//------------------------------// // The Seventh Day // Story: The Conversion Bureau: Ten Days // by Windchaser //------------------------------// The morning greeted Jay with a mix of signals assaulting his senses. The sun was shining bright, the ocean was crashing on the beach, and the air had yet to come to heat up fully from the sun. He took in a deep breath, savoring the smokeless air. A dull throb ached from his left side. He shifted a bit, and the throb exploded into a spike of pain that lanced up his leg. He grunted involuntarily and gasped from the surprise of it. He looked down at his front left leg... to see that most of it was missing. His leg ended a foot from his shoulder; most of it was bare skin, and not his beige coat. The last few inches of his leg were covered in cracking black and brown scabs, covering the entirety of the stump. Jay stared at it for a long time. His mind didn’t sync up with what he saw; he could still feel the rest of his leg. It was there, and he could feel from his shoulder down to his hoof in the sand. But... it wasn’t there. Just a stump rested in the sand in front of him. “Jay!” a voice screamed, practically blowing out Jay’s ears. A body skidded along the sand next to him and wrapped him in a hug. “P-Prim?” Jay asked, his throat sore. “You’re awake!” Primrose cried, burying her face into his mane. “Y-Yeah, I... guess I am...” Primrose looked up at Jay and her joy turned to confusion. “What’s wrong?” she asked. Jay looked at her then back down to the stump of his leg. He looked back up at Primrose with tears in his eyes. “What... happened to me?” He leaned forward into Primrose’s embrace. “Your leg was crushed back in the bureau... Garnet had to bring you here... but she left your leg back there. Firecracker stopped the bleeding and sealed the wound.” Prim gently kissed Jay on the cheek. “I’m so sorry, Jay.” “W-Why? it’s not like it’s your fault or anything,” he said, chuckling. “I mean... for everything. At the bureau. Being so dense and not seeing your genuine feelings for me, and turning you down, and getting upset at you and pushing you further away...” “Shh, shh, it’s okay,” Jay whispered, brushing Primrose’s mane out from in front of her face with his one good foreleg. He sheepishly smiled at her, and she smiled in return. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. “So where is everypony else?” Jay asked. He could barely see out from inside the small crater he sat in. He could see a bit of the ocean in front of him and a small stretch of the beach on either side. “They’re still waking up,” Primrose said, wiping away her tears. “Hmm? Did we just get here?” “Jay, you’ve been asleep for over a day,” Primrose said grimly. “We weren’t sure if you’d even wake up from what happened to your horn.” “My horn?” Jay asked, lifting his hoof to his forehead. He felt a jagged stump where his horn used to be, rising only a few inches from his mane. “My horn! What happened to my horn?!” Jay yelled. Primrose grimaced. “Andrew shot you when we were back at the bureau... he hit your horn and broke it. You’ve been asleep ever since.” Jay’s mind was wide awake now. He looked around the sand near him for something. He saw a palm leaf and tried to levitate it. A shower of sparks flew out in front of him, but the leaf sat on the sand, unmoving. “No...” Jay whimpered. A few tears fell down his cheek, but he wiped them away. Letting out a long sigh, Jay looked back up. “So what did I miss yesterday?” Primrose was surprised by Jay’s sudden shift in attitude. “Are you going to be okay? With your horn like that?” Primrose asked. “Nothing I can do about it right now, so no use worrying about something out of my hooves. So do we at least know where we are?” “Fleet Feather left yesterday to fly to Canterlot!” Primrose cheered. It brought a smile to Jay’s face as well. “He should be back with a rescue team around tomorrow at some point, so we just have to hang on until then.” “So we made it to Equestria?” “Yeah... we did.” --- Sunshine’s hooves kept sinking into the sand as he plodded along the beach next to Rob. He was the only pony present who was interested in checking out the spot he had noticed during his morning flight. It had looked like a bunch of buildings popping out from the morning mist that coated the jungle floor. When he returned from his flight, most ponies were still asleep on big palm fronds acting as sleeping mats. Primrose was still looking over Jay, who was still asleep. Peach Cobbler was still sitting