Fallout Equestria: Old Souls

by Pillbug


Fallout Equestria: Old Souls - Chapter 19: Group Rate

Chapter 19: Group Rate

[I think we can do it, but we have to work together…]

“Gyah!” I cried out as water splashed down over my head, soaking my mane.

Sat across from me, horn aglow, Undertow’s smile was at least a quarter smirk. “I win again, Snowflake.”

Shaking away droplets, I wasn’t quite ready to admit defeat. “I’m not finished yet.”

She just giggled and levitated the water into a halo just above my head. “As you wish.” It was matched by another above her noggin.

A quick flash of my horn had my halo now frozen and resting atop my crown. “You know, you should do that more often.”

“Do what? Win?”

I grinned mischieviously. “You should laugh more. You’re adorable when you do… little sister.”

“Neeheeheeheehee-AIEE! That’s cold!”

While I genuinely enjoyed her laughter, and truly wished for her to do it more often, I hadn’t lost sight of my goal. Undertow’s water halo was now ice, courtesy of my magic, and she was scrabbling to free her cutely-twitching ears from its cold touch.

She finally managed to bat the ring off her head. “That’s not fair, big sister!”

I booped her on the nose. “Is too. Everything’s fair in love and war, Undertow.”

“Is not! You just don’t want to admit that I won the last ten times.”

“Didn’t win that time, though.”

Her cheeks puffed up in a pout. “Because you were being sneaky!”

I snickered and looked away playfully. “Why, whatever do you mean, Undertow? I just wanted to spend time with my precious little sister. I was not even aware we were keeping score.”

I wanted so badly to hug her as she squirmed in a confliction of embarrassment and injustice. “Sno-ow-fla-ake!”

Helpless against her lovable pouting, I relented. “Alright alright, one more. No tricks, I promise.”

We got back into position for the decider of our game. It was a simple exercise really, but good practice for me and a good time for her. To win, I had to freeze her water halo so it fell on her head, before she could turn my ice halo back into water and soak me again.

SPLASH

“Prbleh!” I spat out a few of the wet mane strands which ended up in my mouth. “I’ll get you one day. I still gotta get stronger to keep my promise.”

Undertow went still, smile fading. “You do not need to-”

Waving her away, she was given the brightest smile I could muster. “Oh sure I do. Besides, that’s what big sisters are for. They look after their little sisters.”

The game forgotten, I matched Undertow’s beaming smile with one of my own.

We didn’t stop smiling as a warm voice called in from the other room. “Girls, come get yer breakfast afore it gets cold!”

“Coming, boss.” We stood up from the floor of Lexi’s spare bedroom and made our way into the kitchen. Lexi was just setting down three plates of toasted oat pancakes for us.

The smell set my stomach rumbling. “These look great, but where’d you get the ingredients?”

Her smile wasn’t unkind, but she wasn’t going to miss the opportunity. “Y’know ah run a supply company, don’tcha, Snowflake?”

I coloured as she turned to my sister, telekinetically wagging a spatula at her. “No goggles at the table, Undertow.”

“Yes, boss.” Reaching up, Undertow pulled down her eyewear so that it dangled around her neck, revealing a pair of orange eyes that were a mirror for mine.

We all dug into the delicious flapjacks without ceremony. Lexi was a great host, but she did have a business to run, and Undertow and I did have to get going at some point, even if I wasn’t in any particular hurry to leave this setting.

“So,” Lexi began as she gulped down her last bite, “what’re yer plans now, Snow? You two gotta get goin’ to handle yer business, right?”

Thanks for looking down about that, boss. We’ll miss you too. “Yeah, just because I’m not a Raider anymore doesn’t mean that Red Ice’s problems have gone away. I need to do something about them. Them… and a few others.” Two in particular came to mind, another pair of sisters.

Lexi picked up on it too. “Listen, Snowflake, ah know yeh ain’t gonna like this, but she really didn’t try t’kill ya. Not if she’s as sharp as y’say. I’ve patched up enough ponies t’know a killin’ shot when I see one. They weren’t.”

“So, what? I should just let it go?!” The very suggestion had my blood boiling.

“Nope, ain’t sayin’ that either. Ya still coulda bled out if that Wings girl hadn’t gotten ya some help, and that needs repayin’. I’m jes’ saying that y’all have mutual friends right? Like Wings, an’ if them friends see sumthin’ good in you, then mebbe they see what you can’t in those two pegasus girls? I’m not sayin’ don’t hurt ‘em for what happened, but maybe don’t kill ‘em. That’d be pretty Red Ice o’ ya.”

Both Lexi and I looked up as our drinks began to levitate off the table. Undertow couldn’t hide her emotions at the best of times, and especially not without her goggles. “They hurt you, sister?”

Lexi tapped her hoof on the table to get the water-wielder’s attention. “That goes fer you too, Undertow. Ya got a say in this, cause yer family an’ all, but ah really don’t want you gettin’ blood on yer hooves if you can help it.”

The beverages only returned to their glasses when I reached over and gave her hoof a gentle squeeze. The aquamarine glow faded from her horn. “I… I understand, boss. I will try… not to kill them.”

“Guess tha’s all ah can ask fer. But there’s sumthin’ else, girls.”

“What’s that?”

The boss of Sprinkles Supplies steepled her hooves on the table. “Me an’ mah crews’re happy t’have y’here, Snowflake, but we ain’t goin’ public with that. T’the rest o’ the Wasteland, yer still Red Ice. That means y’gotta be careful ‘bout who knows that, an’ who knows who YOU know.” Her eyes drifted back to Undertow. “Now ah know you two’re real excited about bein’ sisters an’ all, but maybe you wanna think about what some of those who ain’t so happy wi’ yeh might do with that.”

“I…” Damn, that’s a good point. If word gets out that Red Ice has a sister, she’ll be a target. “So what do we do, boss?”

“Y’gotta be discreet. Tone it down when yer in public. Mebbe find a way to talk to each other without usin’ ‘sister’?”

Glum though she was, Undertow still spoke up. “I… may have an idea.” Our eyes turned to her as she continued. “Um, when last I was here, there was a word that Naiara used. You called me svara, yet she said there was a better word.”

I gasped. “I remember that!” Grabbing Undertow into a hug, I let out a little laugh. “My xilia is so smart!”

Lexi was just confused. “Xilia?”

“It’s the Zebra word for ‘sister’. It’s a perfect in-joke.” Was my cheery reply. “Who around here is gonna know Zebra words besides us and Naiara?”

Lexi’s confusion morphed into admiration. “She’s a smart girl, that one. Y’all gotta go find her too, right? Shouldn’t ya do that first? Ah mean, she did get help Undertow out with the Raiders, right?”

She got two nods in response. “Yeah, boss. I think you’re right. we both owe her and miss her. She’s a good friend, and me and my xilia are gonna go make sure she’s okay.”

Satisfied at our plan of action, we set about cleaning up the table. “‘member now, you two, don’t get killed. Get hurt, get lonely, get hungry, whatever, an’ ah’ll take care o’ yeh. Just don’t die.”

“We won’t.”

“Mhm.”

“An’ remember, when y’see them twins, show ‘em why y’ain’t t’be messed with. Jes’ keep in non-lethal.”

“Oh, yeah!”

~~~~~~

Slipping a score of caps across the barrier, I addressed the guard in a low tone. “Can you please contact someone from the Bernstein Conclave, and let them know that there is a… friend at the gate who require an escort?”

My subtlety was lost on the guard at Lethbridle’s south gate. He just stared blankly at me, then at the caps, then made a motion to someone I couldn’t see.

“...” It was an awkward couple of minutes that followed, as the guard made no move to let us through. He also didn’t let anyone in the line behind us through either, which did nothing to engender good feelings from anyone.

Eventually, one impatient stallion had had enough. He moved with purpose, shouldering me aside before slamming his toll caps down with a grunt. Not that it did him any good, as his face met a powerful hoof coming the other way, sending him sprawling.

“Back of the line, punk. Nobody cuts on my watch.” The gruff voice made I ears perk up.

Hey, alright. Not a Bernstein employee, but I’ll take it! Brushing the snow from where I’d fallen, I flashed a smile towards the new arrival. “Hey, Chief Rockhaunch! Long time no see. How are you?”

The oaken-furred leader of Lethbridle’s security forces gave me a flat stare. “What are you doing here? You know you’re not welcome while this Raider business is going on.”

Making sure my smile didn’t waver, I put a hoof to my chest. “Oh, don’t worry. It is. You, and… everybody were right about that. Shouldn’t have done it in the first place. I’m done.”

“Uh huh.” The level of belief was clear. “And you decide to prove it by circumventing Lethbridle’s security precautions?”

I hesitated. “Uhh… no?”

“Oh, so you weren’t trying to backdoor your way in here by calling on your Bernstein buddies?” The Chief was not a fan of the businessmare, it would seem.

“Um, sorry about that, Chief. The truth is we’re actually just passing through to the north gate. It’s just faster to go through the city rather than around.” At his raised eyebrow, I continued. “Really. We didn’t mean any disrespect, it’s just that we have an arrangement with the Bernstein Conclave for safety while in Lethbridle.”

“Bernstein doesn’t have authority here!” Nostrils flaring, he spat on the ground before grumbling an aside. “Not yet, anyway.”

Waving the gate guard onto the next traveller in line, he jerked his head for Undertow and I to come through the gate. “Fine. You’re with me. I’ll personally take you both to the north gate. That gonna be a problem?”

I faced his challenging gaze easily. “Not at all. We really are just passing through. Lead the way, Chief.”

“No, you stay right where I can see you.” His eyes found Undertow. “Both of you.”

Shrugging, we moved ahead of him and through the gateway. As we walked, I tried to mend some fences with the Chief. “Rockhaunch, have you met my sister? This is Undertow.”

She stared at me with some trepidation. “Xilia, didn’t Lexi say not to reveal that in public?”

This was easy to wave off. “Nah, we can trust the Chief. Everybody can. He’s one of the most trustworthy people I’ve met. Utterly upstanding.”

The response to my buttering-up was a noncommittal grunt.

Slightly deflated, I made one last effort. “Seriously, he’s a great guy. Totally great… totally.” I finished lamely.

“I… see.”

We lapsed into an awkward silence. With nothing else to do, I took to watching the passersby. Even though it was the middle of the day, there were fewer people out than any time I’d seen before. They were also in far more of a hurry. If they stopped at all, it was quickly, to complete their business and move on.

Frowning, I looked back at the towering Buffalo. “Hey Chief, what’s going on?”

The stare he returned was very focused. “You tell me. What do you see?”

Huh? Cocking my head to the side, I took a few more glances around. “It’s like everybody’s on edge. Nobody’s getting close to one another if they can help it.”

A perturbed rumbling sounded in his throat. “Noticed that, did you? They’re afraid.”

“Of what?”

His tone turned sarcastic. “Oh, gee, I don’t know. What recent changes could possibly be upsetting the innocent citizens of Lethbridle? I hear there was an idiot who thought it was a good idea to gather all the scattered savages together, but I’m sure that’s just a coincidence.”

I lowered my voice to just above a whisper. “They’re afraid… of me?”

He nodded. “Yep. I guarantee that if I outed you right now this street’d be clear in seconds. Before your grand plan, Raiders never attacked in anything more than small groups, and there was no chance of them getting past the walls and the guards. Now that they’re operating as one big group, all bets are off.”

I stopped in my tracks, tense. “Have they tried?”

Rockhaunch grimaced. “Not yet, but they almost don’t need to. The fear’s enough for a lot of folks. We’ve had a lot of people leaving the city in the past week, heading south to Vanchoofer, or further.” He turned his head to the side and spat angrily. “It’s bad enough that some of my guards are getting cold hooves too. The public panics, then they panic, and suddenly fearful skirmishes turn into full street brawls. I’ve had to take on extra bodies, and nobody’s got time to train ‘em all, which just causes more trouble when they go on patrol.”

My head hung. “I’m so sorry, Chief.”

He wasn’t done, though I wasn’t sure if he was still talking to me or just blowing off steam. “And if that’s not bad enough, I’ve got that lousy Amber Bernstein leaning on all the higher ups in town, getting her words in their ears, and making it harder for me to do my job. Funny how it’s happening now, while everything else is going on. That little ‘arrangement’ you have at the gate is just the tip of the iceberg. She’s got some grand plans of her own for this city, and damned if I know if that’s a good thing or not.”

Undertow and I looked at each other briefly before turning simultaneously to look up at the high-rise where we’d first met the head of the Bernstein Conclave. What are you up to, Amber? Maybe I should talk to Schwarzwald about it.

Having voiced his grievances, Rockhaunch stayed silent the rest of the way to the gate, seeing us off with little more than a nod, to acknowledge that we’d been true to our word about passing through.

I liked the Chief, so it was a little upsetting to see how far his opinion of me had fallen. I’m probably not “li’l Stronghead” anymore.

