A troubled Sundance awoke, trembling and panting inside of his sleeping box. The gentle tug of the coming dawn did not comfort him, it did not soothe him in the slightest. For a short time, he lingered there in the perfect darkness of his private nest, which was far too large for just one pony and sometimes emphasised his loneliness. After he rolled over, he had to disentangle himself from his blankets, and then while squinting to protect his eyes, he pushed open the door.
Only to find a rather curious Litany just outside of his box, staring at him with eyes like luminous pools of liquified mystery. He didn't mean to scream—it just sort of slipped out—and the sound of her laughter dispelled what was left of his residual terror. She stared at him, and he at her. Something about her hypnotic gaze compelled him to come out, to continue, to bravely face what would soon be the day.
"As you bring more outsiders here, to this place, you bring shadows with you," Litany said to him as he clambered out of his sleeping box. "You bring their fears, their troubles, the dark things that haunt them. Yet, for reasons unknown to me, those things are very weak here. I spent the night studying the various magical emanations, the flow and ebb of currents as you dreamt. This place has its own powerful connection to the dreamscape, and its own influence upon dreamers. Mistress Luna, the Night Lady, she will want to know of this development. If a thing can influence dreams, that suggests a form of intelligence."
"Good morning to you too," Sundance said with wry wit to the delightfully creepy young mare in his bedroom.
"Tragic… the magic dissipates." Litany seemed more annoyed than anything, if her sudden frown was anything to go by. "I can't even begin to understand what I am studying. But it comes from the land itself… and from what you and yours call Grandmother Oak."
"Is it dangerous?" Sundance managed to ask before a yawn inflicted its tyranny upon him.
"I don't know," Litany replied with a shake of her head. "I am dealing with an utterly alien intelligence. What whims it might have are unknown to me. It is focused on you, and others. Well, it has tendrils connecting to all who live here, even me, but some of those connections are much stronger. Like Corduroy. And Paradox. And you, of course. Do cover your mouth when you yawn. I'll not have it rain upon me because of random gleeking. Intolerable."
"Will I wake up and regularly find you in my bedroom, watching me as I sleep?"
"That sentence is atrocious," Litany said matter-of-factly. "It defies itself."
Again, Sundance yawned, but this time, he covered his mouth with his foreleg.
"There is nothing left to study," Litany announced. "I shall be taking my leave of you. Have a pleasant day, Lord Sundance."
He understood that it was futile to try to get her to stay—she was a stubborn species, one so-named for its uncompromising nature—so he watched in silence as she departed. She moved with a hurried sense of purpose, her armor clanked softly as she made her way to the door, and she left without another word said. He yawned once more, did nothing to cover his mouth, and then decided that he needed to release the flood. He had territory to mark. Sure, it was a barbaric practice, but it was oh-so satisfying. If he did such a thing in the city, he'd likely be arrested. Officer Mom would label him as a public menace.
But here, in this place, far from civilisation… he was the one in charge.
Breakfast was served with a side of new faces. As it turned out, Twilight Velvet offered delivery service, only it had happened while Sundance was away in Jersey City. He had been far too tired to properly meet with them last night, and Hollyhock didn't want them worked up just before bed. At some point, somehow, he would have to make peace with the fact that stuff happened while he was away, which was difficult for him to come to terms with.
Freshly washed and prepared for the day, the newest residents joined him for breakfast.
Mbali was rather smallish, young, somewhat quiet, more than a bit shy, and given to smiling. She was also a zebra, whose stripes were a faded blue-grey. Her mane and tail were dreadlocked, all of which bounced and wiggled with every movement of her head. Sundance found her quite adorable in some unknown exotic way. Even with her shyness, she had a certain infectious joy about her, a resilient happiness that blazed like a flame that would not be extinguished.
The other was Mytilene, or Mighty, who happened to be a minotaur calf. Though quite young, she was a minotaur, which meant that she was impressively large—a little taller than Bonk and Runt. And she would only get bigger with the passage of time. She had beefy hands and her arms had broad muscles. Stubby black horns sprouted from her scalp. Tufts of unruly brown hair stood up on her head, and her body was white with smooth black spots. The minotaur calf was boisterous, loud, and rather gentle, all things considered.
"I wanted to say that I am sorry for last night. After my trip, I was very, very tired."