and looking to the sea, with Firecracker sleeping on a mat nearby. Rob was the only one awake and itching to find something to do, and was curious about what Sunshine had seen. The best he could tell, the buildings were on the opposite side of the island. Rob had walked what seemed half of the way so far with no objection, but because he came along, Sunshine couldn’t just fly over like he did this morning. His legs were getting sore and tired, but it also felt like he was just trying to give himself an excuse to use his wings. “Hey, Rob? Do you mind if I fly around a bit?” “Not at all.” Rob’s response felt indifferent to Sunshine. In no time at all, his wings were stretched out, and he was soaring higher and higher into the sky. After the short flight, Sunshine landed back down next to Rob, who flashed him a quick smile. "Feel nice?" he asked. "Definitely." "How much farther to this place do you think it is?" the yellow unicorn asked. "I think I saw a bit of it just past those trees down there," Sunshine said, gesturing to a wall of palms reaching out towards the ocean. "What do you think is over there?" Sunshine shrugged. "Fleet Feather said that these islands used to be used for resorts, so that's my guess. Maybe there's something there to help Jay and Garnet out there." Sunshine felt Rob's analyzing gaze on him, making him feel uneasy. "Really? That's why you wanted to walk to the other side of the island?" "Fine! I'm bored out of my mind just sitting on that beach. Fleet Feather said that he'd be back in at least two more days, and I just can't spend that time sitting on the back doing nothing! Especially after everything that happened at the bureau... My mind just refuses to stop and rest." "It's okay, Sunshine. No need to lose your temper. Hell, I'm bored out of my mind too. Maybe we'll find something cool there anyway, right?" "I suppose... By the way, have you tried to use your magic yet? Jay found it really useful when he learned." Rob frowned. "I haven't." "Why not?" Sunshine pressed. Rob walked in silence for a few moments before answering. “I’m not terribly anxious to go all the way with this conversion thing.” “Why not?” “I’m... not done. With being human.” Sunshine only cocked his head to the side. “When we get scooped up I’m taking the first boat back to the States. Couple of loose ends I need to tie up.” “But can’t you do that as a pony too?” Sunshine asked. “It’s not about whether I’m a pony or not!” Rob yelled back, his frustration reaching a boiling point. “I’m not ready to leave Rob Telios and move into... whatever I start calling myself eventually. I don’t expect you to understand.” The pair walked along the rest of the stretch of beach in a strained silence. Sunshine was nervous that he upset Rob more than it looked like he let on. They rounded the last palm tree; the resort was snug in a little cove with a small bay maybe a quarter mile wide with cottages and old buildings lining the water. The paint seemed like it was just finished yesterday; the colors were bright and welcoming, but the structures themselves were beginning to decay and fall apart in a few spots. Two cottages had collapsed on themselves completely; the rest of them held some aspect where they needed repair to be livable again. The one curious thing that drew the attention of both Rob and Sunshine was a small black boat maybe thirty feet long that was washed up on the sand in the middle of the cove. Rob took one look at it and bolted straight towards it. “Rob! Wait up!” Sunshine yelled as he spread his wings and flew after the yellow unicorn. He leaped up onto the deck and disappeared under the canopy, but Sunshine spotted him again, leaning over the back railing. The pegasus hovered next to the unicorn as he finished ejecting the contents of his stomach into the sea. Sunshine smelled it before he saw it; five horrifically deformed... blobs were strewn about the cabin. “Wha-” “People.” Rob wiped the spittle from his muzzle with his hoof and turned back around. “I should’ve expected to see them. Remember the news? Some governments sent out teams to call the Princess’s bluff on the magical radiation of Equestria. I guess this is one of those teams...” “Oh...” Sunshine did remember the Princess mention something about how Equestria was toxic to humans when she made her first speech, and having found out about it the hard way. “Let’s see... Ah! Perfect!” Rob said after disappearing once more. Sunshine landed in the cabin of the boat and tried to hold his stomach