight, if you say so..." He replied with trusting compliance. "I know you've got that 'intuition' thing of yours that-" His eyes widened slightly as a familiar stirring made its way through his body. He caught the rising heat in his throat and exhaled a thick plume of glowing green flame through his nostrils, which lingered and swirled in the air before a royally sealed scroll manifested itself from the embers.

Twilight took the letter from the air as Spike coughed lightly and blew a thin puff of luminous smoke from the corner of his mouth.

"My dearest student, Twilight Sparkle," The scroll read once the mare it was directed at had removed the seal and unfurled it.

"A letter from the princess?" Twilight asked with intrigue, looking to Spike, who promptly shrugged.

She returned her eyes to the letter and quietly spoke the words as she read...

"As I am sure you are aware, a short time ago, your local area - including Canterlot, Cloudsdale and a small number of surrounding settlements, experienced what may have been interpreted as 'an explosion.' This, however, is not the case. In fact, as I'm certain a bright pony such as yourself may have reasoned given this particular time, it was Cantor returning following his voyage into extra-terrestrial colonies."

Twilight grinned widely with glee as she read the message. Having been stood for some time, however, she made her way to the same cream couch she had possessed for years.

Her pleased excitement fell, however, like an over-strained elastic band as she scanned the following words.

"Unfortunately, something appears to have gone wrong.

Now, so as to not panic you, allow me to confirm that your partner is 'alive' - if, indeed he has challenged my concept of 'living...'"

Twilight was frozen for a moment. A dramatic, "Oh, no..." passed her lips as she stared at the paper.

Spike heard her alarm, and proceeded to ask what the matter was, yet Twilight's focus was fixed on the parchment.

"Now, this calamity had presented me with a great deal of issues to comb through, so I shall need to keep this message brief. Regardless, as I'm sure you're quite adamant to see him again, the castle doors are open to you. And not that I would expect them to rush as much as, with respect, you may do, the five others from your group are more than welcome, too.

Regrettably the bearer of bad news,
Princess Celestia."

Twilight's eyes lifted slowly from the paper, anchored thoughts scraping through her mind as she pondered intently what the princess could have meant by her 'terms.' She focused on her mind's horizon as those thoughts manifested into a dozen horrid scenarios.

After a moment, she shook them from her head, and re-affirmed her place in the library. She noticed that Spike was staring, from across the room at her. Eyes filled with justified concern.

There was a minute's silence, yet when the adolescent dragon began to speak, Twilight found she already knew the question, and gave an expected answer.

"I'm fine, Spike." She calmly spoke - her giddy joy very much diffused and now replaced with a chiselled, but still somewhat comforting understanding.

Apprehensive as he continued, Spike gingerly went on to ask, "...And... what about-"

"Cantor's fine, too." Twilight replied, only deciding she'd mis-spoken after she'd said. "Oh. I mean... Apparently he's not 'fine', but the princess did say he was alive - although I'm not sure what to expect with the way she put it." She seemed disgruntled: her previous elation having faded once the situation had been put into perspective. All of a sudden, Twilight felt foolish for believing that anything Cantor might be involved in would go anywhere close to 'problem-free...'

Spike was aware of the uncomfortable atmosphere lingering in the room. It wasn't, in a word, 'tense', but it was definitely a feeling very similar. 

"So, a- are you still gonna see him?" The dragon proposed delicately; in a world populated almost entirely by females, he knew how temperamental they could become with regards to their emotions. In his life, he had discovered that in situations like this, it was better to be the 'go-between' - a sponge to their problems. Not necessarily to be ignorant towards them, but merely a living thing for them to vent into with the knowledge that what they say is at least being heard.

"Obviously!" Twilight adamantly replied, vexed; and unsure as to who to take out her perplexion on. "If anything, Spike, this letter has made me more inclined to go and see if Cantor is okay." She dropped her eyes thoughtfully, her thoughts being fuelled by simple concern more than pity or fear. "It's such a shame this whole thing didn't go to plan - especially with how much effort it cost to build that spaceship. But at least now I have a much better idea of what to expect."

And with that, there was a heavy knock at the library door. Not unsettled by being above the little invasion in the silence, Twilight calmly made her way closer to the Library's entrance, her intense thoughts broad on her expression.

Before the purple mare thought to wrap it in magic, the top section of the faded red door burst open, and the smiling image of Pinkie Pie peered into the softly-lit house.

The pink mare's grin widened as she introduced herself. "Somepony tells me an old friend is back in town." She called with bottled excitement.

"Oh." Twilight replied, startled. She made a point of covering her mental burden, forcing a convincing smile before the rest of the girls let themselves into the library. "Hi, everypony." She sad nonchalantly.

"So is it true?" Pinkie insisted, an equally exited-looking Rainbow Dash tailing her; hovering slightly off the ground with gentle wing-beats.

Twilight appeared slightly dumbfounded. "H- huh?" She asked - and not with entirely false fluster: she was already mentally stockpiling excuses to avoid revealing the fact that Cantor was apparently in a bad way. "Is what true?" She added, thinking as though this would help the situation in some way.

"Come off it!" Rainbow scolded with a pumped smirk. "Don't tell me out of everypony, you don't know about the astronaut ponies returning."

"Well it is just a rumour, Rainbow Dash." Rarity interjected, sounding as though she was 'above' such endeavours herself. "After all, there's nothing to say that the thing falling from the sky wasn't some sort of 'meteor.'"

Twilight opened her mouth, but paused as the need for correction overtook her. "...Actually, Rarity, when a rock falls from the sky to Equetria, it then becomes a 'meteorite.'" All the ponies took a moment to cast a detached look toward the insistent unicorn. Even Pinkie shared a similarly quizzical expression. Twilight blushed and put her ears back. 'Sorry..."

"A- anyway..." Applejack began, steering the conversation back on topic. "It's true: ya' can't say fer sure that that thing we saw earlier weren't just some rock fallin' from the stars." For whatever reason, she seemed a little agitated. She even allowed a heavy sigh through her lips. "Regardless, that rumour's been spreadin' through the town like a brush fire: ever'pony an' their ma's are talkin' about it." She rolled her shamrock eyes and rested them on the beaming pink mare. "It doesn't help that this one can spread gossip faster n' a Hog Wasp can spread measles. On our way here, she was bouncin' up an' down, callin' out to ever'pony that 'the adventure team is back!'"

"Oh, right! I almost forgot!" Gasped a wide-eyed Pinkie Pie before she started bouncing on the spot, eyes fastened with glee.

The tan earth pony huffed an amused sigh and turned back to Twilight. "Ma' point is, I don't think its good fer ever'pony to git all riled up over just a rumour. Especially you." She added, raising her foreleg in Twilight's vague direction. 

"Actually, Applejack," Twilight began, sounding self-assured as she floated the rolled letter beside herself. "This is from the princess: I received it just now, before you arrived, and she tells me that Cantor is-" She paused for a brief moment, exploring her choice of words. "...home."

She levitated the scroll away upstairs and stashed it into a cabinet drawer as Spike, who had been watching from beside the reception desk, strolled into the conversation.

"Hey, guys." He said a tad gingerly: the pony he could call closest to family obviously experiencing some strain of dismay.

A mumbling of greetings followed his words as the mares adjusted their formation around Twilight.

"And?" Fluttershy started meekly, herself quite sure Twilight was thinking about something sour. "How are they - Cantor and the rest of the ponies who left?"

"Uhh, fine." Twilight stated, fiddling with the plaited wool falling from the sides of her hat. "She didn't really go into much detail: she was probably just letting me know." She was distracted by the chiming of the clock as it proclaimed half an hour had passed noon. As the chimes' echo dispersed through the quiet library, Twilight felt she should continue. "She said you're all welcome to go and see him."

Already suspicious of the unicorn's change of traits, Applejack was quick to respond. "Why'd you say it like that, Twi?" She asked with mock ignorance. "That makes it sound as though you don't want to see him with us."

Twilight's brow tensed ever so slightly as she realised her earthbound friend was trying to subliminally interrogate her. "That's not it." She replied as plainly as possible. "I just thought that it might be a good Idea to let them get on for a couple of days." She smiled as she poured more faith into her story. "They've probably got reporters to speak to, Celestia might want to host some kind of exclusive party for them - you know, they've got their hooves full." 

At the word 'party', Pinkie's ears pricked up. She didn't say anything, but stopped her bouncing to listen more carefully now her interest had been roused.

Twilight gave a laboured sigh and sat on her haunches. "There's no doubt Cantor'd be happy to see us soon after he's got back from being away for so long, but I just think we'd get in the way with all that's probably going on."

Applejack narrowed her stare toward the purple unicorn. "That doesn't sound like you." She stated accusingly.

Twilight pouted slightly as she shook her head dismissively and silently shrugged in response.

The suspicious earth pony greeted her reply with a reluctant breath. She hated forcing the truth from Twilight, but hated the fact that her friend was being dishonest even more. "...You're lyin'."

There was a succession of mildly shocked gasps grumbling around the other ponies in response to Applejack. 

Twilight, though shaken, stuck with her ignorance. "What do you mean?" She asked calmly.

"I know there's somethin' you're not tellin' us." The orange mare continued, scuffing her hoof with agitation.

Rarity stepped up beside her riled friend and spoke with a voice radiating an attempt for peace. "Applejack," She pseudo-scolded, "Don't stress the poor girl out."

Applejack, influenced by Rarity's calm, turned to the other unicorn with compelling eyes. "I ain't tryin' ta'-"

"Honestly, Applejack," Twilight continued, the white mare's influence leading her to assume she had 'won', "I'm serious: that's what I think. I'm telling the truth."

Suddenly, Applejack clopped her hoof down firmly onto the oak floor - not hard enough to alarm, but with sufficient force to call everypony to bristled attention.

"Gosh darn it, Twilight!" The tan mare proclaimed, her voice raised to not quite a shout. The unicorn in direction appeared to flinch a little. "I never like ta' pull this card, but you're talkin' ta' the Element a' Honesty; and I can see a lie a mile off." An ashamed look waved across Twilight's face; she pulled her ears back and turned away slightly. She didn't feel as though her Apple family friend was grilling her to any extent, yet she still felt embarrassed for trying to mislead her friends. 

"An' if there's one thing I hate more than lies," Applejack continued, "It's false hope - which is what you're tryin' ta' pull on all a' us..." She stepped closer before kneeling down before the lavender mare. "Look, Twi," She began softly, "I don't know why ya'll think not tellin' us is gonna make anythin' better: whatever it is that's amiss, I'm sure it'l be easier ta' cope with together."

Twilight sighed, defeated as Rainbow Dash interjected. "She's right, you know."

Twilight nodded and rose to her hooves, though soon began making her way over to her old cream sofa. "I know." She replied, her voice hollow. "It's just the princess' letter made it sound really terrible."

"B... but you were telling the truth about the ponies from the ship?" Fluttershy asked apprehensively. "They're all still alive, right?"

"The letter only mentioned Cantor." Twilight said with growing ease: it helped to get it off her chest - if it had only been a burden for a few minutes or so. She planted herself in her chair and sunk into the cushions. "But I suppose she thought that's all I was worried about. In truth, she was pretty much right."

It was at that point, Rarity chimed in again. "And don't forget, Fluttershy," She started reassuringly, "you understand how ponies living in Canterlot can be: they are so surrounded by comfort that when the slightest thing goes wrong, they tend to over-react: make a relatively small crisis seem like the end of the world." She stopped, quickly noticing the blatant stares from the five other ponies and somewhat distanced dragon around the room. "What?" She asked innocently.

"In any circumstance," Spike said, carrying the conversation, "I'm sure there's not much to worry about: Cantor gets himself into all kinds of messes all the time."

"And don't we know it?" Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash added in sarcastic unison before sneaking a sly nod to each other.

The comment was passed as a reference to the couple of mares' and Cantor's antics. Nopony responded, but it did lighten the air.

"Well I suppose we'll find out soon enough." Applejack affirmed with confidence. "Come on, girl, let's git you up." She said as she approached the unicorn. She raised a foreleg limply as she grew close. "Need a hoof?"

Twilight chuckled. "I'm fine, Applejack." Despite this, it was quite a show watching her slide herself to the edge of the couch and gingerly touch down with each hoof. It took a while, and once she was ready, her following comment had lost much of its context. "But thank you." She added and trotted slowly toward the door.

"Oh, are we going now?" Fluttershy queried as everypony else, including Spike headed for the library exit. Progress was stopped as they all paused to look at her. Feeling under pressure, the butter coloured pegasus spoke up. "It's only, I- I left my purse at home: Pinkie seemed so insistent that I thought it was an emergency." She said, glancing toward the pink pony before shying away.

Rainbow Dash was quick to respond. "When is she not?" She laughed, pushing Pinkie playfully before raising her altitude from the mare's reach.

Twilight smiled as she watched the pair. Turning back to the fair-maned pegasus, "Don't worry, Fluttershy." she answered with ease, "I'll pay for all of us."

"Oh," Fluttershy squeaked with affectionate embarrassment, "You don't need to do that: I can be quick about going back to get it."

"No, really, Fluttershy," Twilight insisted, bearing a knowing grin, "Do you know how much Cantor is getting paid for this?" She asked with only a hint towards immodesty.

"How much?" Rainbow quickly asked from her elevated position.

Twilight's smirk softened slightly. "I won't say, but I'll tell you that it was 'enough.'" She stated, adding an assured giggle at the end. Though she wasn't driven by money, the figures discussed were far more than she ever thought she'd see in one place. And so as not to disappoint Applejack, the lavender unicorn made an internal point of admitting it got her excited: allowing herself the comforting thought of: "Who wouldn't it excite?"

The seven friends made their way to the train station, and once outside, became aware that the events half an hour ago were already the talk of the town. If not for the revolutionary trip the ponies had just returned from, then for the severe building and stock damages the re-entry incurred - which the townsfolk would thank the pilot for later...

Once aboard, the atmosphere within the carriage was far from unpleasant: even a few more laughs were had in the anticipation of re-uniting with their friend. However, as the steaming locomotive powered its passengers towards Canterlot, and the hills, trees and whips of white vapour rushed by outside the window as they always had done, the girls had no idea that what they were about to walk into, was something they would never forget.

*****

Princess Celestia jerked her focus from the base of her throne to the stretched room's entrance as both doors swung open on the force of two armoured pegasi, letting in a wash of winter smells and sounds, as well as the sextet of Ponyville residents into the lavish hall, a teenage dragon in tow.

"Twilight..." Celestia called with a gasp, her complex as ever tone strongly suggesting her grief. She waited for the arrivals to finish bowing before rising from her golden chair and slowly making her way towards them, apprehension in her stride. "...I... I don't even know where to begin..." She said sorrowfully. 

Her slightly weak voice quickly brought back the reality of the situation to Twilight, and when she drew closer still, the alicorn's reddened eyes re-instilled her initial fears with renewed force. The princess merely gazed down at Twilight, her mystic indigo eyes telling her all she needed to know.

When she spoke, Twilight's voice come out frail, and frightened. "Is it really that bad...?" She gently asked. Celestia simply nodded her head with a sombre elegance.

"Can..." Twilight continued, the reverence in her voice seeming just a smudge too sombre - even here. "...Can we go and see him?"

Celestia responded with a slow, heavy sigh, eyes once again meeting the floor. "Alright." She softly said, peering back at the unicorn and addressing all of her friends with eye contact before turning about and leading them away into one of the branching hallways.

As she led the way, Celestia tried to grasp at some strong emotion. The recent events had left her mind a void. She was sad, she was angry, she was confused... but she couldn't draw a particular response from any feeling. She could feel Twilight's eyes watching her intensely from behind. She could tell there was no blame in her student's stare, yet she couldn't help but feel somewhat responsible: just another emotion she was too far astonished to feel.

Twilight's own sentiments felt like a jumble. She didn't know what to think because she didn't know what to expect. She found comfort in the notion that Cantor had gotten himself into all manner of 'bad shapes' many times in the past, but for Celestia to openly wear such distress, it was clear this could be no ordinary mishap.

The princess drew herself up beside a large door - aged as every castle entrance was, and the ponies following suit all paused on the opposite side. 

Twilight's eyes fell once again onto Celestia's hollow face and waited for her to continue. The seconds seemed to drag by painfully slowly - and she was thankful, too. All of a sudden, the purple mare was not half as keen to see what laid beyond those doors as she was less than half an hour ago.

Sucking in a breath, Celestia was the one to break the long spell of silence. "Prepare yourself for the worst, Twilight Sparkle." She said mournfully. "Because this is going to be worse."

She wrapped the door in golden magic and swung it open with a long creak. Fearful, but indescribably desperate to see Cantor, Twilight poked her head into the room.

And when she did, her heart stopped for just a moment. The grotesque form that lie on the soft cotton sheets of a four-poster bed beneath the tall ceiling was almost recognisable: to know that it could be called a pony was an insult to the entire species. His once white coat was stained a dark maroon and his mane and tail were thick with old, hard blood, and his breathing appeared terrifyingly shallow.

A dismayed "Oh, no..." Past Twilight's lips in less than a whisper, and she entered the room, stumbling under the weight of what she was seeing. Quickly, and with their own breathless cries of worry, the rest of the mares and an aghast Spike trailed the unicorn into the accommodating room.

Hearing the many new sets of hoofsteps encroach his bedside, Cantor painfully creaked an eye open, expecting to see another round of medical ponies seeking questions or a swarm of militants demanding answers. However, when he clocked the uneasy lavender eyes staring back, he sat himself up with reflex quickness. 

For the longest while, he merely stared at her: the mare who'd driven his mentality through the trials on that damned planet miles away. His mouth was slightly agape, his eyes wide, locked onto Twilight's. 

With mutual release, the distraught unicorn and the broken stallion lunged at each other: one wrapping the other in the tightest embrace they could muster. Tears of corrupted joy streaked Twilight's cheeks, and Cantor sobbed openly into the purple mare's shoulder.

"Oh, Twi...!" He cried, struggling for breath, "I thought I'd never see you again!" He added, gripping her as firmly as he could.

The other ponies looked on in stunned silence. They were unable to remove their stares from the alicorn's ruined body. It was a sight none of them had ever had the gruesome misfortune of seeing before. Even Rainbow Dash: Cantor's closest friend, held her hoof over her mouth in appalled shock.

Princess Luna, who as it happens had been keeping watch over Cantor before the Ponyville residents had arrived, was moved by the sight of everyone's distress. Fresh tears trickled from her eyes, and she mourned her friends' innocence silently.

Cantor's voice trembled with endless alleviation as he hugged the mare he loved tighter than he knew he should. "I can't even describe..." He rasped, voice incredibly frail.

Following a very long and somewhat uneasy moment, the silence breached only by the traumatised stallion's pained breathing, Twilight gently pushed him away, taking a step back to realise once again, the extent of his afflictions. 

