//------------------------------// // 62.4 There's a Time and a Place for Nothing // Story: Prey and a Lamb // by Lambs Prey //------------------------------// This morning, the Canterlot weather teams had decided on scheduling a light, predawn mist, the kind which quickly burnt away under the sun. Until that occurred however, the city was tinted a nice buttercup yellow. The air was fresh, crisp, but with that special warm hum which promised another beautiful day to come. Just the weather team's little artistic reminder to Canterlot's citizens that fall was on its way, something the teams did every year, although it would take a pegasus to truly appreciate the work they'd put in. Or those who arose early enough to see. There was one such group awake right now, but they were not admiring the picture postcard worthy view. The group was small, only four individuals, and all cloaked. They were seated under the awning of a still closed shop. One of the figures was tall and hunched, not equine at all in shape. There was nothing to indicate that this group had been there half the night, carefully watching the unassuming maintenance door situated across the street, past the fence, and under the bridge overhang. To be able to see anything during the past night, they would've needed either a light, some kind of night vision, or magic. They'd lit no light during the hours of darkness, narrowing the options down to two. Occasionally, one of the cloaked figures would turn and murmur something to another. The three equine shaped figures anyway. The fidgeting hunched bipedal figure was rarely included. The group had been patient and cautious. There'd been magic of some kind used earlier, both to set up some form of monitoring on the lone steel door across the street, and over their own position. But that'd been hours ago, when the four figures had first arrived during the night time. It was only now, at first light, that the hooded group finally made a move. Words were exchanged, last warnings, orders, or perhaps reassurances. Two of the three ponies stood up. The hunched figure started, moved to follow, and was stopped by the third hooded equine. This fourth figure hunched lower and slumped back down under their cloak. The pony staying behind gave them a quick pat on the back, but their attention was fixed on the other two. One of them was large and bulky, probably an earth pony although there was no guarantee of that, and the other was proved to be a unicorn when their horn started to glow a bright white yellow beneath the hood. Between the folds of cloth, on their chest, there was a glint of a glittering blue stone. The one who was probably an earth pony wrapped a hoof around the unicorn's shoulders as they continued to gather shining magic, building up the spell matrix for about seven seconds, before the pair flashed and vanished. The mist stifled the *crack* The pair reappeared next to the door under the gloomy overhang in a matching flash. Both ponies immediately went back to back, braced for some kind of explosion. They didn't move for a full thirty seconds, even after nothing happened. If you looked real closely, there was a faint white glimmer over the larger pony's whole form which wasn't the mist. Back across on the street, past the fence and under the awning, the remaining pony shaped figure stopped restlessly tapping their hoof in relief. It could be noted that they were wearing some kind of odd hoof guard. The freshly teleported pair exchanged nods, and then the unicorn walked through the door. As in, right through it, without resistance or effort, like the steel was merely an illusion. The one remaining with the non-equine figure started tapping their hoof again as the seconds ticked past. The hoof guard had a strange black metal along its rim. One minute and twenty-two seconds later, if you were counting, the cloaked pony re-emerged, appearing out of the wall like a ghost. They visibly sucked in a deep breath of air, before shaking their head to something their waiting companion asked. If there'd been someone there to see into the deep shadows under the overhang, they would've seen the bigger pony cautiously place their armoured hoof over the door's lock, then give it a push. They leaned out of the way as the door slowly swung open. Nothing happened. Across the street, the pony's hoof stopped tapping again. More gestures were exchanged. The two ventured into the darkness of the open door. The hoof tapping anxiously started up yet again.  The sun continued to turn the slowly evaporating mist a beautiful pale yellow. Prey blinked rapidly and rubbed his aching eye. It hurt from peering through the compact, collapsible spyglass for so long, despite him regularly switching eyes. The view it showed him was just that little bit more blurred and persistent than could be ascribed to the spyglasses' fault. It was the permanent lingering aftereffects of the reaper king's poison. Prey really hated that. The bricks he was lying on had long since grown warm from his body heat over the course of the night, as Lemon Pink and he lay and watched the group watching the overhang. It was them. The thieves who'd invaded his lair, or part of their number at least. They had indeed come back to the site of their confrontation to look for clues, as he'd predicted likely.  'No one steals from me.' The blanket over him and Lemon Pink was itchy, but neither of them had moved since lying down. They were over two hundred yards away from the awning, but Lemon Pink had still kept up a low level illusion projected over the blanket the whole time. Having just the one mono coloured and mostly flat surface to project onto helped her, but Lemon was still nearing her limit, and couldn't focus on anything else except her casting. That left Prey as the one using the spyglass. That non-equine figure under the awning, Prey was sure he or she was a diamond dog. If the shape didn't give it away, the dynamic between the ponies and the dog had. It'd been obvious who was in charge. The body language of the dog screamed "uncomfortable at being in Canterlot", and was plainly visible even from under the cloak. That phasing unicorn with the strange enchanted chestplate was not the same one who Prey'd confronted the other day. The previous one had orange fur. Prey had seen this one's fetlocks beneath the cloak, and despite the similar height, weight, race, and build, their fur was obviously maroon, not orange. The blinding powder Prey had hit that unicorn with wasn't the type you could just walk off. Unless they'd gotten medical attention, they were likely now permanently blind or half blind. Even if they'd gotten help, (and unfortunately that seemed all too likely), they would still be incapacitated for a while yet, and in miserable pain for up to roughly thirty hours after getting hit. Anger lurked in Prey's heart as he looked back through the spyglass, but it was a cold sort of anger. These people had attacked him, his lair, his veropedes, Lemon, and Crimson. 'You killed my veropede. You threatened me and made me afraid. You've destroyed so much of my precious work. You invaded like it was your right, forced your way into my home, attacked my lair, and endangered both Crimson and me. And you still keep on coming, you won't quit while you're ahead.' And there they'd sat, hooded and obscured, but still right there within his sight throughout the night. But while he certainly could've enacted some plan against them, he hadn't. The power of Prey's runes lay in defence, in traps and pre-prepared ground. And Prey had gotten the distinct feeling there was another person hidden here somewhere, but neither he nor Lemon had caught a hint of where. It's what he would've done if he were in the thieves place, what the Resistance had taught him. And even if he was wrong, a battle here in the middle of a city street would definitely attract the Guard. Right now, the thieves were probably only here to scout out the maintenance room and begin venturing into Canterlot's sewers, a much better place for murder. That was why only those two had gone in, the phasing thief and the bulky pony. Prey had a very good guess about what artifact or artifacts the probable earth pony carried. He remembered the crushing damage done to his lone surviving veropede. After thorough examination, he'd worked out it had been mainly self inflicted, like the veropede had been throwing itself against an indestructible, immovable object which reflected all force. In short, the veropede hadn't been able to touch the pony last time. After all, how did one beat invincibility?  Why else would that pony be confident enough to venture in alongside his fellow intangible unicorn friend to face any possible traps? Prey didn't know what artifacts the third thief who'd remained outside possessed, but obviously he had one or more of some sort. They wouldn't be able to find his last surviving veropede down there, would they? No, they couldn't be venturing in that deeply today, and the veropede was hidden deep. This was just a preliminary scouting mission. Surely. Prey silently waited and watched the scene as the morning mist dissipated. The sunrise was behind Lemon and him, so the spyglass wouldn't catch the light and give them away as he continued to use it. Those cloak hoods were enchanted, Prey couldn't see anything of the faces underneath to tell who it was. 