Sundial and Flurry Heart made their way through the mountain pass as quickly as they could. The rainstorm was getting worse. Lightning and thunder filled the air in consistent intervals, and the winds were fierce enough to threaten to blow the two mares right off the mountain if they weren’t careful. Sundial had been very clear to the others that traveling at night during the winter was a bad, awful, horrible idea for precisely this reason, but she didn’t have much choice.
Flurry’s shield spell could barely protect them from the elements at this rate. It would be possible if she were more practiced with that sort of magic, though it certainly didn’t help that she was tired, hungry, and still terribly frightened about everything that had happened.
Either way, the pair needed to make it to the kirin settlement in a hurry. It was the middle of the night, so it was hard for either of them to see, but Sundial was able to get her bearings relatively quickly once they were out in the open. Unfortunately, Sundial herself was the leading cause of their slow pace, as she was barely able to walk as it was, and trying to fly in this storm was dangerous enough already.
“Maybe we should stop?” Flurry asked, obviously concerned when Sundial needed to rest for a moment to catch her breath again.
“No time for that, lass,” Sundial said, taking deep breaths. “We have ta make it ta the settlement before that nutter catches up with us, aye? I don’t know if I’m in the sort o’ shape ta fight him off.”
Flurry paused a moment, then took a breath of her own. “Sundial… why did you ask that pony to kill you?”
“I didn’t, really. He was going ta do it anyway, so I figured I might as well go out in a way that would just get it over with.”
Flurry’s look told Sundial that she didn’t really buy that answer.
“Okay, okay… listen, lass, in this line o’ work, we’ve got a bit o’ trouble being too, well, morbid, I guess? ‘Stiff upper lip’, that’s our motto, aye? HQ would have a replacement down here in a week, tops. Sure, Tick Tock might be upset since she picked me out and all that, but nopony else would really miss me.”
Flurry frowned. “Don’t say that, Sundial, I’m sure there are plenty of ponies that would miss you. What about Bluebolt and Symphony?”
Sundial shrugged. “Aye, maybe. But they’d get over it, I’m not exactly their best friend or anything like that.”
“Sundial…”
“Come on then, let’s get moving.” Sundial got back on her hooves and gestured towards the trail, starting down it whether Flurry was following or not.
Flurry followed after a moment, gently poking Sundial in the side with her wing. “Sundial, please, don’t just dismiss this. You’re my… my friend now, okay? You can tell me.”
“Look, lass, it’s how things are. Not all worlds out there are like yers. There are some real shiteholes out there, worlds that make this one look bloody pleasant. Those Chronomancers get replaced every few years, if that, either because they die or because the stress gets ta them.” Sundial shook her head. “The job isn’t exactly sunshine and rainbows, but somepony’s got ta do it, aye?”
Flurry sighed and nodded. “Say, Sundial?”
“Aye, lass?”
“How did Two-eighteen know about me being an alicorn, and have orders about it and everything? You’ve had me wearing this coat ever since I got here to hide my wings. Kauldron and Krystal even thought I was a unicorn until they took it off.”
Sundial grunted and shook her head. “I don’t know lass, but I’ve been thinking the same thing since he mentioned it. There’s something else at play here, and I don’t know what it is, but I think ye need ta be extra careful that nopony else knows what ye are, not unless I say it’s okay, aye?”
“Yeah… yeah, okay…”
The two then set off on their way, keeping mostly quiet for now and trying to keep their hopes up. The settlement wasn’t much further. Their friends were waiting for them. Things were going to be okay, even if they were bad right now. In fact, the way it was at the moment, things really couldn’t get much worse, even though it was raining.
But, as was typically the case in situations such as these, the moment that Sundial and Flurry so much as thought that things couldn’t get much worse, they invariably did. Such was the nature of the world.
As the pair came down a slope into a small, somewhat wide clearing in the rocky trail, they found that they were no longer alone out here in the mountains. Oversee Pedigree stood tall at the other end of the clearing with a casual smirk on his face. He was blocking the trail ahead, protected by a barrier spell that kept him warm and dry despite the storm. One of his drones, protected by its own barrier, hovered just a few feet off the ground by his side.
“You’re late, Chronomancer,” Pedigree said, his voice barely carrying over the din of the storm. “A tad ironic, don’t you think? A self-professed master of time arriving late to her own party.”