in place, but the smell was making it much harder than he expected. Humidity does horrible things to corpses. “Authorization code: alpha-tau-sigma-epsilon-nine-six-eight-six-two-gamma-mu,” Rob muttered at the glowing screen before him. “I didn’t know a computer could work out here!” Sunshine gasped. “Satellite link and solar batteries. Keep quiet for this, will you?” Rob asked. He carefully tapped at the screen and keyboard with a hoof to punch in various lines of code. The screen went dark for a short moment, then lit up with the image of a human; he was older, with a thinning head of grey hair and round gold-rimmed glasses. He looked straight into the vid-feed and didn’t say a thing. He was frozen. “How did you get access to this terminal?” the older man asked politely enough to initially hide the hostility in his tone. “Uncle Theodore, it’s me. Rob.” The old man loosened up and smiled. “I knew no Equestrian would know how to operate one of these computer terminals, let alone how to get an isolated link to me.” Theodore inspected something next to him and bobbed his head. “And you disabled the surveillance in the room too. Seems like your conversion didn’t take your wits from you just yet, boy. Now what is it? I’m fairly busy, you know.” “I just wanted to ask a single favor of you. Can you connect me to my father?” Theodore’s eyebrow rose. “Why? To gloat? To say you beat him? Have you no actual respect for your father?” Rob ground his teeth and tensed his muscles. “Not an ounce.” Theodore sighed and punched something into his keyboard. “Just... go easy on him.” The video feed cut to black for a second and reconnected to another room. A single individual sat in a cushioned chair behind a long table of steaming food and cooled drinks. His grey hair was combed down both sides, ending in small curls just beneath his ears in a U-shape around his head. He looked up at the screen in front of him and slammed his fork down onto the table. “And a fine hello to you too, father. I take it your stay in prison was short lived and enjoyable?” Rob asked. Mr. Telios smiled. “Indeed it was. Do you know how much prison workers make for their salaries? It’s a travesty, and one that I helped mend. Same with Jurors. Have you come to gloat? To cheer and brag about how you survived?” Rob did not answer. Instead, he tapped at the keyboard more and more, ignoring his father. “Can you even hear me, brat? Why did you bother calling if you were just going to ignore me?” “Will you shut up? Typing with hooves is hard enough as it is.” With a few more clicks, Rob gently tapped the enter key one last time. “Done.” “Done with what?” Rob’s father asked. “A few things, really. First, I funneled out a grand sum from the company’s bank account and donated it to the Kingdom of Equestria. Hopefully now they can afford more secure bureaus, and more comfortable conditions. The ones in the cities? Trash.” “Naive boy. I can get all of that and more back with a few calls.” “Not when everyone gets a nice, full whiff of all of your dirty laundry. I think I counted out all of the charges and how long you’d go away for. I think between you and the senior staff of Telios Chemical, you rack up two millenniums worth of jail time.” Rob turned to Sunshine. “Impressive, yes?” Sunshine was stunned. He didn’t move or speak. “I have all of Washington in my pocket, you puny runt! I’ll tell them that all of that data was fabricated!” Rob’s father was a bright beet-red now. “Uncle Theodore should be meeting with some journalists right now, actually. I assured him a free pass as long as he provided the Prosecution full, unrestricted access to the databases at Telios.” “You’re doing all of this... why? How have I wronged you? You grew up with everything you could have ever wanted!” “I wanted a real family! Not the best thing money could buy!” Rob shouted at the screen. Mr. Telios turned his back to the screen and walked over to a dresser. He rummaged through one of the drawers. “I assume the police are about to come and take me into custody?” “Yes. You will pay for everything you’ve done.” “No. No, I don’t think so.” Mr. Telios pulled a black, matte pistol from the drawer, pressed the muzzle against his temple and pulled the trigger. --- “Autumn? Are you okay?” Skysong asked, raising her head from the stallion’s mane. His burned orange mane smelled smelled like cinnamon somehow, after all the smoke and ocean water that he had in it. She had noticed it just after they arrived in Equestria; maybe it had