CLUNGGGG!
Piece by piece, Meltdown's armor came apart, Gazelle's skilled claws knowing exactly where to work to dismantle it. A radiator hit the deck, and then a fan casing, a tank with hoses attached landing a short distance away. The armor had ceased steaming, whatever magic or technology empowered it long gone. Quickly, the spikes and peripherals were stripped away and he got to the core, severing the suit down the middle and revealing Meltdown's real body to the world.
"...Wow," Shinespark breathed in surprise, standing close enough to watch. "She looks even younger than I am."
"Imperial secrets." Gazelle shrugged, wincing from his wounds but not stopping his work. "Oh well. It's her own fault if this one gets out. It isn't worth keeping."
"Hello?" With a clambering of hooves, Maple appeared in the door again, carrying another healing potion. "I brought one of these..."
Gazelle was instantly at her side, uncorking and sniffing it. "Really?" He blanched. "Hmph. War supplies. No one's saying war isn't useful..."
He took it and drained the bottle in a single go, jagged teeth cracking leaving slight cracks on the rim. "Ahhh," he panted, sitting and holding still for a moment as the gash across his side knitted itself together with a sparkling of red magic. "High quality. You're well-connected."
"...So," Valey remarked, strolling closer as he went back to Meltdown. "How come you choose now to sober up and be sane? This would have seriously helped an hour ago."
Gazelle didn't look at her, focusing instead on Meltdown. "Being sober? Is that what I'm doing?" He flicked his tail. "Hah. I hunt pirates for sport. And now that the hunt is over, it's back to the daily grind of cleaning up messes caused by people who don't know what in Lyn's name they're doing... You should pick up a hobby, Bats. Blowing off steam is important with lives as stressful as ours!"
He lifted Meltdown out of the armor, leaving everything else on the deck, and gently hoisted her over his back, balancing her with his wings. She was an earth pony, slightly small and spindly, with a fluffy charcoal coat that tinged toward orange at the base of the hairs, like heat buried beneath the surface, and a cutie mark of two four-pointed stars rotated and overlaid atop each other, surrounded by a flickering flame. "There, now," Gazelle consoled. "They'll give you a cabin and you won't have to be in public eye."
"Umm... sure." Shinespark hesitated, still staring with interest at Meltdown's true form. She looked weak, honestly. The sword's effect aside, whatever that armor had done must have been impressive on a level rivalling Braen, because Meltdown had almost no muscle mass. She was skinny, even, reduced to a scared teenager and looking helpless on a level even Maple and Amber hadn't been.
"Indeed. You do that." Gerardo bowed, spreading his wings. "Meanwhile, I'll inspect the damage from... erm... hitting the iceberg..."
Shinespark watched as Gazelle made Meltdown comfortable, arranging her in a bed with a caring tuck and nuzzle to the forehead. Eventually, he got up, silently motioning Shinespark out of the room and following himself, closing the door with his tail in his wake. "Congratulations," he said once they were in the hallway. "That's a side of me very few ponies get to see."
"Uhh... I noticed," Valey remarked, lurking against a wall nearby. "You're a weeeird sphinx, Gazelle. Now what do you want from us?"
"Weird?" Gazelle gave an innocent, toothy smile. "Please. I prefer 'complex' or 'multifaceted'. And what I want is for us all to play nice and get along while I lie to you about just how far on the back paw I really am. How does that sound? Exciting?"
"Look, if it means no more fights, I just... Bananas." Valey shook her head. "If that's a truce, I accept. There is nothing on that pirate ship I care about any more. I'm getting out of here."
Gazelle's ears perked. "Oh? Even your missing Nightmare Module? You got that back, did you?"
"Errrrr..." Valey's ears pressed against her skull, and she looked guiltily to Shinespark.
Shinespark narrowed her eyes. "Gazelle, you know something about Nightmare Modules?"
Gazelle innocently coughed. "What? No. Of course I don't. What would a respectable high prince like me be doing knowing about the forbidden relics of an enemy goddess?" He reached out and booped her on the nose with a paw. "That's not rhetorical."
"You know something," Valey countered, "because I was telling Meltdown about this on the frigate and you chimed in asking which one it was and recognized my description way too fast. So yeah, you do. What are we leaving out there by bailing on this?"
Gazelle curled his lower lip into a sad grimace. "Valey, Valey, Valey... Meltdown knew something too, and she thought it was more worth chasing after poor Puddles than that relic. Honestly, I'd like to see it get lost out there. Like I told you, it's the least-dangerous of the lot, and it could cause major drama for ponies I don't like. Just imagine Mistvale's reaction... Those flying heathens wouldn't know what to do with themselves."
Valey cleared her throat. "Yo, flying heathen right here? I'm really tired of your empire dunking on batponies."