Sundial snorted. She really didn’t have the patience for this. “Ha bucking ha, mate. Tick Tock always said the jokes just write themselves, so ye’re not really all that clever, aye? What, ye think I’ve never heard a bleeding time pun from some twat what thinks he’s funny? Ye’re a proper comedian.”
“Let’s dispense with the pleasantries, Chronomancer. No sense in wasting valuable time with useless words, after all.” He pointed towards Flurry, his little smirk growing bigger and more confident. “You will surrender the alicorn mare to me, or I will take her from you by force. I’d really prefer the former, but I won’t object to the latter.”
“How did ye even know she’s an alicorn?” Sundial asked, stepping forward to put herself between Flurry and Pedigree now that he’d made his intentions clear. “Yer lackey had orders ta retrieve her for ye, so that means ye knew who and what she was before he showed up. Was he spying on us?”
“That’s a perfectly fair, understandable question… but the answer doesn’t really matter now, does it? All that matters is that I know what she is, and I want her to be delivered to me. Unharmed, preferably.” He ran a hoof through his mane and his drone primed its cannon. “Now, are we going to do this the easy way, or the hard way? It’s really your choice.”
Sundial chuckled and rolled her shoulders. “What do you think?” She turned to Flurry and whispered: “When I say so, run back the way we came and take another route around, aye? I’ll catch up with ye after I deal with this twat.”
Flurry frowned, eyes darting between her and Pedigree. “Sundial, I’m not leaving you—”
“Just do it, lass. No time for questions.”
Pedigree sighed, brushing dirt off of his vest. “A pity then. For you, of course. I had hoped not to waste precious time and effort, but if you insist—”
“Run!” Sundial shouted.
Flurry turned to run. Pedigree’s drone fired a blast of unicorn magic at the pass they’d just come down, shattering the mountainside and blocking the way with a small landslide of mud and rock. Flurry and Sundial were trapped with the only way through now was past him.
“Shite,” Sundial muttered, eyeing the damage dealt to her plan. She turned back towards Pedigree. “Right then!”
She flew as hard and fast as her wings would let her, despite the wind and the rain, and came rushing right at Pedigree. His shield spell flickered as her hoof crashed uselessly into it.
“Pathetic,” he chuckled. “You are at a severe disadvantage, Chronomancer. You have gone without sleep, food, or water, you are battered, broken, and bleeding, and you are alone. No little swordfighter to protect you this time. And yet, despite all that, you’re still wasting your time and energy trying to fight me.”
“Ye’re bloody right I am,” Sundial spat, trying to force her hoof through his barrier. It was just inching through, barely, at least until he shunted it back with a little flare of his horn. “I’m not the type o’ mare ta lie down and let ponies like ye walk all over me, aye?”
“Do you think that such a personality is admirable? Do you think you’re brave? Because it isn’t, and you aren’t. It’s a pathetic, asinine gesture from a pony who knows she’s already lost.” Pedigree smiled. “You are merely delaying the inevitable, Chronomancer. Your time is up.”
“Ye talk too much.”
Sundial reached into her saddlebag, fishing out Krystal’s horn, and drove it into Pedigree’s magic barrier like a stake. The barrier vanished without much fanfare, letting Sundial land on the ground once her hoof was no longer embedded in it, and letting all of the wind, rain, and cold batter Pedigree.
Pedigree, of course, was both furious and bewildered as he looked about where his shield had once been. “Wh-what did you do?! What manner of trickery is this?!”
Sundial smirked, flipping the kirin horn in her hoof like a dagger. “Now who’s at the disadvantage, twat?”
She lunged at him. His drone swept through the air and slammed into her side, knocking her away from Pedigree and into the side of the mountain. She dropped the horn halfway between.
“It’s still you, you filthy wretch!” Pedigree snapped, adjusting his coat’s hood to shield his head from the elements. “How dare you do… whatever it is you just did! How did you break my barrier? You, a flying rat? Is this some sort of Chronomancer trick?”
Sundial wiped blood from her nose and smirked. “Aye, cheers mate, let me just tell ye everything, ye bloody muppet. What kind o’ idiot brags about the thing that gives them an advantage, aye? Beside yerself, o’ course.”
Pedigree noticed the fallen horn on the ground and eyed it curiously. “Ah, is that some sort of weapon then? Well, let’s see how you like it turned against you.”
