Fallout Equestria: Old Souls

by Pillbug


Fallout Equestria: Old Souls - Chapter 9: All That Shines

Chapter 9: All That Shines

[On the other side of the bottle cap, I didn’t have any place else pressing to be.]

“WHEEE!”

“There must be something that can be done.”

“WHEEE!”

“Dunno what, though. It’s tricky since you’re basically untrained.”

“WHEEE!”

“I can’t keep fumbling around though. I need a way to do it my way.”

“WHEEE!”

“…”

“You’re thinking it’d be much easier if I just used a gun, aren’t you?”

“WHEEE!”

“NAIARA KNOCK IT OFF!”

“But It’s fuuun.”

On our way to the second of the three Raider groups we were to visit, in our quest to bring the disparate Raider groups in the area under one united banner, we’d stopped on a peaceful, flat rock clearing to address a growing concern.

I still couldn’t fight worth a damn. Not hoof-to-hoof, not with a weapon or a gun, not even with my growing-but-still-weak magic.

I knew all of one spell that required me to be touching my horn to whatever it was I wanted to affect. It was pointless in a fight, if I was that close to an opponent with even basic common sense, I would be finished before I ever got around to casting the Cryo Serpent. Even the name, cool as it was, was thought up by somebody else. Aqua Breeze’s passion for proper nouns provided the name.

Either way, the spell, though capable of reaching great distances… eventually, required a medium that connected my horn to whatever it was gonna freeze, which would be a very rare occurrence. Not to mention my control over the Serpent, once released, was very lacking.

No, it certainly wasn’t combat-ready yet. And neither was I. I needed another way.

I was supremely thankful that basically all the people I considered friends, Wastelanders all, were capable fighters in their own rights.

Well, I guess not Lexi, but she runs a trading company AND is a heck of a medic. She hires the fighters she needs. Still, almost all of them.

Currently accompanying me on my task were two of my closest friends, Bosco and Naiara, an Earth colt and a zebra filly respectively. Even better, though each was capable of defending themselves very capably, they went about it in very different ways.

Bosco was a pure gunfighter. His having travelled the Wasteland for at least six years and survived showed that he had learned the lessons he needed to keep himself alive. Not that he couldn’t get up close, he was pretty good with a knife, but gunfighting was his thing. Usually, he used a pistol. It suited him, it wasn’t flashy but it got the job done just fine and could be relied on.

I’d sought his advice on the matter of self-defence before, though my attempts to learn gunplay had been… less than successful. We had abandoned the attempt after little more than an hour of trying. I’d managed to hit one target… out of sixty.

Back in Stable 61, which I’d called home before being forced into the Wasteland, I’d never even held a gun outside of equally-disastrous once-a-year mandatory training. It just didn’t feel right. Perhaps it was my unicorn blood rebelling, as most magic ponies would simply levitate the guns and fire them from mid-air.

Sadly, I was lacking in that regard, having lost my telekinesis, apparently permanently, after touching a damaged Memory Orb, housing much stronger magic than mine. Whatever other effects the Orb had had on me, the most prominent was the loss of my magic.

Still, I owed it to Bosco to try anything he could suggest. He did so much for me, not just protecting me physically but also assisting me on this and other quests, even if he didn’t agree with the goal, that I couldn’t continue to be a liability when it was time to fight. I didn’t want to kill anybody, but my inadequacy had caused too many deaths already.

Always willing to help, that being the kind of guy he was, Bosco was currently racking his brains to think up a way that I could fight. So far we hadn’t had any breakthroughs.

Which brought me onto my other friend, and currently other combat instructor, Naiara. At least as capable as Bosco, Naiara nevertheless utilised a very different way to fight. She was a pure hoof-to-hoof fighter, though not even close to the kind of gutter fighter you usually see around the Wasteland.

No, Naiara was a zebra combat master, following the doctrine of Stompeii Emboli style. Unlike the more popular Fallen Caesar style, which was based on powerful kicks, Stompeii Emboli fighters incorporated surprise and confusion into their battle; attacking from all angles and orientations, using any and all parts of their body for maximum versatility.

Naiara knew the style inside and out, which was what made her so deadly. It was also what made her capable of the stunt she was pulling at present.

After we’d struggled to think up anything that could work as a combat application of my magic, Naiara had switched to thinking up ways of using it to avoid fights. She’d happily volunteered to try out an idea she had for a fast getaway.

“WHEEE!” She zipped past us again, leaning her body into the circle, her balance allowing her to stay upright while she tightened the curve.

Naiara, not the most serious of fillies, had thought to try to use the slick nature of my ice magic as a means to increase my speed for getaways. The end result was, after several botches tries, magicking up thin sheets of ice to cover the flat bottoms of her hooves. With the surface tension removed, Naiara was finding incredible joy in skating around on the flat ground.

“WHEEE!”

Sadly, her body control and natural grace allowed her to succeed in this stunt, whereas I’d ended up on my face more often than my hooves.

I’d be jealous if it looked in the slightest bit fun. Which it doesn’t! Nope, not at all.

Before this brainstorming session, I’d been fighting with Power Hooves, electrically charged hoof armour which could deliver a more forceful blow than a naked hoof could. Especially useful for fillies and colts like me whoweren’t built like brick outhouses.

Not to say that I was effective with them. I wasn’t. I’m not a natural fighter. Wearing the Power Hooves, I’d lost fights against Earth ponies, Hissyflits, a pegasus, and a griffon. The only victories I’d had were against three sheep-spider hybrids called Tarantubaas and, what had become the prompt for my current drive to improve, a ghoul I’d beaten into paste with assistance from Bosco and a heavy door.

It was the first time I’d ever killed a sentient being. Technically formerly sentient since the ghoul had gone feral long before encountering me, but still…

That’d been a pony once.

I killed a pony.

It was the first time I’d ever killed directly, at least. My actions had brought about death on a far greater scale than a single ghoul, but this was the first time I’d ended a life intentionally. Even the Hissyflit I’d squashed between my two Power Hooves, before one was taken from me by the Neighlway Steel Rangers, was a wild, instinctual act of self-defence.

I’d gone after that ghoul with every notion of putting it down for good.

That thought had kept me awake ever since.

~~~~~~

Sleep didn’t come that night either.

After abandoning the thinking session, due to discovering that Naiara’s icy hooves weren’t going to defrost any time soon, we’d moved on towards the next Raider group, who I hoped to convince to join an alliance with two, possibly three, others. After I’d been reduced to stumbling tiredly, long after dark, we’d called it a night. I’d volunteered to stay on watch, not sleepy even while physically drained.

I waited until my friends had been sound asleep for an hour before silently letting out the tears.

This… this is unforgivable.

My friends hadn’t blinked at killing ghouls. Being a solo Wasteland traveller and a foreigner in a land that thought you unwelcome respectively, they’d always known that killing was necessary to survive.

Not me. I was born to a peaceful existence in Stable 61. There were no enemies inside. You might not like this or that Stable dweller but you never wished them harm. The only deaths were tragic accidents. To commit murder was unthinkable.

I’m not even three weeks removed from that life. Time obviously isn’t the only measure of separation.

It was hard to keep track of what I was grieving about.

The ghoul? A pitiful shell of a pony, already subjected to unimaginable horrors in life, and now having its unlife snuffed out by an intruder upon its home?

Snowflake? Whose comfortable life within the walls of Stable 61 was stolen by Old Equestria, and whose chances to eventually return to it were being constantly taken away?

Red Ice? An image made real, born from a weak mind, and shaped into a ruthless villain without a choice in the matter?

How about my brothers? The best siblings-no, the best people that could ever exist, being cursed with a sister like me? Buff, Al, and Lo deserved better than the pony I was finally revealing myself to be.

I think I might have been wrong about Snowflake.

Perhaps Stable 61 was no shield against the Wasteland, merely shackles to hold in the Old Equestrian instincts within her.

Within me.

I raised my head, eyes still wet, and matched gazes with the Overmare.

I said nothing, so as not to wake my friends. Despite not having seen the Overmare since Whinniepeg, I didn’t really have anything to say to it… her… whatever this was. The real Overmare was safe and sound in the Stable. I was out here because she knew the importance of separating the Stable’s residents from Old Equestria.

For the first time, I got her point. It hurt so much to realise I understood.

Even worse to realise why I understand.

Her face impassive, the Overmare seemed satisfied, though hardly content, to float and stare. No sound came from the older pegasus’ slowly flapping wings.

Expecting scorn, which she had expressed each time I’d seen her since leaving the Stable, it was slightly jarring to simply be stared at. I thought back to the Overmare’s voice from back in the Stable, the first words she’d spoken to me in months.
“Snowflake, what have you done?”

Heh, even my answer is the same as back then.

I’m… not really sure myself, Overmare.

I found myself missing that stern voice of hers. By no means familiar, but nostalgic nonetheless. Everything was so much simpler in the Stable.

All I had to do was let the Orb fall into the chasm. It would have been so easy.

As if reacting to my thoughts, the Overmare across from me slowly shook her head. Her expression stayed flat, making it impossible to discern her meaning. Was I not supposed to think like that? Was I not supposed to do that? Was that never an option at all? Whatever she was trying to say, I didn’t understand.

I can’t understand her actions, but can understand her fear of me.

I can’t use magic, but can conjure ghosts.

I can’t fight, but I can kill.

What I CAN’T do should be done, and what I CAN do, I shouldn’t.

Staring at her, I didn’t know whether to feel cheated or spoiled. The Overmare hardly spoke to me in the Stable. Here in the Wasteland, she’d been the one to point out my failings when I needed it the most.

Like now. Am I doing the right thing with these Raiders, Overmare? I just wanted to show that hate isn’t the only thing they have left, that they could join in the community of the Wasteland. It isn’t perfect but it’s better than what they have. Hell, Raiders being as they are is a big part of what makes the Wasteland so bad, a big part of what makes people not trust each other. Would it be so terrible to change that? To have them work with others instead of fighting with them? Is it worth my doing this?

Is it worth killing for this?

Though staring at me for far longer than she ever had before, the Overmare nonetheless remained silent.

~~~~~~

Morning brought no relief. Still sleepless, I listlessly brushed off any attempt to develop another way to fight. I was just too tired. I needed to rest. Just for a moment. Except every time I closed my eyes, I couldn’t. All my eyelids were good for was blinding me.

My lack of energy seemed to drain some from my comrades too. They soon gave up on trying to include me in conversations or planning, instead simply debating between themselves. Soon even this fell to my overbearing exhaustion, with Naiara excusing herself to scout ahead, becoming visibly more upbeat with each step away from me.

Bosco had implored her to be safe as we watched her go. When she was out of sight, the charcoal colt suddenly rounded on me. “We need to talk, Snow.”

I continued my plodding pace, giving the barest of grunts to confirm I’d heard him. “Hm?”

Uncomfortableness flowed off him in waves. He seemed even worse than when Schwarzwald was teasing him in Hoofshine Harlots. “Naiara was telling me about what happened in Neighlway.”

