//------------------------------// // Consequences // Story: Northern Venture // by Chengar Qordath //------------------------------// I didn’t know where I was, at first. Everything was all weird and blurry, and as far as I could tell I was in some sort of strange white room. I groaned and rubbed my eyes, looking around to try and find someone. “Hello? Anyone there?” An instant later two ponies seemed to all but pop out of thin air. One of them was a male pegasus with an off-white coat, a long black mane and a roguish air about him, while the other stallion was an earth pony with a light blue coat, a deep purple slicked-back mane with a short strip of a beard like something a hipster or someone out of old Selerika would wear. There was something oddly familiar about both of them, but I couldn’t quite place my hoof on it. The pegasus opened his mouth and started to say something, but before I could make out any words the world dissolved a mish-mash blur of chaos. Consciousness returned slowly, and not very pleasantly. My head felt fuzzy, sort of like the one time I’d snuck a glass of wine at one of Celestia’s banquets. At first I thought I’d just had a rough night and tried to roll out of bed and get started with another day. When I tried to do that my right front leg refused to move, like it was caught on something. I blearily opened my eyes to figure out what the problem was. Where my leg should have been there was a mass of cloth and wires, keeping it immobilized and suspended in the air. A second later Scarlett’s face loomed over me, staring into my eyes. “I think she’s waking up. Sunset? Can you hear me?” I groaned and rubbed at my eyes, slowly piecing the mental fog as all the memories came flooding back. The attack on Coldharbor. Me rescuing everyone I could. The fight with Blackfyre. And ... my eyes flicked to my leg again. No wonder it was in traction. “There you are. I was...” She sighed and ran a hoof through her mane, managing a very tired smile. “Welcome back, Sunset.” “Right.” My throat felt parched and the word came out hoarse. A second later Scarlett held a glass of water to my lips, and I drank it down. That at least got my voice sounding a bit closer to normal. I was getting way too used to waking up in a hospital bed. “Is everyone else...?” “Your companions are alive and well.” Argentium’s voice confirmed. A second later the dragon herself appeared in her miniature form. She was sporting a few bandages as well, though nothing nearly as bad as my leg. “And quite concerned for your wellbeing. Sigil has had to stop three attempts by your apprentice to sneak in.” “Sounds like Kukri.” I took a look around the room, taking in all the sterile white tile. “Guess we’re in the hospital?” “In a manner of speaking.” Argentium scowled. “The actual hospital was one of the first buildings Blackfyre targeted. However, a few private clinics survived his wrath. It’s nowhere near enough, but it’s better than nothing.” “Yeah.” Burning down a hospital sounded like exactly the sort of jerk move Blackfyre would pull. It’d certainly make things a lot harder for the survivors. “What about the rest of the city? Did we get everyone out?” Scarlett nodded. “We’ve gathered as many survivors as we can, and every hoof we can spare is doing search and rescue work. I’ve sent word to Celestia. If aid from Equestria isn’t already on the way, I imagine it will be soon.” Argentium snarled, showing her fangs. “More died to that monster than should have. He will pay for every single one of the lives he took.” “That’s the way of monster attacks,” Scarlett answered grimly. “We should count ourselves lucky that there are survivors.” “Thanks in no small part to your efforts.” Argentium shifted her attention back to me. “You saved many lives, both by making a safe path for the survivors and by ... occupying Blackfyre’s attention at considerable personal cost.” “No kidding.” I looked up at my suspended limb. The bandages were so thick I had no idea what sort of shape it was in. “So how bad is it?” Scarlett grimaced. “Blackfyre broke your leg in half a dozen places, and the bone pierced the skin in three of them.” She took a deep breath and then continued on in a painfully dry tone, like she was trying to go through some sort of medical report about a complete stranger. “We managed to save most of the major bones, but you’ll need an artificial knee. You also lost a lot of blood, but thankfully Agent Heartstrings has a compatible blood type.” Normally I would’ve called that a happy coincidence, but I wouldn’t put it past Celestia and the EIS to think about that sort of detail when picking my minder. Beside, the blood loss was the least of my worries. “Looks like you have my leg fixed though, right? Or at least on the way to getting fixed?” “No.” Scarlett’s shoulders slumped. “What we’ve done is contain the damage so you don’t bleed out or die of infection. Actually fixing