Cantor sunk back into the bed, content to just look at his marefriend despite the fact that her reddened eyes reflected the terror she caught from him.

With a very distant stare, Twilight gently shook her head; overwhelmed with morbid fascination. "...Where the hell do I even begin?" She whispered, voice cracked with pain. "...What happened to the rest of those ponies?" She demanded accusingly. "Did even a few of them make it back?"

Shocked by her tone, the questions took a while to register with Cantor. But once they had, he replied with an ashamed shake of his head.

Twilight paused for a second, and then her face contorted into a hurtful grimace. "You," She growled, turning to glare at princess Celestia.  "You should have known better than to trust him with the lives of so many." 

Having lost what she knew as a daughter, Celestia was in no frame of mind to dispense sympathy for her student's outburst. "Are you somehow implying this was my fault?"

"Well I don't know who else to blame." Twilight shot back. "You should have been well aware that Cantor isn't nearly as capable as to what you gave him credit for."

Celestia reared her neck. "I very much beg to differ." She cried aggressively. "Whether or not you trusted your partner, I saw his potential - unlike you, I had faith-..." She choked on her own words, eyes widening as she let out a trembling breath, eyes pooling with burning hot tears.

Twilight continued her assertive crusade. "There were thousands more suitable." She argued, putting down her coltfriend's abilities purely because she was convinced that if any other pony would have taken his place, he wouldn't be in this horrendous mess. "You can't imagine what I almost lost." She added, bitter tears streaming her face.

"Loss...?" Celestia begged with seething disbelief... She gripped Twilight in a magical vice by her neck and pinned her against the wall. "How dare you speak to me about 'loss!?'"

All the ponies bleated in fear as they backed away from the infuriated deity.

"Sister!" The terrified princess Luna cried out as she rose from her haunches in great alarm. However, it was not solely a cry for the pinned unicorn's sake: Spike had mounted Celestia's back and had three his razor-sharp claws resting gently on one side of her neck.

The raging princess shed a deal of her anger and turned carefully to look Spike in the eye. As well as bound with a ferocious loyalty, she could also tell he was terrified: he knew what he was doing, and he knew full well the punishments for it. 

Celestia raised a challenging brow. "Are you sure you know what you're doing, Spike...?" She asked temptingly.

The dragon scowled in response, and ordered with a voice firm, but stiff with fear, "Put her down."

Allowing a further moment to pass, almost testing the dragon with her own life, she gently set Twilight down on the floor. Spike slid from the princess' back and joined the spluttering unicorn, leading her close to Cantor's bedside as he stood in the air between her and the princess.

After a long, contemplative silence, Celestia proposed a solemn apology towards Twilight. Following a low bow, the tall mare made her way over to her sister, planting herself beside the deep blue alicorn.

"Damnit, Cantor," Twilight cried at the bedridden pony, sobbing loudly in distress, "Do you even realise what you nearly did?" She continued, collapsing onto the edge of his bed. Cantor could only look on with pity and apologetic eyes. All at once, her emotions over-boiled, and a violent cocktail overflowed. "Don't you ever do something so stupid again! You've done some dangerous things in the past, but this one really takes the cake."

She thumped Cantor several times on the chest, chanting with each hit. "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid...!" She yelled until her frustration overwhelmed her; going on to rest her head on the bloodstained pony, draping her forelegs across him as she weakly cried, her tears wetting the blood saturating his fur and introducing it to her own. 

The room became snared with an awkward pity. The lack of any form of conversation failed to drive anypony to try to break the silence as they still had no way of expressing their shock. 

Being the only one who had been aware of the situation for an extended time, and holding everything that had played out personally, Cantor chose to speak up. "I'm so sorry, Twi." He said in the same horse voice, resting a hoof over her shoulders. "I don't know what else to say... We went without knowing what we'd find, and as it happens, we discovered a little slice of Hell."

"But you promised." The distraught mare continued, upholding a sour, but clearly hurt demeanour. She looked into the alicorn's eyes, wet blood tipping her nose. "You promised to me that you'd get back safely, and you didn't."

Cantor sat himself up in the bed and smirked. "Safe enough - even if not in one piece." He smiled, but no one else in the room could associate the humour.

Princess Celestia took especial offence towards the attempt at lightening the mood. "I don't really believe this is the time for jokes, Cantor." She scorned, receiving an insolent stare back from the blood-soaked stallion. "In case you have forgotten, eight of Equestria's finest ponies have been deceased or left otherwise missing whilst under your command." She scowled at the bedridden alicorn accusingly. "And to meet their demise under the protection of, quite literally, the most powerful alicorn in history, seems awfully suspicious to me."

Cantor was grinning wildly. He fought desperately to stop, but something inside his demented mind was fighting against him. "What are you trying to impose, princess?" He asked with a sarcastic innocence. 

Twilight could tell something wasn't right with Cantor, and despite her urge to stand by his side, she felt herself backing away alongside a speculating Spike. Surprisingly, he didn't try to stop her, but Twilight was wary of the odd stallion, regardless.

Celestia took a deep breath, expanding her chest as she contemplated what Cantor was trying to do with her aged and vastly intelligent mind. "...I presume that you murdered them, Cantor." She stated plainly as a wave of astonished gasps broke around the room.

Princess Luna appeared the most appalled by this accusation. "Sister!" She cried in a gasp, "Surely you would never consider such a thing to be true!"

Cantor's manic grin fell into a more sinister expression of arrogance. "Oh, no, princess Celestia..." He whispered in his damaged voice. "...Although, I'd very much like to see an end to your life."

A second succession of intense shrieks of displeasure shot through the group, and all at once, the by-standing ponies realised they were in deep trouble.

Celestia's scowl intensified to the point her eye twitched above her twisted mouth. She let her breath go in a dangerous exhale the sound of her hateful breathing fogging the room with a torturous tension. "You know," She spoke quietly, "Comments like that are more than worthy of a death sentence."

The roar of Cantor's terrible laugh rocked the room. Everypony jumped and cowered to the piercing sound. "Are you still trying to kill me, Celestia!?" Cantor shrieked, thrilled beyond description. It was at this point, the solar princess' face welled with fear: her eyes horrified as she stared at the insane pony. "I have to respect you, though!" The maniacal Cantor continued to rave, "In all my years, I've never come across such commitment: such a strong will to lie to your subjects! Truly, you are one cold, heartless bitch."

"Cantor...?" Twilight asked, her voice trembling with an odd accent of fright and an anger towards her mentor's insult. "Wh- what's going on?" She asked as forcefully as she could.

The alicorn turned quickly to eye Twilight, his face the pinnacle of terror and apology. "I'm sorry, Twi," He started, panicked, "I c- can't-" He screwed his eyes closed, as if bracing a door to which the invading force was far too strong. After a moment, his tension snapped, and he hung his head limply for a moment, sitting upright as he rolled his shoulders around in their joints.

He lifted his head to face the ceiling and sighed euphorically, his eyes closed in supreme comfort. He came to stand on the bed, his surrogate wing hanging limply and uselessly by his side. The matter of how thin he was became more pronounced when he stood: his ribs clearly seen under his ruined coat.

He opened his eyes and grinned as Celestia's face contorted into a perfect representation of fear. 

The terrified princess could almost see herself reflected in the glossy black lenses obscuring Cantor's orange eyes. His mane and tail began to lick flame down his body before erupting into a bright inferno that trailed away from him. Thick tendrils of fire reached out to caress anypony who stood too close with its hot sting.

"Ohhh..." Cantor said with false enthusiasm, showing off his sharpened teeth. "Twilight Sparkle wishes to know what's going on..." He taunted. "Why don't you tell her, Celestia? Tell her about those assassins you hired. Tell her how you were willing to kill the pony she loves, then lie about his demise..."

Despite the dismay of the situation, Twilight turned to the mortified princess. "Princess Celestia...?" She began with apprehension, "Is... is this true?" She asked, already sounding devastated by the response she knew was coming.

"I- I didn't..." Celestia started to panic, "There was... no other choice, Twilight. Please believe me!"

Twilight, as well as a number of her Ponyville friends stared in horror at the white mare. 

"But... why?" Was all Twilight could ask. She shook her head disapprovingly, regardless of how well the princess might have been willing to explain it.

With a trembling breath, Celestia rushed to explain. "You see, Twilight, Cantor is possessed by an Umbra." Upon hearing this, Twilight's ears perked and her eyes widened in dread. "Therefore," the princess continued, "I thought that an excursion to an unexplored planet miles and miles away would be the best method of..." She paused, stopping herself to become aware of how this was going to make her sound. "...Sorting the problem out..."

Cantor, or rather the tormenting creature inside of him turned to note Twilight's sudden well of tears. "Ouch." He stated, turning to Celestia with another self-assured grin. "Actually, Celestia, that's not the whole story, is it?"

Celestia bit hard onto her lip and shook her head. "Please..." She whimpered.

Cantor's smile grew even wilder and he spoke, regardless of the princess' desperate plea. "The ship those ponies left on was powered by something known as a 'Peripherous Crystal', an object capable of retaining massive amounts of magical energy." He enjoyed watching the princess' face contort as he terrorised her emotions. "What most ponies don't know (and by 'most', I mean every single living thing except princess Celestia), is that the stones are Umbran eggs."

Enchanted by this information, the speculating ponies turned from Cantor to Celestia, listening to the stallion's say before checking the princess' response. And with every passing second, she grew more and more distressed.

"Not 'eggs' as in 'new life', mind you..." The possessed Cantor continued nonchalantly. "A better way of putting it is that the crystals are used as vessels for Umbran life: lying in wait for eternity for somepony like her good majesty to unearth them." He explained, gesturing with courtesy towards Celestia. "Now... What comes next - and I think this is really smart, princess..." Cantor went on to explain, much to Celestia's dismay.

"No, please." She begged, her attitude destroying the hope in the room. "Don't say any more." She added, the pain in her voice meeting the tears swimming in her eyes.

If anything, Cantor's elation only grew towards the sounds of Celestia's plea. "Since Celestia knew this," He resumed after an oppressive chuckle, "She made a plan to use poor Cantor here to activate the stone: pour enough energy into it to connect us together: poison him with my presence, so to speak."

This new information Twilight sought undoubtable roused an ill glare towards Celestia. 

"And what better way to eliminate the threat I pose by using my own vessel as a power source to send me as far away as possible, hoping to kill my host and trap me on a deserted rock for eternity?" Cantor howled with laughter once again. "And you hired mercenaries to kill him, too: knowing he had the potential to protect everypony there, just to be sure I really wasn't a threat any more! Absolutely fucking genius, your highness." He cheered, stomping his hooves in excitement; yielding little effect on the soft bedding.

"Unfortunately..." Cantor's mind-pirate elaborated, twisting and pulling shards of bone away from the magical gland inside Cantor's cracked horn, rousing a stir of ecstasy as he felt the excruciating screams from his host's trapped psyche. "Cantor's usefulness was cut very short very early on in the expedition... Regardless, this little pony soldiered on without a hint of giving up. Truly, princess, you should feel terrible for wasting such an extraordinary mind..." He shot an evil wink to the princess, who now had tears of shame streaming down her cheeks.

Adopting an expression of false pity, Cantor pouted and looked to the alicorn mare with saddened eyes. "Awww..." He mocked, "Your little plan didn't work, did it? And now, for trying to rid me from this world," He continued, stepping forward and slinking from the foot of the bed and skulking towards Celestia like a stalking tiger, a fresh grimace of euphoric evil spreading across his face. "I'm going to enjoy ridding you from this world."

Celestia crawled backwards until she hit the wall. Her horn flared gold, but the magic fizzled out as Cantor stopped her from teleporting away. Her breath came out in meek cries of anguish as she pleaded for the Umbra to stop.

"And you know what's going to be the best part about it, princess?" Cantor whispered millimetres from the her nose, the depths of Hell enforcing his tone, "It's that I'm going to force your sister to be the one to deliver the final blow to kill you." He was speaking under enough of a hush that nopony but Celestia could hear him, but the white mare's horrific sobs told them that what he was saying was pure evil. "And, when her spirit is so broken she can barely think," Cantor persisted, despite Celestia's apparent emotional torture, 

"That's when I'll strike: I'll infect her, and use her powers to explore ponies' bad dreams: illustrations of unrelenting psychological trauma." He leant forward and licked the princess' lips, adding disgust to the cocktail of terror swirling in her petrified mind. Cantor let out an orgasmic vocal shudder. "Your fear is delicious..." He grumbled perversely. "And when I have Luna under my total control, then a new universal fear shall be set in place: a true nightmare everypony will share..."

Princess Celestia's terror reached its climax. Her eyes bulged as she whimpered, "Oh, no..."

"Oh, yes..." Cantor insisted deviously. "The return... of Night-mare-Moon..."
> I Hope You Suffer
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 17: I Hope You Suffer

Cantor was caught by surprise as he felt himself being wrapped in a shroud of midnight magic. Before he could shoot a sickly grin to its source, however, he was hurled from princess Celestia into the opposite wall, hitting so hard the polished stone cracked and chipped away behind him.

Luna helped Celestia to her hooves and lead everypony out of the room with commendable pace. However, when nearing the exit, the old door slammed shut with a sharp crack of pained wood, and everyone skidded to a halt.

Before the dust could settle, princess Luna had turned to the offensive, hoping to re-kindle Cantor's spirit to fight this psychological hitch-hiker. "Well come on, then!" She cried, voice tight with terror, "What do you want from us!? There have been countless before you and there shall be countless after. I can assure you, Equestria will not kneel to this kind of oppression: not now; not ever!"

A slow applause emanated from the stone dust, and as it settled, Cantor's fiery mane burned up the few remaining particles as he stomped his hoof with affection. "Well said, princess..." Cantor mused with his foul, distorted voice, "I'd be lying if I were to say I wasn't impressed by your valiance - even in the face of certain defeat..."

"Yeah?" Rainbow Dash queried not entirely fearlessly, "That's what they all say."

Cantor bared his interlocking teeth at the hovering pegasus as he grinned with wild amusement and gave a sinister chuckle.

"Just what is it you want?" Luna eventually said, sounding oddly impatient. "If you wish to rule the world, we would be willing to comply should your ideals be in order." She looked shamefully towards her sister, who was still emitting defeatist sobs. "We are well aware that nopony in Equestria is capable of stopping Cantor from doing what he wants..." She washed over her discontent with a bitter scowl. "And a retched creature like you is well aware of that, I presume..."

Cantor reached out and gently rasped on the smaller alicorn's cheek. "Now you're getting it." He chirped with disturbed glee. "But I'm not looking for 'world domination', or anything of the like, no, no, no... that's far too cliché..." He said with a droll tone, rousing shifty glances from the onlooking mares. "Actually, princess, (and this does apply to both of you)," He added with a nod to Celestia, "I plan to march you, as well as all these other ponies," He explained, gesturing to the six other mares. "Down into the dungeon and uh... Have my way with you." He finished with a bright skip.

"You're despicable." A horrified Rarity scoured accusingly.

Cantor chuckled. "Oh- Oh! Y- you think I mean, uh... 'defile' you all?" He allowed himself an extended guffaw before he twitched his attention back to the small crowd. "Oh, please, what do you think this is; a foals's tale?" His insidious grin surfaced once more as he encroached on princess Luna. "Oh, no... That's barely the start... I want to really get under your skin, (literally...)" He added as a sick anecdote, breaking his sinister demeanour for just a moment. "I want to find your deepest, darkest fears, and violate them. I want to make you beg for death. You have no concept of elation until you have stood over a pony you have taken absolutely everything from and basked as they splutter past their toothless mouth how they can't stand being-"

He was buried in Luna's face when a curt whistle distracted him. He was torn away from his foul monologue, and as he turned with an excited grimace, he had just enough time to clock Applejack's rump as she balanced herself on her forelegs; her apple-bucking forehooves coiled beneath her.

*Smack!

The earth pony's powerful hind legs sprung out and smashed into the corrupted alicorn's face, knocking some teeth out and shattering bone with a satisfying crunch. Despite his aggressive stature, Cantor stumbled backwards in light of the shock: enough time for Applejack to shout "Run!" to Luna as the princess threw open the splintering door and bolted from the room.

The princess of the night had barely escaped when Applejack was spun around and pinned between the wall and Cantor's foreleg. "That, ooh, that was very courageous, little miss..." Cantor praised, two of his upper dagger-like teeth missing from the corner of his aggravated smile. "But it also works in my favour: see now I know who's going to be the first one to find out what their eyes taste like." His originally cheery statement became dark and deathly serious as he closed it, and the tan earth pony realised she had acted in a way she would dearly pay for should this dangerous foe prove unstoppable.

Despite her brave and sturdy nature, Applejack couldn't help but cry out a little in fear. "I'm sorry." She sobbed pleadingly. 

"Ooh, no..." Cantor growled, his composure having changed for the terrifyingly worse. "That'll never work." Black magic flared around his ruined horn as well as every tooth in Applejack's mouth.

As she felt the unwelcome presence, she tried begging once more, "No, please!" She began, trying to swipe Cantor's foreleg away and kick him in the stomach.

With renewed anarchy, Cantor's grim smile returned. "I always love this part." He mused quietly as he yanked at the screaming mare't teeth. He held everypony in a magical prison and forced them to watch. Applejack's horrific cries were almost bested by the other ponies' pleads for a cease to the torture.

Cantor's black eyes grew tired as he stared at Applejack. The Umbra had overestimated Cantor in his current state: his host was perilously close to death, and he felt it necessary to conserve what little magical energy he had left.

He let Applejack go, and telekenetically forced everyone into the centre of the room. The terrorised exclamations replaced with fearful confusion, everypony stared at the monstrous alicorn with bleak expectations.

He took a long moment to let the blissful tension build before he gave a cheerful anecdote: "Actually," He began with an ill-sounding sense of reason, "It's far more fun this way: dear ol' Luna can't teleport: this'll be like an old-school game of hide and seek." With an eerie smile, he turned on his hooves and made for the door at a lopsided trot. Before he breached the corridor, however he took a moment to snare a single tooth from Applejack and tear it from her gum, provoking a stunted shriek from the orange mare. He held it up beside his sadistic grin as everypony looked on in shock. "One for the road." He chuckled, popping the white shard into his mouth before giving chase to the long gone princess.

An ominous "Ready or not, here I come!" echoed through the empty halls as the aggravated hoofsteps faded into the castle depths...

Aghast, astonished and to an extent, furious, Twilight turned, after ensuring Applejack was not too severely hurt, to face a distraught princess Celestia. "What's this all about, princess?" She demanded, keeping her anger well under control, but expressing her vexation openly.

"Yeah," An equally agitated Rainbow Dash added, her usual reverence before royalty swayed by the purple mare's tone. "What did that thing say about tryin' to kill our friend?"

"Easy, Rainbow..." Applejack called gently as she clutched her throbbing mouth.