“Which time?” I deadpanned.

“The last time!” His snapped response surprised me a little, breaking through the fog of fatigue, “I’m worried about the zebra.”

“’The zebra’? Bosco, you’ve been travelling with her for a long time, aren’t we past this?”

“Not Naiara! I trust her. I’m talking about the other zebras, especially that stallion. What was his name? Showed up in armour, got a thing with that techy Pegasus?” Bosco still hadn’t met Breeze. I wondered what he’d think about her, besides ‘techy pegasus’, when he finally did.

“You mean Cept?” My eyes were widening more and more as this conversation went on.

“Yeah, him. I don’t trust him.”

“What? Why?” Cept hadn’t done anything to make Bosco mistrust him. He’d rescued me from Neighlway, flirted with a pretty filly like any normal stallion, and of course Naiara trusted him as a clanmate. What was Bosco’s problem?

He kept glancing around, as if expecting Naiara to return any second. “I just think it’s a little strange that he managed to take down a Steel Ranger and take the armour without anypony knowing about it. Any time Rangers mix it up with somepony, word gets around.”

“I’ve seen him fight, he’s pretty tough.”

“I don’t know anypony who’s tough enough to be able to choose to non-lethally take out a Ranger. Zebra tricks or not.” Naiara wouldn’t like him calling them tricks.

“…Schwarzwald?”

“…Okay fair point. Still, did he mention how he’d gotten the armour, or how long he’d been inside Neighlway before were taken? No offense, but losing Ranger armour camouflage and a back door into Neighlway is a real high price to pay for rescuing one filly.”

Not that that wasn’t true, but still… “Bosco, come on. He saved my life. Naiara grew up with him. If she says he’s alright, isn’t that enough?”

“What about the other zebras? Why are they here in the Wasteland? They know the kind of shit they’ll have to deal with if they get found out here, yet Naiara is walking around without any worries. That got me thinking about what the rest of the clan are up to, Cept included.”

I had to concede that he had a point, but I still didn’t want to think badly about the zebra if I could help it. I’d known too many inside the Stable, plus Naiara was a great friend. I owed it to her. “Zebra aren’t really much different from ponies, or buffalo, or griffons. They’re all just trying to make their way in the world. Don’t forget that the zebra lands got hit by megaspells too. It might be worse over there than it is here. They might’ve just come for a better life, or to do some good. Maybe they want to work to make things better between ponies and zebras, so they can start working together to rebuild. Just look at what Naiara’s been willing to do for us!”

“I already said I trust Naiara. I know what she’s done and is still doing, for you, me, and everypony. I just can’t be like you. I can’t believe that they aren’t working some kind of angle. They’re risking too much in being here.”

“…Will you at least keep an open mind when we see Cept next? And if we ever meet the other zebras?”

He didn’t answer immediately. Or after a few seconds. I saw his expression while he thought it over; the tight lips, creased brow, his grey eyes trying to find all the unseen arguments.

Fully awake now, I was getting genuinely worried that he wouldn’t be able to ever trust Cept or the remaining zebras, which would drive a rift between him and Naiara, maybe forever. “Bosco, you trust Naiara, and you trust me, right?”

“…Mostly. You do make some bad decisions though.”

“I know, but you know I wouldn’t lie about something if it would be dangerous for you, right?”

This time he replied instantly. “Yeah, I know that.”

“Thanks, Bosco. Look, the war’s been over for 200 years. Everybody regrets it, including the zebras. Please don’t ruin what you have with Naiara because of this. Just talk to Cept, and the zebras, if we meet them. Decide for yourself. Don’t let what happened in the past make you do something you’ll regret...”

“Snow… I just-“

“Please, Bosco?”

I must have looked truly pathetic. He relented instantly. “Alright, Snow. I’ll talk to Cept and find out for myself. You’re right. I owe it to Naiara.”

I almost cried again. Bosco was way too nice to be driving himself crazy over what happened long before he was born. I’d never forgive myself if I let this drive him and Naiara apart. They were as good friends with each other as they each were with me. That was rare in the Wasteland, and too good to let go.

I might have to talk to Naiara about this later, to try to smooth things over with her in case it ever slipped out. I couldn’t bear her being upset with Bosco any more than I could him being afraid of her clan.

It’d be like Breeze, Cassie, Wings and Schwarzwald all over again. Breeze and Schwarzwald were on relatively good terms with me, and obviously attached to Cassie and Wings respectively. I hadn’t seen Schwarzwald since the canyon where Wings and I fought, and I hadn’t seen Breeze since she helped bust me out of Neighlway. All because I couldn’t trust Wings and Cassie anymore.

I would do anything I can to stop that happening to Bosco and Naiara. They were both too nice to go through it.

~~~~~~

I still felt tired and unhappy when Naiara returned an hour later with news.

“Okay, we’re not far now, which means we have to be careful. These guys are really different from the Barnstormers. Four Fields’ lot are like most Raiders, take their prize if they can, kill you as a second option,” neither of us disagreed, considering how the Barnstormer scouts had searched our hastily-abandoned campsite to find us, “not these guys though. They don’t seem to care about prizes, they just try to kill anything that moves.”

“You weren’t hurt, were you?” Bosco and I both began checking her for wounds.

She waved us off. “Nah, I’m fine. They never saw me. They’ll shoot at anything, though. Whatever animals were moving in the bushes got shot full of holes.”

“Why? Were they hunting for food?”

“No, that’s the thing. As soon as they were happy that the animals were dead, they turned and walked away. Just left the bodies where they fell.”

That was strange, even for Raiders. I was starting to realise the rationale for Caber Toss’ proposal for a united Raider alliance. These weren’t just separate groups that he was trying to reunite, they were actually completely unrelated communities that he was trying to merge into a single faction. It was like Red Eye and Peanut: They were both slavers, but had nothing to do with each other.

No matter how much Peanut wishes otherwise. He runs his own slaver city and yet he still looks up to another slaver. Why?

So what would a Raider union mean for the Wasteland? While Raiders normally operated in small groups, they would now have the numbers, and organisation, to bring more people along on their operations.

They’d have operations, for one.

Caber Toss had spoken of change for the better, and Four Fields had expressed a slight interest in that too, but still… they’d been Raiding for a really long time. It would take a long time and a strong personality to reform them, if they could be reformed at all.

The ghoul’s corpse sprang, unbidden, to the front of my mind. What was I even doing here? Did I really think I could reform the Raiders? All of them? I’d acted like a complete bitch with my friends just for a few minutes of conversation with Caber Toss and Four Fields. I’d killed with barely a thought, just for this chance.

Really, what possible hope did I have for reforming the Raiders, for steering them away from hate and anger and violence, if I fell into it so easily when around them?

How many corpses would there be if all I did was make the Raiders worse?

Oblivious to my inner doubts, Bosco continued the conversation, relaxed as he could be while close to a probably-hostile force. “So what’s the plan? If we’re not announcing ourselves this time, can we sneak in? Go straight to the boss… um… what was the name?”

Naiara had been with me when Caber Toss provided the information, Bosco had been up on the Lethbridle wall, giving us cover with the city guards. “Undertow. Her group’s called the Deep Divers. Apparently they do salvage of sunken treasure. Heh, Raiders above and below, huh?”

“At least they’re not hurting anybody down there.” I was mostly mumbling to myself, but both of them picked up on it anyway.

Turning to Bosco, the zebra spoke in hushed tones, full of concern. “How’s she doing?”

The charcoal colt shook his head sadly. “Not great. She’s really shook up. You heard her last night, right?”

“…Yeah.”

Oh. They heard me. That’s not good. I don’t want to worry them about this. It’s my problem, not theirs.

I’d have to try harder to maintain my composure. It’d be all too easy to let slip Bosco’s suspicions when I was like this, which would ruin things between him and Naiara.

Digging deep, I forced my eyes open wider and essentially dragged my chin up to a normal, casual angle. I made sure to catch each of their eyes as I did so. They’d been staring at me with worry. “So, if you think it’s the best approach to take, we’ll sneak in. If you think it’s safe, Naiara. You’re the best at this sort of stuff. If you decide it’s too risky, we’ll call off the whole thing.”

Both pairs of eyebrows shot up. “Call it off?”

“We can’t call it off! The Haylanders and Barnstormers’d riot!”

“She’s right! We’re in it now.”

“Are we?” I retorted tiredly, “Are we really? If we just let it all go, what will happen? The Raiders will go back to Raiding, same as they always have. Nothing would have changed.” I didn’t really see the difference either way anymore. Nothing I did was the right decision. I’d be better off just stepping away from Red Ice, and the Raiders, and everything that I had set into motion. I should just stop dragging my friends into trouble and focus on helping them out. I could help Bosco with his Memory Orbs, or Naiara with whatever the zebras might be up to.

It’d be easier. Less complicated. Just follow their lead for a while. They might have killed in self-defence but they were still good people at heart. They’d do the right thing, even if it hurt.

I don’t see any reason why I should keep going with this Raider nonsense.

Bosco did. “Snow, everything’d change. Make no mistake, word’s gonna get out. Red Ice with the Raiders is gonna turn heads. If they go nuts because you pull out, everypony’s going to think it was on your order. You’ll be branded the Raider Queen anyway. You’ll be hunted down, shot on sight. You wouldn’t be safe anywhere.”

Naiara stepped up beside him in agreement, the corners of her jade eyes drooping as she backed him up. “After what you said in Sprinkles Supplies, too many ponies are paying attention, svara. All your actions will be judged on a bigger scale.”

The edge in Bosco’s voice faded to a soft, comforting tone. “If we were gonna stop, we needed to do so at Lethbridle, with Rockhaunch and the guards as witness. They haven’t seen us since. They think we’re going through with it. We wouldn’t be able to get back there fast enough to stop things going to hell.”

Browbeaten by their words, my chin was down again. I felt, more than saw, the hooves rest on my shoulders. Bosco on my right, tough and strong. Naiara, slender and supple, on my left shoulder.

They were warm.

Bosco’s words damned me and my stupidity, made even worse by his gentle, caring voice. “We’re in this until the end, Snow. There’s no other choice anymore.”

…Never the right decision.

“How… how do we reach the chief?” I finally choked out, past the lump in my throat.

Naiara’s hoof squeezed a little tighter. “Atta girl,” she whispered, before launching into her report, “this’ll be easy enough. Mostly these Raiders are based around a boathouse at the start of the water. It’s not far.”

Releasing my shoulder, she began scratching at the dirt, digging out basic shapes to represent buildings. “The big one’s the boathouse, it opens onto the water. Tons of ponies around there, so we can assume it’s where most of the work goes on. I couldn’t see inside.”

We weren’t expecting anything, but her apology shrug showed that maybe she expected more of herself. She pointed at the collection of smaller shapes scattered around the larger ‘building’. “This is the village. Their homes are in better shape than the Barnstormers’ village, but everything’s kinda… rusty.”

“Maybe they’re getting the materials from underwater?”

Another shrug. “Yeah, maybe,” she paused to scratch out more details. It was a building, slightly bigger than the normal house shapes, and surrounded by a semi-circle. It was located a small distance away from the rest of the village. “but this is the important building. I think it’s the boss’ house.”

“What makes you think that?”

Her hoof traced the semi-circle. “See this? It’s like a ridge, or a cove. It’s a big hole in the lakeshore, basically. There’s an overhang, and not as many ways to get to it. I saw the corner of a building in there. It’s a good location for the most important pony.”

“But…” I began, before stopping when they turned in my direction, “no, never mind.”

“Snow, what is it?” It apparently came as a pleasant surprise to her that I was joining in.

“It’s alright, Snowflake,” he was coaxing me like you would a scared foal, “tell us what you’re thinking.”

I felt like the dumbest filly in class on test day. “Um… well… she’s so far from the rest of the village. How would she help them if they were in trouble?”

Despite the oppressive atmosphere, Naiara still was sufficiently amused to turn away and laugh-cough into her hoof.

“Um… they’re Raiders, Snow… they really don’t care that much about other ponies. Remember Four Fields?”

“…Right.” Dejection does a real number on your mental faculties.

Naiara was back with us now. “Sorry, Snow, I shouldn’t have laughed.”

“It’s fine.”

This view was not unanimous. The impatience that’d been building made itself known. “Can we get back to the plan already?”

“Yeah, okay. Anyway, our best bet is still the house in the cove. Even if it isn’t the chief’s house, it’s quiet and out of the way. We can get in, and hopefully out again, without too much of a disturbance. We can do it one of two ways. First off-“

Blinking, she had to break off and shoot a searching stare our way. “You guys… can’t swim, can you?”

“Nope.”

“No, sorry.”

Heaving a sigh and rolling her eyes, as if to say “oh well”, she smiled and continued. “Okay, so now we only have one way to do it. I was gonna say we could go a little further around and swim in the lake until we reached the cove, but you two would never make it before you either drowned or the radiation made you sick.”

“Yeah, about that: How can these guys go diving every day and not suffer from it?”

Tapping her hoof on the dirt map building we thought was the home of the boss, Undertow, the zebra cut off the tangent before it could start. “Let’s ask her when we meet her, shall we?”

“Right, yeah. Sorry, carry on.”

“Since not all of us can swim, we can’t come in from the water below the house. So… we’ll use the ridge above it, and climb down with a rope.” Beaming, she poked triumphantly at the semi-circle under her hoof.

I shared a look with the charcoal colt that all but said, “Can you do that? Because I sure as hell can’t.”

“Um… Naiara?”

“Yes, svara, I know. You two are out of practice with ropes. I’ll oversee everything. It’ll be fine.”

“If you’re sure?”

“Totally. It’ll be fun. Besides, exactly how crazy do you expect Undertow to be, in comparison to Four Fields?”

“…There is that.”