that much damage is beyond what we can do, especially with most of our medical infrastructure in ruins.” Argentium nodded grimly. “All our treatment did was make you stable enough to manage the journey to an actual hospital. We’ve splinted your leg, bandaged it, kept it from going septic, and taken measures to ensure the rest of your flesh won’t go necrotic. In addition to the actual bandages, there’s a stasis spell on it to keep any decay from setting in. You will need extensive reconstructive surgery to actually begin recovering from your wounds, and it will be a very long and painful process.” That wasn’t what I wanted to hear. “So there’s no healing spell that can fix it?” Argentium grimaced. “That is beyond even my skills given the circumstances. Not without spending a great deal of time and energy on you, and those are both in short supply with Blackfyre’s return. Heartless as it may sound to say it, I cannot afford to spend a week researching and testing possible spells in the hopes of finding one that can restore your leg. Thousands will die if Blackfyre is allowed to rampage unchecked, and there is only a slim hope I could even find a solution.” Scarlett nodded. “Brute-forcing any kind of healing spell works by accelerating the natural healing process. That works for some things, but on a fracture this bad it wouldn’t give your bones time to line up before knitting them. Not to mention you’d still need replacements for the ones that were beyond saving.” She let that sink in for a moment, then continued. “And even if our spells could do that, neither of us are doctors.” She nodded to Argentium. “Not to doubt your skills, old friend, but we all have our limits.” I snorted. “So get a doctor to help with it.” “You think we didn’t consult one?” Scarlett shot back. “Three, actually. The third one helped us with the spells and bandages to get you to a proper hospital.” “What’d the first two say?” I asked. Scarlett snorted and scowled at the floor. “They were idiots. If they think for one moment I’d actually consider letting some mouth-breathing quack take off your leg...” That got my attention. “They wanted to amputate it?!” “Yes.” Scarlett grunted and shook her head. “I suppose I can’t blame a caribou for not knowing the specifics of pony anatomy or grasping how much magic we could use, but I’m sure you understand why I opted for a second and third opinion.” “No kidding...” “He had his reasons,” Argentium chided. “If not for the stasis cast the odds that she could get to a hospital without her leg going septic, necrotic, or getting infected are slim, and at that point she’d be in danger of dying outright. And even if she made it without any of that, the stress of the journey and passage time wouldn’t help when it came to getting the leg to heal properly.” “No point saving the leg if it heals so messed up I can’t walk on it.” I agreed. “So I guess the plan is to get me to the nearest hospital that’s still standing, they'll patch it up properly, and then I’m back in the fight.” Scarlett sighed and shook her head. “Sunset, I don’t think you realize how bad this is. You couldn’t hold off your apprentice with all four hooves tied behind her back right now, let alone get involved with the war.” Argentium nodded with a grim look on her face. “It’s going to be a very long time before you're ready for a fight again.” I didn’t like where this was going. “How long?” Scarlett and Argentium exchanged a look, and Scarlett delivered the news. “At least a year for recovery and physical therapy, assuming everything goes well. If there are complications...” I could scarcely believe my ears. “A year?! That’s not ... everything’s going to be over by then.” “If we are fortunate,” Argentium agreed. Scarlett nodded along. “I should certainly hope all this business with Blackfyre is resolved by then. And with the best doctors available, you’ll be able to walk again. And, much as I would prefer otherwise, your leg will probably heal well enough that you’ll still be able to throw yourself head-first into dangerous situations rather than being confined to a desk job or academic career. At least you’ll have to do something more settled for a year or so while you recover.” A year of being stuck doing nothing while Blackfyre went around burning more towns, with Starlight helping him do it. No. I couldn’t just sit on the sidelines while all of that was going on. “There’s gotta be another way. I’m not just gonna give up, go home, and leave the hard work up to everyone else.” “That’s exactly what you’re going to do.” Scarlett reached over and gave my uninjured shoulder an awkward sort of pat—like she’d seen other ponies do it and knew it was the appropriate thing to do but didn’t have any actual experience at it. Which certainly fit when it came to expressing any form of maternal affection. “Time is the only thing that can heal your leg. If you’re worried about