"And I'm a sphinx, so I'm legally allowed to kiss you and make it all better." Gazelle's eyes twinkled. "But I won't, because I prefer dealing with things I don't like rather than pretending they don't exist. You could work with me, you know. I really did have a good feeling about you from the very beginning."
"Work?" Shinespark raised an eyebrow. "Look, just because we're still trying to decide where to go... To what end, Gazelle?"
"Ooh. Being candid. I like it." Gazelle's tail flicked, and he perked his ears. "Since you're asking politely... what I want is very simple. The Empire can't have emperors, only empresses. That puts my little sister, Princess Gwendolyn, in line for the throne the moment she's old enough. But the Empire hasn't had strong rulership ever since our parents were murdered in Varsidel, and the houses are... in a bit of a disgraceful situation. It's not an empire my precious sister deserves to inherit. I want to spruce it up a little. Whip this continent into better shape. You've seen Stormhoof's mockery of a court, and how they treat sarosians. You've seen beneath the ground in Izvaldi, at least far enough to discover Puddles. And don't think the other provinces don't have buried skeletons, too... Surely you can sympathize with my intentions."
Valey nodded. "Uh huh. So going and hunting down boatloads of batponies helps with that how?"
"I'm surprised you even need to ask!" Gazelle beamed. "It's threefold. First off, they're criminals. Removing them from the picture outright makes the Empire a better place. Second, I'm hardly going after sarosians alone. The crew you've shacked up with and taken in on this boat loathes you, you know. Golbez the Black's banner for every one of his decades of piracy involved slaying heretics and other silly things. I'm after criminals, not just sarosians and certainly not decent people. And finally, it really does make for good sport." He cleared his throat. "So long as you observe the limits."
Shinespark frowned. "You don't like Varsidel either, though," she pointed out. "It keeps showing up in your behavior. With the potion, towards the soldiers... and you said your parents were killed there. So why choose now to attack and try to save those captives in the first place?"
Gazelle shrugged. "Oh... I have my reasons. Let's just say wouldn't you like to know?" He leaned forward, slitted eyes wide and imposing. "Of course..." He drew back, licked a paw and ran it over an ear. "Not good enough reasons to ignore Puddles, apparently, or keep going once Meltdown or I was down... Oh well. Now they'll probably all get massacred and die. It would be so tragic if Varsidel blamed us for it."
"Wait..." Shinespark drew a breath. "You wanted-"
"I wanted to save them! Pay attention!" Gazelle interrupted her with another boop. "I just said it would be tragic, didn't I? Especially since the Empire tried to help and it really was Mistvale at fault. Oh well. It's not like Varsidel has the resources to do anything about it, what with their war and all..."
Valey lifted a hoof, slowed, paused and put it back down. "But they were only sailing because their airships got confiscated, which you advocated for. Didn't you? I don't remember. But you'd know all about how many pirates there are." She blinked. "Bananas. Are you trying to either sabotage Varsidel or provoke them into wasting resources on revenge so they lose their war, or something? To get back for your parents?"
"Hah!" Gazelle chuckled, grinning again. "No, but now you're thinking like a sphinx. Good! I don't care about Varsidel, though. I already told you what I'm up to. Now, are we going to get moving? Meltdown, why couldn't you have melted that iceberg before you went down...?"
"The essential damage," Gerardo reported, standing and presenting before the ship's full crew sans Belinda and plus Gazelle, "is that we're stuck. Trying to turn the boat isn't working, and attempting to propel us is... Well, we have a large, blocky chunk of ice stuck on the prow, and it's not very aerodynamic. The good news is, for some reason, the ship is undamaged." He scratched his head in confusion. "I really can't say how. A collision like this should have done terrible puncture damage to the hull..."
"Speaking of terrible damage..." Maple frowned at Jamjars. "Do you realize you just stabbed one of the most powerful ponies in the Empire? This is not going to go well for us..."
Jamjars shrugged. "Would you rather have gotten arrested? You should be thanking me. And besides, you gave me the sword in the first place."
"I did..." Maple sighed. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking things through, here or there or any time, really. I need a break..."
Starlight stepped closer and nuzzled her side. "It's okay, Mom."
The sound of hoofsteps drifted up from behind them, and Gazelle padded gracefully out onto the deck, trailed by Shinespark and Valey and looking gracefully content. "Now then," he purred, "who has a plan for getting us to Stormhoof?"
"First you're gonna need a plan for getting the ship upright again," Valey muttered, slouching tiredly and not looking to take charge. "Nnnnngh... Have fun doing that on your own..."
"It hit an iceberg," Gerardo sighed, exasperated, "and yes, that's what we're-"
"Damage report?" Shinespark raised an eyebrow. "How much will it take to get us going?"
"Well, miraculously, the hull seems perfectly intact, but there's still the matter of getting us off of the iceberg, unless Puddles can help us..." His eyes drifted to Puddles, who had fallen asleep or possibly fainted and was laying limply on the deck. "Or someone could make the most of this opportunity to tie her up, seeing as incapacitating her is apparently quite a chore."