He lit up his horn and tried to grab the horn. The horn remained exactly where it was without even the slightest hint of moving. The wind was moving it more than he was.
Pedigree now seemed as if he was in great discomfort. “What sort of weapon is this that resists my magic?!” he muttered, holding his head.
With his focus entirely on the horn, he didn’t notice Sundial come charging straight at him. Her hoof smashed into his jaw, hard, knocking him back. She didn’t let up, moving in to hit him in the chest, then the jaw again, then the chin.
His horn ignited, knocking her back with a burst of energy. “Get your hooves off of me, you worthless piece of garbage!” he snarled, eyes alight with fire. “How dare you touch me with your disgusting pegasus filth!”
“Och, ye’re really keeping that racist shite up, aren’t ye? Don’t get many racists these days,” Sundial chuckled as she rose back up to her hooves, picking up the kirin horn in the process. “Ye got a little something on yer face there, Pedigree,” she added, tapping her lip.
He lifted his hoof up to his lips. He was bleeding. His eye twitched. “You… you…”
“And what kind o’ name is ‘Pedigree’ anyway, aye? Ye sound mighty full o’ yerself with a prim and proper name like that. Is yer special talent judging dog shows?”
He roared in rage, and his drone charged straight at her.
Flurry suddenly lit her horn to grasp the drone in mid-air, keeping it from moving. “Now, Sundial!”
Sundial hefted the kirin horn up and threw it straight at the flying machine. It pierced straight through the central “eye”, and the drone collapsed instantly as the magical energy powering it evaporated. “Thanks, lass!”
Pedigree took a step back, shocked and dismayed. “This… this wasn’t how this was all supposed to happen. You were supposed to be weak! Helpless!”
Sundial kept her cool, confident front going. He was right that she was terribly winded right now and it was taking a staggering amount of adrenaline to keep from collapsing, but what choice did she have?
“Ye call me weak, but ye’re nothing without yer wee little toys and yer gangly assassin,” she spat, taking a few shaky steps towards him. “Ye talk a big game there, Pedigree, but ye don’t have the balls ta back it up.”
“Stop using my name, trash,” he snarled. “You don’t have the right to address me like that. You don’t have the right!”
“Ye’re really full o’ yerself, aren’t ye… Pedigree?”
He took a deep breath, then calmed down and smoothed his mane back. “I had wanted to do this alone, but it would seem I miscalculated your resolve. Fine. What’s the difference between a machine and a slave, anyway?” He turned his head slightly. “Two-eighteen, subdue the Chronomancer.”
Sundial turned her head sharply as Two-eighteen sprung from the shadows nearby and slammed straight into her side. He impacted a lot harder than the drone had, knocking Symphony’s longsword—which had still been strapped to her side—cleanly away. It landed a few feet from Flurry Heart’s hooves.
Two-eighteen wrestled with Sundial for a few brief moments. She noticed that his shoulder wasn’t bandaged and hadn’t fully healed yet, but he either wasn’t bothered by it or was fighting through his pain and discomfort just like she was.
She punched him in the jaw; he punched her in the gut. She kicked him in the chest; he swept her hooves out from under her. He pinned her to the wall; she headbutt him in the chin. She regretted the latter, as it had hurt her more than it hurt him.
They met blow for blow, but Sundial knew she couldn’t keep it up for long. He was bigger than her, stronger than her, in better condition than her, and could almost match her speed since she couldn’t properly fly in this weather.
As he pushed his hoof against her throat, she grabbed his foreleg to relieve the pressure. “Ye’ve got a lot o’ spunk, lad, I’ll give ye that. If I were in better shape right now, this might actually be fun. I haven’t had a good sparring partner in years.”
He ignored her, just as he ignored the rain streaking down his goggles and face. Sundial had to blink constantly to keep water out of her eyes, but this stallion was acting like little more than a machine.
He tilted his head towards Pedigree. “Target subdued, Overseer.”
“About time, Two-eighteen,” Pedigree snorted. He tried to reignite his shield to protect him from the elements, but he was having some trouble as the kirin horn’s effect seemed greater than he’d expected. “Damn it all.”
“Two-eighteen, please, don’t do this!” Flurry pleaded. “We had an arrangement, remember?”
Two-eighteen did not divert his attention from Sundial, though his ears did flick towards Flurry’s voice. Under his goggles, it was still impossible for Sundial to tell what his expression was. “Overseer’s orders: subdue the Chronomancer. New orders trump old ones.”