~~~~~~

Just before we crashed through the roof of the cabin, I briefly wondered if learning to swim would have been the better option.

It had started out sensible enough. Bosco would hold the rope on the ridge. Naiara would go down first and check if it was secure. I would follow, then Bosco would bring up the rear when he found somewhere to tie his end onto.

Naiara had crawled down the flaky, cracking rock with little issue, as we’d expected somebody with her abilities and training to do. She’d gotten her hooves safely on the roof of the cabin and given the rope two tugs, which we’d agreed would indicate it was safe for me to follow. In my current state, I hadn’t argued, preferring to trust in my friends, who actually knew what they were doing.

With Naiara holding the bottom steady and Bosco taking the strain at the top, I’d managed to get my shaking hooves all the way down and step onto the cabin roof with Naiara. After a cursory glance around to check we hadn’t been discovered, I gave the first of the two tugs.

The rope had gone slack immediately. Even worse, it began following me down.

I’d turned to Naiara, thinking that Bosco had lost his grip on the rope and wondering how we’d proceed from there.

She’d been looking up at the falling colt above us.

We’d managed a simultaneous “Binn tus-” before Bosco’s barding-covered flank struck.

The rusty, corroded metal of the cabin roof couldn’t hold up to extra weight of a fast-falling colt in addition to the two fillies it was already struggling to support. It gave way instantly and, mercifully, near-silently.

We landed on something ever-so-slightly softer than the floor. We were not even close to silent.

“My horn!”

“My flank!”

“MY BALLS!”

“Bosco, don’t shout!”

“Fuck you, it hurts!”

“Oh calm down, it can’t be that bad. Here, let me take a look.”

“What? No! Get away!”

We all froze as a new voice, liquid-smooth yet laced with irritation, joined the conversation. “Another challenge to my leadership? Fine. You’ve intruded into my territory, I won’t hold back.”

Sheets still draped over her, the unicorn mare, who could only be Undertow, watched from the shadowy alcove that was her bedroom. It was only through the aquamarine glow of her horn that we see anything at all.

Undertow was a mess. Damp locks of turquoise mane hung over her eyes in wet clumps. Her eyes themselves were hidden behind a pair of rubber and dark plastic goggles, obscuring any details. Hanging loosely on an elastic band around her neck was a strange, boxy device, whose function I could only guess at.

Her horn blazed brighter, which revealed an identical colouration for her coat. It also filled the moist air in the cabin with a strange, musty smell.

“Wet pony, just like he said.” Our prior conversation with Caber Toss popped into my head. As Naiara mentioned, he had commented on Undertow’s aroma.

An aroma that was getting stronger. The watery scent increased in intensity rapidly. Our noses were running by the time the aquakinetic mare’s spell revealed itself with a great torrent of irradiated lake water swooping in through the hole we’d made in the ceiling and darting towards me.

In my sleep deprived state, my reflexes, shoddy at the best of times, were nowhere near up to the task of dodging. The funnel of dirty, radiation-filled liquid slammed into my chest, throwing me back into a stained wooden chair, and then over it as it too gave way in the face of the magic assault.

As I crashed to the floor, the possessed stream turned towards Bosco. Still hobbled and bowlegged from the landing, he was not smooth in his motions, but still managed to dive aside at the last moment, scrabbling for his pistol.

Naiara, having recovered from the fall enough to ignore her bruised flank, charged towards the reclining Raider, intent on ending this before she drowned us all in filthy lake water.

Sensing the danger she was in, Undertow called the water back from harassing ponies to focus on driving off the zebra. Small tendrils burst from the main body of the amorphous mass, shooting at high speed towards Naiara.

At least towards where she had been milliseconds before. She was far too agile, and was making great use of her chosen fighting style’s strong points. Ricocheting around the cabin, yet always moving towards the bedroom, Naiara defied all anticipation attempts. Undertow’s eyes, and therefore her magic, simply couldn’t keep up.

When Naiara broke the plane of the bedroom, the Raider gave up all attempts to ensnare my svara and instead drew all the water back, forming a sphere around herself. Naiara’s diving hoofstrike was stopped cold as the hoof sunk slightly into the bubble, before abruptly reversing direction, having been flung back by the liquid barrier.

Bosco, his pistol out and ready, popped off a few shots. The first one was slowed by the water sphere, but still had enough velocity to break through and embed itself in the headboard two hoofwidths away from Undertow’s suddenly widening eye.

The remaining two bullets were swept up into the stream as the sphere began spinning rapidly, the current carrying any attempt to break through away on the tide.

Undertow hadn’t moved since the fight began, and her defence was formidable, but she couldn’t attack and defend against three of us at the same time. We were in a stalemate.

A stalemate that would be broken when her help arrived, while we had none coming.

“Any ideas?” My body was aching from the insomnia, the fall, and being thrown about like a soggy ragdoll. I was hardly at my best. Watching from behind her barrier, Undertow cocked her head to the side quizzically, and her lips moved, but no sound got through.

“I… don’t think she can hear us.” Naiara, who’d landed on her hooves after being repelled, was in far better condition. Only one part of her was wet, the hoof she’d tried to reach Undertow with.

“All the better for us,” the pistol slammed back to readiness as Bosco finished reloading, “because I’ve got an idea.”

The cacophonic noise of swirling water receded slightly. Undertow had magicked up a hole in her shield. “Don’t think you can keep secrets here. This is my territory.”

The earth colt rolled his eyes, a cocky grin on his lips. “I don’t need to say it out loud. My boss has already read my mind,” he turned towards me, smirk still in place, “isn’t that right, Red Ice?”

She reacted to the name, glaring and baring her teeth. “This is MY territory, Red Ice, and you won’t take it from me!” With that the hole in her defence closed.

I ignored her, wondering instead what Bosco had meant. I couldn’t read his mind.

“Naiara, buy us some time.” At the colt’s suggestion, she leapt forward, jabbing and retreating, searching for weak points.

Sure that she couldn’t hear us with her barrier in place, not to mention being thoroughly distracted by Naiara, I tried to make sense of his words.

I drew a blank. “What are you talking about, Bosco?”

Groaning in frustration, he spoke cryptically again, less willing than I was to talk openly, even if he didn’t think she could hear us. “Is the water affecting your brain, Red Ice? Don’t freeze up now!”

Why the hell is he talking like that? It’s like he’s getting stuck on certain words, and has to work harder to pronounce them. I mean, it’s not like they’re difficult. Two syllables, tops.

“Come on! My balls hurt too much for this crap. Red Ice… FREEZE THE FUCKING SHIELD!”

Bosco looked like he wanted to strangle me, at least when he could walk straight again. So did Naiara. So did Undertow, but she didn’t count.

I felt like doing it too. I am the dumbest filly in class.

My horn blazed as I charged towards the Raider, whose shield was completely occupied with defending against continuous zebra hoofstrikes, backed up with pistol shots.

I needed to be touching the shield for this to work. Luckily, my two friends provided me an opportunity. Bosco’s latest bullet was caught in the swirling sphere at Undertow’s eye level. The lead projectile’s speed within the circuit basically turned it into a blindfold. As I got within one step of the shield, its velocity dropped to nothing, slingshotting the bullet back out again, right through the gap between Naiara and I, which I would deal with later. Right now, I had a golden opportunity.

Dipping my horn into the sphere, as if to test the water in a bathtub, I fired off the cryo spell, not even making an attempt at forming the serpent or any other shape. I just let it spread across all the water it could. The moisture in the air grew crisper as more of the lake blob was consumed.

Within seconds the sphere was solid almost all the way around. Undertow shrieked soundlessly and bolted backwards, splashing through the last little window of liquid before it hardened after her.

Before she could even make her horn light up again, all three of us had her pinned, Bosco’s knife at her throat, and my horn glowing coldly.