'They'll not get caught by something like the blinding powder again either. They must have measures in place now. A mask, or air filtering spell perhaps.' If only Prey'd been born a unicorn and had access to that kind of magic on demand, then he could- No, it didn't matter what he could've done, since he hadn't been born one. Just a girly runt sheep instead. Dammit, he so desperately needed time to set up more runes. Soon the early birds of Canterlot would start to emerge. It would still take a while longer before they started filtering into the less frequented areas such as down here, but they would still be coming even if only to pass through on their way to somewhere else. The hooded diamond dog looked to be growing more and more uncomfortable with every passing minute. He or she argued about something with the pony, before subsiding and hunching back down. If they stayed, the dog was going to draw unwanted attention from racist and/or curious ponies. Surely the thieves couldn't be planning to stay here much longer? The mist was almost gone, and Celestia had raised the sun clear of the horizon by now. Prey rested his aching eye and switched to the other at the spyglass again. The pony under the awning was doing something, looking at something they'd pulled out. Prey couldn't see what, because they were facing away from his vantage point. What was happening? Or what had happened? The pony shoved whatever it was away again, and pulled out a familiar looking amber gem. It came as no surprise when they went over to the diamond dog, and one huge mitt emerged to grasp the pony's hoof. Then they were gone in a bright flash and sparkle. A second later, the *crack* of the displaced air reached Prey's ears, muted by the distance. Prey sighed and lowered the collapsible spyglass, taking the opportunity to rub at the scar tissue underneath his aching eyes. He didn't know what, if anything, the thieves had found or why they'd decided to call it a day, but he couldn't make assumptions. Those other two could still be down there searching for all he knew. "At least two of them have left." Prey muttered lowly to Lemon Pink, who still had her eyes closed in concentration, maintaining her illusion spell. She nodded in acknowledgement, slightly curved and sharp horn dipping with the motion, but she didn't open her eyes or stop. Prey tried to settle himself more comfortably on the bricks. They were going to be here for a while longer yet. The hidden, unknown thief was probably still lingering in the area, hoping to catch anyone breaking cover and leaving. Prey and Lemon would have to wait until the traffic was good and flowing through the area before they made their own exit. 'This is just the start.' Prey thought, brushing his ears aside and setting his chin down, 'They know my face. They have the advantage. They're not going to give up. Somehow they tracked me back to the sewers, and now they're homing in.' Prey had experience being the smaller, weaker, less equipped and hunted party from being in the Resistance. He knew how it went. He knew how to fight viciously and give no quarter with hit and run tactics. But he also knew that it'd been the smaller, weaker, and less well equipped Resistance who'd been destroyed in the end. Everyone roots for the underdog, but no one bets on him. --- Prey felt like he was stuck in a trap. The whole of Canterlot itself was the trap, and it was none too slowly closing in. --- Tick-tock, tick-tock. Minutes were like gold bits. Each one was something precious to be spent for as much as it could buy. A minute could be turned into a lesser rune. A dozen such lesser runes into a basic array. A score of basic arrays into a defence against lightning magic. Then an array to ground the lightning. Then another to help prevent the first array from overloading. Then one to prevent tampering. Another to hide them all. More to harmonise with the other arrays. Another array was required to encompass a greater range of lightning, for there was more than one type of spell for casting it. And then an automatic control array to join all of these arrays together. And finally a fail safe so if it all collapsed, it would do so harmlessly. All that to build one defence array against lightning magic. Too many arrays, too little time. Tick-tick, tock-tock. But what if Prey was attacked by a fire wielding unicorn, and not one with lightning? Or what if it wasn't flames, but just heat? Conducted through the air directly at Prey, or perhaps through some other medium? And what about differentiating normal fire from a magically fuelled one? Some defences had to be broad enough to stop all dangerous levels of heat, but it couldn't catch everything, so you had to add in narrow, specified runic arrays to catch everything that might slip through the first. Tock-tick, tock-tick. The traps and the failsafe slowly spread out over the rough greenstone walls and tunnel floor. Slowly, because the defences weren't finished. Time was running out, and Prey wasn't permitted to see the hourglass to know how much sand he had left. But he had a feeling in his bones that it was already too little, and running out. Tock-tock, tick-tick. --- Prey never took the same path back to the flat twice if he could help it, mixing it up with side streets and seemingly nonsensical detours, while checking if he was being followed. He was dead on his hooves by the time he finally arrived back at the apartment block, and it was only late lunch time.  But he'd been up half the night lying on a brick roof, and since then, he'd been draining his strength into creating runes and climbing first down, and then back up, long sloping stone tunnels. The mid-afternoon sun was too bright and the happy sounds of Canterlot life grated on his every nerve like each was personally made to spite him. Prey plodded up the stairs to the second story, then in through door 31. He stopped to check if Crimson was here, (he wasn't, and neither was there any kind of guard left on the pegasus's flat), before going inside to his own appartment. It wasn't his flat though, it wasn't a home. Just a flat. But one with lots of runic defences in it. Prey took out a cold baked potato and listlessly ate it, not even bothering with a plate as he held it between his forehooves, mind occupied elsewhere. He'd baked a whole load of potatoes two nights ago. They were easy and lasted a while. It was a cold, tasteless mush on his tongue. He didn't have time to waste on anything more satisfying. He was only eating to keep his strength up. 'Where is the fish? Plants are no meal for a Stormcrow, yez'?' Garrow's remnant whispered out of nowhere. It wasn't a question to Prey, but a memory of a question the murderous griffin had once asked in life. Prey almost dropped the half eaten potato. Angrily he focused inwards, hardening his mind, 'I am in control. You are already dead. Begone.' But the remnant didn't disappear as he'd wanted. 'Fishez'. Sardine, cod, salmon, my favourite. Cooked over my camp fire with Father. It is alwayz' tastier when eaten outside, yez'?' The thought of eating fish made Prey loose what little appetite he had. But the memory of the delicious taste of ember baked salmon which flaked off in your beak was still there. Pegasi sometimes on rare occasions ate fish, but Prey was a sheep and entirely a herbivore. He didn't want fish, but in his memories he did. Prey clenched his jaw, focused harder, crushing Garrow's remnant like a wheat stalk over an anvil, 'I am Prey. You are nothing but dead. I am in control.' Under his intense focus, the remnant finally broke apart and vanished. Prey kept his mind bound with iron control for another moment, before breathing out and letting go. He shouldn't have had to do that twice, once should've been enough. Hell, he shouldn't have to do it even once. 'You are weak. Nature abhors weakness.' Snake hissed in his other ear. The potato hit the floor. It didn't go splat, the baked vegetable was too dry for that, but the half-eaten insides spilled out of the skin in white chunks. Prey looked down at it. He slowly lowered his forehooves back to the floor. The reflective sheen on the golden surface of the tracer bands trembled slightly. His leg was gently shaking. The feeling of the silk ribbon behind his ear was little comfort. Snake had been tormenting him long before he'd had even his first ratty ribbon. Prey got up, and went and got a wet rag to clean up the spilled potato. Then he went and methodically thumped his head against the wall for a few minutes. It didn't really help. ---oOo--- "You were nearly caught yesterday?" "Yes, Prey. Twice almost." "Show me." "Yes, Prey." ---oOo--- Yesterday. Lemon Pink opened the door to Prey's flat. Outside stood Gloom, dusk pony amulet on and appearing as a normal grey pegasus. "Good morning Prey." Gloom said. "Morning to you too. Whether it's good or not remains to be seen." Lemon Pink answered. In her own ears, her voice wasn't her own. It was childish and light, Prey's voice. The words were exactly something Prey would've said too. Lemon was taking Prey's place, while the lamb worked hard on preparing the runes they so desperately needed down in the tunnels. Prey was far faster at runic creation. It was only logical Lemon should therefore be the one to placate Gloom when he came to visit. "I think it will be good." Gloom said blandly, looking at Lemon's legs, or the height where Prey's eye level normally was. That's where the illusion's eyes were too. Lemon kept herself from moving, the thrumming feeling of magic circulating through her horn taking most of her focus. "Oh? Why's that?" Lemon heard the childish voice of Prey again asking her question. 'For what reason could it be good? What positive events were scheduled to occur that Gloom would think Prey might judge good? Unknown. Prey did not mention any scheduled in.' "Did you forget?" Gloom asked, raising an eyebrow, "Lilly Blossom, remember? It's her hospital review. She might get released, so we're going to support her." "That does not constitute good." Gloom frowned down at the illusion of Prey, "Excuse me?" "I mean," Lemon corrected, "That is not a happy event. She might not pass. And why should it be good, where 'good' would've been not getting injured in the first place?" 'Downplay, explain, and deflect.' "I didn't mean it like that Prey. Of course it's not good, but being there to support her, emotionally, is important. And it'll be doubly important for us to be there if she fails. We're her squad." Gloom said, voice and tone heavy. 'Negative. I cannot attend any such meeting.'  