~~~~~~

“Okay…” I whispered to Undertow, as I entered the ‘Cefar’ code for Hoofshine Harlots, “...here we go.”

There was no time left to wonder about what would happen inside. We were there now, and what would go down would go down. The door chimed its release, and I pulled it open.

Standing there in the lobby, mid-step, was the person who’d dominated my thoughts on the way over here.

Slowly dropping her hoof to the floor, Cassie returned my wide-eyed stare. “S-Snowfla-”

WHAM!

Her hooves left the floor as my ice-ram smashed into her face. The sound drew surprised shouts from further within the building.

“The hell?!”

“What’s going on?!”

WHAM!

Cassie bounced off the wall behind her as I hit her again. All I could see was her, and red. I barely heard the running steps of the other occupants.

“Is that…?”

“Snowflake?!”

“CASS!”

WHAM!

Before she could fall, she was crushed back against the plaster for a third time. I still didn’t really see the others standing around.

“Stop!”

“That’s enough, Snow!”

I drew the ram back a fourth time as a chilly voice ran through my mind. More! Suffer more! You dare shoot me?!

My ice surged forwards again, even as Breeze leapt in front and Bosco leveled his pistol at me. Before it could reach Cassie, however, tendrils of water shot out and grabbed the ram, rooting it in place.
What?! I turned to my sister, who’s glowing horn was fighting against mine. “Undertow!”

She didn’t back down. “That is enough, Snowflake.”

“No, not yet!”

“Yes. Snowflake… look at your eyes.”

Growling, I sought out a mirror. The image I saw reflected stopped me as quickly as Undertow stopped my ice.

My eyes were green, with purple smoke.

Undertow willed my ice into water, then dispelled it all. “We are not completely free from the Horn, xilia.”

I sank back onto my haunches. As Breeze and Wings tended to Cassie, Bosco and Schwarzwald kept an eye on me. “Start talking, Snow. What the hell was that?”

I ignored his question, sitting with Undertow and taking deep breaths until my eyes returned to normal. Breeze alternated between making sure that Cassie was okay, and being subtly held back from attacking me by Wings.

She wouldn’t keep her peace, though. “So this is what you’ve decided, huh? Raider through and through?”

“No,” I replied robotically, “We’re not Raiders anymore.”

“Hah!” Scorn dripped from her words. “You don’t even say hello before trying to kill my sister, and you expect me to believe that?”

Surprisingly, it was Undertow who answered first. “I honestly do not care what you believe, Aqua Breeze. Just know that if YOU try to harm MY sister, then I will stop you.”

Everybody was stunned by her words for a moment, until a disorientated “Sister?” came from the back.

Swaying slightly, Cassie finally found her way to her hooves again. “What do you mean, ‘sister’?”

Finally having a reason to feel something other than anger and regret, I let some pride slip out. “Undertow’s my sister, and I’m hers. Got a problem with that?”

“...And when did this happen?”

Way too late. “It didn’t just happen. She’s always been my sister.” I laid a loving hoof on top of Undertow’s. “I just didn’t realise it until she beat the hell out of me.”

Everybody, except Cassie, started at that. “She did what?”

“Really? Undertow beat you up?”

“Hahahahaha!”

“Thank you, Breeze.”

Cassie had gone very still. “Tell me what you mean by her having ‘always been’ your sister.”

I nudged Undertow. “Show them.”

Tentatively, she reached up and lowered her goggles. It took a half-second for those gathered to realise, but the reaction was instantaneous when they did.

Breeze’s jaw dropped. Schwarzwald whistled appreciatively. Wings looked back and forth between us rapidly. Bosco was chuckling good naturedly. “Well, it’s about time.”

Cassie… still hadn’t moved. She just swayed slightly, and regarded us neutrally. “But she isn’t of your blood…”

“Got a problem with that?” I repeated, but without much emotion behind it.

“...Why?” She demanded at last. “Is this another Red Ice plot? Another Raider to recruit to your cause?”

“No!” I yelled, causing several weapons to point at me again. “Undertow’s my sister. We’re connected.”

“By choice?” Cassie snarled.

“You’ve seen her in action, and me. Could I keep her here if she wasn’t?”

More silence as we stared each other down. Finally she sat back against the wall. “No… I have no problem.”

Breeze’s frown deepened. “Cassie?”

But Cassie waved her off. “No, Breeze. No more. If they agree not to attack me again, or any of you, then I can accept this. For now.”

Her sister looked more and more confused. “But… she… you… I…”

Standing down, I gave the twins an apologetic look. “I’m… not going to attack. I can’t be sure that it’s really coming from me, and I can’t afford to let… other influences decide my actions.” It wasn’t a good excuse, or any kind of excuse really, but I couldn’t tell them about Sombra’s Horn, not yet.

Every emotion ran across Breeze’s face in sequence, before she finally threw up her hooves in defeat. “Fine, whatever! Let’s all just see how ‘well’ this turns out!”

As Cassie made her way over to the booths to lie down, I had to add one final warning. “I’ll give you whatever help you need to take down the Raiders, but…”

Everybody froze. Cassie spoke without looking back. “‘But...’”

“...but don’t ever point your rifle at me again. I’ll break it, and your teeth, on each other.”

The back of her head wasn’t impressed by my posturing. “If I have to, you will be dead before you hit the ground.”

“...So we understand each other?”

“...Quite.”

Some of the tension drained from the room. “Well, good. Can I get you something to take the swelling down? Some ice maybe?”

“No ice, if you please. There should be a healing potion behind the bar.”

The click of Bosco’s pistol hammer forestalled any answer. “Keep away from her, Snow. We’re not done talking yet.”

Poor guy, he’s always in the middle. Putting on the most open and non-threatening face I could, I nodded. “Yeah, sorry, Bosco. I didn’t mean to ignore you. You’re right about still needing to talk. What do you want to know?”

He evidently didn’t appreciate my light tone, as the gun didn’t lower. He just spoke around it. “Start with why you think it’s okay to come back here and start slinging around magic without even saying ‘hi’. Did you really think that would make us believe you’d stopped being Red Ice?” Then he dropped the gun as he stomped his hoof in anger. “For fuck’s sake, Snow! You’ve been gone for days, and we’ve all heard about what you’ve been doing!”

“...I know.”

He didn’t let up. “Tell me something, when did it seem like a good idea to be doing what you were doing? Really? You spent all that time talking about making the Raiders something better than they were, that you weren’t building an army, and then you turn right around and declare war on Plottawa and Neighlway! If you hadn’t come across Undertow, where would it have ended?”

Probably Gull Gulf. “...I don’t know.”

“And Naiara? It’s great that you found Undertow, but where is she? She’s been gone for longer than you have.”

I frowned. “Still? I would have thought that she’d at least have come to see you all one time. I know that Wings has talked to her, that’s how I found out where Undertow was. She really didn’t come back?”

I caught Breeze’s eye. Her wings were fluttering as she simultaneously tended to Cassie and listened in. “We’ll find her. She got Undertow away from the Raiders… away from me, when she needed to. I won’t leave her by herself.”

“And what makes you think I’ll let you get anywhere near her?”

My head whipped around. “Bosco!”

His slate-grey eyes were hard. “I’m serious, Snow. I’m not sure having you here is a good idea at all, anymore.”

“But-”

Wings stepped in and ruffled Bosco’s mane for a second, before he slapped her claw away. “Bosco, go help Breeze with Cassie for a sec, will ya?”

Letting out a sound halfway between a grunt and a growl, the sole colt of our gathering stalked off, leaving two unicorns, a griffon, and an earth pony mare.

“He is angrier than I remember.” Undertow remarked sadly.

“Yeah,” I agreed. “didn’t expect Cassie to be more welcoming than Bosco. Like, ever.”

Schwarzwald nickered. “It is not as simple as you think, dahlings.”

Wings spread her claws helplessly. “He hasn’t been so good ever since we got him out of Whinniepeg, but it got worse when we got his Memory Orb back.”

Shocked, I did a double-take. “You got them back?”

“No, not all of them, dahling.” Schwarzwald’s easy smile surfaced for the first time since she’d snuck into the Raider ranks. “But we did retrieve one from the Silver Fog creatures.”

“What happened? Are you okay? What are those fog things?”

Wings made a ‘relax’ gesture with a claw. “We’re fine. Stumbled across a group of them in that old agricultural facility you went too, near the Barnstormer camp.”

“The one with all the ghouls?”

They both shrugged. “That is how dear Bosco says, but only you and he were there at the time.”

“No, Naiara was there too.” I shook my head, definitely not wanting that detail left out.

“But no others here, dahling.

“What were you doing at this facility, Wings?” Undertow was listening quietly, as per the norm, but her brow was creased at the thought of more Raider business.

The griffon fixed us with a pointed look. “Well, we thought that the Raiders being on the move made it a good time to get in there and check out what kind of gear they were packing. Bosco really wasn’t happy that you were using them to stir up the slavers, Snow.”

No, I can’t imagine he would be, especially after I spent so much time telling him I wasn’t gonna do that. “So what did you find?”

“Well I made out like a bandit.” Breeze swooped in and joined the conversation. “The farm vehicles in there were in great condition, and even the Raiders probably could’ve figured out how to get ‘em moving again. So we janked ‘em.”

“You what?”

She slowed her words mockingly. “Vroom-vroom no vroom no more. I grabbed whatever neat gear I could get away with carrying, then we ripped out some delicate, but essential, parts for each vehicle. They might’ve been for farming but they were rugged and could’ve been bad news in the wrong hooves. After that we did the same with the smaller equipment. Smashed ‘em useless.”

“And the fog creatures?” Undertow pressed.

Wings’ tail flicked involuntarily. “I’m getting to that. After scrapping the equipment and vehicles, we went to see if anything survived the fire in the main building. Stumbled across the Silver Fog inside. Only…”

After a second of silence, I looked at each of the three in turn. “Only…?”

Schwarzwald broke the silence. “Only Bosco entered first, and they did not attack him until we four came into sight.”

That’s… is that good or bad? “Why?”

Again, none of them had an answer. “Maybe they weren’t worried until they saw our numbers. Maybe they didn’t see his grey in the dark. Dunno.”

Breeze blew her bang out of her face. “Either way, Boss Colt spots the Memory Orb lying on the ground in the middle of ‘em all, and goes chargin’ in. We had to jump in to help him, and things got crazy, but he snagged the Orb and we got the hell out.”

He did? “Were you all okay?”

Schwarzwald made a back-and-forth motion with her hoof. “Physically? Yes. Perhaps not otherwise, dahling.”

“What do you mean?”

All three looked back the way Bosco had left. Breeze spoke first while rubbing a greave. “Guy’s obsessed with that Memory Orb. Sometimes you’ll catch him just sitting and staring at it. Did it for a full hour the other day.”

Wings clacked her beak. “He’s not always so friendly anymore either. He might just be going through puberty, but Bosco’s developed a little bit of a temper if you catch him at the wrong times.”

Schwarzwald’s throaty chuckle belied her mood. “What teenage boy is not like so? His pride is showing also. The fastest way to get a smile from him is to tell him he was a big help. He does not seem to care what he helps with, so long as he is praised.” Her tone turned wistful. “And yet, he spurns my other affections. So sad.”

Her flirtatious banter dissolved the tension, as Breeze joined the joke. “Yeah but that’s not just him though, is it? You haven’t gotten any in the last few weeks, just like the rest of us.”

Her smirk was matched by another from Schwarzwald. “So sure, are you?”

And the tension came right back for Breeze. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You will see.”

Wings flipped up-and-over Undertow and I, giving us a push towards the older mare. “Yeah but her favourites are back now. She calls Snow ‘mistress’, right?”

“Knock it off, all of you. I’m nobody’s mistress, and Undertow’s off limits to the lot of you, you got that?”

“Ohh.” Schwarzwald pouted. “It is not fair.”

The others laughed, even Undertow a little, and Schwarzwald patted me on the head. “If you are truly no longer a Raider, Snowflake, then it is very good to see you home, safe and sound.”