something to do with them being here? “Sky, you see that cloud out that way?” he asked, pointing out past the island and into the sky behind it. She looked, covering her eyes with her wing to block the harsh sunlight. It was a wall of cloud, and everything about it rubbed Skysong the wrong way. The colors weren’t bright and cottony white; it was grey and had a very definite head to it, but it was the deep blue in it that unsettled her. “I don’t like it, Autumn. How long until it gets here?” Just after she asked, a fork of lightning peeked out from under the behemoth, striking somewhere in the open ocean. “We have maybe a half hour. I’ve heard of these storms from Fleet Feather a bit back at the bureau. ‘Wild Ones’. Uncontrolled storms that form from wild magics in the wild. We have to warn everypony down there to find cover... ourselves included.” Autumn Gale pecked Skysong on the cheek and dove from the cloud, straight toward Firecracker. The pegasus mare followed shortly after. “Oh sweet Celestia...” Firecracker moaned after Autumn told him about the Wild One headed toward the beach. “I don’t even want to know how bad it’ll be after interacting with your weather systems.” Peach Cobbler was still looking out toward the ocean in the direction opposite of the storm; the only indication that she had heard him was the slight flick of her ear. “Where should we go?” Skysong asked. “I can check around the jungle by that cliff for caves that we can hide in.” “Do that. Autumn? Gether everypony else along the beach to where Jay and Primrose are. We need to stay together, especially when that storm hits.” Autumn Gale nodded and flew off along the stretch of beach, Skysong flying inland. “Peach? Can you hear me?” The unicorn mare sat unmoving. “Do you even want to hear me?” Still nothing. “We need to get off the beach, at least. Can you at least do that for me?” She turned her head back to take a short look at him, but turned to the ocean once more. Firecracker cursed to himself and headed back up the beach, leaving Peach Cobbler by herself once more. “Jay! Prim!” he yelled, coming up to the depression in the sand the two were resting in. Prim raised her head that had just been resting on Jay’s side. “What is it, Firecracker?” “We are gonna have to move soon. Inland. Well, once Skysong finds a cave for us to weather the storm in.” “What storm?” Jay groggily asked. “Big storm that’ll probably kill us all if we aren’t somewhere safe when it hits. Nothing too much to worry about compared to what he put up with before.” Firecracker took a look at Jay and his stump; the black and brown scab was cracking less and less since he originally made it, but it still didn't look good enough for him to move on his own. “Oh goody...” Jay said as his head fell back down onto the sand. His eyelids fluttered closed as he fell once more into unconsciousness. “He’s been like this all day...” Primrose sighed, brushing a lock of Jay’s mane out of his face. “He’s never awake for more than a few minutes at a time, but at least he can wake up, right?” Firecracker leaned back down and looked over at Jay’s shattered horn. Only the medical staff in Canterlot would know how bad the damage is. “Garnet, are you well enough to be able to levitate Jay when we have somewhere to hide?” The red unicorn wordlessly nodded. She had been resting most of the day when she wasn’t enjoying the serenity of the rolling waves. She hadn’t been able to speak since Firecracker used his spell on her the day before, and every time he saw her, the guild dug at him more and more. More ponies began converging on the group as Autumn Gale told them about the storm, but there was still no word from Skysong about a cave to hide in. Anvil stood tall and silent with Pink Lemonade; the earth pony was great at finding fruits in the jungle nearby, which resulted in her earning her cutie mark: an orange, a lemon, and a pineapple sitting next to each other on her pink coat. When Autumn Gale finally brought the last of the newfoals to the group, he landed next to Firecracker and whispered something in his ear. “We have ten minutes.” The unicorn looked up and saw the titanic head of the Wild One bearing down on them. “Um,” a diminutive voice said next to Firecracker. She was a white earth pony with a lime green mane; Leah, one of Primrose’s friends. “I know where we can go. I saw a cave when I was in the jungle yesterday.” “You did?!” Firecracker almost yelled. “Oh thank Luna. Can you lead us there? Quickly?” “It’s a bit of a