Lemon twitched the magic, making the illusion of Prey take a step back into the flat, shaking its head, and carefully modulated the voice to express appropriate emotion, "I'm sorry, I can't attend today. I am not feeling well." Gloom's frown came back. Lemon saw it held suspicion, not just disapproval. "Are you lying to me, Prey? Why? This is Lilly we're talking about." 'Annoyance. His special talent is manifesting suspicion. Downplay, explain, and deflect.'  If this didn't work, this might become a confrontation. She was prepared to stun and forcibly alter the thestral's memories if need be. Lemon spoke through the illusion again, "I really am feeling unwell, but putting that aside, I really think it's best we don't go. You and I both know Lilly Blossom lays at least a portion of the blame for her condition on you, Crimson, and me. She has refused to see any of us three. Fail or succeed in her hospital assessment today, won't the last people she wants to see be us?" "We're her squadmates whether she likes it or not. Even if she currently hates us, we still owe it to her to try. Both for her sake and our own, we need to try, just like Doctor Clear Mind says, even if it doesn't work." Gloom insisted. 'Continue to deflect.' "We will only make it worse if we do," Lemon warned through Prey's voice, "The only people she's allowed in to see her are Scenic, his marefriend, and Saffron Swirl. If she could, she would deny even Nighthawk and the doctors. Think about that. Not even her family. Her actual family. If we go against her wishes, we'll do more harm than good. I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to sit this one out." Gloom's eyes narrowed at Prey's illusion, but he didn't speak for a moment. 'Oversight. Something has gone amiss. He still suspects.' "You know..." Gloom began slowly, "I've been in Lilly's situation before, injured and slowly recovering. I was extremely grateful for all the support I got, even though I didn't think I would be. It meant more to me than I realised after I got clawed by the wyvern." 'False. This is a trap. A test. He suspects something.' "You didn't get clawed. You said you got hit by the spines on its tail." Lemon said, trying to correctly express confusion in Prey's fake voice. Gloom's posture relaxed slightly, but he was still frowning at Prey, "Yes, I did get tail swiped, not clawed. I misspoke." Lemon didn't say anything, just changing the flow of magic to have the illusionary lamb blink at Gloom. Behind the illusion though, Lemon was slowly tensing her legs up, ignoring the sharp twinging in her left foreleg. She would only have a moment of surprise when she dropped the illusion. Abruptly, Gloom turned and began striding away, but not before calling back, "Fine. If you really do believe it's a bad idea to try and help Lilly, we're off duty, I won't force you. However, I think we both know you could still try, you're just afraid to. I can't judge you for that, but I want you to think about it too. If Lilly won't even see us, then you've lost nothing by trying." ---oOo--- "Gloom's special talent, I presume." "Yes, Prey. I agree that was most likely it." "Regardless, that doesn't constitute nearly getting caught. You over estimated the severity. Gloom merely had a suspicion because of the current security risk threatening Crimson, and asked a question to double check." "I see, Prey. In that case, I was nearly caught once not twice today." "Let's see the other memory then." ---oOo--- The pleasant clip-clopping echoed up and down the cobbled street, mixing with the sound of passing carts and loudly talking ponies. The scent of freshly baked ice-cream waffle cones brushed her nose as she passed the stall. Lemon glanced from under the brim of the floppy sun hat, and saw the ice-cream vendor serving a pair of young, rambunctious colts as he joked with their father. 'Did I used to like ice cream before...?' Lemon cut off the thought, 'Unnecessary.' She turned off the street, onto a quieter , less travelled one, taking the first turn by the lamppost. There was no time to do the bi-weekly check of the underground market. Unfortunate. The project of preparing a safehouse would have to go on semi permanent hold too. Lemon's thoughts shifted back to the unicorn she'd fought in the maintenance room, once again critically re-evaluating their fight. 'Unfinished.' There was distant anger within the memory, but it was muted, like it had all happened long ago, rather than just yesterday. In Lemon's head the anger felt more like a checkbox to be archived than anything deeply personal. It was with the same detachment she'd drugged and then sacrificed the splinter pack of diamond dogs. 'Uncoordinated. An inefficient performance on all sides of the fight. My magic consumption, Prey's planning, the thief's use of his artifact, all of it. That's what happens in the heat of the moment.' Lemon changed her pace as the cobbles changed to concrete paving slabs beneath her hooves. She'd exited the housing district, and now she was into a business street full of offices. And when she turned off that, passing by a small time solicitor's firm, a collection of warehouses and storage buildings lay below her at the bottom of the slope. 'The old airship gondola construction bay. Behind the toilet block on Bay 2. Disused access hatch into the sewers. Convenient.' While there were plenty of access points down into Canterlot's sewers, the number which were unattended like this one, out of sight of passers by, and also large enough to admit a pony were far more limited. There were less than twenty such access points scattered throughout Canterlot. Official ones anyway, assuming you weren't prepared to tunnel your way in. The veropedes definitely could've done so before, but this wasn't before. Lemon ducked under the lone red and white barrier pole, and headed off around the side of the empty warehouse bay. This skyship construction bay had been shut down for eight years, with a fair amount of accumulated dust inside, but there was no structural deterioration showing yet. She found the small, squat red brick waterworks shed situated at the back, and with some concentration, a touch of magic and a spell, unlocked the door. 'Dusty.' Silvery light from her horn showed a couple of pipes and stopcocks, but otherwise an empty shed. And a square, dark metal hatch in the corner. The hatch was heavier than it looked, and Lemon had to let go on her first attempt at heaving it up, staggering. She breathed sharply, injured leg curled in as she waited for the pain to pass. Then she tried again, this time using her uninjured leg and better prepared for the weight. The hatch made a heavy *clunk* as the lid came to rest upright against the wall. She lent over, and the dark way down was revealed. Through dancing dust motes in her horn's silvery light, a short drop was revealed, along with a rather rickety ladder set into the red brickwork. At the bottom, there was another identical hatch. The ladder really was wobbly, and Lemon lost a wisp of her mane that got sharply snagged. With another heave, and a vague wish that she was stronger or didn't have to hoard her magic so much, she got the second hatch open despite the cramped shaft. The unmistakable smell of the sewers immediately greeted her nostrils. 'Old. It's not fresh sewage. This pipe won't join any active waterways. I'll have to take the back way down to the Heart.' Lemon turned herself around and started descending, rear hooves first, testing each rung with her full weight first. 'Third rung loose. Skip that one in the future.' The air was dank, and the smell was fast intensifying in the dark. She fed more magic into her horn, the ethereal thrumming feeling running up her horn increasing as the light correspondingly brightened. She froze. '...What was that?' She almost hadn't caught it, but that thrum of magic just now hadn't all come from within. Something external had brushed ever so lightly against her own magical field, the one which all unicorns had, extending a couple of millimeters past their own bodies. If it weren't for the enhancing effects of the electrite or the choker, or if she'd been even momentarily distracted by something else... But she hadn't been distracted, and Lemon knew she hadn't imagined it. 'Danger. A magical trip wire.' Lemon launched herself back up the second ladder into the cramped shaft. She grabbed the second hatch in her magic, no time to be conservative now, and slammed it shut. Brick dust billowed into her face as the *Clang!* reverberated. Her hooves found the first ladder and she raced up it, the rungs jerking and squeaking. Equines were not made to climb ladders. 'Faster. A magical alert will have been sent. Must be fresh. Alarm spells don't last, only enchantments. How quickly can they respond?' Darkness sprang up behind her as she let the light spell wink out and grabbed the first hatch. It slammed just as loudly in the narrow confines of the waterworks shed. How close could they be? Had they left a teleport beacon around here? 'Run. No time to re-lock the door. No point, they already know. Just run.' Her leg hurt, but Lemon ran, out of the shed and out of the deserted skyship construction bay. She reached the barrier pole, ducked under it, sun hat pressed firmly to her head with magic, eyes and ears swivelling for the attack. No one was about. 'Cover. Get under cover. They could have fliers.' She made it to the closest fire escape door into someone's office. It was locked. Her magic grabbed the panic bolt from the inside and pushed it down. She yanked the door open and darted inside. She caught the door just before it shut and held it, peering out the crack, breathing hard. From this angle, she had a half view of the skyship bay. She counted the seconds as her heart continued to hammer. '...eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourte-' Her ears twitched at a dull *crack* of displaced air. A teleport spell, sounded like less than a hundred yards away. Lemon didn't move, staying perfectly still at her position at the door crack peeking out, ignoring the interior of the office building she'd broken into. '...twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-' There. Two ponies, hooded and cloaked despite the bright sun, were striding towards the barrier. And... She frowned, concentrating on the two figures as they ducked under the pole. There were two of them, but there had been just for the briefest instant at least three sets of hoof steps. Anyone else would've doubted themselves. Lemon didn't. 