The princess quickly corrected herself and took several calming breaths, alleviating a smidgen of her despair. "I apologise, Twilight: I didn't realise just how out of hoof this could have gotten." She spoke with a tentative sincerity, though all the while, she kept herself aware of the fact that Twilight was in a state of particular agitation. "You see, Umbras are creatures that live-"

"I know what an Umbra is." Twilight interrupted, her feelings too conflicted to care how she sounded. She noticed the princess reel slightly, but given her mental state, the unicorn failed to care about this, either. "What I want to know, is why you thought it was in any way a good idea to try and strand the stallion I love so far away, it would be impossible to see him again."

Princess Celestia wore insistent eyes. Despite her subject's rudeness, she fully understood her frustration, and tried to explain. "Twilight, you have to understand that th-"

"I'm sure you had your reasons." The adamant unicorn interjected again, having little remorse for speaking so far out of place. "But no matter how good they were, for me, they'd never be good enough."

Without the words to respond, Celestia merely hung her head, sorrowfully eyeing the ground as she waited for verbal motivation.

A tense moment passed before Twilight let out a laboured sigh as she realised her disposition. She offered a solemn apology to Celestia before asking her what to do. "I'm sorry, princess..." She spoke quietly, joining the alicorn in staring at the floor. "We should really talk about these things after we've got everything settled..."

Celestia nodded softly. "I agree." She replied with subtle insistence. "The Elements of Harmony are the only option. However, I don't doubt Cantor (or whatever evil is controlling him) would kill any one of you should he see you pose a real threat to his mission." She sighed dourly, and cast a defeatist eye over the group. 

Spike sat on his haunches and rubbed his arm nervously as Twilight stepped forward. "Princess," She began on a hopeful note. The attention of the room was pinned to the purple mare. "I think I have a plan that'll work." She grinned, a slight frown of determination over her intense eyes. She faced Spike, who seemed to stand to attention when he noticed her stare. "Spike, we're gonna need your help."


*****


Bolting through the labyrinth of corridors sprawling through the castle, princess Luna's breath broke away into whimpering exhales brimming with fear. Beads of sweat fell from her face in heavy droplets as the taunting calls from the possessed stallion grew ever louder. She came to a junction and made a stance to turn right, but as she neared, the voice of her sister ushered her to go left.

With a surprised gasp, Luna obeyed, and collided with the far wall in the new corridor. She regained her pace after stumbling past an ornamental pedestal; the precious vase perched atop shattering on the ground seconds later. Little was spared in the way of concern, however, as the pursued alicorn queried the voice that had manifested in her head. She scanned her surroundings for the white mare, but the voice returned to guide her further.

"Luna, listen to me." The disembodied Celestia spoke, "We have a plan that will work. Do as I say, and we should all live to see tomorrow." Another turn came up, and Celestia quickly ordered, "Left."

Luna threw herself down the new passage and jumped as the floor fell away into a flight of stairs. She spread her wings, but having little experience flying indoors - much less at this speed and around the tight corners the staircase presented as it wrapped around a wall, the lunar mare had almost no play in the air, and collided with the wall, spraining her wing beneath her momentum. She let out a pained cry as she fell to the floor, leaping back onto her hooves when Cantor's horrid voice echoed  close by.

"Be careful, Luna!" The stallion hissed with pleasure, the words motivating the princess to escape even moreso.

She scrambled for the next set of stairs, but in her haste to make up for lost time, slipped on the first step and came crashing down the rest of the way. Petrified tears welled in Luna's eyes as she realised her blunders may have cost her all the invaluable time she had. Regardless, she stood up and took off once more, cutting down a corridor on the right as her sister hastily instructed.

Luna was aware she should never reply: she and her sister had created this rule years ago should they need to communicate in this way. Regardless, she gave a firm nod after each instruction - more for her own sake than anything else...

Eventually, princess Luna found herself barrelling along a corridor she knew was a dead end. As she gave a panicked shriek, it sickeningly occurred to her that Celestia's verbal presence was likely a cruel trick she fell for in the time of her terrorised desperation. However, as she began to slow in defeat, her sister's voice spoke up one last time. 

"Luna," She called caringly: a loving flavour now more present in her tone. The night-blue princess stopped to listen, staring at the bleak wall some distance in front of her. "I need you to allow Cantor to corner you, but be patient: you will see what we are trying to do..." 

Luna gave a soft final nod and tied to swallow her fear - but to no avail. 

Once again, Celestia's voice spoke out. "If this plan should fail," She stated sombrely - though she failed to sound in any way frail or weak, "I would like to tell you one more time that I love you." Without dousing the atmosphere with anguished emotions, Celestia took her guiding leave. "That is all."

Luna was allowed only a moment for her sisters words to silently echo through her head before a grim chuckle spun her around. She turned to see Cantor stood at the far end of the extensive corridor, eyes glinting with sadism as he grinned a maw of sharp teeth. The night princess was overcome with fear, and despite her coursing adrenaline, she stood rooted to the floor. 

A steady and constant 'whoosh' from the stallion's flaming mane bridged the silence between them. "Oh, princess Luna..." Cantor started, taking great pleasure in gradually stepping forward. When he noticed the princess was unsure as to what to do, and that she didn't hold a particularly 'terrified' air about herself, he seamlessly teleported to just a few paces in front of her: almost jumping forward in time without the cornered mare noticing.

Princess Luna reeled back and shrunk back to the solid wall. 

Cantor's elation grew as he saw the terror dilate in the princess' teal eyes. "I would have imagined you knew your own castle well enough to not become trapped within its halls." The grim stallion croaked through his ravaged throat. He continued to encroach onto Luna until she backed into the wall and sunk to the floor, cowering beneath the flickering light emanating from Cantor.

The princess gingerly looked up, staring into the dominant pony's jet black eyes. "Please, Cantor," She started, seeing no change in the lifeless and hateful eyes glaring down at her. "Try and fight this: be strong."

"Oh, your friend put up a fight, princess Luna." The creature inside Cantor spoke, his grin falling to a more sincere contemplation. "Which makes it all the more of a shame that he has to die..." Cocking his head, Cantor frowned with an intrigued glance. "He was doomed from the start of all this... Tell me, how do you perceive your sister now; knowing she sent your closest friend on a mission she was certain he would not return from just to destroy me?"

Luna merely peered up helplessly, tears streaming her cheeks as she realised she may be dead or worse before this day's sun set.

Just then, as if by realising something for the first time, Cantor sucked in a breath and tilted his head the other way, adopting a renewed sense of spectacle in his deathly eyes. "Oh, but wait... Why did she deem it best to send Cantor? I mean, there were more than a hoofful of ponies far more capable than him to lead the expedition." It became clear that his succession of surprise was false when he gasped in realisation for a second time. "Oh, could it be possible that she feels threatened by our little friend? Even though he has proven himself to be good and virtuous multiple times, she wishes to eliminate an unlikely, but possible catastrophic danger?" 

He noticed defiance and hatred grow in the princess' eyes, and his macabre grin returned. "And without any hesitance considering his child-bearing partner, nor his friends, nor, indeed, you." He shook his head, fire warping into the air as he did so. "You have to be a special kind of heartless to kill such a beloved individual on the premise that he could destroy the world should he want to..." The dark Cantor took a few short paces closer to Luna, lowering his head to further invade the mare's personal space. "However," He continued with an air of finality. "It seems as though her plan failed, and here we are, standing on the threshold of the new world." 

Gripping Luna's horn and forcing her to look him square in the eyes, the two alicorn's noses now practically touching, Cantor spoke with a cruel torment. "And I'm gonna make you all feel such delectable fear..." He breathed heavily, wafting a powerful odour of warm blood into the princess' face. "Have you ever lived at such a time where you fear for the next minute of your existence?" He pulled Luna to her hooves and pushed her up against the wall, pinning her by the throat with his foreleg enough to choke her. "Ironically, it is in those moments where you feel most alive."

Luna did nothing to hide her fear: she was awfully close to screaming, but instead, merely whimpered frightfully as her tears streaked her cheeks. "Wh- What are you going to do to me...?" She asked with mortal terror.

Cantor's sick grin reached its peak as he moved his lips to Luna's ear, and spoke with a nefarious whisper, "Absolutely... everything."

Without warning, Cantor's body lurched forward, pinning Luna to the wall. She shrieked as the breath was knocked from her, but resided in heavy breathing when she noticed a lone purple dragon stood some distance down the hallway, smoke trailing from the corners of his mouth.

Cantor, a fresh, but by no means less rotten grimace over his face, turned slowly to view his assailant. His back was smouldering where the dragon had shot a ball of emerald fire at him: the blood-soaked hairs burning a foul smell into the air. He released Luna from his grip, who promptly fell gasping to the floor as she clutched her horn.

Before giving Cantor a chance to retaliate, Spike pointed a claw and declared as forcefully as he dared, "Cantor... You need to stop this right now." Despite sounding rather confident, his outstretched arm was trembling as he fought the urge to run away.

After a moment, Cantor dropped his tense stance and looked abut the corridor amiably. "Ogh... You know what...?" He sighed grievously, "You're right: all this violence has to stop."

Spike's accusing talon dropped slightly as a confused frown wrinkled the scales on his head. "R... really?" He replied hopefully.

Cantor appeared to ponder the proposition for a moment, but eventually began painstakingly shaking his head in disapproval. "...No." He casually said before dark magic flared around his horn and a furnace tore through the hall: incinerating paintings on the walls, melting the golden fixtures and and making the stone walls glow a dim red. Spike was engulfed by the flames as Luna watched in horror, her eyes wide as she saw the dragon's form disappear behind a wave of cascading white fire. 

Several seconds of the inferno lapsed before Cantor laid off his attack, wearing an accomplished smirk until he saw the purple dragon charging at him through the burning central carpet.

"...Oh, yeah; they're fireproof." He mused to himself before being tacked full-on by the giant lizard.

Cantor was sent flying, but whilst airborne, wrapped Spike with his black magic and slammed him into the floor before crash-landing himself. Mumbling menacingly, Cantor shot to his hooves and picked up the dazed dragon with his magic, smashing him into the close wall a number of times before casting him through the window displayed at the end of the adjacent hall. The dragon soared into the air some distance before beginning the inevitable descent. And although he quickly managed to guide himself over to the cliff-face and dig his claws in, slowing himself to a painful halt, he couldn't help but cry out hysterically as he previously raced towards the ground.

Cantor growled bitterly as he watched the shards of stained glass fall piece-by piece from their former frame as Spike's perilous screams echoed through the vallies. "Tch." He huffed bitterly. "Damn reptile..." He cursed as the alicorn's ruined body became ever closer to giving up.

Looking back to Luna, it pleased him to see she had curled up in the corner of the corridor, her eyes screwed shut. He made an approach to traumatise her some more, when another hindrance called his name from behind. Grumbling, he turned to see Twilight Sparkle standing at the opposite end of the corridor. Taking comfort in the notion that ponies certainly weren't inflammable, he humoured the little purple mare.

"Hey, Twilight," He began casually, greeting her with a hauntingly friendly smile as well. "You just missed Spike's first flying lesson..." He said cruelly, noting the smashed window. "I don't think he did too well, though..." He added sombrely. 

Twilight continued several more paces before stopping a fair distance from the flaming creature. "Why are you doing this?" She asked aloud, fear apparently absent in her tone. 

The altered Cantor rolled his tinted eyes. "Ever heard of the phrase, 'the bad guys' gotta eat, too'?"

"So you're gonna throw the whole world into fear!?" The unicorn cried back, vexed. "You can't do that! I understand that your species gets nourishment from ponies' fear, but this is just tyrannical." She added in an offended, but somewhat understanding tone.

"Look at you with those big words." Cantor replied, sounding impressed. "The thing is, Twilight: I don't just need fear, I crave it: the more mental anguish I induce, the stronger I become." Upon this notion, Twilight dropped her ears and took a step back. Embracing this opportunity, Cantor began to encroach onto Twilight, eyes glistening with delight for her terror.

Striking himself in the chest as he gradually closed the gap between he and the unicorn, Cantor continued in his deranged voice. "This body should not be alive: if he were not a threat to me, I would surely let Cantor live... Alas, he is useless in comparison to our dear princess Luna over there..." He turned to check the midnight mare, who was following the scene wide-eyed from the corner, staring at Twilight with greatly sympathetic concern. 

"With Luna's ability to browse dreams, the nightmares of everypony in the world will be my food source." He explained with vigour. Twilight sunk to her haunches and watched the monster approach with pleading eyes. "In time, I will surpass any scripture of what may be referred to as a 'god': I will be more powerful, more feared than anything else in history... And what you've gotta ask is, "who the hell's gonna stop me?"" He finished with a grin of absolute control: endless dominance. Another wave of excitement flared as he noted a whimpering response from the unicorn he was almost standing on top of.

"N- no..." Twilight shuddered, barely a whisper.

"Oh?" Cantor asked with his ever-present grimacing smile. "No one...?" He pitched, grinning wildly as ever.

Twilight spoke again, this time, her voice was strong, though still hushed. "Now." She spoke, producing a confused oggle from the possessed stallion.

"Huh?" He asked, seemingly dumbfounded. "'Now'? What, you're telling me to stop this as well?" He chuckled as he recalled the small dragon's attempt to hinder his plan. "Oh, Twilight," He resumed, "Don't you know what happened to Spike when he asked the same thing of me...?" His smile grew as the same time Twilight's scowl tightened.

As the young mare peered up into the dark abyss that made up Cantor's new eyes, she yearned for those orange spectacles to stare back, yet they didn't. Instead all she could take from those horrid lenses was hatred, sorrow, and primal fear. A part of her own terrorised psyche also stared back in the reflection they provided as she lifted her head. Slowly, she sucked in a breath, and closed her eyes as she yelled, "Now!" 

Five spectral beams of light struck Cantor from all directions as the Element bearers unleashed their gems' harmonic magic over the fiendish creature. He lashed out for Twilight, snapping his jagged jaws at her as he swiped, but the intense colours caught him like a  vibrant web. He gave an inequestrain roar as he struggled against his infinitely strong bonds. His fiery mane spiralled about like a burning blizzard as he bellowed out his frustration in being trapped. 

Princess Celestia emerged from an adjacent hallway carrying Twilight's Element of Harmony within her magical aura. Upon sighting her, Cantor stopped struggling and dropped to a feral stance, breathing heavily as he burned his stare into Celestia with the harrowing essence of pure hatred.

Celestia eased the elaborate tiara over the unicorn's head, placing it gently above her horn. She turned to watch as another of Equestria's enemies fell to the power of the Elements.

With a flash, Cantor regained his regular (albeit dilapidated) appearance as Twilight approached. She juddered to a halt as she caught the stallion's pleading expression. "Twilight..." He wept, "It's me... What are you doi-" He was cut short as the unicorn clobbered him with a hoof, knocking his pleading disguise away and returning the snarling beast to the room.

Twilight drew herself almost nose-to-nose with the possessed Cantor and matched the level of angst staring back at her. She bared her teeth as she growled a final word, "...Get the hell out of my buck."

With that, her own Element ignited and blasted Cantor with a torrent of multi-hued light. His defeatist screams pierced the air as the magic of the Elements worked. Twilight's eyes glowed with a pure light that was rivalled, matched, and then bested by the energy consuming Cantor's body. In a short time, the blinding light filled the corridor and eventually enveloped reality, righting everything as it destroyed the long, dark shadows cast upon this dark chapter...


*****


A usual silence befell the castle as everypony shook the immense swell of power from their heads. The singed carpet had been restored to its familiar lush crimson. It felt silky beneath Twilight's hooves as she stumbled into a wall to steady herself. The maternal unicorn found herself uncomfortably out of breath, but she sought refreshment in the cool marble as she braced against it.

Everypony else was in a blissful daze, although their faculties quickly returned, and they gathered around the alicorn crashed out at the end of the hallway. Princess Luna scooted quickly past Cantor's clean, restored form and came to stand where the young mares were massing.

Applejack drew herself up beside Twilight. "Y'all alright, there?" She tentatively asked, turning to the purple mare, but keeping her eyes trained on Cantor.

Twilight gave a confident nod. "I'm fine." She replied with a short breath. She pushed away from the wall and stared expectantly at Cantor, along with the rest of the group.

"Is..." A grounded Rainbow Dash begun hesitantly, "Is he s-still alive?" She looked to Celestia as she filled the gangway, rooting her golden-shod hooves in the middle of the hall. Celestia turned and gave a soft nod, then re-assumed her attention when Cantor began to stir.

"Uh..." The stallion weakly grumbled as he creaked his enervated eyes open to have his weary vision filled by Celestia's horseshoes. After a sickly moment, he followed the princess' legs upwards until he was looking into her eyes. He allowed the time for a depleted breath to exhale, then softly spoke, "...What happened?" 

Celestia turned to Twilight for a moment, casting her a trusting glance before looking back down at Cantor. Despite her subjects' victory, she still wore a shameful demeanour. "...It seems as though my plan has not gone particularly smoothly. Regardless, I'm pleased normality, to some degree, has returned to this world."

To everyone's surprise, Twilight chose to interject. "Hold on a second." She fiercely said. "Forgive me for my brashness, but what exactly was this 'plan?'"

Celestia's response took the form of a depleted sigh, though she seemed to be willing to share. "Some time ago, a large group of miners unearthed a uniquely disturbing crystal: it seemed to possess the uncanny ability to make anypony who touched it, or stood by it for a time unreasonably aggressive - some of the miners who were described by their colleagues as being, "the nicest guy you'll ever meet", actually managed to kill much of the workforce before they were 'subdued.'"

"You mean 'put down?'" Twilight commented, raising an eyebrow. "The news didn't escape some of my more obscure sources: I heard about what you did to those ponies."

Celestia matched the unicorn's testing stare. "What else would you have me do?" She replied critically. "I'm sure your 'sources', no matter how 'obscure', could not reveal the full extent of the situation..." Her old eyes fell away and stared into a private abyss as she recalled harsh memories. "...Some of the things those ponies said... It was outright evil..." She shook her head and frowned painfully at Twilight. "Whatever was inside that stone, it needed to be disposed of: destroyed, or cast away."

"Why didn't ya jus' launch it up inta' tha' sky like ya' did those ponies?" Applejack asked, feeling a need to back up her purple friend.  "Or ya' coulda' jus' re-buried it: somewhere nopony'd find it."

Celestia's hard stare softened to pity as she turned to the earth pony. "Oh, we tried, Applejack: for months, we tested all sorts of weaponry on it: prototypes for bombs using the most heinous dark magic and such - but the surface of the stone wasn't even scathed..." She re-affirmed her look upon Twilight. "But, when all hope of destroying the crystal and the evil trapped inside it was about to expire, one of my mages' apprentices cast a Devastation spell onto it: an awesome spectacle, but nevertheless, unprovoked... He would have been in a great deal of trouble had the crystal not reacted in the captivating way that it did..."