trip... It’s by the pond, maybe twenty minutes into the jungle.” Firecracker took a deep breath. “Everypony! Listen up! We are leaving! Follow Leah here...” “Um, my name is Palm Breeze.” The red in her cheeks was very noticeable to both Firecracker and most of all, Primrose. She gave Palm Breeze a smile. “Right. Follow Palm Breeze here to shelter! The storm will-” CCCCRRRRRAAAACKKKKKCKK-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM The fork of lightning vaporized a patch of sand on the beach a hundred yards away. Everypony present screamed or gasped in shock. The thunder was still reverberating in Firecracker’s chest as he told Autumn Gale to find Skysong and get her to the pond Palm breeze spoke of. The white mare led the single-file line of ponies into the thick jungle right as the downpour started. It was a few sprinkles at first, but quickly grew into a drenching rain that soaked everypony to the bone. Garnet floated the body of Jay from the sand right as he woke up. “Sunshine... and Rob... where are they?” he moaned before falling asleep again. “Celestia fuck me with the sun...” Firecracker cursed. “Autumn!” he shouted out. The pegasus was gone, off to find his marefriend to hide with the rest of the group. How was he going to find those two ponies when the storm was already here? He hadn’t even seen either of them since that morning, either. Jay was going to kill him, but Firecracker couldn’t risk looking for them blindly in a storm like this. Firecracker turned and dashed into the jungle. --- Sunshine had spotted the one cabana that had four walls and a roof that could stand up to this monster, and to his surprise, it also had some furniture. Rob had made it in right as a bolt of lightning struck the beached boat, detonating the batteries like small bombs. The explosion was lost to the winds and the thunder all around them, but the force had tossed Rob along the floor and into a soaked heap. Sunshine thought it was just a particularly loud crash of thunder. “If these things happen all the time, no wonder everypony left this resort,” Sunshine said as he searched through the dresser for a towel. He found two bright orange towels and tossed one to Rob. It landed on his head, but he made no effort to remove it. Sunshine noticed this only after drying his mane and wings. He walked over to where Rob had landed, and noticed that he wasn’t breathing. “Rob! Rob! Can you hear me?!” he shouted, flipping the unicorn over. Blood was dripping from his ears and nose, but what concerned Sunshine the most was that he wasn’t breathing at all. He rested his head against Rob’s chest, and past his own racing heart, he heard nothing. “Fuck!” Sunshine cursed. He had never been trained properly in CPR, and he certainly had no idea if it would work on a pony, let alone in this situation. But he wasn’t ready to let somepony just die. He pressed his hooves on Rob’s chest where he guessed his heart was a few times, and blew air in through his mouth. He repeated this a few more times, but nothing was happening. Sunshine slammed his hoof on Rob’s chest a few more times before falling into a heap and sobbing, but his cries were drowned out by the rain and wind and thunder. --- Firecracker was halfway through the jungle when he realized. He dashed away from the back of the group without anypony realizing; they were too determined to get to safety from the rain and wind. The wind picked up into a strong gale that pushed through the trees and bushes on the ground, but when Firecracker broke out onto the beach again, he was nearly blown off his hooves. “PEACH! WHERE ARE YOU?” he shouted, praying to Celestia and Luna that she was still safe. The sky was a dreadful mix of dark greys, deep blues, and black, that hampered his vision almost as much as the blinding flashes of lightning. He dug his hooves into the rain-covered sand and pushed back towards the spot Peach had been sitting for the past two days, and thats when he saw her. She was laying flat on the sand. And she wasn’t moving. --- “Sunshine?” The blue pegasus raised his head to see the yellow unicorn looking back at him. “Rob!” Be reached forward and wrapped him in a hug and buried his muzzle into the unicorn’s shoulder. “You okay there? My chest is killing me... It feels like I got trampled on my a stampede of buffalo.” “Um, you got tossed by the boat going up.” “My jaw also hurts a bit...” Rob said, flexing his mouth. Sunshine kept his shut. “I guess I was knocked out for a bit from that blast... I remember