Shinespark nodded, moving for the bridge. "Not miraculously. This ship's hull is built to withstand something like that. We put every experimental technology we could into making this the world's best ship, and one of those was a seafaring project Sosa was trying to use to make a next generation or watercraft to compete with airships. It failed, or course, but not for lack of a good hull. Anyway, I'm going to go look at things in here."
Maple nodded, watching her go, then looked back at Puddles and then at Gazelle.
"Hmm. How peaceful." Gazelle stepped toward the fallen mare's body, standing over her and showing teeth. "Yes, containing her could be in order... It looks like I'll walk away with this after all. Get me something to bind her that's resistant to strength and can keep the flats of her forehooves from touching anything. That's the focus for-"
SWOOOOOSH!
With a storm of gigantic wings, a huge bulk dropped from the sky, landing in the middle of the deck. Wallace Whitewing knelt, letting Morena and Diego hop off his back, and straightened up into a flourish. "It took an unfortunately long time, but we are here!" the griffon nobly proclaimed, flashing his huge smile. "Hmm. It appears the action is already over. Alas, we were a mite too late..."
Gazelle's face split in a grin, and he rushed over to give Wallace a fist-bump. "Wallace, old buddy! Just like you to show up to an after-party."
Morena instantly zeroed in on Puddles' body, dashing past Gazelle to her side. "She's here! Diego, get me the restraints! Hurry!"
A small area around Puddles was cleared as the traveling heroes instantly got to work, Wallace still standing in the middle. "Yo, Bathtub?" Valey frowned. "What are you doing here? Thought you bailed down south, or something."
Shinespark nodded. "We came here from Izvaldi specifically because you were gone and wouldn't be able to do anything. How did you know to find us?"
"Indeed we did, little ponies." Wallace laughed, patting Shinespark on the head. "Fortunately, by the time we arrived at Grandbell, the teleportation guild had put together a backtrace on our wayward windigo's rampage, and we had the authority to intercept it! A little bird also told us that Meltdown was in the area, so we came to provide backup as quickly as we could!" He nodded at the southern horizon, a well-lit airship drifting to catch up far in the distance. Then he looked down at Meltdown's empty armor. "By the look of things, it's been quite a scene tonight. What is most important for us to know?"
Gazelle cleared his throat, stepping between Wallace and the mares with a grin. "Varsidelians, still having a skirmish with the sarosians on that ship. You might want to see if there are any left to save." He frowned. "Meltdown is below."
A clack came from behind them. "We got her!" Diego cheered, helping Morena lift the unconscious Puddles. She had been strapped to a wooden beam spread perpendicular to her back, both forelegs manacled to it and chains binding it to her chest and shoulders to prevent her from wriggling free.
"Be careful with her," Shinespark warned, giving them a glance. "She... ate a windigo heart a few hours ago, and has been both more powerful than usual and very dizzy and nauseous. You'll probably want to put her upright and not move her around."
Valey nodded, frowning at Puddles' body. "She made herself sick before, too. Something about eating a whole wedding cake at once. I can't tell if she did it on purpose, but she needs to learn to take care of herself."
Morena just sighed, sagged and hugged Puddles to herself. Diego sighed. "Sounds like a thing Puddles would do just to make everyone uncomfortable. I've never really been able to figure out that windigo..."
"You two!" Wallace appeared behind them and clasped Morena and Diego on the backs with his talons. "Come! We have heroism to do!" He spun them toward the frigate, then glanced back at Valey, Shinespark and Gazelle. "Hold Puddles down for us. We'll be back shortly, and can assist you with whatever you need!"
With another swoosh, they were gone, leaving Puddles bound and everyone blinking as the trio soared off to the damaged frigate.
"...Well." Shinespark's shoulders sagged. "That's one way to save whatever Varsidelians are left to save."
Gazelle blinked down at Puddles. "Huh. Looks like someone else is laying claim to you after all. We might have to solve this with diplomacy!" He brightened, then his grin faded again. "I'm growing tired of this. I think I want a rest. You all understand our agreement?" He cast around with a sharp gaze. "Meltdown and I return to Stormhoof. This windigo's custody will be worked out between us and Wallace's team. In exchange, Garsheeva won't have to know about certain acts of piracy..." His eyes zoomed in on Shinespark, one brow lifting. "To the extent you don't do anything foolish and draw more attention to yourself. This is a very good deal for you. I'm sure you understand."
Shinespark stood straight, returning the eye contact. "If you're promising not to prosecute Grenada for her mistakes, I'll do whatever you want."
Gazelle raised a paw to shake on it... and Valey was suddenly between them, frowning hard. "Okay, hold up. Hold up!"
"Hmmm?" Gazelle narrowed his eyes, taking a step backwards. "Is that not good enough for you, Bats? Some stipulation you think she's overlooked?"