Yeah, the big ‘if’, huh? I’m still not there yet in all your eyes, am I? I had to be sure, so I looked at the technophile Pegasus. “Are you sure you can work with me, you AND Cassie?”

“Can you work with us?” She shot back airily. “There’s more between us than the Raiders.”

I cocked my head to the side. “There is?”

Schwarzwald leaned in towards Undertow with a victorious grin. “Your sister forgets her past so easily, doesn’t she?” Undertow just watched with a deepening frown.

I grumbled deep in my throat. “What are you guys talking ab-OHHELLMYSTUFF!”

Breeze wasn’t laughing anymore, but wasn’t quite hostile either. “Yeah, your stuff. You can’t have it back.”

“What do you say to that, Snowflake?” Schwarzwald’s tone was edged.

All eyes were on me now. What did I say to that? At this point, I’d been without my Pipbuck and Memory Orb for longer than I’d had them in the Wasteland. I’d done much more without them, been much more without them, for good or ill.

Red Ice faced Blue Fire. “Losing my Stable gear was… one of the most painful experiences of my life.”

Without breaking eye contact, I saw Breeze’s wings tense and unfurl, “BUT… I didn’t always like who I was when I had them.”

Undertow stepped around me to look at my face. “I don’t always like who I became when I lost them.”

Leaning on Bosco for support, Cassie stepped back into the foyer. “Nor did I always like what I did when I was that person.”

Bosco’s grey hoof was rubbing the Memory Orb poking out of his pocket. “But I did like how much I found myself capable of doing, without them.”

Scars creased as Schwarzwald’s lips turned upwards. “And I don’t regret everything it has brought me. Some of it I’ll never regret.”

Now I broke the stare, looking back at the door. “So… I still WANT them, but I don’t think I NEED them anymore.”

I gave the most confident smile I could muster, despite my churning gut. “You can keep them. They belonged to a Stable pony.”

~~~~~~

The crunch of hooves on the fresh morning snow helped to ease me through my drowsiness. ’s too early for this. “Can I go back to bed?”

“Not just yet, dahling. This should not take long.” Schwarzwald’s step was light, as was her tone. The older mare walked us to the back of the property.

I yawned, teary-eyed. “Why couldn’t the others be woken up again?” She’d dodged my questions through shushs while we were still inside. “What’s with the sneakiness?”

She just chuckled. “The others need their rest after yesterday, of course. It is very early, after all.”

“And I don’t get to sleep?” I grumbled as I rubbed a hoof in my eye.

Blowing out a short stream of mist, she turned fully to me. “That is what I aim to discover, mistress.”

I neglected to suppress another yawn. “You’re cryptic a lot, Schwarzwald. Doesn’t surprise me anymore.”

“No?” Despite what I’d said, I was trying to find her agenda. Her voice betrayed little, and nothing I could use to read her intentions. “I suppose that is to be expected. Red Ice has strange bedfellows, and Snowflake has adjusted accordingly.”

“Okay, so I guess that this is gonna be kinda important,” I unconsciously leaned against a tree, dozing. “but does it have to be now? ‘s barely light out.”

Schwarzwald shrugged her shoulders, followed by her whole body. “I think it is best that we have…” She stopped for a moment, cocking her head to the side in a few seconds of silence, before continuing. “...a measure of privacy, for what we must talk about.”

“...zzzz…”

“...Snowflake? Dahling?”

The words were just whispers in the haze. I could feel myself slipping away, back to sleep. Back to my nice warm bed, and my nice warm pillows, and my nice warm blanket, and my nice warm lips, and…

!!!

“I’M UP!” I half-snorted, breaking the kiss that the scarred merc had snuck on me.

Schwarzwald caressed her own lips. “It has been too long since our last kiss, I have missed this, mistress.”

“You know, normal people just get breakfast when they wake up.”

She didn’t stop caressing. “I do not think that anypony present can truly be called ‘normal’, Snowflake. Did I upset you?”

The adrenaline wake-up jolt was already fading. “Nah. I’m not exactly new to your quirks, am I? No harm, no foul.”

“And if I had done you harm?” Her voice lost its lustful warmth. “What then?”

I matched the edge in those words. “Why are you asking? You aren’t as hard to read as you think, you know. For all your games, it’s pretty obvious when you get serious.” Like when Watcher’s around. Should I tell you I know? What then?

Her conifer eyes sparkled. “I love that you think about me when we are apart. However, I would like an answer to my question.”

“...I’d stop you.”

“How?”

I lit my horn as an answer.

Proving that she still COULD surprise me, she clapped energetically. Her expression hadn’t changed, however. “Very good, dahling. I think you have waited long enough to join the fun.”

My mind briefly flashed back to Whitepony. We’ve had this conversation before.

She wasn’t done. “But… did I wait too long? Are you going to have too much fun?”

Heaving myself off the tree, I squared my hooves. “What do you mean?”

Her eyes flicked upwards for the briefest of moments before responding. “Finish your answer. You would stop me. How? Would you mark me? Freeze me? Kill me?”

“No!” I retorted sharply. “I’m not gonna kill you.”

“No?” Schwarzwald had abandoned all pretense at this point, instead stepping her tall, scarred frame into my personal space. “I harm you, yet you refuse to kill me? Why?”

I didn’t back down, or look away. Conifer met orange. “Because I don’t want to kill you. You don’t deserve to die.”

“Are you so sure? The things I have done-”

“Don’t matter, not to me.” She stayed silent, willing me to continue. “I’m not gonna speak for Wings, or Bosco, or the twins, or Naiara, or any of my friends. I’m not even gonna speak for my sister. I tried speaking for others before, tried speaking for the entire Wasteland, even. The result was the Red Ice and her Raider army.”

Leaning forwards, my horn traced along a scar on her cheek. “I can only speak for myself, and I don’t want my friends to die. I don’t want you to die.”

Now she stepped back, taking in all of me. “And the twins? They are among your friends?”

“Well, I mean, they’re not exactly my best friends,” I stammered, before finishing more forcefully, “but no, I don’t want them to die, either. I don’t want to want them to die.”

For several long seconds, she said nothing. Did nothing. Schwarzwald just stood there, not staring at anything. Finally, her stance shifted in a half-bow, half-skip. “Snowflake, you are endless entertainment. I have not had this much fun in years.”

“Fan...tastic.” I deadpanned.

A creak sounded above us, and I glanced up just in time to get an eyeful of falling snow. “Ah! Bleh!” Swiping at the offending precipitation, I tried to dislodge it by shaking my head from side to side.

“Allow me.” A wood-brown hoof reached over and roughly tussled my mane. When most of it was shaken off, I looked up at Schwarzwald.

She was not looking back, but rather watching the sky through a gap in the trees with a knowing smile. “It would appear that she has heard enough.”

“She?” Following her gaze, I spotted a winged figure silhouetted against the cloud barrier. At this distance I could see little beyond undefined chocolate-and-cream. “Wings?”

Schwarzwald’s characteristic mirth was in full force now. “Yes. Did you not notice her on the roof as we moved around the building? She has been listening intently, dear Snowflake. She even perched herself in the tree above to hear better.”

“So she heard all that?” How’s she gonna take my answers?

“It would appear so, though I cannot guess what it was you said that sent her away.” Chuckling again, she turned back towards the brothel. “I am sure she will return soon enough. Come, let us catch up on our sleep.”

~~~~~~

Wings hadn’t said anything about our conversation when she returned, at least not to me. I’d been snoozing down in the master bedroom when she got back a few hours later. She’d gathered everybody in the bar area, though Undertow and I sat on the other side of the room from Breeze and Cassie. The others were scattered around the room, taking whatever seat was closest.

Glancing at each one of us in turn, Wings cleared her throat. “Alright, so… what now? We’ve all been busy over the past little while, and we’ve all got stuff on our plates, so let’s decide who’s going where. First things first, what needs taking care of?”

“Naiara!” Breeze started us off around the room, with an point I could get behind.

“Raiders.” Cassie intoned, flicking her eyes towards me.

“My other Orbs.” Bosco put in, leaning forward in his chair.

“I have a request from Amber.” Schwarzwald said, while doing the opposite.

Wings shrugged. “Got some Blue Fire business.”

“Naiara AND Raiders.” Undertow’s forceful voice surprised me a little.

All eyes settled on me for last. Um. “Well… Naiara and the Raiders, as said. There’s also Plottawa, the Steel Rangers at Neighlway, the silver and gold fog creatures, Latvi, who I guess would be mostly the same as the Raiders for now, and a group of pissed off griffon Mercs led by a guy named McCoy. Wings…”

Instantly her sapphire eyes went wide, and she gave a few rapid shakes of her head. what? Do you not want them to know about your deal with Eitom and Wicker? Well, fine, but that will need to be addressed at some point. “...might know some more about them. ‘cause she’s a griffon, y’know?”

“So we’re leaving her stuff for last?”

The tech-loving pegasus’ snark was probably justified, so I let it slide. I did have one last thing to put in the pile though. “Oh, and Atesh and his zebra are up to something. That can probably wait until we find Naiara, huh?”

Wings pinched the bridge of her beak. “...Probably. So it sounds like we’re gonna be busy. What’s first?”

“Naiara.” Myself, my sister, and Breeze all piped up.

“Orbs.” Bosco said at the same time. It earned him a withering look from Breeze and I. Kinda harsh for you, Bosco.

Cassie fluttered her wings above her head, drawing our attention. “I do not like seeing the Raiders operating for any longer than is necessary, but going by what we saw at the last confrontation,”

“You mean where you shot me through the chest?” I held the hoof she’d also perforated to my breast.

She didn’t so much as look at me. “but, as they are now supported by McCoy’s griffons, and are engaged in large-scale battles with Plottawa and Neighlway, I must advocate caution in how we deal with them. They are too many, and too dangerous, to be anything but extremely prepared beforehoof.” She grimaced, but soldiered on. “Therefore I would prefer we take care of other matters until we have the time to create a foolproof strategy. With any luck, this will also give the slavers and Rangers time to reduce their numbers slightly.”

“Okay, so they’re out for now.” Wings turned to her longest-serving partner. “Schwarz, what’s your request from Amber?”

Schwarzwald righted herself, before grinning. “I am sure you can guess, Blue Fire. Amber has requested that I provide security for her operatives as they retrieve some more specimens. I believe she called them ‘Poseideceros’.”

Undertow perked up. “Poseideceros? But they are found in-”

“Indeed. Amber has sent her staff to Soft Swell Lake.”

My little sister jumped off her seat, vibrating. “That is MY lake!”

“Apparently, dear Amber disagrees.”

Undertow stomped her hoof forcefully. “We must stop her!”

Snapping her talons to draw our attention, Wings stepped forwards. “And that’s my business as Blue Fire. It was brought to my attention by an ‘anonymous’ tip.” Cue telling look between the Griffon and Earth mare. “I’ve managed to break up some, but not all, of the animal raids that the Bernstein Conclave is putting together for Red Eye, and this will be no different. Since our interests overlap, shall we tackle this one first?”

“HEY!” Breeze interjected. “What about Naiara?”

“Well get to her.” Bosco gruffed back. “But at least we KNOW where Soft Swell Lake is. Naiara could be anywhere in the Wasteland. This little raid of Wings’ also has a time limit. I want to find Naiara too, but she is more than capable of taking care of herself for an extra day or two.”

The colt squared his shoulders, eyes unfocusing for a second. “And besides, this might be helpful for me too.”

As the ones who’d been staying quiet and listening, Cassie and I were well placed to share a confused look. “Did, uh, did we miss a step there?”

“Yes, Bosco. How did you draw that conclusion?”

His slate-grey eyes dropped slightly. “Well, we tracked the gold fog creatures to Whinniepeg, right? And we found the silver fog, and my first Memory Orb, in the agriculture facility.”

“Yes, we understand all that, but I still do not see your point.” Judging by their stares, none of the other four were any less in the dark on the matter.

The colt lifted his head again, flashing a helpless, slightly uncertain smile. “Well, Whinniepeg is close to the Haylanders’ stomping grounds right? Same with the Barnstormers and the facility. Soft Swell Lake is Deep Diver territory, so…”

“What, you think they’re working with the Raiders?” Try as I might, I couldn’t see it.

Neither could he, judging by his shaking head. “No, not really. It’s just a coincidence that popped into my head just now. I… don’t really have any better leads.” He blinked, then raised his head slightly. “Actually, me and Snow are still owed a favour from Amber. Well, At least I still am. Don’t know if Snow’s cashed hers in yet.”