running to the door, then a flash, then you laying there. How long was I out?” “A few minutes,” Sunshine responded. “There’s a towel next to you to dry off with. You can sleep on the bed while we wait for this storm to pass, too. Since, well, you’re hurt.” Sunshine spotted a small couch along the wall near the bed and pulled himself onto it and buried his face in his hooves. Rob was fine. His breathing and heartbeat were so small that he didn’t notice them, and he panicked and acted prematurely. Sunshine was embarrassed and ashamed at his mistake, even though Rob hadn’t noticed. Sunshine heard Rob climb onto the bed and under the covers. He shuffled around for a few moments, then sat back up. “Hey, Sunshine...” “Yeah?” “There’s... more than enough room for the two of us in here with some space between us. You know, if you don’t mind, that is.” Sunshine’s heart jumped. he was embarrassed now not just about before, but also about joining Rob in the bed. But he was most embarrassed about how badly he wanted to. Sure, he fancied Rob since the day he came to the bureau, but he had no idea if Rob could respond to his advances, should he make any. Sunshine gulped and slowly walked over to the side of the bed opposite from Rob and climbed in. ROb as facing away from him, his head resting on his pillow as he tried to get to sleep. Sunshine pulled the old covers up to his chin and was surprised at how warm the blankets felt for being so old, let alone how they were still in one piece. Presumably another spell. It was late afternoon when the storm started, and behind the clouds raining down overhead, the sun was only just starting to set. Sunshine’s eyes weren’t particularly heavy, but he rested in the bed with Rob anyway. The wind howled outside and the rain slammed against the roof and windows, and the occasional crash of thunder shook the foundations. But under all of this, it still took Sunshine a while to hear it. Rob was quietly crying. “Rob?” Sunshine asked over his shoulder. “*sniff* Y-Yeah?” “What’s wrong?” Sunshine turned over to face the unicorn, who was already facing him. “I’m... just sad. That’s all.” “Why?” Rob sniffed again. “I’ve never had any friends, or anyone close to me. I was home schooled, I never hung out with anyone my own age, and I never saw my dad unless he was yelling at me. And now even he’s gone. I don’t have anything left for me.” “Why not try and remake yourself when you get to your new home with us? What have you always wanted to do?” “Hmm,” Rob thought for a moment. “I’ve never really thought about it before... Maybe a writer, perhaps?” Sunshine was surprised. “Why is that?” “I loved reading books... thrillers and fiction were always my favorites. Should I try to become a writer?” Rob looked into Sunshine’s eyes with sincerity; he was nervous about everything now. He was outside his comfort zone where everything had been handed to him. He was finally trying to make himself without being known as this rich guy’s son. “I think you’d make a pretty good writer. When we get somewhere safe, I’ll go out with you and get you something to start writing with, okay?” Sunshine smiled boyishly. A strange feeling was welling inside of his chest; it wasn’t necessarily love or infatuation, but it was something simpler. He simply wanted to see Rob happy and smiling. “That sounds very nice of you, Sunshine. Thanks.” Rob began snuggling into the covers once more. “You know you’re my first real friend? Even after you went off at me a few days ago at the bureau. You were kind and welcoming to me, and you didn’t even know me. Why?” Sunshine thought back to the day he saw Rob walk into the bureau. “I’m like that to everyone. I just like to make ponies... and people feel welcome and happy.” “You do kind of live up to your name, don’t you?” Rob chuckled. Sunshine smiled. “I guess I do, don’t I? I just don’t like it when I see somepony sad, and... I just want to make them smile again.” “That’s very kind of you. Were you like that as a human, too?” “Kind of. I... always wanted to be the center of attention most of the time. I enjoyed it when people liked me and smiled when I talked. But now I just want ponies to smile and be happy. I... knew that something was bothering you when you first came to the bureau, even though you tried to hide it.” Rob pulled the sheet up and over his head. “I’m sorry it was so obvious...” “It wasn’t, actually. It took me awhile to figure it out. Actually, after I yelled at you that morning, I knew for certain that there