“Hi,” I breathed out through my sniffling snout, wet and exhausted, “I’m Red Ice. Can we talk?”

~~~~~~

Under guard from Bosco’s pistol and Naiara’s… Naiara, Undertow obediently rolled the now-frozen water sphere out of the cabin and down to the lake. She did this by hoof, having been warned that any glow from her horn would trigger a swift, hoof-y, bullet-y reaction.

When the door closed behind the three, I collapsed against the damp bed, sucking in deep breaths and struggling to keep my eyes focused. Magic was taxing for me at the best of times, attempting a spell after two sleepless nights, not to mention a bad fall and a frantic battle, had left me feeling incredibly weary.

The one good point, that I clung to tighter than a tarantubaa cocoon, was that I hadn’t had to kill Undertow, or any of her Deep Divers.

None of them even showed up to see what the fuss was all about. Might be something we need to address…

...Later. Just gonna sit here for now. That sounds good.

I closed my eyes, but didn’t sleep. Still, the few minutes rest I managed to get brought my heart rate down and had me breathing a little easier. I didn’t even notice the door opening.

Naiara’s voice caught my attention. “Hey! Inside, now.”

Concerned, I opened my eyes to see a tense zebra and colt gesturing angrily at the mare outside. Undertow was meekly shaking her head in response. “I cannot. The cabin is not my territory anymore. I won’t intrude upon another’s territory.”

“Wa ah yuu tokin abow?” Talking around your gun was tricky, it seemed.

She understood the gist, at least. “Deep Diver law. You must be able to defend what your claim. I couldn’t defend my cabin when you intruded, so it belongs to the one who defeated me: Lady Ice.”

Unable to help herself, even as my eyes were rapidly widening, Naiara burst out laughing. “PWAHAHA! Lady Ice! That’s priceless.”

Using the bed to climb back to standing, I ignored the protests of my leaded limbs long enough to voice my surprise. “What do you mean it’s mine? And don’t call me Lady Ice.”

Subserviently lowering her head, she spoke again in her calm-like-water voice. “What would you prefer I call you, mistress?”

This time both my friends were laughing. It was probably still possible to hear my grinding teeth over the top, though. “Not. That. Ugh, fine, Lady Ice, whatever. Just get inside,” I glared at the chuckle brother and sister, “that means all of you.”

Her posture, non-aggressive as it was, still seemed to relax slightly. “I am invited?”

“That’s what I just said, now come inside.”

Bowing simply, the turquoise-and-blue, goggled mare moved through the door, still under my friends’ watch… even if they still hadn’t stopped laughing.

Arranging ourselves in a triangle, with Undertow in the centre, I wondered at the strange situation we found ourselves in. For some reason, the moment she lost the fight, this Raider seemed to have surrendered in every sense of the word.

She can’t really be just giving me her house, can she?”

“Undertow, what do you mean when you say this is my territory now?”

“It was mine, and now it is yours.”

Bosco and Naiara weren’t laughing anymore. Instead, they were listening closely. “But why?”

Nothing changed in her expression, what little of it we could see with those goggles covering her eyes. “It is the way of the Deep Divers, which I started.”

Oh yes, my friends were very serious now. “You? You started this Raider group?”

She faced the colt evenly as she responded. “Oh, they have taken to calling us Raiders? I see.”

Naiara, still within easy striking distance, instead sat back in confusion. “You’re not?”

She simply shrugged. “It is unimportant. I simply wanted to be left alone. I came upon this lake and felt… at peace here. My special talent revealed itself soon after.”

I glanced surreptitiously at Undertow’s haunches. Droplets splashing into ripples graced her flank. The show she’d put on before with her magic had been clue enough about her abilities with water, this just confirmed it.

“So you came to the lake… how did that lead to the Deep Divers?”

“My peace was short-lived. Others came, perhaps Raiders, perhaps not, either way, they wanted to claim my territory for themselves… to claim me. I killed them.”

She looked towards the lake, sighing. “Still more came. I killed them too, at first. When I had an entire lake as my weapon, I couldn’t be defeated… until today, at least. But soon came more agreeable companions, who wanted what I did: To be left alone to live the life we chose. I allowed them to live on the shores of my lake in exchange for their assistance when I explored its waters.”

“So it’s true,” we were all hanging on her words, “you really do go under the water. Why hasn’t the radiation in the lake killed you?”

“It has claimed many Deep Divers in the past. The water does not accept them as it has me.” She spread her hooves, indicating her body, “I was told, shortly before I left to find my peace, that as an infant, I had briefly been exposed to Taint-filled water. Since then, radiation in water has left me unaffected.”

At the mention of Taint, though it meant nothing to me, the others had leaned away slightly. “You’re immune to radiation?!”

“No, not entirely. However, when in contact with water, I do not absorb it. On land, I am as vulnerable as any other pony.” The pseudo-Raider paused to brush the possibly-eternally damp mane from before her goggles.

“What’s Taint?” I asked, confused by the reactions of the Wastelanders.

“Pre-war goop, cooked up by the Ministry of Magic,” it was somewhat ironic that Naiara, the only non-pony present, proved the most knowledgeable about this, “messes you up bad, even worse than radiation. It can’t be cured with Radaway or anything else either. Whatever it does to you, if it doesn’t just kill you, is permanent.”

“Are… are we in danger?”

“Fear not,” replied Undertow, “while I have lost my cabin, the lake and its surroundings, are still my territory. If there were Taint here, I would know it. There would be signs.”

Looking from one to the other, they offered no more insight on the new danger. “Oookay. Sorry for interrupting, Undertow, please continue.”

She bowed in thanks. “The Lady Ice is kind. As I was saying, my waterborne immunity to radiation allowed me to explore the depths of the lake and bring its treasures to the surface. Those who would later come to be called Deep Divers were permitted to stay here, so long as they assisted me. For years now, I have dived and retrieved, and they have gathered and repaired. Recently, we discovered and renovated pre-war equipment that would allow other ponies to join me in the water, though with nowhere near the efficiency of my natural immunity, combined with this.” Proudly, she flicked the boxy gadget around her neck.

“What is that?” First the gear at the ghoul facility, and now whatever this is. I should have brought Breeze on this Raider hunt. She’d love it.

Tapping it back and forth with her hooves, she smiled. “I do not know its official name, but I found it, along with my wonderful goggles, when I first entered the boathouse from the water. I lacked the strength to break the land-side lock by myself, the Deep Divers became who they are when they performed that task for me. Regardless, I call this device a Rebreather. It contains an air talisman, allowing me to breathe under the lake. This means, provided I have the strength, that I can stay under for as long as I wish.”

“Do you have more? You said that other ponies started diving with you.”

The thought was not a welcome one, as her face instantly darkened. “No, which is a growing problem. Their equipment is older, and not as durable. Still, their dive apparatuses do function well enough that they do not rely upon me as much to dive. This has led to my current situation. Do you recall the first thing I said to you?”

I was halfway through my ‘no’ when Bosco and Naiara replied in the affirmative. I chose not to finish. Sighing, Undertow expanded on her question. “I mistook you for Deep Divers, come to again challenge me for my territory. I fear that they are angered by my guidelines, and seek to get rid of me. It may even be these guidelines which have caused us to be considered Raiders.”

She is the least angry Raider ever. “What do you mean?”

“Every Deep Diver is welcome to claim, and defend, their territory. Not just welcome, but obligated to. If a pony is invited onto a Deep Diver’s territory, that Deep Diver maintains absolute authority over all within, but must not allow the invitee to come to harm, which is why I am glad to be invited into your cabin, Lady Ice.”

As I rolled my eyes, she continued undeterred. “Still, if a pony is not invited, but instead intrudes, the Deep Diver must either forgive them, and have them leave, or punish the transgression. The punishment must be enacted, even if the intruder has left the territory. Perhaps Deep Divers, out of their territory, have drawn ire through their punishing of other ponies. This behaviour might be misconstrued.”

“Tch, they’re still killing other ponies for a stupid reason.” Scoffed Bosco, unimpressed.

Undertow didn’t even bat an eyelid at his casual dismissal of her established rules. “So, now you know how the Deep Divers live, Lady Ice. I submit to your authority while within this cabin, your territory. You cannot allow me to come to harm, if the other Deep Divers make a new attempt on my life, even if we are fortunate enough that they have not heard the commotion you caused. What will you do now?”

“Uh…”

“Sn… Red Ice,” Bosco hissed, anxiety in his tone, “a word, please?”

“R-right.” I stared hard at the not-really-Raider, “Please get on the bed. I’ll be with you shortly.”

Flushing slightly beneath her goggles, the waterlogged mare rose, and daintily stepped past me. Naiara’s knowing smirk stayed fixed in place as we moved to the other end of the cabin, hopefully out of earshot.

“Umm… what now?”

Their faces betrayed the awkwardness of the situation. “Well… kinda looks like we won’t be bringing the Deep Divers to the table. At least, not with Undertow in charge.”

“Yeah, seems like she won’t be around for too long. We should probably get out of here before we get caught up in the trouble.”

Aghast, I sat open-mouthed at their callousness. “Guys! We can’t just let her die!”

“Haa…” supreme, yet unsurprised, frustration laced all of that exhalation. “Alright. Why not this time?”

I wish they wouldn’t be so flippant about this stuff. It shouldn’t be a chore to NOT want somebody to die.“She isn’t a Raider! She hasn’t done anything wrong. She just wants to be left alone.”

“But if we leave her here, she’ll die.” I couldn’t tell whether Bosco meant that as a warning, or if he was indicating that the problem would solve itself.

“Yeah, you kinda took her house... then invited her to bed.”

“Dammit Naiara, it’s not funny!”

“It’s pretty funny.”

“Bosco!”

“So what then, Snow?” He snapped back, “If we’re not leaving her here, on her own, are we gonna fight the rest of the Deep Divers? That would also not solve the problem. Then we’d have her but no group to bring. Plus she’s not so great away from water.”

“Why not ask her?” Naiara’s question instantly shamed me for ignoring the wishes of the pony who, regardless of what she said, still owned the house we were standing in.

“Thanks, Naiara. You’re right. Let’s ask her.”

Our conversation over, we turned back to the bedroom, to where Undertow was reclining on the sheets. She perked up as we approached. “Are you ready to begin, Lady Ice?”

“No.” I was going to make that clear from the get go.

She crossed her hooves in front of her, worried. “Am I not to your liking?”

Snickering erupted behind us, but I ignored it. “That’s not it, you look fine. But I wanted to talk to you about why we came here.”

“To the lake?” Sensing that things weren’t going to go the way she thought they would, at least not for now, she drew herself back into a sitting position and drew the covers around her.

“Yeah. See, we’re kinda on a mission to go round to the different Raider groups in the area, and try to get them to join into an alliance.”

“They even want to make her their queen.” Naiara’s contribution came out between giggles and gasps.

Undertow just nodded. “A wise choice. Lady Ice is strong.”

“Right, whatever.” I’m really not. “What I want to know is your thoughts on the matter, as leader of the Deep Divers.”

“I may not hold that title for much longer. With the new equipment and the theft of the diving lights, the others are not happy with my authority.”

A shared look with Naiara and Bosco confirmed that there was some new information there. “Wait, what diving lights?”

Blinking, she flushed again and lowered her head. “I thought I had mentioned this. I am sorry, Lady Ice, I did not wish to deceive you. Please forgive me, my thoughts were too much on my mortality.”

My heart skipped a beat. ‘Mortality’ conjured up the image of that dead ghoul, those first dead Raiders I’d fought with Bosco, Wings and Schwarzwald, the Molar Bear, and even the Hissyflit I’d crushed. Too many deaths. “What do you mean, your mortality?”

I don’t think I’d ever seen a more heartbroken pony as I saw her at that moment. “With this lake as my weapon, I thought myself unbeatable. So much water that leaps and dances and crushes and chokes at my command. No matter how many times the usurpers tried to topple me, the lake would always leave me victorious.”

She sighed. It was a deep, shuddering breath, heavy and melancholic. Without looking at me, she continued. “And then you came. Not to challenge me at all, but instead to offer a new path. Yet I followed the guidelines I have always followed, wielding all the power I have here, and still you bested me. If the Deep Divers discover this, they will not stop until I am dead.”

“She said ‘the Deep Divers’, not ‘the other Deep Divers’.” Naiara’s whispered observation made me double-take.

I don’t have the heart to tell her that it was Bosco’s idea to freeze the water. Not that he doesn’t deserve the credit, but if she found out that somebody as weak as I managed to win, it’d crush any hope she has left.

“So what now? What do you want, Undertow?”

“What I always have,” she spoke softly, quietly, still looking at the floor, “to be left alone with my lake. But I do not think that will be possible anymore.”

My heart was breaking, and the pain was unbearable. I’d done it again, dragged another pony into my collapsing mess.

She just wanted to be left alone.

“Isn’t there anything we can do? The… the diving lights? What are they?” I was desperate, grasping at straws, anything to ease her suffering and get me away from her sooner.

“The diving lights are magic spheres. They give off such a penetrating light when active. It is not bright, but seems to pierce the murky depths. It lights the way when we dive. They are very strange magic. When activated, it is like I am not myself, but another pony entirely. The world inside the light is so very different from our own.”

She laughed, for the first time since I’d met her. Her laughter was beautiful, bubbly and soft, and it broke through her unhappiness for a moment. “I always enjoyed it within the lights. Such visions.”

That sounded familiar. Bosco seemed to have had the same idea. Reaching into his pack, he drew out three shiny balls. “Undertow, did they look like this?”

Gasping, she bounced off the bed and was before the charcoal colt in an instant. Her permanently damp mane slipped forward and slapped wetly against his forehead. “YES! Oh how did you find them? Did you see the thief? He is horrible, isn’t he?”

Perturbed, Bosco drew his head further back. “Sorry, Undertow, but these aren’t your diving lights. They’re called Memory Orbs. They store ponies’ memories from before the war. That was what you were seeing in your ‘diving lights’.”

“Memory Orbs? Then the ponies who I was, and saw… they were real?”

“A long time ago, yeah.”

She flushed bright scarlet. “Oh my.”

It was clear what kind of memories she’d seen in the Orbs. I hoped she’d come with us, at least so that there was another unicorn who could verify the memories inside. “What did the thief look like? Did you get a good look at him?”

Dejection flowed off her as she shook her head, briefly dislodging her mane from her goggles. “I did not. He invaded the boathouse, where the diving lights are stored, and made off with them. The guards that evening gave chase,” she brightened for a moment, “they did mention his accent was from a place called Lethbridle, and something about a ‘gool’. Does that mean anything to you, Lady Ice?”

Stepping forward, I put a hoof on her shoulder, like Naiara and Bosco had done to me the night before. “It does. Thanks to you, we have a place to start looking. If we help you get your Memory Orbs back, will that be enough to dissuade the Deep Divers?”

Timidly, she opened her mouth a few times, looking at each of us in turn, not managing to speak until she finally looked back to me. “Y-yes. It should suffice. I am the only pony here who can use the diving lights. If I return with them, they will not risk attacking me.”

“Great!” Sighing in relief, I gave her as genuine a smile as I’d felt in days, feeling like I was doing something worthwhile for a change. “Do you want to come with us to find the Orbs, I mean ‘diving lights’? Or stay here while we go?”

“I… I do not want to leave my lake, but it is not safe here for me.” She demurely sidled closer to me, “If I may come with you, out there, to your territory… will you protect me, Lady Ice?”

“BWAHAHAHAHA!”

“DAMMIT YOU TWO!” The chuckleheads were really getting their money’s worth with this trip.

Shocked by my sudden roar, Undertow had retreated from me. I gave her another hopefully-reassuring smile. “Yes, Undertow. I promise, by Deep Diver law, to protect you within my… territory.”

Beaming, the not-so-Raider begged my leave to gather a few supplies for the journey. As she did so, I silently fumed at the thoroughly amused colt and zebra.