Blackfyre, don’t be. Celestia and Argentium beat him a thousand years ago, and that was when he had Sombra supporting him. They’ll do it again.” “Indeed we will,” Argentium confirmed. “And this time will finish it properly. A thousand years ago he was in a position to negotiate for peace. Not this time.” “I’m sure you’ll beat him,” I conceded. “But I doubt he’ll make it easy for you. I can take on his Blightspawn at least, and maybe even Starlight. If I was involved, I could help. Am I supposed to just sit out the rest of the war in a hospital while ponies and caribou are fighting and dying?” “Yes,” Argentium answered. “Your part in this war is over, and you have done wonderfully. You saved hundreds of lives last night, and were injured fighting Blackfyre himself. You can hold your head high after everything you’ve accomplished, and I could not possibly ask any more of you than you’ve already done. You should concentrate on recovering from your injuries.” Scarlett nodded along. “If there was some kind of magic fix, don’t you think every hospital friendly to Equestria would have it by now? I know it's not what you want to hear, but there is no way to heal this outside of time, surgery, and physical therapy.” “I can assure you, we have already discussed this at length before you returned to us,” Argentium finished. “If there were any easy solution to quickly restore you to full health, we already would have found and executed it.” That wasn’t what I wanted to hear. I desperately tried to come up with something an archmagus with decades more experience than me and an ancient dragon wouldn’t have thought of. “Didn’t Sunbeam Sparkle have a spell that could fix broken bones? I swear I read about that...” Scarlett sighed and shook her head. “That spell tied in to Sunbeam’s special talent, and last I checked neither of us has a phoenix on our flanks. And aside from that, it was never meant for an injury this severe.” Argentium nodded. “I know the spell she used, and it was quite sufficient to repair a cracked rib. Your injury is several orders of magnitude greater. If we attempted to use her spell on your leg in its current state, it likely would either fail completely or result in a limb so malformed it would be beyond saving.” Right. Of course they thought of that. Argentium probably knew Sunbeam back in the day. Perks of being an ageless immortal. “Okay, so that’s a bust.” I grimaced, and suggested something that normally would’ve been out of the question. “What if I make a deal? I’m sure there’s a demon or something that’d be willing to—” “Not at any reasonable price,” Scarlett answered. “And very few beings could heal your leg at an unreasonable one. Daggoth the Destroyer would likely demand your soul in eternal servitude, and wouldn’t so much heal your leg as replace it with a twisted demon limb that needs to be fueled with the blood of innocents. Or something like that.” “I also briefly consulted with several high-ranking fey,” Argentium continued. “Most of them wanted boons that would entrap you for the rest of your life. Several of them also demanded boons of myself or your mother as well.” The dragon grimaced. “I am sure Celestia told you to never negotiate with such beings from a position of desperation and urgency.” “Yeah, though she didn’t recommend doing it even when you had time to think things through.” I groaned and slumped into the sheets. “I’ll pass on that. A year of recovery and therapy beats getting enslaved for the rest of my life.” After all, I’d seen how well that was working out for Starlight. I’d have to be stupid to subject myself to the same thing. “So that’s it then? No other options at all?” “I’m afraid not,” Scarlett confirmed. “Why are you so desperate to return to the fray?” Argentium inquired. “In the last week you’ve had two brushes with death and are currently on the verge of being crippled for the rest of your life, and even with all that we have done there is no guarantee you will make a full recovery. You could yet be rendered lame for the rest of your life and will likely need a cane as you grow older. Most would decide at this point that they have done more than enough. Or are you simply so impatient that you can’t abide the thought of a year of inactivity?” I thought very carefully about my answer. Sure, I didn’t love the idea of being stuck on sick leave for a year without being able to get out and do anything, but that wasn’t the big issue. “It’s ... how many people did I save from Blackfyre last night?” “Several hundred among the refugees you directly escorted.” Argentium answered. “And likely many more were indirectly saved by you occupying his attention for long enough for me to arrive and confront him.” I took a deep breath. “And how many more do you think I could save if I wasn’t stuck sitting the rest of this mess out?” Argentium closed her eyes for several seconds, then nodded. “I see. There is one way to