was something there.” Sunshine’s smile disappeared. “I was too preoccupied with my new body to try and help you with it until we got here... I’m sorry.” Rob snapped to attention. “Why are you sorry? I was the insensitive jerk to you! To all of your friends! I’m the one who should apologize profusely!” “And you made it better by making sure those guilty of hurting our families are going to be put away for good. That was all you. That is how you made it right, whether you realized it when you were formulating it at the time.” Sunshine leaned forward and gently hugged Rob once more. “You are a wonderful pony with a kind heart.” Rob’s tension eased away and wrapped his hooves around Sunshine and hugged him back. The pair leaned back from each other on the bed. All of a sudden, Rob’s eyes widened and a smirk grew on his muzzle. “Wait a minute...” Oh no oh no... Sunshine muttered to himself. He shouldn’t have hugged Rob that second time, let alone that first! “You do, don’t you?” Rob asked, the smirk still firmly in place. Sunshine felt the blood rush to his cheeks as he tried to cover them with the blanket. He looked up at Rob and nodded wordlessly. “Wow,” Rob said, dropping his head back down onto the pillow. A silence fell over the two for a few minutes until Sunshine got his act together and began worming his way out from under the covers. He hung his head low and trotted back to the couch he had tried resting on before. “Um,” Rob began, biting his lip. “What’s wrong?” “I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable, sharing a bed and all. It’s okay.” Sunshine felt a tear roll down his cheek as he hid his face away in the space between his body and the back of the couch. “Oh come on, don’t be such a baby!” Rob sighed. “Why do you think I came with you all the way out here? Just the two of us? To the other side of the island?” the yellow unicorn asked in a coarse tone. “The boat?” Sunshine replied, lifting his head up. Rob flinched. “That was pure luck. I would’ve gone back stateside after the rescue to take care of all of that anyway.” His frown began to fade into a smile as the realization hit Sunshine. “Really?” he asked the unicorn. Rob nodded back. Sunshine let out a giggle as he bounced off of the couch and back into the bed with Rob. The storm outside seemed to disappear to the two of them. --- Firecracker was hopelessly lost in the jungle. The WIld One raged overhead, and constantly tested his hooves’ grip on the ground. Peach Cobbler floated behind him in a orange globe as he attempted to find his way along the path towards the cave where everypony else was. Another flash of lightning illuminated the world around him, but something curious caught his eye to his right. He decided to push on towards the odd glimmer that appeared before him, and in a few short minutes, he came across a vast, overflowing pond. This must be the pond that Palm Breeze had mentioned! Firecracker skirted the icy cold edge of the pond, but the edges were constantly growing and spilling off into the jungle around him. He desperately scanned the sky for the signs of the cliff that the cave was against, and after another deafening crash of thunder paired with the blinding flash of lightning, he saw it. The cave was just to the left of the waterfall that fed into the pond, but it had swollen by the ferocity of the storm. The wind had also picked up in this open area, lifting Firecracker off of his hooves for a few seconds more times than he was comfortable with. The cave was a wall of black before him when he finally reached it. He conjured an orb of light at the tip of his horn and followed the path into the earth. It was only a few minutes before he saw the lights and heard the voices of everypony else. The were gathered around Peppermint, who had managed to conjure up a light at the tip of her horn like he had taught her before the bureau burned down. She was exhausted, and it showed; the orb was dim and flickering. Several ponies galloped over to Firecracker as he illuminated the cave for everypony. He moved past the ponies and placed Peach Cobbler down on the hard rock and removed his bubble. Her breathing was shallow and she was cold to the touch. Pink Lemonade had rushed over immediately and looked at the mare. “She hasn’t eaten or had any water in days. Even as we got here, she was running on fumes. Anvil!” The burly earth pony behind Pink Lemonade perked his ears up. “Get me some fruits for the poor filly.” Anvil tromped over to a pile of fruits that