"I was tired too," Mytilene replied. "It was a long day for me and Mbali."
"Yes." Between words, Sundance sniffed at his oatmeal. "You brought your zebra friend with you."
"I refused to come without her." Reaching over, Mytilene patted the much smaller zebra filly on the neck. "Princess Twilight said that friends stick together, so I took a stand and challenged all-comers with heated battle!"
Mbali giggled, a soft, subdued sound.
"But I lacked a mighty warrior's weapon, so I had no choice but to brandish a spoon!"
Brandish?
"I want to be a soldier some day," the minotaur calf continued. "And I want to build impressive monuments so that I might protect them. To build and protect, that is what is best in life!"
"So you like building?" asked Sundance.
"Building is in my blood," Mytilene replied. "Minotaurs build. It is what we do when we're not fighting. My hammering could be heard all over the city, I'm sure of it. I tried very hard to hammer as loud as bovinely possible. The mightiest of hammer-blows echoed between the buildings while I built fortified domiciles for the local birds. I think the ponies will miss the music of my hammer now that I am gone. If you give me a hammer, I shall make the sweetest music for you."
"You know what," Sundance began, "I think we can scare up a hammer for you."
He found himself mystified by their friendship. One was loud, and might even be considered obnoxious by many, while the other was soft, quiet, and unassuming. Yet, friendship happened and made for the oddest pairings. What might others think of Sundance's own friendships? When he thought of Corduroy, he was overcome with warm-fuzzies. These two came as a pair, and he was thankful that they were kept together. Surely their friendship would benefit the barony in some way.
"You want to tell me about yourself?" Sundance asked Mbali.
The zebra filly shook her head from side to side while saying, "No."
"Well"—he sighed this word—"that's fine. You and Litany have something in common."
"Mbali got teased a lot, and put down, and she was the only zebra in the place, and she got teased about her mane, and there were sissy tail-tuggers, and she got bullied, and then I came along and put a stop to that. Bullies get cowed." As she spoke, Mytilene flexed her big, beefy muscles and cracked her hard-edged knuckles. "She'll open up. Eventually. Until then, it's best to leave her be."
It was at that moment that Sundance decided that he liked Mytilene. "So then, tell me about yourself…"
It was a lazy morning and Sundance had himself a well-deserved bit of rest in the sun. His back ached something awful; he'd first injured it during the bunny bombings and then things had become so busy that he never had a moment for some proper rest. But now, he remedied that. He lay sprawled on the sun-kissed stone of the waterfall ledge, listening to the roar of falling water, and watching the hustle-bustle down below.
The changelings were busy proving their worth; every few minutes, a squadron of them brought over a log recovered from the beaver pond. These logs were placed atop a bed of stones and gravel, and it was hoped that they would be dried out for the coming winter. Firewood was a necessity, and something that everypony worried about. The dome homes were supposed to be secure from winter, and they might very well be; but it truly was better to be safe than sorry. Beyond that, there was little to do here in the winter, Sundance had been told, other than just watching the fire.
This needed to change. Though how he might change it was unknown to him. Sundance knew and understood that boredom remained a very real problem here, and this was the summer when there was much to be done. Come winter, when there was nothing to do but wait the winter out, the boredom might become deadly. He'd seen enough movies and read enough pulpy horror novels to know the danger of being isolated in the winter with nothing to do.
Sundance worried about the winter, and for good reason. He'd been told that in the autumn, it would drop below freezing one day, and then stay that way until the spring thaw. Cold air currents would sink down from the howling peaks of the mountains, and temperatures would plunge far below zero. And they would stay sub-zero for several months. With temperatures that cold, Sundance wondered how they would bathe, because surely the water in the tower would freeze. He feared that his inexperience might be a detriment, a cause of suffering for the others.
Winter would surely test him.
But for now, it was summertime, and the living was easy.
"You've done something right here."
The gravelly sound of Flicker's voice caused Sundance's ears to rise.
"Should you be out of bed?" Try as he might, Sundance could not find anything on Flicker's face that revealed pain. It was every bit awe-inspiring as it was terrifying. "You had gashes with bone visible. If you've snuck out, Corduroy is going to be very cross."
"I have her permission to get a little sun. My wounds have closed, for the most part. I'm on the mend."