"Valey..." Shinespark tried to step out from behind her. "Valey, I appreciate the concern, but Grenada is-"
"Uhh..." Valey folded her ears, then glanced back at Shinespark, surreptitiously tapping her cutie mark with her tail. "Nah. I've got a feeling about this."
Gazelle quirked his head, waiting.
"Yo." Valey nodded at Gazelle. "Could you move... that way, just a little? Just, like, indulge me, here."
"How insistent," Gazelle chuckled. "I'm actually curious where this goes. Certainly."
He stepped aside, and Valey tracked him for a moment. "...Nope. You're good. Coming from where you were standing, not from you." She looked back up, jumping nervously toward the center of the boat. "...This is spooky. Everyone watch that spot, and someone throw me a weapon."
Gazelle furrowed his brow. "What are you doing?"
"Figuring out..." Valey's eyes widened as the danger spot slid across the floor, back toward Gazelle, and suddenly intensified. "Bananas, move!"
She dashed across the deck, throwing herself into him and tackling him out of the way of whatever was about to happen. Gazelle hissed, hitting the deck with a paw to her neck, and Valey immediately shadow snuck a few hooflengths away. "Don't fight me, look out!"
Suddenly, the deck where Gazelle had been standing rippled, the shadows across it stretching as if someone was shadow sneaking with no stealth whatsoever. And then, where nothing had been standing, something was there.
Starlight felt Maple stiffen at her side. The fur along her own spine stood straight, a feeling she couldn't identify racing through her heart as her eyes fixed themselves on the water-like floor... and then she couldn't look at it any longer.
Her eyes refused to. It was like there was a pony-shaped cutout in space standing on the deck, that whenever she tried to move her gaze over it, she was already looking at the other side. It registered only in her peripheral vision through its lack of anythingness, a living shadow or lack of light, and she suddenly realized that it could have been there for a long time and she might not have noticed save for that lingering feeling creeping up her spine. But now it was here, and she thought it evoked something in her but she couldn't tell what.
"Starlight..." Maple breathed, a hoof going to her shoulders. "Stay right here. By me. I don't know what that is."
Gazelle knew, though. "Do my eyes deceive me?" he mock-gasped, tail swishing. "Well well well! And here I thought we were all going to leave without ever knowing what happened to this..."
Valey stared at the thing from beside him. "Bananas. Are you saying that's..."
"Your missing Nightmare Module?" Gazelle purred. "Oh, perhaps. Give me that sword. I want to kill it."
"P-Prince..." the void rasped, wavering. "Enemy Prince... Help... die... Night Mother... Help..."
Gazelle pursed his lips, tail lashing. "Well! You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you? Help you die, you say?"
He took several steps backward, and then his tail shot out, grappling Gerardo's sword away from Jamjars and launching it into the sky, where he caught it with a wing and flashed his teeth.
"That's the batpony who stole our things," Starlight whispered to Maple, still unable to banish that feeling. Her eyes narrowed, and her body tensed all on its own for combat or something worse. "She's in there..."
As if on command, the apparition twisted, and suddenly Starlight could look at it. It suddenly had shape and form, the shadows flowing across its surface like water, and they broke at the head and slithered down its body and spilled out along the ground, retracting and coalescing into a proper shadow cast by the light of the stars. It was a mare, her face familiar as the one who had stolen Starlight's saddlebags... but the rest of her body was wrong.
Her slitted eyes, whatever color they had once been, were gray. Her neck was there, as were her shoulders and part of her barrel, but right in the middle of her belly she stopped, her coat breaking away in a flaky line that concealed a cloud of fluid, nebulous purple held vaguely in the shape of a pony and getting more vague as it went on. Her forelegs suffered the same, breaking off just below the shoulders, and in the ether Starlight could see floating the gray outline of a colorless cutie mark. Cold lightning crackled somewhere within the void, looking less like gas and more like a portal to an infinite dimension. Her wings were there, as were Starlight's saddlebags affixed to her back, but she was fully disembodied from the waist down.
"H-Help..." She shivered, trembling, and somehow stood up, leading Starlight to realize she did have hooves: they were just like the rest of her, broken off and connected to the ether yet somehow able to support her despite not being a physical part of her.
"It's so cold... So empty..." Her terrified gray eyes cast around, looking for someone, anyone, though Valey backed away in fear and Gazelle was licking his lips. Starlight glanced up at Maple instead.
"I don't know how to help her!" Maple squeaked, trembling and barely audible. "Starlight, she's... I don't know what that is!"
"What it is is time to put a poor fool out of their misery." Gazelle held out Gerardo's sword in a wing. "You've gotten too close to your goddess, my little pony. She can't help you now. You're already receiving too much of her help, and that's why you're like this. Sleep."
Shwiiing!