~~~~~~

“Well hey there, Snowflake, ya got a bunch of friends with ya today.”

I smiled back easily. I loved it here in Sprinkles Supplies. Fedexi Lexi always seemed to lift my mood. “Hey boss, we’re not staying long. Just wanted to see if we can trade a few caps for some barding for Undertow.”

The frizzy maned purple unicorn winked at all of my friends in turn. Only Naiara returned it, having been here before. “Howdy Naiara, now which one o’ the other two’s Undertow?”

I stepped aside and allowed a better look at the Deep Diver, who’d stuck close to me the entire trip so far. “This is Undertow.” I turned to the pseudo-Raider, giving her a quick smile and a gentle nudge forward, “Come say hello to Fedexi Lexi. She runs Sprinkles Supplies. Maybe you can talk to her about all your salvage.”

Instantly the older unicorn was all ears. “Salvage?”

Undertow still seemed reticent, but took some strength from my encouragement. “H-hello, Lady Lexi.”

Sprinkles Supplies medic, and CEO, howled with laughter. “Lady Lexi? Kid, I ain’t been a lady fer years. Ain’t you a little sweetie though? Come on, we’ll get you all gussied up.”

“Um… Lady Ice-“

“She’ll be right here when ya get back, ain’t that right, Snowflake?”

“Absolutely, boss. I’ll be right here waiting. Don’t worry, Undertow, Lexi heals ponies, she won’t let anything happen to you here. I promise. This is her territory.”

The orange-mane medic draped a hoof over the shoulder of the goggled filly, leading her towards a back room. “I’ve got a few sets of gear here in the back that might suit you, but first tell me about this salvage…”

With one final look in my direction, the turquoise-topped water wielder vanished through a set of double doors.

My two remaining friends and I headed for the bar. Piling into a booth, Bosco went for drinks. As he exchanged a few words with the barkeep, Naiara looked around for a washroom, voicing her thoughts as she did. “You sure she’ll be okay? Undertow, I mean. She’s pretty sheltered.”

“She should be, so long as this doesn’t drag out. She does lead a group of ponies after all, even as they try to kill her.”

“...And are you sure you wanna take her back to all that?”

“Am I sure I wanna take her back? It’s her decision.”

A knowing look showed in Naiara’s jade eyes. “Yeah but you’ve plenty of influence with her already. You heard her; you beat her on her home turf-“

“WE beat her. Not just me.”

“Yeah but you’re the one she’s all kinds of taken with. I can’t decide whether she’s looking to have you as a marefriend or a big sister.”

“WHAT?!”

“Oh you can’t have missed it!” She scoffed and put on a rough approximation of Undertow’s liquid voice, “ ‘Am I not to your liking?’ ‘Lady Ice is strong.’ ‘Will you protect me, lady Ice?’”

“I… I…” What could I say to that? I never intended anything like that! “I just wanted her to be okay. She got swept up into another of my mess-ups. I should fix it for her.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time you tried this sort of thing.” Having retrieved the drinks, and apparently caught the tail end of the conversation, Bosco slid into the booth.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You find way too many ponies who need help; Vorbis, Contego, you wanted to help all Raiders in general at first, Naiara-“

“Not a pony there, Bosc.”

“Right, sorry. Ponies and zebras.” He tapped his chin, “Who else?”

The not-a-pony continued the list. “Breeze, probably her sister too, and now Undertow. You’ve got a thing for helping ponies... and zebras.”

“So I want people to be happy, and I help if I can. What’s your point? Would you rather I be out there killing more people?” I swallowed the gulp of suddenly-bitter drink.

Bosco took a swig of his own drink, fighting back a cheeky grin. “Nah, no real point. Just thinking that you’re basically as dumb as when I met you, is all.”

“Yeah, that.” Naiara took a long suck on her straw. She didn’t seem to like holding the glass in her hooves. “And what’s going on with this place? Fedexi Lexi another of your little lost ponies?”

I was glad of the follow up, it let me ignore the comments about my intelligence. I already knew I wasn’t clever. “Lexi? No no no. All I’ve done for her is show her Contego’s patch while she healed me up, after Cassie shot me through the hoof.”

Bubbles rocked Naiara’s drink as she choked on the straw. “When was this?”

“After Plottawa, when you guys went back to get the stuff. I came down south. Met Cassie and Breeze, we fought, I got away, but Cassie nailed me through the leg in the process. She did say sorry later.”

“Ah well, that makes it all better then… you dummy.”

“Yeah yeah, so after I washed up here and got healed up, I took on a supply run to Grindstone to look for you two, and the twins ended up on the same run. They were on my side that time, but took off hallway through. I came back here after Neighlway and told Lexi.”

My nose went a little higher into the air. “She appreciated my coming back even after getting taken by the Rangers. Offered me the twins’ share of the pay, but I just took mine. Figured she’d need it since the Rangers were getting more active, and with what happened at Grindstone…”

Naiara quieted, staring into her drink for a moment, “Yeah…”

A hoof clipped my horn painfully, before flicking Naiara’s ear harshly.

“OW! What the hell, Bosc?” Her ear was rubbed tenderly as she frowned at the suddenly violent charcoal colt.

He frowned right back. “I do it to Snow and I’ll do it to you. Don’t go getting into your own head too much. Never takes you anywhere good.”

If only you knew. I remembered the last few sleepless nights, when he wasn’t awake to tweak my horn. The Overmare’s silent disapproval… the battered ghoul…

Two limbs, one grey and the other striped, went for my horn this time, but I was still aware enough to pull back before they hit. “Nope, not again.”

“Well stay with us then, Snow.”

“Yeah, bodyguard’s orders, Red Ice.”

“DON’T… call me that, you two.” I tried to find the words to make them understand just how much I didn’t want that name right now.

“… Lady Ice?”

Oh come on! Quickly quashing that thought, I turned to the two returning unicorns.

Undertow was dressed in full guard gear, including some light padding inside the fabric for at least a little protection. Lexi mostly dealt with grey gear, but she’d managed to sort out a russet brown set for Undertow, which complimented her blue coat and turquoise mane quite nicely. It also hid her rebreather under the collar. “Hey, look at you. It suits you.”

She flushed a little. “Thank you, Lady Ice. Lady Lexi has been very kind.”