“Not yet.”

“So we could call in those favours if this doesn’t pan out, but I still want to work the Raider-fog angle first, even if it is farfetched.”

Schwarzwald rolled out of her booth, stepping over to the colt with a sly smile. “Perhaps it is not so farfetched, Bosco-dahling. Even if the Raiders are not involved, there are few others who would willingly travel near their bases. These fog creatures have proven to be adept at hiding, and may be simply using the Raiders as unwitting guard dogs, to scare others away.”

Breeze pulled a face. “That’s twisted.”

She grinned lopsidedly. “Perhaps, but not without some sense to it. Still, it is just a theory, but Bosco has my support to test it, along with the creature hunt.”

“We’re still not gonna know where Naiara is afterwards, you know.” Sulking seemed to be Breeze’s last tac. “Are we gonna keep putting off finding her until we miraculously stumble across that information?”

“No, Breeze.” Cassie was stepping into her well-practiced role of pacifying her sister. “But, as they said, there is a time factor in play here. We must trust in Naiara’s capabilities for the moment. None of us wish to leave her alone any longer than we have to.”

Breeze trusted Naiara to be okay, that much was obvious. Still, I recognised the signs that her head wasn’t quite passing the message along to her heart. I know that feeling.

~~~~~~

“I have decided that the Deep Divers are no longer welcome in Soft Swell Lake.” Undertow started slipping her rebreather over her mouth and nose. “Now I will make them aware.”

“Hold on a sec, Undertow.” From our perch on the high hill overlooking Undertow’s cabin, we had been observing the Bernstein staff as they dredged the lake for Poseidoceroses. We hadn’t been watching long when the Deep Divers showed up, and apparently took offense to the Bernstein presence. A pitched battle was underway between the two sides.

“Do not tell me to wait, Bosco. This business is mine.”

“No, it’s all of ours!” He snapped back impatiently. “We have to be smart, though. Some of us are known to one of the sides, and Snow at least is known to both. We have to play this right.”

“So what’s the play?” Breeze wasn’t any more interested in waiting then Undertow was, not after ascertaining that Naiara was not around.

All eyes went to the colt. He pointed out into the lake. “Undertow, get in the water. That’s your best weapon, so use it. After the Raiders are dealt with, see if you can mess up the ponies underwater, stop ‘em from taking more fish.”

“Done.”

He followed up by stomping the ground we stood on. “Cassie, set up here. Use your rifle to start picking off Raiders, and in case the Bernsteins get testy.”

“Very well.”

Now his hoof went skyward. “Breeze, you and Wings are up high. Let ‘em have it.”

“Heh, music to my ears.” With that, the two took off into the air. Cassie produced her rifle, and lay down at the cliff edge. She paused just long enough to let Undertow leap over her, and over the edge. My heart skipped a beat until I heard the splash from far below.

Not counting Cassie, that left three of us. “Schwarzwald, get down there and help the Bernsteins. It’d get back to Amber if you did anything else.”

“Right away, boss colt.” She set off running, with the gatling gun on her battle saddle spinning up.

“And me, Bosco?” I was pretty impressed by how easily he’d taken charge and got us a working strategy.

He regarded me warily. “We don’t know how much the rest of the Wasteland knows about your Red Ice situation. Pretend that you’re still the Raider boss for now, and that those guys down there are going against your orders. If the Bernsteins don’t buy it, me and Schwarzwald’ll bail you out. Really sell it though.”

“Uh… okay.” I hadn’t even thought about that. I was ready to be done as Red Ice for good. Will it really help to-

“Now, Snow.” Bosco pushed me after Schwarzwald, interrupting my thoughts.

“Right, sorry.”

We charged down the hill, overtaking the older mare and her greater weapons burden. “Don’t shoot Snowflake.” Bosco called out as we passed her.

“Spoilsport.” She called after us.

About halfway down the hill, our presence still not detected, a Raider’s head exploded. Score one for Cassie.Then tendrils of water burst from the lake, drilling a pair of Deep Divers. Two for Undertow. A grenade lodged itself in the apparatus of a diver suit, before promptly exploding. This was backed up by two loud cracks as Wings’ revolver shots took down a fifth Raider. Everybody’s getting in on the action.

Though outnumbered and outgunned, the Bernstein Conclave managed to take advantage of our intervention, dropping more Raiders before they recovered and resumed their attack.

At the foot of the hill, Bosco and I split up. He broke off towards the Bernstein animal cages, where they already had two of the mammoth creatures contained. I stayed straight on course for the battle itself, charging across the shore.

When I was close enough, I lit up my horn, sending out two Cryo Serpents. “HEY!” I bellowed, as the spells slashed between the two sides, momentarily halting the action. “WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?!” Really hope this works, Bosco.

“Red Ice!”

“She’s here!” The Bernsteins were looking uneasy at my arrival, while the Raiders just looked confused.

One mare turned to the stallion beside her. “What’s she doin’ here? She ain’t supposed to be here.”

”Really sell it” he says. “I Asked you a question! What are you Raiders doing here, AGAINST MY ORDERS?”

More confusion. “But we don’t t-”

“I lead the Raiders! Guess I’ll have to make an example out of you!” Faking a savage grin, I redirected the Cryo Serpents towards the Raiders, willing jagged spikes to spring up along the trails. The Deep Divers, still flummoxed, scrambled out of their way.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a Bernstein guard lining me up in his sights. I froze for a second, and would have been dead if not for Schwarzwald’s timely intervention.

Whapping the guard around the head as she joined and Bosco joined the Bernstein defence, she opened up with her guns. “Leave her! Focus on the Raiders!”

After that, it was a rout. The Deep Divers, loners by nature, were thoroughly unprepared for group battle. Especially when seven new combatants showed up out of nowhere, attacking from all angles. As they tried to fire on me, Wings and Breeze would punish them. Moving to focus on the flyers simply let Cassie and Undertow attack with impunity. Broken, the few survivors eventually scattered.

After the last Raider had fled, I turned back towards the Bernstein staff, and found myself facing a wall of guns.Oh great. Now what, Boss Colt? I got no answer from him, as he rapidly whispered something to Breeze. Nodding, she soared skyward, while he took off running towards the water. Uh guys? Little help here?

Schwarzwald stepped between me and the guns. “State your business, Red Ice.”

Okay, still selling it. “I was only here to punish those traitors for their insubordination. Do not test me further, mare, or you will join them.”

Her gatling span-down in response. “You are outnumbered. We have no quarrel with you, so leave us in peace.” Behind her, some of the Bernsteins also lowered their weapons, but not all of them. Some looked relieved, while others were still hostile.

“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, RED ICE!” Wings joined the conversation dramatically. Swooping over our heads in a wide arc, before pausing in midair, claws-on-hip, the other pointed at me. “I WON’T LET YOU PUT THESE PEOPLE IN DANGER!”

What in the hell? I half-squinted at her, not sure what was happening.

Before I could respond, Wings jerked her head away from the hunters, waggling her eyebrows at me and winking. Oh, right.

She switched her gaze for a moment, to rest on Schwarzwald. “Ma’am, please move your people away from her. It’s not safe here.” Without another word, Wings took out her guns and began shooting at the sand in my hooves. With a yelp that was only half-acting, I took off running between the abandoned Deep Diver houses, sending slow, clumsy ice mists up as I ran.

“YOU WON’T GET AWAY FROM ME, RED ICE!” Still hamming it up, Wings gave ‘chase’. We kept running long after we were out of sight of the Bernsteins, with she and I firing bullets and spells respectively straight up into the air.

After a while, Wings put her pistols away. “Loop back around and meet up with Cassie on the hill. Wait for us there. We’ll deal with the poachers.”

I nodded, before smiling. “You suck at acting, by the way.”

She smirked back. “Oh, and you’re much better?” She growled out a rough exaggeration of my voice. “‘AGAINST MY ORDERS?’ BLARGH!”

“I didn’t say that last part!”

“Might as well have.”

“Oh, go Blue Fire it up for real already.”

“Yeah yeah, just get yourself back to Cassie.” With a final wink, she flew off. I continued on, half-grumbling and half-smiling.

~~~~~~

Out of breath, I puffed back up to the hill, where our sniper was waiting. She had already packed away her things. “How’s it look down there?”

She didn’t turn away from her vantage point. “All seems quiet. After you and Wings staged your little display, Undertow and I disrupted their capture efforts. Not completely, but enough so that they only possess four working cages, rather than twelve.”

That was something, at least. “And then what? What about the Poseidoceroses?”

“The Bernsteins took the four that they could, and departed. The others got together after they left, and are on their way back now.”

“What happened with Wings? She was supposed to go all Blue Fire on them. Did she have another fake fight with Schwarzwald?”

Cassie turned enough for me to see her raised eyebrow. “Wings did not return in time to approach the Bernsteins again. Her secret is safe for now.”

Her raised eyebrow was met by my twitching one. “Then what in the hell was the point of her chasing me off?”

I caught the beginnings of a smile as Cassie turned away. “Poetic justice?” She managed, faltering at the end as she coughed to cover her laughter.

“Ha. Ha. Ha.”

We both jumped as her communicator crackled to life. “Sis, pick up.”

Cassie dug the device out from under a wing. “Yes, Breeze?”

There was no disguising the urgency in Breeze’s voice, even over the airwaves. “Grab Snow and get moving. Naiara just called in. She’s at La Buque.”

Simultaneous gasps escaped us. She’s where?!

“By herself? That’s far too dangerous! She-”

“Talk on the way, Cassie. Get moving!” Breeze chirped.