The black blade flew. When it hit her, unlike every lifeform before, it encountered resistance, Gazelle knocking her back as he slashed. He slashed again, teeth bared in a frown, leaving no visible wounds, but each time the batpony shuddered and cried out, weakening and regressing a little. Eventually, she sat there with a hung head, and the final strike landed... and she coughed, glowed and collapsed, laying there without twitching. Starlight's saddlebags slipped from her back, and the glow moved to her forehoof, intensifying in a dark white light. There was a final flash, and it was over, a black crystal laying in front of her, inert on the ground.
With a rush of wings, Valey was there, grabbing the Nightmare Module and the saddlebags and throwing it in before Gazelle had time to react. "Alright!" she demanded. "That's cool for now, now lay off. I have my stuff back. Everybody stop for a sec."
Gazelle frowned as Valey stood over the unconscious mare. "You want to keep that? And her? What are you doing?"
"Giving myself time to not make a hasty decision," Valey replied, then glanced down at the pirate. "And I'm kinda curious about her, too, so don't, like... get rid of her, or anything. Deal?"
"Valey?" Maple called from near the stairwell entrance. "I hate to say this, but being nice to that mare in the first place is what caused your things to get stolen. It's... not an idea without consequences."
"Seriously?" Valey glared at the pirate. Her ethereal state seemed to be congealing, returning to something more like a normal equine form... but her cutie mark was still gray, and her legs and rump where they had disappeared were hard and hairless, like everything had melted together. She was breathing... barely. "You know, I hate to say it too, but she's not actually looking like being alive would do her a kindness, right now. You wanna come look at this, Ironflanks?"
Maple winced. "I can see it from here..."
"Sounds like you don't wanna. Here, then." Valey tossed her the saddlebags. "Go put these somewhere safe, or something?"
Starlight caught them, feeling several things rattle around inside. "I'll do it," she volunteered. They were her saddlebags, and she needed to get away from that mare and figure out what she was feeling...
Maple sighed as Starlight wandered off, stepping closer to Valey, Gazelle and the unconscious batpony. "Alright. I'll come have a look."
The rest of the crew had gone back belowdecks, leaving only Maple, Valey, Shinespark and Gazelle standing around the nightmare batpony's barely-moving body. Shinespark knelt over her, feeling her chest and throat and checking other signs of vitals.
"There's no color anywhere on her body," Maple whispered. "It's like she's black and white. She had a colored mane last time, didn't she?"
"Beats me." Valey shrugged. "I had other things to focus on. So what do we do with her?"
"If I purely had my way..." Shinespark frowned. "I'd want to keep her and study her to figure out how that sword's effect on batponies works, but she's clearly no longer a normal batpony. Look at this." She tapped the hardened, shell-like body parts that had reformed where the ether once floated. "It's... What is she?"
"This stuff?" Valey poked her too. "It's carapace. This looks like what batponies turn into when you remove their cutie marks with moon glass, only she's just half-transformed and still has her mark. Sorta. It looks... pretty bad."
"It's gray," Maple whispered. "Colorless. But it's not cracked like mine was, or the Firefly Sisters'. And... look at her eyes." She lifted the mare's head, cradling it in her lap. Though she had a pulse and was slowly breathing, her eyes didn't focus, didn't blink, didn't even move... and they were gray and lifeless, twice as far gone as the worst days she had ever felt when she looked in the mirror in Riverfall.
"Bananas, this is creepy." Valey nodded, running a hoof through the mare's colorless mane. "Seriously... seriously not doing any favors for my opinion of their goddess. Not only did she apparently make both batponies and Nightmare Modules, but we're, like... some kind of machines to run them. The first time I touched the one this mare used, it spoke in my head and told me some kind of irreversible physical changes would be needed to use it, too. I guess this is what those changes looked like..."
"Good thing you didn't," Shinespark consoled, pulling back from the mare and touching her shoulder to Valey's. "You... probably wouldn't be happy like this."
"And how happy am I like this, anyway?" Valey pointed to herself. "Bananas, I... I wanna be a real pony. Ever asked yourself why we're here, or something? Apparently I'm here because some goddess thought it would be funny to make a weapon or machine that looks like a normal pony, and my soul got stuck along for the ride. Not really a fun existential..." She blinked up at Gazelle. "Oh. Right. You're still here. Mind, uh, going down below and getting a room? I hate to be a bother, but I kinda need some mare talk right now."
Gazelle shrugged, still holding Gerardo's sword. "Certainly. But have you decided what you're going to do with her?"
Everyone winced.
"You're very astute," Gazelle complimented. "I won't pretend to know where you learned all that, but a lot of what you said is correct. The transformation the Nightmare Modules offer is permanent. This sword is actually the closest I've ever seen to reverting it..." He curiously inspected the blade. "But oh well. She's almost dead, and even if there's still anything in there to nurse back to health, you know pirates. Ask Wallace if you don't. Or ask that old Captain Golbez. He'll tell you in no uncertain terms how he'll repay you for saving him and clearing his record, and it won't be by becoming a model citizen. If you insist on being kind, a mercy killing would be kindest. I'll even do it for you."