'Invisibility. Actual number of enemies unknown. At least one extra though.' There could be one conducting a sweep of the area right now, coming in this very direction, and she wouldn't know. Lemon let the door drift very slowly shut, then keeping her head low, she made her way through the office and out the front entrance, ignoring the surprised receptionist who started and squawked. She would soon forget Lemon's passing, thanks to the sun hat's notice-me-not array. Lemon had to report this. ---oOo--- Prey withdrew from the memory, disentangling the grey courtyard of Lemon Pink's mindscape from his own burnt ashen forest. The familiar, unpleasant heavy feeling of being back in his own flesh reasserted itself as he blinked. He didn't ask Lemon if she'd checked there wasn't some kind of tracking magic on her. If she wasn't sure, she wouldn't have risked coming to meet him. Prey worked his tongue around his dry mouth, "Almost got caught indeed." He commented blandly to Lemon. "Yes, Prey. It is most likely they have access to the same architectural sewer records as we, and thus have marked all such ideal entrances." "That much is now obvious," Prey nodded slowly, thinking, "You left strands of your mane behind. That was a mistake. You should've retrieved that tuft." Lemon grimaced, bowing her head at his criticism, "Yes, Prey." That had been a dangerously amateurish mistake on her part. Sure, she'd been in something of a hurry getting out, but not when she'd been going in. It would've only taken a moment to snag the loose strands of mane caught on the ladder. It was too late now though, and there was no going back to check if the thieves had noticed or not. "They probably don't know any voodoo magic to use it with." Prey offered, but it wasn't much comfort. 'Probably' didn't mean 'certainty'.  The kind of magic which used hair and/or body parts was, as a whole, dark and/or banned. The thieves were hardly paragons of virtue though. Wasn't that exactly the sort of magic they might know? "They probably don't." Prey repeated. He was still thinking over what Lemon had seen, even as he considered this side problem, "But better safe than sorry. Make and wear a warding charm just to be sure." Voodoo magic was a largely ritualistic style of spellcasting, relying heavily upon ritual components, exactly like a strand of mane. Largely unknown to ponies, voodoo magic wasn't powerful, not straight up like unicorn magic was at least, narrower in scope too, but it could be just as deadly and far more insidious. Snake had known voodoo magic, but as such, the zebra had also known how to guard against it. It was rather simple if you knew how. A charm made from a little roll of bark, containing a drop of Lemon's blood and something dead, (a beetle would do but a plant wouldn't), and tied up with strands of your own hair or fur. "Yes, Prey. I will make a charm straight away." Lemon nodded, starting to magically comb through her yellow, white and black mane looking for a loose strand. "But back to your close call though; there was someone invisible there, possibly even more than one." "Yes, Prey. I am certain." "Invisibility. I don't have anything to base my assumption on, but I'm betting it's the true sort of invisibility too, not just a veil. With all the other powerful artifacts and magic they've been throwing around, it's all but certain." Prey muttered, curling the ribbon around his hoof in thought. True invisibility. Perhaps one of the most classic and iconic of all spells, the sort all unicorn foals said they'd learn when they grew up so they could raid the cookie jar unseen. Of course, growing up, such goals were quickly forgotten as impractical. Real invisibility wasn't an illusion spell which fooled the senses, but one which, (to Prey's understanding), physically refracted light. It was of course vastly more complicated than that, but that was the general basis. 'Well, I know how to get around invisibility easy enough. A bone rot mine kills everyone just the same, visible or invisible.' Prey said that, but what if a bone rot mine didn't actually solve the problem? What if they had another defensive artifact too, or caught Prey anywhere he hadn't had time to prepare the field ahead of time, like, say, most of Canterlot, or avoided the explosion, or spotted the bone rot mine first, or simply just approached from a non-trapped direction? Like from up in the sky for pegasi? Or from under the ground, like with diamond dogs? You might know how to fight a lion in theory, but was that much comfort when you were actually getting clawed by a lion? No, not really. Prey bit his cheek, shutting his eyes to better think. It didn't help much. None of the scenarios he could envision ended positively. He was drained and tired all the time now, and worry was his constant companion, eating away at his gut. His mind hurt from all the runes he'd been creating. 'Think. What have I learned? They have the sewer entrances under surveillance. But those alarm spells must need to be refreshed semi-regularly. So every eight or nine days? Somewhere around that time limit.' Prey thought about what that meant for a bit. Now every time he ventured into his backup lair down in the Sewer's Heart posed a risk. But also maybe an opportunity.  Perhaps he was thinking about this wrong. He should take a step back. Why did he actually need to go down into the sewers? What was stopping him from just avoiding the tunnels entirely? Well, it was both where his sole surviving veropede was hidden, which would also need feeding, and where Lemon and he had moved all his supplies and experiments from out of the crystal cave lair. Except he'd had to put all of those experiments on hold. Sure, he'd worked hard and finished the electrite feather for Crimson still, but otherwise? All the rune work he did now was just for defences and traps. 'But they've seen my face. They'll track me down eventually, either inside or outside of the Sewer's Heart, it'll happen. The only reason they haven't found me yet already is because they're looking in the wrong place. If they look towards the Palace or the Guard however...' The thieves were currently looking in the wrong place. For that reason, Prey needed to keep them focused on tracking down his lair within the sewers, because if they took a step back and started searching in more mundane places, Prey was done for. The thieves already had all the leads they needed with Crimson, they just didn't know it. If they were watching Crimson, it was highly likely they'd eventually see Prey too. They shared the same front door, for Tartarus sake. Probably the only reason the thieves hadn't discovered the connection already was because they'd put Crimson on hold while they tried to track down Prey, who appeared to be a much larger and more imminent threat. If only they knew the answer was right under their stupid pony noses. 'I'm locked into this course. If I stop and hide, they'll start searching in other places and go after Crimson again. If I keep going, we'll inevitably cross paths and fight again anyways. And my time is running out. Every hour, they scout more of the sewer network and work their way closer to me.' It was hopeless, there was no escape. Eventually, one way or the other, it would happen and they'd track him down. If he could flee from Canterlot, if he could just get far enough away... but no. There was no fleeing Luna's reach. The back of Prey's throat felt tight, or like he'd swallowed a live worm. He pressed his forehooves together to eliminate that traitorous trembling he hated so much. 'I hate this. I hate all of it. And I hate hate hate the hunt.' But there was no way back. The only way out of this was to make it to the other end of the tunnel; battered, limping, teeth gritted, and with a bloody knife in hoof. "I have to do something. I can't just keep waiting. If nothing else, the veropede will eventually have to be fed at some point. Do we have any copper sheets left?" "No, Prey. I used the last five to transport the array for reinforcing the heat sink dump." "Fine, get me some metal of whatever we have left then, I'll make it work. They're not the only ones who can rig a silent alarm." Except the unicorns could do it with a flick of their horn. For Prey, it was hours of work to create just one such alarm for a single entrance. "What kind, Prey?" "I said any kind, whatever metal we've got left." "No, Prey. I meant, what kind of alarm?" "The tracking kind." ------ Lilly Blossom passed her medical review and suicide checks. She would be released from the hospital tomorrow. Unfortunately, (for Lilly), her parents were also informed of her impending release. ------ Prey was there. He hadn't gotten out of attending in the end. They were gathered inside the hospital, in the waiting room of the restricted ward. He stood off to the side, behind Crimson, Scenic, Gloom, Carton, and Saffron, the glamour model who came wearing a plain, nondescript dress, sunglasses, a hat, and a scarf as a pseudo-disguise. Prey was too distracted to care one way or another about the emotionally charged atmosphere as they tensely waited for Lilly to be brought out. He was blanking out the screaming mare on the other side of the double doors, who was shouting all kinds of insults about the Night Guard, the hospital, and the staff while a loud stallion, her husband, backed her up and demanded to be let in: "Sir, madam, please listen to me-" "That's my daughter! My own flesh and blood. I have a right to