"How is that possible?" asked Sundance. "It's only been… days. How?"
"Like you, I'm connected to something bigger. Something beyond my understanding." Scowling, but not from pain, Flicker eased himself down upon the sun-kissed stone, let go a relieved sigh, and then rolled over to lay on his side. "Any idiot can die for his cause… I'm stuck with living for mine."
"I don't understand." Casting a sidelong glance, Sundance studied the stallion that lay in relaxed repose beside him. "But I don't understand what is happening to me, either. Apparently I've got memories not my own. Litany isn't much help in clearing things up, either."
There was a low, husky chuckle from Flicker, and then he said, "I don't think it's important that we understand, only that we do. That we act. We're puppets, Sundance. Our strings lead to bigger things. Things beyond us. Things perhaps beyond Princess Celestia. She might very well be a puppet as well, though she might have more awareness and understanding of her strings than we do. Though, I fear that her connections might soon be severed."
"What do you mean, Flicker?"
There was a long silence from the injured unicorn that showed no sign of pain. After this silence stretched on to the point of near-awkwardness, at last he spoke: "Princess Celestia's magic is fading. It's why it is so important that we do our part, Sundance."
"Fading?"
"Perhaps fading is the wrong word," Flicker said in a low whisper. "Every day, she has to wrestle with things unseen to maintain control of the sun, the moon, and the various celestial bodies. The machinery of existence. What remains of our galaxy and all the bits of celestial clockwork that influence us and allows life to continue. Every day, she has to fight a little bit harder, and this means that she has less and less magic for other things. All the hidden and unknown things she does that keeps us safe and protected."
"I… don't understand."
"You know what, Sundance… I don't either. And that scares me. I can barely comprehend this mess. Piper has a better grasp on what is going on. Me? I just do my part. When I feel the tug of the strings, I jump."
"But… what is she giving up, exactly?" asked Sundance.
"Well, the tides have been acting up lately. They've become highly irregular. This, in turn, has led to an increase in feral storms. Which do considerable damage and bring harm to Equestria's crops. Just think, Sundance. For a thousand years, Princess Celestia ruled alone, and the tides ran like clockwork. You could set your watch to them, and ponies did. Now, Princess Celestia has Princess Luna, and even with the both of them together, as powerful as they are, the tides have become irregular. As far as signs go, this one does not bode well."
"Oh… oh… I still don't understand, but that sounds… alarming." Now silent, Sundance allowed the dreadful words to sink in and settle into his mind.
"Which is why what you're doing here is so important, Sundance. One less thing for Princess Celestia to worry about. Which means she can focus more of her attention on the bigger problems, like maintaining control of the sun, the moon, and everything else. She's put Princess Twilight in charge of Equestria. And you… you're helping Princess Twilight to sort out the future. Others also do their part. I do my part. If we all do our part, and do what needs done, Princess Celestia can do her part without distractions, and we'll all survive this."
At the moment, Sundance felt small and insecure, almost foalish.
"I fight Contagion," Flicker said, his voice dry and grating. "He's a monster given power with disease and pollution. He feeds on despair and hopelessness. Our society, and pretty much everything about it, feeds him and gives him strength. I can't beat Contagion through conventional means. While I can battle his minions and rout his armies, I can't actually do much to hurt him. But you can. We're fighting the same enemy, Sundance. You just don't know it yet. Maybe that's why I sponsored you. I don't know. I can't even begin to understand the fickle workings of fate. While I battle his armies, you're chipping away at what gives him strength… in very much the same way our enemies slowly sap Princess Celestia's strength. We're fighting a long war, Sundance."
"Can we win?" asked Sundance.
"Of course," Flicker replied without hesitation. "We're the good guys. It's in our nature to win."
"I'm not so sure that just being the good guys is enough to see us through."
"It's how we're good," Flicker said, explaining himself. "It is the very things that make us good. Our tenacity. Our wits. Our dedication to our causes. We believe in virtue, in honour, and we make sacrifices. All of the actions that make us noble, that is why we'll win. I have seen the enemy, and he is without virtue. He lacks conviction. They are a cowardly lot, held to service through terror and coercion."
Though he said nothing, Sundance wasn't so sure that Flicker was right.
"We're the good guys because we don't know how to stop fighting. And that's why we'll win."