Maple sighed, then shuddered. "I don't even remember her name."
Valey raised an eyebrow. "Is that really the most important thing to hang onto, here, Ironflanks?"
"No..." Maple trailed off. "Is... there a gentle way you can send her off? Please?"
Gazelle bowed, then pounced with the sword a final time. The batpony didn't last an instant, exploding into a weak shower of flakes of grayness that drifted, hit the deck and instantly faded away. Maple's mouth was open from surprise, and one flew in, leaving her blinking and cross-eyed. "It tastes... sweet?"
She realized what had happened a moment later and scraped at her tongue, but the flake had dissolved like all the others. Valey sighed and hung her head. "Alright, prince dude. That's the end of that. Could you just give us the sword and then go take a snooze?"
"As you wish." Gazelle bowed, depositing the sword on the deck and retreating to the stairwell.
Maple scooped up the sword, but didn't pocket it, hanging onto the handle and keeping the blade a safe distance away. "What...?" She looked up from the sword to Valey and Shinespark. "Was that because she had been transformed, or...?"
"It does that to batponies," Shinespark sighed, forelegs starting to tremble. "We found that out the hard way. I... might have to rethink how I feel about having blood on my hooves after all that. I'm probably going to go into shock. Hopefully we get off this iceberg and on our way, soon, but I'm afraid we'll have to wait for Wallace to do that. I'm spent, at least."
"Yeah. To batponies." Valey closed her eyes. "Because apparently we just work differently. You know what else only affects batponies? Moon glass. And Nightmare Modules. Bananas, I don't even want to try hooking myself up to that harmony extractor, since it works differently between ponies that are normal. I wish... I-I wish..."
"You wish what?" Maple set the sword down and wrapped her forehooves around Valey, pulling her into a hug. "How can we help you?"
"You can't," Valey sniffed. "I wish I could at least get my existential issues limited to one side of things. My soul is some sort of extraterrestrial parasite from a piece of moon glass, and my body is a machine made to be used as a weapon and transformed to look like one. A nice fit, huh?"
Shinespark blinked. "Is... this a story I'm supposed to have heard before? You're a what from a piece of moon glass?"
"Roll with it, Sparky," Valey sighed. "Bananas. I feel so much more like myself when I'm not in a funk about things, too. You think we could just avoid political trouble and pirates and sticking our noses where they don't belong and everything else for a while? Please? Like... at least a month. The stupid tournament starts in a month, and I'm still thinking of maybe knocking some heads and trying to get us that pass to the Plains of Harmony. I know Starlight had a bad experience there, but it's gotta be better than yaks and wars and racists and destroyed cities. It has to."
Maple chuckled weakly. "We've been so bad at that, Valey... but I agree. Maybe we could try to disappear off the map for a while and see how it works out. We'll forget about Chauncey, leave Puddles to Wallace and Gazelle, hope they honor their agreement to leave us alone..."
"Yeah. I've got so much I'd love to do with some peace and rest..." Shinespark yawned. "First, I need to sleep, but then I'm going to have to do a lot of repairs on the ship. She got a little banged up today. Second, I really want to figure out how the harmony extractor works with Melia and Sirena's magic. I feel like I got taunted by that discovery..."
"Nngh. I'm tired too," Valey yawned. "Stupid all-day flights and combat and waking up in the middle of the night, am I right? You wanna hit the sack?"
"I think I will." Shinespark bowed, pulling herself away from the hug. "We'll have to get Meltdown's armor tied down somewhere safe before we start moving again, but Gerardo and Wallace can handle that. I need a rest. I'll see you in the morning, you two. Or in the evening, or however late I sleep."
"See you too, Shinespark." Maple waved.
Together, Maple and Valey watched as she left too, leaving them alone on the deck. "Well?" Valey sighed. "I guess she took hearing about where I'm from better than she could have, even if I didn't tell her the full story. Don't remember if I've told you one hundred percent, either. I'll have to finish that some time..."
"Valey, do you want to share our room again?" Maple kept hugging her. "You look like you could use the company."
"...Yeah," Valey admitted. "That would be nice."
They were silent for a moment, staring at the spot where the batpony had died and not going anywhere. Maple in particular fidgeted, images of the blackened, reconstituted legs running through her mind. "...Valey?"
"Something still on your mind, Ironflanks?"
"I feel like there's something extremely important I'm forgetting," Maple sighed, an inexplicable worry in her heart. "Something about what moon glass does to batponies. I'm remembering her eyes, and... Can you tell me about that again? What happened to your sister?"