see her!" "You, your hospital, all of you! You've been nothing but a disgrace to ponykind since we've begun this whole affair. How can you call yourself a doctor?" Lilly's father shouted. "Sir, I'm not a doc-" "So you admit it!" "Let us in. Please! Let me see our daughter. Just one of us, just let one of us in at least." The mare begged, but without any hope. Both of their voices contained the worn, tired edge of someone who'd done this a hundred times already this week, and had no hope that anything today would be any different. There were two orderlies staffing this side of the double doors, ensuring the upset family didn't try and force their way through. Both orderlies were staring straight ahead, ears lowered, and making sure not to meet any of the room's occupant's eyes. Lilly's older brother and sister were also out there, it wasn't just their parents who'd come today. Desperation, resignation, defiance, fading hope. Those were the sounds the room had been hearing coming from the other side of the doors for the last ten minutes. No one had said a word, but their thoughts were pained. Shouldn't Lilly's family be the ones in here right now, and not them? But Lilly had refused to see her parents. The mood was as brittle as glass. Carton Juice was squeezing Scenic to her side, although whether to comfort primarily Scenic or herself wasn't clear. The earth pony stallion himself was staring at the floor, reminded all to clearly of his own poor relationship with his own parents: '-this isn't right. But my situation isn't like Lilly's, my parents only want a perfect son, they don't see me as my own pony-' Next to the pair, Saffron Swirl was miserably hunching her shoulders into her scarf, also remembering how her own parents had disinherited her, and feeling guilty compassion for the family outside. '-I've gotten to see Lilly and they haven't. But it was only to help her get better, I wasn't trying to steal Lilly from them, I'll swear before Celestia-' Gloom and Crimson were stoically unmoving in the face of all this. The two Night Guards who'd accompanied the red pegasus had remained out the back. Here in the middle of the hospital, there was little chance of an attack against Crimson. But that was only on the outside. On the inside however, Crimson and Gloom were just as affected by the ongoing plight of Lilly's family happening next door. '-why couldn't Lilly just see her parents? Why does she have to do this to her own family?-', Gloom was thinking. It was enough to even get an unguarded thought from behind Crimson's mental walls; '-this isn't right. She has a duty to her family. So why?-' Lilly wouldn't let her family see what'd become of her, but she was willing to have the rest of them here on her release? That made zero sense. Prey didn't get it, he really didn't. 'It's not like her family doesn't know where her flat is. Honestly, does Lilly think they can't just come around after her once she's released today?' What did it accomplish? What did any of this accomplish? Prey knew for a fact he could be accomplishing a lot more if he wasn't here. He stared blankly at the potted tree against the far white wall. It was a miniaturised topiary tree. What was taking the hospital staff so long in bringing out Lilly? They weren't some sort of actors working at a theatre, with dramatic reveals and delays. This was a hospital. Had Lilly changed her mind and was refusing to come out? It wasn't a hard scenario for him to envision. The last time Prey'd seen her, she'd been a distraught, self-destructive, suicidal, and crippled wreck. It was almost suspicious, the number of people here who were estranged from their parents or the like. Prey and Crimson's parents were dead, Saffron's had disowned her for being magicless, Scenic wanted nothing to do with his own, Gloom still had his father, but he was separated all the way back in Clan Chilldara. Really, of those gathered here it was only Carton Juice who had normal, or just living, parents as far as he knew. Or cared. Prey's ear twitched. He looked towards the hall. It took a few moments, but what he'd heard was coming around the corner, or rather who he'd heard. Lilly Blossom, a nurse close at her side in case she fell, with the *tap tap* difference in hoof fall every time she brought her peg leg down. If everyone was silent before, then they were now mimicking the silence of the grave as they too spotted Lilly. Through the double doors in the background, muffled but still clearly audible, the shouting continued: "How many times do I have to say this? Why won't anypony listen? Am I not her mother?" "This is hopeless, dear. These ponies are useless, you'd do better to try explaining harmony to some other turd." "Sir, that kind of language is not-" Lilly slowly entered the frozen room proper, and raised her head. She was wearing an ill-fitting loose shirt, obviously a few sizes too big, but it covered her leg and halfway up her neck. The left sleeve hung slack, draped over the stiff stick limb within. All it did was hide the fake limb from view, it could not hide that it was fake. But it did nothing for what was visible above the collar. The sprouting twigs which ran up the left side of her neck, pushing out of the peach fur, were still disturbingly visible. Of course, Lilly's face was the worst. Everyone here had seen it before, some more often than others, but it still took you aback each time. You could say 'I only look on the inside, not the outside', or, 'beauty is only skin deep', but even the most empathetic being still had to see the outside appearance first. Unless they were blind, of course. The thick root twining up from under Lilly's jaw, nearly over one eye, and then curled itself greedily around her horn was just as bulging and worm-like as when Prey had first watched it sprout. It was always the eyes though that told you the truest story. Lilly's nearly perpetual fiery anger from before was now nothing but gutted ashes in the tired, sunken orbs. They were so expressive, so unguarded. The Lilly before them was a completely different pony, now a hunched, downtrodden, disillusioned, and uncertain wreck of a mare. It was Lilly who broke the silence. She cleared her throat drily, "Um, hey everypony? I, I guess I'm getting out. Tada." That was all it took to break Carton Juice from her frozen state clasping Scenic. The huge Earth pony let go of her coltfriend and rushed over to Lilly. "Oh Lilly, I'm so sorry it took this long, but I'm so happy to see you've made it this far." Carton cried, bending and hugging the much smaller mare carefully from her uninjured side. There were real tears in her eyes. The nurse stepped back, letting Lilly hesitantly lean into the sideways hug. "Thank-thankyou for, for coming to visit me." Unknowingly bigoted, privileged, soft, and easily misguided Carton Juice might be, but uncaring she was not. Since the beginning, when Scenic had brought her in to see his injured squad mate, Carton had committed herself to selflessly helping her fellow pony. 'A heart of butter and a head to match.' Carton's hug seemed to have been the signal to break ranks, because Scenic and Saffron went over too, although they didn't give hugs, Since Carton had still yet to let go, there wasn't room. Scenic awkwardly patted Lilly on the back where he could reach, "I, uh, wow, I don't know what you're supposed to say right now, but congratulations. Really, congratulations. The hardest part is over now." 'Liar. It's only just begun.' Saffron leaned in, unheeding of the bulging root growing out of the left side of Lilly's face, and made air kisses on each cheek in an elegant manner, "Thank you for trusting me enough to let me be here. I know I'm nopony special, but thank you for letting me help just a little bit." "Nopony special, says the supermodel." Lily muttered. It was hurt, bitter, and resentful all at once, and Lilly looked like she immediately regretted saying it. But she'd also meant it, just hadn't meant it specifically for Saffron. Saffron smiled gently, her beautiful face framed by enormous golden ringlets, "Oh, it's fine, Lilly. You can say whatever you need to say, I know how unfairly lucky I've been in life." Lilly's face worked, angry, apologetic, grateful, "I..." She looked away, and saw the last remaining three members of the ISND. Up until now, Gloom and Crimson had refrained from approaching, remembering Lilly Blossom's previous refusal to even see them. Yet for some reason, they'd been allowed to come today. Gloom squared his shoulders and stepped forwards, Crimson right beside him. "Lilly Blossom," Gloom cleared his throat and looked Lilly over unflinchingly. He himself had worn neither dusk amulet or scarf today, and his thestral heritage and puckered chest scar were clear for anyone to see, and the scars under his eyes were always visible. "You look much improved," Gloom said, "And I'm not just saying that. You really do look improved, within yourself." He held Lilly's gaze when she gritted her teeth and scowled, pressing on, "You really are, Lilly. I'm not making it up. You have improved. I didn't say 'better' or 'healed', I'm not trying to insult you." "You no longer want to die for a start." Crimson spoke up beside Gloom in his blank way. Everyone else froze or winced at Crimson's words, the nurse and two orderlies on the doors included, Saffron cringing the most. Crimson blinked around, "Oh. I shouldn't have said it like that. I'm sorry." 