At this, Twilight's demeanour shifted. As she slumped her weight onto on side of her body, her stare changed from accusing to plainly intrigued. "What happened?" She asked with residual curiosity.

"It appeared as if the magic was absorbed: upon closer inspection, the stone seemed to emit a strange glow which grew more intense the more magical energy was poured into it." Celestia explained. Despite feeling to a great extent responsible for what had happened, the princess hid a subconscious pride in her ingenuity. "I assumed that if the stone could absorb magic, it could emit magic, as well... I didn't need to indulge a great deal of thought as to who could provide the magical energy to fund something spectacular."

Princess Celestia nodded to Cantor, a complex frown over her eyes. "During preparations, I began to hear a voice calling out to me." She shook her head slightly as the memory of the vicious tone returned to her mind. "It was terrible; evil... but at the same time, filled me not with anger, fear, nor even curiosity - but an overwhelming sense of dread: that there was something going on not even I could fathom." She looked to be in a twist of emotional pain as she explained, but it was reassuring for some odd reason, to see the princess buckle under her own mental weight: it removed her ethereal veil and established her as just another pony, with slightly extraordinary problems.

"Regardless of what was being said to me," Celestia continued, "I was completely certain whatever was lying dormant inside the Peripharous Crystal was not a friend of the people of this world: and I intended to destroy it - using any means necessary." She gazed about her crowd, her internal vexation obvious within her eyes. "Whether I was thinking clearly or not, I decided it would be best for Cantor to die along with the crystal - in a place so far away, Equestria would be at absolutely no risk from it ever again."

Following a harsh encore of murmuring from the listening ponies, this time, princess Luna was the one to propose a question. She turned to her sister, addressing the bashful (if such a word could be used in its most extreme context) alicorn, her voice somewhat withdrawn. "But... Why in the world would you wish to destroy Cantor?" She asked with hushed affront. "He, as well as his friends have helped Equestria numerous times in the past."

"Yes, but look how closely he's come to destroying it before." The solar mare retaliated. "I wish I didn't feel this way - I really do, but this one pony holds a potential far greater than you, I, or anyone on this planet could even begin to comprehend. In my eyes, he's a catastrophe waiting to happen..." She cast a lengthy glance towards the seated stallion for a long moment before looking back to her sister. "I trust Cantor with my life, but as far as power is concerned, I just can't help but feel ever so slightly threatened..."

There was a brief hush - but long enough for everypony to dwell on what had been said. Eyes were turned downward in thought, but not too much silence lapsed before Cantor made his own cue. "Uh... I don't really know what to say, princess..." He softly spoke. "All I can do is give you my word that I won't turn on Equestria."

Celestia quickly waved off the comment. "I believe you fully, Cantor." She replied. "But, you must understand that I in particular, find it very difficult to ignore the premise of, 'what if?' It would be wrong for me to label you any less than a hero; the same goes for all these young mares as well." She decreed, glancing over her shoulder to the row of Ponyville citizens standing behind. She sighed as elements of her emotional burden were lifting. "Words cannot express my remorse for sending you on a clear suicide mission..."

A sight rarely seen began to form, as princess Celestia's eyes glistened with tears. Perhaps the view was more prominent from Cantor's perspective as he stared up at her, but nevertheless, to everypony, it was clear the aged mare was frail of emotion at this particular time. "Not only have I failed in one of the hardest decisions I've had to make, but I've lost my only daughter in the process: broken so many families... Those fillies," She noted, her watery eyes now even more intense and shameful, "The two unicorn sisters: how old were they?"

Cantor's face creased with a mixture of sickness, empathy, and moreover, guilt... However, he realised that at the end of the painful, arduous day, Celestia was mostly to blame; and though he felt sorry for her, she deserved to feel the bulk of the responsibility - regardless of how much it hurt. He held his breath for a moment before answering the question. "...Far too young." He simply stated, leaving his company to fill in the blanks.

Celestia shut her eyes, appearing to choke on her own crushing guilt, and although not at all thankful for what she had put him and his team through, she was a close friend, and it would be wrong to let her shoulder this immense coffin alone. "Hey," He began, his voice sturdy. "We all make mistakes."

The princess wiped her eyes. "Mistakes!?" She replied aghast. "Because of my own fears and beliefs, a great number of families have been torn apart - as was very nearly yours, let's not forget." Her grief began to overtake her, but she fought hard to retain what little stability she had in her mind.

"I understand." Cantor calmly spoke. Struggling to stand up, he settled for a seat on the castle's chilly floor.

Celestia appeared insulted. She took a sudden breath, and leaned down to get closer to the stallion's face. She didn't intend to intimidate him, nor create any excess angst between them. Regardless, she seemed dearly vexed. "How could you possibly understand-?" She asked, shaking her head, stopping herself when Cantor made a point over breathing.

"Everyone in this world looks to you as the voice of reason: the one who knows all the answers." Cantor started, locking the princess with chilled eyes. "You have to deal with the biggest problems, and so therefore, get the best rewards, and the worst kind of criticism when things go wrong... There's no way I can emphasise with you: yes, many good ponies are dead, and yes, it was your fault, for the most part..." He sighed as he gently touched Celestia's hoof, looking up at her with the most sincere expression of heartache. "I can't at all feel your grief, but I can most certainly understand your pain."

At that moment (for Twilight in particular), everything seemed to soften: the lights dimmed, time slowed, and most of the sound drained from the room. Luna flinched as Celestia fell to her knees and wrapped her hooves around Cantor. Her silky mane wrapped her body like graceful armour as she viciously, yet silently sobbed. 

After a short moment, Cantor guided the stricken princess to her hooves and found a mutual support from the tall mare.

Twilight watched from her detached proximity as the pair of white alicorns shuffled through the group. As Cantor passed, he took time to softly kiss her forehead, whispering something along the lines of "I'll speak to you later." Twilight didn't know: she wasn't particularly listening... 

Cantor and Celestia propped each other up as they made their gradual exit under a dark cloud, their corridor shrouded in a mist of misfortune.

Though she was unsure why, Twilight's eye was drawn to Cantor's left wing as he walked away. And as it curved over his rump, the tips of the largest feathers had a noticeably darker gradient than before...

Her bewitched trance was broken by a feint tapping coming from the stained glass window Spike had been hurled through previously. As everypony made a point to investigate: to escape the foul stench of anguish hanging about the quiet hallway, Spike's small silhouette was seen on the other side of the crimson, amber and emerald glass.

"Uh, guys...?" Came his muffled voice from outside. He sounded drained of all energy. "These kinds of windows don't open... do they...?"


*****


The pair of alicorns found that they had made their way to a place of very private affairs: princess Celestia's bedroom.

"Okay," Cantor started as he closed the immodest door behind himself. "We probably both have an awful lot of questions we want each other to answer..." He watched as Celestia crossed the room and drew apart a set of crimson curtains, revealing her service bells. 

Without a word to Cantor, the slender mare chimed on the bell second from the left. A considerable pause stretched before anyone answered.

"...Hel- hello...?" An utterly bewildered and disorientated male voice replied through the small hole beneath the bell.

"Best send up a large pot of tea, Quill..." The princess sighed in response.

A second pause; one which stretched the patience of both expectant alicorns poured from the service cavity. "...C- certainly, your majesty..." The pony deemed 'Quill' replied, his refined, 'virgin' voice fraught with an intense confusion. "Is that all?"

The princess took a moment's thought, but seemed to come to a hasty conclusion. "I would like a bottle of brandy: one with a strong presence." She answered with another, this time more discontented sigh.

"Of course." Came the stallion's reply after a less grating silence.

Celestia failed to offer thanks: merely whipped the decorative veil back into place over the polished instruments. It was clear she was peeved - 'conflicted', in a word: vexed, but not exactly angry... She strode to the edge of the room where a rich red armchair awaited her. With a prompt pirouette, she turned and sunk into it: the fabric looking as though it felt pleasant to the touch even from Cantor's observatory standpoint. 

She allowed a testing moment to Challenge her company before she forfeited. "Ask." She said curtly.

Cantor, despite feeling emotionally frail, could understand the usually eloquent and gracious mare's suddenly negative temperament. He drew a breath, reaffirming his stance, and spoke with a revered confidence. "Alright," He said as he exhaled. "I suppose I'll ask you, first of all, why you were so upset a moment ago? I mean, I know all this must be really hard on you... I haven't actually been able to fully wrap my head around what's happened... but you were distraught. With respect, surely you've lost a great deal of loved-ones before: why would you allow your subjects to see you in such a weak state after all these years?"

Celestia began by nodding gently. "A fair point..." She mused. "Okay -- I'll tell you why: the worst thing I have ever had to do in my long life, was send my beloved sister to a thousand-year exile... Every evening when I lowered the sun, I was reminded of the cruel, terrible act I committed to save this world... That odd, ghostly silhouette haunting her silver sun would stare down at me with envious eyes: scolding me every day for a thousand years for expelling a pony driven mad by external malice."

Princess Celestia caught Cantor's reverence, and was assured by his intense eyes. "The being that possessed you: it was an Umbra: an impossibly rare entity which receives nourishment through fear, violence and hatred. It was only after several years that it became apparent princess Luna's mind was corrupted by such a creature: I had unknowingly banished her - trapped her in a millennium of Hell all for the sake of a misunderstanding of motive..."

Despite looking towards Cantor, Celestia seemed to stare straight through him. Inevitable tears welled in her absent eyes as she continued... "Had I not realised her mind was being misguided, the pain may have been more tolerable. But knowing I had trapped her for faults not entirely her own, imagining how alone she must have felt, was... excruciating..." The princess shivered. "Anyway, it was clear the Umbra dealt with today was the same one from all those years ago... To know that it was trying to reach Luna once again was horrifying: to think that it would kill you, then take my sister away was unbearable... I'd have nothing left..." She appeared to regain a sense of focus as she connected with Cantor. "...I'd like to say I wouldn't know what I'd do if it were to succeed in its mission... But I know exactly what I would have done..."

As Celestia's eyes once again began to broadcast her intense apathy, Cantor was hit with a rush of empathy for the emotionally spent mare. "Wow..." He muttered with a ghostly chill stabbing at his heart - astonished at how quickly the princess had settled down after the past half-hour of vicious torment.

"So there, Cantor," Celestia said, her tone laced with a re-kindled spite. "I think that's ample reason for my breakdown... Please be aware that such outbursts are uncommon in my life..."

The stallion expressed his understanding in a slow, respectful nod. "I-  get it, princess..." He mumbled: very much moved by her story. "But why didn't I-"

"My turn." Celestia interrupted, provoking an unamused scowl from Cantor. Angered as he may be, for the most part, the alicorn stallion understood her sudden reversion of attitude. "How is it that you, the most magically powerful alicorn of all time, was unable to protect a crew of nine ponies - including yourself? What possible explanation do I owe the families of the deceased?"

Cantor tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at the princess. "Ambient Magic." He said simply. "I'm sure you're aware of it?"

"Of course." Celestia replied gently - a pronounced, yet idle impatience in her tone. 

"Well that planet's atmosphere was completely dry of it: no unicorn on the team could use their magic." Cantor answered, wiping his hoof across the air, simulating the arid conditions.

For the moment, Celestia sat forward in her chair with wide eyes. "Ambient Magic is a major catalyst in magic: it's not impossible to cast in its absence... Don't tell me not even you could use magic in such a place." She replied, aghast.

With a thoughtful frown, Cantor cocked his head again. "I could..." He explained with an air of apology. "Actually... I- I think a lot more ponies would have survived had I not lost the use of my horn..." Phantom pain attacked him again. He winced slightly as he ran his mind's eye over the everlasting scar of the pain of losing the horn.

Celestia's curiosity overtook her. Whilst minding her friend's ordeal, she couldn't help but pose a question. "How did it happen?"

With a sigh, Cantor answered. "It got caught under a door: basically, it was snapped off..." Recalling the moment, the mere thought of another such affliction made him sick.

The princess eyed the floor for a moment before shuffling with discomfort. "...Well, regardless," She began with a mumble, "I fail to see why nine ponies with military training should be almost wiped out spare for one..." 

"So you actually think I killed them, Celestia?" Cantor asked with a grumble of disgust. "I- I mean those twins... They were like fifteen..." He was looking at the princess as if she were a villainous convict. "Although you might distrust me enough to try and rid me of your world, killing innocents...?" He shook his head. "That's just not my scene..."

Celestia's gaze fell. Despite the fact that she, herself strongly felt as though she were in the wrong, she was still loyal to her prejudices - no matter how far-fetched they used to seem. "You can't deny these circumstances would raise at lease some queries." She stated. "And as for me trying to kill you, I shan't lie: that was my intention for this trip."

"And you'd put the lives of good ponies - including Faith, on the line just to eliminate an unlikely threat?" Cantor returned, directing a hurtful shame at the princess.

Celestia rose from her chair, standing strong, but not in the least bit proud. "Sacrifices had to be made." She decreed, her voice wavering from guilt. 

"Sacrifice?" Cantor seethed. "Sacrifice!? How can you even breathe that word!? Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"

"I needed to make it seem accidental." The princess argued back, trying to defend herself. "You're too well-known for your 'disappearance' to be swept under the carpet: if several ponies were to go too, it would merely be charted as another global disaster."

"So kill innocent ponies!?" Cantor cried in response, adding with excess outrage, "Children!?" He strode up to Celestia, stomping and scuffing his hooves. He looked her straight in the eyes and saw noting but remorse. "That may have been the Umbra talking back then," He growled, "But it was talking sense: you are one sadistic, messed up bitch."

Princess Celestia whipped her focus to the now open door; Cantor soon matched her gaze. The young stallion peering timidly in was stood before a cart adorned with a steaming porcelain teapot, a large stylised decanter of golden brandy, and a tower of cakes. The two arcane ponies stared back at him with hellish eyes not meant for the poor buck, and he promptly bolted, leaving nothing but the tea tray and a dispersing plume of dust in his stead.

Cantor closed his eyes and slowly took in a breath, before letting it out again in a depleted sigh. "I'm sorry, princess..." He quietly said, dropping his ears shamefully. "My mind's a little bit of a mess right now." He gave a weak laugh as Celestia pulled the cart into her bedroom and closed the doors again.

"No..." She replied with a huff, removing the fancy bottle's glass stopper and pouring herself a heavy glass of the fragrant alcohol. "I should be the one apologising: once it all boils down, the pony most worthy of blame is me..." Cantor didn't say anything, but hung his head slightly and stared at the floor. Although he empathised with Celestia's emotional burden, he couldn't shake the fact that she tried to kill him from his mind.

Princess Celestia's mouth formed a smirk and she gave a course chuckle. "It's quite impressive, actually..." She began, swirling the golden-brown drink in the spherical tumbler. "All of my best efforts, all of the dangers I've thrown at you; and even the best assassins money can buy still couldn't take you down..." She stared at her brandy a moment before taking a long drink. Cantor silently watched the thick liquid leave the glass and followed the glowing cup as it came to rest back on the wooden trolley amongst the teacups. Celestia blinked tears away as she faced the stallion with sombre eyes. "...I should have put far more trust in you." She whispered, her voice cradling sorrow.

Somehow not frustrated by the numerous moments of silence, Cantor simply stared back with discordant loyalty. "...I don't like this side of you." He quietly replied.

Princess Celestia's sigh expressed her age as she poured another glass of brandy. It sounded as if her very last breath had just left her, but also that a tremendous weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She raised the rim of the glass to her lips and quietly replied, "Me, neither."







> No Sleep for the Stricken
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 18: No Sleep for the Stricken

It would be a frivolous attempt to sneak around in the labyrinth-like dungeon that stretched beneath Canterlot castle: Cantor heard the hoofsteps approaching minutes before the pony they belonged to came into sight. Guarding something down there would have been a part-time job: if treasure of any description stashed in the Canterlot dungeon were to fall into the interest of thieves, the unfortunate souls would likely become lost trying to rob, what would happen to be, their graves...

Deep within the most magically airtight caverns in the world, it radiated three harsh sensory strains: bitter cold, loneliness, and an almost never-ending darkness... Exciting it was, then, when the caged alicorn noted the signature clang of princess Celestia's golden horseshoes as she approached his stony cell.

A swirl of golden candlelight grew in intensity alongside the sound of the approaching hooves. Cantor pressed his face up to the chiselled metal bars of his cage in an attempt to cut down the time it took to make visual contact with the resolved mare.

Of course, it felt as though it took longer than it actually did for the princess to come into view - and when she finally arrived, the handle of an enchanted lantern gripped by her lustrous magic, she was almost at the white buck's cell anyway.

Cantor pushed himself from the irritating bars and waited for the princess to appear, watching the light grow brighter until it and its bearer came to stand in front of the cell.

"Well good morning, Cantor." The regal mare greeted softly, shining her light in to see the ecstatic stallion sat alert on his haunches like an exultant dog. She even thought she saw his tail shifting about in elated agitation.

"Morning?" Cantor asked, cocking his head, a little normality returning to his demeanour following the valuable conversation. "Huh, I thought it must be nearly midnight: I'm pretty tired!" He continued as he stood, a little sprite seasoning his tone - yet he didn't laugh.

Princess Celestia sighed and looked somewhat ashamed. "I apologise..." She said with a slight chuckle. "I would not have put you in this terrible place unless I was certain every ounce of spiritual angst had left you." She set the lamp down on the floor and wrapped the bars of the cell with her golden magic. After focusing intently for a moment, the bars clunked with a magical jolt and sunk quickly into the floor, leaving only small holes in the floor in their place.

Cantor looked on in amazement as his confides disappeared and the princess regarded him with a serene smile. The two were quick to make eye contact, and Celestia was elated to note the joy in the young pony's expression. With a calmed nod, she happily noted, "And I am pleased to see I have my old Cantor back."

Cantor's smile brimmed. "Aww..." He cooed comically. "That's sweet." He strode over to Celestia and sucked her into a tight embrace, and whilst resting his head on her shoulder, stated, "Cheers for confining me into a small, pitch-black cell for a week, though." The humoured sarcasm was clear - but the underlying hint of genuine gripe was not so much so. "You know how much I love being left alone, devoid of senses for days."

"Cantor," Celestia started with a shamed sigh.

"I mean, I know you came to visit a few times a day, but still, lonely, yeah...?" He responded, sounding a little too much like the old Cantor than Celestia thought she was comfortable with. "Actually," Cantor returned, experiencing a legitimate attitude improvement as he reasoned internally with himself. "All this time alone has given me a good opportunity to think things through: I'm actually starting to get over that ordeal where the whole crew of the ship I was in charge of were brutally killed and eaten in a failed plan devised by you to kill me..."

He pushed away from Celestia and stared into her shocked and concerned eyes with his own, consumed with a silenced and buried resentment.