Flurry stamped her hoof indignantly. “That’s not part of our arrangement! You made a deal with me not to hurt her, so you can’t just go back on it like that!”
Pedigree raised an eyebrow. “Deal? What deal?” He turned to Two-eighteen and narrowed his eyes. “What is she talking about, Two-eighteen? Report.”
Two-eighteen turned to face him, but still kept Sundial pinned to the wall. “The alicorn made an arrangement for her surrender if the Chronomancer was unharmed and allowed to go free, Overseer.”
“That’s right,” Sundial chuckled, looking right at Pedigree with a smug grin. “Yer lad here let me go, free as a bird. Fat lot o’ good it did, but it’s the thought that counts, aye?”
Pedigree’s eyebrow twitched. “Two-eighteen, you didn’t kill the Chronomancer as I asked, even though you had the chance? You disobeyed your orders?” He lit his horn, as the kirin horn’s anti-magic was wearing off. “Do you remember what happens when you fail me, Two-eighteen?”
Two-eighteen tilted his head. “Orders: deal with Chronomancer, retrieve alicorn. Allowing Chronomancer to go free ensured retrieval of the alicorn was accomplished. Orders not to kill, but to ‘deal with’.”
“You know exactly what I meant, Two-eighteen, don’t play dumb with me.”
“Wording of orders unspecific, accomplished to best of ability. Similar example: orders were to ‘deal with’ settlers at the checkpoint encampment. Employed fear tactics, frightened them away. Results satisfactory.”
“Wait, you spooked them off?” Sundial asked, eyebrow raised.
Pedigree sneered. “You were supposed to kill them, you imbecile.”
Two-eighteen tilted his head again. “Apologies, Overseer. Orders not to kill, but to ‘deal with’—”
“Don’t you split hairs with me, you damned freak!” Pedigree paused and took a deep breath. “This was an enlightening conversation. I will have to remember to be more clear with my orders going forward. Apparently earth ponies are stupider than I thought.”
“Two-eighteen, please, we still have an arrangement!” Flurry pleaded again, stepping forward. “Let Sundial go! I’ll come with you and your boss if you let her go!”
“Boss? Ha!” Pedigree laughed. “That would imply that I pay him. That he works for me, like some sort of employee. I am his master, his creator. You think that ‘arrangement’ of yours could even remotely contradict my orders? He is my slave, girl. He obeys my orders without question. Your words have no power over him.”
Flurry turned to Pedigree and narrowed her eyes. “You treat him like a slave, but he was willing to make that arrangement with me of his own free will. You’re just using him, like he’s some sort of tool. You say he’s your… ‘creation’, like he’s a product.”
“Because that’s exactly what he is. A product. A tool. He cannot think for himself, no matter what you might think that idiotic arrangement of yours meant to him. He merely went through with it to follow the orders I gave him to the best of his ability, because that’s all that he knows how to do.”
“You’re wrong.”
Pedigree smiled proudly. “Am I? My name isn’t Pedigree for no reason, girl. How about I demonstrate just how much power I have over this tool?” He turned his attention to the earth pony. “Two-eighteen, maintain your hold on the Chronomancer, and smash your head against that wall.”
Two-eighteen turned his attention to the wall behind Sundial, and without a word he smashed his head against it. Flurry watched in shock and horror as the earth pony did exactly as he was ordered without even the slightest hint of hesitation. Sundial, who was right next to him, still in his death grip, was just plain confused.
“What the bloody hell?” she muttered.
“Again, Two-eighteen,” Pedigree said. “Your audience demands proof of your loyalty to me. Give them what they want and put on a show.”
Two-eighteen smashed his head against the wall again. His uniform tore slightly, and Sundial could see that he was bleeding.
“Stop it!” Flurry demanded, looking to Pedigree in as much of a rage as she could seemingly manage. “Stop hurting him!”
“I’m not hurting him, girl, he’s doing that to himself,” Pedigree laughed. “He is nothing more than a tool, a weapon to point in whichever direction I choose to aim him.” He turned back to Two-eighteen. “Again, Two-eighteen! And harder this time!”
Again, the earth pony smashed his head into the wall. Sundial felt his grip loosen slightly on her throat, as he was clearly in severe pain.
“Lad, ye don’t have ta do this, aye?” she said up at him. “Whatever dirt he has on ye, ye don’t have ta listen ta him. We can help ye,.”