“Fer a good li’l girl like you? No problem. ‘Lady Ice’ is still payin’ though.”

I smiled and dumped the same caps she’d given me onto the table. “Sure thing, boss, take what I owe you, and enough for a drink for the two of you. You’ve got time, right?” I found myself quite hopeful that she did. Lexi was one of the few people in the Wasteland that I always wanted to see.

Counting out the caps, the orange and purple mare ushered Undertow into the booth next to me, then headed for the bar, already calling out for a whiskey and, “Something sweet fer the kid.”

As Undertow brightened next to me, Naiara spoke in a song-song voice. “Somepony has a new mo-mmy.”

“Knock it off, Naiara,” I chided, “I’m not anybody’s mommy.”

I swear, I thought her smile was going to tear out the sides of her face. “I didn’t say you were the mommy.”

~~~~~~

Once again twinning Bosco’s hue as a disguise, Naiara unhappily scratched at the itchy body paint covering her side. “Ugh, I hate this place.”

Trotting primly beside her, Undertow blinked owlishly. “It is very different from the lake. There is not much water for me, but why do you dislike it, Naiara?”

Suddenly grinning, the disguised zebra was smirking in the corner of my eye. “No ‘Lady’ for me, huh? I’m so jealous, Lady Snow.”

Lethbridle was not the place for Red Ice worship. I’d asked Undertow to avoid referring to me as ‘Lady Ice’ while we were here, instead preferring that she call me Snowflake. She had been reluctant not to use an honourific.

‘Lady Snow’ was the compromise.

Because Lady Flake just sounds stupid.

“Anyway,” Naiara continued, “this place isn’t too friendly to equines with black and white coats. That’s why I don’t like coming here. I have to wear this itchy body paint.”

“Ah, of course.” She nodded in understanding, “That is a pity. You are very pretty, and it is a shame that you have to hide yourself here.”

Pausing for a second to gape at the Deep Diver, Naiara suddenly swept her up in a tight hug, squeeing. “She’s so adorable!”

Undertow squeaked as she was hugged back and forth, while me, Bosco, and half the crowd looked on in varying states of amusement.

Faceless calls of “Kiss her!” and “Smack ‘er flank!” was all the jeering that I needed to jump in and break up the hug. “Come on you two, we’re here for a reason, remember?”

“Yeah, listen to your big sister.” was the little delight that the male quarter of our entourage chipped in with.

Ignoring him, I took both girls by the hoof and dragged them away, drawing boos from the crowd. Bosco followed along, chuckling.

Stepping into a quiet alcove, Naiara spoke first. “So do we know where to start looking? Snow? ‘tow? ‘co?”

Was that rhetorical? It’s hard to tell when she’s looking that damn pleased with herself.

Staring back out into the milling crowd, my newest acquaintance gave a tentative reply. “I do not have any idea where to begin. This place is so loud, with so many ponies everywhere. How will I find one ‘ghoul’ amongst this chaos? How does anypony manage here? The city’s master must be very capable.”

That got me thinking. “Hey Bosco, who does run Lethbridle? I mean, Chief Rockhaunch leads the guards, but is there an Overm-I mean, Overseer?”

“Why’re you asking me?”

“You’ve been here the most. It’s Undertow’s first time, Naiara’s hardly gonna be an expert, and I’d never seen the place before you brought me here a few weeks ago.”

He made a face. “That hardly makes me an expert on the movers and shakers here. I dunno who runs the place. Why don’t we just go see Rockhaunch, like we usually do?”

He answered his own question when all of us, besides a confused Undertow, surreptitiously glanced around to make sure we were safe. Neither Snowflake nor Red Ice were welcome in Lethbridle while on our Raider-unification mission, and I’d already seen firsthoof that not all the guards saw me as Li’l Stronghead, the nickname the Chief had thought up for me after I greeted him in the traditional Buffalo manner… a headbutt.

A little more sadness heaped onto the pile within me, dragging me down even more. “While we’re working with Raiders, he won’t see us. I doubt we’re even supposed to be here. We only really got in because the guards spent the entire time looking at Naiara.”

Embarrassed, she rubbed the back of her head with a hoof. “Eh heh heh.”

“Then who else is there? Who’s gonna know about ghouls?”

That was a good question. I thought back to the first time I’d met a ghoul, right here in Lethbridle. The bastard stole my gun, I keep forgetting to check whether Bosco still has that, and made off with it. I still had my Pipbuck back then, so we could track him. When we found him, I really wasn’t expecting what I saw. He, at least I believed it was a he, was a ravaged husk of a pony, miraculously still sane after all these years of life. Having lived through the end of Old Equestria itself, he was older than basically anybody alive today.

And for some strange reason, he decided to become a thief. You’d think he’d be better off, since he could tell people what life was like back then. Or were they like me, scared of him because of his mutations?

Wow, that doesn’t really make me sound too good now does it? Onto the pile goes that thought too.

Following on the thought’s heels was another, much more useful notion. “Say, Bosco, what about that ghoul we met when we were here? I mean, he stole from us, he might’ve stolen from Undertow too?”

“Yeah, I’ve been waiting for you to get there since Undertow first mentioned it.”

I stared at him, unimpressed.

He stared back, barely holding in a grin.

I decided to borrow a page from his book, and whapped him upside the head with my hoof.

“Ow, dammit!”

“You deserved it!”

“Well… maybe, but still… you put your friggin’ weight behind that one. Seriously, ow!”

The two onlookers turned to each other. “Lady Snow and Bosco… are friends, are they not?”

“Oh yeah. This sometimes happens between friends. When it does, just go ahead and laugh.”

“Naiara, don’t tell her that!” I scolded the zebra, who just rolled her eyes. I wagged a hoof in warning to the other unicorn. “Don’t hit your friends, Undertow, even if they do deserve it… and don’t laugh about it either.”

“Yes, Lady Snow.” She tried to keep her eyes on me, but they drifted towards Bosco, who was tenderly rubbing his bruise.

“…”

~~~~~~

We’d moved to the market district where we’d first encountered the ghoul thief, in the hope that he kept the same hunting grounds as before. Naiara and Bosco were at each end of the high street, keeping watch for anything suspicious. I waited in the middle, under the same tree I’d been standing that day, with Undertow by my side. The filly was still looking all around, idly levitating little tufts of snow to pass the time.

“Lady Snow?” Or so I thought.

“Yeah, Undertow?”

“Can you tell me more of this Raider mission you keep referring to? I would like to help if I can.”

Problem being, I’m less and less sure I want you anywhere near it. “Well, the story actually starts a few weeks ago, long before I was even offered the job. You see, I was not long out of my Stable… do you know what Stables are?”

She nodded, only the aquamarine glow of her horn visible under her hood. “I have heard tell of them. They are giant underground bunkers which ponies fled to when the bombs fell from the sky, correct?”

“That’s basically it, yeah. Anyway, I was only a day or two out of the Stable, and Bosco and I were on our way here to Lethbridle, it was my first time coming here… or anywhere, really. I’d lived in the Stable for all my life until then.”

“Why did you choose to leave?”

I didn’t. “That’s for another time. As I was saying, we had stopped in a broken down play area for a rest, when we were attacked by Raiders. Bosco and I, with… some help,” for another ‘another time’, "fought off the Raiders. We killed a lot of them. I… didn’t take it well. I still don’t. But it got me thinking about Raiders, and why they act the way they do. Then, when another group approached me with this mission, to help the Raiders, and maybe help them change for the better, I decided to take it, to see if I could make up for what I’d done.”

She was quiet for a while before responding. “You mourn them? Despite the fact they attacked you?”

Blowing out a suddenly heavy breath, I nodded as my eyes began to moisten. “Yeah, of course. I’ve… been in the Wasteland long enough to kill people, lots of people, but not long enough to be okay with that.”

I lapsed into my memories for a moment; The Raiders at Snow Pegasus Park, the slavers that Naiara killed outside of Plottawa, the buffalo at Grindstone… that poor ghoul…

With my senses turned inward, I jumped when I felt Undertow cozying up next to me. Surpringly, given the morbid topic we’d been discussing, she was smiling. “Lady Snow is very kind, to care so much about those who others forsake.”

I’m really not. I did briefly wonder whether she was talking about herself in that group, but couldn’t think about it for long, as the others both showed up at that moment. Thankfully, they didn’t comment on my proximity to Undertow, but that only served to highlight their serious visages.

Nudging the other unicorn, I waited for them to explain.

“We think we saw him.”

I perked up immediately. “Where?”

Both cocked their heads back towards the throng. “He’s been here for a little while, walked from one end to the other and back again. Probably looking for his next target.”

“And you’re sure it’s him?”

Jaw set, Bosco grunted an affirmative. “Pretty sure. He’s wearing the same stuff. So unless he’s traded off with another ghoul…”

“… Then it’s probably him. Great job guys.”

Naiara was getting excited, the waiting and watching hadn’t agreed with her. “So how do you want to play this? Wanna just jump him and drag him to a quiet spot?”

I shook my head vehemently, my recent actions weighing heavily on my conscience. I needed to do better, and that meant doing things the right way, not the Raider way.

And definitely not the Red Ice way. “Let’s try talking to him first. We have to be sure that he’s the guy who took Undertow’s lights. I don’t want to go beating up an innocent ghoul for no reason.”

Exasperated, Bosco scuffed the ground with his hoof. “He’s still a thief, Snow, not exactly innocent.”

“He’s might be innocent this time, Bosco. It’s not up to us to pass judgement on anything more than that.”

“Tch. Lady Snow is so very kind.” The inference was very different to Undertow’s statement.

“I’m sorry, Bosco, again. I just…”

“I know what you ‘just’, Snow,” he blew out a cleansing breath from his snout, “it’s okay. This time, at least. We outnumber him, and I don’t think he’s armed. He wasn’t last time, since he tried to shoot us with the gun he stole. We’ll play it safe, but… we don’t need to hurt him. You’re right this time.”

“JUST this time.” That was Naiara, “I agree with Bosco on this. Mostly, you need to work on your decision-making in dangerous situations.”

Undertow was shaking, angrier than I’d ever seen her, even when she’d been trying to kill us. “Lady Snow does not want to kill! Is that so terrible?”

Touched as I was, even I agreed with the hard message of Bosco’s next words. “It is if it greatly increases the possibility that Lady Snow will die. Which it has, several times already. Snow’s put us in danger more than once because of this. You stick with her? You’ll see for yourself.”

I reached over and, ever-so-gently, wrapped Undertow in a hug. “Undertow, Bosco’s right. There will be times when I cause you trouble if you come with us, and I’m sorry for that. Still,” I gave her quick peck on the cheek, “thanks for sticking up for me, svara.”

“Don’t you mean xilia?”

“Shaddup, Naiara.”

Before anything more could be said, a loud tapping alerted us. Bosco was distractedly batting his hoof on the tree trunk, but was looking out into the crowd. “ ‘s very touching, but he’s going! Over there, he’s leaving!”