After a moment, the princess softened her expression and drew herself up with a revered - if insulted air about her. "Yes, Cantor, I am well aware of how deeply I was in the wrong... I- I don't expect you to ever forgive me..." She said with a sigh. However, she was a little startled to say the least when Cantor gave his response.

"I don't think I ever will, princess." He decreed bitterly - although with a quiet sense of closure. As Celestia's eyes met him once again, he was able to see her in a whole new light... though perhaps it was due to the darkness trying to smother both of them, that he noticed her deeper temperament. "I'm sorry, but I would think it's kind of hard to forget the fact that someone you thought loved you almost ended your life intentionally... Although, that's not the biggest reason I'm upset with you..." He added, nodding knowingly to the quiet princess.

She gave an understanding nod. "I see..." She replied under a guilty hush. "I have been making preparations for the memorial funeral this past week. Despite my involvement, I trust you'll be there to pay your respects." 

"Of course." Cantor answered with sincerity.

Celestia called back the gruesome memories Cantor had shared with her and grimaced with regret. "...I only wish we had the bodies to lay to rest." She stated after an exhausted sigh. "Even after these several days, I find it difficult to comprehend simply how awful it must have been for you ponies... Although I shall receive harsh criticism, I shall always think highly of everypony who lost their lives out there..." 

She hung her head respectively, muttering, "And I suppose a part of you died there as well... I... I don't mean to sound laudatory, but I commend your sense of perseverance: my spirit would have broken a long time before your's if our positions were reversed." She turned her head up to look at Cantor with admiration, a slight smile gracing her lips. "I am proud to know that you were fighting with all your heart right up to the very end..."

Cantor gave a soft nod of acceptance. "Thank you." He said with reverence.

Following a deep breath expelling the lingering woe, Celestia straightened herself up and regained her composure. "Anyway," She stated with a bereaved confidence. "I am dreadfully sorry for locking you down here, but you should be pleased to know your money has been paid into your account in Ponyville." She said, noticing the stallion's ears perk as the pair made their exit into the tight corridor. "I don't wish to impose a price on your, or anypony's lives, but I believe it will bring you at least a little comfort knowing that you and Twilight have enough wealth to live very comfortably until your grandchildren are your age." She said, returning a grin as Cantor smiled meekly.

He would never be able to fully move on from the ordeal that took many of his friends' lives for a very long time, but hearing this from Celestia helped him realise it was all in the past, and his recovery was, financially, at least, insured.

The sunlight - even from within the castle, stung Cantor's eyes, and he found he had to squint for several minuets before he could bare to open one eye fully...

Celestia led the way to the throne room. Surprisingly, for one who had been locked up in the fear that not all malice had left his system, Cantor saw very few guards along the way - and the throne room was no exception: the vast room was void of all life except for himself and the two princesses. Luna had been waiting in the elaborate room upon hearing Cantor was due for 'release.' She smiled dearly when she saw him.

"Cantor!" She cried with a happy gasp, making up the distance between herself and the other two alicorns to meet in the centre of the wide carpet slicing the room in half. "Welcome back." She added, keeping in mind that they hadn't had a chance to properly welcome each other since he returned on the verge of death and attacked her.

"Hey, Luna." He replied with a wide grin: excited to see his 'favourite' princess after all this time. Despite his enthusiasm, his voice showed he was clearly tired. "'Hometime', I suppose." He said, holding his eyes open.

Luna chuckled. "Yes, I should think so..." The two stared at each other for a moment as their smiles were slowly deflating. Soon enough, though, the gave each other a firm hug.

"Sorry about that whole 'trying to spiritually enslave you' thing..." He mumbled over her shoulder. "There was really nothing I could've done."

They separated, and regardless of the dark time, princess Luna still wore a gentle smile. "I understand, Cantor." She spoke under a hush. "I anticipate a few years from now when we can look back onto all this and laugh." She shot Cantor a quirky grin, but the alicorn stallion shifted his eyes uncomfortably.

"I- I don't know about laugh, Luna..." He said gloomily. "...But yeah, I get what you mean." He added, relighting her smile with a reassuring smirk of his own, followed by a heavy yawn.

Princess Celestia chimed in from the rear with a little chuckle. "I recall you saying you were tired, Cantor." She said with a parting air. "And whilst I have full confidence in your ability to fly, the least I can offer you is a chariot ride home."

Home.

That word struck the young stallion hard: it was one of the things that had driven him across this whole misadventure, and whilst he was locked up, it was all he could think about.

"Cantor?" Came Celestia's raised voice: breaking through the thick nostalgic haze that had blocked the world from Cantor for just a moment.

He shook the grogginess from his mind and turned to Celestia.

"Are you alright?" She asked tentatively.

"Yeah... Y- yeah, I'm fine." Cantor replied whilst rubbing his tired eyes. "It's just that... well I think it's gonna... It'll be nice to go home after all this: take it easy for a while."

Assured, Celestia replied with a contented smile. "I understand..." She softly spoke before leading the way outside to a grounded carriage. Four pure white pegasi were harnessed to the front of the vessel Cantor was climbing into, waiting patiently for their lead: eyes all facing directly forward in a focused glare. He turned around after quickly taking a seat in the fabulously comfortable interior, and was surprised to see the two mares follow him in. As they both sat on the opposite row of floor cushions, Cantor reasoned with himself that it would have been uncomfortably large inside if he had been alone - and regardless of his wish to sleep, he still took gratification from the two mares' company.

Celestia shut the carriage door with her magic and sent a firm nod to a pony outside of Cantor's view through the small glass hatch set in the middle of the door. The soft wooden floor creaked a little as the pegasi took off at a trot and levelled quickly when the four stallions pulling it took off.

Clouds and pleasant sunlight was the minimal view provided from the tiny windows the carriage boasted. Regardless, it was plenty bright enough for the three ponies to watch each other slowly rock in time with the pegasi's flight path. A minute of slightly awkward silence passed before Celestia grew impatient looking at Cantor's tired face.

"It should not take too long to reach Ponyville travelling like this." She affirmed. Cantor turned to her from gazing out one of the windows at the swirling crisp clouds, his eyes sporting pronounced veins from his tired demeanour. "...My goodness," She started at the sight of him. "You really do look tired, Cantor."

Cantor smiled with a humoured huff in the place of a more brisk chuckle and nodded. 

"Well, try to get some sleep on the way to Ponyville: we'll ask the ferrying pegasi to slow down a little." Luna added, her caring tone ever pleasant to Cantor's ears.

Cantor produced a weak grin and blinked slowly, shuffling into a more comfortable position in the corner of the flying room. "It's okay, Luna: staying awake'll just make my bed more attractive." He chuckled quietly and closed his eyes 'to rest them.' Retreating back into darkness placed him into a deeper state of comfort - and even though he shut his eyes for barely ten seconds, he awakened to the soft thud of touching down in Ponyville. 

Startled, he looked to the princesses perched opposite him as the carraige slowly rolled to a stop. The both chortled a little. 

"You fell asleep." Celestia noted with a smirk.

Cantor surveyed as much of his surroundings through the small windows as he could in a daze. His tiredness was still present - but for now, at least, distant. "Where are we?" and "How long was I asleep for?" were the two questions fighting for the lead on Cantor's tongue, but Celestia seemed aware of this, and promptly answered both.

"You were asleep for nearly an hour: I asked our pegasi to take the 'scenic route.'" The white mare explained, unconsciously gesturing towards the little windows.

'Scenic route...?' Cantor silently queried, wondering just how much scenery one could see through this chariot's lacklustre windows without pressing their face up against it...

"Furthermore," Celestia continued with a pleasant smile, reaffirming the stallion's attention back to her, "We are in Ponyville... I believe your friends are waiting for you."

Cantor's face grew an enlightened grin as he slowly rose. Eyes wide with glee, though still tamed beneath composure, he nudged open the carriage door with his head and stepped out into the nippy afternoon air. He felt a shiver ruffle through his feathers as the clean air filled his lungs. Outside, lined up in front of the iconic library were the six mares he had come to call family. It was a sight he was assured he'd never grow tired of: his excitement was overtaking him as he stumbled towards the group of welcoming smiles. He had been in Equestria for some time, but only now did he feel as though he were truly home.

"...Guys..." He spoke with a soft yet awe-inspired breath.

Everypony gathered around Cantor and shared a group hug whilst Celestia and Luna watched with contented features from their chariot. As the re-united friends were preoccupied, princess Luna discretely whispered to her sister, "I thought you were going to ask him about... Faith..." Her voice, although hushed, still carried complex consideration as she asked the question. Luna watched a wave of forgiving hindrance pass Celestia's face, but ultimately, her thoughts produced a smile of closure.

With only a short pause, Celestia responded. "...I've had the misfortune of sharing the poor boy's memories - including his emotions..." She explained emptily. "I feel as though it's safe to say he's been through more than enough grief without rousing such an issue at a time like this." She cast a cheery glance back towards the group of friends, who were chatting avidly amongst themselves, a wide smile worn on each face. "Besides," She continued. "Who am I to break up a moment like that?"

Luna turned from her sister to her closest friend: despite what Celestia had assured her he had suffered, he was sporting a carefree grin amongst the six other ponies. A smile of her own grew upon her face and she replied, "I think he'll find his own way to tell Twilight. I wouldn't imagine for a second he'd try and hide something like that..." Her voice held grim undertones, yet radiated a pleasant trust overall. 

"Hey!" Rainbow Dash barked playfully at Cantor, "Even by your standards, that was a close one!" She said, gripping the stallion the tightest of everypony. She hid her overwhelming relief well, but it was clear she was dearly thankful to have her friend back. "Next time, think before you decide on an adventure!"

Cantor chuckled. "Of all ponies, I'd have never expected to hear that from you!" He replied with an elated grin. "You sound like Twilight!"

"Damn right." The purple unicorn quickly chipped in with a sly smirk. "Gone are your days of crossing the street without holding my hoof. I hope you're aware I'm never going to let you out of my sight from now on..."

Celestia poked her head from the open carriage door. "Well I shall rest easy assured he is with capable company." She commented with a parting smile.

Everypony turned their gaze towards the princesses, but it was Twilight who broke from the group and approached the rulers. A troubling silence befell the previously energetic scene as the lone unicorn found mid-ground between her home and her mentor's ride. The air was lit with a buzzing electricity as the townsfolk became intrigued by the commotion: peeking past their front doors and parting curtains to see the princesses.

Twilight shut her eyes and took a long, calming breath. Her change in demeanour captivated princess Celestia, and she became compelled to hear what the young unicorn had to say. She finished blowing out her breath and gently peered up to look Celestia in the eyes. "...I'll never forgive you for what you were trying to do." She simply stated. A couple of her friends gasped, but this statement was no odd news to the princess - although it made her wonder why Twilight was telling her this again.

"However..." Twilight continued, a sad look in her earthbound eyes, "I realise that it must've been a horrible decision for you to make all by yourself: Cantor's your friend, too." She stated, glancing to the stallion in question, who was watching with considerate eyes. Turning back to Celestia with a warm grin, she offered further understanding... "And then after all that... After your terrible plans failed, you had the courage to stand by your decision, admit it was wrong, and that it was all your fault - even though you knew I would despise you for it."

She reconciled Celestia with her smile, which the princess happily returned. "I..." Twilight continued, holding herself back slightly, "...I just wanted to say I'm sorry for the awful things I might have said to you: I never stopped to consider you were placing a lot on the line as well - far more than I would have lost..." She turned her head downward, looking depleted, but relieved all the same.

By the time she had allowed herself another deep sigh and looked back up, princess Celestia was in front of her, wearing her usual omniscient expression. Her lavender eyes widened a little as she stared up at the female alicorn, waiting for her to say something.

"I understand fully, Twilight Sparkle..." She spoke gently as her stony expression melted into a compassionate smile. "But regardless of my wrong actions, I will stand by the fact that it is unwise to want to change the past: regardless of whatever atrocities one commits... doubtlessly, it helps shape who you are. I would not be half the mare I am today had I ensured everything in my life played out perfectly." Celestia explained with care, lowering her head to rest on Twilight's neck. "I suppose in the end, we both have things to be sorry for..." She added with a slight twist of humility as she pulled away and clambered back into her chariot.

Displacing from her character for just a moment, Celestia gave a discreet wink to Twilight. "Take care of him." She noted with a smirk. "Try to keep him out of trouble." She added with closure. 

Twilight chuckled. "I'll sure try..."

Celestia and Luna gave their parting statements before closing the humble carriage door and making their leave.

Everypony watched the four pegasi pull the royal duo into the air, and basked in the mutual distraction before the cold air became a greater diversion.

"Brrr, it's chilly." Twilight stated with a shiver. "Let's get inside before we catch colds." She said, bringing up the rear as her company entered the library.

Cantor couldn't agree more, yet he didn't voice anything at the present time. He had survived his ordeal, but scars both physical and mental had been set in place to remind him every day for the rest of his life what atrocities befell him and his companions around a month ago. Yet despite this ever-lingering black torment fogging his subconscious, above all else, the young alicorn was relieved and contented to be home.


*****


Pinkie Pie, given the occasion, had been much rather hoping for a more lively atmosphere; the parties she was used to. But, when presented with the circumstances, even she, the mare famed for the most swinging atmospheres, reasoned that a party may not be all-too appropriate considering all that had happened. Regardless, the bitter glint broadly worn in Cantor's eyes failed to stop her, nor anypony else relishing in their friend's company.

It had taken a while to persuade him, and truly, it was only ever a debate with himself, but the alicorn eventually agreed to share his story... It was a slow start - to say the least... But after a while, he began to grow more comfortable with talking about it. Prior to the small session, he had feared telling this story would almost be like re-living it: agitating his mental wounds. Yet, as he neared the end, he realised the whole gruesome event was in the past. It was a story, and a story was all it could be from now on...

"...And so then, she managed to untie her other foreleg from the bed and drag the doctor off of me." Cantor explained, a slight smile beneath his slightly bloodshot eyes. "That wasn't the first time she saved my life -- not the last, either..." He paused for a moment, contemplating the words to follow as he stared into his steamy mug of hot chocolate. "...Then, uh... I think she wasn't really thinking clearly as she killed him: it was like all she cared about was getting rid of such an insane threat."

As he took a slow drink from his mug, the girls (as well as Spike, who had joined the discussion quite early on) exchanged conflicted looks of varying concern: all unable to comprehend how a pony could talk about the death and killing of other ponies with seemingly little hindrance. It was clear, however, that there were more specific, grizzly details regarding each crew member's passing that he chose to leave out of the story - but alas, as with Cantor, it was nearly impossible to tell to what degree these memories were hurting him inside.

Rainbow Dash shifted uncomfortably. "What happened then...?" She asked a melancholy eagerness. To say she was enthralled would be no word of truth whatsoever. Yet, she would be lying to say she was not gripped by this macabre tale.

Cantor lowered his simple white mug, confused as to why it seemed to drain his energy even to magically pick up the half-full beverage. "I think we both passed out for a while..." He mused, licking the chocolate foam from his lips. "I seem to remember waking up with a fright before we moved on, but I can't remember why..."

"I'm not surprised." Rarity, who had been almost silent the whole time, chipped in. "All that fighting must have taken a great toll on you both."

Cantor replied with a thoughtful nod. 

"When you get that hurt, and that scared, you just start to run on adrenaline." Rainbow Dash added, speaking from personal experience, though deciding to leave that information out. "You can't really feel anything until it's all over - and then you just fall apart."

"Yeah..." Cantor agreed with a slightly detached tone. "...Anyway, shortly after that, we found out that the room we were in was a hangar, and ready for launch was the personal ship of one of the creatures that used to run the place. Even then, when we had the opportunity to escape, we still both felt quite hopeless deep inside: how the hell were we supposed to know how to get back home without the guidance system our ship had?"

Everyone waited for progression: not saying anything as they silently urged Cantor to continue.

"Before me and Faith got-"

"Faith and I." Twilight corrected, drawing a warm, amused smile from her alicorn.

"Thanks." He replied with a relaxed smirk. "Before we went any further," He started again, shooting Twilight a wink in the last of his delightful diversion before returning to his previous, solemn tone. "I discovered that Blue Bolt: the unicorn doctor,  had stolen the Peripherous Crystal from our ship, and hid it in his saddlebag..." Cantor looked about the croup as eyebrows rose in response to this information. "Anyway, when I touched this thing I just..."

He broke away for a moment, recalling the horrible spiritual sodom almost a clearly as the pain from loosing his horn. "...I could... feel the evil inside it. I knew there was more to that little rock: and I knew it wasn't good... But, being drawn to power, and deciding it would be best to do so anyway, I took it with me. Good thing I did, too: when we went into the control room, it sort of... 'reacted' to all the instruments - I think it kinda 'uploaded' Equestria's co-ordinates to some kind of homing system on the prepped ship." 

Cantor rolled his eyes. "If there is such a thing as 'divine intervention', that was a first-hoof experience. Either that or something along the lines of divine luck... To be honest, they can both be written with the same chalk."

As the stallion took another sip of hot chocolate, Twilight sent a confused look to Rainbow Dash, who merely returned the expression along with a shrug. "...Uh, what was that?" The dumbfounded unicorn asked, staring at Cantor with a bemused smile. He peered down at her past his mug as the steam billowed past his face. "Was that your contribution to philosophy and/or poetry?"

Cantor took the drink away from his face. "That was alright, wasn't it?" He asked with a smile.

"Not particularly." Twilight replied, wearing a pleasant grin of her own. "But I'll let you have it." She added with a nod of enthusiasm before continuing to say, "So anyway, what happened after that?"

Cantor's amusement visibly died as he stared off into the dark space of the library. He was lost in his own corruption for a moment: the virtue he supposedly represented used at the expense of somepony else - moreover, somepony he cared about. Gently shaking the angst from his head, he responded to Twilight's question. Despite having put the grim experiences (for the most part) behind him, heinous thoughts frayed his words. "We found out that one of us was going to stay behind to launch the ship... In other words, one of us needed to die -- or at least, in a phrase, 'seal their fate.'

Cantor peered solemnly at the floor as once again, the tale sparked a curious murmur about the group. In their eyes, he could see what they were all thinking.

Rainbow Dash, the concern for her friend now more pronounced than ever, turned to the alicorn. "So... I suppose you volunteered?"

"Yep." He replied plainly. "It's in my nature, unfortunately..." He continued with a somehow sad smile. "But Faith told me something that I'll never forget... that some ponies have far more to live for than to die for..." He said with an ill sense of morbid narcissism, staring at his chocolate. "I hated to agree with her when she put it like that, but at the end of the day, she died protecting me, my family, and all my friends..." The stallion only realised he was crying as a tear fell across his cheek. "So I suppose that sentiment cuts both ways..."

He wiped his face and gingerly looked about his friends. "Sorry." He whispered with a meek smile. "I suppose you guys can fill in the rest from there."