return you to active duty, though you will not like it.” “I already don’t like the idea of letting thousands die and losing my entire life while I spend years recovering,” I shot back. “Let’s hear it.” She told me. She was right; I didn’t like it. Scarlett’s eyes widened, and she whirled on the dragon with a furious snarl. “Have you gone completely mad?! That is not an option!” “It is,” Argentium answered, calmly weathering Scarlett’s rage. “No matter how distasteful it is, it would put her in a position to aid us for the remainder of this conflict.” “I don’t care!” Scarlett snapped. “I can’t believe we’re even discussing this! It’s not happening, and that’s final!” Argentium’s eyes narrowed, and a hint of a warning growl entered her voice. “It is not your decision to make, Scarlett. It is hers.” “Not right now it isn’t!” she shot back. “The only reason she’s coherent enough to hold a conversation is all the painkillers we’ve pumped into her. Sunset’s in no condition to make life-altering decisions right now, and you know that as well as I do.” I took a deep breath, and found to my utter shock that I was actually considering it. “How fast would I recover?” Argentium frowned and tapped the floor. “We’re sending most of the Coldharbor survivors to Manehattan. We’ve loaded as many as we could onto ships, but there weren’t many in port at this time of year and fewer still after Blackfyre’s attack. The rest will be going overland as soon as we can organize a convoy. It should leave as soon as we can get everything organized. Three days, I should think. With a lot of magic and a little luck, you should be mobile by then.” “It doesn’t matter because it’s not happening,” Scarlett snarled “If we’re that desperate for someone to guard the convoy, I’ll do it myself.” “I need you elsewhere,” Argentium countered. “In the last war, Blackfyre sent his Blightspawn to ravage as many outlying settlements as he could. We need to spread the word as fast as possible, and concentrate everyone into defensible positions. I need you to oversee those preparations and stand ready to repel any attacks on our remaining villages.” She held up a talon to forestall the next objection. “And I must stand ready to counter Blackfyre himself. Until Celestia arrives, I am the only one who can stop him if he takes the field, and if he knows I have committed myself to a single location he will attack elsewhere.” “Equestria’s mobilizing, which means there will be dozens of magi in Northmarch before long,” Scarlett argued. “We don’t need to do something that extreme just to get one more.” “Yes,” Argentium acknowledged. “They will be here soon. There is a substantial difference between being here soon and being here now. We can’t afford to wait until Equestria finishes mobilizing to get the survivors to safety. It’s already going to take far too long, but sending out a convoy without supplies or wagons for the wounded would be suicide. And sending them without a magus for protection will let Blackfyre’s spawn pick away at their ranks for the entire journey, and perhaps even kill them all.” Scarlett groaned and shook her head. “But ... no, you can’t ask her to do this. It’s too much.” “I am not.” Argentium turned to me. “As I have said before, you have already done more than enough to place me and all of Northmarch in your debt. I cannot ask you to go this far just to continue helping us.” She shifted her attention back to Scarlett. “But our need is great, and many lives are at stake. If she offers me her aid willingly, even at such a terrible price, I am in no position to refuse it.” “No.” Scarlett planted her hooves and glared at her. “We are not having this discussion because there is nothing to discuss. It’s not happening. There is nothing you can say or do that could convince me to consent to this.” “Your consent is not required.” Scarlett snarled and shook her head. “I can’t believe you would ... if you do this, then you’re no better than Blackfyre.” Argentium’s eyes narrowed and she showed her fangs. “Because you are an old friend and clearly distraught, I will forgive that remark. If not for that, I would kill you where you stand. Do not presume to insult me just because your daughter is making a decision you disapprove of.” “A decision you’re enabling and practically guilt-tripping her into!” Scarlett shot back. “This has gone too far. We're going south and we’re going to find the best doctors available. It’s not going to be a fun time, I won’t lie, but my daughter’s going to have the best treatment available. Once she’s in good hooves, you have my word I’ll come back to help Northmarch.” It was past time I got involved in the discussion. It was my fate they were talking about, after all. “If I sit out the war, how many people die? From what Argentium said, it could be hundreds more just in that one convoy, let alone the rest of it.” “Perhaps,” Scarlett conceded. “But people