'Tactful, as always.' Prey couldn't help but think. Lilly mumbled something and looked away. Carton tightening her hug, but Crimson wasn't done. He stepped closer, making Lilly look back in alarm, meldwood root standing out across her face. Crimson bowed, all the way to the ground in front of everyone. He spread his wings, laying them out flat too, "I'm sorry Lilly. You wouldn't let us see you before now, so I couldn't apologise properly. But I'm sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't fast enough, I'm sorry I didn't kill the Mama'duke first, I'm sorry I failed you as a teammate. And there's nothing my useless regrets can do to help you." Gloom joined Crimson, bowing himself down to the floor and laying out his wings, in a display of full supplication while everyone stared. They both stayed down there, heads bowed, until Lilly finally found her voice, "I, t-that's, please don't do that. Get up." Gloom and Crimson stayed bowed. "C'mon, get up guys. Please. I don't, I don't..." Lilly took a deep breath and shut her eyes. With an obvious effort, each word strained, she spoke, "I don't blame you. Or not anymore. It's nopony's fault, not even mine, the doctors made me see that. So I d-don't want your sorrys." Behind Lilly, the nurse was beaming with pride at her patient. Lilly breathed deeply and opened her eyes again as Crimson and Gloom finally rose. Carton whispered into Lilly's ear, "That was very brave and grown up of you." Gloom nodded to the disfigured mare, "I understand. But we're here to help you now, in any way we can. Nighthawk and the Night Guard too. So how can we help?" Lilly glanced uncertainly around at everyone, all who'd gathered to be here for her release, "I just want to go back home for now. After... I don't know yet." "Mentioning that, are you going back to your own house?" Gloom asked. "Yes. I mean, no, not my old house. Lieutenant Starry Wing helped me sell it and get a new one. One which..." Lilly gritted her teeth, and forced herself to say the words, "One which is better suited to, to my needs." "That's right, and it's only just down the street from me." Carton chimed in, "I can come see you every day. Or you can drop by for tea at any time, you're always welcome." Carton Juice hadn't known Lilly before a month ago. Carton owed Lilly no obligation, but she'd thrown herself into helping and had accepted Lilly as a possible lifelong responsibility without hesitation. Saffron deftly reached out and kindly tugged the collar of Lilly's oversized shirt straighter where it'd slipped down, and was exposing the sprouting meldwood twigs, "If you'll have me, I'd be honoured to visit and help too. I'm just a welfare volunteer here at the hospital, but I'd love to take you, as a fellow mare, clothes shopping." "Clothes shopping?" Lilly parroted, stunned. "I can't claim to know much, but I do know a bit about playing dress up. But only if you want to." Saffron offered. "Dress up? But, you're a model, and I'm, I'm..." "A pony. A strong, brave pony. One who just needs a fashion consultant." Saffron said confidently. She reached up and unwound the scarf from her own neck, "Here. I can help with... some covering clothes, but only if that's what you want." "Thank you." Lilly said in a small voice, "And yes please very much." "Of course." Saffron smiled gently, and with assistance from Carton, carefully wrapped the scarf around Lilly's neck up to her chin, keeping it loose where it rested over the protruding twigs. "Thank you." Lilly's lip trembled, but she blinked fiercely and glared straight ahead, the remnants of her old pride refusing to let her cry. "You look fine." Carton assured her. "Yeah, what my much smarter half said." Scenic echoed helpfully, although this really was a mares only moment. Gloom stood by and tried to smile encouragingly, (close lipped, no fangs), but couldn't seem to find anything further to say. After all that fuss and dedication trying to visit Lilly over and over when she kept refusing them, he didn't rightly know what to say. He was a thestal, to whom words didn't come naturally and actions spoke far louder. But when the time came, Gloom was more than ready to follow with actions, and so was Crimson. Prey stood off to the side. He alone hadn't said anything yet. A twist of bitterness tugged at his insides as he watched it all. All of this was a wilful, self-delusional sham. They were deceiving themselves. Lilly was still crippled, hurt, and disfigured. None of that had changed or been fixed. Where was the anger against the unfairness of life? He wouldn't have sat back and taken this, he wouldn't just have accepted it as the way life now was. Where was the bitterness of youth learning they were not immortal?  "No, sir, madam, for the last time you can't-stop them!" "No, no more of this! No more of your lies!" Prey got the answer to his question when the muffled shouting and arguing which'd been going on in the background all this time finally spilled over. The two orderlies on the door, distracted watching the sickeningly bittersweet moment happening in front of them, failed to bar the doors in time, especially when blue and plum magical auras threw them wide open. Both orderlies were knocked off their hooves, the unluckiest one catching the swinging door right in the muzzle. In through the open doors rushed Lilly Blossom's parents, and closely behind them, her brother and sister for good measure. For a moment everything hung in the air, like a tablecloth whipped out from under the cutlery where for a heartbeat, it all still remained intact. Then it all came smashing down. Lilly's family were all unicorns. They'd rushed into the room not knowing what they'd face. What, if anything they'd been expecting, it was almost certainly not what they found. They hadn't known about the two orderlies. They hadn't known about the gathered ISND. And they hadn't known Lilly was already right there in the room. The father, a blue unicorn, jerked up short as Gloom and Crimson whirled around, ready to attack. "Who-?" The peach mare, Lilly's almost hysterical mother, saw her daughter standing frozen between Carton and Saffron. For a moment, the mare's eyes didn't show any recognition. Then the terrible realisation broke across her face. Prey's hooves barely made it up to his ears before she screamed, shrill, shocked, horrified. The older brother and sister, fending off the two orderlies as they tried to grab the intruding family members, finally recognised their younger sister. They gaped like fish, recoiling, the father shouted in disgust at the meldwood, and over it all, the rising scream of their mother. "My daughter!" From there, things went every bit as badly as Prey had expected them to. --- Scream, shouting, accusations, threats, entreaties. Gloom, Crimson, and the two orderlies blocked the unicorn's family's way. Nurses, more orderlies, and doctors were quickly converging on the scene, but it was far too little, far too late. Carton seemed just as frozen as the paralysed Lilly she was hugging. It was probably only the oversized Earth pony's strength which kept Lilly upright as she began to shake. Lilly's mother was shouting, demanding to know what the hospital had done to her daughter, threatening the Night Guard, the hospital, the staff, Celestia, and everyone present by turns. Saffron had her head bowed, not adding to the raised voices, but she stayed beside Lilly. Scenic was less than useless, his ineffective attempts at defusing a situation which was already so far beyond his control by saying; "It's okay, it's okay" just made it worse. More shouting and screaming. It was the sound of broken hearts and vengeful tempers. The older brother and sister weren't even able to look at Lilly. The father's eyes were bulging. He looked green. It barely took anything to get foul language starting to fly next; "You butchers! You butchers! Vampires! Flankholes! Bastards! Thieves, Nightmare cultists, criminals, scum, liars!" Petty sounding insults, but screamed with all the raw feelings of a devastated parent. But what did Prey not hear amidst the mess of crushed hope, not even once? One of them trying to speak to Lilly. To ask her if she was okay, if she needed help, what had happened to her, or if she was in pain. Not even once. They were treating her like she was already dead, or mentally disabled, not at all like she was standing there and starting to blubber and cry. Lilly was hideous, injured, unable to ever use magic again. But her family were more interested in avenging her than actually helping her. There was nothing practical they could've done, but they didn't even try. And not once did any of the four of them say; "We want you back Lilly." A tragedy. A fragile daughter waiting desperately for a single sentence, even just one word, that would never come. An irreparable rift ripped wide between a horrified family. Where had all the blind paternal love gone? All that sorrow from before, all those weeks of desperately trying to get in to see their daughter, even their unflinching commitment from next door less than five minutes ago, where had it all gone? How quick they were to forget all of it once they'd seen Lilly, and they were now only able to see a broken mare. They saw her as broken, unfixable, and their sadness turned to anger. It was understandable. They'd been there when Lilly was just a cooing foal. They'd been there when she'd grown up. They knew what Lilly Blossom was supposed to be. And Lilly Blossom was not supposed to be a crippled, thin, magicless, hollow eyed, three legged mare with squirming roots bursting out of her face. It was tragic how it took complete strangers like Carton and Saffron who hadn't ever known Lilly before to see that she was still a person, still there and still alive. In the end, Prey got to see his wish come true. More orderlies arrived and pulled the family out. Bitterness and rage against the world.  He also got to see a devastated Lilly Blossom quietly led away by a shocked and stunned Carton Juice to slip out a back exit to the hospital. Wordlessly, the rest of them followed.  ------ Out on the street, the pair of Night Guards still assigned to Crimson until further notice hung a good way back out of respect, and didn't try to hurry them as they guided a slowly limping Lilly Blossom to her new apartment. Lilly was crying and sniffing too hard to see most of the trip, and when they got to the door, it was only then Lilly realised she'd left the new key and all her other personal effects back at the hospital. Without a word spoken, Scenic and Carton turned Lilly around and led her back to Carton's place instead. "You're staying with me tonight." Gloom spread his wings, "I'll fly back to the hospital and get her stuff." He muttered quietly. "She's staying with me." Carton repeated firmly. Gloom shook his head, "I wasn't suggesting anything to the contrary. However Lilly will still need her stuff, I'm just going back to get it for her. I'll be back in thirty minutes." Even the short walk back up the street took ten of those thirty odd minutes. --- They were now all gathered, sitting quietly squashed into Carton Juice's bee themed living room. There were only just enough chairs and floor cushions to go around, even putting aside how Crimson's two trailing Guards had refused a seat when offered a chance to sit, and were still standing. Carton had put Lilly to bed in her spare bedroom, and the emotionally battered and physically drained mare had succumbed to sleep almost immediately. Now the rest of them were gathered awkwardly in Carton's living room, not sure what to do or say as Carton poured everyone raspberry tea. Prey, having immediately claimed the honeycomb patterned cushion in the farthest corner, pushed his saucer to the side and didn't touch it. Prey was acutely aware he was wasting precious time here, trapped by social expectations. He was seriously considering just getting up and walking out of the house anyway, fallout be damned. He could live through social disapproval. He couldn't live through getting attacked before he was ready. Prey checked Crimson. The pegasus was tilting his tea cup about and examining the steaming liquid inside sceptically. He lifted it up, sniffed the slightly sour smelling tea, took a cautious sip, and quickly put it back down on the table with a grimace of distaste. Everyone else seemed captivated by their own tea, staring into their steaming cups. Even Crimson's two thestral witness protection detail had accepted a cup and saucer each. The only sound was the ticking of a clock with little bees for hands, and the unconscious fidgeting of Carton and Scenic. Saffron Swirl seemed to have had perfect etiquette ingrained into her, (likely essential for a model), and sat with perfect posture, delicately sipping her tea. Her eyes were distant though. The silent minutes continued to lengthen. "My dad knocked me out of a tree once." Everyone looked up at Scenic. The earth pony seemed to be deep in thought, because he went on without any self consciousness, "Yeah, it was when I was a foal. My dad took me to the park for a picnic, mainly to give Mom a break I think, and I climbed all the way up this tree. Of course I got stuck right at the top and started bawling my eyes out." Scenic grinned, scratching at the back of his mane, "Heh, he was so embarrassed. He'd told Mom to stop worrying. But then he dozed off on the picnic blanket, and ten seconds later, I was up the tree." Gloom raised his brow, "And he knocked you out of this tree because...?" Scenic blinked, refocusing on the room. He hesitated, "He, uh, well see, he told me to jump and he'd catch me, because it wasn't actually that high. Of course I refused, screaming about how he was going to let me fall and I'd go splat-splat. Dad was so embarrassed and annoyed about the scene I was making, he bucked me right out of the tree." "You never told me this story, Paint Spot. Your dad caught you though, right?" Carton asked, leaning in. "Oh, no. No he missed me completely and I landed on my flank in a bush. He bribed me with a triple scoop, double dip ice-cream sundae not to tell mom. And then I threw it all up the literal, and I mean literal moment she opened the door and got busted anyway. Boy, was she cross." Scenic chuckled in embarrassment.  "Were there no pegasi about your father could've asked to simply fetch you? Or a unicorn?" Crimson enquired archedly. "Hey, I never thought of that. Why didn't he? What a rotten old stallion." Scenic exclaimed, ears shooting up in outrage. The thestrals and pseudo-thestral in the room gave Scenic looks of mild reproach, "I'm sure he just didn't think of that in a moment of panic." Gloom told him. "No way, I know my dad. He was just too embarrassed to ask." Scenic said, scowling into his tea cup. "If you feel it is truly a bone of contention between you two, perhaps you should speak to your father." One of the two thestral guards put in. "No thanks. He'll just turn it into a lecture about me failing to continue the family tradition and become a painter. He and Mom both hate that I'm in the Night Guard. No, I'm better off keeping my distance and not giving them the chance, thanks." "Forgive me, but I thought you wanted to be a painter, Scenic? You've been kind enough to show me a few of your paintings, and I was most impressed." Saffron deftly inserted herself into the conversation, gently moving to smooth things over. "I, uh, thanks. But really, those weren't anything special. Anypony could do those." Scenic mumbled. "No way, your paintings are really good." Carton Juice gave him a shoulder bump, "Would Mr. Willmore have offered to buy some if they weren't any good? I don't think so." "Yeah, well, I don't want to be a painter for a job. Not like my parents want me to be, anyways. As a hobby, I love painting. But I've always wanted to be a Guard and help ponies." Scenic admitted. 'How disgustingly sweet. The cloying aftertaste of self-righteousness really is nearly overpowering.' Prey thought cynically, but without much feeling. Half of him was as ever worrying and panicking over his situation with the invaders, but the other half of his mind couldn't help but dwell on the scene with Lilly's parents in the hospital. Her parents hadn't moved to help or comfort her. Grief did strange and horrible things to people. This time, it'd made Lilly appear as a monster to her own family, a freak, a half-pony. 'If Gossamer hadn't died, and if I were still him, and they were still alive... Is that how Mom and Fleece would see me?' Prey already knew the answer deep down. After all he'd done, was still doing, and was going to do, how could they not? Gossamer's mother had hated violence of every kind. She was so disappointed whenever Gossamer and Fleece used to scrap as children. Disappointed and hurt, like she'd personally failed to teach them better. He hadn't known the term back then, but she'd been a pacifist in all but title. And she'd died for her beliefs, going back into the burning village to try and help. 'All it takes is one or two breaths of smoke-' Prey slammed the lid shut on those thoughts, locking the box and shoving it deep back down. Internally he sneered at himself, disgusted; 'Look at you, getting all mopey and depressed. Get a grip. The thieves aren't going to halt just because you're feeling tearful and tender at the moment.' Saffron *clinked* her teaspoon as she put it down on the side of her saucer, "May I please have some more tea? It really is delightful. Oh, thank you, but there's no need, I can pour." Saffron's words were more than just a polite request for a refill though, they were carefully chosen. Saffron was politely, and without being any sort of rude about it, gathering everyone's attention. '-so nervous, but, but perhaps sharing something would do me good-', Saffron sat back, everyone unconsciously pausing to see if she would say anything. Her gentle face didn't express any of the nervousness she was holding inside. '-go on, you can do it you coward. Just say it Saffron-' Saffron took a sip of her tea and smiled appreciatively at Carton, "This really is nice. I must ask for the brand before I go. It reminds me a bit of sitting with my own mother's tea party guests when I was small, trying to act all prim and proper." Saffron lowered her voice conspiratorially, "Just between the eight of us, I think my mother despised tea." "Huh?" Scenic echoed. "Oh, she loved tea parties, it was a proper lady's activity, and as she always used to tell me; a lady never shirks her duties. She loved the party and to gossip with her friends, but she just hated tea." Saffron smiled with the recollection, and it would've taken someone in the know, like Prey, to spot the bitter under the sweet. She gently cleared her throat and continued; "Of course, she never told me that. It's only now, thinking back that I've picked up on it. And even then, I would never have guessed if I hadn't seen our butler always getting confused over how the teapot never seemed to be as empty as it should've been. Every time my mother lifted the tea cup in her aura to drink, she was actually secretly magicing it back into the teapot." '-if I wasn't a magical cripple, was Mom going to teach me that spell one day?-' "You had a butler?" Gloom asked, "Were your parents nobles?" "Are still nobles, yes." Saffron admitted, "Just a lesser house though. We only actually had a butler, a maid, and a cook, nothing like the big noble houses, like Fell or Blueblood you're imagining I'm sure." ‘I’m astounded you managed to bear up and didn’t all die from the hardship.' Prey thought, still eyeing the door. "But oh, pardon me, that sounded incredibly stuck up and condescending. I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking. I've still been lucky enough to be born into wealth when so many aren't." Saffron bowed her head. "Oh no don't worry, you're nothing like those other stuck up nobles." Carton Juice hurried to laugh, despite Prey doubting if she'd ever met another noble before to compare Saffron against. Everyone except Prey chimed in, agreeing, "Yeah, you're wonderful. There's nothing to be ashamed of." "You're too kind." Saffron murmured, but she really meant it. '-I really didn't deserve any of the privilege I was born with-' Prey could thoroughly agree. Scenic paused, cocking his ear as a thought occurred to him, "Wait, if you're from a noble house, and your name is Swirl, then your House must be called Swirl. Swirl as in, Star Swirl the Bearded!?" He exclaimed. "Yes-" "What, really? Wow!" "-But only distantly. A second wife of a great great great great great grandson who remarried." "But that's like, uh, still amazing. Starswirl's got to have been the greatest unicorn who ever lived. He's in all the history books at school." Scenic enthused. "The Father of Modern Magic," Carton Juice quoted, just as excited as her coltfriend, "He invented a hundred spells in a hundred days. He's supposed to have even studied magic with Princess Celestia! Not that I've ever been, obviously, but there's a massive gold statue of him over the entrance to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, and, er..." Carton trailed off awkwardly as she finally recalled; '-and Saffron can't ever use magic. What must that feel like to be born as a descendant of Star Swirl himself and not be able to use magic?