Everypony withdrew to a sombre state: casting their eyes to the wooden floor with the heaviest strain of concentration - if not simply moved, the alicorn's tale gave them an awful lot to think about, and a new light to regard him under. As he finished off his drink, Rainbow Dash, quite possibly his closest friend, made a point of proving this...

"...I... I mean, I don't really know what to say..." She declared heavily, her voice ever so slightly strained. "But... even knowing the situation, I... can't look at you without being aware that you killed somepony."

Rarity turned slightly aghast, but not entirely void of understanding to the blue pegasus. "Rainbow Dash." She discretely snapped, 
as if she were reminding a foal about their manners (or rather lack of).

Cantor wasn't offended, however -- far from it, in fact. "You know I've killed ponies before." He stated with a confused stare, wondering why, of all his friends, Rainbow would be the one to bring such a topic up. "I- I mean only on one occasion: when I was in Manehatten."

"Wh- well yeah, but..." The colourful mare struggled, seeking out a means of wording what she was trying to say so as to avoid dragging the horrid atmosphere in the room down any further than it already was. "Like, when you told us about that, I could see it really shook you up... But just now... y- you were talking about it like it was just a casual thing - l- like it was just 'a job to do.'" Her rose eyes shone with contempt, and it pained Cantor to see, a flicker of civil terror as well.

"To be fair..." He started with a conflicted frown. "That unicorn was trying to kill me: all I thought was it was either him or me."

Rainbow dash said nothing, the silence surrounding the pair intensified by the adamant stares from everypony else. She gently shook her head,lips parted ever so slightly as she stared at the alicorn with harrowed eyed. "That doesn't sound like you..." She calmly stated, the eye contact between herself and Cantor the most profound of psychic bonds. 

Cantor blinked wearily and made a poor attempt to shrug. "Maybe I've lost all sense of innocence..." He suggested solemnly. "I just... don't know what to feel anymore..." He let his eyes drift to the floor, coming to rest on his empty white mug stained with the remnants of chocolate froth.

Void of emotion for what seemed like an eternity, Cantor merely sat there haunted by a grim veil of lonely trauma. How fortunate he was, then, to have a pegasus friend who could alleviate even the darkest storm clouds...

He peered up when he sensed Rainbow standing above him. With a defeated sigh, he groggily rose to his hooves, looking at her and noticing his own depressing expression reflected in the large pink eyes. 

Rainbow Dash provided a firm hug for her friend, yet he felt in no way able to return the gesture. She laid her head upon his neck, feeling a dim pulse beneath his white fur. Even deep down, Rainbow discovered, he sounded frail and without purpose.

She pulled away and silently consoled with the rich amber eyes before going on to affirm, "You're my best friend, Cantor... I know this has always been on offer, but if you ever need somepony to talk to if you feel you can't talk to Twi - even just somepony to listen... I'm your mare." She gave the buck a firm couple of pats on the shoulder before walking behind him and towards the door. She fiercely cleared her throat as the door squeaked open under her hoof. "Thanks for the drink, Twilight." She quietly said, hurriedly turning to Cantor before adding, "See ya 'round, buddy."

Nopony had time to acknowledge her departure before it was too late, and Rainbow's space was re-occupied by a plume of quickly fading colour.

Thankfully, the uncharacteristically sombre pegasus took a deal of the tense air with her, and all at once, the ponies and a humbled Spike decided to take their leave. 

As another uncharacterised act, Fluttershy took the initiative. "Well, girls, I think it's best we all go home now." Her soft voice helping dispel a little more of the awkward air.

"Sounds about right." Applejack agreed. "It's gettin' late anyhow." She added, noticing the hour had reached double digits some time ago.

As everyone piled out rather quickly in light of the past conversation, Twilight remained seated, staring deeply towards Cantor until she noticed her reptilian assistant snaking out the door in tow of everypony else. "Spike," She called out quietly, though the dragon easily herd her. "Where are you off to?"

The purple dragon stopped in the doorway, the chill of the night cooling the scales on his back. "Oh, I uh... I just thought I should... y'know, l- leave you..."

His voice faded as Cantor turned to observe his dialogue. Upon seeing the alicorn's un-threatening, yet conflicting eyes, Spike hastily dropped his explanation. "U-uhh, s-see ya." He proclaimed before dashing outside and closing the door heavily behind him.

Cantor shut his tired eyes as his whole body heaved in a stressful sigh.

Twilight, too, closed her eyes and took a breath to reaffirm her place. She and Cantor made eye contact. As ever, the purple unicorn was taken to a special place as she stared into her stallion's stunningly coloured eyes, and it was clear that a dark fog lingered somewhere within. Regardless, words could not express how elated she felt having him back in relative safety - which she kindly made him aware of.

Cantor dragged his hooves as he took the short walk to Twilight's side. He fell ungracefully to his rump, the depleted expression showing no signs of fading from his face. His thoughts were screaming so loudly he didn't bother looking at her as she spoke to him.

"I'm glad you told us what happened..." She started quietly, resting her head against Cantor's firm neck. "If not for the pursuit of curiosity, I think it'll help to better understand how you're feeling."

Cantor began yet another sigh, but his mental capacity easily made it grow into a long yawn. "...What am I gonna do?" He asked hopelessly. "How do I even start to get over this...?"

"It takes time." The appeased mare simply replied. "Just a long, long time..." She took pleasure in something she'd missed for a while, and unfurled one of Cantor's huge wings, wrapping it mostly around herself as she stroked the silky-soft feathers. "It's like a scar in a tree: it doesn't go away, but it does fade: it gets easier to deal with as you grow around it..."

They sat there in silence for some time, Twilight finding a subconscious rhythm in stroking Cantor's feathers ever smoother. But eventually, the steady ticking of the ornate clock perched a modest distance above the entrance grew maddening, and Twilight let go of the aviary appendage. She helped it fold into place upon Cantor's back before struggling to her hooves. 

She took a couple steadying breaths before speaking. "I'll start a bath running." She declared to the still seated Cantor. "There's something I want to show you." She trailed with a warm smile. 

Growing mildly worried when Cantor failed to reply after a considerable pause, Twilight gently called his name as she circled him, only to quickly discover he had fallen asleep.

A grin spread across Twilight's face as she drew a soft blanket from upstairs and draped it across the stallion's calmly heaving withers. She planted a kiss on his forehead before strolling off into the bathroom. 

The taps, despite being in any state of appliance, new, gave a squeak as Twilight twirled them slowly with her magic, the white glow around her horn shining pure as ever. She ran a hoof under the cocktail of hot and cold and took an odd solace in the notion that she had gotten the temperature just right on her first try.

She sighed and came to rest on the toilet for a moment: the extra weight beneath suspended from her back still somewhat alien to her - despite having grown with it the past seven months. She allowed the sound of running water to wash over her for a long while, the scent of a cherry bubble mixture infusing with the air as the fall of water threw up small clumps of pink suds to flutter back into the spacious tub.

She traced the white walls of the large square basin. It had been installed a short time before Cantor had left on his voyage. As she stared at the smooth plastic, she found herself questioning its suitability once again. As well as being quite expensive, it was also very modern; and looked really rather out of place in the rustic Golden Oak... As she thought deeper, there were few houses in Ponyville she knew of where it would seem appropriate. 

Regardless, function was favoured far over form (as was an always pleasing theme with Twilight Sparkle), and the young mare was happy with its presence - despite having the size and depth of something more closely resembling a factory vat than a bathtub that now dominated more than half of her already rather petite bathroom.

It wasn't long, however, before Twilight's thoughts turned to Cantor... And she realised that this survey of the new tub was a subconscious distraction from thinking of a way to deal with the quietly traumatised buck of hers. Whilst even in the company of friends, Twilight had noticed his ears constantly twitching to the faintest sounds from outside, and more frequently than she was comfortable with, she noticed a sterile darkness take over his eyes as they scanned the dark corners of the room.

Knowing the stallion was barely afraid of anything given his insurance of magical supremacy, and seeing him react to stimulus in such a way gave Twilight a chill. But thankfully, there was a fragrant bath here she was eager to settle into.

Lumbering from the wooden seat, Twilight poked her head out of the door, smiling idly to herself. She gasped, and her eyes went wide however, when she noticed the crumpled blanket lying in the middle of the room where Cantor used to be. Panic only existed for a second, though, as she discovered the alicorn standing before the open front door staring out into the night.

She quickly tightened the taps up with a squeak, and the sound of falling water muffled by soap suds faded away. She returned to the silence of the library just as Cantor closed the door after bidding "Goodnight" to whoever had apparently visited. He turned around, staring at the briefcase held weakly within his magenta aura.

He had taken a mere few steps into the room before he faltered and dropped the case with a buckled grunt. It clattered to the floor with a thick 'bang' as Cantor dropped to one knee somewhat strapped for energy.

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked with quiet concern, keeping mindful to give the alicorn space. 

Cantor gave a loud, exaggerated exhale and shook his head. "I just..." He started, dumbfounded as to why he felt so powerless. "I can't seem to keep my magic together: I feel so weak..." He explained, a certain (and understandable) degree of shame in his voice. Regardless, there was little time to dwell on the matter before Twilight's trademark curiosity won over her concern.

"What's inside that?" She asked, nosing towards the rich brown case lying closed on the floor.

Cantor, crouching on the warm wood, slid the briefcase in front of him and examined the clips holding it shut. "It's from Celestia: a guard just dropped it off: all he said was that Celestia thought I might want to hang on to this..." He relayed as he unfastened the shiny gold buckles either side of the handle, each springing open with a satisfying mechanical 'click.'

He raised the top of the case like a treasure chest; Twilight was close to his shoulder, eager to see what was inside. She noticed Cantor's brow furrow in a passive mix of surprise and perplexion: lying in the deep purple-lined case was an odd metal contraption, like a cylinder with wide leather straps made for accommodating a foreleg. For a partially educated guess, this contraption was some kind of medical brace; so she soon found herself wondering why the princess would have sent such a thi-

...Then it hit her... The unmistakeable tang of blood. Her eyes swelled with panic for a course moment before she noticed the rich stains on the padded harness. With a restless demeanour, Twilight softly spoke out. "What is that, Cantor?" She asked with as much confusion as the alicorn's face bore.

Cantor felt his reply catch in his throat: why would Celestia think to send something like this to him? As an overall emotion, he felt little more than curious: there was no cynicism in his thoughts as he felt as though there should have been - though he was unsure as to whether he was merely just too tired to care for such feelings.

"It-... It's my shotgun." He stated once he had found his voice again - realising the main hindrance to his speech affliction, above anything else, was the sticky remnants of hot chocolate lining his mouth. He removed the weapon from its case and cradled it in front of him, the realisation that the smell of blood failed to sicken him brought back a good deal of its unpleasant charm.

Twilight took a step away from the gun, eyeing the device like it was a heinous creature. "Is it dangerous?" She asked hurriedly, keeping her eyes fixed on the shiny metal barrel.

"Can be..." Cantor replied emptily, consumed by some sort of trance at the hand of this creation. "But not at the moment..." He added, a note in his tone reassuring Twilight a great deal. Still, she took mental precautions when approaching the stallion. "...I wonder why she sent this..." He asked, not particularly expecting an answer, only to have Twilight give an in-particular response.

"It looks like there's a note." She stated, levitating a small-sized crisp scroll bound by no ribbon from the edge of the smart case.

She unrolled the parchment and darted her eyes across its surface quickly before returning to the start and beginning aloud. "...Cantor," Read the first line of the letter, "Despite the more-than macabre memories this object withholds, I can't help but feel it produces an oddly negative flavour of 'special...'" The note went on into greater details, and as Twilight's lips made the letters into sounds, Cantor merely sat, staring through his weapon, but at nothing in particular: simply listening to his mare's pleasant voice.

"In any instance, I think it would be wrong to destroy it or simply stow it away somewhere: this is my thoughts, at least - you may do what you wish with it, but as my sister agrees, this particular weapon belongs to you and you alone." Twilight continued to read the letter. Even in writing, the princess' matriarchal order she upheld in her tone was clear; and soothing for Cantor to hear. "...Without keeping you from recollecting your thoughts any longer, I bid you farewell for now, and wish you a quick return to normality."

Twilight rolled the letter back up and dropped it into the thin case, reciting the conclusion to the brief note that she had read prior. "Sincerely, Princess Celestia..."

Not long after Twilight had finished reading, Cantor set the gun back into the case and closed the lid with an emotionally frayed sigh. He clicked the buckles into place and rested his hooves atop the dark leather covering the case. Coming to stand after an unpleasant pause, he shook his head groggily. "I'm tired, Twi..." He said with drained discontent, shambling his way towards the stairs. "Can we just go to bed and try to make sense of this in the morning?"

He continued on his way to the broad staircase when a quiet protest came from behind him. Stopping, he turned to see Twilight staring at him starry-eyed.

"Um," She began, cheeks rosy from the warmth of both the library heat and her soul-mate's kindred kindling in his patient stare. "I thought we could share a bath - it'd be a shame to waste such a big tub on just either one of us." She gazed to the floor for a moment before turning back to Cantor with a benevolent smile. "I thought it would be relaxing for you." She stated with mild excitement which grew as she added, "There's something I've been wanting to show you."

Cantor failed to reply, but had now turned his whole body to face the unicorn. "What's that?" He asked with no particular emotion.

Twilight noticed his empty tone, and similarly caught sight of the bags under his eyes. She felt sorry for him, yet at the same time, was assured that what she was thinking would set his mind at ease. "Come on," She beckoned, leading the way into the steamy bathroom. "I'll show you..."


*****


Clear, fragrant water pooled around Cantor's body as he lowered himself into the large, accommodating bath. As the stereotype held, the water's temperature was fit for a mare, and the alicorn felt a mild scolding travelling up his chest as he sank into the tub. Despite this, he eventually came to appreciate the heat as he felt the warmth penetrate deep into his flesh and wrap his bones in prickled comfort.

Cantor closed his eyes and gave a short sigh as the aromatic suds reached his shoulders and he sunk back into the underwater seat. The pleasant warmth touching every part of his body reminded him of his fatigue - but in this instance, there was a relaxing beckoning to rest in the small waves breaking against his neck rather than the rough, painful eyelids with which he was previously afflicted.

He sleepily opened his eyes to notice Twilight had already dunked her head beneath the surface of the water, and was now brushing strands of wet mane that insisted on clinging to her face away from her eyes. She caught Cantor's transfixed expression and returned an adoring smile, eyes lighting up with fascination as she scanned with great detail her stallion's intense amber spectacles. She saw love, mystery and hope. Yet beyond all these complacent emotional textures, was a baron loneliness and great sorrow daunted by nothing but his arid and shattered innocence. 

Twilight's delighted grin faded as she began to delve into Cantor's troubled eyes. She could see something was hurting him dearly - far greater than any mere scare he had likely suffered. A number of candles she had scattered about flickered within the flare of Cantor's stare, and threw his gaze into an odd realm of longing and dependency. She privately admitted she didn't understand what this look meant, but was doubtless of the fact that Cantor had no one to turn to in such an instance of intimacy.

"...Cantor..." She spoke, her voice a whisper among the utter silence of the bathroom.

Cantor raised his head slightly and answered. "Twilight, I..." He began, evolving slightly from this overly-rich demeanour he held before. "I really love you. With... With all my heart..." He bit his lip as tears rolled down his cheeks. Twilight raised her head in turn, her eyes growing a little wider as she listened: whatever she was expecting, somehow, wasn't this... 

With a shallow breath, Cantor continued. "Like... You can't even imagine." He wiped his eye and took a calming breath. He hated this idea of looking such a mess - but in this scene, he merely accepted what a broken wreck of a pony he had become. "...You're all I have in this whole world. I... I'm sure I've said this before, but... I had no idea I would ever feel this way about anyone: it's like it's too good to be true." He gave a little smirk. "And in the same sense, I don't know why somepony as amazing as you would settle for someone like me..."

"I know I have all this alicorn magic... I can pull the largest things from thin air, build colossal, detailed structures... overpower anything and anyone with barely any effort, but... even this... everything I can do or offer, just... doesn't seem like nearly enough to deserve you." He shook his head and stared away for a moment before turning back to Twilight with agonized eyes. "So with all this to lose..." Biting his lip harder than before, feeling dead inside, he asked, "...How the hell could I start to feel this way for somepony else?"

Twilight said nothing, but raised her eyebrows and let her mouth fall slightly open. Her eyes suddenly filled with worry and hurt, but she didn't know at all how to feel: this had never happened to her before, but before she could make any kind of judgement, Cantor carried on with a loathing vigour in his voice. 

"I don't know what it was about her..." He continued, hating himself even more with every passing second. "I mean... maybe it was because we were in danger together, we spent weeks in training together, or... maybe it was just... something else, I..." He sucked in another breath, afraid now to even look Twilight in the eye. "I don't know what it was... Maybe it was because she was alone, like me: she had no family: nopony to love her except for Celestia. All she knew was loneliness and abandon, and I hated that, and... and for some stupid reason, I forgot about who it was that really mattered to me in that way."

He turned one more time to Twilight, eyes filled with pain as tears pooled and fell like rain, landing in the bathwater with tiny splashes. "I loved her, Twi. I didn't know how to be there for her without owing some part of myself: the same part that belongs to you." Twilight's expression hadn't changed except for a small tear collecting that made her eyes shimmer. Once again, the sight was too painful for Cantor, and he had to look away.

He screwed his eyes shut in fear of what was going to happen next as he spoke with all the affliction of a broken heart. "What I'm trying to say is... Y- you're all I have in... in this whole world... Please..." He whimpered as he hung his head. "I can't loose you..."

Silence had proven itself once again to be an imposing force - particularly in environments such as this... For a long time, both mentally and physically, neither pony said a word. Even the sound of the lax water running through the pipes as they warmed was too distant to notice. 

Cantor's feelings were nothing less than apocalyptic: too many inward accusations of what this spiritual contract called loyalty was supposed to mean were beating him further into a dark and endless shaft of shame. How could he expect any kind of resolve after this? He had thrown a loosing hoof on the table, and could now only await the mercy of the abstinent mare with a rare sense of complete uncertainty.

"...Cantor..." Twilight started, her voice engaged and intimate - in this moment, Cantor was the only other pony in the world. 

Cantor didn't reply. He didn't even move.

"Cantor... Look a me..." She continued, the purpose in her voice undying and unstoppable. Yet, the dishevelled alicorn didn't respond. "...I can't say what I need to without seeing those eyes of yours... Please, Cantor... If... If nothing else, you owe me your attention..."

At this, there was nothing else Cantor could do. Regardless, he still sported a great deal of aversion as he made the long, painful journey to connect with Twilight's gaze.