It was my turn to grin at Cassie being put out from being interrupted. Nevertheless, I joined her in heading off. If Naiara really was in La Buque, then we could be there in no time.

~~~~~~

We ran the entire way to La Buque without stopping. Breeze practically force-fed us all Buck so we wouldn’t stop. Unfortunately it seemed to work a little too well.

“Pfffhahahahaha!” Undertow’s unrestrained chortling was a near-constant during the trip. The Buck had hit her system like a double hind-leg kick, and she was enjoying herself immensely by orbiting us all with bubbles. It was very impressive, and very cute, but it wasn’t entirely appreciated. Considering our chemically altered states, and the situation we were in, Breeze, Bosco and I weren’t really in the mood.

“Undertow, you stop being adorable this instant! It’s not the time.”

Surprisingly, she didn’t flinch at my words. “Oh, come on, big sister. We’ll be fine. We’ll get to Naiara without issue.”

“Why’re you so damn sure, Bubbles?” Breeze dropped back to glare at her. “Naiara didn’t sound happy on the communicator. You should be taking this more seriously!”

Undertow settled a bubble on the pegasus’ nose, and refused to move it, regardless of Breeze swishing her head back and forth. “You should relax more. if Naiara had time to call, then she has time to get to safety. When has anypony been able to catch her?”

Breeze’s frown softened a little. “That’s not…”

Wings, Schwarzwald, and Cassie began laughing. “From the mouths of babes!”

I joined them. “My little sister, folks. Ain’t she grand?” And she will NEVER be allowed Buck again. This is fun and all, but I love her most the way she usually is.

Her anger defeated, Breeze just gave up and let out a chuckle herself. “You win this round, Undertow. Come on, let’s hurry.”

We spend the rest of the rush to La Buque in an unspoken race against each other, pushing ourselves harder and harder to reach the canyon first. It wasn’t clear who started, but everybody got swept up in it. Cassie’s smug nonchalance as she reached the canyon wall first was damn aggravating.

Then she shrieked as a hoof reached up over the edge and grabbed her leg. “GETITOFFGETITOFFGETITOFF!!!” The limb holding her hind leg gave a strong pull, dumping her to the dirt.

“Cassie!” Breeze jumped forward and grabbed her sister by the hooves, trying to pull her away.

As the other ponies and I ran to help, Wings whipped out her revolvers. “I’ll get it!” Spreading her feathers, she shot up and over the edge.

“Shootitshootitshootit!”

A voice from over the edge provided a counterpoint. “SAABI! Don’t shoot, it’s me! It’s Naiara, don’t shoot!”

“It is her! Pull her up!” Wings confirmed.

“Naiara?” Breeze’s panic shifted to hope.

“Breeze! Pull me up! Quick!” Naiara’s panic stayed panic. “Hey, birdie, get up with the others. Trouble’s coming!”

With Wings pushing, Naiara holding tight, and all of us pulling, we managed to drag our whole eightsome back onto solid ground. When we were sure it was secure, everybody flopped to the ground, evidently having burned through the rest of our Buck-induced energy.

Breathing heavily, Naiara’s head was hanging low. “Breeze, thanks,” She raised her head. “but you’re all in troub- Snowflake?!” She gaped at me.

I stared back, stumped. Naiara, usually the most unflappable of fillies, was rooted to the spot, eyes reduced to pinpricks. “Naiara…” I reached a hoof out to her, but she instantly backpedaled.

“Nonono, you can’t be here, Snow. Breeze, why didn’t you tell me she was here?”

Helping her sister up, Breeze shared my confusion. “Does it matter?”

Twin sounds, half-roar and half-hiss, sounded out from down in the canyon.

Naiara greyed even more than usual. “Everybody get away from the edge! The Hissyflits are here, we have to fight!”

Adrenaline blasted away our fatigue, and we were on hooves and paws in a moment. Bosco was already shifting back into the same mindset he displayed at Soft Swell. “How many, Naiara?”

Facing the edge, she backpedaled as fast as she could. “T-two.”

She as the only one who kept moving upon hearing that. “Two?!”

“That’s it?”

“Hell, I could take two of ‘em.”

The zebra’s haunted look didn’t diminish, and she slipped as she took another blind step back. “Not these two.”

Even I had to scoff here. “What, are they some kind of ‘legendary’ Hissyflits or something?”

A fierce wind kicked up from the canyon, forcing us to shield our eyes. “I can’t see! Naiara, what’s happening?”

It was a few seconds before the gale died down enough that I could peek out from behind my hooves. When I did, I got a faceful of Naiara. She slammed into me just as a massive shadow passed by where I’d been standing.

Dragging me to my hooves, she shoved me into a defensive circle that the others had formed. Everyone was looking skyward. I soon understood why.

Naiara’s strained voice sounded off from the side. “Not legendary, but there is a Mother Hissyflit…”

Circling slowly above us, the Hissyflit was unlike any I’d seen before. While the average Hissyflit was only a few hooves high, this one was easily double the height of any one of us. Its feline face was contorted in an even more grotesque snarl than her children. A wicked tongue swirled itself in the air as her venomous, leg-length fangs glistened.

“...and the daddy, the Alpha.”

Outmassing even the Mother, the Alpha Hissyflit was somehow even more horrifying. In place of the ineffectual claws of the babies, there were a set of digits that could give a full-grown Molar Bear a run for its caps. Saw-like spines ran the length of its colossal wingspan, and a powerfully muscled tail swung back and forth.

Nobody seemed to talkative, but eventually Schwarzwald found her voice. “Um… Bosco-dahling, could we call upon your talents once again?”

Not wanting to take my eyes off the hellbeasts on the perimeter, I could only risk a sideways glance at the colt, who gulped heavily before responding. “R-right. We… uh… avoid the fangs. Normal Hissy poison is deadly, so this stuff’ll probably kill you faster. Stick together if at all possi-”

“SCATTER!”

We leapt aside as the monsters dove at us, Bosco and Wings managing to pop off a few seemingly unnoticed shots from their comparatively-tiny weapons.

Landing in a heap, we all rushed to right ourselves. Now split into two distinct groups, I found myself joined by Bosco, Breeze, and Schwarzwald.

“Snowflake!” Undertow called out from the other group, making to come to me.

Luckily, Wings had the good sense to grab her by the goggles and drag her back. “Focus, kid! Look after yourself first.”

“Stay strong!” Was all I could call back, before turning back towards the creatures.

Seeing our splintered herd, these two predators dove at the other group. Faced with half the support, Undertow’s group took off running. Both creatures followed, hiss-roaring in pursuit.

My horn instantly lit up. “NO!” It was joined by the whir of Schwarzwald’s gatling. She unloaded on the backs of the creatures at full force, but they didn’t even seem to feel it.

My ice fared no better. It spread across the Mother’s back and wings, but didn’t hinder her flight at all. As we ran after the monsters after our friends, whooping and hollering in a vain attempt to get their attention, I thought I was going to be sick from the idea that I could lose the others.

SPLUT SPLUT SPLUT “SSSSSHKHKHK!!!” Miraculously, the Mother peeled off from the chase, wheeling about to glare at us.

I didn’t question it. “Yeah, over here! Look at us! Bring it on!” Damn. Couldn’t get the other one. Better kill this thing quick.

Bosco agreed. “Pour on the ice, Snow! Schwarz’s shots broke through the parts you froze. Breeze and I’ll distract it. You two bring it down!” He whipped raised his pistol and began running to one side of the creature.

“You better not fuck this up!” Breeze shot past on the other side, hurling a Shock Lock javelin as she went.

“Work your magic, Snowflake. I will make it count.” Looking as serious as I’d ever seen her, Schwarzwald revved her gatling.

Glacier glow ablaze, I concentrated on the hovering demon, and let loose with everything I had. No form, no specifics, just as much cold as I could muster.

At first, nothing happened. For several heart-stopping seconds, the only thing I saw was the Mother come for me. The flesh rolled back, exposing even more fangs.

“Snow!”

I backpedaled, still pouring on the magic. Come on come on! I need something here! Anything! It was too late though, and the thing’s tongue shot out, slamming me to the ground. The main body landing beside me with a thud.

“Get away!” I half-rolled, flailing wildly with my hooves.

My flailing turned to cowering as the Hissyflit let out another of its hiss-roars. Somebody help me!

Wet, warm liquid splashed onto my hooves and cheek. Cracking one eye open, I was greeted to the sight of the Mother stumbling off me, my magic finally taking effect. Schwarzwald wasn’t wasting the opportunity.

Another javelin glanced off the beast. “Get out of there, idiot! Grenade’s coming in!”

Heeding Breeze’s words, I half-dragged, half-rolled myself away. I didn’t get far enough to avoid the explosive blast, which lifted me off the ground.

I landed next to Bosco. Without looking away from his targeting of the frozen weak spots, he mumbled around the weapon in his maw. “Come on Snow, we still need you! More ice!”

“G-got it.” I was going to be howling later, but I got up fast, spinning on my heel towards the Mother.

It was hurting, but not nearly out of the fight. One wing was completely shredded, but even at half strength, it could still knock us off our hooves with one swing. Worse still, the ice was fading.

Blood began to drip from my nostrils as I re-lit my horn. I didn’t care, that was only a problem if we lived. The Mother was moving more slowly, and couldn’t fly. I could focus on the important parts, like the eyes. It worked for the fake fog Molar bears… I had to try. Mercifully, the effect was far more fast-acting this time around, and the blinded creature began to thrash and howl.

Nobody was sympathetic. Bosco emptied his entire clip into the tongue. Schwarzwald’s rifle kept up a steady beat of punishment while her gatling reloaded, and Breeze took advantage of the Mother Hissyflit’s distraction to land a grenade right in its gullet. “Choke on that, monster!”

Perhaps it did… for the few seconds before the grenade went off, and the whole creature popped like one of Undertow’s bubbles. UNDERTOW!

No time to rest, even as the corpse hit the dirt. The others still had fight on their hooves, with something even bigger and badder than what we’d just gone through.

“SCREEEEEE!!!” Bigger, badder, and angrier too. The Alpha did not take the death of its mate well. It wasn’t unharmed itself, far from it in fact. One of its eyes was completely gone, gouged out somehow, and its powerful tail was showing exposed bone. Still, it retained both wings, and all its deadly toxin. It wasn’t done yet.

Howling in rage, the Alpha’s tail swung around in a wide arc. Undertow ducked, Cassie went high, but Wings and Naiara were caught full on. They were thrown up and away, colliding in midair, and slammed down a half-dozen metres away, unconscious.

“Naiara!”

“Wings!”

Bosco was already in motion. “Schwarzwald, with me, we’ll cover them. The rest of you, take that thing down!”

“On it!” I sprinted towards Undertow, simultaneously glad she was okay, and petrified that she was now the only close target for the Alpha. “Undertow, get away!”

The Alpha had other ideas. Advancing on Undertow, it spread its wings wide, using them to corral her. She had nowhere to go. She swiftly backpedaled, but it took her dangerously close to the prone forms of Naiara and Wings.

I landed on the thing’s back, the product of a desperate leap on my part. Magic was not part of my repertoire at that moment. Magic required focus and awareness. All I knew was that my sister was in danger, and I couldn’t let that continue. The saw-scales scraped and bit at my flesh, but didn’t stop me from sinking my teeth into its ear and biting hard.

“SRRRAAAIII!!!” My teeth were an issue for the fiend, but my miniscule weight was not. It was all I could to do hold on as it bounced and bounded, trying to shake me off.

Finally, the Alpha Hissyflit simply gave up trying to dislodge me, and went for the simple approach. Before I knew what was happening, I was a hundred metres up. The shock loosened my grip enough for it to throw me off into the open air.

“NOOOOO!” I tumbled helplessly in the air as I fell. The view spun around and around, but I still recognised the Alpha diving after me as I fell. Binn tusaa!

Two blue blurs shot past me, and a lance of light blossomed between them as they reached the Alpha, who suddenly shrieked and twisted, wings locking up instantly.

This had the added bonus of sending it plummeting down right at me.

I tried to will my horn into action, but it stubbornly refused to glow. “Somebody help me!” I stuck out all of my limbs, trying to reach something… anything.

“I got you!” A pair of claws wrapped around my hoof, swinging me away as the Alpha continued downwards, slamming into the ground.

Naiara was on it in an instant, planting Bosco’s knife into any soft spot she could find. She’s okay!

So was my rescuer. Wings was flagging, but strong enough to stop my fall. “Hold on, Snow. I’ll get you down.”

“O-okay.” I couldn’t have even begun to crack wise at that moment. When my hooves touched dirt, Schwarzwald was there instantly to usher me… somewhere.

Bosco was standing off to the side, watching Naiara ride the thrashing beast. “Naiara, get out of there. Undertow, NOW!”

I started. “Undertow?”

Naiara immediately abandoned her efforts, backflipping off the Alpha. The Hissyflit turned to follow her, but a wave of water overcame it before it could take a step. Undertow was standing at the canyon’s edge, and was calling up water from the same stream that had trapped Breeze the last time we were here.

Once the creature was completely covered, Undertow raised a hoof and frantically waved it. “I have it. Tell me where.”

Breeze answered her, for once without attitude. “Here! Right here. Right where I am!” The Pegasus was down in the canyon proper, hovering next to the far wall. I spotted a few crystals glowing beside her.

“What’s happening?”

The others ignored me, just kept pushing me towards Naiara and Bosco.

Undertow wasted no time, lifting the watery mass, Alpha included, up into the air. Once it was overhead, she sent it straight at Breeze, who wheeled and soared out of the way. The gadgeteer Pegasus followed the stream back to the source, landing behind Undertow, and looking skyward.

I followed her gaze. High above, higher than even the Alpha had taken me, Cassie was waiting, rifle at the ready, and aimed right at the Hissyflit that Undertow was holding at the wall. “I have the shot!” She yelled down.

Breeze nodded, and pulled Undertow away from the edge, just as Bosco yelled. “Everybody down!”

I still didn’t get it, even as Undertow’s water dropped away, and Cassie fired. “What’s…”

Then Cassie’s shot hit the crystals in the wall beside the Alpha. Already bloated with background magic, they were ripe and ready. A huge chunk of canyon wall blew out, sending severed limbs and broken body of the Alpha careening downwards into the canyon itself, closely followed by a hundred tonnes of falling rock.

The shockwave blew me off my hooves, but Cassie was there in an instant to catch me. “Relax, Snowflake. It’s done.”

I nodded, but wriggled out of her grip and stumbled over to Undertow. My hooves gently roved over her body. “You’re not hurt, are you? Any broken bones? Did it bite you?”

She reached up and wiped some of the blood from my nose. “I am fine, Snowflake. Sore, as we all are, but fine. Do not push yourself further.”

I sagged in relief, addressing the entire group. “Let’s not do that again.”

Cassie and Breeze were leaning on each other. “Why’d we even do it in the first place?”

“Let’s ask.”

All eyes went to Naiara…‘s back as she walked away. “Wait!” I called out. “Where are you going?”

She slowed, but didn’t stop, only looking halfway back. “I figure you don’t want to see me now that the fight’s over.”

Blinking in confusion, I looked for an answer in her eyes, but she wouldn’t meet my gaze. “What do you mean? Why wouldn’t I want to see you?”

Now she did stop, and turn to face us, ever-so-slowly. “B-because of what I did! I betrayed you to the Raiders!”

Understanding dawned. “You think that I’m angry with you?”

She nodded miserably. “Mhm. You and Breeze.”

Heads whipped around to look at Cassie’s sister, who was dumbfounded. “Me?”

Naiara’s head didn’t raise. “I sent Snow into a trap with Raiders.”

Bosco looked on with concern, but also pity. “Is… is that why you didn’t come back? Why you stayed away?”

“Mhm. I guess I am just a no-good Stripe.” She still didn’t meet my eyes.

Taking a deep breath, I untangled myself from Undertow. “Everybody, stay out of this, please.”

Despite the revelations, Breeze was instantly on the defensive. “What’re you gonna do?”

“Just… please.”

Breeze grimaced, but stayed silent. Good enough.

Ignoring the warm trickle on my upper lip, I lit my horn. Boots of ice formed around Naiara’s hooves, pinning her in place.

Looking more and more fearful, she gave a few helpless tugs. “Snow…”

I stalked forward, until we were face to face. “Do you know what I remember about that day, Naiara? In the Barnstormer camp?”

She was close to tears now. “Snow, I’m so sorry. It was… I was… I-”

I put a hoof on her shoulder, silencing her. “You. I remember waking up, and being alone. Undertow wasn’t there. Latvi was. The Raider chiefs were. Undertow wasn’t. Because of you.”

“I’m sorry! I only had time to take her. I wanted to come back for you!” She wailed.

“You left me alone, with Raiders, and a psychopathic unicorn who had already decided to turn me over to Plottawa for measly caps!”

Naiara shrank back as far as her frozen shackles could allow. A crackling hum started up behind me. Shock Lock, Breeze?

“Do you have any idea what you did to me when you took Undertow away from there, NAIARA?!”

“Watch for purple eyes.” Undertow cautioned, keeping the promise she made with Lexi.

“Easy, Snow.” Wings’ claws were closing around her revolvers. Angling my head so that only she could see, I mouthed “suck at acting, huh?” to her. The griffon’s eyes burst into colour as I turned back to the quivering zebra.

“Naiara…” I leaned in and smiled, dropping the charade. “I didn’t want Undertow there. It was a gathering of scum: Caber Toss, Ballbuster, Latvi and Red Ice. She didn’t belong with people like that. She DOESN’T belong with people like that.”

My other hoof wrapped around her neck in a tight hug, the ice fading from her hooves. “You took her away from there. Naiara, you kept my sister safe. Why would I ever be mad at you, svara?”