Releasing the wide-eyed and blushing filly, I poked my head around the trunk next to the colt. “Which one?”

He pointed, as Naiara and Undertow crowded in too. “Dirty cloak, over by the ammo vendor. He’s heading for the street corner.”

We followed his hoof until recognition kicked in. Yep, that’s him. Same raggedy cloak.

Dragging his hood over his face, Bosco shook out his legs. “Let’s go!”

He took off after the ghoul, with us following. The crowd was still packed in tightly, and it quickly became near impossible to keep an eye on both the leading ghoul and the following colt, so I settled for the latter, trusting Bosco not to lose him.

Even just following Bosco was difficult though. His years of solo travelling had honed his ability to remain inconspicuous in a crowd, probably so he wasn’t targeted by thieves himself. He moved with the flow of bodies, darting and ducking when he saw an opening, doubling back and around, anticipating the clusters and avoiding them.

It was not graceful, like Naiara’s flexible dance-walking, as he jerked around like a coal brick in a fire, but he was definitely putting on a clinic. This was another skill I’d do well to pick up at some point.

That list just keeps getting longer every day.

Unfortunately, I was not the only one struggling. “L-lady… Lady Snow!”

My heart skipped a beat, instantly forgetting about the chase, I whipped my head around. There was no sign of the Deep Diver. Panicking, I began fighting my way back through the crowd, but it was like trying to run in thick snow. “Undertow! Undertow, where are you?”

“Snowflake!” Naiara hissed in my ear, “They’re getting away!”

“Stay with them then, I’ll get her and follow after.” I barely cared about finding this ghoul at the moment. Undertow’s safety was more important.

“Lady Snow?!”

“Undertow! I’m here, where are you?” Come on, she’s the same size as me. Why can’t I see her?

“T-t-tree!”

That helped. The tree stood above the crowd like a beacon. Shouldering and shoving my way towards it, I finally burst through into the small clearing, the ponies I’d just bullrushed past glaring behind me, and I instantly directed my eyes. Towards the trunk.

Nobody was there. My heart skipped again. Where could she be? She said the tree, is there another one?

Frantically casting about, I had to hop and bounce just to see above the crowd. I turned all around, but couldn’t see another tree.

“UNDERTOW! Where are you?!”

A turquoise and sea-blue blur sped around the tree and slammed mightily into me, seizing hold like a vice. With the wind knocked out of me, all I could do in response was wrap my hooves around her as we fell.

“Under… Undertow!” I managed to gasp.

Her goggles were fogging with tears as she buried her head in my chest, which was actually kind of painful with her horn, but I held tight anyway. Her sobs and cries ripped at my emotions. “Too… too many! Just too many! I can’t… I can’t… Too many ponies! Too much noise! I can’t…”

Oblivious to the stares from those around us, I gently stroked her mane as she worked through her panic. “Shh… shh… it’s okay. Everything’s going to be alright. I’m right here. I promise I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Seconds past and still she clung tight. She really didn’t do well in big crowds. Being away from her lake, her best defence, probably amplified her anxiety. I’d do what I could for her, but maybe it would be best if she went back to the lake after this.

Ignoring the small, sudden lump in my throat, I gently nudged the now-quiet girl. “Undertow? Listen to me for a second, okay? I know it’s scary, but we need to go. We can’t stay here or we’ll get in trouble, and we’d never get your diving lights back then. Do you think you can come with me while we talk to this ghoul?”

A long scratch was left on my sternum as her head shot up, dragging her horn along my flesh. “Don’t go!”

Hurrying to avoid another display, I smiled as wide as I could. “I’m not gonna go anywhere. We are, together. I want you to take the lead, slow and steady, and take us through the crowd.”

Her pupils shrank to pinpricks. “M-me?!”

A busy day at the market scares the hooves off her, but she’s fine swimming into the darkest depths.

Ooh, there’s an idea.

“Undertow, do you still have your rebreather?”

Her hoof gently rose to her neck, covered by the Sprinkles barding. “Uh huh.”

“Then put it on. We’re gonna pretend like we’re diving. I’ll hold on to your tail, and I won’t let go. You’re the dive expert. You lead us past the obstacles… past the crowd.”

Fixing her mouth around the nozzle of the rebreather, she still looked uncertain, shooting me an imploring gaze.

I grabbed a hunk of her tail between my hooves. “Please just try. For me.” Then I bit gently but firmly on the hairs, making sure to keep eye-to-goggle contact with her. When I was sure I had a solid bite, I gave her a firm nod.

Shaking slightly, she managed a nod back, before turning towards the crowd, which thankfully was beginning to thin out. Moving unsteadily, and taking rapid, shallow breaths through her apparatus, Undertow nevertheless took one step after another, moving with and through and against the crowd as we traversed the ‘obstacles’.

I stayed completely silent throughout, leaving it all up to her. She was scared, and literally out of her element but, once she did this, then nobody could take that away from her, and other challenges she might face would be that much easier to overcome.

Minutes later, we finally broke through the crowd into the side path that the ghoul, and our friends, had been heading for. Nobody else was around. Spitting out her tail, I stepped up next to her and gently nuzzled her face. “You did great. Perfect. I’m really proud of you.”

Managing a small smile, she still was sniffling back tears as she cleaned off the rebreather, before letting it dangle. “I-I did it!”

I wiped away some of the moisture from her cheek. “I knew you could. And I didn’t have to do a thing, that was all you. Great job.”

Face still wet with tears, and some drool from the rebreather, the shy water unicorn gave off a joyful giggle, which I couldn’t help but smile back at as I d’awwed on the inside.

Still, we had friends to find. There were a few offshoots to this alley, we’d have to check them all, one by one.

“Snow, ‘tow, over here!”

Or not.

We walked towards the waving zebra, which she still was even when disguised. Undertow’s canter was much lighter and more confident than before, and it rubbed off on my motion too. I wasn’t complaining, she deserved it for what she’d accomplished.

“What happened back there?” Naiara asked as we drew level.

“Just got a little turned around,” I responded airily, “Undertow got us out of there, no problem. I’d have been in real trouble if she wasn’t there.”

“L-Lady Snow!”

I pushed on, not letting her deny it. “So any luck with the ghoul?”

“Well, sort of…” She moved towards one of the side alleys, and we followed after her, “He wants something for his help.”

“What’s he want?”

She just shrugged. “Dunno. I left Bosco to haggle with him, while I came to find you two.”

Shadowing her, we turned a few more corners, through the really back streets of Lethbridle. It didn’t look like the guards sent regular patrols through here, that was for sure. I wasn’t greatly happy that any of us were here, and especially not Undertow. She seemed to feel the same way, and positioned herself in between Naiara and I.

The growing sound of heated debate reached our ears as we turned another corner. It only got louder as the arguers came into view. “Forget it, smoothcoat, whatever you’re selling, I don’t want any.”

“Well we’re not leaving until we get some answers, so you’d best rethink that.”

Bosco and the ghoul were arguing in front of a flimsy shack at the end of the alley. Corroded iron and stained fabric held it together, barely at least. The ghoul did not live in luxury. If only the banks had survived the end of the old world. He’d have been rich.

Evidently still riding the adrenaline high from her ‘dive’, Undertow immediately stepped forward. “Did you steal my diving lights?”

He didn’t even look at her, just continued his glaring contest with Bosco. “Your what? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Undeterred, she paused to find the right words. “...Memory Orbs! They are also called Memory Orbs! A ghoul stole two from my boathouse. Was it you?”

Now he did look, and comprehension dawned as he took in her goggles and hanging rebreather. “Ah, the little fish from the big pond. I remember you. To answer your fucking question: No, I didn’t steal your precious ‘diving lights’, I took them back! They’re mine to begin with!”

“W-what?”

Canting his head to the side, he spoke like he was talking to an infant. “Those. Memories. Are. Mine! They belong to me! I won’t give them up, they’re all I have left of her!”

“Her?” Echoed Naiara and Bosco.

“I don’t care about ‘her’. All I know is that Undertow will die if we can’t get them back. What can we do for you to let us use them?”

The ghoul scoffed disdainfully. “Nothing that’s worth what those Memories are to me.”

“Wait…” gears were clicking for Bosco, “You’re not even a unicorn. How do you know that they’re the right Memory Orbs? Have you seen them?”

The mutated pony didn’t immediately respond. “… No.”

“Hah! You don’t even know, do you?”

“I followed the trail!” The ghoul roared, a strange echo accompanying the shout, “It took me one hundred and fifty years to get this last Memory of my sister, and you won’t take it from me again.”

“Memory? Singular?” Naiara scratched her head, then looked at Undertow, “Didn’t you say there were two, ‘tow?”

She was already beginning to look disheartened. “I did. There were two diving lights. This ghoul cannot be the one who stole them.”

“No,” I interrupted, “hold on, he recognised you. And he used ‘them’ and ‘they’ before.”

All four of us faced the ghoul again. Sensing he’d trapped himself, he flung up his disfigured hooves. “Oh for fuck’s sake. It’s the same memory, but twice. Once from my perspective, and again from my sister’s. It is the day before the bombs fell. The last time we spent together for fifty years. The next time I saw her, she was old and dying, and I was like this!”

He succeeded in shocking us into silence for a few seconds. Three of us, at least.

“Great story,” Bosco deadpanned, “now prove it.”

Another glare from the ghoul was the only comeback, so the charcoal colt continued. “You say they’re both the same memory? Fine by me. We’ve got two unicorns. They’ll watch together, one each, and see if you’re telling the truth.”

“You’ll just take them if I show you where they are. No deal.” The ghoul, for all his deformed, unmoving skin, had no poker face. His one good eye kept flicking back towards his shack.

Although, it is the only thing here, so we hardly needed the help. Still, I’d rather not have to rob an old stallion if we can help it. “I give you my word that this one,” I pointed to Naiara, “will stop this one,” then Bosco, “from trying anything while we’re watching them.”

He laughed his haggard chuckle at this. “And I’m supposed to trust you, Stable pony? Oh yes, I remember you now, and I also remember that this one held a knife to my throat.”

“WE remember that you stole something from us, ghoul.”

He hmph’d. “I do what I need to, to survive.”

“So do we. Now are we doing this the nice way or…” the rest of the threat was left unsaid. Sometimes letting somebody use their imagination worked better than describing in detail.

I wondered what would happen if he said no. I needed to keep Undertow safe, but I also didn’t want to mug the old pony. After a full minute of tense waiting, he finally turned to Naiara. “I have your word that you won’t let any of them interfere?”

Solemnly, she nodded. “You do.”

He cracked half a smile. “Good enough. Zebras dislike breaking their word almost as much as griffons do.” At her shocked look, his ghastly smile grew to full, “You can’t hide from me, stripe, I’ve been around too long for that.”

The surprise was sufficient enough that nobody reacted to the slur. “So… that’s a yes?”