Twilight took a shallow, painful breath before making her statement. "...You're right..." Was what she started with, her voice assuming the intense demeanour that would ensue. "You are, unquestionably, the most magically gifted alicorn alive... But... that's not enough - that'd never be enough..." She paused momentarily to blink away tears that immediately dispersed amongst the water dampening her face. "When I look across this bathtub, you know what I see...? Nothing less than a god. And yet... that's not enough, because... Because you know what else I see? I see... you." She shook her head unassumingly. "And you're worth far me to me than any amount of pure, unmatched potential."

Her dark breed of passion elevated somewhat as she envisioned her Ponyville friends. "Of course, I feel similarly about everyone else, but... There's just something... There's always something special about you that I wouldn't want to live without..." Slowly, she shifted around the bath to rest next to her stallion, who's focus was entirely hers. "I love you, Cantor." She said with no sense of hesitation whatsoever. "And if it's forgiveness that you're looking for, then I'll gladly give it... Whatever you may have felt for this mare, what's important is that you remembered me in your darkest hour, and... and for that I'm thankful..."

She laid her head against Cantor's chest and smiled as she felt him embrace her, holding her close to the perfect rhythm of his heart beating the life through him.

Cantor began to doze once again as the warmth from both the water and Twilight Sparkle became more familiar. Time moved quickly outside the bathroom, but for the ponies within, an eternity was spent in each other's company. If a more serene environment were proposed, Cantor and Twilight, in this frozen moment, couldn't care much for it: it became clear as the minutes passed, that only now had the return to normality truly begun.

Still, there were many ventures to undergo, but being together - especially in such a peaceful moment, sent gratification to this couple, and reminded Twilight of why she brought her Cantor here in the first place...

"Hey..." She quietly said, looking up at the sleepy-eyed alicorn. He turned to her drearily, but to the unicorn's merriment, not without a warm and loving smile. "...I wanted to show you something..."

After having some kind of fearful aversion moments ago, Cantor was now unable to take his eyes off of the purple mare he shared his life with. "What's that?" He asked with a somewhat out of place tranquillity.

Twilight returned his kind smile. "Put your head beneath the water." She insisted with a joyous medley of serenity and excitement. "Listen... Tell me what you hear."

Cantor paused for a second before giving a brief amused snort and dunked his head. He held his eyes closed and listened carefully, but all he noticed was the expected pulsing of blood through his ears. He surfaced and turned to Twilight with a mildly questioning look. "All I can hear is my heartbeat." He said blandly, for some reason having expected something more.

The young unicorn chuckled softly, and with a fair blush upon her cheeks, happily replied, "Now listen here." As she rubbed her stomach beneath the silent waves.

Cantor produced an obedient, albeit ever so slightly quizzical look and lowered his head once again. Twilight's pregnant belly lie only a few inches below the water's surface, and Cantor's head wasn't even fully submerged as he rest against it. After moving around the slight shock of just how hard the mare's maternal glutton was, he could focus on listening, and what he heard made him fall away inside himself in a cascade of true captivation.

As well as his own viscous thumping pulsing through his head, He heard another petite, much faster drumming aided by the water. He opened his eyes wide in awe as he listened to the beating heart of the little life growing inside Twilight. If not for the necessity of air, Cantor felt as though he could stay down there for days listening to that tiny sign that was more of a part of himself than he previously realised.

Alas, Cantor soon needed to breathe, and he rose back out of the water. He would have quickly returned if it weren't for Twilight's joyously placid expression. He froze in a moment of sedate eye-contact with the purple mare. "Wow..." Was all he could think to say as he stared with his own loving elation into Twilight Sparkle's deep, mellow, lavender eyes.


*****


With a frustrated sigh, Cantor rolled from beneath the heavy quilted duvet and onto the warm floorboards beside the bed. He caught his haggard reflection in the vanity table against the wall on the opposite side of the room. His night-light, pleasant as its warming glow was, made the alicorn's tired eyesight that much more painful: every roll of his eyes to look somewhere different felt like there was grit beneath his eyelids. 

He lit some fires about the room: finding less trouble in using his magic now than when he returned to Equestria just under two months ago. The encroaching shadows slunk back into slithers of darkness at the base of the library's walls, and Cantor gave a second sigh, happy to be bathed in light once again. Twilight stirred in her bed and sat up, the change in brightness waking her.

"You can't sleep?" She proposed apologetically, peering over to the now illuminated clock hanging on the wall opposite the stairs. "It's one in the morning..." She stated.

"That makes thirty six" Cantor grumbled in thought. 

Twilight placed her head back onto the warm pillow, not bothering to re-affirm its feathery stuffing that had bulged to either end over the night. "Isn't that thirty six hours you've been awake for, now?" She asked in a sympathetic tone. 

Cantor chuckled: even having been awake barely ten seconds, her maths and memory were sharpened as ever. "Yeah..." He grumbled, amused.

"Ooh..." Said Twilight, adding her contribution of disgruntled sighs to the atmosphere. "I don't know what to... ~Ah, suggest..." She continued, sharing sleepy yawn mid-sentence. "Maybe you should go for a walk or something: see if you can clear your head."

With a tired smirk, and little say over his verbal chastity, Cantor began, "Well... you could maybe try-"

"If it's anything sexual, Cantor, I'm afraid I'm too tired to acknowledge it or even smile at your attempted sense of humour..." She replied with satire, before lifting her head a little from the deformed pillow and adding, "Unless you're serious, and it might help you sleep."

Cantor peered down at the dozing unicorn, the fire beside the bed throwing her features into darkness. "No, it... I was joking." He answered in a hush brought about by a lack of effort rather than a concious judgement of the time of day.

There was a brief pause, nothing moved, then Twilight laid back down again, a soft "Good" passing her lips as she promptly fell back to sleep. Cantor reduced his magical fires, watching the young mare sleep for a short moment before making his way to the front door, barely bothering to tread lightly on the staircase as they would have creaked and bowed under his weight either way...

He left the library without a thought of anything else on its interior; he disliked the idea of staring into the hardback darkness as it was... The alicorn shut the front door subconsciously gently and took off effortlessly into the night. For a long time, he was entirely alone with his thoughts. The stars and the moon glimpsed past his eyes as he flew above the shadows of myth. Here he was, the most magically robust alicorn ever to have lived: against all odds, he had survived a bounty placed on his head by princess Celestia herself, and was now back in his home town, comfortable, and surrounded by friends.

"Why, then," His mind asked, taking these factors into deep, intimate consideration, "Do I feel so shit...?" 

He came to perch on a leafless branch jutting from a large oak tree in an open field outside Ponyville, wrapping himself in his wings like an aviary blanket as the moon retreated behind a thick layer of cloud, burning the fluff of vapour a dark grey whilst washing the edges out into an almost turquoise hue. He took a deep breath of the winter's cool night air - careful not to emulate a sigh... Instead, he made himself yawn, which did nothing but remind him how long he had been awake.

Closing his mouth, he found himself staring at the somewhat dark feathers adorning his left wing - the same one he had lost... then gained again in a terribly gruesome manner. "Come to think of it, it was lost pretty nastily, too..." He thought with a mild grimace. The macabre memory left, thankfully, quite suddenly, though were replaced by thoughts of the deep grey pegasus he owed nothing short of his life to -- the thought was even more troubling...

It felt bad, Cantor found himself admitting. He knew which outcome of the terrible excursion he preferred, as much as it depressed him to admit. But it didn't help the fact that a pony he cared deeply about died for his sake. "I thought it was supposed to go the other way around..." He scoffed grimly, resting his head on the soft down around the top of his wings.

He left himself alone with his jumbled thoughts for a while: not really making any kind of headway toward finding a solution that could condole him. He stared down at the night-washed ground below, the rich moonlight making the light dew twinkle like the stars above. He was completely devoid of stimuli whilst his head swam in dark waters.

Whether hours or minutes had lapsed, Cantor didn't know or particularly care, a fair shadow suddenly flickered through his periphery, and by the time he had taken to laboriously lift his restless head, a sympathetic looking princess Luna had taken a place beside him.

The young stallion was slightly starstruck, yet his first thought, he couldn't help, was "Strong branch..." Before the princess of the night spoke up.

"Evening, Cantor..." She stated, wrapping herself up in her wings for warmth, too. "Having trouble sleeping?" 

Cantor said nothing; just turned away to stare at the ground again.

"...I see." The princess replied after a moment. "You know," She started, turning to stare at the full, crisp moon above, "I'm not like my sister. I shan't fill your head with this 'feel-good bravado' I know first hoof she likes to deal..."

Cantor still stared, not particularly hearing Luna over his racing mind, but still somehow listening to what his good friend was saying. "...But that doesn't mean I don't know my way around emotions -- and in addition to that, you had the same creature plaguing your mind as I did all those years ago, only I came closer to filling its will; that's why I was exiled." Princess Luna seemed vexed; rightly so, but she knew, as well as anypony graced with a long life, that loosing one's cool brought no description of happiness in the long run.

Cantor, at that particular note, finally looked Luna in the eyes: a legendary stare that made the princess shift her demeanour. She shook the trouble from her head. "I dislike watching nightmares, Cantor - especially ones within the heads of my friends. Your woe shall leave under your own discretion, but there's nothing to say talking to ponies close to you won't make it go away sooner."

After a moment, Cantor's gaze fell away once more. Princess Luna was disgruntled, feeling as though she had yet to break through his hardship, but was surprised to hear the stallion respond.

"I miss her." He stated plainly, tracing the dark mountains far to his left with his eyes. 

Princess Luna didn't miss a beat. "I know who you mean." She replied, her tone reflecting the complication in Cantor's head. What she said next, though, were words to blow the fog from his mind. "I'm sorry."

Cantor wound his full attention back to princess Luna: the first pony to offer any kind of apology for this particular loss. "Luna..." He breathed, eyes wide and gratified.

"I know that nopony's offered condolences for her to you... even at the memorial." She averted her eyes to think back to the garden ceremony - of the distraught parents, children and lovers who were affected most by her sister's intentions. Only once that day had come, and Cantor was publicly scolded by the bereaved for suspiciously being the only survivor, did Celestia fully realise what she had done. "Not one of my finest endeavours." She had tried to lighten the castle air with later that night... Princess Luna hadn't spoken to her since.

"You're not at fault." Luna continued, turning back to Cantor. "Love's a strange emotion: it's at the very core of our world's magic... All one can do, is choose, and ask forgiveness." She gave Cantor an affirmative nod. 

His thoughts once again consumed by the steel-grey pegasus, Cantor drew out a very important article from under his feathery cloak and examined it under the moonlight. The glint of silver caught Luna's eye, and she peered down to see what it was. Cantor was holding the pink strap Faith had given him, its heart-shaped buckle shining brightly. 

Luna didn't ask what the accessory was: all she needed to know was that it meant a great deal to somepony. "I forgot to give it to her." Cantor stated, caressing the dyed leather in his hooves. "It's the band Faith wore around her leg - she told me it was the only thing she had that belonged to her birth parents." The princess was captivated, unsure about what to make of this information. "She asked me to give it to Celestia before sh-she..." He gave a hurtful sigh. "...Before I escaped." He rubbed his exhausted face with his free hoof. "After all that mess with the Umbra, I just... totally forgot."

"Understandable." Luna replied, trying to reconcile the stallion.

"Yeah, but, I mean..." Cantor continued, his confidence rising to the point he felt comfortable hearing his own voice again. "It's too late now - to give it to her. She seems like the mare that's seen enough loved ones go that she's already starting to get over it." He clutched the bracelet firmly. "This'll just bring it all back."

Luna appeared thoughtful for a short moment: all her hundreds of years of emotional experience working in her favour - she knew just what to say -- especially to such a close friend. "Keep it." She declared readily. Cantor's stare remained upon the bracelet. "Whether or not my sister would appreciate it back; if how you think she may react is accurate, I wager you should hold onto it yourself. In any case, you'd be the one to hold its memory dear."

Cantor turned to Luna, his eyes seemingly glowing in the dark, merely listening to what she had to say, letting the lunar alicorn's words finish an almost complete picture in his head. 

"And it's not just to 'get back' at Celestia..." Luna continued. "As I'm sure you're aware, now more than ever, if at all, we are not the evil in the world." Cantor understood what she meant. "I'd never tell you to keep her bracelet for that reason: that's simply cruel..." She turned her head to her stars, a smile gracing her lips upon the sight, as with every night. "I know there are long gone ponies both Celestia and myself continue to remember in our hearts: if Faith were so dear to her, and I would like to imagine she was, she shan't be forgotten - even if so, certainly not by you."

Cantor let his tired eyes fall down to the stiff garnment he cradled between his hooves, catching the moon's steadfast wink in the shiny silver buckle. Another sigh, a fatigued exhale left his lungs as he followed princess Luna's gaze to the heavens.

The princess of the night gave a demure chuckle. "Hm, hm... Such a unique name, isn't it? Special, in a way..."

For the first time that evening (or rather, very early morning), Cantor grew a genuine smile of happy reconciliation. "Yes... I suppose it is..." He said softly.


*****


"Oh, morning, Rarity." Chirped Cantor as he peered through the library's grand, rustic doorway, his view of Springtime Equestria blocked only by the beaming white unicorn stood on the porch.

He stepped aside, closing the door telepathically after Rarity entered the noticeably warmer home: the bright and cheery season still in its very early days... 

"Not at work, today, Cantor?" Rarity chimed as she found a seat beside Twilight Sparkle on the thoughtfully placed sofa, sure the fabric was never always such an 'off' shade.

"Nah." The alicorn echoed. "I'm still having Fridays off. The perks of PTSD, right?" He added with a smile more sweet than sour...

Offering a somewhat awkward yet dignified "Right..." to Cantor, Rarity turned her attention to Twilight, who had called upon her for nothing more than afternoon tea. For lack of a more complimentary phrase, Rarity had nothing better to do, so had no objections to spending an hour or so with her lavender friend. 

"Hi, Rarity." Twilight greeted, her lips a crescent smile. "Thanks for coming over." She said cheerily. 

"My pleasure, Twilight - it's always nice to make your aquaintance. And... for lack of a more complementary phrase..." The white unicorn continued, "I had nothing, um... else to busy myself with." She proposed a submissive look at Twilight, who simply snorted a laugh and turned to Cantor, her eyes broadcasting a particular message the pair of them had worked out.

He shot the pregnant mare a wink and skewed smile before trotting slowly off to the kitchen. The sound of clattering cutlery quietly chimed away off-stage as the girls spoke.

"Friday evenings are usually very busy, but my shop's practically a ghost town until around six." Rarity continued, flicking her silky hair away from her face, a navy beret perched atop her mulberry curls. "I wouldn't want to miss time spent with you to be wasted on staring at fashion (eh, fine as it is...) drifting in a still breeze."

"Ooh, very poetic." Twilight jested.

"I do try..." Rarity giggled in response. 

...The library descended into a tranquil silence, the imaginary echo of the last comment fading away into the faint roar of a gas burner in the kitchen. Rarity peered past Twilight, seeing nothing twitch beyond the kitchen doorway leading off around a corner. 

"Is..." The fashion-concious unicorn began under a cardinal hush, "Is he getting better?" She whispered.

Twilight shot a glance over her shoulder before returning with an easygoing grin. "You don't need to whisper." She replied, keeping the conversation to limited ears despite her affirmation. "...I'd imagine so. There are good days, and... bad days, but a good deal of the time, at least, he mostly seems like his old self."

"Mostly?" Quizzed Rarity, both Twilight and Cantor's well-being reflected in her compassionate stare. 

Twilight shrugged. "Well, you can't expect somepony to completely get over what happened -- I mean, just his story frightened me, and you know he's not that good at telling stories, but... he must've seen some pretty awful things to still be loosing sleep occasionally these days." She explained, feeling helpless against Cantor's legitimate inner demons.

An intense whistle that had been gently growing for a short while reached its climax, then hurriedly died away as Cantor poked his head around the corner. "Sugar?" He asked, looking openly at Rarity.

With a smirk, "Yes?" Twilight cooed in response.

"No, I was ask- What? I never call you 'Sugar.'" Cantor replied, his sudden confusion falling away to reveal an amused grin. "No..." He chortled. "Rarity, do you have any sugar in your tea?" He asked, staring wide-eyed in the white unicorn's direction. 

"Uh, uhhh..." She stumbled slightly. "No, thank you." Came her reply. Cantor quickly traced Twilight's body, his eyes once again half-lidded before he returned to his 'duties.'

Twilight still wore her smirk. "Difficult question?" She asked. Rarity chuckled. "Seriously, though," She continued, returning her voice to a benign whisper. "Don't worry about Cantor: he's getting by just fine - you could say 'he's far better than worse...'"

"Okay." Rarity nodded agreeably as another wave of chinking arose from the library's kitchen. "Good to know."

Cantor rounded the corner, three mugs of steaming tea grasped in magenta telekinesis. Rarity offered a "Thank you" as Cantor set hers down atop the stout table in front of her. He mimicked the action with Twilight's drink, and she gave her thanks as well.

Rarity lifted her cup, but paused as a thought struck her. "Hold on a moment," She started, "Don't you usually boil water with those 'elemental' powers of yours?"

"Ah, yeah..." Cantor began, taking a seat on the floor behind the small wooden coffee table. "I think I sort of lost all the progress I made on my magic powers when you guys used the Elements of Harmony on me." Rarity said nothing, but stared into her steaming mug of tea. "It doesn't matter." Cantor quickly added, noting her apparently guilty expression. "I'm already stronger than Celestia and Luna combined... but I doubt I'll be tearing apart the moon any time soon." He jested.

Twilight lit her smile again, raising her tea to her lips with magic, when out of nowhere, she was hit wit an almighty burst of sickness. She yelped and dropped her cup. It somehow didn't smash, but sent a cascade of steaming brown liquid onto the wooden floor.

Cantor and Rarity both snapped their attention to the distressed-looking mare as she sat very still and breathed, staring unblinkingly.

"Hey, you alright?" Cantor asked with rapidly growing concern. 

Twilight slowly shifted her frightened eyes to the stallion's, but another surge of unease made her lurch back into the seat before she could answer. 

The other two ponies watched with intensity as the young unicorn winced in pain. 

Gradually, Twilight managed to make eye-contact with Cantor, who had risen from his place on the floor and was now standing over her with energetic conviction. "Cantor-" She huffed. "I... I think it's...!"

The alicorn's worry managed to span just a few seconds before his features relaxed and he huffed a smirk. "This again?" He asked jokingly. "You can't do the whole 'The baby's coming!' thing twice and still make it funny." He laughed. "But you really had me going - good effort dropping the cu-" All of a sudden, he caught the full weight of Twilight's genuine, primal, fear-filled eyes staring up at him pleadingly. "Ohh..." He murmured.

"Are you okay, dear!?" Rarity called out, rising to her hooves and taking an active stance beside Cantor. 