were resting on a bunch of palms in a pile. It must have been at least a foot tall pile of fruit! “Firecracker, take this and mush it up for her. Slowly feed it into her mouth, only a little at a time. Make sure she swallows before giving her some more.” Firecracker levitated the mango from Anvil’s mouth and ripped a small piece off of the fruit. He gently opened the unicorn’s mouth open and slid the fruit inside. Almost as if by reflex, Peach chewed it and swallowed. Was she so hungry her body itself was eating for her? After he finished feeding Peach the mango, he sat next to Primrose, Palm Breeze, and Jay. Jay was awake again, but he was upset. “Sunshine and Rob are still out there,” he muttered. Prim leaned down and kissed him on the head. “They’re smart ponies. I’m sure they found some shelter. Autumn and Skysong felt the storm before they even saw it!” Primrose was hopeful, but the doubt showed on her forced expression. Jay didn’t seem to notice, though. “How are things going, Jay?” Firecracker asked, uneasy about finally talking to him after doing what he did to the colt’s leg. “I’ve been better. My leg doesn’t hurt as much anymore.” A weak smile appeared on his muzzle. “How about your horn?” Firecracker was nervous about this subject. “I don’t know, I haven’t tried anything yet. Is it really that bad?” “I’m not going to try and tell you what you want to hear, or what I think since I have no real knowledge on the matter. I’ll let the doctors in Canterlot look at it. They’re the best in all of Equestria.” “Well that’s good, I suppose.” Jay rested his head on Prim’s outstretched forelegs and nuzzled her dark blue coat. He was asleep within minutes. Firecracker stood back up and walked over to sit with Peach Cobbler and began feeding her another fruit. Primrose nuzzled Jay’s head and gave him another kiss. “Prim, I want to apolo-” Palm Breeze began. “Accepted.” Primrose smiled at the white pony. Palm Breeze tilted her head in surprise. “You stayed out there all last night, didn’t you?” Breeze nodded and hung her head. “I thought about what you said yesterday, and I tried to think about why I was being such a bi- jerk. And I finally realized why I was always hating on Jay.” “Really?” Primrose said, suddenly curious on the matter. “My parents were always talking down about his family when they got home from work, especially for the past few years. I had no idea what they were angry about, but every night at dinner, it was something new about Jay’s father being a dispicable human being, which is.. funny to think about now that we aren’t humans anymore. But anyway. I didn’t know it was about Jay’s father trying to...” Palm Breeze gulped. ‘Trying to kill him for the life insurance money. I just thought it was his entire family who was bad, Jay included.” “So you didn’t like him because your family didn’t like his family?” Prim asked. “I... suppose so. I’m actually ashamed of it now, looking back on how pig-headed I was and how I refused to try and understand WHY I didn’t like him.” Palm Breeze sighed and dropped her head onto her forelegs. “I’ll have to apologize to him when he wakes up again. He’s a nice guy, now that I look back on it.” “Thank you, Leah,” Prim said. “I’m Palm Breeze now. I left that name when I found out who I actually am. And I couldn’t be happier.” --- “Captain!” the pegasus yelled in front of him. They were flying as fast as their wings could carry them, with a deluxe sky chariot filled with a unicorn soldier team on board. “Yes, private?” Captain Fleet Feather yelled back. His body felt comfortable in his old armor again; the gleaming golden plates just felt so much better than nothing at all. Especially after the confrontation with the HLF at the bureau and their guns. “That’s a Wild One out there, isn’t it?” The towering wall of clouds several miles in front of them was indeed a WIld One; a storm created by wild magic and unsupervised waste weather from lazy teams who failed to recycle storms over their towns.   “Yes it is, private. First time seeing one?” “Yes, sir!” “Let’s make sure it’s not your last. Company, halt!” The pegasi all stopped their flight and hovered in place. They all were sweating from flying for almost a full day straight, while Captain Fleet Feather had yet to break a sweat. “We’re waiting until morning for this monster to disperse. Get some clouds for everypony to sleep on. We fly again at first light. Those ponies are going to need us there for them ASAP! It’ll be a long flight home, so get your rest!”