~~~~~~

“So, which one o’ y’all went an’ plugged mah girl in the chest?”

As I passed, both sisters froze in panic as Lexi cornered them. At her glance, I whipped my head forwards and continued on regimentally. The last thing I saw was her slinging a hoof over a shoulder of each pegasus. “Le’s you an’ me have a li’l talk.”

Yeah, that’s right. I told my… boss on you!

Continuing through the corridors of Sprinkles Supplies, I spotted Wings and Bosco flanking Undertow as the three played poker against some of the off-duty guards. My sister’s quizzical expression as she intently studied her cards made me smile as I trotted along, nodding greetings the the occasional caravan runner going the other way.

I like being welcome here. It’s a nice change of pace. Another safe place to sleep, and no drama.

“You seem troubled, dahling.”

or not.

“Well, it’s just…”

Sidling up to the doorway where the voices were coming from, I eased myself up against the wall. Not getting involved, just gonna listen. That still counts as no drama, right?

“... Bosco isn’t smiling much. Is he okay?”

“No, he is not.”

Naiara and I both inhaled sharply at that.

“What happened?”

“Many things. Do not lose hope, though. I do not believe it is permanent.”

“You don’t? What can I do to help?”

Schwarzwald’s next words were full of genuine warmth. “Be you, pretty thing. Act as you always have around our friends. If it is not clear, you have been dearly missed. Your return has given them all a reason to smile. I certainly am, and Bosco will too.”

Strength returned to Naiara’s response. Even through the wall, I could see her smile. “That’s all you’ll give me, huh? Gotta find out for myself.”

I heard Schwarzwald’s battle saddle shift with her shrug. “It is not my place, dahling.”

“Well, at least now that Snow’s finally got a new sister, I can stop listening to her whining about her brothers.”

WHAT?!

“Indeed. She was beginning to repeat herself. Not at all interesting.”

Are you kidding me?! There was a pause, long enough for me to wonder if they were still there. As I inched forwards, about to glare around the doorframe, two mismatched hooves shot around the corner and hauled me through. I slipped and tumbled forwards in the process, ended up on my back.

Four green eyes, two jade and two forest, leaned over me, upside down. Naiara smirked down at me. “That was for your little act at La Buque, Snow. I was really upset, and you made me think I really had done something I couldn’t take back.”

“Also, you are not stealthy.” Schwarzwald chimed in. “At all.”

Naiara and I stared at each other for a few seconds, with neither us nor Schwarzwald speaking a word. Finally, I sighed, choosing to ignore Schwarzwald’s aside. “Yeah, okay. I shouldn’t have done that. Not to say that I’m not a little angry at you, as one of Atesh’s zebra, but I really did just want you, as my friend, back.”

I took each of their proffered hooves, letting them lift me from the dirt. The night air was cooling just past the point of comfort. Schwarzwald made sure I was upright, then turned to Naiara. “Go on now, dahling, off with you. Go find dear Bosco, and make him smile. I must speak with Snowflake alone for a moment. We will not be long.”

I shared a quick hug with Naiara, before letting her head back inside. Not two seconds after she disappeared inside, however, she poked her head back around the door. “Snow?”

“Yeah?”

She smiled her so-very-natural smile. “I’m really glad Undertow’s your sister now. She deserves you as a sister. Regardless of what else you are, or think you are, you most definitely are the right pony for that.”

I suddenly couldn’t speak for the lump in my throat. All I could do was give her an awkward return smile, as I hastily wiped my eyes.

Then she was gone. I was alone with Schwarzwald, who continued to stare at the doorway for a few more seconds.

Her next words set the hackles on the back of my neck rising, as did the heavy tone she delivered them in. “Finally… you are all gathered.”

“... Schwarzwald?”

She didn’t look at me. “It took longer than I thought it might, but the others are worth the delay.” Her gaze had moved from the door to the rest of the yard. As far as I could see, we were the only two around. She wasn’t satisfied, though, and pulled me towards the deeper shadows. “This way. We will need privacy.”

I wrenched my hoof out of her grip so hard that I slapped myself in the face. “Hey now, whoa. Just whoa. Listen, this whole ‘mistress’ thing was funny at first…”

The mercenary mare paid me little heed. “Snowflake, this is not the time for jokes. What you learn now cannot become known.”

I stood firm, not following. “What am I going to learn? What can’t become known?”

“The light they flung into the future.”

We both looked up, me in surprise, and Schwarzwald in seriousness. Hovering above us, barely visible in the darkness, was a sprite bot.

“Watcher.” About time you two came clean.

“Hello, Snowflake.” The floating robot turned to Schwarzwald. “Are you absolutely sure about this? Is now the time?”

Her reply was delayed. “...I cannot say that I am sure… but I believe it is.”

Seconds ticked by as Watcher processed that. “...Alright. I trust you, Schwarz. We’ll see how this turns out. I do have one question first.”

The attention settled back on me. “Snow, I have to know. Why do you have those eyes? What happened with Sombra?”

“Uh…” Do I really want you to know, Watcher? I glanced at Schwarzwald, who gave a single, curt nod. “...I’ll turn your own words back on you, Watcher. Nobody else finds out about this. I already have enemies who want it.”

“Who am I gonna tell?” He scoffed through the speaker. “Now what is ‘it’?”

“‘It’... is this.” Withdrawing the horn from the innards of my barding, I held it up.

“...There is something there, right? It’s pretty dark out.”

Tense atmosphere thoroughly shattered, I said nothing as I lit up my horn. The moment the glacial light caught the horn, Watcher reared back. “I don’t believe it. It’s still around after all this time?!”

“Yeah. Sombra’s horn still exists, even if he himself died at Cadance’s hooves.”

“And you’re sure about that last part?”

“The zebra are. That jackhole memory mage, Latvi, is.” I couldn’t help pulling a face, not only when thinking about Latvi, but also for Atesh.

“Then destroy it.” He was adamant.

“No.” So was I.

“Snowflake, I told you how powerful Sombra was. I can’t allow any possibility of his return.” When I made no move, he turned to Schwarzwald. “Schwarz, take it from her, and destroy it.”

She shook her head. “If I do that, we may lose everything.”

Noisily deflating, the sprite bot rotated back to me. “Why-hy-hy won’t you just get rid of it?” He whined.

“Because Naiara might need it.” My answer drew a less-than-satisfied silence, so I elaborated. “The war was fought over coal and gems, right? Naiara’s tribe seems to think that Sombra’s crystal powers can be harnessed to grow gems in the zebra homelands.”

“That’s not all there is to it, Snow! There’s an ideological aspect to this too!”

“Not for Atesh, the tribe leader. He’s not a believer.”

Even through the bot’s speakers, the sound of Watcher blowing air past his lips was clear. “Atheist zebra. Well this is just going swimmingly, isn’t it?”

Schwarzwald cut in sharply. “Then return to the matter at hoof, Watcher. The horn’s fate can be decided another day.”

“...Alright. Let’s start over. Where to begin…”

“A light in the future?” I prompted.

The metal insectile nodded. “Right. You remember the Ministry Mares?”

“Of course.” It was drilled into us every day in the Stable. The war and its catalysts, the leaders of Old Equestria.

His voice grew firm, proud even. “Well they were more than those mistakes. Those 6 ponies were worth more than the Ministries. More than anything. Those 6 ponies took it upon themselves to save Equestria time and again before the war. They did it by using something far more important, far more relevant than the Ministries: The Elements of Harmony.” He paused, for no reason that I could see beyond dramatic effect.

“...” Shooting Schwarzwald a worried glance, I was dismayed to receive a smile and nod in return. “And the Elements were…”

“Equestria’s strongest magic. Only to be used in times of great strife, when all other options had been exhausted. Six amulets, representing the traits that the six ponies embodied. They only worked together, and fed off each other. Weaponised friendship.” Pride oozed from his words.

“They sound like megaspells.” The observation was not a positive one.

Watcher didn’t lose steam. “Funny you should say that, actually. See, the Elements could only be used by Twilight Sparkle and her friends, the bearers, because they embodied those six traits, and so-”

“What traits?” I had to interrupt. The conversation was REALLY starting to spin out of control now.

“The six core tenets of friendship: Honesty, Loyalty, Kindness, Generosity, Laughter, and Magic. Twilight had that last one, as you probably could’ve guessed, given that she ran the Ministry of Magic.”

“So the other five Ministry Mares had the others?”

“Why do you think they got the jobs?”

I sat back in the darkness, taking a moment to digest all of this. “But…” I said at last. “The Ministry Mares are all dead. You said the Elements wouldn’t work without their bearers.”

“I did.” He confirmed solemnly. “For the moment, the Elements remain unable to release their power. They can’t fulfill Twilight’s last wish.”

“Last wish?” I echoed helplessly, barely keeping up.

“The Elements ARE a megaspell, or at least they will be. Twilight sought to use them to end the war.”

“That’s… ominous.”

The floating speaker rocked in the air. “Not even remotely what I meant. The Elements weren’t a weapon, not really. That was a poor choice of words. Twilight wanted to use them to cure Equestria.”

“Cure it from what?”

Watcher panned in a slow circle. “This. The day the world ended wasn’t the first we knew of the radiation megaspells. Twilight knew what would happen if they all went off like this, and tried to turn the Elements of Harmony into a countermeasure. The Elements megaspell, which she named the Gardens of Equestria, will wipe out the radiation, and the Taint, and make Equestria fertile again. Gardens will bring Equestria back from the dead.”

I swallowed harshly, my throat dry. “How?”

“Ah, well, that’s the tricky part.”

“We do not know, dahling.” Schwarzwald had been quietly watching from the side, making note of how I’d been reacting to Watcher’s words. She hardly looked at Watcher at all, in fact. “This is old magic, beyond anything that exists now.”

With her rejoining the conversation, I was beginning to feel outnumbered. “But how are the Gardens of Equestria even going to activate? The Element bearers are all dead!”

“But the Elements themselves live on.” Watcher’s response was encased in conviction. “The Elements were not created for Twilight Sparkle and her friends, two hundred years ago. They… inherited them.”

“Inherited them? From who?”