"Cantor..." Came Twilight's very scared, frail voice. "I mean it this time. I..." She swallowed a breath, tears brimming at the corners of her eyes. "I- I think our foal's coming...!"
> Delicate Heart
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Make way!" Cantor cried as he came into existence with a flash of teleportation sparks.

As luck would have it, the first pony he discovered amid the hospital corridors was Dr. Stable: almost a business partner to Cantor now and, as ever, pleased to see the young alicorn.

"What is it now, Cantor...?" He asked in a droll voice, not even turning to look as he paced through the adjoining wards. He halted, however, when he heard what Cantor said next.

"It's Twilight." He proclaimed urgently. "She's having the baby now."

Stable swivelled around and rooted his hooves before Cantor. "Now now," He said with an air of confidence in procedure. "Let's calm down, first of all: this happens every day..."

With a deep breath, "Okay..." Cantor replied agreeably, nodding more insistently than by any definition of 'relaxed.'

With a jerk of his head that spoke, "Follow me", the doctor led Cantor toward a nurse standing in the foyer, who until just recently had been chatting light-heartedly with the receptionist. "Where is she now, Cantor?" Dr. Stable asked, leaning over the receptionist's desk and giving the seated lavender mare a nod to the stack of dulled filing cabinets behind her with a short, "Twilight Sparkle."

The young mare nodded swiftly, and before making short work on finding the unicorn's record, met concerned eyes with Cantor. She retrieved the cardboard folder and offered it to Stable, who took it in a shroud of sky blue magic. 

"Cantor!" Dr. Stable barked, startling the alicorn to attention. 

"U- uh- Sh- she's at home. A- at the library." Came Cantor's flustered response. He sighed with aggravation. "Sorry, I'm just... I..." He blew out a shivering breath from his taut lungs.

Stable, after dispatching an ambulance crew with an expression of urgency, turned to a very restless Cantor, his voice mundane and, whilst just a little staged, did well to diffuse at least a little of the stress running through the white alicorn. "Calm down, Cantor..." He breathed. "We do this every day: there's very little risk of injury to either mare or foal."

Cantor swallowed nervously, breathing the doctor's words. "Ah- Y- yeah... Okay. I get it..." He replied, his affiliation with fear and panic leaving his mind increasingly quickly. "Alright." He added agreeably. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Cantor...?" Dr. Stable quietly said with a thin air of sarcasm. "You're not having a baby."

Cantor stared, lifting a foreleg to avert his body slightly. "That's right..." He replied questioningly.

Stable rolled his eyes. "Well go on, then: be there to support your mare who is." His voice was unsparing of the anxiety still present within Cantor, but the young alicorn was aware of the fact...

"This happens every day." He recalled Stable saying. Furthermore, the doctor's latter point hit the nail on the head. He was right. No doubt about it.

"Thanks, Stable." Cantor said firmly, shooting the caramel coated stallion a sturdy nod, disappearing into a flash of purple sparks, returning the hospital air to a greater hush than it had been before.

Doctor Stable chuckled and propped himself up against the tall wooden reception desk, magically passing Twilight's document to the receptionist, who appeared mostly un-fazed. She deposited the cardboard wallet back into the filing cabinet and shut the door with a sharp 'bang.'


*****


Cantor re-appeared outside the library's broad front door. He could hear Rarity's hurried, muffled vocals bleeding through the walls from somewhere within. "Okay..." He thought, psyching himself up internally. "Stable's right: I've gotta be there with her, to reassure her. I... I can do this!" 

With a second triumphant nod to his own psyche, Cantor swung open the doors, revealing a sweaty and panicking Twilight Sparkle, laid upon her back, a sizeable pink blanket draped over the lower half of her body.

"I can't do this!" Cantor cried out inside his head. Whatever calm he may have achieved previously flew, less than daintily out the window, and was replaced with an old, familiar dismay.

"Alright, okay..." Cantor uttered to himself as he stepped inside, closing the door loudly behind him.

Rarity was busying herself reassuring Twilight: not all too well given her own state of demeanour. She, too, appeared just as stressed as Cantor. Spike was making his claws busy -- watching from a distance, not helping beyond readying himself to jump at the first hint of an instruction. Cantor caught sight of this and made out he had any idea what he needed to do. "Spike!" He had to shout to be heard over Rarity's ceaseless, Pinkie Pie-style chattering. "Why don't you go fetch us a bowl of cold water and a flannel?" He wasn't sure the pint-sized dragon had even registered the order judging by his unbroken gaze toward Twilight, but he promptly rushed into the kitchen to loudly rummage through cupboards. Seconds later came the blast of a tap.

Cantor noticed himself nodding stiffly a third time, yet didn't think much of it as he leapt to Twilight's side, doing everything in his might to ignore the tiny spill of blood on the floor.

"Hey, Twi..." He said with thick apprehension, taking her hoof and feeling it grip tightly around his. "You doing okay...?"

Twilight gave a quiet bleat in response, screwing her eyes shut and pushing her head against Cantor's chest.

"It's alright... it's alright." He reassured, mind vacant and wandering for something supportive to say. "You're gonna be fine. The doctors'll be here any minute."

The distressed unicorn's breathing was quick as panic and pain flushed through her body. With no warning, her muscles contracted and she let out a grievous wail as she buried her face into Cantor's fur, her tears wetting the alicorn's chest.

"...Oww..." Twilight whimpered, her voice trembling as the pain rapidly slunk away ready for another pass. "Cantor... I- it really hurts." She wept. "It's so much more painful than I thought it would be. Please... Make it stop."

The futile plea for help broke Cantor's heart. "I... I cant, Twilight..." He replied wistfully. "If I could go through this for you, I would: you know I would. But I... I just..." His voice trailed off. Twilight said nothing, but continued crying onto his chest, her sobbing resonating through her shattered breath. Cantor felt the pressure around his hoof amplify as another contraction sent Twilight wailing. She clenched her teeth and took raspy breaths, beating her hind hooves on the floor until the pain subsided once again.

There was a hasty knock on the front door, and Rarity sprung up to answer it. Cantor heard her usher an anxious, "Yes, she's in here." before leading three medically-dressed ponies inside: two earth pony mares and one young unicorn stallion, who closed the door behind him and began setting up a pain-numbing drip for Twilight.

"Hello, there!" The eldest of the two mares greeted, her confident tone doing more than anyone else could hope to to bring the situation to more of a calm. "Twilight Sparkle, is it?" She beamed, meeting the lavender mare's frightened eyes. "My name is Cherry Poesy, and don't worry." She continued boldly. "You're in very good hooves."

It was at this moment Spike came lumbering back into the scene carrying a large metal mixing bowl full of water for Twilight, a saturated flannel slowly twirling inside as he set it down beside the midwife, who was taken aback slightly by the sight of the creature.

"Oh..." She said with an air of uncertainty, staring at Spike with no particular emotion. "A... dragon..."

"Spike..." Twilight introduced breathlessly. "He helps me out..." She shot the young dragon a grin. "Thank you, Spike." She chirped weakly, sweat matting the front of her mane.

"It's very good timing." Cherry Poesy agreeably stated, motioning for the other mare to cool Twilight down. "Now." She began anew, folding back the blanket covering Twilight up. "Oh, wow!" She exclaimed. "That was quick: I can already see the head."

Twilight gasped in an excitement. "Really?" She asked, captivated.

"Yes." Replied the earth pony, making her hooves busy. "...That should be much easier for you now -- much less painful." She relayed, beginning to sound a great deal more formal as she settled in to her work. She did a quick check to make sure that the male nurse had set up the drip properly. "There's painkillers in you, and I've managed to move the horn out of the way: it seems it was caught on you."

Twilight and Cantor looked at each other. "Horn?" They both mouthed silently, before another contraction overwhelmed Twilight. She cried out, but the midwife was right: this time, the pain was substantially less. 

"You're doing well, Twilight." The midwife assured with a fervent smile. "It shouldn't be too much longer, now."

Twilight thanked the mare beside her as she rung out the flannel and placed the cool, damp fabric back over her brow. It felt soothing against her horn as her head grew hot from her thumping heart.

"Okay, now sweetie," Cherry Poesy said soberingly, shooting Twilight an austere look with her raspberry-coloured eyes. "When the next contraction happens, you're going to need to push along with it, okay."

Twilight nodded slowly, fearfully agreeing, "Okay..."

Cherry Poesy was quietly assuring everything was proceeding as normal beneath the blanket as everypony waited for Twilight to push. After a short while, Cherry grinned warmly towards Cantor. "What's your name, dear?" She asked; Cantor told her. "Are you and Twilight together?" She asked openly, aware such a question might be taken as rude.

"Yeah." Cantor replied, re-affirming his grip on Twilight's hoof.

Following a short pause, Cherry openly asked, "And I suppose you're the father, as well?"

Cantor laughed, "I hope so." He said with a childish grin directed at Twilight, who wasn't in the frame of mind to even react.

The midwife chuckled along, if indeed, a little sarcastically. "Oh, Cantor..." She mused. "If I had a bit for every time I heard that..." She smiled and rolled her eyes, right before another contraction gripped Twilight. 

Once again, Cantor felt the pressure around his hoof increase dramatically as Twilight sucked in a sharp breath and held it. Her agony persisted for what seemed like an age, yet she came out the other side of it mere seconds later.

"Are you fighting it, Twilight?" Cherry asked firmly, going on to assert, "You have to push, or this'll just last for hours."

Twilight started crying again; this time sobbing out of woe and helplessness. "I know..." She replied, her voice sounding as though she were speaking through a tangled rope. "But it really hurts..." She whined, her tone a shivering cry for mercy.

Cherry tilted her head with a look of compassion. "Oh, I know, dear." She cooed. "Just breathe deeply: try and calm down." She took several deep, rhythmic breaths, urging Twilight to follow suit, which the frightened young unicorn did, finding that in fact, it did help...

Cherry Poesy turned to Spike, who was once again clasping at his own claws: eager, yet in situation like this, almost clueless upon how to help. "Could you get Twilight a drink of water?" She sweetly but firmly asked. Spike stared steadfast at Twilight for a moment: his eyes taught and his mouth slightly open in a worried fascination. Repeating Cantor's earlier assumption, Cherry wasn't sure he had heeded her instruction, but just a second before she went to ask again, the little dragon hurried away, dashing away into the kitchen to make use of the taps once more.


*****


What felt like hours dragged by; poor Twilight felt it even more so, but as the clock on the wall made its unwavering round, Cherry Poesy assured her that the next push or two would be 'it.'

"You're doing so well, sweetie." Rarity chimed, adding to her growing list of brief encouragements. For her, too, this was a startling experience, and the odd positive remark was all she could muster. Though it seemed to be helping the cause.

"Thanks, Rarity." Twilight replied breathlessly, adopting an 'it's the thought that counts' mentality in her helpless mind.

Regardless of how fundamental Rarity's comments seemed, they were a more welcome gesture than Cantor's occasional jabs of small-talk humour. Again, 'it's the thought that counts' was balanced in twilight's mind, but her patience for his sickly sweet apathy to this very stressful, and frankly dangerous, situation, was wearing thin. She knew what he was trying to do: attempting to ease the mental burden, but she knew he could tell it wasn't working, yet he persisted - almost as if he wasn't as prepared as she was for what was about to happen.

"Story of our lives..." Was a thought which mused through Twilight's fuzzy head before yet another gruelling contraction thrashed her body. Even if he did indeed lack the verbal proficiency at this time, Twilight was still glad Cantor was the one holding her hoof right now.

Cherry upturned her head to face Twilight. "You're still holding back? Even when you're this close?" She asked compellingly, her raspberry-pink eyes, despite boasting slight dark patches beneath them, contained the same fervent emotion. "Believe me, Twilight, you're so close: just one more big push, come on..."

Twilight was getting tired. Pretty soon, even if she did start trying, she wouldn't have the strength to exert herself. Even breathing was wearing her spirit down. This thought worried her: made her aware of the dire circumstances, yet she still felt like she was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Thankfully, a voice speaking softly into her ear reminded her there was somepony who would move mountains for her sitting right beside her, holding her hoof.

"Twilight?" Cantor called gently, meeting the unicorn's weary eyes. "For all we've been through -- and everything that's happened to you before we met, this is what's gonna beat you?" He shook his head. "I don't believe it. I just can't accept that." His attention was undivided: he knew what he was doing, but what's more, he meant it. With all his heart. "You've squared up to Manticores, Hydras, hell, even the God of Chaos himself! What kind of pony would you be to throw in the towel now?" Twilight became aware of her breathing for just a moment, feeling the ache in her chest for a short while before Cantor continued. "Think of what we'll face after this... It's going to be fighting monsters, just like before, and every other evil in this world. But not for Equestria... Not even for our friends -- or ourselves..." He wore a sincere brow and locked minds with his little pony. "You know who we need to protect this world for, Twi..." He spoke quietly into her ear, his tone indistinguishable from a private threat to any malice out there. "Without a shadow of a doubt..."

"Now come on," He continued, now focusing his own grip on Twilight's wavering hoof. "Let's get this over with!" He exacted with a rich grin.

As if the alicorn had some kind of divine intervention, one last contraction squeezed Twilight, and in one crucial moment, she pushed with everything that was left of her, and as the overwhelming pain caused her screams to crack like a vice was squeezing her throat, all her senses flushed out, and her conciousness was met with an eerie calm. 

...

...She lay there on the library floor in a daze for a moment. Her sight was the first faculty to return, but even when the coloured walls, decorations and many, many books came back into focus, she couldn't really take anything in. A heavy, unpleasant throbbing in her loins made its presence known, followed by the slight smell and taste of blood. However, all this was forgotten in an instant when a tiny, fragile crying grew out from the silence.

Her eyes focused downwards to Cherry Poesy hurriedly cleaning a tiny pony with a wet cloth before wrapping it snugly in a soft magnolia blanket.

Twilight's eyes - in fact, one hundred percent of her attention was focused onto the little life pawing at the material it was wrapped in. She felt a feeling of inseparability, love and care like nothing she had ever imagined in her life whilst staring at the delicate little foal. She was so fixated on it, that she was deaf to anything other than it's weak voice crying out in its strange new world. Regardless, at some point in time, she heard a joyful voice exclaim gently, "Congratulations, Twilight: it's a perfectly healthy unicorn filly." Before she found herself cradling the tiny bundle in her forelegs.

Twilight stared down at her foal with complete fascination. She was overjoyed with every part of her: from the cotton-candy colour of her coat to the thin streaks of violet in her crystal white mane parting either side of the tiny nub of a horn. Even now, Twilight knew this filly was perfect, and even now, she loved it more than anything else in the world. The fact that she felt this way, yet knew her hormones held a great deal of responsibility, made her chuckle. 

"Oh, Cantor..." Twilight sighed, beaming, her cheeks becoming wet once again; this time with tears of joy, "Isn't she wonderful...?" After a long silence, she managed to turn her head towards the alicorn, and noted his look of utter speechlessness with a smile. 

"That's..." Cantor began after a pregnant pause, "That's our little girl..." Twilight gave an affirmative nod of the head. "...Twilight... I don't know what to say..."

Twilight chuckled and cast a glance around the room. The medical ponies were looking on with glowing eyes: apparently this part of the job never lost its shine. Spike was wearing his previous look of bewildered amazement, and was as equally speechless as Rarity, who was welling up herself.

"Cantor," Twilight started, turning back to her stallion, "Want to hold her?"

Cantor's ears perked up, but he met the suggestion with ardent dismissal, "No, no, no, no, absolutely not." He quickly dismissed. 

Twilight looked disheartened. "Why not?" She asked dejectedly. 

Cantor shook his head. "Wh- what if I do it wrong? I've never held a foal before -- what if I hurt her?"

Twilight sighed a smile, gratified that her concerns were unjust. "So you're never going to pick her up her whole life because of that? What is she, a seedling?"

Cantor stared at an emotional crossroads. "I..." He stammered.

"Here, just... put your forelegs like this-" Twilight began, passing the foal across to Cantor. Its cries were becoming less sporadic, and were beginning to sound almost like a choir's harmonics.

Cantor stuttered his protests, but found himself complying. "Twilight, I just... I- I just don't trust myself, I.... think you should be more the... sort of..." He trailed off as he felt the slight weight of the filly move to him. He discovered he was holding his breath whilst her cries of stress faded to soft, rhythmic  breathing.

Cantor stared down at the child, his mouth slightly agape in awe. "H- Hey, there..." He spoke softly. "I'm..." He paused, realising spaciously what he was about to say. "...I'm your daddy..." He took a sharp breath as tears ran across his cheeks. "Don't worry... I won't let anything hurt you, okay?" He touched his hoof ever so gently to his daughters as she felt around outside her fluffy new womb, and the contact made her eyes flutter open and stare out at the world for the first time. 

She caught Cantor off-guard, and he gasped when he saw the curious, frightened eyes of the richest gold staring up at him questioningly.

He found himself biting his trembling lower lip before he spoke again. "You hear that?" He continued, his voice feeble, but full of heart. "Whatever you do in life, I'll be there for you: you can count on me." He said proudly. "Just think, a couple years from now, you'll be running around the library: making a mess." He chuckled, the world swirling in front of his watery eyes. "You'll go to school, make lots of friends... You'll get your cutie mark, and Pinkie'll do you a party." He sniffled and cleared his throat before another thought sprung to his mind. He turned to the little pony with a foreboding tone. "Don't you even think about boyfriends until I've long been buried..."

Twilight laughed weakly, catching Cantor's gaze with a half-lidded stare. "One step at a time, Cantor..." She mused. The alicorn retorted with a soft snort before turning to face his little filly again.

"Speaking of which," Cherry Poesy chimed in, a fountain pen held firmly in the corner of her mouth, a clipboard resting on the floor in front of her. Both Twilight and Cantor turned to face the earth pony mare. "Have you two decided on a name for her?"

Both parents turned to each other with a playful expression of guilt. They returned to Cherry, and Twilight was the first to speak. "Well... We've thought about it before, but... we sort of thought we needed to see her to know what to name her..." She caught Cantor's gaze once again. "Cantor, all I care about is her safety, health and happiness. Unless you name her after yourself because you think it'd be funny," She shot a smirk. "I think you should decide."

Cantor laughed gently. "You're giving me too much power, Twi..." He replied with a soft smile. Once again, his eyes met the little filly's, and with just one glance of that deep golden hue, Cantor's mind was set. "You know..." He began, his voice as close to a whisper as it could be, "I wasn't really sure until I saw her for the first time like Twilight said... But..." He paused, and the atmosphere around him grew evermore sincere. "But... with this name I've got in my head now, I can't think of anything more appropriate... I don't think I'd have even been here without this name I'm thinking of..."

Twilight met Cantor's reverence for a fleeting moment before softly asking, "What do you want to call her?"

Cantor produced a tender smile, and felt his eyes well up again. "...I kinda like 'Faith.'"




The End.