-' "I had no idea you were a noble, Saffron Swirl. You gave no indication." Crimson commented. "I'm not." Saffron said quietly. "Pardon?" Scenic leaned forwards. "I'm not a noble." Saffron said more loudly, raising her eyes from her teacup.  She put on a smile and gently shook her head, golden ringlets bouncing, "I'm not a noble anymore. I haven't been one for sixteen years now, since I was nine. I have a claim to the name Swirl, but that is it." "Your parents disinherited you?" Scenic spluttered. "Yes," Saffron said simply, still smiling gently, "That is the way of things." "That's terrible. How could they do that?" Carton exclaimed, holding a hoof to her mouth. "Because you've got no magic." Gloom said, putting two and two together, "Ah, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. It isn't my place." "No, you're right. It was because I have no magic of my own." Saffron nodded. "I was told nobles took succession and inheritance very seriously. But I didn't expect things like this actually happened." The second thestral guard spoke up, deep disapproval in the set of her brows and wings. "They didn't throw me out onto the streets or anything like that. And up until I fell into my career as a model, completely by accident mind you, although that's a story for another time, they were still giving me a generous allowance." Saffron felt she had to defend her parents. But it was a poor defence for their actions. '-I didn't want their money. I just wanted them to love me again-', Saffron thought, regretting but also not regretting sharing her past. "Your parents disinherited you at age nine. What happened at nine? They had another foal, didn't they?" Crimson asked. Saffron hesitated, but then nodded. She'd as much as admitted it, after all. "Yes, my baby brother, Vermilion Swirl. A healthy unicorn foal. After his first infant surge of magic, they petitioned the Stable of Lords to have the title pass to him. He'll be turning sixteen later this year." Disowned over a favoured younger brother. It was like something out of a bad story, but it'd really happened to Saffron Swirl. Was this really the day and age they were living in? Apparently it was. It was Carton who summed up what the rest of them were thinking. "That's horrible." A family who'd mistreated their daughter. It couldn't help but remind them all of the reason they were in here in the first place. The more lighthearted mood which'd slowly been returning vanished like a stone into a well. It wasn't that anyone had forgotten about Lilly, but for a moment, they'd been able to laugh about other things and put aside the sad situation. How could they laugh while at the same time Lilly was suffering? But, shouldn't they also try to be upbeat instead of sad? But now they'd all guiltily been reminded. "I'm sorry for sharing all of that," Saffron apologised regretfully, "You didn't need to hear it and now I've gone and made the mood even worse." Depressed thoughts flitted around the group. '-why is everything ending in tragedy all the time?-' '-nothing we do ever seems to work out-' '-how could a pony treat their own flesh and blood like that?-' And then, after Prey was sure the mood was sufficiently dead and everyone would soon quietly leave, Carton Juice abruptly stood up. In her haste, she accidentally bumped the table, and blushed, "Oops. Excuse me, I'm just going to put the kettle back on for a refill. Everypony's tea's gone cold. And after that, I think we could all do with playing a nice board game together." 'Oh no, not this again.' Prey groaned in aggravation.  "A board game?" Crimson repeated flatly, Gloom's expression echoing Crimson's disbelief. Everyone else seemed just as taken off guard. "Yes. I think it's for the best." Carton Juice raised her chin and looked around her living room. She couldn't maintain eye contact with any of the thestrals, but her smile was still optimistic: "I think it's exactly the thing we should be doing. Today's been a real roller coaster, but we shouldn't focus solely on the downs. I'm sure Lilly doesn't want our pity, in fact I'm certain she doesn't. We can't be sad, we've got to help instead. And I think that starts by helping ourselves and not being all gloomy. Er, no pun or offence intended." "None taken." Gloom said. '-well, that was rather more optimistic than I was expecting-' Around the cramped table, people exchanged looks as Carton picked up the teapot with another bright smile. It wasn't the worst suggestion, and it certainly sounded better than sitting here brooding over the depressing unfairness of the world. Gloom scratched at the ragged edge of his chest scar, thought about it, then shrugged his wings, "Okay, I guess I'm game." Saffron Swirl also perked up, smiling, '-when was the last time I thought to play a board game?-' "Well, I do have some time before my manager's double booked me for a magazine interview and a dress fitting, so why not?" Crimson just shrugged and nodded, seeing as how everyone else was staying, and Scenic gave a small whoop of approval. 'No. No. No.' Prey buried his face in his hooves in sheer frustration. Would anything short of murder get him out of here? Scenic was already breaking out and setting up Montrotoly, "Who wants to be the banker?" "I wanna' be the lucky horseshoe." Carton called from the kitchen. ------ Deep in the sewers, down the winding pipes, through the dark twists and turns, the Sewer's Heart continued to swirl with diverted water. In the pitch blackness, the basin was no longer quite as empty as it once had been. The ever moving surface of the flow now rippled with something other than the current, many long and slippery somethings, stretching off down every tunnel in the current. The wickerwatch was steadily growing longer and more tangled every hour of every day. Before, its longest rubbery tendril had reached maybe ten paces. Now, the slippery fronds were stretching over five times that. --- A rat scampered by in one of the dry sections of pipe, its little twitchy nose wiffling. It was young and nimble, and scurried between rows of what were pillars to it. A whip of hooked barbs smacked it into the brickwork with a pathetic little squeak and splat. The morsel of dripping meat on the end of the repaired antenna was reeled in, and deposited somewhere beneath the hemp sacking covering the veropede's head. There was a sewer hatch. It had a keyhole slot for a lever, and through this tiny hole, a thin shaft of sunlight streamed. In the tiny splotch of light, a few straggly strands of grass grew. It was only here, by happy luck, that the required light, water, and trace amounts of dirt had gathered to allow this tiny plant to eke out an existence. Life always found a way. With no sort of warning, prelude, or sound, a hooded head popped out of the wall. It was just there. One second it wasn't, and the next it was. This utterly out of place head surveyed the tunnel, finding it clear. A moment later, a full pony stood in the tunnel, hooded and cloaked, a gilt chestplate with a gleaming blue gem stealing the single thin beam of sunlight. It wasn't the only source of sunlight for long. There was a loud scraping of metal, a clunk, and the hatch was hauled up in a scattering of old dirt. There was no built in ladder, but it wasn't needed. Through this new bright skylight, a bulky upright figure dropped, landing on all fours. Brown, oversized forepaws with huge, albeit stubby and worn claws, pushed the diamond dog upright. They quickly looked about, before loping out of the way and letting a second, then a third and fourth dog drop inside. They were all of different sizes and heritages, one a dalmatian beneath the cloak and another similar to a shaggy bulldog. "Stinks." One of them growled. "It's a sewer. What did you expect?" The pony asked snappishly, eyeing the dark tunnel. "Stinks." The dog repeated again simply. The largest diamond dog, the one who'd dropped through first shook his impressively sized head. One of his ears was missing a bite chunk. "Baliff's right. Stinks. No scent to find." The pony made an unhappy but unsurprised sound, "Well, it was a long shot anyways. But Celestia willing, you might still be able to find what us ponies have missed so far." "Yes," The diamond dog leader's chest vibrated with a deep, base growl, "I will find her. Must find her. Must take our vengeance. Will finally lay their spirits to rest." "Be careful," The hooded unicorn warned, deadly serious, "There could be more of that burning powder that got Centurious, or any number of those magical traps anywhere down here." One of the diamond dogs unconsciously whimpered and touched a swathe of pink burn scar across their paw. Like they'd tried to grab someone burning and pull them free. The leader's shoulders hunched in memory. "Forget? Never. Never forget, never forgive. Find her. Make her pay." The four diamond dogs, plus their replacement phasing unicorn companion quietly gathered themselves, and then cautiously ventured down into the dark of the sewers. There would be no backing down. The tuft of grass, bleached almost white by lack of light, lay uprooted and flattened behind by an uncaring paw or hoof. ---I--- [[[Bonus picture for Halloween - Innocent? Ha!]]]