“Orders: smash head against the wall, maintain grip on Chronomancer,” Two-eighteen said, still calm and monotone, but clearly breathing more heavily than before.
“Do you see now?” Pedigree said, addressing Flurry. “Your pitiful little ‘arrangement’ is nothing. He listens to me, his Overseer, because that is what he was made to do, what he was raised to do. Would you deny him his purpose in life, girl? It would not be unlike denying a foal the opportunity to utilize their special talent.”
“You… you’re not a pony,” Flurry muttered. “You’re no better than Kauldron, and he was a monster.”
“Your sympathies on Two-eighteen are wasted. It is he who is not a pony, not I. At any rate, enough wasting time,” he said, cracking his neck. “I wish to get out of this rain and cold, Two-eighteen. Kill the Chronomancer… crush her windpipe, slowly. I wish to witness this.” He turned to face Flurry Heart with a grin. “No room for misinterpretations this time.”
Two-eighteen then pushed his hoof forward onto Sundial’s neck, slowly, as ordered. Sundial pushed back against him as hard as she could to relieve the pressure.
“Stop it! Two-eighteen, please! You don’t have to do this!” Flurry shouted.
“Orders: crush Chronomancer’s windpipe slowly,” Two-eighteen repeated.
“You owe her your life, Two-eighteen! She saved your life!”
“Irrelevant... “ Two-eighteen muttered.
“Exactly,” Pedigree snorted. “His life means nothing. The only thing your stupid feats of sympathy got you is a hoof to the Chronomancer’s throat in the end. Your mercy was wasted on a product with no more importance than a toaster. And I can always make another toaster.”
Flurry ran forward towards Two-eighteen, clearly hoping to pull him off of Sundial. Pedigree wordlessly raised a barrier in the path so she couldn’t get within ten feet of them. “Two-eighteen, please!”
Sundial looked up at the earth pony and gave a small smirk. “Ye could’ve killed me any time ye wanted, lad. But ye didn’t. Ye let me go. That’s not the mind o’ some tool, aye?”
Two-eighteen shook his head. “Incorrect. Orders were to deal with Chronomancer. Followed orders.”
“Aye? Like that twat there said, I think anypony with half a brain knows what ‘deal with’ means.” Sundial chuckled, though it was definitely getting harder and harder to breathe. “So either ye’re a total idiot, or ye did it on purpose.”
“...incorrect. Followed orders precisely.”
Sundial noticed that his grip was loosening just a little bit.
Pedigree noticed too. “Two-eighteen, she’s still talking. Continue to crush her windpipe. Now!”
Two-eighteen’s hoof was shaking. His pressure had released almost entirely off of Sundial’s neck.
“That’s it, lad… think for yerself for once, aye?” Sundial said calmly.
Two-eighteen hung his head slightly, then turned towards the Overseer. “Why?”
Pedigree snarled. “Two-eighteen, are you questioning me? Do you remember what happens when you question me? Do you?!”
Two-eighteen turned his head just slightly, enough to see Pedigree’s rage. “Yes.”
Pedigree didn’t say another word. He just lit up his horn, firing a blast of pure electricity into Two-eighteen’s gut. The blast knocked him several feet back and pinned him against the ground. Sundial felt a brief shock while she was still in contact with the earth pony. It hurt, a lot, and she slumped down the wall in pain, but was still conscious. Barely.
Pedigree stepped towards Two-eighteen, pumping more electricity through his horn in a steady stream of power until the earth pony finally roared in pain, the first real emotion Sundial had ever heard from him.
“You worthless by-product!” Pedigree spat. “Your life belongs to me! I made you! You do not get to question me!”
“Stop it!” Flurry shouted, igniting her horn and placing a shield over Two-eighteen.
Pedigree’s magic, however, was strong enough to shatter it. Sundial knew Flurry was powerful, yes, but she was exhausted from having her magic drained constantly by the kirin over the last two days.
Pedigree ignored Flurry entirely and continued to focus on Two-eighteen. “You defective waste of flesh. You are nothing more than a failed experiment.”
Another sharp rise in the electricity. The heat was reacting with the rain, causing steam to rise up off of Two-eighteen’s body.
“Once I am done with you, I will have you dissected to find out what went wrong, and you will help me, because I will not kill you here. Your only use now is making sure the next generation is better.”