“Yeah yeah, hold your horseshoes.” he grumped, and disappeared into his shack. Banging and thumping were heard for a while, and then he emerged again with the two Memory Orbs in a soft cloth.

Undertow reacted with immediate delight. “The diving lights!”

“They’re Memory Orbs, you hick!”

“Don’t talk to her like that!” I warned, stepping forward.

He wasn’t impressed, turning to vanish again into the ramshackle property. “Oh just get on with it, and wake me when you’re done.” Then the door slammed shut, and we were left blinking in the alley.

Ugh, I hate this part. “Are you ready, Undertow?”

“Yes. Um… may we do it together, Lady Snow?” Her hopeful expression would have floored even the ghoul, if he’d stayed.

I had no chance. “Sure, Undertow. Let’s do it.”

Our friends had us lay side-by-side on my Molar Bear hide, then Bosco held an Orb to my horn while Naiara held the other for Undertow.

“On three…”
oooOOOooo

I found myself in a softly lit room, thankfully in a mare’s body, wearing nothing, and lying on a luxuriously cushioned bed. It even had the master bed at Hoofshine beat for comfort.

When I spoke, my voice was high and lilting. “Inbox? You ready, bro?”

A deep voice, sharing some similarities with the ghoul’s, sounded from the end of the bed, under my outstretched hooves. “Sure am, Outtray. I’ve been looking forward to this all week, sis.”

My host craned her head down to the end of the bed, where ‘Inbox’ was climbing onto the bed, as nude as his sister. And between his legs, a swinging, stiff…

WHAT THE FU-
oooOOOooo

When the hours-long Memory ended, Undertow and I wore identical luminescent blushes, and sat apart from each other in mortified silence.

Which was broken by the ghoul’s voracious laughter. “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

“FUCK OFF INBOX!”

“That’s my name, was it yours too?”

“SCREW YOU!”

“One of you did!”

“Undertow, how many times did you watch these?”

Her voice was haunted, ghost-like. She still hadn’t looked at me since waking from the Memory. “It was always the other one.”

~~~~~~

That evening, we hadn’t wanted to try our luck with Lithu’s apartment again, so we’d checked into a hotel, with specific instructions for separate beds for everybody.

The adrenaline and excitement of the day had worn off, and still I found myself, as I had every night since pounding that ghoul into the concrete at the facility, unable to sleep one wink. I was sore all over, and barely had the energy to move at all, so I just lay in bed, hoping that I could recoup enough juice to get through the next day.

It didn’t take. I lay there for hours in silence, staring at the unchanging ceiling, until finally I decided to do something about it.

Before I knew it, I found myself back at Inbox’s shack. Surprisingly, he was awake. He sat outside, staring up at the clouds. His one eye spotted me, but he didn’t move, he just grinned.

“I was wondering which one it would be. So you were my sister then?”

Aaand my face went back to scarlet instantly. “Yes.” I squeaked.

“Why’re you here? Want another go-around? I’m as energetic as I was back then.”

I almost turned and ran then. Living that through somebody else had been too much. Even if he weren’t ancient and undead, to do it in real life would have killed me.

I soldiered through the images running rampant in my mind, before saying the only thing I could think to say to the ghoul. “I’m so sorry.”

“About Outtray? Don’t be. Better that she didn’t end up like this. She went happy, and in peace.”

“No, I mean I’m sorry for… killing a ghoul.” I shamefully hung my head.

Inbox didn’t seem terribly talkative, content to just let me hang for a while. Eventually he responded, still staring at the sky. “Why’d you kill him? Or her? Whichever it was.”

“It… he… attacked us.”

“Oh,” comprehension dawned, “one of the ferals, then?”

“Yeah… I’m so sorry.” What else was there to say? I’d taken a life for a stupid, selfish reason. This would never be good enough.

“Don’t be. You did the thing a favour.”

My jaw dropped. “W-what?”

Now he did look at me, and his one remaining eye was not angry. “Eventually, all ghouls turn feral. It’s a horrible, drawn-out process. Since we’re so hard to kill, it’s about the only thing we have to fear any more. We lose all that we were, and the radiation swallows us whole, turning us into monsters that only care about killing others.”

“But it was a pony…”

“Exactly!” He cut me off angrily, “WAS a pony. Hell, I was a pony. Someday, I’ll be a monster. Right now, I’m something in between, and all I can do is sit here thinking of my sister. All I want is to go back, and all I fear is that I have no choice but to go forward, knowing what I’ll turn into one day.”

His words were angry, but his stare wasn’t. Still, it held my attention wire-tight. “You killed a feral ghoul, Stable pony. You killed a monster. It hadn’t been a pony for a long time and, when it was in between, it had wished that somepony like you had killed it before it turned.”

He spat on the ground. “If you want to be sorry for anything, Stable pony, be sorry because you were late.”

I snapped. “WHY DOESN’T ANYONE… WHY DOESN’T EQUESTRIA HATE ME FOR KILLING?” That was the only way I could express it. Why wasn’t I being punished for what I’d done? Why did everybody expect it? Why was killing accepted as part of life? Why was that okay? I couldn’t bear that thought anymore.

Inbox went back to staring at the sky, a sad smile on his lips. “This place was Equestria once, Stable pony, back before the war. Then, when the fighting started, it was something in between, wishing for someone or something to kill it.” He heaved a sigh, “Well, they sure tried. Only it wasn’t enough. They should have tried again, and harder. But… they didn’t. So now this place is a monster that only cares about killing others. All that’s left is to destroy it.”

Aghast, I turned and ran from the solemn ghoul without another word, leaving him with the last part of his sister he had left.

~~~~~~

I walked up the stairs to my room.

The talk hadn’t helped. I felt worse than ever about killing the ghoul. I felt worse about everything.

Inbox was wrong. Equestria was always a monster. Only a monster could have created the war in the first place. The only thing even close to peace that Equestria has ever had was right after they tried to kill it. At that time only, when it was too hurt to fight back or hurt others, did it act like anything but a monster.

I stopped at the top of the stairway. My door was open. Wary, but weary, I crept along to the entryway as quietly as I could, hugging the wall. Reaching the frame, I tried to focus enough to prepare some magic, but my tired mind was too skittish to muster up the concentration. If things got violent, I’d have to hold on long enough for my friends to show up and save me.

I poked an eye around the doorway, and thoughts of violence left my mind. Curled up together on the bed were my three friends. Sighing, I tiredly wobbled over to the bed.

Undertow in my bed is the last thing I need right now. The vivid imagery of the Memory Orb sprang to mind. Sure, she’d been wearing Inbox’s old body, but she was still seeing my host as she did all that, at the same time as I was feeling it. I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to look at her the same way again.

“Something wrong with your own rooms?” I muttered, as I carefully climbed over their slumbering forms and took up station on the last corner of pillow I could get at.

“Wait,” I sat up again almost instantly, mumbling to myself as the sleep-deprived gears in my head managed a quarter-turn, “I’m not gonna be sleeping, why do I even need the bed at all? I’ll take the chair.”

That was the plan anyway. When I tried to rise off the bed, three separate left hooves shot out and grabbed me. “Wha?”

“Not so fast, svara.”

“You’re not going anywhere, Snow.”

“My apologies, Lady Snow.”

As I rubbed bridge of my nose with my one free hoof, the three fully-awake equines were treated to an exhausted glance. “What’s going on guys? Why aren’t you getting some rest?”

“Why aren’t you?”

“…Not tired.” Would if I could, Bosco.

“Liar. You haven’t slept in days.”

“…Not tired.” Not my choice, svara.

“Let us help you, Lady Snow.”

“…Not tired.” I’d feel worse if you helped me to kill, Undertow.

“Snow, you know you had no choice at the facility.” The colt’s grip was firm, but turned gentle too.

Naiara copied the change. “If you hadn’t done it, I’d have died.”

Finally, Undertow made three. “They told me what happened. Please don’t blame yourself, Lady Snow.”

Tears began to form in my eyes. “We… didn’t have to go there. I could’ve said no. I could’ve… found another way, been smart… for once.”

Bosco began softly rubbing my back. “You couldn’t know beforehoof, Snow. There was no other way.”

Tracks ran down my cheeks. “I-I… with my own hooves…”

Painted hooves wrapped me in a tight embrace. “It’s okay, Snow. We know you didn’t want this.”

“W-why am I not being punished? I can’t t-take back what I did!”

A sea-blue horn tapped against mine as the goggled filly pressed our foreheads together. “Because you do not deserve to be, Lady Snow.”

~~~~~~

They’d stayed with me as I wept, long into the night, showing solidarity with an unworthy murderer like me, until they each gave in to the sleep that couldn’t be delayed any more. Regardless of their efforts, I remained alert, unable to escape from my guilt..

Feeling helpless in the face of my crimes, I’d left them sleeping there, and spent the night on the roof, watching the clouds, as Inbox had. Perhaps hoping to find some way to ease my discomfort with what I’d become, as he had.

Whatever comfort the dark clouds might have given him was lost on me. I simply stared and stared, until the darkness began to recede and a new day began, hours later.

I stayed there until late morning, when the roof door burst open, and Naiara rushed out, frantically dashing back and forth. “Can you hear me now, Breeze? What’s happening? What are those sounds?”

Breeze? The brash, mechanically minded pegasus’ voice sounded loud through a device that Naiara was holding to her ear. There was a lot of other noise too. “Really not a good time, Naiara!”

Holding the device tight, the zebra was not at all pleased with her friend’s situation. “Breeze, tell me what’s happening? Where are you?”

“NAIARA, STOP DISTRACTING ME, I NEED TO FOCUS!” The volume of Breeze’s shout nearly dissolved in static, as the transmitter struggled to adjust.

“Breeze? Tell me where you are! We’ll come help!”

“NO! Stay away from La Buque! Don’t co-“ With a burst of static, the transmission cut off.

~~~~~~

Level Up!

Perks gained: Insomaniac: The value of sleep has been learned, if Snow can ever get some. When rested, Snow and allies gain temporary bonuses to Intelligence and Charisma.

~~~~~~

Author's Note:

That chapter did not go the way I originally intended it. Basically the entire plot of the chapter changed, very early on. Pretty much right after “My balls!” (I knew that was staying in). It veered wildly away after that. Not that I’m complaining, I’m just going to use the leftover material and put it into the next chapter.

A reminder (because it was only briefly mentioned at the end of Chapter 7): Xilia is zebra language for sister. The cutoff curse is Binn tusaa!, basically the zebra equivalent of “Fucking hell!/Holy hell!”

Thanks a whole bunch to Kkat, Hasbro, my ever so helpful prereader Y1 (read his Conviction, there's a new chapter up) and the readers for all your help. Oh, if anybody else would be willing to help me and Y1 improve the story as a prereader, I'd surely appreciate it. More input is always valuable. Another thank you forCascadejackal for the title artwork. Click on the links to see more from these lovely people.

Read the chapter, read the story so far first, then please either comment or spread the word. All the comments and interest I get helps me to make the story better.

Toodles.