Valey closed her eyes. "Nyala? Yeah. She got hit by a piece in Navarre's telekinesis. You know, lead scientist dude from Icereach who got frozen when his experiment blew up. And I was kinda preoccupied with killing him when it happened, but..." She shuddered. "It's not instantaneous. You get time to... to watch them slip away. They try to fight it, but it sticks to them, the moon glass. First their eyes turn gray, just like hers were." She nodded imperceptibly at the spot where the mare had been. "They feel bad inside. Worse, at least if what she was saying was any indication. She was scared, Maple. It was like... Maple?"
Maple had gone rigid. "Valey..." she breathed, suddenly knowing exactly what it was this had reminded her of. "Oh..."
"Yo." Valey prodded her in concern. "What's up?"
"Valey, that... h-happened to Starlight." Maple trembled. "The first time we saw a piece of empty moon glass. We were in Ironridge, and White Chocolate was showing us the piece she had used. Starlight touched it, and... it clung to her. I was able to pry it off and she went back to normal, but it startled both of us. She was scared, and I remember that for a moment, her eyes turned gray..."
"Oh bananas." Valey stiffened too. "Bananas! That's, like..." Her eyes widened at the implications. "Starlight is somehow like a batpony? What? She's a unicorn! Doesn't have the slitted eyes or the wings or fangs or tufty little ears or anything! But..." Her voice grew quiet. "I mean, she always has reacted differently to magic and stuff. And technically, not a lot of it is stuff I've done, so we've got no clue if I react the same. I always thought that was because she was from across the mountains, and stuff was just different down there. You think she's... like... part-batpony, or something? Or maybe Equestrian ponies are actually the same kind of things as batponies? Machines for-"
Her pupils shrank even further. "Maple? I just threw her my saddlebags. She knows not to poke around in there, right? Would she have any idea not to touch the Nightmare Module?"
Maple's ears folded in return.
"We've been talking out here for hours...!" Valey snapped to her hooves, quivering. "Bananas, it asked me permission and I had a chance to say no. That filly better be smart! Come on, let's get down there!"
Maple needed no invitation to race along at her heels.
Starlight slumped into her and Maple's room, the saddlebags slung over her back. With a sigh, she tossed them on the edge of the bed, then slumped in after them. She had some thinking to do, but thinking was all she ever did, and she really didn't want to.
Her horn hurt. She had overused it in the fight against the pirates on their ship, and now she would have to wait however long for it to feel better again. Shinespark and Valey and all her friends were safe, but it wasn't an encounter that should have happened in the first place! She and Maple and Valey had been busy, and those stupid pirates had interrupted... It was supposed to have been safe...
She hadn't really let her guard down. She had been there, and ready to fight, as ready as a filly could be. It was hard, though, because she really wanted to be safe, to trust that her friends and mother could care for themselves without her needing to protect them at all times. It would be so wonderful for them all to be able to relax... but this was why they couldn't. This always happened, and it felt like the more they tried to resist, the worse the happenings were. This was her life now, eternally needing to care for her friends to ensure she'd always have them. It wasn't fair. Why couldn't they take care of themselves?
No... They could take care of themselves. Valey and Shinespark had done that, coming back safe from the pirate frigate just like was promised. But it still wasn't enough! She felt the tears beginning to come. Why couldn't the world just leave them alone? Why couldn't someone make a perfect place where everyone just wouldn't have to worry about bad things happening? Where friendships could be forever and no one would be alone and everyone could finally be at peace... Finally...
She was lonely, then and there. She turned over in the bed, but Maple was still on the top deck. She wanted to talk to someone, someone she trusted. If she went out there, though, she'd probably just run into Howe or Jamjars or someone else annoying. She needed someone who could be unbreakable to hold her, just for a moment, so she could get her hooves back under her and her strength replenished to face the world...
Her eyes slid across the saddlebags, and an idea floated into her mind. Amber's sound stone was one of the things that had been in there, right? Well, Amber was in Riverfall, and Willow was also in Riverfall, and Willow... Willow... She swallowed. Her biggest and best memories of Willow were all of being held. When she first woke up after nearly freezing, barely conscious for a second. In the rain after she was scared and ran off. Right before leaving for Ironridge. Willow was safe. She needed to talk to her.
Horn making her head spin enough that she didn't want to use it, Starlight leaned forward and stuck a hoof in the saddlebags, fishing around for anything rock-like. She hit something, grabbed it... and that something grabbed back.
"Wha-!?" Starlight yanked her hoof back and blinked at it in the dim light, a dark crystal she recognized from the deck stuck to the end of her leg. Her hoof felt heavier, suddenly, like she was somehow being drawn toward it from within. "What? Get off!"
She flailed and shook her leg, but the crystal was sticky and didn't let go. "Nnngh! Nnngh!" Starlight strained... and all she was rewarded with was a memory. She was on a carpet, Maple pulling on a chunk of moon glass attached to her hoof... Another memory barged in, of her on a platform in a flooded river facing Hemlock, a dark crystal sword she had summoned attached to one of her forelegs. Then she was in the crystal palace, watching the harmonic flame burn... and then a wave of numbness washed over her, removing the tension and setting her back in her room on the Dream. The room seemed somehow brighter, but still in only shades of gray, like it was near total darkness. She looked at the Nightmare Module stuck to her hoof one more time, and tried to shove it away.