Sundial tackled him as hard as she could. She was in so much pain at this point that she didn’t have the strength to even knock him off-balance.
“You insolent fool!” he snarled. “You are getting quite on my nerves, Chronomancer. Two-eighteen can wait. You need to die.”
Sundial panted and settled into a fighting stance. “Bring it on... ye mangy twat.”
Pedigree’s horn ignited, and though she tried to rush him again, he blasted her with electricity just he’d done with Two-eighteen. Sundial howled in pain as she fell to the ground, feeling as if she’d just been struck by lightning.
“You are pathetic,” he snorted as he stepped over to her, keeping her pinned with a hoof on her chest. “Your predecessor ‘saved’ the world and killed one of the greatest ponies to ever live. What accomplishments do you have? Nothing. You are going to die here, in the mud and the rain, like the mangy flying rat that you are!”
He pressed his hoof against her skull, using his magic to keep her pinned to the ground. “I hate getting my hooves dirty, but I think I’ll make an exception just this once.”
He paused when something pressed against the side of his neck. Flurry’s magic carefully held Symphony’s longsword in place, and she stared at him, her face the perfect picture of tranquil fury.
“Let her go,” she said, her voice calm and resolute despite the fire in her eyes. “Now.”
Pedigree gently eased his hoof off of Sundial’s head, though his magic still kept her pinned. “What do you think you’re doing, girl? Threatening me? Is that what this is?”
“If you so much as touch her again, I will… I will drive this sword right into your neck.” She shakily moved the sword up a little. “I swear I will. Let her go.”
Pedigree’s mouth curled in a little grin. “No, you won’t. You’re too good and pure for that. You’re just a little filly, barely old enough to leave the house without your mommy and daddy holding your hooves. You don’t have the drive, girl.”
Flurry gulped, but kept the blade steady. “Let her go, Pedigree. Or else—”
Pedigree turned full towards her so that the tip of the sword was right under his chin. “Or else what?”
“Or else I’ll… I’ll…” She closed her eyes tight and drew the sword back an inch.
But she didn’t drive it forward.
In her hesitation, Pedigree grabbed the blade with his own magic, though he did not release his grip on Sundial. The strain on his magic was clear by the expression on his face, but with Flurry’s weakened state, he was still an even match.
Flurry gasped as he tried to wrest the weapon from her own magic. “H-hey! Let go!”
Pedigree laughed. “Stupid girl, do you think you can threaten me? Threaten the Overseer? You are nothing before me!”
“Leave me and my friend alone!” Flurry shouted, trying to yank the sword away. It barely moved.
“Your little idle threats are pathetic. If you hadn’t hesitated, you could have killed me, and your friend would be safe.” He took a step back and set his hoof back on Sundial’s skull. “Now you can watch her die anyway.”
Flurry’s eyes widened, and she tried to drive the sword forward. Pedigree was able to keep it pushed back just enough that he clearly wasn’t afraid of it.
“Say goodbye to your—”
Two-eighteen slammed his hoof with all of his might right into Pedigree’s side, hard enough to shatter at least two ribs.
The pain made Pedigree lose focus on his spell. The sword went flying at an odd angle as it snapped in half. The hilt tumbled towards Flurry, still kept in her grip tightly, but the blade tore into Pedigree’s horn, cutting a huge gash right through the middle.
Pedigree fell to the ground in pain, both from the broken ribs and cracked horn. His horn’s magic leaked out in a flurry of sparks and flashes. He watched as Sundial was able to get up despite the pain she was feeling. The pure rage in her eyes clearly made him feel very, very small.
Desperate to escape, he tried to teleport away—Sundial recognized the flash—but the spell went haywire. Sparks flew wildly through the air, arcing colors of every hue imaginable, and some that weren’t, danced around his horn. The spell had no focus, out of control like a runaway train.
But luckily for Pedigree, and unluckily for Sundial, just before Sundial’s hoof could crash into his face, the spell succeeded. He was gone.
Sundial stamped her hooves angrily at the spot he’d been and let out a string of swears and curses too colorful to describe.
“Are you okay, Sundial?” Flurry asked, rushing over to her.
Sundial took a couple of deep breaths and leaned against the alicorn. “Aye… aye, I’ll be alright…”
The two looked at Two-eighteen, who lay just a short distance away, unconscious on the ground.
Sundial blinked and took a breath. “Shite.”