die in war, and you can’t save everyone.” She sighed and ran a hoof through her mane. “I understand what you want, I really do. If there’s one thing your father and I definitely passed on to you, it’s an excessive sense of duty. But this is going too far, and if Solar was here he’d agree with me. Besides, you’re so high on painkillers right now I’m amazed you can speak coherently. Letting you make a decision like this right now wouldn’t be ethical.” “I’m not that out of it,” I grumbled. Sure, my head felt fuzzy, but I was reasonably capable of forming coherent, logical trains of thought. “And from what you’ve said, without the painkillers I’d be hurting so much I wouldn’t be thinking straight anyway. My head’s not gonna get any clearer for this decision, and I’ve made it.” Scarlett shook her head. “I’m sorry, Sunset, but that’s not how it works. If you’re in no position to make a rational decision then authority defaults to me so long as you haven’t selected someone else. I am your mother, after all.” I scowled at her. “I don’t recall giving you any legal power over me, so actually it’s not your call. In fact, didn’t Argentium specifically decree that as long as we’re both in Northmarch you can’t boss me around?” Argentium shot her a faintly annoyed look. “Yes, I did.” Scarlett blinked and took half a step back, then shook her head. “That was different. You weren’t hopped up on painkillers, and the stakes were a lot lower.” “I think Sunset would disagree that the stakes are low on a kidnapping attempt,” Argentium growled. “And nothing has changed. You have no authority and you can’t make this decision for her. I will consult a doctor to make sure she is of sound mind before we act, naturally.” Scarlett’s teeth clenched, and for a second I thought she was going to actually try attacking Argentium. “Last time, you said you’d take the matter to Her Highness directly if I acted against Sunset. Well, you can be quite certain she will hear of this. Sunset seems to think she’s more of a mother to her than I was, and if that’s the case you can be damned sure she won’t let you do this any more than I would. She might even decide to turn her entire army around and just let Northmarch burn. I certainly wouldn’t blame her.” “She would not,” Argentium scowled at her. “Unlike you, Celestia respects Sunset’s judgment and allows her to make her own decisions. Nor is she so myopic she would let Blackfyre run wild just because she disliked one event.” She turned her back on Scarlett, with all the dismissal that implied. “I have made my decision, as has Sunset. I will waste no more time discussing it with you.” Scarlett bit her lip and shrank back. “At least write to Celestia. If you don’t respect my rights as a mother, then at least concede to Sunset’s own belief and let her decide.” “And how long should I wait for a response?” Argentium shot back. “We cannot afford days of delay sending messages back and forth. Sunset’s injuries will worsen if not treated immediately. She has made her decision, and she will face the consequences of that choice. I would welcome your assistance, but I will not brook your interference.” Scarlett turned back to me, looking almost desperate. “Sunset, this isn’t something you can undo. Celestia won’t be able to magically fix it once we have a little down time. If you—” “I know,” I answered, trying to keep my voice calm and level. “But if I don’t do this, then I’m stuck doing nothing on the sidelines while innocent ponies die. I can’t do that.” Scarlett groaned and buried her face in her hooves. For a moment I could swear I almost saw tears in her eyes. “Dammit Sunset, this isn’t—you’ve already done more than you needed to! You don’t have to go this far just to do a bit more!” She turned to Argentium. “Talk some damned sense into her!” Argentium sighed. “And what could I say that you have not? She knows what this will cost her, and chooses to do it regardless.” “Exactly.” I took a deep breath, my eyes lingering on my broken leg underneath the mass of bandages. “So ... let’s get it over with.” Three days later, the convoy was ready to go, and so was I. I staggered to my hooves, wobbling a bit as I worked out the balance. I still wasn’t all that steady, but the doctors all said that was just a matter of getting used to it. I wouldn’t be running, skipping, and jumping anytime soon, but I had at least started getting the hang of walking again. I hadn’t seen Scarlett since the big decision. Probably just busy with all the frantic prep-work to secure Northmarch before Blackfyre’s next attack. Or just using that as an excuse to avoid me. Not like her avoiding me while citing her duty to Northmarch was anything new. I hadn’t seen any of the others since my injury. I’d asked about visitors, but with all the medical stuff going on Argentium wanted to avoid any complications. The last thing I needed was any added stress. Especially since it almost