Checking system requirements, a cool mare's voice said in her head. Requirements met or exceeded. Requesting permission to engage Nightmare Module em-
SCRRRRKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!
Error: system error log buffer capacity exceeded. Proceeding to dump to console.
The system encountered an unexpected error and crashed. Running diagnostics prior to restarting...
Critical system extension and support libraries not found. Warning: this may cause magical instability, improper functioning and undesired or missing effects. Scanning for alternate installations... External backup found. Restoring critical system components from NIGHTMARE_02. Please wait.
Notice: not all missing volumes found on backup. Upon restart, some functionality might be limited or unavailable. Continuing to restart in 3... 2... 1...
Starlight opened her eyes.
The first thing she registered was a pain in her hoof. It felt like someone was trying to pry a part of her away with physical force, and she groaned, squirming weakly. This made her aware of a body against her, holding hers. It was warm. Impossibly warm, and she was just as cold, a void empty of heat that needed that warmth more than food or even air. She squirmed again and tried to open her eyes... and succeeded.
"Starlight?" a distant voice asked. "Starlight! Starlight, are you alright?"
"Her eyes are open!" Another voice. They were getting closer, like she was breaking the surface of a deep lake. "Yo, is she finally back?"
"They're gray, though..."
Gray. That didn't quite register with Starlight, brushing past her senses. She slowly regarded the pony in front of her. That was... Maple. She was warm. She reached out, feeling horribly empty.
Maple took her, pulling her into a hug. She felt like there was a significance to this she was somehow missing, but she didn't care because she needed it. Also, this was the pony who had been yanking at her hoof. At... the dark crystal stuck to it.
This was Starlight's first indication that something was wrong.
System restore successfully complete. Warning: usage of horn, cutie mark and harmonic functions may be limited and/or cause system damage. View full error log information?
Starlight didn't want to, and the words in her head drifted away on an empty breeze. It had said cutie mark... Did she... She craned her head to look, but no. Her flanks were blank. She felt like she should feel more for that.
Notice: interface with backup volume NIGHTMARE_02 established by automatic system protocols. All possible restorations have been completed using administrator-level privileges. Destroy the backup?
Destroy it? Starlight frowned, her memories sluggish, like something had just raked through them by force and they were still pulling themselves back together. The crystal was... It was dangerous? It was dangerous. It wasn't good for the warmth. Yes, she thought as Maple and the other warmth held her. She wanted it gone.
Permission required to destroy backup volume NIGHTMARE_02. Notice: this functionality will prematurely exit Nightmare Module emulation mode. Proceed with termination? Yes/no.
She just said she wanted it, didn't she? Starlight frowned, still not understanding where the words in her head were coming from. She just wanted the warmth, to not feel so-
Her horn flared with color, an inferno almost as big as she was, and like streaks of moisture dripping across her vision she realized she knew what color was again. Her entire body burned as the emptiness was squeezed away, compressed into a speck like a deflating balloon and wrapped where it couldn't be felt again. By its own volition, the hoof with the Nightmare Module lifted, and Starlight's leg pulsed and throbbed, veins of midnight blue crackling and arcing down the surface and focusing in on the crystal. For a moment, its blackness wavered, attacked by chroma... and with a final burst, it blew apart into flecks of black, melty sludge that spattered and hissed and steamed away to nothing.
Immediately, all the energy flew back to Starlight's horn, hitting her and making her physically lurch. A wave of nausea she hadn't felt since she passed out in the Flame District descended, and she moaned, unsure whether she would vomit, pass out or both... but somehow she did neither, hanging limply with her world spinning and colorful in someone's soft embrace. These were her friends, Maple and Valey. Her mother, even.
"Starlight?" Maple whispered in her ear. "What happened? You've been out for hours. Are you alright?"
"Uhh, her horn is kinda crackling and I can feel the heat from here. I'm gonna go with no?"
"Not so loud..." Starlight moaned. "Maple... My head hurts..."
Maple leaned into her vision with a scared, relieved smile. "You're talking again," she breathed.
"And her eyes are back, too," Valey added, remembering to keep her voice down as low as possible. "Bananas, that was scary. What...? What happened?"
"Unnngh..." Starlight rolled her face into Maple's fur, blocking out the light from her eyes.
"Shhhhh." Maple stroked a hoof through her mane, and it was the best feeling Starlight could imagine right then, attacked by waves of overuse from her horn. "Shhh. You can rest. We love you. We're here for you."
"L-Love you..." Starlight managed. The effort of saying the words almost made her reconsider whether she needed a toilet, but they were important. Because, she realized, while the world had been gray, she hadn't felt or been aware of that at all.