Schwarzwald’s familiar chuckle came out now. “This will be fun to watch. The bearers, before Twilight-dahling and her friends, were the Princesses Celestia and Luna!”

I didn’t disappoint. Eye bugging, I reared back. “THE PRINCESSES?!”

“Sshh! Keep it down, Snow!” All three of us glanced, heads cocked, towards the open door back into the building.

After a full minute of inactivity, Watcher’s sprite bot wriggled in irritation. “Yes, Celestia and Luna bore them before the six. Others, who I don’t know, bore them before even the princesses.”

“And… others will inherit the Elements in this time.”

The full force of what they were saying began to hit me. “Who is going to inherit them? Do you know?”

“Not all of them. We think we’ve found at least one.” What HADN’T been said far outweighed what had.

“Who?” I fought against the lead weight settling in my stomach. “Do you mean… me?”

This got a full-on bark of laughter from Schwarzwald. “HAH! No, not you. The thought never even crossed our minds.”

“O-oh.” I whimpered, chastised. “Then who?”

Schwarzwald maintained her good cheer. “If the answer cannot be found in Red Ice, then…”

...Blue Fire. Wings? You think Wings is an Element bearer?”

Watcher interjected before Schwarzwald could answer. “We’re considering it as a possibility. You have to understand that this has been a long process.” He broke off for a moment, floating over to Schwarzwald. “We’ve suffered from false hope.” The gentleness of his words was surprising, but not as much as the hoof Schwarzwald wrapped around him. “More than once.”

“What’s wrong, you two?”

Smiling playfully. “After what happened twenty years ago, I was at last able to get Watcher to stop fixing on just one soul per Element.”

Dread fascination pushed me forward. “What… happened twenty years ago?”

Schwarzwald’s smile morphed paradoxically. It was pregnant with meaning, but airy and weightless at the same time. “Twenty years ago… I lost my chance to be a bearer.”

“You?” I gasped.

“Me.” She deadpanned. “I had another group of friends, so much like the ones you have now. We travelled the Wasteland, saw many things, met all kinds of souls, and accomplished great things together. And then… we didn’t.”

“What… what happened?” I couldn’t tear myself away from her face. Her scars seemed to draw the eye more and more, until I could barely see the face underneath.

“They died, dahling. It is the way of the Wasteland.” The off-hoofedness of the statement drilled into me as hard as the words themselves. Schwarz… twenty years? You’ve been holding on to that secret for two decades? How can you look so unaffected?

Mercifully, Watcher took over. “It… was no longer possible for Schwarzwald to be a bearer after that. Friendship is an important part of awakening the bearers, and… well…” The sprite bot sank, then rose. “Still, Schwarzwald is strong. She’s been working with me ever since. I couldn’t have done this without her. We WILL find the bearers, and Wings is the current possibility.”

Schwarzwald still took up most of my attention, so my reply was somewhat stilted. “Wings. She’s not your only choice, is she?”

“No,” he conceded thoughtfully. “There are others; A shrimpy unicorn filly down south, one cocky bastard of a pegasus with oversized wings, a pious gardener, and a few others. Nothing is set in stone until the Elements awaken. It could be all of them for all I know. There are six Elements to awaken.”

“But why Wings?”

Schwarzwald’s unfathomable ease continued with the simplicity of her next words. I really struggled to find the heartache that she had to be feeling, no matter how much time had dulled the hurt. “Because she is honest.”

“...What.” That’s a bad joke, Schwarzwald. If this whole damn thing has been one giant excuse to fuck with me-

“Wings lies, and cheats, and steals. This is true.” Schwarzwald stepped forward forcefully. “But these are just surface traits. In all the time that I have known her, I have never seen Wings be anything but honest with herself.”

“There is a certain level of interpretation in the choice, sure,” Watcher conceded, “but Fluttershy was not always kind. Rarity was not always generous. Pinkie Pie knew when to stop laughing. What they all had in common, was that they never changed their core selves. Who they were in relation to their Element. That never faltered within them.”

Schwarzwald nodded. “Wings is the same. She has fought everything, including her race, society, and YOU, to remain true to herself. A blue fire burns pure, Snowflake.”

“I…” My head was swimming. “Why are you telling this to me, instead of her?”

“Because YOU are the Red Ice. While Wings has stayed true to herself, you have changed into someone else. That has brought you allies, and enemies, and brought the two of you to each other. For Wings to realise her Element, she will need you, and the chaos you bring.”

“...didn’t mean to.” I mumbled sheepishly.

They ignored me. “You can help her reach her goal, without her falling victim to false hope. That will be our burden. She cannot know.” Schwarzwald stepped back, spreading her hooves openly. “Snowflake, there is no place in the Gardens for you or I, but we can plant the seeds so they may grow.”

~~~~~~

“So… we’re whores now?”

“I believe Bosco would be referred to as a ‘gigolo’...”

“Undertow…”

“...or perhaps he would be the pimp?”

“Undertow!”

“Please stop.”

“Says ‘Harlots’ right there above the door.”

“Breeze, you’re not helping!”

“WOULD SOMEPONY JUST OPEN THE DAMN DOOR??”

“...shouts like a pimp, too.”

“AAAAARGHHH!!!”

Cassie silently walked past a near-catatonic-with-laughter Schwarzwald, and keyed in the passcode forHoofshine Harlots. “Naiara, we are not offering any services here. It is surprisingly well-stocked, well-hidden, and well-decorated. There is room enough for all of us, you included.”

The zebra’s face lit up. “I get my own room? What’s in it?”

Breeze half-smirked, half-smiled. “Pretty dresses.”

Dimples formed in Naiara’s cheeks as her grin erupted. “I get to wear a pretty dress?” Quick as a flash, she’d dragged Breeze and Undertow through the door and halfway through the lobby. “ComeoncomeoncomeonLET’SGO!”

“It might be good for Breeze to pick out something to wear herself,” Cassie mused, as she followed leisurely. “should she wish to catch the eye of Naiara’s clanmate.”

Having calmed down, Schwarzwald and Bosco were both yawning. Both headed straight to their rooms.

I hadn’t made a move to enter. After the revelations from Schwarzwald and Watcher at Sprinkles Supplies, my mind had been swimming in new information. Naiara’s return had easily drawn the focus of the others on the trip from Sprinkles to Hoofshine, leaving me vainly attempting to process it all. Even Undertow had been more interested in Naiara, leaving me completely free to quietly panic in piece.

“Snow, can we talk?”

Well, not completely free. Wings, the object of my panicked ponderings, had been shooting glances my way ever since she rejoined the group. She’d left, and returned, mid-trip, but hadn’t revealed where she’d been.

Avoiding giving away Schwarz-Watcher’s plan had been hell.

Steeling myself, I woodenly rotated to face her. “Y-yeah, Wings?”

It was a mistake. GAH! Those blues!

Said ‘blues’ were closely scrutinising me. “You okay? You’ve been going pale a lot during the walk. Did you get a little dose of Hissy venom or something?”

Don’t blow it. Just politely excuse yourself from the conversation. You totally did get Hissy-venomed. It’s perfect! Use it! “N-no, I don’t think so.” FUCKING DAMN IT! “I’m probably just tired.”

She didn’t believe me, but let it go regardless. Holding up an open claw, she gestured for me to enter before her. “Well, can we talk in your room for a sec? There’s something I’ve gotta tell you.”

My eyes shot wide. Oh, not again!

I couldn’t do anything, except stiffly lead her down into the subterranean area. Perching on the edge of the bed, I hugged a pillow to my breast as she poked at the booze stores. “What… what did you want to tell me?”

Having located suitable refreshment, she flapped over to the stairs, blocking any quick exit that I might have made. Reclining back against the stairs, the diminutive griffon took a rapid swig from the bottle in her claw, immediately followed by a second. Grimacing, she set the bottle down, and abandoned any pretense of relaxed ease by leaning forwards, resting her claws on her knees. “Snow…”

She’s gonna tell me that Schwarzwald doesn’t exist, and she’s just been humouring my crazy flank this entire time!

“...I’m sorry.”

“Huh?”

Twisting her tail hairs around her claws, Wings heaved a sigh. “Whinniepeg. The first time, when Cassie and I…”

“Now?!” I interrupted. “You do this now?”

Mercifully, she mistook my meaning. “Yeah, I should have had more faith in you, and done this sooner. It just took me a while to see you for what you could really do.”

Any balance between my newfound knowledge of Wings’ importance, and my lingering emotions from our various issues was rapidly disappearing. “Didn’t you say you weren’t gonna apologise?” This came out in a rush, ostensibly to fill the silence.

Settling her chin across her intertwined claws, she nodded solemnly. “Yeah, and at the time I meant that, but stuff’s happened since then. I’ve seen you with your sister, and how you handled the twins, and Naiara.” Her talons disengaged, one moving to scratch ruefully at the back of her head. “It got me thinking, and… well I’ve been keeping this in case of emergency, and… y’know…”

Irritation born of awkwardness spread across her face. “Ah, just… here!”

The dim light glimmered on the surface of whatever it was that she’d just thrown at me. Still distracted, I tried reaching out to grab the thing with my non-existent telekinesis. I only barely registered that nothing was happening before the Memory Orb clocked my right between the eyes. “OW, JEEZ!” Sucking in air, I tried to soothe the space between snout and horn.

Wings, meanwhile was face-clawing at the entire situation. “Sorry again, thought you’d catch it.”

“So you threw it at my face? What is this thi-” The object resting in my hooves forestalled anything further. I just stared at it, and at Wings, slackjawed.

Her plumage fell across her sapphire eyes as she looked down. “Took me too long to get that back to you.”

“...My Memory Orb. I-I don’t know what to say, Wings. Why are you giving it back to me? I told you I didn’t need it anymore.”

“You also told me that you still wanted it back.” Her gaze turned reflective. “And you told Schwarzwald that you wouldn’t kill her, or the twins. Days after Cassie put a hole in your chest. Days. When I first took that Orb, I thought you would just give it over to anyone who you thought was nice. Now you know better, but you still stopped trying to kill Cassie because the girl who you gave a family to asked you to.”

She shook her head, chuckling. “I dunno what to make of you half the time, Snow, but I do know that you’re a better choice to hold onto that thing than the Stable pony who saved two strangers from a dozen Raiders… and then puked on my claw.”

I joined in her chuckling for a moment, before sobering, and locking eyes with her. “Wings, thank you. This won’t get me back to the Stable, but it started all of this. I… could use the perspective.”

She leaned forward again, intrigued. “You gonna dive in?”

I held it outstretched, eyeballing it suspiciously. “Hell no. It’s broken. Almost killed me when I looked in there by accident. It’s a paperweight.”

Holding a claw to her chest in mock-outrage, she laid it on thick. “Oh come on, Snow. Give me some credit. I wasn’t just holding onto it, y’know. I was getting it fixed. A met a scientist in Lethbridle, said she’d fix it ‘cause of a deal you two made.”

“...Esto. Is she okay? Last time I saw her, she was in the hospital.”

Wings waved me off. “She’s fine. Left the hospital as soon as she could walk. Said she wanted to make sure her friend was safe.”

I nodded sadly. “Lithu. McCoy killed her husband, on Latvi’s orders. Is she okay?”

“Esto didn’t know. Not sure she’d tell me if she knew. She’s not real fond of you.”

I shrugged helplessly. “No, I suppose she wouldn’t be.”

Wings’ clawtips caressed her revolver in its holster. “Can’t save ‘em all, Snow. You, of all people, know that.”

“Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“He’s on our list. We’ll get to him soon.” She pointed at the Memory Orb. “But right now, you’ve got a fixed Memory Orb to see. You can watch it in full for the first time.”

“Yeah…” I held it up to my eyes, utterly unenthused. “Supposed to be days long, this memory. Have I got the time?”

The bed creaked slightly as her weight landed next to me. Wings tapped the barrel of her weapon against the Orb as we leaned on each other.

“Go ahead. I got you covered.”

OOOOooooOOOO

“You’ll forgive me if I don’t take your word for it.” A voice sounded in the darkness.

I remembered this. I’d woken up in the body of another pony, but I hadn’t known it at the time. Now I did, and I could pay more attention to what was being said. The cave we were in was the same as last time, with dark stone and dripping water.

“Oh don’t worry, my dear,” a sultry voice responded, a shrouded figure stepping into the vision of whoever this pony was who’s eyes I was sharing, “I can feel your protection spells from here, you and your husband went all out. I couldn’t touch you now if I wanted to.”

Still unsure on the husband thing, but this other pony seems to know me, or whoever I am right now.

“Then what do you want? I doubt you called me here just to catch up on old times.” I actually enjoyed the feeling of my host having wings this time around. It was a new experience. The other figure, still covered by heavy cloth, looked away for a few seconds before responding.

“There is something you must see. Follow.” Without even a backwards glance, she set off down the tunnel, and we followed.

After a long, silent walk, we finally reached the point where everything went to hell last time. Now or never.

Wings, if you didn’t get this thing fixed, I am going to be EXTREMELY upset with you.

We rounded the corner again, and everything went white.

FUCKING DAMMIT WINGS!!!

Inside the body of this other mare, I braced for the overwhelming pain to start again, but it never did. After a moment, the white began to fade. It receded until shapes and other colours began to reassert themselves. A huge cavern began to melt out of the white, with a gathering of hooded figures around what resolved to be the sources of the light: One half-sunken sphere, a score of metres across, and several orbiting cages, formed of ethereal bonds wrapped around the creatures within. I couldn’t make out what the creatures were from this distance, but they obviously weren’t there by choice.

My host and her companion moved towards the central recess, where the sphere lay. As we walked, we passed by one of the floating cages, and there was the briefest moment of eye contact between my host and the creature inside, though it wasn’t like anything I’d seen before. Whatever it was, it had a profound effect on my host, as she had to stop and hold her head in her hoof for a moment. “Ugh, what…”

Our sultry-voiced companion stopped too, looking back at us. There was a glint of smirking fangs from under her cowl. “I suspected that you would react to them, princess.” She mocked. “Especially given who you are.”

Princess? There was a Pegasus princess in the past? Nobody ever mentioned that.

My host was still staring at the cages. “They’re… I don’t know. I just feel…” Without another word, she spread her wings and soared up into the air. She took up station directly in the middle of the orbiting cages.

“Majesty?” One of the other hooded figures hissed out.

“Watch her,” the first, apparently royal, pony commanded. “until she comes down. If anything happens, summon me immediately.”

My host was barely paying attention. In every cage, a set of glowing eyes were looking at us. Slowly rotating in place, a few loose strands of mane fell across her eyes.

Loose, multi-shade pink strands. ...Wait a minute.

My ‘Pegasus’ host dispelled any doubt as a powder-blue glow burst from just above our field of vision, with wisps floating out to all of the cages. The creatures inside, and my host, jerked as each one connected.

“Cadence!” The hooded pony called up from below. “Do not lose yourself. I did not call you here for them.”

If I had eyes of my own, they’d be wide open. I KNEW IT! I’m Princess Cadence! She really was in the Stable! Watcher’s gonna be thrilled!

Cadence ignored the warning, ignored everything but the creatures in the cages, non-descript though they were. Hour after hour, she simply floated there, experiencing sensations that didn’t transfer through the Memory Orb connection.

It was beautiful, in a way. However, from my limited viewpoint, it soon grew very tedious.

I hope she snaps out of it soon. I don’t wanna be here all day.