certainly would’ve meant more arguments like the one we’d had with Scarlett. Strumming and Puzzle would’ve objected vehemently, and there was no way in Tartarus Kukri would’ve understood. Oh well. They would probably find out soon enough. All three of them were waiting outside what was left of the hospital when I walked out. I liked to think I’d managed to get myself looking halfway decent. I’d gotten new robes, thanks to Argentium. Nice fur-lined ones with a lot of subtle rune-work worked into them. Nothing that would make spells or claws bounce off me, but I wouldn’t turn down any help I could get. A couple more layers of protection over my leg could’ve mitigated the damage Blackfyre did, and then maybe... Ugh. No point reflecting about what could have been. All three of them were waiting for me outside, and as soon as they saw me walking under my own power the tension left their shoulders and there were all smiling. I thought about waving, but I probably had a ways to go before I could test my balance with something like that. “Hey everyone. Good news, I’m alive.” “Shimmer-mare!” Kukri beamed at me, and probably would’ve rushed in for a hug if not for Puzzle gently holding her back Puzzle smiled as well, if not quite as widely as Kukri. “Feeling better?” “I’m up and moving,” I answered. “That’s a lot better than we thought I’d be few a days ago.” “No kidding. Welcome back, Bacon.” Strumming tossed one of her bags of chips at me. “No spooking us like that, my snacks give my heart enough of a workout. Also, you’ve got enough of my blood in you that it needs to be fueled with crisps.” “I’ll keep that in mind,” I answered dryly, tucking the bag away. I wasn’t as much of a snack hound as Strumming, but I might want them at some point. “Anyway, much as I’d love to spend some time catching up, we’ve got work to do. Don’t know if you've heard the news, but there’s a refugee convoy leaving soon and they need escorts to deal with any attack by Blackfyre.” Puzzle frowned at me. “You sure you’re up for that? You only just got in the hospital, and while your robes do a good job of hiding it you’re clearly walking with a limp. And that’s on top of the fact that you hadn't even recovered from your fight with Starlight when all of this happened.” “Not to mention that we can’t really hold our own against Blackfyre if he comes back,” Strumming chimed in. “Pretty sure I don’t need to tell you that if he comes after us, we wouldn’t really be escorts as much as speedbumps.” I sighed and nodded along. “Yeah, if it’s Blackfyre himself we scatter and hide, but Argentium thinks he’s more likely to be up to other things personally. Him delegating a few minions to harassing the convoy seems a lot more likely. I know I’m not a hundred percent, but I’m up and moving around and they need all the help they can get.” Puzzle frowned, rubbing his chin. “I would hope she doesn’t expect the three of us to guard a convoy all by ourselves.” “Of course not,” I agreed. “Sigil’s coming too, and there are plenty of militia mixed in with the column. A couple hundred caribou armed with spears and bows should do a decent job of holding them off if they can all work together, but...” “They’ll probably be spread all over the place, protecting their families.” Strumming concluded. “And having a few certified flank-kickers backing them up could be the difference between a solid defense and them only seeing off the baddies after half of them are dead.” “Especially when militia is usually just a nice word for ‘scared civilians armed with farm tools and whatever used weapons they can scrounge up’,” Kukri added. “Or at least, that’s what Mom always said.” Puzzle shrugged. “This one supposes we can go with them as we head south. Even if this one isn’t wild about us presenting that big of a target, at the same time there is safety in numbers. If Argentium sent out the refugees in small groups the Blightspawn could pick them all off one by one.” “Never divide your forces in the face of a superior enemy,” Kukri dutifully supplied. “We’ll be fine. Between Argentium’s backup and us, we’ve got this. We beat Starlight, and Shimmer-mare is fine after taking on Blackfyre himself. If you can make this one some fire gems, it could even fly up and drop them on the Blightspawn if they try to attack.” The thought of keeping Kukri around in a warzone didn’t appeal, no matter how eager she might be. “Puzzle, is the Venture—” “Gone,” Puzzle confirmed. “Argentium pressed everything still floating into service for evacuation and emergency aid. Though this one is sure that once we get to Equestria we’ll be able to arrange passage for her.” “Yeah, I’m sure we’ll find something.” Kukri’s eyes widened. “You’re ... you’re sending this one away?” I sighed. “Yeah, we have to. This has gotten way too dangerous. As it is your parents are probably going to be terrified once they learn about what’s happened in Coldharbor.” Kukri bit her lip. “But, but this one can—” “No.” I tried to sound firm without crossing the line into harsh. “You’re going home, Kukri. This isn’t up for debate, and no amount of begging or pleading is changing my mind. You’re going home as soon as we can find a way to make it happen.” Kukri looked to the other two adults for support, but Puzzle and Strumming just nodded their agreement. A warzone was no place for a kid. When she saw no support would come from either of them, she slipped out of Puzzle’s grasp and rushed over to me, latching onto my leg. My wounded leg. Or rather, what used to be my wounded leg. Kukri blinked and let go, staring down at it. “Shimmer-mare, what’s up with your leg? It’s...” Damn. I was hoping I could get Kukri back to Freeport before this came out. Probably a foolish hope, but it would’ve been a lot easier to handle everything else if I could’ve put off letting her know about this. I reluctantly pulled open my cloak, letting them get a good look at my leg. Or rather, what was left of it. The stump ended about halfway down my thigh, and below that was a basic metal prosthetic. Considering the limited resources and time we had to work with, she’d done a really good job of it. After all, I’d gotten to the point where I could more-or-less walk on it in just a couple days. I’d still probably be spending the vast majority of the trip riding in a cart instead of walking for miles at a time, but it was enough to keep me up and mobile. Not that anyone else was likely to see it that way. Puzzle grimaced and couldn’t bring himself to look at it, while Strumming sank down on her haunches and stared at it, her jaw hanging open. Kukri ... she was just staring at it, like her brain couldn’t even begin to process what she was seeing. “Y-your leg, it’s...” “Yes.” Puzzle sighed and shook his head. “This one should have guessed when your mother left so abruptly. It wasn’t trying to pry, but it did learn a few things—primarily that she dismissed several doctors when she didn’t care for their suggested treatment.” He nodded to my the prosthetic covering what was left of my leg. “Oh feathers,” Strumming groaned, running a hoof down her face. All three of them were staring at me, like they’d just found out someone died. It was just a leg that was too broken to fix. It wasn’t a big  ... okay, it was a big deal, but whining about it would do any good. I knew I should say something to them, but I couldn’t think of anything. I mean, what do you even say to your friends who are devastated to learn you just became an amputee? I did the only thing I could: I covered the leg back up and focused on the only problem I could solve. “The convoy leaves in a few hours. We need to be ready for it.” Puzzle frowned and shook his head. “You sure you’re up for that? The convoy is going to need to move to get to safety.” “I’ll manage,” I grunted. “We’re going to have some of the fighters riding in the wagons anyway to make sure they’re still fresh if trouble comes. I’ll just be one of them. Besides, all the walking will give me a chance to get used to it.” Kukri let out a ragged gasp, and I could see tears starting to form in her eyes. “It’s ... it’s just a temporary thing, right? The White Pony or Argentium will fix it later, right?!” Strumming sighed and shook her head. “I don’t think it works that way, kid.” “But ... but ... but...” Kukri shook her head, then buried her face into my surviving foreleg. “It can’t ... this can’t ... no!” I tried to wrap my other leg around her for a hug, but the prosthetic couldn’t manage that range of motion. And even if it could, I doubt that would’ve done anything to comfort her. I leaned down and nuzzled her instead. “It’s gonna be okay, Kukri.” “How?!” Her grip on my remaining leg turned painfully tight. “How is this okay?!” She started rocking back and forth, letting out a sad, broken little whining sound. “It’s not okay, it’s not okay, it’s not okay...” I knew I needed to say something to her, but when I opened my mouth nothing came out. I mean, what could I even say? It’s not like there were any magic words that could solve the problem. I could try to tell her everything was going to be okay as much as I wanted, but the fact that I was missing a leg made it pretty hard to support that claim. So I said the only thing I could. “Argentium said she’d help with replacing any gear we lost. The plan is to get the convoy moving as soon as possible, so let her know right away if you need anything.” I tried to come up with something inspiring to say to my three visibly depressed and upset friends, but nothing came out. “We’ve got a lot of work to do if we’re gonna get these refugees to safety, so let’s not waste any time.” I walked past them, towards the improvised refugee camp. I did my best to ignore the phantom pains coming from where my right foreleg used to be. There just wasn’t time to deal with that right now.