~~~~~~

“So, you spent an entire day with them.”

Damn it.

“What was it like?”

Cadence had a large audience. Besides the original hooded pony, there were scores of others listening in from around the room. I noticed that the royal pony, their ‘majesty’, towered over the others.

Pacing back and forth, Cadence was uncomfortably energetic. “Those things, what are they? There was so much love there! It runs through their very beings!” Her sweet, soft voice spoke as if this was somehow a sad thing. “And yet… they don’t seem to notice it. Almost as if it doesn’t register to them at all. All that love, and they are blind to it.”

“That is true in one sense, but also false in another.” Raising a covered hoof, she pointed at the floating prisons. “They know the love they bear in their bodies, in the sense that it tips the scale.”

Cadence stopped pacing. “What scale?”

“The scale of nature, pony. These creatures, these Windigos…”

Windigos? What are Windigos? Those things?

“...must obey the same nature as all living things. They must maintain the balance between ‘love’, and ‘hate’.”

Cadence jerked in surprise at the royal’s words. I would have reacted the same if I could. “What do you mean, balance? Why would anybody want to lose love or gain hate?”

Letting out a deep chuckle, the royal shook her head, dislodging her hood. “You of all ponies, Crystal Princess, should know how destructive unchecked love can be.”

Ouch, close to home.

Cadence didn’t react as her cloak fell to the floor, but I certainly did.

What. The Hell. Is She? She’s no pony!

Under the hood, the royal creature bore fangs at the corner of her mouth. Like Alicorns, she had both wings and a horn, but her extremities were far removed from any seen on the princesses. The horn was gnarled, and misshapen, yet still jutting out proudly from her forehead. Her wings held no feathers, nor bone, but rather were translucent, gossamer things, like an insect. Both horns and wings were beautiful in their own way, but utterly alien. Her body too, was not that of a pony. Though riddled with holes, she was encased in a carapace of black chiten, the colour broken only by wicked green scales covering the thorax, and an equally be-holed mane, lying gracefully down her spine and shoulders.

The monarch, another princess?, continued her speech. “Everything in existence, be they…”

She pointed her jagged hoof at Cadence. “Pony,”

Then at the floating cages. “Windigo,”

And finally at herself. “Or Changeling, or anything else, must maintain their own unique balance of love and hate.”

A ‘changeling’? I’ve never heard of those. Why didn’t Watcher tell me about them?

The Changeling royal flapped her wings, beating out a thrumming vibrato. “Windigos are creatures of love, through and through, which drives their hunt for hatred. They feed upon it, to maintain their balance. It is what makes them our natural enemies. We Changelings are creatures of hate, which is why we seek out love to survive. We too have a balance to maintain. Even you ponies do, though you fall far closer to the centre than we two extremes.”

Cadence was as stumped as I was, it seemed, but recovered far faster. Taking a step forward, she spread her wings to counter the Changeling’s stance. “Tell me, Chrysalis, why have you brought me here?”

Queen Chrysalis,” She snapped, finally giving me a title to go with the name. “and I have brought you here to inform you ponies, our far less troublesome food source, of the danger we all face. All thanks to the actions of you and those pathetic zebra.”

Cadence blinked. It was a strange experience to see from behind the eyes. “Our actions? Do you mean the war?”

Rolling her eyes, Chrysalis gave her a pointed look. “Of course I am speaking of your meaningless war. Every day that goes by, every death and setback that you incur, fosters more and more hatred. You fools are drawing the Windigos to Equestria from beyond the northern mountains, and starving the only creatures capable of driving them back!”

Cadence reared back, shocked. “You Changelings have been… protecting Equestria?”

Chrysalis exhaled dismissively. “To the same extent that any farmer might protect their crops. Understand this, Cadence. If your war does not end soon, the Windigos will end it for you. They will sweep down upon pony and zebra alike, feeding upon your petty squabbles until none, not even my subjects and I, could stop them. Your war is dooming not only Equestria, but the entire world.”

“I had no idea.” Me neither. “So what would you have us do?”

Chrysalis’ poise returned to that of a stately ruler. “Ideally, Equestria would return to how it was, during your wedding. I told you then that there is more love here, than anywhere else we have hunted. However, I do not expect this to happen, given your enemy. So I must take more direct action. Observe.”

She, followed by her Changelings, and Cadence, moved to an empty patch of cave. Chrysalis’ horn glowed, but she spoke before casting whatever spell she was preparing. “Remain completely still. Make no movement, nor sound, and under no circumstances are you to use magic. This will be a short demonstration, but dangerous.”

Rising above our heads, Chrysalis’ ignited her spell. Green fire sprang up around her body, utterly encasing her form. When the fire faded, there was no sign of the Queen. In her place was… snow?

The Queen-turned-squall grew in size, swirling around us, faster and faster, until the entire group was completely encased in a miniature blizzard.

Abruptly, one of the magical cages vanished, freeing the trapped Windigo within. I marvelled at the sight. Part cloud and part equine, the creature bayed echoingly around the chamber. Running on nothing, it swept around the cavern, riding the Changeling-blizzard at times. Its head swung back and forth, searching for something, but it always turned away again, regardless of how close it came to the blizzard.

When it was on the far side of the chamber, green fire burned through the blizzard again, and suddenly the Queen was back, and the snow was gone. Firing from her disjointed horn, she snapped another cage around the Windigo before it could react. The magic prison floated back to its position among the others, the ghostly beast helpless within.

Cadence stared on, in awe, as the Queen descended to stand before her. “What did you do?”

“I took the form of a magical blizzard. It can shield others from the Windigos’ senses. It is our first defence, and how we hunt them.”

“I have to ask this again. After what you just showed, why have you brought me here?”

Chrysalis bit out the words like they were knives on her tongue. “Because, though I am without equal amongst you ponies, as I proved when I effortlessly defeated Celestia,” She paused for a moment, content to let the comment sink in with a smug expression.

Wait, when she effortlessly WHAT?!

“I will say again that the Windigos will smarm to Equestria over the northern mountains. Mountains. Plural. Even I cannot hide an entire nation with my magic…” She locked eyes with Cadence, gritting her teeth further. “...not without help.”

“So you called the mare whose wedding you invaded. Literally invaded.”

The irony was lost on precisely no-one. “You are the Princess of Love. You wield the Crystal Heart, which can focus that love. You are nothing but a battery for my greatness.”

Cadence wasn’t going to let her off that easily. “So you need my help?”

“It will be an undertaking that will dwarf anything you ponies have ever done!”

“So you need my help?”

“...I should have left you under Canterlot.”

“But you didn’t, so let me help.”

~~~~~~

The next few days passed in a blur, as evidently there were still flaws in the Memory Orb. Cadence left the cave to consult with a pony I would could to understand was her husband, Shining Armour, and to fly to the very northern edge of Equestria, to see the mountains for herself.

Why didn’t anybody ever tell me that Equestria used to be so beautiful? How could we ever have thought to use the Megaspells, when the cost was losing all of this?

Finally, Cadence returned to the Changelings’ cave again. “The preparations are in place.” She informed the waiting Queen. “You understand what this will mean, for them?” My carrier’s voice had changed. Gone was the hard edge, now it was strained, conflicted. The mistrust was still there but it was battling with empathy.

“I do. That’s why I brought you here. I want your promise that you’ll do what you can for them while I handle this. Don’t let them fall.” Chrysalis’ voice was breathy. Finally, it cracked. “Please?”

The Crystal Princess of Love swallowed, a lump forming in her throat. “I……I won’t. You have my word.”

Satisfied, the unicorn nodded. “Then they will be in good hooves, though I’d prefer neither Celestia nor Luna hear of this. They…would not be so kind.”

“You have my word. This will be my secret, and mine alone.”

As I watched, a tiny sparkle fell from the darkness of the unicorn’s hood, then another. She was crying. “Thank you. Now, can I ask one more favour from you, before we begin? It is a small one, I promise.”

Cadence nodded in response. “Of course, what do you need?”

“Could you teach me that song that the little filly espoused when I first met her? How did it start? ‘Sunshine, sunshine…’”

OOOOooooOOOO

I jerked awake, simultaneously gasping and groaning as three days of inactivity caught up with me. Holding my head, I staggered into a fall from the bed. I barely even felt the floor beneath me, as I tried to push myself up on papery hooves.

“Whzzat?” I familiar voice called out from the bed. “Oh! Snow, you’re back!” Springing from the sheets, Wings grabbed my leg in her claw, sending electric fireworks up and down my circulation-deprived limbs.

When she finally got me standing, I could do nothing but stare at her, too disturbed to even blink.

Her sapphire eyes shone with worry as she held me up, gently. “Snow? Talk to me, what’s wrong?”

I opened my mouth, trying to talk, but no words came out.

“BHLEURGH!” Something else did, though. All over her claw.

“...Again?!”

~~~~~~

Level Up!

Perks gained: Those Who Fail Harmony. - Snow receives an Endurance boost when Schwarzwald or Wings are in the party.

~~~~~~

Author's Note:

So, did anypony recognise Watcher’s other prospects?

As always, a big thank you to KKat, Y1, Auramane, Cascadejackal (he did the original cover art, which is still on the Fallout Equestria wiki), Void Heart (he did the new cover art),Shunketsunoponi and you, the readers. Please read and comment, and pass the word along if you like the story. Finally, because I find it a really funny coincidence to have another fic with a Stable 61 that’s set in Equestrian Canada, go read Fallout Equestria: Pure Hearts.

That’s all for now, folks. Please keep reading, commenting, and spreading the word on Old Souls. I really appreciate your feedback.